#concert at quid central

[flowercuco]

Veil 2 - 10 (finale)

Well after a long long time we’ve finally hit the end of this arc of our Veil campaign, with Crescent Moon hopefully safe, finally reunited with her mother/creator, Heartful Vale, and the company and mercenaries that did all of this dealt with, the group tentatively settles down and awaits the concert.

Fortuna checks her e-mails as she is at work, dealing with her new assistant, who she is very suspicious of. One of the messages is from Bicker Boulder, and it so happens to be the alibi of Mia Ann Grace who is, to the entire party, definitely suspicious, and definitely evil. Along with commentary on the events at Snow Vision and if they were tied to the odd actions that Thicker Than Blood did the day prior, Bicker asked her superiors in the Investigation Bureau to try to do Fortuna a solid. Mia Ann Grace, super star assistant is supposed to be that solid. Fortuna, being suspicious, has Mia Ann do basic tasks while she invades a janitor closet to get in touch with her best friend, Senza.

Senza and Fortuna talk about their suspicions and of the events, Senza concludes that even if Bicker seemed on the up and up, that doesn’t mean that Mia is, as the IB was a group that was compromised by the Angelic Threads. She promises to look into the assistant and see if she has ties to anything. 

Back in the new safehouse, Crescent Moon goes from the various groups sitting around, her mother on a tablet, Ariel practising her new Veil manipulation abilities in a simulation of some sort on a tablet, Senza taking a shower, and Will doing her daily workout. Crescent watches intently as Will does pull-ups and is very cool and strong. Synch enters, having done all that they wanted to do by themselves, asking if everyones good, which they basically are. Crescent greets them, and they approach the two, with Will still doing pull ups as Synch tells them that they have evidence of Burning not committing the crime that got him banished from Quid. Will is pleased, as she did like Burning in their brief interactions and confirms that she’ll pass along the information to get Burning exonerated faster. Synch then asks for Will to get more information on Bloodroot and Will promises to look into it, along with a number of other things that she has to deal with. Finally, Synch asks Will to tell them if there’s anyone in the Seat of Judges who needs to be investigated, as they are a detective and will do a better job of it (and are also a psychic but Will doesn’t know that).

Meanwhile, Heartful Vale asks Ariel about what she’s doing, following up with questions on if Ariel learned what she did from Crescent or if she taught it to herself. After an awkward silence, Heartful asks what Ariel considers herself, wondering how similar the android is to Crescent. Ariel tells her that she’s an artificial human on bad terms with her creators, something Heartful feels sorry for, but asks for more details on. Upon learning that they’re a secret society of some kind, Heartful stops asking questions, but is clearly hiding something more. Ariel asks how Crescent moon is so special, to which Heartful responds with something to do with the virtual idol being intertwined with the veil, but not having any more details. Ariel attempts to probe further, but is thwarted by Senza entering the room and stuck wondering if Heartful just wanted to know about any possible corporate espionage... or more.

Senza checks her emails on her smart watch and gets a news alert about the deaths of Denno’s and Swept Coil, then an invitation to Denno’s funeral, and finally a frantic email from Blessed Lee about it. Senza asks for the other player characters to follow her into the private room, goading Synch into fully following in. Senza asks what happened and why she wasn’t told about Denno’s death, with Synch saying that a lot happened and WIll agreeing, then continuing with a full explination of the events that happened at SVS. They tried to deal with things quickly, Denno’s tried to run, and he died. Will, not quite getting what Senza wants, attempts to summarize more when Synch admits that they killed Denno. Senza takes a moment and then says that, it isn’t that she doesn’t think that he deserved to die, it’s that she wants to be told if someone she knows dies. Will apologizes, saying that she didn’t know that Senza would be this affected and that she should have thought about it. Synch admits as much fault as they ever will in their life and also says that they should have thought about it more. Senza just feels like this is surreal.

When the group returns into the main room, they notice that Crescent isn’t there. Ariel texts her and asks her where she is, to which after a bit of back and forth, is revealed to be to go to Fortuna, with an apology. Ariel is shocked and the group decides to have Synch protect Heartful Vale while the rest of them go pursue Crescent. Senza sends Fortuna a text warning her about Crescent’s arrival and the idol mysteriously arrives at her office. Crescent Moon wants the favor Fortuna promised her. Fortuna isn’t ready for this. 

Luckily, Mia Ann Grace is pre-occupied watching Anime while Fortuna makes the idol tea and is asked about how she met her wife. The story is very embarrassing with Fortuna trying to act cool at a party, making kind of a fool of herself and running away. The next day, Audacity went to see Fortuna and asked if they could study together, and after time, they got married and stuff. Love’s weird and lucky folks. Fortuna and Crescent watch anime while they wait for the others, Senza ignores more of Blessed Lee’s emails and when they all make it into the office, Crescent Moon awkwardly fails to fully say what she wants, having Fortuna take over.

Senza doesn’t want to be here and tries to give Fortuna an out.

Fortuna says that Crescent Moon needs to talk to Ariel and Will, but that first she wants to apologize to Ariel for the events that happened the previous night. Ariel tentatively accepts the apology after Fortuna puts more gusto into it, allowing the topic to move to what this whole conversation is about. Fortuna says that Crescent has relationship troubles and goads the idol into saying what she wants to say, which is that she likes Ariel and Will. Will is, slow about it, and asks what she means, to which Fortuna says that Crescent Moon is gay and romantically likes you. Will pauses and attempts to process this information, thinking back to the events of the days prior and then going “Oh!”

Senza makes her move, as Fortuna tries to excuse her, as she’s uncomfortable and probably has something important to do, which Senza says that she does, she has to deal with stuff about Denno’s funeral, a bomb to drop before she leaves.

Crescent Moon rambles about how much she likes Will and Ariel, citing their actions and character traits, the things that she likes about both of them and the things she likes about each of them, going on and on and on. Will tries to deflect, as she does like Crescent but they haven’t known each other for very long and that she’s just been doing her job. Crescent tries to retort with how she’s dating Ariel already despite knowing them both for the same amount of time. Will affirms that they need to slow down, that the dynamic is something to consider, you shouldn’t date your body guard, which Crescent reluctantly accepts. The idol turns to Ariel and asks if she’s mad that she likes will, which Ariel isn’t. Crescent is in charge of her own feelings and can date who she wants. Crescent makes confused sad noises and Ariel moves in to hold her hand and Crescent clutches it tightly and beings to cry. Fortuna goes in for a hug and Will slowly attempts to also come in to comfort Crescent Moon, not even noticing Fortuna’s presence anymore. Crescent Moon unleashes a flurry of feelings and is glad that Fortuna helped her, thanking her for it and feeling overall better and ready for the concert.

With that out of the way, Ariel tells Fortuna how they can become square, asking if Audacity can make her sibling, Ark, a body. Fortuna nods and promises to have her wife help. Senza texts Blessed Lee about the urgency of his situation. It is about the nanomachines, and while it doesn’t seem urgent, it is something Senza needs to check up on. The others leave as Senza goes to see him. As her office returns to being just her, Mia Ann Grace returns from her anime binge and asks for whats next.

Alone with Heartful Vale, Synch is playing the Crescent Moon Gatcha Game when Heartful gets an email and reacts in a shocked manner. Synch probes bluntly, saying that keeping information away from people trying to protect you is a bad idea. Heartful tries to deflect, saying she doesn’t want to put others in danger, something thats way too late to apply now. When Synch looks up information on the deep web and sees Heartful Vale connected with Chasis, the CEO of Snow Vision Structure and Nicola Lelulilo, they probe further, eventually getting Heartful to reveal the message, a picture of her, her wife, Chasis, and her mentor along with the message, “Welcome back. Please find me.” It’s clearly from her mentor and Synch says it’s clearly a trap. Synch reveals to Heartful the misdeeds of her mentor, showing her the data he was given by Chasis on what Nicola did or was trying to do with psychics. Heartful asks how intimate Synch is with psychics, the answer to which is very. When Heartful asks if this has to do with Ariel, Synch asks why the researcher has to know. She’s worried about Crescent and it has to do with her work. Synch says that Heartful should ask Ariel about it herself.

Finally. We go to the concert.

The park has the big stage, various booths, the sky is a cool starry nebula thats clearly going to have cool shit happen to it. The group is dressed in various casual clothes and two characters fully introduce themselves in a way that they haven’t really in the space of the game. The first is Zed Teneberous, Will’s hacker and sibling in the Seat of Judges, who’s robot arms are a lot more industrial and who so desperately wants to be cool. Will introduces them, prompting Ariel to say that she doesn’t see the resemblance. Zed (un)cooly says they’re both adopted. Audacity, Fortuna’s catgirl wife, also introduces herself, finding the hacker endearing as he says that Fortuna’s cool. Audacity approaches Ariel, who has used her veil powers to give herself some Crescent Moon themed galaxy space hair effects, which Audacity comments on positively. Audaicty encourages Ariel to try some fashion or cosplay after saying that she has some sketches and preliminary ideas and stuff for Ark’s body. Ariel tries to decline a selfie with Audacity, trying to explain her killer robot status and wondering how much Audacity really knows. She knows everything that Fortuna knows, and the married couples love manages to get Ariel to agree to a selife. 

Sorry Tuna, Wish U Were Here

The concert finally happens, with Crescent Moon wearing a very cool outfit with tassels rising up into the concert like the moon as she thanks the party for being her friends and keeping her safe and showing her everything Quid had to offer. After a few songs, Crescent says that the next one is for her girlfriend, something that shocks the entire crowd. The concert goes off without a hitch, as Crescent Moon gives a performance of a lifetime.

In the afterparty for the concert, the party, Anemone, Zed, Audacity, Heartful and Crescent’s staff all hang out! Everyone says how much they liked the concert and then they go into small talk and party food as Zed takes Will aside for a second, telling her what they found out about Thunderings Seat of Judges mask. Apparently, the mask was expunged from the records, but Eastern Seabed, who trained Will, knows more. Will really doesn’t want to ask her about this, but she supposes she will have to. Will moves on to the new hustle she has for Zed, which is to find out more about the Angelic Threads, as if they are real and a threat, the Seat should know about them, even if for whatever reason, Will doesn’t. Zed agrees and then immediately moves on to asking about Anemone, asking WIll who the cool girl with Ariel is. Will tells Zed that it’s a bad idea and watches in horror as the hacker moves in to introduces themself to them.

While Zed is embarrassing, they do reveal their thoughts on the Seat of Judges to Ariel, saying that the ritual and pretence is more harmful than it is good, but that they like being a cool hacker and that the Seat of Judges as an organisation that makes sure that people can stand up for themselves  and have what was promised to them is good. Zed then asks them what their favorite animals are, and then makes Ariel an origami Snow Leapord and Anemone an origami Crane, with paper printed from his arms. Ariel eventually realizes that Zed’s hitting on her and or Anemone and tells her sibling whats up. She doesn’t really care, as she is interested in seeing what the dork of a hacker has to say about art and culture and dumb internet things they like. 

Heartful then takes Senza and Ariel aside, wanting to trade information about the angelic threads that she assumes they have for information on Crescent Moon that she’s been hiding. Ariel does not trust Senza, or rather LACUNA, and doesn’t want Crescent potentially endangered. Senza tries to convince Heartful otherwise, but doesn’t quite manage it. Heartful Vale reveals that Crescent Moon wasn’t made by her as much as she was restored by her, from an old world data-core, one that she hid before she was kidnapped. She needs to know if the data-core was stolen, and if it was stolen by the angelic threads in particular. That kind of thing can’t fall into the wrong hands. Ariel pauses, as it is a lot to process, and promises to tell Heartful Vale more when she figures out how she feels about this, asking the researcher if Crescent Moon knows. Crescent is aware of her true origins, but not of the particulars of why she specifically is in danger. Heartful wanted to hide it from her, but knows that she can’t do that anymore.

Ariel rejoins the party and the night goes on, quietly our party slowly gaining new friends and allies and getting closer to finding out the secrets behind the Angelic Threads...

In our epilogue, we see them, speaking with 9Sigma, who insists that [Ariel] is behind the disturbance at SVS and the death of Swept Coil. They must act before it is too late and we cut to that night, when Ariel, Ark, and Anemone all have a nightmare, a dream of metaphors and numbers, a message, warning, and call from their eldest sibling.

We see Zed, having stolen access to the Seat of Judges library looking into a group of people who were ousted from the Seat by Radiant Historia, leading to her rise to the top of the Seat, a group who supposedly claimed to want to Open Heaven. 

Mia Ann Grace talks to her true employers about her work with Fortuna, wanting to find specific knowledge that only Fortuna should have...

And finally, Senza is asleep in her home, with LACUNA charging. LACUNA slinks to Senza and connects to her, interfacing with her body, and managing to move her fingers while she’s asleep. LACUNA will have the knowledge they need, at any cost...

#quidama dre #concert at quid central

[theradioghost]

hey, can i pester you for some podcast recs? something with a good dose of humour and not too many episodes to catch up on. a sprinkle of queer romance would be a nice bonus. my fave so far is tsco starship iris, and i also loved greater boston, wooden overcoats, the bright sessions and caravan. and thanks always for all your great recs! you’ve brought many hours of joy into my life :)

We Fix Space Junk -- Two intergalactic repairpeople -- a knowledgeable cyborg veteran and a former socialite on the run -- travel the universe meeting people and fixing things at the behest of the terrifying intergalactic corporation they’re trying to work off their debts to. Hilarious British sci-fi sitcom featuring Evil Space Capitalism, many many wonderful AI characters, and an absolutely delightful teenage space wasp-human-cow hybrid princess who is probably off accomplishing her grandiose special destiny somewhere offscreen while the main characters deal with things like their bosses possibly trying to kill them (again).

Death by Dying -- People have a tendency to die in odd ways in the small town of Crestfall, Idaho. Luckily the town also has an Obituary Writer, an eccentric and nameless but impeccably stylish fellow whose closest friend is the Angel of Death, and who has a knack for solving murders even though that’s definitely not his job description. Throw in walrus haikus, extremely rude ravens, Something Mysterious And Malevolent Lurking In The Dark Woods Outside Of Town, disappearing childhood homes, silent nuns, ghost bicycles, and three man-eating cats, and you get something like a delightful cross between Wooden Overcoats and Lemony Snicket. (Also, OW is peak Canonically Bisexual Dumbass.)

Less is Morgue -- Riley is a paranoid, reclusive teenager with a fondness for conspiracy theories who lives in their parents’ basement. They’re also a predatory ghoul who feeds on human flesh. Evelyn is a cheerful, outgoing young woman with questionable tastes in media. She’s also a ghost, ever since she was killed by a falling stage light at a Nickelback concert 16 years ago. And since Riley dug up and ate Evelyn’s corpse, they’re roommates! Will they ever manage to record a coherent episode of their podcast without something going ridiculously wrong and/or Riley eating one of the guests? Probably not!

Victoriocity -- The steampunk buddy-cop comedy-mystery thriller you never knew you needed but definitely do! Featuring Inspector Fleet, a grouchy, extremely driven policeman looking for the murderer of the Empire’s greatest inventor, and Clara Entwhistle, an even more driven and unfailingly upbeat rookie journalist who has just arrived in the island-spanning, bizarre cityscape of alt-history Even Greater London. Come for some of my favorite sarcastic British narration since Adams and Pratchett, stay for characters-are-begrudgingly-forced-to-work-together-until-they-come-to-genuinely-and-deeply-care-about-one-another-as-friends trope. (Also for Tom “Eric Chapman” Crowley as the aforementioned grumpy detective.)

Quid Pro Euro -- From one of the other leads of Wooden Overcoats, this doesn’t have a typical plot as such but has made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle despite the fact that I know nothing about the EU. Which is what this near-surreal, Look Around You-style comedy is about: Felix Trench’s vision of a simultaneously hilarious and terrifying alternate European Union, seen from the perspective of a serious of educational tapes from the ‘90s predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. It’s hard to describe this show in any way that does it justice, but it’s incredibly funny.

Time:Bombs -- A miniseries by the exalted creators of Wolf 359, which (because they are madmen) was written, recorded, and produced in the space of one week. Also, a comedy about an NYC bomb retrieval squad on New Year’s Eve, most of whom are just trying to get through the night while their leader attempts to break a record for most bombs cleared before the calendar ticks over. Chaos and hilarity ensure.

Superstition -- Wisecracking, bi, Jewish, definitely-a-private-eye-just-don’t-check-her-qualifications Jacqueline St. James receives a message from her father, which is weird, because her parents disappeared years ago. Following the trail leads Jack to Superstition, Arizona, a town in the middle of the desert where everyone’s got secrets, assorted ghosts/monsters/cryptids harrass the locals, and the missing persons rate is the highest in the nation. As a protagonist Jack is Looking For Trouble And If She Cannot Find It She Will Create It, so while Superstition isn’t a comedy per se, it’s got a fair share of laughs and is also just so, so excellent in general.

Standard Docking Procedure -- A self-declared hopepunk scifi workplace comedy about the somewhat dysfunctional staff of Pseudopolis Station, effectively a high-tech interstellar truck stop. It’s funny and heartwarming, nothing truly bad happens, and Julia Schifini is there.

Solutions to Problems -- A morally-questionable human named Janet who has defintely never done any illegal time travel and an easygoing, physically indescribably alien who likes to go by Loaf host an intergalactic advice podcast. Are you tired of your species’ insistence on solving everything via ritual combat? Not sure how to talk to your partner about whether body-swapping has a place in your sex life? Dealing with being a superpowered teenager summoned into being by the collective will of an apocalyptic groupthink cult? Janet and Loaf have you covered! Provided that Janet’s on-and-off girlfriend, the AI who supplies the air they breathe, doesn’t kill them all first. Oddly heartfelt comedy in the form of a relationship advice radio show from the Space Future.

Middle:Below -- This show’s tagline is “Remember: bad things WILL happen,” and that is basically a lie. This is actually a short, incredibly heartwarming and frequently funny show about Taylor Quinn, the only human with the ability to pass between the land of the living (aka the Middle) and the land of ghosts (the Below). Meaning, of course, that the dead call on him to fix all their problems, with the help of a girl named Heather, a ghost named Gil, and a cat named Sans. (Also, some of the most comparatively wild live shows I’ve ever heard.)

Inn Between -- Ever wonder what fantasy characters get up to between adventures, during all that time they seem to spend at inns? This show skips all the adventuring, question, and action, instead focusing on the quiet moments between where what is Definitely Not A D&D Party meet and progress from bickering strangers brought together by circumstance to close-knit found family -- all at the inn, of course. (Lots of queer folks in here also, although there’s no romance at least in the first  couple seasons.)

The Godshead Incidental -- A relatively new but very exciting and so far really enjoyable show!! Following a young woman who writes an advice column through her life in a familiar, and yet strange city where anyone might be a minor god -- your editor, your landlord, that weird guy on the street who was shouting about how he’s the God of Memory and you got into a fight with him and now you keep forgetting everything? Also, your apartment is full of pigeons now because you found out the aforementioned landlord is secretly the god of doorknobs and he’s panicking. Good luck! (Starring Ishani Kanetkar, aka Arkady from Starship Iris!)

Gal Pals Present: Overkill -- Madison, a middle schooler at a Girl Scout camp, agrees to play a game with a somewhat tastelessly bright-pink Ouija board. However, Madison doesn’t know that she’s a natural medium, and now sarcastic mid-2000s 19-year-old Aya Velasquez has joined the many ghosts who are for some reason haunting scenic Harding Park. Aya, however, will not rest until she can solve her own murder (and possibly get to know that other ghost girl a bit better, who says romance has to stop when you’re dead?). Absolutely hilarious writing of a narrator who is almost definitely wearing spectral Uggs during the entire show.

Dark Ages -- The Rivercliffe Museum of Mostly Natural History is one of the finest museums anywhere! Or it would be, if anyone ever actually visited it. Or maybe if the staff weren’t a disastrous and dysfunctional collection of criminals, weirdos, wannabe immortals, idiot bisexuals who can’t just admit they like each other, and one extremely uptight elf with no people skills. Also, it would probably help if the legendary and fearsome Dark Lord, finally returned from his millennia of dormancy to complete his prophesied conquest of the world, wasn’t hanging around watching the chaos unfold because they’ve got his crown on display. (Fantasy workplace comedy with a theme song that did not need to go that hard?)

Brimstone Valley Mall -- It’s mid-December 1999, and at one mall in South Central Pennsylvania, a group of demons are going about their evil work -- namely, working at various dinky kiosks and restaurants, hoping of achieving every demon’s dream of getting to work at Hot Topic, trying not to do too much evil because Earth is way more fun than Hell and no one wants to get promoted back home, and preparing for their band's triumphant opening performance at the upcoming Y2K party. Just one problem: their lead singer is missing. Another absolute masterwork from The Whisperforge.

Arden -- 10 years ago, Hollywood starlet Julie Capsom vanished into the woods of northern California, leaving behind a car containing a human torso that may or may not have belonged to one Ralph Montgomery. Now, private eye Brenda Bentley and reporter Bea Casely, both of whom were among the first at the scene and both of whom have their own very strong opinions on the case, are setting out to solve the mystery on their true crime podcast, Arden. Providing, of course, they can stop arguing with each other long enough to solve it. (Or, a not-really-parody-but-definitely-comedy “true crime” podcast where the crime is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet -- and even knowing that, it’s still a genuine mystery with twists and a surprise ending! -- and the hosts are wlw Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. In other words, it’s perfect. Season 2 is upcoming soon and is adapting Hamlet!!)

Alba Salix/The Axe and Crown -- Another high fantasy workplace sitcom, this one a medical comedy about the titular not-very-personable witch who runs the kingdom’s House of Healing and the various shenanigans she gets into, between her somewhat scatterbrained sister and brother-in-law the king and queen and her assistants, an overly-whimsical fairy and a wannabe monk forced to do community service. The same feed contains The Axe and Crown, a spinoff set in the same world that manages to simultaneously be a sitcom about the staff of a local pub trying to stave off foreclosure and come up with schemes to beat their business rivals, and a heartfelt story about gentrification and recovery starring a gay veteran with PTSD? Which is possibly one of my favorite podcasts? (Also contains one of the most unbelievable crossover cameos possible: Leon Stamatis.)

The Adventures of Sir Rodney the Root -- Also a high fantasy comedy! When a witch transforms heroic Sir Rodney into a small piece of wood, his closest companion Sir Gilbert must set out to cure him by collecting several highly powerful and dangerous relics, accompanied by a snarky dwarfen thief, an imperious princess, a slightly creepy human child raised by fairies, a picky elf sorcerer, a dead unicorn possessed by the ghost of a stoner, and a bard who breaks the fourth wall too much for his own good. So far as I can tell, nobody is straight.

The Amelia Project -- A dark comedy about a secret organization that helps people fake their deaths. Which is honestly a pretty full summary, barring the two important points that 1. this show contains possibly the most continuity-warping crossover event of all time (it’s the center point of this absolutely chaotic diagram), and 2. in one episode Felix Trench plays a character named Bartholomew Fuckface Chucklepants Knucklecracker.

#podcast recs #bobbie recommends things #yujacha #asks #my posts

[magistralucis]

Rammstein @ Stadium MK, 06 July 2019 [Review]

Just over a week ago, I saw one of the greatest shows in my life.

I dedicate lengthy reviews to most concerts I’ve been to. R+ most definitely merit one, and I like to think this one turned out very nice and long, with plenty of images in between. Nevertheless, I omitted a lot more details this time than I usually do, because:

My pre-show adventures were abnormally long (12+ hours wait).

I made irl queue buddies whose identities aren’t up to me to release.

I’ve talked to people who plan to attend future tour dates and do not want to be spoiled on what R+ has planned. I usually put my reviews below a cut to prevent spoilers, but it doesn’t work on mobile as well.

So, a compromise: I commented on every song on the setlist, but I kept to general comments for new content. There are things R+ brought out this year that you really need to see with your own eyes. But I can’t completely refuse to talk about new things, otherwise that’s only half a review. Those who are wary of all spoilers, please, read at your own risk.

Read on for more. Mobile users, be warned this is a very long post.

----------------------------

The Journey (+ Queue Adventures)

This show wasn’t in London. You won’t read about London commutes or opinions about the London Underground in this section for once. Too bad the journey to Milton Keynes fucking sucked. It wasn’t commuting back and forth between Rammstein and my hotel that was the problem. In fact, going back home from Milton Keynes was very simple. But getting there? My God. Only a few things went pear-shaped, and I have nobody but myself to blame for the things that went wrong, but I was not prepared for the discrepancy between MK and the areas surrounding it. Future me, book your hotels and transport in Central Milton Keynes next time.

I will never put myself in the mercy of so many taxis in my life again. Well, I mean, two. Still two too many.

A quick note about Milton Keynes for non-UK residents. It’s probably the most organized city in this country. Milton Keynes is modern and grid-planned, unlike most other cities here which have grown organically and have alleys and hills and cobblestones all over the place. All the roads in MK are in straight lines or clear roundabouts, buildings/facilities are in logical places, and it’s widely considered to be a very easy place to navigate. It’d have been nice to experience literally any of that during most of my journey, because dumbass booked a hotel in the villages around Milton Keynes rather than the city itself. The villages are serene and calming, but they absofuckinglutely do not adhere to any such thing as a grid plan and getting around them was difficult. This was not helped by the fact that the very first leg of the journey, Brighton to London, was delayed for an hour due to an accident on the motorway. I missed the connection to Milton Keynes as a result.

Fuckign.

That was one inconvenience which was not in any way my fault whatsoever, and I’m still bitter that it nearly ruined my entire journey. At least trains between London to Milton Keynes are very common, and it’s only half an hour. So ultimately, after an extra fifteen quid, I arrived right on time. Commuting to the hotel was much harder, because it was a very hot day, and the trains to these villages come by more infrequently. But at least they were there, I hadn’t packed a very heavy load, and when I finally reached the hotel I was given a cottage room all to myself which was cool and comfortably out of the way. There was a huge bathtub. Some nice free toiletries. Complimentary brandy. Oh, hotel, why couldn’t you have been a little closer to the city centre?

But, whatever. I got there. I took the Ls I deserved, and I didn’t pay too high a price for the one I didn’t deserve. I’d brought more than enough money to cover it, because I’d known I would need to shell out extra for transport on the day of the concert. That thought process is universal among concertgoers; I think I handled that as well I could have. I ate dinner, packed a bag, and fell asleep.

That was Friday. Saturday the 6th I will cover in bullet points, from waking up to front row, because most of my Saturday consisted of nothing but waiting for Rammstein. I’m usually more detailed about my preshow life, but there’s a line between an entertaining diary entry and making people slog through fifteen hours of Rammstein-not-happening. Let’s go.

4am. Up nice and early. I force down breakfast. I have a small bag packed with necessities, and a plastic bag intended to be disposed of at the concert: the latter contains energy bars, satsumas (for hydration), some dried salami, and two bottles of water. That is all I’m going to be eating for the rest of the day.

5:45am. Taxi to Stadium MK. It costs exactly a tenner. I decide that when I’m heading back from the concert, I’m willing to pay up to double this amount. A higher price surge will mean I’ll have to wait.

6am. Queuing adventures begin. There are already four people ahead of me; the people at the very front have been waiting since 3am. I’m at Gate 5, closest to front row out of all the other available gates in the stadium. There are three queue lines already formed with metal barriers, separated by standing, seats, and accessible/disabled, but there is a taller barricade in front of it which prevents us from going in there. We are too early even for that.

Stadium doors open at five, R+ comes on at eight. This is going to be a ridiculous haul.

7am. Up to ten people in the queue. The first six of us in the queue begin talking. These people are the aforementioned queue buddies who will subsequently keep my place in line during bathroom breaks, give me much concert wisdom, and preserve our places for front row. The human capacity to spontaneously begin caring for one another at concerts is what I like best about concert culture, especially metalhead culture. Ain’t no other home I’ve found like with fellow metalheads.

9:30am. I am really tired. The people right behind me have homebrewed a sunshade out of plastic picnic mats across the barriers. Half of us are collapsed on the asphalt, sleeping.

10:13am. Bathroom break. Me and one other girl leave the queue to the 24h McDonalds to make use of theirs. I will revisit this McDonalds roughly 14 hours from now, this time to contribute actual business.

12pm. People in queue are significantly more alert because security guys have started milling around. The barricades for the main queue lines will be removed around 3pm.

1:30pm. One last bathroom break. We visit the nearby Asda, because it’s becoming evident the area is flooded with R+ fans and the restaurants are demanding they engage with actual business before using their bathrooms. Asda has no such issue.

3pm. Barricades finally open and I make it to the front of the line once more. We’re allowed a single 500ml bottle of water with us but then they FUCKING HIT US AGAIN WITH THE NO BOTTLE CAP BULLSHIT. Seriously it’s more of a hazard to have open bottles spilling water everywhere for the love of God just let us keep our bottle caps. I discard my original cap, but what I didn’t tell security was that I had a sports cap from a separate bottle from earlier hidden in the depths of my jacket. Once I’m in, I just screw that on, and I am fine and dandy.

5PM FUCKING DOORS ARE OPEN GO GO GO-

-STAIRS? S T A   IR S??? AIN’T NOBODY FUCKING TELL ME ABOUT STAIRS ? 1!?@?3@?@/2?3?#

After a wild scramble I score front row nonetheless. Last time I was front row for Rammstein, I was in front of Richard; this time I choose Paul’s side.

Around 6pm it begins to rain. In the stadium.

6:30pm. I am really cold. I am shivering despite the thousands of people rubbing shoulders beside and all around me, and it’s still 1hrs 30mins until R+ show up. They cannot come on fast enough. I have never wanted so much to be toasted like a marshmallow.

7pm. The opener comes on - Jatekok, a classical pianist duo who covered most of Sehnsucht over a half-hour period. They are all the way over at the B-stage however, and while I can hear them, being a short woman at front row essentially means I forfeit anything that happens on the B-stage. It’s too far back, and there are too many people between me and the stage for me to see anything.

Rammstein came on at 8pm to a multi-language announcement asking the audience not to film the performance. The abundance of full-length videos on youtube depicting exactly that is proof that this request was not kept, but I digress. I’m assuming most people reading this review are Rammstein fans, or or know how each song’s ‘performance’ goes, so a minute-by-minute play will be unnecessary. My comments are general, but hopefully insightful.

----------------------------

01. Was ich liebe (Rammstein)

Check this shit out!

This screen will continue to be relevant throughout the concert. Half the time it’s displaying the logo, and half the time... well, you’ll have to see 😂 R+ have opted for a relatively calm start in this tour. The bandmates appear one by one to the intro, lingering at the front of the stage (save for Schneider) until Till appears.

All the bandmates’ outfits. So far a theme is uncertain. Or maybe it’s just that Flake is the odd one out. He sparkles most golden throughout the entire concert. He still has the treadmill arrangement going. If anything he’s gotten more stage-confident and hilarious since the last time I saw him.

Till’s outfit goes hot and serious and heavy. He will only keep the coat on for ‘Was ich liebe’, which is perfectly reasonable; it’s stopped raining by this time and the venue is warm-ish, though clouded. As for ‘Was ich liebe’ as a song, I’m fond of it. I am, however, surprised to see that it’s the opener. This is not a complaint: in retrospect, R+ paced out the songs from their recent album very cleverly throughout the concert, alternating between their older hits and building up to the major climaxes in the middle (songs 7-14). It was just a bit of a surprise at the time.

I see the most of this cheerful lil’ bastard through the show. Paul will feature heavily in my images of this night.

02. Links 2-3-4 (Mutter)

Storytime. Kinda. I had never watched the music video of ‘Links 2-3-4′ until the day of this concert. I’ve always known one existed, I just didn’t watch it because it’s full of ants and insects are my number one phobia. I haven’t willingly sought out things with insects in it for years, and I wasn’t going to start any time soon. This self-imposed ban on watching the video was broken in Stadium MK because while we were waiting, they were marathoning every single R+ music video on a large screen off to the side of the stage. I watched the whole thing then because I might as well; what the hell else was I gonna do, leave the front row?

It was actually a pretty good video once I got past the CGI bugs ick factor of it. This has nothing to do with the actual live version of the song. Why the hell have I written so much about this? Till removes his heavy coat almost as soon as the song begins. Paul starts properly fucking around with his mic. I’m seeing the virtues of being on Paul’s side very early on, and I finally get what people mean by having ‘met Paul’s eyes’ during the concert. It’s not that he’s focused on the one person, at least not as far as he outwardly presents himself, but he does seem to have a specific zone in which he regards the audience. He takes time to meet eyes with various people, smile, and acknowledge particular situations.

03. Tattoo (Rammstein)

Till is now dressed suitably for the Tillhammer to come out in full force. I’m not huge on ‘Tattoo’ as a song, but this is where Till really starts to gravitate towards either side of the stage, rather than at dead center. After shenanigans with Paul, as seen above, he comes over to Paul’s side (where I am) and stays for the first verse and the first ‘zeig mir deins, ich zeig' mir deins’ chorus.

I like to think we make eye contact, but there are thousands of people behind me and he’s not an eye contact person. Just a fleeting thought.

Also I just went to look at one of the aforementioned full-length videos of this concert and someone was bouncing around an inflatable shark (?) behind me. How did they get that in? Hide it deflated in one’s clothes then inflate it while in the stadium?

04. Sehnsucht (Sehnsucht)

The last strands of ‘Tattoo’ fade immediately into ‘Sehnsucht’ with no time for a break. Till removes another layer of outerwear. Fireworks burst out at every beat leading up to the main part of the song. In retrospect, discounting their fiery entrance, ‘Sehnsucht’ is really the point where you can tell they’re warming up the pyrotechnics. I don’t remember any particular interaction between Till or the guitarists, as from what I can remember Till was busy Tillhammering at the center stage; he will move around more freely later. My memories of this song are loving but blurred, because I got into headbanging with the girls beside me and their hair was grazing my arms something awful. I have similar length hair, however, so I’m sure I was doing the same to them.

God ‘Sehnsucht’ is so good. I always think of the Live Aus Berlin performance where Till was bashing the mic against his forehead when I hear this song. Hits me right in the spot every time.

Also: bonus Richard.

05. Zeig dich (Rammstein)

*sick guitar riffs* ‘Zeig! Dich!’

Fuck yeah. The heat from those firebursts are brief but incredible. Now I feel most comfortable and toasted. Black smoke drifts into the sky.

Also significant ymmv based on location, but this is only about the people around and behind me: come on guys, seriously? You don’t know the lyrics! This is the third song from Rammstein already and you’ve been quiet all three times! I however give them credit for being so well behaved through the show. People further to the right of me were getting dragged out all over the place.

06. Mein Herz brennt (Mutter)

Till trolls us with the first instance of ‘mein Herz brennt’, as the main riff doesn’t immediately begin after these words in this performance. He has a laugh about this. Other than that, the performance is as you’d expect, complete with heart pyrotechnics towards the end.

Olli comes very close to me at the halfway point. I'm starting to worry he’s going to spend the entire concert dressed like this, though the concern is unwarranted. It seems such a hot thing to be wearing.

07. Puppe (Rammstein)

ich rEISS' DER PUPPE den KOPF! AB!

ja, ich REISS' DER PUPPE den KOPF! AB!

UND DANN BEISS’ ICH DER PUPPE DEN H̷AL҉S̕ ĄA̡AA͟B̵!

E̷҉S̀͡͞ ҉̶ĢE͞͝H̷͡T͘ ̢́M͜҉I̵͜R ́͠͝N̷̴Í̷C͟͡͞H̸̀T̛̀ G̡̕U̡҉̀U̵̕U͡͠U҉UU̢U͡T̷̨̛

Make sure you see this performance live, preferably up close. It’s beyond words.

08. Heirate mich (Herzeleid)

When I was in the queue I struck up a conversation with one of my queue buddies about what songs might be on the setlist. She had been front row for the concert in Berlin prior to this, so she already knew what we were getting into. I requested no spoilers in advance, which she kept to - but then our conversation moved to the Herzeleid-Sehnsucht era and I mentioned how I’d love to see a live performance of ‘Heirate mich’ again. It was always a wistful sadness of mine that I was born too damned early to see Till doing this.

Not that I said outright Tillchard was the reason I liked this song.

In retrospect, she had a twinkle in her eye when I said this, because she knew that this song was on the setlist. I did not see it coming. I kept myself spoiler-free from day one of buying tickets to the actual concert itself, so it was a genuine surprise when the intro to ‘Heirate mich’ started playing. Surprise and confusion with a heaping side of mother fucking excuse me when I recognized what it was.

Oh I went hog wild, guys.

Till does not do the dragging himself onto his knees thing in the current tour, which I think is understandable. His knees weren’t amazing twenty years ago and they are presumably even less so now. It’s a very straightforward performance, winding down to prepare for the real showstoppers - but my old wish was finally granted, Till sounded wonderful in both song and narrative, and I came away most satisfied. 11/10 would listen again.

09. Diamant (Rammstein)

Half the band takes a break here. Flake comes down from the keyboards to sit on the stage and Olli sits beside him, providing the bass for this short beautiful little ballad. There are no fancy pyrotechnics here, nor much stage movement; it’s a sequence to make the audience aware of the overheard screen, imo, in case ‘Puppe’ didn’t do a good enough job of it. The entire performance is broadcast on that screen with the camera turning between Olli, Till, and Flake.

Till’s voice is beautiful. It’s the most legitimately serene Rammstein performance I’ve ever seen live. They have their share of ballads - ‘Ohne dich’ will also feature later in the concert - but ‘Diamant’ is probably the most low-key of them all.

10. Deutschland (Richard Z. Kruspe Remix) / Deutschland (Rammstein)

I...

???

?????

?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!

I have no words. Like ‘Puppe’, you really need to see this entire sequence live. I can say three things, however, and two are about Richard: 1) ‘Deutschland’ comes in two flavours in the tour, the second one being the glorious full version in the main album, 2) Richard avoids sounding devilish in his backing vocals (‘du hast, du hast, du hast, du hast... so heiß, so heiß, so heiß, so heiß’ etc), though I cannot guarantee he will always be as tuneful in future performances, and 3) he will not go of that coat until ‘Du hast’. DJ Kruspe is in the house and only the unrelenting flow of time can part him from his swaggity swag fluffcoat.

But I... well, I keep remembering Till’s pink shrug every time I look at it. Remember back when we fawned over that as the brand new Rammstein outfit?

Oh my God I’ve gotten so old.

11. Radio (Rammstein)

This is probably my second favourite song of the new album and they deliver. Because ‘Deutschland’ was, well, ‘Deutschland’, it comes across as relatively low-key compared to what came before (and will after), but I like it like that. During the bridge ‘Ra-di-o... radio’ part, Paul and Richard come out with their own small synths to recreate that sound. It’s so peppy.

Paul does another small dance. Why did I neglect being on Paul’s side until now? This is great.

12. Mein Teil (Reise, Reise)

I’m half ashamed to say I spent this entire performance filming it instead of rocking out. I wanted to save it that much. It was that good.

No, it’s not fundamentally different to other performances of ‘Mein Teil’. Till keeps his usual outfit, Flake’s in the pot, there is a pot, etc. However, the pyrotechnics have changed significantly, and let’s just say that Flake endures a hell of a lot more than previous incarnations.

And comes out of it more sprightly than before, somehow.

Marry me.

Also a bonus consequence of being front row: after this song, Till comes down the stage and walks along the barrier shaking/slapping hands with people. In his murderchef outfit. I was one of many who managed to touch his hand. It really is a very quick walk, so you’ll have to be ready with hand already out and in reaching distance (difficult if you’re short) if you want to partake in this encounter, but it does happen. Future concertgoers watch out for something like this maybe.

13. Du hast (Sehnsucht)

Can you really call it a live performance of ‘Du hast’ if the audience isn’t singing at least 50% of it in Till’s stead? But then, when else do we have that opportunity. Milton Keynes audience does not disappoint.

Also Till shoots some excellent fireworks that travels across the length of the stadium and back before crashing back onstage. I still hear their whistles in my mind. Night is beginning to fall for real, and it’s a fantastic time to be ramping up the fireworks. Evidently R+ think the same, because...

14. Sonne (Mutter)

Daaaaaaaaammnn!!!

I have a video of this performance, but honestly it is not that useful for assessing what’s happening onstage. There is just too much fire. The video whites out continuously from all the flames mere feet away from us. ‘Sonne’ has always been a facemelting showstopper for Rammstein during live shows, but they’ve really gone above and beyond this year: the arena truly lights up like the sun for the full duration of the song. I highly recommend getting front row for this, right in front of where you can see the pyrotechnics are installed in the above gif. (Between main speakers, essentially.) Your face will burn off even more than it usually burns off during a R+ concert, and you will enjoy every minute of it.

15. Ohne dich (Reise, Reise)

Till’s in very good condition tonight. How he pulls off the slow ballads is how I tend to gauge his voice is from night to night, and he doesn’t let us down here either. The entire front row slow waves to this song, which is something I’m proud of being a part of. The girl to the left of me is weeping. The seriousness of this song still does not prevent Flake fucking around. It wouldn’t do R+ performances justice if he wasn’t like this.

‘Ohne dich’ is considered the first ‘ending’ of the concert, meaning in reality the band’s first departure from the main stage. All six members take an initial bow before moving to the B-stage. They will return to the main stage shortly afterwards for further encores.

16. Engel (Sehnsucht)

Pros: The opening act return in their gorgeous outfits and pianos, and act as the piano instrumental for this performance.

Cons: It’s on the B-stage. I sure heard this song but didn’t see anything. God damnit I hate being five feet four.

They provide a karaoke for people exactly in my situation, though. That’s at least something 😂

17. Ausländer (Rammstein)

You thought one R+ boat ride was awesome? HOW ABOUT THREE.

I am going to cry. Look at it. It’s literally a Welcome sign. The sentiment of the music video to ‘Ausländer’ is perfectly retained as they surf across the audience from the B-stage.

Also bonus ~✨👀 unintentional Tillchard moment 👀✨~ as Richard has a little slip on his way out of the boat. He was not hurt and was back onstage quickly. All this before the song even begins. I may need to upload the video of this moment.

‘Ausländer’ itself I have slightly more mixed feelings for. The song is fantastic and I have no complaints about the album version, and hearing Till cry out ‘я люблю тебя’ is always a plus. The problem with the live version is simply that the drums are too loud during the chorus: instead of a clearly enunciated ‘Ich bin Aus-län-der!’ with a drumbeat on each syllable, one hears ‘*THUD* *THUD* Aus-län-*THUD*!’. I was wearing earplugs which might have affected the quality somewhat, but people who weren’t wearing any were talking about this after the show as well, and after watching videos of the Milton Keynes performance I’m sure the drums were too loud. Your mileage may vary on whether this is a desirable effect - it lets the audience fills in the ‘ich bin’ part, I suppose - but I feel Till was unnecessarily drowned out.

18. Du riechst so gut (Herzeleid)

For me, the highlight of this song in the live version is always, always, always Richard’s evil scream-growl ‘DU RIECHST SO GUUUUUUUUUUUT’ (example here for reference). He delivers yet again.

19. Pussy (Liebe Ist Für Alle Da)

On the whole, this performance is largely unaltered from how it usually goes. Till gestures for the audience to sing the first couple of lines, there is a dick cannon that shoots something at the audience, and Till mans the dick cannon. Last time I saw them from front row, we were all covered in a very thick white foam; this time it was bubbles, followed by a shower of white confetti. The combination was less clinging than the foam, somehow, much more pleasant to be showered with.

Only Rammstein could make me write such a sentence about dick cannons.

Speaking of the dick cannon, though, I engaged in some discussion about it while I was waiting for the performance. This cannon has had a troubled existence, as R+ fans would know: sometimes it straight up hasn’t worked, and it’s been redesigned several times, ranging from a disturbingly realistic look to a flesh-coloured polygonal creation. This current version is the least realistic of all the dick cannons R+ have ever used. It’s just like, metal. Visibly. They haven’t gone to the extra trouble of painting it flesh-coloured. My guess is that this is because it fits with their current chrome/dark aesthetics better, R+ aren’t a band to neglect that kind of detail. As long as it works and the audience is aptly showered, what’s the problem? Let’s do it quick! 😀 And now this is entirely too many words about dick cannons, so I’ll move on.

20. Rammstein (Herzeleid)

‘Ramm-stein!’

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. It is past ten o’clock and the skies have gotten dark, though not so dark you can’t see the black smoke spiraling into the air with each burst of fire. A plane flies by far above into the distance and I appreciate the poetic irony. I think I would have been happy enough if they’d ended the performance on this note, but there’s one last song left.

21. Ich will (Mutter)

I can’t think of a better finale.

This song is exactly what you’d expect, with an additional sprinkle of fireworks punctuating every pause in the lines ‘Seht ihr mich? / Versteht ihr mich? / Fühlt ihr mich? / Hört ihr mich?’. Like always, audience participation is mandatory, as is the audience showing off their hands. It is the perfect way to end the show: it’s a classic favourite, it’s neither too bright nor too grim (avoids ending on a downer note), and it’s a song exclusively written to highlight a togetherness between band and audience. ‘Ich will’ could end every R+ concert it features in, in my opinion, regardless of theme or era... and it will always be appropriate.

The concert really ends after that. It helps that Till addresses his farewell to us as ‘fucking Milton Keynes’ (in a wholly fond way) before they depart. I won’t speak about the details of how they leave, because that’s almost a small show of its own, but trust me when I say I was in tears.

I say that like that didn’t happen at least three times during the concert.

----------------------------

After it’s all over, I... don’t get to go back to my hotel and sleep. Not after a lot of waiting, anyway. Over 30,000 people are trying to leave this stadium all at once, the traffic congestion is awful and there are pretty much no taxis/uber rides available in the couple of hours following the concert. I eventually end up sitting in the McDonalds (only 24hr restaurant nearby) with queue buddies until roughly 1am until the surge goes down and I can pay the amount I promised myself for my uber.

I could have gone back earlier. I budgeted over a hundred pounds to see myself through the price surge, in case it didn’t go down as quickly as I hoped, or if I urgently needed to get myself out of danger. It was just that the predictor was showing something like fifty to eighty quid for a ten-minute ride back to my hotel and, like. Fuck that. There’s being able to ‘afford’ it, and then being able to afford it, and I can think of better ways to spend fifty pounds.

And to be honest, after over a half day of hunger, even McDonalds was one of those better places. I had a meal and a Sprite before I could get out of there. It was probably the first time I’d had something resembling a legit meal in two days and if I hadn’t been so ecstatic I think I’d have been depressed. Then I got back to my hotel. Made myself a hot chocolate with brandy. Passed out on my bed around 3am, then got back up around 7am to enjoy a nice morning bath and get myself back home. It was around 5pm on Sunday when I returned to Brighton, ears still ringing, feeling on cloud nine.

So that’s me. Future concertgoers, take as many opportunities as possible to go see Rammstein’s current tour live. Front row may be near impossible if you aren’t a LIFAD member and/or get pre-releases for the Feuer Zone (although Milton Keynes didn’t have that) but try to get as close as possible, anyway. It is not an experience to be missed.

Though also bring an umbrella, maybe. If your stadium allows it. It was a fucking trip surviving 12+ hours in the great outdoors and then immediately being rained on while on front row 😰

#rammstein #till lindemann #richard kruspe #christoph schneider #doom schneider #flake lorenz #oliver riedel #paul landers #long post #reviews #milton keynes #stadium mk #rammstein 2019 #the tl;dr is for the love of god front row for #puppe #sonne #and #auslander #image heavy #gif heavy #tw flashing gif #rammstein live

[naomidryden-smith]

North Country Gentleman

NORTH COUNTRY GENTLEMAN – by Dermott Ryder (taken from Solstice Sunset – Features From Folk Odyssey)

This tribute to Colin Dryden, first published to the on-line magazine Folk Odyssey as ‘Echoes of a North Country Trilogy’ has gained a title change.  Within days of publication Folk Odyssey received several emails suggesting that the final line in the endnote ‘Appreciation’ could provide an alternative title.  Then, at a social gathering, a truculent woman with piercing eyes accosted the mild-mannered editor and virtually ordered the change, the editor, an affable individual, acquiesced.

Colin Dryden was born to John and Doreen Dryden on July 23rd 1942 in Bradford, West Yorkshire.  He was the second of four children.  He had an older brother, Donald, and two younger sisters, June and Christine.  He was a war baby and, on the way through boyhood to youth he experienced the post war austerity years of the late nineteen forties and fifties.

The great Yorkshire conurbation was a tough industrial environment. Daily working life there presented a history of hardship and struggle.  The ‘dark satanic mills’ of the industrial revolution still cast a long shadow.  The war memorials standing in every village and town square, with weathered names in one panel and freshly carved names in another, were a constant reminder the of the tragedy and loss of the two world wars.  The betrayal and defeat of the general strike and the haunting recollections of the Great Depression were never far from memory.

Colin Dryden’s boyhood world was a world recovering from the rigours of the Second World War and at the same time battling rationing, savage winters, nationalization, factory closures and unemployment.

He attended junior school and later Lepage Secondary School in Bradford. After finishing school, being strong and fit and not afraid of hard work, he had a number of very physical jobs with International Harvesters, a local tractor company. When not working for a living he worked at life.  He loved the outdoors, particularly camping, walking and climbing, east of the Pennines in the Yorkshire Dales and far west of the Pennines in the Lake District of North West Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmoreland.

As he grew through and out of his teen years music became his greatest and most enduring passion.  His early influences included Bill Broonzy, Huddie Leadbetter and Django Rhinehart; later influences Davy Graham and John Renbourn were largely inescapable. He was a totally self-taught guitar and fiddle master and he played at every opportunity.

Although extremely important, music was not his only diversion.  In the early nineteen-sixties he followed his actor director brother Donald and turned to acting for a while.  He appeared in several plays, including Under The Milkwood by Dylan Thomas and, with Bradford Civic Playhouse Drama School, Green Fingers productions, the Mad Woman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux, Knit Yourself A Lost Weekend by David Climie, and Working to Rule by Michael P Walker at the Bradford Playhouse, now The Priestley.

He was naturally adventurous, questing almost, and when the opportunity to travel to Australia came to him he accepted the challenge with some enthusiasm. Colin Dryden departed the United Kingdom by air on May 20th 1965. He travelled as a ten quid tourist under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, and he brought with him to Australia his observations and experiences of working life in the North of England, and his talent as a songwriter and musician.

One of his earliest recorded involvements with the popular folk movement in Sydney, in the middle nineteen sixties, was with the Friday Night ‘Sydney Folk Song Club’ at the Hotel Elizabeth, a small agreeable hostelry near to central Sydney’s green and pleasant Hyde Park.  There, for a while at least, he performed and he shared the organizational load with Mike and Carol Wilkinson and Mike Ball.

The Wilkies build a reputation for their English folk song harmonies, for their uncompromising attitudes towards material presented at their folk club, and for Carol’s occasionally incendiary letters to various folk publications. The influential and renowned Mike Ball, concertina virtuoso and fine singer, claimed a place in folk-time for his intuitive musical setting of Charles Causley’s evocative poem, ‘Timothy Winters’.  In time Wilkie, Wilkie and Ball moved back to Old Albion, the Albonian’s gain was our loss. Colin Dryden, however, soldiered on in the antipodes.

For a time, after the departure of the peripatetic three, there was a slight hiatus in smooth running but there were willing workers to help bridge the Friday Night gap until expatriate Liverpudlian and expatriate Highland Scot Morag Chetwyn joined Colin Dryden on the all-singing, all-playing management team.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Night at The Hotel Elizabeth, the irrepressible Australian Irish tidal wave ebbed and flowed in rebellious sheep shearing chorus.  The Wednesday Night had several organizers; they came and went, some like lions and some like lambs.

It was about this time that ‘The Leaf – The Sydney Folk Song Magazine’ made a brief but interesting appearance.  Colin Dryden wrote the editorial, a couple of articles and a couple of record reviews, Keith Finlayson wrote about Huddie Leadbetter and Derrick Chetwyn of the Sydney Folk Song Club, John Francis of the Jug of Punch Folk Club and G R Tomkinson of the Bower Folk Club, Bankstown, provided activity reports and comments on their neck of the woods.  It was a good read, pity it didn’t run to a second edition.  Too many other interesting things to do, I suppose.

The Chetwyn, Chetwyn, Dryden team eventually made way for another expatriate Englishman, the highly focused Mike Eves.  Under his direction the club consolidated Friday Night and expanded into Saturday Night.  He proved to be one of the most able folk club organizers in the western spiral arm of the galaxy.  He was also one of the prime movers of the 1970 Port Jackson folk festival.

A name that resonates across the years from that formidable festival is ‘Extradition’ – Colin Dryden, now at rest in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK, Colin Campbell, now residing in England, and Shayna Carlin, now in transit – were at that time far ahead of their time.  All I can say is ‘Hush’ you had to be there.  

Colin Dryden rejoiced in both the traditional and contemporary songs he had learned from others but told a much more personal series of stories in the songs of his own devising.  For ease of identification I have taken to describing three of his songs as a North Country Trilogy.  I list them as Sither, Factory Lad and Pit Boy because in this order they came to me.

The trilogy captures enduring impressions of the industrial North of England.  The cotton mills, coalmines, terraced houses, cobblestone streets, and clogs, are all here.  He has captured an echo of race memory and recorded a culture and lifestyle fast fading into history.

In the nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies, in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Colin Dryden had a voice among voices. His interpretation of folksong, both traditional and contemporary, made him a leading folk activist of the day.  Working alone, with a partner or in a group, in a great hall or small folk club he had the power to charm and capture an audience and keep it working with him from introduction to encore.

Colin Dryden’s North Country Trilogy has a readily definable place in the common stock of Australian singers singing on.  The songs pass from one to another, in the main, b oral transmission or by hastily scribbled notes.  Some singers aim at an accurate performance of a known writer’s works, in text, tune and style.  Others add their own stamp of individuality to tune and style.  That is the nature of things.

The folk process in its way a force of nature, is always with us and a few word changes have occurred in some performances over the past thirty years or so. Even in the presentation of the songs by the most diligent of singers.

Transcription errors, copious quantities of amber fluids or the ravages of time and the failing of memory account for minor accidental changes. The only changes that I have encountered, that I find worthy of comment, are those where the delicate and contemplative North Country ‘were’ is replaced by the harder antipodean ‘was’.  To me, at least, the ‘was’ accidental modification disrupts the flow and diminishes the strangely ethereal qualify of the original words of one particular song.

The words, structure and order of verses of the three songs as written down here come from direct contact with Colin Dryden and have been tested for accuracy against the aging audiocassettes of his recorded singing.

So…moving right along, there I was, sitting at what became my favourite table in the Sydney Folk Song Club, otherwise known as the upstairs lounge of the Hotel Elizabeth, in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, one surprising Saturday evening early in nineteen seventy.  Mike Eves started the entertainment, as usual, and we all joined in with Three Score and Ten, Poverty Knock and Rough Tucker Bill.  The Port Jackson Folk Festival was still resonating in the background and there was an air of excitement around all things folk, especially at the Sydney Folk Song Club.

I was there to hear and enjoy everybody but I had a particular interested in Colin Dryden.  I had met him at the festival, at an impromptu session after a riveting Sunday night concert.  On stage his songs of choice were: Lord Franklin, Lassie With The Yellow Coatie, High Germanie, and Silver In The Stubble. Maintaining an after-part song list was too hard.

Performing alone or in a group, on stage or in the corner of a noisy, smoky, boozy room Colin Dryden was impressive.  His appearance at the Sydney Folk Song Club was my first opportunity to hear him in such an intimate venue.

Colin Dryden, introduced by Michael Eves, came to the small stage and sat for a moment in silence. Then, in his characteristically unhurried way, he told a story.  He checked the tuning on his guitar as he spoke, quite softly.  The good audience listened attentively.  Everybody laughed in the right places.  His first song, Pleasant And Delightful, selected to allow the audience to share the moment, and a chorus, worked well, then he introduced Sither.

This is a song in which he remembers, with obvious affection his paternal grandfather, James Dryden.  It tells a simple and engaging story of the old man’s retirement from full time work in the mill. It bears, as title, his grandfather’s nickname.  Sither, or Zither, translated perhaps as ‘see thee’ or ‘look here’ was the name the family used for James Dryden because it was one of his catch phrases.

SITHER Colin Dryden © The Dryden Estate

Forty years in the mill, your day’s near done, but it’s going still. Time to be thinking o’ makin’ your will, for you’ve nowhere to go, no intentions.

Weft and weave it was your game, ten thousand hours upon the frame, then walking home in the driving rain, with a brand new watch and a pension.

Time now to bide, to sit and to dream, on bygone days and the changes you’ve seen, in coal and in diesel, the power of steam, black shawls, coal stockings and courting.

Clogs on the frost on a cold winter’s morn, the smell of the grease and oil on the loom, and the wife wi’ the kids by the gateway at noon stand waiting for your wages on Friday.

Six in the morn and it’s time to rise, sleep on, old man, you’re weary and wise, to the ways of the mill, aye, and all of the tries for a part time job in the doffing.

Puffin’ and pantin’ past the mill, up to the local to get all your fill, though you’ve only got enough brass for a gill, there might be a job in the offing.

But the shuttles have flown, it’s time to roam, back to the armchair and fire at home, and leave all the mill hands and weavers alone  to their beer and their laughter and joking.

But many’s the time when you’ve stood with the best, although the looms have near turned you deaf, they’ve all got a few miles of weaving as yet before they’ll have bested old Sither.

If Sither records working life as observed from the outside, by a grandson perhaps, then Factory Lad describes working life experienced from the inside. Cold early mornings in winter, the cruel demands of the alarm clock, the desire to remain warm and snug in a cocoon of blankets are experiences shared by many.  The early shift at the engineering workshop or factory is calling and you have to go.  Travelling to work at dawn, on shank’s pony, bicycle, or double-decker bus, hurrying to clock-on almost before waking up is a way of life, if not a rite of passage. These may be memories best forgotten but they can’t be.  

           Here too, indelible and indestructible, is the manufacturer’s mark made by the mind-numbing and soul-destroying ordeal of bondage in the factory system.  So many people who have shared this song can say ‘been there done that’.  Others, of a different generation perhaps, can enjoy the song and gain some insight into the work-a-day life of a fitter and turner. Although this begs the questions: Who would want to, and why?

           Factory Lad surfaced, for me at least, at a fairly quiet drink, chat and sing a round night in a cockroach castle in Chippendale in May or June 1970. I can date the event with reasonable ease because I had recently received the first ever copy of the New South Wales Folk Federation newsletter.  It was a masthead, in small print under the larger print of the main title, ‘incorporating the Port Jackson Folk Festival Committee’.

           We discussed it at length.  It contained as much useful event information, local and interstate, that a journal that size could.  Very useful, we decided unanimously.  However, the editorial was a little disturbing in one respect.  There was an aura of ‘we’ve done good and are on our way to glory’ leeching out of the page.  ‘Big is good and bigger is better’ we inferred.  A dark omen indeed, we agreed.  The curse of the folk scene, we decided was the ambitions of some people to tur a popular music movement into a three-ring circus.  Time, we prophesied, will tell.  Then we consumed a little herbal tobacco, made several jokes about camels being horses designed by committees and got back to singing and drinking or was it drinking and singing?

           Colin Dryden sang Factory Lad.  He didn’t say as much but I gained the impression that it was a relatively new song that had been some time in the growing and cone to a performable completion during his Kings Cross sojourn during 1969.  In any event it achieved instant acclaim and there was something of a scramble to get the words. Factory Lad entered the song stock and became a favourite and the ‘Turning Steel’ chorus always gets a powerful response.

FACTORY LAD Colin Dryden © The Dryden Estate

You wake up in the morning and morn’s as black as night. Your mother’s shouting up the stairs, And you know she’s winning the fight. So you venture out of the bed, me lad, for you know it’s getting late, and it’s down the stairs and up the road, and through the factory gate.

Turning steel, how do you feel as in the chuck you spin If you felt like me you’d roll right out and never roll back in.

Sleet and dark the morning, as you squeeze in through the gate, as you clock in aye yon bell will ring, eight hours is your fate. Off comes the coat, up go the sleeves, and “right lads” is the cry, with an eye on the clock and t’other on your lathe, you wish that time could fly.

Turning steel, how do you feel as in the chuck you spin? If you felt like me you’d roll right out and never roll back in.

But time can’t fly as fast as a lathe, and work you must, the grinding, groaning, spinning metal, the hot air and the dust, and many’s the time I’m with me girl and I’m walking through the park, whilst gazing on the turning steel or the welder’s blinding spark.

Turning steel, how do you feel as in the chuck you spin? If you felt like me you’d roll right out and never roll back in.

Well old Tom left last week, his final bell did ring, with his hair as white as the hair beneath his oily sunken skin. Well he made his speech and bid farewell to a lifetime working here, but as I shook his hand I thought of hell as a lathe and forty years.

Turning steel, how do you feel as in the chuck you spin. If you felt like me you’d roll right out and never roll back in.

So, when my time comes as come it must, I’ll leave this place. And I’ll walk right out past the chargehand’s desk and never turn me face, out through the gates into the sun and I’ll leave it all behind, with one regret for the lads I’ve left to carry on the grind.

Turning steel, how do you feel as in the chuck you spin? If you felt like me you’d roll right out and never roll back in.

Pit Boy, the third song in my ordering of the trilogy, is evocative and lyrical, a song at the edge of memory.  I can only recall Colin Dryden sing it ‘live’ twice. The first time was in the winter of 1970 at a Sydney Folk Song Club Saturday night after-party at a very interesting house in Cambridge Street, Paddington.  The second occasion was at the Sydney Folk Song Club a year or so later.

           The Cambridge Street after-party had a very special resonance.  Colin Dryden hadn’t appeared at the club that night, even though he was expected, but he had a sixth sense when it came to party locations. He arrived just after midnight with a tall fair-haired girl from a different planet and a guitar swathed in a tartan car rug, because it was bloody cold out there.

           He was in good spirits, and in good voice and sang several songs.  Lark In The Morning, Cocaine and Pit Boy come to mind. Time, I regret to say has hidden the others.

PIT BOY Colin Dryden © The Dryden Estate

The times are hard, the days are long, I wish I were a farmer’s son – out in the green fields all day long – away from the dark of the day.

When the sun is hanging in the sky, the days are long, long are the sighs, down in the darkness, where we bide, passing our lives away.

And if I were a robber bold I’d rob the rich of all their gold. And if I were caught, well I’ve been told it’s better down Botany Bay.

When the sun is hanging in the sky, the days are long, long are the sighs, down in the darkness, where we bide, passing our lives away.

And if I were a sailor, I’d sail the main, and robs the ships of France and Spain. Now if we lost perhaps we’d gain for the French might raise our pay.

When the sun is sagging in the sky, the days are long, long are the sighs, down in the darkness, where we bide, passing our lives away.

Like pit ponies, down the mine going blind without the shine – though if we do we’ll never mind – ‘cos we’ll never want the sun no more.

When the sun is hanging in the sky, the days are long, long are the sighs, down in the darkness, where we bide, passing our lives away.

In terms of performance by others of a North Country Trilogy – in total, Sither, Factory Lad and Pit Boy – the only Sydney folk activists I can recall singing all three songs at one time or another are the late David Alexander and the encyclopaedic Robin Connaughton. However, I have encountered several other singers and groups of singers presenting one or other of these eminently singable songs on numerous occasions stretching over thirty years.

           Only one performance caused me to recoil with horror.  That was at a chorus cup session, when a gathering of ponderous choristers managed to turn Factory Lad into a turgid facsimile of a high church hymn.  It was the dark side of harmony singing.  Choirs, I thought, belong in far distant cathedrals, with the doors locked and bolted on the outside.

           The clock’s ceaseless ticking counted the folk at the Hotel Elizabeth on a pace through the early and into the middle nineteen seventies.  Changing fortunes hurried the departure of the Irish Musicians club and brought a new team, David Alexander and Keri Levi, to the Wednesday Elizabeth.  Within weeks they made way for Darts Kelimocum – Dermott and Alison Ryder, Tony Suttor, Maureen Cummuskey, with Keri Levito to ease the changeover.  Competing ambitions saw Mike Eves, a most able man, move on from the Friday and Saturday ‘Sydney Folk Song Club’, and the merging of the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday operations under the Darts Kelimocum banner as the ‘Elizabeth Folk Club’.

           Folk organisations always suffer the attrition of competing objectives; Keri Levi’s stay was short, and later Tony Suttor and Maureen Cummuskey sought different roads to travel.  That left yours truly and partner to run the three nights a week ‘Elizabeth Folk Club’. It was a time consuming, challenging, rewarding experience.

           A significant event in the folk lifestyle of Sydneysiders, Andrew Saunders reminded me of it, was the closing down of Tommy and Joan Doyle’s pub, the Westworth Park Hotel in Ultimo, an inner city suburb of Sydney.

           This ever-hospitable couple had made the pub a home from home for folk musicians for eight years or, as Declan Affley put it on several occasions, from time immoral.  The last Saturday, 27th November 1976, at Tommy Doyle’s was an almighty wake. The pub actually closed on the following Tuesday, many of the Saturday revellers were still there.  The Wentworth Park Hotel, and Tommy and Joan Doyle, had a mother and a father of a send off.  One of Colin Dryden’s contributions on the Saturday evening of the event was an English folk song that seemed to fit the passing of an era wonderfully well.

WHAT’S THE LIFE OF A MAN English – Traditional

As I was a-walking one morning at ease, A-viewing the leaves as the hung from the trees, They were all in full motion or seeming to be, And those that had withered, they fell from the tree.

What’s the life of a man, any more than the leaves? A man has his seasons, so why should he grieve? Even though in this wide world he seems bright and gay, Like the leaves he shall wither and soon fade away.

Did you not see the leaves but a short time ago? How lovely and green they all seemed to grow, When a frost came upon them and withered them all, Then a storm came upon them and down they did fall.

What’s the life of a man, any more than the leaves? A man has his seasons, so why should he grieve? Even though in this wide world he seems bright and gay, Like the leaves he shall wither and soon fade away.

If you look in the churchyard there you will see Those who have passed like the leaves from the tree. When age and affliction upon them did call, Like the leaves they did wither and down they did fall.

What’s the life of a man, any more than the leaves? A man has his seasons, so why should he grieve? Even though in this wide world he seems bright and gay, Like the leaves he shall wither and soon fade away.

 Russ Herman and Tom Zurycki captured that historical folk event at the Wentworth Park Hotel on half-inch reel-to-reel video p/pack film and later transferred it to VCR when they discovered that only one machine in the known universe could lay it.  It was sad to say farewell to Tommy Doyle’s but the legend lives on.

           Community access FM radio arrived in Sydney in 1975 and in early 1976 folk musicians were performing ‘live’ on 2MBS-FM on a regular basis.  The programme ‘Burn The Candle Slowly’, a magazine in pages broadcast from Tuesday midnight until 6:00am every week.  One of the pages, ‘Looking at it Sideways’ later became ‘Ryder Round Folk’.

           Derrick Chetwyn of Liverpool UK, then Sydney, later Brisbane, performed Colin Dryden’s songs Sither and Factory Lad live to air on the 2MBS-FM programme ‘Looking At It Sideways’ in September 1976.  Pit boy, performed by Colin Dryden and recorded live at The Elizabeth Folk Club, also appeared in that programme.  Recorded for posterity, and for playing in the car on the way to reunions, this moment in radio history can be found on the 2004 Screw Soapers Guild project CD, On This Michaelmas Even, SSG-sideway-760928-Z41020.

           Sither, performed live to air by Robin Connaughton on the 2MBS-FM programme ‘Ryder Round Folk’ in July 1983 generated a spirited listener response. The programme segment also included Sandy Hollow Line by Duke Tritton and Sergeant Small by Tex Morton with a tune by Brad Tate.  It was rebroadcast several times and also found a home on the 2002 Screw Soapers Guild project CD, Cross-Section of Connaughton, SSG-RRF-830723.

           Factory Lad has become, over the years, the most performed, and recorded, of the songs.  In 1977 Sydney singer Andrew Saunders, late of Folk’sle, Steamshuttle and later of the Larrikins, Balmain Light Haulage and The Symbolics, recorded it for the concept album, On My Selection, Larrikin LRF 017.  In 1982 the Melbourne group Cobbers included it on their album, By Request, Festival L37919.

           The producers of Dave Alexander’s late nineteen nineties posthumous CD, Singer At Large, DAS27/24H selected Factory Lad as the first track.  In live performance, Andrew Saunders included Factory Lad in his set at the Screw Soapers Guild 2003 Christmas convocation. Robin Connaughton of Roaring Forties, in 2004, still sings it occasionally.

           Pit Boy is also part of Robin Connaughton’s song stock.  He remembers that he first heard Colin Dryden sing it at one of the Newcastle folk festivals in the early nineteen seventies.  A short time later, in 1972 perhaps, on Connaugton’s entry into Sydney’s big city society, he heard him sing it at the Red Lion Folk Club in the Red Lion Hotel in Sydney.  There he got the words directly from the singer.  He started singing the song almost immediately and has sung it ever since. He presented it in his set at the Screw Soapers Guild 1997 Christmas convocation.

           This performance, including Old Ben by CJ Dennis and Monday Morning by Cyril Tawney, appears on the Screw Soapers Guild 2002 Limited Edition CD, Another Saturday, SSG-collect-070.  Sadly, Pit Boy and Sither are finding quiet times now.  I am hoping for a renaissance.

           Colin Dryden popularised his own songs, and others, during the nineteen sixties and seventies.  His strong, rich voice, his skill as an entertainer, his musicianship and his easy-going personality made him a popular addition to any folk club night.  Then our world moved on, tick tock.

           I have a theory, one of many, that older singers singing Colin Dryden’s songs can still hear Colin Dryden singing them, and that younger singers singing his songs wish that they could hear him singing too.

           Colin Dryden, in failing health, returned to the United Kingdom in 1986. He and his family were fortunate enough to be able to spend some valuable time together.  He died very suddenly of an aneurysm on July 28th 1988. He has found a lasting peace at Lidget Green in Bradford, Yorkshire.

Resting there, safe, home at last, a travelling bard of the hero caste, in gentle sunlight, in soothing rain, in whispering winds he’ll sing again.

People of my generation remember Colin Dryden for his personal warmth, his good companionship, his generosity, his free spirit, his delicate touch on the acoustic guitar, and for his singing of those songs we will always think of as a North Country Trilogy.

An Appreciation

Folk Odyssey – The Magazine and Dermott Ryder take this opportunity to thank the Dryden Family of London, Bradford and Newark in the United Kingdom for the help freely given in the writing of this short personal tribute to Colin Dryden [1943-1988].  He was to all that knew him, a North Country Gentleman.

FAREWELL SHANTY English Traditional

It’s time to go now, haul away the anchor. Haul away the anchor.  It’s our sailing time

Get some sail upon her. Haul away your halyards. Haul away your halyards. It’s our sailing time.

Set her on her course now, haul away your fore sheets.  Haul away your fore sheets, it’s our sailing time.

Waves are surging under, haul away down channel. Haul away down channel, on the evening tide.

When my days are over, haul away for heaven. Haul away for heaven, God be by my side.

Dermott Ryder

#Dermott Ryder #colin dryden

[h-styles-babes]

No Control | Chapter Seventeen

Summary: 

Micky Bennett: college student, loyal friend, aspiring nurse, One Direction fan, Harry Styles enthusiast. Her best friend, Trevor, wins tickets to a show in New Jersey with meet and greet passes. Micky expects a quick photo op with the boys and a great night at the concert with her best friend. What she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for.

To read previous chapters, you can go here.

*Please feel free to reblog and send feedback. It’s much appreciated :)*

*Gif is not mine.*

SEVENTEEN

The Coopers stick around well into the evening, playing a game of croquet in the yard that Robin set up after we all ate. The adults all play while the younger crowd sits back and laughs as the intoxicated parents bumble around, trying to knock the other balls off course. Harry keeps me in his lap all day, hands roaming over my jeans and up under my shirt to touch my bare skin when he can. Around the time the sun starts to go down, I can feel him begin to get restless, shifting in the seat constantly. Jen hasn’t really taken her eyes off us the entire day, so I think it’s in discomfort of having her practically stare at us, until he whispers in my ear.

“I need to have you, pet,” he says, lips grazing against my earlobe. He pulls me closer against him, and I can feel his erection press into my bum, making him hiss at the contact. “Think we can sneak away for a bit while everyone’s preoccupied out here?”

I glance around, taking note that Gemma’s on her phone, taking pictures of the game on Snapchat, laughing as her mum stumbles over her own feet for no reason. They’re all well entertained and not at all paying attention to Harry and me, except for Jen. 

“In your mum’s home, Harry?” I ask, unsure if this is a good idea. 

“It’s turning me on more thinking about it, angel,” he admits, teeth nipping at my ear now. “Never had anyone there before.”

“The sneaking around and the possibility of getting caught turns you on, doesn’t it?” I guess.

“Absolutely.”

I don’t really have to think about it; I just hop off his lap and grab ahold of his hand, helping him out of the lounger and letting him lead the way inside. I haven’t made it past the first floor all day, so I have no idea where his bedroom is. He leads me up the stairs and down the hall to the very last door on the right. I’m actually quite thankful that his bedroom is so far, hoping that maybe it’ll make it less likely for anyone to hear anything that might come from his room.

“Strip for me,” he demands, shutting and locking the door behind us. When he turns back to me, there’s a look in his eye that makes me shiver and heats me from the inside out all at the same time.

I smirk and let my fingers untie the material at the bottom of my shirt. “Anything for you, daddy.”

Harry and I leave early the next morning for the three hour drive to London. We stay just long enough to have a cuppa with Anne and Robin, and I thank them profusely for having me and welcoming me into their home for the day. 

“It was wonderful to meet you, darling,” Anne insists, reaching over from where she’s sat across from me to grab my hand. “Anyone that Harry is so comfortable with and enjoys so much is more than welcome in our home.” 

I can feel the blush rising on my face as Harry smiles at me, looking very content and a little blissed out, if I’m quite honest. The sex the night before was amazing, but I don’t think it warranted this level of relaxation twelve hours later. I smile back at him shyly.

The weather has gotten a bit nippy, so I’ve dressed in jeans, one of my favorite tees, and a  black and pink Valentino bomber jacket that is much too expensive. The jacket, as well as the black Coach ankle boots I’m wearing were gifts from Trevor that resulted in his father not being able to see him on holidays. Whenever that happens, his dad wires him more money that usually results in shopping trips from Trevor. And since his own closet is to the point of nearly bursting, he takes it upon himself to make sure I’m well dressed, too. In the beginning, I flat out refused to accept any of the designer things he always bought, but he eventually wore me down, saying it’s what friends are for and he likes being able to do something nice with the guilt money that his dad’s always sending him. 

“Like that jacket,” Harry compliments as we merge onto the highway. I look down at the bird and flower design and run my fingers over the slick satin. “It was a gift from Trevor. Valentino and I don’t even want to know how much it cost him.” I cringe just thinking about it.

“Valentino?” Harry asks. He glances over and looks at the jacket, rocking his head back in forth in contemplation. “Probably about three thousand pounds.” I gape. “That’s nearly four thousand dollars.”

Harry shrugs. “It’s Valentino, love. Shit’s not cheap.” He pulls at the jacket he’s wearing, a brown leather thing a pocket at each breast and diamond shaped cutouts. “Saint Laurent. About twenty-five hundred pounds.”

“Oh God,” I breathe out. “I don’t even want to know how much those damn button down shirts you wear cost. Could probably pay for my entire wardrobe with three of them.”

He chuckles and glances over at me, pushing his sunnies up into his hair as the sun goes behind the clouds. “Probably. I only wear them when I know I’m gonna be out, though. I don’t wear them to just lounge about the house.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” I mutter sarcastically. I take a look at what he’s wearing now. He’s got on a tunic style grey shirt underneath with some buttons that go until about mid-chest, all unbuttoned of course. It looks like he could have bought it for thirty quid at TopShop, or it could be a ridiculously expensive article from Gucci or something equally over the top. 

“Also Saint Laurent,” he quickly tells me, seeing me eyeing the shirt. 

“Are we going out today, then?” I ask. I’ve seen him in a regular t-shirts before that I know were bought in the package because I could see the Hanes label on the neck, but I’ve only seen him wear those to lounge around in.

“Gonna stop by my house first, and then I have some mates who want to go to lunch, if that’s alright?” He looks over at me, a look of slight concern on his face, like he thinks I’ll nix his plans for the day, even though he’s probably had these plans a week out. I’m not his girlfriend and I’m not in the business of telling him what he can and cannot do, so I just shrug and nod.

“Fine by me. When do you think you’ll be back?” I ask. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to London, so I’m sure I can find something to do if I venture out on my own while he catches up with friends. There’s a medical museum in the area that I’d like to visit, now that I’m thinking about it. 

His eyebrows shoot up on his head. “What? You’re not gonna come with me?”

I furrow my brows in confusion. “You want me to come with you? To meet your mates?”

“Well…” he gives me a look like that was obvious, “yeah. I want them to meet you. I wasn’t gonna bring you to London and then abandon you as soon as we got there. All my plans for the next few days now include you.”

“Oh,” is all I can say for a few moments as I realize Harry actually wants me to tag along with him. “Well, okay. Where are we going, then?”

“Just an Indian place in Covent Gardens,” he assures. “Might go out to do a bit of walking afterward.”

I look down at what I’m wearing again, taking in my plain jeans and the shirt I did get from TopShop for thirty quid. It’s just a white tee with the words “Females of the Future” in black block letters on the front. I look nowhere near acceptable to be standing beside Harry Styles, much less having lunch with him and his undoubtedly famous friends. The expensive-as-hell jacket I’m wearing is not a very good facade for what I’m wearing underneath. “Should I change?”

“No. I like your shirt. And your ass looks good in those jeans.” He smirks over at me. 

I glare at him. “Yeah, and they were a bitch to get on this morning, thanks to you.” The bruises that had finally begun to fade from my bum were replaced with a vengeance last night.

“Weren’t complaining about it when I gave them to you, were you, princess?” Harry asks rhetorically. “Actually, I quite vividly recall you begging for them.” 

“The term ‘princess’ is forever ruined for me. I’m gonna get turned on any time anyone says it in any context, now.”

Harry laughs, a loud barking laugh that I love hearing out of him, because it’s something he can’t control and it’s absolutely adorable how embarrassed he gets by it. “How do you think I feel about ‘daddy?’ I’m never gonna be able to have kids. They’ll have to call me by my first name or something.”

We tease each other back and forth for the remainder of the drive into London. We don’t ever pass through central London, but we eventually get towards a residential area near Hampstead Heath, and Harry slows the car down. We pass by a few little family-owned shoppes before he turns into the beginning of a driveway, closed off by a barn door style gate set into a brick wall that surrounds his property and butts up to his white house. He presses a button that he keeps on his visor like a garage door opener and the door begins to slide open, revealing Harry’s yard and the backs of the houses his is next to.

Harry’s house is large, but not overly so. It’s three stories, from what I can ascertain, and it’s got lots of little square windows. It’s big for a house in London, or the UK in general, but it’s about the normal size of a home in America. Harry pulls his car in and parks it just inside the wall, waiting for the gate to close before getting out. He quickly comes to my side to help me out, and I’m hit by the humidity and coolness of London. We live further from the coast, so we don’t get much of the mugginess, but I can nearly smell the water here. 

Harry holds my hand and carries both of our bags over his shoulders as he shows me into his house. The door he leads me through takes us directly into a modernly furnished sitting room, but I can definitely tell that only a man lives here with it’s sharp lines and neutral colors. It smells like Harry, though, even though he hasn’t been here in awhile, the cinnamon smell of his parents’ house permeating here as well. 

“This is the sitting room, and through there is a family room,” he says, beginning a tour. He points to our left where an archway leads to a more cozy, intimate looking room is decorated with photos and warm colors. He pulls me toward a hallways and motions to the right. “That’s the kitchen, and straight ahead is the gym.” He has me follow him up a flight of stairs to the next floor. When we get to the landing, he points left first. “Bedroom I turned into a studio.” Points ahead. “Guest room.” Points to the right. “Extra room I have nothing to do with. No idea what to do with it, honestly. It’s a bit small.” We turn and head up to the final story, which only has the landing and two doors on it. “That door leads to the rooftop patio. Nice to go out there at night.” He takes hold of my hand again and pulls me through the remaining door. “And this is the master bedroom.” 

His room looks cozy, with the warm colors and the dark wood of his furniture. It’s manly but also warm and very him. There’s artwork on the walls and a binder on his dresser that looks to be chuck full of something. The room is massive, and the bed in the center is a four poster with lots of pillows and fluffy looking grey bedding. He’s got a telly set up on the wall opposite the bed as well as a small entertainment center that holds a DVD player and a game console. There’s sliding doors that I assume lead to his bathroom, and, judging by the square footage I know is left on this story, it’s massive. 

Harry sets our bags down on a leather seat that runs the length of his bed at its foot, then turns and pulls me against him, his hands resting on my hips. He leans down and presses his forehead to mine, our noses touching.

“I’m glad you came with me,” he tells me, his voice barely above a whisper. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be right now, Harry,” I admit. 

Harry presses his lips to mine, delicately cradling my face in his hands. We kiss leisurely and without intent of this going anywhere else. We’re just enjoying the feeling of having each other.

He pulls away when his phone starts ringing in his pocket. He pulls it out and answers it without hesitation.

“Hello?” He listens intently as the person on the other end speaks. “Alright, we’ll be there in twenty.” Harry’s about to hang up when the other person hurries to tell him something, which makes Harry curl his lip up in annoyance. “Couldn’t have sat inside?” Another pause. “Fine. No, it’s fine. We’ll deal with it.” He hangs up the phone without preamble and sighs. “We’re sitting outside, so just be prepared. Shouldn’t be too bad, since no ones knows I’m in London, but it probably won’t take them very long to figure it out.”

“Hey,” I say, grabbing onto his hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “I’m not afraid of some silly pictures, Harry. My face is already out there and it hasn’t been that big of a deal.”

He purses his lips to the side as his thumbs stroke over my knuckles. “I know, I just wish I could keep you to myself.”

I smile reassuringly. “I’m all yours, H. No one can take that away form us. We’ll figure it out, remember?”

Harry smiles and kisses me one more time. “Yeah, we will. Just don’t be afraid to tell me if this all gets to be too much, yeah? Your comfort is my priority while you’re with me.”

“I can handle it, Harry. Promise.” I stand on my tip toes and peace him on his nose, making him scrunch it up with a goofy little grin. “Now c’mon. Don’t want to keep anyone waiting.”

Harry parks his car in a lot a few blocks from where we’re set to eat. He twines his fingers with mine immediately, keeping me close to him as we begin to walk the streets of London. He pulls our hands up to his face as we wait at a crosswalk, kissing the back of mine and smiling at me. 

“You’re okay with the PDA?” I ask, slightly surprised. It’s one thing to be out together, but it’s an entirely different thing to have him be so openly affectionate in a non-platonic way. The photos of us in New York were pushing it, but there’s nothing about his gesture now that would leave room for question.

“Can’t let the media rule my life,” he explains as we begin to walk. “My fucking life. I’ll love on who I please and not give a shit about who sees. You’re my girl, Mick. Not gonna let fans or paps ruin that.”

My heart swells at his sweet words and his disregard for anyone else’s opinions. I’m not sure his management would feel the same way, but I don’t really care about them. Harry’ll be rid of them in a few month’s time anyway, so there’s not much they can do about it. His fans are a whole other monster, though. But they’re a hurdle no matter what he does, so I’m sure he’s pretty over it by now.  

We walk up to chic-looking Indian restaurant that has a few tables outside, right next to a Jamie Oliver’s and a few other places. There’s a group of three already sat at a table, but they seem to be the only ones. It’s only a little before noon, so I’m sure the restaurant has only recently opened for the day. Harry slings his arm around my shoulders as we get closer, and I wrap an arm around his waist so we can walk together comfortably.

The group’s faces become clear as we approach, and I balk a little at who I see. Sat at the table are none other than Nick Grimshaw and a couple of his and Harry’s mutual friends.

“Is that Cara Delevingne and Rita Ora?” I ask, hearing the own trepidation in my voice. Nick I was expecting, because he and Harry are close, and I can handle him seeing as we’ve spoken on the phone before, but Cara and Rita are on another plane. They’re both completely gorgeous and I’m intimidated to be even within twenty metres of them.

“Yeah,” Harry answers casually with a shrug. Then I think he realizes that I’m not also a famous individual and looks down at me. “You alright, princess?”

“Yeah, just gonna be constantly judging myself against a gorgeous model and a beautiful singer. No big deal.”

Harry laughs and presses a kiss to my temple. “They’re just as weird as I am. You’ll get used to them. Plus, you’re every bit as stunning as both of them.”

There’s a hostess outside who’s eyes widen when she sees Harry and moves to greet him, but he just waves her off with a polite smile. “’S alright. We’re right here,” he tells her, gesturing to the people sitting at the table.

The sole man turns his head round over his shoulder and lights up with a big smile when he spots Harry.

“Baby Harold!” he greets, getting up from his seat to sling his arms around Harry in a hug. “How kind of you to join us. Who’s your friend?” Grammy looks me up and down, his grin never leaving his face.

“Grim, this is Micky. Believe you met on the phone last week.”

Grimmy’s eyes bug out a bit as he looks at me, his grin widening. “The famous Micky. You’re just as stunning as your voice suggested.” He doesn’t hesitate in pulling me into a hug as well, lingering like we’ve known each other for years instead of a two minute phone call and the previous thirty seconds. “Come, sit. Tell me all the dirt you’ve gotten from Harold in the last week. I need more blackmail material.”

I laugh as Harry pulls out a seat for me. As he sets himself down he gestures at the two other women at our table. “Mick, this is Cara and Rita. Guys, this is Micky Bennett.”

Both of them smile at me warmly and greet me kindly.

“Nice to meet you guys,” I say, tamping down the anxiety I feel building in my chest. I’ve had the biggest crush on Cara since I found out who she was, and Rita is so gorgeous and she’s got a great voice, and I feel so insignificant amongst all the pretty faces at the table. 

I can feel myself getting hot, so I unzip my jacket and remove it to rest it over the back of the chair. Harry’s reaches under the table and sets his hand on my thigh, offering me comfort when I’m sure he can see I’m a bit overwhelmed. 

“Oh, my God,” Nick bursts, hands braced on the table from where he’s sat at the head. He’s gawking down at my shirt, and I’m not sure what he’s on about until he says, “I’m sorry, but you’ve got the best pair of tits I’ve seen. No offense, Cara. Yours are great, but Micky is killing it right now.” 

She shakes her head with a shrug. “No, you’re right, they’re great,” she says, looking over my chest. “Like the shirt, too. I’ve got one in red print.”

Harry and Rita laugh at my obvious astonishment at this chain of events. I’m not sure what it is about gay men and my breasts, but I just kind of roll with it at this point. Trevor has a weird thing for them, and apparently Nick has now joined that wagon. 

“Uh…thanks?” I mutter, glancing down at myself. They don’t look particularly perky today or anything, though they do kind of pull at the material of my shirt in a way that very obviously shows I’m not wearing a bra. Having worn one for the entirety of the day before reminded me how much I hate them, so I made sure I would not be wearing one today. 

“Alright, enough staring at my girl’s chest,” Harry announces. “Let’s order; I’m starving.”

I don’t miss how the other three at the table raise their eyebrows at each other with Harry’s declaration.

EIGHTEEN

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #one direction #No Control

[ramrodd]

Is the Pentagon (USA) usually in volved in the video games industry?

COMMENTARY:

Pentagon investments in video games was a good bet in 1986.

An Army-funded R&D consulting firm invented touch-screen technology in the 80’s, about the time Jim Kimsey was trying to understand what Steve Case was talking about, the “virtual” or “on-line” community. My ex-wife was an equity partner in a soft-ware design company created something called “DxTer”, a real-time, touch-screen Emergency Room training on-line role play. I actually did a de-bugging survey for another program they did for the Smithsonian on coins. It was a featured kiosk in the Castle at one point.

Silicon Valley is a result of the synergies recaptured from the military investment in Naval Fire Control and military data processing brought to a head by Apollo 11.

This is a difference between the American-British constitutional capitalism before Reagan and Soviet Marxism, the ability to recapture and monetize synergies from any economic activity, but, in particular, the new horizons created by public education and research agendas. Marx posits an economic ecology based on the Children of Moses in the Wilderness: he couldn’t quite eliminate currency, but, as I understand it, that is the climax phase when Marxist Socialism was fully realized: the end of History comes with the elimination of the evil associated with money.

Like Putin has observed, Marxism is a fairy-tale. It’s an aspiration, not a practical possibility. It’s the theme of John Lennon’s “Imagine” being covered in a summer concert in Central Park, with everybody waving their iPhone screes overhead.

Marxism is based on the same fallacy as the 18th Amendment. And the War on Drugs. And at the basis of the Pro-Life heresy. Everything the MAGA hat nation is backing in Donny Quid-Pro-Quo.

And, in response to the question, Soviet Marxism had no legal structures for re-capturing the synergies from the core industrial activities of their economy, a very crude version of the Free Market Fascism behind the Steve Bannon/Peter Navarro tariff wars: it’s the climax phase of Public Choice-Supply Side Reaganomics.

And everything the Reagan people have done since 1981 has been to dismantle the capacity to constantly double-down on the leading edge of the wave of synergies set into motion by Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 represented the leading edge of the process Eisenhower’s 1956 Presidential Platform set into motion to transform the Military-Industrial Complex to an Aerospace-Entreneurial Matrix that was just beginning to get serious traction around the time the Carter Administration guaranteed the financing for Trump Tower by The Equitable when Reagan inherited the Nixon-Moynihan-Carter “Affirmative Action” and began to replace it with Supply Side economics.

Jim Kimsey was a west Point grad with enough family money behind him he could flop around for a while until he figured out what to do. He was a third-string bar owner in DC when he hooked into the synergies bubbling up inside the Beltway from the Pentagon’s investment in video games. At that stage, Supply Side economics was basically sucking wealth out of middle class real estate and Reagan’s military-based deficit spending was being amplified by the unexpected nature of electronic trading of an infinite capacity for volume of trades. And nobody had seen anything like it before, because even Ray Dalio’s version of Transaction Theory doesn’t really reflect the paradigm shift.

Pentagon investments in video games was a good bet in 1986.

[fullspectrum-cbd-oil]

U.S. Diplomat Sondland Says He ‘Followed the President’s Orders’ on Ukraine

A U.S. diplomat who is a pivotal witness in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he worked with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine issues on “the president’s orders,” confirming Trump’s active participation in a controversy that threatens his presidency.

Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, told the inquiry that Giuliani’s efforts to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for investigations into Trump’s political rivals “were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit” for the Ukrainian leader.

Quid pro quo is a Latin term meaning a favor exchanged for a favor.

Sondland, a wealthy hotel entrepreneur and Trump donor, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was aware and “fully supportive” of their efforts on Ukraine, providing a fuller role of the top U.S. diplomat’s role in the affair.

Pompeo, a close Trump ally, has declined to defend State Department witnesses who have been attacked by Trump and other Republicans over the Ukraine controversy.

Sondland was appearing on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is taking the lead in the impeachment inquiry. He smiled and laughed as he took his seat at the witness chair in the hearing room on Capitol Hill in the fourth day of public proceedings in the investigation.

Sondland testified that Trump had ordered him and two other senior officials to work with Giuliani, who has refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. Giuliani at the time had been working to get Ukraine to carry out the investigations that would benefit Trump politically.

“We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani. Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt. We all understood that if we refused to work with Mr. Giuliani, we would lose an important opportunity to cement relations between the United States and Ukraine. So we followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said.

The inquiry focuses on a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to carry out two investigations that would benefit him politically including one targeting Democratic political rival Joe Biden. The other involved a debunked conspiracy theory embraced by some Trump allies that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

Ahead of his request that Zelenskiy carry out the two investigations, Trump froze $391 million in U.S. security aid approved by Congress to help Ukraine combat Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Democrats have accused Trump of using the frozen aid and Zelenskiy’s desire for an Oval Office meeting as leverage to pressure a vulnerable U.S. ally to dig up dirt on political adversaries. Trump is seeking re-election next year.

“I think we know now … that the knowledge of this scheme was far and wide and included among others Secretary of State Pompeo as well as the vice president,” said Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the Intelligence Committee, referring to Vice President Mike Pence.

Schiff said Pompeo and Trump “have made such a concerted and across-the-board effort to obstruct this investigation and this impeachment inquiry. They do at their own peril.”

TRUMP ALLY

Sondland was one of three Trump allies who largely took over U.S.-Ukraine policy in May, with Giuliani also playing a key role despite holding no official government position. Career U.S. diplomats have portrayed Sondland in their testimony as a central figure in what became a shadow and “irregular” Ukraine policy operation, undercutting official channels and pressing Kiev to investigate the Bidens.

Sondland said he was “adamantly opposed” to any suspension of aid to Ukraine because Kiev needed it to fight against Russian aggression.

“I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but I never received a clear answer. In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded,” Sondland said.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, called the inquiry a witch hunt and assailed some of the witnesses including current White House aides.

Sondland was tapped as Trump’s envoy after he donated $1 million to the president’s inauguration. In October, Trump called him “a really good man,” but after Sondland’s amended statement to House investigators this month the president told reporters at the White House, “I hardly know the gentleman.”

The investigation could lead the House to approve formal charges against Trump – called articles of impeachment – that would be sent to the Republican-controlled Senate for a trial on whether to remove him from office. Few Republican senators have broken with Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday it was “inconceivable” that two-thirds of the Republican-controlled chamber would vote to convict Trump.

According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, 46 percent of Americans support impeachment, while 41 percent oppose it.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Andy Sullivan; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Karen Freifeld and Susan Heavey; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by)

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[thisdaynews]

Top State official details chaos after Yovanovitch ouster to impeachment investigators

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/top-state-official-details-chaos-after-yovanovitch-ouster-to-impeachment-investigators/

Top State official details chaos after Yovanovitch ouster to impeachment investigators

“And so he has a decent amount of knowledge about that, at least as it was happening in March and into April, because he was involved in the State Department’s response — having to make sure that there was somebody in Ukraine, how to deal with the allegations, whether and how they were going to support her,” the person added.

Reeker, a veteran foreign service officer and a former ambassador himself, became the latest State Department official to defy the Trump administration, which has sought to block or limit testimony to what the White House calls an “illegitimate” impeachment inquiry. He appeared Saturday under subpoena after the State Department sought to block his testimony, according to an official working on the impeachment inquiry.

Investigators are trying to piece together efforts by Trump and his associates and diplomats to pressure Ukraine’s leaders to open up investigations into the president’s political rivals, including Joe Biden. A central part of the inquiry is whether Trump withheld military aid to the besieged country and refused a White House meeting with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, until Ukraine publicly declared its intent to investigate Biden and a debunked conspiracy theory about a Democratic email server.

Lawmakers have deposed several current and former State Department officials in order to learn more about the extent to which American diplomats were involved in or had knowledge of the events in question. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, has said he was in contact with State Department officials — some of whom testified that they were troubled by Giuliani’s involvement and Trump’s efforts to pressure them to work with Giuliani.

Reeker did not plan to give an opening statement when he testified behind closed doors on Saturday. Beyond the Yovanovitch ouster, “he doesn’t really have that much knowledge or involvement in the rest of the story,” the person said.

Reeker spends about half of his time in Europe, meeting with ambassadors and other diplomats. He is tasked with ensuring that all U.S. diplomatic posts throughout the continent are fully staffed, so he found himself in the middle of the firestorm when Yovanovitch was recalled to Washington in May.

It was unclear if Reeker defended Yovanovitch, who came under attack from Giuliani over a series of unsubstantiated allegations.Other current and former State Department officials who have testified before House impeachment investigators defended Yovanovitch and spoke out internally against her ouster.

One of those officials, Michael McKinley, a former top adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, testified that he resigned earlier this month in part because the department was unwilling to protect Yovanovitch from false and politically-motivated attacks.

McKinley, who stepped downa week before testifying, attributed his resignation in part to “the failure, in my view, of the State Department to offer support to foreign service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry on Ukraine,” according to a source familiar with his testimony. He said he “could no longer look the other way as colleagues are denied the professional support and respect they deserve from us all.”

The State Department’s inspector general briefed congressional aides earlier this month about an apparent attempt to smear Yovanovitch. The watchdog, Steve Linick, told staffers that a packet of documents containing misinformation about Yovanovitch was sent to Pompeo’s office earlier this year from an unknown source.

Democrats said the documents represented further evidence that Giuliani and others were trying to tear down Yovanovitch.

Trump himself criticized Yovanovitch during a July 25 phone call with Zelensky, calling her “bad news.” That conversation is at the center of the impeachment inquiry because, according to a readout of the call, Trump pressured Zelensky to launch investigations targeting Biden and his son, Hunter.

Yovanovitch, who has remained a State Department employee ever since she was recalled on May 20, told impeachment investigators earlier this month that she was the victim of a “concerted campaign” to overthrow her based on “unfounded and false claims,” according to her opening statement obtained by POLITICO.

She said the people pushing those allegations had “questionable motives,” adding that U.S. interests are “harmed” when “private interests circumvent professional diplomats for their own gain, not the public good.” It appeared to be a reference to Giuliani, whom Democrats have accused of running a shadow foreign policy toward Ukraine that was vastly different from that of the U.S. government.

Yovanovitch’s successor in Kyiv, William Taylor, delivered bombshell testimony earlier this week, tying Trump directly to a quid pro quo with Ukraine involving military aid and a Trump-Zelensky meeting. He testified that Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, said Trump personally told him that he wanted Ukraine to publicly announce investigations targeting the president’s political opponents before U.S. would release the military aid.

Democrats are expected to continue holding closed-door depositions for at least the next two weeks before moving the impeachment inquiry into the open. Democratic leaders have defended the secrecy of the evidence-gathering process amid claims from Republicans that Democrats are running a “sham” investigation that lacks basic transparency.

Kyle Cheney contributed to this story.

Read More

#Foreign #impeachment #ouster #Politics

[yahoonews7]

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump confronted a steady drip of damaging revelations out of the House impeachment hearings over the last week, but it was his acting chief of staff essentially confirming one of the central allegations at the heart of the inquiry that could prove the most troublesome.Mick Mulvaney said at a White House briefing the president withheld nearly $400 million in U.S. security aid to Ukraine in part to urge an investigation of a 2016 election conspiracy theory to discredit Democrats.The episode capped off a rough week for the president, who had ordered his administration to block all cooperation with the impeachment inquiry. Despite that, a stream of witnesses spoke with House investigators behind closed doors.It got worse on Saturday, when a U.S. House Republican who said he’d consider impeaching Trump -- but isn’t ready to commit -- announced he won’t seek a third term in 2020.“I did what I came to do,” Francis Rooney, 65, from Florida, a businessman and former ambassador to the Vatican, said in an interview on Fox News. Rooney sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of three panels engaged in an impeachment inquiry of the president.What emerged over the past week through a series of leaked statements and lawmaker accounts was a picture of a shadow foreign policy centered around Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The accounts were consistent from both career diplomats alarmed at the outsourcing of American diplomacy and from witnesses that Republicans hoped would be more favorable to the president.One witness, Trump’s former top Russia adviser Fiona Hill, told House panels that John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, referred to Giuliani as a “hand grenade.”Gordon Sondland, appointed as ambassador to the European Union after donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee, said he was uncomfortable with the parallel diplomacy of Trump’s personal lawyer and he was unaware of Giuliani’s specific objectives.Other administration officials from the Office of Management and Budget, the Defense Department and the National Security Council are scheduled to testify this coming week. One of the star witnesses will be William Taylor, the current acting ambassador to Ukraine who voiced concern about the reason why foreign aid was being withheld.“It is astounding to me how many career public servants are coming forward, putting their necks on the line, and testifying,” said Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and a member of the Oversight committee.‘Get Over It’The impeachment probe started with questions about whether Trump froze aid for Ukraine and dangled a U.S. visit for the country’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to pressure him to investigate unfounded allegations regarding a Democratic National Committee computer server, and about former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 candidate.Trump and Republicans had declared there was no quid pro quo, but Mulvaney’s admission at the briefing Thursday made it harder for GOP lawmakers to avoid questions about Trump’s conduct.“I have news for everybody: Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy,” Mulvaney said Thursday. He said Trump “absolutely” brought up the server as part of the reason why the administration held up U.S. aid for Ukraine.Mulvaney’s attempt to later walk back his comments didn’t satisfy Representative Francis Rooney, a Florida Republican. Rooney said Mulvaney’s comments Thursday were “definitely taking disturbing to Def Con 3,” a Defense Department term for a higher state of military readiness.Rooney said he had given Trump “the benefit of the doubt” when the president said he had held up Ukraine’s aid to demand more support from European governments, “but Mulvaney basically said ‘nope, forget it.’”Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of the most independent Republicans in the chamber, also disagreed with Mulvaney’s dismissive approach to linking politics and foreign policy.“You don’t hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative. Period,” she said on Thursday, adding that she wanted to look at exactly what Mulvaney said, when asked if it was impeachable.Trump’s re-election campaign, however, embraced Mulvaney’s declaration despite his later statement. By Friday afternoon, the campaign was selling “Get Over It” T-Shirts.Trading InsultsRepublicans were also unsettled by Trump’s abrupt removal of U.S. troops from northern Syria, allowing Turkey to invade territory held by the Kurds, an ethnic minority that partnered with the U.S. against the Islamic State. A pause in Turkish aggression brokered by Vice President Mike Pence in Ankara failed to reassure lawmakers who vowed to push ahead with proposals to sanction Turkey.This foreign policy disagreement escalated to a House resolution -- supported by roughly two thirds of House Republicans -- to condemn Trump’s withdrawal from Syria. Hours after that vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood up at a closed bipartisan meeting in the White House to push Trump on his strategy to defeat the Islamic State.The meeting devolved into insults and the speaker stormed out.Pelosi later told reporters that impeachment didn’t come up. But the parade of witnesses complying with subpoenas against White House directives added to the tension.‘Questionable Motives’There were a few key takeaways that trickled out from the last two weeks of depositions, all of which present a line of questioning for the Committees on Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs to pursue as they weigh a case for impeachment.Marie Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, was recalled from her post as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in May: She told committee members she was the object of a “concerted campaign” by Trump and Giuliani, and penalized by “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.”“I do not know Mr. Giuliani’s motives for attacking me,” she said, adding that his associates “may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.”Sondland said in his testimony that Yovanovitch was “a delight to work with,” even though Trump called her “bad news” in a phone call with Ukraine’s president.Sondland’s deposition was perhaps the most troubling for the White House, since he distanced himself not only from the president, but also from other administration officials involved in the allegations. Far from being a favorable witness for Trump, as Republicans had hoped, Sondland said he was dismayed by Mulvaney’s directives to work with Giuliani.George Kent, a current State Department official, provided more details about the so-called “three amigos” instructed to partner with Giuliani on projects outside official diplomatic channels. That group consisted of Sondland, former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry.Perry told Trump this week he would step down from the Department of Energy before the end of the year.Unfolding ProcessVolker’s own testimony included text messages between some of the people who are now his fellow witnesses. The most interesting message came from Taylor, in which he said it’s “crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”“My impression is that as this investigative process unfolds, things get worse for the president,” said Representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia, an Oversight Democrat. “And to be honest, it seems to me, the Republicans better hope that their demands for releasing the transcripts don’t happen anytime soon.”Perry and Mulvaney missed a subpoena deadline Friday to turn over documents, and other Trump allies have said they won’t appear.Giuliani himself has also made clear he does not intend to ever testify to the panels, which may develop into another big legal face-off.Democrats eventually will have to decide when they have enough information to write articles of impeachment and put them on the House floor for a vote. If Trump is impeached in the House, he must then be convicted by the Senate to be removed from office.That makes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a key person for Trump to keep in his corner. He told GOP senators to be ready for an impeachment trial to start as soon as Thanksgiving as Republicans privately discussed wrapping up the six-days-a-week trial by Christmas.(Updates with Rooney retirement in the fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at [email protected];Billy House in Washington at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at [email protected], John Harney, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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[flowercuco]

Veil 2, 7

Almost time to reduce the countdown as we’re very close to the very end of this arc of Veil! Previously, both of our groups prepared to deal with their respective final bosses and it ended up being pretty decisive!

We started with 2Beta, Ariel’s A.I. sibling, and Crescent Moon, the virtual idol friend, both looking to their college professor guardians for guidance on how to deal with White Eagle, the mercenary assassin sent to retrieve Crescent Moon and attack them. While they plotted and planned, 2Beta decided that a life or death situation is the proper moment in time to make some decisions about your life, sending Ariel an email, similar to the one that they received earlier, also telling the group that they’d prefer to be called Ark in the future, to which Fortuna is very supportive. 

The settled on plan that the group decided on is to make a snare trap in the room with all of Ariel’s stray cables, connected to Senza’s stun weapon, to trap and stun White Eagle, allowing them to question and act upon her at their leisure. Using novelty wolf ears and Crescent’s own power over the Veil, the two make Fortuna look like a nigh-perfect copy of the idol. With the help of Ark, Senza succeeds in making a snare. Fully prepared in one regard, Fortuna and Senza both independently decide to power up, with the former using her junkware from before to gain augmented, intimidating, and poisonous hair, while the latter merges with LACUNA, which also spikes her on powerful. 

Meanwhile, in Snow Vision Structure, Synch gets closer in the grand hallway at the top floor of the building, noting two of the military wearing mercenaries of Whitefall, Blue Tiger (sunglasses, bald, explosives expert) and Black Tiger (undercut, sword and shield, second in command), followed by Denno’s Coil and an unconscious Heartful Vale. They are not noticed yet. From under the tarp of their cart, Ariel observes and analyzes, pinging Blue Tiger as the biggest danger in the group, as well a danger in the room that the mercenaries are waiting behind, which has a large symbol of her creators.  Ariel communicates with the group (sans Bloodroot) and tells them that they need to retrieve Heartful Vale and take out Blue Tiger, she additionally acknowledges the fact that her creators are here, and warns that it will affect her actions. 

Synch drives the cart forward, still not enough to be seen by the mercenaries, they try to make an opening for the group to leap forward, learning that Blue Tiger could be easily manipulated, and then attempts to move forward, attempting to attack Blue Tiger with their psychic sling only to feel some sort of interference which causes them to fall to the floor and get the attention of the mercenaries. Black Lion has Denno’s deal with it, to get them and bring them to the group, as they don’t have time to deal with weird stuff. Ariel takes the opportunity to leap out from the cart and attack Blue Tiger, killing the explosives expert before he can do anything, which causes a lot of things to happen at once.

Black Lion attempts to get Heartful Vale, who is restrained with some cyberpunk bullshit that keeps her unconscious and floats her a little, but Will leaves the cart and threatens her as a member of the Seat of Judges. Black Lion doesn’t give a shit and starts to take Heartful Vale into the room when Bloodroot tackles her into it instead. Additionally, Denno’s stabs Will with a 3d printed sword from his portable 3d printer, causing Ariel to go off of Blue Tiger diving under Denno, and stopping him from doing any more damage. Synch gets up, leaving the three of them near Denno’s with the room finally open...

Back at Ariel’s apartment, Fortuna gets Ark to help her look over the camera footage, learning that White Eagle is indeed alone, but also that she has some cybernetic prosthetics on her body. As Fortuna leaves to start the plan, she gives words of encouragement to the others, and also asks Crescent Moon to make an exit, just in case things go wrong. Fortuna finds White Eagle and makes the absolute worst possible Crescent Moon impression that is absolutely buck wild. Crescent isn’t sure if she should be insulted or not, but regardless, Fortuna tells White Eagle that she’s Crescent Moon and she’s very lost and she isn’t going with White Eagle. When White Eagle motions towards her, asking about where her friends are, Fortuna attempts to parkour to escape, which almost goes poorly, with her slipping up, but luckily Senza is able to change the lights and mess disorient White Eagle, allowing her to make her way to the trap effortlessly. Senza similarly succeeds in springing it, wrangling up White Eagle and allowing her to tie her up and confiscate her weapons, leading to the question of what to do next...

Denno’s, facing the group and not even noticing Synch, tries to back away to the room that Black Lion went into only for Ariel to give Denno a simple option, stay away from the room or die, one way or another. Denno’s is unaware of Ariel’s true intentions and uses his hud to unlock Heartful Vale’s restraints. He continues to walk into the room, and Synch shoots and kills him. Will and Ariel are shaken, but tend to Heartful Vale. Ariel tells Will to take her and leave, Will shows concern, but Ariel insists that she has unfinished business, she needs to go through hat door, she needs to confront her creators. Will is conflicted, but knows that this is important, telling her to be careful, if for no other reason, for the sake of Crescent Moon...

Hearful Vale comes to and is very confused, but Will helps her to her feet and starts to take her to leave. Synch looks into the room, figuring out if they’re going to follow Ariel or stay back with Will, seeing the scene of the CEO of SVS, Chasis: Return Two along with his secretary, Swept Coil, sister of Denno’s taunting Red Falcon, who is now fighting Bloodroot with the help of Black Lion. The room is large and ostentatious, with six screens that have different sceneries and a golden series of statues in the middle. Synch attempts to get a better look at the situation but is laid low once again by a mysterious interference, which also affects Bloodroot, implying a kind of anti-psychic weapon. Ariel notices Synch’s indecision and them that she doesn’t mind if he leaves or stays, but she needs to stay. Ariel removes her poncho, openly showing her cybernetics as she fully reveals her sword and goes inside, searching for the Angelic Thread she knows is inside. Swept Coil, recognizing one of the A.I. robots of her organization when she sees one, steps back and with a flick of her tablet, summons 4Zeta, a robot similar to Ariel, with a blindfold and a bob haircut, who readies finger guns at Ariel. 

Ariel acts quickly, leaping to attack Swept, who watches in fear as the distance between the two is closed and her tablet is destroyed. 4Zeta shoots at Ariel with some bullets, but Bloodroot and Synch are both freed of the psychic interference, allowing the former to continue fighting the Whitefall mercenaries while Synch starts to use their psychic abilities on the secretary, making her fear even more potent. Satisfied with how Swept seems, at least for now, neutralised, Ariel turns to her “sibling”, using her newfound control over the veil to convert the room into the laboratory she escaped from, disorienting everyone in the room other than Bloodroot, who is too engaged with his fighting to care, she then reaches for 4Zeta and in a gentleness that is a bit new to her, briefly gives 4Zeta a glimpse into the emotions that they could have, stunning them, and opening them up to a less violent end to the fight. Black Lion decides enough is enough and after getting knocked down, grapples onto the roof and scurries into a vent, escaping the scene with her life. Chasis similarly decides its time to leave, only for Synch to intercept, threatening the CEO enough to get out everything he knows about psychics.

Chasis admits to knowing about their existence, but claims that most of the research was done by his mentor, Vas Nicola-Lelulelo. Chasis didn’t do any follow up research once he lost contact with his mentor, implying that he’s still alive. Synch forces Chasis to give them all of Vas’s notes and then also give them his contact information. Chasis is then allowed to go free, at the cost of being blackmailed by Synch, as well as being scared shitless by a stray bullet. 

Swept tries to get 4Zeta to follow her orders, trying to remind them of her place, of her fear, as Ariel tries to convince them that theres more to being a tool, theres more to being used by these people until they have no use for them. 4Zeta doesn’t know what else there is, they’re swayed by Ariel’s words but are scared, so scared, and need something, something from Ariel if they can truly believe her words. Ariel opens up and tells 4Zeta that there’s more, there are more emotions, there are so many feelings and connections and experiences that they can have, and intimacy, something that Ariel can share... For a moment, the two connect and 4Zeta sees emotions and intimacy through Ariel’s eyes, a chance for things that they could have as well. When the connection breaks 4Zeta asks if she’s worthy of humanity, to which Ariel answers yes, because they were created to think and feel, which is enough. They will go with Ariel and try to find out, what they want from the world.

Finally, Swept Coil is in a corner, accepting of her fate, complaining about how cushy she had it, how she didn’t see this coming, how upset she is at everything going wrong, but that at least everyone will be so proud of how far Ariel has come. Ariel makes one last attempt, figuring out that Swept is recording everything that has happened with her eyes, for the Angelic Threads to retrieve later. Ariel interfaces with Swept’s recording cybernetics and deletes her storage, killing her in the process. The group motions to leave, reuniting with Will as Bloodroot finishes his fight with Red Falcon, tossing him aside. He praises everyone for doing a great job and says that he owes Ariel one. Before he can leave by jumping out a window or whatever, Synch makes an offer, telling him that he could go out in the wild and weirdness outside quid by himself, or he could join a group of their friends, other psychics, the Eyes on the Inside. Bloodroot accepts, for now, and the group of four leave to go downstairs.

Finally, we end on a stinger, a vision away from the group, maybe a bit in the future, with a boardroom of obelisks, each with a frequency, representing one of the members of the Angelic Threads. They speak to each other, musing on the tragic fall of one of their number, Swept Coil, concerned at their inability to retrieve her black box. Given the scale of events that have occurred recently, the social connections, and various other factors, they assume that 4Beta, Ariel, was involved. They go over their various pawns related to the robot, mostly Will, and muse on the others involved with her, like Fortuna, who they decide should have action taken against, giving her an offer she can’t refuse... 

As the communications end, I reveal that one of the members of the Angelic Threads, and the reason why the Seat of Judges is compromised, is Blissful Grace-Historia, wife of the leader of the Seat of Judges, Radiant Historia. 

When we do this again, it’s going to be a lot of fallout as characters figure out what to do next and how to deal with what they’ve learned...

#quidama dre #concert at quid central #gettin there!

[reseau-actu]

Macron et Merkel sont tombés d'accord : Ursula von der Leyen pour la Commission et Christine Lagarde à la BCE. Mais que ce fut compliqué... Récit. Par Emmanuel Berretta

Donald Tusk ayant brillamment échoué dimanche, Emmanuel Macron et Angela Merkel ont repris les choses en main pour parvenir à un accord. D'abord entre eux : lundi soir, après une courte sieste, le chef de l'État, qui avait écarté la candidature de l'Allemand Weber, a accepté la proposition de Merkel de placer sa ministre de la Défense, Ursula von der Leyen, à la présidence de la Commission. En échange, la chancelière a renoncé à placer son compatriote Jens Weidmann à la tête de la Banque centrale européenne au profit de la Française Christine Lagarde, l'actuelle patronne du FMI. Cet échange de bon procédé est la base du « package » des nominations qui a été ensuite construit en concertation avec les autres leaders européens réunis à Bruxelles depuis mardi matin.

« Un excellent deal ! » se réjouit-on du côté de l'Élysée, qui démontre au passage qu'il n'a jamais été question d'une quelconque germanophobie dans le choix des « top jobs ». La France accepte une présidente de la Commission allemande en raison « de ses qualités, de ses compétences », insiste-t-on dans le camp français. Manfred Weber – qui n'a jamais été ministre, même régional, en Allemagne – a toujours semblé trop juste pour le poste aux yeux de Macron. Angela Merkel avait cru pouvoir soutenir ce Bavarois de la CSU, par ailleurs sympathique, pour régler un problème de politique interne au moment où la CSU lui faisait des misères sur la question des migrants. Ce mélange entre l'agenda national et l'agenda européen est, hélas, une spécialité de la chancelière qui, dans cette affaire, est à l'origine d'un énorme imbroglio...

Michel Barnier, victime collatérale

Victime collatérale : Michel Barnier. « Trop français », trop « macronisé », le négociateur du Brexit – pourtant un conservateur bon teint – a été instrumentalisé par Macron pour diviser le PPE et lâché par le PPE parce que trop proche de Macron. Michel Barnier n'avait que le soutien des pays du bloc de Visegrád (Viktor Orbán en tête), ce qui est une carte de visite, disons, ambivalente. D'un côté, il pouvait apparaître comme l'homme qui pouvait apaiser les relations avec ce bloc de l'Est de plus en plus rétif à la construction européenne, de l'autre, il pouvait aussi apparaître comme l'homme des pays les plus éloignés des valeurs européennes.

Michel Barnier est tombé dans un précipice : lâché par les siens, faussement soutenus par les Français... Et Merkel a mis une croix sur lui depuis le début. Une saynète a été particulièrement marquante à ce propos. En novembre 2018, lors du Congrès du PPE à Helsinki qui a vu l'élection écrasante de Weber comme spitzenkandidat, la chancelière a attendu que Michel Barnier prononce son discours à la tribune pour se lever de sa chaise, se diriger vers Weber et lui glisser quelques mots à l'oreille, provoquant alors le raffut des photo-reporters qui se précipitaient pour immortaliser ce moment d'intimité germano-allemand... Le discours de Barnier fut totalement recouvert par la clameur des photographes. Merkel, trop bonne connaisseuse des mœurs de la presse, avait envoyé ainsi un signal clair : Barnier serait terrassé par l'Allemagne s'il bougeait une oreille...

L'Espagnol Sanchez supplante les Italiens

Les sociaux-démocrates réclamaient naturellement leur part des top jobs européens. L'hypothèse que leur spitzenkandidat, le Néerlandais Frans Timmermans, devienne le prochain président de la Commission n'a jamais tenu la route, suscitant d'emblée une levée de boucliers des autres leaders PPE (partis en fronde contre Merkel) et des pays de Visegrád, sans compter l'abstention de l'Italie. L'Espagnol Sanchez Castejon, qui, avec le Portugais Costa, s'impose comme le leader du camp social-démocrate, a rapidement fait son deuil de Timmermans dans la mesure où il a pu placer son compatriote, Josep Borrel, chef de la diplomatie espagnole, au poste de haut représentant pour les relations externes (également vice-président de la Commission). C'est le prix fort réclamé par Madrid. L'orgueilleuse Espagne supplante ainsi l'Italie dans la distribution des grands postes. La péninsule ibérique n'a adhéré à la la CEE qu'en 1986...

En effet, l'Italie pouvait compter sur Mario Draghi à la BCE, Antonio Tajani à la présidence du Parlement et Federica Mogherini au poste de haute représentante. Trois top jobs pour Rome, ce qui est en soi une anomalie. Dans quelques mois, quand le mandat de Draghi arrivera à terme (fin octobre), l'Italie des populistes n'occupera plus aucun des grands postes européens... Rome disposera d'un poste de commissaire. Mais quel sera son portefeuille et son degré de coopération avec ses collègues ? Une incertitude.

Le coup de sang de Martin Schulz

Le camp des libéraux avait, quant à lui, pléthore de candidats : le Belge Charles Michel, en quête d'un poste après sa défaite en Belgique, le Néerlandais Mark Rutte, depuis huit ans au pouvoir et chef de file d'une nouvelle « ligue hanséatique » toujours aussi soucieuse de ne pas payer pour les dérives financières des États du Sud... Enfin, la Danoise Margrethe Vestager, popularisée pour son combat contre les abus des Gafam. Il a fallu arbitrer entre les uns et les autres et c'est finalement Charles Michel qui a été promu pour diriger le Conseil européen en lieu et place de Donald Tusk. À noter : pour ce poste, le Conseil est seul décideur. Il n'a pas besoin de la validation du Parlement européen. On vérifie auprès de la nouvelle Première ministre danoise, Mette Frederiksen (social-démocrate), qu'elle ne voit pas d'inconvénient à reconduire la libérale Vestager à un poste de commissaire avec titre de vice-présidente de la Commission. Très constructive, la nouvelle cheffe du gouvernement danois n'y fait pas obstacle. Idem pour Timmermans qui serait reconduit au poste de commissaire (avec titre de vice-président qu'il possède déjà) par le gouvernement Rutte. Le Slovaque Maros Sefcovic bénéficierait du même traitement pour les sociaux-démocrates, avec lui aussi le titre de vice-président.

Sauf que le deuil de Timmermans ne se fait pas sans un accroc de dernière minute en provenance de Berlin ! Le SPD Martin Schulz est venu compliquer l'affaire alors que le sommet européen touchait à sa fin. Par un tweet assassin contre Ursula von der Leyen, il parvient à... interrompre le Conseil européen. Angela Merkel, qui dirige une coalition fragile avec le SPD, doit sortir de la séance pour lui parler au téléphone et tenter de le faire redescendre en température. Schulz ne supporte pas l'idée que le social-démocrate Frans Timmermans soit écarté de la présidence de la Commission. Il torpille Ursula von der Leyen qualifiée de « ministre la plus faible » du gouvernement allemand et présente la candidature de la ministre de la Défense comme la victoire de « Orban et cie »... Pedro Sanchez Castejon doit lui aussi appeler Schulz pour ménager le deal passé au Conseil. Merkel joue ici la stabilité de son gouvernement. Emmanuel Macron assiste médusé à cet accroc de dernière minute... Tout le monde retient son souffle.

Comment s'en sortir ? Angela Merkel n'a donc pas de mandat pour soutenir von der Leyen. Tant pis. Elle s'abstient. Techniquement, la majorité super qualifiée des 21 dirigeants sur 28 est atteinte, même sans l'appui de l'Allemagne. Cela fait partie de ces absurdités européennes : la première femme présidente de la Commission de passeport allemand n'aura donc pas eu le suffrage de la chancelière allemande...

À ce stade, les trois familles politiques de la nouvelle majorité parlementaire sont donc équitablement servies : une femme PPE à la présidence de la Commission, un homme libéral à la présidence du Conseil, un homme social-démocrate au poste de haut-représentant. Sauf nouveau coup de théâtre....

Quid du Parlement ? C'est l'un des points les plus friables du deal des chefs d'État et de gouvernement. D'abord parce que le Parlement est souverain quant à l'élection de son président, et qu'il n'a pas à obéir le petit doigt sur la couture à un accord arrangé sur un coin de table au Conseil.

Stanichev : un fâcheux précédent de corruption en Bulgarie

L'hypothèse – sous prétexte qu'il fallait un poste pour l'Est européen – de réserver la présidence du Parlement au socialiste bulgare Sergueï Stanichev, par ailleurs président du PSE (parti socialiste européen), est des plus hasardeuses. D'autant plus que lorsqu'il était Premier ministre de son pays (entre juillet 2005 et août 2009), le versement des fonds européens ont été bloqués par l'UE en raison de... la corruption importante de son gouvernement ! C'est la seule fois que l'UE a bloqué les fonds... On comprend qu'au Parlement, ça grince. Surtout après les scandales des groupes politiques – FN en tête – qui utilisaient l'argent du Parlement pour financer leur vie politique nationale... Finalement, Stanichev est écarté. C'est l'italien David Sassoli, pour le groupe social-démocrate, qui se présentera aux suffrages de ses pairs.

Et puis, que devient Manfred Weber ? Le spitzenkandidat du PPE avait accepté de sortir du jeu pour la Commission à condition qu'on lui réserve la présidence du Parlement. Peut-il renoncer à tout pour favoriser sa compatriote CDU von der Leyen ? En fin de journée, lors d'un point presse à Strasbourg, le Bavarois se retire de la compétition pour le Parlement. "Une journée difficile", confie celui qui, la semaine dernière encore, pensait encore possible de diriger la Commission. Weber revient à sa besogne d'hier : la direction du groupe PPE au Parlement. Un moment d'humilité pour cet homme qui étouffe ses ambitions pour se montrer "loyal" à son parti... 

L'élection du président du Parlement commence mercredi matin, à 9 heures. Chacun des candidats pourra faire une petite déclaration liminaire de 5 minutes maximum. L'élection se tient à bulletin secret (sous forme papier) et pour être élu, un candidat doit recueillir la majorité absolue des votes exprimés (50 % des voix plus une). « Une fois le président élu, les députés voteront pour élire les 14 vice-présidents. Le vote pour élire les questeurs du PE se tiendra quant à lui jeudi 4 juillet à 9 heures », indique le Parlement européen.

La grande question reste ouverte : car pour présider la Commission, Ursula von der Leyen devra aussi recueillir la majorité des voix au Parlement européen le 16 juillet. À l'heure actuelle, rien n'est certain. Et le bel échaffaudage du Conseil pourrait s'effondrer. Tout serait à refaire. Les décisions seraient reportées à septembre, après la trêve du mois d'août.

#angela merkel-pedro sánchez-emmanuel macron-ursula von der leyen-christine lagarde-union européenne

[theconservativebrief]

Paul Manafort has finally flipped.

The president’s former campaign manager pleaded guilty in court on Friday to two felonies — conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Part of Manafort’s plea deal includes an agreement to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe — including offering interviews and briefings to the special counsel’s office, handing over documents, and testifying in other court proceedings.

It’s not clear why Manafort agreed to flip after a year of refusing to do so. Nor do we know the extent of Manafort’s cooperation, or what he actually knows about Trump and any possible collusion with Russia. But Manafort’s cooperation is still a big deal, since he was one of the first people Mueller targeted.

So how worried should Trump be? And how does Manafort’s cooperation impact the Mueller probe? To find out, I reached out to eight legal experts.

Their full responses, edited for clarity and style, are below.

Lisa Kern Griffin, law professor, Duke University

A plea agreement at this stage makes a great deal of sense for the Mueller team and for Manafort. Both benefit from avoiding the imminent trial, and the development was anticipated. What comes as more of a surprise is the cooperation component of the agreement. There is but a small cast of characters, with the president at the center, against whom Manafort could “successfully cooperate” with information prosecutors would value.

Perhaps Manafort has again hedged his bets, hoping to mitigate his situation or precipitate a pardon. Perhaps the cooperation he has promised will prove dishonest or incomplete. But he has at least indicated that he can offer damaging evidence, or there would be no cooperation deal at all. That does not augur well for the President.

Diane Marie Amann, law professor, University of Georgia

The Manafort shoe has dropped. Today’s plea agreement, aimed at resolving the two federal criminal cases against Manafort, hinges on his full cooperation with Mueller’s investigation. At the plea hearing, that cooperation was said to encompass briefing prosecutors, producing documents, and testifying in other proceedings.

Those proceedings well might go to the heart of the Mueller’s inquiry into, to quote the terms of Mueller’s mandate, “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”

Given Manafort’s long association with Trump — which includes serving as presidential campaign manager and attending a 2016 Trump Tower meeting with certain Russians — Manafort’s cooperation promises to be a major boost to Mueller’s investigation.

“Manafort at least indicated that he can offer damaging evidence, or there would be no cooperation deal at all. That does not augur well for the President.”

Miriam Baer, law professor, Brooklyn Law School

Prosecutors can use cooperating defendants in a number of ways. The most traditional use is the calling of a cooperator at a co-defendant’s trial to give testimony, which is how the government used Rick Gates in Manafort’s first trial.

But cooperators can also aid the government in other ways: by providing the government new leads, by confirming information the government already has, and by explaining evidence the government has collected but does not quite comprehend due to missing contextual information.

Cooperation also assists the Mueller team in terms of optics and momentum: Those who committed crimes in concert with Manafort are now on notice that a co-conspirator has decided to “spill the beans.” Accordingly, Manafort’s cooperation agreement may well induce other targets to come forward with evidence and seek the benefits of a cooperation agreement.

Jed Shugerman, law professor, Fordham University

It’s important that Mueller has continued to make sure that a presidential pardon won’t save Manafort. Manafort is pleading guilty to only two charges, conspiracy and witness tampering, but he is conceding to the other facts in the “criminal information,” which establish money laundering and mention the money laundering statute. So Manafort would still face slam-dunk state charges for money laundering, bank fraud, state tax fraud, and other crimes if he were to receive a presidential pardon (which affects only federal crimes).

I’m wondering what Manafort has told Mueller as part of this deal. Manafort is still giving up a lot in this deal, forfeiting millions in assets, which probably cannot be returned by a pardon, either. But he may get reduced sentencing for cooperation.

I’m most focused on two episodes. The first is the Trump Tower meeting in June. Does Manafort have information that Trump knew about the meeting in advance? I’ve written before that such advance knowledge would be the key step in establishing felony conspiracy against the United States.

The second is whether Manafort played a role in changing the Republican platform on Russia and Ukraine during the campaign, and what if anything Trump may have known about it. That might be part of a quid pro quo case. And of course, there may be a lot more Manafort can tell prosecutors about Trump’s involvement. I doubt that prosecutors would make any cooperation agreement without full cooperation and without cooperation on the core Russia investigation.

Ric Simmons, law professor, Ohio State University

It is not yet clear the extent and nature of the cooperation that Manafort will provide to the special counsel’s office, but the plea agreement is still a major step forward for the investigation of the president. Unlike the earlier convictions for tax evasions, these guilty pleas, to charges such as conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice, relate to the core of Mueller’s investigation.

It also seems likely that pardoning Manafort at this point would be a significant political problem for the president. The fact that Manafort was convicted of the earlier charges at trial show that the case against him is not a “witch hunt,” and the fact that Manafort is now cooperating with Mueller will make any pardon seem like a cover-up.

Andy Wright, senior fellow & founding editor of the legal blog Just Security

Manafort’s decision to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation could represent a watershed moment for the Trump presidency. On one side, Manafort is inextricably tied to Trump. The two men go back decades. Manafort was a Trump Tower tenant. He served as chairman of the Trump campaign during the critical period related to potential campaign collusion with Russian criminal election interference.

On the other side, Manafort has deep and longstanding ties to Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin and represented the interests of Russian-backed Ukrainian political entities. He was there for the many of the central events under scrutiny by the special counsel, including the June 2016 meeting at Trump tower with Russian emissaries offering dirt on Hillary Clinton and the platform change at the Republican National Convention that benefitted Russia. He will likely know what Trump personally knew about those events.

It is clear that President Trump is concerned about what Manafort might say. The president has reportedly told associates Manafort could incriminate him. And he has publicly celebrated Manafort’s previous omertà throughout Manafort’s criminal proceedings. Manafort’s plea will cap his imprisonment for these charges at 10 years, and he will get the benefit of a significant reduction if he provides robust and truthful cooperation.

Also, today’s announcement signals the end of Manafort’s semi-open campaign to obtain a pardon. It is inconceivable the president would pardon him in such a nakedly self-interested way. Now the president, like the rest of us, will have to wait to see how damaging Manafort’s cooperation will be. But he will do so knowing what of his skeletons, if any, are there to be uncovered.

“The fact that Manafort is now cooperating with Mueller will make any pardon seem like a cover-up”

Joshua Dressler, law professor, Ohio State University

The man who said he would never flip has flipped. Based on the court’s explanation of the cooperation agreement, it would appear that he has agreed to cooperate fully with the special counsel, including responding to Mueller’s questions without Manafort’s lawyer present.

This is another reason why the president and his inner circle (including his relatives) need to worry. Mueller would not have agreed to this arrangement unless he felt that Manafort has a lot of relevant information to provide.

Christopher Slobogin, law professor, Vanderbilt University

Everything depends on the content of the “cooperation agreement.” If, as reported, Manafort has agreed to testify in “other proceedings” and provide documents to special counsel, there is high likelihood that, given Mueller’s mandate, Manafort will provide information relevant to the investigation of Trump’s presidential campaign. But of course we still have no information about the precise content of that testimony or evidence.

Original Source -> Manafort is cooperating with Mueller. 8 legal experts explain what that means for Trump.

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

[masonmaye]

“Their central thesis was that the Coronation was the ceremonial occasion for the affirmation of the moral values by which the society lives. It was an act of national communion. The Coronation is exactly this kind of ceremonial in which the society reaffirms the moral values which constitute it as a society and renew”

“It is now common form to talk about the Royal Family. The monarchy is idealised not so much for the virtue of the individual sovereign as for the virtue which he expresses in his family life” (ibid:78). Devotion to the Royal Family was the same as devotion to one’s own family because the values were the same”

“Britons are preparing to celebrate Jubilee holiday weekend in traditional fashion – with an orgy of patriotism, drinking, and sex”

“Everywhere, there was an uncanny Sunday-morning-like quietness, emphasising the fact that this is – even more than the Coronation and the Silver Jubilee – a media event: something that happens indoors. But at least the weather is okay”

“I’m not a royalist, but I’m not a Republican, either. I voted Labour. I came to support the church. I wouldn’t want the royal family to go – there aren’t a lot of royalty around.“

“The trouble now is that enough people don’t understand the role of the royal family. For foreigners, though, it’s what Britain means.“

“But the Jubilee? No sign at all. Each and every one of the side streets off Green Lanes between Manor House and Wood Green was pretty much deserted, in an almost perfect evocation of the typical comatose English suburban Sunday afternoon immortalised by comedian Tony Hancock in the 1960s. But it wasn’t Sunday, it was Monday, and it wasn’t a typical Monday, it was the Queen’s Golden Jubilee weekend. Except that you wouldn’t have known it. But for the odd English flag outside a pub, you could have been forgiven for not knowing that it was also the opening weekend of the World Cup Final”

“World Cup aside, it could really be just another bank holiday. And I can’t help feeling that for most people, it is.“

“Total waste of taxpayers’ money and time. And think of all the business that will be closing down and losing money on Monday and Tuesday! Why should it mean anything to me? They don’t care about me or my problems”

“Talking about the Queen, what chance does she have to do anything? She could have her little private life that nobody know about and I think she’s entitled to it. But as soon as anything comes out that’s got to be public knowledge, they blame her. She’s just a figurehead. I mean, what about all the men that are in the palace telling her what she gotta do? They don’t get put in the paper and say they’re wrong. It’s the Queen. And I don’t think that’s right.”

“The party seemed to be very much the entire point. It meant that for the first time, ever, all the kids played out together in the street and people sat and chatted to their neighbours beyond the usual ‘hello’. With Karaoke, raffles, games and lots of food and wine, not only did the party give them (in their own words) a feeling of being a community; it was also really good fun.“

“It was almost impossible to make generalisations about attitudes towards the monarchy or the Jubilee celebrations in terms of class, age or ethnicity. Perhaps the Jubilee meant somewhat more to older people than younger people, but even here there was no firm or fast rule. When the older people talked about the Jubilee they talked about the royal family and what an excellent job the Queen had done and how you couldn’t fault her.”

“What does the Jubilee mean to you? This Jubilee? Yes, this Jubilee. Honestly? Honestly. It don’t mean nothing. (Rastafarian)“

“It’s the first street party I seen all day today. 25 years ago every street was shut. You know what I mean. The council will charge you five hundred quid for like holding up the street for the day. 25 years that wasn’t thought of. There’s no community spirit compared to 25 years ago. I don’t think a lot of people are that interested any more. I think its cos the monarchies changed so much. I don’t know if they are as popular as they used to be.”

“The trappings of monarchy may have survived, but much of the substance has gone.”

“The defining event of the Jubilee, by common consent, was the vast pop concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, which extended outwards via giant television screens on to the Mall and across Central London, where a crowd of one million people were assembled: one of the greatest massings of humanity, perhaps only exceeded by the Live Aid concert, in the history of cities. In some ways it recalled the night of the Millennium, though then the event was more diffused, less focussed on a single event.”

#p. istd #research #jubilee

[dprkinsight]

As Trump threatens North Korea, most Americans oppose war

By Peter Symonds  25 September 2017

Amid the Trump administration’s continuing bellicose threats against Pyongyang, an opinion poll released yesterday confirmed that the overwhelming majority of the population in the United States is opposed to a war against North Korea and fearful of its catastrophic consequences.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 67 percent of respondents opposed pre-emptive US strikes on North Korea and agree to military action only if Pyongyang were to attack the United States or one of its allies. Even among those who “strongly approve” of Trump’s job performance—a shrinking minority—nearly 60 percent opposed a pre-emptive attack on North Korea.

The poll also revealed a broad understanding and fears that a US attack could quickly mushroom into a far wider war. “If the United States did first launch a military strike on North Korea, 82 percent of Americans say it would risk starting a larger war in East Asia, including 69 percent citing a ‘a major risk,’” the Washington Post reported.

In his fascistic rant at the United Nations last week, President Trump warned that the US would “totally destroy” North Korea—a threat that can only mean the nuclear annihilation of the small, economically backward country.

Trump is broadly distrusted at home. The opinion poll found that more than 60 percent of respondents trusted Trump “not at all” to responsibly handle the dangerous stand-off with North Korea. Amid a concerted effort in the American media to present the military top brass as a brake on Trump’s reckless warmongering, 72 percent of adults said that they trusted US military leaders. However, while its tone might not be quite as belligerent and reckless as Trump’s, the Pentagon’s provocative actions speak louder than words.

In a blunt threat to Pyongyang, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White reported that on Saturday, US B1-B strategic bombers accompanied by fighters flew in international airspace near the east coast of North Korea. “This is the farthest north of the Demilitarised Zone [separating the two Koreas] any US fighter or bomber aircraft has flown off North Korea’s coast in the 21st century,” she said.

In reality, it is US imperialism that has demonstrated its criminality and lawlessness time and again over the past quarter century. Washington has repeatedly waged wars of aggression that have destroyed entire societies in the Middle East, northern Africa and Central Asia in pursuit of global dominance.

Now with utter recklessness, the US has deliberately pushed the confrontation with Pyongyang to the brink of war—a situation in which a relatively minor incident could become the pretext for a massive attack on North Korea that could rapidly involve other nuclear powers, including China and Russia.

The US has rejected Chinese and Russian calls for a suspension of its huge annual military drills with South Korea as a quid pro quo for North Korea to halt its weapons’ testing and lay the basis for negotiations.

Speaking yesterday on ABC News, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin sought to wind back the threat of nuclear war but in doing so acknowledged that it is being openly discussed in the White House. Asked if nuclear war was possible, Mnuchin, who sits on Trump’s national security committee, declared that the president did not want a nuclear war, but then added: “On the other hand, the president will protect the American people and our allies.”

Mnuchin also made clear that the US confrontation with North Korea is being exploited by the Trump administration to advance a far broader agenda aimed at undermining and blocking any rival or group of rivals from global supremacy. Speaking of Trump’s executive order last week, he said it allowed him to impose “the strongest sanctions that have ever been done. I can cut off financial institutions anywhere in the world that support North Korea.”

These so-called secondary sanctions are aimed in the first instance against China and Russia. Such measures could also be used against Washington’s allies in Europe if they do business with North Korea or other targets of US aggression such as Iran. Already, deep divisions are emerging with European powers over Trump’s threat to end the 2015 deal with Iran to denuclearise, and adopt a far more aggressive stance towards Tehran.

Confronted with escalating threats from the US, North Korea has replied in kind, greatly heightening the danger of war. In his UN speech, Foreign Minister Ri denounced Trump as “a mentally deranged person” and warned that his threat to totally destroy North Korea made the prospect of “our rockets’ visit to the US mainland all the more inevitable.”

Pyongyang has clearly concluded that it has no other option than to accelerate its nuclear program.

The Washington Post-ABC opinion poll gives a glimpse of the deep-seated opposition to war among working people in the US, which finds no expression within any faction of the political establishment, including among the various pseudo-left organisations. Those sentiments, which exist in every country, must be given conscious political expression through the building of a unified movement of the international working class to put an end to the profit system that is the root cause of war.

[racingtoaredlight]

Opening Bell: May 26, 2017

The investigation into the Manchester concert bombing earlier this week continues in Britain. Eight people have been arrested on raids around the country, though the names and alleged level of involvement for these eight people have not yet been made public. Meanwhile in Libya, a militia located and arrested the brother of Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, claiming that he too was preparing to undertake an imminent attack. And German authorities announced yesterday that Abedi may have been in Düsseldorf just four days before the bombing attack. As the net of the investigation widens, one question which seems unlikely to be fully answered hovers over this event and others like it: how do you prevent radicalization of individuals already in western nations?

The Washington Post reported late yesterday that Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and probably his most trusted advisor, has become the focus of the FBI’s probe into Russian involvement with the Trump campaign. Kushner met with Russian ambassador to the United States and the executive of a Russian bank which has been the target of U.S. sanctions after the Russian annexation of the Crimea. The meeting took place in December during the Trump team’s transition from the campaign to the White House. The content of that meeting is not clear but last week a senior White House official said that someone “close to the president” had become the a person of interest in the FBI’s investigation. It is not clear if Kushner was that person of interest or if that was another advisor to Trump. Kushner neglected to mention the December meeting in the disclosure form which is necessary to gain a security clearance; any contact by representatives of foreign nations over the previous seven years must be disclosed on the forms. Kushner’s attorney brushed off any notion of concealment, saying that the omission was a mistake and that the forms would be amended and resubmitted. In another disclosure form headache, Jared Kushner failed to report his and wife Ivanka’s large art collection on financial disclosure statements. The art collection and its value will be added to an updated version of the form soon, an attorney for Kushner reported.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has made permanent an injunction on President Donald Trump’s revised travel order which curtailed immigration from several Muslim-majority nations. Rather than a usual three judge panel, the court was sitting en banc for this decision, meaning that the entire complement of judges assigned to the 4th Circuit heard the appeal, minus two who recused themselves and took no part in the decision. Many conservative commentators, even those opposed to President Trump and his policies, were critical of the decision, calling it a judicial overreach into the authority of another branch of government. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department would appeal and it seems likely that the Supreme Court will take up the case for review. This order by the 4th Circuity is separate from an even broader injunction issued by the 9th Circuit a few weeks ago.

Yesterday, former Democrat-turned independent Senator Joe Lieberman announced his withdrawal from consideration to be the next Director of the FBI. When it was indicated earlier this week that Lieberman had become the front runner after interview with Trump administration officials at the White House, a howl of disapproval bellowed down from Capitol Hill. Though Trump remains friendly with many senators on both sides of the aisle, some Democrats harbor resentment to the former running mate of Al Gore for not only leaving the party (even though he continued to caucus with Democrats), but also for supporting Republican nominee for president John McCain in 2008 and for Lieberman’s key role in killing a major provision of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Democrats, and some Republicans, were also critical of the fact that Lieberman has virtually no background in criminal justice or law enforcement, which would have made him an odd choice to lead the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency.

The Congressional Budget Office completed its scoring of the updated House version of the AHCA, as required by Senate rules before it may consider the legislation in its chamber. While the projected deficit savings of $119 billion meet the Senate’s requirements for reviewing the bill in the budget reconciliation process, the CBO also announced that the plan would cover 23 million fewer people than the ACA within a decade. This is a slight improvement on the 24 million projected on the CBO’s scoring of the first version of the AHCA—which did not even make it to the House floor for a vote—and privately many on Capitol Hill expected a the coverage figure the barely change, if it all. This, however, did not prevent some of the president’s most vocal public defenders to criticize the non-partisan CBO, with former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich calling for its abolition.

The head of the Federal Student Aid Office, a part of the Department of Education which administers $150 billion in funding each year for higher education through Pell Grants, government-guaranteed loans, and college work-study funds, abruptly resigned yesterday rather than testify before Congress. James Runcie, who was first appointed in 2010 during the Obama administration and was reappointed in 2015 revealed in an email to FSA that he had experienced repeated frustration with leadership at the Department. Decisions which previously had been made by FSA executives, were instead required to be reviewed by the senior leadership of the Department of Education, Runcie elucidated. This had led to a level of dysfunction which Runcie said he was not prepared to shoulder at a congressional hearing. FSA is an enormously important office within the Department of Education because it makes attending college possible for millions of American citizens and permanent residents who would otherwise not be able to afford it. The movement from a centralized federal educational loan lending system also cleared out much of the graft and seediness between private educational lenders and school financial departments, which exploded into a full-blown scandal when a quid pro quo scheme between the University of Texas’s financial aid department and a handful of banks was revealed in 2007. Whoever Secretary Betsy DeVos selects to replace Runcie could be a window into how DeVos views the government’s role in financing higher education for students.

At a House Budget Committee hearing Wednesday, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney revealed that the federal government was likely to run out of cash on hand sooner than initially expected. The reason: tax receipts for 2016 were flowing into the treasury at a slower than expected pace. Later the same day, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed this and pleaded with a separate House committee to raise the nation’s debt-limit before Congress adjourns for summer. Previously, it was thought that any vote on a debt ceiling increase would not be necessary until the fall. This sets up a potentially polarizing vote by both chambers of Congress which will push other pieces of legislation, the AHCA and tax code reform, further back on the legislative calendar.

On the second to last leg of his first overseas trip as president, Donald Trump stopped in the Belgian capital Brussels yesterday to meet with leaders of fellow NATO nations and to inaugurate the new headquarters building for the alliance. The new headquarters will replace NATO’s current political and policy home, which was built 50 years ago and was expected to be temporary. In his speech during the opening ceremony for the building, Donald Trump gave a speech in which he declined to mention Russia and also declined to affirm Article 5 of NATO’s charter. Article 5 is the provision of the charter which, if invoked, requires all NATO members to come to the assistance of another member that is attacked. This position was glaring given that the only time Article 5 has been invoked was after the September 11 attacks on the United States and, prior to the speech, Trump had helped dedicate a monument to NATO’s support of the United States after 9/11. The memorial’s name? The Article 5 9/11 Memorial. Trump also criticized many of the nations present for failing to allocate the NATO requisite 2% of their national budgets on defense spending.

The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that an air strike launched against Mosul on March 17 had inadvertently set off an ISIS ammunition cache in the city which exploded and killed over 100 civilians. Ever since the air campaign against ISIS was commenced by the Obama administration in 2014, it has been heavily criticized by humanitarian and observer groups for the toll it has inflicted on civilians. For its part, the Defense Department has for years been very conservative in its estimate of civilian casualties, only announcing those which are confirmed by the department’s own analysis and generally declining to comment on media reports of civilian deaths and injuries. So this is not an insignificant admission by the Pentagon.

An investigation by ABC News has uncovered a wide ranging policy of torture and inhuman treatment by an elite Iraqi military unit which has been praised by the U.S. military for its successes in battling ISIS fighters. The Emergency Response Division, which is part of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, has been at the forefront of some of the worst fighting in northern Iraq. An Iraqi Kurd photographer, Ali Arkrady, was embedded with the unit during their drive to Mosul and captured numerous images of ERD soldiers and officers torturing bound prisoners and executing others with gunshots to the back of the head. An ERD officer admitted that his men “do not take prisoners” in a phone interview last week. Arkrady smuggled the pictures out of Iraq and worked with ABC News to piece together these incidents. A selection of the less gruesome images are embedded in the story and I recommend the entire piece; they are evidence of war crimes. No American soldiers or advisors were attached to the unit while Arkrady was there.

Beneath the South China Sea between Indochina, the Philippines, and the island of Borneo lies what many oil exploration analysts believe is one of the largest untapped oil and natural gas reserves left on the planet. Virtually every nation upon whose shores the waters of the South China Sea wax and wane have a claim to some part of the islands and shoals which dot the sea, and many of them overlap. The nation most aggressive in asserting their claims has been China, which has pursued a policy of enlarging the islands it holds by dredging soil from other areas and adding it their islands, where military airfields and other installations are built. This has given China a significant position from which it can project force in the region, if necessary. Foreign Policy notes that the Trump administration has recently made moves which indicate a more aggressive approach to China’s actions in the South China Sea, but also laments that anything the United States does will be too little, too late.

The Brookings Institution analyzes how the Manchester bombing attack this week shows the evolution of terrorism over the last two decades. This piece is interesting in that it traces how terrorist groups of the 1970s and 80s, though abhorrent in the West for their means, at least had goals, like political self-determination, which were comprehensible. But now, ISIS embraces methods and practices with virtually no limit on the scope of their cruelty, including the attack on a venue filled with 20,000 people, primarily women and children, something which even Al-Qaeda has shied away from. I found this thought-provoking and I recommend it.

Late last night, Republican Greg Gianforte, despite being charged with assaulting a reporter the day before, won the special election for Montana’s at-large congressional seat. While Democrats are expected to have a real shot at retaking the House in 2018, the Senate remains an uphill climb, with the GOP defending only eight seats while Democrats must defend twenty-three. However, with a Republican in the White House—midterm elections almost invariably go against the president’s party—and the Trump administration committing multiple self-inflicted wounds, thus lowering his popularity among voters, Democrats have a legitimate chance to go against the grain and net the three seats they need for control of the upper chamber. Stuart Rothenberg looks at the results of two previous midterms which occurred at the height of scandal-plagued administrations—Nixon in 1974 and Clinton in 1998—to see if there is anything to divine from those tea leaves.

This week a 1982 painting by African-American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $110.5 million. Basquiat, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 27 in 1988, has become widely popular in the decades since his death. While Basquiat is not as abstract as, say, Jackson Pollock, a high price for what is essentially a colorful, abstracted skull will inevitably lead to the murmur somewhere of “But I could do that.” If you will indulge me for a moment, the point of art is not solely one of technical ability. The very point of Marcel Duchamp taking a urinal, signing it “R. Mutt, 1917” and then displaying it, was to challenge the notion of what art was and is. The point of art is to showcase not what someone can do, but what ideas a person has. Successful artists are those who have ideas and, upon executing them, strike a chord with those that view it. Within this scope, the definition of art is much greater than what it was, say, during the Italian Renaissance or during the period of French Impressionism. When viewed that way, it starts to make sense why someone with means would be willing to spend nine figures on a piece that is meaningful to them. The buyer of the Basquiat piece, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, announced soon after his purchase that he would loan the painting out for public display for several years.

Finally, a new Paleontological study claims to know why blue whales, the largest animal on the planet today, has achieved its size through evolution. Baleen whales like the blue whale have no teeth and gain their sustenance by taking in huge amounts of seawater filled with plankton and other small sea life. This method of feeding nevertheless fuels the growth of a mammal that is larger than three city buses parked bumper to bumper, and which has a tongue that weighs as much as an African elephant. The new study suggests that baleen sharks like the blue whale, which were considerably smaller millions of years ago, grew in size over time to make it harder for them to be attacked and eaten by other creatures in the sea. Really interesting read.

Welcome to the weekend.

#On This Day #Manchester #terrorism #bombing #Ariana Grande #Jared Kushner #Russia #FBI #art #Muslims #travel ban #Joe Lieberman #ACA #AHCA #Congressional Budget Office #politics #Newt Gingrich #Department of Education #financial aid #Federal Student Aid #loans #higher education #debt ceiling #Congress #Donald Trump #NATO #Belgium #ISIS #military #air strikes

[londontheatre]

42nd Street – Clare Halse, Stuart Neal & Company – credit Brinkhoff & Moegenburg

The intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan marks the epicentre of New York’s theatre district – customarily referred to as “Broadway”. There are 8 theatres on 42nd Street and any self-respecting blockbuster musical wants to or needs to, get an opening there if it’s going to succeed big-time. Thus when Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble (book), Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) penned their “Broadway-based” musical in the early eighties, “42 Street” sat easily as their preferred title. The show 42nd Street is Broadway writ large: huge company, a multitude of colourful costumes, songs (some great), small-town girl makes good and, yes, above all, those mesmerising “dancing feet”.

If your thing is being engulfed by a forty-plus- strong chorus-line as it bashes out its spectacular tap-athon then this is undoubtedly the show for you. If it’s not your thing then I would suggest it is still the show for you because we don’t get to see this kind of dance extravaganza very often these days – mainly because no-one can afford it. The word is that this production cost £8 million to stage and you certainly come away believing that no expense has been spared. Those costumes, those settings – some painted, some 3D – that excellent band, the half a million spent on lighting, that crystal clear sound, those two amazing set-pieces – one where we see multiple cast members peering out through their lit-up make-up mirrors and the similarly staged compartments on a train. This is all grist to the magical musical theatre mill and the vibrant images will be seared into the minds of the audience for years to come.

Co-writer Mark Bramble directs this production relying heavily on the choreography of original director, the late Gower Champion (via Randy Skinner). No-one can quibble at the quality and vibrancy of the dance routines but there is perhaps a thought that Bramble should have taken account of the great strides musical theatre has taken over the last decade and have updated the direction accordingly. The book, which is the most basic you can get – chorus girl takes over from star who is incapacitated – is rather dated now and the spoken word scenes are merely a device to link together the big set-piece dance numbers and as such are rather pedestrian.

The producers may find, therefore, that the modern savvy musical theatre audience demands more for its sixty-odd quid.

Sheana Easton

The performer who suffers most from this unimaginative direction is Sheena Easton in the central role of Dorothy Brock. Ms Easton is a magnificent songstress and we have all long admired her clarity and feeling down the years. But she is a concert hall singer – this is her first appearance in a major musical on the West End stage. So rather than playing to her strengths – i.e. standing still in a single spot and letting her vocal talent speak for itself, she appears to have been told that she has to adapt into a “musical theatre singer” and therefore needs to change her style. It’s a style, unfortunately, that does not work. I was lucky enough to see this show in rehearsal when Easton did just stand there and sing – to great effect. Now the transition to stage and audience seems to have completely muddied her thinking and the clarity has gone – never more evident than in the jarring overuse of vibrato in her rendition of “I Only Have Eyes For You”. Great song, great singer, misjudged interpretation.

Clare Halse is outstanding as Peggy Sawyer, the chorus girl up from the sticks who shoots to stardom. She’s a confident singer but can also act – something that’s not a strong point in Easton’s repertoire. Halse is given solid support by the other characters around her but the real stars of the show are those irrepressible hoofers: and the giant over-stage mirror that gives the audience a birds-eye view of the Busby Berkeley-style geometric patterns created by spreadeagled terpsichoreans is a masterstroke. There is no doubt that everyone leaves the theatre wanting to waltz their way down Drury Lane and for that, despite its faults, we can be thankful for this evocative revival of 42 Street’s ultimate Broadway experience.

Review by Peter Yates

42nd STREET is the song and dance, American dream fable of Broadway. Young Peggy Sawyer is fresh off the bus from small-town America and just another face in the chorus line on Broadway’s newest show. But when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy might just have the shot at stardom she’s always dreamed of…

Broadway’s Biggest Show featuring the iconic songs 42nd Street, We’re In The Money, Lullaby of Broadway, Shuffle Off To Buffalo, Dames, I Only Have Eyes For You. 42nd STREET arrives on the West End’s biggest stage, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Spring 2017.

Grammy Award winner Sheena Easton joins an all singing, high-kicking cast as Dorothy Brock with Tom Lister as Julian Marsh and Clare Halse as Peggy Sawyer.

Mark Bramble, co-author of the book for the original Broadway and West End productions of 42nd STREET and director of the 2001 Tony Award® winning revival of 42nd STREET, returns to direct the new West End production.

Theatre Royal Drury Lane Catherine Street, London, WC2B 5JF

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