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tomtenadia · 3 years

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Island Dreams - Chapter 11

Hi all,

Chapter 11 is here. So far this is my favourite. Rowan and Aelin go on the adventure he promised her and... well... there is fluff. Almost 5k words of fluff.

Aelin get to listen to Rowan's favourite groups. One of them is called Peat and Diesel. The guys are from Stornoway and I LOVE them. Their music is super original and fun. In this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZM6qAiZZKA you have an introduction of them. Listen to their accents and you have an idea how people on the Western Isles talk and the guy with the red jumper (Innes) has the kind of accent that Rowan has in the story. 3 of my favourite songs: Western Isles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo2zuDxqf6A This video is hilarious and the guy go around Stornoway. My Islands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLBnk05ris&t=89s Stornoway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efx_4YxLFRc

Peat and Diesel have been a constant soundtrack while writing this fic.

The second group are Runrig. Alas they are now retired but they have been playing for decades and they are the first Scottish group I have discovered once I moved to Scotland. I have seen them live and they were incredible. They sing in both English and Gaelic.

Happy reading and for once may the fluff be with you <3

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At 6am next morning, Aelin was in front of her house with her backpack strapped on her shoulders and all ready to go. The forecast for the day was meant to be wonderful with really high temperatures for Scotland. A heat wave, the meteorologists had announced. She was wearing shorts and a nice polo shirt and a baseball cap with a Saltire on that she bought at the tourist office. She probably looked ridiculous but she did not care. A text from Rowan came, announcing that he was on his way and five minutes later his car finally arrived. “Took you long enough.” Aelin commented while jumping in the car. “I was my aunt’s place to gather food. And knowing you, it had to be a lot.” Aelin punched his arm and he laughed in response. Once at the terminal they parked at the front and they both went inside the terminal to buy the tickets. Aelin was about to go ahead and order them but Rowan blocked her “my treat.” He said. With tickets in hands they returned to the car and joined the queue of vehicles ready to check-in and board. “This is so exciting.”

“Only a tourist like you would find the embarkation process exciting.” He joked and flipped her hat with his hand, making it fly. “And this tourist here is going to get a fridge magnet as well.” She replied while putting her baseball hat back on in defiance. Around 7.30 it was finally time to get on board. After they left the car on the car deck they climbed back on the passenger deck and Aelin dragged Rowan outside. “No way I am staying cooped up.” “It’s going to be cold.” He told her zipping up her jacket in a very protective manner. “I spent the entire journey here on the deck. And it was a bit cooler than now. You point is not valid.” He raised his hand in defeat “It’s your freezing ass.” He removed his windbreaker and Aelin noticed that her was wearing the university of Glasgow hoodie that she had stolen from him. “That’s my hoodie.” She protested. “You asked me to make sure it smell like me again. I am just following procedure.” She snuggled to him and inhaled his scent “A couple of more days, then it’s mine again?” Rowan laughed “Fine.” The ferry finally started to move and Aelin turned to the aft side of the boat and very dramatically she started waving at the people at the pier. Rowan followed her. He hadn’t been this excited by a trip in ages. And it was all thanks to her. Aelin leaned against the handrail, her face half turned and her hair flowing freely and in that instant Rowan took his camera out and snapped some picture of her. “Someone had a fancy camera.” She took a step to him to have a look at the picture he had just taken and was impressed. They were super good. “I am just the modern brat who uses her phone.” And she snapped a picture of him smiling. “Yes! I got a good one.” She was planning to take a lot of pictures of Rowan. Lysandra had asked her for some proof that this mysterious man existed and she was going to show her friend. An hour and a half later land was in sight again and they got ready to disembark and Aelin could not contain her excitement and not a long later they were on the road again. Rowan had attached his mp3 player to the car stereo and started playing some music. “This band is called Peat and Diesel, they are from Stornoway and they are one of my favourite groups. I met them once and they are hilarious and very down to earth and their music is brilliant if you are from there, you can relate.” Aelin listened to the tune and had to admit the songs were great. She started to dance in the car and Rowan laughed. “They are awesome.” “They are playing this year at HebCelt I have tickets for their concert…” he offered. “I am coming.” Then she stopped herself “If you want me, of course.” “I’ll think about it.” And he gave her a huge grin. “This song is called Stornoway….” He told her. “I love their style they add the accordion added to rock music. This is brilliant stuff.” “Good,” and his hand went on her knee. They drove for about five minutes, just enough to get out of the town and Rowan pulled over. Aelin was speechless the landscape around her was of barren mountains and in front of her lay this amazing beach. She got off the car and ran out and sat on the bench on the side of the road. The silence around her was incredible. Rowan was at her side a minute later. “This is Ardmair beach.” The he took her arm and pointed ahead “Those over there are called Summer Islands. You can take boat trips to visit them.” Aelin leaned against this shoulder and inhaled his scent mixed with the one of the sea. For ten minutes they sat in silence staring at the sea and listening to the seagulls. “Come on… we still have a bit to drive.” While on the road Aelin’s phone rang and was happy to see it was Lysandra. “Hi darling.” “Hi babe, quick call because I don’t have much time. Aedion and I have a surprise.” Exclaimed the woman at the other end. “Lys, please don’t tell you are pregnant already.” Lysandra laughed “No, Aedion and I have taken holidays.” Aelin grinned “So you are phoning me to tell me that you and mister hot hands are taking two weeks off to have crazy sex? Gee stop bragging.” She turned her head and noticed that Rowan pretended not to listen. In response she put a hand on his leg and his breath hitched at the contact. “No. We re coming to see you. We want to see all those amazing places.” Aelin screamed and almost gave a heart attack to the man at her side. “Ae, I have two minutes. We are coming up soon. I will text you all the details but we are staying for two weeks.” “Good text me everything and we’ll get some adventures organised.” Lysandra squealed on her side of the phone and then hang up to go and have fun in surgery. Aelin looked at Rowan “Lysandra and her boyfriend are coming up for two weeks.” “Given your screams I guessed it was something like that.” She squeezed his leg again and went back to admiring the landscape being amazed at every single corner. An half an hour had passed when Rowan stopped the car again and parked in a small car park. Aelin’s mouth fell open when she noticed the ruins of the castle on the loch. “That is Ardvreck castle.” He told her, getting off the car. Aelin followed and took the hand he offered. “When will this country stop to surprise me?” “Never.” Admitted Rowan “and this part of Scotland is one of the most stunning and the northern we get the wilder and unspoiled it gets.” “Ro, this is incredible.” She left his hand and started walking to the ruins. For a moment he just stared at her in admiration. Stared at her legs and the rest of the ensemble. Lyria had called her a stick, but Rowan disagreed. Aelin had curves and he was dying to get his hands on every single one of them. She turned around and called him and he woke from his revelry. Alas, they did not have the place to themselves and a group of tourists was walking around the ruins as well. “What do you think?” He asked joining her. “I want to climb on it.” “Well, you can’t.” Aelin grumbled something and Rowan let her explore the site. Five minutes later he noticed her talking happily with the group of German tourists. He was jealous of the simplicity with which she could talk to people. When she came back to him she had a smug smiled painted on her face “what did you do?” Asked Rowan expecting the worst. “One of the lady was asking about books. They are coming to Stornoway next week so I told her about our shop.” Our. She probably didn’t even notice the pronoun she used but Rowan felt a deep sense of pride and joy and his traitor mind reminded him that Lyria never called it like that. It was always your shop and when they had fights she would add a damned for emphasis. “We don’t have books in German.” He whispered. “Oh no, she is looking for books in English to practice.” Aelin took his hand “thank you for taking me here.” “The adventure is nor over yet.” He started walking. They crossed to road and he started to walk on the grass and followed the small river. They walked for a bit and then Aelin spotted some small waterfalls. The land was on different levels and the path of the river was broken, thus creating a small series of waterfalls. Rowan sat down on a rock and began opening his backpack. “Lunch time.” Aelin was at his side in seconds. He had made sandwiches for both. That morning he had woken up early and he had prepared a lunch for both. “It’s not a lot but we’ll eat when we get to Lochinver. There is a place where they make the most amazing savoury pies.” “You really know how to woo a woman.” She grabbed the sandwich he passed her and sat down in silence and stared at the water flowing down from the mountains. “Do I get to meet Lysandra?” Aelin munched faster and nodded “She will kill me if she doesn’t get to meet you.” Once done eating Rowan stood and offered her his hand “Come, let’s go. We can a have a long break after we arrive at our final destination. And we need to stop for pies too.” In a second Aelin was up and they walked back to the car. It took them fifteen minutes drive to reach their next stop and Aelin was giddy. Rowan had put more music on and she had discovered another of his favourite groups called Runrig and she fell in love with them. They also sang in Gaelic. She made a mental note to get all this groups from him once back home. Home.Because that’s where she was. And it felt right. A few houses and the hint of a village appeared out of the window and Aelin guessed they were arrived. Rowan pulled into the petrol station “Sorry. My car needs to eat as well.” And he gave a wonderful smile. He was always smiling to her recently and she wished he could do it all the time because it was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. Five minutes later they moved to the car park next to the petrol station and Rowan again offered his hand to her. The Larder was the name of the bistro they were going to. They went inside and sat at a table. “This one is on me. In the end we didn’t finish the meal after winning the bet, so that’s me now buying you the meal I owed you.” “Ro, you don’t have to.” He put a hand on hers and squeezed gently “I know, but I want to.” They were eating their meals when Rowan broke the silence “The local high school asked me to join them on a part time basis as swimming instructor.” Aelin’s hand stopped half way to her mouth and looked at him “No way.” He nodded and she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. “How do you feel about it?” His hand deposited his fork on the plate and he leaned back on the chair sighing heavily “Torn.” A hand ran through his hair “I want to. I miss it so much. But I don’t know if I can.” Aelin grabbed her chair and moved closer to him and grabbed his hand in hers “Give it a go. Tell them you want to do a trial lesson. See how it goes. How you feel. Then decide.” “It would be for just two mornings a week, and the extra money is a plus.” He gave her a faint smile. “And I will look after the bookshop, so don’t worry about not being able to open. If you trust me, of course.” His face leaned closer and for a brief moment the space between them was very minimal. “I trust you.” Her hand all of a sudden had a life on its own and she found it going straight for his head and ran it through his hair. At the touch he closed his eyes and hummed very lightly. A second later Aelin retracted her hand and blushed furiously but he did not seem mad at the gesture. Quite the opposite, he had a very satisfied grin on his face. She was probably beetroot red just now, but it felt so good. They left the bistro and walked a bit along the promenade in the village, but she was dying to see the next stop and Rowan noticed her urgency. “Fine, fine we’ll go.” She ran back to their car while Rowan took his time walking just to annoy her. “You are such a grandpa.” Fifteen minutes later they stopped in car park and once out of the car she could spot a beach in the very distance and excitement cursed through her. She grabbed her stuff and was all ready to go while Rowan was doing his best to move so slow that a sloth could beat him to it. “Whitethorn!” She barked through gritted teeth. “Such an impatient woman.” He finally locked the car, picked his backpack from the ground and joined her. “I can see a beach. I have no patience.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him. Once they finally reached the sand, Aelin stood transfixed. In front of her opened a bay with sands so white it hurt her eyes and with the waters of a turquoise that could not be real. She was speechless. Also the beach was empty and they were the only two there and that was a bonus. “Welcome to Achmelvich beach.” She finally managed to move, dropped her backpack, removed her shoes and ran to the water. Rowan grabbed her stuff and moved it closer. He lay down a towel and sat down watching her play in the water with the unbridled joy of a kid. She was carefree and she was beautiful. “This is amazing.” She shouted at him while walking the length of the beach. Ten minutes later she was on her way back with a smile that melted his heart. “I just wish the water was not so cold because I’d die to have a swim in those waters.” Rowan patted the towel beside him. Aelin sat and then lay down with her head on his thighs and looked up at him and wondered if she had gone too far but he didn’t seem to fussed. They had been getting much closer but she still wasn’t sure how far she could go with her affections. She almost had a heart attack in the bistro when she brushed her hand in his hair. “Ro…” “Hm?” His voice sounded peaceful and she looked up and noted that his eyes were closed and he had a peaceful smile on his face. “Where do we stand?” “What do you mean?” “You and I. What is this?” Rowan sighed. He had been asking himself the same question for a few days now. There was definitely something there. Something more than friendship, but he could not define what it was exactly. “Are we friends? More? A couple? Because we have been behaving like one.” His hand brushed her hair and traced the line of her forehead “I don’t know, Fireheart.” She sighed and felt the same frustration as him. “You still have Elias. You two are still going out.” “We are not…” she paused “I mean, we are not a couple. And I need to talk to him.” She lifted her hand and with the back of it she brushed his cheek. “Why don’t we take it slowly. See how it goes, figure out our feelings and not put a label on it just yet?” He looked down at her. He could do that and it was probably the best way to go. Not rush things for once. Take their time. “But can I still do this?” And his hand traced her arms then reached her neck. His thumb continued his journey to her lips and brushed them gently while the hand cupped her cheek. Then he bent over and placed the chastest kiss in history on her lips and Aelin’s heart raced madly in her chest. It was brief and barely a kiss but it sent shivers all down her spine and she wanted more but she didn’t press. The hand left her cheek and moved down again tracing the length of her arm, until his fingers twined in hers “I like doing this.” “We can just be Aelin and Rowan for now. Status undecided.” And he heard her chuckle. Aelin nodded “A Buzzard and his Fireheart. What do you think? Way more epic.” She offered as an alternative. He brought her hand to his lips while still in his and kissed it “I love it very,” a kiss “very,” another one “much.” Aelin giggled and then her stare turned serious again “I am not going back to London.” And he stared at her almost understanding the weight of her admission. A selfish part of him had been hoping for that. Another reason why he didn’t want to make things official with her. He could not bear the idea of getting into a relationship and having to let her go back to her old life. And the idea of a long distance relationship was out of the question. “I feel like I don’t belong there anymore.” She continued and he let her “Not when I am currently living in a corner of paradise, where life seem to have slow down to a point that on the islands everything is closed on a Sunday. Where there so much nature around me and I feel like a can breath again. After a month I crave all of this desperately and the idea of going back to my old frenetic life… I don’t think I can do it anymore.” She closed her eyes and a pained expression was on her face “I can’t go back to all that. And definitely not to my old job.” Another deep breath “I have been looking for jobs here, at the hospital, but there is nothing at the moment.” “Aelin, that’s great.” He caressed her head “Something will come up. There is always a shortage of doctors on the islands.” “Will you be mad at me if I leave the bookshop?” Rowan gave her a huge smile “No. You go and follow your dream. If a job comes up you go for it.” And he meant it. Lyria had left him because she was bored and the job was only a way for her to make some money. Aelin was different, she would be going back to her dream job. And the fact that she asked meant she cared. “I can come and help from time to time, you know? Your display need my mastery touch.” Rowan erupted in laughter “My displays were doing okay before you arrived.” “Aye, but now they are doing great.” She sat up in front of him and resisted the urge to kiss her, more deeply this time. He shook the thought away and stood “Come, there is another thing I want to show you.” They grabbed their stuff and Rowan began walking on the rocky formation until they reached what looked like a small fortified construction. “That’s a weird building.” “That��s Hermit’s castle. Europe’s smallest castle.” He helped her navigate safely the rocky formation. “Gee, that is small.” He came behind her and his arms went around her waist “it’s quite a fun place and the views are incredible.” He grabbed her hand and pointed at the mountains at the horizon “that peak over there is called Suilven.” Aelin turned to face him “Can we go inside this castle?” “I knew you were going to ask it.” He took her hand and guided her back to the entrance “Be careful, it can be slippery.” She followed him into the entrance and noticed that he almost had to bend over to get access and laughed at him. “The joys of being short.” She mocked him. They spent a bit of time exploring the ruins “This is one of the weirdest places I have ever been to.” Once they were out Aelin sat on the cliffside and enjoyed the view. Rowan towered over her and was taking pictures, mostly of her when she was not looking in his direction. When her expression was natural. He sat beside her “You have three options now: one, we go to Clachtoll beach nearby, a bit smaller but still super lovely. Option two we get back into the car and we drive to a lighthouse, three we do both but we can’t linger too long because we have to drive all the way back to Ullapool for our ferry back home.” “I’ll take three.” “Good. So, get your arse of this rock and let’s go.” She jumped on her feet and followed him back to the car. Five minutes later they had reached their next destination and she was glad Rowan was the one driving. The roads were far too small for her and although she was getting used to it, she was still very apprehensive. He, on the other hand drove with the experience of someone who had driven along those small roads all his adult life. They took a nice stroll on the beach and Aelin again had to walk in the water and Rowan followed her. “We should come back to this part of Scotland… for… a longer vacation.” His eyes bulged in surprise and his heart fluttered. She was already thinking longterm and he realised that probably they were more involved than either of them had the guts to admit. Truth was… he had been thinking about something like that all day. Having a proper holiday with her and show her the north west of Scotland. Show her some of his favourite spots. “If you are deemed worthy of having me as a tour guide.” He joked and with his foot he splashed her on the legs and as revenge she did the same. “Such a mean old man.” “And you are a brat.” But you are my brat. “Come on menace, out of the water. I want to go to the lighthouse and then on our way back.” “Yes, sir. At your orders, sir.” She gave him a military salute and in her response he pushed her out of the water . “You will be the death of me.” And shook his head on his way back to the car. Twenty minutes later they reached the lighthouse and its position was just as dramatic as the one at the Butt of Lewis, with the Minch right in front of her. The wind had picked up and it was cold again. As if on cue Rowan arrived with her jacket in his hands “Put this on,” he pulled the jacket around her and zipped it up “Don’t get sick because I am not playing nurse with you.” And he grinned at those words. Mean her lips mouthed to him while he worked on the zip and for a second he stared at those lips and thought about the chaste kiss he had given her on the beach. He had a different idea altogether about what he would do to them. They reached the edge, and Rowan pulled her against his chest “Be careful, it’s quite a drop and the wind is savage. Stay away from the edge.” “You don’t need a jacket?” “I am used to this, I am fine.” He hugged her tighter and she enjoyed the heat emanating from his body. “See over there? That thin stretch of land?” He pointed at the horizon. The wind had cleared the sky so much that she could see land on the other side of the Minch. “That’s home.” At that word she put her hand on his and squeezed. She was enjoying the view but when she started shivering Rowan pulled her to the car “It’s cold. Plus we have an hour and a half drive back to Ullapool and I want to be there in good time for the ferry.” The drive back felt like it took longer than on the way out, probably because she knew the adventure was almost over and she wanted to spend even more time with him exploring. They made it back to Ullapool with a few hours to spare and Rowan showed her around the town and he took her to the town’s bookshop and they both ended up buying some books, like the two book addicts they were. Then Rowan took her for a coffee when he noticed her shivering and bought her a slice of chocolate cake. An hour later they were back in the car and in line to get on the ferry. “I really like these Peat and Diesel guys.” She commented while listening to his music. “They make me want to dance.” Rowan in response extended his arm and caressed her head and she almost purred. Once on the boat they stayed inside. The weather had turned all of a sudden and the wind had become quite bad and it was far too cold to be on the deck and Rowan convinced Aelin to take a seat and stay inside. He took a book out while Aelin leaned against his shoulder and almost instantly fell asleep. An arm went around her shoulder and pulled her closer to a more comfortable position and relished in the beauty of her body against his. The book forgotten, he now stared at her and her face was one of pure bliss. His thumb very gently stroked her cheek and then turned his neck and kissed the top the her head and lingered there for a moment inhaling her wonderful scent. She had been so cold that she had reclaimed her hoodie back and he was more than happy to oblige. He was tired of restraining himself. He realised sometimes that day that he was done pretending he did not feel anything for her. He wanted her. Badly. But until she had sorted her situation with Elias he could not do anything. And a pang of jealousy surged through him. He tried to read one more time but his mind could not concentrate, so he closed the book and decided to take a nap as well.

“Aelin,” he shook her gently as soon as the boat had started the docking procedure “we are almost home.” “Hm?” Then Aelin looked outside the porthole and noticed the familiar image of Stornoway’s marina. “Shit, did I sleep the whole time?” “We both did.” Rowan stood and gathered their stuff “Let’s go.” Rowan drove her home. It was past 9pm by the time they got back but it was so bright it was day but she felt exhausted. She had the most amazing day with him. “Rest, and I will see you tomorrow.” She brushed his hand and wished him a good night. Once back in the house she collapsed on the sofa exhausted. She finally remembered her mobile and when she looked at the screen she noticed two missed calls from Elias and a few text from him. It was Sunday for him as well and he was exploring the city and he had sent her some picture of places he had been and the complained that he missed her and that adventures without her were boring. Then she read the last message and her heart sank. He was coming back in a few days in the afternoon and he had invited her to dinner.

She threw the mobile on the sofa and went for a shower. And the more she thought the more she could not find a way to leat him down without hurting him.

#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #rowan x aelin #aedion x lysandra #aedion ashryver #fanficc #throne of glass series #angst #fluff

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kamiyu910 · 4 years

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All right, @the-defiant-pupil, I’ll see what sort of research paper I can throw together here concerning Corona-chan.

Right now, we’re going on fatality rate based on known/confirmed cases. This global fatality rate is currently at 7.1%, with 3,253,181 confirmed cases and 233,014 deaths. We’re still lacking a lot of data, such as China withholding so much, and with other countries only testing those with symptoms while ignoring the high percentage who are asymptomatic.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Antibody tests are now being used to tell who has had the virus, and to see if they’re actually immune to it, which would allow them to go back to work. This also allows us to see exactly how far Corona-chan has spread, and this data is being used to show a slightly different picture for a mortality rate, since it helps identify those who were asymptomatic. Countries that don’t count asymptomatic people show a might higher fatality rate because they only count the people who seek medical help.

https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-antibody-tests.html

In the US, there are still places that are barely testing, and only testing those who show symptoms, such as the largest county in the country, the San Bernardino County. Currently, we’re listed at 2058 cases, with only 93 deaths, putting us at a 4.5% fatality rate. We cannot take that at face value, however, because even those with mild symptoms are being turned away, and those with no symptoms are being ignored. Out of a population of 2.18 million, only 20,000 have been tested. That’s 0.09% of our entire population. We’ve known about this virus since at least December last year, it has been in the US for months, yet we lack so much information.

https://sbcph.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/44bb35c804c44c8281da6d82ee602dff

https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en

Some sources say the true mortality rate is:

“In the new analysis, the death rate in confirmed COVID-19 cases is estimated to be 1.38%, while the overall rate, which includes estimated unconfirmed cases, is calculated at .66%.”

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200331/covid-19-death-rate-drops-still-deadly-to-seniors

https://time.com/5798168/coronavirus-mortality-rate/

In this post by Berkeley, they say:

“A comparison of daily deaths in Italy since January 2020 with those over the previous five years there indicates that the fatality rate in that country for those infected with the new coronavirus is at least 0.8%, far higher than that of the seasonal flu and higher than some recent estimates.Extrapolating from the Italian data, University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory data scientists estimate that the fatality rate in New York City and Santa Clara County in California can be no less than 0.5%, or one of every 200 people infected.”

“The difference, the researchers say, is likely due to many deaths among older people that have not been counted in the official Italian statistics. The team found a much higher fatality rate for those over 70 years of age: In Lombardy, a region hit hard by the pandemic, those between 70 and 79 had a 2.3% infection fatality rate, while those 80 to 89 had an almost 6% fatality rate. Nearly 13% of those over 90 died.In comparison, those 40 to 49 had a 0.04% fatality rate.

In comparison, those 40 to 49 had a 0.04% fatality rate.These differing fatality rates can explain the observed higher number of deaths among younger people in New York City. Because the population there is younger than in Italy, more deaths among young people are expected, despite their lower fatality rate. The researchers predict that about 26% of all deaths from COVID-19 in New York City will be among those younger than 65.

The population of Italy, on the other hand, is older, yielding a higher overall fatality rate for the country’s population: 0.8%, versus 0.5% for New York. Only 10% of Italian deaths will be younger than 65.The team also estimated, based on the predicted fatality rate for those infected with the new coronavirus and the positivity rate for those tested for COVID-19 in New York City, that about one-quarter of that city’s population has been infected with the virus. This agrees with the recent announcement by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of 21% infection.The team’s predicted infection rate for Santa Clara is around 1%, while that for Los Angeles is around 2%, based on current mortality rates.”

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/04/24/study-challenges-reports-of-low-fatality-rate-for-covid-19/

So if an area has a higher rate of elderly, they will have a higher fatality rate than an area where the population is young. If a rest home gets hit, it will be devastating, whereas if a nursery gets hit, it’ll probably not even be noticeable, though that doesn’t mean they’re immune, there will be a couple of kids who may need hospital care, and the potential for other side effects that’ll become more apparent later on (still waiting for more studies to be done to confirm this).

There is a lot of fear mongering being pushed on people with all the misinformation out there, and people are actively allowing their governments to become controlling dictatorships out of fear. It is possible to maintain safety measures while opening up businesses so that the economies don’t collapse. We don’t have to go so extreme as to destroy ourselves out of fear. People are going to die one way or another, whether it be from Corona-chan or from a man made famine.

Take the US for instance. Farmers are being made to dump tons of food, perfectly good food, because they’re being told there isn’t a market for it just because certain businesses are closed, like schools. There are plenty of other places that need the food.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-dairy-farmers-feel-the-squeeze-from-coronavirus-as-milk-sales-dry-up-11588183989

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241627101.html

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Farmers-seek-help-selling-crops-while-volunteers-15238489.php

My milk.... all of that precious milk...

We do not have to go this far, people. We do not have to go to the extreme! This is fucking ridiculous.

I’ve seen this screenshot going around as well, not sure how accurate it is but if they cut off the supply chain, which is possible, it can be a reality. I’ve talked to more than a few people who have no idea how to keep a store of food to last a few months, and apparently it’s common for people to just have food for a week in the fridge/freezer/pantry. I don’t understand how that’s possible...

On top of all that, the government is overreaching on their control issues, going so far as to turn off electric and water to businesses that refuse to close

https://calepa.ca.gov/2020/04/02/news-release-governor-issues-water-shutoff-order-and-takes-steps-to-maintain-delivery-of-critical-water-services-during-covid-19-crisis/

https://abcnews.go.com/US/small-business-owners-file-suit-gov-newsom-ca/story?id=70365949

Not to mention all of these headlines, like what timeline are we living in that they feel these levels of invasion are necessary? You can fight a virus without going to this length of control!

Not to mention New York itself, like really?

And while I can kinda understand wanting to prevent large parties from happening, they’re going after single people having a walk in the wilderness and arresting them for it, or going after a couple of dudes on a rooftop having a cold one, even boaters are getting arrested, despite practicing social distancing, yet we’re allowed to still go to the store? However, in some places like Michigan, they even have police checking bags for essential items...

Which, btw, is also a point of interest, as being allowed to buy seeds has been banned in many areas, but lotto tickets are still available for purchase. There aren’t near enough articles detailing all the things that people are slowly finding out are being restricted/outlawed, and honestly, the more I see people calling on some random person taking a lone walk around a neighborhood, the more I think of this meme:

In many ways, I’m more concerned with the government destroying us than the virus. Many governments around the world are taking advantage of this to tighten the leash. This is completely unnecessary. The main reason for the lockdown isn’t to prevent people from getting the disease - it’s pretty much just accepted that we will eventually get it - but to lighten the load on hospitals so we don’t end up overloaded like Italy, where they have to decide who to let die. The Netherlands is reportedly doing similar.

“...in the Netherlands as in Belgium, euthanasia has been applied for years, according to the authorities, “voluntary”. However, in Germany, and in France, Spain and Italy, they have received elderly patients from these countries to be cured, not of coronaviruses, but of anything, because they do not trust the hospitals of their country: euthanasia is not Voluntary, they say, nor is it respected - not infrequently - the will of the person to whom euthanasia is applied.”

https://es.aleteia.org/2020/03/28/coronavirus-dejar-a-los-viejos-que-mueran/

I can understand wanting to ease the load on hospitals, but again, house arrest is not necessary. These measures being taken are too extreme. Some governors in the US have eased up on their restrictions, and the number of cases has not risen dramatically like some people spreading fear claimed. Our hospitals are not being overrun with cases.

In fact, the number is going down. Plus, look at the number of beds. It doesn’t mean I want more people to get sick, but we have to be logical about this and think about more than just the illness. We cannot keep letting the government say “money printer go brrrr” (not to mention the insider trading they were doing, like this shit is blatant, the corruption can be cut with a knife)

If we head into another depression, there will be many more millions of people who will die. People in poverty are at most risk for illness in general, and greater health problems, and malnutrition, and they will be the most hit in a depression, obviously. The elderly who get made homeless will basically be guaranteed to suffer badly. We can balance this out so that we can save the economy (as long as it’s not too late) and protect people from the illness as well as keep hospitals from being overloaded. Balance is the best way to protect everyone. I know people seem to have an aversion to moderation for some reason these days, but it really is a good thing here. Balance the needs of everyone.

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alywats · 3 years

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All The Books I Read In 2020

Here she is! The full list of books I read in 2020. My goal was to read 52 books again this year, but once lockdown started I upped it to 100, and I ultimately surpassed even that goal!! I think reading is so important for my personal growth and mental health, so the last two years I have made reading a big priority in my life, and it is the best choice I could have made. This year especially, I found reading to be such a comfort and such a great tool for keeping the quarantine blues at bay. Here’s to all the books I read in 2020, and all the books I will read in 2021!

132 books, 44,531 pages, and a refreshed passion for learning and growth:

The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (372 pgs) 4.5

A Discovery of Witches- Deborah Harkness (579 pgs) 2.75

The Call of the Wild and Selected Stories- Jack London (176 pgs) 4

I Wear The Black Hat -Chuck Klosterman (225 pgs) 3.75

Digital Fortress- Dan Brown (430 pgs) 3.75

Night Boat to Tangier- Kevin Barry (224 pgs) 2

The Chemist- Stephanie Meyer (518 pgs) 3

Find Me- Andre Aciman (272 pgs) 3.5

A Walk In The Woods- Bill Bryson (394 pgs) 4.5

Invisible Monsters- Chuck Palahniuk (304 pgs) 2.5

Underland, A Deep Time Journey- Robert MacFarlane (496 pgs) 3.25

The Dutch House -Ann Patchett (337 pgs) 5

Notes From a Small Island -Bill Bryson (324 pgs) 3.75

Home Work -Julie Andrews (560 pgs) 3.5

100 Essential Things You Didn’t Know About Maths and The Arts- John D. Barrow (320 pgs) 2.25

On the Road -Jack Kerouac (307 pgs) 3.5

Train Dreams -Denis Johnson (116 pgs) 4.25

2001: A Space Odyssey -Arthur C. Clarke (297 pgs) 4.75

Educated: A Memoir -Tara Westover (334 pgs) 5

Carrie -Stephen King (253 pgs) 3.5

Dig. -A.S. King (394 pgs) 4

salt slow -Julia Armfield (208 pgs) 3

Don’t Call Us Dead -Danez Smith (96 pgs) 5

Convenience Store Woman -Sayaka Murata (163 pgs) 3.25

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir -Bill Bryson (288 pgs) 3.75

Who Moved My Cheese? -Spencer Johnson (96 pgs) 3.5

The Truth About Keeping Secrets -Savannah Brown (336 pgs) 4

All-American Poem -Matthew Dickman (85 pgs) 3.5

2010: Odyssey Two -Arthur C. Clarke (320 pgs) 4

Behind Her Eyes -Sarah Pinborough (307 pgs) 3

The Stand -Stephen King (1440 pgs) 4

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous- Ocean Vuong (246 pgs) 4.5

Homie: Poems -Danez Smith (96 pgs) 4

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet -Becky Chambers (516 pgs) 3.5

The Silent Patient -Alex Michealide (325 pgs) 3.75

Talking As Fast As I Can -Lauren Graham (205 pgs) 3.5

Gregor the Overlander -Suzanne Collins (326 pgs) 1.5

The Transmigration of Bodies -Yuri Herrera (112 pgs) 2.5

The Deep -Rivers Solomon (166 pgs) 4

The Last Man -Mary Shelley (478 pgs) 3

Oryx and Crake -Margaret Atwood (389 pgs) 4.25

One Summer: America, 1927 -Bill Bryson (456 pgs) 3.5

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe -Benjamin Alire Sáenz (359 pgs) 3

The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest -Anatoli Boukreev (297 pgs) 3.75

2061: Odyssey Three -Arthur C. Clarke (302 pgs) 3

Where I Belong -Alan Doyle (315 pgs) 4

Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World -Matt Parker (314 pgs) 4

Normal People -Sally Rooney (304 pgs) 4

Dinosaur Tales -Ray Bradbury (144 pgs) 3

Someday, Someday, Maybe -Lauren Graham (340 pgs) 3.25

The Power -Naomi Alderman (341 pgs) 4.25

Deception Point -Dan Brown (558 pgs) 2.5

3001: The Final Odyssey -Arthur C. Clarke (272 pgs) 3.75

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes -Suzanne Collins (540 pgs) 3.5

The Vegetarian-Han Kang (188 pgs) 3

The Map of Salt and Stars -Zeyn Joukhadar (368 pgs) 4.5

One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey -Sam Keith (224 pgs) 4

11/22/63 -Stephen King (849 pgs) 4.5

The Ballad of Black Tom -Victor LaValle (149 pgs) 3.5

Girl With A Pearl Earring -Tracy Chevalier (233 pgs) 4

The Year of the Flood -Margaret Atwood (431 pgs) 3.5

In A Sunburned Country -Bill Bryson (335 pgs) 3

Disappearing Earth -Julia Phillips (312 pgs) 2.5

The Hidden Life of Trees -Peter Wohlleben (288 pgs) 3.5

The People in the Trees -Hanya Yanagihara (368 pgs) 4

Shadow of Night -Deborah Harkness (584 pgs) 3

High Fidelity -Nick Hornby (340 pgs) 3.5

If It Bleeds -Stephen King (528 pgs) 3.5

Sharp Objects -Gillian Flynn (254 pgs) 4

A Newfoundlander in Canada -Alan Doyle (244 pgs) 4

The Water Dancer -Ta-Nehisi Coates (406 pgs) 4

The Fellowship of the Ring -J.R.R. Tolkien (398 pgs) 5

The Bluest Eye -Toni Morrison (216 pgs) 4

Into the Wild -Jon Krakauer (207 pgs) 4

Fahrenheit 451 -Ray Bradbury (194 pgs) 4

Burial Rites -Hannah Kent (336 pgs) 4.5

The Poet X -Elizabeth Acevedo (368 pgs) 5

The End of October -Lawrence Wright (400 pgs) 1.5

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine -Gail Honeyman (336 pgs) 3.5

Survivor -Chuck Palahniuk (304 pgs) 3.5

Every Song Ever -Ben Ratliff (272 pgs) 2

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor -Hank Green (452 pgs) 4

The Time Traveler's Wife -Audrey Niffenegger (540 pgs) 3.5

The Body: A Guide for Occupants -Bill Bryson (450 pgs) 3

Mr. Mercedes -Stephen King (437 pgs) 3.5

Girl, Woman, Other -Bernardine Evaristo (453 pgs) 4.5

Midnight Sun -Stephenie Meyer (662 pgs) 2

The Maltese Falcon -Dashiell Hammett (213 pgs) 3

The Hunting Party -Lucy Foley (406 pgs) 4

The Hating Game -Sally Thorne (387 pgs) 2.5

My Year of Rest and Relaxation -Ottessa Moshfegh (304 pgs) 4

Real Life -Brandon Taylor (329 pgs) 4

My Sister the Serial Killer -Oyinkan Braithwaite (226 pgs) 4

The Answer Is...: Reflections on My Life -Alex Trebek (304 pgs) 3

Eileen -Ottessa Moshfegh (272 pgs) 3

Answering Back -Carol Ann Duffy (144 pgs) 4

Then She Was Gone -Lisa Jewell (359 pgs) 3.5

Death In Her Hands -Ottessa Moshfegh (259 pgs) 3.5

This Is How You Lose The Time War -Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (209 pgs) 4

The Goldfinch -Donna Tartt (771 pgs) 4.5

Shutter Island -Dennis Lehane (369 pgs) 3.5

The Devil All The Time -Donald Ray Pollock (261 pgs) 4

I'm Thinking of Ending Things -Iain Reid (241 pgs) 2

Bunny -Mona Awad (307 pgs) 3

The Snowman -Jo Nesbø (516 pgs) 2.5

Something Wicked This Way Comes -Ray Bradbury (293 pgs) 3

Pretty Little Liars -Sara Shepard (286 pgs) 1

Psycho -Robert Bloch (208 pgs) 3.5

Along Came a Spider -James Patterson (449 pgs) 3

American Psycho -Brett Easton Ellis (399 pgs) 4

Night Sky With Exit Wounds -Ocean Vuong (89 pgs) 4

Arctic Dreams -Barry Lopez (496 pgs) 4

Four Colors Suffice -Robin Wilson (280 pgs) 4.5

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry -Fredrik Backman (372 pgs) 3

Such A Fun Age -Kiley Reid (320 pgs) 4

In The Dream House -Carmen Maria Machado (251 pgs) 4.5

Beach Read -Emily Henry (361 pgs) 3.5

The Queen's Gambit -Walter Tevis (243 pgs) 3.5

The Book of Life -Deborah Harkness (561 pgs) 2.5

Atomic Habits -James Clear (319 pgs) 2.5

Heart Berries -Terese Marie Mailhot (143 pgs) 3

The Kiss Quotient -Helen Hoang (323 pgs) 3

Around The World In 80 Days -Jules Verne (252 pgs) 3

Dolores Claiborne -Stephen King (384 pgs) 4.5

Flatland -Edwin Abbott (96 pgs) 3.5

The Impossible Girl -Lydia Kang (364 pgs) 2.5

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through The looking Glass -Lewis Carroll (239 pgs) 3.5

Kiss The Girls -James Patterson (481 pgs) 2

The Bride Test -Helen Hoang (296 pgs) 2.5

In A Holidaze -Christina Lauren (307 pgs) 3.5

‘Twas The Knife Before Christmas -Jacqueline Frost (309 pgs) 2.5

The Great Alone -Kristin Hannah (435 pgs) 4

#booklr #all the books of 2020 #2020 reads #2020 wrap up #books #reads #reading

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firsthopemedia · 3 years

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Wall Street, October 1929 FIRST HOPE FINANCIAL http://firsthope.biz Claud Cockburn, writing for the "Times of London" from New-York, described the irrational exuberance that gripped the nation just prior to the Great Depression. As Europe wallowed in post-war malaise, America seemed to have discovered a new economy, the secret of uninterrupted growth and prosperity, the fount of transforming technology: "The atmosphere of the great boom was savagely exciting, but there were times when a person with my European background felt alarmingly lonely. He would have liked to believe, as these people believed, in the eternal upswing of the big bull market or else to meet just one person with whom he might discuss some general doubts without being regarded as an imbecile or a person of deliberately evil intent - some kind of anarchist, perhaps." The greatest analysts with the most impeccable credentials and track records failed to predict the forthcoming crash and the unprecedented economic depression that followed it. Irving Fisher, a preeminent economist, who, according to his biographer-son, Irving Norton Fisher, lost the equivalent of $140 million in today's money in the crash, made a series of soothing predictions. On October 22 he uttered these avuncular statements: "Quotations have not caught up with real values as yet ... (There is) no cause for a slump ... The market has not been inflated but merely readjusted..." Even as the market convulsed on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929 and on Black Tuesday, October 29 - the New York Times wrote: "Rally at close cheers brokers, bankers optimistic". In an editorial on October 26, it blasted rabid speculators and compliant analysts: "We shall hear considerably less in the future of those newly invented conceptions of finance which revised the principles of political economy with a view solely to fitting the stock market's vagaries.'' But it ended thus: "(The Federal Reserve has) insured the soundness of the business situation when the speculative markets went on the rocks.'' Compare this to Alan Greenspan Congressional testimony this summer: "While bubbles that burst are scarcely benign, the consequences need not be catastrophic for the economy ... (The Depression was brought on by) ensuing failures of policy." Investors, their equity leveraged with bank and broker loans, crowded into stocks of exciting "new technologies", such as the radio and mass electrification. The bull market - especially in issues of public utilities - was fueled by "mergers, new groupings, combinations and good earnings" and by corporate purchasing for "employee stock funds". Cautionary voices - such as Paul Warburg, the influential banker, Roger Babson, the "Prophet of Loss" and Alexander Noyes, the eternal Cassandra from the New York Times - were derided. The number of brokerage accounts doubled between March 1927 and March 1929. When the market corrected by 8 percent between March 18-27 - following a Fed induced credit crunch and a series of mysterious closed-door sessions of the Fed's board - bankers rushed in. The New York Times reported: "Responsible bankers agree that stocks should now be supported, having reached a level that makes them attractive.'' By August, the market was up 35 percent on its March lows. But it reached a peak on September 3 and it was downhill since then. On October 19, five days before "Black Thursday", Business Week published this sanguine prognosis: "Now, of course, the crucial weaknesses of such periods - price inflation, heavy inventories, over-extension of commercial credit - are totally absent. The security market seems to be suffering only an attack of stock indigestion... There is additional reassurance in the fact that, should business show any further signs of fatigue, the banking system is in a good position now to administer any needed credit tonic from its excellent Reserve supply." The crash unfolded gradually. Black Thursday actually ended with an inspiring rally. Friday and Saturday - trading ceased only on Sundays - witnessed an upswing followed by mild profit taking. The market dropped 12.8 percent on Monday, with Winston Churchill watching from the visitors' gallery - incurring a loss of $10-14 billion. The Wall Street Journal warned naive investors: "Many are looking for technical corrective reactions from time to time, but do not expect these to disturb the upward trend for any prolonged period." The market plummeted another 11.7 percent the next day - though trading ended with an impressive rally from the lows. October 31 was a good day with a "vigorous, buoyant rally from bell to bell". Even Rockefeller joined the myriad buyers. Shares soared. It seemed that the worst was over. The New York Times was optimistic: "It is thought that stocks will become stabilized at their actual worth levels, some higher and some lower than the present ones, and that the selling prices will be guided in the immediate future by the worth of each particular security, based on its dividend record, earnings ability and prospects. Little is heard in Wall Street these days about 'putting stocks up." But it was not long before irate customers began blaming their stupendous losses on advice they received from their brokers. Alec Wilder, a songwriter in New York in 1929, interviewed by Stud Terkel in "Hard Times" four decades later, described this typical exchange with his money manager: "I knew something was terribly wrong because I heard bellboys, everybody, talking about the stock market. About six weeks before the Wall Street Crash, I persuaded my mother in Rochester to let me talk to our family adviser. I wanted to sell stock which had been left me by my father. He got very sentimental: 'Oh your father wouldn't have liked you to do that.' He was so persuasive, I said O.K. I could have sold it for $160,000. Four years later, I sold it for $4,000." Exhausted and numb from days of hectic trading and back office operations, the brokerage houses pressured the stock exchange to declare a two day trading holiday. Exchanges around North America followed suit. At first, the Fed refused to reduce the discount rate. "(There) was no change in financial conditions which the board thought called for its action." - though it did inject liquidity into the money market by purchasing government bonds. Then, it partially succumbed and reduced the New York discount rate, which, curiously, was 1 percent above the other Fed districts - by 1 percent. This was too little and too late. The market never recovered after November 1. Despite further reductions in the discount rate to 4 percent, it shed a whopping 89 percent in nominal terms when it hit bottom three years later. Everyone was duped. The rich were impoverished overnight. Small time margin traders - the forerunners of today's day traders - lost their shirts and much else besides. The New York Times: "Yesterday's market crash was one which largely affected rich men, institutions, investment trusts and others who participate in the market on a broad and intelligent scale. It was not the margin traders who were caught in the rush to sell, but the rich men of the country who are able to swing blocks of 5,000, 10,000, up to 100,000 shares of high-priced stocks. They went overboard with no more consideration than the little trader who was swept out on the first day of the market's upheaval, whose prices, even at their lowest of last Thursday, now look high by comparison ... To most of those who have been in the market it is all the more awe-inspiring because their financial history is limited to bull markets." Overseas - mainly European - selling was an important factor. Some conspiracy theorists, such as Webster Tarpley in his "British Financial Warfare", supported by contemporary reporting by the likes of "The Economist", went as far as writing: "When this Wall Street Bubble had reached gargantuan proportions in the autumn of 1929, (Lord) Montagu Norman (governor of the Bank of England 1920-1944) sharply (upped) the British bank rate, repatriating British hot money, and pulling the rug out from under the Wall Street speculators, thus deliberately and consciously imploding the US markets. This caused a violent depression in the United States and some other countries, with the collapse of financial markets and the contraction of production and employment. In 1929, Norman engineered a collapse by puncturing the bubble." The crash was, in large part, a reaction to a sharp reversal, starting in 1928, of the reflationary, "cheap money", policies of the Fed intended, as Adolph Miller of the Fed's Board of Governors told a Senate committee, "to bring down money rates, the call rate among them, because of the international importance the call rate had come to acquire. The purpose was to start an outflow of gold - to reverse the previous inflow of gold into this country (back to Britain)." But the Fed had already lost control of the speculative rush. The crash of 1929 was not without its Enrons and World.com's. Clarence Hatry and his associates admitted to forging the accounts of their investment group to show a fake net worth of $24 million British pounds - rather than the true picture of 19 billion in liabilities. This led to forced liquidation of Wall Street positions by harried British financiers. The collapse of Middle West Utilities, run by the energy tycoon, Samuel Insull, exposed a web of offshore holding companies whose only purpose was to hide losses and disguise leverage. The former president of NYSE, Richard Whitney was arrested for larceny. Analysts and commentators thought of the stock exchange as decoupled from the real economy. Only one tenth of the population was invested - compared to 40 percent today. "The World" wrote, with more than a bit of Schadenfreude: "The country has not suffered a catastrophe ... The American people ... has been gambling largely with the surplus of its astonishing prosper

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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04/21/2021 DAB Transcript

Joshua 22:21-23:16, Luke 20:27-47, Psalms 89:14-37, Proverbs 13:17-19

Today is the 21st day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is always a humbling pleasure and joy to just to come in and have a seat around the Global Campfire with everybody else and have this place. It's amazing what…what we’ve been able to do together, right? To build an oasis, like an oasis for the heart that we can come to. It's like we made…we built this. Every day we can come here and it's a safe place to be in. Its just God word being read over us and us knowing that we can never really listen to the Daily Audio…like there's no time that we’re listening that somebody else isn't listening as well. And, so, we are in this together and that is an awe-inspiring thing. Even after all these years, it’s still an awe-inspiring thing…I mean I’m sitting here thinking about it and I can't stop talking about it. It's incredible that we have this place where we can be together. And, so, thrilled. Thrilled that we can take our place and take the next step forward. The next step forward leads us back into the book of Joshua. We’ve been traveling with Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan and the taking of the promised land and the dividing of the promised land. And we will conclude the book of Joshua tomorrow, but we left ourselves yesterday with a bit of a cliffhanger because the 2 1/2 tribes were going home, they built this large imposing altar and the 10 tribes found out about it in they’re like, they've gathered together for war and have sent some delegates from each of the tribes to find out what in the world is going on. And, so, we’ll pick up that story. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Joshua 22:21 to 23:16.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have basically rounded the corner and we are at the end of the book of Joshua. We will conclude the book of Joshua with tomorrow's reading. And we had a situation, develop in the last couple of days that could have been catastrophic, actually could've been civil war with…well…who knows how that would have gone other than it would have gone bad, right? So, just by way of reminder, these two and half tribes Gad, Ruben, and the half tribe of Manasseh that are in question here, they had been given their tribal land on the other side of the Jordan. It was conquered lands while the children of Israel were still wandering in the wilderness. And this land was given to them on the condition that they would cross the Jordan and fight alongside their brothers to settle that land, which they did. And then they came…they were…they were released, and they went back to the Jordan River and made this big altar. Okay. So, the news of that altar reached back to the other tribes in the land being settled and a story when around about that altar that these 2 1/2 tribes were rebelling against the other tribes and against God. That was not true. That is called an assumption. An assumption is a plausible explanation or a plausible way of looking at reality without all the facts. So, you have pieces of a story. In this case, yes, indeed the 2 1/2 tribes left camp. Yes, indeed the 2 1/2 tribes went back to the Jordan River. Yes, they built an altar there and continued on their way. Those are the facts. The rest of it was assumption, a plausible explanation that happened to be utterly false and could…that…that assumption, that reality that people had begun to live into and believe was the truth, that this 2 1/2 tribes went back to the Jordan River and conspired against the other tribes and conspired against God and had built this other altar was going to cause the other tribes to go and squash the conspiracy. And had they strapped on their swords and God on their horses and took off down toward the Jordan River toward these other tribes believing the assumption then it would've been catastrophic. Thankfully, they sent a delegation to see if there might be missing pieces to the story. And once those pieces were put into place the assumptions fell apart because they were false realities. Let's think though about how many assumptions we make in any day, but let's think of major assumptions that we've made that we've acted upon that have caused catastrophe in our relationships. Just because you can assume it doesn't make it real. Even just because you want it to be real doesn't make it real. And we are a people prone to believing whatever we want to believe. When an assumption is almost a creative power within us to fill in blanks and make a cohesive story that has a very important missing pieces that we made up so that it can make sense. And this isn't helpful. We remember the story of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi saying, “what are the assumptions about me? What are people saying about me?” And we remember the disciples saying, “they think you're John the Baptist rising from the dead.” That’s a…that's a false assumption, right? He wasn't John the Baptist raised from the dead or something…that you're one of the prophets of old. That was a false assumption. That's not who he was. Obviously, that story in the gospel is to lead us to the same question that He was asking, “who you say that I am?” But that it's ties in here because it's not “who do you assume that I am or who does everybody else say that I am, not make up an assumption or follow someone else's assumption. What is the truth of who you say that I am?” So, back to this story in Joshua. The assumption could've created something devastating. We need to remember that in our lives before we start trying to figure out things and filling in the blanks and forgetting that those are assumptions and not facts because otherwise we’re living a false reality, something we made up that could lead to something devastating.

Prayer:

Father we invite You into that. Our one point of truth is You. You are the way the truth and the life. When we are pursuing You with our hearts, we are pursuing the pathway of truth and the pathway of peace. When we’re frustrated or just making things up because it seems foggy out there and we need answers, and we start building assumptions then we’re being impatient and creating false realities. Help us Holy Spirit to be present to what is actually happening, to be present to the leading of Your Holy Spirit because You have promised You would lead us into all truth. So come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app to you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Thank you, Brian, your family, and the team. Everyday Brian you say that you are very thankful and grateful to have us partnered with you to bring the word of God across the world. And yet for me I really think I want to be the one to say that I am very thankful, honored. And it's such a privilege to be part of a ministry that is impacting, influencing, blessing, touching, changing every tribe, tongue, and nation across this globe. It's…it's just…it’s amazing just to even have that thought that God's word is penetrating to these places that I can't even go to myself, but the word of God through this ministry and through this technology is going across and beyond borders. I'm so thankful for this. Proverbs 11:25 says a generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. And I want to say that I am so refreshed that others are being refreshed. And, so, I want to extend this thanks in the same way that you have been extended your thanks. So, thank you so much. This is Ann from Arizona. By.

I just listened to April the 16th and I heard Jasmine who is a Canadian who is in Africa as a missionary and her husband David facing grace in Jesus. I just lift them up to You today. Wrap Your arms of love around them and sustain them. And I just ask for supernatural healing to flow over her husband's body, that You would heal him from this covid and this malaria and that You would sustain him and her daughters as their heir Lord for the Kingdom of God. Their Kingdom builders and I pray that You'd reward them for their service and that You would put a hedge of protection around them and keep out the fiery darts of the enemy. Make them strong Jesus. Help her to feel our prayers and our love and our care and our concern for You are the mighty God and Your hand is not short and there's nothing that You cannot do. I just left this precious family up to You Jesus and we’re trusting and hoping to hear a good report soon. We ask all these things in Your precious name. Amen.

Good morning family it's Mary Lynn from New Brunswick Canada and I'm calling this morning on Friday April the 17th or 16th I'm not sure for Jasmine. And Jasmine I want to pray for you. My husband's name is also Dennis and as you heard I'm also Canadian and I have two friends that are in Africa as missionaries as well. So, family just pray with me right now. Father I come before You Lord and I stand in agreement with Jasmine's request for her husband Dennis and his health. Father I ask Lord that Your hand of protection and healing would be upon Dennis right now Lord in the name of Jesus. Father these two people have given their lives at servants for You in this country far away from home. And Lord Your word tells us Lord that You are our healing. Your word tells us that You are our protection. Your word tells us that You're our stronghold and our…our savior. Father You are our everything. And Lord these people have given their lives in obedience to You, and they are looking to You to fulfill the promises that You have given them. So, Father just like it says in Genesis, “and the Lord said” and that is exactly what happened. Father we’re claiming that for Jasmine and Dennis, faith and grace. We ask Lord that every promise You have ever made to these two individuals for Your service that You would bring them to pass in this time. Give her peace, give her comfort, give her confidence in her savior Father. Help her to hold tightly to the hope that she has. And Father we just thank You. We thank You because it's done. Your word says and that is exactly what happened. So, we thank You Lord that You have been faithful to this couple. In Jesus’ name. Father, thank You. Jasmine we’re praying for you. Bye family.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is John Opara recording from South Sudan Juba in South Sudan. It's been quite a while that I checked in. I have been traveling to the field to support our staff that are in the field within South Sudan. So, this has caused me to run behind but thankfully, thanks to God I have caught up now and this is why I am recording to just let everyone know I'm doing OK. I'm preparing to attend my daughter's wedding in the US. And I need your prayers because I need to first of all go to Nigeria to get my passport renewed and…and then go to US to attend the wedding in June. So, maybe I…I will call in from US when I get there. May God bless you. But I just want you to know and I…I hear all the things that are going on and the…the pain, the attack of the enemy upon the body of Christ and I want you to know that God remains the ultimate power. He is absolutely in control and will never fail you. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Rebecca Joy from Illinois calling in. This is a few days late so I apologize for that, but I am calling in for Radiant Rachel and her niece Kaylee. I've heard the prayer request about how Kaylee's having some problems swallowing food and having a fear of it. And strangely enough out of everything that day that I have related too I related to that because when I was younger, I also had those kinds of irrational fears that I just didn't know where they came from but suddenly, I was afraid of things like thunderstorms and elevators and just odd things. But I wanted to call in hopefully giving some encouragement and let you know that I'm praying for Kaylee. I want her to know, if you would be so kind as to tell her, that having those fears, feeling those fears is OK but what's not OK is giving into them and letting them control your life. And, you know, I hope that she learns that lesson a lot sooner than I did because it took me quite a while. I'm 23 now almost 24 trying to still figure that out but hopefully she can get a head start. Yeah. I'm praying for you guys. Thanks for calling in and I hope to hear from you all soon.

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just-an-angel-and-his-demon · 4 years

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100 Questions

1. What hobbies would you like to get into if you had the time and money?

2. When was a time you acted nonchalant but were going crazy inside?

3. Some people believe that if life has no purpose, then there is no reason for living. While others think that if life has no purpose, that frees a person to find/create and follow their own personal purpose. Which is a more valid point of view or are they both equally valid?

4. What would you do with the extra time if you never had to sleep?

5. What simple change could you make in your life that would have the biggest positive impact?

6. Who around you has the worst luck?

7. If you found out your current life has been just a dream, would you choose to wake up? (You don’t know if your real life would be better or worse.)

8. What movie or book do you know the most quotes from?

9. If emotions are the product of biochemical reactions, then in the future we will be theoretically able to control them. If we could control emotions through technology, should we?

10. What activity calms you down and makes you feel at peace with the world?

11. If you had to be stuck at one age forever, what age would you choose?

12. If you could change 3 things about your country, what would you change?

13. What trends did you follow when you were younger?

14. What has been the best period of your life so far?

15. Who was your craziest / most interesting teacher

16. How often do you feel overwhelmed?

17. How much do you judge a person by their appearance?

18. How do you feel about putting pineapple on pizza?

19. What are your goals for the next two years?

20. What are some small pleasures that make you way happier than they should?

21. Are people ethically obligated to improve themselves?

22. If you could instantly receive a Ph.D. in any discipline including all the knowledge and experience that goes along with it, what would your Ph.D. be in?

23. What is the most annoying habit someone can have?

24. What would you do if had enough money to not need a job?

25. What was the worst thing you ever tasted?

26. How much would you pay a hacker threatening to release your browsing history to your friends and family?

27. When was the last time you changed your opinion / belief about something major?

28. What pets have you had?

29. Could you survive in the wilderness for a month?

30. What board game do you like the most?

31. If you get rid the world of one disease what would it be?

32. Your Favorite day of the week?

33. If you inherited or won a million dollars, what’s the very first thing you would do with the money?

34. Where did your family go on vacations in the summer?

35. What is one thing you refuse to share?

36. Who is the most famous person you have ever met?

37. Do you have posters up on your room walls?

38. What are your major goals in life?

39. On a scale from 1-10 what’s the highest level of pain you’ve ever been in?

40. How do you like your eggs cooked?

41. At what age would you consider someone to be old?

42. What is your earliest memory?

43. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

44. How often do you nap?

45. Do you like to cook?

46. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

47. What is your favorite holiday?

48. Are you a clean or messy?

49. What was the last gift that you received?

50. Would you want to know when you'll die?

51. Would you rather have summer weather or winter weather all year round?

52. What was the best compliment you've ever received?

53. What would you do on a free afternoon in the middle of the week?

54. What's the story behind one of your scars?

55. Pet peeves?

56. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?

57. Do you ever sing when you're alone? What songs?

58. What's the best thing you got from one of your parents?

59. Would you rather buy a home in the mountains or on the beach?

60. What food do you often have cravings for?

61. Would you ditch a partner you love because your parents don’t want them to be with you?

62. What's the best part of rain?

63.In emergency situations, how do you react?

64. What app or website completely changed your life?

65. What do you find is the most boring part of your life at the moment?

66. What types of things do you doodle?

67. If it was possible to transplant your brain to stay alive for another 100 years, would you?

68. How many things you currently own do you think you could throw away and not notice a difference in your life?

69. Do you have a moment in your life you wish you could relive?

70. What's the best trick someone has ever played on you?

71. If you had to choose, would you rather be too hot or too cold?

72. Would you consider yourself decisive or indecisive?

73. What's something that you never seem to get tired of doing?

74. What is the last big goal you accomplished?

75. What small stuff do you sweat even though you know you shouldn't?

76. Do you think you were ever part of the popular crowd?

77. What can you talk about for hours?

78. How long does it take you to form an opinion about a person?

79. What is the next big purchase you're currently saving for?

80. Have you ever let someone else get punished for something you did?

81. What's something about you today that the old you would find surprising?

82. What’s your ideal way to spend a vacation?

83. Do you think you are a confident person? Why or why not?

84. What life experiences did you miss out on?

85. What musical instrument do you wish you could play?

86. If you could travel to any country in the world for one month, where would you go?

87. What is your favorite memory of someone who isn’t in your life anymore?

88. If you had a friend who spoke to you the same way you speak to yourself, would you keep them as a friend?

89. What’s a secret you’ve never told anyone?

90. Do you think the world is improving or getting worse? Why?

91. What’s the most disheartening and heartening realization you have come to?

92. Would you take 3 million dollars if it meant that the person you hate most in the world gets 9 million?

93. How forgiving are you?

94. If there was a horrible accident and you were unconscious and on life support, how long would you want to be on life support?

95. How well do you think you would handle prison?

96. Do you think people more people look down on you or up to you? Why?

97. If you could instantly learn a talent or skill, what would you want to know how to do?

98. What was the most productive time in your life? How about the least productive?

99. How does your current morning routine compare to your ideal morning routine?

100. Ask me anything that you want to know

#kiera speaks #kays 100 celebration

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doomedandstoned · 4 years

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Metal Legends Cirith Ungol Return Triumphant and ‘Forever Black’

~By Billy Goate~

Remember when metal was wicked? You know, the harsh, heavy metal vibe and those hammer blast beats that used to scare the bejesus out of your folks See: Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It".

No, you don't know, do you? Because you had the cool mom and dad who not only let you listen to metal, they said you could borrow their records anytime you wanted. I wasn't so lucky.

My metal consciousness awakened just at the tail end of the Satanic Panic, though outrage against heavy metal was far from over in transitioning from '80s to '90s. Initially it was FM radio that introduced me to bands like Ratt, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella, and a host of others often derisively labeled hair metal (sure, I suppose they deserve their fair share of digs, but they were still badass). But it was when my family finally got cable TV in the home that MTV introduced me to the wider world of 1988-89 metal -- most memorably to Metallica's "One" and Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine".

The ban hammer came crashing down once my mom saw me rocking out to Scorpions one day and decided this preacher's kid was headed in the wrong direction, with long hair, tattoos, demon possession, and The Number of the Beast not far behind. We were homeschooled then and there in an attempt to rescue us from the godlessness of this age.

I can sympathize with my parents now that I'm older. Imagine how scary it must have been to raise children in the world of "Welcome To The Jungle." It all must have sounded truly wretched to their ears.

Now here's a band that maybe comes closer to personifying those fears, as CIRITH UNGOL frontman Tim Baker immediately strikes a note of dread with his demonic voice box (I pray my pipes are even a third as lusty as this when I'm 63). Add to that dueling guitars and a charging rhythm section and the Ventura band sound downright mean and nasty, like they'll cut you for no good reason if you pass them on the same side of the street.

Had I half the chance, I would have surely relished this sound as a 10-11 year old and cherished it well into my adult years. As it stands, I only had the opportunity to soak in the band's impressive discography over the past three years. Let's just say I've been making up for lost time with a lot of repeated binge listening.

Frost and Fire by Cirith Ungol

Though Cirith Ungol have been together since 1972, their first album didn't appear until the early-80's. 'Frost and Fire' (1980) may not have gotten the credit it deserved for pioneering the heavy metal sound. They did, after all, pre-date Iron Maiden by three years.

Both Iron Maiden and Cirith Ungol's LPs debuted the same year, too, but they were practically an ocean apart musically. There are many songs on Frost and Fire that, while beloved, clearly were composed in the '70s and rightly belong to that era (check out "What Does It Take" and tell me I'm wrong). You won't find vocals this gnarly, this snarly, in most any other band in '72, though, that's for damned sure!

1984's King of the Dead was a huge leap forward for the band musically and forever established their characteristically evil style. The record was a milestone for metal, as well. You'll not hear anything wilder than the opening number "Atom Smasher" from Cirith Ungol's contemporaries.

Where Ronnie James Dio may have brought macho bravura and operatic grace to his performances, Tim Baker, Jerry Fogle, Michael "Flint" Vujejia, and Robert Garven delivered on the menace, striking Tolkeinian fear in the hearts of all those who dwelt in Middle Earth.

King of the Dead (Ultimate Edition) by Cirith Ungol

Two more albums followed in 1986 and 1991, respectively, then the band called it a day, hanging up the hat for some 23 years. Whispers of reunion materialized in 2015 and we got our first teaser of how a retooled Cirith Ungol (still composed of many of its original members, some dating back to the band's '70s era) with the single "Witch's Game" in 2018. This got fans more than a little excited and a live album followed in short succession.

Cirith Ungol's big return, 'Forever Black' (2020), definitely matches the intensity of their oeuvre to date. I'll be straight up with you guys, though. Four songs in, I felt a little exhausted. It's like being around someone with tons of energy who wants to talk your ear off, when all you want to do after work is go to bed.

Well, I decided to do the sensible thing and sleep on it, then revisited Forever Black the next day. What I can tell you is, as a morning person this is definitely a morning person's kind of album. It's got power, plenty of gumption, and the will to fight -- just the kind of thing you need to face the world when you awaken to tackle life's daily struggles.

Speaking of which, the attack of "Legions Arise" makes me want to get up and shout the chorus with a thousand other fans, fists raised staunchly into the sky. It's at this point I noticed how deep and spacious the recording is sonically, giving it that arena feel. You are right there at the front of the stadium, listening to every instrument distinctly and a voice crying out with authority.

I'm especially drawn to the march-like force of "The Frost Monstreme" with its "Holy Diver" beat and those ferocious pipes stoking the faithful minions to take on the Sea Mingols. Two-minutes into the track and we meet with a Sabbath-like transition. In fact, the lead riff of that mid-section sounds like a "wrong note" version of "Iron Man." Definitely digging it!

Judging from the Bandcamp reviews, the big fan favorites are "Stormbringer" and "Nightmare," followed by "Fractus Promissum," "The Frost Monstreme," and "Before Tomorrow" -- all of which are fine songs in their own right.

As solid an album as it is, there is really only one other song that had me wanting return to again, and that is "Forever Black." It comes the closest to matching the emotional punch of Cirith Ungol's classic "I'm Alive" from their immortal debut LP.

Don't misread me: this sound is ideal for open air fests and big stadiums. I can picture the crowd now -- so pumped and ready to fuck shit up. Additionally, I could see myself taking the whole album on a road trip or a long hike without complaint. In my mind, it's music that demands a physical response from you, or at least grabbing the keys and getting out of town.

Dedicated fans of fantasy and science fiction will no doubt be sufficiently absorbed by the album's abundant references to fantasy literature. For the casual listener, though, I'd recommend taking it in doses...as generous and as deadly as you like.

Out now in all formats on Metal Blade Records.

Give ear...

Forever Black by Cirith Ungol

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

#D&S Reviews #Cirith Ungol #Ventura #California #Doom #Metal #Epic Doom #Heavy Metal #Doom Metal #Metal Blade Records #HeavyBest2020 #Doomed & Stoned

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thehikingviking · 4 years

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Phipps Peak from Emerald Bay

I originally planned to do the Tells -> McConnell -> Silver -> Red Peak traverse, but Asaka wasn’t comfortable with me carrying the baby for 17 miles, so we came up with the idea of hiking Phipps Peak instead. Joining us on this trip were Sean and Scott King and Brett and Arthur Marsciani. My biggest concern was finding a parking spot near the trailhead along Highway 89, since Desolation Wilderness is the most heavily visited wilderness in the lower 48. Asaka, Leif and I left the morning of and arrived just in time to claim the last available parking spot. Brett and Arthur had to park at the Emerald Bay State Park parking lot which required a fee. We were a little slow in getting started, but we eventually got on the trail and began our way up Eagle Lake Trail.

We reached Eagle Lake after about a mile of hiking then took the left fork which continued above and beyond the the lake. I spotted a good chute that could serve as a potential alternate descent route if needed.

I tried to keep a brisk pace, partially for training purposes but also because I knew my comfortable pace would most likely be slower than the others since I was carrying a baby.

After 2.3 miles we hit another junction and took a right, aiming for the isthmus between Upper and Middle Velma Lakes. The trail gradually descended first to Upper Velma Lake. For being such a heavily trafficked wilderness, we really hadn’t seen that many people up to this point.

We crossed the creek and continued down the trail.

After a short distance I got a funny feeling and checked my map. While there is a trail that leads most of the way towards Phipps Peak, it is much longer than leaving the trail at the isthmus and taking a direct approach. I corrected our error and we began cross country through the forest. We took a long rest at the eastern shore of Middle Velma Lake.

While we waited for Asaka to feed Leif, Sean and I fooled around on some of the granite boulders. There were some mosquitoes which made a scenic rest point less enjoyable. What remained was 1400 ft of gain. The terrain was relatively easy but I still had to carry the baby.

Along the way I took note of several U.S. General Land Surveys. I found their placement rather strange. Maybe this was the old wilderness boundary.

Sean King took off ahead of the group and was soon out of sight. Asaka and Scott jostled for second and third place, while I hung back with Arthur and Brett in the back. As we climbed higher, I started to make some distance from Arthur. At least I was faster than a 10 year old, I thought to myself.

I spotted Sean standing on the summit rocks.

I finally made it to the summit and joined the others. To the south was Dicks Peak.

To the west were Tells Peak, McConnell Peak, Silver Peak and Red Peak.

To the northwest ran Rockbound Valley.

To the north was Haakens Peak, which Sean and I planned to visit as a bonus next.

To the east was the south shore of Lake Tahoe.

We had lunch on the summit, taking note of the growing clouds to our south.

Asaka kindly agreed to carry Leif all the way back down to the car while I went for the bonus peak. I was relieved to be done carrying the baby for the day.

Sean and I followed the ridge over to Haakens Peak. I had low energy, but the higher and more prominent peak just to our north called my name.

The temperature was getting too warm for my liking and I was running low on water. There was on section of brush along the ridge that we had to avoid, but aside from that there were no challenges. I noticed some bear sign below the peak, and while I kept my eye out, I never saw one.

I had service and was receiving texts from different groups of people. I learned that Colin and Dully were on Dick’s Peak. I strained my eyes as much I could to see if I could spot them on the summit, but they were just too far away to see with the naked eye.

We soon found ourselves on the highest point. To the southeast were Emerald Point, Maggie Peak and the southern tip of Lake Tahoe.

To the south were Dicks Peak, Pyramid Peak, Red Peak and Silver Peak.

To the west was Rockbound Lake.

To the north was the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

I spent some time texting friends on the summit. It’s not often that I have such good service, and everyone seemed to have something to say that day. We started back towards Phipps Peak, this time looking for a trail on the topo map that passed through Phipps Pass. To the east were Rubicon Peak, Jakes Peak and Emerald Point. They looked very close and I considered taking an alternate route down to Emerald Bay via the notch between Jakes Peak and Emerald Point, however I made the wise decision and chose to return back towards Eagle Lake.

We took the trail only for a short distance to the pass. We considered connecting with our return route, but a shortcut option that led below Eagle Lake Buttress stood out. It would be mostly off trail, but we expected we could shave off some distance and hopefully time.

I expected to find some sort of use trail, but we found nothing. Regardless, travel down the drainage went pretty smoothly. There were areas of knee high vegetation that I could simply walk through. I started getting attacked by ravenous mosquitoes, and since I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and had no bug spray, there was not much I could do. I figured the only way to find respite was to get out of this canyon as quickly as possible. I looked up and spotted some climbers on Eagle Lake Buttress. Sean had wondered earlier if we could add this as a bonus peak, however it was clearly class 5.

We finally emerged from mosquito canyon onto some granite slabs. Thunder started to rumble above Dicks Peak in the distance, and I wondered if Colin and Dully were off the peak yet. Lower Velma Lake looked awfully close, making me wonder if our short cut was even worth it.

The route down below looked brushy, so instead I suggested we follow some slabs directly to the notch just west of Eagle Lake.

There were some problems to be solved, but the slab route worked with some creative route finding and the occasional class 3 move. I sarcastically called the section “The Slabs of Terror,” partially to point fun at “The Slabs of Insanity” route on Mt Price, which don’t appear to be insane at all.

We eventually made it to the notch and Emerald Bay was now in view.

We found the same brush free chute that I spotted earlier that morning, and we followed it down to the lake below. We watched people swim to the island as we descended. It looked like a busy day at the lake.

Sean contacted his dad on the radio and they were doing well on their hike back. Our descent was tedious, but I was encouraged by the swimming opportunity down below. It had been a hot day and I wanted to cool off. Once at lake’s edge, I was a little disappointed to find a dirty lake. There was a lot of trash lying around, not limited to, but including a band aid, orange peels and a sock. After registering our aqua challenge, we hiked around the lakes edge back to the trail. There were a few of people trying their luck at fishing, however I would be surprised if there were any trout in this lake at all, since I believe the fish may have been exterminated in order to help the endangered Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frog. The last mile was probably the highest exposure to Corona Virus that I had put myself in all year. There were so many disgusting and out of shape people panting and wheezing along the whole trail. Sean and I jogged the whole distance, almost as if to mock the plebeians who were struggling on such a tame path. We got back to the car and reunited with the others. I was happy to learn that Leif pooped. It was Saturday, which meant he was right on schedule. We then went to grab some Mexican food in Meyers where we brainstormed our options for the next day.

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sciencespies · 4 years

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The World's Marvellously Freaky Carnivorous Plants Are in More Trouble Than We Knew

https://sciencespies.com/nature/the-worlds-marvellously-freaky-carnivorous-plants-are-in-more-trouble-than-we-knew/

The World's Marvellously Freaky Carnivorous Plants Are in More Trouble Than We Knew

It’s hard to fathom that carnivorous plants exist. When Charles Darwin first described how a Venus flytrap worked, calling it “one of the most wonderful [plants] in the world”, some people simply didn’t believe him.

Today, just as we’ve come to appreciate the gruesome nature of these remarkable predators – which can capture and eat flies, rats, salamanders, or the droppings from shrews - they’re now fast disappearing.

The first systematic assessment of carnivorous plants around the world has found a quarter of all known species are at risk of imminent extinction.

“Without urgent action, we stand to lose some of the most ecologically unique, evolutionary interesting, and horticulturally-celebrated species on the planet,” scientists warn.

As of January 2020, researchers have described roughly 860 species of carnivorous plants in total, and while habitats vary, these plants are usually found in wetlands.

Unfortunately, wetlands are also some of the most vulnerable to clearing, logging, and climate change, which puts the future of carnivorous plants at odds with human development and our emissions.

In recent years, pitcher plants and Venus fly traps have received more interest from scientists and the public, but their conservation status in many cases is unknown.

In 2011, a review of carnivorous plant species found habitat loss from agriculture, the collection of wild plants, pollution, and changes to natural systems were the biggest threats. At the time of the research, however, only 600 species had been described; comprehensive data were available for only 48 species.

In the years since, we’ve come to understand carnivorous plants a lot better, and the implications have scientists concerned.

If nothing changes, climate predictions suggest nearly 70 percent of modelled species will be adversely impacted by climate changes. By 2050, several species are expected to lose 100 percent of their potential range.

The first conservation examination since 2011 now shows us well on the way to that reality.

Compiling full or partial data from all known species, researchers found carnivorous plants were most diverse “in some of the most heavily cleared and disturbed areas of the planet,” including Western Australia, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, Brazil, and the eastern United States.

In the end, the authors say eight percent of all species (69 species in total) are critically endangered, 6 percent are endangered, 12 percent are vulnerable, and another 3 percent are near threatened.

“Globally speaking, the biggest threats to carnivorous plants are the result of agricultural practices and natural systems modifications, as well as continental scale environmental shifts caused by climate change,” says botanist and ecologist Adam Cross from Curtin University in Australia.

“In Western Australia, which harbours more carnivorous plant species than any other place on Earth, the biggest threat remains the clearing of habitat to meet human needs, resulting hydrological changes, and of course the warming, drying climate trend that affects much of Australia.”

Even if these plants could flee from human development and the effects of climate change, many have nowhere to go. Carnivorous plants are highly specialised, and as such, many species occupy very specific niches.

This extreme restriction means many carnivorous plants are moving towards the edge of extinction in a rapidly changing world.

In the current global analysis, at least 89 species are known from only a single location. Worldwide, almost a quarter of all species are facing three or more existential threats, including global climate change, the clearing of land for agriculture, mining and development, and illegal poaching.

While the plucking and selling of precious carnivorous plants is illegal in most parts of the world, in economically deprived areas it’s hard to stop black markets from popping up. The study authors say these trades remain an “open, tolerated secret”.

“Everyone has mobile phones and the internet for eBay, so there’s a massive trade in the world of rare plants, and it gets bigger and bigger every year,” one naturalist explained to the BBC in 2016.

“People in Europe and North America want specifically different ones, which drives people to go up the mountains, rip them out and bring them back to sell locally and internationally.”

So hungry are carnivorous plant collectors, they will sometimes pay US$1,000 for a single plant. It’s not unusual for requests about the plants to roll in to researchers and photographers within days or even hours of a new photograph reaching the internet. All the authors of the present work have experienced such requests for these rare plants.

There have even been tragic instances when entire populations have been poached within days of their discovery.

While Venus fly traps are popular among collectors, tropical pitcher plants were found to be the most at-risk from poaching, especially in Malaysian Borneo, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which all rank in the top six worldwide for most critically endangered carnivorous plants. Brazil is number one, with 13 species facing critical extinction.

To prevent these plants from disappearing in the near future, scientists say we need to take immediate action.

“Conservation initiatives must be established immediately to prevent these species being lost in the coming years and decades,” argues taxonomist and field botanist Alastair Robinson from Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Australia.

“Urgent global action is required to reduce rates of habitat loss and land use change, particularly in already highly-cleared regions that are home to many threatened carnivorous plant species, including habitats in Western Australia, Brazil, southeast Asia and the United States of America.”

The cultivation of rice and oil palm are destroying habitats in Southeast Asia, while logging and development in Australia encroaches on native flora. In fact, Western Australia’s ‘wheatbelt’ has one of the highest rates of habitat clearance on the planet.

In South Africa, extreme drought has left many wetland ecosystems unusually dry, and high intensity and frequent fires in Brazil are wiping out precious wilderness when humans don’t get there first.

One region in Brazil is said to harbour at least 70 species of carnivorous plant. It’s also headed towards ecological collapse thanks to climate change, which is expected to remove up to 82 percent of suitable habitat by 2070.

But all is not lost. Scientists say if we can shift our attitudes and actions as a global community, shutting down the illegal market of carnivorous plants and implementing better development regulations, we could save at least some of these species.

Carnivorous plants are pioneers, the authors say, and when they are exposed to wet soil, they stick to it like a fly in a trap, producing large quantities of seeds to colonise new areas.

“Thus, while suitable habitat remains and natural ecological processes can be maintained, there is hope for [carnivorous plants] to survive (in) the Anthropocene,” the authors conclude.

The study was published in Global Ecology and Conservation.

#Nature

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maureenwritesblr · 4 years

Text

untitled #1

Summary: no summary as of yet....

A/N: mentions of death, etc.. note that Luna is 5′10.

"You're too good for this world."

As soon as those words left her mouth, my head spun, thoughts, happy and sad clouded my mind.

"Hey, you good?" Tanya spoke carefully.

She caressed the side of my arm, and I snapped back to reality. I looked into her soft eyes. I nodded slowly, swallowing all the emotions I was experiencing so suddenly.

"No, yeah. I'm fine, sorry" I forced a smile onto my face, trying my best to reassure her.

Those are the last words I ever heard him say. A memory that seemed so distant now. It's been so long since I had thought of him, the nightmares eventually went away, and I hardly saw his face in my dreams. My father was the only family I had. My mother had never been in the picture. He told me she died not long after my second birthday. She was courageous and beautiful. Dad said she had the biggest heart out of anybody he had ever known; she was selfless and loving; she fought for what she believed in. Though I never really met her, knew her, or even had the chance to love her, I wanted to be just like my mother. It has been two years since Dad died.

"You can't fool me, Luna" She tilted her head slightly.

"Jeez, you know me too well, huh?" I shook my head.

We spent the rest of the afternoon speaking about the ongoing wars, the future. We never spoke of the past. It wasn't something I wanted to think of. All it ever did was bring up unwanted memories, things I'd much rather forget. Tanya has been my only friend since, well as long as I can remember. She knows of all my abilities and, most of all, why I decided to join the forces, Mom. Tanya herself can do extraordinary things; she can heal people with some energy she pulls from who knows where. It is truly something special to see.

I went back to my small apartment at around 7 pm. My tiny helper bot detached from the wall and greeted me at my door. I patted its little head and handed it my coat to hang up. I walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. I undressed and climbed in.

"Hey, Shiny!" I called out to the robot.

"Yes, miss," It responded, floating outside the shower.

"When do I leave for training?" I ask, knowing that tomorrow, I would be leaving.

"Eight in the morning tomorrow, miss."

"Which landing pad again?" I asked, rubbing myself with body wash.

"89 B," It told me, then went on about star-port safety regulations before I sent it away.

I sat on the floor of the shower, thinking about my life here. It was dull and boring. I am going to follow my mother's footsteps, tomorrow I am getting on that shuttle, making my way aboard the training cruiser, and soon enough I will be fighting for what's right, fighting for those who can't fight for themselves, just as she did. After finally cleaning myself, I exited and dried myself off. By the time I had returned to my sleeping quarters Shiny had laid a new set of clothes down on my cot. I pulled on my shirt and clothed myself before heading my small but cute kitchen. I made some dinner and ate it while looking around, my eyes wandered through the room almost as if they were trying to memorize every inch. Soon enough I’ll be gone, who knows when I'll return. Once in bed, I tried as hard as I could to fall asleep, but nothing would work. I ended up falling asleep at around four in the morning. My alarm woke me two hours later. The Academy provides you with all you need so. I had nothing to pack. I texted Tanya and made sure that she was up as well. I left my phone on my dinner table and headed to the door.

"Good luck, Luna," Shiny said, handing me a coat.

"Thanks, Shiny. Keep the place clean with you?" I smiled at it.

I was going to miss the little thing. It sucks that he won't be there to clean my clothes or greet me when I return to my quarters at the end of the day. I pulled the coat over my shoulders and glanced back at my small apartment one last time before opening the door. I stepped out and made my way to the bus station. As I approached, I noticed Tanya's bright red hair almost immediately.

"Hey!" I shouted at her.

"Luna, Good morning." She walked over and hugged me.

"Straightened your hair, I see.." I say, pulling away from her.

I reached out and softly tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"It looks nice," I tell her.

"How did you sleep?" She asked, her cheeks dusted with a shade of light pink.

"Not that good, and yourself?" I asked.

We went along with a little banter as we waited for the bus to arrive, multiple young people ended up joining us at the bus stop. I figure that they are all enlisted as well. I spend the time on the bus looking out the window, admiring the streets and people of Corriel. It was a densely populated planet, mostly advanced cities, and there wasn't much wilderness or wildlife anymore. It wasn't beautiful, but I called it home. It was also the home planet of the Corrielan Republic. It's in charge of the government and security of multiple star systems. We're at war with the Artemis Corp, and they are also another faction in control of other star systems. Their military and leadership are corrupt and filled power-hungry, wealthy officers, who enslave those they swear to protect and feed off their hard work. They continuously enforce blockades over Corrielan planets, cutting off their aids, supplies, exports, and imports. With more and more Corrielan worlds being forced into submission by the Artemis Corporation, they need our help, my help, So they've recruited a bunch of advanced individuals such as Tanya and myself to join the fight.

"Look's like we're here.." Tanya says, looking past me, out of the window.

I turn and see the famous Corrielan military star-port in all its glory. Ships are landing and taking off. Ships are ranging in all sizes, from massive thousand men cruisers to small cargo transports. I smile in anticipation. I will soon be off to space for the first time.

"Holy shit, this place is huge..." I say softly.

"You got that right." Tanya agrees.

We exit the bus and start making our way to the landing platform. I look behind Tanya and I and notice a group of young people following closely behind. That confirms my thoughts earlier. They're enlisted too. Once at the platform, I pull my confirmation slip from my coat pocket and hand it to the officers stationed there. Thankfully Shiny slipped it in there for me. I would have forgotten otherwise. We stand around for a while, waiting for our shuttle to arrive.

"So, uh. You excited?" I hear a man speak behind me.

I turn and take in his appearance. He was tall, handsome with chiseled features.

"Yeah, and yourself?" I ask.

"Little more on the nervous side." He tells me, extending a hand for me to shake. "The names James, pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Luna, likewise." I shoot him a soft smile.

Suddenly, we hear the crackles of the shuttle's engine as it descends towards the landing platform. We all take a few steps back as it lands.

"Well, here we go," I look over at Tanya.

She nods at me, and we board the shuttle. We strap ourselves in wherever we can find room. I notice James sit across the shuttle from me. He looks out of the window as we launch towards the upper atmosphere. He looks over at me as we climb into orbit.

"Look, there she is.." He points to a large cruiser in the distance. "Our new home for the time being." He tells me.

I look over at Tanya and grab her hand.

"We made it." I smile at her.

To be continued.

#wrtiting #writblr #starting #new #someone help #feedback needed #space #war #scifi #imdyingtonight

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texastheband · 5 years

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Size does matter

By Lena Corner Taken from I-D Magazine - May 1999, Issue #186 ‘Skin & Soul’

After the rebirth of cool that was White on Blonde, Texas are finally ready to capitalise on their credibility. And for Sharleen Spiteri, this time it's personal...

Armed with a wedge of crisp tenners ready to blow at the bar, it's impossible to deny a slight tinge of disappointment when Sharleen Spiteri's choice of beverage turns out to be a cup of tea. Ask what she's doing at the weekend and she talks excitedly about staying in to await delivery of a new fridge. Getting on a domestic roll, she waxes lyrical about the draught excluders she's just fitted in her new Primrose Hill home. "I think I'm turning into my mum," she concludes.

Sharleen Spiteri may be a woman who stands accused of many things, but domestic obsession isn't one of them. She's been criticised for trying to add credibility to her soul-tinged radio-friendly rock by aligning herself with the likes of Rae and Christian and the Wu-Tang Clan. When she employed Juergen Teller to shoot the cover of Texas' 1997 album White On Blonde, it was said she brought him in an attempt to re-invent herself as a moody, hip and highly marketable frontwoman. Even her choice of boyfriend, Arena Homme Plus editor Ashley Heath, who she's been seeing for years, has been called her svengali figure, a calculated move to position herself within the sphere of all things cool. "I've never ever seen it written where someone's gone, 'Yeah Sharleen's alright, she knows what she's doing'," she says. "But it's like fuck them, who cares? Everyone seems to forget that I used to be a hairdresser, I used to do shoots constantly and teach all over the world. I was very much part of the whole industry before I was ever in a band, then suddenly it got to this point where everyone was saying Texas are trying to re-invent themselves. People want a story though, they want to invent something." When Sharleen first appeared on the cover of i-D back in March'97, readers wrote in to complain: why should we want to feature someone like Spiteri? She was old news: her debut single, I Don't Want a Lover, hit number eight way back in '89. Her records shifted millions and she'd spent far too much time at the top of the charts. In 1997, Texas were one of the most played acts on British radio. Mass market, stadium-sized exposure - how uncool is that? "I don't want to make cool music," she retorts angrily. "What is cool music? It might be cool today but it's not going to be cool tomorrow. People still talk about ‘I Don't Want A Lover’ and that was ten years ago; to me that's far cooler than writing some fucking stupid song that sold 20 copies. It's like, don't waste my time, pretentious fucks. I'm not interested in being trendy. I went through all that when I was 16. It seems it's more important nowadays to be into the right music, wear the right trainers, sit in the right bars and have the right furniture. It's too much effort, I'm too old and it's too boring." Hence her fad for draught, excluders. There was a time, though, when Sharleen did care what people thought and she'd sit through interviews desperately trying to be liked. Even so, after the third Texas album, Ricks Road, the backlash kicked in. People lost interest, the press wrote her off and Spiteri took it all very personally. The whole experience left her feeling crushed and betrayed, she says. For a while Texas plugged away on the European tour circuit; they went "where the love was". But when the tour ended in '95, Spiteri had had enough and took off to Paris for a year to live with her mate. For a while it was touch and go. But today she's got an Ivor Novello award for 'outstanding body of work' sitting on her mantelpiece and a four million-selling comeback album. Finally she realised it was time to stop caring what people thought. "We really fought to make that album," Sharleen admits. "A lot of people thought Texas had split up - some didn't know we'd ever existed - but we made a record because we believed in our ability to keep it going, we kept our values and rode it through. When people aren't interested, you really have to fight for what you believe in; we did and to come through the other end was the biggest gift anyone could ever have given us. All those people who went out and brought that record was the biggest compliment anyone could ever pay us." At the end 1997, Texas played at the Hogmanay party in Edinburgh. With the castle as a backdrop and a sky exploding with fireworks, the curtain came down on what Sharleen describes as an unbelievable, fantastic year. That moment, playing to a rapturous New Year's audience, marked the end of the White On Blonde era and two days later, still riding on the buzz, she sat down with co-writer Johnny McElhone in her Glasgow recording studio and tried to do it again. The Hush, their fifth album, is the result. "This is the Texas album we've been building up to throughout our entire history," she says. "I really do believe we've nailed it."

Sharleen describes it as sensual, a collection of moods, hence the title. They spent weeks planning the running order; it's a record, she reckons, that will take your imagination to all sorts of different places when you put it on in your bedroom. Namechecked influences remain the classic Texas roll call: "You can hear the Roxy Music influences," she says. "Abba and the Human League all mixed in with The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, AI Green and Ann Peebles." The result is pure, polished summer-tinged pop with Spiteri's syrupy, smooth vocals stronger than ever, delivered lying as usual on her back. For the album's artwork, this time Sharleen chose Gucci campaign photographer Luis Sanchez and headed out to Miami Beach where she languished in the sea for something more seductive than the pared down White On Blonde sleeve. "It was a case of let's go to the other end of the spectrum," she says, "the complete opposite of what Juergen Teller would do. He's very stripped down, very in your face. But because it's called The Hush, we wanted something shiny and glamorous. I've always loved the Roxy Music sleeves, classic late '70s album covers. It was more on that tip." The source of inspiration for one track entitled The Girl actually came from Lauryn Hill. It refers to that rare thing: a woman with money and power, with the conviction to use it exactly the way she wants to. "She's stuck to her guns and I think that's what it's all about," Sharleen says. "I'm so aware a lot of people are quite prepared to sell their soul to get what they want, but I'm not and I don't think Lauryn is either. I look at men's magazines and see all these girls on the cover; you simply cannot get on one unless you're prepared to get your tits out and so many people do. It's inspiring seeing the way Lauryn Hill does it. And then she gets called an awkward bitch for it. It's so difficult if you're a woman and you've got an opinion. It's not considered an opinion, it's a fucking attitude problem and I find that very frustrating." Inevitably Spiteri with her natural, androgynous good looks and flair for throwing together Prada with trainers has had countless offers to strip down and 'do something sexy'. But their idea of sexy, she says, is very different from her own. "Sexy is really all about imagining as opposed to seeing. That's why I love working with Juergen; his whole thing is about catching a real moment, something that you actually would do like sit in the bath. If it's all there in your face you don't even see it. But once you've shown it, you've shown it and you can't go back on it. I think it's laughable - if that's where the male sex are supposed to be at, it's very sad. Why do they have to have everything in pictures to understand how things work?" At school, Sharleen was one of those girls who were approached by the boys - but sadly never for anything she had to offer. "I'm not an archetypal beauty. Everything's a mess, my nose is all bent," she says. "It was always, Sharleen, you know your mate, sort us out a date.' I was like a pimp at school. At the time it was like, 'You bastard', but it was actually a really good way to accept the way I am." In those days, Spiteri was convinced she was going to grow up to be a designer. She gave up her Saturdays to study fashion at Glasgow School Of Art, landing her first-ever discount card for the local art supplies shop. She spent countless nights cutting and embellishing outfits, standing on the kitchen table while her long-suffering mum pinned up her latest creation at two in the morning. It's not surprising then that when Muiccia Prada approached her to model for the Miu Miu line, Spiteri turned her down flat. "You're not going to get me stuck with one designer," she says. "I love clothes too much." Back in '89, sporting tomboy denims and a Siouxie Sioux haircut, Spiteri modelled herself on Patti Smith. She made great music, she wasn't gorgeous and she wasn't blonde something to aspire to. But two years ago at the Q awards, Spiteri's mentor came crashing off her pedestal. "She did this whole thing: 'If these are all the people I've influenced then fuck it'. I thought, 'You rude cow'. PJ Harvey gave her the award - if I'd been presenting it I'd have belted her. To have been doing this for so long and to be so lucky to be doing it, she should frigging know better and she should be glad if she's influenced anyone." Since that moment, Spiteri's stopped playing Smith's music. "All I hear when I put her records on is just a really angry person. It's not good vibes to be giving out, it's like what on earth have you possibly got to be angry about?" To this day, Spiteri remains eternally, sweetly grateful for her ten years in Texas, even those spent wallowing in the European pop wilderness. "I'm always very careful what I wish for," she says. "And I never tell anyone because they'll never come true." Texas, she thinks, was something that was always meant to happen, even though when she was first asked to sing she thought it was a wanky chat up line. She carefully avoids tempting fate; insisting on being the last to walk out on stage and always locking away the first pressing of every Texas record because superstition tells her to. She refuses to court fame for fame's sake. "It's easy to be invisible if you want to be," she says. Once a crazed Biblewielding lunatic forced his way into her dressing room in France. Even though he was ousted before he got to say his piece, it was an incredibly frightening moment for her. At 32, she's thinking about having kids; attention like that isn't what she needs. Chances are, The Hush will do a White On Blonde and sell and sell, especially if Chris Evans takes it on as a personal crusade, as he has before. Next month Texas release the single In Our Lifetime. "The whole sentiment behind it is about finding yourself in a situation that's totally meant for you and taking it," Sharleen says. "You only get one chance, it's that once in a lifetime situation; you've got to grab it with both hands and never let it go." The tale of Texas possibly? The story of the girl who ditched a glittering career in hairdressing to join a band on a whim and who persevered in the face of endless criticism. Spiteri pauses for a moment. "Oh yes," she says. "I've never thought of it like that."

The Texas single, In Our Lifetime, is out on April 19 on Mercury, followed on May 10 by The Hush LP.

#article #TheHush #sharleen spiteri #SharleenSpiteri #Sharleen #Spiteri #ID Magazine #Juergen Teller

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