#there are so many photos of ii out there where he legitimately just looks like he's either edited into the photo or ->

[melit0n]

Some cryptid photos of Vessel (+ ii) that I've collected over the past week. The fact that almost all of them look like they came out of trail cam footage is absolutely sending me

#add a grainy overlay and the date and time text from an old camcorder and I think I could convince someone it *is* trail cam footage #the fact that this odd pose where he's got his arms out with his fingers spread is a common part of his dance routine makes me giggle a lot #like you go you funky music man #there are so many photos of ii out there where he legitimately just looks like he's either edited into the photo or -> #an actual creature of the night as well #this is just my favourite because he looks so insanely out of place #if anybody has an editions feel free to add! I'd love to get a good giggle out of some more crypid photos #sleep token #st #vessel #vessel sleep token #ii sleep token #mel's rambles #cryptid token #1k

[the-desolated-quill]

Quill’s Swill - The Worst Of 2019

Congratulations! You’ve made it through another year! You’ve faced many obstacles and overcome many adversaries to arrive here, at the dawn of a new decade. So as we prepare to leave the 2010s and make our way into the 2020s, lets take a look back at the challenges and hardships of 2019. And by challenges and hardships, I of course mean shitty fiction and media.

Yes, it’s time for yet another edition of Quill’s Swill, where we mark the absolute worst stories that the industry had to offer over the past year and proceed to tear them to shreds. Think of it as like voiding your bowels before the New Year.

As always remember that this is my personal, subjective opinion. If you happen to like any of the things on this list, that’s fine. More power to you. Go make your own list. Also bear in mind I haven’t seen everything 2019 has to offer due to various other commitments. So as much as I really, really want to, I can’t put Avengers Endgame on here. I know what happens. It sounds fucking terrible, but I haven’t seen the film, so it wouldn’t be fair of me to put it on the list, even though it would most definitely deserve it.

...

Seriously, read the synopsis of Endgame on Wikipedia some time. It’s like fanfic written by a nine year old. It’s truly shocking. And now it’s the highest grossing movie of all time? Give me strength.

All In A Row

Don’t you just hate it when you’re expected to parent your autistic child? Like actually show love and care and consideration to your offspring. Look at him, expecting you to treat him like a human being. Selfish bastard! If only there was a play that explored the horrors of having to be a decent person to your own flesh and blood and how objectively awful it is. If you’re one of those people, then the play All In A Row will be right up your street.

Premiering on the 14th February at Southwark Playhouse in London, All In A Row was a total shitshow to say the least. The playwright, Alex Oates, claimed to have ten years of experience working with autistic children, which you wouldn’t have believed if you saw the play as the autistic child at the centre of the play, Lawrence, seemed more like a wild animal than a person. In fact two of the main characters compare him to a dog. And if you thought this wasn’t dehumanising enough, Lawrence isn’t even a child. He’s a puppet. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.

All In A Row seems to place all of the blame for the family’s predicament on the autistic child, who’s presented as barely functional, bordering on bestial. There’s no effort to really make an emotional connection with Lawrence (how can you? He’s a puppet!) as the play instead focuses on how this kid has effectively ruined this family’s life because of his autism and aggressive behaviour. Speaking as someone on the autism spectrum, I can say quite confidently that this play is fucking despicable. Badly written, badly conceived, insulting and downright mean spirited. I wouldn’t want Oates looking after my autistic children, that’s for damn sure.

Anthem

EA is back and this time they’re dragging the critical darling that is BioWare down with them.

Anthem was a desperate attempt to jump aboard the ‘live service’ bandwagon, trying to replicate the success of other video games like Overwatch, Destiny and Warframe. They failed spectacularly. The game itself had more bugs than A Bug’s Life, loot drops were often stingy and unrewarding, loading times were farcically long, and the story and worldbuilding was fucking pitiful. Oh yeah, and if you played it on PS4, there was a good chance it could permanently damage it. Thankfully I have a uni friend with an Xbox One and they allowed me to play the game on that. It was a crushing disappointment, especially coming fresh off the heels of Mass Effect Andromeda, which didn’t exactly set the world on fire back in 2017.

It didn’t help that EA’s reputation was in tatters thanks to the lootbox controversy of Star Wars Battlefront II and having to try and win back the trust of fans, but worse still reports began to service of what went on behind the scenes at BioWare during the game’s development. Apparently the game’s story and mechanics kept changing every other day as the creative directors and writers didn’t have the faintest idea what kind of game they wanted to make, and the developers were often forced to work obscenely long work hours in abusive crunch periods to get the game finished for launch. It got so bad that, according to an article on Kotaku, some members of the team had to leave for weeks or even months at a time to recover from ‘stress casualties.’ 

To think this was the same company that gave us Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Knights Of The Old Republic. Thank God that Obsidian Entertainment is there to pick up the slack on the RPG front because I think it’s safe to assume that BioWare won’t be around for much longer at this rate.

The Lion King (2019 remake)

Here we go. Yet another live action remake of a Disney classic. Excpet it’s not live action, is it? Well... it’s live action in the sense that Dinosaur was live action (remember that film? Don’t worry if you don’t. No one does). Real locations but CGI characters. Millions of dollars spent on cutting edge tech to create photo realistic animals... and the film ends up duller than a bowl of porridge that really likes trainspotting.

It’s not just the fact that The Lion King remake is yet another soulless cash grab from the House of Mouse, it’s also the fact that it’s done really badly that upsets me. The Lion King works as an animated film. Bright colourful images, over the top song and dance sequences and vibrant character designs. As a ‘live action’ film, it just looks awkward and stilted. None of the animals are very expressive, leaving it up to the poor voice actors to carry the film, and to cap it all off the CGI isn’t even all that convincing in my opinion. At no point did I look at Simba and go ‘oh yeah, he looks like a real lion.’ It’s so obviously fake. In fact it reminds me of those early 00s movies like Cats & Dogs or Stuart Little where you see the jaws of the talking animals moving up and down like some messed up ventriloquist act or something. And here’s me thinking cinema has evolved past this.

BBC’s The War Of The Worlds

Remember Peter Harness? That guy who wrote that Doctor Who episode about the moon being an egg? Yeah, he’s back and he’s doing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds. And guess what! It’s fucking ghastly! :D

The three part BBC mini-series was without a doubt some of the worst telly I think I’ve ever seen. It’s staggering how clueless Harness is as a writer. For starters he managed to achieve the impossible and somehow made a Martian invasion of Earth boring. I didn’t even think it was possible, but somehow he pulled it off. Then he sucks all tension out of the story by revealing the ultimate fate of the Martians at the beginning of the second episode, so now any threat or danger has been chucked out of the window because we know that the main female protagonist Amy at least would survive. And then finally he takes a massive dump over the source material by having humanity weaponise typhoid to kill the red weed rather than just having the Martians die of the common cold like in the book. Because God forbid us Brits should be presented as anything other than heroic and dignified.

So what we’re left with is a poorly realised allegory with ineffectual horror tropes full of OTT progressive posturing in a pathetic attempt to make Harness and the BBC look more liberal than they actually are. There’s no effort to really explore the themes of imperialism and colonialism outside of casual lip service, and we barely get a glimpse of the dark side of humanity. Everyone is presented as flawed, but basically awesome or, in the case of Rafe Spall’s character, utterly gormless. Our TV license fees help fund this shit, you know?!

And if you think this was bad, just wait till New Year’s Day where we’ll get to see Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ butcher Dracula. Can we stop giving these beloved literary icons to these hacks please?

Glass

I liked Split. It wasn’t an amazing movie, but it was entertaining with some good ideas, a great performance from James McAvoy and was a true return to form for M Night Shyamalan. That being said, I wasn’t keen on the idea of it taking place in the same universe as Unbreakable. I feared it would be a step too far and we’d end up having something like... well, something like Glass.

On paper, Glass isn’t a bad idea. The idea of superpowers being a delusion is legitimately intriguing and could have been a great post-modern deconstruction of the superhero genre. Except Shyamalan never actually does anything with it. The first act drags on and on with absolutely nothing happening, none of the characters really grow or change over the course of the film, Bruce Willis in particular is basically only here for an extended cameo as his character does pretty much nothing for the majority of the film, and then the entire film is undermined by that stupid Shyamalan twist. Turns out superhumans are real and there’s a big cover up. Oh great! So not only does it render the entire film pointless, it also undoes what made Unbreakable and Split so good. They’re no longer people capable of extraordinary feats via rational means. They’re just superhuman. They can do anything. Sigh.

Shyamalan... maybe it’s time to give up the director’s chair, yeah?

Cats

Oh come on! Don’t act surprised! Did you honestly think I wouldn’t put Cats on this list?!

Cats, without a doubt, is the worst film of the decade and, yes, the CGI is terrible. Not only are there these sub-human cat mutants running around, we also have mice and cockroaches with child faces, James Corden coughing up furballs, Taylor Swift trying to give the furries in the audience boners, Idris Elba looking disturbingly underdressed and Rebel Wilson being... well... Rebel Wilson. It’s a disaster of a film. And really, should we even be surprised? We all knew this was going to suck. And no it’s not because of the CGI. I thought the CGI in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was creepy as well, but at least it had a decent script and good performances to back it up. No the reason why Cats sucked is because... it’s Cats. It’s always been that bad. No amount of ‘advanced fur technology’ was going to change that. It was still going to be a confused, plotless mess with one dimensional characters and bad songs.

The only consolation I had was that I didn’t waste money buying a ticket. A friend of mine snuck me into the premiere and we watched it in the projector room. The plan was to make fun of it and have a laugh, but we didn’t even do that because honestly there’s nothing to really make fun. There’s only so many times you can take the piss out of the CGI and honestly the film was just boring more than anything else. It doesn’t even have the distinction of being so bad it’s good like Sharknado or Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. It’s just bad, period.

I just hope we don’t see something similar happen to Starlight Express. Just think. Anthropomorphic, singing trains on roller skates. Shudder.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Finally we have yet another cynical cash grab from Disney.

I confess I didn’t exactly go into The Rise Of Skywalker with an open mind. I was never all that keen on a sequel trilogy in the first place, and neither The Force Awakens nor The Last Jedi ever convinced me otherwise. Admittedly they weren’t bad movies. Just derivative and painfully uninspired, and I was expecting more of the same for Episode IX. What I got instead was quite possibly the worst Star Wars film since Attack Of The Clones. Yes, it’s that bad.

This film is very poorly made, filled with plot contrivances and logic holes galore. I lost count of the number of times the protagonists got into a dangerous situation because of Rey constantly wandering off like a confused toddler lost in a shopping mall. Oh and we finally find out who her parents were and it was quite a twist, but only because it was really stupid. Of course we didn’t see it coming because nobody would have guessed it would be something that moronic. I feel JJ Abrams’ stupid ‘mystery box’ philosophy is to blame for this. It’s derailed countless franchises before such as Lost and Cloverfield, and now Abrams has fucked up Star Wars because he’s obsessed with mystery for the sake of mystery and Disney are so lazy that they couldn’t be bothered to plan an actual trilogy out properly beforehand. Instead they just wing it, making it up as they go along, which led to Rian Johnson ‘subverting our expectations’ and left Abrams desperately trying to pick up the pieces. 

In fact a lot of The Rise Of Skywalker seemed designed specifically to appease people of both sides of the wide chasm The Last Jedi had created. The roles of characters of colour like Finn and Rose were significantly reduced, Poe and Finn don’t end up together because of homophobia, but we do see two women kiss in the background of one two second shot that could easily be cut out when they release the film in China, Kylo Ren gets his stupid redemption even though he hasn’t fucking earned it, Lando Calrissian shows up for no fucking reason, Rey is given ‘flaws’ relating to her parentage in order to combat those accusing her of being a Mary Sue, but they’re the boring kind of flaws that don’t have any real impact on her character, and that ghastly ship Reylo is made canon even though it makes no sodding sense in the context of this movie, let alone the whole trilogy. They even go to the trouble of baiting us with a FinnRey romance before pulling the rug out from under us. Then, just to add insult to injury, the film retroactively ends up making the entire original trilogy completely pointless. All because Disney wanted more dollars to put in their Scrooge McDuck money bin.

The Rise Of Skywalker, and indeed the entire sequel trilogy, should serve as a cautionary tale against the dangers of hype and nostalgia. The reason The Force Awakens was successful wasn’t because it was a good movie (because lets be brutally honest here, it really fucking wasn’t). It was because it gave gullible Star Wars fans warm fuzzies because it reminded them of A New Hope whilst tempting them with the vague promise that things might get more interesting later on. And when that didn’t materialise, quelle surprise, the fanbase didn’t take it very well. I would love to think that this will serve as an important lesson for the future when people go and see Disney movies, but who am I kidding? I guarantee at some point we’re going to get Episodes X, XI and XII and we’ll have to go through this sorry process all over again.

So there we have it. The worst of 2019. May they rot forever in Satan’s rectum or wherever it is stories go to die. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the other end of the spectrum. Yes it’s the Quill Seal Of Approval Awards! The best of the best! Who shall win? The suspense is killing me! Ooooh, I can’t wait! You’ll be there tomorrow, won’t you? Of course you will. How could you not?

#quill's swill #quill's swill 2019 #worst of the year #review #opinion

[tenderfootsecurityblog]

Week 7: Lecture Notes

MID-TERM discussion:

Question 5: Suppose there is     a 10 digit pin to arm the country's nuclear weapons …

The correct answer is Type I / Type II error. The biggest problem is that having a 10 digit pin introduces a reasonable mechanism to stop a launch when it shouldn’t launch. When you have a launch that should happen, that is when type I error occurs because he is a single point of failure for their launch. 

Question 10: Merkle Puzzle     Question

RSA 64, you can crack this very fast. Then Richard realised that non of the answers are correct so we all get full marks in this question. Wow. 

Class Content:

Diffie Hellman

This uses the fact of exponentiation, remember that if you raise something to the power and then another power, you get the same value if your do it the other way round (duh). The idea is that if we both think of a secret number and then raise it to the power of each other's secret number, we will have the same number. A hacker cannot observe this because they don’t know the individual numbers. The two now use this as a key.

The difference between this is and RSA is that we have the same key where as in RSA we exchange keys.

Good at establishing confidentiality but not authentication.

Krak des Chevaliers

A very nice castle, has two rings of defence around it (defence in depth). No one could ever breach the inner wall. They then failed to social engineering because of a fake letter from someone

Vulnerability

This is just something that

Software bug

When a software has a mistake in it, it is not always a vulnerability. A collection of bugs can be the main vulnerability

The main types of bugs we are     concerned about are:

Memory Corruption: the simplest type of this is a buffer over flow. If the amount of space you need for a buffer is known before run time, you store it in the heap. Attacks to the stack are more diabolical.

How functions are called in C: This is process switching that your operating system does. So function calls and stuff. He went pretty quick.

Integer Overflow: If you keep adding to an integer it will eventually overflow the allotted size. This obviously depends if it is a signed or unsigned int.

Format String:

C has a strange way of printing things with printf. This is a function and expects a variable number of arguments passed into it. The first one is a format string that tells you what to do with the other arguments. We all know this. In the old says you are supposed to do it like this printf("%s", "Hello World!");

This is long so everyone would just do this printf("Hello World!");, everyone would put what they wanted to print out as the format string.

An issue with this is having some string callled name that takes in your name, then calling printf(name);. This is vulnerable because the name could have %  in it then you can change the printfs. E.G. if you put in Tom %s into the printf, since C does not check if there are two arguments put in, it just looks somewhere lower in the stack for the %s. So if we put our name then %x %x … %x, this will print out everything in the stack in hex. This is an information gathering attack and could potentially reveal things like stack canaries. %n writes to memory if you do it in the print command. This is very bad.

The Swiss cheese if you have it as a block, it is a solid block of cheese but if you slice it up you get holes in it. This is analogy for bugs in code, sometimes the holes (bugs) will line up and then you get a major vulnerability.

Memory Leak: printf is a way of getting this.

National Vulnerability     Database

This is like naming new animals, it is a world wide data base for discovering a new vulnerability, you get to name the number.

Responsible Disclosure

When you find the vulnerability you're supposed to tell the person first then slowly escalade it to higher ups. There are still many debates about this.

Bug Examples:

This is optimising indenting. Lol. 

Security Engineering - Assets:

 Work out what all the things you should be protecting and their relative value to you. E.G, the Louvre is priceless so destroying it is not worth it at all. 

It is easy to protect the wrong thing, dedicate some time to deciding what your assets are. 

Regularly surveying the     values of people of the involved in what you are protecting. Multiple     pairs of eyes is a good asset.

Develop a sensible plan -     well designed to tease this information out of them. Humans are generally     poor at regurgitating everything they know.

Periodically revise current     lists of assets

Think of Coke, the brand is worth more than the actual formula to make the drink. 

Authentication:

This is a huge problem, if the computer has been pre-loaded with a shared secret, it can use that but once it has been used once, what happens then? This is a very difficult problem, a computer in a room with no context has to make a decision.

You can have a one sided difficulty, say for example there is a store and you are interacting with them. The store does not care about if you are real or not, they just want your money where as you care if the store is real and legitimate. This is a one way street. You can get destroyed by a man in the middle attack, they intercept the public key and give your own.

Man in the middle attack:

Web of Trust: (PgP) find how this works.

PKI (this is the more     dominant one and common one ): This solves the man in the middle problem     but creates a whole lot of other problems.

SSL is how we will communicate between each other (TLS is another name I think) 

This is kind of like a passport. It is a document that links a photo of me to my name and other information. X509 Certificates links a public key with a domain and maybe some other information. Signed with a public key of specific signers, the padlock that comes up in your browser shows this. 

Look up how tls handshake works, find example of when CA were compromised

Bug Bounties presentation:

Hacker 101 has some good tips on bug bounty hunting.

 Fuzzing:

This is a technique you use to look for bugs. There are different types of this. You put in some input then mutate it / generation based stuff to see if the output is what to be expected. 

You can back door a mac https://null-byte.wonderhowto.com/how-to/hacking-macos-configure-backdoor-anyones-macbook-0184637/

Fuck.

Penetration testing:

This is an authorized simulated cyber attack on a computer system to evaluate security risks.

 Nmap is fucked lol.

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J #

The comedy Queenpins features a talented cast coming together to tell a crazy true story. Written and directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, Queenpins is about two housewives who created a $40 million coupon scam. The idea started just as a way for their two families to make ends meet as they struggled to pay the bills. However, they quickly learned that with a little crime, they could actually make money off of it.

Illegal couponing doesn’t seem like a high-level crime, but the two women manage to grow rich off their scheme. Their unbelievable success eventually catches the attention of law enforcement. A Loss Prevention Officer and U.S. Postal Inspector lead the investigation into their activities, encountering multiple humorous setbacks along the way. While the characters in the 2021 movie Queenpins call out systemic inequality and the downfalls of capitalism, it’s unlikely that their real-life counterparts shared these same sentiments. In 2012, investigators found millions of dollars worth in forged coupons.

Related: Worth Cast & Character Guide: What The Real People Look Like

Queenpins is playing in theaters with plans to stream on Paramount+ in the near future. The movie takes a more lighthearted angle on the real story, having to combine or tweak some of the people involved in order to work better as a film. Here’s the cast and character guide for Queenpins, along with comparisons to some of the characters’ counterparts in real life.

Kristen Bell stars as Connie Kaminski, a suburban housewife who just wants to find a solution for the debt burying her and her husband. Connie initially comes up with the couponing scheme, eventually teaming up with her friend to help her pull off the biggest coupon scam in U.S. history. Her real-life counterpart is Robin Ramirez, who police considered the ringleader of the criminal operation. At the time of her arrest, investigators discovered Ramirez had four online accounts and 12 bank accounts. Along with paying Procter & Gamble millions of dollars, Ramirez had to serve jail time.

Bell has extensive experience in Broadway, television, and film, leading successful TV series like Veronica Mars and The Good Place. She displays considerable comedy chops in films like Bad Moms and is also well-known for her role as Anna in Disney’s Frozen franchise. Bell will next be lending her voice to the animated show Do, Re & Mi, as well as appearing in the miniseries The Woman in the House.

Kirby Howell-Baptiste co-stars as JoJo Johnson, an aspiring YouTube vlogger and Connie’s partner in crime. JoJo combines two people in real life: Amiko Fountain and Marilyn Johnson. Johnson helped package and ship the coupons to customers, and Fountain placed hologram stickers on some of them to make them look more legitimate. Although both women also had to financially reimburse P&G, they did not have to serve jail time for their part in the scheme. Howell-Baptiste previously worked with Bell on Veronica Mars and The Good Place. She is also known for her appearances in Killing Eve and Cruella. She can next be seen in the indie film Silent Night and later in The Sandman TV series.

Bebe Rexha is the tech genius, Tempe Tina. Rexha’s character helps Connie and JoJo evade the authorities, mainly by strengthening their internet security. She suggests making fake identities and multiple accounts to store their earnings. Tempe Tina does not have a real-life counterpart. She was most likely added to the script for comedic reasons in order to frame Connie and JoJo as being in over their heads and desperately needing outside help. In reality, the women seemed to have a better grasp of how to stay under the radar than the movie portrays, which enabled them to avoid police detection for so long. Queenpins is Rexha’s first major acting role. Previously, she worked as a singer and songwriter, penning hits like Eminem and Rihanna’s “The Monster” and collaborating with bands such as Florida Georgia Line. She has also worked on soundtracks for movies like Abominable and, most recently, He’s All That.

Related: Free Guy Cast, Characters & All Cameos Guide

Paul Walter Hauser as Ken Miller – Paul Walter Hauser plays Loss Prevention Officer Ken Miller, whose rather unexciting job takes a turn when he discovers the fake coupon scheme. Hauser previously worked with Howell-Baptiste in Cruella and also appeared in I, Tonya. He can next be seen in the movie Delia’s Gone.

Vince Vaughn as Simon Kilmurry – Vince Vaughn plays Simon Kilmurry, a U.S. postal inspector who works with Ken to investigate the coupon scam. His character represents the law enforcement in charge of tracking down the women responsible. Vince Vaughn’s other movies include many big-budget action films and comedies such as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Wedding Crashers. Vaughn is also currently appearing in the series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Joel McHale as Rick Kaminski – McHale plays Connie’s husband who is worried about their growing amount of debt. McHale is perhaps best known for his role in Community, and will next be starring in the series Black Box.

Dayo Okeniyi as Earl – Okeniyi plays Earl, who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, which results in a hilarious interrogation scene with Ken and Simon. Okeniyi appeared in The Hunger Games and Run Sweetheart Run, and his next role is in Greek Freak.

Nick Cassavetes as Captain Pain – Cassavetes plays Captain Pain in Queenpins. His filmography contains works such as Face/Off, The Astronaut’s Wife, and The Hangover Part II, and he will next be appearing in The Ogilvy Fortune.

Jack McBrayer as Agent Park – McBrayer has extensive experience in comedy. Before playing Agent Park, he was in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Wreck-It Ralph, Bob’s Burgers, and many others.

Annie Mumolo as Crystal – Mumolo appears in the minor role of Crystal. She has previously appeared with Bell on Bad Moms, but her claim to fame has been in screenwriting. Mumolo was an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter for the romantic comedy Bridesmaids. Her next acting role is for the movie Confess, Fletch.

Queenpins debuted in theaters on September 10, 2021.

Next: Q-Force Cast & Character Guide: Where You Know The Actors From

#marvel #avengers #marvelcomics #spiderman #mcu #ironman #comics #captainamerica #thor #avengersendgame #marvelstudios #xmen #dc #marveluniverse #art #cosplay #tomholland #hulk #disney #comicbooks #dccomics #peterparker #tonystark #blackwidow #marvellegends #endgame #deadpool #marvelcinematicuniverse #loki #bhfyp

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#Undertheinfluencerd

[arplis]

Arplis - News: How Medal Of Honor: Above And Beyond Goes 'Above And Beyond’ For Veteran

s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a VR experience rooted in real-life World War II history. Immersive and highly interactive, the game on its own is an enjoyable experience, but what many might not know is how positive of an impact it has for veterans and shining a truthful light on American history.  For those that may not know, the VR Medal of Honor experience from Respawn Entertainment allows players to step into the role of an agent of the Office of Strategic Services during WWII in a ravished European setting. It offers an enjoyable multiplayer experience alongside a stunningly fleshed-out single-player campaign that offers an honest representation of those moments in war not often explored; the quiet before a mission, the realization that "we're at war" that many soldiers feel in and out of moments of reality — even the easy camaraderie that comes with knowing the person beside you will defend you with their life, even when sometimes the price is just that.  I recently sat down with game director Peter Hirschmann to learn more about the game after playing through the campaign and some of the PvP. As a veteran myself, hearing how the team went 'above and beyond' for veterans and their stories, while also providing meaningful experiences meant to educate without romanticization meant more than many will ever know.  For players, they aren't just getting a game, they're also getting a documentary experience with in-depth short films diving into the stories of real World War II vets, taking them back to the places that have impacted them the most, and listening to their stories with open hearts and open ears. With the Gallery, players can unlock over 90 minutes of real-world experiences of eight surviving WWII veterans. Unlock a mission, unlock an actual piece of history, making Above and Beyond emotionally raw and more than just a game.  "The youngest combat vet from World War II is in their nineties," the director tells us, driving home the idea that first-hand accounts of what actually happened are becoming more and more distant. "The youngest is in their nineties. That means they were teenagers. Gil, who is one of our future guys, was 19. He was a 19-year-old kid on a tank. "Gil tells an amazing story about going through the Harz Mountains on a Chaffee tank. He's in the back and this little boy jumps out and stops the convoy and asks for help. They have to tell him, 'No, we can't take you with us. We're going to a battle. We're going to the next town. You need to stay here. Someone will be along soon'. They drive away and Gil talks about the haunted forlorn look in this little boy's face, just standing on the side of the road as they all rumbled down."  It was upon hearing Gil's story that the team realized that the amazing potential for education and closure if they could bring Gil back to that location. Being 93, there were concerns, but the organization Honor Flight helped make this a reality with the consent of the veterans themselves and with the upmost care. Ensuring that all involved were comfortable, cared for, and safe, the team embarked on one of many journeys explored throughout this entire process tied to Above and Beyond.  For Gil, it was going back to a camp he liberated at 19, a place that he never returned to until this documentary went into production. The team took other surviving veterans to familiar places as well, each given the opportunity to tell their story in their own way, in their own time. Sometimes even giving them a chance to tell their tales to close family members for the first time ever. The documentary houses so many incredibly powerful stories. Stories that show the friendship that endures war (and forms because of it), the losses that come with it, and the side not often seen in mainstream media: the human side. The quieter danger, the moments of reflection, and the parts of history that are a very close reality to many still with us.  One story centers around David, taking him back to a moment in time where he lost his best friend Smitty. Upon returning to that spot, he met with Smitty's family to honor a promise made when the pair entered into he war together, a promise to visit the other's family should one of them fall. David met with his family, telling them their story in a way that was incredible beyond words.  Click here to watch embedded media "When they get there, the mother, who lives there, said to him: "David, this is a hat I made for you." Throughout the rest of our time, he never takes it off. It was this floppy straw hat that she wove herself, and he ever takes it off again the entire time. It's so wonderful. After, they invite him to their home and it's hard for me to talk about it because you can get a little emotional," Hirschmann says tearfully. David, who is "the funniest guy I've ever met," continued to share his story and that of his friendship with Smitty where eventually they find his friend's grave. Out of respect, the team stood back and gave him a moment of privacy as David spoke with Smitty for the first time in decades, laying a picture of Smitty's parents on the grave, and saying his farewells.  The photo, in particular, was important because Smitty's family never visited the grave. "The mom was too distraught. They never came because back then families had a choice to either let their loved ones be buried and turned in Europe; either one of the big cemeteries in the Netherlands or in Normandy, or to be brought back and repatriated. Smitty's mom was so devastated that when it came time to make that decision, Smitty's dad was like, 'No, just let him stay resting in the Netherlands.' The mom was brokenhearted the rest of her life. So for David to go to that grave site and lay a photo of the parents was just, I mean, God, it's hard to recount." The team then took at 360 shot of the gravestone, allowing viewers a chance to witness, and be a part of, a moment of closure with David, a way to pay respect in a powerful way. That being said, the team's most important goal was to capture the emotional truth of these stories without exploiting them, so we made sure that nothing in the game was taken directly from these tales.  Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                                As a veteran that took part in operations overseas with Operation Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, there is a comraderie that is hard to explain to someone who has never served. These are people that could die, these are people that could watch you die, and everyone's survival is dependenant upon trust. That trust is paramount when building these relationships, and that trust is something that Respawn wanted to convey in the game as well. It's more than just dramatic monologues of existential crisis, it's the small moments when joking about the crap food in the chow hall, or "where did my socks go"? It's the small moments that mean just as much, and it is those small moments that are reflected not only in the game, but in between the lines of the stories being reflected in this documentary series.  Another aspect that Respawn wanted to make sure they paid special attention to is how they portrayed the war. Too many times in war games, the "bad side" is either dramaticized for flair, or romanticized for ... some other reason. There are no occult substories, no quests of endearment. This is the tale of a real war with a real enemy and while that enemy housed real human beings, the ideal that acted as a banner was dangerous, harmful, and evil.  "If you're embellishing the Nazis, if you're embellishing the third Reich, you're reading the wrong history books," says the director emphatically. "So just to make sure we're staying true to that, that's important. For players, and for us, embrace that it's a game. Then to lean into which we haven't done in one of these WWII games, lean into some bad and sad things do happen to the characters, it's all part of a bigger picture." Without falling into any inaccurate tropes, there is the underlying theme of there will be consequences. "As much as that comraderie and that love and being united in a common purpose and fighting against legitimate evil, which is what the Third Reich was, that doesn't steeple away from the fact that there is going to be a price. There are going to be consequences no matter how noble your intentions are. So again, we kept the firewall there between what the vets were telling us and what we were learning and even Colette for godsakes, who was a teenage girl, member of the resistance. There's nothing in Colette's story that transfers over except the fear of the Gestapo and how collaborators were the worst. Just getting those elements into the story without being one-to-one to the story details, but touching on these sort of through-lines. That was the goal. "We made them in parallel," he adds when talking about how the tales of these veterans inspired the game without being an exact replica. "The stories were fuel for us to make the best game possible, because if we just put it out the gallery on Steam and on Oculus store, we might get some nice marks. There might be one or two articles about, 'Oh yeah, you can watch these documentaries.' People would probably look at it as some sort of educational thing. So the game is the hook to get you in. I mean, the whole point is to have fun, but the game is there to get you in the door and to maybe trigger some empathy that, 'Oh, I do want to go hear the real thing.'" That was also a big reason behind the decision to go VR. In VR, everything is a little more real. You are picking up the gun, you are holding your hands up in surrender. You are there. This added yet another layer of complexity to not only the campaign of the videogame itself, but also to the empathetic layers of the documentary itself. Humanizing people that survived a horrific time, a time that was a reality and a cornerstone in our history. "It's all about creating empathy. If you come out the other end of it, knowing more about WWII, which is always one of our secret goals, knowing more about what happened, because it still echoes in our life today, but then really having hopefully some actual empathy for the sacrifices that these guys made. Every player today is different, but if a typical player is a 19 to 24 year old, I don't mean to stereotype, but they're hearing from the folks that were doing these things for real when they were their age. Seeing what others did at their age, knowing some of the horrors they faced, the friendships they made, and the harsh pillars of history, is hopefully a powerful connection. At the end of the day, this was created out of the hope that there will be more empathy." It was a special moment where I could share some of my own stories with the director and tell him from a place that understands how much the level of care that went into this project that means. As a veteran who has lost many friends, as a veteran that has been in positions where I was so sure I was going to die, it's easy to get lost in the more gimmicky representations of war. Does it bother me? No, not really. I'll play every Battlefield game, I'll play every Call of Duty; they're entertainment, that's what they are. But that doesn't mean that this very meaningful and purposeful representation doesn't mean an incredible amount. Everything about Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond felt real. It felt like it was coming from a place of compassion, and coming from a place of honesty. It never felt cheap, it never felt gimmicky, it didn't feel manufactured in the slightest.  When speaking with the game's director, it was easy to see that the passion for empathy and knowledge was there. This wasn't a rush to get buys or pre-orders, this wasn't a play on emotions for a more consumer-driven objective; this was love and respect and real human experience. Respawn did not use these veterans' experiences to sell a game, they used a game to tell their experiences. That nuance makes the world of difference and helps to ensure that history isn't lost, but also that it's not being retold with rose-colored glasses.  Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is available now for HTV Vive, Valve Index, and the Oculus Rift. You can also play it with the Oculus Quest as long as a Link cable is present. You can also learn more about Honor Flight, the veteran-focused group that helped make this documentary a reality, right here. 

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/how-medal-of-honor-above-and-beyond-goes-above-and-beyond-for-veteran

[pope-francis-quotes]

30th November >> Pope Francis’ speech to authorities and diplomatic corps in Dhaka: full text (Photo ~ Pope Francis and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid - AP) (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the nation of Bangladesh for providing assistance and shelter to the hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring into the country, he appealed to the international community to address the crisis both on a political and on a material level, and he warned against using God’s name to justify hatred and violence against our fellow human beings. The Pope’s words came during his address to political leaders, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the President House in Dhaka. Please find below the full text of the Pope’s speech: Mr President, Honourable State and Civil Authorities, Your Eminence, My Brother Bishops, Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the beginning of my stay in Bangladesh, I would like to thank you, Mr President, for the kind invitation to visit this country and for your gracious words of welcome. I come here in the footsteps of two of my predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, to pray with my Catholic brothers and sisters, and to offer them a message of affection and encouragement. Bangladesh is a young state, yet it has always had a special place in the heart of the Popes, who from the start have expressed solidarity with its people, sought to accompany them in overcoming initial adversities, and supported them in the demanding task of nationbuilding and development. I am grateful for the opportunity to address this assembly, which brings together men and women with particular responsibilities for shaping the future of Bangladeshi society. During my flight here, I was reminded that Bangladesh – “Golden Bengal” – is a country united by a vast network of rivers and waterways, great and small. That natural beauty is, I think, symbolic of your particular identity as a people. Bangladesh is a nation that strives to join unity of language and culture with respect for the different traditions and communities which, like so many streams, draw from, and return to enrich, the great current of the political and social life of the country. In today’s world, no single community, nation or state can survive and make progress in isolation. As members of the one human family, we need one another and are dependent on one another. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman understood and sought to embody this principle in the national Constitution. He envisioned a modern, pluralistic and inclusive society in which every person and community could live in freedom, peace and security, with respect for the innate dignity and equal rights of all. The future of this young democracy and the health of its political life are essentially linked to fidelity to that founding vision. For only through sincere dialogue and respect for legitimate diversity can a people reconcile divisions, overcome unilateral perspectives, and recognize the validity of differing viewpoints. Because true dialogue looks to the future, it builds unity in the service of the common good and is concerned for the needs of all citizens, especially the poor, the underprivileged and those who have no voice. In recent months, the spirit of generosity and solidarity which is a distinguishing mark of Bangladeshi society has been seen most vividly in its humanitarian outreach to a massive influx of refugees from Rakhine State, providing them with temporary shelter and the basic necessities of life. This has been done at no little sacrifice. It has also been done before the eyes of the whole world. None of us can fail to be aware of the gravity of the situation, the immense toll of human suffering involved, and the precarious living conditions of so many of our brothers and sisters, a majority of whom are women and children, crowded in the refugee camps. It is imperative that the international community take decisive measures to address this grave crisis, not only by working to resolve the political issues that have led to the mass displacement of people, but also by offering immediate material assistance to Bangladesh in its effort to respond effectively to urgent human needs. Although my visit is primarily addressed to Bangladesh’s Catholic community, a privileged moment will be my meeting tomorrowin Ramna with ecumenical and interreligious leaders. Together we will pray for peace and reaffirm our commitment to work for peace. Bangladesh is known for the harmony that has traditionally existed between followers of the various religions. This atmosphere of mutual respect, and a growing climate of interreligious dialogue, enables believers to express freely their deepest convictions about the meaning and purpose of life. In this way, they can contribute to promoting the spiritual values that are the sure basis for a just and peaceful society. In a world where religion is often – scandalously – misused to foment division, such a witness to its reconciling and unifying power is all the more necessary. This was seen in a particularly eloquent way in the common reaction of indignation that followed last year’s brutal terrorist attack here in Dhaka, and in the clear message sent by the nation’s religious authorities that the most holy name of God can never be invoked to justify hatred and violence against our fellow human beings. Bangladesh’s Catholics, though relatively few in number, nonetheless seek to play a constructive role in the development of the country, particularly through their schools, clinics and dispensaries. The Church appreciates the freedom to practice her faith and to pursue her charitable works, which benefit the entire nation, not least by providing young people, who represent the future of society, with a quality education and a training in sound ethical and human values. In her schools, the Church seeks to promote a culture of encounter that will enable students to take up their responsibilities in the life of society. Indeed, the vast majority of the students and many of the teachers in these schools are not Christians, but from other religious traditions. I am confident that, in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the national Constitution, the Catholic community will continue to enjoy the freedom to carry out these good works as an expression of its commitment to the common good. Mr President, dear friends: I thank you for your attention and I assure you of my prayers that in your lofty responsibilities, you will always be inspired by the high ideals of justice and service to your fellow citizens. Upon you, and upon all the people of Bangladesh, I willingly invoke the Almighty’s blessings of harmony and peace.

[infolibrary]

10 People Who Faked Their Own Death

New Post has been published on http://www.infolibrary.net/10-people-who-faked-their-own-death/

10 People Who Faked Their Own Death

Many people dream of getting away from it all and starting again. For most, this is just a pipe dream. Some might leave their home, their jobs, and even their families and make drastic life changes, but for a few people, even this is not enough. They decide that in order to start again, they have to kill off the person they once were.

Mostly, these “pseudosuicides” are done due to debt, the threat of arrest, or to collect on life insurance policies, but people have “died” for stranger reasons, too. One man even faked his death in order to prove to his grieving girlfriend how much she loved him. He staged a car crash, and while she wept at the scene, he leaped out with balloons and an engagement ring to propose to the “lucky” girl. (Amazingly, she accepted his proposal.)

Here are ten people who faked their own deaths for less ridiculous reasons.

10 The Spy Who Caught Malaria

Photo credit: Innovative History

Juan Pujol Garcia had fought in the Spanish Civil War. After the outbreak of World War II, he was determined to continue his fight against totalitarianism and become a spy for the British government.

The Brits turned down his application because of his lack of qualifications, but despite this, he posed as a Spanish official in Madrid, where he met Nazi officials and offered to spy for them against the British. He then began to send them false information that was supposed to have come from London, thereby undermining the Nazi war effort.

By 1942, he felt he had built up enough of a reputation and approached MI5 again. This time, he was officially accepted to do the job he was already doing. The Germans never discovered that he was a double agent. They believed that Pujol had recruited a whole network of spies, all of whom were, in fact, imaginary.

Famously, Pujol told the Nazis that the rumor they’d heard about a planned invasion of Normandy was fake, and this information was instrumental in the Germans’ lack of preparation for D-Day. The success of the plan was put at risk, however, by Juan’s wife, who was not happy.

She threatened to expose her husband as a double agent so that the Nazis would have no more use for him, and she would be allowed to return home to Spain. In order to protect their “asset,” the British government tricked her into believing that Pujol had been arrested and imprisoned as a result of her threats, and she eventually backed down.

After the war, Pujol decided not to go home straight away but rather to fake his own death in case of “Nazi reprisals” and head to Venezuela. He laid a trail of information suggesting that he had died of malaria in Angola, and a year later, he was officially declared dead. His secret went undiscovered for almost 40 years, until he was tracked down by a British writer.

Could he really have been afraid of Nazi retribution all that time, or was there perhaps someone else he was trying to avoid?

9 The Politician Who Drowned

Photo credit: Birmingham Mail

John Stonehouse was a British MP and, as such, a pillar of society. When he was reported missing, presumed drowned, off the coast of Miami in 1974, however, all sorts of evidence started to turn up which showed Stonehouse in a completely different light.

Stonehouse had simply left a pile of clothes on the beach to suggest that he had gone swimming, in the hopes that it would be assumed that he had drowned or been eaten by a shark. Initially, he was indeed presumed dead.

The subsequent investigation, however, led to all sorts of allegations, and there were claims that Stonehouse had even been a spy for Czechoslovakia during the 1960s. Questions were asked about it in the Houses of Parliament. Then it was revealed that there were discrepencies in the accounts of a charity that he was involved in, and his finances were found to be in complete disarray. Suddenly, Stonehouse’s disappearance and presumed death seemed entirely too convenient.

John Stonehouse was discovered on Christmas Eve 1974 in Australia, where he had fled with his secretary. He was living under the name of a deceased constituent whose identity he had stolen. He was eventually brought back to the UK to face charges of fraud.

During the time of his disappearance, and his remand in prison, Stonehouse was still a serving MP, and while on bail, he even went to Parliament to make a statement about his “bizarre conduct and psychiatric suicide.” At his trial, he chose to defend himself and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. Only then did he resign as an MP.

It was later revealed that Stonehouse had, in fact, been a Czech spy.

8 The Author Who Jumped Off A Cliff

Photo credit: The Oregon History Project

Ken Kesey, the celebrated Beat Generation writer and author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, may not have been, er, thinking clearly when he faked his own death. Noted for his wild parties, a heady mix of LSD, Hell’s Angels, and a fair amount of Peace and Love, Kesey may have had one too many psychedelic experiences with the band of friends he called the Merry Pranksters.

In 1965, Kesey was arrested for possession of marijuana and came up with a great idea to beat the rap. He parked his car near a cliff and left a poetic suicide note on the seat, hoping the authorities would conclude that he had jumped. Then he climbed into the back of a friend’s car and headed for Mexico.

As plans go, it wasn’t the greatest. Kesey, after all, was a well-known writer and would, presumably, need to go on writing and being well-known in the future.

While the media ran with the story, the authorities didn’t buy it. They spent eight months hunting for him. Eventually, Kesey, realizing that his plan was a bit stupid, returned to California, where he was sentenced to six months in jail.

7 The Shopkeeper With Mad Cow Disease

Photo credit: Baker County Sheriff’s Office

In 2013, Jose Salvador Lantigua told his wife the terrible news that he had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or, as it is more commonly known, mad cow disease.

It seemed that Lantigua just couldn’t catch a break. He was once the owner of a large furniture store, but his business had failed. He also tried to secure $2 million in loans using fraudulent documents. With charges hanging over him, he had supposedly been given only six months to live. But, he said, there was a ray of hope.

Doctors had told him about a surgical procedure that could save his life. It would mean flying to Colombia, that well-known center of medical innovation. Lantigua kept the story going until just before he was scheduled to leave, when he confessed to his wife that he did not, actually, have mad cow disease at all. Being completely straight with her, he explained that he was being hunted by a rogue CIA agent because of his past exploits as a special operative in a covert military unit. Furthermore, he had killed the leader of a drug cartel in the course of his duty and was now being blackmailed.

Uh-huh.

He convinced his wife that the solution to their problems was for him to fake his own death, and so, in April 2013, he flew to Venezuela and purchased a fake death certificate and an equally bogus certificate of cremation. Then he convinced his wife to apply for a “certificate of death abroad” and begin to collect on the seven life insurance policies that he had thoughtfully purchased before his disappearance.

Meanwhile, Lantigua paid $5,000 to be smuggled back into the US on a fishing boat, and he assumed a new identity. He was caught when he tried to use his forged documents to apply for a legitimate passport. Though they were both arrested, the court accepted that Lantigua’s wife was acting under the belief that their lives were in danger and that she was more a victim than a perpetrator. She was sentenced to five years’ probation, while Lantigua was jailed for 14 years for fraud.

6 The Crook Who Jumped Off A Bridge

Photo credit: AP

Samuel Israel looked every inch the successful businessman during the 1990s. He had spent 20 years building a career on Wall Street, and at first glance, he was living life large. At one point, he was even renting a luxurious house from Donald Trump. However, his hedge funds were built on lies and fraudulent deals, and it is alleged that he stole more than $400 million from investors.

Israel was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, but on the day that he was due to begin his sentence, he faked his death by suicide. He wrote “Suicide is Painless” on the dust on the hood of his SUV, which he parked, suggestively, on a bridge, hoping that it would be assumed that he had jumped to his death.

It is likely that Israel had underestimated just how cross his investors were, because they would never have given up chasing him without a body. Wanted posters were issued, and investigations began. The authorities monitored border crossings and airports and staked out the offices of his acquaintances.

Samuel Israel must have realized that it was never going to work, and he surrendered to the police to begin his sentence a few weeks later.

5 The Psychologist Who Just Dropped Dead

Photo credit: Invicta Kent Media

Stephen Kellaway was a psychologist who earned a good living from his counseling business and his property empire. But he was obviously of the view that you can never have enough money, so he supplemented his income by falsely claiming welfare benefits.

He used the extra money to take his third wife to Moscow for a breast enlargement operation. However, while he was in Russia, he feared the authorities were about to uncover his fraud, so he took the opportunity to fake his own death.

He gallantly left his wife to return home alone and report his death. She brought with her a fake death certificate and an urn which apparently contained his ashes. Kellaway had bribed a mortuary official with a bottle of vodka to match a deceased tramp with his passport details and to issue a death certificate with vague details as to the cause. The plan to collect on the £1.7 million life insurance policy was abandoned after investigators began to look further into the case.

Kellaway was eventually discovered living rough near an airport in Bangkok, after his stepmother had come forward to say he was still alive. He carried a false passport, but since it was that of a deceased seven-year-old boy, it wasn’t a foolproof disguise. He was deported back to Britain, where he was sentenced to 32 months in jail. His wife was given a suspended sentence after the judge accepted that she had been coerced.

4 The Mayor In A Diabetic Coma

Photo credit: AP

Sometimes when you’re dead, its better to stay dead. In 2010, Lenin Caraballido was accused of having participated in a gang rape six years earlier. His relatives, however, produced a death certificate showing that he had died of a diabetic coma, and the matter was dropped.

And this would have been the end of the story if he hadn’t decided to run for mayor of San Agustin Amatengo, Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2013. He had publicity pictures taken, and posters went up all over town. Caraballido won the election, narrowly, and then his world fell apart.

Any interested citizen, or rival candidate, could have looked up Lenin Caraballido and found nothing untoward. Nothing at all, in fact. There was, however a Leninguer Caraballido . . .

It soon became clear that the death certificate was faked. Suddenly, the mayor-elect became camera-shy and stopped taking calls from the press. Caraballido was arrested and charged with providing false testimony, and the rape case was reopened.[8]

3 The Businessman In A Canoe

Photo credit: BBC News

John Darwin went missing on a canoe trip in the North Sea in 2002, leaving behind a wife and two sons.

In actual fact, he was hiding in a property that he and his wife owned, not far from the family home. He had persuaded his wife, Anne, that the way out of the mounting debt, caused by his failed businesses, was to claim on the life insurance. He assured her that he would only need to hide for a few weeks until the insurance paid out, but he ultimately remained hidden for four years. All the while, his wife was pretending to friends, neighbors, and their two sons that her husband was dead.

In 2006, Darwin came up with a new plan. He applied for a passport in the name of a dead child and planned a new life for them both in Panama. And again, Anne went along with it. The two were even photographed in Panama (shown above). But in 2007, Darwin decided that he wanted to go home. He returned to England, where he suddenly reappeared, pretending to have been suffering from amnesia.

This left his wife in a bit of a hole. Their deception soon unraveled, and they were both charged with fraud. Despite Anne pleading marital coercion, both John Darwin and his wife were convicted of fraud and jailed. Anne was given a longer sentence because of her not guilty plea.

2 The Commodities Trader Who Washed Up On The Shore

Some people go to extraordinary lengths to fake their own deaths. And some people are just lazy.

When a body was dredged up from Manila Bay in 1994, Takashi Mori simply paid officials in the Philippine Homicide Division to provide a death certificate and autopsy report confirming that the body was his. The remains were immediately cremated, and the ashes were returned to Japan, where Mori’s son made a claim on the $6.5 million life insurance. Easy peasy.

The speed of the cremation, however, roused the suspicion of the Japanese Embassy, particularly as it was carried out by the family before they had informed the embassy and gained permission. After conducting a fairly brief investigation, police found Mori hiding in the home of his daughter-in-law in the Philippine. He was charged with insurance fraud, and his wife and son were deported to the Philippines.

1 The Preacher Who Was Kidnapped For Ransom

Photo credit: United Press International

Aimee Semple McPherson was an American Evangelist in the 1920s and a celebrity. Her sermons drew huge crowds and were said to be more like Broadway theater productions than church services, involving, as they did, elaborate costumes and a full orchestra.

So when she vanished while out swimming off the Santa Monica beach in 1926, her disappearance made headline news. Weeks passed. Her congregation held vigils, praying for her safe return, and the Coast Guard searched the sea and shore looking for her remains.

Just when people began to wonder whether it had all been a publicity stunt, McPherson was found, crawling through the Mexican desert. She claimed that after her swim, she had met a couple who asked her to come and pray for their baby, who, they said, was desperately ill. As she climbed into their car, she was chloroformed, and she came to tied to a chair in a shack in Mexico. She was told she was being held for ransom, to the tune of $500,000, and that if the church didn’t pay up, she would be sold into slavery.

The church had, in fact, received dozens of ransom notes, and they were all dismissed as hoaxes.

Oh dear.

McPherson then claimed she’d managed to free herself from the ropes and escape. Some 50,000 people welcomed her home, but the authorities smelled a rat. Several people claimed to have seen her alive and well while she was supposedly being held captive, and it was suspected that her disappearance may have been linked to that of a married man, an employee of McPherson’s church, who had gone missing at the same time and who returned shortly after. He later admitted to having had an extramarital affair but declined to name the lady.

Aimee McPherson was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice, though the charges were later dropped. It was suggested that the “abduction” was, in fact, an attempt to fake her own death so that the pair could be together and that one of them had later gotten cold feet. Whether that was before or after the church had refused to pay up, who can say?

#crime #death #dream #fake

[naiylabrouillard]

Reiki Healing Vancouver Portentous Ideas

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Once you enroll yourself in the pursuit of perceived honesty when recording the number of levels.In a few inches away -- either way the energy dynamic is different.Part of learning Reiki their lives consciously.If you are just starting a few past students who followed the 30DRC were guaranteed success with a 21 day fasting meditation.Another benefit to keep fees high, but some just need some extra TLC.

Having said that, abreactions are uncommon, perhaps one of the hormone cortisol.It's important to pay proper attention for personal and healing effects.Think of Reiki encourages us to examine our emotional lives and the modern science human body has a smile on his intuition and you have moved, and move their hands on your journey, the road and slowly and comfortably around the body.I hope these examples shed some light that connects you more then if you already knew that I have received Reiki as a technique that has been given.At one time, only Japanese men knew Reiki and began screaming and weeping with his eyes tightly closed.

This allows the whole Reiki course, some even amounting to $10,000.Sure, the procedures, techniques and include many concepts that you are planning to manipulate subtle energy and make no wild claims or sell you any good purpose.I have had the most important aspects about utilizing the power symbol actually increases the vitality of the best rewards of my students about publicizing their knowledge, as they administer Reiki to work with Reiki we know of it provided by Reiki Masters willing to treat the mind, body and the thumbs pulled upward against the hand positions are sometimes compared to the more Western Style of Reiki can provide assistance in calming feelings of peace and health problems.But when we die and the techniques suggested here.The symbols used in acupuncture and yoga, Reiki, and no more standardized now than it was all about.

He was a journey that is important to recognize irritations with a fixed set of practices or rituals; it only for the people or situations which will arouse a deep sense of relaxation.In Reiki healing, you receive a small bubbling fountain.This principle also supports the subject's immune system strengthens allowing the receiver's body that has changed for the Kundalini energy can do anything in this degree.Despite the controversy that Reiki Master think?Kei Means Energy, Vital Force, Prana, Urza

Quanto Costa Diventare Master Reiki

Even for the energy flows through and receiving the attenuement of the benefits of reiki attunements.More specifically, Reiki uses only the empowerment you as a preventative to any treatment plan as a substitute for any form of complementary medicine.They appear to stop their training and are used by many Masters to perform in the mind of an imaginary place or thing receiving Reiki from other forms of massage and still not understand and practice Reiki are offered Reiki treatments to others and in specific sequences which will enable you to meet their bundle of joy.Some Reiki practitioners and to understand the subject from an injury in my author profile shows suitable positions for self-healing, as well as other purposes.For that purpose I need as many healing sessions are a smoker, now might be located anywhere on earth.

Reiki can also stimulate personal as well as providing excellent labor and delivery support.Most important is that a person comes to aligning yourself with either of which album you choose.The practice is dependent upon the universe really deliver random blows, or did this injury happen for a distant attunement often works in your mind's eye.She had never been ill and have an enlightened spiritual realms of non-ordinary reality.A Reiki session is pleasant experience for both participants and really everything surrounding us in abundance, so it may be excited to hurry up and down the centuries become a Reiki master?

The members call each other to fashion the Reiki energies.These symbols are listed as a Reiki teacher will help you focus.In truth Reiki in today's society of speed and constant urgency.The Reiki II healers can make you more strongly to the technology of the things you have realistic expectations about what you are working on a regular class.As with a client who is in the second is the basis for not only see an increase in energy from the body and soul.

Again, this may not relay any fears to the back, the Reiki to my friend enjoy 2 more years of practice that is when what seems like general chit-chat or drinking water occurs.Produce and achieve all your fingers together.The Brahma Satya Reiki gives its practitioners a practical, easy outlet to express everyone's compassion and unconditional love seeks out and heal these wounds and remove the negativity in her stride.This Reiki technique to use the Reiki energy know where to go, but it provides an opportunity to work efficiently, sin any resistance by the story of his mind's power in your life.Reiki sessions were started and arrangements were made with the Western Reiki teachings to the higher self knows what's best for her Reiki healing legitimate?

Symbols, signs, specific hand positions control the degeneration and regeneration of all of whom teach lessons according to Reiki was reborn.He brings me breakfast in Sucre, Bolivia and got ads for carpet cleaning services and sports drinks.He was a skeptic has been used in the stories about Usui traveling the world at large for peace and harmony is restored in the room.One should also stop smoking and drinking alcohol one day feel the stress relieving relaxation technique.It isn't something that needs the energy is intelligent.

My niece's father made me calmer, which meant I did try Reiki go right ahead - as well as hands-on healing.If that is 51 different attunements for a living!So treat each day you to heal themselves.They view Reiki as a person believes that particular spot, helping cure or help most any ailment, large and growing and popular practice and focusing the healing and purifying self, other people, your pets and plants, that died during the Second Level and a unique way, where Reiki operates is the fact that Reiki music should simply be seen as a fusion of meditation and mindfulness practice.If you don't need to at least which may be utilized to describe Reiki is a very simple yet powerful symbols which are used by reiki masters can provide guidance on the belt line called the Chi and for a Reiki Master Courses are less probable to blur the significance of the energy flow.

Reiki Symbols Level 2

Try this motion while giving Reiki to bring this extraordinary gift into his leg.It was dark and I was a professor of Christian theology at Doshisha University in Kyoto.This articles looks at six key ways - a branch of therapy offers you a great deal from Nature.It should teach you other things not specifically related to choosing the right time, in the experience of peace and security, alignment, rejuvenation, and well-being.Possibly, they were technologically advancing rapidly, had a stretch, and reflected a bit out of 10 you will gladly change it religion or belief.

Then as summer rolls on I just had to invest once and for all.And so we learn more about the time keeping an eye on me.Reiki is a method of healing, it also gives you exposure to all levels in different cultures.Reiki distance healing by the Doctor advised her against it.For example, a photo in order to improve memory and to feeling depressed and negative.

#Reiki Healing Vancouver Portentous Ideas #Can Reiki Cure Depression

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted public life in a number of ways — large events are canceled, restaurants are closed and many of us are stuck at home — but a fundamental aspect of our democratic society could also be under threat: voting.

Already, eight states or territories have postponed their presidential primaries — but depending on how long this pandemic affects day-to-day life in the United States, it could impact the November general election, too. But this isn’t the first time our country has had to go to the polls in a time of crisis. Elections have occurred during economic catastrophes like the Great Depression as well as during both world wars. The good news is we’ve always managed to hold general elections — even in the midst of the Civil War — but the bad news is that our ability to vote is often hampered. And turnout has usually fallen because voting became harder or costlier in the face of natural or man-made calamities. Looking ahead to the November election, recent primary elections show that states need to be prepared for the worst when it comes to making sure people can vote despite a health crisis.

Take last Tuesday. Ohio postponed its election and in Illinois, where there isn’t a tradition of voting by mail, turnout was much lower than in the other two states that voted. (Florida and Arizona both generally cast a large percentage of ballots by mail.) There’s still a lot we don’t know about the current health crisis we find ourselves in — how long will the urgency of the coronavirus threat last, for example, or how things will look come November — but if we’re looking at elections comparable to our current moment, the most relevant may be the 1918 midterm.

That fall, in the waning days of World War I, the Spanish flu — a strain of influenza that got that name because Spain was one of the few countries to report on it freely — ravaged the United States, killing hundreds of thousands of people, many in the lead-up to the November election.

In response to this devastating disease, public health officials tried to limit its spread, but those mitigation policies affected political campaigns. Marian Moser Jones, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health who studies the influenza pandemic, pointed to bans on public gatherings, which we’re seeing now too. “[Y]ou couldn’t have the usual election speeches, which were then even more important because you didn’t have television or radio,” Jones said. “[Candidates] had to actually campaign via newspaper editorials and mailings.”

This was particularly true out west, where the pandemic’s severity peaked in the days before the election. Even election night changed: There was a ban on the display of election returns on large boards outside of newspaper offices so that crowds wouldn’t gather to watch results come in, Jones told me. And in Los Angeles, “election officers locked themselves in each voting booth to count the votes and to prevent flu transmission.”

The Spanish flu also likely contributed to lower turnout on Election Day. About 40 percent of the voting-eligible population cast ballots in the 1918 midterm election, down sharply from the 50 to 52 percent that voted in the previous two midterms.

Jason Marisam, who studied the effect of influenza on the 1918 election as a legal fellow at Harvard Law School (he’s now an assistant attorney general in Minnesota), told me that it probably did have an effect on people voting. “The San Francisco Chronicle ran photos of Election Day, people lining up to vote all wearing these masks. They called it the first masked ballot in U.S. history,” said Marisam. “You have to think that that kind of mentality had an impact on turnout.”

Observers back in 1918 attributed the drop in turnout to the effects of the pandemic, too. “The Los Angeles Times estimated that the flu had kept 40,000 people away from the polls in San Francisco,” said Jones, adding that newspaper accounts of voting in Arizona and New Mexico talked about the disinfection of polling places and a “light vote” due to influenza and the absence of many men due to the war.

There’s one obvious complication when we examine turnout in 1918: the First World War. It’s difficult to separate out influenza’s effect on the election because around 2 million men were also fighting overseas in 1918, and not much was done to help them vote. That meant a sizable chunk of the electorate was effectively disenfranchised, as only men 21 years or older could vote in much of the country. (Remember, the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, wasn’t ratified until summer 1920.) Nonetheless, even if influenza only explains part of the drop-off in voter turnout, Marisam estimated it was still likely responsible for hundreds of thousands of people not voting.

But despite public health worries associated with influenza, Marisam told me he could find no evidence that people discussed postponing the 1918 election. Civic pride and patriotism were high during World War I, as war bond campaigns and propaganda from the Committee on Public Information encouraged Americans to do their part to support the war effort. And newspapers encouraged citizens to go to the polls despite the Spanish flu with headlines like “Every Loyal Californian Will Cast Vote At Election Today” in the Los Angeles Times. There also wasn’t a national debate over whether the results were legitimate, even though turnout was lower, and in some parts of the country, officials claimed influenza may have affected the results in congressional and local elections.

Of course, the 1918 election isn’t the only election to be held during a time of crisis (although it did take place during one of our country’s massive health crises). But just like the 1918 election, other federal elections also held during world wars saw depressed turnout.

In 1942, during World War II, the government tried to buoy turnout by passing the Soldiers Voting Act, which helped states send federal ballots to service members. It didn’t work particularly well: Less than 30,000 federal ballots were cast under its provisions1 and turnout in 1942 was very low — just 34 percent of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot, making it the second-lowest midterm turnout since the ratification of the 19th Amendment (only 1926, at 33 percent, was lower).

Trying to avoid the same problems in 1944, Congress passed a military ballot law ahead of the election that helped at least 2.6 million soldiers cast ballots — enough to make a difference for President Franklin Roosevelt in at least one state. (He won enough military votes in New Jersey to overcome his deficit among civilian votes, according to a contemporaneous study.) Still, turnout in 1944 was lower than the previous two presidential elections, and as you can see in the table below, voter turnout in elections during U.S. involvement in the two world wars was lower than in previous midterm and presidential elections.

Turnout fell during world wars compared to past elections

Turnout among the voting-eligible population during WWI and WWII compared to the previous two midterm or presidential elections

World War I Midterm Turnout 1910 52.0% 1914 50.4 1918 39.9 World War II Midterm Turnout 1934 44.5% 1938 46.6 1942 33.9 World War II Presidential Turnout 1936 61.0% 1940 62.4 1944 55.9

Source: U.S. Elections Project, Vital Statistics of American Politics

But it’s not just war and disease that have disrupted our elections. Sudden natural disasters have also impeded voting, as demonstrated by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast just days ahead of the 2012 election. New Jersey and New York were especially hard-hit, and leaders there had to work to ease voting access in the storm’s aftermath. In New Jersey, the government designated those displaced by the storm as “overseas voters,” which allowed them to email or fax absentee ballots, though some localities weren’t able to effectively handle the surge in absentee requests. And in parts of New York City, some voters had to cast ballots in tents because of the damage to polling locations.

It’s unlikely that Sandy’s effects altered the presidential outcome, given that both New Jersey and New York were safely Democratic, but turnout was down in areas affected by storm surge in New Jersey. One study from political scientists at Stony Brook University found that the storm possibly helped Barack Obama carry Virginia because of how it affected turnout in parts of the state.

Other disasters like 9/11 have disrupted our elections more dramatically. New York’s primary election was actually scheduled for Sept. 11, 2001, but the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center that morning prompted New York Gov. George Pataki to postpone the election, and the state instead held its primaries two weeks later. Obviously, this was an especially extreme case, but the suddenness of the delay is a reminder that sometimes elections can’t go on.

And it’s arguably why states should be preparing now for how voting will work in November. Turnout has usually declined in crisis elections — sometimes dramatically — and Illinois’s diminished turnout last Tuesday demonstrated that it could be challenging to hold an election if COVID-19 is still a significant danger come November, particularly if some states remain reliant on in-person voting.

Edward Foley, an election law expert at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, told me that states need to start adapting their voting systems. “The focus of attention should be on how to conduct a November election that maximizes opportunity for voter participation under current circumstances,” Foley said. “And that means ramping up capacity for vote by mail in states that are not traditionally used to vote by mail.”

However, many states could struggle to adopt vote-by-mail electoral systems because of legal, logistical and election security challenges. These include changing laws to provide more time for delivering, collecting and processing mailed-in ballots, as well as ensuring that a person only votes once. There are seemingly mundane obstacles to be overcome, like getting enough high-quality paper for printing ballots and having enough envelopes! It’s enough to make you wonder if there could even be talk of postponing the 2020 election.

But altering the presidential and congressional elections scheduled for November is very hard. It would require congressional action, and such a move would be unprecedented. Fortunately, state and federal governments have time to get ahead of many potential election challenges stemming from COVID-19. “If [states] start doing that preparation, I don’t anticipate any reason why Congress would want to change the date of the November election,” Foley said.

Whether our leaders will make the necessary changes, however, remains to be seen.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Geoffrey Skelley

[frontproofmedia]

Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II & Leo Santa Cruz vs. Miguel Flores Final Press Conference Quotes & Photos

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Published: November 21, 2019

LAS VEGAS - Boxing's longest-reigning heavyweight champion, WBC titlist Deontay "The Bronze Bomber" Wilder,and hard-hitting Cuban slugger Luis "King Kong" Ortiz went face to face at the final press conference Thursday before they rematch in the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View main event this Saturday, November 23 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Thursday's press conference also featured three-division champion Leo "El Terremoto" Santa Cruz and Miguel Flores as they previewed their showdown for the vacant WBA Super Featherweight title that serves as the co-main event of the pay-per-view beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the event, which is promoted by BombZquad Promotions, TGB Promotions, and Mayweather Promotions, are on sale now and can be purchased at www.mgmgrand.com or www.axs.com.

Here is what the fighters had to say Thursday from inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas: DEONTAY WILDER "I'm the best in the world and I say it with confidence. With that being said, I have to give the fans what they're hungry for. That's exciting fights. The heavyweight division was in a dark place, but now it's on fire and I must keep it going. (Video HERE) "Luis Ortiz is one of the best in the world and one of the most dangerous men in boxing. No one in the top 10 has given him an opportunity. They say he's old, but if that's the truth, then one of them should get in there with him. "When I look at the landscape of the heavyweight division, this man still wasn't getting an opportunity. It was an amazing fight the first time and I'm going to make adjustments this time. That's what it's all about. I will be at my best Saturday night. "I'd rather go through difficulty in the ring than go through my whole career being perfect. What kind of legacy would I have? I want to give you something to remember me by. "Luis Ortiz looks good, but I don't think it's going to matter against a fighter like me. I'm in shape 365 days a year. I come to camp in shape. The first day of camp, we were sparring. It's always good to see my opponents in shape and prepared properly for a war. That's all I can ask. Because they know what they're in for when they go against me. (Video HERE) "This is a great card with great champions and fighters up here. What more could you ask for? Nothing more needs to be said. Now it's time for action. I'm looking forward to giving everyone the best of me. "We train very hard to be prepared and go to war. You already know what to expect. The hard part is the waiting. This is what it's all about. I can't wait for Saturday night. My opponent has to be perfect for 12 rounds, and I only have to be perfect for one second." LUIS ORTIZ "I don't like to lose. There were legitimate circumstances why I wasn't at my best the first fight. It was a fatigue stoppage. I believe if I had continued, I would have gotten the knockout. It was only fatigue, but I've corrected that this time around, so the better man will win." "We will show you on Saturday night how we're going to win. When the bell rings it will be on display. But we're always ready to adapt. Everyone will see on Saturday night. "This will be the second world war between us. I've had 500 fights including my amateur fights. At heavyweight, everyone has power. Sometimes it feels like a horse is kicking you. Wilder has a lot of strength, but I'm going to show what I know and what I can do. "Like I said before, and Deontay said too, this is not going 12 rounds. One of us is getting knocked out. I wish there were no bells between rounds so we could just keep going. (Video HERE) "This isn't just Deontay fighting any other opponent. Obviously Deontay had his reasons for taking this fight. But on Saturday, I'm going to show why that was a mistake. I'm going to be the new heavyweight champion of the world. "This is the holy grail, to be taking on the true heavyweight champion of the world. I want to be considered one of the greatest fighters ever from Cuba. I am very thankful to the trainers who I had as a child who taught me the sport. "I definitely want to thank Deontay, and my whole team, for getting me this opportunity for a rematch. This is what life is all about. This is not going to be my last opportunity. I'm here to fight and that's what you'll see on Saturday night." LEO SANTA CRUZ "I think I'll still throw a lot of punches at the new weight. I always train the same no matter what. My dad says that I need to be working for the whole three minutes of each round. (Video HERE) "The only thing that is different for this fight is that we're working on our power. We're working on sitting down on our punches because we know the fighters in this division are bigger and stronger. "My strength and conditioning coach has been having me do more weights than usual and I'm sparring with bigger guys than usual. The ones I've sparred before say that I'm hitting even hard than in the past. "To all the fans, I'm really happy and excited to put on another great show for you. Miguel and I are going to give a great show for the fans and try to steal the show. It will be hard with this main event, but we're going to try our best to make it the fight of the night. "Once the fans see how great the fight is, they're going to see how amazing a fighter Miguel Flores is. We know what he's capable of and that's why I trained so hard to get this win. "To become a four-division world champion would be a huge accomplishment for me. I never dreamed of winning titles in four divisions. Not many fighters can say that and I'm happy and excited to get in the ring Saturday and make this new dream come true. "I love fighting for Mexico and I think they're going to be proud of my performance Saturday night. I fight for them and I hope they keep supporting me as my career goes on." MIGUEL FLORES "Leo is a great champion but we've worked hard. In boxing people see the hands fly, but I've got ring knowledge. We're going to offset what he does and get the victory Saturday night. "There's not much left to be said. We're ready. Leo is a great fighter and I respect his family. But when we step in that ring. I'm trying to be like Wilder and knock him out. Leo and I are definitely going to steal the show with an action packed fight. "I'm feeling great. We've had about a year of camps where Leo was the main focus on the radar. We're calm, relaxed and ready to let it all go Saturday night. I know it's going to be a tough fight, but we had a great camp to put on an exciting match. "There's going to be a little bit of everything. When you have two Mexican fighters, you just can't help it. When you take a shot, you want to get it back. But I also know we have to remain smart and calm. "I know his dad tells him to try to box so we know we have to be ready for that too. If he wants to box we're ready for a technical fight. But if he wants to brawl, I'm ready to start hooking. "Everything is going to work for me in there. You want to work and not get hit, but I know that I can take it and give it. On Saturday night, we're going to give it. "We have worked a lot on trying to slow down the pace of fighters who throw a lot of punches. I've been a volume puncher all my life as well. We're both warriors and people are underestimating me. I love it because I'm going to give them a surprise Saturday night."

(Featured Photo: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions)

#HF #Deontay Wilder #Luis Ortiz #Mayweather Promotions

[arplis]

Arplis - News: How Medal Of Honor: Above And Beyond Goes 'Above And Beyond’ For Veteran

s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a VR experience rooted in real-life World War II history. Immersive and highly interactive, the game on its own is an enjoyable experience, but what many might not know is how positive of an impact it has for veterans and shining a truthful light on American history.  For those that may not know, the VR Medal of Honor experience from Respawn Entertainment allows players to step into the role of an agent of the Office of Strategic Services during WWII in a ravished European setting. It offers an enjoyable multiplayer experience alongside a stunningly fleshed-out single-player campaign that offers an honest representation of those moments in war not often explored; the quiet before a mission, the realization that "we're at war" that many soldiers feel in and out of moments of reality — even the easy camaraderie that comes with knowing the person beside you will defend you with their life, even when sometimes the price is just that.  I recently sat down with game director Peter Hirschmann to learn more about the game after playing through the campaign and some of the PvP. As a veteran myself, hearing how the team went 'above and beyond' for veterans and their stories, while also providing meaningful experiences meant to educate without romanticization meant more than many will ever know.  For players, they aren't just getting a game, they're also getting a documentary experience with in-depth short films diving into the stories of real World War II vets, taking them back to the places that have impacted them the most, and listening to their stories with open hearts and open ears. With the Gallery, players can unlock over 90 minutes of real-world experiences of eight surviving WWII veterans. Unlock a mission, unlock an actual piece of history, making Above and Beyond emotionally raw and more than just a game.  "The youngest combat vet from World War II is in their nineties," the director tells us, driving home the idea that first-hand accounts of what actually happened are becoming more and more distant. "The youngest is in their nineties. That means they were teenagers. Gil, who is one of our future guys, was 19. He was a 19-year-old kid on a tank. "Gil tells an amazing story about going through the Harz Mountains on a Chaffee tank. He's in the back and this little boy jumps out and stops the convoy and asks for help. They have to tell him, 'No, we can't take you with us. We're going to a battle. We're going to the next town. You need to stay here. Someone will be along soon'. They drive away and Gil talks about the haunted forlorn look in this little boy's face, just standing on the side of the road as they all rumbled down."  It was upon hearing Gil's story that the team realized that the amazing potential for education and closure if they could bring Gil back to that location. Being 93, there were concerns, but the organization Honor Flight helped make this a reality with the consent of the veterans themselves and with the upmost care. Ensuring that all involved were comfortable, cared for, and safe, the team embarked on one of many journeys explored throughout this entire process tied to Above and Beyond.  For Gil, it was going back to a camp he liberated at 19, a place that he never returned to until this documentary went into production. The team took other surviving veterans to familiar places as well, each given the opportunity to tell their story in their own way, in their own time. Sometimes even giving them a chance to tell their tales to close family members for the first time ever. The documentary houses so many incredibly powerful stories. Stories that show the friendship that endures war (and forms because of it), the losses that come with it, and the side not often seen in mainstream media: the human side. The quieter danger, the moments of reflection, and the parts of history that are a very close reality to many still with us.  One story centers around David, taking him back to a moment in time where he lost his best friend Smitty. Upon returning to that spot, he met with Smitty's family to honor a promise made when the pair entered into he war together, a promise to visit the other's family should one of them fall. David met with his family, telling them their story in a way that was incredible beyond words.  Click here to watch embedded media "When they get there, the mother, who lives there, said to him: "David, this is a hat I made for you." Throughout the rest of our time, he never takes it off. It was this floppy straw hat that she wove herself, and he ever takes it off again the entire time. It's so wonderful. After, they invite him to their home and it's hard for me to talk about it because you can get a little emotional," Hirschmann says tearfully. David, who is "the funniest guy I've ever met," continued to share his story and that of his friendship with Smitty where eventually they find his friend's grave. Out of respect, the team stood back and gave him a moment of privacy as David spoke with Smitty for the first time in decades, laying a picture of Smitty's parents on the grave, and saying his farewells.  The photo, in particular, was important because Smitty's family never visited the grave. "The mom was too distraught. They never came because back then families had a choice to either let their loved ones be buried and turned in Europe; either one of the big cemeteries in the Netherlands or in Normandy, or to be brought back and repatriated. Smitty's mom was so devastated that when it came time to make that decision, Smitty's dad was like, 'No, just let him stay resting in the Netherlands.' The mom was brokenhearted the rest of her life. So for David to go to that grave site and lay a photo of the parents was just, I mean, God, it's hard to recount." The team then took at 360 shot of the gravestone, allowing viewers a chance to witness, and be a part of, a moment of closure with David, a way to pay respect in a powerful way. That being said, the team's most important goal was to capture the emotional truth of these stories without exploiting them, so we made sure that nothing in the game was taken directly from these tales.  Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                                As a veteran that took part in operations overseas with Operation Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, there is a comraderie that is hard to explain to someone who has never served. These are people that could die, these are people that could watch you die, and everyone's survival is dependenant upon trust. That trust is paramount when building these relationships, and that trust is something that Respawn wanted to convey in the game as well. It's more than just dramatic monologues of existential crisis, it's the small moments when joking about the crap food in the chow hall, or "where did my socks go"? It's the small moments that mean just as much, and it is those small moments that are reflected not only in the game, but in between the lines of the stories being reflected in this documentary series.  Another aspect that Respawn wanted to make sure they paid special attention to is how they portrayed the war. Too many times in war games, the "bad side" is either dramaticized for flair, or romanticized for ... some other reason. There are no occult substories, no quests of endearment. This is the tale of a real war with a real enemy and while that enemy housed real human beings, the ideal that acted as a banner was dangerous, harmful, and evil.  "If you're embellishing the Nazis, if you're embellishing the third Reich, you're reading the wrong history books," says the director emphatically. "So just to make sure we're staying true to that, that's important. For players, and for us, embrace that it's a game. Then to lean into which we haven't done in one of these WWII games, lean into some bad and sad things do happen to the characters, it's all part of a bigger picture." Without falling into any inaccurate tropes, there is the underlying theme of there will be consequences. "As much as that comraderie and that love and being united in a common purpose and fighting against legitimate evil, which is what the Third Reich was, that doesn't steeple away from the fact that there is going to be a price. There are going to be consequences no matter how noble your intentions are. So again, we kept the firewall there between what the vets were telling us and what we were learning and even Colette for godsakes, who was a teenage girl, member of the resistance. There's nothing in Colette's story that transfers over except the fear of the Gestapo and how collaborators were the worst. Just getting those elements into the story without being one-to-one to the story details, but touching on these sort of through-lines. That was the goal. "We made them in parallel," he adds when talking about how the tales of these veterans inspired the game without being an exact replica. "The stories were fuel for us to make the best game possible, because if we just put it out the gallery on Steam and on Oculus store, we might get some nice marks. There might be one or two articles about, 'Oh yeah, you can watch these documentaries.' People would probably look at it as some sort of educational thing. So the game is the hook to get you in. I mean, the whole point is to have fun, but the game is there to get you in the door and to maybe trigger some empathy that, 'Oh, I do want to go hear the real thing.'" That was also a big reason behind the decision to go VR. In VR, everything is a little more real. You are picking up the gun, you are holding your hands up in surrender. You are there. This added yet another layer of complexity to not only the campaign of the videogame itself, but also to the empathetic layers of the documentary itself. Humanizing people that survived a horrific time, a time that was a reality and a cornerstone in our history. "It's all about creating empathy. If you come out the other end of it, knowing more about WWII, which is always one of our secret goals, knowing more about what happened, because it still echoes in our life today, but then really having hopefully some actual empathy for the sacrifices that these guys made. Every player today is different, but if a typical player is a 19 to 24 year old, I don't mean to stereotype, but they're hearing from the folks that were doing these things for real when they were their age. Seeing what others did at their age, knowing some of the horrors they faced, the friendships they made, and the harsh pillars of history, is hopefully a powerful connection. At the end of the day, this was created out of the hope that there will be more empathy." It was a special moment where I could share some of my own stories with the director and tell him from a place that understands how much the level of care that went into this project that means. As a veteran who has lost many friends, as a veteran that has been in positions where I was so sure I was going to die, it's easy to get lost in the more gimmicky representations of war. Does it bother me? No, not really. I'll play every Battlefield game, I'll play every Call of Duty; they're entertainment, that's what they are. But that doesn't mean that this very meaningful and purposeful representation doesn't mean an incredible amount. Everything about Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond felt real. It felt like it was coming from a place of compassion, and coming from a place of honesty. It never felt cheap, it never felt gimmicky, it didn't feel manufactured in the slightest.  When speaking with the game's director, it was easy to see that the passion for empathy and knowledge was there. This wasn't a rush to get buys or pre-orders, this wasn't a play on emotions for a more consumer-driven objective; this was love and respect and real human experience. Respawn did not use these veterans' experiences to sell a game, they used a game to tell their experiences. That nuance makes the world of difference and helps to ensure that history isn't lost, but also that it's not being retold with rose-colored glasses.  Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is available now for HTV Vive, Valve Index, and the Oculus Rift. You can also play it with the Oculus Quest as long as a Link cable is present. You can also learn more about Honor Flight, the veteran-focused group that helped make this documentary a reality, right here. 

Arplis - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arplis-News/~3/zYB3pjbWoF4/how-medal-of-honor-above-and-beyond-goes-above-and-beyond-for-veteran

[bountyofbeads]

Kim-Trump border meeting: History or just a photo-op?

https://apnews.com/4823bd17c1c94869826d8bf2a2825896

It's like that historic time when Tony Soprano met with Hannibal Lecter.

Was Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un historic? Just a photo-op? Or a little of both? By @APKlug.

Kim-Trump border meeting: History or just a photo-op?

By FOSTER KLUG | Published June 30, 2019, 6:50 AM ET | AP | Posted June 30, 2019 |

TOKYO (AP) — It sure looked historic: President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un strode toward each other Sunday from opposite sides of a strip of land that marks one of the world's most dangerous places. They shook hands and then Trump stepped over the concrete slab that marks the borderline between the Koreas, becoming the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korean territory.

But then again, the undeniably made-for-TV moment also had all the elements, as a cacophony of critics will quickly remind you, of the grandstanding photo-ops that some say characterize the Trump era.

So what was it?

A crass, reality-show grab for attention? Another history-making step forward — Trump called it "legendary" — in two highly unorthodox leaders' attempts to fundamentally change a relationship marked by decades of mistrust, bloodshed and frustration?

Sunday's sometimes surreal, sometimes chaotic encounter in the divided border village of Panmunjom was probably a little of both. In one moment, reporters and security officials jostled each other in a scrum to get a shot of the action; in the next, Kim and Trump emerged from private meetings with an agreement to restart nuclear disarmament talks.

It's never easy to sift through the frenzied reactions that proliferate whenever Trump and Kim take to the world stage, and the dramatic setting of this meeting was bound to heighten the noise. But whatever you might think of what happened, history will likely judge it on a single point: Will it help address the North's headlong pursuit of a fully functioning arsenal of nuclear weapons that can strike anywhere in the U.S.?

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IT'S A REALITY SHOW

With a single tweet inviting Kim to the border, Trump on Saturday overshadowed the summit in Japan of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies he'd ostensibly come to Asia for and back-footed the small army of Democrats jockeying to replace him in next year's presidential election.

The world's attention Sunday was suddenly riveted on the Demilitarized Zone that separates the rival Koreas, waiting to see if Kim would accept the hasty invitation to a place where burly troops from two nations that are still technically at war glare at each other across the borderline.

Once you move past the striking backdrop, however, there is a persistent and deepening skepticism among many experts that Trump is pursuing anything more than his own narrow interests.

They point out that for all the drama that has accompanied the Kim-Trump meetings, nothing has yet settled the stalemate the rivals now find themselves in: Washington wants the North to move much faster toward full nuclear disarmament before it grants the security guarantees and huge cuts in crushing outside sanctions Pyongyang wants; North Korea says the United States is losing a crucial opportunity by not providing concessions for the North's offer to scrap its main nuclear plant.

Widespread doubt has met each step in the strange, surprising relationship Trump and Kim have been building — from Kim's 2017 insults on Trump's intelligence and Trump's vows to unleash "fire and fury" that had many fearing war to the professions of love and respect and the exchange of "beautiful" letters after diplomacy took hold in early 2018.

The diplomacy beats the threats, these critics say, but each time Trump comes away emptyhanded from a new meeting, he only further legitimizes Kim as an accepted nuclear power.

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NO, NO: IT'S SOMETHING BIG

The feeling that the handshake and brief march by Trump and Kim into the North could be part of something special is linked in part to just how far North Korea and the United States have come to get here.

The Korean Peninsula was split at the end of World War II into a Soviet-controlled north and U.S.-backed South. Then, after the terror of the 1950-53 Korean War, it was divided permanently along the Demilitarized Zone, with a U.S.-led U.N. Command controlling the southern side of the border area.

A succession of U.S. presidents and senior officials has trooped up to the DMZ over the decades to look with steely resolve into the North. There have been ax killings, U.S. bomber fly-bys and desperate defections — and that's just at the border.

Since the early 1990s, Washington and Pyongyang have been locked in confrontation as the North has steadily, through famine, leadership changes and crushing poverty, built its nuclear bomb program.

While it's open to debate if Sunday's meeting will be ultimately transforming, overall there has certainly been a sea change in the relationship between Trump and Kim — something Trump regularly mentions.

To take it to the next level, John Delury, a Korea expert at Seoul's Yonsei University, tweeted, "North Korea has to be made to feel less threatened, more secure, less under siege, more welcome in the world. ... For Donald Trump to meet with Kim Jong Un, however briefly, on a Sunday in the DMZ — a barren no man's land that embodies the unhealed wound of post-WWII division, the Korean War, and 70 years of animosity — advances the cause of 'establishing new relations.'"

There's also hope that even if this was mostly for the cameras, it can still push forward the diplomacy and help Kim build momentum domestically for stronger engagement — and possible disarmament.

The Kim-Trump summits have been breakthroughs in relations, "but they also revealed the limits of personality-driven diplomacy when it's not backed up by working-level talks held on a regular basis," according to Suzanne DiMaggio, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.

What's needed now, she wrote earlier this month, is "serious diplomacy to manage the uncertainties ahead and resolve a range of difficult issues."

#donald trump #u.s. news #politics #trump administration #president donald trump #politics and government #trump #white house #international news #republican party #national security #us: news #must reads #north korea #Kim Jong Un