Hello! Posting here before my doctors appointments because I'm just feeling a bit worried about it and would love to hear other people's experiences and perspectives.
I started 150 wellbutrin XL towards the end of August 2022. I was going through an extremely traumatic and stressful time in my life, and it helped tremendously for a few weeks. Then one day, I forgot to take it, and after that it became a habit to not take it at the right time or at all. I began to feel restless, and started drinking so much that I was afraid I was becoming an alcoholic. I ended up becoming a regular at some local bar in a shitty town and got involved with people I usually wouldn't, while engaging in toxic behaviors and constantly fighting with an ex of mine. It got so bad one day that my best friend had to take me to the hospital because I was experiencing the worst depression of my life. I was inpatient for around a week, and they prescribed me 10mg of lexapro along with my wellbutrin.
A little while after I got out, my psychiatrist increased my dosage to 300. I've been taking that since the end of December. Since the increase, I have felt so happy. So hopeful. So good. I stopped drinking, I stopped associating with toxic people I felt addicted to, etc. I haven't missed a dose or felt depressed or restless at all and have been more motivated and hopeful overall.
I've always been a spiritual person, and believed in things such as the law of attraction/manifestation, astrology etc. Recently, I've been trying to use manifestation as a tool to help me achieve my goals and writing down the things I'm grateful for every day. I listen to music that has affirmations in them, and have integrated them into my art as well. I genuinely feel like things are going to well for me in my personal, spiritual, creative, and business life.
Although I've been feeling so wonderful, I am starting to become afraid that I am slipping into or have been in a hypomanic episode. I've only experienced depression before, whether subtle or prominent, so I'm not really used to feeling this way for so long. Recently I haven't been able to sleep at night or stay asleep. I've been sleeping maybe 4-6 hours a night, while waking up in between. I feel a little tired throughout the day, but still have some energy (not enough to clean my entire house or anything usually). I have been feeling very confident lately, as I've started to dress the way I always wanted to, and I've been creating art that is well loved and doing in person markets while making new connections. I feel magnetic. I feel beautiful. I feel like I can tell when someone finds me attractive. I feel like I have amazing energy that causes people to gravitate towards me.
While I'm concerned about the lack of sleep and confidence, I am mostly concerned about the fact that I shoplifted an entire cart of groceries/clothes/home decor today. I had been reading up on it a lot recently, and I decided that I just wanted to do it. I didn't do it because I needed to or to sell the items, I think I just did it because I wanted some new things or for the thrill or because I'm tired of large corporations being so greedy. I just put everything in my cart, and walked out the door confidently. No one (that I noticed) looked at me any way or followed me or seemed suspicious. I assume because the entire time I acted like I wasn't doing anything wrong.
I don't necessarily feel morally guilty about it (although I'm prepared for the comments about why I probably should), it was nice to finally be able to get some new things for myself after working so hard, going through so much trauma, and having to put all of my money towards bills/back into my business. I'm not really afraid of getting caught because I know the laws, I know how their security works, I know the process of convicting someone for theft from that specific store (I used to work there years ago). I know the whole deal with the building a case until you hit a felony amount of money etc. So it's not like I did this impulsively without any prior knowledge or anything.
Anyways, sorry for such a long post, I just wanted to include everything so that you guys can get a better perspective. I'm just wanting to know if the lack of sleep could just be caused by the increased energy from the wellbutrin, if my confidence really is just the result of using positive affirmations and utilizing the law of attraction, and if me shoplifting really was just a one time thing and result of me wanting to 'treat' myself after working so hard and essentially being fed up with capitalism.
...or if all of these things really do indicate hypomania, and if I should be worried. I really want things to continue going well for me, I want to continue feeling good and better about myself and creating meaningful art and being in tune with myself spiritually. I'm trying to be as self aware as possible so I can hopefully prevent myself from slipping into any destructive behaviours again.

I wanted to share my daily progress for those that are interested in coming off PPIs. Reading about the acid rebound effects can be scary, so I wanted to offer my experience and provide some data points.
Background: 41(M) took Pantoprazole 20mg for several years and then Omeprazole 20mg for the last few years.
How did it start? I am a little fuzzy on this but I remember my heartburn sticking with me more and more over time. I would have some tightness and discomfort after drinking coffee. My PCP at the time prescribed Pantoprazole and then everything went back to the norm.
How bad did it get? About 4 years ago, I was trying to wean my PPI medication but I did not have the goal of coming off completely. I thought it would be nice to take the medication every other day or skip a couple days. Fast forward to one evening with Chili for dinner, it was very hearty and hot and I ate it very quickly. I was in a lot of discomfort and it felt like all the food was backed up severely. I had never experienced anything like that, so I made a GI appointment and that brings me to the following diagnosis.
Clinical Diagnosis: Following a 2019 endoscopy: GERD, Dysphagia. Normal esophagus. Normal duodenum. Few benign polyps were removed.
Dietary Adjustments: Stopped daily coffee and soda intake. Staying away from red sauce and 10 feet away from Chili.
Inverted Snacking: Based on the following articles, I tried out this novel eating exercise where you eat in an inverted position to force your esophageal muscles to push food up against gravity. Personally, I am convinced it helps strengthen LES as I can feel the second push of food as it travels to the stomach. The custom position I am using is an elevated bridge using a bench or chair as you swallow some food/snack -- not an entire meal. The great thing about it is that all you have to do is eat and not break a sweat. Trying to do this daily for a few minutes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9106553/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550520/ General Exercise: 20 min stationary bike, 1 minute plank, 8 chin-ups, optional 40-60 crunches. The crunches can give me GERD symptoms, so avoiding those in this acid rebound period until everything stabilizes. About twice a week.
Expected Plan: Discussed with my GI doctor (of course). Wean for 10 days taking PPI every other day. Then, stop PPI usage and use H2 blocker as needed.
Realized Plan: The weaning period was not bothering me, so I decided to stop PPI usage earlier and off we go...
Daily Progress:
Day 0 - Medications {PPI,H2}. Had IHOP for breakfast. Feeling some tightness. Took Pepcid Complete.
Day 1 - Medications {None}. Goodbye PPI. Stomach feels warmer in the morning. Doing ok overall.
Day 2 - Medications {H2}. Stomach continues to feel warm. Took Pepcid before Happy Hour. Had 1 drink and some quesadillas.
Day 3 - Medications {H2}. For lunch I had chicken pot pie and a Twix candy bar. Both the left and the right Twix. Lots of physical discomfort. Took Pepcid right away. I was overly confident in how I thought I was progressing. Additional discomfort when my wife found out I had Twix and did not save any for her. Two for me. None for her.
Day 4 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Mild globus sensation in throat. Deep breathing helped. There is no spoon. Feel ok overall. Had salmon, potatoes, and vegetables for dinner. Throat is a little scratchy. Exercised.
Day 5 - Medications {None}. Slept well. No more globus sensation. Pretty good day.
Day 6 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Faint throat tingle. Breakfast biscuit, eggs, bacon, sausage. A little decaf coffee. Burps had hints of acidity but not bothersome.
Day 7 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Burps continue to have a hint of acidity. Some bloating/pressure sensation but not uncomfortable at all.
Day 8 - Medications {None}. AM Feeling better overall even after meals. Some faint warm stomach sensations. Burps are less often. For dinner I had Chicken Wings, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, and a handful of chocolate pretzels. Had moderate tightness/discomfort about 2 hours after the meal but subsided within 5-10 minutes. Then a warm stomach sensation. I think chocolate is trying to send me a message. Exercised.
Day 9 - Medications {None}. Continue to sleep well. Feeling very little symptoms. Dinner was quiche with spinach, eggs, tomatoes, and cheese. Not feeling discomfort. Some burping.

My partner and I recently visited the Zoologist atelieshowroom in Toronto. During our visit, we tried all the scents, including their unreleased scents. I hope you'll enjoy this review and find it useful for planning your trip!
Good to know:

1. The atelier is by appointment only. You need to email them through their website to book an appointment. Each appointment is around 1.5hrs-2hrs long, so block out enough time for it.
2. Zoologist is located on the OUTSKIRTS of Toronto. It's 45mins by car from downtown Toronto or 2hrs via public transit. Google maps has problems finding the location and will show results for Niche Essences (an outlet that carries various brands) as well. The correct address is the one near York University located in a strip mall.
3. Bring water, and be prepared for a multi-sensory journey. You'll be smelling their entire catalogue of 20+ scents, and you want to give yourself room to enjoy it. If you're visiting Toronto, you might want to have this as a "main" activity since it does require a bit of planning/time/effort.

A little background: I've been collecting perfumes on and off since 1997. My family worked in beauty, so there would be free samples coming in *every day* when growing up. I fell off it for a while, then restarted an interest in 2013 with Le Labo's Santal33. I usually go for resins, ambers, incense, and wood; Serge Lutens makes up 70% of my collection. I have no prior experience with Zoologist.
Zoologist experience:
Despite the plain exterior, the shop is beautifully decorated. On entry, there is a large monstera plant with a showcase of perfume in the front and center. The left side hangs large portraits of each Zoologist animal profiles, and the right has shelves with different types of bottles, samples and boxes to purchase. Interspersed are stained glass tiffany lamps and other curios. There's a feeling that you've just stepped into an art gallery, and the curated items: the lamps, the plant, the animal portraits, sets the tone for the Zoologist brand.
https://i.imgur.com/SLA1NWL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ku4qve6.jpg
Victor welcomes you to the space, and I remember thinking that he looks the part: on the day we met, he was wearing a dark blue suit with a yellow kerchief square. In absolute honesty: I did not know he was the founder and creative director of the brand. However I found him extremely kind and knowledgeable, and set upon us an olfactory journey guided by their lightest to heaviest scents.
https://i.imgur.com/SLA1NWL.jpg
Scent impressions
**technically we went through all the scents, but here's the ones that I remember. I wish I took down better notes**
Bat -- Fruit bat, not the vampire kind. Juicy opening loaded with tropical fruit, a hint of sharp greenness from vetiver. The earth-soil note is a bit funky and fertile, if you've dug around with garden mulch and compost you'll know it instantly.
Beaver -- Clean hamster or chinchilla. Woodshavings, dried food pellets, musky small animal. Rawhide leather, not the polished suede or upholstery you'll get from Tom Ford/more tame designer.
Bee -- hyperrealistic honey and beeswax. I thought it was rather sweet, almost cloying in the shop. Afterwards I went home and sprayed it on my bedsheets, and had a nightmare about being inside a bee colony. There's a dirt note in here which is smells exactly like the hot, warm interior of a hive.
Camel -- Nice, gentle incense. More of an incense stick than the smoky plumes of CdG Black or Dior Fahrenheit. A whiff of church, but not the full altar.
Chameleon -- Wonderful translucency and freshness. It wears like a creamy twist on a classic fougere to me with the ylang-ylang & cashmeran notes apparent, very wearable unisex fragrance
Cow -- Amish homestead farm in Philly/Vermont. Rolling grass hillsides, pastoral. Milk note comes in later, unpasteurized and full cream, but not sweet. Quite interesting layered with Chipmunk, like a milk-cookie combo
Civet -- Reads like a belle-epoque style perfume, glamorous and heady. Perfect for sitting in questionable bars swapping dead drops in a Cold War espionage movie.
Dodo (original) -- Blackberry canes in summer, absolutely delicious that falls away to a polarizing cumin. The cumin is so strong I could smell it from outside the door.
Dragonfly -- You know in The Perfect Scent about with the avid descriptions of waterlilies, lotuses, slow-moving river in Egypt? How the entire team went down for a research brief, and the beauty of the river, the reeds, the sparkling shimmer of sun-on-water? I remember reading the book and being utterly disappointed with the actual perfume, this is what Les Jardins sur le Nil should smell like. This is the one I would buy for my friends as presents, along with the book, as a gift set.
Hummingbird -- feels like 24 Faubourg, but without the effervescence of the former. A rich nectar floral.
Hydrax -- Not for me but my partner really loved it; absolute barnyard.
Macaque (yuzu) -- Victor mentioned that he wears this one
Nightingale -- Extremely realistic plum blossom orchard. The tartness keeps it fresh and not too cloying. I think it loses a little of the tartness in the drydown, which is a warm and smooth sandalwood/labaduam. A very wearable scent that feels happy.
Scared Scarab -- Victor said it's inspired by the blue lotus flower, which is a type of incense used by ancient Egyptians. Definitely smells like it, a simmeringly hot sandy desert with an almost mineral-incense tone. Quite lovely and evocative, I prefer it to Camel.
Seahorse -- Warm sunny chillhop lofi beach. To me, it sounds like the new Gorillaz album track Tormenta ft. Bad Bunny.
Snowy Owl -- I liked this scent, but my partner loves it. It definitely smells arctic and icy, with hay and grass below. The mint note is lovely and addictive. I didn't care for the coconut since it reads 'tropical' to me but I appreciate how it adds a soft creamyness, like being enveloped in a cozy wintry nest.
Squid -- I love this. I told Victor it smells like HK and he was very confused. When I got home I realized why, the creamy toffee sweet opening and inky deep water smells is EXACTLY like drinking a super-sweetened milk tea while walking along the Avenue of Stars/Harbourfront at night. The ocean saltiness, the dried seafood and diesel boats while sipping your ultra-sweet condensed milk red tea at night. Absolutely gorgeous.
T-Rex -- lf you've ever melted plastic in a microwave or set your CPU on fire, smells like this. I like it cos its a very nostalgic scent, like burning your own CD-Rs
---
unreleased (R) -- Spicy gourmand, my partner adores it. It's sweet without being sticky, she guessed immortelle but actually it's a different heart note, however it does have that sunshine-y goldenness. I thought it smells like caramel pie crust.
unreleased (P) -- Sartorial fragrance that is extremely polished. If you like PdM or classic Penhaligon's style, you'll like this; the different notes played on the same violin, or different cloth cut into a classic 3-piece. I love this one and would buy it in a heartbeat.
unreleased (O.M) -- Cool botanical floral, the backroom of a florist shop in winter with the airflown tropical/hothoused flowers sitting in water.

st recent issue: I precalled to make sure everything was correct with an order, to give all of my precall spiel about how kids and pets should be out of the work area, the immediate area where we are working should be free of obstruction, breakable items, furniture. etc. He agrees to everything. He tells me he bought the tv, mount, and in wall power adapter from us, but also bought the power adapter and mount from amazon and wanted to use those for the install, and then later return the ones he bought from us (first red flag). The mounting is free if you buy the tv from us (I'm certain many of you know where I work by now), however, the free install of other products are tied to those products specifically. So, I had to inform him that those changes would alter the price of the install. He asked on the phone that I return the mount and install the tv using the amazon one, but that I bring the in wall power adapter and install that one instead of the amazon one. He seems pretty agreeable. Okay.
I forgot to return the mount that day. (not actually a problem but you will see why I mention it momentarily.)
The day of the install I show up and he isn't there at the scheduled time, but his wife is there. That's not unusual. I ask her the basic questions, where do you want to mount the TV, where is center, Which mount did you decide to use? (fuck)
Her toddler son is running around the house screaming, as we carry the tv in he bolts out the door. (second red flag)
She said she doesn't know where or how high but to definitely use the amazon mount. (great right?) So I tell her I will mark it as returned so they can get their refund on it. Meanwhile her son is still running around, tries going through our tool bags, GRABS AN OPEN PACK OF RAZOR BLADES AND I HAVE TO TAKE THEM FROM HIS HANDS WHILE THE MOM SMILES AT ME! I quickly go into my work app and return status the mount I brought but I leave it next to my tools for now to create some small barrier. She starts asking us (third red flag) if we can wait 30 minutes for her husband to get home. I tell her no, we cant wait, in fact if she hadn't answered the door the longest we could ever wait is about 15 minutes before we cancel/reschedule the appointment, but certainly not after I have entered the home and started the order. She calls her husband and starts explaining everything to him in bengali/hindi (assumed), and then shoves the phone at me and he starts asking me questions. I answer everything and reiterate the expectation of children and pets, and he handwaves me and says yes yes my wife will handle it. He says my wife will tell you where to put the tv and ends the call. I ask her again and she asks again if we can wait like 20 minutes now, as she has stalled quite a long time. I told her no, like I said I can't even wait 15 minutes. She continues trying to stall us so I tell my helper to start prepping their mount (they bought cheap and we have to assemble it) and I start getting everything set up and doing measurements for the mounting. During performing the measurements I realize that the tv wont be nearly centered to the area due to the poor mount quality and stud placement. I mention this to her and she calls the husband again. He asks how far off center, 2-3 inches. Thats fine install it he says. We set up everything and just before we start to drill he walks in. He starts asking everything we already spoke about all over again. In that process... Remember the nicer mount that I returned earlier? He asks us if it will make the center work. Yes... He asks us to use it. I try to explain that I am unable to resell it to them as its not technically my product but the stores product and after marking it as returned I have no way to undo that process from the field. He tells me that he never asked me to use the amazon mount, or to return the nicer mount (at this point there should be some alarm going of that says code red, alert) that he just wanted to know if it would work, and uses the fact that it is in his home as proof that he is correct. I distinctly remember the phone call, and take detailed notes for clients incase my jobs get moved onto some other person. But, I don't argue, I say I'm terribly sorry, it was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and that I would make a call. I'm told he will have to repurchase it in a store. (not to mention we already put together his crap mount, attached it to the back of the tv, done measurements, made markings on the wall, etc. basically the job was almost done by now) I explain the issue to him and give him options. We can continue the mounting he requested and it will be slightly off center. I can put the tv on legs and we can reschedule the mounting after he has repurchased the mount. He asks us to put it on legs. I call my mgr and have the job reformed to account for the time wasted and include the new job codes. We take it all apart, put the tv on legs. As we are finishing up he asks if we could also mount his soundbar, and rear speakers. A service that was not included on his order. I tell him all of that can be put on the new order and we clean up and leave. 3 days later we are back out there to complete the install and its done correctly and quickly. We end up mounting the speakers and sound bar, etc. and he asks for a bunch of extra stuff that we end up doing like special cable management behind his couch for the rear speakers, mounting a device to the back of his tv, etc.

As a child I was traumatized by my mom trying to brute force me to be a ‚genius‘ and a teacher abusing me after class. The constant abuse, pressure and violence made me extremely violent, even sadistic.
When adolescence kicked in my mom wasn’t able to control me anymore. My physical power exceeded hers and my grades dropped, so she tried to put me in my place by casually dropping things like: „You’d be a disappointment, even as a serial killer.“ To no avail. At the time I discovered something more interesting than math and grammar.
The women I dated from 13 to 24 were mentally similar or equivalent to me. Deep down I always wanted my mom to love me, so I looked for girls and women who wouldn’t or couldn’t love me for who I was – just like my mom. A diverse array of abusive relationships followed.
But when I was 20 I met my match in a psychology student. She elevated inflicting emotional pain on me to an art form. Her attacks were so effective, that I felt helpless, even though she was physically defenseless against me. It took a few years, but I finally switched to the last defenseless target in range: myself.
After attempting suicide I ended up tied to a hospital bed. Being the genius my mom raised I figured it might be a good idea to start therapy. At this point I was 23 years old.
It took me months to open up, but once I did, I cried a lot during the sessions. It felt as though I was making up for almost two decades of bottling up my suffering. Getting better and healthier became my primary goal. I did everything in my power to never hurt anyone, including myself, again. So I quit MMA-Training and broke up with my psychology student ex among other things. Things got better.
I became more light hearted and dated a bunch of different women, avoiding commitment at all costs. After a while I decided to look for a new line of work, because the one I used to work in doesn’t make me happy. The job was quite lucrative though, so I’m pretty much settled for life and don't need to act out of financial pressure.
3 months ago I’ve met my current girlfriend. She loves me for who I am. Because of her I experienced Sex with someone, who really loves me, for the first time. That was the most wonderful night of my life. Our connection is both physical and emotional: She has been through a hellish childhood too and we understand and love each other. We both chose healing.
And I may be about to mess things up.
I’ve recently moved back to my home town to repair the relationship with my mom among a few other things. Since my girlfriend is currently completing medical school she couldn’t move with me.
Last Saturday evening I met with friends at a bar and started flirting with an old classmate who was there coincidentally. She’s incredibly sweet and one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. I noticed how the way she looked at me changed over time, touched her arm and waited for her to return the gesture, whispered something in her ear as an excuse to come close to her. It was like a drug and I crave it badly. When her friends asked her to leave she asked for my number and if I wanted to meet again – only the two of us.
We will meet on Friday evening, if I can’t pull the brakes that is. My girlfriend and I have a strict threesomes including the two of us only rule, when it comes to having sex with other people. I want to meet my old classmate as much as I don’t want to meet her. I’m torn apart and as long as I don’t decisively stop what is about to happen, it’s probably going to happen. The thought of losing her scares me. It's is a possibility since I’m not going to lie to her, no matter what happens on Friday.

Thanks to Pizzaulostin, Death-Is-Mortal, HollowShel, and fun-part.
-----
“The Villain”
European Sector - Copenhagen, Denmark
Two and a Half Earth Years Post Liberation
​
Waltzing up to the podium, E’vil No’bell grinned with sadistic glee at the amassed crowd of Humans. She had sent out an edict for all citizens to gather here under the threat of death if they failed to comply. It was such a perfect way to build resentment. She could only imagine how many Humans had resisted, just to meet an untimely demise.
Behind her, the large tarp covering her masterpiece fluttered in the wind, reminding E’vil of her purpose. There would be time for gloating later, she still had a ceremony to perform.
But, looking out into the crowd, she couldn’t resist the urge to take her time. Knowing full well that her foot dragging was causing the citizens to suffer, she toyed with the microphone she had been provided, moving it from place to place, relishing in the screeching noise it made with each slight shift.
“Is everything alright miss?” one Human in the front row politely asked.
Good, they were suffering. Why else would they ask her such an asinine question? They merely wanted her to put an end to their torment. But she would never be moved so easily. Twisting the mic until it let out an ear splitting screech, E’vil paused, then returned it to its original position.
“Yes,” she replied dismissively, “Everything is just fine.”
Turning to the crowd, she coughed into the microphone to pretend like she was clearing her throat, before beginning. Gesturing to the large object covered by a tarp, she began, “Hear me, ignorant citizens of the Imperium. It has been two years since we Shil’vati, led by our infallible Empress, graciously liberated you from yourselves.”
Listening to the crowd, E’vil was disappointed to not hear any jeering. No matter, once she revealed her creation, the Humans were sure to hate her.
“To honor our wise Empress’s decision to destroy your backwards civilization, I have dedicated the past eleven months of your tax money to personally design this!”
Waving her hand, the tarp was removed, revealing a twenty foot tall statue of the Empress in all her magnificence. E’vil smiled up at the creation. It had taken her months of work to design it. Add on the week of her researching the most costly materials on Earth, and this statue had shaped up to being the longest she had ever spent working on something.
E’vil could have ordered her servants to do it, but that wasn’t the point. It had to be her. She had to personally see that the Humans suffered at her hands.
For how else was she to be the villain in some self-righteous Human’s story?
Oh how she longed for their angry monologues about her. She could see it now. The chroniclers would be recording pages upon pages of angry rantings, all directed at her! With her blatant disrespect of all things Human, she was sure to live rent free in the minds of her inevitable Human rival until their demise at her hands!
Glancing back to the crowd, she saw a Human in the middle of it with his hand raised. Ignoring him, she daydreamed of the discomfort he must be feeling. Oh how he must hate her right now. With every moment she dragged this on, he must have been adding a new paragraph to his manifesto against her.
Finally, just as he was starting to lower his hand, she pointed to him and called out, “You! Citizen! What is it?”
The man perked up, no doubt enraged at having to reorganize his thoughts. The very notion caused E’vil to giggle.
“Um, you said you made this yourself?” the man questioned.
Striking a proud pose, E’vil closed her eyes and answered, “Of course! I wouldn’t let someone else do a real woman’s work. I designed every aspect of this statue, from the Empress’s visage to her glorious bosom.”
“Oh! It’s very impressive,” he congratulated. “You did a wonderful job.”
“Thank you-What?!” E’vil shouted, her eyes shooting open. Grasping onto the podium, she leaned over it and gazed out into the crowd. To her horror, she didn’t see a single angry visage. There was no discontent, no booing, not even a single raised eyebrow. This was a disaster! The Humans were enjoying her creation.
“Yes,” another concurred from somewhere with the masses, “It’s clearly a true labor of love. It must have taken months to design.”
“And weeks to find all the materials!” a third added.
“NO!” E’vil shouted into the microphone, desperate to destroy the Human’s budding adoration of her. “I made it in a single night! I didn’t put any thought into this at all!”
The Humans silently stared at her, each one refusing to make a sound. That was good, just how E’vil wanted it. She couldn’t let praise of her spread, it would ruin everything! People don’t care about lovable nobles. They want someone to hate. Someone who they can cheer for the demise of!
Finally, a Human spoke up. “Wow! You made that all in one night? You must be an artistic genius!”
That was not the response E’vil wanted.
The crowd murmured their concurrence, then, to E’vil’s horror started to dissipate before her eyes. One at a time, or in pairs, the Humans would gaze up at her creation, nod, then walk away.
It was horrible! Where were the cries of protests? Where were the professions of unending hatred for her and her species?
Where were the manifestos?!
Soon it was just E’vil, her servants, and a few Human teenagers. Looking at them, E’vil felt her hopes start to blossom. Perhaps the older generations were simply too apathetic to act. It would be the youths who wrote tales of her misdeeds, who etched her name into the annals of history.
“Dude…” one of them began slowly. Pointing up at the statue, he cried, “Look at her boobs!”
------
Staring out at the city from her lion skin chair, E’vil assured herself of imminent success.
Her first attempt at garnering the hatred of the masses had ended in failure, but that was clearly due to a failure of understanding on her part. She simply hadn’t considered how best to enrage these Humans. One couldn’t simply anger them through creating symbols of oppression, the Humans would just see it as an expression of her creativity.
What she had to do was destroy. To ruin what they already had. She would pervert their arts to such an extent that critics and historians alike would curse her name. And the masses, oh the masses! They would hate her for the destruction of their barbaric culture.
Spinning around, E’vil came face to face with the most infamous critics of the Human world. It was through them that word of her evil would spread across the globe. Soon, all Humans from every sector of this miserable world would curse the name E’vil No’bell!
“Most un-esteemed citizens,” she began, “I have gathered you here for a most important announcement.”
Snapping her fingers, a screen descended from the ceiling. As it covered the wall to the right of her, E’vil rose from her chair. Waltzing across the room, she made her way to a projector which she had dramatically placed in a shadowy corner of the room.
Flipping the device on, she grinned deviously as the title Swan Lake appeared on the screen. As the music started to swell, she grinned at her captive audience.
A Human male, fully in the nude, danced across the screen. She took the opportunity to purposefully buffer the film, making sure the critics saw the full naked form of the dancer. Soon the music began to roar, and as it reached its triumphal climax, a Shil’vati woman appeared.
Letting the scene progress, she addressed the captive critics. “Citizens, I present to you a new and improved Swan Lake! I have painstakingly rewritten this ballet in its entirety! All of your precious actors shall now perform in the nude, and there will be multiple sex scenes.”
Raising a hand, she held their inevitable protests at bay. “But that’s not all! Soon, I will have rewritten every one of your great dances and plays until they are all just as spectacular as this one!”
Sneering at the small assembly, she waited for the cries of anguish. They would suffer, knowing that she had defiled their wondrous arts. She, E’vil No’bell, would be the bane of all Human culture!
Slowly, one of the critics began to clap. “Brilliant, just brilliant,” he said with genuine passion. “What a wonderful work of art. You’ve truly made a statement here today.”
Melancholy took hold of E’vil’s heart. “What… What do you mean?”
“This,” he loudly proclaimed, “Is the most definitive statement against the state of our Human society today.” Pointing directly at the male dancer’s genitals, the critic continued, “The blatant mockery of our prudish ways by having all the dancers be so free!”
Another rose and gestured to the Shil’vati woman. “And to have the Shil’vati be the evil sorceress! What a brilliant way to depict the horrible relations between Humanity and the Imperial elite.”
“No,” E’vil attempted to argue back. “That’s not my intent at-”
“This ballet may have a real impact on how people view Humanities current treatment in the Empire!” a critic called from the back. “This will be something for the history books!”
The first critic looked back at her. “You said you would be making more of these, Correct?”
Sensing her imminent failure, E’vil attempted to change course. “No-”
“Yes, she did mention that!” a critic rudely interrupted.
To her immense dismay, the room erupted into a series of cheers and congratulations. Some of the Human critics summoned the audacity to come forward to her, extending their palms and attempting to shake her hands.
Horrified by the display, E’vil bravely ran away from the assembly, locking the doors behind her as she sprinted away from her office.
------
Wandering the streets of her domain, E’vil found herself in the grips of a horrible crisis. Her attempts at earning the ire of her subjects had failed, and she couldn’t figure out why. They had loved her statue of the Empress, not caring that it was an effigy of their subjugator. They had cheered for her defacement of their culture, even having the audacity to ask for more.
What was she doing wrong? Why was she not being scorned? All she wanted was for the revilement of her subjects, for them to write essays decrying her name, for Humans to band together in pathetic attempts to strike her down. Was that really so much to ask for?
As she strolled past an open bar, the patrons inside took notice. Waving, they raised their glasses and cheered.
“Fuck you, assholes!” she shouted through the glass separating her from them. At the very least, she’d be able to start a drunk brawl. Perhaps the whole city would-.
Laughing, they refilled their glasses and clinked them against each other. The bartender even gestured for her to come in, offering a filled glass.
“AGH!” Raging at the Goddess, she stormed off, leaving the Humans to enjoy their liquor.
Wandering into an open park, E’vil fell into a wooden bench and let the world collapse around her. For the first time since her arrival to Earth, E’vil felt truly defeated. Her contemporaries got entire manifestos written about their misdeeds. Some even still had people complaining about them years after their demise.
What did she have? Nothing. Not even a citation of misdeed. Where were the Humans that irrationally complained for hours about the mere existence of her race? Why weren’t they writing about her? She was E’vil No’bell! She built shrines to the heroes of the Imperium! She defiled cultural icons! What did she need to do for someone to notice her?
‘Woof! Woof!’
Shooting up, E’vil noticed a small mutt on the far side of the park. It couldn’t be more than a few months old, and it looked to be starving. It salivated at the sight of nothing, and it spasmed with every few steps.
“Mommy, look! Mommy!” a little human boy cried with joy. “It’s a puppy!”
Slowly rising from the bench, E’vil rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Could it be? Was this a gift from the Goddess? Looking at the defenseless mutt, and the happy child now running towards it, she knew it had to be.
Bursting into a full blown sprint, E’vil made it her mission to beat the child in their race to the puppy. It wasn’t hard. She was a full grown woman, and her opponent was so young he probably couldn’t even spell his own name. With each stride she grew closer and closer towards her goal, and with each imprint she made in the ground she felt her heart swell with joy.
In one final, graceful, jump, she landed directly in front of the puppy. It barked at her, then began scrambling to get closer.
Watching the mutt with delightful glee, E’vil pulled her leg back, took a second to sneer, then kicked the puppy with all the force her leg could muster. It flew through the air, drool flying haphazardly out of its mouth, before finally impacting the stone wall of the pub with a crack.
As the boy began to cry, E’vil basked in triumph. She had done it. She had managed to traumatize an innocent child for the rest of his life. Not only would the people hate her, but she had just made a permanent enemy of this little Human. One day he would grow up, and swear her as his ultimate nemesis! Whenever he went to therapy, whenever he wrote a rant on the internet, whenever he was constipated from bad food, he’d be thinking of her!
The mother of the child rushed up to her, no doubt ready to unleash a verbal tirade at E’vil. She was ready for it. As the woman began to open her mouth, E’vil smiled. She had been waiting so long for this moment, she couldn’t believe it was actually happening.
“Oh thank goodness!” the mother exclaimed. Stepping forward, she gave E’vil a hug. “He got away from me so fast, I was certain that thing was going to bite him.”
E’vil felt cracks begin to form in her chest. “What?”
As the patrons of the pub began to filter out, the mother loudly exclaimed, “That rabies filled mutt almost bit my baby!” Grasping onto E’vil again, she tearfully said, “Thank you E’vil No’bell!”
“N-No,” E’vil stammered, pushing the Human away.
“Hero, Hero, Hero!” the bar patrons chanted.
Falling to her knees, E’vil murmured, “No…”
The little boy, the one meant to be her future sworn enemy, wiped away his tears and walked up to her. Hugging her side with his tiny arms, he sputtered, “Thank you for saving me E’vil No’bell.”
Looking up to the stars, E’vil cursed the Goddess, before giving into defeat and roaring, “NOOO!”

Armenian, Russian FMs exchange three-volume collections of documents on bilateral legal framework

The Foreign Ministers signed the three-volume collections, after which they passed them on to each other.
“For the first time, a three-volume collection of documents on the legal framework of bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia “30 Years of Allied Interaction” has been published,” said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to her, the collection was prepared with the participation of the Foreign Minidtries of the two countries, the public organization “Dialogue” and the “House of Russian Books” in Yerevan.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/armenisn-rusdian-fms-exchange-three-volume-collections-of-documents-on-bilateral-legal-framework/

Pashinyan, Blinken gave phone conversation

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the humanitarian crisis caused by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
Nikol Pashinyan and Antony Blinken exchanged thoughts on the perspectives of settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the opening of communication channels in the region.
The US Secretary of State reiterated his call for the immediate reopening of the Lachine Corridor and emphasized that the US is ready to continue supporting the above-mentioned processes.
During the telephone conversation, Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed his concern regarding the recently increasing aggressive rhetoric by Azerbaijan.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/pashinyan-blinken-discuss-humanitarian-crisis-in-artsakh/

Lavrov says date of a meeting between Armenian, Russian, Azerbaijani FMs being discussed

“In the near future we will see which dates are convenient for all three ministers,” he concluded.
Earlier, Lavrov said that the tripartite statements by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan remain the key to stabilizing Nagorno-Karabakh. He also noted that he reached an understanding with Mirzoyan on how to return the situation in Karabakh to normal.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/lavrov-says-date-of-a-meeting-between-armenian-russian-azerbaijani-fms-being-discussed/

Direct negotiations are the only way to achieve lasting peace. Blinken about Armenian-Azerbaijani relations

According to the report of "Armenpress" , according to the post on the Twitter page of the Secretary of State, Blinken expressed support for the establishment of stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing the readiness of the US to support these efforts.
"The only way to achieve stable and strong peace is through direct negotiations," he wrote.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106878.html

‘Azerbaijan wants to commit ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh’, Armenian FM warns Russian counterpart in Moscow

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106740.html

The issue of Lachin corridor should be considered in the context of trilateral agreements, Russian FM says

“We are in favor of strict and full implementation of all the tripartite agreements that were reached between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia, without any improvisations, primarily the agreements that were signed on 9 Novembe,r 2020. And the problem of the Lachin corridor should be considered exclusively in this context,” he said.
Any other the parties has its obligations, Lavrov stressed.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/the-issue-of-lachin-corridor-should-be-considered-in-the-context-of-trilateral-agreements-russian-fm-says/

Armenia seeks to take Azerbaijan’s non-compliance with ICJ ruling to UN Security Council

“Unfortunately, we are facing the reality that Azerbaijan is simply ignoring the ruling, not only ignoring, but also trying to distort the content of the ruling on all official levels. This was recently seen in the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister’s letter addressed to the UN Secretary General, to which our minister’s letter has been submitted as a response,” he said.
Kirakosyan said that article 94 of the UN Charter provides for a certain narrow description pertaining to the rulings. But attempts in the past to bring rulings on provisional measures before the UN Security Council have failed. The cases related to a permanent member, who exercised its right to veto and the issue didn’t make it to final debates.
“But in our case I think we should work in that direction. I know that our colleagues at the foreign ministry are working in that direction. It is highly important for the matter to enter the agenda at the UN Security Council. And we must maximally utilize all diplomatic channels to ensure a favorable discussion of the issue,” Kirakosyan said.
Taking the issue to the UNSC has two perspectives, he added. First is the formal point of view, there’s article 94 of the charter which gives such an authority to the Security Council. The second logic is chapter 7 of the UN Charter – its mandate for ensuring international peace and security.
“The idea is that the non-fulfillment of this ruling creates risks for international peace and security. So we have the chance to raise this issue at the Security Council at least under two logics. It is obvious that the non-compliance with the court’s decision, that is the continuation of the blockade, creates very serious risks for international security.”
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/armenia-seeks-to-take-azerbaijans-non-compliance-with-icj-ruling-to-un-security-council/

Armenian FM to visit Moscow

https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/armenian-fm-to-visit-moscow-4/

Armenian side denies shooting at Azerbaijani positions

The State Border Service of Azerbaijan spread disinformation today claiming that units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire towards the Azerbaijani combat positions located in the Southeastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone on March 20, at around 2:50 a.m.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/20/armenian-side-denies-shooting-at-azerbaijani-positions-3/

The Prime Minister receives the delegation of Germany-South Caucasus Friendship Group

The Prime Minister referred to the reforms implemented in our country, the recorded high economic indicators and highlighted the importance of the support of the European Union and Germany to the democratic agenda of Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the protection of human rights, the establishment of an independent judicial system, the fight against corruption, and ensuring transparency are priorities for the Government, and our country is moving forward on the way to set a high bar. Tabea Rößner noted that Germany will accompany Armenia on that path. Issues related to the promotion of women's involvement, cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and the environment were also discussed.
The parties exchanged ideas on the regional situation, security challenges, peace agenda. In this context, the Prime Minister highlighted the role of the long-term observation mission of the EU.
The crisis created in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor was addressed. In terms of settlement of the problem, the consistent and addressed response of the international community, the implementation of the decision of the International Court of Justice published on February 22 of this year by Azerbaijan were emphasized.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106870.html

Baku openly shows that it rejects negotiations with Artsakh. Artsakh MFA

“For 100 days now, Azerbaijan has been subjecting Artsakh to an illegal blockade, the ultimate goal of which is to destroy the Artsakh people as such by expelling them from their historical homeland. Accompanying their actions with the use of force and acts of terror, Azerbaijan is pursuing a consistent policy aimed at forcibly suppressing the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination. At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities openly demonstrate their rejection of negotiations as a means of finding a solution to any issue. It should be noted that for several decades, Azerbaijan has been striving to get rid of the people of Artsakh and resolve the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict by force. The first victims of such a criminal policy were, in particular, the Armenians who lived in Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. The deportation of Armenians from Azerbaijan organized by the local authorities in 1988-1990 and accompanied by massacres, torture and pogroms, marked the beginning of a new stage in Azerbaijan's policy of persecuting Armenians. As early as in 1991, the Azerbaijani authorities continued the deportation of Armenians from Artsakh, which, in various forms and manifestations, has continued to this day.
We recall that according to international law and international practice, the denial and forceful suppression of the right to self-determination, accompanied by massive human rights violations, as well as the rejection of negotiations as a means of resolving conflict, are sufficient grounds for recognizing the right of a people to establish an independent state”.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106863.html

US Department of State refers to the atrocities of the Azerbaijani armed forces during the aggression against Armenia

The US Department of State published a report on the human rights situation in Armenia, in which it also referred in detail to the atrocities committed by Azerbaijani servicemen during the September aggression against Armenia.
The report mentions that there are credible reports that during the September conflict, Azerbaijani forces committed unlawful killings involving summary executions of Armenian soldiers in Azerbaijani custody.
It is noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross studied the cases of missing persons as a result of the conflict with Azerbaijan. It is noted that after the 2020 war, 203 people (including 20 civilians) are considered missing, and 3 military personnel are considered missing as a result of the September 13-14 conflict.
The US State Department also addresses the illegal execution of 7 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijani servicemen, which, according to the Human Rights Watch NGO and investigative journalists of Belingat, was filmed in mid-September 2022.
The report also mentions the cases of inhumane treatment of the bodies of Armenian female servicemen during the September conflict, attacks on civilian infrastructure by Azerbaijani forces, targeting of emergency vehicles.
The report also presents cases of violations of human rights in Armenia, including the use of force by the security forces, bad conditions in prisons, arbitrary arrests, and restrictions on freedom of speech.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106858.html

Armenian serviceman believed to have accidentally crossed into Azeri-controlled territory

An Armenian serviceman is believed to have accidentally crossed into Azeri-controlled territory after getting lost in low visibility and foggy weather, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The serviceman of the Armed Forces of Armenia was transporting food to an outpost when he got lost, the ministry explained.
Search and rescue operations were launched immediately and “actions are being taken to confirm that the serviceman has appeared in Azerbaijani-controlled territory and return him.”
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106850.html

Israel’s Haifa inaugurates Armenian Genocide Square

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106817.html

Appalling video from Lachin Corridor shows Azeri ‘eco-activist’ threatening to SLAUGHTER Armenians for KEBAB

A video online shows one of the fake eco-activists in the Lachin Corridor threatening to “slaughter” Armenians. “We will soon slaughter an Armenian for Nowruz here and will add his blood on kebab,” one of the fake eco-activists says smilingly looking into the camera. Those standing next to the man are heard laughing.
Armenia’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan reacted to the video. “It's never enough for a bloodthirsty regime and its puppets to starve 120000 people of Nagorno Karabakh,” he tweeted. “Now their pseudo-eco-activist threatens to kill all Armenians and literally drink their blood. Are we truly in the 21st century? Is there a civilized world somewhere around?”
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106803.html

Armenia appoints new Ambassador to Brazil

Yeganyan, a career diplomat, served as Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada from 2011 to 2017. He was then the Chief of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry until 2018. His most recent position has been Head of the Department of the Americas at the Foreign Ministry since 2020.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106827.html

PM Pashinyan felicitates Kurdish community of Armenia on Newroz

“I warmly congratulate the representatives of the Kurdish community of Armenia on the national holiday, Newroz,” PM Pashinyan said in a message published by his office. “This beautiful spring holiday symbolizing the awakening of nature and the new year is full of new life, new hopes and expectations of success. May the new year be a year of overcoming problems, establishing peace and fruitful work. I wish the representatives of the Kurdish community of Armenia health, hope and faith in the prosperous future of our country, and progress and implementation of good initiatives to your community.”
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106804.html

Deputy PM Grigoryan, Belarusian counterpart discuss cooperation

Issues related to cooperation between Armenia and Belarus were discussed during the meeting, according to a read-out issued by Grigoryan’s office.
Grigoryan and Parkhomchik attached importance to cooperation in agriculture, mechanical engineering and other sectors of industry, as well as the full utilization of existing potential as part of joint cooperative projects.
Views were exchanged around possible new directions of mutually-beneficial cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally within the EEU.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106723.html

Iranian Deputy FM due in Yerevan

“A few hours after the start of the new year, the rapid movement of the diplomacy apparatus focusing on strengthening the neighborhood policy and prioritizing the Caucasus began. Going to Yerevan for a two-day working visit at the invitation of my Armenian counterpart,” Ali Bagheri Kani tweeted.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106833.html

International fact-finding mission in NK and Lachin Corridor is imperative. Armenian Deputy FM to German MPs

Presenting to the German parliamentarians the complex security situation in the region, as well as the consequences of the aggression carried out by Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia, Paruyr Hovhannisyan emphasized the role of the EU's long-term observation mission in stabilizing the situation.
The Deputy FM also emphasized that Azerbaijan's illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the killing of police officers, periodic violations of the ceasefire regime, as well as the intimidation of the civilian population make sending an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor an imperative.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1106867.html

The works performed by the Science Committee and the Higher Qualification Committee were presented to the RA Prime Minister

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106855.html

Alen Simonyan will leave for Germany on a working visit next week

At the meeting, there was extensive reference to the security problems facing the region and Armenia. The German partners noted that the security architecture is changing every day in the world, leading to new rearrangements.
The humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war of 2020, the consequences of the Lachin crisis were discussed.
"On February 22, 2023, the International Court of Justice made a legally binding decision against Azerbaijan, forcing it to take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor," noted Alen Simonyan, reminding that after the Court's decision, on March 5, there was an attack by an Azerbaijani subversive group on Nagorno-Karabakh police officers, in which three citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh were killed.
He emphasized that we expect German partners to take active steps to ensure Azerbaijan's immediate implementation of the Court's decision.
RA NA Speaker thanked the German government for supporting the decision to deploy a new EU long-term monitoring mission in Armenia, expressing his belief that it will play a significant role in establishing peace and security in the region.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106767.html

Adam Schiff condemns Louis Bono's statement on excluding sanctions against Azerbaijan

In the letter initiated by Schiff, in particular, it is said: "We are deeply disturbed by your comments during the trip, which exclude the use of economic and diplomatic sanctions against Azerbaijan in response to their obvious aggression. You have been reported to have stated that "this is not the time for sanctions ... it's not even on the table at this point." While 120,000 innocent people are in the third month of being deprived of their basic rights due to the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Azerbaijan to end, now is not the time to rule out any tools."
The letter also states that the US, the US President, the US State Department and the entire administration should use all the tools at their disposal to ensure the safety of the people of Artsakh, including ending financial support to Azerbaijan and imposing sanctions against that country.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1106805.html

Armenia announces “Step Toward Home” 2023 program for Diaspora youth

This year, the “Step Toward Home” program will host 600 Diaspora Armenian youth from June 19 to August 26 and will be divided into five stages. The program includes Armenian language (Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian), Armenian studies, national song and dance courses, visits to historical and cultural sites in Armenia, museums and educational institutions, meetings with state and public officials, artists and cultural figures, as well as sports and cultural events.
The Armenian Government covers all the costs related to the Armenian part of the program. Diaspora Armenian youth who have not participated in the “Ari Tun” and “Step Toward Home” programmes in previous years can participate; they can cover their own travel expenses for arrival and departure to Armenia and purchase a two-week travel insurance.
The applications must be submitted on the official website of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. Applications will be open until May 10.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/21/armenia-announces-step-toward-home-2023-program-for-diaspora-youth/

Armenia’s Supreme Spiritual Council urges international community to press for implementation of UN Court decision by Azerbaijan

“It is with deep sorrow that we record that it is already the 100th day that the authorities of Azerbaijan have blocked the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor connecting Artsakh with Armenia, with the intensifying manifestations of anti-Armenian policy,” the Council said.
“The physical and psychological pressures, violence and terrorist acts carried out regularly by Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of the Republic of Artsakh deepen the catastrophic humanitarian situation. Contrary to the efforts of the peacekeeping personnel stationed in Artsakh, as a result of the criminal actions of the Azerbaijani authorities, people’s rights to life, treatment, movement and other fundamental rights are being violated,” it added.
The Supreme Spiritual Council highly appreciated the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the lifting of the blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor by Azerbaijan and welcomed the call of the European Parliament urging the authorities of Azerbaijan to implement the decision of the UN Court.
“We express our surprise that despite the strong demands of the international community, its competent and influential structures to open the road, the blockade continues to this day,” the Council said.
It urged the UN structures, the European Parliament and the European Union, the heads of states and religious leaders to make consistent efforts to reach implementation of the judgment of the International Court by Azerbaijan, the condemnation of genocidal acts and the provision of a safe and normal life for the people of Artsakh.
“Toleration of such a blatantly disrespectful approach by Azerbaijan to the decision of the International Court will aggravate the humanitarian crisis, create new dangers for the lives of more than 120,000 people of Artsakh, create an unforgivable precedent for grossly circumventing the judgments of international courts, and at the same time cause deep disappointment in international justice,” the Spiritual Council stressed.
“Our Holy Apostolic Church, having the priority of saving and safety of human lives, will consistently protect the realization of the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh, based on the principle of independence for the sake of safety and security,” the statement said.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/03/21/armenias-supreme-spiritual-council-urges-international-community-to-press-implementation-of-un-court-decision-by-azerbaijan/

The financial and economic policy of the state should be completely revised and restructured. State Minister of Artsakh

"It's been twenty days since I held the position of Artsakh state minister. During this period, quite a lot of work and time is devoted to mitigating the situation and consequences of the blockade of Artsakh. Along with all that, an attempt is being made to implement the short-term programs that are necessary to restore the normal life of the country and ensure minimum conditions.
When discussing every program or process, cases of ineffective or unnecessary subsidies, loans, financing, etc. by the state are brought to light. I stop or reduce such financial expenses almost every day, and in connection with suspicious or unjustified transactions, additional studies are given.
It is necessary to abandon the approach of burdening the state budget at every step and consider state funds exclusively as a stimulating and supporting tool when building state programs.
Social assistance programs should be implemented in such a way that the real beneficiaries, the citizens who actually need social assistance, benefit from it," wrote Nersisyan.
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I wanted to share my whole DUI experience in case it can help some of you just going through this. It is very long, so I split it up into parts to make it more digestible, and so you can skip a part of you aren’t interested in reading it. TLDR; at the bottom.
Some key info: I’m a female and was arrested at 28 with my first DUI charge and received it while living in Texas at the beginning of 2022. BAC came in at .21 and I had crashed my car into the curb when the cops found me. I hired my own attorney and the whole ordeal took 10 months.
Part 1: The Night I got Arrested
I went to a bar I had never been to by myself. I was recovering from COVID that I had tested positive for 10 days earlier. I had tested positive on my birthday and was feeling very bored and lonely and thought it would be a great idea to go out by myself and maybe make some friends or meet someone. Pro-tip for any of you new to San Antonio, the bars on the strip over-pour. I was not aware of this at the time and that was my second mistake. My first was going out without any friend.
Long story short, I left around close but I was so drunk that I blacked out. Usually when I drink heavily, I’ll sleep it off in my car before I leave, but I was so far gone, I didn’t sleep first. I don’t remember getting into my car or crashing it. The first time I came to consciousness, I realized my car was acting weird and pulling me to the left so I got out to look at it. The next thing I remember was having a cop standing next to me and the flashing lights behind my car. I tapped my damaged side skirt with my foot, looked at the cop, and said, “I dunno what happened.” I know, I should have claimed someone I had just met was driving because they said they were okay to drive, then crashed and ran off, but I was too drunk to think that clearly.
Next thing I remember, I’m being put in a holding cell. I didn’t come back to full awareness until I had woken up in the cell. I’m a little bitch, so needless to say, I spent the rest of the night sobbing. I learned that I had denied the breathalyzer and was taken to the nurses room to get my blood drawn. I tried to deny that one too but they had a warrant. Considering this was about 4 hours after I had left the bar and taking into account my sex and body weight, I was probably at around a .28 when I left. Around 9am I was taken to the magistrates office.
​
Part 2: Magistrates
I was taken to the processing room and asked by a male officer, “what do you have down there?”. Very professional way of asking if I'm a man or a woman... I look like a girl, but whatever. They set me up with a female officer and she had me strip naked, bend over and cough. One of the more humiliating times of my life. Pro-tip, if you plan on getting a DWI, make sure to bring a sweatshirt or jacket because it is absolutely freezing in both the police station and magistrates office. Also, maybe wear some sweatbands to shove under the ankle cuffs. I had a lot of bruises around my ankles when I left.
To save you all of the boring details of how the next 14 hours went, just skip to part 3 from here. Between waiting, watching whatever was playing on the TV’s, and trying to sleep in between fits of crying, I went through the whole processing process. First up was the judge where I was read my charges and given my bond. The bond amount came out to $1000, and thankfully I was eligible for a PR bond. I was bonded out with a $70 fee, but that didn’t mean I could leave like I was hoping.
Next up was getting processed. Finger prints, mugshot, the works. Then I had to sit down and go over my details with the bonds office so I could be accepted for the PR bond. After that was a trip to the nurses station where I had to take a pee test to check if I was pregnant (fun fact, I’m only attracted to women so... no), asked some medical history questions, and tested for TB. I was finger printed a second time for some reason and then spent the next forever hours waiting to be released. People with severe ADHD are not built for being locked up. I thought I was going to go insane.
Around 11pm they called my name for release where I was given my inmate card and told me this would be used as my ID since I wasn’t getting my license back. Then I was brought into the exit room and received my things from the desk. Wallet, keys, shoe laces, and phone. My phone was dead and no one had a charger, and with my car being impounded, I had no way to get home. Thankfully I made friends with another lady that had been locked up and her family was picking her up. She offered to get me a ride home.
​
Part 3: Impounded Vehicle, Damage, and Hiring a Lawyer
The next morning, I called a lawyer one of my friends used for her DWI and set an appointment for that afternoon, then took an Uber straight to the impound lot. I got to my car and saw the full extent of the damage in the light. It was bad. I clearly got into a fight with a curb and somehow got damage on the top of my fender. I never got charged for hitting anyone, so who knows what happened there. Maybe a concrete barrier, considering how much the top of my fender was ripped up. My rocker panel was completely crushed in, stress cracks on my front bumper, front lip was hanging off a bit, both wheels were cracked and tires were flat, and my side skirt had been mostly ripped off. I called a tow truck and he dropped me off at a little family owned shop and they took the wheels off to find the tie rod was snapped, and the front lower control arm and rear control arm were bent.
Suspension repairs came out to $700. I ordered a new set of wheels and tires later that week and left my car sitting in front of the shop while I waited for the wheels to get delivered. It took an entire month to get my car back in a driveable condition because of how long it took to get the wheels. I didn’t have the money to fix the body and didn’t want to file it with my insurance due to the situation, so over a year later I’m still driving a busted up car, but at least it works. Total cost for the parts, labor, getting it out of impound and tow came out to around $2600. I had a friend’s ex look at the body damage and he told me to expect around $3400 in body repair. Pro-tip, don’t get a DWI, they’re expensive.
One more pro-tip, as soon as you get out of jail, go online and get your license replaced. It takes a couple months for your license suspension to go through, so make sure you get a replacement license in the mean time. The cops will not give you your license back. As for the lawyer, he was cheaper than the car and was a huge help. $2700 and he dealt with everything. My advice when it comes to lawyers is get one. Many will offer payment plans so you don’t have to provide cash up front. He made the whole ordeal so much easier and gave me a lot of helpful info, plus knew the prosecutors and had friends among them. I’ll get more into why you need to get a private attorney in later parts. Hiring him was simple. I went to their website and set up an appointment time. Went to his office the day after being arrested, and told him the story. He told me what to expect, let me know what he can do, and we set up the payment plan. The deductible was $200 and he set me up to pay $150 biweekly until the $2700 was paid off. I had trouble paying him back and he said no worries, just get him back by the end of the year.
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Part 4: Court, License Suspension, and Legal Advice
If you just got out of jail, be prepared for many months and many court appearances. Thankfully, a lot of court in Bexar County has been moved to Zoom since COVID hit and that is still the case today. My roommate is going through it right now, but for a different crime and with a free public defender, so I will be making comparisons in Part 8.
The first court date is just you stating that you are there and willing to follow the orders of your bond, stay in the state, and all that fun stuff. They ask if you’re present and you say you are, then your attorney will introduce him or herself. The next couple court dates are a blur, just mundane conversations with the lawyer and judge. Thanks to having an attorney, I didn’t have to attend 2 of the dates and he took care of the license suspension court. I was suspended for 6 months and could request approval to drive to and from work with a Restricted Drivers License, but I didn’t want to pay for the SR22 insurance. I only drove to and from work over the next 6 months, mounted my front license plate instead of leaving it in my window, and always drove as carefully as possible. Happy to say I made it without any issues. If you do get caught, that could mean additional fees or even being arrested again if the cop is having a bad day.
During this time, my attorney gave me a list of things to do that would look good to the judge. Based on his conversations with the prosecutors, without doing those things I was looking at 18 months probation and 9 months with an interlock. These things included taking 2 different driving courses, getting my friends and family to write letters saying nice things about me, writing a letter saying nice things about myself, donating to the judge’s favorite charities, and I even went ahead and took a SASSI-4. That’s an exam you take that a therapist will review and screen you for substance use disorder and risk. My lawyer decided not to show that one to the prosecutors when my result for “Alcohol and other Drug Problem” was “High probability of substance use disorder”.
I completed everything he gave me and the prosecutors offered a plea deal for 15 months of deferred adjudication probation (which allows me to have my record wiped 2 years after completing probation) and 7.5 months with an interlock. If you live in Texas and are convicted of a DWI for the first time, you are required a minimum 12 months of probation and have to have an interlock installed for at least half of your probationary period. They say a mandatory three days incarcerated too, but this is not true. The likelihood of going to jail for your first DWI once convicted is extremely low. I talk to one guy at the bar a year ago who volunteered 30 days in jail instead of taking a plea deal. That didn’t seem like an option for me, but I wouldn’t have taken it because fuck that. He said he wished he hadn’t.
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Part 5: Conviction
I voluntarily decided to get sober in September and started attending AA meetings. I received my 1 month chip the day before my final court hearing and I think this helped my case a ton. My final court hearing had to be in person. My lawyer met with the prosecutors one last time and they settled on their original deal of 15 months probation and 7.5 months on interlock, but agreed to drop me from a Misdemeanor A to a Misdemeanor B because of my voluntary 1 month completion of sobriety with AA.
Once I was called to the stand, my lawyer stood with me and spoke to the judge about my case and the plea deal. She asked me a couple yes or no questions. Make sure you always say “your honor” when you finish speaking as a show of respect. The judge will take your respect of them into account. When all was said and done, and this is why I say having a lawyer is very helpful, I pleaded no contest and the judge sentenced me to 12 months of probation because in her words, “that’s as low as I can go”, which told me she would have gone lower if she could, 6 months on interlock, and agreed to dropping me to a misdemeanor B. I wanted to bear hug my lawyer after we left the court. Thanks to him and to my efforts based on his recommendations, and my personal decision to attend AA and get sober, I was dropped from 18 months of probation and 9 months on interlock to just 12 months of deferred adjudication probation and 6 months of an interlock. I am so thankful to the judge for having some mercy on me.
After court, I went to the probation office to get registered, and my first meeting was scheduled for a month later.
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Part 6: Probation
Since I had completed all of those things my lawyer suggested I do (all except the donating to the judges charity because I was broke), I had the certification already completed for the mandatory classes. Also, and this one is weird and totally up to the judge, because I was vaccinated for COVID, she dropped 20 hours from my 45 hours of community service. I don’t know why, but I’m not complaining.
My first probation meeting went well. I seem to have a good PO. She did make me aware that I had to give 3 months notice for any planned travel outside of the state, but I travel for work frequently, and usually only get 3 days to 2 weeks notice before I have to fly out, and I work outside of the country on occasion. I contacted my lawyer and he was able to get the judge to approve an Order for Travel, allowing me only 48 hours notice to my PO if I am traveling anywhere inside or outside of the country for work with a mandatory drug test within 24 hours of returning home. Once again, thank you lawyer. A free attorney would have taken months to get this approved, but it only took my attorney a week.
I’m nearly half way through my 12 months of probation, and so far I haven’t had any issues. Every drug test is clean, my certification was approved, she set me up to do my community service at the animal shelter, and that’s it! Almost… I did have to take an alcohol and drug evaluation and, like the SASSI, the counselor who evaluated me, said I have a high probability of a substance use disorder. Pro-tip, if you had a beer while on probation, even if it was just one, don’t admit that… She talked me up and was being super friendly, then asked when the last time I purchased alcohol was and my dumbass admitted to having a beer with some pizza earlier that month. Now, I have to complete a month long $500 outpatient substance abuse treatment program. I start that next week.
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Part 7: Interlock
Per my plea deal, I have to have an interlock installed on my car for 6 months and had a month after my court date to get it installed. I shopped around and ultimately went with SmartStart because they had the closest location to me. That was the only reason. The reviews for every company are all equally bad. I’ve had it for almost 5 months, and I can genuinely say this is the worst part of the punishment. These thing drives me insane. I’m required to blow into it 3 times a day, even if I’m not going anywhere. I’ve had to have the technicians fix something with it twice now. The first time it locked me out even though I wasn’t in my car, the second time it kept disconnecting and I couldn’t start my car unless I fiddled with the wires.
I also had someone break into my car a couple months ago, and that dumbass stole the camera. They probably thought it was a security camera, but it is definitely not. The camera only turns on when you are blowing into the device, just to make sure you are the one blowing into it and not cheating the system by having someone else blow into it. You are responsible for any damages to the device, so that ended up costing me $300 dollars to replace plus an additional $90 for the install. That brings me to my next issue… You have to have the device calibrated once a month. Calibration means they download all of the data on the interlock device and send it to your PO. It will record any time you blew dirty, got a warning (this happens if you are close to .025 BAC), didn’t blow when it alerted you while driving, or got a lockout. And it costs $90 each time. I'm looking at 6 months of interlock costing around $1000.
This past month, I started having an issue with my battery and found that the car will completely lose power and I have to adjust the negative terminal to get power back. This wouldn’t be the worst thing ever, and it isn’t the fault of the interlock, but if I get into my car and it has power, and I blow, sometimes the car will lose power when I try to start it. This causes the interlock device to freak out when I get power back to my car, and it won’t allow me to start the engine even though it isn’t asking me to blow. I have to turn my car off, disconnect and reconnect the unit, then sit there for 10 minutes with the battery disconnected before I can reconnect it, blow into the interlock, and finally start my car. This thing is nothing but an expensive pain in my ass.
Just a little over a month left and I can say goodbye to this little piece of shit. Provided my PO doesn’t take a long time to get the request for removal and the judge doesn’t take a long time to respond. That’s my final issue. Even though there was the agreement made in court that I only had to have it for 6 months, I can’t just get it removed once I hit the 6 month mark. I have to get approval for it to be removed and this can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple months depending on how backed up the judge is. According to my PO, the judge is very backed up. It took one of my friends nearly 2 months to get approval to have hers removed. That whole time you still have to use it as normal and go in for monthly calibrations. Our court system is so convoluted.
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Part 8: Private Attorney vs Public Defender
Whatever you do, do not use a public defender. If there is any possible way you can afford an attorney, do that. Even if you have to take out a loan, HIRE AN ATTORNEY. My roommate is using a public defender for the trouble she’s in, and it has been nothing but a pain in the ass. They are overworked and will only do the bare minimum for you. My attorney was so easy to contact, went out of his way to help, covered court dates for me, got a great deal with the prosecutors, and gave me tons of helpful advice. Plus he was able to help with the work order and have it approved in a week after I completed court.
My roommate’s attorney is nearly impossible to contact, and when she finally does get a hold of him, he has no idea who she is or what is going on with her case. He’s always asking her to remind him of what happened last, and asking his assistant questions too. He got the prosecutors to agree to consider dropping her case after her first court date and all they needed was her hospital records to review since she was arrested on domestic dispute charges for taking the fall for her abusive ex. She was also arrested on a warrant for missing her court date, which means she is currently on full house arrest. For the past 3 court dates, her attorney has forgotten to give the prosecutors her hospital records.
She also requested partial house arrest so she can return to work but the attorney is dragging his feet on that too. She has now been out of work for 5 months and can never get a straight answer from him when she asks if she can go to work yet. Her place of employment has rehired her twice now, but she keeps getting removed from their system because it is taking so long. It seems this second time was the last straw, because now they won’t contact her back, and she can only get approved for partial house arrest if she has employment and a schedule to prove. It feels like going in circles with this guy, and she’s extremely depressed and defeated, and I’m footing all of the bills because I’m nice and love her. But holy fuck I am BROKE.
Please, for the love of all that is good, hire a private attorney, otherwise you’re probably going to get a shit plea deal, the absolute minimum amount of help, and be stuck to navigate the court system on your own. I regret not hiring an attorney for her, because she would have had her charges dropped back in January if it wasn’t for this shitty public defender, could have gone back to work, and she would have made back what the lawyer cost a month later. Don’t put yourself through that if you don’t have to.
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Part 8: Conclusion/TLDR
Anyway, if you made it this far, congrats. If I was helpful in any way, I am glad I could share. This took me a solid 3 hours to write. If you didn’t make it through, here’s the TLDR or a summary for those of you who did read most, if not all of it;
I got in an accident with a curb after blacking out and was arrested for a DWI. I declined to blow, but was given a blood test about 4 hours later, resulting in a .21 BAC. My license was suspended for 6 months because I refused the breathalyzer, although I would still recommend refusing just in case. It’s easier for a lawyer to get a dismissal on a blood test, plus there's a chance you’ll sober up enough to be under the legal limit by the time they get the warrant for the blood test. Make sure to get a replacement license as soon as you get out of jail, because it’ll take a couple months before your license is suspended.
Push for a PR bond if this is your first time being arrested and you have a clean record. The county will pay your bond and you just have to pay a fee. My bond was $1000 and I had a $70 fee. Do not accept a public defender if you can avoid it. Hire a lawyer. If you want all the details of why, you can read that in Part 7. Thanks to my lawyer and his recommendations, my charge was dropped from a Misdemeanor A to a Misdemeanor B, went from 18 months of probation and 9 months on interlock to 12 months and 6 months, and got a work travel order permitted in a week.
He was also able to get me a plea deal for deferred adjudication probation, which means you don’t get officially charged until you complete probation, and can have your record expunged after 2 years of completion. That’s great, because having a DWI on your record can be extremely limiting. You can’t go to Canada for 10 years, can’t rent a car, might not be approved for TSA PreCheck, employers will see it on a background checks, landlords and universities can see it too, and your insurance goes up. Get that expunged as soon as you can.
And finally, I wanted to put all of the costs together, including my extra costs and possible costs for anyone curious of the total.
Car Stuff - $11 for license replacement, $400 to have removed from Impound and towed to a shop, $700 on suspension repairs, estimated $3400 for body work. Total = $4511
Court/Probation Fee's - $70 for PR Bond, $2500 in court/probation fees, $120 for DUI courses, $10 a service hour, so $250 total if I don't do community service, outpatient therapy is $500. Total = $3440
LawyeInsurance - $2700 in lawyer fees, $250 for Restricted Driver License, around $800 for SR22 insurance for 6 months Total = $3750
Interlock - $540 for 6 months of calibrations, $390 for stolen camera, $90 for removal. Total = $1,020
Expunging Record - $600
Total cost when all is said and done - $13,321
Needless to say, I should have taken a $30 Uber. But hey, I've learned a lot because of what I did and there is nothing I can do but make the best of it. You can do this too. This is just one shitty hurdle in life, but you can overcome and move past it with time and effort. Thanks for reading.

Hi, I recently had unpleasant experience with Apple Store and had to exchange my device multiple times because all of them were faulty. The Genius Bar was quite rude and he told me he “made a note”. I want to purchase new device for gift, but there is a chance I might have to exchange it for a different color. Do I have a return flag and what should I do in this situation?

So you’re an eager AS200 ready for field training. You got your bag packed with your extra set of OCP boots, your FTM is all tabbed up, and you got 20 9-Line cards for the rest of your flight. You’re prepared, but you don’t know what to expect. You need advice, you want the POC to tell you how to prepare. Never fear, I will offer my genius insights on how to get the most out of field training. This advice might not be helpful, but hey, its coming from a POC.
· Sequencer: So there’s this off brand-Gatorade they put at every water cooler. It’s served through normal Gatorade dispensers and you drink it through these flimsy paper cups. It comes in five flavors: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Purple. First off, double up your cups. Those paper cups will decompose in seconds, use two or three to minimize leaks. Secondly, I would recommend staying away from the yellow and green flavors. They are not as good, are generally saltier, and the CTAs don’t know the right ratio for those two. Lastly, mix the flavors. Mixing Red and Purple yields this concoction so ungodly good you’ll wish you never had to drink anything else. Blue and Red is also okay. Using Red or blue with yellow is also a good way to boost the inferior flavors.
· DFAC: Don’t greet the staff table. You will have to eat at the DFAC a bunch, it is annoying, know the procedures. If you can ever volunteer to do something during lunch, do that. Not only will you get longer to eat, but you may get some neat opportunities. I met the first sergeant during my max and got to have a lunch with them because of it. You will be offered to take snacks as well. You may not be the type of person to take snacks. ALWAYS TAKE YOUR SNACKS. You may frequently have lunch of dinner super early and get hungry later, and if not I can guarantee you there are flight mates who would kill for your pop tart. Also, the wrappers for the granola bars when I went had coupon codes for free minecoins on them. Even at FT, the grind never stops. You will probably have water minimums every meal. You can drink for the rest of the day. Still drink your water (see below), but focus on your food. You only get ten minutes to eat (ask for time extensions if you need them!) so use the time for food.
· Drink water: Duh. But seriously. Don’t be that one weirdo that gets stripped naked by staff because you had a heat stroke. Water is amazing and I cannot emphasize how important it is. I drank almost 15 liters in one day once. Also it gives you an excuse to go to the bathroom frequently, which is really your only break in the first few days. Also, be sure to fill up your pack every chance you get. You never really can know how long you are going to go without having another chance.
· Sleep and Hygiene: It is hard to fall asleep at 2000, especially if you are coming from the west coast. The first few days will be annoying as well. After about two days you will fall asleep very quickly (I’ve never heard of even the roughest sleepers taking more than 15 minutes to fall asleep). The lights out hours are enforced, so be sure you are sleeping when you can. Your body will wake you up automatically five minutes before 0400 in a few days, so in the dark silently make your bed or brush your teeth if you didn’t have time last night. Oh yeah, brush your teeth, it may be hard to find the time but don’t get cavities from FT. I would suggest brushing teeth in the shower if you can’t find time. I know too many people who didn’t find time to brush their teeth.
· Gossip: yes, really, get to know each other, share what you know. Did you overhear and FTO say that Romeo flight was going to VW TD-7? Spread the word! Do not hold knowledge that can help your flight to yourself, because such behaviors really stand out and FTO’s will really ding your flight rankings. Lots of people go into FT trying to know everything and be the big up-front leader. People who step on toes get ranked much worse than those who repeatedly fail but demonstrate growth. Point is, you will hear things. Set up a recall roster in your flight. Also don’t be afraid to ask for things, such as allowances to break the flight path. Also, just share what you know. If you came with extra FDE cards for everyone, share! If you have feedback for an ORI, share! The flight halls should have public bulletin boards for MFRs, use those. Your evaluators will notice.
· Talk to the Chaplains! You might not be religious, that is totally cool, but the religious services were an outstanding spiritual experience and just asking to talk with the chaplains is a great way to get a quick break within bounds. Talking with them will not negatively impact your rankings in any way, and I cannot emphasize how amazing they are. Seriously, do not be afraid to put yellow or red for mental health in your journals. Lying about your issues does not make them go away. Talking to the chaplains just might. I got to go on some walks and have some nice drinks with them while talking about life. An excellent reprieve.
· Feet: oh yeah, this is a big one. There is a reason you put this on your weekly journal. You will not have an option to wash your shoes, so be sure you pack a burner pair. Maybe also get extra insoles. Air out your shoes every night if you can, maybe pack some Lysol. Wash your feet when you shower, sleep without socks on if you need, and watch your feet to treat any potential blisters immediately before they get to you.
· Actually go: this one is fun. Apparently, every year like half a dozen people just don’t show up to FT. When called, they’re just like “oh yeah I don’t wanna do ROTC anymore.” It is past that point, you have committed, so be sure you are fully present. Don’t not go, and don’t go and not be present. Actually be there, and care why you are. Don’t do an SIE or whatever the self elimination is called. You may want to, but talk with the chaplains first and realize, it’s only a few more days. Focus on one day at a time. VW is a blast and it gets a lot easier. The CTAs warm up. No one I know of did an SIE after TD-3, so just bear out the first few days, as rough as they are.
· Packing List: Take a pair of nail clippers, your own set of moleskin, and extra thing of wet wipes or Lysol, extra shoes and arguably more socks. Write your locker combo in your FTM (AND ALWAYS LEAVE YOUR SECURITY LOCKER LOCKED—most common form 17 and was responsible for one dismissal at my max.) Take an extra set of civilian clothes so once you are done you can change out of IUs for the ride home. Keep in mind you won’t hear music for two weeks, so think about what the last song you hear is going to be. Also you can take extra stuff as long as its not contraband (consumable, electronic, or a distraction) so take extra stuff. You will have a lot of fun time at VW and maybe even get some places where you want to kill time. There is no harm in taking extra things to help you prepare.
· Learn marching jodies: calling cadence for 15 minutes in the heat sucks.
I probably forgot a bunch of stuff so maybe I'll be back.

Hi all, I’m back with the full series following on from my last mini-series, Angland U. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it, as it serves as a prologue and an easy entry into the THJ Universe, which started with The Hunter’s Journey. I have tried to make it so reading THJ isn’t necessary if you read the prologue, but it will provide more insight into the world than my prologue will (it’s a lot easier to go into the full depths of something with around 2,000 pages than it is with around 40-50 after all.)
Fair warning, there will be some adult themes in the series, so reader discretion is advised.
So, without further ado, enjoy!
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Prologue / Previous / Next
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Daniel rolled his left arm in its socket as he read his new assignment once more, excited to finally be getting out of constant lessons, training, and parades. He shut off the holoviewer and retracted it back into his bionic arm, allowing his hand to snap back into place, banging the back of it a couple times to make sure it was seated properly, and letting out a small sigh of relief that it was still holding up after so much punishment in basic training. He quickly checked his bags once more, making sure he had everything on him, completed one final check of the room, and then exited it. He walked down the hallway and hopped into the lift, heading down to the ground floor. Once there, he walked over to the reception, where he checked out of the hotel, and then made his way over to the hotel's subway entrance.
Upon entering the subway, he identified the military door and scanned his pass, letting him through the secure door to the private platform, where a half filled carriage was waiting. He quickly boarded and found a seat, watching the door for another 30 seconds before they closed and the carriage began to move. Less than a minute later, the carriage slowed to a halt at the other platform, and everyone began to disembark. Once he was off, Daniel quickly pulled his uniform straight, making sure the creases were still crisp and that his brassard was sitting correctly, before touching his headdress to make sure it was on straight, and he then began to walk up the stairs and left the subway.
Looking out onto the runway, he spotted his transport almost completely loaded, a massive 350 metre wide behemoth of a flying wing, an ASWT-16. As he walked towards the military security terminal of the spaceport, two privates stood to attention and saluted him, which he acknowledged quickly so they could get back to their business. He scanned his pass on the security terminal, and then walked through the attached gate, scanning him and finding nothing of concern. He quickly removed his headdress now that he was on an active airfield, and stored it in his bag before jumping on the nearby shuttle bus, which collected a few more people before the doors closed and silently drove towards the transport, coming to a stop just before the ramp. Everyone quickly disembarked, and the bus headed back to the gate the instant the last person was off, and then the group all quickly boarded the transport, rushing to get one of the better seats. Daniel didn’t rush though, and instead headed to the subtly comfier seats with an actual real window that peeked over the surface of the wing, reserved for officers like himself, and he stuffed his bags under it.
As he waited for boarding and loading to wrap up, he flicked his metal hand back and checked his messages on his holo once again, looking to see if any of his family or friends had responded. As expected, he had a quick good luck message from his Dad, and absolutely nothing from his Mother, but all his childhood and University friends had responded, barring the one person he really wanted to hear from. He knew she had read it, the app indicated as such, but she hadn’t responded. He hoped she was just writing a really long message congratulating him and wishing him luck, but he couldn’t just help but worry that she hadn’t taken the news well.
He forced it out of his mind as the loading ramp began to close and the transport crew called out their final checks. He raised both his arms off of his lap as a crew member checked to make sure his belt was on, and once the crew member had checked everyone on the row, they found their own seat and sat down. Less than two minutes later, a low rumble could be heard as all twelves thrusters roared to full power, and the transport began to quickly accelerate down the runway, taking off with its full 4,000 tonne load.
Daniel watched the fields blitz past out the window, each one getting smaller and smaller as they ascended faster and faster, until he could just about make out the curvature of the Earth, feeling a small jolt as the thrusters switched from their air breathing modes to their vacuum modes. It didn’t take long until all he could see out of his tiny window was the black void of space above the wing. The wing in question suddenly became a hub of activity as numerous panels began to wing open or retract, allowing a pylon with a long pod on the end to raise up, which began to glow a dull blue as the star formations visible to him began to distort.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please,” one of the crew members began. “We are now at warp, and it is safe to walk around the craft. ETA for Mars orbit is 30 minutes, so please make sure you are buckled back in before that happens. The gravity generator isn’t the strongest on a transport like this, so the docking manoeuvres could pose a danger. Also, please don’t enter the cargo grid, gravity is weaker there, and any magnetic objects could be ripped from your body. I don’t fancy having to retrieve your body for the medic because a piercing got ripped out.”
Daniel looked over to the other passengers, noticing that one of the plain clothes personnel was grimacing and holding their legs tight together, while their friend next to them bumped their shoulder with a poorly masked grin. He shook his head and got to his feet, giving them a stretch while he had the chance, and checked his holo to see that it was now disconnected from the network as expected. He snapped his hand back into place, finding that the connection for his little finger wasn’t engaging properly, so he gave the back of his hand a firm smack and thankfully managed to regain control of his extremity.
“Should probably get that looked into, Sir,” the Lieutenant sitting next to him said.
“Yeah, I’ve got a replacement ordered. It’s been messed up since basic, and I’ve finally gotten approval for the latest model,” Daniel explained.
“Is requisition that bad at the moment?”
“Only for the full suite I need.”
“What do you need that’s in short supply?”
“Sorry, but that’s need to know,” Daniel told him, knowing that the parts weren’t restricted information to someone of his rank, but he was still happy to use it to avoid unwanted conversation at the moment.
“Of course, sir. My apologies for asking.”
“No harm done,” Daniel assured him as he straightened his shirt and made his way towards the front of the transport.
He opened the doorway into a corridor, and then immediately made his way into the office space, taking a seat in one of the four cubicles and logging into one of the computers, pleased to see that his travel profile had been uploaded before takeoff. The data was sparse, but it was all he needed at the moment, which was mainly the bios of his soon to be subordinates, and more importantly interview and trainer notes. None of them had any real world experience in the world of electronic subterfuge, though they did all pass the training and tests with perfect grades like him, even if the tests missed off a few handy tricks he’d utilised on occasion. It meant that he would likely be irreplaceable if the ship was in a dangerous situation, though he knew that would be the case just from him being in a position of authority. He was a little disappointed by the prospect of almost always having to be at his post, but such was Navy life.
He continued to look more closely at their bios, making a mental note of the comments made against them. They all seemed to be by the book types, which means that he would have to teach them some dirty tricks at some point, but it at least meant that he wasn’t likely to have a rough time with them. They all originated from various colonies though, so he was wary of the tribalism that could cause. It should have been trained out of them so they all acted as a single unit, but pride was often something hard rooted.
“Five minutes till Mars!” a crew member shouted into the room, before moving onto the next.
Daniel took his que to wipe his profile in case it got missed due to tight schedules, and logged off. It might not be his responsibility to do so, but he’d be damned if someone else messed up and he and his new team got hurt for it. He left the cubical and made his way back to his seat, buckling in and allowing himself to be inspected once again.
He looked out the window once again as the warp pylon powered down and the distortion effect stopped, causing the green and blue surface of Mars to take up the majority of his view. It remained in his few for only a few moments though, as the transport began to turn and roll as it aligned with the station. The warp pylons quickly stowed themselves in the wings again, and the transport edged forward, sliding into the hangar after a minute or two of travel. There was a small bump as the craft touched down, followed by a droop as the hangar’s gravity was turned up to normal levels.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Mars Stardock 02. Please disembark to allow for unloading of supplies,” the crew member from before announced.
Not wanting to get caught in the crowd, Daniel jumped up from his seat, picked up his bags quickly, and was the fourth person to exit the transport. He looked at the unloading tractors that were entering the room, noticing that they had a particularly large one usually reserved for ship modules. He was surprised that something like that would be coming from Earth given Mars’ manufacturing capabilities, but he probably couldn’t find out what it was without putting his rank at risk, so he elected to ignore it. Instead, he headed over to the hangar exit and scanned his pass, confirming his presence aboard the station.
As he began to walk down the corridor of the station, following the signs for the habs, he checked his messages once more, finding that he still hadn’t received the message he was hoping for. He did his best to hide his frustration, and continued on until he reached the nearest short stay habs, walking past the honeycomb array of pods designed to pack in the lower ranking spacemen of visiting ships if the ships weren’t serviceable. Thankfully for him however, he was able to keep walking until he reached the officer’s cabins, picking an empty one and assigning it to himself.
His temporary accommodation was little more than a small bed, a desk, and a stool, but it served his needs. He dropped his bags on his bed, and quickly activated his arm’s scanners, checking the room for any bugs, which he found none of. He knew there was practically no way of someone knowing which room he’d end up in, but he couldn’t be too careful. Happy that he was safe, he opened the makeshift compartment on his arm, removing the memory chip that had sat there for almost five years at this point. He carefully hid it in the ceiling light cover, and exited the room, locking the door behind him. He knew that after five years of no-one looking for it that was probably safe, but he wasn’t going to take the risk.
He began to look at the station signs again, managing to find a layout map. He quickly committed it to memory the best he could, and made his way to the station’s clinic. Once he finished the short walk there, he checked himself in, and was assigned to a room, which he entered and sat down on the bed within it. He let out a small sigh as he looked around the room, waiting for the doctor to arrive, and began to study all the posters and displays, containing information on a bunch of medical advice that was inapplicable to him.
“Sorry about the wait,” an old and balding man in a medical uniform apologised to him as he entered the room, carrying a large long black case.
“It’s not a problem,” Daniel assured him.
“I’m Dr Middleton,” the Doctor informed him. “Now, may I just confirm your identity please?”
“Lieutenant Commander Daniel Hardbrooks,” Daniel replied, handing over his military ID.
“... Indeed you are. Just a couple of quick questions before we get onto why you’re here. Can you please confirm the purpose of your visit?” the Doctor asked, handing his ID back.
“To receive a replacement mechanical prosthetic arm, containing equipment I am not allowed to disclose.”
“And can I confirm that you don’t need a socket upgrade?”
“No, I have the latest socket after my last one broke during basic training.”
“Perfect,” the Doctor replied, checking a few boxes on his holo display. “Will you be recycling your old arm, or will you keep it?”
“Recycle. This thing will probably break if you look at it wrong,” he explained, taking off his shirt and holding up his scratched and dented arm.
“A mk IV-C. I’m surprised it’s still working. Well, you’ve got a nice new mk XXII-NM. I’m pleased to inform you that a starsteel heatsink was successfully sourced, as well as some other components that are simply blank on my display,” the Doctor told him as he handed Daniel the case. “The profile from your old arm has been transferred onto this one, but you will have to map any new functions.”
“Of course,” Daniel replied, pressing the lock and allowing the case to scan him.
After almost ten seconds of waiting, the locks popped off, and the lid opened to reveal his new arm. It looked almost like a real arm in shape, except he had given it a custom carbon black with white trim paint scheme, and replaced the plates that visually simulated muscle with armour and electronics. Happy with his new appendage, he grabbed hold of his current arm and popped it out of its socket, laying it on the nearby table before picking up his new arm and locking it in place, checking to make sure the seal engaged properly.
He rolled his shoulder, surprised at how smooth the motion was, making him realise just how bad his old arm was performing. He then began to twist his arm and wrist while flexing his fingers, finding that each motion felt like it had less purpose, but they instead felt much more natural like his real arm. He then performed a systems check, making sure none of the secret stuff was displayed, before giving the doctor a thumbs up.
“It’s working perfectly. Thank you for your help,” he told the Doctor as he put his shirt back on.
“You’re very welcome. Please tap here to confirm your appointment has been completed,” the Doctor instructed, pointing at his holo display.
“There. All done,” Daniel replied, performing the action.
“Thank you very much. Any issues and concerns, please check back here or to any other military approved clinic as soon as possible.”
“Will do. Thanks once again for your help,” Daniel told him as he left the clinic.
Daniel made his way straight back to his hab, entering it and testing out his new scanner, finding it to return the same readings of his room, but he could now read practically every electromagnetic and aetheric signature within half a kilometre, with the larger signals of the station’s fusion generators easily detectable from almost two kilometres away. Satisfied, he quickly retrieved the memory chip from the light cover, and stored it within the new secret high security compartment he now possessed.
Satisfied, he left his room once more and entered one of the nearest lifts. He punched in the button for the observation deck, and braced himself slightly as the lift accelerated rapidly, bringing him to his destination in a matter of seconds. He stepped out of the lift and into what was essentially a ball of transparent metal, overlooking the whole station. He walked over to the edge, and took in the sight of the disk shaped station floating over the distant Martian landscape. He could just about make out some of the smaller hangars from his vantage point, but what he was more interested in was the docking arms on the outside of the disk.
He could make out three corvettes dock on a single arm, and another one on an arm of its own. The next three arms were empty, with the next two servicing a frigate each, followed by three arms servicing destroyers. He was able to identify the classes of the destroyers, identifying two as direct combat ships, and the third as a light drone carrier. Finally, he rested his eyes on a single ship taking up two arms that were far longer than the others, the expedition cruiser, CNS Trailmaker.
His soon to be new home.
-----------------------------
Prologue / Previous / Next

Ive just started playing the new spooky DLC, and a few things that Im unsure if they are bugs or effects of hauntings?
1-staff are walking around holding their stomachs as if they are starving but have full energy, food and drink status bars.
2-A student waiting to go into pastoral got up when it was their turn, walked across the building to the staff room and went in there. Wouldnt leave and i had to move the room to fling them out.
3-The Janitors are sleeping in student beds.
Edit. Students just randomly walk in the staff room all the time not just waiting for appointments. All staff are napping in the beds not just janitors.

Background

In 1976, an economic historian named Carlo M. Cipolla wrote an essay called The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. You may have seen it circulating around the internet, on Reddit or in a podcast. Very often, it's used to explain the behaviors and drawbacks of _other_ people. Understanding their value, however, only happens when applied to ourselves.

First Law - Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

Or, No matter how many people you think are stupid in a given group, you are always undercounting by at least one - you.

Second Law - The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

Or, a rich, stupid genius is a real thing. In fact, to be \really* stupid, you have to be very smart or very dumb.*

Third Law - A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

Or, being stupid is doing something you know will cause harm or make problems but you do it anyway. Like, drinking at a bar and you're on your third DUI. Or dating the crazy hot thang you know is going to take a crap in your bed. Or any internet troll doing any internet troll thing ever.

Fourth Law - Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places, and under any circumstances, to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

Or, until you've seen the damage that stupidity can do, you can't imagine how stupid people can be.

Fifth Law - A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Or, because you can't predict stupidity based on other personality traits and you can't predict the damage that stupid actions will cause, you yourself will allow greater damage to occur from your ignorance and/or stupidity and inflict more stupidity on others.
Stupidity breeds stupidity and causes more stupidity. Intelligence is the antidote to stupidity. Stupidity is a contagious disease and intelligence is a medicine that must be manufactured to specifically counteract specific kinds of stupidity - a limited resource that is expensive, narrowly applicable and time dependent.
So, we can say that stupidity is less expensive than intelligence to acquire or use and causes greater damage than intelligence. Costs less and hurts more? Sounds like a death spiral to me.

My name is Thomas Saul, I am a member of the Skatin Nations tribe in British Columbia, Canada. I am of Salish, and European descent. I began this project around May 2021 when news broke about the Kamloops residential school where the remains of 215 children were allegedly found. As a teenager I briefly Attended Norkam secondary in Kamloops, and have friends and family who still live in Kamloops, so this hit close to home. Upon my research into The origin of this residential school I found that Israel wood Powell, a Freemason, was the Indian Superintendent at the time it was built. Four generations of my family attended residential schools, some in Port Alberni and some Mission City, so naturally I wanted to know more. I have come to the conclusion that Colonisation, Freemasonry, and residential schools go hand in hand. Its a Fact, both the United States and Canada would not exist without Freemasonry, Therefore many Freemasons played a leading role in the genocide of Indigenous Americans. “Freemasonry, as it exists in various forms all over the world, has a membership estimated at around 6 million worldwide.”
Genocide: The UN definition, which is used in international law, states that genocide is: "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group," as such:(a) "Killing members of the group;"(b) "Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;"(c) "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;"(d) "Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;"(e) "Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
The supreme governor of the Church of England is the head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch. The father of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 King George III was not a Freemason, George III had announced that the colonies would no longer seize Native lands or purchase them without treaties. Starting in 1763, no English settlers could legally travel through or acquire land west of the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation specifically stated that Native Americans had been subject to “great Frauds and Abuses” and that their sovereignty should be protected. Freemason Thomas Jefferson in his list of 27 grievances accused the king saying “He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.’’ Thomas Jefferson did this to build support for the revolutionary act that the Declaration of Independence would represent. It was suspected that the Freemasons were behind the Boston Tea Party, the American War of Independence, the french revolution, and Napoleonic France triggering British prime minister William Pitt’s, the Unlawful Societies Act of 1799 where he aimed to see Freemasonry abolished. Some Freemasons addressed Pitt explaining how vast their membership is and its connection to Royalty and As a result, Freemasons were excluded from the Act, but lodges were obliged to return a list of members to the local Clerk of the Peace every year, which are recorded in the Quarter Sessions.1. King George IV reigned from the death of George III until 1830, he was the first of many British Freemason kings and was the head of the Anglican church. William IV, Edward VII, Edward VIII, George VI were also masons. In the 209 years since the Union of the Premier and Ancient Grand Lodges to form the United Grand Lodge of England, a member of the Royal Family has been its Grand Master for more than 150.
A Freemason warrant of constitution is the Document which authorizes or gives a Warrant to certain persons therein named to organize and constitute a Lodge, Chapter, or other Masonic Body. The first Warrant for a military Lodge was issued by the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1732 to the First British Foot Regiment. Within a few years the Grand Lodge of Scotland and both the Grand Lodge of England, Modern and Ancient were issuing Warrants to military Lodges. In 1733, 18 men gathered at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on King Street in Boston and organized the first Masonic Lodge in North America. The first record of a military Lodge Warrant being issued in the new world happened during the French and Indian Wars. It was issued by the then Provincial Grand Master at Boston to the 28th British Foot in an expedition against the French at Crown Point. Edward Cornwallis became founder in December 1748, of a military Lodge in his regiment, the 20th. Foot, No. 63, on the registry of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. The warrant was issued to Lord George Sackville, Lieut. Col. The Hon. Edward Cornwallis and Captain Milburne. When in 1759 this famous regiment gained new honors at the battle of Minden, that name was immediately adopted as the name of the lodge. Cornwallis’ second lodge was founded in Halifax early in 1750 or possibly earlier, under a “deputation” or dispensation from Major Erasmus James Philipps of the 40th. Regiment at Annapolis Royal, Provincial Grand Master for Nova Scotia under Henry Price of Boston. Of this lodge, known as the First Lodge, Cornwallis was the first Master. Cornwallis In October 1749, issued an order that came to be known as the Scalping Proclamation. His government would pay a bounty to anyone who killed a Mi’kmaq adult or child in a bid to drive them off mainland Nova Scotia.
Sir William Johnson, an agent for the British Indian Department met Joseph Brant, a 9-year-old Mohawk boy while doing a land deal with Joseph's father King Hendrick. Sir William eventually started a common-law relationship with Joseph's sister Molly giving him incredible power over her tribe. Johnson groomed young Joseph Brant to become a loyal warrior and eventually leader of the six nations tribe. At 13 years old Joseph accompanied Johnson on his first tour with the military. Missionary Samuel Occham, a student of Eleazar Wheelock (father of The Great Awakening) procured a 19-year-old Joseph Brant to attend Moore's Indian charity school in Lebanon Connecticut with the blessings and charity of William Johnson. Freemasons Benjamin Franklin and Benedict Arnold had also donated money to Wheelock’s cause. William was the British Crown's first superintendent of Indian Affairs for the colony in 1756 and Joseph Brant was appointed as a captain in the Indian Department. Many Freemason colonists were high-ranking military who waged many wars on the Indigenous American population, scientists say so many Indigenous people were killed as a result of colonization it caused a mini ice age. After the North American wars, many Freemasons took positions as Indian agents helping to remove and segregate the native population. Anyone who wanted access to the six nations had to go through Indian agent Sir William Johnson and his family which includes the Brant family and the Kerr family through various marriages. At one point Johnson proposed that the moor's Indian Charity School move from Lebanon, Connecticut, to Johnstown but it never happened. Eventually, Johnson withdrew the support for Wheelock. In a letter Wheelock had suggested to Lord Dartmouth "The Nations will not make war with us while their Children, and especially the Children of their chiefs are with us” Dartmouth college claims that In 1766, Johnson was invited to join the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), the largest and most influential Anglican missionary society in the 18th-century British-Atlantic world. He began working to place Anglican missionaries like Freemason and bishop Charles Inglis, rather than Congregationalist and Presbyterian ones, among the Six Nations. I believe Moore's dubbed “the great design” was the original model for the Mohawk Institute and the Canadian residential school system.
On April 10, 1766 Sir William Johnson was raised to the position of Master Mason of St Patrick's Lodge No. 4 where many Freemason Indian agents like John Butler, Guy Johnson, Sir John Johnson, William Johnson Kerr, Christian Daniel Claus, Gilbert Tice, George Croghan and A protégé of Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, Rev. Samuel Kirkland attended. In 1770 Johnson's fellow St Patrick's lodge Freemason Rev. Samuel Kirkland coincidentally parted ways with Wheelock and Moors charity school. Eventually Kirkland founded the Hamilton-Oneida Academy as a boys' school in central New York. In 1776 Joseph Brant was initiated into the Freemason fraternity in London England where it is rumoured a benefactor of Moors charity school king George III gave Brant his masonic apron. When Brant returned to Canada he became affiliated with Lodge No. 11 at the Mohawk village on the Grand River, of which he was the first Worshipful Master, and later affiliated with Barton Lodge No. 10. Joseph Brant invited fellow Freemason and grandson of Eleazar Wheelock to be a minister to the Mohawk. To Joseph It was imperative that Freemason Rev. Davenport Phelps was made minister of the Mohawks, so he reminded the Bishop, through Sir John, of the pledge which the Archbishop of Canterbury had made to him in the presence of the King, that whenever the Indians, by the erection of a church, should be ready for religious instruction, he would do all in his power to supply their wants. A Freemason named Rev. Robert Addison helped make this happen. Mr Addison, a relative of William Johnson, had been minister to the Six Nations and Joseph Brant and Freemason John Norton were his translators. Freemason Reverend Davenport Phelps and Jarvis Wheelock, the brother of Eleazar, were invited to Canada and granted land by Freemason and founder of the family compact John Graves Simcoe, the man behind the Simcoe patent. Mrs Simcoe in her Diary says, “In April of the following year Mary Brant (sister of Freemason Joseph Brant and common-law wife of Freemason Indian agent Sir William Johnson) successfully prescribed a favourite Indian remedy, the root of sweet flag (acorus calamus), for Governor Simcoe, who had been extremely ill with a persistent cough. The medicine relieved his malady “in a very short time. This brought the Brant family and Simcoe family close together. Davenport Phelps became the Worshipful Master of The Barton Lodge under Freemason William Jarvis and he was the first chaplain at the Mohawk Chapel. Davenport was the leader of many Indian agents who were members of The Barton Lodge. I suspect Davenport's mission was to help with the so-called Indian problem.
Chief Joseph Brant has been accused on many occasions of selling off land for his own enrichment and in a lot of cases he sold land to Freemasons. He granted 999-year leases to many families, the Nelles, the Young’s, the families of Adam Young UE, his three sons, Lieutenant John Young (Indian department) UE, Sergeant Daniel Young UE, and Private Henry Young UE, along with Captain Henry William Nelles UE and his families (Rev. Abraham Nelles). Many of these Indian agents were members of The Barton Lodge. Both Captain Henry William Nelles UE and Adam Young UE, fourth great-grandfather of Robert Collins McBride UE, were also the first Freemasons to settle in Haldimand County. Freemasons Robert Kerr and Rev. Robert Addison, William Kennedy Smith, also had land there. "There were very few outright legal sales of our land; 90 per cent of the leased land has never been paid for or paid to Six Nations," according to a research document prepared by Six Nations. Many Freemasons were involved with the Simcoe patent and the Haldimand Proclamation. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe stated that the Indians could not lease their land since British subjects could lease land only from British subjects. Freemason William Jarvis signed the Haldimand proclamation, Freemason Thomas Ridout surveyor-general was behind the Ridout survey, Freemason Sir Peregrine Maitland lieutenant governor informed them that they had no title to the northern part of the grant, Freemason John Butler acted as an agent of purchase on behalf of the government, Freemason chief John Brant) and Freemason Robert Johnson Kerr finally went to England to lobby on behalf of the Six Nations.
Freemasons King George IV, and King William IV, reigned from January 29 1820 to June 20 1837. The idea of residential school was brought forward by the Freemason Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, within the context of a proposal he made in 1820 to the Colonial Office "for ameliorating the condition of the Indians in the neighbourhood of our settlements." Maitland's proposal contained most of the civilising concepts and techniques that would be adopted in the next three decades. The American Freemason, President Andrew Jackson succeeded in pushing the Indian Removal Act through the United States Congress in 1828 leading to the trail of tears. John Brant solicited help from the New England company to build the Mohawk institute, the first residential school in Canada. The mohawk institute operated from 1831 to June 27, 1970. John Brant appointed Rev. Abraham Nelles son of Freemason Robert Nelles as principal of the Mohawk Institute. Abraham after over 30 years was succeeded by Freemason Robert Ashton. Oronhyatekha aka Peter Martin was also a Freemason and played an important role in the development of the Mohawk Institute. The Arthur of the Historical sketch of the Barton Lodge, No. 6, G.R.C., A.F. and A.M., says “the name of Brother John Brant is connected with important events in the history of Canadian Masonry.” John Brant is responsible for the formation of at least 12 residential schools in Ontario, while Freemason Israel Powell the superintendent of Indian affairs in British Columbia Powell “was able to boast that the government had established seventeen Indian schools, one for each year in office.”. Powell sought to establish several boarding schools across the province and particularly pushed for creating a school in Kamloops to address communities in the province’s interior.The school opened in Kamloops in 1890 and became one of the largest residential schools operated by Indian Affairs. The Freemason Organisation is vicariously liable for all abuses in those residential schools.
In 1837 a Rebellion in Upper Canada was led by William Lyon Mackenzie, who was a fierce critic of Simcoe’s Family Compact, an elite clique of businessmen and many Freemasons. Mackenzie opposed a system of land grants that favored settlers from Britain. Many Freemasons such as William Botsford Jarvis and Sir Allen Napier Macnab who was Joint premier of the Province of Canada helped stop this rebellion. Sir Allen Macnab was succeeded by Freemason Sir John A. Macdonald as Joint Premier. This Rebellion of 1837, this triggered the 6th generation Freemason Lord Durham to write The Durham Report, he was appointed governor in chief of British North America. In his 1839 Report on the Affairs of British North America, he recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be united under a single Parliament, with responsible government. In 1863 a steamboat named the Brother Johnathan) carried smallpox from San Francisco to British Columbia killing 1/3rd of the Native population. Many Freemasons like Thomas Harris the first mayor of Victoria, Israel Wood Powell who served in the Victoria Rifle Volunteer Corps which was established to protect the colony from the indigenous population, Amor De Cosmos who was the extremely racist editor of The Daily British Colonist, and Ronald J. NcDonell clerk for magistrate Pemberton who forced The Nuu-chah-nulth to leave their camp, escorted by two gunboats. There are many many more who may have purposefully mishandled the smallpox epidemic of 1863. British freemason Edward Jenner created the life-saving smallpox vaccine but on the other hand Freemasons Jeffrey Amherst and Col Henry Bouquet have been accused of distributing smallpox contaminated blankets to their enemies.
As early as 1866 Israel W. Powell, with his colleague Amor De Cosmos, had proposed confederation with the Canadian colonies. Israel Wood Powell, Superintendent of Indian affairs also outlawed potlatching an indigenous ceremony In British Columbia. Following the Lord Durham’s report, Freemason Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon proposed The British North America Act, 1867 Under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, the federal government has exclusive legislative authority for "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians." Of the 36 Fathers of the Canadian confederation, 11 were Freemasons. One being Freemason Sir John A. Macdonald, He was named by the United Grand Lodge of England as their Grand Representative near to the Grand Lodge of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald took a page from American Freemason Andrew Jackson's book by removing the Indigenous people from their land. He was proud that he was able to subdue the Indigenous people with less blood shed than his American brethren. One Of Macdonald's Legacies is the Canadian Pacific Railway which displaced many tribes across Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald's campaign promise in the 1870s was that he would have a railway built that would link the country from coast to coast. Freemasons Richard Marpole, Sir Sandford Fleming, Sir George J.A. Bury And the Chinese Freemasons of Vancouver and Alberta made Macdonald’s promise come true. As quickly as the railroad was laid Freemason lodges were erected. Louis Riel a Métis hero, led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its Freemason Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity. The Wolseley expedition was a military force authorized by Sir John A. Macdonald to confront Louis Riel and had been dispatched to Red River under Freemason Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley. Another of Mcdonald's legacies is the North West Mounted Police. Macdonald established the N.W.M.P in 1873 which boasted 750 Freemason members in its time. He claimed that “it was intended to have a body of mounted rifles to protect the people from the chance of an Indian war.’’ Meanwhile, The Pacific Scandal, the first major post-Confederation political scandal in Canada, Sir John Macdonald and senior members of his Conservative Cabinet were accused of accepting election funds for the contract to build the C.P rail.
The near completion of the railway allowed troops from eastern Canada to quickly arrive in the territory causing Riel to surrender to Canadian forces. The NWMP barracks was where Louis Riel was detained after his arrest in 1885 for leading the North-West Rebellion. Many Freemasons were involved in the defeat of Louis Riel. The RCMP museum had a display of the noose which hung Riel. Macdonald said this about Riel "He shall die though every dog in Quebec barks in his favor." John A. Macdonald is also one of the fathers of the Canadian Indian act First passed in 1876. In 1879 Freemason Nicholas Flood Davin wrote the Report on Industrial Schools for Indians and Half-Breeds, otherwise known as The Davin Report. An amendment to the Indian Act in 1894 under Freemason Prime Minister Sir Mackenzie Bowell, made attendance at day schools, industrial schools, or residential schools compulsory for First Nations children, resulting in over 100000 Indigenous children being forcefully removed from their families by Indian agents and the RCMP. From 1740 to 1896 The Mexican government's response to the various uprisings of the Yaqui tribe have been likened to genocide particularly under Freemason Porfirio Diaz. Due to slavery and massacre, the population of the Yaqui tribe in Mexico was reduced from 30,000 to 7,000 under Diaz's rule. One source estimates at least 20,000 out of these Yaquis were victims of state murders in Sonora. It was during this period of the conflict that the United States Army fought the last battle of the American Indian Wars, the final battle being the Wounded Knee Massacre December 29, 1890, and in the subsequent Drexel Mission Fight the next day. In recent history the statues of Freemason John A. Macdonald, Freemason Edward Cornwallis, Freemason George Washington, Freemason Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Freemason Robert E. Lee and Andrew Jackson have all been vandalized but no mention of their affiliation to the Freemasons in the news. We can't point fingers at the church or government without first confirming whether or not the accused are Freemasons. The Order of the Eastern Star, Job's Daughters, and Rainbow Girls are masonic fraternities for women such as the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a Master Mason. All masons will cry out that Freemasonry has nothing to do with what an individual member has done, yet they all praise these men and prop them up as heroes. Freemasons claim to have superior morality compared to the average person, that they are the most honorable men on the planet, yet they refuse to acknowledge their members role in the genocide of the Indigenous Americans.
You may believe Freemasons are irrelevant nowadays but that is far from true. Winston Churchill is regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century. Churchill was initiated into Studholme Lodge No. 1591 on 24 May 1901. He said of the Pashtun people “all who resist will be killed without quarter,” Pashtun territory was occupied by the British in 1848 and divided into two areas. Winston Churchill's policies caused a famine that claimed more than 3 million Indian lives during the The Bengal famine of 1943. President Harry Truman, known as one of the most dedicated men to have joined Masonry on the morning of August 6, 1945, ordered an American B-29 bomber to drop two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. John Edgar Hoover, more commonly referred to as J. Edgar Hoover, was an American attorney and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Hoover was raised on November 9th 1920 in Federal Lodge No. 1 in Washington D.C. In 1919 Hoover became the head of the Bureau of Investigation's (predecessor of the FBI) new General Intelligence Division. The division was also called the Radical Division because it was the task of the division to find radical elements in American society to monitor and disrupt their activities. The Duke of Kent was initiated as a Freemason in Royal Alpha Lodge No. 16 in London on 16 December 1963. The Duke of Kent, is now UGLE’s longest-serving Grand Master. The Duke’s brother, Prince Michael of Kent, is also a Freemason and is Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex. On 6 March 1953, HRH Prince Philip progressed to the Second Degree of Freemasonry, before advancing to the Third Degree on 4 May 1953.
I encourage those who have been affected by the actions of Freemasons to begin a class action lawsuit against this organization in what ever country, state or province you live in and hold Freemasonry accountable for genocide. The first thing a Freemason will say when presented with this evidence is you don't know how masonry operates, that the lodge is not responsible for individual members actions. That is exactly what the Catholic church said before the Canadian Court of Appeal on July 28, 2020 had found the Archdiocese vicariously liable for abuses committed by a civilian employee. I witnessed countless people stand up against the Catholic Church for what they have done and the Pope came to Canada and apologized. Now it's time to turn your sight toward Freemasonry. You must understand that all Freemasons on the American contenent have greatly benefited from the genocide of Indigenous Americans.
“ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's acceptance of an inquiry's finding that Canada committed genocide against Indigenous people could have tremendous legal impact if a court ever weighs Ottawa's responsibility for crimes against humanity, experts say.”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/trudeau-s-acknowledgment-of-indigenous-genocide-could-have-legal-impacts-experts-1.5457668
"I didn't use the word genocide because it didn't come to mind but I described genocide," Pope Francis told reporters on the papal flight from Iqaluit to Rome on Friday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203
“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.”
― President John F. Kennedy
“President Kennedy issued an Executive Order prohibiting use of facilities on military bases by groups not integrated. The result was to bar Masonic lodges from using the bases.” Masonic Parallels with History - A Chronology of General and Masonic History by Alphonse Cerza. themasonictrowel
THE MILITARY AND FREEMASONRY
Freemasonry in Nova Scotia
Freemasonry at the Two Sieges of Louisbourg 1745 and 1758
Freemasonry in Quebec
Sir William Johnson, the Brant family, the Kerr family and the British Indian Department
MOOR’S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL
Mohawk Institute (Mush Hole)
The rebellion of 1837
Manitoba Freemasons
Saskatchewan Freemasons
North-West Rebellion
Provincial Premiers Alberta masons
The Canadian Pacific Railway
Smallpox epidemic of 1862
British Columbia Freemasons
Freemason Prime Ministers
American Freemasons and the genocide of the
Indigenous peoples.
Spanish Freemasons
Royal Freemasons
300 Years of Freemasonry Celebrated at Royal Albert Hall Global Event
Freemasonry according to Masons.
The Fourth Council of Toledo Canon 60 and Indian Residential Schools
Sources
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ4QiANX3BnEdEwD94FXfh1Nkg_RJ-XN5UhN0_gLX10isR2i08xUziA9ZX7sErUMdp4PTKKPhP0P7F2/pub#h.fpjzhjnusgk1

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Hi all, I have an appointment for a REAL ID upgrade March 30th. I will be taking the train to DC April 19th and going out to bars and resturants there. Will 2 weeks be enough to recieve my real ID in the mail? If not, will people understand that my current standard license may have a hole in it?

Anyone know of a good place (other than Genius bar) for apple computer service?

Texas Just Seized One of The Largest School Districts in The Country

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy3zpy/texas-just-seized-one-of-the-largest-school-districts-in-the-country
The takeover will replace elected officials with a state-appointed "board of managers" as Gov. Greg Abbott tightens government control over schools.
One of the largest school districts in the country has been taken over by the government.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) confirmed Wednesday that at the end of the school year, Houston Independent School District’s superintendent and school board members will be replaced by “a board of managers” chosen by the state’s government.

The decision is being justified based on the academic performance of one of the district's 276 campuses, and will impact nearly 200,000 students. It’s by far the largest school district in Texas, made larger by a failed TEA takeover of North Forest ISD in 2008.

In November 2019, the TEA put Houston ISD on notice that a state takeover was imminent after giving the district a succession of “D” and “F” marks in its evaluations. This was made possible in 2015 when the state legislature enacted a law that gave the TEA the authority to either close a failing campus that had received five years’ worth of failing marks, or take over the entire district by appointing a Board of Managers. In Houston ISD’s case, the TEA opted for the latter.
Houston ISD sued. But in January 2023, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that TEA could proceed.
The takeover comes at a time when Republican-controlled state governments have sought to tighten their grip on schools—from eliminating courses teaching Black history and other so-called “woke” topics to policies that remove books from classrooms unless they are on a state-approved list.
Texas educators argue the state agency set their district up to fail with its ever-changing standards. Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, says the TEA is notorious for moving the goal post on districts, especially when it comes to student attendance rates, standardized test scores, and a program called “College, Career, and Military Readiness.”
“Students have to either attend college or graduate high school with some type of career or go into the military,” Anderson told Motherboard. “If the students don’t do that, the school district loses points.”
Wednesday’s letter to Houston ISD officials cites years of “chaotic board meetings marred by infighting” from school board members—only one of whom has been a sitting member since 2018—of routinely exceeding their authority by directing staff to violate Texas school laws.
“Even with a delay of three full years caused by legal proceedings, systemic problems in Houston ISD continue to impact students most in need of our collective support,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath writes in the letter.
The Texas Tribune reported that last year, Phillis Wheatley High School earned a “C” and Houston ISD received an overall “B” from the TEA. In the last 19 months, the number of Houston ISD campuses that received failing marks have been reduced from 50 to 10. In a statement, outgoing Houston ISD superintendent Miller House II says this week’s announcement doesn’t discount the districts’ gains.
“I am proud to say, in the last 19 months, we have already seen vast improvements,” House II said in a statement to Motherboard. “Because of the hard work of our students, teachers, and staff, we have lifted 40 of 50 schools off the ‘D’ or ‘F’ TEA accountability ratings list. Together, with our parents, community members and leaders, we developed the district's first comprehensive five-year strategic plan to build a better HISD.”
The takeover of Houston ISD, the 8th largest school district in the country, raises alarm bells for many education advocates because of how far the state’s reach seems to go. As Motherboard previously reported, conservative policies enacted in Florida have threatened teachers and librarians with felony charges if they fail to remove books which the state considers “prurient” or “offensive.” What’s happening in Texas appears to demonstrate how two conservative governors and potential 2024 presidential contenders, Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, are caught up in an state-education arms race to control U.S. education. But Abbott’s approach is different in that it’s focused on privatization: The Texas Tribune has reported that Abbott supports a “school choice policy” via an educational savings account program.
“So you've given out these vouchers,” Anderson said. “The voucher has gone to these private schools. Then you don't have the money as a parent to pay for the next semester, and your child has to come back because you don't have the money to pay for the second semester. Now [Abbott’s] marketing this as ‘parents' choice.’ But parents already have a choice, without vouchers, where they want to send their kids to school. Houston ISD is a district of choice.”
Researchers who follow school district takeovers say there’s a lot of evidence that they don’t actually improve academic performance..They note that state takeovers disproportionately impact districts made up of a majority of students of color and elected boards comprised of trustees of color, and that they have other negative impacts on districts, including fractured parent and community relations with the schools.
“In the case of Houston, I’m concerned about what approach the board of managers might take to increase the number of charter schools in the area, as we saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina,” Chloe Sikes, deputy director of policy at the educational nonprofit Intercultural Development Research Association, told Motherboard. “The takeover concerns the academic performance of a single campus, Wheatley High School, which has actually improved in the latest accountability ratings to a C rating. If charter schools are expanded in the district, this could lead to other negative impacts to Houston ISD’s per student funding, teacher workforce, and community input and accountability.”
TEA’s Morath will determine how long the state’s board will control Houston ISD, which is the largest district TEA has taken over since 2000. More announcements from TEA are expected to be released in the coming weeks, but documents obtained by the Tribune before they were taken offline include an unpaid job application for Board of Managers seats that describe the core purpose of the Board of Managers as “to improve student outcomes” as they relate to preparing students for “college, career, or the military.”
Meanwhile, teachers unions like Houston Federation of Teachers are now bracing themselves for cost-cutting measures. When TEA took over North Forest ISD, Anderson says many teachers were laid off.

“Anytime an unelected individual that's appointed by the governor comes in and removes the entire democratically elected board [it] virtually silences our voices,” said Anderson. “You've taken away our democratic right to vote. And you have done a thing to us that says what we want does not matter.”

Law Prof To File Bar Complaint Against Stanford Students Who Heckled, Harassed Federal Judge

https://dailycaller.com/2023/03/20/law-professor-bar-complaint-stanford-students-heckled-harassed-federal-judge/
The bar handles two types of complaints: attorney misconduct, or unauthorized practice of law.
Law students are not attorneys and they are not practicing law by “heckling” a guest speaker at their college.
https://www.reddit.com/law/comments/11wrqdx/law_prof_to_file_bar_complaint_against_stanford/

Recently I was told I have Hashimotos after 5 years of being waved away from GPs. Anyway apparently my hormone levels are okay so I don't receive treatment (something I will likely push them on). At the same appointment where I was told about Hashimotos the GP was seeing me about my hair falling out. She didn't once mention that it could be related to Hashimotos but now I'm seeing things online saying that it is a common occurrence. My hair has been falling out for 6ish months. Not in chunks, more like if I run my fingers through a fair amount will come with and if I brush my hair loads comes out (which happens twice daily). I've lost more than half my hair so my hair just looks thin and I'd only just got my hair to grow back long after an impulsive short hair cut 😳😩. The GP seems to think it's just all my hair shedding at once but that has never happened to me and I'm 25, it seems like 6 months is a long time for that to be happening. Do you know if it's possible that this is the Hashimotos? Do you have any experience with this? I think the reason she thinks it's just my hair shedding all at once is because it isn't coming out in patches so I don't know if it's possible for hair to come out in strands with auto immune diseases. Thank you for any advice!
Separate: I have felt like I was going to faint a few times in the last week, I've been struggling to keep my head up and my top lip tingles a lot. I instinctively had sugar when this happened first because I was very sure I would pass out otherwise. Now, I keep a vegan chocolate bar on hand because it's become a frequent occurrence. I don't know why this keeps happening but it's quite scary. Any insight would be great, I really find the GP unhelpful with this stuff so I'm a bit lost here on my own.