https://wapo.st/3WJ4sqO
First 3 paragraphs:
A group of billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City’s mayor last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, according to communications obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the group.
Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call on April 26 with Mayor Eric Adams (D), about a week after the mayor first sent New York police to Columbia’s campus, a log of chat messages shows. During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group’s members could pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters, according to chat messages summarizing the conversation.
One member of the WhatsApp chat group told The Post he donated $2,100, the maximum legal limit, to Adams that month. Some members also offered to pay for private investigators to assist New York police in handling the protests, the chat log shows — an offer a member of the group reported in the chat that Adams accepted. The New York Police Department is not using and has not used private investigators to help manage protests, a spokeswoman for City Hall said.

I received an email yesterday stating:
"MTGOX – Disapproval of Your Registered Payee Information" and the reason explained: "The reasons why your payee information has been disapproved are as follows. On the System, you must register the bank account information where you will receive repayment, including the SWIFT/BIC code, national clearing code, account numbeIBAN, name of bank, branch name, and bank location for the bank in which you ultimately would like to receive the remittance. As the currently registered bank account information may include the information of a bank other than such bank, the Rehabilitation Trustee cannot make a bank remittance. Therefore, please correct the registered information in the System on the screen for registration of bank account as the payee information and then click the “Update” button. "
When I log in, my remittance bank info has a SWIFT code with a green check. There is no box for IBAN nor clearing code. Only fields are: SWIFT/BIC, Account Number, Name of Bank, Branch Name, Branch Location.
To be clear, I am on the page accessed via: Login -> "Select Repayment Method and Register Payee Information" -> "Register Receipt Bank Account Information for a Bank of Remittance".
The first part of the page is selection of MUFG with personal info followed by the bank info. I called the bank and doubled checked the numbers/accounts/address.
What is missing from the MtGox Claims webform is my PERSONAL account information. Even if they accept the bank info, the bank has no way of knowing whose account to put the transfer.
However, there are multiple SWIFT numbers/branches ... it is unclear if I should be using the SWIFT code of the bank branch located in Japan or the US. They have different info. Using the "Automatic Entry of Bank Information" for either SWIFT code still leaves the "Branch Name" information empty and the "Branch Location" field incomplete.
I've emailed support via the FAQ ... explaining that I don't understand what information is incorrect. Has anyone ever received a response from that?

Buying property in Dubai's secondary market can be a rewarding investment, but it requires careful planning and understanding of the local real estate laws and market conditions. This guide provides a step-by-step approach for both international buyers and residents, outlining the necessary requirements, procedures, and tips for a successful transaction.
1. Requirements and Alternatives for International Buyers Requirements: - Eligibility: International buyers can purchase property in designated freehold areas. - Documentation: Passport copies, entry visa, and proof of address in the home country. - Emirates ID: Not mandatory for non-residents but can simplify the process.
Alternatives Without a Bank Account: - Local Payment Solutions: Use reputed real-estate agencies who provide the manager's cheque on your behalf on agreed terms and services (an agreement is signed between both the parties to secure their interests)
2. Requirements for Residents Cash Buyers: - Proof of Funds: Bank statements or financial certificates (Not required in case of transactions below 10 Million AED). - Identification: Emirates ID and passport copy.
Mortgage Buyers: - Pre-Approval: From a local bank, indicating the loan amount. - Income Proof: Salary certificates and bank statements. - Credit History: Evaluation by the bank. - Down Payment: Typically 25-30% of the property value should be paid by the buyer himself including the other costs such as 4% DLD (Dubai land department) registration fee & 2% Agency fee.
** 3. Deciding on Cash or Mortgage** Factors to Consider: - Cash in Hand: If you have enough liquidity, cash purchases avoid interest payments and simplify the process. - Pre-Approval: Mortgage buyers should secure pre-approval to understand their budget limits. - Market Conditions: Interest rates and property price trends can influence the decision. - Investment Goals: Long-term vs. short-term investment strategies.
4. Hiring a Specialized Agent Finding the Right Agent: - Experience: Look for agents with a track record in the desired community. - Credentials: Ensure the agent is RERA certified (Real Estate Regulatory Authority). - Referrals and Reviews: Check online reviews and get recommendations.
Agent’s Role and Responsibilities: - Market Analysis: Provide insights into market trends and property values. - Property Search: Identify properties that match your criteria. - Viewings: Arrange and accompany you to property viewings. - Legalities: Assist with legal paperwork and ensure compliance with Dubai Land Department (DLD) regulations. - Negotiations: Negotiate on your behalf to get the best price.
5. Forms Utilized at Different Stages - Form A: Agency agreement between seller and agent. - Form B: Agency agreement between buyer and agent. - Form F (Contract F): Sales contract between buyer and seller, outlining the terms and conditions of the sale (also referred to as MOU). - Form I: Agreement between mortgage broker and buyer (if applicable).
6. Presenting an Offer and Negotiations - Initial Offer: Your agent presents your offer to the seller. - Negotiations: Counteroffers may follow until a mutual agreement is reached. - Acceptance: Both parties sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), also known as Form F.
7. Signing of Form F Contents of Form F: - Buyer and Seller Details: Names, contact information, and identification numbers. - Property Details: Address, plot number, and description. - Price and Payment Terms: Agreed price and payment schedule. - Conditions: Any conditions or contingencies (e.g., inspection, financing).
8. Registration and Other Aspects Final Steps: - NOC from Developer: Required for property transfer should be provided by the seller. - Transfer of Ownership: Conducted at the DLD or a registered trustee office. - Title Deed: Issued in the buyer’s name once the transaction is complete. - Utility Connections: Transfer utility services to your name.
Additional Tips: - Due Diligence: Research the developer’s reputation and the property’s history. - Market Comparisons: Compare prices of similar properties to gauge the right price. - Legal Advice: Consider hiring a legal advisor to review contracts and ensure your interests are protected ( not required in most cases as the forms utilised in different stages are a standard format by the DLD which is simplified for the easy understanding of both buyer & seller).
Buying a property in Dubai's secondary market involves several steps, but with the right preparation and professional assistance, it can be a smooth and rewarding process. Whether you’re an international buyer or a resident, understanding the requirements, choosing the right financing option, and working with a specialized agent are key to a successful investment.
(Please advise if any details are missing or incorrect & I will rectify them if they are correct)

Hey everyone. As the title suggests, I am finally in a position where I can go back to school to finish my degree. Okay, technically it's starting my degree over again in a new major of study, as my first attempt was at age 18 through Laurentian University at Georgian College in Barrie, with a major in political science. That was in 2012. This time around, I am studying something that I wanted to all along, but couldn't for various reasons, that being English with an intended specialization in creative writing. I've always loved to write, and have wanted to pursue this avenue for close to 20 years, but was never afforded an opportunity like I have been now.
That being said, I haven't been in school for close to 10 years, now. I dropped out of my poli sci degree after a year of study due to my own admissions of not being interested in the material of study compared to what I learned in secondary school. So, I took a year off to learn about myself, then transferred to a generic business program directly through Georgian. I ultimately claimed a diploma in that, and then life sort of got in the way of me being able to go back to finish what I had started, or rather pursuing my true passions. I ultimately ended up the caregiver for my Grandmother, who passed away in 2022, and I've since spent the last two years as one of the estate trustees. Life certainly has been different, to say the least.
To make a rambling man's long story short, what can I expect to find at Lakehead University's Orillia campus? Will students who are presumably younger than myself be accepting of the fact I am now one of their peers? What sort of things should I be looking into purchasing before going to school? Is virtual learning more of a thing than it was 12 years ago? What are the average driving conditions like from Orillia to say Barrie, or even Collingwood, where I currently reside? Gas prices aren't an issue for me, as I drive an EV, but what sort of things should I be wary of?

Sorry for the not-so descriptive descriptions, just want to give a general idea and don't know how to quite sell myself yet
Intended Major: Economics and/or potentially Math
Demographics:

• Black Male
• First generation son of African Immigrants
• Income: Middle Class
• Suburban Durham, NC
• Current School Type(11,12) : Feeder public high school in state; we don't class rank; class size of approximately 350 students(highly selective STEM residential)
• Previous School (9,10): Large public high school; class rank (3/562)

Stats/Course Rigor:

• 3.8 (UW), 4.5(W)
• 1550 SAT Superscore (790M/760RW)
• AP Scores: 5s on Calc BC, Micro, Macro, Psych, USH, Human ; 4 on Environmental; 3 on CSP
• Plan on taking Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus, AP Chem, and potentially linear algebra next year
• Took Combinatorics & Game Theory this year

Extracurriculars/Leadership (Main Ones)

• Research with Duke ProfessoUndergraduates (12)-- Working on a paper in the field of political science this upcoming summer (not a lot of info yet)
• Schoolhouse SAT Tutor (10,11,12)--tutor students worldwide over zoom in preparation for their SAT in both reading and math sections
• Paid Summer Camp Counselor Internship (11)-- Supervised and mentored a group of ten second graders while designing and facilitating engaging outdoor educational activities throughout the summer
• Economics Journal Co-director(11,12)-- contact local businesses and conduct interviews to include in our schools economics journal
• School's Activity Board Co President(11,12)-- plan and coordinate events for the student body throughout the school year
• BSU Committee Leader (9,10 11,12)-- organize African cultural events for the school and work alongside other leaders in huge annual BSU fest event
• School's Liaison(12)-- one of six students who maintain connection between school's stakeholders, state legislatures, and board of Trustees, providing tours around the school and keep communication between student body, school, and the three.
• NSBE TMAL Captain (12)-- lead math competition team and practices
• Additional Tutoring (11,12)-- provide free tutoring for underrepresented minority groups in all subjects, but an increased focus in STEM to grow interest and build confidence
• Social Media (9,10,11,12)-- Tiktok account with over 45k followers with content pertaining to economics and other educational content

Awards

• National Merit Commended Scholar (Met this years cutoff of 208)
• National African American Recognition
• Economics 4th Place State Finalist and National Qualifier(FBLA)
• NSBE Try-Math-A-Lon 1st place winner
• AP Scholar With Distinction
• French Honor Society

LOR

• APUSH Teacher (8.5-9 /10)
• Calculus Teacher (7/10)
• Counselor(9/10)

Reaches

• Duke
• UPenn
• Columbia
• Yale
• Georgia Tech
• Princeton

Safeties

• UNC (guaranteed acceptance)
• Howard

https://archive.is/9to49
In next Monday’s Annual Town Election, voters will choose the next member of the Selectboard and a Proposition 2 ½ override aimed at handling the town’s expenses. The race for Selectboard between candidates Nicole Gough and Earl Sweat is to fill the year remaining on the unexpired term of former member Dan Sanden, who resigned earlier this year. The $175,000 Proposition 2 ½ override will help cover the town’s expenses for the approaching fiscal year.
Aside from the Selectboard race, candidates for all other elective offices – mostly incumbents – won’t face any opposition. While a resident of Phillipston for the past 14 years, Gough is a newcomer to town politics. In an April interview with the Athol Daily News, the native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, said politics is something she’s always been interested in.
“I have a deep love for politics,” she said. “I have a deep love of history passed down to me by family.”
Gough said the vacancy on the Selectboard “really made me interested in serving my community and being interested in how our community is run by the local leadership in our towns and cities…I think we need some new ideas, and I want to focus on getting more people involved in the community. We need more people to be active. We need more ways to get more people excited and want to participate.”
Sweat, who grew up in Winchester, New Hampshire, moved to Phillipston in the late 1990s after accepting a job in Gardner. He has served on the Board of Assessors since 2022, his first experience in municipal government.
“I’ve been interested in town government since I was a kid,” he said. “My father and grandfather were both selectmen in the town that they grew up in.
“I think the biggest concern moving forward is finding a way to get more involvement from the residents, whether it’s getting them to show up at meetings, whether it’s establishing a better channel of communication to them.”
In a statement distributed to Phillipston residents, the Selectboard and Finance Committee said the decision to seek the override was not made lightly. The override is needed, said the release, due to an increase in operating expenses for both the town and regional schools.
According to the statement, an override of $175,000 would add 52 cents per every $1,000 of valuation. A home valued at $450,000 would see an increase of $234 per year on the property tax bill.
“The town’s recurring expenses are outweighing our recurring revenues,” the statement read. “Using one-time revenue from free cash or the stabilization fund to balance the budget is not possible or prudent as the funds will quickly become exhausted, and the town will lose its good financial standing.” At a recent Town Meeting, voters reduced the proposed $2.8 million FY25 budget by eliminating the position of building maintenance/groundskeeper, saving $35,000, and cutting the administrative assistant’s salary by $12,879. If the override fails, the cuts voted at Town Meeting will remain in place.
Candidates running unopposed next Monday include:
■Bernie Malouin, Board of Selectmen, three years
■David Manty, Board of Assessors, three years
■Karissa Moore, Board of Health, three years
■Steven Burnett, Cemetery Commission, three years
■Fern Stellato, Constable, three years
■Sylvia Haley, Board of Library Trustees, three years
■Tom Specht, Planning Board, five years
■Gordon Moore, Planning Board, two years
■Jared McDonald-Bourbeau, Town Moderator, three years
■Kathryn Buell, Narragansett Regional School Committee, Phillipston, three years
■Jennifer Smith, Narragansett Regional School Committee, Templeton, three years
Positions with no candidate include Cemetery Commission and Narragansett Regional School Committee, Templeton. Specht and Moore are the only non-incumbents, aside from Gough and Sweat, seeking election.
Phillipston’s Annual Town Election will take place on Monday, May 20, from noon-8 p.m. at Phillipston Town Hall.

My idea for the GxK sequel plot would begin with Godzilla waking up from his sleep in the Colosseum and returning to Tiamat's former layer to complete his evolution. Fast forward a few months later, and Godzilla emerges from the lair, completing his evolution and starting to look a little bit more like Tiamat.
Fast forward a few years, and Monarch detects two previously unknown Titans emerge from the Hollow Earth, Titanus Qalupalik, an ugly serpent-like fish or amphibian emerging from the Arctic Circle, and Titanus Dakuwaqa, a shark Titan emerging from a portal in the sea near Kadavu Island. Monarch figures they are here to take over the niches left by Scylla and Tiamat. Godzilla encounters Qalupalik first, who is combative, and they get into a quick one-sided fight which forces Qalupalik to submit. Godzilla gives her a pass and accepts her to take Tiamat's place. Then Godzilla meets up with Dakuwaqa, who begins a ritualistic dance of sorts to gain Godzilla's approval. After Godzilla inspects him and his demeanor, he accepts Dakuwaqa to take his new territory. Then, Godzilla moves to Madagascar to rest.
On the human side of the story, public outrage over the incompetence of both Monarch and world governments to prepare for these Titan attacks is at an all-time high. Governments are now arguing over how to deal with them. Some leaders want to eliminate Godzilla because they believe Godzilla is going to attack them anyway regardless of whether they provoke him or not and that he is too powerful to let alive. Others want to focus more on a Hollow Earth takeover and declare war on the Kongs because they fear that they can plan another attack on the surface world. Monarch tries to assure them that such an event would not happen again because of their change in leadership, but many are still unconvinced. The American government, along with other NATO countries, begin investing in developing a new type of military weapon to deal with Godzilla, the Super X. They also are trying to seal up the holes left in Hong Kong, Cairo, and Rio de Janeiro to ensure nothing from the Hollow Earth can use those portals to invade the surface world again. Monarch gets into heated conflicts over world governments over the portals, as they want to keep a few open for research purposes among other things. The governments relent and allow the portal in Barbados to remain open but require them to invest in extra security in case of an emergency.
Returning to Godzilla, he is suffering from irritating skin parasites (these parasites would be Shockirus, Endoswarmers, or an original kaiju). To deal with them, he begins trying to scrape them off by rubbing himself against the seafloor near the coast of Madagascar. He also tries reaching for some with his jaws and claws. The people on the beach are witnessing this as it is happening, and once Godzilla gets rid of most of the parasites, the beachgoers realize that some of them haven't been killed yet, and as they are aggressive and still larger than humans, they emerge from the shore to attack humans. But this terror is short lived as Godzilla quickly comes in to finish them off. Godzilla then returns back to the water but stays close enough to the island where people can clearly see him. He floats in the water, similarly to a crocodile, with his head and eyes above the water. He is staring at the people and the coasts intensely, which makes the beachgoers feel uncomfortable. Then, it transitions to some flashbacks where we see Madagascar 5 million years ago. These flashbacks would likely be of Godzilla's memories of his youth, from his birth to the other megafauna that used to exist on the island back in the day. Then, it would transition to another flashback where Godzilla encounters some indigenous people on Madagascar as a more mature individual. He curiously stares at the people and the chieftain looks back with great reverence. The people bow and begin to worship him, and Godzilla continues to look at them tenderly. Returning back to the present day, Godzilla lets out a deep low bellow, which gives off the impression of sadness. In reality, Godzilla is upset that he has become more disconnected to the world he protects and now feels like his life has become nothing but fighting to protect it without being able to take pleasure in its wonders.
Switching the attention to Kong, a fight sequence occurs between Kong and another Great Ape wielding a heavy machete. They are fighting in the battle arena as some apes watch the fight while others are busy doing other things. Kong prevails and the Great Ape falls to the ground. After the fight, Kong helps the Great Ape back up. It turns out the fight was nothing more than training; one of the things Kong has begun to do since his rise to power is to teach his people self-defense. As the audience gets a better look of what life is now like in their layer, it is revealed that Kong has recruited a group of Great Apes to assist him in pushing forward his policies. For example, there is a group of Great Apes that are tasked with keeping track of their inventory and rationing their food and water for the tribe. Another group was tasked to build a safe bridge replacing the giant skeleton, which was at this point completed. Others are taking care of the children and so on. Then there are apes that are farming fields of crops, which Mothra periodically visits to pollinate. Shimo, meanwhile, is just chilling with the apes and is not confined to her pit anymore. Kong has no generals or anyone with military roles as he has no interest in conquest and does not see the need for an army at the moment. Kong also does not allow anyone to gather food or water on their own except for him, because he does not want to put anyone else in danger. He meets up with Suko after his duel and is approached by Boots, who is also now a trusted advisor to him, and is alerting him of an approaching Titan. It turns out to be a squadron of Monarch HEAVs and Jet Jaguar, piloted by Trapper. After the fight in Rio, Monarch sent expedition crews to visit the Kong lair, and were horrified by the living conditions that Skar King created. So, they planned an initiative to deliver humanitarian aid to the apes, providing them with food or water, and also trying to make diplomatic measures with them and the Iwi tribe. They have developed a new type of bioengineered crop made from various Hollow Earth flora and Titan cells to feed the apes (which can be a set-up for Biollante in a future installment) and a new type of HEAV that can carry a heavier load to transport these resources. They also created a humanoid mech named Jet Jaguar, piloted by Trapper, which serves as both a diplomat and a vet, fully equipped with veterinary tools that allow it to treat pathologies for Titans, including the Great Apes. In addition, Monarch has rebuilt the Titan Hunter with some improvements as NATO voted to force them to reconstruct it as a self-defense weapon in case of another Titan attack. Since that has not happened yet since the Rio attack, the Titan Hunter has not yet been used. Jet Jaguar and the HEAVs are arriving at the lair with another shipment of resources, including more tools for the apes to plant their own crops. While the Great Apes begin to collect the shipments from the HEAVs, Kong greets Jet Jaguar, who is here to treat a Great Ape with severe physical ailments. This ape has torn tendons and ligaments from slave labor and requires casts for all of his limbs. The challenge with treating the apes is that they are still cautious of foreigners, so Monarch has had to learn patience when working with them. They also have only one mech to perform surgeries with, so they can only treat one ape at a time. Kong and Jet Jaguar meet up with the patient, an as they perform surgery, Kong has to be with the ape to soothe and comfort him as Jet Jaguar begins surgery. After a successful surgery is completed and the Monarch team departs, Kong sits back and looks at his tribe. He begins to have feelings of self-doubt, that he is not up for the task, despite trying his best. He also still feels Skar King's presence, as the pain and damage he has caused still greatly lingers even after death. Kong begins to suffer from insomnia and nightmares from Skar King, showing his presence is still strong and relentless even after death.
Then, the Monarch team visits the Iwi city and delivers the rest of their resources which were designated for them. Here, in this scene, while the audience gets a better glimpse of what life for the Iwi is like, they also get to see Phosphera, another guardian Titan (The best explanation I can come up for why Phosphera did not show up to fight Skar King in the previous movie here would be that she was in a metamorphosing stage during the events of GxK and was too immature to safely break out of her cocoon until after the events of the movie.)
Back on the surface world, in a lab somewhere in the U.S, scientists are experimenting with a genetically modified colony of Shinomura, which would be the main antagonist(s) of the first half. These scientists work closely with the federal government. They believe that it would be more effective to genetically engineer a kaiju superbug that can quickly evolve, spread and annihilate the Hollow Earth ecosystem at much lower costs than constructing mechs which take much longer to do and a lot more money. The cells are dormant and can only be activated by exposure to radiation, which is why Godzilla does not detect them or see them as a threat. The cells are transported by a ship to North Carolina where another portal to the Hollow Earth has been opened. The military plans to release them into the Hollow Earth and then quickly seal it, but it is backfired by a group of mercenaries who attack the ship and want to take the cells for themselves. Unfortunately, the cells are released, and they are not far from a nuclear power plant which also happens to be using the pink super charged radiation gathered from the Hollow Earth, so the cells multiply and grow, turning into a swarm. The cells combine into arthropod like monsters that are too small to be Titans but large enough to attack humans. They begin attacking nuclear plants and surrounding cities while others retreat into the Hollow Earth, which catches Godzilla's attention. Mothra gains wind of it too and emerges onto the surface world to aid Godzilla. By the time Godzilla gets to North Carolina, the swarm has absorbed enough energy to combine into a singular, massive, supercharged form that rivals Godzilla in size. They begin to fight, while the military decides to resort to Plan B and send the Super X against Godzilla. The first battle is fairly even until the Super X begins to attack both Shinomura and Godzilla, blasting chunks of Shinomura away. It becomes a three-way battle until Shinomura escapes and retreats into the ocean while Godzilla is distracted fighting the Super X. Mothra eventually arrives and Godzilla and Mothra destroy the Super X. Then Godzilla pursues the main Shinomura heading for Japan while a few other smaller colonies move to other locations.
Back in the Hollow Earth, the Shinomuras that escaped there quickly grow and begin running amok on the planet. Kong is travelling with Shimo and Suko. They are gathering more food and water to bring back to the tribe, but their trip is quickly interrupted by a squadron of Shinomuras that have combined into their arthropod like forms but now rival Kong in size. Kong leaves Suko with Shimo and takes them on himself. He has no problem ripping the Shinomuras apart with his axe and bare hands. He overpowers them individually, but as the Shinomuras recombine and reshape themselves, they begin to overwhelm him. He notices Shimo and Suko are prompted to do something about it, even though he doesn't want them to, but eventually relents and retreats into a nearby body of water to shake them off of him. Kong quickly jumps out of the water and Shimo freezes and traps the Shinomuras in the water. The trio realize that even more Shinomuras are on the way and transforming into something deadlier. The three immediately turn back and run straight for the lair. As they are running, Kong gets flashbacks of being pursued by Skar King's goons; the Shinomuras remind him of the destruction and chaos that was left behind in Skar King's advance. Kong calls out to the apes farming as he makes it back to the lair and motions them to get inside immediately. He closes up the entrance and warns everyone of the emergency. He has everyone gather all of the resources they have and take refuge in Shimo's former lair, which they now use as an emergency bunker. Boots signs Kong what are they going to do next, and Kong admits he doesn't know, but he intends to be the one to check when it is safe to leave again. Meanwhile, the Iwi are in a similar predicament and Phosphera swoops in to defend the barrier against the invading Shinomuras.
In response to all of this, Monarch sends militaristic HEAVs to neutralize the Shinomuras and has Trapper (or some other character) tasked to pilot Titan Hunter to pursue the main Shinomura on the surface and kill it. Kashiwazaki is evacuated before Shinomura arrives on the scene. Shinomura begins to attack the Kashiwazaki nuclear plant when Godzilla and Mothra arrive to fight it once again. As this is happening, the other colonies arrive to other regions of the world, gaining more strength and attacking other major cities. Godzilla notices this and is conflicted on how to deal with the threats as he is fighting, but Jet Jaguar arrives in Kashiwazaki to fight Shinomura. Godzilla charges up to attack Titan Hunter, thinking he is a threat to him just like the Super X, but Trapper notices this and bows to Godzilla before he can attack. Godzilla accepts this surrender, but quickly shifts his attention back to the Shinomura. Eventually, Titan Hunter, Godzilla, and Mothra defeat the Shinomura, but soon after, several Shinomura supercolonies that supercharged themselves on Hollow Earth energy have reemerged on the surface world to the point where there is at least one attacking each continent of the world. The largest and most powerful colony is in the Yucca Mountain Nuclear West Repository in Nevada. Godzilla is forced to send his alpha call and awaken all of the surface Titans to attack the Shinomuras, so battles begin breaking out across the world. But Godzilla realizes it is not enough and ventures into the Hollow Earth to get more help. Mothra and the Titan Hunter stay behind to hold the line while Godzilla is away and Mothra moves on to Nevada to tackle the Shinomura there, and the Titan Hunter follows her.
Most of the Titans appear to be holding their ground for the most part, but not outright winning either. However, they start to have more problems as some Titans take advantage of the chaos to pursue ulterior motives. Amhuluk wants to fight to claim his desired territory in the Amazon again and travels to the Amazon to fight Behemoth over it and causing a three-way fight between them and the Shinomura colony attacking the region. Meanwhile, in the Hollow Earth, Camazotz reemerges and sends his minions out to devour everything in their path, including the smaller Shinomuras. So Amhuluk and Camazotz become the main antagonists during the second half. Some of the hell swarm attacks the ape lair, and Kong leaves to confront them before they break through. He is able to kill a large number of them, but there are too many for him to handle, forcing him to retreat back into the lair. Several escape into the lair, which Kong is able to kill. When he reunites with his people, he gets more flashbacks of his memories of both Camazotz and Skar King. The attack of the hell swarm reminds him of the invasion Skar King launched against the Hollow Earth and surface world a few years back.
Godzilla travels through oceanic Hollow Earth portals and passes through various ruins of extinct Hollow Earth civilizations along the way. He detects Amhuluk's movements and realizes what he is doing. Godzilla gets really mad, but reluctantly continues on his current path as going back to confront Amhuluk would take up too much time and energy. He makes it into the Hollow Earth and heads over to the ape lair and finishes off the rest of the hell swarm that was still attacking the lair. Afterwards, he charges up his breath and blasts the entrance open again, startling all of the apes. Kong grabs his axe and gets in a defensive position, but after hearing a roar realizes it is Godzilla. He calmly walks into the ape lair, but the other great apes become angry and leave the bunker to mob, surround and harass Godzilla. Godzilla does his best not to escalate tensions, but snaps his jaws, hisses, and sometimes pushes the apes away. Kong roars at the apes and directs them to move away from him. The apes follow his orders and Kong approaches Godzilla. He realizes that he has called on him for help against the Shinomuras. Kong decides to go with Godzilla but does not want to bring Shimo or any of the apes with him. The apes beg for him not to go, and even Shimo seems to cry out for Kong to stay, but he rejects allowing any of his people to put themselves in danger, and he puts Boots in charge while he is away. He says one final goodbye to Suko and leaves with Godzilla.
They have to fight off many smaller Shinomuras while travelling to the surface world while heading for Nevada. Meanwhile, Mothra and the Titan Hunter are already there fighting with the super Shinomura colony. The fight is rather even, but Trapper feels like the fight is going to quicky turn against their favor if they do not get backup soon. Some drones and fighter jets arrive to strike the Shinomura. Eventually, Godzilla and Kong arrive to fight the Shinomura, but Kong notices the Titan Hunter, and has a vision of Skar King, seeing both the Titan Hunter and Skar King as the embodiment of cruelty, destruction, and conquest. Kong attacks the Titan Hunter out of anger, forcing Godzilla to be the one to shove Kong away and break it up. Kong takes a closer look at the Titan Hunter and realizes that it is not the same pilot as the one that hunted Hollow Earth fauna. The Titan Hunter bows to Kong to show he is on the same side and they resume fighting the Shinomura. So, a large portion of the movie would be showing scenes of the Titans fighting the Shinomuras at random intervals, giving a glimpse of what is going on in all of the areas where fights are happening.
Shifting back to Godzilla and Kong's fight, things begin to look grim as more Shinomuras arrive from the Hollow Earth and combine with the supercolony, and Godzilla, Kong, Mothra, and the Titan Hunter begin to struggle against it. Godzilla is still capable of holding some of his ground, while Kong and Mothra are forced to step back as close-range combat is no longer viable. The Titan Hunter gets beaten up really bad and seems to be done for until an ice blast hits the Shinomura. It is Boots, who is riding Shimo, and has gathered the strongest and physically capable apes to help their leader (A fairly large number of fit apes were left behind to care for the elderly and the children). Kong does not know whether to feel happy that his people have his back or mad that they disobeyed his orders but regroups with them regardless and regain their edge against the Shinomura. Then we see more scenes of the other fights going on around the world before Kong's army, Shimo, Godzilla, Mothra, and the Titan Hunter defeat the super Shinomura. While the organic Titans return to the Hollow Earth to finish off the Shinomuras still running around in there, the Titan Hunter lags behind from all of the damage it has sustained, but the pilot persists with helping the Titans.
Back in the Hollow Earth, Godzilla, Mothra, Kong's army, and Shimo run through the Hollow Earth, assisting the local fauna in fighting off the Shinomuras. The Titan Hunter tries its best to follow them and fight off the Shinomuras, but they eventually overwhelm them, forcing the pilot to eject himself. Luckily, a HEAV is nearby and is able to rescue him. Then, a good chunk of the plot would then focus on shifting back between the Hollow Earth fight and the rest of the fights happening on the surface. Kong directs a portion of his army to join Phosphera in defending the Iwi city, which is now under attack by both Shinomuras and Camazotz's minions. Phosphera is close to dying (and eventually does), but the apes are able to kill most of the enemies while the rest retreat. Godzilla and Kong split up, with Kong pursuing Camazotz and Godzilla returning to the surface to confront Amhuluk. Kong leaves Boots in charge of his army and takes a few other trusted friends of his to confront Camazotz, but Shimo follows them, wanting to accompany them. Kong gets more flashbacks of Skar King when he used Shimo to try to execute him, and Kong was unwilling to let Shimo go with them since he did not want to use her for fighting his enemies. Shimo persists and eventually Kong reluctantly lets her join them.
Back on the surface world, Behemoth is not faring well against Amhuluk. The Shinomura colonies in the eastern hemisphere begin to lose the fight and as some of them are killed, the victor Titans travel to regions of the world where they still persist. In South America, however, the Shinomura colonies are still giving the defending Titans a hard time. Behemoth and Amhuluk killed the Shinomura colony, but to Behemoth's dismay, Amhuluk absorbs the remains of the Shinomura colony. It is close to killing Behemoth until Rodan shows up to fight Amhuluk. Rodan quickly gets the upper hand over Amhuluk with his airborne abilities and greater agility. But Amhuluk is not affected that much by Rodan's fiery attacks, as he reinforced his body with fire resistant plants like redwoods. The tables turn on Rodan until Godzilla emerges to fight Amhuluk. So Rodan and Godzilla tag team Amhuluk while Behemoth tries to get the strength to get back up.
Meanwhile, back in the Hollow Earth, Kong, his few trustees, and Shimo are looking for Camazotz and travel through a dark, stormy stretch of rough, mountainous terrain. They find Camazotz in a plateau surrounded by a supercell. They see that Camazotz's minions are feeding him, and he is gaining strength from the radiation that his minions got from hunting Shinomuras. So, Kong, his trustees, and Shimo fight the hell swarm and Camazotz. At this point, the Shinomuras are losing out on the fight with a few large colonies remaining, and Amhuluk and Camazotz become the main threats now. The plot then moves on to showcase some of the final remaining fights between defending Titans and the last Shinomura colonies and see the fights end with the Shinomuras killed. So, the main focus turns to Godzilla's fight, Kong's fight, the fight at the Iwi city barrier, and Boots' crusade to kill the last Shinomuras, which is coming to an end. The fight between Kong and his allies and Camazotz eventually breaks through onto the surface in Canada. Camazotz creates a supercell storm and begins getting an upper hand against Kong and his allies with his new power up. Back in Brazil, Godzilla eventually kills Amhuluk and Rodan and Godzilla both head to Canada. Behemoth gets the strength to get back up.
Back in Canada, Kong and the apes come up with a new strategy to cover their ears with dirt as protection against Camazotz's sonic screams. Kong then tries to do the same with Shimo, but when he does, Shimo does not like the sensation and pushes Kong away. He does not bother trying again and tries to kill all of the minions which are biting him and the apes and causing too much blood loss. Shimo does not fare well against Camazotz despite her size as his cyclone and sonic scream overwhelm her ice breath. Eventually, Mothra emerges to fight him after dealing with the last of the Shinomuras and blasts him with her god rays. Highly stunned and weakened, Kong grabs ahold of Camazotz and notices Rodan approaching to help. He throws him at Rodan's direction, who grabs him with his talons and starts burning him. He holds him in place for Mothra to shoot Camazotz with her webbing. Then Rodan drops Camazotz and Kong finishes him off.
Godzilla arrives onto the scene not long after and shoots his atomic breath to eliminate Camazotz's storm. With all of the hostile Titans dead, Godzilla almost sends the Titans back to sleep, but Mothra approaches him and begins to communicate. The plot then ends with Godzilla returning to Madagascar to take a rest at the coast and watch life as it happens on the island. Kong returns to his people in victory, and they are finally able to leave their lair safely. And Mothra takes over Godzilla's role of balancer, allowing Godzilla to take his well-deserved vacation. This idea of a plotline would mean the movie would be 2 hr 30 min or even 3 hrs so we get the most fighting sequences out of it. I know I glossed over a lot of the human aspects and that I left a lot of the specifics of how a lot of the fights between most of the unseen KOTM Titans would look like, so let me know what your thoughts on this are.

I should have thought to reach out to Reddit about this earlier. Here goes...
Our local library is awesome. It's a cornerstone of the community and a wonderful place for kids, full of activities and clubs and the like. This is due to a few particular individuals, but especially the director, who has made this place fantastic over the last few years.
Well, the board decided to fire her. Apparently, they've been meddlesome, 80's-era movie scumbags for a while, doing what they can to make her job hell, and they put the final nail into the coffin right about the time I thought I'd pursue the vacant trustee position, myself.
Long story short-ish, one of the nice old librarians had her phone hacked and at least one dick pic was sent out to various library groups, including groups that contain teens. The director immediately addressed the board leadership, as policy directed her to, was told she acted correctly, then was fired for not immediately going to the police about it, which wasn't policy.
The board told her she could either resign with a severance or be fired, but she chose to defend herself. She was pressured into signing something that said she was absolutely forbidden to discuss and part of this and unequivocally accepted any decision the board made, who would also not speak of it.
Unfortunately, they immediately started doing that, roving around the book club, "Something something, further director, something something MINORS! Gasp!" and have been actively sabotage replying l reemployment efforts in the field of not only the director, but the workers who walked out with her in solidarity, some of them still teens, themselves!
So, tonight is the meeting where I'm suddenly speaking before a board that has forbidden its remaining workers from contracting or even mentioning the former director, forbidden her from discussing the nature of her separation as they carry on as they like, and ultimately face that our beloved library may not be so for much longer. They have also proceeded to fire the custodian, a position they never had before her, only relied on the other workers to fill, and their event DJ, another hire of hers.
So, here are my questions. 1) Can they even do any of this? Coerce her into signing ostensibly legally binding paperwork that they then break, themselves? 2) Hide details of their decisions from the public? Isn't transparency part of the job? Don't they kind of work for us in that sense? 3) Do you think calling them out for this will even change anything?
I'm going to research more policy before tonight's meeting (they've also since mandated that policy information must be printed out at a fee to the individual, rather than something public and reasonably accessible), but would really like to know if I have a leg to stand on. Any help would be truly appreciated.

https://archive.is/uuTVI
After much discussion at Saturday’s Town Meeting, voters approved a $1.6 million fiscal year 2025 spending plan for town services and a $1 million assessment for Heath’s share of the $26.7 million Mohawk Trail Regional School District budget.
Although the Finance Committee did not recommend it, voters agreed to spend the $1 million town assessment requested by the school district, as well as paying Rowe $6,667 for shared transportation costs for a late bus which transports students home from Mohawk Trail Regional School in Buckland, following after-school activities. Voters also approved a transfer of $24,443 from free cash to the district’s FY22 Operating Assessment Error Account.
The votes took place after Mohawk Regional School superintendent Sheryl Stanton spoke during the meeting. She explained how the budget was created, which included providing a wider range of programs to students and targeted initiatives for students who need additional support after the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing funds to keep assessments to the towns within the Mohawk district low and to contain costs.
“We recognize that our smallest towns bear burden,” said Stanton, addressing residents’ concerns about the $1 million cost. “One of the largest pieces of research here that we have managed without it coming back to the towns is a $600,000 increase … for students in special education. That is a direct result of COVID, We are seeing many more students with trauma, many more students with a lack of support but it’s needed so that we can be productive in classrooms.”
After passing the $1 million assessment, voters quickly approved other articles pertaining to Mohawk’s shared transportation costs for the late bus and a final payment to error account. They then approved the town budget, which represents a $104,115 increase over the current year’s spending plan and a tax rate of $20.43 per $1,000 of property valuation.
Near the end of the meeting, residents were supposed to vote on the regional agreement amendment which would change the school enrollment formula used to calculate town assessments by adding in students who attend charter schools or who have used school choice to attend other districts. Heath voters requested a quorum for this topic, however only 54 residents were still present at the meeting, two short of the 56 voters needed for a quorum.
A vote was then held to adjourn, and to continue discussing the amendments on Monday, June 17 at 7 p.m. at the Jacobs Road Municipal Center, in hopes that enough residents will attend to hold a quorum.

Town election

Of the 552 registered voters in Heath, 230 ballots were cast. The results are as follows:
■Selectboard, one seat with three-year term — William Emmet, 122 votes, Michael Smith, 108 votes.
■Finance Committee, three seats with three-year term — Edwin Wolf, 172 votes, Robert McGahan, 148 votes, Dena Briggs 67 votes, Karen Brooks, 58 votes.
■Town Clerk, one seat with three-year term — Mary Sumner, 222 votes.
■Assessor, one seat with three-year term — Robyn Provost-Carlson, 14 write-in votes.
■Planning Board, one seat with five-year term — William Fontes, 202 votes.
■Library Trustee, one seat with three-year term — Rebecca Johnson, 201 votes.
■Constable, one seat with three-year term — Steven Thane, 203 votes.
■Municipal Light Board, two seats with three-year term — Arthur Schwenger, 204 votes, Edwin Wolf, 176 votes.
■School Committee, one seat with three-year term — Budge Litchfield, 188 votes.
■School Committee, one seat with one-year term- Tucker Jenkins, 49 write-in votes (town still needs to confirm if Jenkins accepts the position).

This took place back in the 90’s, I was part of the wedding party of a good friend, having the role of an usher for the groom’s side. I was in my mid 20’s and had been very good friends with the groom since we met at sixth form college aged 16.

The Groom was from a small town of just over 3,000 people, in a very rural area in the south of England, the kind of place where everyone knows each other, and it is rare for them to mix with any outsiders. He had been a hard partying wild man, whose main interests were Football, music, and beer. When I was away at university, he saw the light, put his old ways behind him and became born again. Gave up his job and became a missionary. Whilst away doing missionary work, joined by the youngest son of his Baptist minister, the groom met the bride. I nice young girl from the north of England who was also very religious.

After six months of dating, they got engaged, he had moved up to be close to her, got a job and they got a house, although she stayed living with her parents until the wedding.

The stag do was uneventful, the Groom came back down for a weekend for it, and the best man follow the instructions he had been given. A round of golf, the out for a meal then to the Grooms old local pub for the evening. The best man and me where the only ones who where not religious, when I noticed that the where 13 of us for the meal my last supper joke did not go down well. Even the Grooms mother joined us in the pub after the meal. Not the wild night of decadence I would have through his stag do would have been only a few years before.

That’s the boring bit over, now to the Wedding…….

The day before the Wedding my job was to pick up the youngest son of the local Baptist minister first thing in the morning, he was the other usher on the groom’s side, and drive him the length of England to the North of England near the Scottish boarder. The groom had been stressing out as we are both nice easy-going blokes, but we do both have a well and truly earned reputation for being a bit flaky. I’m due to pick him up at 9am, I wake up at 9:40am. Panic, get showered and dressed and run to my car. I get five minutes down the road and then turn around and return to my home to get my wedding suit. I get to the Baptist ministers’ home at 10:40am, I am knocking and ringing the doorbell until I wake the other usher at 11am. He showers and gets dressed whilst I wait in the kitchen for him, his father the minister comes home and me and him chat, he says that he would have loved to have gone to the wedding, but unfortunately, he is performing a wedding ceremony the next day for another couple we all know. Other usher comes down and says that he will make sandwiches for the journey, so we don’t have to stop. We finally get on the road at mid-day three hours late. We drive past my home soon after and I realise that I could have picked up my suit on the way.

The journey was uneventful apart from multiple texts from the best man asking when we would arrive, as the groom has an important job for us to do when we get there. Me and other usher had known each other for years and get on well so we chat and have a good laugh, this is when I found out the news that the wedding his father is doing the next day for the lad and his girlfriend, we all know, it had the same guest list as the groom’s side of the wedding we are going to. The guests had the choice of going to a wedding that most of them could walk to, and the rest would have a five-to-ten-minute drive, or one which would need them to take a day off work and a whole weekend to go to. The groom’s side for this wedding was just, his family, us two ushers, and five people the bride and groom had been missionaries with. When we start to get hungry the other usher looks for the sandwiches he made, only to discover that he has left them on the kitchen counter back at his parents’ house. This is the last time we screw up.

We get to the bride and grooms’ home at 8pm, as we walk to the door it swings open and we are nearly knocked over as the mother of the groom, his two twin sisters, and two brothers storm out of the house. The best man then greets us with the hunted look of a Vietnam veteran with a 1,000-yard stare. The other usher asks where the other missionaries are, the best man says that they are upstairs and other usher quickly disappears to see them. I walk in, the groom is hugging the bride, I say hello, they do not acknowledge me. The best man hands me a cup of tea and we go to the living room and close the door. We can hear the bride howling in tears just the other side of the door as the groom tries to claim her. Me and the best man are both British males, we know full well what to do in this kind of situation, our grand parents lived through the blitz, we drew down into our guts and invoked the Dunkirk spirt, we kept our stiff upper lips like any true Englishman, completely ignored the situation and made small talk about football, sipping our tea. The bride took about 45 minutes to stop crying.

After the wedding I found out , what had gone on, this was the first time the bride was meeting the grooms family, first the groom had asked his two 19 year old sisters to bring their dresses for the wedding along so he could approve them, now I do not know much about women, but one of the few things I do know this that you do not tell your sisters what they can and can not wear, as they will openly and honestly tell you what you can do with that request. Then the mother of the groom gave the couple a lucky horseshoe for there wedding, they refused to accept the gift as they are strict Christians, and the lucky horseshoe is a pagan symbol. Then the father of the groom, who was divorce for the mother of the groom decided to spring a surprise on everyone, he announced that he was bringing his new girlfriend and her toddler to the wedding. This is when the excrement well and truly hit the fan. The new girlfriend the groom also knew well, during his wild times he had known her in the biblical sense on more than one occasion. She was a very friendly and giving young women, in fact most of our friend group had known her biblically as well, some of them knew her in the biblical way two at a time. Thankfully looking at the time line unless it was a two-and-a-half-year pregnancy the toddler was not the grooms. The groom’s mother had openly called the grooms fathers new girlfriend a wh**e, which I feel is unfair, she didn’t ever charge, she was not a professional, she was just a very keen amateur. Over the next few minutes of shouting, it was made clear to the groom’s father that his girlfriend would not be invited to the wedding and there would be trouble if her brought her.

After everything had calmed down, we then drove over to the brides’ parents’ home. Where we had been given the task of blowing up ballons to decorate village hall the reception was taking place in, I was confused at why the groom was so stressed at us being on time so we could do this job. Then when no one else was about the groom gave us our real roles and responsibilities for the next day. Basically, we had the job to be his fathers’ minders during the reception, his father, was a violent, aggressive, alcoholic, and our role was to try and keep him away from other guests, try to stop him from insulting anyone, and if he starts a fight then to get in the middle of it and break it up. Now, I grew up playing Rugby, the sport which American football evolved from, except the only protection we wore was a gumshield and a cup (Known as a cricket box in the UK). I may not be the tallest but at the time I had spent a year working as a builder’s labour (construction worker for the Americans) and had the body I still think in my mind I still have, until I see myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower and realise that I currently have a body that resembles a dropped lasagne. Other usher was sporty, but stick thin, and I doubt that he had ever taken a punch in his life, I knew which of the two of us would be getting in the middle to break up any fight.

The Wedding Day……….

We had stayed in the same budget hotel chain as the groom’s family, except his father. My first responsibility of the day is to drive the mother of the groom to the wedding, along with the youngest brother and other usher. Oldest brother and twin sisters are being driven by oldest brothers’ best mate who was not invited to the wedding but came anyway.

In the morning of the wedding, I am in the hotel’s carpark decorating my car with the traditional white ribbons for wedding cars. The mother of the groom leans out of her ground floor room window and calls me over to the window. I walk over and just as I get there I see over her shoulder and freeze in shock. Both the grooms twin sisters and in the background getting ready for the wedding, one has just a towel wrapped around her, the other is only wearing a thong. They both see me, freeze, then scream and run into the room’s bathroom. I am extremely embarrassed, the groom’s mother, who is very east London just shouts at them,
‘Don’t be so stupid girls, you ain't got nothing he ain't seen before’.
We then go over what time we should leave for the wedding.
Knowing both the groom, and his father are very protective over the twins, even though it was a total accent, this incident could have landed me trouble with them both.

I am so paranoid about being late to the church that we arrive so early that the church is still locked, over the next few hours people arrive. For some strange reason they had decided to go with the traditional bride’s side sitting on one side of the isle, and grooms side sitting on the other. This led to a few issues, on the groom’s side, there were on the first pew, six members of his family, on the second pew, the five missionaries plus me and other usher, and brother of the grooms best mate. On the brides’ side, there where all her friends and family, plus every member of her parents’ church. I suggested that we just filled the empty pews on the groom’s side with guests, but the two ushers on the brides’ side, the bride’s brothers wouldn’t even consider it. Me and other usher had no-one to usher to their seats, as it had started raining, we decided to grab a couple of umbrellas and meet and greet guests as they parked and shield them from the rain. We also started to set out extra seats for the bride’s side as all the pews on that side of the church had been filled, there was over 150 on her side, even though on the groom’s side only two pews had anyone sitting in them and only 14 people.

Then the final guests arrive, they are very elderly, from the church the parents of the bride belong to, they decided to park right in front of the door to the church, I asked them if they could move, they explained that they were not going to the reception and were leaving for a holiday right after the ceremony, so they wanted to leave quickly. I pointed out that they had parked in such a way that the bride would be forced to squeeze down a foot and a half gap between their mud-covered car and a brick wall whilst it was raining to get into her own wedding. They did not see anything wrong with that. There was some back and forth between us, but finally I found a parking spot which they could easily leave early from and was out of the way, they reluctantly moved their car to that spot. Just as the car carrying the bride and her father drove into the carpark.

The ceremony went off without any drama. After the ceremony it is the photos, as each set of photos are done the people leave to go to the reception. The last set to be done are the newly married couple and the groom’s mother. We get to my car, and we realise that no-one has told us where the reception is. There is one last car with wedding guests in leaving at the same time as us, the only other car is the best man’s car, and he is taking the bride and groom. I quickly follow the car that is leaving hoping that they are going to the reception. This is the 90’s, the only two people who have mobile phones are the best man, and me, him as his work supplied him with one, and I had got one as I did not want to be talking to my, at the time recently ex-girlfriend (I broke it off with her a week before and that is why other Usher got to share my hotel room with me as I had already booked and paid for two people for two nights, I had just changed the booking to a twin room) whilst in the same room as my parents on their landline. The best man calls my phone, asking if we know where the reception is, we don’t but we are following a car that might be going there. Groom and Bride do not drive and do not know the way to the reception. Other usher has my phone, he is describing landmarks to best man who is about two minutes behind us, so he can find his way. After 20 minutes of driving thankfully the car I am following is going to the reception and two minutes after we arrive the bride and groom arrive.

We go to our assigned tables for the meal, I am sitting next to the friend of the oldest brother of the groom, opposite him is the oldest brother of the groom, directly opposite me is the only wearing a towel sister of the groom, next to her is the other twin who I saw too much of earlier that day. And next to me is the boyfriend of the maid of honour. I try to make small talk with the boyfriend of the maid of honour, but he is staring daggers at the best man, who is sitting at the head table talking to and looking, like he is really hitting it off with the maid of honour. Boyfriend of maid of honour is not happy, he is in silence for most of the meal but at some points during the meal sounds like he is growling. I later found out that best man and maid of honour both had the same job and just talked shop the whole meal, the only other person best man had to talk to as he was on the head table was youngest brother of groom who was six years old, and as she was at the end of the head table there was no-one on the other side of her, the boyfriend of maid of honour made me feel about as welcome as a ginger haired step son.

The best man speech was interesting, as he had been given strict instructions on what he could say and what he could not say. The stories about the groom stopped at the age of 12, and then jumped to when he became born again. More than half his life had to be skipped over.

Due to the father of the groom, the decision was made to have a dry wedding, apart from a glass of sparkling wine each to toast the bride and groom. Somehow towel sister of the groom managed to get a few glasses of sparkling wine and started to get very flirty with me, as she was rubbing her foot up and down my leg under the table, I moved my leg away, I looked her in the eye and gave a firm shake of the head, thankfully she got the message. The other twin sister, who is very shy and studious, couldn’t even look me in the eye due to embarrassment from the morning.

On the lighter side, the bride who had been starving herself for months before the wedding, ate so much that she burst the zip at the back of her dress, she saw the funny side of it and her mother and sisters all used safety pins to pin it back up so she could then eat some more.

It then comes time for the first dance, this wedding was on a tiny budget, this was before we could burn CD’s at home, so the groom had made a mix tape for the dances, as they were half way into the first dance, the tape player ate the tape. No more music.

Me and other usher spent the rest of the time basically standing in front of father of the groom, who had brought his own bottle of whiskey. We knew that a guaranteed why to provoke violence was to try and take the bottle off him. We became the absorbers of his bile, we bit our tongues as we listened to his racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, sexist ranting, saying about how the world is against him and none of his problems are his fault. Each time one of his children or his ex-wife came within earshot her would try to provoke them, but they remained stoic.

It then came time for the bride and groom to leave for their honeymoon, I had supplied the oldest brother of the groom and his friend with a can of shaving foam to decorate the wedding car in the traditional manner, they did not disappoint.

Once the bride and groom had left, the rest of the guest all left, no music, no booze, no food there was nothing to stay around for, so the wedding was over by 7:30pm.

I drove the mother of the groom, Youngest brother of the groom and other usher back to the budget chain hotel we were staying in. after dropping them off I went and brough myself a lot of beer, went to oldest brother of the grooms room, as the England football team had been playing a world cup qualifier game that day and had set up a video recorder to record it and we watched the game. Half way through the best man turned up, again with a 1,000 yards stare.

Later I found out what had happened next. The best man had driven the newly married couple to the hotel where they were having their honeymoon. As he was driving back, he got a phone call on his mobile phone, asking hm if he had the keys to the married couples’ home, as the five missionaries are all staying there for the weekend. He does not have the keys, the only person who has the keys is the groom. The best man turns around and drives back to the hotel. There is no way that he is going to disturb the married couple on their wedding night, the very religious couple on their wedding night, the groom might not have saved himself for marriage during his wild years, but it had been made very clear to everyone that the bride had saved herself for marriage. The best man gets the front desk to ring up for him, no answer. In the end a manager goes up and knocks on their room and gets the keys.

The next day we all drive back south and try to get over the experience.

Over 25 years later:

The groom and bride and still together, and still very happy together, they have four children.

Towel sister of the groom is happily married with three children.

Embarrassed sister of the groom, went to University, became a teacher and is no longer extremely shy, she came back from Uni full of confidence. I bumped into her last year in our local supermarket when she introduced me to her two teenage daughters as the first guy who to got to enjoy her boobs. I was just as embarrassed as her daughters.

Oldest brother of the groom spent so much time in the job centre that he ended up getting a job there.

Youngest brother of the groom is a lovely lad with a great girlfriend, their wedding is next year.

Mother of the groom is still hoping that oldest brother of the groom will meet someone nice sometime and move out, no-one else thinks that is going to happen.

Father of the groom is currently living in a hostel for the homeless. None of his three sons will have anything to do with him, his two daughters take it in turns to do his washing and give him enough food for the week. They do not give him any money.

Me and best man are still very close. We helped each other move into our first homes and decorate them. He was my best man at my wedding, and I was best man at his. I am godfather to his son, he is the named trustee in my will. We supported each other through our divorces. We support each other with our elderly parents and their mad erratic decisions. The only reason we are not meeting up this weekend for a beer and a catch up, is because he is currently dealing with the family drama around his mother in her late 70’s deciding to elope with someone she has only known for two weeks.
I have been to many weddings over the years, this is still the only one I can remeber all of the details of.

Hey all— we put forward an offer on a home about 2 weeks ago, and the only update I have is that another offer was put forward on Tuesday of this week.
The house is a probate property (already granted probate), which means that the vendor needs to get the estate/trustees together to either accept or reject these offers.
How long would you wait for an update? I’m trying to be patient, but 2 weeks feels excessive. This house has been on the market for almost 6 months, and its condition is getting worse each week it’s not being looked aftemaintained (due to some damp, and the heat not being turned on over the winter).

Source: https://tert.nla.am/archive/NLA%20TERT/Mirror-Spectato200713.pdf
July 20 2013
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
Pages 1 and 16:
Armenian Diocese in Canada in Disarray
Editor’s Note: A crisis erupted at the Diocesan Assembly on May 25, 2013, when the delegates voted to elect a new Primate in the person of the Very Rev. Aren Jebejian. Partisans of the former Primate Bishp Bagrat Galstanyan took the waves of electronic media, trying to reverse the decision of the delegates. Adding fiction to facts, they tried to expand the scope of the crisis reviving old grudges and settling scores.
Eventually, Bishop Galstanyan returned to Echmiadzin, where he was assigned to a new position. Fr. Jebejian resigned grace- fully, preferring not to get involved in a cri- sis to which he was not a party. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II dispatched Archbishop Nathan Hovhanissian to Montreal to serve as a interim locum tenens, until tempers cool and the Diocese convenes for its annual assembly to elect a new Primate.
It is understood that neither Hovhanissian nor Galstanyan will run as candidates.
A group of sober-headed members of the church have released a statement focusing on the real issues plaguing the church com- munity in Canada. Had these facts been known earlier, the majority in the commu- nity would have perhaps reacted in a more balanced way.
Here below we reproduce that statement.
The community must now be informed that Bagrat Serpazan’s conduct has had two opposite facets. Most have known one only. They now need to know the whole story.
Vehapar is announcing an appropriate Pontifical arrangement for our community.
Archbishop Nathan Hovhanissian will oversee the Canadian Diocese Operations Bagrat Serpazan’s conduct has disqualified him from future posting in Canada. This text has been prepared based on informa- tion gathered from a number of well- informed sources It is very sad to witness the turmoil cre- ated within the Canadian community, fol- lowing the Diocesan Elections of May 25, which were held in exceptionally orderly manner with strict compliance with the pre- vailing bylaws of the diocese. Unfortunately, however, vicious statements are continuing to be spread on the Internet, all instigated and fed by Bagrat Serpazan and his collabora- tors.
This year was the regularly scheduled elec- tion or re-election time of the Primate in Canada. Bagrat Serpazan did not obtain the majority of votes; therefore, according to the universally accepted system in the Armenian Apostolic Church, he is now to be replaced.
This is not an unusual event by any means. Like in any other election in a civilized com- munity, the loser congratulates the winner and continues his journey without leaving destruc- tion behind him.
Archbishops Aris Shirvanian, Sion Manoogian and others lost elections, and they acted gracefully. They moved back to Echmiadzin and eventually were reassigned other positions.
Why did Bagrat Serpazan choose instead to instigate a violent and vicious social media and Internet campaign, slinging mud and slander- ous accusations left and right? Why did he insti- gate, and still continues to feed, this communi- ty destroying action?
It is being said that on the Internet thousands are asking him not to leave. A good number of the latter are genuine in the expression of their feelings, but ignorant of the causes that led Bagrat Serpazan to lose the elections. A number of others bear grudges and find this to be a con- venient opportunity to get at the dedicated pas- tors and at the prominent architects of our com- munity who have impeccable track records.
Canadians must realize that a very large num- ber of the Facebook writers are from any place on the planet such as Russia, Israel, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and quite a few use fake names.
In previous statements, we asked that the comments by the two sides stop in order to stop the issue from expanding further.
However, insults, lies and incriminations con- tinued to be spread. So-called interviews by unknown individuals continue to spread poison in our community. They have to be stopped.
Therefore, the community must now know that Bagrat Serpazan had two very different types of conduct in this community.
He was, and could indeed be, friendly when and where he wanted. He could be a very pleas-ant dinner companion, travel and concert orga-nizer, a very close family friend for some. Those who have been exposed to this side of him are understandably quite upset by his departure. But they should not hope for his return.
Indeed Serpazan’s other type of conduct is known only to those who have been involved in the pursuit of the serious daily business of the diocese.
He has been arrogant and bullying with his subordinates; he was equally arrogant and uncommunicative with those who would nor- mally be his colleagues. You could either agree with him or be classified in his book as an enemy.
His judgment in serious matters of gover- nance of the community have been proven to be wrong or even worse, very costly and cata- strophic, and yet he would turn down any and all advice in those very serious matters, when advice was given to him beforehand.
Our community must know that due to his unwise but stubborn actions, where he found a few willing accomplices, this community came to the brink of losing for good our beautiful St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral. Do his “admirers” realize what that means?
Indeed, he has driven secretly and illegally according to our bylaws, together with his accomplices, the financial negotiation to mort-gage this church. The prepared documents of this transaction, bearing the names of the par- ticipants, with the Chomedey Caisse Populaire are available. It was stopped only because of the prompt action of a few conscientious parish-ioners who asked for an extraordinary general meeting where the illegal plot led by Bagrat Serpazan was exposed and stopped.
The above mortgaging plot was actually prompted by Bagrat Serpazan trying awkward-ly to bring his kind of fast “remedy” or cover up to an even bigger financial blunder in the Laval project.
Unknown to many, he actually was, as usual, ordering those around him to get into a succes-sion of incomprehensible actions leading to the waste of several hundreds of thousands of dollars from funds raised at the expense of well-meaning parishioners of the Laval Holy Cross church. When out of funds, he arranged and forced to make loans left and right. The church now is under the burden of over $1 million in debt.
A detailed accounting was given at the joint meeting of the Laval Parish Council with the Diocesan Council and the Board of Trustees. Our readers should ask for the official reports.
It was only one year ago that those involved in the daily operations of the Laval project have sounded a desperate alarm to intervene and stop the senseless actions in the Laval project which were led by the insistent permanent bul- lying of Bagrat Serpazan, even though he, as a Primate, actually should have stayed entirely out of such primarily financial and legal issues which are outside his domain.
To cite only one of these actions, it was revealed that Bagrat Serpazan had pushed at one point, the financially desperate parish, to accept a $100,000 loan that he personally had arranged at an extravagant interest rate of 36 percent. This is unheard of! A few months later, he told them to not pay that outrageous inter- est. How about the consequences…? Nothing, as far as he is concerned…! In his judgment such things are “small” matters. Those who find this hard to believe should ask for the details from the Laval Parish authorities.
How do Serpazan’s admirers feel about such behavior?
Should one still talk also about a recently dis-covered performing artists promoting private company, registered in Quebec, of which Bagrat Serpazan, as vice chairman, is one of the main officers? Was that part of his religious mission as Primate of Canada?
In conclusion, Bagrat Serpazan’s failure to be elected is the normal result of all of the above and many more of his acts, nothing else. No personal vendetta, no political party inter- vention, none of the latter; those are convenient labels to cover up his very serious problems.
Legally-elected delegates have legally voted him down because of his very serious actions that are only partially exposed above.
It is sincerely wished that he learns from his mistakes in order to serve the Armenian Church elsewhere in a more responsible way in the future.
Coming back to our community, it is now known that given the incredible and highly-dis- turbing turmoil that has been created in our diocese, Vehapar is taking the appropriate extraordinary pontifical measures to bring rem- edy to our community. The legally elected Primate Arèn Jebejian does not deserve to be exposed to the hostile atmosphere.
In spite of all of the above, the primary inter- est of our community now is to heal the wounds and get back to constructive work, all together.
We appeal once more to all to stop further exchanges on this matter. Let us get together to repair what is broken and continue to work to the benefit of our outstanding Canadian com-munity.
credit to Illustrious-Bank-519

Hi guys, I have been seeing a lot of posts about insolvencies so I just wants to do a quick PSA. When talking to a professional about your options be very careful who you are speaking with. There are a lot of companies out there that are not licensed trustees that claim that they can reduce your debts. These firms work on a fee basis, meaning they charge you administration fees and then refer you to a trustee.
The OSB has started cracking down on these third party referral agencies. Licensed trustees should no longer be accepting any of these referrals.
Some companies that come to mind are, CCDR, FSDS, Cactus Credit, Debt Advice Canada, Debt Relief Canada. I am sure there are many more out there, but a good rule of thumb is. If you have to pay fees outside of a proposal, they are likely third party agencies and you should find a reputable insolvency trustee instead.
To be sure of whether of not they are licensed you can use this link and search them directly on the government website: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/sctds/web/?lang=eng
Edit: note that I am referring to insolvency consultants. There are debt management plan companies that are legitimate.

Throw away for reasons
Im in Canada if that narrows down my legal options at all idk I thought it was relevant.
I already seen it on here and I know the flak that comes with saying this but I need to forfeit my car that I got at one of those any credit accepted dealerships.
Before any comments flood in about how stupid this was just understand these decisions were made out of desperation and yes I regret them. Moving on.
I ran Into some trouble with my beater car and it quite legitimately blew up this past winter and needed a vehicle to get to work and get my son and wife from A to B. I did some research and found this place that would accept me and get a car to me fast all I had to do was sign. No upfront. No credit check. Nothing.
After only having the car for 3 months my wife has run into medical issues and is entirely at home and collecting unemployment. after it ends I will no longer be able to keep up with the payments and they will come take the car either way.
I've looked into voluntary reposition (I'm currently in a consumer proposal) and the trustee I'm with told me to reach out to the creditor and see what options they have
So i called the creditor (Scotia auto advantage) and asked if they can wave the lien so I can sell it and give them the money and pay the difference to which they want 12k upfront and that's just not possible. They said because I'm only 3 months into it they have no options for me until I hit six months with them. They told me that by attempting to stop payments they will take legal action in the form of a lawsuit.
I can't and won't make those payments as I have a family to feed and house and that remains my only priority
I need to know how to dodge that lawsuit entirely I don't care for my credit due to mistakes I made when I was younger and am fully willing to go into bankruptcy to avoid a lawsuit if that will give me any kind of protection from it, I've made a mistake and I'm trying to get though it please any advice on this matter is taken with appreciation.
I know that the province I reside in has a law that states if they take the car they can't sue me (something more complex but along those lines) but it depends on a part of the contract I signed with the dealer if that helps any
TLDR
Made poor financial choices and need to know if filing bankruptcy will protect me from a lawsuit or if I'm screwed anyway.

I wanted to thank all of the contributors in here for the information you each post in here. It has been a great help and source of inspiration to accept the reality of my situation.
I've gone ahead and set up a consultation with a local lawyer for Thursday of this week. I'm not sure how quickly things will move after the consult but I plan on bringing 6 months worth paystubs with me just to see if that helps speed things up at all.
I'm not sure if I will pass the means test or not but would prefer a Chapter 7 if possible only because I like the idea of all this being over in 4-6 months.
I don't live a lavish lifestyle. I kinda wish I did so that I would have something to blame for the predicament I'm in but unfortunately I've had to use credit to take care of cost-of-living expenses and small emergencies over the last 20 years. One card turned into 2 and then 3 and 4. Then I tried to consolidate those which turned into a personal loan, Then newer emergencies went on the cards and the cycle perpetuated.
I was doing the best I could to make the minimum payments but that left me with no money to save for emergencies so new emergencies ended up on the cards which just made the minimum payments increase until they eventually surpassed my monthly income.
I wish I could point to one event and say, "That's where I messed up" but really I feel like I've been fighting the same mountain of debt for the last 20 years, it's just grown with time and I've attacked it from every angle with every budget I could come up with over the years, just slowly drowning over time.
I have a 2006 Accord with 250K miles on it that has been paid off since 2012 or so and a 1994 Chevy truck that I bought when I was in my early 20's so its been paid off for almost 2 decades now. I'm hoping both of those will remain safe. I inherited 25% of the house I'm renting when my mom died and I have about $3k worth of random crypto/stock holdings that I was planning on saving for retirement. I guess if the trustee tries to go after any of those I will need to pursue a 13 but otherwise I don't have much of value to my name.
I do have a terrible sense of guilt for doing this, as if I'm disappointing Citibank or JP Morgan for throwing in the towel, but I realize that is illogical and they wouldn't lose sleep over doing it to me if the tables were turned, but I do feel like I am kinda giving up on a fight I've carried for 20 years and that's kina making me feel like I failed.
But the reality is what it is; I'm under water, see no hope in getting myself out, have a child I need to prepare for and emergencies I need to save for and none of that would be possible without going forward with the consult Thursday

https://theintercept.com/2024/05/04/josh-gottheimer-mike-lawler-campus-protests/
All quotes from reporting by Prem Thakker, Akela Lacy at The Intercept.
Lede:
DURING A CALL hosted by the centrist political group No Labels, Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., spoke with close to 300 attendees, including trustees from several universities, about how Congress could help crack down further on student protesters — and how the FBI could get more involved.
Summary:

• NYU Executive Vice Chair Bill Berkley said in the call, "And, by the way, the FBI and the terrorist monitoring groups know this — why haven’t we seen any action by the federal government?"
• Andrew Bursky, WashU board chair, gave a number of quotes:
  • On antisemitism, Bursky said America’s tradition of campus protests was “a positive thing,” but that there’s a “clear dark line” between allowing free speech and condoning antisemitism. “And I think you guys in Congress have darkened that line today with this piece of legislation,” he added.
  • On students' rights to protest, "Students had forfeited their right to protest," Bursky went on, due to “physical violence, or threats of physical violence or harassment,” among other things.
  • On solutions to perceived chaos, Bursky said that universities that have failed to make that line clear and as a result “have chaos and anarchy,” stating that “the only way to fix it is to bring in law enforcement.”
  • On physical harm, Bursky said, “Any injury of any individual, protestor or a member of law enforcement, is very unfortunate and regrettable.”
  • On balance of free speech and violence, Bursky added, “So long as those restrictions … are respected, the freedom of members of the university community to engage in protest must and will be protected,” he wrote. “Also, to be clear, protests that decay into violence or speech that is hate speech threatening to individuals or specific groups will never be acceptable.”
• Joshn Gottheimer, D-N.J., applauded university leadership for bringing police to campus.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested at protests on college and university campuses around the country opposing Israel’s military strikes on Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, and the subsequent humanitarian crisis there. It is unclear how many of the protesters are students, as many of those arrested have not been affiliated with the universities, or how many of the arrests will result in charges—sometimes arrests at protests are designed simply to clear an area.
The roots of today’s protests lie in an investigation by the Republican-dominated House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx (R-NC). The committee announced the investigation on December 7, two days after its members spent more than five hours grilling then-president of Harvard University Claudine Gay, then-president of University of Pennsylvania Liz Magill, and president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sally Kornbluth on how their universities were handling student protests against Israel over its military response to Hamas’s attack of October 7.
Led by Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Republicans on the committee insisted that the universities were not protecting Jewish students. The university presidents responded that they deplored antisemitism, that students had the right to free speech, and that they took action against those who violated policies against bullying, harassment, or intimidation. But in their defense of free speech, they admitted both that hate speech against Jews and others is sometimes protected and that they had sometimes made bad calls.
The Republicans’ interest in protecting Jewish students on campus overlapped with their opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that they associate with Democrats. Burgess Owens (R-UT) said DEI initiatives protect Black students at the expense of others. “I just remember a couple of years ago when we were dealing with Black Lives Matter,” he said. “Try to talk about Blue Lives Matter, Jew Lives Matter, Arab Lives Matter—they call it racist. It’s time for us to focus on what’s happening on your campuses.”
Stefanik called the testimony “pathetic” and, along with 74 other members of Congress, demanded that Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, resign. On January 2, following accusations she had plagiarized scholarly work, she did. Her resignation followed that of Liz Magill. “TWO DOWN,” Stefanik wrote on social media.
Two days after the university presidents’ testimony, Stefanik announced that the House Education and Workforce Committee would be investigating universities. “We will use our full Congressional authority to hold these schools accountable for their failure on the global stage,” she said.
On February 12 the committee informed Columbia it was next up. Columbia University president Nemat "Minouche" Shafik had been unable to testify with the other presidents in December and gave her testimony to the committee on April 17, along with co-chairs of the Board of Trustees Claire Shipman and David Greenwald and former dean David Schizer over the university's response to antisemitism.
In an April 16 essay in the Wall Street Journal, Shafik wrote that “antisemitism and calls for genocide have no place at a university…but that leaves plenty of room for robust disagreement and debate.” She said she prioritizes “the safety and security of our community” and that while the attack of October 7 had a "deep personal impact" on the Jewish and Israeli communities, there was also a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza, and the war was "part of a larger story of Palestinian displacement." She explained that Columbia had defined a space for protests to enable those they upset to avoid them.
Opening the hearing, committee chair Foxx said: “Since October 7, this Committee and the nation have watched in horror as so many of our college campuses, particularly the most expensive, so-called elite schools, have erupted into hotbeds of antisemitism and hate.” Stefanik called out tenured professor Joseph Massad of the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department, who called the October 7 attack a “stunning victory.”
Shafik responded by condemning the professor’s statements. “Trying to reconcile the free speech rights of those who want to protest and the rights of Jewish students to be in an environment free of harassment or discrimination has been the central challenge on our campus, and many others, in recent months…. We do not, and will not, tolerate antisemitic threats, images, and other violations…. We have enforced, and we will continue to enforce, our policies against such actions,” she said.
Ilhan Omar (D-MN) questioned Shafik about discrimination against pro-Palestinian protesters. She noted that Israel-born assistant professor Shai Davidai was accused of harassing pro-Palestinian students; Shafik said they have had more than 50 complaints about him and he is under investigation.
On April 17, the same day the Columbia officials testified, pro-Palestinian protesters organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (a self-described “coalition of student organizations that see Palestine as the vanguard for our collective liberation”), Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace set up a camp at the university. It garnered little attention; the April 18 New York Times did not mention it. According to Sharif, the school warned protesters they would be suspended if the encampment was not removed. They stayed. On April 18, according to New York mayor Eric Adams, Columbia officials called in New York City police to disband the protest. They arrested more than 100 people, including Representative Omar’s daughter, a Columbia student. The arrests were peaceful.
University faculty and community members were shocked by the resort to law enforcement at a place known both for learning and debate and for its history. In April 1968, in the midst of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, a week of protests after students learned of Columbia’s support for weapons research and its plan to construct a seemingly segregated gym in a nearby community had led New York City police to crush the demonstrations with violence.
In the days after the current arrests, nearly a dozen student and faculty groups released statements or open letters objecting to the police presence on campus and supporting students’ rights to free speech and peaceful protest. The protest encampment sprang back up.
At the same time, Jewish leaders warned that antisemitism was increasing. Rabbi Elie Buechler, of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel and Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, urged Jewish students to return home for Passover, which began April 22, and to stay there for their own safety.
In the next weeks, protests sprang up around the country, with protesters generally demanding that university administrators divest from investments in Israel or in companies that sell weapons, technology, or construction equipment to Israel, and cut ties to Israeli universities. They have tended to turn their anger against President Joe Biden and his administration, whom they blame for what they call a genocide in Gaza. Universities have responded in a variety of ways, from discussion to armed law enforcement officers.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have insisted that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas and have continued to provide Israel with military defenses, whose importance in stopping the war from spreading showed on April 14, when those defenses shot down virtually all of the weapons Iran launched at Israel. They are working hard for a ceasefire, with Blinken currently in the Middle East and a proposal on the table that Israel has accepted but Hamas has not.
The administration has also stood against the initial policy of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration to cordon off Gaza without food, water, or electricity, and has pressured Israel into permitting humanitarian aid into Gaza. It has also firmly opposed Israeli plans to attack Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken shelter, and has stood firmly in favor of a Palestinian state, which the protesters have not indicated they endorse.
On April 24, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited Columbia, where he called for Shafik to resign. On Monday, April 29, he and Republican leadership met to discuss how they might reenergize the party and gain traction now that their impeachment effort against Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has flopped, the conference is bitterly split, their control of the House of Representatives has resulted in one of the least productive congresses in American history, and their presumptive presidential nominee is being tried for election interference that involved paying off women with whom he had extramarital sex. They settled on campus antisemitism—although Trump’s open embrace of white nationalists makes this problematic—and the campus protests as a sign that Democrats are the party of disorder.
On that same day, 21 House Democrats wrote a letter to Columbia’s trustees demanding they “act decisively, disband the encampment, and ensure the safety and security of all of its students.” That night, protesters took control of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, where they broke windows and vandalized furniture. About twenty hours later, police in riot gear arrested them. Arrests across the country climbed.
Yesterday, Representative Foxx announced that her committee’s antisemitism investigation will expand into a Congress-wide crackdown on colleges. In a press conference, she said she had a clear message for “mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders. Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of duty to your Jewish students. American universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back.”
Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that right-wing politicians jumped on the Kent State shootings of May 1970 to defund colleges and universities, while a “law and order” backlash helped to give Republican president Richard M. Nixon a landslide reelection in 1972.
Today, President Biden addressed the protests, saying they “test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld.”
Biden called for lawful, peaceful protests and warned: “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations—none of this is a peaceful protest…. Dissent is essential to democracy,” he said, “But dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education…. People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.”
When asked, he told reporters he did not think the National Guard should be involved in suppressing the protests.
Steven Lee Myers and Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times reported today that Russia, China, and Iran are amplifying the protests “to score geopolitical points abroad and stoke tensions within the United States,” as well as to “undermine President Biden’s reelection prospects.”
It is unclear if the protests will continue during the summer, when fewer students will be on campus.
—
Notes:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/05/college-presidents-testifying-campus-antisemitism-00130277
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/1/3/claudine-gay-resign-harvard/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/us/university-of-pennsylvania-president-resigns.html
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/9/congress-resignation-calls/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/03/sally-kornbluth-mit-president/72099065007/
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/07/colleges-anitsemitism-house-education-committee-00130666
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4463396-house-education-committee-launches-antisemitism-investigation-into-columbia-university/
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/columbia-antisemitism-house-testimony/index.html
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/columbia-university-gaza-solidarity-encampment-cuad-palestine-protest/
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/columbia-university-president-what-i-plan-to-tell-congress-tomorrow-5f157620
https://electronicintifada.net/content/just-another-battle-or-palestinian-war-liberation/38661
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/columbia-antisemitism-house-testimony/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/issue/todayspape2022/04/18/todays-new-york-times
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-protests-timeline-f7cd3abe635f8afa4532b7bed9212b56
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/professor-shai-davidai-columbia-accused-harassment-access-main-campus
https://apnews.com/article/columbia-protests-israel-palestinian-hirsi-cd80372939c7c08a40346e8b7d546da1
https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/04/29/unnecessary-escalation-of-turmoil-students-faculty-alumni-react-after-shafik-authorizes-nypd-sweep/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-hold-classes-virtually-jewish-leaders-warn-safety-palestinian-rcna148733
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68939445
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/johnson-columbia-university-president/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/politics/johnson-gop-agenda-college-campus-protests/index.html
https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/attytood/kent-state-anniversary-college-debt-student-loans-20220503.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/02/remarks-by-president-biden-on-recent-events-on-college-campuses/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbia-university-student-protests-israel-gaza-war-continue/story?id=109493377
https://abc7ny.com/columbia-ccny-protesters-arrested-quarter-of-them-not-affiliated-with-schools/14754563/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/business/media/campus-protests-russia-china-iran-us.html
https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/state-police-leader-confirms-rooftop-sniper-at-iu-protest-responds-to-excessive-force-accusations
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/26/1247527512/columbia-university-protests-1968-2024-history
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/04/29/columbia-gaza-campus-protests-1968/c4756960-05dd-11ef-b60b-a512fc749f9b_story.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbia-university-student-protests-israel-gaza-war-continue/story?id=109493377
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/middleeast/us-saudi-treaty-israel-palestinian-statehood-intl
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/columbia-university-gaza-solidarity-encampment-cuad-palestine-protest/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/nyregion/columbia-students-hamilton-hall.html
https://nymag.com/intelligencearticle/columbias-hamilton-hall-takeover-photos-from-inside.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24624047-final-letter-to-columbia-university-board-of-trustees
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/30/nyregion/columbia-protests-college
YouTube:
watch?v=dxjZaPFYGrg
Twitter (X)
https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1780698365384388883
​
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-2-2024

My parents have never liked my oldest son Nathaniel. He was my godson and the child of my best friend and her wife.
My friend Sarah had been out and proud since she was 12. Her parents were super supportive and were the best allies I could imagine even before she told them.
Sarah and I went to middle school and became friends. I had a massive crush on her until she explained she was into girls. First I was confused then I accepted it and our friendship changed and got stronger.
My parents hated her. Not for breaking my heart or anything. Just because she was gay. I told them I wasn't going to stop being friends with her and that I would rather be friends with her than their kid if they tried to make me choose.
Fortunately for my parents Sarah and her family moved but we stayed in contact with email and MySpace. Out of sight out of mind for my parents.
Sarah and I both applied and we're accepted to the same college. Two years in we moved out of dorms and got an apartment together. She was the best wingperson ever.
Sorry for the backstory.
She met and married her wife. They needed a donor. I fit their criteria. I agreed so long as we had a contract that took any financial responsibility away from me. They agreed and I became uncle Kaiden. I was in their son's life from the moment he was born. Well not the moment. When he came out of the room not the birth canal.
I also became his father figure and godfather. We were going to tell him when he was old enough to understand.
Then I met my wife and got married. She knew the whole story because I didn't want her to think I would keep such important details of my life a secret. We have two children together.
I am LC with my parents for multiple reasons, their homophobia is low on the list of them if that gives you any idea how my parents are. They attended our wedding and have spent time with both of our kids. We did not deny them the opportunity to be grandparents. We just don't go out of our way to include them.
Sarah and her wife passed away in a boating accident. Nate was with Sarah's parents at the time. I became his guardian and adopted him ASAP. He was 12. I make sure he sees his relatives on both of his mothers' sides. I will continue to do so until he is old enough to go by himself. It has made for a confusing and bittersweet family. None of them knew I am not just his dad but also his father.
My parents on the other hand have always tried to exclude him. I have made it clear to them that he is my son and I won't put up with their shit. I also didn't tell them the truth because I was afraid they would tell him before we were ready.
We told Nate when he turned 16. He laughed and said he had figured it out a long time ago but was humoring me and his moms by pretending he didn't. He has always been a smartass. He also said he was more than happy with his two sets of grandparents and did not feel he was missing much with my folks. My wife's parents love him too.
It came to a head in February. My parents received an inheritance from my grandmother passing away. They don't need the money so they contacted me to see if they could put money into the kids education funds. I thanked them and agreed. I told them that they could send me the money and I would split it up into all three accounts. Nathaniel has a good fund that we topped off since we got money from his moms' insurance. We also rented out their old house and use that money for expenses. My wife and I both work and have pretty decent accounts for our kids. But extra money won't hurt.
My parents said that they only wanted me to split it two ways. Just my kids with my wife would be getting money. I then said thanks but no thanks. I would not be excluding one of my kids because they were terrible people.
They ended up opening accounts by themselves for my kids. Nothing I can do about that.
My grandparents also set up a trust fund for their descendants to draw from when they turn 18. It isn't a lot of money but every little bit helps these days.
Nate is graduating next year so we submitted the paperwork to get him that money. My uncle is one of the trustees and he told my parents and they freaked out that I never told them that Nate was my kid. I take them they were assholes because they knew I adopted him and that fact alone made him my kid. Huge argument. "YOU KNOW WHAT WE MEAN. HOW COULD YOU KEEP HIM FROM US". Blah blah blah. I said that for five years they have always behaved badly towards him even though he was my son why would I include them more in his life.
They are saying that they will sue for grandparents rights. I laughed in their faces. I literally have a letter from them saying that they do not consider him their grandchild.
As I said we are LC with them but my sisters both think I am being overly cruel even though they also see our parents very little.
I think my son didn't miss much by not interacting with people that absolutely would have said shitty things about his original parents.
AITA?

Police Treatment of a Dartmouth Professor Stirs Anger and Debate

A video showing Annelise Orleck, 65, being taken to the ground intensified criticism of the decision by the college’s president to call in officers.Police Treatment of a Dartmouth Professor Stirs Anger and Debate.
The video is jarring: A gray-haired woman tumbles, gets up to reach for her phone, held by police officers, and is yanked and taken to the ground.
“Are you kidding me?” a bystander asks.
“What are they doing to her?” another adds.
Annelise Orleck, a labor historian who has taught at Dartmouth College for more than three decades, was at a protest for Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday night, when she was knocked to the ground. Dr. Orleck, 65, was zip-tied and was one of 90 people who were arrested, according to the local police.
The professor walked away with a case of whiplash. But a short video clip of the episode flew around the internet, intensifying the debate over the relatively swift decision by Dartmouth’s president, Sian Leah Beilock, to call in police to arrest students and clear out an encampment.
Unlike other campuses where tents were tolerated for days, the police action at Dartmouth began a little more than two hours after the encampment first appeared, according to the college’s newspaper, The Dartmouth, and students who observed the events on Wednesday.
Dr. Beilock defended her decision.
“Last night, people felt so strongly about their beliefs that they were willing to face disciplinary action and arrest,” Ms. Beilock said in a message to campus on Thursday. “While there is bravery in that, part of choosing to engage in this way is not just acknowledging — but accepting — that actions have consequences.”
Dr. Beilock did not directly address the treatment of Dr. Orleck, who called the message “outrageous.”“
Her actions have consequences, too,” Dr. Orleck said in an interview. “The campus is in an uproar. Neither the students nor the faculty have been as radicalized in a long time as they’re feeling today.”
“I’ve been teaching here for 34 years,” she added. “There have been many protests, but I’ve never, ever seen riot police called to the green.” Dartmouth declined to comment on the incident.
How to handle the encampments has become a grinding challenge for university administrators. Earlier this month, the decision by Columbia University’s president to call in police stirred up protests at campuses across the country.
Demonstrations over the war in Gaza have led to at least 2,000 arrests over the last two weeks at universities across the country, according to a New York Times tally. The arrests have also angered some faculty, who have sometimes stepped in to try to help students.
The police in Hanover, N.H., the home of Dartmouth, said that the arrested included students and nonstudents, but did not provide a breakdown. The charges included criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. When the Hanover Police Department and the state police asked students to disperse, some did and others didn’t, police officials said.
It was unclear what disciplinary action, if any, the arrested students would face from the university.
Dr. Orleck said she was charged with criminal trespass and temporarily banned from campus, as a condition of her bail. The college’s administrators said on Thursday that the suspension was an error in the bail process, which they were working to fix.
In her message, Dr. Beilock strongly defended the decision to sweep away the encampment. And, she said, a key demand of protesters — that trustees vote on divestment from companies connected with Israel — violated the rules for making such decisions.
“Dartmouth’s endowment is not a political tool,” she said, “and using it to take sides on such a contested issue is an extraordinarily dangerous precedent to set.”
Dr. Orleck, who once served as the head of Jewish studies at the university, said she had watched with unease as police confrontations with student protesters escalated across the country.
She said she wanted to be at the Dartmouth protest because as an older Jewish professor — joined by many other older Jewish professors — her presence, she thought, could help keep her students safe.
As the police moved in, arresting students, Dr. Orleck said she started taking videos.“
I said to them, and I said it with some anger, ‘Leave our students alone. They’re students. They’re not criminals,’” she said. “The next thing I knew, I was rushed from the back.”
Messages left for the local and state police were not immediately returned.
One of the short viral videos begins with Dr. Orleck tumbling to the ground. She gets up. She moves toward an officer with her hand extended — grasping for her phone, she said. She is jerked and knocked down again. It is unclear what took place before the video begins.
Ivy Schweitzer, a recently retired English professor at the college, said the situation took a turn when campus security stepped back, and outside law enforcement moved in to make the arrests.
Dr. Orleck, she said, was recording the police with her phone.“
Annelise would never be physical with a police officer,” Dr. Schweitzer said. “But she would put her phone in their face, and I’m sure they wouldn’t like that.”