Hi I just came across a novel, chosen by the moon novel by izabella W. Its on pay by chapter websites, I've opened and read a few chapters but I can't seem to find any free version or chapter version anywhere. Please help. If anyone has read it I'm willing to take spoilers. Here's the advert I found below of it on Facebook.
Lycanthrope species is a disgusting race. And I, Delan Riley, am nothing more than a human scum in their eyes never expected those species would turn my world upside down. Since when the lycans managed to penetrate our town, like in the early 1900's we have a hierarchy, upper class = the lycans, middle class = mated humans, and lower class = the normal humans, who were basically considered scum. I endured their torment day after day, vowing to run away from them one day, until that day came and everything changed.
Dylan POV "Humans," I scowled at the principal's words from tannoy. "The Alpha twins will be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, as such, festivities are in order." Oh great, the Alphas twin children. Adrian and Arya are the worst lycans alive. I swear just because they are the alphas kids they literally get away with everything. If their birthday is tomorrow, then the wolves are going to be worse than ever. "All students will be present to greet them, two lines will be made, with humans on the left and the lycanthrope on the right. Any mated human will be at the front of the line for their year, you will all also be in order of your school year. That is all." Chat broke out the minute the tannoy was finished. "We haven't had a school gathering since the alpha king visited three years ago, before his sons coronation." Nick was right, the last time we all gathered like that was for the king and queens visit, when he decided to let the world know that he was to renounce his title to his only child, son Josh. "That sick bestard, he wants to make sure everyone is there so those idiot twins can find their mates." Yes I was mad, my fists connected with the table in front of me once more as I thought about how disgusting the situation was. You see the twins will be turning 17, so it's very possible someone in our school could be their mate, finding a mate is sacred to a wolf, the minute they say that one word your fate is sealed. They will turn your mind, morph you into being a lover of their kind, and then you'll give in.

That won't happen to me, I'm growing old to see the world as it once was, and I'm going to choose who I'll be with. No one will take that dream away from me.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I'd had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while my brother Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn't long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it. She was here to help me with the wounds caused by wolves yesterday. She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain. "Jesus!" I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed brests. "This is more than 15!" I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it. "Mom I'm fine, it's alright." She shook her head. "It's not alright, I'm your mother I shouldn't let these things happen. I'm so sorry. Your father would have..." here she goes again. Every single time something happened she'd always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn't. My father was kiled by THEIR kind, almost 5 years ago when they actually managed to take over. When the lycans managed to penetrate our town my father rose up with some people from the neighborhood, to defend our livelihood, it was futile to say the least. We lost many people and I watched as my dad was ripped apart by two fully shifted wolves, I ended up shoting him to stop his suffering before they dragged me to the courtyard, i was the person to receive the first lashing of the town when I was 12! The wolves have been pretty strict with me since that day. "Stop being stvpid!" Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. "Dad is dead, we don't know what he'd do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world." I know what he'd have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself kiled in the process. "The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don't insist on helping if you can't handle it." She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a betch. "Some of these are really deep Dylan!" She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head. "I told you, I'm fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed." My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it's happening to you, you've just got to get through it but when it's happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away. She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with. "Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can't take any more lashings." I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection. "Good night squirt." He giggled and fixed his hair slightly. "Night Dilly." I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it hurt, not that I'd ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making. I couldn't tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing! After a long night and an even longer morning, we were all finally stood in the hallway at school waiting for the twins to arrive. "Mine!" Everyone that was stood in the hallway tensed up, as we were seniors, me and Nick were stood towards the very back of the human line. All the mated people were situated directly opposite their wolf mates in their years. We stayed silent and still as Arya walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of Nick. His eyes widened in fear, unsure of wether to look up or keep his head lowered. "Look me in the eye, mate." He glanced at me slightly as if asking what he should do. "I said, look me in the eye." He slowly moved his eye line up to look at her face. I took a glance myself to see her eyes pitch black with lust. "I... can't... I mean... erm." Before he was able to mutter anything else, two wolves from opposite, grabbed him out of the line and dragged him behind Arya. "Hey!" My head shot up before I could stop myself. My mouth also forgot its place as I jumped out of line. Everyone's head shot to me as my eyes widened in realization at what I'd done. Adrian, the other twin, walked up to me before punching me right in the stomach, I doubled over instantly. Feeling the sting in my slightly healed back. "I know you... You were publicly flogged only two days ago." God I hate this guy. "I also have it on good authority, that you openly spoke out against our rules and regulations in yesterday's class." My head shot down the line slightly to see Erin, looking a little frightened, her mate, the beta to be was looking at her, nodding his head in reassurance. "You traitor, you grassed on your own kind?" I yelled at her before feeling a fist connect with my cheek. My head whipped to the side from the force, while my class members gasped. I'm so done with this treatment, right then, I wasn't in charge of my actions. My fists curled up and my stance became a lot more defensive. My head snapped up to the alpha to be, and I looked him in the eye. "You don't know the meaning of the word disrespect." I suddenly hurled my fist towards his head, which he easily dodged, but my foot came up and kicked him instead. He stumbled backwards from the force with wide eyes. "You... you Actually hit me!" He didn't even sound annoyed, more shocked. Everyone in the hallway was watching, waiting for the alpha to do something but instead he simply stood up straight, regaining his composure. "I think everyone should get back to class." He began to walk away, following his sister when I called him back. "What about Nick?!" "Simple, He's my sisters mate. He now belongs to her." Argh, he's not an object. "He's not her property." A chuckle left his mouth, before turning his back to me again. "All humans are property." A short while later everyone made it to science class, our teacher Mrs Mathews is mated to the lycans pack doctor, she also now has a four and two year old with him. She was one of the first humans to be cohered into a false relationship. "What were you thinking young lady?" I rolled my head at her before looking at the empty seat next to mine. Nick was with that stvpid wolf girl right now. Being changed, I'm so angry it's ridiculous. "I was thinking, this guy is being a prick. Did you hear him? 'All humans are property.' It's bull shet." I looked up and the whole class looked at me like I had three heads. Talking shet about wolves is one thing, but talking about an alpha is punishable by death, attacking an alpha is an even worse offense. There was then a knock at the door and in walked Erin and her band of mated bestards. "Sorry we're late Mrs." "Erin, how are things between you and bata Monroe?" She blushed, the traitor actually blushed at the mention of his name. "He spoke to me last night about trying for a baby. We need a good strong boy to take over as beta." I scoffed looking at her as she took her seat. "You guys are actually pathetic, why can't it be a girl? Those mutts are basically Neanderthals" I voiced my opinion and saw all the shocked faces around me. Calling the lycans mutts, is the same as them calling us scum. After lesson had ended the entire school was called into the hall for assembly. This is where any human who has been found to have broken the rules were punished, usually 10 lashings were goven out or something similar. "Welcome to the school assembly, congratulations to the alpha twins for finding both your mates. Now on to the business at hand, as the 5 year anniversary of the new world is coming up, we have been informed that the alpha king will be visiting our district next week, this is very exciting news. We want you all to look your absolute best, she wolves and mated females will wear exemplary dresses made by seamstress. Male wolves and mated men will wear tailored suits. Anyone who doesn't comply will be reprimanded." The Alpha King?! No one has met him yet, he took over the throne three years ago when he turned 18. He really didn't make any appearances though, great, this month is going to be a nightmare. "As for the humans, you will be given a new uniform to wear for the visit, these are to be neatly ironed and worn to the highest standard. As for the following humans, based on your attitude this past week, you will be coming to the front and facing punishment. Tony summerset?!" Tony's head shot up as he looked around, he was in the year below but he shared my views when it came to the lycans. He slowly walked up to the front of assembly, almost instantly his top was t0rn in two and he received 10 lashings. A girl named Kara was next and she too received 10 lashings. A few more people went up slowly accepting their fate then suddenly my name was called. "Dylan Riley." Inside I was terrified but I simply shrugged my shoulders, I guess I did kind of expect this. Although I'm not sure if my back can take any more damage. "You attacked an alpha, correct!" His eyes bored into mine as I bowed my head submitting to his authority. "Technically, no." Everyone in the school gym looked on in fear, as my head moved to the front row of the wolf side. Adrian sat, with a werewolf girl in the year below, her name was Jana, I guess he found his mate. Nick and Arya were no where to be seen though. Adrian gave me a shrug as if to say he didn't tell, before smirking at my comment. "He hasn't officially taken the alpha title yet, so he's just..." i looked at the principle and noticed his eyes black and his claws out, he was in what lycans call a half shift, triggered when the subject has become angered. He turned to two security wolves and gave them a nod, Almost immediately i was forced onto my knees, my arm was slammed on a table and held in place by one wolf, while my body was held in place by the other. "Ok, I don't think this is needed, I have alpha blood, a stvpid human girl can't hurt me." My head snapped to Adrian who had stood up in front of the school to stop what was happening. "Nevertheless, humans need to know their place." With that the pressure on my arm increased as our principals hand pulled my sleeve up before a long claw punctured my skin. The searing pain shoting from the fresh wound had my eyes scrunched and my fist clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek hard instantly tasting blood, however no sound left my mouth. He continued to write, using my skin as a canvas and his claws as a marker, it went on forever, my vision blurred slightly at one point as I turned my head away. After minutes of torture, he was done and the pressure on my arm eased, instantly I snatched my arm away, hissing through my teeth at the pain. I was about to scurry off stage, when I was roughly grabbed yet again, my arm being held in the air by the principal while my feet were inches off the floor, blood dripped from the wound and the pattern he had made was on show for everyone to see. Loads of people gasped, even the wolves looked slightly horrified at what had happened. "This is what happens when a human decides to speak out. I can promise, anyone who so much as says one word about our way of life, will have the same punishment." My arm was starting to seriously ache from being held in the air for so long, and the lack of blood flow to my suspended arm was causing me pins and needles, still I refused to make a sound. I held the tears back and I bit my cheek harder causing more blood to fill my mouth. "That's enough Bradley!" Adrian growled, he was still stood up and looking at the scene in front of him. His eyes hard as he stared at the principal a low warning growl erupted from his chest which had the head teacher gulping, he quickly let go of my arm causing me to crash to the floor. A small cry left my mouth as I hit the hard floor. Immediately I scrambled away, my foot just missed the high step leading to the stage and I fell, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Two strong arms wrapped around me catching my weak body causing me to look up, my eyes widened as I noticed Adrian had caught my falling form. "This isn't part of the human punishment program!" Adrian growled causing me to tense in his grip, I pushed him away from me before fixing my uniform top. The room was deadly silent, taking in the scene in front of them, while I stole a glance at my forearm. Carved into my skin by his devastating claws were two words, words that would most definitely scar my body for life. 'Human scum' "Lessons must be learned, she received lashing merely two days ago, and clearly it had no effect on her." Another growl left Adrian's chest as he stepped on to the stage, I wasn't bothered though, you would think I'd be ashamed but I simply smiled slightly. I fixed my sleeve a little so it wouldn't rub on the fresh wound before speaking. "It doesn't matter," the whole room looked at me shocked by my attitude. "I would rather be labeled human scum, than have any resemblance to your kind. I'm proud of what I am, how many of you can say that?" After my amazing little speech, I walked right down the middle between the humans and lycans and out the door. No more compliance, I'm going to get away with as much as I can without getting into too much bother. There will come a day when the lycans power will fizzle out. When it does I'll be ready, I'll be waiting for the day we take our world back. As for the best part about my plan...

No one can stop me.

"Ouch, not so hard." I seethed as the school nurse cleaned my new wound with antiseptic. "If you had of just kept your mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened." I turned to my right looking out the window at the few clouds that were floating in the blue sky. "Like I said, I'm proud to be human, and now everyone knows what I am." I clenched my fist together as the nurse began wrapping a bandage around my forearm. It had been a good few hours since the incident in the hall, and I had been forced to come to the nurces office after I had tried to clean my wound by splashing it with water from the tap, it also refused to stop bleeding. "You are impossible. Can you please just try and stay out of trouble? For one day, that's all I ask." Our school nurse is a wolf, she's one of them. However she hates the way they treat us mere humans, she thinks we should all just live in peace with equal rights. Like that would ever happen. "All I've done is stay out of trouble, but you are just going to humiliate me anyway, so what's the actual point?" "The pack were discussing a public execution, Dylan. You need to walk on egg shells from now on, not just for you but for your family as well." No ones been publicly executed in over 4 months, I'm flattered they're considering it. They only execute people who they believe are the biggest problems to society. "Well then... I'm flattered." I chuckled, before looking at the patch job. 'Huh, not too shabby.' I quickly stood up from the human nursing station and pulled the sleeve of my shirt down covering the evidence of ever being hurt. "This is serious!" I just gave her a blank look before leaving the room. On the way out I heard her call back to me. "Please just think about it." I gave a clipped nod as I walked away wondering how I'm going to tell my mom about this. Later in the evening... "Dilly why you say that?" Freddie looked up at me with a mouth full of bread. "Don't speak with your mouthful!" My mom scolded him as a bashful blush made its way to his cheeks. "Sowwy mommy." His reply was muffled as he swallowed the last chunk of food. "I said it Freddie, because it's the truth. The wolf race are a pathetic excuse for..." my mom cut me off with an extremely stern look. "Dylan! They have ears everywhere, one more word out of you and it's your room." I scowled, my hatred for the Lycan kind growing stronger as each day passes. "What more can they do to me, lash me? Beat me? Brand me? They've ran out of options." I stated slamming my hands down, then severely regretting it as sharp pain shot though my wound. "What was that?" My head shot to regard my mothers worried expression. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were dull and judging as she looked at me. "Nothing, it was nothing." I quickly took my plate in my hand and began to walk to the kitchen. "I'm not really hungry, and I have homework to do!" My mom caught hold of my forearm causing me to drop my plate suddenly, I watched it slowly fall before shattering on the floor. I retracted my arm quickly and turned to Freddie. "Stay there and don't move until it's cleaned up ok sport?" He just nodded with wide eyes, I turned back to my mom and noticed her curious stare on my arm. Her grip shifted to the other side as she turned it around before pulling my sleeve up. The bandage was showing and a bit of blood was seeping though after the wound had been disturbed. "What the hel happened?" My moms eyes widened as she began to fumble with the bandage. Before she could unravel any of it I snatched my arm away. "I had an accident at school. No big." I began to gather the large pieces of the broken plate up ready to put them in the bin. "What did you do Dylan?" She looked at me with pure worry and only then did I realize what the wound must look like to someone who didn't know. "For gods sake! I didn't do it to myself! I got publicly punished at the assembly alright? It's no big deal." Her face dropped instantly and she stepped towards me, causing me to step backwards. "Mom, I'm ok. So back off will you." "What did you do? I've never known them to cut someone's arm as a punishment." Her shock and accusation was evident in her voice and I sighed heavily. "I spoke against the alphas son." I may have hit him too, but I wasn't going to divulge that part to her. "It's not one big cut, mom, it's a brand, 'human scum' carved onto my arm." "They've branded you now too?!" My eyes rolled at her hurt tone as I went to get the dustpan and brush. "You're so much like your father." A sigh left her mouth as she spoke, running a hand through her hair, while I quickly swept up the little pieces of the broken plate. "You've had a new uniform delivered. It's laid out on your bed. Dylan, Please just try and stay respectful in the future, I don't want my daughter to be completely mutilated. Although you're not far off." "Gee, Thanks." I then walked over to my little brother Freddy before blowing a kiss into his neck and hearing him giggle. "So sport, how's school going?" "It's ok." He shrugged before going back to coloring a dinosaur picture in. "Well that's good, stay out of trouble, ok little man?" Heading upstairs and into my room, my thoughts wandered to the permanent graffiti scar very slowly healing on my arm. Disgusting beasts. Think they own the world because they're faster, stronger and can shift. Pah. If you ask me they are not all that.

The second I walked into my room my mouth dropped open. On my bed was some grey pants laid out neatly, which wasn't the surprising part, no, what shocked me was the grey high neck no sleeved button down shirt, every single set of uniform had sleeves except this one. They've done this on purpose those, mutts. They want the world to see my arm and know what a disgusting creature I am. They want the world to know that I, Dylan Riley, am nothing more than 'human scum'.

During the last week, I've been horrible, in class I've been loud in voicing my views, I've insulted at least everyone to some degree, I didn't care about the consequences, and I certainly didn't think about them. I haven't seen Nick at all since he was claimed, and to make matters worse today was the royal visit. Oh yes, werewolves and mated humans alike were spending every waking minute preparing themselves to meet his royal majesty, king of the wolves. Unclaimed Humans however would rather stick pins in their eyes. "Dylan, get down now... you're going to be late." She was right, I was dawdling this morning, I really couldn't be bothered today, I gave myself one last look in the small mirror and sighed when my eyes met my newly uncovered brand. It had bad bruising around the letters, and was still extremely tender to touch, it was definitely healing now though. I made my way down the stairs and came face to face with my mother who was seeing to Freddie, she was helping my brother get his coat on when she turned to me. "You ready sport?" Freddie nodded his little head at me and smiled while I quickly slid my shoes on. "Just Remember, the alpha is bad enough, Dylan, please, please don't do anything to anger the king." My mother stopped us from walking out the door to tell me something she had been telling me continuously for the last couple of days, it was almost as if the entire human population of our district was expecting me to do something stvpid. "Try and have a good day." I rolled my eyes but nodded, even I know not to push the king, he could kil me in the hallway like it was nothing. In fact I plan on staying out of his way for the entirety of the day. "We will see you tonight mom." I stated before me and my brother began our walk to school, his little hand clutched my own tightly as we went. Usually Nick would be with us, as he lives next door, well he used to, now he's residing in the main pack house. I quickly dropped Freddie off at his school and watched him get the wolfsbane neutralizer before walking into him building giving me a small wave before he went in. With my new scar on complete show, and my figure being complimented by the skin tight shirt I was wearing, I sauntered down the street to school, I gave my name and year in and took the wolf's bane neutralizer injection with no problems at all. It was finally getting into school that the problem occurred. Walking through the halls I was met by many looks, some of pity some of disgust. You see every single non mated human in the school was wearing a long sleeved version of the uniform I was given. All the Wolves and mated couples were scattered around in fancy floor length dresses or tailored suits. As I turned the corner I noticed a couple, now this couple happened to catch my eye the most out of all of them because it consisted of Arya and Nick, eating each other's faces off. "What the hel!" Nicks head shot to me as his eyes widened. He too was dressed in a tailored suit, a navy blue tie hung on his neck to match Aryas dress. Why was this happening all the time? It's always my friends that get completely brain washed. I shook my head in disbelief before turning my back on him. I heard his fast footsteps behind me as I rounded the corner. "Dylan?!" He ran right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, making me drop my bag off my shoulder and almost causing me to bump into him. "Let me just explain..." "Has she marked you?" I mean you could almost see it in his eyes, she had marked him, and knowing the way life goes he's probably even mated with her. "Actually... Don't even answer that." I aggressively picked my bag up off of the floor and stormed off down the hall. "Dylan, just listen to me, Erin was right, it's so hard to resist your soulmate, and Arya is actually ok once you get to know her." I just kept walking, he caught up to me walking beside me but it didn't matter, I completely ignored everything and everyone. 'I'm so not in the mood today' getting into class was good though, I said hello to Mr Foley and took my usual seat. Nick sighed then took his bag off ready to sit next to me, but I snapped before he had the chance. "Traitors and mated idiots sit on that side of the room." I didn't look him in the eye as I pointed to a seat right at the front of the classroom on the opposite side. His eyes widened as he turned his attention back to me. "You can't be serious Dylan." I gave him a blank look before grabbing my book out of my backpack, I placed it on the desk then began to write the date on the top line. "I've sat in this seat for as long as I can remember." I ignored him, his voice sounded sad and shocked. "Dylan? Wait! What is that?!" Before I could react Nick had grabbed hold of my branded arm and turned it to see the letters. "Oh my God! What happened?" I snatched my arm away from him and shrugged as I continued to write in my book before grabbing my water bottle out of my bag. "The principal happened, it was my punishment for speaking out against Adrian and Arya. I wear it with pride." He just held a complete look of disbelief. "You spoke out against them?" I shrugged, what did he think I'd do. "It's no secret that I despise this stvpid new world and the mutts that control it. You were my friend, I wasn't going to let them just take you without saying something, although that is exactly what you seem to have done. Enjoy the view from your new seat!" "Don't be like that, Dylan, I'm your best friend, I'm sorry about your arm, but..." my eyes rolled inside my head at my friends words. "Anything with the word 'but' in, isn't an apology, it's a rationalization." I took a drink of water from my bottle and kept my eyes facing forward, ignoring his every attempt to try and talk to me. "Dylan?.. Dylan?... Do you know what? Erin is right, if you push us all away you won't have any friends left." He huffed before walking over to the empty seat and sitting down, I could feel him glancing up at me every now and again but I didn't respond. "Good morning class, please settle down." He looked at me then at Nick and frowned, we've never sat apart, we were friends before the new world even began. I just shook my head telling him to forget it. "So... as you know the king will be arriving in a short while, but until then lessons will go on as normal." Its funny seeing teachers in the same uniform your wearing, mr Foley and his wife are the coolest. Human teachers and doctors only have slightly more respect than we do. Because of Mr Foley's status him and his wife have better access to food and drink, Mrs Foley is cool, sometimes she even makes sure mr Foley brings some in for me. Ya know, coz I'm their favorite student. It's not in a weird way, it's just they were friends of the family before the new wold took effect. Mr Foley and my dad were buddies from high school, so it goes without sayin really. "All the mated humans will be at the front of each years line again, after that you will all be placed in status, Nick, as your mated to Alpha Arya, you'll be at the front of your line. Dylan as you have been branded..." his voice trailed off as he looked at me. "Yeah yeah, I'll be at the back of the line behind everyone. I get it." I huffed, moving my sight towards the window once more. "I am sorry." I turned to face Mr Foley again, he looked genuinely upset and that look of pity wasn't something I wanted to see. I gave him a clipped nod then turned away again. "Anyway, on to the subject matter, 'Of Mice and Men, page 64, Nick why don't you start us off with the reading."

"Of course sir." Nick began reading the book but I switched off, today is going to be a long day. After almost an hour and a half of reading comprehension, the bell chimed signaling lunch. I shot up and out of the classroom before anyone could say anything. Today, I was avoiding drama like the plague.

I wandered the corridors straight to the lunch hall. All the people I would normally hang out with we're all mated so I grabbed my lunch quickly, and sat down at the end of the human table. Let me lay the lunch hall out for you. On one side of the room you have two long rows of tables, with simple benches that make it look like prison, on the other side of the room you have multiple round tables with fancy chairs. Yup you get it. The humans sit at the prison tables and the wolves and traitors sit on the fancy tables, they get fancy food, fancy drink and most importantly they get pudding. what I would give to have some pudding. "Dylan can we just talk?" Nick quickly took the spot next to me as he set his lunch tray down. I looked at his food which had been placed on a ceramic, circular white plate. God that looked good. I sighed knowing he was going to talk anyway. "Fine, you have two minutes." I used my fork to take a bit of pasta off his plate and shoved it into my mouth. God that was good. "After I left school, I was taken to the pack house with Arya, and I really got to know her. It took a few days for me to finally accept being with her, but ever since life has been ok, and the sax... well that's a whole other story." Eww, I didn't need that mental image in my head. "I'm glad your happy." I stated before deciding I had no appetite. His face held shock before he sighed in relief. "That means a lot Dylan, I mean you know that your opinion matters to me." I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I said I was glad your happy. I didn't say I approved of what you've done. You've basically turned into one of THEM, I can't ever forgive you for that." He looked hurt, but I couldn't care less about his feelings. He placed his hand gently on my arm and went to open his mouth when a growl sounded out. All heads whipped to where it came from, Arya was stood holding a glass of soda and a plate, she was looking right at me and Nick and I would totally be dead if looks could kil. Nick quickly retracted his hand, his whole face fell and you could see sorrow flood his irises. "You sit with me now, get away from that, that... scum!" Wow, Nick was such a lucky guy. NOT. "You heard her. Get away from me, go sit with your new friends. I'm happy for you, and I understand where your coming from, but don't come up to me again and pretend you didn't betray your own kind. Don't pretend you didn't betray me." I shoved a little bit of food into my mouth before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving my tray on the table. I was walking through the hallway to the classroom, you see I decided to spend lunch with Mr Foley in his room, when I happened to hear voices in the corridor. "Is it wise for her to actually be present when the king arrives? Surely she could be placed in the dungeons, it might actually teach her some respect?" My principal was speaking to the alpha of our district, huh, if I stayed and listened do you think they'd notice, maybe they could smell me?! "Everyone is to be present, if the Riley girl does one thing out of line she will be dealt with severely, child or not. That girl has been a blight to the district since day one, she's dangerous, if she puts one hair out of place I will personally break her into submission." Oh shet, they were talking about me specifically, and they mentioned the dungeon, that's not been used in months. Normally I would have listened in more but something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me, all of a sudden, I was on edge, and simply wasn't interested in the slightest in hearing how my misery was to be enhanced. I backed up slightly before turning around and bumping head first into one of the hottest man I had ever seen. I lost my balance immediately and fell straight on to the floor letting out a small grumble in the process. His eyebrows knitted together quickly and his breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon my fallen state and gasped. "Mate!" He whispered, his eyes fixated on mine. Now, I had seen and heard that many times to know what that means, I gasped before taking a step back. 'No, no, no, no, no. This can not be happening.' He growled slightly before stepping towards me. Oh Shet!

Suprabhat, Vannakam, Adab and Welcome to the 2024 LOK SABHA GENERAL ELECTION THUNDERDOME.
NO RULES, NO LIMITS, ONLY CHAOS.
THE CAGE -
India is a parliamentary democracy that follows the first-past-the-post voting system, similar to the standard Westminster System. The Lower House of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) consists of 543 seats representing 543 constituencies that send 1 Member of Parliament (MP) each. These 543 MP's then choose a prime minister via simple majority.
For each constituency, a political party gives a ticket to a single Candidate. The Candidate with at least a plurality of votes in a constituency represents that Constituency in parliament as a member of the party.
There are no party level primaries in India, the candidate for a constituency is decided by the party high command and only one person from a party can be on the ticket for a particular seat. You can contest multiple constituencies though from the same party as both Narendra Modi (2014 BJP Candidate for both Varanasi and Vadodara) and Rahul Gandhi (2024 Congress Candidate for both Rae Bareili and Wayanad) have done. If no existing political party gives you a ticket, you can contest as an Independent Candidate or form your own party and contest as a member of your own party.
The government can be formed by the party or the alliance that has a simple majority of MP's. When no single political party has a majority of MP's, an alliance of various parties can be formed that contains the majority of MP's. This is called a post-poll alliance, where the parties contest elections separately but might come together after the elections in order to form the government or be part of the government. However there is also the pre-poll alliance where political parties join or form an alliance before the elections.
THE DATES -
THE RESULTS -
EXIT POLLS -
THE FIGHTS -
Economy & Employment:
The incumbent BJP-led NDA government makes the positive case of economic growth and development under its decade long tenure. It points to strong rejuvenated GDP growth with relatively low inflation, rising wages, a growing middle class, stable macroeconomic positioning, strong spending, slashing of multidimensional poverty, a strong and well administered welfare state, expanded free trade, sharp reduction in regulation, increase in select manufacturing and industry, a revitalized finance sector, and a thriving service market.
The government points to the large-scale infrastructure development undertaken, expanding roadways, delivering expansive electrification, and provisions of basic utility services. They point to the stagnation and policy paralysis observed under the tenure of the last Congress government (UPA 2), and further make point to the opposition's alleged proposed populist economic programs as untenable and unfeasible. They make the case that the opposition has leftist economic policies that are not grounded in economic reality.
The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition on the other hand, makes the negative case against the incumbents, pointing to large scale youth unemployment, even among educated youth. They point to an alleged inability of the government to tie growth to employment. They allege a failure of manufacturing capacity and sufficient industrialization of the economy, highlighting the lack of sufficient private capital inflows. They criticize the growth figures of the economy by casting doubt on the government's statistics, and focusing extensively on growing wealth inequality, alleging that growth only occurs for the rich billionaire class, with minimal relief for the poor, targeting specific attacks against domestic industrial magnates, Adani and Ambani. They allege favoritism on the part of the incumbent government towards their select base, highlighting the state of Gujarat as being prioritized over other states.
In making their positive case, they propose a more inclusive and redistributive model of growth, proposing heightened subsidization programmes, more welfare and support programmes, higher taxation on the wealthy and corporations, leveraging private capital inflows for infrastructure development, and prioritizing equitable growth through a caste census, developing corrective policies for inequalities between castes.
They aim to solve the employment crisis through expanding roles in state enterprises and filling government vacancies, alongside expanding labour intensive industries like manufacturing and mining, whilst pointing to high growth rates of the economy as well as committing to expand manufacturing through reforms and subsidy platforms like the PLI, FAME etc., further claiming that increased infrastructure spending will lead to crowding in effect thus enabling faster industrialization.
Social Justice:
The issues of social equity and justice have become major cornerstones of both the incumbent and opposition electoral platforms. This is most prevalent through the forthcoming section on sectarianism, but also focuses on key issues regarding class equality and - most importantly - caste-based discrimination.
The incumbent BJP-led NDA government point to their solid track record of universal poverty alleviation, targeted successful welfare and affirmative action programmes. The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition on the other hand, point to growing wealth inequality and apparent institutional and systemic discrimination against underprivileged caste communities in academia, employment, governmental programmes, courts, the military, etc. They allege that the government has not committed to taking resolute and definitive action against casteism through corrective policy.
This all boils down to the Reservation system, a large scale, affirmative action initiative, conducted through a systematic quota-based policy of allotment of institutional positions in education, governmental employment, schemes and programmes, direct political representation, etc.
With reservations estimated to have hit 59.5% of Central Government Institutional positions, there are now broader calls to expand the scale and scope of this drive. The opposition wanting to break the cap limits and even introduce this system into the private sector to potentially induce parity, while the government commits to more modest hikes of upto 62.5% while playing into incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi's identity as a member of an underprivileged caste community.
While the opposition campaigns on removing limits to the quota system to deliver equity, the government alleges these commitments to be populist and detrimental, while alleging that the opposition seeks to potentially appease its Muslim voter base by introducing expanded reservations for Muslims, thereby allegedly sabotaging the disadvantaged Hindu lower castes, and redistributing their wealth to Muslims, in a bid to gain their votes.
Communalism:
Both the incumbent BJP-led NDA government and the INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition have framed communalism as a lynchpin issue of the Election. The incumbent government points to alleged casteist and bigoted rhetoric against select caste groups and Hindus. They allege the opposition panders to minorities for their votes, whilst not delivering on the real issues. They allege the opposition seeks to drive up divisiveness and shared social harmony in India. They further allege that the opposition engages in divisive rhetoric on key issues of Hindu-Indian culture like that of the Ram Temple, in ways that contradict the spirit of the Indian State.
The opposition on the other hand, accused the incumbent government of being bigoted against minority communities, from the large Muslim community, to the lower caste communities of Indian society. They allege use of hateful and divisive rhetoric against these communities, and point to select controversial government positions and policies on issues like the Ram Mandir, the controversial CAA-NRC laws, the proposed Uniform Civil Code, among others. They further allege institutional degradation of key offices including policing, academia, and the military in discriminating against minority groups.
Institutional Independence:
The INC-led I.N.D.I.A opposition alleges institutional degradation and capture of various independent governmental entities by the incumbents. They point to the use of Executive, Investigative, Anti-Corruption, Enforcement, & Tax authorities against opposition figures and media as evidence, highlighting specific cases of the detaining and arrest of two sitting opposition Chief Ministers, and the resignation of one. They highlight alleged selective targeting of opposition figures for raids, charges, and arrests, creating an alleged environment of impunity for the government. The opposition alleges heightened and blatant partisanship of members of the Judiciary in support of the incumbent government. They also allege illegitimate freezing of campaigning funds, crackdowns on press freedoms via capture of media institutions, and also critically alleges institutional capture of the Election Commission, casting doubts on election results primarily critiquing India's Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
The Government rebukes these claims as part of a strong anti-corruption drive, highlighting a drop in governmental corruption cases since the previous Congress government (UPA 2, infamously riddled with such allegations). The government frames the opposition parties as corrupt and power-hungry, while further disparaging the opposition's alleged unfounded attacks on Indian institutions, apparent partisan attacks on the judiciary and critiquing apparent unfounded claims of election denialism.
THE FIGHTERS –
The election is primarily clash between two large coalitions, and their leading parties. On one side, you have the incumbent government of the BJP-led NDA, or National Democratic Alliance, and on the other, you have the opposition INC-led I.N.D.I.A, or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, a new mega coalition of more than 35 parties, with a few unofficial supporters too.
The following is a list of some key players in each of the alliances and is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive list of all involved factions.
The incumbent NDA includes:

1. BJP – The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party - "Indian People's Party") is a Hindu nationalist party committed to Hindutva ideology, promoting Hindu culture, opposing Muslim immigration, and creating a nativist country wherein India embraces a fundamentally Hindu social fabric. The BJP government under Modi undertook strong reformist policies in promoting liberalization of the economy through aggressive regulatory reforms, furthering free trade through FTAs and privatization of underperforming state assets. They took aggressive stances on defense and counterterrorism against Pakistan and China, while pragmatically engaging other nations despite criticism on some foreign policy moves for being 'wolf warrior-esque'. They uphold a strong nationalist domestic and foreign policy, that simultaneously does not retreat from globalization. On National Security, they aim to make India a regional power with a strong emphasis on modernization & indigenization of military administration and technology, while also reducing bureaucratic and manpower burdens through varied recruitment windows.
   
2. JD(U) - The JD(U) (Janata Dal (United) – “People’s Party (United)”) is led by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and has been in power in the eastern state of Bihar since 2005. It was formed after a series of splits and mergers in the Janata Dal in the 90s. It is credited with doing good work in the state on roads, electricity, and water, however it has failed to provide jobs & spur manufacturing. This, combined with its leader frequently switching between rival alliances, is causing anti-incumbency.
   
3. TDP - The TDP (Telugu Desam Party – “Party of the Telugu Land") follows a pro-Telugu ideology. It was founded as an alternative to the Congress hegemony, by emphasizing Telugu regional pride and serving as the party for farmers, backward castes and middle-class people. Since the 1990s, it has followed an economically liberal policy that has been seen as pro-business and pro-development as well as populist welfare measures.
   

The opposition I.N.D.I.A includes:

1. INC - The INC (Indian National Congress) is a big tent social-democratic/democratic-socialist party with its foundational pillars being equity, equality, and egalitarianism. They take broad commitments to secularism and class equality to be principal positions. The INC under Rahul Gandhi has taken strong positions on caste issues, shining light on inequities from past and current discrimination, and proposing active policy interventions. While the INC also holds a free-market/pro-liberalization consensus, they emphasize growing social and wealth inequality and seek inclusive and redistributive growth with strong state intervention. They also see some proposed liberalizing reforms to further inequality and take an 'anti-corporatist' position. They take a slightly less strong position to Indian foreign policy, stressing a more diplomatic approach (with minimal variance on actual positions to the incumbents). They embrace globalization in part, while emphasizing India's need for domestic development. They aim to industrialize India rapidly through stimulating private investment and aim to subsidize both supply and demand. They seek to maintain the Indian military with a focus on highly trained soldiers. They pioneered multi-alignment as the foreign policy for India.
   
2. AAP - The AAP (Aam Aadmi Party – “Common Man's Party"), part of INDIA coalition, currently holds power in two key states - Delhi and Punjab. Its chief figurehead and leader, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate under an alleged liquor scam in the run up to elections. Barely a 10 year old party it has expanded very quickly to many states, running two of them, and now has national party status by the Election Commission of India (ECI). It leans centre-left to centre-right, with some play of soft Hindutva, while its economic platform comprises heavy spending in education, health, and free schemes of water and electricity. They rose to power on an anti-corruption program in 2013 and continues to have it as its central plank.
   
3. CPI(M) – The CPI(M) (Communist Party of India (Marxist)). They commies lol. The CPI(M) is one of the larger and more mainstrean communist parties in India. Since they operate within the Indian republic's constitution they have adopted more Indian characterisrics. They are primarily against privatisation in the public sector and in favour of universal education and healthcare. Their base has traditionally been in Kerala, one of the more developed states in India in terms of income levels and HCI. they're in favour of private sector reservations and in recent years have also been pro-FDI They promise non-aligned foreign policy, but largely are very anti-US and pro-China. They promise to restore Article 370 and oppose forceful seizure of land by government. They're one of the most influential parties in India due to a strong cadre and student union ecosystem. They've had an effect on the farmers protests as well as economic positions of the INDI Alliance.
   
4. DMK - The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - “Dravidian Progressive Federation") is a big tent broad left-wing party that is foundationally Dravidian (primarily Tamil) Nationalist, with strong emphasis on social equity and caste issues, while being staunchly secular and atheistic, and interventionist, statist, heavily welfarist, and industrialist in economic policy. They are primarily a regional party operating in the state of Tamil Nadu, led by M.K. Stalin, the state's current Chief Minister.
   
5. RJD - The RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal – “National People’s Party”) is a caste-based (Muslims & Yadavs) political party in the Indian state of Bihar, which it ruled from 1990 to 2005. Its rule was one of extreme lawlessness & anarchy. It was called the “Jungle Raj”. Between 1990 & 2000, Bihar's per capita income and power consumption fell off a cliff due to mismanagement. Its CM, Lalu Prasad, was convicted of corruption in 2013.
   
6. SP - The SP (Samajwadi Party – “Socialist Party”) believes in creating a socialist society that operates on the principle of equality. Although the party previously ran on an anti-computer, anti-English, and anti-machinery platform, under its new national president Akhilesh Yadav, the party has made a 180° turn. Now, the Samajwadi Party declares itself to be the party of infrastructure while maintaining its commitment to social justice, with a special focus on teaching computer skills. The party's main base is in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which is the most populated state in India, with a population of 230 million. The only negatives associated with the party are the rampant dynasticism within its ranks and its perceived soft stance on law and order issues.
   
7. JMM - The JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – “Jharkhand Liberation Front") currently runs the govt of eastern state of Jharkhand. The party has historically centred tribal rights as its central plank and agitated for a new tribal state separate from Bihar until 2000, when their demands were met. It leans centre-left to left with their key issues being tribal control of land, mineral and mining rights, addressing issues of rehabilitation of tribals. The party is primarily run by the Soren family, with Champai Soren being its chief minister candidate in the current government after the last chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested by enforcement directorate. JMM is in alliance with the Indian national congress in the state, and part of the INDIA coalition for the Lok Sabha elections. They face charges of corruption and the image of dynastic politics.
   

The “It’s Complicated”, Unaligned, Split, and/or other Supplementary Parties include:

1. TMC - The TMC or AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) is a Bengali political party ruling over the state of West Bengal since 2011. It is led by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. It is a center-left, welfarist, Bengali Nationalist party. It has been criticized for using heavy-handed authoritarian tactics against opposition leaders in the state, corruption, and political violence. It is credited with ending 34 years of communist rule in the state. West Bengal under the AITC has registered subpar economic performance and is largely stagnant. Pertinent to note Mamata used to be Congress leader till 1998, and AITC, in spite of being sympathetic towards the I.N.D.I.A. alliance at the national level, is fighting the Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal on all 42 seats.
   
2. AIADMK - The AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – “All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation") is a broad centre-left/left-wing party adhering to foundational Dravidian philosophy, while emphasizing Tamil identity. Traditionally being less ethno-nationalist than their sister opposition party the DMK, they adhere to broad welfarist left-wing populism, focusing on social justice and communal equity, while being less economically statist than the DMK. They also focus primarily on Tamil Nadu as a regional party, currently led by Edappadi Palaniswami.
   
3. Shiv Sena - The Shiv Sena (“Army of Shivaji”) was founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966 as a populist, xenophobic party, although the party gradually added Hindutva ideology to its anti non-Maharashtrian plank. It was the long time senior partner to the BJP in Maharashtra till Narendra Modi's popularity caused a change in the dynamics. After power sharing talks with the BJP failed in 2019, the Shiv Sena switched alliances to join hands with their long time rivals in Congress and NCP in an arrangement that made Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. In 2022 again, The Majority of Shiv Sena politicians led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against the top leadership to ally again with the BJP, taking control of the party and toppling the Uddhav Thackeray government. The splinter group led by Uddhav Thackeray is called SS (UBT) and it is allied with the Congress in the INDIA Alliance.
   
4. NCP – The NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) were founded in 1998 by Sharad Pawar and a few others who left the Congress in 1998 after Sonia Gandhi was made Congress president. Despite it's formation, the NCP was a long term ally of the Congress sharing virtually the same ideology. In 2023 however, like the Shiv Sena, In a rebellion led by Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit, a Majority of NCP politicians switched alliances to support the BJP and took control of the party. Like the Shiv Sena, the Splinter group led by Sharad Pawar and his daughter is called NCP (SP) and it's allied with the Congress in the INDIA Alliance
   
5. YSRCP - The YSRCP (Yuvjana Sramika Rythu Congress Party – “Youth, Labour, & Farmer Congress Party”) was founded by the son of an old congress Chief Minister after he was denied the role of Chief Minister after his father. It's a populist centre-of-left party with strong focus on welfare schemes and cash benefits. It's mired in controversy due to its dynastic nature, its ties to Christian Fundamentalism and American Missionaries targeting the marginalized.
   
6. BRS - The BRS (Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi – “Indian National Council”) was formed originally with a single-point agenda of creating a separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. They are largely neoliberal and are credited with rapid economic growth in Telangana.
   
7. BJD – The BJD (Biju Janata Dal – “Biju’s People’ Platform”) was formed by Naveen Pattnaik the son of the former CM of Oddisha, Biju Pattnaik. It’s a Odia regional party with a strong focus on poverty upliftment through welfare policies and equitable economic growth.
   
8. BSP - The BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party - "Majority Community Party") is a center-left party in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which was started to uplift Dalits and other marginalized communities in India by Kanshi Ram. Its current party president is Mayawati. BSP is considered as one of the biggest parties in India as per vote share, although it's currently in decline. At its height, this party had a strong base in many states across north India, but now it's only limited to the state of Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the largest states in India with a population of 230 million. There are strong suspicions of BSP working in secret with BJP, and maybe that's why the party is not fighting this election enthusiastically. Although they can still make the competition interesting on a few seats in UP.
   

OTHER KEY ISSUES -

1. Political Dynasticism:

Although dynastism is thought to be a good fix for internal chaos in a party, the current political leader of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, is a fourth-generation dynast who has to carry the political baggage of everything which went wrong during the rule of his grandmother and great-grandfather.
Also because one family has been controlling the Congress for decades, it has caused various state-level leaders to either form their own party or join another one. They see no future in the Congress anymore because the door to leadership is always closed for them. This has destroyed the ground level cadre of Congress party in many key states.
Rahul Gandhi’s privilege combined with the lack of any real political acumen so far has led to the INC taking damage due to is infamy.
Nepotism and dynastic politics has been a key issue throughout the last 10 years as BJP positions itself as the ‘common man’s party’

1. The Ram Mandir:

A land dispute originating from the alleged destruction of a Hindu Temple, replaced by a Mosque built allegedly atop the site (the Babri Masjid) in the 16th century allegedly by Mughal Empror Babur in present day Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, the proposed birthplace of the Hindu deity Lord Ram.
Following a century of sporadic conflict, from 1853 to 1949, a revivalist movement in the 1980's would lead to rising communal tensions, culminating in the 1992 destruction of the Ram Temple by Hindu Nationalists and devotees.
The legal conflict over the land would continue until 2019, when the Supreme Court of India issued the controversial ruling that the land be handed over to government trust for the construction of a Ram Temple, with seperate land being allotted to the local Muslim community for construction of a Mosque.
Almost all elements of the dispute remain mired in controversy. From the historical and religious associations of Ayodhya with Ram, the existence of a definitively Hindu structure, the alleged deliberate destruction of the said temple, the times and events of construction and use, the participants, planning, and events of the 1992 destruction, the ASI Archeological Surveys that served as key evidence for the Supreme Court being tampered and politicised by both sides of the politcal aisle, the legality of the ruling itself, and other surrounding issues regarding justice against those alleged to have partaken in the destruction of the Babri Masjid.

1. Foreign Policy:

The BJP is campaigning on building a multi-aligned foreign policy where India is seen as the world’s friend as well as an upcoming regional power. This was at its peak during India’s G20 presidency. Many Indians claim the rise of India’s global stature is an electoral issue. This can be seen in the popularity of the government’s anti-terror operations in both Pakistan and beyond. The resurgence of an interventionist foreign policy has proven to be popular in projecting the strongman image of Modi. The country’s commitment to it’s strategic autonomy and multi-alignment have been a fixture right since Nehru.
SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES:

Tickets

Getting Tickets

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Membership Options

If you're not a season ticket holder, you can purchase a club membership along with a ticket from the CPFC Ticket website. You can usually purchase a membership and a ticket at the same time. There are five types of membership, though only three of which are for adults:

Adult Membership

Cost: £25

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Cost: £60

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International Membership

Cost: £45* Cost: £35*

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• Welcome pack
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*Cost dependent on wether or not you choose the welcome pack.

Ticket Prices

There are three categories and five zones, which affect prices:
*Please note that RV = Restricted View

Category A

Category A	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
Adult	£70	£67	£62	£60	£57
Concession	£53	£49	£45	£42	£38
Junior	£37	£37	£35	£33	£30

Category B

Category B	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
Adult	£61	£58	£55	£53	£51
Concession	£47	£43	£40	£37	£34
Junior	£34	£34	£32	£30	£27

Category C

Category C	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5
Adult	£51	£48	£45	£44	£42
Concession	£41	£38	£35	£32	£30
Junior	£26	£26	£23	£21	£19

*Concessions available for adults aged 65 and over (Senior), adults aged 18-21 (18-21), supporters with accessibility requirements (must be registered with the club), and full time students (Student)
**Ticket prices are subject to change. This table may be slightly out of date if viewed in the future. Please always check the CPFC website for the most up-to-date prices.

How do I know which category a game is?

You can find out the category a game is by checking the CPFC website here. This will also tell you when tickets will go on sale and how many tickets you may purchase.
Here's a stadium map showing the stands and sections and categories.

FAQ

When will tickets for future games go on sale?

• If you would like to know the ticket sale dates, please visit here to view all future ticket sale dates.

How many tickets can I purchase with a membership?

• The CPFC FAQ Page states "Each Member will be able to purchase two tickets for Category A home fixtures, between two to four tickets for Category B home fixtures, and four tickets for Category C home fixtures". You can also check this for each individual game on the Home Ticket Sale Dates page.

I've bought my tickets, how do I get to Selhurst Park?

The club have put together a few handy guides for you to check out here.

Loyalty Points

You earn Crystal Palace loyalty points every time you spend money at the club, whether it be on memberships, tickets, or in the online store. Tickets for home and away matches are usually sold in phases, starting with season ticket holders who have a certain number of loyalty points. After a day or two, the remaining tickets are made available to season ticket holders with a lower number of loyalty points. And so it goes until all tickets are sold.
It's therefore suggested that you build up your loyalty points if you want a match day ticket.

Other Ticket Options

If you're unable to get a match ticket via the method outlined above, you can scour the CPFC message boards to see if anyone has a spare ticket available. One of the better places to find a ticket is in the Ticket & Travel Talk forum on Holmesdale.net. Tickets advertised in the forum are only to be sold at face value so you shouldn't get scammed. However, you should use the site at your own risk and also be aware that sellers usually want to any potential buyers to have an active history on the site itself.

How to contact the Box Office

• You can contact the CPFC Box office through their email at: boxoffice@cpfc.co.uk. Be aware, their response times have been known to mirror Crystal Palaces performance. Inconsistent.

I'm looking for an urgent (i.e. tomorrow morning) pride t-shirt. I've learned recently that the mother of my children is teaching them that the pride flag is "bad" and they should fear and shun it. This has broken my heart and caused my much concern for my children's tender minds. For me, now, the need be an example to them of a loving adult role model who supports the pride flag and everything it represents has become very urgent. I decided that it's important for me to be seen displaying a pride flag in a way that will attract the notice of my children and perhaps even prompt them to ask questions.
Now I am kicking myself that I waited too long and have just realized that I should have a pride flag shirt ready to go tomorrow when my daughters see me, but it's too late to order on Amazon and get it here in time. I'm having trouble finding one that arrives before Monday morning at the latest. Why is it suddenly so urgent, you ask? Two reasons: One, I overheard something tonight that made me realize that timeliness is key. After what my children heard from a role model today, they need to see their dad with a pride flag TOMORROW. And two, tomorrow is June 1st, the start of pride month, and I only just realized that tonight. Yes, I know I should have thought about this and planned ahead and had more awareness, etc. I know. I failed. Now I'm scrambling to recover.
So what I'm wondering is, is there shop where I can go and buy a pride shirt tomorrow morning? Yes, I know that the Pride festival starts tomorrow. But it opens at 11. Is there anything open earlier than that? Like, first thing in the morning? That's how urgent this feels to me.
To give you an idea of what I'm hoping for: I'm not keen on all the fancy and clever designs and slogans and logos and variations. I prefer something simple and direct and symbolic: black shirt, rainbow pride flag. Also, I live in the southern part of the valley. Obviously I can drive somewhere, but closer is always better.

“She Made the Salad”
Memoirs of Kathryn Robinson Knight
Dedicated to her Descendants
Summer of 2020
My mom and dad were married after he returned to Auburn following the First World War. Dad’s official name was Carey Carslile Robinson, but we called him “Cackey.” He was an Army First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry at the time. He referred to himself as a foot soldier and always kept his service in the Reserves up to date and remained on inactive duty.
Cackey’s first job was Line Coach at Auburn. He and my mom “ran away” after the GA Tech – Auburn game in Atlanta. She was eighteen; he was twenty-four years old. (This is the story I was told, but the dates may be off!)
After his football career, my father was Athletic Director at Mercer University in Macon, GA. My sister, Suzanne, was born there in 1924. He was later Athletic Director at Birmingham Southern, which is where I was born in 1930.
Our family later moved sixty miles to Alexander City, where Dad bought the Ford franchise car dealership. My mother’s family had the same business in Opelika; my dad’s brothers had a franchise in Kansas. So, we have always been in the car business – General Motors, Chrysler, Cadillac, etc.
It was in “Alex City” that I started school and also began dance instruction in 1935. In 1940 my dad was recalled to active duty and was promoted to Captain and sent to Columbia, SC, where Fort Jackson is located – U.S. Artillery Headquarters.
War was anticipated, and Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. “A day that will live in infamy.” My dad was Provost Marshall (Head of Military Police.) In 1940 there were 10,000 soldiers at Camp Jackson. After 1941, the numbers grew to 75,000 men almost overnight.
What an experience for an eleven-year-old! So many things changed during those three and a half years of war time. It reminds me of the current craziness of today’s world.
Fort Jackson was visited by so many top security people, from President Roosevelt to Churchill and all the generals who came to see the troops in review. My family was allowed to see all this because of my dad’s job. Not many people had this experience.
Many famous people came to entertain the troops, which we also got to see. Entertainers included some of the 40’s greats such as Bob Hope, Tommy Dorsey, Bing Crosby, and Benny Goodman. America at War is something I will never forget! It was in Columbia that I got my very best dance training.
In 1945 we were transferred to Fort Benning, GA. My dad was a Major by then and with the Infantry School at Benning. This was a beautiful place to live! Two historic events took place there. First, when President Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, GA, his body was taken there. His sendoff by train to Washington, DC, was full of pomp and circumstance. Also, a mass celebration occurred at the end of World War II.
In 1947 my father was transferred to Pratt General Hospital in Coral Gables, FL, due to a medical emergency – ruptured gall bladder. Dad, a Lieutenant Colonel by then, retired at that time. My parents decided to stay in Miami Beach until I finished high school in 1948. My last two years were at Miami Senior High.
I went to Florida State University for my freshman year of college, and pledge Delta Delta Delta social sorority. The chapter in Gainesville was new and needed older chapter members to help get it established.
The National Traveling Secretary wanted chapter members from Stetson, University of Miami, and FSU to transfer to UF. There were about ten of us from other schools who agreed to do this, so I transferred to the University of Florida for the remaining years of my college education.
Our group was very close and worked hard for Tri Delt. It was great fun! Our reward was to be allowed to live in the sorority house. Not often is that privilege extended to sophomores.
I majored in elementary education. Dance classes were always part of my life – on the university level and in private studio classes. This was true in both Tallahassee and Gainesville. At that time there was no dance major – too bad!
“Dancing with the Stars”
I started dance in Alexander City at age five and was always involved in a dance program during all of my school years. In Columbia, SC, my serious ballet training began. From ages eleven to fifteen, “class” was every day, and I was a “studio rat” – a group of kids who were always at the studio.
The Foster School of Dance had many students and adults who were members of the Carolina Ballet Company (the regional ballet company.) I was a junior member. Mrs. Foster took three of us to New York during the summer for two years. It was great training and a wonderful experience.
As an Army “brat,” we moved to Fort Benning, and I studied in Columbus, GA. I took dance on weekends in Atlanta. It was at this time that I met Mrs. Dorothy Alexander as a teacher. She later became Artistic Director of the Atlanta Civic Ballet Company. This is still an outstanding company!
They came to Orlando periodically, and I always loved to see them. Later, in Miami, I also found a great teacher. The love of dance never ends.
“Don’t Tell Mom!”
After college, when I married Gordon Oldham in Opelika, AL, and moved to Leesburg in 1952, my dance was put on hold while I raised a family. I managed to substitute teach in Leesburg at Helen St. John’s Studio at Lake Sumter Community College for continuing education classes.
The years spent raising my family will always be remembered as the very best! Raising my three children – Gordon, John, and Carey – was and always will be the greatest joy of my life. All three of my children are Gators now.
During these years I did all the things that were important to life in Leesburg: Junior Women’s Club, Triangle Club, Daughters of the American Revolution, Garden Club, and – always – St. James Episcopal Church work.
In later years, I became involved with Women for Hospice, Heritage Society, LSCC Foundation Board, and the Performing Arts programs. I also assisted Lifestream with social dances for the mental health center.
I was divorced in 1977. In 1978, I married Art Knight (a Seminole!) and acquired another son – Arthur - also a Seminole. That same year I fulfilled a lifelong dream and opened the Kathryn Knight School of Dance studio. The next sixteen years were devoted to teaching many children the love and joy of dance.
Art and I enjoyed living part time in the mountains of Maggie Valley in North Carolina until his death in 2011. We were able to achieve many of our dreams and scratch lots of items off our bucket lists. These included traveling to Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, and my favorite – St. Petersburg, Russia. I was fortunate to attend the ballet Giselle while there, an experience I will always treasure.
Our greatest pleasures came from our ten grandchildren. I now have four great-grandchildren and hopefully anticipate more. I am a three-time cancer survivor and am grateful for each and every day of my life.
https://preview.redd.it/eijsamtjwv3d1.jpg?width=788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=954fd52d4e8a89f79bee7ee07f5d99cc48c8118d

Hi everyone I am a transplant to Australia from the UK and have had a long break in my studies. I completed Diploma AAT (UK) in 2011 and started CIMA 2012, and passed/was exempt from 12 exams of approx 17/18 (from memory, the syllabus will undoubtedly have changed by now). However I failed a couple of exams, was demotivated and took a break which turned into 10 years. I've been thinking about restarting my studies and training as a CA/CPA;
I don't personally enjoy being an accountant it's something I fell into after uni and thought I'd find something else, but I've now been doing it for 15 years. I also work in an industry that values experiences and personal recommendations over qualifications, but it might set me apart if I decide to branch out or go for more senior roles on the corporate side of my industry where it would be valued. However that's not something I'd pursue right now.
Has anyone else taken a long break and come back to it successfully? Any tips for motivation?
Edit: duplicate paragraph

The Fightplan series is back, as 2024 has proved a standout year for Ukrainian boxing, as Oleksandr Usyk captured undisputed status at heavyweight and Denys Berinchyk turned a superb boxing display to beatdown Emanuel Navarrete in San Diego to become the 135lbs WBO world champion. But the pick of the performances came for a legend of the amateur game to lay a marker down half way through the year for the performance of 2024 to recapture his own crown at lightweight, that performance coming from the great...
'Hi-Tech' 'The Matrix' Vasyl 'LOMA' Lomachenko
Vasyl Anatolyevich Lomachenko was born 17 February 1988 in the port city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky in the Odesa Oblast of South Western Ukraine. He was born into a sports obsessed family, his mother Tetiana a former gymnast turned instructor and his father Anatoly, an obsessed sports fan determined to see his son represent Ukraine in elite sports no matter what the discipline. Initially wanting the young Vasyl to become an ice hockey player, it was when he was taken to the boxing gym that Anatoly spotted the star potential his son possessed. He started training in boxing when he was 5 years old, with his father teaching him to fight as a southpaw despite 'doing everything with his right hand' which he believed would give him an advantage, as well as taking him to traditional dance classes and gymnastics lessons to help improve his balance, core strength, co-ordination and timing. His first amateur success would come at 16 years old, when Vasyl won the 2004 European Cadet Championships gold medal at 101 lbs. He took 8 months out from competing at competitions due to a growth spurt, but returned to claim a silver medal at the 2007 world championship at 125lbs, as well as winning gold at a nationwide Klitschko brothers tournament and at the Senior European Championships a year later at the same weight. Between 2008 to 2011, Lomachenko won 4 consecutive gold medals at the National Championships, as well as the 2010 Presidents Cup, and of course most notably, his success capturing the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where Lomachenko also won the Val Barker Trophy for 'The Most Outstanding Boxer' at the games, before capturing another Olympic Gold medal at the London Games in 2012.
Now having competed at 132lbs for the last 4 years as an amateur, Lomachenko finished his amateur career with a staggering 395-1 record, having lost by just one point to Russian Albert Selimov, who he'd go on to beat twice, as well as holding amateur victories over notable fighters such as Félix Verdejo, José Carlos Ramírez, Óscar Valdez and Robson Conceição.
After his success at the 2013 World Series of Boxing, Lomachenko turned over to the pro game with big ambitious, with the goal to win a world title on his professional debut, and would only accept a deal on those conditions. After exhausting all options, Top Rank signed him to a deal where he could box in his second pro fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title which victory of 25-3 over José Luis Ramírez who he beat on his debut over 4 round for the WBO International title, securing his world title shot. This would come against 55 fight veteran with 41 wins, Orlando Salido, in a highly controversial bout with Salido missing weight by over 3lbs and no less than 52 low blows and repeated headbutts throughout from the Mexican ,who had rehydrated to over 147lbs, without any warning from the referee. Salido would win by split decision, in controversial fashion having only outlanded Lomachenko in one of the twelve rounds, with the broadcast team adding insult to injury with a patronising 'Welcome to professional boxing!' message to Lomachenko. Defiantly, Lomachenko would go on to capture the same title in his next fight, outworking the highly skilled and blisteringly fast enigma of Gary Russell Jr., before defending in a shutout win over 51-1 Thai Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, not dropping a round despite an injury forcing him to box in final 5 rounds with just his right hand. The next years would be frustrating for Lomachenko, failing to get unifications with the other champions not wanting to risk losing to the elite champion with such little pro experience, as Lomachenko became disillusioned at being offered 'not interesting' match ups. Despite this, he'd carry on defending his title twice more before his knockout of the year contender as he knocked out Roman 'Rocky' Martinez in the 5th round with a vicious left uppercut and right hook combo, where he won the WBO world title at Super Featherweight. This would spark the beginning of his most dominant run of performances, resulting in 4 straight retirement victories at over Nicolas Walters, Jason Sosa, Miguel Marriaga and his schooling over an unbeaten Guillermo Rigondeaux, giving birth to his 'No-Mas Chenko' moniker.
Lomachenko then moved to his third weight class where he'd face the 44-3 WBA world champion Jorge Linares, over coming slight adversity for the first time, after a his first and only ever knockdown in round 6, Lomachenko would rally back to overwhelm Linares with relentless pressure and non stop flurries of punching culminating in a round 10 stoppage, become a 3 weight world champion in a record time of just 12 pro fights. His next matchup would be his first unification bout against the WBO champion Jose Pedraza, winning a one sided decision and twice dropping the champion, he'd make two defences of his titles over former world champion Anthony Crolla, battering him and twice dropping him inside 4 rounds, and coming out on top with an impressive display over former Olympic Gold medalist Luke Campbell, where Lomachenko picked up vacant the WBC world title, before being controversially elevated to 'franchise champion' and not being recognised as the official belt holder amongst the other sanctioning bodies.
Despite this, Top Rank moved quick to make one of the few super fights during the global pandemic, with a much anticipated bout in what was essentially an undisputed bout against IBF champion Teofimo Lopez following his statement win over Richard Commey. Despite his lack of experience at world level, Lopez boxed disciplined throughout using his clear power and athletic advantage to keep Lomachenko backed up and tentative to throw shots, and while Lomachenko had success in the second half of the fight, he lost a clear decision, many questioning his desire and motivation to continue in the sport. Lomachenko responded by choosing to face 2 Lopez inspired opponents, Masayoshi Nakatani, who gave Lopez his toughest matchup, who he stopped in 9 rounds and his world title opponent Richard Commey to make a statement of one upmanship to Lopez. After a lacklustre performance in a bad style matchup against Jamaine Ortiz, he go on to officially fight for undisputed honours over young talent Devin Haney, who had controversially become WBC world champion after Lomachenko had been elevated to the now mothballed franchise status. The fight was a close one throughout with plenty of swing rounds, with their stylistic differences leading to many debated scores online, but in the end Devin Haney won a much debated decision working behind the jab and landing telling body shots to make the difference over Lomachenko's aggression and output. But with Lomachenko standing intact and possibly even enhanced with his performance over Haney he performed another masterful display of one upmanship on both Haney and Lopez's former opponent George Kambosos Jr. with a punch perfect display, allowing Kambosos to land just 11% of his punches before stopping him in the 11th round, capturing the IBO and the vacant IBF world titles now as a two time lightweight world champion, with a 18-3 record with 12 knockouts and 7 victories over current, former or future world champions.
The Matrix
A masterful technician, while he certainly is by no means a flawless fighter, his amateur and professional success can not be denied with elite performances of world level opponents in almost every fight he's taken. his record may be looked on with revisionist eyes in future years, but Lomachenko has not been afraid to step up against younger and much bigger opponents with a similar talent level, even for his supreme talent an undefeated record would be invariably hard to maintain. Nevertheless, some of his greatest wins alone show peak levels scaled by Lomachenko, scaling the summit of weight classes on numerous occasions and making elite fighters look levels apart in his prime. With his elite levels footwork, creating of angles, dynamic reflexes and supreme timing with his own unique tricks of the trade sprinkled in, it will be interesting to see the future trajectory of the 36 year old Hall of Fame shoo in.
Fightplan
Core tactic Preferred range Mid range Primary mentality Aggressive Crisis mentality Reactive Advantage mentality Aggressive
Operating often with a size disadvantage, and very regularly with a reach disadvantage, Loma is an aggressive high output, high movement based fighter that operates best at mid to close range. Like Chocolatito, his lead hand is his key weapon but crucially for Loma it's often his dominant right hand from the southpaw stance. This where he generates the vast majority of his offensive, but will frequently stance switch either to break distance or maintain distance to or from his opponent, in a similar, but much more refined way to that of Teofimo Lopez. He's happy to hold his feet, but only if he's confident he's in an advantageous position to landed more punches than his opponent, otherwise he will pivot out, retreat with a high guard or look to slip-counter while advancing forward to maintain pressure and offensive. His lead hand is crucial as it allows him to be busy while not loading up on big power shots that expend energy, and his constant movement and changing of pace and offensive make him a nightmare to read, to land on and more important to match his work rate when 'The Matrix' is in full flow. Possessing high footwork, reflexes, agility, dexterity and hand speed will be vital in trying to replicate Loma's combinations, movements and offensive output in Leather while utilising good head and upper body movement with the added bonus pf guarding to say defensively alert and able to counter whilst fight aggressively
Long range tactic Heavily favour lead hand Medium work rate Ultra High combinations Follow up Approach/Wait Countermeasures Cover up/ Retreat
Often on the edge of long to mid range, Lomachenko has an extremely active jab, mostly used to back up his opponent or manipulate their guard to find openings. Often being the shorter man means his double or triple jabs are crucial to breaking range while also keeping his opponent occupied, but he's also happy to wait if he he can get a read on his opponent and find an opening he can exploit or to time their rhythm as he darts inside. Defensively, Lomachenko is less active preferring to ride out attacks in a high guard before responding with a better combination, or changing angle or distance to find an advantageous position.
Mid range tactic Favour lead hand Low work rate Medium combinations Follow up Wait/Approach Countermeasures Retreat/Counterpunch
Mid range is where you often see a calculated thinking fighter approach as Lomachenko looks to get a read on his opponent. He will often hold his hands low to bait an opponent into throwing and looking to change distance or angle before almost instantaneously throwing back once he finds how to best exploit the opening. He uses his head and upper body movement as he looks to work off and slip his opponent's jab to catch his opponent whilst they are defensively vulnerable. He uses his 'Matrix shuffle' to step outside and uses lateral shifts to change direction and confused his opponent and his often frame with his lead hand to either knock his opponent off balance or blind their vision and he steps off at an angle, make his movements extremely difficult to read and hard to pick up where he is all while putting himself in a dominant offensive position.
Close range Heavily favour lead hand Medium work rate High combinations Follow up Retreat/Wait Countermeasures Counterpunch/Retreat
At close range, Lomachenko will sense he's in an advantageous position and look to put together his punches in bunches off his lead right hand. He has a wicked uppercut that when he finds the range can be a vicious weapon as he's demonstrated on many occasions, particularly against Crolla, and a very effective lead right hook he will often counter with which is a lethal weapon as his hook will often land first up close, before taking a half step back to follow up with a combination and make it harder for his opponent to land. While he can be hittable up close, his work rate makes sure he's able to outlandish his opponent and his use of movement makes him less of a stationary target to be caught with a shot, but mostly, Lomachenko will be pressing to find openings as he moves rounds to target for angles to attack and capitalise on his success.
Thanks for everyone taking the time to continue supporting this series, and for all the new readers, I hope you can find my writings useful in building fightplans in Leather boxing manager and keep out my previous pieces below. Enjoy boxing in this great period for the sport and all success in every you do. TEEKAY
Video credits
https://youtu.be/eg24htCdBeA?si=jEpoTSPTD1N8XSto https://youtu.be/-NevXzAtXNY?si=U07r-ijKh26VQbK2 https://youtu.be/-NevXzAtXNY?si=pgCpqNsih67Ik_2u https://youtu.be/ApvDF65n-e0?si=AdGuNqtxKz0ZVi7J https://youtu.be/_nuH0NLnYzs?si=rkrKnYJiaunx9JSH
The Fightplan series
The Thinking Fighter https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/mlmckn/the_thinking_fighter_gameplan/
The Thinking Fighter 2.0 https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/mmc9z3/the_thinking_fighter_20_tactical_inside_boxing/
Moves like Junior (Roy Jones Jr.) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/mpog3f/roy_jones_jr_gameplan/
The Kings of the Counters https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/mq9zvo/the_kings_of_the_counters_countering_with/
The Magical Manny (Manny Pacquiao Machine Gun) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/mx3kjh/the_magical_manny_aggressive_defence_intricate/
Sweet Little Chocolate (Chocolatito) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/n0n1jc/sweet_little_chocolate_effective_aggression/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Rigo's Rhythm (Rigondeaux)
https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/n3dvoq/rigos_rhythm_staying_elusive_countering_with/
Magnificent Marvelous Master (Hagler)
https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/n530c
Cinnamon Superstar (Canelo)
https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/n786r1/canelo_fightplan/
The Spoiler https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/neezv9/the_boxerspoiler_fightplan_shutting_down_offence/ The GOAT of Boxing (Sugar Ray Robinson) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/nfb6fx/sugar_ray_robinson_fightplan_the_goat_of_boxing/
Golden Oscar Winner (de la Hoya) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/npb9sn/golden_oscar_winner_expert_outboxing_cunning/
Body Hunting Monster (Naoya Inoue) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/o4eukc/body_hunting_monster_crippling_body_punches/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Xu Can https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/o8lqn4/what_xu_can_do_speed_and_work_rate_kills/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
The Kronk Style https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/oc01wa/kronk_it_up_the_art_of_technical_aggression/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Julio Cesar Martinez https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/p5pee2/julio_cesar_martinez_the_little_mexican_firebrand/
Floyd Mayweather
https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/q7ci77/flawless_floyd_the_genius_ogf_mayweather_behind/
Khaosai https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/qngzvk/the_real_life_jimmy_sisphar_the_secrets_behind/
Usyk https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/rtt5sd/countering_with_movement_effective_outboxing/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share with
Dmitry Dictates the Distance (Bivol) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/x94pjl/dmitry_dictates_the_distance_an_in_depth_look_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Golden Global Great (GGG - Golovkin) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/yytuag/golden_global_great_the_boxing_skills_of_one_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Beterbiev https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/10mwljz/you_beterbelieve_in_artur_the_skills_behind_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Wilder Rangy Slugging https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/10s00f2/deontay_wilder_rangy_slugging_beware_of_the_right/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
(Shakur) Stevenson Steals The Show https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/11kl2vo/stevenson_steals_the_show_the_fluid_boxing_skills/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Teraji https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/11upcc7/comment/jcrp9v4/
Junto Nakatani https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/13l1hw8/junto_nakatani_young_japanese_phenom_the/
AJ (Joshua) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/1beqzts/comment/kww65s8/
Mini Monster (Ginjiro Shigeoka) https://www.reddit.com/LeatherTheGame/comments/1btyvbc/ginjiro_shigeoka_mini_monster_the_105lbs_ibf/?onetap_auto=true&one_tap=true

TL;DR: AA canceled flight due to staffing issue and stranded elderly individuals without their luggage or proper compensation.
I’ve never written anything like this before (to my knowledge) but I am sharing this today in hopes that American Airlines will see it and take the feedback to help serve their customers better vs. the greed and lack of empathy I experienced today.
This morning, there was a flight set to head from Palm Springs to Dallas (flight AA2296).
The flight was canceled after about an hour of delay. American Airlines canceled the flight due to staffing issues. The pilot even came out to the gate and told the entire waiting room over the intercom— he had requested four flight attendants from the company, but the airline only sent one. With such a big flight, it could not take off understaffed. He apologized and expressed it was completely a failure on the part of the airline and that he understood our frustrations. His empathy was appreciated, but I cannot say that was given from the rest of their staff.
Even though the flight remained empty, the plane was still sent to its destination (Dallas) with customer bags still on board (my own included). There was even a family in front of me whose end destination was Barcelona— their bags left without them to Spain. I personally am missing an event I was heading to, but rather than being able to fly back home, I’m having to take a flight to chase down my luggage.
To top it off, booking new flights was a nightmare— few options comparatively, and practically none that could send someone to their destination within 24 hours. An international destination? That poor family will probably not see Spain for days. Why were the bags sent without their owners? Why would this ever be considered acceptable?
The airline even kept auto booking new flights and undoing the work of my travel agent, ultimately losing me decent flight options and sticking me with worse ones. This was happening to other passengers too.
The most concerning part?
Majority of the individuals I saw for this flight (Palm Springs) were elderly / senior citizens. These elderly folks were being asked to spend the next day or so without their bags of clothing (underwear, socks, shirts, etc.), toiletries, and perhaps even medication if not kept in their carry-ons. Everything is also incredibly spread out in the Palm Springs area—everything requires a car in the desert– nothing is within walking distance…especially for older individuals. Even getting to a store or restaurant will cost money and be difficult to coordinate (especially if older and unfamiliar with ridesharing apps). And costs of some of these items at the local hotels? A pair of shorts at the gift shop will set someone back $39.99. Underwear– $29.99. Expensive rental cars are the only other option.
These elderly folks were required to wait 1-2 hours standing in line as well to receive a voucher from the airline and find out where their bags had gone. And communication regarding all of this was abhorrent– they had customers going back and forth to different areas trying to find help with little if any direction.
The voucher? One night in a hotel and $12 to eat. $12 total to be used for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next day…I don’t know of any restaurant in southern California that will serve a full meal for $4. It is also unclear if the voucher is even usable outside of the airport…a small airport with incredibly limited options and $4 water bottles.
.And if you have dietary restrictions due to health? That won’t buy you 75% of a meal. For me personally, this voucher is next to worthless given my own personal requirements.
These elderly folks (often living off fixed incomes) are now required to purchase clothing, toiletries, food, transportation to and from these places and the hotel, etc. to last them the next ~24 hours…with a $12 food voucher. And this was not weather or an “act of God” cancellation outside of the airline’s control. This was solely due to the airline’s incompetency and their lack of ability to listen to the concerns of their staff (the kind pilot). Given it is the airline’s fault, let-down customers should not have to be financially responsible.
To top it off, the woman at the customer services desk was incredibly unsympathetic to the customers in line. When I expressed to her that $12 would not be enough given my health and dietary restrictions and I could not afford to purchase food for the next 24 hours off of that alone, she said, “Too bad, because that’s all you’re getting.”
She did not seem to care about the dozens of elderly individuals in line either.
$12 across ~100 people would cost this multibillion dollar corporation $1200. That’s absolute peanuts. A hotel subsidized through negotiated deals for 75 people (assuming some traveled together)...all-in-all I doubt the costs to this company exceeded $10,000.
I personally am missing celebratory anniversary time with my husband and a celebratory night for one of my best friend's 30th birthdays. I have to book a different flight from that destination to get back home (I booked that one personally through a different airline since it was post work travel).This will personally cost add’l money I wouldn’t have spent otherwise if not for American Airlines’s incompetency. Again, it was not an act of God that caused these cancellations.
Special celebrations lost. Hundreds of dollars lost to add’l travel, food, clothing, toiletries, etc. Time lost. Stress gained. And all the airline will give is $12 as compensation.
I am most upset for the elderly customers on that flight who had to wait for 1-2 hours standing in line for a $12 food voucher. I took this travel for work, if needed, I have support to purchase food as I’m making my way to my next destination. But most individuals on that flight did not have that privilege. Everything will be out of personal pocket for them. And all AA is willing to give in total across the flight is worth less than a month’s rent in Lincoln, Nebraska.
American Airlines dropped the ball and has made it so the consequences to their business are negligible. Their system is set up to help the customer as little as possible. Power without accountability breeds disaster, and customers are the ones losing.
AA, do better.

1) Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs?
It will not be, I have a border collie mix currently. I also have experience with volunteering at dog shelters.
2) Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a reputable breeder?
I would prefer to rescue.
3) Describe your ideal dog.
My ideal dog is a dog that I can take on long walks and hiking on the weekends, but will not destroy my apartment if they aren't walked 5 miles every day. I'd prefer quieter dogs and an intelligent breed. My ideal dog is trainable and can be friendly.
4) What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why?
Dalmatian, Irish setters, shepherds, sight hounds!! I love unique looking dogs and medium sized leaning larger breeds. I almost prefer mutts because they are one of a kind :)
5) What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do?
My border collie knows a few fancy tricks but aside the cute party trick and regular training, I value being able to have a strong recall.
6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport?
Nope!
Care Commitments
7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day?
When I work from home, I would likely want to chill with them all day. I would probably devote myself to daily training for the basic manners. I can't see myself ever being home and not wanting to be around the dog!
8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park?
When I work in office I would have someone come and walk the dog during the middle of the day for at least 30 minutes. I would also walk the dog briefly in the morning and a 30+ walk in the afternoon.
9) How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly?
I would prefer a dog that can get away with just being brushed every other day. If the dog had hair, I would probably do some slight maintenance cuts myself but would largely take them to the groomer for any bigger tasks. I'm not opposed to dogs with hair but I'm not enthralled at the idea.
Personal Preferences
10) What size dog are you looking for?
I prefer medium to larger!
11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle?
Shedding is fine. I don't mind brushing and vacuuming daily. Barking I'm not fond of (who is) but slobber is probably an outright no from me LOL
12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area?
Very important. The area of my parents house is an acre property and I frequently go hiking; I value good recall for safety but also like to let them off leash so they can explore more.
Dog Personality and Behavior
13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space?
Snuggly!
14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please?
Eager to please! I don't mind some independence, but prefer obedient breeds.
15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors?
I presume most dogs would probably bark or something LOL I don't have a strong preference. I am a younger woman who lives alone, so maybe some weariness to strangers would be good.
16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs?
Probably not.
17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid?
Seperation anxiety. I know you can't control it but would like to stay away from breeds that are prone to it.
Lifestyle
18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone?
If working in the office, I would have someone come and walk the dog midday. This means they would likely be left alone for maybe max 5 hours. This would be twice a week.
19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog?
No one but me!
20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they?
I have a senior border collie who lives with my parents at home. I also have 2 cats at home that are friendly with my bc and would likely try and be friendly/approach another dog. I do not live at home but visit enough to where I would need all of them to get along!
21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly?
Nope
22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease?
I rent an apartment, I will likely continue renting. I currently do not have any breed restrictions.
23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds?
I live in the greater Philadelphia area. We do not have any dog breed bans.
24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live?
We experience the full seasons. Summer is typically high of mid to low 80s and winter is mid to high 30s
Additional Information and Questions
25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant.
I trained/raised my border collie from a puppy, I know I will not have the time as I did back then. I still like intelligent dogs and have a bias towards sporting groups. Generally, aside from the days I am in office, I'd like my dog to become my "hobby" or take up a lot of my free time. I would like a breed that can go on long walks and hiking with me. But I unfortunately don't think I have the capacity to exercise a breed that requires over 2 hours of minimum exercise.
26) Feel free to ask any questions below.

By Jacob Crosse
This past weekend, the “People’s Conference for Palestine” was held in Detroit, Michigan over three days, from May 24 through May 26. Organizers for the event stated that over 3,500 people attended.
The steering committee for the conference included 15 organizations, among which were the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice In Palestine, the ANSWER Coalition (associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation), Arab Resource and Organizing Society (AROC), Writers Against the War on Gaza, and Healthcare Workers for Palestine.
Despite the peaceful character of the event, police were a constant presence on the streets and outside the convention center. Several Palestinian speakers slated to appear at the event were delayed or were not able to attend in person, due to fascistic restrictions imposed on their travel by the US/NATO governments.
The stated goal of the conference, according to a program signed by the Steering Committee, was to provide “a space to assess, strategize and prepare for what is required for us in the next phase of the struggle.” However, the political perspective that dominated did not present a viable way forward.
Several panels did feature harrowing testimony of the situation in Gaza. In a recorded video message, Hind Khoudary, a journalist in Gaza who has been displaced since November 2023 said, “We are not only fearing air strikes, we are fearing famine.” She documented the catastrophic situation produced by Israel’s bombardment and the difficulties confronting journalists, who have themselves been targeted by airstrikes.
In a session titled, “Cutting Ties with Zionism in the Workplace,” former Google worker Ariel Koren discussed her experience trying to fight back against the implementation of Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon and the Israel Defense Forces that provides the military a suite of computer and artificial intelligence tools used to facilitate the oppression and extermination of the Palestinian people.
Koren explained that as part of the contract, Google is required to build “whatever cloud tools and AI tools the Israeli government and military ask for without asking any questions themselves. Google has no right to regulate or oversee or even know anything about how these get used on the ground and which government and military agencies are the beneficiaries of these tools.” Among the tools provided to the IDF are “facial detection, automatic image categorization, object tracking, and even sentiment analysis.”
Taghreed Ahmed, a member of the Palestinian Transport Union, explained that “Israel controls the conditions of workers” and that “over 9,000” workers were taken prisoner by Israel following October 7. While in Israeli custody, many workers were tortured and “over 80” are still missing.
Despite the IDF offensive on Gaza, Ahmed said that after workers were released they asked to return to the city to be with their families.
Before October 7, Ahmed said that over 32,000 workers in Gaza were granted permits to work in Israel, but not a single permit has been granted in over seven months. In order to survive, Ahmed said many working class families have resorted to selling their possessions, including furniture.

A political orientation to the Democratic Party

Despite the objective and empirical testimony provided by many of the panelists and speakers, the basic political perspective that emerged was thoroughly bankrupt: that of pressuring the Democratic Party.
The opening plenary event set the framework for the conference that followed. References to the crimes of the Israeli regime were combined with a great deal of chanting and slogans.
To the extent that anything was said about the background of the genocide, it was only in relation to the history of the Palestinian struggle. But even here, there was no examination of the essential experiences of this history, including the role of the bourgeois nationalist states in the Middle East in facilitating the repression of the Palestinians by Israel and imperialism.
In her keynote speech, Yara Shoufani of the Palestinian Youth Movement spoke of “historic revolutions” from “the Great Arab Revolution of 1936” … to “the popular revolution launched in the camps of Lebanon and Jordan”… to “the first and second intifadas.” Another speaker suggested that the “resistance” would last another “100 years” before victory.
To be blunt, the people in Gaza do not have another 100 years. The genocide in Gaza has already led to the deaths of over 36,000 people officially, a significant under-count, while hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.
Neither in the introduction nor in any of the panels and plenary sessions was there a single reference to the broader war of which the genocide is a part. In particular, no speakers addressed the escalating US-NATO war against Russia over Ukraine, backed by the Democratic Party, which threatens to develop into a nuclear exchange.
Israel’s genocide, supported by the US and NATO imperialist powers, cannot be defeated by the resistance of the Palestinian people alone, no matter how self-sacrificing. It is necessary to mobilize the international working class, which has the social and economic power to oppose imperialism.
The political perspective presented at the conference, however, worked against this. On Saturday, the conference organizers welcomed a “guest appearance” by Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
In his last social media post before he was assassinated by the US-backed Israel Defense Forces last December, Prof. Refaat Alareer, tweeted, “The Democratic Party and Biden are responsible for the Gaza genocide perpetrated by Israel.” Why a member of the party responsible for not only backing Israel for decades, but murdering Alareer and tens of thousands of other Palestinians, would be welcomed into the conference was never explained.
In her brief comments, Tlaib attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a “war criminal.” She refused to apply the same label to Netanyahu’s patron and top weapons supplier, President Joe Biden. Instead she appealed to the president she helped elect in 2020, imploring him: “I hope you hear us loud and clear.”
Tlaib did not attempt to provide an explanation as to why the Biden administration and her “colleagues” in the Democratic Party have not only refused to listen to over eight months of sustained peaceful protests, but instead have overseen the police repression of the protests.
Tlaib said it was “shameful” that her “colleagues” voted to send “$14 billion to the apartheid regime,” while “seniors” in her district ask her, “When are we going to get an increase in Social Security?”
While Tlaib and a few other Democrats voted against providing military funding to Israel, she said nothing about her “yes” vote in the same $95 billion package to send over $61 billion to the fascistic Ukrainian government in order to continue the proxy war against Russia.
The deliberate omission of Ukraine on the part of Tlaib and the conference organizers was not a mistake. By presenting the genocide in Gaza, which is one front in the US/NATO global re-division of the world that includes Ukraine and the conflict with Iran and China, as an isolated episode, the organizers and participants could present different factions of the capitalist ruling class, and their adjuncts in the trade union bureaucracy, as “allies” to the Palestinian people, and to the “revolution.”

PSL backs “Uncommitted” trap

Joining Tlaib at the conference was her sister, Layla Elabed, who, alongside Party for Socialism and Liberation co-founder and ANSWER National Coordinator Brian Becker, led the penultimate plenary on Sunday, titled “Uncommitted Votes and the Fracturing of the Two Party System.”
As the WSWS has previously explained, the purpose of the Uncommitted campaign is to promote the illusion that the Democratic Party and Biden can be “pressured” from below via symbolic votes or empty ceasefire resolutions. Organizers for the Uncommitted campaign, including Elabed, who told the New York Times in February that she “has not ruled out” voting for Biden in November, have been clear that the purpose of “uncommitted” is not to “Abandon Biden” or the Democratic Party, but to “push” him to adopt their position.
Despite tens of thousands of people voting “uncommitted,” the Biden administration, with the support of both the Democrats and Republicans, continues to send weapons to Israel which are being used to ethnically cleanse Rafah. This did not prevent Elabed from presenting the campaign as a success. Speaking next to Becker, she said it sent “a clear message to Biden and the Democratic Party.”
Elabed said, “This is our way of telling Joe Biden he is being held accountable. That he needs to do, in order to save...if he really believed in saving his re-election, if he really believed in fighting fascism, if he believed in fighting for democracy, then he should be pro-Palestinian. He should be demanding a ceasefire now.”
Elabed cautioned against breaking with the Democratic Party, “before November we have a number of primaries happening, state house elections and congressional and senate seats. We need to protect our ceasefire candidates, if anything you come out and you vote and you send people like Rashida and [Missouri Rep.] Cori Bush and our pro-peace anti-war folks back to Capitol Hill and back in our state house.”
Lending support to Elabed and the Democratic Party’s electoral campaigns, Becker replied, “I want to shout out the Listen to Michigan campaign, and the Uncommitted campaign because given the available options, which are so limited in this tortured form of democracy, these women the other organizers have used the electoral arena to register something that Biden couldn’t ignore, which is the majority of the base of the Democratic Party in particular says ‘no’ to his policy in Palestine.”
Working in tandem with the Democrats to divert energy towards protest stunts, and away from building an independent movement in the working class, Becker later revealed that the same forces behind the Palestine Conference will be organizing a June 8 demonstration at the White House.

The promotion of the UAW apparatus

Several panels at the Palestine Conference featured the words “labor” and “Zionism” without ever critically examining the role of the US-based trade unions in supporting US imperialism and Israel’s genocide. There was no discussion on current UAW president Shawn Fain’s endorsement of “Genocide Joe.”
The conference featured various “reform” union factions, including Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), and several current and retired union bureaucrats, including UAW Local 4811 president Rafael Jaime and former president and bargain chair of UAW Local 909 in Detroit, Frank Hammer.
UAW Local 4811 comprises 48,000 graduate student workers and researchers in the University of California. Pressure from the rank-and-file compelled the UAW to initiate a strike, but the apparatus has sought to limit it to a handful of campuses, employing the “stand-up strike” tactic used to shut down the auto strike last year. It has also done nothing to inform autoworkers and other members of the union outside California about this highly significant political strike against the genocide in Gaza
Speaking in a panel, “The Role of Labor Unions in Palestinian Struggle,” Jaime tried to take credit for “organizing” the union in order to put it into a position to strike.
The chasm between workers’ desire to fight and the union bureaucrats’ reticence was present throughout Jaime’s comments. After joining what would become Local 4811 in 2016, Jaime admitted that even by 2018 “most workers didn’t even realize they had a union. And so, what we were able to win in 2018 was very limited.” Turning to the current struggle, Jaime said,

I think that the media will focus mostly on the strike and make it seem like all you have to do is press a button and it happens. And I just want it to be, very emphasized, that the work that’s taken to organize, to be able to actually respond to the moment with this kind of action, it’s been years of tireless work.

Near the end of his presentation, Jaime listed the various circumstances through which the union was prepared to call off the strike: “If the university doesn’t resolve its [Unfair Labor Practices], if it doesn’t guarantee the right to peacefully protest, allow protesters to speak up for justice in Palestine, then more campuses are going to go out on strike.”
Throughout his entire presentation Jaime never once mentioned that UAW President Shawn Fain endorsed Biden and stood by as UAW members protesting the genocide were dragged out of the convention where this nomination was announced.

The way forward

The perspective advanced at the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” in which ANSWER and the PSL play a dominant role, is a dead-end. It is not through appeals to the political establishment and the trade union apparatus that the fight against the genocide must be developed, but through a political struggle in the working class.
For nearly eight months, millions of people around the world have taken to the streets, campuses and government centers to demand an end to the genocide. Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful character of the protests, thousands have been arrested and assaulted by police.
Young people and workers opposed to the genocide, outraged by the daily atrocities, sickened by the support for Israel’s actions by the Biden administration and the imperialist powers, confront serious political questions that require serious and revolutionary answers.
The perspective of “pressuring” governments and corporations to adopt more humanitarian policies has proven to be less than useless. At the same time, the trade union apparatus, integrated into the state, is working to suppress the class struggle and subordinate workers to the ruling class policy of global war.
As WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explained in a lecture in March on the suicide of Aaron Bushnell, the basic and urgent task is to mobilize “the only social force which actually has in its power, in its objective role in the whole process of capitalist production, in its position in the forces of production, its potential economic strength, its global character, the ability to bring capitalism to its knees, to destroy the very foundations of militarism.”
The political program upon which the struggles of the working class must develop is the program of socialist revolution.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/man-accused-of-dci-caldwell-attempted-murder-facing-new-terrorism-charges/a1807845239.html
One of the men accused of attempting to murder Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell has appeared in court on new terrorism charges. Brian John Carron (39), from Claremount Drive, Coalisland, who is suspected of being the New IRA commander in Co Tyrone, is charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism by possessing and handling explosives, namely pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and research department explosive (RDX).
Offending is alleged to have occurred on dates between November 21, 2022, and May 27, 2023.
Currently remanded in custody on the attempted murder charge, Carron was released into police custody earlier this week for further interview, appearing before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court today.
A detective sergeant said he believed the charges could be connected, which was challenged by a defence lawyer.
However, District Judge Peter Magill ruled the connection was proved.
There was no application for bail and Carron was remanded in custody.
The case has been adjourned until June 18 at Omagh Magistrates’ Court to link with existing matters.
Seven others are similarly charged with attempted murder, while a further three are accused of preparing for acts of terrorism.
DCI Caldwell was taking football practice at Youth Sport in Omagh when two gunmen fired multiple shots at him.
A detective previously explained that items of Carron’s clothing seized in the aftermath had traces of nitro-glycerine indicative of cartridge discharge residue matching that found on DCI Caldwell’s clothing.
The detective said: “We say this supports whoever was wearing that was present when a firearm was discharged. It is believed he is a senior and trusted member of the IRA. This was a terrorist group in conjunction with a criminal grouping who are capable of disposing of evidence and intimidating witnesses.”
The defence argued the detective was making “a desperate attempt to introduce prejudicial evidence… There is no forensic footprint connected to my client… This prosecution should be discontinued as there is no evidence linking him to this case.”
A prosecuting barrister explained that on March 4, 2022, Carron attended a Saoradh protest outside Palace Barracks in Co Down, the Northern Ireland headquarters of MI5, ten days after DCI Caldwell was attacked.
Surveillance showed the group initially meeting in Belfast, where footage appeared to show him “enacting a shooting of some description of a person raising their hands in some sort of protective measure. From DCI Caldwell’s account and the injuries to his hands, that is an action he took. That information was not public at that time.”
Back in 2018, Carron was charged with firearms offences relating to what was described as one of the largest hauls recovered by police in the preceding 10 years, including explosives, weapons, ammunition and detonators.
The case was adjourned numerous times but was later withdrawn and all charges were dropped.
Earlier this year, it emerged the charges had been reinstated, with Carron accused of possessing explosive substances — namely black powder — plastic high explosive, a tubular container for a PG-7 propellant/tail unit, detonating cord, improvised copper cones, improvised battery holdeswitches, improvised inertia bastriker, improvised electronic incendiary devices, three MK15-type improvised timer power units, an improvised tail fin from an MK16-type mortar bomb, components of the propellant chamber for an MK16-type mortar system, an improvised grip-stock for a propelled recoilless improvised grenade launcher, sheathed safety fuse, improvised detonators, a RPG rocket motor and a grenade warhead.
He also allegedly had multiple firearms including a Smith & Wesson pistol, four AK-47 assault rifles, six magazines and other ammunition, as well as vehicles and phones in suspicious circumstances.
The haul was with intent to endanger life and for use in terrorism, with the offences allegedly occurring on dates between October 2010 and April 2011.
This case has also been adjourned to link with existing matters.

First Chapter. Discord. Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
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It was the last night of leave at Madame Wimba’s Watering Hole, and the boys and girls of the 3^rd Pathfinder’s were making the most of it. Which in this case boiled down to getting as blind drunk as quickly as possible, something for which Shon Tooms was particular well-suited. The great advantage of being a twiggy young sot half the size of the average trooper was that he could get trashed at twice the normal rate, and for much cheaper, too. Tooms tipped back his gallon jug of watered rum and sucked at the dregs like a man perishing of thirst in the desert. He could almost feel the high buzz that would lift him clear of his earthly cares and worries, erase the constant, nagging fear that he felt before every mission.
“Steady on there, kid,” chided Cooly, the heavyset Sierran clapping him fondly on the back. This caused Tooms to splutter and choke, wasting most of his drink down the front of his shirt, “What’s the hurry? We’ve a long night ahead of us yet. Nobody’s leaving till old sourface rears his bald head.”
“Would it really matter if I heard him out sober or not? Orders is orders,” Tooms said crossly, annoyed at being spoken down to like a child. He’d done his bid like all of the rest, hadn’t he? He’d faced down the silent hordes of Amits with nothing but a scream on his lips and the splintered club of a backfired musket. Surely they could afford him a measure of respect once in a while?
“Ye’ll want a clear head going into this, Tooms,” Pretty Boy Doyd leered over the rim of his mug, the sight of his disfigured face enough to clear Tooms’ head, “Or ain’t you heard what happened to the last lot what signed on wiv him? Rene and Jensen and all the rest of our newly minted heroes. Hah!”
Doyd raised his mug in salute to the list names carved on the corkwood board behind the counter, where the overweight and eponymous owner of the bar lounged like a slug in its favorite cabbage patch. There were several new additions at the bottom of the list.
Tooms tried his best not to imagine whose initials would be up there this time next month, but it proved impossible. It was always the same after every operation. More names on the wall. More empty barstools. He looked over to where Lethway should have been, feet on the table and lounging back on the rear legs of his chair in that roguish way of his. Of all his fallen brothers Tooms felt his loss most keenly; Lethway was the only person that could truly calm Doyd's simmering rage.
“They may have gone on into the green,” Harmer said, the ebony-skinned sharpshooter bristling at Doyd’s tasteless remark, “But there ain’t no call to be making light of our friends.”
Pretty Boy levelled his infamous scowl at her, the shiny mottled burns that had earned the man his grim sobriquet contorting like a strip of boiled leather. Doyd was the senior veteran among the fifteen pathfinders gathered in the saloon, one of the handful who had lived through the Scouring of Assail. There a face full of Amit acid had burned away all pleasant aspects of his personality, leaving only a bitter hull of a man who clung on to life more out of sheer spitefulness than anything else. But those same scars which rendered him hideous also lent weight to his words. So when he spoke in that wheedling whine of his, every one of them listened:
“They was my friends too, girlie. All’s I’m saying is, they should’ve known better than to offer themselves up for another one of Command’s cunning schemes. And for what? Jus so’s that upper crust careerist can pin another bit of pot metal on his chest?”
“There’s a rumor going round that he was saved by divine intervention,” murmured Leming, the bespectacled scholar laying aside his unabridged copy of the Log of the Voidtrekkers, “They say he beheld the hand of the gods themselves reach down and deliver him from certain death.”
“Yea verily,” Pretty Boy mockingly intoned, holding up three fingers to form the sign of the trimada, “I declare that to be a crock of shit.”
“Your usual blaspheming aside,” Leming said with offended dignity, “I myself am intrigued by Deschane’s account. He never struck me as a particularly devout member of the Chaplainage. And yet I often find in the written accounts that it is often the skeptics and unbelievers who serve as the pawns of the powers that be. There’s a sense of cosmic irony in that, methinks.”
“I heard they gave the bleeder a ceremony last week,” said Beans in between mouthfuls of fried cricket and soy, “Red carpet, reporters, the works. Even read his article on the front page of the Victory Liner—”
“Now see, that’s how I know you’re lying,” Cooly nervously jibed, the affable giant making a brave attempt at changing the subject, “You can't hardly spell your own name, Beans, let alone read that rag of a paper.”
Beans’ mouth was too crammed full of food to allow for easy speech, so he let Cooly know what he thought of that by lifting up his rump and letting out a derisive fart. Those of the pathfinders who hadn’t yet passed out swore, pinching their noses shut.
“Goddammit Beans. Did you really have to?”
“You’re a disgusting little gasbag, Baow.”
That might’ve been the end of the matter right then and there, if Tooms hadn’t let his fool mouth run ahead of him, propelled onward by a bellyful of liquid courage:
“I dunno about the rest of you, but I knows what I signed on for when I took me oath to ship and crew. Deschane’s an ornery son of a bitch, but he’s a proper officer. I intend to hear him out.”
A shaggy pile of rags in the corner of the saloon stirred as Greymoss woke from his perennial slumber long enough to say:
“Sollem’s a soldier. Held the line at Assail, you ‘member? Ho-hum, burr-aye.”
The bog man concluded his assessment with a series of sonorous grunts before going back to the business of dreaming.
“Course I flipping remember, you ignorant savage!” Pretty Boy seethed, “I was there, wasn’t I? But obviously the man has cracked since then.”
Some of the pathfinders grumbled their agreement. Pretty Boy turned his ire upon Tooms and vented:
“As for you! So, you know what you’re in for, is that right? That’s mighty rich coming from a pipsqueak who’s only ever been good at dodging the worst of the fighting.”
Tooms was on his feet before he knew it, a carving knife held tight in his fist, his heartbeat pounding behind his ears.
“Come again?” he roared at Pretty Boy, though with the marked size difference between them it was more like yapping than anything else, “Ain’t nobody calls me a coward and gets away with it!”
Harmer’s plaits waved as she shook her head, saying: “That was a low blow even for you, Doyd. It’s not Tooms’ fault that he’s so lucky.”
“It’s more than just luck,” Pretty Boy said, putting salt in the wound, “It’s damn near uncanny. How many patrols has he come back from now all by his lonesome self, and not a scratch on him?”
“Why, I oughtta—”
Tooms lunged across the rough-hewn table at him, feet scattering plates as he went for the burned man. But Cooly was nimble for a man his size and wrapped a beefy arm around Tooms’ waist, holding him back without much effort on his part. All Tooms could do was fling curses and cutlery at the laughing Doyd, who kept egging him on:
“C’mere you runt, I’ll give you something to think about! You and that prig Deschane are exactly alike! When the chips are down and rest of us are sucking mud six feet under, where are you? Eh? Where are you?”
“I’m right here, Doyd,” said a voice that turned the blood in their veins into ice water. The double doors at the entrance of the saloon swung on their hinges and Deschane limped in. The navigator looked to be in the absolute worst state Tooms had ever seen him in, head and neck plastered in pus-stained gauze, yet still he commanded the same air of unshakeable self-assurance that defined him as an officer. Heels clicked together as everyone sprung to stiff, shivering attention. All except for Doyd, who stood openly glaring at Deschane.
Tooms climbed off the table and awkwardly straightened up. Deschane eyed the carving knife the pathfinder was trying to hide behind his back and asked:
“Were you planning to use that on anyone, Tooms?”
“No sir,” Tooms swallowed, “Just meant to carve up some fried cricket for the squad.”
Deschane turned to Pretty Boy: “And you? Is there something you want to tell me?”
The two men locked eyes, their unblinking stares conveying a plethora of meanings, none of them agreeable. Tooms saw Pretty Boy’s lips writhe as he muttered something under his breath.
“What’s that? Speak up, man!” Deschane said sharply.
“Permission to speak freely?” Pretty Boy Doyd, forgoing the salute in an act of deliberate provocation.
“Granted.”
“Good. Here’s the score: I think you’re a rancid cunt,” Pretty Boy said, sucking contemplatively at his front teeth, “Even worse than that, I think you’re an incompetent who got twenty good men kilt for no good reason. I only came here tonight to say it to your face, and because that juicy girl of yours done axed me nicely. Speaking of which, where’s that fine piece of tail anyhow?” said Pretty Boy, with an insolent peek over Deschane’s shoulder.
“Corporal Ven is outside keeping watch,” Deschaine replied, taking a step towards Pretty Boy, “But don’t worry. She’ll come in later to scrape up what’s left of you when I’m done.”
And here we go, Tooms thought glumly, moments before the two men tore into each other.
First Chapter. Discord. Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road

I M20 have been struggling considerably over the past two years to gain the confidence to even talk to women. This is a problem I originally thought I would get over with time or practice, but neither has made a difference.
A little backstory on my prior dating life: I was in a 2 year relationship until the start of my freshman year of high school, followed by another 3 year relationship ending just before the end of my senior year. My first relationship was really toxic, and I struggled a lot with communication. My second relationship was a lot better, but we ended up breaking up with each other for mostly mutual reasons.
My current problem is that I essentially have zero, zip, nada confidence in myself and am scared to talk to women, as I don’t want to burden them with my presence. This also means that whenever a girl talks to me, I never see anything they do as a 'move' and only ever as what they’re doing is simply 'friendly.'
I think part of the reason for this problem is my most recent past relationship. Although it was, in my opinion, pretty healthy, when we split, she began to say things like 'I can’t believe I thought you were hot,' 'I don’t know what I ever saw in you.' I can understand this is possibly just her expressing her hurt feelings after a split in a poor way, but I still can’t forget them. Other than that, I can’t see in myself what a woman would find desirable (other than being tall), which I think is my biggest problem.
I’ll wrap this up with an example that still haunts me and hopefully describes what I’m going through. I was at a college bar a couple of months ago and had won a T-shirt from bingo. A girl, after bingo, 'playfully' took my shirt that was slung over my shoulder while I wasn’t looking. I immediately turned around and started talking to her, very sheepishly. We talked for probably 30 minutes at least, and during this time, she made some very obvious 'moves.' These 'moves' were later pointed out by friends who later asked if I was gay because of how blatant they were. I was so nervous I said something to the tune of 'nice meeting you' and left as it was getting late. I never got her number; she was extremely attractive, and I think about that fumble whenever I see the won shirt.
TLDR: I don’t understand why women like some men, and it’s made it impossible for me to date.

Hi! I’m a rising senior in high school wondering what major to apply with when applying to colleges in the upcoming months. For so long I thought I’d always apply as a visual arts major until recently I looked at what I’ve done in high school so far and honestly it doesn’t look like I’m visual arts focused? Which I don’t mind since I don’t really wanna send an art portfolio anyway lol. Can you guys look at my ecs and tell me what theme or intended major immediately comes to mind? I was thinking public policy or journalism but I could use a set of fresh eyes and opinions, thanks! I will try to keep my ecs as vague as possible though to not get doxxed-
My Extracurriculars I’m including on common app:
[School name] Creative Corner FoundePresident
(Partnered with local nonprofit [Redacted] for professional artists & crafts workshops, Organized 2 Annual Art Exhibitions; petitioned and painted a mural within school, Led art classes, raised $1000+ in art supplies) - 10, 11, 12 ——————————- PERIOD. International Menstruation Movement Youth Advisory Council
(Introduced bill providing free accessible period products in public schools; Passed in 3+ states; Strategized Menstrual Equity Campaigns, 100+ chapters in 40+ States; Donated 23,000 sustainable menstrual products worldwide) - 11, 12
——————————- [Redacted] Museum Paid Internship
(Researched the lack of accessibility within museum experiences for visually impaired visitors; Developed 3D mock replicas of current artifacts in braille design; Shadowed a European Classical exhibit curator, cataloged 100+ women-created classical pieces) - 9
——————————- Part-Time/Full-Time Jobs @ Parking Garage & Country Club
(Caddied for 80+ Loops; Worked 30+ hrs a week in summer, carried 50-80 Lb bags and cleaned 300+ golf balls; Featured on poster for the international 120th Western Amateur tournament; Worked 16 hrs a week in school; Document parking violations/updated maintenance equipment ) - 9, 10, 11, 12
——————————- [Redacted] National Literary Magazine Executive Board
(Published 3+ issues centered around feminism and girlhood experiences, Held a digital conference about Women’s Leadership; Raised $2.2K in merchandise revenue; Reached 2000+ Readers in 5+ Countries, recruited 200+ writers/graphic designers/video editors) - 11, 12
——————————- Re/Make World Global Non-profit Ambassador
(Organized online Sustainability Lifestyle webinars with 100+ attendees from 3+ countries featuring Women CEOs of sustainable products, participated in climate change & human rights campaigns within the clothing industry, fundraised money for policy change initiatives) - 11, 12
——————————- [Redacted] Organization Public Relations Director
(Proposed Pollution policy at Climate Change forum, Advocated against Pollution through photography, started 15+ chapters in 5+ states; 500+ Volunteer hours achieved collecting pieces of plastic in communities) - 11, 12
——————————- Debate & Speech Club Co-FoundeCo-President
(Led 30+ Meetings, recruited 15-20 Members; Organized engaging debates on pressing societal issues) - 10, 11, 12
——————————- Varsity Basketball Head Manager 9th-Shooting Guard 10-11th
(Facilitated home games; Documented 100+ points per game; Led Practices & exercise sessions; 2X Regionals runner ups; Received an award end of season) - 9,10, 11
——————————- FTC Robotics Team Member
(Won 2023 Regionals Connect Award with engineer portfolio…I think that’s the only award we won lol; Designed T-shirts for tournaments; Played Human Driver in competitions; Partnered with local library Best Teen Buy center hosting Robotics Interests events for middle schoolers) - 9, 10, 11, 12 ————————
I’ve done other things such as a prestigious summer program, publishing a book, etc. but I’ve decided to include those things in the awards section- if you want a little bit more info on that or my demographic lmk 😭

I'll try to keep this brief, although there's a lot to say, so I apologize in advance!
So I've been interested in graphic design for about 15 years now (I'm 41, and became seriously interested around 25), and have self studied off and on in those years. When I was very young, I was really into visual art, drawing, comics, painting etc, until my teens, and was bullied and became ashamed and embarrassed for being an 'introvert', and quit for a while.
And music became my first love, and I have spent most of my life focussing on music, making records, touring, etc. But I'm resigned to the fact that it will likely never pay the bills steadily (unless I teach/work in a music store etc), and that's okay. But I'm always trying to carve out a financial existence, that isn't soul draining, and allows me to be creative at work, and feel like the time I'm trading for money is mutually useful, and is moving me forward in my life.
My father is a carpenter, and for work (being a rambling musician for many years) I've often done construction work, built homes, worked for his company, worked in remote work camps, etc. The pay is often quite good, and it has allowed me to take time off to tour, make records, buy some gear, but I have zero interest in the work itself, and I've found the people working in the industry to be incredibly difficult to deal with. For some reason, it seems everyone is out to prove they know more than you, find that belittling people is a good way to motivate them, and is often just a really toxic workplace in all respects (no offence to people working in that industry!). The work itself is okay, it's just the culture that I find horrible.
Being in the music world, I've always loved graphic design relating to music: album art, concert posters, t-shirts, band websites, etc. And I created a lot of those projects over the years. As well as creating my own 'briefs' for practice, imaginary companies, and also little projects for friends and family, to get my feet wet.
Over the last 4 years or so, with the remaining energy I've had, I've tried to push myself to up my skills in graphic design, doing lots of Skillshare courses, Udemy, reading design books, etc. I created a little 'apparel brand' which has been fun, but basically sold nothing, which is okay, it was not really the point.
And over the last 5 months, I have been teaching myself 'web development', basically going through the Odin Project, learning html, css, and as much javascript as I could absorb in my puny brain. I then found Figma and Webflow, and really dig mocking up a site in Figma, and executing it for the web in Webflow.
I redesigned my 'portfolio' site about a month ago, and now I feel that I'm at a difficult point in life.
Because I've never gone to design school, have very little experience working for clients, I don't know if my work is complete garbage, and if I'm out to lunch with what I do. I would love to be able to land an entry level job with a design agency, and learn the ropes daily, learn from colleagues, senior designers, make mistakes, but ultimately level up hugely. Even if it's verging on minimum wage, I would love that opportunity to get my 'foot in the door'. I'm single, no kids, and my housing is fairly affordable.
So: my thought is to 'send out resumes, get 100s of them out to design agencies, hoping for a junior designer job'. Stay gritty, stay determined, and hope eventually someone will take a chance. But then again, I have severe self doubt, I wonder if my interests are too varied (for example, graphic design, web design, web development, UI/UX design), and I don't know where the line is, when someone is good enough to be applying for jobs.
Then I get defeated, and feel like I should quit swimming upstream, and just resign to construction work, or maybe start an apprenticeship in HVAC or carpentry, and try to make music in my spare time. Although the work usually drains me so much it's difficult to put in creative work during the weeks, and weekends tend to be recovery and preparation for another grueling week.
My question/hope is: for the professionals out there in the design world, might you be able to take the time to have a look at my portfolio site, maybe my instagram, and hit me with anything you've got? Hopefully constructively, without demeaning me. I know critique is part of design, and I'm still working on getting tougher skin. Maybe you could say 'I see where you're going, keep it up, give it a couple more years', or 'dude, stick to construction', or really any other advice. I think it would be MASSIVELY valuable for me, for better or for worse.
I feel like shooting for a 4 year graphic design degree at 41 or 42 isn't the greatest idea, it's a huge risk, and no guarantee I'd find good work when I was done. Leaning toward web design/development, I'm not sure if sinking $14k into a development or UI/UX bootcamp is a smart idea, especially because of how oversaturated I keep hearing the job market is.
Anyways, thank you very much for taking the time to read! I honestly appreciate it.
Cheers.
my portfolio site: https://strangeislandcreative.com
tl;dr: I was wondering if anyone might be able to take a look at my portfolio site, and provide any constructive criticism, thoughts, or advice. I wonder if I'm in the ballpark to be able to be apply for entry level design jobs, or if I should stick to construction, and try to be content in my work.
note: I'm realizing it's not fully responsive at this point, with some wonky things happening at smaller sizes. I'm going to work on that now, I appreciate the heads up!
edit: Wow, thank you to everyone who took the time to look at my portfolio, and write such thoughtful words (critiques or encouragement), it is absolutely massive for me. You all are awesome, which confirms my hunch that there are great, kind people working in the design world. I was very nervous making this post, but I feel ready to bear down, and get to the next step. I have, if I'm lucky, a good 24 working years left, so I might as well see what I can do. I have a lot to do of course, but it's nice to hear from working professionals that I'm not necessarily light years away from being able to do paid work. Cheers.

Hey everyone! My name is Emily Theune and I’m a senior SEO copywriter with nearly a decade of experience in writing for wedding businesses.
I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse range of clients, including bridal boutiques, wedding planners, photographers and venue owners. My expertise lies in creating engaging copy that resonates with couples in global communities, enhancing brand presence and driving conversions with B2B and B2C short and long-form copy.
I have new availability for extra work from individual wedding brands and wedding-related digital marketing agencies!
Here are a few of my skills that dazzle my clients:

• In-Depth Industry Knowledge: I’ve spent years immersing myself in the wedding industry, staying updated with trends and understanding the unique needs and desires of wedding clients. This enables me to create tailored content that speaks directly to a brand’s target audience.
• Proven Track Record: I have successfully developed and executed content strategies that have significantly increased website traffic, social media engagement and booking rates for my clients. My portfolio includes captivating website copy, blog posts, social media content, product descriptions and more.
• SEO Expertise: My expert understanding of SEO best practices ensures that my content improves organic search rankings and drives relevant traffic to client websites.
• Brand Voice and Consistency: Capturing and maintaining the unique voice of different brands is something I’ve been doing for nearly a decade. I’ve also adapted my writing voice to magazines, newspapers and university publications since I started getting published in 2011.
• Fast Turnaround Times: Time management has always been one of my best skills. I’m quick to jump on new projects and know how to optimize my schedule according to each project’s complexity. My resulting high-quality work rarely needs more than minor edits because my time management skills don’t compromise my writing, researching or editing abilities.

My Rates: $0.20 per word
Flexible services: My ongoing clients benefit from the numerous services listed on my site. I have equal experience in content management and social media scheduling, which are available for wedding businesses needing comprehensive digital marketing assistance at affordable rates. If you’re interested, we can set up a free consultation call through the contact form on my website to discuss how the additional services would change your per-word rate.
You can visit my website (emdashpress.com) or my LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-theune-039962b1/) for more information on my career.
My website has a brief portfolio of wedding-related content I wrote recently, which reflects what I’ve been producing for clients over the past decade.
I'm looking forward to speaking with you!

Hey everyone! My name is Emily Theune and I’m a senior SEO copywriter with nearly a decade of experience in writing for wedding businesses.
I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse range of clients, including bridal boutiques, wedding planners, photographers and venue owners. My expertise lies in creating engaging copy that resonates with couples in global communities, enhancing brand presence and driving conversions with B2B and B2C short and long-form copy.
I have new availability for extra work from individual wedding brands and wedding-related digital marketing agencies!
Here are a few of my skills that dazzle my clients:

• In-Depth Industry Knowledge: I’ve spent years immersing myself in the wedding industry, staying updated with trends and understanding the unique needs and desires of wedding clients. This enables me to create tailored content that speaks directly to a brand’s target audience.
• Proven Track Record: I have successfully developed and executed content strategies that have significantly increased website traffic, social media engagement and booking rates for my clients. My portfolio includes captivating website copy, blog posts, social media content, product descriptions and more.
• SEO Expertise: My expert understanding of SEO best practices ensures that my content improves organic search rankings and drives relevant traffic to client websites.
• Brand Voice and Consistency: Capturing and maintaining the unique voice of different brands is something I’ve been doing for nearly a decade. I’ve also adapted my writing voice to magazines, newspapers and university publications since I started getting published in 2011.
• Fast Turnaround Times: Time management has always been one of my best skills. I’m quick to jump on new projects and know how to optimize my schedule according to each project’s complexity. My resulting high-quality work rarely needs more than minor edits because my time management skills don’t compromise my writing, researching or editing abilities.

My Rates: 20 cents per word for standard articles
Flexible services: My ongoing clients benefit from the numerous services listed on my site. I have equal experience in content management and social media scheduling, which are available for wedding businesses needing comprehensive digital marketing assistance at affordable rates. If you’re interested, we can set up a free consultation call through the contact form on my website to discuss how the additional services would change your per-word rate.
You can visit my website (emdashpress.com) or my LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-theune-039962b1/) for more information on my career. My website has a brief portfolio of wedding-related content I wrote recently, which reflects what I’ve been producing for clients over the past decade.

M.J. Peterson proposes senior housing project in Amherst (buffalonews.com)
More than 250 new senior housing apartments are being planned for the northwestern part of the Town of Amherst, as developer and real estate brokerage firm M.J. Peterson Corp. works to build out its portfolio by capitalizing on both available land and growing demand.
The Amherst-based company led by Victor L. “Pete” Peterson III is seeking to have the town rezone nearly 10 acres of vacant land along East Robinson Road, just east of Niagara Falls Boulevard, in order to facilitate an extensive new development project with easy access to a variety of nearby grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses.
Oxford Square Community Lot receives $600,000 for enhancements - Buffalo Rising
Oxford Square Community Lot, located at the corner of Oxford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue (on the land adjacent to People Inc.’s Linwood Lafayette Senior Apartments) is now being reimagined as “a versatile, multigenerational community gathering space.”
This makeshift lot started off as a parking lot before residents living in the neighborhood took it over and created a community gathering area and play space. That was in 2011. Over the years, a number of grassroots amenities were added to the lot, including a Little Free Library with a green roof.
Eventually, the lot – now owned by People, inc. – was cast into the spotlight as neighbors with the Oxford Square Block Club called for it to become a legitimate park and playspace in a similar vein to Elmwood’s new KOMPAN Playground.
F.W. Webb plans new warehouse, showroom near Buffalo airport (buffalonews.com)
F.W. Webb Co. wants to construct a 113,500-square-foot commercial facility, featuring a showroom, a self-service retail store and a drive-thru structure for customers, along with significant parts storage space both indoors and in an outdoor paved storage yard in back. The single-story, steel-framed building would house the company’s wholesale distribution business as well as the Frank Webb Home bath, kitchen and lighting store.
The complex would be located on 20.2 acres of grassy and forested land at 669 S. Youngs Road, owned by an affiliate of Krog Group of Orchard Park. The property is shaped like a right triangle, fronting on Youngs to the east, with its diagonal extending along Ellicott Creek and Aero Drive to the southwest. It’s just south of the New York State Thruway, near the terminus of Youngs at a traffic circle with Aero before the airport.
Construction Watch: 899 Main Street - Buffalo Rising
Exterior work is be wrapping up on BestSelf Behavioral Health’s new corporate headquarters at 899 Main Street. Uniland Development is overseeing the $20 million project. Uniland is adding a third floor to the building to accommodate BestSelf’s space needs.
A push for housing through infill development, new policies (buffalonews.com)
Scattered throughout the city and located in the University, North, Fillmore and Niagara Council districts, the properties are being transferred for $1, as part of the Affordable Infill Housing Initiative, under the American Rescue Plan Act.
The houses will be constructed under a $23.5 million partnership between the city, Erie County and the land bank, with the county contributing $13.5 million in ARPA dollars and the city $10 million.
The goal is to meet the demand for "moderately-priced housing intended for first-time homebuyers, working families and/or people seeking smaller, energy-efficient housing," according to memos to the Common Council from the Office of Strategic Planning's Division of Real Estate.
"A significant amount of community engagement has been conducted," the memo continued. "Residents have shown their excitement and support for the project."
The purchase prices of the individual homes will vary, as they will be set for affordability at 300% of the federal poverty level of $31,200 for a family of four, subject to a homebuyer's savings. Buffalo Construction Consultants will be construction manager for the project.
"It's a significant number of infill houses that will be under construction," said Brendan Mehaffy, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning.
The new homes come in addition to the 12 single-family homes that the local land bank is planning to build on Adams Street between Genesee and Sycamore streets, in a partnership with the city and Evans Bank. First unveiled in 2022, the Adams Street Infill Housing Initiative is designed to encourage developers to build homes in neighborhoods with vacant lots.
(note: it'd probably be a lot more efficient to build out duplexes/townhomes on these lots, but it seems like they're almost all SFHs)