16-minute read.

pro-West party leader says they met PM Pashinyan and discussed a referendum to solidify Armenia's shift to EU

KHZMALYAN (European Party of Armenia): The referendum is our suggestion and demand. We presented it to Pashinyan and expect a response within a reasonable timeframe. We advised making a public statement soon. A referendum would also make Pashinyan's job easier by allowing the people's will to decide Armenia's direction.
REPORTER: How did Pashinyan respond?
KHZMALYAN: He suggested the meeting be held in a closed format so I can't reveal all details. We hope that our voice, our offer, our demand, was heard. If we do not receive a positive response, we will take measures by employing the same methods currently used by anti-European forces [the ongoing protests led by pro-Russian ex-regime]. We will take to the streets and demand a referendum for Eurointegration if necessary.
REPORTER: How long are you ready to wait before taking action?
KHZMALYAN: A few months. Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in October, and Moldova will hold a similar Eurointegration referendum - also in October. The U.S. will hold presidential elections in November which will be important for Armenia's future. Even if the worst scenario unfolds in all three countries, Armenia must stand firm and not take a step back. Armenia could become the leader in democracy in all of Eastern Europe if you consider the situation in Georgia, Hungary, and Slovakia [pro-Russia populist leader]. Armenia could receive an unprecedented level of assistance from Europe under those circumstances.
REPORTER: Did Pashinyan say he plans to leave CSTO?
KHZMALYAN: We did not demand specific dates but we urged him to complete all these processes this year, preferably by November.
REPORTER: Did Pashinyan agree?
KHZMALYAN: The participants of the meeting are under the impression that we were able to present convincing arguments but time will show what actions he takes. The government functions very poorly but nevertheless, they are doing something, they are taking steps.
REPORTER: On May 9, Bagrat Galstanyan gave Pashinyan 1 hour to resign but it's May 21 and he is still here. Why wasn't the opposition able to remove him?
KHZMALYAN: The 3 former presidents and their surrogate forces, backed by 30 years of power, were unable to bring forward a figurehead, a single ideology, that could win the hearts of the people. They used various political technologies, they switched between black and white robes, and they extended the 1 hour to 7 days, but none of that helped because the Armenian people hate them more than they hate Nikol Pashinyan.
REPORTER: You used to be a lot harsher on Pashinyan but something appears to have changed in your tone after your recent meeting with him. What is the reason?
KHZMALYAN: We were able to present our demands and the timelines to accomplish them. Unlike the archbishop and the former regimes surrounding him, we did not give "one hour" for Pashinyan to accept our demands; we did not make ultimatums. We believe the current government is carrying out and will carry out the will of the people to overcome the status of a Russian colony and join the ranks of free nations. We did and do see steps [taken by the government] towards this; we cannot ignore this. We saw the Strassbourg, but also Moscow. We saw the [April 5 meeting in] Brussels, but also [the recent meeting between FMs in] Almaty. We are told this is an attempt to "balance" and we understand where they are coming from, but our factions speak on behalf of over 60% of Armenians who view Russia's policies as deadly for Armenia. We expect concrete actions and we have formed a platform to continue this work; there will be petitions and other actions from us. We are ready to assist Pashinyan, who may be constrained due to ongoing negotiations, by being the public voice and saying the things he cannot say. We will continue to work, to pressure, to influence, to demand. Our meetings also continue abroad. We will press on until we reach our goal - the Eurointegration of Armenia. //
Several prominent Western-oriented political parties recently formed an alliance to promote Armenia's Eurointegration.
video,

Pashinyan appoints a ruling party member as a deputy head of the newly formed Foreign Intelligence Service - the Armenian "CIA"

After the 2020 war, Pashinyan said Armenia will need a modern intel agency to gather information and analyze foreign threats, while the NSS -- described as historically a "pro-Russian" agency by many -- will focus on internal matters.
source,

Pashinyan met the deputy head of the United States CIA to discuss bilateral, international, and regional issues

A delegation led by David Cohen is in Yerevan. Cohen also met NatSec Armen Grigoryan.
source, source,

Armenia's Investigative Committee chief hosted U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Qyaramyan and Yoder discussed bilateral cooperation, the recent retraining for Armenian agents and technical assistance, cooperation between law enforcement agencies of Armenia and the United States, anti-narcotrafficking, and the fight against gender-based violence.
Yoder also met Armenia's Interior Minister Ghazaryan to discuss the ongoing police reforms and formation of new divisions, the fight against narco-trafficking, technical assistance for rescuers, and retraining courses. Yoder emphasized effective cooperation, noting that the achievements within the framework of sectorial reforms are exceptional. The US wants to expand the agenda of cooperation.
source, source,

Armenian army officers continue to take part in NATO exercises titled Regex 2024 held in Moldova

GOOGLE TRANSLATE: The exercise is organized with the support of the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy, and aims to train the military according to Western standards for planning and conducting exercises, crisis management, strengthening and assessing the level of interoperability of forces in a multinational environment.
We remind you that the exercise "Regex 2024" consists of several workshops during the current year. The first workshop took place between February 16 and March 1, and the second between 22 − April 26, 2024. //
source, source,

NATO and Armenia strengthen cooperation in defense education

Armenia's defense ministry representatives recently visited NATO headquarters to discuss NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) for Armenia.
NATO: The DEEP programme is an excellent tool to support Armenian military education system reforms and strengthen the country’s cooperation with NATO.
ARMENIA: With the support of DEEP experts we implemented major changes in all levels of our educational curriculum at Military Academy, starting from cadets up to the most senior levels. It helped us to establish cooperation with many international partner institutions.
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Armenia is an emerging destination for UK and global investors: Armenia's Ambassador to London Business Matters

👔 Armenia is committed to building a knowledge-based, export-oriented, and inclusive economy.
👔 Armenia is diversifying its growing economy with pioneering sectors, creating ample investment opportunities.
👔 Armenia’s investment legislation grants equal treatment to foreign investors
👔 There are no restrictions on remittances and repatriation of profits, free exchange of foreign currencies and no limitations on staff recruitment
👔 The country’s favorable business climate and ‘open-door’ policy is also reflected in international reputable rankings where Armenia is ranked one of the highest in the region.
👔 Although Armenia has a relatively modest internal market, it offers different models of economic cooperation and serves as a gateway to major world markets
👔 Armenia has maintained a high level of cooperation with the EU through CEPA
👔 Armenia and UK will soon have a CEPA-like agreement
full article, source,

Turkey modernizes an Azerbaijani Su-25ML jet with guided bombs and Teber missiles

It uses KGK laser guidance for missiles and increases the reach to 110 km.
source,

Pashinyan's Chief of Staff hosted the French Ambassador to discuss defense, economy, infrastructure, and humanitarian topics

... also the upcoming events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Charles Aznavour.
source,

Parliament Speakers of Armenia and Ukraine discuss the situation in the South Caucasus and Ukraine

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Q&A with ruling party MP Vahagn Alexanyan about the ongoing protests led by pro-Russian opposition

REPORTER: You continue to criticize the "holy movement"...
ALEXANYAN: The what now?
REPORTER: ... the "holy movement", by calling it a "pagan" movement. What is the ruling party's stance and do you discuss this internally?
ALEXANYAN: Of course we do, although I don't think Kocharyan's decision to name this movement "holy" is helping them. It's comical.
REPORTER: Do you have proof that Bagrat srbazan is [tied with Kocharyan]?
ALEXANYAN: Bagrat Galstanyan is surrounded by the entire political team of Robert Koharyan, he was a member of Kocharyan's 2022 protests and gave similar speeches he gives today, he received a praise from Russian propagandists, and he was named by a Russian propagandist Aram Gabrielyanov as a potential candidate for a new protest movement just a few months prior to these events, so it's beyond reasonable doubt that Bagrat Galstanyan is part of Kocharyan's team.
REPORTER: You were earlier accusing Galstanyan of being a Russian agent, and now Kocharyan's agent?
ALEXANYAN: Same thing.
REPORTER: The opposition gathered many thousands of supporters on May 9. What does the size of the crowd indicate?
ALEXANYAN: It was similar to Kocharyan's final rally before the 2021 elections. And?
REPORTER: The opposition created a video of "Pashinyan's lies" and broken promises. Will you respond?
ALEXANYAN: The clip itself is a lie and manipulation. For example, one of the supposed lies was Pashinyan's promise of an amnesty for overdue fines and penalties. You are a journalist, you tell me, was there an amnesty or not?
REPORTER: Pashinyan had also said that POWs could wait "just a few more months" and that he wouldn't "sacrifice Armenia's sovereignty" in exchange for bringing them back sooner. Why aren't they back?
ALEXANYAN: Dozens of POWs returned home in December, and efforts continue to bring back the rest. Literally 1-2 days before the POWs' return, the opposition claimed that the POWs were "forgotten" by the government. "Ոչ մի բան չեք անում:"
REPORTER: What about the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership?
ALEXANYAN: There are efforts to return them as well.
REPORTER: Why did the police form a wall to block entry to village Kirants [for nonresidents]?
ALEXANYAN: I think the NSS said they had to take action to prevent interference with the border work. From what I can tell, the protest leader himself went there yesterday and returned only 15 minutes later so there wasn't a big desire to stay there apparently.
REPORTER: They plan to hold a big rally on May 26 where they might nominate Bagrat srbazan as the PM's candidate to replace Pashinyan.
ALEXANYAN: Why not go straight for [alleged narco baron] Mihran Poghosyan [who publicly praised the protests]?
REPORTER: There appears to be a consensus around Bagrat srbazan after a meeting between several forces.
ALEXANYAN: Consensus minus one, where "minus one" is the people. Or to be more precise, "minus two", because the Constitution also prohibits Bagrat from serving as a prime minister. Congratulations on an initiative that's dead on arrival. It's absurd. They suggested replacing the Constitution to allow a dual citizen to serve as PM. Okay... To get Canadian citizenship you have to take an oath to serve the best interests of Canada. To allow dual citizens to serve as PM in Armenia we have to accept for the PM to have loyalty towards another state. The alternative is for the candidate [Bagrat] to admit that his word [oath to Canada] wasn't worth a dime. Երևի մատերը խաչ արած ա երդվել։
REPORTER: But don't you think you are manipulating because Galstanyan received Canadian citizenship just to be able to serve in the church in Canada? He didn't go there to live or conduct business.
ALEXANYAN: It doesn't matter why he went to Canada. He is a citizen of Canada and took an oath. Even religious leaders with dual citizenship cannot become prime ministers. I don't have an issue with him being a dual citizen, but it limits his office options. He still hasn't renounced his Canadian citizenship even after all these talks about a possible nomination.
REPORTER: Galstanyan said he is ready to renounce it as soon as there is a need for it.
ALEXANYAN: In other words, he seeks "guarantees" that he will be the candidate in order to renounce it?
full,source, source,

opposition churchman Bagrat Galstanyan demands the Armenian government compensate the damage done to the church during USSR and "return" the properties "legally belonging" to the church

This was said as a response to the critics of the church leadership who accused the church of turning into a political party and suggested taxing the church like a business.
BAGRAT: We have 19th-century churches that were forcefully confiscated and turned into ruins. The properties of the Armenian church must be returned to the church. The area of Moscow Cinema belongs to the church, half of the Katoghike Church was demolished and belongs to the church, and part of the items in Matenadaran were taken away from the church. Instead of threatening us with taxes, they must think about how they plan to return our properties, fully renovated and ready for service.
source,

the church is actually paying taxes but they do have some exemptions

The church paid $1 million in income taxes last year.
There are tax exemptions to import certain goods deemed for charity. They also don't pay property tax, and taxes on income generated from the sales of ceremonial accessories. The latter two are the frequent targets of church critics.
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Armenia's Constitutional Court has a vacant seat. Pro-Russian opposition criticizes Pashinyan's ruling party for favoring a "George Soros-linked" judge who worked for U.S. State Department.

A Serj-era judge is leaving the Constitutional Court after receiving a job offer elsewhere so one seat is vacant. It is the judiciary's turn to nominate a CC judge, so hundreds of judges recently held a meeting and voted for Judge Balayan as their candidate. Balayan's father was a CC judge during Kocharyan's tenure. He was accused in the Wikileaks report of having inappropriate deals with President Kocharyan. Pashinyan's ruling party did not vote to approve Balayan. This led to a second gathering of hundreds of judges where they voted to nominate Judge Khachaturyan as their candidate. The parliament summoned him for Q&A on Tuesday.
SPEAKER: We invite the representative of the judiciary to present their nominee for CC.
JUDICIARY REP: 267 judges voted. Judge Davit Khachaturyan, a member of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, won the majority votes.
2000-2005: [blah blah blah]
2003-2006: Legislative Assistance Project Manager at Southern Caucasus Anti-Drug (SCAD) Program, sponsored by European Union and implemented by United Nations Development Program
2006: Program Assistant at U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)
2007-2013: U.S. Embassy in Armenia, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Legal Specialist
2014: Academy of Justice of the Republic of Armenian-Russian, Vice-Rector and Lecturer
2015-2016: Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Program “Strengthening Health Care and Human Rights Protection in Prisons in Armenia”, Legal Expert
2016: EU project “Development and Strategic Studies”, Expert on Judiciary and Human Rights field reforms
2015-2017: EU project “ENP Progress Reports and Assessment Reports on Armenia´s Compliance with GSP+ obligations”. Expert on Rule of Law/Justice.
2013–2020: Law Faculty of Yerevan State University. Lecturer. Development and teaching of courses for the Master Program: “European Standards for the human rights protection in criminal proceedings”, and “Professional Skills of a Lawyer”
etc.
OPPOSITION MP: The ruling faction earlier chose not to confirm the appointment of Judge Davit Balayan; they obviously prefer Davit Khachaturyan. Can you explain why you didn't mention that Khachaturyan served on the board of directors and later as the president of the board at George Soros's Armenia-based Open Society Foundations? How will this record impact his work at CC?
JUDICIARY REP: I presented parts of his professional activities available on the court's public platforms. You can ask the candidate directly.
OPPOSITION MP: The Soros Foundation publicly listed him as a member so I don't understand why it's being hidden now. In your opinion, how will his work at the Soros Foundation affect his impartiality?
JUDICIARY REP: The majority of judges chose him and it's up to Parliament whether to confirm or reject.
RULING MP: Was the voting held in a closed session or can you see how each judge voted?
JUDICIARY REP: It's a closed format. My duty here is to present the candidate. [basically, leave me alone I'm just doing my job]
RULING MP: Why not make the court voting and internal discussions more transparent for the public to see so we will have fewer conspiracy theories on why one judge was preferred over the other?
JUDICIARY REP: I share the view that it needs to be as public as possible but the majority of judges voted to keep the session closed to the press.
RULING MP: Just because the discussions and the vote were behind closed doors that doesn't mean it was anti-democratic, but still, it's better to publicize the process. We hope to see a change in this approach.
JUDICIARY REP: The ballot casting will always be secret and I think that's the right approach in order to allow judges to express themselves without constraints, but I agree that the discussions and speeches should be public. Either way whatever we discuss behind closed doors always reaches the press so in practice there isn't really a major transparency issue there.
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: First, every part of my biography has always been public and part of public discussions. Second, I have always voted in favor of making internal discussions open to the press; it's the best way to avoid incorrect assumptions. Full speech here.
OPPOSITION MP: Congratulations. The ruling party intends to approve your candidacy just as they voted for you in the past for other positions. In all of those instances, you didn't mention your work at the Сорос Foundation. Now, a very interesting coincidence [drumroll... are you guys ready for this bombshell?], during the same time while you worked at Сорос foundation, in 2006-2013, you were also a U.S. Embassy employee [got 'em]. //
Nikol Pashinyan has resigned.
Tavush stretches all the way to Russia.
Bagrat srbazan becomes the Supreme Leader of Historical Soil & Water and the Generalissimos of Slow-Melting Candles... and of course removes the speed cameras from highways.
OPPOSITION MP (continues): With this biography, how do we know you are not an agent of foreign influence?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I was not an "employee" at the Soros Foundations. Other famous figures have served on the Board [mentions a famous doctor]. Everyone who was part of the Board had duties but it was not really an "employment". As for my simultaneous work with the U.S. Justice Department, there was no conflict with my membership or presidency at the Board because the latter was fully a public activity and we were only given a symbolic sum to compensate for our expenses; we are talking about less than $100/mo. I will let you be the judge regarding an agent of influence. There is a lot that's missing from my biography that read here [lists some boring constitutional research work, etc.].
OPPOSITION MP: You keep being "promoted" by the ruling party without having the chance to finish your terms. The longest job you've ever held was at the Сорос Foundation - 8 years. The brother of the head of the Anti-Corruption Committee, who is about to join the CC, cannot be impartial. Again, what guarantees can you present that you are not a [Western] agent?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: Your expectation for guarantees stems from the assumption that the [Open Society Foundations] were engaged in activities other than the ones they were actually engaged in. I won't present any "guarantees" because there is no "threat" to begin with. As I've said, that part of my biography has always been discussed publicly and the activities were public and covered by the press.
RULING MP: In your speech you spoke about the judiciary in the U.S. and brought examples. The U.S. doesn't have a Constitutional Court. Don't you think we should also merge the Constitutional and [Cassations Court] with the upcoming referendum to have one Supreme Court with corresponding chambers?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I support having one unified body like in the U.S., or clarifying the duties to prevent each body from interfering with the other. Lengthy answer.
OPPOSITION MP: A person [in Kirants] received permission [from USSR] to build a house and live in it. Then the [Armenian] government told him there was a mistake [after the clarification of borders]. Some 50 years after this incident, what would your verdict be in this case?
CANDIDATE KHACHATURYAN: I understand the context. This issue is the task of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and we cannot interfere in each other's institutions. I assume there will be a peace agreement eventually that will be sent to the Constitutional Court for examination, therefore I will refrain from making prejudgments now in order to be allowed to take part in future processes.
full video, source, source,

anti-corruption: Armenian authorities conclude that luxury Dubai property belonging to former regime MP's relative was not obtained illegally by him therefore will not be sized as part of an asset forfeiture case

Mher Sedrakyan (Tokhmakhi Mher) is a Serj-era MP whose family is going through an asset forfeiture case worth ֏7.5 billion ($19.3 million) that includes 22 real estate properties, cars, and company shares registered under his name and the names of immediate family members.
Additionally, investigative journalists recently found a luxury property in Dubai registered under the ex-MP's relative. Authorities have concluded that he is not the true ownebeneficiary of this Dubai apartment, therefore it won't be seized.
source,

the army concludes exercises for commanders

Context in May 14 news digest. The defense ministry says they have noted improvements and deficiencies and will take steps to correct them.
source,

Defense Minister Papikyan visited the frontlines and the newly built fortifications: PHOTO

The army continues to dig, asphalt, and build.
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Armenia's Foreign Minister met the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency during an international forum

ROSSI: Effective cooperation has been established between Armenia and the IAEA. We discussed several issues on the bilateral agenda, oncology and radiation medicine, safety, and reliable operation of the Armenian NPP.
MIRZOYAN: We plan to extend the lifespan of Metsamor NPP until 2036 while exploring new opportunities.
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Armenian lawyers went a strike on Tuesday to protest a bill that would move them from a turnover tax-based system to a VAT-based taxation

Context on the gray economy and why the government wants to gradually abolish the turnover tax system in May 2 news digest.
A group of lawyers said on Tuesday that their 5% turnover tax [for annual turnover under ֏119M] will become 10% this year, and in 2025 they will be required to switch to a 20% VAT/18% profit tax. The cost of legal services for many clients could increase by over 38%, they warned.
The Ombudsman and the Justice Ministry reportedly oppose this bill by the Finance Ministry.
source, source, source, source,

video shows the new payment terminals in Yerevan subway station

They plan to replace all gates next month. The Soviet-era tokens (zheton) are being replaced with QR codes, an app, and later - bank cards.
All stations will have payment terminals to purchase QR tickets. It prints out a paper with QR. Telcell's app lets you buy a ticket and instantly get a QR on the phone's screen.
Seniors who can't use "high-tech" can approach the token sellers and get a QR paper instead of a token.
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Yerevan will host an exhibition on Charles Aznavour’s 100th anniversary

Hundreds of rare artifacts will present the life and legacy of the legendary artist.
Location: National Museum-Institute of Architecture
Date: May 22-July 22
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Germany wants to purchase an Armenian man

Dortmund Borussia is interested in the services of Armenian national Edward Spertsyan as a replacement for departing Marco Reus.
During this season, midfielder Spertsyan has played 32 matches, scored 11 goals, and made 7 assists. His ass is worth €18 million.
source,

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Brewers (27-20) @ Marlins (16-33)

First Pitch: 6:40 PM at loanDepot park

Team	Starter	TV	Radio
Brewers	Robert Gasser (2-0, 0.82 ERA)	BSWI	WTMJ
Marlins	Trevor Rogers (1-6, 5.79 ERA)	BSFL	FOX940AM, WAQI (ES)

MLB	Fangraphs	Reddit Stream	IRC Chat
Gameday	Game Graph	Live Comments	Libera: ##baseball

Line Score - Bases empty, 1 Out, Bottom of the 8th

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
MIL	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	3		7	11	1	10
MIA	0	1	0	0	1	3	0			5	11	0	7

Box Score

MIA		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
RF	Myers	2	0	1	1	0	0	.286
LF	De La Cruz, B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.259
DH	Bell	3	0	0	1	0	1	.231
1B	Burger	4	0	1	0	0	0	.170
CF	Chisholm Jr.	4	2	2	0	0	0	.254
SS	Anderson, Ti	4	1	2	0	0	1	.206
2B	Lopez, O	3	0	1	2	0	0	.298
3B	Rivera, E	3	2	2	1	0	0	.226
C	Bethancourt	3	0	1	0	0	0	.153

MIA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Rogers, Tr	3.2	6	4	4	4	4	90-53	6.11
Smith, B	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	14-13	3.47
Faucher	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	17-10	3.12
Bender	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	13-9	6.20
Puk	0.2	3	3	3	1	0	22-13	9.00
Ramirez, E	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	3-2	0.00

MIL		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Monasterio	2	2	1	0	1	0	.182
2B	Turang	2	0	0	0	0	1	.310
C	Contreras, Wm	4	1	2	3	1	1	.335
LF	Yelich	3	1	1	2	2	0	.321
SS	Adames	5	0	2	1	0	2	.237
3B	Ortiz, J	5	0	1	0	0	1	.286
DH	Sánchez	3	1	0	0	1	0	.212
RF	Chourio	4	0	0	0	0	2	.215
1B	Miller, O	2	0	1	0	0	0	.182
1B	Bauers	2	1	1	0	0	1	.235
CF	Perkins, B	3	1	2	1	1	0	.233

MIL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Gasser	6.0	10	5	4	0	0	80-59	2.65
Myers	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	16-11	5.00
Payamps	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	7-5	4.60

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
T1	William Contreras doubles (14) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Andruw Monasterio scores.	0-1
T2	Blake Perkins singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Gary Sánchez scores. Owen Miller to 3rd.	0-2
B2	Otto Lopez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Blake Perkins. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 2nd.	1-2
T4	William Contreras singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Blake Perkins scores. Andruw Monasterio scores.	1-4
B5	Josh Bell out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores.	2-4
B6	Otto Lopez out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher William Contreras to first baseman Jake Bauers. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 3rd.	3-4
B6	Emmanuel Rivera singles on a line drive to right fielder Jackson Chourio. Tim Anderson scores.	4-4
B6	Dane Myers out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores. Christian Bethancourt to 2nd.	5-4
T8	Christian Yelich triples (2) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Jake Bauers scores. William Contreras scores.	5-6
T8	Willy Adames doubles (13) on a line drive to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, deflected by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. Christian Yelich scores.	5-7

Highlights

Description	Length
Bullpen availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Bullpen availability for Milwaukee, May 21 vs Marlins	0:07
Bench availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Breaking down Trevor Rogers' pitches	0:04
Breaking down Robert Gasser's pitches	0:04
Robert Gasser's outing against the Marlins	0:23
William Contreras' RBI double	0:29
[Blake Perkins' RBI single]()	0:18
[Trevor Rogers fans William Contreras]()	0:11
[Otto Lopez's RBI single]()	0:14
Emmanuel Rivera nabs Christian Yelich at home	0:29
William Contreras' two-run single	0:27
Willy Adames strikes out on a foul tip.	0:08
[Josh Bell's sacrifice fly]()	0:20
Dane Myers' running catch	0:38
Otto Lopez's sac bunt scores Jazz Chisholm Jr.	0:26
[Emmanuel Rivera's RBI single]()	0:13
[Dane Myers' sacrifice fly]()	0:23
[Tobias Myers whiffs Tim Anderson]()	0:10
Christian Yelich's go-ahead two-run triple	0:24
Willy Adames' RBI double	0:22

Attendance	Weather	Wind
	72°F, Roof Closed	0 mph, None

HP	1B	2B	3B
Roberto Ortiz	Alfonso Márquez	Lance Barrett	Mark Ripperger

Updated at 9:06 PM.
Remember to sort by new to keep up!

New Bedford Highway Killer - Wikipedia
"The New Bedford Highway Killer is an unidentified serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least nine women and the disappearances of two additional women in New Bedford, Massachusetts, between March 1988 and April 1989.^\1]) The killer is also suspected to have assaulted numerous other women. All the killer's victims were known sex workers or had struggles with addiction. While the victims were taken from New Bedford, they were all found in different surrounding towns, including Dartmouth, Freetown and Westport, Massachusetts, along Route 140. The main detective that pursued the case was John Dextradeur.^\2])

1. Robbin Lynn Rhodes, 29, also referred to as “Bobbie Lynn” was found on March 28, 1989, along Route 140 southbound in Freetown by a search dog. She is believed to have gone missing sometime in March or April 1988. Rhodes had dated suspect Kenneth Ponte. She had a young child and was addicted to heroin and cocaine. While she was never involved in prostitution, she knew many of the other victims and was friends with victim Mary Rose Santos.^\3])
2. Rochelle Clifford Dopierala, 28, of Falmouth, disappeared sometime during late April 1988. Her body was found on December 10, 1988, in a gravel pit along Reed Road beneath a tree grove, about two miles from Interstate 195, by people riding ATVs. She was partially clothed and had been beaten to death. She had dated and stayed at the home of suspect Kenneth Ponte, who was arrested for her murder, but the charges were eventually dismissed due to a lack of evidence. This was the only time charges were brought in this case. Rochelle had testified against another man who had raped her, but he is not suspected in this case. She was last seen with victim Nancy Paiva’s boyfriend, an ex-convict. He was cleared in both deaths and is not a suspect.^\3])
3. Deborah Lynn McConnell, 25, of Newport, Rhode Island, was mother to one daughter. Deborah was last seen sometime in May 1988 by her father after the funeral of her mother at the local cemetery. She is believed to have been the third victim. Her body was found on December 1, 1988, off Route 140 northbound in Freetown, through a cadaver dog search. She was found nude with a bra wrapped around her neck.^\3])
4. Debra Medeiros, 29, of Fall River lived with her mother. Debra was known to both police and family to have had long standing substance abuse issues but no record for prostitution. She was last seen by her boyfriend in New Bedford after a fight, and was reported missing on May 27, 1988. She was the first of the bodies found and she was identified in December 1988. Her body was found on July 3, 1988, by a woman who went to relieve herself just in the woods on the side of the road on Interstate 140 in Freetown. Her remains were severely decomposed with her body positioned on her back with her feet pointed towards the highway. Her cause of death was strangulation, she had a bra wrapped around her neck, and she was found only partially clad. Her boyfriend was ruled out as a suspect. After her death, her mother counselled drug and alcohol addicts in honour of her daughter’s death.^\3])
5. Christina Monteiro, 19, was last seen sometime in May 1988 and has not been seen or heard from since. Christina had a child and had a known substance abuse history. She was a Cape Verdean American female with brown hair, brown eyes with scars on both wrists and a scar near her left eye. She was between 5’3 and 5’5 and was 110 lbs. She had initials and words tattooed on her arms. She was wearing a shirt, blue jeans and sneakers when she was last seen.^\3])
6. Marilyn Cardoza-Roberts, 34, was last seen sometime in June 1988 and has not been seen or heard from since. She was reported missing in December 1988. She was neighbours with victim Christina Monteiro, who is also still missing.^\3])
7. Nancy Lee Paiva, 36, of New Bedford, was last seen walking home from a bar called “Whisper’s Pub” on July 7, 1988, after a reported fight with her boyfriend in the South End in the early hours of the morning. Nancy reportedly had substance abuse issues but was not known to be a prostitute. Nancy had gone to secretarial school, but dropped out. She was married at 19, divorced and had two teenaged daughters. Nancy was known as a very supportive mother and grandmother. At the time of her death, she had a steady boyfriend, who was a drug dealer known to police. Her relationship with her boyfriend had been dysfunctional with domestic violence issues. Her nude body was discovered beside Interstate 195 Westbound in Dartmouth on July 30, 1988, by two men who were riding motorcycles. Her body was found in the same position as victim Debra Medeiro’s – on her back with her feet pointing towards the highway. Nancy’s cause of death was also believed to be strangulation. Her boyfriend is not a suspect in her death.^\3])
8. Debra Greenlaw Demello, 35, was a mother of three; a fifteen year old daughter, Chandra and two boys who were eight and three respectively at the time of her death. She had struggled with substance abuse issues since her teenage years. She had walked away from a prison work-release program to which she had been sentenced due to a prostitution charge on June 18 and was last seen in New Bedford, on July 11, 1988. Her body was found off the eastbound Reed Road ramp of Interstate 195 by a state highway crew on November 8, 1988. Debra’s nude body was in an area with trees with her clothing strewn in the branches. She was found with some belongings of another victim, Nancy Paiva.^\3])
9. Mary Rose Santos, 26, of New Bedford, was a mother of two, who was dropped off on July 16, 1988, by her husband, with whom she had recently reconciled, near the downtown bus station and last seen dancing at “The Old Quarterdeck Lounge” five hours later. Friends said her husband had no idea she was working the streets to help pay bills, and she was known to have a substance abuse issue. Mary Rose Santos’ nude body was found with a beer bottle on March 31, 1989, along Route 88 in Westport by two boys. Suspect Kenneth Ponte had represented Mary Santos in a civil case and helped her husband make flyers after her disappearance.^\3])
10. Sandra Botelho, 24, was a mother of two young sons who were both four and six-years-old. Botelho was known to have a significant substance abuse issue and engaged in prostitution. Botelho reportedly left her apartment on August 11, 1988, at 11 pm and never returned. She was the final body found, located in the woods along Interstate 195 in Marion on April 24, 1989. Her body was nude and reportedly was folded into a foetal position.^\3])
11. Dawn Mendes, 25, was last seen in New Bedford, on September 4, 1988, walking from her apartment to a family christening party. Mendes was one of ten children and was also the mother of a five-year-old boy. She had a history of prostitution and drug use. Her body was found on November 29, 1988, on the westbound Reed Road ramp off Interstate 195 by a search dog. There were mostly skeletal remains but her hand was able to yield a fingerprint which lead to her being identified. Her mother raised her son after her death.^\3])^"

Gosh I honestly haven't really listen to phish in a while, like just having taper setlist play out during a long drive. I miss my old favorite compiled songs lists.
Care to share yours? With dates?(or without)
The following songs I used to listen to:
Bug
I am hydrogen
Mike's song
YEM
Brian and Robert
Dirt
Driver
Waste
Character zero
Heavy Things
Ghost
Slave to the traffic light
Glide
Moma dance
Sleep again
Maze
Tube
Undermind
Strange design
Let me lie
Lawnboy
Joy
Dog faced boy
Weigh
Stash
Twist
Chalkdust torture
Halley’s Comet
Harpua
Train song
Wilson
Tube
Tweezer
Tweezer Reprise
Harry Hood
Icculus
Sample in a jar
Down with disease
Weekapaug Groove
Suzy Greenberg
Back on the train
Mountains in the mist
Silent in the morning
Time turns elastic
Army of one
Rift
Back on the train
BDTNL
Bathtub Gin
Camel walk
Meatstick
Ocelot
Antelope
NICU
Sparkle
Simple
Theme from the bottom
Kung
Hahaha
Wading in the velvet sea
My friend, my friend
Fluffhead
Split open and melt
Divided sky
Cars trucks buses
My sweet one
Golgi apparatus
Grind
Squirming coil
Birds of a feather
Ac/dc bag
Dinner and a movie
Guelah papyrus
Wolfsman’s brother
Stealing from the faulty plan
Down with disease
Farmhouse
Fast enough for you
Fee
First tube
Fluffs travels
Fly famous mockingbird
Foam
Free
Gotta jibboo
Gumbo
Guyute
I didn’t know
It’s Ice
Kill devil falls
Makisupa policeman
Man who stepped into yesterday
Mango song
Mcgrupp and..
Mound
Oh kee pah ceremony
Piper
Possum
Prince caspian
Punch you in the eye
Reba
Roggae
Runaway Jim
Sand
Sanity
Scent of a mule
Scent and subtle sounds
Seven below
Show of life
Steam
Sugar shack
I ended up just compiling all my favorite songs, I was just going to pick 10.
I used this to remind myself: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_recorded_by_Phish
What does my list say about me?
EDIT: :Let me try again Just 10 is impossible ugh
Brian and Robert
Dirt
Bug
Let Me Lie
Moma Dance
Strange Design
Fluffhead
Wilson
YEM
Mikes Song>IamHydrogen>Chalkdust (I swear its one song)
dam thats already 10. meatstick, lawnboy common guys its impossible

my bf and i just started dating recently, but our connection is unmatched and he’s everything that i’ve been looking for. he treats me like an absolute queen and loves me for who i am; however, he still talks to his ex regularly. so my bf grew up in another state and his ex is his best friend’s twin sister, we’ll call her Rachel. we’ll call the my bf’s best friend Robert. My bf and rachel started dating in high school and were together for 4 years, but she cheated on my bf, and they have been broken up for 2 years. both of their families are friends. his close friend group consists of robert and 2 other guys, whom he’s going to visit back in their home state soon and would be staying in robert and rachel parents’ house.
robert’s family knows the truth that rachel cheated but my bf’s family is not aware, and he doesn’t wanna tell them as to not cause drama since both my bf and robert’s parents are friends. before we made it official we had discussed previous relationships which is when i found out all of the above, he didn’t tell me that they were still actively talking. rachel has had a bf for a year, but apparently my bf and her were texting once or twice a day still (he doesn’t initiate but replies back to her). i only found out they were still in contact because i saw two notifications on his phone, one was from a text message from rachel and the other was for a snapchat from rachel. i asked him about it whenever we got home and he said that he can talk to her less like maybe once a month, but doesn’t want to cut her off completely. i asked him to establish a boundary with her since i made it known that it makes uncomfortable that he is still talking to her, and rachel and him talked on the phone, but my bf said that she was confused and didn’t understand what i was wanting.
my bf says i can check his phone whenever i want, but i don’t want to have to do that. he says they’re friends and that if she were to try something he would cut it off immediately. i don’t see why he would still want to talk to someone who hurt him so badly, and i realize that since she’s related to my bf’s best friend, she won’t be completely out of the picture, but ill i’m asking is for him not to talk to her anymore and if they’re ever in proximity just to be civil. it just bothers me that he is still talking to her, and he is willing to make changes, but not just stop completely. his best friend from childhood is also rachel’s best friend, we’ll call her Lana. I don’t mind if my bf still talks to lana as they have been friends for a long time, but i don’t think he should be talking to rachel anymore. i genuinely don’t know what to do. we have talked about it and just put a pause on the discussion for a bit, i told him to ask any other woman in his life and that they would probably agree with me, especially with all the context. i really love him and see a future with him, but i need advice cause i don’t think i’m overreacting or asking for too much.

THE BASICS

Q. I've listened to today's album but why I can't rate it?
A. That's by design. You won't be able to submit your review and star rating until the next day's album is generated, around approximately 3AM GMT.
Q. Can I have more than one album per day generated?
A. No, the site was designed to be one per day. Some users have created a second or third project in order to have more than one a day.
Q. Who decided I needed to hear this album? Who created this list? Was this a user-submitted album?
A. The first 1089 albums you'll hear are taken from the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The list was compiled by Robert Dimery, along with a team of music critics.
The user-submitted albums are optional (to submit and to listen to) only once you've finished the original 1089.
Q. 1089 albums... huh? I thought it was 1001?
A. There have been several editions of the book. Each time, some albums are removed in favour of newer albums. The generator includes any album as long as it was in at least one edition of the book. As of 2024, this is 1089 albums total.
Q. What happens if I don't visit the website for awhile?
A. Your account will pause automatically if you don't visit the site or rate an album for 5 days in a row. However, pressing the "Did Not Listen" button counts as activity, and your account will stay active.
You can also pause and unpause your account whenever you want from the Info tab in the menu.
Q. What happens if I push "Did Not Listen"? Will the album get generated for me later or is it lost forever?
A. Neither, it will be listed on your History page, where you can rate it any time.
Additionally, once you select "Did Not Listen," the next album will be generated.
Q. If I've already listened to some of the albums beforehand, can I mark them as complete so they won't be generated for me?
A. No, unfortunately there is no way to do that.
Q. Where can I see the entire list of albums?
A. The best way would be to support the book's creators and purchase a physical copy of the book. You can also visit this unofficial site but it hasn't been updated for the most recent edition of the book. This List Challenges quiz is currently the most up-to-date list online.
If you don't mind looking at some code, the generator's site map shows the full list as well.

CHANGES AND EDITS

Q. Can I change a rating or edit my review?
A. Not on your own on the site. DM with your project name and the rating you'd like changed.
Q. How can I shut off weekend albums?
A. DM your project name and ask him to do this.
Q. I originally decided to exclude a certain genre of music but I've changed my mind! How can I get it back?
A. DM your project name and ask him to do this.
Q. How can I show people my project?
A. Use the URL in your address bar after navigating to the Summary page from the main menu. It's advised not to give out the URL with your actual project name, as anyone will be able to go in and add reviews to anything you haven't rated yet, or delete any draft reviews you have.
Q. How can I reinstall the web app?
A. If you go to the browser's menu there is usually something like "Download" or "Install app." It's a Progressive Web App (PWA), so if you can't find it, Google "how to install pwa on [your browser]."

GROUPS

Q. How does it work going from an individual project to group?
A. If you are the creator of the group and your project already had more than 5 albums generated, there is a checkbox whether you want to include those albums in the group history or not.
By default this is not checked. This means that your group will "start over" and get all albums generated again. You'll get duplicates and you can rate them again. Your individual project history will have some albums twice, but the group page will only have them once.
If you did click that checkbox, then those albums will appear in the group history page. Those who join the group will then get an option to earn them into their history and catch up. You won't get any duplicates and the group will never get them generated.
Basically no matter how you created it, your family members won't miss out on any! It's just a matter of whether they have to catch up via a backlog or if you all want to listen to all albums as a group.
Q. How can I turn on weekend albums in my group?
A. DM your project name and ask him to do this.
Q. I'm in a group but can't rate the albums from the group page?
A. Correct, you rate albums from your own page. The group page is just for showing your groups stats (rating for each album, favourite genre, etc).

OTHER

Q. The streaming link was to an extended edition. Should I listen to the extra material?
A. Stick to the original unless you're in the mood for some extra stuff. Feel free to report it here and u/SidledsGunnar will change the link so it goes to the original version.
Q. What is the Controversial Artists section on my page all about?
A. These are artists whose albums you rated very differently. For example, if you loved Hunky Dory but hated Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie will show up as one of your controversial artists.
Q. What if I can't find an album to listen to it?
A. YouTube often has music missing from other streaming platforms. Otherwise, it's up to you. You can leave it unrated on your history page, or you can rate it and note you couldn't find it. So far, every single album has been tracked down by other users, though.
Q. Is there an API?
A. Yep, it's pretty basic, though. See it here.
Q. Who made this generator and how can I support it?
A. Reddit user u/SidledsGunnar created this and runs it on his own. If you'd like to contribute to help keep the site running, you have a few options: Patreon / Paypal / Ko-Fi / Bitcoin Wallet number: 3KVcBJpB2K1WcG5qu9rae822SxfgbQoPc8
You can also support u/SidledsGunnar by purchasing albums from the Rough Trade links on the site as he gets a small commission from each sale.

Date: 05/21/2024

Reading time: 10 minutes, 2056 words

🪖 Military

Armenia participates in NATO's Regex 2024 headquarters exercise in Moldova

Armenia is participating in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Regex 2024 headquarters exercise that have started in Moldova on May 20. The military exercises will be held from May 20 to 24. They are attended by about 30 representatives from NATO partner countries.

Armenpress

Armenian army factor is important for security guarantees, but it is not the only one - Security Council Secretary

Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with Civilnet that having combat-ready and effective armed forces is very important for ensuring security guarantees. Attempts have been made over the past 6 years to expand the notion of security, he said.

ArkaAm

NATO and Armenia strengthen cooperation in defense education

Representatives from the Armenian Ministry of Defense met with their counterparts at NATO Headquarters at the end of April. Reviewed activities conducted within the framework of NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) for Armenia. Set out the plan of joint activities for the rest of the year and for 2025.

ArmRadio

Funeral procession of Iranian president Raisi starts in Tabriz

The funeral procession of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others killed in a helicopter crash began in the northwestern city of Tabriz on Tuesday morning. Another funeral service is scheduled to be held in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday evening. The president will be laid to rest on May 23 at noon in Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

Armenpress, The National Assembly observes minute of silence for Iranian President and staff lost in helicopter crash

🏛️ Politics & Government

Azerbaijani FM makes phone call to Iran's acting Foreign Minister

Jeyhun Bayramov and Ali Bagheri held phone conversation on May 21, Azerbaijani media reports say. Bayramv expressed condolences to Iranian government and people of Iran on tragic death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Armenpress

Armenian, Slovenian foreign ministries address security implications of recent developments

Political consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs of Armenia and Slovenia were held in Yerevan. The parties emphasized the importance of further deepening the political dialogue between the two countries. The latest international and regional developments were addressed at the meeting.

Armenpress

Joint statement adopted at the International Conference on Nuclear Security; Armenia joins

A Co-Presidents’ Joint Statement was adopted during the International Conference on Nuclear Security held in Vienna on May 20-21. Armenia, among other participating countries, joined the Statement.

Armenpress

Alen Simonyan, Ruslan Stefanchuk discuss the security situation in the South Caucasus and Ukraine

The Armenian National Assembly President Alen Simonyan and the Speaker of the Verkhovna (Supreme) Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk held via video conference. The interlocutors discussed the security situation in the South Caucasus and in Ukraine.

Armenpress, Armenian, Ukrainian Parliament Speakers discuss situation in the South Caucasus and Ukraine

Armenia top security official receives CIA deputy director

Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan received a delegation from the CIA. Issues related to Armenia-US bilateral cooperation as well as regional security were discussed at the meeting.

Armenpress, Armen Grigoryan and Hamad Khamis Al-Kubaisi discuss prospects for Armenia-Qatar relations, Pashinyan holds meeting with CIA deputy director, Armenia, Qatar discuss developing economic relations, Pashinyan discussed issues related to the Armenia-US and international agenda with the deputy head of the US CIA, Armenian PM, CIA Deputy Director discuss international, regional issues, Armenia-Qatar ties discussed in Doha

Moldova signs security and defence partnership with EU

Moldova has signed a security and defence partnership with the European Union. It is the first country to sign such a deal with the EU. The deal will allow to jointly address common security challenges.

Armenpress

Mirzoyan and Floyd highlight comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty's role in non- proliferation and nuclear disarmament

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Robert Floyd in Vienna. The role of the Treaty in non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament was emphasized on both sides.

Armenpress

Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development to be involved in Armenia’s infrastructure projects

Armenia's Vice Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Managing Director of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) Andrey Shirokov discussed the Fund's involvement in Armenia's infrastructure projects. The parties also pointed out the importance of Armenia’s participation in large regional projects.

ArkaAm

Security Council Secretary: Armenia ready to sign peace treaty with Azerbaijan ‘any day’

Armenia is ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan 'any day' Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said he is hoping to sign the treaty “as soon as possible” Armenia”s officials mentioned the three basic principles it expects the treaty to be based on multiple times.

ArkaAm

Victory or concessions? Secretary of Security Council comments on delimitation ofborder with Azerbaijan

Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan declined to describe launch of border demarcation with Azerbaijan as a victory or concessions amid ongoing occupation of parts of the sovereign territory of the country by Azerbaijan. Armenia ceded 2.5 villages to Azerbaijan, but there are territories that were returned to Armenia.

ArkaAm

Armenia calls for prohibiting threats of attacks on nuclear facilities

Armenia has raised the need for a treaty prohibiting attacks on nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes.

PanArmenian

Armenian lawyers protest against bill that will increase the cost of their services

Armenian lawyers have expressed dissatisfaction with a new bill on the parliament's agenda. From October 2024 they will have to pay 10% turnover tax instead of 5% now, and from 2025 they will pay 20% VAT. Head of the Armenian Chamber of Advocates Simon Babayan said that such a tax increase will lead to a significant increase in the price of lawyer services by 38%.

ArkaAm

Funeral procession moves to Qom, Iran

Caskets of Iran's President and fellow passengers are now being transferred from Tabriz to Qom. The city is considered the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. State media are reporting that the bodies will be carried around the shrine. The bodies will then be taken to the capital, Tehran, where they will be laid to rest.

ArmRadio

💵 Economy

Armenia works on diversification of economy with an eye on Europe - Secretary of the Security Council

Armenia is working hard to diversify its economy with the prospect of increasing exports to Europe. Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan said the country has not yet achieved significant success in the economic sphere. Armenia's foreign trade turnover with EU countries in first quarter of 2024 reached almost $494.3 million.

ArkaAm, Armenia is working to diversify its economy with the prospect of exporting to Europe. AX:

Almost 100 taxpayers in Armenia fined 55.25 million drams for unregistered workers

In April 2024, about 98 business entities in Armenia were found to have unregistered workers. In particular, the fines imposed on 17 companies amounted to about AMD 29.8 million. These companies are engaged in the sale of flowers and seeds, furniture production, cosmetics, jewelry and perfumes.

ArkaAm

Armenia’s GDP grows by 9.2% up to 1.97 trillion AMD

Armenia's GDP increased by 9.2% in Q1 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. Manufacturing industry showed the highest growth, standing at 31.1%, repair of cars and motorcycles grew by 25.1% In nominal terms, the country's GDP in current prices amounted to 1,971,230.4 million drams at the end of the reporting period.

ArkaAm

Second tranche of loan for development of MSMEs provided to Ardshinbank by EBRD and EU

Ardshinbank signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) for the allocation of the second tranche of financing to re-lending micro, small, and medium businesses. This lending is carried out under the “MSME Competitiveness in the Eastern Partnership (EaP SMEC)” program. The agreement will support MSME investments in sustainable technologies, as well as towards health and safety.

ArkaAm, The EBRD and the EU granted Ardshinbank the second tranche of the loan for the development of SMEs (PHOTO)

Ambassador sees potential for expansion of trade between Armenia and Brazil

Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Brazil were established more than 30 years ago. Ambassador Yeganian said that the trade between the two countries amounts to approximately $100 million dollars annually. Brazil is one of the largest economies in the world, and Armenia has seen impressive economic growth.

ArmRadio

Armenia an emerging destination for UK and global investors – Ambassador

Armenia’s Ambassador to UK Varuzhan Nersesyan writes in an article published by London Business Matters. He emphasizes that Armenia in recent years Armenia has made significant progress on enhancing its business environment, creating opportunities and favorable conditions for investment.

ArmRadio

🧪 Science & Technology

Surveying works underway in Armenia’s Kirants

Surveying works are underway in the Armenian village of Kirants in the northern Tavush province.

PanArmenian

IAEA’s Grossi to visit Kaliningrad May 28 to discuss ZNPP

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi will visit Kaliningrad on May 28 to discuss the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.

Armenpress

IAEA supports Armenia’s nuclear program – Rafael Grossi

International Atomic Energy Agency supports Armenia’s nuclear program, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi wrote on X. Grossi presented the results of his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan.

Armenpress, Effective cooperation is established between Armenia and IAEA

Tree Planting Results with My Forest Armenia: The Power of One Dram

During March and April 2022, AMD 10.757.867 was directed to the afforestation program of the "My Forest Armenia" NGO, 16,000 trees were planted. Representatives of IDBank and Idram visited Jrashen again to see the newly planted forest.

Armenpress

Mirzoyan: Armenia will extend lifetime of current nuclear power unit with smooth transition tonew capacity by 2036

The Armenian NPP is one of the main sources of electricity in the country, providing up to 40% of the total generation. Its service life has been extended until 2026, and work is underway to re-extend it for another 10 years. The construction of a new plant is estimated to take 8-10 years.

ArkaAm, Armenia has decided to extend the operation period of the NPP until 2036, with the ultimate goal of a smooth transition to the new capacity. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenia says ready to extend nuclear plant’s lifetime by 10 years

🎭 Culture

ARARAT Special Evening Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Charles Aznavour

On May 20 ARARAT legendary Armenian brandy, celebrated the centennial of Maestro Charles Aznavour with a special event. The event took place at the "One & Only" theater within the Seven Visions Hotel. Guests of the event had the chance to reveal the brandy on the course of special tasting.

Armenpress, VTB Armenia general sponsor for Charles Aznavour 100th birthday tribute concert, VTB-Armenia Bank acted as the main sponsor of the concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Charles Aznavour., For you, Charles: Yerevan to host exhibition on Aznavour’s centennial anniversary, ARARAT special evening dedicated to Aznavour's 100th Anniv.

“Yerevan Ballet Festival” to host theater groups from various countries

The "Yerevan Ballet Festival" will be held on June 2-5 in the park named after Hovhannes Tumanyan. Admission to the outdoor ballet festival is free.

Armenpress

Aznavouriana: Album dedicated to Aznavour’s 100th anniversary released

The album “Aznavouriana” by Deutsche Grammophon is already released and is available since May 17, 2024, just ahead of the artist’s birthday. The album is a collection of exquisite interpretations of globally beloved iconic songs.

ArmRadio

⚽ Sport

Gymnasts left for Bulgaria

Gymnastics team will participate in "World Challenge Cup" to be held in Bulgaria. Artur Davtyan, Artur Avetisyan, Erik Baghdasaryan, and Artur Tovmasyan will represent Armenia in the regular round.

Armenpress

Hayk Martirosyan wins 7th round of Sharjah tournament

Shant Sargsyan, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, Manuel Petrosyan shared the point. Hayk Martirosyan won the 7th round of the Sharjah Masters 2024 international tournament in UAE. The leaders are participants from India and the USA with 5.5 points.

Armenpress

Donations to Armenia:

Himnadram
ServicemenFund
Armenian Wounded Heroes
ArmeniaFund

Brewers (27-20) @ Marlins (16-33)

First Pitch: 6:40 PM at loanDepot park

Team	Starter	TV	Radio
Brewers	Robert Gasser (2-0, 0.82 ERA)	BSWI	WTMJ
Marlins	Trevor Rogers (1-6, 5.79 ERA)	BSFL	FOX940AM, WAQI (ES)

MLB	Fangraphs	Reddit Stream	IRC Chat
Gameday	Game Graph	Live Comments	Libera: ##baseball

Line Score - Bases empty, 1 Out, Bottom of the 8th

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
MIL	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	3		7	11	1	10
MIA	0	1	0	0	1	3	0			5	11	0	7

Box Score

MIA		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
RF	Myers	2	0	1	1	0	0	.286
LF	De La Cruz, B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.259
DH	Bell	3	0	0	1	0	1	.231
1B	Burger	4	0	1	0	0	0	.170
CF	Chisholm Jr.	4	2	2	0	0	0	.254
SS	Anderson, Ti	4	1	2	0	0	1	.206
2B	Lopez, O	3	0	1	2	0	0	.298
3B	Rivera, E	3	2	2	1	0	0	.226
C	Bethancourt	3	0	1	0	0	0	.153

MIA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Rogers, Tr	3.2	6	4	4	4	4	90-53	6.11
Smith, B	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	14-13	3.47
Faucher	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	17-10	3.12
Bender	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	13-9	6.20
Puk	0.2	3	3	3	1	0	22-13	9.00
Ramirez, E	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	3-2	0.00

MIL		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Monasterio	2	2	1	0	1	0	.182
2B	Turang	2	0	0	0	0	1	.310
C	Contreras, Wm	4	1	2	3	1	1	.335
LF	Yelich	3	1	1	2	2	0	.321
SS	Adames	5	0	2	1	0	2	.237
3B	Ortiz, J	5	0	1	0	0	1	.286
DH	Sánchez	3	1	0	0	1	0	.212
RF	Chourio	4	0	0	0	0	2	.215
1B	Miller, O	2	0	1	0	0	0	.182
1B	Bauers	2	1	1	0	0	1	.235
CF	Perkins, B	3	1	2	1	1	0	.233

MIL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Gasser	6.0	10	5	4	0	0	80-59	2.65
Myers	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	16-11	5.00
Payamps	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	8-5	4.60

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
T1	William Contreras doubles (14) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Andruw Monasterio scores.	0-1
T2	Blake Perkins singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Gary Sánchez scores. Owen Miller to 3rd.	0-2
B2	Otto Lopez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Blake Perkins. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 2nd.	1-2
T4	William Contreras singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Blake Perkins scores. Andruw Monasterio scores.	1-4
B5	Josh Bell out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores.	2-4
B6	Otto Lopez out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher William Contreras to first baseman Jake Bauers. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 3rd.	3-4
B6	Emmanuel Rivera singles on a line drive to right fielder Jackson Chourio. Tim Anderson scores.	4-4
B6	Dane Myers out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores. Christian Bethancourt to 2nd.	5-4
T8	Christian Yelich triples (2) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Jake Bauers scores. William Contreras scores.	5-6
T8	Willy Adames doubles (13) on a line drive to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, deflected by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. Christian Yelich scores.	5-7

Highlights

Description	Length
Bullpen availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Bullpen availability for Milwaukee, May 21 vs Marlins	0:07
Bench availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Breaking down Trevor Rogers' pitches	0:04
Breaking down Robert Gasser's pitches	0:04
Robert Gasser's outing against the Marlins	0:23
William Contreras' RBI double	0:29
[Blake Perkins' RBI single]()	0:18
[Trevor Rogers fans William Contreras]()	0:11
[Otto Lopez's RBI single]()	0:14
Emmanuel Rivera nabs Christian Yelich at home	0:29
William Contreras' two-run single	0:27
Willy Adames strikes out on a foul tip.	0:08
[Josh Bell's sacrifice fly]()	0:20
Dane Myers' running catch	0:38
Otto Lopez's sac bunt scores Jazz Chisholm Jr.	0:26
[Emmanuel Rivera's RBI single]()	0:13
[Dane Myers' sacrifice fly]()	0:23
[Tobias Myers whiffs Tim Anderson]()	0:10
Christian Yelich's go-ahead two-run triple	0:24
Willy Adames' RBI double	0:22

Updated at 9:09 PM.
Remember to sort by new to keep up!

Brewers (27-20) @ Marlins (16-33)

First Pitch: 5:40 PM at loanDepot park

Team	Starter	TV	Radio
Brewers	Robert Gasser (2-0, 0.82 ERA)	BSWI	WTMJ
Marlins	Trevor Rogers (1-6, 5.79 ERA)	BSFL	FOX940AM, WAQI (ES)

MLB	Fangraphs	Baseball Savant	Reddit Stream	IRC Chat
Gameday	Game Graph	Strikezone Map	Live Comments	Libera: ##baseball

Line Score - Bases empty, 1 Out, Bottom of the 8th

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
MIL	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	3		7	11	1	10
MIA	0	1	0	0	1	3	0			5	11	0	7

Box Score

MIA		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
RF	Myers	2	0	1	1	0	0	.286
LF	De La Cruz, B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.259
DH	Bell	3	0	0	1	0	1	.231
1B	Burger	4	0	1	0	0	0	.170
CF	Chisholm Jr.	4	2	2	0	0	0	.254
SS	Anderson, Ti	4	1	2	0	0	1	.206
2B	Lopez, O	3	0	1	2	0	0	.298
3B	Rivera, E	3	2	2	1	0	0	.226
C	Bethancourt	3	0	1	0	0	0	.153

MIA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Rogers, Tr	3.2	6	4	4	4	4	90-53	6.11
Smith, B	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	14-13	3.47
Faucher	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	17-10	3.12
Bender	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	13-9	6.20
Puk	0.2	3	3	3	1	0	22-13	9.00
Ramirez, E	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	3-2	0.00

MIL		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Monasterio	2	2	1	0	1	0	.182
2B	Turang	2	0	0	0	0	1	.310
C	Contreras, Wm	4	1	2	3	1	1	.335
LF	Yelich	3	1	1	2	2	0	.321
SS	Adames	5	0	2	1	0	2	.237
3B	Ortiz, J	5	0	1	0	0	1	.286
DH	Sánchez	3	1	0	0	1	0	.212
RF	Chourio	4	0	0	0	0	2	.215
1B	Miller, O	2	0	1	0	0	0	.182
1B	Bauers	2	1	1	0	0	1	.235
CF	Perkins, B	3	1	2	1	1	0	.233

MIL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Gasser	6.0	10	5	4	0	0	80-59	2.65
Myers	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	16-11	5.00
Payamps	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	7-5	4.60

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
T1	William Contreras doubles (14) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Andruw Monasterio scores.	0-1
T2	Blake Perkins singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Gary Sánchez scores. Owen Miller to 3rd.	0-2
B2	Otto Lopez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Blake Perkins. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 2nd.	1-2
T4	William Contreras singles on a ground ball to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz. Blake Perkins scores. Andruw Monasterio scores.	1-4
B5	Josh Bell out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores.	2-4
B6	Otto Lopez out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher William Contreras to first baseman Jake Bauers. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scores. Tim Anderson to 3rd.	3-4
B6	Emmanuel Rivera singles on a line drive to right fielder Jackson Chourio. Tim Anderson scores.	4-4
B6	Dane Myers out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Blake Perkins. Emmanuel Rivera scores. Christian Bethancourt to 2nd.	5-4
T8	Christian Yelich triples (2) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Dane Myers. Jake Bauers scores. William Contreras scores.	5-6
T8	Willy Adames doubles (13) on a line drive to left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, deflected by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. Christian Yelich scores.	5-7

Highlights

Description	Length
Bullpen availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Bullpen availability for Milwaukee, May 21 vs Marlins	0:07
Bench availability for Miami, May 21 vs Brewers	0:07
Breaking down Trevor Rogers' pitches	0:04
Breaking down Robert Gasser's pitches	0:04
Robert Gasser's outing against the Marlins	0:23
William Contreras' RBI double	0:29
[Blake Perkins' RBI single]()	0:18
[Trevor Rogers fans William Contreras]()	0:11
[Otto Lopez's RBI single]()	0:14
Emmanuel Rivera nabs Christian Yelich at home	0:29
William Contreras' two-run single	0:27
Willy Adames strikes out on a foul tip.	0:08
[Josh Bell's sacrifice fly]()	0:20
Dane Myers' running catch	0:38
Otto Lopez's sac bunt scores Jazz Chisholm Jr.	0:26
[Emmanuel Rivera's RBI single]()	0:13
[Dane Myers' sacrifice fly]()	0:23
[Tobias Myers whiffs Tim Anderson]()	0:10
Christian Yelich's go-ahead two-run triple	0:24
Willy Adames' RBI double	0:22

Updated at 8:08 PM.
Remember to sort by new to keep up!

I've been on kind of a Richard Price tear lately - Lush Life, Samaritan - and after finishing Samaritan the next book I picked up was Robert B. Parker's novel, Love and Glory.
And it's interesting to compare the two. It's almost like they're the same writer in different eras. The same writer fifty years apart. (I know, Love and Glory was written in 1983. Hush!) lol mostly because they're both so intense. Love and Glory was written from a late 50s early 60s perspective, and Lush Life and Samaritan are contemporary with their publishing dates, but it's like the same guy was born fifty years apart.
Both books are so impressive. They grab you hard. And that's so rare. That kind of intensity, in a writer. It's almost as though these authors grab you by the arm and demand that you read. They get right up in your face and say this right here. Read this. And if you ask why there's no answer. You just have to do it, to find out why.
And I'm sure not sorry I did. I do wish Parker had read Factotum first, before trying to write that way (some of his book is a kind of halfass attempt to do what Bukowski did). Or maybe he did read it and just didn't think he was up to it. Which would not be surprising; only one guy has ever written that way (Factotum), in any language. (Please correct me if I'm wrong. I've only read English, so I can't really know!)
But that's really a minor quibble. These guys are gods, and we don't get many of those.
EDIT: Trying to edit the post title: the book's name is not The Samaritan, but Samaritan. Sorry!

Hi y’all,
Wanted to share this insight (in the hopes also the folks at CZM see it) about the effects of neglect on childhood development, and that Schraber may not have been schizophrenic at all. I say this having not read anything further and just from listening to the podcast so I may be missing crucial information.
When children are physically neglected their brains develop differently. Often times the child creates a rich inner world to compensate for reality. The distinction between young children (under 5) and adolescents or adults experiencing trauma is that young children have more vibrant and real feeling imaginations (for example, my teddy bear has the same emotions I do so must care for him). This can lead children to develop a dissociative identity disorder. This diagnosis has gotten blown up by TikTok unfortunately. In reality, that will typically mean the child becomes an adult whose inner world is more “real” than the outer world. This happens out of necessity, so they can cope with how terrifying real life is. They will often blame themselves or fictional others for their suffering, rather than the parent. For a parent to be “bad”=death in a developing mind. So all these other fantasies and/or self blame step in to compensate.
For further context, I’m a trauma therapist and have had a rare few clients who have developed in this way and it’s because of physical, emotional neglect and torture. They get screened for schizophrenia/bipolar spectrum and do not meet the criteria. Further, it was typical to call pretty much any mental illness schizophrenia up until maybe the 70s or 80s (don’t have the exact dates in my brain). So it’s good to be skeptical when you hear that diagnosis historically. I’m sure Robert is aware of that, but maybe not this other facet of how specific kinds of trauma affect brain development.
I also share this to highlight the significance of neglect. It’s now more commonly understood in trauma therapy that physical and emotional neglect can have the absolute worst effects on children. It’s understandable that people gravitate to CSA as the worst (because it’s disgusting and horrible obviously) but kids who experience that kind of trauma (if not combined with torture and neglect) have better outcomes as adults than kids who were never touched lovingly as children. That distinction is only to highlight how we really need to give one million shits about poverty first and foremost. And that’s not blame for parents, rather if parents aren’t able to care for and nurture their children they will have worse outcomes as adults. It also makes these back to back series about horrible childcare so fascinating, and to consider what neglect does to a society at large.
Anyways, thought you all might find that interesting or useful. Not a cool brag but I can handle CSA content but when I hear about babies and very young kids being left in the cold it makes me feel like I’m about to pass out because I know what’s happening in their poor brains (example of this: You’re Wrong About ep on crack babies, I feel nauseous thinking about it still).
Would love to hear thoughts from my fellow clinical psychologists!

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Previous Part
My eyes darted around the room, still shocked from the brutality I just witnessed from Shaoni. Katrina had strutted out of view and when my eyes turned to where Brooke’s crumpled form should’ve been he was gone to. At some point both Robert and John had run off towards the growing sounds of gunfire. Shaoni and I still stood in the coliseum, shaken to our cores but both for very different reasons.
*CLANG*
The sudden noise startled me, the sound of metal on metal. The sound came again, this time I heard it clearly and turned around to face the noise only to be met by a few familiar faces.
“Don’t mean to bother you but their shootin up the place, could ya let us the hell in!”
Rocco shouted as he beat Brookes stolen lighter against the metals bars that closed off the back entrance to the coliseum. Bianca gave me a sheepish wave as I looked over their faces again. Frank, Stein, and Tuck were with her. They must have come through the same way Bianca and I had a few days before.
“NOW!”
Rocco shouted in irritation as my brain finally kicked into gear and I ran over to let them through the barred metal gate.
“What’s going on up there?”
I wondered out loud, concerned by how shell shocked they all looked.
“I’d guess something involving the government, with equipment like that I doubt it would be anyone else. Just as we got to the hole Bianca mentioned several men in black tactical gear came out of the forest at our sides. When we didn’t clear out like they demanded they started firing so we dove in.”
Stein explained.
“I take it that’s Shaoni?”
He added, pointing towards where she lay, hunched over and taking shaky breaths on the ground.
“Is she alright?”
Bianca chimed in, craning her neck to get a better view of her past everyone else.
“The hell should we care!? Isn’t it her fault we’re doin’ any of this in the first place?”
Rocco grumbled up at us as he laid back on the ground. Glad to see he wasn’t taking things to seriously. Tuck just stared at Shaoni with this intense anger in his eyes, he didn’t say a word.
I know I shouldn’t care what happened to her at this point but a part of me just couldn’t leave Shaoni like this. Sure, she probably didn’t deserve the sympathy but I couldn’t help feeling a little bad for her now that the anger had passed. When I made my way over to her I got the sense I was seeing the real Shaoni for once. I was seeing someone who witnessed her people rise and fall, saw the country we live in change and grow as it became what we know today. Someone who’d lived countless lifetimes as a piece that just didn’t quite fit the puzzle anymore. I thought about everything Bianca had learned about Shaoni, how she was given her powers, no, her burden in the first place. Suddenly I had a pretty good idea of what exactly she brought everyone here for.
“Shaoni?... Are you… uh, you ok?”
I said like I was trying to comfort a dying animal. The closer I got the more I could hear, she was crying. It was that held back sort of crying right before the dam breaks into full on sobs. She was cracking but still trying to put on a tough face, still trying to be every bit as imposing as she had been the first night I saw her. But she wasn’t, now she just looked pitiful.
“You… you’re right you know Keith. I’m not Justice anymore… I…I don’t think I have been for a very long time.”
She choked out through tears that flowed freely down her face as she rose to her feet.
“I don’t know why I brought you here… I was just so desperate to…”
She trailed off but that was alright, I already knew what she was going to say.
“To escape? Pass on your burden? This whole thing was to chose someone to pass the Thunderbird spirit onto wasn’t it?”
I asked, sure that I was right.
“Yes, this is what I wanted from the start, to give my burden to one of you. At first I wanted the trials to help me make my decision but by the time all of you arrived I just wanted a way out. I wanted to finally live a real life. I’ve lived too long… I just want to live simply before the end that should’ve come so long ago.”
Shaoni cried, more controlled now as she finally started to get a hold of herself.
“So what? You’d just give it to someone else! What about what that would do to them?”
“I just wanted out Keith! I know it was selfish, I don’t care! I just want the nightmare to be over!”
Shaoni screamed out at me. She was hysterical enough that I saw Stein’s hand shoot towards his belt. I’m sure he had that gun I saw yesterday waiting there so I held out my hand to signal him to wait.
“We did good once, in the beginning. But that changed, the wars the injustice I just couldn’t stand by and let that happen so I fought back. I spread the idea that fighting to the death was better than compromising for peace, compromising to save lives. That’s when we… I went wrong. I lead them astray! I was responsible for their deaths! Every! Single! One! I was bitter and resentful for years and I took it out on anyone I thought was guilty. I’ve lived with that for centuries! Do you think I don’t know I’ve become a monster Keith?!”
Shaoni finished with a look of profound shame on her face.
I never thought I’d see the day when I actually felt bad for Shaoni. Not some spur of the moment there’s a full on shootout going on above us and I probably shouldn’t let her die, feeling bad. No, I genuinely felt sorry for her after hearing her talk about the past with total honesty for once.
“You could come with us.”
I offered, looking back to everyone who’d gathered around her at that point. The looks on their faces all told me they weren’t fans of that Idea but only Tuck protested.
“I won’t help her crawl outta the bed she made! Keith, do you honestly think she doesn’t deserve everything thats comin’ to her?!”
“No, but I think she’s suffered enough. Besides, I really don’t want to leave someone down here to die knowing I could’ve done something about it.”
“You know what, fine! You care to much about this Keith, she deserves it! But if you want to take her with us don’t be surprised when she goes on and stabs ya in the back! Now come on, we should get moving.”
Tuck finished, throwing his hands up in the air in an act of frustrated surrender.
“So you realize we’ve got to go out there right? We’re not climbing back out the way we came in so heading out the main entrance is our only option at this point.”
Frank said bluntly as we watched Rocco scurry out of the hole they had dropped in from. We’d all collectively decided we were better off sending Rocco back home. Frank was right though, and even though the sounds of gunfire had started to sound a little farther away I still wasn’t a fan of getting anywhere closer to them.
“I might be able to help with that.”
Shaoni replied, getting to her feet with an air of determination.
“Stay behind me and move when I tell you to.”
We all fell into line behind Shaoni without another word. I guess all of us realized the the sobbing mess we’d seen before also just so happened to be the same Thunderbird that reduced most of Imalone to ashes. So despite how we felt about letting her lead us around it was probably our best chance at the moment.
I was a little surprised that none of… whatever was happening out there hadn’t spilled into the mine and made its way to us. We found out why just as soon as the single file line behind Shaoni made it out of the mine. The camp was devastated, what wasn’t on fire or covered in bullet holes was smashed or ripped to pieces. The ground was littered in bodies and shell casings. A few hundred feet in front of us a small group of Shaoni’s followers where taking shots at the men in black tactical gear Stein had mentioned. There was maybe ten of them but it looked like those ten had slaughtered nearly all of the followers that had made up this camp.
I threw up on the spot, I was so shocked by the scene in front of me I didn’t even manage to bend over, it just kinda waterfalled out of my mouth. I heard Bianca groan in disgust from behind me. I didn’t understand why everyone else wasn’t reacting the same way I was. As I came back to my senses after a minute or so I took off my now vomit covered jacket and felt the cool air through my shirt. Shaoni had instructed us to move and I must’ve moved on my own. All of us were gathered behind a small rocky outcrop near the entrance to the mine.
“You doing alright?”
Bianca asked quietly from behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at her and noticed the jewel encrusted dagger from before was clutched in her hand, twinkling with reflections from her now glowing blue eyes.
I could barely hear Bianca over the sounds of gunfire. Which almost certainly meant the last of the survivors were being wiped out. I couldn’t watch anymore death today so I just ducked lower behind our cover.
“You hear me Keith? Are you ok?”
Bianca persisted with a little more concern in her voice. I was still trying to pretend I hadn’t just seen dozens of dead bodies but I couldn’t really ignore her forever.
“No not…not really.”
I said, my voice coming out silent as a church mouse.
“Was it the-”
I cut her off
“I’ve never seen a dead body before, I mean I have but not like… not like that. The one guy his jaw was just…. Just gone. How do you guys do it? How do you just look at that and not react?”
Bianca sighed and looked me in the eyes. There was a kind of recognition in them, like she was seeing a little bit of herself in my situation.
“We’ve all seen a lot of horrible stuff in our lives, we’re used to it. Still it doesn’t make it feel normal to see… this. Do you think you can hold it together a bit longer or do you want me to…”
Bianca trailed off but it was obvious to me what she meant. Bianca was offering to soothe that terrified part of me with her powers again.
“Thanks but no, I’ll be alright I’ll probably be seeing this in my dreams for weeks though.”
I answered, trying to make a stupid joke to lighten the mood. Bianca cracked a hint of a smile and that was enough for me.
While we’d been talking everyone had failed to notice Shaoni was gone. She had stood up and was walking straight towards where those men in black gear where picking through what was left of her followers. She was glowing though, every single tattoo glowed with an intense white light and then in a flash she was gone, and the Thunderbird was in her place. Frank and Stein stared in awe of the huge beast in front of them. The Thunderbird looked exactly as I remembered. The blue feathers and steel gray beak reflecting in the light from its crackling white eyes.
“That’s it, That’s the god damn bird!”
Tuck yelled like we couldn’t see what was right in front of us. I think he was just surprised to see the Thunderbird again. Even after years of swearing to get back at “the bird” for the friends he lost I don’t think he ever thought he’d come face to face with it again. Seeing it must be bringing up more than a few memories he’d rather forget.
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret! She’s been helping us Tuck, at least put your differences aside until we’ve gotten all this figured out.”
Stein yelled over an ear splitting screech from the massive bird as Tuck began to tense up. Every muscle in his body looked like it was about to pop, they were bulging to an inhuman degree. With a long exhale he loosened up and the swelling went down.
“Damn it… fine! But only till we got things settled here, after that I need to have a “conversation” with that… thing!”
Tuck shouted in begrudging agreement.
The men in front of us all turned toward Shaoni, her new form towering over them. Then I heard a familiar voice shout out,
“You wanted it gone, You’re looking at it! What’re you all waiting for!”
A commanding voice rang out from one of the people in front of us. I didn’t take long to spot the platinum blonde hair poking out from under the armored black helmet the woman wore, not just any woman, Katrina. I didn’t have much time to let that sink in before Katrina made a fist, stuck two fingers up in the air and shook them forward at us. After that, all hell broke loose.
The men behind Katrina rushed forward, guns drawn. Stein drew his own pistol and cocked it, taking aim at the approaching men. Tuck tensed up again and this time he didn’t hold himself back. Bones cracked and skin shifted to accommodate the inhuman muscles he now possessed. Hair sprang up all over his body and under it his face became more angular, his nose almost snout-like. Tuck looked something like a werewolf but definitely not the wolf man I expected. He looked more like an extremely hairy, unnaturally muscular feral person than any wolf man. Frank, Bianca, and I all hunkered down behind the outcrop, waiting for the worst to happen. Shaoni took to the sky with a flap of her massive wings as the gunfire started.
Nothing ever really prepares you for how loud a gunshot actually is, especially a whole bunch of them from fully automatic weapons. There’s nothing quite like being shot at either, at some point you just have to accept the fact that at any moment one of those things flying around you is going to hit you and just get ready for it. That doesn’t actually do anything to calm you down though, at least it didn’t for me. I was huddled behind that little outcropping like a puppy hiding from fireworks on the fourth of July. Wind gusted all around us as Shaoni flapped her wings furiously. The wind coming from her winds was so intense it blew the bullets being fired at her off course. Lead rained all around us as I listened to the cracks of even more bullets being fired. I heard growling as something roughly Tuck sized tore forwards toward the gunfire.
The sky was turning an enraged black and rain had already started to fall in sheets. Lightning struck the ground every so often as well, to close and regular to be natural. I peaked up over the outcrop at one point. I was just in time to see one of the men get struck by a bolt of lightning and tense up as he fell to the ground. As the men kept firing at Shaoni some of their shots started to hit home. The bullets that didn’t get turned away with the wind glanced off her massive form. Whatever those feathers were made off seemed to stop most of the bullets dead in their tracks but it was becoming obvious Shaoni couldn’t keep this up. From our position behind the outcrop Bianca and I both felt the beats of her wings and the gusts of wind that came with it coming slower and slower. We shared a glance for just a second, from the look in Bianca’s eyes, I felt certain we were doomed. More and more of the bullets seemed to be hitting Shaoni and her movements became slower still until eventually it happened.
With a shrill cry she fell from the sky, her blue features stained red in places. Shaoni hit the ground with an earthshaking crash and lay still. Katrina screamed something I couldn’t hear in the violent storm that still raged all around us. When I inched my way up to take a look I saw Katrina and her men charging toward Shaoni guns drawn. Behind them I caught sight of Tuck’s muscular figure getting back up from the ground. I hadn’t been keeping an eye on him before but it looked like he’d seen better days. He hesitated a bit before me moved, looking back to the outcrop where we were and over towards where Shaoni lay. He looked once, twice, then shook his head, mind apparently made up and ran at the men on all fours.
They didn’t hear him coming from behind over the storm and as they raised there weapons Tuck pounced. With one swipe of his humongous hand he sent one of the men flying off towards the forest. Even Katrina was surprised by Tuck’s sudden attack. The time provided by everyone taking a moment to decided who to point their gun at gave Shaoni just enough time to act. She shot one wing out, glancing off everyone near her and knocking them to the ground. One of them men’s helmets flew off with the hit and Stein quickly lined up a shot and fired, hitting the man in the top of the head. The look in his eyes was devoid of any emotion as he ducked back down behind the outcrop. I got the sense this wasn’t the first time Stein had killed, not surprising considering his time in Germany. Still, there was something unsettling about that look in the old scientists eyes.
As Katrina and her men got their bearings again and started firing at Tuck bullets plinked off the outcrop. Apparently they hadn’t forgotten we were there. I stole a quick glance over to where Shaoni had fallen but the Thunderbird was gone revealing a hole in the ground created from the impact of her fall.
“TUCK!”
I screamed out to get his attention for a moment. Tuck’s head swirled towards me just long enough for him to see my outstretched hand pointing to the hole in the ground. I grabbed Bianca’s hand and pulled her to her feet, making a mad dash to the hole. Frank and Stein saw what we were doing and followed after us. Stein fired wild shots off towards Katrina and her men while Tuck kept harassing them.
By some miracle Tuck was still going even as I saw bullets tear into him, he was an animal. He tossed the men around like rag dolls and at one point I turned to see him bring his now claw-like fingernails arching upwards. The head of the man he’d hit was bent back at a sickening angle, he was dead there was no question but Tuck didn’t even stop to spare a thought for the man. Seeing one of their comrades killed in front of them seemed to get the attention of the entire group of them. I hated to admit it but it was exactly the distraction we needed.
As we ran past the chaos of the fight I heard a mix of screams of agony and determination. At one point one of the men’s broken bodies flew over the four of us and hit the ground with a wet crunch that sent a shiver down my spine. We just kept running though, everyone following behind me because I looked like I had a plan. To be fair I did, it was just a bad plan, more of a feeling honestly. I thought if we could get into that hole Shaoni made we might find a way out, a real long shot but it was the best I could do right now.
By the time we reached the hole and I jumped in Tuck had thrown just about every one of Katrina’s men all over the little clearing we were in. Some where very clearly dead but some where rolling around and groaning. Katrina was still standing though, just before I fell deep enough into the hole I got a quick glance at her as she took aim at Tuck who seemed to finally be feeling all the punishment he’d been taking.
I didn’t even have time to scream a warning before my feet hit the hard rock below me and everyone else fell in on top of me.
“Sorry… sorry”
Bianca squeaked out as she pulled herself out of the pile of bodies we’d become. Frank, Stein, and Bianca seemed alright but my ankle was definitely sprained, badly.
“Can you walk on that?”
Bianca asked, examining my ankle in the strange blue light that emanated from further down the chamber we’d fallen into.
“Maybe? Here can I just lean on you?…. yeah, yeah that’ll work.”
I told her, using her to pull myself to my feet and leaning on her for support.
“What are we looking for Keith?”
Frank wondered out loud, a little fear creeping in to his voice as he looked around the chamber.
“I’m not actually sure, I was hoping we’d find Shaoni down here, maybe a tunnel out.”
I grunted out honestly, still reeling form the pain shooting up from my ankle.
“Wait where’s Tuck?”
“If he didn’t make it down we have to assume the worst. We can’t afford to wait now.”
Stein answered, quickly and professionally like someones life wasn’t at stake.
“He never had to come out here for me! We can at least wait for him, give him a chance-”
Stein cut me off
“None of us had to come here for you! We knew the risks so did Tuck. If we wait here now his sacrifice means nothing!”
Stein yelled at me. He was right, none of them needed to be out here but I still didn’t like leaving someone behind. As Frank and stein trudged forward Bianca and I hesitated a bit.
“I don’t want to leave him either but Stein’s right. Just lean on me and lets keep moving, we can come back later and look for his…”
Bianca trailed off before she could say body but I got the message, and if Bianca was moving forward I really didn’t have much of a choice.
We didn’t have to go far to find Shaoni, her usual deerskin clothing was ripped and stained with blood in places. All in all she didn’t look as bad as I thought she would. The light we saw at the entrance was coming from her tattoos as every one glowed brightly with blue light. The same light glowed faintly from four Thunderbird totems placed in the corners of the huge room.
“Welcome to my nest.”
Shaoni said with a dry chuckle, extending her arms out to her sides before immediately clasping them back over a wound in her side.
“Shaoni, are you… are you going to be alright.”
I asked, but before I could get any sort of answer I was interrupted by snarky laughter and a cocking gun.
“Well thanks for leading me right to where I wanted to be Keith.”
Katrina remarked as she walked into the room.
Bianca’s eyes glowed that all to familiar blue but Katrina was a step ahead of her.
“Yeah I wouldn’t try that if I were you. Sure you could force me to walk right out of here but it’s going to take a second to break me, longer than it would take me to pull this trigger.”
Katrina responded with a sneer, turning the gun on Bianca. Bianca jumped back like a scared cat. Ducking under my arm and putting all my weight back on my sprained ankle.
“Wait Don’t!… Argh!”
I cried out at her just before I fell to the ground.
“Ok, ok just… don’t.”
Bianca conceded, putting her hands up and backing away as the blue glow faded from her eyes. When he saw what Katrina was doing Frank wrestled Stein’s gun out of his hands and pointed it straight at Katrina, finger trembling on the trigger.
“Don’t you dare hurt her!”
Frank shouted, face turning red with fury.
“Well thats cute…”
And with an earsplitting bang Katrina turned and shot Frank in the leg. He fell to his knees, dropping the gun he’d been holding as Stein scrambled to hold him up.
“Don’t get in my way, don’t threaten me, and I won’t have to hurt anyone. Now Shaoni, where were we?”
Katrina cooed with murder in her voice as she took a step forward. I tried to pull myself up to my feet, only succeeding in making a pitiful cry as I fell back down again. Bianca flinched towards me but backed up fast when Katrina’s gaze shot her way.
“Keith, you’re still alive? I don’t know how you keep getting mixed into things but you’ve gotta learn when to just give up. I was supposed to kill all of you down there after the third trial. I gave you an out and you just stuck around. Tell you what though, you can still walk away cause I feel bad you got dragged into this in the first place. I have no idea what she was thinking, roping you into this with no idea about the supernatural at all.”
Katrina addressed me, pointing over at Shaoni after helping me to my feet. It hurt to stand but I was getting used to the pain.
“Above everything else I was supposed to kill the Thunderbird and thats what I’m going to do, after that you all can walk out of here.”
Katrina took slow steps toward Shaoni who simply glared at her. She didn’t try to run though, something told me she was ready, no matter how the next few minutes played out. But I had one more trick up my sleeve as I limped over, putting myself in between Shaoni and Katrina.
“She just wants out of all this Katrina! You have to know about where she came from, everything she’s been through!”
I yelled through gritted teeth, biting back the white hot pain shooting up from my ankle.
“I know enough It’s sad sure, but everyone’s got a sad story these days. She’s been flying around taking out whole towns to use as havens for people who want to follow this ass backwards sense of justice she’s got. I don’t want to become that person who’s hunting down supernaturals like her no questions asked just because I was ordered to. But in this case she’s responsible for hundreds of deaths. The “accidents” that happen in those towns are all her fault, and not all of them are as nice as Eagles Peak. The kind of people a town outside of any real form of government or law attracts aren’t the people you want to be neighbors with. She’s got to die Keith, so do you if your going to try and stop me.”
Katrina explained as she stalked closer to me. I really didn’t want to do what I knew I had to do next but I couldn’t watch anyone else die today.
“Alright, I guess there’s no other way then, Shaoni I’ll take on your burden.”
The whole room exploded into a chorus of “what” in varying degrees of shock but my mind was made up. I turned to Shaoni as she asked,
“Are you sure Keith?”
“Yes.”
Before anyone could recover from the shock of what I was about to do she reached out and grabbed my hands. I took hold of her’s and she said something in a language I couldn’t hope to understand as my vision went white.
When I could see again I was… somewhere else. Lightning flashed intermittently overhead and a grassy field extended out forever around me. In front of me stood a misty grey form of a bird it was huge, easily twice the size of the form I’d seen Shaoni take. Through its shifting misty form I could see Shaoni. The bird seemed to be talking to her but I couldn’t make anything out, I could only guess it was a Thunderbird spirit. It seemed to nod to Shaoni before it turned to me and stared me dead in the eyes. Its beak didn’t move, actually no part of it moved but I still heard its voice in my head as its eyes continued to boar into me.
“My chosen, Justice, claims she has lost her way, is this true?”
I couldn’t begin to describe how this voice sounded, powerful is the only word that came to mind. I didn’t feel like I was in any danger though, in fact I felt calmer than I ever had.
“She has.”
I got the sense that quick simple answers were probably best here.
“Justice spoke very highly of you. You offered to succeed her if she is to be believed.”
“I did, but how exactly do we-”
But I was cut off with a bow from the spirit who evaporated all around me. My vision blurred and everything went white again as I collapsed into the soft grass.
I came to on the floor next to Shaoni, it couldn’t have been that much later because neither of us had any new bullet holes in us.
“What did you just do?”
Katrina asked standing above me and looking absolutely stupefied.
“The Thunderbird is dead.”
Was my simple, potentially completely bullshit answer. Katrina looked from me to Shaoni and back again, eyes growing wide as the realization dawned on her.
“You know what? That works for me, just don’t cause us any trouble and we can just forget this whole thing ever happened. Oh, I like the new eyes by the way.”
With that Katrina walked off and climbed a rope ladder she had attached to the ground outside the hole we fell through.
Everything else that happened was a blur, we went back out and found pretty much all of Katrina’s men dead. Tuck was shot several times and barley breathing when Shaoni of all people found him. She called us over and Stein assured us he’d be alright if we got him back to the lab soon. We carried Tuck’s hairy form over to one of the SUV’s and raced back into town. On the way we drove past Katrina who’d also taken one of the SUV’s and was heading out of town. Bianca made a comment at some point that I looked different. When we got back to the house I looked in a mirror and saw my eyes where the same shade of grey Shaoni’s had been.
Speaking of Shaoni we took her with us, she followed us over to the car after she found Tuck. She looked a bit like a lost puppy at that point if I’m honest. I guess finally being able to live your life free of some strange sense of duty after hundreds of years will do that to you. Shaoni hasn’t actually said much since we settled back in at Bianca’s house. She eats and goes through the motions of normal life, she’ll even shoot you a warm smile if she catches you staring at her. I’m still not used to seeing her with green eyes though. I think she just feels lost but I’m ready to help show her the ins and outs of normal-ish life when she’s ready to ask for help.
Frank and Stein went back to doing their normal experimenting pretty fast. The whole thing past them by like a particularly eventful weekend. Even Frank’s bullet wound was quickly forgotten about. Pretty much as soon as he treated it it was like it never even happened to him. Tuck got back on his feet with a lot of help from Frank and Stein. He walks with a permanent limp now but other than that he’s fine. Richelle just about had a conniption when we told her what happened and she hasn’t left Tuck’s side since. She seemed surprised when we described his transformation and we came to find out he never told her about his, “Condition”. That may be why they’ve been so inseparable lately, she just wants to help him however she can and he sure isn’t complaining about that.
Tuck and Shaoni have been getting along as well. I never thought I’d see the day those two sat down and just talked but after a tense first few weeks they came to an understanding. They aren’t old friends now by any means but I’ve walked in on them both talking about their pasts. Maybe sharing stories helps them deal with living such long lives.
As for me and Bianca we started dating and thats been… well that’s been just great. I think its good for both of us cause after everything that happened at the old mine I was just a bundle of nerves. Having someone like her to talk to, someone who gets it, who’s seen so much worse helps put things in perspective. She finally has someone to really talk to in town too. Theres not a whole lot of trouble for us to get up to but we’ve started making a habit of pouring over Frank and Stein’s notes on the supernatural. Not the most riveting idea for a night in but I like learning more about whats really out there.
I still don’t feel any different after taking on Shaoni’s “burden”. Maybe that sense of duty she felt really was just all in her head, a promise to her people that she never let go. Honestly I haven’t tried to use whatever powers might come with my own condition. I just don’t feel like I need to. Like I told Katrina, the Thunderbird is dead. I’m sure not going to be the next Shaoni or anything like that but maybe It’ll help us find Brooke.
Thats the one thing that keeps Bianca and I up at night, we never found Brooke’s body. The two of us went up to the old mine a week or so after everything happened to look around for any sign of him but we didn’t find a trace. In fact the whole thing was cleaned up and the entrance to the mine was collapsed. I’m willing to bet whoever Katrina works for came back to try and wipe away any traces they may have left here. Maybe they found Brooke out there and dealt with him themselves, maybe he’s still out there somewhere. But for now everything’s been pretty calm, even normal around here.
Rocco is still a menace, Tuck still leaves the Eagle’s Roost door unlocked at all hours of the day, and theres still next to no people living here. Without Shaoni and her trials looming over me life is actually pretty good here. So that’s my story, how a storm and a huge bird dragged me halfway across the country and I started dating a succubus…right after I became the Thunderbird. It still seems crazy when I say it like that. Maybe I’ll dig up something on Brooke but for now I think I’ve finally found my new normal out here in the curiously named town with no Eagles and no Peaks.

Hi! I'm 24(F) and yes I guess you can call me a "rich kid" kasi dating sea man daddy ko at may business ang mommy sa construction industry. Only girl at panganay, pero aaminin ko these days parang ako yung bunso at mas responsible pa mga kapatid kong mas bata.
Overachiever, kasi since elementary to high school lagi akong nasa top 5, madaming extra curriculars and awards (regional-national), and ang school ko for gifted children. Nung college naman, pinagaral ako sa magandang university as a BSBA Business Management student. tuloy tuloy parin academic achievements ko and naging President pa ako ng isang malaking org sa uni.
Sa mga nilista kong qualities about me and my upbringing one would think na hindi na ko mahihirapan maging successful in life, pero eto ako ngayon, undergraduate and living with parents without any significant money in my bank account na masasabi kong pinaghirapan ko.
How did I get to this? Tbh ang hirap ipinpoint kelan nagstart pero I remember being so stressed to the point na I developed a seizure disorder and then I just grew tired and listless to everything. Naramdaman ko back then na walang nakaka appreciate ng lahat ng ginagawa kong pagpapagal at parang wala namang silbi...na kahit anong gawin ko I will never be good enough to anyone.
Kaya nung pandemic, hindi ako nagonline class. Parang protest ko na din yun sa lahat na I don't give a f***k anymore. I don't have to prove anything. So anong ginawa ko the following years? I quit social media, disappeared from everyone, and then I cooked, and baked, tried painting, sold the goods I cooked and baked, tinry ko din maging plantita, nahilig ako sa farming...I focused on myself kasi I recognized na baka the emptiness I felt must've been due to my lack of self and self-love, my lack of character that makes me--Me.
While I did that 4 years passed already. Habang yung mga peers ko, pahaba ng pahaba ang mga pangalan, ako undergrad parin, no specific job. Hearing things like sayang ako became a common thing lalo na sa mga kapamilya ko. And although it doesn't affect me that much kasi I know naman na na life is not a race, na kanya kanya tayo ng pace, minsan I can't help but feel small.
Yes, I'm in a much better place sa mental health ko. Yes, I found my passion and calling (sustainable agriculture) during my hiatus. Pero minsan naiisip ko din yung mga missed opportunities na napalampas ko while trying to rediscover myself. Na had I just been stronger, pushed through the storm, baka hindi ako "sayang"? Na baka my status would have been higher by now?
Sa ngayon I'm planning on continuing my studies in Business at my hometown. I'm also trying to establish a training school for organic and sustainable agriculture. May farm kasi yung family namin na tengga lang kaya I had this idea to turn it into a farm school. Syempre hindi ko sariling pera pinang gastos dyan, pero I'm proud of myself for pushing this idea for the youth, our farmers and farming enthusiasts in our community.
Pero yun nga, if it weren't for my family's wealth, hindi ko to magagawa. And I'm not really earning anything from it (yet). Kaya I can't really call it my achievement or success story (yet). Tambay parin ako in the sense na walang pera, pinapakain pa ng magulang at madaming time sa buhay na nakaka binge watch parin ng Bridgerton sa Netflix.
I don't intend to be like this forever. It's just that due to my circumstances, I didn't take the common or conventional path. Kumbaga sabi nga ni Robert Frost, "I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." The actions I took made people think I was crazy stupid but those very actions were what I needed most at that time---to rest and realign myself to the things that truly mattered to me. I needed that pause, I needed that "failure" to discover my true wins in life. Nagsisimula palang yung main story ng buhay ko.
Gusto ko lang ishare at ilabas to lahat. Siguro kasi na trigger ako dahil naikumpara ako sa isa pang overachiever high school friend and classmate ko na si Juan Dela Cruz, AB, C.D.E, Fg na iniinvite ko maging keynote speaker sa grand opening ng farm school namin...
Thank you sa pagbabasa hanggang sa huli! I wish for you heal from things that wounded you, and for you to achieve economic empowerment! Cheers!

On a rainy Saturday afternoon not so long ago when internet connection was fluctuating in most homes, the 80-year-old Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, widow of the late Senator Heherson Alvarez, carrying a mini iPad, hurriedly alighted from a three-wheeled pedicab Toktok and stormed her way into a popular coffee shop in a mall in Manila.

A senior citizen in panic mode, she told the stunned baristas she’s looking for a Wi-Fi connection because she was about to interview retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio via Zoom.
The coffee shop, a known world brand, has Wi-Fi exclusive to its employees, so the old lady was told to try other establishments. She went from one coffee shop to another only to be told the same, until a kind stranger led her to a well-known beauty salon with a free internet connection.
The lady salon attendant was very accommodating to the octogenarian, even typing the password on her IPad. Of course, she needed to avail herself of their salon services. Initially, she opted for a haircut, but since she needed to talk and hear clearly who she was talking to, she settled for a foot spa with pedicure.
“They lowered the volume of the piped-in music, and since there were less customers because it’s been raining all day, I was able to do my interview,” Guidote-Alvarez said.
For the next half-an-hour, the hair dressers and manicurists working with their scissors, nail clippers and cuticle removers on their customers’ hair and fingernails, listened to Carpio and Guidote-Alvarez discussed how Filipino fishermen and the Philippine Navy ships helplessly negotiate their ways in Scarborough Shoal amid the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.
“They were all very nice to me. I was able to finish my interview, with newly pedicured nails,” she told The Diarist.
For those who’ve worked with Guidote-Alvarez, her steadfast, almost stubborn, nature to accomplish a task, is nothing out of the ordinary. She would improvise, find alternatives, call up friends and former students, wake them up from sleep, just to get things done.
But now, in her 80s, legally blind and nearly deaf, she has mellowed down.
Cecile Alvarez with her mentors, National Artist for Literature Alejandro Roces, Jr and Fr. James Reuter. SJ
In her twilight years, Guidote-Alvarez has been solely hosting the 57-year-old Radyo Balintataw on DZRH, one of the oldest radio stations in the Philippines, where she tackles a wide range of topics, from climate change, women’s health, theater, culture, dance, to current issues, apart from playing old recordings of classic radio plays she produced and directed, dating back to the late ‘80s.
She shared with TheDiarist.ph how she started and continues to host one of the longest running advocacy programs on AM Radio.
Theater on TV
After founding the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) on April 7, 1967, or exactly 57 years ago, Guidote-Alvarez thought of the need to expose PETA’s members to television, so she started conceptualizing Balintataw, which in Filipino means the pupil of the eye, but in a larger context has something to do with having wild imagination, or what you might see if you have a third eye.

“I designed Balintataw as a bridge between cinema and the stage, where the youth being trained in theater skills can have a ready-made laboratory experience linked with the film and entertainment industry that would likewise have a natural on-the-job training and orientation regarding the theatrical discipline of working with a literary script, whether dramatic or comic—not the regular improvised script done on taping or copycat scripts from foreign themes,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote in her yet-to-be published Memoir of a Freedom Fighter’s Wife.
“A primary goal when I conceived PETA was to initiate and sustain artistic expression that draws meaning and power from the lives of the people, and sharing the literary gems with a greater number of audiences through a Broadcast Theater-Film Program with Balintataw on Channel 5,” she added.
“No matter how little the pay, at least it provided our local writers with a little honorarium. I sought permission for award-winning pieces of the Palanca Playwriting contest to be fleshed out to reach the masses. The much-awarded playwright Bert Florentino served as our literary manager, assisted by Mauro Avena. Eventually, Isagani Cruz took over when Bert left for the US,” she wrote.
“Writers need exposure and encouragement through a regular TV performance that will give them a sense of achievement and inspire them to keep on writing with some kind of honorarium. I was glad Lupita Aquino (now Kashiwahara) agreed to be TV director and Robert Arevalo as TV host.
She got members of the PETA Kalinangan Ensemble to serve as stage directors. “This is to undertake preliminary preparation with a rehearsal with the actors for character development and memorization and preliminary staging,” she wrote.
Five months after PETA was founded, Balintataw TV premiered on Channel 5 on Aug. 19, 1967, coinciding with the Buwan ng Wika birthdate of President Manuel Luis Quezon.
The first play, whose title escapes her now, featured Armida Siguion-Reyna and Maria Eva “Chingbee” Kalaw. She employed photo journalist and award-winning photographedocumentarist/cinematographer, Romy Vitug, to work with her in filming outdoor scenes for Balintataw.

In the pre-Martial Law Balintataw, among those initiated into television were Lino Brocka, Elwood Perez, Nick Lizaso, Maryo delos Reyes, Mario O’Hara, Joey Gosiengfiao, Behn Cervantes, and Frank Rivera.
Among the stage actors who crossed over to television were Lily Gamboa, Angie Ferro, Lorlie Villanueva, Jonee Gamboa, Joy Soler, Sherry Lara, Gardy Labad, Noel Trinidad.
Like with PETA, Guidote-Alvarez directed and managed Balintataw for five years. Because of Martial Law, she and husband Heherson went on exile in the US to escape a military shoot-to-kill order on Heherson, who was tagged as a subversive.
Post-Martial Law
Internationally acclaimed auteur Lav Diaz mentioned in several interviews how he learned writing radio and TV scripts in Balintataw.
This happened in the late 1980s, when the Alvarez couple returned from exile.
Despite its absence on the air in the Martial Law years, Balintataw was honored by Star Awards as among the 20 unforgettable outstanding broadcast programs in the Philippines.
“This encouraged me to consider reviving Balintataw on TV. Another blessing was a FAMAS award for having an important role in the development of cinema recognizing Balintataw as a bridge for synergizing cinema with the stage, providing a pathway of entry of our PETA artists into film and for movie stars to consider enriching their experience by acting on the legitimate stage,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote.
Though she didn’t return to PETA anymore because it had been surviving well and had its own set of officers led by Brocka, she just tapped some of its members for the return of Balintataw.
For 14 years, the Alvarez couple lived in the US as political exiles, shown here during a Ninoy Aquino Movement meeting. Cecile revived Radyo Balintataw upon their return in the late 1980s.
Channel 4 stint
“I arranged to revive TV Balintataw on Channel 4 in 1989. We began with a drama about a rebel returnee, title escapes me now, but I clearly remember it was written by Lualhati Bautista and directed by Maryo de los Reyes. We also had a good story series on the hazing of Lenny Villa, an Aquila Legis Frat neophyte,” she wrote.
At the time, Heherson had been elected senator after having served as Agrarian Reform Minister and eventually Cabinet Secretary during the first year of the Cory Aquino Administration.
“We were able to unravel the deadly hazing process from a fellow neophyte who broke the code of silence as we revealed graphically, acted the cruel process used. I had Jose Mari Avellana direct it. This presentation won all the awards. Lav Diaz was training with us and he started writing teleplays. We also had Nora Aunor in an adaptation of Bert Florentino’s The World Is An Apple, adapted by Frank Rivera, and I had Nick Lizaso direct.”

Emmy Awards
Balintataw TV was selected as one of five soaps for social change recognized by Emmy Awards. The Philippines was one of five countries cited, with Mexico, India, Brazil and Kenya.
“The nomination was made possible by the wonderful support from David Poindexter. It was a supreme honor for our country to be recognized in the Emmy Awards, to be cited among the five Third World countries using soap opera for social change.”
Poindexter was a Methodist minister and TV producer who founded the Population Communications International.
Surviving on radio
“In spite of the cry about how television can be deadening the minds of the people with copied themes with an eternal favorite love triangle story, there was really no funding for Balintataw,” she wrote.
“Sponsors would go naturally to the commercial stations where big stars were paid highly for the starring role. Balintataw may have substance but we could not afford payment of bankable stars,” she added.
“Financial stress forced me to drop TV and remain on radio because I didn’t want to kill Balintataw per se just because we didn’t have funds.”
Creative classroom
“We have focused on Balintataw as a creative classroom on the air. I was able to talk to Fred J. Elizalde of DZRH and the president of the network, Mr. Jun Nicdao,” she wrote.
In the ‘80s, the HIV/AIDS became a global epidemic and in the Philippines, the general populace was still clueless on how to deal with it.
“In order to get funding, the first series I did was about the explosive news regarding AIDS in Asia. I got the DOH Secretary at the time, Dr. Juan Flavier, to act as himself, providing the data. It was easier to start off with an AIDS radio serial.
They did a minimum of 13 episodes to raise awareness about the disease.
“From then on, some of our television scripts we transformed into a radio version. DZRH provided us with our initial production staff, so we used some from the network and some of its resident artists and drama talents. Our time slots were changing but always coming after the long-running horror drama, Gabi ng Lagim.
“We worked on the themes of overseas workers, the drug problem, corruption, aside from portraying contemporary and literary classics serving as social commentaries,” she wrote.
Women playwrights
“We dramatized the works of noted women writers and playwrights like Estrella Alfon, Genoveva Edroza Matute and Marilou Jacob, who is distinguished in being a founding president of Women’s Playwright International.
“Apart from our PETA staple of writers, we involved young, upcoming and budding university and community theater groups.
“We also had a lot of foreign plays, where we could feature theater festivals beyond borders. We could do Shakespeare, we could do Euripides but also the current playwrights in the Arab region we translated in our language.
“We brought in Chinese contemporary plays, Malaysian, Indonesian and from other women writers from ASEAN member countries.”
Virtual history book
“The significance of Balintataw is portrayed as a virtual history book on audio as it unveiled events in the country. Radio is fresh, instant and up-to date,” she added.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Balintataw became Guidote-Alvarez’s outlet and therapy. Having lost her husband on the second month of the pandemic, a widow cocooned at home, she began hosting it six days a week, learning how to use an iPad and interviewing via Zoom.
The word “Balintataw” has been associated with her name.
Visual artist and editorial cartoonist Benjie Lontoc in casual meeting told us how in his younger days, when AM Radio was a national past-time, he was surprised to hear a Filipino adaptation of No Exit by Jean Paul-Sarte. This was when radio was airing soap, fantasy adventures targeting housewives and children.
Another was the airing of Larawan as a radio play in the 1990s, with Guidote-Alvarez as the voice of Candida Marasigan.
Leopoldo Salcedo (left) as Manolo in a confrontation scene with Dante Rivero as Tony Javier in PETA’s 1968 ‘Larawan’ directed by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez. (Photo from PETA archives)
In the 1960s, she directed Larawan, the first Filipino adaptation of Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino for PETA’s second season. It ran from December 1968 to January 1969 at the Raha Sulayman Theater at Fort Santiago in Intramural. In the cast were Rita Gomez (Candida), Lolita Rodriguez (Paula), Leopoldo Salcedo (Don Manolo) and Dante Rivero (Tony Javier).
Guidote-Alvarez has a funny recollection of the radio play. It was Nick Joaquin himself who told her years ago how his pedicurist suddenly started a conversation about Larawan.

Joaquin was relaxing on the barber’s chair having a post-haircut pedicure and foot spa when the lady pedicurist asked him how the story would end. Joaquin was stunned because he didn’t want to be known in the barber shop as Nick Joaquin the famous National Artist for Literature, but just a regular customer.
“He told me he almost fell out from the chair. He was a very private person and the pedicurist recognized him as the playwright,” Guidote-Alvarez, laughing, told TheDiarist.ph.
When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, she was given only three years to live. It’s been more than two decades since then. She has also conquered COVID-19 twice.
Over and beyond her work in theater and various advocacies, Guidote-Alvarez is among the few surviving practitioners of AM Radio broadcasting.
The beauty salon incident wasn’t a first for the octogenarian radio host. She occasionally went back there to interview guests and record her shows whenever Wi-Fi connections in her home fluctuated.
Despite all setbacks, man-made or otherwise, the steadfast Cecile Guidote-Alvarez’s voice continues to be heard in this mass media platform in an era that knows mainly Spotify. As Joaquin wrote, “to remember and to sing, that is her vocation.”
(Except Saturday, Radyo Balintataw airs daily on DZRH 666 Khz AM radio after ‘Gabi ng Lagim’, and live streamed on radio.org.ph. Some episodes have been uploaded on YouTube.)