This is long... This is very long.
I'm married, two children, my Wife is awesome. We live in a small community in a wooded/rural area. It's not Donner Pass but we are out in the boonies. We have to be somewhat able and self sufficient. It's not off grid prepper stuff but we have to be able to do more ourselves than if we lived in town.
A few years back, my Wifes Friend and I guess you'd call him a friendly acquaintance of mine moved up on the mountain. Let's call him Frank. The guy has issues, as do we all, but he's functional, intelligent, and quite handy. A decent guy to know to help get things done.
When he moved in, the property he bought was a disaster. Previous owner used to get all manner of Amazon returns and stockpile the stuff. Also anything else he could drag home for free or dirt cheap. All kinds of crap everywhere with zero organization. A couple of giant burn piles where of course he's burning just whatever, a pickup truck bed camper in disrepair full of stuff, ratty tarps and tents covering more crap. Squalor and chaos.
The property does have a functional well and **some** kind of septic system and there's power run to it. There's a small building attached to a camper but with some work it can be made liveable. So we sort of have the bare essentials covered. We just have a ton of work to do.
So I'm excited, my Wife is excited, Frank is excited as well. We all figure let's get Frank set up. Running water, working toilet, sink, wood/coal stove, major cleanup on the property, a water heater, washing machine, a shower or even a bath tub would be real nice as well. Basic stuff so he can do for himself because at this point he's showering and doing laundry and eating supper all at our house. I figure if I'm in a spot, I could go up there and have a shower or do laundry you know?
We get to work. First we have to finish even moving the guy in so he can be rid of the trailer he's renting in a trailer park. Turns out the guy is a hoarder and it's heavy. The guy has more stuff packed into his trailer then we actually know what to do with. At least it's nothing disgusting and most of it I can see at least some value in it. I can see why he'd keep hold of things like this but Man there's a LOT!!! I don't know how he can even store all this stuff so I figured let's make this easy and I bought him a 40' shipping container and had it delivered to his place. We get it there and we assemble storage racks that were left on the property by the previous owner inside the shipping container. I'm not rich but at this point I don't terribly miss the money and I figure helping this dude out will benefit me and my Family. Within two weeks, Frank is out of his trailer and everything he owns is jammed into the shipping container. It's tight but it's somewhat organized at least.
Now! Let's get to work! And we do. We start clearing out some of the actual trash. Say 15 hours and we can notice that we made a dent. Another 15 hours, it still kind of looks for shit but we can at least make sense of the place now. We're really doing something here! It's heavy and dirty and disgusting but we're having a lot of fun with it and feeling pretty good. As we're going, we find some actual decent things in the piles that the previous owner left behind and we're trying to not waste anything because we're not rich and we might need the stuff.
It gets to a point where it's starting to become really dirty work and even a garden hose would be pretty dang amazing just to at least wash up a little bit because we really don't know what's in some of these piles but Man we're digging deep into them! My Wife goes through the nonsense of getting his power turned on. Frank has enough money saved to get it turned on and to keep it going a while.
Ok, we got power and we can make some water happen now. We scrounged up a shitter and a sink, bought some PVC and got that happening. Now we can wash up and we don't have to crap in the woods anymore. We also found a decent Harmann wood/coal burner and installed that. Nothing ideal but we're looking pretty damn good compared to when we started. The stove was free. The previous owner switched to pellets and had no use for it. We had to get it out and move it of course but nothing we can't handle.
So now it's getting to at least 40 hours at Franks place, maybe 60 hours. I wasn't really keeping track. The place still looks like hell but we're making steady progress and it's more or less "liveable". Meanwhile there are things piling up at my own house. The roof needs a little attention, some work on my backhoe, vehicle repairs and maintenance. Normal everyday stuff that got put to the back burner for a while as we set this guy up but it's starting to pile up and I have to get this shit done.
"Hey Frank, you mind coming down a little while and pitching in with this or that?"
At first, yea he makes his way down and helps out. Not at the crack of dawn, say 11 AM or so. Fine and dandy. This isn't pay work and I don't start early myself, nor do I go very long and hard on these tasks. Put in a couple hours until I feel like I accomplished something and call it a day. I don't think I'm asking much.
After a bit though, he's showing up later and later. If Frank says 12-ish, it means like 2PM or something. One day I have to remove the backhoe from my tractor in order to replace some hydraulic lines. This assembly weighs about 4 tons. It's on a 1967 Case 580 CK. Not the biggest thing but it's no joke. Frank is skilled with cranes and forklifts and other heavy stuff and I figure he could just come down and help me make damn sure this thing is going to be stable. I'm going to have the hydraulics opened up and if it's not properly supported it could move on me and that might well be it for me.
So the day comes. I have my tractor in the driveway and I have the backhoe dismounted from the tractor but still hooked to the hydraulics by around 10-11AM. Now I'm sitting and waiting on Frank. Finally about 1AM he rolls in. The first thing he does is to sit down and use my blowtorch to clean out his one hitter so he can do a little wake and bake. I've been ready and waiting for a couple hours and now the dude is going to sit and get high before we're going to work with some heavy shit and he's burning my propane to do so. Yea I'm kind of annoyed and I let him know. I tried to not be too much of an asshole but I wasn't pleasant about it. I didn't yell or anything but I'm sure I came off kind of asshole-ish.
He finishes up with the one hitter, takes a few wacks off it, says he's go tot go home and crap. Lovely... He's been lighting up my toilet for a while now, what's the big deal? Anyhow he heads back home. I'm sitting there for an hour or so scratching my ass, screw it I'll figure it out. I'm scared as hell but I manage to get my lines replaced. I bring the tractor into position and get the bottom mounting pins locked in. There are two more up top of the backhoe assembly and then it's solidly mounted. I screwed up by not hooking the hydraulic lines from the tractor to the backhoe and doesn't the damn thing just sort of drop right to the ground because the boom, bucket, and dipper arm are open. I took precautions against this but I guess I didn't do very well. I didn't lose the whole show but it scared the hell out of me and I shut the tractor down and walked away for a while. It was a split second and if I was under it I'd either have been dead or wishing for it. I calmed myself down after a while and finished the job. Frank never showed back up that day.
After I got done, I was sitting there a while. After that dopamine hit from getting the job done wore off I was starting to feel pretty let down and pissed off. My Wife and I put real time, and heart and soul in up at Franks place. We'd get up there about 9AM-10AM and get to it. Half the time, Frank would be hungover and it would literally be 2-3 hours until he was any kind of mobile. We're up there at his place trying to get shit done so he has a setup and he's dragging his ass because he was up until 3AM the previous night getting shitfaced.
The plan was, after he was set, we'd get into some nonsense. Cleanouts from tenants that left an apartment full of stuff, scrapping, maybe some lawn work, plowing snow on the mountain here, whatever. Not getting rich but at least paying the bills and having a laugh. At first, Frank is all about it. The cleanouts were his idea. I never knew you actually could get some decent pay for this type of thing. After a while though Frank starts throwing up roadblocks about we need to be an LLC and have a few fairly new looking trucks before we can start when I'm watching something like "Randys Hauling" on the side of a beat up old truck going up and down the mountain and he's getting that pay. On OUR mountain and we could be easily doing this right now! He kept throwing these obstacles up on all sorts of projects. It felt like Frank was deliberately throwing wrenches wherever he could in order to halt any progress.
Eventually I tried talking with him. I told him "I'm not really feeling the return on this investment.". and Frank says "I'm sorry you feel that way.". It kind of went to shit from there. I got to the point where I didn't want anything more to do with him. I was a door mat for a long time in my childhood and it felt like I was getting played for a stooge yet again. It felt like he was also taking advantage of my Wife. But hey, she's been Friends with him for quite a while. In fact she was Friends with him before we were even dating. I'm not going to tell her she can't hang out with the guy. You'll just have to take my word that she's not the type to play around when she's in a committed relationship. Not sure if I have much faith in Frank but I have faith in my Wife.
Frank is no longer coming to the house, there are arguments between my Wife and I about the guy. All I can see is that she's getting played by the guy. Eventually, Frank has a Friend who offers him to go to a blues concert because Franks Friend has noone to go with but has an extra ticket. This is a weekend thing where you camp and party and listen to performers. My Wife is already running ragged here there and everywhere. Frank asks my Wife to keep an eye on his dogs while he's away and of course she wants to help out. She's just like that. One day, turns out my Wife is too busy to take care of it and my Daughter has to go check on the dogs. My Daughter can't find the keys to get inside Franks camper. Now don't you know I have to go up there and take on this guys responsibilities while he's out at a concert partying his ass off. I put my foot down because at this point the guy is messing with the entire Family and holding all of us up. I told my Wife that WE are done with him and shit hit the fan for a while but eventually she started to see shit for herself and we all just cut off from the guy.
This is breaking my heart. I really do love the guy and I know it's killing my Wife to cut off from a Friend. But it's a one way Friendship. Frank will jump for someone he really cares about, but us, we're just useful or so it seems to me.
3 years go by. My Wife still talks with Frank via text and I'm not thrilled with it but I'm not going to push it either. Whatever it's not holding up our show. Time goes by... I simmer down, Frank calms down. I do indeed miss the guy but I'm afraid that if I start talking it'll end up being the same crap all over again. He was good to work with when he felt like it. I work on cars all the time and this guy can look at things and see things that I don't. He's no kind of mechanic but he's already schooled me under the hood as well as setting up a guys garage door that was horribly installed.
In time, yes we do start talking again. I try to make it very clear that if we're going to do anything, we BOTH have to feel properly compensated for our efforts. Be that money, labor swapping, horse trading, whatever. If I do something for Frank and it takes an hour, Frank gets me back satisfactorily and vice versa. This has to be worth it for both of us and all of us.
Well, it happens that Frank finally decides he wants to clean up his property. His truck is not registered, insured, or inspected. His drivers license is expired. There's a lot of scrap up there. I have a road legal truck and I make a proposition. I'll pile scrap on the truck until I feel it's a decent load, he and my Wife will run the load. My wife is a capable driver. She and frank will unload the truck at the scrapyard and meanwhile I'll break the scrap down at his place and have another load ready to go. At the end of the day, the truck gets paid $1 per mile and the tank gets filled for the next day. We split the remainder 3 ways equally. We clean the property up, we all get a few dollars and after a little while he can save the money to get his own truck back on the road.
Frank says there's not enough money in scrapping. There won't be anything left to split after gassing up the truck... Sounds familiar... Ok, how about this then. Let me make a load of absolute BS scrap like old bedsprings, tin cans, and just whatever crap I can, we see how that pays and maybe go from there.
Frank says Hem and Haw, well maybe if it's just Frank and my Wife loading up the truck and they also run and unload the truck he might be in to it. Splitting it 3 ways and with the truck just isn't going to cut it. Now I'm getting confused and a little irritated because I thought the idea was to clean up, not get paid. My Wife also has a screwy elbow and if she goes hard on a job she's in pain the next day. Nope this aint happening. Let's put a pin in this and come back to it. I'm not going to push anymore and my Wife is definitely not into chucking scrap on to the truck as well as off loading it. If he wants to do something and he comes to us, we'll figure it out. If he wants to sit on that scrap, hell with it. I guess this is the Hoarder in his brain talking.
My Wife has a 1896 VW Jetta diesel. It's old and it's been around but it can be made decent. The interior is shit but we have a parts car and a pile of interior parts like carpet and trim, dashboard, and just everything you want to make the inside actually pretty good looking. She's the one that heads up the interior work. I personally hate it. At this point, Frank has no power at his place and he has a little 80cc dirtbike he'd like to use to get up and down the mountain. Private dirt road so we can drive ATV's or golf carts or whatever and it'd be handy.
I have a 300 watt solar panel that I'm not going to use and all the gear to go with it. I have some parts I can use to get his dirtbike going and I know how to get most old carburetted stuff running when it's been sitting a while. We come to an agreement. Frank will be down here working on this Jetta with my Wife until the interior is as good as we can make it. I'll give him the solar panel, help him install it at his place, and get his dirtbike going for him. Also my Wife will handle getting his power back on and a couple of other administrative things. Everyone is feeling OK with it.
We begin. My Wife and I put the first foot forward. We take the solar gear up to his place and get it working. Now at least he can charge his phone and keep a light running. Nothing major but it's something and it's damn handy. I start on the dirtbike. It's a Suzuki 80cc four stroke. The fuel tank is cracked up and leaking like a sieve. I have a tank from an old Honda CR80 and it takes me a while but I get it mounted to the bike and I didn't even have to chop the bike or the tank. The carb on this thing was sitting with fuel in it for years and it's beyond hope. Normally I can open them up and blow the jets with compressed air, maybe carb cleaner and some wires but this thing is completely jammed solid with crap and I can't get it. I have a carb on my shelf and it's actually for that exact engine. So after 6-8 hours of scratching my head and wrenching, I have his bike running just as good as ever and it holds fuel.
Now it's Franks turn. The first day, he actually shows up at a decent hour and the guy is putting his time in. They have the interior all but gutted. Seats, carpet, interior trim(what's left of it) HVAC. Just the dash is left and it's been a good 5 hours so they call it a day. Next day he's right there say 9-10AM. Dang this is working! They're going after removing the cracked up dashboard and something isn't making sense. It seems loose but it's not coming out. I'm out there putzing with my truck and my Wife asks me to come take a look. I get under the dash and I'm looking but I'm damned if I can find what's holding it up. It can wiggle but it's not coming loose. I notice some steel brackets with rivets under the dash just at the bottom of the windshield. All I can think is to cut the rivets loose and the dash will come out but it doesn't make sense because you're not going to get new rivets in when you install the new dash. There's barely room to get a chisel in to cut them loose. Frank figures it out. Frank goes out under the cowl under the hood, pulls up the drip tray and right there are two nuts on studs poking through the firewall. We pull those nuts off and presto the dash is loose! God Damn Frank you're a rock star! I'm SO glad the guy was here! Different perspective? Savant? I don't know but the guy nailed it!
Next day. Again Frank shows up about 10AM and the Jetta is coming around. The carpet is in and looking nice, the trim is installed, The seats are cleaned up and installed. This thing is actually starting to look pretty good! That was a good day. 4-5 hours and they call it. Nice job guys! Looking good!
Next day. Time to install HVAC. We did an AC delete. The Jetta was originally an AC car but most of the gear was gone. The parts car was non-AC and the heater box is much smaller, lighter, and simpler. We clean that up, do a little bit of swapping on wiring harnesses and we install it. Frank isn't here yet and it's about noon. My Wife texts him to see what's up.
Well this girl showed up about midnight last night and the way I gather they were up until the wee hours drinking and boning so he's not into working today. He doesn't know this girl from a hill of beans and about the only thing he DOES know is that she's a real easy piece of ass, I guess pretty cute, and mentally a wreck. Well... Yea I've been hard up myself so I'm trying to be understanding here. If a cute and willing young lady showed up at my place and I was lonely I think I'd take that opportunity as well. He did put some good time in on this vehicle and really saved the day when pulling the dash out. I went to work with my Wife. We got the replacement dash in, Heater installed. Everything assembled, wires routed, job done. The thing looks damn near new on the inside. It was a good 8 hours and I still feel it to day as this was just yesterday and I'm no youngster. My Wife is in pain. I just feel tired.
I can see Franks side, but a deal is a deal. I was trying to talk to my Wife that "We're kind of even right? He put in his time, he really helped out a ton. Neither owes either and we're pretty squared up right?". I wasn't really feeling that but I was willing to be convinced and sort of let it slide. My Wife however doesn't feel that we're square at all. Not only the motorcycle and the solar crap, but she spent hours on the phone and computer and Frank agreed that he'd be there from start to finish on this interior. On the last day, he ditched us because he was busy screwing and drinking with some random chick. While we were finishing up the job, Frank texted my Wife asking if He and this girl could come down to meet and greet. Or would we like to come up and have a fire? My Wife and I are dead tired, it's about 5PM. We normally have supper on the table at this time but we're close and we want to get through it. We're not into entertaining tonight. We want to finish up, get supper, get the kids to bed and crash. We're sure as hell not going up to the junk heap and sitting there at a fire watching these two make out and get tanked up. She texted him something like that. Tired, still working, still have to make supper, not happening.
That's it. If you made it through all that I admire your perseverance and I hope it at least makes sense. This is just my side of course. I have my own issues. I can be an asshole, impatient, I'm kind of obnoxious. I'm trying to work on that stuff and my Wife tells me I'm really reigning it in when I get pissed if something is fighting me. Anymore I'll just walk away and have a smoke or something. I guess I can get sort of pushy when I see shit that needs doing. I want to help but I guess I'm aggressive or too Gung Ho about it.
Anyways, it feels like this relationship with Frank is going to end up the same place as it left off before. All I can think to do is just not really seek him out anymore. If he happens to need something... I don't know... My Wife and my Children and myself are a team. We've got enough going on and we don't need someone dragging us down. I don't want this to get to the point where it did before. I feel like I screwed up even letting this guy back into my life and I'm kind of stressing.

Title self-explanatory.
I’m going to go with Meet the Grahams. The controversy surrounding it, is what it is — but I think it really was the knockout punch that started the 8 count and then Not Like Us just cemented the victory.
Going back now, as a Kendrick fan, I can honestly admit Family Matters was absolute fire. That’s what I wanted from Drake. Screw the tea, gossip and drama of a beef — I’m all about the rapping ability first (for the most part … as you can see that changed with that sinister letter Kendrick wrote). While Push Ups was good, in that track Drake really used one flow and was monotone the entire time. That’s why I was never really worried about a possible Drake win because I knew if THAT was Drake’s best shot rapping-wise — it wasn’t going to be close. Then Euphoria dropped and it confirmed my thoughts even more that he just can’t hang with Kendrick flow-wise, bar for bar. It’s not close. I knew it wouldn’t be close rapping-wise. We knew this going into it.
…. Then Drake surprised the heck out of all of us (ok well at least me) and rapped his absolute ASS off on Family Matters. Multiple flows, great beat switches (even used Brooklyn drill which I’m a sucker for) and ended it by staying true to himself with the Drake melodies with venomous lyrics (“is it self-defense cuz she’s bigger than you” ….. you have to admit that bar is funny as hell). All things considered …. 10/10 response from Drake. And we couldn’t even properly digest it with how quickly Kendrick dropped Meet the Grahams.
That song genuinely made me and my boys feel uncomfortable while listening to it. And it still had artistic horror movie creativity that makes it unique enough to stand out and really put Kendrick ahead for good — only mere minutes after Drake seemed to be closing the gap.
Morality stuff aside, gossip stuff aside, Drake has really good performances in Push Ups and Family Matters. The AI thing was weird and it’s tough to go out on a whimper like Heart Part 6.
But Meet The Grahams just cemented Kendrick’s boogie man persona.
Is it a track that measures up to something like Hit ‘Em Up? Ehh, no. And Not Like Us probably doesn’t either. However, the eerie nature of Meet The Grahams and its prominence in the most explosive rap beef of the modern era will certainly etch itself in the folklore of most legendary diss tracks of all time.


FINANCIALS

Period: Q1/2024
Filling Date: 2024-05-06
REVENUE:
Revenue: $17.24B
Gross Profit: $17.24B (100.00%)
Result: $-86.60M (ebitda)
EPS: $3.97
Outstanding Shares: 587.41M
BALANCE:
Cash: -6.89B
Debt: 6.89B
FINANCIAL EVALUATION/SCORE:
Financial Score - Altman: 11.46
Financial Score - Piotroski: 5.00
Progressive Corp's price movement correlates with the following stocks:
Ticker Correlation --- ---
Summary Of Last Earnings call:
Summary: The transcript features a discussion between two professionals about the current state of the market. They discuss the impact of recent economic events, such as inflation and interest rates, on investment strategies. The conversation also touches on the importance of diversification and risk management in portfolio building. Overall, the professionals stress the need for a cautious and strategic approach in today's volatile market environment.
Please let me know if you need more information or analysis on any specific aspect mentioned in the transcript.
Company Description:
The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos and recreational vehicles (RV). This segment's products include personal auto insurance; and special lines products, including insurance for motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, watercrafts, snowmobiles, and related products. The Commercial Lines segment provides auto-related primary liability and physical damage insurance, and business-related general liability and property insurance for autos, vans, pick-up trucks, and dump trucks used by small businesses; tractors, trailers, and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses, and long-haul operators; dump trucks, log trucks, and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging, and coal-type businesses; and tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses; as well as non-fleet and airport taxis, and black-car services. The Property segment writes residential property insurance for homeowners, other property owners, and renters, as well as offers personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. The company also offers policy issuance and claims adjusting services; and acts as an agent to homeowner general liability, workers' compensation insurance, and other products. In addition, it provides reinsurance services. The company sells its products through independent insurance agencies, as well as directly on Internet through mobile devices, and over the phone. The Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Mayfield, Ohio.
Full fundamentals fundamentals for PGR here.

Heyo! 25 year old female writer here. I’m eighteen plus so please please please ensure you are before writing to me! Now about me, I do work, quick fire would be nice but I can’t always be here. So you may see me post more depending on what ideas I’ve got and what cravings I have. But with my time off you can guarantee I’ll be posting more! Just a heads up I’m looking for clean roleplays! I do prefer discord to conduct roleplays purely for the purpose of being able to keep things more organised!
So I’m looking for those of you who can use third person, past tense and lots of detail. I say this not to be mean but because I do consider myself to be advanced literate, I expect potential partners to be the same! I’m looking for oc (me) x male canon characters from the above movies but I will enclose further fandoms and movies with in the post! I use third and past tense and would be grateful if you do too! Please note I do have dyslexia. I’d love to get some aus going as well as some love triangles. Doubles are welcome! But please note ALL my roleplays are doubles. I will be prioritising those of you who don’t want to double and are happy to play canons. I’m just getting to a point where doubles feel transactional, I’d like to do something for myself where I can :).
I’m also craving; Fast & Furious (please?! I would kill for a good detailed roleplay), Sherlock (please?!), Shadowhunters (please I beg?!), A Court of Thorns and roses, Supernatural, The Musketeers (bbc show), My Life With the Walters, Hunger Games (originals and prequel), GG at the moment as well! I’d honestly kill for someone to play; Sherlock Holmes, Dean Winchester or Jace Wayland, Jules or Mark.
I’d love our roleplay to be something of comfort to us both. Something to cheer us up and keep us engaged in the story! If you’ve got any wild ideas you’ve been dying to do for the below fandoms send them my way if it’s doubles I’ll do my best to accommodate them! If there’s a character in brackets that’s who I’m looking to ship with, I need you to play them!
Fandoms I seek include: Fast and furious (Brian) Shadowhunters (Book/Show verse) (Jace, Julian, Mark) Sherlock (Sherlock,John) Superstore (Jonah) Supernatural (Dean) ACOTAR (Cassian,Lucien, Rhys) Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte The Musketeers (bbc show Aramis) Merlin (show) Downton Abbey Saltburn (Felix) GG Skins Pitch Perfect (Jesse) The Office (us) Brooklyn Nine Nine My life With the Walter’s (Cole, Will) Ginny and Georgia ❤️(Marcus) Game of thrones (tv verse) House of the Dragon (Daemon) Death in paradise Riverdale MCU (Thor, Steve, Loki) Wuthering Heights Teen Wolf (Stiles) TVDU (Klaus, Elijah) Pirates of The Caribbean (Jack) Narnia (Caspian, Peter) Buffy (Spike) Hunger Games (Finnick) Ballard of SongBirds and Snakes (Coriolanus, Sejanus) Divergent 😍 (Four) The Outsiders (Dallas, SodaPop)

How much would you pay for a 5 year old Rancher with 100 miles on it? 4x4, DCT, EPS, IRS, in mint condition. One for sale locally for around 6 grand.
For context, live on the west coast and used quads have been selling at crazy high prices the past few years. This seems like a reasonable price, but it’s also expensive enough that it makes me debate going new. However, I’m pretty sure an equivalent current model would be close to 10 after dealer fees, destination charges, etc.
Anyone have a compelling argument either way? I’ve had good and bad experiences buying used before, but have never bought a new ATV.

Looking for the Brooklyn baby Eren x reader fic by -ANIMESLVT! I have the link of the fic but when I insert it on the wayback machine nothing pops up! (Not sure if I'm using it right anyway)
The links are: Https://www.wattpad.com/story/250776595-brooklyn-baby
Https://www.wattpad.com/use-ANIMESLVT

My 12yo son and I have really gotten into fishing this past year. We have been going sometimes 3x weekly to some small ponds, both of us fishing from a pontoon style paddle board. It’s time to upgrade, we’d like to try out some larger waters in some sort of pedal kayak setup.
He has a small frame and says he’s not comfortable with the idea of having separate kayaks yet. That has me thinking of getting a tandem pedal kayak.
I don’t have a lot of storage space, and don’t have anywhere to keep a trailer. My weekender vehicle is a 2002 Tahoe and I just picked up a roof top tent.
Do you think I could still haul a tandem on the roof? Probably need to use some sort of roller? What about a modular 3-piece ala Brooklyn Kayak? I could stow inside or in a trailer hitch basket. Thoughts?

No late night R between Whitehall St-South Ferry and 59 St, Brooklyn from May 6 - 10, Mon to Fri, 11:45 PM to 5:00 AM
R runs in Brooklyn between Bay Ridge-95 St and 59 St, the last stop.
For Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr and 36 St, take the D or N.
For 25 St, Prospect Av, 4 Av-9 St and Union St, take a local Manhattan-bound D or N.
For DeKalb Av, take the D, N or Q.
For Jay St-MetroTech, Court St and Whitehall St-South Ferry, take a Coney Island-bound N or use nearby 4 stations.

• Transfer between trains at 59 St (N, R), 36 St (D, N), or Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr (4, D, N).

Note: All trains board from the Manhattan-bound platform at 77 St, Bay Ridge Av and 59 St.
What's happening?
Structural maintenance

In Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, late night Astoria-bound N runs via the R from DeKalb Av to Canal St from May 6 - 10, Mon to Fri, 11:45 PM to 5:00 AM
In Brooklyn, use nearby Borough Hall ‌(2, 4) for Jay St-MetroTech and Court St.
In Manhattan, use nearby 4 or J stations for Whitehall St-South Ferry, Rector St, Cortlandt St and City Hall.

• Transfer between N and 4 at Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr, Canal St (after 1:30 AM) or 14 St-Union Sq.
  
• Transfer between ‌N and J trains at Canal St.
  

Travel tip:

• For service from Court St and Jay St-MetroTech, take a Coney Island-bound N to DeKalb Av and transfer to an Astoria-bound N.

Note: At Canal St, uptown ‌N trains stop at the R platform during this time.
What's happening?
Structural maintenance

No one cares but I'm feeling verbose. Here's a long story of a bowling season from someone you don't know in a league of mediocrity.
League does 2 halves per year. First half champs play second half champs final week. I've done like 8 seasons in this league with a long break around COVID. Made the finals three times including this season.
First half we climbed the ladder. Captain had an elbow injury so his average was way down for a while(215 normal, 170ish hurt). Team had my brother as well who had never bowled with intent so he started with a legit 90 average. It slowly climbed to 115ish while the captain dragged his back up to 195ish by the end. Between these 2 we ended up with a healthy handicap most weeks for most of the season. I was practicing a lot and got my average from 170ish to 180ish before regarding to 175. By the end of the season we were winning straight up every week and it really wasn't in doubt.
Unfortunately I could feel my arm and hand going to shit. I've had wrist and hand issues before and they were coming back fierce. Forearm was on fire by game 3 and thumb didn't want to stay gripping unless I squeezed way too hard for a smooth release. 2nd half was just pain and every 3rd game stepping right and firing it while hoping for the best. I finally decided enough was enough and committed to throwing 2h. It was a disaster the first 15 frames, Brooklyn was the best I could do. Just too much job for my balls. But lo and behold my 2h teammate said "try this urethane ball" that he used for like 2 games and hated.
Turkey. Immediately. Followed by my usual spraying and some slop, but mostly on the pocket side. Bought it off him then and there for $100(black hammer urethane). Finished up the final 9 weeks shooting roughly my old average, 170ish. Including my best series ever at 625(low bar). Lots of 140-160 stuff in there but promise! Team sucked, but I was in the finals from the first half.
First game I am shit. Like 3 pocket hits and none of them strike. Spare shooting is shit too,146 finish. BUT my(now 135ish) brother throws a 170, our 2 guy(145ish) goes 186, and our now-healthy captain drops a 230. We win, handily.
2nd game brother hits it hard in the 180s. 2 guy Larry can't spare, 117. But your boy found his mark and drops a 234 clean game. 4 and 5 guys are near their averages and that's all it took. Big win for the boys. Locked up, both teams mostly the left handed for the 3rd game for funsies.
Holy fuck I ramble when the beers are free. Nice to finally win one, hope you all do the same. Bowling is fun.

I've wound up collecting a bunch of decal sheets for space marine vehicles. I'm kind of familiar with the battlefield role markings on infantry, like the ^ delta for fire support, the upwards arrows for battleline, etc (on page 12 of the Space Marine Codex). They include these sheets for vehicles which are obviously way too big for marines, so I just wanted to ask what these signs signifiy when put on a vehicle. Like would a Retributor Dreadnaught use the ^ Fire support delta, or the cross for a veteran? The only vehicles it really mentions on page 12 are land speeders and ATVs, they don't mention like whirlwinds or Rhinos or anything else.

2 weeks later Lauren and Greyson drove up to her new home with boxes and whatever she hadn’t sold. Lauren had walked through her empty home and said goodbye to each room wondering if she was making the right decision. The house was pretty much sold already and Lauren reminded herself to keep going.
“Audrey will come around Ma. She really will miss you and she doesn’t want to change. God forbid she tell you right out that she is going to miss you. “ Greyson said. Lauren hadn’t spoken to Audrey directly since she had told the kids she was moving. She had come over at one point to get some furniture and mementos and had been snarky the entire time that Lauren had been in the house. Lauren had had quite enough of it and went to the backyard to smoke until Audrey and her man of the week had taken off. They hadn’t even come out to tell her they were leaving. Lauren had had another good cry after that and then made herself margaritas with her mixer and called Natalie to come over for a good farewell bitch session. They had gotten tipsy and talked about ungrateful kids and sent nice little waves to Grace who huffed at them.
“Well, maybe she will and maybe she wont. She always favored your father and I never told her she had to pick sides but all the same she felt like she had to. The divorce was harder on her than it was you older two.She was only 8.” Lauren said lamely.
“I think Cora and I were just glad you guys weren’t fighting. Dad was great with us but he treated you terribly the last few years you were together and it was just so much easier to not hate him when you guys weren’t around each other. Audrey was definitely his favorite though and any time she came over he just made sure they did everything she wanted because he was afraid she’d hit puberty and would decide she didn’t like him anymore. Like Cora.”
“Well that makes sense. How’s you-know-who?” Lauren asked changing the topic.
“Miranda? Alright I guess. Her mom picked Liam up last night for the weekend so I could help you, says she called a month ago and sounded good. I don’t know if that means anything or not but I don’t think she is going to come back wanting to be Liam's mom. At least not any time soon. I don’t really care, she had him and that was the deal. That’s all I asked for. I’d have supported the other way too but I really hoped she’d just let me keep him. She told everyone who asked she didn’t want kids. Everyone. I kind of wonder if she’ll want to meet him and be afraid to because everyone will expect her to be someone to him.” Grayson drummed his fingers anxiously. Lauren couldn’t understand this arrangement that Grayson and Miranda had. She kept wondering if it wasn’t some form of depression or something but Grayson insisted it wasn’t. He’d had Liam all to himself from day one and never complained.
“You think taking this was too impulsive? The job? I didn’t even do a face to face interview. It was on that skype thing. Eric set it all up. It’s legit but maybe I should’ve driven up first to check it out. Maybe I’m just running scared.”
“Maybe it was but taking risks makes your life exciting. Besides, I hate thinking of you alone in the house waiting for something bad to happen.” Grayson patted her leg. “Besides you said there were discounts on cabins and I’d like that. Plus unlike the last job, if Liam gets sick he can hang out with you when he can’t go to daycare.”
“I would like that.”
They pulled onto a winding dirt road and drove another 10 miles. The woods on each side of the road pressed in on them. It was a nice feeling. It was quiet out here and Lauren appreciated it. She had thought she would be more scared to be alone out here but she found herself looking forward to it now. Settling down and maybe a beer.
The GPS took them toa large sign marked Camp Thellgar in front of a fork in the road, one marked OFFICE and the other marked CAMPING. They turned into the OFFICE fork on the left. A man sat on the porch at the first building they came up to. He shaded his eyes and stood as they approached. Lauren took a shaky breath.
“Does my eye still look weird?” Lauren asked Grayson.
“Nah, the makeup covers whatever is left. It looks a little off I guess but I don’t think anyone would guess why. You’re old, he’ll think you had a stroke more than likely” Grayson teased. Lauren let out a high pitched laugh and took a deep cleansing breath.
“Hi I’m Steven Connor, you’re Lauren Jackson I hope.” Steven stuck his hand out for her to shake.
“I am indeed. Nice to meet you, you look different in person.” Lauren said laughing. He did, he looked older than he had on the computer, tired maybe. Steven shrugged. “This is my son Grayson, he’s helping bring my stuff up for me.”
“Right, good of you to help your momma. Come right in here. This is the main office, just off of what will be your cabin. Initially they were one in the same but years back we decided the caretaker could use some more privacy when we added more cabins in. The cabins have only been part of the deal for about 15 years, before that it was just the tent sites. No electricity on those. They’re a little easier to maintain. This time of year we mainly get people who want to use the tent sites, families out for a day hike. Summer rolls around and you’ll be pretty busy. We hire help from the nearby towns, you’ll let them know what to do but you’ll need someone in the office most of the day. There’s an alarm here that will pop up on your phone, when synced with the app of course, that way you can be out on the grounds. There’s an ATV for getting around a little easier. You’ll be in charge of taking reservations and handling the payment, cleaning up the campsites when they leave, looking in on them to make sure they’re kept up. Same with the cabins. Do a thorough cleaning and dust once a week. Aspen Cunningham, that’s the girl from town, she’ll be up every other day to assist with cleaning out the cabins. Here’s the card for Aspen, the card for a maintenance guy we use, Roger, and my card if you need to get ahold of me.” Steven led her from the office which was a small front room with a storage room behind it. Off of that there was a door with a good lock that led into a small house. It came in by a small half bath and then stairs leading to 2 bedrooms upstairs and a full bathroom. Next to the stairs a door led into a small living room with a few bookshelves and a dated TV, past that a kitchen with a dining area. It was cozy and Lauren was in love immediately.
“The last guy was pretty organized, we have our own binder we put together for new employees, he made his own as well. I skimmed through it, mostly a heads up on common maintenance issues. There’s a copy of maintenance performed on each cabin and site that also goes in the main book that’s stashed in the office.” Steven handed her a heavy worn binder.
“I’ll go ahead and start bringing in your stuff mom.” Grayson said backing out the main front door that didn’t lead into the office. Lauren followed Steven into the office and he showed her where anything she could need to find would be. She watched a safety video that featured Steven’s family, made when Steven was a kid. His smiling face running around in the background.
Grayson hung out for a while after Steven left. Lauren was overwhelmed and felt exhausted. She wandered through her new house while Grayson made her spaghetti. She laid on the bed. It was firmer than she was used to but it was ok.
After they ate Grayson hesitantly left. Reminding her to call if she needed anything, asking if she was sure she wanted him to leave. Lauren had a feeling he would’ve spent the night if Miranda’s mom didn’t have Liam. There was a firepit in the backyard so she got a fire going and sat back watching the flames while she drank a beer. She thought about getting stoned but it felt too new here and she was afraid of freaking herself out. The noises of the woods were relaxing. It felt quiet. Quiet was exactly what she needed.
The next few months went quickly, Lauren got in a groove of checking all the sites in the morning and doing general maintenance. Aspen, the girl who cleaned, came up twice a week not every other day like Steven had said. She was a sweet girl and spent a few hours dusting and vacuuming the empty cabins. Lauren and her got along really well and Lauren was grateful for the company. Summer came and Lauren was busy, she barely left the office it seemed. If it wasn’t reservations, it was families asking for maps of the trails or information on the town below. It was a nice busy. Lauren had expected the cleaning to be worse than it actually was, most people cleaned up after the campsites before they left. Fall came and the people started to slow down, most of the people she saw were people hiking the trails and less camping By November she was slow again.
One day her phone went off alerting her to a visitor in the office. She jumped on her ATV and headed back up. There was a small run down car waiting when she pulled up. Lauren ran her hands through her hair as she entered the door. 4 middle aged women stood waiting patiently.
“Sorry, I was a little further out today, how can I help you? Cabin?” Lauren asked, coming around the desk.
“Where’s Jim?” One woman with darker hair asked.
“Jim? Was he the man before me? I’m afraid he doesn’t work here anymore. Just me, I’m Lauren. Regulars?” Lauren grabbed the binder from underneath the counter and flipped through until she came on regulars. Scanning the list she found a November regular, along with a few other months. “Ok, here we are. It says the Helgas, tentsite 42. Yes?”
“That’s right, what happened to Jim? I'm surprised to see that he’s gone.” The dark haired woman handed over her credit card and tapped on the table anxiously. The other women moved around like they were trying to look as if they weren’t paying much attention.
“Not sure. No one really told me and I didn’t think to ask. I’ve been here since late spring, right before the summer rush. “ Lauren felt like she was being judged by the women.
“We’re particular about our privacy.” One of the women from the back said, trying to sound casual.
“That’s no problem, I won’t need to come by until you leave.” Lauren assured them.
“Jim left the entire area alone. I mean, we prefer to be left completely alone.” She clarified. Lauren was taken aback but nodded. After they left and had driven off she looked back down at the binder.
Helgas
Camp site 42
November Full Moon
December 21
March 21
Require all sites in the area empty. 3 day reservations. Noise level low, some disturbances.
Lauren closed the binder. She’d flipped through it before but obviously hadn’t retained much information. It occurred to her that this wasn’t in the main binder. She picked up the company binder, flipped through until she found regular reservations. Nothing helpful from the last 10 years. She booted up the computer and pulled up the spreadsheet. There it was. Reservations, regular. A list of people and campsites and cabins. The program was designed to automatically block off the areas that were supposed to be reserved. Campsite 42 was not on the list for today. Maybe because it was a full moon reservation and not a specific date? Lauren flipped through December and it wasn’t in there either. She sighed. Lauren went to the main screen and added in the December reservation and it stopped her. Ok. So it's here somehow. Or it wouldn’t have stopped her. But it doesn't show up. It’s hidden. Lauren crossed her arms and dropped her head down. She wasn’t completely computer illiterate but she really didn’t know how to see this. The last guy, Jim? Jim. That guy must’ve done something to the computer system. Why would he have done that? He did all the reservations. Unless he didn’t want the company itself to see. They could log in through the main office and see what was going on up here. There was another location they owned and the computer program was designed to work with that one. Lauren shook her head and sighed. Maybe she could get ahold of Steven and ask about Jim.
Lauren opened Jim’s binder again. There were only a few regulars that didn’t have reservations that showed up in the company system. By the time she was done it was dark outside. Lauren sighed and shut everything down. She locked up the office displaying the note to ring the doorbell. The doorbell that alerted her phone to a visitor that would need checked in. Lauren wasn’t worried about it, not in November. It was warmish for November but still cold. No one hunted up here because it had too many people walking up the trails, further out maybe but they would rent a cabin ahead of time if they stayed up here and on the weekends.
Lauren went into her kitchen and got a jar of chili out of the fridge. Cora had made some and sent it home with her after Saturday dinner a few weeks ago. It was easy to heat up. She got a glass of wine and started a fire in the fireplace to warm the house up. She turned the tv on and laid across the couch until she could smell the chili. She’d had a bus day and found herself drifting off before she’d finished eating so she cleaned up and took herself to bed.
Lauren found herself awake in the forest. Barefoot. It was silent. Completely silent. Lauren cautiously spun around trying to get her bearings. She saw movement off to the right. Her heart stopped, she looked over trying to make sense in the dark. Something moved next to the trees, an animal? Lauren took a step toward it without thinking.
Someone or something stepped out wearing an animal skull. Deer? Lauren couldn’t think through her fear. The clothes were baggy and run down. Like a t shirt over loose black pants tied up with a rope and black cardigan. With a black long jacket.
“Who are you?” Lauren asked, dazed.
“I should ask you the same thing. Where is the keeper?” The thing asked, but it wasn’t said aloud, she heard it in her head.
“I-I don’t know. I just got hired here a few months ago. My friend's friend helped me get the job.”
“Then the Keeper sent you here.” The thing insisted
“I don’t think so, the man before me, I didn’t know him.”
“I see. What did they tell you about this place?” The thing asked, circling her. Lauren realized it was tracing her with a skeletal finger.
“How to take reservations and how to clean.” Lauren murmured, trying not to look as scared as she felt.
“I could tell you.” The thing offered. Lauren felt her anxiety rise up and suddenly felt like she needed to be gone. She shouldn’t trust this thing, whatever it was.
“Um, no thanks.You could-could tell me who you are though.” Lauren said instead
“I’m insulted is what I am. You’ll have to figure out who on your own.” With that he was gone and she was in bed sitting up breathing hard. The raspy voice still echoing in her head.
Lauren blinked. A dream. It was a dream. But it had felt real. She checked her feet and saw that they were clean. A dream.
Lauren’s whole day was off after that. Everything looked sharper almost and she found herself pinching her arm to make sure she was actually awake. She avoided the tent sites circling around with the Helgas but found herself inspecting the rest of them carefully, unsure of what she was looking for. After that she rode down to the cabins and did a quick inspection, checking the windows for torn screens and the doors for any sign of break in, double checking the lock. All good. Lauren was done early and decide to walk one of the trails to shake off the oddness. There weren’t a lot of trails she hadn’t already walked so she picked one of the harder ones and grabbed her backpack with snacks and water.
In the months since moving up here she had grown stronger from the work and the access to trails. Anytime she felt herself slipping into a depressive episode or started thinking too much she would go on a long trail and try to exhaust herself. At some point she had started running in the mornings although had stopped in the last few weeks because of the cold and how long it took the sun to rise. Lauren ran a few miles awkwardly with the backpack and then slowed. There was a not well used trail off to the side. She was certain she was still on the company's property but had not seen this one before so she cautiously went off the main trail and headed down it. It didn’t take long for it to grow darker with the trees overhead. There were still nature noises but they seemed almost muted. Lauren pinched her arm just to make sure, it definitely hurt. She was definitely awake. Lauren pulled her camera out of her bag and began snapping pictures of the area around her, partly to remember where she had come from and partly because she was in awe of the area around her. It was beautiful out here and the trees made her feel small and light. She checked her phone and saw that it was nearing dark. She stopped and drank some water before turning around. Lauren moved at a brisk pace as she headed back and almost missed the flash of light off to her left. But as such she had just managed to catch it and it stopped her in her tracks.
“Hello?” Lauren called out, if it was a hunter she had run into, which she didn’t think it was, not as close to the campgrounds as they were, but if it was she wanted it clear they were dealing with a person. No one answered her though. She hesitantly stepped off the trail and walked toward it. She couldn’t think of anything that would flash out here. Cameras? She wasn’t aware of any out here but it had never occurred to her to ask anyone. Regardless, she should check to see if it was a camera before she asked about there being any. She came to a massive tree. She craned her head back and light hit her eyes so that it was difficult to make out the top of the tree. The branches started low giving her a compulsion to climb upwards. Off to the side of it the roots rose up seeming to form a circle. Lauren took a few pictures of it without thinking. She got as many different angles as possible. She had seen roots that came out of the ground but had never seen one that formed a perfect circle. Lauren looked around and realized that it was dark now, she checked her phone and saw the battery was almost drained. She had been here for 3 hours. Lauren blinked and shook her head. 3 hours? That was impossible. She started shaking and spun around when she realized how silent it was, even for night time.
SNAP
Lauren gasped and took off running. She didn’t think about anything other than heading back in the direction she had come. Adrenaline coursed through her and she felt like she was running faster than she had before. It was dizzying how sharp everything was and how fast it seemed to go by her. She hit the main trail and kept running. She could feel her energy start to dip and she pushed herself harder. By the time she emerged from the woods she fell on the ground sobbing and gasping for air. She grabbed a fistful of grass with one hand and put her other palm to her mouth to stifle the sobbing, screaming sounds she was making. It felt like an hour of laying on the ground trying to collect herself. It was one of the Helgas that found her.
“Are you ok? Ma’am? Guys! She’s out!” Lauren heard the thinner of the group yelling for her friends to come help The 4 of them lifted her to a sitting position and tried to get her to respond. Eventually Lauren started to come to and her breathing returned to normal.
“What happened? “ The dark haired one asked firmly,
“N-n-nothing. I-I-I don’t know. I was in the woods and I heard… I don’t know. I’m so sorry, I have no idea what came over me.” Lauren stuttered. Trying so hard to reign her emotions back in. “Nothing, I just lost track of time there and I guess I got myself spooked. I have quite the imagination. What are you guys doing here? Was there something you needed?”
“We came up to see if you were ok, we were doing a little night hiking and saw you running and we followed you.” The dark haired one said. Lauren thought she was lying but didn’t know why she thought that.
“I could use some wine honestly, would you 4 like some wine?” Lauren felt like she was drunk as she walked back to her back door, the short one linked her arm in Lauren’s and walked with her steadying her.
“Wine sounds nice, we have some back at camp, we could get ours and bring it back.” She told Lauren in a soothing voice. A mom voice.
“Nonsense. I always stock up in town, I have plenty. I’ll get a fire going and-”
“We can get the fire, you get the wine and Addy here will help you bring out the glasses.” The dark haired one gestured to the short one who smiled and headed toward the door to open it for Lauren.
Lauren had 2 wine glasses and used regular glass cups for everyone else. She grabbed a couple bottles of red wine she’d gotten clearanced out after Halloween, the bottle had a blurry outline of trees and Lauren had felt it looked so magical she’d bought 6. Of course it wasn’t her favorite so now seemed like a good time to try to offload a little.
“I’m Lauren by the way, I know that’s Addy, who are the rest of you?” Lauren asked as she and Addy passed out glasses and poured wine in front of the fire.
“I’m Sara. “ The dark haired one said taking a generous drink from her cup
“I’m Therese.” The blond smiled and waved,
“I’m Rian.” The thin one said, pronouncing it Ree-ann.
“Is this a girls trip? I hope I didn’t mess anything up.” Lauren asked, pulling her blanket from the house tight around her. The fire was nice and warm but not warm enough to fend off the November chill.
“You didn’t mess anything up, honestly we were hoping to speak with you anyway. We knew Jim fairly well, I guess as well as you can know someone you only see 3 times a year. He had a pretty good idea of what he’d signed up for when he started but we got the feeling you didn’t and we were curious.” Sara said, watching Lauren’s face intently.
“I guess I don’t. I’m not sure what you mean.” Lauren said, wondering if they were crazy. The witchy types who came out here to dance naked in front of a fire and sing before going back home to suburbs and corporate lives with toddlers and teenagers. Lauren had dealt with those types over the summer but not very many.
“Well how did you get the job?” Therese asked, spinning the wine in her glass like she’d already had a few before they started.
“A friend of a friend. I was looking to make some changes in my life and he thought I would be a good fit here.”
“The Keeper?” Sara asked, leaning forward.
“I don’t think so. He just seemed like a regular guy. Who is the Keeper? “ Lauren asked nervously. The woods looked darker and it occurred to her that she didn’t know if she could beat them back in the house if she wanted to run. Then she remembered the Keeper comment from her dream, now hazy but still there.
“The Keeper doesn’t do a whole lot from what I can tell, not directly I mean. He just keeps information and contacts who he needs. He got Jim hired on, we don’t know much about him, we’ve personally not seen him ourselves. We’re not sure if he changes every so often but as far as we know it’s been the same person always. These woods are full of magic you see and not all of it is good magic. “ Sara explained. “We come out 3 times a year to make a blood sacrifice to Eglas. He or She, is a … something. Hungry mostly. Instead of one person we use 4 or 5 sometimes. Same amount of blood and no one dies. Occasionally one person will donate more for a favor but it’s not often.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Lauren said dumbly.
“He/She said they came to visit you last night. They said that you didn’t know much about your job. Eglas seemed very angry so we came to help you” Rian told her.
“There’s not much to your job. You keep the grounds maintained and then you make sure that we are able to do our work. I don't know what else is in the woods but I know about Eglas. My family has for at least a century come out and offered blood to keep Eglas satisfied. When they started settling the area, they disturbed a lot of spirits. Eglas was curious and found the taste of human blood to be… good I guess. Eglas would go into homes and take people, in the beginning it was a lot. Most families fled the area, but the ones who stayed came to Eglas one night and offered to give him what he wanted if he backed off. Or she, really Eglas has no real gender. It’s a fairy or demon, I’m not sure. Either way, Eglas was satisfied with a person a year but that got old quickly, not a lot of people lining up to do that obviously, they really weren’t getting a lot out of that deal back then, they could farm the land peacefully and that was it. One day a young farmer offered himself but when it came time he talked Eglas into changing the deal, a little from the strongest men in town. Eglas got the best there was and it was willingly. Eglas threw in the part about 3 times a year since the body wasn't included in the deal. That’s the lore anyway.” Sara told her story well, moving her hands and body, changing her pitch like a natural born storyteller.
“I think fairy because it makes the most sense with the woods and the deal making. You don’t have to believe us yet, you will eventually, but we come out here and do our ceremony and leave.” Addy told her.
“That sounds, nice.” Lauren said hesitantly. She drank more and could already feel the events of the afternoon fuzzing away.
“He’ll come to you again tonight, you’ll know who he is now. “ Therese said, smiling nicely.
“And you’ve done your ceremony already?” Lauren asked, trying to see if there were cuts visible. The girls nodded and Addy pulled her pants down showing off a long cut on her thigh. Lauren hissed through her teeth at the sight of it.
“Oh it’s not so bad. It hurts but it always heals quickly like it was never there. “ Addy assured her.
“Jim knew about this? “ Lauren asked, remembering a note in the binder about them being .
disturbing or something
“Yes, he did.. He knew before he started though. It kept him safe. We were a little worried that leaving you to the wolves so to speak, that you wouldn’t survive.” Rian explained.
“I’m afraid I’ve worn myself out. I think I’ll go to bed.” Lauren said, getting up carefully. The women were nice company and Lauren couldn’t think of the last time she had sat around the fire with anyone, but the conversation made her nervous. They looked at each other and nodded.
“We leave early tomorrow but I’ll leave my card on your door, you can call if you need anything.” Sara assured her.
Lauren didn’t get into bed as much as she collapsed into it. Her legs ached already and she knew that she wasn’t getting around much tomorrow. Between the wine and adrenaline wearing off, Lauren was able to fall asleep quickly.
She was out in the woods again. She must be dreaming because she wasn’t hurting.
“Do you know who I am?” The creature asked in her head again. Lauren couldn’t see the creature but didn’t feel the need to look for it either, just stood waiting.
“Eglas.” Lauren answered out loud. There was a chittering sound that somehow sounded pleased.
“Smart woman. I have been watching you.”
“I’d prefer you didn’t.” Lauren said dryly.
“You have questions.” Eglas stated.
“I can find answers.”
“I can give you answers if you ask me. It’s easy.” Eglas encouraged.
“Nothing is ever free and I have no intention of indebting myself to you. Accidentally or otherwise.” Lauren said, making herself clear. Eglas chuckled out loud and Lauren heard a swooshing through the trees. Lauren involuntarily shuddered.
“Have it your way, but you know where to find me.” Eglas said.
Lauren woke up the next morning as sore as she thought she would be. She managed to drag herself out of bed and to the bathroom and pulled on sweats that could pass as clothes. She thought that was the advantage of getting older, no one expected as much fashion wise. Lauren considered sitting on the stairs to go down but pushed through each painful step until she was in the kitchen. Ibuprofen and a freezer meal with a bottle of wine and she headed to the living room. She’d be close enough to answer any visitors if they came but she could sleep on the couch or watch tv. Lauren couldn’t find anything interesting on tv, or not enough to block out the clear dream she’d had last night that seemed to stick to her. When the ibuprofen kicked in she felt good enough to sit up, she looked around the room and noticed the bookshelf was getting dusty again. There were books on the shelf that had come with the place but Lauren had never really looked at them before. After flipping through movie selections and still not seeing anything she could find any interest in she got up and wandered over to the shelf. Reading the titles she figured out why she hadn’t wanted to read them before. History of the area mostly. Then a book about ghosts in the area, that sounded like it could be interesting. When Lauren was a kid she devoured books about ghosts. Next to it was a book without a title, it was slim and blended with the other books well. Lauren grabbed it as well, mostly curious. She settled back on the couch and pulled the blanket around her. The book was interesting, the usual ladies in the woods and drowned men, children warning of danger. Then there was a chapter that mentioned Elgas.
TRANCHLURE
He arose from the mud, hungry,ravenous.
He crept through the trees and on the strange mist observant first.
When the people came and Eglas fed He found a way to satiate the hunger and then slept for years and was awoken
He massacred the nearest town and those who lived in the woods found a way to drive him back into the caves, not dead but mostly sleeping until someone falls into his cavern, never to return.
Was it about Eglas? She didn’t think so.
Lauren went into the office and grabbed the binder that mentioned the Helgas. Even the binder was coded though obviously.
With her limited knowledge though she was thinking that they were groups of worshippers coming to celebrate differently. Lauren wondered if she could order some books on astrology to understand it better.
She opened up another book on fairies, but this had highlighted sections. A recipe for some kind of tea to see fairies. In the side there were some notes on things to leave out around the forest, offerings for the spirits. Lauren traced the handwriting and wondered if it was Jim who had written it or someone else. Apples was what it said.
There was a ring telling her someone was here. Lauren got up again carefully and headed in to the office. A man with a sleepy toddler on his shoulder stood waiting. He looked haggard and nervous.
“Cabin?” Lauren asked softly.
“Uhm, yes please.” He said.
“Any preference? You kind of have your pick this weekend.”
“Something toward the back.”
“Alright, cabin 15, more towards the middle honestly but it branches off so it’s a little more secluded?”
“Yes sounds fine. ‘
Lauren handed him his keys and a small map and sent him on his way, she then hobbled back to her couch. Sighing, she went back to the original book and started a story about a woman who had gotten lost in the forest and run into a sprit offering wishes. A wispy in between soul. Lauren noted that the spirit could be found by a landmark she knew. Slowly she started to doze.
Again she found herself barefoot in the forest.
“Hello again.” He or she whispered in her head
“Hello. Why am I here again?” Lauren asked dreamily.
“Because I am a generous soul. The man came today to ask for a favor from the fairies, he bought his offerings but he failed to realize he had put his daughter in danger. She’s gifted, she’s why he knows to come here. She’s also hit the magician and witches' radar, he needs protection.”
“Ah, and why do you care? There’s always a price.”
“I’ll protect her, for a price, obviously, just a little blood offering. From him if that isn’t clear. I need you to go and tell him my offer before his daughter is spirited away. Awaken now.”
Lauren woke up suddenly, she was annoyed and irate at being ordered around. But she got up and found a card that Sara had offered her the night before. Nervously she rang the number.
“Hello?” Sara answered.
“It’s Lauren, are you far away? “ Lauren asked, wondering how her rational world had changed in such a short span of time.
“Not far at all, maybe a mile.”
“Eglas, came to me, he wants to offer his services to a new camper here.”
“We’ll turn back around immediately.”
A few hours later Rian stood at the office smiling.
“It’s been taken care of, I didn’t realize what you being here meant. You’re the new Keeper.” Rian looked on at her with admiration.
“I don’t think so.” Lauren said firmly.
“You are, whether you know it or not, that’s why you’re here. Eglas might’ve told you that was why he was coming to you but he told us.” Lauren didn’t like the culty feeling she was getting off of Rian right now.
“Well, I don’t know what that means, I’m a caretaker, a well paid caretaker. Not a Keeper for things I don’t believe in. “
“I don't know much about the Keepers, but I have a very strong feeling that you should find the person who sent you here and ask some questions. I don’t know as much as the other girls about the magic in the forest but I do know that the fairies have an affinity for ceremony.”
After a few days of thinking, Lauren finally made a call to Eric. Eric was due up today.
Eric came to the regular front door instead of the office door.
“You’re the Keeper.” Lauren said without saying hello.
“Yes. Jim was a Keeper as well, but he… Well he isn’t anymore. You are up for the position obviously. I’m assuming you brokered a deal for someone out there if you figured it out. Which is accepting the position.”
“I don’t know about any of this. Eglas came and told me a girl was in trouble. I offered protection through another group that I know offers blood sacrifices. I feel like I’m too old to be any sort of Keeper. “
“Well it’s in your blood. That’s part of the reason you were chosen. The night you came to me I had a day of signs, then I heard about Jim. I was thinking of sending another established Keeper to this area and then I saw you. One big sign. I watched you for a few days and then I made the decision to send you up here. You have done very well so far. “
“Is there like a meeting for this? An instructional booklet? “
“I’m guessing Jim left a book of notes behind. He was good about notes in his day and when he realized he was coming to an end he told me he would leave things behind for whoever came next. I’d just look for books and binders.”
“But I don’t understand it.”
“Well you’ll have to learn fast”
“Rian said there was likely a ceremony.”
“There is an introduction. You’ll spill your blood by a great tree that connects all of the mountain. You’ll be recognized and the creatures will know to come to you.”
“What kind of fairy tale is this?”
“The kind that you’re a part of. “
“If it’s in my blood shouldn’t I know something?”
“I guess not.”
Lauren stood in front of the tree on the next full moon, freezing and nervous. The Helgas joined her for emotional support. Lauren held a sharp knife and sliced her hand to let the blood flow over the ground. Energy started from the ground and worked its way up her feet and through her body. With her feet firmly planted it felt as if she came up out of her body and rose above the trees, like looking through a microscope if she concentrated on a certain area she could see everything going on. At first she thought she saw people, but it was much too late for that. They were creatures. They roamed and played. I could see everything.
Welcome to Camp Thellgar

I login to my wendys app tonight to check this weeks deals and I saw I was down to 200 points. I was annoyed as hell because Im like why did my points expire without warning. I check the rewards section and it said I redeemed 800 points for a baconator on April 29th and im like, no tf I didn't. I checked the receipt on the app and it showed on Aprll 25th a double bacaonator with extra pickles, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and mustard. They also got a large drink. The total was $13.28, but the weird thing is, it says discount -$13.28. I wasn't charged any money, I only use apple pay.
Besides getting hacked...? its weird they were able to use a regular baconator coupon on the mobile app to place a mobile order and get a large drink and pay nothing. Anytime I redeemed a coupon I would have to pay extra. It was a Wendys out in Brooklyn NY and im not even in NY.
​
The other weird thing is someone is logging into peoples wendys apps and redeeming their saved points :(
https://preview.redd.it/ubhurl7nhwyc1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=432a4c4216179acc01f8e46f594666312cc62040
https://preview.redd.it/5ayxpl7nhwyc1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4d139f9f89b656c891ecb9abaf145849ba6cd6b
I tried contacting Wendys on Twitter, but not too hopeful for help.

Hi! I started running consistently about 4 months ago and am getting really excited to run the Brooklyn half! I’ve run my easy runs really consistently at around an 11:30-40 pace (my 11 miles on Saturday was a 11:30-45 average consistently the entire time). My heart rate stays in control and it truly feels sustainable forever. I also do speed work usually 1x a week. For example this week I did 8x400m with 2 mins off at a 8:45-9:00 “on” pace. I’m so used to feeling “comfortable” in my long runs that Im a little nervous to know when / how to push during the half to not feel out of control or that I “fly and die”. Any advice appreciated!!

I have a custom built NAS Server with 16TB of storage. On it I have a decent amount of 4K Remux rips. They Range from 60-100GB. They simply do not run at this point. It will load for 2 min and then buffer and repeat indefinitely. I am not having these issues when playing regular 4K x265 compressed rips where file sizes are 15-40GB. As soon as i started ripping full remux of my favorite movies, I can’t play them.
I am using an Apple TV 4K 64GB latest gen and I use Infuse as my interface. Very clean application. I am curious if this is a NAS server issue or is it a streaming box issue (Apple TV being too weak to handle large 4K local files)? Does anyone here use their ATV as their media player and consistently watch local large 4K Movie files with no issues or buffering? If so, what are you using?
SOLVED: the issue was definitely my connection. I switched to and hardwired my old 1st Gen ATV 4K and no more buffer and am now gettin 500mbps speeds on my tests. My router must be horribly out of date.

I have a custom built NAS Server with 16TB of storage. On it I have a decent amount of 4K Remux files. They Range from 60-100GB. They simply do not run at this point. It will load for 2 min and then buffer and repeat indefinitely. It seems that I am not having these issues when playing regular 4K x265 rips where file sizes are 15-40GB. As soon as i started ripping full remux of my favorite movies, I can’t play them.
I am using an Apple TV 4K 64GB latest gen and I use Infuse as my interface. Very clean application. I am curious if this is a server issue or is it a streaming box issue (Apple TV being too weak)? I don’t think my server power has much to do with being able to watch my media. Has anyone else ran into this before? If this is the wrong sub for this question, feel free to point me in the right direction but figured I’d start on the server side to cross that off the list.
SOLVED: it was my network. Hardwired my old ATV 4k with Ethernet and all good now!

The two multifamily redevelopment sites on 21 Montauk Avenue & 22 Milford Street in Brooklyn were sold for $5.7 million. The properties, totaling 96 units, were previously storage facilities and were acquired by buyer Moses Rabinowitz at a price of $59,375 per unit.

Summary of transaction details:

• Property Type: Multifamily
• Transaction Amount: $5,700,000
• Units: 96
• Price Per Unit: $59,375
• Address: 21 Montauk Avenue & 22 Milford Street, Brooklyn

Jacob Stavksy of Stav Equities LLC represented the buyer, Moses Rabinowitz, in the $5.7 million transaction involving the acquisition of the two multifamily redevelopment sites in Brooklyn. The properties, formerly used as storage facilities, are now set for redevelopment under the new ownership.
Learn More: Moses Rabinowitz Acquires Multifamily Sites In Brooklyn For $5.7M

Notes: This is a work that is currently in progress; please check back for updates. Titles have been edited to provide details.
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee: UUSC Joins Calls for an Immediate Ceasefire in Israel/Palestine (October 2023): https://www.uusc.org/press/ceasefire-in-israel-palestine/
‘We are over 100 former J Street staff and student leaders calling on J Street to immediately push for a ceasefire and urge elected officials to do the same." (October 2023): https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24035556-j-street-alumni-letter-october-2023 & https://theintercept.com/2023/10/15/j-street-gaza-ceasefire-staffers-lette
Call for Ceasefire in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory [Signed by: Alliance of Baptists; American Baptist Churches USA; American Friends Service Committee; American Muslims for Palestine; Americans for Justice in Palestine; Anera; Auburn Theological Seminary; Center for Civilians in Conflict; Center for Jewish Nonviolence; Center for Victims of Torture; Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy; Churches for Middle East Peace; Common Defense; Council on Islamic-American Relations; Demand Progress; Democracy for the Arab World Now; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Freedom Forward; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect; Grassroots International; Historians for Peace and Democracy; If Not Now; Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project; International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN); Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Jewish Voice for Peace Action; Just Foreign Policy; Justice Democrats; Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention; MADRE; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Mennonite Central Committee U.S.; Minnesota Peace Project; MPower Change Action Fund; National Council of Churches; National Iranian American Council; Neighbors for Peace; Nonviolent Peaceforce; PAX; Pax Christi USA; Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness; Peace Action; Project on Middle East Democracy; Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft; Quixote Center; ReThinking Foreign Policy; Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; RootsAction; September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows; Sojourners; The Duty Legacy; The Episcopal Church; The Unitarian Universalist Association; The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society; The Zomia Center; United Church of Christ; United for Peace and Justice; UNRWA USA; Women for Weapons Trade Transparency; Working Families Party; World BEYOND War; Yemen Freedom Council; Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation; Yemeni Alliance Committee] (October 16, 2023): https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/call-for-ceasefire-in-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory/
Quaker organizations call for a ceasefire and humanitarian protections in Gaza [Signed by: American Friends Service Committee; Canadian Friends Service Committee; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Friends World Committee for Consultation; Quakers in Britain; Quakers Australia; Quaker United Nations Office] (October 17, 2023): https://afsc.org/newsroom/quaker-organizations-call-ceasefire-and-humanitarian-protections-gaza
The Coptic Orthodox Church condemns the unjustified Israeli violence against innocent Palestinian civilians (October 18, 2023): https://copticorthodox.church/en/2023/10/18/the-coptic-orthodox-church-condemns-the-unjustified-israeli-violence-against-innocent-palestinian-civilians/
‘Not in our name’: Jewish peace activists across the US call for immediate ceasefire and justice for Palestinians (October 23, 2023): https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/23/us/jewish-palestinian-protest-israel-gaza/index.html
United Nations: Amid Increasingly Dire Humanitarian Situation in Gaza, Secretary-General Tells Security Council Hamas Attacks Cannot Justify Collective Punishment of Palestinian People (October 24, 2023): https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15462.doc.htm
Gaza: The case for a ceasefire Chatham House (October 27, 2023): https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/10/gaza-case-ceasefire
Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire in the Holy Land (October 29, 2023): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/pope-francis-angelus-29-october-appeal-peace-gaza-holy-land.html
Carter Center Calls for Cease-fire in Gaza, Return of Hostages, Opening of Humanitarian Corridors (October 31, 2023): https://www.cartercenter.org/news/p2023/carter-center-statement-israel-palestine-103123.html
Evangelicals Call for an Immediate Ceasefire in the Holy Land, Urgent Action Towards a Just Peace [Statement signed by Middle East and North Africa Evangelical Alliance; Asia Evangelical Alliance; Alianza Evangelica Latina; Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia; Jordan Evangelical Council; Evangelical Fellowship of India; Association of the Iraqi National Evangelical Churches; Evangelical Alliance of Kenya; Evangelical Churches Alliance Qatar; Evangelical Alliance of South Africa; National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka; National Churches Fellowship of Nepal; Council of the Evangelical Churches in Iraqi Kurdistan Region; Evangelical Fellowship of Egypt; Evangelical Alliance of Arabic speakers in Europe; Caleb Institute, India; Middle East and North Africa Association for Theological Education (MENATE); Peace and Reconciliation Network] (November 1, 2023): https://mena-ea.org/evangelicals-call-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-in-the-holy-land-urgent-action-towards-a-just-peace/
Unite the Union calls for an immediate ceasefire (November 3, 2023): https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2023/novembeunite-calls-for-an-immediate-ceasefire
Japanese Communist Party calls on governments concerned to work to stop genocide in Gaza (November 6, 2023): https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2023/11/20231106-gaza.html
Buddhist Peace Fellowship: True Justice, True Peace: Engaged Buddhist Response to Gaza (November 7, 2023) https://www.bpf.org/blog/true-justice-true-peace-engaged-buddhist-response-to-gaza
Episcopal Church: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on 10,000+ dead in Gaza: Stop the killing (November 7, 2023): https://www.episcopalchurch.org/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-michael-curry-on-10000-dead-in-gaza-stop-the-killing/
SEIU 1021 Executive Board Statement Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza (November 7, 2023): https://www.seiu1021.org/article/seiu-1021-executive-board-statement-calls-ceasefire-gaza
Biden Alumni for Peace and Justice, a coalition of 500+ former 2020 Biden for President and Democratic Party staff: "We write to you as alumni of your 2020 presidential campaign. We fought tirelessly to organize millions of Americans to cast their votes for you. Like you, we believe in the dignity and value of every human life and the need for moral courage from our country’s leadership. We implore you, President Biden, to live that moral courage right now by stepping up to be a leader we can be proud of in the face of injustice. As President of the United States, you have significant influence in this perilous moment — you must call for a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and de-escalation, and take concrete steps to address the conditions of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing at the root of the horrific violence we are witnessing now." (November 8, 2023): https://medium.com/@bidenalumnipeace/dear-president-biden-8a41e0b444dd
Ukrainian letter of solidarity with the Palestinian people: More than 300 Ukrainian scholars, activists and artists express their solidarity with Palestinians in an open letter. (November 8, 2023): https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/8/ukrainian-letter-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian
United Methodist Church bishops call for peace in the Holy Land (November 10, 2023): https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/newsdetail/umc-bishops-call-for-peace-in-middle-east-18135691
American Buddhists Issue Petition Urging President Biden to Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza (November 14, 2023): https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/american-buddhists-issue-petition-urging-president-biden-to-call-for-a-ceasefire-in-gaza/
Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, one of 55 Vice Presidents of the AFL-CIO, and a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Committee and Council: As a Union President, I Stand With Humanity in Calling for a Cease-Fire (November 14, 2023): https://www.thenation.com/article/world/mark-dimondstein-gaza-israel-cease-fire/
Humanist Society Scotland calls for ceasefire in Gaza (November 16, 2023): https://www.humanism.scot/2023/11/16/humanist-society-scotland-calls-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/
Jewish American Calls for a Ceasefire Highlight Divisions in the Community (November 17, 2023): https://time.com/6335528/jewish-american-ceasefire-progressive-jews/
Jews for Ceasefire holds demonstration outside Schwarzman, demands Yale divest from weapons manufacturing (November 17, 2023): https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/11/17/jews-for-ceasefire-holds-demonstration-outside-schwarzman-demands-yale-divest-from-weapons-manufacturing/
Jane Fonda: "I join with millions of others in calling for —in the words of the UN Secretary General —‘a true humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza." (December 2, 2023): https://www.instagram.com/janefonda/p/C0XIXkUJhI1/
‘These are very hard times’: Pastor of Gaza Catholic church gives update on Christians’ plight (December 6, 2023): https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256192/these-are-very-hard-times-pastor-of-gaza-catholic-church-gives-update-on-christian-s-plight
Ahead of White House Hanukkah celebration, a wave of faith-led cease-fire demonstrations (December 11, 2023): https://religionnews.com/2023/12/11/jewish-christian-activists-head-up-another-wave-of-faith-led-cease-fire-demonstrations/
Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation: Statement on Gaza/Israeli conflict (December 13, 2023): https://www.uuwf.org/blog/13290680
1199SEIU, nation’s largest healthcare union, calls for Gaza ceasefire (December 15, 2023): https://www.1199seiu.org/media-cente1199seiu-nations-largest-healthcare-union-calls-gaza-ceasefire
Union for Reform Judaism Alumni and Current Members for Ceasefire (December 16th, 2023): https://urjceasefirenow.wordpress.com/2023/12/16/urj-alumni-and-current-members-for-ceasefire/
Joint Statement by Current and Former Australian Elected Representatives on the Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories [300+ signatures] (December 19, 2023): https://apan.org.au/joint-statement/ & https://docs.google.com/document/d/182u4eJnJUZ_Uruf1GlchLnF8XotnpnAX/
Holy Land: Caritas Internationalis joins today’s Global Day of Action calling for a Ceasefire Now (December 22, 2023): https://www.caritas.org/2023/12/holy-land-caritas-internationalis-joins-todays-global-day-of-action-calling-for-a-ceasefire-now/ & https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-ceasefirenow-in-gaza-and-israel
World Council of Churches calls for immediate end to brutal violence in Gaza (December 30, 2023): https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-calls-for-immediate-end-to-brutal-violence-in-gaza
Muslims for Progressive Values: Never Again? (January 4, 2024): https://www.mpvusa.org/blog/never-again
Anti-Defamation League staff decry ‘dishonest’ campaign against Israel critics (January 5, 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism
Michelle Goldberg in the New York Times via U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett: America Must Face Up to Israel’s Extremism (January 9, 2024): https://doggett.house.gov/media/in-the-news/new-york-times-america-must-face-israels-extremism
State and Local Elected Officials Open Letter to President Biden Calling for a Ceasefire [350+ signatures] (January 9, 2024): https://www.jvpaction.org/state-and-local-elected-officials-open-letter-to-president-biden-calling-for-a-ceasefire/
Anglican Bishop Christopher calls for ceasefire ‘to end appalling suffering’ in Gaza (January 19, 2024): https://southwark.anglican.org/news-events/news/latest-news/bishop-christopher-calls-for-ceasefire-to-end-appalling-suffering-in-gaza/
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry's Statement on War in Gaza (January 22, 2024): https://www.seiu.org/2024/01/seius-mary-kay-henry-statement-on-war-in-gaza
Ayanna Pressley, Interfaith Coalition Hold Vigil for Lives Lost in Gaza and Israel, Renew Calls for Ceasefire ["Joining Rep. Pressley at the vigil was Rev. Carrie Ballenger, University Lutheran and Lutheran Chaplain at Harvard; Rabbi Rebecca Hornstein, Boston Workers Circle Executive Director; Imam Ahmad Barry of the Islamic Institute of Boston; Reverend Darrell Hamilton of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain; Hadar Ahuvia, Rabbinical Student at Hebrew College; Rev. Willie Bodrick, II of the Twelfth Baptist Church; Rabbi Becky Silverstein; Rev. Otto Concannon of First Parish Malden; Rev. Elizabeth Carrier-Ladd, First Parish Dorchester; and hundreds of faith leaders and community members from across Greater Boston."] (January 25, 2024): https://pressley.house.gov/2024/01/25/pressley-interfaith-coalition-hold-vigil-for-lives-lost-in-gaza-and-israel-renew-calls-for-ceasefire/
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EuroMed Rights): A conditional ceasefire is not sufficient – The EU must call for an unconditional, immediate and permanent ceasefire (January 25, 2024): https://euromedrights.org/publication/a-conditional-ceasefire-is-not-sufficient-the-eu-must-call-for-an-unconditional-immediate-and-permanent-ceasefire/
Bernie Sanders: The US must act to end the Gaza disaster (January 27, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/the-us-must-act-to-end-the-gaza-disaste
Texas AFL-CIO becomes first state labor federation to call for ceasefire in Gaza (January 30, 2024): https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2024-01-30/texas-afl-cio-becomes-first-state-labor-federation-to-call-for-ceasefire-in-gaza
Former U.S. Representative Andy Levin: Military action won’t solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s time for diplomacy. (February 1, 2024): https://www.stripes.com/opinion/2024-02-01/military-diplomacy-israel-palestinian-conflict-12863912.html
Sister Nabila's appeal from Gaza: ‘We want peace, respect for human rights’ (February 3, 2024): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-02/sister-nabila-gaza-holy-family-parish-appeal-peace.html
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO): Statement on the Situation in Israel and Gaza (February 8, 2024): https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-statement-situation-israel-and-gaza
Carter Center Calls on Israel to Halt its Plan to Force 1.3 Million Palestinians Out of Rafah (February 9, 2024): https://www.cartercenter.org/news/p2024/israel-020924.html
The Council of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Calls for Immediate Withdrawal of Financial Support from Israel (February 14, 2024): https://mailchi.mp/6640b1d7ce56/council-of-bishops-calls-for-immediate-withdrawal-of-financial-support-from-israel
Unitarian Universalist Association: UUA Condemns Violence Against Gaza, Urges Immediate and Total Ceasefire (February 14, 2024): https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/uua-condemns-violence-urges-ceasefire
New national labor network formed to “end the death and devastation” in the Israel-Hamas war. National Labor Network for Ceasefire aims to further expand unprecedented ceasefire support. (February 16, 2024): https://www.laborforceasefire.org/new-national-labor-network-formed-to-end-the-death-and-devastation-in-the-israel-hamas-wa
Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association: A letter from the UUMA Board of Trustees (February 19, 2024): https://uuma.org/latest-news/a-letter-from-the-uuma-board-of-trustees/
Presbyterian Church USA: Calling for a stop to the destruction of Gaza (February 20, 2024): https://www.pcusa.org/news/2024/2/20/calling-for-a-stop-to-the-destruction-of-gaza/
Liberal Jews for Justice in Israel/Palestine: As British Jews, we call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza (February 27, 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/as-british-jews-we-call-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&Ds): Palestinian lives matter! We call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza (February 27, 2024): https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/newsroom/sds-palestinian-lives-matter-we-call-immediate-and-unconditional-ceasefire-gaza
Japanese student urges Gaza cease-fire as U.S. universities quiet dissent (February 29, 2024): https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/02/0db05a4f79ab-japan-student-urges-gaza-ceasefire-as-us-universities-quiet-dissent.html
Malala Yousafzai: "It's heartbreaking that this school — a place for children in Gaza to learn and dream — is now home to thousands of people fleeing Israel's attacks. Every Palestinian child deserves to live in peace and be back in their schools as students. We cannot wait another day for a ceasefire." (February 29, 2024): https://twitter.com/Malala/status/1763265614985003421
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Conference of Bishops calls for permanent bilateral cease-fire in Gaza (March 3, 2024): https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/8217
Pizzaballa, Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem: Gaza ceasefire more urgent than ever (March 5, 2024): https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-03/patriarch-pizzaballa-gaza-ceasefire-christians-church-peace.html
Artists Call for Ceasefire Now [Including: Bryan Adams; Ben Affleck; Eric André; Christine Baranski; Jon Batiste; Cate Blanchett; Billy Bragg; Priyanka Chopra; Bradley Cooper; Brian Cox; David Cross; Alfonso Cuarón; John Cusack; Rosario Dawson; Diplo; Drake; Brian Eno; Francesca Fiorentini; Judah Friedlander; Liz Garbus; Andrew Garfield; Richard Gere; Lily Gladstone; Selena Gomez; Amanda Gorman; Tom Hardy; Simon Helberg; Oscar Isaac; Tony Kushner; Padma Lakshmi; Cindi Leive; Simu Liu; Jennifer Lopez; Macklemore; Zayn Malik; Miriam Margolyes; Ewan McGregor; Adam McKay; Alyssa Milano; Hasan Minhaj; Michael Moore; Viggo Mortensen; Ebon Moss-Bachrach; Cynthia Nixon; Frank Ocean; Rosie O'Donnell; Sandra Oh; David Oyelowo; Mandy Patinkin; Jordan Peele; Kal Penn; Joaquin Phoenix; Boots Riley; Mark Ruffalo; Susan Sarandon; Jean Smart; Noam Shuster-Eliassi; Jon Stewart; Kristen Stewart; Jeremy Strong; Wanda Sykes; Channing Tatum; Michelle Wolf; et al.] (Updated as of March 8, 2024): https://www.artists4ceasefire.org
T'ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights: U.S. Rabbis and Cantors Call on President Biden to End War in Gaza [+450 signatures] (March 8, 2024): https://truah.org/press/north-american-rabbis-and-cantors-call-on-president-biden-to-push-for-end-of-war-in-gaza/
NEWS: Senators Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Mazie Hirono, Peter Welch, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, and Ben Ray Luján Urge President Biden to Enforce U.S. Law with Netanyahu (March 12, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-van-hollen-merkley-and-five-colleagues-urge-president-biden-to-enforce-u-s-law-with-netanyahu/
United Methodist Church Council of Bishops calling for ceasefire in Gaza (March 13, 2024): https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/newsdetail/united-methodist-bishops-call-for-ceasefire-in-gaza-18303396
Israeli Assurances to Use US Arms Legally Are Not Credible: Oxfam and Human Rights Watch provide evidence of Israel's violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, undermining credibility of assurances for President Biden's NSM-20 arms policy (March 19, 2024): https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/19/israeli-assurances-use-us-arms-legally-are-not-credible
Humanists UK: Call for ceasefire in Gaza (March 21, 2024): https://humanists.uk/2024/03/21/call-for-ceasefire-in-gaza/
NEWS: Bernie Sanders on State Department’s Statement that Israel Has Not Restricted Humanitarian Aid to Gaza (March 25, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-on-state-departments-statement-that-israel-has-not-restricted-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza/
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: A/HRC/55/73: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 - Advance unedited version ["After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 are presumed dead and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations. Seventy percent of residential areas have been destroyed. Eighty percent of the whole population has been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families have lost loved ones or have been wiped out. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives, forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street or under the rubble. Thousands have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come. By analysing the patterns of violence and Israel’s policies in its onslaught on Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met. One of the key findings is that Israel's executive and military leadership and soldiers have intentionally distorted jus in bello principles, subverting their protective functions, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people."] (March 25, 2024): https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5573-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-palestinian
In New Letter, 140+ Global Christian Leaders Call for Permanent Gaza Ceasefire, Halt of Arms Sales to Israel (March 26, 2024): https://cmep.salsalabs.org/ps-mar262024letter
Former officials speak out against Biden’s Israel support after aid worker killings: ‘No one can change his mind’ (April 4, 2024): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-israel-arms-gaza-b2523435.html
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor joins labor groups calling for cease-fire in Gaza (April 10, 2024): https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-04-10/l-a-county-fed-joins-labor-groups-calling-for-a-ceasefire
Young European Socialists (YES) calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. More than 30.000 civilians have been killed in Gaza following Israel military actions. We recall that the protection of civilian lives is a fundamental principle of international law. (April 10, 2024): https://twitter.com/YESocialists/status/1777993174654275791
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EuroMed Rights): 13,000 Palestinians reportedly missing in the Gaza Strip (April 11, 2024): https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6264/13,000-Palestinians-reportedly-missing-in-the-Gaza-Strip
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland: Prayers and statements on violence in Israel and Gaza (April 16, 2024): https://ctbi.org.uk/prayers-and-statements-on-violence-in-israel-and-gaza/
Amos Goldberg, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Yes, it is genocide (April 18, 2024): https://thepalestineproject.medium.com/yes-it-is-genocide-634a07ea27d4
Statement from U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Joaquin Castro, Nydia Velázquez, Lloyd Doggett, Ro Khanna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Becca Balint, Greg Casar, Mark Takano, Jim McGovern, Barbara Lee, Earl Blumenauer, Judy Chu, Hank Johnson, André Carson, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jesús “Chuy” García, Jonathan Jackson, and Jill Tokuda on the Israel Security Supplemental (April 20, 2024): https://jayapal.house.gov/2024/04/20/statement-from-jayapal-castro-velazquez-doggett-khanna-ocasio-cortez-balint-casar-takano-mcgovern-barbara-lee-blumenauer-chu-johnson-carson-watson-coleman-jesus-chuy/
NEWS: Bernie Sanders Statement on Amendment Votes on National Security Supplemental (April 22, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-amendment-votes-on-national-security-supplemental/
NEWS: Bernie Sanders Statement on ‘Dark Day’ in U.S. Senate (April 23, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-dark-day-in-u-s-senate/
PREPARED REMARKS: Bernie Sanders on Ending Unfettered Military Aid to Israel and Restoring UNRWA Funding (April 23, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/prepared-remarks-sanders-on-ending-unfettered-military-aid-to-israel-and-restoring-unrwa-funding/
Bishops, delegates join rally sponsored by United Methodist Kairos Response for Palestine (April 26, 2024): https://www.umnews.org/en/news/bishops-delegates-join-rally-for-palestine
Statement in solidarity with student protests for Gaza [Signed by: 350.org US; 18 Million Rising; 198 methods; Adalah Justice Project; Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; AF3IRM; Afghans For A Better Tomorrow; Al-Haq; Alliance of Baptists; American Baptist Churches USA; American Baptist Churches Palestine Israel Network; American Friends Service Committee; American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC); American Muslim Bar Association; American Muslim Community Foundation; American Muslims for Palestine (AMP); Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action); Arab American Civic Council; Arab American Institute; Asian American Advocacy Fund; Better to Speak; Beyt Tikkun: A Synagogue without Walls; Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU); Blue Future; Borderlands for Equity; Borderlands Resource Initiative; Breach Collective; Brooklyn For Peace; CAIR Action; CAIR California; CAIR Minnesota; CAIR Oklahoma; CAIR-WA; California Coalition for Women Prisoners; Cameroon American Council; Carceral Tech Resistance Network; Ceasefire Democrats; Ceasefire Now NJ; Center for Constitutional Rights; Center for Popular Democracy Action; Center for Protest Law & Litigation @ Partnership for Civil Justice Fund; Chicago Area Peace Action; Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy; Christians for a Free Palestine; Civic Ark; Civil Liberties Defense Center; Clockshop; CommonDefense.us; Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP); Council on American-Islamic Relations; CWA-News Guild Local 38010; Defending Rights & Dissent; Delaware Democratic Socialists of America; Delawareans for Palestinian Human Rights; Detention Watch Network; Disciples Palestine Israel Network; Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM); Doctors Against Genocide; Dream Defenders; Dutch Scholars for Palestine; Eindhoven Students 4 Palestine; Emgage Action; En Conjunto; Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Palestine Israel Network; Faith for Black Lives; Faith in Texas; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Fight for the Future; For All; Freedom Farm Community; Freedom Oklahoma; Freedom To Thrive; Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA); Future Coalition; Gen-Z for Change; Gender Justice Action and Gender Justice; Get Free; Global Campaign to Reclaim People's Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power & Stop Impunity; Green Mountain Solidarity With Palestine; Green New Deal Network; Greenpeace USA; Hawai'i for Palestine; Health Justice Commons; Helena (Montana) Service for Peace and Justice; Highlander Research and Education Center; Hindus for Human Rights; Historians for Peace and Democracy; Human Dignity Project (THDP); IfNotNow Movement; IfNotNow New Jersey; Immigrant Defense Project; Immigrant Justice Network; Immigrants Act Now; Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC); Indiana Center for Middle East Peace; Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project; Interfaith Ceasefire; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; International Mayan League; InterReligious Task Force on Central America; Iowans For Palestine; Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); Islamophobia Studies Center; Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Jewish Voice for Peace; Jewish Voice for Peace-Hawai’i; Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ); Just Foreign Policy; Justice Democrats; Just Futures Law; Justice for All; Kairos USA; Libyan American Alliance; LittleSis / Public Accountability Initiative; Living Water Inclusive Catholic Community; Long Island Progressive Coalition; Make the Road Nevada; Malaya Georgia; Massachusetts Peace Action; Mennonite Action; Mennonite Action WA; Migrant Roots Media; Minnesota Peace Project; Mondoweiss; Movement for Black Lives; MPower Change Action Fund; MSA West; Muslim Advocates; Muslim Community Network; Muslim Counterpublics Lab; Muslim Power Building Project; Muslims for Just Futures; Muslims for Progressive Values; National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA); National Domestic Workers Alliance Staff Union, CWA Local 1180; National Iranian American Council; National Lawyers Guild; National Lawyers Guild - St. Louis Chapter; National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR); National Partnership for New Americans; New Hampshire Veterans for Peace; New York City Veterans For Peace; The New Justice Project Minnesota; NH Peace Action; North American Students of Cooperation; No Separate Justice; North Carolina Peace Action; The Oakland Institute; Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity/Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth; Our Revolution; Palestine American League; Palestine Legal; Palestinian American Community Center; Palestinian American Organizations Network (PAON); Palestinian Feminist Collective; Partners for Palestine; Pax Christi New Jersey; Pax Christi New York State; Pax Christi Pacific Northwest; Pax Christi USA; Peace Action; Peace Action New York State; Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!; Pediatricians for Palestine; People’s Action; PeoplesHub; Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies; Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness; Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; Progressive Democrats of America (PDA); Project ANAR; Project South; Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice; Reparation Education Project; Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment; Rise for Palestine; Rising Majority; Rising Tide North America; Rochester Committee on Latin America; RootsAction Education Fund; Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre; Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights; Sound Vision; Starr King School for the Ministry; Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine at the University of Hawai’i (SFJP); Sunrise Movement; Sur Legal Collaborative; TakeAction Minnesota; Tech Justice Law Project; The Gathering for Justice; The Hague Peace Projects; The Social Justice Center; The Uncommitted National Movement; The Whatcom Peace and Justice Center; Transnational Institute; UndocuBlack Network; Unitarian Universalist Association; Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship; Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice; Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of North Carolina; Unitarian Universalist Mass Action; Unitarian Universalist Peace Ministry Network; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; Unitarian Universalist Young Adults for Climate Justice (UUYACJ); Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East; United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network; United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR); United Voices for America; Until Freedom; US Campaign for Palestinian Rights; Veterans For Peace; We Are All America; Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club; Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center; Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press; Working Families Party; World BEYOND War; Young Democrats of America Black Caucus; Young Democrats of America Environmental Caucus; Youth Leadership Institute] (April 26-29, 2024): https://www.mpowerchange.org/gazastudentprotests & https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhlWqDQghbVaPb6K7coBoi0o3w1YDfmrPOSbUw5bqNKEnrhg/viewform
Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders: "I'm hearing disturbing reports that students face suspension if they don’t end their peaceful protests in #Columbiauniversity in the USA. This is a clear violation of their right to peaceful assembly" (April 29, 2024): https://twitter.com/MaryLawlorhrds/status/1785020792197038101
Cas Mudde: Why are US campuses facing an orgy of state repression in the ‘land of the free’? The right has painted nonviolent protests against the war on Gaza as hotbeds of ‘woke’ terrorism. It’s a pretext for repression (April 30, 2024): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/ap30/us-campus-peace-protests-overreaction-gaza
Joint letter to President Biden on humanitarian risk of Rafah operation in Gaza [Signed by: 350.org; ActionAid USA; Alliance of Baptists; American Friends of Combatants for Peace; American Friends Service Committee; Americares; Amnesty International USA; CARE; Charity & Security Network; Children in Conflict; Christian Aid; Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP); Center for American Progress; Center for Civilians in Conflict; Center for International Policy; Church World Service; DAWN; Demand Progress Education Fund; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Humanity & Inclusion; IM Swedish Development Partners; Indivisible; Islamic Relief USA; Islamic Relief Worldwide; KinderUSA; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; MedGlobal; Médecins du Monde / Doctors of the World International Network; Mennonite Central Committee; Middle East Democracy Center; Minnesota Peace Project; MoveOn; Nonviolent Peaceforce; Norwegian Refugee Council USA; Oxfam America; Pax Christi USA; Premiere Urgence Internationale; Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness; Refugees International; Save the Children US; SEIU; The Episcopal Church; The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP); The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society; Truman Center; Vento di Terra; Win Without War] (April 30, 2024): https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/may/joint-letter-to-president-biden-on-potential-incursion-into-rafah-gaza/
Michael Gould-Wartofsky: Trump Is Wrong. Columbia Isn’t Anything Like Charlottesville: I survived the deadly violence in Charlottesville, and am now a postdoctoral research scholar at Columbia University. To compare the two is unwarranted—and unconscionable. (April 30, 2024): https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-wrong-columbia-isnt-anything-like-charlottesville
United Church of Christ Officers issue statement amid ongoing unrest on college campuses; offer continued solidarity with partners and people in the Middle East (April 30, 2024): https://www.ucc.org/ucc-officers-issue-statement-amid-ongoing-unrest-on-college-campuses/
United States of America: UN Human Rights Chief troubled by law enforcement actions against protesters at universities (April 30, 2024): https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/united-states-america-un-human-rights-chief-troubled-law-enforcement-actions
Comment from United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Mass Arrests of Anti-War Protestors (May 1, 2024): https://uaw.org/comment-from-uaw-president-shawn-fain-on-mass-arrests-of-anti-war-protestors/
On Gaza, NY Catholic Worker community echoes Pope Francis: 'Please! Stop the war.' (May 1, 2024): https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/gaza-ny-catholic-worker-community-echoes-pope-francis-please-stop-war
The Democratic National Committee's College Democrats of America Slams Biden On Gaza And Backs Campus Protesters (May 1, 2024): https://www.huffpost.com/entry/college-democrats-of-america-statement-biden-gaza-campus-protest_n_663278fce4b0849b2edded55
Catholic Relief Services representative for Gaza fears possible Rafah invasion (May 2, 2024): https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-relief-services-rep-gaza-fears-possible-rafah-invasion
Helen Benedict, professor of journalism at Columbia University: ‘US student protests seeking peace in Gaza are the new anti-Vietnam War movement’ (May 2, 2024): https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/us-student-protests-seeking-peace-in-gaza-are-the-new-anti-vietnam-war-movement/articleshow/109766893.cms
Hundreds of U.S. Catholic leaders and laity sign letter urging Permanent Gaza Ceasefire and End to Injustice in Israel and Palestine (May 2, 2024): https://cmep.salsalabs.org/ps-may22024 & https://docs.google.com/document/d/16K1RvL3YdSgSChwO_eWB9iSvIglNP59ahqtAQ1aZiGM/
PREPARED REMARKS: Bernie Sanders on the Nationwide Student Protests and the Ongoing Humanitarian Disaster in Gaza (May 2, 2024): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/prepared-remarks-sanders-on-the-nationwide-student-protests-and-the-ongoing-humanitarian-disaster-in-gaza/
Rashid Khalidi, Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University: Opposed to Genocide in Gaza, This Is the Conscience of a Nation Speaking Through Your Kids (May 3, 2024): https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/rashid-khalidi-columbia-gaza-speech
Save the Children warns of deadly consequences for children following new relocation orders for families in Rafah (May 6, 2024): https://www.savethechildren.net/news/save-children-warns-deadly-consequences-children-following-new-relocation-orders-families-rafah
The campus protesters for Gaza are making America great again: Readers on the demonstrations sweeping colleges and their hopes for the next generation. (May 6, 2024): https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/06/campus-protests-gaza-palestine-vietnam/
US campus protests of Israeli ‘genocide’ offer hope to students from Gaza (May 6, 2024): https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/6/us-student-protests-of-israeli-genocide-offer-hope-to-students-from-gaza

Hi strangers!
I'm looking to invest in a new bike and I just don't know where to start.
I'm currently riding a Trek FX 7.1 hybrid that I got in 2011.
It's served me well! I've done a 100 mile ride on it, rode through every single street in Brooklyn and Manhattan (pandemic project lol), and I've used it for my short commute and bopping around town. I've ridden it into the ground and it's just not worth putting any more money into, aside maybe new brake pads. (I'll keep it as a beater).
I'm thinking about my next purchase and I need help narrowing it down a bit, to at least focus my search. I ride in New York City so I'm not sure if I want a skinny tired road bike.
I've heard hybrids described as the worst of both worlds (lol), but I like the trek I have. Maybe a gravel bike would suit me?
I don't mind being more horizontal, I think I'd like drop bars.
I think I'd like a little more speed/a lighter bike, but I'm not racing anyone so it doesn't have to be the fastest on the market. I'd use it for city riding and some rides on long island and Western mass.
I'd say I'd spend up to $2500? Ish? I guess I don't want to spend that much for the sake of spending it, but would spend it for the right bike!
Edit: I get some discount (varies) on specialized bikes so bonus points for that, but it's not a dealbreaker.

What could I use steel for except for just turning it into steel plates? The only thing I could craft using steel bars is a manual earth drill but knowing how insanely hard it is to get the ATV F2P, I won’t ever be going to the titanium place so I won’t see myself crafting an earth drill.