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"The Mockingbirds," by Daisy Whitney
The Protagonist: Alex Patrick. When she wakes up in a stranger's dorm with no memory of what happened, she realizes she was too drunk to give consent.
Her Angst: Her school, Themis Academy, is infamous for being more focused on how their students appear decent than actually ensuring that they are, so who can she turn to for justice?
Secondary Characters:
T.S.: Alex's best friend and roommate. Is Awesome. Stands up for Alex and insists she seek justice for what happened to her.
Casey: Alex's older sister, now in college. Also Awesome. She founded the Mockingbirds back when she was at Themis to help students that the faculty ignored.
Maia: Alex's other friend, and a fierce debater. Serves as Alex's student advocate in her Mockingbird trial against her attacker.
Amy: The current leader of the Mockingbirds.
Martin: A member of the Mockingbirds, and a friend of Alex's. Although he wants to be something more, it's against the rules for a member of the Mockingbirds to get involved with someone whose case is ongoing.
Angst Checklist:
Vigilante Justice
Victim Blaming
Ineffective School Discipline
Awesome Girl Friends
The Word: I was clued into this book while reading a post over at Stacked about YA novels about rape and sexual assault. The premise of the Mockingbirds drew me - a girl who is date-raped at an elite prep school seeks restitution with the help of a Secret Society of Student Justice. It made me think of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. It made me think of Veronica Mars. Plus, with the Steubenville scandal still over our heads it seemed like a pretty relevant story.
However, it wound up being a bit of a let down.
Piano prodigy and high school sophomore Alex Patrick wakes up with a killer hangover in the dorm of a boy she doesn't know with no memory of what happened and two condom wrappers in the garbage bin. Sick and ashamed of herself for apparently acting like such a slut, she can barely bring herself to divulge the details to her best friend T.S. and her older sister Casey. Thankfully, T.S. and Casey are Smart Awesome Ladies who realize that Alex likely didn't consent to her impromptu deflowering - and Alex's slowly returning memories confirm this.
But what can she do? Discipline at her elite boarding school, Themis Academy, is a joke - no one's willing to jeopardize the school's reputation by even acknowledging that its students are capable of wrongdoing, and Alex refuses to go to the police or tell her parents. That's when Casey suggests that Alex go to the Mockingbirds.
Themis Academy's open secret, the Mockingbirds are the school's undercover law enforcers who punish the crimes that the faculty pretends don't happen. Unfortunately, what sounded like a bad-ass secret society of vengeful smart-alecks on paper is more boring in execution - the Mockingbirds are more like Law And Order: Teen Court. They serve papers. They determine court hearings. They have three separate but equal branches.
And you'll figure it all out as you read it, because all the Mockingbirds take an incredibly long time laying out their entire organization in meticulously dull detail. I realize vigilante justice isn't a healthy or admirable thing in the real world - but the Mockingbirds go to such extreme and unsolicited lengths to show Alex and the reader that they have checks and balances and regulations that all the excitement about the story quickly shrivels up and dies. The Mockingbirds spend more time explaining what they do than actually doing things.
And even with the Mockingbirds' excruciatingly detailed system, they harbour a lot of skewed perspectives on justice. For example, before she joined, one of the Mockingbirds was held down while a girl tried to carve the word "Queer" onto her back with a knife. She went to the Mockingbirds, who gave her attacker a trial that didn't actually result in anything since her attacker graduated days later. When asked why she didn't go to the cops, she said the trial had already made her point.
Except now a psychotic homophobic bigot with an Exacto knife went off to college consequence-free to harass and attack more people because her victim would rather "make a point" with a silly school-trial. Um, nice job?
And when it all comes down to it, the Mockingbirds really aren't that relevant to the story. The actual story is how Alex recovers from her rape and learns to enjoy music and boys again, and the Mockingbirds themselves have little to do with that. Their only real contributions to the story are a channel through which Alex can "press charges" against her rapist without her parents finding out, and some mild romantic conflict as one of the Mockingbirds, a science geek named Martin, develops feelings for Alex but technically isn't allowed to put the moves on her while her case is ongoing.
The novel shines when it focuses on Alex's trauma and recovery. Some people think of date-rape as "diet rape" or "not rape-rape," but Alex suffers immensely from her assault - she rearranges her whole schedule to avoid her rapist at school, and loses weight because she can't even sit in the same cafeteria with him. Her fears come to a head in a chillingly effective scene when she's forced to re-enact a rape scene from a play in class, a scene that also demonstrates the school's oblivious inability to discipline its students.
Ultimately, though, The Mockingbirds was a bit of a drag. Over-justified, over-explained, the Mockingbirds are little more than a distracting and tedious gimmick intruding on a genuine story of recovering from assault.
Posted by AnimeJune at Sunday, April 28, 2013 3 comments:
Labels: C Plus Reviews, contemporary, little brown, YA
"The Lies of Locke Lamora," by Scott Lynch
The Main Cast:
Locke Lamora: An orphan with a mysterious past, he possesses a brilliant intelligence and a near-supernatural ability to cause mischief. Now the leader of the Gentlemen Bastards, he uses his skills to fleece the aristocracy of their misused wealth.
Jean Tannen: The son of wealthy merchants who perished in a fire, he was recruited into the Gentlemen Bastards for his prodigious, instinctive fighting ability. Now Locke's right-hand man, he fights for the Bastards with a pair of hand-axes known as the Wicked Sisters.
The Secondary Cast:
Calo and Galdo Sanza: Twin brothers who serve as wingmen in Locke's schemes. Recruited by Father Chains, they helped train Locke and Jean in the ways of the Bastards.
Bug: The Gentlemen Bastards' current apprentice, recruited by Locke. What he lacks in impulse control he makes up for in resourcefulness.
Father Chains: A priest of the (possibly heretical) god of thieves - and the founder of the Gentlemen Bastards. He recruits orphans with special talent to train and educate them to be the best thieves the world has ever known.
Don and Dona Salvara: An immensely rich aristocratic couple who are targeted by the Gentlemen Bastards for their con game.
Capa Barsavi: Camorr's King of Thieves. He united all of Camorr's criminals under one banner and established the Secret Peace with the city's Duke: so long as no one robs the aristocracy or the Duke's law enforcement, the Capa and his thieves are free to pilfer from the merchant and middle classes beneath the Duke's blind eye and lax hand. Of course, this means Locke and his Bastards have to be especially careful the Capa never finds out about their plots.
The Grey King: A mysterious figure with possibly magical powers who has returned to wreak vengeance upon Capa Barsavi for an unknown insult - and he's willing to use force to obtain Locke's assistance.
Fantasy Convention Checklist:
1 Evil Mage
1 Magical Animal Familiar
Several Orphans with Mysterious Pasts
1 Really Awesome Cake
1 Garden of Magical Blood-Drinking Glass Flowers (for reals)
Several Fake Moustaches
Several Hungry Sharks
1 Duplicitous Priest
The Word: What I particularly loved about reading Lies of Locke Lamora is that it uses traditional high fantasy storytelling (which I already enjoy) to tell an unorthodox tale in a slightly skewed setting. Camorr, the city-state that Locke and his clan call home, is not based on Medieval England, but rather Venice - with its canals and its slums and its beautiful spires.
Moreover, this novel has no quests to complete or powerful magical artefacts to obtain or epic wars to fight. Instead, The Lies of Locke Lamora uses repeated flashbacks and character detail to create the story of a brilliant con.
Locke Lamora and his gang, the Gentlemen Bastards, are the best con artists Camorr has ever seen but is too embarrassed to speak of. They are so good, they repeatedly steal enormous sums from wealthy nobles despite a Secret Peace between the authorities and the Capa (king of thieves) that forbids them from robbing the aristocracy. As well, they also have to convince the Capa and their fellow gangs that they are just a humble street band that can barely steal enough to make ends meet.
At the beginning of the novel, Locke and his conspirators set out to cheat a wealthy aristocratic couple out of tens of thousands of gold crowns with an intricately-constructed lie involving foreign wars, expensive brandy, and a lucrative smuggling operation. Locke's plans are knocked awry when the Grey King, a mysterious interloper with powerful magic and designs upon the current Capa's position, decides to "recruit" Locke into his own schemes, consent-optional. Somehow, Locke has to balance his obligations to his Capa, keep the Grey King at bay, and maintain his current con without getting caught or killed.
On top of all that, Lynch braids the present drama with frequent and in-depth flashbacks into the Gentlemen Bastards' origins - how these orphaned children became, with the help of a resourceful and duplicitous priest, the cleverest, best educated, most experienced, and luckiest band of ne'er-do-wells Camorr has ever seen.
The Lies of Locke Lamora is pure pleasure from beginning to end. You want your doorstopper fantasy with amazingly detailed settings and cultures? You've got it - and all of it conveyed organically (and addictively) through the story itself instead of in infodumps. You want your fiendishly clever Oceans 11-style con artist adventures? It's all here - disguises, set-ups, fake accents, misdirection and gloriously improvised malarkey. You want your detailed, damaged characters with intricate backstories? Done - the story breaks for several interludes into the characters' pasts as they learn their trade, and each interlude always carries some relevance to the larger story so that it never feels like it's distracting from the main narrative. Witty dialogue? In spades - as long you don't mind it heavily-laced with expletives (which I don't!).
The Lies of Locke Lamora is an enormous novel, bursting at the seams with detail and dialogue and adventure. While it can take a while to work up to the actual plot line, much like how I felt about the similarly-doorstop-sized Diviners, not a single page feels wasted.
Posted by AnimeJune at Saturday, April 27, 2013 9 comments:
Labels: A Plus Reviews, Gollancz, high fantasy
Downton Abbey 2x04: I See London, I See France, I See Ethel's Lack of Underpants!
This fourth episode of Downton Abbey opens on a note of special deliciousness - Isobel Crawley arrives late at Downton to discover that everyone, upstairs and down, has rearranged the hospital schedule to include everyone Except For Her. Isobel, who spent all of last episode Drunk With Power, doesn't take it well, to say the least, and confronts Cora to unleash a torrent of Passive Aggressive Classist Whining ("I suppose I can't call you unprofessional since you've never held a profession in your life!").
Cora, delightfully empowered, responds thusly:
Isobel, now simply Hungover With Power, stamps her foot and actually threatens to join the Red Cross efforts in France if she isn't "better valued."
Cora:
Don't let the hand-crafted 18th-century heirloom doorknobs hit you in the ass on the way out! Isobel huffily leaves for France, hoping French people respond better to Obnoxious Guilt-Tripping.
Isobel's departure is a relief, but unfortunately, we still have Irish Socialist Chauffeur Branson - who has inexplicably retained his position after attempting to throw liquid garbage on a general last episode. Apparently he Super-Dooper-Pinkie-Promised Carson he'd never try any sort of protest again. Sybil, despite spending the entire last episode pleading with Branson Not To Do Anything Stupid for Irish Freedom, is suddenly annoyed that Branson will no longer be performing increasingly horrible and self-righteous stunts. Perhaps she's realized that without his Irish Socialism, he's just a chauffeur with an attitude problem.
Branson, however, swears to Sybil that he won't leave Downton until she agrees to run off with him. Unfortunately, Mary partially overhears part of this conversation and she and Sybil get into a Tiff over it - although Mary ultimately promises not to tell anyone so long as Sybil promises not to do anything stupid. Which isn't really a promise at all, since Sybil promising not to be stupid is like Bad-Ass Mutha Violet promising to mind her own damn business. It ain't happening.
Mary's got other problems, however - as she relates to Grantham, Richard Carlisle proposed and she intends to accept. Yes, he totes tried to blackmail Roses In Her Cheeks Lavinia, but it's a hard world and he's got lots of money so - m'eh. Gratham, along with Literally Everyone Else On the Show, still ships Mary+Matthew and insists that Mary write to Matthew to tell him the "good news."
Matthew gets this "good news" at exactly the wrong time, right when he and William have to go on patrol. They promptly run into some German soldiers and are declared Missing In Action. Nice job, Mary!
Grantham receives a telephone call with the news, but decides not to share it with anyone except for Edith because he doesn't want to panic the household until they have better information, temporarily forgetting what show he's on. Indeed, the entire downstairs knew about Matthew and William's MIA status before the phone even rang. Get with the times, Grantham!
Still, things are looking pretty grim - so why not some better news? Mrs. Hughes catches Ethel and Major Bryant boning in a spare room and fires Ethel on the spot! Hooray!
Meanwhile, Thomas receives a letter telling him that Bates is working at the Red Lion Inn, and makes the mistake of repeating said news to O'Brien out loud and in a public space - it takes all of five seconds for the news to go from Daisy to Mrs. Hughes to Carson to Grantham. Grantham heads out to the Red Lion himself and apologizes to Bates for the harsh way they parted ways, and asks Bates to return to Downton. Bates accepts.
Sybil tells Branson about her conversation with Mary, and Branson proceeds to act like the Completely Selfish Asshole we all know him to be. He tells Sybil that she's in love with him (gee, thanks for clearing that up!), that her family shouldn't be more important to her than he is (because he stands for Irish Socialism, obvs), and takes a big smelly dump on her choice of nursing career ("serving drinks for randy soldiers"). I wish Mary had wound up overhearing this conversation too because I'm sure nothing would have gotten him Actually Fired faster.
Minor Subplot Roundup:
Mrs. Bird, Mrs Patmore, and Daisy start a soup kitchen for homeless soldiers until O'Brien rats them out - thankfully, Cora more than approves just so long as they use food paid for by the Earl and not the Army.
Moseley starts toadying and ass-kissing at the Big House in the hopes of scoring the vacant valet position - he buys a fancy new shoe horn just in time for Bates to return to swipe the job right out from under him.
Thomas acts like a dick towards Daisy to pay her back for blabbing about his Bates news, but gets Told Off by Dr. Clarkson. He and O'Brien suspect Bates of tattling on them, and O'Brien promises revenge.
Thanks to Grantham forgetting about How His Own House Works, by the time the house throws their concert to entertain the convalescing soldiers, everyone (including Mary and Cora) knows about Matthew and William's disappearance. Mary is barely holding it together and even Major Bryant's magic show can't comfort her. That's understandable - Major Bryant's best trick was getting Ethel to Disappear! (ba-dum-bum!)
Mary gets up to perform anyway, and Matthew shows up in the middle of her number and it is Heartrending and Wonderful and Not At All Surprising except for the fact that Matthew Can Sing.
The only thing that can spoil this moment is the return of Ethel - who's pregnant. OF COURSE.
Isobel's ignominious departure.
Moseley and Mrs. Bird acting like besties
No Lavinia at all
Ethel's ass getting fired.
Edith's and Mary's unlikely kindnesses to each other.
Things I Didn't:
What is it with everyone forgetting about eavesdroppers at Downton Abbey (looking at you, Thomas and Grantham)?
Daisy's inability to produce a non-frazzled facial expression.
Not nearly enough Bad-Ass Mutha Violet
Branson's increasing feats of Douchebaggery
Ethel's womb-spawn. Uggggh.
Other Remarks: This was a bit of a so-so episode. There was a lot of character inconsistency required to move the plot forward - like Sybil suddenly wanting Branson to continue protesting despite her worries of the previous episode, or how O'Brien seems like an improved person when dealing with Lang or Cora until she chastises Thomas for not pursuing revenge against Bates. The best part of the episode is the ousting of Isobel, but that happens at the beginning. The rest just feels like filler.
Rating: Six Ass-Kissing Valets out of Ten
Posted by AnimeJune at Monday, April 22, 2013 No comments:
Labels: Downton Abbey
Film Review: "42: The True Story of an American Legend"
Baseball is my all-time favourite sport. My friends like hockey. My parents and sister like football (the actual kind you use your foot with, in Europe). But me, I love baseball.
I should probably be clear - I don't watch baseball. I don't have a favourite team. I don't follow the stats and couldn't name you a famous player beyond Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Sammy Sosa.
Nah, baseball is my favourite sport because baseball inspires my absolute favourite type of sports movies. Don't bother me with your Mighty Ducks or your Rudys or your Wimbledon.
Give me The Sandlot, Angels in the Outfield, Rookie of the Year, A League of Their Own, Field of Dreams.
You can keep Moneyball, though. Yeah, let's make a movie about baseball! Only we'll take out all the baseball scenes and just show people arguing about MATH. Brilliant!
There's just something about baseball. The hats and the hotdogs and the peculiar limitations of the game that allow each player to face an entire opposing team on their own as the lone heroic batter, as well as coordinate as a group when working defensively. It's the American Dream, where the game lets you be an individual as well as part of a team.
These aspects of the game help structure the plot of 42, the Jackie Robinson biopic that came out last week. Jackie Robinson (played to perfection by an electric Chadwick Boseman), is hired by Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) to eventually play for the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African-American in major league baseball.
At first, he stands alone at the plate. Half his teammates don't want to play with him and the other half worry that the constant racism he's subjected to will make him an emotional liability. And through it all, Jackie has to endure it silently. From the very beginning he's expected to serve as an example for all potential African-American athletes - any fighting back on his part would only serve to demonstrate that Negro players are unstable, violent, and unfit for major league sports.
However, Robinson is a talented player - he bats .625 and steals bases from under the noses of gimlet-eyed, bigotted pitchers with the rakish grin of Robin Hood. Robinson spends the first half the film proving himself as an individual player - then spends the second half proving he's part of the team, as his teammates start to respect, defend, and play alongside him - or else get traded to Pittsburgh if they fall short of the mark on the moral yardstick.
Chadwick Boseman carries this movie on his shoulders and he makes it look easy, which is a good thing, because the second most important character in this film is also the film's greatest liability. Harrison Ford, defiantly mumbling every line after gargling it in the wad of phlegm in his throat, portrays Rickey without an ounce of subtlety. He's there to wield that Moral Yardstick and rap it against as many racist knuckles as possible while regurgitating Bible quotes and inspirational slogans. His performance is jowly - does that make sense? As if he has more physical old-man jowls around his face than he actually does. He utters every line with an expression that indicates you're expected to hear authoritative folds of aging flesh softly slapping together in agreement or wobbling with fury. Unfortunately, with Ford, it only makes him sound like he's perpetually choking on a chicken bone.
The baseball scenes are excellently paced and shot, and the supporting players (particularly Nicole Beharie as Jackie's wife Rachel and Alan Tudyk as Uber-Racist Phillies manager Ben Chapman) perform admirably. However, the tone of the film too closely follows Harrison Ford's performance - there are several moments where the too-obvious emotional manipulation reveals the man behind the curtain trying to pluck at my heartstrings.
At least two child actors are called in to demonstrate How Our Actions Influence The Next Generation and a dogged string and clarinet section are quick to interject with This Scene Has Historical Significance music. I dislike it when a movie pulls me out of the experience by making it too obvious why its particular pieces and scenes are arranged a certain way. We get it, Racism is Bad, but movies are meant to be magic - we don't want to see the hand inside the puppet or the strings on the flying saucers.
42 is still a brightly shot, well-paced movie with crackerjack sports scenes, a solid supporting cast, and a charismatic lead. If you can tolerate some over the top moralizing, Ford's masticated line reads, and some overt emotional manipulation, you're in for a pleasant trip to the ballpark.
Posted by AnimeJune at Saturday, April 20, 2013 No comments:
Labels: B Reviews, historical, Movies
"Black Silk," by Judith Ivory
The Chick: Submit Channing-Downes. With her husband dead and his illegitimate son contesting his will, she is left alone and penniless with nothing to do - except deliver a mysterious black box to her husband's former ward, the infamous Earl of Netham.
The Rub: The Earl wants nothing to do with the box, and, impossibly, sees her loving husband as a cruel despot. Submit's attempts to understand him pull her closer and closer into his orbit.
Dream Casting: Romola Garai.
The Dude: Graham Wessit, Earl of Netham. Currently embroiled in a lawsuit in which his dirty linen has made him a public laughingstock, he has no desire to revisit past humiliations when the wife of his former guardian Henry tries to make him accept something that is clearly a final attempt from his guardian to shame him.
The Rub: His guardian's widow is unnervingly young and pretty - and, impossibly, she loved and adored her husband despite their age difference. Graham then begins to see changing her mind about Henry's true nature as a delicious kind of challenge.
Dream Casting: Ioan Gruffudd.
Random Crazy Girl: Graham Wessit made my babies!
Graham: LOL NO.
The Court: And yet you're such a public Duke of Slut that we're going to believe her!
Graham: Wow, slutshaming a dude! Progress!
The Court: BTW, Submit, your illegitimate stepson's contesting your husband's will so we're going to tie up all your funds.
Submit: WTF.
The Court: Except this one box full of porn, to be delivered to Graham Wessit!
Submit: WTF. Okay - here's your porn, which is totally not my husband's porn, because there's totally some non-skeevy reason he would keep this porn and not tell me. Right?
Graham: No porn for me, thanks!
Submit: Take the porn!
Graham: No!
Submit: TAKE IT.
Graham: NO.
Submit: TAKE THE EVERLOVIN' PORN.
Graham: Let's have tea instead!
Submit: What? Oh, fine, whatever. Dammit! Why can't you be as sleazy as everyone says you are?
Graham: Why can't you let me kiss you and tell you that I'm falling in love with you?
Submit: Despite my condemnation of everything you purportedly stand for I can't stop coming to visit you, rummaging through your private drawers, and secretly writing about your exploits!
Graham: Aw, that's so sweet - wait, what about that last part?
Submit: Oh, BTW, I'm going to go marry this boring dude because my love of writing has made me independent.
Submit: You're right, that was a stupid idea. Let's get married then!
Graham: HOORAY!
Romance Convention Checklist:
1 Inconvenient Inheritance
2 Genially Neglected Children
1 Unstable and Yet Miraculously Not-Evil Mistress
1 Box o'Porn
1 Inconvenient set of Crinolines
1 Secret Authoress
1 Cuckolded Husband
The Word:
I first read Judith Ivory after a recommendation from Jessica of The Hypeless Romantic. I adored The Proposition (a gender-reversed retelling of My Fair Lady), and appreciated Untie My Heart (even though my personal distaste for the relationship dynamics in that novel kept me from wholly enjoying it).
With my third outing with this remarkable author, I've returned to my fangirl phase.
Graham Wessit, Earl of Netham, is the perfect Rake - one part Unsatisfactory Childhood, one part Disapproving Guardian, mix with two parts Scandalous Past and one part Ennui. He lives his life as he sees fit and actively cultivates his coal-black reputation.
After Henry Channing-Downs, Graham's former guardian, dies, his widow tracks Graham down to deliver a particular black box Henry bequeathed to him in his will. Submit Channing-Downs is desperate to hand the box over and discover why her husband kept it all these years - but Graham is just as desperate to refuse it. They both know what the box contains (although this revelation is painfully recent in Submit's case): exquisitely-rendered pornographic paintings.
Submit has no idea why her husband held on to those pictures, and hopes Graham's answers might vindicate Henry, a man she loved dearly despite their 50-plus-year age difference. However, Graham has an entirely different view of Henry that doesn't mesh at all with hers: that of a cold, self-righteous, and rigidly logical curmudgeon who made his adolescence a torment. Despite - or rather, because of their differences, Graham and Submit can't escape their fascination with each other.
They also share a major thing in common: both are currently embroiled in legal battles. For Graham, a sixteen-year-old girl whom he's never met accuses him of impregnating her and files a paternity suit. Half of society believes Graham should face justice, the other half support him (while smirking behind their hands), but everyone believes him responsible.
Meanwhile, with Submit, her recently deceased husband's illegitimate son William is contesting the will that leaves her the marquess' entire fortune. The suit effectively ties up all the Marquess' funds, leaving Submit penniless and vulnerable to William's efforts to coerce a disadvantageous deal out of her.
Above all else, Black Silk examines the power of perception - how one is perceived, and how one perceives oneself. Not only do Submit and Graham struggle to reconcile their entirely different perceptions of Henry, but Graham's forced into an excruciatingly public identity crisis. Thanks to the paternity suit, his scandalous exploits are not only dragged through the courts but lampooned in The Rake of Ronmoor, a popular serial written under a nom de plume. The glare of society's magnifying glass forces Graham to reevaluate his life choices but he's no longer sure he knows how to separate his own judgement from that of society's.
Black Silk is a fascinating and gorgeously written romance - and a highly unorthodox one. Despite the book's enormous length, Graham and Submit don't even share a kiss until more than 80% through the novel. Their development is subtle and slow - while Graham is more than eager to physically express his affection early on, Submit is such a quiet, low-key, repressed character. She values logic, and fairness, and reason, and Graham has to chip away at several layers of reserve to reach her emotional awakening.
Part of her fascination with Graham stems from how Graham refuses to fit into any one category. He's not a misunderstood bad boy, he's not a saint, but he's not a villain - and he refuses to see other people in similarly black-and-white terms. For example, he continues to support William financially (even though he's suing Submit), because Graham sympathizes with him and does believe that Henry's will was cruelly unfair. And yet he'll offer to let Submit live in his flat on a whim. He expresses affection for her, but continues to live with his married mistress, Roslyn (who is crazypants but awesome and not a bitch, amazingly). Submit finds herself falling deeper and deeper in her quest to understand him and pin him beneath some concrete definition.
And honestly, as long as you're fine with a slower pace, Judith Ivory's prose is breathtaking. Not only with the lyrical writing style and the beautiful way she focuses on minute but lovely details, but her use of repetition and visual metaphor. For instance, Ivory pays a lot of attention to Submit's crinolines - the enormous hoops under her skirts that keep everyone else at a distance, in much the same way that her firm but reserved manner keeps anyone from getting too close.
Black Silk is an amazingly beautiful, original novel that remains unabashedly romantic despite being downright merciless towards tired romantic tropes.
Posted by AnimeJune at Friday, April 19, 2013 5 comments:
Labels: A Plus Reviews, historical, Romance
"Kiss the Morning Star," by Elissa Janine Hoole
The Protagonist: Anna. It's the summer after her graduation, and her best friend Katy convinces Anna to go on an epic Jack Kerouac-inspired roadtrip in an effort to restore their friendship and their faith.
Her Angst: Anna's still recovering from her mother's death, she worries about leaving her grief-stricken father alone, and wonders what it means if her feelings for Katy go beyond mere best-friendship.
Secondary Cast:
Katy: Anna's best friend, with whom she's trying to reconnect after distancing herself out of grief.
Anna's Dad: Formerly an eloquent and enthusiastic preacher, now he's a near-silent recluse.
Pastor Shepherd: A zealous and slightly over-the-top pastor who encounters Katy and Anna on their roadtrip.
Seth: A cute member of a travelling rock band who Anna develops feelings for - but are they stronger feelings than the ones she feels for Katy?
Recovering from the Death of a Parent
Did we just accidentally kill those people with our car?
Bears, and Not Being Eaten By Them
Relationship Drama is Ten Times Worse when It Occurs While You're Tripping Balls on Acid
Exploring Sexuality
Jack Kerouac - Prescient or Pretentious?
The Word: Although it's been a year since her mother died in a tragic house fire, our protagonist, Anna, is still caught in a choking, listless depression. The fire not only killed her mother, but it destroyed her home, her family's church, the vocation of her preacher father, and her own faith in God. She's been living more or less in a fog until the summer after graduation, when her best friend Katy convinces her to take a road trip with her, based on the Rucksack Revolution epitomized by Jack Kerouac in his novel, The Dharma Bums. As an afterthought, Katy adds another goal to their trip - to rediscover proof of God's love.
The vast majority of things that could go wrong on this trip, do go wrong, and Anna spends most of the book Freaking Out Over Everything. But that's essentially the novel's point - Anna needs to Freak Out, to wake up, to rejoin the land of the living. Through this, she reevaluates her priorities, her faith, and her growing feelings for Katy.
Katy strays pretty close to Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory as the unconventional BFF who has to poke and prod and pester Anna into trying new things (drugs! Tattoos!), but the novel allows her to be selfish, wildly irresponsible, and more than a little nuts. She's not Anna's guardian angel - she's there to protect and look out for Anna, but Anna comes to remember that she's supposed to protect and look out for Katy, too.
Kiss the Morning Star is a slim yet potent novel. Using exquisitely-chosen language, the author balances the novel's themes (Kerouac and religion) in a subtle and extremely effective way. The influence of Dharma Bums affects the narrative through how the characters interact with the text, but not in such a way that excludes those people (like me) who've never read a word of Kerouac.
The religious aspect of Kiss is just as effectively handled. At the beginning of the novel, Anna has rejected the religion she was brought up in. There is no road-to-Damascas moment. Anna doesn't end the book singing in the church on Sunday. Rather, the novel demonstrates that Anna's problem isn't her refusal to believe in God, but her refusal to believe in anything, for fear of having it taken away. The novel examines how Anna softens, not towards her former faith, but towards the idea of faith, in a way that demonstrates the power of God's love while side-stepping the requisite preachiness.
That being said, the novel is not without flaws. The pacing of the novel can be clunky - the ending, in particular, felt uncertain and abbreviated and left some pretty important threads dangling. I also wished we had seen more of Anna's dad - he wasn't much of a character until the very end and then as quickly as he develops importance, he's written off. But all in all, Kiss the Morning Star is a beautifully-written and entertaining examination of grief, faith, friendship, and love.
Posted by AnimeJune at Wednesday, April 10, 2013 2 comments:
Labels: A- Reviews, contemporary, LGBT, YA
Downton Abbey 2x03: Head Bitches In Charge
Yes, dear readers, I know it's been a while (more than a month!) since the last Downton Abbey recap. It turns out I missed recording an episode on my DVR, so I worked to get the second season on DVD. I picked it up today, and now we're back!
So, since the last episode, Downton has been turned into a convalescent home for wounded officers and the transition isn't going smoothly. Isobel is ruffling feathers like it's an Olympic sport by assuming the title of Head Bitch of Downton and repeatedly Guilt-Slapping Cora and Grantham whenever they object to her measures. It's almost impressive how Completely Hateful she manages to be while Selflessly Championing Injured Soldiers.
O'Brien comes up with a solution and suggests that Cora hire Thomas to manage the day-to-day affairs of the hospital while playing strictly for Team Cora. Thomas, bemused, wonders why O'Brien should care that Isobel is running roughshod over Cora, since that used to be O'Brien's favourite pastime. But O'Brien has regrets, you see. Soap-related regrets. And she won't allow Cora to be humiliated by anyone, anymore. Character development!
Thomas accepts the job, of course, since it involves Stomping Through the Front Door Like a BOSS and openly bitching at Carson.
Sadly, things aren't going too well for Anna. She's still Bates-less - until she catches a glimpse of him in the village while out on an errand. Mary uses her contacts (i.e. Carlisle) to find out Bates is now working at a pub called the Red Lion. As we discovered in season one, Bates is a recovering alcoholic, so the fact that his Crazy Wife Vera has forced him to work in a pub is particularly painful. Anna confronts Bates and offers to be his mistress, but Bates has been working on an exit strategy. Crazy Wife Vera is also Crazy Cheating Wife Vera and once Bates gets proof of this, he can divorce her. Sounds like a plan!
Irish Socialist Chauffeur Branson, meanwhile, is finally called up to the War Effort, but decides he'll conscientiously object by going through all the medical exams and training only to quit on the first day like a Self-Righteous Jackass. However, his dreams of being a Pretentious Attention Whore are dashed when a previously undiagnosed heart murmur bars him from service. He settles for being a whiny butthole with Sybil instead, because he is Terrible. He is also Completely Wrong about the consequences of the Russian Revolution.
Meanwhile, Aunt Rosamund and Bad-Ass Mutha Violet team up to dig up dirt on The Picture of Health Lavinia based on the argument Rosamund witnessed between her and Carlisle in the previous episode. Rosamund may be Terrible, but she and Bad-Ass Mutha Violet are so entertaining as Catty Bitch Detectives in this episode that I'll give her a rare pass. Turns out, Future Looks Bright Lavinia was the whistleblower behind a huge insider-trading scandal involving her uncle and a bunch of other politicians. She leaked the deets to Carlisle, who ran the news in his paper, and Rosamund figures the only reason Not Doomed Lavinia would do such a thing is if her and Carlisle's respective uglies had been formerly introduced.
Rosamund and Bad Ass Mutha Violet eagerly encourage Mary to dump this mess in Matthew's lap in order to win back his affections and shoot down Still Alive Lavinia's chances, but Mary decides to be a Classy Broad and talk to Fully Vaccinated Lavinia to learn her side of the story. No sex was involved, as it turns out, only a father's debt, so Mary keeps her mouth shut around Matthew. More character development!
Minor Subplot Round Up:
Mrs. Patmore and Lang share an insightful conversation about the real, gritty experience of war - until Lang goes and spills the beans about how her nephew was shot for cowardice in front of all the staff like an ASSHOLE
Ethel begins a flirtation with an impressively-mustached officer named Major Bryant. Says Edith: "No one tucks better than I do!" A line which made me wonder when she'll make Bryant put the lotion on his skin.
William proposes to Daisy, and Mrs. Patmore all but forces Daisy at gunpoint to accept, because William's manbaby heart won't be able to survive the war if his desires are thwarted in any way.
Everything in the episode comes to a head when Downton hosts a dinner party for a visiting general in order to show off the hospital. Dr. Clarkson, in a rare burst of competence, refuses to allow Isobel to hog the spotlight and credits Cora as co-Head Bitch in Charge. Branson volunteers to be footman so that he can dump garbage over the general's head to prove he's an Insufferably Moronic Rebel, but his plans are thankfully thwarted by Carson and Mrs. Hughes. Lang has another PTSD freakout so Carson has to give him the boot.
And finally, in one of the episode's sweeter moments, Edith is singled out for praise by the General, as unbeknownst to and unlike everyone else, she'd managed to be cheerful, generous, and helpful to all the soldiers without making a Big Fucking Deal about it. Everyone raises a glass to a long-deserving Edith. Hurrah!
Thomas' Swag (watch out Carson!)
Edith getting her due - FINALLY
Learning Bates isn't sitting on his hands doing nothing about his Crazy Wife Vera
Mary being a Classy Broad who refuses to play dirty for Matthew's heart
Rosamund and Violet as the #1 Catty Bitches Detective Agency
Major Bryant's Moustache
Literally Everything Isobel Says and Does
Lang blabbing about Mrs. Patmore's nephew
Branson being a Flamboyantly Whiny Attention Whore
Lavinia. Still. Ugh.
The increasingly awkward William and Daisy Guiltship - and Mrs. Patmore's involvement.
Other Remarks: I was really impressed with this episode - Edith pulled on her big girl panties and got noticed for it, Mary's efforts to be Less Horrible succeeded by leaps and bounds, Isobel got put in her place and Thomas got promoted to Sergeant (er, acting Sergeant). The unifying event of the General's dinner tied up the disparate plot threads nicely, even if I was a little surprised to see Lang depart so soon. Almost everyone was completely reasonable in this episode - which, of course, means the episode could have done with a little more drama.
Rating: Three Footman Freakouts Out of Four
The Weekly Wanting (25)
Another week, another Weekly Wanting - I swear, I'm going to try and be more regular about these posts.
Reconstructing Amelia, a Kimberly McCreight
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller.
Cover Snark: The only thing better than a Big Ol' Face on the cover, is Half a Big Ol' Face on the cover.
The Story: When a teenage girl apparently commits suicide by jumping off the roof of her exclusive Park Slope prep school, her successful attorney mother decides to find out what really happened - and uncovers a wealth of secrets.
Why I Want It? The story sounds amazing - plus I'm a sucker for stories with prep school settings. I read a review of it in Entertainment Weekly which called it "the new Gone Girl" - which I hope means it's as clever and twisty as Gone Girl without being quite as obsessively creepy.
A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty
Genre: YA, Fantasy.
Cover Snark: Deceptively cutesy cover looks like it's for a fluffy YA contemporary romance. Involving umbrellas.
The Story: Actually, A Corner of White is about a fantasy world that lies parallel to the real world, in which colours are dangerous entities capable of killing people. A boy from that world looking for answers accidentally ends up contacting Madeleine, a girl from the real world who is also on the run from her past.
Why I Want It? The story sounds AMAZING and weird (even if the cover is COMPLETELY deceptive and inappropriate), plus it's been positively reviewed all over the place, including The Book Smugglers. Although most of the reviews do admit that people either love it or hate it. No middle ground.
So what books are you wanting this week?
Labels: weekly wanting
"The Killing Moon," by N.K. Jemisin
The Primary Cast:
Ehiru: Gujaareh's top Gatherer - a priest who collects people's dreams while sending them into a peaceful afterlife. He is devoted to his calling and trusts his superiors implicitly - but what if that trust is misplaced?
Nihiri: A young apprentice Gatherer who has been in love with Ehiru for most of his life. But when his master starts acting strangely and their priesthood turns against him, whose side should he take - the priesthood's, or Ehiru's?
Sunandi: An ambassador from the nation of Kisua who is investigating corruption among the highest levels of the Gujaareh nobility.
Fantasy Convention Checklist
2 Morally Shady Superiors
1 Ultra Complicated Magic System
Several Devoured Souls
1 Bro-Verging-On-Actual-Ro-Mance
Several Rounds of Politiking
The Word: Now, I'm a fan of N.K. Jemisin. I really enjoyed the first two novels of her Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series (and appreciated how the final one ended even though it was still a hot ass mess). She has a deft hand with world building, female characters, gay characters, and Hot Immortal Sex God characters.
The Killing Moon, while not as romantic as the Kingdoms trilogy, nevertheless creates an immersive experience in an extremely original fantasy setting. The story takes place in the kingdom of Gujaareh (based on ancient Egypt): a kingdom of peace, honour, and plenty. All of its citizens are cared for, there are no conflicts or major crimes, and all but the most serious illnesses and injuries can be easily cured.
All of this is thanks to the unique magic of the priesthood of the Dreaming Goddess, Hananja, and more specifically, the sect of priests known as Gatherers. Gatherers are capable of siphoning dreams from people and converting them into magic for healing and stability - all the while shepherding their charges' souls into a blissful afterlife. While Gatherers frequently visit the elderly and the sick who willingly give their dreams to their country in return for a joyful death, they also serve as Gujaareh's judges - by eliminating criminals and those deemed corrupt.
But what if the priesthood itself becomes corrupt? Sunandi is an ambassador-cum-spy for the neighbouring kingdom of Kisua who is in Gujaareh to discreetly investigate the mysterious death of her mentor and several other contacts who all look to have died (rather unpleasantly) in their sleep. Conveniently enough, once she uncovers some pretty shady info about Gujaareh's Prince, she receives a nocturnal visit from Ehiru, one of Gujaareh's most dedicated Gatherers, as well as his devoted apprentice Nihiri.
Ehiru believes wholeheartedly in his vocation as a Gatherer and takes it extremely seriously. He doesn't understand why people fear his sect - Gathering is painless and even the corrupt are ushered into a joyful afterlife with their Goddess. However, when his intended target wakes up before he can do the deed and accuses the priesthood of being used as political assassins, Ehiru cannot brush off those accusations lightly. He decides to delay Sunandi's judgement until he gets more information - and in the process, Sunandi, Ehiru, and Nihiri all get more than they bargained for.
While I connected intellectually with this book, I had a hard time connecting emotionally with it. The world building is intense and extremely dense (particularly in the first few chapters of the book), and I found myself flipping to the Entirely Necessary Glossary at the back of the book to figure out what they were talking about.
As well, the worldbuilding, while intricate, seemed a bit uneven - some aspects of the magic, traditions and settings were extremely detailed, perhaps more than they needed to be (in the sense that these aspects weren't really relevant to the immediate storyline), while other aspects were barely touched on, leaving, if not plot holes, than some pretty cumbersome questions that were never answered.
As for the characters, while they were solid, believable, and relatively likeable, I didn't feel they were as fleshed-out as they could have been. Sunandi is described as this incredibly competent spy but she continually makes monumental errors and rash, emotional decisions. Nihiri is a bit one-note - an aggressive, reckless youth who is wildly in love with Ehiru. Ehiru is probably the best developed of the three - devout, righteous, certain in his vocation even as he grows increasingly uncertain about his superiors and their motives in directing his vocation.
All in all, while The Killing Moon was enjoyable and creative, it didn't really "click" with me as an emotional reader. If you love original fantasy elements and excellent worldbuilding, however, I would definitely recommend it.
Labels: B Reviews, Fantasy, high fantasy
The March Round-Up!
March is over, Lent is over - bring on April and Spring! I am currently making plans to attend Book Expo America again this year - including the BEA Blogger Con! Home to see as many of you as possible in NYC!
But enough about that - here's what I read last month:
*March Winner*
Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes. Fiction, Contemporary. A+
Pros: Marvellous characters, profound slow-burning romance, balanced tone. Cons: First chapters are a little predictable.
*March Dud*
Follow My Lead, by Kate Noble. Romance, Historical. C
Pros: Unconventional Regency setting. Charming hero. Cons: Boring top-heavy plot, TSTL ninny heroine.
*Best of the Rest*
Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein. YA, Historical. A
Pros: Excellent twist, well developed heroines, great historical detail, emotional ending. Cons: Bit slow to start.
The Last Hellion, by Loretta Chase. Romance, Historical. A
Pros: AMAZING heroine, great writing and plotting. Cons: Villain is an inconsistent cartoon.
Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz. YA, Fantasy. A
Pros: Effective setting, heart-tugging characters, thought-provoking themes. Cons: Some unresolved issues. Uneven ending. Extremely dark.
Black Powder War, by Naomi Novik. Fantasy, Historical. B+
Pros: Dependable world building, nice character development, excellent historical detail. Cons: Meandering plot. Middle-book-itis.
Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez. YA, Contemporary, LGBT. B+
Pros: Good pacing, well-drawn characters and themes. Cons: Writing style is skewed a little young.
Rosemary and Rue, by Seanan McGuire. Urban Fantasy. C
Pros: Excellent world building, original characters. Cons: Boring plot, reactionary heroine, really obvious villain.
Posted by AnimeJune at Thursday, April 04, 2013 No comments:
Labels: monthly round up
It's time for a super-sized Weekly Wanting Post! I read a lot of blogs for the last couple of weeks, and found a lot of interesting books to add to my library list!
What the Family Needed, by Steven Amsterdam
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Cover Snark: Cross-stitched awesomeness.
The Story: Over three decades, a multigenerational family deal with strife and conflict - all the while with superpowers!
Why I Want It: I love family dramas when written well, particularly when they deal with multigenerational conflict - and the superpowers are just an awesome bonus. Credit goes to Entertainment Weekly for bringing this novel to my attention.
Period 8, by Chris Crutcher
Cover Snark: Hot Biceps for Justice
The Story: A soon-to-retire teacher starts a program in eighth period where students can come and talk about anything. No expectations, no judgements. It's all going well - until one of the participating students disappears, and it looks like someone else in Period 8 might be responsible.
Why I Want It: I'm finding I actually quite enjoy dark YA if it comes with a mystery element. Plus, Forever Young Adult's review mentions it has a cast of thousands, something I really enjoy in novels. More characters = more stories and more drama.
Farthing, by Jo Walton
Genre: Mystery, Alternate History
Cover Snark: I got nuthin'.
The Story: Set in an alternate universe in which England made peace with Hitler, the social and political group who orchestrated this peace attend a house party where one of their own is murdered. One of the guests (whose Jewish husband is being blamed for the crime) must find the real killer before time runs out for her family.
Why I Want It: It's been recommended loads of times, but one last mention from The Book Smugglers clinched it! I like the idea exploring an alternate history - and the fact that it takes place at a classy house party just makes it that much more interesting.
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Cathrynne M. Valente
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Cover Snark: Absolutely gorgeous, and fully in keeping with the series.
The Story: More of September's adventures in Fairyland as she develops as a person.
Why I Want It: Have you not read the reviews of the previous two books?
The Waiting Tree, by Lindsay Moynihan
Genre: YA, LGBT
Cover Snark: Gorgeous use of light, shadow, and stained glass.
The Story: A boy struggles to remain true to himself and take care of his three brothers even though his religious community ostracizes him.
Why I Want It: A lovely write-up from The Book Smugglers brought this novel to my attention. I found I've been really interested in well-written LGBT stories. I only hope the religious element is sensitively handled. I really hate it when religion is made into a cheap villain ALL THE TIME.
Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein
Genre: YA, Historical
Cover Snark: Big Ol' Face.
The Story: Rose Justice, a pilot for the Allies, is shot down and captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp - where she meets a truly memorable cast of characters.
Why I Want It: I adored Code Name Verity (Wein's previous novel about Awesome Lady Pilots), so I am completely down with this one, provided I can get over the heroine's rather silly name (Rose Justice? REALLY?).
What books are you wanting this week?
Posted by AnimeJune at Tuesday, April 02, 2013 2 comments:
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Photovoltaic power plants convert sunlight directly into electrical energy. Photovoltaic cells are used for this purpose. Photovoltaic power is a renewable energy source which is used preferentially in domestic and public buildings.
A differentiation is made grid-independent systems and systems coupled to the power grid.
Power grid coupled photovoltaic systems feed the generated power directly into the electrical power grid. There is no need for sophisticated intermediate storage. A system of this type consists of photovoltaic cells, one or more power inverters and protection equipment to automatically shutdown the system with electrical network malfunctions. This is why photovoltaic systems coupled to the grid require very reliable and safe individual components.
Function: the inverter converts the DC current from the photovoltaic cells to AC current. The power and voltage characteristics are adapted to those of the public power grid. The inverter must control the photovoltaic system so that it can be operated at the maximum level of output performance: only then can optimum current and voltage be generated.
Reliable mains switches provide safety for the inverters. Eaton offers the right solutions here: for integrated or external mains switches on the DC current as well as on the AC current levels.
Individual solar cells are interconnected by so-called strings. The strings must be protected against short circuits and overvoltage. The standard stipulates that a disconnector switch must be connected between the solar modules and inverters.
We have developed DC circuit-breakers such as the NZM for this purpose. For other protective features the Xpole installation product range offers further protective functions. Our insulated distribution boards CI safely and effectively protect your components.
The overall performance of energy distribution systems must be scaled to suit the application. It is therefore decisive whether the photovoltaic system is to be installed in a private domestic dwelling or in a purpose-built industrial building. Here Eaton can offer the right solutions for every performance range with installations for the typical residential building from the Xboard distribution board range, and up to 4,000 A switchboard systems from the xEnergy range.


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Funding call amid concerns over cuts to children's centres
By Lisa O'BrienDudleyCrimePublished: Jan 23, 2023
The rise in violent crime is being fuelled by huge government cuts to services that support families and young children, the West Midlands Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner has said.
Assistant Crime Commissioner Tom McNeil
Tom McNeil wants an urgent injection of funds for the region after finding out that the number of children's centres has more than halved in the last decade.
Some have shut completely, whilst others have seen services reduced.
Children's centres provide help to young families by offering parenting support or advice on financial, domestic abuse or drink and drug issues.
In 2010 there were 189 council run children's centres across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and Solihull, but by 2021 that number had tumbled to just 75.
The decline coincides with a rise in violent crime.
Mr McNeil said that leading a successful life, including doing well in education and employment and avoiding crime, requires young people to have the right kind of support in their early years, and evidence has shown the effectiveness of children's centres in improving health and education outcomes.
He is concerned that as services which support the most disadvantaged people disappear, some will be unable to get the support they need and struggle to cope.
And he is now calling on the government to urgently provide funding in order to reverse the cuts of the last 13 years.
"We know that for many families the support offered by children's centres is vital if they are to thrive and survive," said Mr McNeil.
"Issues like domestic abuse, mental ill-health and poverty can result in problems with child development and, if not supported, young people can go on to be drawn into gangs and criminality, fuelling violent crime.
"These centres offer many of our most disadvantages families a vital lifeline and that is why I am deeply concerned about the huge government cuts to these services over the last 13 years.
"While I welcome new government funding for family hubs, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the almost £2 billion in cuts over the last 10 years, especially when coupled with the huge cuts to youth services, education and mental health services."
By Lisa O'Brien
Chief Reporter@lisaobrien_Star
Chief reporter at the Express & Star
Suspect arrested after allegedly stealing £2,000 worth of goods from TK Maxx in Wolverhampton and assaulting security guard
Police report massive reduction in Black Country street racing following High Court injunction
Wolverhampton | 1 hour ago

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Department of Treasury has announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding On the Sharing Information for Consumer Protection Purposes (MOU). See News Release, U.S. Dept. Treas. (Jan. 4, 2011); MOU between CFPB and CSBS (Jan. 4, 2011). The purpose of the MOU is to (i) establish the framework for the parties to establish and enhance the cooperative relationship between the CFPB and state authorities contemplated by the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and (ii) preserve the confidential nature of information shared by the parties.
Under the MOU the parties agree to, among other things, consult each other with respect to the practices used by the various state authorities represented by the CSBS in examining providers of consumer financial products and services. They also agree to work together to enforce federal consumer financial laws and state consumer protection laws effectively and to minimize the regulatory burden on providers of consumer financial products and services operating in multiple states. The Department of Treasury in its statement regarding the MOU described it as an important step in implementing the constructive balance between federal and state regulation of consumer financial products established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111-203 (July 21, 2010) (Dodd-Frank Act) and a starting point for additional state agreements.
The CFPB was created under the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, otherwise known as Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB is charged with regulating the offerings and provisions of consumer financial products and services under the federal consumer financial laws. The CSBS represents various state authorities that supervise institutions and other persons engaged in the offering and provision of consumer financial products and services.
Increased regulation, scrutiny and federal-state cooperation has been expected as the result of passage of Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act (see DTS Alerts dated July 16, 2010, September 15, 2010 and September 17, 2010). The MOU reflects continued progress in that direction.


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Deliveries of the Ford Mustang Mach-E are reportedly delayed for up to a month
[WATCH] "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" Season 8 Date and Trailer – Deadline
A woman from Texas who took a private plane to DC, accused of participating in a riot
The CDC says the coronavirus variant in the UK could become the predominant strain in the US by March
Huge digital sales of Nintendo Switch Games now on Amazon – IGN – IGN
The number of victims worldwide reaches 2 million
Researchers are rewinding the clock to calculate the age and location of a supernova explosion
The 49 are expected to have 10 drafts after the Jets hire Saleh
Google office building evacuated following suspicious package alert
Courtney Vucekovic, Armi Hammer's ex, says he wanted to "eat and eat" her ribs amid a news scandal
Home https://server7.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/smyrwpoii/p2/ US https://server7.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/smyrwpoii/p2/ House impeach Trump for rebellion in the Capitol in a historic two-party rebuke
House impeach Trump for rebellion in the Capitol in a historic two-party rebuke
US 0 Views
Washington – The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump to incite an uprising in the Capitol that killed five people, consolidating his place in history as the only president to be impeached twice in a two-party rebuke approved at unprecedented speed.
The final vote was 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining all 222 Democrats in support of a single impeachment article accusing the president of "inciting an uprising."
"We know that the President of the United States has instigated this uprising, this armed revolt against our common state,"
; House Nancy Speaker Pelosi said before the vote. "He has to go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation we all love."
Mr Trump was implicated in December 2019 for his efforts to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate the Biden family. Their second impeachment comes just a week before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as his successor. Only two other presidents have been imputed since the republic was founded.
On January 6, the president addressed supporters near the White House, urging them to "fight like hell" as members of Congress prepared to formalize Mr. Biden's victory. An angry mob then marched on the Capitol and stormed the complex, smashing windows and smashing doors to gain access to congressional halls. The crowd managed to stop the counting of electoral votes for several hours.
House Democrats passed a resolution impeachment of the vote at an unprecedented rate, reflecting the severity of the attack on the Capitol and the limited time remaining in Mr Trump's term. The resolution was presented for the first time on Monday, with Democrats abandoning the typical process of holding hearings and conducting an investigation.
The impeachment article will soon be addressed to the Senate, where lawmakers must hold a trial over whether to convict and remove Mr Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he has not decided whether to vote to convict the president during the trial.
With only seven days left in Mr Trump's term, the Senate process could potentially be extended to the term of his successor. If that happens, the Senate may still choose to convict Mr. Trump and ban him from holding any federal office in the future. The conviction vote requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
The president declined to take responsibility for his role in inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol, insisting on Tuesday that his pre-riot speech was "perfectly appropriate."
The Biden administration will rename "Operation Warp Speed", citing "Trump's Failures": Coronavirus Updates: NPR
Taxidermy and bust of Lincoln among the leaving effects of the White House
Cody Lee sues judges with a song OK by Paul Simon
Judge hugs Amber Geiger, gives her Bible after sentencing for murder, causes stir
High school speech: San Diego valedictorian calls the San Ysidro team and calls the teacher for "alcoholism" at a ceremony
Star of RuPaul's Drag Race Tatiana was arrested for disorderly conduct
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Home / News / Congratulations to the Clinician Research Fellows for 2020
Congratulations to the Clinician Research Fellows for 2020
Acting Chief Executive Jackie Hanson and Executive Director Research Scott Bell welcome the 2020 Clinician Research Fellows.
Recipients of the second round of Metro North Clinician Research Fellowships have been announced.
The Program awards up to five Fellowship awards annually, specifically designed to allow Metro North's emerging and highly skilled clinician researchers to develop and advance a body of research aligned to the Research Strategy to create a strong foundation of evidence-based healthcare.
The Fellowship funding provides four years of clinical backfill to allow recipients to enhance their research capacity. It's an opportunity for Metro North's brightest and most promising clinicians to delve deeper into their work and research.
Congratulations to the Clinician Research Fellows for 2020:
Dr Susan de Jersey, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, RBWH – Improving nutrition related antenatal care to optimise future health outcomes for mothers and their offspring.
Susan will use her Fellowship to evaluate and scale effective interventions to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their offspring. Her research will also help prevent the prevalence of excess gestational weight gain and gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnant women.
Dr Jayesh Dhanani, Intensive Care Medicine, RBWH – Inhale for comfort and analgesia – innovation in providing analgesia and sedation using nebulisation.
Jayesh will use his Fellowship to lead research into aerosolised therapy, an emerging field to improve patient comfort. Data used from his research will help Jayesh design future pharmacokinetics studies for post-operative, emergency medicine and palliative care patients.
Dr Henry Marshall, Thoracic Medicine, TPCH – CO-RiQUIRE (Comorbidity, Risk, QUIt, REach) – addressing lung cancer screening knowledge gaps.
Henry will use his Fellowship to maximise the efficiency and value add to lung cancer screening. His research will address four knowledge gaps of CT scanning: comorbidity, reach, prevention and risk.
A/Prof Kiran Shekar, Intensive Care Medicine, TPCH – The NO TUBE Project: Integrating non-invasive airway based respiratory support, nitric oxide gas inhalation and extracorporeal respiratory support to reduce the burden of invasive mechanical ventilation in intensive care units.
Kiran will use his Fellowship to gather data that will assist the development of cost-effective, viable alternatives to invasive mechanical ventilation in the ICU.
Dr Matthew Roberts, Department of Urology, RBWH – Beyond the scalpel: Surgeon-led multidisciplinary urological care with innovative precision diagnostics and therapeutics.
Matthew will use his Fellowship to pursue ground-breaking surgical urologic oncology, endourology and associated clinical research to improve urological surgery related patient survival, quality of life and financial outcomes.
Congratulations to the 2020 recipients. Metro North is looking forward to seeing the progress of these diverse research projects.


Editorial Board application open now through May 6th!
Serving as a jGirls editorial board member is both an exciting leadership training opportunity and a hands-on editorial position. Editors make a difference in the world by building an online community of future Jewish female leaders, providing a safe space for Jewish teenage girls to make their voices heard, and engaging in discussion across differences of background, opinion, and perspective.
We are accepting applications through Monday, May 6, 2019 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. We expect to finalize our decisions by the end of June. The term will begin at the end of summer/early fall.
Please read all four sections below before applying.
Participants receive editorial training from experts in various media (including writing and art/photography), and from educators on topics such as diversity in the Jewish community, talking about Israel across difference, and more. They build leadership, decision making, and communications skills, and explore identity at the intersection of being Jewish and being female.
Editors apply the tools and skills they receive by assisting in shaping the direction and scope of the magazine. Editors serve in departments that include Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Culture, and Visual Arts & Music to select content and make decisions affecting their departments and the jGirls community as a whole.
Serving on the editorial board offers rich opportunities for personal growth, skill-building, decision making and leadership development.
Build a community of collaboration, connection, and friendship.
Develop a network of strong and supportive girls and young women.
Work in a supportive environment with others with an array of backgrounds, experiences, and opinions.
Gain access to experts in a range of related fields.
Gain insight into organizational planning and strategy, including management, fundraising, and policy making.
Serve as the public face of jGirls, which includes helping to publicize the magazine and potentially speaking on behalf of jGirls to the press or other organizations.
In addition to valuable experience and training, editorial board members will receive a stipend of $250 for the year.
You self-identify as a Jewish girl/young woman.
You will be in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade for the 2019-2020 academic year.
You are committed to developing your voice and leadership skills.
You live in a timezone that corresponds to a continental U.S. time zone (Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific). This is in order to be able to attend our video meeting times, described under the Commitment tab.
You are regularly available on Sunday evenings from 7–9pm Eastern time.
The position is for one year, starting in autumn of 2019 and continuing through the U.S. academic year. Editors who have fulfilled their responsibilities can continue to serve through the end of high school.
All work is conducted virtually via online calls and messaging, with the exception of a possible retreat, as described below.
Participation requires an average commitment of 2–3 hours per week. This time includes both group and independent work, as described in the "Responsibilities" section, as well as departmental meetings held every 7–10 days by video call. (Editors typically serve in two departments; meeting times are decided by department members, generally at the end of the school day or on weekends).
Additionally, you must be available to participate in a 2-hour video-based meeting approximately two Sundays each month, from 7–9pm Eastern time. This is in addition to your weekly 2-3 hour weekly commitment.
You are expected to attend the majority of these meetings. We understand that you may have to miss meetings occasionally. However, please note that if you have another regular commitment that conflicts with this time, you are not eligible for an editorial position.
Editorial meetings, which include training in editorial skills, current affairs discussion, departmental updates, and organizational decision making.
Educational workshops in areas such as Jewish identity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, race and ethnicity in the Jewish community, talking about Israel across difference, and more.
An in-person retreat is tentatively scheduled to be held in New York City over Labor Day Weekend, August 31st–September 2nd, 2019. Financial resources should not be a barrier to participation. Stipends will be available to cover travel for those who require this. All other costs (housing, food, etc.) will be covered by jGirls Magazine. Note that availability on this date is one among many factors we will consider, but you are still eligible to apply if you will not be available.
Editors will apply their perspective, vision, and creativity to shape the way the world sees Jewish girls and listens to their voices.
Attending the all-board meetings and departmental meetings described under the Commitment tab.
Reviewing and selecting submissions, communicating with content-contributors, and preparing selected pieces for publication.
Serving as jGirls Ambassadors to friends and peers (getting the word out, actively posting about jGirls on social media, and encouraging others to participate as contributors or users).
Contributing creative content for consideration on a regular basis.
Being fully intellectually present and involved.
Participating in the building and development of jGirls Magazine.
Other tasks and responsibilities as determined by jGirls Magazine staff and/or editorial board.
Please prepare written responses to the following three essay questions before beginning your application. You will be asked to paste your responses into the application form.
The answers to each question should be approximately 250-400 words (1–3 paragraphs, or between half a page and a page). Don't worry if it is a bit longer or shorter.
What does being a Jewish girl mean to you?
Why do you want to join the jGirls editorial board? What appeals to you about jGirls? What do you hope to gain and what do you hope to give?
You will have to upload two pieces of creative material (in addition to the questions above). This is so we can get a sense of your creative style, what issues are of interest to you, and how you are thinking about those issues.
Your materials can include nonfiction, fiction, poetry, cultural reviews, visual arts (painting, photography, etc), video, and/or music. Please look at our website for examples of the broad range of work we are interested in. You can submit two different types of material. You may include material previously submitted to us, although we always love to see more of your work.
You can find this info on your computer. On a PC, open in a photo viewer such as Photo, right click, and look at File Info under Dimensions. On a Mac, click on the photo in Finder in List view, and look at Dimensions.
Non-digital artwork must be scanned at a high-resolution or photographed with a professional camera and meet the same resolution requirements as above.
Videos must be high-quality HD (1920×1080) MP4, filmed horizontally and with good sound and lighting.
Music must be in MP3 format, at 198 kbs or higher bitrate.
All file names must include a shortened version of the title of your piece, your first and last names, and EdBoard2019. For example, EndWorld_MillieStern_EdBoard2019.
Uploads can be a maximum of 10GB.
All documents must be uploaded via the application form—do not email these to us directly unless you have trouble uploading.
If you have trouble uploading, if your creative samples are too large to upload, or if you have any other problems with or questions about your creative samples, please email us at info@jgirlsmagazine.org. This will not affect your application.
Have questions? Please contact us at info@jgirlsmagazine.org. Asking questions will not affect your application.
Not ready to apply just yet? Sign up for our newsletter to hear about other jGirls opportunities or submit content now (you can both apply for the editorial board and submit content).


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About LRI
Legislative Intent
California Research
LRI History LLC
Experience Delivers Quality
LRI History LLC, formerly Legislative Research & Intent LLC, was co-founded in 1983 by Carolina Rose, a Stanford Law School graduate. This was preceded by 7 years of intense, hands-on work in the California State Legislature, during which time she had personal responsibility for over 200 bills. After answering countless questions about the legislative history and intent of her office's legislation, she decided to start her own legislative research company with a strong focus on quality and depth. Ms. Rose directed a talented team of researchers and personally designed and oversaw all of LRI's research methodologies until her retirement in 2015. Her commitment to excellence remains the driving force behind every LRI research report. Lisa Hampton is now at the helm, after having started with the company as Research Director in 2003. She earned both History and Political Science degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University, and puts both to good use in her new position as President of LRI.
LRI specializes in providing high-quality, custom research on the history and intent of:
Constitutional provisions
Statutes and codes
Local ordinances
All states and federal
Other Governmental Research
LRI provides a number of options for historical research affecting the enactment of laws. This has a beneficial, collateral affect on our general knowledge of governmental processes and activities across the board. LRI makes this collateral expertise available for any government related research project.
Depth Delivers Success
LRI kudos include this thanks from prevailing counsel in Courtesy Ambulance Service of San Bernardino v. State Compensation Fund (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1504:
Please accept our gratitude for the terrific research and analysis you provided us…
[The Courtesy] court, relying heavily upon your analysis, … ruled [in our favor].
Better yet, this victory paved the way for two others: Maxon Industries, Inc. v. State Compensation Fund (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 1387, and Security Officers Service, Inc. v. State Compensation Ins. Fund (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 887.
Customer Service Leads to Savings
LRI assists you in quickly narrowing your research focus to only those enactments affecting the language of interest. Why order unnecessary research, especially if it can cost substantially more? We also offer a variety of turnaround times so you can find the perfect fit for your budget.
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I'm starstruck and shellshocked. I saw two of the most powerful male performers in one weekend. Usually I'm overdosing on divas. Wow, Patinkin and Langella all in one weekend. That's a lot of testosterone. I don't think I'll ever be the same.
Love Mandy! Never saw him in a play but saw him in concert. Does that count?


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Places To Go Europe Russia St Petersburg
Highlights of St Petersburg
Who: Couples and Solo Travellers
Harriet is here to help give you the inside track.
This Russian short break makes perfect sense if you are short on time. Elegant St Petersburg feels more European than other Russian cities, scattered across 40 or so islands and riddled with waterways. The former capital is packed with Imperial palaces, museums and theatres making this the ideal destination for culture vultures.
Step inside Peter and Paul Fortress
Admire the gilded dome of St Isaac's Cathedral
Wonder at the sumptuous State rooms and works of art in the Hermitage
Stroll alongside St Petersburg's many canals
Visit Imperial palaces built by the Russian tsars
Day 1: Fly to St Petersburg
This morning you will fly direct from London to St Petersburg, which takes three-and-a-quarter-hours.
On arrival in the early afternoon your driver will be waiting to take you to your centrally located hotel. There'll be ample time to check in and unpack before dinner in one of the city's top restaurants, which we can pre-book.
Day 2: Highlights of St Petersburg
Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, elegant St Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia from the early 18th century until 1918. These days, the seat of government has moved to Moscow, but this refined northern city retains its crown as Russia's cultural capital. Art aficionados and museum buffs will delight in its varied offerings and its theatres host world-class opera and ballet performances.
Let's kick off the sightseeing where the city itself began: the Peter and Paul Fortress. This great military fortress, located on Zayachy Island, never saw armed conflict but since then has been a political prison and scientific research centre. Your English-speaking guide will then show you inside the magnificent St Isaac's Cathedral. Its gilded dome glitters in the sunshine and from the top of the 262 steps that lead to it, you'll be rewarded with splendid views across the city. Descend for the biggest treat of all. Occupying Peter the Great's Winter Palace, the Hermitage houses one of the world's largest collections of art. An estimated three million pieces represent every great artist from da Vinci to Picasso.
We can arrange a private backstage tour of the world famous Mariinsky Theatre during the day
Day 3: St Petersburg's Palaces
Today, you'll continue to explore this beautiful city in the company of your English-speaking guide. On today's menu is a trip out to the suburbs to visit one of the great Imperial palaces. Dependent on the season, you might visit Pushkin, where you'll find the opulent Catherine Palace and the sprawling grounds of Alexander Park. Alternatively, pay a visit to Peterhof, to explore Peter the Great's Grand Palace and its park.
Return to the city to scope out Yusupov Palace. It was here in 1916 that noblemen assassinated the self-proclaimed holy man and royal confidante Rasputin, concerned about his influence over Tsar Nicholas II. Tonight, make the most of St Petersburg's reputation for the arts with a ticket for a ballet or opera performance.
Day 4: Fly Home from St Petersburg
After a leisurely breakfast, enjoy some free time in the city; take a stroll along the banks of St Petersburg's canals and pick up a souvenir of your trip. At lunchtime, a driver will pick you up and take you to the airport for your flight back to London, which takes three-and-a-half-hours, arriving in the late afternoon.
NYE St Petersburg
Russia From £2,765pp
Moscow and St Petersburg
Highlights of Moscow
Moscow in Style
St Petersburg and Moscow Honeymoon
Harriet is our expert for this itinerary and, as a seasoned traveller, has the inside track on the most memorable adventures.


Chellamuthu Kuppusamy: My book on prudent stock investing!
My book on prudent stock investing!
My book on prudent stock investing with the title 'izhakathe' (இழக்காதே! - Meaning Don't loose) is released in tamil.
Efforts are on to bring this out in English as well.


The energy bundle! The Tigershark cuts through trails as if on rails.
If speed and crisp turns are what turns you on, then Tigershark is the tool of choice. Unlike the Racetiger models, there are no FIS restrictions to be followed. Every one of the ski's characteristics have been configured for uncompromising aggressiveness.
In the 11 Feet Version, the titanium deck clads the Power Switch system, which lets skiers adapt the ski's performance quickly and easily to changing snow conditions.


We love travelling the world to bring our customers desirable and unique pieces with a story to tell.
Our passion is the 20th Century which is why we scourer the world gathering outstanding designs in furniture, lighting, art works, glass sculptures, period costume jewellery, among others with an attentive eye on quality, craftsmanship, proportion of form and presenting it to a worldwide audience.
We are also keen in promoting the works of established and upcoming designers, architects, artists and artisans.
We serve a clientele from all walks of life, including influential names in fashion, show business, celebrities, leading interior designers, notable collectors and the general public.
Our pieces can be found in many public and private collections.
Johanna Grawunder glass vase "Riccio"Johanna Grawunder glass vase "Riccio"Johanna Grawunder glass vase "Riccio"


This Pilot focuses on finding countermeasures for a subtle and dificult-to-track forms of fraud, such as the leakage of confidential information in assessment processes, especially conducted in remote. A cyber-attack based on the frequent attack techniques, e.g. social engineering, trojans, Advanced Persistent Threats can be crafted to insert malicious software into a business to steal core business information about risk rating and risk assessment. These attacks are so swift that they are not noticed on time in traditional IT security risk management approaches because they have very long cycles of risk evaluation. WISER will provide near real-time risk assessment to quickly identify risk factors and significantly reduce events that are of high impact to businesses.
"WISER's real-time risk assessment will quickly identify risk factors. This will drastically reduce events that are high impact to businesses in the financial sector. WISER will let us move towards preventive measures to deal with cyber-crime". Giorgio Aprile, Director, Operational Risk and Capital Management, Aon.


Switch on the printer device where printer will go through a warm-up phase.
Now perform a thorough test of the hard drive with the help of PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI tool which will enable users to perform a test of all the main components of the computer by selecting quick tests or longer mode.
The next thing is simply to navigate to the "BIOS Setup screen" and then, press the "F9" button to select and load the BIOS Setup Default settings carefully.
Users are advised to reset the computer which will force the system to completely clear and reestablish the software connections between the BIOS as well as the hardware architecture.
A hard or one may call it as a forced reset which functions by erasing all information in the computer memory and may restore functionality in normal mode.


Thanks for letting me read your story which I enjoyed over a cuppa and a digestive. I particularly enjoyed the line about 'coup de gras'.
I would like to read others that you have written. Send me a link. I have a new packet of Jaffa cakes in the cupboard.
Hi Christian, if you selct the category 'Loosely Literary' on the left, the selection will include more Zeldas and other stuff.


Blog : Life goes on!
Equestrian Blogs > AmazingLady's blogs > Life goes on!
When I joined this site, I was looking for friends. I had embarked on a great journey with a blind, Belgian gelding named Charlie. He was an amazing horse. The darkness didn't stop him from enjoying his new life and new job. However, sadly, he succumbed to Colic and is now in the Big Meadow in the sky. It was sad, but Letting Him Go was also the Humane thing to do. As well as losing Charlie, I recently lost my husband, and I am now a widow. I am trying to return to the Equestrian World slowly, safely, and sanely! I am looking for a partner to help me do that.
When I joined this site, I was looking for friends. I had embarked on a great journey with a blind, Belgian gelding named Charlie. He was an amazing horse. The darkness didn't stop him from enjoying his new life and new job. However, sadly, he succumbed to Colic and is now in the Big Meadow in the sky. It was sad, but Letting Him Go was also the Humane thing to do.
As well as losing Charlie, I recently lost my husband, and I am now a widow. I am trying to return to the Equestrian World slowly, safely, and sanely! I am looking for a partner to help me do that.
It will get better with time I lost our precious 2 yr old to Potomic Horse Feveor in 2000 it was horible.. So sorry for your loss..


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Fabrizio Romano: United have not offered a contract to Pogba – decision in 6-7 months
In Episode 14 of Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano provided updates on talks regarding Paul Pogba's contract extension.
Romano confirms that United haven't given any official offer to the Frenchman. The Red Devils have initiated the talks, but things have stalled since then.
He also adds that Pogba has to make a decision in 6-7 months, ie, next summer.
Most recently, United triggered a one-year extension in Pogba's contract which binds him to the club until 2022. However, Pogba's future is uncertain at United and it hinges both on United's performance in the league (and Europe) as well as potential demand for the player.
Days before the one-year extension, Pogba publicly expressed his desire to play for Real Madrid in his career. This fueled media's interest in him and he's become the center of attention attracting bad press.
Since joining United for a club-record fee in 2016, Pogba hasn't been consistent. Comparatively, Bruno Fernandes has had more impact in significantly lesser time.
Pogba's previous club Juventus are interested in him too. Juve boss Andrea Pirlo regards him as the 'dream' signing.
Romano's comments make sense. If Pogba decides to stay, an extension should be signed before the summer transfer window opens. If not, Pogba should find a new club real soon as his contract will have a 12-month expiry date in the summer. There is a chance United could be bullied by the buying club.
It's also important to recall that Pogba reportedly told his teammates he'd leave United earlier this year in February and was on the verge of leaving the club. In February, the Euros had not been postponed yet and it's reasonable to assume that Pogba was looking for a stellar series of performances with his national team to elevate his profile and engineer a move out of Old Trafford.
With the Euros now being played next season, that will be Pogba's chance to shine the spotlight on himself.
And wherever he goes next, the question will remain – why not do the same at United? One 'great' season, or two 'excellent' ones would have immediately put him in the shop window (not to mention changed United's fortunes as well).
Pogba seems to be loving playing the world-class midfielder as opposed to actually being one. It's a shame.
Related TopicsPaul Pogba
'They were two big moments': Manchester United great rues United's missed chances against Liverpool
Manchester United monitoring fourth-best centre-back in Premier League
Negotiations started – Manchester United close to buying €5-€8m defender


The year 2017 had given was good enough for Video Games, we had seen some big titles flopping and some indie games making their way on the top charts. In this article, we bring you the best video games of 2017. The games are included on the basis of their overall features including their success in the market. There were some really big titles missing out from the list just because their reputation was almost killed by controversies. You can read our article on Worst Games of 2017 to find those big titles if you are searching them in here.
In case we miss out something to share the same in the comments below, our suggestions in this articles are based on the game success. We are not considering those titles which were big but due to micro-transactions controversy they failed to perform. Below is the list of best game sorted on the basis of the platform first and then their release date.
Nintendo Switch: There are three best games for the year 2017, all these 3 games are unique and have fresh content with hours and hours of entertainment.
Mario returned this year in a form of a racer, in Mario Kart 8 you get amazing DLC tracks, new characters, and a full battle mode. This game was first released on Wii U and now ported on Nintendo Switch. There are ample of great tracks to try out, a competitive mode to keep you engaged all the time. The game also supports multiplayer mode, where you can compete with your friends and families. So if you have a Switch this game must be on your list.
Breath of Wild is a stunning open-world game with an inspiring story line. It is one of the most loved series where you will play as Link the protagonist. It is a wonderful adventure game where you will be fighting with the evil power. The game is pretty neat, everything is easy to understand and interesting. Simple doesn't mean it is not challenging, there are puzzles, battles, exploration, etc. Breath of Wild is among the most popular and successful titles of 2017 on Switch. If you had played any series of Zelda then you will love revisiting the world.
Super Mario Odyssey is a milestone game for Nintendo Switch, the platform game returned with entertaining twist and turns. This game re-creates the Mario brand offers a wide amount of fresh possibilities to gamers. It is highly innovative and offers amazing gameplay environment. The game offers a fresh look at Mario that impressed many. The game is highly optimized and fully functional on Switch. Super Mario Odyssey when introduced made a lot of news and the game proved itself by offering hours and hours of fresh entertainment.
Enter the world of survival horror with the seventh editions of Resident Evil series Biohazard. It is among the very popular horror games. The game also supports PSVR offering more immersive horror experience. The game is a single-player mode with first-person gameplay. This new installment once again brings a new story line where you will be playing as Ethan Winters who is trying to locate his wife. The game has action as well as a puzzle. Also, there is a choice in the game that will have an impact on the ending.
NieR: Automata is an action role-playing game, the game brings multiple endings depending on the choices you pick. The game offers you control over androids, you will have the objectives and you have to move own. The game changes its gameplay style in between, for example depending on the objective it will turn to a side-scroller or an air-combat. The game offers you long hours of gameplay, but remember at some point you will find it linear. The game gives you a lot of combat and action. Due to the improved combat system, you can enhance the game with time you spent in playing.
Horizon Zero Dawn in one of the finest game you will see this year. This game has an innovative storyline, this single-player game features a post-apocalyptic world ruled by robots. The environment is stunning and the characters are unique. You will play as Aloy in this game, a girl who is in search for answers to her past. Zero Dawn will give you a fresh experience and challenges. It is an open world game where you can do various another task. Exploring the beautiful world with Aloy you will also go through a persuasive story. You will be fighting with machine creatures, with various weapons. Horizon Zero Dawn's innovative look makes it highly appealing.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was introduced first in March this year, in the form of Early Access. The game was an instant hit and it turned to be the 4th best selling game on Xbox One. Full release was in December 2017. The game offers a multiplayer online battle royale mode, where around a hundred players participate together and only the last man standing wins the game. The game is highly competitive and offers a full action. It knows relies players capabilities how they can survive on the deserted island without dying. Each player starts with no weapons, the only objective is to stay in the shrinking circle.
Persona 5 is a role-playing video game first released in Japan (PS3) in September 2015 and later it was released world-wide in 2017. It is a PS4 Exclusive Game. This stylish JRPG game offers you to play with a group of teenagers who called them Phantom Thieves. The goal was to steal the treasure in Meta Verse to cause a change of heart of the victim in real life. The story is pretty simple but brings a lot of challenges and a very long gameplay. You will not only have enough action, but you will also have to do casual activities in-order to wait for your next task. The game is vast, it is neatly designed, it is more like playing a live comic. The visuals and story will keep you engaged, the characters are simply unique and lively. You can upgrade your character strength from Velvet Room.
Hellblade is a dark fantasy psychological horror action-adventure video game released for PC and PS4. Watch out this one is a horror game and has certain psychological characteristics that can disturb others. The game is made pretty amazing, it has a grasping story line and true ghastly elements. You will be playing as Senua who his on her journey to hell to meet the goddess of death. The game has many twist and turns, there are puzzles and action where you battle with hell creatures. The game is unique and nicely executed. Though it does not has a very long story line, but the one we have is pretty enough and you would definitely love to play it once again. If you are looking for an exceptional horror game then this one must be on your list.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is an action-adventure game by Naughty Dog. This new extended story will let you control Chloe Frazer on an adventurous journey of locating a hidden treasure. There are amazing puzzles and action compiled with the story. You will fight with enemies in between and also find yourself stuck in between of nowhere with a mysterious puzzle to solve. This game is really fun to play but as usual due to the static combat and lengthy missions you might get bored after few hours.
Cuphead is a run and gun indie game, slightly different from full-featured action RPG games we see. This can be counted as something really different that brings nostalgic memories back. The game is completely hand-drawn, the game animation takes a lot of inspiration from 1930's cartoon. The game will give you an outdated look, but don't ignore its gameplay mechanism. There are boss fights at the end of each level where you will have to face more challenge to win. The game has ample of levels you can play through with three worlds to cover. If you are looking for a classic game to be in your library then Cuphead is one of the best to go for.
Assassin's Creed series is back with Origins title, this new title will take you to Egypt. This action adventure game was highly successful and offers a lot of open-world activities. It has a long storyline, along with tons of things you can do in the massive open world. The gameplay mechanism offers you a fresh adventurous journey in the Assassins world. There are tons of objectives to play, also you explore beautiful Egypt. Assassin's Creed Origins is one of the best open-world games, you will truly enjoy the fresh experience.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a platform video game exclusive for PS4. The game is a collection of re-master editions of first three games of Crash Bandicoot Series. They are Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back & Warped. The game is pretty awesome if you are looking for platformer games for PS4. There are various levels and using the spinning/jumping technique you can kill enemies, open create and gather items.
So these are the list of best games of 2017, you can also share your views in the comment section below or update us in case if missed something.