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The government uses fear to control you. Show no fear, and they will destroy you. Still raw from the death of his parents, eighteen-year-old Tommy Bailey isn't sure if he wants to live--until he meets complex and intriguing Careen. He comes to her aid during a terrorist gas-strike, sharing his last dose of the government-mandated antidote that, they've been told, is key to their survival. Without enough antidote, the teens expect to die. Instead, they discover the terrorist attack wasn't real, and the antidote was never meant to protect them--it was meant to dull their thoughts and make them easy to control. As he and Careen search for the truth, Tommy learns that his parents were operatives in an underground resistance group that's fighting to overthrow the government. The Resistance expects him to continue his parents' crusade. The government's hunting him down. Which side will get to him first?
When I wrote Counteract between 2010-2013, I crafted dystopian world I'd never want to live in. This fictional world was not the result of a cataclysmic event, but a prolonged campaign that spawned fear and terror until the people demanded the government deliver safety and security--at any cost. Did I accurately predict what would happen? You decide.
Writing dystopia tends to make you look for the worst-case scenario. A situation that puts the entire nation in danger...mismanagement by those sworn to protect the public...a power grab that makes the situation even worse...a small group of rebels determined to expose the truth. When I wrote Counteract, the first in the Resistance Series novels, I put Tommy and Careen and the rest of the cast into situations I'd never want the teens I know to face. Well...it seems I was a pretty accurate predictor of how things would play out in 2020. See for yourself!
For years, I've been marketing my Resistance Series books with the tagline, "Read 'em now--while they're still fiction!" and showing up at live book events wearing my "Make Orwell Fiction Again" t-shirt. I had intended to write fiction. I never thought my far-fetched version of a future America in the grips of a totalitarian government would really come true. My most recent reader review, though, thinks I "nailed 2020" in the story. "I'm 40 and LOVED this series!! I just reread the four books and WOW Tracy (the author) got 2020 (even though the books are written to be in the 2030s) so correct! Counteract is great and the series is amazing!" Five stars. Download Counteract FREE and see if you agree. Get the whole series for $2.97!!
This current crisis will change the way we live long after the initial outbreak has passed. When I started writing Counteract about ten years ago, I let my imagination go wild to what I considered a worst-case scenario. I envisioned a society on virtual lockdown with no end in sight--brought on by the fear of something that MIGHT or MIGHT NOT happen. The passage I selected for today seems like it could be happening right now. Counteract is not about the Restrictions--it's about people's enormous will to live as they choose. It's about what pushes people to rise above their circumstances and be brave--even when they think they cannot. Download Counteract free--and get the rest of the series at .99 each. Great deals on paperbacks, too! Read this fast-paced series before quarantine ends, and you'll emerge like my characters--ready to greet the new day in the new world.
Tommy and Careen's relationship is complicated. I mean, who has time for love when you're trying to start a revolution? This week, heading into Valentine's Day, I pulled the scene in which Tommy sees Careen for the first time. He's still recovering from injuries suffered in the car crash that killed his parents. His confidence is at an all-time low. What will she see when she looks at him?
This week's polar vortex kept people apart. Schools were closed, events postponed, and flights canceled all over the country. In Counteract, government policies designed to protect the people are part of the reason Tommy feels isolated, and the death of his parents left him lonely and bewildered by the rapid changes in his life. When he meets Careen, one of the first things he recognizes in her is her loneliness.
When I wrote the Resistance Series books, it was easy for me to visualize the story as it unfolded. Since I could see it as a television show, I decided to adapt the books into a television series. It's a whole new, scary world, but the pilot episode has placed in the semi-finals and finals in several screenwriting competitions. Stay tuned--because someday, we might be binge-watching Tommy and Careen as they face off against the OCSD!
Are we really less safe than we were when I started writing Counteract back in 2010? If you watch the news and read posts on social media, you are probably convinced that the world is a dangerous, hostile place. If you do a little research, there are many articles that assert we're safer overall than we ever were, and that it's a great time to be a kid in America. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/14/theres-never-been-a-safer-time-to-be-a-kid-in-america/?noredirect=on
I think our characters want meaty roles. They're much more interesting when they're flawed, even if it makes them suffer on their way to growth, enlightenment, and redemption. Careen told me herself (yes, I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested) that she needed the opportunity to be a jerk and hurt people so she would learn from the consequences of her bad behavior. At this point in the story, she doesn't believe she's the right person to fill the void in Tommy's life.
This week, a tornado ripped through the town where my daughter grew up. We no longer live there, but the devastation wrought by a 15-minute bout with an F-1 tornado was considerable. One of my FB friends wrote that she was walking to the high school, where she teaches, and found herself in the midst of the maelstrom--lighting flashing, trees crashing to the ground all around her. Only later did she realize she had walked through a tornado to get to work. There was no siren. No warning on television. The fear came later, when people woke up and surveyed the devastation. In Counteract, the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense feeds off the population's fear. Without advance warnings, people would cease to worry. So the OCSD is always upping the ante...
Wes Carraway is a member of the Quadrant Marshals, the quasi-military police force that keeps a close watch on everyone, ever-alert and ready to bust members of the Resistance, who have been branded as terrorists because they threaten the status quo favored by the totalitarian government. But Wes is different. He's a double agent, and a member of the Resistance, gathering intelligence in the hopes of exposing the government's corruption.
Tommy's living under the constant threat of a chemical weapons attack, and doesn't realize he's actually in the grip of the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense's hallucinatory "antidote." He's never been taught to question authority--and it's a stretch for him to sneak in a morning run before taking his daily dose of the antidote. Surely whatever side effects he's experiencing are still better than falling victim to the terrorists? Dystopian fiction seeks to explore what humans will endure before they rebel against external forces that seek to control them. What will it take for Tommy to assert himself?
Tommy Bailey's world changed forever the night his parents were killed in a car accident. He's reeling from the loss of his family and trying to cope with his new physical limitations. He has no idea there's a connection between that accident and the terrorist attack that threatens him now. He's being watched. And things are only going to get worse. Tommy is lonely--but he's never alone.
When I wrote Counteract, I enjoyed creating a dystopian story with action, adventure, and characters you want to root for. But there's also a message of caution. Tommy and Careen unquestioningly follow instructions and take the antidote that's supposed to protect them against the airborne poison--but the OCSD has conveniently neglected to mention some disturbing side effects. In this scene, Tommy has begun to realize that his malaise is related to the antidote, and he starts to rebel--just a little. But the pull of the antidote is strong. What will it take for him to risk his safety and free himself from its grasp?
My villain in the Resistance Series is fear. The people's reaction to fear and terrorism has spiraled out of control, and the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense has taken advantage of that desperation to clamp down on the people it claims to be protecting. All this seemed pretty far-fetched when I started writing Counteract in 2010. When I explained the Essential Services Department with another writer friend, she said, "Wonderful! No more schlepping to the grocery." She changed her mind after I explained that ES doesn't let people choose what they want to eat. An unexpected consequence of relinquishing control. I didn't realize just how much my made-up scenario would come to resemble the world we live in...
How do you choose the catalyst that will bring your protagonists together? A good YA thriller should have an element of romance, right? In Counteract, Careen is a strong, independent heroine--well, at least she was, until the world unraveled and she realized everything she'd come to believe was a lie. Add the looming threat of forced conscription into some sort of army--she and Tommy aren't exactly sure how the government plans to make use of the people forced to participate, but anyone who fails to report for training can be jailed. They've just recently become a team--working together to figure out why everyone is being forced to take CSD, which makes people compliant and causes amnesia. Now they're trapped. There's no escape. And unlike most of the people around them, they've stopped taking CSD. This is not the time to deny their mutual attraction, or fail to seek the comfort of a human connection in the only way they have left.
Careen and Tommy were law-abiding citizens who put their trust in the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense's ability to protect them against the biological warfare that threatens the country. This scene shatters that trust; they realize they're quite on their own, and they've got no idea how to protect themselves. It was my hope that readers would put themselves in Tommy and Careen's shoes, and think about who they trust--and how much control they might have relinquished over their own lives.
The characters in Counteract are mandated to take the Counteractive System of Defense drug (CSD), which is supposed to protect them from an imminent chemical weapons attack. Trouble is, the side effects include hallucinations. How do you know what's real--and who to trust--if you can't believe what your senses tell you? Careen is an extremely intelligent young woman who turns into a scatterbrain when she takes CSD, but her natural defenses kick in when she perceives she's in danger from more than the toxins in the air.
I made the decision to write the Resistance Series books in multiple point of view because I had a collaborator early in the project. We'd each written scenes for our characters, and when I began writing alone, I didn't want to take a voice away from any of the characters. Writing in multiple POV gives a film-like feel to the book. It also allows the reader to know things Tommy and Careen don't. In this excerpt, we meet Dr. Trina Jacobs, a new hire at the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense, charged with developing a drug that will counteract the effects of the toxins used in chemical weapons.
This excerpt is the final version of the first scene written on the project, in response to the prompt about everyone being on LSD. Tommy Bailey was seriously injured in the auto accident that killed his parents, and he's just beginning to get his life back together when the threat of a chemical weapons attack against the US sends him reeling again. Writing a scene in which your character hallucinates was a great creative exercise. A lot of the references might be lost on someone who didn't know the writer, but the finished scene portrays a person whose fears of pain, death and decay overwhelm him.
Counteract evolved from a writing prompt. I was mentoring a friend of my daughter's, editing his short stories and working on his writing. We were between projects, and he suggested we free write to a prompt. His suggestion? "What if everyone were on a mind-altering drug and all thoughts were communal?" It was certainly thought-provoking, and we each wrote a scene and eagerly traded them. In his, Chase created the character Tommy. We had no idea where the project was going at the time, but writing hallucination scenes for these new characters was fun and exciting. After we had three characters and about six scenes, we began to dream about how and why our characters had ended up in this situation.
I put considerable thought into the "grown-up stuff" I included in Counteract, which is categorized YA. If it were a film I'd rate it a mild PG-13 for romance, violence, and language. I wanted to use the situation in this excerpt, not to glorify the fact that many college students have, at one time or another, experienced waking up and not knowing exactly where they are, but to allude to what Careen is giving up by blindly following the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense's edict to take the antidote. It's supposed to protect her from a chemical weapons attack, but it's got some side effects that have been, shall we say, downplayed by the OCSD...
This is the opening chapter of Counteract. Here you'll meet Careen, Tommy, and Wes--three young people who have very different reactions to the news of an imminent terrorist attack against the United States.
In 1778, war is men’s business. That doesn’t stop Anna Stone from getting involved in the fight. When her loved ones face starvation at Valley Forge, she refuses to sit idly by. Armed with life-sustaining supplies, Anna strikes out alone on horseback over 200 miles of rough and dangerous terrain. Despite perilous setbacks along the way, sheer determination carries her toward her destination. When she learns of a plot to overthrow General Washington, her mission becomes more important than ever. With the fate of the American Revolution in her hands and one of the conspirators hot on her trail, Anna races to deliver a message of warning to Valley Forge before it’s too late. Based on events in the life of the author’s sixth-great-grandmother.
While writing Answering Liberty's Call, I thought about how Anna, Benjamin, and the members of their community must have felt when they heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud for the first time. We tend to take our form of government, a democracy within a republic, for granted. But it was the most amazing experiment in government that had ever been tried, and it was revolutionary enough that people rallied behind it.
It's hard for us to imagine, but prior to the American Revolution, freedom of religion was not extended to all the colonists. The chasm between Christian denominations seemed much wider than we would imagine it today. As a Baptist dissenter in Virginia, Anna is fascinated by the idea of toleration in Pennsylvania, and wonders about the liberties extended to Quaker women.
Though we may think of the American Revolution as a man's war, patriot women were just as involved in advancing the cause as their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons.
After Anna's long journey, I'm sure readers wanted to see a romantic and satisfying reunion between her and her husband, Benjamin, as much as I did! But when I visited Valley Forge Historic Park and spoke to the historian there and asked where Anna would have stayed, the answer was not what I hoped to hear. She would have stayed in the enlisted men's hut with her husband and his fellow soldiers! Yikes! (I wasn't writing THAT kind of a book.) So I set out to write a scene with a little humor and some maneuvering that would allow Anna and Benjamin some much-needed alone time.
When I wrote this passage, I considered the sacrifices men made at home when they enlisted in the Continental Army. Not only did they leave loved ones behind, but many sold out their business interests or left them in the care of relatives. Still others went as substitutes for those who could pay NOT to go.
In this passage, Anna receives an unexpected visit from her brother-in-law, Thomas, who has deserted from the army to bring home the body of his youngest brother, Baylis. Anna has been missing her husband, Benjamin, and when Thomas arrives, for a fleeting moment, she believes Benjamin has returned and her dearest wish has been granted. Instead, there are new things to worry about--like the privations and disease at Valley Forge. When my beta readers critiqued Answering Liberty's Call, one of them flagged Anna's mention of the day of feasting decreed by Congress to celebrate Continental victories in battle. This day of thanksgiving was celebrated in December 1777, not November, as the national holiday was established by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. It's interesting to note that we're encouraged to come together, feast, and celebrate to see the light in otherwise dark times.
While doing the research for Answering Liberty's Call, I sought an answer to why Anna Stone made the dangerous, 200-mile journey to Valley Forge. Of course she loved her husband, but her decision to travel such a great distance on horseback in winter smacked of desperation. I found my answers in the laws of the day. Children whose father died, though their mother was still alive and able to care for them, were orphans. Every American colony had an orphans' court to oversee their welfare. Children without inheritances that could see them through to adulthood could be taken from their mother and bound out as indentured servants or put into apprenticeships.
While writing this book, I learned a lot about religious persecution in the American colonies. The Baptists were treated particularly harshly in Virginia. In this scene, Benjamin and Anna learn that the preacher Elijah Craig, who had performed their illegal wedding ceremony the day before (only weddings performed by Anglican priests were considered legal in Virginia at the time) had been arrested while working in his fields, and thrown in jail for disturbing the peace and preaching "schismatic doctrine." I enjoyed writing the Stone brothers' trip to town to try and get their friend released from the jail.
As American colonists contemplated the possibility of independence from Great Britain, they must have felt a mixture of excitement, fear, and uncertainty. It's hard to imagine forcing such a momentous change, and many patriots were influenced by the writings of their contemporaries. Not everyone agreed--far from it! For us, it's hard to imagine what our country would be like if the American Revolution had ended with a British victory.
I loved creating the Twelfth Night celebration scene, with all its smells and sounds and the large cast of characters. Everything from the baby's cry, the carols sung around the piano, the smell of the wood fire and the bayberry candles serve to place the reader alongside the characters in the scene. Anna misses Benjamin, who has been away at the war for over a year, and frets because she hasn't heard from him in a few months. The unexpected visitor brings news--but will it ease Anna's worry?
In Answering Liberty's Call, Anna's husband Benjamin is away with the Continental Army, and is seen only in flashbacks for the first two-thirds of the novel. In early drafts I struggled to make him into the kind of swoon-worthy hero that inspired Anna's fierce devotion. As I got to know him better, he stepped into that role--but it still nagged at me that on certain occasions, he'd shut Anna out of decisions or done things that made her life harder. His passion for liberty, it seemed, surmounted his love for her and their children.
When I began research for this book, I had no idea how the laws governing widows and orphans worked against them. I also had no idea my sixth great-grandmother, Anna Asbury, had been orphaned at the age of nine when her father died. Yes, that's right--losing a father made a child an orphan, because except in rare cases, mothers couldn't work and support their children. Children without attractive inheritances were likely to be put into apprenticeships or indentures, where they would be raised without their mother's influence. This colored how I saw Anna, of course--and it explained why she would risk her own life to save those of her husband and brothers. Without a man to advocate for her, she would face the same fate as an adult as she had as a child--and this time, her children would suffer too.
At age nine, Anna's world turns upside down when her father dies. Her family plunges into poverty, and like so many children in colonial America, she faces life as an indentured servant. The change in her social status means big changes, and sets the course for her later life.
Though Anna's husband Benjamin is absent from most of the main story line in Answering Liberty's Call, he still wields a large influence over Anna's actions and her moods. I loved creating a swoon-worthy hero for my strong, feisty heroine. Even though she puts up a brave front (most of the time) she misses Benjamin keenly while he's away in the army. As she prepares to take food and supplies to him at Valley Forge, she is beset by memories of their happy times together, and at the same time, saddened by the lonesome state of the house they shared.
Anna Stone is determined to bring life-saving supplies to her husband and brother at Valley Forge. When she set out alone on her journey, she believes she's strong and capable enough to handle any difficulties on the road. But when she's asked to become a courier for a congressman and carry a secret message to General Washington himself, she's facing a whole new set of dangers and challenges. When she left home, Anna believed in the Cause and the goodness of the men in power who supported it. On the final leg of her journey she discovers powerful people do not always have pure motives.
As Anna Stone hastens to the army camp at Valley Forge, she has two missions. First, she brings life-sustaining food, warm clothes, and blankets to her husband and three brothers. She has a reasonable belief she can save the four men with what she's brought from Virginia on horseback. But the message she carries--that's another matter. Answering Liberty's Call is based on events in the life of my sixth great-grandmother, Anna Asbury Stone. This book sheds light on the sacrifices ordinary citizens were willing to make for the promise of liberty, and the grit and determination of one woman to save not just her loved ones--but the whole country as well.
In Answering Liberty's Call, Anna realizes she must go to Valley Forge with life-sustaining supplies for her husband and brothers. Though it's not her job to solve the army's problems, how can she live with herself if she sits idly by while her loved ones suffer? We all face tough decisions and must decide whether to act. I had to decide whether to change publishers and relaunch this book. I chose to spend months tweaking, revamping, and designing a new cover because I couldn't live with myself if I didn't give readers every chance to discover Anna and her story. The new edition goes on sale Tuesday March 29. I hope you'll go along for the ride to Valley Forge!
We all need a makeover from time to time--and the second edition of Answering Liberty's Call has an exciting new look! Complete creative control is every author's dream, and this time, I designed the cover I wanted. Anna makes a dangerous journey to Valley Forge with food, clothing, and blankets for her husband and brothers. She sometimes dresses as a boy to avoid unwanted attention, and wears her husband's green wedding coat, which she packed for him. It's no longer his best, since they've been married ten years, but it holds good memories. So of course, Anna wears that green coat on the new cover. The new second edition of Answering Liberty's Call is available for pre-order and is slated for release on March 29, 2022.
Anna Stone receives a letter from her husband, Benjamin, a soldier at Valley Forge. Her concern for his welfare spurs her to head off with plenty of warm clothes and food, hoping she can ease his suffering while in winter camp. She makes the decision in haste, and begins packing before she can change her mind. How will her family react? How will Anna fare on the 200-mile journey? She's never left Virginia before. It's winter, and bitter cold in the north.
Several scenes in Answering Liberty's Call take place in York, Pennsylvania, where the Continental Congress gathered during the winter of 1778 after fleeing Philadelphia ahead of the invading British forces. One of the cherished legends of the American Revolution is the Marquis de Lafayette's defiant and pointed toast to General Washington, in a room full of the commander in chief's detractors. Did it really go down like it says in the history books? We'll never know, but I wanted my character Anna Stone to witness the young Marquis' poise and his loyalty to General Washington.
Bublish's prompt this week was about commitment. In Answering Liberty's Call, Anna's husband, Benjamin, is committed to the fight for independence from Britain. Anna shares his convictions, and as she approaches Valley Forge, she has two goals--to bring food and supplies that will help her loved ones survive the harsh winter, and to deliver a secret message for General Washington, meant to help him thwart a conspiracy.
At her family's Twelfth Night celebration, Anna feels Benjamin's absence--so much so that it's hard to be cheerful for her little girl. When an unexpected visitor arrives, Anna's hopes shoot sky-high, and are dashed almost as quickly. What news has her brother-in-law brought?
Often when we think of our nation's fight for independence from Great Britain, we think of the Founding Fathers (love 'em or hate 'em) and military leaders. But do we ever think what camp life was like for the enlisted soldiers, beyond the lack of warm clothes, food, and supplies? What about the camp followers, the women, often with children in tow, who followed their men to war, either to serve as cooks and laundresses, or because they had nowhere else to go. While writing Answering Liberty's Call, I would have liked Anna's long-anticipated reunion with Benjamin to take place in a cozy, fire-lit room in a nearby hotel, not in the hastily built hut occupied by a dozen soldiers! But there were no Holiday Inns, so Anna had to made do in camp.
When Anna agrees to carry a secret message from Congressman Benjamin Harrison to General George Washington, Harrison assures her, "No one will suspect a woman of carrying anything of import." Yet women were couriers and spies during the American Revolution. Most of their stories will never be told. Some, like Anna's, were handed down by family through the generations.
Part of the fun of writing historical fiction is allowing your characters to interact with well-known historical figures. In Anna Stone's case, it could have been true! While Anna would certainly have heard of the officers in Washington's inner circle, how would she have behaved in their presence?
In this scene, Anna's brother Joseph escorts her to her first Baptist church service. There, she sees Benjamin Stone for the first time.
Motherhood means juggling, and women whose fathers, husbands, and brothers were off fighting the British for independence shouldered more responsibility than usual. As one of her community's healers, Anna Stone is always on call, but also she's focused on her family's well-being and planning for her children's futures.
It saddened me to learn that more soldiers lost their lives to disease than fell to the enemy's bullets in the American Revolution. How terrifying it must have been for young men, away from home for the first time, to fall ill away from the comfort of their families. In Answering Liberty's Call, Anna Stone, a healer, travels 200 miles to come to bring life-sustaining supplies to her husband and brothers at Valley Forge. Along the way, she learns that many of the sick and wounded are being cared for in field hospitals away from the army camp.
This Book Bubble features the first scene I wrote for Answering Liberty's Call. I was taking a workshop on writing historical fiction which included a critique of the first ten pages. I had only just begun research for the book and I didn't have ten pages written. So what to write? I'd been reading about the prevalence of smallpox in colonial America, and how most medical care was handled by women using herbal and folk remedies. It was then I decided to put Anna in the role of healer.
A group of young women and girls giggling about boys--it's certainly nothing new. While writing Answering Liberty's Call, I had fun imagining what my 6x great-grandparents' early interactions might have been like. Were they shy and awkward? Or was he a charmer? What led to them falling in love? When I discovered the game with the apple peel, I couldn't wait to use it in the story.
We may think all the American colonists were in favor of independence, when in fact opinions were sharply divided. In this book bubble, Anna's optimism and dreams of independence butt up against her uncle's viewpoint. History was on Anna's side--but were William's concerns unfounded? I love writing historical fiction because it lends a human element to the "facts" we learned in school.
In colonial Virginia, Twelfth Night, January 5, was a much more popular holiday than Christmas. In Answering Liberty's Call, Anna feels particularly blue at the family's holiday celebration. She's had no word from her soldier husband, Benjamin, for two months, and can scarcely keep her worries at bay. An unexpected visitor brings news--both good and bad. I loved writing this scene with its family dynamic. Anna and her children are living with her uncle's family while Benjamin is away. What's a family party without a little tension?
The scene in this Book Bubble is the first one I wrote for Answering Liberty's Call. I was taking a writing workshop that offered a critique of the first ten pages. I had no pages at all when I took the class, and it forced me to think about Anna, her personality, and her convictions. I was sure she was brave, and wanted to make things right whenever she could. I knew smallpox was a grave concern in Colonial America, and putting Anna in the role of her community's healer gave her the opportunity to interact with a wider circle than a woman who did most of her work at home.
How did Anna Stone feel about her husband fighting for independence? There's no doubt that many women were as interested in politics as men, and longed for independence from the Crown just as ardently as their fathers, husbands, and brothers. And while it's true the Continental Army suffered privations we can only imagine, the war years were no picnic for the women they left behind, either. I tried to see all the facets of the situation in this scene.
Answering Liberty's Call is based on the adventures of my 6x great grandmother in the winter of 1778. During the American Revolution, war was men's business, but that didn't stop Anna from getting involved in the fight for liberty. When her soldier husband and brothers face starvation at Valley Forge, Anna is not content to pray and worry. She gets on her horse and strikes out alone over two hundred miles of rough roads to bring them life-sustaining supplies. The opening chapter drops the reader into the last few miles of Anna's journey.
Teen freedom fighters put a plan in motion to overthrow a totalitarian government and oust its wolfish leader. Just when everything seems leveraged in their favor, treachery, lies, and long-held secrets could derail it all.
While writing Revolt, I put my heroes in the Resistance in increasingly dangerous and tension-filled situations. So every now and again, it was fun to include a scene that was a little more lighthearted. Atari, who sounds the alarm as "intruders" invade the safe house, has proved himself untrustworthy more than once. How will the Resistance leaders deal with him?
The Resistance Series is not a trilogy! You gotta read Revolt, the fourth book, to get to the exciting conclusion. Revolt is the end, because really, where do you go after Revolt? The Resistance digs in and plans to overthrow the oppressive Office of Civilian Safety and Defense and its director, Madalyn Davies. They're just normal folks, pulling off stunts worthy of James Bond. In this excerpt, Jude Monroe, president of the inter-fraternity council at his university, does a ride-along with Danni Carraway, a seasoned member of the Resistance. Up until now, Jude has led some campus protests, but his commitment to the cause is about to get real.
Tommy and Careen are holed up in one of the Resistance's safe houses as the days tick down to their final confrontation with the OCSD. In their tightly controlled society, they've come to downplay holidays--part of the cultural changes that subjugate the people. But Tommy remembers what it's like to feel loved and nurtured, and he's doing his best to help Careen, who has been subjected to re-educated by the OCSD, find herself again.
In Revolt, Tommy and Careen know it's just a matter of time before the government activates the tracking devices that will monitor all under-eighteens, 24/7. Even until that happens, they can't leave the Resistance safe house without risking being picked up by the Quadrant Marshals, as all the security cameras have facial recognition capability. Still, they long for the anonymity of their lives before joining the Resistance. The public's demand for increased security has led to decreased privacy for all.
Fake news, propaganda, gaslighting, outright lies--people are frustrated with how we receive and disseminate information. But what if there was no way to verify what was true and what was false? What if there was only one source of information that was closely controlled by the powers-that-be?
It's hard to express how much I loved getting to know Jaycee Carraway, the daughter of Resistance leader Mitch Carraway. She's been raised off the grid by a single dad, and she's got savvy and survival skills that surpass Tommy and Careen's. Jaycee doesn't remember her mother at all. But before the story in Revolt ends, she learns long-buried secrets that drastically alter her future.
Careen, who has been held by the OCSD, questioned, and tortured for information about the Resistance, wants more than anything to feel like the person she used to be before she joined the fight for freedom. She and Tommy have been a team ever since they discovered the OCSD's safety and security programs are designed to control the people rather than help keep them safe from terrorism, and she wants to trust him. She even kinda loves him. But she's unable to let her guard down around him because, while she was held hostage, she was told over and over that Tommy's the one who's out to kill her. Now he's the one who's keeping her locked away with Atari, a guy neither of them trust. For her safety, he says. In the Resistance Series books, I took a look at how the fake news, propaganda, and outright lies told by those we're supposed to trust skew our perception of reality.
Tommy and Careen have been vilified in the media for the Resistance's failed attempt to take down the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense. Both teens struggle to survive the circumstances that thrust them into the national spotlight, and this time, they don't have each other to lean on. They're on opposite sides. Even though both the OCSD and the Resistance believe Careen's convincing defection, Tommy refuses to believe her loyalties have shifted. How can she be in favor of the OCSD's latest plan to monitor all minors with the Cerberean Link, a device that will track their every move?
The public outcry to flatten the curve has turned into demands to reopen the country and get back to business--and predictably, opinions are sharply divided on whether or not that's a smart move. This division made me think of a scene from the third book in my YA dystopian series. (You can download Counteract, the first book in the series free on Amazon, btw!) In Ignite, the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense has passed ever-more-restrictive edicts in the name of safety, until the population is on virtual lockdown. No one is allowed to shop for food--it's provided by the Essential Services department. (is any of this sounding familiar? I certainly didn't envision any of this coming true, but here we are...) Cash transactions are prohibited (yep) The government has a hand in every aspect of the people's lives. Anyway, a group of students on a college campus decides to rebel--because people only have as much freedom as they have the courage to take. The scene opens with television coverage of the campus sit-in.
Ignite is a Solo Medalist in the YA Mystery/Thriller category of the 2018 New Apple Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing. I'm honored that Ignite has been so well-received. It also won Bronze in the 2017 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards. What makes Ignite a compelling story? I think it's the villain. Tommy and Careen are great protagonists, and I love them like they're my real kids, but it's great to have a bad guy (or gal) that you love to hate! In the Resistance Series books, that villain is Madalyn Davies, the director of the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense.
We often look back on an event and wonder how in the world we ever let things get so out of hand. In Ignite, the president begins to realize he's like the proverbial frog in the pot--put him in cold water, and increase the heat so gradually that he won't realize he's in trouble--until he's nearly cooked. Trusting the wrong person with power has led the entire country into a dire situation.
Tommy may have been clueless about his parents' involvement in the Resistance, but he's not stupid. Now he's stuck in a safe house with Atari, a Resistance operative who may have an inflated sense of his own worth. Atari's constant jibes and insinuations that Tommy's nothing but a semi-literate jock really get under Tommy's skin. How long before he punches Atari's lights out? On the other hand, is there anything Tommy can learn from him?
This is one of my favorite chapters in Ignite, and it didn't exist until after the second draft was done. My husband said I needed something bigger, the action was dragging. So I threw most of the cast into a situation that ramps up the tension and erupts into a physical fight. There are a lot of layers to this scene (especially when you read the whole book) because every person involved is hiding a secret of some sort. The Resistance has suffered some losses and setbacks, and everyone's temper is on a hair trigger. Is it any wonder three men who are all trying to engineer a revolution end up brawling in the diner?
Each subsequent book in the Resistance Series picks up minutes after the one before left off. This gives the reader the sense of staying in the thick of the action. The books are told in multiple perspective, and the opening scene in Ignite, the third book in the series, is a short recap of a scene from Resist, except shown from a different character's point of view.
Tommy and Careen’s eyes are opened to the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense’s abuses of power. After accidentally discovering that the miracle antidote that’s supposed to protect them is actually meant to control them, they take their knowledge public and join the fight to undermine the OCSD’s next bid for total control of the population. Being a part of the Resistance brings with it a whole new set of challenges. Tommy and Careen’s differing viewpoints threaten to drive a wedge between them, and their budding relationship is tested. Not everyone working for change proves trustworthy, and plans to spark a revolution go awry with consequences far beyond anything they bargained for.
In Resist, the second volume of the Resistance Series books, the people are hungry. The OCSD's decisions caused the food distribution system to be disrupted. Just as a snowstorm causes canceled flights and delays, the disruption means it'll be weeks before everything is back on track. Meanwhile, the majority of the people have no food. As the president prepares to address the panicked citizens, he realizes letting the OCSD director Madalyn Davies influence--and blackmail--him was a huge mistake. What will it take to get the country back on track?
At the opening of Resist, the second book in the Resistance Series, Tommy and Careen confront some uncomfortable truths. It's clear to them that the government has been lying to the people about a terrorist threat. Refusing to let a good crisis go to waste, the government has ordered everyone to take a daily dose of an antidote that's supposed to protect them from the terrorist attack. The pair found out the hard way the "antidote" is just a mind control drug. But it's an uphill battle to get the frightened public to believe they were never in danger. Worst of all, Careen has been accused of a murder she did not commit--but who will question what the government says? When I wrote this series, I had no idea the premise would hit so close to home just a few years in the future. See if you agree! Download Counteract, the first book in the series, free!
In the version of the United States ruled by the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense, the food supply is controlled by the government and strictly regulated. Food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving are a thing of the past. Tommy and Careen have taken refuge at the headquarters of the Resistance, a motley group of freedom fighters working to overthrow the totalitarian regime. They trade for food on the black market to cobble together a festive meal. It's the first time Careen has felt the comfort of family--dysfunctional as it may be--she's thankful.
The characters in my series have been duped by the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense's claims that its policies and restrictions are meant to keep people safe. In reality, the agency seeks only to gain power. Sound familiar? Yeah. I thought I was writing fiction, but... Anyway, in Resist, the second book in the series, the characters have become more proactive. They realize they're up against a big, powerful foe--but that doesn't mean they have to surrender. Eduardo, who was the mail carrier in Tommy's neighborhood when the series began, has shed his timidity and fear, and puts himself on the line to help Tommy and Careen escape from the OCSD after their attempt to infiltrate the agency's headquarters and liberate some political prisoners.
At the midway point of Resist: Book Two of the Resistance Series, Careen's feeling like she's bitten off more than she can chew. She's the face of the Resistance's counterattack against the oppressive Office of Civilian Safety and Defense, and the Resistance has hacked into the government-run television station to broadcast her videos that champion freedom, rather than acquiescence to the OCSD. She's frustrated with Tommy's jealousy. After all, she joined the Resistance because of him. She didn't ask for the attention. She didn't ask for attention from Wes Carraway, either, but every time she turns around, he's there. She can't seem to find common ground with Tommy, and she can't seem to get rid of Wes. What's a girl to do?
Jaycee Carraway is the youngest member of the cast of characters in The Resistance Series. She's a bit of a practical joker and loves attention. She had just one scene in Counteract, but several of my readers commented on how much they liked "the little waitress." I didn't even know her name when I wrote the first draft of Counteract, but later, when it was in revision, I heard another one of the characters call her Jaycee. (Yeah, that happens in my head--more than you'd think.) Anyway, in this excerpt from Resist, Jaycee's dialogue flowed as she directed my hands on the keyboard. She wanted a bigger part in the story, and she knew just how to make it happen. She's become a major character in Ignite, and she's loving it. So am I.
I added this section of Chapter 10 after I'd finished the second draft of Resist. I remember sitting on the front porch (my favorite place to write) and feeling like a spectator as Tommy's first impressions of the unfamiliar mountain landscape unfolded on the page in front of me. Tommy's never been far from his home quadrant in what used to be central Ohio, because of the Travel Restrictions. Now he, Careen, and his folks are on the run, in search of the Resistance's remote headquarters. Even as Tommy marvels at the massive rock formations, he recognizes that the terrain can change at a moment's notice. Will he and his allies be able to shake loose the oppressive regime from its seemingly impregnable position?
Resist has only been out a few weeks, and even though I was pleased with how the story had carried forward from Counteract, it's reaffirming to get good feedback from a reader. Here's one of the first reviews posted on Amazon: "Author Tracy Lawson hits it out of the park in this second book of her gripping dystopian series. Fast-paced and impossible to put down! Who says this is only for young adults? I absolutely loved it, and my 17-year old daughter did as well! This book is rich in detail and filled with great characters. Tommy and Careen are as brave and bold as they come. Determined to continue their quest to overthrow a corrupt government, they are on the run to reach their Resistance headquarters. Lives and relationships and everything else imaginable are put to the test here. Put this on your must-read list! I can't wait for the next book. Tracy Lawson is a budding superstar author!"
Eduardo, the timid mailman of Counteract, was so frightened of the possible terrorist attack that he took his daily dose of the preventive antidote with a Kahlua chaser. His cowardice touched off the series of events that led Tommy and Careen to discover the real purpose of the antidote. When he realizes he's been played for a fool, he decides to fight for change and justice, and he undergoes a very satisfying evolution. Early in Resist, Eduardo's making up for his past mistakes. He's rescued Tommy and Careen from the botched mission at the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense headquarters, and now they're dodging roadblocks and the quadrant marshals in an attempt to complete their task without the help of the other members of the Resistance. They know the OCSD has used the antidote to keep the people in its iron grip--but that's all about to change...
It's been harder than I thought for Resist, the second book in The Resistance Series, to take hold and achieve the sales numbers I'd hoped for in the first two months. I wonder if every second book in a series needs time to find its audience? It really does help to read Counteract before Resist, as Resist picks up the action right where Counteract left off. Tommy and Careen took part in a Resistance raid on the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense, in attempt to free other members of the Resistance being held captive there. Things didn't exactly go as planned, and now Careen's accused of a murder she didn't commit. She and Tommy are dodging roadblocks and the quadrant marshals in a headlong dash for the safety of the Resistance's remote mountain headquarters...
Hundreds, if not thousands, of mills once dotted the hills and glades of what is now West Virginia. Though the vast majority are gone, towns all over the Mountain State bear the names of the mills that put them on the map.
History buffs, nature photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts, you are invited to come along on an adventure: hit the Country Roads in search of fifty-three historic water mills built between 1735 and 1976.
Together, these structures tell the story of West Virginia’s agricultural and industrial past. A few are still in operation. Some are in ruins. Many are preserved in their original state, and still others have taken on roles as private residences, shops, and museums.
Whether operational or abandoned to decay, the historic mills of West Virginia stand in testament to the ingenuity and independent spirit of those entrepreneurs who were millers, but also bankers, economists, and mechanical engineers.
Writing my heritage travel book, Historic Mills of West Virginia, was like stepping back in time. The Homan Mill in rural Pendleton County ceased operation in the 1970s, and now, fifty years later, remains almost perfectly preserved. Family members serve as caretakers of the site, which still has unfulfilled order tickets on a carousel in the office and a bicycle propped up in the hall, waiting to run errands. Each of the 53 mills profiled in the book has its own unique history.
Though the saying goes we "cannot live on bread alone," for our ancestors, bread was their staple food. In recent years, though, bread has become the enemy--whether one is worried about consuming too many carbs or medical issues like gluten intolerance and celiac disease. What changed the way we prepared and consumed bread? Westward expansion had a lot to do with it.
Historic Mills of West Virginia started out as a travel guidebook to the publicly accessible mills in the Mountain State. But it didn't stop there. Each mill had its own history, and its own story. Some mills located in the Eastern Panhandle date back to before the American Revolution, and have ties to our nation's founding fathers. It was a pleasure to expand the book's parameters to include the history of regular folks who helped settle and build our nation.
Based on a true story of the American Revolution!
Hannah asked, "Grandma, will you tell us a story from when you and Grandpa were young?"
Grandpa chuckled as he folded his newspaper. "Yes, Anna, tell them about the time you saved General Washington's job and made sure we won the American Revolution!"
Hannah's eyes got as big as saucers. "Grandma, did you meet George Washington? How did you save his job? Did we really almost lose the Revolution?"
Thomas couldn't believe his ears. Grandmas gave you hugs, mended the rips in your breeches, and baked pies. They didn't go running off to fight wars!
Grandma's eyes twinkled in the firelight. "It's been nearly fifty years since the first days of the Revolution, and I remember everything as though it was just yesterday."
It took more than just winning on the battlefield to separate from Great Britain and become a separate nation. In Revolutionary Anna, Anna and Benjamin answer their grandchildren's questions about what it was like to be part of the American Revolution, and the greatest experiment--establishing a new form of government.
The Continental Army suffered extreme hardships each winter of the American Revolution. Though in this time, armies usually suspended fighting during cold weather and retired to winter camp, lack of adequate shelter and supplies made for miserable conditions. When I wrote Revolutionary Anna, I wanted to share these kinds of details in a way that would be informative for elementary school aged students. What better way than to have loving grandparents who had lived through the war years answer the kinds of questions children would ask?
When I considered how to tell Anna's story for young readers, I was told the book's protagonist needed to be a child. The pertinent events in Anna's story took place when she was an adult. I decided to bring Anna and Benjamin's grandchildren into the story, and imagined how exciting it would be for them to learn the story of their grandmother's actions during the American Revolution for the first time!
After writing Answering Liberty's Call: Anna Stone's Daring Ride to Valley Forge, I enjoyed talking to fans and readers at live book events about the adventures of my 6th great grandmother, Anna Asbury Stone. Little girls were captivated by Anna's story too--so I wrote a kids' version! In Revolutionary Anna, Anna tells the story of her daring ride to her grandchildren. Their questions drive the narrative.
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domain: library


text:
Racism, Black Bodies, and Psychodynamic Therapy
Institutionalized forms of oppression have framed the experience of black people in the USA, yet rarely are they examined in a way that draws on Frantz Fanon’s concept of the phobogenic object. This chapter draws on the discussions of racism by Fanon (the author of Black Skin, White Masks ) and by Annie Lee Jones and Megan Obourn (the authors of the article “Object Fear: The National Dissociation of Race and Racism in the Era of Obama” ) to explore the application of phobogenesis in relation to recent shootings of black boys and men in the USA. By examining the projection of criminal behavior onto the bodies of black boys and men between 2012 and 2017, one can elucidate the outcome of not addressing the role of fear as it resides in those with power. This chapter focuses specifically on the cases of police shootings of young black boys and the influence they have on the behavioral responses of black men in society. Clinical case study material is also highlighted to further explore the responses of black clients to institutionalized forms of racism and intersubjective and intrapsychic dynamics, as well as the processes that have contributed to the manifestation of racism through a case study of a white man.
KeywordsFanon Psychodynamic Phobogenic Race Racism Police shootings Black boys Black men
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domain: sociology


text:
Kelly Rowland Gives Someone the Lil' Mama Treatment
In Atlanta With Migos
About the Business Premiere Party
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Autobiography Or Nah: Fact Checking Beyonce's 'LEMONADE'
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The Fabulous Life of EJ Johnson
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Nina Movie Review: As Bad as You Imagined
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Sip & Repeat: The Lemonade Project
10 Celebs Who Have Been Accused Of Lightening Their Skin
[Watch] Here's What Happens When Your Side Chick Crashes Your Wedding
[Video] The Horrific Moment Amy Joyner Was Murdered Has Been Released
[Watch] Twitter Drags Hillary Clinton for Using Hot Sauce to Appeal to Black Voters
BET Experience 2016
274 items found
New Jersey and Long Beach connect.
A daily (slightly obsessive) update on new music from you-know-who
Plus, the songstress dishes on how her collaboration with Common came about.
The reggaeton has another special offer for 'Ye, though.
Be careful who you marry.
This may offend a lot of people.
You really can't get away with anything on social media.
She wants to focus on music strictly moving forward.
These two Chi-Town music stars tend to make magic together., a look BET.com's picks for their Top 15 songs.

domain: entertainment


text:
Skip to comments.Children’s Hospital Colorado declares mental health state of emergency as suicide attempts rise
Posted on 05/25/2021 10:59:14 PM PDT by george76
Suicide attempts are rising and emergency room visits for mental health crises were up 90% last month. Mental health experts are asking for help.
Colorado children are attempting suicide and arriving in emergency rooms in psychiatric crisis at levels never seen in this state, while abuse of alcohol and drugs to cope with mental health struggles is also on the rise.
The youth mental health crisis has escalated to the point this spring that hospital beds are full and more parents are sending kids out of state for treatment, according to a Children’s Hospital Colorado panel of experts who sent up a flare for help Tuesday.
The hospital system, with a main campus in Aurora as well as branches in Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch and Broomfield, declared a “pediatric mental health state of emergency.”
In Aurora, the hospital’s 52-bed emergency department has been overrun with children in psychiatric crisis. Mental health emergency visits were up 90% last month compared with April 2019. The hospital’s transport team is seeing three or four kids each week who have just tried to kill themselves.
The top overall reason children arrive in the emergency department is a suicide attempt. And on any given day, 12 to 24 children are waiting for an in-patient psychiatric bed to become available.
In Colorado Springs, the hospital built a 24-bed emergency department three years ago and dedicated six locked rooms for behavioral health treatment. Now, children in mental health crisis are filling 12 or 13 beds, and staff are clearing out rooms in the medical units to make them safe for children who arrive saying they are going to kill themselves.
“The current system is simply unsustainable and it’s failing our children,” said Heidi Baskfield, vice president of population health and advocacy at Children’s. “Our children need us to rally together.”
Counties, schools and mental health providers have created “workarounds to a system in our state that simply cannot handle the volume nor the acuity of demand that we are facing,” she said.
Children’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Brumbaugh, who has practiced medicine for more than 20 years, said that in the last 15 months he has seen a demand in children’s mental health care like nothing he’s ever experienced. Brumbaugh began to cry as he spoke of a dad whose 9th-grade son recently tried to kill himself after not making the baseball team near the close of an isolating first year of high school.
The boy is the same age as Brumbaugh’s son, who also plays baseball.
“Our kids have run out of resilience,” the doctor said. “Their tank is empty.” Then he apologized for crying: “I’m sorry, but this is what we are feeling as caregivers every day.”
In Summit County, where the community is fed up after mourning many youth suicides in recent years, including the death of an 11-year-old in 2017, residents pay into a mental health fund that finances therapy for anyone who needs it but can’t afford it.
As of April, the county was paying for therapy for 87 children. That’s more mental health vouchers than were issued for kids in all of 2020, said county Commissioner Tamara Pogue.
The fund generates about $2 million each year, which is not nearly enough to pay for the demand, Pogue said. She called on Gov. Jared Polis’ administration to produce a detailed roadmap for rural communities to build up their own mental health systems — from eating disorder and substance abuse treatment to subsidized mental health therapy.
“Unless we make even deeper and more significant investments, … we will continue to lose more children,” she said. “That is something that I simply cannot tolerate for my community or any community in Colorado.”
Children’s Hospital has ramped up services, hired more mental health staff and is working to add more beds, but the changes aren’t coming fast enough to help the children flooding into the emergency department, Baskfield said.
At the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the hospital is increasing its in-patient psychiatric beds from 18 to 26 by next March. The campus is also doubling its partial hospitalization program that treats kids for several hours each day, and bumping up beds in its eating disorder unit from 12 to 20.
In the last several years, Colorado has seen 47 facilities close their doors to youth in mental health crisis, Baskfield said. “At a time when we are seeing volumes increase, severity increase and overall need, the system that is meant to be in place to serve these kids does not only not exist, but those who are attempting to do this work are currently under water,” Baskfield said.
But building more beds isn’t going to solve the crisis, and several experts on the panel said Colorado needs to create an integrated youth mental health system. The state needs to tap into federal pandemic recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan to build such a system, including a patient transfer center that would help hospitals communicate with other hospitals and help families find an available bed, doctors said. The state also needs mental health counselors in all schools, including rural areas, they said.
“We can’t depend on building beds to get us out of it,” said Dr. Mike DiStefano, chief medical officer for Children’s southern region based in Colorado Springs. “If we are building acute beds, we are losing the battle against suicide and behavioral health problems with our teens. We need to be intervening prior to the crisis.”
Colorado lawmakers have proposed spending from $400 million to $500 million of the federal aid on mental health.
For several years, suicide has been the leading cause of death in Colorado for children age 10 and older.
The isolation and stress of the pandemic have exacerbated mental health struggles, leading to higher rates of substance abuse in kids and teens and more diagnoses of eating disorders, said Dr. Jenna Glover, director of psychological training at Children’s.
More than ever, she said, children are turning to alcohol and drugs to escape feelings or try to find a sense of control, rather than asking for help because they think they will cause more stress for their parents, she said.
She suggested that parents check in with their children and ask about their mental health at least once every month.
“My largest concern is with the influx of mental health problems that we’re seeing and the demand on the system, kids will not get the treatment they need and they will have chronic mental health problems for years that will impact their opportunities in life,” she said.
Makary is professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and ...
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
How about they stop locking everyone down, forcing masks everywhere, forced vaccine threats and putting a stop to the 24/7 media fear porn? That would help a lot.
The Real Reason why kids are not allowed to go to school (Hint: it is not covid)..
The likelihood of children being back in school is dictated by unionized government teacher Union thugs..
There is a solution.. De-unionize the public schools.
Child suicides related to the lockdowns was evident a year ago, but the silence from both the media and medical community was deafening.
Despite the “rank & file”, the medical community is corrupt.
Probably need to push more tranny stuff and suggest kids are in the wrong body and stuff, and that they must transform. Oh, and by the way make sure no mental health doctors are allowed to suggest the kids get therapy to get over the (media induced) belief they are in the wrong body.
Yeah, that’ll probably help put a stop to this suicide problem (sarc tag needed for slow folks)
THE world is so screwed up (now that the globalists at John Hopkins have everything under control) that death seems 10 times better than having to suffer through one more of their idiotic staged event 201 pandemics
Feel horrible for the kids and families, but doesn’t appear as though there is one Democrat Governor that has a clue.
Colorado Republicans want to curtail Polis’ pandemic powers. Democrats won’t allow it.
This is what he was allowed to do as of last year and continued to do.
Emergency powers: 9 things Colorado Gov. Jared Polis can do now
George Brauchler: Gov. Jared Polis should lift all restrictions and open Colorado, now
We live in a world in which innocence is under fire, faith and spirituality are undervalued and ridiculed - or distorted and radicalized, gender equality means that boys are devalued, parents go to court to allow/promote their young children having 'sex reassignment', staring at a phone or computer has taken the place of normal human interaction - including within families, societal 'achievement' is valued way more than being a good parent, and cynicism is rampant. It's not surprising that there are growing numbers of despondent children.
Add to this that pharmacological therapy of children with antidepressants can lower their threshold for suicide.
How about they stop telling them they are evil, racist, privileged colonizers who are the root of everything wrong in the world? How about they stop telling them they have no future, the world is going to be destroyed by climate change, and it's all the fault of evil Americans? How about they stop confusing them about gender, forcing them to go against their hardwired emotions and behaviors? How about they stop attacking all of their heroes? How about they let them be kids?
Lockdowns are doing this…
Kids need to be kids and need to socialize. Not locked up at home for over a year now
How about the schools removing the mask mandates first?
You try wearing a mask 6 to 8 hours a day while teaching.
True on every point.
In CO they have been a ticking time bomb. When did they first legalize marijuana? Babies developing in the womb continously bathed in the highest levels of thc i have seen. Then, what kind of mothers are these without ant emotional self control medicated into psychological shut down.
Not much shocks me, but i have seen those tox reports.
However, in this case this looks like its a for the kids money grab.
Colorado is the worst State I ever lived in. Its like a different planet.
They need more liberal/ progressive policies... that’s the answer. Has nothing to do with woke social justice gender bender ideas promoted by big tech loving democrat politicians.
There is a solution.. De-unionize the public schools.
It must be done. The union is pandering to the liberal left and all other Democrats who see virtue in sex changes of infants and “know” they can teach all children to be victims of anything the Union desires...meanwhile we who insist on history of the USA, civics, science and mathematics, arts, etc must develop our own school system.
We must separate ourselves, our lives and lively hoods and make our own nation based on the Constitution and reasonable laws.
I’m sure middle management across America feels the same way when they have to endure mandatory BML racist training lectures from no nothing affirmative action hires.
“Feel horrible for the kids and families,”
The kids are growing up in the wilderness of the internet.
The internet, Instagram. Facebook, etc are a much bigger part of this than anyone silll be allowed to admit or talk about. Can’t upset the tech companies, can we?
It’s like video games. Corporations pay millions to buy a 30 second ad slot during the Super Bowl, to sway consumers, yet kids spending hours and hours playing video games are unaffected by the violence in them.
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domain: news


30 Jun 2017
The Silent Majority and the Issue of Canadian Values
During the recent federal Conservative party leaders’ race, the issue of screening immigrants for Canadian values was front and center for one of the candidates in that race. While it caused a lot of controversy in the media and among pundits, public opinion input on this issue was lacking. As a consequence, our company decided to find out what the majority opinion was on this issue in Atlantic Canada. Our company was criticized from some corners for daring to ask if Atlantic Canadians supported or opposed screening potential immigrants to Canada for Canadian values before allowing entry into the country. We felt this was a pertinent issue given what has been happening in other countries. Indeed, the recent elections in the United States and France, as well as the decision of the UK to leave the European Union were at least partially the consequence of concerns around the issue of immigration. Were there similar concerns in Canada?
In our initial research in February, a clear majority of the population (68%) in Atlantic Canada supported the screening of prospective immigrants for Canadian values. While it is perhaps not politically correct to voice such opinions publicly, it is important to acknowledge that the silent majority indeed has concerns about who is being allowed entry into Canada. We could perhaps ignore that concern or we could try to better understand the basis for these concerns in order to address such concerns. We chose to try to better understand what core Canadian values best defined us as Canadians.
While most Canadians are likely to think of themselves as being unique from those living in other countries, it has always been difficult to define that uniqueness. For example, how are we different from Americans? Or are we indeed different?
Our research began with an open-ended question to identify, in their own words, what Atlantic Canadians considered to be core Canadian values. Not unexpectedly, there were a variety of values identified beginning with the value of acceptance and inclusion, being honest and respectful of others, fairness and equality, as well as respecting the law.
Based on our own secondary research, we identified nine common values that were most commonly mentioned when discussing core Canadian values. Based on the open-ended responses from our research, we concluded that there were no obvious values missing from that list.
The results of our recent research were more than encouraging. Of the nine values evaluated, the vast majority of Atlantic Canadians overwhelmingly agreed that each of the nine were core Canadian values. In combination, these values demonstrate that Canada is an inclusive society, one supporting freedom of speech, concerned about ensuring the well-being of those with disabilities and those economically disadvantaged, respectful of cultural differences, religiously tolerant and supportive of gender equality. In addition, democracy, freedom of assembly, and bilingualism were identified as being core Canadian values by a clear majority of Atlantic Canadians.
There was relatively little variation in opinion across Atlantic Canada in terms of the level of agreement with each of the nine values evaluated. Even on the often contentious issue of bilingualism, eight-in-ten Atlantic Canadians agree that bilingualism is a core Canadian value.
We hope that this research will contribute to the debate to better define what it is to be a Canadian. Our research has clearly demonstrated, if nothing else, that Canada is an inclusive society, one built on fairness and equality, along with all the freedoms normally associated with a democracy. As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of Confederation, this is indeed cause for celebration.
Data Source: Atlantic Quarterly May 2017 telephone survey of 1,511 Atlantic Canadians. A sample of this size provides a 95% level of statistical confidence with a +/-2.5% margin of error.
Don Mills, Chairman and CEO
Corporate Research Associates Inc.


text:
Chainsaw Man manga receives a prestigious award, and its author responds with a different take on it.
Chainsaw Man focuses on Denji and his many misadventures. After encountering Makima, he becomes a Devil Hunter because the red-haired female hopes to use his abilities to accomplish her goals. Makima wants to turn Denji into her pet dog, but the Chainsaw Devil is unruly and submits to no one!
Studio MAPPA dedicated a whole lot of time, energy, and resources to ensure that the anime adaptation (scheduled for release on October 11th this year) became a smash hit.
Even though it’ll compete against major releases like Bleach Thousand Year Blood War, Urusei Yatsura, and dozens of others, there is no doubt that Chainsaw Man shall be a resounding success in the anime industry. The team behind the promotions has also stepped up its game.
Even a brand-new Pochita emoji has taken over Twitter. Here is how many at the Comic-Con reacted at the premiere. Literally, hundreds had shown up to celebrate this event.
The shonen manga series Chainsaw Man bagged the Best Manga Award during the Harvey Awards 2022 held at the New York Comic Con Event. In #NYCC2022, scores of fans had lined up for the American premiere of Chainsaw Man. The same series also won the Best Manga Award in 2021, and maybe there’s a hatrick that’ll happen in the near future.
The other nominees in the same category were as follows.
- Blood on the tracks (written and illustrated by Shuzo Oshimi, translated by Daniel Komen – Vertical Comics)
- Blue Lock (written and illustrated by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura respectively, translated by Nate Derr – Kodansha Comics)
- Cat + Gamer (written and illustrated by Wataru Nadatani, translated by Zack Davisson – Dark Horse Comics)
- Chainsaw Man (written and sketched by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translated by Amanda Haley – VIZ Media)
- Red Flowers (written and sketched by Yoshiharu Tsuge, translated by Ryan Holmberg – Drawn & Quarterly)
- Spy x Family (written and sketched by Tatsuya Endo, translated by Casey Loe – VIZ Media)
Tatsuki Fujimoto said in response to the award being conferred on Chainsaw Man.
“If Chainsaw Man receives this award too often, I’m afraid it’ll lower the prestige of the Harveys. But really I’m so happy. And now I want it to win a third time.”
Harvey Awards (named after cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman) succeeded Kirby Awards after the latter was discontinued prior to 1988. It is considered a profound honor if one is chosen as the recipient of any award at the Harveys.
Will you be watching Chainsaw Man on Crunchyroll, or do you have an Ani-One Asia premium subscription on YouTube? Let us know your thoughts on the Harvey Awards held this year and how you feel about CSM winning the Best Manga trophy two times in a row!

domain: artistic


text: You’ll love my place because it is bright and spacious with lovely sea breezes. Step out the door for a swim at Manly beach or head to cafes/restaurants right around the corner. A quick 10min walk to the ferry makes it a perfect spot for sightseeing. Hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms, king bed in master, fully equipped kitchen, Wifi and a large balcony to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. Great for couples, adventurers, business travellers, and families (with kids). Look forward to meeting you!

domain: travel


I tailor all my lessons to the individual students interests and wants.
Whatever your goals are, I'll help you get there.
I have played the guitar for twenty years and have studied a wide variety of music including jazz, classical, folk, blues and rock. I’m skilled in acoustic, electric and classical styles of the guitar. I have an open mind about music and can appreciate any style or type. I have a firm background on music theory, so I am able to explain what I am teaching. I excelled in all my classes in college, music and Gen Eds, with a GPA over 3.75. I also have experience in teaching guitar or bass to students ranging from the ages of six to sixty six. I enjoy taking what I have learned and passing it on to someone else to experience. I believe this is one way you can leave your mark in music. I believe the experience I have playing in bands, and learning songs with my ability of having relative ...
I teach electric bass guitar using the Hal Leonard method. Also get students into learning songs, bass patterns and scales early in their learning.
My Story: As a guitarist in my early years I spent much time reworking my technique and gaining insight in how guitar playing really works. My early struggles gave way to a solid knowledge of the guitar and music. This was gained through no small part through my High School music teacher, through master classes of Manuel Lopez Ramos and Abel Carlevaro and others. These master classes helped me in a big way to develop teaching systems and principles that can help anyone to learn guitar easier and more effectively. You will gain from the knowledge of these world class guitarists and teachers which will help you to play better and more musical. And from my musical background-of playing hundreds of songs ...
Professional level coaching and development
Daniel, a former faculty member of Columbia College in Chicago, is a studio and live performance singer and musician based in Chicago. His teaching and performing experience spans three decades, and includes expertise in the studies of voice, guitar, piano, bass, drums, and trumpet, along with music theory, arranging, and composing. He is a Lincoln Academy Student Laureate who holds a BA in Music Composition, and has attended graduate courses in education at Roosevelt University and DePaul University in Chicago. He has taught students of all ages at private studios, public school, and college. Daniel is described by his students as a natural teacher. He prefers to be regarded as an advancing student, and takes the journey along with his students to guide them towards their goals with a
A perfect place to get started when wanting to play in a band with your friends with little to no experience. Learn tricks and tips that can help you fit right in and play a groove that is solid.
Currently developing the music program at "The Chicago Ballet Center", which includes a private music studio located in the Chicago Six Corners business district (Cicero & Irving Park). Working together with Keys4Kids organization, the "Violin Center of Chicago", "PianoForte Foundation", as well as other recognized music institutions to deliver the best possible education for musicians of all ages. 1. I am comfortable teaching private or group lessons for Piano, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Violin, Music Performance, Music Theory, and Composition. 2. I have lifelong experience in the arts from private lessons, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Columbia College Chicago. (B.A. in 2014) 3. My specialties are classical music and modern rock genres. My recent history begins from my ...
I have been playing bass guitar for nearly eight years, and have spent four of those years in college for bass guitar performance. I have a very deep level of understanding with high-level concepts with bass guitar, which helps me teach students of all skill levels. Beginners students will enjoy a knowledgeable and patient teacher that always caters to their needs as growing musicians, while more advanced students will have access to a very deep well of knowledge about music and bass technique to help inform their continuing studies.
I was born in the West Suburbs and began playing bass during high school. I moved to the city to attend music school at Columbia College Chicago, which I concluded with honors in the Spring of 2013. Since then, I have had the opportunity to play with a variety of bands at venues such as the House of Blues, Cubby Bear, Abbey Pub, Elbo Room, and others. With a firm grasp on a variety of styles of bass playing, such as pop, R&B, rock, alternative, blues, jazz, etc., I have had the opportunity to perform with numerous artists making original music in Chicago. Over the past year, I have also spent time touring on a national and international level with the Nick Moss Band, a blues outfit based in Chicago. With a style firmly rooted in traditional music theory, I have a strong grasp over the ...
Comfortable with jazz, rock, and pop methods on 4 or 5 string bass guitar.
Versatile, personable, and professional musician and teacher with 13 years of playing experience. Comfortable with all ages and all styles, from classical to jazz to bluegrass and everything in between!
Compare hundreds of teachers based on the criteria that matter to you, including background checks, age and experience.
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The city of Cheney last updated its tree ordinance in 1938 – back when residents had to be cautioned against letting their trees interfere with telegraph wires.
The city is working to update that ordinance, part of the process to become a Tree City USA. Residents were invited to attend a Tree City USA open house last week at Veterans’ Memorial Park to discuss trees, take inventory of the trees in the park and offer suggestions for the new ordinance.
The Arbor Day Foundation runs this program to provide education, civic pride and financial assistance to cities that meet four standards.
Tree Cities must have a tree board or department to take charge of caring for the trees – this might include an arborist, but the city isn’t required to hire one. The city must form a community forestry plan with a budget of $2 per capita to care for urban trees. There must also be a community Arbor Day celebration or proclamation, which Cheney held in May.
The city also must establish a tree care ordinance to become a Tree City.
“We’re going to need a lot of public participation,” said James Caddey, a project planner in the city’s planning department.
Trees in Cheney have been under the jurisdiction of several city departments. Right now, it is a concern of public works which is constructing the new entrance to Cheney that will include new trees. But trees also are the concern of the light department when branches interfere with power lines, and the parks department, who must care for the trees in Cheney parks.
Caddey said the participation could help get the word out about tree care.
Caddey also is looking forward to finding out what issues the public has concerning trees in Cheney. Although the open house was sparsely attended, Caddey enlisted volunteers to take inventory of the trees in the park, noting the variety of tree and its diameter at chest height to estimate the tree’s age.
He hopes to present the proposed ordinance for City Council consideration in late August.
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text:
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.
Decided on October 16, 2012
Tom, J.P., Mazzarelli, Andrias, DeGrasse, Roman, JJ.
Order of disposition, Family Court, Bronx County (Sidney Gribetz, J.), entered on or about May 9, 2011, which adjudicated appellant a juvenile delinquent upon his admission that he committed an act that if committed by an adult, would constitute the crime of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and placed him on probation for 12 months, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court properly exercised its discretion when it denied appellant's request to convert the proceeding to a person in need of supervision proceeding, and instead adjudicated him a juvenile delinquent and placed him on probation. The underlying incident was a violent attack on appellant's mother that involved a weapon. In addition, appellant had a history of physical altercations and intimidation, both in the home and at school, as well as a poor school record (see e.g. Matter of Rosemary R., 29 AD3d 309 [1st Dept 2006]). The court properly concluded that probation pursuant to a juvenile delinquency adjudication was necessary in order to provide the proper level of control over appellant's behavior, and we reject appellant's arguments to the contrary.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.
ENTERED: OCTOBER 16, 2012
© 1992-2012 VersusLaw ...

domain: law


text:
Tintola & Minyawoo Catteries Blue Black & White Russians Registered Breeders
Aristocracy of the Cat World
So you want a playful loving companion - then you need a Russian
This is a cat for the connoisseur. It belongs to an old beautiful and comparatively
rare breed that has enjoyed limited popularity during the last 80 - 90 years. Russian
Blues are thought to originate in Russia and were at first called Archangel Cat
The Russian has much to recommend it. The temperament of the Russian cat is wonderful.
They are gentle, playful and affectionate. It is an easy cat to manage, it has a
small voice and is is not usually demanding. The breed is quiet and clean and has
a good constitution. It is rather shy, home-loving and affectionate.
Russians are not prolific breeders with the average number of kittens in a litter
being three or four. Queens (mums) usually have their kittens without trouble.
The kittens are very sweet, and can adapt to any way of life, from the quiet lifestyle
of an adult home , to the exuberance of a family home.
As with a lot of animals males are bigger than females, they are handsome and elegant
cats and can be extremely companionable pets when neutered.
Blue (grey)is the traditional colour of the Russian but black and white Russians
are becoming better known.
The coat of the Russian is plush & lustrous, it is short, made up of a top coat of
normal length soft fur with a thick short undercoat. This causes the upper coat
to stand away from from the body - in the richness of winter at an angle up to 45
degrees, it has a soft springy resilience and topped with a glorious silver sheen.
Eyes should be vivid green (although when born they are blue) set rather wide apart
and almond shaped

domain: pet


Roku is known as a leader in the world of streaming media players and now smart TVs, yet increasingly Roku is an ad company. The next time you see a streaming ad it is more likely that that ad comes from Roku.
In the first half of 2017 Roku reported that 41% of their revenue came from advertising sales. Roku also reported that 43% of all Roku streams were ad supported.
Roku offers their streaming players starting at just $30 a far cheaper option than the Apple TV at $150. So far that has paid off for Roku, because over half of all streaming player sales in the United States are Rokus.
Roku then turns around and sells ads on a long list of streaming services. Roku even offers a full-time sales team to help smaller networks sell ads on their streaming services. These smaller networks get the ability to monetize their streaming services, and Roku gets a cut of the sale.
To help push their ads Roku recently launched their own free movie and TV service called The Roku Channel. This Roku Channel streams a growing list of movies and TV shows for free as long as you are willing to see ads.
To help get their ads on more devices, Roku now also offers to let other smart TV makers use their Roku TV OS freeing the TV manufacturers from the cost of maintaining the OS. Roku in turn gets a larger install base to sell ads against.
This ends up being a win-win all the way around. Roku gets more units. TV manufacturers get the ability to manufacture TVs without the high cost of building or maintaining the OS, and the end user gets a less expensive device and access to more free content. (Though if you don’t want to see ads you can always subscribe to a paid service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.)
Need cord cutting tech support? Join our new Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.


text:
I’ve just returned home from a week away with friends (and E of course) in the beautiful lower south west of Western Australia. Denmark to be exact. The bush meets beach town is about a five hour drive from Perth, and boasts coastal vibes with a small country town feel. It’s quiet and relaxed, with something for everyone. Bush walking – tick. Beach activities – tick. A whole lot of wine – tick. Organic food, beauty and lifestyle – tick. E and I visited Denmark last year thanks to Ford and Kidspot, but our friends C & S had never been before, so we wanted to have an equal amount of adventure time and chill time and discover all the region has to offer. Pretty sure the adventure time won over the chilling, but you know me, I can’t even relax when I’m on holiday! I’ve put together a list of must do activities when visiting Denmark, for the chill and not so chill out there. Enjoy!
1. Bartholomew’s Meadery
What on earth is a meadery? I know, it sounds like we’ve stepped back in time to the days of the vikings. But they totally knew what to drink back then! If you’re unsure what mead actually is, I’d explain it as alcohol from the god’s, but in lamens terms it is actually alcohol made from honey. No grapes, honey! Bartholomew’s Meadery is a few kilometers from Denmark Town Centre but worth the car trip, as it is one of the only meadery’s in WA. Nestled in the bush, you can taste every flavour of mead available, from sweet dessert mead to zesty citrus blends (our favourite by far). If you’re not really an alcohol fan, do stop by to check out the bee’s in action. You can watch them working away from the comfort of the meadery. Bartholomew’s also stocks organic honey based beauty products, candles, every flavour of hand made honey you can imagine, sweet treats and honey ice cream. We may have gone a little mad at the meadery, walking out with more than six bottles of mead between us. I won’t tell you how many we drank that evening. Hahaha.
2620 South Coast Highway, Denmark WA / Open 7 days a week (excluding Christmas Day) 9.30 – 4.30 / Cost – Free (but bring some cash if you want to shop)
2. Greens Pool & Elephant Rock
This wasn’t my first visit to Greens Pool and Elephant Rock (read more about our first Denmark holiday here) and it certainly won’t be my last. Greens Pool is a stretch of white sand and still blue ocean quartered in by large rocks creating a perfectly clear pool. It is tranquil and peaceful, and even the non swimmers of our group had to jump into the freezing water because it was just so pretty! A bit of a trek from Denmark Town Centre in the William Bay National Park, it is absolutely worth the country drive, as that was so beautiful on its own. Denmark feels like it is in the middle of the bush, so it’s a funny feeling when you realise it is right on the coast! Scramble over the rocks and climb the sand dunes to discover Elephant Cove just down the beach from Greens Pool. The large rock formation looks exactly like a pack of wild elephants strolling in the ocean. It truly is a magical sight! I could have sat and stared at the ocean for hours, it’s just so beautiful!
Williams Bay Road, Denmark / Open 7 days a week / Cost – Free
3. River Paddling
I’ve never taken a paddle boat out before, but Denmark’s picturesque river mouth is the perfect location to do so! Don’t freak out, they provide you with a sexy life jacket and all the details are explained to you before jumping in but it’s up to you how much or little paddling you do! The river is quite murky but don’t be scared, we all know sharks don’t hang out in rivers! You can paddle for as long as you like but we went for the 30 minute ride, as it was already heating up in the sun. Note to those wanting to paddle – take a friend. It is impossible to paddle the boat alone. After E hopped out I tried to continue on my own and nearly flipped into the water. Not smart on my end! You can also hire single and double kayaks, a dingy or paddle boards so make an afternoon of it!
Denmark Rivermouth Caravan Park, Inlet Drive, Denmark / Open 7 days a week / Cost – Paddle boats $40 P/H
4. Denmark Animal Farm and Pentland Alpaca Stud Farm
Who doesn’t like cuddly baby animals? I’ve visited loads of “animal experiences” in my lifetime but this had to be the best one. From the moment we entered the farm we were “bombarded” by animals wanting some attention (and the food we were given on arrival). Baby goats eat from your palm, kangaroos hop around at your feet and you can even pat a fuzzy little koala. Bottle feeding time is 3pm so if you want to feed a teeny little lamb this is your time! The farm is also full of exotic birds, horses, cattle, foxes, alcapa, sheep and more, and all of the animals were super friendly and keen for a pat. Be warned though my friends, the goats and sheep know you have food and will do anything to get it. My friend S had her bag taken from her hand by a greedy goat. Keep it away from the animals. Also know to always keep your palm flat when feeding them, or they may have a nibble at your finger! Don’t forget to go and have a snuggle with the baby joey being hand raised by the owners of the animal park before you leave. It’s so sweet and cute.
2019 Scotsdale Road, Denmark / Open 7 days 10am-4pm / Cost – $14 per adult
5. Appreciate the beauty of nature
Besides the many things to do in Denmark it is always nice to sit back, relax and enjoy your surroundings. We opted to stay at The Coombe Luxury Holiday Accommedation, a two bedroom house overlooking the inlet. The juxtaposition of bush and water was so magical and I spent many a morning on our verandah just sitting back and enjoying the beauty of nature. We did take a few short bush walks through the trees and to the jetty not far from home and it was so peaceful to embrace the space and light. The Bibbulman Track runs through Denmark so if want to get into it go for a wander. When in Rome they say! Or if you really want to become one with nature the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in between Denmark and Walpole (45 minutes from Denmark Town Centre) is a brilliant way to view the bush from another view. Unfortunately due to the weather we were unable to visit the Valley of the Giants on this holiday, but I’ve visited in the past and it is a beautiful experience. Wander through the tingle forest 40 meters up amongst the branches. Some of the trees are over 400 years old too… Now that is pretty amazing.
Now when can I return?
Have you been to Denmark? When was your last holiday? What is your favourite place to relax?

domain: geography


text:
If it’s been a while since you’ve been in school, don’t cringe at the thought because this will be one educational experience that you do not want to miss.
The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay is all set for spring classes at Eno-Versity, with none other than head sommelier Ian Cauble leading the class. This is a rare opportunity to learn from the best, and we aren’t throwing that compliment around lightly. Wine & Spirits named Sommelier Cauble the “Best New Sommelier in the United States” in late 2008, and he took home a fourth-place spot in the “Best Young Sommelier in America” competition in June, 2009. And we can guarantee that he has only gotten better since that time.
While he will be your teacher for one of the most tasty and fun classes of your educational career, Cauble will continue to enhance his own industry knowledge as the winner of the coveted Rudd Scholarship for master sommelier candidates seeking certification this year.
Ready for the official word describing the curriculum? The lowdown is that this school will be an interactive experience that is limited to eight guests per session and priced at $150 plus tax per adult. Classes will include:
- 8 to 10 wines
- interactive wine instruction providing photos, maps, and more
- education about wine history, types of grapes, and region of origin
For further information about ENO-Versity, which will take place each Saturday in March from 1 to 3 p.m. please contact 650.712.7040.

domain: hobby