My 1-2 year old large black lab has had stool like this for the past few days. We have a weeping cherry that has berries, but if she ate that many she’d be sick. We also have birdseed in the back yard. She isn’t acting sick at all. Any ideas??

I swear to god, they always have the best fucking food. I want the mysterious brown coffee stains on the shitty foam board ceiling, the black-but-actually-green thin 1990s carpeting, the tacky decor. I love it. It genuinely gives it a homey feel. Bonus points if the kitchen looks like an absolute shit show too! I’m talking dirty pans everywhere even the floor, uncleared tile grout, screaming between cooks, the whole 9 yards.
I’m not even trolling. These new, bougee restaurants with state of the art technology and decor just straight up SUCK! The food is usually super underwhelming, bland, unoriginal.

So my name is Jonathan and I recently finished up my undergraduate degree at UMBC. I am set to start working for a pretty amazing company towards the end of the summer and was hoping to spend some of my free time making some decent connections and getting to know people who might be in the area and share similar interests as myself.I love both indoors stuff like playing video games, cooking, fuse bead art, watching movies/tv shows, and reading. In addition, I also enjoy a lot of outdoors stuff like hiking. Now that I will have some more time and money on hand I feel like I can explore some of the hobbies and interest that I have been holding back on. I would really like to get into camping, snowboarding/ , rock climbing,skydiving,etc. I really just want to go out and experience some real adventure
Shows/movies/tv Game of Thrones, stranger things,the boys,the walking dead,, breaking bad, it’s always sunny in philiadepha,Black mirror, love death, and robots, Sherlock,aggretukko,the prestige anything marvel
Music: anything alternative or rock. I recently got into paramour and greta van fleet.NIN and Radiohead are classics. The only thing I don’t full care for is modern country.

Darrell's family are experts at benefiting the few at the cost of draining/damaging the people around them, and society at large,
In Grandma "Dr" Mary Edwards example..6 people are killed, dozens, if not hundreds of families are devastated. And thousands of others are in some way, and to some extent, damaged. Including the entire city of Wauchesha and countless other people. While the good "Dr." Mary Edwards and her "mental health couseling/live coach" business benefit from free worldwide advertising and publicity. Very discusting.
And they justify this by claiming to be innocent, helpless, victims of mental health issues, and who knows what else. For example Darell's Mom Dawn Woods claims Darrell was a victim uf an unfair trial that was pre-ordained, and that is why he recieved 6 consecutive life sentences + 1000 years. Yes indeed. Well I watched the entire trial and have seen many articles, stories, youtube channels depitions and opinions and many other things and I think we can all agree that Darrell recieved one of the most fair trials in United State's history.
But in their sentencing statements, both Darrell's Mom and his Grandma again claim that their family are victims because they have lost so much. And it's all a result of Darrell's mental health . The GALL of these people is unfathomable!!! To say such a thing after what there innocent/victim of mental health son/grandson did to cause all this devastation only serves to minimize the pain of the real victims. The truly innocent people who were hurt, maimed, murdered and otherwise destroyed while simply getting together to watch a parade and celebrate the Christmas season.
In one of her interviews Darrells mom, Dawn Woods said mental health victims need medication and treatment when the sympltoms first appear (when Darrell was 12) or else the problem will fall thru the cracks.
Well, Mrs. Woods, your his mom. So why didn't you make sure that happenned? But she never got him help. Not then....not later, not ever. I guess because she couldn't afford it..based on her statement about how expensive mental health care is.
Well, It's probably fair to say (Darrell's favorite saying at the trial), that we all know mental health treatment is expensive. But wouldn't any good mom find a way to manage and otherwise take care of her child's problems in any way possible? Like by getting a second or even third job? And or possibly taking the time to research, knock on doors, or whatever it takes, to find programs or other solutions? Nope,.,she says it is societies fault for not having a better system to help those in need So I guess that means that the Waukesha attack/tragedy, is not in any way her fault or responsibility. It's societies fault- In other words, it's my fault. It's your fault. It's everyone's fault except hers.
And in her sentencing ,statement, Granny said she hopes Darrell will be placed in a facility where he can get the mental health medication and treatment that he needs. Which leads to the question...., if she is as good a mental health counseler as she surely must be to charge $65 an hou2 hour minimum for over the phone mental healh coaching, why didn't she help to manage Darrell's "mental health problems" before all this happened? And why can't she manage them now-insead of again relying on societies penal system. Which is funded by you guessed it....you and me. In other words, even after all the kaos, carnage, and destruction Darrell caused, his family won't take any responsibity...nope!!! They want society-you and me- to do all the work.
This is just another example of self-induced victimization and deflection of personal responsibility. To put it simply, and Iknow this is a big pill to swallow; these people are vile and otherwise discusting leaches of society. Who simply steal to deposit into their emply/black hole lives, as much of the goodness from the world around them, that they possibly can.

We just got a black lab today. It’s our first night and he has done very well so far. We have a crate and a wire pen thing attached to the crate so he can go in or out of the pen as he pleases. I gave him water at dinner time and he has gone potty and is in his crate for bedtime. I’m keeping the crate door open so he can still go in his pen.
My question: should I leave his water bowl in the crate so he can drink water throughout the night? Or leave it out of his pen and let him get it first thing in the morning?
Thanks!

The Release Notes for 2023 Season 3 have been posted on the iRacing Forums!
Find them posted here:
https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/42721/2023-season-3-release-notes-pre-release-version#latest
​
Or read them below!
========================================================================

2023 Season 3 Release Notes [Pre-Release Version]

This is the iRacing 2023 Season 3 Release! This release contains both content and upgrades for 2023 Season 3, which officially starts on June 12th! This season update includes three new cars: Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Ligier JS P320, and Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). iRacing also expands its track offerings to include MotorLand Aragón (7 configs) and Willow Springs International Raceway, as well as a new 2023 Cup config for Chicago Street Course.
Our Dirt Taskforce has completed their work on the Dirt Refresh Project shared with the community back in February, and we are excited for you to experience the fruits of their labors. The Spotter System has received a Race Control-focused set of updates and new calls that will liven up your racing and keep you better informed about what is happening on the track and in the race. New challengers approach - you will now have the ability to add AI Opponent Rosters to your Hosted Sessions that utilize the Heat Racing format! We are excited to announce we have been investing time into saving you time, loading time to be precise, and this Season Release includes a first phase of loading optimizations that should get you into the driver’s seat just a little bit faster. Willow Springs International Raceway is proud to pioneer a new 3D Foliage System that automatically populates the environment with grasses, shrubs, and other creations of Mother Nature. USB Audio Hot Swapping is now fully enabled and supported by iRacing for all of your headset and speaker needs. A new Graphics Option has also been added which controls the display of all cockpit obstructions instead of this parameter being car setup specific.
The New Damage Model has been put into practice on eleven additional cars. And last but not least our AI Drivers have mastered eight new cars and twenty-four new track configurations. Welcome to iRacing 2023 Season 3!
Season highlights include:

• Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• Ligier JS P320
• Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• MotorLand Aragón (7 configs)
• Willow Springs International Raceway
• New Track Configuration: Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup
• Dirt Racing Refresh Project
• New Spotter Calls and Updates for Race Control
• Hosted Session AI Heat Racing
• Phase 1 of Loading Time Improvements
• 3D Foliage System
• USB Audio Device Hot Swapping
• Cockpit Obstruction Removal Graphics Option
• New Damage Model for 11 Vehicles (Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Dirt Late Model (ALL), Ligier JS P320, NASCAR Truck Series Trucks, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Renault Clio R.S. V)
• AI Racing for 8 Cars (Aston Martin DBR9 GT1, Cadillac CTS-V Racecar, Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1, Ford GT GT2, Ligier JS P320, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and Radical SR10)
• AI Racing at 24 Track Configurations (Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes, Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype, Circuit of the Americas - East and West, Irwindale Speedway - ALL FIVE Configs, MotorLand Aragón - ALL SEVEN Configs, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini, New Smyrna Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval, and Willow Springs International Raceway)
• Hundreds of new and optimized official iRacing vehicle setups

Visit our 2023 Season 3 features page here: https://www.iracing.com/seasons/2023-s3/
Full 2023 Season 3 Release details are below.
​

iRACING UI:

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Hosted Racing

• The Create Starting Grid functionality and button are now disabled whenever both Heat Racing and AI Opponent Roster are selected for an Event.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.

Tracks

• All Track location information has been standardized and updated. All Track locations are now identified by: City, State/Province, Country.

Leagues

• Fixed an issue where the names of AI Drivers who won League Series Sessions were forgotten when viewing the League Season Schedule.

Paint Shop

• A new sponsor, Maconi Setup Shop, has been added to the Paint Shop!
• Fixed an issue with a missing font for the Stock Car Pro Series Class Cars.

​

SIMULATION:

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Windows Support

• With the release of iRacing 2023 Season 3, the Windows 8.1 operating system is no longer able to successfully launch the iRacing application.
• - - Microsoft officially dropped support for Windows 8.1 on January 14th, 2023. As a result of this, it is no longer compatible with our software, and it will fail to launch.
• - - If you need help installing or running iRacing on Windows 10 or 11, please contact Customer Support here: https://support.iracing.com. Customer Support cannot get iRacing to work on Windows 8.1.

Race Servers

• Race Server capacity has been expanded to allow for nine different car models to be present within a Session.
• A user’s average lap time will no longer exclude laps that had been labeled as “invalid”.
• Fixed an issue where some Open Practice Race Servers were closing early due to inactivity.
• Fixed an issue where track temperatures were changing wildly if the Session was restarted (via AI Racing controls for example).

Loading

• Some adjustments have been made to how video memory resources are loaded.
• Some car loading algorithms have been optimized.

Dynamic Track

• The manner in which the dynamic track algorithm was calculated on surfaces has been improved, particularly along outside track edges.
• Fixed an issue where the visual display of some dynamic track data including dirt, marbles, and rubber was not functioning correctly on some track segments.

Race Control

• The algorithm for generating race splits based on car classes has been improved slightly.
• Short Parade Laps are now available for use at the following additional track configurations:
• - - Barber Motorsports Park - Full Course
• - - Brands Hatch Circuit - Indy
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Charlotte Motor Speedway - Roval, Roval - 2018, & Roval Long
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Grand Prix
• - - Circuit Zolder - Grand Prix, & Alternate
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval - 2008, Road Course - 2008, & Moto - 2008
• - - Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg - PEC - Outer
• - - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Oval - 2009, Open Wheel Oval - 2009, Road Course - 2009, & Bike
• - - Long Beach Street Circuit
• - - Mount Panorama Circuit
• - - Phillip Island Circuit
• - - Talladega Superspeedway

Qualifying Scrutiny

• The Qualifying Scrutiny system has been adjusted to better handle cases where cars needed time to get up to speed after leaving their starting location.

Dirt Racing

• A variety of updates as a result of the Dirt Refresh Project have been enabled!
• - - This project enlisted a focus group of developers, vehicle dynamicists, and testers who did a deep dig through everything that makes our Dirt Racing tick, and they’ve emerged with some sweeping improvements and updates.
• - - Dirt track parameters as a whole have been updated, including:
• - - - - Racing dirt properties at all levels of wear and wetness
• - - - - Dirt height variance, depth, and hardpan behavior
• - - - - Track wear parameters
• - - - - Tire rubber accumulation
• - - - - Dirt displacement from tires
• - - - - The formation of track roughness and perturbation
• - - - - The progression of dynamic track data has been updated for all dirt tracks
• - - All Dirt Racing tires have been updated with some of the following improvements:
• - - - - New wear rates based on the hardness and wetness of the dirt racing surface
• - - - - Dirt displacement parameters
• - - - - The manner in which tires calculate their contact on undulating dirt surfaces has been improved.

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have completed an extensive training course for participating in the Heat Racing format!
• - - Heat Racing is now available for Hosted Sessions using AI Rosters!
• - - This is a brand new feature implementation for both AI Racing and the Heat Racing format.
• - - - - It is important to note that this feature is only available for Hosted Racing events at this time. AI Drivers still need the support of real humans in their Sessions or artificial chaos would surely ensue.
• AI Drivers are now fully trained and capable drivers for the following new vehicles:
• - - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
• - - Cadillac CTS-V Racecar
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
• - - Ford GT GT2
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Radical SR10
• AI Drivers have memorized and are ready to race for the gold at the following new tracks and configurations:
• - - Autodromo Nazionale Monza - GP without first chicane, Junior, and GP without chicanes
• - - Chicago Street Course - 2023 Cup and Prototype
• - - Circuit of the Americas - East and West
• - - Irwindale Speedway - ALL 5 Configurations
• - - MotorLand Aragón - ALL 7 Configurations
• - - Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway - Mini
• - - New Smyrna Speedway
• - - Twin Ring Motegi - East and Oval
• - - Willow Springs International Raceway
• AI Drivers have graduated from yet another season of advanced education classes. Training for 2023 Season 3 included the following programs:
• - - Kinesthetics for Preventing Pace Lap Panic
• - - [PHY-220] Drafting Speed Predictions
• - - White-Knuckle Door-to-Door Racing: A Retrospective
• - - Fast Cars Beware: Slow Cars
• - - Slow Cars Beware: Fast Cars
• - - AI Program Upgrade IV: Reaction Timing (Class: Pistol Shrimp)
• - - Danny S.’s Pre-School Seminar: Left-Hand Makes the “L”!
• - - The Technical Know-How Overlaps for GTP & Rocket Ship Piloting
• - - SuperTravel SuperProgram 2023: SuperSpeedways
• - - Lessons from Slot Car Racing on Racing Lines
• - - Tire Compound Connoisseur Magazine (Spring ‘23 Issue)
• - - Brake Pad Dissection - a Science Lab Qualified Course
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills with the following vehicles:
• - - NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars
• - - NASCAR Trucks
• - - BMW M Hybrid V8
• - - Dallara P217
• AI Drivers have improved their driving skills at the following track configs:
• - - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Oval
• - - Bristol Motor Speedway - Dual Pit Roads & Single Pit Road
• - - Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
• - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval
• - - Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle
• - - iRacing Superspeedway
• - - Talladega Superspeedway
• AI Drivers and their cars are now immediately removed from the world at the end of a Session. For safety.
• Fixed a handful of AI System issues including:
• - - Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could lag up to several seconds after the green before hitting the gas for standing starts in Hosted Sessions.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers could incur gain-time penalties while they were being towed back to their pit box. We don’t know what they were doing to Race Control staff to earn them, but it should be fixed now.
• - - Fixed an issue where multiple “Pitting In” notifications could be received.
• - - Fixed an issue with the display of AI Driver names on the Entries tab for Replays.
• - - Fixed an issue where AI Drivers appeared to be using the incorrect dive plane for the Dallara P217.

New Damage Model

• The New Damage Model is now active on the following additional vehicles:
• - - Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
• - - Dirt Late Model (ALL)
• - - Ligier JS P320
• - - NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado
• - - NASCAR Truck Ford F150
• - - NASCAR Truck Toyota Tundra TRD Pro
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
• - - Renault Clio R.S. V
• Some New Damage Model system code has been reorganized to make future development easier.

Auto Fuel

• Spotters and Team Members may now control their driver's Auto Fuel state.

Spotter

• The iRacing Spotter System has received some updates to help make it more accurate and dynamic. It is now better able to read Race Control events as they occur on the track, and a variety of new Spotter Calls have been added:
• - - Car in Front/Behind is Pitting
• - - Faster Car Approaching
• - - Gaining/Losing the car in front
• - - Leader Change
• - - Leader Lap Time
• - - Leader is Lapping You
• - - Session New Fastest Lap
• - - Your Personal Best Lap Time
• - - Time Remaining in Session 20/10/5 Minutes
• - - Settings for these new messages have been added to the “[SPCC]” section of the “app.ini” file.
• - - - - These messages will only play if “Chattiness” is set to MEDIUM or HIGH, and they are turned on in the “app.ini” file, which they are by default.
• A new “Silence” function has been added for the Spotter.
• - - In the Sound Options Menu, users can bind a key press that will interrupt and stop any current spotter message and temporarily disable future messages for a short duration. The duration of the hush may be adjusted via the “hushDuration” variable in the “app.ini” file, found in the “[SPCC]” section.
• “Leader Car” calls now returns the leader car in the same class as the player car. This means all spotter messages pertaining to the leader will now reference the leader in the same class as the player, instead of the outright leader.
• - - Messages include:
• - - - - Leader is pitting now
• - - - - Leader is at Start/Finish
• - - - - You're catching the leader
• - - - - One lap to win (if you are the leader car)
• Both Italian spotter packs have been updated and improved!
• - - Many thanks to Renzo A. Olivieri and Marco Arcidiacono!
• The Race Laps remaining spotter message logic has been updated.
• Fixed an issue with the fuel spotter calls when the pit entry location was dramatically different from the Start/Finish line location.

Graphics

• A new Graphics Option has been added: Hide Cockpit Obstructions.
• - - This option hides several visually obstructive elements from the world, including: Halo, A-Pillar, and Rock Screen.
• Vehicles that utilize the New Damage model have had their car model format adjusted to reduce video memory demands.
• Improved the accuracy of steering angles for viewing your opponents’ cars’ wheels.
• Adjust brake light exposure on some cars to try to prevent them from turning white when viewed from a distance.
• Updated the system which processes the hiding and displaying of halos for Replays.
• GGX blended dirt texture shaders have been improved.
• SpeedTree lighting has been updated.
• The graphics Option for SpeedTree self-shadowing has been removed.
• - - The visual benefits were minimal and the processing needs were demanding.
• Tooltips have been added for SSAO parameters.
• A new SDK for SpeedTree has been integrated.
• Fixed an issue where the reverse and unseen sides of some SpeedTree faces were being rendered, wasting processing time.
• Fixed an issue where distortion particles were not rendering properly unless they were inside the car.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur would trigger whenever the garage was visited.
• Fixed an issue where motion blur was appearing at different amounts on different parts of the same car.

3D Foliage System

• A new environmental graphics feature option has been added to the graphics options menu: Foliage!
• - - The new Foliage system procedurally generates 3D foliage of an appropriate biome type at specified tracks. Foliage may include grasses, shrubs, boulders, cacti, flowers, and other small environmental assets. 3D foliage has no impact on driving or physics, but should decorate the world much more realistically.
• - - In the Graphics Options menu, there are several levels of detail that may be selected for use by the 3D Foliage System which can customize your visual experience and your rendering performance. You may also select to disable the system entirely.
• - - With this release, only Willow Springs International Raceway has been seeded by the new 3D Foliage system so far, but Mother Nature always finds a way to spread!

Visual Effects

• Lighting for particle effects has been improved.
• The PopcornFX SDK has been updated to the latest version.

Audio

• Audio Hot Swap support has been added to iRacing!
• - - Forgot to plug in your headset before the race starts? iRacing now detects your device when it's plugged in, even during a race. If you've selected "System Default" from the sound options, audio automatically moves to the new device when the default changes. If you have selected a specific audio endpoint, it activates once it's available.
• - - Runtime audio device switching is now supported. When the default device is selected, a new default device can be chosen in Windows, and the Simulator will use the new device. If a specific device is selected, it will be used in the Simulator when it is activated in Windows.
• - - - - disableWindowsCoreAudio=0 When enabled (1), this option disables any Windows Core Audio integration (native windows audio).
• - - - - disableAudioDeviceChangedEvents=0 When enabled (1), this option disables dynamic audio device changing.
• - - Please note: Audio Hot Swapping is enabled by default.
• A new Audio Options setting has been added which allows you to assign a System Communication Default Device.
• A new audio option, “ambientMusicDisabled”, has been added to the “app.ini” file.
• - - 0 is the default value. Setting this parameter to 1 will disable all environment music that is normally played over the PA system while in the Simulation.
• Dynamic brake sounds have been rebalanced.
• Audio for load transmission on a variety of cars has been improved.
• The engine audio for all Pace Cars has been adjusted and optimized.

Environment

• New color and texture variations have been added for a variety of parked vehicles found around the tracks.

Interface

• Enhanced the right-click pop-up menus on the Session/Replay screen, and the Driving screen, to provide the option for private messaging (PM-ing) an individual user, the current driver of a car, or a car's entire Team (which includes a driver's spotters/crew in non-team sessions).
• - - Existing Admin/Race Control operations applied to a car that would have PM-ed someone on the team have been updated to message the whole team, instead of just one team member.
• - - Manually PM-ing a car number using "/#N", with N being the displayed car number, including leading zeros if shown, will now PM the whole team.
• - - To PM just the team member that's currently driving the car, use "/#N@" (add the @ symbol immediately after the car number). If the team's car is in its pit stall but the driver has gotten out of the car, that user is still PM-ed. If the team's car is not even in the world, no PM is sent when attempting to message its current driver, and you will be informed of this.
• - - - - To prevent receiving duplicate messages, if you would receive a chat message you sent because the target includes you (you're on the target team, you're the target team's driver, or you're talking to yourself!), you only receive the message due to being associated with the target of the message. That is, the message is not separately echoed directly back to you.
• - - You can continue to manually PM an individual using the existing mechanism of specifying their name after the "/".
• Text chat responses to Race Control Admin commands now identify the targeted entry with the team name and car number, instead of the name of the driver. In non-driver-swap events, the “team name” is the driver's name.
• An option for the units selection has been updated to “English (USA)” for clarity.

Camera

• A new highest option level, “Ultra”, has been added for Motion Blur.
• Fixed an issue with Driver View Pitch/Roll chassis effects so that when the view is locked to the horizon the car can now roll farther without the camera following the position of the car. This should help reduce motion sickness in VR if you use this feature.
• Fixed an issue for whenever a car’s center-of-mass left the camera frame, all motion blur on the car was lost.
• Fixed an issue where the focus of the camera was getting unwanted motion blur for cockpit cameras.
• Fixed an issue with motion blur on cars when using multiple displays.

Controls

• The automatic parking brake that holds a car still when you come to a stop will now fully apply itself anytime the car comes to a stop, rather than waiting for the user to hold the brake pedal down once stopped. This should help prevent cars from accidentally rolling away when you come to a quick stop but fail to fully engage the brake pedal.
• The Reset Button now prevents users from putting you into the car if your steering wheel needs assignment. Doing this now will take you to the Controls Wizard and allow you to assign and calibrate your driving controls.
• The test for XInput devices has been simplified.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some joysticks to fail to calibrate properly if the previous calibration was similar enough to the new calibration.
• Fixed an issue in the Options screen where the inputs (shifter, wheel, etc) would not respond if a button was held down on a wheel.

Force Feedback

• When calibrating a wheel, iRacing now checks that your selected maximum wheel angle and Force Feedback status match what we expect based on your detected hardware. A notification will appear if these do not match.
• - - This is an effort to detect common errors with certain wheels, either that do not have the correct drivers installed or that have a maximum wheel angle set to a very low value by default. If you receive this notification, or need help setting up your racing wheel, please reach out to Customer Support.
• iRacing will now try to automatically detect your racing wheel’s maximum force, and adjust the wheel force slider accordingly. This is used to help us safely and automatically calculate the force levels to send to your wheel. We can't always know how your wheel is set up, so this may be an overestimate of your maximum force level. This is the safer guess, but in some instances it may limit how strong of a force you can request from the simulation. In those cases you can turn off the “auto-mode” and manually set your wheel’s peak value, if known.
• Improved the force auto tune button so that it takes the wheels maximum force into account. This will lighten up the auto tune as the wheel force increases.
• - - There is a new scaling parameter in the “app.ini” file, “autoForceFactor”. This value defaults to 0.5, and allows you to adjust the aggressiveness of the reduction. Setting “[Force Feedback] autoForceFactor=1” will remove all reduction, giving you a 1:1 force output. Setting it to 0 will effectively always give you 6 Nm of peak force at the wheel. Any value in between will blend between these two extremes. The default value of 0.5 should be a good value for most users.
• A mappable button (Ctrl-A) has been added to apply the Auto Force adjustment found in the F9 Black Box.
• For the Auto Force Feedback peak force detection, data collected when the car is out of control will now be suppressed. Also, data collection will be paused for several seconds immediately after an incident. The goal is to make this system more stable and consistent, even if you wreck.
• For Force Feedback, a safety check has been added to detect if the wheel jumped in position (ie: we lost/gained communication with the wheel). If a communication interruption is detected, Force Feedback will be suppressed momentarily for safety.
• A new slew rate limiter filter that is controlled via the smoothing slider is now available in the Force Feedback options tab.
• - - This filter limits the rate of change of the force feedback signal so your wheel can't accelerate beyond a fixed value. In essence it smooths out the large jolts while leaving the rest of the signal alone. A value of 25% will have almost no impact on your regular driving, while softenting out curb or wall impacts, and a value of 75% will smooth out most rumble strips and make curb hits almost invisible. If you find that you have to turn down the FFB forces below the level you would like because the jolts from curbs or accidents are too large, then try turning this filter up instead. Try a value of 50% to start, and turn it down to 25% if you feel it is too much.
• - - - - You can go back to the old boxcar filter via the “[Force Feedback] smoothingFilterType=1” entry in the “app.ini” file.

Replays

• Chat messages and incident point accruement are now saved and viewable with Replays.
• Fixed an issue where custom Paint Schemes were not appearing on AI Drivers in Replays.

Telemetry

• Live brake line pressure (LFbrakeLinePress) has now been zeroed out and will no longer show a value.
• - - Disk based brake line pressure is still available (LFbrakeLinePress), and now has any ripple from the abs modulation included in its value.
• - - A new BrakeABSCutPct value has been added to the disk based telemetry that shows the percent of brake force reduction being applied by the ABS system.
• Driver suit, body, face, and helmet type ids have been added to the session string.

Official iRacing Sporting Code

• A variety of updates have been made to the Official iRacing Sporting Code, including:
• - - A new section 6.8.3. has been added which describes the correct behavior for Starting from Pits.
• - - Restructured the paragraphs describing Rolling Starts for improved clarity for both Oval and Road racing.
• - - Better explained how multiclass cars grid, and defined what starts a multiclass race.
• - - License Class images have been updated.
• - - Identified that Joker Laps may not be used for time-based competitions at Rallycross Tracks.
• - - A reminder has been added that it is unacceptable for suspended or restricted Members to use alternate accounts.
• - - Identified that nefarious tactics may also not be used during Races, and removed a poor example of nefarious behavior.
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Over by the outskirts of the human village, a large chunk of land was burnt, singed, wiped of any living no matter how small it may be. This was due to the power of the supposed current Shrine Maiden. Though none of the buildings or infrastructure was damaged, it was still a sight to behold; a sight that seemed unbelievable to witness many months ago.
A bit further away from the sight of the charred land, the group consisting of Sumireko, PB, Ko, Rumia, Cirno, Satsujin, Mary, Gummy, Suika, Shanghai, Meiling, Wakasagihime, Youki, Kosuzu, and Kagerou. What had started as just one person, turned to two, then three, then eight, eleven, and now fifteen people. Each of them started their journey one way or another, but they all hope to end it the same way.
“We’re here.” Sumireko said.
Everyone looked up to stare at the foot of the mountain, tilting their heads until they could see what they believed to be the tip. The view up there must be extravagant, but there was no time to sight see.
“The ropeway should be somewhere around here.” Sumireko said. “It’s usually close by.”
“Do most people take the ropeway?” Rumia asked.
“Well, people from the human village do, since most humans can’t fly. But unfortunately for us the option to fly isn’t available at the moment.” Sumireko said.
“I still kinda wonder why we can’t do something as simple as that.” Satsujin said out loud.
“Perhaps it was because-” Wakasagihime began.
“ZIP IT!!!” Satsugrim shouted at Wakasagihime. “One more word out of you and I’ll turn your tail into sashimi and sell it for dirt cheap!”
That made the mermaid quiet. Not another word dared come out of her lips.
The group wandered around between the foot of the mountain and the edge of the village. It wasn’t long before they came upon what they were looking for.
An aerial tram, made of wood and nail and designed to resemble that of a shrine, sat on the ground with a small staircase that could be walked across. A bit further away was a small little sign, looking shabby and worn-down, but it was clear it was there to help keep people from trying to climb up the mountain by themselves. After all, what kind of person would be naive to scale up a whole mountain when there exists a much easier and less physically exhausting option?
The group got on, making sure to check if the ropeway was still functional, though they kept their expectations low on purpose anyways. Luckily everything was working. And after pulling the lever to go, they were off.
The tram began to move upward in a diagonal direction. Slow and steady it was, but that was all everyone needed for now. They had a lot on their minds, yet no one said a thing. Everyone stood around; either staying in the middle or leaning back on the rails of the tram, some even taking a look down the mountain.
The slight creaking of the wooden structure was all that was heard, with a slight breeze that blew. The ride wasn’t necessarily bumpy, but it wasn’t smooth as ice either. Even then, everyone remained quiet, not saying a word.
Sumireko stood a bit away from the railing, looking at everyone else to see what they were doing. Some were standing around minding their business, others looked at the landscape below; how far they were from the ground. Despite the mutual silence, she felt like now was the time to say something; anything really.
“...I remember the day when Inco first arrived at Gensokyo.” Sumireko spoke, drawing the attention of everyone who wasn't expecting anyone to say anything. “I was in the dream world, talking with Doremy when two people suddenly showed up out of nowhere. One of them looked like a kasha, while the other an angel. Then three more people appeared, one of them being Inco of course. Doremy and I fought alongside the former two figures, but upon realizing it was going to be a losing battle, Doremy sent me away with PB.”
“And ever since that day, I wasn’t able to enter Gensokyo anymore. I tried everything I could. I prayed at shrines, tried to locate where Gensokyo would be geographically, pulled out every single occult book I owned. But nothing… And I was alone. The only thing that I was physically able to do was focus on school.”
“It made me realize that… I didn’t have anyone outside of Gensokyo who I could rely on. Sure, I had my mom, but for the most part I confined myself up in my room playing games and browsing the internet. Before I realized it, I was preparing for an entrance exam to the university of my choice. It seemed like my life in Gensokyo had already ended, almost like a dream.”
Everyone kept looking at Sumireko as she finished, some thinking about what she said. And when it seemed as though everyone was going to go back to silence, PB spoke next.
“Even though I was deactivated when I came here to Gensokyo, I blame myself for what had occurred here. If it wasn’t for me, then none of you would have to be going through all of this trouble. Our universe’s problems were not yours to burden; you did not deserve this.” PB said.
Everyone had their eyes directed at PB this time as they spoke. But while they kept their gazes, Ko decided to speak up.
“U-Um… I still hope that… once all this is over, if I ever get the chance, I like to see my mom and my older brother again.” She said. “They both did their best to make sure I am still alive to this day. A-and now I’m going to make sure that I’ll continue to live for them. And should we ever meet again, I want to greet them with joy in my heart!”
After Ko finished, Satsujin spoke.
“I wish to find my brother again. From what I know he’s still in the universe where I came from. I hope to bring him over here so that we can live together, and not have to worry about the torment of our parents or the rest of our family.” Satsujin said.
After Satsujin, Rumia spoke.
“When I arrived here, all I could think about was trying to find Reimu, or rather my Reimu. It was the only thing that I could remember. But… Now I realize that she isn’t here, nor is Minako… I hope that if I ever see them again, maybe… we can be a family once more.” Rumia said with genuine in her voice.
After Rumia, Cirno.
“I used to be something called a SOLDIER. I would be sent out on missions to deal with monsters and other phenomena. My mentor Letty taught me everything she knew… But then something happened. An incident occurred, something that changed everything… That’s when I became a mercenary.” Cirno said. “But I wasn’t alone either.”
Cirno looked over at Meiling, giving her a smile. “In my universe, you and I were close. You ran a small bar and were an excellent fighter. You were someone I could always look up to, no matter the occasion. You were a ‘Big Sis’ to me, Meiling.”
Meiling’s expression widened a bit, with a blush that came after as she turned around while scratching the back of her head. “The me of your world sounds like a really nice person.” She said. Cirno laughed a little in response.
Now it's Mary’s turn.
“I think about what it might’ve been if I hadn’t been forgotten all those years ago. Instead of collecting dust I was actually used for what I was made for. The kind of people who might’ve used me in combat or honor instead of being kept as mere decoration for some Russian Mafia. But then again if I did, I would’ve never met Satsu.” Mary said, glancing at Satsujin momentarily.
“Ribbit.” Gummy croaked.
“Um… Gummy says that he is very proud to have met everyone. He thinks you are all great people. He wishes that he could be something equally great.” Ko explained.
“Ribbit ribbit.”
“Yes yes, here you go.” Ko fed Gummy some candy.
Suika decided to speak up next, as it seemed like everyone was bound to say something during the ride up the mountain. She pulled out the item which she’d been carrying ever since they left Hakurei Shrine.
“I have something to show everyone.” Suika said, pulling out the ring box. She opened it up, and inside was a glistening gem, bright like a star. Everyone was stunned to see the item, with the exception of Satsujin.
“A ring!?” Sumireko asked loudly. “Where, when and why do you have one!?”
Suika smirked. “I got it from Kourindou by pure chance. He said it was an item that people use to propose in the outside world. I got it right before winter ended, and I was planning on giving it to Reimu.”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?!?!?” Sumireko went over to Suika and shook the Oni. “You mean you were going to propose to her! Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?”
Suika stopped Sumireko shaking her, looking her in the eyes. “Ahh! Stop it Sumireko! Geez… I didn’t want anyone to know at first, honestly… I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.”
“Eh? What do you mean?” Sumireko asked. “Aren’t you and Reimu…”
“...” Suika’s expression turned into a slight sorrow, which was enough for Sumireko to get the right idea.
“You… aren’t dating Reimu.” Sumireko said. “She isn’t even aware that you did this.”
“Correct.” Suika said. “It sounds dumb, I know. But…” Suika looked back down at the ring in her hand. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try… Even if I’m not the one she loves most.”
After Suika finished, the ride went back to silence momentarily, with the sound of creaking wood and gentle winds. Shanghai thought about Alice during said silence, thinking about what her creator could possibly be doing, and whether or not she’s okay.
But again, the silence did not last, as Meiling spoke up.
“When Inco took over Lady Remilia’s body, everyone in the mansion was forced to do her bidding, else we risk losing her forever. I myself was tormented by her, used like a punching bag. There were so many moments where I felt like my life was at its end, yet I always heal back.” Meiling said. “But now, I wish that I hadn’t stayed quiet the whole time. If I knew what was going to happen, I would’ve asked for help, get Reimu or the Sages or really anyone who could face that demon. Maybe that’s what Remilia wanted instead of the months of torture we received, even if it costed her life.”
The Gatekeeper showed a level of guilt on her face, though it lessened when Cirno placed a hand on her shoulder, which softened her expression. When it seemed it was back to silence, Wakasagihime spoke up.
“I can remember the day when I was attacked by that man. He shouted something nonsensical, ‘sugondeez’ or something similar. If I had reacted sooner to his actions, then maybe I wouldn’t have been bashed by that rock he held. But instead, I was a literal fish on dry land.” Wakasagihime said.
After the mermaid was done talking, Youki decided to speak.
“Hm…I have been debating on whether I wanted to mention this or not to the rest of you. I only told the boy half of the story regarding the fate of my son, my wife and my daughter-in-law. But I have yet to mention the man who did it… The reason being was because even I myself was shocked when I found out the culprit, and I feared if word got out, it would forever tarnish the name.” Youki said.
“The name?” Satsujin asked. “Who was it?”
Youki paused, the silence returning for five seconds before he answered.
“He bore the title of ‘The Priest who even the Dragon God Feared’, Sendai Hakurei.”
And immediately, Sumireko, Satsujin and Suika quickly felt a striking moment of realization, remembering what they had seen deep inside that lab, and the man who spoke to them. None of them knew what to say about it. Satsujin was well aware of Youki’s backstory, so he believed him, as did Suika who was familiar with the ‘Shrine Maiden of Paradise’, the ‘Iron-Fisted Demon Shrine Maiden’, and even the ‘Blood Flower Maiden’.
Everyone else wasn't exactly sure what to make of that kind of information. They just remained silent.
Well everyone but Kosuzu.
“...Everyone I ever knew in the Human Village… Akyuu, Kiene, Mamizou, My Mom and Dad, my Grandfather… I don’t know what happened to any of them. I don’t even know whether they’re still alive or if they met the same fate as I. What if I never get to see any of them? What if they’re already dead? I just… want everyone to be safe.” She said with slight tears in her eyes.
The mood had turned gloomy. The mood had begun in an aloof setting, made its way up to being bright, only for a sudden drop in the atmosphere. Everyone couldn’t say anything else during the ride whilst they listened to the consistent creaking of wood, the slight sound of wind, and felt the gentle motion of the tram swaying.
Kagerou, being the newest to join the group, noticed how everyone was acting. She knew that they had already been through a lot as is, but also knew that letting it remain would be bad for morale and motivation. She had to say something.
“I know I’m new here.” She began. “I know you all have already been through a lot. But we can’t let the past, the mistakes, the failures we suffered through affect how we are right now. We should keep on moving, continue no matter how many times we get hit. There is nothing wrong with feeling down, but we shouldn’t let it decide whether we win or lose either.”
Everyone listened to her speech, and a few heads perked up. They realized that they shouldn’t be so down about the matter, knowing that bearing a mind filled with negativity would only hinder their progress.
“You’re right Kagerou!” Wakasagihime said proudly. “We should all think positively!”
“Stay Positive.” PB said. “That was a phrase someone I knew said many times every chance they got. We should all keep that in mind.”
Everyone else agreed, right as they had finally reached the end of the line, with the tram coming to a slow halt.
“Oh, we’re here.” Sumireko said. “That didn’t take as long as I thought.”
“Guess we should get off now.” Mary said.
They went over to the gate, which kept the doors closed. After opening it, they were greeted with a familiar face, staring up at them from the ground.
“Meow.”
It was a half-cyborg cat.
“A-Amai!?” Satsujin asked upon hearing her.

(I also posted this in /vegaslocals. If reposting here isn't allowed, I apologize, and feel free to take down).
Hey Everybody!!!
I just want to keep you in the loop on what’s going on with Oakland A’s owner John Fisher’s request to have the Nevada Legislature give him up to $380 million in public funds for a new stadium. The Legislative session ENDS MONDAY, which means that they will ram this through very quickly in the next 48 hours or so or call a special session.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO SPEAK OUT!!!! I have put together a fairly well-documented argument below demonstrating that this is a bad deal and Fisher is a terrible partner. Please share this post and information as widely as you can! Most importantly, contact members of the Legislature and BE HEARD!!! Be sure to tell them that you live in Nevada!!!
Contact your Assemblyperson and State Senator!!
Assembly contact info: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/LegislatoA/Assembly/Current
State Senate Contact info: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/LegislatoA/Senate/Current
If you would like, you could use or modify this sample letter which contains URL links supporting the claims.

Dear Senator or Assemblyperson [Last Name], I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed public funding for John Fisher's baseball stadium in Nevada. I believe this project should be stopped for several reasons: Lack of transparency: Fisher and his team deliberately released funding details at the last minute and scheduled the only public hearing on Memorial Day evening, during a Golden Knights playoff game, limiting public awareness and participation. This is a shameful subversion of democracy and I hope you had no part in it. Neglected education system: Nevada ranks 49th out of 50 in educational attainment. Our focus should be on improving public schools, not funding a billionaire's stadium. Unrealistic economic projections: Expert analysis discredits the claim that the stadium will attract an additional 400,000 tourists, which, even if true, would only be a 1% increase on an annual basis. A Stanford economics professor expressed his belief that Fisher’s Stadium will result in the equivalent of a few hundred, permanent, long-term jobs. Fisher’s economic projections are detached from reality and unreliable. Fisher's history: His track record with the San Jose Quakes, another publicly funded stadium venture, raises concerns about his commitment to investing in player payroll and creating a competitive team. Fisher owns the Quakes. After he was given a public handout for a stadium, he did not change or competitively fund his soccer team. Troubled partnerships: Mark Davis of the Raiders, who shared the Oakland Coliseum with the A’s, has expressed frustration with Fisher's management group. MLB owners are also frustrated by doing business with Fisher. Nevada should expect to have the same experience if we proceed. I urge you to oppose public funding for John Fisher's stadium. Let's prioritize transparency, education, and responsible use of public funds for the benefit of all Nevada residents. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please consider my perspective as you make your decision. Should you require further information or have any questions, I am available to discuss this issue. Sincerely, [Your Name]

Feel free to modify, expand or use as-is. You can also write your own letter too. I'm just trying to make this as easy as possible for everyone so that we are HEARD!
TLDR Bullet Points For Big Argument Below:

• Oakland A’s owner John Fisher, and team President Dave Kaval, strategically released details about stadium funding to minimize public awareness and participation. They released the legislation on Friday of Memorial Day weekend and the only public hearing was on Memorial Day during the Golden Knights playoff game.
• Fisher and Kaval failed to even show up at the Memorial Day hearing, demonstrating a lack of accountability and a disregard for public concerns. They have never publicly answered any questions.
• The prioritization of funding for a sports stadium over public education in Nevada, particularly the Clark County School District, is concerning.
• Economic projections presented by Fisher's lobbyists are questionable and disconnected from reality, as experts have pointed out.
• Fisher's history with the San Jose Quakes of Major League Soccer raises doubts about his commitment to investing in a competitive team with public funds.
• The low payroll of the A's compared to other MLB teams suggests a strategy of minimizing expenses for greater profitability.
• Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders and A's shared the Oakland Coliseum, expressed personal animosity towards Fisher and his management approach. Other MLB owners have expressed similar frustration about doing business with Fisher.
• Elected leaders should consider these concerns and prioritize the needs of the community over the interests of wealthy individuals.

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR JOHN FISHER’S STADIUM MUST BE STOPPED!!!!
1. They Don’t Want to Hear From You
Fisher and Kaval strategically waited until the 11th hour to release details about the handout. From USA Today:

The A’s, their cadre of lobbyists in Nevada and friendly politicians and tourist officials are doing their best to hide the sausage, introducing, finally, legislation for state funding of myriad projects on the Friday night of a holiday weekend, and then offering public discussion on the evening of Memorial Day. Pretty slick! And it sounds like Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature would be waiting.

The only public hearing on giving away hundreds of millions of dollars occurred on Memorial Day. And not just on Memorial Day — it was in the evening during Game Six of the Western Conference Finals where the Golden Knights punched their tickets to the Stanley Cup Finals. A hearing at 4:00 AM on Christmas morning would have received a higher profile and greater public scrutiny.
They didn’t want you to know about the hearing and your opportunity to be heard. And if, by chance you did hear about it, they didn’t want you to be able to show up and be heard. They are not very subtle about their preference to not hear from you, the unwashed masses.
Guess who else wasn’t there? A’s owner John Fisher and President Dave Kaval. I am not making this up. They didn’t bother to show up to the Memorial Day hearing. They want us to give them hundreds of millions of dollars, but couldn’t be bothered to show up at the hearing and answer questions themselves? Where were they Monday night? What was so important they couldn’t be bothered to show up for a public hearing to answer questions in public? Fisher and his army of lobbyists have had weeks to meet privately with lawmakers behind closed doors. Are you telling me Fisher couldn’t give us regular folks two hours in public?
2. What Are Our Priorities?
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Nevada, and in particular the Clark County School District, fail to provide adequate public education. Nevada ranks 49th out of 50 for educational attainment. Of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, Las Vegas ranks second worst for schools. This is unacceptable, yet real education reform is never a priority for the same politicians who are willing to pull the Memorial Day/Stanley Cup Playoff hearing shenanigans for Fisher.
If our elected officials can turn on a dime to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars to a billionaire for a sports stadium, why can’t they act with similar urgency for our disastrous public school system?
Our failed public schools, especially CCSD, are the most significant impediment to economic growth and diversification. The number one reason companies and individuals are reluctant to relocate to Las Vegas are our terrible public schools. If we want to create economic growth, we need to fund and fix our public schools, not build another billionaire a sports stadium.
3. The Numbers Don’t Make Sense. They’re Basically Fraud.
Whenever a billionaire asks the public to finance his stadium, the ask is always accompanied by a series of fantastical economic projections. If you watched the Memorial Day/Stanley Cup Playoff hearing, you saw a powerpoint presentation made by Fisher’s hired lobbyists. The numbers presented by Fisher’s lobbyists aren’t simply slightly embellished, they are disconnected from reality.
First, there is the claim that Fisher’s publicly funded stadium will bring an additional 400,000 tourists. John Mehaffey breaks down this non-sensical claim in the Nevada Independent:

The 400,000 number seems inflated to me. The A’s host 81 baseball games per year. This projection assumes 4,938 tourists at each game that would otherwise not be in Las Vegas. Considering only one American League market is within a reasonable driving distance, most of these tourists would fly to see their home team. Many or most of these tourists would go to two or three games in a series to justify this travel. If the average number is two games, that puts 9,877 visitors in the stadium per home game. If those fans go to an entire three-game series, that number is 14,815. If the 1.8 million locals attendance prediction is accurate, and visiting fans tend to go to a series as opposed to just one game, the A’s project that they will sell out the stadium's 35,000-seat capacity every home game. If visitors go to only two games, that is 90 percent of capacity. That is a bold projection for a team that was last in attendance in 2022 and at the bottom so far in 2023, especially since no MLB team comes close to selling out all its home games. The lack of flights makes 400,000 new visitors seem impossible Most teams that would visit the Las Vegas A’s stadium are in the American League. Most are in the east where nonstop flights to Las Vegas are scarce. For example, I found five or fewer nonstop flights per day from six of the other 14 American League cities. Four of those six teams had home stadium attendance below 20,000 per game in 2022. It’s hard to imagine that 10,000 or 15,000 fans will fly across the country for a series when that is around the average attendance for the 81 home games in their own cities. Some displaced fans may be within driving distance, but the point is one that needs to be considered. Las Vegas would need dozens of flights per series that don’t exist to accommodate this prediction.

Mehaffey also points out that Miami, which recently built a publicly financed stadium, also has 40 million visitors a year, just like Las Vegas. However, the Miami metro is substantially larger than Las Vegas. “In 2022, the Miami Marlins averaged 11,204 per game. A market with a much larger metro population that posts similar tourism numbers does not come close to the A’s projections. There is no reason to think Las Vegas will be different.”
Stanford economics professor Roger Noll agrees with Mehaffey that the attendance numbers Fisher projects are not credible. From USA Today:

“Baseball is different than the NFL,” Roger Noll, professor of economics emeritus at Stanford University, tells USA TODAY Sports. “This notion that of those 162 baseball games, I've got to see those three that are between the A's and the Royals in Las Vegas - it's just nonsense, right? It's not true, it's not going to happen. “That's the fundamental reason why economists, when they do research on the impact of sports teams, typically find that the effect on local incomes and employment is slightly negative.”

But what about job creation?

Noll says the hours that stadium workers put in – for 81 games a year – computes to roughly 15% of a full-time job. “So the 500 people who work at the stadium on game day, you got to multiply that by .15 to get the number of full-time equivalent jobs, which means it's less than 100. Wow,” says Noll. “You know, $1.5 billion to create less than 100 jobs, right? Wow.”

4. Grossly Underfunded Payroll
The total payroll for the 2023 A’s is just $59,630,474, just 37% of the MLB average payroll of $116,112,414 and just 17% of the highest-spending New York Mets ($345,474,042). To provide context, the highest paid players in the league, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, will each make $43,333,333. Verlander’s salary, by itself, is 72% of the entire A’s roster!
This meager spending is by choice, not necessity. It’s a strategy that works. From Sports Illustrated:

The A's were a top-5 team in 2022. Not on the field. The A's finished with a 60-102 record, second-worst only ahead of the Washington Nationals. On the spreadsheets though, they netted $62.2 million according to a report from Forbes. The only teams they finished behind were the revamped Seattle Mariners who made the playoffs for the first time in two decades, the San Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox, and the Baltimore Orioles who had a Mariners-esque upswing and an A's-esque payroll.

When the A’s do develop talent, they quickly jettison those players to avoid paying them their true worth on the market. As Review-Journal columnist Ed Graney explained, when Fisher’s A’s have experienced success, the response has been to break down the team and sell off the parts. Graney concluded: “John Fisher is an owner with deep, deep pockets who (incredibly) has always acted in a way that he can’t afford to hand out exorbitant contracts to his best players. About him, an overwhelmingly popular opinion is that he simply doesn’t want to.”
Why do this? Wouldn’t a competitive team generate more revenue? In Major League Baseball, there is a revenue sharing agreement among the franchises, intended to help smaller markets field competitive teams. Fisher uses revenue sharing, and dumping talent, to be one of the most profitable owners in baseball. From the New York Post:

At least a few rival MLB club owners are annoyed at the Athletics for conducting a major fire sale to enhance their bottom line soon after being added as a new revenue-sharing recipient in a vote by owners. “The idea of revenue sharing is not to make money, it’s to field a competitive team,” one rival owner complained Thursday during the owners’ meetings at MLB headquarters in Midtown. “That money is supposed to go toward player salaries. [The A’s] took the money and put it in their pocket.” Yet another owner, also upset that the A’s didn’t use the money to buy new players, but instead did the opposite and sold three major stars and drastically cut their payroll, referred to the franchise generally as “a mess.”

Fisher will not fund a competitive team in Las Vegas if we give him a stadium handout. That would destroy his very profitable business strategy. Why would he do that? The payroll of the Las Vegas A’s will be 30th out of 30 MLB teams, just like the Oakland A’s.
5. History Repeating: Quakes Publicly Funded Stadium
There seems to be some hopeful thinking that if we give John Fisher a stadium handout, he will increase the A’s payroll to become more competitive. A’s President Dave Kaval stirred excitement when he insinuated that the franchise would bankroll a World Series championship team with a new stadium in Las Vegas. “But with more revenues, we want to turn a playoff team into a World Series team. That’s why we’re fighting so hard for a new stadium, whether it’s in Las Vegas or Oakland,” Kaval told the Review-Journal.
Many people, including our elected officials, want to believe this, in good faith. It would be awesome to have a Las Vegas MLB franchise win a World Series!
This isn’t Fisher’s first rodeo with a publicly funded stadium. Fisher is also the owner of the San Jose Quakes of Major League Soccer. From an Associated Press article in the May 25, 2006 Salinas Californian on public financing for a new Quakes stadium: “The Quakes won MLS championships in 2001 and 2003 led by former star forward Landon Donovan but attendance slid to an average of just 13,037 fans last season.” Sound familiar?
So what happened? Did Fisher increase player payroll once he obtained his publicly financed soccer stadium?
From the San Jose Mercury News:

Out of the 29 MLS teams, the Earthquakes rank 21st in guaranteed player compensation and base salary, both on a per-player and teamwide basis. The Earthquakes’ average salary came in at $434,079, nearly $100,000 lower than the overall average salary for an MLS player ($530,467). San Jose’s total spending ($13.022 million) comes in at more than $2.8 million below the average team spending across the league (15.822 million). It’s a continued trend for the Quakes, even after they moved into the state-of-the-art PayPal Park in 2015. The Earthquakes have consistently ranked in the bottom half of the league in spending, per Spotrac, even as the MLS has continued to add new expansion teams over the years. Earthquakes spending rank in MLS by year · 2015 (20 teams) — 15th · 2016 (20 teams) — 11th · 2017 (22 teams) — 16th · 2018 (23 teams) — 19th · 2019 (24 teams) — 19th · 2020 (26 teams) — 17th · 2021 (27 teams) — 24th · 2022 (28 teams) — 22nd · 2023 (29 teams) — 21st That has been reflected in on-field results, too. Since the Earthquakes moved into their new home, they have never finished a season with more wins than losses — the closest they came was in that first year, at 13 wins, 13 losses and eight draws.

Nevada should expect Fisher to act in the future as he has in the past. His business strategy is clear: spend as little as possible on player payroll regardless of venue. If Nevada gives Fisher a handout, nobody — nobody — can act surprised when his miserly payroll does not change.
The Raiders and A’s shared the Oakland Coliseum for decades. Aces and Raiders owner Mark Davis is very familiar with what it means to “partner” with John Fisher. Davis did not hold back when he spoke with the Review-Journal:

“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium,” the Raiders owner said in a phone chat Thursday afternoon, referring to the stadium the A’s and Raiders once shared, the Oakland Coliseum. “They were looking for a stadium. We were looking for a stadium. They didn’t want to build a stadium, and then went ahead and signed a 10-year lease with the city of Oakland and said, ‘We’re the base team.’” … Davis was asked if he could envision an environment where the Silver and Black would cross-promote with the green-and-gold Las Vegas Athletics. “Not with that management group,” Davis said. “I just have, again, a lot of personal animosity toward the front office. But with a new management group? Absolutely.”

Mark Davis did business with John Fisher for decades. Davis knows Fisher. Nobody in Nevada has done business with Fisher as much as Davis. Davis’ reaction to Fisher, basically unfiltered instinctual revulsion, should be a massive red flag to our elected leaders who are being plied with sweet nothings by Fisher’s hired guns.
Sources:
“A’s Stadium Math Doesn’t Add Up.” The Nevada Independent, May 30, 2023. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/as-stadium-math-doesnt-add-up.
Graney, Ed. “Graney: A’s Penny-Pinching a Reason for Las Vegas to Reassess.” Journal, March 18, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sports-columns/ed-graney/graney-as-penny-pinching-a-reason-for-las-vegas-to-reassess-2547852/.
Gutierrez, Ana. “Nevada Ranks as the Second Least Educated State in America.” KLAS, February 17, 2022. https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/nevada-ranks-as-the-second-least-educated-state-in-america/.
Jenkins, Bruce. “MLB Has Punished Other Owners. Why Is A’s John Fisher Getting a Pass?” San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2023. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/jenkins/article/john-fisher-mlb-oakland-18130516.php.
Katsilometes, John. “Raiders Owner Rips Oakland Athletics’ Likely Move to Las Vegas.” Journal, April 27, 2023. https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/raiders-owner-rips-oakland-athletics-likely-move-to-las-vegas-2765229/?xxyy.
Lacques, Gabe. “Why A’s Las Vegas Stadium Gambit May Be a Losing Bet: ‘It’s Just Nonsense.’” USA Today, June 1, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/athletics/2023/06/01/oakland-as-move-las-vegas-stadium-gambit-losing-bet/70277528007/.
Lozito, Nick. “‘this Is Not Our Fault:’ Oakland A’s Fans Are Defending Their Image.” The Oaklandside, May 5, 2023. https://oaklandside.org/2023/05/01/oakland-athletics-leaving-las-vegas-john-fisher-dave-kaval-fans/.
“MLB 2023 Payroll Tracker.” Spotrac.com. Accessed June 3, 2023. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/.
Oakland Athletics made over $60 million in 2023 - Sports Illustrated ... Accessed June 4, 2023. https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/oakland-athletics-made-over-60-million-in-2023.
Shea, John. “Don’t Believe John Fisher’s Propaganda: A’s Fans Are the Best in Baseball.” San Francisco Chronicle, June 1, 2023. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/athletics/article/oakland-a-s-fans-aren-t-reason-team-las-vegas-18126429.php.
Simon, Alex. “Would New Oakland A’s Ballpark Lead to More Spending? John Fisher’s Other Team Shows That May Not Be the Case.” The Mercury News, May 17, 2023. https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/05/16/would-new-oakland-as-ballpark-lead-to-more-spending-john-fishers-other-team-shows-that-may-not-be-the-case/.
Wootton-Greener, Julie. “Las Vegas Area Schools Ranked Second-Worst in Nation for Quality.” Journal, December 9, 2021. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/education/las-vegas-area-schools-ranked-second-worst-in-nation-for-quality-2493177/.

Note: and other people in the same category as them

Wang Dan accused of sexual harassment by two people

Lee Yuan-chun accuses Wang Dan of sexual harassmentAccording to Radio Free Asia, on June 2nd, 2023, a man named Lee Yuan-chun (李元钧), accused Wang Dan of sexual harassment on Facebook. According to Lee Yuan-chun, in 2014 in Flushing, Wang Dan kissed him, attempted to rape him, and later continued to say sexual things. On Facebook, Wang Dan wrote that this did not happen. Li Yuan-chun told Radio Free Asia that he has some evidence related to the allegation.Reports: China Times SanlihRadio France International reported about this, but the article was deleted.**Xu Haoqian accused Wang Dan of sexual harassment (note: this name was transliterated from Chinese to pinyin)**Later, according to multiple news media, a Master of Taiwan's Tsinghua University also accused Wang Dan of sexual harassment.Reports: Apple Daily China Press United Daily NewsFurther reports: HK01 CTS

Zeng Dajun was rumored to be a CCP agent

In 2011, the China Social Democracy Party had a lot of internal conflicts involving Liu Guokai, Lu Yi, Liu Yinquan, Xiaopingtou, and others. Some members of the China Social Democracy Party were accused of being agents or doing bad things.In 2016, Bowen Press reported that Zeng Dajun, the chairman of the China Social Democracy Party was a CCP agent who infiltrated the overseas Democracy Movement and who had caused the arrest of many people in China, such as the China Social Democracy Party member Wang Xiaoning (王小宁). Zeng Dajun joined the China Social Democracy Party in 2000 and was elected to be its chairman in 2013.https://bowenpress.com/news/bowen_54262.html

Guo Baosheng convicted of fraud and defamation

On December 23rd 2019, the jury verdict ordered that Guo Baosheng pays a total of $24,000 (in defamation and fraud charges). WENGUI GUO is the plaintiff and BAOSHENG GUO is the defendant. The court is the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.To verify this information, you can use the case number , which is 1:18-cv-01064-TSE-IDD.

Chen Yangchao and Zeng Jieming had a conflict on a forum of the Democracy Movement

Chen Yangchao is the author of "On Privilege" and a participant of the "Democracy Wall" movement. Zeng Jieming is an exiled Chinese who participated in various dissident publications.In May, Chen Yangchao suggested that Zeng Jieming was a CCP spy on The Independent Review.Below is the continuation of the online conflict translated from Chinese to English.On May 18th, on the Independent Review forum of the Democracy Movement, Chen Yangchao wrote another post criticizing Zeng Jieming. In this post, Chen Yangchao called Zeng Jieming a "suspected communist agent", a "Little Pink", and a "gangster" ("共特嫌疑人小粉红混混"), and accused Zeng Jieming of supporting Russia against Ukraine.Zeng Jieming: "[...] What pro-democracy activist are you now? Since 2008, after you fought with Wu Fan to be the 'President of the Transitional Government of China', ended in failure and shame, except flattering the tyrannical dictators, writing letters to persuade Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping [note: Zeng Jieming used the nicknames 僵贼泯, 胡紧套 and 习正恩], proclaiming the emperor to 'create peace for all ages', what have you done? Is flattering and persuading tyrannical dictators the 'democracy movement' according to you? [...]"Chen Yangchao: "You immoral, corrupt thing that reverses black and white, didn't you see my series of long essays against the CCP? [...]" Chen Yangchao also attached a long article about the Christianity and Chinese politics.Zeng Jieming: "In October 2011, you and Liu Guokai (刘国凯) visited my residence by chance and were warmly received by my partner and me. Later, Liu Guokai reluctantly left first, but the next day, you left angrily. For a long time, I didn't know why and thought that my hospitality wasn't good. Later, I finally understood: when taking the group photo (my wife took the photo), I didn't let you 'saint' stand in the middle, but let Liu Guokai stand in the middle. [...]"Chen Yangchao: "In October 2011, to reconcile the conflict between Liu Guokai and Liu Yinquan (刘因全), before flying from Los Angeles to New York, I made an appointment with Liu Guokai to meet and exchange ideas at your home. I went to see your family who just immigrated to the United States.After that, you propose to take a group photo. Guokai was a person who personally experienced the Democracy Wall movement and the shocking influence of 'On Privilege' at that time. Therefore, he insisted that I stand between you and him. Because I thought that you just arrived in the United States and needed Liu Guokai's help, and should help strengthen your relationship with him, I insisted that he stand between me and you. So we pushed each other several times. You said: 'It's better to ask Chairman Liu to stand in the middle', and I also said: 'Guokai is welcome to be in the middle.' Only then did the mutual pushing between me and Guokai stop. After the group photo, I took a photo while holding your son who was born after I took a long-distance taxi in Bangkok to visit your family in Thailand. Where is that 'fact' that you fabricated?[...]Not to mention, Mr. Liu Guokai your wife are witnesses. If your wife is as heartless as you are, responding to kindness with hate, then the wrath and severe punishment of God will come upon your family![...]It's a pity that you didn't send me any of the photos you took this time. Otherwise, I can post it now to let everyone see if I am narrow-minded and "angry and resentful (yet)" as you said![...]At your house this time, you insisted that when I went to live with Liu Yinquan's family in Los Angeles, I was sick because Liu Yinquan drugged me; that the computer had problems because Liu Yinquan damaged it! You insisted that it was this scoundrel spy Liu Yinquan who did it! You asked me to publicly reveal this matter, and expose Liu Yinquan's true face! I have repeatedly told you that you can't do this arbitrarily. I have repeatedly advised you to improve your relationship with Liu Yinquan as much as possible... [...]"Zeng Jieming: "Only looking at your words 'he died well' when you heard the news of Peng Ming (彭明)'s death, Peng Ming's spirit in heaven will not forgive you! [...]"Chen Yangchao: "[...] I have some criticisms of Peng Ming's seriously anti-democratic dictatorial gangster tactics that are more vicious than those of the Communist dictators. [...]In the article '答友人谈彭明的典型意义和代表性兼及其它', I have already quoted a series of anti-democratic and anti-society words written by Peng Ming in his 'Democracy Project' and the 'legal clauses' tailor-made for Peng Ming from the '中国联邦临时政府约法（草案）' personally revised by Peng Ming, which solidly proves that Peng Ming — in essence, he is a typical evil breed hatched in China's century-old troubled times. [...]"Other commentsSome people commented on their conflict on The Independent Review."Guo Qinghai" (郭庆海): "I support old Chen to relentlessly pursue and fiercely attack, heheh""Leg pain" (小腿疼): "When mental illness occurs, you should increase your medication."

Li-Meng Yan accused her husband of helping the CCP to hunt her

Dr. Li-Meng Yan became known by claiming that the virus came from a lab. She was a former ally of Guo Wengui. However, Guo Wengui accused her of being communist, so their relationship ended.On May 4th, 2023, the dissident doctor Li-Meng Yan wrote on Twitter that evidence shows that her "husband Dr. RAPM Perera" is helping the CCP hunt her.

Shen Tong accused of adultery and beating his wife

Shen Tong was a leader of the '89 protest movement. In recent years, his level of participation in the overseas Democracy Movement diminished.In 2005, Shen Tong was accused of adultery in Taiwan with a woman surnamed Lai.TVBS: https://news.tvbs.com.tw/local/417997In 2017, Shen Tong was accused of beating his wife (Ms. Lai) in the U.S and was indicted on one count of second-degree assault.New York Post: https://nypost.com/2017/10/04/millionaire-anti-violence-activist-busted-for-beating-his-wife/

Wu'erkaixi's controversy in Taiwan

In June 2005, Wu'erkaixi was photographed "picking up girls" at a nightclub in Taipei.TVBS: https://news.tvbs.com.tw/life/440370In 2019, Wu'erkaixi was arrested in Taiwan for driving a motorcycle while drunk. The level of alcohol contained in his body surpassed the allowed limit.China Times: https://web.archive.org/web/20190515050022/https://www.chinatimes.com/amp/realtimenews/20190331001111-260402

Wang Dan allegedly received 400,000$ from the Taiwanese government

In April 2011, multiple news media reported that testified in court that he had received two grants from the Chen Shui-bian administration totaling 400 000 USD and that the source of the money was not clear.
China Times: https://www.chinatimes.com/amp/newspapers/20110416002085-260107
Liberty Times: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/pape484870
Wang Dan responded that the reports of him having received 400 000 USD are false.
North America Online/BBC: http://naol.ca/news/world/2011/04/16-1.htm
Later, Wang Dan said "The report [of the Central News Agency] is misleading. What we accepted is the Republic of China's government's funding of the overseas Democracy Movement. Well, if it is said to be Chen Shui-bian's personal support, then I think this is not in line with the facts. [...] What he represents is not himself, but the government of the Republic of China."Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/zh/%E7%8E%8B%E4%B8%B9%E5%8F%B0%E6%B9%BE%E8%B5%84%E5%8A%A9%E5%B9%B6%E9%9D%9E%E9%99%88%E6%B0%B4%E6%89%81%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%AA%E4%BA%BA%E6%94%AF%E6%8C%81/a-14997215
Cao Changqing pointed out that Wang Dan's response to this allegation made no sense.ChinaAid: https://www.chinaaid.net/2014/09/blog-post_38.html

Chen Shui-bian disclosed in 2022 that he paid Wang Dan

Chen Shui-bian paid 6.6 million NTD to Wang DanIn April 2022, Chen Shui-bian revealed 21 cases of "Guowu Jiyao Fei", including two payments to Wang Dan, totaling 6.6 million NTD.China TimesMing PaoChen Shui-bian disclosed that Wang Dan was paid 200,000 USD after meeting himWang Dan came to the Presidential Palace to talk to Chen Shui-bian. Chen Shui-bian also allocated 200,000 US dollars to be paid in two years to Wang Dan. However, Chen Shui-bian said that U.S. law stipulates that it is not allowed to accept foreign government funding. In order to help Wang Dan, the government used many people. Wang Dan admitted it in a secret court.SanlihThe Storm Media

Wang Dan was accused of pretending to be ill to receive donations

In 2014, Wang Dan claimed to have a brain tumor and asked for donations. Feng Congde and Tang Baiqiao accused him of deceiving people.China Times Liberty Times

Innapropriate photos of Sheng Xue

Sheng Xue is the leader of the Federation for a Democratic China (FDC). Many other political dissidents, such as Fei Liangyong, accuse her of behaving badly.https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/world/canada/china-dissident-harassment-sheng-xue.htmlThese are alleged nude and innapropriate photos of Sheng Xue. She denied it.https://web.archive.org/web/20230228122715/http://45.35.61.42/hero/201608/xiaopingtouyehua/2_1.shtmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20230228122715/http://45.35.61.42/hero/201608/xiaopingtouyehua/2_1.shtmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20230228123614/https://club.6parkbbs.com/bolun/index.php?app=forum&act=threadview&tid=15257084

A spy and an murder in Flushing

Wang Juntao is the leader of an organization of the "China Democracy Party" in Flushing. A Beijing petitioner named Zhang Xiaoning killed the lawyer Jim Li. Zhang Xiaoning was a participant of the protests of Wang Juntao's group. Wang Shujun, someone who was close to Wang Juntao, was found to be a spy of China.https://nymag.com/intelligencearticle/wang-juntao-exile-chinese-communist-party-nyc.html

Liu Gang's wife was accused of being a Chinese spy

Liu Gang is the former leader of the student self-government federation during the '89 protest movement. In 2011, he accused accused his wife of being a spy of China.

Guo Wengui

Guo Wengui is a rich businessman who escaped from China. In 2017, he was supported of many people such as the dissident former official Bao Tong and the soccer player Hao Haidong.In 2017, he was accused of sex assault.He got into conflict with many political dissidents, including Bob Fu, Tang Baiqiao and Guo Baosheng.

Chai Ling accused Yuan Zhiming of raping her

Chai Ling was an important person during the '89 protest movement. However, she is not very active now.In 2015, she accused the dissident pastor Yuan Zhiming of raping her in 1990. In 2016, the christian group "GRACE" published their final report on the allegations.

Peng Ming

In October 1998, Peng Ming's organizations, the China Development Union, was declared illegal by the government and closed.In 2005, Peng Ming was in China sentenced for terrorism.Peng Ming intended to use violent methods to overthrow the Chinese government, such as assassinations and poisoning the Miyun reservoir in Beijing.Radio Free Asia, Yi Gai Creaders (万维)

Wei Jingsheng was accused of rape

Wei Jingsheng is the "father of the Democracy Movement". He wrote "the fifth modernization", calling for democracy.In 2019, Liu Huaizhao filed a complaint alleging that Wei Jingsheng had a child with her after a sexual intercourse but did not give financial support as promised. Wei Jingsheng claimed that Liu Huaizhao was sent by the CCP to disrupt his work.

Ni Yuxian

Ni Yuxian is the founder of a "Party for Freedom and Democracy in China".
In 2006, because of a conflict with Xie Wanjun (leader of a China Democracy Party), Liu Dongxing invited Ni Yuxian to cooperate. Because of this, Ni Yuxian got into conflict with other political dissidents.
In 2007, after Liu Dongxing and Ni Yuxian expelled each other from an organization named "China Democracy Party", Ni Yuxian reported Liu Dongxing to the 109th branch of the municipal police in Flushing, accusing Liu Dongxing of embezzling party fees and other crimes. On October 27th, the police arrested Liu Dongxing at the "party central office".
According to Ni Yuxian, Liu Dongxing demanded that anyone who joins the China Democracy Party must pay 500 US dollars plus 10 US dollars each month and an activity fee for each activity. According to Ni Yuxian, Liu Dongxing often asked for donations without receipts, and forced people to buy "democracy stocks" that he printed himself and the "US Headquarters of the China Democracy Party" ("中国民主党美国总部") of Liu Dongxing participated in political asylum business.
Ming Pao

I'm recently engaged to a beautiful woman named Larissa who makes my head swirl. Looks, personality, and a similar taste in food, I mean she had it all. For my birthday last year I got to drive one of those Lamborghinis across the track, and fire a round out of an Abram tank. A tank round! I'm not much of a gun aficionado, but a tank round!
Which was all the worst, when 3 weeks before the wedding I had to tell my drop dead gorgeous fiancée that I needed to leave for a couple of days.
It's not an easy thing for a bride to swallow: juggling food prep, alterations, cancellations, seating arrangements, two sides of the family, busy bodies, food allergies, one aunt that won't stop calling, and another one that keeps asking if her wearing white to our wedding as she's sort of the matriarch of the family was going to be a problem (side note: we told her multiple times that it was not okay). The list goes on, trust me.
So when she asked for an explanation. I had to tell her the truth no matter how terrible it sounded. It wouldn't feel right knowing that the precursor to our marriage was a lie.
"Is it kids? Oh God, do you have a little Jimmy running around somewhere? No, Jim. I can't handle this right now."
"Lars, what? No. It's not a kid."
She was peeling and stamping invitations in our tiny 625 square foot apartment. "Well then what is it? I thought we agreed to no bachelor parties. I thought. We agreed that those were for people who were ready for a wedding but not the marriage. I don't care if it's tradition." She stamped the envelop extra hard.
"No, it's nothing like that. Trust me." I shuddered just thinking about it. "It's not any kind of thing I would be doing if I didn't have to."
She glared at me, "But you have to."
I nodded.
The table shook again. "Okay. So spit it out." She handed me a few envelopes. "If it's not a kid. And it's not a bachelor party. Then what is it?" She scoffed, "It's not like you're married right?" Her smile slowly started leaving her face, "Oh my God." She crumpled an envelop against her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Larissa..."
"Don't you Larissa me!" She looked me right in the eye, "Tell me I'm not the other woman Jim!"
"Well not technically."
"What does that even mean," she exasperated. "Go on, tell me how it's not technically."
So several years ago I was straight out of college. I could have worked some menial desk job and climbed the corporate ladder. But the idea of never leaving my home town ate me up.
So when an ad for native English speakers to come teach on some remote island presented itself to me. I jumped at the opportunity. Next thing I know I was booking a one way ticket to begin my new life as an expat.
In my head, I thought I was going to land, check into my hotel, enjoy the sights, and come the first Monday walk to the nearest English Cram school and get a job on my good looks alone.
On Monday, the school I went to, the hallways were packed with other Americans, British, Australians, and I think some Canadian was squishing himself into one of the tiny student chairs. All waiting for a job interview.
The next place was like that as well.
So was the next.
By the end of the first week I was beat. Tired and defeated, I thought my luck had run out. So I did what any 20 something would in a brand new city. I hit the bars. I hit them hard.
After the last place kicked me out as they closed I was stumbling around trying to make my way back to the hotel. Grumbling, groggy eyed and trying not to vomit all over the street. When something shiny caught my eye.
It was a silk red purse with gold embroidery tied with a thick yarn. There weren't many people out this late. But everyone who passed by it acted as if it wasn't even there. Like they didn't see it or something.
The bag alone looked like it was worth something. At the time all I was thinking was that, maybe someone would trade a drink for it, as my pockets were empty and all I wanted was for my head to be the same way.
I stumbled as inconspicuously as possible, or as much a drunk guy could finesse and made my way toward the bag. Looking around the entire time, making sure no one was running up claiming that it was theirs, or worse calling me a thief and have me thrown in jail in a different country.
And when no one did, I finally scooped it up and untied it. To my surprise, the bag was filled with money. Bright colorful bills with huge figures even at the current exchange rate. And there was even gold. Some rubies. I took one out and bit into it, almost breaking my tooth.
I couldn't believe how my luck had changed. I flipped through the cash and realized that there was enough to fund my trip for a few extra weeks. AND get me a plane ticket back home. The jewelry even, seemed sizeable.
There I was in one of the lowest, darkest moments. And a pot of gold seemingly dropped out of the sky for me. Thoughts of finding its real owner never even occurred to me.
I was quickly pocketing the thing and planning to high tail it out of there when a frail old man approached me from the shadows. Now I had learned some of the language before hand, but I couldn't understand what he was saying.
He kept smiling though and patting my shoulder, spouting words so quickly that if they weren't already gibberish to me, they would still make no sense in my drunken state.
I fumbled the bag around before juggling it into the crook of my arm, in order to reach my phone to help translate what the hell the old guy was trying to tell me.
The translation caught him mid sentence but all I needed was to hear one word back then and I regurgitated the last couple of hours all over the sidewalk and blacked out.
When I came to, I was back at the hotel with a killer hang over. I was wondering how I made it back when I remembered faintly of the old man helping me. That's when I remembered the pouch and my eyes darted around the room and to my relief, "It wasn't just a dream." The pouch was there, full and plump with a few bills sticking out from the throat.
Next to it was a note, that I would later translate to read about a woman who had turned 18 that year. The numbers 3 and 13 were inscribed as well. Her approximate height, which seemed weird. I mean, why would they go through all this trouble and not just tell me her actual height? Her name, her sign, and her address.
I was completely fucking baffled at all of this information, when I suddenly remembered my phone. I pulled it out and looked up the last thing still on my screen, which was a translation from Google. It read: my future son-in-law. I am so happy you've agreed to marry my daughter. Don't forget to come to the wedding.
No wonder I passed the fuck out.
I shook my head and checked the purse again. Yeah there must have been close to 5 grand in there. Not including the gold, the rubies, or a jade piece I found at the bottom.
Whatever was going on. I had no clue. But I sure as hell wasn't about to get married to some girl I didn't know. Even if I did need the money.
So I used a bit of the cash to get a taxi to the address. When I arrived, the old man saw me from his courtyard. He was smiling and happy, pointing and calling for someone inside the house. A few seconds later a short lively woman appeared. And she was just as happy to see me.
I didn't know what was happening but next thing I do know was they surrounded me in a hug. Happy and joyous, bouncing and wobbling, enough for me to almost hurl again, which I did, except this time I swallowed it.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on. But the note says something about marriage."
The pair looked at each other and exchanged a series of phrases. "Marriage," the old man finally enunciated.
I nodded. Then shook my head. "No, not marriage."
We went back and forth in a similar manner for awhile before the woman ran off to get someone. When she returned with a young man about 14 or 15, wearing glasses and sporting a bowl cut, he explained to me about the pouch.
"It's a tradition in this area for a ghost dowry. I think that is how you say it."
"A ghost dowry?"
"Yeah. In our area. When a daughter dies really young, especially as an infant. THe parents will start saving money for her ghost dowry. Because we believe that when she turns 18, she'll return and ask to be married off."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"No, it's quite common. Mostly everyone knows about it. Which is why they don't pick up the pouch. Not unless they're really in need of money."
"I'm really in need of cash kid, but I'm not about to get married. I'm especially not getting married to some...girl that passed away." I handed him the money but he wouldn't even touch it. Avoiding it like some kind of plague. I even tried handing it back to the old man but he kept pushing the pouch back at me and shaking his head.
The kid shrugged, "You can't give it back. Those are the rules. Once you've picked it up, you've accepted the dowry and MUST get married."
"Why me," I asked rhetorically.
"She chose you."
"What? Okay. Listen kid. What if I don't get married? Are they going to report me to the cops or sue me?"
"No."
"So I can just walk away?"
The kid shrugged again, "You'll be back."
"What?"
"I'm not sure. But from the stories I've heard. The groom to be always comes back. It might take awhile, but he does. Sometimes it's because he's traditional himself and his family tells him he must do the right thing. Other times he comes back because the girl won't leave him alone."
"Won't leave him alone?"
"Yeah. They say that the bride will come find the man at the hour of her birth, haunting him until he returns and agrees to fulfill his end of the bargain."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Sure. I'm sure that's it kid. Either way. I can't take this money knowing what it's for." I put it on the table. "Please tell him that I wish their family luck in fulfilling their tradition. Also, tell them that I'm sorry for using some of the money for the cab fare. I had no other choice to return what is theirs."
The boy shrugged a third time, "It's yours now. You should take it. What are you going to do? Walk all the way back?"
"That's exactly what I'm going to do."
"It'll be dark by then," he added. "She could come find you."
"I'll be fine. And plus what if she was born in the day time?"
"They only come at the dark time of her birth hour. If she was born in the afternoon. She'll come at midnight," he shouted after me as I left.
I tried not to think about everything that's happened to me this past week as I walked back. But it wasn't a rocks throw by any stretch. Which gave me plenty of time to think. About my maxed out credit cards, the hotel stay winding out by the end of the week, and of course the wedding.
By the time that I got back to the hotel I was a tired, hot mess. I was also hungry and my feet were swollen as they were unused to the tropical heat. But I was sure glad that the showers were already paid up. I took an extra long one before crashing into my bed. Snacking on a candy bar I had brought from back home.
I turned on some tv and tried not to let the impending doom of being kicked out on the streets bother me too much. As a plan began brewing in my head on who I'd call in a few hours when it was morning stateside. A few people still owed me favors back home, which I hoped they would be good for, which I hoped was good enough to get me back home.
Several times I dozed off as the tv buzzed in the background. Each time I woke up staring at the bright red alarm clock blaring its red angry dashes at me. By the third or fourth time my head jerked me awake as it fell to my chest. I looked up to see the time on the clock. It was 3:12. When something clicked in my head and I fished for the note still in my back pocket.
Su-ru Yen
18 this year.
3:13
I stopped reading and glanced back up at the clock. The little kids words reaing in my ear. "She comes at her death hour."
I waited, not realizing that I was holding my breath until I felt my lungs start to burn.
In a blink the clock changed and I glanced around as if waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened. My stomach suddenly growled, echoing in the empty room and I laughed, "Maybe I should have just taken the money."
*dak dak*
Came a knock from the motel door.
*dak dak*
My heart was caught in my chest. The main artery was constricted and wouldn't let go.
*dak*
I was shaking in my bed, too afraid to move or answer the door.
*dak dak* *dak dak* *dak*
It went on like this a full 4 minutes before it stopped. WHen it had finally stopped I tried getting out of bed, but I couldn't. For a second I was afraid to look down, afraid that her hand would be there holding me in place so that we could elope.
But it was just my hand clenching the bed sheets so tightly that I couldn't budge. I had to use my other hand to pry my own fingers off in order to creep slowly to the door and look into the eyehole.
It felt blurry as I blinked my eye, trying to clear it. Tears had welled at the corners without me realizing it. I wiped them away and slowly, reluctantly bent down and stared into the peephole.
No one was there.
But for the next 3 days. My door would knock. It didn't matter if I was on the bed, or in the bathroom. The closet was the worst as the knocking felt like it was right against my face. It didn't even matter if I ran outside, as no one would be around within eyesight. The knocking would always find me.
On the fourth and last day of my stay. The door knocked right on time.
*dak dak* *dak dak* *dak*
I felt the familiar twinge in my chest and my body was numb all over. But this time I was determined to take a look. And finally catch whoever or whatever it was that was playing this cruel joke on me.
*dak dak* *dak dak* *dak*
I tried gettoung out of bed but I couldn't. I was too scared. Several times I glanced from the clock to the door. Afraid to take my eyes off the door for too long, afraid that she would come through it if I did. Afraid that I would miss her and she would haunt me forever. And as the clock started ticking down. I kept whsipering myself. "She's only here for four minutes. She's only here for four minutes." And it was almost 3:17.
Seconds before the clock changed I jumped out of bed. Determined to end this thing once and for all.
*dak dak* *dak dak* *dak*
I didn't have time to look through the door. Even if I did I was afraid if I saw something there. I'd be too chicken to open the door. So I tore the band aid right off and swung the door open wide.
There was no one there.
But then from my corner cornea, something caught my eyes. A trail of something translucent was dragging away. I tried to take a step after it but my first step out of the door stopped me dead. My foot was drenched wet and it felt sticky beneath my sock. The coldness of it traveled up my spine, and to this day I can only describe it as the feeling of something metal scraping across my vertebrate. By the time I looked up, the wisps were gone. ANd the trail it left behind was already drying.
That night I couldn't sleep a wink. I waited until morning came and took to the streets. Desperate to find the old couple's house. Stopping several times to ask for directions and circling around streets and street signs that I couldn't read until I heard a familiar voice.
"I told you you'd be back."
"Kid," I grabbed him.
"Whoa. You look like you've seen a ghost." His eyes grew wide as he looked me over. "So the stories are true!" He didn't waste any more time. "Come on," he called after me. Leading me down the street and to the old couples courtyard. The pouch was still on the table outside where I had left it days ago.
The kid knocked on the door and shouted until the old man answered. He was still in his sleeping clothes when he saw my face, and his demeanor completely changed. He was so happy to see me. Opening the door wider and ushering us inside.
"Tell him I want it to stop," I told the kid. "Tell him I want her to leave me alone."
The kid translated but the old man shook his head before speaking. The kid looked at me and said, "He says then 'Marry her'."
"I can't do that!"
"Then she'll never leave you alone."
"She just going to keep knocking on my door? Forever?"
The kid turned to the old man and told him in their language what I said. The old man gripped his cane and tapped it once lightly on the ground, almost as if he were proud, before he told the boy who then told me, "She's a kind and gentle soul. He knew she would be. If she's only knocking on your door so far."
"So far? So far? Okay. What? Fuck. So then what? What happens if I marry her?"
The kid asks the old man and after a few words were exchanged he turned to me, "Then you will be wed."
"yeah. I get that. But what does that really mean?"
The kid clicks his tongue, "From what I understand. I think it means you'll have to honor her every month."
"Honor her? How? Like make a sacrifice? A blood sacrifice or something?"
The kid laughed, "No. Just Bai Bai. I don't know how to say it. Pray?".
"Pray to her?"
"Acknowledge her. Talk to her wooden nameplate. It's what serves as a gravestone for our dead."
"So just pray to her once a month, and that's it?"
The kid talks to the old man for awhile before turning back to me. "Yeah. That, and you'll be blessed."
"Blessed?"
"Yeah. Not sure about that one."
"Okay. Fine. What else. Like what if I want a girlfriend someday. Or get married. Have kids. Can I not do that? Will she haunt me? Haunt them?"
The kid asks the old man before turning to me, "Not if you ask for her permission. In a ghost dowry, you're allowed to have concubines. As long as she is consulted first and agrees."
I shake my head, "This is fucking crazy."
The kid shrugs. I seem to get the feeling he likes to shrug. "It's either that or she keeps haunting you."
I mulled that over in my head. "Shit." I stomped around the courtyard. "Okay. Fine. Fine! What do I need to do?"
The kid looks up at the sky. "We'll have to prepare."
"What? But it's already late. I want to get it over with as soon as possible. I don't want to wait another night of her coming to my door."
The kid smiles, "Don't worry. You won't. This kind of wedding can only happen at night."
For the next several hours I waited. Watched as neighbors and family. Cousins. Came to help. Food was brought in. Large round tables were set outside the courtyard. A tailor came and measured me up, twice. Decorations were strung and the sun began to fall.
When night came, the people who had gathered were tired but pleased with themselves that they had finished. I was asked to change into my wedding clothes and to wait outside the door of the couple's house until called. The lanterns behind me burning and the smell of food wafted in the air.
I waited until the doors finally opened.
Inside I saw the old man and the old woman start constructing something before a traditional wooden shrine at the back of the room.
They started with the legs. Sewn pieces of white cloth. The torso. The arms. And finally the head. When it was put together, the couple slipped on a white dress over the effigy they had constructed. Then the old woman went off through one of the side doors and returned with a box. From inside the box she withdrew a folded blanket. It looked faded but the edges were crisp and completely clean. The old man reach into the box and removed a sickly green thread that seemed to stick to his fingers, from it hung tiny strands of black hair, which he stuck gently to the back of the effigy's head.
The woman threw the blanket over its face, covering it.
Then the old couple turned to me and beckoned me forward. I looked behind me and none of the other guests moved.
Even the kid stood next to the door, unwilling to step inside as I entered.
I walked slowly up, next to the effigy until we stood side by side.
The old woman turned toward the shrine where a wooden plaque stood at the table. On it were three character words that I couldn't read. And she began to speak, the kid behind us translated in suit.
"Dear daughter. Mother is glad that you're finally being wed off. Though Mother will miss you as a girl. I am so glad of the woman that you have become. I am so proud of you. Please, continue to make me proud." She sighed. "When you were born I was so happy. Even if you only lived for a few short minutes. And I am sorry that the fates have been cruel to you. But I am thankful that they at least showed mercy enough to give you a husband. Take care my sweet girl."
"We love you," the father finished.
The old couple hands me a bowl. Inside are small boba looking balls swimming in a clear soup.
The kid behind me, "It's tradition to take a bite, and then feed your bride."
I looked at the old couple and they nodded at me, motioning for me to eat. I dipped my spoon in and took a mouthful. Chewing slowly. And swallowing.
Then they motioned for me to feed her.
I dipped my spoon again. And awkwardly raised it towards her. Slipping it under her veil to where her lips would be. Pretending to feed her.
Now I watched them put this thing together. Besides the creepy hair and the swabbing cloth for a veil. It was nothing more than cloth and stuff. I knew this.
At least that was what I thought until I heard it chew.
I could hear her jaws sticking as they moved up and down. The room was dark but signs of the veil moving completely terrified me. I couldn't even hear the people breathing behind me or the lanterns burning. All I could hear was her chewing.
When she finished. There was silence. Then everyone cheered.
After that, it was like any normal wedding I had attended. The guests poured in and I shook just about everyone's hand. Hugging complete strangers. My new parents. And even the kid.
Then we ate and drank, for almost a week. Someone was sent to get my things from the hotel and I stayed with my in-laws for the remainder of my stay. Which turned out to be several years. Because the following week I was offered as job as an English instructor at a nearby school.
I was told the principal owed the old couple a favor, but something told me that it wasn't the whole story.
I enjoyed my work at the school but didn't stay for long. As I started traveling to film a documentary about the local cuisine after a few of my YouTube videos mysteriously went viral as an expat who tried weird but delicious treats.
Eventually, my in-laws passed away. First it was mom. And four days later dad followed suit. I lived alone in the house for awhile, before I hit the jackpot at the weekly supermarket draw from one of my receipts. That, along with selling the house, was enough for me to go back to America and start a brand new life. Where I opened several shabu shabu restaurants that were met with great success.
"Eventually meeting you during one of my rounds."
My fiancée who had been listening to my story slack jawed the entire time couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Bull-fucking-shit!" She slapped me playfully across the arm. "You are such a good fucking liar!" She laughed. "I've always heard about guys not wanting to help out about the wedding arrangements. But this one takes the fucking cake. I'm going to post this in the group chat tomorrow. Bra-vo."
I laughed with her. "Yeah. That's it. It's just a great story."
"Now finish this up and let's go upstairs," she commanded. We stamped the last envelopes and went to bed. She was still laughing sporadically as I closed the door to our bedroom. "Knock knock," she joked.
I humored her, "Knock knock."
And we watched tv until she fell asleep.
I made sure she was sound asleep, before I gently crawled out of bed and put on my slippers. Softly opening the door and closing it behind me as I walked through the house. Down to the first floor. Then to the basement. Where I pulled the key I kept around my neck and slipped it into the lock.
Inside the basement was bare, except for two chairs and some boxes that I had taken from the old house, and the table, and the small wooden plaque that had my first wife's name inscribed on it in her native language.
"I'm going to get married soon," I told her. "She's a great person. Funny. Beautiful. And devoted. Kind of like you." I held the wood plaque in my hands. "I hope you approve." I waited as if she would answer. But she didn't. Never in all the years we've been married. "I can't go back home to ask for your permission. But I hope that this is enough." I looked at her name, almost longingly. As I had grown quite attached to our time together. "And I hope that this will be the last time we talk as I move on with my life. Thank you so much," I told her as I put her away."
Months flew by, and I never revisited the basement. Knowing full well that I had missed our visiting days. Though I'd often catch myself talking to her on some tough days. But nothing bad happened, by not seeing her plaque. Nothing bad at all.
Soon the wedding day was upon us. And it was a great party, as great as the best there ever was. Great good. Great company. And tons and tons of alcohol.
Larissa and I were giggling at the end of it, drunk as we stumbled upstairs from the venue to the presidential suite. Laughing all the way, kissing, barely able to keep our hands off each other as we got into our room.
My new bride pushed herself off me as we entered the threshold, and sprawled herself on the bed. Her legs rubbing against each other as her eyes invited me to come closer. I propped a knee on the bed to join her.
*dak dak*
We both shot our eyes to the door and then at the table side where the clock blared at us an angry red of 3:13.
Larissa looked up at me with a horrified look. I could see her bottom lip quivering.
"Hello," I called out. With my back to the door. "Sam? Bobby?" But no one answered. "Room service?"
*dak dak*
*dak*

Hey Everybody!!!
I just want to keep you in the loop on what’s going on with Oakland A’s owner John Fisher’s request to have the Nevada Legislature give him up to $380 million in public funds for a new stadium. The Legislative session ENDS MONDAY, which means that they will ram this through very quickly in the next 48 hours or so or call a special session.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO SPEAK OUT!!!! I have put together a fairly well-documented argument below demonstrating that this is a bad deal and Fisher is a terrible partner. Please share this post and information as widely as you can! Most importantly, contact members of the Legislature and BE HEARD!!! Be sure to tell them that you live in Nevada!!!
Contact your Assemblyperson and State Senator!!
Assembly contact info: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/LegislatoA/Assembly/Current
State Senate Contact info: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/LegislatoA/Senate/Current
If you would like, you could use or modify this sample letter which contains URL links supporting the claims.

Dear Senator or Assemblyperson [Last Name],
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed public funding for John Fisher's baseball stadium in Nevada. I believe this project should be stopped for several reasons:
Lack of transparency: Fisher and his team deliberately released funding details at the last minute and scheduled the only public hearing on Memorial Day evening, during a Golden Knights playoff game, limiting public awareness and participation. This is a shameful subversion of democracy and I hope you had no part in it.
Neglected education system: Nevada ranks 49th out of 50 in educational attainment. Our focus should be on improving public schools, not funding a billionaire's stadium.
Unrealistic economic projections: Expert analysis discredits the claim that the stadium will attract an additional 400,000 tourists, which, even if true, would only be a 1% increase on an annual basis. A Stanford economics professor expressed his belief that Fisher’s Stadium will result in the equivalent of a few hundred, permanent, long-term jobs. Fisher’s economic projections are detached from reality and unreliable.
Fisher's history: His track record with the San Jose Quakes, another publicly funded stadium venture, raises concerns about his commitment to investing in player payroll and creating a competitive team. Fisher owns the Quakes. After he was given a public handout for a stadium, he did not change or competitively fund his soccer team.
Troubled partnerships: Mark Davis of the Raiders, who shared the Oakland Coliseum with the A’s, has expressed frustration with Fisher's management group. MLB owners are also frustrated by doing business with Fisher. Nevada should expect to have the same experience if we proceed.
I urge you to oppose public funding for John Fisher's stadium. Let's prioritize transparency, education, and responsible use of public funds for the benefit of all Nevada residents.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please consider my perspective as you make your decision. Should you require further information or have any questions, I am available to discuss this issue.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Feel free to modify, expand or use as-is. You can also write your own letter too. I'm just trying to make this as easy as possible for everyone so that we are HEARD!
TLDR Bullet Points For Big Argument Below:

• Oakland A’s owner John Fisher, and team President Dave Kaval, strategically released details about stadium funding to minimize public awareness and participation. They released the legislation on Friday of Memorial Day weekend and the only public hearing was on Memorial Day during the Golden Knights playoff game.
• Fisher and Kaval failed to even show up at the Memorial Day hearing, demonstrating a lack of accountability and a disregard for public concerns. They have never publicly answered any questions.
• The prioritization of funding for a sports stadium over public education in Nevada, particularly the Clark County School District, is concerning.
• Economic projections presented by Fisher's lobbyists are questionable and disconnected from reality, as experts have pointed out.
• Fisher's history with the San Jose Quakes of Major League Soccer raises doubts about his commitment to investing in a competitive team with public funds.
• The low payroll of the A's compared to other MLB teams suggests a strategy of minimizing expenses for greater profitability.
• Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders and A's shared the Oakland Coliseum, expressed personal animosity towards Fisher and his management approach. Other MLB owners have expressed similar frustration about doing business with Fisher.
• Elected leaders should consider these concerns and prioritize the needs of the community over the interests of wealthy individuals.

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR JOHN FISHER’S STADIUM MUST BE STOPPED!!!!
1. They Don’t Want to Hear From You
Fisher and Kaval strategically waited until the 11th hour to release details about the handout. From USA Today:

The A’s, their cadre of lobbyists in Nevada and friendly politicians and tourist officials are doing their best to hide the sausage, introducing, finally, legislation for state funding of myriad projects on the Friday night of a holiday weekend, and then offering public discussion on the evening of Memorial Day.
Pretty slick! And it sounds like Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature would be waiting.

The only public hearing on giving away hundreds of millions of dollars occurred on Memorial Day. And not just on Memorial Day — it was in the evening during Game Six of the Western Conference Finals where the Golden Knights punched their tickets to the Stanley Cup Finals. A hearing at 4:00 AM on Christmas morning would have received a higher profile and greater public scrutiny.
They didn’t want you to know about the hearing and your opportunity to be heard. And if, by chance you did hear about it, they didn’t want you to be able to show up and be heard. They are not very subtle about their preference to not hear from you, the unwashed masses.
Guess who else wasn’t there? A’s owner John Fisher and President Dave Kaval. I am not making this up. They didn’t bother to show up to the Memorial Day hearing. They want us to give them hundreds of millions of dollars, but couldn’t be bothered to show up at the hearing and answer questions themselves? Where were they Monday night? What was so important they couldn’t be bothered to show up for a public hearing to answer questions in public? Fisher and his army of lobbyists have had weeks to meet privately with lawmakers behind closed doors. Are you telling me Fisher couldn’t give us regular folks two hours in public?
2. What Are Our Priorities?
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Nevada, and in particular the Clark County School District, fail to provide adequate public education. Nevada ranks 49th out of 50 for educational attainment. Of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, Las Vegas ranks second worst for schools. This is unacceptable, yet real education reform is never a priority for the same politicians who are willing to pull the Memorial Day/Stanley Cup Playoff hearing shenanigans for Fisher.
If our elected officials can turn on a dime to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars to a billionaire for a sports stadium, why can’t they act with similar urgency for our disastrous public school system?
Our failed public schools, especially CCSD, are the most significant impediment to economic growth and diversification. The number one reason companies and individuals are reluctant to relocate to Las Vegas are our terrible public schools. If we want to create economic growth, we need to fund and fix our public schools, not build another billionaire a sports stadium.
3. The Numbers Don’t Make Sense. They’re Basically Fraud.
Whenever a billionaire asks the public to finance his stadium, the ask is always accompanied by a series of fantastical economic projections. If you watched the Memorial Day/Stanley Cup Playoff hearing, you saw a powerpoint presentation made by Fisher’s hired lobbyists. The numbers presented by Fisher’s lobbyists aren’t simply slightly embellished, they are disconnected from reality.
First, there is the claim that Fisher’s publicly funded stadium will bring an additional 400,000 tourists. John Mehaffey breaks down this non-sensical claim in the Nevada Independent:

The 400,000 number seems inflated to me. The A’s host 81 baseball games per year. This projection assumes 4,938 tourists at each game that would otherwise not be in Las Vegas.
Considering only one American League market is within a reasonable driving distance, most of these tourists would fly to see their home team. Many or most of these tourists would go to two or three games in a series to justify this travel.
If the average number is two games, that puts 9,877 visitors in the stadium per home game. If those fans go to an entire three-game series, that number is 14,815. If the 1.8 million locals attendance prediction is accurate, and visiting fans tend to go to a series as opposed to just one game, the A’s project that they will sell out the stadium's 35,000-seat capacity every home game. If visitors go to only two games, that is 90 percent of capacity.
That is a bold projection for a team that was last in attendance in 2022 and at the bottom so far in 2023, especially since no MLB team comes close to selling out all its home games.
The lack of flights makes 400,000 new visitors seem impossible
Most teams that would visit the Las Vegas A’s stadium are in the American League. Most are in the east where nonstop flights to Las Vegas are scarce. For example, I found five or fewer nonstop flights per day from six of the other 14 American League cities.
Four of those six teams had home stadium attendance below 20,000 per game in 2022. It’s hard to imagine that 10,000 or 15,000 fans will fly across the country for a series when that is around the average attendance for the 81 home games in their own cities.
Some displaced fans may be within driving distance, but the point is one that needs to be considered. Las Vegas would need dozens of flights per series that don’t exist to accommodate this prediction.

Mehaffey also points out that Miami, which recently built a publicly financed stadium, also has 40 million visitors a year, just like Las Vegas. However, the Miami metro is substantially larger than Las Vegas. “In 2022, the Miami Marlins averaged 11,204 per game. A market with a much larger metro population that posts similar tourism numbers does not come close to the A’s projections. There is no reason to think Las Vegas will be different.”
Stanford economics professor Roger Noll agrees with Mehaffey that the attendance numbers Fisher projects are not credible. From USA Today:

“Baseball is different than the NFL,” Roger Noll, professor of economics emeritus at Stanford University, tells USA TODAY Sports. “This notion that of those 162 baseball games, I've got to see those three that are between the A's and the Royals in Las Vegas - it's just nonsense, right? It's not true, it's not going to happen.
“That's the fundamental reason why economists, when they do research on the impact of sports teams, typically find that the effect on local incomes and employment is slightly negative.”

But what about job creation?

Noll says the hours that stadium workers put in – for 81 games a year – computes to roughly 15% of a full-time job.
“So the 500 people who work at the stadium on game day, you got to multiply that by .15 to get the number of full-time equivalent jobs, which means it's less than 100. Wow,” says Noll. “You know, $1.5 billion to create less than 100 jobs, right? Wow.”

4. Grossly Underfunded Payroll
The total payroll for the 2023 A’s is just $59,630,474, just 37% of the MLB average payroll of $116,112,414 and just 17% of the highest-spending New York Mets ($345,474,042). To provide context, the highest paid players in the league, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, will each make $43,333,333. Verlander’s salary, by itself, is 72% of the entire A’s roster!
This meager spending is by choice, not necessity. It’s a strategy that works. From Sports Illustrated:

The A's were a top-5 team in 2022.
Not on the field. The A's finished with a 60-102 record, second-worst only ahead of the Washington Nationals. On the spreadsheets though, they netted $62.2 million according to a report from Forbes. The only teams they finished behind were the revamped Seattle Mariners who made the playoffs for the first time in two decades, the San Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox, and the Baltimore Orioles who had a Mariners-esque upswing and an A's-esque payroll.

When the A’s do develop talent, they quickly jettison those players to avoid paying them their true worth on the market. As Review-Journal columnist Ed Graney explained, when Fisher’s A’s have experienced success, the response has been to break down the team and sell off the parts. Graney concluded: “John Fisher is an owner with deep, deep pockets who (incredibly) has always acted in a way that he can’t afford to hand out exorbitant contracts to his best players. About him, an overwhelmingly popular opinion is that he simply doesn’t want to.”
Why do this? Wouldn’t a competitive team generate more revenue? In Major League Baseball, there is a revenue sharing agreement among the franchises, intended to help smaller markets field competitive teams. Fisher uses revenue sharing, and dumping talent, to be one of the most profitable owners in baseball. From the New York Post:

At least a few rival MLB club owners are annoyed at the Athletics for conducting a major fire sale to enhance their bottom line soon after being added as a new revenue-sharing recipient in a vote by owners.
“The idea of revenue sharing is not to make money, it’s to field a competitive team,” one rival owner complained Thursday during the owners’ meetings at MLB headquarters in Midtown. “That money is supposed to go toward player salaries. [The A’s] took the money and put it in their pocket.”
Yet another owner, also upset that the A’s didn’t use the money to buy new players, but instead did the opposite and sold three major stars and drastically cut their payroll, referred to the franchise generally as “a mess.”

Fisher will not fund a competitive team in Las Vegas if we give him a stadium handout. That would destroy his very profitable business strategy. Why would he do that? The payroll of the Las Vegas A’s will be 30th out of 30 MLB teams, just like the Oakland A’s.
5. History Repeating: Quakes Publicly Funded Stadium
There seems to be some hopeful thinking that if we give John Fisher a stadium handout, he will increase the A’s payroll to become more competitive. A’s President Dave Kaval stirred excitement when he insinuated that the franchise would bankroll a World Series championship team with a new stadium in Las Vegas. “But with more revenues, we want to turn a playoff team into a World Series team. That’s why we’re fighting so hard for a new stadium, whether it’s in Las Vegas or Oakland,” Kaval told the Review-Journal.
Many people, including our elected officials, want to believe this, in good faith. It would be awesome to have a Las Vegas MLB franchise win a World Series!
This isn’t Fisher’s first rodeo with a publicly funded stadium. Fisher is also the owner of the San Jose Quakes of Major League Soccer. From an Associated Press article in the May 25, 2006 Salinas Californian on public financing for a new Quakes stadium: “The Quakes won MLS championships in 2001 and 2003 led by former star forward Landon Donovan but attendance slid to an average of just 13,037 fans last season.” Sound familiar?
So what happened? Did Fisher increase player payroll once he obtained his publicly financed soccer stadium?
From the San Jose Mercury News:

Out of the 29 MLS teams, the Earthquakes rank 21st in guaranteed player compensation and base salary, both on a per-player and teamwide basis.
The Earthquakes’ average salary came in at $434,079, nearly $100,000 lower than the overall average salary for an MLS player ($530,467). San Jose’s total spending ($13.022 million) comes in at more than $2.8 million below the average team spending across the league (15.822 million).
It’s a continued trend for the Quakes, even after they moved into the state-of-the-art PayPal Park in 2015. The Earthquakes have consistently ranked in the bottom half of the league in spending, per Spotrac, even as the MLS has continued to add new expansion teams over the years.
Earthquakes spending rank in MLS by year
· 2015 (20 teams) — 15th
· 2016 (20 teams) — 11th
· 2017 (22 teams) — 16th
· 2018 (23 teams) — 19th
· 2019 (24 teams) — 19th
· 2020 (26 teams) — 17th
· 2021 (27 teams) — 24th
· 2022 (28 teams) — 22nd
· 2023 (29 teams) — 21st
That has been reflected in on-field results, too. Since the Earthquakes moved into their new home, they have never finished a season with more wins than losses — the closest they came was in that first year, at 13 wins, 13 losses and eight draws.

Nevada should expect Fisher to act in the future as he has in the past. His business strategy is clear: spend as little as possible on player payroll regardless of venue. If Nevada gives Fisher a handout, nobody — nobody — can act surprised when his miserly payroll does not change.
The Raiders and A’s shared the Oakland Coliseum for decades. Aces and Raiders owner Mark Davis is very familiar with what it means to “partner” with John Fisher. Davis did not hold back when he spoke with the Review-Journal:

“I won’t forget what they did to us in Oakland. They squatted on a lease for 10 years and made it impossible for us to build on that stadium,” the Raiders owner said in a phone chat Thursday afternoon, referring to the stadium the A’s and Raiders once shared, the Oakland Coliseum.
“They were looking for a stadium. We were looking for a stadium. They didn’t want to build a stadium, and then went ahead and signed a 10-year lease with the city of Oakland and said, ‘We’re the base team.’”
…
Davis was asked if he could envision an environment where the Silver and Black would cross-promote with the green-and-gold Las Vegas Athletics.
“Not with that management group,” Davis said. “I just have, again, a lot of personal animosity toward the front office. But with a new management group? Absolutely.”

Mark Davis did business with John Fisher for decades. Davis knows Fisher. Nobody in Nevada has done business with Fisher as much as Davis. Davis’ reaction to Fisher, basically unfiltered instinctual revulsion, should be a massive red flag to our elected leaders who are being plied with sweet nothings by Fisher’s hired guns.
Sources:
“A’s Stadium Math Doesn’t Add Up.” The Nevada Independent, May 30, 2023. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/as-stadium-math-doesnt-add-up.
Graney, Ed. “Graney: A’s Penny-Pinching a Reason for Las Vegas to Reassess.” Journal, March 18, 2022. https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sports-columns/ed-graney/graney-as-penny-pinching-a-reason-for-las-vegas-to-reassess-2547852/.
Gutierrez, Ana. “Nevada Ranks as the Second Least Educated State in America.” KLAS, February 17, 2022. https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/nevada-ranks-as-the-second-least-educated-state-in-america/.
Jenkins, Bruce. “MLB Has Punished Other Owners. Why Is A’s John Fisher Getting a Pass?” San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2023. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/jenkins/article/john-fisher-mlb-oakland-18130516.php.
Katsilometes, John. “Raiders Owner Rips Oakland Athletics’ Likely Move to Las Vegas.” Journal, April 27, 2023. https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/raiders-owner-rips-oakland-athletics-likely-move-to-las-vegas-2765229/?xxyy.
Lacques, Gabe. “Why A’s Las Vegas Stadium Gambit May Be a Losing Bet: ‘It’s Just Nonsense.’” USA Today, June 1, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/athletics/2023/06/01/oakland-as-move-las-vegas-stadium-gambit-losing-bet/70277528007/.
Lozito, Nick. “‘this Is Not Our Fault:’ Oakland A’s Fans Are Defending Their Image.” The Oaklandside, May 5, 2023. https://oaklandside.org/2023/05/01/oakland-athletics-leaving-las-vegas-john-fisher-dave-kaval-fans/.
“MLB 2023 Payroll Tracker.” Spotrac.com. Accessed June 3, 2023. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/.
Oakland Athletics made over $60 million in 2023 - Sports Illustrated ... Accessed June 4, 2023. https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/oakland-athletics-made-over-60-million-in-2023.
Shea, John. “Don’t Believe John Fisher’s Propaganda: A’s Fans Are the Best in Baseball.” San Francisco Chronicle, June 1, 2023. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/athletics/article/oakland-a-s-fans-aren-t-reason-team-las-vegas-18126429.php.
Simon, Alex. “Would New Oakland A’s Ballpark Lead to More Spending? John Fisher’s Other Team Shows That May Not Be the Case.” The Mercury News, May 17, 2023. https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/05/16/would-new-oakland-as-ballpark-lead-to-more-spending-john-fishers-other-team-shows-that-may-not-be-the-case/.
Wootton-Greener, Julie. “Las Vegas Area Schools Ranked Second-Worst in Nation for Quality.” Journal, December 9, 2021. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/education/las-vegas-area-schools-ranked-second-worst-in-nation-for-quality-2493177/.

I heard that the 7900X cpu is prone to overheating and I want to know how I can prevent that. This is my build. PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor	Purchased For $400.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	Purchased For $40.00
Motherboard	ASRock X670E Steel Legend ATX AM5 Motherboard	Purchased For $280.00
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	$114.99 @ Amazon
Storage	SK Hynix Gold P31 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$61.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate ST4000NM0024 4 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive	$53.50 @ Amazon
Video Card	XFX Speedster MERC 310 Black Edition Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card	Purchased For $979.00
Case	Fractal Design Meshify 2 Lite ATX Mid Tower Case	$130.34 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair RM850 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$139.99 @ Best Buy
Case Fan	Thermalright TL-C12C-S 66.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	$15.39 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Thermalright TL-C12C-S 66.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack	$15.39 @ Amazon
Monitor	Acer XV320QU LVbmiiphx 31.5" 2560 x 1440 144 Hz Monitor	Purchased For $240.00
Speakers	Creative Labs Pebble 2.0 4.4 W Speakers	$23.98 @ Newegg
Custom	EZDIY-FAB Graphics Card GPU Brace 5V 3Pin ARGB,Support Video Card Sag Holder Holster Bracket, Anodized Aluminum (Black)	$19.98 @ Amazon
Custom	EZDIY-FAB PSU Cable Extension Kit 300mm 18AWG Soft White Sleeved Cables with ARGB Cable Combs - 24-PIN 6+2-PIN 4+4-PIN for Cable Management with RF Control	$36.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2551.54
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-03 21:35 EDT-0400

I've started writing this hundreds of times and never gotten to the end. The first few times I tried, I did it on paper in a notebook because the internet hadn't been invented yet. I burned the notebooks. This is the first time I've finished and not destroyed what I'd written. If nothing else, this act of creation without destruction is a small victory to me, but I know you hardly care about that. Nor should you. You should care about what you're about to read because if what I say is true, your generation may be in some serious shit. I'm in my late 70s, no wife or kids, not many friends, and although I'm not quite on my death bed, I'm certainly nearing the end of my life, so my personal stake in this is low, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't weight heavily on my soul in an existential kind of way. We all keep secrets, some darker than others, and this has been my darkest.
The story starts in California way back in the 1960s. For those unfamiliar with that period in history, the one word I'd use to describe it is turbulent. Just imagine the straight-laced world of the 1950s you know from television crashing head-on into what you probably associate with hippie culture, namely radical politics, protest, heavy drug use, rebellion against authority, and conspiracy theories, but also comradery, selflessness, and the genuine belief that it is possible to change the world for the better. I was a university student at the time, so you could say I was in the thick of it, but I wasn't at one of the true hotbed schools like Berkeley. That said, there was almost no way to be young and alive in California and to keep away from the upheaval. It was literally all around you, and it sucked you in. There wasn't a Friday night when you didn't listen to a speech by Abbie Hoffman, take LSD, or hazily conspire to take down the establishment to a background of folk tunes, and then go out to bar where long past midnight some guy in a black suit tried to recruit you for a plastics corporation or the CIA. Or so he said, or so you remembered the next morning.
It was actually at one of these bars that I met my first real girlfriend, whom I'll call Edna. Edna wasn't a hippie, she was in town taking typing classes and working part-time as a receptionist, but like me she had become infatuated with the scene. Edna was only the second girl I'd slept with, and after a few months of going with her I started having trouble maintaining, then even getting, an erection. Back then it wasn't like it is now, when even polite people talk about erectile dysfunction and you can get medication to help with it. Back then there was nothing except a whole lot of embarrassment. At first, Edna and I thought it might be stress or lack of sleep causing my problem, then we suspected alcohol, but despite taking a fairly systematic approach and eliminating the possible causes one by one, we couldn't figure it out. Within weeks, my sex life just stopped. You can imagine how devastating that was to a young man.
Let's rewind a bit. About six months before meeting Edna, I had met a guy named Jerry in one of my political science classes and we'd quickly become friends. Jerry and I would regularly meet up, talk about everything from music and world revolution to UFOs, and generally goof off together, and he'd always have a decent supply of weed for us to smoke and Grateful Dead bootlegs to listen to, which was fantastic. Although I've never had a truly best friend, Jerry was definitely my closest friend during my early student days in California, so he was the person I eventually turned to for help with my sexual problem. I remember that it was late at night after getting stoned immaculate, as Jim Morrison would say, that I told Jerry about my erectile dysfunction. He listened as I struggled mightily through the telling of it, and without laughing or making light of the situation told me not to worry too much, that it would probably go away on its own, but if I didn't want to wait and wanted help now, I should go see a man he referred to as Gerbil.
Gerbil was about ten years older than us, originally from New Mexico and had been studying chemistry at Berkeley until about a year prior, when he'd been expelled after being caught synthesizing hallucinogens in a school lab. Faced with the possibility of going back to New Mexico without a degree, Gerbil had decided to pursue the American Dream instead. He set up his own lab, kept his clientele, and expanded his operation. Drugs, incidentally, is how Jerry had first met Gerbil. And through Jerry is how I met the guy. That's one other unique thing about Gerbil: even compared to the regular paranoiacs, he was paranoid. You couldn't just see him. You had to be introduced by someone he trusted and he had to "vet" you, which included a brief interrogation and sitting silently while he "read your mind." My vetting lasted about half an hour. After it was over, Gerbil relaxed and I explained my problem to him. It was easy because he was like a magnet for deep truths. You wanted to tell him the embarrassing stuff. Long story short, he told me I was far from the first guy to be suffering from this type of condition and that he had a tried and tested solution.
I'll never forget the moment when he held out the pill bottle to me. His smiling, unshaven face, the sunlight streaming in through the dirty windows, and the pills themselves, oblong and delicately off-white in their little glass home. When I asked how much I owed him, he shrugged and said that for a friend there was no cost, then laughed and added that he had more than enough money anyway. After all, he said, he was making truth serum for the CIA. "Just make sure you follow the instructions," he said. "And remember: you were never here."
When I got home, I read the instructions, which had been typed out on a strip of paper and taped to the outside of the pill bottle. They were simple enough but odd: Insert one (1) pill into urethra at least one hour prior to intercourse.
I'll spare you the awkward details of my first time doing the insertion. What you need to know is that the pills worked. God, how they worked! Never before, and never since, have I had an erection as hard and for as long as when I used those pills. In the past twenty years I've tried Viagra and all the others, but nothing even comes close. It was like fucking with the world's most sensitive steel rod, and you could go for hours!
Edna and I sure made up for lost time, but pretty soon Edna wasn't enough. We'd go at it two or three times, she'd call it quits for the night and I'd still be raging to go. I'm not proud of it now, but I started meeting other girls just for sex. Any girls who'd have me, really. At bars, meet ups, between classes, at concerts, everywhere. There was no emotional connection but physically it was bliss. I loved it, they loved it, and I guess later they dubbed it the Summer of Love.
I wish I'd counted how many pills Gerbil had given me, but I didn't. All I knew was that I was going through them like a knife through reheated butter. From what I remember, one pill was enough to last up to forty-eight hours, but I was using them almost non-stop, and the supply was depleting. I was probably addicted. It was after I'd used about half of my initial supply that Jerry asked over coffee one morning whether my "problem" had gone away. I told him it had and more than hinted at how my sex life had exploded, and he told me that was fantastic news. Then he lowered his voice and told me Gerbil wanted to meet up. I agreed, he told me the time and place, and I never saw Jerry again. But I'll get to that in a bit.
Gerbil and I met a few days later in what remained of a hangar on an abandoned airfield. It was beyond city limits, and Gerbil seemed to make a big deal of that fact. He told me he'd recently purchased the land way under value and was planning on building a bunker on it. Because that sounded like just the craziness he'd be into, I took him at his word. When I told him how well the pills had been working and that I wanted more of them, he wasn't surprised. He said he was thrilled and handed me another bottle of pills identical to the first. This time, however, they had a price. But it was the kind of price that wasn't paid in dollars and that made my horny young mind spin with possibilities. Gerbil was organizing a series of orgies and he was giving me the pills in exchange for taking part in them.
Back to Jerry: disappearing for a few days wasn't unusual. He went on benders from time to time during which he'd unreachable and absent from class, but those usually lasted a few days, after which he'd show up groggy and with stories to tell. After a week, I started to worry, but even then it's important to remember the times, both in terms of technology and perspective. We didn't have cell phones you could call anytime you wanted, and it wasn't unheard of for people to "drop out" of society. I had a professor who suddenly disappeared for half a semester, and when he came back he told us he'd gone on a walkabout. Still, I expected Jerry to tell me if he was planning something like that. He'd said nothing and now he was gone. I started asking around but realized I didn't actually know much about him. From what I gathered, he was still enrolled in university and still living at the same address. He just wasn't there.
My relationship with Edna was falling apart at the same time. I was bored with her, and she was getting bored with life in California. She was honest about wanting to move back East, and we both knew I wouldn't be going with her. And although she never said a word about it, I'm sure she knew I wasn't being faithful. Hell, even free love has a cost. I can't say we broke each other's hearts, but I will say that as I've aged, I've imagined more and more often what my life would had have been if we'd stayed together. I went on to love again but I never found a true love. Edna, especially in those early times, may have been the closest I ever got. Ironically, we loved each other most when we couldn't be physically intimate.
The first of Gerbil's orgies that I attended was held in the middle of the desert. There was music, drugs and absolutely no inhibitions. It was the most exciting experience of my life, and I loved it. Gerbil himself was never at the orgies, but almost everyone seemed to know him, at least by reputation. I don't remember how many orgies I ended up going to, but it was over a dozen, each in a different location with new women, many of them intoxicatingly exotic to me. Foreign students, bored housewives, groupies, intellectuals, stewardesses, and wanderers from all around the country and the world: India, Russia, China, Europe, Latin America, everywhere. I still have no idea how Gerbil organized these things or convinced so many women to go to them, but he did, and I must have fucked nearly all of them. The pills were my fuel.
Sometime during this hazy period of hedonistic pleasure, the police found Jerry's body in New Mexico. Apparently he'd hitchhiked all the way down there, spent a few weeks living on a ranch and overdosed on a cocktail of drugs so strong he must have been halfway to heaven by the time his organs failed. Foul play was ruled out, and no one in New Mexico cared if a longhaired hippie had killed himself accidentally or on purpose. There was no funeral as far as I know. About a week after Jerry's death, I received a letter from him in the mail. Judging by the gradual degradation of his handwriting, it had been written in several sittings. Most of it was personal and there was a lot of pain behind the words, but it was the last sentence that has stuck with me because of it's plain brutality. Four words: They've fucked us.
I fucked away my breakup with Edna and the loss of my friend. Orgy after orgy.
It was while sitting in a bar on a hot Wednesday night in the middle of July that I discovered something that chilled me to the marrow of my bones. I was down to my last pill and imagining the best way to take advantage of it, waiting for the perfect piece of ass to walk in through the door. I had a mug of beer in front of me, not my first, and I was absentmindedly walking the pill up and down the tops of my fingers, when suddenly I lost control and it fell straight into my mug. I must have been too drunk to react, because instead of fishing it out, I watched instead as it descended into the murky depths while giving off a spray of infinitely fine bubbles. I didn't know how a pill should react in beer, but something about this reaction seemed off. When it had settled at the bottom of the mug, the pill started shedding something other than bubbles: namely itself. Tiny pieces flaked off and floated to the top, and the pill began to tremble. Soon, dark spots became visible beneath the off-white colour of what I instinctively began to conceptualize as a shell, until the entire casing was gone, leaving only a trembling black insectous creature! Immediately I knew it was organic. Even more: alive! I watched mesmerized as it struggled in the liquid, scurrying towards the edge of the mug but unable to climb the glass sides. Finally, I put my fingers in and lifted it out. It was small but unbelievably hard between my fingertips. I couldn't crush it. I held it briefly against the overhead light, its body wholly opaque, before it slipped out, hit the unswept floor and scurried away. I scrambled after it, much to the cruel amusement of the other patrons, stomping forward on the floor before falling to my knees, but with no luck. It was gone. Returning to my seat, I thought, Just what the fuck have I been pushing into my urethra?
I had no pills and the only evidence of anything abnormal was my own boozy memory, so I had nothing. Except a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was horribly wrong. I tried contacting Gerbil in my usual ways, hoping to get more pills to experiment on and either put my mind at ease ("You hallucinated, idiot.") or get my hands on something I could send to a lab, but all my usual ways were indirect, like asking for permission to speak, and permission was being denied. Gerbil stopped responding. Eventually I grew desperate enough to visit the abandoned airfield, which was the only address of his I knew, but it was empty and unchanged. When I went to the land office and asked about ownership, the clerk told me the land belonged to a man named Beaconfield who was mostly likely long dead. Because I didn't know anyone other than Jerry who'd known Gerbil, I had nowhere else to turn. There's only so many times you can ask a stranger if they know a man named after a small rodent. Eventually you give up.
And so Gerbil was gone, my pills were gone, Jerry and Edna were gone, and soon the 1960s themselves were gone, metamorphosing into a sexless 1970s for me, then the 1980s, 1990s and the new millennium. All as if someone had snapped their fingers. To say my life was dull would be an understatement. I had work, and followed it around the country, but I had little else. Forged at a time when we all wanted to remake the world, I had remade nothing and found myself leading a life of comfortable insignificance. But despite my memories fading, they never completely disappeared, and I spent many evenings wondering, trying to piece together clues, and always unable to shake those four words of Jerry's: They've fucked us. Was I scarred by a friend's suicide? Sure. But it was more than that, often in the form of sweat-inducing nightmares about tiny black insects crawling around my insides.
In the early 2000s, I saw a political ad for a candidate vying for the U.S. Senate. There was nothing unusual about the spot, but a few seconds caught my attention. They showed a series of photos of the candidate as he was growing up, attending school, graduating, etc. In one of them, he was with his mother, and my heart nearly stopped when I recognized her as Edna. I don't know what emotion I felt first, but I settled on hesitant happiness as I jumped online to confirm what my eyes had shown me. Although I didn't find the ad itself, I did find an interview with the candidate, including one with a gallery of photos, and in one of them was the confirmation I was searching for. Edna's face, older but still beautiful, stared at me from behind her son's electable smile. I was breathless. My happiness became joy. It was wonderful not only that Edna had done OK for herself but that she'd done extraordinarily, because it takes a certain kind of success to raise a future statesman.
On election night, I made popcorn, drank beer and cheered on Edna's son as if he were my own. Shortly after the polls closed, CNN projected him as the winner. For one night, my own insignificance didn't matter. I shared secretly in someone else's relevance.
A few months passed in the afterglow of this beautiful discovery. Sometimes I even had fantasies about contacting the senator to offer my congratulations, which would be a reconnection with Edna, but I always knew this was impossible. I was nobody to her, a shadow from the past. She probably didn't even remember me.
The reason why I mention this is two-fold: because I want to write and relive the happy moments, despite their way of decomposing into dread; and because Edna was merely the first of many. Over the next year, I recognized the faces of three other women I'd had sex with in California in the 1960s. I may not have known or recognized their names, but I do have a memory for faces and I was certain about theirs. All three were the mothers or grandmothers of successful people: a politician, the CEO of a pharmaceutical corporation, and a lawyer. What are the chances?
Over the next months and years, I started to actively research the background of anyone who had recently attained a high level of success, or more accurately, a high level of influence: of power. Most were guarded about their pasts, many enigmatic, but some made public just enough of a thread of information for me to pull loose, and whether in photos or on video, what I kept finding were the faces of my former lovers, women I had met while cheating on Edna or, more often, women I'd fucked at Gerbil's orgies.
In time, I realized that the web extended beyond America. I found world leaders, generals, economists, industrialists and policy makers scattered about the globe, yet whose foremothers had all been in California with me! It was insane. I felt insane, wacko like the worst conspiracy nuts I'd met in the 1960s. Yet, just like them, I was convinced I was right, and what was right was too weird to be coincidence.
Today, the people whose mothers and grandmothers I fucked rule the world, and the singular way in which they are all working toward the same goals terrifies me to the very core of my being. To everyone else, they are unconnected individuals. To me, they are connected, and it gnaws at my mind, this question that I know I will never be able to answer: What are they and to whom do they owe their allegiance?
But I no longer search for them. I have accepted reality, and I don't know what difference it makes to know exactly how many of them exist. I still have no evidence. I can't go anywhere with a story relying on an old man's memory of his own LSD-fueled sexual exploits. I've tried, and gotten laughed out of the room. The best reaction is sympathy for being a senile old man whose mind is playing tricks on him about his past. And that's without mentioning my own theories involving parasites, mind control or aliens.
Yet those words: They've fucked us.
How I wish I had been able to hold on to that tiny black creature!
Or stopped myself from putting it in my body.
But I couldn't and now I'm here, posting my story somewhere at least a few people will read it. Maybe you'll believe me, maybe you won't. I don't know if I want to give a warning or a confession, but either way I've done it now. What finds its way to the internet stays on the internet.
I hope for your collective sake that when you find this years later, you'll be able to have a good laugh.
I know I'm not laughing.
I truly believe that in the 1960s I participated in something whose conclusion will be the ruin of mankind.

I recently had some dried mushroom capsules analyzed by a lab for their potency, and would love some help understanding the results. Here is a link to the results:
https://imgur.com/a/RgPBiqZ
My goal has been to roughly replicate the dosing that various studies have shown to be therapeutically helpful — 25-30mg of psilocybin. I’m doing this as part of my own healing journey for complex PTSD, in conjunction with ongoing therapy. I so wish I could do this in a more clinical context with pharmaceutical grade medicine, but right now I’m stuck with inexact dosing in this black market context, so any help understanding these lab results would be much appreciated as I try to make informed dosing decisions as part of my healing journey.
I have dried mushroom capsules I purchased from a company I found online, recommended to me by a relative who has used them before. When I tested the capsules, the potency appears to be low enough that I’d need to take at least 7-10g of the capsules to get the psilocybin dosing level I’m aiming for (depending on whether you include psilocin content in the calculations, which I assume you would include). That’s significantly higher than the amounts of actual dried mushrooms I’ve read about people taking, so before potentially overdoing it I wanted to get some outside perspective on my lab results.
The exact results are in the attached photos — I had two different batches of mushroom capsules I had tested. The testing lab is called Altitude Consulting in Colorado.
I sent in samples for testing from two different orders of dried mushroom capsules I made from the same company, batches #1 and batch #2 in these photos. The initial testing showed that both batches had very different potency, but both much lower than the range of what I’ve seen widely cited as typical for dried magic mushrooms — batch #1 had about 2.5mg of psilocybin per gram of the powder in the capsules, and batch #2 had 1.3 mg of psilocybin per gram. Additionally the capsules had some smaller amounts of psilocin, and even teenier amounts of baeocystin. If my calculations are right, those are potency rates of .25% and .13%, far less than the 1% I’ve seen referenced as a very general rule of thumb.
Since I’m hoping to take some capsules from batch #1 in the relatively near future, I was a little worried there’d be similar variability within that batch. So I had a second sample from that same batch sent in and tested again. The potency from that second sample from “batch #1” was similar to the first sample from that same batch, which reassures me at least a little that if I’m taking stuff from this same batch I can at least be vaguely approximating the dose I’m aiming for.
Again, based on the potency numbers from “batch #1, I’d need to take something like 7g -10g of the dried mushroom capsules for rough equivalent of a 25mg psilocybin dose. Maybe this is just a relatively week batch of stuff, but the 7-10g amount is much higher than I have read about people taking, I wanted to get some outside perspective before taking the leap.
I do have some experience with this stuff already. A couple weeks ago I took 4.5g from “batch #1”, the most I’ve taken to date. My trip felt meaningful and intense in a good way. It was mostly over about 3 hours after taking the capsules, tho I was still a little punchy for an hour, maybe 2 after that. I wore a mask for the first 3 hours (tho after that it didn’t feel necessary), listened to music designed for mushroom experiences, and had therapy sessions before and after. And in the aftermath of the experience I’ve felt real benefits, but the most noticeable benefits have not lasted more than a couple weeks — as opposed to some studies that have shown significant benefits for a couple months afterwards. Perhaps that’s consistent with having taken a relatively moderate dose — my experience personally is so limited it’s hard to know. (If these lab results are at all reflective of what I took, that trip would have been about 13-17mg of psilocybin and psilocin combined, and from what I can tell the scholarly research is not convinced that doses in the 15mg range meaningfully outperform placebo.)
My biggest questions:

• Is taking 7–10g of these dried mushroom capsules a nutty thing to do? I think I’m doing my math right, and that those doses would put me in line with major clinical studies. But it just seems like a lot — certainly much more than I have experience with. On the other hand, if this is just not very potent stuff, that could make total sense.
• Anyone have experience with the Altitude Consulting Lab? Altitude’s website seems fairly informative. They’d an accredited lab, seems like they do lot of work in the legal cannabis market. They appear to use a technique called High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for their psylocybin testing — though it sounds like the psychedelic testing market is new enough that there are not universally accepted testing procedures.
• Should I treat the psilocin content as having a similar potency as the psilocybin content? My initial instinct was to add together the psilocybin and psilocin content per gram of these dried mushroom capsules, and aim for a 25mg total dose of psilocybin and psilocin combined. (I know that psilocin is a less stable compound, and tends to erode when exposed to air over time).
• The baeocystin amounts seem pretty negligible, about .05 mg per gram of dried mushroom capsule. Is it safe to ignore that when calculating a dose?

Long post I know. But any thoughts on these testing results and the questions above, would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Clementine looked out of her binoculars, examining the landscape she could see the bridge that the group crossed earlier that day.
"Wait, I see something!"
"What is it?" Asked Luke, the group has been on the run for five days. Ever since the eleven year old first met Carver at the cabin, they had to keep moving. And this was not a good sign.
"A light. Wait, there's another." She called out.
"Luke?"
As she looked down, Clementine could see Luke run off to the lodge, there was something going on, Clementine climbed down the ladder. As she got closer to her group, Clementine could hear them arguing with the strangers, and things didn't sound too good.
"Liston everyone, just stay calm."
"Who are you?! Are you trying to rob us?" Asked a woman with a heavy accent.
"Excuse me, honey, but do I look like a fucking thief?"
"Everyone calm down." Said a balding man, who wore a red sweater.
"Hey man, you calm the fuck down."
"Sarah, get behind me."
"Just tell us who you are." The man in red said.
"We ain't here to rob nobody. Put the gun down, man."
"Fuck That!" Yelled a voice, one that Clementine thought sounded familiar.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."
"Please, just do what he says." The woman pleaded.
By the time Clementine got behind Luke and Nick she saw someone who she thought had died a long, long time ago.
"Kenny!?"
"Wait, you know this guy?" asked Luke.
"Clementine?" Kenny said as the eleven year old hugged him. As Clementine hugged Kenny there was only one thought that went through her mind, How is this possible? Christa said that he died!
As Kenny placed his hand on Clementine's shoulder, the man in red remarked. "I'll take that as a yes."
"These people with you? Kenny asked, wanting to make sure that the eleven year old wasn't in any danger. She nodded.
"We can talk inside."
"Great, I just started dinner." Said the man in red.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Asked Carlos hesitantly.
"It's gonna storm soon, please, come in."
As the two groups walk into the lodge Clementine could see Kenny's smile grow bigger and bigger. As she smiled back, Kenny let out a chuckle and said "Come on, there's something I want to show ya."
Clementine was a little confused but she didn't care, Kenny was alive and right now, that's all she cared about. As they entered the lodge Clementine heard a man's voice callout, it was deep and soothing, it was a voice that had once brought her comfort. Still brought her comfort in her through both dreams and nightmares. It couldn't be Him, could it?
"You alright Ken?"
"Yea, I'm all right. But I've got someone you might want to see." replied Kenny.
Even more confused than before Clementine looked up to see the one person that she could swear that she would never see again, there, with one arm and a bushy black beard, stood Lee Everett.
"Cl-Clementine?!?" Lee blurted out.
There was a moment of stunned silence between the two.
'LEE?!" Yelled Clementine as she started to cry, the two embraced each other. Clementine had so many questions but all she could do was repeat Lee's name, hoping beyond all hope that he was actually there.
"Shh. I'm here, sweet pea, I'm here." said Lee with tears streaming down his eyes. As she pulled away, Clementine cried out "W-why Lee? Why did you make me leave?"
"Clem I-"
"I-I thought you were a walker, l-like my parents." Sobbed Clementine. "Omid and Christa took care of me, a-and now they're gone too."
"Oh sweet pea, I'm so, so, sorry that you had to go through all that."
Clementine hugged Lee again. "I'm sorry, Lee, I'm sorry that I ever trusted the man on the radio, I'm sorry for not listening to both you and Christa, I'm sorry for causing you to get bit back in Savannah!" Exclaimed Clementine.
"Clementine, honey, none of that was your fault. If there is anyone to blame, it's that son of a bitch who took you." Responded Lee “He manipulated you, for his own selfish gain."
"Lee?"
"Yea, sweet pea?"
"Swear."
Lee let out a short chuckle, and Clementine gave him a smile in return.
“Kenny and Sarita have been staying with us for several weeks.” explained the man in red “and Lee arrived here a few days ago. Used to be a ski lodge, obviously, so we have plenty of food.”
Clementine looked around at the lodge, it was big and was full of Christmas lights.
“And believe it or not, we still get some power from that wind turbine out front. We tend to keep most lights off at night to avoid drawing attention. But after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exemption.” Said the man as Kenny made a playful talking motion with his hand, which made Clementine giggle.
“What's funny?”
“Oh nothin, Walt” Kenny responded “Walter here is one smart son of a bitch. Makes a mean can of beans too.”
“Well, why don’t you three catch up while I get some dinner started?” Invited Walter in a friendly manner.
“Please, make yourselves at home. You can leave your things over there.”
“The hell we will” Retorted Rebecca.
“Yeah, I’m holdin’ on to my rifle, thanks,” Nick added.
“You're our guest here. There’s no need to worry.” Replied Walter.
“Tell them to put their guns down, then.” Nick suggested, eyeing Kenny and Lee’s firearms.
“Kenny, Lee?” Asked Walter. Lee looked over at Clementine, putting his gun in his holster. Lee asked, “Clem, honey, do you vouch for these people?"
"They're cool." ***
[AN] And so, I think (if I had more time to write) I would have kept the overall plot of S2 the same, with some tweaks considering ya know, LEE IS FLIPPING ALIVE IN THIS AU. I think that when it's time for dinner, Luke would want to know how Lee is alive, and Lee would tell him how he escaped Savannah with the help of Molly. Kenny and 'Vanilla Ice' would have their argument. Long story short, I think that after everyone is captured by Carver, Lee would be overprotective of Clem. I personally like the idea of a more aggressive and darker Lee after Savannah.
And for those who are wondering how Lee is still alive, my thought process is that, if you (as Lee) save Molly in the Crawford school, you would have to cut your arm off and have Clem leave you (if that wasn't obvious). If Molly is with Lee, I'd personally would have either killed her off screen or have her and Lee separate for some reason (either by walkers or bandits or something like that).
But yea, I really enjoyed writing this out. I think I did my best with the dialog, trying to stay in character and whatnot.
I think at some point I'll write out the Kenny vs Jane scene in this AU, mainly because I want to see the beginning of "Mama" Clementine and Lee still alive, somehow. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this. Like I said, it was fun and heartwarming to write. Please leave your thoughts in the comments