I am currently saving up points to have big vacation on hawaii next year and i need advice for next credit card, or if there is any other suggestions i really appreciate I was thinking world of hyatt or get started with hilton aspire surpass and honors or amex gold
I have 4/24 chase Credit 760 ish
Currently have Venture x Quicksilver Choice credit card Costco card Prime amazon card
New cards last 3 month
Marriot boundless 5 day free sign up bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred 80k
I thought marriot will give me 5 days and i can transfer chase to hyatt and get couple more days. Do i need world of hyatt card or should i get other different card priority
Its my last slot for 5/24 chase so i want advice

We had a wonderful first Disney trip as a family. I relied heavily on the sub to plan for this trip so I wanted to return the favor to help some other newbies or guest with children. First thing is to get genie plus it was a life saver to have it with an impatient 5 year old who doesn’t want to wait more than 20-30 mins in line. We used it all 3 days park days for MK, AK and DHS. It doesn’t make everything a walk on but 5-15 min wait makes life a lot easier. We rode every attraction that didn’t use virtual queue or individual light lane for flight of passage at DHS and AK. We missed 3 rides( Pooh, Arial and speedyway) at MK b/c we left right after fireworks. My family was done so we quit there lol. Transportation was a breeze except for our MK day the bus line was long from Pop so we opted for a Minnie van so we could still rope drop. We arrived around 7:30 for bus which I knew was late but I wasn’t expecting the buses to move as slow as they did. Also Minnie vans weren’t as plentiful as I thought it took us roughly 30 mins to get picked up. On our HS day we took the boat since we were staying at beach club and the bus to AK since we were staying at AKL. HS was our least stressful rope drop and slinky dog dog was our first ride. Resorts: If you don’t mind not being able to completely settle in or have a small family I would recommend red port hopping. It gave us a great opportunity to see multiple area of the property in a short time frame. We did both deluxe and Value We had a club level BC room which spoiled us rotten so everything after that paled in comparison but it was nice to experience both. Although I don’t think I’ll do value again . We averaged about $300 a day in food and souvenirs which could’ve been less but I was trying to make this a memorable vacation/ birthday for my 5 year old so nothing was really off limits including our $200 Chef Mickey breakfast. Lastly the cast members are really one of a kind. They really have great attitudes and made the trip an even more magical experience.

Dear esteemed Jagex wranglers,
I write to you today from the front lines of Lumbridge, quill in one hand and bronze scimitar in the other, to discuss a matter of utmost importance – the noble pursuit of a bot-free realm for a blessed 60-day marathon!
Imagine the splendour, dear Jagexians! A world where each and every yew tree is chopped by real hands, every fish caught by a true angler, every monster slain by an authentic hero! A place where players could bask in the glory of their well-earned skill levels, untroubled by these relentless, soulless automatons! Wouldn’t that be a sight as lovely as a Party Hat on Christmas day?
Just picture it - 60 days of pure, unadulterated, bot-free bliss! We shall not stop at the bots, no sir! For on the sixtieth day, as dawn breaks and the bot-ban lifts, herald the triumphant return of the legend himself – Lynx Titan! A heroic entrance that would make even Guthix himself shed a tear of joy!
Now, I understand your concerns, dear stewards of Gielinor. The bots, they fill your coffers, line your pockets with their ill-gotten gold. They're like the Alchemists with their Midas touch, converting bytes into bounty. But fear not! Let’s treat it as an epic summer vacation, a grand social experiment in the realm of the fantastical!
Let's give our beloved players a taste of the purest form of our cherished game. Let's make them yearn for that magical experience, so when the bots inevitably return, they'll come back with a vengeance, making up for lost time and lost coins. It's an investment in the future, my friends, a future where players and bots coexist, each with a newfound respect for the other.
So, I implore you, dear custodians of the realm, give us these 60 days of botless glory! Let the bells of Varrock toll in celebration as Lynx Titan walks amongst us once again. Together, let us write a chapter in the annals of RuneScape history that players will speak of in hushed tones for generations to come!
With best wishes for your continued reign, OsrsSpaz

Shipped into Oblivion You remember standing there, on the bow of a grand carrier, observing the war that took place. Dimly, in your head, you wondered if it could have been avoided. Before that thought could take root though, you shook it out. You weren't paid to think, only to act. And act you shall. As the viewport seems to crest the corona of the system's sun, you steel yourself in your righteousness. Cathan Goods, above all else, must be protected. Comfort reigns supreme, a casual ease of mind that comes with practice, honed since birth. Your mind is alight with the sheer expanse of possibilities offered to you, and you sort through them without a care in the world. Well, with one care. Deep inside your eye of minds lurks an image of a pond. You don't know where it is, or even where you saw it, but there lies an utter certainty, an utter weight of importance instilled within the pond. Whilst your compatriots and you fight, exposed to the elements to feel every bite of your environment, you occasionally steel yourself with glances towards that inner pond, calming your mind. For this reason, you idly quirb[^1], you've stayed alive longer than almost anyone you know. A siren pulls you out of your contemplative bliss as the ship begins entering the orbit of the battlefield, a moon, strangely devoid of craters. Someone wiser than you might make a connection between the lack of an asteroid belt with this, but you can't focus on that right now. It seems, after all, in this advanced age, the only thoughts that run through your mind anymore are that of combat and that of the pond. You try and remember again what the pond is, and why it's so important to you, but a voice from all around halts you in the track. "Listen up!" the voice intones, dull yet filled with depths of meaning, importing feelings of rushing and urgency. Semantic processing technology allows for a complex series of neurotransmitters and brain tissue to be rapidly stimulated, allowing for nuanced communication without intense language. Despite saving hundreds of lives daily with the dirges of context provided, it is often ignored, or chalked up as 'empathy' to those who benefit the most from it. You, of course, are no different. "We land in less than 5 minutes!" The general doesn't need to raise her voice, the processing takes care of any loudness. It still hurts your ears, though, with the volume, despite there being no difference from normal squabble. Within your skull lies several dozen plates, designed for anything from a display thrown down your optic nerve to bone conduction for sound processing. The Cathan mindset is [[Superiority through Purity]], and since the very first shipments went out through Cathan Goods, the prime benefits of humanity were embraced. In your case, you prepare to fall from the brazen skies above Losh and engage in warfare until your very bones give out. The same content emotion fills you, and you feel your strength seemingly redoubled before the prospect of engaging with filthy Veritas troops with your pure forces. You are positive, would bet anything on it in fact, that your brothers-and-sisters-in-arms would agree with you, and the room seems abuzz with ambition. Ambition, that oh-so-powerful emotion that's driven you to the heights you stand at today. You know that one of the paragons of ambition, [ Madame Noelle Cathan](Overview%201#^251a3e) herself stands at the top of a peak in the center of the battlefield, commanding her troops through serene tranquility. She's a direct pacifist, wouldn't hurt a fly herself, but when it came to orders... They're all just numbers on screens, aren't they? The Calamity drove a wedge between her and Veritas. Despite their entanglement, here you were, fighting against soldiers equally devoted to Veritas. Those idiots. You're always told you're just a pawn, but when you're sitting there, looking at your pond, you question, "Does it matter?" The thought slips away, and you ignore it further as you draw near. Within your flesh lie all that's needed to survive this descent ([[Vivisection of a Disaster]]). You're assured by your sheer capability, by the resolute knowledge that nothing you could possibly face could hold a candle to your precise biology. It would never even occur to you to scan the faces of those in front of you, not the soldiers you'd trained with for decades now, but the technicians and doctors rushing around the drop pods with fear oozing off of them. Suppose a normal person saw that. Suppose someone who wasn't designed and bred for the sole purpose of warfare saw the utter lack of confidence in their strength in the face of a greater adversary. They would be terrified. But you remain oblivious. As the sirens begin screeching with an intensity unseen in the bay before today, you steady yourself with thoughts of glorious combat in front of you. With a start, however, you're torn from your concentration by that very same pond. The pond, so tranquil and quiet, seems to sap away every ounce of care you have left within you. It takes a herculean effort to rip your mind away from it, but you manage. Still, though, the burning impact of it's tranquility begins worming itself into your mind. As you begin to let yourself ruminate, a jolt travels through your body, and you remember where you are and why all of the civilians left. Space. It surrounds you, filling you with a chill through your bones. You almost smile before catching yourself, remembering not to let the faintest crack in this façade of security let in the vacuum surrounding you. Or at least, a vacuum at first. Around you, you can almost smell the joy of your fellow soldiers as you tear through space faster than any normal human could hope to go. The only indicator you have of any movement at all is the ship, distantly receding behind you. If you were to close your eyes, you doubt you could tell the void apart from the warm ground you were on but mere moments ago. The confines of your flesh, reinforced with every manner of genetics known to mankind, hold your consciousness in, a bubble in this uncaring sea. Below you, Losh enlarges, rushing at your face with a primal instinct, a pull of gravity forcing the two of you closer together. Everything is blissfully quiet, and you feel yourself relax. Then, heat blisters from that sweet void. Above you, the ship has travelled far, far past. Whilst you've fallen and drifted, ballistically heading towards a battlefield, a not-quite-human missile aimed at the throats of Veritas, the head of the fleet has continued towards the conflict in orbit. Your body is alight with flames as you parse through the data on your optic nerves. Clothing, and armor, is irrelevant, any extensions would merely get in the way of the pure unbridled perfection that is humanity. Your sole goal is to recover Cathan using any means necessary. As you burst through the thin veneer of air coating the exceptionally large moons surface, you can feel your muscles tense up as you prepare for the impact. In the last second, nay, microsecond before crashing into the ground, your entire body goes limp. You plow into edge after edge of crater after crater, ending only when your tumble slows to a crawl. As you stand, a crack from the distance reaches your ears. It's only after the fact that you realize a Veritas sniper hit you in the midst of your plight, and is undoubtedly readying their aim again. They know what you are, now. They know what to expect. Before another shot has a chance to hit you through the screeching atmosphere of bloodshed, you're moving, your limbs lighter than a feather as you speed across the land. Oxygenated blood rushes through your muscles and out the hole from the bullet as you pump your legs harder and faster yet in a desperate rush to beat out the sniper. Within half a second, you've crossed the 100-meter expanse and grasp the Veritas' neck within your hand. A squeeze is all it will take. You feel your body taking over, performing the actions on autopilot as the pond encroaches on your awareness. For once, you feel something other than the placid calm of superiority. Despair. Within a moment, though, the pond leaves, and you are aware of the battlefield again. Looking back down, you collect the weapon of the sniper and sling it over your shoulder. 3 meters provides immense leverage, even if the weapon itself is useless to you. You resume a light jog towards your destination, staying as low as possible in the bounding gravity and aggressively scanning the horizon for anyone else who dares to stop a Cathan elite. 6 more dare. You're dimly aware of time slipping on by you, the seconds oozing away as you draw nearer and nearer to your destination. In your peripheral vision, you can't but notice the lack of friendlies on the field. In another time, if you were a different person, you would have grieved for their loss. But now is not that time; your focus sharpens to a point as your entire being devotes itself to one task. **Protection.** Your stride lengthens until your legs begin eating up the distance, each monstrous step covering dozens of meters as you propel yourself forwards, faster than you feel you've ever moved before: dimly though, you correct this; within seconds you seem to be at your location, but with every pull of your lungs you're reminded of the cost. This isn't right. Something is exceedingly wrong. You are a Cathan, a warrior forged in the very catalytic cocoons that the shipping empire maintains, a being designed solely for combat. To lose yourself to desperation, to the ambition of being the one to save Madame Noelle herself is unbecoming, to say the least. You begin tearing through your wetware, seeing if any part of your system has been compromised, but find nothing. No, you do find someone. A deficiency not of the technology, but of yourself, the user; within you lies the seeds of ambition so embraced in the leaders of society but despised in mindless servants like yourself. It sickens you, this idea of being "destined" for leadership. So instead of finding solace in these delusions of grandeur, you blunt your senses with blunt force, batting the rifle you obtained against your arm to ground yourself. The sheer depths of emotion associated with pain surging through your system instantly brings your attention to Losh, sharpening your senses all the while. Despite being "low-tech," the practice of using pain to release floods of endorphins and adrenaline is standard within the Cathan military. Coming to your senses, your eyes skim atop the peak some 3 kilometers ahead of you. All around it, and all around you, in fact, lie soldiers and mercenaries from a variety of companies; you despise mercenaries, those pitiful fools willing to throw away their lives and value for a payday, their armors and weapons serving as futile stopgaps against the inevitabilities of combat; to be bared against the world as pure as can be is an euphoric glory known only to Cathan troops: these mercenaries are no further removed from it than a starfish from a squid. The only thing you have in common is the medium of battlefield you both move through. But in cases like these, their support may ensure the difference between success and destruction, and your life would be the merest token you'd provide to prevent the latter. As you draw nearer, you can't help but notice other forces too: Novus engineers, seemingly aiding whichever side they choose as the time; their lack of coherency is disgusting. You despise that individuality they so present, with the kindling of ambition in their cores waiting for a spark. Each Novus engineer is a wildfire just waiting for someone to set it alight. And then, there's Cathan. The cool reflections of the pond serve as a water to douse the flames of your enemies, and you wield it as a weapon. That, and the long shaft of a rifle you sling over your back. You're a whirlwind, an unstoppable force meeting objects who seem content to move and release themselves to your fury; seemingly hundreds die in your wake. Had you stopped and considered the destruction left in your wake, you might have felt some inkling of compassion for the poor, unfortunate souls who committed the crime of obstructing some "justice" decided by a singular women in command of an empire far too large. But you don't exist for thinking, no, you exist solely to cause chaos and shift the balance of the universe ever so slightly. Losh is no difference. You finally arrive at the base of the hill, where a line of Veritas troops separate you from the defenses of Cathan fodder protecting Madame Noelle with their lives, all they have to give to her. As you flank the enemy, a pole slams into your side, and you only barely tumble away from it, scraping across the hard ground within meters from the opposition. The gambit is up; you've been revealed. With an unholy scream, you launch yourself to your feet and begin swinging your club at the mercenaries in front of you, each blow dealt being a troop deprived from pressuring the defense. And yet, you being to be overwhelmed near instantly, legions of Veritas hires swarming you and struggling yet succeeding in containment. For the first time, a crack in your mental façade of significance emerges, and you feel the pond flood in with it. Inside your mind, the world slows to unbearable speeds, and your field of vision shrinks until all that's left is that serene water existing within your heart. It pours through your skull, quenching the fires of ambition, and filling you with a new security. You are going to die here. The calm of impending doom fills you, and the last inhibitions of strive release themselves from your grasp, leaving you all but focused on the task at hand. With an almost lazily resigned movement, you stand up amidst the dogpile of slaves, not to masters of men but masters of desire, and turn your head towards the hill. You can feel it, the gaze of Madame Noelle herself, and it fills you with such an immense comfort that you find yourself walking towards it. Bullets ricochet across your tempered flesh, and blades find only scars when they try to cut. As you trudge through the pools of wretches, all of it fades away. Even when you're thrown through the air by an incendiary device, weakened only by lack of foresight for a thin atmosphere, you still remain focused. Any lapse of concentration has left you by now. And yet, this tunnel vision isn't free. You realize abruptly, but boldly, that reinforcements have arrived. The other elites that you deigned to leave behind have caught up, and you finally register the litany of comm requests that have bombarded you for several minutes now. You shouldn't be standing anymore, you should've been taken down, would've been stopped if it weren't for soldiers not caring about anything but their own lives. And now, they'll pay with their lives. You take leave and a swing at a soldier as you continue your trek, before breaking through the frontlines and crossing into Cathan trenches. Despite being too tall to fit comfortably, you still feel the barest hint of security enter your mind; though it's hard to reinforce adamant. As you worm your way through the trenches and towards the top, your focus becomes fluid, tracking an infinity of conflicts at once. Behind you, Cathan elites go into battle, their monstrous purity succeeding in taking swaths of army down with them. To your sides lie fodder and mercenaries, the latter being able to turn the tides of battle with one stupid decision and the former preventing them from doing so. Above you rages the grand fleets, entire planets' worth of economy thrown into machinations of war. And finally, in front of you lies to true goal. You realize abruptly that Madame Noelle had in fact summoned you. Despite the cool waters of tranquility raging through your mind, and the very fibers of your mind rebelling against it, you begin to feel that evil spark that has doomed so many and destroyed alliances. Ambition surges through your body as you begin nearing the peak! You understand now the mistakes of thought you committed- to think you would die is outrageous! Madame Noelle had destined you for this since you dropped in. You don't even notice the ships plummeting towards the peak from orbit, or the babbles of commanders preparing for death. No, instead, you feed the flames of ambition and work your way up. Pride fills you as you walk up to Madame Noelle and kneel in front of her, awaiting her command. "017982, you bloody idiot" she rasps at you. The insult slides off, and a part of you long repressed considers how she must be strained. "Grab this," she barks, "it needs at least three people." On her side is a scientist, a man in a lab coat with tears streaming down his face. You know you're in a temple of some kind, oft studied by archeologists who claimed it proof of intelligent life. It doesn't matter- none of the moon does. All that you can think about is whatever Madame Noelle had in mind for you. The scientist seems to regain himself as he shouts: "This is utter madness!" A vicious backhand reassures you of his stupidity. "Silence fool!" Madame Noelle cries, her eyes wild with rage. "We can't let them leave, not after this." Perhaps in another life you could have been happy. Perhaps you would have lived without the lack of emotion presented to you by everyone of import in your life. But this is not that life. You lay your hand on the machine in front of you, and don't even flinch as you, Losh, the fleets, and the star of the system are immediately compressed into a pinprick of matter denser than space itself. [^1]: quirb (v) : the act of processing a thought without focusing on it

Hey fellow followers of the great plan, I wanted some advice on the new seraphon. I’m creating Koatl’s Claw with the new units and was wondering if this seems like a viable list
Army Faction: Seraphon - Army Type: Coalesced - Army Subfaction: Koatl's Claw - Grand Strategy: Realmshaper Guardians - Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER
1 x Slann Starmaster (275) - General - Command Traits: Master of the Material Plane - Artefacts: Crystalline Skull - Spells: The Earth Trembles - Aspects of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
1 x Skink Starseer (150) - Spells: Tide of Serpents
1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)
1 x Saurus Scar-Veteran on Aggradon (175) - Relic Celestite Club
BATTLELINE
10 x Saurus Warriors (200) - Saurus Warrior Alpha - Icon Bearer - War-drummer - Celestite Club
10 x Saurus Warriors (200) - Saurus Warrior Alpha - Icon Bearer - War-drummer - Celestite Club
10 x Saurus Warriors (200) - Saurus Warrior Alpha - Icon Bearer - War-drummer - Celestite Club
TERRAIN
1 x Coalesced Realmshaper Engine (0)
OTHER
6 x Aggradon Lancers (420) - Aggradon Lancer Alpha - Icon Bearer - War-drummer - Celestite Spear
3 x Aggradon Lancers (210) - Aggradon Lancer Alpha - Celestite Spear
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App

Mind if I scare you all for just a moment? We’re already a quarter of the way through summer!
As we head into June, I put together a little wrap-up on what's been going on, and I plan to do more for each month as the summer progresses.

May Releases

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 soars off on a high note
Although it started off with a lower-than-projected $118 Million OW, the MCU's second movie of the year managed to pick up steam as the month went on. Currently at $324 Million DOM and $783 Million WW, it's surpassed the original in international markets and its worldwide take but it's sill behind both predecessors at home.
Looking at the dailies, Vol. 3 has already made $325 Million DOM after 33 days, surpassing the $282 Million that Vol. 1 made after the same period. While it's still trailing behind the $358 Million that Vol. 2 made, it's all but guaranteed to hit the $350 Million milestone by the end of the summer.
Currently sitting at the number two spot for 2023, it seems to be closing in on the $800 Million WW mark and appears to have a good chance at maintaining a spot in the top ten throughout the remainder of the year.
​
Love Again can't create a spark
Hoping to counter program some of the superhero hype, this $9 Million rom-com opened at $2.3 Million. However, it seemed that audience didn't fall for this flick, considering its grand total of $6.2 Million WW and $11.8 Million WW after a full month in theaters.
While it at least managed to earn back its budget - something that can't be said for other movies released this month - it does serve as another reminder that romantic comedies don't have the theatrical pull that they once had.
​
Knights of the Zodiac flies too close to the sun
Based on the anime of the same name, it quietly opened in theaters on May 12 to an opening of $557 thousand. Not million, thousand. It then proceeded to make $1 Million DOM and $6.7 Million WW, against a budget $60 Million.
Needless to say, it's quickly secured itself as the second-biggest bomb of 2023. What's number one? Well....
​
Hypnotic puts its box office to sleep
An original movie from Robert Rodriguez - who directed, produced, co-shot, and edited the feature - and starring Ben Affleck, the movie opened to $2.4 Million and ended its run with $4.5 Million and $5.2 Million. The budget was $65 Million, putting its worldwide total at 8% of its budget and certifying it as the biggest bomb of the year.
Maybe another movie will come along and do worse, but it's unlikely that a movie of this budget size will sink to this kind of level before we flip the calendar to 2024.
​
Book Club: The Next Chapter turns over a new (and disappointing) page
Five years ago, Book Club opened to a decent $13 Million, legged out to $68 Million domestically and managed to pull a worldwide take of $104 Million against a budget of $14 Million. Naturally, a sequel was to be expected and so, half a decade later, one was delivered.
Unfortunately, moviegoing habits have changed a bit, and The Next Chapter only pulled in a $6.6 Million OW, $17 Million DOM, and $26 Million WW. Even though it made back its $20 Million budget, it's evident that there will be no closing chapter in the Book Club trilogy.
​
Fast X your seatbelts
The latest incarnation of Dom Toretto's family is doing okay numbers, sitting at $129 Million DOM and $660 Million WW. However, the movie carries a hefty budget of $340 Million, turning what would be a respectable box office tally into an underperformance.
It also doesn't help that these numbers are lower than that its predecessor and its legs are already dropping hard thanks to a brutal summer lineup. The latest entry seemed to be doomed from the start, as its opening weekend of $67 Million DOM and $318 Million WW was lower than the $70 Million/$405 Million opener of F9, and that movie had Covid to deal with.
All isn't lost though, as F9 was at $144 Million DOM/$542 Million WW after 18 days - $13 Million more/$118 Million less than where Fast X is now. If it keeps up that pace, Fast X could find itself with a comfortable $160 Million DOM and $844 Million WW. Maybe its release date was just a lack of foresight, or maybe audiences have had enough of family, but one thing's for certain, Universal is gonna have to keep an eye on their production costs for the next two entries.
​
The Machine shuts down
Bert Kreischer's adaptation of his true story stand-up routine takes some creative liberties, including Mark Hamill as Bert's father, but follows the fate of all comedies and tanks at the box office.
Opening with $5 Million, it sits at $9.1 Million DOM and $9.3 Million WW ($174,606 from New Zealand, the movies' only international market), it will not recoup the $20 Million budget before it leaves theaters. Perhaps it was better suited for streaming - or a better release date - but it's evidently not the worst flop of the month.
​
Kandahar fuses out
Gerald Butler reteams with director Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland) to deliver another B-movie with an estimated budget of $65 Million. The movie opened with $2.3 Million, and sits at $4.4 Million DOM and $5.4 Million WW.
Considering how well Plane did back in January, perhaps this one would have served better for a similar time slot, maybe late August or even January 2024. Regardless, it seems that not all action B-movies are destined for profit, especially ones that open in an already packed summer season.
​
The Little Mermaid, will it sink or swim?
Disney's latest "reimagining" secured the fifth-highest grossing Memorial Day weekend with $95 Million 3-day and $118 Million 4-day. It's at $197 Million DOM and trailing almost exactly on par with Aladdin, which stood at $198 Million after the same amount of time. If it keeps its legs, it could make it well past $300 Million DOM and potentially reaching the $350 Million mark.
Despite its success at home, the remake has struggled overseas, with the international markets making up $141 Million (42.4%) of its global take, down from the $260 Million (58.5%) that Aladdin had made around the same time. While it seems to be doing on par with Aladdin in most countries, it has received very little support from the Asia Pacific and China markets, which are key factors in helping a movie reach the crucial $1 Billion mark unless it breaks out in North America.
This remake carries a budget of $250 Million - $10 million short of the budget for The Lion King (2019) - and a final tally of $550 Million WW is estimated to be the break even point. With the movie doing poorly across many markets, it's likely this could be Disney's first live-action remake to flop.
​
About My Father, another dinero for De Niro
Robert De Niro stars in this $29.1 Million comedy that opened to $4.3 Million and currently sits at $9.4 Million DOM with a worldwide gross of $10.7 Million (including $313,692 from Russia).
If this is your first time hearing about this movie, I don't blame you. It's just another one of the smaller scale movies that tried to go up against a tentpole movie and failed rather miserably. Here's to hoping Killers of the Flower Moon does well in October.

Movie Grosses in May

The Super Mario Bros. Movie levels up!
On May 1, the gross for The Super Mario Bros. Movie was $493 Million DOM and hit the $1 Billion WW mark. By May 31, it had shot up to $562 Million DOM and $1.3 Billion WW, becoming the second-highest grossing animated film of all time behind Incredibles 2 (DOM) and Frozen 2 (WW). Chris Pratt sits on the throne as king of the 2023 box office, and it seems that it will stay that way for the foreseeable future as second place belongs to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, both domestically and worldwide.
Whether any movie dethrone it is anyone's guess. However, the minimum that any movie will need to make is $1.4 Billion which doesn't seem likely. The rest of the summer - and the rest of the year - is packed with blockbusters, all gunning to make as much money as they can before the next one comes along.
​
John Wick Chapter 400 Million
The Keanu Reeves-led action franchise hits a first for the franchise and continues the tradition of every John Wick movie doing better than the last (overseas at least), as it hit $400 Million WW on May 4 and is sitting at is $428 Million. It was such a success that Lionsgate is already working on a fifth instalment.
Could Chapter 5 keep the trend going and make $500 Million WW and $200 Million DOM? It all comes down to if it comes down to a quiet month. For now though, the franchise delivered a finale worth being the highest earner of the series.
​
Dungeons & Dragons rolls the dice
Honor Among Thieves started off with a weak $37 Million OW in March, yet managed to leg out to a decent $97 Million DOM (2.51x) and hit $200 Million WW in the first week of May.
Its box office total places it well above Scream VI, Evil Dead Rise, and Shazam: Fury of the Gods. It also managed to score positive reviews from critics and praise from fans of the game and casual moviegoers alike. Due to its $150 Million budget, however, it failed to break even and will most likely not be getting a sequel.
​
That's all for this month, folks! See you in July when I recap June.

Reposting this, long read but relevant for the coming attacks
_______________________________________________________________________

1. COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum
2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

_______________________________________________________________________
COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..
There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'
Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'
If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.
Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'
A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favour is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'
Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'
Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.
Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'
Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favourite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favourite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.
Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'
Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.
Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'
It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.
CONCLUSION
Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.
_______________________________________________________________________
Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply. These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to cover up.
1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.
2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.
3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.
4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.
5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.
6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.
7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.
8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.
9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.
10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.
11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.
12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.
13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.
14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.
15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.
16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.
17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.
18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'
19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.
20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.
21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.
22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.
23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.
24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.
25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.
_______________________________________________________________________
Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
1) Avoidance. They never actually discuss issues head-on or provide constructive input, generally avoiding citation of references or credentials. Rather, they merely imply this, that, and the other. Virtually everything about their presentation implies their authority and expert knowledge in the matter without any further justification for credibility.
2) Selectivity. They tend to pick and choose opponents carefully, either applying the hit-and-run approach against mere commentators supportive of opponents, or focusing heavier attacks on key opponents who are known to directly address issues. Should a commentator become argumentative with any success, the focus will shift to include the commentator as well.
3) Coincidental. They tend to surface suddenly and somewhat coincidentally with a new controversial topic with no clear prior record of participation in general discussions in the particular public arena involved. They likewise tend to vanish once the topic is no longer of general concern. They were likely directed or elected to be there for a reason, and vanish with the reason.
4) Teamwork. They tend to operate in self-congratulatory and complementary packs or teams. Of course, this can happen naturally in any public forum, but there will likely be an ongoing pattern of frequent exchanges of this sort where professionals are involved. Sometimes one of the players will infiltrate the opponent camp to become a source for straw man or other tactics designed to dilute opponent presentation strength.
5) Anti-conspiratorial. They almost always have disdain for 'conspiracy theorists' and, usually, for those who in any way believe JFK was not killed by LHO. Ask yourself why, if they hold such disdain for conspiracy theorists, do they focus on defending a single topic discussed in a NG focusing on conspiracies? One might think they would either be trying to make fools of everyone on every topic, or simply ignore the group they hold in such disdain.Or, one might more rightly conclude they have an ulterior motive for their actions in going out of their way to focus as they do.
6) Artificial Emotions. An odd kind of 'artificial' emotionalism and an unusually thick skin -- an ability to persevere and persist even in the face of overwhelming criticism and unacceptance. This likely stems from intelligence community training that, no matter how condemning the evidence, deny everything, and never become emotionally involved or reactive. The net result for a disinfo artist is that emotions can seem artificial.
Most people, if responding in anger, for instance, will express their animosity throughout their rebuttal. But disinfo types usually have trouble maintaining the 'image' and are hot and cold with respect to pretended emotions and their usually more calm or unemotional communications style. It's just a job, and they often seem unable to 'act their role in character' as well in a communications medium as they might be able in a real face-to-face conversation/confrontation. You might have outright rage and indignation one moment, ho-hum the next, and more anger later -- an emotional yo-yo.
With respect to being thick-skinned, no amount of criticism will deter them from doing their job, and they will generally continue their old disinfo patterns without any adjustments to criticisms of how obvious it is that they play that game -- where a more rational individual who truly cares what others think might seek to improve their communications style, substance, and so forth, or simply give up.
7) Inconsistent. There is also a tendency to make mistakes which betray their true self/motives. This may stem from not really knowing their topic, or it may be somewhat 'freudian', so to speak, in that perhaps they really root for the side of truth deep within.
I have noted that often, they will simply cite contradictory information which neutralizes itself and the author. For instance, one such player claimed to be a Navy pilot, but blamed his poor communicating skills (spelling, grammar, incoherent style) on having only a grade-school education. I'm not aware of too many Navy pilots who don't have a college degree. Another claimed no knowledge of a particular topic/situation but later claimed first-hand knowledge of it.
8) Time Constant. Recently discovered, with respect to News Groups, is the response time factor. There are three ways this can be seen to work, especially when the government or other empowered player is involved in a cover up operation:
a) ANY NG posting by a targeted proponent for truth can result in an IMMEDIATE response. The government and other empowered players can afford to pay people to sit there and watch for an opportunity to do some damage. SINCE DISINFO IN A NG ONLY WORKS IF THE READER SEES IT - FAST RESPONSE IS CALLED FOR, or the visitor may be swayed towards truth.
b) When dealing in more direct ways with a disinformationalist, such as email, DELAY IS CALLED FOR - there will usually be a minimum of a 48-72 hour delay. This allows a sit-down team discussion on response strategy for best effect, and even enough time to 'get permission' or instruction from a formal chain of command.
c) In the NG example 1) above, it will often ALSO be seen that bigger guns are drawn and fired after the same 48-72 hours delay - the team approach in play. This is especially true when the targeted truth seeker or their comments are considered more important with respect to potential to reveal truth. Thus, a serious truth sayer will be attacked twice for the same sin.
_______________________________________________________________________
How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why?
1) The message doesn't get out.
2) A lot of time is wasted
3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged
4) Nothing good is accomplished.
FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established.
Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country.
Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female.
The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs.
This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists.
It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control.
In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist:

• "You're dividing the movement."

[Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people]
This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth.
The agent will tell the activist:

• "You're a leader!"

This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist.
This is "malignant pseudoidentification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist.
Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudoidentification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge.
The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts.
The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler.
The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them.
The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality."
Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent.
Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness.
The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion.
It can usually be identified by two events, however:
First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent.
As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim.
The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time.
A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions.
Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner:
1) To disrupt the agenda
2) To side-track the discussion
3) To interrupt repeatedly
4) To feign ignorance
5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person.
Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members.
Saboteurs
Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will ....
1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites)
2) Print flyers in English only.
3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares.
4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support
5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing.
6) Confuse issues.
7) Make the wrong demands.
8) Compromise the goal.
9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work.
Provocateurs
1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement.
2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble.
3) Encourage militancy.
4) Want to taunt the authorities.
5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values.
6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activisim ought to always be non-violent.
7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence.
Informants
1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything.
2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data).
3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend.
4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of committment.
Recruiting
Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves.
Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents.
Surveillance
ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance.
At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist!
Scare Tactics
They use them.
Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow.
This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists.
If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced.
COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act.
The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties.
_______________________________________________________________________
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression
Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.
1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.
2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit.
3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors." (If they tend to believe the "rumors" it must be because they are simply "paranoid" or "hysterical.")
4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspects of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors (or plant false stories) and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.
5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nutcase," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and, of course, "rumor monger." Be sure, too, to use heavily loaded verbs and adjectives when characterizing their charges and defending the "more reasonable" government and its defenders. You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned. For insurance, set up your own "skeptics" to shoot down.
6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money (compared to over-compensated adherents to the government line who, presumably, are not).
7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.
8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."
9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hangout route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken. With effective damage control, the fall-back position need only be peddled by stooge skeptics to carefully limited markets.
10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.
11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. E.g. We have a completely free press. If evidence exists that the Vince Foster "suicide" note was forged, they would have reported it. They haven't reported it so there is no such evidence. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press who would report the leak.
12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. E.g. If Foster was murdered, who did it and why?
13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or publicizing distractions.
14. Lightly report incriminating facts, and then make nothing of them. This is sometimes referred to as "bump and run" reporting.
15. Baldly and brazenly lie. A favorite way of doing this is to attribute the "facts" furnished the public to a plausible-sounding, but anonymous, source.
16. Expanding further on numbers 4 and 5, have your own stooges "expose" scandals and champion popular causes. Their job is to pre-empt real opponents and to play 99-yard football. A variation is to pay rich people for the job who will pretend to spend their own money.
17. Flood the Internet with agents. This is the answer to the question, "What could possibly motivate a person to spend hour upon hour on Internet news groups defending the government and/or the press and harassing genuine critics?" Don t the authorities have defenders enough in all the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television? One would think refusing to print critical letters and screening out serious callers or dumping them from radio talk shows would be control enough, but, obviously, it is not.

New to GR :) One of the cities I used to live in had a great pool at a fitness club that was outdoor ofc and had a ton of lounge chairs around the edge of the pool to sunbathe at. It was pretty expensive for a membership, but I wonder if Grand Rapids has anything like that? I really want a classic laying by the pool situation but I’ve tried a little searching online and the community pools look like they don’t even have regular chairs?

Please check part 1 and 2 for context.
The Tonpa Kingdoms Part 1 (Overview and The Gods) : worldbuilding (reddit.com)
The Tonpa Kingdoms Part 2 (The Kingdoms of Jangshun and Monyul) : worldbuilding (reddit.com)
Tsaparang
Tsaparang is a Kingdom to the east of the other Tonpa Kingdoms, it is marked by thick jungles and winding rivers, a small number of mountains dot the landscape to the west, on the border with Jangshun and Monyul.
The jungles of Tsaparang are known for their dense vegetation and towering trees, with rivers that cut through the landscape and create a network of waterways. The jungle clearings are dotted with small villages, where the people of Tsaparang live and work in harmony with nature.
The people of Tsaparang have learned to live with the challenges of the jungle environment, including the risk of flooding during the rainy season and the dangers posed by wild animals. Despite these challenges, the jungle provides a wealth of resources for the people, including medicinal plants, exotic fruits, and valuable timber. The villagers have developed their own unique way of life, with a deep respect for the natural world and a strong sense of community. They work together to maintain their homes and farms, and to protect the jungle from outsiders who might seek to exploit its resources.
The kingdom of Tsaparang was founded by a legendary warrior king named Raja Dhananj, who converted to Tonpa and united several smaller kingdoms in the area left over from the Indraprastha Empire under his rule, he named it after a fortress city on the border of Monyul that was essential to his victory, he eventually built a grand capital city on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, which he named after himself – Dhananjpur.
The city is a bustling center of trade and commerce, and soon became known throughout the region for its wealth and prosperity. Over time, Dhananjpur grew into a magnificent city, with grand palaces, beautiful temples, and bustling markets, the most famous of which is the floating markets called Jalbazaar.
Jalbazaar is situated on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, which flows through the heart of the district. The district is famous for its bustling waterways, where vendors sell their wares from boats and barges that are moored along the riverbank. The floating markets of Jalbazaar are a riot of color and activity, with vendors hawking their wares to eager customers. The markets sell everything from fresh produce and seafood to handicrafts and textiles. The markets are busiest in the early morning, when fishermen bring in their catch from the river and vendors begin setting up their stalls. The air is filled with the smells of spices, cooking food, and fresh flowers, creating a heady atmosphere that is unique to Jalbazaar. Visitors to the floating markets can sample a wide variety of local delicacies, including steaming bowls of spicy fish curry, crispy fritters made from lentils and vegetables, and sweet desserts made from coconut and mango.
To the west of Dannajpur lies the village of Pashupati, the village sits on the edge of a dense jungle, its thatched-roof houses built on stilts to protect them from flooding during the monsoon season. At the center of the village is an ancient temple dedicated to the Dharmist God Pashupati, said to have been built by a powerful Thakur long ago. However, the temple has fallen into disrepair over the centuries, and now it is overrun with large cats, both tame and wild. The villagers believe that the cats are the guardians of the temple, and they feed and care for them as best they can. Some of the cats are even considered sacred, and are allowed to roam freely throughout the village. Despite the presence of the cats and the fact that the villagers abandoned Dharmism for Tonpa over a hundred years ago, the temple is still an important place of for the villagers, the temple's crumbling walls are adorned with faded murals depicting scenes from ancient legends and there is a sense of mystery and magic that pervades the place. Outsiders aren't rare in the village as it sits along an important road between two cities, but the villagers are wary of strangers who do not respect the cats, the temple or their ancient ways. However, they are hospitable and generous to those who show the cats respect and kindness.
The second most populous city in Tsaparang is called Serindia, it is nestled in the heart of a lush green valley, surrounded by towering cliffs on all sides, this small community has long been known for its bustling markets and vibrant culture. At the center of town, stands a magnificent castle, home to the ruling family of Serindia. Built from the finest stone and marble, the castle boasts towering walls and a grand hall where the noble lords and ladies of the land convene to discuss matters of great importance. But it's not just the castle that makes Serindia special. Just outside of town lies a sprawling grove of wild mango trees, known throughout the region for their delicious, juicy fruit. Every year, travelers from far and wide come to Serindia to sample the famous mangoes and to attend the lively festivals that celebrate the town's bountiful harvest.
The Company of the Wind have a large office in Serendia as every year people request them to deliver these magnificent mangoes so often.
As you wander the winding streets of Serindia, you'll encounter a diverse array of merchants and craftsmen, each offering unique wares and trades. You might stop by the blacksmith's shop to watch as he expertly hammers out a new sword, or perhaps you'll visit the town's resident healer, who is renowned for her ability to cure all manner of ailments.
The kingdom of Tsaparang is renowned for its skilled craftsmen and artisans, who create beautiful textiles, intricate jewelry, and exquisite pottery. The kingdom is also famous for its fine cuisine, which blends the flavors of local spices with influences from neighboring regions. Tsaparang has been ruled by a succession of wise and just kings and queens, who are respected and loved by their subjects. The royal palace is a grand structure, with beautiful gardens and courtyards, and is home to a vast library that contained works of literature and philosophy from throughout the world. The kingdom of Tsaparang is also known for its military might, and its armies are feared by neighboring kingdoms. However, the rulers of Tsaparang prefer diplomacy and trade over war, and are respected for their ability to negotiate peaceful solutions to disputes, the most famous army regiment of the Kingdom is called The Jungle Snakes.
The Jungle Snakes is a feared and respected regiment of soldiers who are known for their unique and deadly combination of a large tower shield and a short spear, this is meant to emulate a snake striking from the foliage of the jungle while the large shield allows the user to strike from safety. The soldiers of the Jungle Snakes are expert fighters, they train in their own unique martial art which requires them to train in the use of whip-swords, a sword made with a flexible whip like blade, although relatively useless in a large scale battle these swords are deadly in one-on-one fights and it is believed training with them develops agility and hand eye coordination. The Jungle Snakes is made up of elite soldiers who are chosen for their physical strength, agility, and quick reflexes, they are fiercely loyal to their kingdom and their commanders, and are known for their bravery and determination in battle. The Jungle Snakes are key component of the Tsaparang army, and are often called upon to guard royalty in battle. Their unique weapon and fighting style make them a formidable opponent, and they are feared and respected by enemies and allies alike.
Tashigang
Nestled deep within a treacherous and barely hospitable mountain range lies the kingdom of Taishigang, protected by rugged terrain and guarded by fiercely loyal soldiers. The people of this kingdom are rugged and tough, accustomed to the harsh conditions of their environment and deeply connected to the land that sustains them.
The tallest mountain in the known world is nestled within its borders, it is a revered holy site believed to be the last place on Earth the physical forms of the Three Gods were seen.
Taishigang is named after the two main ethnic groups that reside in the area, the Taishi and the Gangparan, occupying the north-west and the south-east respectively, the Taishi are said to be early cousins of the Jangshun people who migrated into the area hundreds of years before and the Gangparan are a group of people who escaped from the fall of the Indraprastha empire by migrating to the mountains. The kingdom is ruled by a council of clan leaders, with one among them being High Chief and first among equals, these leaders are chosen by their clans for their strength, cunning, and wisdom and in turn these leaders choose one among them to be High Chief, these leaders make decisions that affect the entire kingdom, and they are known for their fierce loyalty to the land and the people. The economy of the kingdom is based on mining and lumber, with the rugged landscape yielding valuable minerals and timber. The inhabitants of the kingdom work as miners and lumberjacks, extracting these resources from the earth and using them to build their homes and defenses.
Taishigang is home to a religious order of healers called “The Order of Spring” who are a a highly respected group of monks, the members of this order are known for their extensive knowledge of herbal medicine and natural remedies, as well as their spiritual practices that are believed to aid in the healing process. The Order of Spring has a long-standing tradition of passing down their healing techniques and knowledge from generation to generation, ensuring that their skills and expertise are not lost over time they are highly revered by the people of Taishigang, who often seek their help when they are sick or injured. Due to the harsh climate and rugged terrain of Taishigang, the Order of Spring has developed unique healing methods that are tailored to the specific challenges of the environment. They are experts in treating frostbite, hypothermia, altitude sickness, and other ailments that are common in cold, mountainous regions.
The members of the Order of Spring are dedicated to their craft and often travel far and wide in search of rare and unique ingredients to use in their remedies. They are known to journey deep into the mountain ranges and even venture into neighboring kingdoms to track down plants and herbs that are believed to hold powerful healing properties. Despite their extensive knowledge and skills, the healers of the Order of Spring are humble and compassionate. They offer their services to anyone in need, regardless of their social status or wealth. It is said that their selfless dedication to healing has helped to foster a strong sense of community and trust within the kingdom of Taishigang. The capital city of Taishigang is called Dzonggar, which means "fortress on the mountain" in the ancient language of the region. It is situated on a massive mountain peak that is over 4,000 meters high, with steep cliffs and a treacherous climb to reach the top. The city is built on multiple levels that follow the contours of the mountain, with each level connected by steep staircases and winding paths. The uppermost level of Dzonggar is the highest point in the city and is home to the Dragar Dzong, which serves as the administrative center for the region.
The Dzong is an imposing fortress with thick walls, ornate carvings, and intricate murals depicting scenes from Tonpa mythology. The upper level is also home to several important temples and monasteries that offer stunning views of the surrounding mountains. As one descends the mountain, the levels become more densely populated with homes and businesses. The middle levels of the city are home to bustling marketplaces, where merchants sell everything from spices to textiles to pottery. The lower levels of the city are home to workshops and industry, where artisans create beautiful handicrafts using traditional techniques. The city's buildings are made of stone and wood, with sloping roofs to withstand heavy snowfall. The streets are narrow and winding, with small shops and homes perched on the edge of the mountain. Each level of the city is connected by steep staircases and winding paths, making navigation through the city a challenging but rewarding experience. Despite its rugged location and challenging terrain, Dzonggar is a bustling city with a vibrant culture.
The people of Dzonggar are known for their colorful textiles, intricate woodcarvings, and exquisite metalwork. The city is also famous for its festivals, which are held throughout the year to celebrate the changing seasons, important religious holidays, and the city's rich cultural heritage. The military of the kingdom is composed of skilled rangers and guerilla warriors, trained to navigate the treacherous mountain terrain and to use it to their advantage. The rangers are experts in archery and hunting, the most famous regiment from Taishigang is called The Mountain Demons.
The Mountain Demons are an elite fighting force said to be established by the Lhakpa dynasty, the Mountain Demons only take the tallest of warriors some are said to reach up to 2 meters high, when one is chosen they go on a diet of carbs and protein to gain body mass, their training regiment consists of lifting heavy things and running long distances carrying heavy boulders, in battle they carry massive heavy weapons like hammers, clubs and sometimes even heavy metal gloves. Taishigang is home to the famous Druk-Lha Tsham, the Dragon-Tooth Forest, an expansive woodland that stretches across the western part of the Kingdom. The forest is named after the imposing mountain range that rises up from the trees like the teeth of a dragon.
The forest is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna, including towering pine trees, colorful wildflowers, and a variety of wildlife such as deer, foxes, and even the occasional black bear, streams and rivers flow through the forest in the summer, providing water for the plants and animals that call it home. Despite its natural beauty, the Dragon-Tooth Forest is also home to danger. Bandits and outlaws are known to hide within its depths, preying on travelers who venture too far from the safety of the nearby villages.
The forest is home to the village of Kulik a unique place where the houses are built high among the trees, the villagers live in beautiful treehouses connected by a network of wooden bridges that wind their way through the forest. The houses are made from local wood and are decorated with carvings of animals and intricate patterns. Some houses have balconies where the villagers can sit and enjoy the beautiful views of the forest.
The village has a central meeting place where the villagers gather to socialize and discuss village matters, the meeting place is just outside the only stone building in the village, the Lalimamandir, said to be a stone temple dedicated to the Dharmist God Lalima but repurposed into the home of the ruling Gurung Clan, the Gurung, saw similarities between Lalima and Caihong, who after a lengthy purification process instead dedicated the building to The Mother but kept the original name to honour the builders. The villagers are self-sufficient and grow their own food in small gardens and farms scattered throughout the forest. They also hunt and fish in the nearby rivers and streams. The villagers are known for their hospitality and welcome visitors with open arms, inviting them to stay in their beautiful treehouses and share in their way of life.
The people of the kingdom of Taishigang hold a special reverence for Caihong for it is her practical ways that help them survive the rugged terrain. The people of the kingdom have a rich artistic and musical tradition, heavily influenced by their connection to the land and the animals. They are known for their intricate carvings, woven textiles, and colorful paintings, as well as their haunting music and dance.
Khotesh
Khotesh is a kingdom to the west, most of it is located in a vast and arid desert, with small portion of the Kingdom located on grassy planes and snow-capped mountains. The kingdom is known for its rugged terrain, with towering sand dunes, rocky outcroppings, and deep canyons. Most of its people are former nomads who converted to the religion of Tonpa and settled in one place, but there are still some nomadic people who travel with their herds across the desert. The people of Khotesh practice religion fervently, with Tonpa's teachings serving as the foundation for their daily lives. Their art and architecture reflect the influence of the Three Gods, with intricate carvings and paintings of Tonpa and his disciples adorning the walls of many buildings in the kingdom. The kingdom is ruled by a powerful monarch who resides in a grand palace in the capital city of Khanbalik. The palace is a majestic structure with domed roofs and intricate carvings, surrounded by lush gardens and fountains. Despite the harshness of the environment, the people of Khotesh have a rich cultural heritage. They are proud of their nomadic roots, and many still wear traditional clothing and practice traditional customs. The former nomads who settled in one place have formed close-knit communities, and their hospitality to travelers is legendary. Its capital city; Khanbalik is a built upon the grassy plains of the hills to the east of the Kingdom. The city is situated at the junction of several trade routes, which has made it a hub of commerce and culture. Its walls are made of wood and earth, with watchtowers at regular intervals to provide defense against raiders and invaders. The city is known for its harsh and unpredictable climate, with hot winds blowing in from the desert and cold winds descending from the mountains. These winds collide over Khanbalik, creating powerful storms that batter the city every autumn and spring. The storms bring heavy rains, lightning, and hail, making travel and trade difficult during these seasons, it is said that the sun-showers that regularly bathe the city in this time are a meeting of the Three Gods as the Sun, Wind and Rain are all aspects of Caihong, Druk-Ta and Daiden respectively, people often dance in the streets when a sun-shower happens. Despite the challenges posed by the climate, Khanbalik remains a vibrant and bustling city. The streets are crowded with people from all walks of life, from wealthy merchants to wandering nomads. The city is divided into districts based on trade and social status, with the grandest buildings located near the center of the city. The palace of the ruling Khan is one of the most impressive structures in Khanbalik, with ornate wooden carvings and sweeping roofs that curve upward like the wings of a bird. The temple district is also a popular destination for visitors to the city, with a variety of religions represented in the many shrines and sanctuaries.
Khanbalik is not only a bustling hub of commerce and culture, but it is also a melting pot of different ethnic groups and cultures. One of the unique features of Khanbalik is the seasonal influx of nomads who come to the city a few times a year during the changing of the seasons. As the seasons shift from summer to autumn and from winter to spring, nomadic herders from the surrounding grasslands and mountains make their way to Khanbalik to trade goods, socialize, and partake in the city's offerings. The changing of the seasons is a time of celebration and renewal, and the nomads play an important role in this cycle. During the autumn season, nomads bring with them fresh produce such as fruits, vegetables, and grains. They also bring livestock such as sheep, goats, and horses to sell in the city's markets. In turn, they purchase items such as tools, clothing, and other necessities that they cannot produce on their own. In the spring, nomads return to Khanbalik with wool, meat, and dairy products from their herds. They also bring with them handmade crafts such as felt blankets, rugs, and clothing, which they trade for goods that will sustain them throughout the summer months. The seasonal exchange between the nomads and the city-dwellers is an important part of the culture and economy of Khanbalik. It fosters a sense of community and interdependence between the different groups, and it has been a tradition for generations.
One of the most interesting places in Khotesh is the town of Rokhala, a town carved into a towering sandstone cliff that rises high above the surrounding plains, the town's location is strategic, as it is nestled in a valley along a popular trade route, making it a profitable place for a settlement, the entrance to the town is a narrow, winding path that cuts into the cliff face, providing a natural defense against invaders. The town is built in a series of caves and carved out of sandstone, with buildings made from the same material, the structures are connected by narrow walkways, staircases, and bridges that cross over the canyon below. The town has a unique charm with its rustic stone architecture and winding passageways that twist and turn, creating an intriguing labyrinth of alleys and streets. The town has a diverse population, including traders, craftsmen, and mushroom farmers who make use of shallow caves to grow them in.
The town is home to a massive sandstone mining operation that exports sandstone all over the known world, sandstone from Rokhala is seen in the Confucian Kingdoms to the East, the Dharmist Kingdoms to the South and even the Caliphist and Mazdan Kingdoms to the West. Another interesting sight in the deserts of Khotesh is Altan Gazar, a bustling caravan that travels in harmony with the seasonal migration of a massive herd of Ibex, tents and yurts, woven from the finest camel and goat hair, are packed up and loaded onto sturdy pack animals as the city prepares to move to its next destination, the inhabitants are skilled in the art of packing and unpacking, swiftly transforming their temporary dwellings into a well-organized mobile settlement. As the herd of Ibex moves across the arid landscape, guided by the keen eyes of the city's inhabitants, the nomadic city follows in its wake, the city's layout is flexible and adaptable, with a central encampment for the tribal leader and their entourage, surrounded by the dwellings of other important individuals and their families. Water is a precious commodity in the desert, and the city relies on natural springs and wells discovered along the migration route, the inhabitants are experts in locating and utilizing these hidden water sources, carefully managing their usage to sustain their community and animals throughout their journey, rainwater is also collected during rare showers and stored in large containers for times when water is scarce.
The Ibex is an integral part of life to Altan Gazar, most adults carry a drinking horn made of Ibex horn, Ibex meat is regularly consumed in the spring with various spices found in the semi-arid grassy plains of their spring migration pattern, Ibex blood is sometimes drunk when water is scarce, fermented Ibex milk is a regular drink among the adults and Ibex skins are worn during cold winter nights. The city's architecture is designed to be lightweight and portable, with structures made of woven mats, reeds, and mud bricks. The city's inhabitants are skilled in constructing and deconstructing their homes as they move, utilizing locally available materials. Life in the nomadic city is intertwined with the rhythm of the desert and the migratory patterns of the Ibex. The inhabitants have a deep bond with their animals, particularly camels, which are used for transportation, milk, and meat. The city is a hub of trade and commerce, with merchants and traders from nearby towns and villages joining the city's journey, bartering for goods and services along the way.
The army of Khotesh is renowned for its hardiness and combat prowess in desert conditions. The kingdom has a long history of fending off invasions and raids from neighboring regions, and its army is specifically trained to operate effectively in desert terrain. The soldiers of Khotesh are known for their ruggedness and resilience, with many of them hailing from nomadic backgrounds. They are skilled in mounted combat, with cavalry units comprising a significant portion of the army. These cavalry units are particularly adept at hit-and-run tactics, using their speed and mobility to strike quickly and then retreat before the enemy can respond.
In addition to cavalry, the army of Khotesh also includes infantry units that specialize in desert warfare. These soldiers are trained to navigate harsh terrain and extreme temperatures, and they are equipped with light armor and weapons that are well-suited for the desert environment. They are skilled in using terrain to their advantage, and are adept at setting ambushes and launching surprise attacks. One of the unique features of the Khotesh army is their use of desert animals in combat. The kingdom is home to a variety of animals that have been domesticated and trained for military purposes, including camels and falcons. Camels are particularly useful in desert warfare due to their ability to traverse long distances with little water, and they are often used to transport soldiers and supplies across the harsh desert terrain. Falcons, on the other hand, are used for scouting and reconnaissance, and are trained to locate and track enemy troops.
The most famous army regiment of Khotesh is called The Scorpions, they are renowned desert survivalists and lone assassins, but in times of battle they are called upon to form a vanguard for the ruling Khan or Khanum, alone they are formidable but as a unit they are immensely dangerous, they are expert hand to hand combatants and excel at short, light weapons like shortswords and javelins. Another famed regiment of Khotesh is called The Hailstones, they are a Camel cavalry unit who use shock cavalry tactics, their camels have two riders, a spearman on the front and an archer on the back, the camels are bred to be massive to carry out such a feat, the spearman on the front charges into infantry lines with the spear and then turns away from the enemy to line up another charge while the archer on the back fires into their ranks, it is a very effective tactic that has won many battles.

Hey all! Looking for suggestions on the following questions:

• 1. Which card should I go for next? What will I likely get approval for?
  • Eying the Citi Premier, Cap1 Venture X, USBank Altitude Reserve
  • About to go on vacation and expect some high spend
  • On 11/24 but 1/12 (was trying to build a strong base with no AF cards)
  • I can't get Chase personal or business card (long story) so 5/24 is not a worry
• 2. Should I close some of my cards?
  • I have a few cards I don't care about like
    • Chime Credit Builder
    • US Bank Altitude Go
    • Gemini Credit Card

​
Credit Profile:

• Current cards

Card	Credit Limit	Opened	Age
Citi Costco	$15,500	2/25/2004	19.3
Discover IT	$3,800	2/11/2018	5.3
Apple Card	$7,000	8/29/2021	1.8
US Bank Altitude Go	$1,000	9/13/2021	1.7
Chime Credit Builder		10/6/2021	1.7
Cred.ai	$1,500	10/12/2021	1.6
Venmo	$6,000	12/12/2021	1.4
Amex Hilton	$15,500	2/18/2022	1.3
Amex Gold		3/14/2022	1.2
Bilt	$10,000	4/13/2022	1.1
X1	$19,500	4/21/2022	1.1
PayPal	$7,000	5/31/2022	1.0
Gemini	$3,500	9/6/2022	0.8

• FICO Score:
  • 773 (Experian)
  • 768 (Equifax)
  • 785 (TransUnion VantageScore 3.0)
• Oldest account age:
  • 19 years 3 months (Authorize user)
    • Average 2 years 2 months
  • 5 years 3 months (Not counting authorize user)
    • Average 1 year 8 months
• Recent Accounts:
  • 1/12
  • 11/24
• Inquiries
  • 10 (Experian)
  • 4 (Equifax)
  • 7 (Transunion)
• Income:
  • $180,000
• Average monthly spend and categories (Note: I ranked the spending given it varies greatly for me. I am sure I can hit any non-business card spend)
  • 1. Dining/Grocery
  • 2. Online shopping
• Open to Business Cards:
  • Yes
• What's the purpose of your next card?
  • Travel
• Do you have any cards you've been looking at?
  • Citi Premier
  • Cap1 Venture X
    • Got preapproval for all but the Venture cards
  • US Bank Altitude Reserve
  • Amex Platinum
    • In pop-up jail
• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card?
  • Yes

video preview showing the account
​
6/1/2023 Fall Guys - Blorbius the Despiser
6/1/2023 Midnight Ghost Hunt
5/26/2023 Coldest Circles Quest Pack
5/19/2023 DEATH STRANDING
5/13/2023 The Sims™ 4 The Daring Lifestyle Bundle
5/5/2023 Kao the Kangaroo
5/5/2023 Against All Odds
4/27/2023 Poker Club
4/27/2023 Breathedge
3/10/2023 Epic Cheerleader Pack
3/10/2023 Rumbleverse™
12/29/2022 Mortal Shell
12/22/2022 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
12/22/2022 Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/22/2022 Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/15/2022 Bloons TD 6
12/15/2022 Fall Guys - Snowberry
11/24/2022 Evil Dead: The Game
11/24/2022 Dark Deity
11/24/2022 Epic Cheerleader Pack
10/28/2022 Saturnalia
10/28/2022 Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - Standard Edition
10/27/2022 Evoland Legendary Edition
10/27/2022 Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
9/24/2022 Gloomhaven
9/2/2022 Destiny 2
9/2/2022 Submerged: Hidden Depths
9/2/2022 Knockout City™
8/16/2022 Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
8/16/2022 MultiVersus
8/16/2022 Rumbleverse™
6/30/2022 Iratus: Lord of the DeadIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Hood: Outlaws & LegendsIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Geneforge 1 - Mutagen
6/23/2022 Roller Champions™
6/23/2022 Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
6/21/2022 Fall Guys
6/16/2022 Supraland
6/9/2022 Maneater
6/3/2022 Wolfenstein: The New Order
5/28/2022 BioShock: The Collection
5/21/2022 Borderlands 3
5/13/2022 Redout: Enhanced Edition
5/11/2022 Terraforming Mars
3/24/2022 EVE Online - Superluminal Pack
3/17/2022 In Sound Mind
3/3/2022 Centipede: Recharged
3/3/2022 Epic Slayer Kit
3/3/2022 Black Widow: Recharged
2/25/2022 Cris Tales
2/17/2022 Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
2/11/2022 Windbound
1/28/2022 DAEMON X MACHINA
1/23/2022 Relicta
1/8/2022 Gods Will Fall
12/30/2021 Tomb Raider GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION
12/30/2021 Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
12/30/2021 Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration
12/29/2021 Salt and Sanctuary
12/25/2021 Prey
12/25/2021 Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
12/23/2021 Vampyr
12/21/2021 Second Extinction™
12/21/2021 Loop Hero
12/19/2021 The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
12/17/2021 Neon Abyss
12/16/2021 Shenmue III - Standard Edition
12/9/2021 Godfall Challenger Edition
12/9/2021 Prison Architect
12/2/2021 Dead by Daylight
12/2/2021 while True: learn()
11/18/2021 Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
11/18/2021 Guild of Dungeoneering
11/18/2021 KID A MNESIA EXHIBITION
11/13/2021 Rogue Company
11/13/2021 Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-shot Adventure
11/4/2021 Aven Colony
10/22/2021 Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition
10/15/2021 Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
10/15/2021 Paladins Epic Pack
10/7/2021 PC Building Simulator
9/30/2021 Europa Universalis IV
9/28/2021 2064: Read Only Memories
9/24/2021 Santa's Sweatshop
9/16/2021 Tharsis
9/16/2021 Speed Brawl
9/9/2021 Sheltered
9/9/2021 Nioh: The Complete Edition
9/3/2021 Yoku's Island Express
8/26/2021 Automachef
8/25/2021 Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered
8/19/2021 Yooka-Laylee
8/19/2021 Void Bastards
8/12/2021 Rebel Galaxy
8/6/2021 Core
8/6/2021 A Plague Tale: Innocence
7/30/2021 Mothergunship
7/30/2021 Train Sim World 2
7/15/2021 Offworld Trading Company
7/15/2021 Obduction
7/8/2021 Ironcast
7/8/2021 Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead
7/1/2021 The Spectrum Retreat
6/24/2021 Sonic Mania
6/24/2021 Horizon Chase Turbo
6/17/2021 Hell is other demons
6/17/2021 Overcooked! 2
6/10/2021 Control
6/3/2021 Frostpunk
5/27/2021 Among Us
5/20/2021 NBA 2K21
5/14/2021 The Lion's Song
5/7/2021 Pine
4/30/2021 Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
4/23/2021 Alien: Isolation
4/22/2021 Hand of Fate 2
4/15/2021 Deponia: The Complete Journey
4/15/2021 Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
4/15/2021 The First Tree
4/9/2021 3 out of 10: Season Two
4/1/2021 Tales of the Neon Sea
3/31/2021 HITMAN 3 Access Pass: HITMAN 1 GOTY Edition
3/30/2021 HITMAN 3 - Free Starter Pack
3/25/2021 Creature in the Well
3/23/2021 Magic: Legends
3/18/2021 The Fall
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - The Millionth Mile
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Norse Dragons
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Second Korean War
3/6/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon - Russian Roulette [10v10 ...
3/4/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon
2/28/2021 PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2
2/25/2021 Sunless Sea
2/18/2021 Absolute Drift
2/18/2021 Rage 2
2/11/2021 Halcyon 6
2/4/2021 Metro: Last Light Redux
1/28/2021 Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
1/21/2021 Galactic Civilizations III
1/14/2021 STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II: Celebration Edition...
1/7/2021 Crying Suns
12/31/2020 Jurassic World Evolution
12/29/2020 Solitairica
12/28/2020 Stranded Deep
12/27/2020 Night in the Woods
12/26/2020 My Time at Portia
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®: The Musketeer
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®
12/23/2020 Tropico 5
12/21/2020 Alien: Isolation
12/20/2020 Defense Grid: The Awakening
12/19/2020 The Long Dark
12/18/2020 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Carols, Candles and Candy
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Pearls From the East
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Match Day
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines
12/10/2020 Pillars of Eternity - Definitive Edition
12/10/2020 Tyranny - Gold Edition
12/3/2020 CRSED: F.O.A.D.
12/3/2020 Cave Story+
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Old Timers DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Valley DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Ridge DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner
11/19/2020 The World Next Door
11/19/2020 Elite Dangerous
11/13/2020 Neverwinter
11/13/2020 The Textorcist
11/5/2020 Dungeons 3
10/29/2020 Blair Witch
10/29/2020 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
10/22/2020 Layers of Fear 2
10/22/2020 Costume Quest 2
10/15/2020 Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
10/15/2020 Kingdom New Lands
10/8/2020 ABZU
10/8/2020 Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
10/1/2020 Pikuniku
9/29/2020 Heroes & Generals WWII
9/24/2020 RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3: Complete Edition
9/23/2020 Rocket League®
9/17/2020 Football Manager 2020
9/17/2020 Watch Dogs 2
9/17/2020 Stick It To The Man!
9/10/2020 Railway Empire
9/10/2020 Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
9/7/2020 Spellbreak
9/3/2020 3 out of 10, EP 5: "The Rig Is Up!"
9/3/2020 Into The Breach
9/3/2020 Diabotical
9/1/2020 Commander Lilith DLC
8/27/2020 3 out of 10, EP 4: "Thank You For Being An Ass...
8/27/2020 Shadowrun Collection
8/27/2020 HITMAN
8/22/2020 3 out of 10 Episode 3: Pivot Like A Champion
8/20/2020 God's Trigger
8/20/2020 Enter The Gungeon
8/13/2020 The Alto Collection
8/13/2020 Remnant: From the Ashes
8/13/2020 Might & Magic: Chess Royale
8/13/2020 3 Out of 10 Episode 2 Foundation 101
8/13/2020 A Total War Saga: TROY
8/6/2020 3 Out of 10 Ep 1 Welcome to Shovelworks
8/6/2020 Wilmot's Warehouse
7/31/2020 Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
7/31/2020 Barony
7/31/2020 20XX
7/23/2020 Next Up Hero
7/23/2020 Tacoma
7/16/2020 Torchlight II
7/10/2020 Delores: A Thimbleweed Park mini-adventure
7/10/2020 The Escapists 2
7/10/2020 Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition
7/10/2020 Killing Floor 2
7/3/2020 Trackmania
7/3/2020 Hue
6/25/2020 AER Memories of Old
6/25/2020 Stranger Things 3: The Game
6/18/2020 Pathway
6/11/2020 ARK Valguero
6/11/2020 ARK Crystal Isles
6/11/2020 ARK The Center
6/11/2020 ARK Editor
6/11/2020 ARK Ragnarok
6/11/2020 ARK: Survival Evolved
6/11/2020 SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION
5/28/2020 Sludge Life
5/28/2020 Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
5/21/2020 Sid Meier's Civilization VI
5/14/2020 Grand Theft Auto V
5/2/2020 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
5/2/2020 Crashlands
4/23/2020 For The King
4/17/2020 Wheels of Aurelia
4/17/2020 Just Cause 4
4/15/2020 Paladins
4/15/2020 Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishments
4/15/2020 Close to the Sun
4/4/2020 Gone Home
4/4/2020 Drawful 2
4/4/2020 Hob
3/26/2020 Tormentor X Punisher
3/26/2020 Figment
3/26/2020 World War Z
3/20/2020 Watch Dogs Standard Edition
3/20/2020 The Stanley Parable
3/2/2020 InnerSpace
2/21/2020 Magic: The Gathering Arena
2/21/2020 Assassins Creed Syndicate Standard Edition
2/21/2020 Faeria
2/14/2020 Aztez
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - English
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - German
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - French
2/14/2020 HD Sound Pack
2/14/2020 HD Texture Pack
2/14/2020 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
2/6/2020 Ticket to Ride
2/6/2020 Carcassonne
1/30/2020 Farming Simulator 19
1/23/2020 The Bridge
1/16/2020 Horace
1/10/2020 Sundered Eldritch Edition
1/1/2020 Darksiders Warmastered Edition
1/1/2020 Steep
1/1/2020 Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
1/1/2020 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
12/30/2019 Hello Neighbor
12/29/2019 The Talos Principle
12/26/2019 Faster Than Light
12/23/2019 Ape Out
12/13/2019 The Wolf Among Us
12/13/2019 The Escapists
12/5/2019 Jotun Valhalla Edition
11/29/2019 Rayman Legends
11/21/2019 Bad North Jotunn Edition
11/15/2019 The Messenger
11/7/2019 Nuclear Throne
11/7/2019 RUINER
10/31/2019 SOMA
10/24/2019 Layers of Fear
10/24/2019 Q.U.B.E. 2
10/17/2019 >observer_
10/17/2019 Alan Wake's American Nightmare
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars - Mysteries Resupply Pack
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars - Space Race
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars
10/4/2019 Minit
9/26/2019 Metro: 2033 Redux
9/26/2019 Everything
9/19/2019 Lego Batman Trilogy
9/19/2019 Batman Arkham - Trilogy
9/18/2019 Conarium
8/29/2019 Inside
8/29/2019 Celeste
8/23/2019 Fez
8/21/2019 The Cycle Early Access
8/15/2019 Mutant Year Zero
8/15/2019 Hyper Light Drifter
8/8/2019 GNOG
8/3/2019 Alan Wake
8/3/2019 For Honor Standard Edition
7/25/2019 This War of Mine
7/25/2019 Moonlighter
7/18/2019 Limbo
7/11/2019 Torchlight
7/4/2019 Overcooked
7/3/2019 Dauntless
7/3/2019 Last Day of June

« Previous (Sorry, missed a couple weeks there… Hope you still found some fun!)
Festivals!

• The Freedom Festival kicks off on June 14 with a flag raising at the Veteran's Memorial Colosseum, 8 AM

Sports!

• Five Seasons Ski Team show with Boulevard Grill food truck Thursday, June 8 @ 7 PM, Ellis Road
• Weekly Races at Hawkeye Downs Friday, June 9 @ 7 PM
• Studio Dance celebrates their 30th Anniversary with performances June 9 & 10 @ 7 PM, Paramount Theatre
• U.S. Grand Prix Central Regional Taekwondo at the PowerHouse June 9–11, various times & ticket options
• The Pointe School of Dance presents their 2023 Recital — The Beauty Within June 11 @ Noon, 3 PM & 6 PM, Paramount Theatre
• Kernels start their series against the South Bend Cubs at home June 13–18

Signature Events/Fundraisers

• The District hosts the 2023 Tiki Tour Thursday, June 8 @ 5 PM
• City of Cedar Rapids hosts Ride the Districts! Bike Ride Saturday, June 10 @ 10 AM, Ellis Park
• CR Pride hosts the Pride Parade Saturday, June 10 @ 1–4 PM, New Bohemia & Czech Village
• Prairiewoods hosts a Garden Party fundraiser: Growing our Roots Saturday, June 10 @ 4:30–8 PM, Prairiewoods

Theater

• Giving Tree Theater opens Neil Simon's Plaza Suite, running through June 25.

Thursday, June 8

• CR Rollin' Recmobile stops 9–11 AM @ Cedar Valley & Bowman Woods Parks; 11:30 AM–1:30 PM @ Hughes & Redmond Parks (with free lunch); 4:30–6:30 PM @ Daniels Park
• NewBo City Market hosts Meet Me at the Market 5:30 PM
• Cedar Rapids Museum of Art presents a FREE! Art Display from students of Harrison Elementary in conjunction with Feed Iowa First 5:30 PM
• Familiarize yourself with the Makers' Room at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Public Library, open house event 5:30–7 PM
• City of Marion hosts Marion by Moonlight in Lowe Park 6 PM
• Ideal Theater & Bar presents The Wildwoods 7 PM

Friday, June 9

• CR Rollin' Recmobile stops 9–11 AM @ Bever Park; 11:30 AM–1:30 PM @ Hidder Park (with free lunch)
• The History Center & Cedar Rapids Murals & More present a Chew on This! Lunch & Learn overviewing downtown murals and more 12:30 PM — bring your own lunch
• Gilded Pear Gallery hosts a Welcome Reception for gallery artists 5 PM
• Bo Macs presents American Made Live! - country music 6 PM
• NewBo City Market presents Rock the Block with The Evan Stock Band 6 PM
• Uptown Marion hosts Pop-Up Acts in the Artway with Matt Gogel 6–8 PM
• Chrome Horse presents Farm Rock 6:30 PM
• Marion Parks & Recreation hosts Moonlit Movie "DC League of Superpets" at Lowe Park 7 PM
• Opus Concert Cafe presents Vibe 7:30 PM
• The Lucky Cat presents Prime Time Comedy Showcase 8 PM
• Kickstand presents Sugar & Spice 8 PM
• Ideal Theater & Bar presents Critical Mass, Worst Impressions and Maaze 8:30 PM

Saturday, June 10

• City of Marion hosts Sunrise Yoga at Lowe Park 7:30 AM
• Marion Farmers' Market at Taube Park 8–11 AM
• NewBo City Market hosts their weekly farmers' market 8 AM–Noon
• African American Museum of Iowa presents a Juneteenth Commemoration: Storytime, featuring authors Michelle Edwards and Brion Martin at the Marion Public Library 10 AM
• The Cleveland Area Neighborhood Association hosts the Community Safety & Wellness Fiar at Cleveland Park 10 AM–1 PM
• Bo Macs presents The Laidback Band 6 PM
• The Dinner Detective presents a Murder Mystery Dinner Show at the DoubleTree by Hilton 6 PM
• Chrome Horse presents Gen X Jukebox 6:30 PM
• Marion hosts Music under the Moon with Uptown Funk Bruno Mars Tribute Show at Lowe Park 7 PM
• Opus Concert Cafe presents Vibe 7:30 PM
• Ideal Theater & Bar presents Alex Geiger's Biannual Bass Invitational featuring Tristan Gray, Miss Christine & Blake Shaw 8 PM
• The Lucky Cat & CR Pride present the Pride Comedy Show with headliner Riley Cosgrove 8 PM

Sunday, June 11

• Music in the Garden at Brucemore, presented by the Cedar Rapids Community Orchestra 12:30–4 PM
• Ideal Theater & Bar presents The Groove Garden Open Jam 5 PM
• Old Neighborhood Pub presents Rhubarb Red 5 PM
• CR Municipal Band at Bever Park 6:30 PM

Monday, June 12

• CR Rollin' Recmobile stops 9–11 AM @ Redmond & Lincolnway Parks; 11:30 AM–1:30 PM @ Jacolyn & Cleveland Parks (with free lunch)

Tuesday, June 13

• CR Rollin' Recmobile stops 9–11 AM @ Daniels & Jones Parks; 11:30 AM–1:30 PM @ Hayes & Bever Parks (with free lunch); 4:30–6:30 PM @ Redmond Park
• NewBo City Market hosts Food Truck Tuesdays 11 AM–2PM
• Meet Tom Ecker, author of Wherever I Choose presented by The History Center 6 PM
• Indian Creek Nature Center hosts FREE! Summer Yoga 6 PM
• Lucky Cat presents Open Mic Comedy 7 PM
• Rival Sons present The Darkfighter Tour with The Black Angels & Special Guests Starcrawler at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse 7 PM

Wednesday, June 14

• CR Rollin' Recmobile stops 9–11 AM @ Twin Pines & Cherry Hill Parks; 11:30 AM–1:30 PM @ Time Check & Reed Parks (with free lunch)
• Noelridge Farmers' Market at Noelridge Park 3:30–5:30 PM
• African American Museum of Iowa presents a Juneteenth Commemoration: "Decolonizing Mental Health" film screening at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Public Library 6 PM

---
TL;DON'T MISS***:

• The District hosts the 2023 Tiki Tour Thursday, June 8 @ 5 PM
• City of Cedar Rapids hosts Ride the Districts! Bike Ride Saturday, June 10 @ 10 AM, Ellis Park
• CR Pride hosts the Pride Parade Saturday, June 10 @ 1–4 PM, New Bohemia & Czech Village
• Ideal Theater & Bar presents Critical Mass, Worst Impressions and Maaze Friday, June 9 @ 8:30 PM
• African American Museum of Iowa presents a Juneteenth Commemoration: "Decolonizing Mental Health" film screening at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Public Library 6 PM

***Highly subjective
---
Post what I've missed below!

This is Part 2 of this write-up. Please read part 1 first. This is the link:
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/143r7l9/felix_vail_the_pedophile_serial_killer_caught/

PART 2:

ANNETTE CRAVER:

Born on the 7th of December 1965, Annette Craver was intelligent and creative. At 15 she was a singer-songwriter and in her senior year at a private school that specialized in medicine. Her dream was to become a midwife.
http://charleyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/vail_annette6.jpg(A photo of Annette Craver.)
In the summer of 1981, she and her mother, Mary Rose greeted people at a friend’s yard sale in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston, Texas. They had just returned from a vacation in Mexico, and Annette felt heartsick, still infatuated with a boy named Adolfo, who was unable to join her in America.
VAIL MEETS ANNETTE
While people browsed the sale, Vail pulled up on a motorcycle and spoke with Annette. He was 41 and had done some carpentry work in the area. “When I saw her, I thought, ‘That’s going to be my new girlfriend,’” he said about the 15-year-old.
In April 1982, Rose and her daughter invested in a Tulsa home that had a rental cottage behind it. Rose began renovating both. After graduating from high school, Annette joined her mother in Tulsa. Vail appeared a few days later, and convinced Annette to leave with him on his motorcycle. They lived off the $500-a-month Social Security check that she received from her father’s death 3 years prior. It would be over a year before Mary Rose would see her daughter again.
That fall, Annette (who was still 15) would fall pregnant, and Vail would force her to have a painful abortion.
Jerry Woodall, reportedly friends with Vail later recalled an embarrassing scene, where the 42-year-old Vail was in a sleeping bag, having public sex with a 16-year-old Annette, only 20 feet away from him and his then-wife Meredith McMackin. Annette grinned and waved at them. Woodall and McMackin did their best to ignore them.
McMackin would later say that Vail had “this coldness and controlling aspect to his personality. Annette was so open and alive, but I think he just totally dominated her. He would try to convey that he was this higher form of being. At first, I thought maybe he was evolved, but then I realized it was this arrogant act.”
Later that summer, police in California would arrest Vail for violating probation a dozen years earlier. Annette telephoned Woodall, who gave her $200. After Vail walked free from prison, he and Annette decided to get married. However, as a 17-year-old she needed permission.
Annette told her mother that she loved Vail, that they were already “spiritually married” and that they would travel to Mexico and get married there if she refused. Not wanting to lose her daughter completely, Rose said OK.
On August 15th, 1983, in Bakersfield, California, the couple were wed.
AFTER THE MARRIAGE
Four months after the marriage, Annette turned 18, allowing her to collect more than $98,000 ($293,500 today) from life insurance policies on her late father. Accompanied by Vail, she withdrew all the money in cash from a San Antonio bank. She bought a Fiat convertible that Vail liked and paid for his dental work.
In April 1984, Rose returned home to find Annette waiting at her door. She told her she wanted to divorce Vail, and enroll in college. She talked about Vail’s temper, including an incident where he had broken his hand trying to punch his wife. He missed and hit a wall.
A few weeks later, Vail showed up. The couple fought constantly, and Vail left after a few days. Mary Rose said that Vail was “insanely jealous” and would become furious when Annette spoke of her desire to go out with younger men.
She and Annette worked on renovating the two homes after Vail left, enjoying their time together. The 2 even started a garden together.
Annette received a letter from Vail, who vowed their time apart would fuel their love. He wrote to her: “After we hung up, I went out to a park and ran and hung and talked with God and smoked some and shot some pool and rode with the top down out through the marsh playing ‘Iron Butterfly’ [“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”] and bathing every inch of your body-spirit being with love.”
He referred to being away from Annette as “deprivation jail” and to her ego as “his jailor.”
“The idea of her cutting away ego’s “feeder roots and creating roots between your spirit and the cosmic ground of loving makes me hot for you. My mind is kissing you everywhere.”
After that, Vail would return to Annette’s life. Rose said, “Annette told me, ‘Felix is the wisest person in the world, and I can’t make decisions without him.’” His influence on Annette had only grown stronger. According to Rose, she even compared Vail to God, a comparison Vail agreed with.
After this, the couple angrily insisted that Rose move out and deed the house to Annette. Accompanied by suicidal thoughts brought on by Vail’s continued control over her daughter, Rose left for California to stay with family and friends, deeding the house to Annette for $7000 ($21,000 today) before she did.
Annette would add Vail to the deed, and a month later had deeded him both homes, leaving him as the sole owner.
ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Mere weeks after deeding the houses to Vail, the couple told neighbors they were leaving on vacation. When Vail returned in October, he was alone.
Vail told a neighbor that Annette had a lot of money wither her when he’d left her, and that she was likely visiting friends in Denver.
Upon learning that Annette hadn’t come back with Vail, Mary Rose called him. “He told me that while they were camping, Annette had a sexual dream about being with other men in Mexico, and she wanted to go there,” she recalled to an investigative reporter years later. “He claimed that the dream made them both realize that she should have her freedom.” The next day, Vail told her he had put Annette on a bus with $50,000 ($150,000 today) but didn't elaborate.
On Oct 22, 1984, Rose filed a missing person’s report. She told the Tulsa Police Department that each person who spoke with Vail “gets a different story about the amount of money that Annette took with her and where she might be. We all believe that he knows where she is or has done something with her.”
On January 22, 1985, Detective Dennis Davis and another officer questioned Vail at his home (This is obscenely late to start questioning him). By this point, Vail had filed for divorce, citing an inability to find her after a “diligent search.” Davis said her mother, Mary Rose, mentioned her daughter had received more than $90,000 from her father’s estate. Vail confirmed this was true, saying the couple had spent much of that money traveling in foreign countries. He said they kept their money in cash because they didn’t trust banks and that he had found about $10,000 in cash when he returned home.
The next day, Vail called a lawyer, who promised to talk with the officers and tell them to “leave me alone,” as he wrote in his journal.
When Davis returned five days later, Vail had a detailed alibi: The couple left Tulsa between noon and 3 p.m. on Sept. 13, 1984, and stayed the night in a hotel in Claremont, Oklahoma. After two nights of camping on the river, Annette woke up and told Vail she had decided to leave him. He took her to the Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis and left before she bought the ticket. (There is no Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis, and there has never been a Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis.)
He told the officers that she had told him she was headed for Denver, where she planned to get a fake ID card and leave for Mexico. When asked if he would take a lie detector test, Vail said no.
After Davis left, he wrote a letter to Rose. He blamed her for the “bad things” about Annette, told her that after the couple had returned from Costa Rica Annette had been “seeing friends and relatives --- completing her relationships with them for the purpose of getting ready to drop everybody and start over.” He wrote that Annette “disappeared herself from you” because Rose kept imposing her “value system” on her, and said Annette viewed her mother, grandmother, and herself as “zero self-image whores for approval.”
He explained the 2 had no plans to communicate, he did not know where she was, and that “I also assure you that even if I did know, I would not tell you.”
When Rose returned to Tulsa in April 1985, she entered the cottage Annette used to live in, only to find almost all the young woman’s belongings were gone, including her clothes and her diary.
Inside a Barbie suitcase, Rose found a photograph of her daughter and several of her identification cards. She also located things that Annette had written, including a Feb. 17, 1984, note that contradicted Vail’s claim that the couple had spent most of her inheritance on their travel to Mexico and Central American countries.
Instead, the note detailed how they used the money to buy the Fiat, pay off all of Vail’s loans, and deposit $36,000 into Louisiana Savings. It said that as of that day, they had $41,600 ($125,000 today) in cash.
Rose shared the information with the police. Detective Davis showed up again, and Vail told Davis the couple divided the money into smaller cashier’s checks, contradicting his earlier statement that they kept the money in cash.
After a while, Davis left, and despite the (seemingly obvious) suspicious behavior of Vail, closed the missing person’s case.
AFTER ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Rose kept calling Vail after this and was finally able to reach him on September 14th 1985.
When asked about Annette’s whereabouts he refused to tell her.
When asked about Annette’s missing clothes he said he gave them to charity.
When asked about the insurance money, Vail told her ‘That’s all she really cared about.’ Rose hung up.
Two years later, fed up with the lack of progress in Annette’s case, Rose would return to Tulsa. She spent thousands of dollars on private investigators to locate Vail. When that failed, she simply went and found him herself.
Tipped off that he was staying at someone’s house, she went there with a friend and found him sitting outside. When asked where Annette went, he replied “Mexico.” When asked where in Mexico, he said the 2 had made a pact to contact each other every 5 years, contradicting his statement that the 2 didn’t have plans to communicate. Rose didn’t believe a word of it.
The whole time Vail never looked up, never stood up and never looked her in the eye.
BETH FIELD
Some time after this, Vail began dating Beth Field. Soon the couple had began arguing, and Vail would call her a “whore.” During a December 1987 argument, he would strike her so hard he ruptured her ear drum. She told Vail there was no justification for violence, to which he responded, “If you quit behaving like a whore, I’ll quit hitting you.”
In August 1988 Beth received a call from Rose, sharing details about the disappearance of her daughter, Annette. From that point forward, Field said she began to examine Vail’s words more closely, realizing that he had likely murdered her.
Four months after the call, he entered her home unannounced. Already drunk, he accused her of “imagined promiscuity,” according to a court order. He slapped her, struck her, and threw her across the bedroom. She asked if Vail was going to kill her, to which Vail replied, “It depends on what you tell me.”
A judge gave her a protective order, requiring Vail to keep his distance. Two weeks later, the sheriff reported that Vail was nowhere to be found.
While Field was visiting a meditation center in Texas in 1990, Vail arrived. After composing herself, she told him “There is a part of you that goes off, and it’s sick and it’s dangerous.”
He looked at her and asked, “Really?” She said “yes, really.” This time, the message seemed to go through. Vail left the next day, and with a single exception about five years later, she never saw him again.
MARY ROSE LEARNS ABOUT THE OTHER 2 CASES
In the summer of 1991 (6 years after Annette's disappearance), Rose drove over 2000 miles to Canyon Lake, Texas to speak to Sue Jordan, Felix Vail’s sister. Jordan said that Vail had told her that Annette wanted to leave, that he took her to a bus station and that she left with some Mexican men, heading for Mexico. Jordan also mentioned that Vail’s first wife had drowned, which was news to Rose.
Before she left, Jordan also told her, “Oh, you know, there was another woman that disappeared. I remember her mother calling my mother for years, checking to see if they’d heard from her. I think her name was Sharon.”
After the conversation, Rose sat down at a typewriter, writing every word she could remember. She also called the public library in Lake Charles.
The librarian remembered the 1962 drowning of Vail’s first wife, Mary Horton. She told Rose that he had taken out life insurance policies on his wife prior to her drowning and that the insurance companies were suspicious and didn’t pay the full value. The librarian made copies of newspaper articles and mailed them to her.
After reading them, Rose reached out to Mary’s family in Louisiana, speaking to Will Horton. He shared her suspicions about Vail and a copy of the 1971 National Enquirer article made after Vail's son Bill reported him to the police. When she read it, she learned that Sharon’s last name was Hensley.
In 1994, she read in the newspaper about Dolores Strehlow’s disappearance from Medford, Oregon, seven years earlier. Police had just arrested her husband, thanks to the work of Detective Terry Newell. She contacted Newell, who helped her find the family of Sharon Hensley. When Rose dialed the Hensley family, Sharon’s mother, Peggy, answered. Rose asked if Peggy knew a Felix Vail. Peggy replied with "you bet I do"
THE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP… AND COOLS DOWN
The detective who helped Rose before, Terry Newell, contacted Jim Bell, a national expert in serial killings working for the FBI. When Rose talked with Bell, she felt like she'd finally gotten somewhere. He was interested in working on the Vail case if he could swing the time. He still remained busy with active serial killer cases, helping train task forces across the U.S. Vail’s son, Bill, told Rose that he was willing to testify, as long as authorities provided protection to his family. Both the Tulsa police and the district attorney’s office in Lake Charles revived their investigations into Vail, now considered a suspected serial killer.
Bell suggested the victims’ families gather with authorities at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to share information on Vail. He was unable to work on the case and left the FBI in 1995. The meeting in Quantico never materialized, and the cases involving Vail grew cold once again.
A QUICK RUN DOWN OF EVENTS
In the fall of 1997, family and friends held a mural for Annette.
Diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Vail’s son Bill heard from doctors that he didn’t have long to live. He’s quoted saying “now I’ll get to be with my mom.” Months before passing away in 2009, Bill talked about his father in a recorded interview with his pastor at Grace Church in Overland Park, Kansas.
On Jan. 3, 2009, Bill died, and Vail wrote in his journal, “I feel a large empty hole in my being where his life presence has been for 47 years,” before writing about getting a good haircut. He drove to Kansas but didn’t attend his own son’s funeral. If he had, he would have heard the recording, with his son detailing how he had overheard his father talk about murdering Bill's mother, Mary.
When Vail learned of the recording, he wrote to Pastor Tim Howey, asking for a copy. He blamed his son’s statements on “false memories,” saying, “I have not known about it until now and am stunned.”
In 2012, while attempting to confront Vail with reporter Jerry Mitchell whom she had contacted to write about Vial, Rose was stopped by Kaye Faulkner, Vial’s sister. She told Rose and Mitchell of the recording and urged Mitchell to get a copy of it. She also said that she believed Vial had murdered Mary Horton, Sharon Hensley, and Annette Craver.
She gave the reporter Vial’s number, as well as the numbers of her other brother, Ronnie, and her sister, Beth. Vial didn’t answer those calls, so Mitchell left a message. Ronnie promised to speak to his brother on his behalf.
MITCHELL INVESTIGATES
Mitchell arrived in Lake Charles and stopped by the Southwestern Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library, which shared copies from old city directories. He began tracking down people who had lived in the Maree Apartments with Felix and Mary.
Many described Mary’s fair of drowning. A close friend of Vails, Judson McCann II described Vial as a ladies’ man, and insinuated he was a cheater. “Many nights, his car wouldn’t be home, and Mary would be there with the lights on. When Felix was gone, it wasn’t because he was trotline fishing.”
Another close friend, Bob Hodges described Vial’s story of Mary ‘falling’ in the river as “horse manure.”
A college roommate of Mary, Sandra Sudduth Pratt, said “Nobody believed it was an accident.”
Mitchell shared Mary’s autopsy report with pathologist Dr. Michael Baden of New York City, who concluded that foul play had taken place in her death.
The report showed large bruises with bleeding into tissues on the left side of the neck, which he said suggested she suffered forceful neck trauma before entering the water. There were hemorrhagic bruises to the right calf and left leg above the knee, which he said were consistent with a struggle before her submersion. But most convincingly of all was the scarf authorities found around her neck that extended 4 inches into her mouth, which suggested traumatic asphyxia before entering the water.
“Somebody had to push that scarf into her mouth. She had to have that scarf wedged in her mouth before she was put in the water.”
A cousin put Mary’s brother Will Horton in touch with former detective “Rabbit” Manuel, who had headed up the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office’s investigation back in 1962. He had never forgotten Mary’s death. “Felix’s story just didn’t add up. The fishing tackle was dry. The trotline was dry. The boat was dry. Even Felix’s cigarettes were dry, despite him telling the deputies he dove straight in the water to save Mary.”
He and Manuel met with “Lucky” DeLouche, who directed an elite task force unit that investigated homicides. Three young detectives took notes as they talked. Manuel shared details from the case, saying deputies (officers) wanted to prosecute, but the district attorney wouldn’t let them. Horton shared the autopsy report, Vail’s letters and his belief that Vail was a serial killer. Horton said DeLouche replied, “This absolutely fits the profile of a serial killer,” to which the other detectives agreed.
Shortly afterwards, DeLouche left the task force, and for seemingly the hundredth time, grew cold again.
After Mitchell posted a story about Vail titled “Gone” (It’s nearly 9,000 words long, and the precursor to the 35,500 word story I have drawn heavily from) a man named Wesley Turnage contacted him. He told him of a conversation he had had with Vail in 1963 during a car ride.
According to Turnage, Vail called Mary a bitch and said she thought another child would help solve their marriage problems. He quoted Vail as saying, “She wanted to have another kid. I didn’t want the one I got. I fixed that sorry bitch. She will never have another one.”
Mitchell would make another discovery. District Attorney Salter Jr. had ordered that the judge dismiss 882 criminal cases — more than three cases for each working day.
Will Horton told Mitchell the original detectives in the case told him that Salter wouldn’t allow them to present the evidence they had collected against Vail. That matched the stories Mitchell had heard from grand jurors’ families.
Horton then contacted District Attorney John DeRosier, who said he would be willing to reopen the case if there was enough evidence.
Then came an interesting wrinkle in the story. Finding Vail.
He’d disappeared, returning on Labor Day weekend 2012 to sell his property, before disappearing again. Luckily, another reader of "Gone" came to the rescue. He phoned Mitchell, telling him where Vial was. Canyon Lake, Texas.
Mitchell then contacted Enzo Yaksic, founder of the Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative. Yaksic then contacted Armin Showalter, acting chief for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which specialized in serial homicide investigations.
Yaksic shared a copy of GONE with Showalter, who in turn called Calcasieu Parish Deputy Randy Curtis, now taking on the Vail case. Curtis phoned Mitchell to find out where Vail was. A few days later, he called back to say the FBI had discovered Vail purchased property at 737 Shadyview Drive in Canyon Lake.
On Jan. 18, 2013, Curtis decided to confront Vail. He found him at that address, living in a storage shed. Curtis said he read Vail his rights before asking him about the death and disappearances of the women. Vail refused to say anything, accusing families and The Clarion-Ledger (Where "Gone" was published) of lying about him. The whole time, Vail couldn’t stop smirking.
​
Will Horton gave Mitchell the number of his cousin, who was a caretaker for 90-year-old Isaac Abshire Jr. When Mitchell sat down with the man, he shared a haunting story.
Abshire had worked with Vail and offered him a room to rent out. Once Vail and Mary were married, Vail had moved out. Abshire viewed himself as “a big brother” to Mary, calling her “a sweet little girl.”
After the marriage, Vail had become angry at work, talking about how ugly his wife was when she was pregnant, and how he didn’t like his baby. On the Friday before she was killed, the couple visited Abshire, bringing Bill, who was still an infant. Mary privately asked Abshire if he thought Vail could take her baby away.
Two days later, Mary was dead.
Abshire and two other workers went out the next day to drag the river. The next morning, Oct. 30, 1962, he returned with one of them, Jimmy May, to continue dragging.
Abshire said while they were talking, “something popped up. A guy with binoculars asked, ‘Does she have blonde hair?’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s her.’”
They recovered the body, and Abshire could never forget what he saw. Her body was rigid, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck before going into her mouth. Blood boiled on the boat, everyone voicing the same opinion. Vail had killed Mary.
Abshire had kept photos from that day for over 50 years. He said he had given them to Deputy Curtis as well as a copy of the 1962 sheriff’s report, which listed 15 points suggesting Vail’s guilt.
Despite being behind on major bills, Vail had managed to pay an entire year’s premiums in advance for a $50,000 ($150,000 today) life insurance policy on his wife. He had a second life insurance policy on her for $8,000 ($24,000 today), which promised to pay double if she died by accident.
It was almost as if he knew she was about to die.
Deputies had reported witnesses claims that Vail had told them he didn’t love his wife, that she looked stupid and vulgar, and that he had had sexual relations with multiple women, and at least one man.
Vail told deputies that his wife was wearing an off-white leather jacket when she went into the water. But she wasn’t wearing the jacket when her body was recovered. Inside his boat, deputies found two life preservers. Mary had not been wearing one, despite her fear of drowning. As for the trotline the 2 were supposedly running, deputies found it still inside Vail’s tackle box.
Most witnesses the Deputies had spoken too felt that Vail was capable of killing his wife.
When asked if he believed Vail killed his wife, Abshire said “Oh, my God, yes.”
THE CHASE & THE FINAL CLUES:
Ever since Vail had sold his Mississippi property, Mary Rose had wondered if he would eventually sell the Tulsa property, the one she and Annette had lived in. He did. Vail sold it for $149,000. Rose asked the question on the mind of everyone investigating. “What is he going to do with all that money? --- He could be running.”
On April 30th Mitchell got a call saying that Vail had left Texas. He was pulled over by police in Columbus, Mississippi after hopping the fence of his now dead brother Ronnie’s property. Curtis told Mitchell that the Columbus police were sending him a photo of Vail and the white pick-up truck he was pulled over in. He once again warned Mitchell that Vail could be running.
Vail’s sister called again, saying she heard her brother was heading to Montpelier. She wondered if he was driving to the home of possible witness Wesley Turnage.
Mitchell called Turnage to let him know that Vail might be headed his way. Turnage replied “If he sets foot on my property, there won’t be no trial.” He called Mitchell back later, saying no one in Montpelier had seen Vail.
Private Investigator Gina Frenzel, who had questioned Vail herself, including pretending to be his girlfriend, called Mitchell with good news. Vail had contacted her and told her he was back in Canyon Lake. Mitchell informed Curtis.
On May 17th 2012, authorities arrested Felix Vail for the murder of his wife Mary Horton.
In telephone calls from the jail in Lake Charles, he shared his explanation of what happened the night of Oct. 28, 1962, when Mary died.
He referred to his first wife as a “coon-ass lady,” saying she was “half kneeling” on his feet when she “saw one of the float buckets that were on the line.” He said the boat was “going real slow along the edge of the bank when the boat hit a stump ... and it dumped her right out.” Vail said he shut off the motor and dove in “where she had plopped in the water. I mean, nothing. The river had sucked her right in.” He said he “dove around until I was exhausted, and came in immediately to the police station in town and reported the accident and that was it.”
This story differed greatly from his story in 1962 when he said his wife was sitting on top of a boat seat when she fell out, not that she was kneeling on his feet. Back then, he said nothing about hitting a stump — just swerving to miss it.
It also differed from the story he had told his son, where a wave from another boat had dumped Mary out.
Vail told Frenzel that the case “has been an avalanche coming down the mountain all that time, waiting to hit my head, and it finally has.”
He blamed the families and Mitchell, “an evil, shrimpy reporter,” for what had happened, calling the charges “fabricated” and insisting that “a large amount of money, hate and political ambitions are behind them.”
At Vail’s request, Frenzel returned his truck to his home and went inside to take care of a few tasks. While there, she spent 16 hours photographing all his journals, more than 2,400 pages. She also photographed letters, documents, photographs and business cards, some dating back to the 1960s. She found a collection of women’s jewelry, old buttons, pins, and even a glass dildo.
Disturbingly, if at this point unsurprisingly, she found a photograph of a naked 3-year-old girl. Frenzel later spoke with the girl, now a woman. The journals revealed that Vail had stalked her for years.
Frenzel discovered the birth certificate of Annette Craver, who had used it for previous trips to Mexico.
Mitchell and Frenzel poured through the journals she had photographed. They noticed gaps in them that lead them to believe Vail had ripped pages out, including times when he should have been with Sharon and Annette.
His journals were dominated by sex, dreams of sex and reflected an obsession with children. In a March 27, 1986, entry, Vail wrote about the visit of a woman and her daughters in his home. “The little girls were delicious --- We massaged some, hugged & kissed some & it was 12 (midnight) & time for them to go.”
On Aug. 29, 1992, Vail walked into the Wal-Mart in West Point, and as he wrote in his journal “a 1-year-old white girl looked in my eyes loving me like there was no age difference between us.”
When Mitchell interviewed Kert Germany, a co-worker of Vail in 1977 he said that Vail attracted women wherever he went, and that Vail had told him the best sex of his life had been with 2- or 3-year-old girl.
It was that this time that Alexandra Christianson, Vail’s ex-wife called Mitchell and told him her story. She also put him in contact with Bruce Biedebach, the man she had been on a date with when she left with Vail. Biedebach would tell Mitchell that during a party in 1965 that turned into a “boast-fest” Vail had boasted about something he had done, that no one else had done.
Killed his wife.
He told the men at the party that he had held his wife’s head underwater until she drowned.
Biedebach then put Mitchell in contact with Rob Fremont, who had bicycled around California with Vail when he was 13. He said that while riding with Vail, he had told him that he hit his wife on the head and drowned her. Fremont never rode with him again after that.
With as much evidence as they could possibly gather, the case went to trial.
THE TRIAL:
Vail’s trial began on August 8th, 2016.
District Attorney John DeRosier laid out the evidence clearly.
He spoke of the evidence against Vail about Mary’s murder on October 28th, 1962.
He spoke about Vail swearing to Sharon Hensley’s mother that she wanted to start a new life in 1974.
He spoke about his letters to Mary Rose, telling her he wouldn’t tell her where her daughter Annette was “even if he knew.” Vail smirked at that one.
Finally, he spoke to the jurors.
“Mary Horton Vail is gone, Sharon Hensley is gone,” DeRosier said, “and Annette Craver Vail is gone.”
“You’re going to write the last chapter, and it’s simply going to read, ‘And justice was finally done. William Felix Vail, guilty as charged.’”
Prosecutors called all three families to testify.
Will Horton told jurors of his sister, “Mary was the kind of person you would want as a friend.” He broke while talking about visiting his nephew after he death in 1962. “I just wanted Bill to know how much his mother loved him.”
Brian Hensley told jurors that he last saw his sister, Sharon, with Vail before the pair left Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1972. Other than a telephone call and letter in the months that followed, he said no one had seen or heard from her since.
When Mary Rose took the stand, Vail bowed his head.
This was the woman who had been working for 32 long years to bring him into this court.
This was the mother who had waited 32 years for this moment.
She called Annette “a huge light in my life. We were always loving toward each other.” She testified that Vail ran off with her daughter on his motorcycle and married her. She testified that Annette, who inherited nearly $100,000 and received two homes, disappeared weeks after deeding those homes to Vail.
Wesley Turnage, Rob Fremont, and Bruce Biedebach swore under oath that Vail said he killed his first wife. Biedebach said he asked Vail if Mary was a bitch, to which Vail had said yes. Vail laughed in court as he told the story.
The current coroner, forensic pathologist Dr. Terry Welke, testified that in most drownings, the body comes up in a “dead person’s float,” with the back of the head surfacing first and the limbs hanging down in the water.
After sharing a series of pictures to show it, he showed the court two black-and-white photographs of Mary Horton when her body was recovered on Oct. 30, 1962, less than two days after she reportedly drowned. Her body was stiff, with her hands over chest as if she was in a coffin.
They also saw the videotaped testimony of Isaac Abshire Jr, who had died in 2014. He said her body was stiff when it surfaced either sideways or face up when she bobbed up in the Calcasieu River.
That testimony helped contribute to Welke’s homicide conclusion. So did the unbroken grease-like stain across her Chi Omega sweatshirt, which he believed could have come from a tarp covering her. Welke concluded Mary was dead and stiff before her body went into the water, explaining why rigor had set in.
Testimony was heard of Vail not paying for his own wife’s funeral, despite having made thousands from her life insurance.
THE VERDICT
The jury didn’t even take a half hour to reach their verdict.
William Felix Vail Sr was unanimously found guilty of murdering Mary Horton. He was sentenced to life in prison.
After the verdict, the prosecutor also revealed that the FBI had found out that Vail had molested a child over 30 years ago. They were unable to put him on trial for it, as the statue of limitations had passed.
Finally, nearly 54 years after she was murdered, Mary Horton had found justice.
Finally, 42 years after her disappearance, Sharon Hensley had found justice.
And Annette Craver, with the help of her mother Mary Rose’s tireless efforts, had finally found justice after 32 years.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/f75084c7dce4fb08e12e45ccba5e40a1
This a photo of Mary, Sharon and Annette. I felt it was fitting to end off with. May they all rest in peace.
MY SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/8284?nav
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-michelle-craver-vail
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5796622/mary-elizabeth-vail
https://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-hensley
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20525?nav

So alittle back ground. My BIL GF has a small flower business. I have always treated her with respect, out of respect for my BIL, in-laws, and my husband. But she does have her moments.
She is a VERY jealous GF. She does not cook or clean their apartment. She quit her job to fully focus on her small business, expecting my BIL to pay for everything. When they fight, she gets physical. One occasion, I was on vacation and she called at 3am. They were fighting. She was yelling and calling him names. He realized that she had called me, drunk, and hung up. He then later told me that she had gotten mad, after a club b/c he went up to the DJs GF and asked for her BFs info for a party he was planning. She lost it b/c he was talking to a girl!
All of last year, I supported her in her business. I bought her bouquets for almost any occasion, birthdays, AND my sister hired her to make the center pieces of her wedding and bouquet! I also promoted her on my IG.
Christmas came around and this is where I started to change my perspective of her. I want to state that I never expect extravagant gifts, BUT we all know when someone puts thought into a gift. We were going to travel for New Year's, as a family, and my husband and I gifted people items that they could use on the trip. I put thought into the colors and size per person. Well, my gifts from my BIL and GF were a candel, HAND soap, and a coin purse. I did not open my gift infront of them because they had to leave before we opened gifts. I opened it infront of my husband and even he was surprised. He assumed his gift would he similar. His gift was a NEW Calvin Klein leather jacket, that I helped my brother in law pick. My FIL was gifted a new Nespresso expresso machine and MIL was gifted a beautiful necklace. I tried to be greatful, but I was so conflicted.
My husband and I stayed at my parents house when we arrived my mom asked, "What did you get for Christmas?" I told her, "Oh [My husband] can tell you. I need to go to the restroom." I overheard my husband telling my mom what happened and my mom got livid! All I heard her say was, "Hand soap? After, everything she did for her, this year, my daughter deserves hand soap as a Christmas gift, okay!" When I walked back, my mom stared at me, hugged me, and I was just like, "Do you need hand soap?" We kinda laughed and she suggested, "You know what? Don't make a big deal about it. Next year don't buy ANYTHING from her. Nothing!" I looked at my husband and asked him, "Do you agree? B/c she is your brother's GF and I don't want drama. So I need you on my side." He said, "No, that was messed up and your mom is right. I won't support her if you don't want me to." So AITA for not supporting her small business?

IGS Rep
HAVE

• 12 is Better Than 6
  
• 3000th Duel
  
• A Blind Legend
  
• Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
  
• Act of Aggression- Reboot Edition
  
• Agatha Christie ABC Murders
  
• Aground
  
• Alchemy Garden
  
• All-Star Fruit Racing
  
• Alt-Frequencies
  
• Arcade Spirits
  
• Arietta of Spirits
  
• Asterix & Obelisk XXL Romastered
  
• Astronarch
  
• AtmaSphere
  
• Autonauts
  
• Autonauts vs. Piratebots
  
• A Year of Rain
  
• Biped
  
• Black Future '88
  
• Blacksad: Under the Skin
  
• Bloody Rally Show
  
• Bomber Crew Deluxe Edition
  
• Book of Demons
  
• Boyfriend Dungeon
  
• Bridge Constructor: the Walking Dead
  
• Brunch Club
  
• Calico
  
• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
  
• Call of Juarez
  
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
  
• Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
  
• Cats in Time
  
• Caveblazers
  
• Chess Ultra
  
• Crying Suns
  
• Dark Devotion
  
• Darkstone
  
• Dead Age
  
• Dead End Job
  
• Dead Island Definitive Edition
  
• Deponia
  
• DESOLATE
  
• Dishonored
  
• Distrust
  
• Doodle Derby
  
• Doom (1993)
  
• Doom II
  
• Doom 64
  
• Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh
  
• Double Cross
  
• Dub Dash
  
• Dust to the End
  
• Edna & Harvey: Harveys New Eyes
  
• Eldest Souls
  
• Embr
  
• Eternal Edge+
  
• Evan’s Remains
  
• Everhood
  
• Fallback: Uprising
  
• Fallout 3
  
• Fallout New Vegas
  
• Fishing: Barents Sea
  
• From Space
  
• FORTIFIED!
  
• Game Dev Studio
  
• Garbage
  
• Garfield Kart
  
• Garfield Kart Furious Racing
  
• Generation Zero
  
• Geometric Sniper
  
• Ghost 1.0
  
• Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
  
• GOAT OF DUTY
  
• God's Trigger
  
• Golden Light
  
• Golf Gang
  
• Gone Home + Soundtrack
  
• Grand Mountain Adventures: Wonderlands
  
• Headsnatchers
  
• Helheim Hassle
  
• Hellbound
  
• Horror Story: Hallowseed
  
• Hue
  
• I am Fish
  
• Impulsion
  
• Intravenous
  
• Just Die Already
  
• Just Ignore Them
  
• Lair of the Clockwork God
  
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
  
• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
  
• Little Big Workshop- The Evil DLC
  
• Little Dungeon Stories
  
• Lornsword Winter Chronicle
  
• Machinika Museum
  
• Mad Tracks
  
• MageQuit
  
• Marsupilami Hoobadventure
  
• Midnight Protocol
  
• Mindustry
  
• Mini Thief
  
• Nigate Tale
  
• Nihilumbra
  
• Noitu Love 2: Devolution
  
• Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
  
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee
  
• Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
  
• Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
  
• Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty: Alf's Escape DLC
  
• Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty- Scrub Abe Costume
  
• Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
  
• Omen Exitio: Plague
  
• One Gun Guy
  
• oO
  
• Osteoblasts
  
• Out of Space
  
• OUT OF THE BOX
  
• OUTBUDDIES DX
  
• PAYDAY 2
  
• Police Stories
  
• Porcunipine
  
• Princess Farmer
  
• Quake II
  
• Rebel Galaxy
  
• Remnants of Naezith
  
• Rencounter
  
• Restless Soul
  
• Reventure
  
• RIOT Civil Unrest
  
• Roki
  
• Rover Mechanic Simulator
  
• RUNOUT
  
• Safety First!
  
• Serial Cleaner
  
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
  
• Shiny the Firefly
  
• Silver Chains
  
• Skeletal Avenger
  
• Slain: Back from Hell
  
• Slime-San
  
• Smoke and Sacrifice
  
• SPACECOM
  
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
  
• Splasher
  
• StarCrossed
  
• Startup Panic
  
• Stealth Inc 2
  
• Stick it to the Man!
  
• Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure
  
• Survivalist
  
• Survivalist: Invisible Strain
  
• Switchball HD
  
• Tacoma
  
• Teacup
  
• Tesla Force
  
• The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
  
• The Black Heart
  
• The Game of Life
  
• The Indie Mixtape
  
• The Inner World
  
• The Spectrum Retreat
  
• The Town of Light
  
• The Wild Eight
  
• Those Who Remain
  
• tiny & Tall Gleipnir
  
• Toki
  
• Tokyo Xanadu eX+
  
• Torchlight
  
• Train Valley 2
  
• Turok
  
• Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
  
• Valfaris
  
• Vambrace: Cold Soul
  
• Velocity Ultra Deluxe
  
• VolticPistol
  
• Voyage: Journey to the Moon
  
• Wargame: Airland Battle
  
• Wargame: European Escalation
  
• Weaving Tides
  
• When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
  
• Wolfenstein 3D
  
• Wounded- the Beginning
  
• XIII Classic
  
• Yesterday Origins
  
• Yono and the Celestial Elephants
  

I just got back from vacation, and to nobody's surprise as a late-30's FA I didn't manage to get laid at all (nor find a future wife) on a 10-day singles cruise and stay in Miami. Of course, one of my many (over)efforts was checking out Miami's famed nightlife.
I'm generally reserved and very introverted, as a typical male FA, things that obviously don't work very well for men who are expected to be the pursuers of sex/romance in society. Raucous, crowded environments aren't my thing at all, but the whole point of the trip was to push the boundaries of my traditional comfort zones which clearly haven't done me any favors in life up to this point. That said, one night I ended up in one of Miami's biggest and hottest nightclubs, determined to make the most of my time there.
I'm short, shy, socially awkward with average-at-best looks. I also live in a rural shithole, so I'm more or less fishing with no lure in a dry pond. I'm not used to women approaching me at all, period, and the online pickings are hardly better. Well, here I am in the club and I'm getting approached by women. Not one or two, dozens. (It's a big club, after all.) Not morbidly obese like the only ones swiping on me online, every single one looks like a pornstar that wouldn't so much as acknowledge my existence in any other context. They're putting their hands all over me, sometimes putting my hands all over them... I know it's just business and they're not interested in me as a person, but I actually feel somewhat sexy and desirable for once.
The best part? No, not all the tits I got to see, although I ain't complaining about that. It's that I got to say no to them! I got to reject them. The entire normal power dynamic between me and women has been flipped on its head in this environment, and I'm all for it. It was a whole-ass vibe. I've never felt more empowered in my life. E11even/10 would go again.
Bless the Amazonian black woman who came fairly late in the night. Her tits literally sat at my forehead level she was so much taller than me, must've been at least 6'5"-ish. (I'm 5'3".) Gorgeous leggy woman. I saw her walk in the door and the first thing she does is beeline toward me. She tilts my chin up, buries my face in her tits, and plants a kiss on my forehead. Kinda wholesome? Then she kept walking past me without even trying to sell me a private dance. If I had spent any money in there other than the two Rum & Cokes I nursed for three hours, it definitely would've been patronizing her but I didn't stay much longer after that (she entered ~3:30am) and didn't see her again.
It's the type of environment I would normally loathe having to endure. Imagine my surprise when I can confidently say it was one of the highlights of my trip.