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Missing and Murdered Indigenous...Men? Why are there so many missing men and boys from the Yakama reservation? Part 2 of 2.

Missing and murdered indigenous people
If you have spent any time reading about true crime, you probably know that American Indian/ Native American women go missing from the United States and Canada at alarming rates. On some reservations, women experience violence and are victims of homicide at 10x the rate of women in other communities.
But what about men and boys? Missing and murdered Indigenous boys and men are the forgotten group of this epidemic of violence on tribal land and many families are aching to see the cases of their missing/murdered male loved ones solved. Just like with the missing women, men and boys are going missing at an alarming rate on tribal land, but race is not the only factor. Men (and women) of all ethnicities who live on the Yakama reservation are missing and murdered at disturbing rates.
Missing and murdered indigenous people is a complex issue with prejudice and jurisdictional issues playing major roles. If you want to know more about the root of these issues, I suggest “Missing and Murdered” podcast by Indigenous Canadian journalist Connie Walker, who explains the issues much better than I ever could; that podcast is linked below.
Today, I want to highlight the stories of some of these men and boys, specifically those missing from the Yakama community. Because there are so many missing people who are practically unknown, I have decided to profile the cases of ALL the men and boys missing from the reservation, regardless of race.
This is a companion piece to another write up I completed about missing women and girls from the Yakama reservation. That write up can be found here. If some sections sound similar that is probably why. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/htvnv6/extensive_write_up_on_missing_and_murdered/
Background
Washington state is home to the fifth largest Indian reservation in the United States, the Yakama reservation, which is home to the Klickitat, Palus, Wallawalla, Wenatchi, Whishram, Wanapum, and Yakama people. According to the US Census Bureau, only the Osage, Puyallup (also in Washington state), Navajo, and Choctaw reservations are more populous. The Yakama reservation is located in South Central Washington state, just south of the city of Yakima. Of the 31,000 people who lived on the reservation, 11,000 are enrolled tribal members. Most people who live on the reservation claim Hispanic/Latino, white, or mixed-race descent, but Hispanic is by far the most common ethnic group. There are also small Filipino, Japanese, and Korean communities nearby. The Yakama reservation is located just south of the town of Yakima, Washington, a large farming community of 100,000 people. Apples, cherries, peaches, pears, grapes, and hops are all grown in the dry surrounding region. Harvest time brings thousands of migrant workers to the area, so the population is always in flux.
Outside of Yakima is the town of Union Gap (Pop. 8000), which is partially on the reservation, and partially off it. There are two other proper towns on reservation, Toppenish (pop. 8000) and Wapato (pop. 5000). Other small communities such as Satus, Harrah, White Swan, and Granger all boast several hundred residents each. All in all, the Yakama nation consists of 2,200 square miles of sprawling, rural land stretching from south central Washington nearly to the Oregon border. But from this unassuming patch of high desert and grassland, more than 30 Native women have gone missing/were murdered. If we add Native men to the equation, the number jumps to nearly 40 unsolved disappearances, deaths, and murders. If we add the deaths and disappearances of non-native people missing from the reservation, the number grows yet again.
Although the land is vast, the tribal population is small. From my estimates over .5% of native people on the reservation are missing or murdered. Like many tribal communities, unemployment and poverty is common, appropriate housing is scare, and according to the tribal council "disregard for the rule of law and general civil unrest" as well as gun violence and substance abuse is common. In 2019 a curfew was instated after a particularly bad shooting.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the Yakama nation has the highest percentage of missing people of any Native community in the state, even though they are not the most populous. The FBI created a task force in 2009 to investigate the possibility of serial killer among the Yakama, but the investigation determined that a serial killer was unlikely, but not impossible. This was because the causes of death were so different from victim to victim. The investigation did close 2 cases on the reservation after DNA on both women linked them to a man serving life in an Oregon prison, but the man is not believed to be responsible for any other crimes in the inquiry.
Whether a serial killer is loose on tribal land or not, this issue is complex and long standing and demonstrates how much substance abuse, domestic violence, accidents, and random crime affect the native communities in this county at 10x the rate of other communities. Some progress has been made such as state bill 2951 which allows Washington state authorities to track cases and help investigate and search for missing individuals on tribal land. Because tribal lands are usually under federal jurisdiction, state authorities previously were not able to help, despite being more familiar with the area than the FBI. This is only one small step in the right direction and although awareness is growing, the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people will not simply go away.
Many people have heard of this epidemic, but few know the names of the victims; today it is time to change that. Below are the profiles of 20 men and boys who are missing, murdered, or who have suffered mysterious deaths. For some of the individuals very little information is available. The list below is not necessarily complete. If you know of other unsolved cases let me know in the comments below.
Quick guide: Yakima- large town near, but not on, the reservation
Yakama- the tribe and people group
NOTE: all cases organized most to least recent. In order to be profiled the cases in this piece must have some connection to the Yakama Indian reservation. This could mean those who lived on the reservation, were last seen on the reservation, are believed to be missing within the confines of reservation, or are of Yakama heritage by birth. Hope that makes sense.
Missing
Bernard Schieber, 86, of Yakima has not been seen since Aug. 8, 2019, when he left his home in the 2500 block of South 84th Avenue in Yakima. His black, full-size Chevrolet pickup was found a few weeks later in a closed portion of the Yakama Nation reservation. It appears to have been parked normally and not crashed or damaged. When he left his home in the city of Yakima, Bernard had only ¼ tank of gas and no money. He suffers from dementia. Bernard is described as a white male with blue eyes and gray hair. He weighs 190 lbs. and stands 5’ 11” tall. Anyone with any information about Schieber is asked to call the Yakima County Sheriff's Office at 509-574-2500. He is still missing.
Josiah “Jo” Michael Hilderbrand aged 25 and his friend 47-year-old Jon Joseph Cleary left southern California in early June 2020 to travel to a Grateful Dead concert at The Gorge a venue in Washington state. Both men were traveling together in a light blue 2004 Honda Civic hybrid when they were last heard from on June 7th, 2019. On June 8th their abandoned burned out car was found 8 miles west of Toppenish in a deserted, rural area of the reservation. The FBI has stated they believe the men are dead but they are officially listed as missing.
Josiah Hilderbrand is described as white male, age 25, with light brown wavy hair and blue eyes. He is 5’8” and 165 lbs. He has a neck tattoo. Jon Cleary is a white male, 47 years old, and 6’3” in height weighing 230 lbs. He has brown/gray hair and beard and brown eyes. He usually wears a baseball cap.
Remains found August 5th, 2020 near Toppenish may belong to the men. The FBI is handling the case as the men were found on tribal land. The families are offering $35,000 for information that can solve the murders. Even if the remains are those of the “Dead Heads” the crimes of their deaths remain unsolved.
Strangely enough Hilderbrand and Cleary died on the same day that a mass shooting occurred in White Swan where two men, Donovan Quinn Carter Cloud and James Dean Cloud, killed five people. The shooters have been convicted in that crime and some have speculated that both crimes are related. This mass shooting was the crime that inspired that reservation-wide curfew to be put into effect.
Elias Chief Culps, 25, was last seen in White Swan on Dec. 27, 2018 and has not been heard from since. In 2015 Elias was a witness in a court case about unreasonable searches and seizures and whose jurisdiction should be involved when fugitives are found on tribal land- the outcome of that case is unknown. There is little information available about Elias’ disappearance. Those with information are asked to call the Yakama Nation Police Department at 509-865-2933, case number 19-009167. He is described as a Native American male, 5’6”-5’7” in height and 150-170 lbs. He has brown hair and eyes and a tattoo on his neck.
Jose Francisco Canales a 43-year-old father of 7 children was last heard from on July 7, 2018 in Harrah, Washington where he resided with his wife of nineteen years. He was last seen at La Guadalupana (a store in Harrah) on July 6, 2018 where he cashed his paycheck. The next day, July 7th, he called his boss to report that he would not be coming into work that day. This was the last time anyone saw or heard from Canales. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5’7” or 5’8” in height and 145 lbs. with brown hair and eyes. He has a scar on his left hand about 1” in length and a tattoo of a heart on his right arm/shoulder area. He was last seen wearing along-sleeved t-shirt (possibly green), blue jeans, brown sneakers and a blue baseball cap. He has a receding hairline and some gray hairs in his beard. Canales may be driving a gray 1994 Ford Ranger single cab pickup truck with the Washington license plate number B53351T. There may be a green 2018 Polaris 450HO four-wheeler in the bed of the truck; it has the vehicle identification number (VIN) 4XASEA509JA252860. Canales's case remains unsolved.
Rolando Gabriel "Gabby" Gutierrez, of Mabton has been missing since Sept. 16, 2017. The 44-year-old was the oldest of six siblings and was close to his family. When his family last heard from him, Gutierrez was in Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point, a Mexican fishing and resort city on the Gulf of California. He was staying in the area and had weekly phone contact with his family. Gabby was planning to come home for his niece’s birthday in October, but he never made it. One of his sisters worried that Gabby was “wrapped up” in the drug trade. In November 2019, forensic scientists in the Mexican state of Sonora announced that they had recovered 52 bodies and skeletons from a mass grave near Puerto Peñasco. Gabby’s family told an Associated Press reporter that they thought there might be a chance his body was among them, but this is not known for certain. Rolando “Gabby” Gutierrez is described as either a Hispanic or a mixed race (Caucasian/ Hispanic) male who is 5’10” in height and weights 180-260 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes but he shaves his head. He also has a zodiac cancer symbol tattooed on his arm and has pierced nipples. There is currently a go fund me for Gabby’s family so one of his siblings can travel to Mexico to give their DNA for comparison. Mexican authorities are investigating this case.
Kristopher Fowler, 34, was last seen Oct. 12, 2016. Fowler, affectionately known as "Sherpa" and “Kris” was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and had started at the border with Mexico with a goal of completing the 2,800-mile trek to the Canadian border. He was last seen in the White Pass area only a few hundred miles from his destination. Kris was last seen at a convenience store in very rural Yakima county. Kris is described as a white male, 6’2” and 165 lbs. He has blonde hair and beard and blue eyes. He is believed to be lost in the wilderness. His step mother still hopes the body can be recovered some day. Those with information should call the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office at 509-574-2500.
Joseph Eric Miranda Jr., 24, has been missing from Granger since May 26, 2016. Reports say Joseph went to his bedroom on May 26, 2016 around 10:30 pm after talking with his father. His mother went to check on him in the morning but he was nowhere to be found. She last saw him late on the evening of May 25, 2016 and initially thought he had gone on a walk never returned. It is unclear if Miranda and his wife also lived at the house with his parents or if he was only staying there. According to one source, Miranda left his wife a note that said he “wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.” Miranda had a bank card and a cellphone with him when he disappeared, but because the cellphone was a government issued phone (a burner phone maybe?) it cannot be pinged. His bank card was last used on May 25th to buy a soda at a gas station and it has never been used again. He left his keys and his car at his parent’s home. There has been some activity on Miranda’s social security card but it is unknown if the user is Miranda or an identity thief. Joseph’s favorite movie is a 2014 film called Wild, about a girl who hikes through the wilderness of the Pacific Crest trail. His family worries he embarked on a similar journey and either got lost of met with foul play. They ask that if Joseph is out there to please contact them so that they know he is alive and well.
Joseph is described as a Hispanic male, 5’7” or 5”8 and 180-195 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes. Miranda had long hair and a beard at the time of his disappearance and usually wore his hair long but occasionally cut it very short. He wears prescription eyeglasses with silver frames. He has a strawberry birthmark on his chest and a small mole on his upper lip. When last seen he was wearing multi colored swim trunks, a green long-sleeved shirt and superman flip flops. He often wears flip flops, his Rx glasses, and bandanas or hats on his head. If you have seen Miranda or have information please called the Granger PD at 509-854-2656.
Chad Nathan Stotz-Gomez, 36 of Union Gap, drifted between homeless camps at the time of his disappearance, but talked to his mother and other family members regularly. He was last seen on July 10th 2015. He has not been seen or heard from since. Some believe that this case is connected to the case of Cody Turner (details below). The same day Stotz-Gomez disappeared, there was shooting at a homeless camp between Yakima and Selah, Washington. The victim, a 36-year-old woman, was injured but the victim has not cooperated with law enforcement and no arrests have been made. Police found Stotz-Gomez's DNA at the shooting scene. Some have speculated that the shooting is connected to the November 2015 murder of Norma Emmerson, who was shot in the head outside East Selah, Washington. Some reports say Norma had information about a homicide committed by her ex-boyfriend, Raven Cutler. Cutler ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Cutler told Cody Turner's mother he'd seen Cody Turner (case below) and Stotz-Gomez together in downtown Yakima, but his information has not been verified. Other witnesses believe that the two men, Turner and Stotz-Gomez, knew each other casually and believe that their disappearances must be related.
In the past Stotz-Gomez has lived in New York and Montana and he may have traveled there. At the time of his disappearance, was required to check in weekly with the police. Stotz-Gomez is described as a Hispanic or mixed-race Hispanic/Caucasian male, 5’9” and 180-190 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes and usually wears a beard. He has the following tattoos: barbed wire on his upper left arm, a skull with wings on his right arm, the letters "SUR" on one hand, the number 13 on the other hand, and a small cholo face on his chest. If you have any information please contact the Yakima County Sheriff's Office 509-574-2550.
Cody Turner, 24, was last seen July 26, 2015, in Yakima leaving the home he shared with his father and grandparents. Cody had been gone that day with his dog Ariel but arrived at the home in the evening where he ate, showered, and picked up some cigarettes before leaving the house again. He had his cellphone on him but since July 28th, 2015 the phone has gone straight to voicemail. According to some sources Cody was homeless at the time of his disappearance but according to others he lived at his grandparent’s house with his father. Cody has a history of meth usage and his family believes he was using at the time of his disappearance. Despite his drug use, Cody’s family said he usually returned home every evening and talked to his family daily. He does not have a history of dropping out of sight or being out of touch with his family.
Cody is described as a white male 5'5 - 5'7, 150 - 170 pounds. He has sandy colored hair and green eyes. He keeps his hair very short and tidy. He sometimes wears facial hair (a goatee and mustache) which he keeps short. Turner's nickname is Cooter. He has two scars, one on his left wrist and one on his abdomen. His ears and tongue are pierced, but he had stopped wearing his earrings and tongue ring prior to his disappearance. Turner has the following tattoos: the name "Natilie" with flames and barbed wire on his right bicep, three skulls with swords going through them on his left bicep, and a tribal stamp on the inside of his upper left arm. Turner has previously fractured his left foot and he smokes cigarettes. His case may be connected to Chad- Stotz Gomez’s case which is why it is included in this piece, even though he has no connection to the reservation.
Justin Lee McConville has been missing from Toppenish since sometime in January 2015. He was 24 years old at the time and was last seen on the Yakama reservation, but often travels to Oregon and fishes along the Columbia River. Some sources say he is nomadic and had no permanent address but others say he lives in Toppenish. Justin is described as a Native American male with long brown hair which he wears in a pony tail and brown eyes. McConville has a half-sleeve tattoo of a Native American man, Chief Joseph, on his upper right arm. He also has a tattoo of a tribal fishing design on his left arm and a tattoo of a Native American design on his back. He is 6’0”-6’2” and weights 165 lbs. Yakama Tribal Police are investigating. They can be reached at 509-865-2933.
Anthony “Tony” Peters, also known as Anthony Colfax Peters, 56, was last seen in October 2014 at Legends Casino in Toppenish. According to his sister, Peters was homeless at the time, living with relatives or friends or elsewhere when necessary, but he regularly talked to his family and friends. According to his sister, Alfrieda, Tony like many homeless individuals had a complicated life. His temper sometimes got him into trouble, but eventually he always came around. His sister remembers him as a natural born artist who did powwow dancing, beadwork, and drawing for fun. He was also a good singer. In the past, he has been known to travel to other nearby reservations such as the Umatilla or Warm Springs. He has also been known to travel to Seattle. He would drop out of sight from time to time, but never for more than a few weeks.
Tony is described as a Native American male with black hair and brown eyes. Peter’s nickname is Tony, and he may use the name Anthony Colfax Peters. He has an overlapped front tooth and one front tooth is missing. He is 5’6” and his weight fluctuates regularly. His missing person case remains open with the Yakama Nation Police Department, number 15-006132.
Roland Elton Woodall Sconawah a Yakama by birth was last seen in either Lyle or Dallesport Washington in November, 2013. Both communities lie on the Columbia river in Klickitat county in what was once the land of the Yakama people. Tribal members have fishing rights in the area even though it is not technically on the reservation. This is where Roland was last seen. The 23-year-old was somewhat transient. He went missing under unclear circumstances. Roland is described as a Native American male with brown eyes and black hair. He stands at 5'6 - 5'8, and weighs 140 - 160 pounds. He is sometimes referred to as Roland Sconawah Sam. Klickitat county sheriff’s office 509-773-4545, is investigating.
Ira Kennedy Yallup Sr. was last seen at the Lone Pine fishing site near The Dalles, OR. in May 2010. His family has offered a $1,000 reward for information about his whereabouts. He is a Native male in his 50s with black hair. No other vital statistics are available and he does not even have a Charley Project page. Yakama tribal police are investigating.
Francisco Javier Mendoza was 27 years old when he was last seen in the early morning hours of June 8th 1994 leaving a 7-11 convenience store in Toppenish. Francisco was with two friends at the time. Later that morning, the three friends were outside of Toppenish when their car broke down. Francisco apparently went walking in the direction of town in order to get help and vanished into the night. He has never been seen again. Few details are available and his friends’ story is considered suspicious. Francisco is described as a Hispanic male, 5’5” in height weighing 160 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes. Mendoza may have a mustache, beard or a goatee. Some agencies may spell his first name "Franciso." He was wearing a white tank top, shorts and sneakers when he was last seen. Toppenish police are investigating, 509-865-4355.
Lawrence Jay "Larry" Riegel, 57 of Yakima worked as a carpenter and contract pilot before breaking four vertebrae, and injury that left him disabled. Right before going missing Larry had a surgery on his neck and some sources claim he was in a neck brace. Unable to work, Riegel was collecting disability. The last contact anyone had with Larry took place on Christmas day, 2009. He contacted several relatives and friends including a call to his mother to thank her for some clothes she bought him for the holiday. He was supposed to join his family in Yakima for a belated Christmas dinner on Dec. 26, 2009, but he never showed up or called. Riegel’s family described him as a “chatty Cathy” who talked to just about anyone and had daily phone contact with his friends and family. Riegel’s last phone call took place at approximately 5:30 pm on Christmas day. It is believed that the call was made to Riegel’s tenants who rented a farm from him in Union Gap, a town on the reservation. His tenants owed him $3000 in back rent.
Riegel lived with his girlfriend, Ladena Mann before he went missing. Mann claimed that the couple argued on Christmas day and Riegel left the home presumably to go see his tenants. She also claimed that Riegel assaulted her either on Christmas day or on January 4th before disappearing. When Mann tried to report this assault weeks later, she was unable because she had no injuries or proof of violence. Mann used Riegel’s money and EBT card after he disappeared as well as applied for her own EBT card claiming she still lived with Larry. Mann was charged with welfare fraud and perjury, but charges were dropped when she paid back the money and entered a diversion program. In one media interview she claimed that Larry is still alive and that he has “contacted several people” since going missing. She thinks Larry is residing in Idaho or Montana and has accused his family of knowing where he is. Ladena Mann is a person of interest in Larry’s disappearance as are his tenants, the last known people to have spoken to him. Riegel’s family is offering a $25,000 for information in the homicide investigation that leads to his remains. They have billboards all over the Yakima valley asking for information. Larry’s mother, aged 90, still drives around rural areas searching for his body.
Riegel is described as a white male with gray hair, a gray mustache, and hazel eyes. He is 6’2” and weights 200 lbs. He has surgical scars on his left knee and a prominent vertical scar on his neck from recent surgery to fix four broken vertebrae. He often wears eyeglasses and he has a limp in his left leg. He is also an alcoholic who frequented neighborhood bars. Yakima Police Department Yakima Police Department (509-576-6573) is investigating.
Donnie Sampson, 71, a well-known religious leader, had been serving for eight years on the Tribal Council’s Code of Ethics Committee when he disappeared in the fall of 1994 while hunting elk about 45 miles west of White Swan, near Mt. Adams. Donnie had a heart problem and had been prescribed nitroglycerin as a result. Right before his disappearance, he told his daughter that he (and the ethics committee) “was getting into something that’s going to make everybody mad.” He even went so far to tell her that he would be “making enemies” and that she and the community would hear about his findings soon enough. He had been investigating rumors of corruption in the tribal council and the housing authority before he went missing, but other committee members refused to elaborate on the matter.
Donnie’s truck was found Oct. 30, 1994, in the foothills of Mount Adams by volunteer searchers, but searchers found no trace of Sampson. His nitroglycerin, lunch, clothing and three rifles were found in his truck. A fourth rifle he left home with disappeared with him. Donnie’s children say tribal police has done little to investigate the disappearance, which they believe is a result of foul play. For example, his children were never interviewed and his truck was found by volunteers, not official search and rescue. Tribal authorities believe that the elderly Sampson simply got lost while hunting. There are no photos or description of Donnie Sampson available. He does not even have a Charley Project page. Tribal police are investigating.
Roland Jack Spencer III disappeared in late May 1984. He was 3 years old when last seen in the area of Knight Lane and Campbell Road in Wapato, although some sources say he was last seen in Toppenish. Roland is presumed to have been abducted by a non-family member, when he was in the yard. Curiously, Roland’s mother died under suspicious circumstances several years earlier (her case is featured in my previous write up). After her death Roland moved in with his great-aunt. Roland is described as a 3-year-old Native American male, with black hair and brown eyes. Roland has a scar on his abdomen. His nickname is Do-Boy and he may go by his middle name, Jack. Roland has some severe medical issues and disabilities. One website explains that Roland experienced brain damage in the womb which lead to his medical issues. Despite his hardships, he was a happy child who loved playing with cars. He is classified as mentally disabled, hard of hearing, and suffers from epilepsy. He takes medication to control his condition and may fall into a coma without it. He can only walk a few steps at a time and has very limited vocabulary and speaking skills. He was last seen wearing corduroy pants, a long sleeved red and white shirt, and tan boots. His was declared legally dead in 2000. Yakama tribal police are investigating, (509) 865-2933.
Murdered
Darryl Keith Celestine of Zillah, was murdered Sept. 25, 1988, in Wapato. He was found strangled outside his home. Darryl, a Yakama, was only 22 years old at the time. His murder is unsolved. Very little information is available.
What happened to these men? Why are so many people missing from such a sparsely populated area?
Sources
These sources are a good place to start.
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/loved-ones-of-missing-and-murdered-men-and-boys-also-wait-for-answers/article_99d6a596-befe-5860-aa5d-a8fef822725f.html
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/lower_valley/one-year-later-white-swan-quintuple-homicide-suspects-awaiting-trial-law-enforcement-targeting-crime-in/article_4ed98a29-a273-573c-8af1-031fdec6d248.html
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/they-need-closure-families-of-men-who-went-missing-in-yakima-county-ask-for-publics/article_11358e29-b133-5458-9f13-acf4face7abe.html
The Charley Project and NAMUS
If you are interested in this issue as a whole, I suggest this podcast by Canadian journalist Connie Walker who explains and dives deeply into the issues discussed in the piece. You can listen to the podcast Missing and Murdered here: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/findingcleo/missing-murdered-who-killed-alberta-williams-1.4556030#:~:text=Sparked%20by%20a%20chilling%20tip,in%20British%20Columbia%20in%201989.
If you are interested in the cases of other missing Native Americans, my write ups on the Teekah Lewis and Bryce Herda cases can be found here on my reddit profile. https://www.reddit.com/useQuirky-Motor
submitted by Quirky-Motor to UnresolvedMysteries [link] [comments]

[Lost in the Sauce] Trump admin hides Paycheck Protection program details; lawmakers benefit from loans

Welcome to Lost in the Sauce, keeping you caught up on political and legal news that often gets buried in distractions and theater… or a global health crisis.
Title refers to: The Trump admin is blocking IGs from getting info on over $1 trillion in relief spending, including corporation bailouts. The admin is also withholding PPP info from Congress, meaning we don't know if Trump or his family took taxpayer money. Additionally, we learned that at least 4 members of Congress have benefited from PPP money, but aren't required to disclose it.
Housekeeping:

Coronavirus

Inspectors general warned Congress last week that the Trump administration is blocking scrutiny of more than $1 trillion in spending related to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the previously undisclosed letter, Department of Treasury attorneys concluded that the administration is not required to provide the watchdogs with information about the beneficiaries of programs like the $500 billion in loans for corporations.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin refused to provide Congress with the names of recipients of the taxpayer-funded coronavirus business loans. After criticism, Mnuchin began to walk back his denial, saying he will talk to lawmakers on a bipartisan basis “to strike the appropriate balance for proper oversight” of PPP loans “and appropriate protection of small business information.”
At least 4 lawmakers have benefited in some way from the Paycheck Protection program they helped create. Politico has been told there are almost certainly more -- but there are zero disclosure rules, even for members of Congress.
  • Republicans on the list include Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, a wealthy businessman who owns auto dealerships, body shops and car washes, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, whose family owns multiple farms and equipment suppliers across the Midwest. The Democrats count Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada, whose husband is CEO of a regional casino developer, and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel Powell of Florida, whose husband is a senior executive at a restaurant chain that has since returned the loan.
Mick Mulvaney dumped as much as $550,000 in stocks the same day Trump assured the public the US economy was 'doing fantastically' amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Mulvaney unloaded his holdings in three different mutual funds, each of which is primarily made up of US stocks. The next day, the value of the mutual funds tanked.

Cases rising in many states

Good summary: There was supposed to be a peak. But the stark turning point, when the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. finally crested and began descending sharply, never happened. Instead, America spent much of April on a disquieting plateau, with every day bringing about 30,000 new cases and about 2,000 new deaths. This pattern exists because different states have experienced the coronavirus pandemic in very different ways…The U.S. is dealing with a patchwork pandemic.
As of Friday, coronavirus cases were significantly climbing in 16 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Oklahoma is experiencing a massive increase in coronavirus cases just days before Trump’s planned rally in Tulsa. In Tulsa county itself, 1 in roughly 390 people have tested positive. Yet Trump plans on cramming 20,000 people in an event with voluntary face mask policy and no social distancing. Attendees must sign a waiver that absolves the president’s campaign of any liability from virus-related illnesses.
  • On Monday, Pence lied saying that Oklahoma has “flattened the curve.” As you can see at any of the resources immediately below, this is not even close to true. Over the past 14 days, the state has seen a 124% increase in cases and reports 65% of ICU beds are in use.
  • Tulsa World Editorial Board: This is the wrong time and Tulsa is the wrong place for the Trump rally. "We don't know why he chose Tulsa, but we can’t see any way that his visit will be good for the city...Again, Tulsa will be largely alone in dealing with what happens at a time when the city’s budget resources have already been stretched thin."
  • Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that he is a victim of double standards when it comes to perception of his decision to resume campaign rallies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, declaring that attempts to “covid shame” his campaign “won’t work!”
Resources to track increases: There are many different sites with various methods of visualizing the spread of coronavirus. Here are some that may be particularly useful this summer… Topos COVID-19 compiler homepage and graphs of each state since re-opening. How we reopen Safely has stats on each state’s progress towards meeting benchmarks to reopen safely (hint: almost none have reached all the checkpoints). WaPo has a weekly national map of cases/deaths; the largest regional clusters are in the southeast.
On Monday, Trump twice said that “if we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” (video). Aside from the fact that cases exist even if we don’t test for them, we cannot explain the rising number of cases by increased testing capacity: In at least 14 states, the positive case rate is increasing faster than the increase in the average number of tests.
  • Reminder: In March Trump told Fox News that he didn't want infected patients from a cruise ship to disembark because it would increase the number of reported cases in the US. "I like the numbers being where they are," Trump said at the time. "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."
Fired scientist Rebekah Jones builds coronavirus dashboard to rival Florida’s… Her site shows thousands more people with the coronavirus, and hundreds of thousands fewer who have been tested, than the site run by the Florida Health Department.

Equipment and supplies

More studies prove wearing masks limits transmission and spread of coronavirus… One study from Britain found that routine face mask use by 50% or more of the population reduced COVID-19 spread to an R of less than 1.0. The R value measures the average number of people that one infected person will pass the disease on to. An R value above 1 can lead to exponential growth. The study found that if people wear masks whenever they are in public it is twice as effective at reducing the R value than if masks are only worn after symptoms appear.
Meanwhile, Trump officials refuse to wear masks and Trump supporters copy his behavior… VP Mike Pence, leader of the coronavirus task force, published a tweet showing himself in a room full of Trump staffers, none wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Pence deleted the tweet shortly after criticism. A poll last week showed that 66% of likely-Biden-voters “always wear a mask,” while 83% of likely-Trump-voters “neverarely wear a mask.”
  • Trump’s opposition to face masks hasn’t stopped him from selling them to his supporters, though. The online Trump Store is selling $20 cotton American flag-themed face masks.
  • Yesterday, we learned that South Carolina Republican Rep. Tom Rice and family have tested positive for the coronavirus. Just two weeks ago, Rice was on the House floor and halls of the Capitol without wearing a mask.
Internal FEMA data show that the government’s supply of surgical gowns has not meaningfully increased since March… The slides show FEMA’s plan to ramp up supply into June and July hinges on the reusing of N95 masks and surgical gowns, increasing the risk of contamination. Those are supposed to be disposed of after one use.
Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they’re receiving defective equipment as part of Trump administration supply initiative. Officials say FEMA is sending them gowns that look more like large tarps -- with no holes for hands -- and surgical masks that are paper-thin.
More than 1,300 Chinese medical-device companies that registered to sell PPE in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic used bogus registration data… These companies listed as their American representative a purported Delaware entity that uses a false address and nonworking phone number.
Florida is sitting on more than 980,000 unused doses of hydroxychloroquine, but hospitals don’t want it… Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a million doses of the drug to show support for Trump, but very few hospitals have requested it.

Native American communities struggle

The CARES Act money for Native American tribes, meant to assist people during the pandemic, came with restrictions that are impeding efforts to limit the transmission of the virus. For instance, the funds can only be used to cover expenses that are "incurred due to the public health emergency." On the Navajo Nation, the public health emergency is inherently related to some basic infrastructure problems. 30% of Navajo don’t have running water to wash their hands, but the money can’t be used to build water lines.
Federal and state health agencies are refusing to give Native American tribes and organizations representing them access to data showing how the coronavirus is spreading around their lands, potentially widening health disparities and frustrating tribal leaders already ill-equipped to contain the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has turned down tribal epidemiologists’ requests for data that it’s making freely available to states.
A Hospital’s Secret Coronavirus Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns… Pregnant Native American women were singled out for COVID-19 testing based on their race and ZIP code, clinicians say. While awaiting results, some mothers were separated from their newborns, depriving them of the immediate contact doctors recommend. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that state officials would investigate the allegations.

Personnel & appointees

Former IG Steve Linick told Congress he was conducting five investigations into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Department before he was fired. In addition to investigating Pompeo's potential misuse of taxpayer funds and reviewing his decision to expedite an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, Linick’s office was conducting an audit of Special Immigrant Visas, a review of the International Women of Courage Award, and another review "involving individuals in the Office of the Protocol."
  • Pompeo confidant emerges as enforcer in fight over watchdog’s firing: Linick testified that Undersecretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, a decades-old friend of Pompeo’s, “tried to bully [him]” out of investigating Pompeo.
Trump has empowered John McEntee, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, to make significant staffing changes inside top federal agencies without the consent — and, in at least one case, without even the knowledge — of the agency head. Many senior officials in Trump's government are sounding alarms about the loss of expertise and institutional knowledge.
Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, has a history of making Islamophobic and inflammatory remarks against prominent Democratic politicians, including falsely calling former President Barack Obama a Muslim.
Amid racial justice marches, GOP advances Trump court pick hostile to civil rights. Cory Wilson, up for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, has denied that restrictive voting laws lead to voter suppression and called same-sex marriage “a pander to liberal interest groups.”
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has indefinitely extended the terms of the acting directors of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, sidestepping the typical Senate confirmation process for those posts and violating the Federal Vacancies Reform Act,

Courts and DOJ

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take a closer look at qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields law enforcement and government officials from lawsuits over their conduct. Developed in recent decades by the high court, the qualified immunity doctrine, as applied to police, initially asks two questions: Did police use excessive force, and if they did, should they have known that their conduct was illegal because it violated a "clearly established" prior court ruling that barred such conduct? In practice, however, lower courts have most often dismissed police misconduct lawsuits on grounds that there is no prior court decision with nearly identical facts.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender employees. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court’s liberals in the 6 to 3 ruling. They said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” includes LGBTQ employees.
  • Alito, writing more than 100 pages in dissent for himself and Thomas, accused the court's majority of writing legislation, not law. Kavanaugh wrote separately: "We are judges, not members of Congress...Under the Constitution and laws of the United States, this court is the wrong body to change American law in that way."
  • Just days before the SCOTUS opinion was released, the Trump administration finalized a rule that would remove nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance. The SCOTUS ruling may make it easier to challenge the changes made by Trump.
The Supreme Court also declined to take up California’s “sanctuary” law, denying the Trump administration’s appeal. This means that the lower court opinion upholding one of California's sanctuary laws is valid, limiting cooperation between law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the Court's conservative members, supported taking up the case.
A federal appeals court appeared unlikely Friday to stop a judge from examining why the Justice Department sought to walk away from its prosecution of Michael Flynn. "I don't see why we don't observe regular order," said Judge Karen Henderson. "Why not hold this in abeyance and see what happens?" Judge Robert Wilkins told Flynn's lawyer that if Sullivan doesn't let the government drop the case, "then you can come back here on appeal."

Other

Good read: Fiona Hill on being mistaken as a secretary by Trump, her efforts to make sure he was not left alone with Putin, and what the US, UK and Russia have in common. “It’s spitting in Merkel’s face,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat who’s now a foreign-policy analyst. “But it’s in our interests.”
  • Russia’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Trump’s plan to withdraw more than a quarter of U.S. troops from Germany.
  • Op-Ed: Why cutting American forces in Germany will harm this alliance
According to a new book, the Secret Service had to seek more funding to cover the cost of protecting Melania Trump while she stayed in NYC to renegotiate her prenup - taxpayers paid tens of millions of dollars to allow her to get better terms. Additionally, NYPD estimated its own costs conservatively at $125,000 a day.
Georgia election 'catastrophe' in largely minority areas sparks investigation. Long lines, lack of voting machines, and shortages of primary ballots plagued voters. As of Monday night, there were still over 200,000 uncounted votes.
Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Fox News Mocked After Mistaking Monty Python Joke for Seattle Protest Infighting
In addition to holding a rally on the day after Juneteenth (originally scheduled the day of), Trump will be accepting the GOP nomination in Jacksonville on the 60th anniversary of “Ax Handle Saturday,” a KKK attack on African Americans.
Environmental news:
  • Ruling against environmentalists, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal government has the authority to allow a proposed $7.5 billion natural gas pipeline to cross under the popular Appalachian Trail in rural Virginia.
  • Trump administration has issued a new rule blocking tribes from protecting their waters from projects like pipelines, dams, and coal terminals.
  • The EPA published a proposal in the Federal Register that critics described as an assault on minority communities coping with the public health legacy of structural racism. The rule would bar EPA from giving special consideration to individual communities that bear the brunt of environmental risks — frequently populations of color.
  • The Trump administration is preparing to drill off Florida’s coast, but says it will wait until after the November election to avoid any backlash from Florida state leaders.
Immigration news
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection used emergency funding meant for migrant families and children to pay for dirt bikes, canine supplies, computer equipment and other enforcement related-expenditures… The money was meant to be spent on “consumables and medical care” for migrants at the border.
  • ACLU files lawsuit against stringent border restrictions related to coronavirus that largely bar migrants from entering the United States.
  • Under Trump’s leadership, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has mismanaged its finances so badly that it has sought an emergency $1.2 billion infusion from taxpayers. When Trump took office, USCIS inherited a budget surplus. A large amount of funding is drained by its deliberate creation of more busy work for immigrants and their lawyers — as well as thousands of USCIS employees. These changes are designed to make it harder for people to apply for, receive or retain lawful immigration status.
  • Asylum-seeking migrants locked up inside an Arizona ICE detention center with one of the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases say they were forced to clean the facility and are 'begging' for protection from the virus
  • ICE plans to spend $18 million on thousands of new tasers and the training to use them
submitted by rusticgorilla to Keep_Track [link] [comments]

[S] Capy's Survivor: Pompeii- Saints vs Sinners (S23)

Hello! Welcome or welcome back to Capy's Survivor! This season we are headed to Pompeii! We are once again playing the game of outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting your fellow castaways, whether that be by flirtatious behavior, backstabbing your opponents, or making plenty of allies. This is Capy's Survivor: Saints vs Sinners! I will not be doing write-ups with the posts because I don't have time. I will instead work on them while I can, and post a post with some of them once I'm done.
Meet the castaways:
Sanctus Tribe:
Pecalum Tribe:
Season: https://brantsteele.net/survivocaramoan/r.php?c=58TIKzh1
​
20th: Tracy was just too far on the outside for this vote. With both alliances in the tribe gunning for her, there was no way she could escape this 7-3 vote. Eliminated: Tracy
19th: I think this vote was purely the wrong place at the wrong time. There are two main alliances in the Pecalum tribe, King, Jury, and Vito; and Adrian, Bart, and Randall. I believe the flips wanted to side more with the alliance voting out the other alliance rather than a fellow flip vote. Eliminated: Bart
18th: I think Vito was scared that Karen, Kenzie, and Sass (a.k.a the flip votes) were going to flip back to Randall and Adrain's side and vote out Juri, as her name was thrown around. But alas, that did not happen, and their intended target of Randall went out after only Kenzie voted with Randall and Adrian, Sass throwing her vote to Karen, and Karen siding with Juri, Vito, and now-flip vote King. Eliminated: Randall
17th: The Sanctus tribe, much like their rival tribe, was divided by 2 alliances of 3. Carson-Randster-Flora and Blair-Dolly-Percy. But being the heroes that they are at heart, that didn't matter much, as Eva's fight with George from Episode 2 caught up with her and made her the boot 9-1. Eliminated: Eva
16th: Sanctus loses their second immunity in a row. I think the alliances are trying to rid of the flip votes early, as they could be dangerous come to the merge. Carson-Flora-Randster manages to pull in Ray for their Douglas vote, but that is solely because Blair-Dolly-Percy managed to get all the other flip votes to vote Ray, booting her 5-4. Eliminated: Ray
15th: After a huge fight at camp, and them both being in the middle, George and Douglas have made themselves the main targets of this week. Carson-Flora-Randster decides to stick to their target of Douglas, while Blair-Dolly-Percy decides to tie hoping for someone to flip, so they vote George. Instead of this, Blair ultimately decides to flip on her alliance, voting Douglas out 4-4; 4-2. Eliminated: Douglas
14th: A swap occurs at the Final 14, sending Sass, Dolly, Flora, King, Karen, Kenzie, and Percy to Sanctus. And sending Adrian, Blair, Carson, George, Juri, Randster, and Vito to Pecalum. All old alliances stand strong, while new alliances of former tribemates form. Sanctus loses the immunity challenge. The Sinners decide that Flora is their main target. But, Dolly and Percy approach Sass and offer her to flip, because of Dolly's reasons that her fellow Sinners are untrustworthy. Sass says in her confessional that she is the most untrustworthy of the bunch. In a stupid move, Dolly decides not to play her idol. Flora knows her fate, and decides to vote Sass as a last "F**k you". Eliminated: Flora
13th: Pecalum are the ones heading to Tribal Council tonight. Randster and Carson end up fighting after Flora goes home, as they know they are probably doomed. Randster recognizes that Carson is a huge threat to the game, and he decides he doesn't need him sticking around, the Sinners also take advantage of this crack in the Saints, as they are down in numbers, and need to form some trust. Carson goes in a 6-1. Eliminated: Carson
12th: The merge occurs, with everyone shocked that it's so early, with 12 people still remaining. Because of Carson's elimination, the original Saints are down in number 7-5. Karen manages to win immunity. Being the villains they are, the Sinners immediately turn on each other, and the biggest targets at the end of it all are King and Sass, who are mistakenly thought of as running the game, even though Juri and Vito know their alliance has most of the votes, they don't speak up. Sass manages to gain Blair and George's trust enough to get them on her side and attempt to convince the other former Saints. But King-Vito-Juri gets every other vote off of King, as he is an ally. Eliminated: Sass
11th: The Randster wins immunity. The Sinners continue to turn on each other, with King once again being a target along with Kenzie for constantly flipping back and forth between votes. The Randster, knowing he is safe, decides to vote with Blair and George (and Kenzie) to vote out King, as he sees King is a threat. They attempt to convince Dolly-Percy, but when Blair was flipped on the other tribe, they grew close. They decide to stay on the Sinner's good side and vote for Kenzie. Kenzie goes home on a 7-4. Eliminated: Kenzie.
10th: Vito wins immunity. Even in their last ditch efforts to flip Dolly-Percy to their side, Blair-George-Randster could not get people to flip and vote out King, even though he was one of the people obviously running the vote, and they are beginning to get picked off. George leaves in a 7-3 vote. Eliminated: George.
9th: Adrian win immunity. Blair and Randster still attempt to flip Dolly-Percy, and even the last Volcaneous flip left, Adrian. They try to reason that they are not top priority to get to Final Tribal Council, and they need to hurt the alliance of Juri-Vito-King, but Dolly-Percy and Adrian want to stick on their good side, even if it means they only last one more vote. They decide Blair is easily a bigger threat than Randster, and send her packing on a 7-2. Eliminated: Blair.
8th: Vito wins another immunity, and Randster is crushed as he was also close to winning. Randster is shocked when Dolly-Percy, Adrian, and Karen approach him and say that they are giving King the boot. Randster asks why they didn't do it earlier, and they confess it's because they wanted to be on the top of one side, and with the other 3 person alliance they couldn't do that, and that they needed to gain trust with King-Juri-Vito. Juri knows about this vote, but she decides to save her idols for when SHE needs them. Eliminated: King
7th: Adrian wins immunity. They decide the vote is Vito, as they are more uncomfortable with him than Juri. But, Adrian decides that flipping back to the Juri-Vito side would be his best bet right now. He decides not to tell Karen, as his plan is to bring Randster and her to the end as goats and boot Juri and Vito at the Final 5. He knows that Randster is open to flipping though, so he baits him in, but is unsuccessful. Juri knows about these attempts, and she shows Randster one of her idols and says she will keep him safe because he can't keep himself safe in the middle. By a vote of 4-3 Percy goes home. Eliminated: Percy
6th: The Randster wins immunity. Adrian finally decides to tell Karen about the flipping. But then regrets it as soon as he realizes he might be the target, as Dolly might be a goat for them. Him and Randster flip back to Dolly's side, with Adrian trying to save his goats. But he was too messy, and couldn't get Karen to flip back. It's a 3-3 tie, with Juri-Vito-Karen voting Dolly, and Adrian-Randster-Dolly voting Karen, trying to cause a rock draw with Adrian, Juri, and Vito. But, knowing she doesn't want a rock draw, and that she could bring anyone with her and potentially win, Juri decides to shockingly flip to a Karen vote, sending her packing. Eliminated: Karen
5th: Juri wins the immunity challenge. She knows they are going to vote for Vito, but she also knows that they know there is nothing they can do because she has an idol. So they all decide to stick with Vito, as they think she might boot him for being a jury vote threat. Their prediction turns out to be right, but she still votes against them to try to attempt some Juri Management (sorry for the bad pun). Eliminated: Vito
4th: The Randster secures his stop in the Final 3, by winning immunity. Juri uses her talking skill in attempts to flip Adrian because she knows that she is doomed if she doesn't try, and she tells him he should be sitting next to a Sinner at FTC and that she might not even win the Fire-Making, he does the math and decides that a potentially bitter jury is better than sitting next to the social player, Dolly, at FTC. Dolly and Juri are sent to a Fire-Making Challenge, where Juri wins. Eliminated: Dolly
Final Tribal Council:>! By a jury vote of 4-3-1.... congratulations Kim Juri! You are the winner of Capy's Survivor: Saint vs Sinners!!<
Tell me what you guys think. Also tell me who you would like to see the return of for future seasons, and who you liked the most!
submitted by CapybaraWookiee to BrantSteele [link] [comments]

Current state of affairs in Oklahoma gaming dispute roundup: Casinos are open for business

For those of you who haven't been following this bit of epic stupidity from governomoron Kevin Stitt, a while ago Stitt decided that the wording of gaming compact between Oklahoma and the tribes that operate casinos means that he can force the tribes to renegotiate if they want to keep operating beyond January 1st, 2020.
Three nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw, filed suit to get a ruling clarifying the meaning of the language of the compact: https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/Index/113934
Citing the uncertainty cast by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt over tribal gaming operations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations filed a federal lawsuit on Dec. 31 seeking a judicial declaration that the gaming compact with the state renewed on Jan. 1.
The nations provided a copy of the complaint to Stitt – named in his official capacity – along with a letter explaining reasons for the filing. Counsel for the nations, former U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Henry, provided a companion letter and copy of the complaint to Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter. The nations’ lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma to declare the legal effect of the compact’s Part 15.B., which states: “This Compact shall have a term which will expire on January 1, 2020, and at that time, if organization licensees or others are authorized to conduct electronic gaming in any form other than pari-mutuel wagering on live horse racing pursuant to any governmental action of the state or court order following the effective date of this Compact, the Compact shall automatically renew for successive additional fifteen-year terms.”
Governor Stitt retained counsel for his, uh, legal campaign or whatever you want to call it: https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/stitt-hires-law-firm-with-a-history-of-taking-on-tribes/
Weeks before he said tribal casinos in Oklahoma would be operating illegally, Gov. Kevin Stitt hired a law firm with a reputation for aggressively representing states against tribal nations. “The legal experts at Perkins Coie have successfully represented other states in Indian law controversies, to include the State of New Mexico’s compact dispute in 2015,” Stitt said Friday when he announced the firm, which his office signed an agreement with on Dec. 18.
Two tribes sign an 8-month extension with the governor's office. Neither have casinos: https://www.news9.com/story/41508472/2-tribes-sign-extension-with-gov-stitt-after-3-tribes-file-federal-lawsuit-to-end-compact-renewal-dispute
Stitt's actions have completely failed to intimidate the tribes, and casinos are still operating across the state: https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/casinos-still-open-despite-gov-stitts-warning
As a matter of fact, Chuck Hoskin posted a video of himself ringing in the New Year at a Cherokee casino and sitting down at a slot machine! From his page:
Happy New Year. To ring in the New Year Cherokee Nation First Lady January Hoskin and visited Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. The clock struck midnight, I kissed my beautiful wife and then we celebrated the renewal of the gaming compact! Members of my administration, as well as Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner visited other Cherokee casinos to celebrate the strength of our nation as we enter 2020. #HappyNewYear #HappyCompactRenewal #UnitedForOklahoma
Lastly, the original author of the gaming compact says Stitt is wrong and the compact auto-renews: https://ktul.com/news/local/gaming-compact-author-weighs-in-on-controversy
"It does indeed say this 15-year compact expires, but..." says former state Sen. Cal Hobson, that's not the end of the story, and he should know since he wrote the bill.
"It was the hardest bill I ever authored by far, nothing's close," he said. It was a legislative marathon, assembling a behemoth bill encompassing gaming, horse racing, and 39 tribes over a period of 24 months. "Anybody that's been through the hell of doing this for two years, nobody wanted to re-enter this discussion lightly, and that’s why these words are in the compact," he said. Words, he says, with the specific intent of keeping the compact alive, despite the Governor's assertion that it doesn't. "I’m here to tell you, no contract auto-renews in perpetuity," said Stitt. "So, it does automatically renew?" we asked Hobson. "Yes," he said. "Even if there’s no immediate agreement on what the rates should be?" we asked. "Yes, that’s correct," he said.
Ha ha! Happy New Year, Stitt!
submitted by NatWu to IndianCountry [link] [comments]

Damage Control Chapter 2

First chapter here: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/cbg4gs/damage_control_chapter_1/
So, this one's going to be a deep cut. If you haven't read the novels I've done before, this story throws you in at the deep end, and it spoils at least one major plot point from the 6th novel, Skin Hunger, as well as several other major plot points from other novels. If you want to catch up with that stuff, https://hellskitchensink.com/ check it out here.
If you'd just like to jump into things, this is what matters: There are Atlanteans, an apparently fish-like race who have recently revealed themselves to humans, who have a population of approximately 50,000 and who are on the verge of extinction, and who were recently partially responsible for a near-catastrophe involving a war between a psychotic god of dreams and a primordial entity of stasis, and are trying to make amends. There is supernatural craziness. There is a top secret branch of the US Military- or possibly intelligence services, or maybe even just running loose- referred to as the Esoteric Forces of the United States.
There's a lot of damage to control.
---
Chapter 2: Surt
USEF Report Dagon, section L (Linguistics), Paragraph 1-3, Rank HEL-6
The Atlantean language is surprisingly familiar, and offers great insight into the spread of language across the world, and a common origin to many languages. Proto-Indo-European is well known as one of the most common 'base' languages, and its influence can be seen everywhere from Portugal to Persia. (also, technically, nearly a thousand miles east of Persia, but leave me my wordplay to enjoy.)
Atlantean language spans a substantially greater range. The first instincts of linguists, confronted with it, is an odd pidgin or creole of German and a variety of Polynesian dialects, a combination which is as bizarre as it is improbable. These two cultures had absolutely no contact for most of human history, recorded or not, and little if any combined culture.
It could simply be a vast coincidence. It could be a consequence of the Atlantean diffusion. It could simply be one titanic joke being played on linguists the world over who think that word-choice has meaning. Nevertheless, it provides us with an easier jumping-off point than if we did not have the connection in the first place. Atlanteans have shown a surprising facility for picking up human languages, one which has eased integration substantially.
Chief Researcher Cherry H. Verne
"The problem with big, open deserts, and remote ocean bases, is that on top of being a pain in the ass to supply and staff, they are not actually all that secret in an era of high altitude spy planes and satellite photography," said Miller, sitting in the front seat of the heavy pickup truck. I sat next to him, wearing my yellow rain-slicker, shivering a bit as we drove through the snow-dappled forest. "Sure, it's all well and good to be a thousand miles from the nearest community, but everyone's going to know you're up to something. And thus..." He gestured upwards.
Atlantis had modest plant-life. Kelp, algae, a coral system. All quite attractive, in their own ways. But no natural thing there had grown like these. The trees were sleek and rough-barked, growing to tower above the rough and sandy road, creating a canopy. It was both like coral, and utterly alien. "What did you say this place was called?"
"The Pine Barrens." He grinned. "Lots of legends around this place. Hell, going all the way back to 1909. Now, I'm fairly sure the Menagerie was built in the 90s, but who's to say it was the first facility the EFUS had here? There isn't a lot of history or facts kept on archive about the EFUS, but I've seen case files dating back to the 1700s. Probably just a hoax, someone's idea of a joke, but..." He shrugged. "That's the thing you learn about this special ops work. Everything gets denied, and the things that are admitted are usually just there to distract you from something bigger."
"Distrust seems... very difficult. I prefer things simple and straightforward. Hunting, knowing your prey, knowing how to find it." I looked out the window, frowning. "I fear that may make me a liability."
"Hell no. You handle the tracking and the tasering. I'll get between you and the politics." He grinned. "It's what a good Sergeant should do." He leaned back in his chair and made a low, contented sound, a growl low in the back of his throat. He seemed perfectly at ease, despite the thick bandages wrapped around one hand, cloaking it in white linen that had been stained black here and there.
"Does that hurt?" I asked, softly.
"Eh. I don't have pain sensors built in. The damage was only, well..." He chuckled. "Skin deep." He was quiet for a moment, and looked over at me. "You know, you barely reacted to seeing my hand stripped bare like that. I'm pretty sure your kind don't make much in the way of advanced cyborgs. I was expecting... Well, hell. I don't know. A little prejudice. I get plenty of it among humans. Just scares them to see this kind of thing."
"I can see what is human in you very clearly, Sergeant," I said, looking out the window. "All humans, Atlanteans included, rely on their tools to define themselves. Tattoos, piercings, clothing, weapons- Is there anything different about a prosthetic? They are still a part of you, even if they are not flesh."
"Hrn," he said, ending the conversation on an ambiguous note. "There it is."
The road ended in a large, wide concrete foundation, covered by some sort of canvas fabric which had been raised with tent poles. A large circle drawn in chalk with a massive H in the center dominated one side of the foundation, with a bank of large elevators beyond it. Miller got out of the truck, and I followed, shivering in the cold. The two of us approached one of the elevators. We stepped in.
"These things always take forever," he growled. "I'm convinced the base is just a few feet underground, and they make them slow as tar so it feels like we're going into the center of the earth."
I watched the glowing electric cables through the walls. I could only see the closest through the thick stone, but he was right. They were moving very slowly indeed. "You've stabbed the shark in the gills there, sir."
He grinned. "Finally. I'm going to rag Cherry about that to no end."
The base itself was the kind of clean, sterile white that humans seemed to find soothing. Personally, it reminded me of being trapped under a glacier, and the office of Chief Researcher Verne, paneled in wood and filled with books and other gewgaws, made for a very pleasant change. The unconscious demon strapped to her table muddled the effect, though. She smiled as the two of us entered.
"Good job bringing this one in, you two. Far as I can gather from examination and venom samples, it's a brown recluse spider. Damned if I know how exactly one got the spiritual energy necessary to become a demon, considering the lifespan and shyness towards humans. Examining the web revealed distinctive patterns- We think it was using the webs as a sort of food storage, slowly terrorizing a human while using the energy gained to weave webs, which it would then survive off of in a low energy state..." She frowned. "Very curious."
"Great, Cherry. Can we keep it from attacking people?"
"The new class of implants should take care of that. After that fiasco with your cortex bomb, the Colonel was able to argue for a strict need-to-know policy. The only people with the transmitter codes to activate it will be you, me, and the Colonel himself." She smiled. "Nice and trustworthy. It'll shut down all electrical impulses from the thoracic vertebrae down, until the counter-signal is sent. So, even if it is used, it'll be less... You know, immediately fatal. I wouldn't leave it on for long, though- She won't be able to breathe." Then she sighed, and clicked her tongue. "For gods sakes, go to the bio-lab, get that hand fixed. It's morbid as hell."
"Yeah. Stick here with the doctor, Yeagerta, she'll fill you in a bit more while I'm busy," said Miller, with a nod to me, before ducking out through the door. I was left alone with the rather intimidating woman
"So," said Cherry, a sly smile spreading across her face. "You're an Atlantean." She held a small welding torch, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, making me wince. It was not a healer’s room. It was the room of a destroyer. That was okay. I felt at home here.
"Yes."
"Heard a bit about you. We've got half a dozen Atlanteans working in the menagerie, easily a hundred times that in the US government as a whole. I don't buy the whole 'I want to do good' thing- There are a lot of ways you could do that without risking your life." She looked up at me, an eyebrow raised. "So what is it? Deathwish? Sadism? Secret plan to destroy humanity?"
"We are both a part of humanity. Those who thought otherwise, on both sides, were merely ignorant to the truth. As to my reasons… Every society needs violence.” I sighed, and shook my head. "So long as dissent is possible, so long as violence is possible, there must be sanctioned violence to counter it. The more peaceful and serene that society is, the further that violence must be kept from those who benefit from it." I waved a hand at the demon lying across the ground. "This is a violence hidden from the public, but still necessary. I know that our two races' fate will hang on the balance of how we use that violence. If I want my people to be safe, I must be that violence."
"If you want a thing done right, you have to do it yourself," she said, and smiled. "I can dig it."
"And what of you, Chief Researcher Verne? How did you come to be the kind of person who could slice open a seemingly human creature's spine, and insert a device to control their body, while-" I raised an eyebrow, as I noticed a curious white container, producing an aroma suggesting blended spices, "-you eat your lunch?"
She smiled. "Well, three things. First, this woman's murdered at least a dozen people according to open police reports and the bones we dug up around the house. Second, she's not actually human, and is part of a species that doesn't usually have sentience, let alone sapience. And finally..." She fell silent for a moment, and set down her welding torch. "You know, I've discussed a lot of subjects, but I don't think I've talked with Atlanteans about space travel. What do you know about the stars?"
I shrugged. "Distant lights. We did not have them in Atlantis, and even in our heyday, we knew only that they were unimaginably distant. The revelations of this universe- worlds beyond measure- has been... Not precisely transformative, but unexpected."
"Worlds beyond measure," said Cherry, her voice soft, as she stared pensively into the distance. "A good phrase. Do you know, when we first learned about your existence, when we first confirmed that you were a group capable of forming pacts, empowering gods, and reproducing normally- In other words, not a supernatural species- It was the first time we'd ever found anything like that? And when we found out that you were humans, genetically equivalent, an offshoot changed by your exposure to another world, it was such a profound..."
Here, she paused, sighed, and looked down at the unconscious figure lying across her desk, the corners of her lips pulled down into a melancholy frown.
"Disappointment."
"I am sorry," I said, not sure what else to say.
"It's hardly your fault. But the prospect of alien life, truly alien, something from another world, something not human..." She sighed. "This poor creature in front of you is the closest we come to finding it. An animal infected with a human mind, with human thoughts and needs and instincts, with no choice in the matter." She looked up. "Countless worlds. And only one sapient species that we know of. Broadcasting our existence is simple- child's play. The universe has been conducive to intelligent life for fourteen billion years. And yet, all we see out there is... silence. Unbearable, unending silence."
I didn't answer. As the air conditioning hummed, and Cherry H. Verne's soft brown eyes held mine, I studied her for the first time. I saw the frantic, white-hot belief in her. Among my people, she would be notable. Among humans, she was close to unique. All of that belief, and nowhere for it to go. "It suggests an ominous possibility."
"We have a name for it," she said. "The Great Filter. The unknown enemy of sapience. Countless theories, of course- Perhaps life is rare. Perhaps sapience is rare. Perhaps we destroy ourselves. People have concocted fanciful tales of galactic empires and berserker probes, but I don't hold with that. Those would be localized. There would be evidence, elsewhere. But everywhere we look, there's... silence." She tented her fingers. "Perhaps we've weathered the storm. Perhaps it was life or sapience or disease or the atomic bomb that was the great nemesis. But it would be an act of absolute arrogance to believe that humans are special." She shook her head softly. "I don't think we're out of the woods yet."
"So, you joined because..." I prompted her, feeling unsettled in the pit of my stomach by her statement.
"H.P. Lovecraft was a popular writer, though only after he died. He believed that the universe was cold and inimical. I'm inclined to agree. He believed that humanity was fated to change, to become twisted, and horrific. That the only way life could survive was to lose everything that he saw as worthwhile in it." She smiled. "He was a bigot and a short-sighted fool. Life demands a harsh toll, but there's little we stand to lose by changing ourselves." She looked down at the demon. "So, Yeagerta. You ready to put her unconscious if that implant doesn't work?"
I blinked at the sudden change in subject. "What-" But Chief Researcher Verne was already snapping her fingers.
The creature's eyes snapped open. They flicked from side to side, panicked, feral, mad. The rest of her body didn't move in the least. The Chief Researcher smiled. "Good morning, sunshine. Do you want a job?"
"What?" asked the creature, its voice blunt. "What job?"
"Simple enough. You killed people. You probably thought you had to do that to survive, but you were wrong. I'd wager you fed off of fear. The connection you maintained with humans as their captor, offering them a hope of escape, the only face they saw as they slowly starved to death." She looked up at me, and smiled. "I imagine you're finding yourself quite hungry at the moment."
"My purpose," hissed the creature, its head lolling to one side to glare hatefully up at me. I returned its gaze without emotion.
"Yes, yes. Now, you have a choice of a new purpose. You can serve, and earn the right to be a human." She smiled, and there was something chilly as the silent universe in her expression. "Or you can refuse, and earn the right to be... laboratory material."
"Survival," hissed the creature. "Warmth. Food. A mate. Another day."
"That's the spirit," said Verne, the cold vanishing from her face like frost in the sun. "We'll get someone in to debrief you and explain the terms of your survival. For now, we've got a meeting."
The two of us walked through the corridors of the complex, Verne carrying a binder under one arm. I passed the time by watching the cables. The arrangement of the corridors were such that the sense of direction quickly became confused- Favoring sixty or hundred degree angles for corridors, rather than 90. If not for my ability to track the wiring in the walls, I would have quickly become lost. This topmost floor appeared to be primarily made up of research labs, medical quarters. It was all so... repeated.
"Getting used to the industrialization thing?" said Verne, a smile running across her lips. "I'm told it's disturbing to Atlanteans. The whole... sameness."
"To be unique, to be cherished, is to be strong. We don't go in for... mass production."
"Yeah. We noticed that," said Verne, smiling. "It explained a lot, learning about your people. The inability to mass-produce enchanted objects, the relatively short lifespan of magically enhanced equipment. Hell, we've got an artificial intelligence program here that's designed to take advantage of the tsukumogami principle. Still not much luck with that."
"Such projects often take years at a time," I said, softly. "And the coordinated input of many thousands."
"Yeah. It's a pain in the ass." She sighed. "This meeting is mostly bureaucratic. Our closest allies on the continent are- naturally enough- our only two neighbors. Canada's Royal Mythic Police and Mexico's Cuerpo de Fuerzas Extrano share a common issue- Primarily, the remaining supernatural beings left behind by the various Native American civilizations."
"Of course," I said. I was no stranger to humanity's genocidal tendencies. There was a reason my people had left. The rest was all Greek to me. I hadn’t memorized 90% of the states, let alone the countless other countries of the world.
"The Mythies are relatively easy to get along with, sharing a belief in rehabilitation, but they're kind of a soft touch. They're far less willing to lean on supernaturals. Lot of guilt. Recent upswing in native recruits, which has helped their knowledge base, covering some of their weaknesses in actual field assets. The Cuerpo..." She frowned. "They're a bit more hardline. There's a lot of history here, but what you fundamentally need to know is that they sprung off of the government forces dedicated to fighting the drug cartels. The cartels drew upon supernatural resources, and as such, the government forces have a... Well, bluntly genocidal approach to things. Even making pacts is illegal. They rely more on military hardware bought from the United States, and a relative lack of oversight." She sighed. "Messy."
She stopped at a door, little different from any other, and pushed it open.
"-is an unconscionable violation of human rights. Sentencing without hearings or the right to a qualified attorney-"
"Human rights, abuelita. There's an important word there."
The room was spacious, light filtering in through windows. I could see the powerful electrical sources behind the windows- The light was thoroughly artificial.
A mahogany table sat in the center of the room, with close to a dozen chairs around it. Three were currently occupied, one by the Colonel, the other two by the two women who had just been speaking. The one opposite the Colonel was a small, wizened woman, with long, silver-white hair, dressed in a loose dress that looked inappropriately breezy even for the air-conditioned room, let alone the weather outside. Seated between the two, facing the door, was a younger woman, whose eyes were hard as flint. Her hair was cut nearly to the scalp, leaving a thin fuzz of black, interrupted above her left ear by a scar that ran from near the eye, all the way to the back of the head.
"Well, well," said the scarred woman, her eyes twinkling, leaning back in a refined and dignified military uniform. "The offshoots. What are you staring at?"
I tilted my head. "I thought pacts with the supernatural were illegal under your government," I said, my eyes drifting across her. I could see it, there, the dull gray of the supernatural pact dimming her belief. One of the risen dead.
"Keep your gaze from my soul," said the woman, her voice even and sharp as a knife's edge.
"Fuck's sakes, Pagan, everyone in this room knows you're on the supernatural take," said the Colonel, taking a pull on a cigar, bent over the table with an expression of supreme aggravation. "Way to buck the stereotype there, by the way."
"The subject at hand," said the scarred woman, brushing off the mockery without any sign of annoyance or uncertainty. "The Atlanteans."
"You know that one was taken out of our hands," said the Colonel, a slight grin spreading across his lips. "How many times have I complained about that unpredictable prick? He got involved in something too big, and wound up making a good impression. Luck of the draw. Could have happened to any of us." He puffed on the cigar, and his eyes flickered to me. "Hey, Niwha. Can people fool that vision of yours?"
"There are techniques. They can be shared. Difficult, but possible." My eyes flickered to the two women. "The more people who know of such techniques, the less useful they will become. That is the nature of secrets."
"Well, our allies can keep secrets, can't they?" said the Colonel, grinning toothily. "Listen, I'm not interested in any of the tribalism shit. We've got bigger fish to fry."
"Ah, yes," said Pagan, the scarred woman, her expression empty. "The 'Horsemen'." She raised both hands as she said the word, palms flat, and crooked the index and middle finger of each hand twice.
"You know," said the old woman, a slight smile running over her lips, "I remember my parents talking about the Soviets. Those mysterious monsters on the far side of the world. The reason why we had to leave our home, and get settled in that barren shithole that I grew up in." She narrowed her eyes. "It was shit then, and it's shit now. The 'gods who rule above the gods', dedicated to our destruction. I've met fucking gods." She produced a slim cigarette and a purple plastic lighter, flicking one to light the other, and puffed twice. "They didn't do much good for me."
"Not this conspiracy paranoia shit, Smith," growled The Colonel. "The Paradise situation-"
"A U.S. superweapon- One which we were told was foolproof- going haywire," said Pagan, holding a hand over her mouth and coughing delicately. I sympathized. The smoke in the room was acrid, and growing thicker by the moment. "I fear the United States' carelessness far more than I fear any mythical bogeyman."
"God save me from arbitrary skeptics," growled the Colonel. "We're sharing the fucking resources. The research we gain from the Atlanteans, any breakthroughs, and personnel willing to volunteer. I know the situation has been unstable. That's why I'm trying to build us a little goddamn faith. Now, Cherry, take a seat. Yeagerta, you too. Tell us about the discoveries you've made on the Atlanteans."
"Thank you," said Verne, taking a seat next to the Colonel, setting down a large binder labeled USEF Report Dagon. I sat down next to her, trying to follow the hierarchy as best as I could. "First-"
The door burst open, Sergeant Miller standing there, his damaged arm covered in pale, somewhat sickly looking flesh, a few shades lighter than the rest. "Colonel. Emergency. The demon we were interrogating was made by an Archmage."
The colonel stared silently at Sergeant Miller. He chewed the cigar slowly. "Sergeant, our allies are in this room." He nodded his head towards Pagan, and Smith, who were staring with equally deadpan expressions. "As I'm sure you understand, evidence of an Archmage is... excruciatingly sensitive. Rather like being grabbed by the short hairs, and yanked. I'm confident that you wouldn't be grabbing me by the short hairs in front of our allies and giving me a firm yank without incredibly good reason."
"We've been tracking someone who matches the description. Small-time Native American hustler we thought was cheating casinos. We had a pair of agents watching him in Lousiana. If he's an Archmage..."
The colonel's pupils had shrunk, and he stared at Miller. The cloud of smoke hung around his features as he slowly removed the cigar from his mouth. "Motherfucker." He let out a slow breath. "Contact them-"
"Already did, sir." Miller's brow furrowed. "No response. They-"
"Get their video feed working. Shit. Motherfucking balls!" The colonel stood up, and sprinted out of the room, Miller shortly behind on his heels.
"Archmage?" I said, in the scorching silence of the room.
"A standard wizard is a mortal who has made a pact with a supernatural being. Immortality- so long as the pact lasts- and magical power," said Verne, her expression ashen as she slumped back in the chair. "An Archmage is- Well, they're theoretical."
"Nowadays," said Smith, the wizened old woman showing a slight grin. "The legends say they used to be a lot more common."
"Relatively," growled Verne. "An Archmage is any wizard who is spiritually powerful enough to, in the course of a single lifetime, create a supernatural being. Usually demons, though undead and fairies are theoretically also possible."
"Which is significant be-" I paused, and my eyes widened slightly. "Capable of producing their own immortality."
"Exactly. Unbeholden to a supernatural force. Capable of creating a personal supernatural companion, a Familiar." She looked up at Smith. "Could I get one of those?"
Smith shook out three cigarettes, offering them, in turn, to Pagan, Verne, and myself. I was the only one to refuse. "Understandably rare. What kind of person dedicates themselves so thoroughly to another, sufficient to discover the power that rests within them? Even if Archmages are still born, their talents would likely never become obvious to them. But with that much power, even the most minor supernatural being could become... spectacularly dangerous, in their hands."
"A brown recluse spider," I said, and frowned. "What is their lifespan?"
"About two years, at the outside," said Verne. She lit the cigarette, and puffed it twice, blowing out a cloud of smoke and coughing raggedly for a second before continuing, voice hoarser. "Even with the raw state of the spider-"
"A very powerful Archmage, who was active at least forty years ago," I said. "He is also most likely a member of a people who you committed genocide against."
"Life," said Smith, and the old woman chuckled. "It certainly does bite us in the ass, doesn't it?"
The door opened. The Colonel entered, his expression hard as flint. He sat down at the front of the table, and pressed a button. There was a click, and a blur of light spread across one wall as Sergeant Miller entered and sank into the chair beside him. The blur slowly came into focus. "This is the feed from their security setup in the hotel room."
It was an image, slowly moving. A hotel room. I had seen several like it, even in the short time I had spent among humans. Well-furnished, with a beautiful view across a sprawling human city that I did not recognize on sight. Two men sat inside. One raised his head, and drew his gun, turning towards the door. The image became unfocused, crazed patterns of black and white fuzzing the scene out, distorting it as the two men twisted in the strange interference, until it was entirely unintelligible. It was like that for perhaps three minutes, then it abruptly came back into focus.
I could see signs of what had happened. The bullet holes through the windows, crazed fractures spread out around them through the glass. The beds unmade, slashes visible that had gutted them of their stuffing. An arm was visible, hanging out from behind one of the beds. On the wall, in brilliant red, five words had been painted.
BILLY BOWLEGS SENDS HIS REGARDS.
"Shit," said Sergeant Miller, his voice soft, his expression stormy.
"Sergeant," said the Colonel, "you're going to need to assemble a team. Track the man down. Hunt him like a dog. Capture him if you can, kill him if not."
"Kill him?" Said Smith, her eyes narrowed. "Not a fucking chance. I'm coming along, and he's to be captured. He's not a U.S. citizen, and he is a human."
"Oh, come now, abuelita," said Pagan, her expression dancing with amusement. "We know this is not a matter of mercy or justice." She flicked a hand towards the image. "Will you be sharing that resource with us, Colonel?"
"Of course," said the man, gruffly, nearly biting through the cigar.
"Well, I shall be happy to come along on the mission. To make this mission more... multilateral."
"Your help is appreciated, Major, but-"
"Good," said Pagan, her eyes narrowed.
It was obvious, the true reason for the tension. This Archmage was dangerous, certainly- deadly. He had killed. But that alone was not enough to cause the people in this room to be on the verge of killing one another. It was not the reason the Colonel had been angry.
If Archmages were still born, then to be able to find them, to know how they were found, would be supremely useful. It would provide an incredible advantage to whichever nation broke the code first. The Atlanteans had been an incredible resource, too. But this one could be taken secretly.
If he could be captured, subverted, interrogated, studied, he could lead to the discovery of more. That kind of advantage could be... phenomenal.
I stared up at the screen silently. I looked across at Fetu Miller, and his eyes met mine.
Change. The kind that could destroy. The kind that had to be killed, before it twisted humanity beyond recognition.
"Are you with me, Yeagerta?"
"Yes, Miller."
USEF Report Albino Monk, Section X (Threat Assessment), Paragraph 1-8, Rank SURTUR-9. OLDMAN clearance required; If you are reading this and are not the Colonel, there is probably a gun aimed at your head right now.
In spite of Sergeant Miller's ongoing vouching for the former FBI agent, he is not to be regarded as an ally by EFUS personnel. This is an unfortunate political reality. His actions have directly destabilized the US government in places, and he is directly responsible for the destruction of two Cities. The fact that both of these cases saved a majority of the population of the Earth is, unfortunately, not worth much to our threat assessments.
There are three parts to this issue. First, his status as a pawn of War. Regardless of any other connections he has made, he started as a catspaw for one of the Horsemen. Her supposed defection only increases the suspicion. The Horsemen are marked universally by a level of long-term planning that can be best described as 'psychotic'. Even the apparent good done in this case may be in service of a longer term plan.
Second, despite his good intentions, his actions have brought the world of gods and the world of men closer together. Our current state of instability, and the growing awareness of and interference by supernatural forces, is entirely his fault. He may save us, only for the consequences of his actions to plunge us into a greater crisis. The increasing tensions we have reported from the remaining Cities corroborates this. Good intentions paving the way to hell, and all that rot.
But let's be honest with ourselves, shall we, Sir? We both know that these are secondary concerns. The real problem is Nash himself, and the power he has accumulated. We have him on record as having confronted several gods of a power that the entire EFUS military apparatus would be hard-pressed to even distract, and defeating them. As of this moment, he is probably the single most effective countermeasure to the Gods, should they mobilize fully.
And behind all of this is his personality. An emotionally crippled boy raised by a mentally ill single mother. His anti-authoritarian tendencies hidden behind a level of detachment that verges on the psychotic, he managed to get hired onto the FBI and come across as little more than a somewhat dull, but otherwise harmless young man with a thirst for justice. Given access to power, he proceeded to unveil a violent streak a mile wide. The man assaulted the U.S. Secretary of Finance. Granted, the traitor was a Horseman plant, but nonetheless.
We can't depend on this man. We can't allow him to act unhindered. His concept of 'justice' is, at best, childishly simple, and more prone to destroying power structures than making anything to replace them. In his own way, he could be as dangerous as the Horsemen- perhaps moreso. They, at least, consider the consequences of their actions. The fallout of his breaking open of Hell is yet to unfold entirely. How long until one of the Damned wind up causing a major crisis? Admittedly, their fear of him seems to have held them in line so far, but if he should show any weakness, the result will be catastrophic.
All of this is compounded by the aforementioned power. The Gae Bolg weapon proved entirely useless against him, which is a situation we frankly did not foresee. He seemed confident in his ability to counter the Pugno Dei as well, and regardless of whether that was bravado or not, we can't afford to drop another asteroid on him. For the moment, we don't have a countermeasure for him. If he should decide, tomorrow, that the President of the United States is as great a threat as the Gods of the Cities or the Horsemen, there is precious little that anyone can reasonably do to stop him.
For now, our chief strategy is surveillance and avoidance. He can be avoided. He can be worked around. He is, effectively, a natural disaster. We can at least try to forecast him.
Chief Researcher Cherry H. Verne
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The Abridged Biography of Mr. House, Part 1

Before writing here, I’ve read many debates over the factions in New Vegas. Although I’ve seen many good points, I also feel that Mr. Robert Edwin House is often grossly misunderstood – both by his supporters AND by his detractors. To assist, I’ve endeavoured to read up on all dialogue, letters and terminal entries concerning House, and from that write out a summarized biography with occasional insights into the man’s character. What you’ll read is by no means exhaustive (and I always enjoy new perspectives from others), but it IS going to be a fair bit of reading. I mean, seriously, this is the abridged biography of a 200+ year old man, not some low-effort meme post.
Grab yourself some biscuits and make some nice hot tea. Sit back, relax and enjoy at your own pace.
DISCLAIMER: A flaw of my writing style, especially when using this many words, is that I can appear all over the place at times. I'm trying to improve that. Feedback is appreciated, and I love answering questions should you have any. Don't panic if I don't respond quickly though, IRL is kinda hectic right now.
Anyways, where shall we begin? Oh, right.
To understand House, we must examine the context he inhabited Pre-War.
1) Family Matters
“Born June 25th, 2020, House was orphaned at an early age when his parents died in a freak accident (auto gyro, lightning). Though cheated of his inheritance, House attended the prestigious Institute in Massachusetts and founded RobCo Industries on his 22nd birthday. Within five years, it was one of the most profitable corporations on Earth.”
I have tried to find other texts to support the story Robert House gives of his early life (since we all know his obituary has more than a little embellishment in it), but haven’t found much, other than the eerie terminal logs in the H&H Tools Factory. The logs in general paint an objective picture of his half-brother Anthony House as a deranged man, ending with this noteworthy passage:
“It's worse than I feared. Henderson sent a 10-point memo outlining the benefits of mechanization and automation. As if I wouldn't know he's been plotting with my half-brother the entire time! I knew he was a weasel-dick traitor from the moment I laid eyes on him. Only one thing to do. One thing, and the company - my father's LEGACY - is safe forever. Cindy-Lou will bring him to me, and then I'll make an example. The Bastard will learn why you don't cross the House.”
and
“Jenny, What the hell is up with these guys? They've been coming after our market share like they've got something to prove. No, strike that, this feels personal. Did Mr. H. run over RobCo's dog or something? Alan”
With the above in mind, it is believable that Anthony House had cheated Robert House out of his inheritance, with the former viewing the latter as “The Bastard” (due to Robert being the younger half-brother) and thus undeserving of any part of the House family legacy. We can thus take the QUOTED part of House’s obituary above more or less at face value.
2) The end is nigh!
Now, years after raising a famous company from almost nothing, Mr. House deduced the occurrence of the Great War. By his own account, he first deduced this in 2065 – at this point in time, according to the Fallout Bible and Van Buren, Vault-Tech’s “Project Safehouse” had been in motion for over 11 years with the apparent goal being to shelter humanity in the event of a large-scale nuclear or bio-weapon holocaust. Europe and the Middle East were mutually ruined due to extended conflict and lack of resources. Heritage sites like the Grand Canyon were open to be mined. And the UN may-or-may-not-have been disbanded. Going by the GNN report in Fallout 2 the UN still had at least another (fairly ineffectual) 9 years left counting down from 2065. According to the Fallout Bible, it was already long dead. Either way, the world was in bad shape.
It’d be easy for us, at this point, to turn to Mr. House’s prediction and say something along the lines of “No kidding”. It seems obvious, from where we stand now in the Pre-War Fallout world, that there would be a nuclear Holocaust. And indeed, it was obvious. Even the Mormons were buying spots in Project Safehouse, if we are to believe Van Buren in that particular instance. What made House unique in his deduction, however, was knowing not only that the Atomic Holocaust WOULD happen no matter what (Vault-Tech’s plans were based more around general contingencies for any large-scale apocalypse), but he also knew precisely WHEN it would happen – the War only starting a day or so sooner than he expected.
As an aside, in light of the shambles the Pre-War world was in, one must wonder just how much it actually meant to be “one of the most profitable corporations on Earth”. Earth, at that point, was almost a wasteland already and House still built and sustained a thriving business. But I digress; we’re not yet worrying about how House could rebuild a wasteland. What we need to look at now is this – what did House do with his uniquely precise knowledge of the impending Apocalypse?
“I knew I couldn't ‘save the world,’ nor did I care to. But I could save Vegas, and in the process, perhaps, save mankind.”
And really, it is no wonder House did not care to save the world – there was barely anything left to save. The UN – an international force for peace – had either died or was rapidly weakening. The U.S. began setting its sights on annexing Canada. Entire forests were felled, Once-ler style, just as countries were felled to acquire them. Sure, people could build power armour, but only because the US military could no longer afford to fuel their tanks for sufficient mobility, and their “Mechanized Cavalry” needed something to take into battle. Even electricity is rationed after the fusion reactor of New York City almost went supercritical under the strain of providing for a 17 million+ strong population (Fallout Bible). And, despite all their troubles, America was still one of the best off countries in the world at this point (which makes you wonder how much worse it was in the others).
But whilst America carried on, Lonesome Road and Old World Blues show us that its values had changed, almost as if in a twisted homage to Heath Ledger’s Joker - “You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve." We see this theme echoed in the NCR and even the Followers of the Apocalypse, but we’ll get to that later.
The Pre-War world wasn’t some ideal Utopia that was only ruined by the tragedy of the bomb. It was already a desperate place, already a wasteland in many ways. There simply wasn’t enough left on Earth to provide for everyone (RIP Charlie Chaplin). And that’s why House could never hope to save everyone, let alone the planet they lived on. Anything he tried on that scale would be “too little, too late”.
3) Who Wants to Live Forever Anyways?
So…why did House choose to save Vegas?
Some say he did so in order to save himself. But if he truly wished to save himself, he could have been like Senator Todd Peterson, and built himself a private bunker within which to live out his days with whatever loved ones he may have had. Even if he wouldn’t be immortal, it’d still be a MUCH more comfortable way to spend his days. When it comes to the life he eventually chose, the Official Game Guide has this to say about House:
“He is emaciated to the point of being skeletal, bones visible under pale, translucent skin crisscrossed by faint blue blood vessels. House's command helmet is not detachable - we don't want to imply that the player could put it on and take his place. The helmet might be bolted right into his skull, like a "halo" used to stabilize severe neck injuries. Or it might not be a helmet at all, the top of Mr. House's skull having been removed and fitted with transistors and vacuum tubes.”
No, House did not endeavour to save himself. If anything, he condemned himself to a special kind of Hell. He was a man with the means to luxury, and yet sealed himself off from it, and almost all human experience the average man might take for granted (the smell of a flower, the touch of a woman, the feeling of a cool breeze on a Summer day)…forever. He mentions his longevity came with a cost. He was not kidding. If anything, he was understating.
Others instead compare House to Andrew Ryan, and say that he saved Vegas only so he could be the head amongst the wealthy and the elite. I must disagree here too – the tribals he later babysits were never elite in their own right by Pre-War standards before House’s intervention. Aside from being a superficial reference to Howard Hughes, House has very little in common with Ryan. Billions of US Dollars were at House’s disposal. If he really wished to be a leading figure amongst the elite, he would’ve built the Fallout equivalent of Rapture in the middle of the ocean ages ago. Or he would’ve built his own “Sierra Madre” to rival Sinclair. Or he would’ve ingratiated himself with the Enclave (who he did contract work for) or the Institute (where he studied), who could’ve used a man like him to lead their projects.
He did none of those things. He chose to save Vegas. Young, old, rich, poor, honest and crooked alike. And he chose to become immortal, despite the steep personal costs.
But why?
4) Long Term Investments
“Vegas is more than a city. It is the remedy to Mankind’s…derailment.”
And all of these resources would fall within range of his Securitron Network – at least once the Mk II upgrade arrives.
If we are to believe that Mr. House wished to establish colonies on new worlds as a solution to Earth’s resource problem regardless of whether the War happens first or not (and the Official Game Guide confirms House is interested in technological progress, at the very least), then it makes sense that House would choose Vegas – not because it is particularly important in itself (compared to other possible cities), but because it is the central location from which he could gain control of resources vital to the space program –renewable energy, REPCONN HQ, rocket test sites and seemingly limitless clean water for his employees. Still, as we find out later, House doesn’t let Vegas itself go to waste by any means…
The site chosen, House toiled over his defenses. He built a nuclear reactor under his casino with enough energy to power the Mojave. He built a life-support system to ensure his survival into the post-apocalypse, no matter the cost. He built Securitrons to protect his interests in the aftermath, and then built a factory/ storage facility for them under Fortification Hill – a mere stone’s throw from Hoover Dam - so that his army might never run out. Meanwhile, the brilliant Big MT scientist who would become Dr. 0 silently fumed in envy over House’s superior abilities in robotics.
Some may doubt that the Fort’s bunker was a factory. After all, House just calls it a “barracks”, which implies storage, right? Well, consider some barracks have recruitment offices – and in RTS style games, they’re often functionally the same building. Now what would the Securitron equivalent of a “recruitment office” be? Powering up the Fort Bunker causes distinct, repetitive hydraulic sounds, as if there were an assembly line moving. Does that sound like mere storage to you? No. You think he’d build an army with no way to replenish it?
“I'm surprised you can still underestimate me after everything you've seen.”
5) For Want of a Nail
But now, ironically after the above quote, we encounter House’s greatest failure. You see, House had everything set up, but it was still in BETA (insert Fallout76 Joke here). He commissioned the “Platinum Chip” to contain all the patches, software upgrades and override commands he could need for the foreseeable future. It was specially shaped so it could only be used on hardware he specified – no other company could hope to steal it or otherwise use it for their own purposes. The Chip was finished and scheduled to arrive a day before the predicted date of the war.
And then the War arrived a day early.
77 Warheads targeted Vegas. Mr. House, irrevocably entombed within his Life Chambers, readied Vegas’ defenses…
“I was in Mexico City when the bombs dropped. Even from there, we could see House's defensive rockets shooting down the incoming missiles.” -Raul Tejeda
And what House couldn’t shoot down, he hacked, deactivating warheads mid-air so they could never reach Vegas. But, because the Platinum Chip hadn’t arrived in time, the software remained a BETA - and would for another 204 years. Nine warheads managed to impact the Mojave.
*“When blaring civil defense sirens heralded mankind's doom on October 23rd, 2077, the citizens of Las Vegas bore witness to an astonishing spectacle. Huge laser cannons unfurled from secret housings in the roof of the Lucky 38 casino and Hoover Dam's intake towers and began spitting blasts of green fire into the sky, destroying warhead after warhead and sparing Las Vegas's urban center and the dam from direct hits. Citizens filled the streets and cheered. And then they died horribly from the lethal fallout that blew in from the dozens of warheads that detonated around Las Vegas.
Though Mr. House's missile defense grid performed admirably, the Great War was in actuality the day of his greatest setback.”*
House saved no-one that day. You were either in a Vault, or you were House, or you were dead.
Software bugs, compounded by the EMP from nuclear fallout, caused the defense action House put forward to result in multiple system crashes, forcing him to shut down his fully automated reactor before it melted down from faulty programming. Now without Hoover Dam (EMP) or his reactor, House’s life support relied on a very limited supply of emergency power. It was all he could do to restore his OS to an even less advanced -but more stable- build before passing out from shock.
6) Too Stubborn to Die
Now, the Courier is famous for rising from the grave to finish their quest - but House did it first. 61 years after the bombs dropped, House woke up. At this time, the Master (of Super Mutant army fame) was active and alive. Vault 15 – from which Shady Sands was built – hadn’t even opened yet. The majority of House’s Securitrons are offline, with only a handful of downgraded ones stationed in his casino. Raiders plagued the Wastes. And House’s own limited power supplies dwindled ever lower.
Now, he lived a full life. Raul notes how House was something of a superstar who dated all the beautiful women and made billions before the War, reaching the ripe age of 57 before the bombs fell. After losing almost everything in his gamble to try save Vegas, it’d be tempting for anyone in House’s position to give up, to shut down again and just…die. Instead…
“Immediately he began using his Securitron robots to search out human settlements…”
From this point onwards (until his determinant acquisition of the Dam) House is forced to make choices most of us don’t even have to consider. Everyone has to worry about their budget for the month. Some of us have to worry about their budget for the year…or a company’s or even country’s budget for a similar period - maybe 5 or 10 years, in some cases. House has chosen to worry about the World’s “budget” (fiscal or otherwise) over the course of…forever, because no one else alive is as acutely aware of the global resource shortage as House, who lived through multiple wars caused by it, culminating in that big famous one that almost ended the world.
“For years, I played a miser with my emergency power supply. I began to run out of reserves around the time I woke the first batch of Securitrons”.
Of course, House had his own budgets to worry about. It was not long after sending out his forces to find other humans that his power supply began to dip dangerously low. Realizing the costs of waking up his robots after the first batch forced House to play very carefully – after all, he couldn’t enact his plans to revitalize the global economy if he died now, could he? He sent his mechanical agents out, quietly hiring prospectors to find his beloved Chip – with no personnel or infrastructure to reproduce it, he had to find it…before he shut off forever.
Beyond that, he ran silently, keeping his “electrical bill” as low as possible, hoping the Chip would find him in time. As it turns out, the NCR got to him first.
If you ever wondered why House did not try to personally civilize Vegas, introduce sustainable agriculture and grant free schooling before NCR showed up, it’s because doing those things would require him to take a very active role in life outside the Lucky 38, and doing that, with his power reserves as they were, would have been fatal for him (to say nothing of the mutants, raiders, etc). This is the weakest he has ever been since his half-brother swindled him.
But I digress. The NCR is on the horizon…as was the Legion.
7) I Called Dibs 2 Centuries Ago
Suddenly, things moved very quickly. For years after the Wastes were repopulated, (what passed for) peace and order in Nevada was maintained by the vigilante Desert Rangers, who allowed themselves to be absorbed into the NCR in 2271, in exchange for help against Caesar. A year later, the Mojave Outpost as we see it –under NCR- came to be, the Mojave south of the Vegas area having been pacified earlier under the leadership of then-General Kimball. Then, Kimball achieving Presidency, Hoover Dam fell under their grip.
In the span of 2274 House engaged his final power reserves in a last-ditch effort to secure his future (and, by proxy and from his perspective, the future of Mankind). Beatrix Russel and the King describe Pre-House Vegas as a place where everyone got by, but the truth is less-than-spotless; according to the FNVOGG, tribes fought amongst the ruins – Slither Kin, Boot Riders, Great Khans, and many other smaller or more mysterious groups. Using Securitrons as his intermediaries, Mr. House enlisted the help of all who were both willing and capable of aiding him, playing on their self-interest and need to survive by promising (and delivering) them resources and power. But whilst you can teach tribals to fight your enemies and socialize with your allies, you can’t turn them into a competent team of technical specialists – not in the time available. And he’d need educated men and women to truly restore the glamour of his New Vegas.
And that’s where Vault 21 came in. After uncooperative tribes like the Great Khans were pushed off the areas around the Strip, House made an offer to this community, who had previously lived in peace as chaos raged above them. The offer was simple: help rebuild Vegas…or not. Most chose the second option, but a small group of Vault residents decided to gain support on House’s behalf, eventually achieving a consensus: they would work for House, and opened their doors to him. They soon found themselves aiding House’s tribals in building a massive wall sheltering both the Strip and Freeside from the rest of Vegas. Vault 21’s lower levels were salvaged of useful technology to aid in construction…and then (infamously) filled with concrete to ensure future, less innocent visitors to the Vault couldn’t use it to breach the Lucky 38’s sub-levels or Vegas’ defenses. At the request of its more agoraphobic residents, House spared Vault 21’s top levels, transforming it into a hotel for them to run. With the Vegas Strip being far larger – more casinos, more housing, more everything – in lore, art and cutscenes compared to in-game, it is plausible to believe the displaced Vault Dwellers were rehoused on the Strip itself; as relatively well educated individuals, they’d be invaluable in House’s endeavours – of the three we met, we know one became House’s top sign artist, one became a hotel manager and one voluntarily left Vegas to be a travelling doctor before retiring in Goodsprings (we know because he eventually returned to marry his sweetheart, who still lived not far from the Vault she came from).
Whilst not yet open for business by any means, House had managed to turn a ruin plagued with tribal conflicts into a citadel presided over by Three Families. The NCR arrived in force, expecting just another wasted city picked over by warring raiders…and instead found a fortress in the wastes…and surprisingly, one that not only wasn’t hostile to them, but outright welcomed them…providing certain concessions were made…
With the threat of the Legion just on the horizon, NCR were faced with an offer they could not refuse – they would be allowed to set up an embassy and police force on the Strip, as well as a military base in Outer Vegas so long as they provided 5% of the Dam’s power output to Vegas (which they would need to do to make use of their embassy and base anyways) and allow their citizens and soldiers on leave to enjoy House’s amenities at their own discretion. Sounds pretty reasonable, doesn’t it? NCR agreed to the terms, implicitly legitimizing the sovereignty of New Vegas under House. Power flowed to the Strip and House, who had to suffer multiple power outages, whose salves and meds almost curdled because of this, whose life was literally tied to that of his battery…could finally breathe easy, now having more (electrical) power than he knew what to do with.
8) But why didn’t House…?
You may be asking “Why didn’t House instead provide his resources to the NCR, allowing them to push the tribals out of Vegas and restore it that way, possibly becoming a prominent citizen in the process?”
House’s detractors often refer to his compulsive need for control, and control is precisely why House would rather recruit tribals to work for him than try to merge with something larger. But why does House want that control?
I’d argue it isn’t due to a compulsive need for it – his leadership is extremely hands-off. To understand why House wants to remain in control, rather than admit subservience to a larger civilization, we need to look back to Pre-War America and that Joker quote we put down earlier.
NCR is, in many ways, similar to Pre-War US. It was founded on lofty ideals. And when resources became scarce? They abandoned their ideals and annexed whatever and whoever they wanted to get more resources until the globe was almost depleted and -BOOM! So far, NCR is just at the “annexing” stage (not that they have nukes anyways), but the globe is about as depleted as it was 200 years ago.
Chief Hanlon speaks of the overconsumption and mismanagement of water in their territories, Doctor Hildern predicts a famine after a decade of population growth. Supporting this, the intro-cutscene for the game outright states NCR’s expansion is influenced by a lack of resources for their growing populace. NCR’s current population as a nation…around 700 000. Compare that to Johannesburg’s (which is just one city) population of 900 000+. Compare that to the 39 million+ strong population of real life California today. And NCR is the largest unified population on the continent. And they’re running out of resources already. By modern IRL standards, the population that Earth (or at least, America) can sustain in the Post-War Fallout universe is absolutely tiny. Even the possible savior we find within Big MT’s matter replicators is in question, with the substantially wealthy Sinclair being driven almost into debt just to fund the creation a few according to the terminal in the Y-0 Lab, and very few having been found outside the Sierra Madre despite Dean’s claims. Of course, perhaps that could change with time and resources directed towards further development, but until then… (As it stands, Pre-War US couldn’t/ didn’t make them economically viable to produce before the Great War started). If even the Followers of the Apocalypse are willing to commit murder over water at this juncture (White Wash), imagine how things would be later down the line. There aren’t infinite resources in the Fallout world – just too few people to deplete what is left…yet.
No one is as painfully aware of the resource shortage as House. Maybe others of his intellect will rise up in the NCR, but like him in Pre-War US, they won’t detect the issue until it’s too late to properly solve it. Not wanting to gamble on the multi-headed NCR following his advice forever, he instead puts on an appearance of having power, ensuring full control over his enterprises. This is why House doesn’t bid for NCR citizenship.
He’s seen what happens to Democracies when the going gets truly desperate – how they corrupt into oligarchies blinded by greed or desperation. Rather than watch that happen again, he chooses to become an autocrat in a long-term venture for the good of Mankind – after all (as we’ve stated before), he has little reason to continue living for himself.
9) The Nature of the Strip
“A fool and his money are soon parted.” – Proverbs, 21:20, King James Bible
Strip away the gambling amenities, and what is left? A luxury resort, a fine-dining restaurant, an art gallery, a theatre, bars, hotels, a brothel and a gentleman’s club.
For want of a nail, House cannot access the powerful amenities around Vegas, but he’s made the best of the city itself. Early on, access between the Strip and Freeside was unrestricted (according to the FNVOGG) – Securitrons thoroughly patrolled both areas and just about everybody there was living relatively well.
For those of you familiar with casinos, you know they pull every trick in the book – the smiling staff, the bright lights, the music, and the colours – in order to subtly entice you to make a wager. For those who’ve only visited casinos to partake in their collection of arcades, restaurants, cinemas or theatres, you know all those psychological prompts to “pay to watch people flip paper squares”, as Follows-Chalk likes to say, are entirely ignorable.
For a man like House, the Strip exists to collect money (a.k.a. the power to requisition resources) from those who do not know how to spend it and redistribute it into the hands of those working towards his ends (maintenance aside, recovering his Chip – which is still invaluable despite the power from Hoover Dam - is becoming a tad expensive, after all). It also exists as a place of culture and relaxation for more responsible visitors. For many others, however, the Strip has become a beacon of hope.
Enthusiastic entertainers finally had a place to permanently employ their gifts. Those who were unfortunate in life but otherwise hard-working made livings as Street Vendors on the Strip, earning far more than they could anywhere else even after taking House’s Franchisee taxes into account. And formerly inter-warring tribals were finally living in peace, operating lavish casinos semi-independently in return for making and enforcing certain agreements with House (notably, cannibalism carries the death penalty).
10) The Separation from Freeside
Around two years BEFORE the game started, or 2 years AFTER the First Battle of Hoover Dam, House began to wall Freeside off from the Strip. Whether it was due to being overwhelmed by too many people trying to spend money they didn’t actually have, or due to a security issue, House decided to pull his Securitron forces and loyal employees off of Freeside to concentrate on the Strip, with admittance becoming more exclusive. You either:
a) possessed a passport indicating you were trusted to visit the Strip
b) had enough money on you to prove you were a tourist who could afford to enjoy the Strip’s services (there is no entry tax or fee – just a credit check to ensure you aren’t going to just indebt yourself within 5 seconds of visiting)
c) have to stay in Freeside or go home
d) were an NCR soldier or VIP on leave
OR
e) tried to break past a cordon of armed robots whilst ignoring their instructions to stop and turn around, earning yourself a Darwin Award (of course, NCR troops will also kill you if you try to use “their” Monorail under similar circumstances, only they won’t wait for you to break past them).
But despite the new checkpoint, a woman from North Vegas – who previously could barely afford to eat – found good, steady work on the Strip as a salesperson. Street performers like the Lonesome Drifter or Billy Knight were admitted in without a peep. Although it’s true that the Strip’s services cater to the rich, the people it truly looks after are the hard working and enthusiastic (Billy Knight isn’t an exceptional comedian, but he clearly loves his work and that was clearly enough). Remember that no one local to Vegas was rich before House came back –since his resurrection he has been an employer of the willing and the able, and that hasn’t changed. Vegas puts on a big show for wealthy consumers, but it’s people like Billy Knight or the woman from North Vegas who come out ahead.
But, of course, not everyone liked the idea of working for House. Perhaps, more tragically, they decided too late to find employment as all staff slots were filled. Regardless, Freeside, with most of its more capable now residing on the Strip, and the Securitons no longer protecting it, degenerated back into lawlessness and became a hive of scum and villainy. It is from these conditions that a man calling himself the King rallied various dispossessed former tribals of all colours into a new tribe of his own. But we’ll return to him later…
We never find out for certain why House shut out Freeside. The Locals will blame the droves of NCR squatters around Vegas (for just about everything), but we’ll likely never know for certain beyond plausible speculations.
submitted by DarthAdjutor to fnv [link] [comments]

I'm cursed and can't control when I different dimensions. (Part 2)

Part 1
Sorry this took so long to post. I’ve had quite the time for the last few weeks. I came back home for about two days, enjoying some food from my mom because I was starving. Rations kept me full but they weren’t very satisfying. I enjoyed sleeping on my soft bed with blankets.
I still have nightmares about the Stalker.
But you know, it’s nice to be home for a bit to de-stress.
Well, that’s what I thought.
After two days, I went into what I’m now calling my ghost form. It was like at school where I was around everyone but they couldn’t see, hear or feel me. I just disappeared to them.
It has become my least favorite thing about this whole curse ordeal. I’m so fucking lonely in ghost form. I’m just...wandering around…
At first it was nice. I went to see the newest movies in the theaters and I went to a musical, which I haven’t done in years. I didn’t peep on anyone, though the thought did pass through my brain for the briefest moments. Honestly, it was a sickening thought. If I wanted that form of entertainment, I could just go to a shop and watch videos but those places are creepy as fuck.
No, it got very boring very fast. No one could see me and I couldn't manipulate anything on the physical plane. I did learn how to float around, which is fun. I just float around for a bit to new places.
It wasn't until I was sitting on the couch in the living room the second morning that my mom noticed me and smiled. "Welcome back," she said and I smiled back.
I’ve since learned not to do dangerous things too often when I’m in ghost form. I was really enjoying flying after a few hours of being bored. I flew up into the air over cars, racing them down the roads. As I was doing so, my body suddenly became heavy and I plummeted to the ground. Luckily, I was just a few inches off the road but I rolled quite a distance across the pavement. It took off some skin and I winced as my rolling stopped.
There was the sound of a car horn as I looked up to see the headlights of a semi truck. With reflexes I didn’t realize I had, I rolled out of the way in just enough time for the truck to drive right over me. My heart pounded in my rib cage as the whole undercarriage of the truck went past me. Wind blew my hair and I tried not to scream.
When it was finally over, I quickly got to my feet just to dodge out of the way of another car. By that point, I finally made it to the edge of the road and tumbled down a hill into a small line of trees. I lay there in the brush panting and trying to ease the fear.
I was far away from my house too. So, I started hoofing it through the forest next to the woods towards the closest town. I tend to have a good memory so I’d just call my mom and see if she’d come get me.
It was getting darker as I walked nearly two miles to the town. I’ve never been afraid of the darkness of the forest and since I went to that other dimension...there wasn’t really anything for me to be afraid of in the woods. The Stalker was something only born of that world and I felt fortunate that that was the case.
I was just about to the tavern at the edge of the town when I heard a twig snap behind me. My body went into defensive mode as I stopped, looking around. There was breathing...heavy breathing. I had nothing to defend myself with. I couldn’t carry weapons in my ghost form and I definitely couldn’t carry a phone.
Clara’s heavy weapon flashed through my mind as I noticed a rock at my feet. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. Who the fuck would be out at this time?
Another snap...closer this time.
I slowly crouched down and picked up the rock with a sweaty, trembling hand. If Clara’s world had taught me anything, it was that I wanted to live a full life. My father had died relatively young because of this curse but…I wanted to survive.
The breathing was louder now and I kept myself frozen as I felt a huff of warm air pass over the back of my neck. It ruffled my hair and smelt like those rotten corpses I had cut down. My body was nearly vibrating with my fear as I held tight to the rock.
I took a calming breath before turning and bashing the creature in the face with the rock. It roared in pain but I was already sprinting through the woods. I heard a hissing sound as it took chase. The roots were trip hazards waiting to happen but I was actually quite agile as the tavern’s lights shined in the distance.
I could hear the creature lopping behind me on what sounded like long limbs. I couldn’t look back. I couldn’t think of what was there...all I could think about was getting to the tavern.
Something swiped at my back and pain lanced as a blade cut through my skin. Ignoring the pain, I burst through the treeline in enough time to see a door open and light spill out. A man stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light behind him. He looked big and was holding a gun of some kind.
The man raised the gun and started speaking in a weird language. My heart leaped into my throat as the boom made my ears ring. The bullet that came out of the gun looked like pure light as it flew past my ear, just barely singing the skin. I heard it hit something with a dull thud and a low growl but the sounds of running behind me stopped as I made it up onto the porch.
I felt better in the light. “Thank you,” I wheeze, looking at the man who stood in the doorway. He didn’t seem to be frightened as I turned to look at the creature.
It was tall, very tall, with long, lanky, lumbering arms that were nearly twice the length of its body. It was emaciated and so thin I thought it might be just bones. The skin seemed an ugly off white and draped over the bones like wrinkly curtains. It had a deer’s skull for a head with darkness in the eye sockets. It had antlers too that came up from its head, glimmering in the small bit of dim light from the porch.
The tall creature turned after a spell and disappeared into the trees.
“Come on in,” the man gestures for the door and I slip in.
Warmth seeps into my bones as I stepped into the room, which was warmed by a large fireplace on one side. This...wasn’t a tavern. It was a home that had definitely been a tavern the last time I had been here.
Shit.
I wasn’t in my own dimension.
Clara’s dimension was so vastly different that it was easy to tell the difference but...this place was far too close to my original. I took my jacket off and set it on the coat rack next to the door as the man bolted the door. He placed a hand on the door and whispered something with his eyes closed. A circle with intricate patterns lit up the wood for a moment before dimming into nothingness.
“What did you do?” I ask, knowing magic when I saw it.
“It’s a protection seal against the windigo,” he smiles, setting the rifle on a rack on the wall that had three other guns as well. “Usually the light will be enough to keep them at bay but...sometimes they get hungry.”
I felt a chill rush down my spine at the implication.
“Please, sit, stranger,” the man gestures for a large, comfy looking chair.
I easily slip into the fluffy cushion that nearly swallowed me whole. I took a moment to look at the man who looked to be of some kind of Native American heritage. He had dark skin, strong facial features, dark brown eyes and a strong build. He could obviously fight off some crazy shit with those biceps of his. But even with that, he seemed so kind.
He brought over a steaming cup and I took the tea even though I wasn’t super fond. “Honey, sugar or milk?” he gestures at the tray on the table.
I decided on some honey and milk and...truthfully, it warmed me straight to my core and drove away my fear. There had to be some magic in this stuff too. Looking at the man, I could see his dark eyelashes against his high cheekbones and pale scars that ran through his eyebrow. He was missing a finger on his right hand too.
“I’m Henry,” the man finally states, sitting back with his own cup of tea.
“Darren,” I smile, sipping at the tea happily. “Thank you for the save back there. What was that thing?”
Henry gives me a strange look. It was pretty obvious that I probably should have known what they were. Damn it, that meant they were common here. “The old stories say they are people who were driven to cannibalize their own people through desperation and starvation but...that’s just a story. Actually, no one’s ever seen one made and no one has ever seen more than one at a time. We just know that they come out when the moon is new and the world is cast into perfect darkness.”
What a horrid creature. Were there others I needed to know about? Damn it, no wonder my dad had died so young. Every time I get thrown into a new dimension...I didn’t know anything. There were obviously terrors that I was unaware of in every dimension.
He nods, tilting his head curiously. It was so innocent for such a weathered man. Though, if I had to guess, he wasn’t too much older than me. “You must not be from around here, Darren. Everyone knows to stay out of those woods at night during a new moon. You’re very lucky to have survived.”
I feel a little embarrassed. “Well, you’re right. I’m not from around here. I’m…” I couldn’t tell him what I truly was. I couldn’t tell him I was a Plane-Shifter. “From out of town. I got lost on my way back to a friend’s house.”
Henry looks amused. There is a crooked, knowing smile on his face. “Friend, huh?” I felt like I was missing something.
“Uh...yeah,” I finish lamely, hiding my embarrassment behind my cup.
“Well, tomorrow morning, I can help you back to your friend’s house, okay? I’ll go get some blankets and a pillow for you. You can sleep on the couch tonight.”
He went and brought out what looked like a homemade quilt and a pillow. Setting them down, he nods at the tea. “Please, help yourself. It will make you feel better. And don’t worry about the windigo...it won’t come near the circle. Good night, Darren.”
I nod as he walked deeper into the house. The fire crackled softly and I got the couch set up to lay down. The warmth of the house, the smell of some foreign, woodsy scent and the feel of just lying down all helped me slowly slip away into darkness.
The next day, I awoke to the sound of someone moving around dishes. It jolted me awake and I sat up to see Henry’s back from the kitchen. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and I could see three distinct claw mark-like scars going down his back. It reminded me of my own cut, which must not be so deep. His shoulders were broad and his waist trim. He was wearing pajama pants and was humming something as he started cooking.
“Morning,” he calls without looking back.
How the fuck could someone be so perky this early in the morning? I slowly get up and put my feet on the cold wooden floor. My head hurt and my back was a little sore but...I was alive. Still in this dimension...but alive.
I got up and helped him cook breakfast in relative silence until he turned on a small radio on the counter. It was playing some kind of tribal music. It sounded like the stuff you would hear at Native American casinos and tourist attractions. It had a wood flute in it and drums and someone singing. It was actually pretty cool.
He bounced a little as he cooked, mouthing the words of the song. Henry was a good head taller than me and I was already tall but he was so...I couldn’t find a good word for him. I guess, endearing is as close as I can get to it.
“So,” he starts after we started cooking bacon and some omelettes. “You going to tell me where you actually came from?”
I felt my insides freeze for a moment. “I’m sorry?”
He has that crooked grin on his face again. “I live nearly thirty miles from the nearest village.”
His words made me let out a deep sigh as we plated up our food and took it to the dining room table in an adjacent room. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I mumble, stuffing some eggs into my mouth. It wasn’t...quite what I was expecting, flavor-wise, but it was delicious nonetheless. The bacon...wasn’t quite the same either but I wasn’t about to ask what it was.
He rested his chin on the back of his hand and tilted his head. “Try me.”
I took a deep breath and just let him have it. I told him everything.
He didn’t look surprised but did look curious. “So, you thought this was your dimension?” he asks once I’m done.
“Yeah, I was nearly run over by that car and tumbled into the woods and...it all looked so similar to my dimension,” I admitted with a shrug. “I don’t know...when I slip into another dimension and it’s starting to get incredibly dangerous.”
“No shit,” he chuckles, looking concerned. “So you could disappear at any moment?”
I nod. “Yeah. Sorry ahead of time for that.”
He shakes his head. “No, I just thought it was odd that someone of Europe was here in this neck of the woods anyways.”
“From Europe?” I ask. “I’m from the United States of America.”
His eyes widen a little and I notice the flecks of green dotted there so subtly I nearly leaned in to get a better look. I kept myself from doing that because...obviously embarrassing. “What do you mean?”
To make this short, in Henry’s dimension, the US was never found by Europe explorers and the Native American tribes stayed in power with a little help from Mexico. They became a super power right around the time that Europe started poking around and were able to drive out any would-be conquerors. They were less technologically advanced but they had nature-based magic that gave them power.
The history was extensive and I sat and listened in rapt attention as he went through something he just knew. We sat until the sun came up over the mountains, talking, and going over our own homes. I was curious about the monsters and he was curious about the government.
“Come on, I’ve got work to do,” he smiles after we clean our plates in the sink. He dresses the wound on my back, gives me a new shirt, gets dressed and we head outside.
We chop some wood for the fireplace and we sprinkle something on the ground from a small leather pouch on the man’s hip. From the ground sprang tall stalks of corn that we harvested. Later, we went out to the backyard and I saw a small little farm that had other fruits and vegetables and...farm animals.
I gape a little at the hogs that sat in the fenced in area. They were...more like boars with their tusks and they looked angry as we walked up. “What’s wrong with your pigs?” I ask, spotting the chicken coop. The chickens were, thankfully, normal chickens that laid normal eggs.
He looked at me as he dumped some slop into the trough for them. They went nuts and started devouring the stuff. “Nothing, this is how they’ve always looked. I usually have to go out and trap new hogs once a month. It’s dangerous but they’re so delicious.”
I was helping harvest eggs when I heard a buzzing. It wasn’t like a bee but...more like the wings of a hummingbird. I looked up in just enough time to make eye contact with a little creature. It had an angular face with big, fly eyes and spiky green hair that stuck up all over its little head. It’s little wings fluttered so quickly I could barely see them.
“Henry,” I whisper, frozen in my spot.
The man looks over and gives a little gasp. He whispered something under his breath in obvious admiration but it was in that language he had used when creating the circle. “Axeki are spirits of magic and healing,” he mutters to me, bowing his head. “Show respect.”
I bowed my head as well. “Thank you for visiting me,” I try, unsure of what to say in this moment.
It chitters and flits about. It looks at me and smiles a wide, ear-to-ear grin with tiny little teeth. It’s hand touches my forehead and the pain in my back went completely away. I must look surprised because it puts its tiny little hands to its mouth and giggles.
Then, it’s gone.
Henry lets out a sigh, as if he had been holding his breath, and places a hand on my shoulder. “That was a rare gift, friend,” he explains, taking the eggs back with us to the house. “A Pain Spirit is very elusive and when it visits...it brings good luck.”
I nod, still a little unnerved by the creature. When I look at the line of trees, as I had every time I could for fear that something was out there, I saw nothing but a beautiful doe staring at me. It’s eyes caught me and I froze in my spot.
Henry got all the way to the house before he noticed I had stopped. “Darren?” he asks.
I couldn’t really hear him. The deer was stepping out of the tree line and I was walking towards it. Right before my eyes, it transformed into a beautiful woman with tan skin, spots dotting her arms and chest. She opens her arms to me and I am just a few inches from touching her when Henry cuts between the two of us.
His voice boomed in that strange language and the air around us seemed to grow heavy with heat. He had a staff of some kind in his hands and was holding it up. The woman hissed, backing away as her body started to contort and twist back into her deer form until it bounded away into the woods.
Henry easily turned me and pushed me into the house, bolting the door. His strong hand smacks across my face, jolting me back to real life. “Sorry,” he whispers, rubbing the spot where he smacked.
“So much for good luck,” I whisper, finding him too close for me not to get nervous. He was looking at my eyes so intensely.
He chuckles after a moment, the sound full of relief. “Yeah, well, I think the creatures are drawn to you. You’re not of this place; they probably sense that,” he explains, going to grab the pot of tea. He starts brewing it on the stove as I wrap the quilt around my shoulders.
“We’re going to have to be careful,” he says as he comes back to set the tray down for me. “I’m going to have to keep a very close eye on the house and trees.”
He goes around the house whispering incantations of protection until the whole house felt a little more secure. He sat down and we had a few moments of quiet as he read a big, old tome that was leather bound. It had a language in it that I didn’t understand.
“What language is that?” I find myself asking.
Henry looks up, unperturbed by the question. “It’s the One Language,” he stated. “It’s a Language that was spoken at the time of creation. Only those with connection to the old ways can hear, read and speak the Language.”
“So, did you just one day hear it?”
He thinks for a moment before shrugging. “I’ve just always been able to hear the trees and the grass and the water whispering it to me.”
“Not everyone can hear it?” He shakes his head. “So, how do normal people protect against things like...that.” I gestured vaguely outside.
“The Deer Woman? She is a relatively harmless creature. It would be just as effective to shoot her with a gun than to run her off with the Language.”
I nod. “What did she want?”
Henry hesitates and twists his lips a little. “Deer Women are seducers of men. She would have lured you out into the woods and...fornicated with you. It’s the only way they can reproduce but they only give birth to other Deer Women.”
“They don’t kill the men they fuck?” I ask, less tactfully.
He moves his head back and forth indecisively. “Sometimes, but usually they just run away afterwards.”
I was going to ask more questions when a knock on the door made me jump nearly out of my skin. Henry chuckles a little good naturedly as he goes to the door to peek through the peephole. “Don’t worry, it’s just a client. Do you mind if you stay in my room for about an hour while I sit with her?” he asks, seeming a little sheepish at the request.
I shrug. “Of course,” I say, following him into his room where he pulled the blanket back for me. “Are you a doctor?”
He looks up as I slip into the bed, feeling a little uncomfortable but very tired. “Yes and no,” he smiles, moving to the door. “I’ll explain when you wake up.”
I hummed and fell asleep almost instantly.
I’ll stop here for now. I still have more from that dimension but I just got back and I’m exhausted from the events that followed. I have a lot of thinking to do. I’ll update soon. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement in this. I hope to hear more from you guys.
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are tribal casinos open in new mexico video

Coronavirus and Casinos in New Mexico - YouTube When is it okay for New Mexico to re-open? - YouTube Sports Betting at New Mexico’s Tribal Casinos - YouTube Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel opens in Bernalillo - YouTube Some New Mexico tribal casinos reopen to the public - YouTube Santa Ana Star Casino - Now Open - YouTube INSIDE the most dangerous city in the world - Tijuana ... Proposal outlines major changes at New Mexico racinos ... Casinos ARE OPEN!!!!! - YouTube These are the precautions one casino has taken for its ...

This establishment is quite a small gambling venue in comparison with other New Mexico’s casinos. Its 12,000 sq … 1 reviews. United States. 39 Road 5568 87401 Farmington. See this casino . Fruitland Northern Edge Navajo Casino. Immerse yourself in an Indian-style gaming floor that hosts more than 750 slot machines. Popular and less famous traditional table games can be played in this The Isleta Casino and Resort in New Mexico is set to re-open after second forced COVID-19 temporary shutdown. The Pueblo of Isleta Tribal Council voted unanimously to reopen the Albuquerque casino after nearly three months of shut down. The decision was based on economic concerns and various other New Mexico’s Isleta Casino Reopens After Second COVID-Forced Shutdown. Posted on: February 6, 2021, 06:23h. Last updated on: February 6, 2021, 12:05h. Gamblers across the state will have a chance to try their luck today as some of the tribal casinos reopen to the public for the first time since March. In Northern New Mexico, Ohkay Hotel Casino’s gaming floor will open its doors at 7 a.m. today. Further to the south, Isleta’s Casino is opening at 10 a.m. There is no official word when other area casinos will open and although New Mexico actually saw one tribal casino reopen on December 1, At the moment, all tribal casinos in the state are open and have not announced any plans to close again. The only gaming establishment that’s closed is the small collection of slot machines at Benewah Family Foods. As of December 2, Ada, Elmore Valley and Boise counties are looking at increasing restrictions, including an Several New Mexico tribal casinos begin to reopen their doors for gamblers to start enjoying games. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had urged them not to reopen the facilities to the public due to the spread of Coronavirus. Some gambling places like Isleta Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, Taos Mountain in Taos, and Ohkay Hotel in Ohkay Owingeh have already reopened their doors to the public. By SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Multiple tribal casinos in New Mexico have reopened despite recommendations from Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to remain closed to limit the spread of COVID-19. 14 New Mexico casinos are closed for COVID-19. November 18, 2020. Several New Mexico casinos have recently closed temporarily to prevent the spread pf COVID-19 which are currently surging in the state. A complete list of all closed casinos in New Mexico is shown below. Church Rock, New Mexico 87311 505-905-7100 . Flowing Water Casino. 2710 US Highway 64 Waterflow, New Mexico 87421 (505) 368-2300. Northern Edge Casino. 2752 Navajo Route 36 Fruitland, New Mexico 87416 (505) 960-7000 After two and a half months shuttered, Mexico’s tribal casinos started reopening. In light of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic Mexico has shut down all non-essential businesses on the 23 rd of March, including the whole entertainment sector such as casinos. Two and a half months later, on 1 st June, Mexico’s government announced the slow reopening of its economy and allowed businesses such

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Coronavirus and Casinos in New Mexico - YouTube

January 31, 2020 – With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, New Mexico in Focus turns its attention to sports betting at Native casinos. A 2018 U.S. Supre... A new proposal aims to overhaul New Mexico’s gambling laws, putting racetrack casinos on virtually the same playing field as tribal casinos. The so-called “G... With mounting pressure on state leaders to allow more of New Mexico businesses to fully re-open, Royale Da asks a Presbyterian doctor what the healthcare com... CNBC's Contessa Brewer reports on the increased precautions casinos are taking as they reopen.For weeks, the burning question facing casino operators nationw... Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel opens in Bernalillo - Source: https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/santa-ana-star-casino-hotel-opens-in-bernalillo/1283861412 Some New Mexico tribal casinos reopen to the public About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... As of today Indian Casinos are confirmed open for business.Recorded with https://screencast-o-matic.com Hello The TWO SIDES of Tijuana MEXICO iam_marwa , welcome to my Youtube channel , i hope you have enjoyed this video. Tijuana is ranked as the most danger... New Mexico casinos are not closing for the advised self quarantine and putting all at risk there employees and the public #coronavirus#newmexico#casinos

are tribal casinos open in new mexico

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