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.
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Election shenanigans

I put the latest info on Trump's phone call to Raffensperger in this comment.

According to experts, Trump’s conduct has potential criminal exposure:

A federal statute makes it a crime when one “knowingly and willfully … attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by … the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held.”
A Georgia statute similarly provides that a “person commits the offense of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud in the first degree when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony under this article, he or she solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such conduct.”
…The hard part for prosecutors would be proving Trump’s state of mind, because the statutes require proof of knowledge and intent. Prosecutors would have to show that Trump knew that Biden fairly won the election, and Trump was asking for Georgia officials to commit election fraud. And it’s not clear prosecutors could make that case.

At least 12 Republican senators plan to challenge Biden’s Electoral College win on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to officially count the votes. The effort is being led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and includes Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), as well as new Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Separately, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) is pursuing a similar plan.

"Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed," the senators said in a joint statement. “Accordingly, we intend to vote on Jan. 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed."

Their plan is not going to succeed in preventing Biden from taking office, as majorities in both the House and the Senate would need to support a challenge against a state’s electoral votes. For an objection to be made, at least one member of both the House and Senate would need to submit it in writing. Then, the House and Senate separately convene to consider the issue. Debate is limited to two hours for each objection. After debate concludes, the House and Senate vote to uphold the objection and throw out the state’s votes. If the majority of the House AND the majority of the Senate does not uphold the objection, the state’s electoral votes are counted as cast.

• Vice President Mike Pence’s role is simply to preside over the joint session, opening and presenting the certifications from each state. In his absence, the Senate pro-tempore Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will lead the session. At the end of the process, the presiding officer announces who has won the majority of votes for president and vice president.

The most immediate danger from Trump and Cruz’s doomed election gambit is rightwing terrorism and general violence: Trump, in particular, is inciting his supporters to swarm D.C. on Jan. 6. “JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!” Trump tweeted last week. Four rightwing rallies are scheduled, including one headlined by George Papadopoulos and Roger Stone.
The Proud Boys and other extremists are planning to attend the rallies and may set up an “armed encampment” on the National Mall, according to the Washington Post. On social media platform Parler, the leader of the Proud Boys said that members will be there “incognito” and may “dress in all black” to impersonate leftwing protestors.

Enrique Tarrio: "The ProudBoys will turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist...We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams."

Rep. Louie Gohmert has more explicitly tried to incite violence, saying the failure of his legal challenge to the election means “you gotta go the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM.” (clip)

• At the same time, pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood suggested that Pence could “face execution by firing squad” for “treason” if he doesn’t go along with the attempt to subvert the election.

Obstructing the transition

Biden’s transition director has accused the Office of Management and Budget of stonewalling the incoming administration’s team. OMB Director Russ Vought is not allowing key staff to meet with the transition team to help prepare the president-elect’s first annual spending plan, a move that could delay major proposals. Vought pushed back on the charges, saying that his agency needs to focus on finalizing the Trump administration’s regulations before the president leaves office.

“OMB leadership’s refusal to fully cooperate impairs our ability to identify opportunities to maximize the relief going out to Americans during the pandemic, and it leaves us in the dark as it relates to Covid-related expenditures and critical gaps,” [Biden transition Exec. Dir. Yohannes] Abraham said.

Earlier last week, Biden himself said Trump officials are not cooperating with his team, singling out the Defense Department for obstructing information on crucial national security issues. “Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility,” Biden said. The Defense Dept. finally scheduled meetings with the incoming team this week, after not briefing the transition for weeks.

• The timing of the resumption in meetings is notable because it comes after the one year anniversary of the U.S. assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3. NATO officials are reportedly worried about the lack of coordination from the Trump administration: "We need the incoming Biden administration to be fully briefed and ready to deal with these very dangerous issues facing NATO's security."

Sabotaging the Biden Administration

U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack is taking steps to keep control of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia during the Biden administration. As chairman of the boards of Radio Free Europe and Asia, Pack and his fellow members have added binding contractual agreements that will make it impossible to remove him or other pro-Trump allies from the board in the next two years.

In other words, although President-elect Joe Biden has already signaled he intends to replace Pack as CEO of the parent agency soon after taking office in January, Pack would maintain a significant degree of control over the networks.

The State Department is likely to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism “as an 11th hour effort to create hurdles for the incoming Biden administration.” The label, which requires the approval of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, would undo a major accomplishment of the Obama administration. To take Cuba back off the list, the Biden team would need to conduct a formal review, a process that might take several months.

Such a designation would impose restrictions on US foreign assistance, a ban on defense exports and sales, certain controls over exports and various financial restrictions. It would also result in penalization against any persons and countries engaging in certain trade activities with Cuba.

The Trump administration has been rushing to finalize a myriad of rules before Biden’s inauguration. Since Election Day, the Trump administration has issued about three to four times as many new regulations as it did during other periods of Trump’s presidency. Rules that haven’t been finalized or taken effect can be suspended by an incoming president, which Biden has said he intends to do. By contrast, rules that are finalized can take months, or even years, to undo.

“As a general rule, it takes at least as much process to undo or modify a rule as it does to put the rule in place,” said Jonathan H. Adler, a professor and an administrative law expert at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. “The Trump administration is magnifying that challenge for the Biden administration.”

Trump loyalists are urging the president to stymie Biden’s efforts to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham are working to get the agreements submitted to the Senate for ratification, requiring a two-thirds vote, with the goal of failure. While such an outcome wouldn’t prevent Biden from rejoining the accords, Cruz and Graham hope it would make their resurrection more problematic.

A vote against them would signal GOP opposition to the world and, they hope, undermine any unilateral action by Biden to rejoin the agreements. One senior congressional aide told RCP that sending them to die in the Senate “would be the final nail in the coffin.”

Further reading: “Biden To Be Saddled With Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral Mess,” Forbes.
Further reading: Biden will inherit a backlog of tens of thousands of visa requests from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and a bureaucratic tangle that refugee advocates say President Trump ignored or made worse.

Trump money and properties

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is employing forensic accounting specialists to examine Trump’s finances and business operations. Vance is looking “for anomalies among a variety of property deals” and trying to determine “whether the president’s company manipulated the value of certain assets to obtain favorable interest rates and tax breaks”.

The analysts hired by Vance probably have already reviewed various bank and mortgage records obtained from Trump’s company as part of the ongoing grand jury investigation, and they could be called on to testify about their findings should the district attorney eventually bring criminal charges

In yet another shady business deal connected to Trump, the United States sold the ambassador’s residence in Israel for more than $67 million. The person who bought the residence is none other than Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. The property only became available due to Trump's controversial decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem. Furthermore, State Dept. representatives reportedly lied to Congress about the sale, perhaps to hide that Adelson purposefully overbid.

For now, there is no alternative residence for the ambassador, David Friedman, Trump’s former lawyer, who currently uses a suite at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel or rooms at the former Jerusalem Consulate General when he spends nights in Jerusalem… As a result, the United States appears likely to end up leasing the residence it has owned since 1964 from the GOP-affiliated casino mogul.
“It is very strange that we are now paying Sheldon Adelson,” a congressional aide told The Daily Beast. “It is not above board. We have a number of questions. Did they get two independent appraisals? Was it a sweetheart deal? Was Adelson the highest donor? Was there a reason to sell it now?”

Trump’s businesses have taken in $10.5 million of donor money over the course of his presidency. $8.5 million came from the Trump campaign and related entities that Trump controls directly; $2 million came from other Republican candidates and committees. The biggest beneficiary was Trump’s NYC hotel, taking in $3,039,979 over the four years of his presidency, with $891,003 of that in just the final four months of the campaign.
Trump’s DC hotel is ramping up room prices and requiring a two-night minimum stay for two key events this month, as the president tries to squeeze more profit out of his office. On Jan. 6, when Congress is set to formally count the votes cast by the Electoral College, room rates are listed at over eight times the price of surrounding dates. Trump is encouraging his supporters to attend a protest of Biden’s win on the 6th. A room during the inauguration costs five times the normal rate, at $2,225 per night.
Trump’s Turnberry Resort in Scotland posted a £2.3 million ($3.1 million) loss in 2019, marking the sixth year in a row it has failed to turn a profit under his ownership. Since Trump took over the historic property in 2014, its losses now total nearly £45 million ($61.5 million).

The fact Turnberry remains in the red comes in spite of significant tranches of payments it has received from the US government during Mr Trump’s single term in office… the US Secret Service spent nearly £25,000 to accommodate its agents at the resort during business trips by Mr Trump’s son, Eric, an executive vice-president of the family firm. Since Mr Trump’s election, the property has received close to £300,000 from the Secret Service, US State Department, and US Defence Department

A Florida state lawmaker is calling for Mar-a-Lago to be penalized - and possibly shut down - for flouting coronavirus restrictions during a New Years Eve party. While Trump and the first lady did not attend, son Don Jr., attorney Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Fox News personality Jeanine Piro were captured on video among the maskless crowd. Guests paid as much as $1,000 for access to the ballroom to be entertained by Vanilla Ice.

State Rep. Omari Hardy: “My constituents are not snowbirds like @DonaldJTrumpJr & @kimguilfoyle. My constituents live here. This is their home, and they're going to have to deal w/ the consequences of a potential super-spreader party at Mar-a-Lago long after Junior & wife leave here on their private jet.”

Are you ready for a Donald J. Trump Airport? According to the Daily Beast, Trump has been asking aides about the process of naming airports after former U.S. presidents.
Further reading: “Jared Kushner’s family real estate business wants to raise at least $100 million in capital through Israel’s bond market… Kushner has helped spearhead a series of moves that have been applauded by the conservative pro-Israel community, including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and recognizing Israeli sovereignty in disputed areas such as the Golan Heights. Kushner also has close ties to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Miscellaneous

The Census Bureau missed it’s end-of-year deadline to produce numbers that determine representation in Congress and the Electoral College for the next decade. The agency is working toward Jan. 9 as an internal target date for completing the current stage of processing records. "If we miss Jan. 9, it's hard to envision that we would get apportionment done before inauguration," a Census employee told NPR.

The final timing of the 2020 census results' release could undermine President Trump's efforts to make an unprecedented change to who is counted in key census numbers before leaving office… If the first census results are not ready until after Trump's term ends on Jan. 20, it would be President-elect Joe Biden, not Trump, who would get control of the numbers, which are ultimately handed off to Congress for certification.

Hey, it’s Coooolin!!! Wow! It’s already Friday! How was everyone’s week !? Let me know dooownn below!! I’m curious ! :)
Here’s the new cards for today, thanks as always, EA!

SILVER MASTER ICONS

Al Macinnis - 90 OVR - STL / RD - SPA² , MAG²
Ed Belfour - 90 OVR - CHI / G - 5’11” / 202 lbs - BAL² , H AND S²
Johnny Bucyk - 90 OVR - BOS / LW - DIS² , WH²
(Set requires 8 Icons + their specific 85 OVR card)
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NHL 2030 Cards

Alexis Lafreniére - 90 OVR - NYR / LW - MAG¹ , WH¹
Kappo Kakko - 89 OVR - NYR / RW - MAG¹ , HOW¹
Noah Hanfin - 89 OVR - CGY / LD - SH¹ , GLA¹
Alexander Holtz - 88 OVR - BJU / RW - HOW¹ , LTL¹
Dylan Cozens - 88 OVR - BUF / C - T¹ , MAG¹
Kaden Guhle - 87 OVR - RAI / LD - WH¹ , HOW¹
Jakob Chychrun - 87 OVR - PHI / LD - PP¹ , SH¹
Josh Norris - 87 OVR - OTT / C - MAG¹ , WH¹
Ryan Merkley - 87 OVR - BAR / RD - WM¹ , PP¹
Pius Suter - 86 OVR - CHI / C - LTL¹ , HOW¹
Stuart Skinner - 85 OVR - EDM / G - 6’3” / 203 lbs - DIS¹ , H and S¹
Dylan Gauthier - 85 OVR - OIL / LW - GLA¹ , WM¹
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Primetimes

NHL

Anze Kopitar - 90 OVR - LAK / C - WH¹ , T¹ ... 96 FO with Thief
Mark Scheifele - 90 OVR - WPJ / C - LTL¹ , GLA¹
James Van Riemsdyk - 87 OVR - PHI / LW - HOW¹ , MAG¹
Jordan Eberle - 85 OVR - NYI / RW - WM¹ , WH¹
Ryan McDonagh - 85 OVR - TBL / LD - SH¹ , SPE¹
Brandon Carlo - 84 OVR - BOS / RW - SH¹ , PP¹
Adrian Kempe - 83 OVR - LAK / C - SH¹
Joel Armia - 83 OVR - MTL / RW - LTL¹ , SPE¹
Nick Ritchie - 82 OVR - BOS / LW - LTL¹
Ben Charot - 81 OVR - MTL / LD - PP¹ , WH¹

Other Leagues

Viktor Fasth - 85 OVR - TAM / G - 6’0” / 181 lbs - SPA¹ , BAR¹
Simon Ryfors - 77 OVR - RÖG/ C - MAG¹ , SWA¹
• • • • • • • • • • - - - - - - - - - • • • • • • • • • • • •

Packs Available

• Jumbo Elite Player Pack - 75k C / 1.5k P
20 items, all Gold players with at least 18 80+ OVR players
• Team of The Week Pack - 42.5k C / 850 P
13 items, at least 5 players with a guaranteed TOTW player from any previous release
• Players Pack - 15k C / 300 P
10 items , all Players , at least 5 Gold Players and 1 80+ OVR player

P.S.

• NNEWWWW NHL 2030 EVENT CARDS OUT TODAY!! - 5pm EST
• Reminder - 1.8 M Points for an Icon Collectable — last tier of HUT RUSH!
• NHL announces schedule changes
• Washington Capitals SLAPPED with a 100k Fine!
• Today in Hockey History
——————

What’s to Come?

• Weeeekenddd !!!!
• HUT CHAMPS Processing - Monday !
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Summary of the day

Quick Read
Best Forward of the Day - 2030 - is ALLEXXIISS LAFRENIEERREE OVR 90 with the syn MAAGICIAAN AND WOORK HORSEE
Best Defence of the Day - 2030 - is KAADENN GUHHLEE OVR 87 with the syn WOOORK HORSEE and HOOWITZERR
/////
Best Forward of the Day - PT - is ANNZEE KOPIIITAAR OVR 90 with the syn WOORK HORSEE AND THIIEF
Best Defence of the Day - PT - is RYYYAN MCDONAAUUGH OVR 85 with the syn SHUUTT DOWNN AND SPEEDDSTERR
• NEW EVENT CARDS OUT TODAY!!!
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Important Notice

You look good today.
No, I didn’t see you at all today.
I don’t need to see you to know that you do!
Just keep doing you, and I know for a fact you’ll go far in life!
——— ————

Interested in Stocks?

EA’s Stock Price, after hours - Jan. 22
$ 146.25 (usd) —- Currency Converter
we looked at the stock at $137.54 usd
—— That is a difference of ( $8.71 / 6.33% ) —
Disclaimer - I am not a financial advisor. It is your money, please do your own due diligence. I am not responsible for your money. This is *not** advice. I added this section for an added educational purposes only. Thanks*
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NEED A SOUNDTRACK TO LISTEN TO?

• I made this for everyone. I’ll update it whenever I feel like it, but its been often!

WE’RE AT 1200+ SONGS! WOW! How are you not listening to this playlist already!?
Comment songs to add, and please give feedback! It’s much appreciated!!
I currently have “Home Sweet Home” by “Mötley Crüe” stuck in my head.... which you can play, recently added to the playlist!
Sidenote - How do you guys like the playlist!? I have a friend who makes music...and I really want to surprise him with some new people listening to his music... if you wanna help me, please click Here!! it would mean a lot to me!!
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Sites To Bookmark!

If you click here you will be redirected to bilasport. Bilasport is the best Online Streaming site for your entertainment needs for all sports! (Not affiliated)
A great streaming source recommended by NHLStreams is SurgeSport. Click on Hockey and you’ll be good to go!
Want to make your dream team, and show others what you’ve been working on, and much more? I will redirect you HERE!.
Here’s a helpful pack guide for you! Click!
Want to know how the market is holding up? With a simple TAP! you will be on the newly fresh made website for the HUT market, made by one of the guys on the sub!
.... what do the stats on a card mean? Is my card I want / pulled good? Click here to find out!!
When is my favourite team playing? When do they play!? Here you can click on this link, and tap on your favourite team. From there, tap “Schedule” . You can add this to your homescreen on iPhone by clicking the square with the upwards arrow, scrolling down, and tapping “Add to Home Screen”
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Fighting a Gambling Addiction?

Don’t feel scared to click here. Winning is SO much louder than losing. Know that you are NEVER alone. We are all here for eachother, and it is never too late to get help. I am here for you.
This is a VERY important thread, especially if you are new to HUT. Here!
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Thanks for reading.
I’m always welcome to feedback, please let me know what I can improve on.
If there’s anything missing, please let me know!
Take care, happy gaming! TODAY IS NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF LIFE DAY!!
• Coolin Killin It
(Life is like a puzzle, you just have to find the right piece.)

I thoroughly appreciated reading this opinion piece. So much so that I’ve linked it and am pasting the article here as well.
A goodbye letter for the anti-President
Dear Donald,
When we first met in 2014, I was a year into research for the biography I was writing about you. I knew about your stern father, your exile to military school at a tender age and your tendency to spin dramatic fantasies. I knew that you considered life a battle for survival and humans to be "vicious" by nature.*
In your Trump Tower stronghold, you were attended by aides who looked like soap opera stars and surrounded by ego-boosting emblems: a wall of framed magazine covers, each featuring your face; a boxer's championship belt given to settle a debt; a stack of clippings delivered with a note that read, "Dad, FYI -- All great press. Ivanka." These totems of greatness, which I haven't seen in the quarters of other super-rich Americans, made me think of you as desperately, and perhaps dangerously, insecure.*
In five interviews that lasted about 10 hours total, you would heighten my fear that despite a life spent in unending luxury and privilege, no amount of wealth and power would move you off the life-is-warfare view. Even worse, you told me that you might run for president because Twitter fans said you should (I wasn't surprised by your ambition and, given your celebrity, I thought you might win). Then, as we stood to inspect a framed letter you had received from the disgraced Richard Nixon, you said his only problem was that he had left office for the good of the country. In your view, he should have stayed and fought.
*You ran for president and you won. And as you visited upon the country more pain than Nixon ever did, you fought on. Unrelenting in your aggression, lies and cruelty, you presided over four years of chaos and conflict provoked by your words and deeds. Though impeached, you escaped conviction and stayed in office to redouble your commitment to ego-driven chaos.
As you refused to mount a serious federal response, the Covid-19 death toll surpassed 400,000. Defeated in your bid for reelection, you spun lies that created an alternative reality so powerful that hundreds of your followers formed a mob that carried out a bloody attack on the United States Capitol. Many there intended to overturn the election, which you had repeatedly claimed was invalid due to fraud that in fact had not occurred.*
In the attack, which was televised by news networks and livestreamed on social media, five people -- including one Capitol police officer -- would die. A DC Metro Police officer, who had been Tasered several times, heard one of your followers say, "Kill him with his own gun." Although Congress reconvened after the mob was driven out, you stand disgraced as the only president in US history to be impeached twice, and all I can think is that you had finally made your narcissistic nightmare of a constant battle against vicious enemies come true for us all.
Your dangerous narcissism was not widely noted when I interviewed you, but it seemed, to me, to be the hallmark of your personality. I consulted experts and learned that this grandiosity was likely a defense mechanism against a fear of shame and rejection. I came to believe this fear was installed by your father, who, when you were a child, demanded you be a "killer" and a "king." When you failed to meet his expectations and became a troublemaker, he exiled you to military school, at age 13. Talk about a scarring experience.
The title of my book, "Never Enough," pointed to your endless drive to prove your superiority, which, ironically, led to bankruptcies, divorces and legal defeats. It's likely these failures provoked the same sense of shame and humiliation that you must have felt as a rejected child. You once told me you hated to reflect on the past, but in refusing to do this, you were bound to repeat your mistakes. No matter how much you achieved, it was never enough. And so, you went too far. (For more on this see what your psychologist niece, Mary Trump, wrote in her 2020 book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man.")
As President, your weaknesses posed terrible threats to the country. Your many failures at running businesses such as casinos or the airline Trump Shuttle showed that you were not a nimble thinker capable of leading complex operations. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made this glaring incompetence crystal clear -- and despite your efforts to deflect the blame, the country's death toll speaks for itself. More than 400,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States -- more than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Having seen your inability to recognize others as human beings, I have not been shocked by your indifference to the deaths of your fellow citizens. Nor have I been surprised by your encouragement of violence. Violence was what I always expected from your presidency. I just didn't know what form it would take.
The power of your methods was obvious during your 2016 campaign, when you lied in a way that separated your most ardent followers from reality itself. You promoted many of your old conspiracy theories about 9/11 and climate change and added new ones on the fly. (When an attendee asked -- after first stating as fact that Obama was Muslim and not American -- about the wildly untrue idea that Muslims were running secret training camps in the United States to kill people, you refused to shoot down his claims, promising instead to "look at that."
You also whipped people into a frenzy of hatred by describing opponents, critics and the free press as enemies. I recalled reading how your first wife, Ivana, had said you kept a book of Hitler's speeches near your bed. You once corrected a reporter, telling her it was "Mein Kampf" instead (though Marty Davis, who gave Trump the book, told Vanity Fair it was a book of speeches).
For four years in office, you functioned as a kind of anti-President, inflaming rather than calming passions and attacking rather than negotiating, all while demanding adoration from your Cabinet and constant attention from the media. Having ordered aides to think of each day as an episode in a TV show before you even took office, you tried to gin up as much drama as possible.
As President, you used the authority of your office to spread baseless claims about voter fraud, former President Barack Obama and even of a friendship between former President Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sexual predator who was your Palm Beach neighbor and friend, to name a few. Many of your followers abandoned reason and dove headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, which reveres you as a savior and regards the government and much of the news media as evil. Many of those who attacked the Capitol brandished Q symbols along with Trump flags, Jesus banners and the Confederate stars and bars -- a mix of powerful symbols that shows the breadth of your influence.
Before the attack, you were among many who called for a big crowd of protesters to stop the Congress from affirming your election defeat. After your lawyer Rudy Giuliani, your namesake son ginned up the crowd, and they heard you call for them to march on the Capitol.
"You have to show strength," you said, "and you have to be strong." You promised to go with them but chose instead to view the destruction on TV. I wondered if you understood that the violence that unfolded was real, and not something made for television. Did you order Cokes as you watched? Did you eat popcorn?
I can imagine you snacking because you have played with violence, both real and imagined, for so long that you must be inured you to it. It all started back in the 1970s when you began employing armed guards-chauffeurs, for no apparent reason. I think it was because you enjoyed the sense of menace they added to your presence.
During your 2016 campaign one of your security guards roughed-up a picketer outside Trump Tower in New York, while another physically forced reporter Jorge Ramos out of a news conference in 2015. At one rally you told followers, "If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them." When a loud protester disrupted one of your other campaign rallies, you said, "I'd like to punch him in the face."
Your tough guy image was embraced by followers who traded memes in which you were drawn to look like a superhero or shown brandishing weapons Rambo-style. Your avatar punched out a figure labeled with the CNN logo. Add this to the bigotry you expressed in words and images, which you shared with millions of people on Twitter, and a combustible mix was created. (Remember posting an image of Hillary Clinton, along with a Star of David set against dollar bills, brandishing her the "most corrupt candidate ever?").
The atmosphere of bigotry you helped create exploded in Charlottesville in 2017 as men chanted "Jews will not replace us" before a White supremacist murdered a counterprotester by running her down with his car.
Heather Heyer was one of the first civilians to die in this charged political context during your presidency. It did not change your behavior. Instead, you declared there were "very fine people on both sides." By delaying your condemnation of her attackers and resisting efforts to remove monuments to those who fought against the United States to preserve slavery, you sent clear signals about your views on race and violence.
With Charlottesville, questions about your bigotry grew louder. You made your stance clear when you reportedly said Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS" (though the White House denied it), and that people were entering the US from "shithole" countries. Add your vicious comments about Black athletes calling out police brutality, your penchant for slamming individual Black women, and your fearmongering about low-income housing, and everyone understood your perspective. Three years into your presidency, 65% of Black Americans said it's "a bad time to be a Black person" in the United States, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
It would have been bad enough if your bigotry had been confined to words, but you enshrined it in policy by restricting refugees from entering this country. This led to a sharp decline, from about 85,000 refugees admitted to the United States in 2016 to about 12,000 in 2020. If the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" didn't get the message, then they could consider the way you cozied up to strongmen, the likes of which many of them were fleeing. From Kim Jong Un of North Korea to Russian President Vladimir Putin, you showed a consistent admiration for dictators who jail and kill their critics.
Along our border with Mexico, you began separating children from parents who arrived seeking asylum. By May 2019, six children had died in federal custody. In June of that year, Americans were shocked by the photo of a father and child who had drowned attempting to cross the Rio Grande. In December, a surveillance video obtained by ProPublica showed a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy was left alone in his Border Patrol cell in Texas for hours before he died on the floor, of complications from the flu.
How many minors died in Border Patrol custody during the four years prior to your administration? Zero, per FactCheck.org.
The deaths were just one measure of the suffering your harsh policies inflicted on asylum-seeking families. New data from June 2019 reveals there were around 5,500 known cases of children, from infants to teens, being separated from their parents and placed in facilities ranging from foster family homes to cells made out of chain link fencing.
Amid all this pain, it seemed you still weren't satisfied. You asked about building anti-immigrant moats to be stocked with alligators. You wondered whether soldiers could shoot immigrants who threw rocks. Those ideas were nixed, but the crisis continues. Because of inept recording-keeping, your administration has not been able locate the parents of at least 545 children, according to court documents from last October.
Refugee families, stuck in limbo while waiting for asylum in the United States, are still filling squalid camps on the Mexican side of the border, many of them fearing for their lives -- particularly in the midst of a global pandemic.
You got away with cruelty in part because you conditioned many Americans to believe that brown-skinned, undocumented immigrants constituted a criminal horde that required a draconian response.
You promised to build a "beautiful" concrete border wall along 1,000 miles of the frontier and force Mexico to pay for it.
Only about 452 miles of tall steel fence has been completed as of January 5, 2021, according to a Customs and Border Patrol Report, and instead of the $8 billion you estimated for 1,000 miles, $18 billion dollars have already been devoted to the work because -- surprise! -- Mexico is not paying for it.
Hyping the wall was just one example of the exaggerations, false claims and lies that came out of your mouth in such a torrent it was nearly impossible for anyone to react properly. You combined this strategy with denigrating the media as "enemies of the people" and purveyors of "fake news" with such consistency that facts seemed to lose their power. You added an Orwellian flourish when you said, "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
What has been the effect on journalists? Threats became a part of our daily lives and the lives of our family members. (One of your followers found my wife's business phone number and called to say that he had located our address and to suggest we be careful.) A "press freedom tracker" run by the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Freedom of the Press Foundation has counted 421 attacks on journalists during your time in office.
Far worse than the impact on journalists is your effect on Americans' ability to agree upon an established set of facts as they consider critical issues. You are not solely to blame for this problem. However, you have both contributed to it and exploited it. You have made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post, which have landed with the authority that comes with the presidential seal.
The easy way out for someone mired in disinformation is to pick a person to believe and go all in. Many of those who doubled down on their support for you found a sense of belonging amid the slogans, regalia and fervent rallies. They felt they were right. Those who disagreed were not fellow citizens but enemies who, some concluded, should be defeated by violent means.
The loyalty of your followers meant that ordinary politicians feared provoking the ire of your base. When it came to light that you were trying to coerce Ukraine's President into helping your reelection effort, you were impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But this fear helped keep the Republican-controlled Senate in line, and you were acquitted. Afterward, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine defended her vote to acquit you, saying you had learned "a big lesson." What you learned, it seemed, was that you could get away with anything. Even before you were elected, you claimed you could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody," and not lose voters.
Shortly after the impeachment trial wrapped up, you proceeded to mislead the American people about the novel coronavirus. You downplayed the dangers of the virus so that the vibrant economy, the main bragging point of your presidency, would continue to hum. In late February, at a White House coronavirus task force briefing, you said "It's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for." But you told journalist Bob Woodward weeks before that the coronavirus was "more deadly than your -- you know, your, even your strenuous flus." Nevertheless, you declined to organize a true national response and undermined public health officials who urged everyone to wear face masks.
You also held mass rallies where people were infected. On May 8, when the death toll was more than 77,000, you continued this charade, insisting, "This is going to go away without a vaccine." To say that people died as a result of your posture is not mere speculation. Families have told stories of those who followed your lead, got sick and died. Harvard epidemiologists estimate that thousands have died as a result of your example.
Today the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the country. The death toll is now roughly equivalent to a 9/11 each day -- but many of your acolytes, even in Congress, still refuse to protect themselves and others with facemasks. Meanwhile, millions are turning to food banks. Mass evictions loom.
When I consider the hungry, the infected, the traumatized and the deceased and hold in my mind the images of the deadly mob at the Capitol, I hear your voice summoning the worst in my fellow citizens. With those words you truly established yourself as the anti-President, a distinction that cancels any claim you might make to the respect normally accorded the office.
When we met you told me to call you "Don," as if we were friends. You also invited me to examine your hair. I didn't do either because I sensed that you wanted to establish a bond that you would eventually try to corrupt. This was confirmed when you hinted that my book could make me rich if I abandoned my professional duty and wrote it to your liking.
Thankfully, enough Americans recognized your immorality and incompetence and lack of human feeling so profound that the suffering and death so much a part of your presidency didn't appear to affect you at all. They chose Joe Biden in November, making you truly accountable for perhaps the first time in your life.
After four years of your chaos, what's left is a wounded country grieving for its dead and for its innocence. But we will recover, and you now face criminal and legal threats in state courts, along with the harsh judgment of history.
As you desperately summon the remains of your following for comfort and fundraising, your disgrace is growing with the mounting evidence that your words motivated the mob that attacked the United States Capitol. This incitement may be the single worst thing a president has ever done, and it will define you for centuries to come.

Hello again, and good evening! I hope everyone is having a great week (personal good news: just scored 284 points on a single Scrabble word today - "Squeezes" on a double triple word score plus using all my letters.)
This listing is for items that did not sell during the November 22 Auction, so you can buy anything you want right here and right now - no buyer's premiums, no additional fees.
*FREE shipping for any order over $100.
Each lot was individually imaged (front and back) for the auction - so the easiest way for you to see exactly what you're buying is to visit the auction link (the auction is over, so I'm not advertising anything different or advertising an upcoming auction) - so here that is:
https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/5l9n29no4q
Here is the required "prove you still have the stuff" photo with the username card and today's date:
PHOTO
Payment: PayPal only. I do not have Venmo/Zello/Bitcoin or any other form of digital payment at this time. No notes if using PPFF, please. Thank you.
Shipping: I will charge you what it costs me for the USPS label rounded up to the nearest dollar. For First Class that is usually $4, for USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box it will be $9. I will get you a tracking number right after payment is received and will get your package scanned into the USPS system within 24 hours of receipt of payment. I will offer "Risky Shipping" (via stamped greeting card) at my discretion for $1 - for single, small coins ONLY. NOTE: These prices are for Continental US shipping only - if you live outside the continental US, shipping will be more expensive. I am still happy to do it under the same rules as above, but just keep in mind it's going to cost more.
What do YOU need to do to buy coins from this group: send me a list of which lots you want (for example, I want to buy lots # 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) and I will send you a total. There are too many coins here (plus there are duplicates) so I cannot look up the coins you want by description - just give me lot numbers and it will be much simpler.
I'd like to make a simple and polite request - if I have sent you my PayPal information (meaning we've agreed to a deal) please finish it up as soon as you can so I can check you off the list and move on to the next person. This helps make sure you get all the coins we discussed and no one else is in limbo.
I will do my absolute best to update the ad as soon as lots sell.
LEFTOVERS:
2 1971 Lincoln Memorial Cent NGC MS67RD (Price Guide $195) $100.00
3 1971 Jefferson Nickel NGC MS66 6FS (Price Guide $125) $70.00
4 1946 S Roosevelt Dime NGC MS67FT (Price Guide $95) $50.00
5 1965 Roosevelt Dime NGC MS67 FULL TORCH (Price Guide $750) $300.00
6 1965 Washington Quarter NGC MS66 (Price Guide $30) $15.00
7 1971 Washington Quarter NGC MS66 (Price Guide $50) $25.00
8 1971 D Washington Quarter NGC MS67 (Price Guide $65) $35.00
9 1963 D Franklin Half Dollar NGC MS65 FULL BELL LINES (Price Guide $190) $125.00
10 1971 D Kennedy Half Dollar NGC MS67 (Price Guide $120) $75.00
11 1971 P Eisenhower Dollar NGC MS65 (Price Guide $80) $50.00
12 1941 D Jefferson Nickel NGC MS66 5 Full Steps (Price Guide $40) $25.00
13 1974 Proof Set $6.00
14 1941 D Jefferson Nickel NGC MS67 5 Full Steps (Price Guide $175) $100.00
15 1956 D Jefferson Nickel NGC MS65 TONED (Price Guide $20) $10.00
16 1956 D Jefferson Nickel NGC MS65 TONED (Price Guide $20) $10.00
17 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS64 (Price Guide $40) $20.00
18 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS64 (Price Guide $40) $20.00
19 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS64 (Price Guide $40) $20.00
20 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $55) $25.00
21 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $55) $25.00
22 1975 Proof Set $6.00
23 1975 Proof Set $6.00
24 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $55) $25.00
25 1959 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $55) $25.00
26 1975 Proof Set $6.00
27 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS64 (Price Guide $50) $25.00
29 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS64 (Price Guide $50) $25.00
30 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $65) $30.00
31 1963 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (Price Guide $130) $60.00
32 1942 Walking Liberty Half DDR NGC AU58 (Price Guide $100) $50.00
33 1942 Walking Liberty Half DDR PCGS MS67 GEM (Price Guide $6,000) $4,500.00 WILL CONSIDER TRADES FOR GOLD/SILVER
34 1977 D Kennedy Half DDO NGC AU58 (Price Guide $175) $100.00
35 1977 D Kennedy Half DDO NGC AU58 (Price Guide $175) $100.00
36 1885 O Morgan Dollar NGC MS63 TONED $60.00
37 Cape Verde - 1930 5 Centavos NGC UNC DETAILS $10.00
38 Suriname 1962 1 Gulden NGC MS65 TONED $40.00
39 1946 S/S (RPM-002) Washington Quarter NGC MS65 (variety unattributed) $50.00
40 1946 S/S (RPM-002) Washington Quarter NGC MS65 (variety unattributed) $50.00
41 1950 Washington Quarter NGC MS66 Doubled Die Reverse (variety unattributed) $100.00
42 1957 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse PCGS MS66 (variety unattributed) $60.00
43 1958 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (variety unattributed) $50.00
44 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse ANACS Old Small Holder MS65 (variety unattributed) $40.00
45 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (variety unattributed) $40.00
46 1960 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse NGC MS65 (variety unattributed) $40.00
47 1962 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse PCGS MS65 (variety unattributed) $65.00
48 1963 Washington Quarter Type B Reverse PCGS MS65 (variety unattributed) $75.00
49 1953 D Franklin Half Dollar "Booger Nose" Obverse Die Clash PCGS MS64FBL (variety unattributed) $75.00
50 1954 D Franklin Half Dollar "Booger Nose" Obverse Die Clash PCGS MS64 FBL (variety unattributed) $50.00
51 Toner US Type Set 1 $40.00
52 Toner US Type Set 2 $25.00
53 Toner US Type Set 3 $25.00
56 World Silver - Panama 1904 5 Centesimos $3.00
58 World Silver - Panama 1931 1/10 Balboa $3.00
59 World Silver - Germany 1937 D 2 Reichsmark $10.00
60 1976 D Eisenhower Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $4.00
61 World Silver - Panama 1931 1/10 Balboa $3.00
62 World Silver - Panama 1962 1/10 Balboa $3.00
63 World Silver - France 1903 50 Centimes KEY DATE $4.00
64 1977 D Eisenhower Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $4.00
65 Toner US Type Set 4 $20.00
66 Toner US Type Set 5 $25.00
68 Toner US Type Set 6 $50.00
69 World Silver - Netherlands 1850 25 Cents KEY DATE $35.00
70 1936 Mercury Dime Doubled Die Obverse HIGH GRADE $30.00
71 1934 Lincoln Wheat Cent UNC $3.00
72 World Silver - Panama 1904 5 Centesimos $3.00
73 1955 Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $6.00
74 World Silver - Panama 1904 5 Centesimos $3.00
75 1955 S Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $4.00
76 1955 S Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $4.00
77 World Silver - Panama 1931 1/10 Balboa $3.00
79 World Silver - Panama 1931 1/10 Balboa $3.00
80 1956 Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $6.00
81 1958 D Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $4.00
82 World Silver - Curacao 1900 1/4 Gulden $5.00
83 1964 Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $3.00
84 1964 Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $3.00
85 World Silver - Canada 1906 10 Cents $3.00
87 World Silver - Great Britain 1859 Shilling $6.00
88 World Silver - Netherlands 1905 25 Cents NICE $8.00
89 World Silver - Great Britain 1887 Shilling $6.00
90 1974 D Eisenhower Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $4.00
91 World Silver - Great Britain 1865 (4) Sixpence $4.00
93 World Silver - Great Britain 1884 Sixpence $4.00
95 Illinois Governer Otto Kerner Inauguration Medal $2.00
96 World Silver - Switzerland 1920 1/2 Franc $2.00
98 World Silver - Great Britain 1916 Sixpence $3.00
100 World Silver - Belgium 1904 2 Francs $6.00
148 Group of 35 UNC 2 Euro Commemorative Coins (70 Face Value) Mixed Countries and Dates $135.00
149 Group of 93 UNC 2 Euro Commemorative Coins (186 Face Value) Mixed Countries and Dates $350.00
150 Over 360 Mixed US and World Coins and Tokens $110.00
151 World Silver - Great Britain 1839 Shilling $6.00
152 World Silver - Great Britain 1864 (4) Sixpence $4.00
153 World Silver - Great Britain 1893 Sixpence $4.00
155 World Silver - Great Britain 1909 Sixpence $3.00
156 World Silver - Bahamas 1974 Proof 50 Cents LOW MINTAGE $6.00
158 World Silver - Bahamas 1976 Proof 50 Cents LOW MINTAGE $6.00
159 World Silver - Bahamas 1970 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
160 1958 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
161 World Silver - Bahamas 1971 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
162 1959 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
163 1959 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $12.00
164 World Silver - Bahamas 1971 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
165 World Silver - Bahamas 1974 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
166 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
167 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
168 World Silver - Bahamas 1976 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
170 World Silver - Canada 1910 25 Cents $4.00
171 World Silver - Bahamas 1974 Proof 2 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $22.00
172 1963 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $12.00
173 1964 Kennedy Half Mint Clip Error $12.00
174 World Silver - Bahamas 1976 Proof 2 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $22.00
175 1964 D Washington Quarter UNC TONED $8.00
176 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1973 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
177 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1973 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
178 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1973 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
179 Stag Beer Wooden Nickel "Fair on the Square" $1.00
180 The TV Shop Slidell, LA One Wooden Buck $1.00
181 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1974 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
182 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1974 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
183 World Silver - British Virgin Islands 1975 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $20.00
184 World Silver - Canada 1973 5 Dollars UNC $18.00
185 St Helena - 1981 25 Pence (Crown Sized) $3.00
186 World Silver - Australia 1923 Sixpence $4.00
187 World Silver - Australia 1961 1 Shilling UNC $3.00
188 World Silver - Australia 1961 1 Shilling UNC $3.00
189 World Silver - Australia 1943 S 1 Shilling NICE $5.00
190 1996 D Kennedy Half UNC MINT CELLO $1.00
191 State of Missouri Sesquicentennial Medal $1.00
192 World Silver - Canada 1948 10 Cents $2.00
193 State of Missouri Sesquicentennial Medal $2.00
194 State of Missouri Sesquicentennial Medal $2.00
195 World Silver - Canada 1948 10 Cents $2.00
196 World Silver - Canada 1948 10 Cents $2.00
198 World Silver - Canada 1935 10 Cents $2.00
199 1974 D Kennedy Half Dollar DDO UNC $20.00
200 World Silver - Australia 1911 Shilling $5.00
251 World Silver - Bahamas 1970 Proof 50 Cents LOW MINTAGE $5.00
252 World Silver - Canada 1935 10 Cents $2.00
253 1978 D Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU TONED $20.00
254 World Silver - Canada 1935 10 Cents $2.00
255 World Silver - Switzerland 1945 1/2 Franc $2.00
256 1979 Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU TONED $8.00
257 1986 D Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU TONED $6.00
258 1986 D Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU TONED $6.00
259 1954 S Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
260 1957 Washington Quarter UNC TONED $10.00
261 1963 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $20.00
262 1999 D Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU PROOFLIKE $3.00
263 World Silver - Bahamas 1973 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
264 World Silver - Bahamas 1974 Proof 1 Dollar LOW MINTAGE $12.00
265 Panama - 1975 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP cello $1.00
266 1971 D Eisenhower Dollar "Talon Head" Obverse Die Clash / "Moon Line" Reverse Die Clash UNC TONED $10.00
267 World Silver - Bahamas 1971 Proof 2 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $20.00
269 Maybrook NY Golden Jubilee Good For 10 Cent Wooden Nickel $1.00
270 Maybrook NY 1975 Golden Jubilee 25 Cent Wooden Nickel $1.00
272 1974 Eisenhower Dollar UNC RAINBOW TONED $12.00
273 World Silver - Barbados 1973 Proof 5 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $20.00
274 1957 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
275 World Silver - Barbados 1973 Proof 5 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $20.00
276 World Silver - Australia 1920 Shilling $6.00
277 1959 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
279 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
280 World Silver - Australia 1943 Shilling $6.00
281 World Silver - Canada 1918 25 Cents $5.00
283 World Silver - Canada 1973 5 Dollars UNC $18.00
285 World Silver - Canada 1973 5 Dollars UNC $18.00
286 1963 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
287 1983 Lincoln Cent DDO FS-101 $25.00
288 1964 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
290 1983 Lincoln Cent DDO UNC GEM BU $50.00
291 1964 D Washington Silver Quarter UNC TONED $8.00
292 2000 "Wide AM" Lincoln Cent UNC $12.00
293 1960's Terre Haute, IN Sesquicentennial Wooden Nickel $1.00
298 1982 Buffalo NY Sesquicentennial Wooden Nickel $1.00
299 1958 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
300 1959 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
352 Denmark - 1950 5 Ore KEY DATE $10.00
353 World Silver - Switzerland 1951 1/2 Franc $2.00
357 1990 Rappahannock Area Coin Club Wooden Nickel $1.00
360 Old Time Wooden Nickel Co Support Our Troops Wooden Nickel $1.00
366 1957 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
370 World Silver - Canada 1916 10 Cents $3.00
371 Great Britain - 1920 1/2 Crown NICE $30.00
372 New Zealand - 1942 1/2 Crown $20.00
373 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
374 Sudan - 1972 50 Ghirsh UNC $2.00
375 1961 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
376 World Silver - Canada 1904 10 Cents $2.00
377 Clear Lake, IA Perkins Wooden Nickel $1.00
380 Great Britain - 1981 25 New Pence UNC $3.00
382 World Silver - Canada 1903 H 10 Cents $3.00
383 Guyana - 1970 1 Dollar UNC $2.00
384 New Zealand - 1953 1 Crown $4.00
385 Illawarrra Numismatic Association Membership Discount Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
386 San Juan Quality Royale Casino Token $1 Face Value $1.00
388 Artisan Silverworks Temecula, CA Wooden Nickel $1.00
393 Netherlands East Indies - 1945 S 1 Cent UNC $2.00
395 1957 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
396 Netherlands Antilles - 1965 2.5 Cents UNC TONED $6.00
398 Netherlands - 1921 1/2 Cent BETTER DATE $2.00
399 Netherlands - 1922 1/2 Cent BETTER DATE $4.00
452 World Silver - Canada 1899 10 Cents $4.00
453 Netherlands Antilles - 1959 1 Cent UNC $2.00
454 World Silver - Canada 1948 10 Cents $2.00
455 Canada - 1930 5 Cents NICE $4.00
456 Canada - 1930 5 Cents NICER $6.00
457 World Silver - Canada 1945 10 Cents $2.00
458 Canada - 1948 5 Cents $1.00
461 Barbados - 1973 Proof 5 Cents in OGP $1.00
463 Barbados - 1973 Proof 25 Cents in OGP $1.00
464 Barbados - 1973 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
466 World Silver - Canada 1886 Ten Cents $8.00
469 Trinidad & Tobago - 1973 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
470 World Silver - Canada 1899 Ten Cents $4.00
471 Trinidad & Tobago - 1973 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
472 British Virgin Islands - 1974 Proof 10 Cents in OGP cello $1.00
474 World Silver - Canada 1908 Ten Cents $2.00
475 World Silver - Canada 1909 "Victorian Leaves" 10 Cents $3.00
476 British Virgin Islands - 1973 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
477 World Silver - Caribbean Country 1953 25 Centavos $4.00
478 British Virgin Islands - 1973 Proof 25 Cents in OGP $1.00
479 World Silver - Australia 1920 Shilling $8.00
480 Barbados - 1980 Proof 25 Cents in OGP cello $1.00
481 World Silver - Switzerland 1975 1 Franc $6.00
484 World Silver - Canada 1904 10 Cents $4.00
486 1964 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter (starts at melt) $5.00
487 World Silver - Canada 1909 Ten Cents $2.00
488 Netherlands East Indies - 1921 1/2 Cent NICE KEY DATE $8.00
489 World Silver - Canada 1902 10 Cents $3.00
490 British Virgin Islands - 1974 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
491 World Silver - Canada 1901 10 Cents $4.00
492 India - 2010 10 Rupees UNC $1.00
493 World Silver - Canada 1900 10 Cents $3.00
494 British Virgin Islands - 1974 Proof 5 Cents in OGP cello $1.00
495 France - 1946 C 5 Francs $1.00
496 World Silver - Canada 1899 10 Cents $3.00
498 British Virgin Islands - 1974 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
499 World Silver - Australia 1922 Sixpence $5.00
500 France - 1946 5 Francs $1.00
551 World Silver - Australia 1922 Shilling $5.00
552 World Silver - Switzerland 1963 1 Franc NICE $4.00
553 Switzerland - 1902 2 Rappen KEY DATE FIRST YEAR $8.00
554 Panama - 1975 Proof 1 Centesimo in OGP $5.00
555 Panama - 1975 Proof 10 Centesimos in OGP $1.00
556 Panama - 1976 Proof 10 Centesimos in OGP $1.00
557 World Silver - Australia 1928 Shilling $5.00
559 Panama - 1975 Proof 25 Centesimos in OGP $1.00
560 World Silver - Canada 1905 25 Cents $6.00
561 Panama - 1975 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP $1.00
562 Panama - 1976 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP $2.00
563 World Silver - Canada 1902 25 Cents $6.00
564 World Silver - Canada 1870 25 Cents $8.00
565 World Silver - Australia 1917 M 1 Florin $8.00
566 World Silver - Australia 1912 1 Shilling KEY DATE $8.00
567 World Silver - Australia 1913 1 Shilling KEY DATE $8.00
568 Panama - 1974 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP cello $1.00
569 World Silver - Australia 1917 M Sixpence KEY DATE $6.00
570 World Silver - Australia 1914 Shilling $5.00
571 World Silver - Australia 1922 Sixpence KEY DATE $8.00
572 Panama - 1973 Proof 1/10 Balboa in OGP $1.00
573 World Silver - Australia 1912 Shilling $8.00
574 Barbados - 1973 Proof 1 Cent $1.00
575 Panama - 1973 Proof 1/4 Balboa in OGP $1.00
576 World Silver - Switzerland 1950 1/2 Franc $2.00
577 World Silver - Switzerland 1958 1 Franc $5.00
578 World Silver - Australia 1943 D Sixpence NICE $3.00
580 World Silver - Denmark 1874 25 Ore $4.00
581 Liberia - 1974 Proof 5 Cents in OGP $1.00
583 France - 1856 BB 5 Centimes $1.00
584 Liberia - 1974 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
585 World Silver - Mexico 1890 Pi R 25 Centavos LOW MINTAGE $8.00
586 World Silver - Mexico 1895 Mo M 10 Centavos $3.00
587 World Silver - Portugal 1933 2 1/2 Escudos KEY DATE $6.00
588 World Silver - New Zealand 1943 6 Pence $3.00
589 1830's Capped Bust Half Dollar Holed $12.00
590 World Silver - Canada 1909 Ten Cents $3.00
591 1979 Swedish Shooting Medal $2.00
592 1984 Swedish Shooting Medal $2.00
593 France - 1854 K 5 Centimes $1.00
594 Bahamas - 1970 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
596 France - 1856 K 10 Centimes $1.00
597 World Silver - Ecuador 1833 1 Real $15.00
599 France - 1854 W 10 Centimes $1.00
656 World Silver - Canada 1881 H 25 Cents $10.00
658 World Silver - Canada 1916 Ten Cents $2.00
659 World Silver - Germany (Wurttemburg) 1805 6 Kreuzer $8.00
660 World Silver - Canada 1916 25 Cents $4.00
661 Greece - 1959 10 Drachmai UNC $6.00
662 World Silver - Canada 1908 Ten Cents $4.00
663 World Silver - Canada 1921 25 Cents $5.00
664 World Silver - Canada 1921 25 Cents $5.00
668 World Silver - Germany (Hamburg) 1700's 1 Schilling (12 Pfennig) $4.00
669 World Silver - Poland 1800's 10 Groszy $3.00
670 Barbados - 1973 Proof 1 Cent and 5 Cents in OGP (two coins) $1.00
671 Barbados - 1973 Proof 10 Cents and 25 Cents in OGP (two coins) $1.00
672 World Silver - Canada 1902 Ten Cents $4.00
673 Bahamas - 1973 and 1974 Proof 1 Cents in OGP (two coins) $1.00
674 Bahamas - 1973 and 1974 Proof 5 Cents in OGP (two coins) $1.00
675 World Silver - Canada 1909 25 Cents $6.00
676 World Silver - Canada 1905 25 Cents $6.00
677 World Silver - Switzerland 1955 1/2 Franc BETTER DATE $3.00
678 World Silver - Canada 1903 25 Cents $6.00
688 World Silver - Australia 1918 M Sixpence KEY DATE $15.00
689 World Silver - Canada 1891 Ten Cents $6.00
690 1986 Proof 2 Coin Statue of Liberty Set (Silver Dollar and Clad Half) in OGP $20.00
691 World Silver - Australia 1920 M Sixpence SEMI KEY DATE $6.00
693 Mexico - 1954 5 Centavos UNC $1.00
694 World Silver - Canada 1948 Ten Cents $2.00
695 Mexico - 1966 20 Centavos UNC $3.00
697 World Silver - Canada 1929 10 Cents $2.00
698 1986 Silver Proof Statue of Liberty Dollar in OGP $18.00
699 Mexico - 1973 20 Centavos UNC $3.00
700 World Silver - Canada 1948 10 Cents $2.00
751 1986 Silver Proof Statue of Liberty Dollar in OGP $18.00
752 Mexico - 1955 5 Centavos $1.00
753 Mexico - 1955 5 Centavos $1.00
756 Four Canada 1991 UNC Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $1.00
757 Four Canada 1991 UNC 5 Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $1.00
758 China (Hu-Peh Province) 10 Cash $1.00
759 Four Canada 1991 UNC 10 Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $1.00
760 Philippines - 1975 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
762 Philippines - 1975 Proof 5 Cents in OGP $1.00
764 World Silver - Canada 1948 25 Cents $5.00
766 Four Canada 1991 UNC 50 Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $3.00
767 Four Canada 1991 UNC 1 Dollar (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $5.00
768 Morocco - AH1320 10 Mazunas $8.00
770 World Silver - Canada 1904 25 Cents $6.00
771 Jamaica - 1976 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
773 World Silver - Canada 1905 25 Cents $6.00
776 1974 P Kennedy Half Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $2.00
777 Poland - 2014 2 Zlotych UNC $2.00
778 Two Mixed World Coins $1.00
780 World Silver - Canada 1903 25 Cents $6.00
782 Two Mixed Tokens $1.00
783 1976 P Kennedy Half Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $2.00
789 1953 Silver Proof Washington Quarter NICE $15.00
790 Netherlands - 1880 1 Cent $1.00
791 World Silver - Canada 1905 25 Cents $6.00
792 Russia (Empire) - 1881 1 Kopek $1.00
794 2011 S Silver Proof Glacier Quarter $6.00
795 World Silver - Canada 1916 25 Cents $6.00
796 2013 S Silver Proof Great Basin Quarter $6.00
799 World Silver - Canada 1902 H 25 Cents $6.00
851 Republic of China - 10 Cash $1.00
852 World Silver - Canada 1912 25 Cents $6.00
853 Peru - 1878 1 Centavo $3.00
854 World Silver - Egypt AH1293 (Year 10; 1884) 10 Qirsh $10.00
855 World Silver - Canada 1948 25 Cents $5.00
860 Netherlands - 1881 1 Cent $1.00
864 World Silver - Australia 1913 Shilling $8.00
867 World Silver - Canada 1909 25 Cents $8.00
868 2011 S Silver Proof Chickasaw Quarter $6.00
869 2013 S Silver Proof White Mountain Quarter $6.00
870 Belgium - 1836 2 Centimes $1.00
873 Romania - 1880 2 Bani $1.00
874 Germany (Prussia0 - 1834 D 1 Pfennig $1.00
875 Italy (Tuscany) - 1859 5 Centesimi $2.00
876 World Silver - Panama 1931 1/10 Balboa $4.00
880 World Silver - Australia 1920 M Sixpence $6.00
882 2013 S Silver Proof Fort McHenry Quarter $6.00
886 Canada - 1962 "Hanging 2" 1 Cent UNC $4.00
889 Hungary - 1894 1 Filler $1.00
890 Hungary - 1895 1 Filler $1.00
952 World Silver - Canada 1902 10 Cents $4.00
966 World Silver - Spain 1869 (69) SN-M 1 Peseta KEY DATE $15.00
969 World Silver - Canada 1908 10 Cents $3.00
970 World Silver - Egypt AH1327 (1910-1913) 5 Qirsh $4.00
971 Sterling Silver Cigarette Case Engraved "CML" (67.5g) MELT
972 2010 S Silver Proof Mount Hood Quarter $6.00
974 2011 S Silver Proof Olympic Quarter $6.00
975 World Silver - Australia 1916 1 Florin $9.00
976 2010 S Silver Proof Yosemite Quarter $6.00
977 1817 Large Cent $5.00
978 1853 Large Cent $5.00
979 Sterling Silver Tongs (19.1g) MELT
980 Sterling Silver Tongs (19.0g) MELT
981 1854 Large Cent $5.00
982 1856 Large Cent $5.00
985 1856 Large Cent $5.00
986 1828 Large Cent $5.00
990 World Silver - Philippines 1944 S 50 Centavos $6.00
993 France - 1946 C 5 Francs $2.00
997 World Silver - Australia 1912 Shilling $8.00

This post is updated daily.
You can also follow the Reddit Live thread here.
 
COVID-19 has now infected more than 215,956 people. There have been 8,757 confirmed deaths and 84,080 confirmed recoveries attributed to the virus.
 
Recent Updates
Note: These are the updates from the last 48-72 hours.
MARCH 18 -

• United States: President Trump signed into law a coronavirus relief package, which provides free coronavirus testing and ensures paid emergency leave for those who are infected or caring for a family member with the illness. The bill also provides additional Medicaid funding, food assistance and unemployment benefits. The "third phase" coronavirus response bill is expected to pass later this week. Read more here.
  
• United States: President Trump announced that home foreclosures and evictions will be suspended “until the end of April.” Read more here. He also invoked the Defense Production Act, which gives the government the authority to control the production and distribution of scarce materials deemed "essential to the national defense." In his executive order, Trump specifically cites protective equipment (presumably face masks) and ventilators as meeting the criteria in this provision. Read more here.
  
• United States: Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ben McAdams become first members of Congress to test positive for coronavirus. Read more here.
  
• United States: King County in Washington State is building a 200-bed field hospital on Shoreline soccer field amid coronavirus outbreak. Read more here.
  
• United States: The New York Stock Exchange said starting March 23, it will temporarily close its historic trading floor and move fully to electronic trading. This is the first time the physical trading floor of the Big Board has ever shut independently while electronic trading continues. Read more here.
  
• United States and Canada: US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have agreed to close the US-Canada border to all non-essential travel in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus. Trade will not be affected. Read more here.
  
• Canada: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a massive $82-billion aid package to help Canadians and businesses cope with the global COVID-19 pandemic, including income supports, wage subsidies and tax deferrals. The package includes $27 billion in direct supports and another $55 billion to help business liquidity through tax deferrals. Read more here.
  
• Japan’s Hokkaido, the nation’s prefecture with the highest number of coronavirus infections, will end its state of emergency over the epidemic on Thursday. Read more here.
  
• Europe: The European Central Bank launched an extra emergency bond-buying program worth 750 billion euros ($820 billion) in the latest attempt to calm markets and protect a euro-area economy struggling to cope with the coronavirus epidemic. Read more here.
  
• France: French police handed out over 4,000 fines Wednesday to people found violating an order to stay at home, on the first full day of a lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Read more here.
  
• Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declared a state of emergency to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The new measures allow Prime Minister António Costa's government to restrict movement of people, temporarily suspend the right of workers in vital sectors — such as health, civil protection, security and defense — to strike, and ban protests and social or religious meetings Read more here.
  
• Brazil: Davi Alcolumbre, the head of Brazil's Senate, became the latest high-level political figure to test positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Read more here.
  
• Chilean president Sebastian Pinera declared a 90-day state of catastrophe Wednesday to address the spread of COVID-19 in the country, which has 238 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. By law, a state of catastrophe puts the armed forces in charge of public order and security and enables military control of the movement of people and goods. Military officials will be able to issue direct instructions to public employees and local governments and establish measures deemed necessary to maintain public order, including curfews. Read more here.
  
• Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa records first coronavirus death. Read more here.
  
• Both the United States and the United Kingdom have confirmed cases of coronavirus within their jails.
  
• Europe: This year's Eurovision Song Contest has been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers confirmed on Wednesday, marking the first time that the much-loved competition has ever been scrapped. Read more here.
  
• Australian airline Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar will suspend scheduled international flights from late March until at least the end of May due to the coronavirus crisis. In a statement posted on its website Thursday, Qantas Group announced that 60% of its domestic flights would also be cut, and two-thirds of its 30,000 employees would be temporarily stood down. Read the announcement here.
  
• RyanAir, Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, said it expected “most if not all” flights to be grounded, apart from a small number to maintain connections between the UK and Ireland. Read more here.
  

 
MARCH 17 -

• United States: A plan developed by the federal government to combat the coronavirus reportedly projects the pandemic will last 18 months or more and could feature multiple “waves.” Read more here.
  
• United States: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised the possibility with Republican senators that U.S. unemployment could rise to 20% without government intervention because of the impact of the coronavirus. Mnuchin discussed the scenario with the lawmakers on Tuesday as he proposed an economic stimulus of $1 trillion or more. Read more here.
  
• United States: Treasury and IRS to delay tax payment deadline by 90 days. Read more here.
  
• United States: The U.S. military is preparing Naval hospital ships for deployment, and is looking to open its labs to help test civilians for coronavirus. The Pentagon also plans to distribute equipment. Read more here.
  
• United States: White House requests and additional $45.8 billion in emergency funding due to coronavirus. The request comes on top of the $8.3 billion in emergency funding passed by Congress just two weeks ago and underscores just how dramatically financial demands at federal agencies have grown in a matter of days. Read more here.
  
• United States: Schools are likely to be closed for the rest of this school year according to Governor Newsom of California. Ohio's governor has made similar statements. Read more here.
  
• United States: Are Hospitals Near Me Ready for Coronavirus? Here Are Nine Different Scenarios. | There is a tool in the article that allows you to see your area's hospital capacity. See the interactive tool here.
  
• EU: Leaders of European Union countries have agreed to close the EU’s external borders to most people from other countries for 30 days in a new effort to slow the coronavirus pandemic. Movement within European Union member nations will be still be allowed. Read more here.
  
• Spain: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a package of measures worth a total 200 billion euros ($219 billion), between loans, credit guarantees, benefits and direct aid, to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the economy. The package represents about 20% of the country’s gross domestic product; 117 billion euros for the package will come from the government, with the rest to come from private companies. Read more here.
  
• Scotland: No new jury trials will take place in Scotland for the foreseeable future due to coronavirus. Read more here.
  
• Bolivia will close its borders to non-residents and suspend all international flights to combat the spread of coronavirus. The measure will remain in place until March 31. Read more here.
  
• Australia declares emergency, warns coronavirus crisis could last six months. Read more here.
  
• Euro 2020 has been postponed by one year until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.
  

 
MARCH 16 -

• A Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine designed to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle. Read more here.
  
• The European Union will ban all nonessential travel into the bloc for at least 30 days. Read more here.
  
• France has instituted a lockdown and will deploy 100,000 police to enforce the lockdown and fixed checkpoints will be set up across the country. Under the new measures, soldiers would help transport the sick to hospitals with spare capacity and a military hospital with 30 intensive care beds would be set up in the eastern region of Alsace, where one of the largest infection clusters has broken out. Macron also announced he was postponing the second round of local elections on Sunday. Read more here.
  
• United States: President Trump held a press conference today, where he said that the U.S. may be able to get the new coronavirus outbreak under control by July or August at the earliest. He also said his administration may look at lockdowns for “certain areas” or “hot spots” in the nation, but said he wasn’t considering a full national lockdown. Watch the press conference here and/or read about it here.
  
• United States: The Department of Health and Human Services experienced suspicious cyberactivity Sunday night related to its coronavirus response. The suspicious activity HHS was not a hack but it may have been a distributed denial of service -- or DDOS -- attack. Read more here.
  
• United States: Six Bay Area counties announced “shelter in place” orders for all residents on Monday — the strictest measure of its kind yet in the continental United States — directing everyone to stay inside their homes and away from others as much as possible for the next three weeks. The directive begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and involves San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties — a combined population of more than 6.7 million. Read more here.
  
• United States: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut institute regional rules that ban gatherings of over 50, and close casinos, gyms, and theaters. Read more here.
  
• United States: The Ohio primary has been postponed. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced late Monday that his administration will order that polls be closed on Tuesday due to a health emergency. Read more here.
  
• United States: Dow Plummets Nearly 3,000 Points as Virus Fears Spread. Read more here.
  
• Canada is closing its borders to noncitizens because of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. citizens are exempt from the ban “for the moment." Read more here.
  
• Israel is preparing to open four hotels across the country as quarantines sites for confirmed cases of coronavirus, Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett announced Monday night. The hotels will be used to treat people exhibiting mild symptoms of the virus. Read more here.
  
• Finland closes schools, declares state of emergency over coronavirus. Daycare centres are to stay open but parents were asked to keep their kids home if possible. Read more here.
  
• Sudan’s ruling sovereign council closed all airports, ports and land crossings and declared a public health emergency on Monday over fears about the spread of coronavirus. Read more here.
  
• Idris Elba has tested positive for coronavirus along with several other celebrities. See Idris' tweet here.
  
• Amazon will hire 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the United States to deal with a surge in online orders, as many consumers have turned to the web to meet their needs during the coronavirus outbreak. Read more here.
  
• The Peace Corps is telling its volunteers around the world that it is suspending all operations globally and evacuating all volunteers in light of the spread of the new coronavirus. Read more here.
  
• United States: The College Board has cancelled the May SATs. Read more here.
  

 
Tracking COVID-19

• Vox is keeping track of COVID-19 infections for each U.S. state here.
  
• John Hopkins University has a live trackemap of the global spread of COVID-19 here.
  
• Today's situation report from the WHO.
  
• The CDC's COVID-19 Situation Summary.
  
• There are tons of travel bans globally right now. CNN has put together a full list here.
  

 
Reputable Sources for Information:

• The CDC's Dedicated Coronavirus Resource,
  
• The WHO's Dedicated Coronavirus Resource,
  
• The University of Chicago School of Medicine's handy FAQ style resource.
  

worldnews

• ZZerker

Angela Merkel: Trump shares blame for US Capitol storming
Comments || Link

• Spiderbling

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Democracy "should never be undone by a mob"
Comments || Link

• lurker_bee

Mexican president offers to vaccinate unlawful migrants in U.S.
Comments || Link

news

• douglasmacarthur

Congress has certified the 270 Electoral College votes needed to confirm Joe Biden's presidential election win.
Comments || Link

• mikkeman

Warnock, Ossoff win in Georgia, handing Dems Senate control
Comments || Link

• michuru809

Police remove barriers to mob storming US capitol, taking selfies
Comments || Link

science

• mvea

Before the pandemic, one-third of US households with children were already “net worth poor,” lacking enough financial resources to sustain their families for 3 months at a poverty level. Their savings are virtually nil, and they have no financial cushion to provide the basics for their children.
Comments || Link

• mvea

US politicians who engage in “negative partisanship”, referring to hostile, nonsubstantive rhetoric about an opposing party or statements emphasizing defeats of partisan opponents, are not rewarded with higher evaluations from citizens. Voters don’t want representation focused around polarization.
Comments || Link

• mvea

For young adults in the 18–24-year-old age group, pornography was the most commonly endorsed helpful source about how to have sex, as compared to other possible options such as sexual partners, friends, media, and health care professionals. This was more likely for males and heterosexuals.
Comments || Link

space

• MaryADraper

NASA wants to deorbit the International Space Station before the end of this decade. Axiom plans to replace the International Space Station and potentially save NASA billions per year.
Comments || Link

• MaryADraper

Galaxy-Size Bubbles Discovered Towering Over the Milky Way. For decades, astronomers debated whether a particular smudge was close-by and small, or distant and huge. A new X-ray map supports the massive option.
Comments || Link

• wewewawa

Earth is whipping around quicker than it has in a half-century
Comments || Link

Futurology

• izumi3682

‘Incredible’ gene-editing result in mice inspires plans to treat premature-aging syndrome (Progeria) in children
Comments || Link

• lebookfairy

New Atlas: New catalyst converts common plastic waste into fuels (77%) and wax (15%)
Comments || Link

• Gari_305

U.S. law sets stage for boost to artificial intelligence research
Comments || Link

AskReddit

• Gnerdy

Couples therapists, without breaking confidentiality, what are some relationships that instantly set off red flags, and do you try and get them to work out?
Comments || Link

• jjgp1112

What were weird myths you thought about sex as a kid?
Comments || Link

• bekind888

What’s the greatest mental health tip you’ve gotten?
Comments || Link

todayilearned

• malalatargaryen

TIL in 2013, a 9 year-old British girl passed through Turkish customs with a toy passport with gold teddy bears on the front that identified her as a unicorn. Her mother accidentally handed over the passport that the girl had made for her toy unicorn, and the customs offіcer accepted and stamped it
Comments || Link

• SonOfQuora

TIL Ants sleep by taking about 250 one minute naps throughout their day. It totals just under 5 hours of sleep. This allows for 80% of their colony to be awake, working and prepared at any given moment.
Comments || Link

• bawledannephat

TIL Jerry Seinfeld is banned from the New York soup stall that he used for the basis of The Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld. Weeks after the episode aired, Seinfeld went in for lunch, and chef Al Yeganeh asked him to leave, unhappy with the moniker the show had given him.
Comments || Link

dataisbeautiful

• akrotz1234

[OC] Numerical Simulation of Traffic Jam Formation
Comments || Link

• visvis

[OC] types of alcoholic beverages consumed in terms of pure alcohol content by country, 2018
Comments || Link

• AtomicFrontier

[OC] By applying a collector's curve to large marine animals (>2m) I’ve determined that there are six sea monsters left to discover. Video explanation and sources in comments.
Comments || Link

Cooking

• Instrumedley2018

My cooking challenge of 2020 : ended up making 150 different recipes from 114 different countries.
Comments || Link

• OakTeach

I have plain vanilla ice cream in the freezer. What ice cream toppings can I make quickly out of ordinary ingredients?
Comments || Link

• ErrorSubstantial

Eggs-hate them but I want to like them
Comments || Link

food

• NightsWatch23

[Homemade] Brioche Doughnuts
Comments || Link

• cookinwithclint

[Homemade] Smoked Beef Back Ribs
Comments || Link

• Horatius__Cocles

My take on Tonkotsu Ramen with spicy umami bomb. [homemade]
Comments || Link

movies

• chanma50

New images of Dave Bautista and the cast of Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead' - A group of mercenaries plot a heist on a Las Vegas casino during a zombie outbreak.
Comments || Link

• chanma50

Ray Fisher’s Cyborg Written Out of ‘The Flash'; Role Won’t Be Recast
Comments || Link

• CircusSeal

Netflix’s next big science fiction movie is set to debut next week: Outside the Wire, a military science fiction thriller starring Damson Idris as a soldier assigned to assist a classified military robot (played by Anthony Mackie) in a war zone.
Comments || Link

Art

• trey_tallent

If I can't have her... , Adam the Creator, Digital, 2021
Comments || Link

• perfect_wonders

Trump-O-Matic, Mark Bryan, Oil on Canvas, 2016
Comments || Link

• speial

United Screams of America, Me, 2021
Comments || Link

television

• Justausername1234

Stephen Colbert's Live Monologue for Jan. 6, 2021
Comments || Link

• TheDreamIs0ver

Aziz Ansari's Master Of None to return. Season three to be shot in London
Comments || Link

• ArchDucky

WandaVision has been officially rated TV-PG
Comments || Link

pics

• ahvostin

How it started and how it ended
Comments || Link

• JunkInTheTrunk

Domestic Terrorism
Comments || Link

• Mellanchef

The Capitol police removes disabled people as they protest healthcare changes, in 2017.
Comments || Link

gifs

• JVCG

Police letting Trump rioters into Capitol
Comments || Link

• Superiluso

A relaxing bath for a stressful times
Comments || Link

• IchHuhn

BBQ
Comments || Link

educationalgifs

• mtimetraveller

A great white shark may grow and use 20,000+ teeth in its lifetime. Also, it has 5 rows of teeth at any given time & will never run out of teeth because if one is lost, another spins forward from a coil-like tooth reservoir of backup teeth in the jaw and spins forward to replace the old one.
Comments || Link

mildlyinteresting

• carbonbasedcat

This McDonalds hasn't been renovated since the 80's/90's.
Comments || Link

• LordofLoxley

Two toned deer I saw this morning
Comments || Link

• casualmatch

I found a cake vending machine
Comments || Link

interestingasfuck

• LambeauLeapt

During the four years of the Civil War, Ft. Stevens was the closest the confederates got to Washington. During the insurrection on the US Capitol building today, supporters of Donald Trump carried the confederate battle flag through the Capitol as they committed attempted sedition.
Comments || Link

• Inazumaryoku

The door to the dining area of the Alcobaça Monastery in Portugal was made narrow so that monks who got too fat were forced to go into fasting.
Comments || Link

• xLuizordx

Street artist Kevin Lee called his work "the invisibility of poverty".
Comments || Link

funny

• mamabird_2

My little sister bought accessories for her cat. This is the result. Thug Lyfe
Comments || Link

• butteredbuttbiscuit

Giddy up!
Comments || Link

• lolnein

How are we feeling today?
Comments || Link

aww

• ltbluepoetry

My mum made this for me!
Comments || Link

• Sajime

I present to you the best dance move the turtle shake
Comments || Link

• eblax

Kitten focusing on the important stuff
Comments || Link

Random Subreddit of the day: asexuality

These are its 3 top posts of all time:

• AceOfManyYears

I’m 62. It’s time.
Comments || Link

• frozenpandaman

this is so much better
Comments || Link

• softhungrygirl

Representation matters
Comments || Link

This is the first time I've ever thought about writing a post and actually doing it, but I really need someone to talk to. BTW, this might be a long-ass post, but here goes... I'm an 18-year-old female and a senior in high school and lately, have been feeling down. I've had this feeling before my sophomore year of high school but now it's worse. A couple of years ago I was very emotional, like out of nowhere emotional.
But first, let me give you some background information, my father is a pacific islander and my mother is Chinese, both grew up with physical discipline. They divorced when I was 3 and I ended up staying with my dad in Washington once I started going to school. Growing up, he disciplined me through spanking and yelling. Once I got to middle school that's when his temper became shorter and disciplining became harder (Idk how to describe it), and I can't help but feel like its justifiable for him to throw things at me or call me names like "piece of shit" or "stupid idiot" when I forget to do chores because I feel like it's a normal thing for parents to do especially when e tells me his punishments as a kid were worse. He was also out at the bars and casinos most of the time picking up a girlfriend for the month just for me to meet, get close to and he ended up dumping them afterwards. And I was fine with it but he spent more time with them than with me growing up. And when he was home he'd get mad about something small like not sweeping and take it out on me, EX: Throwing a rice cooker at my head, and telling me to clean up the rice that spilt on the floor. To this day there's still a fucking dent in the rice cooker but it works fine. I remember one time I forgot to sweep because I was playing Minecraft with my cousin so he came up to the room, smacked me with the broom handle and pulled me down the stairs by my hair. That's the worst experience I remember but I know for a fact there were worse.
But it started getting to me as time went on. I became more emotional and I couldn't control it, things like a tangled bump in my ponytail or combing tangled hair irritates the shit out of me and I would comb the tangles out of my hair so hard to the point of tears (probably normal too). Even now my dad hits me or pulls my hair during an outburst and calls me names but I just tear up and sort of dissociate and pretend I'm there when I'm not, I just, I don't know. Afterwards, that's when the tears come falling and the sadness and anger are so overbearing that my body just reacts on its own I'll hit my head against the wall or hit myself; I don't know why but I feel relieved when I do stuff like this after crying.
One time I got so angry after one of my dad's short temper outbursts that out of impulse, I tried to kill myself (In a pretty stupid-sounding way too). I fucking downed Pamprin because that was the strongest medication in my room, I didn't even know what it's effects were, I just knew people died from overdosing on medication. I also had pills for my Hyperthyroidism but I was scared it wouldn't kill me and that I'd end up swallowing those disgusting shits for nothing. The thing is you need more than 8 to actually overdose and BY CHANCE I ONLY HAD 8 LEFT ( What are the fucking odds amirite?) I ended up just feeling really nauseous and just sleeping it off until the next day. The thing is when I swallowed those pills, I was happy. Waking up alive was the saddest feeling I've ever had. Up to that moment, I didn't really want to die, I just wanted to stop feeling... feelings if that makes sense.
Now, I have really good friends but the only person I've really talked to about this stuff was my cousin because she's the person I'm closest to. But I stopped sharing this stuff to her because I felt bad for making her worry, I don't want to talk about it to my friends because I feel like I would make it their problem. I'm so happy around them until I'm not. I smoked weed in high school as a sort of escape and it was a great way of forgetting things until my stupid ass got caught. But whenever I'm with them I do it and I feel fucking great because I don't worry, I'm not stressed. But after my grades dropped I was sent to Cali to live with my mom until I graduate and go to college, away from my friends and job. I feel distant from them because I don't feel like talking especially when I make an effort to actually do it and they send tik toks or they'll say one thing and leave, only to return the next day. Them leaving for a just minute feels like an hour, I feel abandoned and betrayed; It happened today, they were doing puzzles together while I waited for a reply, spamming stuff that popped into my head. After a while, I started crying about them being happier without me there. I feel so alone even when I'm around other people. I get sad and start crying when I talk about the stuff my dad did to my mom and she says "You probably really made him mad so you probably deserved it". I will try to do work for school but end up stopping because I'll start thinking about how useless it is and how I'll be in an endless cycle for the rest of my life and how I probably won't even end up doing something worthwhile with my existence. I don't do things I enjoyed like drawing anymore, it feels like too much work to make something to eat so I end up sleeping instead. I don't know what's wrong with me, should I seek help?
I feel like killing myself still, but then I think about how my cousin and friends would react and cry myself to sleep. Every day is an endless cycle, what should I do?

At present, there are 34 Vaults accounted for in canon sources. (Where Fallout Canon is currently defined as the computer games Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 76 and the comics One Man and a Crate full of Puppets and All Roads. Cut content from completed and released games is not considered to be canon. Any other source, including unreleased games, the Fallout Bible, Fallout: The Board Game, Fallout: Wasteland Warfare and so on are also non-canon). The total number of Vaults is unknown, but assuming that the Vaults are numbered consecutively, has to be no lower than 118. (According to the Fallout Bible, which itself is non-canon, there are 122 Vaults). As such, there are a minimum of 84 Vaults unaccounted for at this time.
There are a total of seventeen Control Vaults (Fallout 3 Citadel terminal entries). At present, only three of them, Vaults 3, 8 and 76, are known.
Vault 79 is so far unique among the Vaults in that it is neither experimental nor is it a Control Vault. Rather, it was designed for a specific purpose (ie, to house the Federal Gold Reserve).
These figures do not include Vault-like structures or unnumbered structures made with Vault-Tec components such as the Vault-Tec University Simulation Vault, Vault-Tec Among the Stars, the demonstration Vault in Los Angeles and so on.
As yet, while Vaults 63 and 96 are in-game, they are not accessible. As such, nothing is known about their nature beyond their numbers and the fact that both of them are still sealed. While terminal entries for Vault 96 have been found, they are cut content and, as such, cannot be considered to be canon. It can be implied that both are experimental Vaults (Fallout 76 Appalachian Vault Registry terminal entries) but this cannot be confirmed.
With five exceptions, the locations of all the explicitly named Canon vaults are known. These Vaults, 17, 29, 43, 69 and 77, are all mentioned in canon sources, but have not directly appeared as yet. Vault 17 can be implied to be in Southern California, as it was raided by the Master’s Army in 2155 (Fallout: New Vegas, Lily Bowen’s dialogue). Vault 29 is said to be on the West Coast, but its exact location is unknown (Fallout 76, Last Day of School). Vault 77 can be implied to be near the Capitol Wasteland, based on the presence of a Vault 77 suit in Fallout 3. While they are canon, there is no evidence at all for the locations of Vaults 43 and 69.
Vaults 1 and 2 are featured in the Pip-Boy game Wastelad (Fallout 76). However, as this is fiction within fiction it should not be used as a reference for any details about those two Vaults. Additionally, there is at least one Vault in Oklahoma (Fallout 3, Letter from Vault-Tec). No details are known about it (or them).
Wastelanders has several more mentioned-only Vaults. Penelope Hornwright’s dialogue mentions a Vault, but gives no details beyond it having a faulty door and being outside of Appalachia. As such, it can be assumed that she is not talking about Vault 63 or 96. Bruiser is said to have come from a Vault, but again without giving any information about it. Two random Camp encounters (Carla and Dino; two Soldiers), feature characters that again came from or spent time in a Vault, but without giving any details about those Vaults, including their numbers. There is no indication as to if these are all referring to a single Vault or a number of different Vaults; however, again the lack of explicit numbers suggests that they are not referring to 63 or 96.
Finally, Samuel claims to be from a Vault that is “pretty far away and hidden, so you wouldn’t have heard of it”. While not explicitly stated, the implication is that he is lying about his past and is not from a Vault at all.
Where this becomes interesting is when one examines the distribution of the canon Vault numbers based on the US Census regions. Those in the Western Census District (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas) start from Vault 3 and go as high as Vault 34 (for a range of 31 Vaults). The Southern Census District (Fallout 3, Fallout 76) start at Vault 51 and go as high as Vault 112 (for a range of 61 Vaults). Finally, the Northeast Census District (Fallout 4) range from Vault 75 to Vault 118 (for a range of 43 Vaults).
However, this distribution has some caveats. The known Vaults in the Southern Census District are all crammed into one corner of the region (West Virginia and Washington DC). Not a single known Vault is found elsewhere in the district, save for the hypothetical Oklahoma Vault(s). There is considerable overlap between the Southern and Eastern Census District Vaults, but none between the Southern and Western ones.
In addition, there are no known, canon Vaults in the Midwestern Census District. While presumably some existed, no information about them exists in any canon sources.
From this it can be deduced that there is a rough pattern to the Vault numbers. The lowest numbers are found on the West Coast, and the highest in the east. The pattern is consistent across all sources, with a distinct gap appearing between the highest numbered “Western” Vault (Vault 34) and the lowest numbered “Southern” Vault (Vault 51). While there is a single known Vault between the two (Vault 43), nothing is known about its location.
Only two of the Vaults have in-world reasons stated for their numbering. Vault 76 was built for and named in honour of the United States Tercentenary. Vault 79 was named for the Atomic Number of Gold, since it would be housing the Federal Gold Reserve.
While Vault 21 had a gambling-themed experiment and was located under a casino in Las Vegas, it has not been explicitly stated in-world if the number was a deliberate choice or a coincidence.
The presently accounted for Vaults are 3, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 29, 34, 43, 51, 63, 69, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 87, 88, 92, 94, 95, 96, 101, 106, 108, 111, 112, 114 and 118. This list does not include the “mentioned only” Vaults with no numbers given.
The presently unaccounted for Vaults are 1, 2, 4-7, 9-10, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23-28, 30-33, 35-42, 44-50, 52-62, 64-68, 70-74, 78-80, 82-86, 89-91, 93, 97-100, 102-105, 107, 109-110, 113, 115-117 and any potential vaults from 119 on up.

Perhaps nowhere does storytelling so totally reverse reality as when it deals with pirates. It’s difficult not to like swashbuckling rogues tweaking the noses of the uptight British ninnies as they ply their brave way across the wild, lusty seas.
Of course, actual pirates were about as romantic as the tortures they would inflict on prisoners, including holding lighted matches to the victim’s eyes or keel-hauling, where a sailor had a rope tied to each arm and thrown off the bow of a ship. The unfortunate was then dragged along the length of ship, scraping against the sharp barnacles and probably drowning.
Fun fact: “Avast!” means “Stop!” or “Stand still!” not “Hello, fellow pirate!”

21. Corsair by Chris Bunch – 2001

Swashbuckling captain Gareth Radnor has taken command of the Steadfast. But the young captain intends more than seeking his fortune. He wants vengeance against the Linyati slavers who murdered his family. Crewed by a motley band of adventurers, his carrack plunges through the salty waves, striking at the Linyati wherever it can.
And then he discovers something more compelling even than revenge: The Linyati aren’t human…

“Hard edged, salty… a fantasy adventure that will keep you up at night reading.”
—Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series

20. The Mark of Ran by Paul Kearne – 2004

Book 1 of 2 in The Sea Beggars Series
In a world abandoned by its Creator, an ancient race once existed, with powers so extensive that they were seen as both angles and demons. Rol Cortishane was raised in a remote fishing village, ignorant that the blood of this long-forgotten race runs in his veins. Driven from home, Rol is trained in the assassin’s craft and tutored by the beautiful but troubled Rowen. Now they’ve set their sights across the sea in search of the Hidden City and an adventure that will make them legends, if it doesn’t kill them first.
In the non-fantasy world, the Sea Beggars (the name of this series) really existed. They were a confederacy of Dutch nobles, who, from 1566, opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. They arrived in large numbers to complain to the king, but some wit told the ruling Spanish regent not to worry, for the large group was “only beggars.” The angry group of nobles did not forget the appellation and henceforth called themselves the Beggars. The most successful Beggars operated at sea (i.e., were pirates) and were known as the Sea Beggars.

19. Of Shadow and Sea by Will Wight – 2015

Book 1 of 2 in The Elder Empire Series
The Guild of Navigators (i.e., swindlers and pirates) has been paid a fortune to secure the Heart, a cursed artifact that will give wild power to its bearer. The Guild’s only lord is greed, their only loyalty to gold, and they would sell the Empire’s freedom for the promise of a quick coin.
Author Will Wight is well regarded for his likable characters and irreverent tone. Most epic fantasies tend to be high-minded and serious, but Wight has a decidedly more down-to-earth approach.

18. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton – 2009

I’m not a giant Michael Crichton fan. Generally, I think his ideas and research are more interesting than the actual books he creates. This one’s fun, though.
This book was unknown until after Crichton’s death—his assistant found it on a computer. However, there’s evidence Crichton was working on it, on and off, since the 1970s.
Pirate Latitudes is a caper novel set in the high seas with a strong regard to the reality of the times. Because of this, it probably doesn’t belong in a fantasy list like this one. However, it’s a damn fine pirate tale, and that’s good enough for me.
The Historical Novel Society notes: “Crichton’s portrayal of Port Royal and its inhabitants is far more grounded in reality than Disney’s portrayal. Crichton does not gloss over the slavery, addiction and brutality of colonial Jamaica, nor does he endow his characters with abilities beyond their training or station in life.”
So don’t expect Jack Sparrow.

17. The Fox by Sherwood Smith – 2007

Book 2 of 4 in the Inda Series
You might want to read the first book in the series, Inda, before diving into this one.
Young prince and military genius Inda, forced to turn mercenary after conspirators engineered his exile from Choraed Elgaer, is gathering allies for a sea campaign against the piratical Brotherhood. But Inda’s attention soon shifts toward the ambitious Venn Empire, which wants to use him as a political pawn.
The hardcover version of this book is significantly cheaper than the paperback. Go figure.

“[L]ively… spare yet complex characterizations and a narrative that balances sweeping action and uneasy intimacy.”
—Publishers Weekly

16. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding – 2011

Book 1 of 3 in the Tales of the Ketty Jay Series
This is magical steampunk, so it’s a little nuts. I mean that as a compliment.
Sky piracy is a bit out of Darian Frey’s league. Fate has not been kind to the captain of the airship Ketty Jay—or his motley crew. They are all running from something. Crake is a daemonist in hiding, traveling with an armored golem and burdened by guilt. Jez is the new navigator, desperate to keep her secret from the rest of the crew. Malvery is a disgraced doctor, drinking himself to death. So when an opportunity arises to steal a chest of gems from a vulnerable airship, Frey can’t pass it up. It’s an easy take—and the payoff will finally make him a rich man.
But when the attack goes horribly wrong, Frey suddenly finds himself the most wanted man in Vardia, trailed by bounty hunters, the elite Century Knights, and the dread queen of the skies, Trinica Dracken. Frey realizes that they’ve been set up to take a fall but doesn’t know the endgame. And the ultimate answer for captain and crew may lie in the legendary hidden pirate town of Retribution Falls. That’s if they can get there without getting blown out of the sky.

“Beautifully crafted prose and some remarkably imaginative scenes…and Wooding’s sprawling, multifaceted world and rough-and-tumble action will delight steampunk fans.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

15. The King’s Buccaneer by Raymond E. Feist – 1992

Book 5 of the Riftwar Cycle
Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege. But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry’s arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen. The raiders have come from a pirate haven and are no ordinary foe, while an enemy connected to dark magical forces threaten the lands Nicholas will someday rule—if he survives.

“Feist once again delivers a superior, rousing adventure.”
—Publishers Weekly

14. The Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser – 1983

The Pyrates is satire, send-up, and love-letter to what swashbucklers have become. It’s a Naked Gun take on Errol Flynn pirates. If you don’t know what “Naked Gun” or “Errol Flynn” is then I envy you because you’re about to discover some great stuff.

13. Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson – 2008

Book 1 of 3 in the Isle Chronicles
Captain Declan Ross searched for riches that will free him and his headstrong daughter, Anne, from the piracy business forever. Bartholomew Thorne, an infamously ruthless pirate, seeks to destroy Ross and any who stand in his way of the legendary treasure hidden by a mysterious order of monks.
Despite featuring a scene where a monk gets skinned alive, this book won a “Mom’s Choice Award” for family-friendly entertainment. Depends on the family, I guess.

12. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch – 2007

Book 2 of 3 in the Gentlemen Bastards Series
Initially poised to rob the Sinspire, the notoriously thief-proof casino where the penalty for cheating is death, Locke and his partner, Jean, are unwillingly sidetracked into joining and then leading a pirate crew, swindling their way across the sea as they had previously done on land.

“[C]harming, unpredictable and fast on its feet and stands surprisingly well on its own given its convoluted plot.”
—Publishers Weekly

11. Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe – 2007

Fresh from the monastery, the former novice finds himself inexplicably transported back to the Golden Age of Piracy, where an unexpected new life awaits him. At first, he resists joining the notorious Brethren of the Coast, but he soon embraces the life of a buccaneer, even as he succumbs to the seductive charms of a beautiful and enigmatic señorita. As the captain of his own possibly cursed ship, he plunders the West Indies in search of Spanish gold. From the stormy waters of the Caribbean to steamy tropical jungles, Captain Chris finds danger, passion, adventure, and treachery as he hoists the black flag and sets sail for the Spanish mainland.
Where he will finally come to port only God knows…

“Wolfe…[fills] his story with duels, treachery, ship-to-ship combat and an abundance of accurate period detail.”
—Publishers Weekly

10. The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick – 2008

Book 1 of 4 in the Cathrand Voyage Series
Six hundred years old, the Imperial merchant ship Chathrand is a massive floating outpost of the Empire of Arqual. And it is on its most vital mission yet: to deliver a young woman whose marriage will seal the peace between Arqual and its mortal enemy, the Mzithrin Empire. But Thasha, the young noblewoman in question, may be bringing her swords to the altar.
For the ship’s true mission is not peace but war—a war that threatens to rekindle an ancient power long thought lost. As the Chathrand navigates treacherous waters, Thasha must seek unlikely allies—including a magic-cursed deckhand, a stowaway tribe of foot-high warriors, and a singularly heroic rat—and enter a treacherous web of intrigue to uncover the secret of the legendary Red Wolf.

“Insane god-kings, miniature warriors and sentient animals fight over a powerful ancient artifact in Redick’s dramatic, complex debut… Both adult and young adult readers will find much to enjoy in this tale of sea-faring and bloody diplomacy.”
—Publishers Weekly

9. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini – 1922

Book 1 of 3 in the Captain Blood Series
This book is a little more subtle than its title would suggest.
Dr. Peter Blood, is an Irish physician who was once a sailor and a soldier. In the aftermath of the Monmouth rebellion, Dr. Blood is arrested for treason. While he did not actually participate in the rebellion, rather he aided a wounded rebel, he is tried and convicted nonetheless. The sentence for treason is death, but King James II has the sentence commuted and instead sells Captain Blood and his fellow rebels into slavery.

“Glorious… I never enjoyed a novel more than Captain Blood.”
—Norman Mailer

8. The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clark – 2012

Book 1 of 2 in The Assassin’s Curse Series
Ananna abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. She wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiancé. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin Naji finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse—with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

“Clarke’s debut harkens back to the best in fantasy/adventure, offering rock-solid worldbuilding, satisfyingly perilous obstacles and a protagonist whose charismatic ’tude goes way beyond spunk. Ananna’s voice grabs readers from the beginning…and doesn’t let go.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

7. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb – 1998

Book 1 of 3 in The Liveship Traders Series
Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship, Vivacia.
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. But the fate of Althea and the ship may ultimately lie in the hands of a ruthless buccaneer who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will.

6. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne – 1870

While his description of this new thing called a “submarine” is fun even for modern readers, it’s the brilliant but tortured Captain Nemo who steals the show as one of, if not the, best pirate in English literature.

5. The Walrus & the Warwolf by Hugh Cook – 1988

Book 4 of 6 in the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness Series
On his 16th birthday, churlish Drake Douay finds himself exiled from his homeland amid a treacherous crew of pirates on the open sea. Through battles with sea monsters, mysterious cults, weird technology of a bygone age, and the warring gangs of two pirate lords, Drake explores a world of dark fantasy and betrayal with his keen wit and a sharp sword—his only protection from an early death.
Readers are usually divided: this is either one of their favorite books, or the long litany of adventures becomes boring after a while.

4. Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed – 2012

Book 1 in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms Series
A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Crawford, Gemmell, and British Fantasy Awards, and the winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel.
The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. But these killings are only the earliest signs of a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn the great city of Dhamsawwaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

“Ahmed’s debut masterfully paints a world both bright and terrible.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

3. Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey – 2008

In a world where infants with magical powers are torn from their parents to be raised by the mysterious and powerful Danisoba, who have a monopoly on magic, Kestrel has managed to keep her abilities concealed—and herself free. First hiding in back alleys as a street urchin, she hid when they killed her parents, and then served as a young tavern maid before escaping to sea, where magic is cancelled by water.
Now an adult, and the quartermaster of a pirate ship, Kestrel loves the freedom of living on the seas. But her way of life could end if anyone on board learns her closely guarded secret—that she has magical control over the wind.
One day a black ship appears, and her life changes. Its captain is a handsome rogue of whom Kestrel is strangely, constantly aware. When Kestrel’s captain is led into a trap and is arrested, she gathers her crew and sets sail in relentless pursuit…

“This rollicking debut combines swashbuckling sea adventure, fantasy and romance with great success.”
—Publishers Weekly

2. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie – 1904

Sure, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are great, but it’s the enmity of the pirate Captain Hook that makes this story exciting.

1. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers – 1987

This is the inspiration of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but it’s different in many ways and stands well on its own.
Puppeteer John Chandagnac, bound for Jamaica to recover stolen money from his uncle, becomes Jack Shandy after pirates attack his ship and force him to join their crew. Shandy’s struggle to accept his new life grounds the story for readers, even as Blackbeard and vodun magicians whisk everyone away to dreamlike lands where the Fountain of Youth itself awaits.

“Powers writes action and adventure that Indiana Jones could only dream of.”
—Washington Post

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