So, I said that in my fanfiction, there's gonna be music - and it's true :) This is the list of the music I've compiled so far. If you think of a song that could also fit in a certain scene, maybe even better in the following scenes, let me know in the comments :) [Passion Scenes are the very intimate scenes, if you catch my drift.] Introducing Anthony: Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones, 1968 Part 1 (Chapters 1-15) [Chapters 15 and 16 are fused into one single chapter in my fanfic. Ch. 15 begins right after Anthony turns back time with the Watcher's necklace] Chapter 1 - Flight to the island: Dry My Soul by Amanda Jenssen, 2012 - Flying through the storm: Derezzed by Daft Punk, 2010 [From TRON: Legacy] Chapter 2 - Entering the (honeymoon) suite: Get Back by Ludacris, 2004 - The party: Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz, 1998 - Talking to Lena (Estela): She Doesn't Mind by Sean Paul, 2011 Chapter 4 Watching the CCTV: Unchain My Heart by Joe Cocker, 1987 Chapter 5 - CPR: Theme from "Medicopter 117" by Sylvester Levay, 1998 - At the airstrip: Lear Crash by Trevor Rabin, 1997 [From Con Air] Chapter 6 - Going to the pool: Danza Kuduro by Don Omar feat. Lucenzo, 2010 - On the waves: Mas Que Nada by Sérgio Mendes feat. The Black Eyed Peas, 2006 Chapter 7 - Hunt for alcohol (nightclub): Insomnia by Faithless, 1995 - VIP lounge: Tainted Love by Soft Cell, 1981 - Passion Scene I (In the kitchen): Gimme More by Britney Spears, 2007 - The feast: Time To Wonder by Fury In The Slaughterhouse, 1988 Chapter 8 Expedition's beginning: Sister Rosetta by Alabama 3, 1997 Chapter 9- In the rainforest: Nara by E.S. Posthumus, 2001 - Fighting with the crab: Gasoline by Audioslave, 2002 - Dangling from the cliff: Arpégiateur by Jean-Michel Jarre, 1982 Chapter 13 - Barricading: Enter Sandman by Metallica, 1991 - Sparring: Fighting Man by DJ Poné feat Drixxxé, 2002 [From The Transporter] Chapter 14 - Confronting William: Tick Of The Clock by The Chromatics, 2007 - In the restaurant: The End by John Powell, 2006 [From United 93] - The lobby: Hot Stuff by Donna Summer, 1979 - Passion Scene II: Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding, 2015 [From Fifty Shades of Grey] - Lena's demise: Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, 1938 Chapter 15 - The fight with the Watchers: Given Up by Linkin Park, 2007 - Escaping from the roof: Tennessee by Hans Zimmer, 2005 [From Pearl Harbor]
Part 2 (Chapters 16-30) [The second part of William's (Aleister's) idol vision is a bit different.] Chapter 16 - Lena attacks Carter (Rourke): - Searching for clues: - Sarah's (Michelle's) Idol Vision (Past): - Sarah's Idol Vision (Future): Chapter 17 - The expedition begins: All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, 1968 - At the clearing with Lena: Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, 1977 - Jordan's (Sean's) Idol Vision (Past): - Jordan's Idol Vision (Future): Chapter 18 - Examinations: - Finding Rafael (Diego): - Rafael's Idol Vision: Clubbed To Death by Robert D., 1995 [From The Matrix] Chapter 19 - The tribunal:- At the cliffs:- Jamal's (Raj's) Idol Vision (Past):- Jamal's Idol Vision (Future): Chapter 20 - Charlie's (Quinn's) Idol Vision (Past): - Charlie's Idol Vision (Future): - Escaping the house: - Passion Scene III (The cave): Chapter 21 - Landing on the beach: - The confrontation with Seraxa / Battle: - The distraction: - Anthony's Idol Vision (Past): Sorry For Party Rocking by LMFAO, 2011 - Anthony's Idol Vision (Future): Is There Anybody Out There? by Pink Floyd, 1979 - Post-battle celebrations: Chapter 22 - Charlie falls into a coma: - Drinking the sap: - Accelerating time: - Jean's (Grace's) Idol Vision (Past): - Jean's Idol Vision (Future): Chapter 23 - Finding Charlie possessed: - The celebrations: - Sparring: - Eating contest: - Scavenger hunt: - Clara's (Zahra's) Idol Vision (Past): - Clara's Idol Vision (Future): - Quuk'tanoi: Rock N' Roll Train by AC/DC, 2008 - The meal: - IRIS' identity: Chapter 24 - Starting the journey: It's A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall by Leon Russell, 1971 - Encounter with Arachnid: - Matt's (Julian's) Idol Vision (Past): - Matt's Idol Vision (Future): - The blizzard: Chapter 25 - Waking up: Music for Airports 1/2 by Brian Eno, 1978 - Lena's evening entrance: The World Is Not Enough by Garbage, 1999 [From The World is Not Enough] - Anthony's evening entrance: Another Way to Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys, 2008 [From Quantum of Solace] - The celebration: Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung, 1986 - On the roof: Jerusalema by Master KG feat. Nomcebo, 2019 - Passion Scene IV (The room): American Beauty by Thomas Newman, 1999 [From American Beauty] - CCTV: Warlord by Antonio Pinto, 2005 [From Lord of War] Act V, Bonus Scene - Ines' perspective: Chapter 26 - Ines is compromised: Psycho by Muse, 2015 - Lena's Idol Vision (Past): In the End by Linkin Park, 2000 - Lena's Idol Vision (Future): - The ambush at Lake Tethys: Run by AWOLNATION, 2015 Chapter 27 - Briefing: - The forest: - Rafael's talk: - Passion Scene V (In the tent): A Time for Us by André Rieu, 1998 [From Romeo and Juliet; A Time for Us is the alternative title] - Lena's confession: Say You Won't Let Go by James Arthur, 2016 - Preparations: Run Faye Run by Isaac Hayes, 1974 [From Three Tough Guys] Chapter 28 - Infiltration / VR simulation: Connor Main Theme by Nima Fakhrara, 2018 [From Detroit: Become Human] - Freeing the others: Too Old to Die Young by Brother Dege, 2010 - Daniel's (Jake's) Idol Vision (Past): - Daniel's Idol Vision (Future): Chapter 29 - Walk along the ruins: - Varyyn's perspective: - William's betrayal: Hello Zepp by Charlie Clouser, 2004 [From Saw] - William's Idol Vision (Past): - William's Idol Vision (Future): Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt by DJ Shadow, 1996 Chapter 30 - Ines's sacrifice: - The farewell: Hurt by Christina Aguilera, 2006 - Fight on the platform: 'Till I Collapse by Eminem, 2002 - Escape from MASADA Complex: Ready Steady Go by Paul Oakenfold, 2002 - Anthony's helicopter fall: Skyfall by Adele, 2012 [From Skyfall] Act VI, Epilogue - Anthony is found: Leaving by Trevor Rabin, 1998 [From Armageddon] - The Riddle: - Revealing Pandora (The Endless):
Part 3 (Chapter 31-42) [Chapter 42 begins when they step on the Celestial's roof. Also, the ending of the story is non-canon.] Chapter 31 - Pandora appears: - Escaping to the bay: - Lena's Ember of Hope: The Girl From Ipanema by Stan Getz, 1962 [True in a sense that her home, Rocinha, is in the same zone of Rio as Ipanema] Chapter 32 - Meeting up with the group: - Jamal's Ember of Hope: - Sailing race: - Passion Scene VI (On the cliff): I'm So Excited by the Pointer Sisters, 1982 Chapter 33 - Finding Charlie: - Boarding the speedboat: - Freeing Jordan and Matt: - Jordan's Ember of Hope: Chapter 34 - With Jordan at the waterfall: - Enter the temple: - Matt's Ember of Hope: - Meeting Clara: Chapter 35 - Pandora reveals himself: - The Fountain: - The hike to Quarr'tel: - Rafael's Ember of Hope: - Attempt on Anthony's life: Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic, 1989 Chapter 36 - Waking up: The Judge by Ketsueki Sākuru, 2016 - Entering Carter's base: - Varyyn's rescue: Superunknown by Soundgarden, 1994 - Jean's Ember of Hope: - The escape: Burn by Nine Inch Nails, 1994 [From Natural Born Killers] Chapter 37 - Daniel's Ember of Hope: Chapter 38 - 1st Head: Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses, 1987 - 2nd Head: Paranoid by Black Sabbath, 1970 - Charlie's Ember of Hope: Chapter 39 (I put everything that's possible into the party at the lake) - Face-off with Fiddler: - Arriving at the lake: - The bar: Pump Up The Volume by M|A|R|R|S, 1987 - Ice-skating: Bad Boys by Inner Circle, 1987 - Descent into Mt. Azana (Mt. Atropo): - The Omega Mech: Exit by Tangerine Dream, 1981 - William's Ember of Hope: Chapter 40 - Lena's proposal: The Portrait by James Horner, 1997 [From Titanic] - The friends find out: Honestly by Stryper, 1986 [I chose the song because of a personal note] - The wedding: November Rain by Guns N' Roses, 1991 - Leaving the hall: Can't Stop The Feeling! by Justin Timberlake, 2016 [From Trolls] - At the bay: - Passion Scene VII: La vie en rose by Grace Jones, 1977 - Sarah's (Michelle's) Ember of Hope: Chapter 41 (It's a little different, since Anthony owns a firearm in the scene himself and uses it. Also, he wears a military uniform in the chapter. You'll read the reason there when the story's done.) - The rally: Hard as a Rock by AC/DC, 1995 - Preparing the attack (in the suite): You've Got Another Thing Comin' by Judas Priest, 1982 - Storming the foyer: Battle Without Honor Or Humanity by Tomayasu Hotei, 2000 [From Kill Bill Vol. 1] - Gunfight in the atrium: You Could Be Mine by Guns N' Roses, 1991 Chapter 42 (The ending is non-canon. Carter dies, although in a different manner, but other things are different.) - Arriving on the roof: Coup de Grace by Hans Zimmer, 2009 [From Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2] - Anthony's origin: Der blaue Planet by Karat, 1982 - Encounter with Pandora: Time by Hans Zimmer, 2010 [From Inception] - The decision: Shutting down Grace's lab by James Horner, 2009 - Carter is executed: You Know My Name by Chris Cornell, 2006 [From Casino Royale]
That's the soundtrack of the main story :) The additional chapters (Act X, displaying different timelines) are below :)

Warning: massive amount of text ahead. I created a mostly functional race route around the world (all loactions like buildings, businesses, landmarks, etc. are REAL locations and could theoretically actually work in the race). I tried to have a good variety in locations and types of challenges, but it's really hard! I find it a lot harder to complain about challenge design after making this. Even though this could technically happen there are probably some safety concerns in going to South Africa and Lesotho and it's probably not possible for the American Amazing Race to film in Cuba, but I decided to do it anyway. If you have any questions or feedback please let me know!
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RACE #2
Leg 1 (USA - Japan)
Leg 2 (Japan - South Korea)
Leg 3 (South Korea - India)
Leg 4 (India - Oman)
Leg 5 (Oman)
Leg 6 (Oman - South Africa)
Leg 7 (South Africa - Lesotho)
Leg 8 (Lesotho - Greece)
Leg 9 (Greece)
Leg 10 (Greece - North Macedonia)
Leg 11 (North Macedonia - Cuba)
Leg 12 (Cuba - USA)
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LEG 1
USA - Japan
Start at Cloud Gate, Chicago, Illinois
Run to clue at Millenium Monument
Clue #1
Make your way to the Gunma region of Japan, and travel to Sarugakyu Onsen. However, to get your tickets to Japan, you must make your way on foot through the busy streets of Chicago to Navy Pier, where flights will be given out according to the order of your arrival. Flights go to Tokyo, and you must make your own travel arrangements from there.
Flight 1 (5 teams): Chicago - Los Angeles - Tokyo, arrives 8:00 AM
Flight 2 (4 teams): Chicago - Tokyo, arrives 9:30 AM
Flight 3 (2 teams): Chicago - San Francisco - Tokyo, arrives 9:45 AM
Clue #2
Both team members must go into the hot springs and search it for the partly submerged cluebox to get your next clue.
Clue #3
Travel to Sarugakyo Bungy for your next clue.
Clue #4
Roadblock: Who’s ready to take a jump?
Bungy jump at the largest bungy jump in all of Japan at 62 meters, or over 200 feet! Once you’ve taken your leap of faith, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #5
Travel to Uenokunirokunomiya Haruna Shrine, Takasaki, for your next clue.
Clue #6
Create one string of paper cranes in Senbazuru. Senbazuru is the crafting of 1000 paper cranes for good luck. Following the demonstration, learn how to craft paper cranes. Once you have created forty of them and strung them together, deliver them to a Shinto priest at Akiba Shrine. He will give you your next clue.
Clue #7
Travel by train to Akihabara, Tokyo, and go to the top of the Tokyo Skytree to receive your next clue.
Clue #8
Roadblock: Who can ‘go’ kart? The teammate who did the first roadblock cannot do this one.
Travel to Akihabari Street Kart 1 and dress up in one of the many ridiculous costumes the company has to offer. Then, join a fifteen minute go-karting tour around the streets of this bustling region and look for three enormous signs in race colors with three different Japanese characters on them. If you can spot and write all three characters down correctly during the rush of Tokyo, you’ll receive your next clue. If you can’t get it right, you’ll have to join the next available tour.
Clue #9
Travel to Horin Park on foot to find the first pit stop! The last team to check in here may be eliminated.
Pit Stop, Leg 1
trip to Canada
last: eliminated
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LEG 2
Japan - South Korea
Clue #1
Fly to Busan, South Korea! Upon arrival, make your way to Beomeo-sa for your next clue.
Fast Forward, Leg 2
Go to Songdo Beach and swim out into the ocean, locating the five whale statues in the water. At each statue, pick up marked letter tiles. Once you have all seven (two statues have two tiles), you can go back to the beach and unscramble the letters that spell out the name of a traditional South Korean delicacy that the other contestants eat at their first challenge. If you get the right word, you’ll be given a clue that takes you straight to the end of the leg.
Clue #2
Master the art of Korean meditation. If you can master all of the moves correctly, then your instructor will give over your next clue.
Clue #3
Head to Taejongdae for your next clue.
Clue #4
Roadblock: Who’s desperate to eat?
Take the marked path over one mile uphill to the marked food stand, and finish one serving of Soondae, a traditional South Korean delicacy that is made of pig intestines and pork blood. Once you have finished the food, you can run down to your partner and get your next clue.
Clue #5
Take the Songdo Marine Cable Car from Songnim Park to Amnam Park to receive your next clue.
Clue #6
Detour: Fish Identity or Fish Delivery
Fish Identity: Go to Jagalchi Fish Market and search for the marked stall. Once there, sort an enormous box of fish and organize them. Once the stall owner approves, put them up for stock in the stall to receive your next clue.
Fish Delivery: Go to Jacky’s Seafood and take three orders and three addresses that need to be delivered. Once you have delivered all the fish to all the correct addresses throughout the Gamcheon Culture Village, you will receive your next clue.
Clue #7
Make your way to the pit-stop at Haedong Yonggungsa. The last team to arrive may be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 2
-first: trip to Belize
-last: non-elimination
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LEG 3
South Korea - India
Clue #1
Fly to Hyderabad, India, and go to the Charminar for your first clue.
Clue #2
Travel to Ramoji Film City Main Entrance to receive your next clue.
Speed Bump, Leg 3
Make your way to Saha’s Adventure Park and zorb down a steep hill. Once you’ve made it, you can continue racing.
Clue #3
Detour: Birdy Woods or Bollywood
Birdy Woods: Dressing up in clumsy bird costumes, search through Asia’s largest aviary for a cutout of the bird your partner is dressing up as. Once you’ve found the two cutouts, head to the Bonsai Garden. If you match the right bird, you’ll receive your next clue.
Bollywood: Head to Ramoji Movie Magic. Dressing up in traditional Indian outfits, memorize a short dance to the tune of some Bollywood music and perform it to the live audience and judges. If you meet their standards, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #4
Head to Nehru Zoological Park where your next clue will be waiting.
Clue #5
Take an amazing elephant ride! With both teammates on the elephant’s back guide it through a short course. If you can reach the end in under two minutes, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #6
Make your way to Bidar Fort by public transport for your next clue.
Clue #7
Roadblock: Who’s itching to get etching?
One team member must help in the process of the creation of bidriware. First, you must chisel one section in the piece of bidriware very precisely. Any error and you must restart. If given the clear, then you must then make their way inside Bidar Fort and collect a total of three baskets of soil for the artisans to use later in the process. Finally, you must use some of the soil you collected and coat a piece of bidriware in it. If every part of the challenge was done to the satisfaction of the artisans, you will receive your next clue.
Clue #8
Make your way to the Bahmani Tombs and the pit-stop! The last team to arrive will be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 3
-first: trip to Japan
-last: eliminated
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LEG 4
India - Oman
Clue #1
Fly to Muscat, Oman! Once you have arrived, make your way to Al Alam Palace, where you will find marked cars waiting outside. Your clue will be waiting on the car.
Clue #2
Drive all the way to the Nizwa Souq in Nizwa, Oman, where you will find nine different tags, each releasing teams at different times the next morning, when you will be given your next clue.
Tag 1: departure at 7:00 AM
Tag 2: departure at 7:05 AM
Tag 3: departure at 7:10 AM
Tag 4: departure at 7:15 AM
Tag 5: departure at 7:20 AM
Tag 6: departure at 7:25 AM
Tags 7-9: departure at 7:30 AM
Clue #3
Detour: Selling Goats or Weighing Dates
Selling Goats: Navigate through the souq to the weekly goat market. You must select a seller and help them sell their goats. First, thoroughly clean five goats so they are ready for selling. Then, parade five goats around the “walking circle,” where potential buyers will inspect which goats to buy. You must finally buy a goat yourself, haggling for a price under 100 riyals, or 260 US dollars. Once you can purchase a goat, you will receive your next clue. Keep the goat for the next challenge.
Weighing Dates: Find the marked stall in the souq that is selling dates. Your goal is to weigh out 200 grams of Ajwa Dates, 175 grams of Barhi Dates, and 125 grams of Hayani Dates. To do this, you must travel across the market to a scale at a different date stall. If you can get the perfect amount of dates, you will receive your next clue. Keep the dates for the next challenge.
Clue #4
Travel on foot to the Contemporary Mosque with either your goat or dates and trade them with the man waiting out front for your next clue.
Clue #5
Make your way back to the souq, and head to Omani Craftsman's House where you will find your next clue.
Clue #6
Roadblock: Who can work and weave?
The teammate participating in this roadblock must help create a small basketwork bowl. After watching the example, you must use the provided materials to finish off the bowl. If it meets the requirement of the shop owner, you will receive your next clue.
Clue #7
Make your way to the pit-stop for this leg of the race, Nizwa Fort! The last team to arrive may be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 4
-first: continue racing
-last: continue racing
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LEG 5
Oman
Clue #1
Drive yourself to Bimmah Sinkhole in Muscat, Oman! You will receive your next clue after having a cup of delicious locally-made coffee. Caution! Double U-Turn ahead!
Clue #2
Detour: Script Write or Shipwright
Script Write: Drive to Bait al Zubair and go into the Manuscript Room. Using a provided paper and translation guide, figure out what the marked manuscript says in English. If anything is wrong when submitting it, though, you must start completely over.
Shipwright: Drive to Oman Maritime Boatyard and find the marked boat. Oman Maritime has been reviving the craft of making the traditional wooden boats of Oman’s past, and you must help with the process. First, you must hand-sand a small section of the marked vessel. Then, you and your partner must work together to stitch coconut palm fiber through twenty holes, or eighty total stitches. Once you’re done, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #3
Make your way to Mutrah Souk for your next clue and the U-Turn board!
Clue #4
Search through the enormous market for one of three marked stalls. One you’ve found a stall, search through their wares for a trinket with a red/yellow flag on the bottom. Give the correct trinket to the shop owner, and they will hand you your next clue.
Clue #5
Drive yourself to Qurum Beach, where you will receive your next clue.
Clue #6
Roadblock: Who will pass the shells?
For this challenge, one team member must watch the demonstration of two fishermen playing a traditional Omani game, Al Hawalees. You must first create a “board” in the sand and collect the required amount of shells to play. You must then challenge a local fisherman. If you can win while following all of the rules correctly, you will receive your next clue.
Clue #7
Make your way to the pit-stop at Wadi Bani Khalid. The last team to check in will be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 5
-first: trip to Tanzania
-last: eliminated
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LEG 6
Oman - South Africa
Clue #1
Fly out of Oman to Durban, South Africa, on one of two flights.
Flight 1 (2 teams): Muscat - Durban, arrives 7:30 AM
Flight 2 (6 teams): Muscat - Dar es Salaam - Durban, arrives 8:00 AM
Upon touching down, make your way to Moses Mabhida Stadium, where you will find your next clue.
Clue #2
Roadblock: Who will swing for the skies?
One team member must strap in and complete the Big Rush Big Swing, the largest swing in the world! Dive 263 feet down. Once you have finished the swing, you will receive a section and seat number. You will search the stands for your next clue.
Clue #3
Make your way to Umhlanga Lighthouse for your next clue.
Clue #4
Shake it up! In this challenge, you must create Lighthouse Bar’s famous “Umhlanga Schling.” Use the provided recipe to create fifteen drinks to perfection, and you will receive your next clue.
Clue #5
Head to Addington Beach and dig underneath one of the large sandcastles for your next clue.
Clue #6
Detour: Tree or Sea
Tree: For this detour, go to Durban Botanical Gardens. Use a provided golf cart to make your way to the famous Wood’s Cycad, a tree dating back to the age of dinosaurs. It has been cared for here since 1848. Once there, use one of the provided pieces to put together a large 3d puzzle of the tree. Once it has been approved, you will be handed your clue, and you can drive back to the front of the gardens and continue racing.
Sea: Go to uShaka Marine World and help out with some chores! First, help the kitchen staff and prepare 5 pounds of specially made vegetables for some of the aquarium’s fish. Second, travel around the park and take water samples from each of the specified exhibits. Finally, record blood test results taken during routine health check-ups. If you’ve completed all of the steps correctly, you will receive your next clue.
Clue #7
Head to the pit-stop at Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World! The last team to check in may be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 6
-first: 5k each
-last: eliminated
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LEG 7
South Africa - Lesotho
Clue #1
Drive yourself through Qacha’s Nek and into Lesotho! Once in Lesotho, drive yourself to Maletsunyane Falls where you’ll find your next clue.
Fast Forward, Leg 7
By completing this fast forward, you will skip an overnight rest point and will be able to head directly to the pit-stop. Head to Sehlabathebe National Park. Once there, using the provided map and compass, ride by horseback to the nomadic tribal people’s current village. At the village, help cook pap-pap, a type of porridge common in Lesotho. The first team to complete the challenge will be able to head directly to the pit-stop.
Clue #2
Drive yourself to Seshoeshoe Decor and Fashion Designers in Maseru for your next clue.
Clue #3
Who can cut up a pattern?
One teammate will choose one of the complicated tribal Lesotho designs, and must find five pieces of fabric that match it perfectly. But be careful, the designs have miniscule differences between them. Once you’ve found all of your fabric, cut them at the directed places to receive your next clue.
Clue #4
Make your way to the Subeng River Dinosaur Footprints, where you will find seven tags, each releasing you at a time in the morning when you will receive your next clue.
Tags 1-2: departure at 7:00 AM
Tag 3: departure at 7:20 AM
Tag 4: departure at 7:40 AM
Tags 5-7: departure at 8:00 AM
Clue #5
Detour: Cave or Maze
Cave: For this challenge, go to Liphofung Cave. You must memorize all of the rock paintings in a specified section (15 paintings), and then run approximately a quarter-mile away and select the correct paper cutouts and put them in the right order as they were shown in the cave. When you have everything selected and ordered correctly, you’ll receive your next clue.
Maze: Make your way to the second largest dam in Africa, Katse Dam. Enter the first marked gallery and record the air temperature and the humidity. Use those observations to crack a complicated code, and enter the parallel gallery it directs you into. Be careful, it might be hard to find! If you enter the correct gallery, you will find a boat key, which you must give to the boatmaster. He will then give you a small ride around the reservoir and you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #6
Drive yourself to Sani Stone Lodge for your next clue.
Clue #7
Help a local Basotho Shephard and their dogs move their sheep to a new grazing location. Don’t let the sheep get away! Once they’ve all been successfully moved, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #8
Make your way on foot to the pit-stop at Sani Top Chalet! The last team to check in may be eliminated!
Pit-Stop, Leg 7
-first: trip to Egypt
-last: non-elimination
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LEG 8
Lesotho - Greece
Clue #1
Via Maseru International Airport, make your way to Athens, Greece, known to be the home of the first democracy! From there, make your way to the Theatre of Dionysus on The Acropolis, where you will take part in a U-Turn vote. The two teams with the most votes will be sentenced to an automatic U-Turn when they arrive at the detour. After the vote, teams will be given their next clue.
Clue #2
Fly to Chania, Greece on the island of Crete! Upon touching down, use the provided cars to make your way to the Agora and search for the marked stall.
Speed Bump, Leg 8
Together, team members must eat through a total of twelve Greek figs. Once all of the fruits have been stomached, that team can continue racing.
Clue #3
Detour: Traverse or Immerse
Traverse: Make your way to the Maritime Museum of Crete, and find the small yacht model outside the museum. Your goal is to remember as much as you can without writing it down, then make a half mile walk through the streets of Crete to the yacht harbor, where you must find a marked yacht and rearrange the items until it is just like it was in the model. Once the actual yacht matches the model, you’ll receive your next clue.
Immerse: Travel to Minoan’s World 3D Museum, and get treated to a five minute long “9D movie” on Cretan History which engages all of your senses. If you can answer all five questions correctly, you’ll receive your next clue. However, only two teams can participate in the show at once.
Clue #4
Drive to the Palace of Knossos for your next clue.
Clue #5
Use the provided map to navigate through the ruins, collecting puzzle pieces at each of the marked rooms. Once you have all ten bundles of pieces, head outside and recreate the large painting using the pieces you collected. Once it has been finished, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #6
Drive to Cretan Olive Oil Farm for your next clue.
Clue #7
Roadblock: Who is feeling oily?
In this challenge, one teammate will help in the process of creating olive oil. First, set up special tree-shaking equipment and a net, used to efficiently get olives out of the tree without bruising them. You will then sort the olives between bruised and fair. Finally, crush both bruised and fair olives with a traditional granite olive press. Once they have been successfully grinded into a paste, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #8
Find the pit-stop along the coast of the small village of Loutro back on the west side of Crete. You will soon discover, however, that the village is completely blocked off from the mainland by mountains, so you will have to find alternate transportation. Hurry, because the last team to arrive will be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 8
-first: trip to Austria
-last: eliminated
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LEG 9
Greece
Clue #1
Fly back to the mainland in Thessaloniki! When you’ve arrived, search Aristotelous Square for your next clue.
Clue #2
Detour: Serve or Observe
Serve: For this detour head on foot to Bougatsa Giannis, a renowned restaurant in the Ladadika area. You must take the orders of twelve total people and retrieve the correct dishes for them from the kitchen. Each person also has a dessert, which must be retrieved from nearby pastry shop Trigona Elinidi. You may take notes, but if you mess up someone’s order, you must start it over again.
Observe: Go by taxi to the Thessaloniki Science Centre Technology Museum and make your way to the main planetarium. The night sky will be projected above, and will be moving around you at one hour of regular movement per second. Using the provided key, identify five Greek constellations first identified by Claudius Ptolemy- Orion, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Centaurus, and Perseus. Be careful, it might be dizzying! Once you’ve found all of the constellations, you’ll be rewarded with your next clue.
Clue #3
Find the Arch of Galerius for your next clue.
Clue #4 Use one of the marked cars to drive yourself for the rest of the leg. Go to the Thessaloniki Concert Hall for your next clue.
Clue #5
Roadblock: Who can blow a note and hold a tune?
Macedonian brass bands are extremely popular in the Macedonia region of Greece, so for this roadblock, learn how to play the trumpet, a popular instrument played in these bands. If you can play a few notes of the folk song with the band, you’ll get your next clue.
Clue #6
Drive to Dalamara Winery. Once there, follow the guide to the directed area, where you must load two empty kegs onto a horse drawn cart. Direct the horse approximately half a mile through the vineyard and return back to the kegs. You will continue to load and deliver a total of eight kegs to receive your next clue.
Clue #7
Drive to Ski Center Voras and take the lift to the top where Kajmakcalan, a chapel right on the border between Greece and North Macedonia is situated. The last team to arrive at this pit-stop may be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 9
-first: trip to Colombia
-last: eliminated
​
LEG 10
Greece - North Macedonia
Clue #1
Drive yourself across the border into North Macedonia to Popova Kula Winery! Once there, pull a tag that departs you at a certain time the next morning.
Tag 1: departure at 8:00 AM
Tag 2: departure at 8:10 AM
Tag 3: departure at 8:20 AM
Tags 4-5: departure at 8:30 AM
Clue #2
Roadblock: Who is a master chef?
The teammate doing this roadblock will use the provided recipe to cook the national dish of North Macedonia, Tavche Gravche, a special type of baked beans. If it is cooked to perfection, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #3
Drive yourself to the Millenium Cross in Skopje for your next clue.
Clue #4
Detour: Art Block or Charity Walk
Art Block: Drive to the Art Bridge, which is home to 29 statues of important Macedonian artists and musicians. Wandering on and around the bridge are 29 people dressed up as those artists and musicians. You must match nine total people to their statues. A maximum of three teams can complete this challenge.
Charity Walk: Drive to the Mother Teresa Memorial House and load a trolley cart with a marked group of items that will almost completely fill the trolley. On foot, travel to the SOS Children’s Village National Office where you are to deliver the items. If you do not choose this option, your items will still be donated after the leg.
Clue #5
Drive to the city of Struga, where the North Macedonian national anthem was created. Make your way to the Saint Archangel Michael Cave Church for your next clue.
Clue #6
Teammates must work together to memorize four total stanzas of the Macedonian national anthem- in Macedonian. If you can perform it with the orchestra without forgetting the lyrics, you’ll receive your clue to the next pit-stop.
Clue #7
Drive to the Monastery of St. Naum and the pit-stop! The last team to check in may be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 10
-first: trip to Indonesia
-last: eliminated
​
LEG 11
North Macedonia - Cuba
Clue #1
Make your way back to Skopje, then fly to Havana, Cuba, on two predetermined flights. Once there, go by taxi to Taller Calle 8, a car repair shop, where you will receive your next clue.
Flight 1 (2 teams): Skopje - Paris - Havana, arrives 6:30 AM
Flight 2 (2 teams): Skopje - London - Miami - Havana, arrives 7:10 AM
Clue #2
Roadblock: Who can fix it up?
The teammate doing this roadblock must follow the example to repair one of the classic Cuban cars. If it makes it past inspection, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #3
For the remainder of the leg, you’ll have to drive the car you just fixed. Head to Fusterlandia, where you’ll find your next clue.
Clue #4
Find where the attached image is in person throughout the folk neighborhood of Fusterlandia. If you can find where the image actually is and show the judge, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #5
Sell the Box or Find the Band
Sell the Box: Drive to Santa Maria del Mar Beach and sell the provided boxes of boxed rum, the “juice box for bug kids.” While never selling any box for under 25 Cuban Pesos, make 375 Cuban Pesos (around fifteen US dollars). Once you’ve made your sales, you’ll receive your next clue.
Find the Band: For this detour, drive to the Cuban Art Factory and observe the large, marked piece of sheet music in the first room. Going from room to room in the factory, try to find the band who is playing the music that was in the first room. You must make your guesses ten minutes apart, so be confident in your answers! Once you have chosen the right band, you’ll be rewarded with your next clue.
Clue #6
Drive to Vinales Valley Tobacco Field and search the marked area for your next clue.
Clue #7
Perfectly roll ten Cuban cigars, five per contestant. Watch the example closely, as any small mistake in rolling the tobacco leaf will cause the cigar to fail. Once all of the cigars have been perfectly rolled, you’ll receive your next clue.
Clue #8
Take a long drive to the eastern side of Cuba and the pit-stop at Ignacio Agramonte Park in Camaguey! The last team to check into the pit-stop will be eliminated.
Pit-Stop, Leg 11
-first: trip to Botswana
-last: eliminated
​
LEG 12
Cuba - USA
Clue #1
For the first part of this leg, you’ll be staying in Cuba! Drive yourself using the car you used in the last leg down Neptuno street in Havana, where you will find a guarapo stall with a flag.
Clue #2
Using the hand-press to crush sugarcane, make forty glasses of guarapo. Once all of the glasses have been successfully made, you’ll be handed your next clue.
Clue #3
Drive to the Tropicana Night Club for your next clue.
Clue #4
Roadblock: Who can make it and shake it?
For this challenge, one team member must follow the instructions of the costume designer to create a costume for one of the showgirls. If the costume is made correctly and given a pass, teams will be given their next clue.
Clue #5
Teams must drive to Aeropuerto de La Habana Ciudad Libertad, where you will embark on a charter flight to Key West, Florida, back in the United States. Once in Key West, teams must go to the southernmost point in the continental United States for their next clue.
Clue #6
Make your way to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, where you’ll find your next clue.
Clue #7
Roadblock: Who is a reader, a writer, and a decipherer?
Ernest Hemingway, known for books like The Old Man and the Sea, had a notoriously bad handwriting, with little regards to punctuation or accuracy. One team member must copy one of Hemingway’s notes perfectly, letter for letter, on the provided typewriter. If it was typed perfectly, you will be handed a decoder key which you can use to find the hidden message, which will reveal the location of your final challenge.
Answer: Smathers Beach
Clue #8
Now that you’ve made it to Smathers Beach, you’ll partake in a final challenge. Out in between the marked buoys are bundles of letter tiles. You must dive down to retrieve them and bring them back up to shore. Figure out what you’re supposed to spell out with them, and once you think you have the answer, hang the tiles in order on your clothesline. If you have the correct answer, you’ll be given the final clue.
Answer: United States, Japan, South Korea, India, Oman, South Africa, Lesotho, Greece, North Macedonia, Cuba, United States (teams must figure out that they have to spell out all of the countries they visited in order on the race)
Clue #9
Congratulations! Make your way to the final pit-stop at Fort Zachary Cruise Pier! Go, go, go, the first team to reach the pit-stop will win 1 MILLION dollars!
Pit-Stop, Leg 12
10 countries
4 continents
over 27,000 miles
first: 1 million dollars

Last time on Hell’s Kitchen...
The final four each got a visit from their siblings, who became judges in their final Black Jacket Challenge. Tamina‘s dish left a bad taste in the judges’ mouths, including her brother’s. In the end, Brett scored a nearly perfect score of 22, and won the challenge. At dinner service, each of the chefs took a turn to run the kitchen to become the Co Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe. Tamina’s performance on the appetizers...led to a hault. And so did Rod’s undercooked chicken. However, Brett performed the best in leading his brigade, while Tamina was a hot mess throughout the night, and during the elimination Ceremony, Chef Ramsay has eliminated Tamina, ending her dream of becoming Co Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe.
After Intro
Bella was surprised as she made it to the final three, and found out that she was excited to go far in the competition, and was close to getting to the finale and winning the competition. Brett was in the same mood for getting into the finale as he firstly got the Black Jacket, and then got into the final three, and the other two things on his list that he wants to get done is getting into the final two/the finale and winning the competition so he can go to Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe to become a Co Head Chef.
Later that day, Chef Ramsay asks the final three chefs to meet him by his office as there was a special present waiting there. Chef Ramsay revealed the first surprise coming out the door was members of Bella’s family, which had her husband, Alejandro, and her oldest children, Ricardo and Sofia. Bella was excited to see her husband, and she walks up to him and hugs him. She also walked to her children and kisses them.
The next surprise revealed through the doors were members of Rod’s family which had his mom, Carole and his girlfriend, Kate. Carole was crying in tears, and went up to hug Rod, saying that she missed him, and Kate asked Rod how he was doing, and Rod answered that he was doing great.
Brett was still waiting for his surprise, and Chef Ramsay reveals the final one from the open door, which surprised Brett, as he saw his wife, Tammy and his infant son, Jon. Brett mentioned that he was missing his one year old son’s birthday from making it get far in the competition, and Tammy told him that he can do better.
Chef Ramsay had the chefs spend a quality time with their families, and as the final four spend some time with their families, Tammy asked Brett who his biggest competition was, and he pointed to Bella and her family, and mentioned that she was the love of his life, and Tammy said that he was already married, and cannot get a second girlfriend, and Brett also learned about the fact the she was married, as he saw her husband through the doors.
When Carole, Kate and Rod talk about getting far in the competition, Kate was asking if he can cook better than the other competitors he was going against, and he said that he definitely can, despite being arrested twice. The first time since he was 18, and the second time when he was 21. Carole said one fact about her life, that she has been away from her husband, who served in the Navy, and Carole felt like it was a difficult time hanging by herself, and wished to talk to him.
Bella, Alejandro, Ricardo and Sofia have their conversation about getting far in the competition, and Bella said that she was the only one left in the competition so far, who has yet to be nominated and mentioned that she never will. Ricardo told her if she has faced a difficult time during the competition, and Bella mentioned that she has faced some difficulties while working in the kitchen, especially when some people were making mistakes during dinner service.
After twenty minutes of talking, and spending quality time with their families, Chef Ramsay tells the final four to say goodbye to their families, as they have a different surprise awaiting their journey. Chef Ramsay has told them that their family members will be arriving to see a show at Lake Tahoe’s theatre, but he tells them that they have a different approach. Chef Ramsay gives them tickets to go to Lake Tahoe.
Semi - Finale Trip
Chef Ramsay sent the final three chefs to the airport to board their plane to Lake Tahoe, and Chef Ramsay finds out that there are a couple of fun and surprises there when they arrive there, and Chef Ramsay jumped on his helicopter leaving the chefs at the airport to catch their plane to head to Lake Tahoe.
When the final three get on the plane, Bella had no idea what surprises that she, Rod nor Brett were going to experience. Were they going to a restaurant for dining. Brett told her to relax, and mentioned that she will find out what it is, when they get there.
The first part of the final three’s break, is that they head to the mountains to ride snowmobiles, and Bella got excited as she never been on a snowmobile before. When the final four begin their snowmobile ride, Rod sees the lake on the right side, but said that it was blocked by the trees, and Brett mentioned that it was nice to get out of Hell’s Kitchen for a day, as he felt like it was a challenge win for him. Bella called it a thrilling ride.
The next part of their final three break is that they head to Harrah’s hotel and casino, and when they enter the suite, Rod called the suite gorgeous, and Bella felt that there was a bar, filled with sushi, caviar, and more fancy foods, and when the final three made a toast to getting to the semi-finals, Brett mentioned that he wanted to go snowmobiling again, as it was very nice, and wondered if they had snowmobiles in Philidelphia, and Bella said that he was from the Northeast, so they might have them there, and Brett said that Lake Tahoe was the better place to go snowmobiling, and felt like he wanted more tickets.
Final Tasting Challenge
Later that day, Chef Ramsay arrives with Sous Chefs, Christina and Jay, and asked them if he had a good time, and Brett mentioned that he liked it, including the snowmobile ride, impressing Rod, who called him crazy. Chef Ramsay said that for the Final Tasting Challenge, they will each have a mentor, but Chef Ramsay said that there was three contestants left, and three staff members, but Chef Ramsay said that he will not be mentoring, instead Chef Ramsay invites back Season 19 winner, Kori, as Bella was excited to see her again, and runs up and hugs her after seeing her during the Signature Dish Challenge Reward back from the beginning of the competition, and Bella was hoping that she would be getting her as a mentor, as they both had Latin backgrounds, and Chef Ramsay told her to wait and see what card she got, and he mentioned that each mentor has a diamond card, an ace card, and a Jack card.
Chef Ramsay decides that Bella would go first, as she was hoping to get Kori. The card that she pulls out is an ace, and Chef Ramsay had mentioned to the mentors to show who had the ace card. Christina showed the ace card, disappointing Bella, but she felt fine with Christina as she worked with her, due to being the red team’s sous chef.
Chef Ramsay then had Brett go. The card Brett pulls out is the diamond card, and Brett had Kori as his mentor, thus leading Rod with Jay as his mentor.
For the Final Tasting Challenge, each chef had to recreate a menu which featured a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, and three entrees that featured seafood, chicken and red meat for one hour, and has the Sous Chefs help them with their cooking, and Chef Ramsay announced that the person with the lowest number of points will automatically be eliminated and not advancing to the final 2. Each chef will be judging from a scale of 1 to 10.
(Skips cooking)
First up, Ben Ford will be tasting the cold appetizer. Bella presents a Rattitouille Zuchinni Bruschetta, and Ben asked Bella if she was on a diet, and Bella said no, she was going to be in the finale. When Ben tastes the appetizer, he found out that there was good flavour, and he awards her 7 points. Next, Rod presents his marinated goat cheese, and Ben finds it too rich, and Rod gets 5 points. Next, it is Brett who judges his Fava and Ricotta toast, and Ben finds the melting in his mouth, and Brett gets awarded with 9 points.
Bella - 7, Rod - 5, Brett - 9.
Next up, Bobby Flay will be tasting the hot appetizer. Bella presents her Beef Taco Roll-ups, to present her Mexican Roots, and Bobby finds that flavour is there, and he gives it a 9. Rod presents his squid risotto, and Bobby finds that it had a lot of flavour, and the rice is perfectly cooked, and gives him an 8. Brett presents his Sausage stuffed mushroom caps, and found that the presentation is underwhelming, and Brett is given 6 points.
Bella - 16, Rod - 13, Brett - 15
The next chef to judge the seafood entrees will be Ina Garten. Bella presents her buttermilk fried lobster with fried rice, and a salsa to go on the lobster. Ina liked the combination of salsa going with the lobster, but it looked more of an appetizer than an entree, and Ina gives Bella 6 points. Rod presents his balsamic glazed salmon with asparagus and polenta. Ina told him that the fish is glistening, and Rod is given 8 points. Brett presents a pan seared sea bass with fettuccine in a pesto sauce, and Ina tells Brett to taste the pasta, as it was lacking salt, and Brett was given 5 points.
Bella - 22, Rod - 21, Brett - 20
The next chef judging the chicken dishes is Giada DeLaurentiis. Bella presents her chicken roulade, and Giada finds that the chicken is juicy, and Bella was awarded 8 points. Rod presents his chicken Parmesan with noodles in a butter sauce, which was given praise, and also was given 8 points. Lastly, Brett presents his General Tao Chicken which was too sweet and Giada gives it 6 points.
Bella - 30, Rod - 29, Brett - 26
The final person who will be judging the red meat dish, will be a guest who judged the International Soup Challenge. It is Wolfgang Puck. First, he tries Bella’s hangar steak with a mushroom gravy, mashed sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Wolfgang finds the steak cooked medium-rare, and her gravy tastes good. Bella garners a perfect score of 10. Next, Rod presents his NY strip with a mint pea risotto, and Wolfgang gives praise, gaining a score of 7. Lastly, Brett presents his beef stew served with fresh garlic bread, which needs a perfect score of 10 to tie, and while Wolfgang finds it tasty, he gives it a score of 9, eliminating him, leading Bella and Rod to be the finalists.
Bella - 40, Rod - 36, Brett - 35
Chef Ramsay congratulates Bella and Rod for making it to the final 2, and told Brett that he was just too close to tying but it was not that good to get a score of 10. Chef Ramsay told them in order to run a brigade to become he Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe, they have to run a brigade of other people, and he welcomes back the returning chefs...
...Chloe, Tabuki, Arabelle, Becca, Marvin, Erykka, Tamina, and told Brett to join them.
Since Bella had the most points in the Final Tasting Challenge, she gets the first pick for her brigade. The first person Bella picks for her brigade is Brett because she knows that he was a talented person to have a brigade, and that his cooking is decent. For Rod’s first pick for his brigade, he chose Becca, as she was a strong woman, and felt like her cooking was on point.
The next person that Bella wants on her brigade is Tabuki because she does not want any drama kings or drama queens in her kitchen, and felt that Tabuki had the level to grow and mature. The next person that Rod picks on his brigade is Marvin because he’s got a good palate.
Next for her brigade, Bella picks Tamina as she was very creative, while Rod picks Erykka for his team, as she had a few bumps, but was hoping not to be left with Arabelle on his team.
The last pick is between either, Chloe or Arabelle, and Bella did not want either of them, as Chloe makes a bunch of mistakes during service, and with Arabelle, she felt like she was not a team player, and had the drama. Bella has decided to pick Chloe as her last choice, leaving Rod with Arabelle, as he felt his team would be anybody but Arabelle.
Bella (red kitchen) - Brett, Tabuki, Tamina, Chloe
Rod (blue kitchen) - Becca, Marvin, Erykka, Arabelle

• 18th place: Jake
• 17th place: Irene
• 16th place: Angelina
• 15th place: Gabby (ejected)
• 14th place: Harry (hospitalized)
• 13th place: Chas
• 12th place: Blake
• 11th place: Scottie
• 10th place: Chloe (Cook for your Life)
• 9th place: Tabuki
• 8th place: Arabelle
• 7th place: Becca (2nd round of Black Jackets)
• 6th place: Marvin (3rd round of Black Jackets)
• 5th place: Erykka
• 4th place: Tamina
• 3rd place: Brett (Final Tasting Challenge)
• Finalists: Bella and Rod

Next time on Hell’s Kitchen...
It is the last episode, and the finale gets to the boiling point, where either a red jacket or a blue jacket pulls it off, to win the competition, and become the Co-Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe.

I decided on a last minute whim to play the Venetian 100k this weekend. I planned on entering flight 1C on Friday and to my surprise, I was alternate 180 at around noon. The tournament was around 200 capacity with no rooms for more because the cash games were going and was told to come back an hour later to check if I would be next. 4 o'clock rolls around and the tournament director isn't even close to calling my number. The blinds were 300/600 with 600 BB ante, and I de-registered and got my money back. I asked the cage personnel if I can register for flight 1D, and to my surprise they said no, and to come around at 8 in the morning to wait in line.
After getting my money back, I drove over to the Bellagio and played in a mix game that consisted of stud 8 and super stud 8. Cindy Violet was playing and running bad, and Chau Giang sat down for a brief moment not playing a single hand and leaving quickly. I played in the game for 14 hours and was down $485 and decided to call it a session. Bellagio poker room was not filled to the brim and my game was tucked in the corner closest to the cage.
I drove back to the Venetian at 7 am and got my $300 free play chips from the casino cage, and proceeded to run the free money up to $1000 real money on the blackjack tables. At around 8 am, I colored up and went to line up at the poker room. The line was already 50 deep and registration doesn't open til 9 am. By the time 9 am roll around the line has already stretched around the huge electronic baccarat tables and pass the Asian noodle restaurant. I registered and went back to my hotel room for shower and a 2 hour nap.
I woke up at 10:45 am, and ate a breakfast sandwich I had gotten before going to my room. I got to my seat at 11:05 and the tournament has just started. Room was very packed, you could not lift up your elbows without bumping into someone. Players at my table were filthy casuals who called preflop with 75% ranges, and I was able to double up my stack at level 2. Someone even called my pot size river bet with 95 high because they thought I was bluffing on a board KQ843, I was, but I had A9. At level 6, I lost a few flips, and a cooler spot where I had top 2 vs a turned straight. I went to my room to sleep for the rest of the day.
TLDR:
Venetian : Poker room is cramped, but the competition is very weak. I got a free bottle of white wine and $300 free play chips to stay there.
Bellegio: Poker room had a lot of space. Saw semi famous poker players.
Vegas: Mask were mandatory everywhere, a lot of people wore them incorrectly. No smoking at the blackjack tables. Strip is sketchier than normal, saw homeless lady in the Venetian fountains skimming for change.
Drove home on Sunday.

1930-Birth of Xavier's mother, Geneviève DDL in Versailles
1931-birth of xavier's father, Hubert DDL in Senlis
1955-they get married and settle in Cannes. Hubert is an aeronautical engineer.In September 1957,The couple had their first child, Véronique. But Geneviève, who has always been fragile and introvert, could not bear the distance from her family wanted to return to Versailles to be closer to her parents. They settled at 50 rue du Maréchal-Foch.
1960The mother of the murderer had created a prayer group called ′′ Philadelphia ′′.
January 20 1960-birth of Xavier DDL
1966-Birth of Christine DDL.
1972-Hubert starts an affair with his secretary, Catherine, and left home around 1972 .
1974-Xavier and Emmanuel Teneur meet for the first time on island Brehat. Emmanuel is 14 and Xavier is 13.
In late 70s both of them will become part of a prayer group Xavier's mother founded.
1979-
-Xavier's father, Hubert goes to Ivory Coast with his mistress.
-Xavier is doing small jobs, handling etc. To soon he wants to be a husband and a father, he reconnects with Agnes Hodanger a girl from good family he met in High School.
1982-
-Agnes and Xavier get engaged at ages 20 and 21. During the summer of his engagement Xavier meets a german girl, Claudia. Tall, blonde a camping model. He falls in love with her and leaves Agnes. Agnes returns to Versailles alone meanwhile Xavier travels between Hanover and Versaiiles.
Agnes was miserable first the break up with Xavier, later her mother's cancer and death. Agnes focuses on her job as typing secretary and devotes her free time to her father and brothers. To forget about Xavier she focuses on a new man, a waiter working in a bar not far away from her home, she gets pregnant and gives birth to a boy, Arthur in July 1990. The waiter will not accept the kid as his and will leave her.
Meanwhile Xavier goes to the south, first he goes to Aix-en-Provence. He is finally free. He joined Véronique who lives in Draguignan. Emmanuel Teneur is of course with him. He was hired as a commercial by Société des fertilisers Monnot (SEM), where he sold garden equipment for the PACA region. That's where he meets Michel Retif, also commercial. Michel is opposite of Emmanuel. Adventurers, womanizer,outgoing. They become best friends quickly. They both love USA.
1989-Xavier is fired from SEM. He is single and free. Him and Michel are going to the USA. Finally they will go to America 3 times. They apparently visited 48 out of 50 states. First trip is founded by their unemployment benefit. For the following, they invent a combine. When they return to France, they bring back American vehicles, those Cadillac's and Ford Mustang's which always fascinated Xavier, to resell them with a significant margin. Both friends plan to extend the adventure, this time in New Caledonia, where Xavier's other cousin works as a banker for Crédit Agricole. And then one day. Xavier suddenly announces to Michel that he cancels everything. Passing through Versailles, he saw Agnes again. This one is pregnant with a baby boy. Xavier leaves his freedom and plans and decides to go back to France to take care of pregnant Agnes.
They will be married in 1992 (or September 1991). Emmanuel Teneur becomes a godfather of couples first child, Thomas.
1994-Birth of Anne.
1995-The apocalypse that Xavier's mother was prophesying. Christine sleeps with every single male member of the prayer group. After the apocalypse doesn't happen. Xavier's older sister leaves France.
July 4th 1995-ex member of prayer group sends documents about prayer group to a lawyer of Montpellier.
1997-Birth of Benoit.
1998-
-Agnès having lost both parents inherits 3,000,000 Francs, ie 400,000 € (cash, securities, real estates)
-Family vacations in the USA.
-Start of the Commercial Route.
-Rent of a pretty villa with swimming pool in Pornic.
2002
-The family moved to the USA. ( children enrolled in school, Nov 2002 Aug 2003 the family lives at the Little Inn by the Sea Motel, LAUDERDALE usa)
2003-
Family moves to Nantes.
2004-
Beginning of financial problems. Agnes' inheritance is slowly finishing.
Agnes is gaining lots of weight. She also starts a romance with Michel. She complains on online forums about her marriage etc.
Ending of the year is a spiral of failures for Xavier.
2005-
Agnes and Xavier seperate in July one of the reason was Agnes refusing to give Xavier the rest of her money. Also Xavier punches(?) Arthur . Agnes fills a complain to the police. She loses 20 kilograms (around 44 pounds)
March 2005- Massage between Emmanuel and Xavier ''captain and his sailboat returned to the boat''(after the investigation Emmanuel says that Xavier was the one who knew where his will is)
October 2005-Xavier comes back home to the family.
December 2005- Agnes still has an affair with Xavier's friend. Xavier writes an open letter to the family, that makes him look innocent, he didn't cheat, he wasn't violent etc. Xavier also writes resentment to Michel.
2006
January-Xavier puts Agnes under pressure and she confesses to having an affair. She said that this thing was only virtual.
Xavier starts trio with Michel. He also starts humiliating Agnes even more because she decided to go back to traditional church.
22 Feb. 2006-Agnes' e-mail to Claudia “you are the only girl Xav really loved a long time after me".
March 17 xddl “hello pigs” to Agnès and MR… how to measure penis. ((His is obviously competent!))
DEC 25, 2006 XAV writes about his loss of faith. While Agnes reconnects with the traditional Church. Big disagreement.
2007
Xav lists the faults of Agnes ("totally impatient and intolerant of everyone" "Arthur Anne and him in particular").
MARCH 15, 2007 XAV writes to Agnès: "I would spend my days cursing you () and suspecting you"
APRIL 24, 2007 Agnès believes XAV is still under the thumb of his mother, he reassures her.
Agnès worried about the hold of CDDL and GDDL on Xav talks about it to her prayer group in Nantes.
August 2007- Xavier basically robs Emmanuel of 6000 euros and his family jewelry.
To his ex-mistress he had said: "if you give me 1,000,000 I will leave everything"
2008
Agnes is obese and depressed. Her therapist tells her to divorce her husband.
Xavier writes to Vero about how he lost his faith. He fills files / his reflections, exegesis etc. ((His mother Geneviève has a whole cupboard full of Files with articles etc. on ALL kinds of SUBJECTS)).
2009
Agnes working part-time: 500 Euros per month AGNES Ericksonian therapy, homeopathy, osteopath "visionary of the brain" ... she joins several prayer groups
February 2009, xddl finds Catherine V
APRIL 21, meeting CV, relationship begins, romantic weekend, Relais et Chateaux, xav pays.
from MAY xav talks about his company, to convince her / his CRYSTAL project, CV accountants say: not viable
CV nevertheless yields 50,000 EUROS on JUNE 3, 2009, cashed on June 9.
- July, CV presents Xavier to her friends / birthdays. Dinner with her brother.
50,000 cashed on JUNE 9, June 12 golf cabriolet gift to AGNES, and tour of the grand dukes ALONE in cities with casinos, Deauville, La Baule, Dinard (August), xddl writes checks to all creditors. At the end of 2009, nothing remains of the 50,000. He must repay the 50,000 on July 3, 2010. In June he tries to soften it "drop of water for you". End of summer CV confides in friends. OCTOBER XAV ACKNOWLEDGES HAVING NOTHING INVESTED, he just used money to repay his debts. And paid for the hotel when they were together! With the mistress's money! CV cuts her contact with him.
Philadelphia reveals the miracle of Saint Christ. CDDL: “Jesus wants us to ACT, Jesus' next offensive will be through the internet!” -> Xav writes on CC* every night ...
-Dec 27, 2009 computer distribution of the "Libretto of St Christ."
Xavier is banned on CC. He creates another account.
2nd report against the sect, reveals that the group is still active, renewed activity for years, Bertram took over from his father as chief financial officer, pays the gddl bills. XDDL then approaches the group, also registered on CC, still interested in THEOLOGY, consults Bertram by email. AGNES worried / grip of gddl on xddl, FEAR.
2010
January 2010 last meeting XDDL CV. She talks about a lawyer ...
Letter to his mistress Catherine. While he has to repay Catherine's loan: 50,000, suicide blackmail letter: his "current life" will end in a few months if he does not find 25,000 immediately.
04/29/2010-Xddl connects to Cité Catholique to discuss the need for sacrifices, and revives the conversation for a month.
Xddl to CV, talks about "burning the family", to the lawyer: "bankruptcy, insolvent, homeless soon"
-05/07/2010-Visit of a bailiff mandated by the mistress of Xddl (Catherine), with a view to foreclosure on her income. He was due to repay on July 3.
Family vacations near Montpellier at MR (except Arthur).
end of August / September: (Letter from Xddl to Michel and Emmanuel evoking individual or “collective” suicide already mentioned in the letter to his mistress of January 14, 2010.And instructions for afterwards (Dispositions.doc). Letter titled: "Ligonnès family issues and perspectives (absence of ...)"
September 17th-Anne takes letter from bailiff she's still in her pj's.
NOV 10 2010 conversation on FB Anne + Agnès // death "the most perfect form of existence" according to Agnès.
(Agnès on antidepressants and anxiolytics for several months at the time of her death, but no suicidal tendency, projects, commitments, ex. full-time job from Sept 2011)
2011
At the start of 2011, a big contract ... did not happen.
20/01/2011
Death of the Count of Hubert Dupont de Ligonnès. (Heart attack. Xav withdraws up to 6,700 euros from his father's accounts ). End of January Father's rifle found, reconstituted, revised and repaired by the director of TIR. XAV DRINKS A LOT!
February
Xddl applies for a shooting license
Xavier takes his family for farewell visits to the family.
February 25 a friend commits suicide at 53 / debt / professional failure, 5 children, Xav very shocked.
March
1 month before murders, husband of a friend of vddl who committed suicide, Baron, Versailles, 53 years old, 5 children, debts / model family in vddl's eyes. Xddl: "it's abominable, monster, to leave children and wife ALIVE, with nothing to live on", 3 years later the wife also dies at 53 years old.
12/03/2011
- Xav and Benoit at funeral mass in La Rochelle, 1 witness will go on June 4 and 21 to testify to the police // child trembling in all his limbs, crying a lot, Xav shows him stained glass resurrection, crying which redoubles, the witness wants give water to B. refusal of Xav!
Purchase of silencer and ammunition
March Emmanuel Teneur: xav shoots in his garden / balloon, with the 22 silenced, Emmanuel tries out the weapon ((lies to the police when he claims to have never seen the weapon in operation)).
03/15/2011 Xav / family / Versailles: "farewell" visit,
MARCH 2011 xddl recontacts Catherine R, see you in Chamonix week of 12/4? Coincidence, “xddl” saw Nice car rental company where a “Catherine R” rented 1 car… Disambiguation. CR, strange message on 5/20, from a stranger, Philippe Steiner, profile deleted before his reply
-26/03/2011
Xddl prints Non-Pledge Certificates for Agnès Golf and Arthur's Xantia.
-31/03/2011
Brigitte L / prayer group, sees Agnès for the last time, very anxious. Heavy threats. Nothing about Xav's possible suicidal tendency.
Agnès asked to pray for them // threats received, the witness is thinking of CDDL and GDDL !
Apparently in October 2011 someone complained of having discovered in the file these threats, which forced Agnès to change phone number and email.
April 2011
-Purchase of cement, rubble bags, spade. SO1: Orvault Castorama: 2 10KG prompt cement bags, 2 gray adhesive rolls, 12 extra reinforced 50L rubble bags, a Lorraine hoe, a spade)
Emmanuel sees Xddl in the company of his 2 sons at the shooting range for the last time, an appointment taken for baptism of shooting offered by E, scheduled for April 9.
-Xddl sends 1 second letter to his mistress Catherine V: personal letter / Australia, he accuses her of having screwed up their relationship, "her money" makes her paranoid, (cf. letter of contrition from Agnes, same spirit) "no one will find me". ((Catherine received this final letter from Xavier on 9 April 2011, which means it must have been posted 3 or 4 Apr. ??
2/04/2011 Saturday
-Purchase of quicklime by xddl (SO1 4 bags, Xav also buys stamps and fills up GASOLINE).
Benoit spends the night at his friends house, comes back in the morning for the mass.
Agnès / conference / autism 9 am-5:30pm in St Herblain, which contradicts the thesis of preparations for the big trip ((Reality of this presence of Agnes at this conference is doubtful ??))
7:07 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. ET calls xddl 5 times, talked together 43 minutes
Sunday
ET calls xddl twice which does not respond to tel
Arthur ... at the pizzeria from 11 a.m. to 2:55 p.m
(Arthur told his friends he won't be available during weekend. Anne said to her friends something similar, on 5th of April Thomas supposedly received a text massage from his mother.For CDDL a proof that Agnes is alive! Because Xav on phone at the same time .... - as if he couldn't answer a text message on another phone ...))
4 p.m. return of Agnès and Anne ((return from where ??))
5pm Thomas goes back to Anger.
That night family goes to cinema and restaurant.
21st april the bodies are found.
​
​
I translated some points from this facebook group post . There is so much more points and information in there i just translated the ones that stuck to me the most. Feel free to point any mistakes i used a translator so some of the translations might be weird. I tried my best to correct them.
CC*-cite catolique

​
Pivlichino's Classic, Casino de Ravnica
Last night I ran an impromptu session as a filler episode as I was missing 3 out 6 players. It was a success that I will repeat as filler in the future.
I had about 45 minutes to prep, so frantically started searching Reddit for DnD playable Casino games and settled for the following (changing the names for some). I had read up a little about Feather, and came across Pivlic and that he has a Casino with a boxing ring in it. I already had found a map several months back that fit that perfectly from AfternoonMaps ( AfternoonMaps ). I played him as a charismatic showman Orzhov wanting to "help you cleanse your sin in a fun way".
Pivlic sent out Indentured Spirits with flyers to the players. They thought it was a special invitation, but realised when they arrived that they had just gotten spam advertisements.
​
Promotional flyer sent out randomly by Indentured Spirits
Pivlic personally welcomed them at the casino (it's called Pivlichino's Classic because he also runs a 5 Michelin star equivalent restaurant on the Millennial Platform), and told about the games available:

Farkle 2:1 payout

A game from the 1980's but most recently popularized by the game Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Involves 2 players. A player rolls 6d6, then chooses which dice to keep and which to roll. If you don't score you lose all points from that round. First to 2000 pts wins.
Scoring:

• single 1 = 100 pts
• single 5 = 50 pts
• Three of a kind = 100 x that number pts (e.g. 3x4's = 400 pts)
• Three 1's = 1000 pts
• Four or more a kind is double the points of three of a kind (e.g. 4x4's = 800 pts, 5x4's = 1600 pts)

Roulette 5:1 payout

Simple game, taken from Felinix here. Extra fun, because apparently the Roulette wheel was originally a failed perpetual motion machine, and I thought that fit perfectly into Izzet tech repurposed by Orzhov.
Player picks a number from 1 to 20 and bets any amount. Dealer rolls 1d20.
​

Opulence payout varies

I don't know the real world name of this game, but I remember reading about it a long time ago, and ProfQuirrell jogged my memory of it. I decided to name it Opulence to fit the Orzhov theme.
Each Player picks a number from 1 to 6 and bets any amount. Dealer rolls 3d6. You then compare the rolls with what the player's number.

• 1 match = amount x 2
• 2 match = amount x 3
• 3 match = amount x 4

This game is deceptive, since it looks like a very fair game, but is slightly weighted in the house's favour. My players spent the most money on this, as it's very quick to play. I could see this or a variant also be used as a form of slot machine.

Pugilism payout varies depending on opponent

The centre of the casino features a boxing/wrestling ring and has 3 opponents on any given night.
Rules:

• The ring itself has a magical aura that "blunts" weapons used within, to avoid evisceration and death. The weapons are fine once outside of the ring again.
• If you bring in armor to the ring, your opponent also gets armor (I just did a quick +3 or +4 AC depending on the opponent)
• If you bring a weapon to the ring, your opponent also gets the same weapon (or equivalent)
• No magic to be used, though feats and racial abilities are fair game.

Opponents:

• Standard Soldier stat block (AC 16 in armor, AC 18 with Shield, AC 11 without armor). Payout of 1.5:1 for combatant, 1.25:1 for watchers.
• Indentured Servant stat block (AC 11 without armor, AC 14 "with armor"). Payout 2:1 for combatants, 1.5:1 for watchers.
• Hybrid Shocker stat block (AC 12 without armor, AC 16 "with armor"). Payout 3:1 for combatants, 2:1 for watchers.

The fights were enjoyable for my players, and the final bout of my Articifer Armorer player vs the Shocker was a nail-biter. Power Armour slugging it out against the electric tentacles left them both at sub 3 HP when the final Tentacle lightning damage struck the artificer down. I also had the Spirit fly out of reach of the player a lot, so he had to get creative and jump off the turn buckle to actually get hits in. Lots of fun wrestling moves were thrown.
​

Ravnicante highly risky non-gold based payout

When I read u/Turin082's post last month about a card game where you bet your stats, I KNEW I needed to include it somehow in my campaign. It came a bit sooner expected. I renamed the game Ravnicante (Pronounced like Ravnic-Ante, not Ravni-cant-e), and made it the unique game that Pivlichino's Classic is known for.
This game plays very similiarly to Texas Hold'Em (please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not very familiar with Poker). Each player rolls 2d12's in secret (we play on Roll20 so they can whisper it to me), then the dealer rolls 3d12's that are revealed immediately, and 2d12's that are revealed as the game progresses. Most of the traditional Poker hands exist, though there are no Aces or Jokers, and Kings and Queens are both equal to 12.
A player can bet any of the following:

• hit dice (temporarily)
• hit dice (permanently changing max amount of dice)
• proficiencies (only skills they are proficient with, if they lose it's gone, if they win they get expertise)
• Ability Score (must be in an ability you have at least a +0 modifier in, so no going hard into the negatives)
• Mana points (I use a mana points system in addition to spell slots, works sorta like inspiration)
• Inspiration dice
• Class features (Bardic inspirations dice, Fighting Styles, Channel Divinity uses, amount of Rage dice etc. Get creative!)
• Spell slots (permanent loss or increase in the level bet)
• Spells themselves (permantly lose the spell knowledge, or gain a buff to it like an die increase from d6->d8 damage)
• Anything that could become a flaw (your courage, your oldest memory, your prized cheesecake recipe. Point is, get creative!)

Opponents and what they'll wager (in order):

• Alisha Fuerto, Azorius Precog Mage (she can see the 4th die immediately when the dealer rolls)
  • Wages
    • (1) Detect Thoughts spell
    • (2) 1 point of Dexterity
    • (3) Precognitive Insight use
    • (4) Precognitive Insight use
    • (5) Glimpse the Temporal Flood
    • (6) Precognitive Insight use
    • (7) Truesight 120ft.
• Severn Ate-Nighn, Gruul Goblin Anarch (he'll try to Intimidate opponents to fold)
  • Wages
    • (1) Siege Monster
    • (2) Survival skill proficiency
    • (3) Fury of the Small
    • (4) 1 point of Strength
    • (5) Aggressive
    • (6) His courage (will flee if he loses it)
• Oppor the Tunist, Human Rakdos High-wire Performer (will joke about dismemberment and torture to unsettle opponents)
  • Wages
    • (1) Lack of Fear of Heights
    • (2) Performance skill proficiency
    • (3) Acrobatics skill proficiency
    • (4) Nimble
    • (5) 1 point of Charisma

This is the final part explaining Bolsonaro's April 22nd cabinet meeting. At the end there are some final remarks, and in the comments my sources.
Braga Netto introduces Abraham Weintraub, Minister of Education
Note: Weintraub currently is being sued for a racist tweet that implied China created Covid
Weintraub: [...] I don't want to be a slave in this country. And end with this crap that is Brasília. This is a cancer of corruption, of privilege. [...] The people here lose perception, empathy, public relations. [...] We are losing the fight for liberty. This is what the people is calling for. They are not calling for more State, for more projects, to have more ... the people are calling for liberty, full stop.
Note: This right now is one of the most controversial moments of the meeting, with the Supreme Court taking legal action on what he says right now
Weintraub: In my opinion, I'd arrest all those lazy bums. Starting with the Supreme Court. [...] I notice there's many people with a personal agenda. [...] I have a bunch of lawsuits in the ethics committee of the presidency. I'm the only one here that took a lawsuit. [...] I'm really here with an open chest, as you know it, I get shot ... hate ... hate the Communist Party [Redacted]
They are trying to turn us into a colony. [...] We need to end this thing of people and privileges. [...]
Bolsonaro: Let me complement this. What Weintraub is saying - I'm 65 - we get close to people we shouldn't. I have to police myself in regards to that. It's people here in Brasília, of the three powers, that don't know what's the people. I talk to a few, don't know what's rice and beans, don't know what's a supermarket. Forgot. Think that money falls from the sky. "I have my guaranteed privileges, my 100k per month" on average, 100k per month they earn, right? Legally. And think this will never end. Like some think the liberty "What's the deal with that guy, is he crazy?" I see the oldest one here, General Heleno here. He knows what is six, what was sixty four. Many of the ones here don't know. The people that tried to get into power in sixty four, if they had arrived, we were all fucked here. Cutting ... super happy if we were cutting sugarcane earning twenty USD per month. Can't forget that
Note: reference to how it is claimed that the military did the coup in 64 to prevent a socialist revolution
Bolsonaro: We can't forget who this people is. I'll invite the ministers to go on Sunday visit Ceilândia and Taguatinga. (Two local neighbourhoods). It's an invitation, not a ... not a mission no. Invitation. To see how the guy in the corner is doing. So that some piece of shit comes up and says, right? Same pieces of shit as always "Ah but the guy broke isolation. You're giving a terrible example" Ok ... Bad example is my dick, fuck! Worst is to starve! You're in shit, fuck! Feel how the people smell, like I said, there. It's an experience for every politician to feel! Go there and see how it is. Or there's people that is, like it was, right, huh? A general in the rear letting the troops get fucked in front. No! The General is, is in the front, the colonel is in the front, the captain is in the front. Our heroes of WW2 had ahead of them a battlefield. If it was needed, I'm sure, our armed forces will do their job, but, right? We have to give an example and show what Brazil isn't - I'm less rude than Weintraub, improved a lot, right? In the language he used - but that's not what people say around. Meeting around midnight, here and there. Informations systems, mine works.
Bolsonaro: My particular one works. The ofi ... which have officially, misinform. And back to the theme, I prefer not to have information than to be misinformed by the system of informations that I have. So, people, many will be able to leave Brazil, but I don't want to leave and see my sister form Eldorado, another from Cajati, my poor brother Army captain from ... from ... from ... from Miracatu getting fucked, fuck! It's being pursued all day long! And then the shit Folha de São Paulo, says my brother was kicked from a slaughterhouse, buying meat without a mask. Proved in writing, he was in São Paulo that day. The owner of ... of restaurant of ... of ... of ... of the slaughterhouse said he wasn't there. And that's it. I know it's his problem, right? But the bullshit is the whole time to hit me, messing with my family. I already tried to change the staff of our security in Rio, officially, and wasn't able to! And this ended. I'm not going to wait to fuck my entire family, of bullshit, or friends of mine, because I couldn't switch someone from our frontline security in our structure. It'll switch! If I can't switch, I'll switch his boss! Can't switch his boss? Switch the minister! Full stop! We're not joking here
(note): the minister and one of the bosses mentioned here are Ramagem and Moro
Bolsonaro: And then some kid shows up, with - all due respect - the one from BNDES, ok? I met him when he wore shorts, and ... Fuck, he came from the United States over here, could very well be there. Came here to try to change Brazil invited by Paulo Guedes, who is a friend of his parents. Coincidence, isn't it Paulo Guedes?
Bolsonaro: I don't think so. .. I don't remember your parents, I remember you, fuck! All right? But it's someone I'm investing here. And all of those have to think about this.
What these sons of bitches want, huh Weintraub, is our freedom. Look, how it is, how easy it is to impose a dictatorship in Brazil. How easy it is. Everybody is home. This is why I want, the Justice and Defense Ministries, let the people be armed! It's the guarantee that some son of a bitch won't show up to impose a dictatorship here! How easy it is to impose a dictatorship! Ridiculously easy! Some bullshit mayor makes some bullshit decree, handcuffs, keeps everybody home. If they were armed, they would go to the street. If I was dictator, right? I'd want to disarm the population, like they did in the past when they wanted, before imposed their respective dictatorship. Then, what's our demonstration, I ask Fernando (Minister of Defense) and Moro that please, sign in the Executive Order today and I want to give a bitch of a note to these pieces of shit! Because why am I arming the people? Because I don't want a dictatorship! There's no way to hold back! Right? No way to hold back.
Yeah, who won't accept my flags Damares: "family, God, Brazil, guns, freedom of speech, free market". Who won't accept this is in the wrong government. Wait until twenty two, right? Your Álvaro Dias. Wait for Alckmin. Wait for Haddad. Or maybe Lula, right? Go be happy with them, fuck? In my government it's wrong! It's make the armament question obvious here. I want everybody armed! The armed people will never be enslaved. And that each one does, does your job. Expose yourself. Here I already said: you'll lose the ministry if you get spoken positively by Folha or by Globo! By Antagonista! Right? So there are some blogs there that only have good news from the ministers. No idea how! The president ... takes a beating, but the minister is congratulated. And then we see around. "Ah, the government is, the ... the ministry is doing well, although the president." Go fuck yourself, fuck! I picked the team, fuck! We switched five. Hope I won't have to switch anybody else! I hope! But we have to, in Weintraub's line, in a more gentle way, right? It's ... caring about this. What the guys want is our hemorrhoid! It's out liberty! This is a truth. What these guys did with the virus, this piece of shit governor of São Paulo (João Dória), this shit from Rio de Janeiro (Wilson Witzel), amongst others is exactly that. Made use of the virus, there's a piece of shit mayor in Manaus now, opening mass graves. A piece of shit. Who doesn't know his history, try to learn, which I met inside the House, with him next to me! Right? And we know the ... his ideology and what he preaches. And what he always was. It's what ... he's making use now, of a climate like this, to bring terror to Brazil. Right? So people, please, care about was important with everybody's life, what is your liberty. An arrested man is worth shit.
(note: the mayor of Manaus, Artur Virgílio Neto is the son of Artur Virgílio, a Congressman who was exiled and stripped of his position after the military shutdown the Congress under accusations of being communist)
Braga Netto introduces Paulo Guedes
Guedes begins by presenting a more moderate stance. Saying that although they are breaking of from the establishment, they need to work together to pass the reforms. He then mentions a conversation that he had with the G20 Ministers of Economy and the BRICS. Also mentions the pension reform and how it passed in contrast to France. "Now, the same thing, I've been saying: we are deepening the reforms, we are continuing, we are following". Followed up by saying how he doesn't believe in dogmas, how Brazil was heading in a strong direction, but suddenly crashed. Brazil was one of the first countries to prepare to alleviate the crisis financially, and in his opinion, it's only worse than the United States because Powell and the Fed put out money to help keep markets afloat. Also of note is that part of the economic recovery plan involves unconventional methods, like allowing taxes to be paid later while moving forward government benefit payouts, as they were limited by the constitution. It's been planned to cost around three hundred and something billion, last deficit under Temer was around one hundred sixty. These plans reach seventy million Brazilians. "We made a banking committee, we are there with Montezano now doing exactly the restructuring. There won't be easy work for airlines, none of this. We are putting in money, and it's going to work using the best financial technology available. We are putting in money, and it's going to work and we are going to turn a profit. We are going to turn a profit using public resources to save large companies. Now, we are going to lose money saving small companies. Guedes insists the necessity to continue with the reforms mid pandemic, using the bailouts to reform the economy. "A Marshall Plan per year". Insists on lowering interest rates, and blocking government raises for two years. In his own words, you can't impeach if you're going by the book. "And the president is in the future, because the president said the following: ok, there's the first wave, which is health, but there's the second one that's the economy, and one follows the other. We are still trying to leave the first ... and the second is trying to arrive. I still think we are preserving the vitals of the Brazilian economy". He mentions how the economy will likely be held by the expected large soy production and new logistic projects. A mention of China is also present, as for every USD exported to the US, Brazil exports three to China. Mourão and Guedes talk about this, but it is redacted. In Guedes' words, "We are going to sell our soy to them This we can sell as much as we want. They have to eat, they have to eat. India also needs to eat, they'll need water. They'll say it's the best water trade. Strangely, it's also suggested to have a mobilization of the Young Apprentices Program working with the military, as they could be paid with government spending. He criticizes Damares for being against casinos, mentioning Macau. In his own words "the president speaks about liberty. Let everybody get fucked the way they wan't. Especially if he's overage, vaccinated, and a billionaire. Let him get fucked, fuck!" Also mentioned is a meeting with the US Ambassador, who says there is a few hundred billion dollars earmarked for investments in Brazil, but dependent on a good business environment. "Simplified taxation, juridical safety". He also recommends signing the General Purchase Agreement, and joining into the OECD to allow for more government transparency, allowing for improved trade. Bolsonaro then says he has Trump's support. Guedes disagrees "we can't lose the opportunity of having the president being this friendly with Trump".
Tereza Cristina (Agriculture) speaks briefly about how countries are shifting to have government stocks of food post COVID. Currently Brazil is not self sufficient in wheat production, most of it is imported from neighbouring Argentina. Of course, funding is an issue, but there is two million acres set aside in the Matopiba region ready to invest in. 9% interest rates are an issue according to her.
Bolsonaro asks if the Banco do Brasil (another one of Brazilian Government Banks) can help
Guedes intervenes "Banco do Brasil is neither an armadillo or a snake. It's neither private or public. If you pressure Rubem (head of the bank), poor him. He's super liberal, but if you pressure him and he says "lower the rates", he goes "I can't or else the team, the private, my minoritaires, pressure me". Then if you say "put interest rates high", he goes "I can't or else the government pressures me". Banco do Brasil is a ready case to privatize. It's a ready case and we aren't doing this step. Have you sir noticed that the BNDE and the ... the ... the Caixa which are our, public, we do what we want. Banco de Brasil we can't do anything and we have a liberal there. So we need to sell this shit fast.
Bolsonaro makes a quip about Rubem not being invited to the next meeting. Rubem explains how even in the changing situation Banco do Brasil has expanded loans, and the bank doesn't have liquidity issues. At the same time, the bank handles the payments for public companies and the military, which are more stable than private companies. Guedes makes a joke about him to "confess his dream". In Rubem's own words "In regard to privatizing, it's clear that with BNDES taking care of development and Caixa with the social needs, Banco do Brasil would be ready for a privatization program, right?" It is then highlighted that Banco do Brasil has some clear advantages, which would have to be sorted out by the public status. Judicial deposits and government payments would usually be handled by either Banco do Brasil or Caixa, now it's a public competition. The bank is no longer competitive in these sectors. "Then you only keep the bad sides of being a government company. We don't have the same ease in hiring, we don't have the same ease in firing bad employees and ... and ... and ... so forth". He follows with a few closing statements, about how he has to present all documents to the government comptrollers, and Covid perspectives.
Braga Netto closes off the meeting.
A few takeaways
While the meeting was to debate the Pró-Brasil recovery plan, it ended up being more focused on Bolsonaro's gripes with his ministers.
Bolsonaro has strengthened himself in this, as it shows he's still going strong in his position. This is both in the campaign promises and the way he has been underplaying Covid. What he says in the video is suspect, but is nothing that can be used as clearcut evidence in an impeachment trial. The Supreme Court has also subpoenaed his phone, but still has not reported on anything.
Moro is likely the biggest loser in this. While there is evidence Bolsonaro changed command of the Federal Police for political reasons, there is still a degree of reasonable doubt. This meeting was not the silver bullet he expected. Within the Brazilian right wing, he's now seen as a traitor to a degree. Populism is a hell of a drug.
Salles is one of the losers. Supporting the using the Covid news cycle to roll back environmental regulations is not a good look, especially when you're the first one to talk. There is now a movement to impeach him.
Damares is another loser with this. Threatening to arrest governors due to human right violations was a bad move. Luckily, her ministry has little to no legal strength, and thus, is mostly an empty threat.
Guedes on the other hand, has returned confidence to investors. While Brazil may have no clear plan to deal with Covid medically, it has a plan to deal with it economically. At the same time, there's the favorite word of a Brazilian investors - privatizing. The BOVESPA index has shot up from around 82000 points on Friday to 85400 by Tuesday's close.
Weintraub now has a bad look. From having to deal with a racism case, he know is having to explain his threats against the Supreme Court. Outside of Bolsonaro's circle there is now pressure for him to resign or be sacked.
Another loser, out from left field has been Bolsonaro's head of security, General Heleno. After reading the news of Bolsonaro's phone subpoena, he has stated there will be "severe implications for Brazil's democratic institutions" if Bolsonaro's phone is analyzed. Many have considered this to be an overt coup threat. He is now facing possible impeachment.
Teich, which resigned after the meeting has gone through relatively unscathed. With a simple, stump speech on how Brazil can only leave the distancing after it has the virus under control and how testing must be expanded. Of note is mentioning how a plan to ease restrictions is being created. Given how there has been an expanded focus on creating medical capacity instead of waiting for the virus, it is likely that restrictions would be modified to a looser system, closer to that of Sweden.

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.
Figuring out how to divide the COVID-19 content from the “regular” news has been difficult because the pandemic is influencing all aspects of life. Some of the stories below involve the virus, but I chose to include them when it fits into one of the pre-established categories (like congress or immigration). The coronavirus-central post will be made again this Thursday-Friday; the sign up form now has an option to choose to receive an email when the coronavirus-focused roundup is posted.
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MAIN COURSE

Congress passes stimulus

Last week started out with a Republican-crafted stimulus bill that was twice-blocked by Senate Democrats, who objected to the lax conditions of aid to corporations, too little funding for hospitals, and a $500 billion “slush fund” for big companies to be doled out by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin with no oversight.
Conservative-Democrat Joe Manchin (WV) even criticized the GOP bill:

“It fails our first responders, nurses, private physicians and all healthcare professionals. ... It fails our workers. It fails our small businesses… Instead, it is focused on providing billions of dollars to Wall Street and misses the mark on helping the West Virginians that have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.”

Through negotiations, Democrats shifted the bill in a more-worker friendly direction. The version that passed includes the following Democrat-added provisions: expanded unemployment benefits, $100 billion for hospitals, $150 billion for state and local governments, direct payments to Americans without a phase-in (ensuring low-income workers get the full amount), a ban on Trump and his children from receiving aid, and oversight on the “slush fund” (see next section for more info). Senate Democrats also managed to remove a provision that would have excluded nonprofits that receive Medicaid funding from the small-business grants.

• Further reading: After Senate Democrats blocked the Republican-crafted bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led the House Democrats in releasing their own version, a best-case scenario of their dream coronavirus stimulus bill. It is interesting to contrast what the Democrats prioritized to what the Republicans focused on: “How the House Democrats' stimulus plan compares to the Senate's”

Echoing sentiments expressed during debate on the previous coronavirus bill (the second, for those keeping track), Republican senators derided the $600 a week increase in unemployment payments as “incentivizing” workers to quit their jobs. Sens. Ben Sasse (Neb.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) delayed passage of the bill in order to force a vote on an amendment removing the extra unemployment funding. "This bill pays you more not to work than if you were working," Graham said. Fortunately for American workers, the amendment failed and the improved bill passed the Senate and the House.

• Note: In 2009 only three Republicans helped Obama pass his stimulus bill in his first month in office.

The giveaways in the bill

While Senate Democrats were able to add worker-friendly provisions, the bill still required bipartisan support to pass the chamber and some corporate giveaways remained in the final version.

• NYT: “Senate Republicans inserted an easy-to-overlook provision on page 203 of the 880-page bill that would permit wealthy investors to use losses generated by real estate to minimize their taxes on profits from things like investments in the stock market. The estimated cost of the change over 10 years is $170 billion.”
  
• NYT: “...if a company owns multiple hotels, even if the overall hotel or restaurant chain has more than 500 employees — the limit to qualify for treatment as a small business — it will still be able to take advantage of the small-business benefits offered in the rescue package. ...The provision could benefit the Trump Organization, which operates a relatively small chain, with six hotels in the United States in cities including New York, Washington and Chicago.”
  

Politico:

• “A provision for the FDA to approve ‘innovative’ sunscreens—which would benefit L’Oreal, which has operations in Kentucky—appeared in the bill, which was steered in the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.”
  
• “The $25 billion allocated in loans and loan guarantees for the airlines will also benefit eligible businesses "approved to perform inspection, repair, replace, or overhaul services, and ticket agents.” The last two words — ‘ticket agents’ — mean that travel agents who book flights will also be able to apply for a piece of the $25 billion.”
  
• “The credit reporting industry got a win by defeating a total ban on negative credit reports during the crisis. Instead, a watered down version made it into the final bill: Consumers wouldn't get a negative credit report if they have an agreement with a lender to delay payments or make partial payments.”
  

Trump’s signing statement

While signing the latest coronavirus relief bill, the president also issued a signing statement undercutting the congressional oversight provision creating an inspector general to track how the administration distributes the $500 billion “slush fund” money.
The newly-created inspector general is legally required to audit loans and investments made through the fund and report to Congress his/her findings, including any refusal by the executive office to cooperate. In his signing statement, Trump wrote that his understanding of constitutional powers allows him to gag the special IG:

"I do not understand, and my Administration will not treat, this provision as permitting the [inspector general] to issue reports to the Congress without the presidential supervision required" by Article II of the Constitution.

The signing statement further suggests that Trump does not have to comply with a provision requiring that agencies consult with Congress before it spends or reallocates certain funds: "These provisions are impermissible forms of congressional aggrandizement with respect to the execution of the laws," the statement reads.
While some have said that Congress fell short in this instance, one Democratic Senate aide told Politico that Congress built in multiple layers of oversight, including “a review of other inspectors general and a congressional review committee charged with overseeing Treasury and the Federal Reserve's efforts to implement the law.”
Legal experts have pointed out that a signing statement is “without legal effect.” But that ignores the fact that oversight is not equal to enforcement. The problem, in my opinion, isn’t that Congress won’t be notified of any abuses of power by Trump. The problem is that congressional Republicans and the judiciary have largely failed to hold him accountable and enforce our laws even after learning of his abuses.

Concerns about the IG

Another potential weakness in the oversight structure is the inspector general position itself. The special inspector general for pandemic recovery, known by the acronym S.I.G.P.R., is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. As we’ve seen from Trump’s previous nominees, particularly judicial, many unqualified individuals have been confirmed. The Democrats will not have the power to stop the president and Mitch McConnell from jamming through a loyalist to fill the SIGPR role.

Former inspector general at the Justice Department Michael Bromwich: “The signing statement threatens to undermine the authority and independence of this new IG. The Senate should extract a commitment from the nominee that Congress will be promptly notified of any Presidential/Administration interference or obstruction.”

You may recall that Trump has already proven that he’s willing to interfere with the legally-mandated work of an inspector general. When the Ukraine whistleblower filed a complaint last year, the IG of the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, investigated and determined the complaint to be “urgent” and “credible.” Atkinson wrote a report and gave it to Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire to hand over to Congress. However, the White House and DOJ interfered and instructed Maguire not to transmit the report to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Chairman Adam Schiff had to subpoena Maguire to turn over the report and testify before his committee.
Further, there are already five IG vacancies in agencies that have a critical role in responding to the pandemic. The Treasury itself has not had a permanent, Senate-confirmed IG for over eight months now, and Trump hasn’t nominated a replacement. The Treasury Dept. has taken a lead role in the coronavirus response, with Secretary Mnuchin handling most of the negotiating with Congress on Trump’s behalf. The fact that the lead agency doesn’t have IG oversight should be troublesome in itself; replicating the situation with a special IG doesn’t seem to be a promising solution.

• The other four coronavirus-related agencies without a permanent IG: Department of Health and Human Services’ IG has been vacant for nine months, Department of Defense’s IG has been vacant for four years, Department of Education’s IG has been vacant for one year, and Office of Personnel Management’s IG has been vacant for four years. Overall, there are twelve IG vacancies in the 37) presidentially-appointed offices.

UPDATE: The nation's inspectors general have appointed Glenn Fine, the Pentagon's acting IG, to lead the committee of IGs overseeing the coronavirus relief effort.

This is one of several oversight mechanisms built into the new law. They include:
A committee of IGs (now led by Fine), a new special IG (to be nominated by Trump), a congressional review panel (to be appointed by House/Senate leaders)

Direct payments

Included in the stimulus bill is a $1200 one-time direct payment for all Americans who made less than $75,000 in 2019 (less than $150,000 if couples filed jointly). More details can be found here. I have read that the Treasury will use 2018 information for those who have not filed yet this year, but I am not 100% sure that’ll happen.
Mnuchin has said that Americans can expect to receive the money within three weeks, but many experts expect that timetable to be pushed into late April. Additionally, that only applies to Americans who included direct deposit information on their 2019 tax returns. Those who did not include their bank’s information will have to be sent a physical check in the mail… which could take anywhere from two to four months.
Other options are being discussed, including partnering the Treasury Dept. with MasterCard and Visa to deliver prepaid debit cards. Venmo and Paypal are reportedly lobbying the government to be considered as a disbursement option.
Future payments?
House Speaker Pelosi is already planning another wave of direct payments to Americans, saying that the $1,200 is not enough to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic: “I don’t think we’ve seen the end of direct payments.” Republicans, meanwhile, are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach, using the next couple of weeks to measure the impact of the $2 trillion bill passed last week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy: “What concerns me is when I listen to Nancy Pelosi talk about a fourth package now, it’s because she did not get out of things that she really wanted...I’m not sure you need a fourth package...Let’s let this work ... We have now given the resources to make and solve this problem. We don’t need to be crafting another bill right now.”
For the fourth legislative package, Democrats have said they would like to see increased food stamp benefits; increased coverage for coronavirus testing, visits to the doctor and treatment; more money for state and local governments, including Washington, D.C.; expanded family and medical leave; pension fixes; and stronger workplace protections.

Trump’s signature
Normally, a civil servant signs federal checks, like the direct payments Americans are set to receive. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump has told people that he wants his signature to appear on the stimulus checks.

THE SIDES

War on the poor continues

Amid the coronavirus crisis, Trump has defended his continued support of a Republican-led lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which would result in 20 million Americans losing health insurance if successful. The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in the case this fall. Contrasting with his position that the ACA is illegal, Trump is considering reopening enrollment on HealthCare.gov, allowing millions of uninsured individuals to get coverage before potentially incurring charges and fees related to COVID-19.
Joe Biden called on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the charge against the ACA, and President Trump to drop the lawsuit:

“At a time of national emergency, which is laying bare the existing vulnerabilities in our public health infrastructure, it is unconscionable that you are continuing to pursue a lawsuit designed to strip millions of Americans of their health insurance and protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the ban on insurers denying coverage or raising premiums due to pre-existing conditions.”

The Trump administration is also pushing forward with its plan to kick 700,000 people off federal food stamp assistance, known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The USDA announced two weeks ago that the department will appeal Judge Beryl Howell’s recent decision that the USDA’s work mandate rule is “arbitrary and capricious."
Additionally: The Social Security Administration has no plans to slow down a rule change set for June that will limit disability benefits, the Department of Health and Human Services still intends to reduce automatic enrollment in health coverage, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will continue the process to enact a rule that would make it harder for renters to sue landlords for racial discrimination.

Lawmakers’ stock transactions

The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are beginning to investigate stock transactions made ahead of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. CNN reports that the inquiry has already reached out to Senator Richard Burr for information. “Under insider trading laws, prosecutors would need to prove the lawmakers traded based on material non-public information they received in violation of a duty to keep it confidential,” a task that won’t be easy.
Sen. Burr is facing another consequence of his trades: Alan Jacobson, a shareholder in Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, sued Burr for allegedly using private information to instruct a mass liquidation of his assets. Among the shares he sold were an up to $150,000 stake in Wyndham, whose stock suffered a market-value cut of more than two-thirds since mid-February.

Environmental rollbacks

Using the pandemic as cover, the Trump administration has begun to more aggressively roll back regulations meant to protect the environment. These are examples of what Naomi Klein dubbed “the shock doctrine”: the phenomenon wherein polluters and their government allies push through unpopular policy changes under the smokescreen of a public emergency.
On Thursday, the EPA announced (non-paywalled) an expansive relaxation of environmental laws and fines, exempting companies from consequences for pollution. Under the new rules, there are basically no rules. Companies are asked to “act responsibly” but are not required to report when their facilities discharge pollution into the air or water. Just five days before abandoning any pollution oversight, the oil industry’s largest trade group implored the administration for assistance, stating that social distancing measures caused a steep drop in demand for gasoline.

• Monday morning update: In an interview with Fox News this morning, Trump said he was going to call Putin after the interview to discuss the Saudi-Russia oil fight. A consequence of this "battle" has been plummeting prices in the U.S. making it difficult for domestic companies (like shale extraction) to turn a profit. It's striking that the day after Dr. Fauci told Americans we can expect 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 (if we keep social distancing measures in place), Trump's first action is to talk to Fox News and his second action is to intervene in an international tiff on behalf of the oil and gas industry.

Gina McCarthy, who led the E.P.A. under the Obama administration, called the rollback “an open license to pollute.” Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA enforcement division during the Obama administration, said “it is so far beyond any reasonable response I am just stunned.”
The EPA is also moving forward with a widely-opposed rule to limit the types of scientific studies used when crafting new regulations or revising current ones. Hidden behind claims of increased transparency, the rule would require disclosure of all raw data used in scientific studies. This would disqualify many fields of research that rely on personal health information from individuals that must be kept confidential. For example, studies that show air pollution causes premature deaths or a certain pesticide is linked to birth defects would be rejected under the proposed rule change.
Officials and scientists are calling upon the EPA to extend the time for comment on the regulatory changes, arguing that the public is unable to express their opinion while dealing with the pandemic.

“These rollbacks need and deserve the input of our public health community, but right now, they are rightfully focused on responding to the coronavirus,” said Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Other controversial decisions being made:

• A former EPA official who worked on controversial policies returned as Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s chief of staff. Mandy Gunasekara helped write regulations to ease pollution controls for coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions in her previous role as chief of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. In a recent interview, Gunasekara, who played a role in the decision to exit the Paris Climate Accord, pushed back on the more dire predictions of climate change, saying, “I don't think it is catastrophic.”
  
• NYT: The plastic bag industry, battered by a wave of bans nationwide, is using the coronavirus crisis to try to block laws prohibiting single-use plastic. “We simply don’t want millions of Americans bringing germ-filled reusable bags into retail establishments putting the public and workers at risk,” an industry campaign that goes by the name Bag the Ban warned on Tuesday. (Also see The Guardian)
  
• Kentucky, South Dakota, and West Virginia passed laws putting new criminal penalties on protests against fossil fuel infrastructure in just the past two weeks.
  
• The Hill: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday that it will extend the amount of time that winter gasoline can be sold this year as producers have been facing lower demand due to the coronavirus. It will allow companies to sell the winter-grade gasoline through May 20, whereas companies would have previously been required to stop selling it by May 1 to protect air quality. “In responding to an international health crisis, the last thing the EPA should do is take steps that will worsen air quality and undermine the public’s health,” biofuels expert David DeGennaro said.
  
• NYT: At the Interior Department, employees at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been under strict orders to complete the rule eliminating some protections for migratory birds within 30 days, according to two people with direct knowledge of the orders. The 45-day comment period on that rule ended on March 19.
  
• WaPo: The Interior Department has received over 230 nominations for oil and gas leases covering more than 150,000 acres across southern Utah, a push that would bring drilling as close as a half-mile from some of the nation’s most famous protected sites, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks… if all the fossil fuels buried in those sites was extracted and burned, it would translate into between 1 billion and 5.95 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide being released into the air. That upward measure is equal to half the annual carbon output of China
  

Court updates

Press freedom case
Southern District of New York District Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that a literary advocacy group’s lawsuit against Trump for allegedly violating the First Amendment can move forward. The group, PEN America, is pursuing claims that Trump “has used government power to retaliate against media coverage and reporters he dislikes.”
Schofield determined that PEN’s allegation that Trump made threats to chill free speech was valid, providing as an example the White House’s revocation of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press press corps credentials:

”The threats are lent credence by the fact that Defendant has acted on them before, by revoking Mr. Acosta’s credentials and barring reporters from particular press conferences. The Press Secretary indeed e-mailed the entire press corps to inform them of new rules of conduct and to warn of further consequences, citing the incident involving Mr. Acosta… These facts plausibly allege that a motivation for defendant’s actions is controlling and punishing speech he dislikes.”

Twitter case
The president suffered another First Amendment defeat last week when the full 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals declined to review a previous ruling that prevents Trump from blocking users on the Twitter account he uses to communicate with the public. Judge Barrington D. Parker, a Nixon-appointee, wrote: “Excluding people from an otherwise public forum such as this by blocking those who express views critical of a public official is, we concluded, unconstitutional.”
Trump-appointees Michael Parker and Richard Sullivan authored a dissent, arguing the free speech “does not include a right to post on other people’s personal social media accounts, even if those other people happen to be public officials.” Park warned that the ruling will allow the social media pages of public officials to be “overrun with harassment, trolling, and hate speech, which officials will be powerless to filter.”
Florida’s felon voting
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ripped into Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration for failing to come up with a process to determine which felons are genuinely unable to pay court-ordered fees and fines, which are otherwise required to be paid before having their voting rights restored.
“If the state is not going to fix it, I will,” Hinkle warned. He had given the state five months to come up with an administrative process for felons to prove they’re unable to pay financial obligations, but Florida officials did not do so. The case is set to be heard on April 28 (notwithstanding any coronavirus-related delays).

ICE, Jails, and COVID-19

ICE
One of the most overlooked populations with an increased risk of death from coronavirus are those in detention facilities, which keep people in close quarters with little sanitation or protective measures (including for staff).
Last week, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ordered the federal government to “make continuous efforts” to release migrant children from detention centers across the country. Numerous advocacy groups asked for the release after reports that four children being held in New York had tested positive for the virus:

“The threat of irreparable injury to their health and safety is palpable,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in their petition… both of the agencies operating migrant children detention facilities must by April 6 provide an accounting of their efforts to release those in custody… “Her order will undoubtedly speed up releases,” said Peter Schey, co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the court case.

On Tuesday, 13 immigrants held at ICE facilities in California filed a lawsuit demanding to be released because their health conditions make them particularly vulnerable to dying if infected by the coronavirus. An ACLU statement says the detainees are “confined in crowded and unsanitary conditions where social distancing is not possible.” The 13 individuals are all over the age of 50 and/or suffering from serious underlying medical issues like high blood pressure.

“From all the evidence we have seen, ICE is failing to fulfill its constitutional obligation to protect the health and safety of individuals in its custody. ICE should exercise its existing discretion to release people with serious medical conditions from detention for humanitarian reasons,” said William Freeman, senior counsel at the ACLU of Northern California.

Meanwhile, ICE is under fire for continuing to shuttle detainees across the country, with one even being forced to take nine different flights bouncing from Louisiana to Texas to New Jersey less than two weeks ago. That man is Dr. Sirous Asgari, a materials science and engineering professor from Iran, who was acquitted last year on federal charges of stealing trade secrets. The government lost its case against him, yet ICE has had him in indefinite detention since November.

Asgari, 59, told the Guardian that his Ice holding facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, had no basic cleaning practices in place and continued to bring in new detainees from across the country with no strategy to minimize the threat of Covid-19...Detainees have no hand sanitizer, and the facility is not regularly cleaning bathrooms or sleeping areas…Detainees lack access to masks… Detainees struggle to stay clean, and the facility has an awful stench.

Jails
State jails are making a better effort to release detained individuals, as both New York and New Jersey ordered a thousand people in each state be let out of jail. The order applied only to low-level offenders sentenced to less than a year in jail and those held on technical probation violations. In Los Angeles County, officials released over 1,700 people from its jails.
A judge in Alabama took similar steps last week, ordering roughly 500 people jailed for minor offenses to be released to lessen crowding in facilities. Unlike in New York and New Jersey, however, local officials reacted in an uproar, led in part by the state executive committee for the Alabama Republican Party and Assistant District Attorney C.J. Robinson. Using angry Facebook messages as the barometer of the community’s feelings, Robinson worked “frantically” to block inmates from being released.

• Reuters: As of Saturday, at least 132 inmates and 104 staff at jails across New York City had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus… Since March 22, jails have reported 226 inmates and 131 staff with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a Reuters survey of cities and counties that run America’s 20 largest jails. The numbers are almost certainly an undercount given the fast spread of the virus.

Tribe opposed by Trump loses land

On Wednesday, The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs announced the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s reservation would be "disestablished" and its land trust status removed. Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell called the move "cruel" and "unnecessary,” particularly coming in the midst of a pandemic crisis. Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.), who last year introduced legislation to protect the tribe's reservation as trust land in Massachusetts, said the order “is one of the most cruel and nonsensical acts I have seen since coming to Congress.”
The administration’s decision is especially suspicious as just last year Trump attacked the tribe’s plan to build a casino on its land, tweeting that allowing the construction would be “unfair” and treat Native Americans unequally. As a former casino owner, Trump has spent decades attacking Native American casinos as unfair competition. At a 1993 congressional hearing Trump said that tribal owners “don’t look like Indians to me” and claimed: “I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up the reservations” to gambling.
More than his past history, however, Trump has current interests at play in the Mashpee Wampanoag’s planned casino: it would have competed for business with nearby Rhode Island casinos owned by Twin River Worldwide Holdings, whose president, George Papanier, was a finance executive at the Trump Plaza casino hotel in Atlantic City.

In the Mashpee case, Twin River, the operator of the two Rhode Island casinos, has hired Matthew Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a vocal Trump supporter, to lobby for it on the land issue. Schlapp’s wife, Mercedes, is director of strategic communications at the White House.

Unfortunately there's no 100% agreed list of GA seasons and there never was one. Various platforms and Travel Channel affiliates provide contradictory episode listings. It was discussed numerous times over the years, recently we had yet another discussion on the matter. Somebody asked me on PM if I can share with them the chronological listing I've been using, so I've decided to post it here as well. Keep in mind this is not an "official" list, but it's a recommended one if you want to binge watch the whole show from beginning to end or if you're a new fan looking for specific episodes.
This is a list of Ghost Adventures episodes in order based on the original air date. I've been keeping it since I began watching the show during the first season and it mostly overlaps with the wikipedia listing, and a few other season lists. It includes every single episode, including all specials and compilation episodes. "Extra Pulses" are not added since there is no additional content compared to the original episodes. For the first 7 or so seasons this is how The Travel Channel listed their seasons before they nuked their site and started grouping them by production date and not air date. A few things of note:

• Ghost Adventures: The Beginning is The Documentary movie with a couple minutes of bonus footage. It was aired on the same day as the first episode of the series.
  
• To make matters even more complicated early seasons have alternate episode titles for some of the episodes. I've included the more common ones.
  
• The early compilation episodes were episodes with different edit and new narration compared to original ones, and were used as a bridge, while the GAC were filming new content. Later Travel Channel would just split the production in two seasons - Autumn-Winter and Spring-Summer periods.
  
• Years ago Travel Channel listed episodes under new seasons if 2 or more months had passed since the last aired episode, and before the new content announcement.
  
• In recent years they've been doing a lot of specials with an overlapping theme like "Haunting of Vicksburg", some sites list these episodes as a complete season.
  

Season 1
Start: October 17, 2008
End: December 5, 2008

• Ghost Adventures: The Beginning (Special Episode)
• Bobby Mackey's Music World
• Houghton Mansion
• Moundsville Penitentiary
• Riddle House
• Sloss Furnaces
• Former Psychiatric Hospital
• Edinburgh Vaults
• Old Idaho Penitentiary

Season 2
Start: June 5, 2009
End: July 24, 2009

• Preston Castle
• Castillo de San Marcos
• La Purisima Mission
• Magnolia Lane Plantation
• Birdcage Theater
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Moon River Brewery
• Ancient Ram Inn

Season 3
Start: October 30, 2009
End: January 22, 2010

• Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum LIVE (Halloween Special Episode)
• Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum LIVE: Post Mortem (Special Highlights Episode)
• Pennhurst State School and Hospital
• Poveglia Island
• Ohio State Reformatory
• Remington Arms Factory
• Washoe Club and Chollar Mine
• Linda Vista Hospital
• Execution Rocks Lighthouse
• Prospect Place
• Clovis Wolfe Manor
• Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum LIVE: The Cutdown (Special Behind the Scenes Episode)
• Poveglia Island Special (Special Episode with 30 minutes of additional footage)

Season 4
Start: September 10, 2010
End: June 10, 2011

• Best Evidence (Compilation Special Episode)
• Scariest Moments (Compilation Special Episode)
• Gettysburg
• Rolling Hills Asylum
• Return to Bobby Mackey's Music World
• Waverly Hills Sanatorium
• Stanley Hotel
• Hill View Manor
• Vulture Mine
• USS Hornet
• La Palazza Mansion
• Fort Chaffee
• Amargosa Opera House
• Old Fort Erie
• Villisca Axe Murder House
• Kell's Irish Pub
• Pico House Hotel
• Return to Goldfield Hotel
• Bonnie Springs Ranch
• Longfellow's Wayside Inn (Valentine's Day Special Episode)
• Salem Witch House
• Jerome Grand Hotel
• Yorktown Hospital
• Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
• Sacramento Tunnels
• Hales Bar Marina and Dam
• Kentucky Slave House
• Tooele Hospital
• Loretta Lynn's Plantation House

Season 5
Start: September 23, 2011
End: December 16, 2011

• Ashmore Estates
• Mizpah Hotel
• Old Town San Diego
• Winchester Mystery House
• Lizzie Borden House
• Letchworth Village
• Return to Virginia City
• Rocky Point Manor
• Rose Hall
• Old Charleston Jail

Season 6
Start: February 24, 2012
End: July 20, 2012

• Horror Hotels and Deadliest Hospitals (Compilation Special Episode)
• Wickedest Women, Houses of Terror and Bloodiest Battlefields (Compilation Special Episode)
• Shanghai Tunnels
• Peabody-Whitehead Mansion
• Copper Queen Hotel and The Oliver House
• The National Hotel
• Return to Linda Vista Hospital
• The Galka Family
• The Riviera Hotel
• Hellfire Caves (Special Episode)
• Fort Horsted (Special Episode)

Season 7
Start: September 14, 2012
End: April 19, 2013

• Central Unit Prison
• Excalibur Nightclub
• Point Sur Lighthouse
• The Palmer House Hotel
• Black Moon Manor
• Sedamsville Rectory
• Cripple Creek
• Dead Men Walking (Compilation Special Episode)
• Brookdale Lodge
• Tor House
• Union Station
• Death By Wild West (Compilation Special Episode)
• Crazy Town
• Clinically Dead (Compilation Special Episode)
• Killer Nightlife (Compilation Special Episode)
• Do Not Disturb (Compilation Special Episode)
• Home Sweet Hell (Compilation Special Episode)
• Wyoming Frontier Prison
• Sailors' Snug Harbor
• Passport to Hell (Compilation Special Episode)
• Dungeons and Demons (Compilation Special Episode)
• Bewitched and Bothered (Compilation Special Episode)
• Obsessions and Possessions (Compilation Special Episode)
• New Orleans
• Market Street Cinema
• Armies of Darkness (Compilation Special Episode)
• First Timers (Compilation Special Episode)
• Goldfield Hotel Redemption
• Glen Tavern Inn
• King's Tavern

Season 8
Start: August 16, 2013
End: November 15, 2013

• Pioneer Saloon
• Black Swan Inn
• Tuolumne Hospital
• Missouri State Prison
• Yost Theater and Ritz Hotel
• Haunted Victorian Mansion
• Up Close and Personal (Compilation Special Episode)
• Exorcist House
• Alcatraz
• Mustang Ranch
• Thornhaven Manor
• Transylvania (Halloween Special Episode)
• Battle of Perryville

Season 9
Start: February 15, 2013
End: July 12, 2013

• Sharon Tate Ghost
• The Myrtles Plantation
• George Washington Ghost
• Bannack Ghost Town
• Fear Factory
• Heritage Junction
• Battle of Los Angeles
• Netherworld: Paris Catacombs (Special Episode featuring only Zak, aired in the middle of the season)
• St. James Hotel
• Fox Hollow Farm
• Haunted Savannah
• Overland Hotel and Saloon
• Old Licking County Jail

Season 10
Start: October 4, 2014
End: March 7, 2015

• Queen Mary
• Lemp Mansion and Brewery
• Zozo Demon (Nick's last regular episode)
• Island of the Dolls (in the og edit it was mentioned Nick couldn't make it for filming)
• Ireland's Celtic Demons (Halloween Special Episode, Nick's last appearance as part of the GAC)
• Bell Witch Caves (new intro, Jay and Bill introduced as permanent GAC investigators)
• Sallie House
• Nopeming Sanatorium
• Apache Junction
• Return to Tombstone
• Demons in Seattle
• Texas Horror Hotel

Season 11
Start: August 22, 2015
End: November 7, 2015

• Edinburgh Manor
• Old Montana State Prison
• Manresa Castle
• Old Lincoln County Hospital
• Haunted Harvey House
• Los Coches Adobe
• Grand Canyon Caverns
• Haunted Hollywood
• Odd Fellows Asylum
• Clown Motel and Goldfield High School
• Deadwood: City of Ghosts (Halloween Special Episode)
• Lava Hotel Springs Inn

Season 12
Start: January 30, 2016
End: August 6, 2016

• Black Dahlia House
• Secret Scientology Lab
• Bracken Fern Manor
• Return to the Riviera
• Chinese Town of Locke
• Star of India
• Leslie's Family Tree Restaurant
• Hell Hole Prison
• The Domes
• Nevada State Prison
• Return to Winchester Mystery House
• Stardust Ranch
• The Haunted Museum

Season 13
Start: September 24, 2016
End: January 14, 2017

• Colorado Gold Mine
• Mackay Mansion
• Palace Saloon
• Reseda House of Evil
• Dorothea Puente Murder House
• Route 666 (Halloween Special Episode)
• Hotel Metlen
• St. Ann's Retreat
• Twin Bridges Orphanage
• Dumas Brothel
• Zalud House
• Dakota's Sanatorium of Death
• De Soto Hotel and Concordia Cemetery (Spliced Part 1 of the Route 666 Halloween Special)
• Goatman's Bridge (Spliced Part 2 of the Route 666 Halloween Special)

Season 14
Start: March 25, 2017
End: July 15, 2017

• Stone Lion Inn
• Freak Show Murder House
• Samaritan Cult House
• Double Eagle Restaurant
• Silent Movie Theater
• Exorcism in Erie
• Skinwalker Canyon
• Upper Fruitland Curse
• Witches in Magna
• The Viper Room
• Asylum 49

Season 15
Start: September 23, 2017
End: January 13, 2018

• Golden Ghost Town
• Ogden Possession
• Haunting of Vicksburg: Mcraven Mansion (Special Episode)
• Haunting of Vicksburg: Demons and Dolls (Special Episode)
• Haunting of Vicksburg: Spirits Under Siege (Special Episode)
• Haunting of Vicksburg: Champion Hill Battlefield (Special Episode)
• Museum of Madness (Halloween Special Episode)
• Annabelle's Curse (Halloween Special Episode)
• Albion Normal School
• Museum of the Mountain West
• Pythian Castle
• The Titanic Museum
• Wolf Creek Inn
• Eureka Mining Town
• Sin City Exorcism
• Phelps Dodge Hospital
• The Slaughter House

Season 16
Start: March 24, 2018
End: July 14, 2018

• Ripley's Believe It or Not
• The Alley of Darkness
• Kennedy Mine
• Old Gila County Jail and Courthouse
• Hotel Leger
• Enchanted Forest
• The Washoe Club Final Chapter
• Lewis Flats School
• Kay's Hollow

Season 17
Start: October 6, 2018
End: January 12, 2019

• Graveyard of the Pacific: Astoria Underground (Special Episode)
• Graveyard of the Pacific: Norblad Hostel (Special Episode)
• Graveyard of the Pacific: Commander's House (Special Episode)
• Graveyard of the Pacific: Cape Disappointment (Special Episode)
• The Haunted Museum LIVE (Halloween Special Episode)
• Idaho State Reform School
• Westerfield House
• Crisis in Oakdale
• Tintic Mining District
• Terror in Fontana
• Riverside Plane Graveyard
• Curse of the River Bend: Mineral Springs Hotel (Special Episode)
• Curse of the River Bend: McPike Mansion (Special Episode)

Season 18
Start: February 23, 2019
End: July 20, 2019

• Gates of Hell House
• Palomino Club
• Lutes Casino
• Melrose Hotel
• Binions Hotel and Casino
• The Woodbury
• Crescent Hotel
• St. Ignatius Hospital
• Mount Wilson Ranch
• Panic in Amarillo
• Union Hotel
• Idaho State Tuberculosis Hospital
• A Haunting in Scottsdale

Season 19
Start: October 5, 2019

• Serial Killer Spirits: H. H. Holmes Murder House (Special Episode)
• Serial Killer Spirits: John Gacy Prison (Special Episode)
• Serial Killer Spirits: Axe Killer Jail" (Special Episode)
• Serial Killer Spirits: Ted Bundy Ritual House (Special Episode)
• Curse of the Harrisville Farmhouse (Halloween Special Episode)
• Albion Castle
• Cerro Gordo Ghost Town
• Pasadena Ritual House
• Horror in Biggs
• Franklin Castle
• Union Brewery of Death
• Nightmare in Antelope
• Goodwin Home Invasion
• Haunted Hollow Forest
• The Chinatown Poltergeist
• Beneath the Bonanza