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Connecticut and Massachusetts: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – The Trek

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Connecticut and Massachusetts: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – The Trek


After I made it into Connecticut, I made a decision to name round and discover a new sleeping pad. There was a fishing clothing store in Kent that had a number of climbing choices, and I known as them from a street crossing to see if that they had something for me.

“It’s uh… I don’t know the model identify,” the individual on the cellphone mentioned in a voice laced with crackly, low-signal static. “40 bucks, although.” Internally, I groaned. I knew this was going to be an inexpensive, Amazon air pad that will most likely pop on me inside the week. But it surely needed to be not less than barely higher than sleeping immediately on the bottom. My air pad was deflating so ceaselessly I simply left it in my pack most nights, arrange my tent on a rigorously raked pile of leaves, and wedged my sitting pad underneath my hip for the slightest quantity of cushion.

I walked into Kent and bought the flimsy air pad, and dumped my Huge Agnes, too drained and too annoyed to combat with them for a refund regardless that I’d solely had it for lower than a month.

A Storm at Sea

That night time at Silver Hill Campsite, it rained very calmly. My tent, which I’d solely had since March, started to leak profusely. And, after all, my low-cost Amazon sleeping pad sprung a leak. That night time, I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I awoke each hour, on the hour, to refill my quickly deflating life raft in the course of the ocean that my tent ground had develop into.

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I gave up on sleeping when the solar began to rise, and draped each final piece of my gear over one of many two picnic tables on the website. As I sipped my espresso, assessing my scenario, I felt surprisingly calm. My new pad was mainly the identical because the previous one, however not less than I’d solely spent $40 on it, versus the $200 I’d spent on my final sleeping pad – I hadn’t made that downside worse not less than; my air pad scenario had stayed the identical. My scenario was solely worsened by the leaking tent, however I might sleep in a shelter till I discovered what to do subsequent.

The Whites have been coming, although. New Hampshire’s imposing, frosty peaks have been actually on the horizon. It was beginning to get oh-so-slightly chilly within the mornings, although when the solar rose the temperature would return to its resting broiling state that I’d come to know and detest since Pennsylvania.

I knew that chilly was coming. A leaking tent and moist gear might spell actual hazard at elevation. I knew that I needed to make drastic adjustments to my sleep system, and shortly.

I did the maths on a brand new air pad, a brand new tent, and cringed. Then, I had an concept.

I texted my buddy Casserole, who was on the subsequent shelter. “Fantastic. I’m prepared to hitch the hammock membership. Ship hyperlinks.”

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Becoming a member of the Hammock Cult

I sprinted by means of the 50-some miles of Connecticut in a number of days, pushed by function. When Casserole and I made it to Nice Barrington, MA, a hammock was ready for me – together with an underquilt that his mom had sewn collectively for me and overnighted. We set it up subsequent to the resort’s parking zone and I climbed inside.

I might’ve fallen asleep then and there if I hadn’t simply gotten a full night time’s sleep within the resort the earlier night time. The choice to zero in Nice Barrington was a simple one. I used to be working on a large sleep deficit that had began in New Jersey. 

I additionally was capable of see a buddy from again residence for the primary time on path. My buddy G. had completed their PHD and gotten a job in Connecticut. Although our go to was short-lived and concerned city chores (thanks once more for chauffeuring me, buddy!) it was superior to see a well-recognized face. We hadn’t seen one another in over a 12 months.

When Casserole and I left Nice Barrington, I had extra power than ever and was in good spirits. The sweetest path Angel, former thru-hiker Mama Chook, drove an hour out of her option to shuttle us again to path – and gave us cash for a resort room later down the path.

We did 19 miles out of city – probably the most mileage I’d accomplished in a very long time. The hike was enhancing in all fronts:

  • In Massachusetts, the water started to slowly trickle again after weeks of drought.
  • We began to see elevation adjustments too, skirting over uncovered ridges. Mount Everett provided a few of the greatest views we’d seen since Tennessee and North Carolina.

  • And I slept like a rock in my new hammock. I spotted, after I awoke within the mornings, that I used to be dreaming for the primary time on path. I’d by no means slept deeply sufficient to dream, even when my sleeping pad wasn’t deflating and tent wasn’t leaking. I used to be kicking myself for not switching to a hammock sooner, however energized by the remainder I used to be getting.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

However above all, I used to be bolstered by the brand new mindset I’d discovered on the Wind Cellphone in New York. I knew that if I hadn’t had that second with myself – if I hadn’t remembered my function for thru-hiking – the tent and sleeping pad points would’ve been the ultimate nail within the coffin. I knew that the hammock and getting good sleep was enhancing my outlook significantly. However I’d had to decide on to fully change my sleep system late in a thru-hike, select to create that luck for myself.

The second I re-committed to ending the path, the expertise turned rewarding once more. It was self-fulfilling prophecy in its purest kind.

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My first actually good day in a very long time – the place I finished and took footage and easily loved my environment – occurred on Mt. Greylock. I broke out my puffy for the primary time since Virginia, and stood in a misty gale on high of the mountain, watching clouds scurry throughout ridgelines beneath me, bending pine and hemlock timber of their passing.

After I hit 1600 miles and crossed the state line into Vermont the following day, I used to be cruising. I hadn’t zeroed since Nice Barrington, and determined that I wouldn’t zero till Hanover, NH. Not as a result of I used to be in any hurry to complete, although I knew I’d be accomplished in slightly over a month – however as a result of I used to be having fun with myself on path, like I had to start with. I popped out and in of city, grabbing resupply, showering, washing garments, and disappearing again into the woods as shortly as I’d left them. I didn’t need to be on the town. I wished to hike.

Fortunately for me, I nonetheless have slightly over 600 miles to go.

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Massachusetts

Scores of recruits injured at Mass. State Police Academy in recent years, data show

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Scores of recruits injured at Mass. State Police Academy in recent years, data show


Broken bones, muscle tears, concussions, even a gunshot wound — those are just some of the injuries sustained by Massachusetts State Police recruits during their training in recent years.

After a recruit died following a training exercise in September, the NBC10 Investigators began asking how many other recruits have been injured during training.

There have been 185 injuries reported across recruiting classes since 2018, according to police records obtained by NBC10 Boston. Among the injuries are broken fingers and broken ribs, torn ACLs, dislocated limbs, back injuries, eye injuries and two cases of rhabdomyolysis, a potentially life-threatening condition caused by overexertion of the muscles

Dozens of these injuries have resulted in 180 recruits being awarded workman’s compensation, and from those recruiting classes, 49 recruits resigned from the academy following their injuries.

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Asked about the data, a police spokesman said in a statement the agency is committed to all employees’ health and safety, and that an on-site medical team monitors trainees throughout their time at the police academy to ensure they can physically perform their duties “with excellence.”

Enrique Delgado-Garcia died after a defensive tactics training exercise. His mother Sandra Garcia told NBC10 Boston at the time that the training is too brutal. An outside investigator was tapped to look into Delgado-Garcia’s death.

The NBC10 Investigators were invited inside the academy walls to get a firsthand look at what it takes to become a Massachusetts state trooper and the extremely demanding training involved after we began asking questions about the high attrition rate of this class.

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Massachusetts military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison

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Massachusetts military secrets leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison


The Massachusetts Air National Guard tech support member responsible for “one of the most significant leaks of classified documents and information in United States history” will spend a decade and a half behind bars.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Jack Teixeira to 180 months, which is 15 years, in federal prison at a sentencing hearing in federal court in Boston’s Seaport on Tuesday afternoon. She also ordered, among other conditions, that he enter a mental health treatment program and barred him from taking any jobs where he would have access to sensitive government materials. She did not impose a fine because he did not have the resources to pay a fine.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm I’ve wrought and I’ve caused,” Teixeira, wearing an orange Plymouth County Correctional Facility jumpsuit, said before Talwani delivered her sentence.

“I can’t really sum up how contrite I am that my behavior has caused such a maelstrom,” the 22-year-old continued, “affecting my family and everyone overseas. I understand that all of the responsibility and consequences come on my shoulders alone and I accept whatever that will bring. I’m at your mercy, your honor.”

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Teixeira, of Dighton, was arrested in April 2023 and pleaded guilty in March to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act.

Teixeira, who served as a Cyber Defense Operations Journeyman at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod, leaked more than 40 highly classified military documents, including many regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, to a cadre of fellow video game players on the social media platform Discord.

He was looking at a maximum of more than 16 years for his crimes, if Talwani had followed the plea agreement, which she wasn’t bound by in calculating sentencing. Teixeira entered the plea agreement in late February and finalized with his guilty pleas days later on March 4.

Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen called Teixeira “a textbook example of an insider threat.”

“His actions compromised military plans, sources and methods, and allowed our most significant adversaries access to some of our most closely guarded intelligence,” she continued in a press conference following sentencing.

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Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy at the same press conference said that the “heavy price” of the sentence “sends a powerful message to every individual who holds a top secret clearance.”

“I expect that starting tomorrow, Jack Teixeira’s name will be mentioned when people are trained about the gravity of a top secret clearance and the consequences if you leak information,” Levy said.

Sentencing arguments

The federal prosecutor, Jared Dolan, in arguing for a sentence of 200 months, called Teixeira’s crimes “exceptionally serious” and compared his actions to those of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. He said that the sentence should be large enough to be a huge deterrent to anyone else who is considering such disclosures.

“Our military is built on a backbone of people his age and younger,” Dolan said. “And we trust that the training for those individuals put them in a place to succeed and that’s what they do every single day.”

“The defendants job was to not tell anyone else, what he promised to not tell anyone else,” he continued. “Youthful brains make impulsive decisions, but this was not an impulsive decision and if it was then it was an impulsive decision that he made every day for more than a year.”

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Talwani spoke at length about her thought process on sentencing a crime for which there was “very little case law.”

“It seems to me that this is not one harm, this is multiple harms,” Talwani said when arguing that she disagreed with the plea agreement’s argument that the crimes could be grouped. She compared it to rape or robbery, to where even if the victim remained the same each new offense was a different crime.

“Yes the victim is the same here, the victim is the United States,” she continued. “But I don’t know how you can say it’s the same if he did it for one month instead of 13 months. … Each time you are creating a new risk, each time is new information, new disclosure.”

In sentencing memos filed last month, the defense recommended a sentence of 11 years whereas the prosecution recommended a sentence of 16 years and eight months, citing not only the need for Teixeira’s adequate punishment but to deter anyone else from even considering similar actions.

Defense attorney Michael Bachrach argued that Teixeira had no intention whatsoever to harm the United States, and that “motive matters.”

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Unlike Manning and Snowden, who each chose to disclose secrets with purpose, Bachrach argued that Teixeira’s “truly bad decision making” was built on both his youth and his autism and wanting to find a community.

“What he cared about was having a community to speak to because he didn’t have that community at Otis Air Base,” Bachrach said, adding that his recommended sentence of 11 years is “significant” and is more time than half of the defendant’s life at the time of the crimes.

Talwani took some exception with Bachrach’s argument but did agree that she was leaning toward a downward departure based on Teixeira’s age.

Margaret Small via AP, File

This artist depiction shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, April 14, 2023. (Margaret Small via AP, File)

Jack Teixeira of Dighton is taken into custody in April 2023. (AP photo)

AP photo

Jack Teixeira of Dighton is taken into custody in April 2023. (AP photo)

 

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Winning $50,000 Powerball ticket sold in Massachusetts

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Winning ,000 Powerball ticket sold in Massachusetts


A lottery player won $50,000 playing Powerball in Massachusetts on Monday.

The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing on Nov. 11 were 3, 21, 24, 34, 46 and Powerball: 9. The multiplier was a 3X.

The $50,000 ticket sold in Massachusetts matched four of the first five numbers, and the Powerball number. It was sold in Waltham at a 7-Eleven.

Overall, at least 200 prizes worth $600 or more were won or claimed in Massachusetts on Monday, including eight in Springfield, seven in Worcester and 20 in Boston.

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The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of winning tickets every day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.

So far, the largest lottery prize won in Massachusetts this year was worth $1 million a year for life.

The prize was from the lottery’s “Lifetime Millions” scratch ticket game. The winner claimed their prize through a trust on July 10, and opted to receive a one-time payment of $15.4 million.



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