#and the last one is from x-men (2021) issue 25 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

darkmaga-returns · 3 months ago

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3/31 ASTROLABE LINKS:

(44) EWBSX The Cyberbully on X: "📡📡📡 https://t.co/lyS6WWFyh5" / X

(20) National Revival on X: "https://t.co/L4sDTn2iR6" / X

(26) aka on X: "Lol the comments under the Snow White trailer 😂 https://t.co/ArKEmF5xgz" / X

(26) Variety on X: "Texting, Weed and Sing-Alongs: Four Radical Ideas for Bringing New Audiences to Movie Theaters https://t.co/pxcyr1Lgq2" / X

(29) Bugman Hegel on X: "POV: it’s 2045 and you’re watching the newest adaption of Snow White https://t.co/IhYfTcMnKS" / X

(28) Tim Burchett on X: "My stalker/tracker almost got me yesterday. https://t.co/zDT3355nt5" / X

(29) Bo Loudon on X: "🚨BREAKING: This video of President Trump is going viral due to amount of weight he appears to have lost and his youthful appearance. 78 is the new 28. AGING IN REVERSE! https://t.co/3mbpkGR8GC" / X

(29) Jesse Kelly on X: "JD Vance is truly living the life. He doesn’t really have responsibilities as VP, so he just spends all his time doing the things he loves: Dunking on effeminate Europeans and hanging with Marines wherever he finds them. Much respect. Love it." / X

(29) Eric Daugherty on X: "Wow...JD Vance 2028? This guy's messaging is flawless. Just listen. A reporter pressed him on how Americans should react to tariffs if they "raise prices" - Vance flips it back perfectly. "What I say to the American people is, look: the president ran on this, and he said very https://t.co/yK9sap6C5m" / X

(30) PeacefulSoul on X: "@JDVance What Bonchie deleted: https://t.co/0VjB7QztST" / X

(30) JD Vance on X: "This morning, @JoshKraushaar ran a hit piece against me in Jewish Insider, which has become an anti-JD rag. It has many problems, including seven anonymous quotes from cowardly Republicans. But the most glaring factual error is the below, which says the Houthis killed three https://t.co/kzbzrqjIYC" / X

(31) Eric Abbenante on X: "Jon Stewart screams 'OMFG' and is rendered speechless after hearing all 14 steps to apply for 'Build Back Better' funding: Ezra Klein: "We have to issue the notice funding opportunity within 180 days that's step one. Step Two: States who want to participate must submit a letter https://t.co/n2B3knnNY8" / X

(35) Autism Capital 🧩 on X: "🚨NEW: Antonio Gracias @AntonioGracias talks about how the fraud in Social Security and Voter Fraud works (12 MINUTES OF MUST WATCH) GRACIAS: "In 2021, 270,000 non-citizens got social security numbers. In 2024, 2.1M non-citizens got social security numbers. We went in to find https://t.co/7BcmfEfhFH" / X

(34) Michael A. Arouet on X: "Ok, I‘m not judging, I‘m just showing the facts. 1. Migrants are mainly young men, not women and children as the left green media tends to portray them 2. Refugees lie about their age to enjoy minors benefits, the spike just under 18 years is simply statistically not possible https://t.co/vyVhHwOnR7" / X

(36) Stephen Miller on X: "The fundamental error in how immigration is being discussed in the courts and media is pretending that what happened to us over the last four years is a routine civil enforcement matter. NO. We were invaded and occupied. Entire neighborhoods were conquered. Entire towns were…" / X

(35) Josiah Lippincott on X: "How Indian engagement farming works on X, a video example. https://t.co/s5grArq8bb" / X

(35) Chamath Palihapitiya on X: "What I Read This Week… xAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion under a new holding company that combines both entities. The synergy of this deal is that X's shareholders get a stake in xAI's increased valuation, and xAI" / X

(36) Aesthetica on X: "Read the story below by the young White kid who was rejected by MIT despite having perfect qualifications and then read this story about how a boomer got his first job and became a millionaire. Then tell me that the youth of today are unjustified in burning it all down. https://t.co/lAtS4QN13o" / X

(36) Petronius Arbiter on X: "Many fixate on the JQ or liberal white women etc. etc. There are some important discussions here, but today, the boomers as a class pose the greatest challenge. The boomer is “hostis.” They are still hellbent on spending another decade destroying western youth." / X

The Concept of the Political (Carl Schmitt) - The Worthy House • Towards A Politics of Future Past

(44) Dane on X: "Bobbies in London started using roller skates to catch criminals, as their police cruisers may be the cause of global warming. With no police cars, the reduction could amount to some reduction in total CO₂ yearly, thus saving the planet. Fire trucks and ambulances are slated https://t.co/rnbjhtwpuC" / X

(44) Adam Johnston on X: "Barring “France First” Marine Le Pen from elected office as police are chased by migrant gangs in the Saint-Denis no-go zone in Paris. The liberal establishment is at war with anyone who opposes unrestricted mass immigration. https://t.co/ACOCgWoYKl" / X

(44) ☦️ Kingpilled 👑 on X: "The last couple days have revealed to me that there is a certain class of “RW” Europeans who immediately begin chanting shitlib incantations as soon as someone suggests POTUS doesn’t owe them anything." / X

(44) Carl Benjamin on X: "I'll tell you what's happening, but you won't like to hear it. Trump's beligerance towards Canada, along with the cold face his administration has shown to America's allies more broadly, has hurt the right wing cause in every other country. It has allowed the left to claim the…" / X

(44) Vagrant of Rhodes 🗡️🕯️ on X: "I really like Carl but I feel the need to disagree strongly with this. The war is NO WHERE NEAR over! Such hubris is madness. The reason the right loses in Canada and Europe is because they cave to the left constantly and take weak oppositional stances, not giving the public a" / X

(44) ☦️ Kingpilled 👑 on X: "Here’s the thing: if the success of RW movements in other countries depends upon Trump being demure and acquiescent to their baby-blood-drinking leadership classes, then those movements deserve to fail. America’s raison d’être is not and cannot be “bending over backwards to…" / X

(44) ☦️ Kingpilled 👑 on X: "Quite frankly, I don't care about the status of "the left" in Europe. I don't want my President "moderating" (read: going soft on foreign incursions upon American sovereignty, whether immigration, trade, finance, et al). It's not Trump's responsibility to make life easier for…" / X

(44) Jim Ferguson on X: "BREAKING: 🚨 ITALY BREAKS RANKS WITH EU — MELONI BACKS U.S. ALLIANCE 🔥 As the divide between Washington and Brussels WIDENS, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni just dropped a geopolitical bombshell: “We must prioritize our partnership with the United States.” 💥 Italy has had enough https://t.co/CPEs66vBfC" / X

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news365timesindia · 6 months ago

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[ad_1] By Anjali Sharma WASHINGTON – The Report issued on Sunday showed that women investors in the Indian mutual fund industry, especially from the smaller cities and towns, have grown more than 2.5 times (year-on-year) on average amid the boom in the stock market, a report showed on Saturday. Women’s financial inclusion is increasing across urban and emerging regions and tier 4 cities saw a whopping over 140 per cent growth in women’s participation in the MF market, according to data shared by online brokerage Groww. Lalit Keshre, Co-founder and CEO, Groww, posted on X on Saturday said “While we had amazing growth across all segments in 2024, two segments stood out. Rise of women investors – number has doubled this year. And the number of portfolios with size greater than 1 crore tripled this year”. The women’s participation in MFs saw more than 100 per cent growth in Metro, tier 1, 2 and 3 cities. The cities with the highest number of women MF investors are Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata (Metro) and Pune, Lucknow, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Jaipur (Non-Metro). “Women’s SIP contributions are 25 per cent higher than men’s, and female SIP investors now make up one in four (compared to one in five last year),” the data showed. When it comes to monthly SIP contribution, the average ticket size is Rs 2,500 (indicating a focus on long-term wealth). Women SIP investors, 50 per cent are less than 30 years of age, followed by 33 per cent in the 30-40 year bracket and 17 per cent are age 40 and above. The Indian mutual fund industry saw a meteoric rise in 2024, as the assets under management of all MF schemes increased by more than Rs 17 lakh crore this year. According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India, the mutual fund industry’s AUM was Rs 68 lakh crore at the end of November 2024, which is Rs 17.22 lakh crore or 33 per cent more than the December 2023 figure of Rs 50.78 lakh crore. National Stock Exchange data showed a record 42,76,207 investors joined the Indian stock market in November. The latest SBI Research report said that India is witnessing at least 30 million new demat accounts being opened every year since 2021. The post Role of Indian women investors in mutual fund industry grow 2.5 times in 2024 appeared first on Global Governance News- Asia's First Bilingual News portal for Global News and Updates. [ad_2] Source link

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news365times · 6 months ago

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darksideofparis · 3 years ago

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I posted 449 times in 2022

89 posts created (20%)

360 posts reblogged (80%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@saiilorstars

@gingerteaonthetardis

@antonybridgertons

@just0nemorepage

@oc-factoids

I tagged 440 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#doctor who - 128 posts

#photography - 57 posts

#moodboard - 46 posts

#anonymous - 46 posts

#aesthetic - 45 posts

#alex locke - 45 posts

#alex locke series - 42 posts

#eleventh doctor - 37 posts

#fanfiction - 36 posts

#books - 33 posts

Longest Tag: 110 characters

#if you were really pro-life you'd give a shit about the actual alive children who are getting killed every day

My Top Posts in 2022:

OC New Year's Challenge

December 31st - I'm Setting Off But Not Without My Muse with Ava Whitlock

So, this challenge is for an OC you created in 2021. And I created a lot of OCs. Just one of them is Ava Whitlock who, I'm not gonna lie, is a bit of a current muse. Hence choosing her for this challenge.

Ava's from 1944 Hollywood. She's currently working as an assistant to currently unknown actress, Lauren Bacall, but she aspires to be a writer and costumer. This moodboard shows just a little of Ava's world. Needless to say, it expands quite a bit when she runs into an enigmatic man and his companion who seem to be the only ones who have any knowledge about the strange metal men lurking on the Warner Bros. backlot. . .

6 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

OC Valentine's Challenge: The Road Not Taken Looks Real Good Now with Rachel Williams

Maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much, but maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you tore it all up. . .

Rachel Williams and Clara Oswald were girlfriends. And it was going well, at least as far as Clara was concerned. But Rachel's abandonment issues crept up and before they knew it, their romance was over. They remember it all too well, and they sometimes wonder how things might have turned out if things had gone just a little bit differently. . .

8 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

"Don't be rude! He didn't see her for two thousand years. If you waited two thousand years for someone, what would you do? Actually, would you wait for someone for two thousand years?"

"For you, Ally, I'd wait more."

"I'd do the same, Doc."

- Alex Locke and the Doctor from the Alex Locke Series

8 notes - Posted March 25, 2022

OC Halloween Challenge 2022 Day 1: Slasher AU

Alex Locke in Happy Death Day

August 31st, 2010, was supposed to be the best day of Alex's life. Not the last day.

The morning of her 21st birthday is off to an already bad start when Alex wakes up in bed with none other than her physics tutor, grad student John Smith. It only grows worse as, after a night out partying with friends, Alex heads back to her dorm room, only to be attacked and stabbed by a figure wearing an alien mask.

And then, somehow, things go from worse to weird as Alex wakes up in John's bed, the morning of August 31st, 2010. That night, she gets murdered, again.

It happens again.

And again.

What do you do when trapped in a time loop that continuously ends with your own murder? Alex chooses to team up with John in order to unmask the killer, end the loop, and save her life. But can they conquer the loop and unmask the killer without losing their lives?

taglist: @arrthurpendragon @that-demigirl @foxesandmagic

9 notes - Posted October 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

National Treasure OC: Nellie Bly Gates

Story Series: Unlikely Treasures Series

Pairing: Riley Poole x OC

Face Claim: Leighton Meester

Stories:

Untitled: Nellie Bly Gates' five-year plan looks something like this: Achieve her doctoral degree in archeology by finding the legendary Knights Templar treasure (alongside older brother Ben), get a deeper commitment out of boyfriend, Ian Howe, and finance an expedition to Egypt to find the lost tomb of Cleopatra. Her plan is going along swimmingly . . . until Ian's betrayal on the Charlotte. Suddenly, Nellie and Ben's only hope of finding the treasure is by stealing the Declaration of Independence. Definitely not something Nellie ever planned for, nor her developing an attraction to their computer geek. . .

OC Masterlist

12 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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cl34rb3ll · 3 years ago

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the 2022 fic ship stats have been announced and going to be real with you they just made me kind of sad.

“Of the 205 names on the list, 25 are women, 1 is non-binary, and 6 are characters of ambiguous gender, up from 18 and 2 in the 2021 list. In total there are 121 white characters, 63 Asian characters, 5 Latino characters, 3 Black characters, and 1 Indigenous character, as well as 13 racially ambiguous characters. There are 71 total Characters of Colour, which is twenty fewer than the number listed in 2021.” (AO3 Ship Stats 2022)

even in fandom space representation is a huge issue. 121 white characters. twenty fewer characters of color than last year.

173 of the characters on this list are men. one character is non binary. also the ambiguous gender characters ARE NOT non binary. they’re traveler and x reader (also maybe an mcyt character? i know nothing about mcyt but that fandom seems to be the only one that could fill out the ambiguous gender category).

“There are 56 M/M relationships on the list, 11 F/M, 6 F/F, 20 Gen, 1 Poly and 6 Other. (Please note that on AO3, ‘Name & Name’ indicates platonic or familial ��Gen’ relationships, while ‘Name/Name’ is used for romantic and sexual pairings.)”

SIX FEMSLASH. out of ONE HUNDRED. thats insane. the highest a femslash ship got was 28th. half the femslash ships are below the half point.

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comicreadingorder · 5 years ago

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X-Factor by Louise Simonson Reading Order

When this series started the main X-Men team was full of all new people while Angel, Iceman and Beast had left to bump around between college and groups like the Champions, Defenders and Avengers. Jean was dead, and Cyclops ceded leadership of the team to Storm before retiring to Alaska with his wife and newborn son. ...But fans missed the originals so Marvel jumped through some silly hoops and retconned everyone back to their original versions.

The basis of the team is that X-Factor advertises themselves as humans who hunt down mutants, taking advantage of prejudice to get people to call on anyone they suspect of being a mutant. Once alerted the team would confront the person and, if they actually were a mutant, try to help them by inviting them back to base to stay and learn their powers.

While I wrote lists for other X-Men runs, each is supposed to function by itself rather than part of some master list. I’m sure you could piece them together easily enough if you wanted, but this is made with the mindset of someone only reading X-Factor. Bold=important or official part of the story Italics=optional with a note to let you decide for yourself

Avengers 263, Fantastic Four 286 -- These issues set up the return of the main team and lead into X-Factor 1.

X-Factor (V1) 1-4

XF Annual 1

XF 5-8 -- Louise Simonson takes over with 6 and lasts through 62.

Mutant Massacre

This was the first of the big 3 crossovers uniting the X titles. Despite being the newest, it really thrived during these crossovers, telling such big stories that they almost felt like the main title.

Uncanny X-Men 210, XF 9, UXM 211, XF 10, NM 46, Thor 373, Power Pack (V1) 27, UXM 212, Thor 374, XF 11, UXM 213

XF 12-16

Thor 377, 378 -- A big change to Iceman that lasts through the entire run.

XF 17

XF Annual 2

XF 18-20

Incredible Hulk 336, 337 -- XF 20 leads into these 2 issues. It doesn’t lead back into their title or get mentioned again but they ARE a significant part of the story.

Fall of The Mutants

The second “crossover” of X-titles, except they all pretty much tell their own story in different, unrelated parts of the world so I didn’t include everything. Hulk is just a transition issue for UXM, PP shows an extended XF fight, Cap closes up a loose end, FF is an epilogue. The UXM issues are there because they’re mentioned in Inferno, where the two titles come together.

XF 21-23, UXM 220-224, Incredible Hulk 340, XF 24, 25, PP 35, UXM 225-227, Captain America 339, XF 26, FF 312

XF 27-29

XF Annual 3 -- Part of the Evolutionary War Annuals crossover but each annual’s story is pretty self-contained to their title.

XF 30-34

Inferno

Here the titles cross-pollinate heavily, ending up with some characters jumping over to other books. New Mutants also tells a significant part of Inferno that mostly precedes the XF/UXM issues, but I felt like the X-Terminators miniseries explained enough of that story. Plus there’s already so much convolution in this event that I wanted to narrow the view. UXM 239, X-Terminators 1, XF 35, XT 2-3, XF 36, UXM 240-241, XF 37, XT 4, UXM 242, XF 38, UXM 243, XF 39

XF 40

NM 76

XF 41, 42

XF Annual 4 -- Part of Atlantis Attacks, works as one-shot, follows up on the previous NM issue.

XF 43-58*

Days of Future’s Present: FF Annual 23, NM Annual 6, XF Annual 5, UXM Annual 14

XF 59

XF: Prisoner of Love -- Self contained one-shot about Beast. Mostly just adding to let you know it exists; as far as I know it’s never mentioned again.

X-Tinction Agenda: UXM 270, NM 95, XF 60, UXM 271, NM 96, XF 61, UXM 272, NM 97, XF 62 -- The last big X-over of the three titles during the Claremont era, also the last issues written by Simonson.

XF 63-64**

UXM 273 -- X-Tinction Agenda epilogue by Claremont, also the last issue of his original run where he did both the plot and script.

Kings of Pain: NM Annual 7, New Warriors Annual 1, UXM Annual 15, X-Factor Annual 6 -- Story across annuals about NW and X-Force with backups about Freedom Force. Totally skippable if you’re not reading those. Put here for breathing room between it and the Muir Isle saga.

XF 65-68

Muir Isle Saga: UXM 278-279, XF 69, UXM 280, XF 70

X-Men (V2) 1-3 -- This serves to show all the characters together before they split into teams.

At this point Peter David takes over writing and creates an entirely new team, starting a run that’s popular in its own right.

To follow Cyclops and Beast continue with the Blue team in X-Men (V2) 4.

For Jean Grey, Iceman and Archangel jump to the Gold team starting with Uncanny X-Men 281. See Also:

*X-Men Legends 3, 4 -- X-Men Legends is a 2021 anthology title that had original creators return to tell stories set during their era. The Simsonsons wrote this to take place immediately “before 43″ but like every prequel type thing it spoils later stuff.

**X-Factor Forever 1-5 -- Out of continuity mini from 2010 by Simonson set after her departure in XF 64, it allowed her to show what her future plans for the team were before leaving. Best read after you've finished everything, like a deleted scene or bonus content.

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narcissasdaffodil · 4 years ago

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I posted 39,753 times in 2021

312 posts created (1%)

39441 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 126.4 posts.

I added 1,393 tags in 2021

#litg - 175 posts

#love island the game - 173 posts

#litgs2 - 168 posts

#litg fanfic - 160 posts

#litg marisol - 150 posts

#answered asks - 131 posts

#asks - 129 posts

#fanfic - 129 posts

#marisol x mc - 104 posts

#ask games - 74 posts

Longest Tag: 118 characters

#marilecto hopisol marisol x lottie marisol x astrid and possibly lucisol or bobisol have better chance at getting done

My Top Posts in 2021

Thank you so much for 1k hits and also the 6 month anniversary of when I posted my first ever LCBC chapter! Because of both of those milestones, we have a double update this week x Also I’ve been posting regularly with regards to oneshots too, due to Femslash February, so keep an eye out for more Marilecto content there! Some of it is LCBC related, but the rest of it is either in the overall Marilecto verse, or just Marisol related. I plan on writing some other stuff too x This is slightly earlier than usual due to my lecture finishing a little early x

24 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 16:56:20 GMT

I’m a day late for this trend, but have Alecto and Astrid x I got bored and started messing about with it. This is inspired by @ariendiel and @notasdryapricots

26 notes • Posted 2021-06-11 21:06:26 GMT

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684142/chapters/77523089

WSD chap 13 x

29 notes • Posted 2021-05-17 13:04:53 GMT

Surprise! A double update today, this is basically a late 20th birthday present for me. This will be the last double update in a while, so enjoy. In addition, I started a Lottie x MC fic recently so feel free to check that out if that’s your jam. Along with me finally posting my LCBC moodboard too.

34 notes • Posted 2021-02-25 18:07:52 GMT

what are the things you like and dislike about Marisol and what makes her your favourite?

I love any excuse to ramble about Marisol, so this one will likely get long. In addition, I do ramble a lot naturally, I work my way through all of my thoughts first, so some stuff I write about might appear unrelated, but I promise I’m going somewhere here! As a second note, this has already started turning into a self analysis thing, but I feel that’s the easiest way to do this. Parts of what I’m writing are very personal here.

- Marisol’s a character who’s really close to my heart. When I first played the game I fell for both her and Lottie at first sight. Her route is my favourite route, I struggle with simple and easy routes and am a sucker for a good slow burn. When I first played Season 2, I was starting to recover with my own mental health issues and building myself as a person while learning to not treat myself badly for my own mental health. I’ve experienced further self growth in that time, but the game itself helped me go further with my self journey. Having a distraction that absorbed me so fully and got me interested in the journeys of the characters was appreciated during that time.

- It took me a while to fully come out myself as a lesbian and to sort out who I believed I truly was from the mess in my head. Part of that was due to having a heavily homophobic ex bestfriend so for my own safety I came out as bisexual and let myself believe I was bi, so I could avoid extra questions. Once I was free from her, I came out fully as a lesbian, as I realised how much of my beliefs about myself with my sexuality were a lie and that it was okay to not be attracted to men at all. The reason I’m mentioning this is mainly that I understand her fear about coupling up and why it took so long for her to face her fear there. I saw so much of my younger self in her, and I do relate to her heavily in addition. Actually coming out fully can be difficult, especially if you’re uncertain at the start, or have doubts whether the people around you will be accepting.

- I do understand her commitment issues, especially if she’s been burned in the past. I’ve never been in a relationship at all myself, and am in no rush to do that. I want to do it in the future, but on my terms and when I’m comfortable enough with myself. Being single and never having had a relationship isn’t something I’m ashamed of either, real life isn’t how they portray in the media and wanting to wait and being single in general shouldn’t be stigmatised. People have judged me for waiting before, but I just block that out. Marisol pretending she doesn’t want commitment is likely a defence mechanism to prevent herself getting hurt again. When she finally couples up with MC, she lets go from her previous reservations and becomes very loving and fiercely loyal, which proves she does want commitment but is scared of it.

- I relate to her with the analysing people too. I do that myself as a defence mechanism as I’ve been hurt in the past multiple times by ex friends and other people. So I have to gain an accurate reading on people before I can trust them fully. That still does cause issues for me as I mess up still, but most of my readings on people have been accurate, especially recently. I base whether I like someone on their interactions with others as well as myself, mainly as people can and do be two faced. I’ve had people suck up to me, and be rude to my friends and I’ve also had the reverse.

- I love her growth during her route and it helps give me hope myself that I can eventually get better at trusting people and allowing myself to be more vulnerable with people. I was so happy when she finally coupled up with MC, I found myself doing a happy squeal and was relieved to have the house to myself! It takes a lot for me to have a connection to a character, but once I do I care with all of my heart.

- To follow on from the analysing people point, something else I remembered. Analysis can definitely come from being isolated, which I can confirm there. From Year 1 until Year 4 of primary school, I was entirely alone as my only friend had left me, which had a serious impact on me. It landed me with a fear of rejection so I preferred to be alone. I’m still working through that and helping myself grow. Having connections with people does scare me, a lot, so I do find myself scaring people off by accident or not trying at all. Connections usually appear from people seeking me out, I’ve gained actual people recently through that. People abandoning me will always be a worry for me, which is why I do find myself apologising far too much and doing everything I can to maintain connections with people until there’s a valid reason to let them go.

- I also struggle with being open and vulnerable with my feelings so I can relate heavily to her there. I have to have a strong connection with someone or trust them enough to properly be honest with them. Meaningful connections do take a while to develop for me. She also feels so real and true to life, that’s something I’d likely say about most of the characters of this game.

- She’s also very observant and picks up the subtleties of people in general. I do that too, but I don’t base my entire reading off my observations and what I hear from others. A weakness for her is likely her tendency to rely heavily on reading people over getting to know them herself, and basing her perceptions of people on her observations.

- She can come across as quite cold on first impression which I relate to. I’m like an onion or a pineapple, my spiky exterior/ multiple layers put people off getting to know me, but once they get past my walls and spiky exterior I’m a very warm and loving person. That observation there is based off what people have told me. I do scare people off without meaning to. Marisol as a character does divide opinions herself, which makes sense. I tend to lean towards characters who are more underrated and divide opinions, the more popular characters don’t tend to draw my attention. There’s been exceptions to that rule, and it’s not deliberate either, it’s just the type I automatically default to. Once Marisol trusts people and lets down her walls she’s so loving and so warm. That’s definitely something I’m drawn to in a LI, someone who you have to work through their layers to find who they truly are.

-She’s also very ambitious, which is something we do share there. I do have life goals and have been called intelligent by a lot of people. She’s pretty stubborn and set in her opinions too, which I also relate to. I have experienced personal growth opinions wise, but it has to be me making the decision and coming to that realisation myself. Marisol’s like that too, I feel.

- Right, this is getting so super long! If you’re still with me, wow. Anyway, something I dislike about her is definitely the game playing. Having her use Graham to try and make MC jealous is pretty cold, especially when Graham actually liked her. Playing through Casa did hurt for that reason. I was slightly hesitant about taking her from him, as they seemed to be really compatible during Casa, but I worked through that pretty quickly due to her being the only one I was compatible with.

I think that’s finally it, in terms of analysis points. This has been sitting about for a while, so I’ll finally publish it!

36 notes • Posted 2021-01-01 20:46:19 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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classyfoxdestiny · 4 years ago

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Health Secretary defends Tory MPs refusing to wear masks in parliament

The health secretary has defended Conservative MPs who refuse to wear masks in parliament, following criticism of his party’s lax attitude to the safety measure.

Speaking on Wednesday Sajid Javid said masks were just one of a “suite of measures” that could be taken to prevent illness and said many MPs were vaccinated or might be getting regularly tested as an alternative.

Images from the Commons chamber since MPs returned from summer recess show a marked partisan divide on mask-wearing, with the government benches largely unprotected – in contrast to the opposition.

Though masks are no longer a legal requirement, the government still recommends the public wear them for prolonged periods in enclosed spaces with people outside their own household – with parliament fitting the bill exactly.

Asked about the issue in an interview, Mr Javid also declined to tell people to wear masks at the upcoming Conservative party conference, a mass gathering of the party faithful in Manchester kicking off next month.

He also defended a decision not to require people to provide proof of vaccination to attend the mass event.

Asked why Tory MPs seemed so reticent to wear their masks, Mr Javid said there were “circumstances where people should consider wearing masks” and that the “advice hasn’t changed”.

But adding that the government had “got rid of the legal requirements around masks, he told the BBC’s Today programme: “It’s not just one particular measure – masks, for example, and that’s it – there are a suite of measures.

“Your infectiousness for example is affected by whether you’ve been vaccinated or not, it doesn’t mean that, of course, if you’ve been vaccinated that you can’t be infectious, I’m not saying that at all.

“But there’s a suite of measures that should be taken into account. Vaccinations; are you getting regularly tested, especially if you’re visiting vulnerable people; masks are part of the measures.”

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14 September 2021

Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk

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13 September 2021

Luke Jerram’s ‘Museum of the Moon’ at Durham Cathedral

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12 September 2021

Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his “awesome” year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than £150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospital’s charity

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11 September 2021

British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women’s singles final of the US Open in New York

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10 September 2021

People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria

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9 September 2021

Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queen’s Guard

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8 September 2021

Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London

Reuters

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Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London

A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled “Prairie” by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition ‘Mixing it up: Painting it up’ at the Hayward Gallery in London

EPA

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6 September 2021

Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic

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5 September 2021

People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole

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4 September 2021

Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London.

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3 September 2021

South Africa’s Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men’s 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain’s Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

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2 September 2021

A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season.

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1 September 2021

Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire

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31 August 2021

Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium

Reuters

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30 August 2021

Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London

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29 August 2021

A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London

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28 August 2021

Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire

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27 August 2021

Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit

Action Images via Reuters

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26 August 2021

An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London

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25 August 2021

Gold Medallist Great Britain’s cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Women’s C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold

Reuters

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24 August 2021

A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London

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23 August 2021

Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London

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22 August 2021

Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest

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21 August 2021

People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London

Reuters

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20 August 2021

People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach.

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19 August 2021

Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire

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18 August 2021

Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families

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17 August 2021

Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing

Reuters

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16 August 2021

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute’s silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week

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15 August 2021

2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival

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14 August 2021

A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident

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13 August 2021

Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening

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12 August 2021

Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair

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11 August 2021

Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges

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10 August 2021

Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London

Reuters

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9 August 2021

The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

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8 August 2021

Great Britain’s Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan

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7 August 2021

People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen’s Park, Glasgow

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6 August 2021

Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women’s 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14

Getty

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5 August 2021

A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran’s new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London

AFP via Getty

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4 August 2021

England’s Joe Root looks on as India’s KL Rahul doesn’t make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

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3 August 2021

Great Britain’s Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women’s Team Pursuit and Men’s Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan

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2 August 2021

Great Britain’s Charlotte Worthington competes during the Women’s BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics

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1 August 2021

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31 July 2021

James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics

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30 July 2021

Great Britain’s Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan

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29 July 2021

Team GB’s Mallory Franklin during the Women’s Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. She went on to win the silver medal

Getty

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28 July 2021

Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status

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27 July 2021

A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants.

Questioned on the lax rules planned for Tory conference, Mr Javid said he was “sure many of [those attending] will wear masks”.

But he stopped short of recommending then, adding: “If they’re meeting with people that are a complete stranger, people will actually choose to do that. But many also will be vaccinated, many will also be been taking tests…”

He added that there was no “need for a vaccine passport given where we are with Covid at this point” but said the policy was there was an option if the pandemic “gets out of control” again.

Anti-mask and anti-lockdown sentiment has been widespread in some Conservative-supporting publications read by MPs since the beginning of the pandemic.

Masks have been recommended in countries around the world as a means of reducing the spread of the virus.

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discovering-ellie · 4 years ago

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August 25, 2021 - Post Two

Day Twelve mid-day check in. Today's card comes from the "Relaxation" section of the deck because, well, it was her turn to shine. Tomorrow starts the cycle all over again

Front: "Straight back, soft belly"

Back: "Posture is important. The physical shape with which we meet the world can have a big impact on how we feel and how we act. Nothing embodies the ideals of mindfulness better than the combination of a straight back and a soft belly. The straight back encourages alertness and brightness, and the soft belly fosters a sense of relaxation and openness. Practice this position by bringing your attention to your posture several times a day -- when you're brushing your teeth or waiting for a bus. Notice how mindful posture impacts how your meet whatever comes your way."

My Interpretation: Man, calling me out on my posture now, huh? Honestly, because of my height and stature, I try to have relatively decent posture. I've seen people with a similar height and build to mine with absolutely awful posture (forward slumping shoulders, bowed neck -- think of how Vincent D'Onofrio's character looked once the bug alien took over his body in Men in Black) and that is absolutely NOT what I want to look like. However, during moments where I'm tense, like when my personal space is invaded or I'm stressed out for another reason, my posture goes out the window.

Also, the idea of a soft belly is honestly off-putting to me. I'm extremely insecure about my stomach/midsection (then again, who isn't?) and the idea of letting that be "soft" is just..... yeah. No thank you. There's a reason why I tend to wear oversized clothes a la Spirit Jerseys and huge ass hoodies.

Plan of Action: I mean, I don't know.... practice my posture? Trying to maintain my posture even during moments of stress where all I want to do is curl up into a ball until I'm left alone again? I know this isn't something I'll be able to master overnight but, in time, I think I'll be able to do that.

DBT Skills Card Update: The personal space issue at work is getting a little bit better I think? Kinda sorta maybe? There was a little bit of a hiccup this morning in which my coworker, for some reason, decided to squeak between me and a shelving unit in a room I was still working in just to see a certain dog and play with it but, other than that, things have shown some progress. I just hope that this progress isn't a fluke.

I don't know where else to put this, so I'm going to throw it in with the DBT Skills card since this situation is still pretty much about setting boundaries and expectations (specifically the part that states "...set expectations about how you want to be treated and establish clear boundaries to protect yourself, if necessary").

Last night, I received another couple of text messages from my dad, who I have not spoken to since the end of April following the blow up we had on Facebook where he ended up blocking and deleting me and, in turn, so did a number of my other relatives in, I don't know, solidarity or something. At that point, I decided that I wasn't going to accept that sort of treatment or behavior from him and I have not attempted to contact him since. Until he approaches me with an apology (which, honestly, is not very likely to come from him), I'm not going to give him any form of a response. I have more important things to focus on right now than being guilt tripped (is it technically gaslighting? I honestly don't know) into an apology for something that I don't need to apologize for.

Recently, it has come to my attention that he's been telling certain people a different version of this event -- one where I yelled at him on Facebook in front of all of my friends before deleting and blocking him. Then, he's telling other people that he's so very concerned about me and that I'm not answering any of his calls or texts. Dude, what calls? You haven't called me once aside from a Facetime which was probably a butt dial since you've never used Facetime with me in your life. When he said this to someone, he had sent me a total of one text. One. Yet, he's framing it like he's sent me many and I'm the big, mean, awful child who's ignoring a concerned parent.

This brings us to last night. He sends me another text stating that he's having dinner in Gainesville and is wondering how I'm doing. I, having the standpoint that I currently have, don't answer. He sends another. "You know, if you are ignoring me because you don't want to talk to me. Just ask me not to bother you anymore. I know I am not a perfect person, but I never thought I was that rotten either."

Sorry, not sorry, but I'm not going to take the bait and respond to that, either. It never ends well for me when I've attempted that on other people in the past, and it's certainly not going to end well if I take the bait and respond. I've come too far along in my progress to allow myself to get pulled back into those patterns and behaviors so, despite how frustrating it is, I'm holding firm in my boundary. Admittedly, it's a little difficult because, even still, I want to be like "I'm not answering you until you apologize for x, y, and z" but I also know that that's not effective, either. It gives him exactly what he wants and, ultimately, a forced or coerced apology is almost never a genuine one. I'm hoping that he'll come to the realization on his own but, in the meantime, I guess I'll just have to remain Public Enemy #1.

ACT Skills (aka "Big Emotions") Update: It would be irresponsible of me to not tack this on after mentioning the situation that stressed me out in the beginning of the DBT section. It wasn't necessarily a "big" emotion per se, but a medium to small one that still needed to be recognized. *What was the emotion? - Stress *How long did it last? - 10-15 minutes *What prompted it? - The unnecessary invasion of my personal space while I was trying to complete my morning work *How did it physically feel? - It was a tenseness in my chest. Not very intense, but still tense *What did I do? - I acknowledged the feeling and left the room to take a couple of deep breaths for a minute or two. After going back into the room, I practiced the Expansion technique by acknowledging my stress and where I felt it, and then adding that I could also feel my anxiety ring as I turned it. During this time, I continued with my deep breathing until the feeling left. Afterwards, I tried using a "rainbow grounding" technique -- which is essentially like a version of I Spy where I find an item corresponding to each color of the rainbow and take in a breath for each color as I name the item.

"I am already everything I am trying to be. I will see that if I stop for a minute."

#mental health #mental health blog #mental health journey #mindfulness #mindfulness cards #act #dbt

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plotroast · 4 years ago

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One Night in Miami

Living in 2021, and looking back on the politics and global changes the world has experienced over the course of the last several years, it’s easy to take for granted how little progress has actually been made. More causes have risen for the fight for societal equity, and more avenues to be heard exist, but the same struggles persist, the same fights are being fought, and many of the same barriers are in place. These setbacks are really highlighted when you look at a film that takes place in the 1960s that is as relevant for that time as it is for the time we live in today. Regina King’s directorial debut, One Night in Miami, is the story of four men at the peak of their global impact, coming together in a single room and, honestly, “just” talk. While that may sound reductive, it’s the dialogue and perspectives of these four in particular that really make the movie sing.

On February 25, 1964, after winning the world championship, 22 year old boxer Cassius Clay joins up with football star Jim Brown, singer Sam Cooke, and activist Malcolm X in a hotel room to celebrate. Over the course of a night, they each learn something about themselves and each other. To say much more than that would be both a disservice to the film and also a challenge because not much more than this happens. It’s in the tradition of Stand By Me, where the specifics of the plot aren’t necessarily as vital as the character moments and how these actors play off each other. Each of them is at a turning point in their careers; Cassius Clay is on the eve of his conversion to Islam, Jim Brown is contemplating leaving his football career behind to become an actor, Sam Cooke is struggling with appealing to a racially diverse audience, and Malcolm X is finding himself in an organization that no longer speaks to him in the way he believes it should. Each person has a personal journey here, but they also have unique perspectives on the journeys of their compatriots, and it’s in these exchanges that the movie reveals layers of thought and depth that we don’t usually see in movies of this caliber.

The film is based on a stage play and, for better or worse, that really shows. It means that the content really needs to be driven by the dialogue and the performances. It also means that the world outside the hotel room is rarely seen. When the camera steps back and shows the rest of the world, the results are mixed; while it’s a joy to see Clay’s fights or Cooke perform, it’s less necessary to have the cast convene on a roof, or go to a liquor store. These rare moments feel unnecessary and it wouldn’t have been an issue to leave the men in the single location.

At the core of this piece is the unexpected face-off in ideologies between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke. Cooke, living in gilded luxury, is working to both ingratiate himself with a white audience while also building a career as a businessman in music. X, who publicly denounces the white majority, believes Cooke isn’t doing enough to help his fellow black man; he talks about Cooke using his voice as a leader and how Cooke doesn’t live up to his own potential. The tension between these two is palpable, and they certainly get the most material to work with. Helping in this regard is Leslie Odom, Jr as Cooke who performs renditions of some of Cooke’s top hits, one of which is particularly resonant and closes out the film. In the other corner is Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm, equal parts militant and vulnerable. Watching these two verbally sparring is a treat.

Ironically, though, despite all the in-fighting between Cooke and X, it’s Cassius Clay and Jim Brown, the muscle of the group, who get the short end of the stick in the way of things to do. Cassius is mostly a talking point for the main two in the room, while Jim Brown doesn’t seem to be involved in the debate at all. It’s hard not to wonder if there were elements from the stage that were excised for the film; these two actors certainly have a physical presence, and Eli Goree does a spot-on young Muhammad Ali, so it was mildly disappointing to not get more from them in particular.

If this is Regina King’s first at-bat as director, I look forward to seeing what’s coming up next for her. This definitely warrants a watch, and a rewatch, if for nothing else than the thought-provoking conversations between X and Cooke. Add in some great character moments and scenes (one in particular featuring Beau Bridges was especially memorable) and you’ve got an instant classic that is as salient today as it ever was.

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sportsgeekonomics · 5 years ago

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If you are a university struggling with budgetary issues, PLEASE READ before making dumb athletic decisions... please

Ok, so say you are a mid-major university and you rely fairly heavily on your annual NCAA distribution to support your athletic department. You were counting on $2mm and you got $600K. Ruh, Roh, Scooby!

Now the NCAA comes along and says they want you to give MORE SCHOLARSHIPS TO SPRING ATHLETES? Are they nuts??!??! They squelch down off your school’s largest source of athletic revenue and then they want you to increase athletic expenses? WTF?

Ok, calm down potty mouth, I’ve got some basic economics for you to help you see why having more spring-sport athletes on campus might help your improve your coronavirus-threatened university’s P&L for 2020-2021. And you can thank me by trying to internalize this mantra: “accounting figures are a useful, human-created fiction but when they conflict with reality, you should choose reality”

Let’s build a hypothetical school in a hypothetical world. Let’s invent a school, say, the University of Corona. And as we all know, the school’s athletic teams are known as the Ragin’ Viruses.

Normally Corona is at, or very close, to capacity. But because of the social distancing scare, they sent everyone home early in the 2019-2020 academic year and for whatever reason, a bunch of sophomore and juniors chose to transfer prior to the 2020-2021 year. So there is a one-time glut of unused dorms and you expect your classrooms to be like 3/4 full come Fall Semester. Your entire campus administration is reeling from the impact. If tuition revenue is down 25%, that’s a huge hit to Corona’s ability to pay professors, staff, and to support athletics. No one is happy with the possibility of cuts, but cuts may be needed. As athletic director of the Ragin’ Viruses, you’re asked to find a way to either cut the net impact of your $4.5 million budget on the university as a whole by 5% or increase revenue by a similar amount to avoid cuts. That’s $225,000 you need to come up with

Now the NCAA comes along. In our hypothetical world, there are only 2 Spring sports, men’s sportball and women’s sportball. Both are equivalency sports (for non NCAA masters, this means that you are allocated x full scholarships but you can spread them over more than x students). Let’s just say each sport allows 10 GIAs (i.e. what people often call athletic scholarships), and Corona tends to spread it over 20 athletes. Assume a Full GIA has a listed Cost of Education of $25,000, split as follows:

Tuition & Fees: $10K

Room: $10K

Board $4K

Books: $1K

TOTAL: $25,000 per full GIA per year.

(side note: “Cost of Education” is a term of art somewhat distinct from “Cost of Attendance” -- the difference being CoE excludes Travel Expenses and Personal/Living Expenses that are costs born by student but not paid to schools. schools that pay “Full COA” provide a cash payment to cover those extra 2 categories, and these are sometimes called a COA Stipend. In this example, Corona Univ does not give COA Stipends to Spring sport athletes.)

So your spring sports athletes GIAs are listed on you Membership Reporting Financial System (MFRS) entries as 40 athletes (20 men, 20 women) each at 50% scholarship, and thus your GIA expense is 40 x 50% x $25000 = $500,000.

Last assumption, and this is a strong one: assume none of your sportball athletes can afford to attend Corona without a scholarship. If they lose their GIA, they’ll transfer to a local college or drop out.

With me so far?

Well one very obvious way to reduce your budget by $500,000 would be to just cancel all Spring sport GIAs, which reduces your budget by more than 10%, way more than the 4.5% you were asked to contribute. You feel like a hero. But is that really going to help Corona U as much as you think?

TLDR: Nope. Here’s why:

When you cut those 40 scholarships, your listed scholarship expense drops by $500,000. Woot, budget balanced and you even saved the school a lot extra! Except your Provost didn’t ask you to cut your budget by $225K. She asked you to cut the impact of your budget on the overall campus finances by $225K. Which means you need to take a whole-university perspective. And when you cut those scholarships, the athletes who got them drop out of Corona. Meaning that they collective pay in less in tuition and fees (40 people x 50% x $10,000 = $200,000) and less in room (40 people x 50% X $10,000 = $200,000), etc. Leaving Books and Board to the side for a moment, by cutting your GIA budget by $500,000, you’ve just reduced university revenue by $400,000 just from lost Tuition, Fees, and Room revenue. That’s not going to win you points with the Provost.

And worse still -- when you used to pay the $500,000 in GIAs, you didn’t actually give money to students. You send money to... the Bursar, on campus. So when you stop giving scholarships, you actually reduced the Bursars revenue by another $500,000 as well, meaning that your $500,00 savings got erased, plus you lost another $400,000 (and we haven’t even looked at books or board yet)

Ah, but you say, by not having those students on campus, you’re saving the costs of actually educating them. Gotta take that into account as well. Ok, well, what does it cost to provide a room to a student if you have spare dorm rooms sitting idle? Remember this whole crisis were started by a one-time shock to the system from the virus where your enrollment declined by 25%. You have empty dorms sitting there, earning no money and costing very little to maintain. Maybe it costs $100/semester for electricity and housekeeping, but it’s basically cost-less. And the same goes for tuition. If the classrooms are 75% full, there is almost no cost to having more people attend the same lectures, have their papers reviewed by the same teaching assistants, etc., attend office hours of professors with time to spare, etc. You aren't actually saving any costs because (with spare capacity) on the margin, tuition and room have no incremental costs. They are all fixed costs (again, if you are under-capacity).

So you didn’t save your school a dime -- you reduced outside revenue by $400,000, and you lowered athletics listed expenses by $500,000 but you also lowered the bursars listed revenue by $500,000. You just cost the school $400K. If this were Oregon Trail, you’d be dead in a river.

Ah, but what about books and board -- those have real costs. If I don't have to feed 40 hungry athletes, that saves some money, right? And if I don't have to provide books, that saves money too, right? And the answers there are yes and yes. But it’s not as much of a savings as you think.

Corona University, like a lot of schools, has a contract with Barnes and Noble to runs its own bookstore and with a food service provider to run its cafeteria and meal plans. When anyone makes a book store purchase (even athletics), 20% of the revenue goes to the school. When anyone pays for a student’s meal plan (even athletics), 10% of the revenue goes to the school. So for books, when the athletic department cancelled 40 GIAs, you caused the following changes:

(a) The bookstore got $40,000 less in revenue (40 people x $1K in book spending)

(b) the school thus got $8,000 less in revenue. (20% of total)

(d) thus the net savings was only $32,000, not $40,000.

For board, the effects are similar but food is more expensive and you get a lower benefit:

(a) The food service provider got $160,000 less in revenue (40 people x $4K in food spending)

(b) the school thus got $16,000 less in revenue. (10% of total)

(d) thus the net savings was only $144,000 ($160K-$16K), not $160,000.

Ok, so yes, when we ignored board and books, you ended up harming the school by $400,000, and now that we look at board and books, we see you saved the school $176,000, so the net “benefit” of your cutting 40 athletes’ 50% GIAs is to reduce total campus revenue by $224,000.

This may be what Donald Trump learned to do at Wharton, but for the rest of us this is a bad way of doing business. You were asked to improve things by $250,000 and instead you harmed the school by $224,000.

Ok, well, how to fix things then?

Well, let’s add to our hypothetical. Assume the NCAA just told you that you that you can double your GIAs for 2019-2020 on a one-time basis. That is, you can add 40 GIA equivalencies for Spring sports in 2019-20. And just imagine that a whole lot of schools out there just cancelled men’s and women’s sportball (or went out of business altogether) or that there just happen to be a ton of extra sportball athletes looking for scholarships. So you make a cool Corona U video featuring your lovable mascot, COVID19 (that’s his uniform number, of course), and it goes, well, viral. You find 20 additional women and 20 additional men who very much want to come to Corona if you can give them your standard 50% sportball GIA. So you do, and you budget now says your expenses just increased by $500K.

Now you might be saying to me, um, what part of save money don’t you understand, Adam Smith?

Ah, but let’s run the numbers.

40 more people come to campus. They pay the bursar each $12,500, so in total, they bring in $500,000 more in revenue on their own. Plus you give the bursar another $500,000 to cover the other half of the scholarships. That’s a gain of $1 million in revenue on the Bursar’s account.

Now athletics, it is true, is down $500,000. Thus, so far, the next gain is $500,000.

The students get rooms that cost nothing (b/c of the glut of empty dorm rooms) and they fill seats in classrooms that bring no additional cost.

The bursar does need to send $40K more over to the bookstore, and only 20% of that flows back in to the bookstore revenue (b/c Barnes & Noble takes 80%), so books do cost the school, and on net the cost is $32K.

Ditto, the food service process. Of the $25K per student the bursar’s dept. got, they sent $4k per person to the food service firm and only 10% flows back to the school. On net, this costs a total of $144K.

And so the bursar’s $500K profit is reduce by $176K, meaning the school has just gained $224,000 by adding 40 athletes on 50% scholarships.

Wow, you’re only $1K away from meeting your goal. The last $1K comes from selling off the golden toilet in your personal executive bathroom. Sorry, but times are tough here, so tough even Athletic Directors have to rough it a bit.

Obviously, these numbers are stylized and not every assumption is as easy as this. Perhaps not all athletes will drop out if their scholarships are cut. Perhaps finding more athletes willing to attend won’t be that easy. Perhaps it costs a lot more to provide electricity to dorms so that there are somewhat lower benefits from filling an empty room. But conceptually, if you have empty class space (with excess teaching capacity) and empty dorm space (with excess sleeping capacity), you are going to lose money if you don’t fill it with a paying customer, even if that paying customer is not paying full price. Ask cruise lines, or at least ask them after they finish bleaching their ships, why they offer last minute steep discounts on cruises if they have empty rooms. it’s because the cost of cleaning one more cabin on a ship, even a deep daily Corona clean, is a small portion of the cost of running a cruise ship, and most of the costs are fixed (i.e., independent of how many passengers are on board). The same is true of a university: as long as the school has empty dorms and empty seats in class, bringing in a partial scholarship student is going to be a net benefit as long as the portion paid by the athlete exceeds the marginal (i.e., incremental) costs of feeding the athlete and providing books, because most of the rest of the incremental costs are trivially small.

If you are AD, I beg you not to hurt your beloved school by a false belief that accounting expenses are the same thing as lost money. I hope you can learn the lesson of Corona University and stop the spread of this sort of viral econ-illiteracy.

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ladystylestores · 5 years ago

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Giorgio Armani Reveals New Initiatives as Group Stores Reopen – WWD

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MILAN — With the Italian government’s latest decisions part of the “Relaunch Decree,” stores, bars, restaurants, hairdressers, beach resorts and museums are allowed to open on May 18 and on Sunday, the Armani Group issued its latest initiatives for this new phase as the country eases its coronavirus lockdown.

As reported, the lockdown was first enforced on March 9 and has been gradually eased since May 4, allowing production and construction to restart. As per the new decree, gyms, pools and sports centers will open starting from May 25. From June 3, citizens will be allowed to move between regions and travel outside Italy to those countries that permit it or return to Italy without being obliged to a quarantine. Cinemas, theaters and children’s recreational centers will open from June 15. These guidelines can be changed depending on the curve of the contagion and on the region. For example, Lombardy remains one of the regions to monitor more carefully, accounting for half of the new infections.

Starting May 18, Armani will dedicate his storied mural in Via Broletto to the image of the doctor with wings holding Italy in her arms, which has come to symbolize the fight against turn coronavirus. The designer’s words of encouragement appear next to the drawing by Franco Rivolli: “To restart safely we still need her.”

With the billboard, Armani once again focuses “on the commitment of those who, still in the front line, are taking care of people, calling on Italians not to let their guard down,” stated the group on Sunday. The image will also be published on the company’s social media networks.

As reported, Armani in March took a full-page ad in more than 60 newspapers in Italy, writing a letter to all of the health-care providers strenuously fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

“It is moving to see you engaged in your work with all the difficulties and the great efforts that by now all the world knows. And especially to see you cry,” the designer wrote in the paid letter. “I think that this feeling is connected to my own desire to become a doctor when I was young and I was looking to forge my path.”

Armani was quick to understand the effects of COVID-19 and decided to show his fall 2020 collection behind closed doors in February. Also, he immediately donated 1.25 million euros to a range of Italian hospitals and institutions involved in fighting the coronavirus in the country.

In Tokyo, the designer has changed the illumination of the Armani Ginza Tower facade decorated with a bamboo motif into blue. In Japan, the color is used to express gratitude to the people working in the medical industry for their work fighting against the coronavirus.

The Armani Ginza Tower in Tokyo courtesy image

On the occasion of the reopening of the directly owned Giorgio Armani stores around the world, such as in Milan, Paris, Munich, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney, in compliance with the procedures established locally, the group said 10 percent of the proceeds from sales of the spring 2020 collection will be donated to charities operating in their respective cities.

Armani will continue to produce disposable medical overalls, transferring them from the owned Italian factories in Trento, Carrè, Matelica and Settimo Torinese, which have restarted manufacturing the group’s fashion collections, to those of sub-suppliers in Italy and other countries, all under the direct responsibility and supervision of G.A. Operations.

The reopening of the directly owned stores in Italy and around the world will be in line with the standards and regulatory provisions of each country, in order to protect the health and safety of the public and its workforce, stated the group. “Application of a strict protocol and duly trained staff will ensure that the shopping experience is personalized and fulfilling.”

To ensure customer service and easier access to the points of sale, Armani launched on Friday the “Book an appointment service” online for his namesake and Emporio Armani stores around the world. By connecting to armani.com, customers will be able to select a date and time at the nearest point of sale. The service will be active for the A|X Armani Exchange stores starting June 3.

In addition, the Emporio Armani Caffè e Ristorante and Nobu Milano will continue to provide customers special menus for delivery, until the upcoming reopening.

Since last Friday, Emporio Armani Caffè e Ristorante has extended the offering with takeaway and home delivery options, including breakfasts and light lunches.

As reported earlier this month, Armani said his namesake and Emporio Armani men’s and women’s shows will be presented in September here. He also said the Armani Privé show will be postponed to January 2021 and will be no longer held in Paris, and that the collection will be seasonless, comprising winter and summer pieces.

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ohioprelawland · 5 years ago

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First Shot Of USWNT Suit Blocked

By Vincent Lucarelli, The Ohio State University, Class of 2021

May 12, 2020

On May 1, the Central District Court of California ruled the United States Women’s National Soccer Team would not see their equal pay suit go to trial, in the case of Alex Morgan et al v. United States Soccer Federation Inc.

The team, who won their second straight FIFA World Cup in France last summer, initially filed the suit in March of 2019,alleging the fact their counterpart men’s squad is being paid more is a violation of the Equal Pay Act.The women also made additional allegations that the United States Soccer Federation was discriminating against them in other ways like giving them inferior travel accommodations.

The Equal Pay Act dates from 1963 when President Kennedy added it as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Section 6(d)(1) of the amendment, begins by stating “No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate…. between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees…at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex.”[i]This set a precedent that has had its share of ups and downs in court throughout history.

For example, in the case of Rizo v. Yovino, Fresno County, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2018 that it was in fact a violation of the Equal Pay Act for Fresno County Public Schools to have a policy in which new hires were paid the same salary as their last job plus 5%.[ii]Judge Stephen Reinhardt’s majority opinion at the time focused on how “salaries speak louder than words” and how basing one’s current salary on prior salary only continues to perpetuate the gender pay gap. This was a major win for equal pay advocates but Reinhardt died before the decision was published and the Supreme Court later invalidated the 6-5 decision by ruling that his vote could not be counted. [iii]

More recently, in 2020, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a law meant to close the wage gap that was passed in the city of Philadelphia, making it illegal for employers to look into a prospective employee’s wage history at all in

Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia v. City of Philadelphia.[iv]

These two cases are a good example of how this fight for equal pay has had its share of setbacks (for good reasons or not) but often there is some give and take depending on how certain aspects are interpreted.

The soccer team’s case takes on a different hue because of the presence of a thorny issue—collective bargaining. Judge R. Gary Klausner, who wrote the majority decision in the women’s case,cited terms from a collective bargaining agreement that was agreed upon in 2017—one that midfielder and outspoken voice Megan Rapinoe stated the Women’s Nation Team Players Association should be proud of[v]—as the reasons for his judgement. More specifically, Klausner stated the women’s team chose to forgo higher bonuses in exchange for other benefits such as being able to have more players under contract and they cannot now state after the fact, that the were not treated fairly as that is what they agreed to at the time.[vi]

Over the years,collective bargaining has come to be associated with what is often referred to as the “Factors Other than Sex Defense.”[vii] This moniker takes its name from the sentence that ends the previously mentioned section 6(d)(1) of the original Equal Pay Act. That sentence rounds out the original “No employer shall discriminate…” statement cited above by saying that “factors other than sex” can be exceptions to the rules that are outlined in the Act.

The Act lists a seniority system, a merit system,and a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production as possible exceptions.i The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Compliance Manual, which dates from 2000, goes into greater detail by listing in its section 10 on “Compensation Discrimination” ten additional “defenses” that could be identified as “factors other than sex” and collective bargaining is one of them.[viii]The U.S. Soccer Federation has claimed as defenses several of these listed factors over the past year including differences in revenue production,[ix] and the idea of a merit system stemming from the fact that the women received greater aggregated pay since they played more and higher tier matches than the men.

Sticking with collective bargaining though, specific cases in which the issue of a collective bargaining agreement has come in conflict with the Equal Pay Act are few in comparison to some of the other factors listed. In point of fact, Title 29, Chapter XIV, section 1620.23 of the Code of Federal Regulations (entitled “Labor”) explicitly states “Any and all provisions in a collective bargaining agreement which provide unequal rates of pay in conflict with the requirements of the EPA are null and void and of no effect.”[x] The EEOC manual echoes the language of Title 29. Moreover, deeper in the original Equal Pay Act, it states “No labor organization…. representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection.”Paragraph 1, of course in this case refers to the original “No employer shall discriminate on the basis of sex” section.

As a statement of facts,the verbiage in these laws contradicts what Judge Klausner wrote in his decision. According to the documents mentioned above, the terms of a CBA cannot be a defense against unequal pay. Even then Molly Levinson, a spokesperson for the women’s camp, claimed in a tweet published May 9, that the women only accepted the 2017 CBA because the U.S. Soccer Federation would not discuss equal pay, and they then accepted the best deal possible. [xi]

At the same time, if US Soccer does not want to follow this path laid by Klausner and instead wants to stick to a defense like the one they provided in a statement following initial allegations of discrimination in March 2019--stating that differences in pay related to differences in revenue produced by each team--“they might be able to justify this.”vi In saying this, EEOC manual cites Byrd v. Ronayne, a 1995 case decided in the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found a male lawyer was justified in receiving higher pay because he generated more revenue for his firm. That case that has many similarities to the case between soccer teams in question here and, in short, this all illustrates the multiple ways in which the “Factors Other than Sex Defense” can be applied by U.S. Soccer.

The women filed an appeal on May 8.

________________________________________________________________

[i]The Equal Pay Act of 1963. (1963). Retrieved from U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Statutes website: https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/equal-pay-act-1963

[ii]Chappell, B. (2018, April 10). The Equal Pay Act of 1963. Retrieved from National Public Radio website: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/10/601096889/women-cant-have-prior-salaries-used-against-them-court-says-in-equal-pay-case

[iii]ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT (18–272). (2019, February 25). Retrieved from The Supreme Court of the United States website: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-272_4hdj.pdf

[iv]Grossman, J. (2020, February 11). A Win for Equal Pay: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds A Law Designed to Address Wage Gap. Retrieved from Justia website: https://verdict.justia.com/2020/02/11/a-win-for-equal-pay-the-third-circuit-court-of-appeals-upholds-a-law-designed-to-address-wage-gap

[v]Hays, G. (2017, April 5). U.S. Soccer, women's national team ratify new CBA. Retrieved from ESPN website: https://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/story/_/id/19082314/us-soccer-women-national-team-ratify-new-cba

[vi]Gardner, E. (2020, May 4). In U.S. Soccer Ruling, Judge Shows Why "Equal Pay" Can Be Elusive. Retrieved from Hollywood Reporter website: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/us-soccer-ruling-judge-shows-why-equal-pay-can-be-elusive-1293066

[vii]CLOSING THE “FACTOR OTHER THAN SEX” LOOPHOLE IN THE EQUAL PAY ACT. (2011, April 4). Retrieved from National Women's Law Center website: https://www.nwlc.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/4.11.11_factor_other_than_sex_fact_sheet_update.pdf

[viii]EEOC Compliance Manual: Section 10 Compensation Discrimination. (2000, December 5). Retrieved from United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/section-10-compensation-discrimination#N_74_

[ix]U.S. Soccer Formally Denies Claims of Gender Discrimination in Response to USWNT. (2019, May 7). Retrieved from Sports Illustrated website: https://www.si.com/soccer/2019/05/07/us-soccer-uswnt-lawsuit-gender-discrimination-equal-pay-response

[x]Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: Title 29. (2014). Retrieved from Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute website: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/1620.23

[xi]O'Mard, M. (2020, May 9). USWNT Appeals Dismissal Of Equal Pay Lawsuit Vs. U.S. Soccer Federation . Retrieved from New England Sports Network website: https://nesn.com/2020/05/uswnt-appeals-dismissal-of-equal-pay-lawsuit-vs-u-s-soccer-federation/

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classyfoxdestiny · 4 years ago

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General calls on Boris Johnson to set out new strategy to stop Afghanistan becoming terror base

A former head of the UK armed forces has called on Boris Johnson to set out a new strategy for Afghanistan to prevent the country once more becoming a haven for international terror following the West’s “defeat”.

General Lord Richards said he was “fed up” with government silence over what comes next after the withdrawal of Western troops from the country, where he commanded the International Security Assistance Force between 2006 and 2007.

The pull-out represented the culmination of “a pretty sorry tale of Western failed geo-strategy over the last 20 years”, not only in Afghanistan but also in Iraq, Libya and Syria, he said.

And he warned that with European troops gone and US deployment set to follow within months, cities like Kandahar are likely to fall to the Taliban, creating “ungoverned space” which could provide a haven for the planning of future terrorist outrages like the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

Gen Richards, who served as chief of defence staff from 2010-13, said that he accepted a “share of the blame” for the failure to secure Afghanistan from eventual recapture by militant fighters. But he said Western politicians bore much of the responsibility because of a failure to pour in political and economic resources following the initial fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Gen Richards told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have invested – as a country, as the West and the United States particularly – 20 years of time and much money and many lives in Afghanistan.

“I’m getting a little bit fed up that I’ve not heard from our government – indeed from the prime minister – as to why we have reached this nadir.

“It’s really not good enough, and I would like to hear from the government – I think it’s a prime ministerial obligation now – as to why we’ve got into this position and what we are now going to do about it.”

The former army chief has been active in the campaign to allow Afghan military interpreters to resettle in the UK, but warned that this must not be allowed to deflect attention from the wider issues around the future of the region.

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“It’s deflecting attention from our defeat,” said Gen Richards. “Added to what happened in Iraq, Libya, Syria, it’s a pretty sorry tale of Western failed geo-strategy over the last 20 years.

“And it’s time we had an explanation of why and what are we now going to do about it, to prevent it from happening in the way we all now fear might occur.”

Gen Richards said that the “light-touch” political and economic approach pursued by United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi meant that the international community failed to consolidate the military gains of the 2001 campaign to oust the Taliban, allowing the militant group to return as a threat in 2006-07.

“As all soldiers will tell you, we know we can’t win these things by military means alone,” he said.

“What we hoped we were doing was providing an opportunity for governments, the whole of the West, to act in the way they needed, not just militarily but politically and economically.

“That didn’t happen… At the very moment, in 2002 to 2005, when the West should have poured in assets – and I’m talking primarily non-military by the way – we didn’t do so. The Taliban sensed an opportunity, they came back.”

Gen Richards said it was “inevitable” that Afghanistan’s second city Kandahar will fall to the Taliban forces unless circumstances change.

And he said the capture of the “totemic” city would pave the way for the whole of the south of the country to fall into the group’s hands.

“My biggest worry at the moment is, with the Western forces having pulled out with no adequate explanation of what is going to replace them, we are going to see a potential collapse in Afghan Armed Forces morale,” he said.

This “most certainly” raised the risk of a return of Islamist terror groups similar to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida, which planned the 9/11 attacks as guests of the Taliban in Afghanistan, he said.

“There will be ungoverned space… and in that ungoverned space terrorist acts may yet again be planned and executed,” warned Gen Richards.

“I think we all forget too readily the scenes of 9/11, the Twin Towers and the attack in Washington.

“That is actually why we went into Afghanistan, and we’ve been spectacularly successful in achieving what we aimed to do. That is now being put at risk, along with all the wonderful gains in terms of education, health, and democracy, allowing people to hope for the future.

“All that is now, I’m afraid at great risk. We don’t have a substitute strategy and I want to hear what it should be.”

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