#modern finance function

[mbogorealestatecoreinternational]

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[fuckyeahisawthat]

who decides the future of hextech?

Hot take: I don't think Hextech functions like a scrappy tech startup at all. I know the Arcane writers have made this comparison themselves, but it doesn't really track with what we see in the show.

It's made pretty clear that Jayce and Viktor have at best limited control over what direction Hextech goes in. In a city that's hostile to and suspicious of magic, they need the continued goodwill of the Council, and the wealthy families who sit on the Council, for their work to continue to exist at all. And that shapes how Hextech develops.

For the first 6-10 years of its existence (however long you think the S1 timeskip is), Hextech consists of one (1) project: the Hexgates. A major piece of international transit infrastructure, utilizing a brand-new technology that no one knew was even possible a few years earlier, and requiring a massive financial outlay for construction years before seeing any profits. Frankly, taking that from the very first shaky proof of concept to a fully functioning piece of infrastructure in less than 10 years is astonishing. This isn't like inventing Facebook; this is equivalent to creating the internet itself.

An infrastructure project on the scale of the Hexgates could be entirely state-funded (and therefore state-controlled, answering to the Council). But from the dialogue and visual storytelling, I think it's reasonable to infer that Hextech functions more like a public-private partnership.

In the modern era, PPPs have come to be associated with privatization and neoliberal capitalism. But funding infrastructure development this way was common in the 19th century too, closer to the time period from which Arcane draws its steampunk-ish inspiration.

So who's picking up the tab? I think it's some combination of government funding from the Council and private funding from Mel Medarda and the Kirammans.

We see one other Kiramman-funded infrastructure project in the show: the Undercity ventilation system.

And, as we see in that case, what may seem like a purely benevolent investment for the good of the city as a whole comes with a very high potential for control. (And where do the Hexgate plans end up at the end of the show? In the Kiramman family vault, accessible only with the Kiramman key.)

The Kiramman family crest is all over Hextech at Progress Day. It's prominent on the stage when Jayce speaks, positioned as equal to his own House.

Cassandra Kiramman introduces Jayce's speech, and Jayce gets trotted around the Kiramman family tent like a show pony beforehand.

The Kiramman crest is also on the box containing the hexgems, which makes me suspect that the facility needed to process the gemstones is either owned or financed by the Kirammans.

Mel's influence is more subtle. There's no Medarda crest on anything associated with Hextech; once you learn a bit about Mel's relationship with her family, that is not surprising. But clearly Mel feels comfortable speaking to other investors on behalf of Hextech, without feeling the need to run it by Jayce or Viktor first.

I think this exchange implies that (1) getting additional, outside investors is something new that they haven't done to finance earlier rounds of Hextech development, and (2) Mel is planning ahead in case the Council doesn't like the direction Hextech is going next and they need to secure additional funding.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mel was the one who steered them toward shipping and long-distance trade as a marketable use for Hextech in the first place, something many of the councillors seem to have an economic stake in.

Throughout this whole scene with Jayce and Mel, the Hexgate model sitting on her desk is very prominent. It's the first thing we see in the scene; the color and lighting make it stand out; and it appears in the frame in multiple shots. It's the thing that's always there between them.

Mel and Cassandra Kiramman are also councilors, and along with Heimerdinger they are Hextech's main allies on the Council--3 out of 7. Jayce and Viktor really can't afford to piss off any of them...which gets complicated when they want opposite things.

At the time of Progress Day, Hextech is at a turning point.

This conversation implies that they have not had a lot of freedom to develop and build whatever they wanted in the years during the timeskip. It's an interesting reversal of the dynamic we saw from them in 1.02 and 1.03. This time Jayce is the one forging ahead, confident they can get what they want, while Viktor is the one pointing out obstacles. (This is also the first time we see Viktor's face post-timeskip and register how much sicker he's become, which...oof.)

Regardless of how much they talk about "bringing magic to the people," I think it's notable that both their little spiels focus on how these inventions would increase worker productivity. This is a presentation designed for people who are thinking about their bottom line. And they seem to expect that any new developments with Hextech will have to be given Council approval before they can proceed.

(I think all of this puts the Hexcore in a slightly different light, too. It's quite possibly the first Hextech device since Jayce's original prototype that they've built without thinking about the pitch meeting. It's not a single-purpose object with an immediate, obvious use. In the beginning, it seems to recapture some of that original sense of wonder and discovery. And Viktor built it. I can see how he would be protective of his creation even before things Got Weird with it.)

And then, of course, everything goes off the rails. The gemstone gets stolen; Jayce gets pulled onto the Council. And after that point, every new Hextech object that Jayce makes is a weapon.

Jayce and Viktor's arc can be read as a story about the hubris of scientists thinking they can control forces they don't understand and anticipate every possible consequence, or a story about their naivete in thinking they could keep their research somehow above politics in a world full of conflict. And it's not not about those things. But it can also be read as a story about how discovery, creativity, and people's natural altruistic impulses get constrained by capitalism, and how often innovation is only valued if it can be made to serve war or profit.

(As for who controls the future of Hextech after the end of the show? With Viktor, Jayce, Mel and Heimerdinger all gone from Piltover...Caitlyn, probably. A detail I would love to see someone use in a fic.)

[celestialtarot11]

Hey bby! What placements indicate someone becoming a librarian or an archivist? I feel like I never see this specific question being mentioned so I’m really curious!!

Strong mercury in the 1h, 8h, 3h, or 9h. Saturn 1h as well. Also, positive aspects to the 2h, 7h, 11h can show a native handling finances well, and gaining income, and of course mercury must be supported through its aspects.

Virgo mercury- underestimated intelligence, and the hoarders of knowledge. Often times these signs find themselves obsessing over factual information, preferring logic at times over emotion. Philosophy, stoicism. they do great at law, psychology, music, poetry/book writing, politics, and don't mind spending time alone to hunt for information. Even more amplified if Mercurys ruler lands in the 8h/12h, or mercury falls in the 8h/12h.

Someone with a debilitated mercury can also be underestimated, Although it takes them longer to process and understand information, study, and such, their pace can allow them to be incredibly cautious and careful with their wording and perspective in matters. I can also understand someone having a debilitated mercury (mercury= nervous system) going inward to research about health across all contexts, and thus finding themselves in a library: online or physical. These mercury natives need to understand their bodily systems function, and going inward is what helps them best. I would also imagine they'd like to be alone lol. Debilitated mercury can suggest issues with handling finances though, but I'd check 2h and 11h, 7h, and aspects.

Mercury-pluto encompassing all aspects makes for a challenged, and ever changing person. The negative the aspect (square especially) can trigger growth and a deep need for a change in perception of the world and humanity. They can be incredibly adept at handling deep information, but experience ups and downs and deep fears of knowing too much at once. Can knowing more help, or hurt? When does ignorance become bliss? When does it become ego?

Well placed 3rd house (meaning, ruler is well placed, aspects are beneficial) can help tremendously with someone's mind. Like, venus 3rd house can mean someone who approaches things from an emotionally intelligent stand point, especially if Venus is supported through aspects and rulership. They can be diplomatic in nature too. I also feel they can be an archivist from a sentimental standpoint, think of it like preserving history, and also, a librarian drawn to aesthetic and the comfiness of libraries. Being knowledgeable and well aware feels comforting to them, rather than to be in the dark.

But, I will like to bring in a controversial aspect: Saturn 3h. While seen as detrimental and it can be, meaning slower to learn and harder to grasp concepts, once these natives understand their language of learning they truly can succeed. And they do it with a sense of dedication. They can prefer to delve into darker topics that are considered taboo especially. They can trace history from all its dark periods and times up to the modern world, how its still present just subtle.

I think also Libra Venus/ mars 3h/9h can be drawn to aesthetics of studying, that may be their motivation. Like being in libraries, cafe's, think having their laptops out or books lol. Having a put together visual is what drives them.

Gemini placements can also represent being a librarian, an affinity for cozy spaces, and also if their mercury is well placed they'll do well with the accounting side too.

And hear me out: Capricorn. I just feel as though Capricorn is the gateway to knowledge, something about Capricorns being a threshold to knowledge, especially deeper and taboo topics. I also feel as though Capricorns have a special relationship with time itself, either wanting to preserve it, bury timelines, or jump. They can do well up keeping and archiving information, due to Saturns steady influence. But I'd check for mercury's position as well to see how their mental processing is.

Aquarius and gemini, virgo, Capricorn, can make for someone with a social online presence who shares information with others. Like a talking library, they're excellent at conveying knowledge if their placements are well supported. I see Aquarius and Gemini having a quirky online presence, Capricorn can feel more structured and put together with their information :)

Surprisingly, Leo with cancerian placements can be a librarian too. Both signs are about relating to others, giving and receiving. This duality is compelling. In a more spiritual standpoint, I've seen natives with this enter akashic records, and not just convey their experience but turn it into a lesson for others to learn from in a way. They are not a librarian by the standards we accept, but they lead in such a way with what they learned. They are brave and tender with their knowledge. And they are incredibly perceptive, having a conversation with them is truly something else. Even cancer on its own can develop an innate fascination with knowledge.

Scorpios can have a fascination with history, time periods, and archiving it all. Strong Pluto in one's chart can hint at this too.

I hope this helped <3

[axolterp]

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[lesbianandstressing]

Modern AU Arcane headcanons

So I finally watched Arcane, and safe to say I’m obsessed! Here are some headcanons I have of the characters existed in the same world as us, where (mostly) everyone is happy and alive :)

vi and powder are always forcing everyone to do stupid tiktok challenges and dances. vander and silco are very reluctant to participate but they somehow manage to go viral every single time

isha is powder and ekko’s adoptive child, and everyone absolutely loves her. she’s mute so everyone learned asl so she can easily communicate with them

vi and jayce play gta online together, and they either team up or constantly fuck with each other and cause chaos

caitlyn’s accent is frequently made fun of by everyone, especially powder

powder and caitlyn pretend to hate each other but are always there for one another when it really matters

sevika and isha are always teaming up to prank everyone. powder has woken up completely duct taped to her bed with sevika filming her and ekko dying with laughter

vi is in the running for the most ticklish person on earth, and everyone, and i mean everyone absolutely loves to tickle her because it’s such an easy way to mess with her. it’s a rarity for vi to go a day without being tickled by somebody at least once

vi and caitlyn’s place is the hang out spot for everyone. game nights, movie nights, and just general get togethers are always held at their place

the group plays cards against humanity (after isha goes to bed of course), and vi and powder are always putting down the most ridiculous cards that never make sense, but they always make everyone cackle

powder laughs so hard when she’s the judge that she can barely get through the cards, it takes her at least 20 minutes

mario kart tournaments always see the most competitiveness out of everyone. mel is somehow the reigning champion despite knowing very little about video games. powder and vi always sabotage each other and often get in physical play fights during mario kart

isha loves legos and has an entire collection that is taking over the house. ekko and powder are very supportive of this but they don’t know what to do about isha running out of space 😭

everyone always competes for title of isha’s favorite aunt/uncle. current title holders are sevika and jayce, but it changes very frequently

vander and silco are isha’s honorary grandfathers

isha has both of then wrapped around her finger

viktor owns a minecraft server that everyone plays on, and he’s like the dad who has to stop everyone from griefing each other

powder’s nickname is still jinx-but for a different reason. vi and powder would always play jinx related games where they would try to not say the same word, and powder always won. so jinx is vi’s affectionate nickname for powder that everyone else occasionally calls her

vander and silco own a gym where they specialize in hand to hand combat-vi works there with them and specifically works with kids, teaching them basic self defense techniques and going from there. vi never really pegged herself as kid material but she’s surprisingly really good with them, and sevika also works there with the adult classes

because of this, vi and sevika also teach isha self defense techniques in case any kids at school mess with her

powder and ekko work at an engineering company together

caitlyn is a lawyer, one of the top lawyers in the country due to her experience and schooling

jayce and viktor are scientific researchers and they are always making miraculous breakthroughs

powder and ekko worked together to design sevika’s prosthetic arm, and it’s very realistic and well functioning. after this, they started making prosthetics for people at a lower cost for those who don’t have the finances to afford them-but they still work just as well

vi and powder don’t let their romantic relationships strain their relationship as sisters. they always have sister nights with just the two of them at least once a week if not more

vi has adhd but manages well with medication and therapy

isha is obsessed with the teenage mutant ninja turtles. like, absolutely obsessed

caitlyn isn’t much of a gamer but she loves animal crosssing

ekko is an excellent cook, powder can barely make a bowl of cereal without something going wrong

jayce loves to play legos with isha

sevika kicks everyone’s ass when playing wii sports

vi and jayce function well when apart, but when they are in the same room they share one brain cell

it’s even worse when they’ve had a few drinks

powder, viktor, and caitlyn have many videos of them being total fucking idiots

sevika believes in ghosts and tries to summon them often

i’m ignoring canon for the rest of my life!

A/N: Hope everyone enjoys these! This is my first time dabbling in the arcane fandom, so lmk what you think :)

[ciceroprofacto]

A General's Staff

Adjutant, Staff Secretary, and Aide-de-Camp are NOT the same thing!

Adjutant- primarily manages personnel administration throughout the organization (duty rosters, reenlistments, unit assignments, etc); chief officer in charge of finances; final processing on awards, recommendations, and other correspondence; leads the staff in unit ceremonies; performs other administrative tasks as required.

Staff Secretary- primarily manages personnel tasking within the Commanding Officer's direct staff (including function areas); manages the schedule; coordinates travel plans for members of the staff and unit; conducts financial oversight with Adjutant; assists in correspondence

Aide-de-Camp- primarily a personal assistant to the Commander; acts as a liaison between the commander and subordinates; manages the Commander's personal schedule and travel; assists in correspondence; has a role in ceremonies; performs other tasks as required.

Other Staff: Modern staffs include officers and senior enlisted planners in "functional areas": Logistics, Operations, Intelligence, and Administration (Adj, Staff Sec, and ADC fall under the Administration function). Historically, the distinction between these functions was more murky than it is today.

[olderthannetfic]

Wait so…if the only things making companies censor the internet is payment processors then why can’t internet sites just stop using them? Are they required? I thought it was the app store. I know zoomers and gen alpha are addicted to algorithms and too tech illiterate for browsers but the smart ones will follow if censorship goes too far and people leave apps altogether. What sites still function without apps besides ao3? I feel like soon ‘mainstream media’ is just going to mean app based socials.

--

Payment processors are what let you take credit cards. Paypal will generally desert you if you're a site for horny. You have to get one of the vastly more expensive options that are designed for live action porn with high profit margins. Sometimes, the credit card companies themselves will come after you, in which case, no payment processor can help you.

The problem is financing a site. Modern sites are very, very expensive, and the higher the traffic, the more expensive they become. If you can't rely on paypal or ads, it's hard to figure out a model that works.

The app store is definitely a problem, but it's only the beginning of the woes of any site trying to host socially unacceptable stuff.

[pubbamoon]

Misconceptions about Astrology

Hello! It's been a while since I posted the last observation here and I kinda miss that time. Since I'm turning more to traditional tropical astrology than before and learning about this topic, I've found out some misconceptions about tropical astrology, specifically made by modern tropical astrologers. Even I used to interpret some astrology placements and now I find some of these interpretations objectively wrong. Which are these misconceptions I'm talking about, you're gonna see in this post. I hope you're gonna learn something new today.

Myth: Houses are connected to the zodiac signs. For example, having planets in the 2nd house is exactly the same as having planets in Taurus.

Fact: Sadly, houses are not connected to any zodiac signs. No, Aries does not rule the 1st house. No, the 6th house is not related to the Virgo sign. No, Aquarius is not connected to the 11th house etc. That is false. Back in June, in one of my first observations, I used to think this way, that houses are somehow related to zodiac signs, but I found out this was the wrong interpretation of placements and I deeply apologize for that. In Hellenistic (traditional tropical) astrology, there's a thing called planetary joys, meaning that every planet has the most joy in a certain house. For example, the Sun has its joy in the 9th house, the Moon has its joy in the 3rd house, Mercury has its joy in the 1st house, Venus has its joy in the 5th house, Mars has its joy in the 6th house, Jupiter has its joy in the 11th house, while Saturn has its joy in the 12th house. All of these planets function very well in these mentioned houses.

Myth: Our natal chart represents our personality, who we are, our purpose, what our soul wants and what we are supposed to do.

Fact: Our natal chart actually represents our whole life and what is possibly going to happen in our life. It's not only about our personality and who we are. There's a common belief that our natal chart is about our own individual path we're meant to take, making us feel more individualistic, special and powerful, which I find very empowering and I appreciate if some people want to take control of their own life and to know more about themself. However, our natal chart also tells us about our father, mother, siblings, cousins, partners, boss, professors, working class, children etc. It is also about both of our fortunate and unfortunate events in our life we cannot fully control. So, if you're struggling to find your suitable partner or to make some money and you think you're the problem here because you're not manifesting enough or something else, maybe it's not that you're the only problem, maybe you're in an environment that is not serving you to get succeed in relationship or in finances. Or something unexpected might happen in your life which may delay your success. Trust me, your life will be much easier when you stop thinking that your natal chart tells you and what you're supposed to do.

Myth: The degrees are also related to zodiac signs. For example, The 10th degree (10°) and 22nd degree (22°) are Capricorn's degrees. 5°, 17° and 29° are Leo's degrees etc.

Fact: That is completely false. Degrees do not work like that in tropical astrology at all. In Hellenistic astrology, we use the terms, mostly the Egyptian terms, to interpret the dignity and condition of planets through the degrees. Let me give you an example! So, If you might have the Sun at 22° of Gemini in your natal chart, that doesn't mean you have the Capricorn's degree or that your natal Sun in Gemini is influenced by Capricorn or Saturn at any point. Actually, your natal Sun at 22° of Gemini is placed in Mars' term (Mars' term in Gemini sign goes from 17°00' of Gemini until 23°59' of Gemini). So, your natal Sun in Gemini is not only influenced by Mercury, your natal Sun in Gemini is also influenced by the planet Mars. I'm gonna post a picture of the Egyptian terms table, so you can see how degrees actually work in tropical astrology.

Myth: Venus in man's chart represents his partner, while Mars in woman's chart represents her partner.

Fact: Venus in both man's and woman's chart represents their partner and which kind of people they might be attracted to. Venus also represents sex, not Mars. The planet Mars represents war, violence, destruction, impulsiveness, which danger shows in our life, taking forced actions we don't want to do etc. Love is supposed to be balanced, harmonized and peaceful, definitely not violent, destructive and dangerous. But that may hit different if you have Mars in the 7th house, or even Mars aspecting Venus (conjunction, opposition or square). Sex is also supposed to be balanced and harmonized. Two people sleep together because they both chose that freely, not because someone forced another partner to have sex. So, Mars cannot represent sex and your partner if you're a female, I'm sorry.

Anyways, I think I said everything I wanted to say about this topis. I hope you enjoyed it and found this observation useful. I only want to help you to interpret astrology placements with accuracy. I wish you all the successful week ahead!

Best regards,

Paky McGee

[st-just]

I was already sold on 'the state makes markets' as, like, a historical fact but learning more about how basically any level of modern finance works has really driven home how consciously and explicitly any specific person's property rights or legal privileges will be ignored or limited as necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of The Market as a whole.

Which like, humorously incongruent with how half a dozen different flavors of political discourse discuss it.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The farmer in Bangladesh or the street vendor in Brazil doesn’t have nearly the impact of the venture capitalist in California or the petroleum oligarchs of Russia and the Middle East. The richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%. The rich are bad for the Earth, and the richer they are the bigger their adverse impact (including the impact of money invested in banks, and stocks financing fossil fuels and other forms of climate destruction). In other words, we are not all the same size. Billionaires loom large over our politics and environment in ways that are hard to understand without taking on the shocking scale of their wealth. That impact, both through their climate emissions and their manipulations of politics and public life means they are not at all like the rest of humanity. They are behemoths, and they mostly use their outsize power in ugly ways – both in how much they consume and how much they influence the world’s climate response. Let me put it this way: if you made $10,000 a week – a princely sum by the standards of most people – you would have to work every week from the year of Jesus’s birth until this week to earn over a billion dollars. To earn as much as Elon Musk’s net worth at that rate – currently $180bn, according to Forbes – you’d have to work every week for more than a third of a million years – that is, since before Homo sapiens first emerged in Africa.

[...]

Billionaires are a menace to the rest of us: their sheer political size warps our public life. Disproportionately older, white and male, they function as unelected powers, a sort of freelance global aristocracy who are too often trying to reign over the rest of us. Some critics think that the supergiant tech corporations that have spawned so many modern billionaires operate in ways that resemble feudalism more than capitalism, and, certainly, plenty of billionaires operate like the lords of the Earth while campaigning to protect the economic inequality that made them so rich and makes so many others so poor. They use their power in arbitrary, reckless and often environmentally destructive ways.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The New Yorker :: @NewYorker [An advance look at Barry Blitt’s “Left to Their Own Devices,” the cover for next week’s issue.]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 28, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 29, 2025

“Another wipeout walloped Wall Street Friday,” Stan Choe of the Associated Press wrote today. The S&P 500 had one of its worst days in two years, dropping 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 715 points, losing 1.7% of its value. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%. On Tuesday, news dropped that the administration’s blanket firings and wildly shifting tariff policies have dropped consumer confidence to a low it has not hit since January 2021. Today’s stock market tumble started after the Commerce Department released data showing that consumer prices are rising faster than economists expected.

AIG chief international economist James Knightley said: “We are moving in the wrong direction and the concern is that tariffs threaten higher prices, which means the inflation prints are going to remain hot.” Business leaders like lower interest rates, which reduce borrowing costs and make it cheaper to finance business initiatives, but with rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will be less likely to cut interest rates.

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is planning to move the computer system of the Social Security Administration (SSA) off the old programming language it uses, COBOL, to a new system. In 2017, the SSA estimated that such a migration would take about five years. DOGE is planning for the migration to take just a few months, using artificial intelligence to complete the change.

Experts have expressed concern. Dan Hon, who runs a technology strategy company that helps the government modernize its services, told Kelly: “If you weren’t worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead.” More than 65 million Americans currently receive Social Security benefits. Today Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) recorded himself calling the SSA and being told by a recording that the wait times were more than two hours and that he should call back. And then the system hung up on him.

Musk told the Fox News Channel today that he plans to step down from DOGE in May, apparently at the end of the 130-day cap for the “special government employee” designation that enables him to avoid financial disclosures. In February, White House staffers suggested Musk would stay despite the limit.

Today the State Department told Congress it is shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) altogether by July 1. Whatever agency functions the administration approves will move into the State Department. Founded by President John F. Kennedy and enjoying bipartisan support, USAID administers programs for global health, disaster relief, long-term economic development, education, environmental protection, and democracy. It is widely perceived to be a key element of U.S. “soft power.”

USAID was created by Congress, and its funds are appropriated by Congress. Congress and the courts have established that the executive branch—the branch of government overseen by the president—cannot kill an agency Congress has created and cannot withhold appropriations Congress has made. The authors of Project 2025 want to challenge that principle and consolidate government power in the hands of the president. It appears they have chosen USAID as the test case.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shatters science and health agencies, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, submitted his resignation today after being given the choice to resign or be fired. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post noted that Marks has been at the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 and has been at the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since 2016.

In his resignation letter, Diamond says, Marks expressed his deep concern over the ongoing measles outbreak in the Southwest—now more than 450 cases—and warned that the outbreak “reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined.” Marks said that although he was willing to work with Kennedy on his plan to review vaccine safety, “it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

On Tuesday, news broke that Kennedy has tapped anti-vaccine activist David Geier to lead a study looking to link autism to vaccines, although that alleged link has been heavily studied and thoroughly debunked. Infectious disease journalist Helen Branswell notes that Geier does not have a medical degree and was disciplined in Maryland for practicing medicine without a license.

British investigative journalist Brian Deer, who has written about the hoax that vaccines cause autism, told Branswell: “If you want an independent source,… [you] wouldn’t go to somebody with no qualifications and a long track record of impropriety and incompetence.” But, he said, “[i]f you wanted to get in anybody off the street who would come up with the result that Kennedy would like to see, this would be your man.”

Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported today that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has done some targeted staffing, too. His younger brother Phil Hegseth is traveling to the Indo-Pacific with the secretary in his role at the Pentagon as a liaison and senior advisor to the Department of Homeland Security. Hegseth also employed his brother when he ran the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America, where the younger Hegseth’s salary was $108,000 for his media work. Copp notes that a 1967 law “prohibits government officials from hiring, promoting or recommending relatives to any civilian position over which they exercise control.”

Hegseth and his colleagues are still in the hot seat for uploading the military’s attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen to Signal, an unsecure commercially available messaging app. Yesterday, Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Michael R. Gordon of the Wall Street Journal reported that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz identified a Houthi missile expert whose identity Israel had provided from a human source in Yemen, angering Israeli officials.

Americans, especially those with ties to the military, aren’t happy either. Military, the leading news website for service members, veterans, and their families, titled a story about the scandal “‘Different spanks for different ranks’: Hegseth’s Signal scandal would put regular troops in the brig.” Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported that the story had “angered and bewildered” fighter pilots, who say “they can no longer be certain that the Pentagon is focused on their safety when they strap into cockpits.”

At a raucous town hall held today by Republican representative Victoria Spartz (R-IN), the crowd booed Spartz loudly when she said she would not call for the resignations of Waltz, Hegseth, and the rest of the people on the group chat.

All the mayhem created by the administration has created enough backlash that the White House appears concerned about upcoming special elections on April 1. One is for the seat in Florida’s District 6 that Waltz vacated when he became national security advisor. In 2024, Trump won that district by 30 points, and Republicans considered their candidate, state senator Randy Fine, whom Trump has strongly endorsed, to be such a shoo-in that he barely campaigned. His website features pictures of him with Trump but has only bullet points to explain his stand on issues.

Democrat Josh Weil, a middle-school math teacher who has outraised Fine by almost 10 to one, is polling within the margin of error for a victory in a contest where even a 10- to 15-point loss would show a dramatic collapse in Republican support. Weil has tied Fine to Musk’s unpopular DOGE and to the president, as well as to cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

Trump is now personally campaigning for Fine and for the Republican candidate to fill the seat vacated by former representative Matt Gaetz in Florida District 1. There, Democratic candidate Gay Valimont is running against Republican Jimmy Patronis in a district that elected Trump with about 68% of the vote. Like Fine, Patronis is strongly backed by Trump and wants more cuts to the federal government; Gay is a former state leader for Moms Demand Action and focuses on healthcare and veterans’ services. She has criticized DOGE’s cuts to VA hospitals. Like Weil, she has significantly outraised her opponent.

Republicans are concerned enough about holding the seats that billionaire Elon Musk, who poured more than $291 million into the 2024 election to help Republicans, has begun to contribute to Republicans in Florida. On Tuesday he spent more than $10,000 apiece for texting services for the Florida candidates.

Musk has contributed far more than that—more than $20 million—to the April 1 election for a ten-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Trump loyalist Brad Schimel is running against circuit court judge Susan Crawford in a contest that has national significance. Wisconsin is evenly split between the parties, but when Republicans control the legislature and the supreme court, they suppress voting and heavily gerrymander the state in their favor. When liberals hold the majority on the court, they ease election rules and uphold fair maps. Currently, the state gerrymander gives Republicans 75% of the state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives although voting in 2024 was virtually dead even. The makeup of the court could well determine the congressional districts of Wisconsin through 2041, through the redistricting that will take place after the 2030 census.

Musk has told voters that if Crawford wins, “then the Democrats will attempt to redraw the districts and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats.” Not only has Musk said he is going to Wisconsin to speak before the election, but also he is handing out checks to voters who sign a petition against “activist judges,” a suggestion that it would not be fair to unskew the Republican gerrymander. Last night, Musk advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted.

This morning, Wisconsin Democrats issued a press release noting that Musk had “committed a blatant felony,” directly violating the Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anyone anything worth more than $1 to get them to “vote or refrain from voting.” Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said that if Schimel “does not immediately call on Musk to end this criminal activity, we can only assume he is complicit.”

Musk deleted the tweet and then, eliminating the language that said people had to have voted, posted that he would give the checks to spokespeople for his petition. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued to stop Musk “from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts” and “from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote.” “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair,” Kaul said in a statement. “We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening.”

MeidasTouch reposted Musk’s offer to “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote” and noted: “No matter what side of the aisle you are on, you should be appalled that a billionaire thinks he has the right to buy elections like this.” Former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party David Pepper posted: “Have some pride, America. We are so much better than this guy thinks we are.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[thatgentlewife]

“Women were never "forced" to stay home.

They stayed home because the function of a woman was *actually* irreplaceable.

I know this is hard for modern minds to conceive, but imagine what would happen to a business without a manager.

It wouldn't be good.

Likewise, women were the managers of their homes.

This was their role because they were best suited for this role.

Because our society has reduced home management to nothing but chores, I can see how many can view this role as drab.

But in fact, homemaking was a very versatile role that involved management of:

-children

-finances and economic

-home-based manufacturing

And so much more!

Not only was the work of a homemaker meaningful, necessary, and highly valued, but it was moral.

What the feminists fought for was inherently immoral.

They wanted women to abandon their essential roles in the home.

How could that ever be beneficial for families?”

[justforbooks]

Should you trust your gut?

‘Follow your instincts’ has become a modern mantra. But what if they lead you astray?

‘What should I do?” Whether openly stated or implicit, this is the question a new client usually raises in their first therapy session. People ask for help for many reasons: relationship problems, addiction and mental health difficulties, such as anxiety. Increasingly, I have found that beneath all of these disparate problems lies a common theme: indecision, the sense of feeling stuck, and lack of clarity as to the way forward.

Making decisions is difficult. Anyone who has lain awake contemplating a romantic dilemma, or a sudden financial crisis, knows how hard it can be to choose a course of action. This is understandable, given that in any scenario therapists must contend with a myriad conflicting thoughts and emotions – painful recollections from the past, hopes for the future, and the expectations of family, friends, and co-workers.

Faced with such complexities, society and culture can often gravitate to a “one size fits all” solution: a shortcut designed to alleviate uncertainties. In modern western culture, there is a pervasive narrative that we should simply “trust our instincts”, often in the service of authenticity, self-compassion or personal empowerment.

On social media, coaches and influencers frequently extoll the value of staying true to one’s feelings, especially when it comes to tricky relationship issues. Challenging someone’s emotional experience is viewed as a cardinal sin. Conspiracy theorists, fuelled by misinformation and distrust of institutions, have become more widespread, promoting scepticism on issues ranging from vaccine safety to vapour trails in the sky. Self-proclaimed cryptocurrency gurus are quick to suggest that in-depth knowledge of finance is passé and that common sense and a healthy tolerance of risk are enough to get you into the 1%.

“Trust your gut”, “be yourself” or “less is more” are aphorisms that contain much truth, while also being prone to catastrophic misinterpretation. After all, what distinguishes instinctual decisions from impulsive ones? And what if your instincts don’t always serve your best interests?

These questions are worth taking seriously. Research  consistently shows that some individuals score higher in neuroticism, meaning they experience negative emotions, such as anxiety, more frequently and intensely. Data from adoption studies reveals that this trait has a strong genetic influence (explaining approximately 40 to 60% of the variability in the population).

It’s easy to imagine how heightened sensitivity to threats would be valuable in our ancestral past, where dangers like predation, infection, or exposure to adverse weather events were constant. The question is, in a world which is generally much safer, how helpful is it now? While a healthy level of anxiety could be lifesaving in a dark alley, it isn’t as useful when navigating a crowded supermarket or asking someone on a date. Should people with higher levels of neuroticism simply trust their anxiety, or approach it in a more critical way?

Psychoanalytic thinkers have long encouraged us to be sceptical of our initial conscious responses. Anna Freud introduced the world to the once radical (but now commonly accepted) idea of the “defence mechanism”. This is the notion that our first response to a situation may have had a useful protective function in the past but is now an act of self-sabotage. For example, someone who grew up in an abusive home may have developed the compulsion to withdraw emotionally as a means of coping. While this may have been beneficial at the time, 20 years down the road it may be the very thing holding them back from developing satisfying relationships.

More recent forms of psychotherapy also teach us to be flexible in our responses. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), influenced by Zen Buddhism, is designed to treat patients with severe emotional instability and recurrent self-harm. DBT therapists encourage their patients to examine their emotional response to a situation, carefully consider whether that response is compatible with the facts and, if not, to act in direct opposition to that emotion.

Most people can probably remember times when acting in opposition to their gut feeling was the right thing to do. If we obeyed our instincts unquestioningly, we would never take on challenges like public speaking, trying a new sport, or putting ourselves forward for a promotion – experiences that often lead to growth. Psychological research consistently shows that careful exposure to something anxiety-inducing causes that anxiety to subside.

What these examples illustrate is that our instinctive reactions are simply the brain’s best guess about what to do in a given moment, and the quality of this guess can vary enormously. It is a biological miracle that the human brain can integrate so much information from its environment and produce guiding instincts that we rely on every day, yet those instincts are so easily distorted. Unresolved trauma, limited experience of life or emotional immaturity can all muddy the waters, steering us away from what is best for us.

By engaging in a process of introspection and experimentation, we can improve and hone our intuitions over time, recognising what may be the unhelpful baggage of past experience, and what may be useful additions to an ever-expanding picture of reality. In this way, our gut feelings can become indispensable tools rather than mental noise that leads us astray. Following this path can allow a socially anxious person to find friendship or romance, or enable a timid employee to start their own business.

Much as weighing scales require calibration to be accurate, so do our minds. We can achieve this by venturing outside our comfort zones, testing our emotions against reality and sometimes opposing them, and seeking continual feedback. When it comes to life’s many complicated problems, by all means trust your gut – but only after you’ve taught yourself what’s worth trusting.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[wat3rm370n]

Tycoons demonizing remote work in an agenda to deliberately wreck the government & future society.

My letter to reps:

Remote work is a part of modern society and should be prioritized wherever it can be in order to facilitate disability accommodation, tamp down fossil fuel expense and emissions, and reduce the spread of disease. Telework is a necessary part of a functional future society and should be incentivized in government work and private industry, wherever at all possible.

Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.

Government Executive -  Trump’s ‘DOGE’ commission promises mass federal layoffs, ending telework The incoming administration will handle large-scale RIFs with compassion, Vivek Ramaswamy says. November 18, 2024 01:40 PM ET “So this is a historic opportunity. We're not actually going to squander this.” He added that reductions to telework and relocating agencies would help motivate employees to leave government voluntarily. He called it a “dirty little secret” that most federal workers “don’t even show up to work.”  About 80% of the federal work hours are currently spent in-person, according to a recent Office of Management and Budget review, and more than half of federal employees do not telework at all because their jobs are not conducive to it. Of those who do telework, employees on average spent about three-fifths of their time on site.  “If you require most of those federal bureaucrats to just say, like normal working Americans, you come to work five days a week, a lot of them won't want to do that,” Ramaswamy said. “If you have many voluntary reductions in force of the workforce in the federal government along the way, great. That's a good side effect of those policies as well.”

Many people in various jobs in various industries public and private legitimately work remotely. A lot of CEOs work remotely. A lot of business owners work remotely.

This attempt to marry telework to the old disinformation cliche trope of “people don-wanna work” is dishonest. Tycoons want to “shrink the government in order to drown it in the bathtub” because they don’t want to pay taxes, and that’s the dirty little secret laid bare here — they don’t want to pay taxes, and they don’t want anyone to create a functional society for people. They want a rigidly enforced class society made up of tycoons and all the rest, with everyone in servitude under a microscope marching to their petty self-serving orders. I’m guessing a lot of Trump voters work remotely, because in a modern society it is a norm! I suspect that even Trump voters don’t actually want to go backwards on this. What about Elon Musk futuristic fans? Do they think ending modern remote options in various fields should happen? It doesn’t really make sense that these tech moguls are so against modern tech solutions, right?

Nobody is fooled — It doesn’t make sense for anybody but the billionaires.

This anti-telework agenda is about tycoons who don’t want to pay their fair share after getting rich exploiting the rest of society. This agenda against work from home is about tycoons who are jealous that talented people choose to work for the government, doing work that is a benefit to society, and want to force them into bullshit jobs in private industries, just to avoid in-person office work for various reasons, including disability (declared or undeclared). This hostility to remote work is about commercial real estate wanting butts in seats downtown for the economic finances of real estate moguls and the investors that treated real estate investments like a casino. The pandemic accelerated a trend toward telework already happening, and ramped up real estate investor exposure to loss, and they want to socialize that loss. And this anti-telework agenda is about fossil fuel interests wanting everyone to continue arduous fuel-intensive pollution laden dangerous harrowing commutes to jobs that don’t need to take place in an office, and which are often done more efficiently remotely.

[misfitwashere]

March 28, 2025

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 29 READ IN APP

“Another wipeout walloped Wall Street Friday,” Stan Choe of the Associated Press wrote today. The S&P 500 had one of its worst days in two years, dropping 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 715 points, losing 1.7% of its value. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%. On Tuesday, news dropped that the administration’s blanket firings and wildly shifting tariff policies have dropped consumer confidence to a low it has not hit since January 2021. Today’s stock market tumble started after the Commerce Department released data showing that consumer prices are rising faster than economists expected.

AIG chief international economist James Knightley said: “We are moving in the wrong direction and the concern is that tariffs threaten higher prices, which means the inflation prints are going to remain hot.” Business leaders like lower interest rates, which reduce borrowing costs and make it cheaper to finance business initiatives, but with rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will be less likely to cut interest rates.

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is planning to move the computer system of the Social Security Administration (SSA) off the old programming language it uses, COBOL, to a new system. In 2017, the SSA estimated that such a migration would take about five years. DOGE is planning for the migration to take just a few months, using artificial intelligence to complete the change.

Experts have expressed concern. Dan Hon, who runs a technology strategy company that helps the government modernize its services, told Kelly: “If you weren’t worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead.” More than 65 million Americans currently receive Social Security benefits. Today Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) recorded himself calling the SSA and being told by a recording that the wait times were more than two hours and that he should call back. And then the system hung up on him.

Musk told the Fox News Channel today that he plans to step down from DOGE in May, apparently at the end of the 130-day cap for the “special government employee” designation that enables him to avoid financial disclosures. In February, White House staffers suggested Musk would stay despite the limit.

Today the State Department told Congress it is shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) altogether by July 1. Whatever agency functions the administration approves will move into the State Department. Founded by President John F. Kennedy and enjoying bipartisan support, USAID administers programs for global health, disaster relief, long-term economic development, education, environmental protection, and democracy. It is widely perceived to be a key element of U.S. “soft power.”

USAID was created by Congress, and its funds are appropriated by Congress. Congress and the courts have established that the executive branch—the branch of government overseen by the president—cannot kill an agency Congress has created and cannot withhold appropriations Congress has made. The authors of Project 2025 want to challenge that principle and consolidate government power in the hands of the president. It appears they have chosen USAID as the test case.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shatters science and health agencies, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, submitted his resignation today after being given the choice to resign or be fired. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post noted that Marks has been at the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 and has been at the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since 2016.

In his resignation letter, Diamond says, Marks expressed his deep concern over the ongoing measles outbreak in the Southwest—now more than 450 cases—and warned that the outbreak “reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined.” Marks said that although he was willing to work with Kennedy on his plan to review vaccine safety, “it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

On Tuesday, news broke that Kennedy has tapped anti-vaccine activist David Geier to lead a study looking to link autism to vaccines, although that alleged link has been heavily studied and thoroughly debunked. Infectious disease journalist Helen Branswell notes that Geier does not have a medical degree and was disciplined in Maryland for practicing medicine without a license.

British investigative journalist Brian Deer, who has written about the hoax that vaccines cause autism, told Branswell: “If you want an independent source,… [you] wouldn’t go to somebody with no qualifications and a long track record of impropriety and incompetence.” But, he said, “[i]f you wanted to get in anybody off the street who would come up with the result that Kennedy would like to see, this would be your man.”

Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported today that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has done some targeted staffing, too. His younger brother Phil Hegseth is traveling to the Indo-Pacific with the secretary in his role at the Pentagon as a liaison and senior advisor to the Department of Homeland Security. Hegseth also employed his brother when he ran the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America, where the younger Hegseth’s salary was $108,000 for his media work. Copp notes that a 1967 law “prohibits government officials from hiring, promoting or recommending relatives to any civilian position over which they exercise control.”

Hegseth and his colleagues are still in the hot seat for uploading the military’s attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen to Signal, an unsecure commercially available messaging app. Yesterday, Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Michael R. Gordon of the Wall Street Journal reported that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz identified a Houthi missile expert whose identity Israel had provided from a human source in Yemen, angering Israeli officials.

Americans, especially those with ties to the military, aren’t happy either. Military, the leading news website for service members, veterans, and their families, titled a story about the scandal “‘Different spanks for different ranks’: Hegseth’s Signal scandal would put regular troops in the brig.” Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported that the story had “angered and bewildered” fighter pilots, who say “they can no longer be certain that the Pentagon is focused on their safety when they strap into cockpits.”

At a raucous town hall held today by Republican representative Victoria Spartz (R-IN), the crowd booed Spartz loudly when she said she would not call for the resignations of Waltz, Hegseth, and the rest of the people on the group chat.

All the mayhem created by the administration has created enough backlash that the White House appears concerned about upcoming special elections on April 1. One is for the seat in Florida’s District 6 that Waltz vacated when he became national security advisor. In 2024, Trump won that district by 30 points, and Republicans considered their candidate, state senator Randy Fine, whom Trump has strongly endorsed, to be such a shoo-in that he barely campaigned. His website features pictures of him with Trump but has only bullet points to explain his stand on issues.

Democrat Josh Weil, a middle-school math teacher who has outraised Fine by almost 10 to one, is polling within the margin of error for a victory in a contest where even a 10- to 15-point loss would show a dramatic collapse in Republican support. Weil has tied Fine to Musk’s unpopular DOGE and to the president, as well as to cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

Trump is now personally campaigning for Fine and for the Republican candidate to fill the seat vacated by former representative Matt Gaetz in Florida District 1. There, Democratic candidate Gay Valimont is running against Republican Jimmy Patronis in a district that elected Trump with about 68% of the vote. Like Fine, Patronis is strongly backed by Trump and wants more cuts to the federal government; Gay is a former state leader for Moms Demand Action and focuses on healthcare and veterans’ services. She has criticized DOGE’s cuts to VA hospitals. Like Weil, she has significantly outraised her opponent.

Republicans are concerned enough about holding the seats that billionaire Elon Musk, who poured more than $291 million into the 2024 election to help Republicans, has begun to contribute to Republicans in Florida. On Tuesday he spent more than $10,000 apiece for texting services for the Florida candidates.

Musk has contributed far more than that—more than $20 million—to the April 1 election for a ten-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Trump loyalist Brad Schimel is running against circuit court judge Susan Crawford in a contest that has national significance. Wisconsin is evenly split between the parties, but when Republicans control the legislature and the supreme court, they suppress voting and heavily gerrymander the state in their favor. When liberals hold the majority on the court, they ease election rules and uphold fair maps. Currently, the state gerrymander gives Republicans 75% of the state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives although voting in 2024 was virtually dead even. The makeup of the court could well determine the congressional districts of Wisconsin through 2041, through the redistricting that will take place after the 2030 census.

Musk has told voters that if Crawford wins, “then the Democrats will attempt to redraw the districts and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats.” Not only has Musk said he is going to Wisconsin to speak before the election, but also he is handing out checks to voters who sign a petition against “activist judges,” a suggestion that it would not be fair to unskew the Republican gerrymander. Last night, Musk advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted.

This morning, Wisconsin Democrats issued a press release noting that Musk had “committed a blatant felony,” directly violating the Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anyone anything worth more than $1 to get them to “vote or refrain from voting.” Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said that if Schimel “does not immediately call on Musk to end this criminal activity, we can only assume he is complicit.”

Musk deleted the tweet and then, eliminating the language that said people had to have voted, posted that he would give the checks to spokespeople for his petition. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued to stop Musk “from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts” and “from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote.” “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair,” Kaul said in a statement. “We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening.”

MeidasTouch reposted Musk’s offer to “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote” and noted: “No matter what side of the aisle you are on, you should be appalled that a billionaire thinks he has the right to buy elections like this.” Former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party David Pepper posted: “Have some pride, America. We are so much better than this guy thinks we are.”

—

[brunhielda]

Sorry, but this is another post that is tangentially about dealing with grief, and mostly about dealing with parents.

GUYS- despite what you may feel like, I PROMISE you, you so are so much better equipped to start over again in modern society than your parents.

Your parents have OLD survival skills that are important- cooking, sewing, laundry, house repair.

Some of them even have the wisdom of years in dealing with people, and the emotional milestones people go through at different points in life.

What they really don’t have?

A grasp on things like: signing up for anything in the modern world. Applying for grants or jobs. How financial institutions handle bussiness. Those things that you need to start and run anything outside your own home.

Now this is general, and there will always be exceptions, but why do I say this?

1) watching younger and younger adults come into the library for electronic assistance for things like banking, taxes, and how to retrieve a password for email.

2) watching my mother trying to navigate finances now that my father is not here to do it.

When he died she looked at what he had done and said: Why is this so complicated? What were you trying to hide from whom? He is robbing Peter to pay Paul!

To be fair to her, he did have far too many credit cards, and she was under the impression that there was one. He was hiding that, and not talking about our financial situation with any sense of reality to anyone. He is in the wrong for that.

On the other hand, every time she looks at even half of the options available to her for any issue, like paying a bill, or canceling out an account, she is overwhelmed by the data and completely freezes.

She hates that the exact thing she is looking for isn’t on the first page open when she logs on, she hates that handling a loan is not like handling a bank account is not like handling a credit card. The buttons to push to make things happen are different on each page, and for every different financial institution.

She hates that she has to sit through a million computer options on the phone to get a live person. She hates any task she sets for herself will take 30min, and longer if she wants to understand it first or is wracked by anxiety and indecision.

Like- I have been trained to fail the first three times I attempt something and to only attempt things worth my energy.

I basically understand the logic of online accounts, and if I can’t find what I need immediately can fiddle until I figure it out.

She simply does not have those skills, and she sees it as her being stupid, which make her spiral more, and then the task is impossible.

I think… I think we are just used to everything being hard all the time and handling businesses anyways. They remember when companies bent over backwards to make everything easy to use.

When SOCIETY was built to FUNCTION.

And they don’t know what to do if everything they have built is ripped out from under them and they have to start over in this new world.

Don’t let anyone who is even half a generation older than you tell you how to get started in life. Or at least take that with a whole teaspoon of salt. Look to the other people in the muck with you and know you will have to figure it out together. As society in the US falls apart the older generations are going to be even more lost than you are. I am so sorry.