#public relations disasters

[daz4i]

it's 5 am someone please cast a nighty night nightmare-free sleep spell on me 🥺

[mari-beau]

PSA: Utilities Charge Whatever They Want

So like, if you're paycheck to paycheck, if you're having financial difficulties, pay close fucking attention to your utility bills...

Because look at this bullshit.

Guess what happened in the 61 day billing period for 9/28/2023 statement date?

I moved into my fucking house. And started running my stove/oven and then eventually my furnace.

Guess what wasn't being used in every previous billing date shown here...?

NATURAL GAS. Like literally (in the actual definition of literally) none of it. Almost had my dad going to check if there was a leak in the lines at one point over the summer because nothing was being used. But nope, it's just the gas company charging whatever the fuck they feel like, whether you've used anything or not.

CONCLUSION: Pay attention to your bills because what they do is charge you based on an estimate of what your neighbors are using, not what you actually use. If you're having financial issues, call up your utility company and tell them that you will be calling in a reading every month (because they only send a person out to do an actual reading every other month, or now, every few months with ours, and just charge you whatever they want otherwise, and adjust it later when they do an actual reading... you can see in my bill they owed me a ton of money, because $11.17 is lower than the base charge for even having the gas turned on). And at least in NYS (or my county anyway), you have the right to demand they bill you on your actual usage by calling in a reading yourself because they don't want to pay someone to go out and do it monthly (but you can be damn sure they're going to charge you monthly).

*Also note: the double-billing 61 days on top of already being billed for 35 days of presumable the same time-period, and yet still, completely nonsensical invoice when you click on it. Their numbers come out of their ass.

[firstoccupier]

No NATO

Understanding the Impact of Nuclear Armament on American Culture and Society Before September 11, 2001, a magazine article suggested that the Bush Administration contemplated dismantling the United States’ nuclear arsenal. In a post-9/11 world, acknowledging such discussions might imply vulnerability and weakness, prompting a reticence to revisit these archives. Despite inquiries, the article…

[mckitterick]

When Noem testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, ranking member Senator Chris Murphy gave such powerful, informative, and important opening remarks I have to share:

transcript:

"I say this with seriousness and respect, but your department is out of control.

"You’re spending like you don’t have a budget. You are running out of money for this fiscal year. You are illegally refusing to spend funds that have been authorized by this Congress and appropriated by this committee. You are ignoring the immigration laws of this nation, implementing a brand new immigration system that you have invented that has little relation to the statutes that you are required to follow as spelled out in your oath of office. You are routinely violating the rights of immigrants who may not be citizens, but whether you like it or not, they have constitutional and statutory rights when they reside in the United States.

"Your agency acts as if laws don’t matter, as if the election gave you some mandate to violate the Constitution and the laws passed by this Congress. It did not give you that mandate. You act as if your disagreement with the law, or even the public’s disagreement with the law, is relevant and gives you the ability to create your own law. It does not give you that ability.

"Let’s start with your spending. You are on track to trigger the Anti-Deficiency act. That means you are on track to spend more money than you have been allocated by Congress. This is a rare occurrence and it is wildly illegal.

"Your agency will be broke by July, over two months before the end of the fiscal year. You may not think that Congress has allotted enough money to ICE, but the Constitution and the federal law does not allow you to spend more money than you have been given or to invent money.

"This obsession with spending at the border has left the country unprotected elsewhere. The security threats to national security are higher, not lower, since Trump came to office. To fund the border you have illegally gutted spending to cybersecurity.

"As we speak, Russian and Chinese hackers are having a field day attacking our nation. You have withdrawn funds for disaster prevention. Storms are going to kill more people because of your illegal withholding of these funds. Your myopia about the border fueled by President Trump’s prejudice against people who speak a different language have shattered most of this country’s most important defenses.

"Now let’s talk about the impoundments. When Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose the administration has no discretion whether or not to spend that money unless you go through a specific process with this committee.

"Let me give you two of many instances of this illegal impoundment. The first is a shelter and services program. Senator Britt may want to zero that account out, but that account is funded in a bipartisan way. You may not like the program. Your policy is to treat migrants badly. I think that’s abhorrent, but it doesn’t matter that you don’t like the program. You cannot cancel spending in this program, and you cannot use the funds, as you have, to fund other things, like ICE.

"You have also cancelled citizenship and integration grants, which help lawful permanent residents become citizens, helping them take the citizenship test. I know your goal is to try to make life as hard as possible for immigrants, but that goal is not broadly shared by the American public. That’s why Congress, in a bipartisan way, for decades has funded this program to help immigrants become citizens.

"Now let’s talk about why encounters at the southern border are down so much. This is clearly going to be your primary talking point today. You will tell us that it represents as success. But the prime reason why encounters are down is because you are brazenly violating the law every hour of every day.

"You are refusing to allow people showing up at the southern border to apply for asylum. I acknowledge that you don’t believe that people should be allowed to apply for asylum, but the White House doesn’t get to choose that. The law requires you to process people who are showing up at the border to apply for asylum.

"Why? Because our asylum law is a bipartisan commitment, an effort to correct for our nation’s unconscionable decision to deny entry to Jews to this country who were being hunted and killed by the Nazis. Our nation, Republicans and Democrats, decided, wrote it into law, that we would not repeat that horror ever again, and thus we would allow for people who were fleeing terror and torture to come here, arrive at the border, and make a case for asylum.

"Finally let’s talk about these disappearances. In an autocratic society, people who the regime does not like or who are protesting the regime are often picked up off the street, and spirited away, often to open-ended detention. Sometimes they’re never seen again.

"What you are doing, both to individuals who have legal rights to stay here, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, or students who are just protesting Trump’s policies, is immoral and, to follow the theme, it is illegal. You have no right to deport a student visa holder with no due process simply because they have spoken in a way that offends the President. You can’t remove migrants whom a court has given humanitarian protection from removal.

"Now, reports suggest that you are planning to remove immigrants with no due process and send them to prisons in Libya. Libya is in the middle of a civil war. It is subject to a level 4 travel advisory, meaning we tell American citizens never to travel to Libya. We don’t have an embassy there because it is not safe for our diplomats. Sending migrants with pending asylum claims into a war zone, just because it’s cruel, is so deeply disturbing.

"Listen, I understand that my Republican colleagues on this committee don’t view the policy as I do, don’t share my level of concern for the way the government treats immigrants, but what I don’t understand is why we don’t have consensus in the Senate and on this committee on the decision by this administration to impound the spending that we have decided together to allocate in defense of this nation.

"We as an appropriations committee worked interminable hours to write and pass this budget, and so we make ourselves irrelevant when we allow the administration to ignore what we have decided. And then when we look the other way when the administration rounds up immigrants who are here illegally and have committed no offenses worthy of detainment, we also do potential irreversible damage to the Constitution.

"These should not be partisan concerns—destroying the power of Congress, eroding individuals’ Constitutional rights. This should matter to both parties."

_

I never knew that our asylum laws arose from when we didn’t take Jews escaping from the Nazis. Both parties said never again. Yet here we are.

Everything this "administration" is doing is impeachable, and this Congress has a responsibility to get these criminals out of office and keep them out.

Contact your representatives and demand that they hold Homeland Security to account if they want to keep holding their offices - if they in fact want those offices to still be a thing in the future.

[autoclick-digital-marketing]

Crisis Communication Strategies for Healthcare Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction: Crisis Communication Strategies for Healthcare OrganizationsInsight:The Impact of Effective Crisis CommunicationKey Areas of Impact:Fact:Understanding Crisis Communication in HealthcareFact:Key Components of Effective Crisis Communication1. Preparedness and PlanningTip:2. Rapid ResponseExample: The Golden Hour3. Clear MessagingTip:4. Consistency Across Channels5. Empathy and…

[cinema-hallucinations]

Prompt: Create a movie concept about a competent, but low-powered supervillain team who ended up on the moral good side of a situation and must now navigate a complex web of conflicting interests both within (conflict between members wanting to go legit and other wishing to abuse the newfound public goodwill for even more abhorrent schemes) and outside (a fractured public opinion, villainous reflexes causing PR difficulties, etc.) the team in the aftermath.

Title: Heretic and the Pettycoats

Tagline: Redemption is a messy business, especially when you're still kind of a villain

Logline: The Pettycoats, a ragtag team of low-powered supervillains, accidentally foil a major apocalypse and wake up as unlikely heroes. Now, they must navigate a treacherous landscape of public scrutiny, internal conflict, and their own villainous urges, all while a fractured world decides whether to embrace them or crush them.

Characters:

The Heretic (Leader): A stoic strategist with the power to manipulate probability in very minor ways (think causing a dropped pen here, a lucky bounce there). He's haunted by a dark past and sees this as a chance at redemption, even if it means working with…

Sparks: A hotheaded woman with pyrokinetic abilities limited to igniting small objects like matches or cigarettes. She struggles with the idea of being a "good guy" and sees the potential for personal gain in their newfound fame.

The Gloom: A gloomy and reclusive man who can cast small shadows that mildly inconvenience others. He's content with a life of petty villainy but is dragged along by The Heretic's vision.

The Fixer: A tech-savvy manipulator with zero superpowers but a knack for blackmail and information gathering. He sees the potential to leverage their newfound status for financial gain.

Agent Weaver: A conflicted government liaison tasked with monitoring the Pettycoats and keeping them in line. She sees the potential for their abilities but struggles to trust them.

Plot:

The Pettycoats, a group of low-powered supervillains notorious for causing minor inconveniences (think causing traffic jams, switching supermarket price tags), accidentally stumble upon a plot by The Harbinger, a charismatic cult leader with world-ending ambitions.

Through a series of unexpected mishaps, mostly due to The Heretic's probability manipulation, the Pettycoats manage to disrupt the Harbinger's ritual, saving the world from certain doom. The news explodes, and the Pettycoats, much to their surprise, are hailed as unlikely heroes.

Thrust into the spotlight, the team struggles to adapt. Sparks sees an opportunity for lucrative endorsements ("Sparks brand matches: Light your way to heroism!"), while The Gloom resents the public attention and longs for his quiet life of villainy. The Fixer sees a chance to leverage their newfound fame for blackmail schemes, creating tension with The Heretic, who genuinely wants to use their abilities for good.

The public is divided. Some celebrate the Pettycoats as unexpected saviors, while others remain suspicious of their past and question their motives. Agent Weaver becomes their reluctant handler, tasked with keeping them in line while navigating the complex political landscape surrounding their newfound power.

The climax involves a new threat emerging from the ashes of the Harbinger's failed plot. A rival cult, led by the enigmatic "The Puppeteer," seeks to exploit the public's fear and distrust of the Pettycoats to further their own agenda.

The Pettycoats must overcome their internal conflicts and public scrutiny to face this new threat. They learn that being a hero isn't easy, especially when you're a team of former villains with questionable morals and limited superpowers.

Themes:

Redemption and the struggle to outrun your past.

The burden of responsibility and the difficulty of doing the right thing.

The power of public perception and the line between hero and villain.

Mood & Tone:

The movie will have a gritty, realistic tone similar to Watchmen, Punisher, or Dredd (2012). Humor will be dark and situational, arising from the absurdity of the characters' situation and their attempts to navigate a world that doesn't quite trust them. The focus will be on the moral complexities of the characters' choices and the consequences of their past actions.

[reasonsforhope]

"As climate disasters strain state budgets, a growing number of lawmakers want fossil fuel companies to pay for damages caused by their greenhouse gas emissions.

Last May [2024], Vermont became the first state to pass a climate Superfund law. The concept is modeled after the 1980 federal Superfund law, which holds companies responsible for the costs of cleaning up their hazardous waste spills. The state-level climate version requires major oil and gas companies to pay for climate-related disaster and adaptation costs, based on their share of global greenhouse gas emissions over the past few decades. Vermont’s law passed after the state experienced torrential flooding in 2023. In December [2024], New York became the second state to pass such a law. 

This year, 11 states, from California to Maine, have introduced their own climate Superfund bills. Momentum is growing even as Vermont and New York’s laws face legal challenges by fossil fuel companies, Republican-led states, and the Trump administration. Lawmakers and climate advocates told Grist that they always expected backlash, given the billions of dollars at stake for the oil and gas industry — but that states have no choice but to find ways to pay the enormous costs of protecting and repairing infrastructure in the face of increasing floods, wildfires, and other disasters.

The opposition “emboldens our fight more,” said Maryland state delegate Adrian Boafo, who represents Prince George’s County and co-sponsored a climate Superfund bill that passed the state legislature in March. “It means that we have to do everything we can in Maryland to protect our citizens, because we can’t rely on the federal government in this moment.” 

While the concept of a climate Superfund has been around for decades, it’s only in recent years that states have begun to seriously consider these laws. In Maryland, federal inaction on climate change and the growing burden of climate change on government budgets have led to a surge of interest, said Boafo. Cities and counties are getting hit with huge unexpected costs from damage to stormwater systems, streets, highways, and other public infrastructure. They’re also struggling to provide immediate disaster relief to residents and to prepare for future climate events. Maryland has faced at least $10 billion to $20 billion in disaster costs between 1980 and 2024, according to a recent state report. Meanwhile, up until now, governments, businesses, and individuals have borne 100 percent of these costs. 

“We realized that these big fossil fuel companies were, frankly, not paying their fair share for the climate crisis that they’ve caused,” Boafo said. 

Recent bills have also been spurred by increased sophistication in attribution science, said Martin Lockman, a climate law fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. Researchers are now able to use climate models to link extreme weather events to greenhouse gas emissions from specific companies. The field provides a quantitative way for governments to determine which oil and gas companies should pay for climate damages, and how much. 

Vermont’s law sets up a process for the government to first tally up the costs of climate harms in the state caused by the greenhouse gas emissions of major oil and gas companies between 1995 and 2024. The state will then determine how much of those costs each company is responsible for, invoice them accordingly, and devote the funds to climate infrastructure and resilience projects. New York’s law, by contrast, sets a funding target ahead of time by requiring certain fossil fuel companies to pay a total of $75 billion, or $3 billion per year over 25 years. The amount each company has to pay is proportionate to their share of global greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2024. Both Vermont and New York’s laws apply only to companies that have emitted over 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their respective covered periods. That would include Exxon Mobil, Shell, and other oil and gas giants.

Maryland’s law is so far the only climate Superfund-related legislation to pass a state legislature this year, although Governor Wes Moore vetoed the measure late on Friday [May 16, 2025]. The original draft of the bill would have required major fossil fuel companies to pay a one-time fee for their historic carbon emissions. But over the course of the legislative session, the bill was amended...

Climate advocates decried the governor’s decision, calling it “an inexplicable reversal of a position that threatens to stymie Maryland’s climate progress for negligible budget savings.” In a joint press release by three environmental groups, Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, said, “This veto is not fiscal responsibility, it’s a definitive step in the opposite direction of our climate goals.”

In California, environmental groups are optimistic about the chances of a bill passing this year. This is the second year a climate Superfund bill has been introduced in the state, and the sponsors of the new bill have focused on building a broad coalition of environmental, community, and labor groups around the proposal, said Sabrina Ashjian, project director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law. This year’s legislation was introduced shortly after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January, which could amplify lawmakers’ sense of urgency. The bill has now passed out of each legislative chamber’s environmental committee and is awaiting votes in their respective judiciary committees. If passed, the bill will next move to the full Senate and Assembly for a final vote. 

In the meantime, legislators are keeping a close eye on ongoing legal challenges to Vermont’s and New York’s laws...

Climate experts told Grist that with huge amounts of money and liability at stake, lawsuits from the fossil fuel industry weren’t unexpected. Boafo said that given how much financial and political support the Trump campaign received from oil and gas corporations, it’s not a surprise that the Justice Department has sued New York and Vermont. Pursuing these laws invites inevitable opposition — but avoiding the growing costs of climate devastation is even riskier, advocates said. 

Lawmakers are “passing these bills because in writing budgets, in dealing with the day-to-day operation of their states, they’re facing really serious questions about how our society is going to allocate the harms of climate change,” said Lockman. “I suspect that the lawmakers who are advocating for these bills are in it for the long haul.”"

-via Grist, May 19, 2025

[scatteredraysofhope]

@strawberryfaced I just thought you might also relate^^

This is going to sound so out of the blue but can I just say thank GOD for sweet retail workers??

Like I've had a particularly bad week Horrors wise, the anxiety is literally crushing my chest, and so I couldn't make myself go to college and have like, y'know, as much social interaction as I normally would with friends and stuff.

But the interactions I did have were with the food deliverymen and the retail workers at IKEA and I know it's like a three second interaction at most but when they smiled at me after answering my question or they had a kind voice or they just exchanged a few casual words it fucking MADE my day.

I've seen people talk about how important those less intense interactions with strangers are for mental health and stuff but I really really felt it this week.

Just, man. I've had a lot of lovely and chaotic interactions with retail workers before and those are fun stories for another time but just, even those casual smiles or a gentle tone when helping out, it means so much. And maybe sometimes it's for the job, but even then, it still heals me, just a bit.

And it must be really difficult when so many customers are shitty and the pay is next to nothing and you're treated so poorly, and I wouldn't blame every single retail worker for being extremely on edge and disillusioned, but somehow, sometimes, you manage to find it in you to have a gentle voice and a genuine smile or laugh and just know how grateful I am for y'all. It's like crawling out of my mind expecting the world to be hell but then someone is unexpectedly kind and it's so healing.

So, um, this has been very rambly and I'm not entirely sure I made sense, but thank you. Thank you for existing.

[roshni99]

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[furiouszealot]

UPDATE: As of 25/04/2025, 4chan is back up and running again. This post and its addendum will be kept as is, and will no longer be updated unless it goes back down again. If you were on /ghost/, it was a pleasure shitposting with you.

All right, I know no one gives a shit, but let me give you a recounting of the fall of 4chan from the perspective of someone who was there and has been lurking both 4chan and tumblr for a few years now.

I'll try to provide as much context as I can, but a lot of images were either lost or im too lazy to look for them in the +5000 reply thread in soyjak party.

Anyways, info below:

So, necessary context: a few years back, 4chan had a board called /qa/, which if you know little about the page, you may think every board is like /b/ or /pol/, which means a containment cess pool of grifters, (you) baiters, incels, and other deranged individuals. The thing is, /qa/ was somehow worse. The entire board was plagued and infested with soyjack edits, board culture was a nuclear disaster, anons were incredibly hostile in there, you know the drill, the big bad 4chan, but this time its actually true.

One day, moderation deleted /qa/, anons that posted there got mad, tried to raid other boards, failed, and then moved on to an altchan called soyjack party, which entire purpose you can guess from its name alone.

Apparently, the boards that allow pdf uploads (paper and origami, for example) didn't check if the uploaded file was actually a pdf file, so postscript files could be used to get access. This is as far as my understanding of web backend goes, sorry.

The hacker claims to have been working on this since 2021, and that he had access since about a year ago, but was recopilating data.

Now, what actually happened when the hack ocurred? Well, a banner of miku dancing with a song that played automatically was placed on top of every board, with the text "/QA/ IS BACK", this was possible because apparently no board was ever deleted, they were just hidden from the public.

A thread was then made on soyjack party, claiming authorship over the hack, and shit went south from there. Anons went en masse to talk there, a lot of weird discussion happened, the thread got the bump limit removed and got pinned, more than 5k posts were amassed on the first night alone. Keep in mind this happened at about 8 pm and most of the stuff went on through midnight.

So, the hacker leaked some things, first of all, the html files for the entirety of /j/ and the email address for every moderation member (important note: the pressence of .gov mails was disproven by the hacker themselves, so i guess there were never any feds), what is /j/? the board exclusive for jannies and moderators to discuss actions taken on the website regarding spam, ban evaders, threads spiraling out of control, etc. Among other things, some of the inner workings of 4chan got revealed, such as the web extension for jannies that allows them to do their job easily, how reports are handled, and other stuff. (Anecdotically, some guy got permabanned for calling anons jews or n-words over a 100 times in the same few threads)

Then, the source code got leaked. Important to say, the hacker removed the part of the source code related to the captcha, as to not facilitate bot attacks on the future, and all information related to email verification or 4chan pass users information also got removed, so all in all users are safe.

What was found on the sourcecode? That it was old, mostly. Most boards used code that hasn't been updated since about 2016, and /flash/ used the exact same code from when it was created back on 2011.

From there, desuarchive, a site that archives threads that die from bump limit, opened a dragon ball general on ghost mode, and thus began what later got called /ghost/, a solely text based thread with well over 20k replies as of right now, where a fraction of the 4chan population took refuge and is currently discussing random things with no particular topic. Kinda hard to read, but its comfy.

What does this mean for other sites? Not a lot, really. A lot of anons already crossposted in 4chan and tumblr already, and the ones that din't most likely wont come here. Some of the bigger/most dedicated groups, like /vt/, migrated to other boards. Various altchans are trying/tried to catch some of the flock of users that got lost, but i doubt it will get anywhere, since soyjak party for example was struggling with just the influx of users that came for the hack thread given its poor infrastructure. Kiwifarms saw a surge of new accounts apparently, but a lot of anons kinda loathe the idea of having to register, so theres that.

Smaller communities, such as generals that didn't get a lot of traffic, or boards on the slower end (say, /ic/, /lit/, etc) will probably vanish or disseminate until (or if) 4chan comes back up. I'd say give it a month, don't get your hopes up whether you want it to stay dead or want it to come back.

Given how many anons are staying on places like /ghost/ or other similar archives with the same ghost posting feature, i doubt it will be as bad as people are making it sound. Besides, the communities that are most likely to migrate to places like tumblr are either /co/, /vg/ or /lgbt/ refugees, which aren't THAT bad. Not every board was like the main cesspools (/b/, /r9k/, /pol/).

From now on, either 4chan comes back up in a few weeks (somewhere between 2 weeks to a month is expected), altchans capture the migrating anons, or a brand new imageboard rises from the ashes to become the new go-to site for old 4chan posters.

In conclusion, nothing ever happens, but also don't worry, chances are this won't affect tumblr in the slightest. If it does, you can cash in your "you were wrong" ticket whenever you want, i'll take the L.

As a footnote, keep in mind: NO users were compromised, if you ever posted there and are worried for your safety, physical or digital, you are safe.

Edit: Forgot to add, if you are a 4chan refugee, im BEGGING you to dm me and tell what board you were from and where are you migrating, if at all.

[howthesleeplesswander]

Rody barely had time to catch his breath before his boss' voice startled him out of attempting to relax for five damn seconds. Having not even registered Vincent walking over, the moment he spoke, Rody jolted with all the grace of tumbling out of bed. He immediately stood up straight as if his posture would improve how disheveled he looked. Half a second later, he realized the state of the necktie that Vincent had already fixed for him once, and hastily tried to tug it back into neatness.

"Oh, u-uh—!" he tried, only for his stammering to turn into a chuff when blindly fiddling with his tie just knocked the towel around his neck to the ground. Rody blinked dumbly down at it. Then at Vincent. Back down then up again in a flash. Finally, he stooped to snatch it and popped back to standing straight with a bounce on the balls of his feet, so fast that he could feel the way his hair stuck out every which way from the momentum.

When Rody finally got it together enough to process what he was hearing, he was surprised at the lack of reprimand. He'd figured Vincent came over to yell at him for taking a break. "I did drop those plates earlier..." he found himself saying, as if he wanted to get yelled at. Which he didn't, to be clear. He just never knew what to do when Vince gave him that amused little smirk. (Partially because Rody was pretty sure it meant Vince was laughing at him internally...and also because Rody usually didn't get the joke.) "But, I mean—no crashes yet today! So...'somewhat,' I guess, yeah! It happens."

At the mention of a particularly irate woman from earlier that afternoon, however, Rody couldn't smother a grimace. "I know, I tried to tell her—..." But before he could try to explain, Vincent...

Wait. Hold up. Did Vince just...praise him for a job well done?

Rody's eyes widened a fraction. If asked, he'd defend that it was from the shock. (But that wouldn't explain the way his hands unconsciously clenched that towel a bit tighter, now would it?) "Wha...really?" The question was carried on a weighted exhale. In truth, Rody hadn't thought he'd done an overly great job handling that customer, but hey—what did his opinion matter, anyway? If Vincent thought he'd done well enough to go out of his way to tell him as much, then...

"Wow, uh..." He was too focused on fighting down the flutters in his chest to care that he'd spent the last five seconds just staring at Vincent like a slack-jawed idiot. When he finally snapped out of it, he laughed incredulously as a big grin spread from ear to ear. "Thanks, Vince. I'll...I'll keep that in mind for next time!" After all, anything he could do to please his boss got him one step closer to remaining employed for at least another day.

Clearing his throat sharply, he slung the towel back over one shoulder and scratched idly at his cheek that was, possibly, a subtle shade rosier than before. "If I had my skates, I could've been faster and maybe that lady wouldn't have gotten so mad." He shrugged a shoulder. "I dunno, though; it seems like everyone's way more impatient today than usual."

Though it wasn’t at all planned on Vincent’s part—and most assuredly not on Rody’s (the idiot probably didn’t even know what the word “plan” meant in any capacity)—the lack of rollerskates ended up working to some sort of advantage here. Rather, an advantage beyond the aforementioned reduction of chances to crash—and, truly, the amount of times Rody didn’t fumble over himself over the course of the lunch rush was almost impressive. Vincent kept a sharp eye out. Which is precisely what leads us to that other advantage:

Without those stupid fucking skates, his work was admittedly more difficult. Physically-speaking, though Vincent would just as easily argue that his aptitude for wiping out wasn’t exactly a good trade against avoiding exhaustion. But since the trade-off here was the latter, his busy little bee was out of breath quickly today. At one point, he’d rolled up his sleeves, baring skin that eventually donned a tasteful glisten under the restaurant’s low lights. He’d made short work of screwing up the tie Vincent had taken the time to fix . . . and yet that was far from his mind under the shadow of everything else. By the time the flood of patrons had ebbed and those currently seated had gotten their orders in, Rody was a right mess there in the pickup window.

Vincent didn’t have it in him to complain, to harp on him for how utterly disheveled he looked, how far from proper it was in an establishment like this— After all, he’d been enjoying the show.

And so, with that new opening, he crossed the kitchen, cast a swift glance over his chefs to take stock of what they were all working on, and met his solo waiter’s wrecked visage with a calm, if not teasing smile. “Fewer messes today,” he noted, hesitating only to give Rody another slow onceover as he considered his wording. “—of the typical variety, I mean. So, you are capable of being somewhat coordinated.” His head cocked, grin stretching higher in one cheek while mischief flashed in his eyes.

But, as quickly as it came, that impishness simmered back down, and he cleared his throat gently. “I saw you handle that particularly . . . difficult customer earlier.” Which was acknowledged first with a bite of venom in his tone, words grating through his teeth like he rather wished to grind the customer down. A hateful look was shot to the door they’d left through, and when his attention circled back to Rody’s exhausted face, he didn’t even have to try for that look to genuinely soften. “You did well.” Vincent arched his neck forward, peered at him a touch more closely. “Good job.”

[lawofcollage]

From a Campaign Perspective: Why Endorsing Kamala Harris Makes the Most Sense

Yay, Biden stepped back! (if this is how you found out and not the supernatural alert system meme... oops)

Let's talk about why Kamala Harris makes the most sense even if she, like Biden, is not one of our first choices (though she's higher on my list, certainly)

(My credentials: Former campaign worker, poli sci degree, etc)

It'd be really fucked up for him to step back and cause a PR disaster for the Dems. Kamala Harris has been at his side this whole time. Stepping over her, a woman of color who has already been doing much of the work, would cause a public relations crisis.

Kamala Harris has name recognition. We know who she is, and we at least vaguely know what she stands for. Name recognition is hugely important in an election and we do not have enough time to build it right now. This is not the time to pick someone that we've never heard of before or even vaguely never heard of.

She's run a campaign before. She knows how to do this, she has a platform that she can modify a little as needed and be ready to go over night. She has the donors from last time and everything.

She's already got a campaign schedule for Biden, she can modify that easily to suit her own needs and has more freedom to campaign than the current president because she's *not* the current president, she doesn't have COVID right now, and she's not older than dirt.

She is perfectly capable of making Trump look like a fucking idiot on stage. The highlight reel is gonna look so much better next time, hopefully.

Personal speculation: I think people are far less likely to sit it out with her name at the top of the ticket.

So what should you be doing right now?

Let's start simple. Understand that Biden did what many of us wanted right here. He stepped away from the campaign he was running and handed it off to someone younger. Fuck yeah!

Also remember that anyone who encourages you not to vote likely has an alternative agenda that involves you having less power to use your voice.

Ok, what else?

Check your voter registration here.

Not registered? You’ve moved and it’s out of date? Update your voter registration/registration here.

Don’t forget to vote up and down the ballot! Local elections matter, and hopefully you’ll find someone you’re a lot more passionate about on a local level.

And make sure your friends do the same!!!!

This website also covers what you may need to bring with you the day of. Some states require you to bring your ID, for example, so go check.Your state may have early voting options, and you should definitely use those! They make life a lot easier. You can check those out here.

P.S. Make sure to check your voter registration closer to the election as well, just in case. Probably sometime in September would be best, but just keep an eye out.

[captainfantasticalright]

1967: you go too fast for me Crowley, or the year the Wolfenden report actually came into effect.

It is no secret that in 1957 the Wolfenden Committee recommended the decriminalisation of private homosexual activity between consenting adults over the age of 21, but with heavier penalties against homosexual activity in public places.

This is precisely what Anathema thinks of when she comments in the book that her book had been left in the back of the car of 'two consenting cycle repairmen'.

Not only does that inform us as readers that the characters within the book perceive Crowley and Aziraphale as being a couple, especially by the (arguably) cleverest witch in the book, but also that their appearances (physical corporations) do in fact look older than 21 years old. (the age of consent)*

*It would take until the 2000s for the age of consent to be equalised, and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender personnel to be able to serve openly in the armed forces.

But coming back to the term 'consenting' and the significance within the overall plot of Good Omens series-wise is the fact that they chose 1967, precisely 10 years later after the Wolfenden report and the year the Sexual Offences Act was passed (which decriminalised private homosexual acts between men aged over 21 in England and Wales, while at the same time imposing heavier penalties on street offences) as a crucial point in storytelling.

This is the last scene we see of them after the montage; this is precisely the point where Aziraphale makes that big, first move towards Crowley and manifests himself inside of the Bentley to protect him from a burglary that could have ended in disaster. This is Aziraphale stepping outside from his own box and venturing into admitting that yes, he would enjoy Crowley's company as more than just an Arrangement. He would like the picnics, he would like to dine openly with him.

And this comes precisely at a time, a real world setting where even the Archbishop of Canterbury agreed, saying: “There is a sacred realm of privacy ... into which the law, generally speaking, must not intrude" (referring to homosexuality).

Although we know Aziraphale and Crowley are not men, but rather men-shaped beings of the world, there is something to be said about how the 1967 act reflects on Aziraphale's 'heavenly' beliefs and how that can be attributed not only to homosexuality*, but also a realm of privacy where neither Heaven or Hell (religion itself) need to interfere with his affairs.

*we do know, however, how much the book and tv series lean into Aziraphale being 'gay', at least in our human understanding of labels and categorizing even though he is not; "pansy" "nancy boys" "gayer than a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide" (this one specifically marking Aziraphale canonically in the book as appearing to be a homosexual) "you've got the wrong shop" among others.

A real life anecdote from the time says: John Carter was 17 at the time and doesn’t have a clear memory of the bill passing; he only realised the significance of the change with hindsight. He came out in the early 70s, after making contact with his university’s gay society, which wouldn’t have existed were it not for decriminalisation. “It meant that people could meet … and freely associate.” That was crucial, he says, because, “if you don’t even have a space where you can go, then people are cruising, they’re cottaging * ... It took many years for people who had been constantly looking over their shoulder, being worried, to develop proper ways of relating to each other. Ways that were not just based on sex or compromise or fear.”

*(No, cottaging is not living in a cottage)

No matter that the law had been passed, there was still a lot of stigma surrounding the word 'homosexual'. It wasn't until the 80s and 90s that it stopped being a crime in Scotland and Ireland; being further stigmatized with the AIDS crisis in the late 80s.

Regardless of the nature of the open confession Aziraphale lays bare to Crowley in 1967, it most definitely can be read as a 'coming out' for him. Perhaps not dealing with sexuality directly, but with religion layered on top of that. It is still too fast despite of the year, in spite of the millennia worked together under false pretenses. But it is an exterior, real life push that reinforces the idea for him to see that- if humans are able to recognize that man could be with man and not call it a crime, why could that same thinking not be applied to an angel and a demon living on Earth?

Aziraphale is doing more than blurting his heart out, he is openly hoping for the time that matches 1967 in its decriminalisation of homosexuality to one that applies for him and Crowley. So the thermos, the "better not" say thank you just yet, is a lingering promise to be there for when it finally happens. One which Crowley accepts with bare, open hands.

[tmbgareok]

Hi Flans! I’ve been wondering, you’ve got an extremely impressive vocal range, falsetto and all; did this always come somewhat naturally for you, or was there a concerted effort to train your voice to hit all those notes? Especially the higher ones; I’m still new to having a deeper voice, and it’s been disconcerting not being able to sing as high as I used to… Thanks for your time as always!

JF: I... I... I feel a little anxiety about this. First thank you for the compliment. I do appreciate it. For many years I was really frustrated by the shortcomings of my singing voice, and because I wasn't interested in singing with a traditionally "trained" style, it became a big challenge figuring out how to improve. And very very late in my professional life-like 20 years in I started having breakthroughs and found a much more consistent way to perform.

I tried going to a pretty traditional pair of coaches in the mid-90s (they were a couple) but I realize in retrospect they were really only capable of training Broadway people to belt and opera singers to maximize their projection which was an aesthetic I didn't really relate to. They couldn't address my big issues in a head on way (basically singing flat, scooping up to notes in a goofy, amateurish way, difficulty hitting smaller intervals precisely, and, the big one-- losing my voice). Why couldn't they help me? Because they couldn't really give me the tools in an efficient way (recording vocal lessons was a real-time disaster with just fragments of useful stuff to review--After a year I realized I would have had to go to daily lessons to really get anywhere, and I could barely afford it once a week.)

I really started addressing things in a successful way post-2000, going to a coach who gave me some really simple but informed moves in a more natural way, and using YouTube instruction to do warm ups in a systematic way.

This is my take, and I am sure other people might disagree or are just more naturally good at this than me, but I found there was something a little basic about how to improve my voice--dedicating a half hour every day and just putting in the time with YouTube videos. I wish it was more fun! But if you drill basic stuff all the time you'll find some stuff coming together in months, and some bigger stuff coming together in a year or two. But just living in the world of always singing was really my path to basic improvement. It also helped me hold on to my voice, and through weirder conditions. (I actually capture the audio from my favorite clips and have a playlist on my phone so I can practice almost anywhere)

Finding a 15 minute warm up of scales and arpeggios, and then add in videos of intervals small and large (very helpful for flexibility) I bet you will find you sing more consistently in tune and expand your range in an organic way. I even dream of being able to sing riffs/runs but, man, it does not come naturally to me!

One series of warm ups I can easily recommend is Jeff Rolka. He has tons of videos for all different kinds of voices (and as a tenor, dipping in to baritone and alto warm ups is a great way to expand your range without public embarrassment!) And his interval and chromatic videos are super-useful for focusing up on pitchiness.

I have even sent money to him in the past just because I lean on his stuff so much. I even requested a small interval video and he made one! (I should probably PayPal him some more dough--he has a solid library now. Very useful!)

[autoclick-digital-marketing]

Crisis Communication Strategies for Healthcare Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction: Crisis Communication Strategies for Healthcare OrganizationsInsight:The Impact of Effective Crisis CommunicationKey Areas of Impact:Fact:Understanding Crisis Communication in HealthcareFact:Key Components of Effective Crisis Communication1. Preparedness and PlanningTip:2. Rapid ResponseExample: The Golden Hour3. Clear MessagingTip:4. Consistency Across Channels5. Empathy and…

[allthegeopolitics]

Scientists warn that the Trump administration's abrupt firing of hundreds of weather forecasters and climate experts across NOAA will curtail important climate research and could result in preventable deaths during extreme weather events and related disasters. Over 800 employees across most divisions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — a premier U.S. federal agency at the forefront of climate research that provides timely weather forecasts to the public for free — were dismissed in mass layoffs that began Thursday afternoon (Feb. 27). The cuts targeted probationary employees, a term that refers to new hires in trial periods lasting one to two years as well as long-term federal workers who recently transitioned into new positions; with limited civil protections, these employees are easier to terminate. The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the new White House administration to shrink the federal workforce, which is being spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at its helm.

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