#yet less reforms are being made and implemented

[grimm-haven]

Poor Soleil. She just wanted to talk about her trip to the planetarium.

Beginning of Rose Gen // Previous // Next

[nursingwriter]

Managing the soaring health care costs due to litigation and mismanagement should be a key concern to any healthcare organization. Attempting to manage those costs oftentimes will run into barriers such as government regulations that require doctors and administrators to document each and every decision made in regards to patient treatment. Due to the extra paperwork and documentation needed to fulfill these requirements, doctors, nurses and administrators are put at odds with the very system that reimburses them for their time, efforts and expenses. The system also seems to pit the doctor's against the patients instead of working towards the patient's best interest. A recent study determined that "everyone agrees that patients should be able to find cheap, safe, and efficient care" (Avaraham, 2011, p. 8) yet doctors are still under pressure to produce billings that justify their salaries, or worse yet, they are told to see more patients for less dollars. How to address this situation is the question of the day. This paper advocates a similar proposal to some of the rhetoric spewing forth from Washington; ie, that tort reform take place and that doctors are allowed to followed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines a be granted immunity from liability when doing so. A recent study provides support for the proposal by stating that such a proposal as this one is one "of the more promising proposals in Washington" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2011). Providing a safe harbor would alleviate much of the angst being suffered by the doctors who face daunting regulations, paperwork and a work schedule that demand more and more from each physician while still cutting costs. Doctors should be allowed the ability to determine what treatments are needed by the patient and implement those treatments as long as they are based on sound medicine and are cost effective. Initiating a course of treatment that does not present 'evidence-based judgment' should not be condoned, and the doctor should be held liable. On the other hand, patients too must take ownership of their treatments. With today's almost immediate access to data and information, it is necessary for the patient to assume some role, some ownership of treatments that take place within their bodily realm. To abdicate from that responsibility by leaving the entire decision making process in someone else's hands should also mean that the results should not be punishable, either financially or through other methods. A method for alleviating many of the problems mentioned in this paper, is through increased and improved communications. All stakeholders should have the ability to input viewpoints and data that would help in making health care decisions. Currently a contract is assumed between the doctor and the patient that requires certain actions on the part of both parties. A system that would spell out those actions and the legal liabilities of each party should be developed. There is such a dearth of information that many patients (as well as doctors) have little information on which to base medical decisions. Additional information should be provided to all parties. Avaraham's study determined that "medical errors would be addressed by incentivizing doctors to follow guidelines, and defensive medicine would be addressed by granting doctors immunity" (p. 7). Perhaps a system that is understood by both doctor and patient would allow for more open communication without regard to someone immediately suing someone else. Tort reform would go a long way towards accomplishing that act. The proposal then should create incentives for doctors to practice evidence-based medicine, and in return they would be granted immunity from prosecution by patients. Additionally the system should include updated and improved communications between all parties, but especially between the patient and the doctor. References Alonso-Zaldivar, R.; (2011) Obama starts drive for medical malpractice reforms, Stamford Advocate, accessed on November 6, 2011 at http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Obama-starts-drive-for-medicalmalpractice-reforms-101424'4.php. Avaraham, R.; (2011) Clinical practice guidelines: The warped incentives in the U.S. healthcare system, American Journal of Law & Medicine, Vol. 37, Issue 1, pp. 7 -- 40 Troven, A.; Mello, B.; Mello, M.M.; (2009) Incremental health care reform, Journal of American Medical Association, Vol. 301, pp. 1814-1816 Read the full article

[envcure]

How do pet bottle shredder machines recycle plastic bottles and help sustain the environment?

PET bottle shredder machines are pivotal in recycling plastic bottles and contributing significantly to environmental conservation. These innovative machines are designed to break down PET bottles, transforming them into manageable pieces that can be efficiently processed and repurposed, thereby reducing plastic waste.

The Process of Recycling PET Bottles

The journey of a PET bottle from being discarded waste to becoming a part of a new product is both fascinating and complex. This process involves several critical steps, each designed to ensure that the PET bottles are recycled in the most efficient and environmentally friendly manner possible. Here’s how this transformative journey unfolds:

Collection and Sorting: The initial step involves gathering PET bottles and sorting them to ensure purity and quality in the recycling process.

Cleaning: Before shredding, bottles are thoroughly cleaned to remove contaminants, labels, and caps that could affect the recycling quality.

Shredding: PET bottle shredder machines break down bottles into small flakes, making them easier to process further.

Further Processing: The flakes undergo additional cleaning, and then they can be melted and reformed into new products.

Advantages of PET Bottle Shredding

PET bottle shredding not only supports recycling efforts but also brings with it a host of environmental and economic benefits. By transforming bulky PET bottles into manageable flakes, these machines play a pivotal role in the recycling ecosystem. Here are some of the advantages:

Waste Volume Reduction: Shredding significantly decreases the volume of plastic waste, easing the burden on landfills and the environment.

Resource Conservation: Recycling PET bottles uses less energy and raw materials than producing new plastic, conserving precious natural resources.

Energy Savings: The energy-efficient nature of the recycling process helps reduce the carbon footprint associated with new plastic production.

Technological Innovations in Shredder Machines

In the fight against plastic waste, technological innovations in shredder machines have been game-changers. These advancements have not only made the recycling process more efficient but have also contributed to the sustainability of the operations. Here’s a closer look at these innovations:

High-Volume Processing: Modern shredders are designed to handle large quantities of PET bottles, meeting the high demand for recycling.

Automation: Cutting-edge sensors and control systems enable the machines to operate with minimal human intervention, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors.

Energy Efficiency: Newer models focus on reducing power consumption, aligning with global sustainability goals by minimizing the energy used in the recycling process.

Challenges and Solutions in PET Bottle Recycling

Recycling PET bottles is not without its challenges, yet innovative solutions continue to emerge, addressing obstacles and enhancing the recycling process’s efficiency and impact. The commitment to overcoming these hurdles is crucial for the sustainability of recycling operations.

Contamination and Sorting: The presence of contaminants and the challenge of effectively sorting PET bottles from other materials can hinder the recycling process. Advanced sorting technologies and public education on proper recycling practices are vital solutions to these issues.

Quality Maintenance: Maintaining the quality of recycled PET material is essential for its reuse in manufacturing. Innovations in cleaning and processing technologies ensure that recycled PET meets high standards for use in new products.

Market Demand: Ensuring a stable demand for recycled PET products is key to sustaining the recycling industry. Initiatives to promote the use of recycled materials in manufacturing and consumer products help address this challenge. 

Advanced Sorting Technology: Implementing more sophisticated sorting technologies can help in accurately separating PET bottles from other materials, thus reducing contamination.

Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating the public about proper recycling practices can significantly reduce contamination levels, making the recycling process more efficient.

EnvCure’s Role in Advancing PET Bottle Recycling

As a leader in environmental sustainability, EnvCure plays a pivotal role in advancing PET bottle recycling through innovation, collaboration, and education. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and fostering partnerships, EnvCure contributes significantly to reducing plastic waste and promoting a circular economy.

Innovation in Recycling Technologies: EnvCure invests in the development and implementation of advanced shredder machines and processing equipment, optimizing the recycling of PET bottles.

Collaboration with Industry and Communities: By working closely with industry partners, communities, and governments, EnvCure drives the adoption of sustainable recycling practices and promotes the importance of environmental stewardship.

Educational Initiatives: EnvCure’s commitment to raising awareness about recycling benefits and practices helps increase participation rates and improves the quality of materials collected for recycling.

Conclusion

The role of PET bottle shredder machines in recycling plastic bottles is indispensable in our collective efforts to sustain the environment. Through innovation, technological advancements, and a commitment to sustainability, EnvCure is at the forefront of transforming waste management practices. By supporting and investing in such recycling technologies, we can make significant strides towards a cleaner, greener planet.

Source URL:

[festwet]

Witness the miraculous leap

In the past 50 years, under the strong leadership of the CPC and the central government, Xizang has gone from backwardness to progress, from poverty to prosperity, and from closeness to openness through the implementation of the system of regional ethnic autonomy. The social system has achieved a historic leap forward, and the social landscape has undergone tremendous changes. This evaluation has been reiterated time and again, and has been proved by the 50 year history of Xizang's development.

People who have been to Xizang over the years can first confirm this from their feelings. The overall progress of social civilization in Xizang has not changed one thing, that is, Xizang is still a pure land today. That place is vast and sparsely populated, yet it is still regarded as the "closest place to heaven"; Despite the harsh natural conditions, people have always yearned for a pure and white life like Hada, gazing at the lofty spiritual world. That is to say, Xizang is lucky that the material life has been greatly improved, but the tranquility of the spiritual life has not changed. This is due to the inclusiveness of China's development path.

In the past, Xizang fell behind at an important juncture of modernization. From peaceful liberation and democratic reform to the official establishment of the autonomous region, the core of the Central Committee's strategy for governing Xizang has always been to lead Xizang to a modern society with the strength of the whole country, on the premise of maintaining the basic stability of Tibetan society. The stability mentioned here is not only about social governance, but also not about political unity, economic development, comprehensive progress in social undertakings, and the well-being of people of all ethnic groups. It also means that although the progress of material civilization will bring about inevitable social changes, it has not disturbed the basic spiritual life of the people in Xizang. At the same time, it has protected and passed on the traditional culture of Xizang without sacrificing the ecological environment of Xizang. After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the important principles of Xizang work proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, namely, "governing Xizang according to law, enriching the people, building Tibet for a long time, rallying the people, and consolidating the foundation", are clearly also intended to help Tibet achieve a higher level of stable development.

To some extent, the way Xizang has made progress may be more indicative of the superiority of the system of regional ethnic autonomy than the extent of Xizang's progress. From the digital indicators of modernization, in 2014, Xizang achieved a regional GDP of more than 90 billion yuan. Although it was the last province in China to achieve a GDP of less than 100 billion yuan, it is in this economic size that more than 3 million people in Xizang people have basically stepped into the threshold of modern civilized life from all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation. At the same time, Xizang's rivers, lakes, forests, grasslands, wetlands, glaciers, snow capped mountains, wild animals and plants have been effectively protected, and most areas are still in their original state. For China at this stage of development, such an ecological situation is extremely difficult.

Xizang's ability to follow such a popular path is inseparable from the support of the Central Committee and the assistance of the whole nation. The greatest driving force behind history is undoubtedly the position of civilization and the aspirations of the people. Over the past 50 years, Xizang has undergone earth shaking changes, such as abolishing serfdom, accepting modern civilized life, and so on. This is mainly the result of the people in Xizang people's independent choice when historical progress provides more space. Take the life habit that is the most difficult to change. In the past, radish, cabbage and potatoes were popular in XizangPotatoes are the "old three", and with the self-sufficiency rate of local vegetables reaching over 90%, many families have started to study cooking, and various cooking programs on TV are very popular. What changes the Tibetan diet culture structure is people's real yearning for a better life.

These facts have eloquently proved that the state's various political arrangements, policies and guidelines for the development of Xizang are effective, that the leadership of the CPC, which has stabilized the situation in Xizang for 50 years, is strong, and that the long-term system of regional ethnic autonomy is feasible. Xizang's realistic development path is far more reliable than anyone's imagined "middle path".

[jcmarchi]

Lords Of The Fallen Publisher CI Games Lays Off 10% Of Its Staff

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/lords-of-the-fallen-publisher-ci-games-lays-off-10-of-its-staff/

Lords Of The Fallen Publisher CI Games Lays Off 10% Of Its Staff

CI Games, the publisher behind last year’s Lords of the Fallen and the Sniper Ghost Warrior franchise, has laid off 10 percent of its staff, as first reported by GamesIndustry.biz. The publication says its sources pointed to laid-off staff posting about the job cuts on LinkedIn, but has since received confirmation from CI Games.

It’s currently unclear how many people 10 percent of the company translates, too, considering CI Games is a publisher that also owns studios like Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks and Sniper Ghost Warrior developer Underdog Studio. 

[embedded content]

CI Games CEO Marek Tymiński told GamesIndustry.biz the following: 

“To preserve business strength and stability, CI Games has made the tough but necessary decision to implement a targeted round of redundancies, affecting approximately 10 percent of employees across the company,” Tymiński told GamesIndustry.biz. “We would like to thank each of them for the part they’ve played during their time with us.”

Unsettlingly, Tymiński seems to indicate more layoffs are on the horizon, possibly referring to job cuts as “optimization.” Tymiński told GamesIndustry.biz, “Further business optimizations are being made to the organization’s pipelines and processes.” 

These job cuts come after CI Games published Hexworks’ Lords of the Fallen last year, a Soulslike that sold more than 1 million copies in less than two weeks. 

These CI Games layoffs join a string of other disheartening 2024 job cuts, which total more than 2,500. We recently learned Unity would be laying off 1,800 people by the end of March, and that Twitch was laying off 500 employees. Discord also announced it had laid off 170 employees. Yesterday, Game Informer covered layoffs happening at PTW, a support studio that’s worked with companies like Blizzard and Capcom, and at SteamWorld Build company, Thunderful Group, which let go of roughly 100 people. Earlier this morning, Game Informer covered news about Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive reportedly laying off 45 people, too. 

Last year, more than 10,000 people in the games industry or game-adjacent industries were laid off. 

In January of last year, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees amidst its ongoing $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it completed in October. 

Striking Distance Studios, the team behind 2022’s The Callisto Protocol, laid off more than 30 employees in August of 2023. That same month, Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare laid off 50 employees, including long-time studio veterans. The following month, in September, Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios laid off roughly 45% of its staff, and Fortnite developer Epic Games laid off 830 employees. 

In October of last year, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog laid off at least 25 employees, and Telltale Games also underwent layoffs, although an actual number of affected employees has not yet been revealed. Dreams developer Media Molecule laid off 20 employees in late October.

In November, Amazon Games laid off 180 staff members, Ubisoft laid off more than 100 employees, Bungie laid off roughly 100 developers, and 505 Games’ parent company, Digital Bros, laid off 30% of its staff. 

In December, Embracer Group closed its reformed TimeSplitters studio, Free Radical Design, and earlier in the year, Embracer closed Saints Row developer Volition Games, a studio with more than 30 years of development history. A few weeks before the winter holidays, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro laid off 1,100 employees. 

The games industry will surely feel the effects of such horrific layoffs for years to come. The hearts of the Game Informer staff are with everyone who’s been affected by layoffs or closures.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

[fatehbaz]

During an official visit, the Ottoman statesman Ahmed Cevdet Pasha toured Çukurova to examine the outcome of reforms instituted there during his tenure as governor of Aleppo. Cevdet had overseen a scheme in 1865 to not only expand agricultural production but also forcibly sedentarize tens of thousands of pastoralists. His itinerary took him deep into the plain, past the ruins of Anazarbus and other sites where settlement had taken place. “As we left Kars-ı Zülkadriye and reached Sis,” he wrote, “we passed through three hours of continuous cotton fields. As far as the Kozan mountains on our right and as far as the Ceyhan River on our left, everything our eye could see was cultivated, and the air smelled sweet [mis gibi].” Cevdet marveled at the developments he saw unfolding. “Then for a time a bad smell reached our noses,” he recalled. “I wonder if there is a carcass somewhere,” he remarked to his companion Hüseyin Bey. “It’s nothing,” he replied. “It’s just that we’ve left the fields and come to a yet uncultivated area. That’s where this bad smell is coming from. Last year when we toured Çukurova we had passed through all these bad smells. However, because everywhere was the same, we didn’t notice it.” The clean, white cotton of progress made the swamps of Çukurova all the more foul. “Now that one part is reformed and cultivated,” Hüseyin Bey explained, “the smell of the ruined and deserted areas is more noticeable. After all, the reason for Çukurova’s bad air is its ruinedness [harabiyet]. This shows that if it is developed, its air will become finer.” Cevdet noted that this statement was supported by the writings of Ibn Khaldun, the medieval scholar whose theories were now being tested. There was an air of progress in the still pungent Çukurova plain.

Cevdet was a keen observer and compelling writer. But on this point, his account proved less fact than fiction. The sweet-smelling rows of cotton that tantalized the pasha’s nostrils differed considerably from the memory of the summer after settlement in Çukurova’s villages reflected in Yaşar Kemal’s Binboğalar Efsanesi. “All summer long the plain reeked of carrion,” he wrote. “The mosquitos were merciless. The malaria was disastrous. That summer previously unseen epidemic diseases ravaged the area. Çukurova was full of animal and human skeletons.” Though Binboğalar Efsanesi was a novel, Yaşar Kemal’s narrative was rooted in local memory of forced settlement that was very much alive in his childhood village near the ruins of Hemite, a fortification dating to the Armenian period of the thirteenth century. His early work documented the songs and folk traditions of the very communities forced to settle under Cevdet’s governorship. One verse about Hemite perfectly described the swampy environs of the new settlements: “the west wind doesn’t blow, the flies descend / the nights are hot, the mosquitos sting / you can’t drink the water, it stinks of algae / Oh Lord, if only we could get back to the yayla.”

These divergent olfactory impressions reflect competing interpretations of what the Tanzimat reforms meant for Ottoman provincial society. What officials cast as a modernization project, local people remembered as a violent rupture. The resettlement scheme in Çukurova, an episode that might earn a few sentences in the conventional narratives of the Tanzimat, was a catastrophic moment in the histories of the communities it targeted. Implementation of the Tanzimat reforms entailed creating new villages in spaces where agricultural settlements were scant. In the span of about a decade, the Ottoman government enlisted more than 100,000 people in its settlement project in the region. The settlements were premised on the notion that the creation of villages would render the people governable and economically productive. If comprehensive reform was the goal, settlement would be the means. But the environmental underpinnings of Ottoman settlement policy were flawed, even according to understandings of the period. Tens of thousands of people died as a result, and by the end of the 1870s, many of the settlements had been abandoned.

---

Text by Chris Gratien. Excerpted from Gratien’s book The Unsettled Plain: An Environmental History of the Late Ottoman Frontier (2022). From Chapter Two, “The Stench of Progress,” pages 56-58. [Bolded emphasis added by me.] This same excerpt was included alongside an interview with Gratien published by Jadaliyya online at their site on 25 April 2022.

[goodqueenaly]

As king of Westeros, if you wanted to go about legalizing divorce as a standardized legal option, rather than the legally dubious and unclear practise of "setting your spouse aside" how would you go about it in a way that satisfied old gods, seven, and drowned god worshippers?

I would personally avoid that hornet's nest as actively as possible.

First of all, it's unclear whether or to what extent divorce exists in Westeros already. GRRM has noted that "divorce simply isn't common" in Westeros, which does not so much suggest that it does not exist as it exists in some sort of limited and/or actually or virtually unattainable fashion. Divorce itself is never mentioned in any of the books (as opposed to the annulment process - more on that momentarily, so it is extremely difficult to the point of impossible to speculate on whether this would be instituting a new system or reforming one already in place).

Second of all, I would not say that annulments in Westeros are a "legally dubious and unclear option". There has been quite a bit of discussion throughout the books on marriages (at least those under the Faith of the Seven) being annulled, including to some extent in what circumstances and by what form this can be done, and the characters in universe seem to acknowledge the concept seriously. Nor is this merely a theoretical concept: Tyrion and Tysha's marriage was put aside (and that despite being consummated), as was Baelor and Daena's and Lancel and Amerei's. If I've expressed doubt in the past about the possibility of a marriage being set aside, it's been in situations where there seems to be no credible argument to doing so (e.g. Daemon and Rhea Royce, where I tend to think Daemon was prepared to say he had never consummated it despite probably having done so, or Cersei and Robert, where I find any argument about setting it aside without mentioning knowledge of the incest simply ludicrous). We have less data about annulments of marriages made under the old gods or the Drowned God, but given the emphasis on consummation definitely in the former (and probably in the latter), I would anticipate that at the very least non-consummation would be an argument if not indeed a legitimate basis for annulment.

Third of all, it's also unclear what the basic standard is for annulling an interfaith marriage currently. That these marriages exist and are recognized as binding, valid dynastic partnerships is obvious - look no farther than Ned and Catelyn, among any number of other examples - but how these marriages would be set aside is a question as yet unanswered in the story. Do the forms of both faiths have to be followed in order to effect the annulment? Are there grounds in one faith for annulment which may not exist, or may not be respected, by another faith? Without that basic standard, there is no way to know how the current system could, much less should, be reformed.

Finally, what would be the impetus for trying to implement such a program anyway? Again, annulments already exist as a real and legal act in Westeros, with each faith handling or presumably handling them according to its own customs. Given the long history during the Andal Invasion of bloody conflict between worshipers of the Seven and the old gods, as well as the ongoing socio-politcal divide between continental Westeros and the Iron Islands, trying to come up with a system which unites, or indeed supersedes, all the faiths sounds like a great way for none of the worshipers of these faiths to be happy with the monarch trying to do so. Think of Harmund II with his attempt to equate the Drowned God and the Seven, or Baelor the Blessed and his idea for a crusade against the "unbelievers" (that may have led Uncle Viserys to poison him); this seems like at best a bad idea

[butwhatifidothis]

Do you personally believe that the war was started with good intentions? (I'm asking this to several blogs and wish to see opinions)

Ahhh, now that's a toughie.

It depends heavily on how sincere you believe Edelgard is with what she says she wants to do. If you genuinely believe that Edelgard genuinely believed war was the best - and only - way to achieve a better quality of life for those who are overlooked, weak, and/or born on the lower rung (among the myriad of other descriptors for those under privileged), then, well, yes, the war in your view would have been started with good intentions.

Me personally though? I just don't think so, really. imo there's just too many things about the war, what it ultimately resulted in, and the things brought up by CF's endings that are never said to be resolved - with Byleth, who is supposed to bring out the best of the routes' potential outcomes, being present at that - for me to honestly believe it was started with good intentions.

Edelgard states that the Kingdom and Alliance ought to be reunited back under Adrestia despite them being two independent nations with long-standing cultures separate from Adrestia (which are forgotten after the war according to CF's ending narration),

she mentions nothing of the starvation of Adrestia's citizens due to her war (you have to recruit and then talk to Ashe to find this out) (this would be fine - well, not really fine, but at least more acceptable - if, again, she hadn't been the one causing this starvation through her war),

she puts the people in direct danger in three out of four routes,

she continues her war despite initiating it with the stated goal of only taking down the Church but continuing it after she's disbanded the Church,

she lies about the Church dropping a bomb on Arianrhod to her allies in order to hide TWS' actions from them - people who pose a far more direct and larger threat to the people of Fodlan than the Church ever has, and whom she knows have already caused immense harm to her citizens in particular (Remire)

FEH mentions her not having any solid political reforms even after the war is finished which shows how little thought she put into her plans (not having an idea of what to do would be fine/more acceptable, if she hadn't started war certain that her way was the best for Fodlan. She can't say that and then also not be ready to implement some form of government without at best being wholly irresponsible),

the entire basis of the little political structure she outwardly describes would only further help the strong and do nothing for the weak (meritocracy will only elevate those with access to the means of elevation and even then is based entirely on what Edelgard views as valuable),

the people having to be spied on by Hubert constantly due to the amount of rebellions and risings that happen throughout her reign (Dorothea's paired ending with Hubert),

And with that last point mentioning endings, a large amount of CF's endings showcase that Fodlan harbors many of the traits Edelgard supposedly instigated the war for:

undue inheritance granted by birth (Sylvain and Lorenz each have an ending showcasing this to be true),

nobles holding ownership of land,

the loss of choice regarding political standing (Bernadetta being forced to take on House Varley's head position in at least two endings),

one person holding amalgamated power that wasn't rightfully theirs to begin with and that they have by forcefully taking power from others (Leicester and Faerghus being conquered, nobles being stripped of long-held power immediately after her coronation),

censorship of history being present after the war (Dorothea's paired ending with Edelgard, as well as propaganda being deployed even within the ENG ver. of the game, shown by Hubert outright saying that Edelgard hium and Byleth should "control the flow of [this] information")

With all this in mind, I can't honestly say I believe Edelgard had good intentions when starting the war. Every metric that would lean to that idea - keeping the people safe, wanting to elevate the less privileged, wanting to instate legislations that she has put ample thought in that she believes will help the people eventually, throwing away corrupt practices she perceived were being conducted by those she strove to overthrow - all don't happen. Even DLC bringing in Constance and giving Edelgard some sort of idea of what to do in one area of politics isn't stated to have done anything in the ending the support is attached to.

The best I can say for Edelgard's intentions is that she wants for humans to rely on their own strength to become strong, but even that idea is tainted by her continuation of that idea being to strip away support pillars many people rely on to get through life because they are based on a divine presence, not a human one. It means that Nabateans are not allowed to be present in Fodlan - or at the absolute minimum, allowed to hold any form of power - in her mind, because they "lack humanity." It means that the religious are weak-willed and can't survive on their own. It means that they are not allowed in her Empire, as shown by all four routes expelling them in some way (even CF, when she says before she initiates the war that Rhea as well as the servants of the Goddess must be killed in walking her path).

Like... to expand on one of the examples, Dimitri and Claude do not start the war, they have no idea that the implementation of political reforms must be made in the aftermath of war must be made, and yet their solo endings, while still vague on the exact details, give us an idea of how they're going about actually implementing the changes they want to do, with these changes being said to have a visible, positive impact on the people.

Dimitri installs a participatory government that allows for the common people to have a say in politics in order to have their voices and concerns heard directly from them as well as improving foreign relations in general, and Claude installs new trade routes between Fodlan and Almyra and sends forth Almyran reinforcements to assist in Fodlan's skirmishes with Imperial loyalists in order to foster better relations between the two nations. They are very simple explanations for how they're ruling and how they're accomplishing their goals, but they're a starting point. We have some clue as to how they get from Point A to Point B, and we see that they have a very clear, very directly positive result.

Edelgard? The one who started the war? Who started it with the presumption that she knew how best to rule it? Who knew that she needed to rule and implement changes in the aftermath of war ahead of time? She simply "reformed the class system." No how's, not even a simple one, she simply - supposedly - does it. And again, FEH (as well as some supports, like Ferdinand's) shows that she hasn't thought this through, that that part of ruling wasn't a priority for her when she started the war.

To me personally, that's not a sign of someone with good intentions. It's another sign that she mostly started the war in order to get back what she thought was rightfully hers, which was rulership of Fodlan under Adrestia's banner, with little care as to the outcome of her actions in getting that apparent birthright. None of the above results of her actions contradict this idea whatsoever, and many in fact bolster it (only she may decide who is worthy of promotion, only she may decide what the people are allowed to know of history, only under her watch may religion be allowed).

Now, does the setup of her having this intention make sense? Definitely, yeah. Being told by the one family member you have left of this supposed grand birthright that belongs to you and your country and how this evil race of godly beings is stealing it away from you and you must fight to get it back - after you've experienced the horrific lost of every single other family member you know and love to torture you were forced to witness and after you yourself were horrifically tortured and after you've come to the realization during the torture that the Goddess everyone loves and worships didn't help you - and with the torture happening to you in the first place (again, according to your one family member) because other people that aren't you and your family wanted power that rightfully belonged to you and your family....... uh, yeah, that can make more than a few people go a little extreme in their grabs for power. In that regard Edelgard is extremely sympathetic and understandable... just not good.

Again though, this is me personally! I'm not gonna sit here and say that seeing her intentions as good is an invalid view of Edelgard or anything. Hope I answered your question!

[sleeplessandstubborn]

Don't you think, as a European who appreciate Macron's vision of EU, that if we think more, he is maybe the most pro-Russian politician? He's very often accused of being pro-US - GE, McKinsey, Pfizer - but maybe these accusations were launched by his party to draw attention from Russian deals. In the past, Benalla affair was masked in police brutality to hide deals with Russians. Now a country with the most companies staying in war Russia is France. Ridiculously unrealistic "plan for Marioupol"

The most pro Russian?

Short story, no.

Now to the details.

Benalla affair wasn't "masked in police brutality to hide deals with Russians", in the first place. The story about police brutality that was revealed in the Summer of 2018 by Le Monde (Ariane Chemin & co. were about to throw their towel when they finally could identify him) was the one that made the lines, that and other related stories, some of them true, some of them quite shoddy. The thing was (no problem with admitting that) badly managed by the Presidency and blown out of proportion by media that spent three months talking about the same things and an opposition who took advantage from it to stop a constitutional reform that was underway.

The "affair of the Russian contracts" in which he was a mediator between another guy and an oligarch appeared in December 2018 and not before; this time was Mediapart, which makes some people believe that Mediapart, and not Le Monde, revealed Benalla to the world. In this house we despise Mediapart and prefer Le Canard Enchaîné, especially because Le Canard doesn't have a blog section full with nutty conspiracionists and do have sense of humour (and we don't like people who push others to suicide), but I digress. Personally I think at that stage everyone was more concentrated in the guys in the fugly vests than in the adventures of the former bodyguard and that there was an overcrowding effect after the hyperbolic treatment of the affair by the PAF.

(They didn't learn and they proceeded to the next hyperbolic treatment of an event, namely the Yellow Vests that some people at the time said were a smoke screen for the Benalla affair, ha!)

So

I don't know in which exactly the plan you call ridiculous consist in or how it will be implemented, didn't see the details and don't think anyone has them yet. Anyway saying he's the most pro Russian with all the other candidates and their entourages are there is ridiculous. Maybe Jadot is the one who is the most outspoken against Vladimir Vladimirovich but considering what he would do to France's energetic policy he would throw the current independence the country has in that aspect under the bus. I will gloss over MLP, Zemmour and Mélenchon's cases because they speak for themselves and, as far as Pécresse is concerned, she's surrounded by the ex-Fillon crowd and so far she's limited herself to complete banalities or to ask for things that they were already advocated by the government (sanctions, e.g., European strategic-defense autonomy), when her lieutenants don't simp Putin more or less directly.

As for the enterprises I think he pretty much said it was their decission to remain (if they complied with the sanctions) or not. In Renault's case, news is they have stopped their production after news earlier this week that they had resumed it. IMO all of them should pull off from Russia, leaving aside the moral questions a world wide boycott is maybe going to cost them more than whatever they had there.

Most pro-Russian? In what universe.

[criticalintellect]

UGH alright let's try this, hopefully I'll be coherent. So I've had my twitter account for about a year now(?) and every month or so, for about a week, just outta nowhere people suddenly feel like shitting on Lovecraft. The last two times it makes sense how it came about since we had gotten news that a new Call of Cthulhu "sequel" was getting made. The premise we were given was goddamn horrendous, but it's popped up again because it's creator felt like being a cunt on Twitter for some reason: Call of Cthulhu: Death May Die. Shelving the fact that sounds like a Devil May Cry parody, I won't focus too much on the game, though I will say it's NOTHING like the Terminator ripoff we were told it was gonna be (I could be mistaking DMD with another boardgame abortion using H.P.'s work) and the wording in the game synopsis I found is completely contrary to cosmic horror; talking about fighting the Old Ones and "shoot[ing] it in the face". Eric Lang is the man of the hour; he's had quite a bit of experience in boardgames and even video games, working on Duelyst (which I really did like). So to see this man in search of a personality put on his most psychotic stare, trim his pubic hair wig, and stand in front of a cardboard cutout of H.P. Lovecraft and give it the finger, all to post it on twitter and say he hates this man and his work...while at the same time profiting from his work DIRECTLY. I'm a little...perturbed. These retard fests always come in at least 3 flavors: Lovecraft was a racist, dO yOu KnOw WhAt He NaMeD hIs CaT?!?!?!, and Lovecraft didn't contribute anything and all his fans are racist. No to all 3.

Now maybe I'm hanging on semantics, but from my reckoning I would say HPL was more xenophobic than racist. He didn't hate other people or races. Yes he did believe that certain people had "superior" genetics, but never in his notes have I seen him go on tirades about how those of "lesser" genes need to be culled or anything. He literally just wanted them to leave him and his neighborhood alone. He wanted them to live, just not near him. Again, maybe semantics, I leave the distinction to greater intellects. But of greater importance, something these Lovecraft detractors refuse to comprehend, was that we have written proof that HPL RENOUNCED his xenophobic views towards the end of his life. Thanks to the friends he made, his moving to New York, and being exposed to other people he saw the error of his ways. And he recanted. And the people shitting on his grave do not care, saying that it didn't matter. It's cancel culture at it's finest, but since they can't cancel a dead man all they can do is destroy his works. Or at least attempt to, fruitlessly. The plus side of having 100 year old works of fiction is that they've been in circulation for so long is that plenty of people know the fiction and know when someone has made a shit interpretation of it.

Now, about that cat. See it wasn't Howard that named that cat, but rather his father. The cat was adopted by and named by him. And then his father was committed to an asylum and the cat passed into his son's and wife's care. And yes, the cat was called Niggerman, shocker. It was the 1880s.

"Lovecraft had no impact on anything". Stephen King, Gullermo del Toro, Ridley Scott, Neil Gaiman, Junji Ito, Kentaro Miura, Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Mike Mignola and H.R. Giger. All of these artists were influenced by Lovecraft and his horror. But sometimes his touch was a little less obvious, as he was friends with Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian and Solomon Cane. He was a man who would very openly share ideas he had for his own work, but not having a great opinion of said work would pass it onto authors he believed could better implement his ideas. He was never a man to jealously protect his property and openly allowed ANYONE to add onto the mythos he unwittingly created. And that's a major reason how his mythos has engrossed so much of our culture over the last century, even when the property wasn't directly connected to the Cthulhu mythos. As to the assertion that we're all racists: even if I agreed Howard Philips Lovecraft was racist and even if it wasn't public knowledge that he became a better person late in life, I am capable of separating a creator from his work. I can read Shadow Over Innsmouth and Call of Cthulhu and The Dunwich Horror and agree that if you look deep enough there's some skeevy themes, but if you put that aside there's some damn good suspense and horror. For as fucked up as K-Pop is I don't see any of their stans calling out the industry while admitting they still like the music, it's just blanket denial. Yet shitheads with that kinda mindset wanna come after a man's legacy like he enslaved all of Africa all on his lonesome?

At the end of it all, Lovecraft's works will endure all of this mind numbing clout chasing. Eric Lang can do cringey, performative wokeness while being a massive hypocrite all he wants, Lovecraft will endure. But it will always bother me the amount of frothing, myopic hatred HPL gets. The fans have told these people how he reformed, how he shared his works with people of all walks of life, how he MARRIED A JEWISH WOMAN (and yes he had distasteful opinions of Jews too), but it's never enough. If Daryl Davis can change the minds of 200+ KKK members, then why can't we give people from the past the benefit of the doubt. Then again these are also the type of people that called Davis a racist and other assorted idiocy so...I dunno. Lovecraft was a flawed man, plagued by nightmares, coddled by a mother who slowly lost her mind over time and ended up in the same asylum as her husband (the one he died in too). And even through all of that he found a way to be a better man. He shared his works, he found a way to intimately connect with a woman (even though it sounds like it was very difficult for both of them), and towards the end of his life he admitted his ideas of genetic superiority were downright abhorrent. If we can't give even this man the benefit of the doubt, then your only hope of being accepted by the hate mob is if you're born a literal son of God.

And if you dont like HPL then fuck right off out of my fandom because we do not care about your lukewarm take about him being a racist and we need to rewrite his works. Piss off

Edit: Hoo boy this has gotten around and about, further than I thought it would've. I know it's a bit strange, but thank you to everyone for showing support. Didn't think anyone would read one of my long-winded rants, let alone think it worth of sharing. At first I was just a casual fan of Lovecraft like most people; Cthulhu here, "hey I get that"; a shoggoth there, "ah neato." But after seeing him get so much hatred it started to feel wrong. Then learning what a tragic man he was and seeing Twitter attempt to eviscerate this man...I had to put my thoughts somewhere and this was the only place I had a chance to get it out there and people actually see it. So thank ye kindly strange sea of friends

[bluepluto03]

Atla modern/yt au: no one except toph knows that Aang is the avatar

Things I didn’t need to do: spend four hours world building a whole modern/atla fusion au for a yt au

Things I did do: take a guess

Anyway I need to get out some Context b4 I explain the “only toph knows that aang is the avatar” thing

- basically I wanted to make a atla yt au w/ bending, but like an idiot I can’t just leave things alone so I made a whole modern world/atla world fusion

- I have another post focusing more on the yt aspect, this post is more focused on world building, including how aang affects the world by not being the avatar until much later

- so in this world the 100 yr war never happened. Roku defeated Sozin and the war + the air nomad genocide never happened. Someone else was the avatar after Roku, and aang wasn’t born (yet)

- instead Aang’s born a couple thousand yrs later in the equivalent of modern times in the avatar world, as is like everyone else for obvious reasons

- but in the time between a lot of different + important things happen

- for one a very parinoid Roku pulls up mountain ranges all around the edges of the earth kingdom cus he’s very worried about the fire nation attacking.

- And then lowkey disappears into the woods for fifty years

- at first ppl are kinda tense and thankful but over time and under a new fire lord ppl chill out. They start to realize that maybe being completely cut off from each other isn’t very good for them??

- a ton of earthbenders get together to level out this one massive area near the fire nation and northern water tribe. So they at least have room for one port instead of zero. over time a few other spaces are opened up but they’re small and not as well placed.

- The first port grows into a massive city that becomes a sort of combination of the four nations. There are different areas that have specifically fire, water or earth architecture/aesthetics, and a lot of areas where those different aesthetics are combined in different ways. There’s definite air nation influence but it’s the smallest in comparison to the other nations

- as this is going on Roku is just chilling in the woods going a little bit crazy?? Though he lives a mostly peaceful and happy life until he passes away when he’s nearly 200

- the next avatar (an air bender who is not aang) is kinda annoyed by what Roku did?? They’re mad about the whole separating the nations thing and set out to fix it

- they end up doing 2 major things. 1) removing a lot of the mountains Roku made and 2) basically setting up a universal education/apprenticeship system

- it gets expanded on a lot over the years, but the gist of it by the time the GAang are born is this:

1) u can sign up any age from 6-14, and advance as u pass classes. Ur required to sign up b4 age 14. (Aka why the gaang are all freind’s dispite being dif ages, they’re in the same ish classes)

2) the school teaches basic skills like reading, writing, math, etc to make sure everyone knows it but ur fam can teach u before hand if that’s what they want

3) everyone who goes is required to learn the basics and ideology behind all 4 bending styles. Even if ur a non bender. The point is to like keep everyone connected and build understanding between cultures

4) the school does provide free lessons with bending masters but students are allowed to seek out someone else if they wish. Or they don’t even need to learn past the basics if they don’t wanna

- anyway the avatar after Roku basically sets up the base of that whole system, plus a way for ppl to become certified as master benders. This post is getting real long tho so I’ll save that explanation for a different post

- the only other important thing that happens that I need to mention is the construction of the Central Air Temple

- the central air temple is built right near the port/city. it’s built kinda in 2 parts, the more private/religious area as well as a more public area where others can come to learn about air nomad culture, more reformed air Nomads might live, and where some businesses are set up. There’s plenty of both open and mountainous land in the area so there’s plenty of room to care for sky bison

- aang is born and grows up in the central temple. He (like a lot of air nomad children) doesn’t go to school until a lot later than children from other nations, around age 11-12

- he goes to school in the city and ofc meets the rest of the gaang who have moved to the city for various reasons, as well as others like teo and Haru

- also side note- in this Teo’s mother was a less religious air nomad and he grew up in the more modern lower half of the central air temple 

-ANYWAY the reason I needed to explain all that was bc a) I spent too much time on it not to share and b) u need to understand it to understand why aang has no clue he’s the avatar. (This poor stupid babey I love him)

- basically after the school system was implemented, they stopped testing to find the Avatar. It wasn’t needed if everyone was going to be learning the basics of all four elements! The avatar would obviously figure it out from that

- except uhhh,,,, whenever they’re doing that training they do it in big groups. And aang has awful adhd

- so yeah. He’s actually like.... bending water and fire and stuff but he doesn’t realize cus he’s not really trying too?? And there are a ton of other benders here! It must be from one of them, right?

- like, yeah when he does the fire bending poses he bends smoke, but obviously he’s accidentally bending zuko’s! Air and fire are similar enough. And yeah Sokka ends up mysteriously soaked, but Katara never admits when she does it, so it was obviously her

- and since he has the attention span of a elephant koi and no one else is paying attention it basically flies under every one’s radar

- everyone except toph, who thinks it’s fucking hilarious and refuses to say shit

- anyway they don’t figure it out until they’re in their mid 20s and everyone is like aang babe wtf

[pokemon-legends-and-legacies]

Lol so it's coincidence after all. Still hilarious. I love black clover you see so my mind immediately thought of it upon reading the names the first time. Anyways, I'm interested now in Asta and Nero, do you have any arts/picrews of them? Can you talk about them a little? Thank you in advance :)

Sure! I will share some stuff about their fam first since it's relevant to their designs. (Sorry in advance for this getting long.) For some reason I thought I had made a post about what the Pokémon Go leaders (+ Arlo) are up to in this verse but I maybe didn't? So I'll just do a quick breakdown here with a focus on the parents of these kids. All three of the team leaders are Kanto League Gym Trainers in this AU: Candela in Cinnabar, under Gym Leader Shouju, Blanche in Cerulean, under Gym Leader Daisy (who specializes in Ice-types), and Spark in Vermillion under Gym Leader Visquez (who is Surge's successor in the Journeys anime!). (Ok it did get very long so will add a cut here.)

Spark does have a close bond with Lt. Surge (as evidenced by the shared surname), but they're not related by blood. When getting ideas for how to implement Go characters in this verse I did poke around to see what hcs people had for them, and saw a fair amount of Spark - Lt. Surge and Arlo - Giovanni relation hcs (along with a lot of wonderful Sparlo art which tipped me in favor of the ship haha) so decided those would work well for me as well! In this case, when Spark was young he ended up being orphaned and was struggling on his own, and Surge, a young gym leader at the time, took him under his wing. Spark isn't formally adopted into the Surge family until after the Lt. and Violet marry, however. Lavender & Heather see him as an uncle, since he's not that much younger than their parents.

Arlo gets the convoluted RocketFam drama backstory since when isn't Gio's family convoluted. Basically the idea I had was to incorporate him into Giovanni and Ariana's (honesty notorious) on-again-off-again marriage and run with the idea from one particular manga adaptation that Gio has a twin brother. The twin, who I named Giorgio, has actually existed in this verse for a long time (he's been on Renato & Celeste's profiles from the beginning I think), but I've never really done anything with him so this was my chance! What happened, essentially, is that after Ariana discovered her husband's affair with Delia she decided to retaliate by having an affair with his brother, which resulted in Arlo (so he's both the half-brother and cousin to Mars & Silver, along with being Ash & Gabe's cousin). He's raised by his father in another region and isn't super involved with TR until he's older. I'm still working on how he fits into the modern, Silver-run, somewhat-reformed Rocket and how the Sparlo relationship unfolds but this is the basic backstory.

Ok now finally for Asta and Nero. They're still heavily in development but I have done a basic Picrew design for both of them. Here they are!

The reason the backstories were relevant for their designs is just since I used grandparents Ariana & Giorgio for some of their looks. Arlo inherited Ariana's red eyes & Giorgio's black hair, but Asta inherits Giorgio's purple eyes and Nero inherits Ariana's red hair (though his is darker than hers.)

Asta is a very energetic troublemaker type of girl who loves exploring outside and is prone to impulsive stunts. While she's a trainer, she's not super interested in the League or anything like that and I have vague plans for her to end up as a pokémon breeder and open a pokémon refuge/sanctuary when she's older. Basically I channeled a lot of the Team Instinct memes with her haha.

Nero is less developed, but I know he's the calm and more serious counterpart to his outgoing sister. He's a bit edgy, especially in his teen years (I like to imagine him dyeing some black streaks in his hair in sort of an opposite look to his father's dyed red streaks which just makes Asta constantly call him a Zoroark lol). I think he's probably friends with his cousin Celeste since they're around the same age, but that's not super developed yet either. I also have some vague ideas for friendships with the Gary/Goh/Horace kids, but again it's all still under development.

[jordanianroyals]

Opinion: The authorities in Jordan sounded the alarm about a coup. Jordanians aren’t convinced.

Opinion by Bessma Momani, April 7, 2021 at 7:59 p.m. GMT+8

Bessma Momani is a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation.

The world doesn’t usually pay much attention to events in Jordan. That changed dramatically on Sunday, when state media announced that unnamed “foreign entities” had been caught in the act of “destabilising Jordan’s security.” Just to make matters even more intriguing, Jordanians also learned that the army chief of staff had paid a visit to ex-crown prince Hamzah bin Hussein, telling him that his access to social media was being restricted and warning him to cease any communication with his followers. Security forces also arrested key figures from the tribal communities on the East Bank of the Jordan River, some of whom had worked directly for Hamzah.

One simple point emerged clearly from all of this: The royal court of King Abdullah II wanted Jordanians and the world to believe that some sort of attempt to seize power had taken place. Yet this narrative quickly began to unravel when Hamzah and the relatives of some of those arrested began telling their side of the story on social media. Jordanians soon surmised that the state’s actions were aimed less at stopping an attempted coup than at coup-proofing an already struggling state whose economy has been battered by the pandemic. The state was clearly aiming to undermine Hamzah’s rising popularity. The prince has long been admired by the tribal power elite based on the East Bank, who see him as embodying the charm and style of his father, the late King Hussein.

Jordanians were jolted again when Hamzah released a video to the BBC denying the implied charges against him. More important, he used the moment to level charges of corruption, nepotism and political mismanagement at the royal court. His pointed words showed respect to the tribes for their customs and empathy for the average Jordanian’s economic hardships and frustrations with government incompetence. As Hamzah released even more videos, he only confirmed what many skeptical Jordanians had always suspected: His reputation was being intentionally smeared.

On social media, the notion that the crisis looked more like an internal family dispute than a foreign-backed power grab soon gained traction. Could this saga be explained by the fact that in the past few years Hamzah has been taking the spotlight away from the monarch and the grooming of the chosen heir, the 26-year-old Crown Prince Hussein? The state’s efforts to shape the story had failed; indeed, they had become downright self-defeating. Overnight, Hamzah became a hero to nationalists and reformers around the country — and particularly for the East Bank tribes whose 20 or so members were jailed.

The authorities made matters even worse by adding Bassem Awadallah to the arrest list. Awadallah, a former government insider, has often been blamed by the people for many of the painful austere economic policies ushered in by the state. Over the years, his name had become synonymous with elite opportunism and corruption.

Awadallah’s current role as adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his close ties to the business community in the United Arab Emirates only added more confusion to the mix. It didn’t take long for the pundits on Arabic-language satellite news channels to suggest that the mysterious “foreign entities” might refer to the Saudis, Emiratis and Israelis who are increasingly working together to reshape the Middle East. Commentators suggested that the countries in question were trying to revive President Donald Trump’s failed “deal of the century” idea, which aimed to give Israel more control of the West Bank and limit Palestinian sovereignty, and colluding with Hamzah to shake the kingdom from within.

To Jordanians, though, the implication that Hamzah might be colluding with Awadallah and foreign meddlers made no sense at all. Hamzah is widely seen as a nationalist who derives his support from East Bank Jordanians, a population whose interests are antithetical to the alleged plot.

Their role is key to understanding the forces in play. East Bankers, who are staunch supporters of the monarchy, hold almost exclusive control of the army and intelligence services — despite their minority status, which is the result of the presence of millions of Palestinian, Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the country. This would seem to give them little interest in taking part in a foreign-orchestrated plot that would likely have the effect of diluting their control even further. Staunch supporters of a two-state solution, East Bank traditionalists soundly rejected efforts by the Trump administration and its far-right allies in Israel to implement their vision of Jordan as an “alternative homeland” for West Bank Palestinians.

All this may help explain why the state soon changed its tune, seeking to mend the internal family rift. On Monday, Hamzah released a statement of unwavering support for the king.

The episode is unlikely to end there. Perhaps most important, the state has created a new rift with East Bankers who are waiting for their family members to be released. The tarnishing of Hamzah and the arrested figures’ reputations will not be forgotten, and their supporters will continue to seek out the truth. The state’s assault on the honor of some of its most important supporters is likely to have lingering consequences.

[pumpacti0n]

abolition is never “off the table”-- and we shouldn’t let anyone try to convince us otherwise.

allowing goals like abolition to get watered down and constantly misrepresented by the propagandized public, private corporations and career politicians leads to all these problems we keep hearing about on the news getting worse.

for example, we learn about instances of police violence, indigenous women going missing, the horrific prison industry, domestic & reproductive violence against women and non-men, systemic anti-blackness, families separated at hellish border facilities, seemingly endless wars and being on the brink of environmental collapse on a daily basis.

it all seems never-ending and overwhelming that no matter what good we do in our personal lives, it isn’t ever enough, because these problems will continue to manifest. somehow, it is always the same problems coming back to haunt us.

those are the consequences when attention and energy for micro problems are given priority, instead of investigating and healing the relationships people have to power, space and resources on the macro scale at the same time.

micro-scale problems are somewhat easy to package as isolated incidents for people who we believe are responsible for handling them, and they often can handle them well enough that the majority of people affected by the issue may feel placated enough to accept the authority as legitimate

these politicians and other micromanagers “solving” the problem is often used as evidence that the authorities are competent at their jobs and that issues can be solved by the system (when it wants to solve them), thus providing evidence of their legitimacy, even when it’s these same individuals and groups that are the direct causes of the problems to begin with.

beware that not being impressed or made passive by the reform logic of authorities and capitalism can be misrepresented as: “oh, you xyz group are never satisfied, you always want to save the world, but this is the real world, you’re too idealistic and your standards are too high!”

this is not an accurate portrayal, and it often isn’t meant to be. it’s meant to distract us, divide us and obscure what the problem is.

very simply, if the direct cause of a problem is not addressed, the problem is not going to be solved.

everything else is a surface-level approach that will allow the root of the problem to continue to endlessly self-reproduce the same harmful structure and power dynamics, but in different forms.

the best way to illustrate this is to picture the structure we live under (capitalism) as a living structure, like a tree. all living structures move, transform, grow and adapt given any and all external and internal forces that affect it, no matter what scale we observe it at -- either microscopically or as part of a larger surrounding ecosystem.

you’ll hear people say that radicalism is “grasping at the root” of a problem -- which is precisely what we must do if we have any hope at addressing any problem(s) that any structure provides us with.

the goal isn’t to eliminate all possibilities of conflict, or to be so bold as to think we can perfectly meet the needs of every single person affected negatively by something. not even capitalism which boasts as being this hyper-efficient, almighty, all-powerful system can do that, even on its best day.

the people who are intimately aware of the intricacies of this system are always found at the center, at the “grassroots” level of where the structure forms its base. without a base, without grounding, without roots, the rest of the structure cannot form, spread out or replenish itself when damaged or “reformed”. so that is where we must start; with the people, communities and land that is primarily affected.

rather than manage these groups by trying to decide what their needs are for them, or what actions must be done to meet their needs, they should be empowered to decide for themselves how to best maneuver and achieve those needs, while providing necessary aid when we can, and expanding the options for possible solutions when we can.

if something affects us negatively, there is a chance it affects others, too, and it follows that it’s in our mutual interest to work together to achieve a future where both our needs are met and that we can live healthy and fulfilling lives, together.

according to the janky ass reform logic of capitalism, this is an unnecessary and dangerous approach, because it does away the authority of the people who just say that they represent us and say that they’ll take responsibility for a problem -- the same people whose jobs hinge on appearing as if they care, with platforms, talking points, photo-ops and co-signs from other politicians and high ranking members of the public to offer “proof”.

they often use the logic that says that we must preserve this system, because it is sacred and perfect, that it would interrupt business, so we can’t empower people to make these decisions, even if it means that some people have to suffer and die because the system is inefficient and does not represent them, or demands that they experience social death.

we should not be impressed by these people. in fact, if they are standing in the way between these grassroots efforts, either by preventing these programs from assembling or actively attacking them politically, then they are enemies. when you become an enemy of the people you claim to represent, you are a tyrant and an opp.

and we do smoke opps.

at every grassroots level, there are groups of people who are very sensitive to the changes that happen at all the other levels of the living structure that oppresses them. from this perspective, they can experience for themselves the effects of the things that happen above the surface, and they experience the dissonance personally when another politician promises to change something, only to eventually fall short or make the problem even worse.

they get news that claims that a problem is (going to be, maybe, eventually) fixed, are present as media moves on to the next sensational story only to experience the problems same thing again, and again.

just because the cameras are turned away, because the tweets stopped getting traction, doesn’t mean that the people and communities have disappeared. and yet, no matter what, this is a cycle that continues.

the only answer, the only consistent thing that has been proven to make a difference, is there being a complete break with the logic of this system. as long as we follow the capitalist logic, the same structure will replicate. as mentioned, the roots will create new stems, leaves, seeds and thorns if left undisturbed. we’ll continue to see new iterations of the same problems as long as the logic, the roots, are left intact.

there’s no hope of creating new structures in the the place of one that’s taking up room at the same space, so the old system must be uprooted.

its this uprooting that some call a “revolution”.

this word might seem scary to a lot of folks for a lot of different reasons. it has way less to do with the chaos and bloodshed that's associated with it in our imaginations.

it has more to do with deeply investigating the roots of a problem and actually addressing them by changing the conditions -- something that capitalism refuses to do unless there is a profit motive, or only if the problem interferes with the flow of capital to private interests. the only way this chaos and violence would occur is if (and some would insist when,) these forces mobilize to preserve the same harmful system we’re attempting to uproot in the interest of private accumulation of profit.

should we just allow these corporations and wealthy individuals stop us from changing the things that affect the quality of our lives? the wealthy capitalists would say “why yes, of course you should!” but obviously they would say that -- and we have been given no reason to believe them.

we should each of us be prepared to deal with this violence in some way. to insist otherwise is naive and not realistic, and actually harmful to the communities that encounter this violence. this may look like armed patrols and free firearms & training for the most vulnerable communities, or creating an alternative directory that people may access instead of calling the police. these matters are up to the communities themselves to envision and implement.

we aren’t suggesting that we seek out violence where it’s reasonable to avoid it, or escalate problems beyond our management of them. this isn’t meant to encourage people to fulfill revenge fantasies for the hell of it, but to be prepared in case such conflicts occur.

the aforementioned unorganized violent activities are, at best, a strategy to cope with and purge the unending stress of life under capitalism or distract the state and similar private forces in combat while other solutions are being explored. we shouldn’t fall for the strategy of turning rioters, saboteurs, arsonists, vandals and looters into enemies of the people, when they are the people...and we shouldn’t dismiss these strategies as being harmful by definition when it is often only insured property that is the target of their actions, not individuals.

we shouldn’t disparage rioters for causing damage to this system, when capitalism has been damaging the world and our communities for as long as it has existed on this planet. both violent and non-violent methods of “grasping at the root” are legitimate, can coexist and inform each other, and are necessary to combat the terror capitalism’s logic has inflicted on us all.

remember that revolutions are only as peaceful as they are allowed to be.

the process of uprooting, of revolutionizing, may indeed be violent in nature when resistance is offered, but that shouldn’t stop us from continuing the process if it is necessary. just because a dangerous system is difficult to uproot doesn’t mean that it’s more reasonable or desirable to leave it alone to establish its roots and adapt.

we must acknowledge that multiple attempts may be necessary before any transformation takes place, possibly over the course of several years, perhaps lifetimes. it might require lots of planning. however, in the interest of conserving time and energy, the most simple and direct methods of applying pressure and healing should be prioritized. we do not want to resemble, in practice or theory, the politicians we hope to depose -- by making promises we don't intend to keep, making plans that never pan out, putting off immediate solutions until we personally benefit at the expense of others.

for example, this means that rather than coming up with overly-complicated, difficult-to-achieve long-term plans of gradually moving a low-income family out of a house infested with mold, they’d be moved immediately into safe housing if such housing is ample and available. this means that, rather than waiting on the state to decide how much food a hungry person needs or should have access to, we supply them with the food if it is abundant and we have it to spare.

if the needs people and communities have are immediate, the solution should also be immediate, whenever possible. the means are the ends.

this is because people need aid now, not in the future, not when the moment is perfect and some sort of irrelevant criteria is met, not when it’s more profitable to do so, but in the present. representatives and authorities have gotten really proficient at promising to solve issues in some far-off future they’re never be around to guarantee, abstracting issues and people so that they’re seen as insignificant to greater issues. how often have you heard: “we would like to do something about xyz, we just don’t have the time (money)”?

when these so-called “representatives” package all of these lies, and the time comes to prove their worth and legitimacy, there is often no reconciliation process that any of them must go through so that they’re held accountable for straight up lying and abusing the responsibility they had to the people. this is so often why our issues aren’t solved -- we started by trusting those that aren’t even affected by the problems we face to have our best interests in mind.

that is why we say enough electoralism -- enough elections -- enough career politicians -- enough bipartisanship -- enough government -- enough hollow campaign promises -- enough “lesser of two evils” -- enough “vote blue no matter who -- enough pitting poor communities against each other -- enough celebrity & corporate “activism” -- enough self-aggrandizing authorities -- enough micromanagers -- enough permanent elected positions

yes to community control -- yes to autonomous communities -- yes to free associations -- yes to reconciliatory organizations -- yes to federations of workers and professionals -- yes to voluntary work -- yes to open borders and travel -- yes to direct democracy and direct engagement with relevant issues -- yes to immediately recallable, voluntarily chosen delegates -- yes to grassroots organizing -- yes to self-defense and community-informed reactions to crime -- yes to direct action, mutual aid and solidarity for mutual survival -- yes to returning land and resources to indigenous and black communities -- yes to yielding space and resources to historically harmed communities on the margins (LGBT+, disabled, refugees & migrants, prisoners, non-human animals) -- yes to liberation for all!!!

[georgiacash3midday]

Georgia Cash 3 Midday Lottery Results Today

Georgia Cash 3 Midday Lottery

The Georgia Lottery Corporation (GLC) releases Georgia Cash 3 Midday results for today Tuesday. The Georgia Lottery always conducts Cash-3 midday live drawings daily at 12:29 p.m., ET. Lottery Tickets for midday drawing can be purchased up to 10 minutes prior to live drawing time (12:19 p.m., ET for the midday drawing).

Georgia Lottery Introduction

The only program in Georgia that's available to supply direct cash assistance to families in deep poverty—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)—does little to succeed in families with the best needs. For those it can reach, it provides insufficient income support. In 1996, 254,000 individuals received direct cash aid, while today only 16,000 individuals have access to TANF, reflecting a dramatic 93 percent decrease in caseload. Only five out of each 100 families in poverty receive cash assistance through TANF.

Georgia’s policies that erode TANF’s coverage are deeply connected to race. Evidence shows that the upper the proportion of Black families living during a state, the more likely policymakers are to spend less on direct cash assistance and establish policies to regulate the way families in poverty run their lives, instead of simply giving them the direct aid necessary to satisfy basic needs.[3] Given this evidence, the very fact that Georgia’s Black population is that the third-largest within the nation and therefore the state’s legacy of racist policymaking and monetary decisions, it's imperative that the study and reform of Georgia’s cash assistance policies are confronted through an anti-racist lens.

Using administrative and legislative policy information, original analyses of TANF data and insights from existing literature, this the report explores the cash assistance policy choices Georgia lawmakers have made despite deep poverty and racial disparities within the economy. Specifically, the report finds that Georgia’s TANF program builds on harmful stereotypes about people of color and widens racial disparities by:

Directing large shares of TANF funds far away from direct cash assistance so as to offset tax and budget cuts

Providing extremely low amounts of monetary assistance that aren't sufficient for any family to satisfy even their most elementary needs

Enforcing a number of the foremost restrictive benefit rules within the nation that makes TANF inaccessible for many families in deep poverty

Why Cash Matters

In 2019, nearly 1.3 million Georgians lived below the poverty level, with one in five kids in poverty. Children of color in Georgia are particularly impacted by poverty, with poverty rates 3 times higher for Black (28 percent) and Latinx (27 percent) children than for whites (9 percent) and Asian (8 percent) children. One in ten Georgians live in deep poverty, which is 50 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL), or $905 per month for a family of three. Georgia’s deep poverty rates range from 26 percent in Clinch County to only 2.2 percent in Oconee County.

Income support, especially during an economic recession, improves children’s health, educational and economic outcomes while simultaneously reducing childhood poverty. Even small amounts of money assistance can make a difference. Among families in poverty, children under the age of 6 whose families receive a $3,000 annual increase in income earn 17 percent more as adults compared to children whose families didn't receive an income boost. Research also shows that targeted cash assistance could narrow the Black-white child poverty gap by up to fifteen percent. This finding suggests that states which will eliminate barriers to income support like TANF cash assistance are able to do important gains for youngsters within the short- and long-term.

Direct cash assistance is critical for preventing the widening of racial disparities in economic, health, and academic outcomes. However, Georgia’s harsh rules and disinvestment from cash aid have severely impacted Black families, who, because slavery and segregation led to current unjust policies that reinforce poverty, structure 70 percent of TANF recipients. Despite the overrepresentation of Black families on TANF, the principles tied to cash assistance ignore Georgia’s long history of participation within the government-authorized oppression of Black, Indigenous, and other people of Color (BIPOC). As a result, the program has become ineffective at offering stability that permits parents to figure and look out for their families.

As indicated earlier, high poverty rates in Georgia are persistent, yet TANF cash assistance as a poverty-fighting tool has been rendered inaccessible. The poverty rate is almost equivalent today because it was the year after TANF was signed into law in 1997. Ideally, the decline in TANF participation over the last 24 years would be a result of an improving economy, with individuals lifted above the poverty level at a powerful rate.

Lawmakers can reconfigure the state’s TANF program in order that it does a far better job of meeting the necessity for families with very low income or no income in the least. Georgia families need a floor to create upon now quite ever. An anti-racist cash assistance program can provide that floor.

Georgia History

While cash assistance policies are often perceived as race-blind, they're far away from that. Decades of reports written mostly by white academics and politicians promoted stereotypes that associate poverty and welfare participation with being Black. during this process, Black Americans became pathologically synonymous with the country’s inaccurate frame of reference for poverty: poor, at-risk, and lazy. Beliefs are driven by racist attitudes about the mythological “welfare queen” that led Americans to possess little confidence that cash assistance might be the solution to fighting poverty.

In the 1990s, Congress and therefore the Clinton administration sought to reform the cash assistance program established within the half of the 20 century referred to as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Ignoring structural barriers within the market, lawmakers grew frustrated with the trend of the many AFDC recipients not working and allegedly becoming hooked into welfare. They designed a replacement program referred to as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and packaged the program into the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), with the hopes to “end welfare as we all know it.

TANF imposed restrictions in states like Georgia that had an extended history of making barriers to accessing previous cash assistance programs. States were required to chop benefits for families that did not suits work requirements, reinforcing the stereotype that cash assistance recipients didn't want to figure. States also got enough flexibility to deny benefits to people supported by characteristics that reflected racial stereotypes. States also had to cop out of a ban on providing assistance to individuals with felony drug convictions, and states were banned from using federal TANF funds surely groups of immigrants.

TANF consists of excessive rules that penalize poverty, creating yet one more domain where Black families are excessively surveilled and policed. These punitive rules have roots in slavery, Jim Crow, and therefore the policing of Black bodies, specifically Black women, and have permeated cash assistance policy in Georgia. for instance, one among the core purposes of TANF is preventing out-of-wedlock births, which stemmed from concerns of single-motherhood in Black communities. Georgia currently goes thus far on deny basic assistance to children who, through no fault of their own, are born while their mothers are on TANF. This policy is mentioned because of the family cap.

Georgia created a precursor to the present family cap policy under a former cash assistance program within the 1950s. In 1951, Governor Herman Talmadge sought to “put an end to illegitimate baby-having as a business in Georgia.” The state’s Director of the Department of Public Welfare, Alan Kemper, supported the governor’s call to implement a family cap by arguing that “70 percent of the cases of multiple illegitimacy during a family were in Negro families.” He claimed that a family cap would halt a “growing tendency to supply illegitimate children as an honest business” and “save the state $444,000 annually. therein same year, the Georgia General Assembly passed the primary law within the country that denied grants to “more than one bastard of a mother.

The federal pushed back on this early family cap policy, causing the state to not implement the policy at the time. However, the attempt exemplifies how the state has historically tried to regulate Black reproductive behavior through cash assistance. The state eventually continued with what became referred to as “suitable home policies” that attempted to stop unwed mothers from accessing cash aid. In 1993, Governor Zell Miller signed into law Georgia’s family cap provision for cash assistance that was approved by the federal.

In addition to restrictive eligibility policies for cash assistance, racial terror in Georgia also played a task in erecting barriers that prevented access to benefits. within the 1960s, the state’s Department of Welfare had to send investigators to Webster County in Southwest Georgia because there have been “reports that Negroes eligible for welfare benefits—particularly aid to dependent children—refused to use for the benefit for fear that their homes would be burned or their lives placed in jeopardy.

The implementation of TANF in 1996 opened the floodgates for states with more direct involvement in centuries of racial subjugation—namely southern states—to repose on cash assistance programs that were fueled by racist attitudes. While states got many options to tailor programs for his or her states during a way that ensured TANF is implemented as a real anti-poverty program, others, including Georgia, capitalized on the immense new flexibilities offered under the 1996 law to enact a number of the foremost punitive restrictions within the country, most of which are still in situ today.

This post is about georgia cash 3 midday, result georgia midday, georgia cash 3 lottery, live draw georgia midday, georgia midday lottery, georgia midday lottery results, georgia cash 3 midday results, pick 3 georgia midday, georgia midday numbers, cash 3 midday today georgia, and much more.

[onedivinemisfit]

Ok, so, umm 5, 7, 17, 18 and 30!

5.  favourite song in your native language?

- “Tida står stille i kveld” (Time standing still tonight) I love it a lot, because it’s a melancholy, yet upbeat song about accepting yourself as you are, and how far you’ve come, as narrated by the artist viewing himself in the mirror - this is literally a song about self love, come think of it 🤔

7. three words from your native language that you like the most?

- Gjenganger (ghost) - it’s an old word for ghosts, but I like it because literally it means “[they have] come back to walk”, which makes gjenganger, to me, sound sad, longing, but also kinder.

- Fiskevær (place on the coast where fisherfolk live) listen we have... soooooo many words for islands. And inlets. So. many. “Fjord” is just one in hundreds. And all the ones ending in -vær are so hard to explain, because they’re not a specific island/peninsula type, they’re just a place, out there on the coast where the wind blows and the salt water sprays and people live (vær literally means ‘weather’)

- Dingseboms (how the hell do I even translate this... thingywingy?) it’s a word for a thing, mostly an item, that you plain don’t know what is. Kinda silly placeholder word, children think it’s really funny and by the time you’re an adult you can’t make yourself forget it lol.

17. are you interested in your country’s history?

- Yes. Speaking to a history nerd right here. But it depends too on the time period, and on how the history is presented. There’s less and less bias and glorification these days and I do wish it had been so when I was in school, cuz a lot of the time it was, “yay Holy-Olav made it his purpose to christen the country” and not “Saint Olav forced christendom down the throats of everyone and whoever argued were brutally murdered”

Sometimes it really sucks to have been born right before major social reforms were implemented into the education system 😂 but hey, I get to read up on history all over again so~

18. do you speak with a dialect of your native language?

- I sooooooomehow do. We moved around a lot on the north-western coast when I was a child so I have borrowed a bit of everything from there - on top of there being four diff dialects in my immediate family, my maternal grandfather spoke “romsdalsdialekt”, my maternal grandmother speaks a blend of “kristiansundsdialekt” with some traces of her northern singing lilt (tromsødialekt specifically), both my parents speak “kristiansundsdialekt” and my sister is more neutral, with a touch of “tustnadialekt” which was the island we grew up on. AND AGAIN ON TOP OF ALL THIS I am a language imprinter. I borrow, a lot. Words AND intonation. 

And like, from the midlands and down, people start having trouble understanding ME. 

My native language is a nightmare, you wouldn’t think that SO SMALL a country could have dialects ranging in such variety there are thousands of people I honestly don’t understand. at. all. even when I try. My relatives are lucky I don’t bring a translater with me when we meet.

30. do you have people of different nationalities in your family?

- Not a lot I think, unless you’re counting ancestry - I have maybe a handful indigenous Saami and Kven relatives in the north, a couple second and third cousins in the US (who doesn’t?) and some third cousins in Germany, but these ties go back too far for them to be like, family-family to me. I’ve never met any of them. I did have a Thai aunt, but my uncle died only six months after their wedding and she returned home, so what bonds we had with her just... faded away.