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So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

[artfulstar]

Brazil House passes "Taylor Swift act" against ticket scalping

Brazil’s House on Wednesday approved a bill that criminalizes ticket scalping for concerts, plays, and other events. Nicknamed the “Taylor Swift act,” the bill now goes to the Senate.

Three lawmakers separately introduced similar drafts on the issue of ticket scalping back in June 2023, after touts left thousands of Taylor Swift fans out of pocket and unable to attend her concerts in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After waiting in line for days, hundreds of Swifties reported violent encounters with scalpers, and tickets sold out within 40 minutes. 

Scalpers then offered tickets to the concerts at roughly BRL 12,000 (USD 2,322) — 12 times face value and nine times Brazil’s minimum wage in 2023.

In December, consumer protection watchdog Procon-SP fined Time For Fun, the company responsible for organizing Taylor Swift’s most recent concerts in Brazil. 

Continue reading.

[artfulstar]

my hot take for today, rwby gets better when you realise that blake definitely did have a crush on sun in the early days but didn’t follow up on it because she realised post-fall that her feelings were stronger for yang and that sun just wasn’t the one.

1) it makes all the eclipse moments in early volumes not feel like they’re shitting on bumbleby (the eventual canon couple)

2) it highlights that yes, blake is indeed bi

3) it tells a very realistic story of how some crushes just aren’t meant to be

do i still think blake had a bit of a crush on yang at beacon? absolutely. do i still think yang fell first and was so head over heels for blake at beacon? absolutely! blake seriously has a type, and sun and yang are both that type.

the difference comes in how they treat her. sun may be fun and flirty, but he’s also senseless and pushes blake out of her comfort zones far too often without realizing why she doesn’t appreciate it. yang on the other hand is patient with her, invites her into her life to have fun without pushing her way in and trampling all over her boundaries.

and that’s what’s fun about sun and yang being so similar !! like, not only does blake have a type, but it shows the variance in that type and what she needs in a relationship. it’s a great narrative !!

and it works extra well when you consider that sun doesn’t get jealous and actively encourages blake to go on her own way (subtext: to get her girl), because then it makes him somewhat of a narrative foil to ilia, who was jealous of adam and let that jealousy fester, as opposed to sun, who let go of those conflicting feelings to let blake — who he undoubtedly loves — be herself and do what she wants. (it’s also why i really love the dynamic of sun and ilia, himbo and lesbian duo getting over the girl they loved)

long story short, eclipse isn’t bad but it also wasn’t meant to be and that’s okay. better, even, for the story they wanted to tell for blake.

[artfulstar]

Elon Musk Is Trying to Break Another Democracy

X’s chief troll is inciting a “censorship” moral panic in Brazil, undermining the democratically elected government’s efforts to squash far-right extremism.

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil who is barred from seeking public office until 2030, held a grievance-laden rally Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Against the alluring backdrop of Copacabana Beach, and before thousands of supporters clad in the national colors of yellow and green, he decried his opponents while celebrating one man in particular: 

Now they accuse the richest man in the world, a man who was born in South Africa, who was naturalized as an American, who owns a platform whose aim is to make the whole world free, which is X, our old Twitter. A man who really seeks to preserve liberty for all of us, a man who had the courage to show, with some evidence, more will surely follow, where our democracy is headed, how much freedom we’ve already lost. I now respectfully ask for a round of applause for Elon Musk. 

Almost overnight, Musk, the graceless tech overlord and self-proclaimed free speech absolutist (who is anything but), has become a heroic figure among the reactionary right of Latin America’s largest nation. One rally-goer told The Guardian that Musk “is supporting Brazil against this shameless bloody dictatorship that we have in this country,” and another insisted that “Elon Musk has been an essential guy for us. God has used this man to expose the dictatorship that has taken hold in Brazil to the whole word. He is a crucial tool.” A bolsonarista member of Congress told the crowd that “Elon Musk is definitely watching what is happening here right now.”

There’s no doubt about that, as Musk’s X timeline shows—but he’s doing much more than simply watching. After years of overtures from the Brazilian right, Musk earlier this month finally plunged headlong into the country’s raging politics in a way that may sound familiar to Americans: Portraying himself as politically agnostic, and interested only in defending free speech, he is in fact taking the side of authoritarian, antidemocratic forces whose claims about government-sponsored censorship are a disingenuous rhetorical cover for attacking the rule of law.

Continue reading.

[artfulstar]

Musk vs. Brazil Supreme Court: five things to know

X owner Elon Musk is under investigation in Brazil after he accused a Supreme Court judge of censoring social networks, calling him a "dictator" and vowing to disobey rulings blocking users found to be spreading disinformation.

Musk went on the attack at the weekend against Moraes, who has waged a crusade against disinformation -- especially attempts by far-right supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro to discredit the electoral system ahead of Brazil's 2022 elections.

Moraes has "betrayed the constitution" and "should resign or be impeached," the Tesla and SpaceX boss wrote on X, the former Twitter, threatening to defy court orders blocking users.

The flare-up came after US journalist and activist Michael Shellenberger last week accused Moraes of a "sweeping crackdown on free speech," in a report based on the "Twitter Files," a cache of internal documents Musk released in 2022 after buying the company.

Shellenberger said the files showed Moraes "sought to censor... sitting members of Brazil's Congress" and "weaponize Twitter's content moderation policies against supporters of then-president @jairbolsonaro."

Bolsonaro narrowly lost the 2022 elections to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Continue reading.

[artfulstar]

In a Letter to the Three Powers, Brazilian Indigenous People Relate Temporal Landmark to Violence

Document read at Acampamento Terra Livre demands effective measures to ensure protection and strengthening of rights

On the first day of ATL (Free Land Camp) 2024, this Monday (22), Indigenous movements drafted a letter addressed to the three Powers, demanding urgent measures to ensure the protection and strengthening of the rights of native peoples, mainly concerning territory demarcation. The ATL is the largest mobilization of indigenous peoples in the country.

Throughout the program, which runs until Friday (26) in Brasília, the organization expects to gather an audience of over 10,000 people. This year, President Lula was not invited to attend the event amid dissatisfaction with the management of indigenous agendas in his government.

Continue reading.

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[artfulstar]

Hey everyone, please consider buying the 2024 itch.io Palestinian Relief Bundle- it's 373 games, game-making assets, tabletop roleplaying games, zines, and comics for a minimum of just 8 USD! They have a goal of 100,000 USD, and as of the time I'm writing this post, they have 8 more days to reach it.

Link will be in the reblog!

[artfulstar]

Belledonna!!!!!!!!

So what if she's the Beast and the Beauty at once it would be sooo epic, it would be soooo cool if the so called beast was just her shadows it would be sooooooooooooooo great i swearrrrrrrrrrrr

I LOVE MENTALLY ILL CAT WOMEN!!!!!!! I LOVE MENTALLY ILL CAT WOMEN I LOVE MENTALLY ILL CAT WOMEN WITH RUNNNNN AS THEIR ONLY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE!!!!

GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[artfulstar]

Weiss Snow

Weiss Schnee ist kunterserven!!!!!!

she just shes so jhnsfjhsjhshndsrhbdfjjfjhtfjhfjdfsjhdjhdfjhdfjdf

zoom in on the face because her nose is literally a triangle! yippie

[artfulstar]

OBSESSED with this new su signing poster. pearl holding greg just because. slightly older steven with attempts at growing out facial hair. the little pebble in the corner. garnet criss-crossed on greg’s van. lapis’ pants riding down so low you can see her hip. bismuth with that muscle definition. connie’s preppy outfit. peridot’s blank glasses.

[artfulstar]

waiting for a taxi together after a successfully solved case has never been so full of suppressed emotions and uncertain feelings before

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[artfulstar]

TODAY IS A GLOBAL STRIKE FOR GAZA.

CALLED FOR BY BISAN.

DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT ISN'T RELATED TO PALESTINE.

FREE PALESTINE🇵🇸🍉💗

[artfulstar]

"You're gonna forget about Palestine and Ukraine eventually."

I'm not gonna forget the mass slaughters Russia did in Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the children who died in Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the doctors that were slaughtered in Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the journalists who died trying to document the Palestinian genocide.

I'm not gonna forget the war crimes committed on Palestine and Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget how people died trying to get aid in Palestine.

I'm not gonna forget the genocides.

I'm not gonna forget the people who refuse to acknowledge the genocides.

I'm not gonna forget the photos and videos.

I'm not gonna forget the Palestinian mother who wouldn't wash her hands because it was all she had left of her children.

I'm not gonna forget my Ukrainian mutuals who died, and how it left me shattered.

I'm not gonna forget my Palestinian friend who died because of Zionists and Islamophobia, and how it left me with Prolonged Grief Condition.

I'm not gonna forget the families that were torn apart.

I'm not gonna forget the children who were orphaned.

I'm not gonna forget the screams and cries.

I'm not gonna forget the friends who died.

I'm not gonna forget how America continues to support the Palestinian genocide.

I'm not gonna forget how certain people refuse to acknowledge Russia's genocide on Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the footage of the horrors Russia is doing to Ukraine.

I'm not gonna forget the footage of the horrors Israel is doing to Palestine.

You can claim that I will forget, but images of genocide are burned into a person's brain for the rest of their life. I will always remember.

[artfulstar]

reminder, today is a strike day, organized by Bisan! (edit: post made April 15th)

original post

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