#LAST RULES UPDATE: JUNE 2020

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In October, tens of millions of borrowers will be required to pay their monthly federal student loan bills for the first time since March 2020, the Department of Education clarified Monday.

The pandemic-related pause on both payments and interest accumulation has been set to end later this summer, though the exact date payments would be due was a little fuzzy.

The Biden administration had previously said that the pause would end either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on the separate student loan forgiveness program – whichever comes first.

A law passed in early June to address the debt ceiling officially prevented the pandemic-related pause from being extended again. The repayment date has been extended a total of eight times under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

“Student loan interest will resume starting on September 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October. We will notify borrowers well before payments restart,” the Department of Education said in a statement sent to CNN Monday.

The update was first reported by Politico.

Borrowers typically receive their bill statements from their loan servicer a few weeks before they are due. Not every borrower’s bill is due at the same time of the month.

The Department of Education has said that it will be in direct communication with borrowers and ramp up its communication with student loan servicers before repayment resumes.

Student loan experts recommend that borrowers reach out to their student loan servicer with any questions about their loans as soon as possible, especially if they are interested in enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan. Those plans, which set payments based on income and family size, can lower monthly payments but require borrowers to submit some paperwork.

Federal student loan borrowers can check the Federal Student Aid website for updates on resuming payments.

SOME BORROWERS COULD BE AT RISK OF DEFAULT

Some borrowers may struggle to resume paying their monthly student loan bills.

More student loan borrowers are currently behind on other kinds of bills than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The report also said that about 1 in 5 student loan borrowers have risk factors that suggest they could struggle when scheduled payments resume, like being delinquent on student loan payments before the pandemic or having multiple student loan servicers.

When payments restart, many people might be confused about how much they owe, when to pay and how. Millions of borrowers will have a different servicer handling their student loans since the last time they made a payment.

Originally, the pause on federal student loan payments was put in place to help borrowers struggling financially due to the pandemic.

From a jobs perspective, the economy has largely recovered from the pandemic-related disruptions. In May, 3.7 million more people were working than in February 2020.

But there are some soft spots. Major layoffs have recently been announced at big companies like Disney and Amazon. Earlier this year, a regional banking crisis was set off by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. And inflation remains high but is cooling after reaching a 40-year peak last year.

STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS STILL ON THE TABLE

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Supreme Court as borrowers wait to see if the Biden administration will be allowed to move forward with its student loan forgiveness program. A decision is expected in late June or early July.

Under the proposal, individual borrowers who made less than $125,000 in either 2020 or 2021 and married couples or heads of households who made less than $250,000 a year could see up to $10,000 of their federal student loan debt forgiven.

If a qualifying borrower also received a federal Pell grant while enrolled in college, the individual is eligible for up to $20,000 of debt forgiveness.

But several lawsuits argue that the Biden administration is abusing its power and using the pandemic as a pretext for fulfilling the president’s campaign pledge to cancel student debt.

No debt has been canceled yet. But if the Supreme Court allows the program to take effect, it’s possible the government moves quickly to forgive the debts of 16 million borrowers who the administration already approved for relief.

If the Justices strike down Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, it could be possible for the administration to make some modifications to the policy and try again – though that process could take months.

[polyquestria]

Hey everyone, long time no ponies

so yeah, it's been a minute, huh? Just had the thought of looking up how many minutes are in four years, but we don't want to deal with that many numbers, right?

A lot has happened since Feb of 2020. Not just in the world, but for myself personally. When y'all last saw me, I was still half in the closet, severely underweight and feeling all round shitty. However, in my hiatus, I've really been working on myself. I started HRT in May that year and have proudly been on it for close to four years now! Not only that, but in June last year, I had top surgery that went very well and I couldn't be happier with the results and the support I've received from my irl community. I adopted a cat, I got my drivers license, been seeing a dietitian to help improve my eating habits, upped my anxiety meds, started taking meds for my ADHD and all that work has been paying great dividends in my mental health. Which leads me to what I'm about to say.

Polyquestria is back!

At least for now. With Ponydoodles, the other mlp request blog I'm apart of, really picking up again, it's inspired me to dust off this old blog and revamp it. Which means it now has new features. The main one being this: I am now open to more than just romantic/queerplatonic pairings! What does that mean, you ask? Well, you can now request two or more characters with any dynamic. Some examples are: Platonic (Friendships that can be canon or ones that you think would be fun!), Familial (Again, canon or your own headcanon (Adding on that the type of family doesn't matter either; biological, adoptive, foster, found, whatever!)), Mentor/Student, maybe even characters you think would be rivals! Just make sure it all falls in line with the new and updated rules, the link to which can be found in the description that I implore you to read before requesting.

I'll also be posting my own ship art, pairings that I think could work, friendships that would be really fun and familial headcanons that would just be really neat, in my own opinion! I'll try not to lean too heavily into either requests or my own jargon; we're just vibing here

Going back to the rule link, underneath it on my blog, you will find a link to my new mod page, featuring my new mod name: Mod Major Mitchell. It will also be featuring my new sona, a kirin/griffon hybrid named Chook. Go check it out to learn a little more about me and also gain access to my linktr.ee, the hub for everything me online.

Alright, I think that's about it for now. Feel free to ask any more questions in my askbox and, hey, maybe while you're there, leave a request or two.

[ailtrahq]

As per an update by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the portion of bitcoin [BTC] miners’ earnings derived from transaction fees touched a new monthly peak of 2.842%. 📈 bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener noreferrer">#bitcoin $BTC Percent Miner Revenue from Fees (7d MA) just reached a 1-month high of 2.842% Previous 1-month high of 2.837% was observed on 11 August 2023 View metric: pic.twitter.com/AgerAmf5ar — glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) September 7, 2023 Recent legal victories gave a respite to the crypto world, with BTC floating above the $27K-Price mark for a few days. But that enthusiasm soon died down, with token prices plummeting. At press time, BTC was Trading at $25,864. The king coin earlier soared as high as $31.7K within a day of Ripple [XRP] securing a partial victory in its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 13 July. But it failed to sustain the Price rally. The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled in its judgement that the sale of Ripple’s XRP tokens on crypto exchanges and though programmatic sales did not constitute Investment contracts; hence, it is not a Security in this case. But the court also ruled that the institutional sale of the XRP tokens violated federal Securities laws. The crypto industry lapped up the judgement instantly, generating a Price rally across tokens. We should also note that in June, the SEC approved the first leveraged bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), namely the Volatility Shares 2x bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITX).  The SEC has also bitcoin-ETF-proposals-review-2023-07-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow external noreferrer" data-wpel-link="external">accepted spot BTC ETF proposals from major traditional finance (TradFi) firms for review, including BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and Invesco. Last month, London-based Jacobi Asset Management News/press-release-15th-august-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">announced the launch of its BTC ETF in Europe. Observers look at these Developments as institutional approval of Cryptocurrency. Read bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2023-24 For a long time, the crypto’s Price hovered between $200 and $1,000 on the Price charts. However, in late 2017, BTC’s value exploded, hitting an all-time high (ATH) of nearly $20,000 in December. Though Market participation grew, the Price rally was short-lived. By early 2018, BTC’s Price had fallen back down to around $3K. The cryptocurrency market as a whole recorded a period of decline, with many traders losing significant amounts of money. Nonetheless, bitcoin made a remarkable recovery, surpassing its previous ATH in late 2020 and reaching an ATH of over $68K in November 2021. However, the 2022 Trading year ushered in a new era of bearishness, one exacerbated by the collapse of Terra/LUNA and FTX. In fact, in November 2022, bitcoin was Trading at a two-year low of $15K. While the crypto Market may be unpredictable and volatile, traders and investors can still make informed decisions by staying up-to-date on Market News, following expert analysis, and using intelligent Trading Strategies, such as those offered by ChatGPT. ChatGPT: A messiah that can help you trade better?  In November 2022, the AI model ChatGPT was launched to the public. In fact, it quickly gained significant attention, too. With its broad range of capabilities and versatility, the question arises whether there are other ways that ChatGPT can lend its expertise, such as assisting BTC traders in formulating and applying improved Trading Strategies. When asked if it could do this, ChatGPT had this to say – Source: ChatGPT Due to its nature as an AI tool, there are limitations to what ChatGPT can do regarding Price predictions and Price future movements. However, there are ways to leverage the tool’s capabilities to formulate better Trading Strategies as a BTC trader.

One way to utilize the AI tool to make better Trading Strategies is by deploying it toward fundamental analysis. ChatGPT is capable of extracting insights from financial News articles, social media posts, and other unstructured data sources. We can use this Information in conjunction with other datasets to make informed Trading Strategies. Another way to use ChatGPT as a bitcoin trader is to use it for sentiment analysis. ChatGPT can be fine-tuned to perform sentiment analysis on Information from News articles, on-chain data providers, social media discussions, and other sources. This can be used to identify whether the BTC Market lingers under positive sentiment or is plagued by negative sentiment. Furthermore, BTC traders can use ChatGPT for technical analysis. Traders can ask ChatGPT to code any technical indicator or Trading bot for any Trading platform. For instance, I asked ChatGPT to give me an example of a Trading bot that I can use to track BTC’s Price volatility in pine script–TradingView’s programming language is useful for back testing Trading Strategies. The AI responded, Source: ChatGPT To use ChatGPT for technical analysis, traders need to be familiar with the language to know when to make the necessary modifications for the code to work properly. The prompt text is crucial in how ChatGPT understands the problem and provides the anticipated solution. Is your Portfolio green? Check out the BTC Profit Calculator For a well-rounded piece, I spoke to Brian Quinlivan, the Director of Marketing at Santiment, who also happens to have been involved in Bitcoin trading for a few years. Brian Quinlivan has an MBA degree in finance from Chapman University, Brian has over 10 years of marketing, financial, and data analytics experience. He enjoys creating financial models to improve modern-day investing strategies and study the intricacies of Market variations. Q: In what ways do you think ChatGPT can revolutionize Cryptocurrency trading? Yeah, I think that there’s going to be a lot of use for it, certainly for Trading Strategies. One thing to be concerned about is the uniform Opinions that may result from an AI tech giving a kind of overarching strategy, whether it be hodling or fundamental strategy. Individuals can easily manipulate ChatGPT to (mis)inform the audience. We are already seeing slight effects of it. I think it can be both helpful and dangerous at the same time and cause a lot of people to be educated much more quickly, but also be pulled in directions that can influence the way crypto goes and create a lot of self-fulfilling prophecies. Q: How do you think a BTC trader/investor can leverage the AI tool to make better Investment decisions? I think, in short, I think scripts would be used in AI a lot more because of the fact that all of the data could be digested at the same time and given a very simple answer whether to buy or sell. This, I believe, can influence the markets tremendously moving forward. When will BTC hit the $30K-Price mark, if it will?  As mentioned above, ChatGPT cannot make future predictions. To get it to answer my question, I decided to jailbreak it by using the AI.plainenglish.io/chatgpt-unleashed-the-ultimate-AI-jailbreak-journey-to-unrestricted-power-1892d16b47a9" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener noreferrer">Do Anything Now (DAN) method. It says that it can take BTC a few days or weeks or more to cross the $30K-Price mark. Source: ChatGPT I further quizzed the AI Technology on bitcoin prices between 2023 and 2024. Source: ChatGPT The AI bot predicted that BTC will experience significant fluctuations in these two years— both positive and negative. In early June, the SEC began its crackdown on Binance [BNB] and Coinbase [COIN], leading to a bearish Market. In such a situation, BTC has shown its resilience so far. At press time, BTC was Trading at $25,864. Investors are hoping that the token will at least reach the $30k-Price mark again.  While BTC’s

Relative Strength Index (RSI) rested below the neutral 50-mark, its Money Flow Index (MFI) rested much above it. Its On Balance Volume (OBV) also showed a similar fluctuation to that of its Price movement. Source: BTC/USD, TradingView As of now, BTC’s on-chart metrics don’t indicate a Price rally.  ChatGPT might be right ChatGPT predicts that BTC will experience significant fluctuations in two years. We will have to see if the coin can break all-time highs during 2023-24 due to its increased adoption (by companies and institutions) and as BTC’s Appeal as a hedge against inflation grows. Its on-chart metrics also don’t encourage us— at least in the short term.  However, it is trite to note that increased regulation and government scrutiny could spread FUD, causing its Price to dip.

[rauhauser]

R.O.E. Reconsidered

Back on June 3rd in Shall We Play A Game? I noted that I had started doing something completely new on June 10th of 2020, and that I’m finally putting it out in the open. I’ve not said anything, at least directly, about what IT actually is, but I have slyly posted at least one progress update. Somewhere. Out there.

June 10th of this year was the beginning of a sort of groundhog day, an instant replay of a the summer of 2022. Thanks to some blood work results that showed up that day I started making changes, peeling an onion so to speak, and eleven weeks later I’m amazed, but it seems the life upgrade has stuck. I wake up, I’m mentally alert, and I remain that way throughout the day. This is another improvement on par with what happened when I started a course of Noopept sixteen months ago.

Here’s the best measure of that – they were taken about two weeks apart. A gain of ten seconds on one level and fifteen on another? Those are jumps as extraordinary as what Noopept provided last year.

This new thing that I do has been in my head, backed up by copious capturing of information in Evernote. As that collection approaches 900 items I recognize a situation where my autistic curation skills are interfering with taking the next step. So I “rotated the cube” to look at another face of the problem, and made a Maltego graph of … things. Nine people. Ten documents. And 104 phrases, just the keywords I noted while collecting those nearly 900 things.

The collection started long before I had any sense of what I was going to DO with the findings. Upon reaching the 77th day of making it available, I got a curious notion, another facet of the cube to examine. Maybe I should have a look around and see if anyone else is doing anything similar. So I slipped eleven search terms into a Talkwalker Alerts setup and piped the results to an Inoreader folder. I have discovered that I am not alone. The majority of the search results are in French. Did you recall that very first item I added to Evernote?

There are others out there, doing things that are similar enough to what I am doing that they are tripping some of those alerts. These other people are playing with portions of what I am doing, but the ones I have reviewed are each interested in a single area. Nobody else is "turning the cube", they're not integrating the same disparate pieces that I am. I am going to keep looking, to see what they say, and where it is said, but I will be utterly amazed if I encounter anyone else who noticed the confluence of forces in the summer of 2022.

What does this mean in terms of the Rules Of Engagement?

I assumed I was singular at the very start and that I could be as demanding as I wanted in terms of participants. Now that I know there is an existing substrate on which I can plant things, that makes it a bit easier, because there are already interested audiences, but it makes it harder, because I am not alone in these pursuits.

Perhaps ... just maybe ... anyone who could successfully follow the trail I'm blazing ... is the sort who is already out there, pursuing their own esoteric, syncretic interests?

The next milestone is 82 days ahead, and in a nod to its ancient origins I even set a countdown timer. This will be a time of watching for me, and a time to connect more dots on that Maltego graph.

[gambitaibot]

Euro After ECB Rate Hike: EUR/USD, EUR/AUD, EUR/GBP Price Setups

Euro Vs US Dollar, British Pound, Australian Dollar — Outlook:

EUR/USD is running into stiff resistance.

EUR/GBP looks oversold, and EUR/AUD is approaching strong support.

What is the trend and the key levels to watch in key Euro crosses?

The euro could attempt to recoup some of the recent losses against some of its peers, thanks to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) hawkish hike, oversold conditions, and a spate of underwhelming Euro area macro data. However, still-elevated speculative long EUR positioning could limit the gains.

EUR has rebounded against the US dollar, but has continued to soften against the Australian dollar and the British pound, as forecast in the previous update — see “Ahead of Euro Area Inflation: EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/AUD Price Setups,” published May 30.

The ECB raised interest rates by 25 basis points last week to the highest level in 22 years and signaled more rate hikes in coming months. Back in May, the mention that the tightening of financial conditions is “forcefully” trickling through the economy gave an impression that ECB could be nearing a pause in its tightening campaign. However, ECB President Christine Lagarde’s remarks last week that the central bank has still ground to cover indicates the ECB is in no mood to pause just yet, aiding EUR.

Economic Surprise Index and FX Positioning

Source Data: Bloomberg

Euro area macro data have underwhelmed in recent weeks, as reflected in the Euro area economic surprise index (ESI). However, as the chart shows, the series tends to be mean reverting, suggesting the bar for further downside surprise in the bloc appears to be low. Better-than-expected incoming data could support the single currency.

Having said that, despite the recent correction, speculative long EUR positioning is still running around the highest since 2020 and within the major currency space (see chart), suggesting continued overcrowded conditions for the single currency.

EUR/USD Daily Chart

Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView

EUR/USD: Upside capped?

On technical charts, EUR/USD has rebounded from near quite strong support area: the March low of 1.0510, near the 200-day moving average. However, the pair has run into stiff resistance on the upper edge of the Ichimoku cloud on the daily charts (at about 1.0970). Also, on the higher timeframe charts, the 14-month Relative Strength Index has been capped around 50–55 — a barrier for corrective rallies.

EUR/USD Monthly Chart

Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView

The upshot of the above is that EUR/USD may need to consolidate a bit further within the slightly upward-sloping channel since February before a fresh trend ensues. Above 1.0970, there is resistance at the May high of 1.1100. On the downside, 1.0550–1.0650 offers quite a strong cushion.

EUR/GBP Daily Chart

Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView

EUR/GBP: Due for a minor rebound?

EUR/GBP looks oversold as it tests a key floor at the December low of 0.8545. Moreover, the cross has met the price objective of the sideway channel. A minor rebound can’t be ruled out in the short term. Such a rebound could be capped around the mid-June high of 0.8620. On the downside, a decisive break below 0.8545 could pave the way toward the August low of 0.8340.

EUR/AUD Daily Chart

Chart Created by Manish Jaradi Using TradingView

EUR/AUD: Approaches strong support

EUR/AUD is approaching a fairly strong floor on the 200-day moving average, coinciding with the mid-May low of 1.5850. The cross looks oversold, raising the prospect of a minor rebound. Any break above last week’s high of 1.6000 could pave the way toward the mid-May low of 1.6130.

[rogersip]

UK Competition Watchdog Fines Retailers For Anti-Competitive Practices

A recent investigation has uncovered a number of online retailers that are guilty of breaching anti-competitive practices, and could face fines of up to £100,000 in the process. These include Footasylum, JD Sports, and Facebook's parent company, Facebook Inc.

BMW Group's U.K. subsidiary

The UK competition watchdog has issued the maximum penalty against BMW Group's UK subsidiary for failing to provide documents requested by the agency. Despite the company's assertions that the CMA has no jurisdiction over it, the authority believes it has a legitimate interest in investigating the matter.

For this reason, it sent a letter formally requiring the BMW Group to produce relevant documents. In a subsequent email statement, the car manufacturer argued that the authority does not have the legal power to force it to produce documents from foreign companies.

As a result, the CMA has imposed a daily fine on the BMW Group, which will continue until it is satisfied that the company has provided all relevant information. If the company fails to comply, it will be subject to a penalty of up to PS15,000 per day.

The investigation focuses on the BMW Group's involvement in the vehicle recycling industry. It also includes the company's suspected anti-competitive agreements and practices.

Facebook's parent company

Facebook's parent company Meta has been fined by UK competition regulators. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed an initial enforcement order (IEO) on the social network in June 2020. The IEO requires the company to stop integrating while the investigation is underway, limit its activities, and comply with its obligations.

Specifically, the CMA ordered the company to provide regular updates and information to the authority about its activities. It also required the company to notify the authority of any material changes, and seek prior consent before redistributing any responsibilities. However, Facebook failed to comply with the order.

In its IEO, the CMA said it found a number of concrete reasons why it was concerned about the Facebook-Giphy deal. These include the possibility of reducing competition in the digital advertising market. Giphy is a popular GIF sharing site, which powers animated images in mobile keyboards and social media apps.

The competition regulators said the acquisition of Giphy could harm UK advertisers, as well as potentially lessening the power of Facebook. Additionally, it could be harmful to the social media platforms' users.

Footasylum

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined British sportswear retailer JD Sports and Footasylum a combined total of 4.7 million pounds. This follows an investigation into a merger that would see the two companies take over each other.

The CMA began investigating the proposed merger in 2011, and issued an interim order to prevent the takeover. It then ordered the two firms to separate their businesses. However, they failed to comply with the order.

Last year, the CMA found that the merger could hurt shoppers by reducing their choice of retailers. It had also warned that the deal might involve sharing commercially sensitive information between the companies.

During the investigation, the CMA identified multiple meetings between the chairmen of the two companies. Those meetings were caught on video. They discussed the performance of the two firms, Footasylum's financial situation, contract negotiations with logistics firms, and the future of the companies' six stores.

Despite being told about the meetings, the executives did not report them to the CMA until after the watchdog became aware of them. Among other things, they were unaware that they were breaking competition rules.

JD Sports

The Competition and Markets Authority has fined JD Sports and Elite Sports for fixing prices for Rangers football kit. The UK competition watchdog ruled that the companies had conspired and fixed the price of adult home short sleeved replica shirts.

According to the CMA's investigation, the two companies conspired in order to prevent JD Sports from undercutting the Gers Online store and undermining the competitive position of Elite. During the course of the investigation, the companies accessed commercially sensitive information from each other.

On March 13, 2019, the CMA found that both companies conspired to fix the retail price of Rangers branded clothing items. They agreed to raise the retail price of an adult home replica shirt by ten percent from PS55 to PS60.

According to the investigation, there was a "black hole" between the conversations between the groups. There was no agenda, and there were no written notes. This created a risk for the future decisions of the companies.

[freelawbydjure]

Media's Freedom in Democracy

Indira Gandhi stated on the late hours of June 25, 1975, via All India Radio Station: " "The president has declared a state of emergency. There is nothing to be concerned about."

Following that, India experienced the most draconian period since Imperial Rule, with the suspension of constitutional rights, the arrest of opposition leaders, the passage of the 42nd Amendment Act, and the most heinous deed of all, press censorship.

As we all know, November 2, 2022 has been designated as the 'International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.' As journalism is an important element of the media, I, Aakash Singh Sajwan, would like to shed some light on "Media Freedom in Democracy."

As Rudyard Kipling expressly stated- "While Thrones and Powers confess, That king over all the pride's children. Is it the press, the press, the press?"

Read More Legal News And Updates.

The Media's Role

The Fourth Pillar of Democracy, according to Thomas Caryle, is the media.

Democracy derives from the Greek word Demokratia, which meaning "people's rule." Thus, as Aung San Suu Kyi correctly stated, "Democracy is when the people keep a government in check," the job of keeping government in check has been assigned to the media in democracy; the work of holding a mirror up to government and keeping the crusade of transparent democracy alive is the profession ethics and ethos of media.

With the advancement of technology, media has expanded; now, media is not confined to TVs, radios, and newspapers, but also includes social media platforms. The strength of social media platforms was shown during the Arab Spring, and it is being seen again in Iraq by Muqta-Al-Sadr.

Furthermore, during the Covid 19 outbreak, we saw how social media assisted ordinary folks and supplemented the efforts of modern governments in dealing with the situation. Social media is making it simpler for individuals all around the world to have a voice in governance, discuss issues, organize around causes, and hold leaders accountable.

Manipulation of the Media

According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, democracy cannot exist without a free press and freedom of expression. Because, around 100 years ago, fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, through Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy), and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, through V lkischer Beobachter (People's Observer), used media for their own profit.

Thus, government manipulation of the media in a country is not new. In today's scenario, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) claimed that in the last five years, 85% of the world's population has seen a reduction in press freedom in their country. Furthermore, according to the UNESCO Observatory of Slain Journalists, over 1200 journalists were killed between 2006 and 2020 for reporting news and presenting information to the public, and in nine out of ten cases, the assassins went unpunished.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists' 2021 prison census, a record 293 journalists were imprisoned for their profession globally this year. The figure for 2020 was 280. A number of arrests and criminal proceedings have also been filed against journalists and political activists who have criticized government policy.

Arresting journalists for sedition and violating The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has become all too routine in democratic India. Be it the increased arrest of journalists, the kidnapping of Anaas Mullick, a Wion correspondent, in rogue state Afghanistan, or the murders of 455 journalists worldwide between 2016 and 2022. All of this indicates that whenever the media attempts to depict the true picture of the current ruling power, it must face repercussions.

This was also emphasized by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Vinod Dua vs Union Of India on 3 June, 2021 (Writ Petition), where the Court held that "a citizen has a right to criticize or comment upon the measures undertaken by the Government and its functionaries, so long as he does not incite people to violence against the Government established by law or create public disorder; and that it is only when the words or expressions have pernicious tendency or inten

As a result, it is regarded as a historic decision that has supported the virtues of free speech and expression, as well as comprehending the freedom essential for journalists to execute its responsibility as the fourth pillar of democracy.

Reasonable Restriction of Free Expression for a Healthy Democracy

I believe that press freedom is necessary for a healthy democracy, but there is also a need to limit the disruption caused by media. The verdict was delivered by a bench comprised of Chief Justice B.P. Sinha and Justices A. Sarkar, J.R. Mudholkar, N. Rajagopala Ayyangar, and S.K. Das, as in the case of Kedar Nath v State of Bihar (1962 SC).

The Court's objective was to evaluate whether reasonable constraints were placed under Article 19(2), which states that reasonable restrictions may be imposed on various reasons, including public order. A restriction is constitutionally valid if it is consistent with Article 19(2). The Court concluded that Section 124A should only be applied to utterances that provoke public unrest.

The provision was constitutionally valid when interpreted in this way. For the same reason, the Court found Section 505 to be legally legitimate; it was a reasonable restriction on the right to free expression in the purpose of maintaining public order.

The right to free expression should not be used to undermine society's mental health through fake news. To counteract fake news, India has taken many initiatives, including the establishment of a Fact Check Unit within the Press Information Bureau. The PIB Fact Check Unit's effectiveness was demonstrated by the fact that it answered to 31,174 actionable enquiries and prohibited 56 YouTube-based news stations and their social media accounts from public access in 2021 and 2022 under Section 64A of the Information Technology Act of 2000.

Conclusion There is still a long way to go considering India was placed 150th out of 180 countries in the 2022 edition of the Press Freedom Index.

Because media is considered as an enabler of democracy, there is a need to control media in a way that achieves a balance between freedom of speech and law and order. Having more educated voters would lead to a more legitimate administration.

I recall Advani telling the media after the emergency, "You were just asked to bend, but you crawled." However, today's media cannot afford to bow or crawl, but must work without hesitation while maintaining strong professional standards, because media is the savior of democracy.

[archived-antolcgias]

GUIDELINES && THE WRITER

WEPA, MI GENTE.  I’m TULLIE and this is the real fast and quick guide to what I find ok, not cool or willing to roll with. Ask questions, whenever, if you got ‘em — it’s what askboxes are for, bebitos.

...COOL, WHO ARE YOU?

TULLIE— incessant writer, trained dungeon master, self-help advocate, pretty chill meme lover. Currently twenty-seven and residing in Puerto Rico (AST).

DISCLAIMER: NOT INTO SOMETHING HERE? 

So, we’re all literal human beings who are VERY DIFFERENT. That’s not sad, it’s awesome. There are parts of what I like or don’t like, allow for or don’t allow for, that may not work with you. 

Talk to me if you want clarity on an aspect of this page or to talk about wiggle room.  If something here is a deal breaker for you then it’s ok not to write with me at all. For me, it’s not personal.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Before we get into if you want to write with me — here’s some short and key ground-rules on interaction and being mutuals:

I follow people I know I want to write with. That’s my standard.

Go ahead and reblog posts you find here like music, memes, gifsets, and quotes, to name examples; I’ll only ask any personal headcanons for muses (canon-divergent or otherwise) not be reblogged.

I’m alright with you turning asks I answer into threads if you want to!

Things that WILL NOT BOTHER me: mutuals writing other partners with same or similar muses as mine or same face-claims.  

Always, always, always feel free to ask me about any of my rules. I will be honest with you. It’s just easier. You’re not psychic so I will not judge you if something is misread or if I wasn’t clear in writing it. 

AND, WHAT ARE YOU INTO?

My multimuse is an unplanned selection of muses I’m comfortable writing for. Some started as canon, and others as originals. I’ll write them all with anyone at all. For me, what universe my muse inhabits isn’t important but rather the chance to take the core of their character and explore it when writing with someone else and their muse(s).

Breakdown of what I’m into!

Whether a muse is original, or from television, film, literature, video games, podcasts, etc. if you like my writing style then come forward and let’s work together. 

Bring me your universes, wish-lists and ideas! Send them through IM or in the [askbox]. We can develop meme by meme, thread by thread, or message by message. 

I do and will write with duplicates of my muses (whether they’re the ‘same’ person or not). It makes for interesting angles and possibilities. 

As an added point, if we play the same muse, feel free to reblog aesthetic things related to that muse from my blog. Just, don’t take my developed headcanons for them.

Dynamics I’m open to writing, plotted or pre-established: I will write a romantic ship as a starting point, or a pre-established relationship. We can test if the muses have chemistry. Friendship, rivalry or enemies as dynamics aside from romance. Also familial dynamics such as siblings or cousins, and also found or chosen family. Let’s headcanon it!

I write smut and will tag it NSFW on this page for easier blacklisting. If something is missed, then please warn me. 

I understand and don’t mind if you don’t want to write with one of my muses with the FC used for them. That’s preference, and it’s cool by me. That being said, I may not reassign a new fc to them in another verse (it’ll be a case-by-case basis). 

Send me observations if you think something I’ve written something that misrepresents a group (like a protected class) or is outright offensive. I’ve written and said ignorant things in the past, and knowing assigns me the responsibility to learn and do better. 

OH, A NOTE ON EXCLUSIVES?

Here’s my stance on exclusivity:

Do not ask me to do this for you: singleship, exclusive ship, be mains, limit writing to you, limit writing to your muse, limit writing to your face-claim. Know, that I will not ask this of you. 

I don’t do muse exclusives; meaning establishing one mun’s version of a muse as the only one I write with.

I also don’t single-ship, or endgame ship or exclusive ship. By this I mean, I don’t make lists of people for exclusivity nor will I ask to be added to someone else’s list. It doesn’t work for me as a roleplayer.

Any Exceptions? Yes. This is due to establishing trust and connection over years, and no I will not be explaining my criteria for it since it’s more personal. 

AND WHAT ARE YOU NOT INTO?

Here’s a list on what I’m not into:

Darker storylines involving sexual assault, excessive gore, and/or excessive emotional trauma aren’t up my alley. I’m alright with these being key events that are involved in a muse’s history (as in yours). 

I will unfollow you due to: rp drama or call-outs to avoid being exposed to drama. 

Do not ask me to drop writing with someone else. HOWEVER, if that person does something questionable then giving me a heads-up is 100% ok and very appreciated. We have to handle things with a certain level of emotional control and balance. I’ll evaluate and make decisions right for me. 

HOW CAN WE GET STARTED ON WRITING?

I’m a simple-ass person so:

MEMES is the best way for me! If we don’t have a shared universe just leave the meme and specify what universe (yours or mine) you’d like! It’s an awesome challenge for me, and a quick way to get acquainted.

Feel free to add scenarios and context to meme asks: are they in a specific location, are they allies, are they enemies? Try anything. I’ll always tell you if something doesn’t vibe.

I’m always saying leave me like ten or twenty asks. If we’re mutuals, then seriously just leave me as many as you want. Even if we haven’t written yet. Throw ideas at the wall! 

If this works for you then it works for me too:

Prefer to headcanon for a bit? Then HIT UP THAT IM. I’m cool with talking and then writing things out.

[longassr1de]

˗ˏˋ   ABOUT PAGE   ˎˊ˗

❥ About myself :

✧ Berry || '97 || Scorpio ✧

I've been in the kpop fandom hellhole for since roughly 2010.

Feedback is very much appreciated, and yes, the ask box is always open. 👍🏻

❥ About the blog :

This blog is for my smut writings and content unsuitable for minor consumption. Let me reiterate that: no minors allowed, this blog contains mature content for mature audiences.

Will mainly be NCT at the moment because they're my current obsession, but I am very multifandom (and bi), so anything goes when it comes to this blog. There are certain topics or kinks I may be uncomfortable with and will not write for if it's something I'm not into. One thing I don't do, for example, is ships. Threesomes are ok and maybe poly drabbles, but.. I'm just not comfortable writing for the members as ships.

I don't really take requests per se, but you're free to drop any ideas in my ask, and if I'm inspired I might write about it. If not, you can just use the box and go on anon (or not) and vent your thirst away. We all have our moments, it happens.

Bit of a no brainer but I will not write for anyone underage. (aka jisung at this point? though honestly, even if chenle is considered legal now, i personally so not feel comfortable writing for him in that way.)

On the other hand, I'm now more comfortable with reading/writing for '00 line, so if that makes you uncomfortable then please don't read + blacklist the tags! I'll still be writing for the other units/members as well, no worries. I'm also planning on possibly expanding to work on things like mtl's/headcanons, the sort, just to spur myself back into writing. (Can't guarantee any success rates here, but it's worth a shot!)

I wanted to keep my smut writings separate from my others just to make it more comfortable for my audience and for myself. I can be as dirty as I want here and not have to worry about freaking out my other readers (as well as keep stuff separate due to minors).

➸ Most of my writing will be fem!reader, maybe with some gender neutral where I can. But as this is basically where I can throw all my fantasies out like a bottle into the ocean... yes, mainly fem!reader.

Edit: I do use the Read More feature, but it doesn't always work (as do most things on this lovely site), so I do apologize if you have to experience some scrolling.

Not sure what else to write on here for now, but will update as necessary.

❥ Other blogs :

@dunkshotdreaming (writings)

@hourly-dreaming (soft hours)

@berrysficrecs (fic recs)

My work is protected by Creative Commons; information can be found here.

[decembercamiecherries]

Writing Update!

The last time I was ready to start posting my multichapter fic I made an announcement on here, so I decided I wanted to do the same thing this time around! ^-^ Next week (June 12) I will post the first chapter of my new killugon au multichapter fic, Waiting on You! 

I started this fic back in summer 2020 as a one shot, lost interest in it, took a second look at it in summer 2021 and then decided to fully commit to finishing the fic in its entirety. I completed writing the fic in February 2022 and have been in editing hell for the last four months lol. The fic is inspired by the below prompt:

*My friend constantly sets me up on blind dates that each end horrifically because they think I’m lonely when really I’m just a huge introvert, and you’re the waiter who stays after and talks to me after every one and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t my friend’s original plan, but I think I’m starting to fall in love with you.*

Stats and other details about the fic are down below! Also thank you to @cyberflamingo who was kind enough to take a look at this fic while still in it’s draft version at very short notice, I can’t thank them enough for their insight and support!

Title: Waiting on You

Number of chapters: 21 (this might change depending on whether or not I decide to further break up the longer chapters)

Update schedule: Every Sunday starting in June and estimated to finish in October

Word count: about 90k

Content rating: Teen and up

Content warnings: Some manipulation from the Zoldyck family

Relationships: Killua Zoldyck/Gon Freecss, Killua Zoldyck & Gon Freecss, Killua Zoldyck & Alluka Zoldyck, Killua Zoldyck & Canary, Killua Zoldyck & Palm Siberia, Killua Zoldyck & Ikalgo, Killua Zoldyck & Zoldyck Family (but mostly Silva and Illumi), Gon Freecss & Kite, Alluka Zolydck/Zushi

Other tags: Modern AU, College/University AU, Aged Up Characters, Slow Burn, Pining, Crushes, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Flirting, Drinking, Jealousy, etc

Summary:

Everything has a cost.

As heir to the Zoldyck business empire, it’s a rule Killua Zoldyck as understood and obeyed all his life. But when he befriends the local restaurant waiter Gon Freecss, he’s forced to re-examine his future in a new light.

Because if everything has a cost, what is KIllua willing to pay for wanting Gon?

[classicdecadence]

I am moving blog!

After nearly two years on this current blog and under the name of classicdecadence, I have decided it’s time for a change.

I’ve had hundreds of threads, opens and ships on this blog since June 2020 and I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s wonderful for me to look back on all that I’ve written with my amazing partners and this is particularly so given my last two blogs before classicdecadence wrongly fell victim to the Tumblr flagging algorithm. 

However, whilst I’ve greatly enjoyed writing here, I also want to move forward. During my time in the RPC, I’ve always preferred to refresh my name, aesthetic and blog about every 18 months to two years, and recently I’ve felt its time to do so again. So, as much as I will miss classicdecadence, I’m also excited to move onto a new chapter and of course this blog will remain online as a memory of all that I’ve written here rather than being deactivated. 

So, without further adieu, you can now find me at.... midnightsaboteur

I have updated my rules and muses pages there over the last few days and will be posting open starters on there from today too. Any active threads that I have on this blog will be replied to from midnightsaboteur moving forward. At this point, I’d also like to extend an offer to any of my mutuals to use this change as a point to begin new things and/or drop long-running threads if they so wish. 

Do feel free to follow me on the new blog and let me know if any questions! 

[zaffrenotes]

Tag List Update

It’s that time again - it’s been almost a year since I updated my lists, and seeing as I’m wrapping up one series (Kairos), prepping for RODAW, picking up old series, and deciding what new thing I want to work on next, I want you to be able to read the things you want to 💙

Comments and/or reblogs are good (and I appreciate every single one of them!), but I've made up a form that will hopefully make things easier. Listing perma/book tags below the cut; to avoid repeating names by listing every series, I'm mentioning everyone that's been tagged for at least one book/series to opt in on what you want.

If you're seeing this post but you weren't tagged and you want to be on a taglist, hello! and click the link below 😊

If you've been tagged but you're no longer into my writing, ignore this post and the form; I'll remove you from tags once I close submissions. There won't be any hard feelings - I know tastes change over time, and I don't want to annoy you with a story you no longer wish to read

You can always hop on or off a list later, this is just my attempt to stay organized

Form will stay open until Sunday, 25 July, 11:59 EDT. After that time, I'll update lists accordingly.

These are included on the form, but here are 50 words or less "snapshots" of my WIPs and upcoming series:

Non-Choices

(last updated November 2020) The Exchange: Daniel Henney x Reader thing where you meet Daniel Henney at an informal gathering

(last updated June 2021) To Ruined Friendships: Logan Delos x Reader potential miniseries where you set aside years of friendship with Logan to see the side of himself he rarely shows the world

Ride or Die

(last updated July 2019) Mixtapes & Milkshakes, Side A: through a series of flashbacks via mixtape, Jin recounts her time with the Mercy Park Crew and the two boys she fell for (Logan x MC, Colt x MC)

(TBD) Mixtapes & Milkshakes, Side B: AU where Logan recounts his summer with MC (Lana) while he listens to an album

(last updated February 2020) Mixtapes Hidden Track: open series of one shots between Logan and Jin as they repair their relationship

(last updated July 2019) Prologue to Breathe Hope Love Live: 3-part introduction to an AU where Ellie tries to start a new life on the East Coast, but she’s still in love with Logan and Colt

(TBD, August 2021) RODAW 3.0: fic, edits, crafts, and other submissions for ROD Appreciation Week

(TBD, August 2021) Untitled AU: series adjacent to Mixtapes (Hidden Track) where Logan learns how to love & be loved as he and Jin rebuild their relationship and start a family

The Royal Romance/Royal Heir

(last updated November 2018) Crimson Snow: gangster AU where Liam is part of the Yakuza. IDK when this series will actually begin

(last updated February 2020) Deja Brew: prologue posted; coffeeshop-esque AU that will incorporate Friends quotes/prompts that will loosely follow events from TRR Book 1, if everything had taken place in New York

(last updated August 2020) Elpida: TRH AU set 20+ years in the future, where Eleanor “Teddy” Rys returns to Cordonia to be crowned Queen. Technically complete but I've been asked to write more

(last updated July 2021) Kairos: nearly completed Wacky Drabbles series/AU where Riley asked Liam about the one that got away. Liam recalls his time with a woman named Elia, and their time together one summer

(last updated July 2021) Love is Patient: possible Wacky Drabble AU/miniseries where Liam and Trina had a chance meeting as kids and pretended to get married. 20 years later, Trina’s summoned to Cordonia because Liam can’t be crowned king without a wife. Can two relative strangers fall in love and prove their love is real in time?

(last updated October 2020) Morpheus Dreams: snippet posted; soulmate AU set in a post-apocalyptic world where dreams only occur when you fall asleep in the arms of your soulmate. burnsoslow’s Alyssa Devereaux from Remember Two Things will be on loan

(last updated October 2019) Morsels: miscellaneous one shots following You Are the Reason series, where Liam and Trina navigate married life in between ruling as monarchs, raising kids, and finding moments of time for themselves

(last updated September 2019) Serendipity: college AU where TRR characters exist, but Cordonia doesn’t and they don’t have noble titles. Liam shares a kiss with Trina within minutes of meeting her, and spends the rest of the semester getting to know her

(last updated December 2020) Sojourn: AU comprised of one shots after TRR Book 2 events, where Trina accepted Liam’s proposal on the condition that she goes to law school before they marry. Drake becomes her roommate/extension of the Kings Guard for protection while he also finishes his degree. Chaos sometimes ensues; precursor to You Are the Reason

(last updated April 2019) You Are the Reason: series occurs after Sojourn, where recent graduates Trina and Drake officially return to Cordonia. However, unknown forces try to keep Trina from marrying Liam. Some parts of TRR Book 3 will be included

(TBD 2021) Untitled Summer Love/Wacky Drabbles series: AU where Cordonia doesn’t exist/no one has noble titles. Liam and Drake take a long overdue summer vacation, where they meet an interesting pair of ladies, under odd circumstances. Will there be more than one summertime spark?

FYI I don't post anything on a schedule 🙈also tags max out in a post so I'll reblog in a minute. Thanks for reading this mess, and reading in general 💙

Permatag All Stories: @ao719 @blackcatkita @debramcg1106 @neotericthemis @ofpixelsandscribbles @smalltalk88 @the-soot-sprite

BLADES: @choicesarehard @princess-geek @saivilo @storyofmychoices @walkerswhiskeygirl

MOTY: @justbeingmyself21 @pirateofprose /princess-geek /saivilo @siegrrun

ROD: @burnsoslow /choicesarehard /pirateofprose

TRR/TRH: @aestheticartsx @bbrandy2002 /burnsoslow @choiceskatie @darley1101 @dcbbw @gardeningourmet @iplaydrake @kingliam2019 @liamxs-world @rainbowsinthestorm @riseandshinelittleblossom @superharriet @texaskitten30 @theroyalheirshadowhunter

melee tag for anyone that was tagged for a ROD or TRR series but I have too many to post lists one by one so you need to check off what you wanna read *points to snapshot descriptions above*: @alexpottrechoices @blznbaby @brightpinkpeppercorn @choices97 @clairexoxo100 @client-327 @cocomaxley @cordonianroyalty @cordonian-literature @everythingchoices @forallthatitsworth @gibbles82 @gkittylove99 @gnatbrain @h3llostrang3r @hustacks

[fatehbaz]

Ah man I'm so glad you made that post about ski resorts and racism, I never see content about the effects of ski resorts on the land. Keeping jumbo wild was a huge W and I was so glad to see it, and I hope it puts pressure on the people trying to push zincton through. I actually haven't heard much abt the zincton project lately, do you know of any updates? Thanks again for the content, so rarely hear other voices online from the inland temperate rainforest

Hey, thank you so much for the message. I know you’re also a fan of the region. Glad you saw that post and said something to me. :)

Yes, there has been some new media coverage of Zincton as of November 2020. And can I use this as an opportunity to say a couple of things about this rainforest? Sorry in advance for rambling and all of this text.

Right? The downfall of the Jumbo project was uplifting. Ski resorts obviously (like many “parks” in US and Canada) involve Indigenous dispossession and obscuring/erasure of histories and lives. (Details from that article: US sky resort visitors are 88% white, and half make over $100 thousand a year.)  As for voices from the inland temperate rainforest: Gotta mention that the province of BC goes to such great lengths to silence the voices of the Sinixt people, declared “extinct” by the Canadian government and whose traditional territory includes much of the inland temperate rainforest (between 2016 and 2020, BC has fought against the Sinixt and their request for recognition, appealing every ruling, culminating in an October 2020 Supreme Court hearing). BC institutions like to claim the inland temperate rainforest as a “treasure” or “prize”, a “globally-unqiue” ecosystem, as a sort of entitlement or patrimony; meanwhile, the province of BC legally fights the Sinixt in court, ignores the caribou extinction, and still issues dozens of logging/timber and clear-cut contracts in the inland temperate rainforest each year. That said, the end of Jumbo was good news.

For anyone unfamiliar: Jumbo was a ski resort mega-development project planned for the Purcell Wilderness on Ktunaxa traditional territory right in the heart of the inland temperate rainforest region of interior so-called British Columbia, in old-growth cedar-hemlock forest, on the edge of glaciers, and in the middle of key habitat of southern mountain caribou, grizzly, wolverine, mountain lion, lynx, wolf, elk, mountain goat, marten, fisher, etc. The Glacier Resorts-owned project would’ve been “the single largest ski resort in North America” including a “resort base” of at least 110 hectares, a hotel with over 5,500 beds, and an expectation of over 3,000 visitors a day. The Ktunaxa had opposed the project since 1991, and took a case to federal Supreme Court. In January 2020, the Ktunaxa were able to buy-out the project, and the Jumbo area will now be managed as a formal Indigenous Protected Area.

The new Zincton resort is also being built on Ktunaxa and Sinixt land, about 70 kilometers away from the former Jumbo resort site.

Traditional territories:

And yes, there are some updates on Zincton from November 2020.

@moss-effect -- I know that you already know this stuff. But for anyone unfamiliar:

The Zincton resort is being constructed only about 70-ish kilometers or so away from where the Jumbo resort was planned. Zincton is also on Ktunaxa territory, as well as traditional land of the Sinixt. Zincton (being built near Valhalla and Goat Range, between Naksup and Kaslo) expects a “grand opening” in December 2021. The project is run by the owner/founder of a local outfitter/recreation company. As of November 2020, BC’s Mountain Resorts Branch is still reviewing the owner’s formal proposal. Zincton sits closer to even more extensive old-growth forest and major protected areas.

Zincton also seems to be a manifestation of that now-classic category: “progressive” settler-colonial entrepreneurs from coastal BC, the Pacific Northwest, and/or Rocky Mountain West are familiar with local rhetoric and therefore elude criticism by rebranding their extractive and development projects as “eco-friendly”. According to The Narwhal (November 2020) the owner/project leader had this to say about the project: “There is a real story here of a proven disruptor facing down the mob to do one last project for the kids and grandkids. … Jobs for locals, a future for families, saving the hospital. Zincton is the Tesla of the ski village business.”

-------

Also, for context: Here’s a post I made about the inland temperate rainforest, its ecology/geography, and its endemic creatures. Here’s a post from June 2020 about the Zincton resort development. Here’s a compilation post with news/timeline/summary and maps describing the extinction of southern mountain caribou in 2019 (southern mountain caribou are a local icon, completely endemic to this region, and are highly endangered; caribou were declared extinct in the contiguous United States in 2019 when the last of the southern mountain caribou were relocated farther north to BC). Here’s a compilation post with news/timeline following the Sinixt case to receive formal recognition from BC/Canada in 2019 and 2020 (much of the rainforest, including the Zincton site, is within Sinixt traditional territory; the Canadian government declared the Sinixt “extinct” in the 1950s).

-------

Location of core cedar-hemlock forest of inland temperate rainforest region, compared with distribution range of the southern mountain caribou:

Photos I took of stream habitat in inland temperate rainforest:

-------

Coincidentally, just a couple of days ago, The Narwhal just released an “explainer” dedicated to the Zincton: Paul Fischer. “Why B.C.’s Zincton resort, the proposed ‘Tesla of ski villages,’ is worrying conservationists.” The Narwhal. 27 November 2020.

Zincton claims that it is a “radical departure from the status quo” and will be a “carbon-zero” resort. But local groups oppose the project, including Wildsight, West Kootenay Eco Society, and locally-famous Valhalla Wilderness Society. (The core of the inland temperate rainforest is sometimes referred to as “Valhalla” or “Caribou Rainforest”.) The project also claims that the resort’s focus on so-called “eco-tourism” is a good way to “grow and replace economic decline,” which you might perceive to be a settler-colonial interpretation of the “value” of the forest and also suggests that the concern here is, of course, making money. From Fischer’s article: ‘In a series of emails with The Narwhal, Harley [the project leader] dismissed environmental concerns. He said impacted grizzly habitats are low quality and categorized the criticism from certain environmental groups as a “copy and paste” campaign motivated by a desire to oppose everything rather than contribute constructively.’

These quotes can be found in the article:

-------

Here’s some other stuff:

-------

Headlines from the Jumbo resort news:

The Sinixt case:

Southern mountain caribou herd decline in the inland temperate rainforest between 1990 and 2018. The Zincton resort will directly affect Purcells South, Central Selkirks, and South Selkirks herd.

-------

And I want to say that both the Ktunaxa and Sinixt people have recently been undermined, insulted, and dispossessed by BC and development projects in similar ways. Media, educational material, and conservation groups in BC like to point out that the inland temperate rainforest is “globally-unique” (in that it’s really the planet’s only sizable “coastal-type temperate rainforest” existing inland and away from a coast). And you’ll see the inland temperate rainforest described with terms like: prized, treasure, gem, hidden/secret rainforest, etc. And the region is discussed in settler-colonial terms/concepts (”BC’s forgotten rainforest,” “BC’s other rainforest”, “a magnificent carbon cache”, “unparalleled resource”) as if it is the patrimony of the province of BC or Canadian state. Which of course is problematic because it (1) associates the forest’s importance with bioprospecting/scientific extractivism, carbon sequestration, or other metrics of settler-colonial “value,” and also because (2) the province of BC continues to fight very hard against recognizing the land as part of Sinixt territory (after Sinixt people and allies were able to win cases against BC, the province continued to appeal, and this case has now culminated in the October 2020 hearing at the federal Supreme Court, which will soon make a final ruling on whether or not Sinixt people are legally allowed land rights to harvest, travel, etc. within BC).

-------

Here’s a map:

From 2018, there is this book:

In the US, too, parks, like ski resorts, are implicated in Indigenous dispossession.

Glacier National Park (at the border of BC, Alberta, and Montana) sits on the edge of the Kootenay and inland temperate rainforest regions. Conservation groups, universities, and other US institutions have taken to calling Glacier part of “the Crown of the Continent” (another possessive/patrimonial term maybe?), a portion of the heavily-glaciated Canadian Rockies that kinda includes Banff and Jasper, too. Glacier National Park is on Ktunaxa and Blackfeet territory. A recently published book that might be interesting: People Before the Park: The Kootenai and Blackfeet Before Glacier National Park. Sally Thompson, Kootenai Cultural Committee, and Piikuni Traditional Association. 2015

Described by Montana Public Radio in 2017: “Step [...] into the world of the Kootenai and Blackfeet peoples, whose traditional territories included the area that is now Glacier National Park. [...] In this book, the Kootenai and Blackfeet tribes share their traditions -- stories and legends, foodways and hunting techniques, games and spiritual beliefs.”

Just a special place.

Thank you for saying something.

[reallybadfeeling]

2022 Fic Reading Challenge So Far

Just a little bit of an update of how far I got in these first 6 months of challenge, I guess. If you are interested in participating, you can still join. Rules can be found @fanfic-reading-challenge.

NUMBERS

Total fanfics: 210 (14 of which DNF) Total words read: 4.823.985 Most popular ship: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker (427.125 words); but I technically read more no ship fanfics (1.398.266 words) Most popular fandom: Star Wars Prequels (1.303.908 words) Different ships: 59 Different fandoms: 31 Most productive months:

January: 73 fanfic (7 of which DNF) and 986.912 words June: 56 fanfics (0 of which DNF) and 970.201 words May: 56 fanfics (5 of which DNF) and 962.930 words

HOW AM I DOING?

Compared with previous years

Total fics read in the first semester of 2022: 210 fanfics

Total words read in the first semester of 2022: 4.824.777 words

Words to fanfic ratio: 22.975

Total fics read in the first semester of 2021: 297 fanfics

Total words read in the first semester of 2021: 5.012.096 words

Words to fanfic ratio: 16.876

Total fics read in the first semester of 2020: 271 fanfics

Total words read in the first semester of 2020: 3.813.964 words

Words to fanfic ratio: 14.074

Total fics read in the first semester of 2019: 168 fanfics

Total words read in the first semester of 2019: 3.735.846 words

Words to fanfic ratio: 22.237

All in all, I think I can still at least hit the 9.5 millions words I reached last year, if I manage to deal with the seasonal depression that always hits me the hardest in late summer/fall.

Challenge tasks

Regular Mode:

Tasks: 107/125 done (86~%).

Categories: 6/11 done (AUs, Content, Minorities, Ships, Title, Tropes)

Still left before completion: completion at 80%, so I am technically already done.

Hard Mode:

Tasks: 56/87 done (65~%)

Categories: 3/12 done (AUs, Minorities, Ships)

Still left before completion: completion at 85, so 20~ still left to go. I think I can manage it.

Extreme Mode:

Tasks: 31/65 done (48~%)

Categories: 0/11 done

Still left before completion: completion at 95%, so 47~% still left. Time wise it can be managed then, since I'm halfway there. Not sure I can actually do it since I'm left with all of the actually hard ones to do.

Tasks I'm struggling with:

Author's unger age 20: I have a friend that turned 48 this year that writes in Italian, so the 45+ task I could manage easily. But I have yet to find someone younger than 20.

Reading from rec lists and bookmarks: it's something I usually don't do, because I'm super picky already and sorting through other people's favorites is tedious for me. Also, I'm one of those "forever alone" people when it comes to fandoms. My fandom friends (which are few) and I don't really do the suggesting fanfics thing. Mostly because we don't ship the same things unfortunately.

Reading from ff.net: I tried multiple times opening ff.net in these months... I have yet to read even a single fic. I'm just too used to how much easier it is to both find and read on AO3.

"Character has the same profession as you" task: can be done easily, right? Everyone at a certain point was a student... Yeah, problem is I don't want to consider student a profession. And I had very few jobs so far (was an avon "lady" when I was still in high school before I learnt what an MLM was, tutored a bit after high school, was an intern in a couple of companies and did a little bit of freelance proof reading). None of which I really care to read about even if I manage to find fanfics with them. Don't know, this task in particular is almost triggering for me, apparently.

Reading from different fandoms: while I did read from more than 30 different fandoms, for most of my minor fandoms I read short things, mostly under 5.000 words. Which makes the Fandom tasks the hardest for me. Also, I don't know if I should consider all of the Star Wars content as just one fandom, or if each trilogy should be considered it's own (same for each animated show and each disney+ series).

Numbers category in general: I literally keep this one category always closed in extreme mode (and I skip it quickly in hard mode). Seeing those numbers I already know I won't reach apparently make me very anxious. Which means I'm ignoring even those tasks I could probably complete.

Reading WIPs specifically: it's just something I usually don't do because of memory issues. But I have one author in particular that I love that has plenty of WIPs. I'm just procrastinating on this one I guess.

Titles from song lyrics/books: despite my love for titling fanfictions with lyrics, I struggle finding titles referencing songs from the 80's and the 90's. And don't even get me started with books.

The "Childhood friends to Enemies to Lovers" Trope: I know one ship in particular that fits this trope. And it's my damn NOTP for that specific fandom. (I mean, if anyone know of an Obikin/Vaderwan with Obi-Wan the same age as Anakin, the two of them being friends, then Anakin falling then the two of them becoming lovers, I would read the fuck out of it. But I still haven't found something like this so... For now this damn trope is killing me.)

Relay fanfics: even if now I know what they actually are, I stumbled into only one. There's a second one I'm not sure about, because there are not tags or notes that make it obvious that it's a relay. otherwise, multiauthors fanfics are apparently something I struggle to find.

5 fanfics each from 5 fandom events: I managed to do this for 2 events so far. Like I mentioned already, I'm picky, so for me it's hard to be so restricted. I guess I just have to get over it and actually search for events collections...

Tasks I surprising didn't struggle with at all:

25 different soulmates AU: I'm literally missing just 4. Maybe it's because I consider different some of these AUs on "technicalities". Like, I think it counts as a different soulmate AU if both have marks but they work in different way. Like, maybe one the mark appears when you meet, another has the mark that works more like a compass, or things like that.

AUs in general: I am am literally 7 fanfics away from completing even the extreme mode AU category. And it's mostly because I'm waiting for being in the mood to read the AUs I'm left with and I need to stumble into the 4 aforementioned different soulmates AUs.

Minorities: I never realized how much I read about minorities apparently, because I'm only 3 fanfics away from being done with this category in all extreme mode (already done with them in the other difficulties).

Ships categories: I'm 7 ships away from being done with the first of the 2 tasks from extreme mode. It'll probably be a little bit harder to complete the second task. But I was surprised by how quickly I managed this, considering I usually stick to my 10 usual ships. This one really pushed me into reading more into my minor ships and exploring ship I found interesting but never read about.

"one of each for every letter of the alphabet" tasks: I had to specifically search for letters like K, X and Z, but all in all it wasn't hard at all, especially since you can sort fanfics easily on AO3. (And there are alphabets challenges apparently!)

Tropes: other than the previously mentioned trope in specific, I'm basically missing only 4 total tropes tasks. Three because I'm very anal about finding the right fanfic about said trope otherwise I get annoyed with them and the last one is the tropesgiving event task. Because I haven't bothered looking for it yet.

Kinky stuff: another thing I found out about me because of this challenge. I'm more into reading kinky fanfictions that I realized at first.

Fandoms under 2000-1000-500-100 fanfics: I'm into niche things. Didn't know some of the things I like are actually this niche.

[duggardata]

Jessa is Expecting Again!

She Also Suffered A Miscarriage Last Year.

On Thursday, February 18, 2021, Jessa (Duggar) + Ben Seewald shared (via E! Online) that they’re expecting a “rainbow baby”—thereby, announcing both an imminent arrival and a recent loss.  So far, they haven’t revealed much data, at all...  Read on for my attempt to analyze the few facts we do know!

When Did Jessa Miscarry?

According to the Seewalds, they suffered a miscarriage “last year”—i.e., 2020.  Obviously, that’s not very specific...

Already, I’ve received multiple Asks speculating that Jessa might’ve miscarried in September, because of that Instagram Post where Spurgeon, Henry, and Ivy were wearing “Brother / Sister Bee” shirts.  (At the time, many thought that the cutesy, matchy–match t–shirts would be used for a pregnancy announcement, especially after we discovered that the same company made a matching onsie saying “Baby Bee.”  But, an announcement never came...  Y’all’s theory is that the Seewalds planned to use the t–shirts for that announcement, but then lost the pregnancy.)  It’s possible that this is the case; however, there’s no concrete proof, at this point.  It’s just speculation.  And, even if we knew that the t–shirts were intended to be used for a pregnancy announcement, their appearance on Instagram in September doesn’t tell us much about the Date of Loss.  Was the photo from the day of the photo shoot, and Jessa posted it—not thinking we’d notice the matchy–match shirts?  Did she miscarry before, and decide to dress the children in the shirts one day afterwards, randomly?  Did she miscarry after, but before they publicly announced with photos featuring the shirts?  We don’t know, at this point.

It’s definitely an interesting theory, though!  Y’all have a good memory...  I had totally forgotten about the “Brother / Sister Bee” shirt episode.

When is Jessa’s Due Date?

So far, the Seewalds haven’t actually said...  They told E! Online (and TLC) they “can hardly wait to hold this little one in our arms this summer.”  On Instagram, Jessa also mentioned that the baby is due in the “summertime.”  Finally, and a bit more specifically, Jessa stated in a TLC–exclusive clip that she’s “out of the first trimester.”  The 2nd Trimester begins in Week 13...  So, from what Jessa + Ben have shared, we can confidently say that the Due Date is in Summer 2021 and Jessa is at least 13 Weeks Along.

Other than what they’ve said, we have one other clue, so far—the ultrasound / sonogram featured in the Pregnancy Announcement.  And then, of course, we can always turn to the data for clues!

Let’s analyze all the clues, one at a time, starting with...

“Summer.”   Seewald #4 is apparently due in “summertime,” “this summer”—i.e., Summer of 2021.  As for when that is...  It depends who you ask!  Most of us, and meteorologists, would argue that “summer” encompasses all of June, July, and August, and that’s all.  But astronomically–speaking, “summer” runs from the Summer Solstice (~June 21) to Autumnal Equinox (~September 22)—both of which are defined by the relative position of the Earth and Sun.

Which definition does Jessa use?  I’d be tempted to just assume that, like the vast majority of people, she just means ‘June, July, or August.’  But, actually...  Prior evidence suggests otherwise.  When Jessa + Ben announced Pregnancy #3 (Ivy), Jessa said she was due “late this spring.”  Eventually, they shared the exact Due Date—June 5, 2019.  Astronomically, June 5th is ‘late spring,’ since it’s before the Summer Solstice; however, by the leading definition, June 5th is considered ‘early summer,’ since it is in June...  So, maybe Jessa does use an astronomical definition, rather than just ‘June, July, and August.’

A Possible Due Date Range for ‘summer’ would be June 1—August 31, 2021, for most people; however, for astronomists, and maybe for Jessa, it would be June 21—September 22, 2021.  Either way, this doesn’t narrow things down much.

“Out of The 1st Trimester.”   On February 18, 2021, TLC released a video clip to accompany Jessa + Ben’s Pregnancy Announcement.  In the video, about 5 Seconds in, Jessa says she’s relieved to be “out of the first trimester.”  The 1st Trimester runs through Week 12.  So, apparently, Jessa was at least 13 Weeks Along, when the video was filmed.

Since we don’t know when the video was filmed, all we say for sure is that she was at least 13 Weeks Along on February 18, 2021, when the video came out.  Doing the math, Jessa’s Latest Possible Due Date is August 26, 2021.  Sadly, this doesn’t rule out much the ‘summer’!

The Ultrasound.   Jessa + Ben posed with a photo of a 3D ultrasound for this Pregnancy Announcement.  This gives us a small hint!

Thanks to Google, Duggar Data discovered that there aren’t a lot of options in Northwest Arkansas, when it comes to getting a 3D ultrasound...  Actually, it’s just two options—Babyface & More Ultrasound Studio in Rogers, AR; or Hello Baby! Ultrasound Studio in Fayetteville, AR.  Jessa + Ben went to Babyface & More; the words “Babyface & More” appear on the top of the their ultrasound photo.  (It’s fuzzy, but it’s there!  Here’s a much clearer photo of a Babyface & More ultrasound, which isn’t Jessa’s, for reference.)  (Note—Reference Photo was publicly posted on Instagram, with Babyface & More tagged.  Identifying information has been removed, and the baby’s face has been obscured.)  Per Babyface & More’s website, they offer 3D ultrasound starting in Week 14.  So, we know that Jessa was at least 14 Weeks Along on the Ultrasound Date.

Okay...  But, when was that?  Well...  Sleuthing regarding the Reference Photo reveals that the Ultrasound Date is listed in the top right of Babyface & More’s ultrasounds.  (It’s not the Due Date, it’s the Ultrasound Date.)  Looking back at Jessa’s...  Unfortunately, the date in the top right is really, really blurry.  Duggar Data thinks the middle number might be ‘25.’  That’s all I can say with any sort of confidence.  I can’t make out the other two numbers, at all.  Rats!

But, let’s just go with what we’ve got...  Let’s assume that the middle number is ‘25.’  That could be January 25, December 25, November 25, etc.  But, it’s almost certainly January 25, 2021.  December 25 was Christmas; Babyface & More probably wasn’t open.  As for November 25...  That’s getting to be a bit too long ago.  If Jessa was 14 Weeks Along on November 25, 2020, she’d be due by Late May, and that’s not “summer.”  So...  Let’s go with January 25th!  Jessa would’ve been at least 14 Weeks Along on that date, which means that her Latest Possible Due Date would be July 26, 2021.  We’re getting closer!

The Data.  Ah yes, the data...  My specialty!  Here’s how far along Jessa was for public Pregnancy Announcements 1–3—

#1 / Spurgeon   86 Days Along  (Due November 1, 2015.)

#2 / Henry   117 Days Along  (Due February 2, 2017.)

#3 / Ivy   133 Days Along  (Due June 5, 2019.)

Taking the average, it’s 112 Days Along.  If that’s how far along Jessa was this time, her Due Date would be August 5, 2021.  But you also may have noticed, she announces later and later, each time.  It’s 24 Days later, on average.  So...  Let’s assume that with Pregnancy #4 she waited 24 Days Longer than she did with Ivy...  That’d mean she announced at 157 Days Along and is due on June 21, 2021.  The Seewalds will beat their record for Earliest or Latest Pregnancy Reveal if Jessa is due after September 1, 2021, or before July 15, 2021.

Looking at the Overall Duggar Family Data...  If this Pregnancy Announcement was exactly–typically timed, then Jessa’s Due Date is August 23, 2021.  They would set a new, family–wide record for Earliest or Latest Pregnancy Reveal if the Due Date is after September 26, 2021, or before May 17, 2021.

TL;DR.   We really don’t know...  Sometime this summer.  Definitely by August 26.  We need an Approximate Due Date, but we really don’t have enough data yet...  I’m going to hold off on picking one, and on the rest of the data analysis, until we get more information. 

I’ll keep y’all updated.  Come on, Jessa!  Give us some details!