#also excludes 2024 films | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

accio-victuuri · 4 months

Text

Bojunyixiao’s Weibo night 2023/2024 🎉🎉

can you believe we’re here again. no matter how problematic sina weibo is as a platform, their awards night is a day cpfs look forward to because our boys will be attending. even if we know they won’t interact or anything, the fact that they get to attend the same event is enough for us.

i will just include the recap for the past years on here, the 2019/2020 being very short cause i feel like that has been widely speculated and talked about already. then 2021 and 2022. this post will discuss the event and stuff that happened + some commentary + cpn clownery. enjoy!!!!!

I. CPFs team building and showing strength

It would not be fair to exclude this feat that cpfs achieved with the free tickets for Weibo night. Even if we had no idea if both of them will attend, cpfs tried to grab tickets just in case it happens so we will be prepared. In the first round, we surprised all other fan groups with how we dominated and it set the rhythm for the next rounds. Trust cpfs to set the trend and make other fandoms “wake up”. lol. They can say what they want about cpfs but we all know that part of the hate is because they do not understand why we’re still here. They don’t get why we are this strong and a happy group.

My favorite thing that happened was when the top profile photos spelled out BJYXSZD + heart with a mole. It doesn’t stop there tho, the next week/round, we still dominated so Sina Weibo tried to save face by doing some tactics to suppress us. Nevertheless, every week, more of us got tickets because of the help of our little turtle fandom.

There were also efforts to get top comments on Weibo Night posts but I won’t get into that anymore cause we usually do that. But the thought of showing strength “online” as what the boys advertised is sweet.

Years later, we are still as strong as ever and shall remain that way. and that’s all thanks to each and every turtle out there who chooses positivity & makes sure our community remains a safe space.

II. The anticipation and announcements

It’s safe to say that this year, XZ is a sure attendee cause he always tops the voting at this event. However, some were still not sure cause he did not attend other public events last year like 10c starlight or NYE events cause he is busy with filming his projects. On 1/10 evening tho, a rather unsavory rumor made it on HS which was a signal that weibo night was getting desperate and wanted some noise for their event. lol. maybe there are other parties involved, but the intent is the same. I will also just mention the issue that happened on 1/9 with Chunzhen and them withdrawing lottery tickets supposedly won by certain fans. But the next day, Weibo lottery decided to honor the win and gave the tickets. I have no reaction to this tbh, and that’s why i didn’t talk about this separately and at length on my blog. It’s the brand / fandom that i have nothing to do with’s issue. As a turtle, we all know how CZ is with certain things so i’m not surprised that this happened. LOL.

I honestly feel for XZ, he is out there working hard and minding his own business but people and circumstances keep dragging him into irrelevant incidents.

As for WYB, everyone thought he wasn’t gonna attend. This is the same energy as last year. People are busier with grabbing tickets for his SDC6 finals and completely ignored weibo night ( as they should ). There was still some hope tho, cause if you think about it, he attended a lot of platform events. Tencent, IQIYI, GQ MOTY and 2 NYE shows. So why not Weibo Night? I have said it before, but one thing that I loved about WYB attending multiple events by the end of last year was it’s a show of his position and professionalism in the industry. He can go anywhere and be welcomed — he has good relations with almost everyone and that is important in their industry.

I know he is not fond of public events, but i’d like to think he says yes because of his professional relationship with these platforms/companies. I was never a fan of when people flex that their fave “will not go to xx because they did something to him etc.” LOL. That’s not how any industry works. You can’t burn bridges and I’m happy that WYB doesn’t do that. It’s also a testament of how much of a good boy he is 🤍

Anyway, back to the timeline. On 1/10, Weibo announced some winners and the boys are on there. I guess One & Only winning was a clue that WYB will go. Then a so/o account gave a tip that WYB will announce his attendance to an event on 1/11 @ 13:00. So by the evening of 1/10, it was mostly confirmed that WYB will be going.

The next day, 1/11, Weibo Night account started posting emoji clues for the remaining celebrities to be added in their guest lineup. A few hours later, both the boys announced their attendance. What’s different this time tho is aside from the usual copy-paste caption, there is a reminder for everyone to not do any fan activities at the venue. more details was also added in the comment. I guess they don’t want a repeat of what happened last year with the crowds. It caused a delay & cancellation of the red carpet. Both XZS and YBO reposted with more guidelines to follow like no gatherings and light signs etc.

i know weibo dictated the posting time but the 13 kadian is sending me! yizhan! 🫶🏼

The BJYX ST mods also sent out a message to not do any offline support.

There are more fandom drama after the announcement with other groups but i won’t add that here anymore cause it will only rot our brain. && it’s so much better to focus on the boys!

III. Pre show discussion

On the eve of Weibo Night, GG attended an awards show and it gave us some sweet candy. The most interesting to me is the choice of Alexander McQueen and the first two celebrities tagged by the brand on their weibo in 2024. This is giving me Dsquared vibes. Also how it almost mirrors the wedding-ish vibes they had last Weibo night. I know we as cpfs are somehow programmed to seeing connections but honestly, they don’t make it hard.

Late at night too, Weibo started showing opening screens of attendees and of course they didn’t put them in the same group/frame. This is understandable cause they wouldn’t put the top male celebrities together and knowing how both their fandoms hate each other. Also, how the grouping went, WYB’s was more of the “movie group”. That won’t stop me from being a bit better tho. lol. Cause if they can’t put them in the same frame like that, there is just no way they will be on the same stage or even sat remotely close to each other.

A photo from inside the venue also showed the projected commercial on stage is WYB & Chunzhen 😂😂😂😂😂

I can just imagine XZ smiling when he sees.

There were also talks of the both of them being on the second row. XZ was already seated way before the ceremony started, and their names are so close but cpfs were anticipating since WYB was not inside yet. We were all waiting to see if it will happen. WYB is supposedly next to YZ but then we see that Jackson sat there. We joked that he should stay there so WYB’s place will be taken and he will have no choice but to sit next to XZ 😂😂😂

IV. Red Carpet shenanigans

🟢 WYB’s red carpet walk

I honestly didn’t get the whole look tho when some people pointed out that it’s the glam version of what he wears when he plays golf — i kinda got it. For his past platform events like GQ, IQIYI & 10C, his red carpet were really casual. I guess that’s what he wants — to be comfortable walking the carpet. There were also some praising him for going against the norm. Well, I have to say tho that his face really stood out. Minimal to no make up look. He was so handsome! 🫶🏼

🔴 XZ’s red carpet walk

I love his outfit! It’s black but still got that something special to make him stand out. &&& I honestly love the hair! I thought I would cry because of how short it is now but it suits him. I mean, he looks gorgeous in anything but you know what I mean ☺️

CPN: XZ signed his name beside/very close to WYB. granted, there are so many signatures there but i’m wondering if he recognized his husband’s signature. lol. In this simple way, they can be next to each other!

V. Weibo night links

XIAO ZHAN

Photoshoot for red carpet look

Photoshoot for second outfit

Xiao Zhan winning Outstanding Actor of the Year

WANG YIBO

Photoshoot for red carpet look // Photoshoot BTS video

Yibo winning popular filmmaker of the year

Yibo-Official post for Weibo Night

* This is incomplete cause we still don’t have ( at the moment of posting ), the BTS for XZS photoshoot + their photos while receiving the awards.

VI. THE SUGAR RUSH 🍭🍬

• WYB’s personal post of him and the caption. The freakin caption. Look, i know that WYB’s brand is all about being the “cool guy” so maybe that’s why he said in the caption that he likes the HS about him. But the thing is, it’s totally out of character. How many events did he attend with him going so high up the HS with much more interesting tags but he chose this? Also, he really needed to do so that he used his own account??? For a couple of years now, yibo-official is the one that posts for him when he is at an event. So the speculation is this one is personal and amused him so much, seeing that their HS for the same event they are both at matched! Also, when WYB posted that, CPFs flooded the top comments! Understandably so. 💛

• The signed photos which i’m not sure about. I actually saw someone post that earlier and people were clowning about how it can’t be real.

But then, an account posted a giveaway with all the other attendees and it included the couple photo. I’m putting this down as clownery, cause on their end there will always be deniability. The autographed photo was also deleted by the account a bit later, which is actually expected cause it will bring trouble. lol.

• XZS and YBO matching again! Look at how they arranged the photos. How a few of the snaps are not in theme with the rest. Nothing new here!

• The same song and dance of them missing to see each other. As soon as XZ was gone, WYB came in to sit down. Good thing he had Jackson to talk too a bit and he was gone again after 10 mins! Hopefully they could spend time together backstage away from the cameras. 📷

People are pointing out that XZ was checking his phone lol. probably checking if WYB is giving him a signal to leave so they can do their usual operation. These two! Honestly!

• Not really CPN, but a similarity. In the red carpet, both of them didn’t do the “activities” that others were supposed to. If you watched the red carpet, there is a point where they have to choose something from a wall with numbers. there is also a choice to take a photo from one of the “themes” by they both bypassed it. I was rolling my eyes cause a WYB anti was trying to make a big deal out of it, but then XZ did the exact same thing. Some people just don’t understand how celebrities like them operate. Not to say that they are above everyone else, it’s just that they do things differently.

• ZSWW fake rumor account posted at 19:21. At this time the red carpet was already finished. It doesn’t say who is saying which line. I’m interpreting this incident to be something that happened today backstage 🤡🤡🤡

"A kiss, a kiss...

"Oh, okay, let's talk about it later when we get back.”

"There will be a surprise when I go back 😏”

"What?"

“You'll know when you go back”

Then they posted again, at 21:05 with a much longer one but it doesn’t seem be pertaining to today’s events.

• There is a photo/video of XZ talking to Huang Bo! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! and now we’re thinking about how they haven’t cooperated with each other but seem familiar. Yes, we don’t know all their relationship and friends off camera but my mind immediately went to the SDC 3 clowning. That’s most likely when they became close. lol.

• Heaven’s choice cause WYB was sat at #23 ( Love Zhan )

• This time, both of them left the venue after they received their awards. XZ didn’t stay like he did the previous years. Good for them! It’s better to spend time together 🤍 I know that most of us expected what happened today, them not being in the same place at the same time. Tho some may see that in a negative way, I actually see this as an example of trying to keep their private life separate from the public. Tho a big part of their lives are on camera and that’s how they met. I think what they are doing is really to reserve the time they have & are seen together in private. Maybe some can’t see it that way and will be frustrated but at the end of the day, we have to respect their choice.

• XZ’s 2nd outfit is by Balmain! He tends to wear this at events that they both attend 🥹🥹🥹

• It’s now XZ’s turn to see the cpf headband light signs! Lol. I hope he saw it. We all know that he is near sighted sooooo….

====

If there are post event CPNs, i will do a separate discussion. See you in the next Weibo Night! ✌🏼

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here i’m just clowning like i always do #WE ARE ALL EXHAUSTED SO PLEASE TAKE SOME REST NOW 🤍🤍🤍#lol no i will still be online for another hour or two

151 notes · View notes

thegeneticopera · 7 months

Text

after seeing many misconceptions on the ages of the characters and also the general lack of knowledge on relevant key events, I thought I'd create a timeline!

A comprehensive breakdown of important dates in Repo! The Genetic Opera:

1993: Rotti Largo was born (July 14th)

2006: On April 5th, the first ever death for NOS (Neuro-Overstimulation Syndrome) was recorded. GeneCo was then founded later that month in Milan, Italy by Giuseppe Largo and Dr. Michael Whatley who eventually discovered a treatment using an experimental drug called Zydrate and genetic manipulation.

2011: Marni was born (No date)

2016: Nathan was born (No date)

2017: Blind Mag was born (July 5th)

2019: Luigi Largo was born (November 20th)

2024: Pavi Largo was born (September 29th)

2025: By this point, The Genetic Opera, an interactive TV show, was sponsored by GeneCo to promote designer organs and keep the public "status-conscious" in order to continue boosting profits.

2032: Carmela Largo/Amber Sweet was born (August 23rd)

2035: Graverobber was born (No date)

2036: Marni brings Mag to meet Rotti Largo

2039: Shilo Wallace was born (August 27th), Marni Wallace dies, Nathan becomes a repo man

2040: Mag's eye transplants (March 21st)

2048: Blind Mag's Corpus Crusade tour

2053: Tao of Mag, a charity concert event held for blindness

2056: Rotti signs his last will and testament, declaring Shilo as the sole heir of his estate (August 7th). The events of the film take place on November 7th - Nathan, Rotti, and Mag die. Shilo presumably goes missing. Amber takes over GeneCo at a later unspecified date.

Some common misconceptions cleared up by the timeline:

Mag did not receive her eyes at 19, the date listed on her repossession chart says otherwise

Marni and Mag have a relatively large age gap. At the time in which Marni brought Mag to meet Rotti, she was already 25, and Mag was only 19. I personally like to think that Marni was a singing mentor of some sort (since in Chase the Morning we see that Mag has a memory of Marni singing), and perhaps worked with disabled people and this is how they met!

The age difference between Shilo and Graves is only 4 years!

Mag and Luigi only have a two year age difference. Her being under GeneCo's thumb since she was 19 and Luigi was 17 is probably why they have a relationship.

On that topic, Nathan is only 3 years older than Luigi, there's no way him or Mag could have "baby sat" the Largos as children if they're all approximately the same age (excluding Amber, but considering Nathan had his own daughter to raise and was a repoman and Mag was a world class opera singer I still doubt that would be the case)

This one doesn't have a specific date, but I felt it should be added regardless: Pavi's face disfigurement seemingly happened very recent to events of Repo! We see several times within the film that there are posters and billboards of him with his original face, even in the pictures Rotti has he didn't have the scarring yet. The posters say that GeneCo offering face replacements will be happening in 2057. Pavi was the one in charge of that, and he was stealing faces prior to his scarring (as seen in the pictures). We also know from several sources, including Luigi himself, that Pavi's face happened because of a botched surgery. It's safe to assume this was because of the new face replacement campaign that was being offered, and it was within the last year or two before the events in the film.

#repo! the genetic opera #repo the genetic opera #r!tgo #rtgo #mod luigi #blind mag #luigi largo #pavi largo #amber sweet #shilo wallace #repo graverobber #nathan wallace #timeline

232 notes · View notes

religion-is-a-mental-illness · 23 hours

Text

By: James B. Meigs

Published: Spring 2024

Michael Shermer got his first clue that things were changing at Scientific American in late 2018. The author had been writing his “Skeptic” column for the magazine since 2001. His monthly essays, aimed at an audience of both scientists and laymen, championed the scientific method, defended the need for evidence-based debate, and explored how cognitive and ideological biases can derail the search for truth. Shermer’s role models included two twentieth-century thinkers who, like him, relished explaining science to the public: Carl Sagan, the ebullient astronomer and TV commentator; and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who wrote a popular monthly column in Natural History magazine for 25 years. Shermer hoped someday to match Gould’s record of producing 300 consecutive columns. That goal would elude him.

In continuous publication since 1845, Scientific American is the country’s leading mainstream science magazine. Authors published in its pages have included Albert Einstein, Francis Crick, Jonas Salk, and J. Robert Oppenheimer—some 200 Nobel Prize winners in all. SciAm, as many readers call it, had long encouraged its authors to challenge established viewpoints. In the mid-twentieth century, for example, the magazine published a series of articles building the case for the then-radical concept of plate tectonics. In the twenty-first century, however, American scientific media, including Scientific American, began to slip into lockstep with progressive beliefs. Suddenly, certain orthodoxies—especially concerning race, gender, or climate—couldn’t be questioned.

“I started to see the writing on the wall toward the end of my run there,” Shermer told me. “I saw I was being slowly nudged away from certain topics.” One month, he submitted a column about the “fallacy of excluded exceptions,” a common logical error in which people perceive a pattern of causal links between factors but ignore counterexamples that don’t fit the pattern. In the story, Shermer debunked the myth of the “horror-film curse,” which asserts that bad luck tends to haunt actors who appear in scary movies. (The actors in most horror films survive unscathed, he noted, while bad luck sometimes strikes the casts of non-scary movies as well.) Shermer also wanted to include a serious example: the common belief that sexually abused children grow up to become abusers in turn. He cited evidence that “most sexually abused children do not grow up to abuse their own children” and that “most abusive parents were not abused as children.” And he observed how damaging this stereotype could be to abuse survivors; statistical clarity is all the more vital in such delicate cases, he argued. But Shermer’s editor at the magazine wasn’t having it. To the editor, Shermer’s effort to correct a common misconception might be read as downplaying the seriousness of abuse. Even raising the topic might be too traumatic for victims.

The following month, Shermer submitted a column discussing ways that discrimination against racial minorities, gays, and other groups has diminished (while acknowledging the need for continued progress). Here, Shermer ran into the same wall that Better Angels of Our Nature author Steven Pinker and other scientific optimists have faced. For progressives, admitting that any problem—racism, pollution, poverty—has improved means surrendering the rhetorical high ground. “They are committed to the idea that there is no cumulative progress,” Shermer says, and they angrily resist efforts to track the true prevalence, or the “base rate,” of a problem. Saying that “everything is wonderful and everyone should stop whining doesn’t really work,” his editor objected.

Shermer dug his grave deeper by quoting Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald and The Coddling of the American Mind authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, who argue that the rise of identity-group politics undermines the goal of equal rights for all. Shermer wrote that intersectional theory, which lumps individuals into aggregate identity groups based on race, sex, and other immutable characteristics, “is a perverse inversion” of Martin Luther King’s dream of a color-blind society. For Shermer’s editors, apparently, this was the last straw. The column was killed and Shermer’s contract terminated. Apparently, SciAm no longer had the ideological bandwidth to publish such a heterodox thinker.

American journalism has never been very good at covering science. In fact, the mainstream press is generally a cheap date when it comes to stories about alternative medicine, UFO sightings, pop psychology, or various forms of junk science. For many years, that was one factor that made Scientific American’s rigorous reporting so vital. The New York Times, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and a few other mainstream publications also produced top-notch science coverage. Peer-reviewed academic journals aimed at specialists met a higher standard still. But over the past decade or so, the quality of science journalism—even at the top publications—has declined in a new and alarming way. Today’s journalistic failings don’t owe simply to lazy reporting or a weakness for sensationalism but to a sweeping and increasingly pervasive worldview.

It is hard to put a single name on this sprawling ideology. It has its roots both in radical 1960s critiques of capitalism and in the late-twentieth-century postmodern movement that sought to “problematize” notions of objective truth. Critical race theory, which sees structural racism as the grand organizing principle of our society, is one branch. Queer studies, which seeks to “deconstruct” traditional norms of family, sex, and gender, is another. Critics of this worldview sometimes call it “identity politics”; supporters prefer the term “intersectionality.” In managerial settings, the doctrine lives under the label of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI: a set of policies that sound anodyne—but in practice, are anything but.

This dogma sees Western values, and the United States in particular, as uniquely pernicious forces in world history. And, as exemplified by the anticapitalist tirades of climate activist Greta Thunberg, the movement features a deep eco-pessimism buoyed only by the distant hope of a collectivist green utopia.

The DEI worldview took over our institutions slowly, then all at once. Many on the left, especially journalists, saw Donald Trump’s election in 2016 as an existential threat that necessitated dropping the guardrails of balance and objectivity. Then, in early 2020, Covid lockdowns put American society under unbearable pressure. Finally, in May 2020, George Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer provided the spark. Protesters exploded onto the streets. Every institution, from coffeehouses to Fortune 500 companies, felt compelled to demonstrate its commitment to the new “antiracist” ethos. In an already polarized environment, most media outlets lunged further left. Centrists—including New York Times opinion editor James Bennet and science writer Donald G. McNeil, Jr.—were forced out, while radical progressive voices were elevated.

This was the national climate when Laura Helmuth took the helm of Scientific American in April 2020. Helmuth boasted a sterling résumé: a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California–Berkeley and a string of impressive editorial jobs at outlets including Science, National Geographic, and the Washington Post. Taking over a large print and online media operation during the early weeks of the Covid pandemic couldn’t have been easy. On the other hand, those difficult times represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an ambitious science editor. Rarely in the magazine’s history had so many Americans urgently needed timely, sensible science reporting: Where did Covid come from? How is it transmitted? Was shutting down schools and businesses scientifically justified? What do we know about vaccines?

Scientific American did examine Covid from various angles, including an informative July 2020 cover story diagramming how the SARS-CoV-2 virus “sneaks inside human cells.” But the publication didn’t break much new ground in covering the pandemic. When it came to assessing growing evidence that Covid might have escaped from a laboratory, for example, SciAm got scooped by New York and Vanity Fair, publications known more for their coverage of politics and entertainment than of science.

At the same time, SciAm dramatically ramped up its social-justice coverage. The magazine would soon publish a flurry of articles with titles such as “Modern Mathematics Confronts Its White, Patriarchal Past” and “The Racist Roots of Fighting Obesity.” The death of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed biologist was the hook for “The Complicated Legacy of E. O. Wilson,” an opinion piece arguing that Wilson’s work was “based on racist ideas,” without quoting a single line from his large published canon. At least those pieces had some connection to scientific topics, though. In 2021, SciAm published an opinion essay, “Why the Term ‘JEDI’ Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” The article’s five authors took issue with the effort by some social-justice advocates to create a cute new label while expanding the DEI acronym to include “Justice.” The Jedi knights of the Star Wars movies are “inappropriate mascots for social justice,” the authors argued, because they are “prone to (white) saviorism and toxically masculine approaches to conflict resolution (violent duels with phallic light sabers, gaslighting by means of ‘Jedi mind tricks,’ etc.).” What all this had to do with science was anyone’s guess.

Several prominent scientists took note of SciAm’s shift. “Scientific American is changing from a popular-science magazine into a social-justice-in-science magazine,” Jerry Coyne, a University of Chicago emeritus professor of ecology and evolution, wrote on his popular blog, “Why Evolution Is True.” He asked why the magazine had “changed its mission from publishing decent science pieces to flawed bits of ideology.”

“The old Scientific American that I subscribed to in college was all about the science,” University of New Mexico evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller told me. “It was factual reporting on new ideas and findings from physics to psychology, with a clear writing style, excellent illustrations, and no obvious political agenda.” Miller says that he noticed a gradual change about 15 years ago, and then a “woke political bias that got more flagrant and irrational” over recent years. The leading U.S. science journals, Nature and Science, and the U.K.-based New Scientist made a similar pivot, he says. By the time Trump was elected in 2016, he says, “the Scientific American editors seem to have decided that fighting conservatives was more important than reporting on science.”

Scientific American’s increasing engagement in politics drew national attention in late 2020, when the magazine, for the first time in its 175-year history, endorsed a presidential candidate. “The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people,” the editors wrote. “That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden.” In an e-mail exchange, Scientific American editor-in-chief Helmuth said that the decision to endorse Biden was made unanimously by the magazine’s staff. “Overall, the response was very positive,” she said. Helmuth also pushed back on the idea that getting involved in political battles represented a new direction for SciAm. “We have a long and proud history of covering the social and political angles of science,” she said, noting that the magazine “has advocated for teaching evolution and not creationism since we covered the Scopes Monkey Trial.”

Scientific American wasn’t alone in endorsing a presidential candidate in 2020. Nature also endorsed Biden in that election cycle. The New England Journal of Medicine indirectly did the same, writing that “our current leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent” and should not “keep their jobs.” Vinay Prasad, the prominent oncologist and public-health expert, recently lampooned the endorsement trend on his Substack, asking whether science journals will tell him who to vote for again in 2024. “Here is an idea! Call it crazy,” he wrote: “Why don’t scientists focus on science, and let politics decide the election?” When scientists insert themselves into politics, he added, “the only result is we are forfeiting our credibility.”

But what does it mean to “focus on science”? Many of us learned the standard model of the scientific method in high school. We understand that science attempts—not always perfectly—to shield the search for truth from political interference, religious dogmas, or personal emotions and biases. But that model of science has been under attack for half a century. The French theorist Michel Foucault argued that scientific objectivity is an illusion produced and shaped by society’s “systems of power.” Today’s woke activists challenge the legitimacy of science on various grounds: the predominance of white males in its history, the racist attitudes held by some of its pioneers, its inferiority to indigenous “ways of knowing,” and so on. Ironically, as Christopher Rufo points out in his book America’s Cultural Revolution, this postmodern ideology—which began as a critique of oppressive power structures—today empowers the most illiberal, repressive voices within academic and other institutions.

Shermer believes that the new style of science journalism “is being defined by this postmodern worldview, the idea that all facts are relative or culturally determined.” Of course, if scientific facts are just products of a particular cultural milieu, he says, “then everything is a narrative that has to reflect some political side.” Without an agreed-upon framework to separate valid from invalid claims—without science, in other words—people fall back on their hunches and in-group biases, the “my-side bias.”

Traditionally, science reporting was mostly descriptive—writers strove to explain new discoveries in a particular field. The new style of science journalism takes the form of advocacy—writers seek to nudge readers toward a politically approved opinion.

“Lately journalists have been behaving more like lawyers,” Shermer says, “marshaling evidence in favor of their own view and ignoring anything that doesn’t help their argument.” This isn’t just the case in science journalism, of course. Even before the Trump era, the mainstream press boosted stories that support left-leaning viewpoints and carefully avoided topics that might offer ammunition to the Right. Most readers understand, of course, that stories about politics are likely to be shaped by a media outlet’s ideological slant. But science is theoretically supposed to be insulated from political influence. Sadly, the new woke style of science journalism reframes factual scientific debates as ideological battles, with one side presumed to be morally superior. Not surprisingly, the crisis in science journalism is most obvious in the fields where public opinion is most polarized.

The Covid pandemic was a crisis not just for public health but for the public’s trust in our leading institutions. From Anthony Fauci on down, key public-health officials issued unsupported policy prescriptions, fudged facts, and suppressed awkward questions about the origin of the virus. A skeptical, vigorous science press could have done a lot to keep these officials honest—and the public informed. Instead, even elite science publications mostly ran cover for the establishment consensus. For example, when Stanford’s Jay Bhattacharya and two other public-health experts proposed an alternative to lockdowns in their Great Barrington Declaration, media outlets joined in Fauci’s effort to discredit and silence them.

Richard Ebright, professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, is a longtime critic of gain-of-function research, which can make naturally occurring viruses deadlier. From the early weeks of the pandemic, he suspected that the virus had leaked from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. Evidence increasingly suggests that he was correct. I asked Ebright how he thought that the media had handled the lab-leak debate. He responded:

Science writers at most major news outlets and science news outlets have spent the last four years obfuscating and misrepresenting facts about the origin of the pandemic. They have done this to protect the scientists, science administrators, and the field of science—gain-of-function research on potential pandemic pathogens—that likely caused the pandemic. They have done this in part because those scientists and science administrators are their sources, . . . in part because they believe that public trust in science would be damaged by reporting the facts, and in part because the origin of the pandemic acquired a partisan political valance after early public statements by Tom Cotton, Mike Pompeo, and Donald Trump.

During the first two years of the pandemic, most mainstream media outlets barely mentioned the lab-leak debate. And when they did, they generally savaged both the idea and anyone who took it seriously. In March 2021, long after credible evidence emerged hinting at a laboratory origin for the virus, Scientific American published an article, “Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.” The piece compared the theory to the KGB’s disinformation campaign about the origin of HIV/AIDS and blamed lab-leak advocates for creating a poisonous climate around the issue: “The proliferation of xenophobic rhetoric has been linked to a striking increase in anti-Asian hate crimes. It has also led to a vilification of the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] and some of its Western collaborators, as well as partisan attempts to defund certain types of research (such as ‘gain of function’ research).” Today we know that the poisonous atmosphere around the lab-leak question was deliberately created by Anthony Fauci and a handful of scientists involved in dangerous research at the Wuhan lab. And the case for banning gain-of-function research has never been stronger.

One of the few science journalists who did take the lab-leak question seriously was Donald McNeil, Jr., the veteran New York Times reporter forced out of the paper in an absurd DEI panic. After leaving the Times—and like several other writers pursuing the lab-leak question—McNeil published his reporting on his own Medium blog. It is telling that, at a time when leading science publications were averse to exploring the greatest scientific mystery of our time, some of the most honest reporting on the topic was published in independent, reader-funded outlets. It’s also instructive to note that the journalist who replaced McNeil on the Covid beat at the Times, Apoorva Mandavilli, showed open hostility to investigating Covid’s origins. In 2021, she famously tweeted: “Someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots. But alas, that day is not yet here.” It would be hard to compose a better epitaph to the credibility of mainstream science journalism.

As Shermer observed, many science journalists see their role not as neutral reporters but as advocates for noble causes. This is especially true in reporting about the climate. Many publications now have reporters on a permanent “climate beat,” and several nonprofit organizations offer grants to help fund climate coverage. Climate science is an important field, worthy of thoughtful, balanced coverage. Unfortunately, too many climate reporters seem especially prone to common fallacies, including base-rate neglect, and to hyping tenuous data.

The mainstream science press never misses an opportunity to ratchet up climate angst. No hurricane passes without articles warning of “climate disasters.” And every major wildfire seemingly generates a “climate apocalypse” headline. For example, when a cluster of Quebec wildfires smothered the eastern U.S. in smoke last summer, the New York Times called it “a season of climate extremes.” It’s likely that a warming planet will result in more wildfires and stronger hurricanes. But eager to convince the public that climate-linked disasters are rapidly trending upward, journalists tend to neglect the base rate. In the case of Quebec wildfires, for example, 2023 was a fluky outlier. During the previous eight years, Quebec wildfires burned fewer acres than average; then, there was no upward trend—and no articles discussing the paucity of fires. By the same token, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, a lower-than-average number of major hurricanes struck the U.S. between 2011 and 2020. But there were no headlines suggesting, say, “Calm Hurricane Seasons Cast Doubt on Climate Predictions.”

Most climate journalists wouldn’t dream of drawing attention to data that challenge the climate consensus. They see their role as alerting the public to an urgent problem that will be solved only through political change.

Similar logic applies to social issues. The social-justice paradigm rests on the notion that racism, sexism, transphobia, and other biases are so deeply embedded in our society that they can be eradicated only through constant focus on the problem. Any people or institutions that don’t participate in this process need to be singled out for criticism. In such an atmosphere, it takes a particularly brave journalist to note exceptions to the reigning orthodoxy.

This dynamic is especially intense in the debates over transgender medicine. The last decade has seen a huge surge in children claiming dissatisfaction with their gender. According to one survey, the number of children aged six to 17 diagnosed with gender dysphoria surged from roughly 15,000 to 42,000 in the years between 2017 and 2021 alone. The number of kids prescribed hormones to block puberty more than doubled. Puberty blockers and other treatments for gender dysphoria have enormous potential lifelong consequences, including sterility, sexual dysfunction, and interference with brain development. Families facing treatment decisions for youth gender dysphoria desperately need clear, objective guidance. They’re not getting it.

Instead, medical organizations and media outlets typically describe experimental hormone treatments and surgeries as routine, and even “lifesaving,” when, in fact, their benefits remain contested, while their risks are enormous. In a series of articles, the Manhattan Institute’s Leor Sapir has documented how trans advocates enforce this appearance of consensus among U.S. scientists, medical experts, and many journalists. Through social-media campaigns and other tools, these activists have forced conferences to drop leading scientists, gotten journals to withdraw scientific papers after publication, and interfered with the distribution of Abigail Shrier’s 2020 book Irreversible Damage, which challenges the wisdom of “gender-affirming care” for adolescent girls. While skeptics are cowed into silence, Sapir concludes, those who advocate fast-tracking children for radical gender therapy “will go down in history as responsible for one of the worst medical scandals in U.S. history.”

In such an overheated environment, it would be helpful to have a journalistic outlet advocating a sober, evidence-based approach. In an earlier era, Scientific American might have been that voice. Unfortunately, SciAm today downplays messy debates about gender therapies, while offering sunny platitudes about the “safety and efficacy” of hormone treatments for prepubescent patients. For example, in a 2023 article, “What Are Puberty Blockers, and How Do They Work?,” the magazine repeats the unsubstantiated claim that such treatments are crucial to preventing suicide among gender-dysphoric children. “These medications are well studied and have been used safely since the late 1980s to pause puberty in adolescents with gender dysphoria,” SciAm states.

The independent journalist Jesse Singal, a longtime critic of slipshod science reporting, demolishes these misleading claims in a Substack post. In fact, the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria is a new and barely researched phenomenon, he notes: “[W]e have close to zero studies that have tracked gender dysphoric kids who went on blockers over significant lengths of time to see how they have fared.” Singal finds it especially alarming to see a leading science magazine obscure the uncertainty surrounding these treatments. “I believe that this will go down as a major journalistic blunder that will be looked back upon with embarrassment and regret,” he writes.

Fortunately, glimmers of light are shining through on the gender-care controversy. The New York Times has lately begun publishing more balanced articles on the matter, much to the anger of activists. And various European countries have started reassessing and limiting youth hormone treatments. England’s National Health Service recently commissioned the respected pediatrician Hilary Cass to conduct a sweeping review of the evidence supporting youth gender medicine. Her nearly 400-page report is a bombshell, finding that evidence supporting hormone interventions for children is “weak,” while the long-term risks of such treatments have been inadequately studied. “For most young people,” the report concludes, “a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress.” In April, the NHS announced that it will no longer routinely prescribe puberty blocking drugs to children.

Scientific American has yet to offer an even-handed review of the new scientific skepticism toward aggressive gender medicine. Instead, in February, the magazine published an opinion column, “Pseudoscience Has Long Been Used to Oppress Transgender People.” Shockingly, it argues for even less medical caution in dispensing radical treatments. The authors approvingly note that “many trans activists today call for diminishing the role of medical authority altogether in gatekeeping access to trans health care,” arguing that patients should have “access to hormones and surgery on demand.” And, in an implicit warning to anyone who might question these claims and goals, the article compares today’s skeptics of aggressive gender medicine to Nazi eugenicists and book burners. Shortly after the Cass report’s release, SciAm published an interview with two activists who argue that scientists questioning trans orthodoxy are conducting “epistemological violence.”

There’s nothing wrong with vigorous debate over scientific questions. In fact, in both science and journalism, adversarial argumentation is a vital tool in testing claims and getting to the truth. “A bad idea can hover in the ether of a culture if there is no norm for speaking out,” Shermer says. Where some trans activists cross the line is in trying to derail debate by shaming and excluding anyone who challenges the activists’ manufactured consensus.

Such intimidation has helped enforce other scientific taboos. Anthony Fauci called the scientists behind the Great Barrington Declaration “fringe epidemiologists” and successfully lobbied to censor their arguments on social media. Climate scientists who diverge from the mainstream consensus struggle to get their research funded or published. The claim that implicit racial bias unconsciously influences our minds has been debunked time and again—but leading science magazines keep asserting it.

Scientists and journalists aren’t known for being shrinking violets. What makes them tolerate this enforced conformity? The intimidation described above is one factor. Academia and journalism are both notoriously insecure fields; a single accusation of racism or anti-trans bias can be a career ender. In many organizations, this gives the youngest, most radical members of the community disproportionate power to set ideological agendas.

“Scientists, science publishers, and science journalists simply haven’t learned how to say no to emotionally unhinged activists,” evolutionary psychologist Miller says. “They’re prone to emotional blackmail, and they tend to be very naive about the political goals of activists who claim that scientific finding X or Y will ‘impose harm’ on some group.”

But scientists may also have what they perceive to be positive motives to self-censor. A fascinating recent paper concludes: “Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists.” The authors include a who’s who of heterodox thinkers, including Miller, Manhattan Institute fellow Glenn Loury, Pamela Paresky, John McWhorter, Steven Pinker, and Wilfred Reilly. “Our analysis suggests that scientific censorship is often driven by scientists, who are primarily motivated by self-protection, benevolence toward peer scholars, and prosocial concerns for the well-being of human social groups,” they write.

Whether motivated by good intentions, conformity, or fear of ostracization, scientific censorship undermines both the scientific process and public trust. The authors of the “prosocial motives” paper point to “at least one obvious cost of scientific censorship: the suppression of accurate information.” When scientists claim to represent a consensus about ideas that remain in dispute—or avoid certain topics entirely—those decisions filter down through the journalistic food chain. Findings that support the social-justice worldview get amplified in the media, while disapproved topics are excoriated as disinformation. Not only do scientists lose the opportunity to form a clearer picture of the world; the public does, too. At the same time, the public notices when claims made by health officials and other experts prove to be based more on politics than on science. A new Pew Research poll finds that the percentage of Americans who say that they have a “great deal” of trust in scientists has fallen from 39 percent in 2020 to 23 percent today.

“Whenever research can help inform policy decisions, it’s important for scientists and science publications to share what we know and how we know it,” Scientific American editor Helmuth says. “This is especially true as misinformation and disinformation are spreading so widely.” That would be an excellent mission statement for a serious science publication. We live in an era when scientific claims underpin huge swaths of public policy, from Covid to climate to health care for vulnerable youths. It has never been more vital to subject those claims to rigorous debate.

Unfortunately, progressive activists today begin with their preferred policy outcomes or ideological conclusions and then try to force scientists and journalists to fall in line. Their worldview insists that, rather than challenging the progressive orthodoxy, science must serve as its handmaiden. This pre-Enlightenment style of thinking used to hold sway only in radical political subcultures and arcane corners of academia. Today it is reflected even in our leading institutions and science publications. Without a return to the core principles of science—and the broader tradition of fact-based discourse and debate—our society risks drifting onto the rocks of irrationality.

[ Via: https://archive.today/j03w3 ]

Scientific American now embodies the worst of far-left anti-science nonsense.

#SciAm #Scientific American #James B. Meigs #academic corruption #ideological corruption #ideological capture #wokeness #cult of woke #wokeism #wokeness as religion #woke #unscientific #anti science #antiscience #religion is a mental illness

27 notes · View notes

saelterlude · 2 months

Text

lc musical clips pt.5!! can't believe this reaches 5 parts. to be fair, the more i watch the cooler the actors are and the more i love each of their quirks.

funfact before we start, if we exclude CMZ(bcs wtf. you are not 124 y/o CMZ), the average age of LG actors is 28 while the average age of CXS actors is 25 (I didn't take their birth month into account so give or take one)

The oldest being Du Guangyi at 34 y/o and the youngest being Jing Yangqiao at 20 (21 this April).

(pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.6 here)

68. BONUS, the composer for the musical songs, metablue, posted a composing diary/vlog of her making 'forget about it' aka the encore sofa song. It's a really cool watch, and it's pretty short too.

69. 14/03/2024, Wang Minhui made Cai Qi laugh and break character so hard by sliding on the table that they skip rock paper scissors altogether. Thank youu shimmeringweeds for finding this clip, youre a life saver.

70. 15/03/2024, Zi Bowen is really fun/bratty during CX and his mom's song, he's also been really into that hat and his panicked face during 'Dive Back in Time' tutting is gold. Other than that, Ji Xiaokun and Guo Hongxu are fun as usual.

71. Zhang Jiahao short vid, I love how nonchalant he is. Who gives a damn abt rehearsals when you can play basketball. We got snippets of other songs. And where did he get the random card reader??

(ooh, i'm putting the side actor into focus for once. also, i just realized ZJH is the actor who started swinging when WMH mistook director Li Haolin's name lol i love him.)

72. 16/03/2024 day, blind dog Cai Qi is so funny plss and the way Wang Minhui just let him live with the consequences.

73. 17/03/2024 night, Du Guangyi focused but you can hear Teng Chunpeng cutely messed up 'Dive Back in Time' in the background.

74. 23/02/2024, I don't think I've shared this clip of Du Guangyi playing pattycake(?? IDK the english name. I call it mimimi) with Wu Hanglu.

75. 18/03/2024, Bai Zhuoming mic mishap here, aggressive feet flailing with Wang Minhui and Deng Xianling, and also extended rock paper scissors!

76. 17/03/2024 day, I'll be honest I miss Ding Xingchen. That said, him and Xian Dongyue are having the best sibling wrestle.

77. 17/03/2024 day, same performance as above, and there's Wu Yihan doing overhead RPS.

78. 16/03/2024 night, Guo Hongxu fumbles the sofa/leg choreo again (left leg first man!), Shu Rongbo blubbering bcs GHX twist his arm post-RPS, and Wu Hanglu being the teasing big sister ever.

79. 21/03/2024, he once did overhead, now Wu Yihan is doing hip-height RPS, and he cheated. Shu Rongbo being confused. And they once again give the cutest hug, even for a side hug.

(heh, funny how JXK likes to hogs/blocks the sofa to annoy LG meanwhile SRB is always clearing the sofa for LG.)

80. 23/03/2024 day, very fun performance with Wang Yifei, Zhu Hanbin, and Deng Xianling. I highly recommend watching this. It's so fun I wrote a whole post about it. Also, harmonizing.

81. 22/03/2024, very short but look!! A Jing Yanqiao clip!!! I'm happy, I recently brainrotted on him. I wish he could perform more since I really like his voice but unfortunately I'm pretty sure he's still in school and have a limited schedule. But I will make you all love him before his BDay!

Today's bonus clip is a voice reel of Du Guangyi as Enforcer from the game Arknights! It's very soothing, I can fall asleep to his voice. He's so cool, he's an actor in everything. Musical actor, stage-play actor, TV and films actor, voice actor, he was a child actor too.

But since that's not a musical and it's kinda cheating, here's an actual bonus clip of Zhu Hanbin in Dr. Bloodthirsty (? 嗜血博士) musical. A small 3 person play which is giving me Jekyll and Hyde vibes. He's playing Jonathan, a young psychologist called to examine patient 13. It's really cool, please check it out!

(if anyone ever have a request on who the next bonus clip should be (even the side actors) just say so and I'll do my best. i'm always up for exploring new things)

23 notes · View notes

beardedmrbean · 3 months

Text

The trial for "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is set to begin with jury selection next week.

In January 2023, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and actor Alec Baldwin were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In April 2023, the charges against the "30 Rock" actor were dropped without prejudice pending further investigation. However, the charges were refiled in January 2024.

In the summer of 2023, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was charged with tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed that they found a witness who alleged that the armorer had transferred cocaine to another individual on the day that Hutchins was killed, thus impeding the police investigation into her death.

The rookie armorer has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Although her trial was initially scheduled for December 2023, it was postponed until February 2024. Alec Baldwin is not expected to be called as a witness in her trial, given his own legal troubles.

'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's Legal Team Tries To Get Trial Thrown Out

On Wednesday, February 14, 2024, a judge in Santa Fe rejected a last-minute bid to throw out the case against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, despite repeated attempts by her legal team to get the case tossed.

Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, had unsuccessfully argued that it was impossible for the armorer to receive a fair trial when the state turned over hundreds of attorney-client text messages to a key witness, as per Variety. However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer refused to dismiss the case and did not find the disclosure prejudicial to her case.

The trial is now scheduled to begin on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. She has submitted a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence due to allegations of her drug use. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been accused of being reckless on set in terms of firearm safety. Prosecutors have alleged that she not only brought live ammunition onto the movie set, but they have also claimed that she was the one who put the live bullet into a gun that Baldwin used for a scene inside a church.

It is worth noting that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was not inside the church when the gun went off, striking Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza, who was standing directly behind the cinematographer. Souza was hospitalized as a result of his injuries, but Hutchins did not survive.

It was actually first assistant director Dave Halls who had told Alec Baldwin that the gun was a "cold gun," meaning that it did not contain live rounds. Halls reached a plea deal with prosecutors and pled guilty to the negligent use of a firearm. He was given six months of probation.

Judge Declines To Throw Out Additional Drug Charges

On Wednesday, February 14, 2024, Judge Sommer dealt with several different motions ahead of next week's trial. Declining to dismiss the trial, Judge Sommer noted that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's attorney, Jason Bowles, had signed a consent form allowing law enforcement officials to search the armorer's phone. The consent form did not exclude attorney-client communications.

Judge Sommer also rejected a motion to sever the two counts to be heard at two separate trials. In the summer of 2023, special prosecutors alleged that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed gave someone on set a bag of cocaine after the shooting. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has claimed that the rookie armorer was attempting to conceal evidence that she was impaired during filming.

In court documents obtained by The Blast, Kari Morrissey quoted several text messages between Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and others that allegedly make references to cocaine and marijuana. However, the armorer's legal team has argued that the claims are speculative and felt that drug claims may raise the likelihood that potential jurors will convict her on the involuntary manslaughter charges she is also facing.

Although Judge Sommer declined to sever the two counts, she did ask prosecutors to limit the references to the armorer's drug and alcohol use at the trial, stating that some of the state’s proposed evidence would be “unfair to the defendant."

In addition to the drug charges, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey asked a judge to exclude a report from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which blamed the production company for relaxed safety standards on set. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's legal team is hoping to use the report during the trial in order to redirect blame from the armorer to the production company. In the end, Judge Summer decided that the OSHA report would be allowed into evidence during the trial.

However, Judge Sommer will not allow Jason Bowles to call an expert witness on safety standards in union productions, as this witness only came forward within the last ten days. When prosecutors argued that they had no time to prepare for this new witness, Jason Bowles proposed that the trial could be delayed.

However, Judge Sommer stayed firm that the trial, already delayed from December 2023, will begin on February 21, 2024, as planned.

#nunyas news

13 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 months

Text

THE KOBAYASHI MARU TEST

TCINLA FEB 1, 2024 “Kobayashi Maru” is a Star Trek term that people who are not Star Trek fans know the meaning of. The phrase "Kobayashi Maru" has entered the popular lexicon as a reference to a no-win scenario. The term is also sometimes used to invoke Kirk's decision to "change the conditions of the test."

In Star Trek stories, “Kobayashi Maru” is a test designed to test the character of Starfleet Academy cadets, by placing them in a no-win scenario. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the 1982 film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

In the stories, the “goal” of the exercise is to rescue the civilian ship “Kobayashi Maru,” which has been damaged and is now stranded in disputed territory between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The cadet being evaluated must decide whether to attempt to rescue the Kobayashi Maru - which means putting their ship and crew in danger - or to leave the Kobayashi Maru to certain destruction. If the cadet chooses to attempt a rescue, an insurmountable enemy force attacks their ship, and they must deal with that.

Metaphorically, that test certainly applies to where we are today.

The term has been applied to real-world scenarios with no perceived positive outcome or that requires outside-the-box thinking, such as constitutional law, where the scenario is an event that may only be dealt with successfully by extra-constitutional, or unconstitutional, methods with the goal of protecting the constitution.

Commentators have used Kirk's unorthodox answer ("I don't believe in the no-win scenario”) to the test as an example of the need to redefine the premises upon which an organization operates - changing the rules rather than playing within them, that by stepping outside the rules of the game one can redefine the game.

While current indications show a shift in the national tide as we have hoped would happen, and with it the increasing likelihood that the enemies of out constitutional republic will fail in their assault, one possible outcome of the election of 2024 is that we may face the Kobayashi Maru Test.

Right now we face a “Crisis of Democracy” in the case of removing Donald Trump from the ballot under the rule in Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states that an individual who has taken part in an insurrection against the United States, or has given support to those who have, cannot occupy a political office under the United States and must not appear on the ballot.

“Democracy,” is on both sides of this case.

There are those who see excluding an immensely popular political figure from the ballot as being profoundly undemocratic.

Others see clearly that what is truly undemocratic is to empower a uniquely dangerous demagogue who has already disobeyed his solemn Oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and is thus a genuine threat who would end the constitutional republic that now exists, were he returned to office.

The tension between these two clashing visions can be resolved only by attending to the Constitution’s own specific implementation of “democracy,” which was the product of a great democratic process after a series of insurrectionary and democracy-imperiling events 160 years ago in the aftermath of the Civil War

Following President Andrew Johnson’s actions allowing the former Confederate traitors who had waged war against the United States to reorganize their states and rejoin the Union with a simple oath of allegiance easily taken with their fingers crossed behind their back while so doing, men who had played leading roles in the rebellion and war against the United States were elected by political means that involved suppressing the votes of those opposed to the former Confederate traitors retaking office - black and white.

Under President Johnson’s new rules, former Vice President of the Confederate States of America Alexander Stevens was elected a Senator from South Carolina, the state that had led the rebellion. When asked what he intended to do as a Senator, Stevens said openly he planned to prevent the government taking action to protect the freed slaves, and that he expected to act with the other Southern Senators and congressional representatives to rebuild the power the South had held in Congress before the war, in which they were able to prevent the enactment of any law or adoption of any policy to which they were opposed.

Had that happened, much more than the treatment of the former slaves would have been at stake. While the Southern reactionaries were out of the government during the war, many progressive acts, such as the Homestead Act opening the West to small farmers, or the Morrill Act, establishing publicly-funded institutions of higher learning in each state - both of which had been opposed by the Southern representatives before the war - would be in danger of repeal by the coming Southern majority. With the South effectively a one-party state, in which anyone elected to office could hold that office for so long as they wished, the South would retake control of the congressional committees, which were based on seniority.

It was decided that those who were proven by their actions to be dedicated to the destruction of the democratic constitutional republic, would be allowed no place, no power, in the government of that republic.

And thus Article 3 of the 14th Amendment was written and became law when the Amendment passed and became part of the Constitution.

Alexander Stevens and the other traitors were “immensely popular political figures” among their fellow insurrectionary traitors who were retaking political control of the newly reorganized states that were being returned to the Union under the policies of Andrew Johnson. Those who say today that excluding such “immensely popular political figures” from the ballot - regardless of their known political beliefs and actions - is “anti-democratic” would have been among the Copperheads (a term for northern Democrats who supported the South) who argued against the adoption not only of Article 3 but the entire 14th Amendment.

Today, Donald Trump and his supporters expressly state their intention to demolish the provisions of that amendment as regards the definition of who is a citizen, among their other planned attacks on the Constitutional rule of law, should they return to office. They are no different from the former Confederate traitors who also wished to continue waging war on the United States.

It has been “interesting” to watch the progression of authoritarianism in the United States over the past 60 years since the “Goldwater Revolution” failed.

We’ve always been told “it can’t happen here,” that there are rules and traditions preventing such a change, that authoritarianism was not even possible in the United States, without some wider cataclysm.

However, the past eight years have shown that if the would-be authoritarian takes on those traditions and guardrails one at a time, his partisans will say that this particular guardrail, this rule, this tradition, must be ignored, because it would be too inconvenient, too “divisive” to enforce it. But of course we need not worry, since the next guardrail can already be seen, and that will stop him.

Don’t worry about his nomination in the primary; he’ll lose the general election.

Don’t worry about his successful election; the party will keep him in check when he takes office.

Don’t worry about the party falling to his dominance; he can always be impeached.

Don’t worry about impeaching him; he can always be beaten in the next election.

Don’t worry about his coup attempt; he can be impeached again.

Don’t worry about the second impeachment; the criminal courts can bring him to justice.

Don’t worry about the criminal cases; there’s always the 14th Amendment.

Don’t worry about him winning; he’ll be blocked from staying in office past this term by the 22nd Amendment.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Trump’s genius was realizing this truth before the rest of us. His lifelong legal strategy of delay and bamboozle is perfect for gumming up the operation of all the defenses the system has built in to constrain him.

The Italians could say of Mussolini, “No one could have really known what he’d do, not for sure.” The Germans could say of Hitler, “No one could have really known what he’d do, not for sure.”

We in the United States cannot say that. Because we know what he’ll do. For sure.

We know what he has done in his first time in office. We have experienced it. When he tells us what he will do now, how he will destroy the Constitution, and the rule of law and destroy the democratic republic that is founded on that Constitution and the rule of law; we know he will do it because we know he has already tried to do it. His supporters promise they will do it.

Maya Angelou once said if someone tells you who they are, you should believe them.

What we are looking at in this year of 2024 here in the United States is the struggle between the idea of democracy and the rule of law, against authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

That struggle is also going on elsewhere. But if it is lost here, it will be lost everywhere.

We’re supposed to let him run on a platform of destroying what we have? We’re supposed to hand over power to him to do that, if he pulls off another Electoral College scam? We’re supposed to just give him the power he needs to do what he has told us he will do? What we know he will do?

We’re supposed to nod our heads and say “Here, you win, we lost, have a good day”?

We’re supposed to just let the fucking New Confederacy walk in and take over????!!

Democracy isn’t a suicide pact.

It’s been said many times, by conservative legal scholars, that “The Constitution isn’t a suicide pact.”

It’s a well-known rule of law that you cannot use the law to destroy the law.

Democracy matters. Freedom of expression matters. The rule of law matters. Values matter. That’s what’s at stake.

Our ancestors already made the decision for us. The rule is NOT that we surrender all because a “rule” says so. That rule has been superseded in this case. The rules of the game have already been changed. We can save the Kobayashi Maru, and damn any six traitors on a compromised, discredited, corrupt court who say otherwise.

For me, I can take Senator Angus King’s words, spoken on January 31, 2024 in debate over supporting the Ukrainian battle for survival, as a lodestar, a guide for action:

“I want to stand on the side of resisting authoritarianism, on the side of democracy, on the side of the values that the country has stood for and that people have been fighting for, for 250 years.”

WE are the ultimate defenders of the Republic.

Donald Trump cannot be allowed back into power, regardless. Ever.

TCinLA

#THE KOBAYASHI MARU #TCinLA #democracy #star trek #rule of law #the new confederacy

16 notes · View notes

thehorrortree · 3 months

Text

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Wet A Literary Journal with Some Art, Comics, and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents. Issues are themed; however, we consider all interpretations. 2024’s Themes and Deadlines: WET (April 30) hat’ve you got to show us? Stories and / or Poems For Stories: We’re open to micro works all the way up to 10,000 words. Just keep two things in mind: We want to be engaged and the submission must be completed (no pitches, please!) For Poems: We’d love to see up to five poems from you, but you can always just send one, too. Art As long as it has some tie to the current issue’s theme, we’re open to see any art created in any medium at any time. Just know that it will need to “work in print” and—might—be presented in black and white. We WILL NOT Accept any AI-Generated art. For ART ONLY, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com Graphic Stories Show us your comic strips or complete short works; we’d love to see them all! Please try to keep submissions to 20 pages or less. Feel free to also send a collection of comic strips / one shot comics, as well. (Please note that our publication size / dimensions might change between issues. Our “Norm” is 6x9”). These must be COMPLETE works. For Graphic Work / Comics, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com Analysis / Interviews / Reviews As long as it is tied to the theme in some way, we’d love to see any and all media analysis (film, music, literature, etc.), interviews with notable creatives, or reviews of past—or present—media. We’re open to anything up to 10,000 words. (Feel free to pitch non-fiction ideas; however, please note that our “Interest in seeing a draft” does NOT guarantee publication.) What We Want / What We (Probably) Don't We Want: Works with fantastical elements: scary, happy, creepy, heartbreaking, bizarre, hilarious, whatever. While you can see our “Loves” lower on the page, we’re pretty open to anything that’s worth picking up. We (Probably) Won’t: Pick up works not tied to or containing fantastical elements. It’s kinda our thing. (However, some themes may lean more heavily on a specific genre or reality. Interpret accordingly.) Where to Tread Lightly: We’re pretty open-minded and okay with just about anything, but there better be a reason for it to be in the work. The darker, more explicit you go, the more we’ll really need to see its necessity to the work. We don’t want shock / horror / violence for its own sake. Definitely Will Not Publish: Any work that is hateful towards any race, creed, religion, gender, or identity. This aims to be an inclusive space. Other Good Things to Know Your work must be ORIGINAL. We will not accept any AI-Generated work. Excluding non-fiction submissions, it must be complete. For these shorter forms, we need to see the whole thing to make an informed decision. We accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you let us know up front—and if / when it gets picked up by another venue as soon as possible. If your work is accepted, please wait one year before submitting again. (We want to include as many folks as possible!) Current Themes and Deadlines Each Issue will be themed. However you interpret that theme is up to you. We do NOT need your reasoning behind it. ~ WET - April 30 - I’ve gotten some submissions that this theme just feels “right.” So… yeah… take this how you will and show me something “wet.” Rights and Payment Rights: We request one-time, first publishing rights in print and digital PDF forms. All rights will be retained by the creator. We simply

ask that when / if published elsewhere, acknowledgment is given to its appearance within The Quarter(ly). If a “Best of” or Collected Anthology is published, publication rights will be renegotiated for that publication. Payment: We aim to be a paying venue, even if it’s just enough for a cup of coffee. Upon agreement of publication, we’ll pay contributors $5 and a PDF contributor copy. However, in some instances where we’d like to publish a single poem, short work, or piece of art, we may not have the budget for a payout. We may offer publication for a Digital Copy of the PDF only. (We totally understand if you’d rather not, though!) Please feel free to let us know up front if you do not want to be considered with this option. Via: Quarter Press.

6 notes · View notes

the-eeveekins · 1 month

Text

Alright Gundam fans, instead of doing anything TOO productive with my weekend, I decided to make a new Gundam TV series/film/video tier list on Tier Maker for the 45th Anniversary!

Based on the relevant list from the franchise's page on Wikipedia, it has every TV Series, Film & Video released through 2024, including ones announced but not yet released (Requiem, Silver Phantom, Urdr Hunt), and a few others I felt were relevant enough to include (SEED MSV Astray, Island Wars). Ultimately I decided to exclude compilation films/OVAs/specials from my list, it keeps it from being too busy but it was also for my own sanity (THERE ARE SO MANY).

I'm normally not a fan of Gundam tier lists that use posters/DVD covers, but I tried my best to make sure they all had legible titles, in English if possible, I hope it doesn't give people too much trouble.

#gundam #mobile suit gundam #tier list #tier maker

4 notes · View notes

galaxymagick · 5 months

Text

VIXX January issue of @Star1 | cr. 비뮤

translation undercut

translated using google and papago

The return of concept idol, VIXX

This is the comeback we have been waiting for. Group VIXX broke a four-year gap and announced the brilliant return of the original concept idol through their new album . Even in the absence of leader N, there is no room for feeling empty on stage. The three members filled the stage with their bright eyes and restrained choreography, making women around the world fall in love with their mature and sexy charms. Upon their comeback, VIXX swept the top charts not only domestically but also overseas, including in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Russia, proving that they are still alive and well by showing off their remaining global power. VIXX has garnered the response that they are ‘irreplaceable idols’ with their more complete stage and musicality, and the growth story they will write continues.

You made a comeback after 4 years and 2 months. I’m curious about how you feel about meeting Starlight after a long time through this album promotion and single concert.

Ken: It's been a while since I stood on stage as a member of VIXX, and although it was difficult, I was really happy and had fun. I learned a lot while working with the members. We were originally close, but I feel like we have become closer together through this activity. Hyuk: It was an activity for which I was grateful for everything. Now that I have warmly filled the end of the year with my people, I plan to run with more strength and energy in 2024.

I think there must have been a lot of pressure because you were working as a six-member group and had to fill the stage with three people.

Leo_ I felt a lot of pressure because I was making a comeback after several years and I was standing on stage under the name of VIXX. But as the weight was so great, I was overwhelmed and happy. Just being able to perform on stage with the members for the first time in a long time is something I am thankful for. Ken: While practicing, the three of us tried to be very greedy with each other. Since the three of us had to fill in the work that six of us had done, I think we pushed ourselves to practice to fill the empty space. All the members put in a lot of effort, but in the end, I'm satisfied because they showed a well-filled stage. Hyuk: It would be a lie if I said I didn’t feel any pressure. However, because the members had considerable abilities, I was confident that they would be able to show something new than before. I think we approached this album with a slightly challenging mindset in order to show a new stage.

If you were to rate your satisfaction with the results of this album, what score would you give it?

Leo 94 points. The reason I subtracted 4 points is that Hak-yeon expressed his regret that he was unable to be with us this time. Ken_I’ll give it 75 points. When the entire VIXX group gets a perfect score of 100, each person is responsible for 25 points, so we excluded the 25 points that belonged to Hak-yeon, who could not be together this time. Hyuk_I would like to give 80 points. When I think back to when I was in school, when I got 80 points, it was neither too much nor too much of a disappointment. I am satisfied with this album, but 80 points seems to be a stable score in the sense that I will improve and work harder next time.

Since you came together as a group after such a long time, were there any new aspects you learned or areas where you felt you grew while working on the album?

Leo_ Jaehwan and I especially felt that Hyuk's vocals have grown surprisingly. Also, Hyuk helped me a lot so that I could work on the album with good people this time. I think we were able to complete this album with such good connections because all of the members worked hard. Ken_I originally knew that the members had cool looks, but this time I was a bit surprised. While filming the album, I truly felt, ‘Our team is so cool and attractive that the fans love it.’ Even when recording, I was constantly impressed by how good the tone was. Hyuk_I thought I had improved a lot, but when I tried it with my brothers, I thought, ‘I still have a long way to go.’ I felt reassured and proud of the fact that we were on the same team.

Now that you have become a senior in the idol world, I would like to hear what you think of your first music show activity in a long time.

Leo_This time, my activities overlap with Park Jin-young and Golden Girls teachers, so I’m cautious about daring to call him a senior (laughter). The atmosphere really changed a lot. A challenge culture emerged. They said they were filming the challenge here and there, and it was really interesting because it was a culture that didn't exist when we were at the peak of our activities.

There are already 5th generation idols coming out. As a member of the 2.5 generation, how do you feel when you look at younger groups these days?

Leo_Obviously the 2.5 generation was the new generation, but time has passed so quickly (laughter). Regardless of your generation, just debuting as an idol and surviving in this field is truly an amazing thing. There may be some environmental improvements compared to the past, but there are probably also difficulties unique to the current generation. Even though being an idol isn't an easy job, I think it's truly worthy of applause that everyone is working so hard in their respective positions. While watching the junior groups, I think a lot about the early days of VIXX's debut. Ken_There are a lot of teams that debuted around the same time as us but are now gone. I hope groups debuting these days don't have to go through that. There are more opportunities than before, such as novel network services, YouTube, and challenges. I hope to actively utilize those things and survive without giving up until the end. Hyuk_When I look at groups that have just debuted, I often see cases where they focus on other things and end up missing something important. I hope you have fun doing the things you want to do so that you don't end up failing to do something important by following the standards set by others.

Was there any most memorable reaction or comment during this comeback?

Leo_The most memorable reaction was ‘Even if you don’t want to be like VIXX, you are still like VIXX’ and ‘Of course, there is no group that can replace VIXX.’ I am truly grateful that there are fans who love and acknowledge VIXX this much. Ken: I really liked the comment that said ‘VIXX tore it up’ (laughs). The expression that I tore up the stage was very funny and a huge compliment, so it gave me a lot of strength. Hyuk_I feel touched when I see reactions that recognize our sincerity. No matter the outcome, just seeing how sincere we were on stage gave us great strength.

When they debuted, they were all in their teens and twenties, but except for the youngest Hyuk, they are well over thirty. When you stood on stage, were there any differences from when you were in your 20s?

Leo_ Actually, I tend not to think about my age much. Although I'm more tired than before, I don't think there's much difference from when I was in my 20s. Ken: I think VIXX’s heyday is just beginning. There is a saying, ‘Men start at 30’. All of the members seem to have matured in some way compared to when they were in their 20s and have definitely become more manly. I feel good now because I feel like I have matured both externally and internally. Hyuk_age is a weapon, so I'm not physically good. Hahaha.

Now, you and the members seem to be as close to each other as family. What kind of meaning are you to each other?

Leo_Now we know what the condition is like just by looking at the air. Just from the energy of that space, I can tell that ‘there’s something that someone doesn’t like right now.’ That means they know each other very well. Even if you don't say anything, he senses it quickly and tells you the situation for you. It's very reassuring and gives you a lot of help. Ken_I recognize it from the moment we meet and say hello. When we greet each other, I feel, ‘How are our members doing?’ I didn't know about this before and honestly didn't pay much attention to it. But we've been together for almost 12 years. As we spent a long time together, there were things I learned without even realizing it. Hyuk: While doing this job, there were many moments when I wanted to give up or run away. It was thanks to my brothers that I was able to calm myself down every time. When I see my brothers by my side always giving me strength and doing their best, I become more determined and fight harder.

It's already been 12 years since I've been with Starlight, and I think it's very meaningful to grow older with the fans.

Leo_It's already been 12 years since we debuted, so our fans in their 20s and 30s have been with us for half their lives. There are quite a few people who are married. I am once again grateful that we have been together for such a long time, but at the same time, I feel like I need to take on more responsibility. I want to continue to be remembered as a great singer in their lives. I think what we have to do is continue to be by our fans’ side in a great way. Ken_I tend to remember fans’ faces well. So, whenever I have a chance to be with my fans, I feel both happy and sad at the same time. I'm really happy and thankful when I see new fans or fans I've seen for a long time, but on the other hand, I also feel like I keep waiting for the fans who couldn't come. I probably couldn't come because of the situation, but I'm worried that he might be sick and I feel a little sad. Hyuk_When I meet old fans, the memories we have made together come back to me like a panorama. When I look at them and talk to them, there are times when I feel like I'm back in time. These are people who are a very big part of my life.

I also want to hear your plans for individual activities other than the entire group. Leo_There are some things I'm working on right now. I think I'll be able to show them one by one soon. I'll give you some good news soon, so look forward to it. Ken: I have been cast in the role of Phoebus in the musical , so I plan to prepare diligently for the time being. I also want to pursue solo album activities. I want to release projects with my name like Monthly Yoon Jong Shin. Hyuk_Thankfully, I was recently able to appear on a music program broadcast in Indonesia on behalf of a K-pop singer. We plan to produce the stage for a famous Indonesian artist. I think this will be an opportunity to promote VIXX to the world, so I hope our Bits will also look at it kindly.

컨셉돌의 귀환, 빅스

기다리고 기다리던 컴백이다. 그룹 빅스가 4년의 공백을 깨고 신보 <CONTINUUM>을 통해 원조 컨셉돌의 화려한 귀환을 알렸다. 리더 엔이 부재한 상황 속에서도 이들의 무대에 허전함을 느낄 틈 따위는 없다. 세 멤버는 농익은 눈빛과 절제된 칼군무로 무대를 꽉 채우며 전세계 여심을 으른 섹시' 매력에 푹 빠지게 했다. 컴백과 동시에 국내는 물론 홍콩, 태국, 러시아 등 해외 차트 상위권을 휩쓴 빅스는 여전한 글로벌 파워를 과시하며 건재함을 증명했다. 더 완성도 높아진 무대와 음악성으로 '대체불가 아이돌'이라는 반응을 이끌어낸 빅스, 이들이 써내려갈 성장 스토리는 계속된다.

인터뷰 황연도

4년 2개월 만에 컴백을 했죠. 이번 앨범 활동과 단콘을 통해 오랜만에 별빛들을 만난 소감이 궁금해요.

켄_빅스로서 오랜만에 무대에 섰는데, 힘들기도 했지만 정말 행복했고 재밌었어요. 멤버들과 함께하면서 배운 게 참 많아요. 원래도 친했지만 이번 활동을 통해 서로 더 돈독해진 느낌이에요. 혁_모든 게 감사했던 활동이었어요. 내 사람들과 함께 연말을 따뜻하게 채웠으니, 2024년은 더 힘차고 에너지 넘치게 달려보려고 해요.

6인조로 활동하다가 셋이서 무대를 채워야 해서 부담감도 상당했을 것 같아요.

레오_몇 년 만에 컴백하는 거기도 하고, 빅스의 이름을 걸고 무대에 서는 거라 중압감이 컸어요. 근데 무게감이 큰 만큼이나 벅차고 기뻤어요. 멤버들과 오랜만에 함께 무대를 할 수 있다는 것만으로도 감사한 일이니까요. 켄_셋이 연습하면서 서로 욕심을 많이 내려 했어요. 여섯 명이서 하던 걸 셋이서 채워야 하다 보니 빈자리를 채우기 위해 연습량으로 밀어붙였던 거 같아요. 멤버들 다 노력을 많이 했는데, 결과적으로는 잘 채워진 무대를 보여드린 거 같아서 만족스러워요. 혁_부담감이 없었다고 하면 거짓말이겠죠. 하지만 멤버들이 갖고 있는 능력치가 상당해서, 기존 이상의 새로운 무언가를 보여줄 수 있을 거란 확신이 있었어요. 새로운 무대를 보여드리기 위해 조금은 도전적인 마인드로 이번 앨범 활동에 임했던 거 같아요.

이번 앨범 결과물의 만족도에 점수를 매긴다면 몇 점 주고 싶어요?

레오 94점이요. 4점을 뺀 건 학연이 형이 부득이하게 이번에 함께하지 못한 것에 대한 아쉬움을 표현한 점수예요. 켄_저는 75점으로 할게요. 빅스 완전체가 100점 만점이라 했을 때 각자 25점을 담당하고 있으니, 이번에 함께하지 못한 학연이 형의 몫인 25점을 제외했습니다. 혁_저는 80점을 주고 싶어요. 학교 다닐 때를 떠올려보면 80점을 받았을 때 너무 과분하지도, 너무 아쉽지도 않은 점수였거든요. 이번 앨범이 만족스럽지만, 다음에 더 보완하고 분발하자는 의미에서 80점이 딱 안정적인 점수 같아요.

오랜만에 그룹으로 뭉친 만큼, 서로 앨범 작업하면서 새롭게 알게 된 모습이나 성장했다고 느껴진 부분들이 있었나요?

레오_ 재환이도 그렇고 특히 혁이의 보컬이 놀라울 만큼 성장을 한 게 느껴졌어요. 또 혁이가 이번에 좋은 분들과 앨범 작업을 할 수 있도록 많은 도움을 줬어요. 멤버들 모두 열심히 살아왔기에 이렇게 좋은 인맥으로 이번 앨범을 완성할 수 있었다고 생각해요. 캔_멤버들의 외모가 멋지다는 걸 원래 알고 있긴 했는데, 이번에 좀 놀랐어요. 앨범 촬영하면서 '우리 팀이 이렇게 멋지고 매력적이라 팬들이 좋아해 주시는 거구나' 하고 제대로 느꼈어요. 녹음할 때도 음색이 정말 좋아서 계속 감탄이 나오더라고요. 혁_저는 제가 많이 늘었다고 생각했는데, 형들과 함께 해보니까 '난 아직 멀었구나' 싶더라고요. 서로 같은 팀이라는 사실이 새삼 든든하고 자랑스러웠어요.

이제는 아이돌계 대선배가 됐는데, 오랜만에 음방 활동을 한 소감도 들어보고 싶어요.

레오_이번에 박진영, 골든걸스 선생님들과 활동이 겹쳐서, 감히 대선배라고 말하기가 조심스럽긴 한데요(웃음). 분위기가 정말 많이 바뀌긴 했어요. 챌린지 문화라는 게 생겼더라고요. 챌린지를 여기랑 찍고 저기랑 찍고 그러던데, 저희가 한창 활동할 때는 없던 문화라 되게 신기했어요.

벌써 5세대 아이돌들이 나오고 있어요. 2.5세대로서 요즘 후배 그룹들 보면 어떤 기분이 들어요?

레오_분명 2.5세대가 신세대였는데 세월이 이렇게 흘렀네요(웃음). 세대를 떠나서 아이돌로 데뷔를 하고 이 분야에 살아남는다는 것 자체만으로 정말 대단한 일이에요. 예전에 비해 환경적으로 좋아진 부분이 있을지 모르지만, 아마 지금 세대만의 고충도 있을 거예요. 아이돌이 쉽지 않은 직업임에도 각자의 위치에서 이렇게 열심히 노력하고 있다는 건 정말 박수받을 일이라고 생각해요. 후배 그룹들 보면서 빅스 데뷔 초창기 생각도 많이 나요. 켄_저희와 같은 시기 데뷔했지만 지금은 없어진 팀들이 굉장히 많아요. 요즘 데뷔하는 그룹들은 그런 일을 겪지 않았으면 좋겠어요. 예전보다 소설 네트워크 서비스라던가 유튜브, 챌린지 등 기회의 장들이 더 많아졌잖아요. 그런 걸 적극 활용해서 끝까지 포기하지 않고 살아남았으면 해요. 혁_데뷔한지 얼마 안 된 그룹들 보면 다른 것들에 신경 쓰다가 중요한 걸 놓치게 되는 경우들이 종종 보이더라고요. 남이 정한 기준을 따르다가 중요한 걸 못하게 되는 일이 없도록, 본인이 하고 싶은 일들을 신나게 즐겼으면 좋겠어요.

이번 컴백 활동하면서 가장 기억에 남는 반응이나 댓글이 있었나요?

레오_가장 기억에 남는 반응은 '빅스스럽지 않고 싶어도 빅스스럽다' '역시 빅스를 대체할 그룹은 없다'였어요. 빅스를 이만큼 사랑해 주고 인정해 주시는 팬들이 있음에 정말 감사해요. 켄_저는 '빅스 찢었다'라는 댓글이 그렇게 좋던데요(웃음). 무대를 찢었다는 표현이 되게 재밌으면서도 엄청난 칭찬이라서, 되게 힘이 나더라고요. 혁_우리�� 진정성을 알아주는 반응들을 볼 때 뭉클해져요. 결과가 어떻든지 간에 우리가 무대에 얼마나 진심이었는지 알아봐 주시는 것만으로 저희에게 큰 힘이 됐어요.

데뷔했을 땐 뽀송뽀송한 10~20대였는데, 막내 혁을 제외하곤 서른이 훌쩍 넘었네요. 무대 섰을 때 20대 때와 달라진 점들이 있던가요.

레오_사실 나이 생각을 잘 안 하고 사는 편이에요. 예전보다 피곤도가 높아지긴 했지만, 20대 때와 크게 달라진 부분은 없는 거 같아요. 켄_빅스의 전성기는 이제 시작이라고 생각해요. '남자는 서른부터'라는 말도 있잖아요. 멤버들 모두 뭔가 20대 때보다 무르익은 거 같고 확실히 더 남자다워졌어요. 외적으로도 내적으로도 성숙해진 거 같아서 지금 좋아요. 혁_나이가 무기라고 저는 체력적으로 안 괜찮더라고요. 하하하.

이제 멤버들과는 가족 못지않은 사이일 거 같은데, 서로가 서로에게 어떤 존재인가요?

레오_이제는 공기만으로도 어떤 상태인지 아는 사이죠. 그 공간의 기운만으로도 '누군가가 지금 마음에 안 드는 일이 있구나' 라고 알아채요. 그만큼 서로가 서로를 잘 안다는 중거겠죠. 말하지 않아도 눈치를 빨리 채고 상황을 대신 말해주거나 할 때 엄청 든든하고 큰 힘이 돼요. 켄_저는 만나서 인사할 때부터 알아채요. 서로 인사를 나눌 때 '우리 멤버들 컨디션이 어떻구나'를 느껴요. 예전엔 이런 걸 몰랐고 솔직히 크게 신경도 안 썼어요. 근데 같이 한 세월이 자그마치 12년이잖아요. 긴 세월을 함께 하면서 저도 모르게 알게 되는 것들이 생기더라고요. 혁_이 일을 하면서 포기하고 싶거나 도망치고 싶은 순간들이 참 많았어요. 그때마다 맘을 다잡을 수 있었던 건 형들 덕분이에요. 옆에서 항상 힘이 되어주고 최선을 다하는 형들을 보고 있으면 다시 마음을 굳히고 더 파이팅하게 돼요.

별빛들과 함께한 지도 벌써 12년째, 팬들과 같이 나이를 먹어간다는 것도 굉장히 의미 있을 것 같은데요.

레오_저희가 벌써 데뷔한지 12년 차니까, 지금 20~30대 팬들은 삶의 반을 저희와 함께하고 계신 거거든요. 결혼한 분들도 꽤 있어요. 이렇게 긴 세월을 함께해 줬다는 게 새삼 감사하면서도 한편으론 '책임감을 더 가져야겠다' 맘을 다잡기도 해요. 그들의 삶 속에 계속 멋진 가수로 기억되고 싶어요. 앞으로도 멋진 모습으로 팬들 옆에 있어주는 게 우리가 해야 할 일이라고 생각해요. 켄_저는 팬들의 얼��을 잘 기억하는 편이에요. 그래서 팬들과 함께하는 자리를 가질 때마다 행복과 슬픔이 동시에 들곤 해요. 새로운 팬이나 예전부터 봐오던 팬을 보면 되게 반갑고 고마운데, 반대로 오지 못한 팬들을 계속 기다리게 되는 마음도 있거든요. 상황상 어쩔 수 없이 못 왔을 테지만, 혹시 아픈 건 아닌지 걱정도 되고 조금은 슬퍼지는 거 같아요. 혁_오래된 팬들을 만나면 그동안 함께 해온 추억들이 파노라마처럼 떠올라요. 그분들과 눈빛을 나누고 이야기를 하다 보면 꼭 예전으로 돌아간 기분이 들 때가 있어요. 제 삶에 굉장히 큰 부분을 차지하고 있는 분들이에요.

완전체 말고 개인 활동에 대한 계획도 듣고 싶어요.

레오_지금 준비 중인 것들이 있어요. 조만간 하나하나 보여드릴 수 있을 거 같아요. 곧 좋은 소식 들려드릴 테니, 기대해 주세요. 켄_뮤지컬 <노트르담 드 파리> 페뷔스 역에 캐스팅이 돼서 당분간 열심히 준비할 예정이고요. 솔로 앨범 활동도 해나가고 싶어요. 월간 윤종신처럼 제 이름을 건 프로젝트들을 내보고 싶은 맘이 있어요. 혁_감사하게도 최근 인도네시아에서 방송되는 음악 프로그램 K팝 가수를 대표해서 출연을 하게 됐어요. 인도네시아 유명 아티스트의 프로듀싱을 맡아 무대를 꾸밀 예정인데요. 빅스를 세계에 널리 알릴 수 있는 기회가 될 거 같기도 해서, 우리 빛이들도 예쁘게 봐주셨으면 좋겠어요.

3 notes · View notes

the-monkey-ruler · 10 months

Note

When is black myth wukong coming out and what’s the story? I only know english rumors no idea about chinese side.

I’m gonna be honest I don’t know much about the story either (I'm not much of a gamer) but I'll look on the Baidu page at least.

"Black Myth: Wukong" is an action role-playing game produced by Game Science Company. Available in Summer 2024.

The game takes "Journey to the West" as the background and Wukong as the main storyline, restoring the oriental magical world that has always existed in the player's mind. Log in to PC and all mainstream host platforms, and do not exclude cloud game platforms that can run end games smoothly.

In the game setting, Wukong is naturally the main character, but it is not only about monkeys. In addition to reshaping the main characters, this work also uses top-notch graphics, rich details, immersive combat experience, and sufficient plot interpretation to restore the oriental fantasy world that has always existed in the heart and write a heroic epic full of charm.

On August 20, 2020, "Black Myth: Wukong" was announced, and it has obtained the original authorization of the 86 version of the "Journey to the West" TV series prelude "Yungong Xunyin" (Prelude to Journey to the West )

On August 20, 2021, the new live demo of "Black Myth: Wukong" was officially announced. According to IGN reports: This work will support 4K, 60 frames, and ray tracing. In August 2022, "Black Myth: Wukong" officially announced a 6-minute new real-machine plot and a new demo video for enabling NVIDIA ray tracing + DLSS. On January 16, 2023, the "Black Myth: Wukong" R&D team Game Science announced that the scheduled time is the summer of 2024.

According to the news on March 2, 2023, the copyright registration information shows that the game software copyright of "Black Myth: Wukong " has been registered and approved, the current version number is V1.0, the development completion date is November 7, 2022, and the registration date is 1 20th.

"Black Myth: Wukong" has experienced the failure of the God of War era, and the accumulation of mobile games over the years, will do a better job in cost control and team management. It is not only a simple game, but the story behind it may be more meaningful. And this game is not a dream-making myth, but the first step towards the formal industrialization of China's domestic stand-alone. ( 17173 comments)

If the popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong" in China is due to the popularity bonus of " Journey to the West ", but in foreign countries, many international friends who do not have the filter of Journey to the West are also attracted by this real machine demonstration. With no words of praise, "Black Myth: Wukong" seems to be on the right path. The version of " Yungong Xunyin " selected in "Black Myth: Wukong" is a symphony version. Compared with the original version, it has a more magnificent momentum and a stronger epic atmosphere. And this piece of music appeared just right at the end of the film, which greatly aroused the players' feelings for Journey to the West. (Sina Technology Review)

Well, that was a lot of video talk! Hope that makes sense and that we look to getting it next summer!

youtube

#anonymous #anon #anon ask #jttw #journey to the west #xiyouji #sun wukong #black myth Wukong #ask

8 notes · View notes

harmonyhealinghub · 3 months

Text

Embracing the Extra Day: A Celebration of Leap Year Shaina Tranquilino February 29, 2024

Every four years, our calendars undergo a magical transformation as an extra day is added to the month of February. This phenomenon is known as a leap year, and it's more than just a quirk in our timekeeping system. In this blog post, we'll explore the history, science, and cultural significance of leap years, shedding light on the fascinating aspects of this quadrennial occurrence.

A Brief History of Leap Years:

The concept of leap years dates back to ancient civilizations. The Egyptians were among the first to realize that the solar year, or the time it takes for Earth to complete one orbit around the sun, is not precisely 365 days. To account for the additional 0.2422 days, they introduced a leap year in their calendar around 4,000 years ago.

The Roman calendar later adopted a similar leap year system, but it wasn't until the Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE, that a more accurate leap year calculation was implemented. The Julian calendar introduced the rule that every fourth year would be a leap year, adding an extra day to the end of February.

The Gregorian Calendar and Leap Years:

While the Julian calendar improved the accuracy of timekeeping, it still miscalculated the solar year by a small margin. By the 16th century, the discrepancy had added up, leading to a misalignment of the calendar with the astronomical seasons. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, refining the leap year rule to exclude years divisible by 100 unless they are also divisible by 400.

The Gregorian calendar is the one most of the world uses today, ensuring a more accurate synchronization of our calendars with the Earth's orbit.

The Science Behind Leap Years:

Leap years serve as a correction mechanism, preventing our calendars from drifting out of sync with the astronomical year. Earth's orbit around the sun takes approximately 365.2422 days, which is why an extra day is added every four years. This correction helps maintain the alignment of our seasons with the calendar months.

Leap Year Fun Facts:

Leap Day Birthdays: Individuals born on February 29, known as "leap day," celebrate their birthdays only once every four years. These leap year babies often choose either February 28 or March 1 as their birthday on non-leap years.

International Leap Year Day: Some cultures celebrate February 29 as a special day for unusual traditions, proposals, and events. It's an opportunity to embrace the rarity of the leap year and indulge in festivities that only occur once every four years.

Leap Year in Popular Culture: Leap years have found their way into literature, film, and music. From Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "The Pirates of Penzance" to the movie "Leap Year," this cyclical event has inspired creative expressions across various art forms.

Leap Year Traditions:

Proposal Day: In some cultures, it is a tradition for women to propose to their partners on Leap Day. This custom is said to date back to a 5th-century Irish nun named St. Brigid, who complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait too long for a proposal.

Festivals and Events: Leap Day has become an occasion for unique festivals and events worldwide. Communities organize parades, parties, and gatherings to celebrate this extra day.

Leap years are more than just a calendar adjustment; they symbolize our ongoing efforts to understand and harmonize with the natural rhythms of the universe. As we revel in the extra day this February, let's take a moment to appreciate the intricate dance between Earth and the sun, and the ingenious ways humans have devised to keep our calendars in tune with the cosmos. Whether you're born on Leap Day, partake in unique traditions, or simply savour the novelty of an extra 24 hours, leap years offer us a chance to pause, reflect, and celebrate the beauty of time itself.

#leap year #happy leap year #leap year explained #time leap #extra day adventures #leap year facts #once in four years #time travel #leap year magic #365 and one more #leap year wonders #leap into the future

5 notes · View notes

firespirited · 1 year

Text

About yesterday's cry for connection, several things happened at once, as they do. On top of the seasonal despresh hitting it's lows and teasing brief moments of clarity.

Small on the richter scale: The gmail app once again failed to block dad's email which was a seemingly anodyne "happy birthday did you get my ecard (i did and promptly put my emails on their 'do not send' list) , did you do anything special with your friends for the big 4.0?" 1- He's acting like we're buddies, I haven't spoken to him in a decade 2- He's either forgotten or in denial about his complete failure at being a decent human being in November which led to sis finally giving up on him. 3- One of his fave digs was my lack of solid friends (he moved us every three years so that's partly on him) and inability to do milestone stuff like an 18th or 21st birthday bash. It's very on brand to be able to break me in two nice sentences. But it's not so much him per se but the friends who turned out to be anti vaxx or anti mask so I expressed sadness and haven't tried to rebuild. I'm not sure there is any thing to rebuild when folks are explicit their beliefs exclude you.

Bigger on the richter scale: I've injured my pectorals several times in march doing abdominal building exercises and having to catch myself when my hip give out from pain. It's very painful and sets me right back. I need to work on all the muscles around the hips before I can start work on my atrophied lower back. It's at least 3 more months added to the rehabilitation process. Realistically I don't think I'll be rerooting or doing any handicrafts over 40 minutes long per week until 2024. And then it won't be commissions.

It's been 3 full months of rehab work, there is real visible progress but it's very slow and disappointingly small.

I also have to whittle down the project dolls I've kept and get it all out of the house even at a loss (oof) along with a serious re-evaluation of what I buy (double oof). Project dolls are only fun if you can actually *do* the project not just know the exact steps you *would* do. That means other types of treats and finding other things to do when I've got some free time and am itching to make something. The ones that will stay need hairstyles, maybe quick decoden hair and wigs so I won't be reminded until I'm ready, plastic is patient but I am not! (That'll actually be fun to do)

In good news, the anemia has improved and my eyebrows are growing back brown (4mm of brown, 6 of white lol) , I'm on a more solid treatment for GI candida and hope to heal my sore half taste-broken tongue.

I've resolved to purchase anti-mosquito summer clothes for walks if needed as a necessary health expense. Ties into the money insecurities mentioned before with a mental 'fix'.

Tiny on the richter scale but these things add up :

The whiplash of seeing dolltwt acting like they're the nice place for nice people or "it's only funny when it's us, it's malicious if you're someone who can't sit with us". Can't believe I got sucked into that nonsense. Stupid rabbithole to go down.

A youtuber getting too parasocially needy and setting off all my alarm bells.

Way more youtubers who *were* interesting and educational on certain subjects but lately have got lost in navel gazing about whether they're making the mind changing art/activism they dreamed of. It's part film grad, part evangelical need to have convert notches on your belt instead seeing the value in rebuilding broken things, paying someone's bills, prevention not miracles.

You could be educating for education's sake (teacher isn't a lesser job) and doing art for art's sake. I can handle a certain amount of self indulgence and there is always a place for self congratulation on a hard job but the performative is winning out over the active work and I just don't have much grace left to spare right now. I'd rather hear a well made liberal journalistic podcast on a subject than watch a radical leftist who'll derail the point with the implication that it's a sacrifice to be talking about this subject instead of being a 'proper' film maker.

Doesn’t sound like much but when you've carved out your hour of listening and that's not happening because it's become messy then there's a hole and it's really hard to find the right balance of interesting but no cliffhangers or nihilism, no toxic positivity no false promises. With my current desperation for routines and extreme pickyness: You see the problem right?

So, in a nutshell I need to find new treats, new entertainment, more courage to get rid of items I'm attached to, find rerooters in the EU so I can just refer all queries without having to explain that my back is rekt and the rest of me is rekt so healing will be stupid long, set a goal of acceptable hip pain while exercising and a goal of how much hip pain to aim for that won't mess with ab and dorsal work. Wait til enough emotional balance to donate recycle clothes that look rough. Dare to open up and make new friends knowing that heartbreak is inevitable. Cool cool cool. We'll start small.

❤️❤️❤️

#saf #Ramblings

7 notes · View notes

lgcmanager · 1 year

Photo

NOTORIETY TIERS 010 ( PART 2 )

as mentioned in the MAY NOTORIETY TIERS post, this will be expanding further about the gigs and the restrictions for this cycle only. it may change in the future, but for now this is implemented mostly to work around with the schedules that have been placed ( or are in the works ) for the debuted artists.

NOTORIETY TIERS INFO

when the NOTORIETY TIERS was created, we had 10 people who were eligible for it. now we have 33 people ( which is a little bit over 1/3 of the lgc community )! while we’re still surprised that so many people have reached past the 200 notoriety mark, over time we’ve gotten a better grasp of the NOTORIETY TIERS system and its foundations. since we didn’t expect so many people to be eligible ( especially at once per cycle ), we’ve noticed how quickly our schedules fill up and realized that some restrictions and modifications would need to happen soon.

to give some behind the scenes info ( from admin a ), during each notoriety tiers cycle, the activities submitted to us are supposed to fill up the lgc calendar for 3-4 months ( and more if people take on specific gigs, usually high level ones or acting in general ). initially this was quite doable for us to include group activities in between the schedules because there were usually a few people in each group that could do notoriety tiers. but as more people participate in the notoriety tiers, the harder it is for us to schedule in group activities ( the q2 schedule document should give you a slight indication of this ). this is why some of the groups/muses would skip cycles so that it would allow other groups/muses to have some activities too.

in addition, since more people are interested in taking on songwriting/producing claims, this meant that the admin team would have to plan ahead with the songs/comebacks so that we could give everyone ample time to figure out what they wanted to claim and when. doing this sort of resulted in your co-creative directors to plan comeback/debut schedules to last all the way until the end of 2023 ( and at this rate, even early 2024 )!

so the information below are just small steps that could help everyone with how to move lgc forward, especially with the debuted artists. we’re hoping that this could also make it easier for everyone, but time will tell!

GIGS TIMELINE

for the MAY cycle, most of the gigs will be scheduled sometime between JUNE-SEPTEMBER depending on the claims that are submitted. please keep this in mind with the details mentioned below AND when deciding on the gigs ( if you want to do one that is time-sensitive ).

NUMBER OF DRAMAS

in the past, we’ve allowed people to take on acting gigs in various dramas but over time we’ve been noticing that sometimes there will be multiple dramas airing at the same time, which makes it rather difficult for some of the groups. depending on the role claimed for that specific gig along with the drama ( specifically how often the drama is aired/how many episodes ), this means that the muse may be so busy during that period of time that they might be excluded from certain group/lgc activities ( you may notice this with some individuals who have been taking high level gigs ). for example, if one were to claim a SUPPORTING role in a 16 episodes drama, typically we fill up at least 3 months for that muse because one month will be prioritized on the script reading, filming the first few scenes, teasers, etc. then by the second month and onwards they’ll be filming their drama simultaneously with when the drama is airing. if the muse claimed a bigger role or a drama with more than 16 episodes, sometimes that means that more time will be filled up just for that.

we’ve been trying to find a good balance on both ends of that so for now with the upcoming “big” project, we are limiting a maximum of TWO NEW dramas for this cycle. by limiting the number of new dramas that can be claimed, it’ll be a first come, first serve basis. ideally the best way to go about this is to find a drama where other people can claim it as well so that people can team up together to write one article together and/or other dramas can be used later on. this can also be great for people who may want to do threads related to the behind the scenes if it’s applicable to their mission ( or if they want to do it for the sake of development )!

additionally, you could claim a role in a gig that will be ( or currently ) happening if you wish. for the ones that are currently in the filming process, it would be best to claim a GUEST or SUPPORTING role for those ( and since all of the articles from the last cycle have been processed, you would have to write an article of your muse appearing on the drama if you choose to go with this option ). at the moment, these are the dramas that have been claimed and will be ( or currently ) aired:

ROOKIE COPS ( claimed by ahn jaesun / webdrama ): airing every wednesday from june 14-august 2. first script reading for this was april 28.

LOVE REVOLUTION ( claimed by kim alex / webdrama ): airing every thursday and sunday from july 19-october 28. first script reading for this will be on june 29.

ALL OF US ARE DEAD ( claimed by ahn yein / webdrama ): all episodes will be released on august 28. first script reading for this will be on june 26.

CHEER UP ( claimed by jeon haru / low-rated weekly drama ): airing every monday and thursday from september 4-october 24. first script reading for this will be on july 3.

some of the details with the dramas aforementioned are listed as notes in the notoriety claims tab but if you have any specific questions, please message the main. as a reminder, this only applies to DRAMAS not films, music videos, and musicals. however, depending on the gigs claimed, that might change as well.

SONGWRITING/PRODUCING CLAIMS

unfortunately, with the admin team working on finalizing some of the album lists for the upcoming projects, we don’t have a list of songs that can be claimed during this cycle. in the case of NOVA’s debut, none of the songs can be claimed in their album because ic wise, the lgc creatives team has been working on that.

HANWOO RADIO

as mentioned in prior NOTORIETY TIERS posts, HANWOO RADIO will still be available as a radio show hosting gig up until around Q2 2024, when SIWOO and HANEUL have returned from enlistment. at the moment, the only applicable gigs for this are either a ONE-TIME co-host/host, temporary ( ONE MONTH ) co-host, OR short-term ( 2-4 MONTHS ) co-host. to add onto this, if you choose “HOST” rather than “CO-HOST”, that means that you will be the only host for that episode. requirements for this follows the same as the other hosting gigs for radio shows.

CF GIGS & MODELING CONTRACTS

a few observant people may have noticed that on the MODELING CONTRACTS tab, some of the recent cf gigs claimed in the NOTORIETY TIERS have been added in there. while we’re still working on tweaking the modeling contract system a bit to integrate the modeling contracts system and the notoriety tiers, this is currently implemented to help a specific model brand decide on the final models list ( because surprise! ivy club wasn’t the last opportunity this term to get a modeling gig ).

while this might have interfered with some people’s goals of choosing another cf gig for their NOTORIETY TIERS, they can still claim the other gigs that fall under the modeling category ( and it will not affect their contract slots ). on the other hand, if you do want to claim a cf gig for your muse, they will typically last around a few months ( ic ) depending on when the gig is scheduled for them ( ex. a domestic cf gig could be scheduled on june 24, but because it’s near the end of the q2 term, it’ll last between q2-q3 ).

#lgc:notorietytiers

3 notes · View notes