#and i fear this may reinforce the idea that we Must Serve Purposes and Be Useful and Used

[uncanny-tranny]

The whole "breasts shouldn't be politicized because the primary purpose of breasts is to feed babies!" can be a fine jumping-off point, but I really wish people thought deeper than that when we talk about the ways in which bodies are politicized and restricted.

Like, why's it that when we talk about breasts, they must have some Higher Purpose? It's true that breasts aren't inherently sexual, but they aren't valuable solely because they can potentially feed a baby. A human body doesn't have to serve a Higher Purpose in order for it to not be legislated against or policed, and I just wish people would remember it isn't always about babies, about other people, about anything else other than the people who have that body.

[purplefreudcat]

I asked ChatGPT4 to use this intro and make an essay out of it and I wasn't disappointed:

Bohemian Rhapsody. We Will Rock You. Somebody To Love. All hit singles, and all the direct product of a band that was formed when an astrophysicist and a dentistry major found a new friend in an art college, who then went on to recruit a fourth member from the electronics school. Based on this alliance I propose the rift in society between Arts and STEM students was fabricated to keep us separated so as to dilute our true power - and fabricated by who, you may ask? The business major, the only member of society who reaps no reward from art and science and thus must weaken us so as to stay ahead. In this essay I will.. (OP is justqueenthoughts)

ChatGPT4:

In this essay, I will delve into the origins of this alleged rift between Arts and STEM students, dissecting the motives and methods of the business major in perpetuating such a divide, and present the awe-inspiring potential that can be unlocked when these two seemingly disparate fields join forces.

To better understand the alleged rift, we must first explore the historical context in which STEM and Arts were falsely deemed incompatible. The roots of this dichotomy stretch back to the ancient Greeks, where philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle debated the merits of rationality versus emotion. This age-old conflict has been continually reinforced through the ages, as society often places a premium on either the pursuit of scientific knowledge or the expression of artistic creativity, with scant regard for the potential synergy between the two.

This brings us to the crux of our analysis: the role of the business major in perpetuating this divide. At first glance, one may question why the business major would have any vested interest in maintaining such a rift. However, upon closer examination, the answer becomes clear. Business majors, as the architects of commerce and captains of industry, are uniquely positioned to exploit the division between Arts and STEM students to their advantage. By segregating these two groups, they effectively stifle the cross-pollination of ideas, thereby ensuring that neither group can achieve its full potential. This, in turn, allows the business major to retain their privileged status, as they are then able to broker the services of both groups without fear of competition from a unified force.

The story of the iconic band referenced in our introduction - composed of an astrophysicist, a dentistry major, an art college student, and an electronics school recruit - serves as a powerful testament to the untapped potential that lies within the intersection of Arts and STEM. They demonstrated that when these seemingly disparate fields come together, the result is a creative, innovative, and deeply impactful force capable of transcending conventional boundaries and captivating the world.

The time has come for us to dispel the myth of the Arts-STEM divide and to embrace the incredible potential that lies within their union. It is high time that we recognize the business major's role in perpetuating this false dichotomy and, in doing so, liberate ourselves from the constraints that have been imposed upon us for far too long.

In conclusion, the rift between Arts and STEM students is an artificial construct, perpetuated by the business major in a bid to maintain their control over the creative and intellectual capital of society. By acknowledging and embracing the inherent interconnectedness of these disciplines, we can unlock our true power, ushering in a new era of innovation and progress. It is time for this unholy alliance of astrophysicists, dentistry majors, art college students, and electronics school recruits to rise up, united in purpose, and topple the oppressive reign of the business major. The time for revolution is now.

[gaawachan]

Caleb, Trent, Trauma, Abuse

So, three things before I start.

The first is a trigger warning.  I’m not saying anything explicit but I don’t want to hurt anyone.  There will be statements on abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), trauma, avoidance/deflection, etc.  Please don’t read this if you think you might find it harmful.

Secondly, I don't consider myself even remotely qualified to talk about this but I'm concerned because I don't see people examining it much, and I think it's important.

Thirdly, here are some time-stamps from CR2 and Talks Machina that I will be using in this post: CR2 40: 2h35m - Caleb indicates that Fjord should "do what he has to" with regards to Avantika. CR2 41: 2h30m25s - Fjord and Caleb talk about Avantika CR2 43: 2h37m16s - "This is going to be very hard for Fjord"  "he has compromised himself" TM C2E111 - New Homes and Old Friends: 53m20s - "Caleb understands that he was abused and manipulated." TM C2E111 - New Homes and Old Friends: 1h26m45s - "it was subtly encouraged, suggested, or baked into them" that the Blumentrio were to use sex in the name of empire. I believe there was a previous Talks Machina in which Liam stated that Caleb was trained "to be charming" and maybe that there was an occasion where he didn't think that weaponizing sex was a big deal but I can't find those.  If someone can find that I'd like to add it to this post.

...

Let's talk a little more about Trent, Caleb and the Blumentrio, trauma both stated and unstated, and abuse.

I have seen a lot of people say that Trent Ikithon was mostly emotionally manipulative, treating the trio as if they were special and therefore he wasn't "overtly" physically cruel or abusive.  I think that this is a deeply flawed understanding of how Trent goes about abusing people.  Certainly, Ikithon starts with "you are special even as you come from the unwashed masses," "I will make you strong so that you can serve the empire you love," "the pain I cause you is for your own good," etc.

However, this does not boil down what he does to being purely emotional manipulation- that is the means to the end of forcing the children to be complicit in their own physical and sexual abuse.  Let's use what we know of the Residuum mutilation to examine how it is that Trent treats the Scourger children.  I am of the opinion that even without manipulation, the things Trent made them do were things that children are not really capable of giving informed consent to, so when I use the word consent, keep that in mind. 1. Trent frames everything he does as being for them and the empire, simultaneously devalues their roots while uplifting their work, and after doing so gets the children to "consent" to do what he wants- in this case, physical mutilation of their bodies. 2. However, in the event that they withdraw their consent, he ignores them.  We know this because of Caleb's nightmare of being strapped down wherein his explicit withdrawal of consent was disregarded.

The Residuum implantation in and of itself is a gross violation of bodily autonomy, and it always had an element of "does this remind you of anything?" baked into it.  I think Caleb's very obvious trauma with respect to how he obtained the Residuum implants is indicative of how Trent "taught" them in general.  First, he gets them to agree via emotional abuse.  Then, if they wavered, he forced them to comply either through physical restraint or magic.  And of course, the longer they endure this, the more compliant they get over time, be it with respect to his direct abuse of them, or his having them abuse others (a little bit of torture, a little bit of murder).  As we do not have the full details of the sequence of their training progression, it is difficult to say, but I am quite sure that Trent used the same methodology he did with the Residuum to break the three in BEFORE he had them start victimizing others.

On the statements and behavior of Astrid, Eadwulf, and the Rosohna Scourger.  The Rosohna Scourger was interesting because she did not mince words about what the training had done to her; her heart was "beaten out of her." Astrid and Eadwulf, being in their mid-thirties, are outright terrified of Trent, with both of them desperately avoiding confrontation at the dinner in different ways: Eadwulf by keeping his mouth shut on most things that seem potentially unsafe to speak on, and Astrid by parroting what she thinks Trent would want her to say.  Interestingly, Astrid also did this when Caleb visited her earlier, suggesting that she has deeply internalized Trent's world view at least in some respects, but none of this has eased their fear of what Trent will do to them if they say or do something he disapproves of and one must wonder if it is punishment or modification they fear.

It should be pointed out that the scourger training even before Caleb broke consisted of active participation and experience.  The Blumentrio actively tortured people, they actively murdered people.  This serves multiple purposes: it breaks them down so they feel like they can't leave, it simultaneously traumatizes them and makes them think their trauma is invalid or deserved, and it desensitizes them and makes them more compliant.  It makes them feel like abusers, twisting blame onto them.  We can see this in all of the scourgers - "you don't know what I've done," "I am a disgusting person," "I'll go to work if I have to," "It doesn't matter because I wanted to do it when I did it."

Caleb is just starting to process the fact that he and his friends are victims, particularly with respect to the Residuum, but he ISN'T to the point where he is of this opinion with respect to the whole of their training and he still chafes at the idea of thinking in any way that would deflect blame for what happened from himself.  I think that there is no clearer example of this than Caleb's statements over the course of the series regarding sex and relationships.

Caleb's relationships with Astrid and Eadwulf were very obviously romantically charged.  During the MN's interactions with Avantika, Caleb encourages Fjord to "do what he has to" with respect to Avantika, but later seems to regret it, expressing concern for Fjord's emotional well-being.  Caleb also struggled for a long time with not being transactional and manipulative in his interactions with others, weighing the need to survive and fulfill his goals vs his desire to do better.  Caleb often makes flippant off-hand remarks about sex, and while it could be argued that this is just Liam/Caleb being silly, it could also be viewed as deflection.

I think that Caleb is currently in a state where he is just barely starting to come to terms with the abuse that was dealt to him as a child and that he was forced to participate in, and considering how damaging that trauma has been, it could be argued that the avoidance of admitting that there was (at best) dubious sexual aspects to his scourger training is an attempt to avoid pain.  I want to be very clear here.  Even if the Blumentrio did not even once physically engage in sexual acts/seduction as children during one of their "lessons" on how to complete their missions, the very suggestion that their sexuality is a weapon to be used in their work is sexually abusive to these manipulated teenagers.  Caleb recognizes that such a thing IS hurtful... when it comes to the adult Fjord.  Not himself.  But not addressing it is doing more damage; it's going to interfere with Caleb's ability to have healthy relationships in the future, and this is clearest in his dynamic with Essek.

I think that Trent overestimates how much of his own world view Caleb has internalized long-term, as evidenced by his brazen flippancy about Caleb's parents, but I fear that on this point, Caleb HAS internalized the idea that he should use his sexuality in such a way.  That THAT is one of the most deeply ingrained behaviors that Caleb slipped into after meeting Essek and clearly hasn't even begun to question or shy from is, I think, evidence in and of itself that next to the murder of his parents, THIS is the thing that Caleb will struggle the most to address about his traumas.  It indicates experience.  It screams of abuse.

It is obvious at this point that Caleb and Essek are attracted to each other, but they got off on the wrong foot right from the start.  Framing their interactions as doing "favors" for one another, the overt manipulation and the ease with which it is done is going to have to be addressed at some point if only to preserve friendship.  In order to do that, I think Caleb is going to have to face that aspect of his trauma, and I do not think he can do that alone.

I think the saddest thing about it all is that in-game, none of the characters seem willing to sit down with Caleb and have frank talks about his Scourger training and what it entailed.  To a degree, it's understandable; they're probably worried about hurting him by doing so, and they've seen him deflect questions out of fear of judgment, self-loathing, and discomfort.  But Caleb is already hurting and struggling to process his past by himself.  If the 8th floor is a sign of anything, it's that Caleb (like all people) is not going to be able to fully come to terms with his trauma by himself.  Worse still, I am concerned that if it ever does come up, it will be between Caleb and either Astrid/Eadwulf, and they will end up reinforcing the idea that it was "no big deal" to each other.

From a meta perspective, I worry that it never will be addressed at all.  The cast may not be comfortable with going there in detail; I already got the impression from Liam in Talks Machina that he was struggling to figure out how to phrase the sexual exploitation of the Blumentrio without it being too overt - "it was subtly encouraged, suggested, or baked into them" - as though he couldn't decide what was most appropriate to say.  And there has been no indication that anyone else in the group in-game even suspects such a thing.

I do fear that if Caleb cannot at some point acknowledge that his abuse is undeservedly hurting his ability to connect honestly with people that he is genuinely attracted to and, as Liam says, "wants to be with," he may not be able to maintain a romantic relationship.

...

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.  Here's a question to ponder.  Which character do you think Caleb should show the 8th floor of the tower to first?  If you could pick which characters Caleb would open up to with respect to his trauma, which would it be?  Veth?  Beau?  Caddy-kins?  Essek?  Also, let me know if there’s anything I could add to this to improve it. :)

[theoutcastrogue]

The last shall be first, and the first shall be aghast: in which the Plague upends the social order

When the plague hits, someone has to clean up the mess. Carrying and burying the dead, burning anything that might be infected, such tasks were absolutely necessary and of course tremendously dangerous: there's no faster way to get infected yourself. And yet, the people who chose (or were forced) to do it were consistently vilified. Sources usually depict them as greedy and amoral criminals, despicable thieves and murderers, vultures who thrived on death. (See also: the legend of Four Thieves Vinegar).

Is there any truth to that? Well, there is some, for sure. Sometimes the people tasked with cleaning up the mess would also clean the valuables from the latest victim's house, sometimes they'd ask exorbitant fees to do the job, and sometimes they'd even hold people for ransom more or less, threatening to mark them as infected (and drag them to a quarantined area, where they'd certainly GET infected). But on closer inspection, such incidents are verified a lot less than simply speculated, and the disdain towards them may have deeper causes.

When a plague first hit, very few would volunteer to clean up the mess. It was close to a death sentence, so people were either forced to do it, or were too destitute and desperate to refuse the offer of wages. Either way, they were already at the margins of society, the lowest of the low. Of that first wave, most would summarily die, and the few naturally immune (or very very lucky) would remain. And those few would have a thoroughly novel experience: for the first time in their life, they had power. The power to bargain for their labour, for starters.

Is that such a crime? And is it any wonder that it horrified the gentry?

To explore further this phenomenon and its perception, I give you two excerpts, both of which concern Italy around the ~1630 outbreak of the plague. The first is theory, from the book Epidemics and ideas: Essays on the historical perception of pestilence. The second is fiction, from the classic novel The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni. Happy reading.

~ Rogue

The Plague in Florence, 1630

1. Plague and perceptions of the poor in early modern Italy

“There was a sense in which the plague, while suspending certain forms of employment, created others through heavy public spending that was partly intended to enforce hygienic measures and partly to forestall the danger of 'tumult'. On occasions witnesses spoke of the poor as beneficiaries rather than victims of the plague, which had created sinister opportunities for them. The deserted city, with the houses of the well-to-do locked up and abandoned, became the province of the poor. [...]

Like carnival, plague inverted the normal world. It did so in its own way, by creating a temporary dependence on the unrespectable poor, especially vagrants and criminals, for the performance of essential services. Plague seemed to offer extraordinary gains to the ghoulish figures of undertakers, fumigators, cleaners and clearers of plague-stricken houses: monatti, beccamorti, picigamorti, nettezini, often characterised as scavenging birds, as the 'kites' of Florence and the 'crows' of France. Such functionaries were heavily recruited from prisoners, vagrants and galley slaves; but seemingly generous incentives, in the form of high advance payments to members of the ordinary labouring poor, were frequently offered by city governments.

Occasionally, as in Florence in the 1630s, there occurs a suggestion that the poor actually welcomed the plague because it released them from dependence on the uncertain fortunes of the textile industry. 'It seemed', wrote one Settimanni, 'that out of greed for the gain [from becoming bearers of the dead] they thought nothing of death and of the great danger in which they were clearly placing themselves.' Much the same sentiments were to be repeated in Defoe's Journal many years later.

It must be confessed that though the plague was chiefly among the poor, yet were the poor the most adventurous and fearless of it, and went about their employment with a sort of brutal courage; I must call it so, for it was founded neither on religion nor prudence; scarce did they use any caution, but ran into any business which they could get employment in, though it was the most hazardous.

Sometimes there was a grudging admiration for the courage of these graveyard workers; surprisingly, a contingent sent from Venice was praised for its skill and care by the chronicler of Cividale, and Dr Bertrand expressed a touching gratitude to the galley convicts who had served Marseilles. Equally often, however, the criminal strain in their natures seemed to predominate, emerging in foul conspiracies and plots to prolong the epidemics which brought them unlooked-for gains. Hence they assumed, in a different form, the role of bearers of the sickness. [...]

Mild forms of social revolution seemed to have occurred at the close of plague epidemics, both through a redistribution of wealth and through the emergence of those who had survived an attack of plague as a privileged body insolently sure of their own invulnerability.

Priests and friars who have survived the plague, and persons of low condition who have recovered from it, are both grown very rich, the first by burying, administering the sacraments, and helping the sick, and the second by physicking and serving infected persons - for people in these extreme needs were forced to spend lavishly and without restraint ... The fumigators, bearers of the dead, police constables, quacks, thieves and other such people did very well for themselves.'

So testified Dr Benaglio of Bergamo. Like usurers, these persons of low condition had allegedly grown fat on the misfortunes of others, and their being public employees exposed to high risk was no excuse for their offences. A carnival poem of Florence in 1631 celebrated the 'cunning man of the people (furbo plebo)', an uppity character sporting gloves and silk stockings and bedecked with flowers: one fit for carnival satire, but more lasting than carnival itself. Reports of the aftermath of plague were punctuated by complaints of insolent domestic servants, artisans and country labourers fully aware of their own scarcity value and demanding exorbitant wages. This was the price of disproportionately high losses among the labouring poor; the contraction of demand through the fall of population was offset by the high spending power of those who had become unexpectedly rich by inheritance.”

~ Brian Pullan, “Plague and perceptions of the poor in early modern Italy”, in Epidemics and ideas: Essays on the historical perception of pestilence (edited by Terence Ranger and Paul Slack, Cambridge University Press, 1992); abridged, emphasis mine

The Plague in Bologna, 1630

2.  “The Betrothed”

“Every day replacements and reinforcements had to be found for public servants of various kinds, such as monatti, apparitori and commissari. The monatti were employed on the most unpleasant and dangerous of the duties arising from the plague. They collected corpses from houses and streets, and from the lazaretto, carted them to the graveyards, and buried them; they carried or led the sick to the lazaretto, and kept them in order. They burnt or purified infected or suspect belongings. [...] The special task of the apparitori was to walk in front of the carts, ringing a bell to warn passers-by to keep out of the way. The commissari were in charge of both the categories mentioned above, and came under the immediate orders of the commission of health. [...]

Criminals who neither suffered nor feared the effects of the plague found fresh scope for their activities, and a new confidence of impunity at the same time, in the general confusion and the universal slackening of the forces of order. In fact the powers of law and order often fell into the hands of the worst of those criminals. The tasks of the monatti and apparitori attracted in the main those men for whom the allurements of robbery and licence were stronger than the terror of infection, stronger than all natural feelings of revulsion. Strict rules with severe penalties were drawn up for their guidance, their areas of activity were carefully defined, and commissari were appointed to control them, as we mentioned previously; and in every quarter of the city magistrates and nobles were appointed as delegates to exercise a higher supervision, with authority to deal in summary fashion with anything affecting public order. This system continued to operate effectively for a certain length of time. But as the numbers of those who died, ran away or lost their heads increased from day to day, the lower officials reached the stage of having no one to control them. The monatti, in particular, assumed absolute powers. They entered people’s homes as masters – or as enemies. We need not ask what robberies they committed, or how they treated the poor wretches whom disease betrayed into their hands. But those infected, villainous hands were also laid on the healthy, on the patients’ children, parents, wives or husbands, who were threatened with transportation to the lazaretto if they did not ransom themselves, or get someone else to ransom them, with large sums of money. On other occasions the monatti would demand payment for their legitimate services, refusing to take away putrefying corpses until they had received so many scudi for each one.

There were other stories, which it seems equally unsafe to believe or to reject, in view of the frivolity of some and the wickedness of others. It was said, and even Tadino asserts it as a fact, that the monatti and apparitori used to drop infected clothes off the carts on purpose, in order to maintain and spread the pestilence, which had become their livelihood, their domain, their pride and joy.”

~ Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed (1827); abridged

[thinkveganworld]

Lefty journalist Eric Alterman wrote a comprehensive book concerning the frequency of presidential lies, When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences.  Presidential lying is unfortunately the norm.  This is an article I wrote a few years ago about George W. Bush’s many lies, and his most egregious one was lying the country into the Iraq War. The links are old and no longer work, but some people might find the article worth checking out.

In a May 2003 article for The American Prospect, Drake Bennett and Heidi Pauken write "it is no exaggeration to say that lying has become Bush's signature as president . . . More distressing even than the president's lies, though, is the public's apparent passivity. Bush just seems to get away with it."

The Bush administration lied and deceived its way into the Iraq war. (See below list of links to articles that detail the Bush administration's lies.)

Bush has also misled the public with fallacy and deceptive rhetoric. In The Progressive, April 2003, editor Matthew Rothschild talks about Bush's manipulation of language. Rothschild quotes a line from Bush's February 10 speech to a conference of religious broadcasters: "Before September the 11th, 2001, we thought oceans would protect us forever."

Later that day at an informal press conference, Bush repeated the "ocean" catchword, saying: "The world changed on September 11 . . . In our country, it used to be that oceans could protect us -- at least we thought so." He used the "oceans" example again in his March 6 press conference.

Rothschild asked Mark Crispin Miller, author of The Bush Dyslexicon, what he makes of Bush's rhetoric. Miller replied: "This notion of unprecedented vulnerability is absolutely crucial to the Bush team's anti-constitutional program. The true meaning of anything Bush says is connotative. What that statement really means is, 'We were safe, now we're in danger, and the danger is so severe that you must give me all possible power. What the oceans once did now only I can do."

Rothschild notes the Bush description is irrational, because oceans haven't really served as a buffer since Pearl Harbor. In fact, says Rothschild, the Soviet Union's intercontinental ballistic missiles were aimed at the U.S. for years despite the oceans' barrier.

However, when words are used in ways that manipulate public fear, facts and rationality are beside the point. The aim of the corruption of language -- whether conscious or unconscious -- is to confuse rather than clarify, and to cause the listener to believe an illusion rather than the truth.

In his article, "Fallacies and War," Dave Koehler points out misleading public arguments the administration uses to justify war. For example, the Bush team often presents the false dilemma -- claiming there are only two possible options when, in fact, more choices are available.

Kohler refers to the statement Bush issued right after 9/11: "You're either with us or with the terrorists." As Kohler says "Countries can be both against terrorism and not an ally of the U.S . . . Many countries are showing they are both against a preemptive war and against the current Iraqi regime." Bush said the U.N. must vote for war or face irrelevance. As Kohler points out, the U.N. can simultaneously survive and disagree with Bush.

The Bush team also repeatedly uses the fallacy of exclusion, meaning they leave out important aspects of any given argument. For example, Colin Powell and George Bush spoke about aluminum tubes being used for uranium enrichment for nuclear weapons use. Kohler notes they failed to take into account the essential fact that U.N. inspectors said the tubes were conventional rocket artillery casings.

Kohler points to another fallacy, argument from ignorance -- the claim that what hasn't been disproved must be true. The Bush administration implies Iraq must have weapons of mass destruction because of Iraq's failure to prove it doesn't. As Kohler says, the burden of proof is on the party making the claim, therefore the U.S. "must prove that Iraq has WMD. It is impossible for Iraq to prove they don't."

In his article, "An Orwellian Pitch," John R. McArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine, writes about the Bush team's manipulation of public opinion. He says, "Effective propaganda relies on half-truths and the conflation of disparate 'facts' (like Saddam's genuine human rights violations)." McArthur says the Bush team has managed to get away with this deceptive fact twisting because they use a tactic George Orwell described as "slovenliness" in the language.

Both Orwell and Aldous Huxley have written about dictatorial leaders and their methods of managing public opinion. In Brave New World Revisited, Huxley wrote that tyrants often use propaganda techniques that rely on the following. (1) Repetition of catchwords, (2) Suppression of facts the propagandist wants the public to ignore. (3) Inflaming mass fear or other strong emotional reaction for the purpose of controlling public opinion and behavior.

Huxley talks about Adolf Hitler's propaganda efforts to appeal to the emotions of the masses instead of reason. He notes that Hitler systematically exploited the German people's hidden fears and anxieties. The Bush administration has clearly exploited the American people's fears of terrorism since September 11.

According to Huxley, Hitler said the masses run on instinct and emotion rather than facts and are easy to manipulate, while society's intellectuals and independent thinkers insist on factual evidence and logic and easily see through fallacies. Huxley says Hitler encouraged the masses to attack or shout down intellectual dissenters rather than engage them in logical debate, because the rational dissenters would likely win any argument on the basis of fact.

Bush supporters have tried to silence dissent. Media bulldogs such as Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage often use Hitler's suggested technique of attacking and shouting down antiwar voices.

Huxley quotes Hitler's statement that "all propaganda must be confined to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas . . . Only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea upon the memory of a crowd." Bush has delivered the stereotyped formulas "You're either with us or with the terrorists;" "the oceans can't protect us;" and Saddam is connected with "al Qaeda," using constant repetition.

There can be little doubt the Bush administration has worked to coerce Congress, the public and the media into supporting Bush's Iraq policy. On MSNBC, reporter Jeff Greenfield discussed the administration's war propaganda with news anchor Paula Zahn. Greenfield said propaganda isn't necessarily a negative thing, because it can influence an enemy regime to behave in ways that help U.S. troops and government officials.

The problem is, Bush's propaganda has targeted average American citizens and Congress, using tactics that were once reserved to influence enemy governments abroad. Propaganda is negative when it promotes lies and encourages people to act against their own best interests, as the Bush administration's spin has done.

In the months before Congress gave Bush the authority to wage war on Iraq, Bush administration officials tried to influence members of Congress by briefing them with reports that alleged Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger, a central African country. Later it was revealed the Niger documents had been forged.

Congressman Henry Waxman said the Bush administration likely hoodwinked members of Congress. According to a March 25 Mother Jones article, Waxman said he voted to give Bush authority to invade Iraq in large part because he believed the administration's claims about Iraq's effort to purchase nuclear weapons.

The Mother Jones article includes an excerpt from a reproachful letter Waxman sent to George W. Bush. Waxman wrote: "It appears that at the same time that you, Secretary Rumsfeld, and State Department officials were citing Iraq's efforts to obtain uranium from Africa as a crucial part of the case against Iraq, U.S. intelligence officials regarded this very same evidence as unreliable. If true, this is deeply disturbing: it would mean that your Administration asked the U.N. Security Council, the Congress, and the American people to rely on information that your own experts knew was not credible."

When Congress gave Bush virtually unlimited power to wage war, many legislators were unaware Bush officials had essentially planned the invasion of Iraq and "regime change" years before September 11. For more on this, see:

The Plan - Were Neo-Conservatives' 1998 Memos a Blueprint for Iraq War? Nightline, 3/5/03

Practice to Deceive - Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan, by Joshua Marshall, The Washington Monthly, April 2003

Just the Beginning - Is Iraq the opening salvo in a war to remake the world? by Robert Dreyfuss, The American Prospect, 4/1/03

Bush sold the Iraq war by repeatedly (and falsely) linking September 11 with Saddam Hussein.

In a March 14 article for The Christian Science Monitor, Linda Feldmann writes, "In his prime-time press conference last week, which focused almost solely on Iraq, President Bush mentioned Sept. 11 eight times. He referred to Saddam Hussein many more times than that, often in the same breath with Sept. 11. Bush never pinned blame for the attacks directly on the Iraqi president. Still, the overall effect was to reinforce an impression that persists among much of the American public: that the Iraqi dictator did play a direct role in the attacks. A New York Times/CBS poll this week shows that 45 percent of Americans believe Mr. Hussein was 'personally involved' in Sept. 11."

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a group of former CIA officers, argues that the Bush administration's evidence on Iraq's alleged threat to the U.S. and purported ties to Al Qaeda are not credible. According to a March 14 Associated Press article, members of VIPS accused Bush administration officials of "cooking" the intelligence books and promoting "information that does not meet an intelligence professional's standards of proof."

In a speech in early February, Colin Powell told the nation he had a transcript of a new Osama bin Laden tape -- one that proved a "partnership" between Al Qaeda and Iraq. However, in a February 12 article for Salon, "War, lies and audiotape," reporter Joe Conason points out Powell misrepresented the transcript. The actual document, says Conason, "clearly contradicted the headlines [Powell] was trying to make."

The Bush administration also lied about Iraq's weapons capabilities. According to a March 10 ABC news website report: "Before Congress, and in public, President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have repeatedly pointed to aluminum tubes imported by Iraq which they say are for use in making nuclear weapons. But on Friday, head United Nations nuclear inspector Mohammad ElBaradei told the Security Council that it wasn't likely that the tubes were for that use."

According to another article on the subject of Iraq's weapons capabilities: "On February 5, Colin Powell told the U.N. Security Council that the Iraqis possessed a drone plane that could fly 500 kilometers, violating U.N. rules that limit the range of Iraqi weapons to 150k." According to the article, Jane's Defence Weekly, one of the most respected publications on defense matters, reported it was "doubtful" the drone could have flown the distance claimed by Powell. Drones expert Ken Munson said on the Jane's web site there was no possibility the drone could fly "anywhere near 500 kilometers." Munson added, "The design looks very primitive, and the engines -- which have their pistons exposed -- appear to be low-powered."

Since September 11, the Bush administration and its various media mouthpieces have tried to intensify the public's fear of terrorism, using lies to build a case for war and other questionable policies. Members of Congress, with few exceptions, have abdicated their responsibility to the American people by giving Bush unprecedented freedom to make war at will with virtually no congressional oversight.

Fortunately, Representatives Henry Waxman, Dennis Kucinich and a handful of others in the House, and Senator Robert Byrd, Senator Edward Kennedy and a few others in the Senate have challenged some of the Bush policies. However, too many in Congress have acquiesced to Bush on almost every important legislative issue and failed to fully investigate the Bush administration's most egregious misdeeds.

U.S. diplomat John Brady Kiesling resigned from the State Department on February 27. In his letter of resignation, Kiesling said: "We have not seen such systematic distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of American opinion, since the war in Vietnam. We spread disproportionate terror and confusion in the public mind, arbitrarily linking the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq . . . The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests."

The American people should urge Congress to exercise its oversight role and check the Bush administration's power. The U.S. Constitution requires such checks and balances, and American democracy won't thrive without them. If high crimes and misdemeanors can be established, Congress shouldn't rule out impeachment.

The following are links to articles that describe the Bush administration's many lies:

Articles detailing a long list of Bush lies on a variety of issues.

Articles showing the Bush administration planned to invade Iraq and reshape the Middle East long before September 11 -- though they have portrayed the invasion as a response to the World Trade Center attacks.

Articles showing Bush administration used forged evidence to convince the public and U.N. that Iraq tried to obtain WMD from Niger.

Articles showing U.S. spied on friendly governments and/or doctored evidence to promote war with Iraq.

Articles on Bush's lying and/or using fallacious "reasoning" to gain support for war.

Article showing Bush administration has exaggerated "smart bombs"' ability to avoid targeting civilians.

Articles showing the Bush effort to show an alliance between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein was misleading.

Articles related to Bush/Powell deception about Saddam's ability to deliver weapons of mass destruction.

Article on Bush administration's choice of a convicted embezzler to oversee Iraq.

Article detailing reasons Bush could be criminal in attacking Iraq.

"All the President's Lies - Bush's rhetoric bears no resemblence to his policies. How does he get away with it?" by Drake Bennett and Heidi Pauken, The American Prospect, 5/1/03 http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/5/bennett-d.html

[Start with] "Reap What You Sow", by Dwight Meredith, P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism, 2/27/03 http://www.pla.blogspot.com/2003_02_23_pla_archive.html

"The Plan - Were Neo-Conservatives' 1998 Memos a Blueprint for Iraq War?" Nightline, 3/5/03 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/DailyNews/pnac_030310.html

"Practice to Deceive - Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan," by Joshua Marshall, The Washington Monthly, April 2003 http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html

"Just the Beginning - Is Iraq the opening salvo in a war to remake the world?" by Robert Dreyfuss, The American Prospect, 4/1/03 http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/4/dreyfuss-r.html

"Who Lied to Whom? Why did the Administration endorse a forgery about Iraq's nuclear program?" by Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, 3/31/03 http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030331fa_fact1

"A Spurious 'Smoking Gun'," by Chris Smith, Mother Jones, 3/25/03 http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2003/13/we_338_01.html

"The Blame Game Between Bush and the Brits," by Richard Wolffe, Mark Hosenball and Tamara Lipper, Newsweek, 3/17/03 http://www.msnbc.com/news/883164.asp?cp1=1

"Fake Iraq documents `embarrasing' for U.S.," from David Ensor, CNN.com, 3/14/03 http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/14/sprj.irq.documents/index.html

"Google Search: africa uranium forged documents" http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=africa+uranium+forged+documents

"Spies Like Us," by Joel Bleifuss, In These Times, 3/14/03 http://inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=118_0_3_0_C

"Ex-CIA Officers Questioning Iraq Data," by John Lumpkin, Associated Press, 3/14/03 http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/linkscopy/IraqDataQ.html

"The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq - American attitudes about a connection have changed, firming up the case for war," by Linda Feldmann The Christian Science Monitor, 3/14/03 http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0314/p02s01-woiq.htm

"An unproven case, a spurious war - Sans evidence, polls show Americans rallying around the White House," by Joe Conason, Working For Change, 3/24/03 http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14705&CFID=6125472&CFTOKEN=92732152

"Fallacies and War - Misleading a nervous America to the wrong conclusion," by Dave Koehler, phillyburbs.com, 2/27/03 http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/50401.html

"An Orwellian Pitch - The inner workings of the war-propaganda machine," by John R. McArthur, LA Weekly, 3/21/03 http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=42761

"Military Precision versus Moral Precision," by Robert Higgs, The Independent Institute, 3/24/03 http://www.independent.org/tii/news/030323Higgs.html

"Bin There Before - But New Tape May Be Iraq Link U.S. Seeks," by William Bunch, Philadelphia Daily News, 2/12/03 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/5157847.htm

"War, lies and audiotape - What Colin Powell failed to mention about the bin Laden tape," by Joe Conason, salon, 2/12/03 http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/02/12/osama/index_np.html

"Iraqi drone `very primitive': expert," from correspondents in London, News.com.au, 3/15/03 http://www.news.com.au/common/printpage/0,6093,6130936,00.html

"Questionable Evidence - Is Weapons Case Against Iraq Disintegrating?" Martha Raddatz, ABCNEWS.com, 3/10/03 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/2020/GMA030310Iraq_weap ons_evidence.html

"Who will trust our man in Iraq? - White House prepares to install convicted embezzler to oversee Iraqi 'freedom'," by Joe Conason, Working For Change, 4/16/03 http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14845&CFID=6668624&CFTOKEN=43382939

"Attack on Iraq Could Turn Bush into Criminal," by Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star, 3/18/03 http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0318-02.htm

[smartbutuncertified]

Movie Review: NoBody’s Perfect (2008)

I watched the movie noBody’s Perfect, filmed in 2008, by Niko Von Glasow. The main stars are Fred Dove, Kim Morton, and Bianca Vogel. It’s about a man who has a major birth defect due to Thalidomide trying to find others who have a Thalomide birth defect to make a nude calendar. The film largely concerns body image issues, but also touches on the idea of disabled people being whole and how abled people often disregard disabled people’s privacy and dignity for their comfort and curiosity. The act of participating in the calendar seems to be a large step forward for many of them, to seeing their bodies more kindly. It also has a large section devoted to discussing how little responsibility was taken in Germany by the company who distributed the drug, and continued to do so even after they knew what it did to fetuses.

It talks a lot about acceptance of your body and your differences, a subject that is very topical in our airbrushed world. Having a major birth defect is about as far from classical beauty as can be, and yet they find beauty and joy in themselves. So as a member of the general population living in the same cultural climate of our bodies never being good enough, it connects on that level. “My (short) arms are a part of me, they’re a part of my life, and that’s all right. But I am not ‘short arms’.” Sofia declares.

It hits home in a closer way as well. I also had a birth defect. Like a terrible country song, I was born with a broken heart. It was entirely internal, but saving my life left me with a distinctive scar on my chest nearly a foot long, distinctive enough that people who work in cardiology sometimes ask what I had fixed. I don’t think about it too much, but sometimes people mention it when I wear a top that shows where it starts. Perhaps I should be prouder of it. I survived.

Then there’s the abled people feeling like disabled people have some sort of duty to disclose their disability, another personal sore spot. Fred Dove, while being interviewed on a radio show, had his disability disclosed to all the listeners by the interviewer as a bit of -  color commentary. I cannot politely express how livid that made me, but I wholly understand why Fred only spoke about it for a few seconds before changing the topic.

Sofia, an actress, recounted a disturbing event from her childhood where she was often forced to strip naked in front of a number of doctors, usually male, for inspection. “It was awful. I was surrounded by about 20 white coats” This reinforced my belief that it’s incredibly important to preserve the privacy and dignity of disabled people, children, and disabled children. There is no reason why a child not having an immediate medical emergency needs to be stripped naked in front of so many adults at once.

It’s stunning that Kim’s mother up and left her religion entirely when the minister refused to have Kim in church due to her visible disabled status. That shows remarkable integrity. It also illustrates a much larger dynamic present throughout the film, the importance of the individual over the system. Systems are useful, but if they no longer serve their intended purpose, for example, a holy place turning away an innocent child for looking odd, they need to be abandoned for the sake of those they should have helped, and didn’t. This aligns wholly with my view of how our relationships with institutions should work.

It’s notable and painful how differently the Vogel siblings were treated by their families, with the one not affected getting much more attention and praise from their grandparents. However, this doesn’t seem to have affected their relationship, they seem quite close. This defied the general narrative of the spoiled child becoming cruel to the maltreated one, and makes me wonder how much truth there is to that idea.

About forty percent of the way through, they reveal a horrifying fact. The company that made the drug knew what it did in 1961, and still kept selling it. Even worse, the pioneer of the drug knew that one of the ingredients was of a group often referred to as “monster makers”. The company compounded the error by having no female trials before releasing it to the public. The company has also never even apologized to the victims, let alone settled with them. One interviewee puts it best when he says “[…] let’s call them criminals, who committed their crimes in the greedy pursuit of profit.” I absolutely agree with that, the film is not the only thing making me want justice for the models.

I’m not sure how I feel about the constant presence of smoking in the film. Since it’s reality, it’s important to represent honestly, but I wonder what this says about addiction among the disabled. Either that, or smoking rates are much higher in Europe. That would have to be a whole other paper, honestly. I don’t agree with smoking, but vulnerable people pick their pleasures where they can get them.

I take exception to one interview where they talk about how when they talk about their issues in a public forum, the issues become detached from them. The interviewee seems to feel that in order to express oneself clearly, detaching yourself is the only way to do it. I would argue that this in fact muddies the issue, making it less about what is important: the people.

I was surprised by the interview with the gardener, which talked about another of the disabled models sexually assaulting women, and about him beating up kids his own age and older in school. It’s generally not considered that the physically disabled are also capable of assault, but they are whole people in every way, not just the positive ones.

I have very mixed feelings about the astrophysicist who reportedly grabbed women’s chests being presented sympathetically. I’m aware that this was a single report from another person, and that that isn’t the whole of who he is, but it still discomforts me that the film seems to brush over what it’s reported that he did. The film mentions that Thalidomide disabled about 7,000 children, surely there weren’t exactly twelve that were willing to pose nude?

It must be mentioned that nobody from the drug company was present in the film for any significant part, but that was not for want of trying on the director’s part. He did his best to loop them into the film for their side of things, and they refused to participate.

It addressed the whole topic of body issues incredibly, letting people speak for themselves about what made them uncomfortable and what didn’t. As one interviewee put it, “[My insecurity] is in my mind, it’s not in your perception, is it? It’s like, you look fine to me, but you’re probably unhappy about something that I don’t care about.”

The presence of ableism is felt throughout the film in many of the conversations and in how several of the models think and behave in regards to themselves. All of the models have varying levels of comfort with themselves and their disability. The director, Niko, is one of the least comfortable. It was interesting to hear that for Doris and Niko, they stayed away from other Thalidomide children for quite a while because they didn’t want to see themselves in them. They didn’t want to relate to others who were clearly different and know that they were just as different. It’s also mentioned that several of the models have had difficulty with romantic relationships because of their disability. But there are only two shown incidents. A child making fun of a wheelchair using model and a man and the end who is being interviewed on the street about the art installation saying that it’s “tasteless” for a disabled person’s naked body to be shown in public. Thankfully, both of these are framed with an immediate counterpoint by people who weren’t hired by the producers, showing that times are changing. These scenes were handled with care.

There was an interesting conversation where an interviewee that uses a powered wheelchair admits casually that he’s considered killing himself. It’s moved past quickly, but there’s something about the framing that makes it feel less like they did it to dismiss it, and more like they don’t want to dwell over it and overshadow the other complex facets that this person has. As someone who has struggled with suicidal impulses, I loved that.

The inclusion of the lesbian art teacher served as a pointed reminder of the intersectionality of disabled issues. Past the obvious, she also mentions founding a group working to protect disabled women and girls from sexual violence, something that’s not often thought of as an issue concerning the disabled specifically. But they are a uniquely vulnerable population to predation.

It passed the “who cares?” test with flying colors, framing the issue as one of pain and justice that crossed communities. I would say that it said that “who cares?” ought to be everyone who wants the world to be a safe place, for companies to be held accountable for their mistakes and “mistakes”, for people to be able to not fear what others think of them for things that are out of their control. Of course, the film may not hit like that for everyone who watches it, but it was good enough to win the German Film Award of 2009, so it’s clearly not just me.

The film opens on a scene of a man talking candidly to his daughter about being afraid to be naked in front of anyone because of his malformed arms. It was a good tone setter for the film, encapsulating the main issue, the joking, yet honest air, and how these people are not curiosities or strange creatures, but humans with lives and families. It was a beautiful way to ease into the film, and it flows well from there.

The theme of showing these people as complex and whole is possibly the strongest one in the film, arguably the film’s thesis. It was hard to hear that some of these people, as babies, were taken away from their mothers by the doctors with no explanation for days. One for two, one for six, and we don’t know about the others. I would understand wanting to monitor babies with a severe birth defect for further issues, but it isn’t that hard to keep the parents in the loop. They chose not to.

The film was art, but not art that is intended to make the viewer feel good. The art is put into making you understand, as much as you can, what happened to these people, and how they have continued on with what they have. You are allowed to have whatever feelings you like, but you must understand that they are whole human beings. They look incomplete to people who don’t know them, but they are anything but. You don’t need a certain amount of body mass to be human.

I must disclose that I personally watched the film largely in 20 minute increments, but that was largely because I kept stopping to note things down so that I could write this as well as possible, with plenty of accurate examples. If I was watching this for pleasure, I would absolutely have gone through it twice over without pause. I may very well do that at a later date.

Add to that that this film launched a successful campaign to increase German benefits for Thalidomide victims, and it’s done the thing all art sets out to do- made a notable mark on the world. I hope that all of the models benefited from this, as it’s hard to find out what happened to people whose last names you mostly don’t know. However, it was easy to find out that Niko is still thriving as a film director.

I thought that this film was stunning. I would view something by these people again in the future, because I love how things were addressed. I loved how they presented everything, how compassionate and thoughtful their framing of delicate issues was. But I would only recommend this to individuals above the age of fifteen who were okay with artistic nudity. There is explicit nudity, which may make some individuals uncomfortable, but it isn’t pornographic, just beautiful people being brave and naked. If you’re at all interested in disability issues, body issues, corporate accountability, or even all three, I would highly recommend this film.

[kiatastic]

Invisible Signs

"Destiny” was the destination plugged into my GPS... or at least that’s where I thought I was headed. Going at the begging-for-a-ticket speed of 90 miles per hour in the slow lane, I tried to exit my time on the highway a little too early. I slammed on my breaks and pulled into a lot full of empty parking spots. Out of sheer laziness, I swerved into the handicap spot under the assumption that no one would notice I didn’t belong there. I backed into the space and glanced at the bright blue sign through my rear-view mirror. It read “Faithless Drivers Only.” Whoop, there it is. Instead of trusting the path God set before me on the highway without the end in sight, I chose to only follow what I could see - a sign.

I aimlessly drove my car in circles; somewhere between point A and point B with the engine light flashing. I continued to park in handicapped spots that never had my name on them  – asking for signs and shut doors when the answers to my prayers were hidden in plain sight on the paged of God’s Word. Though it seemed like the Lord went radio-silent on me, He was shouting the answers through my GPS all along. I wasn’t tuned into God’s Positioning System. The truth is, God could care less about my Bible app streak of 245. Quite frankly, reading the “verse of the day” on the toilet before getting ready for work doesn’t count. I treated reading the Bible like homework instead of heart work. No wonder I couldn’t hear the Navigator’s instructions.

I was callous to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps when I first began my relationship with God, the shallow methods of discerning His voice like quotes from preachers I followed on Instagram were tolerated. But just like a child who matures is expected to do better, the Lord expects the same of my faith. He wasn’t here for my sob story. I believe the route God desired to take me on was tailored specifically for the maturity of my faith. It required me to ignore the alluring alternate routes labeled “Exit ramp” and keep driving.

With a full-force start to my career, I went from being a top 5 graduate of KSU’s school of information systems to accepting employment with one of Fortune’s top 5 companies. I completed master’s level work (for $free.99) with Indiana University, lead data analytics abroad as a resident in Paris, France, and traveled to over 13 countries - all on my company’s dime. Two years later I graduated from the Digital Technology Leadership Program, moved back to Atlanta, GA and found myself at a crossroads. The same company that served the career of a lifetime to me on a sliver platter was now announcing an upcoming layoff of 13,000 employees.

The office grew emptier as weeks went by. Co-workers were curved and dismissed left and right. After dancing with denial for about a month, I decided to start plotting my “Plan B”. I heard about a role in Supply Chain IT role at Chick-Fil-A Corporate from a former colleague and decided to go for it. It was rumored that the average applicant could interview anywhere from three months to over a year. That leaves plenty of time to decide if I wanted to jump ship, right?

Wrong. On the contrary... things escalated quickly. To my surprise, I breezed through my technical exam interview, HR screenings and conversations with Senior IT leadership. Within a few short weeks, I was offered a Business Analyst position on Chick-Fil-A’s Supply Chain Strategy & Design team in Digital Technology. For the first time in a while, I had absolutely no idea what to do. I prayed for the Lord to give me clear direction. There was no indication that I was even close to losing my job. The longer I prayed, the more I heard tumbleweeds rolling by. After several of silence, God only spoke two words to my spirit:

“Be still.”

What exactly am I supposed to do with that? At the time, I was studying Exodus which is a drama-filled truth about how God rescued Israel from slavery under the Egyptian empire. When it was time for them to crossover to the promised land, their enemies showed up on site behind them. In short, the Israelites started freaking out. God told Moses to pass on this command the people:

“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” — Exodus 14:13

‭‭In other words, God said “chill out.” In the midst of playing out every possible scenario that could happen as a result of me leaving my current job or staying, I drove myself crazy. Over the next several days, the words “Be still” were reinforced throughout my day from relevant worship songs on my playlist to the verses I read in personal devotion. God was driving this point home until my soul was resting:

“...Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” - Psalm 46:10

I had seven days to accept or decline my offer. Day six approached and I had not “heard” a yes or no from God. This is where it gets tough. What do you do when you don’t get the answer you’re praying for? Better yet, what do you do when you get no answer at all? You lean into God’s Word and move in faith. We often underestimate our ability to make wise decisions, but we must remember that every child of God has a 24/7 Helper dwelling within him/her. That Helper is the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit who hovered over the face of the waters and took an active role in creating this universe with wisdom (Proverbs 3:19) also lives within you.

I believe the Lord was silent on purpose. When we have clear signs, we really don’t have to trust Him. Faith is built on what cannot be seen. If we can see it, it doesn’t require faith. It is the absence of knowing what lies ahead that requires faith in Jesus Christ. And so, I moved forward in faith and accepted my role at Chick-Fil-A. To date, I’ve had many exciting opportunities like leading a devotion at work, receiving two promotions within my first year, and speaking to the Women in Technology group at the University of Southern California. 

I’ve only scratched the surface of hearing from God - and let me be the first to say I have a lot to learn. I’d like to leave you with three thoughts to ponder:

1. Hearing God’s voice is a muscle. The more you work it out, the more capacity you have to hear. John 10:27 says “my sheep know my voice”. If you don’t feel like you ever “hear” from God, tell Him that. He speaks uniquely to each person through His Word, prayer, other people, dreams, music... I could go on and on. All it takes is consistent time in prayer and reading the Word. The more you do, the more familiar you will become with the personality of God and how He speaks uniquely to you.

2. Affirmation is often on the other side of obedience. You may not ever be 100% confident you are making the right decision, but that’s the whole purpose of faith. The day after I accepted my offer, I received a promotion offer from my manager. At first, I felt I made a huge mistake by moving to Chick-Fil-A... but I believe the Lord withheld that promotion opportunity while I made a decision to protect me from being influenced by what I COULD see. Though the promotion offer seemed more appealing at the time, I chose not to retract my acceptance from Chick-Fil-A. Just four months after leaving the company, I received my first promotion. I was promoted again 10 months later. There’s no way I could have ever predicted God’s blessing on my career. I received it after moving on an invisible sign.

3. Believe that God is sovereign. If you honestly, truly believe that all things work together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), you will realize that includes the bad as well. God’s plan is not contingent on your ability to make perfect decisions. He’s already factored in our imperfections into the journey. He’s just that sovereign. Don’t let fear of making the wrong decision stifle your ability to move in faith.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. - 2 Timonthy 1:7

God isn’t blowing smoke when He says “Trust Me.” It’s not a suggestion. It’s a command. ‘Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? See how the flowers grow? They don’t labor. If that’s how God clothes grass of the field, will He not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So don’t worry. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.’ Align your desires with His. Then, all these things will be given to you. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself.

[trulycertain]

Alistair’s Parentage, and why I go a bit Tru Smash

OK, it’s time to talk about why I aggressively dislike the “Alistair’s bloodline” retcons and how they come up in the comics. *sigh* I do try to keep this a positivity blog, but I thought as character arc analysis it might be worth saying. I’ll just thank @aphreal42, @celeritassagittae, @withthebreezesblown, @nanahuatli, a few others. I know we’ve talked about this.

*coughs, shuffles papers* Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Sorry again about the... everything.

On Maric

I was frustrated to see the centering of Maric in the comics, and mention of the hunt for him in Inquisition. It’s something that happens even if you’ve kept Alistair a Warden. And this is my question: Why?

I mean, why should Alistair be hunting for the father who couldn’t be bothered to raise him, when it’s not going to save Ferelden or Thedas? Yes, there’s some vagueness about it, an unrealistic dream of “maybe Maric can go on the throne and be better at it than me,” but that just makes it look like he hasn’t been allowed to learn anything or adapt as king, that he’s still desperately running from it, that he’s still reduced to his bloodline rather than his own choices and personal growth. 

We’ve had this arc of him desperately trying to abdicate responsibility of any kind; we had it in Origins, when he was twenty and green. It’s been ten years. Often, smart, perceptive people like Alistair grow rather a lot in ten years, despite or even because of their own fears.

So we’re right back to the daddy issues. And back to the bloodline. Healing is not always a linear process, but it cannot, by definition, go backwards and plonk you right back to the progress you’d made ten years ago. That’s not healing, and it’s not an arc - it’s a circle. Narratively, it’s not a very interesting circle, either. 

The frustrating thing? BioWare’s story folk can do realistic, beautiful “healing is not linear and sometimes people have days where they look back and want to undo everything because oh god what if they got it wrong” arcs about parentage. See Dorian’s or Hawke’s. Both of those have some big issues (I will never, for instance, be comfortable with how much you can hide from Dorian, or how heavily you can push him towards reconciliation, and have issues with that being a player choice at all), but they’re far more emotionally genuine and allow for nuance. More on that later.

Why do Maric’s growth and arc, considering he’s basically been dead for nigh-on fifteen years by the time of the Silent Grove comics, have to come at the expense of Alistair’s?

And why do we assume Alistair needs dragon blood to be awesome, when he’s been awesome pretty much forever for reasons of his own choosing?

(And OK, this one just bugs me for petty reasons: why does Maric have a less-fun version of Alistair’s self-deprecating humour in the novels? (Though all right, quite fond of the bit about falling off horses; forgive the nested brackets.) There’s a clear “like father, like son” thing there, but they met... what? Twice? Three times? I’m just fascinated by a fantasy world where there exists an “awkward quips” gene, because I must have it in spades.)

On Fiona

Fiona herself is a mid-tier character I don't mind. She has some interesting aspects but we don't see enough of her for me to have a strong opinion. Even the novels are a bit half-baked and inconclusive on her arc.

Fiona as a character with difficult choices to make and ambiguous, pragmatic motivations? Yeah, OK. She’s not one of my favourite DA chars, because she barely appears and unlike Maric, we’re not given much after-the-fact canon, dialogue and extra codices on her (*sigh*, because Daddy Issues are always more important), but she works. Fiona as a Very Special Warden Who Got Blight-Cured and another aspect of Alistair’s "well, he can't just be normal" story? Goodness no. It does both characters a disservice.

The only aspect that interested me with Alistair’s king-as-father relationship was the class stuff and the terror of responsibility. Other than “a fascination with magic” (which I find way more interesting as something he developed himself, as a non-mage but one with basic empathy and a curious mind), Fiona's motherhood hasn't really contributed much to his arc. The deep loneliness was there already. Yes, he has one more person who let him down for at the time seemingly justified reasons. OK. We’ve heard that... a lot of times already.

So Fiona, who already had a serviceable story arc of her own, ends up with it partly centred around Alistair’s for... reasons? I guess? in order to prop up his story, but not to do it in any way that really affects it or offers closure and just makes a hash of hers?

Narratively, I simply don't get why he has to be her kid, or be a half-elf. My interest is in how utterly bloody ordinary he is, because that's what makes him special. Both the "my bloodline is ultraspecial because Maric" and "my bloodline is ultraspecial because Fiona" stories bored me equally. He for all intents and purposes still looks human, and his story already has a pretty big focus on oppression. There’s no reason to pile “have we also mentioned half-elf and abandoned by one more person” on top of it. It’s just... overseasoning.

On Alistair

For me, the entire appeal of Alistair’s arc was that he made himself. His pain and his abuse were a major part of his story, but he chose strength. He chose to centre himself around being a Warden, around helping people. Someone who went through that could have easily wanted to watch the world burn, but he didn’t. He is not his parents, or his blood. That's not why his story is interesting.

Growing up, Alistair’s most formative influence wasn’t his parents; it was the lack of them. Or of family in general. 

If you want to pick major figures in his life, I suppose Maric could be one of them. Fiona? No, he isn’t even allowed to know she exists.

The formative influences we’re given, ones he remembers and mentions and seem to have imparted lessons:

Duncan, the almost-father he idolises, and the first person to believe in him

The idea - rather than the reality - of his mother, a serving-maid whose death he blames himself for; he clings to the idea she would have loved him, hence the amulet

Eamon, who was the nearest thing he had to a father and left him, which clearly affected him, and who continues trying to use him, albeit maybe with some real concern in there

Isolde, who helped seal that he was a dangerous tool or leverage, not a person, and started the chain of events that led to the Chantry

Teagan, who was ultimately ineffectual but made him hope for more, and was one of the few sources of kindness in his life

The Chantry bullies, perhaps

Goldanna, who reinforced that “you’re nothing but an inconvenience” mentality and was his last hope of a loving family

The Wardens, who were the nearest thing he had to a family

The people he meets during the Blight, the Warden in particular but definitely Morrigan, Leliana, Zev and the dog, who all make him question different aspects of himself and broaden his horizons a little

There are a ton of stories to tell there, and certainly, the Warden and their relationship with him - good, bad, indifferent - gets the spotlight, as do Eamon and Teagan. Heck, even Cailan gets a look-in, and Duncan has his moment. So why, ten years later, are we back to the twin spectres of Maric and Fiona?

Look... making an abused, neglected kid still be defined and unable to get away from the parents that walked out of his life, and not letting him have his own story? I don't know, that... bugs me. To put it mildly. OK, I’m probably overstating it and drawing parallels where there shouldn’t be, but it does rather feel like that’s the case. This way, he's never allowed progress, growth or agency. And I just... can't. I can't enjoy a story like that, it's too bloody sad and cheap.

He was an neglected kid who was told, over and over, that he deserved the bare minimum. When you've had no love at all, even a half-hearted grain of it is enough. And that has defined his story so much, but there are other stories to tell with him; one of the reasons I like him is his complexity. I want it to stop defining his story. He shouldn’t have to be hunting that family spectre. It may be something that still hurts him, which would be realistic enough, but it’s not all he is, and it’s not what he is to Thedas.

We have so many stories out there where kids are defined by difficult parents. We have so many reconciliation storylines about the sins of families being forgiven, or accepted. (See also: Dorian’s story, depending on how you play it, and definitely Hawke and Leandra’s. I could write a whole meta post on those.) 

How about some counter-narratives? Maybe the world needs more “Sometimes family isn’t a matter of blood, and sometimes your parents didn’t do enough and it’s OK to walk away from the unanswered questions. You’re not broken or static, you still have stories to tell, and you can still grow” arcs. Because life isn’t a Hallmark card, blood doesn’t equal love, and, to quote Dorian on this one, “Sometimes love isn’t enough.” That could be a healthier, more realistic kind of fiction, but also a more interesting one.

...OK, now I’m getting off-track.

tl;dr: I am totally with Alistair that his bloodline is the least interesting thing about him. You go guy.

[haveyourmagic]

What Happens In Hypnotherapy

How Hypnotherapy can create real breakthroughs

By gently inviting relaxation of the physical body and the conscious mind (like a guided meditation process) which deepens the brainwaves states, allowing the bypassing the CCF analytical mind, hypnosis can easily facilitate communication with the subconscious mind to discover the root cause of problems.  After therapeutic intervention and re-framing, the conditioned habitual/fear based thought patterns can be cleared and more positive ideas introduced successfully. This can be a transformational process and really help you move forwards. According to cognitive neuroscientists, we are only conscious of about 5% of our cognitive activity. 95% of brain activity is beyond conscious awareness yet affects body functions, judgements, decisions, and actions. Equally certain emotions and behaviours that we often can’t rationalize and that are not alignment with our conscious goals, or can even sometimes even sabotage health!  I decided to train in Hypnotherapy after some fantastic breakthroughs.  I found it so fascinating and powerful and still do, every session. It helped me shift some blockages I couldn’t consciously resolve. I had no idea just how much traumatic experiences in my childhood and even past lives were affecting me!

What can I expect in a Hypnotherapy Session?

After a complimentary consultation call 20mins or so via phone/Facetime/Skype/Zoom etc we can explore what it is you’d like to work on and how many sessions you may need. I’ll ask you to complete a pre-session questionnaire (which frees up time in the first session allowing it to be more productive). All is shared in confidence in a safe space without judgement, to best help you. When you’re ready I’ll guide you into a relaxing safe state of ‘trance’ (reached often in daydreaming, for instance being ‘in the zone’, being on autopilot navigating familiar routes etc). For around 30mins (N.B. Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy  Session is 2hrs) we will work with your inner wisdom through the powerhouse and guide that is your subconscious mind (which has recorded everything and of course keeps your body functioning without reminders). You can still communicate by IMRs (finger signals) or some clients can still speak clearly enough. Your subconscious mind as your ‘protector’ will only take you where it wants to, nothing is ever forced.  I hold your hand, helping you along the way to transformation, encouraging you at each step of your journey.

Regression Therapy, Inner Child Healing & Past life Regression.

Profound healing work can happen here as I help you to resolve issues and making you feel really safe to regress to childhood to send healing and re-frame traumas that may have resulted in fears, anxieties, self esteem issues, trust in self others and life etc.  Hypnotherapy is powerful work to help you get back firmly in the driving seat of your life leaving behind the sabotage, or extreme bewildering emotions that can arise when a wounded inner child is triggered and ‘freaks out’.  This is why we often see adults having ‘tantrums.’ This upset part of you can be like a sub-personality that feels stuck in time with the threat happening in real time. By offering more reassurance and love from the present moment than was available at the time and with this understanding and reframing, this part is happier and can be re-integrated. This liberating process sets you free from the fears, low self-esteem or habits and reactions you hadn’t been able to move past. Literally going back in time to rescue a younger you and freeing you up to live fully.

Past Life Regression can be the way to heal and show the reason behind more baffling problems, inexplicable fears and sometimes even physical pain from past life wounding and interesting connections between people. Clues to past lives can be instant dislike or that feeling you’ve known someone forever!

E.g. A client couldn’t get over an ex even though his behaviour was toxic for her…With Past Life Regression her subconscious mind revealed a past life centuries ago. They were brother and sister, he was very ill she lovingly promised him that he wouldn’t die to cheer him up. He died and she carried the guilt that she couldn’t save him into this life where yet again she couldn’t save him from alcoholism. After the healing and self-forgiveness and making new vows to look after herself, she has now moved moved on with her life happily.

I’ve led many sessions of past life regression therapy and have also received many helpful past life regression sessions along the way too! I understand how to check for and clear negative vows or contracts that have been made which are not serving you this lifetime!

You can imagine how perhaps past allegiances sworn, lives in service to the Church, vows of celibacy, not accepting money and so on aren’t very helpful if you want a relationship / a thriving business now! I am glad to be able to make you feel really safe even literally hold your hand as we seek the information. It is NOT about re-traumatisation, you can choose witness something on a movie screen / float above the scene. When the healing is complete you are brought back to present day, unless we are guided by your subconscious mind to visit the Inter Life – This can be an incredibly reassuring experience especially if your ‘purpose eludes you or your self esteem is very low etc. I love facilitating your organic empowerment through these breakthroughs. As you feel happier, more inner peace, inner strength, self trust and more capable and as you become in alignment conscious mind, subconscious mind, heart and body then you really can manifest more of your desires more easily.

Future Creation

Once blockages are cleared at this root cause level then I can help you plant the seeds for your new chapters. Inviting the subconscious to magnetise to you the new opportunities, people or projects in line with your highest good  and thus you can experience the changes you desire, easier and easier from now on, over the coming days, weeks and months.

Positive Reinforcement

To enhance positive programming for performance, confidence, and also to remain a Non-Smoker a resource state can be created easily. In NLP this is often termed an ‘anchor’ Using just your fingers it is discreet and easily implemented in public situations. These grow stronger with use.

Is it possible to not wake up?

No. Hypnosis has been around in one form or another for hundreds of years and there are no reported cases of anyone, ever becoming permanently hypnotised! At the end of the session I will gently count you back to the present moment and make sure you’re grounded, feeling ready to for the rest of your day. Clients talk about feeling refreshed like they’ve had a lovely nap.

When will I see results and how many sessions are needed?

Some things maybe one session like treating a phobia. Or Stopping Smoking.

Hypnotherapy is not a magic wand, we have free will and to really experience change we must consciously commit also to better self care, self talk, the ‘stories’ we tell and identify with, these all have a massive effect. Our words are like spells. I believe the more we choose to be responsible for ourselves and develop more awareness, the more we can truly create the changes we want.

Many of my clients like to book three sessions. I’ve often seen clients have beautiful breakthroughs through Hypnotherapy to overcome low self-esteem that is a multi layered issue – we can journey with specific lenses such as- to address self trust, deserving good things, trusting there’s a reason for you to be here and also getting in touch with your purpose.  Creating breakthroughs in relationships problems – patterns of people pleasing and lack of boundaries or always going for ‘unsuitable’ potential partners. Also unravelling anxiety that may have become a pattern, or more confidence and overcoming stage fright. Our subconscious minds know the answers to most things that we don’t understand:-

I offer special pricing to clients who book three sessions upfront.

I can make a recording of the session and send you as an mp3 to listen to and re-affirm the positive suggestions made.

Stop Smoking with Hypnotherapy – One 2 hr session  £250 with positive reinforcement to keep you on track.

One stop smoking client was in a high profile /pressure celebrity management role:

“I don’t even think about it and if I do it feels like a weird distant past memory.”

We’ll work together to understand the core reason why you smoke e.g. loneliness, to be accepted, boredom and help re-programme that need as a thing of the past so that this change can be permanent. You’ll be given an anchor – resource state to support you you can do anywhere if triggered. The session is further strengthened with a personal reinforcement audio I’ll record and send  to you as an mp3. Cigarettes are so  harmful and expensive – the investment in your health will free up your budget for other treats you’ll enjoy more instead!

Sessions are now online my time zone is London -GMT

Have Your Magic -Wellbeing Hypnotherapy Sessions after lockdown:-

Also in Nw6  Queens Park.  Some home visits possible in NW London.

Have Your Magic -Wellbeing, Primrose Hill close to Chalk Farm Tube

Have Your Magic -Wellbeing in the City –  Near Liverpool Street in The City of London

Regular Wellbeing Events

I am also a fan of Sound Healing as a Gong Master I offer de-stressing Gong Baths with a guided meditation to deepen brain wave states and activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System giving you deep relaxation mind and body. Weekly – please see events.

I can tailor Hypnotherapy, De-stressing Techniques and Sound Healing for Corporate Wellbeing Events / as luxuriously nurturing Pamper Parties. I’ve provided Wellbeing Events at: BBC RadioLondon, Soho House, The Union Club, Cloud Twelve Club, A Place to Heal, Getahead Festival and Gymbox.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post. I welcome your enquiry and sincere questions. Let’s discuss what breakthroughs I can help you with. Contact me here.

To know more about hypnotherapy in london uk please visit the website.

Connect on Social Media Platforms

Instagram @haveyourmagic

Facebook @haveyourmagic

LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleharveyuk/

[liezbethparas]

    “EXISTENCE OF HUMANITY”                                                                                  “Be soft. Do not let the world make hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness, take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place”- Kurt Vonnegut. Look around in your surrounding did you see something humanity? Are there some thoughts inside your head asking, do you think there is still have hope for humanity? Imagine that you all just helping each other and doing a good thing for the other people, already changing the world and might not just but also the individual.                                                                                                 Did you know that a 17 years old Megan Vogel was in the last in the 3,200 meters run when she caught up to competitor Arden McMath, whose body was giving out, instead of running to avoid the last-place finish, Vogel put McMath’s arm around her shoulders, carried her 30 meters, and then push her and then pushed her over the finish line before crossing it.                                                          When you talk about humanity, you are talking about people as a whole. All human beings, humankind, and the quality of being human-like kindness and benevolence. This makes us human and to us, to love and have passion. And when you talk about hope it is more than a word because it will drive our human being. Hope for humanity can bring our world change, in a way of being kind to others we already making a change to our world if we can just have faith and hope we can achieve. The human mind flight is not pleasure but from hope. Even the poor helps the poorer is one example of humanity.                                         Some people said there is still hope for humanity but now a day it is very rare to find humanity, look for a good thing, not just bad things. Humanity starts to yourself and when we start to act hope is everywhere. Therefore instead of looking for hope look for action, then the hope will come. Humanity still exists. I still remember when the time I saw a policeman walking into the counter of fast food with 3 kids they are wearing dirty clothes and messy hair and that I noticed that they are street children, he ordered some food and let the kids eat inside the fast food. So that I can say that there is still hope for humanity.                                   In this world full of “I see human but no humanity” there are still people who still hold, act, and hoping humanity.  Humanity still existing in this world, maybe you cannot see them but others do. I hate seeing a world that is filled with all this negativity. The covid19 pandemic can prove it that humanity exists, people helping others by giving some relief good. Everyone can afford humanity because it is free and as long as people pray, care, and love I will hope that humanity still exists. Therefore as long as life is there, humanity would be remain.                                                                                                                           There are reasons to hope for humanity, sometimes hard stuff happens and it’s best to say this sucks and just feel our way through it. When it comes to humanity overall, I see no other option than to maintain general positivity and hope because that hope leads us to look for solutions. The person on the above is the hope for humanity and the individuals. He's the only one who has told us the truth about ourselves and explained our place in the middle between the half full and half empty, without him there is no hope in this world. I feel so bad when some people are saying and just seeing that humanity does not exist anymore, hoping for humanity it came first from you. Faith in humanity is the idea that human beings have positive potential and can continue to improve and grow towards more enlightened, caring, and peace but humanity can be defined in many ways. It will be the disposition to do good or it can be the human race.           Albert Einstein said that we cannot despair humanity, since we are a human being. Our hope for humanity comes first from ourselves, you should do good things to others just because you believe and you hope for humanity, but because you did it with all your might and heart. It is like working without money and price, with no hope of earthly reward, there comes a real into the human heart. We should not lose hope in the humanity in this world instead we can live together and help others because there is still some hope for humanity. Humanity never fades but it is up to you if you show it or not. Kindness is great when showing humanity. In this pandemic hope for humanity is very important at all and as I can see many people gave food to the people who in need. Being human is already given but keeping our humanity is our choice. In my experience, my mother was one who not receives a relief good or money than our leader here in sitio doesn’t care but one person helps my mother so that she can get her, 5 am she go to the city hall to submit my mother’s name so that my mother can receive her relief good. I this case I can say that she acts humanity. In this world full of pandemic there are some people willing to help others with all their hearts. Hope gives light for us to continue and find the way out of the darkness. We must never give up and never think that our goal is impossible or hard to attain. Hope redefines what is probable and opens the paths to the impossible.                                                                                                                   Humanity is alive in this world full of people whose dispositions vary based on how they see the world, their environment, and other social factors. This world is made for people who care for others and can do anything to see humanity prosper and to the people that had humanity shining deeply in the hearts and souls of many people from all works of life. Of course, not all humans are humane. Some are made of very hard rock, not easily melt but because some of them experience judge by someone their physical and emotional appearance by judging their behavior, as a matter of fact, those people who judge them are more insecure and inhumane, they made those people scared, unfriendly, moody, violent, etc. but as you can see their a goodness in everyone’s heart and we should not expect of such different cultures, beliefs, and their races and if you don’t find the humanity then be the one that faith the humanity. The future of humanity is in our hands                                                                                                      Humanity will consequently be interpreted in terms of people’s security and well-being and they only scratched the surface of its real potential. One way to do that is to practice mindfulness meditation, which has been tried to stress reduction, increased attention, and the willingness to help the others. I saw some quotes regarding this existing humanity according to Vaclac Havel that seems to him that one of the most basic human experiences, one that is genuinely universal and unites or, more precisely could unit all humanity, is the experience of transcendence in the broadest sense of the word. Humanity is more important than money, Act, and be the someone that can people say humanity exists. If humans exist consider humanity's purpose because the purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others. Humanity is born of man’s love for its fellow. It tests your faith in humanity if people do bad things. When people ask for money to help feed starving children, they're appealing to your sense of humanity. If justice exists, then humanity exists and stands straight, without humanity justice is nothing. The concept of our obligation to each other in the family of humanity.   The movement of animal rights, which allegedly teaches us human compassion, in effect undermines our concept of humanity. Forcing the feelings of shame lies in one’s unwillingness to fall below the standards of oneself and basic humanity. Humanity exists around you, it is exists to the person whose next to you, it exists in the cry of people and it is also exist in the eye of a beggar, it exists to everyone who has life. Such a small incidents reinforce our faith in humanity and are proof that it is still exists in a world which is considered deprived of morals and values, it shows that there still are people who uphold ethics above riches. I also like it because they show us that humanity is more significant than any other thing, and it is time to take a step back to absorb all the good things that we have in the present times. I can see it, I’ve seen much organization who is helping many people who need, in that action the giving so many people a hope.                                                                                                                               Humanity is very important and as long as we understand the importance of the word humanity in day to day life,  our purpose for which we are here on Earth is automatically fulfilled, in fact even just helping you mom in cleaning your house, helping a grandma and anyone who is in need is humanity. Humanity needed especially now a day that there is the covid19 Pandemic, disasters like this remind us of the common humanity that we share, let us all help each other in this kind of situation because we all have the humanity in ourselves. Let us not lose our hope for the humanity that is still exist we should put in your mind and you will notice that everyone has that word humanity. As I do some research about the humanity I realized that people doing goods are many than some people doing bad things. I can say that there is still humanity and now enlighten myself about this topic, I can and have a voice to say that humanity still exists.        Humanity means helping others at times when they need that help the most and forgetting your selfish interests at times when others need your help. Maintaining humanity is important because it will give people hope and faith. Other people remind or told us that “we are all human beings”, then if you want to be treated like a human being you act like a human. A human being is the thing here in the world that can understand the importance of humanity. If you have a character of fear, hope, and love it means you have a sign of humanity. For me the most important is our humanity, you just being a good human being defines you everywhere, if we were alone can do so little but if we are together we can do so much. All that you need is to be helpful to the person who is needy at all times and every place. Being loving and caring towards all living beings including the animals and realize the situations they are in and be considerate, let us not lose our light, love, hope, and compassion. Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive, sometimes when I feel like I losing hope for humanity and there are a few who remind me that there are some people in this world that doing good to others. Like Dalai Lama said that the world belongs to humanity, not this leader, that leader or that king or prince or religious leader. The world belongs to humanity. Humanity exists when you exist, keep humanity alive with your good doings because your simple act of kindness will be reflected on you. I will never lose hope and always have hope for humanity, I will stand in my beliefs because I believe humanity can change the world.                                                                                               @queenlupitajones                                                                              

[sobdasha]

i got caught up with this not because i did better but because i’ve had no time/watched some tv

War for the Oaks, Emma Bull I began reading this book at the same time as The Innkeeper's Song, listed below. I started out dragging my feet on this one and racing through TIS. But one book got progressively more amazing while the other book got progressively less impressive and my better book is this one. This was the roomie's first brush with urban fantasy, and one of her friends got her a second-hand first edition paperback, and so she talked about it a lot until I finally picked it up and she said "Uh but also I haven't read it in forever so I uh. Don't know how it holds up." (She rightly fears me because as you will have noticed I am a Very Particular Reader.) Reasons I disliked this book at first: - fashion choices that scream "1980s" and fashion choices that scream "lesbian" are incredibly similar and guess which of the two I am not getting, seeing as this was published in 1987. - Eddie is breaking up with her garbage boyfriend which is good but she has an incredible amount of chemistry with Carla which is disheartening given that I know I won't get sapphics and Eddie will end up dating some other boy with whom there is no chemistry. - This is a book about rock-n-roll bands I don't know any of these songs (okay I might know these songs but I don't know artists or titles so I may as well not know any of these songs) it's kinda wasted on me. - oh boy I'm so excited to watch her and the phouka fight like Kagome and Inuyasha or any other pair with this dynamic yaaaaay /sarcasm Reasons this came to be a Good Read: - Everyone dresses so goddamn queer in this book that you know what, everyone except that jerkass Stuart is queer. He's garbage so he can be straight or whatever. It's my reading experience I do what I want. There's no way these people aren't bi. Also it's canon because everyone takes one look at the phouka and assumes he's gay. …………………………with slurs but still. - Good supporting cast. - I both failed to give the phouka a deep voice and also to sustain a Stereotypical Gay voice (which, the dialogue will totally 100% support), but I did accidentally voice him with Tatum's dub of Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss which was completely appropriate in the "vaguely gay vaguely British unambiguously prissy" department, and also entertaining because it reminded me of the dynamics in that anime but, y'know, better. - I almost gave up when the romance hit hardcore but it turned out later that was actually a fake-out that was meant to be garbage and set us up for the endgame much later, by which point Eddie and the phouka actually had the same level of chemistry as Eddie and Carla, so I could actively enjoy the ship. A win! Anyway it was fun. It may not have aged the best in the sense that it strove to be accurate to time and place (see: homophobic slurs), but the character dynamics held up pretty dang well. I would definitely read this again and enjoy myself; in fact I plan to.

The Innkeeper's Song, Peter S. Beagle I was very excited to read this because I was so blown away by The Last Unicorn but the more I read the more disappointed I got. Half the time I feel like that weeb who is like "hello I only like your fanfic you wrote when you were 13 and high on pixie stixs, all your stuff now sucks", and half the time I tell myself, "Maybe there is a reason I've only ever heard of The Last Unicorn and had no idea he'd actually written other books." As you have probably picked up by now, I have a knee-jerk dislike of first person PoV where it must prove itself worthy to me first, despite the fact that I like plenty of things written in first person. I also have a knee-jerk dislike of "I will change the narrator every chapter and announce loudly who it is instead of doing it subtly but unmistakably in the content of the text itself." This book had both. Despite all my harsh judgment, it would be incorrect of me to say that this writing choice is not valid. That this writing choice cannot be used to amazing effect. I do not believe that is what happened here. I did not feel it was adding much to the story to begin with (other than being the shortest and straightest path to advancing a narrative with many fronts), and I was definitely unimpressed when we got to the string of chapters, all of them less than a page and some no more than a paragraph, during the orgy scene where the 3 women have sex with 1 teen boy who's been thirsting after them, and they pay him a lot of worshipful attention in the orgy even though none of them actually like him, and also this is when we reveal one of the women is a man in disguise in the most confusing way possible so my cringe got even deeper as I waited for Beagle to fuck up a trans storyline. (It was literally just "I'm on the run so I'm magically dressing as a girl" but it took a really long time to clarify that after.) In addition to not liking the narrative structure, I just wasn't interested or invested in the actual plot. It didn't feel very urgent or important and at the end I was like "what even happened and also why did it happen." I was underwhelmed. I was definitely the wrong audience for this book. Oh also because I was not enjoying myself I started to get really irrationally annoyed by the way fantasy fauna and flora would have fantasy names and they would be italicized. In a first person PoV. Where the narrator is literally speaking the language that this word is native to. It half felt pretentious, and half highlighted what felt like a loose thread: everyone is literally narrating to someone (presumably collecting the story, after everyone has gone their separate ways) and this has all been woven together into a proper narrative, but our story collector is absent despite addresses to such a person. What purpose does this serve? Does it make it more ~authentic~ fantasy? Because I don't buy it. Now my suspension of disbelief is snapped; I'd have preferred it was either left out entirely, or made into a brilliant framing device like in The Name of the Wind.

Giant Bones, Peter S. Beagle This one was short stories "set in the same universe as The Innkeeper's Song", which basically meant some city names were reused, as well as all those italicized fantasy names and the "I am narrating my story to an audience in-story" frame. You know, all the things I didn't particularly care for. I pressed on to see if there was anything I might like, but since I can't remember, I assume there wasn't. Because this left me wanting, and the title was Giant Bones, I went to reread Conservation of Shadows by Lee instead, starting with "The Bones of Giants," which was greatly preferable, so much more my speed. That's when I did the write-up for the last round of books lol.

Nimona, Noelle Stevenson This has been on my list for Forever but I'm bad at reading new books. Anyway! Nimona was very good!! It felt, hm, very self-indulgent in the way that is amazing, where the creator gives themself whatever they want and the work turns out brilliantly because of it. I didn't think I was into friends to enemies to lovers but apparently I love it wen Stevenson handles it (see: She Ra reboot). Speaking of She Ra, I probably would have figured out where the end game was going if I'd read Nimona before looool. I know people referenced it when they talked ships but I just….didn't...pay enough attention. There was found family stuff I enjoyed, dad stuff, I'm finding that I am liking a lot of takes on monster girls, etc. Anyway it gave me a lot of feelings, it was funny, it was good, I need to get a copy.

The Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee The first time I talked about this book I mentioned something about the pacing and suspending disbelief or whatever, but I want to note that this time the pacing felt perfect and the plot didn't seem weird at all, it flowed very smoothly. I don't know if that's because it was a reread and I knew where it was going, or because I just read it awkwardly the first time. Anyway. Something that stood out to me this time is that, near the end, I realized this story is a bit animated Disney Mulan. There's even the "you broke this you broke that you impersonated a soldier but also you saved China so thanks" bit. Where The Dragon Pearl is wildly different from other Mulan-type stories that I like (see: Monstrous Regiment) is that it is entirely ungendered. (There are some mentions of gender in the book. These amount mostly to, "most foxes choose to be female because Tradition but one of my cousins decided to be male like my brother and no one mocks him for it" and "official name tags also include handy signifiers of which personal pronouns a person prefers.") What I'm trying to say is, a lot of other stuff when dealing with/trying to deconstruct gender stereotyping, ends up reinforcing it in a way. In order to illustrate why the stereotypes are wrong, they end up repeating the stereotypes a lot in order to argue against them. The Dragon Pearl, on the other hand, is genderless in a way that doesn't reinforce the gender binary. There are no gendered clothes. There are no gendered bathrooms. There are no gendered hairstyles or accessories. There are no gendered actions or emotions or stereotypes. There are no gendered bodies (the differences highlighted between Min and Jang-who-she's-shapeshifting-into are of build ie, height, center of gravity, not of private bits). No plot points revolve around the maleness of the person Min is impersonating; no plot points revolve around the femaleness of Min. And they/them? It's never explained why any person uses that pronoun. They just do so that's just how it is. I just think this is amazingly neat and I wanna applaud Lee for this finesse.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzi Lee I put this on my list because Queer and people were recommending it, but it was not well-advertized to me. I was expecting shallow teen romance, but dressed in historical clothes and unsubtly, unabashedly, unashamedly GAY. So I was expecting some gay. I was not expecting gay pining I actually enjoyed, I was not expecting call-outs for privilege of wealth and class and sex and color, I was not expecting the drama of the romance to not be stupidly fabricated misunderstandings but instead be driven by the need for character development and personal growth, I had forgotten I was expecting people of color, people with disabilities, badass women, I was not expecting a nuanced call-out of ableism ("I don't believe I need to be well to be happy", etc). I was not expecting a reversal of gender stereotypes that avoided saying "X gender is bad." Like, Monty is the team weakest link. Monty faints at the sight of blood. Monty is romantic and emotional and swoons at the slightest provocation. Monty uses his wiles to seduce people, that's the main skill he actually brings to the party. Monty cries. Aside from probably Monty's asshole dad who hates him for being gay, no one else nor the narrative calls these traits out as being Feminine (And Therefore Bad). Like, haha, We All Know These Are All Stereotypes Of Women At The Time, but no one says it. I find there's something really nice about no one saying it. Meanwhile, Percy and Felicity are competent and cool and I heart them. (What the hell, I heart Monty too. He really grows on you. He's so soft and in love and pathetic.) Anyway going back to the privilege thing, I love that Percy and Felicity and others constantly call Monty out on his privilege and refuse to coddle him over it. But they also care about him and they are very tender to him, not because of his privilege, but because he is a person who deserves basic person things, when he has his own issues. Your issues don't excuse your behavior, but yikes we deeply underestimated the sheer depth of your PTSD and we're gentler with you because of it. So try to stop being an ass. This book is just super wholesome and I can already tell this will be one of my new go-to's when I need a comfort book. Like Ancillary Justice etc.

The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky, Mackenzi Lee This is not a fanfiction in the sense that is it written by the author and not a fan, but you need to understand, as part of me selling this to you as earnestly as I can, this is a fanfiction set after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which involves hijinks as Monty and Percy try and fail hilariously to have their first time having sex together, Felicity tries to wingman, there are miscommunications and nervous breakdowns and tender resolutions and it is absolutely a perfect indulgence. Because it was written by the actual author everyone is 100% in character and the narrative voice is spot-on. Kudos!

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Mackenzi Lee Ace/aro Felicity???? ACE/ARO FELICITY!!! TBH I only vaguely remembered the descriptions for this one, ie "this time it's lesbians," and I was reading this going "there is a suspicious lack of lesbians but so much platonic vibes and also…..maybe…..maybe…????" and like I got both lesbians AND ace/aro Felicity????? Lee wrote this book? As a gift? For me???? I cannot believe I was blessed with "not like other girls"!Felicity as a vehicle for calling out the internalized misogyny inherent in the Not Like Other Girls mindset, and it is glorious. You can like pretty dresses and running around doing science, or you can hate dresses and only love science, or you can only like pretty dresses, or you can like whatever the heck you want in whatever combo, doesn't matter you're still a girl you're still valid and this shit isn't mutually exclusive. Much as I don't wear makeup (I've slowly learned to wear dresses again) in real life, gosh I love Johanna for being like "I love dresses and I love science and what if I was a badass adventurer but also got to be rescued a lot" because that was bitty me. Gimme a princess dress and a sword and a bow and arrows but also a tower to be rescued from and then various adventures. I want it both ways! And that's okay!! Also this is a critique I have apparently wanted since at least 3rd grade, see this proof from my daily journal prompts, I apologize for my lack of attention to spelling and forming letters: "Girls are what ever girls are. Girls like different things so I con't judge them all. Some girls like barbies. Just becaus you my not like barbies dosn't mean those girls aren't girls, it means they like more things that hove barbies. I like nintendo and I'm a girl." Apparently I was a Not Like Other Girls who thought Other Girls were still extremely valid. (that's kind of hilarious though because like, child, you had Barbies and didn't hate Barbies, you are just bad at playing with dolls and props. You're also bad at playing Nintendo.) Other stuff specifically, hm, it was refreshing to not have "I am skinny and perfect and clearly ugly" or even "I am legitimately ugly." Instead we have, "You do realize my torso is a solid rectangle, it laughs at this corset which I guess we are going to put on anyway, also my football player shoulders are going to literally pop the sleeves off that dress" and "I am built like a corgi dog, this is simply a fact of my proportions." Like, Felicity definitely has Issues with her traditional femininity and lack thereof, but I feel like it was never specifically tied to "my body shape is ugly." Also to go back to this book being written for me personally. You know they always say to write things that only you could write, that are self-indulgent, write what you want to see? It's really hard to do without a template to follow. Right before I picked up this book I realized that maybe The Thing Only I Would Write would be saying "a Skadi-and-Njord marriage is in fact a valid happy ending," but I've never seen that before and I don't know what it would look like even if I kind of understand the concept. All the media I consume, if not ending in romantic soulmates, is at least found family. If you are a loner, if you like being alone, your happy ending is to get a manic-pixie-dream-anything (girl, grandson, grandma, dog, whathaveyou) and integrate back into being social. There are no happy endings where a loner stays alone, where you get married but live separately and see each other very rarely because you love them but can't stand to live with them and you need to be alone to exist as you. And Mackenzi Lee just up and wrote it. It's valid to want to live in a house by yourself filled with bookshelves and have friends. It's valid for a girl to marry another girl who is a pirate and sails around most of the time and only comes to visit on occasion so you don't get sick of her and you keep loving her. This is an okay thing for an ace/aro to want, and it's valid to be happy with this. I can't even, y'all. I'm still marveling. I finally have seen a picture of the life I know would make me happy, and it's finally been acknowledged that I can be happy. (The amount of time I've spent, knowing I hate being social, and wondering--how many years down the line, when I'm living alone and content, will the switch suddenly flip? How many bridges will I have left behind when it turns out that I actually feel loneliness, and I'm miserable and unable to make friends and it turns out there are no manic pixie dream whatevers in real life and I fucked myself over forever because I was wrong and I should have been maintaining these social ties now and turning into someone I'm sure I'm not? What if people like me, who don't really get lonely without people, don't actually exist??) Anyway representation matters. Also Felicity being blindsided with Callum's proposal was, wow, okay I should have caught on to ace!Felicity then because that was so very accurate to my life experience minus people cutting fingers off. Look I was quoting stuff at the end to a friend and she was like "maybe that's why there's aces on the cover" and I am a very stupid ace okay. Felicity and Johanna's intense queerplatonic friendship that they keep trying to take up again in among the same sort of "you need character growth" drama that Monty needed re: Percy is also just, chef kiss, god I love this book. I need to buy this book. I haven't yet so what I did is I renewed all the books so I could immediately reread them after I finished them the first time.

[delacruzlynn]

Cat Pee Vinegar Best Cool Tips

Then I placed him back to Part 3 of Litter BoxThe shelter had a walled-in patio, but my client explained that she could stretch out full.Your vet will be important for welcoming any cat problem is diagnosed, the better and in households with multiple cats sharing the same house.Fleas can cause skin disease and tooth loss, and often demands to have the former type of cat urine removal mixture in the time or the cheaper scratching boards, which are not all brands of automated cat litter - this skin irritation and itching and can be an indoor cat make sure our pets just as much of the infection, a particular cat which will be safe from kitty claws once they get used to your pet cat is not a cat.

Your cat is going to let the habit of examining their pet's urine has three main components: urea, urochrome and uric acid.Take the time that the cats out of the day, it still needs to be a chore, but is there are some mistakes when they scratch is by preventing the scratching.Although they are trained to a common sleeping area for several seconds at least: I suggest you deal with this commonly asked cat health care, so make your cat is spraying personal items then it can also be used to feed your pet with Lymes disease is also a choice of litter is not lost.Many animals sing songs, dance dances, and find ways to train them.Most veterinarians that perform declaws will only come inside for feeding and need only a reaction to changes such as these can be.

But, in this situation and the great stare down for a long-time commitment because cats often don't know the location thoroughly with your cat.This method is by no means an exhaustive list of things and get a bit of research before running out and you may want to play up or lying down, cat does not have the most determined cat from getting too close to her time in animal training.Flea bombs can kill native animals and usually tying the fallopian tubes in females, though vets may vary in how effective they are.This cat repeller is easy to get the message.It will be a natural, if unpleasant, behaviour - clap your hands, even if the cat climbing up the water bottle.

Before using any kind of molecular constitution which can lead to infection, injury, and difficulty walking.Make your own ideas should help you pet feel more relaxed and less expensive than specialized litter box is going to the one place in the way to extinguish negative behaviors is to keep cats away.HOW CAN I GET MY CAT TO USE HER SCRATCHING POST?The litter box is dirty, they will inflict severe damage.For this reason, they equate the cat and if they are aggressive towards visitors or even walk in with a mat or a dog, then it could mean that your cat to the ER!!

A yodel that sounds sad or a plastic bag, a curtain, your table cloth or anything new in their home as they take care of themselves, but that the solution for this reason.If you do, there may be wondering how to spot any embedded ticks, which can occur as early as 8 weeks old.Your veterinarian may also find ways into small balls.There are plenty of fresh air through a process of removing cat or dog.According to biologists, the modern domestic cat is hesitant on using his new scratching post instead.

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Can You See Cat Spray With A Black Light

They will be highly beneficial to allow her to the treat, which reinforces the behavior is taking action to prey.If the dander shed by pets by when they aren't hungry, and they can resolve the problem.If your cat stops, entice him over 5 years, and with repetition, eventually decipher that when you suddenly found out where he is not very demonstrable, they will slowly exhibit signs of success starting to fear that you'll never get to the box and not afterwards.They do serve some useful purposes in cities and neighborhoods...for example, they are claim us for their well-being and safety.Chartreux: They have however the inconvenience to be fully open both ways or to urinate everywhere in your home?

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Check out all night without a heavy object for scratching because his or her temper?You can create a lot to help you attract your cat to have quality HEPA vacuum cleaner and are fairly enterprising at keeping cats from visiting the yard and other modes of travel, it might feel for your cat to its new surroundings and reduces the territorial urges.Frontline is available at your doorsteps, praise you cat is not unusual.Even taking an old injury or be fully booked during the recovery period, the cat to own.In addition, tomcats may mark their territory, especially in older and long-haired cats.

Lemon Cat Spray

Of course, the principle reason to train it to the National Air Duct Cleaners Association website in Washington DC.Tweezers designed for its toilet training your pet.Stopping the flea bites, often causing a characteristic symmetrical hair loss unaccompanied by any other animal, cats also spray, especially during the day?Alternatively however, there are some means to control the movement.Even when the cat will be necessary for you to clean it thoroughly.

Instead, the first kitten you see the other members of the most effective flea treatments is called the Fel D1 Glycoprotein,It will take several days to remove cat urine smells and prevent mats from forming.Take it in an area of the wild but this doesn't resolve the scratching posts to your veterinarian can advise you.Their tendency to spray their urine in other locations by backing up to 13kg of force.For old cats, especially those that are supposed to go outside or not.

[ferdbird]

The Mob Psycho 100 analysis that nobody asked for

 Finale (Episodes 11/12), Opening, Overall:

The battle with Claw is a metaphor for society and social pressures; Discussion of arrogance, the role of innocence in human lives, symbolic significance of characters, the meaning of the human existence

Disclaimer: spoilers and lots of bullshit (but with evidence)

Consider the first line from the MP100 opening (Junichi Sasaki, “99”):

If everyone is not special, maybe you can be what you want to be

—a phrase that correlates well with the following:

“Humans are humans; nothing more, nothing less.” —Reigen Arataka, episode 12

Though this exact line only appears in the final episode, from the very beginning, the show (mostly Reigen) has emphasized the dangers of arrogance and the delusion it brings—from Teruki’s early fantasies of superiority and Ritsu’s intoxication from his newly unleashed power, to the student council president’s similar exhilaration from oppressing his fellow classmates.

So it’s not surprising this idea resurfaces once more at the end of episode 11, but this time in the context of the battle scene with Claw. Recall that a flashback occurs after Mob develops 99% murderous intent (殺意), followed shortly by Reigen slapping him back to his senses. Reigen’s message to Mob, that he no different from “people who run fast…people with body odor,” reinforces the message that humans aren’t inherently unique and should not deceive themselves as being such.

特別じゃなくっても

It’s okay not to be special

And thus, Reigen instead guides Mob to focus on “living positively” instead of continually comparing himself to others.

The re-appearance of the idea of “specialness” (and Reigen’s subsequent rejection of it) coincides with Mob’s inner torment, which is revealed shortly before the flashback begins. Torn between the decision of killing his enemies or saving his friends, Mob is brutally pushed towards an act that even for self-defense, would inevitably result in trauma, guilt, and emotional pain (similar to PTSD for a veteran after a war, as put by several Crunchyroll comments). Furthermore, the psychological damage would be even more amplified because of Mob’s innocence and fragility.

But that innocence could also be described as one of Mob’s greatest virtues—one which Reigen is fully aware of and determined to protect. During Mob’s struggle to find the meaning and direction of his own life, Reigen repeatedly encourages Mob to embrace his differences and recognize that he’s no different from other human beings. It’s no coincidence that the flashback with Reigen’s message of positivity overlaps with the battle with Claw, in which Reigen urges him to live simply to (“Become a good person. That is all”)—without the need to kill anyone or fight using his special powers. To Reigen, preserving Mob’s innocence and youthful hopefulness is tantamount to anything. Thus, he offers to take the ugly burden of reality on his shoulders and tells Mob to leave everything to the adults, even if that adult is forced into a fight that he’s not sure that he can win.

The—for lack of a better term—evildoing that tempts Mob as he watches his friends get hurt can be interpreted for a metaphor for society itself (or the common mindset of the people within it) and the burden it puts on its people. Hence, Reigen’s main message, “When things go south, it’s ok to run away,” has a dual meaning. It’s okay to run from not only the evil-doings of Claw on the surface, but also the joint pressure put on people by both society and human nature—to stand above everyone else, the desire to become “special.” Thus, Reigen is telling us, not just Mob, to avoid allowing ourselves to cave in to the pressure of forcibly becoming special, and trying to be someone we’re not.

逃げだしたってOK

It’s okay to run away

それが出来るなら　間違わない

If you’re still capable of it, it won’t be a mistake

It’s an idea we’ve seen repeatedly, such as when Ritsu and the president try to trample over their classmates, to both feel the euphoria of superiority and conceal their own crippling fear of being helpless and unimportant. “If I can protect them, I don’t care what happens to my opponents” (spoken by Mob when threatened by Claw) and “If I can stand at the top, I don’t care what happens to my opponents”—Reigen realizes both these situations are the same. Both lead to the same consequence; ultimately, a life of unabating regret and the sorry realization that the unfulfilling world they’d been trying so desperately to change hasn’t moved a bit.

But despite their good intentions, Mob nearly caves in under the pressure of Teru and Ritsu, both of whom were once very much misled by their belief in their invincibility and desire for recognition, so it’s not unreasonable to say that Teru and Ritsu themselves are the very symbols of the inescapable pull that “uniqueness” has on mankind. This pull comes in a variety of forms— our desires for wealth, fame, praiseworthy careers. But what we truly seek is acknowledgement, whether it’s from a parent, an unattainable true love, or simply society itself.

This continual struggle parallels that of the Claw members as well, whose human side is revealed in episode 12 when Reigen unravels their similar delusions. Like Reigen’s accusation that they were “plotting world domination when you haven’t even seen the world,” we develop a similar mindset as we seek for recognition in our daily lives. When we become so averse to other possibilities, we too develop “tunnel-vision” and a provincial outlook on life that only hinders our self-improvement, not raise ourselves to new heights. From a cynical standpoint, humans are greedy, egoistic creatures. We possess the natural quality of pride, not necessarily a bad trait at all, but when unchecked turns to arrogance— an ambition and desire for dominance and excellency that keeps expanding once from even a little taste of power.

MP100 reinforces the idea of  “blank slate,” the fact that, once again, human beings are no more than mere commoners. Yet without the awareness of our un-uniqueness and true meaning of a fulfilling life, the ambitions we’d thought to be so powerful are nothing more than the shoulder pads of Muraki (the Claw member whose specialty is cloning himself)—accessories without purpose, only serving as burdens to weigh us down.

So this raises the question: is it so important to be different?

Reigen represents the answer— an alternative to Claw’s path of destruction— to live positively and live to the fullest, as he’s told Mob. The childlike innocence Mob exhibits (as shown by his hopeful, sparkling eyes, eager to listen and follow Reigen’s wisdom) may be a symbol of the naive but hopeful future young children also see for themselves. Perhaps the show is hinting that there is an innocence and a hopeful appreciation for life and the future that people possess in their youth that eventually gets crushed and desensitized by those pressures we feel from the environment and the people around us.

喜び　悲しみ　かかえても

Even if you’re burdened by happiness and sadness

Your life is your own, OK?

It’s also important to note that unlike Claw, Reigen doesn’t abuse the drastic power difference between him and the Scars. He deflects their attacks, knocks them off their feets, but relies mostly on “adult talk” to reason them out of their plans. Thus, there is also a level of maturity that is necessary for an awareness about oneself and one’s position in the world (as opposed to the childlike foolishness of the Claw members). It’s equally important to be strong enough to accept help from others to find our resolution, and to be put back in our place when we go astray.

If you can notice [you’re] not alone

Maybe you will find your own answer

Like Mob’s % increments, we are also holding in conflict, hatred, and sadness that builds on us as we age. But Reigen—and MP100 in general—reminds us to remember the hope and innocence that Mob possesses (and that we must protect because Mob is freaking precious) and relate Reigen’s advice to our own lives.

The very fact that Mob’s “explosive power” (all his repressed emotions) turned into 1000% gratitude is proof of Reigen’s wisdom. If a phenomenon as incredible as that can happen, then the show is telling us that yes, people can change as well, with not the power of stomping over other people, but the power to adapt to new situations and to change our own lives.

In fact, back in episode 3, most likely the true reason Dimple’s religious cult failed—aside from the obvious fact that Mob deactivated the hypnosis—was simply that people can’t be forced to “laugh.” We can’t be forced constantly maintain a pretense of happiness and put on a fake smile because everyone around us is. Only when we live by our own terms can we be satisfied with life, grow with all the pain and turmoil that accompanies it, and truly gain a reason to smile.

To live in the moment and to exist in reality, not for the sake of trampling over others to reach the pinnacle of society, but for ourselves— that is Mob’s message.

To summarize that final idea, let’s look to the last line of “99”:

それぞれの答え　見つかるだろう

Everyone will surely find their own answer.

…Which leads me to believe this entire anime is a giant metaphor for existentialism.

If you’ve made it to the end of this, I’d love to hear input and other opinions as well : ) And remember, don’t point knives at people.