#and reformed enforcers great

[julietwiskey1]

My biggest pet peeve for Arcane fanfics is when Piltover is 100% the good guy. And that Vi becoming an enforcer makes everything alright. Or Caitlyn is able to make corruption not a thing by merely being sheriff.

Things would get better but things would still be awful. Piltover isn’t bad because enforcers are corrupt. The enforcers are corrupt because Piltover is corrupt. They care about their money and nothing else. Not a single councilor was from the underground or cared about it. It’s why they ignore the underground.

Enforcer being from the underground doesn’t make them good. It doesn’t matter what they are but what they are trying to hold up. They are an organization to hold up Piltover and suppress the underground. Some of them being from Zaun does not change that. It just makes them turn coats.

It’s why Ekko doesn’t get along with Vi in league. She turned against Zaun for Piltover. She is part of the organization used to suppress them. The best path for Vi being an enforcers is one that has Zaun and Piltover separated. One where she leaves it all behind instead of becoming the tool of injustice.

Zaun needs self governance. Not councilors or a sheriff who feels the need to except control over them. The chembarons won’t give it to them, but the councilors will never do it either. It’s why the Firelights are so hopeful. It’s a group who may actually have a chance to grow and proved the leadership Zaun needs. Not the control of the councilors or chembarons.

But ultimately I think peoples love for Vi and Caitlyn blind themselves to the wrongs of the enforcers. It makes them think that they are fixable and can be good for Zaun. But that isn’t the case. Because the problem is far beyond them. Disinterest in Zaun is best for them being the good guys.

[medicinemane]

Final thought, the cut off for any welfare program at minimum needs to be 150% of the poverty line (ie, the poverty like is $10 the cut off should be no lower than $15)

Cause the poverty line, one assumes, is the bare minimum we're saying everyone should be at, and surely welfare programs are supposed to be meant to help people below that

If you cut it off right at the line, then people aren't going to be able to get out of poverty, because any time they get close they're suddenly going to be on the hook for like $1000 or more between the various welfare they might be on, and honestly only a fool would push past that if pushing past it means falling back down again

150% at least means that they've got a chance that maybe now they're picking up the slack of all the stuff they're losing

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Prison-tech company bribed jails to ban in-person visits

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroe (Apr 11), then PROVIDENCE (Apr 12), and beyond!

Beware of geeks bearing gifts. When prison-tech companies started offering "free" tablets to America's vast army of prisoners, it set off alarm-bells for prison reform advocates – but not for the law-enforcement agencies that manage the great American carceral enterprise.

The pitch from these prison-tech companies was that they could cut the costs of locking people up while making jails and prisons safer. Hell, they'd even make life better for prisoners. And they'd do it for free!

These prison tablets would give every prisoner their own phone and their own video-conferencing terminal. They'd supply email, of course, and all the world's books, music, movies and games. Prisoners could maintain connections with the outside world, from family to continuing education. Sounds too good to be true, huh?

Here's the catch: all of these services are blisteringly expensive. Prisoners are accustomed to being gouged on phone calls – for years, prisons have done deals with private telcos that charge a fortune for prisoners' calls and split the take with prison administrators – but even by those standards, the calls you make on a tablet are still a ripoff.

Sure, there are some prisoners for whom money is no object – wealthy people who screwed up so bad they can't get bail and are stewing in a county lockup, along with the odd rich murderer or scammer serving a long bid. But most prisoners are poor. They start poor – the cops are more likely to arrest poor people than rich people, even for the same crime, and the poorer you are, the more likely you are to get convicted or be suckered into a plea bargain with a long sentence. State legislatures are easy to whip up into a froth about minimum sentences for shoplifters who steal $7 deodorant sticks, but they are wildly indifferent to the store owner's rampant wage-theft. Wage theft is by far the most costly form of property crime in America and it is almost entirely ignored:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/15/wage-theft-us-workers-employees

So America's prisons are heaving with its poorest citizens, and they're certainly not getting any richer while they're inside. While many prisoners hold jobs – prisoners produce $2b/year in goods and $9b/year in services – the average prison wage is $0.52/hour:

https://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2024/0324bowman.html

(In six states, prisoners get nothing; North Carolina law bans paying prisoners more than $1/day, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly permits slavery – forced labor without pay – for prisoners.)

Likewise, prisoners' families are poor. They start poor – being poor is a strong correlate of being an American prisoner – and then one of their breadwinners is put behind bars, taking their income with them. The family savings go to paying a lawyer.

Prison-tech is a bet that these poor people, locked up and paid $1/day or less; or their families, deprived of an earner and in debt to a lawyer; will somehow come up with cash to pay $13 for a 20-minute phone call, $3 for an MP3, or double the Kindle price for an ebook.

How do you convince a prisoner earning $0.52/hour to spend $13 on a phone-call?

Well, for Securus and Viapath (AKA Global Tellink) – a pair of private equity backed prison monopolists who have swallowed nearly all their competitors – the answer was simple: they bribed prison officials to get rid of the prison phones.

Not just the phones, either: a pair of Michigan suits brought by the Civil Rights Corps accuse sheriffs and the state Department of Corrections of ending in-person visits in exchange for kickbacks from the money that prisoners' families would pay once the only way to reach their loved ones was over the "free" tablets:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/jails-banned-family-visits-to-make-more-money-on-video-calls-lawsuits-claim/

These two cases are just the tip of the iceberg; Civil Rights Corps says there are hundreds of jails and prisons where Securus and Viapath have struck similar corrupt bargains:

https://civilrightscorps.org/case/port-huron-michigan-right2hug/

And it's not just visits and calls. Prison-tech companies have convinced jails and prisons to eliminate mail and parcels. Letters to prisoners are scanned and delivered their tablets, at a price. Prisoners – and their loved ones – have to buy virtual "postage stamps" and pay one stamp per "page" of email. Scanned letters (say, hand-drawn birthday cards from your kids) cost several stamps:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/14/minnesota-nice/#shitty-technology-adoption-curve

Prisons and jails have also been convinced to eliminate their libraries and continuing education programs, and to get rid of TVs and recreational equipment. That way, prisoners will pay vastly inflated prices for streaming videos and DRM-locked music.

The icing on the cake? If the prison changes providers, all that data is wiped out – a prisoner serving decades of time will lose their music library, their kids' letters, the books they love. They can get some of that back – by working for $1/day – but the personal stuff? It's just gone.

Readers of my novels know all this. A prison-tech scam just like the one described in the Civil Rights Corps suits is at the center of my latest novel The Bezzle:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

Prison-tech has haunted me for years. At first, it was just the normal horror anyone with a shred of empathy would feel for prisoners and their families, captive customers for sadistic "businesses" that have figured out how to get the poorest, most desperate people in the country to make them billions. In the novel, I call prison-tech "a machine":

a million-­armed robot whose every limb was tipped with a needle that sank itself into a different place on prisoners and their families and drew out a few more cc’s of blood.

But over time, that furious empathy gave way to dread. Prisoners are at the bottom of the shitty technology adoption curve. They endure the technological torments that haven't yet been sanded down on their bodies, normalized enough to impose them on people with a little more privilege and agency. I'm a long way up the curve from prisoners, but while the shitty technology curve may grind slow, it grinds fine:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/24/gwb-rumsfeld-monsters/#bossware

The future isn't here, it's just not evenly distributed. Prisoners are the ultimate early adopters of the technology that the richest, most powerful, most sadistic people in the country's corporate board-rooms would like to force us all to use.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/02/captive-customers/#guillotine-watch

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

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Flying Logos https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

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KGBO https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Suncorp_Bank_ATM.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[robertreich]

Should Billionaires Exist? 

Do billionaires have a right to exist?

America has driven more than 650 species to extinction. And it should do the same to billionaires.

Why? Because there are only five ways to become one, and they’re all bad for free-market capitalism:

1. Exploit a Monopoly.

Jamie Dimon is worth $2 billion today… but not because he succeeded in the “free market.” In 2008, the government bailed out his bank JPMorgan and other giant Wall Street banks, keeping them off the endangered species list.

This government “insurance policy” scored these struggling Mom-and-Pop megabanks an estimated $34 billion a year.

But doesn’t entrepreneur Jeff Bezos deserve his billions for building Amazon?

No, because he also built a monopoly that’s been charged by the federal government and 17 states for inflating prices, overcharging sellers, and stifling competition like a predator in the wild.

With better anti-monopoly enforcement, Bezos would be worth closer to his fair-market value.

2. Exploit Inside Information

Steven A. Cohen, worth roughly $20 billion headed a hedge fund charged by the Justice Department with insider trading “on a scale without known precedent.” Another innovator!

Taming insider trading would level the investing field between the C Suite and Main Street.

3.  Buy Off Politicians

That’s a great way to become a billionaire! The Koch family and Koch Industries saved roughly $1 billion a year from the Trump tax cut they and allies spent $20 million lobbying for. What a return on investment!

If we had tougher lobbying laws, political corruption would go extinct.

4. Defraud Investors

Adam Neumann conned investors out of hundreds of millions for WeWork, an office-sharing startup. WeWork didn’t make a nickel of profit, but Neumann still funded his extravagant lifestyle, including a $60 million private jet. Not exactly “sharing.”

Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud for her blood-testing company, Theranos. So was Sam Bankman-Fried of crypto-exchange FTX. Remember a supposed billionaire named Donald Trump? He was also found to have committed fraud.

Presumably, if we had tougher anti-fraud laws, more would be caught and there’d be fewer billionaires to preserve.

5. Get Money From Rich Relatives

About 60 percent of all wealth in America today is inherited.

That’s because loopholes in U.S. tax law —lobbied for by the wealthy — allow rich families to avoid taxes on assets they inherit. And the estate tax has been so defanged that fewer than 0.2 percent of estates have paid it in recent years.

Tax reform would disrupt the circle of life for the rich, stopping them from automatically becoming billionaires at their birth, or someone else’s death.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing against big rewards for entrepreneurs and inventors. But do today’s entrepreneurs really need billions of dollars? Couldn’t they survive on a measly hundred million?

Because they’re now using those billions to erode American institutions. They spent fortunes bringing Supreme Court justices with them into the wild.They treated news organizations and social media platforms like prey, and they turned their relationships with politicians into patronage troughs.

This has created an America where fewer than ever can become millionaires (or even thousandaires) through hard work and actual innovation.

If capitalism were working properly, billionaires would have gone the way of the dodo.

[batboyblog]

Senate 2022: You'd Better Vote!

If you're an American VERY IMPORTANT! elections are coming up on November 8th. Since the 2020 election the US Senate has been tied at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans with Vice-President Harris casting the tie breaking vote that gives Democrats their majority. Even with such a tight margin Democrats have managed to pass the largest climate action taken by any country so far on earth (yet), lower prescription drug costs, pass the first gun control law since the 1990s , made lynching a federal crime after over 100 years of trying, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, confirmed the first black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads, bridges, transportation, better internet, clean water, and support electric cars, saved the US Post Office, passed a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act which had been in limbo since 2019.

Imagine all that the Democrats in the Senate could get done in the next 2 years with a stable majority? On the Flip side if Republicans net just one seat Mitch McConnell has made it clear there will be no progress if he's majority leader again. There are 35 Senate seats up on November 8th, I'm gonna list out the 9 seats with vulnerable Democrats who need re-electing and seats Democrats can flip to expand their majority. Everyone needs to vote, but voting is the start, the most basic thing you need to do, if you live in any of these states PLEASE sign up to volunteer for these candidates, to go talk to voters, to register new voters, to give rides to the polls etc. If you don't live in any of these states, you can still volunteer to make phone calls or text voters it's easy! if you have money to give please please give money campaigns are so expensive. Finally most of these campaigns have merch shops so if you feed more comfortable buying a shirt or a bag or whatever do that lots of them have cool pro-choice things.

Arizona

Mark Kelly (Re-elect)

Senator Mark Kelly was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full term this year. Kelly is a former astronaut and the husband of gun violence survivor and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords. Kelly is a strong supporter of gun control an issue he's worked on with Giffords as an activist for 10 years before Congress. Republicans have nominated Blake Masters, who worked for one of Trump's top supporters, Peter Thiel, Thiel spent 13 million dollars to get Masters nominated. Masters calls himself a "America First Conservative" and a "hard-core nationalist". Masters has embraced the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, supports Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, is against gay marriage, says gun violence is all the fault of black people, and is against aid to Ukraine. Kelly is a good democrat, Masters is a white nationalist and election denier, we need Kelly back in the Senate, and we need to keep Masters far far away

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Florida

Val Demings (Flip)

Congresswoman Val Demings has represented the city of Orlando in the US House since 2017. Before that she served as Orlando's first woman chief of police. In Congress Demings has used her law enforcement background to lend credibility to gun control and police reform. Demings also served as one of the impeachment managers in Trump's first impeachment trial. If elected Val Demings will be Florida's first woman and first black Senator. Demings is running to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After running against Trump in the 2016 primaries Rubio became one of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress. Rubio reacted to the Parkland shooting in his state by doubling down on opposing any gun control, Val Demings voted to ban assault rifles. Rubio has also been a cheerleader for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBT/anti-Trans policies that bully queer students in Florida, he doesn't believe in the right to same sex marriage and is for banning books. Rubio also wants a total ban on abortion in all cases, Val Demings has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Florida needs a strong supporter of Gun control, climate action, the right to choose, and LGBT rights in the Senate, Florida needs Demings not Rubio

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Georgia

Raphael Warnock (re-elect)

Senator Raphael Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full 6 year term this year. Warnock is the first black senator from the State of Georgia and the first Democrat elected in 20 years. Before becoming a senator Warnock was the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's church and a center of the 1960s civil rights movement. Warnock used his position to protest and fight against the death penalty, to expand medicare in Georgia, for gun control, and for voting rights. In the Senate, Senator Warnock has been one of the most outspoken on voting rights pushing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after his late friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis. Republicans for nominated former football player, and Trump super fan, Herschel Walker to try to unseat Senator Warnock. Walker vocally supported Trump's election lies, posting many times on social media that Biden did not win the 2020 election. Walker declared this week that climate action was "giving money to trees" and "don't we have enough trees?". Walker believes in a total ban on abortion, and is against LGBT rights. Walker is against gun control and floated the idea of the government monitoring all social media and internet usage by Americans instead of gun control. Walker beat his now ex-wife Cindy Grossman, and threatened her with a gun and knives multiple times, after the divorce Grossman feared Walker would kill her and her boyfriend. Walker also is a dead beat dad who has a number of children out of wedlock that he has no contact with, he has criticized black men many times for being absent fathers. The US Senate doesn't need a man who threatens to shoot women, re-elect Senator Warnock.

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Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto (re-elect)

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly elected in 2016 and his running for her second term in the Senate. Senator Cortez Masto is the first women elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first and to date ONLY Latina elected to the US Senate. When she was Nevada's attorney general Cortez Masto sued Bank of America for it's predatory lending practices and won nearly a billion dollars against the bank. As a US Senator Cortez Masto has been a major supporter of clean energy jobs and hopes to turn Nevada into the solar energy capital of America. Republicans have nominated former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt to try to unseat Cortez Masto. Laxalt spent his time as AG (2015-2019) suing the Obama Administration EPA to fight against strong climate regulations. Laxalt opposed a multi-state law suit against ExxonMobil for it's role in downplaying Climate change. Laxalt also sued the Obama administration to stop DACA, filed briefs supporting radical anti-abortion laws from Texas and Mississippi when they went to court, and sued the Obama Department of Labor to stop certain workers being paid over time. After leaving office Laxalt was the Chairman of Trump's 2020 re-election effort in Nevada. As Chairman Laxalt was the leading figure in the election conspiracy in Nevada claiming the election in his state was fraudulent and Biden hadn't really won Nevada. Laxalt has made many false claims of election fraud in Nevada in the 2020 election. Laxalt launched his 2022 campaign for Senate claiming "woke corporations" "academia" and "the radical left" have taken over America. Nevada has to send Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the Senate, back for another term, Laxalt is dangerously unfit.

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New Hampshire

Maggie Hassan (re-elect)

Senator Maggie Hassan was elected in the closest senate race of 2016 and is running for her second term in the senate. Senator Hassan was a key vote to save Obamacare from repel in 2017. During her time in the US Senate Senator Hassan has helped pass bills to more than double the funding to help treat the opioid crisis as well as banning surprise medical billing. Senator Hassan first ran for office 20 years ago as a way to advocate for her son who has Cerebral palsy, she's been a strong advocate for disability rights and special education through out her time in public service. Because New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries (September 13th) we don't know for sure which Republican will be nominated to face her in November. The front runner is a retired general named Don Bolduc. Bolduc's first foray into into politics was spinning and supporting 2020 election denial conspiracy theories, even after the January 6th riot. Bolduc has closely tied himself to Trump. Bolduc called fellow Republican, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu "Chinese Communist sympathizer" and accused him of "supports terrorism" for not being conservative enough and loyal to Trump enough. New Hampshire should send back a Senator who gets things done and not a wing-nut calling people in his own party communists and terrorists.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

North Carolina

Cheri Beasley (flip)

Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley is running to fill a Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr. In 2008 Beasley became the first black women to win a state wide election in North Carolina when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. In 2012 she was appointed to the state Supreme Court and won election in 2014. She was appointed the Chief Justice in 2019 the first black woman to serve as the State's Chief Justice. Beasley lost by less than 500 votes her run for a full term as Chief Justice in 2020. In her time as a public defender and elected Judge and Justice Beasley has stressed fairness and equity. If elected she'd be the first black Senator from North Carolina. She's stressed health care and abortion rights as key issues of her campaign. Republicans have nominated Congressman Ted Budd to try to fill the seat. Congressman Budd is a member of the radical "House Freedom Caucus". He voted to repeal Obamacare in 2017. Budd was also a major support of Trump's attempt to over throw the result of the 2020 election. Congressman Budd voted against certifying the election result on January 6th, even after the capital had been stormed by violent Trump supporters. Budd is Trump's hand picked candidate for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd only launched his campaign after meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago. North Carolina doesn't need an election denying Trump toady for Senator, send Cheri Beasley to Congress.

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Ohio

Tim Ryan (flip)

Congressman Tim Ryan is running to fill a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman. Congressman Ryan has represented the Youngstown area of Ohio since 2003. In his time in Congress Ryan has been a champion of unions and American workers. His Senate run is focused on protecting American manufacturing jobs and bring well paying union jobs back to the American heart land. Ryan is strongly pro-choice. Republicans have nominated author and venture capitalist JD Vance. Vance is closely tied to Trump money man Peter Thiel as well as Arizona candidate and white nationalist Blake Masters. Vance has publicly said that women should stay in abusive marriages. Vance is against abortion in all cases even rape or health of the mother. Vance has also publicly stated he sees the populist, antisemitic, anti-LGBT dictatorship of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán as a model for America. Vance talked about how he hopes in a second Trump term to purge all civil servants who don't agree with Trumpism and replace them with "our people". America does not need a pro-fascist who supports wife beating in the Senate, send Tim Ryan to the Senate instead.

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Pennsylvania

John Fetterman (flip)

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running to fill a seat opened by the retirement of Republican Senator Pat Toomey. First elected Lt Governor in 2018 Fetterman has used his platform to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Fetterman also is a vocal supporter of the LGBT community clashing with the Republican state legislature repeatedly about the display of a pride flag off the balcony of his official office at the state capital. Fetterman is running a campaign that is strongly pro-choice, supportive of criminal justice reform, and calls healthcare a human right. Republicans have nominated Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. As a reality TV star "physician" Oz was criticized repeatedly for advocating fake cures and dangerous weight loss pills. During the Covid-19 pandemic Oz pushed Trump's favorite fake cure, Hydroxychloroquine, which is not a treatment for Covid. While running for the senate Oz has endorsed banning trans people from sports by law, and that trans youth are based on "false science". Oz is also says he'd vote to repeal Obamacare and strongly supports fracking. Pennsylvania doesn't need a flip flopping TV huckster from New Jersey as its Senator, election Fetterman.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes (flip)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is running to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson. Barnes served in the state legislature from 2013 till 2017 before being elected Lt Governor in 2018, he is the first black person to win state wide office in Wisconsin. As Lt Governor Barnes served as the chair of the Climate Task Force putting forward a 55 point plan to combat climate change. Barnes has been a vocal supporter of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and marijuana legalization. If elected Barnes would be the first black Senator from Wisconsin and one of only two Senators in their 30s. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson has been Wisconsin's Senator since 2010 and is running for his 3rd term in office. In the Senate Johnson was one of Trump's strongest allies. Johnson was one of the main congressional pushers of the 2020 election conspiracy theories to the point his home town paper the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called him a member of the "Sedition Caucus". Johnson also has pushed conspiracy theories that the January 6th riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi or the FBI, and said he didn't think it was a big deal and felt safe during the attack because they were Trump supporters. Johnson has also pushed Covid misinformation, such as mouthwash as a treatment for Covid-19 or that "thousands" of deaths had been linked to the vaccine. Johnson has blamed mass shootings on a failure to teach "values" and is against gun control. in resent weeks Johnson has floated the idea of privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Protect Social Security, send Barnes to Congress.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

If you're one of the 85 million Americans who live in one of these States please PLEASE PLEASE remember to VOTE November 8th

Everyone remember to VOTE NOVEMBER 8th! vote in EVERY election from School Board on up to Governor and Senate, now more than ever all these elections matter and they matter a lot.

if you have $10, $5, even $1 to spare please please please think about giving it to one of these candidates, Democrats are passing big things and are running against the worst of the worst.

If you live in one of these states please please PLEASE think about giving just one weekend between now and Election Day to talk to voters and help turn out the vote. Even if you don't live in any of these states you can call or text voters in these states and help these campaigns

[wilwheaton]

The harm to the institution is entirely self-inflicted by Roberts and his ethically challenged majority. The court continues to take on flawed cases that have no business being heard, and making arbitrary rulings based on their political whims, dressed up in originalist fantasies. It has to be stopped That could include enforcing a code of ethics, legislation the Senate Judiciary Committee is going to take up after the July recess, and measures recommended by the Brennan Center, such as limiting justices’ terms to 18 years and ensuring that each president gets two appointments to the court per presidential term. It would create a revolving core of justices, giving those whose terms were up the chance to take senior status and still participate as needed either on the Supreme Court or on a lower court. All of that would be great, but what the country urgently requires is an expansion of the court to block this six-member wrecking ball.

The Supreme Court is out of control and must be reformed

[philosophicalconservatism]

You’re thoughts on what’s taking place on college campuses and the anti semitism being blatantly displayed

There has been a major shift in the culture. In years past, whenever the Palestinian/Israeli conflict flared up, anti-Israeli sentiment in America was limited to the fringe of the Left; with both the political Right, and the mainstream political Left standing behind the only liberal democracy in the region, and both sides recognizing the cynical, self destructive tactics of Israel's extremist enemies which stalemate the situation (Hamas, The PLO and the PIJ).

But Gen Z goes into the evaluation of this long enduring conflict with a completely different mentality. That is because it has been significantly shaped by a radical cultural ideology according to which virtue comes from victimhood and suffering rather than from proper conduct. Individuals are entirely a product of their social circumstances (says Critical Theory) and the conduct of the oppressed is an expression of their desperation and suffering at the hands of powerful systems. Those systems are themselves the only truly “unethical” force that is in play, and they must be reformed in order to reform the individual. In the 2020 riots, violence (including against the livelihood of civilians) was justified by the cause: the alleviation of alleged suffering and oppression at the hands of law enforcement.

The Palestinian Israeli conflict plays into this Oppresser/Oppressed (stronger/weaker) narrative where there is no “morality” there is only “justice” (which means “equity”). It leads to a justification of a “By Any Means Necessary” ideology , just as long as the means is not sufficient enough to turn the stronger party into the weaker party. Israel is the powerful more militarily dominant liberal democratic nation so it must be to blame in this clash between itself and a poorer, chaotic struggling society. The advocate of traditional Western morality however judges each party whether small or great according to the morality of its intentional actions. According to that calculus Israel is, for the most part, a free nation attempting to defend its citizens, Hamas, The PLO and The PIJ are obscenely immoral terrorist organizations that intentionally target the innocent, and the Palestinian people are victims caught in the middle.

The truly unfortunate thing is that this debate is spilling over in the form of anti-semitic language and behavior toward normal American citizens who happen to be Jewish. And of course the rhetoric of this classical anti-Semitism uses the exact same language of the oppressor/oppressed, "the Jews run the world, they own and control everything and we are their hapless victims." This was of course the rhetoric of the Nazis.

And as with the other paradigms of oppressor v.s. oppressed it doesn't actually matter if it's accurate or not.

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

plsplsplsplsplsplsplspls hcs for curly dating curtis reader🤲🤲🤲🙏🙏🙏🙏

A/N: This is late, but things have been way crazy around here and that’s an understatement actually, but please take this and enjoy!

So for this set of headcanons, you’re a Curtis and to fit the age bracket, you’re gonna be Ponyboy’s twin! That way, you’re in the same year as Pony in school, the same year as Curly and Johnnycake too

But anyways- Curly dating a Curtis!Reader….let’s have some fun, shall we?

The three boys, your older brothers, do not care for Curly very much and they’re going to let you know that quite often-

At school, when Curly comes to visit you at your locker, Ponyboy gags and rolls his eyes because he’s sick of the lovesick look Curly gives you when he thinks nobody else is looking

Sodapop is a firm enforcer of the leave the door open rule when Curly comes over and will just waltz into your room without any sort of announcement because he just wants to check on you crazy kids

When Curly tries to take you out, Darry drills you on what’s going to happen for at least ten minutes before you leave because he wants to make sure that Curly’s not taking you out to vandalize the town or anything

In short?

They all think that Curly’s way too greasy for you and they think you can do way better than Curly

But we know that’s not true, don’t we folks? Curly’s a sweetheart, even if he’s a bad boy, he’s a good guy and he’s good to you-

Dating Curly as a Curtis is going to mean a lot of sneaking out and sneaking in, that’s just the way it runs-

He gets very good at tossing pebbles at your window and you get very good about coming in and out of the house without stepping on any squeaky floorboards or waking anyone up

Let’s be honest, the door never being locked helps you out a whole lot

You and Curly will probably be spending a lot of time over at his place because your brothers aren’t there, duh, and Curly doesn’t have to deal with them hounding him

However, you will have to deal with the hounding, especially if you’re coming home late and you tell Darry where you’ve been hanging out

Tim’s a lot more chill about Curly dating a Curtis kid but the first time he brought you over and Tim caught sight of you, he decided he’d have a little talk with Curly once you leave-

Don’t worry! Tim thinks you’re great! But as much as he likes you, he knows his kid brother can be an idiot sometimes and Tim doesn’t really want to tangle with the Curtis clan because Curly went and broke your heart by being stupid

Also, whenever Curly gets hauled back to reform, let’s be real, it’s gonna happen at least a few more times, you’re gonna cry and be sad and your brothers are gonna have no clue how to handle it

They’re gonna look between themselves and maybe make a stupid comment or two but once they see how sad you actually are, Sodapop will probably offer to drive you out to visit him in reform

The rest of the Curtis gang find it a little bit funny just how peeved the three boys get when everyone learns you’re going steady with Curly

Sometimes Two-Bit will run his mouth and say he caught you all being little delinquents when you were out on a date just to get Darry all fired up

Curly definitely doesn’t help the hate he receives either, he’s all for kissing you way past decent and saying all sorts of unhelpful things in your ear when you’re around your brothers because Curly likes to stir the pot and generally likes causing chaos

But honestly? He’s good to you, and the boys only need to see a few examples of that to believe it

Let him pay for dinner a few times, get you home before curfew just enough for Darry to consider extending your curfew, and make sure Curly cleans up just enough when he’s gotta try and pretend like he’s a well-meaning, valuable member of society

With all of that being said though…

Curly could turn up on your doorstep, bleeding from a fight and looking for you to patch him up, and all three of your brothers would tell you that your mutt’s looking for you

TL;DR; the boys are jerks to Curly, but Curly kind of deserves it, and they all know he’s actually good for you, even if they tell you that you can do way better-

[catherine-montvoisin]

On the revolutionary concept of women in practical clothing

“Although there was more than a symbolic connection between the suffocating confinements of women’s long skirts and the suffocating restrictions that defined women’s roles, the dress-reform movement of the 1850s became an excruciating personal torment and a political mortification to the American heroines of women’s rights.

 Among the pioneers [of the “rational dress movement”] were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, the Grimke sisters and the self-effacing Quaker organizer Susan B. Anthony, who later recalled this time in her life as “a mental crucifixion.”

[...] Elizabeth Smith Miller, the daughter of abolitionist Gerrit Smith, [created “the short dress”] which she had originally stitched up for working in the garden. [It] had a somewhat Turkish look. The lower part consisted of a pair of ankle-length pantaloons with an overskirt that came to the knees. To the knees! No trailing skirts to get caught underfoot, stepped on, ripped or soiled. No undulating petticoats to gather up and hold with dainty grace while turning a corner or sitting down, in order to avoid a mishap. On a visit to Seneca Falls, Lizzie Miller gave Lizzie Stanton a practical demonstration. She showed her cousin how confidently she could walk up a flight of stairs with a baby in her arm and an oil lamp balanced in her other hand, without fear of tripping. Mrs. Stanton, who already had four of her seven children, was instantly converted.

With the bounding enthusiasm for which she was famous, she applied the scissors and needle to her own long skirts and began to evangelize among her many friends in suffrage and abolition, offering to make a present of the short dress to Susan Anthony, a promising new ally from the temperance movement. [...] Stanton wrote to her cousin. “We can have no peace in travelling unless we cut off the great national petticoat … Stand firm.”

There were many exhortations from one feminist to another in the years 1851 and 1852 to stand firm. Wrote Ida Husted Harper, “… the press howled in derision, the pulpit hurled its anathemas and the rabble took up the refrain. On the streets of the larger cities the women were followed by mobs of men and boys, who jeered and yelled and did not hesitate to express their disapproval by throwing sticks and stones.” Many a votes-for-women rally turned into a circus when an unruly mob invaded the hall to gawk at the [short dress]. What began as a personal convenience had turned into a painful political principle, the right of a woman to wear comfortable clothes. In December 1852 while visiting with Mrs. Stanton, Susan B. took the plunge, shortening her skirts and cutting her hair to make a total statement. “Well, at last I am in short skirt and trousers!” she anxiously wrote to Lucy Stone. She was the last of the great suffragists to adopt the style. 

Within one year, she would be among the last to still wear it.”

- Susan Brownmiller, Femininity

This is the “short dress” that women, well-known activists and organisers who were at the front of a massive social revolution, had to withstand physical and verbal harassment and public humiliation to wear:

I don’t think men have become any less committed to enforcing decorous object status on women, what with stilettos and 2-inch long fake nails, and clothes that can’t be moved in without constant re-adjustment or restriction. 

The best I can say is they’ve lost some of the power they had to force their way. And for that, we thank these women.

[antiquitiesandlabyrinths]

Ramses I

Ramses the I is usually somewhat overlooked, partially due to being overshadowed by his eventual successors and namesakes, Ramses II and Ramses III, the former of which is considered to be 'Ramses the Great', and both of which achieved great things in the realm of battle and buildings. Also unfortunate for Ramses I is the length of his reign, which while disputed, is considered to have been relatively short.

Menpehtyre Ramses, born of Seti, started and was the first Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty of Egypt, and the dates of his reign are generally considered to be around 1292–1290 BC or 1295–1294 BC. However, he was born as a common man, and his father, Seti, was a military commander. Originally, Ramses I's name was Pa-ra-messu, and he eventually grew to succeed his father's rank in the military. Due to this, he became a close confidant with the Pharaoh of the time, the Pharaoh Horemheb.

You may know Horemheb as being one of the main successors of the throne after Tutankhamun's death which, to my knowledge, is wrapped in a little bit of a mystery, but was likely due to genetic malformations from his many diseases. Ay and Horemheb, the Grand Vizier and the General of Armies (respectively), held the main power of the country while Tutankhamun was Pharaoh. This was a time of turmoil––the country was just recovering from the reign of the heretic Akhenaten, who had banned religious worship of any God but the Aten, and essentially attempted to enforce monotheism upon a culture that had been polytheistic for thousands of years previously. Akhenaten had also severely neglected Egypt's relationship with foreign powers. Obviously, people weren't very happy with Akhenaten, and I think it likely they were not fond of Akhenaten's son, Tutankhamun, either. But Tutankhamun, with the help of his advisors and of Ay and Horemheb, reversed many of his heretic father's commands and laws. But Tutankhamun still sailed to the west at the age of 19. He had two baby girls, but neither of them survived past infancy. He had no successors, so Ay took the throne, and then Horemheb.

Horemheb enacted many more reformations to remove Akhenaten's efforts to change Egypt. He tore down the statues of Akhenaten and his monuments, reusing the stone in monuments and temples of his own. He also reused the monuments built for Ay and Tutankhamun, though this was a common practice in Egypt. But Horemheb had no surviving sons, so when it came time for Horemheb to pass on and appoint a new Pharaoh, his Grand Vizier took his place; Paramessu, who would take the name Ramesses I, meaning "Ra has fashioned Him". Ramses I was nearly 50 years old when he ascended to the throne. It was a remarkable age to become Pharaoh, as at this time, he would've already been considered elderly.

What little he did during his life was later completed by his son and successor, Seti I. He himself accomplished mainly one thing, which was to send additions to the garrison at Aswan, the border between Egypt and Nubia; though he also led a military expedition into west Asia and reopened turquoise mines in the Sinai. But the most remarkable things are the ones he didn't complete himself, such as additions to the Karnak temple complex in east Thebes, known as Waset at the time. He ordered to be carved great reliefs into the second pylon of the Karnak temple, which is a massive gateway that one sees relatively soon upon entering the complex. In Abydos, he began construction of a chapel and a temple, but it would have to be completed by his son, as Menpehtyre Ramses died in either the year of 1290 or 1294. His reign was so short that he had very little time to schedule or complete any great monuments, and even his tomb was rushed to be completed, and he was hastily buried in the Valley of the Kings. This rush unfortunately led to a great deal of errors being made in the paintings upon his sarcophagus. Later, however, Ramses I's son, Seti I, finished the chapel in honor of his father, with beautiful carvings and reliefs at Abydos.

His tomb was robbed thoroughly. By the time archaeologists got to it, all that remained were two six-foot tall (1.8 meters) wooden guardian statues who once had gold-foil skin, statuettes of Gods from the underworld, and the massive granite coffin which no longer carried its' owner. Menpehtyre Ramses had been taken to the Royal Cache, located above Hatshepsut's mortuary temple to the southeast. It was the tomb of the pharaoh Amenhotep II, but repurposed to be a protective place for the mummies of many Pharaohs and Queens, as most of the tombs of the Valley of the Kings had become victims of graverobbers. These protective actions were taken by the High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II, in the 21st Dynasty.

Unfortunately this did not stop the usurping of Ramses I's body. He was stolen by the Abu-Rassul family of grave-robbers and sold by a Turkish vice-consular agent named Mustapha Aga Ayat in Luxor to a man named Dr. James Douglas. Douglas brought Ramses I to the US around the year of 1860, where he was placed in a museum in Niagara Falls with little information known about him. All that was speculated was that he was 'a Prince of Egypt'. Ownership of the museum, and thus of Ramses I, was passed through several hands, but his importance was only recognized with the help of the Canadian Egyptologist Gayle Gibson. Fortunately, in the year 2003, October 24, Menpehtyre Ramses was returned to his homeland of Egypt, and is now resting in the Mummification Museum in Luxor, Upper Egypt.

[odinsonslut]

Reformed pt. 1.

⊹ genre: fluff mostly

⊹ pairing: draco malfoy x female Hufflepuff reader

⊹ themes: slow-burn 

⊹ summary: reader returns 6 years after the war. To her dismay, draco is her new supervisor while she trains as an auror. He had also managed to integrate himself into all her closest friends’ lives, making him unavoidable. Also unavoidable is the building tension between the two.

⊹ warnings: mentions of death, the loss of close friends, nothing explicit.

⊹ word count: 1.9k

⊹ a/n:  eternally terrible at writing summaries, but this is a storyline I like way too much to leave as a standalone. It might be a two-part situation, maybe even a mini-series!! I don’t have solid plans for it yet; just trying to perfect building tension without moving too fast or being too overwhelming. 

-

It had been 6 years since the war, and since you didn’t complete your last year of study with your graduating class, you ended up going back to school after the war with a few of your classmates, being a small group of students, it gave you the opportunity to connect with Hermione and Ginny. You really hadn’t seen much of either of them before the war being a Hufflepuff with barely any classes paired with Gryffindor. 

The three of us found comfort in each other during the difficult period of readjusting to school life and feeling alone as Ron and Harry went on to be Aurors, and I was only able to keep in touch with Madeline, my best friend, who was in Ireland practising extensive herbology research to come up with more effective antidotes to those still recovering in St Mungo’s. The rest of the group just sort of dispersed. I’d have thought fighting alongside each other and experiencing shared trauma would have brought us even closer together, but the rest of them couldn’t stand any memory of Hogwarts or us as a whole, and I really couldn’t fault any of them for that. Losing our friends was difficult, and we couldn’t just be a group of fun-loving kids hotboxing in the astronomy tower’s store room anymore.

The girls took me in early on. Ginny and I bonded immediately over quidditch. As my team’s chaser for the past 3 years, my affinity for the sport nearly matched hers. We’d spend hours practising on the open field together, preparing her for the scouts attending the games this year. She was a shoo-in for the Holyhead Harpies, and while I’d have loved to pursue a similar career, I wasn’t nearly as talented as she was, despite her efforts to help me succeed alongside her. 

Hermione was pleased to learn that I shared her excitement for learning and punctuality. We’d spend entire nights discussing, sharing, and reading books together in my single-occupied dorm, and since we were N.E.W.T students, we shared most classes, making long nights of studying in the Gryffindor common room all the more convenient. We grew closer the more comfort we grew to find in each other. We’d bake together in the kitchens with the elves once in a while. We spent a great deal of time mapping intricate policies that could be implemented one day in favour of the house elves’ rights movement we aspired to achieve. The three of us would often spend nights in each others’ dorms playing exploding snap, some muggle games Hermione and I introduced to Ginny, doing our makeup, and just being the young, carefree girls we never really got to be. It was freeing to heal parts of me with them. We had been inseparable ever since

-

It had been four years since you graduated from Hogwarts. You achieved exceptional N.E.W.Ts results but were never able to keep a job for longer than 4 months. You’d finally set out to Germany, where you’d spent the last three years in the Aurorial Appraisal program once you finally discovered your passion, and since you fought in the battle of Hogwarts, you were accepted with little difficulty. Upon completing the program, Hermione, as the deputy head of the department of magical law enforcement, whom you’d kept in touch with over the years, managed to secure you a job at the Auror office. You were to be a trainee appointed to a practising Auror for the first 6 months of the job. 

Since the couple planned on moving in together but couldn’t quite afford the rent of an entire apartment on their own, Ron and Hermione invited me to move into the common room of the unit, to which I graciously accepted. 

After a week spent unpacking and finishing our apartment came my first day. Hermione and I travelled to the ministry together since we both avoid apparition outside of dire situations. We bid our goodbyes as I made my way to the Office whose Auror I’d be shadowing for the next six months. I knocked on the door twice and stepped back, expecting the door to open for me. I waited two minutes with no response. I knocked again and again, no response. I huffed in annoyance, pulling open the door for myself to be met with a slender man sitting at his desk, the newspaper open, shielding his face from me.

“Excuse me, sir. I’m here for the briefing and introduction to my supervisor. Didn’t you hear me knock?” You couldn’t help but include the last sentence to what would’ve otherwise been a perfectly suitable first impression. 

“I heard, just wondered how long you’d spend standing around wasting time before taking action”, replied a smooth, steady voice.

I scoffed. “Just thought I’d practice decent manners, but it looks like you’re out of touch with the concept enough not to recognise it.”

He chuckled softly in response, seemingly refreshed by my blunt responses. Finally setting the newspaper down, he extended his right hand towards me as he introduced himself. 

“Draco Malfoy, a pleasure”, he spoke with a friendly smile. I was shell-shocked. His gentle aura seemed so unfamiliar to me. His eyes seemed to convey friendliness. His cheeks were lightly contoured with smile lines, and all I could think about was how it was possible for a man like him to form them. The only thing that looked familiar to me was the way his nose scrunched when he smiled, as it contorted into the same position when he sneered, which is predominantly how he addressed me throughout our years at Hogwarts. 

“I remember”. I spoke harshly, allowing his hand to float awkwardly in the air as mine stayed glued to my sides, refusing to meet his palm.

He dropped his hand eventually, his eyes leaving mine to stare at the floor, hoping to think of something to alleviate the tension. My demeanour softened. Even the aversion of his eyes seemed like such a vulnerable display for someone like him whom, before this, I had only seen cling to his pride and perception. I softly told him how he should address me, and he nodded curtly in response, not wanting to say the wrong thing again.

My day was spent in the ministry itself. Draco took me through the theoretical aspects of training to begin with. Our conversation didn’t stray much from the work discussion after our initial friction at his conversational attempts. 

-

Hermione got back home 3 hours after I made it home due to the additional responsibility that came with her position, I deduced. 

I bombarded her before the door even shut behind her. 

“You will not believe whom I’m training under for the next 6 months”, I practically shouted at her.

She kicked me in my shin with her sharp heel. I immediately keeled over, ready to over-exaggerate the pain I was feeling, when I realised her reasoning. Malfoy walked in behind her, straining his signature awkward smile that really only seemed to make its appearance whenever I was around him. I returned the uncomfortable smile before turning to Hermione with a pointed look.

“I figured the two of you would have bonded today. Guess assigning you to each other with no warning didn’t turn out the way I had hoped,” She spoke apologetically. 

“Draco works directly under me, which is why I trusted him with you. We all get together every Monday for dinner. Tonight’s our’s since we’re breaking into the new kitchen; Malfoy makes a solid saffron-infused risotto.” She continued.

I could barely process any information when even more people walked into our now cramped entryway. Ginny ran into my arms as we both fell onto the floor, where we settled in a tight hug gushing over seeing each other. 

Draco shuffled into the kitchen with groceries and a fresh baguette in hand, the rest of them piled into the newly furnished living room, and Ginny and I settled on the floor, refusing to detangle from our now loose hug while we caught up.

-

“It’s so surreal to me like you guys actually hang out with Malfoy? Sure you don’t keep him around as a makeshift house elf?” I asked, motioning to the kitchen. 

Ginny and I had finally made our way to the living room to join the rest. After greeting Harry and the twins, I joined Hermione on the only beanbag she begrudgingly allowed Ron and me to tarnish her architecturally detailed living room with since it was a neutral tan. 

Hermione rolled her eyes. “He’s changed a lot as a person, and you better get used to being around him. You’re still due to be partners after your training program, you know.” 

I groaned immediately. “Why couldn’t I have been put under Harry or Ron?” I whined to Hermione 

“They’re already partnered with each other”, she consoled. “Plus, you two have a lot in common. His food’s even better than yours,” she joked.

I gasped and smacked her arm. “I know where you live, Hermione Granger”, I fake sneered at her. 

“You should join him in the kitchen”, Ginny spoke from the couch beside us “at least make an effort with the man before deciding you can’t stand him”.

-

“Though I’m sure this makes for a priceless view, you could make yourself useful. It is your kitchen.” He spoke, jolting me from my fixed position at the doorway.

“You haven’t left it long enough in the water,” I said as he lifted the saffron-infused water. 

“Take over for me then”, he smirked as he took a step back from the stove.

I was taken aback by his newfound confidence but refused to let it overpower mine, so I walked up to the stove directly in front of him, taking the wooden spatula from his hand on my way over. I lowered the heat and allowed the dish to simmer to deglaze the wine, entranced by the warmth of his breath down my neck, the heat of his body just millimetres away from touching mine.

“Are you actually going to do anything?” He whispered just above my ear, tickling the skin surrounding it, the feeling moving all the way down my spine.

I failed to respond to him. “Looks about done.” He poured the saffron mixture in and picked the spatula back out of my hand. He stirred the saffron in, not moving from his spot behind me.

He moved, and I immediately exhaled at the blow of cold air that came with his absence. I didn’t miss it for long before he was right back, just a hair strand away from me. He dipped a small teaspoon into the dish and put it up to my lips, I tilted my head up, looking at him questioningly.

His soft fingers took hold of my chin, moving it back down and tapping my lips “taste”, he said. My mouth immediately opened in response. I nearly moaned at the soft, rich, perfectly seasoned risotto. He chuckled a breathy laugh.

“I’ll plate these. Why don’t you tell everyone dinner’s ready” he instructed, once again detaching from his spot behind me.

I went to do just that when I was cut off mid-announcement. 

“What on earth did he do to you to leave you such a breathy mess?” asked George almost incredulously

“breathy and positively flushed” Fred chided

I heard Draco’s hearty laugh from the dinner table

I glared at the pair, ignoring Hermione’s inquisitive smile

-

End

[sapphicscholar]

Hey so remember how I posted yesterday about how it’s not a great idea to be condescending to people assuming the worst about the surveillance state and the role of the internet and tech companies in upholding and enforcing it? Well anyway, here’s an important thread on the House’s Section 702 “reform” bill, scheduled for a floor vote ASAP (as early as Dec. 12), which would be one of the largest expansions of surveillance within the US (accessible text below the images along with links to the linked articles)

Tweet thread from Elizabeth Goitein:

RED ALERT: Buried in the House intelligence committee’s Section 702 “reform” bill, which is schedule for a floor vote as soon as tomorrow, is the biggest expansion of surveillance inside the United States since the Patriot Act. 1/11

Through a seemingly innocuous change to the definition of “electronic service communications provider,” the bill vastly expands the universe of U.S. businesses that can be conscripted to aid the government in conducting surveillance. 2/11

Under current law, the government can compel companies that have direct access to communications, such as phone, email, and text messaging service providers, to assist in Section 702 surveillance by turning over the communications of Section 702 targets. 3/11

Under Section 504 of the House intelligence committee’s bill, any entity that has access to *equipment* on which communications may be transmitted or stored, such as an ordinary router, is fair game. What does that mean in practice? It’s simple… 4/11

Hotels, libraries, coffee shops, and other places that offer wifi to their customers could be forced to serve as surrogate spies. They could be required to configure their systems to ensure that they can provide the government access to entire streams of communications. 5/11

Even a repair person who comes to fix the wifi in your home would meet the revised definition: that person is an “employee” of a “service provider” who has “access” to “equipment” (your router) on which communications are transmitted. 6/11

The bill’s sponsors deny that Section 504 is intended to sweep so broadly. What *is* the provision intended to do, and how is the government planning to use it? Sorry, that’s classified. 7/11

At the end of the day, though, the government’s claimed intent matters little. What matters is what the provision, on its face, actually allows—because as we all know by now, the government will interpret and apply the law as broadly as it can get away with. 8/11

This isn’t a minor or theoretical concern. One of the FISA Court amici posted a blog to warn Americans about this provision. I can’t overstate how unusual it is for FISA Court amici to take to the airwaves in this manner. We’d be foolish to ignore it. https://www.zwillgen.com/law-enforcement/fisa-reform-bill-702-surveillance/ 9/11

If you don't want to have to worry that the NSA is tapping into communications at the hotel where you're staying, tell your House representative to vote NO on the House intelligence bill this week. More on the many flaws with that bill here: https://t.co/i9PEXmg5r6 10/11

Instead, they should vote for the Protect Liberty & End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee on a 35-2 vote that would reauthorize Sec. 702 with strong reforms to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. https://t.co/CN7ZepGSUu 11/11

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Cleveland Torso Murderer

The official number of murders attributed to the Cleveland Torso Murderer is twelve, although recent research has shown there could have been as many as twenty or more The twelve known victims were killed between 1935 and 1938. Some investigators, including lead detective Peter Merylo, believed that there may have been thirteen or more victims in the Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh areas between the 1920s and 1950s. Two strong candidates for addition to the "official" list are the unknown victim nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake," found on September 5, 1934, and Robert Robertson, found on July 22, 1950. The victims of the Torso Murderer were usually drifters whose identities were never determined, although there were a few exceptions. Victims numbers 2, 3 and 8 were identified as Edward Andrassy, Florence Polillo and possibly Rose Wallace, respectively.[6] Andrassy and Polillo were both identified by their fingerprints, while Wallace was tentatively identified via her dental records. The victims appeared to be lower class individuals–easy prey during the Great Depression. Many were known as "working poor", who had nowhere else to live but the ramshackle shanty towns, or "Hoovervilles", in the area known as the Cleveland Flats. The Torso Murderer always beheaded and often dismembered their victims, occasionally severing the victim's torso in half or severing their appendages.[8] In many cases the cause of death was the decapitation or dismemberment itself. Most of the male victims were castrated. Some victims showed evidence of chemical treatment being applied to their bodies, which caused the skin to become red, tough and leathery. Many were found after a considerable period of time following their deaths, occasionally in excess of a year. In an era when forensic science was largely in its infancy, these factors further complicated identification, especially since the heads were often undiscovered. During the time of the "official" murders, Eliot Ness, leader of The Untouchables, was serving as Cleveland's Public Safety Director, a position with authority over the police department and ancillary services, including the fire department. Ness contributed to the arrest and interrogation of one of the prime suspects, Dr. Francis Sweeney, and personally conducted raids into shantytowns and eventually burned them down. Ness's reasoning for doing so was to catalogue fingerprints to easily identify any new victims, and to get possible victims out of the area in an attempt to stop the murders. Four days after the burning, on August 22, 1938, Ness launched an equally draconian operation where he personally dispatched six two-man search teams on a large area of Cleveland, stretching from the Cuyahoga River to East 55th Street to Prospect Avenue, under the guise of conducting city fire inspections. While the search never turned up any new or incriminating information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the Torso Murderer, it did serve to focus renewed public attention on the inadequate and unsanitary living conditions in the downtown area. Teams uncovered hundreds of families living in hazardous fire traps without toilets or running water. The interests of social reform did ultimately come to light even if those of law enforcement did not. At one point in time, the Torso Murderer taunted Ness by placing the remains of two victims in full view of his office in City Hall. The man who Ness believed to be the killer would later also provoke him by sending postcards.

[deltadex]

Something I'd like to talk about is how some argue that "Vi is being hypocritical. How can she team up with an Enforcer when her parents were killed by them?" and "her and Caitlyn's relationship progressed too quickly because Vi is supposed to have a lot more resentment for those from Piltover, the people who have oppressed her her whole life". I understand these views. But the way I see it, the whole point of their relationship is about overcoming personal biases.

And let's not forget that, in Episode 8, Vi actually did bring their relationship progression to a halt, DUE TO her personal bias/insecurities that say the Undercity and Piltover will never be able to work together. The writers didn't ignore that aspect.

I think they did a great job of conveying Vi's internal struggle towards accepting Caitlyn as an ally. At one point in her mind, she must have run out of excuses to distrust her, because Caitlyn keeps proving them wrong. It's a hard thing for Vi to wrap her head around, but she's wise enough to see that Cait has good intentions.

In the end, I think they showed a nice balance of "Vi being cynical towards Caitlyn" and "Vi realising Caitlyn is an inherently good person". You could say the same thing about Caitlyn and her initial doubts of Vi's trustworthiness. This is why I love their dynamic, because it encourages them to grow as individuals and see past their preconceived notions.

GIF by orphanmaker

Another hot topic of debate is that of Vi becoming an enforcer herself, which is slathered with the same critique: "How could she given her backstory?". But the important point people are missing is that Vi isn't going to become the type of enforcer that kills innocent people out of pure ruthlessness. She's not going to be an "asshole criminal" in a "fancy uniform". She's going to become an enforcer in order to HELP those in the undercity and PROTECT her sister. Is she really being hypocritical if what she's doing aligns with her own values? It's simply the external image that seems controversial: Oh look! A Zaunite has betrayed their own people by becoming a Piltover Enforcer. But once you dig deeper, you see that her loyalties lie in the right place.

Another point to mention is that we don't even know how the story is going to go about this. Is she going to join the current system of enforcers out of the urgent need to protect her sister? (I don't really see how that would be possible though, unless Jayce appoints Caitlyn as the new Sheriff and Vi accompanies her as a "collaborater" rather than an "enforcer".)

Or maybe they're going to be playing the long game and have Vi and Caitlyn reform the enforcers first before she officially joins them. Either way, they'll be seeking to bring about justice in their broken world.

By thinking that "all enforcers are inherently bad", you would be projecting the very same bias that people from the Undercity have towards Piltover (which is justified to a large extent because of how they've been treated). But what wouldn't make sense is to continually see an enforcer as corrupt even after they've proven themselves different.

[anarchistfrogposting]

Genuine question. How does an anarchist state deal with people who want to kill for fun? Do we just let them, because to have rules is to oppose ever single anarchist value, or do we stop them because true anarchism like that would be the death of humanity?

It’s a question that anarchists get a lot. I’ll say first and foremost that, like any other field I personally am not involved in the organisation of, public safety is better left to professionals who understand its machinations (and hence how to deconstruct its inherent hierarchies) better than myself (and no, I don’t mean the police).

I’ll also posit that anarchist society is absolutely not founded on the concept of an absence of rules, just an absence of hierarchical (as opposed to self-) government. I don’t blame you for thinking that; it’s a very common perception of anarchism, especially considering the associations people tend to form with the word anarchism and anarchy in modern lexicon.

It’s true that sometimes, somehow, people end up in a path of life wherein they would do something as heinous as kill for fun, or other various unjust reasons.

I’d first like to posit that such people and situations, whilst sensationalised, are in fact pretty rare.

But they might still exist, so what do we do about them? The first step, like in much anarchist praxis, is to shift perceptions and culture. Whilst it’s true that humans love gossip, I would also posit that much of the culture around serial murders and the like exists because media companies exaggerate and glamorise murder in order to grab clicks/interactions/readers. This is most stark, for example, in the cycle of American gun violence.

Familial units would be significantly less isolated as a result of their integration into their communities, meaning the cycles and chains of domestic abuse that often lead to the proliferation of those violent tendencies would be much less common. It’s worth remembering that capitalism’s rise came hand in hand with the breakdown in communities; that it had to in order to succeed.

But let’s say the revolution has happened, culture has shifted and yet there’s still mass and serial murderers out and about. What do we do about it?

Community self government also means community self defence. On a voluntary basis, that means that communities can set up security measures like communal watches, (extensively trained, cyclically employable and imminently accountable and recallable) guards, and even detainment revolving around the attempted reformation and treatment of those individuals.

Fundamentally, detainment exists as a means to reform individuals, and the workers in those facilities would all receive training and all be fully accountable and recallable to and by their communities. Accountability measures include enforcing transparency and setting up dual power that includes the prisoners themselves, the communities concerned with those facilities, and the staff volunteering in it.

This approach is contentious, and different anarchists have different opinions on the most effective strategies. A great example of a leading prison abolitionist is Angela Davis, if you’re interested in learning more about systems of justice outside of imprisonment.

Keep sending in your questions! I’ll do my best to answer (as long as you’re asking in good faith!) no (genuine) question is too silly.

[ditipatri]

Saturnalia is coming on soon, so I'd like to speak some more on this peculiar, interesting festive occasion.

It is an Ancient Roman holiday of abundance, feasting, and celebration of harvest, which was supposed to be over by the time the festivities began. After the farmers gathered the crops, they'd celebrate Saturn, God of seed and sowing, for His generosity and richness of the harvest.

The festival, known for its abundant feasts and the peculiar tradition of switching roles of masters and servants, has a complicated history.

The origins of Saturnalia are much of a mystery as the festival appears to be so Ancient that Roman sources mark it to be older than the city of Rome itself. Saturnalia existed in both Greek and Roman tradition, though it corresponded to the Greek Kronia, which was a similar, but not an identical festival.

Sources speak on different possible origins of the holiday: some mention the temple of Saturn, the largest of the recorded by the pontiffs, being erected in Rome, and thus starting the tradition; whereas others speak on the festival being brought from Greece. Either way, this Ancient tradition is associated with the liberation of the God of harvest.

Saturnalia was officially celebrated on December 17 and, in Cicero's ties, lasted for a week (inclusively), until December 23. The length of the celebration varied depending on the time period as Augustus shortened it to three days only for the sake of letting the civil courts stay closed for less, while Caligula extended the celebration to five days. The original festival, according to Macrobius, appeared to have lasted for only a day; fourteen days before the Kalends of January. The Julian reform shifted the date to the 17th, thus making it into sixteen days before the Kalends. Some believe that the timing for Saturnalia was symbolic, as next followed Winter Solstice, or symbolic Death of the Sun and Birth of the new one.

Regardless, even after the limiting of the festival, Saturnalia seemed to still be celebrated for a full week with the last day being dedicated to Sigillaria, named so after sigillaria, the small earthenware figurines sold in the cities on that day. The original day of celebration was in turn given to Ops, the consort of Saturn and the Deity of abundance and the fruits of the Earth. The celebration in Her honor was called Opalia, and two festivals tended to mix together with Ops' worshippers sitting down during prayer to touch Earth, mother of all.

Saturnalia involved various activities akin to feasts, parties, gift-giving, and ritual rites. The party traditionally started with the guests exclaiming, i Saturnalia, believed to be a shortening from ego tibi optimis Saturnalia auspico, or 'i wish you a happy Saturnalia'. It is believed to be one of the most delightful periods of the year and one of the most beloved Roman festivals. People went into the streets celebrating, marching, setting up shows and street markets. People of all backgrounds could participate in it.

Among the general aspects of Saturnalia were activities such as gift giving, as people exchanged things such as candles, walnuts, dates, and honey. Masters served slaves, whereas slaves became free men as in memory of Saturn's reign when slavery did not exist. Servants walked the streets masked, in Frigio hats, or hats of liberation. The Saturnals were also celebrated in the army; the party was called the Saturnalicium castrense, when the low-rank soldiers sat next to the generals as equals and toasted together. Dice games and public gambling were allowed, but became prohibited again once Saturnalia ended. Mourning was abolished, while courts and schools were closed; starting war or enforce capital punishment was strictly prohibited. The festivities took such a great degree of chaos that some authors of the time report moving to remote suburban houses for the week of the Saturnalia to avoid the noise.

Saturn was one of the few celebrated Deities, as, in Roman times, Dis Pater and Proserpina were also believed to join the festive processions in winter time. They were to be appeased by gifts, festivities, and food; which was believed to make Them return to the Underworld where, as the Gods of subsoil, They would protect the crops and make them sprout in spring.

The official part of the feast consisted of a solemn sacrifice in the temple attended with bare head and during which the wool bandages that wrapped the feet of Saturn's simulacrum melted. A public banquet followed where all the guests exchanged toasts and wishes.

Further celebratory activities were split into days, and precise rites were done on each day of the festival.

At the beginning of Saturnalia, a rite of lectisternium was held. During the ritual, statues of Jupiter and 12 Olympians were seated in a dining position upon a special bed, or couch, and offered food, prayers, and gifts. They were spoken to with due respect and asked for protection of Rome and its people as well as for help with current affairs. After the first step, a procession was sent off to the Temple of Saturn and animal sacrifices were made at the site. A banquet with cheeses, focaccia, olives, and wine was held, to which everyone was invited - all provided by the state.

Starting day one, no-work days began, and gifts as well as greeting cards were exchanged between the citizens. Myrtle, laurel, and ivy - symbolic elements of the Saturna - were given; the trees were respectively sacred to Venus, Apollo, and Bacchus. The first day was signified by banquets, during which the Princeps of Saturnalia, the ruler of the festivities, Princeps Saturnalicius, was elected. During the first day of the festival, people changed from togas to synthesis and pileus; a casual home robe and a cap like headdress.

On the second day of the festival, Rome was still abundant with noise and feasts, to which everyone invited everyone. Stalls and juggles were in the streets alongside dancers and musicians. Celebrations were accompanied by the feast in honor of Epona, Celtic Goddess of horses, much adorned by the equites, whose importance during Saturnalia was due to Her connection to fertility and richness of feasts. The second day of Saturnalia, the 18th of December, marked the beginning of the triad of days of Mercatus, much similar to today's city fairs.

The third day of Saturnalia was the initial day of the celebration (before the reform of the calendar) and was devoted to the Goddess Ops, Deity of Sabine origin introduced to Rome under Titus Tatius. She was praised as the Deity of abundance, protector of rich harvest, giver of fruits of the Earth, and respected consort of the God Saturn. Her Temple at the Capitol hill was erected on that day, and thus received attention and became a center of worship of the Goddess as it was the anniversary of its establishment. Ops was prayed to and asked for blessings of harvest.

The fourth day of the Saturnian festivals, December 20, was dedicated to gift-giving and worship of the Lares, house guardian Deities of Ancient Rome. Terracotta figurines, sigillaria, were made out of paste, wax, or terracotta. Bronze statues were a rarity as bronze was expensive, while sigillaria made out of sweet dough were meant for the children. These statuettes were exchanged as gifts between the citizens as well as given to Saturn as offerings. He was seen as the God of time, and, thus, Death, and the figurines were to be given to Him as ways to redirect Death from coming for the giver, instead letting the figurine take it.

On the fifth day, Rome was filled with visitors from all across the Empire who came to see the city at its peak, blooming with festivals and street activities such as shops, shows, and a multitude of banquet spots. Fod, souvenirs, sigillaria (sigillaria<sigillum<signum+illum), clothes, ornaments and jewels were sold on the street. Artisans from all over the Empire offered goods made of leather, wood, terracotta, bronze, brass, silver and a special alloy of gold and silver, electrum.

On day six of the festivities Rome welcomed dancers, singers, and other performers from across the Empire who came to join the celebration as the entirety of the Empire was involved in it. Gift-exchanging with the guests, also known as xenia, was performed. Marcus Valerius Martialis wrote Xenia and Apophoreta for the Saturnalia, both of which were published in December and intended to accompany the "guest gifts" that were given at that time of year.

On the seventh - and last - day of the celebrations the Gods were thanked for everything given. The streets were full of torches and braziers, and the day passed between banquets and the baths decorated with ribbons and garlands for the occasion. Aulus Gellius relates that he and his Roman compatriots would gather at the baths in Athens, where they were studying, and pose difficult questions to one another on the ancient poets, a crown of laurel being dedicated to Saturn if no-one could answer them.

Saturnalia ended at sunset.

Sources in pinned.