#but if u want me to write like. specific rep for u shoot me a message. give me refs. please.

[alienssstufff]

If you get the time and inclination pls do share with us your beef with the existing zombie apocalypse genre, I have my own feelings about it (I think it overshadows other types of fictional apocalypses a bit too much in most ppl's heads) but I'd love hearing someone else's take on it (and also how you would improve the genre if you like :3 )

oh ABSOLUTELY it does! One way its probably the easiest type of apocalypses to write abt just cuz there’s already so many and such an established I guess wwww scenario and tropes to it (?) In consequence bc of how ‘easy’ it is, it becomes so damn samey and the zombie apocalypse genre (and apocalypses genres as a whole) gets such bad rep for that reason. [The rest atp is me ranting abt zombie apocalypses specifically those are the ones I have beef with]

When I ask ppl why they don’t like apocalyptic stories most answers is just the amount of carnage that’s in them it’s horrible— to put it better: unnecessary violence in an already terrible world is what they think abt. When people think of apocalypse stories they think of the movies made in Hollywood. Muscular, American white man whos good at everything who kicks ass and saves the world singlehandedly. And the rep for zombie-driven games aren’t any better either… Not saying that stories of kicking ass taking names are ALL bad but most of it is very surface level reasoning as to why . That being said I wish there was more focus on mental health in zombie stories, realisations that the world ended and they’ll never go back to how it was before, instances of the struggles of learning how to adapt to this new way of living. There’s many topics that could be discussed and so many themes that haven’t been fully developed (or done poorly) in zombie apocalypses but seldom media’s deliver u_u

I think the zombie stories that stand out to me the most are the ones that revolve around normal people. There’s an vid essay somewhere that talks abt the success of Train to Busan as a movie, it’s still just as action packed as the ones above but it’s also rly freaking emotional as the characters and cultural themes they represent can hit p close to home for the target demographic. Also I cannot recommend enough Gakkou Gurashi (School Live)! It’s almost never talked about solely cuz of Episode 1 and even now I’m trying to be as vague as I can Please watch that anime/manga you will not regret it.

And finally worldbuilding always a sucker for worldbuilding I need more of it. Not how to stop it but more of How The Hell we fucked up that badly to ended up in this situation. Give me zombie stories of patient 0s, pov scientists fumbling in the lab etc I want THAT. I freaking love the worldbuilding in The Last of Us , such a unique way in designing zombies inspirations from real life (I believe funghi that controls dead ants). That freaking hospital part in TLOU2 will always have a lasting impression on me the environmental storytelling of the flooded hospital and the whole backstory of how the Rat King came to be an amalgamation of all the victims of Seattle’s Patient 0 zone forced to fuse because of the such claustrophobic and wet conditions of the basement OHMYFUCKINGVGG its so well thought out.

Overall my frustrations with apocalypses is just - the amount of untouched potential and themes that SHOULD be addressed but aren’t - to get creative with it. And even without mention of the worldbuilding stories of the average joe like u and I trying to do smth as ‘simple’ as going to the store but there are mental and physical struggles along the way would be fine too - u don’t need to fly a jet and shoot a rocket launcher to make things interesting. Relatability and/or creativity is what I wish.

[this was so fun to think abt anon if u have things u wanna share feel free to shoot another ask I’m all ears!]

[clementine-writes-things]

Victor Zsasz (Brother Edition)

Summary: I have recently liked writing Victor Zsasz as an older brother to a queer and non-binary AFAB sibling who is the SWEETEST person ever and also EXTREMELY...autistic. YOU KNOW I HAD TO MAKE Y/N AUTISTIC SORRY NOT SORRY I LOVE AUTISM REP. Very specific but it is so fun to write. So, here is a few blurbs of what their relationship would look like. Featuring some other characters too. Btw, Edward and y/n are dating in this thing. Shut up. You love it.

Content Warning: Explicit language, Victor being a great older brother, y/n being a pest.

Songs for Inspo:

Give me everything - intrumental + sped up - Barbar60, meyiv, meydown

FUNKED UP - xxanteria, isq

mos thoser - food house, Gupi, Fraxiom

(help he's bobbing his head in tune with my music wh-)

READ BELOW CUT

Scenario: Victor and y/n are making dinner together but y/n burns the chicken...

~

"Hey uh, Vic?" Y/n asked, sheepishly.

He poked his head out from behind the wall as he was about to walk by the kitchen.

"Yeah? What's u-" He sniffed the air.

"Did you burn the chicken...?"

"Maybe."

Victor sighs deepily.

"I'll order takeout." He says picking up the phone.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Do you thing any stray dogs outside will want to eat this?" They asked.

Victor shook his head.

"Y/n, it's been cremated..."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Shoot."

~

Scenario: Victor throws a birthday party for y/n for their 24th birthday. He treats it like a mom who plans a birthday party for their 8 year old but also acts like a bouncer. We love him for that.

~

"Woah buddy, I don't see you on the list." Victor said, showing him the note pad.

Y/n was having their birthday at the Sirens club. Barbara helped Victor plan the whole thing. It was so funny how opposite the Zsasz siblings were. He was cold, dark, and mysterious with a fascination of guns, and y/n was bubbly, hyper and sweet with a fascination of anything cute. Very very different. When he found out y/n was autistic, he never judged their hyper fixations. He actually helped them indulge in them. The theme for the birthday party was just "bright and happy" so there were smiley faces everywhere, rainbows, and other cute stuff.

"Victor, I'm dating y/n. What are you talking about?" Edward asked.

Victor clicked his tongue, pointing at the list with his pen.

"Yeah no, it says Edward Nygma. Not 'dipshit'. Sorry." He shooed him away.

"Haha very funny." He said walking past him.

Victor rolled his eyes as he walked with him to y/n. He messed around with Edward a lot but he was honestly happy that he made y/n happy. But if he ever hurt them he would kill him slowly.

"Happy birthday, baby." Edward said, a gift in his left hand.

Y/n squealed in excitement and gave him a big hug. They had been so excited to see him and he was finally here. Victor took the gift from Edward and placed it on the table with the other gifts. The list of people that were there included:

Oswald

Barbara

Tabitha

Edward

Victor

Butch

Everyone laughed as Victor walked over to the gift table, looking at all of them. He was dressed in all black like usual, except for the shirt he was wearing. Y/n had bought him it as a funny birthday gift one year but he wore it religiously. It was a rainbow tie-dye shirt that said 'World's Best Older Brother' in bold white letters. He was not ashamed to wear that shirt.

"I must say, it is very off-putting to see Victor Zsasz host a birthday party in a tie-dye shirt." Oswald said.

Everyone nodded in agreement, chuckling at his comment. Suddenly Victor turned around and clapped his hands together. Everyone looked towards him.

"Who wants to play party games!?" He asked excitedly.

"Oh hell yes." Barbara said.

~

Scenario: Y/n got tested for autism a while ago and finally got the results. They tell Victor and their friends. They are embarrassed.

warning: r slur is said by y/n since they are beating themself up (don't call autistic people the r word guys. dont even say it it is so cruel. k thanks <3)

~

Y/n walked through the doors of the Sirens, not saying hello. A piece of paper was clutched in their hand as they walked to the bar, slumping on the stool. They didn't notice that literally all of their friends and their boyfriend were there. Reaching over the bar they grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice that was used for cocktails and just drank the juice. This made Barbara laugh, as her friend went for juice instead of alcohol.

"Um, y/n? What's wrong?" Victor asked, placing a hand on their shoulder.

Without saying a word they held up the piece of paper, waiting for someone to take it. Edward reached out and grabbed it, opening it and placing it on the counter for everyone to see.

"I'm a r*tard..." They sighed.

"Woah! Hey, don't say that about yourself. Don't call yourself that." Victor said, immediately comforting them.

They sat next to them and wrapped and arm around their shoulder, holding them close. He looked back towards everyone, motioning for them to help him out.

"Why do you think this is a bad thing, hun?" Edward asked.

"It's a disorder..." Y/n sniffled.

"Ok and? It's who you are? You shouldn't hate who you are. We love you exactly how you are." Tabitha added.

"I don't know. It's just hard to process I guess? It's big news. I mean, now that I know I have it, well, it feels overwhelming." Y/n said.

"We'll be here every step of the way." Victor said.

Y/n smiled.

"Thank you..."

"Congratulations on the promotion!" Barbara giggled.

"Oh my god Barb.." Oswald groaned.

~

Scenario: Y/n comes out to Victor randomly on a Wednesday afternoon. Then he helps them come out to their friends. That's it.

~

Y/n walked downstairs, seeing their brother sitting at the table sipping a glass of lemonade. Clearing their throat, they walked up to him. He looked up, smiling at y/n.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Dude, I think I'm queer..." They stated.

"Knew it. You owe me 20 bucks queer eye." He said.

"What? I didn't even make a bet with you."

"Yeah, but I made an imaginary one with you. So cough it up."

"No. Also, I think I'm non-binary..."

"That one I actually didn't expect. What should I refer to you as?" He asked.

"Um, they/them."

"Noted. Have you told anyone else?" He asked.

"No. But I want to."

"Wanna go to the Sirens and meet up with everyone?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Also, I'm very proud of you for coming out to me. I'm glad that you trust me with that information. I love you dude." He said, standing up and giving y/n a hug.

"Thanks big bro. Now, let's go make a dramatic coming out announcement to everyone. We're gonna need confetti poppers."

"With you in my life, I always have those things. Let's go and wreak havoc."

~

(this was short and random and totally wasn't asked for but i like Victor Zsasz as a big brother so wtvvvvv <3)

[basaltbutch]

also ok. ive been trying to add more diversity and shit to my stories bc its fun!!! and adds so much interest!!! but there's so much like. conflicting info/no info online so ive been trawling weird old book stores. have a whole library at this point. anyway if anyone has any refs on literally anything they want to see me write about please send them over.

[bigskydreaming]

That last reblog is very informative and useful in figuring out where to find certain storylines. Purely on a personal recommendation note, for anyone looking for good reads and who tends to like my take on things, my recs from that list (and not saying that others I don’t rec aren’t good, just what immediately popped into my head) would be:

Batman: The Long Halloween (yes. its a good)

Batman: Birth of the Demon (if you want to set canon on fire, as many people are wont to do, a good place to start is aggressively ignoring Morrison’s take on Damian’s birth and origin and instead treating this story as his origin and just building off the idea that Talia lied at the end which is waaaaaaaaay better and just like...go from there)

Batman: The Killing Joke (kill it with the fire. we’ve had enough of the killing joke. it can die. even alan moore hates it and he wrote it and alan moore usually loves everything he writes and hates everyone ELSE for like, liking it the wrong way, so I mean, that should tell you a lot)

Batman: The Cult (holy shit I totally forgot about this story and now am off to go reread it again myself)

I have Issues with how ADITF AND A Lonely Place of Dying play out and most popular takes on them, so like, I’m not like, recommending RECOMMENDING them, but I mean like, they are pivotal.

Batman: Knightfall, Legacy, Cataclysm and all things No Man’s Land related have some good stuff throughout all of them. Like, things I don’t like, sure, but overall, there’s a lot of good material in them. Also, a good way to get a strong sense of actual canon Tim, who is not fanon Tim, and who would probably take one look at fanon Tim and go LOL nerd, and kickflip away on his skateboard to go tell Nightwing about this AU version of himself he just met, as like, he actually likes and respects Nightwing, among other differences.

JLA Tower of Babel (its a yawn from me, lads. the source of pretty much all “Batman can beat all of the JLA because he has the greatest superpower of all: PREP TIME!!!” hot takes and I mean, yeah that’s pretty core to Batman and who he is at this point, but the story itself its just like. Eh. Could you not. Idk. Basically I just mean this is all part of an era of JLA that for the most part I actually tend to LIKE Bruce’s interactions with the rest of the team, but then there was this and it was just like. Eh. Could you not).

Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (Quality reads IMO that emphasize the Detective part of the Batfranchise and contain good moments for the whole currently present Batfam, lots of great Cass and Dick stuff in particular. Idk. I havent read them in awhile but I have fond memories)

Batman: Hush (this gets a bad rep and not entirely deserved IMO. Like, its not the greatest story in the world but I like how it portrays Bruce as having flawed dynamics with a lot of his loved ones but not shying away from his role in that but also without overly vilifying him....he’s an appropriately complex character in this, is what I mean, and I also like that this is another story that emphasizes the often lost-and-forgotten Detective part of his core concept. Also, it utilizes some of my fave villains in ways that bring home how much potential certain combinations/team-ups of villains could have if they were utilized more instead of overlooked in favor of ITS TIME FOR THE JOKER AGAIN WHEEEEEEEE!)

Batman: Under the Red Hood (hahahhahaha no. like could you imagine me reccing this? LOL its not realistic. Nah, stick with the animated movie retelling. At least Bruce doesn’t slit his son’s throat in that one to save the damn clown again)

Batman: R.I.P (I reluctantly rec this not because I like it, cuz I don’t, its Morrison back on his bullshit in a most I AM THE MOST GALAXY BRAINED OF ALL THE GALAXY BRAINED AND ALSO IM A CHAOS MAGICIAN DID U KNOW THAT HUH DID YA DID YA, like, fashion. Its. A lot. The story is A Lot. I don’t say that in a complimentary way. BUT I recommend it anyway out of pure stubbornness and Dick Grayson fanboy spite, as its set like, directly before Bruce is believed dead and gets lost in time, and like, A LOT happens to Dick in that story that SHOULD BE extremely relevant and crucial to examinations of his mental and emotional state at the time of him assuming Bruce’s role in the family and as Batman, but that just like....ISN’T, and that annoys me. Also, the primary villain of this, Dr. Hurt, like.....

his grand endgame involved torturing the fuck out of Dick to hurt Bruce specifically, and pretty much the first thing that happens when Bruce DOES come back from being lost in time is Dr. Hurt pops up out of nowhere and shoots Dick in the head, like FIRST THING, like this is the absolute first thing Bruce has to deal with when coming back, and this is just like....NONEXISTENT in most fics about that era. Because lolol how can we blame Dick for everything that went wrong and make Bruce be mad at him for how Dick wronged Tim and Jason and all of Gotham probably, if we’re going by actual canon and thus dealing with the fact that Bruce is preoccupied with hovering over his just-shot-in-the-head-specifically-to-fuck-with-Bruce son’s bedside and WORRYING about him. LOLOL hashtag Fandom Willfully Erases The Majority of Dick’s Canon Traumas Not Because They Want To Set Canon On Fire - they’re usually fine with sticking to every instance of canon in which Dick does something even in the ZIP CODE of wrong - but rather because if we acknowledge Dick’s traumas then eww, he might come across as....sympathetic? No, we can’t have that. ERGO HE WAS NEVER SHOT IN THE HEAD HAHAHAH WE FIXED IT, WE FIXED CANON).

But I digress.

Battle for the Cowl (another reluctant rec because like, its dumb and its bad, but its one of those things that I’d still rather more people read than didn’t, because like it is pivotal and relevant, and it contains key plot points like oh Idk, Arkham literally blowing up as all the currently locked up inmates escape, which led to Dick having Wayne Enterprises rebuild it himself, and like, the only villains present in it when he was Batman being the villains he and Damian CAUGHT while he was Batman, which did NOT include the Joker, and thus all the hot takes about how Dick locked up Jason two doors down from his murderer like the uncaring bastard that he is, like.....instead of the reality that Dick pulled strings to have Jason put in Arkham instead of Blackgate when the POLICE ARRIVED ON SCENE AND LOCKED UP THE ANONYMOUS RED HOOD BECAUSE HE WAS CLEARLY DEFEATED AND CLEARLY A WANTED CRIMINAL AND THUS LIKE, HIS IMPRISONMENT LITERALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DICK OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT DICK DEFEATED JASON RATHER THAN LETTING HIM KILL HIM AND DAMIAN.....

like, its literal canon that Dick explains himself for having Jason put in Arkham instead of Blackgate because it allowed him to keep Jason OUT of gen pop where he had literal dozens of enemies that he, Jason, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING THEM IN THERE HIMSELF, and it was to keep Jason SAFE, and it WORKED as Jason’s only actual canon complaint at that time was that he was BORED. So in conclusion, AS ALWAYS, you can do what you want, but when you literally manufacture the fake fanon - and completely fail to make any effort to establish that this is NOT actual canon and that you’re not actually riffing off of an actual canon moment - that Dick callously locked his brother up a few doors down from his own murderer (the dude that Dick himself literally once beat to death because he killed Jason).....like, inquiring minds would like to know, why are you trying so hard to make Dick look like THIS MUCH of an asshole, hmm?)

Batman: The Gates of Gotham (a weird, but fun little read IMO, that delves deep into the backstory of Gotham, the Waynes, and also Dick’s ancestors the Crownes, and establishes a lot of the history revolving around all of the above, and like, it actually has Dick as Batman and being competent and respected by the rest of the family in that role, and its also one of the only times Cass and Damian interacted one on one, stuff like that)

Batman and Robin Eternal (eww no, kill it also with the fire, burn it, I hate it, uggggggh why is this series so praised, its so baaaaaaaaaaaad, its like what if literally every character involved in it is an asshole to Dick for no valid reason whatsoever.....huh, weird thought, wonder if the fact that its so praised as being so good and Dick’s so hated for weird reasons by a lot of fandom are connected....almost like.....the fiction influenced how people viewed his character....and thus....critical commentary of how the fiction was bad is....relevant....HMM I MUST PONDER THIS STRANGE AND NOVEL THOUGHT).

[foursproutwealth-blog]

This Is The Worst Purge Of Conservative Voices In The History Of The Internet

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/this-is-the-worst-purge-of-conservative-voices-in-the-history-of-the-internet/

This Is The Worst Purge Of Conservative Voices In The History Of The Internet

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

In recent weeks, we have witnessed an unprecedented social media crackdown on conservative voices.  YouTube’s war with Alex Jones has gotten the most attention, but literally hundreds of conservative content creators have had their accounts penalized, suspended or deleted by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media giants.  There appears to be a coordinated effort to target conservative viewpoints, because similar voices on the left are not receiving equal treatment.  If I win my race for Congress on May 15th, I am going to make fighting this sort of censorship one of my top priorities once I get to Washington.

How would you feel if you spent years creating videos and building up a subscriber base only to have all of that work wiped out in a single moment by a leftist YouTube moderator?

Sadly, that is precisely what is happening to dozens upon dozens of conservatives right now…

Writing for Polygon.com, Julia Alexander noted that, “Whenever YouTube institutes a tougher moderation stance, a common debate emerges over censorship—especially from notable conservative voices.”

Specifically, she explained, “Questions over YouTube’s moderators and the power they hold were raised this week after notable conservative pundits, gun advocates, conspiracy channels and other right-wing voices received community strikes or were locked out of their channels. Creators who are affected by lockouts, strikes and suspensions are referring to it as the ‘YouTube Purge,’ claiming that YouTube is purging all right-wing or pro-gun content. The move follows the company’s attempt to clamp down on dangerous content following the Parkland shooting.”

One of the most disturbing examples of censorship was what happened to the Health Ranger channel.  Mike Adams is a personal friend, and I am extremely upset about what YouTube has done to him…

As we reported over the weekend, YouTube terminated the entire Health Ranger video channel on Saturday, wiping out over 1,700 videos and approximately 350K+ subscribers. This was done, of course, as part of the YouTube left-wing PURGE now being carried out against non-establishment speakers who are being targeted for political reasons.

YouTube’s censorship rampage also wiped out all my videos on the donkeys I rescued, the range-free chickens I raise and even the beautiful ice crystals I captured on video over the winter. In its censorship sweep, YouTube is obliterating thousands of videos without cause, violating the civil rights of informative internet users and functioning as a criminal techno-cartel.

There is absolutely no reason for YouTube to do this.  Mike Adams has literally helped millions of people through his work, and I am urging all of my readers to contact YouTube and demand that they restore his channel immediately.

Of course YouTube is not the only one that is cracking down on conservative voices.  Here are a few examples of what Facebook has been doing…

Young Cons: This very popular conservative news site had millions of daily readers during the recent election, and the site received nearly all its traffic from Facebook (Lesson: Never put all your marketing eggs in one basket). Facebook has been increasingly censoring Young Cons stories since 2016; now the site struggles mightily and regularly switches domains in order to maintain traffic.

SaraPalin.com: At one point the former GOP VP nominee and Alaska governor’s website was serving up stories to her four million Facebook followers, but she, too, had to begin switching domains in order to maintain traffic.

Right Wing News: This site grew to massive proportions over the past few years, in large part thanks to its meteoric popularity on Facebook. During one week in 2015, the site’s Facebook page reached 133 million people. The site was driving about the same amount of web traffic as some of the biggest newspapers in the U.S. But since 2016 Facebook began blocking traffic to the site; its owner, John Hawkins, announced he would shut it down in January (it’s still online but the content is not regularly updated).

Independent Journal Review: This, too, was a large conservative news and information source, but because it was overly reliant on Facebook traffic, the site had to terminate a number of its employees last week, leaving the fate of the Millennial-focused site in doubt.

And Twitter has been censoring conservatives as well.

In particular, Twitter seems to really dislike pro-life activists…

Pro-life group Live Action cried foul in 2017 after Twitter demanded it delete pro-life images, such as fetal ultrasounds, from its Twitter feed and website before allowing the group to run advertisements. Live Action refused the request.

Another pro-life group, the Susan B. Anthony List, was barred in October from running a video advertisement, because it used the phrase “killing babies” to refer to abortion. “No advertiser is permitted to use the phrase ‘killing babies,’” Twitter told the group.

That same month, Twitter blocked an advertisement by Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign for Senate in Tennessee. Twitter objected to one line Blackburn said: “I’m 100% pro-life. I fought Planned Parenthood, and we stopped the sale of baby body parts –thank God.”

If you don’t stand up when you see others being censored, then please don’t complain when the social media giants censor you as well.  I think that Dr. Michael Brown made this point exceedingly well in his most recent article…

First they came for Infowars, and I did not speak out—because I found them offensive.

Then they came for Geller and Spencer, and I did not speak out—because I found them obnoxious.

Then they came for Prager U, and I did not speak out—because I found them opinionated.

Then they came for a host of others, and I did not speak out—because I have my own life to live.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

This is why we need good liberty-minded people to run for office all over the nation.

*  *  *

If we do not fight back, this sort of oppression is only going to get worse.  Right at this moment I am engaged in an extremely tight race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and if you want me to go to Washington and defend our free speech rights, please consider making a contribution because we desperately need it right now.

In the entire history of the Internet, we have never seen this sort of a coordinated purge before.

The left believes that they are going to win, but we are definitely not going to allow that to happen.

Michael Snyder is a pro-Trump candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District.  If you would like to help him win on May 15th, you can donate online, by Paypal or by sending a check made out to “Michael Snyder for Congress” to P.O. Box 1136 – Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.  To learn more, please visit MichaelSnyderForCongress.com.

[foursprout-blog]

This Is The Worst Purge Of Conservative Voices In The History Of The Internet

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/this-is-the-worst-purge-of-conservative-voices-in-the-history-of-the-internet/

This Is The Worst Purge Of Conservative Voices In The History Of The Internet

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

In recent weeks, we have witnessed an unprecedented social media crackdown on conservative voices.  YouTube’s war with Alex Jones has gotten the most attention, but literally hundreds of conservative content creators have had their accounts penalized, suspended or deleted by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media giants.  There appears to be a coordinated effort to target conservative viewpoints, because similar voices on the left are not receiving equal treatment.  If I win my race for Congress on May 15th, I am going to make fighting this sort of censorship one of my top priorities once I get to Washington.

How would you feel if you spent years creating videos and building up a subscriber base only to have all of that work wiped out in a single moment by a leftist YouTube moderator?

Sadly, that is precisely what is happening to dozens upon dozens of conservatives right now…

Writing for Polygon.com, Julia Alexander noted that, “Whenever YouTube institutes a tougher moderation stance, a common debate emerges over censorship—especially from notable conservative voices.”

Specifically, she explained, “Questions over YouTube’s moderators and the power they hold were raised this week after notable conservative pundits, gun advocates, conspiracy channels and other right-wing voices received community strikes or were locked out of their channels. Creators who are affected by lockouts, strikes and suspensions are referring to it as the ‘YouTube Purge,’ claiming that YouTube is purging all right-wing or pro-gun content. The move follows the company’s attempt to clamp down on dangerous content following the Parkland shooting.”

One of the most disturbing examples of censorship was what happened to the Health Ranger channel.  Mike Adams is a personal friend, and I am extremely upset about what YouTube has done to him…

As we reported over the weekend, YouTube terminated the entire Health Ranger video channel on Saturday, wiping out over 1,700 videos and approximately 350K+ subscribers. This was done, of course, as part of the YouTube left-wing PURGE now being carried out against non-establishment speakers who are being targeted for political reasons.

YouTube’s censorship rampage also wiped out all my videos on the donkeys I rescued, the range-free chickens I raise and even the beautiful ice crystals I captured on video over the winter. In its censorship sweep, YouTube is obliterating thousands of videos without cause, violating the civil rights of informative internet users and functioning as a criminal techno-cartel.

There is absolutely no reason for YouTube to do this.  Mike Adams has literally helped millions of people through his work, and I am urging all of my readers to contact YouTube and demand that they restore his channel immediately.

Of course YouTube is not the only one that is cracking down on conservative voices.  Here are a few examples of what Facebook has been doing…

Young Cons: This very popular conservative news site had millions of daily readers during the recent election, and the site received nearly all its traffic from Facebook (Lesson: Never put all your marketing eggs in one basket). Facebook has been increasingly censoring Young Cons stories since 2016; now the site struggles mightily and regularly switches domains in order to maintain traffic.

SaraPalin.com: At one point the former GOP VP nominee and Alaska governor’s website was serving up stories to her four million Facebook followers, but she, too, had to begin switching domains in order to maintain traffic.

Right Wing News: This site grew to massive proportions over the past few years, in large part thanks to its meteoric popularity on Facebook. During one week in 2015, the site’s Facebook page reached 133 million people. The site was driving about the same amount of web traffic as some of the biggest newspapers in the U.S. But since 2016 Facebook began blocking traffic to the site; its owner, John Hawkins, announced he would shut it down in January (it’s still online but the content is not regularly updated).

Independent Journal Review: This, too, was a large conservative news and information source, but because it was overly reliant on Facebook traffic, the site had to terminate a number of its employees last week, leaving the fate of the Millennial-focused site in doubt.

And Twitter has been censoring conservatives as well.

In particular, Twitter seems to really dislike pro-life activists…

Pro-life group Live Action cried foul in 2017 after Twitter demanded it delete pro-life images, such as fetal ultrasounds, from its Twitter feed and website before allowing the group to run advertisements. Live Action refused the request.

Another pro-life group, the Susan B. Anthony List, was barred in October from running a video advertisement, because it used the phrase “killing babies” to refer to abortion. “No advertiser is permitted to use the phrase ‘killing babies,’” Twitter told the group.

That same month, Twitter blocked an advertisement by Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign for Senate in Tennessee. Twitter objected to one line Blackburn said: “I’m 100% pro-life. I fought Planned Parenthood, and we stopped the sale of baby body parts –thank God.”

If you don’t stand up when you see others being censored, then please don’t complain when the social media giants censor you as well.  I think that Dr. Michael Brown made this point exceedingly well in his most recent article…

First they came for Infowars, and I did not speak out—because I found them offensive.

Then they came for Geller and Spencer, and I did not speak out—because I found them obnoxious.

Then they came for Prager U, and I did not speak out—because I found them opinionated.

Then they came for a host of others, and I did not speak out—because I have my own life to live.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

This is why we need good liberty-minded people to run for office all over the nation.

*  *  *

If we do not fight back, this sort of oppression is only going to get worse.  Right at this moment I am engaged in an extremely tight race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and if you want me to go to Washington and defend our free speech rights, please consider making a contribution because we desperately need it right now.

In the entire history of the Internet, we have never seen this sort of a coordinated purge before.

The left believes that they are going to win, but we are definitely not going to allow that to happen.

Michael Snyder is a pro-Trump candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District.  If you would like to help him win on May 15th, you can donate online, by Paypal or by sending a check made out to “Michael Snyder for Congress” to P.O. Box 1136 – Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.  To learn more, please visit MichaelSnyderForCongress.com.

[jisaacs14]

Onwards and Upwards

It’s been a little over a year since my last post. It has not been an easy year either - a car accident (and massive concussion), my dog - the famous Penny of the Penny Face - had a stroke and passed away the same week I had tonsillitis to the point of hospitalization (my throat closed up… fun), tonsillectomy (#firstsurgery #finally), I’ve moved three and a half times - I could go on.

The half move is from the most recent struggle - hip surgery (#secondsurgery amiright?). I had to move back to my parents for a month because apparently hip surgery means not even being able to sit up for a month, let alone get up and down stairs, shower, walk etc. Fun stuff… actually I’m not being sarcastic… the past two weeks have been the “staycation” I didn’t even know I needed - I’ve had time to reflect on the past year, where I am now, and where I’d like to go. 

After graduating with my Italian and Comparative Literature degrees, I explored a couple of teaching roles and ultimately decided to follow the most obvious, logical path for someone with my work and educational background: Business Development. At least, it was obvious to me - not so much the businesses I applied to.

The thing is, I knew that if I could just explain to the hiring managers why it made perfect sense that an Italian speaking preschool teacher is the ideal candidate for any business role, I’d be able to get my foot in the door. That said, something I quickly learned in the process is that most companies won’t let you get even your smallest toe in the door if the proper qualifications are not spelled out across your resume. 

I got calls - multiple calls - from HR reps telling me to not bother applying to their companies without 3-5 more years of experience or a different degree because I would never be able to work there. But, as anyone who has ever met me will tell you, I am persistent. I am persistent to a painstaking level. The most valuable qualities a person can have, in my opinion, are loyalty, empathy, and persistence, in that order.

So on my first day at one of the biggest enterprise companies in the world, at an internship that was created specifically for me, I pondered the idea of shooting an email over to that rep in Texas who told me I’d never find a job there. I didn’t though - I had better, more exciting things to do. The story as to how I got that job involved some travelling, and is definitely a story I should share with you all, but I’ll save it for later.

Flash forward to December 20th, 2016. My fourth month into my first ever full time job - sales rep at a tech startup (the natural career path of any Italian/Lit major) - and my CEO asked if anyone wanted to buy his tickets to the Patriots game. I’d never been to a football game before (went to an all girls’ high school, sorry U of R but football isn’t a main attraction there either, and Pats tix are so $$$). I couldn’t pass up such a huge discount, and to this day, it’s probably the second best impulse buy I’ve ever made (I’ll get to the best impulse buy in a minute). 

On December 24th, 2016, my best friend and I hopped in her car and made the trek to Gillette Stadium. We grabbed some champagne - the pre-game drink of champions, found our seats, took some fabulous pics (if it’s not on Instagram, did it ever really happen?) and settled in for what turned out to be a fantastic game. Neither of us cared that it rained the whole time, nor did we mind the freezing winds on the walk back to the car - we were still high on life from being that close to Gronk and Brady. 

So we weren’t thinking about rain or ice when we went to get out of the car, that is we weren’t thinking about it until I was lying on the ground two seconds later. Totally ate it. But like I said, I’m persistent. I got up, laughed it off and went on my way. A week later, I felt the bruise on my hip, and remembered my fall. Two weeks later, I noticed that I wasn’t able to walk so well. A week after that I was in agonizing pain, and that’s when I decided to call the doctor. 

I told her it was a sports injury, since it happened after a football game. She and I both thought it was a bone bruise, maybe a pulled muscle, but she sent me to a specialist, since it was concerning that the pain was getting worse with time. Good thing she did because I tore my labrum.

Even the specialist was shocked that someone could have sustained so much damage to their hip, just slipping on black ice. C’est la vie.

Because of how badly I bruised the bone, I couldn’t get my labrum repaired until exactly 15 days ago (October 11, 2017… only took 10 months). 

And here we are, a year after my last post, a year after I started my full time sales job, upon completing a fulfilling internship. After all the rejection I have faced, both early on with my job applications, and the continued rejection that is simply a part of any sales job, I have pushed myself as hard as I can over the last year. 

I’ve moved through the ranks faster than anyone, our head of recruiting bumped into another HR rep that rejected me and even made a point of saying I was one of the top reps at my current company, and I’m hoping to soon earn a spot on the closing team. There’s a lot to be proud of, especially considering how tough of a year it’s been on me physically, but I’ve also been thinking a lot lately about what I’ve sacrificed to get here.

Before my surgery, I was feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. I wrote an article on here earlier about feeling the need to run away, escape, and travel when I’m stressed, and it’s safe to say that in the three or four years I’ve been writing here, that hasn’t changed. 

So I stayed up late one night, thought long and hard about where I’d go, what I’d do and in the end, the decision was easy. I went where I always want to go, a place that feels like home, that always helps me clear my head and refuels my faith in humanity.

I went to Ireland. 

“Again?!” my mother asked when I told her. Turns out if you buy tickets 3 weeks in advance, they’re quite affordable (shout out to my office for unlimited vacation days and flexible scheduling).

5 days, 4 nights, new places in old towns. As always, I saw some old friends, and I made some new ones as well (if you’re in an Irish pub, it’s really impossible to walk out without 10 or 20 new pals). I danced, ran through the rain, and kayaked with seals at sunset. 

For the first time ever, I rented a car and had another “first” driving on the left side of the road. 

By the end of my trip, I was ready for my surgery. Ready to lay in bed for a month straight (in case you’re wondering how I have the time to write all this down) and I have quenched enough wanderlust to focus on getting back on my feet, literally. 

My persistence has greatly helped me push through this. I’m healing well, and I’m already planning my next few trips - California, Chicago, Romania, Australia… time to start budgeting ;) 

I can’t wait to see what the next year brings, and in the meantime, I hope to keep writing here and share the few drops of wisdom I’ve gained in my brief 25 years. Onwards and upwards!