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mariacallous · 2 months

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Today marks the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program, a landmark piece of US government legislation that aimed to make it easier for people to afford an internet connection in their homes. The program’s end marks a big shift, with the cessation of benefits set to affect millions of Americans who might need them most.

What Is the Affordable Connectivity Program?

In 2021, the US Congress passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. It was a massive, ambitious piece of legislation that aimed to shore up a variety of floundering industries, including transit networks, energy systems, and public utilities. The ACP was part of that deal. It set aside $14.2 billion to fund credits that could help low-income households afford high-speed internet. If a family’s household income was below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline per year, they were eligible for a $30 monthly credit on their broadband bill. People living on Tribal lands were eligible to receive up to $75.

Today, all that is going away.

It’s certainly not an ideal situation, considering that access to the internet is a necessity in modern society, especially in the post-Covid era, when remote work has been normalized. Not being able to get online can contribute to a widening digital divide, where people without internet access can fall behind socially and economically. Americans who have come to depend on the discount will see their internet bills spike and will potentially be forced to balance the increased cost with paying for food, rent, and other essential needs. Not to mention that many ACP beneficiaries had come to rely on getting their internet for free; initial urging by the White House led to many internet providers offering plans with minimum download speeds of 100 Mbps for $30 a month. Customers who were applying their ACP benefit to these plans were getting internet access for free. Starting tomorrow, they will have to start paying for it.

Why Is the ACP Expiring?

The problem is funding. Like with any federal funding, there’s a limit to how long a program can go on without being renewed by Congress. The Biden administration has made several pleas to lawmakers to save the program, including one last October requesting a $6 billion investment to continue the program, among other domestic spending. Despite that and a number of pleas from advocacy groups and organizations like the Federal Communications Commission, nothing came of these attempts, and the program has officially lapsed.

Who’s Affected?

According to the White House, more than 23 million households have taken advantage of the program since it went into effect. That’s a staggering number—roughly one in six households—who now have to find another way to scrape together the funds to stay connected.

The end of the ACP is not exactly a surprise for the organizations that support it. In anticipation of the future lack of funding, the ACP stopped accepting applications for the program in February 2024. According to the US Federal Communications Commission, networks are required to alert users that the program has come to an end, so affected households should have received notices about the wind-down.

What Happens Next?

Unfortunately, any of the families who have been getting the ACP benefit will have to start paying full price for their internet connections—provided they’re able to afford it. If a household’s income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, or if the household claims other government benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, or Social Security, there’s a way to get a similar reduction in internet cost, albeit a much smaller one. The Universal Service Administrative Company offers a service called Lifeline, which can pay up to $9.25 per month for a connection (and up to $34.25 per month for anyone living on qualifying Tribal lands).

In a press conference yesterday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the Biden administration’s stance of pushing big telecom companies to continue honoring the ACP rules despite the lack of funding, saying, “We announced earlier this month that we are encouraging providers to take steps to keep their consumers connected at this crucial time by over low-cost, no-cost plans.” However, it isn’t clear whether any of the providers will be keen to play along.

If you’re affected, your internet provider should have already sent you two notifications about your service. If that’s not the case, you should contact your provider. Ultimately, affected users will have to decide whether to continue their service at the new price. The FCC has an information page about the ACP wind-down, where it also encourages filing complaints.

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gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot · 9 months

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Never assume the obvious is true

I present to you a collaboration fic with @wormscantscreem, who is a lovely, lovely person with a very interesting OC who we introduce all of you to, and now lives (rent free) in my little fic universe. Enjoy!

This will be the first of a series of flashbacks (one shots or mini series) that will have their own masterlist

Tagging my usuals: @glitterypirateduck @letsreadallday @jamesrifftapes @rileyslibrarian

Late July 2021

Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan

‘‘Can you explain why we’re here now?’’

Kate Laswell sighed deeply, barely turning her head to look at her ‘assistant’, who was looking around with clear bemusement in their face. After letting their eyes roam around for a moment their expression changed to disgust. And Laswell could understand why.

The Kandahar Airport was a buzzing pot of disgruntled, nervous and angry looking foreign soldiers and local personnel running around and barking orders at each other. As they strolled towards the building where the particular unit they were looking for had been stationed, Laswell couldn’t help but think that the place looked like it would fall apart soon.

The whole country looked like it would fall apart soon.

‘‘We are here because the operator I need can't be contacted, and I’m going to yell at their CO for sending her squad out on a mission when I clearly stated that I needed that particular asset’’

‘‘That explains why you are here, but not why I am here’’ Jester whined, toying with their checkered tie. Laswell sighed looking at them with resignation. She had tried, hard, to make Jester change their… colorful outfit into something more fitting for the heat, but her ‘assistant’ had only consented into changing their striped trousers and shirt into some sand colored cargo pants and a short sleeve t-shirt. But they were still wearing their tie, and their patterned hoodie with a jester hood hanging at their back, and their usual beanie covering their dirty blond hair.

‘‘You are here because you have a particularly useful skill that I’d love to put to use right here’’

Loge ‘Jester’ Eirdotter rolled their grayish blue eyes, looking around with a huff. They kicked a small rock in their way, with their hands in their pockets. A pout on their face to further express their discontent, and Laswell rolled her eyes as well, but waited. She knew Jester’s curiosity would do the rest.

‘‘What am I supposed to discover in this dusty hole?’’

Laswell hid her smile and nodded. There it was. The detail that made it possible for her to get Jester to agree without really agreeing. Their hunger for information, for details that would fetch a good value.

‘‘We’re going to the HeadHunters’ quarters’’ She turned her head when Jester stilled for a moment, like a cat with its ears on high alert, quickly covering up their intrigue with another huff. Laswell smiled. ‘‘Yeah, that one. Under the command of Captain William Rico’’

‘‘That guy’s a bastard, for what I found. Other COs hate him, highest rate of injuries or KIA of any Special Unit…’’

‘‘I know’’ Laswell nodded patiently, opening the building door and waiting for Jester to step inside before following them. ‘‘But I have nothing useful to shut down whatever shady shit he’s doing yet’’

‘‘So you don’t really know if he’s doing anything’’ Jester barked a bitter laugh, shaking their head. ‘‘Maybe he’s just a bastard. I’m sure you know plenty’’ They snickered. Men like Rico were a dime a dozen. Jester diverted their gaze, mentally cataloging the possible weak points they could exploit. This would be a dull job. Jester kicked another pebble, they were bored. They’d prefer to be out and about, getting their nose in whatever the higher-ups were keeping locked away from view. Their fingers almost itched.

‘‘90% of his operators were booted from other units for questionable behavior, going from theft, gambling, and who knows what to less serious things as insubordination, bullying, brawls, or being absent without permission’’ Laswell stopped to allow a couple of local civilian personnel to pass before continuing up the stairs.

‘‘If he commands such a delightful collection of criminals, why are you interested in employing one of them?’’ Jester titled their head, they’d never been able to get a good read on Laswell.

‘‘Sergeant Christine Vega is not a criminal, nor is any of her squad. They’re the black sheep of the unit’’ Laswell checked her watch and stopped at the start of a hallway. Clearly, she didn’t want anyone else to listen to what she had to say. ‘‘She is here because she beat a fellow Sergeant in Gibraltar for trying to assault a Corporal in the common showers. I’ve worked with her on several missions to date. She is a good soldier’’

‘‘I see..’’ Jester huffed again, pretending to be uninterested, but that particular piece of information was valuable. ‘‘Is that Vega in your pocket then?’’

‘‘We’re friends’’ Laswell answered weakly, heading down the hallway, and Jester’s brows raised with interest. Oh, that was rich.

‘‘Friends friends or friends as in you are using her pretending to be friendly?’’

Laswell didn’t answer, checking the names on the doors, and Jester smiled triumphantly. That was also a valuable piece of information. Still musing about it, they observed while their handler knocked once on a door and opened it without waiting for an answer. The name of the door was Captain William Rico.

‘‘For the love of God, Laswell, I can’t get rid of you, can I?’’ Captain Rico glared at the CIA Station Chief while rising to his feet, stuffing the papers he had been reading in one of the drawers of his desk. ‘‘I told you last fucking time I don’t want you meddling with my unit’’

‘‘I’ve told you already that I care little about what you want, Rico’’ Laswell kept her tone calm, like always, but the slight frown betrayed her apparent poise. ‘‘I wouldn’t be here dealing with you if you had done as you were told a month ago’’

Jester took the opportunity to take a look at the Captain, who they only knew on paper.

Captain William Rico was not a very tall man, but what he lacked in height he compensated with a broad muscular build. On his left forearm he had a tattoo of a skull impaled on a spear, with fire shooting out the empty sockets.

‘‘I will send out my soldiers whenever and wherever I decide it’s appropriate and…’’ He stopped talking when Jester came into his line of sight, and he snorted. ‘‘Are you traveling with a circus now, Laswell?’’

‘‘Clever words, thou yeasty beetle-headed clotpole” Jester spat back, voice flat and eyes unmoving.

Rico’s eyes narrowed dangerously as his jaw clenched, and Laswell hurriedly looked at Jester and whispered.

‘‘Go and get busy with something while I speak with him’’

Jester huffed and rolled their eyes. Giving a dramatic bow before moving.

‘‘Don’t let the fiend bite, he looks like he has rabies’’ They jeered. Leaving the office with a prep in their step, ignoring the swear words that came from behind, which was promptly cut off by the slam of the door closing.

Half an hour later Jester had learned that the mess hall food was shit, who was running the contraband gig and where they got their supplies from, that a couple of local male nurses at the infirmary were distributing opioids at very low prices, where the airport manager liked to hide to nap after lunch and, most importantly, the schedule of the squads that were out and about in different recon missions in the area.

Sergeant Vega’s Phoenix Squad, who had been sent nearly a week ago to the mountains, was due to arrive earlier that very same day, but they were late.

Bored out of their mind, Jester continued wandering around the airport, vaguely interested in the commotion at the main entrance of the airport, where a couple of dusty light armored Husky had just arrived. The Tactical Support Vehicles were soon swarmed by support personnel to take care of them as the soldiers that were inside climbed down.

Maybe if they wandered closer…

‘‘Oi, weirdo, who let the clowns out?’’

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Jester rolled their eyes and barely turned their head to watch a small group of low ranking soldiers that were sheltering themselves from the heat by lying around under the shade provided by one of the hangar’s doors. Some were playing cards, and they were obviously off duty, bored, or both.

Seeing that their comment had no response, the boldest of them, a tall, lanky man with short hair and the insignia of Corporal on his sleeve, stood up with a grin.

‘‘Wasn’t aware the circus was in town, boys’’ Encouraged by the chorus of laughter behind him, he strolled towards Jester, followed by a couple of his mates. The rest were fine staying where they were, enjoying the spectacle. ‘‘What are you supposed to be dressed as, weirdo?’’

Jester looked the men up and down and rolled their eyes once more, before forcing their face into a ‘customer support smile’.

“Oh? I’m here for the awards ceremony’’ Jester answered in a sing-song tone.

“The what?”

“I’m here to give out awards” Jester continued, slapping their hands together over their chest. Fake smile steady and bright. A few soldiers exchanged looks of uncertainty.

“Yea right..” The leader of the group muttered, trying to get back control of the conversation.

��I actually have an award for you, sir~” Their unwavering smile starting to become eerie.

“You do?” The corporal answered, brows furrowed.

“Why yes. The committee has never seen anyone live up to the title quite like you!” Jester reached behind their back, fiddling with their fingers for a moment before bringing forth a closed hand.

“May I bestow upon you the title of-” Jester opened their hand, it’s empty, instead turning it around to give a middle finger to the soldier. Expression becoming lax and voice falling flat. “- peaking in highschool” finishing of their performance with their other hand doing enthusiastic ‘jazz hands’.

The soldiers stood silent for a moment before there was a collective ‘ooohhhh’ that came from the group of soldiers still sheltering under the shade. Laughter soon erupted from them. The Corporal’s face threatened to turn a shade of red as he grimaced.

‘‘The fuck did you just say??’’

Jester stepped back, raising their hands in a conciliatory gesture.

‘‘I don’t want problems. How about we both forget this and I just take my leave?’’

‘‘No fucking way, I’m going to fuck you up’’ The Corporal reached out, with the intention of grabbing the hoodie’s collar, but froze mid-movement, looking at something behind Jester.

‘‘Is there a problem here?’’

Still with their hands up, Jester turned slowly to find a woman a couple of steps behind, with a FN Scar-H MK17 resting on her shoulder. Dressed head to toe in tactical gear that was covered in dust and dirt, she was slightly shorter than Jester, but was considerably thicker and more muscular. Her blonde hair was kept in an informal ponytail under the helmet, and her eyes were unreadable due to the sunglasses she was wearing.

Although her tone was completely calm and casual, Jester noticed that she looked utterly exhausted. Given how dirty her gear was, she must have been out on some kind of assignment until not long ago.

‘‘No, ma’am’’ The Corporal stepped back a bit, and the woman sighed tiredly.

‘‘Stand at attention when speaking to a superior officer’’ Her tone was still completely calm, even soft, but the soldiers hurried to get on their feet and stand at attention, muttering sorrys and yes ma’ams. ‘‘I’ll ask again, is there a problem here?’’

‘‘No, Sergeant’’ The Corporal’s eyes were staring at the horizon, refusing to look at the woman in front of him. ‘‘We were just having a bit of fun banter with the w… with this person here’’

The woman’s covered gaze turned to Jester. All her movements spoke about how tired she must have felt, but she was still standing straight as an arrow.

‘‘Were you having fun?’’

‘‘Not really’’ Jester muttered, lowering their hands slowly. The Sergeant nodded, and turned her head towards the soldiers.

‘‘You’re antagonizing a civilian. There’s no need for me to tell you how morally wrong that is, or how many regulations you’re breaking. You have sixty seconds to disappear from my sight before I decide I’m not too tired to supervise a training drill at the assault course’’

‘‘Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am’’ The soldiers rushed to gather their things and disappear, but stopped in their tracks when she spoke again.

‘‘It’s not me you have to apologize to’’ When the soldiers looked at each other, uncomfortable and unsure of what to do, she calmly checked her watch. "Thirty-five seconds"

"We're… sorry" The soldiers looked at Jester, some of them looking truly remorseful, the rest looked crossed, but it was clear none of them wanted to deal with the Sergeant or the assault course in that heat.

Jester looked back at them, crossing their arms with a smug look, enjoying the tiny bit of power that had landed on their lap.

"Twenty seconds" The Sergeant was still staring at them, checking her watch from time to time, but Jester could have sworn the corner of her lips were a bit more upwards than before.

"Fiiine… Apology accepted" Jester shrugged at last, and with a nod from the woman next to them, the soldiers promptly left in a rush.

The Sergeant observed them, and then turned towards Jester.

"You alright then?"

"Yeah" Jester shrugged, their hands returning to the pockets of the cargo trousers. "Thanks for that,” They added with a strained smile. “Guess I should go back to my boss"

"That would be best" The Sergeant nodded, looking away to the right, where a small group of equally dirty and tired soldiers were waiting. "I'd advise you to wear the visitor badge more visible next time"

"The color doesn't go well with my tie" Jester sighed, and the Sergeant chuckled tiredly.

"Riot! Are you coming?" One of the people waiting called out, and the Sergeant raised a thumbs-up towards them before facing Jester again.

"Take care"

Jester watched her leave to reunite with her mates, but didn't have much time to think before their phone started vibrating.

With an exacerbated sigh they read Laswell's text message, ordering them to meet her at the mess hall, and started their way there, with no rush at all.

By the moment they got there, Kate Laswell was already waiting at the door, looking angry. But when Jester approached her, she forced herself to smile.

"Would you like a cup of coffee? I sent word for Sergeant Vega to meet us here"

"You look like you'd prefer poison"

"Oh, I do, but to put it in Rico's canteen" Laswell chuckled, but Jester wasn't really sure how much of a joke her comment was. Murder wasn't beyond the scope of Laswell's abilities.

Once both of them were sitting more or less comfortable in a secluded table, Jester decided to casually pry for more.

"So, what happened with Rico?"

"He's an insufferable piece of shit" Laswell rolled her eyes, warming her hands on the hot cup of coffee in front of her in spite of the horrible heat inside the room and the whole country. "He received the paperwork to release Vega temporally under my command, and instead of informing her and allowing her to rest, sent her squad out to the mountains to speak with the villages"

"Have you used her before?" Jester inspected the cup in front of them before carefully taking a sip. The coffee was surprisingly good.

"She's Wolf-7" Laswell nodded, looking around. The mess hall was almost empty at that hour, with only a handful of officers sitting together on the other side of the room.

"She's not good enough to be number one?" Jester stared at Laswell, seemingly unimpressed. It was true that they knew of the existence of the Wolves. More than once they had had to gather specific intel for one or another, but always passed it to Laswell, never contacting the operators directly.

"The numbers were assigned in the order they were recruited for the first team. From then on, in group or alone, they use that moniker" Laswell looked at the door again, and smiled more sincerely. Her shoulders relaxed and the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes were more noticeable, and Jester mentally archived the detail that she looked sincere. Genuinely glad as she rose to her feet. "Hi, Christine"

"Hi, Kate"

The same calm, soft voice. Jester raised their eyes and observed in silence while the two women shook hands, and then with an awkward laugh shared a brief hug.

"I'm filthy, Kate"

"I can smell that" Laswell smiled, sitting down again. "Jester, this is…"

"Riot" Jester shrugged when Laswell looked at her with curiosity. "Came across her a bit ago"

Sergeant Christine 'Riot' Vega sat down, looking exhausted, but she had got rid of most of her gear, which allowed Jester to study her better.

Now she was wearing just a black short sleeved t-shirt and her dusty camo cargo pants with the holster strapped to her thigh. Her sunglasses were hanging from her t-shirt's collar, and her blue-gray eyes looked tired, with dark circles under them due to stress and lack of sleep. Her pale skin looked sunburnt in some places.

"Staying out of trouble, I hope" Riot smiled at Jester, who snorted and sipped their coffee.

"Trouble? What have you…" Laswell started to say, but stopped talking when one of the local boys working at the mess hall approached their table with a cup and a teapot.

"Chai, Sergeant Vega?"

"Lutfan (Please)" Riot smiled, accepting the cup and waiting until the boy filled it with a fragrant orange liquid. "Tashakur (Thank you)"

"You've been here for a month and a half and you speak Dari already?" Laswell laughed quietly, shaking her head. Vega sipped a bit of the fragrant tea before answering.

"Only a couple of words and greetings. We are in their country, it's good manners to at least learn how to say please and thank you"

"I thought you hated tea" The CIA Station Chief commented, sipping her coffee.

"I hate British tea" Riot shrugged, with a tired smile. "This one is nice. And it's good manners to accept it when they offer it to you in this country"

"And I'm forgetting mine" Laswell smiled back, and gestured at her 'assistant'. "This is Loge Eirdotter. Likes to be called Jester. Loge, this is Sergeant Christine Vega, callsign Riot"

"A pleasure," Vega smiled. Jester nodded, before crossing their arms and slouching back in the chair. Vega let out a half hearted chuckle, pleased she read the strange-clad ‘civilian’ right by not offering her hand in case they felt uncomfortable. She then looked back at Laswell. "I doubt you've come all the way to Kandahar to chat with me about the weather, so out with it"

"I need you"

Riot sighed deeply, crossing her arms on the table and then resting her head on them.

"Where am i going?"

"Kastovia"

Jester looked at one and another while drinking their coffee, interested in both the details and their body language.

"When?" Riot's voice sounded muffled, weaker, with her face still buried in her crossed arms.

"That's the best part" Laswell grunted, leaving the cup on the table. "The operation was supposed to start three days ago. We're behind schedule"

"I haven't slept in thirty-six hours…" Vega muttered, raising her head again and rubbing her eyes with a deep sigh. "Let me guess, you submitted the paperwork and Rico cleaned his ass with it"

"He had the nerve to say that he received it after you had already left." Laswell was visibly angry just thinking about it, and Riot just grinned.

"So he doesn't know how to use the radio…" She laughed softly, leaning back in the chair to rest her back, crossing her arms over her chest. "And why is Jester here?"

"Pretending to be my assistant" Laswell's face relaxed again in a smile, and Jester rolled their eyes with a loud snort. "They're very good at gathering information…"

"I'm here against my will" Jester blurted out, a cheery smile across their face, and Laswell sighed.

"... and at expressing their opinions. They happened to be with me by chance when I decided to fly here"

"Because you needed backup to kidnap me?" Riot laughed, drinking the rest of her tea. "Anything to leave this dustbin behind… Am I alone or in a group?"

"I'll tell you the details later on the plane" Laswell checked her watch, and then her mobile phone. "I'm just waiting for the tank to be refilled"

"Can I shower first?" Vega asked tiredly. "I guess a couple of hours to get some sleep is out of the question"

"You have time to shower and get your things, but nothing else. I want to get out of here before Rico finds something else to be a dick about. You can sleep on the plane"

"Can't sleep on something that is moving" Riot muttered, standing up to leave. "Give me an hour. I'll see you on the tarmac"

Jester watched her leave, and then turned their head to look at Laswell, who was still observing her 'friend'.

"I was with you 'by chance'? Liar, liar, pants on fire. You dragged me here~"

"Not now, Loge" Laswell sighed, tapping with her fingertips on the table.

"You'd better not pretend me to go to Kastovia"

"You're not going to Kastovia. You'll be with me in Armenia, working your magic to find out intel that could help"

"Help with what?" Jester narrowed their eyes, a mischievous glint shining in the corner. Laswell sighed and shook her head.

"I'll tell both of you at the same time"

Fantastic. Simply fantastic. The week could not get any better.

#cod oc #cod original character #cod ocs #call of duty oc #call of duty original character #cod fanfic #call of duty fanfic #cod fic #cod fanfiction #call of duty fanfiction #call of duty fic #riot vega #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare 2 #cod mw2 #christine riot vega

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fly-chicken · 11 months

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Im here today to talk to you about one of my special interests;

Señor Danny Trejó

This man has lived such a life at age 79; and is still kicking, but I think people don’t really appreciate all this man has been through to be who he is. I genuinely believe his biopic needs to be made bc oh my goodness.

CW: drug usage, incarceration experiences, tough home life, murder, stabbing, death penalty, violence (feel free to lmk more and I’ll add as pointed out)

Also to note; this is a historical summary. Aka the facts with as little of my opinion as I can manage (while considering that I do have a bias), I do not condone the violent acts mentioned. That being said I do sympathize with many actions being a product of circumstance and that this is a man trying to own his past while using his present to make a better future for himself and others. And THAT is why I respect the hell out of him

Ok let’s start this; spoiler alert I look like

By the end

Ok so Im gonna have to categorize this baby; a note, most of this is from his Wikipedia page and subsequent cited sources

Personal

-was born in (1944) as the child of an extramarital affair; his mothers husband was away fighting in WW2 at the time

-He’s been a fan of the LA Rams since their early days (1946) and some of his earliest memories are from sneaking into games as a child

-he fled LA with his family to Texas as a small child bc his father was wanted for stabbing someone. His father turned himself in a year after moving back to LA

-he purchased his childhood home and as of his 2020 biopic, still intermittently lives in it.

-he completed his high school diploma during his stay at Soledad correctional facility (likely during his time in solitary)

-among his many jobs between prison and film; Trejo helped construct the Cinerama Dome in California (now where many of his films have been screened at today) with a construction company as a labourer, a gardener and part time owner of a lawn company

-Trejo has been quoted to still have fears that his life is all just been a dream and that ‘hell wake up in prison with someone urging him to “go get some chow”

-Trejo has been a contributor to several books relating to prison life

-trejo published a cookbook in 2020 and his memoir in 2021

-As of 2020 Trejo owns 8 restaurants; including a taco restaurant, a cantina and a coffee and donut shop. His rainbow cauliflower tacos made the LA times fav recipes of 2017

-He has been married and divorced 4x with 3 children (however he helped raise 2 additional children with his second wife)

-Trejo is a registered Democrat

-battled liver cancer in 2010, moved to be closer to his mom in 2011. She passed while filming the Muppets most wanted in 2013. Although sad, Trejo recalls he didn’t truly break down until Kermit offered his apologies in character (due to his macho personality)

-In 2019 Trejo witnessed a car accident and helped rescue a small ychild from that very wreckage (trapped in the car seat in an overturned SUV)

Prison

-was first arrested at age 10, first incarcerated at age 12 at Eastlake Juvenile Hall

-was in various prisons within the California prison system from 1956-1969 (conflicting accounts say one term may have been till ‘72)

-notable stints include; three years at Camp Glen Rockey in San Dimas for stabbing a sailor in the face with broken glass, a stint in Los Angeles County in 1961 where he met Charles Manson (who Trejo describes as a “dirty, greasy, scrawny white boy” who was an allegedly talented hypnotist), Soledad in 1968 where he hit a guard with a rock during a prison riot on Cinco de Mayo. Due to this he was sent to solitary confinement and faced capital charges and the death penalty. He also completed the 12 step program at this time.

-His most memorable stint was in San Quentin in 1966; his heron use was exacerbated here. Here he was a debt collector and drug dealer; often engaging and witnessing acts of violence and occasional murder. He also picked up boxing in this stint and became both a champion of the lightweight and welterweight divisions throughout his other prison experiences.

-his final prison stint was five years of a ten year sentence, most commonly believed to have ended in 1969 (aged 25)

-he was known as the gossip queen of his cell block in several prisons

Drug Usage and Recovery

- Trejo had been using Marijuana since age 8, heron by age 12, and cocaine by age 13; all introduced by his uncle Gilbert

-Trejo overdosed on first heron fix (also under his uncle’s supervision)

- participated in his first drug deal at age 7

-completed the 12 step program during his time in solitary at Soledad. He has been quoted being sober since completing this program, and is celebrating 54 years in recovery

- Trejo became a substance abuse counsellor in 1973, and is still actively working to help substance abuse cases today

-in the 1980s Trejo worked in Western Pacific Med Corp, assisting with the establishment and operation of sober living houses. He also lived in the houses at this time

-He was called to help assist with the cocaine usage amongst teenagers on the set of Runaway Train (1985)

-Trejos work as an actor was meant to help further his work as a rehabilitation counsellor and he claimed it helped him as clients would recognize him as an actor

-While filming scenes at San Quentin for Blood In, Blood Out; trejo helped a prisoner (Mario Castillo) through the 12 step program and remained in touch after his release. Today him and Mario remain great friends and both speak around the country in both juvenile detention centres as well as rehabilitation centres about their experiences

Film

-his character Machete was created FOR the Spy Kids film

-the creator of the Spy Kids franchise is his second cousin

-Danny originally got into acting after meeting a boy in a sober living house who explained he worked a day job as an extra to make 50$ a day (in 1980); between the “easy money”, availability with his schedule and publicity he could provide to the Western Living House Org, Danny decided to find an agent for background rolls

-After being asked to help with cocaine issues on the set of Runaway Train, Trejo was recognized by the screenplay writer, Edward Bunker. Bunker has been a fellow inmate with Trejo in San Quentin and was also a fan of his boxing work. Bunker helped hire Trejo as a boxing trainer on the film and negotiated Trejos pay to be closer to ~$330 a day, due to his additional help on set and general knowledge/experience

-Bunker also helped land Trejo a role as a background actor in the prison scenes in Runaway

-Penitentiary 3 (1987) was his first billed role, during which he met one of the members of the Galbino crime family (one of the 5 mafia families in New York)

-in 1991 Trejo turned down a role offered by Edward James Olmos due to a call from the don of the Mexican Mafia advising him to take a role in Blood In, Blood Out (1993) instead

-During the filming of Blood In, Blood Out; Trejo experienced PTSD while filming his scenes in San Quentin. Especially when filming the scenes in C550, his previous cell from his time incarnated there

-Whike filming Anaconda (1997), Trejo was able to negotiate a higher salary when filming in Venezuela. As Trejo enjoyed leaving the hotel to socialize in his off time…during a possible coup. A particular incident with a group of teenagers with AK-47s brandished at Trejo over his combat boots, helped Trejo negotiate the higher salary to REMAIN at the hotel in his down time

-Trejo contracted Hepatitis C shortly before filming Spy Kids and concluded treatment and recovery just before its premiere (however had gotten so I’ll that his cast noticed his weight loss and demeanour in a different project filmed during spy kids post production)

-Trejo produced his first film in 2014

-To date Trejo has 445 acting credits on IMDB (between 1985-2023) and 84 on screen deaths (12 TV, 72 movies) according to cinemorge (+4 are music video deaths, +1 video game death)

-in total that would make Trejos risk of onscreen death per project roughly 20% per project (89/445)

In Conclusion

#danny Trejo #in conclusion this is the celeb I would have dinner with #prison #anecdote #san quentin #biography #life summary #long post #but in all seriousness #where is the biopic Hollywood #cw drugs #cw #drugs #murder #violence #drug usage #death penalty #stabbing #feel free to let me know of any more and I’ll put them here

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frenchnailsfrenchkiss · 1 year

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Sinai

(unfinished short, spring 2021)

The first couple of months weren't so bad. Time to reflect on past mistakes, grudges, memories. But at one point you are through with constructive reminiscence and enter the phase of second-guessing.

Of doubt, the phase where you know that everything you did was terribly wrong. Xe was now far beyond that phase even. All xer thoughts were free again, even though, from time to time, a memory would resurface, only to be subdued by a short meditation or a big sip from xer flask.

A funny thing, that flask, xe had more than enough cutlery, silverware and glasses at xer disposal, far more than xe would ever need. But the act of filling the anachronistic flask with the synthetic liquid from the canister simply labeled "recreational ethanol base", gave xer a feeling of measurement. Xe couldn't in a dozen lifetimes ever empty that canister, but to know that another quarter liter had gone was good to know, somehow. It gave xer a feeling of knowing when to stop and then ignore it.

So wherever xe went, so did xer flask.

Sometimes, xe would sit and look out the window into the vastness of space, and xer mind would start reaching out. Never to reach any destination, it would fly in circles and spiral out of control. When it returned, xe would have a sip from the flask, and sometimes it would drown that feeling of something pulling inside xer chest. It never stopped the pain, though. Most often xe would fall into a deep state of unease, wondering about things that could never have been anyway. All possibilities ended the moment that xe took off. At least all possibilities that were directed by xer.

It seemed like so much time had been wasted. Time burdened by mistakes, which now existed solely in the only record of events that would ever matter: xer memory. And xe had little else to do than to refine the imprint of events until every last action, choice, thought was dipped in doubt.

It wasn't quite true that there was nothing to do. In theory, there was a ship to command - but nothing in any direction to steer towards or away from, nothing to crash into, nothing to slow the ship down, just emptiness in all directions but one. Going back, back where, xe had wondered more than once, disected the idea of returning to the nothingness that expanded itself where a ship had been, and a field of debris slowly dissipated. The debris, at worst dead bodies floating in the eternal night.

There was a library or two in the databanks, ready to be read or watched or listened to from xer drained phone. If xe had wished, even research to read. But reading got old fast. The millions of produced games gave some more comfort, but when at one point a game had asked xer to download additional data, xe emptied almost half of xer flask at once. "Download from WHERE?" xe had shouted and punched the display. A red light and an alert had pierced the atmosphere, "HULL INTEGRITY WARNING", every display had shown. As if it were that easy to just punch a ship to sink. Why still "sink", xe had thought.

Occasionally xe would receive some random transmission, mostly a sign that the array had moved on it's own. Xe had muted the main channel to earth as soon as xe realized that no one had even noticed the sinking of the Sinai. HBS Sinai. Xe wasn't sure, but that fucking name should be written on xer little nutshell as well. His Baptised Ship. No wonder the fucker sank. Had xe not accepted a job on the 30 year mission, it would have been funnier.

Sometimes xe would focus the ship scannere on the debris field. thousands of miles behind, and wonder how many had made it. Technically, I am still on the clock, xe thought to xerself, realizing that the contract had been paid into an account that would unfreeze 30 years after it's opening. Could have been a shitty deal, depending on inflation. Could have been the last deal. But it had become both. The shitty, last deal.

Xe knew of some other ships, going in different directions and at various speeds, all trapped like xer in the vastness of space. If any of them would reach help- big "if", there.

For xer part, drifting through the night had almost had romantic appeal. Were it not for the enormous loneliness. Which didn't improve with the implied romance of a skyless, starry night.

The ship was designed to house six, and was stocked for years. In addition to the regular supplies, there was some extra stored, probably because there wasn't enough storage space on the Sinai. Those crates, water filters, ethanol, food MREs would last xer several lifetimes.

But that meant that other ships might have different supplies. Or no water filters. Or no food. But they might have powertools. Uranium cells to increase drive output. All kinds of stuff that was stored on a ship that didn't mean to return. The irony wasn't lost on xer, that the Sinai was a one-way ticket, when now xe was the one on a voyage to nowhere.

Then again, what good is it to be able to put more power into the drive when you don't have a single MRE to put in your stomach.

There had been tons of engineers, not all of them religious, on the Sinai. Better bring extras when you're on a one way trip into the unkown. Better not to have had faith then to have lost it, xe considered. The Sinai project had swallowed up at least two classes of STEM fields, all those souls Earth gov hadn't had a plan for anyways. It wasn't easy to find a job, and if you did, the pay was seldom union approved or the position even registered.

The Sinai had great contracts, at least if inflation prognosis was to be believed. In 30 years xe would have been rich.

The plan had been to go straight ahead for thirty years, the longest and furthest anyone had ever been, and then start some theological studies. While the floor personell would have been put in hypersleep and sent back in one of the ships xe found xerself in right now. Hypersleep sounded like a sweet relief, only the pods were on some other ship. Or destroyed with the Sinai. They were to be installed, at a later time that never came. Like the Sinai's destination. Forever out of reach. Xe would have installed a couple of them xerself, had it come to that.

"The directional servos are faulty", xe thought, aiming the scanner with manual control.

[never continued to write this heavily pandemic-inspired short. lmk if you have ideas

#oc #space #loneliness #sci fi #cn alcohol #cn death #isolation #txt

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zorcskhakis · 2 years

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I posted 5,292 times in 2022

That's 5,292 more posts than 2021!

1,597 posts created (30%)

3,695 posts reblogged (70%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@zorcskhakis

@im-not-a-monster

@melffy-puppy

@redeyesretrodragon

@crushcardvirus

I tagged 2,163 of my posts in 2022

#ygoau roommate circus - 259 posts

#bakura - 218 posts

#yugioh - 104 posts

#yami bakura - 94 posts

#ryou bakura - 66 posts

#thiefshipping - 61 posts

#bakuracore - 48 posts

#marik ishtar - 32 posts

#greatest hits - 30 posts

#bakura's food crimes - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#added bonus with knitting is that he gets to use needles and they're weaponlike enough that he gets some devious little enjoyment out of it

My Top Posts in 2022:

Earlier today I wrote this shitpost and unfortunately someone decided to give me unlimited power in the form of YGO character deepfakes being available. so here you are: the drive thru shitpost, voiced. (minus marik's part because he's not on there!!! sobs 😭)

549 notes - Posted May 31, 2022

Yugioh is about being gay first and card games second

561 notes - Posted May 18, 2022

See the full post

877 notes - Posted May 30, 2022

980 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

For @melffy-puppy :D

You want a car that gets the job done? You want a car that's hassle free? You want a car that literally no one will ever compliment you on? Well look no further.

The 1999 Toyota Corolla.

Let's talk about features. Bluetooth: nope Sunroof: nope Fancy wheels: nope Rear view camera: nope...but it's got a transparent rear window and you have a fucking neck that can turn.

Let me tell you a story. One day my Corolla started making a strange sound. I didn't give a shit and ignored it. It went away. The End.

You could take the engine out of this car, drop it off the Golden Gate Bridge, fish it out of the water a thousand years later, put it in the trunk of the car, fill the gas tank up with Nutella, turn the key, and this puppy would fucking start right up.

This car will outlive you, it will outlive your children.

Things this car is old enough to do: Vote: yes Consent to sex: yes Rent a car: it IS a car

This car's got history. It's seen some shit. People have done straight things in this car. People have done gay things in this car. It's not going to judge you like a fucking Volkswagen would.

Interesting facts: This car's exterior color is gray, but it's interior color is grey. In the owner's manual, oil is listed as "optional." When this car was unveiled at the 1998 Detroit Auto Show, it caused all 2,000 attendees to spontaneously yawn. The resulting abrupt change in air pressure inside the building caused a partial collapse of the roof. Four people died. The event is chronicled in the documentary "Bored to Death: The Story of the 1999 Toyota Corolla"

You wanna know more? Great, I had my car fill out a Facebook survey. Favorite food: spaghetti Favorite tv show: Alf Favorite band: tie between Bush and the Gin Blossoms

This car is as practical as a Roth IRA. It's as middle-of-the-road as your grandpa during his last Silver Alert. It's as utilitarian as a member of a church whose scripture is based entirely on water bills.

When I ran the CarFax for this car, I got back a single piece of paper that said, "It's a Corolla. It's fine."

Let's face the facts, this car isn't going to win any beauty contests, but neither are you. Stop lying to yourself and stop lying to your wife. This isn't the car you want, it's the car you deserve: The fucking 1999 Toyota Corolla.

1,641 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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naturalrights-retard · 1 year

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Why do the CDC and FDA dismiss Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as a credible safety surveillance system for adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination? After all, VAERS is intended to be the “front line” of vaccine safety and is “especially valuable in assessing the safety of newly marketed vaccines” – to quote a report from the House Committee on Government Reform on Oct. 12, 2000.1

The short answer? To maintain control of the false narrative that the COVID-19 vaccines are ‘safe and effective.’ Like the flip side of a coin, denigrating the integrity of VAERS allows the CDC, FDA, and others to bestow favor on their preferred vaccine safety surveillance systems – Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST). Yet, because of government capture and control, as well as the use of limiting and illogical protocols, the VSD and BEST safety surveillance systems may actually be far less reliable than VAERS.

Consider the story of Ms. Danielle Baker. After taking the COVID-19 vaccines to keep her job in 2021, Ms. Baker suffered a host of life-altering adverse reactions, as previously reported in The Defender, causing her to lose her 17-year career as a certified hospice and palliative care registered nurse.2 Her adverse reactions included cognitive and physical impairments, which left her unable to engage in activities of everyday living – including loss of bladder and bowel function, about which she testified at the Jan. 26, 2023 Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) meeting.3 Ms. Baker developed transverse myelitis and eventually received a diagnosis that her injuries were caused by the vaccine.4 When Ms. Baker submitted her vaccine adverse event report to VAERS on August 4, 2021, her report disappeared from the system, and she heard nothing from the FDA.5 Was this purposeful?

Ms. Baker’s story may be shocking to those who still naively believe the overriding mission of the CDC, and FDA is to preserve public health, or who still believe the false HHS vaccine propaganda that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective (although this group seems to be shrinking). We may never know for certain whether Ms. Baker’s report was purposefully removed from VAERS. However, one thing is clear: although there is growing evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines can be dangerous and, at times, even deadly,6 the CDC and FDA have largely failed to publicly acknowledge these risks.

Sadly, public VRBPAC meetings, testimonies of vaccine-injured individuals, federal vaccine “safety” systems allegedly monitoring for danger signals – at the end of the day, it all seems part of a charade orchestrated by CDC and FDA to make it seem as if they care about those harmed by the COVID-19 vaccines. In the January 2023 VRBPAC meeting – where Ms. Baker testified about her vaccine injuries and missing VAERS report – we get a window into how this charade operates. Answering questions about vaccine safety, Director of the CDC’s Immunization Office, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, heartlessly doubles down: “I’ll just reiterate that CDC continues to recommend that everyone eligible for a COVID-19 mRNA bivalent booster or a flu vaccination get vaccinated.”7

Yet the VAERS system continues to scream danger. In addition to VAERS, the CDC, and FDA manage multiple vaccine safety surveillance systems, which together are supposed to alert federal authorities (and ostensibly the public) if the COVID-19 vaccines are causing harm. Two concurrently operating systems, which are claimed to be complementary to VAERS, include the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST).

However, don’t hold your breath waiting for these federal safety systems to alert you of danger with the COVID-19 vaccines. Forced to play with no “stopping rules,”8 the VSD and BEST safety surveillance systems are – unlike VAERS – under complete government capture and corrupted by financial bias. In addition, VSD and BEST are manipulated by flawed methodology and illogical protocols which seem intentionally designed to limit (and even prevent) the emergence of vaccine danger signals.

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) – An Ignored System Screams Danger

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onthecuterside · 2 years

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Who... are... you..?

🎤 You're not the one 🎤 I fell in love with, baby 🎻🎻. OK, sorry, got carried away there... Thanks @whysojiminimnida for tagging me in a game where we voluntarily reveal information that could allow terrible people to identify us!

name: Can't go there, but my parents used to call me KJ, my friends call me K, and I'm quite fond of my handle.

sign: Taurus. I'm mostly placid but can be tormented into a rage.

youtube

fav band/artist: BTS is in a class of experience all of its own. But on the normal fan level, I'm eclectic: Joni Mitchell, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Billie Eilish, Beastie Boys, Björk, Beatles, Brahms. Lots of Bs, apparently.

last movie: House of Gucci, watched it on the plane yesterday. (spoiler alert) How did I know already that Tom Ford became Gucci's designer but not that Patrizia Gucci murdered her husband??? Priorities.

last show: Umbrella Academy and Stranger Things (with my family). Heart Stopper and Our Beloved Summer (with my daughter). I rarely get to watch things for myself (although I should count BTS content there lmao - currently making my way through BV3).

when you created this blog: September 2021. I was desperate for adult conversation about JKK.

what you post: mostly reblogs of BTS beauty / thirst posts so I can find them later, a few posts where I notice something or have a thought that I haven't seen expressed in my Tumblr circle. I made 2 gifs but it’s hard to make everything work and I don’t have the right software :(

other blogs: Nope! I'm totally new to this whole thing.

followers: 49, which is 49 more than I expected. I only created the account so that I could send asks.

do you get asks: option not switched on. I've been doing my job 18 years and I still don't feel like an expert. No way I can take on that role after 16 months in the fandom.

average hrs of sleep: 4-6 hours. It's never enough. F*cking hormones.

instruments: Violin (passable), piano (mediocre), guitar (basic). Voice!

what i’m wearing: strappy summer frock. Half my wardrobe is summer dresses even though winter is ~8 months long where I live. They are so cute and easy to buy and I am possibly in denial. Mismatching underwear with a molded wire-free bra because BEST DISCOVERY of the pandemic, I am never going back.

dream job: I'm doing it! Professor - I get to hang out with smart people all day and talk about interesting things.

youtube

Perhaps novelist as an alternative? If writer's block was not a thing.

dream trip: South Korea, Ecuador, Greece. I love travelling and have done a fair bit of it but in my more apocalyptic moments I know we should probably drastically reduce air travel emissions and concentrate on dream tripping closer to home. Astral travel instead?

favorite songs: Favourites are hard. It's so mood dependent. In BTS, those that pull me in the most: Black Swan, Louder Than Bombs, What Am I to You, Pied Piper, Ddaeng, House of Cards, anything by Agust D. In non BTS, Massive Attack - Teardrop, Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy), Nick Cave - Red Right Hand, Joni Mitchell - Case of You, Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over, Your Power, No Time to Die, Lovely... I seem to be on a Billie trip atm).

Tagging @rantingravingliving @ffjj5 @jmdbjk @chikooritajjk @spankpjm b/c I'm curious!

#getting to know bloggers

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cyarskj1899 · 1 year

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ENTERTAINMENT

Black Celebs Who Were Canceled in 2022

These Black celebs received more boos than applause from the Black community this year.

Amira Castilla

PublishedThursday 7:00AM

Comments (26)

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The Black community has unfortunately seen a plethora of our favorite celebrities making terrible decisions this year. While many of these celebs have apologized and worked towards making things right, others are firmly standing in their controversies. Here’s who had a rough 2022.

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Kanye West

Kanye West was canceled by nearly everybody in his life this year, including his family, friends, brands, and fans. In October 2022, West wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt to a Yeezy fashion show and when he was criticized by the Black Vogue editor, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, he took to the internet mocking her and causing some celebrities and people in the fashion industry to voice their disapproval of his actions. He also doubled down on the “White Lives Matter” beliefs,sparking a friendship with Candace Owens to condemn the Black Lives Matter movement. Kanye also spent much of the year bringing his family drama to social media, airing out the complications with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Kanye West was canceled by Instagram and Twitter after sharing anti-semitic views, and his accounts were restricted and locked. Kanye’s anti-semitism led to his ultimate downfall this year as he lost deals with Vogue, Balenciaga, Gap, and Adidas.

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Dave Chapelle

Dave Chapelle spent 2022 feeling the effects of his transphobic and homophobic comments that he shared in his comedy special, “The Closer”, released in 2021. In July 2022, First Avenue in Minneapolis canceled Dave Chapelle’s show only hours before showtime. The venue released a statement that it was prioritizing its staff, and apologized for accepting the offer to host the show. There was also backlash towards SNL for allowing him to host an episode in November.

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Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish was canceled in August 2022 after she, along with Aries Spears, were sued for child sexual abuse. The children in question were 14 and seven at the time. In September, the accusers dropped the lawsuit “with prejudice.” Haddish claimed that all of her gigs and jobs were taken away due to the lawsuit. In December 2022, Haddish made her first red carpet appearance since the lawsuit for the film Emancipation.

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Candace Owens

Candace Owens continued with her conservative agenda all year long, with one of the highlights being becoming besties with disgraced music artist and designer, Kanye West. In October 2022, Candace Owens joined West in wearing “White Lives Matter” t-shirts. She even had his back after all of the criticism following West’s doubling down on the movement. In return, he was by her side when she released the film “The Greatest Lie Ever Sold,” a film criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Miles Bridges

NBA Hornets player, Miles Bridges, was canceled for allegedly assaulting his partner, Mychelle Johnson, in front of their two children in June 2022. Bridges pleaded no contest to the domestic violence charge, but agreed to probation time, counseling, parenting classes and community service. As he is a free agent, his future in the NBA in uncertain and he may face disciplinary actions from the league.

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Will Smith

Academy Award-winning Will Smith was canceled big time this year after cursing at and slapping comedian Chris Rock for joking about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s lack of hair at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. Following the slap, Hollywood and watchers of the ceremony were split about whether he was right to react the way he did. Smith has since apologized for his actions, but he was banned from attending another Oscars ceremony for 10 years. Allegedly, several projects Smith was working on at the time were put on hold.

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Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson returned to playing football for the Cleveland Browns after paying a $5 million fine and an 11-game suspension, which was increased from an original 6-game suspension, after being accused by over a dozen women of sexual assault, starting in 2019.

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Kyrie Irving

Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving has been canceled for several things in recent years, but his biggest issue in 2022 was sharing an Amazon linkon social media to a movie called “Hebrews To Negro: Wake Up Black America.” The film spread anti-semitic views. Irving was given a list of thingsto do in order to get back in good graces with the NBA, including paying a $500,000 donation, meeting with Jewish leaders, and having anti-semitism training. He has also been dropped by Nike and The Athletic.

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Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown has unfortunately not been in the news for positive situations in 2022. He was released by the Buccaneers in January after leaving the field mid-game, and has been getting into trouble ever since. He became the president of Kanye West’s Donda Sports. He broke up with singer Keyshia Cole on Instagram Live in May. It was revealed in October 2022 that Brown exposed himself to a woman in a Dubai hotel pool. In December, an arrest warrant was issued for Brown on a domestic battery charge.

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Ime Udoka

NBA head coach Ime Udoka was canceled this year for cheating on the Black community’s sweetheart, Nia Long. News broke in September 2022 that Udoka was in an intimate relationship with a Celtics organization employee. Udoka has been suspended by the Boston Celtics for the entire 2022-2023 season.

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Liz Cambage

In 2022 WNBA star Liz Cambage was accused of calling Nigerian national basketball team members “monkeys” and of telling them to go back to their country in 2021 while playing for the Australian Opals national team. Cambage announced in August that she will be stepping away from the WNBA.

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Clarence Thomas

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas isn’t new to the hate train and this year he was not exempt. In June, Thomas voted to strike down Roe v. Wade. While Americans panicked, he also added that he intended to challenge same-sex marriage and contraception rulings. He also falsely claimed that the Covid-19 vaccine contained aborted fetus cells.

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Macy Gray

In July 2022, singer Macy Gray went on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored spewing transphobic rhetoric and saying that trans women are not women just because they may have gotten surgery.

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Herschel Walker

Former professional football player Herschel Walker ran as a Republican for Georgia Senate throughout 2022, only to lose to Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock. While on the campaign trail Walker lied about several parts of his life from how many children he has, past jobs he’s held, and his level of education.

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Tory Lanez

After two years of people lying, mocking, and humiliating Megan Thee Stallion who had accused Canadian rapper Tory Lanez of allegedly shooting her in both feet, Lanez was found guilty in December 2022. He is facing more than 20 years in prison and possible deportation.

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Check out these other slideshows!

12/31/22

Black Women Who Inspired Us In 2022

These women have been at the forefront of the culture, showing us what it means to simply be great.

12/31/22

Here’s the TV Series We Can’t Wait to Watch in 2023

Here's a roundup of all the TV series you need to keep an eye out for in 2023.

12/30/22

The Best Black Non Fiction of 2022 [UPDATED]

2022 was a great year for Black books. Here are even more of our favorites.

12/28/22

15 Horrible Things That Happened in Rap in 2022

Many rappers have been arrested, others have been convicted and unfortunately, some have died.Load more slideshows

Sent from my iPhone

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rizlowwritessortof · 2 years

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I posted 119 times in 2022

That's 44 more posts than 2021!

44 posts created (37%)

75 posts reblogged (63%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dean-winchester-is-a-warrior

@trektraveler

@evansrogerskitten

@ellen-reincarnated1967

@talesmaniac89

I tagged 105 of my posts in 2022

Only 12% of my posts had no tags

#dean fic - 44 posts

#dean smut - 20 posts

#dean-winchester-is-a-warrior - 18 posts

#dean au - 14 posts

#dean fluff - 13 posts

#dean x reader - 12 posts

#dear fucking diary - 9 posts

#dean x daisy - 8 posts

#dean x cory - 7 posts

#rancher!dean - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 46 characters

#fun and wonderful and i can't wait for part 7!

My Top Posts in 2022:

Gladiator Reborn

Just a drabble that came to me after watching the last few seconds of The Boys Season 3 teaser trailer...

PART 2 IS HERE

The room is tense, silent save for the quiet hum of machinery in the lab and the occasional drip from the thawing in the cryo chamber. In the half light you watch him, still unmoving, ready to quickly retreat and allow the guards to step forward and take him down. There are six of them, all holding guns loaded with tranquilizer darts strong enough to drop a charging rhino. This man is far more dangerous than that.

One of his hands has been freed from its restraints, and you are now waiting for him to become alert enough to remove the rest. It’s too dark in the chamber to see much, but when he does move, it surprises you, sends your heart into your throat. He reaches across to tear loose the restraint from his other arm, grabbing the wires and IV in his large hand and yanking them free. His hair and beard are long and wild from the time he has spent in here, and as he slowly raises his head, his lips parted and his eyes dark and feral, he stares directly at you.

You fight back the urge to turn and run. Vought wanted your scientific expertise in cryogenics, and the money was just too tempting to turn down. You wonder fleetingly if that job at the university was really so bad. He takes a step forward, out into the room, his shoulders barely clearing the doorway of the chamber. You force your feet to stay planted as he approaches you, stopping about two feet away as one of the guards barks out an order to halt.

Your eyes follow a drop of water from his hair down his well-muscled chest, and farther. He is naked, a perfect specimen, a gladiator reborn - taut, glowing skin over smooth, toned muscle, and he continues to stare at you as your eyes drift downward, his only movement a slight roll of one shoulder. He has an erection, an impressive one, normal under the circumstances, but it is difficult to stop staring, and you mentally force yourself to move on, evaluating the strong thighs as he stands unashamedly before you. When your gaze finally glides back up over his torso, his chest, and back to his face, a lecherous smirk curves his lips beneath the forest of facial hair.

“Clean him up and bring him to the exam room,” you order, and your assistants nod, fear in their eyes. The guards part, and he turns to go with them, the weight of his stare finally gone. Your hands shaking, you hug your clipboard to your body and head for the exam room to wait.

About forty-five minutes later, the door opens. Still naked, Soldier Boy slowly strides into the room, and the guard waits for your instructions. “Close the door. I’ll call if I need you.” He nods, pulling the door shut behind him.

Your patient stands there, his eyes back on you, waiting. You are afraid to look him in the eye. His hair has been cut and combed, his beard trimmed close - he is stunning to look at and he knows it. You grab a latex glove, and as you snap it into place, he walks to the exam table, bending over slightly and bracing his hands on the sides, waiting. You try not to think about how perfectly he is formed as you perform the necessary task, remove the glove and dispose of it, then ask him to turn and face you. You are the doctor, if anyone should feel humiliated, it should be him, but he just stares at you with a smug little curve at the corner of his lips as you reach between his legs to cup his balls. At least he isn’t still hard. “Please turn your head and cough.” He complies, and you remove your hand, gesturing towards the table with your head as you turn to wash your hands. “Please have a seat.”

You grab the blood pressure cuff and slide it onto his arm, acutely aware of the power there as he obediently allows you to manipulate him into position so you can take his pulse. It is strong and steady, just like his unflinching gaze on you. You remove the cuff and set it aside, taking your stethoscope from around your neck. You listen to his heart, then glance up at his face and say, “Please take a deep breath for me.”

He leans forward slightly, his face almost touching the side of your head, and inhales, long and slow. When he exhales, it’s warm, ruffling your hair a little, and your heart skips a beat. You remove the stethoscope and step back, not missing the fact that he is half hard again, his dark eyes glowing with amusement.

“All right, I think we’re done here. You may go and get dressed.”

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171 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

Gentle as a Sigh

All Dean wants is a little time to worship her like she deserves.

Pairing: Dean Winchester/Reader

Word Count: 1872

Warnings: Smut, Somnophilia (Consensual and Planned)

Dividers from the amazing @firefly-graphics

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178 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

Gladiator Reborn - Part 2

I had a few requests for a second part to this, but I couldn’t really wrap my head around it until I’d seen Soldier Boy on the screen. Well, we all saw almost all of him 😁, and his personality in general, and this practically wrote itself...

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Reader

Word Count: 1482

Warnings: Dirty talk, rough-ish sex, Soldier Boy’s attitude (😏)

PART 1 IS HERE

“So, Doc – where were we?”

Every muscle in your body is tensed and rigid, and you try to sound authoritative when you speak. “Soldier Boy. We are finished. You should be in your quarters. I have a report to complete.”

He just smiles, cocky and confident, strolling slowly towards your desk and circling around behind you. “Now, don’t be like that. Pretty thing like you, stuck in this shithole of a job, you’ve gotta be a little lonely. And I know I saw you eyeing my package in there.” He moves closer, leaning down, his voice low, his breath warm on your neck. “Just why do you think I was so hard? Saw you standing there, looking all innocent and nervous, I could tell right away you need a big, strong man to unleash your wild side.” He takes the clip from your hair, combing his fingers through it and brushing it to the side to put his lips right next to your ear. “You afraid of me, Doc?”

You clench your teeth as you speak, the only way to keep your voice from trembling. “No. Now go to your quarters before I call the guards.”

He laughs, and a chill runs down your spine. Your body is practically vibrating with a mix of anticipation and anxiety, and something else you are doggedly trying to deny – arousal. Maybe supes exude some kind of pheromone. Maybe you’re just weak.

“You won’t call the guards.” He leans in close again, nuzzling his nose against your neck. “You’re dying to know how it feels to have a supe inside you. Aren’t you, Doc?” He pulls your chair away from your desk, and you vaguely note the pounding of your heart as he turns you to face him. His voice is soft, yet it resonates in your chest as he continues. “Look at me, pretty girl.” You raise your head, powerless to resist, and meet his gaze. “Look me right in the eye and tell me you don’t want me to bend you over this desk and fuck you like you’ve been imagining ever since you saw me step out of that freezer. I can hear your heart racing, and I can smell you, you’re wet for me already. Admit it.”

He takes your hands and pulls you to your feet. You are mesmerized by him, unable to look away from his face, and he smirks knowingly. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He puts his hands on your shoulders, pushing the white coat down until it slips to the floor. He never stops watching your face as his fingers deftly free each button of your shirt, and soon it drops as well. His eyes hungrily roam over your chest, a slight smile curving his lips at your plain, white bra. “You are too pure for this place. We’re gonna take care of that.”

Your bra hits the floor in short order, and he grabs your breast with one hand as he crushes you to his chest and kisses you, demanding, breath-stealing, his tongue plunging between your lips aggressively and exploring your mouth. You gasp for air when he finally releases you, your legs weak as he steers you around to face the side of your desk. He shoves things carelessly to the far side of the surface, then palms your breasts, kneading at them as he ruts his erection against your lower back. He plucks at your nipples, nipping and sucking at the slope of your neck, his voice getting rough with arousal as he speaks. “These are too pretty to be in plain white cotton. Maybe I’ll buy you some sexy lace lingerie, you can wear it for me next time.” He lets go of you with one last little pinch to your nipples, pressing your upper body down to the desk and working your skirt up to your waist. He chuckles when he sees your flowered panties, pulling them down your legs and off your feet, tucking them into his pocket. “Those will make a nice souvenir.”

He pulls your hips back, shoving your feet farther apart with one bare foot, and then his hand is between your thighs, his fingers penetrating you, sudden and deep, startling a cry from your dry throat.

“And you tried to pretend you didn’t want this. You’re drenched, kitten. I’m gonna take you for a ride. Might want to hang on.”

You grip the sides of the desk, your legs trembling, blushing as he noisily sucks your essence from his fingers. The blunt head of his large cock nudges you, then splits you open as he drives inside of you with one stroke, grunting, “Yeah!” as he bottoms out. There is no pause, no waiting for you to be comfortable, just a stinging ache that quickly begins to bloom into pleasure as he fucks into you without mercy, your bodies slapping together, his fingers digging into your hips to hold you where he wants you. “Like that big supe cock buried in that cunt, don’t you, Doc? Like being fucked by a real man. Takin’ me like a pro. You’re wasted hidden away in this lab. Maybe Vought will let me keep you, you can be my little live-in cocksucker, be waitin’ naked for me when I get home from saving the world. What do you think, Doc? Pays the same, perks are much better.” God, he liked the sound of his own voice, but fuck if you weren’t getting close, the sound of his voice and his deep, hard thrusts sending you higher and higher.

He lets go of you with one hand, shoving it down between you and the desk, his fingers roughly rubbing at your clit, forcing a little shout from between your clenched teeth. “Yeah, you’re gonna come real hard for me, aren’t ya? Practically crying down there, dripping all over me. You’re gonna come, squeeze that little cunt real hard around me, and then I’m gonna fill you up with supe come. I said fuckin’ come!” He gives your clit a little tug, and you try to stay quiet, but it’s impossible as your vision fades at the edges and you fall apart beneath his onslaught. He laughs, then lets out a long, lewd moan, slamming you into the side of the desk with each violent thrust as he finally explodes with heat inside you. He more than fills you up, hot fluids leaking out to run down the inside of your thighs, and he grunts like an animal as he finishes, panting hard.

You jerk in surprise as he pulls out and lands a stinging swat to your ass before he pulls his pants back in place, staring down at you, still unable to move. “You look good all fucked out and naked, Doc. I’m gonna venture a guess that I passed this part of my physical, wouldn’t you say?”

You slowly, every part of you aching, push yourself up from the desk, letting your skirt fall back in place. You cover yourself with your arms, refusing to look at his smirking face as you grab your shirt from the floor and cover yourself. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?” you mutter, and he laughs.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t hear you complaining a minute ago. Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it.” He takes your panties from his pocket and holds them up to his face, breathing in deeply. “Delicious.”

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

The smile fades from his face. “Now, don’t be unappreciative, kitten. Next time I might have to get rough.”

“There won’t be a next time.” You look up at him defiantly, but a leering smirk spreads across his face, his eyes dark.

“Keep telling yourself that, Doc. I’ll be seeing you.” His eyes sweep over you lecherously, and he turns to leave. “You know, and I know, that I’ll be back. And you know you’ll be craving more. You’re not fooling me with your holier-than-thou attitude. You wanted this, and you’ll want it again. Ain’t no gettin’ over me.”

You watch as he leaves the room, one last leering smile aimed your way as he pulls the door closed behind him. You almost sink to the floor, but manage to make your way to your office bathroom to clean up a little before you put the rest of your clothes on and take your coat from the hook. The drive home seems like a thousand miles, but all you want is to get out of this place and into a hot shower.

You try to feel how you know you should feel - violated, ashamed, angry. But you don’t, not really. You know, the next time he shows up at your door, you’ll end up the same way. You know the cocky son of a bitch was right. You won’t be getting over him.

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237 notes - Posted June 11, 2022

Centerfold

It’s 1973, and you are the assistant to the most famous photographer in the U.S., who just happens to be doing the photoshoot for Playgirl Magazine’s first-ever centerfold. Who better to start things off with a bang than America’s favorite superhero?

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Reader

Word Count: 2823

Warnings: None except the usual smut 😊

Fic header was made for me by the FANTASTIC @editsbymichele (Instagram) - thank you again, my friend, you ROCKED IT as always!!!💕

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342 notes - Posted August 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

A Little Wild

A middle-of-the-night thunderstorm helps release those pent-up feelings - pretty much just an excuse for Dean smut...

Pairing: Dean x reader

Word count: 1637

Warnings: None really, just smut - oral, male and female receiving

Divider by the ever-lovely @talesmaniac89

The power is out.

You crawl out of bed and go to the window, opening the curtains halfway. It’s pitch black out there, too, except for strobe light images in lightning flashes, the trees whipping in the wind, the cars in the parking lot gleaming, wet with the driving rain.

You don’t hear him move up behind you, but you can feel him. The heat from his body seeps into your back, and you can smell the warm, woodsy, slightly spicy scent of him, feel the almost magnetic pull on your body, urging you to lean back into him. You resist, but it isn’t easy.

“You okay?” he whispers, and you nod.

“Storm woke me.”

You stand there, silently, watching the raging storm together, the air vibrating with something unspoken. After a few moments, he leans down, his lips next to your ear, and murmurs your name. “Doesn’t this make you kinda feel like doing something a little wild?” The tips of his fingers glide up and down your arm, a whisper-soft touch, and suddenly you have to concentrate very hard on the act of breathing. Inhale, exhale, shallow and slow, and you’re feeling a little dizzy. When his lips brush against the slope of your neck, you sway, and his hands on your upper arms hold you steady. “If you want me to go…” He hesitates, unmoving, waiting for you to respond.

“Stay.” It’s the only word you can manage, but it’s enough.

He pulls you back to rest against his bare chest, and you can feel him, already hard, against your lower back. His hands begin to roam, feather-light touches leaving fire in their wake. His hands are warm on your skin as he slides them under your shirt, pulling it upwards. “The window,” you whisper, and he ducks his head to whisper his reply.

“There’s nobody out there in this storm.” He nibbles, right below your ear, and you shiver, then let him pull your shirt up and over your head. You can’t see him, but you can feel his heated stare as he drops your shirt to the floor. His hands move to cup your breasts, gently squeezing, thumbs strumming at your nipples as he watches in the flashes of light from the storm, moaning softly as you squirm against him. “I always wondered what you’d look like, all naked and rosy from being played with, teased. Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

You’re so aroused you don’t even think about the window anymore. You reach behind you, your fingers digging into the hard muscle of his thigh, and he swears softly. With one hand he continues plucking and tugging at a hard nipple while the other slips beneath the elastic of your panties, pushing between your thighs to cup your pussy, the heel of his hand pressing against your swollen clit.

His fingers trail their way through your lower lips, grazing over your entrance, then dipping inside, just enough to make you clench. He teases you without mercy until you’re whimpering, your legs quivering, and then he gives your nipple a pinch and plunges two fingers inside you to the last knuckle. You whine his name, and he bites at the curve of your neck, sucking a mark there as he fucks you vigorously, growling, “Fuckin’ come for me,” into your ear. A few more thrusts and you do just that with a wordless little shout, your head slamming back into his shoulder and your legs giving out as he lets go of your breast and supports you with his arm around your waist. He swears softly as he works you through it, his breath ragged and hot on your neck.

“Need you on the bed, now,” he whispers, helping you that direction and letting you collapse on the mattress, still trembling as he joins you there. He’s sucking your flavor from his fingers with a groan, then he jerks your panties down and off before moving down, bending your knees and hooking his arms beneath them as he lowers his head to drag the flat of his tongue over you. He takes his time, savoring you, lewd sounds of appreciation driving you even higher. He spears the warm muscle into you, wriggling it around and reaching as deep as he can, making you squirm and cry out beneath him. “Dean… Dean, please…” you begin to beg, and he leaves your cunt with one last sloppy, sucking kiss as he raises his head.

“You wanna come this way, or do you want me to fuck you?”

You moan, long and loud. “Fuck me. Please, Dean, fuck me now, fuck me hard.”

He releases your legs and wipes his face on the sheet before pushing his sweats down and kicking them off, moving up close, his cock prodding at your thigh. “You got it, sweetheart.” He guides himself into place, then thrusts into you, hard, holding himself in as you writhe and whimper at the sweet intrusion. He bends to kiss you then, feverish and hungry, a loud groan vibrating through him as you lightly suck on his tongue. He begins to rock against you, finally lifting his head as he starts to pull out and drive back into you, hard enough that you can hear your bodies slapping together. He’s fucking into you so hard, so deep that your head is spinning with the beginnings of another orgasm.

Your nails are digging into his back, your legs clamped around his hips, and he shifts slightly so he can get a thumb down between you, rubbing your clit hard. You shout his name, beginning to buck and arch up into him, and he growls, impossibly fucking you faster, finally exploding into you, spurting hot and thick until he drops, spent, on top of you.

When you wake, the alarm clock next to the bed is flashing – the lights are back on. Dean has closed the curtains, and a ribbon of light glows under the bathroom door. It goes out before the door opens, and he comes back into the room, his naked body lit only by the night light near the sink. “Sorry, guess I passed out,” you mumble, foggy from sleep. He smiles, slipping back under the covers, bending to kiss you, tasting faintly of toothpaste.

“Yeah, me, too.”

You turn towards him, letting him slide an arm beneath you and pull you close. “What made you come in here? I mean, you’ve never…”

“I just peeked in to make sure you were okay, and saw you standing there in front of the window, the lightning flashing around you, and – I don’t know, I just fucking wanted you, bad enough to ignore all the reasons I used to tell myself that I shouldn’t. I just hoped you’d want me back.”

You let your hand roam over his chest, then trail slowly down his belly, feeling the muscles contract as your fingers tickle through the thatch of hair below. His cock twitches, begins to swell, and you caress it gently, encouraging it to grow. “I do. Have for a long time, I just never admitted it to myself. Glad that’s all behind us now.” Dean’s breathing is growing heavier with your every touch, and you slowly pull the blankets down, admiring the view. He’s fully hard now, his cock moving slightly with every pulse of his heartbeat. You move down, one hand grasping him gently as you kiss the very tip, then set your tongue to work, tasting every glorious inch and then focusing your attention to the head, swirling around and then dipping into the slit with each pass. When you finally take him into your mouth, he groans deep in his chest, his hand moving to the back of your head, fingers tangled in your hair.

“Fuuuuuuck….” His grip tightens in your hair as he struggles not to thrust up into your mouth. You hum with pleasure, taking him in as far as you can manage and sucking as you pull back, taking him deeper each time until he is breaching your throat, making you fight not to gag. Instead, you force yourself to swallow around him, and he arches up under you, a desperate moan grating its way from his throat. Your jaw beginning to ache, you work him harder, pushing him to his limit, and he finally gives in. You relax your jaw as he thrusts up into your mouth, his cock swelling and then pulsing hot, flooding your mouth and throat as he comes.

You struggle to swallow as much as you can, wiping your mouth on the sheet as you pull off him, laying your head on his belly as he pants, moaning softly at the gentle kisses you place there.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to clean up a bit and brush your teeth, you return, and Dean reaches for you. “C’mere, sweetheart.” You join him, crawling willingly into his arms and kissing him, his hands caressing your soft skin, pressing you closer.

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342 notes - Posted May 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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jameshoward1203 · 2 years

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Best Productivity Tools in 2022

When it comes to productivity, there are a lot of different tools out there that can help you get the job done. But with so many options available, it can be hard to know which ones are actually worth your time.

To help you out, we've rounded up some of the best productivity tools that you can use to make your work easier and more efficient. From task management apps to document collaboration platforms, these tools will help you get the most out of your day.

So without further ado, here are the best productivity tools that you should start using today:

DeskTime

DeskTime is a productivity app that lets you track your time, plan and track your projects, and calculate costs simultaneously.

The project cost tracking feature lets you fill in your hourly rate and calculates automatically how much you have to charge the client based on the time you’ve spent on a specific task or project.

Kill News Feed

Kill News Feed is a Chrome extension that blocks your News Feed on Facebook when you need to focus on work. Knowing that the habit of scrolling Facebook News Feed is a real productivity killer, this simple extension is a serious focus-booster and time saver.

If you use Facebook for work purposes – worry not! While you won’t be able to see and scroll your newsfeed, you’ll still be able to check your messages and notifications and access your business pages.

LastPass

Like 1Password, LastPass saves all your passwords, so you only have to remember one – your master password. Contrary to 1Password, LastPass has a free version, which is perfect enough to use without the upgrade.

Install the extension on your browser, then start saving your passwords to LastPass – it will automatically offer you to save a password when you log in to a new website for the first time. Once saved, you’ll be able to log into the sites with one click.

Google Alerts

If you’re looking for info on a specific topic but don’t want to spend all day searching the web for the most recent news, then set up a Google Alert. Enter the keyword you’re looking for and customize by selecting which sources you want, how often you wish to be notified, etc.

You’ll receive emails whenever anything is published about that specific topic. Set it to notify you how often you like. I suggest once at the end of the day to avoid constant distractions and updates.

Grammarly

Whether your daily tasks are directly related to loads of writing, or you’re only sending a few emails from time to time, a language-checking tool always comes in handy.

Meet Grammarly (if you haven’t met it yet) – an AI-powered tool that helps the written communication. Correcting your grammatical mistakes is just one of the many amazing things that the tool does. It also suggests improvements for clarity, engagement, delivery, and more, based on your audience and goals that can be variously adjusted.

Source: https://desktime.com/blog/the-great-list-of-25-productivity-tools-to-try-in-2021

#productivity tools

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a-modernmajorgeneral · 6 days

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In 2021, on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics, 23 top Chinese swimmers tested positive for the drug trimetazidine. In its proper clinical setting, the medication is used to treat angina. But for an athlete or a coach willing to cheat, it is a performance-enhancing drug, boosting the heart muscle’s functioning. Nonprescription use of trimetazidine, or TMZ is prohibited at all times, not just during competition; the default sanction for an athlete’s violation is a four-year ban.

The testing that ensnared so many members of China’s swim team was conducted under the auspices of the national anti-doping agency, known as CHINADA. Each country in international competition has its own such agency—America’s is USADA, which I serve—and they all operate under the umbrella of the World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA is the ultimate authority, responsible for ensuring that national agencies enforce the rules. Yet shortly before the 2021 Games got under way, CHINADA vacated the 23 violations, giving a cock-and-bull story about accidental contamination in the kitchen where the athletes’ meals were prepared. And WADA simply accepted CHINADA’s obviously suspect ruling.

WADA failed even to publish its decision. The world was alerted only last month by whistleblowers who pushed evidence of the scandal to the media. Prompted by the revelations to respond, WADA issued a statement citing its prior conclusion “that it was not in a position to disprove the possibility that contamination was the source of TMZ” and “that, given the specific circumstances of the asserted contamination, the athletes would be held to have no fault or negligence.”

WADA’s failure of oversight and lack of transparency are corroding fair competition—and that has come to haunt clean athletes around the world. If WADA had properly upheld its mission, China would likely have lost 13 of its top swimmers chosen for the Olympic team at Tokyo. Instead, China won six medals, three of them gold, in the pool.

USADA has the job of ensuring that American swimmers abide by the rules and compete clean; as a result of WADA’s inaction, several of them potentially lost podium places in Tokyo that they deserved. Worse, the world body’s enforcement failures have made national anti-doping agencies such as CHINADA hostage to bad regimes, turning the agencies and the athletes they oversee into pawns in a cynical geopolitical game of prestige and power.

What we are seeing is a reinvention of the bad old days of the Cold War, when East Germany tried fraudulently to demonstrate the superiority of state socialism by systematically doping its athletes. Back then, no international anti-doping movement existed, and East Germany’s cheating went suspected but largely undetected until years later. By then, it was too late for justice; the harms done—both to the athletes’ health and to the credibility of the competition in that era—were permanent. Today, we have the World Anti-Doping Agency to police international sports—but enforcement works only if the watchdog itself is unbiased, conflict-free, and effective. At the Paris Games this summer, clean competition is very much in doubt.

#current events #politics #chinese politics #sports #olympic games #economics #2024 olympic games #2008 olympic games #china #world anti-doping agency #china anti-doping agency #united states anti-doping agency

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bllsbailey · 2 months

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Nancy Pelosi Labels MSNBC's Katy Tur A 'Trump Apologist' For Bringing Up Valid Point

On Monday, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asserted that MSNBC’s Katy Tur was an “apologist” for former President Donald Trump.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised President Joe Biden’s “economic achievements” during her visit on the far-left network, claiming that he “created nine million jobs in his term in office.” She also stated that “Donald Trump has the worst record of job loss of any president. So we just have to make sure people know.”

Meanwhile, social media users on X (Twitter) chimed in and mentioned an alleged tactic by the Biden administration regarding its efforts to count job growth from the re-gained jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Biden misleadingly contrasts that with a loss of jobs under former President Donald Trump — a loss that occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Factcheck.org reported.

Additionally, the House Budget Committee also corrected the claims of the Biden administration as well.

“Biden’s White House tweeted that they have added more jobs under his watch than any President has in a single four-year term…These claims are misleading. Here’s why…. Recovery versus ‘Creation.’ Nearly 72 percent of all job gains since 2021 were simply jobs that were being recovered from the pandemic, not new job creation. In fact, when looking at today’s economy compared to pre-pandemic levels, employment is up only by 3.7 million… On the other hand, prior to the pandemic, job creation under President Trump was 6.7 million—3 million more jobs than the current President.”

As for the discussion between Pelosi and Tur, the MSNBC media personality quickly interrupted her, respectfully reminding Pelosi that “there was a global pandemic” under Trump’s administration, thus why jobs were “lost.”

After pausing momentarily to look astonished, Pelosi then shot back at Tur, asserting, “he [Trump] had the worst record of any president. We’ve had other concerns in our country!”

“If you want to be an apologist for Donald Trump, that may be your role, but it ain’t mine,” Pelosi continued in a flustered manner.

Tur then responded by saying, “I don’t think anyone can accuse me of that.”

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

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reddancer1 · 3 months

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Heather Cox Richardson

March 7, 2024 (Thursday)

The Republican Party now belongs to Trump. On the heels of his wins on Super Tuesday, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, his last serious rival for the Republican presidential nomination, suspended her campaign Wednesday morning. That afternoon, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who enabled Trump during his administration but apparently hoped to see him replaced at the top of the party, endorsed him.

Haley did not endorse former president Trump, suggesting he needed to earn the support of those Republicans who don’t back him. But Trump’s team has dismissed Haley supporters, saying he doesn’t need them.

In contrast, President Joe Biden continued to broaden the Democrats’ tent. Biden reached out in a statement, saying there was a place for Haley supporters in his campaign. “I know there is a lot we won’t agree on,” he said, “But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”

President Biden continued to outline the differences between MAGA Republicans and the rest of the country in tonight’s State of the Union address.

Biden launched the speech, a draft of which the White House made available in advance, by referring to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s attempt in January 1941, about a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, “to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that…[f]reedom and democracy were under assault in the world.” Biden identified the same crisis in the present. “Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” he said.

Overseas, Russian president Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine and threatens Europe, Biden said, putting “the free world at risk.” He warned that those blocking aid to Ukraine are destroying “our leadership in the world” and blasted Trump for saying he would tell Putin to “do whatever the hell you want.” Biden urged Congress to “stand up to Putin. Send me the Bipartisan National Security Bill” that funds Ukraine.

Then he turned to the home front. Identifying those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, as “insurrectionists” who “had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power and to overturn the will of the people,” Biden called “January 6th and the lies about the 2020 election, and the plots to steal the election…the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War.”

That threat remains, he said. He asked Republicans to “speak the truth and bury the lies.” He urged them to “[r]emember your oath of office to defend against all threats foreign and domestic. Respect free and fair elections. Restore trust in our institutions. And make clear—political violence has absolutely no place in America.”

As Democrats stood to applaud, Republicans remained resolutely in their seats.

Biden continued his study in contrasts. He urged Republicans to guarantee the right to in vitro fertilization, a popular measure that they killed in the Senate again this week. He called out Republicans for trying to pass a national abortion ban and declared, “If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you, I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.”

He touted the economic successes of his administration—15 million new jobs, unemployment at 50-year lows, 16 million new businesses, 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, more people with health insurance, rising wages, falling inflation—and described a nation with a thriving middle class. He reiterated his support for unions, noting that he was the first president to walk a picket line, and praised United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who responded by putting his fist in the air and mouthing, “Thank YOU!”

Biden then looked ahead to “a future where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and biggest corporations no longer get all the breaks.” He promised to continue to fight unfair tax codes, price gouging, shrinkflation, and junk fees.

Biden called out the Republicans for bowing to Trump’s demand that they kill the bipartisan border bill, which would provide 1,500 more border security officers, 100 more immigration judges, 4,300 more asylum officers, and 100 more high-tech drug detection machines and give the president authority to shut down the border when the number of migrants reaches a certain level. As House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shook his head in apparent disagreement, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a staunch conservative who negotiated the bill, nodded, saying, “That’s true.”

Biden took on the two biggest controversies in his presidency directly. “I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people, for the Israeli people, the Palestinian people, and so many here in America,” he said.

He recounted the deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, continued to defend Israel’s right “to go after Hamas,” and promised to continue to negotiate for the remaining hostages. He also said that the war “has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed…. Nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displaced. Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin. Families without food, water, medicine.”

The U.S. has “been working non-stop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for at least six weeks,” Biden said. “It would get the hostages home, ease the intolerable humanitarian crisis, and build toward something more enduring.” The U.S. has “been leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza” and is now building a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to “receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.”

Biden addressed Israel’s leaders directly: “As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution. I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime. There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with peace and dignity. There is no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia. Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran.”

Biden then took on the issue of his 81 years. Age makes “certain things become clearer than ever before,” he said. “I know the American story.”

“Again and again I’ve seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation. Between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America into the future. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. A future based on the core values that have defined America. Honesty. Decency. Dignity. Equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.

“Now some other people my age see a different story,” he said, in a reference to Trump, who will turn 78 in June. “An American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution.”

“[T]he issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are, it’s how old our ideas are,” Biden said. “Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas, but you can’t lead America with…ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be…. I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms, not take them away. I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot and the wealthy finally have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. Above all, I see a future for all Americans…. So let’s build that future together.”

Biden spoke powerfully for an hour and a half, veering off script to make points stronger or respond to Republican heckling. He seemed to enjoy the scrapping (and might even have set it up), using the back and forth to get Republicans to reject tax cuts just as last year he forced them to reject cutting Social Security.

The Republicans tapped Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) to give their rebuttal to the speech, evidently hoping to contrast her youth—she’s 42—with Biden’s age. But while her team helpfully distributed talking points to Republican influencers before either Biden or Britt had spoken, suggesting they describe her as “America’s mom” and say that Biden’s speech was “tone deaf” while hers was “the perfect pitch,” the fact that the Republicans had a female senator give what could be the most important speech of her life in a kitchen seemed to tell its own, more powerful, story.

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xtruss · 5 months

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Britain's Spymasters Should Look In The Mirror To Find Undercover Operatives Stealing Secrets

— Mark Blacklock | January 12, 2024

Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

In recent years, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service has intensified its attacks on China for alleged spying activities in Britain. However, if the SIS wants to root out operatives working undercover to steal the country's secrets, they should perhaps ask themselves. The arrest of a businessman surnamed Huang by China's Ministry of State Security brings attention to the hypocrisy of the spymasters at MI6.

Huang, the head of an overseas consultancy, is accused of serious offences. He is said to have worked for SIS for about nine years, using the specialist skills and equipment provided to him after being recruited to steal state secrets. The MSS says that behind his façade as a businessman, his undercover job was to collect China-related intelligence for the British espionage agency and identify potential recruits.

It smacks of double standards. What else would you call repeatedly attacking another state by accusing it of something, and then cynically behaving in the same way?

Last year, the head of MI6, Richard Moore, said in2023 that China presented "an epoch-defining challenge" and that his organization commits more of its resources to Beijing's activities than to any other country. It is not the first time he criticized China. In 2021, he described China ominously as "an authoritarian state, with different values from ours."

The UK's assaults on China come in many forms. They can be a warning of vague, unsubstantiated allegations about individuals having undue influence on British politicians. They can come as personal attacks on people of Chinese heritage simply because they work with influential decision-makers to raise issues of concern to the UK's Chinese community (but without real evidence to back up the slurs). They can even come in the form of sudden arrests by police accusing people of serious espionage offences - and then letting those people go free without charge. A common feature of these events is that they created a great deal of smoke without fire - generating much Sinophobic sentiment fueled by unsupported allegations. Nothing came of them.

Mark Blacklock! Mark Blacklock is Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of the cultural history The Emergence of the Fourth Dimension, and his most recent novel Hinton was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2021.

The most recent example is of Chris Cash, a researcher in the UK parliament, who was arrested, with an associate, under espionage laws. He could hardly be described as pro-China - he actually worked for an anti-China research group and vehemently denied wrongdoing. The substance of the investigation seems to have been that he had contact with influential politicians interested in Chinese affairs. It looked like guilt by association. Neither he nor his colleague have been charged.

Cash's arrest happened almost a year ago, but it did not become public knowledge until it was leaked to the British media six months later, creating negative publicity, at about the same time that Beijing was hoping to improve China-UK relations at a high level.

Two years ago, Christine Lee, a London-based lawyer of Chinese origin, was accused by Britain's domestic intelligence service, MI5, of being a spy for Beijing - and yet again, no arrests or charges followed. All that happened was that her reputation - and goodwill toward China - was severely damaged. The agency accused her of being "involved in political interference activities" in the UK. Lawmakers in the House of Commons were also given a so-called "interference alert" - the first issued in at least 80 years. Lee knew nothing about it until she saw media reports branding her "an enemy of the state." She later launched legal action against MI5 in a bid to clear her name.

Britain's intelligence services have clearly identified China as a target for their operations. Is one aspect of that to cast suspicion on people simply because of their Chinese background or with personal connections to China, or with a special interest in China? Why is there so much smoke without any fire, so many accusations without substantiation? In the Huang case London stands accused of doing the very thing it accuses Beijing of doing. It's astonishing hypocrisy, especially when the West has so often been caught out in the past.

— The Author is a Journalist and Lecturer in Britain.

#Global Times #China 🇨🇳#Mark Blacklock #Britain's Secret Intelligence Service #Hypocrite Spymasters of MI6.#Britain's Domestic Intelligence Service MI5 #Mark Blacklock | Journalist | Lecturer #Birkbeck College | University of London | UK 🇬🇧

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billscheft · 6 months

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With the actual "Frasier" reboot now come and gone, I feel compelled to re-post this "Totally Real Episode Guide" I wrote for Salon almost three years ago (March, 2021)....

[NOTE: This document is not to leave the Paramount+ virtual lot!!!!!!!]

Episode 12.1 ("Howdy Podner!"): Dr. Frasier Crane is back in Seattle after living for 14 years at a WH Smith in O'Hare Airport while trying to book a return flight from Chicago with a declined NBC corporate card. He is now in the third year of his daily living-room based podcast, "Freud Not." After ten minutes lambasting his listeners for never phoning in for advice, only a returned call from the Apple Store reveals to Frasier that, technically, he cannot have a podcast if he does not have a webops platform. Or if his laptop has an operating system less recent than Windows XP. His 2005 lifetime FCC ban from radio following an on-air incident with Robin Quivers (guest star Issa Rae) is briefly mentioned but not discussed.

Episode 12.2 ("You Might Feel a Little Prick"): Now up and running on Patreon, Frasier suddenly cuts off a podcast episode with a survivor of Stockholm Syndrome (Hope Hicks) when he gets an alert on his phone that there's an open slot available for the latest, most exclusive Covid vaccine, the Moderna Lisa. When the urgent care nurse (Billy Eichner) asks for an emergency family member contact, Frasier hastily scribbles "Lillith S." and a profile link from JDate.

Episode 12.3 ("Driver's Oedipus"): His thirty-second birthday approaching, Frasier's now grown, multi-issued son Frederick (Sean Hayes in a receding blond wig even though he is only heard on the phone) lets his dad know that he is motoring into town for an Oath Keepers 3K Fun Run and makes the old man promise to hook him up with courtside seats for a Sonics game, even though it's August and the NBA team left Seattle 13 years ago. Wounded, and still bitter over losing his medical license after a psychiatric journal published his meant-to-be satirical essay, "Transference in Inflatable Patients," Frasier feels compelled to tell Frederick, "Remember, you're an only child. Just like me…."

Episode 12.4 ("La-Z-Goy"): After finally selling his late father's pea-green recliner on eBay for $112.47 (local pick-up only), Frasier has second thoughts while waiting for the buyer (Riz Ahmed) to show up. He fondly reminisces about a trip to Howard Johnson's when his dad was an active duty cop and momentarily confused the Heimlich maneuver with a sleeper hold on a distressed diner (flashback with Artie Lange playing both parts). When the buyer (Daveed Diggs, after a scheduling conflict with Ahmed) finally arrives, he notices the side lever of the chair is inoperable. Frasier repays him the $112.47, plus $60 to cart the recliner away, plus two bottles of Febreze.

Episode 12.5 ("All in the Fluidity"): Frasier's podcast is about to get its first revenue producing sponsor, the gender-neutral footwear company Matriarch. But Frasier blows the deal when he keeps insisting to the Matriarch marketing team (Alex Borstein, Dan Levy) that his pronoun should be who/whom. The sudden loss of a reliable income stream forces him to cancel his search for a new housekeeper, now down to six finalists (Busy Phillips, Amber Ruffin, Claire Foy, Justina Machado, Moses Ingram, William Zabka) who were to compete in a Wagner lip synch battle for the job.

Episode 12.6 ("Have a Tryst Kit"): His 90-day Tinder suspension suddenly lifted after only four days when the complainant (Amy Sedaris) blames the misunderstanding on a salt deficiency, Frasier renews his Quixotic search for companionship. Unfortunately, minutes into his triumphant return, he dislocates two fingers after swiping right too overzealously. When the urgent care nurse (Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan) asks for an emergency family contact, he writes down the number of the guy who carted off his dad's recliner. In the closing cliffhanger scene, Frasier is seen ringing an apartment buzzer with his free hand, a clutch of pansies and a bag of IV saline under his arm.

Episode 12.7 ("Star Bucks"): Frasier celebrates the ten-year anniversary of the closing of Café Nervosa by showing up with a thermos of Kona, a seat stick umbrella and a copy of "Alfred Adler: Sicko-phant" in front of the SmileDirect that now occupies the space. While the manager (Ken Jeong) calls the police, a well-dressed couple in their mid-forties (Vincent Kartheiser and Luke Kirby) approach. They recognize Frasier instantly and ask him to help get their daughter (a Fanning TBA) into Harvard. When the flattered celeb shrink asks what he can do, they hand him a bag with $250,000 in cash and make him open a Venmo account at gunpoint. Upon seeing the glint of the gun barrel, the assistant manager (Miles Brown) calls the police back and tells them not to bother.

Episode 12.8 ("Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…"): Shot documentary style, Paramount+ execs and showrunners stop by Kelsey Grammer's trailer with a magnum of non-alcoholic champagne and news that they've been able to sign original cast member Dan Butler (Dan Butler) to reprise his role as Frasier's unapologetic, misogynistic co-worker Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe. The last 20 minutes is a montage of a Tesla pulling away and a mostly union crew breaking the set down to a looped medley of "There Used to be a Ballpark"/"Crazy"/"It's Raining Men" (BMI license fees pending).

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