#media literacy excelled that year

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Geico STD story is the new McDonald's Hot Coffee story

Here’s a media literacy rule of thumb: any time you hear about how the courts have done something outrageous and absurd to some poor, long-suffering, gigantic, wildly profitable corporation…dig deeper. The canonical example is the “McDonald’s Hot Coffee Lawsuit” (aka Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants). You know, that time that an old lady got burned by her McDonald’s coffee and then sued for for $2.7 million?! Most people heard that story — and they heard it for a reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

The Hot Coffee story was propaganda — specifically, it was propaganda for the idea that corporations should be shielded from legal liability when they maim or even kill the public through gross negligence. The real Hot Coffee story is a lot more complicated than the “lady gets millions because her coffee was too hot” tale that circulated widely.

One of the best explorations of the Hot Coffee story is Adam Conover’s excellent “Adam Ruins The Hot Coffee Story” video from 2016. In that episode, Conover explains what really happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9DXSCpcz9E

The coffee that burned Stella Liebeck in New Mexico in 1994 was served at 190°F. It caused third-degree burns that permanently disfigured Liebeck, required multiple skin grafts, and disabled her for two years. The surgery was so drastic that Liebeck lost 20% of her body-weight while she was recovering.

McDonald’s had a history of serving coffee that was dangerously hot. It had received 700 complaints about the matter, and had had to settle numerous claims from people who were horribly burned by its coffee. However, it declined to settle with Liebeck, who initially sought $20k to cover her medical expenses.

Denied a settlement, Liebeck sued. The jury did award $2.7m, but the judge clawed it back to $640k. Liebeck likely didn’t get that amount — she and McDonald’s reached a confidential settlement under threat of McDonald’s appealing.

So, the real story isn’t: “Old lady spills coffee and gets millions.”

It’s “McDonald’s ignores hundreds of dangerous incidents for years, then maims a customer for life and refuses to pay her medical bills or change its practices to avoid future incidents. A judge says she’s due a fraction of the jury award, but she doesn’t get it because McDonald’s uses its massive litigation war-chest to force her into a confidential settlement.”

So why did you hear so much about this story? And why was the moral of the story inevitably about how bloodsucking lawyers are victimizing poor l’il multinational corporations like Mickey Dees?

It was propaganda. The “bloodsucking lawyers preying on innocent corporations” story is a creation of the business lobby, which has, for decades, argued that it should be immune to legal consequences when it harms or kills the public. The cause of “tort reform” is, in actuality, a corporate charter of impunity.

It worked. Over the past four decades, corporations have steadily whittled away the public’s right to civil justice, no matter how egregiously a corporation behaves. The main mechanism for this was the expansion of binding arbitration, a 1920s-era law that initially allowed big companies to agree to have their contractual disputes worked out by a mediator, rather than going to court.

Since the 1980s, a series of Supreme Court decisions have steadily expanded binding arbitration, allowing corporations to add “arbitration waivers” to their terms of service, employment contracts and other non-negotiated boilerplates. Today, the mere act of removing some shrinkwrap or clicking a link can result in the permanent loss of your right to sue, no matter how badly a company treats you.

Instead, your grievances will be heard by a corporate arbitrator, a pretend judge who is paid by the company that wronged you. Your case must be heard in isolation, and not part of a class action. The proceedings are secret, and even if you win, you don’t set a precedent for others who are similarly wronged. It’s “a justice system just for corporations.”

http://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/we-now-have-a-justice-system-just-for-corporations

American corporations pushed the expansion of binding arbitration waivers as a get-out-of-court-free card, and for many years, it worked. Remember when Wells Fargo forged millions of its customers’ signatures to fraudulently open high-fee accounts in their names? The company argued that because the forged agreements included arbitration waivers, those customers couldn’t sue over the fraud:

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-ceo-of-wells-fargo-might-be-in-big-big-trouble/

Everybody got in on the act. If you’re a Pokemon Go player, you’re stuck in binding arbitration:

https://consumerist.com/2016/07/14/pokemon-go-strips-users-of-their-legal-rights-heres-how-to-opt-out/

Same with Airbnb customers:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2908/terms-of-service

Unsurprisingly, Trump loved binding arbitration. One of his first acts as president was to strip nursing home residents of the right to sue, which was great news for the nursing homes that murdered patients by abandoning them to covid:

https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/trump-administration-will-allow-nursing-homes-to-strip-residents-of-legal-rights/

(Older voters love the GOP, but it sure as hell doesn’t love them back.)

Forced arbitration wasn’t just a matter of civil justice — it was also a matter of economics. As Lina Khan and Deepak Gupta showed in their 2016 American Constitution Society paper “Arbitration As Wealth Transfer,” “Forced arbitration clauses are a form of wealth transfer to the rich”:

https://www.acslaw.org/issue_brief/briefs-landing/arbitration-as-wealth-transfer/

But the business leaders who bankrolled the forced arbitration epidemic were — characteristically — overconfident. It turns out that arbitration has weaknesses. It’s possible to do mass arbitration — to automate filing arbitration claims by thousands of corporate victims, which triggers hundreds of millions of dollars in arbitration fees, which the company is on the hook for, win or lose.

Uber was one of the first companies to discover this, when thousands of drivers brought arbitration claims at once. Not only would Uber have to pay for arbitrators in each case, but because arbitration decisions do not constitute precedents, it would have to argue each case, over and over again, even if it won. The company surrendered and paid drivers $146m:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/uber-sues-aaa-block-100-million-fees-politically-motivated-arbitration-2021-09-20/

This spooked Amazon, which amended its terms of service for Alexa to remove binding arbitration:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/02/arbitrary-arbitration/#petard

Law-tech firms like Fairshake created automation systems to enable mass arbitration filings at scale and on a budget:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/11/socialized-losses/#justice-restored

Something wonderful and wild started to happen. The companies that had argued for decades that binding arbitration was, well, binding, began to argue that arbitration waivers were unconstitutional, despite the precedents that they, themselves had bankrolled, at enormous expense.

The poster child of arbitration buyer’s remorse is Intuit, a company that has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-prep fees from the poorest Americans by tricking them into fake “Free File” products using dark patterns on its website.

Intuit is now facing arbitration at scale — more than 100,000 claims — and a court has ordered them to hire arbitrators to hear each and every one of them. After all it was Intuit — not its customers — who put the arbitration clauses in its terms of service, claiming that court cases were a bad way to resolve their disputes:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/11/socialized-losses/#justice-restored

Which brings me back to McDonald’s, hot coffee, and juicy stories about giant corporations being abused by the courts.

Have you heard about the Geico STD judgment? A woman caught an STD from her then-boyfriend when they had sex in his car. She won a judgment against him for $5.2m. Geico insures his car. A court has ordered Geico to pay that judgment.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jackson-county-woman-says-she-222907031.html

But it’s more complicated than that!

It’s not a court that ordered Geico to pay the judgment — it’s an arbitrator. Geico is one of the companies that forces its customers into arbitration. Why would an insurance company want arbitrators to hear cases about its refusal to pay claims, rather than judges?

I mean, duh. Insurance companies have a long, dishonorable tradition of taking your premiums every month, then stranding you when you actually experience an “insured event,” arguing that the obscure, obfuscating language in their contract doesn’t cover your losses.

The real Geico STD story is this: Geico demanded that the case be heard by its arbitrator, who ruled against Geico, because Geico’s insurance terms did cover this event. Now, Geico is claiming that the arbitration it insisted upon “violates the company’s due process rights” and that its own arbitration agreement is unenforceable.

The case that’s being reported on isn’t about the $5.2m award for the STD. That happened way back in 2021. The case that’s in the news this week is a court telling Geico that when it forces its customers into arbitration, it has to abide by the arbitrator’s decision, even in those rare instances in which the arbitrator finds against the company who pays their fees.

But you wouldn’t know it from the coverage. All this stuff about arbitration is buried way down in the story. The headline is: $5.2m judgment for a venereal disease!

This is McDonald’s Hot Coffee 2.0. Someone pitched this story, and the pitch emphasized the poor, downtrodden corporation (Geico is owned by Warren Buffet and has $32b in assets) — not the fact that Geico is reaping what it sowed. The real story here is: “Corporation seeks to replace civil justice system with a kangaroo court, and gets kicked by its own kangaroo.”

Incidentally, if you miss Adam Conover’s “Adam Ruins Everything” and you have a Netflix password, check out “The G-Word,” his incredible new show about regulatory competence and the deadly threats it holds at bay:

https://www.netflix.com/title/81037116

[Image ID: The Adam Ruins Everything title card for 'The Hot Coffee Case.' It is a split panel with Adam Conover on the left at a judge's bench, banging a gavel, and a confused Hamburgler on the right, in the witness box. They are separated by the center of the 'M' in the McDonald's 'Golden Arches' logo. Superimposed over this separator is the Geico lizard.]

[thespectrehauntingfodlan]

I feel like a lot of people, and this is really more for Usamericans than those from other countries who don't have any exposure to the internal affairs of this particular nightmare country, truly do not grasp the scale and significance of the problems and horrors here?

Literacy will be mentioned and downplayed, but a full 20% of people living here are illiterate to a degree where they cannot interact with even basic writing. That's one in five people, or almost the population of the entirety of the United Kingdom. And that's only the population that either cannot read any words at all or cannot parse sentences, an equally large amount of people can only read at a very basic level, and can't interpret and extrapolate information from text that's not direct. This is not some cry about media literacy, this is about basic functioning in society and how many are left behind from a society that increasingly isolates and diminishes them.

Manufacturing will be mentioned, and the thought most will have is that American production has been gutted and outsourced (usually leading to hostility to places like China or Vietnam), which has some truth but much of American industry has been transfered from "free" workers to prison slave labor, with some states not paying prisoners forced to work at all and the most ""generous"" states paying them a seventh of the already laughable federal minimum wage, and with the government actually subsidizing this by giving corporations a $2400 tax credit per prisoner they "employ"

Prison will be mentioned but the sheer inhumanity and brutality will never be grasped even when people recognize elements of it (usually for what passes as comedy) the totality of it will never register. One out of five of all people incarcerated on Earth are in prison in America, subjected to conditions which regularly and frequently kill them or break them, and there's not even a consistent reporting measure for people who die in prison or jail, to say nothing of the police killings which dwarf the amount of people executed by the state, which has even less of a standard for reporting. One county was simply burying the people they killed in unmarked graves nearby and never reporting it or recording it, only being discovered after years almost on accident.

Homelessness is rampant but the numbers and methods for assessing the size of the unhomed population are pitiful at best and laughable at worst, regularly undercounting and diminishing the severity because those who are homeless are barely considered people to not just the government but in the perception imposed by society.

And none of that is touching on the scale of the imperial war machine which ravages the rest of the world, how there's no way to even know how many bases the US even has, how many people it kills, how many wars it fights, who it even supports. None of us touching on the non-military methods of support and control the US provides to its proxies and cronies who prop up its hegemony.

The scale of it all is just mind breaking and I have seen excellent writing and interrogation of parts but I don't feel like the overall picture is ever even glimpsed.

[pathfinderyderss]

Heads up! The user barbex is a proshipper (supports romanticizing abuse in fiction).

Hi! So, I apologize for my delay in responding to your message - I have had a lot of thoughts and wanted to make sure l was expressing them in the best way possible.

I want to be honest, when I first read your message, I didn’t know what pro-shipping was, but I do know @barbex --I've been following her for the better part of a decade and she is an excellent author and l enjoy her views on the Dragon Age lore (and her views on Anders). I've also done more than a few of the prompt months that she's put together.

With all of that said, I wanted to better understand your viewpoint and see what it is that is defined as part of your block list. So, I hopped on your blog! I found your blocklist and the items you've listed as egregious enough to report users and as a former Literature Major, it saddened me to see such Puritanical and Orwellian views being broadcast with such vitriol.

The first thing I want to address is that in my fifteen plus years in fandom I have always subscribed to the “Don’t Like, Don’t Read" mentality. I am unafraid to block people on this website for a single take I don't agree with, and with that I am a FIRM supporter of accurate community labels as there are many things that I myself do not enjoy or want to read - so my blocked tags are plentiful and the blogs I block are many and that curated experience is why I do not get involved in any sort of fandom drama. 

I implore you to do the same. Fandom can be such a wonderful, constructive experience when you surround yourself with like-minded individuals. A dear friend of mine reminded me of the phrase, ”No Good Fandom, Only Good Friends” and nothing could be more accurate. Your tiny corner of the Fandom is an amazing way to flourish socially and mentally; however when your energy instead is spent on searching for others with ideological differences the experience instead becomes a witch hunt full of dog piling and negativity.

Now, on your blog, I noticed that you bemoan that you are unable to have a conversation about Fandom/Purity Culture/Fanfiction and I feel like this is an important topic to discuss so l am going to indulge in this against my better judgement, and at the end if you don't like what I've said, l implore you to block me as well.

My primary issue with your block list is that it derives from anti-intellectualism and a puritanical view of fandom. Which, if that is how you want to experience fandom, that's fine, but publicizing it is beyond ridiculous and leads back to my earlier point about witch hunts and dog piling.

Based on your list, your primary concerns in your block list stem from the following topics: rape, incest, pedophilia- including predatory age gaps and abuse. And I wonder; do you devalue fiction in the same way?

The first thing on your list that caught my attention was your adamant disapproval of the Thanatos/Zagreus ship in Hades. Is this just a general distaste for all Greek/Roman mythology as all of it could meet your block list above? Does Disney's Hercules get a pass due to the inaccuracies in the retelling — does the Hera/Zeus relationship get a pass because it isn't explicitly mentioned? And does it matter that it is a more inaccurate retelling of the myth?

In that same vein; are stories like Jane Eyre (which contains both a predatory age gap and a horrific example of a mentally ill character) or Wuthering Heights (which contains incest and abuse) not worth telling to a modern audience because they show these things? Are we forgoing media literacy and critical thinking now because these things glorify the worst parts of humanity?

And regardless of if it is a piece of classic literature or a piece of modern fanfiction making the decision for others that they cannot read these things due to them being "bad” or "wrong" or "shameful" is no different than banning books. And you devalue the readership of these pieces of literature by saying that they are unable to critically think for themselves and find the value of an individual piece of fiction.

I emphasize again, YOU as an individual do not have to view or interact with this material if it makes you uncomfortable, but I beg you not to police others in an Orwellian fashion over the media they choose to produce or view. Use the block button and blacklist tags you don't like or make you uncomfortable - that is what they are there for. Instead, talk to people who share your views but do not turn this into a witch hunt or an NC-17 purge that we've seen so damaging to our communities in the past.

All of this is to say; find joy Fandom — whatever that may mean for you and let others do the same. 

I hope this was informative.

- Ryder

[inkcurlsandknives]

The next man to derisively refer to Romantasy as "fairy smut" is gonna have me tearing their throat out with my teeth. Just heard a dripping with condescension NPR bit on Romantasy being the most popular fiction genre. NPR is failing me as my calm car listening station 😔

What an exhausting way to live. Just let people like entertainment, be happy people are reading longform media, enjoy the fact that the fantasy target audience is growing and gaining new readers!

Traditional hero's journey fantasy and SFF in general has been a near impossible to break into oversaturated market with an audience that mostly started reading SFF under the age of 15. This has been the case for years, despite the massive popularity of SFF TV shows and movies, it just wasn't translating into people becoming SFF readers if they weren't already. That means by and large authors were not attracting new adult readers only readers who'd already been reading SFF. As literacy and reading rates among kids plummets that's CONCERNING

The move towards romantasy and cozy fantasy in books has opened up the market, and demand for new and diverse stories. We're getting readers who've never touched SFF before! That's excellent news!

[abecat]

I have so many nerdy thoughts about the Apple headset, particularly when it comes to interfaces and media, so read at your own risk:

I really think that Apple is a design company first, a technology company second. The fact it can do both well is impressive, but let’s be real: most of what was shown with the Reality Pro is stuff that other companies have done, piecemeal and less effectively, for the last 15+ years. Still, I bet even their competitors are relieved, and even excited, to have Apple in the VR headset market (and yes, it is a VR headset). Relieved because Apple didn’t show any new tech paradigm that puts them at a massive disadvantage; and excited because if someone is going to convince “normies” to put on a headset, it is going to be Apple. It may be through the Vision Pro that people get convinced of the value (such as it is) of spatial/volumetric/immersive interfaces, simply to go purchase a HTC Vive for a 3rd of the price. One can tell that Apple spent a lot of time and money showing what it would take to deliver some of the promises that VR manufacturers have been making for 15 years. Some users will happily take those promises as fulfilled with the Vision Pro, while others will agree to compromises and get other headsets.

But the real question is that of the value of spatial interfaces (what they really mean when they say “Spatial Computing”). It is not something we can answer in the abstract, as it involves a sort of media literacy accrued throughout generations, and spicy debates regarding immersive media. The generational issue is centered on a gamble these companies are making: That people who are naturalized to virtual worlds will demand novel user interfaces, expecting a 3rd dimension to simply “be there”. Why can’t I rotate my spreadsheet in Excel, revealing the transversal data space between the row and column? Can we put the formula in these new Z-Rows, instead of having to double-click on a single cell, like a caveman? What patterns will I discover once I can have graphs done based on rows, columns and Z-Rows, floating like holograms I can walk through? If these ideas sound bizarre to you, it may be because you have not been playing 3D games since childhood. Companies hope that new generations of users will ask these sorts of questions, however, as they need these spatial interfaces to become popular for their growth.

But even more foundational here is the issue of immersion. The concept of manipulation through media is as old as Plato, but it remains fresh and pressing in the face of social media and AI deep fakes. Most prescriptions on how to avoid manipulation put responsibility on individuals, who are supposed to “see through'' the BS (audience), or resist the monetary or libidinal temptations to create anti-social  behavior (cultural producers). This is a deeply moralistic view, as it completely misses the role that the affordances of any given medium play in being a person. The fact is all and each subject is, at moments, manipulated and manipulator. Which of those roles we play is determined as much by individual “fixed” world views (morals), as by the relational space drawn by our communication technology (including language itself). This is why perfectly kind people can turn aggressive online, or why well-adjusted individuals consume objectionable content every day. The reptilian brain is always there, ready to be pleased or forgiven, and will slip into any medium it can regardless of how much puritanical restraint the medium is designed with.

To further complicate things, it is really hard to find the perfect split between audience and cultural producers as separate entities. No only because of the “prosumer” concept (which I find uninteresting), but because it is clear that even the most cool and collected cultural producer is, in themselves, a medium through which the program of immersive technology realizes “itself”. In other words: Apple is the way in which immersive media happens, turning the company into just an effective operator of an entity with its own agency and goals. What does “immersive media” want? That is the imminently political question for all of us in design, as we continue to carry its will. I am thinking about this myself, obviously, but trying to assert agency over it is REALLY HARD (specially as individuals).

Last thing: I find it fitting that Apple may be the one to finally push a bunch of people into immersive media, since it is the company that most effectively de-fanged minimalism as a political strategy. To me, Apple Minimalism “looks like” Brechtian alienation without the political radicalism, and the dematerialization of art without the materialist critique. We finally saw what all of those clean and smooth surfaces were for! It is not so that you reflect on your lived experience as a subject under capitalism or the police state. They are there so that you can watch the sexy cat-people in Avatar: The Way of Water, without anything (or anyone) bothering you.

[rongzhi]

expanding on your ask, actually i realise singapore's chinese swear words are quite similar to mainland china and taiwan, although probably nobody really uses 干 but cao (in all forms of the word) is used quite often. we also use dialects to swear lol, i'm not sure whether cao 草/操 is used as a shortform for the hokkien term chaocheebai (abbreviated as ccb in text) (something about your mother's vagina..) and that in it self is not the full term of kaninabechaocheebai or knnccb (fuck your mother's smelly vagina) (wawa im not insulting you i swear 😭😭) i wonder if these two insults are somewhat related? surprisingly enough there is an entire list of things singaporeans may mispronounce or abbreviate on wikipedia...

oh and on a side note, i'd like to thank you for reigniting my passion for chinese! i just got back my gce-nlevels a few days ago and it's a B lol, i've been failing and barely passing for a while since i barely consume chinese media, but really i think your blog is excellent for learning chinese :) thanks wawa!

Hehe interesting!

I don't know if it's a shortening of 操你妈/干你娘/etc—I just assume those are separate because they're more like "fuck you" rather than just "fuck!" (exclamation, general, multipurpose).

Speaking of swears in dialects, one version of "fuck" that I forgot is 我日/wǒ rì (also written 我曰/wǒ yuē). I can't remember exactly why it's a synonym but I'm guessing it's because 日/rì sounds close to 入/rù (and 曰 looks similar to 日). You also see this in 歪日他爹/外日他登/etc (lit. "I fuck your dad" ==> 我操你妈, basically, i.e, “I fuck your mother", i.e, "fuck you").

I guess another dialect "fuck!" or "fucking" (adv) (I usually translate it as "motherfucker!" though) is 妈嘞个巴子/妈了个巴子 (mā lei gè bā zi). There are other variations of this one that I know I've come across as well but they're not coming to mind right now.

Also yay! Language improvement! I think it really helps to find something that interests you to help drive you to learn. I had the foundations myself growing up Chinese and whatnot but I've definitely improved quite a lot in the last few years, especially with my Chinese literacy. 加油~

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

Hi! I'm really interested to hear your opinion on this. Why are people so resistant to the idea that celebrities, to put it bluntly, lie? Even if it's not about someone they stan. It should just be common sense. I'm so frustrated with people taking what celebrities say at face value. And if you dare to suggest that they do, in fact, lie, for whatever reason, people often start acting like you're the stupid one. Like, take Taylor for example. Why do a lot of people simply refuse to engage with any evidence we have and just decide that we're delusional. Because "she's always dated men and is dating one right now". They refuse to even entertain the possibility of these relationship being fake. And it's especially frustrating when it's coming from other lesbians, who call Taylor "the most heterosexual celebrity ever". What is stopping them from just listening what "those crazy gaylors" have to say? How do you break through this denial? I'm just ranting at this point because I was just talking to someone like that, and it's so annoying when people treat you like you're insane without actually listening to you😔

Hello! That is such an excellent question, and it has so many layers to it. But I think the two most prevalent ones I'm going to discuss are parasocial relationships and news media literacy. Warning, this is LONG!

Firstly, let me say that I don't advice to ever try and convince anyone of something that is not a widely accepted truth when they haven't asked to be persuaded. People need to be open-minded and willing to see other people's views and reasoning, in order to come to new conclusions, if they are not in that ready mindset, you're only ever going to get rejections. I'm not a Jehovah's witness, I have no interest in convincing anyone if they're not interested. But if someone came to me saying, 'Hey, I saw xyz and that seems suss, what's your opinion...?' Then I know I have their attention and they are open to listening to my interpretation and the evidence I present to them. If we come to different conclusions, that's fine, but at least you've taken in my reasons for why I believe what I believe. And I'm an academic at heart, academic discourse is ever changing, if new information comes to light, I may change my opinion.

Media Literacy and what we believe about the world

It's sad and shocking perhaps, but trust in reputable news media is at an all time low since 2020 in many developed countries. In a time where raw scientific research was influencing political decision making 'hot off the press', many people lost faith in science because they mistook scientific discourse and peer review as 'changing your mind'. Following the evidence where it leads, can always mean finding something you don't want to see. And that happened a lot during the pandemic. So, while I'm frustrated, I'm not surprised that so many people turned to types of media outlets that would bring them more comforting (if less reputable) news. And we're only three years past that now, I think the general populations' thirst for comforting news is still high, especially when we only see war and destruction everywhere we look. So what we choose to consume, shapes how we see the world, and with more and more people consuming information on the internet, the algorithm keeps them in an echo chamber of those existing views. Now, here is where celebrity culture comes in. Celebrity news are often gems of good and engaging news media, because they evoke emotion that unites people behind something. Celebrity gets married - everyone is happy for them. Celebrities break up - everyone is sad for them. Celebrity cheats on partner or commits some other crime - they are now universally hated. Very simple, gives people an easy way to build a belief system and moral compass on who/what is good and bad. It's also the easiest way to form an opinion on someone who you most likely won't ever meet in person. Now imagine someone coming in with an opinion that challenges those truths that you've built your believes on. You'd most likely get defensive, right? Accepting even the possibility that the truths we accept about the world are based on incorrect information, and therefore might need changing, is very daunting. For everybody. I teach information literacy to Undergraduate students for a living, and even I sometimes have to take a step back from research when the evidence is leading me somewhere that makes me uncomfortable. We all have biases and we like to be proven right rather than proven wrong. Or we might find something that would require us to take action on something. That's a lot of work though and ignorance is bliss so finding information that doesn't fit into our biases and ignoring it is also very common. It's all in the name of protecting the pillars of what we believe to be true about the world. So, to answer your question 'Why are people so unwilling to believe.../unwilling to engage with the evidence': Because they have a lot to loose. One thing that changes might lead to a lot more questions and before you know it, everything you thought was true collapses like a house of cards. You can't be the wrecking ball, people have to pull the cards out for themselves when they're ready. And the biggest celebrity in the world right now being a closeted gay woman? That wouldn't just be about Taylor, it would be a statement on the state of LGBTQ equality/freedom and how far we've supposedly come.

Parasocial Relationships

Ok, here is where we get to Taylor. Because a lot of people's first line of defense is the line 'But she wouldn't lie to us!' And why do they think that? Because she has, maybe more than any other celebrity, cultivated a relationship with her fans where they feel like they know her. But the fact is that they don't know HER, they know the version of her that she has carefully constructed to be her public-facing persona. Parasocial relationships are those where you can't have a true social interaction, because the person you're having it with is either fictional or you don't know them personally. It's a one way conversation. But Taylor has blurred the lines of this so much by engaging with her fans online, meeting them after shows and even inviting them into her house at secret sessions. You almost can't blame little swifties for believing they're besties now when they've met her in person and they've actually talked to her. Or the people she sent presents to for Christmas back in the day. That's something only a friend and not a random stranger would do. Taylor bases her public appeal hugely on relatability, and what is more relatable than feeling like she's your friend, right? And sadly it’s a lot more hurtful to imagine that your friend would lie to you than a random stranger. So, the version of Taylor that meets fans in person and invites them to her house and sends them presents, she would never lie to them. But that version isn’t real, it’s a fictional character built to protect the real person. Real Taylor lies through her teeth to protect what’s sacred to her. All the kids that were invited to the rep secret sessions and came out with stories of cute couple photos of her and Joe and a mission to tell everyone that those songs are about her bf and her bf only… I hate to tell you but you were used for free damage control. Imagine how hurt you’d feel if that was you and you thought you’d met your hero. I have no illusion that Taylor somehow cares about me. We’re not friends and if I ever met her I wouldn’t expect anything more than the chitchat I exchange with my uber driver. (In fact, I recently had a dream that I met her on a bad day and yelled at her 😬)

Compromise or Live and Let Live

Hopefully I’ve given you an idea of why it’s hard for anyone to let go of something they want to believe in. And it may be best to let people believe what they want as long as it’s not hurting others and they’re respectful of other opinions. There may also be a middle ground. E.g. in this context, a lot of people are much more willing to believe that Taylor is bisexual. So it’s possible to acknowledge her queer flagging without immediately calling all her previous relationships into question. I’ve had some lovely respectful discussions over lyrics analysis with people who don’t necessarily believe exactly the same as me. I can respect that others find comfort in stories that I believe to be untrue. I'm sure I also find comfort in things they believe to be untrue. Whatever brings people joy is right for them. If that's gushing over Taylor dating the boy on the football team, let them, that's why she's doing it. I would only argue if the same people don't extend that same curtesy towards us and let us be happy when she looks up at Karlie a million times during a show. And educating people is always allowed. Just because a woman has only dated men doesn’t make her straight (that applies generally, not just to celebrities). Just because you don’t know what queer flagging is doesn’t mean it isn’t happening and other people are picking up on it. But a majority of people will always buy the stories she sells them, and that's because she gives them what they want to see. Like she said in the documentary about what she feels the world expects from her: Live out a narrative that we find to be entertaining, but not so crazy that it makes us uncomfortable.

[theprincientist]

Practice What You Preach - Accountability Check

In December 2021 I had decided to make changes in my life.

I had no money and felt very depressed due to a personal failure.

It had been the best year of my life, but the last 2 months were very stressful and drained all my money and energy.

When new year came it felt like an opportunity to start over.

I chose 7 goals to achieve this year - 2022. I divided the year in 7 and started working on which individually.

Out of 7 I very quickly realized it was not possible to do it all. So I focused on the most urgent 5.

What was left out? Working out weekly and learning more about financial literacy and investment.

I didn't throw them out completely, I decided that I'd rather do 5 than none. And the two left can be done next year.

3 Things That Showed The Biggest Progress:

1- I've worked on my blog and its social medias everyday this year. And it shows.

2- I read so many books and heard many audiobooks. Just started listening to TED Talks as well. With this I acquired knowledge that let me improve myself to a level I've never been before.

The mindset shifts are visible and I move differently.

3 - I've taken the time to care for my mental and physical health.

I feel amazing like I never felt before. I think the right amount of quality and positive thoughts.

Anxiety levels went from 90% to 10% and very manageable.

Right Now:

Working on the last 4 months of the year. I choose two goals from the five and will be working on them simultaneously.

They are small changes, but changes that count and will make my life better.

4 months left to finish what I started and what I promised myself.

You can do it too. Choose one thing or two.

Start small. It is okay if you forget once or twice. The most important part is that you keep going.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

It is more important to start and keep going that staying in the same place.

The 4 months will pass anyway. Choose if you'll try something new or keep doing what is not working.

[greenmeanqueen]

on the basis of three episodes I’d rather have Otto (has kept the realm running for years) and Alicent (lots of empathy, a natural politician) run the country over Rhaenyra (sympathetic to her situation but she’s more than a bit petulant and entitled) and Daemon (an actual sociopath who’d go on a suicide mission because he’s too proud to accept help). the show is definitely giving the Targs the hero edit despite that though. I’m very glad at least that they’ve swerved hard away from the evil stepmother trope of the books. Alicent would’ve been perfectly legally and politically justified to push Aegon as heir from day 1 but a 21st century audience needed it beat over the head that she’s good and kind so she’ll stand by Rhaenyra’s claim for now even if it doesn’t really make sense to say it’s her birthright when by thousands of years of Westeros precedent it definitely isn’t. And yet people STILL think she’s a scheming bitch. Media literacy is in the gutter.

thank you for your ask!!

for all my gripes with otto, there is a political acumen about him that viserys lacks with his people-pleaser tendencies; he understands the system, which is why he can manipulate it when he wants to. he has the extra experience with managing someone who is not very good at their job, which is objectively true of viserys. whenever there's a tough decision to be made, viserys swerves hard to avoid it. i love how HOTD has been really showing his darker side when being confronted with very reasonable duties of a ruler and lashing out, while also refusing to fully try and rectify the messes that he himself has made. he just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper in the hole, committed to "everything's gonna turn out fine because i say so". and otto kind of has to work around it, not just for his own desires, but also so the realm doesn't fall apart.

alicent is similar with her developing soft power, she can carefully choose her words and is starting to get results (which are actually quite benevolent at this point, trying to bring rhaenyra and viserys back together, and to help rhaenyra keep her position). i think episode three was excellent in portraying the growing fundamental conflict of soft power vs. hard power, the latter being what rhaenyra and daemon exemplified. R & D are fire and blood; angry, entitled, merciless, a bit reckless. and they get to walk around like badasses covered in blood while the hightowers are shoved aside, the "inferior" westerosi to the "superior" targs. maybe that was the point, because the hightowers will have their day (and i'm lowkey here for it???).

it's really unfortunate to watch alicent just not be able to win among the audience; she could literally sneeze and someone would cuss at her and/or criticize that anyone would want to say bless you. and you're so right, she has a legitimate leg to stand on in the succession which is why we have this whole conflict in the first place! in alicent's own words, "what mother wouldn't?" but she's not pursuing it because she has a heart, despite popular belief. she and otto may both exercise soft power, but she is NOT her father.

[anony-mouse-writer]

“How are you doing?”

- cost of livings increasing

- everyone i know is miserable at their jobs, spanning at least 4 broad range fields (ie, retail/food service of any kind, engineering, and ‘works at computers in a capacity beyond microsoft word/excel’) largely due to managerial or company based incompetence or greed

- planets on fire and it looks like the ppl who have the power to change that dont want to cuz theyre greedy bitches

- theres like three social media platforms that arent teeny tiny and theyre all shit and actively getting worse in ways that are profoundly effecting and blindingly stupid

- multiple fights in the past half decade trying to convince people that my job is not something a computer should have

- the same people who tell me that my work is very good and i should monetize it (i am thanks) think that computer work is either just a fad that will pass soon or the just something i should accept and do not see how these conflicting messages might be frustrating

- theres a globally televised genocide happening and like half the ppl who are supposed to stop that are funding it

- KOSA and other internet censorship laws continue to get closer to passing

- “woke” is increasingly synonymous with “anyone who has basic human decency” according to several major governmentally active political parties

- casual and “just common sense” transphobia is now at an all time high as terfs are told that outright killing trans kids is frowned upon and they should try bullying instead

- food prices are so high but i have to eat

- increased social pressure to shun anyone who isn’t spending all their energy being loudly upset at the above issues and/or dying due to the above issues

- companies have more rights than we do and the government would save them first in a crisis. this is “normal” and “fine” and giving a fuck about it is also “woke liberal shit”

- our best hope for a new shitty fire hazard apartment building going up is that the rich bitches everyone hates for building their houses in ‘thats gonna fall down dumbass’’ zones decide to fight for their ‘view’

- pandemics still happening. they dont even stock masks at stores consistently anymore

- my landlord still hasnt responded to our request to fix the flickering kitchen light we have been told we are Not Allowed to try fixing ourselves

- kids are increasingly fucked over by a system that was already failing and is now failing worse due to covid-related fuck ups

- school districts are pushing to graduate kids on time despite the Actual Fucking Plague these kids had to live thru

- speaking of, kids are apparently largely not taught basic computer literacy because they can just teach apps instead

- or any kind of internet safety oh my god. i have had to personally teach every child ive met for the past two years under the age of 15 to not to tell strangers online their full government legal names. i was on roblox for 30 seconds and watched two separate children half dox themselves

- its february and i kinda miss the sun

“I’m doin’, thanks! Hope spring comes sooner than later tho haha.”

[ashpentagram]

another long post

I think in a general sense people are losing a lot of media-literacy, and both sides of the hb defenders and the hb critics tend to misinterpret a lot of things. I’m not above misinterpretation, like ever, I just feel like there’s an overwhelming amount of people who take something as the complete wrong way without realizing it, even though I myself can still see what they mean because it’s an understandably easy slip up.

I’ve seen people bring up on both sides that Stolas’s writing for s2 e1 was inconsistent with him claiming he has an excellent memory and being able to recognize somebody he met once 25 years ago - the inconsistency they like to bring up is the writers not paying attention to their own dialogue by having Stolas being able to remember Blitzo, and then backpedal and say “I hardly even remember your name” and then turn back around and say “didn’t it have an ‘o’ at the end of it? Like a clown name?” and what I’ve seen people say is that it’s sloppy writing.

It’s actually not, and while I don’t like defending Stolas, I can’t just sit and agree with people who don’t know such a common trope as backpedaling. Like a perfect example of this would be Sam Sparks from cloudy with a chance of meatballs, or jesus christ, the fuckin angry mob from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Both of these instances we have characters claim something or do something, and then back away from it when they either are exposed for it, or are paranoid about a second party’s reaction to it. In Sam’s case, her continually pretending to be an airhead when she’s in fact very intelligent comes from a fear of neglect and ridicule she never could escape from unless she was an idiot and pretended to be as unpassionate as everyone else in the room. In the crowd in the Holy Grail’s defense, they dressed up a woman they claimed to be a witch, and when she called them on their bullshit, they admitted they had added onto her to make it more believable and an easier way to burn somebody they wanted burned. (I can’t believe I have to defend two silly movies to discuss literacy and the simple concept of backpedaling but I wouldn’t feel the need to if people just paid attention in their literature classes.)

With that context, Stolas being the one to instigate a sexual desire he’s (I guess) harbored in his 25+ years in a suffocating closet with his “only friend”, him being suddenly reciprocated and introduced to instead of a fantasy he can control, a reality in which he can’t control the opposite party, he panics. Once he’s lost what little control he had, he gets flustered and backpedals has hard as he can as he tries to A) process these feelings in real time, and B) handle the idea of consequences that could come from acting in real life, than acting in his head.

I will not argue that his doubts should not have been ignored in Blitzo’s case, but the writers were desperate to give Blitzo some blame where in reality he really shouldn’t have had any. The writing wasn’t sloppy because Stolas was panicking, the writing was sloppy because the writers wanted Stolas and Blitzo to meet as kids regardless if it worked or not, it was sloppy because they even bothered to rekindle a scene from the pilot for the sake of a silly gag even though it now does not work with what they’ve done with their own show, it was sloppy because god forbid they make Stolas into an antagonist and even bring up the fact that that stupid fucking owl is as privileged as they come and yet he’s the one we’re being practically begged to sympathize with.

I sympathize with him in the sense he’s comphet, or forced into a loveless young marriage for the direct and complete result he is to have a child whether he wants one or not. I sympathize that he was verbally and physically abused. I sympathize with him as much as I can. But I do not sympathize with an upper class demon who fetishizes the same species he’s supposedly been in love with for 25 years, I don’t sympathize with the fact in his “attempt” of giving his child a normal life, he just let them both sit and suffer for whatever fucking reason. What consequence would come from him and Stella divorcing exactly? Would the Goetia family take Via away? What exactly prevented him from doing it sooner? He’s more than well-off money wise, he’s a literal prince in a large family as the Goetia, what exactly could have scared him so much of divorcing Stella to put both him and Octavia through verbal and physical and mental abuse and humiliation? Stella hardly even cares for her own daughter by not even talking about Octavia in a respectful manner, she simply refers to Octavia as an egg she popped out. That’s all Via is to Stella. This is a tangent I don’t even want to go on because it’s just so fucking stupid and it makes me angry.

Blitzo is a victim - he’s a stupid fucking idiot and he treats his employees like utter trash and he invades their personal lives and it’s played for laughs and it’s annoying - but in the situation with Stolas, that imp is a victim. He was bought by Stolas’s father and sold by his own so he could steal everything Stolas had (and like we see no consequence of that because Stolas still had money and power), we see Blitzo trying to avoid Stolas and try to get the book without any intention of actually interacting with Stolas (and the writers shoehorn him having the ‘choice’ of having sex with Stolas and he choose to fuck Stolas for the sake of pity and keeping that god-forsaken trainwreck of a ship alive and profitable), and then they give us an entire season - a whole 7 episodes of Blitzo not showing any sort of admiration for Stolas in any capacity because he’s being sexually used for something he needs more than Stolas does, and a situation Stolas could have made so much easier and better for Blitzo instead of hurt him for a canonical year for his own selfish desires. I’m so sick of people blaming Blitzo for shit that Stolas does. Blitzo is a god damn mess and he’s shit, but he’s a victim to Stolas, and the writers desperately doing everything they can to make it seem like he’s actually been in love the whole time is just shoddy craftsmanship and I’m so disappointed. It’s even more annoying to me because I am a huge fan of the trope of different social classes falling in love despite all the odds. I am so so so in love with knights in love with the one they’re sworn to protect, I love the social dynamics between people from two different places in society and yet this is one of the first times I’ve seen it just so hamfisted and messy that it’s just explicitly pandering at this point.

I wasn’t planning on venting more about this show outside of the media-illiteracy I’ve seen practically in every corner of this fandom, but jesus christ I’m so frustrated I’m so upset that this show had the strongest building blocks to make something spectacular but even the prettiest animation and composition and indie development can’t save it from shitty writing choices.

[thegoosetyrant]

I can’t believe internet “critics” with no media literacy were able to convince the whole internet that Steven Universe was a bad show for years and even worse some of them went after the integrity of the creators and tried to make them out as bad people.

Steven Universe is an excellent show and it is an undeniable fact that it did so much for queer representation in children’s media. We may not have had as much queerness in The Owl House or Kipo or a number of other cartoons without the rousing success and bold choices made by the SU team. Even if you don’t like the show because it isn’t your thing, which is fine, you must at least respect it for what it did for cartoons. I will not stand for any more poor intentioned slander of this amazing and important show.

I’m so glad that this show has regained popularity recently. It is a show that has made me feel seen, heard, and cared about since 2014 when I first watched it. Many thanks to the creators for making something that has made me feel happy for almost a decade.

[bethestaryouareradio]

Be the Star You Are!® Wins 2024 Nonprofit of the Year!

MIRACLE MOMENT®

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.”~ J.K. Rowling

A MESSAGE from Founder/Executive Director, CYNTHIA BRIAN

As a steward of our beautiful earth and a gregarious gardener, April is a favorite month because it signals a time of awareness of the need to care for our planet. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 and in 2022, two of our youth poets, Sharanya Roy, Ruhani Chhabra and I were chosen to participate in a global celebration that included the soon-to-be crowned King Charles! (Check out the videos at www.youtube.com/Bethestaryouare) That was thrilling.

This April, Be the Star You Are!® once again was surprised with an award. What exciting news it was to be notified by Katie Bidstrup, Executive Director of the Moraga Chamber of Commerce that out of 80 nominations, Be the Star You Are!® was the winner of the 2024 NonProfit of the Year and the Child Day School was the winner of Business of the Year. How marvelous that both entities empower excellence in youth! Thank you, Katie!

At the awards reception on Saturday, April 13, volunteers, donors, supporters, friends, and family were honored by the Chamber Board, Mayor, Council Members, and County Supervisors. Teen volunteers introduced themselves and the programs that they were involved in. Two of our Express Yourself!® Teen Radio Hosts, Julia Howe and Sharanya Roy, gave heartfelt, emotional speeches about the profound and powerful impact that volunteering with Be the Star You Are!® had on their lives. I was so personally touched, that I was in tears.

People in attendance were also deeply moved. The positive comments about the teens were profuse and well-deserved. The Town Council stated, “Your selection as Moraga's 2024 Nonprofit of the Year is a very positive reflection on your critical positive contribution to our community.” 

Read Vera Kochan’s great article about the Business and Nonprofit of the Year: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1804/Moragas-Business-and-Nonprofit-of-the-Year.html

As one supporter kindly wrote “Cynthia, it was a real pleasure to visit with your outstanding group. As we said to your crew on the way out, “we feel much better about the future of the United States.” You have a wonderful program.”  Yes, kudos to our well-spoken and amazing youth!

The future is bright because teens express themselves. Tune in to our teen radio broadcasts where teens talk and the world listens. 

We extend our thanks to the Moraga Chamber of Commerce, the Town Council of Moraga, and the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County for bestowing Be the Star You Are!® with this tribute. Our appreciation to everyone who has donated and supported us over the years. After 25 years of service to our community, county, country, and world, we are pleased to be making a positive difference.

Most of all, I personally salute our volunteers who have the magic to transform the world. They do carry the power within! BRAVO!!!

We will continue to be conscientious caretakers of our Earth.

With gratitude to all for your support and love.

Cynthia Brian

Founder/Executive Director

Be the Star You Are!®

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

In the photo L to R:  Keerthi Eranivan, Sharanya Roy, Julia Howe, Sean Kwok, Ella Kalpakjian, Cynthia Brian, Saanvi Phaneendra. Not pictured: Charvi Saxena

DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

WELCOME TO OUR TEEN VIDEOGRAPHER

Eleventh grader, Sean Kwok, volunteers as a videographer for Be The Star You Are!®, and has chosen the organization because it gives other youth like him a belief in positive media and literacy. His favorite pastimes are running track, doing sound for theatrical tech, and Youth & Government. He also loves filmmaking and hopes to pursue it as a major in college. He encourages others to take a look at the BTSYA website and look through all the great ways people can find the great messages and programs that Be the Star You Are!® has created!

Check out the videos Sean has created for BTSYA with more to come.

About Books:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8vZsv5bl_g

About Radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkXbSdyQ1hw&t=3s

BE KIND TO OUR ENVIRONMENT

by Karen Kitchel

We all have a role to play in preserving our environment for future generations.  While many corporations are dealing with long-term sustainability, there are simple things we can do that will have an impact on everyone’s tomorrow.  Pick one of the following to do today to be kind to our environment.

Alternatives to Driving

·       Walk or ride a bike·       Carpool or use public transportation·       Save gas by watching your speed (Note:  speeding reduces mileage by up to 33%)·       Combine errands to make fewer trips

Home Energy Savers

·       Turn off lights when you leave the room·       Reduce drafts with caulk, insulation, or weather stripping·       Look for energy-efficient appliances when replacing old ones

Other Ways To Save Our Planet

·       Eat locally-produced food·       Recycle items you no longer use·       Use cloth napkins at home instead of paperReduce paper consumption by using technology with less printing of documents or using both.

Karen Kitchel is the Kindness Coordinator volunteer with BTSYA. She purchased the book, No Barnyard Bullies, as a gift for every kindergarten student where she is a volunteer teacher. www.scatteringkindness.com

PRESALES FOR NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK

The third book in the children’s picture book series Stella Bella’s Barnyard Adventure is Books in the Barnyard: Oh Deer!, a delightful tale based on the true story of a baby fawn who is rescued by children and shares a secret superpower. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit Be the Star You Are!® charity.  While the book is being published, presale orders are discounted through May 20th. The regular price is $14.95 but the presale price is only $11.95. Buy your copies now, ask for autographs,  and reap the extra rewards. Visit https://www.CynthiaBrian.com/online-store.

INSPIRING BOOK PACKAGES

Are you looking for first-edition book packages as keepsakes or gifts?  Be the Star You Are!® offers our special book package containing six books in our most popular two series for adults, teens, and children.

The total donation is $125 for the six books including tax and shipping. Visit https://www.bethestaryouare.org/book-gift for order information.

Looking for other great books, CDs, or movies by your favorite authors? Check out BTSYA’s Amazon Store: http://www.amazon.com/shops/be_the_star_you_are_charity

FREE DEBATE PROGRAM FOR K-12 WITH ELOQUENCE ACADEMY

Be the Star You Are!® is excited to announce a new program in collaboration with the Eloquence Academy for a FREE debate program for students. Keerthi Eranivan, our talented debate volunteer, is the BTSYA chairperson, who will spearhead our partnership in this new program.  Eloquence is sustained by a strong belief in our mission and the power of speech and debate. Otherwise known as forensics, debate is a popular extracurricular activity in MS and HS nationwide, as well as in undergraduate, graduate, and other post-secondary organizations. Beyond the technical aspects of competition, debaters are known to enter the workforce with edges over others: increased communication skills, increased confidence, higher SAT scores (both on the math and reading section of the standardized tests), a higher GPA, and a better chance of attending and graduating from college. This program collaboration aims to offer debate programs to students aged K-12  providing the opportunity to experience the activity and supplement their academic and developmental growth. For information visit https://www.bethestaryouare.org/programs

For more information about Eloquence Academy visit www.eloquenceacademy.org and Instagram: @eloquenceacadem

Keerthi chairs the Eloquence Debate Partnership with Be the Star You Are!®

SPRING SHIFT

by Britney Phan

I shift and the environment shifts with me. The beginning of spring signals new opportunities for growth as I look for ways to reinvent myself. The changing of the leaves and the blossoming of the flowers; animals, once hibernating, emerging from their caves—all these serve to remind me of the fact that, not unlike the perpetual shift of the seasons, personal growth is also a cyclical and continuous process.

If we are products of our environment, then it stands to reason we should also protect it. Our environment plays a direct role in the shaping of our identities. I have personally experienced the calming effects of nature myself while taking a stroll through the park after a particularly dreary day; in that sense, taking care of the environment is an act of gratitude for all the ways the Earth has helped and shaped us. If not for us, then our responsibility to the environment should come from the need to take care of it for future generations: after all, how can our children appreciate the beauty of sitting beneath a tree if there are no trees left for them to enjoy?

Britney Phan with her family above is a volunteer writer with BTSYA and an undergraduate student at Fordham University, where she intends to major in English. Her interests include writing, reading, and spending time with her sister.

TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF POSITIVE RESULTS

With no paid staff and all volunteers, since receiving our 501c3 status in 1999, Be the Star You Are! has:

*Served 558,927 individuals and families 

*Donated to 118 organizations 

*Logged 770,999 volunteer hours and growing

*Distributed $2.1 million plus in resources

*Collected and donated 1575 pairs of shoes to women in poverty around the globe.

*Broadcast 2700 unique hours of positive programming through radio broadcasts.

*Published 7 signature award-winning books, Be the Star You Are!® 99 Gifts, Be the Star You Are!® for Teens, Be the Star You Are!® Millennials to Boomers, No Barnyard Bullies, Family Forever, Books in the Barnyard: Oh Deer!, and Miracle Moments®,

*Written and published over 2530 book reviews in collaboration with The Reading Tub and Express Yourself!™ Creative Community.

*Interviewed over 2500 authors, experts, and celebrities.

*Honored by the California Assembly at 20 years of community service. 

*Nominated for the California Governor’s and First Lady’s Service Awards

*2024 Nonprofit of the Year awarded by Moraga Chamber of Commerce out of 80 nominations.

*Honored with five-star ratings as a Top Rated Non-Profit by GuideStar and Great Non Profits for the Women’s Empowerment, Arts and Culture, and the Arts Appreciation Campaigns since 2010.

“Dignity is not built on possessing honors, but on the awareness that you deserve them.”~ Aristotle

Be the Star You Are!® encourages and supports its volunteers to GROW people.

DONATE @ PAYPAL

DONATE @ GIVE BUTTER

[vipinkhutail]

Empowering India's Digital Future: The Visionary Journey of Vipin Khutail, Founder of Being Topper

Introduction:

In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, one name stands out as a beacon of innovation and empowerment – Vipin Khutail. As the founder of Being Topper, Vipin Khutail has spearheaded a revolution in digital education, empowering thousands of individuals to navigate the complexities of the digital world with confidence and expertise.

Biography:

Vipin Khutail's journey into the realm of digital marketing began over a decade ago, at a time when the industry was still in its nascent stages. Armed with a relentless passion for entrepreneurship and a keen eye for emerging trends, Vipin embarked on a mission to bridge the digital skills gap in India.

Born and raised in Delhi, Vipin Khutail's early years were marked by a curiosity for technology and its transformative potential. While pursuing his college education, he recognized the immense opportunities presented by the digital sphere and set out to harness its power for the greater good.

Skills and Experience:

With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Vipin Khutail possesses a wealth of knowledge and expertise that has positioned him as a leading authority in the industry. His skills range from search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and content strategy.

Throughout his career, Vipin has worked on numerous digital marketing campaigns and collaborated with industry giants on over 1000 projects. His hands-on experience and industrial exposure have equipped him with a deep understanding of the nuances of digital marketing, enabling him to deliver unparalleled value to his students and clients alike.

Achievements and Recognition:

Vipin Khutail's unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation has earned him widespread recognition and accolades from various quarters. He has been honored with prestigious awards such as the "Pride of The Nation" award and has been featured in prominent magazines for his contributions to the field of digital marketing.

As the founder of Being Topper, Vipin has transformed countless lives through his pioneering initiatives and groundbreaking educational programs. His efforts have been lauded by industry experts and media outlets, cementing his reputation as a true trailblazer in the digital marketing landscape.

Vision and Mission:

At the heart of Vipin Khutail's endeavors lies a singular vision – to empower individuals and businesses to thrive in the digital age. His mission is to provide advanced digital marketing training to students, startups, and entrepreneurs, thereby bridging the digital skills gap in India and fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Transformation and Impact:

Under Vipin Khutail's visionary leadership, Being Topper has emerged as a leading institute for digital marketing training, renowned for its quality education and 100% placement assistance. Through innovative teaching methodologies and industry-aligned curriculum, Vipin has transformed Being Topper into a hub of digital excellence, empowering thousands of individuals to realize their full potential in the digital realm.

Passion for Entrepreneurship Development and Digital Literacy:

Vipin Khutail's passion for entrepreneurship development and digital literacy is palpable in everything he does. He firmly believes that digital education is the cornerstone of India's economic growth and is committed to equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today's digital landscape.

In conclusion, Vipin Khutail's visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to excellence have made him a driving force in India's digital transformation journey. Through his pioneering initiatives and relentless pursuit of excellence, he continues to inspire and empower individuals to embrace the digital revolution and chart their own path to success.

[sangyannews]

The highly sought-after platform to read news in Hindi

There are various digital media tools available to the average citizen today to read news in Hindi. Various news channels encompass the eastern area of the country with their media services. Some of the states that have lately witnessed a boom in media are Uttarakhand and Bihar. The economic boom being witnessed by the area has put forth media sources solely dedicated for Bihar news.

Websites of leading news channels and newspapers provide minute by minute updates to read news in Hindi. New Delhi is the epicenter of much of the central political activity of the country. Political analysts and international media from all over the world frequently report from the capital of a country regarding its latest developments and current affairs.

Newspapers and websites dedicated to political news online are growing in number by the day and are finding growing readership. The growth accomplished by Bihar lately under an effective political administration has got excellent appreciation in many national and global news reports. The economic growth rate of Bihar is expected to surge more this year. Leading newspapers are publishing Uttarakhand news as it has been the epicenter of action in the past few weeks for its elections.

Top political news headlines are still actively debated by media personnel and politicians. The electoral results have got the most coverage with respect to Uttarakhand news in the recent post. The common man in India is an active participant of democracy these days and therefore the latest news regarding all kinds of national affairs are eagerly followed by him. The growing literacy level in different states has been positive. This has propelled many people looking forward to read the latest media covering segments such as Bihar news. There are various local news channels dedicated to live coverage and the latest stories of Delhi and parliament news in Hindi.

[cantsayidont]

Haterating and hollerating in the 1980s. None of these movies has any meaningful wlw content, so just assume the answer to "CONTAINS LESBIANS?" is "No."

VIDEODROME (1983): I'd never actually seen all of this loopy, surreal David Cronenberg thriller about an opportunistic Canadian TV station president (James Woods) who becomes convinced that a mysterious series of pirate broadcasts showing scenes of torture and murder might be the Next Big Thing, resisting all attempts to warn him off until it's far too late. Like SCANNERS (which I had seen), its influence has been so outsized that much of it feels familiar even on first viewing, including the film's now-notorious forays into body horror, which, if you're expecting them, are no longer really that shocking (although they are often memorably icky). What's less expected, and thus more striking, is the film's Pynchon-like (Pynchonian? Pynchonesque?) deadpan absurdity; the story is full of characters with names like Blanca O'Blivion (Sonja Smits), daughter of Marshall-McLuhan-like media theorist Brian O'Blivion, and Barry Convex (Leslie Carlson), a sinister optician who's also a defense contractor. It's really very funny, in the same mode as John Carpenter's later THEY LIVE. Judging by the sheer density of ridiculous stuff happening even around the edges, like the brief snippet we see of the weird call-in show hosted by Nicki Brand (Debbie Harry, who's less prominently featured than I'd been given to expect), I can only assume it was intentional, although Cronenberg's narrative straight face and the outsize reactions to the goopy "videocassette orifice" stuff stood in the way of its being recognized as a comedy. (That it's a satire should of course be obvious.) VERDICT: One of those movies you need to see for reasons of cultural literacy, even if it's not really your thing, but perhaps not while eating.

GOTCHA! (1985): Before finding his niche on the TV show ER, Anthony Edwards had a burgeoning career as one of the more obnoxious of the many obnoxious young male stars of the '80s, offering an insufferable combination of earnestness and smarm in films like REVENGE OF THE NERDS and this dumb teen adventure, obviously intended to capitalize on a then-popular campus fad. Horny 18-year-old UCLA veterinary student Jonathan Moore, whose favorite hobby is the titular paintball assassination game, decides to go to Europe with a friend (Alex Rocco, who has more charisma in his minor supporting role than Edwards musters in his entire '80s filmography) and falls for a hot older woman called Sasha (Linda Fiorentino), who soon involves Jonathan in some deadly real-world espionage. The midsection, set in Paris and Berlin, is an okay if unremarkable Cold War thriller, with Edwards relatively tolerable as a fish out of water; the movie's best scene has him hitching a ride with a van full of German punks who love DALLAS. Unfortunately, the third act returns to L.A. and attempts to pay off the paintball-game setup, with preposterous results. Also, if you're much older than the protagonist, the way the story wraps up Jonathan's relationship with Sasha will likely seem a little creepy. VERDICT: Misses the mark.

INTO THE NIGHT (1985): Oddball black comedy thriller starring Jeff Goldblum as Ed Okin, a depressed, insomniac aerospace engineer who over the course of one long night becomes the unlikely savior of a beautiful woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) who's being pursued by an assortment of deadly enemies. Goldblum has fun with his character, who hasn't slept in days and is no longer capable of any emotional response beyond mild dismay (something that becomes progressively funnier as the situation escalates), and he has excellent rapport with Pfeiffer, who's not so much a femme fatale as an aging good-time girl who's worn out her welcome just about everywhere. Unfortunately, they're saddled with a script that often seems like an unfinished draft, with a murky, rather racist plot that's full of setups for gags whose punchlines are still marked "TBA," and punctuated by bursts of violence that are frequently meaner than called for (the fate of the Kathryn Harrold character is especially nasty, and completely gratuitous). Dan Ackroyd, David Bowie, Vera Miles, Irene Papas, and other prominent stars pop up in minor roles, usually for no more than a scene or two, and director John Landis peppers the film with guest appearances by other film directors (including Roger Vadim, Paul Mazursky, David Cronenberg, and Jim Henson, among others), which is distracting if you recognize them and puzzling if you don't. VERDICT: Goldblum and Pfeiffer are great, but Landis's weird indulgences leave it feeling like a private joke.

MANHUNTER (1986): Mesmerizing Michael Mann adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel RED DRAGON, with William Petersen as Will Graham, Dennis Farina as Jack Crawford, Tom Noonan as the "Tooth Fairy" killer, Joan Allen as Reba, and Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter (for some reason spelled "Lecktor"). It has a very different narrative center of gravity than later Hannibal Lecter movies or the HANNIBAL TV show, though it's no less stylized, with striking use of color and music (most memorably in the finale, which uses Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" diegetically). Like most such stories, it's ideologically objectionable — though arguably less so than THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS — but it's certainly effective, and less hokey than the 2002 adaptation with Ed Norton. Long, slow-paced (particularly in the director's cut), and not very deep, but if you catch it in the right frame of mind, its blend of chilly psychological detachment and procedural minutiae is almost hypnotic. VERDICT: A movie to dissociate to.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT (1986): If OPPENHEIMER struck you as too pompous and amoral, try this decent if implausible mid-'80s teen movie about a high school science prodigy (Christopher Collet) who decides to protest the secret DOE lab run by his mom's nerdy new scientist boyfriend (John Lithgow) by stealing some plutonium from the lab with the help of his aspiring teen reporter sort-of girlfriend (a babyfaced Cynthia Nixon) and then building his own atomic bomb. The first half relies too heavily on its hyper-competent (and singularly arrogant) kid hero effortlessly outwitting doofus adults, although it works well enough on its own terms. Things pick up in the exciting third act, which is enlivened by a terrific performance by Lithgow, supported by John Mahoney as a hard-bitten Army colonel who's decided the best way to contain the situation is to kill the boy as soon as they can separate him from the bomb. Collet is quite good, if not terribly likeable; Nixon does her best with an underwritten supporting role. VERDICT: The intended moral point ends up a little muddy, but an attempt was made, which is more than one can say for Nolan's overblown epic.

MIRACLE MILE (1988): AFTER HOURS at the end of the world: What begins as a treacly romance about a dweebish musician (Anthony Edwards at his most objectionably saccharine) falling for a diner waitress (Mare Winningham with a truly unfortunate haircut) takes an extremely dark turn as our hapless hero answers a misdialed pay phone call and learns that nuclear war is about to begin, setting him on a frantic, surreal late-night quest to find his dream girl and get them both out of L.A. before it's destroyed by (presumably) Soviet missiles. It's a frightening premise for a perfectly dreadful script whose painfully contrived setup, cartoonish characters (including Denise Crosby as an unlikely diner patron who seems to know something about what may be going on), and uneasy half-comic tone undermine its credibility at every turn. The urgency and uncertainty of the threat are enough to hold your attention for about an hour, but from there, the story has nothing left to do but to play out the string, leading to an incredibly nihilistic finale not recommended for anyone in an emotionally fragile state. VERDICT: Memorably weird, but not in a good way.