#no brainers on taxes

[warpedwings]

Misha Collins • Suited Roles

Bow Ties Red Ties Waistcoats Suit & Tie Ties

[takeonmetakemeon]

how about that

[strictlyfavorites]

A LITTLE GUN HISTORY FIRST POSTED in 2015

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

56 million defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control:

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are "citizens". Without them, we are "subjects".

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this antigun-control message to all of your friends.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!

SWITZERLAND'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.

SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

IT'S A NO BRAINER!

DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

Spread the word everywhere you can that you are a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment!

It's time to speak loud before they try to silence and disarm us.

You're not imagining it, history shows that governments always manipulate tragedies to attempt to disarm the people.

[farmerbrown]

A LITTLE GUN HISTORY FIRST POSTED in 2015

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

56 million defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control:

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are "citizens". Without them, we are "subjects".

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this antigun-control message to all of your friends.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!

SWITZERLAND'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.

SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

IT'S A NO BRAINER!

DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

Spread the word everywhere you can that you are a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment!

It's time to speak loud before they try to silence and disarm us.

You're not imagining it, history shows that governments always manipulate tragedies to attempt to disarm the people.

~ Saerges Son ~

[algernoninwonderland]

Smeyer has such contempt for most of her human characters that becoming or not becoming a vampire is kind of a no-brainer. What is there to lose by becoming a vampire? The Cullens are not a force of subversion in the slightest, they are Fortune 500 types, except they are dead outside instead of inside, also they’re strong and fast and sparkly and stuff, but they don’t show it, and they are not shunned by the outside world, they are no threat to society (except for their crazy driving and tax evasion but that’s neither here not there). That’s why there’s so little you actually need to change if your name is E. L. James: there’s very little that is supernatural or very weird or upsetting about the Cullens, at least in the way the narration frames it all.

The subversive vampires, the murderous vampires, the drifters, the secret society? They’re killed, they’re sent back to Europe, they go home so that Edward and Bella and the Cullens can live the perfect American lifestyle, except they’ll mostly stay amongst themselves because what is there to like about human beings anyway?

The Twilight Saga is weirdly misanthropic in a way that very few pieces of vampire fiction are, yet its Good Vampires are presented as a perfected version of human beings — at least the American conservative vision of perfection — rich and white and forever beautiful, above society while being respectable by its (Christian) standards. It’s kind of a fascinating bunch of novels because of that. It makes them hard to like, through that lens, but interesting to engage with.

[eightyonekilograms]

You’ll never get me to buy ad-free tumblr you staff-plant ass m

The dumb thing about this accusation is, I think I’m actually a lot more strident about asking people to pay for Tumblr than the Tumblr staff are. They seem pretty chill about it based on the posts I’ve seen. Which makes sense: if Tumblr goes under, what do they care, they’ll just get another job. But I’d lose a community that I really enjoy and which I’ve sunk quite a bit of time and effort into.

Look, it’s your money and you can do whatever you want with it. But I am honestly kind of baffled by people’s absolute refusal to pay for websites that they use, even though on a dollars-per-hour basis, it’s the biggest no-brainer purchase there is. Ad-free tumblr is $40/year. That’s like… two and a half movie tickets for something a lot of people are using for multiple hours per day. And the staff isn’t lying to you about the costs: after payroll taxes and health insurance and whatnot, the all-up cost of one junior software engineer is about $250,000/year. Bandwidth for serving images and video is also expensive as fuck. It does in fact take quite a bit of money to keep something like this running, even without making a single dime of profit. 

[teecupangel]

Submitted by the wonderful @fanworldbuildingfun:

What a lovely bunch of chill Desmond ideas… Would be a shame if someone just... Spilled some anxiety on it

But really, we always presume that Desmond will be able to slip beneath the notice of Assassins and/or Templars whenever he ends up in the past. And fair, we have a reason for it – if he managed to do it in present time, with so many more things to avoid, past should be a no brainer, right?

But consider also this: in present time, the only person we have who is noted to be able to use Eagle vision for any meaningful length of time, is Desmond himself. Other than that, an argument can be made for Clay (which we can’t exactly prove, with his death). Gavin Banks was taxed by its use. Templars were entirely shameful with their 3.5 seconds. Point is – it feels like the Purge took out a lot of proficient Eagle Vision users. And that, should have played well into Desmond’s ability to stay hidden.

If Desmond falls into any time where Assassins have more or less stable presence, it means a higher concentration of people with Eagle Vision

So imagine Desmond trying to go incognito, but utterly failing as the has oodles of Novices and Assassin’s flocking in his general vicinity. Because something way too shiny and gold suddenly appeared in their territory. Wherever Desmond goes, there is always a blue shadow somewhere in the corner of his eyes

Meanwhile Assassins, at witnessing the bright gold in their territory for the first time:

“Is it a target?”

“Is it a treasure? Please be treasure”

“What’s so important?”

“Dear God / Allah / Gods I’m blinded. BLINDED!”

Que trying to drag Desmond to the nearest Bureau / Safe house and find out how to stop him to be so shiny because it’s distracting their operations.

==========================

Teecup addition:

I mean, if you say it like that, my first thought will be the Levantine Brotherhood.

Of course, Ezio's recruits could count too and the Hidden Ones during Basim's time would probably count as well. (unless they're ones who prefer having an actual Eagle be their 'sight')

But just imagine...

Desmond not understanding why all these Assassins always seem to find him?

Was he that bad in hiding?

Did something give him away?

So he keeps running away and they keep chasing him.

It's an endless cycle...

Until...

Altaïr chased him all over Jerusalem and finally caught him by jumping on him, accidentally breaking the wooden ceiling below them.

Later that day, Malik sees Altaïr dragging Desmond by his hood, both of them drenched in the food they had fallen into.

He just... plops Desmond in front of Malik and tell him that this is his problem now.

Before leaving, food drenched robes and all.

Malik stares at Desmond with a frown.

And Desmond just sheepishly grins at him.

TL;DR:

Altaïr drops Desmond into the Jerusalem bureau, making it Malik's problem, so he stops lighting up the city like a goddamn lighthouse that all Assassins want to check out because they're all magpies for shiny gold.

[yaatrickyassification]

Kill The Prince!

[Scaramouche/Wanderer x Fem! Reader]

Synopsis: Task on taking the 6th Prince’s head back on a golden platter to the rebellion forces, you set foot in the land of the cold and barren nation Snezhnaya. As forces collide and destinies are made, it seems that you have taken his heart instead of his head.

TW: Grammar, not proofread

Word count: 1972

〈〈═════»❣❤❣«═════〉〉

The cold made you shiver in your cushion seat as the simple but elegant carriage took you up to the mountain hill where the Zapolyarny Palace stood tall and proud. The palace which was usually cold and unwelcoming now glitters with lights made from the elements of the world, as the carriage passes through the floating string of lights in the entrance. Your eyes make the sight of Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and many more. It must have been the gifts of the esteemed rulers from every nation, you thought.

You step out of the carriage with light steps, trained as you were in masking your presence. You can’t exactly stay quiet with the purple heels clicking and clacking every step you take, the off-shoulder purple dress that’s designed with flowers sways from left to right as you make your way up the stairs and into the palace. The long dress stays true to its purpose of covering the daggers placed on your ankles.

The celebration was in full swing, as the palace doors opened welcoming you in its otherworldly presence. Even though your goal was to kill, it isn’t too much of a distraction to the mission if you just stop for a minute and take in the fantastic structure of the palace, this wasn’t the first time you have come to the palace. But there was a difference between seeing it on the inside, of course, all you’ve ever done before coming to this party was survey the area and observe the rotation of palace guards that will take the watch at night.

As you make your way through the ballroom and to the buffet section, you watch with a stoic expression as nobles from all nations frolic around the ballroom, your [h/l] [h/c] perfectly masked the disgusted expression slowly overtaking your features. Everyone in this ballroom knows how Snezhnaya rules their land at the hand of its Empress and her 11 children.

They don’t rule with warmth and comfort like blankets made for enduring the winter night, they rule with iron fists and stormy blizzards. Taking up their nation by its neck and squeezing for all its worth, villages were left with no money and crops due to the long winter nights and the high taxes, and children and parents were left to starve. With every protest to the Tsaritsa to control the weather and bring the sunlight back again, the snow seems to worsen leaving all protesters to shut their mouths and stay all day long in their cabins.

You glance at the grandfather’s clock situated on the right side of the ballroom, it’s almost time for their arrival and it also means that you need to act fast with what you’re doing. The plan was simple, as the clock strikes midnight the Empress will raise a toast, a cup filled with red wine, and a small piece of bread. The poison was in the wine and the antidote was the bread, you have heard that the 6th Prince has refused to eat the bread every time the ceremony took place. Without the antidote, the prince will die. But if things go south, a push in the right direction will do the trick. You glance at the dagger that was skillfully hidden beneath your dress.

You might ask, why the 6th Prince? Not the crown prince Pierro who’s next in line for the throne? Well, it is said that the 6th Prince was a gift from the mighty ruler of Inazuma, and look how things are going inside the castle (thanks to your informant) the Tsaritsa has bestowed power unto the 6th Prince, the power that was normally gifted to the next heir on the throne. And together with the support from the nation of eternity and the newly bestowed power from the Empress, it was no-brainer that there is a possibility of the 6th Prince becoming the next emperor.

Unfortunately, rumors of the 6th Prince’s tyranny spread through the land, and it spurred the little terrified hearts of poor civilians. Willing the rebellion forces that have kept quiet for five years finally move and tonight will be the setting stone for a civil war that may last for years.

The trumpet made a sound and the doors to the palace opened, the Tsaritsa walked through the red carpet and lay straight on the floor. Your ears picked up sounds of shock gasps and breathy mumbles of gossip through every noble present in the room, of course, they couldn’t let their mouths stay shut when the 6th Prince Scaramouche was walking side-by-side with the Tsaritsa while the crown prince was left behind together with his siblings.

As the murmurs and whispers fade into the background your [e/c] orbs made contact with the 6th Prince’s and you let out a small whisper of amazement, the prince’s eyes were purple mixed with lighter shades of blue, and for a moment you can see a small strike of lightning in his mesmerizing eyes before it vanished as quickly it appeared.

11:55 PM

The Tsaritsa gathers everyone into a circle before raising her hand in the air, a golden cup filled with red blood wine and white bread in her other hand. You glance around before making contact with your other accomplice that was assigned in the kitchens, she gives a small nod signaling that the deed was done.

11:56 PM

You glance at the side of the Tsaritsa expecting to see the 6th Prince raising his cup, but the place beside the Empress was empty.

11:57 PM

You hurriedly look around everywhere as you scope the surroundings trying to find any man of short height, with purple hair, and striking mesmerizing eyes. In the corner of your eyes, you spotted a white coat making its way to the royal gardens. It has to be him.

You run with your heels making noise but the loudness of the cheers for the Tsaritsa drowns it out, you made your way to the gardens and came upon the man standing beneath the white moonlight basking in the light that the moon gives. As if sensing your presence, the man’s relaxed facial expression turned furrowed as his eyes opened revealing his intense stare that settles down deep into your bones.

11:58 PM

“Who are you?” His voice was cold and it battled the stormy blizzards that Snezhnaya has, you inhaled as you felt your muscles contract at his deathly stare. Your limbs froze due not to the cold but to his menacing aura that he is giving out in waves, you bite your tongue so hard that it drew blood as you crossed your legs and gave a shaky curtsy. “Your Highness, I apologize for intruding on your time, then I shall excuse myself.” You were no match for him, it was the bitter truth, you can’t take him down now when you’re not fully prepared.

You stop in your tracks as the wind behind you picks up, and you can feel small currents of electricity stinging your skin. You turned to face the prince with a shaky but polite smile on your face. “I said, who are you? If you turn your back to me once more, I will behead you.” This wasn’t going well.

“I am [Y/n] Sokolov, your highness.”

“I have never heard of any Sokolovs in the empire.” You smiled.

“That is because we have just moved to Snezhnaya, Your Royal Highness. You see my father is a merchant—”

“I didn’t ask for your pathetic background.” Wow, rude. You tried to stop the myriad of insults that will soon spew out of your mouth.

11:59 PM

“Who sent you? Is it from my mother that hails from the land of Inazuma? Or my siblings? Which one are you?” His eyes struck you down, his weapon Tulaytullah's Remembrance floats atop his right hand as he waits for your word. “Your Royal Highness, I assure you I have come with my own two feet, no one sent—” The prince then laughed and created a sword made of wind, if you keep your eyes a little more you can see lightning slashing through the ripples of wind.

He then steps forward, and forward, your legs betraying you in this very moment as you stay still on the ground. He looks you straight in the eyes, as the tip of the sword finally made contact with your neck. The sharp edge pricks the skin and a trail of blood flows from your neck down to your collarbones.

“Your Royal Highness, there seems to be a mistake—”

“I don’t see any problem here; you’ve come to take my head but you’re the one getting beheaded.” He scoffs as he pushes the blade more into your skin, you can almost feel it stabbing into your throat.

“Your Royal Highness, I have not one inch of the intention of trying to kill you!”

12:00 PM

“Is that so? Then explain why you were following me around.”

“I—”

“If you don’t give me an answer in three seconds, this blade will strike you with no mercy.”

“Your Highness—” You gasp out as you can feel the wind around you constrict, leaving no place to escape.

“3.” He counted.

“Wait! Please take a moment!” You cried out to the man before you to have a bit of mercy.

“2.”

“It’s because—!”

“1.”

“I love you!” You shout as you close your eyes, waiting for the blade to strike you and welcome you in its embrace. You waited and waited but felt no movement from the man before you. The blade that was tightly pressing onto your throat disappeared and you will yourself to take a peek, gently opening your eyes, you spot the prince staring at you with wide eyes, his mouth agape, aided with the moonlight, you spot a small blush creeping onto his cheeks.

He dispelled the sword and you watched in silent amazement as the sword melded with the wind, but the air around you that constricts was still there but its hold that was hostile before is now gentle like a breezing wind.

“Say that again.” He looks you straight in the eye, and for a second you thought you saw his eyes turn vulnerable before they disappeared as quickly as his irises steeled.

“I—I love you?” The prince nodded his head before tilting it to the side.

“What did you love about me?” He looks at you inquisitively and with every passing second the wind around you constricts to a tight hold. “I like your eyes, and your hair too. And your clothing style, your voice too.” At this point you were just spitting out everything your mind tells you too, every word that comes out of your mouth, Scaramouche turned even redder under the pale moonlight his eyes glistening with an emotion you can’t describe, a laugh left the prince’s lips as he holds your face close to his, “how interesting.”

Scaramouche then gently backs away from your bewildered countenance with an uncharacteristic soft smile on his porcelain face, “[y/n] Sokolov, I will be sending you an invitation. Be sure to take responsibility.” He then turned away from you, and with a flick of his finger, the air that surrounded you disperse. Without the air holding you against your will, your knees weakened and you fell to the ground with a thud. Your hand is now holding the wound that was still flowing from your neck.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Turbotax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU

Every year, Americans spend billions on tax prep services, paying a heavily concentrated industry of giant, wildly profitable firms to send the IRS information it already has. Despite the fact that most other rich countries have a far more efficient process, many Americans believe that adopting this process here is either impossible, immoral, or both.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/#counter-intuit

That puts tax preparation in the same bucket as other forms of weird American exceptionalism — like the belief that we’re too untrustworthy to have universal healthcare, or that we’re so violent that we must all have assault rifles to protect ourselves from one another.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with how they do it in, say, the UK, here’s how it works: your employer submits all of your paystubs to the tax authorities; likewise the custodians of your pension and other people who send you money. The tax authority also knows about your major deductions, like your kids or other dependents.

The tax authority uses this information to fill in a tax return for you and they mail it to you. It’s simple and easy to understand. If they missed some information, or if your tax status has changed, or if you’ve got new deductions, you can amend this return — or throw it away and start over by yourself or with a tax professional.

For the vast majority of Britons, filing their tax returns takes a few minutes once a year, and it’s free. For the minority who don’t fit the standard form, the system works like it does in the US — you either tackle it alone, or do it with professional help.

The IRS could easily do the same thing. Even in a world where many of us are being “casualized” and have income coming in as independent contractors, the IRS knows about it, thanks to the 1099 form. Sure, the IRS might make mistakes, and if you’re worried about that, you can either manually review the precompleted return or pay someone to do it.

It’s a no-brainer, or it would be — if it wasn’t for decades of lobbying by the massively concentrated tax-prep industry — wildly profitable corporate giants like HR Block and Intuit, the parent company of Turbotax, who spent 20 years lobbying congress, spending millions to ensure that Americans would have to pay the Turbotax tax in order to pay their income tax.

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

The tax-prep industry couldn’t have done this on their own — their astroturf campaigns were joined by a grassroots of useful idiots, betwetters like Grover Norquist and his acolytes, who openly demand that tax preparation be as difficult and painful as possible, to drum up support for their campaign to “get the US government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

These extremists are joined by many independent tax-prep specialists, who are seemingly convinced that every taxpayer has 11 dependents, four different kinds of pension savings, and six all-cash side-hustles, two of them international. Some people do have complicated taxes — as a writer with income from all over the world, I’m one of them — but most people don’t.

The point of getting the IRS to send you pre-populated tax returns isn’t to deny you the opportunity to pay excellent, knowledgeable tax-prep specialists if you need them — it’s to spare most of us from the needless expense of paying Intuit and HR Block to perform the rote form-filling by which the rake in billions in profits.

In reality, the campaign to defund the IRS isn’t — and will never be — about helping “the little guy.” As Propublica’s IRS Files demonstrate, the defunded, shriveled IRS is a billionaire’s plaything, which is why America’s top 400 earners pay less tax than you do:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/13/taxes-are-for-the-little-people/#leona-helmsley-2022

The commonsense utility of the IRS supplying you with prepopulated returns is so obvious that the tax-prep industry has had to really work to hold it at bay. The most successful scam was Freefile, a program cooked up by the tax-prep cartel that claimed it would provide free tax-prep to low-income Americans.

Freefile was a literal fraud: Intuit and its co-monopolists used a raft of deceptive “dark patterns” to trick people — students, veterans, retirees, and the poorest among us — into paying for services that they were entitled to use for free. Almost no one managed to find and use the Freefile offerings they’d hidden in a locked filing cabinet in a disused subbasement behind a sign reading “Beward Of the Leopard.”

This was so obviously crooked that the companies were eventually forced to give it up, but they weren’t done — their eye-watering, voluminous terms of service contained buried binding arbitration clauses that prohibited the people they ripped off from suing them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/24/uber-for-arbitration/#nibbled-to-death-by-ducks

Despite — or, more realistically, because of — the rising fury at the tax-prep industry’s years of unchecked corruption, Intuit has actually increased its lobbying spending this year: Open Secrets reports that in 2022, Intuit showered lawmakers with a record $3.5m:

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/02/turbotax-parent-company-intuit-is-pouring-more-money-than-ever-into-lobbying-amid-push-for-free-government-run-tax-filing/

Their target? The $15m that the Inflation Reduction Act allocated to the Treasury Department to explore free tax filing. Intuit’s line is that this would be “a waste of taxpayer money” and a “conflict of interest” — the same tired boomer nonsense that Norquist has been shoveling since the Reagan administration. Once again, the proposal isn’t to ban Intuit from offering tax prep services — it’s to create a public option that lets people freely choose to pay for tax prep if they think they need it. It’s a breathtaking act of paternalism to claim that we’re all sheeple, too stupid to spot the IRS’s greedy attacks on our pocketbooks.

Here’s a choice quote from Intuit: “Creating a government run tax preparation program would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and further disenfranchise low income taxpayers. A direct to IRS tax prep system is a multi-billion dollar solution looking for a problem.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/turbotax-free-tax-filing-biden-inflation-reduction-act-hr-block-2023-1

Unsaid: the tax prep industry rakes in billions of dollars from American taxpayers every single year. The $44.8m the cartel has spent lobbying against free filing since 1998 is a fantastic investment — for them. The dividends they reap from it come out of all of our pockets.

Another bargain? Hiring ex-government officials to work for Intuit, lobbying their former colleagues:

https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/lobbyists?cycle=2022&id=D000026667&t0-Revolving+Door+Profiles=Revolving+Door+Profiles

Or, as Senator Elizabeth Warren bluntly put it, “adroit influence peddling”:

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/06/members-of-congress-call-for-an-investigation-of-intuits-lobbying-practices-amid-mounting-turbotax-controversies/

The neoliberal economists’ theory of regulatory capture is a kind of helpless nihilism, grounded in the Public Choice Theory doctrine that says that regulators will always be captured, so we should just get rid of regulators or make them as weak as possible, so they won’t become cordyceps-ridden puppets of the industries they oversee:

https://doctorow.medium.com/regulatory-capture-59b2013e2526

But capture isn’t inevitable. Sure, if you have a referee that’s weaker than the teams, you’ll never get a fair game — nevermind what happens when the ref either used to work for one of the teams or is sure of a cushy job with them when the season’s over. If you want a small government, you need small corporations — need to block the anticompetitive mergers and predatory conduct that lets companies grow so large that they can fit their regulators into the little change pocket in their blue-jeans.

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

Anyone who lived through witchhunts, torture and mass surveillance after 9/11 has good reason to want their government small enough to be accountable — but a doctrine of small governments and giant corporations is a plutocrat’s charter — a recipe for regulatory capture so grotesque it is indistinguishable from farce.

[Image ID: An ogrish, tophatted, cigar-chomping giant holds the US Capitol building aloft contemptuously, pinched between the thumb and forefinger of a white-gloved hand. He stands at a podium bearing the Turbotax checkmark logo, yanking a lever in the form of a golden dollar-sign. He stands before a IRS 1040 tax form.]

intuit, turbotax, irs, taxes, death and taxes, corruption, monopoly, freefile, grover norquist, regulatory capture,

[neon-rhapsodies]

Again, about Italianness. Having lived in the UK for nearly 10 years, I'm now thinking of going for British citizenship. To me, it's a no brainer. I can get dual Italian and British citizenship, get the best of both worlds, and secure my future. However, I am a bit worried about how people will see that. To me, I have no problem seeing myself as both Italian and British. But Brits... They might struggle with that. I mean, if they're EDL or BNP or Reform, I literally do not care. If they ask me, I'll tell them I'm more British than the Union Jack. Fortunately though, I don't have many interactions with them. Some people close to me, however, might find this more difficult. I'm thinking of some who might tease me for how I pronounce certain words, but then suddenly lose their sense of humour when I correct their grammar, or use English words they don't know and they get mad. Like when they kept using dangling particles and could see the issue. Or when they could not tell the difference between it's and its. Or when they told me that remuneration is not a word just because they never heard someone use it. Which is funny, because a few months later, when they told us about changes to our pensions, they did use the word remuneration, and then no one laughed. To all these people, some of them near and dear to me, I say: I do not care. Me myself, I feel about as British as I feel Italian, which is very little. But then again, this isn't about origins or heritage or national pride. This is about security. I live in this country. I work in this country. I pay my taxes. I am a contributing member of society. My future is here. I want that to be secure. Anything else doesn't matter. I want my dual citizenship. I want my future. If I get the one, no one can take the other away from me.

[satari-raine]

Hi, I'm a turtle again. Hope everyone has been doing okay this summer, staying cool and hydrated as best you can. I thought I'd give another update since I've been gone for a bit, for anyone curious?

It's, um. Been a bit rough for the past two months? Retail job was a bit difficult, mostly due to the type of physical work involved - less customer-interactive but way more taxing on the body, to the point I had to go to urgent care (which makes it twice in one year so far; body, please.)

However, I ended up getting offered a teaching job at a nearby university. Part-time unlike retail, but the pay is hardly different and the time freed up and the reduction of stress on my body made it a bit of a no-brainer to accept (despite losing the retail job's insurance.) That, and getting to do part of what I went to graduate school is a big relief, as silly as that might be.

Although, that insurance came in handy today, since I ended up doing an emergency walk-in to a local dentist and walked out with a bill that would've been a lot worse without insurance. Currently swimming with painkillers and more than a healthy chunk of anxiety because this ate up my money allotted for car repairs, but I'm glad the dental issue was able to get done.

Not really sure what else to add. Been trying to write more, especially since I owe something for a server challenge that I haven't been able to touch due to either being busy with work or recovering from the next health issue, both physically and mentally. Bad brains, all that fun stuff, I suppose. Hoping to get to that soon with an added apology for taking so long.

But I'm excited about teaching, surprisingly. I really enjoyed reading previous work from my former students and it's nice to be able to inspire people to write more, to feel more confident. I hope I can do a decent job this go around as an actual professor, and not just a graduate student.

Just. Here's to August and the rest of the year hopefully going smoothly. Not just for me, of course, but for everyone else. Rooting for you all, as usual.

[indigoraysoflight]

I can't believe we're still having this discussion. But here we go again. This is where I stand.

Many Carylers have shown over and over again how much we value Melissa McBride's input on the show. We've shown how much we want compelling stories and a strong explicit canon. We want strong story arcs that honour Daryl and Carol as characters.

If they're even considering going for something that doesn't guarantee any of the above then I hope they understand the seriousness of gambling with their core audience that is hanging on by a thread. Many people are a single instance of shipbaiting away from leaving forever.

If they don't follow through with what fans have been anticipating from the show, then they risk losing a huge chunk of the audience (who won't be persuaded to come back). I say this because in my short time here, I've seen people leave the fandom because they got tired. Many have taken mental health breaks (including myself) because of how taxing it can be here. A TV show with your beloved characters should bring you joy, thrill, and excitement – not endless anxiety. It's not sustainable for many and I don't blame people for choosing their mental health over a show that doesn't guarantee solidarity and expected payoff.

Giving the audience what they have been anticipating (for years) inspires them to stick around because we get a story that's worth the wait. Viewerships skyrocket, the longevity of the show is preserved, and their ride-or-die audience is retained.

As a reminder, this is the audience that will continue to invest in the franchise (through conventions, merchandise, subscriptions etc). An audience that will continue to create content (edits, fan art, podcasts, articles) not to show their criticism for the show but to praise it and provide free promo to influence more audiences to tune in.

I say that as a Caryl podcast host. The only reason @kryptoniancape and I co-started the podcast was to bring hope because we thought we were headed towards greener pastures. We wanted to share our perspectives on the ship that deserved a story that honoured them. We wanted to promote a show that was finally showing up for their audience. We've been explicitly vocal about our hopes for this show's future, just like many Carylers.

So this sounds like a no brainer to me.

This is where @kryptoniancape and I stand – every show should be about creating a compelling narrative. It's not about who gets the most control, it's about equal contribution and autonomy of everyone who is involved. Most of all it's about respecting the talent, the stories and the audience. The fact that it also guarantees audience retention is just the cherry on the top.

There is no moving forward without that (for me personally anyway).

Creating a show that is solely focusing on the "vision" of a few people is going to create a show that they want. But it won't guarantee a strong run. Prioritizing the audience they can count on, however, will keep the show running for years.

Do the right thing.

[strictlyfavorites]

A LITTLE GUN HISTORY FIRST POSTED in 2015

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

56 million defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control:

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are "citizens". Without them, we are "subjects".

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this antigun-control message to all of your friends.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!

SWITZERLAND'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.

SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

IT'S A NO BRAINER!

DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

Spread the word everywhere you can that you are a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment!

It's time to speak loud before they try to silence and disarm us.

You're not imagining it, history shows that governments always manipulate tragedies to attempt to disarm the people.

[sir-libearian]

I don't know how else to put this, but vote like the worst person you can imagine is also voting, because they probably are. No brainer like "yes I would like public services/schools to have the funding they need". Yeah, vote like there's some jackass complaining about that effecting their taxes even though they dont have kids.

[sronti]

Ilyenből több kéne sokkal.

[animehouse-moe]

A Suruga-Ya International Buyer's Guide

As Japan catches up with the times, more and more businesses become aware of the potential in overseas business. Because of that, storefronts like Suruga-Ya end up appearing as options for fans of Japanese only merchandise or items.

I am one such fan of Japanese merch and items, so of course I put in an order (with free shipping on a promo!) in. I've since gotten that order and thought I'd provide a bit of a buyer's guide for people interesting. The buyer's guide will include:

How To Purchase From Them

What You Can Purchase

Sales and Coupons

Warnings and Forewords

Shipping and Packaging

My Shopping Experience

So, without further ado, I'll get to explaining!

How Do You Buy From Suruga-Ya?

Link To The Website Here

There's two ways, the "traditional", and the "new" (how I purchased this order). The traditional is purchasing through their JP/domestic website via a proxy, while the new is shopping via their global website.

Now, it might sound like a no brainer for international people to shop via the global site, but as I'll explain later on there's a few cases/reasons where using a proxy is the more reasonable, and even times cheaper option.

Finding Items

Well, it's no CDJapan, I'll say that. Suruga-Ya's global website is propped up by almost exclusively Machine Translation. That means that the translations for some items can be really weird, like Yuta Okkotsu becoming Yuta Otsubone. Similarly, Jujutsu Kaisen gets translated to Sorcery Fight, and the translation struggles with correctly translating names (specifically those that are hiragana/katakana)

Tips For Better Searches

Limit number of keywords (instead of Yuta Okkotuse, just Yuta)

Search for JP names and literal TLs (e.g Sorcery Fight instead of Jujutsu Kaisen) as well

Search using the JP website, find the desired item, copy the item ID and search on the global site using that (more info later)

What Can You Buy?

The answer to that question is, "pretty much everything under the sun". They carry everything so long as it's not illegal to import/export. Models, figures, tapestries, art books, manga, acrylics, keychains, the list just goes on and on. About the only thing that is very clearly absent is R18 Doujins (regular ones are still available).

One thing that's really nice is that they've created "storefronts" for popular brands/titles. Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, One Piece, and Sailor Moon are just a few of the examples present on the website. It can be really helpful when you're a fan of something specific like that considering how challenging searching for something can be.

Deals and Coupons

This is the big one, the make or break for pricing. Suruga-Ya will, more often than not, have a promotional campaign going on for the global site. In fact, in the last 2 months there's been 5 weekends of free shipping. It's a crazy deal, and about the only way that international people will order from them.

If you want to keep up with promotional material though, they only post it on the website as an announcement, or on their Facebook page.

Warnings and Forewords

Buying from anywhere online comes with a caveat, the price is high, the shipping is slow, so on and so forth. Suruga-Ya is no exception to that and features four aspects that potential buyers should be aware of before making a purchase.

1. Commission Fee

All purchases are subject to a commission fee of 500Yen. Not terrible by any means, but it's an extra couple of bucks on an order that you might not have been aware of initially. To put it in perspective, Buyee takes out a "service fee" every time you make a purchase through their proxy service. It's effectively standard practice for these international orders, and you could argue that it takes the place of "tax" when shopping with them.

2. No Protective Packaging/Package Filler

What you see is what you get. This was all that was in box 1 of my order. It does keep the items from moving around too much during shipping, but it still doesn't do anything to prevent damage or any harm coming to the items. It's especially an issue given that Suruga-Ya's boxes aren't super well fitted to the orders that fill them. I think when ordering cheap stuff like I did it's not a major concern, but for stuff like figures or other delicate items it's an issue. I'm hoping that they'll add a protective packaging option at checkout in the future for that reason.

3. Prices Differ Between Websites

Once more, this is a common practice, and this is why proxy services can be worth it. They're not massive differences, but it certainly begins to accrue as a "foreigner tax". Furthermore, item availability differs between the sites. That is, you can find some things on the JP site, but not the global one. I reached out to customer support regarding that, and they stated that they plan to bring all legally importable/exportable items over to the global site, it's just that it will take time.

4. Items Are Used

For people that have done proxy orders before, that's not any sort of surprise. But for some items it's worth taking note of, especially in terms of price. For example, say that instead of 2,250Yen this art book was more like 2,500Yen. Well, as it turns out, the retail price on Amazon Japan for the art book is a hair over 2,500Yen (2,530). In those cases, buyers may want to look at other options for the item in "new" condition elsewhere if they're wary of used items.

However, "used" in Japan is very different from "used" in somewhere like North America. Night and day, really. Later on I'll show what I got, and hopefully reaffirm buyers that "used" can basically mean "like new" with stuff like art books, and that they're absolutely worth purchasing.

Shipping

It's fast, damn fast at that. With free shipping that's great, but for people looking to save money when there's not an active campaign you might struggle as DHL and EMS are the only shipping options offered by Suruga-Ya. No surface or sea mail to save a good chunk of change, so definitely be aware of the cost of shipping when making an order without a promo to cover the cost somewhat.

Packaging

I got two packages (because I ended up making two orders, also please ignore the weird stretch Tumblr applied to the image), and these are my short form thoughts on it:

Boxes are not sturdy/solid and have caved and dented in a few spots

Items are secure, but not necessarily safe

Box sizes can be too large for some orders, allowing them to move around too much

No reinforcement to corners isn't great

Overall, you get what you pay for, and for free shipping it's not the worst. Certainly not what I'd want to be paying for when paying shipping though.

My Purchases

As per usual, I largely got art books and some JP manga I've been collecting. Though more important than that is the elephant in the room. All of these items are used, but for the vast majority you'd never know. A lot of them came in plastic bags that were sealed, rathe typical of JP items which is really nice. Great condition, no signs of wear, and proper storage, it's hard to really call these things "used" all that often. However, there are exceptions.

Used Items

I received two items that could be considered "used" in the typical sense. The first is some volumes of manga that had yellowed due to age or exposure to direct sunlight, and the other is a crease/bend in the corner of an art book. Neither are severe damages or deal breakers (for me) at their price, but they're things to take note of as not everything will be perfect. Another thing to note though is I have no way of knowing if the damage to the art book was there from the beginning or happened during transit due to lack of protection.

My Experience

Keeping it short, I'll summarize my thoughts on the order from start to finish.

Searching and filtering isn't as easy as it should be

Prices are really good, but lack of description (both in regards to content and condition) can deter potential buyers

Checkout process needs some work (can't get a shipping estimate until you provide a payment method)

Shipping is incredibly quick

Packaging is questionable and cause for concern with more delicate items

Customer service is nice, but accessing them is odd (only through apps like WhatsApp or Line)

Stickers placed directly on books is a massive no-no

Overall, I'd buy from them again with conditions.

Why/When To Buy

There's a few requirements to really make Suruga-Ya worth it. Deals, more specifically free shipping (usually), is a must to make the purchase worthwhile. You could probably get away with paying shipping and getting a good deal if they JP prices weren't cheaper than the global site, but they are. Because of that, the "extra cost" can add up quite quick if there's not a sale or something to offset it. Continuing on the topic of "extra cost", their ability between sites (currently) differs. Because of that, the quantity of items you can order differs as well, which can lead to "smaller" order sizes which can increase the relative cost due to shipping. And lastly, there's no order storage. If the product lists were consistent that wouldn't be an issue, but we're dealing with used items, these things come and go quite frequently. Really want an item but can't fill out a full order? Better hope that the item doesn't sell.

So, all in all, the conditions for buying from the Suruga-Ya global site are:

Deals/free shipping

Enough items to meet reasonable order size to save money (if no free shipping)

Pretty simple, but still important to remember

In The End

If you can field a sizeable order from the global website and there's a deal running, it's probably the best deal you'll find (but still check). If not though, look at buying through the JP site via proxy. There's less stress in maximizing the order, you can sit on the items in warehouse, and you can even combine with other sites. You just won't get free shipping. And I really do have to stress that that's the biggest selling point for buying from the global site. So keep your eyes out for those specials!