#only what I have perceived of the company's actions and what policies could lead to those choices

[tj-crochets]

Inexplicably just got two letters from Aetna asking for additional information for prescription drug prior authorization in the state of Florida. Couple of things wrong with that: - the prior authorizations have already been approved - I don’t live in the state of Florida and never have - the information it asks for is information I cannot provide, only my doctor can, and she’s named on the paperwork so they definitely know how to send her the letters - I’m not in Florida???? Why Florida?????

[drxwsyni]

Healing (pt.1/3)

Yandere Chisaki Kai/Overhaul x quirkless!f!Reader

Part 2︱Part 3

a/n: please do not read this piece if themes of poor mental health are upsetting to you. i am in no way attempting to romanticize these issues, having dealt with them in the past and knowing all too well how serious it is. i have never endorsed the harmful actions of people in my work and never will. please take care of yourselves and read at your own discretion. also this is a repost because it disappeared from the tags for some reason?

warnings: mental health problems, injury

4.2k words

_____

This is for your own good, he said.

The world is a disease ridden place, and remaining in it has left you broken.

You weren’t broken, you were fine. Sure, handling the pressures of simply existing as a result of being born without a quirk were tasking. People had not exactly been kind to you growing up, and that may have affected your health significantly. But you were handling it just fine.

While you couldn’t disagree with the fact that people did seem to enjoy using you, whatever had developed as a result of him discovering this reality wasn’t better in the slightest.

He said you needed time to heal, both physically and mentally. You could trust him, he was the only person who saw how faultless your existence was.

At some point you felt like you deserved to be mistreated by everyone around you, given how common of an occurrence it was. So when the yakuza leader came to you himself, going on about how unfairly you’d been handled all your life, it was hard not to trust him.

Now, you realize just how big of a mistake doing so was.

To be fair, he did live up to his promises. Kai said he wanted to help you heal, and what better way to do that than to move in with him. He had all the necessary equipment, and more than enough money to provide for you during your rehabilitation process.

However, he failed to mention the lengths he was willing to go to ensure your ‘good health’. Thinking you would stay with him until you got better, and then go back to living on your own once any pre existing issues had been taken care of slowly started to become an unattainable dream.

Upon arrival at the yakuza’s base, Kai instructed that it’d be in your best interest to not leave the premises. There was plenty of courtyard space for fresh air, and anything you needed would be picked up for you. Your room had been spacious enough, luxurious almost. Aside from the underground network of facilities, you were permitted to have free range of the base. The only condition was that you kept an escort with you at all times. Generally, these terms didn’t seem too bad.

It wasn’t until you sat down in his office to go through the rest of your new living plan that you realized just how committed he was to seeing your health improve.

Everything was planned to a T. When you’d wake up, take medication, bathe, eat, go to bed. He had taken into account any intolerances or allergies and developed a comprehensive meal program that catered to them. The most important element was the checkups scheduled twice a week to monitor your physical health.

While you didn’t enjoy the idea of being examined so regularly, you couldn’t argue that you’d neglected many problems over your lifetime. Sure, blood tests and vaccine administered supplements weren’t fun. But for the sake of rehabilitation you supposed that it was just another necessary evil.

What was concerning was his policy on electronic devices, specifically for recreational use. According to him, having a phone would only hinder the process, and therefore it wasn’t something you needed.

“Should you require anything you need only to ask either myself or a subordinate. Seeming as you should always have an escort there will be no issue with the matter of not being able to contact anyone.”

Kai truly had everything covered, and with how reassuring he was it became hard to see any flaws in the plan.

And so you took up residence in the leader’s base, grateful for the opportunity to live without being weighed down by society's corrupt expectations.

_____

The first few weeks went fairly smoothly, using the time to learn the layout of the establishment. Not that you could ever get lost, with one of his subordinates trailing you in case you required assistance. You quite enjoyed the company of Chisaki’s underlings, along with that of the man himself.

Every day you’d spend time in the courtyard, or go for a walk along the path against the inside edges of the base. Oftentimes Kurono would accompany you, and the two of you would make small talk over menial subjects. Later on you’d return to Kai’s office where you’d sit on the sofa positioned to the side of the room, reading a novel he’d selected while he worked at his desk.

Generally, your experience went fairly smoothly. The distance you’d put between yourself and the reality outside those tall concrete walls had done a lot of good. However, not everything can be solved with simply removing yourself entirely from a bad situation.

Although your living quarters were comfortable and welcoming, there was something unfamiliar about it that was off putting. To combat this, you decided a quick trip home to pick up a few belongings couldn’t hurt.

It’d only taken you roughly twenty-five minutes to travel back on foot to your small, cheap little single floor house on the edge of town. Another ten to gather some items, and then you walked back to the base. However, upon returning you’d come to understand how badly you’d messed up.

It was early in the morning before you’d left, and there were no examinations scheduled either. Not wanting to bother anyone with your needs, you had left the base alone without notifying Chisaki.

That was your first mistake.

He was waiting for you at the front entrance, arms crossed with an aggravated look on his face, although it was hard to read given the mask hiding a good half of his facial features. But if that didn’t give away his anger, then the death grip he placed on your forearm as he dragged you to your designated bedroom did.

He practically threw you inside the room, slamming the doors behind him. He only took a second to compose himself before speaking. “I thought I made it very clear that you were not to leave the premises, let alone by yourself.”

You knew Chisaki was quite the stern man, seeing first hand once or twice with how he treated his subordinates. But this was new, he’d never gotten mad at you, let alone get physically aggressive.

“I didn’t think it’d be a big deal, I was just grabbing some things to make my room a little more comfortable.”

“Did I not tell you that whatever you needed would be picked up for you?”

His demeanour suggested that the question was not rhetorical. “You did, I know. I just didn’t want to bother Kurono or anyone else to go with me so early.”

Something about your open concern for others seemed to pacify his rage, letting out a sigh before moving to sit on the short couch next to him. Leaning forward, elbows propped on his knees, Kai responded. “Staying inside the base is a crucial part to your healing, I can’t let you leave knowing the danger you’d be putting yourself in without protection. You should refrain from doing something so reckless moving forward.”

You moved from your standing position to sit down next to him, of course keeping a respectable distance knowing his abhorrence to bacteria, and generally people as well. “I’m sorry for making you worry, I was just a bit homesick is all.”

The yakuza turned his head to look at you, brows furrowed in a somewhat inquisitive manner. His amber eyes pierced through yours, seemingly searching for answers to questions that couldn’t be asked. “I hope you’re aware of how important someone like yourself is to my cause. Those without quirks are growing increasingly rare, and it’s causing more issues than the world can keep up with.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I believe it goes without saying that I’d be deeply upset if anything were to happen to you. Normally I couldn’t be bothered with such a thing… but you’re the exception.”

Chisaki stood up and walked toward the bedroom door before facing you again. “Take a bath and then return to my office with your book. Kurono will be waiting outside your door to escort you.”

You watched him leave the room, waiting for the door to completely shut before letting out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding all this time.

Whatever that was, you never wanted to encounter it again. Maybe, you thought, I’d be better off getting out of here sooner rather than later.

_____

After the first incident occurred you presumed things would return to normal, but of course that would be too convenient. It seemed that there was now a slight increase in security around the base. The development was immediate, making it hard to miss. Any exits leading outside―those literally outside, say to the courtyard―and gates to exit the compound were guarded by one of Chisaki’s underlings.

On top of that, he had one of his men stationed outside your bedroom 24/7, whether you needed an escort or not. He never bothered to notify you of this change in particular. It only came to your attention after hearing the verbal exchange of two men outside your door, doing what you assumed was rotating shifts.

It was unnerving, to say the least. The incident had been minor as far as you perceived it, but the unspoken changes around you demonstrated otherwise.

Aside from that, you thankfully regarded the steady improvement to your health. Your energy had returned significantly, likely thanks to the mandatory eight hours of sleep. The daily walks had eliminated the general weakness and lack of stamina you experienced. Even your face took on a warm glow, eye-bags almost non existent and blemishes quickly fading.

It would seem that your departure from this temporary rehabilitation would come sooner than you expected.

Yet the more your condition improved, the stricter Kai became with your routine. Not only that, but he also seemed to be growing more comfortable having you near him.

Now, with any normal person this familiarness would only be expected. But you knew better, and a voice deep in the back of your mind was telling you that this new predicament wouldn’t end well.

_____

The next incident seemed to be the thing that set him off, solidifying your future.

It had been roughly a month and a half since you accepted being cared for at the yakuza’s compound. By now the problems which put you in this situation were almost entirely taken care of, but that didn’t stop Kai from enforcing his rules more than ever.

Frankly, the repetitive, unwavering routine you’d been following was starting to create its own problems within your health―you were going a bit stir crazy.

After the last warning, you’d be lying if you said the main thing keeping you from leaving was fear for how Chisaki would react. Now however, it’d been too long since you experienced the real world, and even if it was only for an hour, you desperately needed to go outside the walls of the compound.

You took the issue to Kai during the time you spent reading in his office. He was going to have to let you do this, staying cooped up any longer wouldn’t be good for you and even he couldn’t ignore that reality.

After what felt like an endless back and forth discussion, seemingly getting nowhere on either side, you started to believe that he really didn’t think the situation was an actual problem.

But you knew he had a soft spot for you, and eventually the man did cave to your request.

Accompanied by one of his more trusted subordinates, you were allowed to leave the base for two hours. You took this much appreciated freedom to do some window shopping here and there, at one point stopping to buy latte―of course not before fighting with your escort over how Kai would disapprove of you doing so, the caffeine apparently being bad for you.

You were nearing the end of your time limit, and still you remained unsatisfied with what felt like an all too brief reintroduction to society.

Pushing your luck, you headed to the center of the downtown area, hoping the bustling life and bright colours would be enough to satiate your need for external stimulation.

Before you had left the compound that day, Kai had stopped you for a moment at the front entrance. The statement was quick―he advised you to stay out of any heavy populated areas. According to him it posed too high of a risk to your safety, and you should heed his words if you knew what was good for you.

However, now that you were out and getting a taste of everything you didn’t even realize you were missing, those warnings were the last thing to concern you. Oh, how foolish you were to even believe there was nothing wrong with going against him for a second.

You heard the destruction before you felt it. The cause of it was unidentifiable, as before you could steal a glance from the source of exploding brick and concrete next to you, an unseen force sent you flying across the pavement and out onto the road. Thankfully traffic immediately came to a halt once onlookers realized the situation, effectively preventing you from being run over. But that did little to console you as painfully, you comprehended your now significantly injured state.

Giving your body a once over, it was clear that the force that threw you away from the building was from the blast of air pressure likely due to an explosion. The damages weren’t too severe, but you were still now sporting a throbbing headache, and what appeared to be a sprained ankle. Aside from that, only developing bruises remained as evidence of the violent event as far as you could tell in your shock induced state.

Understanding you had to get yourself away from the violent, still ongoing conflict, you feebly attempted to stand up. It was a good effort, and if it weren’t for the head injury that was proving to be much more serious, you most likely would’ve been able to get away.

But luck was never on your side to begin with, and only a few seconds went by before black spots appeared in front of your vision. A moment later and you were out cold.

_____

A hospital room was what you expected, what anyone would expect after being nearly blown to pieces.

Pulling yourself out of unconsciousness to assess exactly where you were was a trying task, but the fear growing in the pit of your stomach served as more than enough motivation.

You remembered being downtown. An explosion. Pain. Then darkness. Taking in your surroundings, you identified the room to be that which you sat through examination after examination in the yakuza’s base.

But Kai was nowhere to be seen, and that only made the feeling of distress worse.

You had no idea how you got there, figuring the likely outcome would be you in the care of an actual doctor. Except that wasn’t the case, and instead you were laying on a bed, wearing clothing that you did not have on before blacking out.

It appeared to be a fairly loose but comfortable sleeveless knee length dress, with a long sleeve sweater overtop of it, both shaded with a pale light blue. In the midst of examining your new outfit, your eyes laid upon a heart monitoring device lightly clipped to your index finger.

Amidst the sudden realization of your current predicament, you failed to notice the steady increase in your heartbeat. But Kai hadn’t.

At that moment one of the two doors of the room, the other attached to a bathroom, swiftly opened. Chisaki stood in the doorway for a moment, seemingly evaluating your now awakened form for a moment before entering, closing the door behind him.

You questioned him before he even had the chance to come near you. “What the hell am I doing here? Why aren’t I in a hospital?” He approached you as you spoke, taking a seat on a wheeled stool next to your bed.

Unfortunately you couldn’t control the shaking in your voice, and it served as a clear indication to the man at just how uneasy you’d grown with the situation.

“My subordinate alerted me of the attack after he found you unconscious. You were brought back here amidst the fighting so I could tend to your injuries, which fortunately are not life threatening.” He spoke in a calm and consistent tone, pausing momentarily before continuing. “There was no need to bring you to a hospital when I’m more than capable of taking care of you.”

Not life threatening? You looked over your body, assessing the damage for yourself. It appeared that you had injured your ankle, as it was now wrapped in some form of brace. Along with that were bandages woven around your knees, and more that you could feel constricting your upper arms where you landed on. Lastly was the dull pain in the back of your head, bringing you back to the moments before blacking out when you experienced a similar sensation.

“I think I should still go see a professional, no offense of course. It’s just I’d feel more comfortable with an expert opinion on the whole thing.” You truly didn’t want to set him off, not after what happened the last time you went against his advice. However, this was not something you could just take lying down, despite the fact that you were literally lying down in bed at the moment.

“I’m going to have to insist that you remain here, it’s the best option for your recovery which may I remind you has not been completed as of yet, and will only be delayed due to this. Not to mention that in your state excessive movement to bring you to a hospital would not only be quite difficult to manage but further damaging to your body as well.”

If it weren’t for the unsettling, stone cold stare he was giving you as he spoke, you would’ve likely retorted with a defense. Yet under that gaze you felt it was impossible to remain strong willed. You’d let him have his way for now, there being only so much time remaining in which his care was necessary.

With that you agreed to his concerns, and perhaps if he wasn’t wearing that obnoxiously large mask you would’ve seen the smirk of satisfaction appear across his face.

_____

Later that day Kai returned with your dinner, a task he normally left for his subordinates to complete. He set down the tray atop the sliding overbed table, a clipboard in his other hand. Sitting down on the rolling stool next to your bed, he began talking, you listening in silence as you ate.

“I hope you don’t mind but I took a blood sample while you were asleep in case your injuries were more severe than outwardly observable.” He flipped through a few pages on the clipboard before continuing. “It would seem that the supplements are steadily improving your overall condition. It’ll still take some time for certain levels to reach a normal amount for someone of your physique, but this is still good news nonetheless.”

You hummed in response, not wanting to be rude by talking with your mouth full. Chisaki moved to place the clipboard on the counter to your left before facing you again.

“I’m sure by now you’ve taken note of the change in your attire from that prior to being injured.”

You stopped chewing, looking worriedly in his direction. You hadn’t forgotten about this reality, it was more like you chose to ignore it for the time being, hoping nothing would come of it between the two of you.

“You should know that I had one of my female underlings do this for me, the fact of the matter being your clothing was partially destroyed from the explosion and was therefore prohibiting necessary medical attention.”

The pulsing of your heartbeat quickened, having an idea of where this conversation was headed, much to your apprehension. You stared down at the meal in front of you to avoid eye contact at all costs.

“I was able to properly tend to your wounds, but I’m sure you understand when I say that I couldn’t help but notice certain… remnants. Those of past trauma, along with others I didn’t directly observe, those that my subordinate notified me of.”

It was obvious that to access the bruises and cuts sustained from being thrown across the pavement, Chisaki would inevitably see parts of your body that you were all too familiar with just a few years ago.

Things had gotten better since then, they really had. You would never even think about using those same coping methods anymore. But that didn’t change the fact that those memories weren’t something that could just fade overnight, nor would the physical damage they left behind.

It was the last thing you wanted to discuss with Kai right now. He already knew, albeit vaguely, that you used to struggle with your mental health. Not that you weren’t still struggling, it was just now you had healthier ways of handling it. The only thing you could do now was deter him from pressing you further on the matter.

“Listen Kai, I know what you’re referring to, and I understand why you’d be concerned. It’s just… you don’t need to bother with it. I’m better now, at least in that regard. I get that you want to help me, and you have, but this isn’t something you need to worry about. I’ve already taken care of it, I promise.”

Glancing up at him after finishing, you saw more emotion than you’d ever thought someone like himself would be capable of. Although to most it would be insignificant, his intense stare coupled with the furrowed eyebrows, looking as if he truly wanted to comfort you in that moment was reassuring.

He exhaled loudly before responding. “That’s fine, (y/n).” You watched as he removed those white gloves that he seemed to wear like a second skin, placing them on the counter. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you during that time. Someone like you should have never been subjected to such treatment, and if I had known you back then I would’ve made sure such an occurrence never took place to begin with.”

Now this was… jarringly out of character.

If there was ever a red flag that you missed before, the ensuing events would surely be enough to make it blatantly obvious what exactly was going on.

Wide-eyed and dinner long forgotten, you followed the movement of his hands as they went to gently hold that of your left.

The yakuza waited for what felt like an eternity before carrying on, doing what you could only assume was anticipating the disgust of coming into contact in such a way with you, absent of his constant protective articles.

But the aversion never came.

“All I can do now is ensure you’re never dealt the same treatment again.”

Another moment of silence, stillness.

He gave your hand a small squeeze before releasing his hold, standing up and retrieving his gloves. You were too dumbfounded by the events that just unfolded to respond, so you continued to sit in silence while Kai gathered his belongings.

“Finish your dinner, Kurono will come later and turn off the heart monitor for you to get ready for bed.” He finished pulling on the gloves, picking up the clipboard once he was done and headed towards the only exit of the room.

“You’ll be remaining in this room while your injuries heal. I’ll keep one of my men posted outside if you need anything.” Kai placed a hand on the doorknob, pausing before looking back in your direction.

“Also, you should know that an alarm will go off if you remove the heart monitoring clip on your finger. There’s a button on the side of the bed you can press if you need assistance turning the machine off, say if you need to get up. Otherwise please leave it as it is.”

At that moment he left the examination room, the door closing with a heavy metallic thud that reverberated off the walls.

The feeling in the pit of your stomach was subtle, almost overshadowed by the persisting hunger from abandoning your dinner. But you knew it well to be fear.

A fear that you only suspected would grow the longer you remained in the confines of Chisaki’s compound, the confines of his so-called ‘care.’

(End of Part 1)

[crazybus1997]

How to Develop an Invention Organisation Plan for Success

A reliable Invention Service Strategy is an inventor's ideal tool for successfully navigating through the invention process. As a knowledgeable investor, I have discovered that an idea is not perceived as a practical company opportunity until it can be efficiently communicated on paper (or any type of another legible style). before continue reading you can also find out more help by visiting https://kulturehub.com/inventhelp-support-inventors/

When submitting my concepts to invention hunts, accrediting representatives, manufacturers, stores, designers, as well as the patent workplace, I was asked many different kinds of questions. The concerns ranged from "What trouble does it resolve?" to questions that required substantial research such as "That is your target audience?"

Luckily, with my entrepreneurial background and experienced writing service proposals, I was acquainted with responding to such concerns. For that reason, to save time, I decided to combine all of these concerns right into a universal format that could be used and/or adapted for any type of audience within the invention process.

In this short article, I go over exactly how to establish a functional yet compelling organization prepare for innovators as well as their inventions. I discuss its relevance, primary elements, exactly how as well as where to locate content, and also its many usages. I likewise offer real examples adjusted for 3 typical functions: for filing a provisional patent, for becoming part of an invention search, as well as for submitting to other key individuals. Other crucial customers might consist of sellers, suppliers, commercial engineers, financiers, and licensing representatives. By sharing my insights and also instances, I wish to aid inventors like you to establish your product to properly communicate as well as offer your invention to the many different users within the invention process.

The Significance

An Invention Service Plan is a reliable communication device for offering a clear and substantial summary of your invention while conveying its stability and worth. It tells an in-depth tale regarding your invention including what it is, exactly how it works, and also why your invention is a credible business opportunity. It can usually be described as an arranged all-in-one vault of everything you understand or have discovered your invention. It consists of every angle concerning your invention to be made use of as a recommendation point for the growth and/or entry of audience-specific requests. Having a broad target market range allows it to be utilized as a collection of info that can after that be changed or adjusted according to the target market in which it serves.

Invention Business Strategy Example: The Main Components

Many different readers and also audiences require to see your idea in composing. You will certainly be surprised how many various concerns will certainly be inquired about your invention. To efficiently respond to such inquiries, the paper ought to be created such that it functions as a thorough yet functional overview and also resource to be used by a wide audience. Thus, the aspects and also material of your strategy should be both extensive (i.e. can address most questions concerning your invention) as well as versatile (i.e. can be conveniently customized) for a specific use or target market. The suggested components for an extensive and also versatile record are as adheres to:

Short Summary: A summary (1-3 sentences) of what your invention is (name), what it does, and also exactly how it serves.

Abstract: A basic summary of your invention, its market, as well as its advantages. Include the target audience, just how your invention resolves an issue, or how it is useful to your market.

Fit: Just how does your invention fit right into an existing merchant or maker's product mix? Crucial marketing advantages might consist of up-sell possibility, a shelf attention-getter, cutting-edge disruptive top qualities, and/or fills up an underserved market specific niche. Customer advantages might include simpleness, the comfort of use, automates a hands-on job, conserves time as well as steps, and/or solves an existing unmet demand.

Comprehensive Summary: This is where you explain the main parts or elements that make up your invention, just how your invention works or what it does, its primary attributes, and also technique or purpose of usage. Instances of main functions may include dishwashing machine risk-free, automatic functionality, ease of usage, etc.

If the invention integrates the job of 2 or even more existing products on the market, provide the price of using those products individually as well as after that demonstrate exactly how your invention is priced such that it conserves the customer time as well as money. Whereas your invention, the food processor, is priced much less than all of those things incorporated, plus you have included worth of ease and time savings.

Approximated Manufacturing Expense: The ideal situation is to contract manufacturers to obtain an estimate of how much it would certainly set you back to build your invention. However, this can be hard if you don't have specific specifications. The various other recommended general policy is to divide your Suggested List price by an element of 4. As an example, if your recommended retail price is $80, then your Estimated Manufacturing Cost is $20.

Problem/Challenge It Resolves: Talk about the details about the trouble or test your invention fixes. Include market fads and also truths drawn from reliable sources. Describe how your invention is far better than existing products. What are the defects or failures of existing products and also how does your invention address those problems? Utilizing the food mill invention as an example, you would claim currently it takes 20 minutes to reduce veggies for dinner making use of typical methods (knives as well as reducing board). The food processor would reduce that time to 2 minutes.

What Makes It Cutting-edge: Exactly how does your invention stand-out or just how is it far better than existing products or conventional methods? Given that there is no demand to use several knives and also reducing boards for reducing vegetables for supper, you conserve clean-up time and counter space.

Competition: Checklist existing similar products or alternative approaches presently offered or used on the market. Describe how your invention has a competitive advantage over these existing alternatives.

Market Placement or Target Market: What are the target customers and/or target buyers? Who are the target retailers or manufacturers? What are the main circulation channels (online, brick and mortar stores, both)? Listing instances.

Product packaging Pointer: Just how do you want to package your product such that it orders the attention of the target user/buyer? Will your product be included as part of a set of other products, or will it be a stand-alone product?

Product Expansions, Variations, and also Attachment Suggestions: What other shades, layouts, or designs can your invention have? Do you want to provide a warranty for your invention?

Copyright: Give a patent number or provisional patent number if you have one. Provide the day and just how you came up with the invention. Make Use Of the USA Patent Office internet site research other relevant prior art. Listing and define that related prior art. List the history of the invention if any kind of. You can find descriptions of the history of any one of the prior art instances. Note its key parts, provisionary claims, and also offer illustrations or schematics of its style. Use prior art instances as your overview. You might determine to employ an industrial engineer, in which instance, include those designs here.

Exactly how as well as Where to Discover Web content

While the majority of the content needs to be in your own words, the leading five suggested content sources for discovering inspiration and also ideas as they associate with the above aspects include:

A relevant store or maker's 10-Q (Quarterly Declaration) or 10-K (Yearly Declaration)- for Market Research, Problem/Challenge It Addresses, Competition, and Target Users. 10-Q's and also 10-K's can be discovered on the internet site of many public companies, or look for business on the Safety and security as well as Exchange Compensation's (SEC.gov) website.

Relevant licenses from the USA Patent and Hallmark Workplace (USPTO.gov) - for Abstract, Thorough Description, Parts, Quality, Techniques, Intellectual Property Research Study, Patent Results, and Illustrations and also Style.

Profession organization websites, publications, and also various other professional products - for Marketing research, Competition, and Target Users. A well-known trade organization is the International Housewares Association (IHA).

Internet sites of retailers or makers - for Packaging Suggestion, Product Variations, Trick Marketing Advantages, Secret Consumer Advantages, Recommended Market Price, Production Cost (general rule: separate the retail price by 4).

Usefulness and also Target market

The invention process entails revealing your invention to a variety of readers. As discussed, such a document is a beginning factor or layout for offering future material worrying the many various readers as well as target markets for which you will certainly need to interact with your invention.

As an example, invention pursues industrial developers or engineers, stores, suppliers, certifying agents, legal representatives, marketing firms, and the United States Patent Workplace.

With a well-documented plan, you can comfortably adjust or change it relying on its primary usage or target market, therefore, saving you time and actions. As a basic policy, nonetheless, be conventional about what you divulge. Only supply information that is asked for or required. I likewise recommend consisting of a non-disclosure contract (even if a provisionary patent is filed).

Final thought

In summary, an Invention Company Strategy is utilized for lots of reasons. It is an essential part of the invention process. It helps inventors effectively convey an idea right into a tangible, understandable, and understandable service opportunity. I want you much success with your invention endeavors.

More Resources:

https://midhudsonnews.com/2020/05/10/how-does-inventhelp-support-new-inventors/

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/249715/20200518/how-inventhelp-gets-new-inventors-onto-the-right-path.htm

[ratingtheframe]

Everything Wrong With… Ep 2 - The Devil Wears Prada

Welcome back to Everything Wrong With...the series where dive head first into some of the seemingly okay-ish films and analyse why in fact they do more harm than good in providing us with satiable entertainment. Follow me on instagram @ratingtheframe for more movie related content and without further ado, let's get into this chick flick and see how far we’ve come since 2006.

If you aren’t aware, The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 “chick flick” originally written as a book by Lauren Weisenburger. I remember seeing The Devil Wears Prada as one of those grown up lady films, for mature women on tampon adverts who had wine on Thursday evenings from M&S and wore heels practically everywhere. My perception of this film and the audience it caters towards has changed dramatically after watching it and it kills me inside to imagine the popularity and praise such a film got back in 2006, an extremely harsh time for women and the perception of beauty standards. 

The world was still getting into the internet, magazines and runways were adjusting to the 2000s and the way that women were viewed in the media was a lot more damaging than today. Former supermodels such as Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne have since come out and talked about their experiences in the modelling industry and how it creates unhealthy stereotypes for women and young girls to abide by. The ‘size 0’ and ‘heroin chic look’ has since been banished from the modelling industry, two expectations that were pretty popular in the late and early 2000s for models. We are witnessing a revolution for the modelling industry as they (very) slowly but surely are beginning to introduce more plus sized, diverse and unfiltered faces for their campaigns. We can breathe easier knowing that the only way is forward for the fashion industry and that very little people will stand for the mid 2000s ideologies that were pumped out to the entire world.

Back to 2006 and one of the year’s most popular films with female audiences; The Devil Wears Prada, starring the likes of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. The film follows Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) , a wannabe journalist newly welcomed into New York City and is currently on the hunt for her career. She manages to land a job at Runway Magazine, a large, corporate editorial magazine for women’s fashion run by the one and only Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a devious, beautiful and highly successful media personality and editor.

So far so good as we have two tangible and likeable female leads. The opening sequence (one of the most important in any film) had me eye rolling a touch in the way it depicted women of the 2000s and seemingly created the idea that there are two sides to women. 

The five or so minute montage consisted of the various women who are models at Runway, getting ready for their long day of work, right from being undressed to fully made up. This was supposed to be a contrast to how our lead Andy gets ready, barely throwing on any makeup and throwing on whatever she wants whilst heading out the door. When you put the way women choose to be perceived in the world at an opposition, you create this divide between women and further place their worth on how they choose to look. The stereotype of a ‘pick me girl’ arises from this opposition, a girl who actively shames other women for choosing to be more openly feminine in their appearance and actions. The intelligence and respect of women should not be based on how they look when they show up, rather how they BEHAVE when they show up. I just thought this montage was a little unnecessary and if anything, introduced us into a misogynistic world of 2006 really well. One point for accuracy, no points for progression. Everyone gets dressed in the morning and (often) everyone wears underwear, showing this activity on screen didn’t really add much to the film besides the pressures of women to look a certain way. 

Once Andy arrives at the company, she is rudely introduced by Emily (Emily Blunt) Miranda’s current right hand. Now the entire character of Emily is again, another concept to this film that is left better in the 2000s; a mean girl and a VERY mean one at that. This world is already a patriarchal mess for women like Andy and Emily and having women join the bandwagon in showing an oppressive side to those who don’t conform to the female societal norms is non progressive. It was almost as if Emily was an investor into the patriarchy by behaving abhorrently towards her from the way she dressed as opposed to her actual character and qualifications. Please, let's not have women against women based on their desirability in the eyes of the male gaze. Emily has already become a clear victim to her own policies, as her lack of eating is laid bare to us as an entertaining gimmick as opposed to a cause of concern. Last time I checked making fun of eating disorders wasn’t chic. 

Now the argument whether Miranda Priestly is also an investor in the patriarchy is a little clouded. Through her mean spirit and harsh words towards Andy and her appearance, she comes across as someone who is doing more harm than good by joining the patriarchal view of women in the 2000s. I found myself having to bite my tongue a little instead of calling her bitch because that would be letting my internalized misogyny get the best of me. 

Even though Miranda is tough talking and spiteful, I really can’t blame her for it as a character. She is one of the strongest female characters I’ve come across on screen for both her strengths and flaws. Had such a character been placed in a Roman Army or Italian Mob, my views of her would have stayed the same. She is a strong woman with enough versatility and strength to face any situation. The way she asserts her authority in a funny and patronizing way is hard not to fall in love with and any woman who asserts their authority and relishes in their own power is already technically against the patriarchy. Her industry may be patriarchal, however her spirit is not and the things she does in order to keep her status is admirable. I found myself comparing her to the way a man maneuvers the world (again, internalised misogyny, working on it) which in some parts is the reason there should be more Miranda Priestly's in films. Instead of comparing strong women to men, with more strong female leads we’ll start comparing these women to other women. 

Thank god for the zilch, overly graphic sex scenes in this film (maybe cuz the screenplay was written by a woman, but who knows-), however their is one character I’d like to address that rubbed me the wrong way and spoke for a big hole in the modelling/fashion industry that still exists today. Christian Thompson (Simon Baker) is this handsome, 40 summit journalist who meets Andy at a social event for a fashion designer. I admit he was charming in his demeanour but also overtly creepy at points. Andy and Christian bump into each other in Paris where he leads her down a street (his hand on THAT part of the elbow) and kisses Andy without consent, knowing she has a boyfriend. “Oh, it's just a movie” you’re probably thinking, but yet I couldn’t help but cringe at such a thing. Movies are a reflection of our society after all. He kisses her several more times until Andy gives in. If we’re trying to get films to reach audiences and affect them in some way, encouraging consent should be one of those things. Depicting such a madness on screen makes my rolls right to the back of my head and speaks for the entire society behind the modelling and fashion industry; a society run by men who can do what they like with or without consent. Though the wellbeing of Andy wasn’t in imminent danger, I felt Christian Thompson as a character to be a representation of those in the fashion industry who take advantage of women because of their status and so called connections. No more of this please!

Andy has a transformation a little later into the film, a concept that we thought had been left in the patriarchy trash can, but quickly emerged in Debby Ryan’s Insatiable (2018). Lasting only 2 seasons from 2018-19, the Netflix series followed Patty Bladell who gets afforded niceties and respect after she loses weight and becomes a “hot girl”. The show was created by Lauren Guissis based on an article about a (male) Pageant Guru who tells women how they can become pageant queens for a small fee...EW. The fact that such a show got picked up in a day and age that was beginning to open up to body positivity and more inclusivity in the media, the show was insensitive to its current surroundings. 

This same “ugly duckling” transformation isn’t something new or old apparently, with the one in The Devil Wears Prada being one of the least progressive moments of the film. Now that Andy looked like she could work at Runway, somehow she was working a lot better at Runway and was being afforded privileges she didn’t get before her new haircut. Is this the message we want to send out to the world anymore? That in order to get a one up in life, all you need is new clothes and better make up skills? Of course, glo ups can be fun but the purest, healthiest form of a glow up comes from within.

A tiring cliché that “beauty comes from within” but one that makes a lot of sense and something I experienced in my mid teens. Having never experienced male validity or the feeling of desirability, once I began to believe I was beautiful on the outside, others began to notice, because they could read the confidence and self worth I had from my outward energy. An energy that can’t be felt beyond a face tuned Instagram picture. Beauty can be an energy as well as a look and had Andy embraced this more and rejected the passing comments people made at her, it would have taught us that one doesn’t have to conform in order to be respected. On the other hand, I don’t want to shame nor blame her as conforming to societal standards as for most women ,it’s an act of survival, to secure their places in certain spaces, with Andy being no expectation. A sad reality that a woman may have to wear makeup in order to stay in people’s good books, but a choice that should be discussed as opposed to shamed. 

I truly could go on and on about the harmful stereotypes and implications of The Devil Wears Prada and it's sad, yet true similarities to the real fashion industry of today and the mid 2000s. It was and still is cut throat, with many models developing eating disorders, low self esteem issues and even substance abuse due to the mounting pressures of trying to reach perfection. A perfection that doesn’t exist seeing as the fashion and modelling industry alters their version of perfection every single day. I’m glad that by the end of the film Andy ditched Runway in favour of living a more healthy and truthful lifestyle, one that wasn’t swapped in ridiculous pressures and the threat to conform or else leave. Which she did in the end. Miranda isn’t a devil, but a force to be reckoned with in a world that is ready to make her feel lesser than herself because of her gender. I hope to never see such a film like The Devil Wears Prada, ever again, in a world that no longer needs this sort of film to represent the strengths of women. It's best left in 2006 and hopefully you’ve learnt something you’ve never thought about from this in depth analysis. 

[lady-divine-writes]

Kurtbastian fic - “A Dalton Boy Hotter than Hot” (Rated NC17)

Summary:

While in the steam room at his father’s country club, Sebastian encounters an intriguing man who’s not shy about taking what he wants. (3655 words)

Read on AO3.

“Hey, Sebastian!”

“Hey, Ms. Melanie!”

“Haven’t seen you here in a while!”

“Sorry. Been busy.” Sebastian reaches out a hand for a locker key. “School, lacrosse, getting ready for graduation, you know how it is.”

“Absolutely!” Her smile grows as she hands him a towel from the warming cabinet beside her desk. “My Mark’s going through the same. I barely see him poke his head out of his room on the weekends with all the homework school gives the seniors.”

“Yeah. You think they’d let up a bit considering we’re leaving.”

“Not a chance! For the money we spend to send you kids to Dalton, they’d better stuff you full of knowledge right up to the very end!”

“Trust me, they’ve been doing that all year. It would be nice if they let us relax.”

“You can relax when you’re dead!” Melanie laughs at her own joke, and Sebastian laughs with her. Usually he wouldn’t. He’d roll his eyes and walk away. He wouldn’t be polite about it either, so he’s sure Melanie has noticed over the years. And yet, here she is, as sweet and kind as ever, teasing him as if he were an old friend.

What an ass he’s been, treating her like she’s beneath him because she worked at his father’s country club handing out towels and her son went to Dalton on scholarship! He didn’t do it intentionally. It was always more of a subconscious reaction than a consciously decided action – the unforeseen side-effect of quote/unquote good breeding and constant exposure to the right people.

But he still did it.

He has no problem standing up for himself when sacks of shit like Hunter think they’re his betters, but when is the last time he stood up for someone else? Someone who couldn’t give him anything in return?

Maybe this is what growing up is – realizing your shit stinks more than you think it does and doing your best to keep it downwind. He’d like to say he came to that realization on his own, but it’s more than likely a symptom of the company he’s been keeping.

Company that’s humbled him both figuratively and literally.

He waves goodbye to Melanie and heads for the locker room, making a mental note to find Mark the next time he’s on campus and invite him to the commons for coffee.

He peels off his uniform and tosses it in his locker, rolling his shoulder after every article he removes. He took a few hard hits on the field today. Normally, it wouldn’t be so bad, but Hunter seemed to have it out for him. Probably because Sebastian was named MVP of yesterday’s game.

Plus, he got some ass last night to boot. That had to irk Hunter, who hasn’t gotten his dick wet in God knows when.

Sebastian wraps the towel around his waist before he slips out of his underwear. He’s not self-conscious about his body by any means. At Dalton, he has no qualms about tossing off all his clothes in the locker room after practice and strutting to the shower naked.

But this place isn’t like the locker room at school.

The boys at Dalton keep their eyes to themselves. They respect one another’s boundaries. Even if that’s simply a consequence of Dalton’s zero tolerance bullying policy, it makes for a safe and pleasant environment.

Not here.

Coming here alone after school has opened Sebastian’s eyes to a lot of things about the so-called real world - realizations that are cartoonish in their absurdity.

One of them being that married men think about sex … a lot.

Not necessarily with their partners.

And even though straight adult men around his father’s age might turn up their noses at sex with another adult male, that doesn’t mean teenaged boys are off the table. Maybe it’s because they’re attracted to youth and youth can be considered androgynous. Smooth skin and a tight ass doesn’t need to belong to a specific gender to make it appealing.

It could also be ego – the alpha inside them eager to dominate a perceived up-and-coming alpha to prove they’ve still got it. They may never act on it, not in a million years. They may even deny it.

But their eyes tell a different story.

Sebastian enters the thick cloud of steam and walks to the far end of the room, finds an empty space and sits. Finding an unoccupied bench isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s seven in the evening and fairly crowded for a weeknight.

It always is.

Sebastian judges heavily the men gathered here who should be at home having dinner with their families. It grosses him out how many of these old farts stare at him while he sits on his bench, trying to ignore their slimy existences. He knows a handful of them – not well, not by name. But he’s seen them around the club, old money and new money alike, in the main dining hall, out on the links when he golfs with his dad, over by the pool, a lot of them with their wives and kids.

That makes it worse.

Away from their significant others, they look him over like he’s a meal, licking their lips behind the veil of steam, some with their eyes glued to his brand as if they know what it represents. And that makes him wonder …

Do they want to own him, or be him?

The question makes his skin crawl but he doesn’t leave. Sebastian came here because he needed to get away from school, from people who barge into his room uninvited and talk his ear off endlessly without taking a breath, as if they don’t see him eight hours out of the God dammed day.

But from Hunter especially.

Sebastian had a feeling Hunter would stop by his room after his shower, and he wasn’t in the mood for his crap. It filled him head to toe with tension that he didn’t need, felt it accumulate in his sore shoulder – the same shoulder as his brand.

The brand Hunter hated with a passion.

So Sebastian chose getting ogled over by pathetic old men in exchange for peace and quiet.

Seems like a reasonable exchange.

He rolls his head back on his neck and closes his eyes, and the second he does, he becomes the center of attention. He doesn’t need to see the men looking at him. He knows. He feels eyes on him, eyes that shamelessly stare, and out of pure, morbid curiosity, he opens his again to check.

To silently call them out, shame those of them who have some shame left.

A handful of men do look away. Most of the others can’t be bothered, going so far as to rub their erections through their towels as if in invitation.

Make Sebastian reconsider his seat.

But amidst the sea of flabby bellies and greying hair, Sebastian spots a man he swears he’s never seen before. He doesn’t fit in with the other fogies, which is a mark in his favor. He’s not flabby in the slightest, not a grey hair to be seen. He’s an older man, but not a dad.

More like a Daddy if Sebastian ever saw one.

From his toned arms and chest to his striking blue eyes, he cuts quite the picture. Sebastian wonders if the pudgy masses haven’t been sizing him up, too. Maybe once or twice, but not the way they do with Sebastian. They wouldn’t dare. This man gives off some serious apex predator vibes.

And right now, he has his sights set on Sebastian.

This man is gorgeous, which is not a word Sebastian tosses around lightly. He can only recall using it one other time - to describe his Porsche.

Fitting since this man is another thing he’s dying to ride.

That thought must manifest on his face because the man smirks and raises a questioning brow. Sebastian nods. He swallows hard. He inclines his head slightly toward the door, attempting to extend a subtle invitation. Sebastian knows nothing of ‘steam room etiquette’ except what he’s seen in a few cheesy ass pornos. He doesn’t even know if anything like that goes on here. He’d only started coming here on his own recently and it’s definitely not a place he’d choose to look for sex.

But there are exceptions to every rule, and this man is one fine exception.

Is Sebastian actually going to do this? Here? After having judged everyone else around him so harshly for thinking the same thing this man’s probably thinking?

Yes. Yes, he is.

He doesn’t know this man from Adam, but he’s different from the rest if for no other reason than, if he is married, he has the decency not to wear his ring.

So if he’s down to fuck, why not?

With eyes locked on those intoxicating steely blues, Sebastian rises from his bench and makes his way out of the steam room, heading for one of the more private rooms down the hall.

Ones with locks on the doors.

A skeevy guy Sebastian swears once asked his dad for stock advice a while back reaches for his towel as he passes, and Sebastian responds the same way his father had: “Not fucking likely.”

Sebastian doesn’t turn his head to see if he’s being followed – unwise considering the wrong man may have picked up on his invitation and Mr. Sexy AF may have stayed behind. But the mere chance that that man is behind him, following him down this hall, has Sebastian aroused eight ways till Sunday, the extreme tenting of his towel leading him like some obscene beacon. He goes to the farthest room and peeks in.

It’s empty.

Perfect.

If the man follows him in, it will prove they’re on the same page.

That he wants him.

Sebastian walks inside.

He leaves the door open.

It’s not a large room – roughly the size of his Dalton dorm room, maybe a few feet bigger, with benches along the wall to seat about five people. There’s another bench near the center, mounted in front of a square pedestal that comes up to Sebastian’s stomach. The top of the pedestal is recessed to hold rocks and heated underneath. Pouring water on the rocks produces steam. The more water added, the more steam produced. It billows up and over the rocks, down the column of the pedestal, and fills the room from corner to corner.

In a room this size, it’s effective at keeping things hot.

Sebastian heads for the rocks and begins ladling water over them.

Behind him, he hears the door close … and lock.

Sebastian stops ladling.

He still doesn’t know if the person behind him is the man he wants, and even though it’s going to cause one hell of a headache if it’s not him, these last moments of uncertainty provide their own erotic thrill.

The man doesn’t insult Sebastian’s intelligence, doesn’t employ any pretense, doesn’t sit down on one of the benches to make it seem like he’s there for any other reason than to pursue his prize. He puts a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, palm pressing into his brand, and spins him around.

And there he is – sculpted cheekbones, toned chest, blue eyes and all. He stares pointedly into Sebastian’s face and says, “Tell me to leave.”

Sebastian grins. “Why would I do that? I led you here.”

The man puts a bold hand on Sebastian’s ass and pulls him close. Sebastian feels every inch of the man against him – unforgiving planes and muscles, including his cock, resting against his own. “If we do this,” he whispers, “am I going to be your first?”

“Does that matter?”

“Not if it doesn’t matter to you. I just wanted to make sure you’re not the wine and roses type.”

“Actually, I think I’m the fast and hard in a steam room type.”

The man grins. “You jewel.” He grabs Sebastian by the back of the neck and kisses him, reaching for their towels and tugging them away, tossing them on the bench behind. Salty sweat on skin mix, dripping down Sebastian’s upper lip till he can taste it on his tongue. The man reaches for their cocks and strokes them together. Sebastian’s stomach spasms. He doesn’t know how to react, where to put his hands, how to participate. This is happening so fast, it makes Sebastian’s head spin. This man isn’t like the boys Sebastian has made out with, fondled, felt up, jerked off. This man knows what he’s doing, knows what he wants. He pushes Sebastian down onto the towel-covered bench with no hesitation, gets on his knees, and sucks Sebastian off, holding on to his hips a little too hard.

But Sebastian likes it.

“Jesus Christ!” he groans, hands locking onto the bench beneath him and holding tight. He’d always considered himself well-endowed, but this man has no trouble with him, taking him all the way down his throat without gagging an inch. The man goes at him hard. Sebastian tries to back up, to slow him down, but the man won’t have it, squeezing his hips harder, digging his thumbs into pressure points until Sebastian submits. And submit he does, lying back like a lion in surrender, arms and legs draped over the sides, his abs tense but his mind giving up control, allowing only for the uttering of one weak word: “Yes … yes … yes …” Muscles in his thighs and biceps twitch as he fights not to cum, but there’s little he can do to combat this man’s voracious mouth and his exceptionally talented tongue.

Sebastian cums.

The man’s mouth disappears, and the air around Sebastian’s cock cools even though the room is sweltering.

“Oh, God,” he moans, nearly rolling off the bench in his attempt to stand.

“Nu-uh.” The man puts a hand to his branded shoulder and pushes him down. “I’m not done with you yet. Not by a long shot.”

“Good,” Sebastian growls. He may be out of his league, but that doesn’t mean he’s not enjoying it. “But I’m not too sure I can get hard again right away after that.”

“Let me worry about that. Besides, I don’t need you hard. I need you open.”

“Then open me up.” Sebastian realizes that’s a dangerous thing to say to a stranger in a locked room, but it’s hot in here, and he’s still riding high off that orgasm. Between steam and lust, he’s feeling woozy.

“So, you like being used?” The man grabs Sebastian’s ass cheeks and pulls them apart, spending a long time just looking without touching.

“As long as you’re doing the using.”

The man chuckles. “You don’t even know me.”

“Do I have to?”

“That depends …” The man spits onto his fingers and wipes them over Sebastian’s asshole in a crude attempt at lubrication “… you’re not going to get attached to me or anything, are you? I’m not sure I need you following me around like a puppy dog.”

“Hey, you followed me, remember?” Sebastian grits his teeth when he feels one finger, slick with spit and sweat, make its way inside his body. It doesn’t hurt. Sebastian’s too relaxed for it to hurt.

“But you led me in here. You said so yourself.”

Another finger joins the first, and despite Sebastian’s mellow exhaustion, he starts bucking back.

“A-ha. I led you in here so you could fuck me, not talk about it. So why don’t you get on with it?”

The flat of a hand smacks his ass as a third finger forces its way inside. It stings like all get out, but when Sebastian clenches, he and the man behind him moan.

“God!” the man growls, fingers disappearing. The head of his cock replaces them at Sebastian’s entrance, becoming his sole focus. “I’ve gotta be in you! Now!”

“What? No condom?” Sebastian teases. He doesn’t have enough blood left in his brain to recognize that this is one of those moments they warn you about in sex-ed. He’s so far gone for this man, so ready to be fucked, he couldn’t care less about the consequences.

“Nah. I need to feel you.” The man’s voice shakes as he eases inside Sebastian’s body, snapping his hips and fucking him before he’s even all the way inside. But the first long thrust that slams Sebastian’s prostate brings his face straight to the bench.

“Fuck!” Sebastian grips the bench with knuckles white to keep from sliding off on his sweaty knees.

“Your wish is my command,” the man jokes, going back to what he seems to do best – fucking and fucking hard, spreading Sebastian’s cheeks wider and driving into him so deep, Sebastian swears he can feel the head of his cock hit the back of his throat. He’s tempted to ask this man if fucking is his day job, but he doesn’t because what if it is? What if that’s the reason he’s here? What if he’s a professional, making a few extra bucks trolling a den of pitiful rich old fucks stepping out on their wives?

If that’s the case, this man has earned so much of Sebastian’s respect.

If Sebastian has to fork over a few thou after this encounter, it’ll be well worth it to support him doing God’s work.

“Here …” the man switches positions, sitting on the bench and pulling Sebastian down on him “… sit on my lap. Help me out. Arms up. Hands behind your head.”

The posing makes it difficult for Sebastian to move, but a moment later, he realizes the need. The man’s arms wrap around him, his hands roaming his body from clavicle to cock, massaging muscles and toying with his nipples before they settle between his legs. The man fondles him – balls with one hand, shaft with the other – and Sebastian’s flaccid cock springs back with a vengeance.

So much for not being able to get hard right after. He just needed to find a man who knew his was around his body.

“Fuck … fuck … fuck … fuck …” Sebastian grunts, doing his best to keep going when what he wants to do is sit on this man’s cock and let him stroke him to completion.

“My, my, my, what a mouth you have. We really need to find some way to shut you up. Maybe with my dick next time. Whaddya think?”

“Yes,” Sebastian moans.

“I want you full of me,” the man grumbles, pushing down on Sebastian’s thighs with his forearms to make him go faster. “I wanna tie you down and take turns fucking you and having you suck me off. Whaddya think about that?”

“Ye—” Sebastian mutters, finding it impossible to speak the closer he gets to cumming, bobbing on this man’s cock becoming sheer but exquisite torture.

“Here …” The man holds Sebastian steady in a crouch position inches above his lap “… stay like that. Don’t move.” He leans back, starts driving his hips up, and Sebastian’s legs begin to shake. “You’re an athletic young man. You should be able to stay like that till I’m through with you.”

Sebastian’s tongue slips. He says something he had no intention of saying, no intention of calling anyone. “Yes … Sir …”

“Sir …” The man purrs. “I like the sound of that. I like the sound of that … very … much …” The man pulls Sebastian down into his lap and holds him there, bucking inside him with small, deliberate thrusts until his entire body devolves into seizure-like shakes, his cock pulsing inside him as he cums, trapped in Sebastian’s incredible heat.

And there’s so much of it – heat enveloping his cock, heat clinging to his skin, heat pouring down his hand as he wrings Sebastian’s cock dry, heat drying out his mouth and throat, making it difficult to breathe. With Sebastian pressing on his stomach, he feels like he might suffocate.

But all in all, this wouldn’t be too bad a way to go.

“Scene … scene …” Kurt mutters, unable to get the word over out of his mouth as he pants for air, comfortably crushed beneath Sebastian’s body in the irrepressible heat.

Sebastian gasps, bending at the waist, fighting to find cool air beneath the oppressive blanket of hot “So … what … did you think … of that … Master?”

“I think you have one hell of a dirty mind on you, preppy. Shit!” Kurt laughs, wrapping an arm around Sebastian’s midsection, laying kisses over his spine. “I’m so glad I made you pick this time! I didn’t know this was one of those steam rooms! Your folks are really getting their money’s worth!”

“I—it’s … it’s not, Master,” Sebastian says, reluctant to reveal the truth with his Dom up his ass, kissing his back.

The kisses stop, and despite the world around them being somewhere in the vista of 110 degrees, Sebastian’s entire body freezes solid.

“It’s not?”

“Uh, no.”

“So, what you’re saying is …”

“We may want to jet before they call my dad.”

Sebastian can’t see Kurt’s reaction to this new information, and the longer he has to wait, the sicker he begins to feel. He expects to get yelled at, feel nails rake down his sides, maybe even get shoved to the floor.

Kurt snickering into his skin relaxes him a hair.

His full out guffawing lets Sebastian know everything’s going to be okay – between them, at least.

“Holy shit!” Kurt snorts, pushing Sebastian off his lap, but gently. “You really have issues with symbols of societal standing, don’t you?”

“I … guess? Is that bad, Master?”

“Not at all.” Kurt throws Sebastian a towel and ties his own around his waist. “I think I’m beginning to see why the fuck it is you and I get along so well.”

*** Notes:I personally feel that in a sexual relationship like Kurt and Sebastian’s, roleplaying is a really good way for us as the audience to get into the minds of the characters. You see the things that they don’t necessarily express in dialogue, even in inner monologue, including how they see themselves interacting with the world around them - how they feel despite what they say.

[dweemeister]

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

Over the last hundred years, the Presidency of the United States has grown in scope and responsibilities. For a newborn nation founded (and yes, I know I’m radically simplifying things) due to the legislative and taxation imposed by a tyrannical sovereign, America’s Founders crafted an executive with limited power. That power, independent from and counterbalanced by the federal government’s legislative and judicial branches, remained limited for most of the nineteenth century. Turn the page to the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries, and the office has become gargantuan. Starting from Herbert Hoover’s single term, fifteen men have presided over the Oval Office, representing the longest uninterrupted run of the Presidency accruing power – despite campaign slogans from mostly conservative presidents promising to rein in an expanding office. Over those fifteen presidential administrations, the American people, once suspicious of being ruled by monarchical fiat, have, through mass media, developed increasing expectations for their head of state and government.

These expectations are oftentimes not explicitly outlined by the U.S. Constitution, and are the constructions of politics or the public. They include, and are not limited to: reinvigorating the national economy by execution of monetary policy, introducing a blueprint for and compromising with Congress over the federal budget, managing the vast bureaucracy existing within the White House, and comforting those who have lost their loved ones after a disaster. Presidential scholars sometimes deem the burgeoning power of the office as the “Imperial Presidency” – a term that may have been first used during John F. Kennedy’s administration. That administration is at the heart of Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, directed by Robert Drew for ABC News, and released a month before Kennedy’s assassination.

In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States, in their decision for Brown v. Board of Education, ruled that the “separate, but equal” justification for racially segregating black and white children in public schools was unconstitutional. Opposition in the American South meant that enforcement and adherence to the Court’s decision proved elusive. The University of Alabama began accepting applications from black students after Brown v. Board, denying admittance from all except for one exception (the university’s administration found, after some effort and rioting, an excuse to expel the student). But in 1963, three students – Vivian Malone and James Hood for the flagship campus in Tuscaloosa; Dave McGlathery for UA Huntsville – applied for and, by federal court order, were admitted to the University of Alabama system.

Crisis follows the efforts of the Kennedy administration – mostly through Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (JFK’s brother) – over two days, to ensure that Vivian Malone and James Hood could register for classes. Fears of rioting and violence, though unrealized, hung over the Kennedy administration. The stiffest resistance came from Alabama Governor George Wallace – who advocated for “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” – who vowed to physically block the doorway of the university’s Foster Auditorium to prevent Malone and Hood from registering. The President, Attorney General, and Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach (who is sent to Alabama) work, with their staffers, to formulate a plan on how to allow Malone and Hood to register for classes as painlessly as possible.

The film, co-produced by Drew’s production company Drew Associates, is shot with minimal voiceover narration by James Lipscomb (a producer for various documentaries for National Geographic); Drew’s team also included Drew Associates regulars like D.A. Pennebaker (1967’s Don’t Look Back, 1993’s The War Room) and Richard Leacock (1966’s Monterey Pop and four episodes of Omnibus). All these filmmakers have been noted for their innovation of cinéma verité – which Crisis is an excellent example of. Cinéma verité, in its most basic form, is documentary filmmaking where the filmmakers allow the audience to observe what is happening. In cinéma verité, insights about people, places, and events are revealed through the images alone – not through interventions by the filmmakers like narration (which in Crisis only serves to identify the key individuals; note the passage of time; and explain the context of a scene after a cut), superimposed text, or talking head interviews. Narration and superimposed text can exist within a cinéma verité documentary, but they can only be factual in nature.

Drew Associates’ access to the White House, Department of Justice, and RFK’s residence was thanks to the company’s work in filming Primary (1960), which followed Kennedy and his Democratic Primary opponent Hubert Humphrey as the contested the Wisconsin Democratic Primary. How they received access to Governor Wallace’s residence and the Alabama Capitol is not clear. Before President Kennedy’s inauguration in 1960, he agreed with Drew that presidential decision making in a crisis would be a fascinating documentary topic: “What if I could see what went on in the White House during the twenty-four hours before FDR declared war on Japan,” JFK mused. Agreeing to give Drew access when such a crisis (not of top-secret military importance) came, President Kennedy believed that the film would hopefully serve for future presidents as an example of how critical presidential decisions are made. To reach the Resolute desk, the issue must be laden with controversy. Indeed, the crisis of Governor Wallace’s refusal to allow black students to register for classes with the University of Alabama generated a lot of discussion in Washington and across the South. Filmed on June 10 and 11, 1963, Crisis captures the mechanics of the tough decisions that President Kennedy and his brother, the Attorney General, make: how to use the National Guard if at all, the optics of escorting the students onto campus, anticipating worst-case scenarios, discussing electoral consequences of enraging the Southern segregationist vote, telephone calls, meeting after meeting.

For Wallace, the narration does not refer to his pro-segregation views, nor his betrayal of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) after garnering their endorsement for his first failed run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1958 (his opponent then was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan). If one knew nothing about Wallace prior to Crisis, the opening minutes of the film might make you think he is a dedicated family man and a diligent worker. But his rhetoric during the film makes transparent his racism. Snippets of Wallace walking among the public exemplifies his popularity among Alabaman whites, who extol him for his pro-segregationist broadsides against an overreaching federal government. When cinéma verité is applied with as little authorial editorialization as possible (there will always be some degree of such editorializing, but the aim in cinéma verité is to minimize it), what is murky in days past, over time, rises above the fray, revealing truth. Wallace’s actions are indefensible, and the fact that so many supported his actions reveals the stain of racism that continues to infect American politics for the foreseeable future. And yet, this is as fair a treatment as George Wallace could have hoped for in a documentary film.

One of the unsung individuals in Crisis is Deputy Attorney General Katzenbach, who is the one who briefs the National Guard on what is to be done the day they escort Malone and Hood on campus. His discussions with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in person and over telephone calls encapsulate their professionalism and mutual respect for the other. Katzenbach, the first person to confront Governor Wallace in the doorway – with both men reading prepared statements to the other, with Wallace clearly not listening as he interrupts the Deputy Attorney General – outmaneuvers the Governor, a tribute to his strategizing in the lead-up to this confrontation.

An executive order from President Kennedy federalizing the Alabama National Guard is what makes Wallace stand down. Since Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency (1901-1909), the executive order has become a tool for a president to help federal agencies and officers manage operations of the federal government. Though executive orders are not legislation nor specifically mentioned in the Constitution, they do not require Congressional approval (though Congress can pass legislation that makes the executive order difficult to perform). The regulations created through executive orders can have a sweeping effect on life in the United States – most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt’s authorization to force German-Americans, Italian-Americans, and especially Japanese-Americans into concentration camps and Donald Trump’s suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and suspension on entries from several Muslim-majority nations in January 2017. Executive orders have played a growing role in the lifespans of American presidential administrations. Most recently, the uptick of executive orders under Barack Obama’s last years in office served as inspiration to his successor in how to handle the tools of the presidency.

The basis of Kennedy’s invocation of executive order is clear-cut, even though Crisis barely mentions it: Brown v. Board of Education. Kennedy’s actions, however, might have been unthinkable earlier in history even with a corresponding Supreme Court decision. The growth of the Imperial Presidency and the public’s desire for stronger central government – in contrast to how Americans perceived their constitutional republic in roughly the first century of its existence – create all the drama in Crisis. The film, curiously, does not seem terribly interested in questioning how the process of this decision – using the Attorney General and federalizing a possibly sympathetic portion of the National Guard – might play to Alabamans after it has happened. Given the changes in how the U.S. Constitution is interpreted, this same dynamic made possible FDR’s New Deal and the internment camps that detained thousands of American citizens and nationals, Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and Donald Trump’s efforts to decrease immigration and refugee arrivals as much as possible. In addition to providing insight to what is a credible use of executive order, Crisis – if contextualized by noting how the American presidency has and now operates – can illuminate how expansive the American presidency has become.

Debuting on ABC stations nationwide on October 21, 1963*, Crisis prompted viewers to flood ABC and its affiliates with furious calls venting about the fact cameras were given permission to roll in the Oval Office. Americans and, by extension, anyone who interested in what is happening in America, now take for granted how much access they have to their executive, legislative, and judicial branches – even if this comes at the expense of metastasizing confirmation bias in the nation’s politics. Many considered this a debasement of the office, a distraction from the agonizing work they expected their president and his officials to be performing (even though President Kennedy and those officials act as if they barely noticed the cameras). This outrage, however, would not last, due to Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas several weeks later.

Crisis was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2011, noting that the film, “has proven to be a uniquely revealing complement to written histories of the period, providing viewers the rare opportunity to witness historical event from an insider’s perspective.” It remains a singular document in which presidential crisis management and deliberation are central. Running under an hour, it is a compelling work of early cinéma verité (which has receded in the new century) that will prove intriguing even outside history and civics classes. More than enough time has passed, with the film’s truths seen in full.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

*Despite debuting on television, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is almost always treated as a cinematic film. It has been considered as such here.

[swobe]

BAD NEWS FOR LABOUR: Where do we go from here?

Here it is, 2020, the year of Democratic Socialism for all: a revived NHS; buoyancy in the jobs market on the back of a Green Industrial Revolution; and my broadband connection is finally above 75mbps (thank you, Lord Sugar). 

Wait… Blyth Valley’s gone blue? 42 seats down? Well, this year’s already gone to the dogs. 

We’ve had time to reflect (grieve, even), and long may the lamentation continue, given a Conservative majority ensures Boris Johnson has the ‘transformative’ Brexit mandate he so desired. 

It was a campaign defined by media and marketing; the echolalia of a few empty phrases from the Prime Minister, focusing on ‘getting Brexit done’, avoiding ‘dither and delay’, and something about him knowing how to use an oven. Johnson’s puppet-master, Dominic Cummings, applied a near-identical plan of action for the General Election as he did the EU Referendum, following the tried and tested formula for marketing success. Per the buzzwords, Brexit is going to get done, but will their oven-ready plan be Tesco’s Finest or Sainsbury’s Basic?  

The time for slogans is over now and while Labour licks its wounds, the Government has just one year to complete a trade deal with the European Union. So, if you catch Johnson on his way out from Sunday Service, let him know that we, too, are praying for that logistical miracle. May the plastic sealing our ready-meal deal have more integrity than the wax of the candles we light. 

However, if Pinocchio and Geppetto manage to package their deal as remotely appealing, there is a real chance that Labour could be locked out of No.10 for another century. 

 Where did we go wrong? 

To the surprise of some, none of the reasons Labour failed include the British electorate being neo-fascist, uneducated scabs. Brexit; claims of racism; issues of leadership; and hostility towards the more conservative members of our party, peers, and nation as a whole, are mostly valid, but the failure of the leadership team to engage with these issues is illustrative of an inability to present a palatable narrative for the Labour Party’s largely popular policy stance. 

1. First and foremost, we must recognise the impact of media portrayal on Corbyn’s Labour Party. Persistent anti-Corbyn headlines were echoed in broadcast media, shared to digital platforms and then shared by word of mouth in mess rooms, over dinner tables and on factory floors across the country. It isn’t exactly surprising that such a concerted vilification campaign was deemed necessary for a radical, anti-establishment movement. At least not when 71% of the UK’s print media market is dominated by three companies. The Murdochs and Rothermeres of the world felt threatened by a movement they deemed incompatible with their worldview, and also their tax avoidance, as Labour had vowed to scrap their non-domicile status, which allows some UK residents to limit tax paid on earnings outside of the country.

Hence, Labour need to take advantage of their active membership and use this time to develop an active alternative communication infrastructure, because the mobilisation of a Commons Majority can only occur if their vision is not diluted with smears. Goldsmiths’ own, Prof. Natalie Fenton, engaged with this in her 2016 publication, ‘Digital, Political, Radical’, stating that we need to acknowledge that global media in its present form is incompatible with democracy. Fenton believes it necessary for the field of media and communications to mobilise in the face of an agenda content on indirectly subordinating us through their content.

2. On the topic of media and communications, it is also important to recognise that the Labour message did not connect as well as it needed to. However ideologically inspiring, the delivery has been poor in practice, and this goes beyond Corbyn and into his leadership office.

10.29 million heads for Labour in 2019, sees a 7.8% reduction in vote share from 2017, dropping from 40% to 32.2%. A drastic shake up but arguably proving that there is still appetite for a socially radical programme in Britain. The issue is instead with the Labour Leadership office of Seamus Milne, Karie Murphy, Len McCluskey and Andrew Murray who championed a campaign that seemingly took Labour Leave seats for granted and focused resources on rather unattainable Tory Leave seats. This stoked the flames of ideological infighting against Corbyn-sceptic MPs and turned what should’ve been a political open goal for the Labour Party in the form of a ‘Don’t Trust Boris’ campaign, into a cut and shut victory for the Tories. The chart below displays Labour’s 60 offensive targets, only one of which they managed to secure, Putney.

(image: Sunday Times, 2019)

As you can see, the offensive campaign fell flat on its arse and with two thirds of Labour held seats voting Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum, the defensive side of the campaign wasn’t too healthy either. One would argue that the stoic attempt at neutrality on the issue of the UK’s exit from the EU was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Dubbed the Brexit Election, there is no doubt that the Party’s ambiguous position on the constitutional crunch did them no favours. Neutrality was perceived as weakness by the many and was adopted as weapon of choice for the Conservative few. This method, which focused on healing national divisions on the issue, only polarised the electorate further. Uncertainty around the Party’s Brexit position caused Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ in the North of England, to collapse. With 1/5 of Labour Leave voters jumping ship to the Tories it was apparent this position was perceived as a non-position; it’s unfortunate that this just so happened to be the key political issue of the decade that they had managed to cock up. 

In the midst of Brexit we are operating in a climate of rising nationalist populism in the UK and our campaign was reluctant to engage with this; mass immigration was seemingly ignored; patriotism and cultural identity absent; and not one compelling illustration of the low-wage, technocratic economy that the Conservative government are constructing. With a nation-wide tour and massive crowds gathering to hear Jeremy speak, it was easy to think that we would build on 2017.  However, we now know that was not the case and have clear lessons to learn about how engaging with Labour heartlands will need to be more about listening and less about preaching to the choir. 

3. Finally, we mustn’t tiptoe around leadership, time and time again Labour volunteers on the doorstep were met with concerns about Jeremy Corbyn’s perceived incompetence (I was actually marched out of one flat block in Kensington). It’s frustrating, because although I joined the party in 2017 as a result of Jeremy and have the utmost respect for the seeds he sowed in dragging our country’s political conversation to the left, I, too, understand that in the current political climate many see Corbyn as a hark back to the 70’s, and thus render him as an unelectable candidate. 

‘One of the most consistent findings in social psychology is that people find ways to believe what they want to believe. The Conservative Party has always been able to appeal to large numbers of people on the basis of faux patriotism and conning voters into thinking it can deliver economic growth and prosperity.’ (James Melville, Byline Times, 2019)

The media vilification campaign against him forced Jeremy into regularly deflecting issues instead of utilising the pragmatic engagement we have come to expect from him. Making it easier than ever for the right-leaning press to portray the Leader of the Opposition as an unpatriotic shrugging school-boy; wounded by claims of anti-Semitism; and seemingly insufficiently briefed by his team.  

But don’t despair. We have much to learn from the Corbyn project, and plenty to take hope from too. This is merely a post-election reflection, fuelled by the malaise. I am holding out hope that maybe the Labour Leadership team planned this all along, an elaborate rouse to achieve Brexit, whilst their intricate and convincing socialist narrative for post-Brexit Britain is sat warming in the oven. Or maybe that’s just fantasy. However, I know one thing for sure, the past four years have ensured the socialist flame in the heart of the party has been reignited for good, so now Labour must focus on electoral success, which means backing the leader we believe can lead us to victory in the post-Brexit culture war.

Oh, and if you have any ideas about Labour’s post-Brexit rebuild campaign, I encourage you all to start trademarking slogans now, before Dominic Cummings gets there first. 

[bountyofbeads]

Trump’s Paradigm of the Personal https://nyti.ms/2NwK2xW

Excellent piece by @CharlesMBlow of the Times. Highly recommend, also the comments are interesting as well.

Trump’s Paradigm of the Personal

He confuses the way he thinks he is treated with the well-being of the country.

By Charles M. Blow, Opinion Columnist

Published Aug. 25, 2019 | New York Times | Posted August 26, 2019 |

For Donald Trump, all is personal.

And in his view, he is not the executive of the company. He is the embodiment of the country. He runs the country the way he ran his business, as the curating and promotion of his personal brand.

The people who support him are customers — people to be sold a vision and a dream. The people who criticize or oppose him threaten the brand and must be dealt with.

For Trump, everything is image-based and rooted in the appearance of personal relationships. When the Danish prime minister rebuffed his overture about buying Greenland, calling the idea “absurd,” Trump threw a tantrum and canceled his visit to Denmark.

Trump discussed the episode at one of his press gaggles, calling the prime minister’s response “nasty’ and saying, “We can’t treat the United States of America the way they treated us under President Obama.” He went on to say: “She’s not talking to me. She’s talking to the United States of America. You don’t talk to the United States that way, at least under me.”

No, actually, she was talking to him.

America was not being dismissed or disrespected. This proposal, which sounded like a joke, was being laughed at. And this president hates being laughed at.

Everything in Trump’s view is about whether someone is nice or nasty to him. It’s not about the country at all. It’s not about historical precedent or value of continuity.

His dislike of his predecessors — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and even Jimmy Carter — is personal, not rooted in policy. He has a particular obsession with Obama, and has set about to undo everything Obama had done.

It’s petty and small and beneath the presidency, much like Trump himself.

I believe that Trump has had a longstanding belief about how China should be dealt with, but I believe that the current trade war is as much a personal beef with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Trump thought that he could play rough and that Xi would fold.

That was silly and shortsighted. The U.S. presidency is term-limited. China’s is not. The Chinese may experience pain from the trade war, but they can afford to wait Trump out.

The fact that Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, won’t attempt to manipulate the economy in ways Trump thinks would be favorable, but is instead operating as an independent thinker, Trump takes as a personal slight. Trump appointed him. Trump demands loyalty and blind obeisance.

When China announced another round of retaliatory tariffs this week, Trump had a Twitter meltdown, tweeting “... My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?” and sending the markets into a tailspin.

Trump hated North Korea’s Kim Jong-un before he loved him. Kim has played Trump like a fiddle. Kim has baited Trump into two summits, where Trump got nothing and Kim got a priceless public relations moment. Kim can just send Trump love letters and do what he wants and surrender nothing. In Trump’s paradigm of the personal, Kim likes him and is his friend.

Vladimir Putin is also exploiting Trump’s personal need to be liked — his weak man’s desire to be admired by strong men. Trump has a deep and mysterious affection for Putin. Yes, Putin helped to get him elected, but I’m not sure even that explains the way Trump genuflects for him.

Everyone around Trump knows his weakness: He is a bottomless pit of emotional need, someone who desperately wants friends but doesn’t have the emotional quotient to know how to make and keep them. So, they flatter him and inflate him.

They have all become major-league yes men and women.

None of this is good for the country. The presidency is not owned; it is occupied. It is bigger than any man or woman. Men have grown into it, but they have never subsumed it.

The presidency must have one eye on the past and one on the future. It must place national interest over personal interest. It has absolutely nothing to do with any one person’s feelings.

In George Washington’s farewell address of 1796, he said:

“The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.”

Trump is trying to embody the country and to lead it astray in the way that Washington warned against. Trump is a slave to his emotions, and this impulse is doing great harm to the nation, both internally and on the world stage.

I’m not sure that damage is irreparable. Our democracy, though fragile in many ways, has proved remarkably durable in others. But there is no doubt that the damage Trump is doing is deep and will take time and effort to undo.

Trump’s personal problems will leave a national scar.

COMMENTS FROM READERS, ADD YOUR THOUGHTS AS WELL:

""Trump’s personal problems will leave a national scar." More like an open wound that won't heal. 60 million citizens have succumbed to his bombast, and to date there seems to be no weakening of their support. That will take years if not decades to heal. It may never. Iraq and the Bush years were tragic, but with President Obama we started a recovery. Even with one of the deepest recession, we all pulled together, and we started the to build jobs again and pulled out of the recession quicker than the rest of the world. We lead the way. But literally within days of Trump taking office the country started it's tragic descent into the abyss. And there is no end in sight."

CHERRYLOG754, ATLANTA

"Because this president views himself a king, like Louis XIV, his actions and words smack of "l'etat c'est moi". Which is a fancy way of saying, what Charles just said, he thinks he embodies the nation, not leads it. Which is funny, because if you are the nation, wouldn't you have a better appreciation of its history, culture, mores, and values? One would think so. I watched the world leaders at G-7 and except for Trump, each shows a keen understanding of what their country represents and where it's headed. Even newbie Boris Johnson is well educated, even if his bombast often resembles that of Trump. More important, they know they are leading their entire countries, not just a small base of ardent supporters. Trump's problem is he can't grow his base, because he doesn't want to: the best part of his job is the one he shouldn't be doing on the taxpayers' dime: holding political rallies to boost his ego." CHRISTINE MCM, MASSACHUSETTS

" In other words Charles, Trump lacks the temperament to be President. Anyone who is honest with him/herself knows that. Even the Republicans in Congress know this. The problem is that neither they nor Trump's base care."

JAY ORCHARD , MIAMI FL

"It makes a sort of sense that Trump expected his "tough guy" act with President Xi would result in Xi giving in. Just as he thought his thrown down the papers and stamp out of the room would make Speaker Pelosi grovel for whatever he wanted. Trump, in the private sector, could choose his victims, and he made sure they would at least perceive he was far richer and more powerful, (whether he was or not) so he could, bluster and rage, doing as he pleased and demanding whatever he wanted. That doesn't work when you become a public employee, which the President is, and Trump has no other rabbits to pull out of that same tired stage hat. And he clearly can't figure out why it's not working any more."

1DCAce, LOS ANGELES CA

"There's nothing mysterious about the President's admiration for Mr. Putin. Putin has made Russia into exactly what Mr. Trump would like to make the United States: an authoritarian plutocracy where the super-rich can do absolutely anything they want — except dispute the legitimacy of the government — while everyone else is kept in line by voter suppression, state-controlled media and churches, and an intimidating security apparatus."

JL WILLIAMS, WAHOO NE

"From my understanding of Trump, his greatest fear, going back to his early days in NYC, is that he is not taken seriously. It's an old vs new money sort of thing, as far as I can tell. He tried to buy his way into big money society by assuming a false name and giving the media false numbers about his personal wealth he was so desperate to prove his real worth. He put gold plate on everything he touched, hoping that would show how wealthy he was. Still, no one took him seriously. And now he's finding that world leaders fail to take him seriously as well. You can almost hearing him thinking -- I'm in the White House, surely they'll take me seriously now. But alas, he's the poor little sort-of-rich boy that no one wants to play with. He doesn't care about the country. He only cares about himself. And he still finds that no one takes him seriously. Sad, as he used to like to say."

AVRDS, MONTANA

"Excellent observations as usual from Charles Blow. I would only add that Trump's form of mental illness is dangerous. It is not innocuous, rather it is pervasive and boundless. That renders him an immediate dangerous to our nation. Immediate. That means he must be removed office immediately. Failure to do so opens the door to sheer disaster and that is exactly what we are looking at everyday he remains office. Disaster." INDEPENDANT, ALABAMA

"After World War 2, our allies respected the United States. Mr Trump has destroyed this respect. Now, our once-firm allies are looking to go around the United States and put their countries first. This will result in a race to the bottom. Trump has diminished the US - and succeeded in making China and Russia great. However, it’s important to remember the this isn’t just Mr. Trump. The vast majority of Republicans like what Mr Trump does, not seeing the damage and reveling in his tough-guy rhetoric. When the damage becomes too obvious to ignore, they’ll say that Trump was’t really a Republican (as they did with George W Bush) They will also, of course, blame Democrats for the consequences of Republican policies. Pity that Republicans, including Mr Trump, seem incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions."JOHN M, OAKLAND

"For Trump, the sun rises and sets in himself. He cannot conceive of anything without inserting himself somehow. He cannot make any move without calculating how it will benefit him personally. The farthest from what a leader should be."NM, NY

"In my more than 60 years I have never experienced a President who truly believed the nation, the American people, excluded all who did not support him. Nor millions of my neighbors who were fine with that idea if they considered themselves as part of that group of supporters. This, to me, is among the most dangerous things which this man has unleashed. My disappointment in my neighbors goes very deep. We will get past Trump, but not the millions of our fellows who like him."DAGWOOD, SAN DIEGO

"Countries can tragically and suddenly head in the wrong direction. In the 1930s, Germans were the most educated in Europe with Berlin the leading city in Europe. Ten years later, the country and most of Europe was destroyed. 75 million dead. It can happen here." SOMEWHERE, AZ

"I have a hard time seeing where it is all personal with Trump. He is faithfully carrying out two agendas, one of the white nationalists and one of the extreme libertarians. It is hard to tell how much of his rolling back of Obama's accomplishments are personal and how much is agenda driven. There seems little question that Trump will have done permanent damage. Western countries will no long be able to trust the US again as they did in the past as another Trump could be elected in any future election. It cannot be quantified how much he has set back efforts to fight climate change but it would seem to be considerable. Can white nationalism be put back in the bottle? That seems unlikely. Trump has uncorked some of the worst stuff in the US population. It is anybody's guess whether the country can return to its previous level of civility." BOB, HUDSON VALLEY

"In the same address Washington also spoke about the three big threats that could destroy America: too much debt, influence of foreign interests and political partisanship. hmmmm" AERYS

"People keep trying to find rational explanations for Trump's behavior. I don't think he generally acts from anything more complicated than going with what makes him feel good. He, and those around him, often say that when he feels attacked, he punches back. That is consistent with a lot of the strange things he has done. Punching back makes him feel strong and he likes that feeling. The problem is that governing is complicated. If Trump's feelings are hurt, he seems to feel justified in throwing a temper tantrum. That tendency to bluster in an effort to intimidate may work for male gorillas, but leaders of governments ought to know better." BETTY S, UPSTATE NY

“The U.S. presidency is term-limited.” The US presidency was term-limited. Does anyone really think he’s joking when he talks about being in office another 10 or 14 years? He’s not going to leave willingly. The bottom line here might end up being whether the military will support his coup."

CLAIRE ELLIOTT, EUGENE OR

"Rather than making America great again, 45 has made America a second rate country. Our allies no longer trust us to keep our word. Our enemies see that our leadership is faltering. It will take years perhaps decades to regain the trust we once enjoyed throughout the world. People see that 45 has not thought out anything he says past the current news cycle. There is no vision for America, no grand plan, nothing."

PSCHWIMER

"Now that this "president" has decided that he has the authority to order America's private businesses to cease all operations in China (which would entail crippling a great many of them financially), it seems to me that the 25th Amendment truly needs to be invoked. Which is to say that the walking apparition named Mike Pence should visit the Oval Office along with the leaders of both houses of Congress and as many of Trump's cabinet members as can be rustled up and tell our delusional chief executive that he has no such authority over private industry and that he should immediately and publicly acknowledge this. He should also explain that the order he had delivered was intended only as a suggestion or a recommendation. Should he refuse to go along with this, it would be clear that he's fully entered the realm of madness (as his private obsession with China would already seem to indicate) and that his removal from office would thereby become necessary. If we weren't already at such a critical juncture we could spend a good deal of time discussing Trump's own business connections with Beijing and arguing that his preference for having his (and Ivanka's) branded merchandise produced there should dictate that he not impugn other American business executives for doing the same thing (let alone "order" them to cease doing so). It's too late for idle speculation, however. Mad King Donald really has to go." STU FREEMAN, BROOKLYN

"I have to think that Washington's words would be met by Trump with blank incomprehension, not merely because the language is hard (by comparison with Trump's own "cartoon-bubble" mode of communication) but because understanding it would require Trump to betray his own most firmly-held convictions." PORTLAND, OR

"Thank you, Mr. Blow, for another strong column. This president's bizarre behaviors have led to complete demoralization and discouragement for U.S. citizens. How can a powerful country be so feckless when it comes to getting him out? Someone commented that the 25th amendment wouldn't work because it's for cases of complete incapacity. I assume they mean physical incapacity. In the case of mental/emotional incapacity, does a President have to be drooling and catatonic, or fly into a rage on television? Is it not enough that he lies constantly, proposes buying another country, frequently insults allies, calls himself the chosen one, decrees that private businesses shall exit China, and flip-flops in divergent directions on important national policies during the same 24-hour period? If it were another president in another time, members of Congress would have taken Trump in hand and led him away to restore order and standing to our country. But no, Congress is on vacation and Trump golfs while the Amazon burns."GWOO, HONOLULU

"The Greenland episode is classic Trump: throw out a crazy initial offer and see what happens. But international politics is not pure business. Greenland was never up for sale by Denmark. Trump's behavior makes him look wholly irrational and by extension makes the American voting public look like a population of fools. Trump displays isolationism with "America First." Other countries should take this seriously. In fact, they should quarantine the United States. They should do so until America can figure out how to elect a sane president and a stable cast of supporting legislators in Congress. Indeed Trump has a penchant for calling those he dislikes "nasty," but that term is reserved for women in power, such as HRC and the prime minister of Denmark. Trump befriends ruthless dictators in countries like North Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia -- leaders who actively torture and kill their people -- without referring to them in this way. Trump is also already backtracking on China. He will not let the economy crumble before the election: after all, it's his only real "selling point." Trump maintains a particular disdain for Obama because he is black and Trump is an overt racist, as demonstrated by violations of the Fair Housing Act in the 1970s to the Central Park Five to birtherism to Charlottesville to the Squad. The election next year is bound to be a close one. Do what you can to see that Trump does not win a second term."

BLUE MOON, OLD PUEBLO

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

We have only 12 years to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent, according to an October report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The feat, it admits, would require “rapid, far-reaching” societal transformation. If we fail, coastal cities will be inundated, food will run short and the damage will cost $54 trillion by 2040, when babies born this year will be old enough to graduate from college.

The clear path to curbing these catastrophes involves rapidly phasing out carbonintensive fuels, which requires changes on a scale for which “There is no documented historic precedent,” the report’s authors note.

But more dramatic approaches have crept into policy discussions, like solar radiation management, known as SRM. First imagined by scientists during the Cold War, SRM promises a comparatively cheap, quick fix: the continuous dispersal of aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect and absorb sunlight, cooling the planet. In effect, SRM means dimming the sun.

For proof of concept, advocates look to volcanic eruptions, which spew out plumes of aerosols. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, for example, reportedly lowered global temperatures by 1 degree Celsius. The best modeling suggests SRM, too, would work like a charm.

Like a volcano, however, SRM is enormously risky. Side effects could include decreasing crop yields, melting the ozone layer or irreparably altering the water cycle, flooding some parts of the world while causing prolonged droughts in others—and those are just the few we are able to model.

If starting SRM is risky, so is stopping once we’ve started: Stanching the flow of aerosols would risk the Earth rapidly warming by several degrees within a decade, known as a “termination shock.” This sudden heating would do more damage than the current, more gradual warming, disrupting the climate while giving species and ecosystems little time to adapt.

But given the stakes, many SRM boosters say the benefits seem to outweigh the risk. After all, what choice do we have?

If it sounds like we’ve crossed into science fiction, we have: This scenario is more or less the opening narration of Geostorm, a critically panned 2017 film about climate-controlling satellites gone rogue. The better-received 2013 class-struggle flick Snowpiercer also starts with a similar premise: an attempted SRM-like scheme backfires into endless winter.

Yet SRM and other risky high-tech climate interventions inch closer to reality by the day. The IPCC report has reignited a long-running debate: How far are we willing to go, and what risks are we willing to take, to keep the Earth from further warming? Humans have altered the climate for centuries by pumping out greenhouse gases. What’s so different about interfering with the climate to save the world instead of cook it? Do we have any other options left?

Stratospheric Aerosol injection — the type of SRM described above—is one of a suite of technologies aimed at large-scale manipulation of the climate, known as geoengineering. There are two broad categories: solar geoengineering to block or reflect sunlight (like SRM), and “negative emissions technologies” to suck greenhouse gases out of the air. Negative emissions technologies have been factored into climate modeling for years and have a long-established (if controversial) role in IPCC mitigation strategies; solar geoengineering has been more fringe.

But in the past few years, the governments of the United Kingdom and United States have each sponsored research into solar geoengineering, outlets from The New Yorker to the New York Times have commissioned lengthy articles on it, and an editor at The Economist wrote a whole book on the subject, The Planet Remade. Just after the release of the new IPCC report, Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass opined that world governments should “accelerate R&D on geoengineering,” and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called to “incentivize oil companies to help.”

SRM has even found a research base in the Ivy League. Thanks to Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program, founded in 2017, the first steps toward implementation may soon float above the United States through the program’s Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment.

Known as Scopex, the experiment is not an SRM test, per se—to truly test the concept would require a global scale. But it is an attempt to go beyond computer modeling to understand the chemistry and microphysics of how particular aerosols interact with the stratosphere. A propeller-powered balloon will disseminate the aerosols; a small gondola, attached, will carry sensors. Researchers hope to launch in 2019.

Opposition to SRM has increased as well. As IPCC researchers met in South Korea to finalize their report, 110 civil society organizations across five continents, from First Nations peoples to think tanks to environmental NGOs, issued an anti-geoengineering manifesto: Hands Off Mother Earth, or HOME.

It reads, in part: “Geoengineering perpetuates the false belief that today’s unjust, ecologically and socially devastating industrial model of production and consumption cannot be changed and that we therefore need techno-fixes to tame its effects.” Signatories fear the development of SRM will be used as an excuse to continue the carbon status quo, calling it a “dangerous distraction” from real solutions and a “further entrenchment of fossil fuel economies.” Fossil fuel corporations have yet to throw their weight behind SRM specifically, but Shell’s chief climate change advisor, David Hone, praises the “sulphur solution” (referring to SRM) as the simplest in his book, Putting the Genie Back.

Harvard scientist David Keith, a contributor to the Scopex project, has emerged as something of a public face of SRM. He disagrees that geoengineering protects fossil fuel companies, envisioning it instead as a complement to decarbonization. “If solar geoengineering was much better understood, I don’t think it would make all the environmental forces give up and let Exxon win,” he says. “There’s not an alternative to cutting fossil fuels. We have to get them out of the energy system.”

Keith isn’t pushing for SRM deployment—just research— and says it’s important to understand all of the risks before moving forward. He worries about the Trump administration or other fossil fuel-friendly governments grasping onto SRM as a perceived quick fix. Still, he thinks we should be able to simultaneously research SRM and take action against fossil fuels.

The HOME manifesto, however, calls for a ban on open-air field experiments like Scopex. “[Scopex] makes no sense if you are not going to pursue deployment later,” says Silvia Ribeiro, one of the manifesto’s authors and the Latin America director of ETC Group, which addresses the social and environmental impacts of new technologies. “All powerful technologies have started with small experiments.”

Oxford physicist Raymond Pierrehumbert, a lead author on the IPCC’s third assessment report in 2001, sees Scopex as a crossing of the Rubicon. “Proceeding to field experimentation,” he writes, “crosses a thin red line beyond which lies the slippery slope down to ever-larger field trials and, ultimately, deployment.”

Skeptics also note that SRM only addresses some of the effects of global warming—those stemming directly from temperature. It does nothing to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, which means ocean acidification would continue apace, causing irreversible damage to coral reefs and other ocean life that will reverberate up the food chain. The continued accumulation of greenhouse gases would also heighten the impacts of potential termination shock.

(Continue Reading)

[kmtam]

I just listened to this podcast, The Good Fight, which this week is about Sweden’s upcoming elections. I realize this topic isn’t super exciting for most people who read my dumb blog — although I suspect it’ll make global headlines, so you may become interested anyway — but if you’ve got a little time and you’re interested in the rise of right-wing populism, it’s worth a listen.

Here are some of my thoughts.

My book is significantly about social democratic politics. I did the bulk of my fieldwork in Sweden in 2005-2006, and I went back regularly in the years that followed, when the center-right Conservative party (Moderaterna) was in power. The Sweden Democrats, the right-wing populist party with roots in neo-Nazi organizations, were somewhat of an uncomfortable joke back then. They’re a party full of racists, led by a young, telegenic asshole named Jimmie  Åkesson, and while they were making some waves at the local level, there was very little discussion that they’d ever make it big in national politics. Some worry, sure, but not much active fear. They’re literally only mentioned once in my book, in a footnote.

Now, on Sunday, the Sweden Democrats are poised to win big in the Swedish election, though of course we don’t know yet what will happen. And the question everyone outside Sweden seems to be asking is, why? What has happened that has shifted this historically tolerant, left-leaning country to embrace the barely-disguised virulence of nationalist white supremacists? And the answers folks come up with are all relatively predictable: immigration, the 2015 refugee crisis, rising crime rates, worry that the welfare state can’t afford these new “freeloaders,” etc. There’s more there, of course, and I’ll get to it, but I think that, while these familiar surface reasons matter, they’re also mostly wrong. Here’s why.

Sweden has taken in asylum seekers and other immigrants since the 1960s. That initial wave came mostly from Eastern Europe, and significantly from Poland, which was engaged in anti-Semitic pogroms at the time. This wave was followed by other waves, all the way up through the 2015 refugee crisis. Yet never before in those 50+ years has national politics turned to right-wing, anti-immigrant demagoguery to redress the issue. Of course one might say, well, those initial waves were made up of other white Europeans (Poland, Finland, the former Yugoslavia), and the refugees now are mostly non-white, so this is about racism — and that’s partly right. But other waves since the 1990s have included large populations from Somalia, Iraq, Turkey, and elsewhere — many non-white people, many Muslims, just like in 2015. This isn’t to say that these waves of immigration haven’t caused all sort of political strife in Sweden, but that the response has never involved turning to explicitly anti-immigrant electoral politics as a solution to the perceived problem. In other words, while racism is a part of the current situation, it’s not THE cause, nor is racism particularly new in Sweden. The new thing here is this turn to racism specifically in electoral politics, and that’s what needs to be explained.

I should say that along with all of those other immigration waves, the same rhetoric was used: the welfare state can’t afford them; they need to assimilate; they’re both very lazy and steal our jobs (not entirely dissimilar from what we hear in the US). This rhetoric is just as wrong now as it’s always been. Sweden, like the rest of Europe, has a population problem, and if Swedes want to keep their generous and robust welfare state going, they need the population to increase at a much higher rate than natural births can accommodate, and the only way to do that is through immigration. Without immigrants, the welfare state will eventually shrink and collapse in on itself, which means rather than being a drain on the system, immigrants are, in the long term, the system’s saviors.

So Sweden has undergone decades of immigration, including immigration from the Middle East and Africa, and white Swedes have used all sort of racist language and actions during each of those waves, but the anti-immigrant populists have never gained any power in parliament until very recently. If immigration isn’t new, and racism isn’t new, what makes now different?

I think there are two main answers to this question, both of which are mostly boring, but very real (and the podcast I started off with lands in a similar spot). The first is the steady degradation of the Social Democratic party. In the final decades of the 20th century, we saw the same basic pattern all over Europe and the Anglophone world: formerly left-leaning parties, including the Social Democrats, dazzled by the promises of financialization and globalization, turned to increasingly neoliberal governing strategies otherwise favored by center-right parties. The reasons they did this are complicated, but one result, electorally speaking, is that party brands ended up very muddied in a mishmash of left and right policy ideas with no coherent through-line (we saw this with the Democrats in the US, too). This move did lead to some initial electoral success in some cases, but in the long run it left these parties without any real, clear message or platform. This in turn ended up shunting voters more leftward and rightward, seeking parties that were much more earnest about the clarity of their politics (in the US, since we only have two parties, this process has worked out a bit differently). In Sweden, the Social Democrats themselves, the party that built the world’s strongest welfare state, spent the turn-of-the-century years remodeling it, generally with tasteless decor and poor craftsmanship, to the point where it was virtually unrecognizable from its former glorious form. Why vote for them, when there are plenty of parties on the right willing to do the same shitty renovations, and a few on the left who will argue for making the welfare state even stronger?

So I think the degradation of the Social Democratic party in Sweden — which has been in power for most of the last 90 years or so — and the effects that’s had on how other parties align and adapt, has set very specific conditions that impact how Swedes think about party politics today. But I think the much, much bigger issue in the current election, as it was in ours in 2016, is social media. Like, for real — this is a common and banal observation, to be sure, but I think we are all severely underestimating how much this matters. Had Facebook and YouTube been around (or as powerful) when waves of asylum seekers arrived in Sweden from Iraq and East Africa, I think we would have seen then what we’re seeing now. Like I said, racism isn’t new: people and their bigotry haven’t changed much; but the ability to spread that bigotry, to manipulate it, and to introduce and amplify lies and deceptions and exaggerations that then directly affect how people vote, that is something new, and mostly facilitated by social media.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the recent rise in right-wing populism tracks neatly with the growth of Facebook and other social media, both in Sweden and globally. Remember, I said earlier that the Sweden Democrats (the anti-immigrant party) were around, but were not taken very seriously, when I lived in Sweden in 2005-2006. Back then, most of us were still on MySpace. Facebook didn’t open to the general public until September 2006. YouTube’s first video was uploaded in 2005, and the company wasn’t bought by Google until late 2006. Twitter didn’t launch until July 2006. At that point the Sweden Democrats had no representation in parliament. But four years later, in 2010, they got over 5% of the vote, and in 2014 they got almost 10%. They’re expected to get around 20% on Sunday, which, if you’re paying attention, is basically a doubling of support in each election. I highly doubt this rate of growth would be possible absent the specific capacities of contemporary social media.

This is terrifying to me. I’ve been a Facebook skeptic from the start and I never joined, but that was mostly for other, mostly abstract reasons, like “I don’t want a corporation directly mediating my friendships!” I still feel that way, but looking back on it, I don’t think I had any idea how devastating the actual practical effects of this technology could be. And at this point I don’t really care about discerning whether social media spreads racism that already exists, and is thus merely a vector, or if it creates racism that didn’t exist before (my money is on “it’s both!”). That’s mostly (though not entirely) an academic distinction. What matters is that racism and hatred are clearly on the rise, and on the rise in formal institutions that have the power and authority to do some very bad things in the world at a scale I’ve never seen in my lifetime. And social media is playing a starring role in this drama. And none of us have any idea what to do about it.

[rareearthsinvestor]

The United States Election and The Rare Earths Sector (Part 1)

The United States (US) Election and Rare Earths (RE): Investor Considerations with a Republican Win (Part 1)

First in a two-part Blog on the RE sector, a Black Swan event and the impact of a potential new Republican Administration.

Summary

1. Global focus on the RE sector has never been more public

2. RE Black Swan triggers maybe quickly converging

2. US strategic military RE/related value chain is being built

4. Would a Republican administration support future value chain RE  

   focused company involvement outside US borders?

On the RE Investor Forum, we are interested in discussing and sharing potential RE sector investment ideas. Clearly, we do not ignore the information that RE companies release and which is placed on both the REI website (www.rareearthsinvestor.com) and Forum. However, likewise, politics also cannot be ignored in any comprehensive due diligence undertaken by individual investors in the RE sector. Specifically, macro decision making at both the national and international level; particularly actionable moves involving legislation and financing, etc., should be carefully considered by RE stock investors.

Hype, Depression and now Anticipation (2010 – 2020)

Since the RE hype that was generated by the international dispute between China and Japan in 2010 and the highlighting of RE as a political weapon, we have had a very mediocre RE investment environment. In fact, long term RE stock holders have probably seen in general, noticeable decreases in their RE investment values; particularly, if they bought in the first half of the last decade. But, since 2019 we have had a much more animated RE sector. In fact, 2020 has seen all sorts of news articles and analyst reports (free and fee based) touting the RE sector; including, a slew of RE company releases, a number of which come from first time entities into the RE sector.

So, why have we had such a recent increase in the critical metals’ news narrative? Noticeably, the 2019 narrative focused on the electric car revolution and particularly, the Lithium supply. However, this focus has since moved to emphasizing the place of RE in the green energy revolution. A major factor for this change I would speculate has been the direct intervention of US President Trump in global trade. In particular, for the first time this century a US administration has directly confronted China with regard to trade between the two superpowers.

In fact, Trump has placed various sanctions and tariffs on Chinese goods leading to some trade retaliation by China. Both sides eventually signed a Phase One trade deal. However, the COVID issue has now seriously impacted China’s ability to make their 2020 trade deal quota’s. Further, the US President is presently facing a election battle with his economy decimated by the virus. Both superpowers are still at loggerheads over future trade issues, etc., and the US President is directly blaming China for the COVID virus spread and threatening ‘retaliation’. Further the global news narrative has highlighted RE as a sector that the Chinese dominate and could be used to sanction the US. Specifically, dependent on the length and magnitude of any such RE/related material and component stoppages by China, US military needs may be directly and negatively impacted.      

To try and lessen this RE/related supply stranglehold that China has on US military needs, US legislative action has been initiated (e.g., Onshore RE Act - OREA) to begin establishing a RE/related value chain.  

The present Republican admin’ sees China RE dominance as a strategic issue. Further, US military issues and support have been a key policy focus for Trump. Interestingly, the Dept. of Defense (DoD) Requests for interest (RFI) on RE have also indicated a possible build out of RE/related supply for commercial use, after military needs are met. Consequently, we have seen mention of future tax incentives offered to business (as well as RE/related companies) to create or bring back within borders manufacture (e.g., Reclaiming American RE Act and the OREA). However, any RE commercial development is clearly secondary to the US military strategic supply issue.

RE and a Black Swan (2020-2021)?

The Japan – China issue of 2010 has been identified as a Black Swan event which had a positive impact on the stock prices of many RE companies at the time (some with little more than a piece of paper claiming a RE deposit). On the surface this Black Swan was driven by a fishing boat incident. Today, investors have to consider that the present global political and RE environment is more complex than in 2010. Specifically, there are major issues that may well be converging that might just drive an even more powerful RE Black Swan event than in 2010. For example, today we see the following very public issues coalescing:

1.   A global public recognition that China dominates a RE sector that is needed to help drive the new energy revolution, which is at the very heart of the Climate Change movement.

2.   US and China are locked in an ongoing trade dispute in which sanctions, tariffs and tech’ company bans are all seen by both sides as ‘tools’ for advancing (or retaliating) around trade demands.

3.   US recognition that significant strategic military needs are controlled by Chinese RE/related supply, which has already led to US RE legislation and funding moves.

4.   China openly recognizes their RE dominance as a very real retaliatory political trade mechanism e.g., ‘no chips, no RE’.

5.   The US Republican administration directly blames China for failing to attempt to prevent the initial spread of the COVID virus throughout the globe and should, therefore, suffer consequences for such negligence.

6.   President Trump holds China responsible for destroying both (his) US economy and employment figures, both of which he would have used as the foundation for a much stronger reelection campaign now side tracked by questions on e.g., his response to the pandemic and same time emergent civil rights issues, etc.

A 2021 Trump Administration and RE

So, let us assume here that the Republicans maintain the Presidency for 2021 -2025 along with at least one branch of the legislature. What might we speculate for the RE sector (based on past public documents, actions and statements)? Trump would take reelection as a vindication of his policies over the last 4 years. He is focused on the economy and the impact of his policies on trade, the market and US employment, etc. So, there is no reason to feel Trump would not continue at least a similar China trade approach. Remember, again, the Chinese are unlikely to meet their agreed-on Phase One trade goals for 2020. Also, again, Trump has said he holds China responsible for the COVID spread; further sanctions could be coming.

(In fact, in contrast, should Trump lose the election he may well use the ‘Lame Duck’ session for pushing through his ‘final wishes’. This may well include trying to punish China, whom he will directly blame for his election loss. Trump will no longer need a friendly posture towards Xi and the President is a counter puncher towards any who he perceives to have wrong him, personally. However, this will also depend on if he can bring at least some of his probable election defeated cowering party along with him. Such US hostility could, in turn, see a swift Chinese RE related retaliation; something both highly public and quick to enact based on the recently enacted Chinese export control law).  

Recent US Republican admin’ moves have already seen several RE/related companies receive support via initial DoD funding. Initial funding has been given to MP Materials and Lynas-Blue Line to work on designs for heavy RE (HRE) processing facilities. Both have feedstock (although MP Mats’ as yet has to indicate where HRE supply for their facility might be derived). Also, US private company Urban Mining has been funded to help develop its RE waste magnet production abilities. Other US companies (including eMagin Corp’ and Spirit AeroSystems) and a United Kingdom company (Meggitt – Rockwell) which all make parts for the US military have also received DoD funding; along with the UK TechMet, which is involved in other critical metals production. Likewise, the US Dept’ of Energy (DOE) has provided recent grants to a number of US universities and small companies for basic research on RE element usage, geological and recycled extraction RE reduction via substitution.  

Both news narrative and analysts have also highlighted the involvement of ‘friendly’ countries in any potential US RE/related strategic value chain. We have already mentioned several UK companies (though not specifically RE companies) who have received US DoD funding. However, next door neighbors Canada also ‘houses’ a number of RE projects. For example, news and company releases indicate that Vital Metals are looking to RE feedstock production in Canada in 2021 and have indicated the aim to set up a concentration facility next to the proposed Saskatchewan Research Council’s (SRC) RE processing facility (production 2022). There are a number of other RE feedstock companies based in Canada including Appia Energy and Commerce Resources, etc. While the SRC has indicated interest by several RE feedstock companies in providing supply to their processor no specific suppliers have been identified. This is not surprising as the SRC itself, has as of yet not identified any offtakes for their proposed RE process production. Lack of documented offtakes has, in fact, plagued RE company financing over the past decade.  

Therefore, the question remains as to where all this proposed Canadian RE feedstock and processed material is eventually destined? Presently only China seems to have the mid and end line manufactures set up in a value chain into which such Rest of the World supply can go. So, why would a US potential RE value chain under a new Trump Republican admin’ take on board feedstock from Canada? After all, the new value chain already has initially funded Lynas-Blue Line (L and HRE) and MP Mats’ (LRE) and there are several other RE feedstock projects in the US (e.g., USA Rare Earths. etc)?

Bottom line it is really the processing facilities that a US strategic chain would need to supply component makers. Here, again, we already have Lynas/Blue Line and MP Mats along with potentially Energy Fuels in Colorado looking to build(out) processing facilities. Further, we know that Trump is very much a job, manufacture, etc., within borders leader. So, it is difficult to see a clear case for outside RE feedstock supply or even processing involvement, when US based entities are already available (note Lynas’ sensible move to partner with US Blue Line). Also. notice the number of US politicians already ‘involved’ in promoting this chain; their focus is on ‘local’ companies (e.g., Cruz, Gooden and Gonzalez from TX the home base for Lynas – Blue Line and Urban Mining).  

Again, how much RE feedstock and processed material might be utilized to supply any magnet and component makers involved within a US RE value chain? The amounts are small but the question will also depend on the degree to which US established or returning manufacturing may expand or build out new facilities for producing green products, etc., requiring RE/related materials. Trump’s admin’ is offering tax incentives for RE and mid and end line manufacturers to return to the US. However, this incentives issue is unclear and may well depend in terms of pursuit on which US party controls the next 4 years.

The same supply and processing questions raised earlier also apply to Australia (AUS) in terms of RE sector involvement. AUS, while recognizing its strength in raw materials production is now lamenting its inability to do little more than ‘dig holes’; the least value adding stage of the critical metals chain. Lacking any processing, component and end line manufacture and a within borders sizable consumer base, has led almost all AUS critical metals’ pathways to China. Only Northern Minerals of the AUS RE feedstock companies has moved to basically pilot HRE production, but its processing is still done in China. Other AUS RE companies (excluding Lynas) are yet to produce even at the pilot stage. The present market response to AUS Strategic Materials and Pensana while speculatively more trading related, may suggest some acknowledgement that both companies are at least entertaining support by South Korean and Angolan sovereign entities.  

However, (as with Canada) would a continued US Republican admin’ financially support RE value chain development within AUS? Again, the question remains why would it? Admittedly, we do have the very recent talks amongst the ‘quad’ (i.e., AUS, India, Japan and the US), but any critical metals’ moves seem a long way off, even though all four recognize the strategic threat caused by China’s value chain dominance.

Conclusion

So, with an ongoing 2021 – 2024 US Republican administration, speculatively, non-China RE/related moves (particularly, feedstock and processing) would seem to focus more within US borders. Further, notice that companies that have been recently funded, public or private by the DoD, are already producing within the RE sector or in related military equipment manufacture. These companies are not just doing basic research, acquiring new exploration sites or holding non funded projects. In fact, these selected DoD RE companies (if next stage supported) are expected to be up and running in the next 2-3 years with magnet and military component producers on a faster production timeline. Basic research funding e.g., alternative RE extraction, etc., is mainly provided by the DoE via the Carbon Ore, RE and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) initiative designed with a longer-term RE sector outlook, than that of the DoD.

Again, US military strategic needs are small in terms of RE feedstock and processing requirements to support magnet and component production for today’s weapons. However, any commercial RE/related considerations (cited in the US DoD FYI) as indicated earlier, would depend on how incentivized mid and end line manufacture are to build out within the US. It should also be acknowledged there most likely would need to be the will with any new US Republican administration to at least initially, ‘protect’ any expanding Us RE/related value chain against Chinese (2010 + repeat) flooding of the RE/related market with cheaper products, to destroy the competition (as led to the goodbye of Molycorp, almost Lynas and many other Re companies, post 2010).

Clearly, as with any speculation complex questions remain as to the possible approach and impact on the RE sector of a potential new Republican admin. But, based on past publicly available written statements, verbal comments and legislative action, it would seem that the Republicans are likely to continue to pursue such a new RE/related value chain. In the second part of this Blog the focus will be from the perspective of a Democrat win in this November election and its meaning for the RE sector.

To be continued –

Note - The author holds shares in the aforementioned - Lynas, Vital Metals, Appia Resources and eMagin.    

All the companies mentioned in this Blog (except Spirit) can be found on the Rare Earths Investor website www.rareeearthsinvestor.com and on the REI Forum usually with extensive threads containing articles and opinions - https://rareearthsinvestor.discussion.community/categories

Please leave any comments to add to the discussion on the Forum Blog thread. No membership is required to comment, simply post under ‘anonymous’ or sign up for a free membership to get post updates and to be able comment  on all other REI Forum boards.

[shirlleycoyle]

Here Is Best Buy’s Leaked Anti-Union Presentation

In a presentation available to employees that was hosted on an internal company web portal, retail giant Best Buy positioned itself as starkly anti-union, saying that unions led to changes that made organizations "less than fully competitive and less able to respond to customer needs," according to multiple copies of the presentation obtained by Motherboard.

After being approached for comment by Motherboard, Best Buy removed the presentation from its internal messaging system, and said that the presentation does not represent the company's values.

The news comes at a time when tech, retail, and gig workers continue to take collective action to strike or in some cases unionize.

"During the last few years the media has been filled with reports of attempts by unions to modify our country's basic labor laws to make it easier for unions to be successful in organizing employees. As a result, a variety of questions have been asked about Best Buy and its views about unions," the presentation starts. It then says that although Best Buy recognizes unions may have been necessary in the early parts of the industrial revolution, it believes unions have implemented work rules that have made companies less competitive. The presentation points to unionization in the automotive industry in particular.

Do you have internal emails showing how another company is dealing unionization? We’d love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on jfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.

The presentation frames its information as impartial, telling readers that "Our goal is to ensure that you make an educated and informed decision. It is your decision, but when any of us are exposed to a new topic or situation, we all make better decisions when we are educated on the subjects." But the presentation disproportionately focuses on perceived negative aspects of unions, saying that joining one can lead to employees being harassed, that bargaining for wages can take much longer, and that, inaccurately, having a union authorization card "is like giving a signed, blank check to a stranger."

The presentation also claims that unions may run community events in order to gather personal information to use in recruiting drives, that union leaders may act with their own interests rather than those of workers, and that individual workers may not get credit for their own good ideas of how to improve the business.

A section of the Best Buy anti-union presentation. Image: Motherboard

When asked for comment on both presentations, Best Buy spokesperson Carly Charlson pointed to the company's Human Rights corporate statement.

"As is clearly outlined in this statement, we support a number of internationally recognized human rights principles, including the freedom of association and collective bargaining," she wrote. "If the above isn’t clear enough, of course we support employees' right to unionize."

Charlson added that the material was created more than 10 years ago for employees at the time who had questions about unions.

"We acknowledge that although the video was designed to be informative, it does not fully align with our company values and those in our Human Rights corporate statement. It has been removed," she added.

A section of the Best Buy anti-union presentation. Image: Motherboard

Although some Best Buy employees Motherboard spoke to didn't know what a union was or didn't see the need for one, multiple other workers did feel forming a union would be beneficial to them and their colleagues.

"1,000 percent we should unionize. Part time employees filled up most of the staff in the stores. Where are we now?! Furloughed and replaced by salary managers. I haven’t met a single person at my store that is happy with how they are being treated," one current Best Buy employee told Motherboard. Motherboard granted multiple current and former Best Buy employees anonymity to speak more candidly about internal company practices and protect them from retaliation.

"I definitely think Best Buy should have a union. Some of the things that go on with the company is ridiculous and needs to stop. But without us having a union to protect us as we voice our concerns and getting backlash, we will get snubbed out like a camp fire every single time," a second employee said.

A section of the Best Buy anti-union presentation. Image: Motherboard

"I believe unions are a great thing for us because Best Buy has a habit of taking advantage of us as employees, I could say that they go as far as to pit us against each other. I feel that if we unionize it would give us a sense of looking out for one another instead of forcing us to work against each other," a third employee said. A fourth current employee also said they think Best Buy employees should unionize.

Some of the employees described what they see as an anti-union culture, too.

"Best Buy will never have a union. It is known if you have worked for the company for a while not to speak or bring up the thought of unions," the second current employee said.

"Best Buy as a company would try their possible best to crush any unions or any idea of it," the third employee added.

Motherboard also obtained a copy of Best Buy's arbitration policy, which means employees cannot sue Best Buy for wrongdoing in court, and instead have to settle any disagreements in a closed-off dialogue with Best Buy itself. These agreements are not uncommon but have faced renewed scrutiny recently; in 2018, Google changed its policy to not hold sexual harassment or assault claims in arbitration after an uproar from employees. Google then expanded this to all employee disputes.

A section of Best Buy's arbitration policy. Image: Motherboard

Best Buy's arbitration policy lists some of the laws that employees are required to only discuss any issues with privately with the company, including The Equal Pay Act, The Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act, The Americans with Disabilities Act, and The Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

When shown the Best Buy presentation, Hugh Baran, staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project, told Motherboard in a phone call that the arbitration policy as written applies not only to Best Buy employees, but also those simply applying for jobs.

"Best Buy and other non-union employers impose forced arbitration requirements and class/collective action waivers largely as they see fit; employees have no say. If Best Buy employees were to unionize, Best Buy couldn’t do that—they would be terms and conditions of employment subject to negotiation as part of a collective bargaining agreement," Baran added in an email.

The presentation is embedded below.

Here Is Best Buy’s Leaked Anti-Union Presentation syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[bigyack-com]

After RBI Surprise, Analysts See Room For 50-Bps Rate Cut In Current Cycle

The RBI said it was concerned about inflation in the near termBengaluru: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key lending rate on hold in a shock decision on Thursday, despite a worrying slowdown in the country that prompted the central bank to sharply reduce its economic growth forecast to 5 per cent for the year through March.The central bank acknowledged that it does have room to cut rates further, but said it was concerned about inflation in the near term."The MPC recognises that there is monetary policy space for future action. However, given the evolving growth-inflation dynamics, the MPC felt it appropriate to take a pause at this juncture," the committee said in a statement. (Read full MPC statement here)COMMENTARYMadhavi Arora, lead economist, FX and rates, Edelweiss Securities, Mumbai:"We think that this easing pause is temporary. In a situation when growth slowdown looks more entrenched and underlying core inflation has slumped to sub-3.5 per cent amid widening output gap, the monetary accommodation still has further steam for another 50 bps in this rate-cut cycle. That said, we reckon with the RBI that a coordinated policy response both by the government and the RBI is required in the current slowdown cycle.""However, we do realize the policy paradigm has to move beyond rate cuts and conventional fiscal easing. The policymaker should continue to address the problem of credit and business confidence and overall financial stability to break the selective liquidity trap for optimization of the rate transmission."Sunil Rohokale, managing director and CEO, ASK Group, Mumbai:"The RBI should focus on earlier rate-cut transmission aggressively. The wider credit flow from banks, HFCs and NBFCs would be crucial to GDP growth of 5-6 per cent in the next few quarters.""The most distressed sectors like real estate and MSME credit flow is completely frozen and the crisis of confidence is grave.""We cannot dream to have GDP growth of 6 per cent-plus without real estate and MSME sector recovery, which are significant contributors to economy and job creation."Rajani Sinha, chief economist, Knight Frank, Mumbai:"Given the growth concerns, we still feel there are chances of one more rate cut by April 2020.""The RBI's growth projection could still be marginally revised downwards going forward, especially for first-half of 2020-21. Growth has slowed on all quarters - investment, consumption and exports. Hence, the revival is likely to be slow and painful.""Given the poor aggregate demand scenario, I do not see overall inflation posing a serious threat.""There is a need for further fiscal stimulus. In fact, a direct measure like income tax cut will provide immediate boost to consumption. Monetary policy decision could be put on hold if the government comes up with strong fiscal stimulus, as the central bank would be wary of the inflationary impact of the same."Nikhil Gupta, chief economist, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Mumbai:"Overall, today's status quo increases the credibility of RBI's inflation mandate.""We had always believed that today's cut would be the last rate cut in this cycle. We continue to maintain that there will be no more rate cuts now unless inflation falls back towards 4 per cent."Sudhakar Shanbhag, chief investment officer, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited, Mumbai:"Against an almost consensus market expectation of a rate-cut based on the slowdown seen in growth, the MPC seems to have chosen to focus on its mandate of inflation management and have recognised that the latest CPI print and expected prints over next few months would be higher than their targeted level and also a belief that past rate-cuts will help to support growth with focus on transmission."Upasna Bhardwaj, senior economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mumbai:"It is a surprise, but having said that I think the RBI has preferred to stay cautious because inflation numbers in the near-term seem to be ahead of its medium target.""We continue to see room for 50 bps rate-cut ahead, but we'll have to wait for food price correction to happen before we can start expecting that.""The RBI has slashed its growth rate quite a bit now to 5 per cent. Having said that, we see further downside risk to this growth at this point. We are looking at 4.7 per cent.""The government has very limited fiscal headroom. In terms of big ticket measures, it will be difficult for the government to take measures. They will have to do some small tweaking in terms of rural spending and boost to real estate demand."Siddhartha Sanyal, chief economist and head of research, Bandhan Bank, Kolkata:"This is a pause, but definitely not the end of the easing cycle. The debate in the coming few months will remain between a cut and hold. An accommodative stance doesn't necessarily mean a rate cut in every single monetary policy meeting.""It was a close call this time for the MPC, whether to cut or not to cut rates. Given that there is a bit of pressure currently on headline inflation, RBI opted for a pause.""Going ahead, inflation numbers for the next one or two prints may actually move higher, breaching the 5 per cent mark. Since broader inflation trends are very much under control, I don't think today's pause will be a long-term stance. Once the headline numbers soften - and that should happen relatively soon - it will open up the space for the RBI to deliver more rate cuts."Anagha Deodhar, economist, ICICI Securities, Mumbai:"The MPC's decision to pause is indeed surprising. This review marks a break from past trends as inflation concerns seem to have taken front-seat again.""Although they have stated that there is space for future action, I do not see rates going down by much in FY20 as inflation is expected to inch up sharply from here. The effectiveness of monetary policy in stimulating growth is limited in the current context.""The recent GDP data showed that government spending is the only strong leg of the economy currently. I think the government will let go of the deficit target this year and try to boost growth through increased spending. We could see more sector-specific relief and/or stimulus packages in the coming months.""Fiscal slippage is generally perceived negatively by the MPC. However, in the current context, I think the MPC will be more tolerant of fiscal slippage and continue with accommodative cycle."Rupa Rege Nitsure, group chief economist, L&T Financial Services, Mumbai:"Cumulatively, monetary policymakers have done everything that was expected of them. Their revised projections of GDP and CPI inflation are realistic.""Going ahead, we need more actions from the government - Centre, states and local bodies that will make "spending" and "taxation" more efficient. This is a deep and protracted slowdown and India will witness a gradual recovery rather than a V-shaped recovery given the headwinds in both domestic and global economies."Sakshi Gupta, assistant vice-president, HDFC Bank, Gurugram:"The RBI's decision was a surprise, especially the fact that it was a unanimous decision. In the growth-inflation trade-off, the RBI has clearly leaned towards the latter.""We do not think that the recent inflation spikes are permanent and as food prices stabilise, headline inflation is likely to cool off by the beginning of next fiscal year. More importantly, core inflation momentum continues to remain weak.""Given the outlook on inflation and as RBI stance remains accommodative, we do not think this is the last cut in the current cycle but probably a brief pause. Growth momentum is likely to improve gradually, and therefore, it is likely to warrant further rate cuts."Rajesh Cheruvu, chief investment officer, Validus Wealth, Mumbai:"The MPC unanimously and shockingly left rates unchanged, but maintained accommodative stance against consensus market expectations of 25 bps cut. Given the widening fiscal deficit concerns, G-Sec supply pressure and wider-than-average spreads, we prefer good-quality corporate bonds over G-Secs. Any truce on the trade war and growth positives will benefit short vs long duration, which is our preferred strategy."Jimeet Modi, CEO, Samco Securities, Mumbai:"The RBI has finally thrown the ball back in government's court to revive the economic engine, which has further deteriorated since the last meet. Transmission of interest rates have not happened yet, which could be one of the reasons the RBI waited to cut rates and nudged the government and banks to take efforts from their end. Additionally, slightly higher inflationary tendencies might have also led to the pause in rate cut.""However, this is a negative for the markets as a rate cut was required to boost risk taking appetite in the economy."Darren Awe, Asia economist, Capital Economics, Singapore:"Tentatively, we are pencilling in a 25 bps cut in February. Beyond that, the picture is less clear. A strong recovery in growth in the near term seems unlikely, but there are at least glimmers of stabilisation in the recent data. Although industry continues to struggle, gauges of services activity, consumption and credit growth have all improved a little. And the effect of past monetary and fiscal stimulus should be felt soon. Our base case for now is that the easing cycle will come to an end in February."Kunal Kundu, India economist, Societe Generale, Bengaluru:"While the decision to pause is not entirely unjustified given the clear lack of efficacy of monetary policy actions through the policy rate cut channel, what was worrying is that the RBI did not announce any unconventional measure aimed at improving the efficacy of its monetary policy actions but rather relied on hope for better transmission of its past actions, despite the fact that the transmission of past actions till date remained rather weak.""We still expect the RBI to cut the policy rate by another 50 bps next year once the low statistical base effect reverses and headline inflation cools.""For the current financial year, aggregate demand situation looks quite grim and given the lack of discernible festival period driven bump in demand, we believe that the economy will just muddle through for the next at least six quarters.""The RBI's downward revision of growth forecast appears prudent. What is a worry though is that the optic of high headline inflation appeared to have taken precedence over a dangerously slowing activity level.""Following today's decision, the onus of spurring growth shifts firmly on the government. We believe that for the time being, the only short term solution is rising public spending in infrastructure that has a much higher employment elasticity and help increase the aggregate demand in the economy." Read the full article

[warmdevs]

New Post has been published on https://warmdevs.com/intranet-design-after-a-merger-or-acquisition.html

Intranet Design After a Merger or Acquisition

Why Mergers Bring About Great Intranets

When a merger or acquisition occurs, it’s not uncommon for management and employees to become frantic, unsettled, and disorganized. So, it might seem puzzling that truly great intranets may arise after a merger. But they do. In fact, each year, our Intranet Design Annual Award includes remarkable designs that were catalyzed by a merger or acquisition.

There are logical explanations for this. Mainly, intranet teams combat the tidal waves of change and uncertainty with an armada of positive elements, some of which include:

Experienced team members. A post merger intranet team often includes multiple people who have experience with intranets and who have studied how their employees work. This merged team brings forth wide-ranging knowledge about intranets and capitalizes on the strengths of each component subteam. For example, one subteam’s specialty may be corporate communications, while the other’s is IT. These teams don’t view each other as adversaries; rather they recognize each other’s skills and assets and complement one another as they work toward the common goals.

Two or more intranet designs to learn and poach ideas from. Multiple organizations bring multiple intranets. Each of these will have successful, and unsuccessful designs that the team can study, learn from, and draw from — adopting only the best features and ideas on the “merged” intranet.

Clear direction from management. The highest-level managers establish goals for the new organization and the intranet. For example, a “be one company” directive would encompass working toward a single corporate culture and encouraging and enabling all employees to understand and be productive in reaching goals. This type of executive plan provides the intranet team with something to aim for as it attempts to create a new, positive employee experience which incorporates management’s defined identity and policies.

Realistic goals. Teams also know that they need specific, achievable goals for the redesign. In a post-merger environment, good goals such as “unify the organization, facilitate collaboration, support productivity, and improve search” are not easy to achieve in a short time. Thus, teams often derive a 2-stage strategy that explicitly recognizes these difficulties:

1) “Day-one intranet solution” is an interim offering which focuses on only the most urgent needs to meet the goals and gives teams time for long-term planning, research, and UX design for a new intranet.

2) Final intranet solution builds on the findings gathered in the first stage.

More freedom for the intranet team. High-level managers often have pressing decisions to make after a merger, and thus, they may step away from the day-to-day, detailed intranet-design decisions. This lack of management attention allows the intranet team to dig and work, eliminates (albeit temporarily) some of the politics associated with designing intranets, and minimizes the chance that  high-level managers with no UX design skills attempt to design the intranet UI.

4 Things Not to Do on a Post-Merger Intranet

Companies approach intranet designs after mergers in various ways: some thoughtfully set long- and short-term goals, while others dive in headfirst without thorough consideration of the repercussions. Intranet teams are not necessarily involved in defining the directions for post-merger organizations or even for their intranets. Rather, these are decided at the executive level, by human-resources professionals, corporate-communications specialists, or a combination of these groups. The intranet team does, however, decide how to execute and package the information and features on the intranet.

Here are 4 approaches that the intranet team should avoid post merger.

#1 Strategy to Avoid: Clear All Evidence and Hide the Reason Why

One of the most salient points I carried away from business school is that it can be difficult to motivate employees, but it’s enormously easy to demotivate them. Everyone who designs an intranet or produces a piece of content on an intranet has the power to demotivate employees. An innocent removal of a feature, a link name that can be perceived as inclusive of one team but not another, or a news article about a location but not another can all result in misunderstanding and even alarm. Before you call employees overly sensitive, imagine how you’d feel if you were already worried about your job security and then your access to an app you use every day was suddenly denied with no explanation.

Some organizations decide to hide pages, sections, or entire intranets with no clarification to employees. They are basically clearing all evidence of the old company, features, terminology, brands, programs, policies, work, and people.

Do not just take things away without explaining why. Employees will be confused and will not know where to go. Not to mention that your actions could be construed as highhanded or insolent, and will probably make people feel a sense of loss.

#2 Strategy to Avoid: Leave Everything as Is

Organizations that have no corporate-communications group sometimes leave the communication responsibility to the intranet team, who may or may not be skilled in this job. Some teams simply do nothing and follow the “business as usual” mantra. When the work and the organization are completely changing but the intranet doesn’t acknowledge it, people feel as though there is some covert conspiracy rather than simple negligence or communication paralysis.

Keeping multiple intranets up implicitly tells employees that either one is valid and leads to duplication of processes, applications, policies, and other types of content. If people followed the wrong process or act on the wrong information, the consequences could be catastrophic. Instead, do a full content inventory and audit as soon as possible. It’s likely that each intranet has some overlapping features and types of content that can be edited and combined. Also, determine a combined information architecture through team discussions and user research.

Note that, in the long term, it may be okay to have multiple intranets, if the content is written and maintained in one place, and then crosslinked in the other. But the decision to have multiple intranets should be well analyzed, and not just an act of omission. (Some organizations get past the issue of knowing which intranet to go to by creating one main portal page for everyone at the company. From there, people can access deeper links stored on any intranet or in any app. But, more often, organizations find it most efficient and effective to design and maintain one main intranet.)

#3 Strategy to Avoid: Haphazardly Choose One Intranet as the Sanctioned One

Just because a large company buys a smaller company, it doesn’t mean its intranet is better. Asking employees from an acquisition to switch to a new intranet may result in lost productivity and frustration. And forcing them to use a less good intranet will make them feel they stepped back in the dark ages — an unpromising start for a new employer–employee relationship .

For example, maybe the intranet at an acquired organization was highly collaborative, with social features and lively usage, but the intranet of the parent company has no social features. Making employees switch to the parent intranet takes away the possibility to collaborate, share, learn, and have a voice of their own at the company. Think hard before lopping off features like this. Instead, pivot and embrace those features for everyone.

Also keep in mind that a hastily put together new post-merger intranet can be as bad or worse than one of the current intranets.

People should not be forced to switch to an intranet that is worse than their original one. If there is no way to accommodate the better intranet (or its features), then, at the very least:

Communicate that it is just a temporary solution

Open the help desks to accept more calls

Provide written assistance on the intranet to avert some of the help calls

#4 Strategy to Avoid: Impose the Same Rules for Intranet and for the Public-Facing Website

Brand and change management can and should differ on internal and external websites. The press, publicity, and content on a public-facing website can be completely different from those on the intranet.

Personnel-related features and content, and terminology and brand-related content are most sensitive post merger. For example, the brand team may dictate that the acquired company’s  brand names not be mentioned at all on the external website. However, that need not be the case on the intranet. For example, assume that the acquired brand Acme is replaced with Roadrunner. On the intranet, writers should be free to still mention the deprecated brand’s name, referring to it as “what used to be Acme” or as “Roadrunner (formerly known as Acme).”  Some intranets find success using the latter phrasing, and, over time, weaning off the parentheses altogether. It’s a good idea to retain the old name for some time since it’s the way many employees recognize the brand.

Challenges Facing a Post-Merger Intranet

Left unchecked, these common issues that employees faces can cause demotivation and turnover:

Not understanding the new business or the organization’s new mission

Not knowing what has changed since the merger

Feeling neglected

Not seeing or knowing their new colleagues

Speculations about layoffs and job changes

Uncertainty about new systems, processes, and people

Not knowing where to go for information (or which intranet is the “right” one)

Principles and Features of Successful Post-Merger Intranets

Whether the organization’s executive team is a bright shining beacon of communication or a tight-lipped vault, the intranet team should aim to do the best job possible with the post-merger intranet. Work with your management, plan resources and infrastructure, and finally home in on features that are based in these general principles:

Show respect for employees by being transparent about any changes. Ease their mind and make them feel as safe and secure as possible.

Communicate how the company does business now. Has the mission statement changed? Have the business objectives changed? Will the organization venture into new markets or segments? What’s the culture? How will the sales teams sell now? Explain what the plan for the company is ( e.g., to reinvigorate our mobile communications strategy in order to capitalize on our newly acquired Acme assets).

Explain how to use the intranet(s) in the short term (e.g., “Use the Transition Page to find all updated policies, HR information, and sales kits”).

Unite organizations and people by encouraging communication between them.

Introduce people and teams to one another.

Enable finding the right information via the homepage, global navigation, search, and people directory.

Recommended Features Post Merger

There is no one set of features that will be helpful on every post-merger intranet. However, the following items can help organizations and employees through the shift as the organizations homogenize:

Address book. The employee address book is a killer app on most intranets, and is of dire importance post merger, so employees can contact the right colleagues. Include employee profile documents with information about a person’s skills and knowledge. Additionally, organization charts that show where each person fits in the overall organization hierarchy are especially helpful at larger organizations.

Corporate news. Sharing news at the corporate level, from the top-most managers and centralized teams, can help all employees feel like they are part of the same organization. It also keeps employees abreast of what’s important and conveys respect.

Video messages from management. Video adds a personal touch that the written word is missing. One can’t look into the eyes of a memo. As teams from around the organization get to know their leaders and the new direction in which the organization is steering, personal video messages from mangers can be inspiring. And, unlike announcements in live meetings, videos can be watched at any time and more than once, if needed.  Video messages can demonstrate that managers care enough about their subordinates to take time and communicate with them.

News from all parts of the organization. Ensuring that even small teams and efforts are mentioned in the news makes people feel included and teaches employees about all aspects of the organization. This kind of news can also excite people about projects in the works and can incite collaboration.

Article suggestions. Ask employees to offer suggestions for news articles and items. A simple “suggest an article topic” form (that asks for the topic, why it might be interesting, and whom to contact to interview) can generate diverse ideas from around the organization and help employees feel involved. Plus, it can be a good opportunity to learn and address issues that are truly relevant to people.

Social features. Social sharing in the form of online communities, walls, comment fields, likes, or team spaces enables teams to communicate and learn informally, thus promoting a collaborative culture. (However, before you get carried away by social features, ensure that user-generated content is findable and searchable through the intranet’s main-navigation menus.)

Monitored forum or anonymous emails. If radical changes (such as layoffs, moves, combining teams) occur, human beings need to have an outlet to discuss them. The benefit of encouraging discussions in a public forum on the intranet means that all questions can be asked and answered once, in one place. People who staff this forum can be trained about how to best answer questions and quell concerns. Additionally, a forum establishes that the organization cares about employees and wants them to be informed. But, remember, without the proper responses and coaching, or without staff to aptly respond to comments, a forum like this can be devastating to morale and to the credibility of the executive team. Not to mention that it could expose the organization to legal issues if responses regarding benefits, policies, and layoffs were incorrect. Finally, some employees are fearful of asking a charged question in public. In those situations, an alternative solution can involve an anonymous form privately routed to a team of trained staff or an email address that employees can send private questions to.

Search. A site-wide search that crawls every nook and cranny of the intranet(s) can empower employees, and pick up the slack where the global navigation may fail. Research the jargon and common terms used in the intranet and application UI. Then add synonym rings for these in metadata so people will be successful even if they search for a retired term or product. To refine the terms, consider tree-testing your labels and structure.

Acronym dictionary. Every company has its own set of acronyms. Offering a wiki that anyone can search, browse, and contribute to helps all employees learn the subtle language of those initials.

One of our 2018 Intranet Design Annual Winners, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), offers an acronym search, a key feature for new and seasoned employees alike.

Employee, project, and team spotlights. Introduce employees and teams by offering  short, written (or video) pieces about them. For example, once a week show an employee photo with a short description (e.g., “Meet Maria Borelli, Telecom Manager, 3 years at Acme”). The picture and title already tell a little story. Then clicking the link might open a page that describes her job and team, location, and a few quotes. Or describe a team  — its members, projects, role. Be sure to sample from all around the organization, so nobody feels overlooked.

Management section. Create a section of the intranet for managers only. Once authenticated via login, give the managers information they need to best navigate through the merger’s changeover phases.

Short-term “transition” intranets or pages. “Bridge” pages, dashboards, and portals can be great transitional tools to direct employees to the right places, even as the intranet team is designing a new intranet. Especially when the most relevant information comes from different sources, a bridge page can eliminate unnecessary searching and aggravation, and can increase user confidence. Also, when new content doesn’t have a home yet (because a new intranet is being designed) it may be housed on a transition site temporarily. Use a transition area to promote the correct, most updated content. Set a time limit for when this temporary site will be phased out (so it doesn’t become the main intranet due to the design team’s sedentariness).

Global navigation. Make it easy to find important information via the global-navigation menu. Avoid using branded terms for everyday tasks. For example, trade “JT learning center” for “Training”, and “Meetings your way” for “Conference-room schedule”. Organize and choose terms in the menu by task or topic, not by organizational structure.

Easy to use. People in a post-merger organization may feel anxiety. And the constant intranet that used to greet them every morning may now be gone. The change and the sense of loss will add stress to employees. Circumvent some of that strain by making the new intranet easy to use.

Employee Personas Post Merger

Equating employees with «human capital” may be acceptable on financial statements but is not on intranets. The organization should project that it considers its employees to be human beings, not just financial assets or robots. After a merger, the intranet’s design and content should take steps to empathize with these employees who are losing their friends, are going through a great change, and may be excited about the future and grateful for the opportunities the new company promises.

One way to help the design team remember and consider employee unease is to update personas to include these 3 different elements:

Anxiety about the possibility of losing a job, changing jobs, losing coworkers

Confusion about where to find information on the intranet(s) and what is current and correct

Excitement about the merger and what it promises

If you don’t have personas or don’t have time to update them, consider at least communicating the 3 states of mind that post-merger employees may vacillate between. And whenever you create a new design, ask yourself how the design would help or hurt employees under each of these states of mind.

Conclusion: Checklist of Strategies for a Post-Merger Intranet

Use the checklist below to guide you through an intranet design post merger.

Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each intranet.

Research how employees use their current intranet.

Discover (from the executive team, HR, corporate communications, and IT) the guidelines and rules surrounding:

Messaging (e.g. how to deal when something has not yet been decided)

Tone (e.g. “clear and respectful” and “not light and joking”)

How to refer to deprecated elements, such as products which have been or are in the process of being retired

Brand guidelines that are new or changed

Tools, such as where the current employee directories are stored, how they will change in the future, and how employees can use (for example) MS Outlook contacts in the interim

Establish concise goals for the redesign.

Define the roles and members of the intranet team(s) now, and at launch.

Create a short-term plan; quickly produce a temporary solution.

Plan a long-term solution for:

New intranet design that encompasses all relevant content for each merged organization

New intranet brand that supports the organization’s goals and culture

Phasing out of transitional pages and features (in place just to bridge the organizations upon the merger)

Scalability, such as future mergers, or teams being absorbed into one another

Technology

Governance

Team roles and members of the intranet team post launch

For stories and lessons learned from excellent intranet designers who won our Intranet Design Annual and who were involved in some way with a merger or acquisition, see our “Mergers and Acquisitions, and the Resulting Intranets” report.