#professional database provider

[77datasblog]

Maximising ROI with Your Professional Services Database Provider

It is a very important part of business to track ROI (return on investment). It becomes easy to increase ROI with the help of a database, because database make system easy to analyze. When a business systematically collects and analyzes data of its customers, vendors, employees, and operations, it can make better decisions that reduce costs and increase profits.

Here we have mentioned some of the top databases provided by 77Data are:

Hosur company list | Manufacturing companies in Delhi NCR with contact details | list of companies in Noida | list of companies in Nagpur

The professional services are hospitals, clinics, chemist, pharmacy, hotel, restaurants, real estate, builder, developers, architects, interior designer, charted accountants and many more.

Searching for the right data provider company in India. 77Data is the leading trusted data supplier company. It provides all kind of database including professional services database.

For more information visit our site or contact us at +91-8882956467

Original Source of Content:https://kashyapbhaskar00.wixsite.com/best-database-guid-1/post/maximizing-roi-with-your-professional-services-database-provider

[removejobs]

Remoteliz

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RemoteLiz

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[botanical-garden-system]

Did yall know that there are several researchers actively trying to prove DID is not a real thing? Did yall know that there are several articles in the multitude of databases I have accessed through my school that ACTIVELY try to find and prove how DID isn’t fucking real???

When people tell me, “research disagrees with ___,” I hope yall realize that many researchers dont even think we exist. They dont think you can experience multiple identities. And yes, these research articles are within the past 5 years.

There are clinical psychologists with entire practices of therapeutic professionals that treat people with a focus in trauma and dissociative disorders as “untrained” and “stupid.” Not even researchers agrees on our existence, and this is NOT something you typically see within the peer reviewed articles of any popularly discussed disorder.

Many are legitimately PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES. Just keep this in fucking mind when you start saying shit like, “But research disproves your identity.” Many researchers actively try to disprove we exist in GENERAL.

Also I have yet to find a research document stating anything yall have claimed against plurality and I have easily 50-60 hours worth of digging and researching multiple databases (APA psycINFO, APA psycTESTS, Proquest psychology collection, Sage Journals, Google Scholar through a college institution, NIH, etc.). In fact, I actually have/had a few articles discussing how we need to start re-addressing DID and approaching it as psychologists.

I can probably list off several medical journals that talk about DID, provide you with at least 30-50 different peer reviewed scholarly journals, case studies, and collections, and I can confidently say that we are STILL trying to connect dissociation and trauma research.

At most, we can say that there is a HIGH CONNECTION BETWEEN cPTSD (yes, specifically cPTSD) and DID, but people are still figuring out whether you can see examples of DID in the brain through neuroimaging (which we have figured this out some, it’s super cool) and what other disorders DID is comorbid with.

We can’t be claiming SHIT about what is or isn’t right now. I am not at all a discourse account, and I most likely will not interact with syscourse outside of this, but I AM a researcher who has spent countless hours trying to better understand DID so that I can help myself and others around me. If yall were genuinely digging, yall would realize how fucking abysmal the understanding of psychology really is, let alone disorders that are stigmatized.

I WILL engage in discussing research that I have found with peer revision because I believe this education should be free and readily available to everyone. I am NOT engaging in debates on whether you believe plurality exists outside of DID. That has not been researched or discussed enough to make any sort of claim. The real point behind research is so we can better understand our world, our brains, and our society. The best we can do right now is LISTEN to the experiences people have and MAKE research to better understand their experiences.

[botanicalsword]

Moon & their security & emotional needs

Understanding Emotional Needs

Emotional stability is a state that can arise, varying based on our emotional needs and response.

>> Indicator • Nurturing your soul • what makes you a Healer

✧ Moon in the 1st House

Strong self-awareness

pursuit of validation

their emotional needs revolve primarily around themselves

exhibit nurturing qualities

Source of Security - independency, take care of others and your own emotions and needs more independently

✧ Moon in the 2nd House

A passionate worker - highly focused on work

place great importance on a sense of gain or loss

Excellent concentration skills

Source of Security - material foundations, financial stability

✧ Moon in the 3rd House

excel at gathering information

find satisfaction in gaining knowledge

Source of Security - lies in acquiring information, continuous learning, thirst for knowledge, the ability to effectively communicate and interact with others.

✧ Moon in the 4th House

are the guardians of their family

deeply care for and nurture their parents

strong sense of belonging to their home and family

Source of Security - A stable family, a familiar environment, a comfortable and safe space

✧ Moon in the 5th House

have a wide range of hobbies

find fulfillment through entertaining children

pet lovers

Source of Security - express through various forms of entertainment, adventure, creation, love, enjoyment

✧ Moon in the 6th House

workaholics

appearing stoic on the surface but harboring great passion within

find security in stable employment and a harmonious work environment

have sensitive digestive systems

Source of Security - serve the daily affairs of life, be organized, and pay attention to order, practicality and details

✧ Moon in the 7th House

yearn for companionship

nourish their souls through intimate relationships

Source of Security -  their significant other, harmonious interpersonal relationships, good reactions and feedback from others, natural and gentle atmosphere

✧ Moon in the 8th House

highly sensitive and intuitive

prone to emotional vulnerability

easily become engulfed in their emotions

Source of Security - Understanding the truth, motives, and real emotional needs of others provides them with emotional security

✧ Moon in the 9th House

prioritize self-improvement

seek to overcome inner unrest through constant learning and personal growth

Source of Security - exploring the unknown and seeking spiritual resonance

✧ Moon in the 10th House

strive for wealth, fame, and success

believe that achievements can repair their souls and provide them with a sense of security

Source of Security - their professional accomplishments

✧ Moon in the 11th House

excel at maintaining balance in their social relationships

susceptible to external influences

Source of Security - interactions with groups and older female figures, seeking validation, acceptance, and support

✧ Moon in the 12th House

conceal their emotions

display negative and depressive moods

struggle with expressing themselves

have fear or barriers when it comes to communicating with women

Source of Security - solace in spirituality, healing, wisdom, and acts of charity

✧

>> A note to ✦ Venus / Pluto aspect in Natal Chart

>> Back to Masterlist ✧ Explicit Content

Quick Access to : ❥ Astro / Asteroid Indicators ❥ Synastry / Composite Chart Observations ❥ House Stellium Observations ❥ Astro basic info / Brief reads ❥ Asteroid database ❥ Personal studies ✧ spiritual journal

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/ instagram : @le.sinex / @botanicalsword

[botgal]

Update on AB 3080 and AB 1949

AB 3080 (age verification for adult websites and online purchase of products and services not allowed for minors) and AB 1949 (prohibiting data collection on individuals less than 18 years of age) both officially have hearing dates for the California Senate Judiciary Committee.

The hearing date for these bills is scheduled to be Tuesday 07/02/2024. Which means that the deadline to turn in position letters is going to be noon one week before the hearing on 06/25/2024. It's not a lot of time from this moment, but I'm certain we can each turn one in before then

Remember that position letters should be single topic, in strict opposition of what each bill entails. Keep on topic and professional when writing them. Let us all do our best to keep these bills from leaving committee so that we don't have to fight them on the Senate floor. But let's also not stop sending correspondence to our state representatives anyway.

Remember, the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee is as follows.

"Bills amending the Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Evidence Code, Family Code, and Probate Code. Bills relating to courts, judges, and court personnel. Bills relating to liens, claims, and unclaimed property. Bills relating to privacy and consumer protection."

Best of luck everyone. And thank you for your efforts to fight this so far.

Below is linked the latest versions of the bills.

Below are the links to the Committee's homepage which gives further information about the Judiciary Committee, and the page explaining further in depth their letter policy.

Edit: Was requested to add in information such as why these bills are bad and what sites could potentially be affected by these bills. So here's the explanation I gave in asks.

Why are these bills bad?

Both bills are essentially age verification requirement laws. AB 3080 explicitly, and AB 1949 implicitly.

AB 3080 strictly is calling for dangerous age verification requirements for both adult websites and any website which sells products or services which it is illegal for minors to access in California. While this may sound like a good idea on paper, it's important to keep in mind that any information that's put online is at risk of being extracted and used by bad actors like hackers. Even if there are additional requirements by the law that data be deleted after its used for its intended purpose and that it not be used to trace what websites people access. The former of which provides very little protection from people who could access the databases of identification that are used for verification, and the latter which is frankly impossible to completely enforce and could at any time reasonably be used by the government or any surveying entity to see what private citizens have been looking at since their ID would be linked to the access and not anonymized.

AB 1949 is nominally to protect children from having their data collected and sold without permission on websites. However by restricting this with an age limit it opens up similar issues wherein it could cause default requirements for age verification for any website so that they can avoid liability by users and the state.

What websites could they affect?

AB 3080, according to the bill's text, would affect websites which sells the types of items listed below

"

(b) Products or services that are illegal to sell to a minor under state law that are subject to subdivision (a) include all of the following:

(1) An aerosol container of paint that is capable of defacing property, as referenced in Section 594.1 of the Penal Code.

(2) Etching cream that is capable of defacing property, as referenced in Section 594.1 of the Penal Code.

(3) Dangerous fireworks, as referenced in Sections 12505 and 12689 of the Health and Safety Code.

(4) Tanning in an ultraviolet tanning device, as referenced in Sections 22702 and 22706 of the Business and Professions Code.

(5) Dietary supplement products containing ephedrine group alkaloids, as referenced in Section 110423.2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(6) Body branding, as referenced in Sections 119301 and 119302 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) Products or services that are illegal to sell to a minor under state law that are subject to subdivision (a) include all of the following:

(1) Firearms or handguns, as referenced in Sections 16520, 16640, and 27505 of the Penal Code.

(2) A BB device, as referenced in Sections 16250 and 19910 of the Penal Code.

(3) Ammunition or reloaded ammunition, as referenced in Sections 16150 and 30300 of the Penal Code.

(4) Any tobacco, cigarette, cigarette papers, blunt wraps, any other preparation of tobacco, any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco, products prepared from tobacco, or any controlled substance, as referenced in Division 8.5 (commencing with Section 22950) of the Business and Professions Code, and Sections 308, 308.1, 308.2, and 308.3 of the Penal Code.

(5) Electronic cigarettes, as referenced in Section 119406 of the Health and Safety Code.

(6) A less lethal weapon, as referenced in Sections 16780 and 19405 of the Penal Code."

This is stated explicitly to include "internet website on which the owner of the internet website, for commercial gain, knowingly publishes sexually explicit content that, on an annual basis, exceeds one-third of the contents published on the internet website". Wherein "sexually explicit content" is defined as "visual imagery of an individual or individuals engaging in an act of masturbation, sexual intercourse, oral copulation, or other overtly sexual conduct that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

This would likely not include websites like AO3 or any website which displays NSFW content not in excess of 1/3 of the content on the site. Possibly not inclusive of writing because of the "visual imagery", but don't know at this time. In any case we don't want to set a precedent off of which it could springboard into non-commercial websites or any and all places with NSFW content.

AB 1949 is a lot more broad because it's about general data collection by any and all websites in which they might sell personal data collected by the website to third parties, especially if aimed specifically at minors or has a high chance of minors commonly accesses the site. But with how broad the language is I can't say there would be ANY limits to this one. So both are equally bad and would require equal attention in my opinion.

[covid-safer-hotties]

A Comprehensive Analysis of COVID-19 Misinformation, Public Health Impacts, and Communication Strategies: Scoping Review - Published Aug 21, 2024

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was marked by an infodemic, characterized by the rapid spread of both accurate and false information, which significantly affected public health. This infodemic led to confusion, mistrust in health authorities, noncompliance with health guidelines, and engagement in risky health behaviors. Understanding the dynamics of misinformation during the pandemic is crucial for developing effective public health communication strategies.

Objective: This comprehensive analysis aimed to examine the complexities of COVID-19 misinformation. Specifically, it sought to identify the sources and themes of misinformation, the target audiences most affected, and the effectiveness of various public health communication strategies in mitigating misinformation.

Methods: This scoping review used the MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, and Scopus databases to identify relevant studies. An established, methodical framework for scoping reviews was used to review literature published between December 2019 and September 2023. The inclusion criteria focused on peer-reviewed studies published in English that address COVID-19 misinformation and its sources, themes, and target audiences, as well as the effectiveness of public health communication strategies.

Results: The scoping review identified that misinformation significantly impacted mental health, vaccine hesitancy, and health care decision-making. Social media and traditional media were major conduits for spreading misinformation. Key misinformation themes included the origins of the virus, ineffective treatments, and misunderstandings about public health measures. Misinformation sources ranged from social media platforms to traditional media outlets and informal networks. The impact of misinformation was found to vary across different regions and demographic groups, with vulnerable populations being disproportionately affected. Effective strategies to counter misinformation included enhancing health literacy; using digital technology; promoting clear, authoritative communication; and implementing fact-checking mechanisms. In addition, community engagement and targeted health campaigns played a crucial role in addressing misinformation.

Conclusions: The review emphasizes the critical need for accurate and consistent messaging to combat misinformation. Cooperative efforts among policy makers, health professionals, and communication experts are essential for developing effective interventions. Addressing the infodemic is vital for building a well-informed, health-literate society capable of handling misinformation in future global health crises. The study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of misinformation and highlights the importance of robust public health communication strategies. These findings can guide future efforts to mitigate the impact of misinformation during health emergencies.

J Med Internet Res 2024;26:e56931

doi:10.2196/56931

[strangebiology]

Paleontology Job Opening!

If anyone is looking for a paleontology job, this one in the Green River Formation in Wyoming is hiring! It's a lot of 52-MYA fish. TONS of fish. Very occasionally, there's other stuff like bats, birds, and very early horse ancestors.

$19/hour

Full time with federal benefits

App due November 25, 2024 or when they receive 80 applications (whichever comes first, so hurry!) Requirements:

One year of experience required (paid or unpaid, professional or volunteer) in "the fields of paleontology, geophysics, or geology; assisting fossil preparation, field work in paleontology, paleontology research, paleontology database management, paleontology monitoring, paleo art, or specimen management of fossils; assisting with natural resources research projects; compiling and analyzing scientific data into reports; operating complex sampling, monitoring, and laboratory equipment; or using computer programs such as databases to compile, store, retrieve, analyze and report resource management data. Experience as a laboratory mechanic or in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work was performed in close association with physical scientists or other technical personnel and provided intensive knowledge of appropriate scientific principles, methods, techniques, and precedents."

Successful completion of at least a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of physical science, such as paleontology, geology, earth science, earth history or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as physical science, engineering, or any branch of mathematics except for financial and commercial mathematics. 

I don't know if paleontologists usually have to have higher levels of education, but I think this job is called "physical technician (paleontology)" to evade that.

If you're interested, go ahead and send in an application sooner rather than later. You can always withdraw later.

This is very close to me, so if you have questions about life here (that aren't easily Googlable) I'm happy to help! It's quite rural. If you're wondering what the rental market looks like, here's a Facebook group where people post rentals. I'm mostly JTM (just the messenger) but I may have a little more insight.

[charlottesbookclub]

time after time – chapter five (armitage hux x reader)

time after time masterlist

Summary: Hux decides he needs to collect more information about you, but he stumbles into revelations he didn't expect

Warnings/Tags: gn!reader; set pre-TFA; time loop; brief description of a medical appointment; memories of child abuse; workplace bullying; observation of behavior without the subject's knowledge; as always, let me know if I've missed anything!

Words: 4357

Author’s Note: woohoo we've got a long one today! I don't have a ton of commentary to give here since a lot happens in this chapter and I don't want to give anything away! also, not to give spoilers but this is definitely a turning point chapter, and I'm really excited to hear what you think of it! 🥰🥰

The stars outside his window were replaced with the ceiling of the med bay as Hux blinked his eyes. He could barely summon the energy to be annoyed. This time, he let the medics fret over him for a moment, still mulling over thoughts of you. When the uncertainty and unanswered questions became too much for him, he stood to go, scrambling to assemble a different plan – one that would actually work.

He must have still been thinking of you because he was concerned about your transition to the Finalizer. It wouldn’t do to have an ineffective officer aboard the ship – there were already far too many of those – and your previous history indicated that this was a risk. If your productivity levels dipped again, others would have to take on more work. And if you were lonely— Hux didn’t let himself finish that thought. He had to be more disciplined with himself. It simply wouldn’t do to be overrun with useless thoughts as he had been the night before. 

If wanted to facilitate your transition to the ship, he would need to collect more data. No doubt you looked disappointed at the end of the previous meeting because Hux had not provided as much pertinent information as he could have. He would amend that lapse today. As he breezed through the ship, it felt good to set the cogs of his mind whirring with productive thoughts. Finally, he was thinking clearly. He needed to understand what you needed from him – as a professionally concerned colleague – and to acquire that information, he would have to do some observation and obtain more data about your current state. 

Back in his quarters, he pulled up your schedule. Your shift on the bridge ended a couple of hours before your meeting with him. That seemed key – given your history, he needed to see how you interacted with others, and how better to do that than to observe you on the bridge. But how to achieve that goal? He refused to let himself touch the security cams again after his disastrous experience last time. Anyway, it would be better to observe at close range. He certainly couldn’t enter the bridge as himself – that would alter the variables entirely. There had to be another way.

The idea that popped into his head wasn’t ideal, but he also didn’t have much time to come up with another plan. It was a scheme he had used previously with other personnel when they needed to perform covert data-collecting missions on First Order ships. Of course, he himself had never needed to step into the stormtrooper armor in the past – he had merely been orchestrating the assignments – but now he was the only one he could trust to obtain this information. He quickly registered a false stormtrooper in the required databases and gave his fake identity ship-wide access. He idly wondered if someone would notice the discrepancy, but determined that he would be masquerading in this position for such a short period that when he completely wiped the identity later, no one would even know it had ever existed. 

Acquiring the correct armor was a slightly more complicated matter, but Hux had set his mind to the plan and refused to be dissuaded from its proper execution. By the time he was donning the various pieces of armor, he was certain that this scheme – strange as it was – would generate the results he needed to finally put this business with you behind him. If he could figure out what was going awry with your transition, he could make the necessary adjustments, provide the required information, and finally wash his hands of this matter entirely. 

Walking the halls with the pace that he had helped to condition into all of his troops, he missed the comforting drape of his greatcoat. The trooper armor was a different kind of weight, one that hung uncomfortably on Hux’s frame. He resisted the urge to constantly adjust it and consoled himself with the knowledge that this ruse would only need to go on for a couple hours, likely less.

Entering the bridge in his disguise was an entirely different experience than he had ever had upon walking through those guarded doors. Usually, he could hear his boots thud authoritatively on the polished floor, his greatcoat billowing slightly behind him as he moved with measured purpose to the very front of the bridge, ready to take command of the enormous ship. This time, however, he needed to enter as unobtrusively as possible and position himself so that he could best see the entire bridge operation. With a sharp salute, he relieved one of the troopers who was guarding the doors from the interior. Noiselessly slipping into his new station, he cast his gaze out over the blinking monitors and quiet bustle of the crew working both in the pits and on the main level. He saw that Captain Ernstead, a former Imperial officer, was overseeing the bridge and – for once – blessed the helmet that obscured his rolled eyes as he took in the sight of the old man. Ernstead, however, was definitely not who he was looking for. 

As though on cue, you appeared from one of the banks of workstations that lined each side of the bridge, datapad in hand. Just like when he watched you walk on the security cams, your posture was stiff and correct, but not quite… natural. For most of the officers who had spent their entire lives aboard Star Destroyers, being at attention was second nature, but as Hux observed you, he could tell that it was something you were working hard to maintain as you moved quickly toward Ernstead. Approaching the elder captain, you held out the datapad to show him something and spoke, although Hux couldn’t pick up the words. As he watched you talk to Ernstead, he noticed a strange heat sparking up the back of his neck. His fists clenched of their own accord and he gritted his teeth. He simply wasn’t used to wearing a helmet – it was surely just the warmth gathering around his head that made the slinking heat spread to his ears and temples.

Although he couldn’t hear the conversation, he looked on intently as you finished speaking, waiting to see what would happen next. With a shake of his head that Hux understood to be derisive, Ernstead waved you away with a dismissive gesture. Your shoulders slumped just slightly before you picked them back up again and drifted toward the outer perimeter of the bridge, eyes cast towards the gleaming floor. He didn’t remember moving, but Hux found his hand on his blaster. Grinding his teeth so loudly that he feared it might be audible, he pulled himself back to attention. By now his whole face felt like it was on fire – blast the damn helmet! 

Hux wasn’t sure how long you stood motionless on the sidelines before Ernstead beckoned you over again. Hux doubted he even knew your name. He couldn’t help but notice the slight eager bounce in your step as you returned. Perhaps Ernstead had reconsidered his idiotic dismissal of you – whatever you had brought to him was surely important. Instead, he watched your posture stutter as Ernstead finished speaking to you, and you closed the interaction with a dutiful salute as you began to make your way toward Hux and off the bridge. It couldn’t be the end of your shift yet – the chime that signaled shift change hadn’t sounded yet. Even completely disguised by armor, Hux was seized by a sudden fear that you would see directly through the ruse and recognize him immediately. Sweat trickled unpleasantly down his back. As you neared the doors, you inclined your head toward both Hux and the trooper who stood on the other side of the entrance and whispered a small “thank you” as you exited. Hux was frozen in place, mind temporarily going blank as he struggled to ensure that his feet were still planted firmly on the ground.  

That was certainly not standard protocol, he thought as he came back to himself. It was… thoughtful. Kind. Two words he would almost never use to describe the personnel with whom he had frequent contact. It reminded him of your apology to the droid in the dining hall, a memory which caused a small smile to play around his lips. He tamped it down instantly. He was here for a purpose, and this was a key piece of data. What did he know so far? He forced himself to clinically recount what he had observed as it pertained to your transition: you seemed nervous on the bridge, Ernstead had not treated you with respect, and you were clearly unfamiliar with the protocols that guided interactions between personnel. All of that could be addressed, Hux assured himself as he awaited your return to the bridge. 

When you walked back through the doors a few minutes later, you were carrying a tray of caf cups. As you made your way to the front of the bridge, you raised a tentative hand in greeting to other officers who were walking in the opposite direction. They ignored you entirely, some of them even snickering as soon as they were behind you. Hux fought with himself to not place his hand on the trigger of his blaster. Trying to collect himself, he blinked and looked again as you offered the tray to Ernstead and a couple other ex-Imperials on the bridge. When they had taken their cups, Ernstead banished you back to the side of the bridge with an absent flick of his hand. The heat that had engulfed his head now flowed through his blood like molten lava, setting every inch of his body aflame. He struggled to keep from shaking as his every muscle tensed. With the last bit of composure left to him, he signaled for another trooper to take his place, and he marched from the bridge, unable to witness any more.

How could they treat you like that? You were a captain – the same rank as Ernstead! He had absolutely no right to treat you like some cadet that he could send on caf runs. It was an insult to your rank and an embarrassment to the First Order. And the others! To be so callous when you were trying your best! Hux raged privately as he tramped through the halls, his skin still burning from the inside out. Upon reaching his quarters he threw the helmet from his head with such force that he almost feared he might have damaged something, but in truth he didn’t care. He ripped the armor from his body with feverish hands, casting it in thoughtless heaps on the floor. Rushing to his datapad, he opened an infraction report, his fingers flying over the keys. 

But then he stopped, hands hovering above the screen. He couldn’t do that. According to any official records, he was never on the bridge. Casting the datapad aside, he stumbled to his bed and fell backwards onto it, rubbing his hands over his face as though to work some sense back into himself. This was absurd, he tried to tell himself. All of this over nothing. But it wasn’t nothing. It was… well, it was you. That wasn’t nothing.

Clasping his hands over his stomach, he stared up at the ceiling. The heat was beginning to seep out of his body, his muscles relaxing slightly as he lay on the bed trying to regulate his breathing. You weren’t nothing. Once the thought had occurred to him, it lodged in his mind and refused to leave. He didn’t fully understand what it meant, but he knew that it made you something. But what kind of something? 

Hux didn’t like questions he couldn’t answer. He didn’t like the Force and he didn’t like feeling sick and he didn’t like his past and he didn’t like trying to read people. They all asked things of Hux for which he had no answer. So did you. But he did like you. Kriff. He did like you.

Once he thought it, he could not un-think it – could not un-know it. He pressed his palms against his closed eyes until he nearly saw stars. The room was silent except for his own ragged breathing. He felt somewhere halfway between diseased and radiant. 

What now? He forced himself into a sitting position on the bed. He had to think. He needed to see you again – of that he was certain. He needed to make sure you were okay, after everything he witnessed on the bridge. And he had to prove to himself that he could overcome this. He had resisted so much in his life – he could resist you too. And he would. He had to. 

He wouldn’t be productive in his quarters, that was quite clear. He feared that lingering alone with thoughts of you would only make him weaker, and he couldn’t abide that – not now. He would go to the officers’ dining hall and await your arrival. Yes, that was it. Surrounded by other First Order personnel, he would remind himself how much you were just like the rest of them – nothing special, nothing worth losing his senses over. He had discovered the root of the problem, and now he could finally enact a solution to solve that problem. Steeling himself with a new sense of resolve, he left early for the meeting.

He settled into a remote booth from which he could see the table where you would sit, but that would be mostly obscured from your vision. Checking the time, he realized he was over an hour early. With a sigh, he tapped away on his datapad, carefully deleting all trace of his false stormtrooper. When that was done, he listened idly to the inane chatter around him, internally doing breathing exercises and trying at all costs to keep you from his mind. His immense effort was less successful than he would have hoped. 

Without warning, the doors whizzed open, and you walked in, steps hesitant. Hux instantly ducked his head, although you appeared so focused on simply making your way through the room that he doubted you would have seen him. Deeply confused, he double-checked the time, confirming what he was witnessing: you came here nearly an hour early. Something in his chest seized a little and his ears began to feel warm. Clenching his teeth in an attempt to stop the sensation, he turned his attention to you, curious what would bring you here so early. 

You walked haltingly up to the food bay, letting a number of other officers go ahead of you as you hesitated near the start of the queue. When the line was mostly cleared, Hux watched your shoulders rise and fall as you took a deep breath and stepped up to the counter. 

“Two cafs please,” you said softly to the food service droid. The words sounded practiced, like you had repeated them in your head several times before uttering them aloud. Acknowledging the order, the droid spun around for a moment before returning with the two cups.

“Thank you,” you murmured as you took the cafs. Two lieutenants walked past at the same time and apparently heard your words to the droid, since one of them leaned toward the other and hissed:

“Thanking the droid – what an idiot!” Both let out snickering laughs as they passed. Hux hoped that you hadn’t heard, but the slight incline of your head toward them and the fall of your shoulders confirmed that you had. Hux clenched his hands so hard that the leather of his gloves creaked under the pressure. 

He watched as you made your way to a table, but not the correct one. This one was much closer, but thankfully you sat with your back toward him so he could continue his observation of you without detection. Furrowing his brow, Hux pondered this development. Every time he had met you, it had been at the same table. Why was this time different? He didn’t have long to pick at the question before the answer was made clear to him. Two officers walked up to your table. Hux instantly recognized the haughty stance of an ex-Imperial – some captain whose name he didn’t care to recall – and perhaps his adjutant? Her pinched face had a leering quality that Hux found distasteful. It took every ounce of self-control in his body not to stand and participate in the confrontation he knew was about to occur. This conniving duo would never attempt to even speak to you with him glowering at them from behind you, his gloved hand resting protectively on your shoulder. Hux found he liked that mental image a lot more than he should. He forced himself to remain focused on the scene in front of him, even as he felt his heart rate spike at the thought of touching you.

“Captain,” the Imperial sneered the title, and you looked up. Hux couldn’t see your face, but he could imagine your look of surprise – it was one that had greeted him before. 

“Captain!” you returned the greeting, voice quavering slightly with what Hux determined to be nervousness. “How—how can I help you?”

“We were hoping we might have this table. We are expecting a few more officers to join us, and this spot is more centrally located.” The words seemed cordial, but the tone was less of a question and more of a command. Hux quickly scanned the dining hall. There were plenty of other empty tables that were ‘centrally located.’

“Oh! Um… well, I’m actually waiting for someone too.” Your voice was small, and Hux noticed your boot start to move just slightly, as though your instinct was to tap it against the floor, but you were controlling the urge. It was an experience Hux himself could empathize with. Neither of the other officers responded to your words, and the Imperial captain skewered you with a fiendish gaze under which Hux saw you begin to quail. “But… you are more than welcome to have it,” you breathed out in a rush as you scrambled to collect the cups and move to the table Hux had expected. As soon as you were gone, the two cronies settled in, laughing a little.

“’Waiting for someone,’” the adjutant mocked your words with a disbelieving snort, “as if!”

“I mean, who could possibly want that meeting?” the other captain returned, “one of those droids that apparently deserve a ‘please’ and ‘thank you?’” He guffawed at the thought.

Hux didn’t like to arrange for assassinations unless absolutely necessary, but his fingers flicked over his comlink, seconds away from calling Opan to make a plan. He had to remain focused on the task at hand, he reminded himself. He returned his gaze to you. You had slumped into your usual booth, shoulders falling forward as you stared intently at the surface of the table. Suddenly, you seemed to recognize your lapse in composure, and you righted yourself. Wiping furtively at your cheeks with the sleeves of your uniform, Hux realized you were whisking away tears. He briefly indulged in a fantasy involving his blaster and a few well-placed shots to a couple of officers at a conveniently ‘centrally located’ table. 

When he returned to the present, he became achingly aware that whatever he had intended to do, he would no longer be able to achieve. Watching you sit alone at the table with the two cafs, constantly tapping your datapad screen awake either to look for messages that weren’t there or to check the time, Hux felt nausea fill his stomach as his vision went slightly fuzzy around the edges. Hux calculated his every action, needed each of his movements to be precise and controlled. He planned everything in advance; he knew how interactions would play out before he even uttered a greeting. But with you, he could be certain of nothing. He had no idea what he might do if he allowed himself to sit across from you at the table. What if you smiled at him? What if you laughed? Even the thought of it was making him feel faint. No – he couldn’t trust himself. He had to leave.

Tapping out a message to Mitaka, he explained that something urgent had come up and he would need to cancel the meeting. Then he swept out of the dining hall, shooting a look that he wished was as deadly as a blaster bolt at the two miscreants who had stolen your table. He did not allow himself a last glance at you though – he knew he wasn’t strong enough for that. 

Alone in his quarters, he was utterly miserable. He planted himself face-down on the bed, unable to make even a feeble attempt at evading thoughts of you. He saw every gesture, heard every word: the small, hopeful handwaves, the soft ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ each rise and fall in your posture. He knew that stomach-dropping feeling when he looked at plans he was constructing and suddenly realized a key flaw that would prevent the design from coming to fruition. This was a little like that, but magnified a hundredfold. Rather than simply a cold, heavy feeling of knowing in the pit of his stomach, he felt like he was standing on a precipice, limbs made of lead, planting him to the ground, yet aching for the weightless release of falling. One glance from you would be enough to pull him over the edge, casting him into the unknown. He couldn’t risk it.

Rolling over, he looked out his large window into the vast field of glittering stars and planets beyond. Somewhere out there you could be happy. But not here – not aboard this floating monster of ship filled with callous and cruel beings bent on crushing the glowing light in you that had long ago been extinguished in them. And not with— Hux swallowed thickly. And not with him. The acknowledgement of the thought was enough to make him close his eyes. Many thoughts tormented him, but one that had some of the wickedest barbs was that just cycles ago he would have treated you like everyone else did. Kriff, he had treated you the way everyone else did. You deserved far better than that. 

Hux was no stranger to sacrifice. He had given up more than he could even call to mind: things, places, people, even parts of himself. He could let things go when he realized they were not in service of the First Order – not in service of the greater good. He understood what need to be kept and nurtured and what needed to be abandoned. But by all the stars in the galaxy he wanted to keep you, to nurture whatever it was he felt for you, maybe even lo— no. No. A shuddering breath left his body. He could not allow himself to think it. 

He had this memory from when he was a child on Arkanis. It was so faded now, blurry around the edges like a bad holo, but the feeling remained. He had found a stone on the shoreline. He could no longer recall if it was blue or green or black, but he remembered that it sparkled, even under the perpetually overcast skies of his home planet. He had wanted to keep that little stone so badly. He had tucked it into the deepest pocket of his rain poncho, the most secret place he could think to hide it. His father had caught him playing with it later, just bouncing it on the table to hear the little tap, tap, tap noise it made against the surface, watching the way it glittered under different lights. But he wasn’t supposed to have toys. Not even a little sparkling stone. Brendol had pulled him back to the shoreline, dragging him along the sodden ground. He had forced him to throw it back. Hux had cried and refused, holding the stone in his tiny fist. Then his father had hit him. With his small knees bruised on the wet stones of the beach and a trickle of blood running from his nose, Hux had stood and walked toward where the sea hugged at the shore. He knelt in the cold, grey water and gave the stone back to the waves, watching as it twinkled at him one last time before vanishing beneath the surface. Hux knew about sacrifice. He knew the sensation of a beloved weight lifting from his palms and leaving him alone again. He knew the feeling of empty hands.

If there were tears on his cheeks as he lay curled on his bed, looking out into the endless ocean of stars, he would never have admitted it. He didn’t cry. Not anymore. 

He knew what he needed to do. He had to send you away. You’d be happy back in the field. And he would be— well, he would still be here. And maybe your memory would fade from the sharp, biting pain of what-could-have-been and into the dull ache of never-was. He could look back on you like he looked back on the little stone, another precious thing that he was better off without. That was better off without him. 

He would tell you tomorrow, or whatever tomorrow really was – another loathed repetition of the same tortures. Maybe this was what he needed to do to finally rid himself of this curse: prove that he could let you go. Even if it took all the resolve he had left, he couldn’t – wouldn’t – allow himself to be a coward. He would tell you himself, watch the joy radiate from your face as he relayed the news that you wouldn’t be trapped here with him anymore. Maybe he could live off the memory of that light when his days flickered back into their usual, dull darkness without you. The image of your imagined happiness lingered in his thoughts as he fell into a fitful sleep.

[evidence-based-activism]

Sex Differences in Serial/Mass Murder

I recently received an ask about a specific female serial killer, which I will be answering soon, but I wanted to make a separate post about serial/mass murder statistics for those who'd like a more generic discussion (rather than about a specific person).

For terminology: serial murder refers to the killings of multiple people over separate events while mass murder refers to the killing of many people within a single event. The line between these can be blurred in some cases (e.g., if a man shoots and kills his family before going on a "rampage" and killing many unrelated individuals is that serial or mass murder?), but that this the rough delineation between the two.

---

Serial Murder

Professionals working at Radford University and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) have developed an incredibly interesting Serial Killer Database [1]. It is likely the most (although not completely) comprehensive database of serial killers in existence. They have defined serial murder as "the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offenders in separate event".

There is an important note to their research: it can only identify known serial killers for which some record has been kept. (I'll explicate why this is important to keep in mind later. But, first some stats:)

They found:

Women make up only ~10% of all (identified) serial killers in history

The percentage of (identified) female serial killers has decreased over time and is lower in the USA compared to other countries

"Financial gain is the primary motive for women serial killers whereas enjoyment is the primary motive for men" (Also discussed in [2]).

"Male serial killers are much more likely that female serial killers to torture victims, mutilate the body after death, and engage in overkill ... [and] more likely to engage in necrophilia"

However, this data is likely skewed towards an over-estimation of female serial killers. As mentioned before, this data base includes only serial killers that have been identified and recorded. As a result:

The number of identified serial killers is much higher for recent modern times (i.e., 20th and 21st centuries) than for all the rest of history combined. (Specifically, there are only 250 recorded serial killers, out of 5752, before 1900). It is unlikely that serial killers are simply a modern phenomenon. Instead, it's most likely that (1) detection methods have been improved over time, such as the advent of modern forensics, (2) record keeping has been improved over time, or (3) both detection and record keep have improved over time.

The above supposition is supported by the difference in serial killer frequency between the USA and other countries. According to the report, ~64% of all serial killers are in the USA. They note, however, that "caution should be taken in reviewing this table as the number of serial killers by country is a function of the number of actual killers, the number caught, and the number reported by police or the media". It is again unlikely that the USA truly houses 64% of the world's serial killers, and more likely that better detection methods and record keeping has skewed the results towards the USA.

As a result of this, however, the percentage of female serial killers is likely inflated by this report. Female serial killers are less likely to kill strangers (a type of serial killing that is often detected and the killer often identified by modern forensics). They are also more likely to have visible benefits (i.e., the financial gain) than male serial killers, potentially providing a clearer link to their crimes prior to modern forensic methods.

In fact, the raw number of female serial killers has remained relatively stable over the recorded time periods (excepting a spike in frequency that was mirrored in the male serial killer statistics). This suggests that, rather than fewer/a smaller proportion of female serial killers being identified over time, the number/proportion of male serial killers identified has been increasing. This is reflected in the decreasing percentage of female serial killers over time.

To obtain a better estimate of the true proportion prevalence of female serial killers I calculated the proportion within restricted frames. Women make up:

~9% of all identified serial killers after 1900

~7.5% of all identified serial killers after 1900 in the USA

~7% of all identified serial killers over the last 50 years (since 1970)

~6% of all identified serial killers over the last 50 years (since 1970) in the USA

Given this, it's likely that the true proportion of female serial killers is closer to 6-7%.

For the interested, this review [2] and this article [3] elucidate the differences between female and male serial killers.

---

Mass Murder

I have previously made a few posts about the connection between domestic violence and mass shootings, but I'll expand on mass shooting statistics here with some interesting new sources.

First, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has recently released a first of its kind report on "Mass Attacks in Public Spaces" [4]. The inclusion criteria they used was somewhat restrictive (only for 2016-2020, in the USA, harmed three or more people, in public locations). Despite this, the data is high quality, and carefully analyzed. Importantly, they found that 96% of the attackers were male.

Further, they found "nearly half of the attackers were found to have had a history of domestic violence, misogynistic behaviors, or both." (It is also possible -- even likely -- that, given the minimal attention paid to misogynistic biases by mass violence task forces, that other attackers had an undocumented history of domestic violence/misogynistic behaviors.)

Other studies with slightly different inclusion criteria find similar results:

Looking at public shootings with four or more victims in the USA between 1966 and 2017, found men were the attackers in 96% of shootings. [5] (Importantly, this analysis excludes familicides and mass shootings connected to organized crime/gang violence. Both of these types of crimes are also male dominated.)

"Familicide is almost exclusively a crime perpetrated by men." [6] (A hard statistic for this crime is difficult to pin down, it's certainly >95%, but many sources put it either at or extremely close to 100%.)

Another analysis looking at public shootings with four or more victims in the USA between 1976 and 2018, found 98% of shooters were male. [7] This source demonstrates the issue with restricting analysis to only public shootings, as over 80% of mass shootings during this time period were not public.

A final source [8] documents various tools attempting to track mass shootings and the differences between them. In summary, they find men were the shooter in 98% of incidents.

---

Ultimately, this indicates that in addition to accounting for at least 90% of all "normal" homicide perpetrators (post with data and [9] which indicates that the global proportion is closer to 95%), men also make up >90% of serial killers and >95% of mass murderers.

References below the cut:

Aamodt, M. G., Leary, T., & Girimurugan, S. (2023). Radford/FGCU Annual Report on Serial Killer Statistics: 2023 Radford, VA: Radford University.

Miller, L. (2014). Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.002

Gurian, E. A. (2017). Reframing serial murder within empirical research: Offending and adjudication patterns of male, female, and partnered serial killers. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 61(5), 544–560. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X15598572

National Threat Assessment Center. (2023). Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016 - 2020. U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security.

Capellan, J. A., Johnson, J., Porter, J. R., & Martin, C. (2019). Disaggregating mass public shootings: A comparative analysis of disgruntled employee, school, ideologically motivated, and rampage shooters. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 64(3), 814–823. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13985

Karlsson, L. C., Antfolk, J., Putkonen, H., Amon, S., Da Silva Guerreiro, J., De Vogel, V., Flynn, S., & Weizmann-Henelius, G. (2021). Familicide: A systematic literature review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 83–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018821955

Duwe, G. (2020). Patterns and prevalence of lethal mass violence. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12478

Smart, R., & Schell, T. L. (2021). Mass shootings in the united states. Mass Shootings in the United States. https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/essays/mass-shootings.html

Homicide and Gender. (2015). UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

[cuties-in-codices]

Where do you find these manuscripts? Is it like a website or do you find it randomly??

hey, thanks for the curiosity! lenghty answer below the cut :)

1)

medieval manuscripts are typically owned by libraries and showcased on the library's websites. so one thing i do is i randomly browse those digitized manuscript collections (like the collections of the bavarian state library or the bodleian libraries, to name just two), which everybody can do for free without any special access. some digital collections provide more useful tools than others (like search functions, filters, annotations on each manuscript). if they don't, the process of wading through numerous non-illustrated manuscripts before i find an illustrated one at all can be quite tedious.

2)

there are databases which help to navigate the vast sea of manuscripts. the one i couldn't live without personally use the most is called KdIH (Katalog der deutschsprachigen illustrierten Handschriften des Mittelalters). it's a project which aims to list all illustrated medieval manuscripts written in german dialects. the KdIH provides descriptions of the contents of each manuscript (with a focus on the illustrations), and if there's a digital reproduction of a manuscript available anywhere, the KdIH usually links to it. the KdIH is an invaluable tool for me because of its focus on illustrated manuscripts, because of the informations it provides for each manuscript, and because of its useful search function (once you've gotten over the initial confusion of how to navigate the website). the downside is that it includes only german manuscripts, which is one of the main reasons for the over-representation of german manuscripts on my blog (sorry about that).

3)

another important database for german manuscripts in general (i.e. not just illustrated ones) is the handschriftencensus, which catalogues information regarding the entirety of german language manuscripts of the middle ages, and also links to the digital reproductions of each manuscript.

4)

then there are simply considerable snowball effects. if you do even just superficial research on any medieval topic at all (say, if you open the wikipedia article on alchemy), you will inevitably stumble upon mentions of specific illustrated manuscripts. the next step is to simply search for a digital copy of the manuscript in question (this part can sometimes be easier said than done, especially when you're coming from wikipedia). one thing to keep in mind is that a manuscript illustration seldom comes alone - so every hint to any illustration at all is a greatly valuable one (if you do what i do lol). there's always gonna be something interesting in any given illustrated manuscript. (sidenote: one very effective 'cheat code' would be to simply go through all manuscripts that other online hobbyist archivers of manuscript illustrations have gone through before - like @discardingimages on tumblr - but some kind of 'professional pride' detains me from doing so. that's just a kind of stubbornness though. like, i want to find my material more or less on my own, not just the images but also the manuscripts, and i apply arbitrary rules to my search as to what exactly that means.)

5)

whatever tool or strategy i use to find specific illustrated manuscripts-- in the end, one unavoidable step is to actually manually skim through the (digitized) manuscript. i usually have at least a quick look at every single illustrated page, and i download or screenshot everything that is interesting to me. this process can take up to an hour per manuscript.

---

in conclusion, i'd say that finding cool illuminated manuscripts is much simpler than i would have thought before i started this blog. there are so many of them out there and they're basically just 'hidden in plain side', it's really astounding. finding the manuscripts doesn't require special skills, just some basic experience with/knowledge of the tools available. the reason i'm able to post interesting images almost daily is just that i spend a lot of time doing all of this, going through manuscripts, curating this blog, etc. i find a lot of comfort in it, i learn a lot along the way, and i immensely enjoy people's engagement with my posts. so that's that :)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not being entirely negative about AI?

05/16/2024

Just before anyone scrolls down just to vote YTA, please hear me out: I'm not an AI bro, I am a hobbyist artist, I do not use generative AI, I know that it's all mostly based off stolen work and that's obviously Bad.

That being said, I am also an IT major so I understand the technology behind it as well as the industry using it. Because of this I understand that at this point it is very, very unlikely that AI art will ever go away, I feel like the best deal out of it that actual artists can get out of it is a compromise on what is and isn't allowed to be used for machine learning. I would love to be proven wrong though and I'm still hoping the lawsuits against Open AI and others will set a precedent for favouring artists over the technology.

Now, to the meat of this ask: I was talking in a discord sever with my other artist friends some of which are actually professionals (all around same age as me) and the topic of discussion was just how much AI art sucks, mostly concerning the fact that another artist we like (but don't know personally) had their works stolen and used in AI. The conversation then developed into talking about how hard it is to get a job in the industry where we live and how AI is now going to make that even worse. That's when I said something along the lines of: "In an ideal world, artists would get paid for all the works of theirs that are in AI learning databases so they can have easy passive income and not have to worry about getting jobs at shitty companies that wouldn't appreciate them anyway." To me that seemed like a pretty sensible take. I mean, if could just get free money every month for (consensually) putting a few dozens of my pieces in some database one time, I honestly would probably leave IT and just focus on art full time since that's always been my passion whereas programming is more of a "I'm good at it but not that excited about doing it, but it pays well so whatever".

My friends on the other hand did not share the sentiment, saying that in an ideal world AI art would be outlawed and the companies hiring them would not be shitty. I did agree about the companies being less shitty, but disagreed about AI being outlawed. I said that the major issue with AI are the copyright concerns so if tech companies were just forced to get artist's full permission to using their work first as well as providing monetary compensation there really wouldn't be anything wrong with using the technology (when concerning stylized AI art, not deepfakes or realistic AI images as those have a completely different slew of moral issues).

This really pissed a few of them off and they accused me of defending AI art. I had to explain to them that I wasn't defending AI art as it was NOW, because I know that the way it works NOW is very harmful, I was just saying that as an IDEAL scenario, not even something I think is particularly realistic, but something I think would be cool if it were actually possible. The rest of the argument was honestly just spinning in circles with me trying to explain the same points and them being outraged at the fact that I'm not 100% wholeheartedly bashing even the mere concept of AI until I just got frustrated and left the conversation.

It's been about a week and I haven't spoken to the friends I had that argument with since then. I still interact on the server and I see them interacting there too but we just kinda avoid each other. It's making me rethink the whole situation and wonder if I really was in the wrong for saying that and if I should just apologize.

[eretzyisrael]

Two weeks ago I urged the UNC fraternity brothers who stood up to pro-Hamas rioters at their college by protecting Old Glory from desecration to use the half million dollars raised for them for something more worthwhile than a big party.

Why not use these funds instead to create a database that identifies every single one of the Hamas protesters who attempted to take over the UNC campus so that future employees will have a resource when it comes time to hire graduates? Why not then use that UNC database as the starting point for a nationwide database, to identify other Hamas protesters who took over colleges at every other university?

It seems that database already exists, called Canary Mission, which was revealed to me first in this somewhat hostile news article on May 12, 2024 from the Times of Israel, which seems more interested in protecting pro-Hamas rioters from the consequences of their actions than defending Jews and Israel from attack.

The goal of Canary Mission is very straight-forward, and utterly legal. From its About webpage:

Canary Mission documents individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond. Canary Mission investigates hatred across the entire political spectrum, including the far right, far left and anti-Israel activists. Canary Mission is motivated by a desire to combat the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses. We pursue our mission by presenting the words and deeds of individuals and organizations that engage in anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry on the far right, far left and among the array of organizations that comprise the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Canary Mission gathers content from publicly available sources. We aggregate this information into a concise and easily searchable format, providing free access to the general public. Before publication, all content is verified, meeting our high standards of accuracy and authenticity.

It also provides a method for individuals to dispute its claims, and get removed from the list. As far as I can tell, so far no one has succeeded in getting removed, probably because the evidence of their anti-Semitic behavior is easy to document.

The student list is easy to scan, providing the name and picture of each individual, plus specific informatoin about what they did and where they attend school. There are also similar lists of professors, professionals, and organizations.

Book mark this webpage. It has a search function. Use it when ever someone wants a job with you, or wishes to partner with you in any capacity. You need to know who you are dealing with, at a deeper level then anything they will be willing to tell you.

[1313-hunter]

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

CORUSCANT GUARD – INTELLIGENCE DIVISION

CONFIDENTIAL DOSSIER

[CLASSIFIED - FOR AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY]

NAME: Solus, Ge’tal (Alias: “Red”)

ID NUMBER: 4815162342

LAST SEEN: [REDACTED]

OCCUPATION: Independent Contractor (Bounty Hunter, Mercenary)

AFFILIATION: GAR Intelligence (Temporary Contract)

KNOWN ASSOCIATES: [REDACTED]

THREAT LEVEL: HIGH ⚠️

KEEP READING FOR FURTHER REPORT

(Meiker by @elequinoa, access here.)

PROFILE SUMMARY

• Exiled Mandalorian anarchist.

• Freelance bounty hunter with ties to Republic operations.

• Maintains loose affiliation with Separatist-sympathetic elements, but has worked alongside GAR personnel.

• Unpredictable. Handles jobs efficiently but disregards chain of command.

• Suspected of prior anti-GAR and anti-Republic activity. Under surveillance.

COMMANDER’S NOTES

Marshal Commander Fox - Coruscant Guard:

“Insubordinate, unpredictable, and an active disruption. She will follow the job parameters - mostly - but only on her terms. Too much history with underworld syndicates and insurgent groups to be fully reliable. Would not recommend extended contracts unless absolutely necessary. Keep under watch at all times.”

Captain Rex - 501st Legion:

“Competent, resourceful, but stubborn. Won’t take orders, only ‘suggestions.’ She’s an asset in high-risk missions but a liability in structured operations. Works best when given a target and left alone to do the job. Approach with caution.”

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

⚠️ DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED.

⚠️ DO NOT PROVIDE UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO GAR DATABASES OR ASSETS.

⚠️ HIGHLY ADAPTIVE – UNLIKELY TO STAY LOYAL TO ANY FACTION FOR LONG.

⚠️ NEEDS TECH REPAIRS – PREFERS TO HANDLE OWN MODIFICATIONS.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

• High levels of independent thinking and defiance towards authority.

• Tendency towards extreme insubordination.

• Highly intelligent; capable of deception and manipulation.

• Displays strong (if inconsistent) personal loyalty to certain individuals (notably, specific clones).

ASSESSMENT:

Valuable as a contracted asset, but dangerous if unchecked. Highly skilled in close-quarters combat, reconnaissance, and target acquisition. Tendency to disappear from surveillance without notice. Approach with professional detachment. Do not engage casually.

CURRENT STATUS:

📍 ACTIVE - LOCATION UNKNOWN

📂 MISSION LOG: ACCESS RESTRICTED, NEEDS AUTHORISATION FROM CAPTAIN REX AND/OR MARSHAL COMMANDER FOX

THIS DOCUMENT IS CLASSIFIED UNDER GAR INTELLIGENCE PROTOCOLS. UNAUTHORISED ACCESS OR DISTRIBUTION IS PUNISHABLE UNDER REPUBLIC CODE 47-B.

END REPORT

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Do you have any thoughts about how to deal with guilt spirals? I try praying, which helps in short bursts, but I'm not sure how to get out of the longer lasting feelings. I want to trust God to help me to move past it, but I'm not sure where to start.

Hey there, my heart goes out to you; those spirals are not fun! I'm glad you've found that prayer helps ease them in the short-term — and that you're seeking longer-term help.

My personal experience has been that the only way to deal with frequent guilt spirals is to unpack the underlying shame that feeds them. ...Which is honestly the journey of a lifetime!

But I'm not a mental health professional — my primary advice is for you to find one you feel safe enough with to unpack shame together. I'll list some resources for finding one at the end of this post.

You can trust that God will help you through your distress — and that even in the midst of it, God is present with you, holding you close.

But the most common way that God helps us is through others — we are the hands and feet of Christ on earth; just as we recognize the call to be Christ for others, we must open ourselves to others being Christ for us. God's Spirit gifts us with knowledge, wisdom, and community so that we can support one another. The unique gifts and acquired knowledge a mental health professional offers may be one way God will pour zir love on you.

You may be like me, and largely skeptical that a therapist can help you with your guilt or shame. I've gone through several therapists over the years, and only started finding therapy actually helpful after I started seeking out therapists who practice something other than CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy).

I'm not saying you definitely wouldn't benefit from CBT — its purpose is to identify and challenge negative thought patterns & behaviors, which could indeed help with the guilt spirals. But I feel that if CBT is used it's gotta be combined with something else, because those patterns are just the tip of the iceberg! Plus, CBT fails to take systemic issues into account — all the positive thinking in the world won't help if your anxiety is founded in real oppression, etc. (Also, CBT has been found to not be very effective on neurodivergent people in particular.)

Finding a therapist that fits you:

It's possible it'll take a few tries to find a therapist that actually fits you. Most offer free consults — plan questions ahead of time! You'll want to be as straightforward as possible during this consult; if they're not going to be a good fit, it's best to know asap.

If they say something you aren't sure about, ask them to clarify / expand on what they mean.

Big thing to check is how they respond to mandatory reporting re: suicide — you want someone who leaves that as an absolute last resort. If they sound too matter-of-fact about reporting on someone, for me at least that's a signal I'm not going to feel safe enough to open up a ton, and that I probably won't like their approach to mental health in general.

If you feel you can, bring up any marginalized identities you hold and/or some of the things that bring you guilt and see how they respond. Do you feel respected and understood by what they say?

And if you do end up with a therapist who makes you uncomfortable, or just doesn't click, hit da bricks! Don't do what too many of us do and keep going to them because you're scared of hurting their feelings — they won't take it personally.

Therapist Databases:

Inclusivetherapists.com lets you filter to therapists that serve clients in your state, take certain insurances, and specialize in specific things. This is a good resource for various marginalizations, not just queerness!

The LGBTQ Healthcare Directory is a similar resource to the above, but LGBTQ specific

TransWIN is a database of medical providers who've been vouched for by actual trans patients

The Open Path Collective: If you struggle to find a therapist that fits what you need and takes your insurance (or you don’t have insurance etc.), Open Path lists counselors willing to provide service at low costs, from $30 to $70 per session. You can filter to those specializing in various things.

[coldflasher]

here's my autograph with tom 😌 i had a more unique experience at the autograph sessions because the con posted a preview of the 10x8 images that would be available at the signing tables and i... did not really like any of them. so based on a tip from a fellow con-goer on fb i went on an online database of promo images and stills from movies and tv shows which meant that i had my pick of hundreds of really high-quality images which i had professionally printed in the same way as the standard 10x8s provided by the con. this is something i will definitely be doing in the future as it gave me a much better selection of images to choose from that would not normally be available, so it's a bit more unique, AND it was a really good conversation starter because both tom and danielle were like "oh, you brought your own, i haven't seen this one" and idk i guess they appreciated the novelty of having something different to sign aside from the same 10 or so images they already had

tom specifically was like "that's actually a really good picture 👀" and took a photo of it on his phone before signing it lmao, love that for me. i was like "yeah let me do your promo going forward, i'll find you the best pictures"

he also said he liked my flash t-shirt! i ended up not cosplaying helly r, i decided to save it for another time as yesterday was a really long day and i couldnt face the prospect of hours of queuing in heels and a pencil skirt. some other time maybe

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

A new study—published in Nursing Research—has found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted patient safety indicators in U.S. hospitals. The study, from Penn Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR), examined data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators to assess trends in nursing-sensitive quality indicators from 2019 to 2022. The prevention of these very distressing, uncomfortable conditions is considered to be under the nurse's purview and directly influenced by nursing care.

The investigation found that rates of falls, bloodstream infections from central line catheters, urinary tract infections from urinary catheters, pressure injuries from devices or immobility, and pneumonia associated with ventilator use, all increased significantly during the pandemic. While some of these rates have begun to decline, they have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. When a patient falls, develops a pressure injury, or suffers a hospital-acquired infection, these adverse events delay the patient's ability to go home, to be comfortable, and to heal.

"The pandemic placed an immense strain on health care systems and frontline workers, and the impact on patient safety is evident in these data," said Eileen T. Lake, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor in Gerontology; Professor of Nursing in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences; and Associate Director of CHOPR. "It's crucial that we address the ongoing challenges faced by nurses and invest in this professional workforce."

The study highlights the importance of supporting nurses and ensuring they have the resources and support they need to provide high-quality care. It also underscores the need for continued efforts to improve patient safety indicators even as the pandemic subsides.

More information: Eileen T. Lake et al, COVID-19 Pandemic Increases in Nursing-Sensitive Quality Indicators, Nursing Research (2024). DOI: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000771 journals.lww.com/nursingresearchonline/fulltext/2024/11000/covid_19_pandemic_increases_in_nursing_sensitive.16.aspx