#scrums. scrums everywhere.

[ratatatastic]

i love how we were so proud of our discipline and then BAM scrum tbf though swaggy goes after lafreniére because of the shove he gives him that leads to the goal and matthew goes for trochie presumably because of the follow through of his stick that hit forsy in the mouth which is what also led to the goal in the first place, its not a penalty but what does suck is that there wasnt a stoppage in play to check on forsy and because he was down, trochie was free to tap it in the side of the net that would have been guarded by forsy had he not gotten hit. though matthew has been targetting trochie in game 1 with a couple of pretty hard hits so it doesnt surprise me that he immediately beelines towards him

bob backing away from the chaos until hes out of frame is the peak of the scrum but the slap fight between ekky and panarin also is very good too especially when lundy tries to help out. peep thr refs very quickly seperating swaggy but having to drag lafreniére with them but because apparently two refs can only focus on one guy you can guess what happens

men mounting each on the ice? unheard of im clutching my pearls. but also lundy pinning fox to the goal and then realising lafreniére is on matthew and so he tries to go back to help but in doing so tries to drag fox WITH HIM but fox is clinging onto the pipe like his life is on the line AND THEN lundy manages to make it to matthew but FOX RAGDOLLS HIM BACK???

side note the absolute LENGTHS forsy has to go through to keep gustafsson at bay like thats a tasmanian devil on a leash

the only appropriate metaphor here is that trying to seperate the panthers in a scrum is like herding cats and all of this happening while the crowd sings along to the rangers goal song is so fucking chaotic

florida panthers @ new york rangers game 2 | 5.24.24

[hugheses]

Wish my life was as organised as your blog 🥲

Hope this isn’t a dumb question but I’m kind of new to the world of JH and I’ve only seen bits a pieces of interviews or media etc out of order. He seemed like such a happy little soul when he was younger (usntp, etc) - do you think he has changed much as he’s gotten older/ dealt with press, injuries, criticism, etc etc or is it just growing up? Not saying he seems UNhappier necessarily or to discount his achievements but people change a lot in their early twenties and obvs he has now had to deal with the kind of challenges and disappointments that (I presume) he never had to as a child/pre-draft.

Curious to hear your thoughts! ❤️

well first of all my life is not as organized as this blog is either 😭😭

to me i think what makes jack such an interesting figure to psychoanalyze is that he’s so contradictory. he loves the spotlight and yet is embarrassed when he’s too enthusiastic or emotional (luke’s draft, the arviddson thing, etc) and hates doing media scrums. he hated his rookie year and yet still thought he was “the man”. not to get all annoying former gifted kid but i think there are real comparisons to be made there. like this was a child prodigy who was so confident and so cocky, and then hit the nhl and struggled hard, without the supports and scaffolding he’d had his entire life. something particularly unique about jack is that unlike most elite hockey players, he never billeted anywhere or went to boarding school or anything until he played for the devils. their family up and moved to michigan for him. (there were other circumstances also lol) of course he had struggles before, but he also always had his mom and of course his brothers that he’s extremely close to right there with him. obviously the difficulty and physicality of the nhl was a huge whack in the face for him, but so was adjusting to like, real life, alone. so i think he has definitely changed but even in saying that, he has maintained sort of an almost delusional level of self confidence even when things were going horribly, as seen in this espn feature. i also really like this article about his rookie year because it includes quotes from people who know him.

i think really i would say that everything he's been through, and growing up generally, has hardened him. i don't think he's depressed and miserable all of the time but yeah, he's not the same starry eyed 18 year old who was pointing everywhere at his draft. but i do think you see that "old jack" come out sometimes when he's being luke's big brother, or talking to a reporter he's comfortable with, or interacting with kids. he keeps his cards much closer to his chest now but we get little bits here and there. i am curious to see if we will get to hear at all about how his injury/surgery impacted him, bc historically he hasn't wanted to talk about that stuff but i so love to study him in my lab. and yet he resists vulnerability because he doesn't support women's hobbies.

[lesquatrechevrons]

rugby au musings

something about me: I LOVE sports au, especially when I haven’t played in 10 years lol

the commanders!! (Non exhaustive list) (more squads under the cut!)

Cody: scrum half (domineering and in the thick of things, of course - he would be one of those scrum halves that basically captain it all)

Fox: fly half (much like the above, except he truly is everywhere at once running the show. *never* on the same team as Cody; if on a Corries only team, then Stone is his scrum half)

Thire, Ponds and I’m chucking Bly in this one because of his canon scope visor: fullbacks all the way! Deep in the back, the Hail Mary of defense, patron catchers of long drop kicks, and drop kickers in turn - can get dirty by running to the backs to create a defense line

Thorn: the dude with the canonical wings MUST be a winger, he might be a canon heavy gunner but this dude yearns to fly across the pitch and deliver all the schemes that Fox lil dastardly fly half heart can think of. And Doom would be a winger too - just on vibes!!!

Wolffe: epitome of the 8th, this guy controls the scrum from the back, knows where the ball is - I would say Comet and Sinker are flankers much for this reason.

Neyo: I am tempted to put him as n 8 as well except he’s canonically a mean sonova trained by death watch and whose battalion is Urban Guerrilla All Day All The Time, so I think he’s going to be right there in the scrum, Hooker with the fastest foot in the galaxy (the need to get the ball from the other’s side hooker and nudge it to the second row/n 8)

Colt, Bacara: they feel like props (first row scrum) to me, but they also have such second row/wingers vibes. at this point could be either forwards or backs - it really depends on the body type!

if torrent was a whole team:

Rex: imma gonna put my full face paint for this one 🤡 and say that Rex is a fly half like Owen Farrell was during the last World Cup. Rex secret weapon is a deadly drop kick.

Fives: I’m incredibly torn on this one because I feel like him and Echo would be stunning scrum halves! I’m going to go with scrum half for Fives and flanker for Echo, but they’re the kind of players that truly can be everywhere at once.

Kix: fullback 5ever, this dude is seeing the bigger picture, he’s got your back, he’s your last chance, and he gets underestimated at everyone’s peril

Jesse: another mr n 8!!! It’s all fun and games until that ball rolls his way and then he and and Echo and Fives get in the flow, that ball moves of independent will!

Hardcase: hooker! In the thick of things, he would get a massive kick out of the position name alone, and he would get to wreck havoc!! His tackles are intense!

Dogma… him I was thinking second row (the dudes that get flown in the hair during line outs (the side ball thing)) but he and Tup would be such a wings combo!!! Dudes can run!! and Dogma would be such a fastidious tackler, he would know all the Rules (rugby rules have the capital R), he would tiptoe just the line to not get carded!

Dominoes <3: Hevy is a prop (next to Hardcase! What a duo!!!); Cutup is with Kix with the backs, and Droidbait Is Second Row (behind Jesse and in front of Jesse!)

bonus:

Alphas: They Would Be Playing Rugby League (the vibe is any Sam Burgess flying fist, but especially the World Cup one in against SZ)

Nulls: Aussie Rules (They Are Minding Their Own Stuff Slightly To The Left Of Everyone Else - and a sleeveless kit ;}c )

[beardedmrbean]

A group of tourists wheel their bulky luggage and wind their way through the crowds in search of the perfect shot.

They huddle on a pavement opposite a convenience store - but this is no ordinary store. Rising behind it is Japan's highest summit, the majestic Mount Fuji.

The snowy 3,776m-peak forms a stunning backdrop for those in search of their next favourite selfie or instagrammable moment. The visitors got what they wanted – and just in time.

Fast forward a few weeks, to this morning, and that view is gone. The once-busy vantage point – the pavement – is now behind a black mesh screen, about the same length as a cricket pitch.

The barrier is the result of a chorus of complaints from locals, who say their lives have been disrupted by jaywalking and littering tourists.

The picturesque town of Fuji Kawaguchiko has been feeling the impact of a surge in tourism - arrivals to Japan crossed a record three million in March and April, driven up by a weak yen and a post-pandemic travel boom.

The screen is a desperate move and a sign of Japan’s struggle to accommodate this many visitors while protecting its streets, its famous spots and its particular way of living.

It has been an eventful Tuesday in Fuji Kawaguchiko.

Japanese officials had announced in late April that they would be putting up a screen - but the hour of installation brought more attention to this rural corner of central Japan. As workers fixed poles and hung up wires to hold the screen, they were surrounded by a scrum of cameras. Tourists gathered as well, curious to capture the hubbub.

If the screen is meant to keep them away, it isn’t doing that - yet.

Around us, visitors wonder how effective it will be: “It may work for a few days. But I’m sure someone will make a hole [in it] and take a picture at some point,” says Kazakh tourist Yuri Vavilin.

He is disappointed he missed the crucial shot but he says he shall return tomorrow and try from either end of the screen.

This dedication is surprising to 65-year-old Kazuhiko Iwama who has lived his entire life in Fuji Kawaguchiko. His house sits opposite the ubiquitous convenience store, with its florescent lights and famous blue sign that says Lawson.

“I see it every day from my window, so I really don’t have much to say about it,” he says, looking at the volcano that draws tourists from around the world. “I guess I take it for granted.”

It’s what many have dubbed a “very Japanese” scene - the banal Lawson shouldering such a spectacular view. It is even known online as “Mount Fuji Lawson”.

Mr Iwama isn’t convinced the screen would deter the most determined of tourists. With the pavement gone, he fears more of them will step on to the street to take pictures.

He says this is precisely the problem - he wouldn’t mind tourists, if they followed the rules.

“They cross the street and they don’t seem to care about the cars at all, it is dangerous. And they leave trash and cigarette butts everywhere."

This is seen as especially rude and careless in a country with few bins on the street - you are expected to carry your trash home and dispose of it there.

The screen was a last resort for local officials. One of them had said earlier in May, “It's regrettable we have to do this because of some tourists who can't respect rules."

They did try less drastic measures. They put up big road signs in multiple languages, telling people not to run onto the road. But, they say, these have largely been ignored.

When we visited weeks before, the road had local security to prevent accidents. We saw one man blowing his whistle furiously and yelling at jaywalkers to stop. When we tried to approach him, he stopped us: “I need to concentrate please.”

On the road, a driver aggressively honked at a camera-wielding pedestrian - a rare sound in Japan - who had parked themselves in front of the Lawson, obstructing traffic.

“I think one person posted a cool picture of themselves in front of this Lawson and it went viral and everybody decided ‘I want to go there. I want that picture on my Instagram,’” says Maddison Verb who had travelled here from the United States.

She and her two friends had been taking turns posing for the picture.

Unlike their serene, filtered photos that would soon be shared on Instagram or TikTok, the scene around them was crowded and tense.

“There's a guy working here just to prevent people from crossing the road. It is insane,” said Coralie Nieke, who had been visiting from Germany.

“If I didn't have social media, I wouldn't have come here. I wouldn't even have known that this place existed.”

She described how overwhelmed she felt by the sheer number of people jostling for that one snap. But, to her relief, she managed to get the “Lawson photo”.

Kikue Katsumata, a 73-year-old local who regularly walks her dog in the area, sympathised with both sides: “I feel sad for those tourists who come all the way to see the view and take pictures, but traffic here is quite heavy, and we are all very concerned about accidents.”

But now, with the screen up, tourists are still not convinced it will do the job.

“I think they’ll stand on the road to get the shot,” says Australian Maddie Godwin, echoing Mr Iwama’s concern.

Other visitors don’t see what the fuss is all about: Wandy Chow, a visitor from Toronto, says, “There are other places you can take beautiful pictures of Mt Fuji.”

Her son, Zachary, says he has found another shop with a good view of Mount Fuji.

But he won't say where. "I don’t want people to go there,” he says, smiling, thinking of his next shareable moment.

[visionarystoryteller]

Holidays|| Love For Noella Levesque

*part of the ‘Love For Noella Levesque OC World’*

The last few weeks before the holiday season really began had been hectic. With the wrestling community in uproar over MJF’s emotional media scrum and relationship speech, it seemed they were plastered everywhere.

Noella had been busy running shows and getting everyone on the same page for show production. Max had seen a little less of her with having interviews himself and him rehabbing an injury before worlds end. The two missed each other endlessly but had agreed on spending the holidays together.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.

Max had already been in NY a few hours before Noellas plane had landed, so he made sure his apartment was clean and had a meal cooking all before she could get there. By the time Max had finished setting the table, there was a knock at the door. Piper had ran to the door to meow loudly and max chuckled shaking his head.

“Yes pipe, it’s your bestfriend” Max chuckles as he opened the door. Noella was still fluffing her hair from the windy day, when max opened the door. When she looked up, he was already staring at her with a cocky smirk.

“Well well well” max smirked. She let out an exasperated sigh.

“That stupid wind making my hair look like a rat” she huffed out. Max moved forward and his warm hands snaked their way to her hips and pulled her into him and the apartment doorway more, pelvises almost touching, and her hands immediately going to Max’s chest.

“Oh I could make it look like a rat sweetheart” max says cockily with a big smirk. Noella throws her head back and laughs.

“Maybe later” she says catching her breath. Max wiggles his eyebrows at her, causing her to smack his chest. He leans down and gives her lips a kiss.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.

Max wasn’t one to celebrate traditional holidays but he decided to celebrate with Noella. Thanksgiving was spent in his apartment, where Noella cooked a semi traditional thanksgiving dinner for her and Max. It was just them and Piper, of course there was a call from Shawn and a call from her dad, she naturally kept her conversation with her father short and Paul was extremely saddened by this. He hadnt really called for past holidays when he was away unless it was her birthday or Christmas, so he shouldn’t have been surprised when she kept the conversation short. Of course Shawn got more out of her than Paul. He really was like the dad she never had. Even with his own kids, he still made Noella feel part of a family and had her promise to try and convince Max to go to Texas for Christmas so that he could see Noella. Shawn even offered to follow Jewish tradition for Max on his holidays that were running in with Christmas. Max agreed knowing how much Shawn had cared for Noella and wanted to finally meet the man he grew up watching as well.

Max had been driving the rental to Shawn’s farm ranch, while Noella chilled in the passenger seat, excited to see Shawn and his wife.

“I used to spend summers with Shawn’s wife when I was younger. My grandma liked how Shawn’s wife always treated me like her own kid and kept an eye on me when I visited dad on the road. Super protective but really fun.” Noella says to Max as they start getting closer to the ranch.

“So you’re also a farmer girl?” Max glances over at her with a raised eyebrow. Noella chuckles and shakes her head.

“Well more like a rancher girl but sure if that tickles your pickle” Noella shrugs looking out the window reading the signs.

“You surprise me more and more” Max says thoughtfully. Noella looks over at him.

“It’s a good thing sweetheart” Max says feeling her eyes on him. She smiles at him. Max could be full of surprises himself.

“Next right will be the access road to his ranch” Noella says seeing the familiar pastures and wooden signs.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.

As Max pulled the car to a stop next to a few pickups, Noella practically screamed. Max braced himself and looked at Noella.

“Shit sweetheart what’s wrong?” Max says. Noella looks at him sheepishly with a shy smile, one that has Max smiling at her.

“You see that blue pickup” Noella points. Max nods wanting her to continue.

“That’s my uncle Steve’s pickup.” Noella says with a big smile.

“Uncle Steve?”

“Steve Austin. Stone Cold.” Noella smiles. Maxs mouth drops open. Noella laughs and quickly gets out of the car.

“Wait he’s your honorary uncle too?” Max laughed nervously. Noella turned to look back at Max, who was closing his door.

“Mhmm, he and Uncle Shawn do a lot of ranching together, ride horses and shit” Noella says holding out her hand for Max to grab.

“I thought I heard yelling ‘oh uncle Steve! I love that uncle Steve’” Steve mocks Noella, coming out the ranch on the front porch. Noella threw her head back laughing.

“Wow hitting the senile stage already” Noella laughs. Steve chuckles and Shawn steps out onto the porch as well. Steve pulls Noella into a hug. Once Steve is done hugging Noella, Shawn hugs her next.

“Hi sweetie” Shawn says as he hugs her.

“Hi” she sighs out. Shawn kisses her head and lets her go.

“Guys…this is Max. Max this is Steve Anderson and Shawn Hickenbottom or Stone Cold Steve Austin and Heartbreak kid Shawn Micheals” Noella says proudly. The older pair of men laugh.

“Maxwell Jacob Friedman,Huge fan of you both.” Max says as he shakes their hands. Shawn laughs and Noella smacks his arm.

“They don’t need your full name” she giggles. Max gives her side a tiny little gaze with his finger and she helps. Shawn and Austin laugh at the pair.

“Well let’s go inside, mommas got a nice home cooked meal just for y’all” Shawn days.

“Which is why I’m here” Austin laughs walking into the house.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚. ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.

With the holidays in full swing. Noella felt a new sense of belonging. Sure she spent christmases with Shawn before, sure she’s seen Steve on holidays too, but with Max, it’s like she felt seen. Noella also made sure to celebrate the Jewish holidays, which even Shawn, who kept his word, oriented Jewish holidays into the time they were spending on the ranch, which made Max ever grateful. Their last night on the ranch, they sat out by the campfire.

“I just want to thank you guys for having me and including me with Noella “ Max says. Noella who was coming back from the bathroom heard her name.

“I heard my name” Noella says going to sit next to Max but Max grabs her hips when she’s close and pulls her onto his lap.

“This is always your seat sweetheart” max whispered in her ear. She let out a small giggle shaking her head.

“Well Max, it’s been my pleasure having you and my honorary daughter here” Shawn smiles.

“Niece” Steve cuts in laughing.

“Fine whatever, forgot you got jealous old man” Shawn juts at Steve. Noella laughs.

“This is probably been one of the best holiday seasons I’ve had” Noella says thoughtfully looking at the fire. Everyone goes quiet. Max just squeezed her closer to him.

[crow-talks-hockey]

ok i think there's something very interesting about talking the five best forwards in this league... and this is in no way me actually ranking them 1-5, i'm just pointing out something curious about their play so here i go

starting with mcdavid: connor plays a fast, smooth game. mostly offensive. he doesn't need to barrel through guys, he just cuts through them like a hot knife through butter and it's highly effective. he also doesn't need to play a gritty, defensive game. all his power can and does go into being the best offensive player out there and it's because of his speed

now we pan over to matthews: similar to mcdavid, auston seems to play more quickly offensively like connor does. he isn't nearly as fast, but he's very effective anyway. he plays slightly grittier, but still plays more of a connor-eque game than the people i'm going to mention next.

draisaitl: leon is a pretty good mix of fast versus strong offense. he leans more to the fast side, but when it's needed he'll barrel through you with pretty much no problem. he isn't afraid to get into a bit of a scrum, but it's rare that we really see him bother with fighting especially since he often doesn't need to. he plays everywhere more evenly than i think connor does. so the main difference would be that leon plays a bit better defensively than connor needs to.

mackinnon: nate is the best mix of speed and strength paired with a rounded game. this doesn't mean he's better than connor, but for me it places him pretty firmly in that second spot even though leon's still very close. i just think nate plays the well-rounded approach better than leon. he has that fire in him, and he will more willingly start or finish a fight than some people give him credit for. nate can also just as easily pick your pocket and cut through you as he can use brute force to split the defenders and score. he works pretty well in the defensive zone, too, which makes him a perfect blend. i know i'm more biased since the avs are my first team, but i do find myself blown away at everything he does. sorry for the essay lol

and finally, our beloved rat king, tkachuk: matthew is frankly wild to me because it doesn't make sense how he can be so gritty and get under guys skin while being such a star player. but that seems to just be the tkachuk thing. he'll chirp you into the sun or take a penalty or even get ejected and then he makes up for it by leaving you in the dust and scoring something beautiful. it's pretty impressive, and it's very rare to see in the league anymore. he never seems to tire and he's one of those players you need on a team. matthew actually uses his dirty style of game and pays it forward into his sheer talent. i'm super glad more people are starting to recognize his brilliance this year, cos it's been super fun to watch honestly.

basically. it's just cool too analyze the similarities and differences between the (mostly agreed on) top five forwards rn. personally my list goes; connor, nate, leon, matthew, and then auston :3

[biggaybunny]

Modern software sucks shit because modern software development sucks shit. No one knows what they're doing and when they do they'll usually be told to do something else anyway. Non-transferrable skills are treated as transferrable; "programming" is an extremely broad field that we are still just beginning to map out. I'm not trying to oversell it here, I have no agenda, I just need to try and convey some perspective here that you can do a lot of different shit with computers, and lumping it all under "writing software" is kind of like lumping all "machines" together and expecting engineers who work with things like planes, cars, pumps, and cranes to be able to figure each other's shit out. There's some specialization happening in the field, but to be honest, most companies are pretty slow to catch on (outside of, yknow, searching resumes for whatever buzzword we're using now)

That's only the beginning of it, too. I don't know I could actually fit all the reasons software development sucks shit into one post. Basically, businesses hate the way software is made. They want software assembly lines, I've had as much said to me by a manager before. They want software products that are specced out, assembled, and shipped out. And that *really, really* doesn't work. Most of the time, when it comes to developing a software "product", they don't even know what they actually want or need. A lot of software bloat comes from early development work that had to be course corrected or repurposed; it's like being a sculptor and having someone behind you try to describe what they want sculpted, but also they're rushing you and don't understand what's even possible to do with sculpting in the first place.

The other thing companies hate about making software is that you can't throw just throw more people at the problem. It's like that math problem "If an orchestra of 50 people can play Beethoven's 5th in 40 minutes, how fast can an orchestra of 500 people play it?" That's how the people in charge want software to work, and after decades of absolute horseshit business paradigms (agile, kanban, scrum, agile-at-scale, extreme programming yes it's called that, etc) it's very clear that this will NEVER be the case, but by god that's not going to stop companies from trying. Because it's about maximizing profits, right? You couldn't possibly get better returns by like, investing in employee retention (dogshit in the business btw) or employee QoL. Just get more people fresh out of a javascript bootcamp and throw them at the issue until something works. So software development gets diced up into thousands of little pieces that can be worked on simultaneously and then glued back together, and as you'd expect end up as dysfunctional Frankenstein monsters. Plus, none of your employees are actually improving at software development because they're only allowed to see such a small piece of the puzzle.

And at the end, it just has to work. Not be good, work. Which is why companies skimp on QA all the time, and then undermine the QA they do invest in. The corner cutting is everywhere. Because it saves costs, you see. Why invest in QA? Just don't write broken code, obviously (this is not how this works). How much security do we need, really? Corner cut, corner cut, corner cut. Rush, rush, rush. Is it any wonder that the cleanest pieces of software tend to be made by small teams or even individuals, working on their own timeframe?

I could've summed up this entire post with "capitalism sucks" but I wanted to explain more. Software development isn't going to get good in a couple years. It's not going to get good in ten years. It's going to suck absolute shit for the foreseeable future. Corporate software, anyway. Maybe if open-source software got a little more love and support... well, who knows.

[sapybara]

I've been a huge q fan in the past so I know all his history. I am not even surprised, how long has it been since we found his server management to be sketchy, not even talking about his merch compagnie. 

In no fandom have I ever truly called anyone a BITCH and a cunt . But he is one. Hey, I never expected anything from him about Shelby/ or Wilbur and forever, we know who he is and he does not give a fuck, but to lie so blatantly about how much involvement he has in the qsmp management, that a scrum!! Dude, how could anyone believe him?? It makes NO sense!

Exploiting workers, literally putting anti unions mesures , stealing people ideas (fans on twitter) then blocking them (probably not him who did it but he still got credited for the ideas and said nothing)

That's to ONE thing I will get entertainment CC crucified for. It's not difficult to not be a greedy corporate snake, especially when you are already so rich! 

Fuck QUACKITY

Also, people who say that he is just shocked because Wilbur was one of his bff so he doesn't want to go into (any) detail about that: Q and Wilbur haven't been close for half a year and Shelby posted her video a long time ago. Even Tommy said something for fuck sake!

You are literally talking with dtblr last quackity main™ believe me I know what you're talking about, I'm not surprised either.

His stans are being all "they were close friends! Give him some time!! You're all being cruel" well first of all they were not. Second of all, I do not want a statement, a simple kicking him out and asking people to support victims would've been enough. But no, he talked about it for the grand total of THRITY SECONDS, didn't mention Shelby or any victims, didn't mention he's an abuser, and made it all about him. How this is hard for HIM and how sad HE is, etc etc.

He goes on saying he "didn't know the volunteers weren't being paid" and that he thought it was a process were they would eventually (!!!) get paid. Excuse me? How do you not know? One thing is asking the admis not to spoil you what will be tomorrow's event and another radically different thing is saying you don't know what's going on in YOU OWN TEAM of YOUR SERVER. Especially not when it's your money ffs, do you not know where's that going? Do you not know who do you work with? You can't just brush it off as "not knowing" when it's your fucking enterprise. And im not even mentioning the whole NDA thing and how no one could even speak to CCs or other admis off stream, how they were requested to censor themselves in their personal accounts because "controversies" (real life crimes) could stain the server's name. Be for fucking real.

He doesn't even talk about all the merch problems, the fake giveaways and how ridiculously sketchy his merch company (that he/his family owns!) is.

Look I'm not trying to be a hypocrite here, I don't wanna apply dranti logic and demand a perfect apology and explanation the second all exploded. I'm not gonna ask him to know about every little conversation that goes on inside his server or discord. I'm not gonna say he doesn't have the right to mourn whatever friendship he may have had. But that doesn't mean I'm not fucking pissed and none of that excuse him for not knowing what's going on with his employees, his merch and reducing the actions of TWO abusers to "controversies". He needs to be held accountable, but, funnily enough, his fans are too parasocial to realize they're babying him and telling everyone who listens how he's not responsible for anything and it's the higher ups fault. His name is literally everywhere, he prides himself of being the owner and sole inventor of the server, how much higher can you go from there?

I'm upset about the poor guys who are being exploited and actually pity the fans that truly can't see what's before they eyes. Hope those people have it better from now on, but Quackity? He can go cry about it on stream if he wants, this entire thing has been a mess since before it started and I'm happy to see it crashing down. Deserved!

[porphyriosao3]

#5 Holding Hands

It had been the most awkward moment in... well, in quite a while, and Bilbo still wasn't quite sure why.

"Balin!"  He came into the cramped and mostly cleaned rooms that were the current administrative heart of the rebuilding Erebor.  Parchment was everywhere; scrolls and books and wax tablets for quick notes, the four junior scribes on loan from the Iron Hills all sitting shoulder to shoulder, muttering... these were familiar (and usually welcome) sights, but Bilbo didn't have time to chat.  Right now all he wanted was explanations.  Jerking open the door to the tiny cubicle that Balin had claimed as his personal domain, the old dwarf looked up and... grinned?

"Lord Consort," Balin said sardonically, bowing his head.  Oh of all the... but the old advisor was speaking again.  "You make me proud.  Bursting through the door shouting for me... we'll make a Durin of you yet."  Bilbo felt a flush starting to creep up his neck, but he refused to be distracted.

"Tease me later if you must," he gritted, "but answer me this.  Can you explain precisely why everyone decided to stare at me in the market today as though I had shown up with no trousers?"  Balin seemed to realize that this was serious.  He set his quill down in the inkwell nearby, leaning back and folding his hands over his not-inconsiderable paunch.

"I hadn't heard of anything, but describe what was going on, and perhaps I can shed some light."

Giving an exasperated huff, Bilbo flopped onto the rickety stool provided for guests.  It was too tall, of course.  Everything in this bloody mountain was.  Even so, he sighed and folded his feet under his chair and tried to get everything in order.  "Well, you know that today was the first market day... finally," he said, glancing up as Balin nodded.  And hadn't that been the work of an Age!  Finding anyone to sell anything was difficult enough, and if Bilbo hadn't demanded that the workers have a way to buy foodstuffs and other goods, it never would have happened at all.  Thorin, bless his royal heart, was as oblivious to such things as a fish to the snow!  "So we went to it.  Only proper after all, to show it was done at our encouragement."

"Yes, you've put in tremendous work on that, and done quite well," Balin said, smiling.  Bilbo flushed as he always did at the praise, but continued before the subject could be changed too much.

"At any rate... there were a few fishermen there selling their catch, which was nice, and a pair of menfolk merchants from some town away near the sea of Rhûn named Kammerlaik, brought all manner of things we need such as cloth and string and the like.  The market was going well, or it seemed to be.  Thorin and I got there and it was swarming with dwarves.  I didn't want to lose track of him in the scrum, you know how it can be, so I took his hand."  Balin made a little grunt, and closed his eyes, but he was still smiling.  "What was that sound for?"

"Took his hand?"  Balin opened his eyes again, and now his grin was positively devilish.  "Out of curiosity, which hand did you take?  Right or left?"  Bilbo thought for a second, and held up his right hand, reaching out...

"Left, I suppose, but what difference does it make?"  Balin actually laughed this time, making the hobbit's lips purse and eyes narrow.  "Balin..."

"Bilbo, tell me... have you ever seen dwarves holding hands?"  He stopped for a moment, distracted from his growing annoyance.  Thinking back... no, he didn't suppose he had.  He... oh dear.  Suddenly, he sighed.  This was going to be another strange dwarven cultural moment, he could tell.

Groaning, he shook his head.  "No," he muttered.  "I hadn't thought of it, but no."

Balin laughed again, this time throwing his head back and guffawing.  "Well, no harm done, it wasn't anything that wasn't known anyway, but I can see why it would shock people.  The hands are two things; they are our power, because we use them to work and make things, and our defense, because they hold weapon and shield to protect us.  You reaching out your right hand said that Thorin is your weapon to wield; Thorin taking your hand in his left says you are his shield.  It's one of the strongest statements there is of what you mean to each other."  Balin's eyes were dancing, but his smile was warm instead of mocking.  "But as I say, it wasn't anything that anyone who paid attention wouldn't know anyway."

"I... oh," Bilbo said softly.  Thinking back, Thorin had seemed a bit surprised... but he had been perfectly content to hold Bilbo's hand, even so.  And he knew what it meant.  "If you'd excuse me," Bilbo said, slipping down from the stool.  "I have to go find my betrothed.  I just realized he is dreadfully undersupplied with kisses."  Cackling at this, Balin waved him off and the hobbit scurried away, already planning what reward was appropriate for such a gesture.

[bobbinacrossafricatake2]

Secondary Forest

May 28, 2024

We woke up, packed up and had breakfast in the dining room. The lodge was very nice, but not the same level of elegance we’ve become used to in Africa. Maharo told us it’s one of the higher end places, so it seems that at least this part of Madagascar simply has a different standard of luxury.

Maharo picked us up and we met Mary and Mario at the entrance to the Adalamazantra forest, the secondary forest. The primary forest, where we were yesterday, is a term for a forest with solely endemic plants. The secondary forest has had plants introduced from afar, such as eucalyptus. The secondary forest is also much more accessible by civilized roads, hence has many more visitors. We saw quite a few folks on our walk, but not so many that it was distracting. There were three loops available: short, medium and long. We opted for medium. When we first entered, we marched along a wide path with stepping stones - a far cry from the slightly trodden, less trodden and newly minted paths we forged yesterday! It felt a little more like a nature walk than a rainforest hike. Not five minutes in, we saw our first lemurs - of the bamboo variety. A bunch of little guys side by side on a branch doing their lemur thing, whatever that is. We wound up spotting (well, Mary and Mario spotting) quite a few lemurs, in addition to the bamboo fella’s: golden safika, brown, nocturnal woolies (several asleep in a scrum on a branch), and the largest of all lemurs, the indri indri, which are endangered. The first indri’s we saw were just hanging out. It’s frustrating to see them way up high unmoving. Back lit by the sky, their little faces and red eyes don’t show up well. But when they start moving, swinging wildly from branch to (far away!) branch, they’re a total hoot to watch. Some are a little more active when they sit in place, looking around on high alert craning their necks around and their little ears perking up; or chomping on berries and leaves (their mamas didn’t teach then to eat with their mouths closed). As yesterday, Mary and Mario were great at positioning us for optimal viewing and photos. The best part, however was the audio version of the show. Families of lemurs of the same species call out to each other for a few minutes to say good morning. We first heard the serenade far in the distance, then a family to our left called out with windy, screechy, scary, somewhat high-pitched noises. On command, a nearby family responded, so we got the full, quite loud, effect. So wild. We felt like we were in a rainforest. Oh, we were in a rainforest!! We hoped to see some good birds, but only once stopped when there were quite a few flying around. Beautiful they were, particularly a bright blue one that was too speedy to capture on film. We saw a few flowers, but it turns out that fall simply is the wrong season for much color in the forest, except, of course for green everywhere! To see many of the lemurs, we dipped off the nature-walk-like path and indeed followed more moderately trodden paths up the hillside and down, and up and down again. All in all, it was a wonderful 2 1/2ish hour walk/hike!

Maharo had told us yesterday that he’d take us to Mary’s restaurant for lunch. We were skeptical (worried, even) but it was quite nice. Surprise of surprises, Mary’s name is actually Marie - got lost on us with the French accent. Marie’s restaurant was one of the first to be built in the area. Not only is she a guide but an entrepreneur! Madagascar may be a developing country, but it’s heartening to see a woman has been out on the forefront of tourism for many years!

The ride home was pretty crazy, but didn’t seem quite as insane as the drive out. Still loads of trucks, still the communication of the road passing, swerving, avoiding pot-craters, vehicles and people. And there was the one guy in front of us who Jillebob dubbed “Smoke Fiend” whose vehicle was spewing stinky black fumes, and contrary to the rules of the road, would not let us pass. But we also took the opportunity to appreciate the spectacular, lush, green landscapes of hills, villages, pastures and rice paddies. Really beautiful. Back close to Tana, traffic got bad, but gave us the opportunity to observe life in the outskirts of the city: hardware stores here, butchers with rancid-looking meat hanging there, wonderful fruits and veg here, baskets of grains there - all fascinating. Loads of peeps walking along the street, cars leaving the city at what must have been rush hour. All part of the experience of getting to know Madagascar.

The staff at Maison Gallieni welcomed us back like we were family. We had the same room that we had a few nights ago and did not have to complete any paperwork on check-in. When we asked if there were other guests, the staff, who do not speak much English and don’t understand Jill’s French, replied, “Yes, your friends!” We decided that it had to be one of the two Aussie couples we met a few nights ago. The big reveal at dinner … Maureen and Andy. We exchanged tales of the last two days and learned that, the very quiet Andy, had worked out a whole Australia itinerary for us.

[rainbowsky]

Hi 🌈☁️

I am happy to see GG getting enough rest and able to stroll around Italy freely without any public interference. He or DD will not have this much privacy and freedom in China.

My question is why can’t the Chinese govt or police do anything about celebrity stalkers and crazy paparazzis?

Hi Anon 😊

A couple things come to mind with this question.

First of all, GG is in a foreign country where he's almost entirely unknown by the public. Of course he's going to be able to wander around freely and relatively unbothered. In China it's a completely different story. He is much more well known there, and his face is plastered everywhere. He has many millions of fans there, plus countless others who would recognize him if they saw him.

Second, I would challenge the idea that the Chinese government isn't doing anything about these fans. A significant part of the Chinese government's mandate lately has been to try to quell fan culture. Of course, their motivations are primarily self-centered rather than an interest in protecting stars, but it's something they're focused on.

Stalker fans are also frequently charged and or sued for their behavior, but it is a complicated problem. Many of these fans are underage, so there are limits to what can be done to curtail their behavior. They do not face the same charges and consequences as adults doing the same things would face.

There's also the fact that there are a lot of regular fans and fansites who follow artists around and take pictures of them. In that scrum outside of the Tod's store in Milan, for example, there were multiple fansites and bystander fans present. Reining in the behavior of stalker fans while still ensuring legitimate fan activity isn't interfered with would not be an easy task.

Who decides who is a legitimate fan and who is a stalker fan? Can you think of any potential negative consequences of putting that choice into the hands of the government and the authorities?

Another issue is the fact that there's so much money to be made by stalking stars. This is something that we as fans should be conscious of. I regularly see turtles and other fans sharing and talking about material that was obviously obtained by these creeps, so fans are often talking out of both sides of their mouth when they say that they hate the fact that GG and DD are being hounded, while at the same time getting excited about photos and information that were obtained through that behavior.

And let's not forget all the fans in Italy and Europe who were extremely excited to head out to the airport in Milan even after everything that happened in Beijing just hours before. And people went to great lengths to see him at the store and at the fashion shows as well. His fans organized very heavily to make those things happen. This all contributes to the masses around him, and there's a very fine line. Who wouldn't want a chance to see him in person? At the same time, is it a good idea for everyone to be there?

There are definite public order concerns that should probably be addressed more comprehensively, but the handling of all that isn't entirely centralized. Just like every other country in the world, China has many different levels of government and many different agencies and representatives responsible for such things.

And when it comes to a country like China that has a very authoritarian government, it's difficult to wish for there to be more government involvement in policing fan culture and fan behavior.

Of course I and many others believe that more can and should be done, particularly in airports, but we need to acknowledge how complicated the problem is.

All of that aside, I think is the idea that GG and DD can't go out and do normal things is actually pretty obviously untrue. They have both been sighted/photographed out and about in Beijing for example (separately), shopping and doing their own thing without being hassled. GG spent an entire day hanging around Universal Studios not that long ago and wasn't bothered at all.

The airport fiasco was unfortunate, and there have been a couple of other recent situations where things got out of hand, but I don't think it's helpful to take examples like that and let our minds get carried away into assuming that's how it is every time they go anywhere. It's simply not true.

There are risks and sacrifices that come with being famous, and that's something we have to accept. It's understandable that seeing GG wander around somewhere he isn't famous would make us feel sadness for the much freer life he has in Italy vs. the one he lives back home where he's outrageously famous, but I don't think it's worth spending too much time worrying about.

GG and DD have been doing a very good job of taking care of themselves and looking out for their privacy, safety and security, and I trust them to continue to do so.

On this subject - @potteresque-ire wrote an interesting and detailed post a while back about Chinese paparazzi that is a must-read.

[stromer]

idk if u notice it or not but like u know how from time to time there a scrums during a canucks games SO LIKE quinn would walk away most times right like there are picture of it everywhere but i observed that when petey’s in the scrum (like today vs sjs when lablanc crosschecked petey) qUINN WOULD FLY TO GET IN FOR PETEY’S DEFENSE

i know this ask is about quinn and petey specifically, but i genuinely think the funniest thing about the scrum you mentioned is that kuzy, beau, and QUINN (none are fighters) flew to petey’s rescue as he stood on the outside of it all, observing and unscathed.

sometimes there’s this one bad bitch on the team and u gotta fight for her so she stops seeing u as a pathetic defensive liability idk

[wewon]

I see some rascals still can't use the anti punk tag.

These angels are incapable of blocking/ muting CM Punk's name. The obsession is real. Your fav is being promoted to high heavens yet neither he nor you can stop talking or thinking about him. CM Punk tag is your personal media scrum.

I guess it's bitterness that even when you're hating on Punk, you're only making him trend everywhere, good or bad he's getting attention in news without spending a single penny in PR while your fav still can't do that with all their holier than thou positivity.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Published: Sep 19, 2024

Regina Jackson and Saira Rao achieved a degree of fame at the height of the backlash in 2020 after police killed George Floyd, an unarmed black American accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 note. For a hefty fee, rich white women would hire the pair to help them confront unconscious biases at dinner parties that featured such ice-breakers as, “Raise your hand if you’re a racist.” Guests may often have broken down in tears when told that their claims to be colour-blind were simply another brick in the edifice of white supremacy, but there was lots of interest. The two women were featured in many news reports and made a film about their dinners, “Deconstructing Karen”, in which a guilt-stricken participant confesses, “I am a liberal white woman. We are absolutely the most dangerous women.”

The media scrum has since subsided. The last “Race2Dinner” event took place a year ago. The pair now host screenings of the film instead. The problem, says Ms Rao, is not just that they are fed up with having to “sit across from a white person to tell them why they can’t use…the N-word”. It is also that public interest in matters of racial injustice has cooled. “The pulse of anti-racism, anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, anti-genocide, is dead. There is no pulse,” Ms Rao laments.

Woke me up

Republicans love to blame everything they consider wrong with America on an epidemic of “wokeness”, by which they tend to mean anything that smacks of virtue-signalling or political correctness. Thus a bridge over Baltimore harbour collapsed earlier this year not, as it might have seemed, because it was hit by a wayward cargo ship, but because one of the nearby port’s six commissioners is a black woman whose human-resources firm helps companies assess how diverse their workforces are, among other things—or so a Republican candidate for governor of Utah asserted. Donald Trump, when accepting the Republican nomination for president in July, blamed “woke” leadership for the failings of America’s armed forces. The party’s official platform this year complains of “woke…government” spurring politically motivated prosecutions. The implication is that woke attitudes are proliferating, and that only Republicans can stem their rise.

In fact, discussion and espousal of woke views peaked in America in the early 2020s and have declined markedly since. The Economist has attempted to quantify the prominence of woke ideas in four domains: public opinion, the media, higher education and business. Almost everywhere we looked a similar trend emerged: wokeness grew sharply in 2015, as Donald Trump appeared on the political scene, continued to spread during the subsequent efflorescence of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, peaked in 2021-22 and has been declining ever since (see charts). The only exception is corporate wokeness, which took off only after Mr Floyd’s murder, but has also retreated in the past year or two.

The term woke was originally used on the left to describe people who are alert to racism. Later it came to encompass those eager to fight any form of prejudice. By that definition, it is obviously a good thing. But Democrats seldom use the word any more, because it has become associated with the most strident activists, who tend to divide the world into victims and oppressors. This outlook elevates group identity over the individual sort and sees unequal outcomes for different groups as proof of systemic discrimination. That logic is then used to justify illiberal means to correct entrenched injustices, such as reverse discrimination and the policing of speech. It is this sort of “woke warrior” that Republicans love to lambast.

Wide awoke

Our analysis subsumes both the advocates and the denigrators of woke thinking, by looking at ideas and actions associated with this sort of activism, for good or for ill. It measures, for example, talk of “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) in the corporate world, regardless of whether it is being invoked as a way to correct the under-representation of women and racial minorities or as an example of pious window-dressing. Some of the yardsticks we use apply only to the more doctrinaire form of woke activism, such as the number of drives to censure academics for views deemed offensive. Others capture only the more positive aspects of the movement, such as polling data on the proportion of Americans who worry about racial injustice. Either way, the results are consistent: America has passed “peak woke”.

The simplest way to measure the spread of woke views is through polling. We examined responses over the past 25 years to polls conducted by Gallup, General Social Survey (GSS), Pew and YouGov. Woke opinions on racial discrimination began to grow around 2015 and peaked around 2021. In the most recent Gallup data, from earlier this year, 35% of people said they worried “a great deal” about race relations, down from a peak of 48% in 2021 but up from 17% in 2014. According to Pew, the share of Americans who agree that white people enjoy advantages in life that black people do not (“white privilege”, in the jargon) peaked in 2020. In GSS’s data the view that discrimination is the main reason for differences in outcomes between races peaked in 2021 and fell in the most recent version of the survey, in 2022. Some of the biggest leaps and subsequent declines in woke thinking have been among young people and those on the left.

Polling about sexual discrimination reveals a similar pattern, albeit with an earlier peak than concerns about race. The share of Americans who consider sexism a very or moderately big problem peaked at 70% in 2018, in the aftermath of #MeToo. The share believing that women face obstacles that make it hard to get ahead peaked in 2019, at 57%. Woke views on gender are also in decline. Pew finds that the share of people who believe someone can be a different sex from the one of their birth has fallen steadily since 2017, when it first asked the question. Opposition to trans students playing in sports teams that match their chosen gender rather than their biological sex has grown from 53% in 2022 to 61% in 2024, according to YouGov.

To corroborate the trend revealed by opinion polls, we measured how frequently the media have been using woke terms like “intersectionality”, “microaggression”, “oppression”, “white privilege” and “transphobia”. At our request, David Rozado, an academic based in New Zealand, counted the frequency of 154 of such words in six newspapers—the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Washington Times—between 1970 and 2023. In all but the Los Angeles Times, the frequency of these terms peaked between 2019 and 2021, and has fallen since. Take the term “white privilege”: in 2020 it featured roughly 2.5 times for every million words in the New York Times, but by 2023 had fallen to just 0.4 mentions for every million words.

We found largely the same trend in television, by applying the same word-counting method to transcripts from ABC, MSNBC and Fox News from 2010 and 2023, and in books, using the titles of the 30 bestselling books each week between 2012 and the middle of this year. Mentions of woke words in television peaked in 2021. In popular books the peak came later, in 2022, with only a small drop in 2023 followed by a much greater fall so far in 2024.

In academia, which is often thought of as a hotbed of wokeism, the trend is much the same. Calls for academics to be disciplined for their views, as documented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, peaked in 2021 with a total of 222 reported incidents. (Many of these calls came from the right, not just from the left.) A similar database, compiled by the College Fix, a conservative student newspaper, finds 2020 was the peak in calls for scholars to be censored or cancelled. These findings also dovetail with polling data: the share of Americans who think that expressions of racist views should be restricted rose sharply between 2016 and 2021, reaching around 52%, and has since declined slightly, down to 49% in 2022.

Teaching and research also seem to be shifting away from wokery, at least somewhat. The use of our set of 154 woke terms began to rise sharply in 2015 in papers on the social sciences collected by JSTOR, a digital library of academic journals. By 2022 the incidence of “intersectional”, “whiteness”, “oppression” and the like were at their peak. At our request, Jacob Light, an economist at Stanford University, counted the frequency of woke words in a collection of course catalogues from American universities. Classes that invoked woke terms in their name or synopsis rose by around 20% between 2010 and 2022, but remained stable last year.

In part, academia’s retreat from wokeness has been ordained by law. The Supreme Court banned race-based affirmative action in admissions last year. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, 86 bills in 28 states have aimed to curb DEI initiatives in academia over the past year; 14 have become law. For example Alabama will from October 1st prohibit state-funded universities from having any DEI offices or programmes, from promoting “divisive concepts” about “race, colour, religion, sex, ethnicity or national origin” and from allowing transgender students to use the toilets of their choice.

Nine states ban academic institutions from demanding “diversity statements” from job applicants. Critics have assailed these personal meditations on the importance of inclusivity as ideological litmus tests. Earlier this year several prominent universities, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gave in to pressure from donors and alumni and dropped them. Others, such as the University of California, have faced lawsuits over their continuing use.

Wokeness is also in retreat in corporate America, even though it appeared there only relatively recently. Mentions of DEI in earnings calls shot up almost five-fold between the first and third quarters of 2020, in the aftermath of Mr Floyd’s death. They peaked in the second quarter of 2021, by which point they were 14 times more common than in early 2020, according to data from AlphaSense, a market-research company. They have since begun to drop sharply again. In the most recent data, from the second quarter of 2024, mentions were only around three times higher than before Mr Floyd’s death.

The share of new job listings that mention diversity continues to grow, however, as ever more firms add boilerplate about inclusivity at the bottom of ads. But the evidence also suggests that firms are less willing to put their money where their mouth is, DEI-wise. The number of people employed in DEI has fallen in the past few years. According to Revelio, which tracks labour statistics at a group of big American firms, DEI roles as a share of overall employment doubled from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2022 (to 0.02% of all employees, or around 12,600 roles). But in the most recent estimates, from July, these numbers were down by 11% from their peak (to 0.018% of employees, or 11,100 roles). According to Farient Advisers, a pay consultancy, the share of S&P 500 companies that tied bosses’ remuneration to diversity targets peaked in 2022 (at 53%) and dropped in 2023 (to 48%).

The fall in corporate enthusiasm for DEI could have several causes. First, in any belt-tightening, support functions are the first to suffer cuts. This is how DEI consultants explain away the recent shrinkage of DEI departments at big tech firms such as Meta and Microsoft. Second, after the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action in education, companies are scared that they may be sued for any practices that could be construed as discriminating against certain groups. A third possibility is that firms are taking note of declining public enthusiasm for corporate social activism. Gallup detected a big drop between 2022 and 2023 in the share of Americans who like companies to take a stand on matters of public debate. Less than half, for instance, think businesses should speak out on racial issues or LGBT rights. Bud Light, a popular brand of beer, suffered a big drop in sales last year after a promotional collaboration with a transgender social-media star. Its parent company’s shares have only recently recovered.

Asked why firms that two years ago were happy to talk up their DEI credentials were now ghosting The Economist, Johnny Taylor, from SHRM, an association for people working in human resources, says with a laugh, “Two years ago Budweiser was the number-one-selling beer in the country.” Other big brands including Disney, a media firm, and Target, a retailer, have also experienced backlashes for behaviour some customers considered too woke. Robby Starbuck, an activist who campaigns for firms with relatively conservative customers to abandon DEI, says he wants to “Make Corporate America Sane Again”. Egged on by the likes of Elon Musk, a billionaire conspiracy theorist, he has won concessions and grovelling apologies from Coors, Ford, Harley Davidson, Jack Daniel’s and John Deere. Mr Starbuck claims that whereas his first targets relented only after he posted castigating videos about them online, these days firms are beginning to drop DEI initiatives pre-emptively.

The wake of woke

Although our analysis shows a clear subsidence in wokery, there are several reasons for caution. For one thing, although all our measures are below their peak, they remain well above the level of 2015 in almost every instance. What is more, in some respects, woke ideas may be less discussed simply because they have become broadly accepted. According to Gallup, 74% of Americans want businesses to promote diversity, whatever the troubles of DEI.

Over time, attitudes to wokeness will doubtless change again. It’s easy to see how Mr Trump might prompt a revival in woke activism on the left if he wins the presidency again. By the same token, if Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, becomes president next year, she may spur a reaction among anti-woke activists. After all, some of the biggest differences in opinion between Democrats and Republicans concern social issues: 80% of likely Democratic voters believe the legacy of slavery still affects black people, for example, compared with only 27% of Mr Trump’s supporters, according to Pew. There is also a chance that Gen Z, the most woke generation, retains this outlook as it ages, which would lead to a gradual increase in woke views among the broader population.

For now, however, advocates of woke thinking are in despair. Ms Jackson, from Race2Dinner, thinks things have got “much worse”, particularly when looking at “what’s going on with banning books, banning LGBTQ, banning trans folks, stopping DEI”. She thinks Mr Trump has “given everybody permission to just be an asshole”. Critics are exultant: Ruy Teixeira of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, says, “I think people will one day look back on the 2015 to 2025 era as being a bit of a moment of madness.” But even though Mr Teixeira thinks the woke wave has set social progress back, he does note that, over the long run, America has been reducing discrimination and improving opportunity for minorities of all sorts. That trend, he believes, is lasting.

[scrumify]

Asana CRM: A Step Toward Better Project Management

Asana CRM: A Step Toward Better Project Management

Asana is inevitable in project management. It helps the team to tidy things up effectively and take good care of their task management. With its latest version of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) built right in, Asana now takes a more comprehensive approach to task and client management alike. Still, while Asana takes this step, there are alternatives like Vabro. It has a full suite of tools designed for agile teams and is equally recommended by many experienced developers in the field

Why Vabro Stands Out

While Asana's CRM management capabilities are good for teams at the lower end of the scale, Vabro can now offer a more solid system not only to manage tasks but also to manage client interfaces. Vabro seeks not just to be useful, but essential. It is all about pulling together teams that had scattered everywhere until finally they felt like one and delivering outstanding results. Here's how Vabro enhances project management beyond what Asana CRM provides

1. Comprehensive Project Management Tools

Vabro integrates project management with CRM functions using a single platform. The application is quite different from Asana, where task management is still the cornerstone but with added CRM features, by integrating project schedules and client interactions into a single whole. With this integration, teams are able to track their schedules and client communications in one place and follow up on completed work

2. Advanced Collaboration Features

In the area of collaboration, Vabro is outstanding. No matter if your team is in one office or spread all over the globe, Vabro's updates happen in real time, instant messages can be sent forthwith and shared dashboards guarantee that everyone stays informed. Asana offers basic collaboration tools, but Vabro's are better and more numerous, making teamwork both more efficient and more goal-oriented

3. Customizable Workflows

Vabro is able to satisfy the specific team needs by providing highly flexible process designs. Vabro’s flexibility makes it clearly suitable for use by everybody. It does not matter whether you handle a complex project or ongoing client relationships; the essential thing is that Vabro can help you keep on the project and stay productive. While Asana offers effective workflows, Vabro raises customization to a whole new level.

4. Integrated CRM Features

The CRM features of Vabro are fully integrated with its project management platform. Teams can manage client relationships without switching tools. Client interactions can be recorded, Sales orders With its seamless integration, Asana’s CRM does not provide everything customers truly need

5. Data-Driven Decision Making

Team members who use Vabro’s comprehensive reporting and analytics tools have all the information they need to make informed decisions. Whether analyzing its own performance, measuring client satisfaction or forecasting any eventual changes, Vabro’s approach is to provide clear data for success. Although Asana does provide some reporting tools, Vabro’s tools will give you even deeper insights into team performance.

Insights into Vabro with the SBOK® Guide

The Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK®) is a guide to implementing Scrum, a popular agile framework. Vabro’s features match very well with SBOK® principles, making it an excellent choice for Scrum teams

Transparency and Inspection: SBOK® serves up full transparency with Vabro's real-time updates and detailed reports. Together, these two tools help the group remain productive through identifying problems and remedying them as soon as they arise

Self-Organizing Teams: In the SBOK®, self-organizing teams are crucial to Agile development environments. Vabro enables these groups by offering firm rules and a variety of tools for collaboratively managing their processes

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Continuous Improvement: Daily improvement is the central tenet of SBOK®. Tools like Vabro's analytics can help discommode to which areas go for improvement can help a team to continuously refine their processes with practicable shares of better outcomes

Vabro: The Future of Project Management and CRM

Teams evolve, the use of flexible tools such as Vabro grows increasingly essential. While Asana CRM offers a good foundation for client management with basic facilities, Vabro is much more elaborate in its offering--combining project management and CRM into one powerful platform.

Vabro is a judicious choice for teams looking to streamline their processes and improve their working environment Still, though it be as helpful in that effort that ever meant and services rendered must pay off in direct correlation with what investment is made into them. By following an approach that echoes the tenets of the SBOK® development framework, Vabro guarantees Scrum teams can operate efficiently, making it a top choice for agile project management.

Altogether, while Asana CRM is satisfactory for teams that only need to perform basic matters, in an Era of On-line Business Vabro aims for a greater and more mature solution That meets the demands of today's team working. Whether managing large projects, cultivating client relations or driving performance upwards, Vabro has the features you need to succeed in the competitive project management landscape.

[jdgo51]

Garment of Praise

Today's inspiration comes from:

Mostly What God Does

by Savannah Guthrie

"Who are you wearing?”

"'I’ve covered a few red carpets in my day. It’s wild. You stand, squeezed tight into a packed scrum of other reporters (and usually squeezed tight into your dress), and wait/hope for celebrity A-listers to grace you with their absurdly attractive presence for a hot second. The pre-event scene at the big awards shows like the Emmys or Golden Globes is especially chaotic. Publicists squire impossibly thin and luminous clients down a gauntlet of live cameras, as ravenous network producers flag them over — hands outstretched grade-school style (“Over here, over here, over here!”) — hoping one of the uber-fabulous will deign to stop. These sought-after “interviews” last anywhere from thirty to ninety seconds. It is like speed dating, with even less chance of a genuine interaction.

The single question, ringing out again and again, as ubiquitous on red carpets as Botox and hunger pangs: “Who are you wearing?” It’s all part of the celebrity economy, of course. The stars get to borrow gorgeous clothes with the understanding that they will mention the designer at every available opportunity. Win-win!

Personally, I’ve never loved the question (and yes, I’ve asked it plenty). Aside from the crime against grammar, who really cares if the dress is Prada or PUCCI or Proenza? I like pretty things as much as anyone (and the outfits are the only reason to watch these red-carpet specials), but wouldn’t you rather know why they chose that particular gown? How many they tried on? If they’re wearing SPANX, and if so, how many pairs? Something — anything — more interesting than name-dropping a designer brand we can’t pronounce.

“Who are you wearing?” A shallow, vapid question. But what if it is a penetrating spiritual question?

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord... has sent me... to comfort all who mourn... to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes... a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. — Isaiah 61:1–3

A garment of praise. What a treasure buried in a long, famous passage from Isaiah.

But let me back up a bit.

“Praise the Lord.” This exhortation is shot throughout the Scriptures. Old Testament and New, whatever translation you favor, you will see it time and again.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name. — Isaiah 12:4

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise! — 1 Chronicles 16:25

Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise. — Hebrews 13:15

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. — Ephesians 1:3

And we haven’t even gotten to the Psalms!

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool. — Psalm 99:5

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. — Psalm 150:6

I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. — Psalm 34:1

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. — Psalm 103:1

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done. — Psalm 105:1

Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will. Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul. — Psalm 103:20–22

Okay! Message received.

I probably shouldn’t admit this, especially in a book about faith, but at times I have wondered to myself — secretly — Uhhhh, what’s with all the requests for praise? Why is God always asking for compliments? Is He angling for credit? Is our God cosmically and eternally needy?

This irreverent thought jiggled around in the back of my mind for a long time, though I was too ashamed to really confront it. But of course, God knows the content of our hearts. So when I came across that phrase from Isaiah — “garment of praise” — it leaped off the page.

Garment.

Suddenly, I got it.

If praise is a garment, who is wearing it?

We are. We are ones who are adorned. God tells us to praise Him not for what it does for Him but for what it does for us.

Lightning bolt.

When we count our blessings and remember what we are thankful for and what is good in our lives, we are the beneficiaries. It lifts our spirits and fills us with joy.

If you’re wondering where God is, praise Him. Suddenly, you will be in His presence.

It’s yet another example of “mostly what God does is love us,” this call to praise. Because God knows that when we can bring ourselves to a place of gratitude, to look beyond ourselves and to Him, it is a profound benefit to our hearts, our souls, and our persons. Sure, God, as the object of our affection, is praised as well, but we are the ones who are enhanced, heartened, and changed by the act.

How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him! — Psalm 147:1

He calls for praise — not to fill His deep need but to fill ours. It is we who are dressed in that beautiful garment of praise.

So... who are you wearing?

I once heard gratitude referred to as the “low-hanging fruit” of well-being. Interesting. But that suggests finding gratitude is easy, and sometimes, it’s not. Sometimes finding gratitude feels like you’re scaling Half Dome in Yosemite, not picking up a peach that just fell fortuitously to the ground. It feels like it takes supreme effort from within.

If you’re of a certain era and religious upbringing, perhaps you’ve heard of a woman named Joni Eareckson Tada. My mother admired her and read her books in the 1980s. I distinctly remember my mom telling the young teenage me about Joni — probably as both a spiritual inspiration and a cautionary tale. Joni was just seventeen years old, an athletic young girl from Maryland, when she dove into shallow water and broke her neck. She was immediately paralyzed from the neck down — quadriplegic. Joni has since lived a beautiful, honest life of faith and service. (And creativity! She paints beautiful canvases using a paintbrush nestled between her teeth. Extraordinary.)

Years later, well into my adulthood, I came across an interview with her on Larry King Live.1 Remembering her from my youth, I stopped and watched. She told the story of how she came to faith. She said she had not been a particularly devout person before her accident, and in the excruciating weeks and months after, lying prostrate in her hospital bed, the buoyant life she imagined cruelly snatched away, her despair grew so unbearable she wished for death. She even tried to accomplish it — to break her neck again, right there in her hospital bed. Her paralysis left her unable to complete the task.

Joni told a story about the moment everything changed for her. Some family friends had come to her hospital room to cheer her up. They supplied pizza and watched NCAA football and, as she says, “treated me as a human being,”2 not an invalid. They also brought their Bibles. Though she wasn’t very religious, Joni said their kindness earned them the right to open them. The verse that changed her life was this one:

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. — 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I sat watching, astonished. I couldn’t believe this was the verse that had so deeply affected her. It wasn’t a verse of encouragement. It wasn’t even a verse promising a better life in eternity. It gave nothing to her; on the contrary, it asked something. It was calling Joni to gratitude, someone from whom so much had been taken. Give thanks? Seriously?

And yet that is exactly what turned her life around. Joni herself said she didn’t understand it right away. She didn’t spend every waking moment from that day forward in a state of radiant rapture. Life was hard. Someone still had to lift her out of bed, bathe her, feed her. Some days it took all she had to go on. But somehow, praise and gratitude were her most potent healer. And she said that the weaker she felt, the more unable to do it, the stronger God became.

Praise. Gratitude. Thanksgiving.

Wherever you are in this moment and however you feel, if you want to immediately alter the atmosphere, if you want to instantly change the air, praise Him.

I like the old King James translation of Psalm 22:3:

O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.

He inhabits the praises of His people. If you’re wondering where God is, praise Him. Suddenly, you will be in His presence. We’ve already learned His phone number. If you’re looking for His address, this is where He lives."'

Excerpted with permission from Mostly What God Does by Savannah Guthrie, copyright Savannah Guthrie.

“Larry King Show—Joni Eareckson Tada Story,” brunetachka, June 6, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foffh-gneRs. “Larry King Show—Joni Eareckson Tada Story.”