#so it will be a further 20 years from publication

[mxtomituck]

I’m Taking Bets

How much longer do you think it’s going to be before someone leaks that Twitter and TikTok have been able to accurately “diagnose” people with mental illnesses?

And how much longer after that until we get a tell-all autobiography that says the reason they developed that AI was to specifically target ads to vulnerable communities (like advertising alcohol to people who Google “Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings Near Me”)?

Tell me in the tags your guesses. Let’s see if Apollo is in the room tonight.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #13

April 5-12 2024

President Biden announced the cancellation of a student loan debt for a further 277,000 Americans. This brings the number of a Americans who had their debt canceled by the Biden administration through different means since the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first place in 2023 to 4.3 million and a total of $153 billion of debt canceled so far. Most of these borrowers were a part of the President's SAVE Plan, a debt repayment program with 8 million enrollees, over 4 million of whom don't have to make monthly repayments and are still on the path to debt forgiveness.

President Biden announced a plan that would cancel student loan debt for 4 million borrowers and bring debt relief to 30 million Americans The plan takes steps like making automatic debt forgiveness through the public service forgiveness so qualified borrowers who don't know to apply will have their debts forgiven. The plan will wipe out the interest on the debt of 23 million Americans. President Biden touted how the plan will help black and Latino borrowers the most who carry the heavily debt burdens. The plan is expected to go into effect this fall ahead of the election.

President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced the closing of the so-called gun show loophole. For years people selling guns outside of traditional stores, such as at gun shows and in the 21st century over the internet have not been required to preform a background check to see if buyers are legally allowed to own a fire arm. Now all sellers of guns, even over the internet, are required to be licensed and preform a background check. This is the largest single expansion of the background check system since its creation.

The EPA published the first ever regulations on PFAS, known as forever chemicals, in drinking water. The new rules would reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people according to the EPA. The Biden Administration announced along side the EPA regulations it would make available $1 billion dollars for state and local water treatment to help test for and filter out PFAS in line with the new rule. This marks the first time since 1996 that the EPA has passed a drinking water rule for new contaminants.

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with microchip giant TSMC to bring billions in investment and manufacturing to Arizona. The US makes only about 10% of the world's microchips and none of the most advanced chips. Under the CHIPS and Science Act the Biden Administration hopes to expand America's high-tech manufacturing so that 20% of advanced chips are made in America. TSMC makes about 90% of the world's advanced chips. The deal which sees a $6.6 billion dollar grant from the US government in exchange for $65 billion worth of investment by TSMC in 3 high tech manufacturing facilities in Arizona, the first of which will open next year. This represents the single largest foreign investment in Arizona's history and will bring thousands of new jobs to the state and boost America's microchip manufacturing.

The EPA finalized rules strengthening clean air standards around chemical plants. The new rule will lower the risk of cancer in communities near chemical plants by 96% and eliminate 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year. The rules target two dangerous cancer causing chemicals, ethylene oxide and chloroprene, the rule will reduce emissions of these chemicals by 80%.

the Department of the Interior announced it had beaten the Biden Administration goals when it comes to new clean energy projects. The Department has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public lands, surpass the Administrations goal for 2025 already. These solar, wind, and hydro projects will power 12 million American homes with totally green power. Currently 10 gigawatts of clean energy are currently being generated on public lands, powering more than 5 million homes across the West. 

The Department of Transportation announced $830 million to support local communities in becoming more climate resilient. The money will go to 80 projects across 37 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands The projects will help local Infrastructure better stand up to extreme weather causes by climate change.

The Senate confirmed Susan Bazis, Robert White, and Ann Marie McIff Allen to lifetime federal judgeships in Nebraska, Michigan, and Utah respectively. This brings the total number of judges appointed by President Biden to 193

[bet-on-me-13]

The First Supervillain

So! A Typical "Early Start" AU where the events of The Show happen early in the Timeline. Like, in the 70's or 80's.

Danny never quite managed to fix his Public Perception, and even years into his career people still saw him as the Villain.

Coincidentally Valerie was seen as a Hero because of how often they were seen fighting. Even after they revealed their Identities and got together, they still had the occasional Battle. It was their love language.

His role as the Villain was Cemented when Pariah launched his Second Invasion of Earth after some dumbass accidentally freed him, and Danny took the Blame for it. Instead of being seen as the Hero who battled Pariah and stopped the Invasion, he was seen as the Tyrant to launched the Invasion in the first place, with Red Huntess being the one to defeat him in one final Ultimate Battle.

And honestly? He was fine with that. Now that he was the King of the Ghost Zone, he had the Authority to Regulate the Portal so villains stopped getting through. And that meant that he wasn't needed to stop random Ghost Attacks anymore. He could finally focus on College and his own Life, instead of sacrificing everything to act as the Protector of the Human Realm.

Val continued to be a Hero for a few more years, eventually retiring when it became Clear that the new generation of Heroes could pick up the Slack.

He went to College, got a Job as an Aerospace Engineer, and eventually proposed to Valerie.

About 20 years since his initial Accident, and he was doing great! He had moved into a humble home on the edge of town with his loving wife Val, his beautiful daughter Ellie, and his cute dog Cujo.

Yeah, life was good.

Until the day Danny accidently caused a Mass Crisis.

...

Superman was having some extreme trouble in dealing with his current Opponent. He had just been flying around the City, patrolling as Usual, when all of a sudden he had been attacked by a Flying Mech Suit.

At first he had assumed that Lex was giving it another Go, but he quickly realized that was not the case when the Armor seemed to Phase though solid matter in the middle of the battle. Lex had never made Tech advanced enough to do that on the fly.

This opponent was tough too. Strong enough and Durable enough to go blow for blow with him, and seemingly able to pull Advanced Weaponry from out of nowhere whenever he wanted. As tough as it was to admit, Superman as losing the Battle.

Then, without warning, the battle stopped. His opponent was staring at the space just behind him, with a look of pure dread. He turned around, and his heart stopped.

Floating behind him, staring right past him and directly at the Mech Suit, was the First Villain Phantom.

He looked much the same as when he had last been seen, although he was definitely Older. He had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes that seemed to stare right past him and into his very soul. He was wearing what seemed to be a costume of sorts, with an all black suit, white gloves, and white boots. Over his Shoulders sat a Cloak made of Stars, and above his head sat a Crown made of an Icy Blue Fire.

The Mech tried for a greeting, "Er- Hello t-Lord Phantom. How do you d-"

"Skulker."

"Y-yes?"

"What are you doing here? I thought I gave you explicit orders to stay in the Ghost Zone until further notice. You disobeyed me."

"Okay look. I got excited, that's my fault. It's just, I got anxious waiting. Can you really blame me? I've been waiting 20 years to take another Crack at the Human World, what's it matter if I left a few weeks Early?"

"I told you. You were supposed to wait exactly 20 Years, and you left Early. This calls for punishment."

"No wait!"

"Let's see how you feel after a few days as Soup."

The Villain pulled out a Thermos, and in a flash of green light, Skulker was gone, and the King was capping the Thermos. He then turned to Superman.

"I apologize for him, he decided to leave ahead of schedule." The King addressed him. "Now, Kryptonian. Rest and tend to your wounds, you will need to be in your best health if you want to continue saving the lives of those people below us."

With a dramatic flare, the King reached up and Tore a hole in Space. Through the Hole, Superman could only see an infinite Green Void, with the sound of screams cheering being heard through the rift.

The King departed through the Tear in Spacetime, and it closed behind him.

Superman tried to collect himself, and activated his League Emergency Comms.

"Attention All Founding Members, and Justice League Dark Members. This is Superman calling for an immediate Emergency Meeting."

He took a deep breath.

"Phantom is Back."

[robertreich]

Who’s to Blame for Out-Of-Control Corporate Power?    

One man is especially to blame for why corporate power is out of control. And I knew him! He was my professor, then my boss. His name… Robert Bork.

Robert Bork was a notorious conservative who believed the only legitimate purpose of antitrust — that is, anti-monopoly — law is to lower prices for consumers, no matter how big corporations get. His philosophy came to dominate the federal courts and conservative economics.

I met him in 1971, when I took his antitrust class at Yale Law School. He was a large, imposing man, with a red beard and a perpetual scowl. He seemed impatient and bored with me and my classmates, who included Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, as we challenged him repeatedly on his antitrust views.

We argued with Bork that ever-expanding corporations had too much power. Not only could they undercut rivals with lower prices and suppress wages, but they were using their spoils to influence our politics with campaign contributions. Wasn’t this cause for greater antitrust enforcement?

He had a retort for everything. Undercutting rival businesses with lower prices was a good thing because consumers like lower prices. Suppressing wages didn’t matter because employees are always free to find better jobs. He argued that courts could not possibly measure political power, so why should that matter?

Even in my mid-20s, I knew this was hogwash.

But Bork’s ideology began to spread. A few years after I took his class, he wrote a book called The Antitrust Paradox summarizing his ideas. The book heavily influenced Ronald Reagan and later helped form a basic tenet of Reaganomics — the bogus theory that says government should get out of the way and allow corporations to do as they please, including growing as big and powerful as they want.

Despite our law school sparring, Bork later gave me a job in the Department of Justice when he was solicitor general for Gerald Ford. Even though we didn’t agree on much, I enjoyed his wry sense of humor. I respected his intellect. Hell, I even came to like him.

Once President Reagan appointed Bork as an appeals court judge, his rulings further dismantled antitrust. And while his later Supreme Court nomination failed, his influence over the courts continued to grow.  

Bork’s legacy is the enormous corporate power we see today, whether it’s Ticketmaster and Live Nation consolidating control over live performances, Kroger and Albertsons dominating the grocery market, or Amazon, Google, and Meta taking over the tech world.

It’s not just these high-profile companies either: in most industries, a handful of companies now control more of their markets than they did twenty years ago.

This corporate concentration costs the typical American household an estimated extra $5,000 per year. Companies have been able to jack up prices without losing customers to competitors because there is often no meaningful competition.

And huge corporations also have the power to suppress wages because workers have fewer employers from whom to get better jobs.

And how can we forget the massive flow of money these corporate giants are funneling into politics, rigging our democracy in their favor?

But the tide is beginning to turn under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are fighting the monopolization of America in court, and proposing new merger guidelines to protect consumers, workers, and society.

It’s the implementation of the view that I and my law school classmates argued for back in the 1970s — one that sees corporate concentration as a problem that outweighs any theoretical benefits Bork claimed might exist.

Robert Bork would likely regard the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts with the same disdain he had for my arguments in his class all those years ago. But instead of a few outspoken law students, Bork’s philosophy is now being challenged by the full force of the federal government.

The public is waking up to the outsized power corporations wield over our economy and democracy. It’s about time.

[headspace-hotel]

re: ohio chemical disaster

OP of the post I reblogged earlier regarding this turned off reblogs (understandable have a nice day) but I got a request to put the information in its own post, so here.

First thing: PLEASE be careful about claims that "The Media" is suppressing something as part of a malicious agenda, or that an event has been purposefully manufactured by "The Media" to distract from something else.

Not only is this a really common disinformation tactic (not only urging you to share/reblog quickly, but discouraging you from fact checking), treating "The Media" as a monolithic entity with purposeful agency and a specific, malicious agenda—particularly one that manufactures events to "distract" from other events—is a red flag for conspiracy theories.

There's already a post in the tag attributing the supposed lack of media coverage to "reptilians." Please connect the dots here.

Second—"the news isn't focusing on this as much as I think they should" is not a media blackout. Every major USA news source is reporting on the Ohio train derailment. Googling returns at least 4 pages of results from major news media sources. Even just googling "Ohio" gets you plenty of results about it.

This is an unusual amount of media attention for a U.S. environmental disaster.

Because this kind of thing happens all the damn time.

The "media blackout" narrative gives the impression that this is an unusual event that isn't receiving wall to wall coverage only because it's being suppressed—when the reality is that similar disasters happen a lot, and hardly ever get the attention the Ohio disaster is getting.

Consider this example, not too far from my local area: A few years ago, almost 2,000 tons of radioactive fracking waste were illegally dumped in an Eastern Kentucky municipal landfill, directly across from a middle school. Leachate from that landfill goes into the Kentucky River, which is where most of the central part of the state gets its drinking water. As far as we know, the radioactive waste isn't leaking yet, but it could start leaking at any time.

Zero national news sources covered this. Why? If I was to hazard a guess, I would say "because it's business as usual for the fossil fuel industry."

Consider also the case of Martin County, KY, which has had foul-smelling, contaminated drinking water for decades. Former coal country in Appalachia is poisoned and toxic, and laws have little power to punish the companies that created the destruction.

What happened in Ohio is just a little window into a whole world of horrors.

The Martin County coal slurry spill that is still poisoning the water 20 years later killed literally everything in the water for miles downstream (a book Mom read said 70 miles of the Ohio river were made completely lifeless). It was 30 times larger than the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, and it was in some sense "covered up"—in the sense that the Bush administration shut down the investigation because the Republicans are buddies with the fossil fuel industry, and proceeded to relax regulations even further.

Seriously, read that wiki article to get pissed enough to eat glass.

Hopefully the Ohio chemical spill will inspire real action to institute regulations to prevent shit like this from ever happening again. It's not the end of the world. It's not radically different from what industries have been causing the whole damn time. It is pretty bad.

I would urge everyone to actually search up information about it instead of getting news from Tiktok or Twitter, because the more false information gets distributed, the less momentum any effort to respond with improved regulations and changes to prevent future disasters will have. Plenty of facts here *are* public and being publicly discussed and pretending that they're not is actively detrimental.

[reasonsforhope]

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.” 

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

-

This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.

[watcherintheweyr]

Green stans not understanding the reason alicent attacked rhaenyra at driftmark just proves media literacy is fucking dead.

She literally says it. "Where is duty? Where is sacrifice?" Because she's angry Rhaenyra didn't lay down to suffer alongside her.

To her, Rhaenyra marrying who the crown told her to, to fix Viserys' alienation and insult of house Velaryon wasn't enough. Rhaenyra serving and participating on the Small council for years as heir wasn't enough. Rhaenyra swallowing her terror of childbirth to provide the throne with heirs wasn't enough. Sitting and ruling the heirs seat wasn't enough. Acting as heir and trying to solve problems such as the ep.2 Dragonstone conflict wasn't enough. She SAYS IT in episode 2- tells Rhaenyra, the **named heir** that it is not her place to question the plots of kings and men when Rhaenyra expressed the fear that they are plotting to set her aside and remarry her father.

Because she **cannot stand** that Rhaenyra dared to grasp for power and autonomy while doing these things. She cannot stand that Rhaenyra dared to try and be happy whilst also fulfilling her duties. She cannot stand that she did 'everything right' and 'served the kingdom, the family, the law' and is miserable and alone. She was queen for 20 years and only ever used her power to harm Rhaenyra and her children and to further her own abuse onto her own daughter.

All she used her power for was to protect Cole from the consequences of murdering a knight at a royal wedding. To protect Cole from the consequences of slandering the crown princess. To cover up Larys **murdering his family** because while she acted oh so horrified, it served her needs. To cover up Aegons abuses- and we see even as early as ep 6 that female staff are afraid of him.

To protect Cole from the consequences of **bullying and trying to harm** Rhaenyras sons in 'training.' To instill hatred and treason in her children against their sister. To explicitly allow Argon to bully Aemond as he likes so long as when they're in the public eye, they present a united front.

She did everything right but she's miserable and alone. Rhaenyra made the system that harmed women work for her, and wasn't. And she couldn't stand it. To her, Rhaenyra not accepting the rule and superiority of the men around them was the ultimate betrayal. Rhaenyra protecting herself from Alicent, who was above and all, primarily Otto's creature, by not sharing her secrets, was a crime.

Alicent didn't attack Rhaenyra and Luke for Aemond. She did it for herself.

And now the kingdom saw her for who she was. Jealous, greedy, grasping.

Nothing Rhaenyra ever did would be enough duty or sacrifice to her. Because Rhaenyra wasn't suffering alongside her. Olivia Cooke states as much herself.

She has become a tool of the patriarchy against other women. She ISNT the moral dutiful paragon she presents herself as.

Rhaenyra was right when she fired back with 'exhausting wasn't it? Hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness. But now they see you as you are." Because Alicent played her hand. She revealed the jealousy, the greed and that loathing she has towards Rhaenyra for simply not laying down beside her to suffer and sacrifice, whilst men rule and hold power.

She hates Rhaenyra for not serving men as women should- that's what she means when she calls Rhaenyra entitled. That's what she means when she says Rhaenyra 'tramples it under her pretty foot.'

Rhaenyra being the heir that a man 'should' be- that she wants her son to be, as payment for suffering and doing her duty- is a slap in the face to Alicent and she can't stand it. Nevermond that as shown in ep 2 and ep 6 that Rhaenyra is GOOD at it. That's why she scoffed in ep 6, that's why she dismissed Rhaenyras concerns and place in ep 2.

She cannot fucking stand it. And now they see her as she is.

[mephistopholes-brain]

2,977 civilians died tragically in 9/11, 343 being firefighters.

Since then it has been “Never forget.” for over 20 years, the US attacked and destabilized an innocent country, and white ppl have further pushed the narrative that Muslims and Middle Easterners are all “evil terrorists”.

Now, in less than 6 months the OFFICIAL death toll in Gaza exceeds 30,000, half being CHILDREN. At least 200 doctors have died and many were TARGETED by IOF soldiers. I have seen children dismembered, maimed, sniped, run over, crushed, starved, scalped, exploded, burned, and strung up on the side of a building.

I have seen men, women, and children desperately digging through the rubble to find their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends, lovers etc.

I have seen brave doctors run outside to save injured civilians while at extremely high risk of being shot by snipers.

I have seen a father carrying BAGS full of his children’s remains.

I have seen a young girl, no more than 9, with a leg, an arm, and a hand blown off while her scalp hangs from her skull.

I have seen doctors speak out against the cruelty and ethnic cleansing while surrounded by the bodies of those they tried to save.

I have seen hundreds of pictures of NICU babies who were going to die soon because the hospital was about to run out of electricity.

I have read the first hand story of a father who traded one of his children for one of his brother’s children so that if one group dies at least one of their children would make it.

I have read posts from lgbt+ KIDS talking about how they regret not kissing their crush because they just watched them DIE.

I have seen the public posts of IDF and IOF soldiers where they show off the underwear and lingerie they looted from the drawers of the Gazans they are massacring.

I have listened to the screams of mothers after hearing their child is dead.

I have watched a teen boy’s gaze harden into something cold and empty after his entire family died in front of him, leaving him completely alone.

I have seen an IOF soldier throw a father and his baby into a giant wood burning oven just for fun.

I have seen many children with shell-shock, shaking because their minds and bodies can’t comprehend the horrors they have experienced.

I have seen tanks run over women actively giving birth on the roads of Gaza.

I have watched oldest siblings, no more than 11, take on the responsibility of keeping their younger siblings safe. I cannot comprehend how incredibly stressful that must be.

A little 6yo girl was trapped for 2 weeks in a car surrounded by the dead bodies of her family as they rotted.

This is all done with American tax dollars while companies like McDonalds give free food to Israeli soldiers. We are quite literally paying for this. 20% of your work and hard earned money is paying for the genocide of innocent people in Palestine.

This is NOT a political issue. This is a human rights issue.

Pro-Palestine is Pro-Humanity.

[nansheonearth]

[Image description: Two smartphone screenshots of a Facebook post by a person named Sheila Toll posted 2 Sep. It is black text on a white background and the post is public. The post reads:

I am a Family Doctor and I want to keep a promise made to a patient. 

Julie was a healthy, post-menopausal woman in my care who came in for a periodic health examination. One of my routine questions, in what is called the “Review of Systems”, was to ask if she had experienced any vaginal bleeding. 

She said “No” but then laughed and added, “Other than when my period came back for a few months last year”. 

All health care professional are taught early on that ‘vaginal bleeding in a post-menopausal woman is Cancer of the Uterus until proven otherwise’. This comment by Julie was, therefore, a red flag (no pun intended) prompting further questions, an examination and an ultrasound of her pelvis. 

Julie was surprised to see me so concerned, especially since the symptoms had not recurred over many months. 

Sure enough, a pelvic ultrasound and tissue sampling confirmed Cancer of the Uterus. 

Julie underwent a hysterectomy and radiation therapy. She is now healthy, cancer-free and is expected to stay that way. 

After all this was done, Julie sat ME down for a talk. She told me she’d had no idea a ‘short return’ of her period after menopause was a danger signal. Furthermore, she addressed the topic with friends over coffee and discovered that, out of 20 women, NONE of them knew this symptom was abnormal! She admonished me to “Tell women this! Don’t assume we know it!”

From that day on, I have kept Julie’s advice in mind when talking with post-menopausal patients. But recently my wife suggested that I should take this to a wider audience. 

So, Julie, this is for you:

If you are a post-menopausal woman and your period ‘comes back’ or you have even one episode of vaginal bleeding, TELL A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL and insist on having it investigated! 

Wishing you all good health and long lives. End image description.]

[she-is-ovarit]

By EDITH M. LEDERER Updated 9:11 PM PST, March 8, 2024 UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Legal equality for women could take centuries as the fight for gender equality is becoming an uphill struggle against widespread discrimination and gross human human rights abuses, the United Nations chief said on International Women’s Day. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a packed U.N. commemoration Friday that “a global backlash against women’s rights is threatening, and in some cases reversing, progress in developing and developed countries alike.” The most egregious example is in Afghanistan, he said, where the ruling Taliban have barred girls from education beyond sixth grade, from employment outside the home, and from most public spaces, including parks and hair salons. At the current rate of change, legal equality for women could take 300 years to achieve and so could ending child marriage, he said. Guterres pointed to “a persistent epidemic of gender-based violence,” a gender pay gap of at least 20%, and the underrepresentation of women in politics. He cited September’s annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, where just 12% of the speakers were women. “And the global crises we face are hitting women and girls hardest — from poverty and hunger to climate disasters, war and terror,” the secretary-general said. In the past year, Guterres said, there have been testimonies of rape and trafficking in Sudan, and in Gaza women women and children account for a majority of the more than 30,000 Palestinians reported killed in the Israeli-Hamas conflict, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. He cited a report Monday by the U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict that concluded there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. He also pointed to reports of sexual violence against Palestinians detained by Israel. International Women’s Day grew out of labor movements in North America and across Europe at the turn of the 20th century and was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977. This year’s theme is investing in women and girls to accelerate progress toward equality. Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, told the Security Council on Wednesday that what is happening in that country “is precisely the opposite” of investing in women and girls. There is “a deliberate disinvestment that is both harsh and unsustainable,” she said, saying the Taliban’s crackdown on women and girls has caused “immense harm to mental and physical health, and livelihoods.” Recent detentions of women and girls for alleged violations of the Islamic dress code “were a further violation of human rights, and carry enormous stigma for women and girls,” she said. It has had “a chilling effect among the wider female population, many of whom are now afraid to move in public,” she said. Otunbayeva again called on the Taliban to reverse the restrictions, warning that the longer they remain, “the more damage will be done.” Sima Bahous, the head of UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality and women’s rights, told the commemoration that International Women’s Day “sees a world hobbled by confrontation, fragmentation, fear and most of all inequality.” “Poverty has a female face,” she said. “One in every 10 women in the world lives in extreme poverty.” Men not only dominate the halls of power but they “own $105 trillion more wealth than women,” she said. Bahous said well-resourced and powerful opponents of gender equality are pushing back against progress. The opposition is being fueled by anti-gender movements, foes of democracy, restricted civic space and “a breakdown of trust between people and state, and regressive policies and legislation,” she said. [Click on the link to continue reading]

[ilylovelyz]

more sakusa work please! *fluff, smut, or angst*

⍣ ೋ going dumb

˚ · . sakusa kiyoomi x afab!reader

: ̗̀➛ semi-public sex, unprotected sex, hair pulling, groping, both characters are 20 and in college

you have sakusa in a chokehold.

before you, sakusa rolled his eyes whenever he saw couples showing obnoxious amounts of PDA. it was almost disgusting to him. kissing in public? on a dirty public train? how gross.

during the first few months of dating you, he began to come around the thought of PDA. he didn't mind holding your hand, as long as it wasn't around his teammates. a little kiss on the cheek wouldn't hurt either.

now, a year has passed since dating you. sakusa definitely knows that his views on relationships have changed. he still won't make out with you in public, or grope your ass in front of randoms, though.

the most major change? a particular night, he lost his virginity to you. similarly, you lost yours to him. before, he cringed at the thought of sex. sharing bodily fluids with one another, oral sex, especially oral sex just seemed wrong to him.

but boy, did that change after that first passionate night he spent with you.

sakusa's hands groped your breasts through the pink sweater you had on. a content sigh left your mouth as he bent you over the bathroom sink, his hand coming down to pull up your white skirt, attempting to find it's way through your seemingly endless long skirt to your sex.

"omi.. here..?" you giggle out, hand gripping at the glass of the bathroom. your other hand comes to reach backwards to play with your boyfriend's curly strands, lightly tugging on the ends. a low growl escapes from his throat, "whats wrong with it? are you uncomfortable?" he asks, kissing the soft skin at your neck.

"n-no, it's just i thought you were against sex in places like this." you say. it was indeed a random place. it was the public female bathroom of the university you both attended. if it weren't for you locking the bathroom door, someone would've probably walked in already.

before you could tease him for his horniness, his fingers caressed your sensitive folds, dipping them deeper to find your clenching hole. he doesn't even respond to you, too busy on making more lewd noises escape from that pretty mouth of yours from the touch of his fingers.

he groans anxiously, finally giving into temptation. his hand pulls away from your heat, waiting patiently as you hear his belt unbuckle and the sounds of him shuffling down his pants.

he bends you further over the sink, his cheeks flushing deeply. he avoids looking at the mirror reflecting the two of you, avoiding making eye contact with you. "i.. i can't wait." he says shyly, almost an entirely different character from his usual stoic and organized self.

the two of you moan in sync when he pushes his cock inside you. without wasting a second, he's already pushing and pulling his hips in and out of your cunt. all of his former resolve is gone, shattered and discarded with the feeling of your tight cunt wrapped around his cock.

his hands firmly stay at your hips, helping you meet his own hips. yes, this place is completely random. it's a bathroom. a bathroom that is probably cleaned improperly and rarely. it smells of strong alcohol and faux blueberries, probably from other students vaping in here.

maybe that's why he's so close to emptying his load in you. maybe it's because of the lewdness, the tabooness, the dirtiness of the two of you, fucking like two hormonal teenages once more. it's as if he's loosing his virginity for the first time to you once more, the feeling completely new and addictive.

maybe you're the issue. yes, you have to be. so seducing and tempting to have. you turned him into a moraless man, into some horny teenager.

"o-oh, fuck, i'm gunna cum," he groans out. he blushes even more when realizes what he's even saying. he's cursing profanities he rarely uses, moaning and groaning like a virgin.

it doesn't help when you clamp around him so tightly, your strong orgasm causing your tongue to loll out so vulgarly from your mouth. sakusa sees it all in the foggy, hand-printed dirty mirror.

he doesn't know what he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all, but something in him snaps and he's giving you his fertile load into your pussy, his hips pathetically humping your ass like a dog in heat. he's cumming inside of you, something he never thought he would ever do in his life. he thought doing that so young was such a life-ender, the possibility of getting pregnant young could completely change his life.

and yet, the thought of his seed inside of you has his head spinning so fast it leaves him almost breathless.

"one more time." he mumbles, slowly rocking his hip back and forth once more, fucking his cum further into you.

please leave a like and reblog if you enjoyed!!

[scrollypoly]

Alex Kister has made a response to the document made by Ven

The link to the document. PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT BEFORE SPREADING FALSE CLAIMS

Alright this is a much more concise and well written document than Ven's was, so ill be brief. Im also gonna strike out my neutrality for this, because after reading Ven's document and seeing the behavior of the accusers on tumblr, I have lost what little belief in this document that i had and belief it was made in poor faith to slander and condemn Alex on false claims.

First, the important claims. Alex did not groom anyone. In fact, Alex says that Ven and DB are older than Alex, and Ven's statements of them being in their 29s corroborates this, as Alex is only 20 years old. Stop spreading misinfo that Alex is a pedophile or a groomer

Alex hits every point that Ven makes in their document and talks through them all. He talks only briefly for how Ven went through their prior relationship, just enough to acknowledge that it wasn't a healthy relationship and that Ven also had some responsibility in how the relationship went down, especially around the miscommunication between the two of them. These miscommunications would later come up in DB's relationship with Alex as well. It is not Alex's responsibility to see through others when they communicate that things are fine when they are not. It is up to the other party to properly communicate their feelings and any problems they may be having in the relationship. Even in the screenshots from Ven's document, we see clearly that when Ven or DB express any discomfort about something, Alex apologizes and backpedals. This is good and normal behavior.

Alex also discusses Ven's intentions with this document

Literally all of this could have been solved privately and been so much better for everyone. I acknowledge and respect that Ven and DB were hurt by their relationships with Alex, but a relationship is a private matter, and problems in that relationship should be respectfully handled between those in the relationship. This document was cruel, exposing Alex's sexual discussions to the public, outting his identity as a transgender person, and slandering him with little regard for the truth or hearing his side of the interactions. This matter should have been handled privately.

One of the things i acknowledged Alex being in the wrong for in my post on Ven's document was suicide baiting. I'll let this snippet in his document speak for itself. I am undecided on how i feel about the interaction, but this gives very important insight to it.

Alex also speaks and gives more context and information about his relationship with DB. As stated earlier, DB was also older than Alex. Alex did not groom DB. The same problems with miscommunication Alex had with Ven can also be discussed here. DB was in a consenting relationship with Alex and as Alex shows, responded in kind to Alex's advances and even advanced the relationship further on my own. From Alex's perspective in this document, it looks like he and DB had a comfortable consenting relationship that was suddenly retracted by DB. If DB was uncomfortable with anything in this relationship, they should have spoken up and discussed it with Alex.

All in all, Ven's document already had a lot of flaws, and Alex's response points out many more flaws that I didn't initially see as well. Please note this response is only to Ven's document, and does not acknowledge the other allegations made by donut, mitcha, or any of the others. I assume Alex will also talk about those, I will wait and see before discussing those allegations further.

[croquis-el]

Quite often I come across the fanon idea that Mitsurugi (Edgeworth) already took the position of chief prosecutor during the 7-year gap. And everything would be fine, but this, unfortunately, provokes misunderstanding and people begin to blame Mitsurugi for the fact that he, being in the corresponding position, did not help Naruhodou (Wright) earlier, thereby exposing him as an insensitive bastard.

Let's figure this out then

I will use Japanese names because it's more convenient for me, so:

Mitsurugi = Edgeworth, Naruhodou = Wright

When did Mitsurugi take up the position of Head of the Prosecutor's Office (Chief Prosecutor)

First, let's make it clear that Mitsurugi's position after a 7-year gap is called 検事局長 (lit. Director of the Prosecutor's Office)

検事局 (Kenji-kyoku) - Prosecutor's Office

長 (cho) - director, head

This position really exists, and if we turn to the Japanese Ministry of Justice (I will focus on the original version, because in English the name and differences in positions are more difficult to understand than in the rules of Arkham Horror), we will see this:

Below is Google translation, but the general meaning is clear

Chief Prosecutor (Head of The Prosecutor’s Office)

• The Chief Prosecutor is the head of the High Public Prosecutors' Office, and one is assigned to each of the eight High Public Prosecutors' Offices nationwide. The Chief Prosecutor manages the affairs of the High Public Prosecutors' Office and commands and supervises the staff of the office, as well as the District Public Prosecutors' Offices and Ward Public Prosecutors' Offices within its jurisdiction.

___________________________________________

On December 20, 2027 (Turnabout for Tomorrow; jp. 未来への逆転), a conversation takes place between Mitsurugi and Naruhodou, in which Naruhodou says the following: “He's a chief prosecutor now. Pretty soon, it'll be a year, right?"

This means Mitsurugi was not in this position until at least 2027

Naruhodo further says that Mitsurugi made a “special request” to him during the period when Naruhodou was still disbarred, i.e. until July 20, 2027 (Turnabout Reclaimend; jp. 逆転の帰還when Ryuuichi received his badge again), but after he was cleared of charges of fabricating evidence

He would only be able to get his license back when his name was cleared, which happened in a jury trial on October 9, 2026

The first mention of Mitsurugi as the head of the prosecutor's office occurred on April 17, 2027 (The Monstrous Turnabout; jp. 逆転の百鬼夜行), when the convicted prosecutor Yugami (Blackwill) was assigned to the case (and we know that he was the one who was called the "special request")

This means Mitsurugi was appointed to the position of head of the prosecutor’s office in the period from January (including New Year’s weekend) to the beginning of April 2027

Don't forget that Naruhodou appears in the defendant lobby in a new suit on April 18, 2027 (The Monstrous Turnabout; jp. 逆転の百鬼夜行), and says that he is thinking about returning his license

After the Phantom case (Turnabout for Tomorrow; jp. 未来への逆転), a conversation takes place in the defendant lobby in which Naruhodou voices that he guessed that it was Mitsurugi who helped him get his license back (given Naruhodou's shaky reputation after being accused of fabricating evidence) and says that it went "little too smoothly." Mitsurugi only says that he "owes him" and therefore probably influenced the bar association (And we know that the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee shares deep ties with the Bar Association (as one judge from the AAI 2 said).

In other words, Mitsurugi could not help Naruhodou return the license earlier, because the average district prosecutor did not have the authority to do so. As soon as he was in a position that allowed him to do this, and as soon as his friend was cleared of all charges, he immediately took advantage of this chance. Within 4 months, he convinced Naruhodou to take the bar exam again, took up the case of a convicted prosecutor, and asked Naruhodou to oversee his cases to find the root of the dark age of law and clear the charges against the young prosecutor.

___________________________________________

P.S

English and Japanese are not my first languages, so feel free to point out mistakes

I used a dictionary for Japanese words (exception - job description)

The text from the English adaptation is almost identical to the original version, so I used screenshots I took during the playthrough (even before the release of the trilogy in January of this year)

[propertyofyoutube]

I HAVE A REQUEST

So the fic could be a Sam X reader, and it starts with just pure smut and him being dominant, then after right, the reader Is laying in bed and Sam's editing. The reader takes out her phone and does the trend 'this man just took my ability to walk and now he's editing' and the reader, who is publicly dating, posts it and it gets millions of view and likes and Sam gets a notification too and he opens it to see that, and then he stops editing and starts cuddling the reader, ending the fic in fluff or smut, your choice. Sam could also ask at the end 'you happy now?'

Are you happy now? - EXPLICIT

WARNINGS: SMUT 18+, unprotected sex, dom!sam, controlling during sex, rough but passionate, angry!sam, creampie, oral, gagging, pure filth and love. Oh and bad language lol.

Not edited.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

You sat peacefully on the sofa in yours and Sam's shared bedroom, happily scrolling through your TikTok foryou page. You suddenly came across an edit of you and Sam. Your eye fell wide as you watched the skills of the talented fans, highlighted moments in your relationship in the most amazing way. You and Sam had been public for almost 2 years now, and it still was hard for you to see yourself in this way. Something you'd probably never get used to. As you watched the quickly changing clips your heart dropped as you saw a text message from Colby drop down the top of your screen.

Colbs: yooo, warning! Shitty day, Sam's pretty angry about this last meeting...

You: oh fuck... is he okay? Are you okay? When you say angry, like shouting angry or silent angry?

Your thumb twiddled across your keyboard as you watched Colby's typing bubble show up. You wasn't sure which you'd prefer right now. Shouting angry Sam meant he would probably have to offload his stress on you with a monologue of curse words and exaggerated arm movements. But silent angry Sam, could be two things; 1- headphones on/movie on and cuddling in silence, 2- breaking your back in an outburst of dominance and frustration, most perfect stress reliever. Lowkey, you were hoping for the latter.

Colbs: I'm okay, Sam will probably explain it to you... but let's just say he hasn't said a word since he started driving home...

You: right okay... thanks for the heads up x

You sighed after texting Colby back. You hated when Sam had a shit day, it killed you to see him upset, and we're always willing to do whatever it took to make him feel better.

>>>>>>>>>

It had only been 20 minute you were waiting, still sat on the sofa, before you heard the front door open. You waited nervously as you closed your phone placing it down beside you. You could hear Colby's voice muffling in the background and suddenly the sound of footsteps making their climb up the staircase. You knew those angry footsteps anywhere.

You took a deep breath as the bedroom door opened and Sam walked in, throwing his bag down quickly, his jaw clenched and his fists stiff.

"Hey baby, are you okay?" You asked, trying to make it seem like Colby hadn't already told you that he wasn't okay.

Sam instantly began to take off his jacket, your eyes fell wide as his gaze met yours as he walked further into the room. You knew that look anywhere. His hands quickly unbuckled his belt as you felt your stomach do a flip and your heat twitch. “Clothes off. Now.” He spoke firmly as your eyes fell wide with both concern and excitement. “I need you.” Sam said his voice shaking with so much emotion.

You instantly stood up and began to remove your clothes your heart beating fast. As you quickly managed to strip completely naked, you looked up to see Sam, his expression softening ever so slightly at the view of you. “Fuck me…” he said, his voice low. “Get over here now.” He said firmly.

You bit your lip in anticipation as you began to head over to him. Sam stepped forward meeting you halfway as he crashed his lips onto yours. The kiss was instantly hot and passionate. His hands wandering around your body.

“I’ve had… such a shitty day…” Sam mumbled against your lips as his grip on your skin deepened.

“I know baby…” you whispered back between kisses.

“All I thought about… was you..” he continued, as he suddenly tugged on your hair, pulling your head back earning a moan from you. “And taking all my frustrations out on that perfect little pussy of yours…” Sam suddenly bit on your lip as his voice sent shivers down your body. “Do you want me to feel better baby?” He asked, his voice low.

“Uh huh…” you managed to squeeze out through moans.

You felt as Sam smirked against your lips, he quickly moved to near your ear as he spoke firmly, “then be a good girl, and get on those knees.” As he suddenly nibbled on your ear your eyes rolled back as you nodded.

Without question, you instantly dropped to your knees, his throbbing cock now directing in your eye line. “Don’t make me ask again.” Sam said with a smirk across his face. You smiled back up at him as you licked your lips, his hand grazing across your chin.

You quickly grabbed his cock as Sam’s jaw slacked open. Your eyes gazing up at him as you suddenly took the head of his dick into your mouth. Sam moaned low as you swirled your tongue around. “Fuck baby… if you don’t stop teasing me… I’ll fuck the back of your throat until you gag.” You loved this side of Sam. When his dominant side really shines through, the control he has turned you on more than anything.

You obeyed and quickly began to bob your head back and forth, taking as much as you could whilst stroking the rest of him.

“Fuck… that’s it baby girl.” Sam spoke between groans.

You couldn’t help but smile, you always felt proud of yourself when Sam praised you like this. His hand stroking the back of your head and the feeling of your lips surrounding his cock making both of you melt.

Suddenly Sam started to buck his hips slightly, you could tell his desperate for more. You looked up at him as you suddenly opened up your mouth wider, giving him permission to take over. He quickly looked down at you with his eyes full of love as they suddenly turned much darker and he bit his lip, grabbing the back of your head with both hands suddenly began to face fuck you. “Atta girl!” Sam groaned deeply as his cock hit the back of your throat. Again and again. Sam held his cock there for a moment as your eyes began to water and you couldn’t help but gag.

“Fuck…” Sam groaned as he pulled out slowly. Allowing you to catch your breath. After a moment, the air back in your lungs, he pushed his dick straight back in, repeating the same steps. As you gagged once more, he pulled out once again as he breathed heavily. “Fuck baby, come here.” He demanded as you stood up wiping drool from your chin.

“Jump.” He said firmly as you quickly hopped up, his hands grabbing your legs as they wrapped around his waist.

You couldn’t help but let out a squeal of excitement as he threw you onto the bed. He immediately followed you as he hovered his body above yours. He reconnected your lips in another moment of passion as he took his hand, moving it down along your body until it reached your heat. As Sam’s fingers found your clit and began to rub in fast circles, you moaned against his lips as he kissed you. Your back arched off the bed as your soaking core finally had some relief. But you wanted more, you needed him, you needed to feel him inside of you.

“You… are the only thing… that gets me through the day.” Sam groaned as he kissed down to your neck, rubbing faster.

“D-don’t stop baby…” you cried out, your head throwing back in pleasure. That knot forming in your stomach as you bucked your hips against his hand.

“What happened to your manners?” Sam said firmly, as his hand slowly lowered its speed.

Your jaw fell wide open as that ache returned, “p-please Sam. Please, just fuck me.” You begged as a smirk formed on Sam’s face.

“Be careful what you wish for…” Sam said catching you off guard as he suddenly took his cock, pushing it deep inside of you with no warning. Both of you simultaneously moaning loudly.

As Sam began to thrust in and out of you, your hands gripped onto his back as you slowly dragged your nails down, earning an even deeper groan from Sam. The knot in your stomach quickly reformed as you were now desperate to feel that release of pleasure. “Fuck Sam.” You moaned out as Sam felt your walls clench around him. Suddenly he lifted himself off you slightly as he began to pound into you, deeper and faster as your legs began to shake.

“That’s it baby, cum for me.” Sam spoke with demand on his voice.

His speed consistent as you felt it build up quickly, until it suddenly exploded. Your whole body filled from top to bottom with a rush of passion and pleasure. “Sam!” You cried out as Sam felt you cum all over him. Sam’s thrusts slowed down slightly as he rode out your high before pulling out of you. He quickly raised onto his knees.

“Turn over.” He demanded, the way his voice changed with his dominance was breathtaking. You obliged immediately flipping over as you tried to catch your breath.

Sam bit his lip as he began to tease your entrance with his cock. “If only… my employees could be as obedient as you…” he spoke as his heart pounded, remembering why he was so angry.

“Please Sammy…” you begged, your body now becoming more exhausted but ready for more.

“As you wish, princess.” Sam said as he quickly pushed himself back inside of you, hitting your g-spot instantly in your still sensitive core.

“Oh shit..” you gasped as he pulled back out before pushing deep inside of you once again. Sam groaned lower than ever as he began to pick up his speed with each thrust. His hips smacking loudly against your ass, loud enough for the neighbours to hear as he pounded into you.

“Fuck y/n…” Sam groaning your name sent shivers throughout your entire body. Suddenly, Sam leaned forward grabbing both of your hands as he pulled them behind your back, allowing your chest to fall onto the bed. “I’m gonna split you in half.” Sam spoke through gritted teeth.

“Yes baby!” You cried out as Sam pinned your arms by the wrist to your lower back and he instantly sped up once again, his dick deeper inside of you with each powerful thrust. “Fuck fuck fuck!” You cried out as the side of your face rested on the mattress.

“Fuck, I’m close baby.” Sam groaned as he refused to lay off. “Cum with me, okay?” He said as you whined nodding your head, unable to form words.

“Good girl.” Sam praised once again allowing that knot to instantly form, quickly expanding in your stomach. You both became moaning messes as his pounded you to your limit.

“Fuck now, y/n!” He practically shouted as a string of curse words left both of your mouths. Your walls clenched around him, as you came all over his cock. Quickly followed by his hot cum filling you up entirely.

Sam’s thrusts slowed down, riding out both of your highs, until he slowly pulled out. His hot cum spilling out after him. “Are you okay?” Sam quickly asked, it was rare he was that hard on you, and he always needed to make sure you were okay.

“Uh huh…” you nodded with a smile as you breathed heavily, your heart pounding out of your chest.

Sam suddenly leaned down, kissing your cheek gently, as he moved your hair out of your face. “Why don’t you go take a shower baby?” Sam suggested before kissing you on the lips, much more sweet than before.

You nodded your head sloppily as your energy had gone from 100 to 0.

“I’ll be right here, waiting when you get back.” Sam said with a smile as you kissed him once more.

>>>>>>>>>

The shower was exactly what you needed after that. However, your legs were weak, and it was truly a challenge to stay stood up right whilst you washed. But, you managed to pull through.

As you walked back into the room, you looked at the bed to see Sam not there. You sighed slightly, as knowing this boy, he probably was working once again. Even after such a shitty day. Once you put on your pjs and brushed your hair, you left the bedroom and walked down the hallway, stopping at Sam and Colby’s shared office. As you peeped around the door, you saw Sam, headphones on, clicking away. You smiled as you watched the concentration on his face, however, this bitch promised to be waiting for you for a cuddle. You leaned on the door frame as you lifted your arm, knocking 3 times. Sam’s eyes quickly darted to the door as he lifted one side of his headphones away from his ear.

“Hey baby, I just thought I’d start editing next months video.” He said as he smiled at you. You smiled back with a sigh as you rested your head on the frame.

“Tonight?” You said with sadness in your voice.

Sam sighed as he glanced at his screen and then back at you, “just 15 minutes, I promise…” he said softly, which you knew full well would turn out to be a lie.

“Okay…” you said with a smile as he smiled back with so much love and appreciation on his face for you. After the pounding you had, you truly did just want him to hold you, you never really was one for much aftercare, but you felt so exhausted you just wanted to be with him.

You scrunched your face up, trying to think of a way to get him to bed, but unfortunately nothing came to you. You took a deep breath once again, as you looked over at him, his eyes glued to the screen as he clicked away. You took out your phone as snapped a video of him editing away. You chuckled to yourself as you walked back to the bedroom.

As you climbed into bed, you headed straight onto TikTok, immediately opening to another edit of yourself and sam. Which immediately gave you a bright idea. You bit your lip mischievously as you selected the video of Sam editing. You couldn’t help but chuckle to yourself as you joined the TikTok trend by typing, ‘man just blew my back out and now he’s editing🤔’ and added a sound. You paused for moment before hitting post, unsure of how Sam would take you posting this, but also knowing that the fans would absolutely love it. As you battled with yourself for a moment, the fans won. The fans will always win. You hit post and within 3 seconds, the comments, likes and shares started rolling in. Your phone going crazier than usual.

As Sam felt his eyes falling heavy, he already wanted to call it quits after 5 minutes. He just wanted to be with you, holding you after such a long day but such an amazing night. ‘Just one more clip’ he thought to himself but he suddenly noticed his phone flashing like crazy, as much as when they post a new Sam and Colby video. He frowned confused for a moment, as he removed his headphones picking up his phone. His mouth and eyes simultaneously fell wide as he watched your TikTok and the read the comments as they continued to roll on. The corners of his mouth slowly began to turn upwards as a smile spread across his face.

Almost 5 minutes had passed and you continued to scroll through your foryou page. You weren’t even sure if Sam had seen the video, so when he appeared in the bedroom, you kept your eyes on your phone as you spoke, trying your best to hold in a laugh, “finished so soon babe?” You asked with innocence in your voice.

Sam continued to walk across the room before climbing into bed beside you. He grabbed your phone out of your hands, locking it and putting it back down as he lifted his arm up over your head, signalling for you to cuddle him.

You looked up at him with a smile as you wiggled yourself into his arms. He squeezed tightly as he kissed your head and you exhaled deeply in a sigh of relaxation.

“Are you happy now?” Sam asked with a chuckle.

You gazed up at him with a mischievous smirk across your face, “I’ve never felt happier.”

Sam glared at you but he simply couldn’t resist that smile and those eyes, “it’s a good job I love you more than anything.” He said as he made himself more comfortable.

“It’s a good job I’m incredibly patient.” You said sarcastically knowing you are the completely opposite.

Sam looked at you his eyebrows raised, “hmm, so patient!” He laughed as you suddenly leaned up kissing him deeply.

As you pulled away he looked deep into your eyes as you spoke, “I love you more.” You said softly as Sam smiled, pulling you in and connecting your lips once again.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Authors note: hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this one! I know I enjoyed writing it! Make sure to leave your requests! 🖤

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Madhubala (Mughal-e-Azam, Barsaat Ki Raat, Mr. & Mrs. '55)—The Venus of India; heart-throb of all who saw her; responsible for the sexual awakening of every single desi lesbian I know (including me!) And my god, she is breathtakingly beautiful. Look at the subtle grace with which she moves, and that smile - the kind of radiant smile that can make you laugh with sheer delight, or cry because of its hidden pain. Those wild curls! That Cupid's bow! The way she tilts back her head and smiles at you with mischief dancing in her eyes! She has a way of looking at the camera that makes you feel she's sharing a private joke just with you; it's something about that quizzical twist of the lips and eyebrows. As an actress, she is inimitable; she seems to effortlessly inhabit roles ranging from a heart-broken courtesan to a laughter-loving socialite. Fun fact : she's had quite the fan following in Greece! Stelios Kazantidis even wrote a song as a tribute to her.

Olivia de Havilland (Adventures of Robin Hood, Gone With the Wind, The Heiress)— The woman who took on the Studio System at the height of their power and Won! A double Oscar winner! Is magnetic and beautiful in everything she's in and gave us all the juicy scandal with her sibling rivalry with Joan Fontaine! Before the Oscar Slap was the Oscar sister snub! Also everything she wears in Robin Hood she makes beautiful even a purple green and orange monstrosity how does she do it! Anyway this scene is one of my old Hollywood favourites

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Madhubala:

An icon of Bollywood, who was well known for her beauty and has continued to inspire performances and songs into the 21st century. She was at times described as "the number one beauty of the Indian screen" and "the biggest star in the world".

SHE IS EVERYTHING AHHH. JUST LOOK AT HER SMILE-

She's been nicknamed the Marilyn Monroe of India and was one of the highest paid actresses in the Hindi film industry (the term Bollywood did not exist yet) during the 1950s. Also an extremely talented dancer and singer

SHE'S JUST SO STUNNING, like seeing her eyes IMMEDIATELY CAPTIVATES YOU, THE DANCING, THE BEAUTY!!!!!!!!! She worked in Bollywood for over 20 years and passed away at a sad early age of 36, BUT THE IMPACT SHE HAD WAS UNMATCHED!!!!!

That sassy sideways glance she does always has me WEAK AT THE KNEES. And when she's making silly faces at the camera to mimic someone ahhhh my gay little heart <3

Olivia de Havilland:

She is just perfection. She has a smile that is looks like it is barely holding back, and yet so reserved as well.

Broke the contract system and won freedoms for actors (the de Havilland Law is still in effect I believe). 2 time Oscar winner. Beautiful and smart

She legally challenged the movie studios' unfair contracts and won, setting a precedent for other actors to be treated more fairly. This was at great cost to her financially and essentially getting her blacklisted for years but the resulting judicial opinion is still known as the De Havilland Law and has won her a great deal of praise and admiration.

Her performance in The Heiress is one of my all-time favorites, she’s so good at making melodrama feel real and grounded without sacrificing any of the passion/drama.

Serenely beautiful, she struck a balance between crowd-pleasing fluff and prestigious drama. Famously at odds with her equally successful sister Joan Fontaine, she was too much of a lady to ever say anything public. Successfully sued Ryan Murphy for portraying her as a saucy gossip in Feud.

the period costume + eye patch combo in That Lady is just an absolute serve

She has the most adorable and cherubic face and voice

[netherworldpost]

The Cold Hearted Amateur Economist Studying the Annual Budget ($113.4 million proposed 2023) for the Chicago Public Library to state "This Is a Stupidly Great Deal."

I am not a professional economist.

To be clear, and to start with, I do not run economic data for real world scenarios for clients or governments or any institutions.

I do run fantasy economic models for fantasy worlds (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc.) for private clients (nerds with more cash than time).

But to be clear I am not a real world economist. So there will be variables I don't know/care about.

The Chicago (hi, I live in Chicago) public library proposed budget

for 2023 is

$113,400,000

(source)

Which is a lot of money, objectively speaking, when you look at it as an annual price tag of "I need $113,400,000. For, um, this year. Next year it'll be more."

In addition to being an amateur economist, as I call myself, because I deal exclusively in fantasy-world economics exclusively

I was a professional graphic designer for many years and have dealt with charts, graphs, information displays, etc.

for a really long time

From the above source, 24.3% (about $27,556,200) is provided by grants, leaving 75.7% (about $85,843,800) to raise.

Still a big chunk of cash.

Damn near $86 million bucks.

That would buy so many zines.

Is it worth it?! LET'S GO BACK TO "I WAS A FORMER GRAPHIC DESIGNER" and dealt with charts and things, a lot, to raise cash for weird projects, a lot.

$85,843,800 (above figure to raise) divided by 365 (sorry leap year, we're being un-generous) is $235,188.49 a day.

Nearly. A quarter. Million dollars. A day.

Wow.

But wait...

...there is more than one person living in Chicago.

Which means that it is NOT a daily bill to ONE person for $235,188.49. It is a daily bill for for 1/2,665,039 PEOPLE, given the city's population.

(source)

To be fair, not everyone pays taxes, for a variety of reasons.

Since I'm not a professional economist, let's be brutally unfair and guess only 1/3 of the city pays taxes. It's far more than that, but, yknow...

...amateur economist privilege.

2,665,039 x 0.33 = 879,462.87... we'll... just round... up... this isn't SAW.

FUN FACT, though! You can borrow SAW from the Chicago Public Library for $0.00!

Resuming the point!

Daily bill of $235,188.49 sent to a collective of 879,463 people whom paying taxes to fund the library using the above math.

(Folks astute in math are going to immediately get my end point that this is cheap)

$235,188.49 (daily budget) divided by 879,463 (people)

is...

$0.26742283643 or rounded up

$0.27 per day.

The Chicago Public Library costs less than $0.30 per day per tax payer to cover the entire city.

Less. Than $0.30. Per day. Per tax payer.

...wow.

You can do similar math by checking your local library's budget and comparing it to your local population and being as ungenerous, or more specific if you wish to get a closer-to-accurate number, when comparing tax payers.

If you want to say "1 out of every 3 people paying taxes is too high" (it's not, but let's just say it is for the sake of furthering my point of "the library is an intensely great deal) and instead... say...

1 out of every 5 people pay taxes

because you want to be a contrarian for whatever personal reasons

1/5 = 20%, 20% of 2,665,039 people is 533,008 (rounded up, per above SAW rules)

$235,188.49 (daily budget) divided by 533,008 (people in this ultra contrarian numbers formula) is $0.44124757977, or, $0.44 per day per tax payer.

Using 1/3 as a tax payer base is extremely low. It's easier math. I chose it to make a point.

Pushing it further to 1/5 as a tax payer base raises the daily cost by ($0.44-0.27) $0.17.

Use your local library. Your literal pocket change pays for it.

This is a "I love the library" post sponsored by the library research I am doing for a private client and work that'll be used for future Netherworld Post releases.