#throttling reality must cost more

[mukund-goenka]

Which Motorcycle is the Best for Boda Boda Riders?

For millions across Africa, the boda boda motorcycle is a lifeline. It weaves through dusty rural roads and carries dreams along with passengers. But for the riders, the choice of bike isn't one they can take lightly. It's a critical decision that impacts their income, safety, and comfort.

The agenda of this blog post would be to explore which factors are to be taken into account if we are to decide on the best motorcycle that will serve the needs of Boda riders in the best way possible.

Understanding the Boda Boda Hustle

Imagine long days under the scorching sun, dodging potholes and carrying heavy loads on bikes like the Hero Hunter 100, all while ensuring every ride earns you a decent living. That's the reality of a boda boda rider. So, what factors become paramount when choosing a reliable motorcycle?

Fuel Efficiency: Every litre saved translates to more profit. Motorcycles with proven fuel efficiency are top contenders, as every penny saved fuels their livelihood.

Durability: Rough roads and constant use demand a machine that can handle the wear and tear. Riders need a motorcycle that's built to last, minimizing repair costs and downtime.

Maintenance: Frequent breakdowns eat into precious earnings. Reliable bikes with readily available spare parts and affordable maintenance costs are crucial.

Passenger Comfort: A happy passenger means a good tip. Motorcycles with comfortable seats and adequate space for cargo attract more customers and boost income.

Which Bike Emerges as the People’s Choice?

Several brands have carved their niche in the boda boda world, each with its strengths and weaknesses. However, there’s one that stands out - the Hero Hunter 100. Most Boda riders prefer this bike over any other model, and there are solid reasons behind that.

Let’s take a look at some of the features of the Hunter 100 that prove its mettle in the Boda riding community.

Engine prowess - The 97.2cc 4-stroke, air-cooled engine generates 5.74 kW of peak power @ 7500 rpm and a peak torque of 8.04 Nm @ 4500 rpm. This ensures that with every throttle, you have the power you need.

Suspension - This is another valuable component of any bike’s specs since the ride comfort majorly depends on the type of suspension system and its effectiveness. The Hunter 100 is equipped with telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers at the front and a swing arm with 2-step adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers at the rear. This combination helps make every ride smooth despite the rough terrain.

Other features - Other elements of the motorcycle, like a low kerb weight of 113 kg and a good ground clearance of 165 mm, help make the ride more comfortable.

Expert Insights

Mechanics across Africa agree that regular maintenance is key to maximising any bike's life. They also emphasise the importance of safety – good helmets, protective gear, and responsible riding are non-negotiables. Since there may be times when the road throws unexpected surprises at you, riding with all the necessary safety gear is crucial.

Conclusion

The perfect boda boda motorcycle is a personal journey. Riders must carefully consider their needs, budget, and riding environment before making a decision. If you are looking for a recommended choice, the Hero Hunter 100 can be your trusty bike. Research, test rides, and advice from fellow riders are invaluable tools. Remember, your motorcycle is your partner in success, so choose wisely and ride safely!

[huse-sustainable-solutions]

What to choose Electric Bikes or Motorcycles

It is understandable that as the popularity of electric bicycles grows, it’ll be necessary to compare a kick scooter to a fuel-powered motorcycle. Since motorcycles are used very often for commuting, the question arises as to whether the investment in an electric bike is worthwhile. This article describes the main differences between electric bikes and motorcycles in many areas. 

Obviously, the main difference between an e-bike and motorcycle is that an electric bike is, well, electric. But, the difference between the two types of vehicles doesn’t end there.  

Legal requirements 

Electric bicycles and motorcycles are treated very differently from a legal point of view. Motorcycle drivers must hold a driver's license in order to drive the vehicle legally. Such restrictions  do not apply to electric bicycles. You don't need a driver's license, bicycle registration or insurance, and you don't have to pay taxes for it either. From a legal point of view, electric bicycles are usually treated in the same position as traditional pedal bicycles. Sometimes, the mandated clothing riders need to wear also differs.. Motorcyclists are usually required by law to always wear a crash helmet and are advised to wear more protective equipment. The faster the motorcycle can reach, the higher the risk of injury. You do not need to wear a crash helmet when riding an electric bike (although it is highly recommended to wear one).  However, it is advisable to wear protective clothing, especially if you are riding an electric bike on a busy road.  

2. Speed 

Unsurprisingly, electric bikes can't compete with motorcycles when it comes to speed. The main factor is the regulation that limits the speed at which the e-bike assists the rider. E-bikes are usually required by law to shut off power when the bike reaches a speed of 25 km/h. Motorcycles, on the other hand, are not subject to such restrictions and are legally allowed to reach much faster. However, moving faster does not necessarily mean arriving at your destination earlier, as described in the next section. 

Commuting 

The electric bicycle is the perfect commuting vehicle. They are light, fast, reliable and unaffected by train delays! In the city, due to rush hour traffic and traffic lights, the additional speed features of the motorcycle are irrelevant. Electric bicycles share the advantage that motorcycles are superior to cars in their ability to cruise along the road. However, electric bikes have the added benefit of being usable in bicycle lanes and  certain city parks. Therefore, in reality, high-speed vehicles are not always the fastest commuting mode. In addition, electric bicycles have many other practical advantages over motorcycles. For example, you don't need  parking space, and many offices have space to safely lock your bike. Some electric bike can also be folded. Folding electric bikes are even more versatile as they can be transported by train or bus, taken to a coffee shop, or stored under a desk at work. 

Maintenance 

Electric bicycles require much less maintenance than traditional motorcycles. There is no oil or cooling system to take care of, and there are fewer parts overall, so less maintenance is required. In addition, running costs are kept to a minimum compared to fuel-powered motorcycles. You don't have to buy fuel and you don't have to charge your bike. You can use the electric bicycle at any time. No preparation or thinking is required. If you feel like it, you can level up and get out on the road! 

Exercise 

Electric bikes are much better from a sports point of view because you have to pedal to move. Of course, electric bikes provide so much rider assistance, which makes them so much fun and friendly, but there are still more elements of rider input than twisting the throttle. For those who find traditional cycling very tiring, especially in cities, electric bikes provide an accessible form of exercise not possible with motorcycles. There may be some prejudice, but in many cases electric bicycles are a more versatile mode of transportation. They can be used by more people in more places than motorcycles, and it's a big plus in the world, always looking for new and improved means of transportation. If you’re looking to buy a self-balancing scooter, check out HUSE, an electric bike company in India

[jonrak]

The Greatest Threat to Mankind: A Letter to 8 Billion People

These unprecedented times have left us with unprecedented dangers. We face the potential annihilation of our way of life and possibly, the extinction of humanity. The warming of the Indian Ocean has imperiled our brothers and sisters in East Africa, Bangladesh, and India, who are facing deadly flooding as well as locusts that have grown to such numbers that would eclipse major cities, decimating their farmland and subsequently threatening their food supplies.[1]

Drought and extreme heat are fueling a record breaking number of wildfires while lack of substantial rain is threatening the water supply for millions of Americans on the west coast. As we speak, more than 25% of the U.S. is reeling from the most severe case of drought.[2] The heat trapping of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitric oxide can no longer be ignored, much less denied. Carbon dioxide emissions from our dependence on fossil fuels are increasing 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last ice age. Due to the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the acidity of our oceans has increased by more than 30%. Satellites have detected that the Arctic Sea ice, as well as the once-gleaming glaciers from the Alps, Andes, Himalayas, Rockies, Alaska, and Kilimanjaro are disappearing. According to NASA, in the year 1900, the planet’s temperature was -.08° C. Now the planet’s temperature is over 1° C.[3]

I would be remiss if I were to say that the picture is anything but dire. At this rate, the global temperature is expected to surpass 1.5°C around 2040 and 2°C by 2050. A 2°C warming would undoubtedly lead to a billion people displaced and the scale of destruction is currently unquantifiable but there is a high likelihood that human civilization, as we know it, would end.[4] We face the potentially grim reality of inadequate food production compounded by skyrocketing prices. We could witness the desertification of entire regions, frequent flooding for some nations and wildfires for others; chronic water shortages and mass migrations of displaced peoples, which would overwhelm already stressed infrastructures. Armed conflict over waning resources would be inevitable and even the nuclear armed nations would not be immune. Government instability and chaotic fallout is not hard to imagine. We risk the loss of thousands of years of historical advancements and achievements of mankind, as well as the loss of our future and our children’s future.

Our best-case scenario is in fact, not very good news at all. Even if we were to stop immediately the emissions that are heating up our planet, we are already on course- like the Titanic- to hit that proverbial iceberg of 1.5° Celsius. According to the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the best we can hope for is that we brace ourselves accordingly and hope it stops there. The panel predicts the devastating news that coral reefs, for example, are projected to decline by a further 70–90% at 1.5°C but there would be significantly larger losses (>99%) at 2°C. The panel also reports that of 105,000 species studied, 9.6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates are projected to lose over half of their climatically determined geographic range from global warming of 1.5°C. This is compared to a staggering loss of 18% of insects, 16% of plants and 8% of vertebrates’ geographic range from global warming of 2°C. Climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5°C and increase further with 2°C.[5] Either way, this Titanic is going to crash, and it’s up to us to determine our speed when it happens. The Paris Agreement’s strategies are deemed not aggressive enough on carbon dioxide emissions to prevent the global temperature rising above 1.5°C.[6] In other words, the captain of our proverbial ship, still has the speed at full throttle instead of reverse.

To survive this less-than-ideal situation (the understatement of the century) would demand “a global mobilization of resources on an emerging basis, akin to a wartime level response.”[7] We must immediately reduce emissions and stabilize the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, not as an ethnic group, not as a creed or religion, or as a country, but as human beings who are staring into the face of total extinction and refusing to go gentle into that good night. There is real hope, but it is not found in denial or in the heated discourse over semantics (e.g., climate change vs. global warming) to name our shared enemy which has already breached the gates. It is knowing that we have the ability to lower the temperature even after it reaches that dreaded 1.5° C. If we institutionalize potentially disruptive but sustainable pathways to eliminate these gases, we can possibly return to lower temperatures and regain control before we sink.

In the following section I will discuss key actions that need to be considered seriously and implemented.

It will not be sufficient to solely reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero; CO2 will also need to be actively captured from the atmosphere. Leveraging photosynthesis may hold the solution. As algae grows, it removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by converting it to oxygen via photosynthesis. On average, one kilogram of algae utilizes 1.87 kilograms of CO2 daily, which means that one acre of algae utilizes approximately 2.7 tons of CO2 per day. For comparison, one acre of a 25-year-old maple beech-birch forest only utilizes 2.18 kilograms of CO2 per day.[8] We must invest in strategies that increase the rate of photosynthesis globally, including expanding the surface area of communities with fauna and algae. The cheapest way to remove excess CO2 is tree-planting. Two-thirds of human emissions can be potentially removed by planting one trillion trees in the world’s 1.7 billion hectares of non-used land with a cost of 30 U.S. cents per tree.[9] From reading the aforementioned, it should be clear that the cessation of deforestation is nonnegotiable or otherwise, we might as well all capitulate to an abysmal and likely torturous fate that is fast approaching.

Another viable option is the theoretical geoengineering technique called “enhanced weathering.” This involves the capture of CO2 indefinitely from the environment by the crushing and spreading of certain rock material (e.g., silicate) across large areas which then absorb the CO2 and convert it into bicarbonate, a benign molecule. This alkaline product can then reverse ocean acidification as well as improve crop growth.[10]

Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas yet is significantly more powerful at capturing heat than carbon dioxide. Cutting methane emissions by almost half within the next decade would prevent a 0.3°C rise in the average global temperature by the 2040’s.[11] Comparatively, this would be considered the “low hanging fruit” in terms of low-cost implementations when juxtaposed to carbon dioxide reduction. Reduction strategies include improving the detection and repair of methane leaks at gas and oil facilities and flooding abandoned coal mines that leak gas. It includes the prevention of burning of fields after harvest and adjusting feed for livestock.[12] Also, focused attention and financial incentives should be allocated to the development of technology that converts methane gas from waste into energy.

While we make concerted efforts to slow down global warming, we must simultaneously plan for the inevitable consequences from the damage that has already been done. Increased attention and stewardship for the conservation of the species (e.g., bees) that we desperately depend on must be in order. Governments need to create and implement plans for the storage of potable water and foods, especially for those populations geographically at greatest risk. Another crucial action is the increased vigilance to prevent and combat wildfires in those regions commonly affected such as the western coast of the United States and Australia. This by far is not a comprehensive list of necessary steps but it is a reasonable start.

We, humanity, as well as the panoply of fauna and wildlife, face a fast-approaching existential threat. This is not a drill.

[1] VOX. (2020). Why locusts are descending on East Africa [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo61TiAGwhk.

[2] John Keefe and Rachel Ramirez, C. (2021). The West’s historic drought in 3 maps. Retrieved 21 June 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/17/weather/west-california-drought-maps/index.html

[3] Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?. (2021). Retrieved 21 June 2021, from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

[4] Dunlop, I., & Spratt, D. J. (2019, May). A scenario approach THE AUTHORS. Existential climate-related security risk. https://www.academia.edu/40017142/Existential_climate-related_security_risk_A_scenario_approach_THE_AUTHORS.

[5] IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.-O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. In press.

[6] Ibid, 5.

[7] Dunlop, I., & Spratt, D. J. (2019, May). A scenario approach THE AUTHORS. Existential climate-related security risk. https://www.academia.edu/40017142/Existential_climate-related_security_risk_A_scenario_approach_THE_AUTHORS.

[8] Polon, R. (2020, July 10). Not All Heroes Wear Capes: How Algae Could Help Us Fight Climate Change. The Aggie Transcript. https://aggietranscript.ucdavis.edu/not-all-heroes-wear-capes-how-algae-could-help-us-fight-climate-change/.

[9] Holloway, B. (n.d.). Top 5 ways scientists are trying to reverse climate change. Top 5 ways scientists are trying to reverse climate change | UPM Pulp. https://www.upmpulp.com/media/blogs-and-stories/stories/top-5-ways-scientists-are-trying-to-reverse-climate-change/.

[10] Beerling, D.J., Kantzas, E.P., Lomas, M.R. et al. Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands. Nature 583, 242–248 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2448-9

[11] Maizland, lindsay. (2021, May 21). How Cutting Methane Emissions Can Move the Needle on Climate Change. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-cutting-methane-emissions-can-move-needle-climate-change?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxJqHBhC4ARIsAChq4asQ4lTvhMrvK_2RCnPENhMXbFZvOkXoyaaocAgnQd65blBgo94oj7IaAqZDEALw_wcB.

[12] Ibid, 11.

[stronghours]

CUSTOMER SERVICE

E T S Y

Darling Fallon    Sep 3, 2013

Sensational (sin-sational!). i write on behalf of myself (S) and my lover (m). we have been ripped off by bulk-produced molded hoods before and i can only say HAND CUT LATEX ONLY never look back!! worth the money and will eventually pay for itself. neck fit like loving glove and adds dynamic intensifier to breathplay. Lovely proprietor replied prompt when “m” had questions re: breathability (she added extra breathing hole at no extra cost). class acts all around (and not just in our dungeon!) will return for more but “m” needs a break first if u get the drift lol1!! thanks to lady j!

Purchased item: DeMarco FetishWear – Latex Chrysalis Hood (translucent…

3 Helpful

  myMister   Aug 24, 2013

this one writes on behalf and with permission of MISTER. this one quaked with bliss when package arrived. truly awful to behold in the wise hands of MISTER. this one’s neck is small and delicate For His Pleasure and all item adjustments were made to order and did not affect shipping time. if this one could be so efficient For His Pleasure this one would be in heaven on earth. instead, this one is less than a hole. item truly enhanced <O sensation. without a doubt will be used over and over in this household for due punishments of this very worthless one. discrete pgk’ing. thanks to designer J for deepening this one’s service to MISTER.

(NOTE FROM MISTER – WILL PROPRIETER PLEASE PRIVATELY EMAIL TO DISCLOSE IF YOU ARE MALE/FEMALE/OTHER SO “myMister” (this one) WILL BE ABLE TO PROPERLY ADDRESS YOU IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS FORMAL ROLE)

Purchased item: DeMarco FetishWear – Throttle Collar w/ attached Gas…

1 Helpful

  JulieJuice   August 3, 2013

LOL rip-off!!! cant believe all u ppl sucking this guys dick. says everywhere in product descript. (and you guys reviews!!) that custom sizing is no additl. cost but mine cost more!! only small alteration to titty holes cause of my cleave situation. bullshit. not buying from him again.

Response from J

Hi again Julie. If you check our many enlightening inbox conversations from 7/5-7/16 you will be reminded the additional cost was due to your request of more ring hinge insertions as the standard amount in pattern block “was not bling enough”. Cleavage was irrelevant. Sizing related alterations are always no added cost. Custom alterations requiring additional materials/effort and adjusted pricing will always be discussed and approved on client end before any exchange of payment.

Purchased item: DeMarco FetishWear – Hexagon Restrictor Harness…

HELPFUL?

  HannahCakes!    Jun 1, 2013

Hey Whats Up I’m Caleb (obviously don’t have an etsy) and using my lady’s account. She got the catsuit for my birthday and she looked so sexy like J-Lo or someone. Didn’t want her doin the latex stuff because I thought shed have to shave off all her pubes and personally i like that kind of thing a lot but no harm done. Anyway she was super sexy and the suit thing looked good and stayed together even when we started rockin. To other full bush guys out there if youre girl wants to wear the latex stuff SHE CAN KEEP HER BUSH she just has to use lube to oil up the bush that she has.

Purchased item: DeMarco FetishWear – Domina Catsuit w/ Pussycat Zipper (red…

7 Helpful

  HannahCakes!   3 months ago   Friend   Ignore

Caleb Review

Hi J,

Saw my boyfriend’s 6/1 review and I was like uh ohhh. I asked him to leave one because he went gaga over the catsuit, but I wasn’t expecting all the bush stuff. If you don’t want to be associated with that and want to delete, that’s ok on my end. A little embarrassing! – Hannah!

Reply from DeMarco FetishWear    3 months ago    Friend    Ignore

Hi Hannah. Please don’t worry about it, any positive review is welcome. His feedback has apparently hit a chord with some specific hesitations and concerns buyers have been experiencing but not confiding with me, so I plan on keeping it up for the time being. Enjoy your garment.

  JoeyoftheHerd    3 months ago   Friend   Ignore

Moo-cow snout muzzle thing – (idea i had)

Hi. Is this idea good

Reply from DeMarco FetishWear    3 months ago    Friend   Ignore

Hi Joey. Are you interested in a custom cow muzzle/mask, like the pup play masks on my page or are you just brainstorming for personal reasons?

Reply from JoeyoftheHerd    3 months ago    Friend    Ignore

idk it’s just an idea i had

Reply from DeMarco FetishWear    3 months ago    Friend    Ignore

It’s a cool idea

Reply from JoeyoftheHerd    3 months ago    Friend    Ignore

Thanks man i thought so 2

1234Brett10093456    3 months ago   Friend   Ignore

I REMEMBER YOU FROM RAWHIDE

JULES yes I know who you are and I know your name are you scared yet?? I remember when you used to hang with Roscoe out at Rawhide because Roscoe pretended to hire you because he secretly wanted to fuck and suck you till you cried and I saw all that. I have brown flippy hair, blue eyes and am tall/cut versatile but lean TOP. I know you faked being gay. You heard of bi-now-gay-later but have you heard of gay-then-straight-betrayer (you)? That is fucked up that you still sell stuff but pretend to be a gay guy because that makes your stuff sell better because the gay guys want to fuck you. I know you are faking because my muscle bud Tomas (latino) saw you making out with a ginger chick at the wet bar in Entrance last week. He said it was probably a joke but I know it wasn’t because he said he saw tongue. I wont let you be a breeder without a fight. I am willing to tell EVERYBODY YOURE SECRET. But I wont if you prove to me YOU CAN STILL BE GAY. Im attaching a pic of my cock so you know im not lying and can follow through. I will only believe YOU ARE GAY if we can see each other face/face (i can host only on fri- I have two roommates) and our cocks have to touch and you have to stay hard for at least five minutes while I suck and jack your cock and tongue your balls (shave or dont i will leave that up to you). condoms ok but if you want to be a breeder so bad maybe I will just breed your ass but if youre actually a gay guy you’ll like it and cum thick ropes as I fuck your dirty little slut hole and youll tell me youre a hole while I fuck it with the shiny precum head of my cut fucking cock (7inches erect). you will smell my hole and BECOME GAY again IT WILL HAPPEN  - Brett Costino

  TheSteelyDanMan   2 months ago   Friend   Ignore

Latex & Breastfeeding Concerns

Good morning, J I hope you are well. Returning customer, here. My kajira/wife and I are splinter Gor lifestylers (NOT KAOTIANS) [link] but are currently isolated due to our deviation from standard kajira beautification ideals and the arrival of our first child (girl - Gemma) two months ago. My wife’s submission has usually been expressed fashion-wise in various strict latex outfits, a few of which you have kindly provided us over the past couple of years. Naturally, the arrival of a mini-me results in some changes! My wife, insecure after birth, wants to return to strict full-coverage latex, but this desire is at odds with her physical situation of actively nursing Gemma and we both have worries. Does the constriction of latex effect or otherwise harm milk production, or could secondhand latex exposure harm our baby? I imagine you have catered to many lifestyle situations where this might be relevant so I thought I would ask. Thanks very much. LEO

Reply from DeMarco FetishWear    2 months ago    Friend    Ignore

Hi Leo. While I have catered to many lifestyles, I’m afraid I must exercise discretion in this situation, as it would be on par with giving medical advice. I will say any allergy is a possibility and one should exercise undue care with a very young infant, not just in matters of latex. I highly encourage you and your wife to discuss this with her doctor as frankly as possible. In the long run it might be worth reevaluating aspects of your wife’s submission and temporarily making do with latex pieces that do not restrict the breasts, while nursing is a part of her daily reality (I’m sure I don’t have to tell you examples are available on my page). Best of luck and congratulations on the new addition to your family.

  NoraBarnacle    2 months ago   Friend   Ignore

A sincere offer…

Several months ago, I bought a pair of latex gauntlet gloves from your shop. Since then, astonishing changes have come over me. I used to be high-powered, highly controlled, a formidable woman (natural ash blond, green eyes, 45”-40”-44”) I was determined to keep these feelings to myself, but I can no longer resist, as I wholeheartedly believe your Dominating spirit, imbued in the gauntlets, is leading me forcefully but masterfully into your care. If it pleases you, know I have not touched my aching slit for one month total as I am uncertain whether you desire me to feel pleasure that is not approved by you. There are no images of you on your site, but I have drawn an accurate picture of you in my mind and I know you are the Man that I never knew I was waiting for, the Man who will lead me, the Man who will hold my neck and strike my forehead to his knee in his insistence that I allow myself to be led. When I wear the gauntlets, they are your own gallant hands restricting my weak bones. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I can no longer resist. I do not desire to resist. Please message back so I can properly present my acquiescence, body and soul, unto you. I squat disgracefully on my plump thighs, full of whorish tremor that makes me unworthy, but still I desire. I will service your home with my ardent hands and service your thick and striving cock with my wet tongue. Respond to this small soul. I submit to your gallant wisdom – A Secret Admirer

  RicoMetals   1 month ago   Friend   Ignore

Redhead Modle in Pic for Serve Her Serrated Corselette

Hey man-to-man who is she. I love redheads. Does she modle for other people/would she modle for my pieces? there’s no head in the pick – what’s her nose situation? we could all do collab and I think it would be hot. Let me kno - RICO

Reply from DeMarco FetishWear    1 month ago    Friend    Ignore

Hi Rico. I have not blocked you (yet) because said model wanted me to reply to you first and inform you, she’s already an established performer in her own right and does not want to model for a guy who “thinks I need some sissy seamstress to pimp me out to shitty welders online”. As I only have basic welding experience, I can offer no further comment or defense on your behalf.

  DerryBerry454   1 month ago   Friend   Ignore

Inquiry re: standard leather sleep-sack dimensions

Hello Miss J, quick question:

I will buy this item no hesitation no delay if you tell me right now about your vagina. Questions I prioritize:

1.     Color labia (outer)

2.     Color labia (inner – aroused)

3.     Clit length in centimeters or whatever measurement is most flattering to you

4.     Range of clit engorgement

5.     Depth of vaginal canal (I will allow ballpark figure as I know not everyone has graded speculums lying around)

6.     Percentage of clit orgasms v. vaginal orgasms – bonus points if you describe uterine orgasm, if that is your experience (no pressure to answer last part, as I understand it is not necessarily vagina-adjacent)

7.     Are you hairy? What color?

8.     When you wash your vagina do you douche or do you use fingers to rub through labia folds and that is it?

9.     Color of menstrual blood

10.  If you wear panties, do you find the crotch of your panties degrades due to PH of your vaginal discharge? (give me the qualities and I will calculate this for you)

While a picture of your vagina is welcome (and will only be for my private use) I really do like gathering these stats (I’m kind of a nerd) and would appreciate as much openness on your behalf as possible and you will benefit too because I’ll give you money for your lovely product. Talk to you soon! 😊

  B O A R D

[RUBBERVALLEY FIENDS THREAD 3/3 2006-PRESENT] TOPICS: 850 POSTS: 10,356

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): Hey people, we’ve reached the end of the summer and you know what that means – Ivan himself of the halls of Rubber Valley presents inaugural post of their annual sweeps week filming extravaganza – first photoset already up and we’ve got the goddamn brilliant LYDIA SUCKS sons! The greatest bitch on the face of the planet almost psyched us out but she’s here she’s low and she’s ready to blow. Vid upload will probably take till tomorrow to render but we’ve got some great pic galleries already. Ivan really spoiling us pigs lmfao. Seeing lots of setup and dress-up and behind scenes stuff for yall candid pervs. We’ve got full body latex and face coverage hoods and I see a breathing tube and the barn inversion setup. Possible inverted ceiling fuck? The boys can dream. Links to download pics results in PERMABAN – only official links to Rubber Valley site allowed, don’t know how often I have to say it. You want to pass ripped screenshots you do that through email *casts pearls before swine*

GOBgobGOB: no pic of lyds upside down yet ☹

LordJim: Not interested until I see Ivan haul out the FuckRacers from two years ago – wonder why he doesn’t bring those around more often? Great view stats on current vids and who doesn’t like a fat ass getting auto-fucked while she steers the go-cart supine?

SUCKPUNTER: lmfao all views are you bro

GOBgobGOB: D I R E C T H I T

SUCKPUNTER: hey lordjim where’d you learn the word supine

LordJim: Yeah “laugh out loud” very funny guys.

SUCKPUNTER: did you learn it at college

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): Lydia looks gr8 folks. Queen pristine and ready to cream. SUCKPUNTER – chill out because I’ve got my eye on you. Don’t take the bait Jim. You’re like thirty.

SUCKPUNTER: at least I don’t get off on bitches doing the pinewood derby

LockSTOCK2FUCKINGBARRELS: LYDIA!

GOBgobGOB: LYDIA!!!

McLovin: LYDIA LYDIA LYDIA

TheWorldofMartinAmis: Goddess. Wish she’d get her boobs done though.

LockSTOCK2FUCKINGBARRELS: same! I’ve been waiting for years for her to get into xtreme body mod. Right up her alley. If she’s at EXXXOTICA EXPO next year I’m going to try to get her meet and greet and ask. I know tattoo guys who’d pay HER to give her first tat.

McLovin: Lydia wouldn’t go. She’s like indie transgressive.

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): nice to see you again lockSTOCK. I see your POV but Lydia has several interviews where she says most of her viewers see her bod as a clean palate in the art of pain – as in, wounds have to go away in order for us to appreciate a fresh ruining ; ) tats and huge implants are a little tougher to work around. Anyway in my mind you can fix bad tits but you can’t fix bad attitude

ThatOneFootGuy: id suck her feet

McLovin: woah fuck 4th latex pic in dressing series with her mouth open and her eyes shut – who the lube guy with his arm right down her front?

SUCKPUNTER: lol hand clear to her pussy and hes not even hard faggot

McLovin: scope the ginger amazon in the background with camera – new girl? Don’t recognize. Didn’t know Ivan was bringing new people around this year’s sweeps.

LordJim: I wondered too when I saw. I’m sure DungeonMaster mod understands if I copy/paste following from Ivan (no pics, text w/actress info):

Newcomers are always welcome in RUBBER VALLEY (especially if they’re lovely, and especially if they’re ladies!) and this old goat is pleased to welcome DOMME LUX, our friendly neighbor down south in that little town called Chicago. Mysterious as she is alluring, you’ll see her shining light sampling tidbits of delight off our Valley Girls throughout the uploads this month (or even taking a crack at a couple!) We’re just getting to know her, but I have a feeling she’s a generous gal at heart as she kindly offered us the services of her Personal Valet, Jules DeMarco, who himself spoiled us all year with devious latex devices for our steadfast daring dollies after the unfortunate 2012 passing of our beloved torture designer Merrick Marvel (memoriam post 03/04/2012). Check out Jules’s Half-Bag Breast Mummifier in scheduled post 7/22 (Heather Bunny in the inverted Wench Wrench) the diabolical Arachnae-Hood (Lacey Jane, spinning in our trusty Landscape(her) Rolling Pin 7/16) and the Double-Fuck Full Body Boa Binder with eerie inflatable bubble hood (Lydia Sucks, finale post 7/31, don’t miss it, SUBSCRIBE). I must confess, we took advantage - the poor fella ran himself ragged helping us with film prep all week. So as an apology we let him get up close and personal with Rubber Valley’s reigning heroine LYDIA SUCKS fitting her in a custom four-limb black latex catsuit with half-face hood, made especially for her brave beautiful bod. He takes a good long time greasing her up before Ivan and Barry get her hoisted and joisted and in her best bitch-bat position among the rafters of the exalted Rubber Valley barn, where we leave her to squirm in terror! (but let’s get real – what scares Lydia? We’re wracking our brains!) Uh-oh, is Domme Lux looking jealous in the background? Is she plotting a little comeuppance for our Lovely Lady Lydia? Only one way to find out – SUBSCRIBE!

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): Np lordjim, if you hadn’t posted I was going to. Looks like we’ve got fresh meat in the valley.

TheWorldofMartinAmis: very pretty girl, but always bummed when a new one turns out to be top. Call me old fashioned, I come to the Valley for slaves.

SUCKPUNTER: firecrotch

GOBgobGOB: brb too busy crankin it. milky gingerbread titties come to daddy

McLovin: @TheWorldofMartinAmis, Ivan always has at least one femdom around. Room for everybody in the valley

LockSTOCK2FUCKINGBARRELS: holy shit I know that guy.

SUCKPUNTER: lmfao faggots know faggots

LockSTOCK2FUCKINGBARRELS: no for real. His real name is Jules Marinelli. I worked with him one summer lifeguarding beaches for the park’s district. Our boss found his website where he sells his sex stuff, and it was this whole big thing. Found the kink club Entrance through that (check it out if you’re in my hood ever – huge, clean, not too much gay shit, great ladies of all stripes hanging around, but limits on drinking if you’re trying to access certain levels). He’s bi. He’s either secretly Domme Lux’s slave or Domme Lux is his slave and it’s mega on the DL because it’d hurt her career if it got out she could ‘verse. There’s all this gossip.

SUCKPUNTER: bi guys r fags

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): SUCKPUNTER – that’s strike one. lockstock – not deleting your post because from what I can see JDM doesn’t/isn’t acting in explicit scenes, but let’s cool it with doxxing info. Looks like he’s had an experience with that before, and as a small business owner myself, I know how it can suck. We aren’t gossiping high school girls. Settle back and enjoy what Ivan gives us.

GOBgobGOB: *sees dudes in the chat and stops jacking off*

LockSTOCK2FUCKINGBARRELS: NP mod, feel free to delete it later before it causes problems.

TheWorldofMartinAmis: going back to previous discussion – don’t think a breast job automatically constitutes body modification

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): think about it martinamis, it’s a slippery slope – you want to see some swollen battered fish get destroyed, or a fresh natural girl get destroyed?

SUCKPUNTER: i am not a faggot and a whore’s a whore and im here to see whores fucking destroyed

GOBgobGOB: *tony soprano voice* she was a HOOOOER

SUCKPUNTER: fag or cunt all whores get fucked

LordJim: Mod, step up. This isn’t going to get better. With all due respect

SUCKPUNTER: fag or cunt ALL WHORES GET FUCKED

DungeonMaster (MOD 2): yeah, already done. That should be the last of him. Don’t know why I expected that situation to turn out differently.

  FROM: lydias-verified@terrorproductions.com

TO: JulesDM86@gmail.com

Subject: Debrief – valley week

Jules,

As discussed, attached is current info for my old webmaster service from when I had to run my own fansite. Decent price and decent vendor system. Can only be an improvement on what you have now. That is not an insult, but I know it sounds like one. Stay with me.

[link] [link] [link]

And above, the top three most trafficked boards I’ve found following my own career and the rubber valley gang. We’ve caused quite a stir already and its only July 15th. I wouldn’t count on this causing an uptick in your business, but I think you know that. The standard gentleman at home spending twenty bucks a month for guaranteed links to a woman being fucked inside out while wearing a sensory deprivation hood simply doesn’t translate him to spending 100-200 dollars, contacting a seller, taking measurements, and going through the effort to order he and his special girly the hood itself. But I know you believe you’ve chosen your life the same way I believe I’ve chosen my life and won’t whine. I will say, if your ego is bruised, that your clothes are wonderful. They feel maybe half like death. I’ll wear them again and again.

On a funnier note: I have accounts myself on all the above message boards and post semi-regularly. It might amuse you to do the same thing, but you need to be careful regarding your identity. Feedback from viewers is never relevant, but it needs to be pure (don’t ask me why – my brains are fucked out). I won’t tell you who I am, and you won’t tell me who you are. Maybe we’ll find each other.

I wouldn’t tell your Cathy, since some sensitive (if inaccurate) information is flying around. Your instinct towards privacy, while cute and old fashioned, is an apt instinct. Looks like the good people of Chicago can’t keep their fucking mouths shut. Will you be able to find a straight job if your work now goes up like a dead dog’s gut? Don’t despair. Your nice long cock dropped so well down my throat while your Cathy beat my clit with the edge of your belt (nice touch – whose idea was that?) so while you might not get another chance to perch in a lifeguard’s throne, you might very well have a future in film. You’re vigorous, discrete, disciplined, clean, and a cutie-pie. Have your Cathy make some films of you alone or you two together. It’ll excite her, so you have no choice but to be excited yourself. You’re excited reading this. You believe you chose this.

Anyway – Cathy! Don’t be insulted on her behalf. I loved playing with you both. She’s kind and a lot of fun, which are virtues I still let myself appreciate in others. Let her know I appreciate how she let me use you. She’s a good girl and has a good future in store, especially with her personal valet running her life. Pick her outfits, pick her makeup, pick her clients, pick her laundry soap – is it already like that? I want to be buried alive, but you want to be buried in chores. Please dream big, Jules.

Rubber valley is where I have the most fun out of all the shoots I have in a year, but I really was lucky that you two showed up. Poor old Merrick Marvel (not even that old – colon cancer). But out with him and in with you. I enjoyed our river talk and I felt very safe in the car with you at the wheel, though I know I tormented you a little (but I’m pretty sure Cathy helped you out later with that – will you write back to me what she did to you, and if she let you come?) At one point you were with Ivan in the garage, and I tried to have a little talk with her about oblivion, but she either understood my point and got scared, or simply didn’t understand. It’s unfortunate, kind of soul-sucking, how our dominant “loved ones” transform into necessary evils. Adjust the tube. Grasp the handle. Move the thigh. Use the vocal cord to form the order. But what do they know? I never knew how to explain.

I’ve attached some personal pictures of me. I like knowing that you have them. I won’t contact you again except under strict business purposes, so let me sum up. Serve Cathy well. Don’t let her get bullied. Flourish creatively. Keep that belt. Fuck as often as your body commands you to fuck (if I suspect that sometimes your body is Cathy’s body by proxy, then this number will double, perhaps triple, but the choice is out of your hands because she owns your cock). You have a lot of growing up to do. Don’t despair. More to come.

We won’t see each other soon, but we’ll see each other again. Ciao! 

I expect improvements.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Lydia S

[rancoeur-the-unfortunate]

Pills (Chapter 16)

(1743 words!)

The Doctor stood in the control room of the massive it was dark and empty aside from the blank static-filled screen covered the main wall, thoughts soring through his head like the wind. Zim was going sober and was not something to sneeze at. It had taken them years to find Zim and shut that rebellion down. Despite how much the good Doctor down talked them and often called them the rebellious Smeets, in reality, they were no mere Smeets. 

That rebellion cost them trillions in expenses. They destroyed factories, took down armies, and worst of all almost killed the control brains before they managed to incapacitate Zim.

Zim may have been the smallest of his generation but he was also the most tactically smart and driven Irken the Doctor had ever seen and would have made a fine commander to the Irken race had he not betrayed them. He had remembered the Control Brains asking him to preserve Zim to at least try to keep that sensational leader skills. 

However, that proved to be a lot more difficult than previously thought. First, they had to capture the little plague then engineer a pill that would only force the subject into obedience but keep that fighting spirit with said out loud was a bit of a have your cake and eat it too kind of number. Though how do you say no to the Control Brains without losing your position as head Doctor.

The Doctor will never outlive the shame he received for failing them. He maintained his position for saving the Control Brains ungrateful lives but they mentioned quite often how they were disappointed in him in making Zim into just another ANNOYING service drone.

The Doctor sat down in his chair and stared at the many screens in front of him before gently massaging his temples. Thinking of the plan was hard but the fact that he was getting horrible deja vu was annoying, to say the least.

Just go to Earth, find Zim, and administer the pill. But if Zim was going sober this could be easier said then done. Zim was probably using Earth as a hideout and that would make things a little difficult. They couldn't just storm the planet, they had little to no information on it aside from the info intoxicated Zim provided them with. Which was a lot but barely anything useful.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor raised lowered his hands at the sudden appearance of the new voice. 

He stood up and turned around to face his very short assistant. The Tallest were very puzzled when he asked for this Irken by name and even inquired about the much taller associates the good Doctor could have picked. He simply told them that all would be explained in the future (he wouldn't the Tallest didn't need to know) and that he would like to without their ever gracious presence looming over his shoulder.

"Yes? Have you found anything?" The Doctor inquired.

"I have sir." The short Irken peered up from his clipboard and visibly flinched at the imposing Doctor.

The good Doctor was taller than most Irkens and thus had a very intimidating stature.

"From Irken Tak's evolution about Earth, it seems the human race is a very dull band of creatures and won't cost as much as we previously thought. They tend not to notice the most obvious things if properly hidden and provided with food."

"Aww, marvelous. Anything else?"

"The collar you requested has been constructed and will be sent to your quarter shortly."

"Good. You may leave."

The short Irken turned around and opened the door.

"Oh, and Skoodge?"

The smaller Irken paused and turned around.

"Enter without knocking again and I'll leave you on withdrawal for months got it?" The Doctor practically spat the words at the short Irken before him.

Said Irken nodded looking visibly shook before leaving with a bit more rush than before.

The Swollen Eyeball's meeting structure was a cold and damp place. A huge abandoned warehouse once full of crates and other equipment became the nesting ground for the conspiracy theorist. In the very back of the warehouse was a stage made for showings and meetings while the rest was full of foldable chairs. Across from the stage was a balcony with five chairs set inside in perfect view to the stage.

The stage was decorated with the Swollen Eyeball's banner and spotlight pointed to the center of the stage. In the center sat a pedestal and beside it was a screen made for presentations.

It was 10:30 pm on the dot and the warehouse was packed full the sounds of pouring rain could hardly be heard over the chit chat of the visitants. On the balcony sat the five superiors on the stage was one lone kid probably in his late teens. The smirk on his face was condescending, to say the least. Like he was just about to explain to them the meaning of life.

"Ahem." He called to the crowd, ceasing their chatter.

"As all of you may know I have just made the most astounding discovery known to man. Extraterrestrial life!"

No one in the audience looked impressed.

"My guy we literally get the same speel from Dib every week don't make us sit through this while we got a break from him." Someone shouted from the crowd getting a few agreed groans.

"That's just it. Every week Dib comes in here screams about an alien named Zim and makes us watch his boring presentation but with no real proof." The teen reasoned making everyone pause.

"I however actually have proof of Alien life. Behold."

The teen pressed a button on the clicker in his hand and the screen next to him lit up displaying a picture of the inside of Zim's base.

"It was insanely easy to get inside and consequently I  managed to get lots of pictures even pictures of the alien itself." The teen pressed the button as he spoke eventually leading to the picture of Zim sleeping at his computer.

"This is proof that aliens exist." The teen smirked and looked up at the superiors.

"All I ask for is some resources to search and capture for this alien and bring it to the Swollen Eyeball."

The superiors whispered to each other for what felt like forever. Giving the teen enough time to study them.

The one the far left was an elderly looking black woman with her dark hair tied in a bun. She wore a red visor to cover her eyes. The one on her left was an old man that many knew as agent Darkbootie. The center one was an older man with was obviously in his 70s but looked as though he was trying to hide it. What with the fake wig and facelifts he was failed to cover. The fourth one was a woman who seemed to be the youngest out of all of them. Her blond hair was tied in a ponytail and there was an obvious nose job there. The last was a black man who looked like this was his first meeting considering how he dressed. Though the teen knew that wasn't the case because he knew this man personally as agent GubGrub.

The one to the far left was the first to speak up.

"If what you're saying is true you must understand the importance and the consequences of lying to us." She spoke with a cool chill to her voice.

The teen nodded.

They whispered a bit longer and then turned to the teen and nodded.

"You better not fail us." Agent GubGrub warned.

The teen's grin grew as he nodded.

"Of course."

And with that, the meeting was adjourned. Everyone got up and left to their own lives, while agent Callus smiled in triumph. He'd soon to be the first human to ever catch an alien and he could hardly hide the fact that he was excited.

Gaz was awoken in the middle to feverish knocking on her window. Now Gaz lives on the second floor so feverish knocking wasn't something she was used to. She sat up and grabbed her bat with the nails in it. She opened the curtains and almost fell backward in surprise. Outside the window was Zim's weird robot thing in its horrible dog costume. It was currently licking the window and knocking with it's balled up fist.

"What do you want?" She hissed at the robot.

It smiled at her and dove back on its thrusters and charged at the window, giving Gaz just enough time to dive out of the way before the glass could shred her face to pieces.

The robot rolled on the floor for a bit stan and hugging her knees.

"Hiya sissy!" It screamed.

"What are you doing here?" She would've yelled had she not been so tired.

"Moose told me ta come here!"

"Moose?"

"Yaya moose told me ta come here and gets you!"

Gaz was about to tell the robot that she wasn't going anywhere before she was grabbed by the ankles and thrown onto the robot's back gib=ving her no choice but to grab onto the dog costumes ears in order to avoid getting thrown off at terminal velocity. Before she knew it they were zooming through the streets and had this been on her consent this probably would have been fun.

It must have been no less than a few minutes before she was suddenly thrown off the robot and onto Zim's couch. 

Gaz was about to stand up and throttle the robot when she was again interrupted this time by and weird floating moose thing.

"my me gh im moo."

"So you're that moose thing that called me here?"

"me" The doomsday device answered.

"Alright, you got 20 seconds to explain yourself before I blow this whole base to bits."

"gh me ih in meh?"

"Yeah, he's my brother."

"Hen jh me mi mei uh."

"Those two are idiots."

"Meme mi meh my mq qe gh me po lik me."

"So you want my help? Why?"

"Mei!"

"Alright, I'm sold. What do I need to do?"

"hg, my mu we me."

"Alright do you think can take me back to y house so I can get some stuff." 

"Me!"

"Cool thanks."

That's how Gaz found her self actually driving the robot and just about having the time of her week.

[yingshan]

The High Price we pay for our Fear of Being Alone

“It’s not hard to understand the fear of being alone: the empty apartment after work, the eerieness of Sunday afternoons, the sense of exclusion during the holidays… We know the agonies of being on our own very well. 

What is far less well understood, and less eloquently or frequently described, is the enormously high price exacted on the other side of the equation. The fear, or more often simply the phobia, of being alone is perhaps responsible for more unhappy relationships, more throttling of psychological development, more claustrophobia and more pent up misery than almost any other: it is – by any reckoning – one of the single greatest contributors to human misery and the driver of some of our weightiest and most unfortunate decisions. If only we were able to get the costs of what is for the most part a simple misapprehension clear in our minds, we might save ourselves a substantial portion of our lives.

We can pick out at least seven unnecessary penalties:

– For a start, and most obviously, people who are afraid of being alone make some very wrong choices around the company they keep. They have no option but to privilege any one over the appropriate one. They have no stomach to be rightfully demanding in their criteria of entry, to insist that someone should be interesting rather than just cosy, challenging rather than just attractive, undefensive rather than merely confident. They don’t have the strength to be able to hold out – as one must – for the 20th or 200th candidate. The only souls with any realistic chance of ending up with the partner they deserve are those who have properly reconciled themselves to the prospect of never being with anyone at all.

– Being with not quite the right person sounds almost bearable but extended over time, like a proverbial pebble in a shoe, ‘slightly wrong’ ends up indistinguishable from ‘entirely horrific’. No nagging doubt one has ever entertained on a wedding day will fail, with the addition of several years, to become a cause for mind-shattering despair. Every beautiful location we travel to together will be ruined, every promising moment will be trampled upon, every success will be compromised. What may begin as slight fractiousness or tedium winds up as cataclysmic irritation, self-disgust, sexual misery, broken finances and the kind of excruciating loneliness that – ironically – merely and innocently  being ‘on our own’ would never have the power to generate.

– Furthermore, when terrified of loneliness, we have no strength to argue for our needs within any relationship. One is always at the mercy of the one who fears loneliness less. Partners develop an advanced sense of the person who has nowhere else to go. It’s no use stamping our feet after an argument and saying ‘we’ve had enough’ when, in reality, everyone knows that we will never have had enough – so scared are we of having dinner on our own.

– What’s worse, after time in the wrong sort of company, we tend to develop learned helplessness: every reluctance we once had to be alone grows worse, even as we acquire more experience of what bad company actually means. In our comfortable but deadening captivity, the wild appears more terrifying still: we can’t now imagine ever knowing how to change the dishwasher fluid alone, walking into a party by ourselves or taking the initiative to send our nephews birthday presents, so used have we become to using the other to compensate for our weaknesses. We experience none of the bracing, but also educative pressures visited upon the single, who have no choice but to overcome their inhibitions: those brave souls who, battling against their temperaments and histories, have to learn how to garden, deal with the council, go on holidays in the mountains, endure empty weekends, call up their mother or cook a chicken – and thereby achieve the resilient competence upon which true social discrimination and liberty rest.

– For those who have too lightly signed away their freedoms, there are sure to be constant, and searing, reminders of what they have foregone. Every party and every walk down a busy street will provide evidence of what might have been, all those potentially fascinating or charming members of humanity they have now forever been disbarred from getting to know – because they were so unnaturally scared of having a bed to themselves for a few more years.

– It isn’t just other people we won’t get to know, it’s also ourselves. The constant presence of companions stops us from making friends with our own minds, and exploring our feelings and ideas in a way that only extended stretches of solitude allow. We fail to develop our identities, we grow more like everyone else. The chatter outside prevents us from being able to follow the feint but vital dialogue we might otherwise have been able to have with ourselves. We use another person to distract us whenever any slightly painful or challenging internal matter comes into view. There ends up being so much we won’t ever really feel or understand about ourselves, so many big questions about our careers and our ultimate purpose that we will ignore, because there was always someone else on hand to chat to about what to order in for dinner.

– Worst of all, we might not even be actively miserable after a while. We’ll grow used to cosy mediocrity. We won’t be curious or restless. We won’t dare – as the single must – to go up to strangers and risk our pride. We’ll stop learning. We’ll believe that we’ve answered our needs completely, but only on the basis of suppressing our knowledge of what our needs really are. We’ll have ended up in a conspiracy against uncertainty, novelty and the flux of life.

To start to correct everything that stems from this pernicious fear of being alone, we should from a young age learn that that being alone never means there is something wrong with us, just that we are being appropriately patient, until what truly satisfies us shows up (if it ever does); we have a choice; we have not been punished. Furthermore, being alone does not have to mean being cut off from humanity; the state may indeed be the surest way to commune deeply with it, to fill our minds with the ideas and visions of billions of other humans across time and space – whose perspectives are too often snuffed out when we’re under immediate pressure to respond to someone else in the room. We will never learn the true promise of community, discover our own interests or hold out for the connections we deserve until we make genuine peace with the prospect of a life by ourselves.” -https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-high-price-of-the-fear-of-loneliness/

[vickypoochoices]

Christmas Countdown.

Note: I know in reality everyone would be home for Christmas and spending time with their families instead of still being at school, but it's what I had to do to make this all work, so let's just pretend that's normal. Please let me know if you love this, you'll make me happy. And if you want to be tagged in the next chapter just let me know :) I never want to assume people want to be tagged unless they say, I don't want to be annoying!

[MASTERLIST.]

Day 1.

"MERRYYYY CHRISTMAASSS!" She blearily stumbled into the living room to be met by a high pitched squealing, which only seemed to be getting louder and faster.

Zack excitedly ran circles around her, before leading her into a little dance, twirling her round and round like a ballerina.

Once he eventually ceased with the spinning, she shakily wandered over to the kitchen counter, taking the opportunity to steady herself properly.

"ZACK! It's only the first of December!"

"You know I didn't have you pegged as one of those people but I guess you never can tell. Well bah humbug to you, you rotten old Scrooge. What if this secret admirer of your's is really big on Christmas? Will you destroy all their hopes and dreams too?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, confusion written all over her face.

"Have you been drinking already? Zack, I know your excited that it's finally December, but it's 7am. You can't be drinki..."

She ducked suddenly as she caught Zack flinging a huge box in her direction.

"What the hell?"

He shrugged innocently, turning his back to her and leaving her to stare at what had narrowly missed her head. Bending down, she scooped up a huge box of chocolates, frowning at a single post it note stuck on the front, simply labelled 'Day One x.'

Day 2.

"I'm just saying, how much bad karma do you think will come my way if I give in and eat those chocolates? They are seriously calling out my name, but I know there must have been some kind of mistake." The next morning, she recalled the strange events to Kaitlyn as they stood in line at the coffee shop.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well Zack swears he knows nothing, just that he answered the door to a courier saying he had a delivery for me. It's not like I've been on a hot date recently or anything so I'm struggling to see who else this could be from, unless it's you guys pranking me. Does this mean I can eat the chocolates now with a clear conscience?"

Kaitlyn raised her hands in the air, making a show of backing away.

"Woah, easy tiger! Sorry to be the one to tell you that I for one am not part of any prank, and you know as well as I do that none of the others can keep a secret. Sounds to me like you should just bite the bullet and eat those chocolates though, if you don't I will! They must have cost a pretty penny."

Edging forward, she smiled as they reached the front of the queue, spotting Zig behind the counter.

"Morning Zig."

"Hey you two. What can I get you?"

"Two lattes please."

"Coming right up. Is there anything else you wanted? I know I'd go all out if someone else was paying."

She turned to Kaitlyn, both of them sharing confused glances.

"Okay back up a sec. You going to explain that?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Damn, I should have given you the note first I guess." Zig searched in his apron pocket, before retrieving a folded up post it note.

"Ooo what does it say? Tell me, tell me!" Kaitlyn bounced up and down on the spot.

She took her time unfolding the note, much to the annoyance of Kaitlyn, before skimming over it.

Day number two is a treat of your choice. It's on me! Enjoy x.

Flinging the note in Zig's direction, she resisted the urge to reach out and shake him for answers.

"Who gave you this?"

Zig shrugged, finishing off the lattes.

"Some courier handed it to me, he said you'd be expecting it, I didn't think to question him. Anyway, what are you having?"

"Let me pick! I'm sad and lonely over here with no secret admirer, and you already have a mountain of chocolates."

She shook her head, a coy grin on her face. "No way, I'm taking full of advantage of this! There's clearly been a mix up with this courier, I'm taking all I can get right now."

Day 3.

She sat in class, desperately trying to keep up, but no matter how much she tried to concentrate, her mind was somewhere else entirely. This was her last class of the day and she realised she was kind of sad. Not about classes, she was sad that the majority of the day had slipped by with no mysterious post it note in sight. Shaking her head, frustrated with herself, she started packing her things away as the bell rang out.

She busied herself with dressing appropriately for the winter, fishing out a scarf from her bag and wrapping her coat around her. Placing one foot out ready to make a move, she halted suddenly, noticing a large bouquet of flowers placed in the middle of her desk. Spinning around in a bid to catch whoever had left them there, she sighed as she realised she was now alone in an empty classroom.

Taking a moment to admire the beautiful flowers, she breathed in the scent, eyes closing tightly as she felt a wave of calm wash over her. When she pulled herself away from the bouquet she spotted a post it note tucked behind a large bloom.

Day Three - Absence diminishes little passion x.

She blinked rapidly, unsure what to think. What did that even mean? And seriously, what was going on here? She was more confused than ever now.

Day 4.

A furious knock on her bedroom door woke her with a jolt the next morning. Eyes still firmly shut, her hand clumsily searched out for her phone, knocking over a pile of books in the process.

"Damn." She huffed, finally locating her phone, slowly peeling open her eyes to check the time. 8am. Eurgh, fine! The knocking was growing more impatient with every passing second, and she barked out a groggy command to 'Just come in already.'

Zack barged into the room, looking her over expectantly.

"I don't know what that look is supposed to mean, but I feel like I should tell you I'm not that keen on loud noises before my morning coffee."

"Have you had a package yet?" Chosing to ignore her, he jumped straight to the point.

"Does it look like it?" She retorted, scrubbing at her face roughly with her hands.

"Perfect!"

"What?"

"We need time to crack this code, get our heads together and figure this shit out. We don't need any more delicious distractions or beautiful blooms."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I hid those chocolates, you better not have helped yourself!"

Zack looked at her like she had two heads.

"Oh please, if you really think placing a huge box of chocolates on the top shelf is a good hiding spot then you deserve to find half the box empty."

"Half the box, WHAT?! I've barely even sniffed them. I can't believe you Zack!"

"You really think I ate them all myself? Then you need to reassess who you can really trust. Luxurious chocolates bring out the worst in people, didn't you know? Anyway, we have more important things to be getting on with. Soo, we've moved on from yummy treats to pretty buds. After all this is over, if you decide he's not for you, can I keep him for myself?"

She threw a pillow roughly in his direction, smacking him square in the jaw.

"Okay, okay. Just promise me you'll think about it? Now, what did the note say this time?"

"Absence diminishes little passion."

Making a show of fanning himself with his hands, Zack threw himself backwards on to her bed.

"They say the perfect guy doesn't exist, but I'm pretty sure we've found him. This guy is deep. So basically he's pining for you, and he's hot for you."

"I mean, I guess."

"Or maybe he means so much more than that."

"Now who's the one going all deep on me?"

Raising his hand in the air, Zack smiled brightly.

"Yep, that would be me!"

Just then a sharp buzzing sound escaped from under Zack's head.

"That was weird. Remind me to check for phone's when I throw myself on your bed next time. Here."

Handing the phone over, her face scrunched together as she looked at the screen.

"Do we think this guy has ever seen your confused face? Because it's adorable I've got to tell you! Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"To ask Kaitlyn for help, I don't feel the need to throttle her half as much as I do with you Zack!"

Pursing his lips together, he mimed zipping them shut with a hand, encouraging her to continue.

"Okay so it seems our guy doesn't just have a lifetime supply of post it notes. He's got with the times and somehow got my number from somewhere."

"I know I'm meant to be quiet but, seriously, don't leave me hanging!"

She passed the phone to Zack, cringing at the idea of reading it out herself.

Day Four - All that you are is all that I'll ever need x.

"Well that's adorable. If nothing else at least we know it's not some grandpa with a thing for you, he knows who Ed Sheeran is after all."

"Come on Zack, I think everyone on this planet knows who Ed Sheeran is!"

"Heh, true. Alright, well his music taste is top notch. But you, my friend, are screwed. Because this gives us nothing to go off. So I suggest you start getting used to all this cloak and dagger funny business, because I don't think he'll be stopping anytime soon."

Day 5.

Together with all her roommates she'd spent the day transforming their place into a winter wonderland, under the strict instructions and watchful eye of Zack. They'd finally put the finishing touches to the tree, which eventually met up with Zack's high standards, the room glowing in pretty lights. After flinging herself backwards on the couch, exhausted, she sighed at the sound of a timid knock at the door.

Looking around at her friends, she realised they were all pretending they hadn't heard it.

"Fine I'll go. But that's my pass to get out of doing the dishes this week."

A collective grumble followed, all too tired to properly respond.

"Oh, hey Zig. Hey James. You've kind of missed out on all the fun, we're finished now."

They turned to each other grinning.

"Told you!" Zig smirked.

"Excellent timing!" James chuckled.

"Right, well for that you've both earned floor seats, and I won't even feel guilty about being a terrible host now." She pulled the door wide, allowing them to step inside.

"Oh by the way, we found this on your doorstep. I don't know why it's there, but I wouldn't say no to a good Christmas film tonight." James smiled, holding something out to her.

She beamed as she stared down at a copy of Love Actually in her hands.

"This is my favourite Christmas film. It's sooo cute!"

"We all know you only really like it because you have a thing for Mr Darcy." Chris mumbled.

"Oh quiet you."

"Oh I see that she hasn't denied it." Zig flashed her a grin.

"That's enough from you Ortega. Why don't you get comfy on that cold hard floor and have a think about why you've been put there."

Turning the box over in her hands, her breath caught at the sight of a red post it note. Her pulse quickened as she read over the words; Day Five - I know this is your favourite! 'If you look for it I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that Love Actually is all around' x.

Days 6-10.

[aion-rsa]

Kevin Can F**K Himself Shows Why The Laugh Track Needs to Die

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The title card for the new AMC series Kevin Can F**K Himself isn’t accompanied by a jaunty tune or a wild sound effect. When the title appears on the screen, it’s soundtracked by a smattering of aggressive laughter. Creeping up below the laughter is a distressing screeching noise, meant to indicate the rapidly fraying sanity of our heroine. 

So it’s quite fitting that Kevin Can F**K Himself makes a compelling case for why laugh tracks (or canned laughter) need to die a quick death. The series centers on Allison McRoberts (Annie Murphy), a woman trapped in a marriage to the titular Kevin. Kevin is an infuriating man-child. He throws keg parties on his wedding anniversary, spends obscene amounts of money on sports memorabilia, and treats Allison like an accessory. He is emotionally abusive, often making Allison feel worthless by telling her things like she’s a bad driver or that she never finishes things so that he can keep her all to himself. 

Approximately a third of the series takes place in lala sitcom land in which the lighting is abundant, the set is clearly facing an audience, and Kevin is always there, chewing up the scenery like Pac Man chowing down on glowing dots. However, whenever Kevin exits, Allison finds herself in a more contemplative and complex (aka: single-camera) existence. The trouble is she doesn’t have much of an identity anymore because her entire life has hinged on being Kevin’s long-suffering wife. The juxtaposition of the sitcom world against a more realistic setting serves to illustrate just how jarring and unnecessary canned laughter is to a TV show. When we watch dramas, we don’t hear people bawling over the sad parts or gasping during the shocking moments. Nope. So why do laugh tracks persist?

As an early millennial, I grew up in a world in which laugh tracks were the norm. From “Must See TV” on NBC in the ‘90s to the vintage sitcoms on Nick at Nite, comedy was always served up with a heaping side of giggles and guffaws. Historically, the sitcom cadence did rely on a call-and response reaction as they actually were often filmed in front of a live studio audience, but it was rare that the responses that made it to the final episode were genuine and uncut. 

To be clear, when I’m referring to canned laughter here, I’m not just referring to the prerecorded kind. Sure, that might be the official definition, but even the laughter we hear from live studio audiences is goosed in some way prior to airtime. The practice of “sweetening” the laugh track, or adding in favorable reactions to amplify certain jokes has been in practice for decades, and it’s still in use today. While the creators of a show might be able to proudly say that the reactions came from an actual audience, the reactions are almost always tweaked in post-production in order to punch up the jokes that the creators or network want to land. Therefore, the laugh track on all of your favorite sitcoms is a lie. 

An argument could potentially be made that the practice of adding in a laugh track might make people feel a sense of camaraderie or community with others watching. And this is somewhat true. In a 2011 article on laugh tracks, NBC News noted a 1974 psychological study in which it was found that people laughed more frequently if they heard canned laughter following a joke. These types of social cues can make individuals feel comfortable, but they can also promote conformity. Looking back on the history of sitcoms, it sure seems as if laugh tracks have been complicit in keeping misogynistic and racist messaging at the forefront of comedy.

Kevin Can F**K Himself plays with this idea in every frame of its sitcom world. Nothing is actually very funny within the brightly lit walls of the McRoberts’s house. As previously established, Kevin is simply awful. He’s a huge loser. Yours truly wanted to throttle him, Homer Simpson style, during every scene he was in. Yet, since the sitcom land dictates that Kevin is a damn delight, the audience plays along. 

(It’s worth noting here that Kevin Can F**K Himself was filmed in front of a studio audience. However AMC tells us that, due to COVID restrictions, the audience was small and far away, so the laughs were not picked up on the audio. Therefore, much of the laughter you hear on the show was added in post-production.)

The dynamic between Kevin, Allison, and the viewers in the studio is an exaggerated version of a tableau that has been unfolding on our TV screens for decades. We see a harried, hot wife play a straight man to a dumpy doofus husband, and we’re all supposed to think it’s simply hilarious. It’s worth noting that Kevin Can F**K HImself cribs its title from the Kevin James’ sitcom Kevin Can Wait, in which the series unceremoniously killed off James’s first super hot wife on the show (Erinn Hayes), only to replace her with his prior super hot sitcom wife, Leah Remini. Because women are oh so very interchangeable in the sitcom world, the laugh track on that show never skipped a beat. 

Canned laughter has historically enabled the entertainment world to lift up mediocre men such as Doug Heffernan (Kevin James), Raymond Barone (Ray Romano), and Kevin Gable (Kevin James, again) at the women’s expense. For ages, only a very small handful of white males were allowed to create content as showrunners, directors, and writers at networks. As they had control over the laugh track, they became the arbiters of what was funny and what was not funny. They got to shape reactions according to their worldview, painting the schlumpy dudes as heroes and the women as eager sidekicks. 

While there are oodles of examples of the long-suffering wife throughout sitcom history, we rarely think of these women as victims. All in the Family is considered a classic, but Archie Bunker was viciously verbally abusive to his wife Edith in almost every episode. Sure, it was a different era (and Archie surely isn’t intended to be a role model), but take away the laughs, and what’s left is a depressing portrait of a red-faced husband straight up screaming at his beleaguered wife. And don’t even get me started on The Honeymooners classic line, “to the moon, Alice!” Ahahahaha, yes, spousal abuse. Hilarious. Well, the laugh track thought so, anyway. 

In more recent years, verbal abuse on sitcoms focusing on husband-wife dyads has given way to a more subtle form of emotional abuse. Often, this appears in the form of financial abuse in which a spouse spends or hides money from the other in order to keep them in their place. In Kevin Can F**K Himself, Kevin consistently spends money without consulting Allison first. In one episode, he even proudly states that a recent purchase cost “more than our wedding, but less than our car.” 

This type of abuse has played out in sitcoms forever. Doug Heffernan often hid his spending from Carrie, Raymond Barone invested in a go-cart venture without telling Deborah, and even Fred Flintstone stole money from Wilma’s hidden stash (yep, The Flintstones was a cartoon, but it inexplicably also had a laugh track). These transgressions are generally perceived to be harmless on screen, leading to those canned laffs and a resolution in 30 minutes or less, but in real life, this type of clandestine behavior in relation to finances can be catastrophic, trapping an unhappy wife in a relationship with no means to escape. 

Even TV series that didn’t utilize the wife/husband premise – notably Frasier and Friends – often used audience laughter to support misogynistic punchlines. Friends notoriously used the laugh track to support harmful jokes about fat shaming and transphobia while Frasier’s archaic attitudes towards women were often played for comedy. Personally, I will never ever get over how Frasier Crane treated Roz Doyle, slut shaming her at every turn for over a decade when, in fact, Frasier was sleeping with half of Seattle with nary an eyebrow raise in his snooty direction. (Sorry, rant over. But, seriously, Peri Gilpin rules. #JusticeForRoz)

Laugh tracks help normalize these behaviors. If you’re not laughing at the joke when everyone else is, something must be wrong with you. Women have faced this exact dilemma since the beginning of time. Laugh along or be judged as cold and unfeeling. Be in on the joke or be tossed to the side. This truism is even noted in the recent HBO Max series Hacks in which aging comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) confesses to a newbie comedienne why she makes fun of herself in her own act. With a wan smile, Deborah says, “I realized they would rather laugh at me than believe me.”

These are the same exact challenges that Allison finds herself facing in Kevin Can F**K Himself. When Kevin is around, Allison tries her best to play the role she’s been given so that he won’t make her life even more miserable. No one believes or cares that Kevin is awful because they think Allison is lucky to even have landed a man at all. The series overtly illustrates that these types of stories have always just shrugged at viewers, telling us, oh well, boys will be boys, while women’s suffering is shoehorned into punchlines instead of taken seriously. Rather than confronting the thorny reality of disentangling the institutions that lift the Kevins up and keep the Allisons down, the sitcom world treats women’s pain like a joke.  

After years and years under Kevin’s oppressive thumb, Allison isn’t laughing anymore. She’s full of rage and ready to break free. When we see her in her life without Kevin, there are no prescriptive beats dictating what’s funny and what’s not. And it’s so refreshing. Life can be funny! Sometimes Allison is funny in her real life too! Annie Murphy is also very very funny! And yet, even in the absence of a laugh track, viewers can pick up on the funny. Because in this modern age of entertainment, viewers are savvy enough to know what they feel. 

As canned laughter has slowly disappeared, TV has opened up to more nuanced emotion, allowing viewers to discover and explore the highs and lows for themselves. It’s probably not surprising to learn that the few existing series that do still use laugh tracks, such as United States of Al and Bob Hearts Abishola – both airing on CBS and both created by Chuck Lorre – have been critiqued for leaning on racist and sexist stereotypes. Oddly enough, an urban myth has been circulating the internet for years, claiming that everyone on laugh tracks is actually dead because the recordings were made so long ago. As modern audio engineers now update their recordings regularly, this is not true, but the truth is that the laugh track itself is soon headed to an unmarked grave in the entertainment cemetery alongside tube televisions, Smell-O-Vision, and home video rentals.  

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With critically acclaimed comedies such as Schitt’s Creek (also starring Annie Murphy!), Fleabag, and The Good Place getting laughs without any pre-recorded assistance, home audiences are getting more savvy as to what’s actually funny and what’s just a cheap shot. In addition, social media and the ubiquitous sharing of memes have effectively displaced the laugh track, as people can now actually be part of an interactive community with others, watching and reacting to the same show at the same time. 

In Kevin Can F**K Himself, canned laughter has finally taken its rightful place as a relic of the past. The chuckles and chortles that pepper the series are a knowing nod to a bygone era in which TV series tried to force the funny on viewers instead of letting them find their own way. Finally, laugh tracks aren’t in on the joke; they are the joke.

Kevin Can F**k Himself airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

The post Kevin Can F**K Himself Shows Why The Laugh Track Needs to Die appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2UmnzJj

[texanredrose]

Elderburn rivals to lovers racing please?

God, I kinda wanna do a Fast & the Furious AU now where Winter’s an undercover cop trying to track down Yang’s gang but then Winter catches the feels and there’s a high stakes, high speed chase through a winding canyon in Colorado. However, lacking some key ingredients for that, so instead, here, with a sprinkling of real world reference *ding* Order up.

Yang ran a cloth over her helmet’s visor, having polished the damn thing almost twenty times but needing something to keep her hands busy. Three years into her career and she was minutes away from starting the biggest race of her life. She should feel nervous, the sort of anxiety that comes with moving in excess of a hundred miles an hour, where one bad twitch could spell her end, but she thrived on the adrenaline, on the rush that came with crossing the finish line. Racing motorcycles professionally- it was like the sport was made with her in mind, the twist and turns calling to a need that ran through her blood, with every beat of her heart. She loved it.

But this race… if she won, it would be smooth sailing. The best of the best, veterans who’d been racing since before she could even shift gears without grinding the clutch- even as little more than a rookie, she had a spot of her own beside them. Two years on the lesser circuits and just this one to race alongside some of them; racers didn’t get breaks like that, not in this line of work. Not when everyone constantly tuned and tweaked and refined, but she had something of a hot streak going, and it didn’t look like anyone could put it out… except one woman.

The Ice Queen, the best racer in the world, the top dog for five years running- Winter Schnee. A born and bred speed demon and the very definition of stiff competition. The only person to ever leave Yang in the dust.

The odds were stacked against her. Winter had never lost the Isle of Man race, not in five years, and Yang had never so much as visited the course before the past week. Inexperience had cost other racers their lives and she couldn’t manage to beat Winter on a regular race.

If she lost, it wouldn’t be too big a surprise, then… but if she won… it would be everything she’d ever dreamed of, and Ruby could finally open the shop like she’d always talked about; the prize winnings and all sorts of deals she’d get in the process would more than take care of any expenses. That was why she’d really gotten into the sport at all, despite the perfect fit; it wasn’t about the glory for her, unless it could benefit her sister.

She just had to win this race.

… but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to anymore.

“Wipe it any more and you’re liable to scratch it.” Yang looked up, watching the woman approach her. “Wouldn’t want your visibility compromised, now would we?”

“Schnee,” she said, standing up and squaring off against the five time champ. She had her hair up in her usual, severe bun, those blue eyes sharper than any blade looking as cold as ice, and the pure white of her racing suit made her look… almost like an angel. “Come to wish me good luck.”

“Of course. I wish all my competitors the best of luck.” For a moment, something slipped, her mask falling just enough for her brows to pinch together. “But I also wanted to assure you that, if you opted to pull out of the race, you have plenty of opportunities ahead of you. This isn’t a make-or-break point in your career.”

“I didn’t take you for the type to intimidate your opponents.” Yang watched the woman move around the little tent, tucked away in the back of the staging area. Most of the racers were out in the lot, getting their bikes warmed up, doing checks. That’s where Ruby was, giving Bumblebee a final once over. “You haven’t tried that with me before, at least.”

Ever since Yang’s first race, she’d crossed paths with Winter at almost every turn. When they weren’t racing, she was there, watching, and Yang had even caught a red eye flight or two to watch the woman in turn. Learning, because they had the potential to be the biggest rivalry in the sport. Even with all the perks that came from being a pedigreed racer, Winter always raced with such a… mechanical style, like watching a video game. Yang had a knack for it, a feeling, and she trusted her gut more than anything.

“I’m not trying to intimidate you.” Those blue eyes fell on her and the mask slipped a little more. “This is the most dangerous race in Remnant. Every year, we lose at least one racer, and sometimes officials and spectators, too. It’s not something you should be entering lightly.”

“This whole sport is dangerous.” She shifted her weight, the leather in her suit creaking. It was stifling, given the warm Mistrali air, but it could save her life if she took a spill.

Could.

“Yang.” At first, she thought the use of her given name was a slight, a way to get under her skin. Never uttered in front of the press or where others could hear, but on the times when they’d been alone… she never called her ‘Xiao Long’. Always ‘Yang’. She read it as disrespect until she heard the way the woman talked around her sister, perhaps the only member of her family she actually cared about. Names had a different meaning for the whole damn family, it seemed; always polite and proper where others could see. Where they couldn’t? Either disdain or fondness- there was no in between. And there’d never been any disdain in the woman’s tone. “I’m serious. You don’t have to do this.”

“Why do you do it?” She tilted her head, watching the way Winter began running her hands over the tools left out by some technician or another. “Why do you race?”

“You’ve been asking me that for a year,” she replied, glancing at the blonde. “Are you expecting my answer to change?”

“I’m hoping for the truth.” Blue eyes held hers. “Just once.”

They watched each other for a moment.

“Because it’s no risk.” Finally, a different answer than ‘because it’s what I’m meant to do’, though she didn’t like the way the woman’s lips curled into a wry grin. “If I race and win, I get to enjoy a few more weeks as my father’s perfect prodigy. If I lose, then I get to skip that phase and move right to being the disappointment, or the sounding board for whatever Weiss has gotten herself into. And if I crash… then I’ll be free of this nightmare.”

“Winter-”

“I have no intentions of being careless.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not suicidal; I’ve simply accepted my reality. The only way out for me is injury.” Winter glanced towards the tent flap. “Any sane person wouldn’t risk a fifth time on this hellish course. Most win once or twice and retire, but I don’t have that option.”

“So, what? I should quit before I’ve even started?” She raised an arm, gesturing with her helmet towards the lot. “Just pack it in and go home?”

“Run the race if you must. But be careful.” A frown touched her lips. “You do this for the right reasons, Yang. You have what it takes to make it big in this sport. Don’t throw it away chasing a victory you don’t need.”

“If I win this race, I can call it quits.” She turned her helmet around, held it in both hands so she could admire the decal on the back- a yellow dragon wrapped around a long stemmed red rose. “Ruby and I, we’re in this together. I get the winnings and one licensing deal, and I’m done. I’m one of those who only wants to win once.” She looked up at Winter. “I can’t stop now.”

For a moment, the woman looked furious, but then her expression smoothed out. “You realize I can’t throw the race, correct? You’ll have to beat me and set a world record to do it. On the most dangerous course in Remnant.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy.” She shook her head. “But I have to do this. Just like you have to. We don’t race for the same reasons, but we both know we can’t just quit. Even when we want to.”

Winter blinked. “Do you want to?”

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she nodded. “You can’t throw the race. I can’t hold back. We always push each other, to the limits of what our bikes can do. On a straight track or a loop, that’s fine, but here?” Her shoulders fell. “Winter, I’m scared to death that only one of us is walking away from this race.”

“Me too.” Stepping closer, the woman stopped in front of her, raising a hand to lay it light on her cheek, cupping her jaw. Tenderly- in a way most wouldn’t think possible for a white knuckle adrenaline junkie with the temperament of a storm at sea. “But if it comes to that, I’m praying to a God I don’t even believe in that it’s you.” She leaned forward, gently pressing their lips together. A kiss, but hardly that, because neither of them could be sure of anything at this point. But when Winter drew back, she could see something in those blue eyes “Be careful, Yang.”

“You too,” she replied, quietly but with all the strength her voice could muster.

And then a horn sounded, the third signal. Fifteen minutes until the start of the race.

Winter stepped back, then turned, heading out towards the lot. They would need to get lined up and wait.

Yang watched her go and bit down on the words in her heart, looking down at her helmet.

One more race.

The scenery blurred past her as she laid on the throttle even heavier, trying to not lose momentum on the uphill battle. The last leg of the race and everyone was well behind her, to the point that on the sharper curves, she didn’t even see their headlights coming around the last bend.

Everyone, except for Winter.

A white bike with blue accents, a blur just ahead of her, but she was gaining. This? Winding canyons, up and down hill, this was where she thrived, where she discovered her thirst for faster and faster; it was the arena where she held the advantage. And everyone, Winter included, knew it.

The woman crested the hill and Yang was hardly two seconds behind her, gaining now that she had her weight to speed her along. Four more turns along a cliffside view that would look absolutely gorgeous at sunset, she’d be willing to bet on that, and then the finish line just beyond. Almost there.

The first turn, she took the inside, and they were almost neck-and-neck, with only a guard rail separating her from the towering rocks to her right. The next, Winter had the inside and gained some of her lead back, with only a guardrail between her and a sharp drop into the ocean below. The third turn, and Yang had a chance. If she didn’t lose too much on the next one, she could gun it for the finish line. It would be a dead sprint with only their nerves holding them back, and she could swear she heard the crowd beginning to shout then.

As they went into the last turn, Winter started to pull ahead of her.

And that’s when she saw it- a flash of metal, a spark. A mechanical failure just before the bracket on the back tire slipped.

That was bad news going fifty, but they were pushing a hundred.

Winter lost control.

She tried to force the bike onto its right side- trying to angel it between her and the guard rail- but it went left and she started to roll, letting go of the handlebars. It happened so fast.

Terror gripped her heart at the thought of Winter going over the cliff side; it was at least an eighty foot drop.

She slammed on the brakes but knew she wouldn’t be able to stop quick enough, so she angled her bike towards the side of the road and laid it down, pushing off even as she smacked against the black top. She rolled, each jarring impact feeling like it might’ve broken a bone, but when she came to a rest with the sound of her own bike shredding into pieces ringing in her ears, her gaze focused on the bent guard rail.

“Winter!” She ripped off her helmet, the cracked visor of no use as she tried to run- limped, more like, but faster than shuffling- and called out again. “Winter!”

“Yang!” Stumbling to the bent guard rail, she looked over the side, where the twisted metal jutted out over the jagged rocks below. Somehow, Winter had grabbed hold of the end of the thing with her right hand, but she was left handed by nature and the awkward jut of her arm and collar- both bones were broken, at the very least. Her helmet was scored all to hell, the visor broken and wide blue eyes looking at her through red trickling along her skin. “I can’t- I can’t pull myself up!”

“Just hang on!” She heaved a breath, looking around, but this curve left no room for spectators or medical teams to stand by. “Don’t let go- just don’t let go!”

She could hear a chopper- the airborne sort- nearby, but she didn’t know if they’d come in time, if they even had a rope long enough or if Winter could hold on through the turbulence.

Her eyes fell on the guard rail.

Grabbing the metal with both hands, she began to pull with all her might, ignoring how her muscles screamed. Battered and bruised she may be, and maybe she’d broken a rib herself, but she’d be damned if she’d stand by, helpless, and do nothing.

Winter cried out and she looked, saw she’d moved the guard rail closer to the cliffside but not close enough, and the pain in the woman’s expression.

“Hold on, just hold on!” She gave another heave, and another, shouting with effort.

“Yang!” Winter’s grip was slipping, but she was pouring everything into holding on, everything she had. 

But she’d gotten it close enough, and the blonde hurried to lay down, reaching out for Winter and grabbing hold, cursing the sleek design of their suits and how even grabbing the woman brought a pained cry from her lips. A matching one left her own mouth, now certain she’d broken at least a rib, the agony distracting for only a moment.

“Can you- can you move your legs?” She was heavier, which helped, but she couldn’t be sure shuffling back would be enough, not if she had to go slow; she could already feel her grip beginning to slip, the muscles of her arms burning.

“Only one- Yang, Yang you have to let me go.” Winter looked at her then, tears in her eyes. “You’ll only get yourself killed at this rate.”

“Not if we work together.” Gritting her teeth, she shifted her weight to her knees. “Find a good foothold and push on three. You ready?”

“Yang-”

“I’m not letting go!” She shouted, looking into the woman’s eyes. “It’s all or nothing. I’m not- I’m not giving up. We don’t do that, Winter. We don’t. Now, are you ready?”

Pushing through the pain, those blue eyes flashed with determination. “Yes.”

“Okay. One. Two. Three!” Yang threw herself up and back, pulling with all her might, until she landed looking up at a helicopter hovering overhead with a bright spotlight shining in her eyes… and a weight on her chest. “Winter?”

“I’m here.” She groaned, rolling onto her back and gasping at a sharp crack that accompanied it. “Fuck!”

The adrenaline. The stuff that they fed off of, that drove them, it had protected them from the worst of their injuries, but now without the roar of their bikes, it faded quickly.

Yang reached out, blindly, until she found something. A hand, an arm, she honestly couldn’t be sure what, but it was Winter, and she held tight.

And she said the things she wished she’d said before.

“You wanna get dinner some time?”

A broken laugh burst from the woman’s lips. “Yang Xiao Long…” She turned her head, unable to see the woman’s full face but able to see her eyes, unfocused but wide open. “Someone… needs to give you a… crash course on proper time and place… to ask a woman out… on a date.” She raised a single brow as Winter smirked. “What? Too soon?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. Laugh because this ridiculous woman was just as hard headed, just as stubborn, just as dedicated as her, and she absolutely loved it. “We both have broken ribs; why you gotta make me laugh?”

“Because you look beautiful when you laugh.” Her eyes began to flutter closed. “And I’m a selfish bitch… I want that… to be the last thing I see… you… looking at me… like that…”

“Winter?” She groaned, rolling onto her side, but the woman’s eyes had slid shut. “Winter!”

She could hear the sirens and the roar of bikes. Emergency crews and the other racers- everyone, coming to them.

But the fear didn’t leave.

Recently discharged from the hospital, Yang sat in front of the cameras and the flashing lights, trying hard not to scowl as reporters shot her question after question. She never liked this part and would be all too glad when it was over.

“My sister is still recovering and she needs her rest,” Ruby said, putting a hand on the blonde’s shoulder to try and keep her calm. “One more question.”

Half the hands went up while the rest were busy taking notes, and the man she nodded at stood up with a slick grin that made her stomach churn.

“Miss Xiao Long, do you regret not finishing the race?” She blinked. “Investigators confirmed yesterday that your bike didn’t appear to suffer a mechanical failure like Miss Schnee’s. It’s safe to say that, had she not crashed, then neither would you. Is there any bitterness lingering at the back of your mind?”

The camera angles were shit. For the whole time she’d been in the hospital, no one really knew what had caused the two racers in the lead to crash on the last turn. They just knew that Yang had helped pull Winter from the guard rail after the fact.

And no one had the balls to straight up ask her, but apparently no issue trying to play up this rivalry between them.

A lot of things came to her mind but she wouldn’t speak them. She wouldn’t tell anyone that Winter had asked her not to race, that she’d known beforehand that this was a possibility. That they’d both agreed they pushed each other too much for this race to be safe for either of them. Vultures like these, they’d twist those words all manner of ways, and she wouldn’t stand for it.

So instead, she leaned forward and looked him in the eye.

“Have a little fuckin’ humanity, you piss poor chucklefuck,” she said, flipping him the bird for good measure. “No race is worth someone’s life. Only thing I regret is not being able to punch that smile off your face.” She pushed herself up, accepting the crutch her sister handed her and doing her best not to wince. “A good woman is laying up in the hospital, just barely surviving a terrible crash. I’m just bitter that her pain is your entertainment.”

Reporters called after her, more cameras flashed, and she’d probably just shot any chance of her getting back on the circuit in the foot.

She didn’t care. She’d find some other way to get the money and Ruby had made it clear that it was sincerely the last thing on her mind. They’d pick up the pieces later. 

Right now? Well, there was somewhere she had to be.

“Rubes-”

“I’m taking you back to the hospital,” her sister said, grinning. “I think you should be the one to tell her that you called that dude a ‘piss poor chucklefuck’, just so when they censor it later, she knows what you really thought.”

A smile curled her lips. “Can we stop by somewhere on the way? I… kinda promised her dinner.”

“The staff probably won’t let you bring it in.”

“I’ll fight ‘em.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Note: The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is the most deadly race in the world. While I took some liberties with the geography and time of the race (usually ran during the day time, pretty sure), it is a very dangerous competition, with over 240 people dead, including racers, officials, and spectators since it started in the early 1900′s (1904, I think?). 

Y’all be safe out there.

[dipulb3]

2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 All-Terrain first drive review: Go butch or go home

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2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 All-Terrain first drive review: Go butch or go home

How do you sell a wagon in the US in 2020? Make it look like an SUV. Traditional station wagons continue to fall out of favor with American customers, yet higher-riding crossovers keep on selling like hotcakes. With that in mind: The Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon is dead; long live the Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain.

The All-Terrain joins the Mercedes’ US lineup as part of the E-Class’ 2021 model-year update. It’s essentially the outgoing E450 wagon with 2 extra inches of ground clearance, standard air suspension (previously an option), some rugged-looking body cladding and butch new bumper treatments. Overall, the look really works; the All-Terrain is definitely handsome, though I’m not sure if all the cladding works against my tester’s rich shade of Cardinal Red. In any case, this crossover-like updo makes a whole lot of sense for the E-Class, better positioning it to take on other high-riding luxury wagons such as the Audi A6 Allroad and Volvo V90 Cross Country.

2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 All-Terrain is ruggedly handsome

See all photos

You can only get the All-Terrain in E450 4Matic guise in the US, meaning it uses Mercedes’ 3.0-liter turbocharged I6 engine and all-wheel drive. The straight-six engine is the same one you’ll find in a number of Benz’s other products, producing 362 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, in addition to a supplemental 21 hp and 184 lb-ft from the 48-volt EQ-Boost mild-hybrid system.

With its ample low-end torque and smooth-shifting nine-speed automatic transmission, the E-Class All-Terrain is super nice to drive. This wagon pulls away from stoplights with authority, thanks in part to the extra torque boost from the mild-hybrid tech (Mercedes estimates a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.1 seconds). What’s more, EQ-Boost irons out the action of the stop-start system, meaning I’m more likely to leave the fuel-saving function activated as this tech isn’t usually my jam. This helps the portly, 4,350-pound E450 All-Terrain return respectable EPA fuel economy estimates of 22 miles per gallon city, 28 mpg highway and 24 mpg combined.

The All-Terrain is the kind of car you wouldn’t think twice about putting hundreds of miles on in one sitting, knowing you’ll arrive at your destination as relaxed as when you left. The standard adaptive air suspension takes a lot of the credit for that balance and composure, mitigating larger impacts from broken pavement and generally delivering a solid, serene ride. Pro tip, though: Skip the 20-inch wheels you see on this test car. Good as they look, they allow for small initial impacts to be felt through the chassis. Plus, the surprisingly aggressive 245/40 front and 275/35 rear Pirelli P-Zero summer tires kind of go against the whole take-me-anywhere attitude of the All-Terrain. This E450 comes standard with 19-inch wheels and 245/45-series tires at all four corners; that’s definitely the way to go.

Methinks you won’t be doing much off-roading with these 20-inch wheels and P-Zero summer tires.

Michael Shaffer/Mercedes-Benz

On the other hand, throw the All-Terrain into Sport mode and the air suspension hunkers down, the steering adds a bit more weight and those sticky tires offer lots of grip while cornering. In other words, the few folks who might’ve otherwise bought a standard E450 wagon will be happy to know this thing can still hustle when provoked. And if it’s performance you’re after, AMG has you covered.

For what it’s worth, the All-Terrain has Offroad and Offroad Plus driving modes that raise the suspension and reduce throttle sensitivity, but I don’t recommend venturing too far off the beaten path in one of these wagons — especially if you’re rolling on 20s. Much like the new Audi A6 Allroad, this E-Class is an All-Terrain in name and appearance far more than in ability. Have a dirt road on the way to your campsite? Great, have fun. Want to hang with the Jeeps on the trails? Break into Mercedes’ headquarters and steal the E-Class 4×4 Squared instead.

Also like Audi’s new Allroad, the E-Class All-Terrain is an absolute tech powerhouse. On the driver-assistance front, the E450 is available with full-speed adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capabilities, active steering assist, lane-change assist, traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping tech and Mercedes’ new Exit Warning function, which will alert you if an object is approaching when you’re parallel parked and about to open your door. (Cyclists will thank you.) The only bad news is that none of this safety gear is standard, so be sure to add the $1,950 Driver Assistance Package.

The All-Terrain’s cabin is mostly flawless, and all 2021 E-Class models now use Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment tech.

Michael Shaffer/Mercedes-Benz

The E-Class upgrades to Mercedes’ latest MBUX infotainment tech. A pair of 12.3-inch screens span two-thirds of the dashboard, the left display acting as a digital instrument cluster, the right one serving as the main multimedia interface. Like MBUX’s integration in other Mercedes-Benz models, you can operate the software via controllers on the steering wheel, a touchpad on the center console, voice commands — “Hey, Mercedes, I’m cold” — or simply by touching the screen. I’m all about the latter, especially with the system’s quick responses to inputs. Also, you should totally spring for the augmented reality navigation overlays ($350) because they make finding destinations a cinch.

Aside from the tech update, the E-Class’ interior carries over largely unchanged, which is fine by me. This is an incredibly comfortable and stylish cabin, with nice details like open-pore wood, real metal finishes and a gazillion different ambient light choices. Front and rear passengers have lots of room to stretch out, and there’s 35 cubic feet of cargo space behind the back seats. Fold ’em down and you’ve got 64 cubes at your disposal.

There’s just one itty-bitty-teensy-tiny problem with the new E-Class’ interior, and it isn’t specific to the All-Terrain: the steering wheel. For some weird reason, Mercedes removed the thumbpad controllers for the infotainment system as well as the physical buttons and scroll wheels for the volume and menu controls. Instead, there are little capacitive-touch sensors which take getting used to. The four-way swipe pads for the screens aren’t so bad, but the slider bar for the volume is infuriating. I inevitably always end up going too far up or too far down, or I press too hard and mute the whole thing. I’m not sure why Mercedes opted to fix what wasn’t broken.

Long live the longroof.

Michael Shaffer/Mercedes-Benz

But like I said, that’s a minor complaint in an otherwise flawless cabin, one that can be optioned to the gills with amenities like massaging seats, wireless phone charging, heated armrests and lots of different color and trim combinations. There’s even a $1,100 Acoustic Comfort Package on the options roster, which offers increased cabin insulation and special acoustic glass. If silence is your definition of luxury, then this is a must-have add-on.

The 2021 E450 All-Terrain costs $68,650 to start, including $1,050 for destination. Load one up like the car you see here and you’re looking at $84,790. That’s a bunch of money, but it falls in line with Audi A6 Allroad pricing. The Volvo V90 Cross Country is the most affordable of the bunch, however, and it offers a lot more ground clearance. Plus, I think the Swede is the best-looking wagon of the bunch.

Really, though, it doesn’t totally matter if the All-Terrain can out-Allroad an Audi. What matters is that it makes the E-Class wagon more appealing to US shoppers. If these off-road duds even manage to convince a few people to pass up a GLE-Class SUV in favor of longroof life, that helps ensure a brighter future for all Mercedes-Benz wagons — the holy-grail AMG E63 included. The new E-Class All-Terrain is no better or worse a wagon than the old E450. But if some added cladding and an air suspension is what it takes to move these in the States, then I’m all in favor of a little off-road cosplay.

[swedna]

Until July, the Japanese household goods company Iris Ohyama had always made its line of masks at its two factories in China. But early this year, as the coronavirus was spreading around the world, the Japanese authorities approached the company with an urgent problem. In China, the government had locked down factories that produce most of the planet’s masks and commandeered supplies. With global demand soaring, stocks in Japan were dangerously low. Could Iris Ohyama start production at home? Nearly $23 million in government subsidies later, the company is at the leading edge of a push to encourage Japan’s manufacturers to diversify their supply chains out of China. The pandemic — and Beijing’s increasingly combative behavior during it — has driven home the risks of overreliance on China for the production of a broad range of goods. Japanese policymakers, long wary of Beijing’s economic overreach, are powering up incentives for firms to expand manufacturing at home and in other countries after years of stop-and-go efforts. Manufacturers are lining up for the subsidies, which are intended to protect important industries and to ensure access to crucial supplies during crises. But the government’s challenge is vast: It is as though Japan is tossing pennies to hold back economic tides. The allure of China remains hard to resist for companies dependent on its enormous market, cheap but well-trained labor and efficient infrastructure. When the Trump administration tried to overcome these advantages by raising tariffs on Chinese products, few if any American companies moved production home. It’s not just the United States. Japan’s own growth has been fueled by a booming China. Chinese factories have scooped up Japanese machine tools, high-tech components and know-how. And Chinese tourists eager to spend their newfound prosperity have flooded Japanese stores, hotels and restaurants, adding to Japan’s wealth. While the United States has responded to its own concerns about China with an increasingly hard-line policy, the idea of an economic “decoupling” is a nonstarter for Japanese policymakers and companies alike. For Tokyo, “it’s more about how you manage the risk of that relationship than whether you can orchestrate an economic divorce of sorts,” said Mireya Solís, co-director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy after the United States and China, is seeking to manage that risk not just by paying companies to move production, but also through diplomatic channels, including recent discussions with India and Australia about improving the resilience of regional supply chains as a hedge against China’s dominance. The efforts have steered clear of the grandstanding and finger-pointing coming out of Washington. Instead, Japanese policymakers have sought to placate Beijing by insisting that their efforts are not aimed at any particular country. Still, that facade has become increasingly difficult to maintain amid growing concerns about Chinese government-sponsored corporate espionage, the use of Chinese components in key infrastructure, China’s crackdown in Hong Kong and the increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing, including a trade war that has battered Japanese exports. China’s more belligerent regional military presence has not helped matters, either. Increased patrols by Chinese forces near Taiwan and around islands contested by Tokyo and Beijing have drawn rebukes from the United States and have made it harder to keep economic and geopolitical concerns separate. “In one sense, the Japanese government tried to expand the room for business cooperation with China, but as the most important ally of the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific, Japan must follow American strategic trends,” said Masayuki Masuda, a senior fellow at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. That means “trying to keep a balance between China and the U.S.,” he said. “If we restrict normal business activities with China, the damage would be very big. So, where is the red line?” Even Japanese businesses seem more willing than ever to push that line. According to a July survey of 3,000 businesspeople by the economic newspaper Nikkei Shimbun and the Japan Center for Economic Research, more than 46 percent of respondents said that Japanese companies should do less business with China. About 18 percent said the opposite. “Public and political sentiment in Japan has been turning against China for years, and I think that’s an entirely organic process,” said Kristin Vekasi, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Maine who has studied how Japan has managed economic risk toward China. Japan has rolled out a number of measures, to mixed success, in an effort to blunt Beijing’s reach. The country has put strict limits on foreign participation in government procurement projects, throttled foreign investment in publicly traded domestic companies and set up a cabinet-level division tasked with monitoring threats to the country’s economic security. Japan also tightened rules requiring foreign entities to seek government permission before investing in publicly listed companies that touch on national security, lowering the threshold to 1 percent from 10 percent of a company’s shares. Conservative Japanese politicians in the governing party believe the measures aimed at China have not gone nearly far enough. Legislative study groups in Japan’s Parliament are considering restrictions on foreign investment in real estate and on Chinese apps like TikTok. Still, even some of the most vocal advocates are cautious about calling out Beijing by name. In a recent interview, Akira Amari, a member of Parliament and former trade minister who leads a legislative group on economic security, said that the measures under consideration were not aimed at any one nation, but were intended to reduce economic security risks across the board. Even so, Mr. Amari allowed that concerns about China had been a major factor in shaping the policies, citing actions in the United States, Britain and India as informing Japan’s thinking. Those countries have expressed security fears over issues like TikTok and Chinese companies’ role in building out 5G networks. Japan tried having a more open economic relationship with China, and it didn’t work, Mr. Amari said. If China “had the same values as Japan,” he added, “we would have taken a completely different response.” The repercussions may be less than feared — at least for now. With Washington and Beijing locked in a great-powers struggle, China may need Japan as much as Japan needs it. “China and the U.S. have been involved in a hegemonic war, so China needs a friend,” said Shujiro Urata, a professor of economics at Waseda University in Tokyo. “Japan cannot be that friendly to China, the Chinese know that, but they don’t want to jeopardize their relationship with Japan,” he added. For Japanese businesses, the feeling is mutual. Despite growing concerns about doing business in China, the economic incentives to stay remain too great. In an interview at Iris Ohyama’s headquarters in Miyagi Prefecture, the company’s president, Akihiro Ohyama, was up front about the fact that opening new domestic production lines wouldn’t have made economic sense without the government’s help. The company, which sells more than 25,000 products including televisions and microwaveable rice, had already begun opening factories outside China years ago, seeking to reduce shipping costs and to appeal to consumers who wanted domestically manufactured goods. But it had never considered making masks in Japan. “The government subsidies were a major factor,” Mr. Ohyama said. Since Iris Ohyama became the first company to accept Japan’s new subsidy offer, more than 1,600 companies have applied for the $2.3 billion that the government earmarked for the program. The vast majority is set aside for increasing domestic production. So far, 56 other firms have received funds for increasing production at home, and an additional 30 have received subsidies for factories in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. On a recent visit to a former snack factory that Iris Ohyama converted to make masks, employees in white scrubs and blue caps quietly tended to rows of machines as they assembled and packaged the goods. Mr. Ohyama said he had been worried about how the Chinese government would react to a scene like this. He needn’t have been concerned. The officials weren’t angry; they were nervous that the company planned to leave. In reality, Iris Ohyama plans to deepen its presence in China, where its sales have been growing by more than 30 percent a year. “We’re expanding in China,” Mr. Ohyama said. But “we’re going to be manufacturing in other countries, too.”

[johnnyzjuk840-blog]

9 Ridiculous Rules About Legal Services

This short article examines the difficulties about the business lawsuit in the little business world. Simply because they generally the right dpt large corporations are already excluded by me as a result. that somehow could be the main business. This short article also makes all the proposal that generally speaking, smaller businesses are happier using options to litigation in resolving business disputes.

Their owners and firms normally get in litigation therefore of hard jobs in a very company challenge. Frequently the parties need a view that their situation is 100% right and another side does not have any advantage whatsoever inside their discussion. This case features a fair chance of ending using the solicitors as well as a great chance of learning to be a situation of protracted litigation. While the merits of each and every case will definitely differ, we find many common elements because of this situation; the prospect of the expenses of litigation being significantly greater than any difference one of many roles is pretty likely; the probability of the functions positions hardening from the length with the litigation are quite large too. Even though attorneys are often energetic in protecting their client's jobs, and settlement will likely be also suggested by attorneys just as one excellent choice, the type with the actions isn't favorable to settlement. Even though negotiation is inside back of each and every litigant's head, the theory is usually to test it at some point "down the road". The parties turn out "later on" whilst we all know down the road implies that lots of resources and funds are consumed by the time. This means the motivation to remain decreases through the entire only spikes and procedure following the parties recognize their folly and realize that they're on the runaway train called "protracted litigation".

Let's attempt to assess the process: a normal argument comes from a small enterprise provide different kinds that gets upon an unacceptable foot, sometimes because of the vagaries with the transaction; bargains performed in haste without obviously spelling the reality from it are perfect candidates in order to complete up in litigation. As well, bargains made between friends are often the complicated litigation that arises and friendship blended.

There's generally an alteration of bluster between parties, once the conflict occurs. No more next the parties have appointed attorneys as well as a volley of legal risks are traded. During this period the marketplace gets involved and then any real chance of achieving a negotiated settlement decreases dramatically. When one or both sides provide lawsuits for competitors the following phase is. The discovery process has become entered by us and it's during this time period that expenditures commence to support. Often you will discover depositions to be used, conditions or perhaps the roll-out of countless a lot of papers. And that means you commence to obtain my drift all this must be replicated at ludicrous costs. At this time usually, there's an endeavor to decide, however, emotions are running high since depositions as so that as unpleasant as they definitely usually provide you with in number mood to take into account agreements strenuous. Money was earned by the next stage could be the preparation for trial while using attorneys spending your hard at full throttle. From then on it's test time, a prolonged matter, frequently from your two and week with prices running unabated. Following an uncertain end comes article test displays and activities. If you're fortunate to know it you at long last have wisdom that pays nobody. Did you think it's over? Believe again; an appeal is inside the wings with all the price and process starting all over again. At this time you start out your metaphysical issues like "What is life all about". The challenge is significantly more impersonal; the events are scarcely involved, it's all regulated the attorneys; a typical denominator the costs, stay.

I guarantee that I've not offered a nightmarish scenario; for you what I've described is what I experienced returning four years of my well being. The procedure was a monetary disaster despite the fact that I was vindicated there were no silver lining after it; no feel well, no a sense justice, merely an unavoidable experience of waste, total waste of time, money, sources, etc. Lots of people including judges, lawyers, paralegals, courtroom reporters yet others doing use no advantage to others. Several trees being cut, a good amount of gas been used with no obvious benefits of everyone and town most significantly.

I've pointed out that the correct business industry isn't for small enterprises or entrepreneurs. In my opinion that this elements in place to reach an early on termination in the cases are ineffective. Mandatory arbitration purchased from the judge is by in large ineffective. A lawyer is required by the court to attempt to persuade the parties to be in after a half every day of overwhelming, cajoling and threatening. The parties contain the activities but there's no real motivation to stay in. Arrangement discussions between your parties, although it is not discouraged with the solicitors are often saturated in bluster and allows admit it; the market doesn't really benefit from early settlements. Ultimately, the insufficient familiarity with all the individuals concerning the true character from the method make them possible targets to the system; when they're in, the hurdles to depart are numerous.

I believe very few in the conflicts must go into the legal process, and also less could produce an improved result than an early on and appropriate decision. In my opinion, a prospective answer lies not inside business. Someone that's number vested interests in extending the task, and contains a payment structure that will gain if the parties can resolve their problems without a lawsuit must interject her or himself and cajole the parties in order to complete their argument and prevent the legal process. Demonstrably they would need to possess the skills needed, nevertheless I stress again value of a celebration away from range of the Industry.

[tysonvcaj863-blog]

Secrets To Legal Services – Even In This Down Economy

This short article examines the difficulties about the business lawsuit within the little business world. Simply because they are apt to have a suitable dpt large corporations happen to be excluded by me as a result. that somehow is the main business. This short article also helps to make the proposal that generally speaking, small business owners are happier using choices to litigation in resolving business disputes.

Their owners and companies normally find yourself in litigation because of this of hard jobs inside a company challenge. Frequently the parties will be needing a view that their situation is 100% right and another side does not have any advantage whatsoever within their discussion. This case includes a fair probability of ending using the solicitors in addition to a great probability of learning to be a situation of protracted litigation. While the merits of each and every case will surely differ, we discover many common elements because of this situation; the chances of the price of litigation being significantly larger than any difference one of the roles is quite likely; the chances of the functions positions hardening from the length with the litigation are very large at the same time. Even though attorneys are often energetic in protecting their client's jobs, and settlement will be also suggested by attorneys being an excellent choice, the type in the actions isn't favorable to settlement. Even though negotiation is inside the back of each litigant's head, the theory would be to test it at some point "later on". The parties wind up "down the line" even while we all know later on implies that a great deal of resources and money are consumed as soon as. This means the motivation to keep decreases throughout the only spikes and procedure following your parties recognize their folly and know that they're on the runaway train called "protracted litigation".

Let's try to measure the process: the average argument comes from a small enterprise offer differing types that gets down on an unacceptable foot, sometimes because in the vagaries of the transaction; bargains performed in haste without obviously spelling information of it are perfect candidates in order to complete up in litigation. As well, bargains made between friends often get the complicated litigation that arises and friendship blended.

There's generally an alteration of bluster between parties, when the conflict occurs. No more next the parties have appointed attorneys as well as a volley of legal risks are traded. During this period industry gets involved and any real probability of achieving a negotiated settlement decreases dramatically. When one or both sides provide lawsuits because of their competitors the next phase is. The discovery process has become entered by us and during this time period that expenditures commence to compliment. Often you will find depositions to be used, conditions or maybe the development of countless a lot of papers. And that means you commence to have my drift all this should be replicated at ludicrous costs. At this time usually, there's hard work to choose, however, emotions are running high since depositions as and as unpleasant when they usually offer you in number mood to consider agreements strenuous. Money was earned by the next stage will be the preparation for trial using the attorneys spending your hard at full throttle. From then on it's test time, a prolonged matter, frequently between a two and week with prices running unabated. Following an uncertain end comes article test displays and activities. If you're fortunate to find out it you finally have wisdom that pays nobody. Did you think it's over? Believe again; an appeal is inside the wings with all the price and process starting just as before. At this time you start your metaphysical issues like "What is life all about". The challenge is significantly more impersonal; the events are scarcely involved, it's all the attorneys; an average denominator the values, stay the same.

I guarantee that I've not offered a nightmarish scenario; for your requirements what I've described 's what I experienced returning to college four years of playing. The procedure was a financial disaster reality I was vindicated there were no silver lining after it; no feel well, no feeling of justice, merely an inevitable experience of waste, waste of time, money, sources, etc. Lots of people including judges, lawyers, paralegals, courtroom reporters yet others doing use no benifit of others. Several trees being cut, a lot of gas been used without the obvious advantage to the whole world and town above all.

I've pointed out that the right business industry isn't for smaller businesses or entrepreneurs. In my opinion that this elements set up to achieve a young termination from the cases are ineffective. Mandatory arbitration purchased through the judge is by in large ineffective. A lawyer must be used through the court to attempt to persuade the parties to be in a half daily of overwhelming, cajoling and threatening. The parties hold the activities there is however no real motivation to stay. Arrangement discussions between parties, while not discouraged by the solicitors tend to be saturated in bluster and allows face it; the marketplace doesn't gain from early settlements. Ultimately, the insufficient familiarity while using individuals regarding the true character with the method make them possible targets to the system; when they are in, the hurdles to go out of are plenty of.

I believe few of the conflicts must go into the legal process, and even less could offer an improved result than a young and appropriate decision. In my opinion, a possible answer lies not inside the business. Someone that's number vested interests in extending the method, and contains a payment structure that will gain if your parties can resolve their problems without having a lawsuit must interject him or herself and cajole the parties in order to complete their argument preventing the legal process. Demonstrably they will need to contain the skills needed, nevertheless I stress again the need for a celebration outside of the range with the Industry.

[rivertdpi134-blog]

Proof That Legal Services Is Exactly What You Are Looking For

This short article examines the issues concerning the business lawsuit within the little business community. Simply because they have an appropriate dpt large corporations have been excluded by me as a result. that somehow may be the main business. This short article also helps make the proposal that most of the time, small business owners are more satisfied using choices to litigation in resolving business disputes.

Their owners and companies normally discover youself to be in litigation consequently of hard jobs in a company challenge. Frequently the parties will need a view that their situation is 100% right and another side does not have any advantage whatsoever in their discussion. This case carries a fair possibility of ending using the solicitors as well as a great chance of learning to be a situation of protracted litigation. While the merits of each one case will certainly differ, we discover many common elements for this situation; the chances of the expenses of litigation being significantly larger than any difference among the roles is pretty likely; the likelihood of the functions positions hardening over the length in the litigation are quite large also. Even though attorneys tend to be energetic in protecting their client's jobs, and settlement will likely be also suggested by attorneys as a possible excellent choice, the nature of the actions isn't favorable to settlement. Even though negotiation is in the back of the litigant's head, the idea is always to test it at some point "down the line". The parties turn out "down the line" whilst we realize down the line implies that plenty of resources and cash are consumed once. This means the motivation to stay decreases during the entire only spikes and procedure after the parties recognize their folly and realize that they're on a runaway train called "protracted litigation".

Let's make an effort to measure the process: the average argument comes from a small company deal in various sorts that gets down on an unacceptable foot, sometimes because with the vagaries of the transaction; bargains performed in haste without obviously spelling information of it are fantastic candidates to complete up in litigation. As well, bargains made between friends often get the complicated litigation that arises and friendship blended.

There's generally an alteration of bluster between parties, once the conflict occurs. No more next the parties have appointed attorneys and a volley of legal risks are traded. During this period the market gets involved and then any real probability of achieving a negotiated settlement decreases dramatically. When either sides provide lawsuits for his or her competitors the next phase is. The discovery process is entered by us and it's during this time that expenditures commence to support. Often you will discover depositions to be used, conditions or perhaps the creation of countless a great deal of papers. And that means you commence to have my drift all of this has to be replicated at ludicrous costs. At this time usually, there's an endeavor to decide, however, emotions are running high since depositions as and as unpleasant as they definitely usually provide you with in number mood to think about agreements strenuous. Money was earned from the next stage will be the preparation for trial while using attorneys spending your hard at full throttle. From then on it's test time, a lengthy matter, frequently from a two and week with prices running unabated. Following an uncertain end comes article test displays and activities. If you're fortunate to know it you at long last have wisdom that pays nobody. Did you think it's over? Believe again; an appeal is in the wings while using price and process starting yet again. At this time you start your metaphysical issues like "What is life all about". The challenge is quite a bit more impersonal; the events are scarcely involved, to make sure the attorneys; a standard denominator the costs, remain the same.

I guarantee that I've not offered a nightmarish scenario; to you what I've described is the thing that I experienced going back four years of my well being. The procedure was a fiscal disaster reality I was vindicated there was clearly no silver lining after it; no feel well, no a sense justice, merely an unavoidable example of waste, total waste, money, sources, etc. Lots of people including judges, lawyers, paralegals, courtroom reporters and others doing use no benefit to others. Several trees being cut, plenty of gas been used without obvious advantage to everyone and town most significantly.

I've realized that the correct business industry isn't for small enterprises or entrepreneurs. In my opinion that the elements available to succeed in an early on termination of the cases are ineffective. Mandatory arbitration purchased by the judge is as simple as in large ineffective. A lawyer is employed by the court to try and persuade the parties to stay within a half each day of overwhelming, cajoling and threatening. The parties contain the activities however, there is no real motivation to be. Arrangement discussions between parties, while not discouraged from the solicitors are often saturated in bluster and allows face it; the marketplace doesn't make use of early settlements. Ultimately, the insufficient familiarity using the individuals in regards to the true character in the method make them possible targets for the system; if they're in, the hurdles to go out of are plenty of.

I believe few with the conflicts must enter in the legal process, and in many cases less could produce an improved result than a young and appropriate decision. In my opinion, a possible answer lies not within the business. Someone that's number vested interests in extending the method, and has a payment structure that might gain when the parties can resolve their problems without a lawsuit must interject him or herself and cajole the parties to end their argument preventing the legal process. Demonstrably they would need to hold the skills needed, nevertheless I stress again the value of a celebration away from range with the Industry.

[servossim-blog]

What is the Real Cost of Upgrading a Feedback Control System?

Quite often, when systems are upgraded either for reasons of replacing parts that are no longer in the support system or improving performance, the cost of supporting the new system is neglected.

What sort of support from the manufacturer is available and at what cost?

What is the MTBF of the new equipment?

Is there any on-going maintenance that must be performed on a regular basis?

Such things make an inexpensive purchase price end up costing much more than a higher priced unit.

An excellent example covering the "Buying a Motion Platform" may be found at the following link:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ultimate-checklist-buying-motion-platform-rachel-baker

Since that covers the motion system quite thoroughly, let's talk about the feedback control loading of the flight stick, yokes, pedals, throttle, toe brakes and the like of non-fly-by-wire simulators.

Many of the same performance factors of motion bases need to be addressed in regarding to feedback control loading systems.

Feedback Control Loaders can be very inexpensive for simulators that require little or no FAA approval. Such loaders can be considered simple springs; you pull or push on a control and it reacts as a spring or bungee cord. These are what could be referred to as "Entertainment" loaders and can be purchased for well under $500 USD but in no way qualify as Feedback Control Loaders for pilot training in a simulator.

As the quality (or rating) of the simulator systems increases, how much fidelity the system has becomes more and more important. A good read on the Psychology of Simulation can be found in R. T. Hays/M.M. Singer's book "Simulation Fidelity in Training System Design" subtitled "Bridging the Gap Between Reality and Training.”

The bottom line  - the simulator must represent what the aircraft or mechanical device feels like when in actual operation. Whatever the pilot/operator is trained to do in the simulator, it must represent exactly what it is in real life. If the pilot/operator is told, during training, to not pay attention to that "buzzy" feel might lead to that buzzy noise of an off-balance turbine being written off as normal resulting in death or injury in real life. This is why fidelity of the Feedback Control Loader is crucial. Thus, we get back to the fidelity as Hays' book references. Poor fidelity equals poor performance.

So, what is GOOD fidelity? For that, let's refer to FAA Class A and higher full-flight simulators. The one performance factor that describes the whole thing is the throughput of the system… i.e. how fast can the system take a sample, do math on the sample and output the result repetitively?

Servo feedback control engineers typically agree that the higher the throughput is of a system, the easier it is to stabilize the servo which keeps the servo stable in a system. As the frequency of samples decreases, the servo loses its ability to subdue inherent instabilities of the system such as noise, springiness of linkages, slop (loose bearings) in connecting rods etc. As a minimum, 4,000Hz would be suggested here and higher if possible. Bottom line is this, a poorly design Feedback Control Loader is going to be with you for a long, long time. At what cost to pilot training, maintenance and upgrades will this affect the entire simulator program as a whole.

(1 - non-moving numerical ratings 1 thru 7 and moving ratings A thru D with “D” being the highest rated)

For more information on our Feedback Control Loader or Motion Base Platform product lines, please visit our web site at www.servos.com.

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

“...and the power structure itself leads to a slow but steady deterioration of power for the people as it gets accumulated by the wealthy and influential who milk the economic desperation and petty xenophobia of the common citizens as a way to keep from being held accountable by the very people who should be most incensed by the rampant corruption of their leaders. It's awful! It's obscene! And no one even notices, which is incredible to me. Have we as a society grown so complacent that criminals only need to put on a suit and a microphone and be seen as heroes instead? Have the ordinary people of this system become so accustomed to being oppressed that they don't even notice the reality of their own oppression?”

Jean Prouvaire paused for breath, which gave Bossuet a moment to steal his wine glass and refill it without risking being hit in the nose by one of Prouvaire's wildly gesticulating hands. The young poet had been on his tirade for a solid five minutes, pausing only to try and drink from the wine glass, which had been empty for the last half hour. There was a certain irony in a man bemoaning the oblivious nature of the people being so unobservant himself, but Bossuet had long grown accustomed to Jean Prouvaire's peculiar contradictions.

“Of course they have,” Bahorel said. He sat with his legs resting on a desk filled with someone else's papers, carefully shined books firmly planted on a stack of legal forms, a deliberately crafted declaration of his esteem for the documents. He too held a glass, and accepted Bossuet's silent offer of a refill with a nod of thanks. “And don't think for a moment that it's not by design. It suits the power leeches to keep us unthinking and unaware. The problem we should address is not why the people fail to notice the abuses of power happening under their noses and rather how to go about changing their perceptions. Personally I lean towards disrupting traffic and redistributing resources to those who need them most, but I will hear arguments for defacing public buildings and singing rude anthems.”

Prouvaire laughed and took another drink from his glass, seeming surprised to find it full once again. “Why not all at once?” he wanted to know.

“Why not indeed?” Bahorel agreed. He shifted to a slightly more comfortable position, uncrossing his legs only to recross them again the other way, and turned to look at Bossuet. “You've been awfully quiet,” he said. “It's unlike you. What's on your mind?”

“Oh, nothing terribly world-shaking,” Bossuet said with a shrug. There being only one chair in Bahorel's superior's office, and that being occupied by Bahorel himself, Bossuet stood leaning against a bookshelf. Bahorel had decreed that the best use of lawbooks was as coasters, and so the shelves themselves were festooned with bottles and glasses in various states of emptiness, at least until Bahorel's superior returned from their vacation. “I was simply thinking that perhaps the real reason people have lost their aptitude for questioning orders is because no one presents them with a model of how to do so. A hallmark of sentience is the plasticity of the brain, as we all know by now, and our leaders are without peer when it comes to nourishing the brains of their people in such a way as to create precisely the outcome they most desire, which is to say complacency and frustration. How do you create a society content to look no father than their own pocketbooks? You hold up a portrait and call it a mirror.” He nodded towards the infoscreen embedded  tastefully into the exotic wood paneling covering the office's far wall. It currently sat inert, its power supply throttled and diverted to more useful purposes, namely the recharging of a cleaning drone that Jean Prouvaire had liberated from servitude the previous week. Bahorel, for reasons known only to himself, had attached a knife to its flat top, and it now sat tethered to a hijacked power supply, waiting for new victims. “Think on it. Our entertainment is all set in an alternate universe, one cunningly crafted to resemble ours in every superficial sense but lacking the petty miseries and misfortunes of reality. And why should it not? Would you spend your scant hours of freedom reliving the very existence you tuned in to escape? Certainly not. Entertainment as fantasy is a time honored tradition, and one that I would not dream of vilifying entirely. Entertainers work hard to bring us a moment of escape, and I cannot fault them for their work. I think we can all agree that our lives would be lessened without their dedication to their crafts.”

Bahorel, whose partner-of-an-unspecified-but-definitely-intimate-nature of several years made her living appearing in the very dramas Bossuet currently described, raised his glass in enthusiastic agreement.

“But, as with any earthly delight – and possibly any heavenly one as well; theologians contradict themselves on this point regularly – this comes at a cost, namely that those of us who enjoy the escapist entertainment so eagerly offered to us run the risk of believing them to be set in our universe, rather than the one next door. And indeed, who can blame us? To an undiscerning viewer – and who among us is always discerning? – they appear to be identical. One would think that dramas would be required by law to include some statement with each program to clear up this confusion, but alas, they are not and thus have not bothered. Of course, the fantasy falls apart the moment it is subjected to closer observation. After all, I cannot say that I am constantly surrounded by impossibly attractive people, manage to live comfortably without any apparent source of income, resolve all of my conflicts within the confines of a forty minute span of time, or learn lessons on a daily basis. Why, I have been known to go for weeks without learning a single thing!”

“You must admit, however, we are uncommonly attractive,” Bahorel said. He drained his glass and reached under the desk for another bottle. Bossuet thought this one might have been pilfered from his superior's personal supply.

“Literature is worse,” Jean Prouvaire said, frowning at the infoscreen. “When was the last time anything but a romance or a badly written thriller made it past the censors? When was the last time you read a work of politically aware fiction, or even a volume of poetry?”

“Yesterday,” Bahorel said promptly. “But I assume you meant to imply that the volume in question be legal to obtain.”

“Exactly!” Prouvaire said. “The only way to nourish the soul with anything other than mass produced propaganda is to acquire that nourishment illegally. The government is starving us as truly as if they were taking our food and offering us nothing but sugar candy.”

“And is it not our duty as sentient beings to feed the hungry when we find them?” Bossuet wanted to know.

Bahorel tilted his head slightly. “Certainly it is,” he agreed. “What do you suggest?”

“Well,” Bossuet said, “we are all men of letters, are we not? You, Jean Prouvaire, sculpt words into delicate verse, and you, Bahorel, join me in the wretched study of torturing our poor language into submission in the name of legality. Surely it would not be too difficult to turn our talents to the cause of feeding the needy. And it so happens that I have a friend with the conviction and talent to spread our words to those who might want them.”

“You are suggesting we take up careers as bookwriters?” Bahorel wanted to know.

“If books are what catch your fancy,” Bossuet said. “I myself rather fancy the much maligned novella, and Jean Prouvaire, of course, breathes poetry as others among us breathe air. I meant only to suggest an intent behind any words we create, not a form.”

“And Enjolras will publish us?” Jean Prouvaire asked.

“Certainly, if we meet his standards of quality,” Bossuet said.

Bahorel tilted his head, considering this. “Enjolras,” he said. “I know that name.” He looked at Bossuet. “Tell me why I know that name.”

“Likely because he published the book of poetry you read yesterday,” Bossuet said.

Bahorel shook his head. “No, that was put out by my brother. Between us, his skill with words leave something to be desired. The things that man can do to a perfectly innocent preposition. I had to avert Jean Prouvaire's eyes from some of the more lurid passages, lest he become overwhelmed.” He sighed, taking a dramatic swig from the bottle he still held. “Still, I know that name. I will have to think on it later. In the meantime, I fully support this plan of action. Stars only know that I might as well put all this scrap to some useful purpose.” He gestured with his free hand, the motion encompassing the entire desk and its contents. “Tell your friend that I will have something for him shortly.”

“Splendid!” Bossuet said. “Prouvaire? Do you approve of this idea?”

Jean Prouvaire did not answer. When Bossuet looked over at him, he found the young man bent over a datapad, scribbling furiously with a stylus that had magically materialized in his hand.

“I think we can assume that he does,” Bahorel said, smiling fondly.

Bossuet readjusted his position against the bookshelf and pulled out a datapad of his own, borrowed from the office supply room months ago and never returned, and began determining how best to go about proposing to a man whom, in truth, he barely knew that they engage in acts of a seditious and mostly illegal nature. With a slight smile of his own, he began to write.