#whatever i love the public healthcare system

[goatboard]

ah anxiety....

[covid-safer-hotties]

To My Unmasked Friend in the Fifth Year of COVID - By: Anna Holmes - Published Aug 17, 2024

I’m going to be honest with you, because I love you, and you deserve nothing but honesty. I’m going to try really hard not to be angry while I do it, but it’s probably going to slip out every now and again. But I need you to hear me out, all right?

By now, we’ve talked about my reality. My personal struggle with long COVID, the isolation I live in, why I am so angry all the time.

But let’s talk about you. You just went to a big convention overseas. You got on a plane, got a little gussied up, talked shop with some insiders, geeked out over awards and merch, ate, drank, were merry, left with your social cup and your heart full.

You’re a good person. We wouldn’t be friends otherwise! You’d never dream of tripping a person with a red and white cane, using the r-word, excluding a disabled person from an event because of something they can’t help.

You might even acknowledge that the COVID response from governments and organizations has been ableist and inadequate.

But you didn’t wear a mask.

For whatever reason — you wanted to show off your makeup, it makes you itchy, you believed the messaging that COVID is endemic (what does that actually mean?), you just don’t think about it anymore — you made a choice that actively excludes people like me from participating not only in an event like a convention, but society at large. And yes, it is a choice. Every time you step out into the world without a mask on your face, you have made a decision that your very good reason, whatever it is, supersedes the right of disabled and at-risk people to exist safely in your orbit.

Well, hold on, you say. It’s not any one individual’s fault, it’s the inadequate public health messaging. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying?

And I have. In the past, I have talked about how it is unconscionable that health authorities have thrown their hands up and rescinded guidance that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prolonged a pandemic that, to hear them tell it, has been bested. It hasn’t. Worst of all, the financial motivation that we all know is driving this premature victory lap isn’t even being fulfilled. Long COVID and other post-COVID complications are costing the global economy one trillion a year. Meanwhile, article after article handwrings about nobody wanting to work anymore, about the sagging college application scene, about declines in military enlistment, and the strain on our healthcare systems.

All of this is very much the fault of our leaders, who have decided the political ramifications of “normalcy” are more important than the health and lives of the 400 million people living with long COVID across the globe, the immunocompromised folks who are increasingly being shut out of every conceivable public space, and the disabled community which has been screaming into the wind about our marginalization since before the virus even hit US soil.

But I want to be very clear. You are helping them do this.

The reality is that we have been living in this deeply flawed landscape of “personal choice”, and you’ve made yours. You’ve opted not to look into how densely clustered cases are. You’ve stopped listening to your friends who have informed themselves. You’ve given yourself permission to put COVID on the back burner. You’ve earned it, right? Four and a half years of trauma?

COVID doesn’t care if you’re tired of being scared or careful or considerate. COVID is not something you can personally overcome by being smart or virtuous or brave. It is a virus which only seeks to infect and replicate, and it is getting very good at those things. While you’ve looked away, my community has been scrambling to avoid variants that skirt immunity and don’t show up on rapid tests until day five-seven. The constant battle has changed since you were last in it. It’s not sufficient anymore to get your shots and test before a big event. You could well be asymptomatic and infectious, or have symptoms and convinced yourself it can’t be COVID because that second line hasn’t popped up.

You have come to the conclusion sometime between 2022 and now that you just have to decide what level of risk you’re comfortable with and live with it. The problem with that is scale. It’s you and everybody else doing that, and a lot of people have decided they are comfortable with a high level of risk. Despite what you’ve been told, you’re not just making that decision for yourself. You are making it for every person you come in contact with.

Think back to the early tense days of 2020. We were told to select a “bubble.” Those people would be our social lifelines, and through those, we could control our exposure.

My bubble is quite small. It includes my husband, my sister, and two friends I see relatively frequently.

My husband goes to work via the bus, and to the grocery store. Every person he comes in contact with there has the potential to infect him, and then he has the potential to pass it along to me. He mitigates this by wearing a well-fitted respirator at all times.

My sister goes to work at a busy public place. She masks when public facing and takes it off in the back office. She goes to restaurants, bars, concerts, hangs out with friends and her own partner unmasked. About 75% of her interactions have the heightened potential to infect her, which she might then bring into my house when she visits me.

My friends do not mask anywhere except my house when asked. They attend concerts, shows, cons, bars.

Obviously, I am in control of whether I wear a mask around these people. And as we approach one million new cases a day, I will be around everyone but my husband. But science is clear: reciprocal masking is more effective at infection control than a single person masking — especially when that single person is trying to protect themselves, not others.

This is settled science. We’ve known this since 2020. It says clearly that the choice you make is not personal- it has implications for everyone you come in contact with.

And being clear — if I could, I’d make everyone wear a mask for their own health. I don’t want people suffering with what I have. But you’ve been told this lie that you can take your risks for yourself, so you feel comfortable going out without a mask. You’ve been told this lie that it’s possible to completely recover from a COVID infection, so you assume that even if you do catch it, that’s what’ll happen to you, despite evidence showing that every body is indelibly changed by an infection, and that risk only grows with each subsequent infection.

And the greatest lie of all — that only the sick or elderly have anything to fear from COVID — has given you unfounded confidence in your own “good” genes or immune system or fitness. You can get long COVID even if you’re in peak form — in fact, may even be more likely to be hit hard.

So you have decided, individually and collectively, that only the sick or elderly should have to take precautions, and you freewheel through life, only to get surprised and dismayed when you bump into COVID in the wild. It’s back, people declare every summer or winter, as though it ever left.

But I want you to really think about the implications of your choice. Besides yourself. Because let’s be honest here, that’s who you’ve been thinking about, right? Your risk. Your comfort. Never mind your bubble, never mind the bubble of everyone you come into contact with, never mind the people like me who are literally hiding from people like you.

You’re not masking at the doctor’s office. You’re not masking at the airport. You’re not masking at the giant superspreader you just attended, and you’re not masking in the bars and restaurants where we know the virus flourishes. And then you’re bringing that exposure back to your family and friends. Back to the grocery store, where you run across people like my husband, shopping for someone who is unsafe to leave the house, or your elderly neighbors, or an immunocompromised employee.

You’re a good person, or you like to think of yourself that way. That’s why when you’re asked to mask, you dismiss it out of hand — because that changed behavior implies that you’ve been doing something wrong.

And my friend, I’m telling this because I love you: you have been. You might have been doing that on faulty information, but be honest with yourself and with me — you’ve heard me begging people to take this seriously. You’ve seen the information I’ve been sharing. You have had the opportunity to seek out the correct information all along, and you have chosen not to.

It isn’t too late to change your view of the risk you’re imposing on the people around you. It’s not too late to push public health to become more effective. It’s not too late to act in solidarity and be the inclusive person you think you are. It’s not too late to take care of yourself.

Ultimately, that’s what I have been screaming myself hoarse about. I don’t want you to end up with what I have. I don’t want you to inadvertently impose that on someone else. And yes, I’ve been angry, because you’ve been advertising your absolute lack of concern with group shots of your naked faces on social media. It doesn’t seem to bother you that I am stuck at home like it’s 2020, except for doctors’ appointments that I literally have to risk my life to go to. You’ve told yourself that it’s not your problem, because only the sick and elderly have to take precautions.

You know better. You can do better. For your community, yourself, and me, do better.

Please. I love you.

Anna

PS. If you’re feeling upset and embarrassed right now, the best thing you can do is take action. Get yourself good masks (the surgicals and cloth ones don’t cut it anymore), donate to mask blocs so others can access good masks, write to your representatives and the President, comment on upcoming CDC guidance, schedule yourself a booster, and talk to your loved ones about doing better, too. The only way we get out of this is with community care. So care.

[genderqueerdykes]

Trans and Queer Resources for People Living in/near Albuquerque New Mexico, or Looking to Relocate in The American Southwest

I am making this post because this is where I live, and fortunately, there are a lot of queer resources available in the area. I was able to transition because of the resources here, and continue to feel safe and thrive here as a queer person, so I want to pass them on to anyone else who may need them:

General queer community resources:

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico - Available to all ages- has a wide variety of resources for all trans, gender non conforming and nonbinary people including directing you to providers who will prescribe HRT, access to name changing and gender marker changes, support groups for a wide variety of identities, free food, housing programs for housing challenged and homeless trans people, and much more. Their building is also beautiful on the inside, they have a library of queer literature- I can't recommend them enough, I have been here personally.

LGBTQ Resource Center UNM - An LGBT/queer resource center located on the Las Lomas UNM campus. They provide a wide variety of resources including classes on safe sex, providing resources and support groups for various queer people, giving students access to safe and supportive housing on campus, counseling, HIV testing, food, and much more. They are available to be accessed by students and the general public alike

Albuquerque U21 (Commonbond) - A program and safe space available to any queer person under the age of 21 to socialize with other queer individuals and have a place to discuss queer issues. They also have community events such as DnD nights, cooking classes, book clubs and community speakers who discuss queer issues.

Casa Q - a program and shelter available to queer youth aged 14 - 17 who are at risk of homelessness or are struggling with housing stability, or other issues related to queerness and survival and staying housed.

PFLAG Albuquerque - a group which currently meets on Zoom that discusses queer issues in the community on the whole as well as locally in Albuquerque. A support group as well as a platform for activism and a place to go to talk to and find other queer people and resources.

Therapy, mental health services & other gender affirming care:

Bright Spaces NM - a way for queer patients to search for queer friendly healthcare providers in their area, as well as look for other programs provided by the organization.

Therapists specializing in helping transgender patients in the Albuquerque area - take lists like this with a train of salt, therapists love to market themselves as trans/lgbt friendly, but it's good to have a list to work with

Sage Neuroscience - a mental health care provider specializing a wide variety of conditions and hosting a wide variety of services including queer informed therapy, gender affirming care, medication management, group therapy, substance use help, and more.

High Desert Healing - a mental health care provider with a large number of queer specialized & focused therapists.

Southwest Care - have several providers which specialize in gender affirming care.

UNM Truman Center - a general health provider through the local university hospital system that providers gender affirming care services to a wide variety of local trans people. This clinic is severely overbooked and is used by a ton of local trans people, so try other places first before trying here.

Agora Crisis Center - a crisis center that is informed and safe for queer individuals struggling with mental health who need a safe place to talk about whatever issues they may be facing. They are a a hotline that can be called, and have a large list of local resources on their website as well.

For those of us who already live here, or given all that's happening right now, Texas and many other states are not a safe place for queer people of any stripe, and there are many folks looking to relocate to safer places in the American southwest for queer people and those who are looking to safely medically transition. Please keep in mind that most places in the US are in a housing crisis right now, so always do your research and sort out housing and safe relocation before making any decisions.

This is not a "move to here right now" post but rather a collection of queer resources available to people living here, as well as for people who are looking to relocate to a more queer friendly state in the American southwest. Albuquerque has issues like crime, it is not perfect here, so please be aware that it's not a good idea to just drop what you are doing and relocate to any place for any reason without doing research first. There is no place in the United States that is a "haven", we just happen to have a lot of queer resources here if they are needed.

I will add more resources as I find/think of them.

[pikapeppa]

15 questions for 15 friends

Tagged by @elveny and @johaerys-writes -- thank you, my loves!

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mom. Apparently my dad really wanted to name me after my mom and she was like "ugh really fine" LOL. My dad is also named after his dad, who was named after his dad... REAL ORIGINAL. This is going to sound like a total humblebrag, but my mom and I are both published academic authors, so we have to use our middle initials to distinguish who published what 🙃

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Probably in therapy last Thursday LOL. Though I got a little prickly-eyed earlier this week watching the episode of ATLA where Zuko and Aang go on their lifechanging field trip to the Sun Warriors' secret village 😂❤

DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Nope! Childless by choice.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED? I played T-ball when I was 5 or 6 (hated it, cried so much that my parents pulled me out LMAO) and I was on the volleyball team in Grade 6. I'm left-handed and I had a habit of serving into the wall, unfortunately, and the habit got worse when I was nervous. During one game, they took pity on me so much that they paused the game until I got the ball over the net. I was fucking humiliated and have never played a team sport since then. 🤣💀 Re: other physical activities, I like dancing! I've taken a ton of different kinds of dance classes including swing, salsa, bellydancing, and Bollywood dancing, and loved all of them!

DO YOU USE SARCASM? No. Me? Never. 🙃🤣 Forreal though yes. All the time.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Uh...! I don't know if there's any one specific thing? I usually take in an "overall impression" of appearance. Vague, but that's all I've got. If the question was "what's the first thing you notice in people you're attracted to", that might be a different story 🤣

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR? Brown.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? I am going to copy Johaerys's answer and say it doesn't matter to me, as long as the story was good. But also, who says scary movies/horror media can't have happy endings?? 🤣Haunting of Hill House, anyone? (Bittersweet, maybe, but it counts as happy to me!)

ANY TALENTS? Would it be wretched if I said I feel like writing might be a talent? Whatever, I'm saying it. 🤣😅

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? In a hospital in the same city where I currently live! Which I will chose not to reveal openly! 🤣

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES? Writing! It takes up a solid 75-90% of my free time. Also gaming (which I might count into the writing time since it often becomes Research™ for the writing 🤣). I also enjoy baking and cooking, though I don't know that I'd count those as hobbies since they're necessary ADLs?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? A cat named Meeko. She is my daemon. We can never be apart when I am home. Case in point, a photo taken in real-time while completing this quiz:

HOW TALL ARE YOU? 5'3".

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? Uhhh... what level of school are we talking here? In undergrad, I took an incredible linguistics/history course about writing systems, and that was probably my favourite class ever. I took a course during undergrad about different schools of psychotherapy that was pretty damned influential too.

DREAM JOB? I also loved Johaerys's answer here: "I don't think there's any sort of job anyone could do in this capitalist hellscape we're all currently living in that would be enjoyable enough to make up for, well... living in a capitalist hellscape." I'm lucky enough to work in the public healthcare system so I'm pretty safe from the worst of capitalism, I guess, though my job (speech-language pathologist) is one I chose more for practicality (certainty of employment) than because I was really passionate about it. If I could do something else and not have to worry about money, I would either want to be a fiction editor, or a sex therapist.

Tagging forward to @ranaspkillnarieth @iamcayc @heroofshield @fantasy-girl974 @hellas-himself @midnightacrobat @alyssalenko @vorchagirl @elinorbard @stuffforthestash @mwasaw @lordofthenerds97 @y0ureviltwin @ladyofthelake91 @perhapsrampancy @cha-mij and genuinely, anyone else who wants to share!!! Tag me so I can spy on your life! 🤣❤

[abcd-adventures]

I think that it was @hopefulmisanthrope who posted something a few days ago about big problems being difficult to solve and how it's damaging to say, "Well if X would just happen then we wouldn't have problem Y anymore." It was a good post. Big problems are big problems for a reason. Austin, for a while now, has been trying to address the issue of homelessness--maybe primarily because rich people in our city are very opposed to tents being visible in public spaces...but whatever the reason, there at least has been increased funding for the past few years for housing projects. But, because for some reason we just really want one single X to solve the Y problem, the city is like, "We should spend less money on services for people who are homeless/have recently experienced homelessness and just build more temporary housing/shelters and some affordable housing! Problem solved! People will not technically be on the street. Then, obviously, their lives will immediately be better again and we won't have those pesky tents ruining our city's image!" Who needs healthcare/mental healthcare, education, career support, advocacy, etc. when you technically have a roof over your head--usually temporarily!? That will solve everything! There are 140 residents in my supportive housing building. There are four of us on the services team--two of us are part-time, and my building has the largest services team out of 8. Most buildings have two people for ~100 residents. And, if the city cuts some of our services grant funding, that may be an even more pitiful picture.

This post is already so long...and I feel like it hasn't even started...and what is the point? Me shouting into the void? Everyone knows systemic racism sucks, income inequality sucks, mental health stigma is a huge barrier, a criminal record might as well be a death knell for one's career aspirations--especially if you're Black or brown, our healthcare system sucks--especially if you live below the poverty line, and all of those issues then foster isolation and loneliness which exacerbates health and mental health challenges...but yes, let's reduce the support for services and build more temporary housing because magic bullets are a thing, right?

What I love about my job is that I get to work with my clients where they live, and I get to work with them to address ALL of those things and get to do it long-term. And, it WORKS. But, yes, it's intense and time-consuming, and often not cheap...but when I found this job I was SO EXCITED because THIS is what social work is to me, but it's not what it usually gets to be in the "real world," and if our city has anything to say about it, it's going to be less of a thing very soon.

[tessa-quayle]

FanFiction Recommendations

before I disclose my favorite Pedro Pascal character-related fan fiction here, a few caveats and disclosed biases: I’m a woman of a certain age.  I was your average English lit major.  I’m the dork who - upon listening to Jewel’s debut album and hearing the lyric “you can be Henry Miller and I’ll be Anais Nin” in the mid 1990s  - legit hauled my ass to the local public library and looked up Anais Nin - using the Dewey Decimal system - to read her elevated smut.  Right now I’m a content but exhausted, ragey American woman in a mid-life crisis.  I hate bullshit, I have an ok attention span, I scroll/read after the family’s gone to bed.  

if you look at my semi-neglected Tumblr page, you’ll see I’m relatively new to the Pedro fandom.  What a privilege to dive into really superb writing.  This is clearly not an exhaustive list and reflects my tastes (and to each her/his/their own)!  But if you’re an exhausted parent in a mid-life crisis and have no time, this may be for you! 

in no particular order...

@fuckyeahdindjarin - masterlist - Cee describes herself as a writer who pens romantic comedies - and she does a stellar job with them - but she sells herself short and fails to mention the sex scenes she writes are hot.  especially love the consent series (dieter bravo), the grays 2-part series (frankie morales), and of course, the ongoing joel miller/pin series.  a delightful mix of angst, sweetness, spice.  and a thoughtful writer with an inclusive mindset. 

@absurdthirst - masterlist - if you told me Keri has a few stories published in several “best of erotica” anthologies, I’d believe you.  good smut is fucking hard to write.  this is great smut.  this is smut you read and then take a cold shower afterwards or do whatever it is you like to do to get yourself off.  it’s smut that even as a non-smoker and knowing all the terrible health risks you may think goddamn I need a cigarette.  I'm partial to a few Javier Pena and Agent Whiskey pieces, but you’d be satisfied reading any of her stories.

@something-tofightfor - masterlist - Rachael should give a master class on how to write the best slow burn.  Her Joel Miller stories stand out for several reasons including - 1) she thoughtfully incorporates elements of the original canon/game into her fanfic which is uncommon in the PP fandom (from what I’ve seen/read at least), 2) every Joel story/chapter is compelling and well imagined.  Her current series on Tim Rockford has me on the edge of my seat and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.  And judging from the titles of her stories, we have similar music tastes (ha!). 

@disgruntledspacedad - this writer hasn’t updated in several months, but their Javier Pena multi-chapter fic (and folks, there are MANY out there) called Better Love is the one that kept me going and going and wanting to read more (see mention of short attention span in a tired mama above).  being in the healthcare field, I also arch my eyebrows out of curiosity when someone weaves medical stuff into their writing and wonder what line of work they do.  (yes I'm a terribly biased nerd, I’m a sucker for when someone puts a f!physician reader into their PP-character related drabble).

@jomiddlemarch - she is a great friend and a gifted, amazing writer who always makes me wonder “how does she do this and how does she do this so well and so quickly while the rest of us plebes are just getting through our day.”  she writes for MULTIPLE fandoms (and judging from the notes on her posts, I think her readership is more into those than Pedro and the Last of Us but it’s ok!), and started writing Joel Miller and an OFC (she created!) named Grace Yang (NOT ME - but maybe there’s a chance she created this OFC to shut me up since I’ve been rambling on and on about how besotted I am with Pedro 😂).  If you’re into OFCs, read her stuff.  Check out the (ongoing) entire series on her AO3 here.  Here’s one story that you can find on her Tumblr.  Two of the five stories are Ted Lasso crossovers - all her stories are written so richly and so layered - she’s the star in your writing workshop who’s showing and not telling - I’m still thinking about how there’s so much to unpack in the latest one. :) 

[meredoubt]

I'm extremely far left in just about all respects, and won't budge, but I gotta admit: having multiple people in my life who work in the declining medical/firefighting/EMT fields (in terms of support, and aging workers) does give me pause. Maybe it's because I'm rural, and can already see what a declining town looks like in terms of infrastructure. Idk man.

Public works and services (at least in my area) are not showing that "people will still want to work," on stuff that actually matters, like healthcare, education, emergency services, roads. Rural hospitals are being gutted, particularly maternity care. A vicious cycle, because declining birthrates means the hospitals don't cross the 50 kids per year threshold that justifies their existence, which shutters the programs, which means the healthcare gets worse in the area, which makes it less appealing to move there, which means lower birthrate, etc etc ad nauseum. Like, sure, some of that will be mitigated when capitalism falls or everyone is covered by UBI or whatever. Right. Like passionate doctors will live there or make the trek out to the boonies or whatever. But it still wouldn't be enough.

And I do care. I care because cities are not what I necessarily want the future to look like. We need to be realistic that "green cities" are utopian, and will barely qualify as cities. Most of the changes to make them green will gut a lot of the benefits of moving to higher population centers, and then it's just...less benefits, but with the addition of being crowded. There are pros-"it takes a village" i think these days makes more sense as "it takes a city," given the isolation in rural areas. Like that idea only really can take root in close quarters, and thats not rural or suburbs anymore.

To be clear, i don't want suburbs, either, with HOAs or whatever. But cities are not great, environmentally, either, even if letting many rural areas RETVRN TO NATVRE or whatever is I think good. But it's like...idk. Studying mortuary really has me thinking about how even the "greener" options of all our alternatives for everything aren't enough. Cities aren't enough, they've got pros sure, but massive cons. Anticiv shit isn't enough, but in societal ways, in the ways that encourage human adaptation/evolution. And that does matter. Not our numbers, but that we continue to evolve, in subtle ways. We've settled at a solid blueprint. But I'm always looking ahead towards climate change, and past that human extinction, and past that Sol's collapse, and I'm just. It's far ahead. But the way immortalists talk, they want to mitigate our bodies. That concerns me. Life, death, human consciousness. These things are all so fragile, so tied to our physicality, in such a delicate ecosystem.

I just worry. Foolish, long term worry, but I do.

None of it is enough.

I'm not one of those freaks who's like, concerned about demographics or overpopulation or whatever. But I do have some concerns about a worldwide aging population that requires care and support as a majority, regardless of whatever system we build. Capitalism obviously exacerbates the problem because it created it, with it's cancerous need for growth. But.

I don't know. It's collapsing empire, I'm aware, but some part of me looks at the talked about replacements or alternatives and finds all of it-all we've built, and our lofty ambitious pipedream blueprints-to be woefully wanting.

And you know. I don't like humanity, often. But I do love it, whatever it looks like, in 100 years or back 1000 or forward to whatever our descendents could look like, whatever could be after homo sapiens. Our potential.

Repair the world is on my mind, more than usual.

I just don't think any of what we're doing will be big enough.

Demand it be.

[ryukisgod]

jsyk, americans statistically would love universal healthcare. the trouble is that our democracy is broken and we don't typically get what we want. id advise against blaming victims in general, personally.

The tale of the scorpion and the frog: a scorpion wishing to cross a river asks a frog “can I ride on your back to the other side?”

The frog says “no you’ll sting me and I’ll die.”

The scorpion replies “if I did that I would drown too.”

The frog thinks about it and agrees. Halfway across the river the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the poison and knows it’s dying. “Why did you sting me? You’re going to drown.”

The scorpion tells the frog “it’s just my nature to sting animals.”

The scorpion and the frog both die.

The surveyer asks the American “do you want a government healthcare system?”

The American replies “yes.”

The surveyer presses, “you would be happy to have your taxes pay for other peoples healthcare?”

The American replies “that’s fine.”

The surveyer continues “you would be comfortable going to a public hospital?”

The American becomes a little annoyed by all the questions “yes I’m comfortable going to a public hospital and any other Public Health Service.”

The surveyer asks the most important question “so you’ll do whatever it takes to achieve this political goal, no matter how long it takes?”

“Whatever it takes” replies the American.

An election comes around and the Republican candidate wins.

“Why didn’t you vote for the other person?” The world cries.

“I couldn’t,” replies the American “my moral purity is more important than making incremental steps towards the goal of universal healthcare. It’s just in my nature not to vote.”

The American dies from a treatable illness because they can’t afford medicine.

[rebootgrimm]

Pre-Act 1 Lore

Zaria’s parent’s house is on the same street as Sora’s grandmother’s house.

Her grandpa set up a bad healthcare system before he died that passed onto her father (only accessible to the rich)

Her father made it worse (lies about why people can’t get the life saving healthcare they need)

Her father was business partners with Sora’s parents

Her father is business partners with Rhiannon

Health / pregnancy issues have likely been passed onto her by both of her parents

Zaria’s father has fainting issues due to overworking

Zaria got her father’s chronic illness

She was only born as a potential heir for if her dad died

Her parents wanted a boy to run the company because of traditional values

Her uncle is head of HR

Any large change needs to get past HR, making positive changes impossible

Media and government are in on it

First memory is winning Ramshackle’s Next Top Model or whatever the fuck it’s called and being overwhelmed.

Parents were mentally abusive

Her father used his ability to get over his chronic illness to get Zaria to suck hers up

Zaria was taught to not love anything because it causes weakness

Was “friends” with Avrille but hated her

Was never taught any survival skills

Was “on-call” for modeling on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

The modeling instructor isn’t as harsh on Zaria due to her father having a deal with the instructor (company stuff). The other kids resent Zaria for this

She does know basic First Aid due to her father having fainting spells as a pre-teen

Almost caused an oil fire while trying to cook.

Zaria doesn’t want to marry a man, but her parents won’t accept anybody that isn’t male

Doesn’t have good memories regarding people drinking alcohol

Has vague trauma reactions to angry outbursts

Got an embroidery kit at about 13-14 years old that she used mainly on Wednesdays

Zaria used her embroidery skills to fix up an old jacket

She’s had to attend meetings since she was 15 (1 year and a couple months before running away)

Zaria was homeschooled as a kid, and Wednesday’s meetings were considered part of her schooling.

She was 16 when she ran away

Act 1 happened about 2 months afterwards

With Act 1 being over as of typing I figured that I’d post the lore that we know for Zaria. This is everything that’s public for what happened before Act 1.

[clementine-kesh]

uhhhh top 5 cities?

1. TORONTO!!! my beloved hometown. anyone who complains about it is just a hater and jealous they’ll never have her range. vibrant culture, great food, lots of weird architecture. one of the coolest things about it imo is that due to its high immigrant population it has a lot of “little x” or “x-town” neighbourhoods where people from x place traditionally settled. chinatown, little india, greektown, etc. it gives the city a really cool cultural patchwork feel.

2. victoria. i don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world like vic, it’s just a weird and amazing little city. it’s pretty isolated for a city its size, being on an island squished between mountains and sea, which makes it feel very insular and cutoff from the rest of the world. i think that’s also why it’s so vibrant, because people can’t just go to vancouver or whatever on a whim for their entertainment. also it’s just straight up an incredibly beautiful place.

3. seattle. sorry for preferring seattle to vancouver but i really really love seattle. capitol hill is so cool i’d move there in a heartbeat if i didn’t like free healthcare so much.

4. halifax. i’ve only been there once but i really loved the vibe. my fiancé’s family moved out there from the west coast a few years back (though we haven’t been able to visit them as much as we’d like because covid and school) so i’m looking forwards to going back more often!

5. new york. i know it’s stereotypical but it is a really cool city. i just wish the subway system didn’t feel like it was going to collapse at any moment. people who complain about toronto’s public transit have not been to nyc.

[just-rogi]

Are you Marxist?

Right now I’m a teacher- and I know that isn’t the answer that you wanted but listen-

Ideologically I don’t care what we call it, I will support my kids getting food every day and my classroom being funded so the kids can have the materials they need.

I will support any programs that complete fund public transportation, and which will actually put roofs over the heads of the people I pass on the street every day. I support the radical dismantling of government programs like the military and the police and the redistribution of those funds. I support the private dismantling of monopolies and large corporations hoarding wealth and food and homes.

I support not having to work myself to the bone every single week- coming home so dead tired that I fall asleep in my work clothes at 7:30 because I feel my body breaking from the five day/ eight hour work week. I support the death of the landlord class and the model, by which, a public City of Boston employee who works 40 hours a week for the city can’t afford to actually LIVE in the city on my salary (I have four roomates)

I support the complete reconstruction of the Forster care system, which in many cases takes children from loving parents for lack of funding, rather than just giving the parents access to food and clothes and a home to call their own and raise their children in. As wealth isn’t an indicator of morality and responsibility, and certainly not a reason to separate children from families who love them.

I support free and accessible educational for the brilliant black and brown children I see every day who have been barred from higher education due to the costs of privatized education- I support the fully funded public schools, community centers, libraries, and museums as safe spaces for all people of all ages to go, as knowledge should never be only accessible to a certain class.

I support gutting the private medical and pharmaceutical industry and instead building up public healthcare in which people will have access to medication which they desperately need without having to pay thousands of dollars. Where people can access mental health care, elder care and senior homes drug and alcohol abuse care (and yes that includes safe sites to dispose of sharps, and inject drugs without fear of dirty needles and ODing I know for whatever reason people can’t stomach that one) , rehabilitation for addiction, mental illness, and eating disorder without being in crippling debt for life. As a kid I had to ration my inhaler as they were close to $100 USD each. As an adult I want to make sure that no child - or person in general- has to do that with something that they NEED.

Everyone deserves to live in comfort and dignity, and no one man or company should have the power to sway politics or hoard property, food, or medication while the people are in need of care.

I have read a little bit about communist theory, and know all The Hits (hello communist manifesto), and yeah ideologically I suppose I agree with a lot of it on the surface level, but frankly I’ve read a LOT more about Socio Emotional Leaning, and teaching phonetics to ELL students, and textbooks on Ancient Civ as that is how I spend my whole day.

It would be arrogant and ignorant to call myself a Marxist, as I am know knowledgeable enough about the difference between Marxism, or Marxist Leninism, or Maoism, or all the nuances between the different communist and socialist political and ideological movements. And frankly, at this point in my life I don’t care about the label that you use- I care that food gets on my kids lunch trays and that they all have a warm bed to go home to and a place to learn and all their health needs met. Weather that is achieved by voting or by revolution, I don’t care. Weather it’s the marxists that get it done or the Maoist’s, I don’t care. Fuck if the Democrats were advocating for all that I’d be first in line to the polls (though even now please still vote, both in national and local elections- not voting is used to silence you and is a tool of the oppressor).

I really honestly don’t know shit about anything, and it would be sooooo much easier to give you a sound bite and respond “FUCK YEAH MARXISM BASED!!!!” With gif of a hammer and sickle flag…. But that feels reductive and unrepresentative as I honestly and truly am not intelligent enough about the subject to talk about it at length. What I am knowledgeable enough about is working full time in public education in a low income school. And working for a non profit organization in rural communities. And volunteering to get my boots dirty doing non profit work during what little free time I have. I know a lot about the world that I WANT to make better and if Marxism can get it’s shit together all the better- but a revolution WONT just be peacefully standing around discussing ideology. It starts in your classrooms and food banks and your streets. So I suggest that any real Marxist get themselves a pair of practical shoes.

[bizarrobrain]

“Young people just want free shit.” Don’t you just love the hand waving? The basic idea is - under this system - your own taxes should ensure that you won’t go deep into debt because you sought out higher education or you need medical treatment. That’s the thing that gets me about the whole “I don’t want my tax dollars being used to subsidize other people’s problems” rhetoric...every form of public policy it’s used to argue against directly and materially benefits me even if I never personally avail myself of their services. Comprehensive healthcare reform and easy access to accurate medical information means I’m less likely to contract and die from some bizarre disease I caught from casual contact with a complete stranger at a show or on public transport. Good schools, public housing, easy access to food and water, better job security, etc., means my shit is less likely to be stolen or vandalized by desperate and bored teenagers and later by desperate adults who unfortunately couldn’t escape that cycle of poverty for whatever reason. Good comprehensive and inclusive sex education, not that abstinence only education shit, means young people will be less likely to end up with a child they aren’t prepared to/cannot afford to take care of or a potentially life-ruining STD or a botched abortion or any number of horrific things. Also kids will be taught to recognize abuse and generally, hopefully be a little smarter and little better off than my generation. The existence of these kinds of slightly more progressive programs confers immediate and measurable benefits to me, personally, unlike the $1.7 trillion dollar F35 program or tax-exempt churches. I don’t even need to give a fuck about other people - pure self-interest literally argues in my favor!

[soryualeksi]

ENTIRELY leaving aside a case-by-case discussion about how sensible or not [Insert Measure Implemented XYZ] was or is to combat [Insert Bad Thing Occurring ABC]. I feel like, at least among the select demographic of "Germans I personally see making any statements about it whatsoever", fireworks of all things has become the new thing to be The Most Pious about after we all had to get used to the pandemic.

Last year around this time it was "Well, *I* don't miss social gatherings of any kind or going to the cinema or the zoo or shopping for anything Non-Essential, and *I* don't mourn my glasses not fogging up wherever I go and *I* also never liked smelling anything in the public sphere ever, anyway" as the ultimate "look how Virtuous and Pure I am by not only following [Insert Measure Implemented XYZ] but also LOVING it with every fiber of my being and if you don't, well, you're just not as Pious as me".

Now it's fucking "No, *I* never liked fireworks or sparklers or firecrackers or ANYTHING ever before, and I spent ALL my New Year's Eves since I've been born at home, alone, going to bed at 8 p.m. and WITHOUT ever consuming any alcoholic beverages EVER, because as you know alcohol is Impure duh. New Year's Eve celebrations are Noisy and Dangerous and Bad For The Environment and Bad For The Healthcare System, and also gatherings in general spread germs and should be avoided, and also ANY recreational activity where GROWN ASS ADULTS can POSSIBLY injure themselves IF THEY DON'T MIND BASIC FUCKING SAFETY MEASURES should be prohibited by laws that are then VIGOROUSLY enforces because I just LOVE calling the police on my fucking neighbours.

Oh and also DIE NACHTRUHE IST EINZUHALTEN."

Like, Jesus Fucking Christ. Yes, *you* love it, yes, *you* are the most Pure and Pious and somehow being against [Hedonist Thing DEF That Is Actually Just Humans Humaning Around] is a status marker of perfect moral virtuousness and YES you CAN'T BELIEVE how people could EVER have enjoyed whatever the fuck you think should be banned by law so you can finally call the police on your neighbours again, YES WE GET IT. STFU GODDAMMIT.

God. Some of us LIKED having fun in "unproductive, waste-of-money" ways. You're so much more Enlightened than us NOW SHUT UP AND GO SIT IN YOUR ROOM NOT DRINKING NOT LIGHTING FIREWORKS NOT MEETING PEOPLE NOT CELEBRATING BECAUSE CELEBRATIONS DON'T PRODUCE ANYTHING OF VALUE GOD

I swear, if someone legit approaches my little kids!!!! AGAIN!!!!!!! this year to scold them about "not minding the state of the world and that there's No Normalcy Like Before anymore" because these two little kids ruthlessly, mindlessly and not at all piously threw some of these tiny little Knallerbsen things that are just thumbnail-sized pouches that make a little *pop* when they hit the ground (and that we had equipment to clean up with us), THIS TIME I WILL GO NUCLEAR.

FUCK. OFF.

[jamhood]

Beacon of Freedom

Even though said to be the leader of the free world and the most powerful position in the world, a president of the United States really isn't. Thank goodness a president doesn't have the power to fundamentally transform the United States, as Obama thought he could. If indeed he could, the United States would cease to be the beacon of freedom to the world. The free market economy of the United States would be dismantled and replaced by the authoritarian collectivist society proffered by Frank Marshall Davis, Saul Alinsky and their kind. From March 23, 2015 Washington Post article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee [washingtonpost.com],

He and his peers … believe communist influences have been played down by the media. Obama has shown to be an ineffective communist, ... He has failed to unravel the capitalist system over the past six years that he has held the most powerful position in the world.

And

No other person can claim the title of Obama “mentor” than Davis, wrote Paul Kengor in The Communist, his book about Davis and Obama. “Frank is a lasting, permanent influence, an integral part of Obama’s sojourn."

The influence of Davis and Alinsky on Obama, Hillary Clinton and other global collectivists of the Democrat Party is abundantly manifest in their speeches. They consistently implement the principles of Saul Alinsky from his publications, Reveille for Radicals and Rules for Radicals. Examples,

Control healthcare and you control the people.

If people don't think they have the power to solve their problems, they won't even think about how to solve them.

If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.

The most effective means are whatever will achieve the desired results.

The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization.

In the beginning the organizer's first job is to create the issues or problems.

When she was a college student, Clinton studied Saul Alinsky. Clinton first met Alinsky in 1969 at Wellesley working on her thesis on his controversial theories of community organizing outlined in his 1946 handbook, Reveille for Radicals. In Clinton's 1971 letter to Alinsky [news.yahoo.com] referring to his new book Rules for Radicals she wrote,

When is that new book coming out or has it come and I somehow missed the fulfillment of Revelation? I have just had my one-thousandth conversation about Reveille and need some new material to throw at people. If I never thanked you for the encouraging words of last spring …, I do so now. I am living in Berkeley and working in Oakland for the summer and would love to see you.

Yet, she denounces as radicals those free market economy Republicans and right thinking people who hold that government must adhere to the Constitution. She defames them as a "basket of deplorables." A most conspicuous example of Clinton's devotion to Alinsky is her constant use of Alinsky's fundamental rule,

Accuse your opponent of what you are doing, to create confusion and to inculcate voters against evidence of your own guilt.

As the proponents of global collectivism, the left, only have one principle, which is the ends justifies the means, any indictments of their wrongdoing are cast aside. Clinton, Obama and their kind use the principles of those on the right against them.

Make the enemy live up to their own rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.

The occupant of the office of president isn't a king, emperor or dictator. The president isn't responsible for the economy and everyone's well being. By indoctrinating the people into the notion of the president as the leader of the free world and the most powerful position in the world, the global collectivists of the Democrat Party and their minions in the news media, if they attain the goal of their struggle to become the permanent majority, will have everyone accustomed to the idea of the president as dictator and absolute ruler of the United States. As the political party with a permanent majority, they could establish an absolute democracy in which no minority political party, nor anyone not in the majority, would have any say in government.

Heed the words of Pericles, the ancient Greek Athenian statesman, "Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." Let us make a stand to preserve our constitutional republic of the United States from becoming another democratic socialist failure like the former Soviet Union and all the others.

[galactichelium]

Really starting to wonder how long it's gonna be before I can see a rheumatologist now. Like. On paper I was only supposed to be on the waitlist for "up to 365 days", but in reality, way too many fucking people need to go to the rheumatology clinic. I was told by a different gp that the rheumatology waitlists are notoriously very long and wasn't surprised when I told him I had already been waiting a year. It's now been almost 14 months ! I love the public healthcare system /s. But at least it's free I suppose :/

Now Because it has now been over 365 days, I was asked if 1. I still wanted to be on the waitlist, and 2. If I wanted to be put on a separate list for basically "if someone else cancels an appointment I can come and snatch theirs". So I am now on That list. But I have a feeling that if waiting on this list for over a year wasn't surprising to my doctor... a lot of people are probably on that list. Augh.

Extra 2/3 paragraphs below the cut that aren't necessary to read but go a bit more into detail

How long will it be until I have a clue what is wrong with me and it doesn't feel like it's all just in my head. Because the blood tests came back negative for any of the usual indicators of rheumatoid arthritis, but that doesn't necessarily rule it out completely. But it could possibly be other things too.

I just found out a few months ago that my dad has ankylosing spondylitis so that's likely at least some of my problem, as I share the problems that he has with that in the same areas. And he said his problems with it started around the time that mine did (12 - 14). Though almost certainly not exclusively my problems because this doesn't come with hand pain afaik, and he only has minor hand pain. Whereas my hand pain is I'd say slightly more significant than my neck/shoulder pain. Separately from that, my dad has a generic "arthritis" diagnosis as well, but it seems to present mostly differently from whatever I have going on so.

(To clarify, bc it was misinterpreted by a gp when I was 15 or 16. The neck/shoulder pain is in the joints where the neck joins the shoulders + where the shoulders join the arms. Same as my dad. This isn't just "computer usage" pain, although I have that to a minor extent too.)

[cocochannel00]

The Azoff Family: A Case Study on one of the Music Industry’s Most Connected Families

(ft. a breakdown of the Grammy voting process and problems)

This is very long so I will try and split it up into categories for everyone (sorry I got carried away- I spent like 2 hours writing this) but enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I want to preface while the majority of this is based in research, some parts may be speculation. I don’t know the family personally so I can’t tell you what goes on behind closed doors but I can tell you how parts of the entertainment/music industry work. I’ve had 5 internships in the industry (one in marketing at one of the big record labels) and the rest of my work is publicity (what I enjoy) and events and a former advisor used to run in the same circles as Irving Azoff (and he spilled some tea last year) I’m not out here to diminish the hard work of any artists or their teams, I’m simply here to showcase parts of the industry that aren’t always shown.*

Please also see: Story Time: How Fan Pages Directly Impact Columbia Records Decisions and Harry Styles Image

IRVING AZOFF: NEVER STOP THE GRIND

Let’s begin with the great business man himself Mr. Irving Azoff Irving Azoff is the literal posture child for connections and power in the music industry (he was also inducted into the 2020 rock and roll hall of fame class which is like a huge fucking deal for a manager to be inducted so you know he's the real deal)

In conclusion, I love Irving Azoff and his drive.

Irving Azoff: Early Years Run Down:

He came up middle class (dad was a pharmacist, mom a bookkeeper) in Danville, Illinois

He dropped out of college to run a small Midwestern concert-booking empire and managed local acts in the era

Opportunity came knocking and he got the chance to manage the Eagles and the rest is history

He's one of the best negotiators and has negotiated business on behalf of stars like Stevie Nicks, the Eagles, and Jimmy Buffet

Azoff has been an incredible manager and his drive to always advocate for his clients while basically not giving two sh*ts about what people think of him has gotten him the incredible reputation he has today.

All of Irving Azoff’s Major Job Positions:

Former President MCA (major label)

Former CEO of Ticketmaster and executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, the behemoth formed from Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation.

In 2013 he and Cablevision Systems Corp. CEO and New York Knicks owner James Dolan formed a partnership, Azoff MSG Entertainment (Currently still CEO)

----> Azoff also ran the Forum in Inglewood under Azoff MSG Entertainment after MSG purchased it in 2012 (it was sold in 2020 to the owner of the Clippers) — why do you think Harry played the forum for the Fine Line show? Azoff connection

Azoff MSG Entertainment encompasses all of the other companies including Full Stop Management, Global Music Rights (performance-rights org), and the Oak View Group (arena developing company)

He also is the co-founder and manager of the lobbying group Music Artists Coalition, a group that helps lobby for artists-rights issues such as royalty rates, copyright issue and healthcare insurance (see he's not all bad)

Essentially what I'm getting at is this man knows anybody who's anybody. He's the man you want on your team to help promote your music, plan your tour, and get you on that Grammy nom list.

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JEFFREY AZOFF: THE CHILD OF NEPOTISM

So for those of you that don't know, Jeffery Azoff is Harry's current manager and the son of Irving Azoff (the third of four kids). He's currently a partner at Full Stop Management, the company owned by Irving and the one artists such as Harry, Haim, the Eagles, Kings of Leon, and Meghan Trainer are signed to.

Jeffrey graduated from the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business and started working fresh out of college at his father's old Management company (Frontline Management) working under Maroon 5's manager Jordan Feldstein (the only way you get that kind of internship/job as a 21 year old fresh out of college is if your family or family friends gives it to you). He worked here for 5 years.

Direct Quote from Irving Azoff to Jeffrey (really tells you a lot): "Listen carefully, because I’m going to say this one time. You have a phone and you have my last name. If you can’t figure it out, you’re not my son."

After working for his father, Jeffrey moved on to the talent agency CAA (Creative Artist Agency) where he worked for roughly 3 and half years before joining his dad in forming Full Stop Management in 2016.

While he was at CAA, Irving moved over clients like Christina Aguilera and the Eagles to the talent agency to help with tour booking instead of doing it internally through LiveNation (he was CEO).

Even though I'm sure Jeff has had to work somewhat hard to get to where he is (or at least to mess up his dad's work as he doesn't seem like the type to take laziness well), the door into the industry and every job was basically handed to him on a silver platter.

Not to mention if you watch episodes of keeping up with the  kardashians (like myself) you can actually see Jeff hanging out with kendall and the rest of the fam at their Palm Springs house (you know you're a nepotism kid if you have an in with the Kardashian crew). Invite me next time Jeffrey!!!

Think of the Azoff's as the mafia family of the music industry, you don't mess with the mafia

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THE GRAMMY AWARDS: STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS ON STEROIDS

Ok so here's where we’re going to get into a bit more of the speculation/grey area. I don't need to tell you that award shows are corrupt (See the Golden Globes Emily in Paris scandal) and the Grammys are not an exception. Think of the Grammys as one big student council/government elections where despite the fact the teachers tell you six times to vote for the best candidate, you're still going to vote for your friends even if they aren't the best.

A simplified break-down of Grammy voting:

1) Recording Academy voting members (artists, producers, musicians- anyone involved first hand with the creation of music; All voting members must have been producers, performers or engineers on six or more tracks of a commercially released album (or 12 or more digital tracks) and record labels will submit nominations in various categories to the grammys (songs need to be released commercially between October 1 of the previous year and September 30th of this year). You can also become a voting member by either winning a grammy or being endorsed by a current voting member (hint hint)

2) Once received, the recording academy with have the academy of trustees and its reviewers organize them and approve any changes to the 30 categories/fields (aka they can add new categories or remove old ones; so no best ukulele album of the year -- this is where things get funky)

There's speculation that during this stage when these special groups of 8-10 people are organizing genres, there's an "unwritten rule" that you need to be careful what album you green light (especially for famous artists) if you don't want them to win) (Rob Kenner said this- he used to be on one of these committees). Famous people tend to get more votes from clueless or lay Academy members that don't know the specialized categories or don't care enough to listen to songs that aren't radio trending.

3) After the nominations occur, Voting members begin their first voting. Members can vote for the four general categories of record of the year, album of the year, song of the year and best new artist and a maximum of 15 categories, all within their areas of expertise. Now the interesting thing is that while these are the guidelines there is literally nothing stopping them from voting in whatever categories they want (i.g. a rapper voting in the opera category despite not listening to opera). Theses ballots are all tallied and the top 20 entries are determined in each category (funky moment #2)

In 12 of the 84 categories those top 20 go to the ballot and it's done; for the rest it’s not like that. 59 categories including the big four go to a "nomination review committees" (identities are protected so they can't get lobbied... sure) who take a look at the top 20 and narrow it down to 7 or 8. (these are the special committees the Weekend talked about when he was snubbed). They're supposed to choose the nominees "based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible recordings" which lets be real if that was the case Watermelon Sugar (along with most of the others in the category) I don't think would have been nomimated as they are very generic pop (none of them are special... sorry to the WM lovers out there).

This committee is basically held to THE HONOR CODE SYSTEM... I mean tell me when the last time the honor code system worked in literally any scenario (literally wtf). Don't take my word for it though the former CEO of the Academy Deborah Dugan (a queen) filed a complaint against the Recording Academy basically claiming that the nomination review process was rigged (she was fired after 5 months on the job).

Quote from Deborah Dugan "Members of the board [of trustees] and the secret committees chose artists with whom they have personal or business relationships... It is not unusual for artists who have relationships with Board members and who ranked at the bottom of the initial 20-artist list to end up receiving nominations."

These review committees can also exploit there power by adding up to two nominees that don't appear on the top 20 list to the final voting ballot (except in the 4 big categories - which watermelon sugar that one wasn't nominated for)

They also have craft committees for like non performance stuff (like album notes, engineering and arranging) that don't even get voted on by the academy voting members

4) After all of that fucked up mess, the grammy's decided is ok, the ballots go back to the voting members for the final vote. Deloitte (an accounting firm) then counts all of them, seals them in envelopes, and delivers them to the Grammy award show.

** The Grammy's just announced this year they're removing the "secret committees" so let's see how things shift in the next couple of years**

So obviously I'm not saying this to discredit Harry's nomination or his win as Fine Line was in the US top 20 albums for the majority of 2020, however, we must acknowledge privilege. Harry has a big name to him and a huge following, and while all of that shouldn't be taken into account, it does. He also has the Azoffs, a very well connected family with friends in lots of places that would be able to put in a good word here and there to get support behind Harry. Harry won best pop solo performance for Watermelon Sugar in a category with Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa. Look at the names there, the songs (ya'll can try and remember them cause I'm too lazy to write it out) and tell me that those top names with all of the music produced didn't get there through some connections.

Do with all this information what you will and if you are interested in learning more about the entertainment industry on your own Endeavor (owners of WME, a big talent agency like CAA) is hosting a free online program called the Excellence Program to help guide the future generation of industry executives. The program is a-synchronous and starts on July 12th. Highly recommend giving it a go if you're interested!!!

Alright ya'll that's it. Feel free to message me with your thoughts!

Extra Sources if you'd like to read:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdndn/how-grammys-voting-actually-works-and-where-the-alleged-corruption-lies

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/voting-process

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-11-05/irving-azoff-eagles-manager

https://celebrityaccess.com/caarchive/jeffrey-azoff-exits-caa-to-launch-new-management-company/

https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/grammy-awards-secret-committees-945532/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/grammy-awards-eliminate-secret-committees-voting-changes-1163887/