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batboyblog · 22 days

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Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #14

April 12-19 2024

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with Samsung to help bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. The deal will bring 45 billion dollars of investment to Texas to help build a research center in Taylor Texas and expand Samsung's Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility. The Biden Administration estimates this will create 21,000 new jobs. Since 1990 America has fallen from making nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor to just over 10% in 2020.

The Department of Energy announced it granted New York State $158 million to help support people making their homes more energy efficient. This is the first payment out of a $8.8 billion dollar program with 11 other states having already applied. The program will rebate Americans for improvements on their homes to lower energy usage. Americans could get as much as $8,000 off for installing a heat pump, as well as for improvements in insulation, wiring, and electrical panel. The program is expected to help save Americans $1 billion in electoral costs, and help create 50,000 new jobs.

The Department of Education began the formal process to make President Biden's new Student Loan Debt relief plan a reality. The Department published the first set of draft rules for the program. The rules will face 30 days of public comment before a second draft can be released. The Administration hopes the process can be finished by the Fall to bring debt relief to 30 million Americans, and totally eliminate the debt of 4 million former students. The Administration has already wiped out the debt of 4.3 million borrowers so far.

The Department of Agriculture announced a $1 billion dollar collaboration with USAID to buy American grown foods combat global hunger. Most of the money will go to traditional shelf stable goods distributed by USAID, like wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, cornmeal, navy beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, while $50 million will go to a pilot program to see if USAID can expand what it normally gives to new products. The food aid will help feed people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.

The Department of the Interior announced it's expanding four national wildlife refuges to protect 1.13 million wildlife habitat. The refuges are in New Mexico, North Carolina, and two in Texas. The Department also signed an order protecting parts of the Placitas area. The land is considered sacred by the Pueblos peoples of the area who have long lobbied for his protection. Security Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary and a Pueblo herself signed the order in her native New Mexico.

The Department of Labor announced new work place safety regulations about the safe amount of silica dust mine workers can be exposed to. The dust is known to cause scaring in the lungs often called black lung. It's estimated that the new regulations will save over 1,000 lives a year. The United Mine Workers have long fought for these changes and applauded the Biden Administration's actions.

The Biden Administration announced its progress in closing the racial wealth gap in America. Under President Biden the level of Black Unemployment is the lowest its ever been since it started being tracked in the 1970s, and the gap between white and black unemployment is the smallest its ever been as well. Black wealth is up 60% over where it was in 2019. The share of black owned businesses doubled between 2019 and 2022. New black businesses are being created at the fastest rate in 30 years. The Administration in 2021 Interagency Task Force to combat unfair house appraisals. Black homeowners regularly have their homes undervalued compared to whites who own comparable property. Since the Taskforce started the likelihood of such a gap has dropped by 40% and even disappeared in some states. 2023 represented a record breaking $76.2 billion in federal contracts going to small business owned by members of minority communities. This was 12% of federal contracts and the President aims to make it 15% for 2025.

The EPA announced (just now as I write this) that it plans to add PFAS, known as forever chemicals, to the Superfund law. This would require manufacturers to pay to clean up two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. This move to force manufacturers to cover the costs of PFAS clean up comes after last week's new rule on drinking water which will remove PFAS from the nation's drinking water.

Bonus:

President Biden met a Senior named Bob in Pennsylvania who is personally benefiting from The President's capping the price of insulin for Seniors at $35, and Biden let Bob know about a cap on prosecution drug payments for seniors that will cut Bob's drug bills by more than half.

#Thanks Biden #Joe Biden #jobs #Economy #student loan debt #Environment #PFAS #politics #US politics #health care

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noxtivagus · 2 years

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thinking about if ever i go to one of those final fantasy orchestras i will Cry

#🌙.rambles #in all honestly i've only played (not all finished though) uhh 7/9/10/13/14/15 & i could play 8/12/type-0 though from my aunt c:#that said i love the osts of all of them ! not even just final fantasy oh man i love the osts of video games so much :c #nier & octopath & kingdom hearts would be next after ff i think #OH i love fire emblem & zelda & bravely & chrono & from software games & granblue fantasy & hades & the witcher & uhhh #a lot more i love music sm :')#sometimes i forget i went to a concert before! kpop. stray kids back in 2019 #when txt comes back here or if le sserafim ever. & exo. oh my god i'm not too much into kpop nymore but the music. yes. YEAH #.... soobin is cute too :c chaewon too :c Ok maybe all of them are still but yeah!!!!#back to final fantasy though i think i would actually cry. i really want to go to one eventually. but it seems so improbably. like a dream #but yk before i never thought i could be able to play ffxiv out of the free trial. or i would be able to get endwalker.#never thought i would be able to play with apollo. or i'd have all these friends.#everyone i met this year i never thought i would even meet you bcs goddamn it all happened out of nowhere :')#march. july. october. 3 people especially i think this year that. yeah #one i met due to smth related irl & another was on twitter & the other is in tumblr #it. just. thinking of all the things that i never ever thought would even happen. & of how much more would happen #the hope of more. even if there would also be things that would fall and be lacking. the hope of something greater gives me so much #love for the future. strength to forge onwards. for the unknown morrow.#it gives me so much more than i'll ever be able to express. but there's so much inside me. so much more to life #i'll try my best to at least do what i can. the gaps in my competency i'll make up in trying to communicate at least enough.#i'll work very very hard. i'll do my best. for me & for you all.#recently it feels like my world. while it's still hard to manage n rather overwhelming. it's been connecting more lately #these past few weeks. yeah i've had my struggles but #a few weeks back w my irls. ever since bday though i think it hasn't been quite as much though so i wna work on that soon #w online friends though. it. it means a lot to me to be able to communicate deeply like that here if you know what i mean #everyday i still think of that message you sent. & it means so much to me too to know that. in a way. i've managed to help you too #& another online friend on twt/discord my ffxiv life is. this is the turning point. i never thought i'd be able to have a friend like that #stuff relating to online n fiction for me has been better these days. since i finally also watched smth again after so long. read a bit too #piano soon!!!! but reality has been drifting a bit lately. i'll work on that. but. i've had this newfound motivation fr ever since the 28th #thank you. to everyone. for everything. i'll do so much better from now on.

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f1version · 7 months

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26 BIRTHDAY KISSES ★ CL16

pairing: charles leclerc x gf!reader ( she/her )

summary: 26th birthday, 26 pictures of you and Charles kissing. A kiss for each year.

notes: i’m back from my birthday trip!! i wrote this birthday special in like 30 minutes and it’s still charles’ birthday in a couple of places so… i’m not exactly late! enjoy <3

26 KISSES: A GALLERY

By your beautiful girlfriend, in collaboration with a lot of people but mainly Joris and ourselves.

1. DRUNK DANCING: A month after we got together, we were at Arthur’s 18th birthday. We got drunk, singing and dancing to the worst playlist in existence (Lorenzo’s) and, somehow, Arthur got to capture this moment I barely even remember.

Taken by Arthur Leclerc, 2018

2. AUGUST 2019: Summer break, so sweet so loving. You made me promise that if you jumped off first, I would jump too. It took me fifteen minutes to follow after you. Also your kisses were incredibly salty.

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2019

3. THE MONZA INCIDENT: I had red lipstick the night you won in Monza, you told me it looked pretty, I asked you to kiss me, you did. Fast forward 8 minutes it was all smudged over your lips, you were 10 minutes late to the post-race conference, and Sylvia almost banned me that night. (I’m still kind of banned from your driver’s room)

Taken by Charles Leclerc, 2019

4. UNDER THE COVERS: 2020, what a crazy year. This one was taken the day we decided to finish moving in together. You were so excited, wanted everything to be perfect. Today I can say it is.

Taken by Me, 2020

5. WORDS: We were spending Christmas by ourselves, we face-timed our families, had dinner and watched movies. You gifted me three beautiful words I, of course, said back… and we also got a puppy!

Taken by Charles’ phone timer, 2020

6. OCEAN BREZEE: Just a small escapade to take a breath. You were so cuddly that day, Joris was so done with you (he still took the pic though)

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2021

7. CUTE OR HOT: I just wanted a cute morning selfie but, because of you, we ended up in a…promising mood. It was intense that’s all I have to say!

Taken by Me, 2021

8. KISS KISS KISS: 24th birthday, 24 kisses. This kind of became a tradition, let me know if you still want them this year!

Taken by Me, 2021

9. DRUNK AF: How did we got so drunk? Ask Pierre, he was the one hosting. Either way we got another amazing photo of us drunk-kissing!!!

Taken by Pierre Gasly, 2021

10. UNDER THE SEA: I’m just going to say that you and your ‘photo ideas 📸’ folder are attached by the hip. I personally love this one (even if it took half an hour to take)

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2021

11. NEW YORK: Thought you could scape this one? Never! Arthur and I didn’t spend a week listening to your complaining for nothing, babe. You must admit that this kiss was magical, everything was so pretty that day. And then it started snowing!

Taken by Arthur Leclerc, 2021

12. EXPOSED: Remember how our amazing soft launch got ruined by our trip to Ibiza? Well, here it is, the image we couldn’t stop laughing at when it came out, we really thought we were sneaky.

Taken by unknown, 2022

13. HARD LAUNCH: A week later we were kissing on live TV. It’s one of my favorite memories, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Taken by F1 TV, 2022

14. BACK KISSES: Just a picture of the morning after I learned that you can convince anyone, even the CEO of Ferrari, to allow you to leave sponsor events early. I really don’t know if you knew those kisses were there, but I woke up to this, took a picture and then left you with them until we took a shower.

Taken by Me, 2022

15. SPONSORED BY AIRMAX: That time your team forgot to book us a flight and you had to ask Lando to ask Daniel to ask Max if we could go back to Monaco with them. I’ve never seen Max talk so much, Daniel laugh so loud or Lando taking so many pictures. He even asked to take one of us, here it is:

Taken by Lando Norris, 2022

16. SIXTEEN: I bet you thought this one would have something to do with racing. Number 16. Sorry to disappoint but it’s our beautiful puppy…Sixteen! I’m not gonna lie, I still hate you for persuading me into that name. Anyways if you kiss the dog you kiss the mom!!

Taken by Me, 2022

17. 25 KISSES: Again, tell me if you want those 26 kisses this year. Look at us last year!

Taken by Me, 2022

18. NEW YEAR, SAME LOVE: Sometimes the world feels unreal when I’m with you, this was one of those days. I felt in another reality, the world slowed down, it was just you and me. I remember thinking “I fell in love with the right person” and then you kissed me.

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2022

19. BLACK SUIT: Remember when your fans thanked me for your “new” outfits? They repeated it was the girlfriend effect, you couldn’t stop talking about how stylish you are with or without me!

Taken by Me, 2023

20. PHOTOSHOOT: You got Joris to take these shots just because you wanted a new wallpaper. I thought it was silly, until one day all of them were hanging around our home. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Charlie.

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2023

21. FIVE STAR CHEFS: Not much to say, just sorry for being so distracting and thank you for the amazing (stolen from Ferrari) dinner babe!

Taken by Charles’ phone timer, 2023

22. RED LIGHTS: This year’s addition to our drunk-kissing collection. I remember you drowning shots with Carlos and Pierre, asking me to dance with you, absolutely failing at that, and then kissing me. After that there’s blurry ferrari red, giggles and a hot bath.

Taken by Andrea Ferrari, 2023

23. LAZY IN BED: Wonderful lazy days by the ocean, that’s how we spent the summer break. That morning in particular you didn’t want to get up, basically gluing me to bed. We got up at 1pm.

Taken by Me, 2023

24. JUST ONE QUESTION: Can I drive the purosangue now? Please please please

Taken by Me, 2023

20. LOVER: This day I woke up thinking about those dreams we talk about all the time, you even remembered me a couple of them throughout the day. Charlie, I do want to do this for the rest of our lives, never forget it <3

Taken by Arthur Leclerc, 2023

26. TWENTY-SIX: We are just 26 but I hope our story keeps on writing itself. I love you, these have been the happiest 6 years of my life. Happy birthday bébé ❤️

Taken by Joris Trouche, 2023

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 3 months

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The Prodigy - Breathe 1996

"Breathe" was released as the second single from the Prodigy's third album, The Fat of the Land (1997). It features a drum break from the song "Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed" by Thin Lizzy, and the whiplashing sword sound effect is a sample of "Da Mystery of Chessboxin" by Wu-Tang Clan.

The song was a major worldwide hit, reaching the top 10 in several countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. "Breathe" was a number one hit in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. In the US, it reached number 18 on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single also returned to the Billboard charts after Keith Flint's death, entering number 14 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in 2019.

The Fat of the Land topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. In 1999, it entered the Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling dance album in the UK. It was also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, but lost to Radiohead's OK Computer.

The music video for "Breathe" won the 1997 MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice and International Viewer's Choice Award for MTV Europe.

"Breathe" received a total of 61,4% yes votes! The Prodigy has previously been featured on the polls at #8 with "No Good (Start the Dance)".

youtube

#finished #high votes #high yes #high reblog #90s #the prodigy

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khaleesiofalicante · 9 months

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AN INCOMPLETE LIST: THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HRH PRINCE HENRY OF WALES:

1. The sound of your laugh when I piss you off. (@magsalecs)

2. The way you smell underneath your fancy cologne, like clean linens but somehow also fresh grass (what kind of magic is this?). (@alexshenry)

3. That thing you do where you stick out your chin to try to look tough. (@tylerposey)

4. How your hands look when you play piano. (@nostalgiaisabitchhuh)

5. All the things I understand about myself now because of you. (@userstede)

6. How you think Return of the Jedi is the best Star Wars (wrong) because deep down you're a gigantic, sappy, embarrassing romantic who just wants the happily ever after. (@magsalecs)

7. Your ability to recite Keats. (@magsalecs)

8. Your ability to recite Bernadette's "Don't let it drag you down" monologue from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. (@darwinsfinchesx)

9. How hard you try. (@sheisraging)

10. How hard you've always tried. (@stevenrogered)

11. How determined you are to keep trying. (@simon-eriksson)

12. That when your shoulders cover mine, nothing else in the entire stupid world matters. (@magsalecs)

13. The goddamn issue of Le Monde you brought back to London with you and kept and have on your nightstand (yes, I saw it). (@sheisraging)

14. The way you look when you first wake up. (@magsalecs)

15. Your shoulder-to-waist ratio. (@gay-bucky-barnes)

16. Your huge, generous, ridiculous, indestructible heart. (@thomasbrodiesandwich)

17. Your equally huge dick. (@tylerposey)

18. The face you just made when you read that last one. (@uglygreenjacket)

19. The way you look when you first wake up (I know I already said this, but I really, really love it). (@magsalecs)

20. The fact that you loved me all along. (@magsalecs)

— I can't match you for prose, but what I can do is write you a list.

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (2019) and Matthew Lopez (2023)

Credit to all the gif makers and editors, the real heroes of the fandom.

#red white and royal blue #rwrb #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #rwrb spoilers #nicholas galitzine #taylor zakhar perez

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fuckyeahgoodomens · 9 months

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Link 1, Link 2 :)

Digital Good Omens 2 Sountrack is coming out in 4 days! 🥳 CD version in October! :) ❤ Coming soon on vinyl…

Out to Stream/Download from 25th August. Out on CD 13th October. Coming soon on vinyl…

David Arnold’s ‘end of the world’ complex and multi-genre soundtrack.

From the Award-winning composer of Sherlock and Casino Royale comes a follow up to the hugely successful, Emmy nominated Good Omens soundtrack.

Good Omens series 2 premiered on Prime Video on 28th July. The series follows the odd couple, angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) in their quest to sabotage the end of the World. The six-episode sequel to the popular adaptation of the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, concerns the Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) arriving without his memories to Aziraphale’s bookshop. Aziraphale and Crowley attempt to find out what happened to Gabriel, whilst hiding him from Heaven and Hell, both eager to find him.

The Soundtrack

David Arnold’s soundtrack to Good Omens was first released in 2019 to favourable reviews, with BBC Music Magazine calling it “a rollicking trip to hell and back”. Blueprint Magazine described it as “a great listen” and Sci Fi Bulletin commented on “plenty of memorable themes” to conclude that “This is another work of art from Arnold”. At times nostalgic and eerie but always varied, beautiful and full of excitement, the Good Omens 2 soundtrack showcases Arnold’s every skill from his composer arsenal. Featured here are orchestral arrangements with sprinkling of Sugar Plum Fairy pizzicato and percussion, jaunty strings and mighty choral sweeps from Crouch End Festival Chorus. Added to the mix are rock guitar riffs, and psychedelic 70s sounds and all together they create a haunting otherworldly feel, complementing the fantasy and the quirky humour of the show. The spirited Waltz of the opening theme is also present in the second series and it wonderfully sets the scene for fantastical mayhem. In series 2, this robust, evocative, and funny music entity, becomes yet again another character in the story. Award-winning composer David Arnold is well known for his blockbuster scores, including Stargate, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Hot Fuzz, Paul, Independence Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Casino Royale as well as for his TV work such as Sherlock and Dracula. Also available: The original soundtrack to the first series of Good Omens >

Tracklist

– Disc 1 – Chapter 1: The Arrival 1. Before the Beginning 2. Good Omens 2 Opening Title 3. Into Soho 4. Something Terrible 5. To The Bookshop 6. Maggie and Nina 7. He’s Smoking 8. Tiny Miracle 9. Heavenly Alarm Bells Chapter 2: The Clue 10. Avaunt! 11. The Song is the Clue 12. It’s What God Wants 13. A Mighty Wind 14. Whales 15. Gabriel Returns 16. His New Children 17. Am I Awful Now? 18. Fallen Angel Chapter 3: I Know Where I’m Going 19. Police Arrive 20. Scotland 21. We’re Going to Hell 22. People Get a Choice 23. My Car is Not Yellow 24. Beelzebub in Hell 25. The Book 26. The Fly 27. Mr. Dalrymple 28. We Need to Cut 29. I’m Going to Save Her 30. Crowley Goes Large 31. Not Kind 32. Beelzebub Isn’t Happy – Disc 2 – Chapter 4: The Hitchhiker 33. Hell-O 34. Nazi Zombies 35. March of the Nazi Zombies 36. Crowley Pep Talk 37. The Magic Shop 38. Catch The Bullet 39. Zombies in the Dressing Room Chapter 5: The Ball 40. I’ll Let You Have It 41. We’re Storming a Book Shop 42. Monsieur Azirophale 43. The Candelabra 44. Here Comes Hell 45. Gabriel Gives Himself Up 46. Shax 47. The Circle Chapter 6: Every Day 48. Bin Through the Window 49. Gabriel Leaving Heaven 50. The Halo 51. Gabriel Revealed 52. Gabriel’s Love Story 53. Leaving The Bookshop 54. Gabriel and Beelzebub 55. Crowley and Muriel 56. I Forgive You 57. Don’t Bother 58. The Biggest Decision 59. The End?

#good omens #gos2 #season 2 #GOS2Spoilers #good omens spoilers #music #s2 music #david g arnold #s2 soundtrack #wahoo!#shut up and take my money :D

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rageserenity · 2 months

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It's 2024. Are you still thinking about movieverse!Cherik? Because I am.

For the past several months, there's only been a very slow trickle of posts/fics in the xmcu cherik tag. Let's try to breathe some life back into this incredible pairing!

With one clear winner of my poll, here's thirty prompts for the thirty days of April. (This is a super chill, laid-back event---do these in any order, interpret them as loosely as you like! Create in any medium! Fic, art, gifs, meta, incoherent screaming about the otp…all winners in my book.)

The only rule here is to cherik too close to the sun. Alright. Here are the prompts.

Mutual Pining

Doesn't really even need elaboration! Write that horrifically slow slow-burn. Gif every time McAvoy made insane fuck me eyes on screen. Make a playlist of songs about impossible love.

2. Alternate Meetings

There are endless quotes about how these two complete each other in a way no one they'd met before or after ever did. How else could they have met?

3. Erik Has A Telepathy Kink

This is basically canon. Let my boy get freaky!

4. Canon Fix-It

All the times Fox fucked it up. There are endless options.

5. Hurt/Comfort

Put them in that Situation. Put them in that Blender. Break them apart and put them back together ❤️‍🩹

6. Canon Compliant

Draw that missing scene! Gif your favourite cherik moment!

7. Beach Divorce

Make it worse. Make it better. Show it to us exactly how it was. Break it down in a 3,000 word meta. Go wild!

8. Domestics

Sometimes you just want to see them doing normal couple things. Erik put the gun down.

9. Found Family

The real heart of x-men!

10. Time Travel

There are SO many possibilities here. Stick them in a time loop. Give them a chance to change their past.

11. AU

Love a good AU!

12. There Is Only One Bed

Had to get this one in here. What better way to amp up the tension?

13. Genosha

By some miracle, cherik actually did end up together at the end of 2019s trash bag disaster Dark Phoenix. We aren’t making a big enough deal about this.

14. Declaration(s) of Love

Who says it first? How do they say it and when? Have they said it…without saying it?

15. Jealousy

Need I say more.

16. Reunion

These two have absolutely no chill.

17. Soulmates

Classic prompt, had to get this in here too.

18. The DOFP Aircraft

The TENSION here. Break it down for me. How does Charles feel about his injury? How does Erik feel about his injury?

19. Gay Mutant Road Trip

You already know.

20. Body Swap

SO fun when people have superpowers.

21. First Kiss

When? How? Who initiated it?

22. The Mansion

Mansion!content is a genre of its own.

23. Conflicting Ideology

Give me your theses. Who’s right? Can they ever reconcile completely? Write a fic where it drives them apart.

24. Sebastian Shaw

A trope unto himself.

25. Team As Matchmaker

They had to have known something was going on, didn’t they?

26. Cooking

Charles deserves a good meal. Also, imagine Erik using his powers in the kitchen. The sheer domesticity…

27. Hurt No Comfort

Plenty of scope with these two 🥲

28. Growing Old Together

Giving Sirs Ian Mckellan and Patrick Stewart their props as well!

29. Making Up

*pushes chess board across the table* sorry babe

30. Charles Xavier Did More For Mutants Than You'll Ever Know

Rising to each other’s defense. Only I can insult this man.

I will be tracking #revivecherik to reblog stuff! Here’s a fic collection for the same. Let’s get this ball rolling! Please feel free to send me an ask if you’ve got anything to say! And most importantly, let’s all have fun 😁

*I know a few of you preferred something like a gift exchange because of the commitment factor—I’m super down to organise a tiny one for the handful of us! If this promptathon doesn’t flop horribly, we can hopefully do a whole bunch of stuff :)

If you read this post all the way through, please reblog for reach! Thank you! Hoping you participate come April.

Shoutout to @inmymagnetoera for reaching out and helping with this!

#revivecherik #cherik #charles xavier #erik lehnsherr #xmfc #james mcavoy #michael fassbender #x men days of future past #x men #charles x erik #magneto #professor x

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cerastes · 2 years

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The internet is carried on the backs of sub-10k subscriber tech support youtube channels that have the most specific ass solutions to the most specific ass system errors, tech stuff is the one thing I recommend not Googling and instead slamming in a Youtube search.

All the top hit pages in Google for tech support and how to fix this or that are “10 Ways to Fix Error!” and then they go on a soliloquy about what Windows is to fill word quota. We KNOW what Windows is. We make fun of online recipes where the author tells you about how much those mashed potatoes were a beloved family tradition dating back to 1937 when the author and her sister would play in the woods and get bitten by ticks and get Lyme Disease and then after a lot of playing, they’d come back home and eat the most generic ass recipes, yeah, we do that, but we oughta start doing that with tech “support” pages too like god damn, “10 Ways to Fix Error!” except the first 3 “ways” are “Reboot your computer <3″, “make sure you updated your PC <3<3″ and last but not least, the world champion heavyweight nothingburger, “open the Command Prompt as administrator and run sfc/scannow </3″ LOCUSTS UPON YOU, MAN, if I can’t fix the problem, and it is a problem, no fucking way Microsoft software is gonna do jack fucking shit.

The “way” number 4 is, you know it, the sponsored product of the day. Install Krunklo Driver Manager! The best Driver Manager software out there! Here’s a trial version that has fuck all and the paid version is 39.99 each second.

Way number 5 through 10 are various things like exsanguination, putting mercury in your bloodstream, a jar of snake oil, or leaving aromatic substances near your vagina so your hysteric uterus comes back betwixt your loins.

So you just wasted an hour or two on the equivalent of vigorously dancing around the flames the rid yourself of the malaise, and all your god said was “well it’s just 39.99!”, FUCK that, you go to Youtube, copypaste slam whatever the error was in the search bar, and there’ll be one specific ass person out there in the world that solved this and made a video on how to solve it, just for you. The video will be from 2019, and you didn’t even know computers existed back then, but they DID, and this FUCKER OF MOTHERS, may they fornicate many parental figures of their preferred disposition, made this video for YOU. There is meaning in you perusing that video.

It’s 1:14 minutes long and immediately eradicates the problem decisively. You are now oathbound to take a bullet for this beloved stranger, your computer is back in action, and you are not 39.99 poorer. Krunklo Driver Manager will not have its day.

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uniquesandwichballoon · 8 months

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蓄谋已久何谈诚信？！起底日本核污染水排海决策前后

按照日本政府的决定，福岛核污染水于8月24日开始排入海洋。这一排污进程将持续数十年。

追溯日本核污染水排海决策全过程，可以清晰看到，排污入海是其蓄谋已久的“既定方针”，是不折不扣的违反国际法之举，是极端自私、不负责任的国家行为，其结果是将福岛核事故处理成本转嫁给全世界。

8月22日，日本民众在东京首相官邸前紧急集会，抗议政府无视民意启动核污染水排海。

核污染水排海蓄谋已久

福岛第一核电站自2011年3月发生严重事故以来，因用水冷却熔毁堆芯以及雨水和地下水等流过，每天产生大量高浓度核污染水。2011年4月，核电站运营方东京电力公司故意将核污染水排入大海，引发社会高度关注和担忧。同年12月，东电表示已制定一份“低浓度污染水”排海计划。

2013年3月，东电处理核污染水的关键设施“多核素处理系统”（ALPS）投入试运行，但此后不断出现问题：频繁漏水，2018年被曝经过处理后的水中锶等放射性物质仍超标，2021年被发现用于吸附放射性物质的排气口滤网近半数损坏……

自从ALPS投入运行后，日方就把经过处理的核污染水称为“处理水”。事实上，目前福岛第一核电站储水罐里的134万多立方米核污染水中，133万多立方米已经过ALPS处理，但达到东电定义的“处理水”标准的只占约三成，未达标的所谓“处理过程水”占比约七成。另有近9000立方米核污染水尚未经过ALPS处理。

而这些“处理水”的最终去向又该如何解决？

早在2013年12月，日本核能主管部门经济产业省就设立工作小组就“处理水”排放问题进行技术探讨。2016年6月，该工作小组发布报告称，经过对海洋排放、地下掩埋（加入水泥等固化后埋入地下）、地层注入（用管道注入地层深处）、蒸汽释放（气化为水蒸汽排入大气）、氢气释放（电解为氢气排入大气）等5种方法的评估，将“处��水”稀释后排海是“成本最低”的方法。

这份报告为后来的排海方案定了调，但公布后遭到日本农林渔业等团体的强烈反对。连时任日本复兴担当大臣吉野正芳都表示，反对将核污染水处理后排海。

然而，东电和经产省显然已将排海方案视为“既定方针”。2017年7月，经产省在福岛市举行“废炉与污染水对策当地协调会议”，摆出要与当地协商的姿态。但时任东电会长川村隆在会前对媒体声称东电已就排海“做出判断”，引发社会广泛不满。

为说服公众，日本政府成立了一个有相关领域专家参加的委员会。2018年8月，该委员会在福岛和东京举行听证会，名义上是听取民众意见，但实际上是要为排海方案背书。听证会上，日本原子能规制委员会时任委员长更田丰志有关“排海是唯一可行选项”的说法遭到各方质疑。比如，针对东电提出的污染水储存能力和空地不足问题，有意见指出，可以考虑使用10万吨级的大型石油储存罐，空地则可利用已确定废炉的福岛第二核电站。针对核污染水处理的技术难度问题，有意见提到，可以采用1979年美国三里岛核事故曾经用过的水蒸气排放方式。还有意见指出，ALPS无法去除的放射性元素氚的分离技术正在研究中，应在该技术成熟并应用后再排放。

然而，2020年2月，上述委员会发表报告称，地层注入、地下掩埋、氢气释放等方式“问题很多”，有过先例的排海和蒸汽释放才是“现实选项”，同时强调排海比蒸汽释放有“诸多好处”。

2021年4月，日本政府无视国内外反对意见，单方面宣布将在2023年实施核污染水排海。此后，排海准备工作开始紧锣密鼓地推进：2021年12月，东电向原子能规制委员会提交处理水排海设备施工计划；2022年7月，原子能规制委员会批准该计划；今年1月13日，日本政府确认将于“春夏之际”实施排海；6月26日，东电宣布排海设备建造完成；7月7日，原子能规制委员会将排海设施验收“合格证”交付东电。

自导自演“权威认证”

今年7月4日，国际原子能机构（IAEA）总干事格罗西访问日本，将福岛核污染水处置综合评估报告呈交日本首相岸田文雄。报告认为日本排海方案总体上“符合国际安全标准”，日方因此宣称方案安全性已获“权威认证”。

然而，围绕这份报告的公正性和科学性，存在诸多疑问。

首先，日方是先做出排海决定，再委托IAEA作安全评估，目的显然不是要找到科学合理的解决方案，而是利用该机构为排海计划背书。

报告内容显示，日本政府2021年4月宣布排海决定后，于同年7月与IAEA签署委托“评估ALPS处理水安全性”的“授权协议”。评估对象仅限于排海方案，不涉及其他方案。这意味着评估结论无法证明排海方案就是最安全可靠的方案。

其次，日方在正式授权IAEA评估前，早就围绕“认证牌”开始了相关布局。

2013年4月，即ALPS投入试运行后不久，日本政府便邀请IAEA考察团前往福岛。考察团一个月后发布报告，建议日本着手研究排放问题。当时的IAEA总干事是日本人天野之弥。在格罗西2019年12月接替病故的天野之弥出任IAEA总干事后，日本继续对IAEA做工作。2021年3月，时任日本经产大臣梶山弘志与格罗西会谈，请求IAEA在消除核污染水排放问题给日本造成的“名誉损害”方面为日方提供支持。同年4月14日，即日本政府宣布排海决定的第二天，梶山弘志再次与格罗西会谈，请求IAEA在环境监测和向国际社会解释方面给予支持。

《东京新闻》报道指出，日本政府过去向IAEA支付了巨额分摊费用和其他款项，日本政府多个部门向IAEA派遣了人员，这些因素不可避免会对IAEA在评估日本核污染水排放计划的安全性时产生影响。

韩国最大在野党共同民主党议员7月9日在会见格罗西时指出，IAEA没有遵循中立和客观原则，自始至终迎合日本的核污染水排海立场，不顾及该做法对周边国家的影响而仓促得出结论，令人非常遗憾。

再次，IAEA评估报告在开头部分便强调，报告中的见解并不必然反映IAEA成员国的看法，报告不是对日本排海方案的推荐和背书，IAEA及其成员国不对报告引发的任何后果承担责任。这一免责声明清楚表明，该报告不能代表国际社会的意见，也无法证明日方排海方案的正当性与合法性。

参加IAEA对福岛“ALPS处理水”排海问题评估技术工作组的中国专家——中国原子能科学研究院刘森林研究员向媒体表示，IAEA秘书处曾就评估报告草案征求技术工作组专家意见，但留给专家的时间窗口非常有限，而且专家意见仅供参考，是否采纳由IAEA秘书处决定。IAEA秘书处收到反馈意见后，也未与各方专家就报告修改及意见采纳情况进行讨论协商，就仓促发布该报告。

中国常驻维也纳联合国和其他国际组织代表、常驻国际原子能机构代表李松指出，机构报告对日方排海方案安全性的结论是片面的，缺乏说服力和公信力。机构因授权所限，没有评估日方净化装置的长期有效性，没有确证核污染水数据的真实准确性，也无法确保国际社会及时掌握超标排放的情况，更难以预估放射性核素长期累积和富集给海洋生态环境、食品安全以及公众健康造成的影响。“不能确认数据准确、设备可靠、监管有效，也就无从得出在长达30年的时间内向海洋排放超过130万吨核污染水是安全的这一结论。”

惺惺做秀诚信堪忧

福岛第一核电站有一个海洋生物饲育室，养着福岛沿海常见的比目鱼。其中一处水槽里是普通海水，另一处水槽里是处理后的核污染水，即所谓“处理水”。

从科学角度来看，对东电提供的核污染水处理及其他相关数据，专家和环保组织疑虑重重。

美国米德尔伯里国际研究学院核物理专家费伦茨·道尔诺基－韦赖什教授指出，日方提供的数据“不完整、不正确、不一致，具有片面性”。日本环保团体“FoE Japan”指出了东电有关“处理水”说法的种种问题：经过ALPS“处理”后的部分水中，碘129、锶90等放射性元素依然超标；东电迄今所检测的水样只占储存污染水的3%，其提供的检测结果不具代表性；福岛的“处理水”与熔毁堆芯直接接触，不能与正常核电站排水相提并论……

更让人担忧的是，东电此前就有篡改数据、隐瞒核电站安全问题的“黑历史”。

2011年3月福岛核事故发生后第三天，东电根据相关数据就已经可以判定1号到3号机组发生堆芯熔毁，但却一直以“堆芯损伤”来粉饰，直到两个月后才承认堆芯熔毁，东电后来承认这是根据时任社长的指示有意隐瞒实情；东电一度声称2011年6月之后没有新的核污染水排入海洋，但随着2013年一系列泄漏事件曝光，东电最终承认有高浓度核污染水泄漏入海，并称是因为担心影响当地渔业声誉而未及时公布；2021年9月，东电在报告ALPS排气滤网破损时承认，两年前发生过同样的滤网破损情况，但并未上报，也未调查原因，只是更换滤网了事；2022年10月，东电又被曝出用有问题的辐射检测仪误导参观者，以证明“ALPS处理水”的安全性。

东京大学学者关谷直也指出，不仅在福岛，东电旗下的其他核电站也不断发生管理和安全方面的问题，令人无法相信其处置能力。“向海洋排放，东电有这资格吗？”

东电和日本政府的失信还表现在出尔反尔的态度上。核污染水排海计划一直遭到日本全国特别是福岛当地渔民的强烈反对。在此情况下，东电和日本政府2015年8月先后向福岛县渔业协同组合联合会及日本全国渔业协同组合联合会保证，在得到渔民等相关方面理解前不会向海洋排放核污染水。

尽管日本政府想方设法试图说服渔业从业者，但始终未能成功。日本全国渔业协同组合联合会和福岛县渔业协同组合联合会自2020年以来已连续4年通过特别决议，坚决反对核污染水排海。但日本政府和东电不顾反对，违背自身承诺，坚持推进排海计划。

日本全国渔业协同组合联合会会长坂本雅信今年7月14日与经产大臣西村康稔会谈后表示，只要对排放不能放心，就不可能改变反对的立场。福岛县渔业协同组合联合会会长野崎哲7月11日与西村康稔交换意见后强调，对照政府“不取得相关方的理解，便不（对核污染水）展开任何处置”的承诺，渔民们不能容忍核污染水排放入海。

8月22日，日本民众在东京首相官邸前紧急集会，抗议政府无视民意启动核污染水排海。

指鹿为马矫饰伪行

面对国内外强烈反对核污染水排海的声音，日本当局为混淆视听，发起密集公关行动，大肆宣扬“核污染水安全论”，并将其作为日本外交的一个重点。

日本外务省、经产省、复兴厅等政府部门均在官方网站首页设置宣扬ALPS“处理水”安全的专题链接。外务省和经产省的社交媒体账号也将相关宣传视频置顶或放在醒目位置，并推出多语种版本。

日本是七国集团（G7）今年的轮值主席国。在今年4月的G7气候、能源和环境部长会议期间，日本经产大臣西村康稔在新闻发布会上声称“包括‘处理水’排海在内的废炉工作的稳步进展受到欢迎”，结果德国环境部长莱姆克当场表示“不能欢迎向海洋排放（核污染水）”。日方原本试图在会议联合公报中塞入“欢迎走向排海的透明进程”等内容，以显示“国际认可”。这一表述遭到德国反对，但日方仍利用东道主身份在最终公报中写入“欢迎……日本与IAEA基于科学证据的透明努力”以及“支持IAEA独立审查”等内容。同样的内容后来也出现在5月G7广岛峰会的领导人联合公报中。

日方还针对太平洋岛国发起公关攻势。这些岛国当年曾因美国在太平洋的核试验而深受其害，如今对福岛核污染水排海反对声强烈，也因此成为日方重点“安抚”对象。根据经产省7月31日发布的报告，日方自今年2月以来对太平洋岛国论坛全部成员国和地区都分别进行了“说明工作”。

日方还频频针对各国驻日外交官和外国记者举行说明会，千方百计宣扬核污染水排海的“安全性”。在日方的说明中，特别是外语版本资料中，一般都用“处理水”来指代核污染水，意图淡化其污染特性和潜在危害，以混淆视听。另据一些驻日外国记者透露，一旦其报道中有质疑核污染水排海安全性的内容，东电和日方有关人员就会来电来函施压。

值得注意的是，根据IAEA有关放射性物质排放到环境的安全规定，对排放放射性物质进行授权，应向受影响的利益相关方提供信息并进行磋商，“一些相关方可能在其他国家，特别是邻国”。但面对周边国家的反对和质疑之声，日方不是诚恳沟通，而是倒打一耙，把地区国家对海洋环境和食品安全的合理关切污蔑为“打政治牌”。日本一些右翼媒体甚至把日本这个“肇事者”打扮成“受害者”，愤愤不平地扬言要“反制”对核污染水排海提出异议的邻国。

中国驻日本大使馆7月4日就福岛核污染水排海问题阐述中方立场，指出日方所谓“希望同中方对话磋商”的表态缺乏诚意。迄今中方在双多边渠道同日方开展交流，反复表达专业部门意见和关切，但日方不顾中方立场，执意按既定时间表推进排海。“如果日方将排海作为磋商的前提，一味把排海强加于中方，那这种磋商意义何在？”

福岛核污染水排海不是日本一国的私事、小事，而是关系海洋环境和人类健康的公事、大事。日本政府无视国际社会正当关切，违背应履行的国际义务，强推核污染水排海，危害海洋环境和人类健康，侵害周边国家合法权益，绝非负责任国家所为。

#nuclear

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 month

Text

Subprime gadgets

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THIS SUNDAY in ANAHEIM at WONDERCON: YA Fantasy, Room 207, 10 a.m.; Signing, 11 a.m.; Teaching Writing, 2 p.m., Room 213CD.

The promise of feudal security: "Surrender control over your digital life so that we, the wise, giant corporation, can ensure that you aren't tricked into catastrophic blunders that expose you to harm":

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

The tech giant is a feudal warlord whose platform is a fortress; move into the fortress and the warlord will defend you against the bandits roaming the lawless land beyond its walls.

That's the promise, here's the failure: What happens when the warlord decides to attack you? If a tech giant decides to do something that harms you, the fortress becomes a prison and the thick walls keep you in.

Apple does this all the time: "click this box and we will use our control over our platform to stop Facebook from spying on you" (Ios as fortress). "No matter what box you click, we will spy on you and because we control which apps you can install, we can stop you from blocking our spying" (Ios as prison):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

But it's not just Apple – any corporation that arrogates to itself the right to override your own choices about your technology will eventually yield to temptation, using that veto to help itself at your expense:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

Once the corporation puts the gun on the mantelpiece in Act One, they're begging their KPI-obsessed managers to take it down and shoot you in the head with it in anticipation of of their annual Act Three performance review:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/08/playstationed/#tyler-james-hill

One particularly pernicious form of control is "trusted computing" and its handmaiden, "remote attestation." Broadly, this is when a device is designed to gather information about how it is configured and to send verifiable testaments about that configuration to third parties, even if you want to lie to those people:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/your-computer-should-say-what-you-tell-it-say-1

New HP printers are designed to continuously monitor how you use them – and data-mine the documents you print for marketing data. You have to hand over a credit-card in order to use them, and HP reserves the right to fine you if your printer is unreachable, which would frustrate their ability to spy on you and charge you rent:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/

Under normal circumstances, this technological attack would prompt a defense, like an aftermarket mod that prevents your printer's computer from monitoring you. This is "adversarial interoperability," a once-common technological move:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

An adversarial interoperator seeking to protect HP printer users from HP could gin up fake telemetry to send to HP, so they wouldn't be able to tell that you'd seized the means of computation, triggering fines charged to your credit card.

Enter remote attestation: if HP can create a sealed "trusted platform module" or a (less reliable) "secure enclave" that gathers and cryptographically signs information about which software your printer is running, HP can detect when you have modified it. They can force your printer to rat you out – to spill your secrets to your enemy.

Remote attestation is already a reliable feature of mobile platforms, allowing agencies and corporations whose services you use to make sure that you're perfectly defenseless – not blocking ads or tracking, or doing anything else that shifts power from them to you – before they agree to communicate with your device.

What's more, these "trusted computing" systems aren't just technological impediments to your digital wellbeing – they also carry the force of law. Under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, these snitch-chips are "an effective means of access control" which means that anyone who helps you bypass them faces a $500,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence for a first offense.

Feudal security builds fortresses out of trusted computing and remote attestation and promises to use them to defend you from marauders. Remote attestation lets them determine whether your device has been compromised by someone seeking to harm you – it gives them a reliable testament about your device's configuration even if your device has been poisoned by bandits:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil

The fact that you can't override your computer's remote attestations means that you can't be tricked into doing so. That's a part of your computer that belongs to the manufacturer, not you, and it only takes orders from its owner. So long as the benevolent dictator remains benevolent, this is a protective against your own lapses, follies and missteps. But if the corporate warlord turns bandit, this makes you powerless to stop them from devouring you whole.

With that out of the way, let's talk about debt.

Debt is a normal feature of any economy, but today's debt plays a different role from the normal debt that characterized life before wages stagnated and inequality skyrocketed. 40 years ago, neoliberalism – with its assaults on unions and regulations – kicked off a multigenerational process of taking wealth away from working people to make the rich richer.

Have you ever watched a genius pickpocket like Apollo Robbins work? When Robins lifts your wristwatch, he curls his fingers around your wrist, expertly adding pressure to simulate the effect of a watchband, even as he takes away your watch. Then, he gradually releases his grip, so slowly that you don't even notice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/ppqjya/apollo_robbins_a_master_pickpocket_effortlessly/

For the wealthy to successfully impoverish the rest of us, they had to provide something that made us feel like we were still doing OK, even as they stole our wages, our savings, and our futures. So, even as they shipped our jobs overseas in search of weak environmental laws and weaker labor protection, they shared some of the savings with us, letting us buy more with less. But if your wages keep stagnating, it doesn't matter how cheap a big-screen TV gets, because you're tapped out.

So in tandem with cheap goods from overseas sweatshops, we got easy credit: access to debt. As wages fell, debt rose up to fill the gap. For a while, it's felt OK. Your wages might be falling off, the cost of health care and university might be skyrocketing, but everything was getting cheaper, it was so easy to borrow, and your principal asset – your family home – was going up in value, too.

This period was a "bezzle," John Kenneth Galbraith's name for "The magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it." It's the moment after Apollo Robbins has your watch but before you notice it's gone. In that moment, both you and Robbins feel like you have a watch – the world's supply of watch-derived happiness actually goes up for a moment.

There's a natural limit to debt-fueled consumption: as Michael Hudson says, "debts that can't be paid, won't be paid." Once the debtor owes more than they can pay back – or even service – creditors become less willing to advance credit to them. Worse, they start to demand the right to liquidate the debtor's assets. That can trigger some pretty intense political instability, especially when the only substantial asset most debtors own is the roof over their heads:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/06/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom/

"Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid," but that doesn't stop creditors from trying to get blood from our stones. As more of us became bankrupt, the bankruptcy system was gutted, turned into a punitive measure designed to terrorize people into continuing to pay down their debts long past the point where they can reasonably do so:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/bankruptcy-protects-fake-people-brutalizes-real-ones/

Enter "subprime" – loans advanced to people who stand no meaningful chance of every paying them back. We all remember the subprime housing bubble, in which complex and deceptive mortgages were extended to borrowers on the promise that they could either flip or remortgage their house before the subprime mortgages detonated when their "teaser rates" expired and the price of staying in your home doubled or tripled.

Subprime housing loans were extended on the belief that people would meekly render themselves homeless once the music stopped, forfeiting all the money they'd plowed into their homes because the contract said they had to. For a brief minute there, it looked like there would be a rebellion against mass foreclosure, but then Obama and Timothy Geithner decreed that millions of Americans would have to lose their homes to "foam the runways" for the banks:

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2012/08/how-treasury-secretary-geithner-foamed-the-runways-with-childrens-shattered-lives/

That's one way to run a subprime shop: offer predatory loans to people who can't afford them and then confiscate their assets when they – inevitably – fail to pay their debts off.

But there's another form of subprime, familiar to loan sharks through the ages: lend money at punitive interest rates, such that the borrower can never repay the debt, and then terrorize the borrower into making payments for as long as possible. Do this right and the borrower will pay you several times the value of the loan, and still owe you a bundle. If the borrower ever earns anything, you'll have a claim on it. Think of Americans who borrowed $79,000 to go to university, paid back $190,000 and still owe $236,000:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/04/kawaski-trawick/#strike-debt

This kind of loan-sharking is profitable, but labor-intensive. It requires that the debtor make payments they fundamentally can't afford. The usurer needs to get their straw right down into the very bottom of the borrower's milkshake and suck up every drop. You need to convince the debtor to sell their wedding ring, then dip into their kid's college fund, then steal their father's coin collection, and, then break into cars to steal the stereos. It takes a lot of person-to-person work to keep your sucker sufficiently motivated to do all that.

This is where digital meets subprime. There's $1T worth of subprime car-loans in America. These are pure predation: the lender sells a beater to a mark, offering a low down-payment loan with a low initial interest rate. The borrower makes payments at that rate for a couple of months, but then the rate blows up to more than they can afford.

Trusted computing makes this marginal racket into a serious industry. First, there's the ability of the car to narc you out to the repo man by reporting on its location. Tesla does one better: if you get behind in your payments, your Tesla immobilizes itself and phones home, waits for the repo man to come to the parking lot, then it backs itself out of the spot while honking its horn and flashing its lights:

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

That immobilization trick shows how a canny subprime car-lender can combine the two kinds of subprime: they can secure the loan against an asset (the car), but also coerce borrowers into prioritizing repayment over other necessities of life. After your car immobilizes itself, you just might decide to call the dealership and put down your credit card, even if that means not being able to afford groceries or child support or rent.

One thing we can say about digital tools: they're flexible. Any sadistic motivational technique a lender can dream up, a computerized device can execute. The subprime car market relies on a spectrum of coercive tactics: cars that immobilize themselves, sure, but how about cars that turn on their speakers to max and blare a continuous recording telling you that you're a deadbeat and demanding payment?

https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/miss-a-payment-good-luck-moving-that-car/

The more a subprime lender can rely on a gadget to torment you on their behalf, the more loans they can issue. Here, at last, is a form of automation-driven mass unemployment: normally, an economy that has been fully captured by wealthy oligarchs needs squadrons of cruel arm-breakers to convince the plebs to prioritize debt service over survival. The infinitely flexible, tireless digital arm-breakers enabled by trusted computing have deprived all of those skilled torturers of their rightful employment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/innovation-unlocks-markets/#digital-arm-breakers

The world leader in trusted computing isn't cars, though – it's phones. Long before anyone figured out how to make a car take orders from its manufacturer over the objections of its driver, Apple and Google were inventing "curating computing" whose app stores determined which software you could run and how you could run it.

Back in 2021, Indian subprime lenders hit on the strategy of securing their loans by loading borrowers' phones up with digital arm-breaking software:

https://restofworld.org/2021/loans-that-hijack-your-phone-are-coming-to-india/

The software would gather statistics on your app usage. When you missed a payment, the phone would block you from accessing your most frequently used app. If that didn't motivate you to pay, you'd lose your second-most favorite app, then your third, fourth, etc.

This kind of digital arm-breaking is only possible if your phone is designed to prioritize remote instructions – from the manufacturer and its app makers – over your own. It also only works if the digital arm-breaking company can confirm that you haven't jailbroken your phone, which might allow you to send fake data back saying that your apps have been disabled, while you continue to use those apps. In other words, this kind of digital sadism only works if you've got trusted computing and remote attestation.

Enter "Device Lock Controller," an app that comes pre-installed on some Google Pixel phones. To quote from the app's description: "Device Lock Controller enables device management for credit providers. Your provider can remotely restrict access to your device if you don't make payments":

https://lemmy.world/post/13359866

Google's pitch to Android users is that their "walled garden" is a fortress that keeps people who want to do bad things to you from reaching you. But they're pre-installing software that turns the fortress into a prison that you can't escape if they decide to let someone come after you.

There's a certain kind of economist who looks at these forms of automated, fine-grained punishments and sees nothing but a tool for producing an "efficient market" in debt. For them, the ability to automate arm-breaking results in loans being offered to good, hardworking people who would otherwise be deprived of credit, because lenders will judge that these borrowers can be "incentivized" into continuing payments even to the point of total destitution.

This is classic efficient market hypothesis brain worms, the kind of cognitive dead-end that you arrive at when you conceive of people in purely economic terms, without considering the power relationships between them. It's a dead end you navigate to if you only think about things as they are today – vast numbers of indebted people who command fewer assets and lower wages than at any time since WWII – and treat this as a "natural" state: "how can these poors expect to be offered more debt unless they agree to have their all-important pocket computers booby-trapped?"

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/29/boobytrap/#device-lock-controller

Image: Oatsy (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/oatsy40/21647688003

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic #debt #subprime #armbreakers #mobile #google #android #apps #drm #technological self-determination #efficient market hypothesis brainworms #law and political economy #gadgets #boobytraps #app stores #curated computing #og app #trusted computing

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