#2021 week feb 21 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

batboyblog · 2 months

Text

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #7

Feb 23-March 1 2024

The White House announced $1.7 Billion in new commitments from local governments, health care systems, charities, business and non-profits as part of the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities. The Challenge was launched with 8 billion dollars in 2022 with the goal of ending hunger in America by 2030. The Challenge also seeks to drastically reduce diet-related diseases (like type 2 diabetes). As part of the new commitments 16 city pledged to make plans to end hunger by 2030, the largest insurance company in North Carolina made nutrition coaching and a healthy food delivery program a standard benefit for members, and since the challenge launched the USDA's Summer EBT program has allowed 37 states to feed children over the summer, its expected 21 million low income kids will use the program this summer.

The US House passed a bill on Nuclear energy representing the first update in US nuclear energy policy in decades, it expands the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and reduces reducing licensing fees. Nuclear power represents America's single largest source of clean energy, with almost half of carbon-free electricity coming from it. This bill will boost the industry and make it easier to build new plants

Vice President Harris announced key changes to the Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program. The CCDBG supports the families of a million American children every month to help afford child care. The new changes include capping the co-pay families pay to no more than 7% of their income. Studies show that high income families pay 6-8% of their income in childcare while low income families pay 31%. The cap will reduce or eliminate fees for 100,000 families saving them an average of over $200 a month. The changes also strength payments to childcare providers insuring prompt payment.

The House passed a bill making changes to the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. The 8(a) is an intensive 9 year program that offers wide ranging training and support to small business owners who are socially and economically disadvantaged, predominantly native owned businesses. Under the current structure once a business reaches over 6.8 million in assets they're kicked off the program, even though the SBA counts anything under $10 million as a small business, many companies try to limit growth to stay on the program. The House also passed a bill to create an Office of Native American Affairs at the SBA, in order to support Native-owned small businesses.

The White House and HUD announced steps to boost the housing supply and lower costs plans include making permanent the Federal Financing Bank Risk Sharing program, the program has created 12,000 affordable housing units since 2021 with $2 billion and plans 38,000 additional units over ten years. As well as support for HUD's HOME program which has spent $4.35 billion since 2021 to build affordable rental homes and make home ownership a reality for Americans. For the first time an administration is making funds available specifically for investments in manufactured housing, $225 million. 20 million Americans live in manufactured housing, the largest form of unsubsidized affordable housing in the country, particularly the rural poor and people in tribal communities.

The Department of Energy announced $336 million in investments in rural and remote communities to lower energy costs and improve reliability. The projects represent communities in 20 states and across 30 Native tribes. 21% of Navajo Nation homes and 35% of Hopi Indian Tribe homes remain unelectrified, one of the projects hopes to bring that number to 0. Another project supports replacing a hydroelectric dam in Alaska replacing all the Chignik Bay Tribal Council's diesel power with clear hydro power. The DoE also announced $18 million for Transformative Energy projects lead by tribal or local governments and $25 million for Tribal clean energy projects, this comes on top of $75 million in Tribal clean energy projects in 2023

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg put forward new rules to ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity. Under the planned rules mishandling a wheelchair would be a violation of the ACAA, airlines would be required to immediately notify the passenger of their rights. Airlines would be required to repair or replace the wheelchair at the preferred vendor of the passenger's choice as well as provide a loaner wheelchair that fits the passenger's needs/requirements

The EPA launched a $3 Billion dollar program to help ports become zero-emission. This investment in green tech and zero-emission will help important transportation hubs fight climate change and replace some of the largest concentrations of diesel powered heavy equipment in America.

the EPA announced $1 Billion dollars to help clean up toxic Superfund sites. This is the last of $3.5 billion the Biden administration has invested in cleaning up toxic waste sites known as Superfund sites. This investment will help finish clean up at 85 sites across the country as well as start clean up at 25 new sites. Many Superfund sites are contained and then left not cleaned for years even decades. Thanks to the Biden-Harris team's investment the EPA has been able to do more clean up of Superfund sites in the last 2 years than the 5 years before it. More than 25% of America's black and hispanic population live with-in 5 miles of a Superfund site.

Bonus: Sweden cleared the final major barrier to become NATO's 32nd member. The Swedish Foreign Minster is expected to fly to Washington to deposit the articles of accession at the US State Department. NATO membership for Sweden and its neighbor Finland (joined last year) has been a major foreign policy goal of President Biden in the face of Russian aggressive against Ukraine. Former President Trump has repeatedly attacked NATO and declared he wants to leave the 75 year old Alliance, even going so far as to tell Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" with European NATO allies

#Thanks Biden #Joe Biden #Politics #US politics #Democrats #Climate change #end hunger #hunger #proverty #disability #native Americans #tribal rights #clean energy #child care #housing #housing crisis

762 notes · View notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 2 months

Text

The Bezzle excerpt (Part II)

I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me next in SALT LAKE CITY (Feb 21, Weller Book Works) and SAN DIEGO (Feb 22, Mysterious Galaxy). After that, it's LA, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and more!

Today, I'm bringing you part two of this week's serialized excerpt from The Bezzle, my new Martin Hench high-tech crime revenge thriller:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

Though most of the scams that Hench – a two-fisted forensic accountant specializing in Silicon Valley skullduggery – goes after in The Bezzle have a strong tech component, this excerpt concerns a pre-digital scam: music royalty theft.

This is a subject that I got really deep into when researching and writing 2022's Chokepoint Capitalism – a manifesto for fixing creative labor markets:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

My co-author on that book is Rebecca Giblin, who also happens to be one of the world's leading experts in "copyright termination" – the legal right of creative workers to claw back any rights they signed over after 35 years:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/26/take-it-back/

This was enshrined in the 1976 Copyright Act, and has largely languished in obscurity since then, though recent years have seen creators of all kinds getting their rights back through termination – the authors of The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High Books, Stephen King, and George Clinton, to name a few. The estates of the core team at Marvel Comics, including Stan Lee, just settled a case that might have let them take the rights to all those characters back from Disney:

https://www.thewrap.com/marvel-settles-spiderman-lawsuit-steve-ditko/

Copyright termination is a powerful tonic to the bargaining disparities between creative workers. A creative worker who signs a bad contract at the start of their career can – if they choose – tear that contract up 35 years later and demand a better one.

Turning this into a plot-point in The Bezzle is the kind of thing that I love about this series – the ability to take important, obscure, technical aspects of how the world works and turn them into high-stakes technothriller storylines that bring them to the audience they deserve.

If you signed something away 35 years ago and you want to get it back, try Rights Back, an automated termination of tranfer tool co-developed by Creative Commons and Authors Alliance (whose advisory board I volunteer on):

https://rightsback.org/

All right, onto today's installment. Here's part one, published on Saturday:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/17/the-steve-soul-caper/#lead-singer-disease

It was on one of those drives where Stefon learned about copyright termination. It was 2011, and NPR was doing a story on the 1976 Copyright Act, passed the same year that was on the bottom of the document Chuy forged.

Under the ’76 act, artists acquired a “termination right”— that is, the power to cancel any copyright assignment after thirty-five years, even if they signed a contract promising to sign away their rights forever and a day (or until the copyright ran out, which was nearly the same thing).

Listening to a smart, assured lady law professor from UC Berkeley explaining how this termination thing worked, Stefon got a wild idea. He pulled over and found a stub of a pencil and the back of a parking-ticket envelope and wrote down the professor’s name when it was repeated at the end of the program. The next day he went to the Inglewood Public Library and got a reference librarian to teach him how to look up a UC Berkeley email address and he sent an email to the professor asking how he could terminate his copyright assignment.

He was pretty sure she wasn’t going to answer him, but she did, in less than a day. He got the email on his son’s smartphone and the boy helped him send a reply asking if he could call her. One thing led to another and two weeks later, he’d filed the paperwork with the U.S. Copyright Office, along with a check for one hundred dollars.

Time passed, and Stefon mostly forgot about his paperwork adventure with the Copyright Office, though every now and again he’d remember, think about that hundred dollars, and shake his head. Then, nearly a year later, there it was, in his mailbox: a letter saying that his copyright assignment had been canceled and his copyrights were his again. There was also a copy of a letter that had been sent to Chuy, explaining the same thing.

Stefon knew a lawyer—well, almost a lawyer, an ex–trumpet player who became a paralegal after one time subbing for Sly Stone’s usual guy, and then never getting another gig that good. He invited Jamal over for dinner and cooked his best pot roast and served it with good whiskey and then Jamal agreed to send a letter to Inglewood Jams, informing them that Chuy no longer controlled his copyrights and they had to deal with him direct from now on.

Stefon hand-delivered the letter the next day, wearing his good suit for reasons he couldn’t explain. The receptionist took it without a blink. He waited.

“Thank you,” she said, pointedly, glancing at the door.

“I can wait,” he said.

“For what?” She reminded him of his boy’s girlfriend, a sophomore a year younger than him. Both women projected a fierce message that they were done with everyone’s shit, especially shit from men, especially old men. He chose his words carefully.

“I don’t know, honestly.” He smiled shyly. He was a good-looking man, still. That smile had once beamed out of televisions all over America, from the Soul Train stage. “But ma’am, begging your pardon, that letter is about my music, which you all sell here. You sell a lot of it, and I want to talk that over with whoever is in charge of that business.”

She let down her guard by one minute increment. “You’ll want Mr. Gounder,” she said. “He’s not in today. Give me your phone number, I’ll have him call.”

He did, but Mr. Gounder didn’t call. He called back two days later, and the day after that, and the following Monday, and then he went back to the office. The receptionist who reminded him of his son’s girlfriend gave him a shocked look.

“Hello,” he said, and tried out that shy smile. “I wonder if I might see that Mr. Gounder.”

She grew visibly uncomfortable. “Mr. Gounder isn’t in today,” she lied. “I see,” he said. “Will he be in tomorrow?”

“No,” she said.

“The day after?”

“No.” Softer.

“Is that Mr. Gounder of yours ever coming in?”

She sighed. “Mr. Gounder doesn’t want to speak with you, I’m sorry.”

The smile hadn’t worked, so he switched to the look he used to give his bandmates when they wouldn’t cooperate. “Maybe someone can tell me why?”

A door behind her had been open a crack; now it swung wide and a young man came out. He looked Hispanic, with a sharp fade and flashy sneakers, but he didn’t talk like a club kid or a hood rat—he sounded like a USC law student.

“Sir, if you have a claim you’d like Mr. Gounder to engage with, please have your attorney contact him directly.”

Stefon looked this kid up and down and up, tried and failed to catch the receptionist’s eye, and said, “Maybe I can talk this over with you. Are you someone in charge around here?”

“I’m Xavier Perez. I’m vice president for catalog development here. I don’t deal with legal claims, though. That’s strictly Mr. Gounder’s job. Please have your attorney put your query in writing and Mr. Gounder will be in touch as soon as is feasible.”

“I did have a lawyer write him a letter,” Stefon said. “I gave it to this young woman. Mr. Gounder hasn’t been in touch.”

Perez looked at the receptionist. “Did you receive a letter from this gentleman?”

She nodded, still not meeting Stefon’s eye. “I gave it to Mr. Gounder last week.”

Perez grinned, showing a gold tooth, and then, in his white, white voice, said, “There you have it. I’m sure Mr. Gounder will get back in touch with your counsel soon. Thank you for coming in today, Mr.—”

“Stefon Magner.” Stefon waited a moment, then said, for the first time in many years, “I used to perform under Steve Soul, though.”

Perez nodded briskly. He’d known that. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Magner.” Without waiting for a reply, he disappeared back into his office.

ETA: Here's part three!

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/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#copyright-termination

#pluralistic #the bezzle #martin hench #marty hench #red team blues #fiction #crime fiction #crime thrillers #thrillers #technothrillers #novels #books #royalties #wage theft #creative labor

29 notes · View notes

allthecanadianpolitics · 7 months

Text

WARNING: This story contains disturbing video and details.

William Ahmo uttered the words "I can't breathe" more than 20 times while officers swarmed and restrained him in a Manitoba jail, video footage of his final hours at the Headingley Correctional Centre shows.

The video footage, shot on a handheld camera inside the jail more than two years ago, was shown in a Winnipeg courtroom last week during the first day of a trial for the corrections officer who faces charges in Ahmo's death.

Robert Jeffrey Morden, a correctional officer who was the captain of Headingley's emergency response unit, pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide necessaries of life.

Ahmo, 45, who was an inmate at Headingley, was taken to hospital in medical distress following a Feb. 7, 2021, standoff with corrections officers in a common room at the jail.

He died a week later. Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. [...]

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #police brutality #murder #crime and punishment in canada #Manitoba #Winnipeg #death

68 notes · View notes

jmdbjk · 10 months

Text

Jimin's mail

I would like to take this opportunity to address the Jimin's "stolen" mail incident and perhaps dispel some misinformation circulating about it in this day and age of shouting sabotage for everything.

This whole topic might be boring to everyone, but my brain won't let go of it so here it is:

This incident occurred early 2022.

For reference: Jimin purchased his apartment at Nine One Hannam in May 2021. It was a brand new building and he is the first owner of his unit. He paid in cash approx. $4.5 million USD.

In January 2022 this apartment unit was seized temporarily by the South Korea National Health Insurance agency (NHI) due to unpaid insurance premiums.

Boring but important: South Korea provides universal healthcare which is funded several ways including citizens paying a percentage of their monthly income. These premiums also fund the Medical Aid program for those who cannot pay.

The controversy: According to the NHI, Jimin was sent four notices by registered mail of his unpaid insurance premiums. But somehow, this correspondence from the NHI never made it to Jimin. BigHit took full responsibility for this "mishandling of the mail". A portion of the BigHit statement reads:

"Regarding this matter, the company is the first to receive all mail that arrives at the artists’ dorms, and in the process of relaying it to the artist, a portion of the mail was omitted by mistake. Due to Jimin’s activities abroad starting at the end of last year, his extended period of rest, and his scheduled activities abroad after that, he was unaware of matters such as [his premiums] being overdue. As soon as he found out, he paid the arrears in full, and at present, the situation has been resolved. We apologize for the fact that we have given the artist and fans cause for concern due to our company’s negligence."

Another source stated that some mail does go directly to members' homes and is retrieved by company staff where it is included with mail sent in care of the company which is then distributed to the respective member if necessary. This corroborates with the above statement by Bighit.

In an artist/agency relationship, one of the things the agency (company) provides are staff/managers who MANAGE their day-to-day business. Managers make it so artists can lead the crazy lives they live. Makes sense as the members are too busy to take care of mundane things like paying bills.

Was REGISTERED mail taken/intercepted/stolen four times from the mail room at BigHit/HYBE? I don't have clarification on that. But seems like taking someone's registered mail would be a punishable crime.

What was going on during this time: The group was on a winter break that began early December 2021 after their activities in Los Angeles concluded. Jin, Jimin and Jungkook returned to Korea almost immediately and entered self-quarantine for ten days before they were free to do what they wanted within the scope of Covid restrictions.

Refreshing everyone's memory about Bangtan and Covid: Dec. 24: Yoongi tests positive for Covid. Dec. 25: Jin and Namjoon test positive. Jan. 30: Jimin's Covid happens simultaneously with appendicitis. Feb. 15: Tae tests positive. Mar. 24: Hobi goes down for the count. Mar. 27: last but definitely not least, JK AFTER arriving in Vegas.

The members, including Jimin, were starting to post on their individual Instagrams in December. Between Dec. 21 to Jan. 9, Jimin posted photos of himself on both Instagram and Weverse at various places from his visit to Jeju Island. We don't know about the timing of the photos, whether they were posted immediately after he snapped them or posted them days/weeks later.

He posted Jan. 7 on Instagram and then his next post, this time on Weverse, wasn't until Feb. 2, immediately following his emergency appendectomy. He was in the hospital between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5 so he posted a message from his hospital bed (sweet baby).

If he did not get his apartment back until April, then he did not know about his apartment situation while he was in the hospital.

But the NHI sent four notices. So backing up further chronologically, if they seized his apartment on January 25, that means the first overdue payment notice was possibly sent in September 2021?

Sept. 13: receiving diplomat passports.

Sept. 20: UN visit and speech in New York

Oct. 24: online PTD concert

Preparations were then focused on PTD LA. They departed Seoul for Los Angeles on November 16, 2021.

They were busy. They depended on their staff to take care of their personal business.

All that time, Jimin was not aware that there was a lapse in his insurance payments. When he was made aware of the situation, he paid it all immediately.

I have no source that states exactly when this payment was received by the NHI or when it was processed.

They left March 28, 2022 for Las Vegas and returned to Seoul on April 18. There are conflicting media stories about exactly when the apartment seizure was resolved. Some say April 22.

When he was still in Seoul and not traveling to the States, where was Jimin sleeping between January 25 and April 22? Where did he recuperate when he was released from the hospital? Where was he watching "The Notebook" for the nth time? Whose sofa was he laid up on? Hmmmmmm? Did he still have access to his apartment even though it was seized? What's the point of seizing it if he still had access to it? Did he even live there? Maybe that's why he didn't know anything about the seizure because he didn't even live there to begin with? But if he did live there and couldn't access his apartment to sleep there because it was seized, why didn't it get resolved sooner than April 22?

I have so many questions.

We also need to remember that it is said during their time in Las Vegas is when Jimin confided in the members about his challenges. And he's said that these feelings ended up being expressed in the songs on his Face album. Maybe he didn't learn about the apartment mess until he was in Las Vegas and that was the catalyst that made him spill his guts to the members. Still doesn't answer a lot of the above questions....

Media broke with the news about the apartment seizure on the day that "With You," an OST for the TV drama "Our Blues," was released, April 24. Despite all this, "With You" became the fastest song in history to reach #1 on iTunes in 100 total countries, breaking the record held by "Dynamite". It is well known that even negative publicity is publicity. Personally, I don't think it had much effect on the success of the song. But Jimin's character did take a hit. Also in my opinion, he has since recovered well from all that crap. Just me talking about this is probably reminding people that this even happened. Sorry. Just forget I said anything. Ha ha. What apartment? Ha.

Whether the timing of the media breaking the story was on purpose or coincidental... we don't know. Stating purposeful sabotage of Jimin's song is speculation. A news outlet will break a story if its titillating enough regardless of timing. Jimin losing his apartment due to unpaid bills is intriguing and high drama involving a member of BTS, of course they were going to push that story out ASAP.

If the apartment seizure was resolved 2 days before the story broke, we don't know how this information got to the media. THAT is the big question. Is there some sort of process that allows this information to be released somewhere accessible to the public (and therefore the media). If so, what is the timing of that? Or did a news media outlet learn about the incident on April 22 and hold on to the information until April 24? We don't know.

Saying the media sabotaged Jimin's OST "With You" is not the full truth. It is misinformation at this point.

With the information I know of, I do not believe there was a break-in at Jimin's apartment. I can't find a reliable source to confirm anything about a break-in, suspicions of a break-in or any mention of one. Nine One is very locked down and secure so a break-in is unlikely. You cannot waltz into the apartment complex and snoop around. Unlike Hannam The Hill, Nine One is surrounded by a high wall with security stations at the entrances. However, someone who had access to his apartment such as a personal assistant or housekeeping could very well have entered without his permission. But we don't know.

If someone was determined to intercept his mail, they may not have needed access to his apartment but only to his mailbox. Where ever that is. We are told all mail is collected by staff or it is sent directly to the company... it is possible it was a mistake but what kind of idiot was handling the mail and "misplaced" registered mail four times? I do not have a reliable source confirming anyone was formally accused of stealing the mail at BigHit. They most likely dealt with it internally. At the time of the incident, I blogged that people were fired and security protocols were reviewed. I stand by that declaration. Since then, Jimin has been unyielding in maintaining his privacy. Only very recently have we seen him relaxing enough to show us glimpses of his matching gaming chairs, ceiling and edges of his television. We even got a quick view of some decor above the tv.

I am still unclear about the doxxing but I myself disturbingly did see an image online of some documents that seemed to have Jimin's personal information on them. I think this information is included in the NHI documents that never made it to Jimin. If those images were really his information and still exist on the internet, I cannot find them. These documents would have his resident registration number on them. I am assuming it's a total pain in the ass to be issued a new one.

I do not have a reliable source confirming that a news media entity is responsible for stealing the mail and also revealing Jimin's personal information. Saying news media broke into the HYBE building during this incident is misinformation.

All of these things that can't be confirmed can only be called hearsay and speculation.

Everything I have stated here is my opinion from information I witnessed as it unfolded in real time, as well as information available if you search for it.

If you lean toward conspiracy theories regarding sabotaging of everything Jimin does you will come to certain conclusions. And if you just take things at face value without speculating beyond that then you will come to a different conclusion. We won't all agree as to what exactly went down. If I come across information that is new to me regarding what happened, I may modify my opinion depending on what the new information is.

What I've stated is all I have to go on. I have questions. But I won't say someone broke into his apartment. I won't say someone stole his mail but I am still skeptical because I have too many other collateral questions about the whole incident.

If anyone else has any confirmed information about the incident and you want to talk about it, my DMs are open, asks are open, or you can discuss in the comments of this post as long as everyone stays respectful. I would love to learn about anything else if you have links to sources with new information.

And apologies for the long ramble because my brain is constantly including details that might not be pertinent but who knows...

#i know a lot of stuff yet still don't know shit #just like everyone else #where was jimin sleeping all that time?#who was jimin sleeping with #jungkook sure was quiet all that time #they were together on white day...march 14...#i have the pic but i ain't posting it here #you know the one i'm talking about

80 notes · View notes

eviestevie-nametaken · 7 months

Text

eviestevie’s old rwby one shots collection!!

Alright I’m just quickly putting this together to have all my separate one shot fics from when I began writing up to now all put together in one place because I was originally going to do it as a Twitter thread but then I changed my mind

All my one shots from now on will be put together on my “one shot shenanigans” series which you can see on my ao3

Some of these old fics are requests, my own ideas and other random things. Some I still like, some I hate and regret 💀 The only things that aren’t included on this list are ship weeks, big multi chapter stories and commission work so other than those I hope you enjoy this list! :]]

From Earliest to Latest:

(Looking at these dates how did I ever manage to write so quick once upon a time lmao)

Breaking the Silence (28 Sep 2020)

How Icarus Lost his Wings (30 Sep 2020)

Sunshine and The Sheriff (7 Oct 2020)

Eye of the Beholder (12 Oct 2020)

This Dragon needs Love Too (17 Oct 2020)

Maidens of Fire and Iron (7 Nov 2020)

Late, Lonely Nights (7 Nov 2020)

Snitches Get Stitches (9 Nov 2020)

Her Rose (14 Nov 2020)

Human and Faunus (15 Nov 2020)

Why Help a Foe? (17 Nov 2020)

Breakdown at My Scars (23 Nov 2020)

Breaking Out and Breaking Free (24 Nov 2020)

Come Home (24 Nov 2020)

Nora’s in Charge (27 Nov 2020)

A Night to Remember (28 Nov 2020)

The Lowest Point (30 Nov 2020)

Reunion (1 Dec 2020)

What Now (5 Dec 2020)

You Left Me? (8 Dec 2020)

New Beginnings (15 Dec 2020)

Who Am I Without Her? (16 Dec 2020)

Helping Hand (29 Dec 2020)

Family At Last (1 Jan 2021)

Our Days (17 Jan 2021)

Old Home, New Allies (6 Feb 2021)

What Would You Do? (8 Feb 2021)

Pyrrhic Victory (15 Feb 2021)

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (13 Mar 2021)

Take The Fall (22 Mar 2021)

A Hatred for Red (27 Mar 2021)

If We Had Five More Minutes (28 May 2021)

My Place on the Team (And What it Means to You) (8 Aug 2021)

Comforted By You (16 Sep 2021)

One Little Question (7 Dec 2021)

Dance All Night (1 Jan 2022)

Lonely Without Your Touch (21 Jan 2022)

When You Wish Upon a Star (4 Mar 2022)

Freeze This Moment (15 Mar 2022)

First of Many (5 Apr 2022)

Bright Young Boy, Fading Away (13 Apr 2022)

Warm Eyes (6 Jun 2022)

Impulse (22 Aug 2022)

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #my writing #spicecream #emercury #bumbleby #springthyme #nuts and dolts #rosebird #renora #schneewood forest #arkos #Rosegarden #crosshares #whiterose

24 notes · View notes

beardedmrbean · 3 months

Text

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man accused of faking his death and fleeing the U.S. to avoid rape charges in Utah denied at a court appearance Tuesday that he is the suspect and, in an apparent British accent, called allegations that he wasn't giving his true name “complete hearsay."

Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is charged with the rape of a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, in 2008, prosecutors said. He wasn't identified as a suspect until about a decade later due to a backlog of DNA test kits at the Utah State Crime Lab.

Rossi, 36, was extradited from Scotland earlier this month. He identified himself Tuesday as Arthur Knight Brown and gave a birthdate in British English — listing the day first, followed by the month and year — that is different from Rossi's, KSTU-TV reported.

He appeared from jail via video wearing an oxygen mask and did not enter a plea at the initial court appearance. He was difficult to understand at times and had to lift up the mask to be heard.

Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Tamara Basuez said Rossi has not admitted his name or birthdate since he returned to Utah.

“Objection, my lady, that is complete hearsay,” Rossi told the judge.

Rossi is jailed without the possibility of posting bail in the Orem case. The judge set a detention hearing for Jan. 26.

The judge said a lawyer would be appointed for Rossi. He said he has one, but that the attorney did not receive notice of Tuesday's hearing.

Rossi, who grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island, made a name for himself there as a vocal critic of the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Four years ago, he told media in Rhode Island that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live. An obituary published online claimed he died Feb. 29, 2020.

He used at least 10 different aliases over the years, prosecutors said.

Authorities said his run from the law ended when he was arrested in December 2021 after being recognized by someone at a Glasgow, Scotland, hospital while he was being treated for COVID-19. He insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and had never set foot on American soil.

The man had said he was framed by authorities who took his fingerprints while he was in a coma so they could connect him to Rossi. He has repeatedly appeared in court in a wheelchair, using an oxygen mask and speaking with the apparent British accent.

After a protracted court battle, Judge Norman McFadyen of Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled in August that the extradition could move forward. The judge called Rossi “as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative.”

#nunyas news #dude looks like sam hyde #in that one pic

5 notes · View notes

etes-secrecy-post · 2 days

Text

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Take a Taste: with Mr. Shaw Shawarma Rice [Recorded: Mar 24th, 2024]

Hello! It’s time for another “Take a Taste”! The series is about delicious food with my two paper dolls.

First of all, I have many snapshots related to this topic, so I MUST submit my food photos before proceeding to another. 📷📲 Like this one, right here! A delicious classic Shawarma Rice from "Mr. Shaw Shawarma" branch! 🌯🍖🍚😋 (A successful Shawarma food establishment → [CLICK ME!]) This one was gave it from my little bro, on Mar 24th, 2024; a day when the "Holy Week" ✝️🕯️ starts. I'm not supposed to eat meat-related (pork, beef, and chicken) dishes. But, here we are... 🤷‍♀️ All that aside, will this Shawarma Rice taste good to my mouth? Let's find out, right now!

IMPORTANT NOTE: No #OnThisDay throwback post, only exclusive for super secret blog(s).

If you haven’t seen my previous episode, then please click here → [CLICK ME!].

So, without further ado, let’s get started:

1st to 3rd Image(s) 📷📲: ↑

• Now, truth to be told, I'm not sure what flavor of Shawarma gave me. Whether it is "Classic", "BBQ", or a random, it doesn't matter what it is. 🤔🤷‍♀️ But looks can be delicious, though! Eh, you two? 😋 Also, I can't show ya the cover of the box because this was came from a fridge, so I have to reheat it before I chow down. 😅

• [3rd Image] Uh yeah! I can't eat without something to drink! Here's my cola on my red Nescafe mug! Looks like, a cup of joe wasn't the only liquid beverage we can pour. 🥤🙂

4th & 5th Image(s) 📷📲: ↑

• Here's my first scope of the "Shawarma Rice"! Looks good, and how's the taste? Well, tastes great, however after a long fridge inside ❄️ and reheated from the stove 🔥, it somehow lost the "Shawarma" flavor. 😕 In short, it tastes slightly frozen. But hey, I can't help it though. And so do my paper dolls because we're so hungry! 🤤

6th Image & Overall 📷📲: ↑

• So hungry in fact, we're completely done our meal! As we as our iced-cold cola from my mug! 🍽️🥤😋 Hope you enjoyed our Large "Shawarma Rice" meal, eh?! 😊

• So overall, we've definitely worth our appetite! 😋 However, with a slightly lost of "Shawarma" flavor from the reheating stove looks like I'll have to order it by myself and re-review it, someday. 🤔 In the mean time, we're satisfied our taste buds, for now. 😋👍

• But wait, what about the "asking price"? 😮 Again, I'm not sure what my little brother gave me. I'm not sure if its "Classic" or "BBQ" because they're both taste liked "Shawarma", in my opinion speaking. 🤔

Well, that's all for now. 😊

If you haven’t seen my previous episodes, then I’ll provide some links down below.↓😉

Take a Taste:

○ 2021 Food Reviews: ○

• Popeyes U.S. Spicy Chicken Sandwich [Dec 6, 2021]

• Jollibee Chick'nwich & Crisscut Fries [Dec 21, 2021]: Part 1 [CLICK ME! #1], Part 2 [CLICK ME! #2]

○ 2022 Food Reviews: ○

• Mini Stop Chicken Fillet XL Sandwich [Feb 7, 2022]

• Minute Burger Cheese Burger(s) [Mar 1, 2022]

• Pepper Lunch Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice w/ Egg (& Honey Brown Sauce) [Mar 5, 2022]

• Bacsilog’s Sulit Combo Bacon-Tocino & Samgyup Day’s Pork Herbs [Mar 12, 2022]

• Burger King Whopper w/ Sides & Drink [May 6, 2022]

• Marshmello’s Limited Edition Coca-Cola Zero [Aug 26, 2022]

• Cheesy Burger McDo with Lettuce & Tomatoes Meal [Recorded: Sept 16, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s PH McSpicy & Apple Pie (featuring their World Famous Fries) [Nov 14, 2022]

• Mcdonald’s McCrispy Hamonado Sandwich [Dec 31st, 2022]

○ 2023 Food Reviews: ○

• Foods from Delicious Restaurant & 1919 Grand Cafe [Jan 8th, 2023]

• Homemade Churros by my lil’ bro [Feb 12th, 2023]

• Lugaw Sisig from Mang Boy Alfredo Lugawan Restaurant [Recorded: Feb 18th, 2023]

• La Prato Stakehouse [Recorded: Apr 10th, 2023]

• Salt ‘n Light Snack Shack’s Cheesy Bacon Burger & Fries [Recorded: Apr 14th, 2023] (Published on May 5th, 2023)

• Delicious burger meal at Tokyo Tokyo Restaurant [Recorded: May 6th, 2023]

• Delicious meals at the Valenzuela Food Fiesta Christmas Bazaar 2023 [Recorded: Dec. 10th, 2023]

○ 2024 Food Reviews: ○

• Mang Inasal Pork Sisig [Recorded: Jan 10th, 2024]

2 notes · View notes

claudiajcregg · 12 days

Text

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by both @mihrsuri and @unseenacademic 💜💜💜 Thank you so much! I actually wrote up most of the answers the day I was tagged, and then forgot to post them. For over 10 days, probably. Me bad.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 23! (One of them is a 'collection' of short ficlets, and has 6 chapters. So 28 stories in 23 works so far. Probably about to be more stories in still 23 works.)

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 156,597 words. For now.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently? Just TWW. Who knows in the future!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

They have about 35% of my total kudos, but the first two are ~21% alone. (The first one is the only fic that has over 100 kudos. Then again, any of them getting above 30 is a miracle.)

maybe everything's just turning out how it should be (Big Block of Cheese 2008; CJ & Josh. Posted Feb 2021) [121]

say it's here where our pieces fall in place (Vignettes, 1998-2008. Posted Jan 2022.) [66]

just your smile lit a sixty-watt bulb in my house that was darkened for days (Thanksgiving 2006. Posted Dec 2022.) [55]

nobody knows how to get back home (Missing scene from ITSOTG. Posted April 2023) (wait what. top 4?!) [50]

we could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it (B4A Campaign Fic, spring 1998. Posted May 2021) [47]

5. Do you respond to comments?

YES. I don't take them for granted, and I like interacting with my readers. Sharing is nerve-wracking and makes me feel so exposed, so any comment makes it worth it. I like to thank peeps for their time! As of late, it's taking me weeks to get back to comments for Brain/spoons reasons (and because I try to do so in order, though not always). I sometimes feel bad I have fallen behind on leaving my own comments, so replying to what I get makes me feel bad. I love getting the rare, long, thoughtful comments, because I love seeing what people pick up on (had to restrain myself from commenting on everything), so if that one's up next… It'll delay everything. I have a harder time letting go of those.

I know replying or not is a hot topic, and I fall on the side of 'whatever the author does is fine' (I see them as being voluntary gifts to the author, kinda, but I understand why some authors can't or won't reply! Especially those who get dozens.). It does feel weird(ly demoralizing) when you see that yours is one of a couple of comments they haven't replied to, though. (Selfishly, as someone who tries to write medium-long comments, lack of anything can sting. It's irrational, it's not what I'm after, but it'd be nice to know whether that hour plus of my time was worth it. It's not transactional and I hate that c4c idea or whatever. Just. weird feelings.)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

As we've established in previous similar memes (lol, I think I've answered these questions before), my fics don't really have angsty endings! For the most part. I think I said don't want you to go but I'll be okay then, and I can still buy that/definitely popped into my brain. I think some of my late S7 fics have an ominous feel to them, with some references/buildup to the angsty parts of IM, but I wouldn't call them angsty endings.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Um. The opposite is true! still you never took your hand from mine was my first thought, but I feel like oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun is pretty darn happy. I could have picked almost any of them and I could make a case for them!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I luckily do not. I have gotten a couple of comments that have messed with my brain, and made me second-guess things, but they were not hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, but not regularly and not that well. It's usually short, mild scenes at most, but I did challenge myself to write a more explicit one last summer, especially after I got those 'one bed' tropes in the Wheel but didn't go there in the 500-word limit. Streets say it's hot. IDK. I also wrote a smutty continuation to the exchange fic. Best if we forget parts of that one happened. I also started writing one that would be in my S5 pregnancy universe but 🤐

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't. But this question confirms to me I have answered this before because I know I've joked about how TV has already done that for me, lmao. See: Bones/Sleepy Hollow.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? (I had to track down this question because it wasn't anywhere.) I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! I'm having déjà vu here. I know I have answered this before: I could do it myself! But I have a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as one might think, but I'd be honored.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I don't think so…? If I have, it was years ago, in my forum/LJ days. I've been trying to make it happen for a while now, but who knows if it'll ever happen. WE HAVE IDEAS. We want to make it happen. (Wink wink, nudge nudge. You know who.)

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Spaceships are so cool. Atlantis was the first space shuttle I saw in person (and also the one I've seen the most) and it and its exhibit are awesome. I'm only missing Discovery out of the four space shuttles, because I didn't go to the second National Air and Space Museum location in Virginia back in 2015. And once the new exhibit center is completed, I'd love to see Endeavour again.

(In all seriousness, I don't have one. Booth and Brennan will forever and always hold a special place in my heart, but I love CJ and Danny so much, writing for them, their journey. Pls don't make me pick.)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I am a big 'never say never' person, because I end up picking stuff up (and maybe rewriting it to fit my current style/ability) if I remember an idea… But I'm guessing many of them won't get finished. Probably some of those that are deep in my notes app or on the drive.

16. What are your writing strengths? I (try to) dig into the emotion of a scene as best as I can.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Everything else? I know it sounds like an excuse (at least to my ears), but writing in your second language is hard. I know my writing sounds limited because of it – my descriptions will never be as evocative as I wish they were, my dialogue won't be there. I am not the most imaginative person, either.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

If it makes sense, and won't take the reader out of the story, go for it! (A few words, or a line or two, might work if there's appropriate context.)

But also, as a non-native speaker, I'll always recommend using pals who might be fluent in that language and checking with them! I know that, throughout my many years in fandom, I've read quick things in Spanish within English fics that weren't entirely correct in the context they were being used (i.e. character's fluency, smaller details), and they took me out for a second. (I know, I know – pot, meet kettle. If anyone has read an unedited story of mine, they've found me making up English phrases.)

19. First fandom you wrote for? Bones. In Spanish. (I also think I wrote some ficlets in English that are probably hidden in some random LJ comm I created for my writing. They're probably 14-15 years old.)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I honestly cannot pick! And maybe it's yet to come. But basically, if I've gone through the embarrassment of having someone edit/beta a fic and catch all the avoidable mistakes, it's because it genuinely has something I like about it and that I think others will like, too. (Perceived quality aside.)

Off the top of my head, and out of the posted fics (obvious recency bias, sorry). I have a story for all 23… Also, let's consider I've mostly not read them since they were posted so I might be off. (Would love to hear what everyone's favorite is, if you've read any and are reading this!) Obviously, that top 5 by kudos has great ones. There's a reason

don't want you to go but I'll be okay: I just remember finishing it and knowing it was something special. Felt like many things coming together. I wanted to write angstier, a break from the endgame of the IM AU I've yet to post, and I think it works. I had had that quote as inspo for a while, and I think the trip to Berlin put it back on my mind. (The first haunted by the notion draft is from around this time, too!)

your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep: the structure is likely a tad repetitive, maybe (but also, the point of 3+1s, sort of?) but I love writing in that s7 period, and there should be more fic with the press corps. I think the stuff I wrote while editing (which included an overhaul of the +1) is even better than what was there.

oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun: recency bias, yes. I love a good early Cali story, and even if this was nowhere the story I sat down to write originally, I love how it turned out. It's silly but fun, and so sunny.

still you never took your hand from mine: I will always have all the soft spots for my memoir stories, even if two of them have yet to be posted. This one doubled its size a year and a half after “finishing” it because I realized what it was missing. It's sappy, probably unrealistic re: the publishing industry, but damn it if it's not one of those that have made me cry while editing them.

we could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it: I had to include an oldie but goodie from my first year, and this one is so special to me. (Along with BBC 2008, which I also absolutely adore. That was the fic I always wanted to post. Hilarious it was third. But it's also my most popular fic by a huge margin.) Seeing it recommended on Tumblr? God. I love campaign stories and all their potential. I love that I took a random line from some unposted story and it evolved into this fic.

nobody knows how to get back home: I almost added the most recent one because of how fun it was to write (or, as I mentioned above, Big Block of Cheese) but I like how bittersweet this missing scene one is. I find CJ's internal struggle so interesting to explore, and this is one of her most vulnerable moments. I also wanted to see a hug so badly.

#20 questions for fic writers #ask games #god this is so late #hopefully I make up for it with my rambling #tagging whoever wants to do it - everyone I know was tagged in one of the rounds with me #in between writing most of this and posting it I hit 900 kudos woo

6 notes · View notes

herohimbowhore · 2 months

Text

On This Day in F1: February 12th

Present: Aston Martin Car Launch

History: 2020 Chinese Grand Prix Canceled

February 12th, 2024 starts the second week of car launches. Today, Aston Martin launched its AMR24 for the 2024 season. It is another car with lots of paint, though not as brightly painted as the VCARB car.

Unlike other car launches so far, Aston Martin did end up taking the AMR24 on track at Silverstone for its shakedown where both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll got to drive the car for the first time.

In 2020, February 12th was the first of many cancelations for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The 2020 Chinese Grand Prix had originally been scheduled for April 17-19. However, due to health concerns and the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the promoters of the Chinese Grand Prix requested a postponement of the event.

This occurred days before the 2020 Formula 1 season was postponed until early July and the world went into lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19.

As Formula 1 returned to its regularly scheduled races following the 2020 season, the Chinese Grand Prix was scheduled in 2021, 2022, and 2023 as per its contract with Formula 1. However, it would be canceled every time due to COVID-19 restrictions put in place by the Chinese government.

As of now, the Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled and highly expected to happen on April 21. With a sprint also scheduled for that weekend, it is highly probable that after four years of cancelations, the Grand Prix will make its return to the Formula 1 calendar.

_______

Prev.: Feb. 8th — 2006 Belgian GP Canceled

Next: Feb. 13th — Ferrari Car Launch

On This Day in F1 Masterlist

#formula 1 #f1 #on this day in f1 #aston martin #chinese grand prix #car launches #Fernando Alonso #lance stroll

3 notes · View notes

skippyv20 · 1 year

Photo

Hi Skippy & Friends-Pilgrim here totally bewildered why PinEvil thinks she can scribble in entire sections of a moonbump and get away with it? Also, can’t anyone do basic math out in So Cal? Remember their family portrait standing in the garden in B & W with her sporting an enormous moonbump taken in Feb. ‘21? Then a few weeks later in the Oprah interview she was smaller like this in that black bird-shit dress. Then without any proof again from medical officials, she claimed the daughter was born on June 4th, 2021.

So this set up photo is supposed to cover that timeline…3 or 4 months before the birth. Now a mere year later, during the Jubilee June 2022 she is carrying a boy that looks about 5 years old that they say is Farchie. ???!!!??? PinEvil’s bravado is very dangerous. She must love the high it gives her to gaslight to see is you will call her on it…and when you do, she is excited to engage in a big ugly fight…just ugg. Another F- grade for her and Netflix.

Over and out for now…

An A++++++++ for you though!!!! Nice artwork!!!!, thank you dear Pilgrim!❤️😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

23 notes · View notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 2 months

Text

The Bezzle excerpt (Part IV)

I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT in SALT LAKE CITY (Feb 21, Weller Book Works) and TOMORROW in SAN DIEGO (Feb 22, Mysterious Galaxy). After that, it's LA, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and more!

This week marks the publication of my latest novel, The Bezzle, and to celebrate, I'm serializing an excerpt from Chapter 14 in six parts:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

The Bezzle is a revenge story, a crime novel, and a technothriller. It stars Martin Hench, a hard-fighting forensic accountant who specializes in unwinding high-tech scams. Hench made his debt in last year's Red Team Blues (now in paperback!); The Bezzle is a standalone followup:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865854/redteamblues

The serial tells the tale of Stefon Magner, AKA Steve Soul, a once-famous R&B frontman whose disintegrating career turned to tragedy when his crooked manager forged his signature on a rights assignment contract that let him steal all of Stefon's royalties, which ballooned after modern hiphop artists discovered his grooves and started buying licenses to sample them. The first three installments related the sad circumstances of Stefon's life, and the real-world analogues (like Leonard Cohen and George Clinton, both of whom were pauperized by sticky-fingered managers) as well as one real-world countermeasure, copyright termination, a thing that more artists should know about and use:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/26/take-it-back/

Today's installment weaves in a major subplot for the first time in the serial: Los Angeles's notorious, murderous Sheriff's Deputy gangs. These are another unbelievable true tale: for decades, the LASD's deputies have formed themselves into criminal gangs, some of which require that initiates murder someone to be inducted:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LASD_deputy_gangs

They sport gang tattoos, have secret signs, and run vast criminal enterprises. This has been the subject of numerous investigative press reports, and one extensive official report that called the gangs "a cancer":

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/deputy-gangs-cancer-los-angeles-county-sheriffs-department-scathing-re-rcna73367

The sordid tales of the LASD gangs beggar belief. For example, deputies in charge of LA County jails forced inmates to pit-fight and took bets on the outcomes:

https://www.aclu.org/publications/report-cruel-and-usual-punishment-how-savage-gang-deputies-controls-la-county-jails

The taxpayers of LA have shelled out tens of millions of dollars to settle claims against LA's criminals with badges:

https://news.yahoo.com/deputies-accused-being-secret-societies-230851807.html

Periodically, LA judges and officials will insist that they are tackling the problem:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-17/dozens-of-lasd-deputies-ordered-to-show-suspected-gang-tattoos-reveal-others-who-have-them

But at every turn, the LA police "unions" manage to crush these investigations:

https://abc7.com/los-angeles-county-lasd-deputy-gangs-cliques/13492081/

And top cops are right there with them, insisting that these aren't "gangs" – they're just "subgroups":

https://lapublicpress.org/2024/01/former-la-sheriff-villanueva-sheriffs-gangs-are-just-subgroups/

It's very weird being an Angeleno and knowing that one of the largest, most militarized, best funded police departments in the world has been openly captured by a hyperviolent crime syndicate. When I was in the Skyboat Media studios last December with Wil Wheaton recording the audiobook for The Bezzle, Wil broke off from reading to say, "You know, someone's going to read this and google it and have their mind blown when they discover that it's real":

https://sowl.co/8nyGh

That's one of my favorite ways to turn literature into something more than entertainment. It's why I filled the Little Brother books with real-world surveillance, cryptography and security tech, giving enough detail to advance the plot and give readers an idea of what search terms would let them understand and use the concepts in the novel. That's something I'm happy to keep up with the Hench novels, unpicking the inner workings of scams and corruption. The more of us who are wise to this, the sooner we'll be able to get rid of it.

Here's part one of the serial:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/17/the-steve-soul-caper/#lead-singer-disease

Part two:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#copyright-termination

Part three:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/20/fore/#lawyer-up

And now, onto part four!

The last of the boxes had been shelved.

Benedetto rose from his chair. “Thank you, gentlemen,” he said to the movers, and dug a roll of twenties out of his pocket and handed each of them two of their own. He turned to me as they filed out. “You wanna get sushi? The place next door is great.”

The empty storefront was in a down-at-heels strip mall in Eagle Rock. On one side, there was a Brazilian jujitsu studio that never seemed to have any students training in it. On the other side was Sushi Jiro, name on a faded sign with half its lightbulbs gone. Beyond that was a vaping store.

“The place next door is good?”

He laughed. “You San Francisco motherfuckers got terrible LA restaurant radar. Put Sushi Jiro in the Mission and it’d have a Michelin star and a six-month waiting list. Here it’s in a strip mall and only the locals know how good it is. Bet you never had a decent meal in this town, am I right?”

“I’ve had a few,” I said, “but I admit my track record isn’t great.”

“Let’s improve it.”

The sushi was amazing.

Inglewood Jams had the kind of books that were performatively bad, designed to foil any attempt at human comprehension.

But whoever cooked them was an amateur, someone who mistook complexity for obfuscation. Like cross-referencing was a species of transcendentally esoteric sorcery. I don’t mind cross-referencing. It’s meditative, like playing solitaire. I had Benedetto send over some colored post-it tabs and a big photocopier with an automatic feeder and I started making piles.

One night, I worked later than I planned. Sushi Jiro was becoming a serious hazard to my waistline and my sleep-debt, because when your dinner break is ten yards and two doors away from your desk, it’s just too damned easy to get back to work after dinner.

That night, I’d fallen into a cross-referencing reverie, and before I knew it, it was 2 a.m., my lower back was groaning, and my eyes were stinging.

I straightened, groaned, and slid my laptop into my bag. I found my keys and unlocked the door. The storefront was covered with brown butcher’s paper, but it didn’t go all the way to the edge. I had just a moment to sleepily note that there was some movement visible through the crack in the paper over the glass door when it came flying back toward me, bouncing off my toe, mostly, and my nose, a little. I put my one hand to my face as I instinctively threw myself into the door to close it again.

I was too late and too tired. A strong shoulder on the other side of the doorframe pushed it open and I stumbled back, and then the guy was on me, the door sighing shut behind him on its gas lift as he bore me to the ground and straddled my chest, a move he undertook with the ease of much practice. He pinned my arms under his knees and then gave me a couple of hard hits, one to the jaw, one to the nose.

My lip and nose were bleeding freely and my head was ringing from the hits and from getting smacked into the carpet tiles over concrete when I went down backward. I struggled—to free my arms, to buck off my attacker, to focus on him.

He was a beefy white guy in his late fifties, with watery dark eyes and a patchy shave that showed gray mixed in with his dark stubble. As he raised his fist for another blow, I saw that he was wearing a big class ring. A minute later, that ring opened my cheek, just under the orbit of my eye.

Apart from some involuntary animal grunts, I hadn’t made a sound. Now I did. “Ow!” I shouted. “Shit!” I shouted. “Stop!” I shouted.

He split my lip again. I bucked hard but I couldn’t budge him. He had a double chin, a gut, and he was strong, and used that bulk to back up his strength. It was like trying to free myself from under a boulder. That kept punching me in the face.

The strip mall would be deserted. Everything was closed, even the vaping store.

Shouting wouldn’t help. I did it anyway. He shut my mouth for me with a left. I gagged on blood.

He took a break from punching me in the face, then. I think he was tired. His chest heaved, and he wiped sweat off his lip with the back of his hand, leaving behind a streaky mustache of my blood.

He contemplated me, weighing me up. I thought maybe he was trying to decide if I had any fight left in me, or perhaps whether I had any valuables he could help himself to.

He cleared his throat and looked at me again. “Goddammit, I messed your face up so bad I can’t tell for sure. I hope to fuck that you’re Martin Hench, though.”

Even with my addled wits, this was an important piece of intelligence: he came here for me. This wasn’t a random act of senseless Los Angeles street violence. This was aimed at me.

I was briefly angry at Benedetto for not warning me that Chuy Flores was such a tough son of a bitch. Then I had the presence of mind to lie.

“I don’t know who the fuck this Mark Hendricks is.” My voice was thick with gargled blood, but I was proud of Mark Hendricks. Pretty fast thinking for a guy with a probable concussion. The guy slapped me open-handed across the face, and as I lay dazed for a moment, he shifted, reached into my back pocket for my wallet, and yanked it—and the seat of my pants—free. Before I could react, his knees were back on my biceps, pinning my arms and shoulders. It was a very neat move, and fast for an old guy like him.

He flipped my wallet open and squinted at it, then held it at arm’s length, then smiled broadly. He had bleach-white teeth, a row of perfectly uniform caps. Los fucking Angeles, where even the thugs have a million-dollar smile.

“Shoulda sprung for botox,” I slurred.

His grin got wider. “Maybe someday I will. Got these in trade from a cosmetic dentist I did some work for.” He dropped my wallet. “Listen, Martin Hench, you stay the fuck away from Thames Estuary and Lawrence Coleman.”

“It’s Lionel Coleman,�� I said.

“What the fuck ever,” he said. He labored to his feet. I stayed still. He looked at me from a great height, and I stared up his nostrils. Without warning, he kicked my ribs hard enough that I heard one of them crack.

“You’ve been told,” he said to my writhing body, and let himself out.

ETA: Here's part five!

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/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#poacher-turned-keeper

#pluralistic #the bezzle #martin hench #marty hench #red team blues #fiction #crime fiction #crime thrillers #thrillers #technothrillers #novels #books #royalties #wage theft #creative labor

11 notes · View notes

allthecanadianpolitics · 7 months

Text

WARNING: This story contains disturbing video and details.

Ahmo, 45, who was an inmate at Headingley, was taken to hospital in medical distress following a Feb. 7, 2021, standoff with corrections officers in a common room at the jail.

He died a week later. Manitoba's chief medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. [...]

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #police brutality #murder #crime and punishment in canada #Manitoba #Winnipeg #death

50 notes · View notes

pinkaislepodcast · 10 months

Text

Behind the Barbie -The Ruth Handler Story Part 2

This week, we continue to explore the life of Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, as we specifically discuss the process she went through in the creation of the doll. A process that included Japanese war criminals, unscrupulous business deals, and a shockingly horny psychologist. How was Barbie able to succeed in these strange and challenging circumstances? Listen and find out!

Listen to Part 1 Here

Listen on Itunes | Listen on Google Play | Listen on Spotify

Like what you heard? Be sure to rate us on your podcast platform of choice, and follow us at @pinkaislepodcast on Tumblr or @PinkAislePod on Twitter. You can also reach out to us personally at [email protected] or support the show at patreon.com/henrykathman

Works Cited

“Barbie Doll Vintage Clothes Identified 1959.” Doll Reference, 2004, www.dollreference.com/barbie_clothes1959.html. Accessed 23 June 2023. Gerber, Robin. Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her. United States, HarperCollins, 2009. Kershaw, Sarah. “Ruth Handler, Whose Barbie Gave Dolls Curves, Dies at 85.” The New York Times, 29 Apr. 2002, www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/arts/ruth-handler-whose-barbie-gave-dolls-curves-dies-at-85.html. Lepore, Jill. “When Barbie Went to War with Bratz.” The New Yorker, Condé Nast, Advance Publications, 15 Jan. 2018, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/22/when-barbie-went-to-war-with-bratz. Lindsey, Robert. “A Million‐Dollar Business from a Mastectomy.” The New York Times, 19 June 1977, www.nytimes.com/1977/06/19/archives/a-milliondollar-business-from-a-mastectomy.html. Accessed 23 June 2023. “MISS SAIGON" 1996 GERMANY CONVENTION BARBIE by ROBERT WEININGER | #497781847.” Worthpoint, WorthPoint Corporation , www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/miss-saigon-1996-germany-convention-497781847. Accessed 23 June 2023. Moore, Andrew. “Hedonism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 17 Oct. 2013, plato.stanford.edu/entries/hedonism/. Rainey, Clint. “A Horrific Environmental Disaster Is Happening in Ohio, and You May Not Even Have Heard about It.” Fast Company, Mansueto Ventures, LLC, 10 Feb. 2023, www.fastcompany.com/90848025/ohio-train-derailment-toxic-chemicals-pvc-spill-fire-disaster. Slater, Lee. Barbie Developer: Ruth Handler. United States, Abdo Publishing, 2016. Touvila, Alicia. “Bill-And-Hold Basis.” Investopedia, Dotdash Meredith , 18 Mar. 2023, www.investopedia.com/terms/b/buy_and_hold_basis.asp. Turner, Christopher. “The Hidden Persuader.” Cabinet, vol. 1, no. 44, 2011. Reading Design, www.readingdesign.org/hidden-persuader. Accessed 23 June 2023. “Vinyl Chloride - Cancer-Causing Substances - National Cancer Institute.” Www.cancer.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 20 Mar. 2015, www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/vinyl-chloride#:~:text=Which%20cancers%20are%20associated%20with. Wong, Mia, and Robert Evans. Part One: The Slavery Loving Fascist Who Built Modern Japan. Coolzone Media, 21 Sept. 2021, www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-the-slavery-loving-fascist-87145628/, disc 1/3. Podcast.

#the pink aisle #barbie podcast #barbie #barbie movies #podcast #behind the barbie #doll history #pink aisle podcast #pink aisle #ruth handler #ruth handler barbie #barbie ruth handler #ken handler #babara handler

8 notes · View notes

xxsycamore · 1 year

Text

I posted 261 times in 2022

That's 16 more posts than 2021!

187 posts created (72%)

74 posts reblogged (28%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@xxsycamore

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly

@voltage-vixen

@chaosangel767

@ikemenlibrary

I tagged 176 of my posts in 2022

Only 33% of my posts had no tags

#ikemen vampire - 51 posts

#ikevamp - 48 posts

#ikemen revolution - 44 posts

#ikemen prince - 39 posts

#ikerev - 39 posts

#xxsycamore askbox - 38 posts

#ikepri - 37 posts

#ikemen sengoku - 28 posts

#ikesen - 23 posts

#ikeseries - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 92 characters

#that's why i prefer posting previews when everything is finished and ready to be posted haha

My Top Posts in 2022:

TUMMY KISSY! ✨

Now that All for Love gacha came to Ikevamp EN it was the perfect time for me to finish this! Yes, I'm still not over his exposed, kissable tummy on the official art :') and I know it can't be just me

244 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

-- x --

See the full post

248 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

Be my Valentine - A Valentine's Day themed content creation challenge

Hello everyone! This fandom event is a collaboration between me and the lovely @chaosangel767 . Together we organized a little something to celebrate the upcoming holiday of love!

This is a content creation challenge that uses a list of 14 prompts. This is not limited to writers, so you may join with any form of art!

Targeted towards but not limited to otome fandoms. (IkeSeries; ToT; MLQC; MysMe; Voltage; Obey me!; Love Unholyc, etc.)

The challenge takes place from February 1st to February 14th. Remember not to stress over posting dates and do only as many as you wish! We’re doing this for fun :)

@chaosangel767 Will create a masterlist featuring all works as well as their creators. The deadline is March 6th, 5 pm GMT.

The masterlist will be posted between March 7th and March 9th.

When creating your works, you can use the tag #be my valentine content creation challenge for others to find it. Additionally, you may tag us in your posts so we can find them easily when making the masterlist! Posting to other sites is fine as well, as long as you mention the challenge and its creators.

Any additional rules are up to the content creators. The genre and rating of your works is up to you as long as you mark your nsfw content accordingly. You’re totally free to take requests using this list.

You can always come and ask additional questions if you have any! I’m currently not taking requests, I’ll let you know when I plan to do that soon.

Happy creating!

[ Under the cut you will find the 14 prompts in a blank format. ]

Feb 1st - "Of course I figured it out. You were always giving me that love-struck gaze."

Feb 2nd - Chocolate baking date goes wrong

Feb 3rd - "Again with my clothes?" "They smell like you."

Feb 4th - Surprising them with way more roses than expected

Feb 5th - "I made you miss me. I want to make up for that."

Feb 6th - Comparing hand sizes and blushing immediately after

Feb 7th - "You're so clingy today. I love it."

Feb 8th - A (not so) anonymous love letter

Feb 9th - "Aren't you tired yet?" "Of you? Never."

Feb 10th - "How many different ways should I show you I love you?"

Feb 11th - Dancing with each other while no one is around

Feb 12th - "Waking up next to you is the best decision I've ever made."

Feb 13th - Finding a new tradition for Valentine's Day

Feb 14th - "No matter what anyone says, you're perfect for me."

260 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘, 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 - an Alternative Universe (AU)-based Otome Content Creation Challenge

Brought to you by me and the amazing @queengiuliettafirstlady, this content creation challenge is a week-long exploration of the trope Alternative Universe!

→ GENERAL RULES

Works of all forms are welcome! Fanarts, fanfics, headcanons,...whatever your heart desires.

Limited to otome fandoms - IkeSeries (Ikemen Vampire, Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Revolution, etc.); Tears of Themis; Obey me!; Mr Love: Queen's Choice; Light and Night; Voltage games; Mystic Messenger and others, as well as Visual Novel otomes.

This challenge takes place between June 13th and June 19th, 2022. The deadline for posting your works is June 25th (up until midnight, UTC+2).

On June 26th @queengiuliettafirstlady will publish a masterlist enlisting all works linked along with their creators. Don't hesitate to contact us if your work was done within the deadline but wasn't featured in the masterlist. Or, if you prefer not to be featured on the masterlist at all!

When posting your works, use the tag #different universe same love ccc - you can as well tag @xxsycamore and @queengiuliettafirstlady in your posts! It will help us find your work easier!

Posting to other sites is allowed - as long as you mention the challenge and its creators.

Reblogs are appreciated!

→ CONTENT RULES

This challenge uses a total of 14 prompts, two for each day. You're free to create a work based on whichever one you like more for that day. You can also create works for both prompts, and you can also mix the two prompts into one work! Whatever suits you :) You can create more than one work for the same prompt, too!

You can find the list of prompts on the banner above, as well at the bottom of this post.

Under the cut you will also find a short explanation of each prompt, just in case there is anything unclear about them.

Any additional rules are up to the content creators. You are free to choose the rating (make sure to mark your NSFT works accordingly, and if you're minor, make sure not to engage/interact with such!), you're just as free to choose the genre (the challenge's main focus is romance, but it is not obligatory for your work to be of such genre), all characters and ships are up to you (OCs, character x MC, character x character, etc.)

You're free to take requests from your audience using this list, again please make sure to mention the challenge and its creators.

This blog is not taking requests for this challenge, unless I state otherwise later on!

You're absolutely free to post your works for this challenge after its deadline, June 25th - but please know that they won't be featured in the masterlist!

The final and most important rule is to have fun and not pressure yourself about full completion of the challenge. Do only as many works as you wish and you can! :)

See the full post

261 notes - Posted May 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

305 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #Challenges and napo that's a successful year for xxsycamore

11 notes · View notes

henrykathman · 2 years

Text

youtube

Every Modern Cinderella Adaptation Ranked!

In this video, I have examined 28 different adaptations of Cinderella produced in the past 25 years, including film, video games, ballets, musicals, and more than a couple of entries into the Cinderella Story franchise. The goal is to examine the ways that this classic fairy tale has evolved in the past quarter of a century to see what it reflects about the changes being made to our society.

Video Credits Below

Written and Produced by Henry Kathman Additional Voices provided by Laura Crone and Aranock Script Editing by Argus Swift Music by Molly Noise Korean Pronunciation Consulting from Pieter de Rooij

Mentioned Videos (In order of appearance)

Emily Clark, The BEST Cinderella (Full Stop) | Cinderella 1997

Dominic Noble, Ella Enchanted | Lost in Adaptation

Cinderella (2006) Full Movie

Drawpinion Dump, Cinderella III is a Transformative Masterpiece

Full Performance of Into the Woods

Princess Weekes, The Magical Negroes of Stephen King

Year of the Fish Addendum Sources:

Jeong, May, and Photography by An Rong Xu. “How the Atlanta Spa Shootings-the Victims, the Survivors-Tell a Story of America.” Vanity Fair, Condé Nast, 14 Mar. 2022

Levine, Judith. “Yes, Blame Christian Fundamentalism for the Atlanta Murders.” The Intercept, First Look Media, 23 Mar. 2021

Putcha, Rumya S. “White Supremacy and the Wellness Industry, or, Why It Matters That This Happened at a ‘Spa.’” Society and Space, SAGE Publications Inc, 22 Mar. 2021

Steadman, Otillia. “Asian Sex Workers Want to Decriminalize Unlicensed Massage Work One Year after Atlanta Shootings.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed, 21 Mar. 2022

Sources

Bamigboye, Baz. “Director of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Doomed West End Musical 'Cinderella' Is ‘Angered’ over Treatment of Cast and Crew on Show.” Deadline, Penske Media Corporation, 3 May 2022.

Buchanan, Rose Troup. “Andrew Lloyd Webber Flew in from New York in Failed Attempt to Prop up Government Tax Credit Vote.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 28 Oct. 2015

Fergus, Kerry Auer. “Character Study: Cinderella.” From Score to Stage, 12 May 2017

Kaplan, David. “The Making of Year of the Fish.” Studio Artist News, Feb. 2010

Parsons, Linda T. "Ella evolving: Cinderella stories and the construction of gender-appropriate behavior." Children's literature in education 35.2 (2004): 135-154.

Peck, Emily. “Amazon Has a Pay Gap It's Not Talking About.” Inc.com, The Huffington Post, 28 Mar. 2016

Pugh, Nathan. “#13: On the Steps of the Palace- Analysis on Sondheim's Construction of Choice of Character within ‘Into the Woods.’” The 42+ Project, Weebly, 18 Mar. 2015

Snugboy. Disney's Into The Woods - How NOT To Adapt a Movie. YouTube, 13 July 2020

Wiegand, Chris. “Andrew Lloyd Webber on Cinderella: 'We're Not Looking for a Fight – We Just Want Culture Back!'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 July 2021

39 notes · View notes