#this is not even about The Economy and Housing Crisis this is like. my life and choices lately lol afjsahfjk let's see: | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fatehbaz · 1 year

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The New York State Urban Development Corporation saw in the piers a sacrificial milieu of impurity and devaluation. Rivera described the event as follows: “It’s called a sweep. Not even a fucking eviction. A sweep, like we’re trash.” [...]

The clearance operation of the piers took place under the New York Slum Clearance Commission and Law and its frothy utopian verbiage of “sanitizing” an environment [...] unsuitable for human life. [...] The demolition of the piers showed the violent clash of two confronting forms of urbanism. [...] [Manhattan’s] working class industrial base was transformed into a corporate and service-based economy and New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, together with city planners, implemented policies to frame Manhattan as a place for work, but not living. [...] At the same time, these discussions were imbricated with racial depictions and xenophobic targets: most of the constructions beleaguered in this operation were inhabited or used by black people, Latin Americans, migrants, and displaced communities. [...]

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The piers thrived with life. [...]

The notion of the piers as insalubrious areas that needed to be wiped out gained traction in the 1980s -- during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis [...]. This narrative concerning the piers was active in New York City until the early 2000s, until Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki opened the Greenwich Village segment of Hudson River Park on May 30, 2003. The highway was finally demolished [...] and a series of gates were erected to keep Pier 45 closed after 1am [...]. The previous residents of these spaces were just routine casualties.

The new proposal opted for a unitary, straightforward, apparently open but constantly surveilled set of facilities, where constant circulation (by car, skate, bike, foot) was central, and framed the conception of the piers as a passing point. This contrasted the labyrinthic and fragmented former setting, with multitudes of hidden spaces that provided a sense of privacy and safety [...].

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Members of these groups were ostracized and deprived of typical considerations during the outbreak of an epidemic: protocols of announcement, transparency in information, research, and measure-taking. Meanwhile, the communities that congregated around the piers, and the piers themselves, helped spread information about AIDS, made transparent the available data, and offered care among affected communities. [...]

This environmental activism, where kin was formed [...], happened in places like the piers. [...] They were an escape from the constant scrutiny of authorities and from homophobic attacks [...].

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GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency), as well as the common “gay plague” and “gay cancer” epithets, strengthened the idea of a specifically gay disease related to a certain environment-specific villain. Journalists, following the views of public health authorities, blamed the epidemic on [...] the places gay people frequented. [...] Physicians thus described a spatial configuration located in downtown Manhattan [...] which [...] posed a threat [...]. This claim had terrible consequences for the activist spaces and urban fabrics that confronted the epidemic [...]. The remnants of Pier 45 were demolished. The activist history of these places was “cleared.” [...]

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When Sylvia Rivera shouted to the authorities “stay away from my house!” while being evicted, “house” not only referred to the physical construction of her home. She was confronting teleological progress with the project of a[n] [...] assemblage based on [...] mutual caring [...] and defying colonial narratives of race, sex, gender, and nature. The territorialization of epidemics, identities, and citizenship not only shape the built environment, but the built environment shapes them in return. Architecture thereby assumed the form of an expanded spatial practice [...].

When Rivera was trying to save her home from demolition, she said, “there’s so many fucking buildings in this fucking Manhattan.”

What New York City was losing with the demolition of Pier 45 was not just a series of dwellings. It was losing a complex ecosystem of coexistence.

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All text above by: Iván López Munuera. “Lands of Contagion”, e-flux (Sick Architecture series). November 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

#abolition #health #medical #colonial #imperial #ecology #landscape

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 8 days

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New Rule: Whoa, Canada | Real Time with Bill Maher

And finally, New Rule. If we want to save our country, we should follow the advice good liberals have given for decades and learn from other countries.

Especially those beacons of progressivism like Canada, England, and Scandinavia, and I agree we should, as long as we're honest about the lessons we're learning. And as long as we're up to date on the current data. Such as, the unemployment rate in the US is 3.8 percent. And in Canada, it's 6.1. And of the 15 North American cities with the worst air pollution, 14 are in Canada.

I'm not citing these stats because I have it out for Canada. I love Canada, and its people, and always have, but I hate zombie lies. Zombie lies. That's when things change but what people say about them doesn't. Yes, for decades, places like Vancouver, and Amsterdam, and Stockholm seemed idyllic, because everything was free and all the energy we needed was produced by riding a bike to your job at the windmill. Canada was where all the treasured goals of liberalism worked perfectly. It was like NPR come to life but with poutine.

Canada was the Statue of Liberty with a low-maintenance haircut and cross-country skis. A giant idealized blue state with single-payer health care, gun control, and abortion on polite demand. Canada was where every woke White college kid, wearing pajama pants outdoors who'd had it up to here with America's racist patriarchy, dreamt of living someday. I mean, besides Gaza.

There's only one problem with thinking everything's better in Canada. It's not. Not anymore anyway. Last year, Canada added 1.3 million people, which is a lot in one year. The equivalent of the US adding 11 million migrants in one year. And now, they are experiencing a housing crisis even worse than ours. And we're sleeping in tents. The median price of a home here is 346 grand, in Canada, converted to US dollars, it's 487. If Barbie moved to Winnipeg, she wouldn't be able to afford her dream house and Ken would be working at Tim Hortons. And because of mortgage debt, Canada has the highest debt to GDP ratio of any G7 nation. I don't know what that means, but it sounds bad.

So does their vaunted health care system, which ranks dead last among high income countries in access to primary health care and ability to see a doctor in a day or two. And it's not for lack of spending. Of the 30 countries with universal coverage, Canada spends over 13 percent of its economy on it, which is a lot of money for free health care.

Look, I'm not saying Canada still isn't a great country. It is, but those aren't paradise numbers. If Canada was an apartment, the lead feature might be "America adjacent." And if America was a rental car, Canada would be "America or similar."

And again, honestly, Canada, I'm not saying any of this 'cause I enjoy it. I don't, 'cause I've always enjoyed you. But I need to cite you as a cautionary tale to help my country. And the moral of that tale is, "Yes, you can move too far left." And when you do, you wind up pushing the people in the middle to the right. At its worst, Canada is what American voters think happens when there's no one putting a check on extreme wokeness.

Like the saga of Canadian shop teacher, Kayla Lemieux, whose pronouns are she/her and those. Kayla is now back to being a guy named Kerry, but two years ago when "they" showed up to teach children, the progressive high school "they" taught at said that they-- They, the school, not the person. Really? You couldn't have found another word? We were using that one. Anyway, okay. They were committed to a safe environment for gender expression. Safe for who? What about the children? What about the equipment in that shop class?

You know, there was once a weirdo D-list movie producer in the '60s named Russ Meyer who made low-budget B movies like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Always featuring women who look like this. His movies played in porn houses and were featured in Hustler and Playboy. Okay, fine, but who says, "No, when it comes to huge, ridiculous tits, let's save that for the kids."

And this is why people vote for Trump. They say in politics, liberals are the gas pedal and conservatives are the brakes, and I'm generally with the gas pedal, but not if we're driving off a cliff.

On the trans issue, America is no ands, ifs, or buts about it, absolutely alone in the world now. An outlier country. Last month, England's National Health Service announced that there's "not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness" of puberty blockers for third graders, and that they were going to stop fumbling around with children's privates, because that's Prince Andrew's job.

So too with all the other good place countries in direct opposition to America's choice to affirm children's wishes on switching gender, no matter the age or psychiatric history. The Far Left, which always like to use, "Well, Europe does it." Yeah, no, that doesn't work on this one anymore.

Or on immigration. Sweden opened its borders to over a million and a half immigrants since 2010. And now 20 percent of its citizens are foreign-born and its education system is tanking, and it has Europe's highest rate of gangland killings. And one result is that the far-right parties are in the government now there for the first time.

To which liberals say, "Blaming immigrants for the rising crime rate is racist." Yeah, but is it true? Of course, it's true. It's not a coincidence. The quality of life went down after the Somali gangs started a drug turf war using hand grenades.

Calling it "racist" doesn't solve the problem. It hands future elections to someone who will solve the problem, and who, I promise, you're not going to like.

For the record, I've said literally all of this, including making the comparison of flying off a cliff if you rely entirely on the gas pedal. Just saying.

When Trump takes office again, and he will, people will act stunned and ask, "how could this have ever happened?"

#Bill Maher #Real Time with Bill Maher #immigration #gender ideology #medical scandal #Canada #Sweden #Somali gangs #medical corruption #religion is a mental illness

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acti-veg · 1 year

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my mum says the coronation brings people together and a lot of joy to people (ordinary people, who aren't rich) and the royal family gives people a sense of continuity - politicians come and go but everyone knows the royal family. i can't help thinking she has a point - there is something comforting about the familiarity of them and they do do some charitable works and appear to be more accepting of different faiths etc.

(2) i say to her that it's not right that they're so rich and that they have colonialist roots and i hate their hunting. and i don't think the taxpayer should be paying for the coronation (though some people will say the coronation is good for the economy) but i find it hard to see it as as black and white as 'the royal family are evil' - they must be so heavily influenced by their upbringings and there must be a lot of pressure on them to uphold tradition.

(3) i feel like i'm being a killjoy to everyone and i'm wondering is the coronation actually making things harder for people struggling financially? or would they be struggling just as much without the coronation, but people just don't like the royal family to be rich whilst they're struggling and see it as unfair? because if it's the latter, and the royal family actually benefits the economy, then i don't see it as such a bad thing

(4) and does the fact that it has colonialist roots have a tangible negative impact *now*?

Firstly; in terms of them bringing people joy, you’d have to weigh that against them bringing many other people misery or anger. Very few people sitting in their council houses that they can’t afford to heat with their families they can’t afford to feed derives any joy from the existence of a monarch whose excessive wealth is derived from the public purse.

The Royal Stipend this year is 86.3m, on top of their cash and assets estimated between 20 and 24 billion. That’s not even counting Charles’ personal fortune, estimated at 1.9 billion. The Royals are inexplicably completely exempt from inheritance tax, so he didn’t give back a single penny he inherited from his rich mum. Can you imagine how much joy we could give people if that money went towards subsidised electricity, food, housing, schools, the NHS?

Instead, Charles will show up at a school or hospital every now and again to thank the workers for their service, a visit we will also pay for because the cost of security (or really anything actually useful) is paid by the taxpayer instead of being taken out of the Royal Stipend.

Even as individuals, everything we ever find out that we weren’t supposed to know paints them in a very bad light. The racism, the adultery, the alleged sexual assault, the animal cruelty, the unreasonable working conditions for their staff, the fact that they specifically don’t have to abide by diversity hiring laws (I wonder why), all the awful and insensitive comments recorded by people who have met them over the years. Charles currently giving out free portraits of himself to hang in all public buildings. He spent 8m of our money on a vanity project in the middle of the worst economic recession since WWII.

But it’s really not about who they are as people or how they live their lives as individuals, if Charles were a noble and just king the monarchy would still be fundamentally wrong. They represent and benefit from an institution derived from colonialism, built on wealth inherited from slavery and funded for by us. It is perfectly possible to leave the royal family, Harry has at least partially doing it, so having been born into it doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of making other choices about your own life. So long as they continue to spend that money and live that life with our money then it’s more than fair to judge them for it.

Even using the coronation as a single example shows how they are prioritised. This took place in the midst of an unprecedented cost of living crisis, with every bit of government help fought tooth and nail. But suddenly there was no question about whether or not we could afford it, no mention of the evils of handouts or the importance fiscal responsibility, because it was a party for the King.

Conservative-run Bromley council refused to fund "warm banks" during winter but were more than happy to spend £50m on events to mark the coronation. It was the same story for the Royal Weddings, both princes spent about £30m each, while homeless people were cleared off the street so they wouldn’t spoil the photos. Charles’ first wedding (to the woman he cheated on for years) cost 87m in today’s money, and was three days of lavish feasts and parties paid for by us. His second, ‘modest registry’ wedding to the new queen (who cheated on her husband with Charles) cost 5m.

Oh and just as an added kick in the teeth, we also paid about 12m in hush money to the victim of Charles’ brother Andrew. That’s just an estimate though, since the royals didn’t think we deserved to actually know the full cost or any of the details in the agreement, despite it coming out of our pocket. Imagine what all of that money could have done for people who actually need it, on top of the 2 billion in assets and 86m, assuming it doesn’t increase (again) next year.

There is an obvious link between that kind of money being spent and poor people in Britain not being given the support they need. The state has a choice where they wanted that money to go, and actively made the decision that it should benefit the rich instead of the poor. Charles could have refused, he could have recognised the state of the UK and decided the coronation should be quiet, dignified and inexpensive. But he didn’t - he went lavish, over the top and expensive, air conditioned custom gold carriage and all. He and the government didn’t even bother to tell us how much it was expected to cost - an apparent blank cheque we are supposed to be happy to pay.

As for the benefits, there is no convincing evidence that royal events or the royals themselves bring in more money than they cost. Everyone cites visitors to Buckingham Palace etc. but The Louvre and Versailles are two of the most visited tourist destinations on earth and the French beheaded their monarchs 250 years ago.

How much people appreciate continuity is of course subjective, but continuity in the form of a reigning monarch that can't be recalled by election is inherently anti-democratic. When the public vote out a government they're deeply dissatisfied with the way the country is being run, the fact that everyone will be replaced except the Head of State is absurd. Continuity of what? Parasitivism? Besides, how does everyone really 'know' the royal family? We know their names, we know bits of information from fallouts, but they take great pains to make sure that pretty much everything else about their lives, and particularly their finances, are well hidden from the public.

The British Monarchy are an outdated relic of our shameful imperial history and an egregious example of the class divide in modern Britain. The existence of these self-aggrandising scroungers is an insult to anyone in the UK who has ever struggled or ever had to work for their survival. Any benefits are far outweighed by the cost the public and to our supposedly ‘democratic’ process.

#ask #long post #monarchy

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dangerous-fellowz · 2 years

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zombie infested romantic walk with lawrence

mainly fluff and comedy tbh, however tw for mentions of death in a joke.

it was a casual monday evening, and you wanted to stretch your legs for a bit. so you ask lawrence if he wants to go on a stroll, march, prowl, promenade, hot girl walk, whatever he wishes to call it, you just want out of the house.

"promenade? are you bored enough to start reading the dictionary?" he asks, turning to you in his spinny desk chair.

you correct him and say you've been reading the thesaurus. which he rolls his eyes at in an amused fashion.

"ok, ok, sure. i'm almost finished writing the meal plan for this week anyways."

he gets up and pushes the chair in, before putting on the jacket you hate so much with its horrible orange color. you just slide on your shoes and reach your hand out for him to take.

he grabs both it and the safety kit as you both head out the door. you both bask in the setting sun like vitamin d deprived dogs. it was comfortable out, a nice breeze ruffling your lovers hair.

it feels so nice to just be you and him, the zombies don't count as people. they are simply background noise to the day. this has become your normal. dare you even say you are no longer surviving, but instead, thriving. life has never been better for you both, even if you do still mourn the ones you've lost (which you are alone in.)

lawrence points to an old drug store, that looks free of zombies. "do you want to do some shopping?"

"oh but, i don't know if i can afford it right now. everything is so expensive anymore!" you say jokingly, which goes right over his head.

he tilts his head like a puppy, smiling gently with his eyebrows knit together. "but... its free. we liv-"

"i'm going to steal it all." you threaten.

well now he looks concerned. "i mean really its foraging because we don't really have anyone to pay, let alone an economy to-"

"lawrence i'm so excited to steal all the lipgloss. all. the. gloss." you continue, which makes him catch onto the joke.

"well, the only thing you stole so far was, my heart." lawrence said, with an goofy grin. he wasn't good at this, but it made you love him more.

you both walked inside, picking up items and pretending as if times were normal. trying on those cheap sun glasses, lawrence picking you out a really sweet card, picking out nail polish for each other, lawrence putting an annoying toy on the top shelf so you can't reach it. you know. zombie date things.

you two reach the lip product area, and you pick up an shade of bright pink lip gloss. you turn to lawrence and say, "you know. scharlette did look drop dead gorgeous in this color."

which makes lawrence laugh so hard he has to sit down. yandere humor is typically a big hit or miss with him. this time it was an home run though.

when he collects himself he picks up an pastel pink tinted lip stick. "when i was young, i'd play with my mothers make up. i don't know why, i guess i wanted to be pretty." he says with an shrug.

you are pocketing different shiny glosses and just say, "yeah no, i can see that for you." and simply nothing more, which gives him an mini crisis before he notices hello kitty bandaids near by.

he stocks them in the safety kit, which now held: a knife, rubbing alcohol, some snacks, a note lawrence left you about how to clean a wound that was oddly lovey dovey, a lighter, plenty of water, and now cute bandaids. "lets head home before it gets too dark." he suggests, packing it up carefully.

you poke his cheek and smirk, "oh, is it grandpa hours? time to sleep the second the sun sets?" you ask, before he kisses your cheek.

"is it so bad to want to cuddle up next to my partner?" lawrence asked with a playful huff.

you blankly look at him. "you're just tired of holding the bag, huh?"

he looks away. "...no." so yes. you grab it as you two walk home.

the zombies are just background music to you two wandering back home. life may not be normal, but you both found a love that doesn't require a normal life. it's perfect just the way it is.

#i head canon that lawrence is neurodivergent #why?#shhhhh #bc i am #and he has the vibes #dangerous fellows fanfic #dangerous fellows x reader #dangerous fellows #lawrence dangerous fellows #dangerous fellows lawrence

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times-eclipse · 7 months

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This fucking sucks man.

It's not like I didn't think they'd get in. I just expected things to be closer. It's fucking shameful that we'd lean so hard right just because the "vibes" were off or people got tired of the pandemic or whatever other stupid excuse centrists have.

It's incredibly disappointing how much people are willing to forget historically regressive social policies, the complete disregard for the pandemic, and that the housing market was caused by them in the first place. National will not fix the cost of living crisis - their cost of living is on a different planet to everyone else's.

I want leftists to yell it from the rooftops - I don't want us to forget anything they'll try this term. Centrists have the memories of goldfish and will forget all social policy rollback by next election just because they'll believe National's lies again.

These people do not care for me. They will make my life actively worse if it's economically advantageous to them. (And only them! Like, the party itself.) Even if Labour, unfortunately, wouldn't really ever do anything to help me*, they at least wouldn't ever make things worse.

*I personally agree more with the Greens' policies! But it's more strategic to side with Labour to fight against Fascism Lite.

I feel expendable by half this country.

I want National voters to look directly in the eyes of renters, disabled people, queer people, Maori, and struggling single-parents and tell them that they didn't disregard them when they chose to vote Right.

"But Aether, did you think about farmers when you voted Left?" Fuck farmers, they are a predominantly National/ACT voter bloc that only care about the fake thing we call the "economy". They got mad when they were told not to pollute waterways. Labour would never actively harm them, anyway.

Politics is not a game of equal sides.

#nzpol #vent

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blackownersseekingsuccess · 22 days

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From Capitalism to Revolution: Understanding Haiti's Economic Struggles with the Film 'Madan Sara'

by Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr.

The documentary from Etant Dupain, Madan Sara (2021), foregrounds the hard-working women at the heart of Haiti’s economy. I had the chance to see the documentary when it screened at Medgar Evers College on February 5, 2024, followed by a Q&A with the film’s co-executive producer, Lulaine Childs. The issues raised by the film resonated deeply at this moment, as Haiti faces a new crisis and the hard-won stability of the Madan Sara is threatened. The film is entirely in Haitian Creole and features one-on-one interviews, archival footage from Haitian revolts, and television news footage from the uprisings that have taken place in Haiti in recent years that have negatively impacted the country.

I was deeply impressed with the documentary and I felt empathy for the Madam Sara community. Because of the similarities in the African Diasporic experience, I connect to their experience in Haiti as if it were my own in the United States, although we were divided geographically through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. I hope that everyone has a chance to view this film and that it sparks discourse around the Madan Sara and the ongoing struggle for national autonomy in Haiti. It’s a conversation that is centuries in the making and needs, more than ever, to be had. To learn more about the film and the “Madan Sara,” I caught up with the film’s co-executive producer, Lulaine Childs.

Levi Wise-Catoe: Hi Lulaine! Could you please explain what the film Madan Sara is about and who the “Madan Sara” are?

Lulaine Childs: The women known as Madan Sara in Haiti work tirelessly to buy, distribute, and sell food and other essentials in markets throughout the country. Despite the obstacles faced by the women working in a sector that lacks investment, infrastructure, and state assistance, the Madan Sara continues to be one of the most critical parts of the Haitian economy and of who we are as a country. The Madan Sara documentary tells the stories of these indefatigable women who work at the margins to make Haiti’s economy run. Despite facing intense hardship and social stigma, the hard work of the Madan Sara puts their children through school, houses their families, and helps to ensure a better life for generations to come. This film amplifies the calls of the Madan Sara as they speak directly to society to share their dreams for a more just Haiti.

LWC: I loved the movie. What was your filmmaking process like? Was it an easy process or was it difficult? And if it was easy or difficult, how?

LC: Independent filmmaking is always a difficult process because funds are limited and time is of the essence. For this film, it wasn’t a particularly hard process because Etant, Tina, Natalie, Wesly, and the rest of the team really did the heavy lifting. I think having a good team in place is key to making the process easier because doing this alone would be very difficult even for the most seasoned filmmaker.

LWC: In the film, Haiti is depicted as a community held together by strong Black women and by Black women’s entrepreneurship. Do you feel that is something that connects to the Black community in the US as well, where the Black community is often held together by strong Black women?

LC: I think it’s a common thread among the African diaspora. The strong Black woman has been and continues to be the “poto-mitan” of the society [note: the “poto-mitan” is a pillar that is found as the central architectural feature of Haitian vodou temples]. Nothing moves without their participation. A lot of times the leadership of men is talked about and heralded. Oftentimes, Black women still have a hard time getting heard, although it has gotten better over the years. You find them being the head of a lot of households, they are the ones who are doing the organizing, and sometimes they are the faces of certain movements. Without the women being as strong as they are, Black communities all over the world would be in a state of chaos.

LWC: What is the message that you would like for people to walk away with after viewing your film?

LC: The Madan Sara, like all women who do their work in the global south, deserve to be praised and the issues that affect them need to be handled so the countries can move forward. Despite all the odds, the Madan Sara have been able to feed their families, put their kids through school, and maintain their lifestyle. However, in these modern times, Haiti as well as other countries where women do this work should find a way to help lighten the burden they carry doing the work. Things like health insurance, property insurance for their merchandise, safe streets, access to credit, clean workspaces, and adequate bathroom facilities at the market, are just some of the things that should be in place for them.

LWC: As a Haitian-American, do you feel more Haitian or American? Which culture defines your character, being Haitian or being a U.S.-American from Brooklyn?

LC: I’m definitely more American from Brooklyn, but the more I learn about Haiti it gives me a better sense of self, if that makes sense. I have come to integrate certain aspects of the culture to my lifestyle.

LWC: How does the strife in Haiti affect you?

LC: Personally, it doesn’t really affect me. My ties to Haiti are limited. However, I do have some colleagues and contemporaries from Haiti I work with, and through them and the news I get an understanding of how bad it is. People have basically had their lives upended because certain people in the country want to keep it on its knees. Anywhere black people are suffering whether it be Congo or Haiti, it’s a terrible situation. Even the situation in Palestine specifically with what’s happening in Gaza and what happened in Israel on October 7th, human suffering is a terrible burden to deal with.

LWC: How do you think your film may change the negative perception that people may have regarding Haiti? Haitians?

LC: I think after seeing the film people will learn something new about Haiti. I also think the film humanizes the Haitian woman who is working as a Madan Sara. When people read or watch the news, they may see a woman selling food in the public market and think nothing of it. I think after watching this film and really getting an idea of what this woman has to do to feed her family, it will give them a different idea of the country and its people.

LWC: In your own words, could you tell the audience of Musings blog why they should all go watch your film Madan Sara?

LC: I think the audience should see Madan Sara because they may learn something new about Haiti. Madan Sara is a different story from the usual stories of disaster and chaos that tend to circulate about the country. While most of those stories are about current events, stories about people like the Madan Sara exist and deserve to be told.

LWC: How do Haiti’s problems and social disorder affect the whole African Diaspora? Are we all impacted by the political rebellion taking place in Haiti? And how difficult was it for you to include gang warfare in your film?

LC: Haiti is arguably the greatest symbol of Black power in the world. Once the country declared its independence by defeating the French and keeping the other world powers at bay, it was a signal to the entire world—especially black people—that freedom and independence were attainable. However, since that time Haiti has suffered for it. Part of it could be a conspiracy by world powers to make Haiti look bad, as some would suggest. I think there are a lot of things happening at the same time. Corruption, bad and weak governance, the lack of true relationships with other countries, the inability to grow the economy, and the unfettered presence of NGOS, in my opinion, have all worked to put Haiti in its current state. I also think part of the disorder is due to the long-lasting impact of slavery and colonialism throughout the African diaspora. I think there are still things we are learning about how slavery was and the mental impact it had on our people. In addition, I think the very real emotional, mental, and physical trauma still rears its ugly head even in the ways we act and how the outside world views the African diaspora. That is the reason unity and economic independence are always talked about, but never really materialize.

LWC: How do you feel regarding current news about the Haitian gangs’ war against law enforcement and the freeing of Haitian prisoners? And how does this affect Black people in the U.S. who are also dealing with our own mass incarceration?

LC: The situation in Haiti continues to get worse because of the insecurity in the country due to the elected officials and others in their positions not doing their work. A situation like a prison break isn’t new in Haiti, but obviously, it is a terrible occurrence on top of the recent events taking place in the country. It just adds to the narrative of the country being chaotic, but it took years to get to this state. A lot of people abdicated their responsibility while in power or were just corrupt officials using their positions and their resources to cause damage to the country. As far as Black people in the U.S. it just gives those who already have negative ideas about us somewhere they can point their finger, making it seem like there is a simple answer. Those same people will ignore everything that came before and the effect it had which may lead to a situation like what’s taking place in Haiti. Corruption, the institutionalization of bad ideas, and the abdication of responsibility by those in power, all play huge roles in the mass incarceration of Black people.

LWC: What film are you working on now?

LC: We are working on a comedy film called Mainland. We are also working on a documentary about the 1974 Haitian World Cup team. We are also helping other filmmakers promote and distribute their projects. One of them is a short film called N’AP Boule by Alexandrine Benjamin, a filmmaker from Haiti.

LWC: Thank you so much for your thoughtful replies, and best of luck in everything that you are working on. I look forward to your further success. Finally, as a filmmaker myself, I am interested if you are also utilizing the film competition route, which helps to build exposure and accolades.

LC: Yes, with this specific film, we entered different film festivals and won some awards. However, we didn't want to stay in that loop. For documentaries, a lot of the time the different distribution companies that work in the space tend to have a formulaic way of marketing the film, and the ones that approached us about distribution I felt weren't going to do a good job. So we decided to keep it ourselves and work on the film on our own. We have had a lot of success so far, we are just going to keep going with it.

LWC: Is there anything further that you would like to pass on as far as how someone may be able to find any additional information regarding your film?

LC: Not a problem, we have a website; feel free to use any additional information regarding the story: https://www.madansarafilm.com/

The media plays a crucial role in shaping the outcome of the Black narrative that affects the way Black people are viewed around the world – and this time, journalists must get it right. BOSS is committed to doing so, but we can only do it with reader support.

Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr.

Editor, BOSS

#haiti crisis #black literature #black entrepreneurship #black history #free haiti #haitian #world news #news

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strapskinkstories · 1 month

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Mar 29 2024 - Where’s the content? WHERES THE FUNDING! WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF FUNDING!

theres been no new content because there’s a funding crisis. Provisional talks are in progress with an angel funder who might save strappyskinks from going belly up due to lack of funding.

That all said. One angel investor can’t float me forever.

See this? You can actually donate towards my clothing food electric internet phone and other things eligible to be paid from my disability trust account.

Before you ask: can gear come from the trust account?

Answer:YES! - Gear is classified either as clothing not otherwise specified or sensory therapy equipment not otherwise specified.

Ultimate dream is for this trust account to explode one day. How is it findoms can get a damn Lamborghini and have people constantly fill its tank and get them sushi and Starbucks when I can’t even complete one of my basic life goals Pay off the house so me and my caregiver can live in peace without worrying about busting ourselves or ending up out of runway to run the business. StrappysKinks is very much technically a business. Even though the product is free. I create content, written video and photographic as well as AI generated entertainment art.

All that content has *intrinsic value* that intrinsic value so you are all aware. Per video. The intrinsic value of an approximately 50 minute bondage video of Amateur/ProAm (I consider myself ProAm at the actual gear stuff. Still kinda amateur on the camera work cut me some slack, I’m working on zero funding right now! Read: out of pocket funding from my already paltry social security) costs pay per view $20.99 YOU PEOPLE HAVE OVER 50 OF SUCH VIDEOS FREE! That’s over $2,500 OF VIDEO CONTENT PER PERSON THAT IS FREE! 100 views would usually = $2,099 if I were running hard core PAY PER VIEW.

I don’t. Because I think paysites suck. And I also think JFF onlyfans all that sucks.

But let me continue. Then there’s my thousands of stories and now my anesthesia stories. Per document a story typically is about $1-$5 let’s just assume I’ve written 5000 stories and documents to keep shit simple. That is again $5000 of content PER PERSON THAT IS FREELY AVAILABLE. AS FREE AS GATDAMN LINUX! Now let’s talk about my image library. It’s on Flickr and spans 14,000 images. Typically a photo set in a paysite is like $10.99 so a little division aaaand the math comes out to… 466 image sets or a value of $4,660 PER PERSON FREELY ACCESSIBLE. It’s late. I can’t math right now. I’m too upset but when I just smash those numbers together and total them up you get. As a single viewer. If you access all of my social medias and my Flickr and use my XHamster. $15,000 of content FOR FREE!!!

I cannot continue as the American economy shoots disabled people in the foot and also screws over low income LGBTQ folks to produce content for free. Something has to change.

Either I have to shut down production. Whoa. Holy fuck.

I didn’t expect the outcry to be so intense. It wasn’t even outcry on Twitter.

The telegram group members went into total open outcry status.

Ok. So. Shutting down production is not an option.

Sustaining production at current funding levels is impossible. Especially considering I just lost $120 per month of government funds thanks to reckless cuts on food stamps and the affordable connectivity program being recklessly ended by a Congress that I can only politely describe as a pile of diarrhea dung from a deathly ill cow with mad cow disease.

So. This is not a tribute me. This isn’t a fucking pay up call.

This is a do me a favor.

Look at yourself in the mirror.

Think about how many times you’ve probably jacked off looking at my videos or photos. Then think about how much time money and gear it takes to make that entertainment material go from here to your screen. I want my 3000 something followers (as I am carbon copying this onto Twitter Etc as well) Do the following

1. Self reflect on your consumption of my media. You owe it to chip a dollar or two in if you’ve done so much as listened to a minute or two of my video. An average street musician gets a hundred dollars a day if they are in a good area. If you’ve watched my videos and you’ve done nothing not even liked them retweeted them or thought about donating them. Are you really being a sustainable consumer? Sustainable consumers support the creators who provide them content. If they can’t give financial support at the least hit the goddamned retweet button. It is not hard! One tap or click ffs!

2. ITS TAX DEDUCTIBLE! (Not sure if you can deduct for 2023 still. But you can deduct it on your 2024 taxes.) So instead of sending money to the fat cats at some national charity where the executives take multimillion dollar paychecks IM LOOKING AT YOU YA MOTHERFUCKERS AUTISM SPEAKS. WE DONT WANT A CURE RESEARCHED AND WE DONT NEED YOUR DAMN BIG HONKY TONK GALAS ON TV EITHER.

3. Realize that if funding doesn’t change in the next 20 days. Immediate cutbacks will begin and by 2026 StrapsKinks will entirely stop filming, photographing, producing AI art, and writing stories as all funding will be exhausted and instead of engaging in kink I’ll have to start selling off gear and computer equipment as we do last ditch efforts to make ends meet before ending up in a shitty apartment rental again or worse homeless. So yeah. Thanks everyone. Thanks for almost a decade of consume consume consume. All without giving back a damn dime. Hopefully this makes things start changing and before the first April 21 cutoff. If funding doesn’t increase by April 21 Twitter stories will permanently cease and the StrappysKinks website will be slated for destruction. If funding doesn’t increase by June gear purchases from Bronco and other planned vendors will be postponed and or canceled If by December funding does not increase there will likely be no further new gear acquisitions and if equipment breaks it won’t be replaced. If by January 2025 nothing changes. All Twitter accounts and the Tumblr will be deleted. The Flickr account will be deleted. The website will be erased in preparation for the October 2025 termination of the StrappysKinks services. At that time anyone who has my contact details will know me and those left in the community simply won’t. At that point I’ll just disappear off of social media and take all my stuff down.

Because guess what.

I’m not leaving $15,000 of content available for free if I go bankrupt. So sit down. Think about what you people are doing to small creators especially those with disabilities and think. Do you want to see StrapsKinks go bankrupt.

The fate rests in your hands folks. This is a publicly funded venture technically. Public funding from the federal and private……. Yeah that’s the problem. Nobody done fuckin stepped up to actually do the funding. Let’s hope this funder that is on the lines actually comes through because if he does his single round could set us back onto at least able to sustain current production even if it does mean slowing down gear purchases. That said. If new funding lines are not received by January 2025 *STRAPPYSKINKS WILL GO BANKRUPT*

#Sfw blog #funding crisis

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vibingvoices · 2 months

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The current discourse surrounding the cost of living crisis seems somewhat incomplete to me. When it comes up in the media or in discussions around me, it is consistently framed in terms of individuals' financial constraints, addressing what people can or cannot afford. I am not disputing that at all; that perspective is undeniably valid. In fact, I would argue that livable wages, affordable housing and rental control, neighbourhood resources, adequate public transit, high-quality education and efficient and productive health services are all very prevalent issues that fall under public safety.

But aside from all of that, when thinking about the cost of living crisis, I find myself asking: Why must we pay for everything in the first place? Today, I read this article highlighting local repair shops evolving into community hubs for free assistance in fixing gadgets and clothing. It prompted reflections on a bygone era when reciprocity thrived in communities, emphasising mutual aid rather than profit.

The individuals interviewed in the article are far from being revolutionary figures. Their actions echo sentiments reminiscent of historical resistors of industrialisation, like the Luddites (a word I learned from an English professor I hated) from the 19th century. Their resistance took various forms, some violent, but it takes one Google Scholar search to show that many chose to assert the mentality of: 'I do not need your money as desperately as you think, for I have systems of kinship outside this monetised economy.' The viewpoint of acknowledging that while currency is nice to have and it provides things, it really does not meet the majority of my needs right now is one that I am newly trying to adopt every single day. For me it's about starting small. I constantly think about that one viral Tumblr post about the commodification of friendship. It says:

the commodification of friendship is the most annoying thing to come out of the internet in ages. like actually i love to break this to you but you’re supposed to help your friends move even if it’s hard work. or stay up with them when they’re sad even if you’re gonna lose sleep. you’re supposed to listen to their fears and sorrows even if it means your own mind takes on a little bit of that weight. that’s how you know that you care. they will drive you to the airport and then you will make them soup when they’re sick. you’re supposed to make small sacrifices for them and they are supposed to do that for you. and there’s actually gonna be rough patches for both of you where the balance will be uneven and you will still be friends and it will not be unhealthy and they will not be abusive. life is not meant to be an endless prioritization of our own comfort if it was we would literally never get anywhere ever. jesus.

No, it isn't talking about the cost of living crisis, per se, but I like that the writer has specified how important community is and how yes, it may be unbalanced at times, and you won't gain from it monetarily, but that's OK. I'm constantly trying to remind myself that the human experience should be about giving. And I try. With my family. My friends. And in my community.

And so back to the main point: Does a significant portion of the cost of living crisis lies not just in our inability to afford things but in the imperative to afford everything. The issue transcends high prices; it's about the pervasive commodification of all aspects of life. It's about everything having a cost to begin with: whether that is physical items (like the things people were working on in repair shops) or emotional support (commodification of friendship). Capitalist logic has infiltrated to such an extent that almost everything is now part of a monetised economy. That's just so lame to me and not a trap I want to fall into.

#cost of living #cost of living crisis #commodification #commodification of friendship #community #capitalism #anti capatilism #i hate doing tags

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bllsbailey · 2 months

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Joe Biden: My Fellow Americans, You're All Idiots

I have no clue how Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union on March 7. First, it will be dark, and being the world’s most famous sundowner, he might not know where he is for the address. The number of drugs they will need to pump into Joey will probably rival that of Anna Nicole Smith, but leaks from the White House suggest that the man who can’t remember when his son died will treat us like idiots during his speech.

Noah Rothman at National Review touched upon how the speech will lean heavily into trying to convince us, the voters, that shrinkflation is a corporate greed problem, that this administration has been devoid of crises, and that the economy has never been better. Is that why 61 percent of voters don’t think you deserve a second term—86 percent think you’re too old to run, Joe?

The Biden White House’s poor numbers aren’t because of misinformation. This administration is an all-around circus that’s been a near-constant trainwreck since day one, crashing into one crisis after another and doing nothing to clean up the debris. You all remember Joe Biden’s ‘shrinkflation’ video during the Super Bowl—it was painful to watch. Imagine an hour of that on national television. The lack of respect is astounding, and Rothman is right: they think we’re all idiots (via NRO):

— President Biden (@POTUS) February 11, 2024

President Joe Biden reportedly plans to spend a portion of his State of the Union Address leaning heavily into the notion that his fellow Americans are idiots. […] “It’s about framing this for the American people,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Biden’s open frustration with tactics like shrinkflation, the official added, “speaks to what they feel in a way that’s useful for us both in terms of messaging and making sure they understand that the president sees what’s going on.” It requires an exceptional level of economic illiteracy to buy what the White House is selling here. Indeed, the only Americans who could fail to simply intuit the ways in which the president is misleading the public are likely insulated from the rising costs of daily life, which extend well beyond the number of ounces in a bottle of Gatorade. The last Consumer Price Index survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that food costs across the board continued to rise last month, contributing to a 2.6 percent increase in the overall cost of food from one year ago (when, by the way, food costs were 10 percent higher than they were in January 2022). But it’s not just food that is pricier today than it used to be. Electricity is more expensive. Cars are more expensive. Medical costs are more expensive. Shelter and transportation services are more expensive. None of these increased expenditures fit within the rubric of “shrinkflation.”

Recommended

politicspresumptuous.blogspot.com

It circles back to the Obama days, where Rothman notes that Joe appears to be suffering from the same problem as Barry—the overestimation of the power of their oratory. Obama could deliver a speech well, but did it have an impact? The world was also ablaze under the Obama White House, albeit not this badly. Obama set red lines in Syria—Bashar al-Assad crossed them multiple times with impunity because he knew nothing would happen. Both men’s moves can be anticipated with ease.

Biden has zero communications skills and no political skills, so I don’t know why he thought going this route would be best:

Biden’s foremost task between today and Election Day is to incept in voters’ minds the notion that inflation is going down. Highlighting inflation’s undesirable effects on consumer products wouldn’t seem like the best way to go about that. Even flirting with this strategy is more evidence that the Biden White House is possessed of entirely unearned faith in its own ability to shape our shared reality through its own cleverness. Why they would be laboring under that delusion still, at this late date, is anyone’s guess. It didn’t work for “Bidenomics” … It didn’t work when the administration indicated it planned to pin the blame for the border crisis over which Joe Biden presided, and which Democrats insisted did not even exist until its existence became undeniable, on the GOP.

We’ve finally reached that point where the Simpsons meme of Principal Skinner is about to come to life and be entered into the history books:It wouldn’t shock me if Biden’s team thinks this is true. Their approval numbers are in the toilet, not because they’ve peddled bad domestic policy but because we’re wrong. Let’s stop trying to win hearts and minds because the American voter is misinformed. We need to educate them. Again, not a good route. When you’re explaining, you’re losing. And you look mentally ill when you have over-educated and snobby White House aides and staffers trying to tell Americans that they’re imagining their brutal, wallet-torching trips to the grocery store.

You're a fool if you feel the country is on the wrong path. That’s the uniting and positive message President ‘I Don’t Know That My Son Died’ might convey next week.

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nicetrynicetry · 5 months

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105

Part of me longs for art school, that microcosm of social and creative possibility before the loan repayments are due, the hand-holding by elders, the local cafe and library. After a day of teaching at my alma mater on Friday, I have changed my mind about this. I go from sofa-sized studio to sofa-sized studio to visit kids whose studies were all fucked up by the pandemic, and who are overwhelmed by having to justify every object fashioned under the gaze of jaded tutors who stopped making art years ago. It is not the vibe, and yet this was once my life, sans the pandemic but avec the remnants of the 2008 financial crisis. You have to be 18 and 19 and 20 to do it, while the body is forgiving, while you are NATO (Not Attached To Outcome). Within five minutes of being greeted by the head of the program, alongside another visiting artist, I am watching the latter viciously correct the former on some other artist’s new pronouns. The visiting artist has a Palestinian flag attached to her backpack, and another on her reusable coffee cup. Acronyms I don’t understand are thrown around. I have no clue whether they relate to identity or the economy or war. “What the fuck is happening?”, I think to myself, wondering whether Goldsmiths has become even more of a caricature of itself since I left, or whether it’s simply become a new version of what it always was. Either way, I am the only one in our group of three crossing the field to the art studios at 9.40am not facing studio eviction, and though this is an objective win, in this scenario it feels like a peculiar source of shame

Over the course of the day I convince 4 youngsters to either start painting again or keep painting. The environment is still dismissive of the medium, though not hostile like it was 8 years ago. I try to talk to a girl who is making 3D printed stones that are so boring I largely sit silently, cradling the objects and attempting to look thoughtful. By 5pm, after my last appointment with an inordinately hot Korean girl, I have inhabited so many depressing art practices that for a minute on the train I find myself planning the next piece in a series that doesn’t belong to me. Then I remember that I am going home to total solitude, and a studio full of work I love, and though I am no longer hot and 20 and the echoes of gastritis are still snaking up my ribcage, this is all a small price to pay for a life of relative peace and certainty

At the house I eat eggs and check the taps that a plumber ruined yesterday and the leak through the ceiling it resulted in. I inspect the dehumidifier I am to keep running for 3 days. I watch a string of videos where men in the gym are approached by another man and asked how tall they are. “Mind if I check? I have a tape measure”. I watch their true heights reveal themselves, often 3 to 5 inches fewer than their initial assertions. In some cases the men try to attack than man measuring them. It is joyous. I watch Transparent, organise my fridge. Also joyous

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theprayerfulword · 6 months

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October 24

Matthew 6:21 Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?"

Psalm 59:16 But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Hebrews 10:35-36 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

When you are worn out with groaning and find no rest in your heart, having sorrow added to your pain, may you not seek out great things for yourself while the Lord overthrows what He has built and uproots what He has planted, bringing disaster on all people, but be content that the Lord preserves your life wherever you go. Jeremiah 45

May you not fear or be dismayed, for as you continue to serve the Lord, seeking His will, obeying His Word, the Lord will surely save you and you will again have peace and security, and no one will make you afraid for God is with you; He will discipline you with justice, training you for His work, cleansing you for His purpose, but will not completely destroy you as He will those who reject Him totally. Jeremiah 46

May you turn to the Lord now, with sorrow and repentance, distancing yourself from the choices of the culture and desires of the society, lifting up the weak and supporting the helpless, for the promises of God are sure and His judgments are righteous – He protects those who draw near Him and cuts off those who reject Him. Jeremiah 47

May you flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with all who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2

May you have nothing to do with foolish and stupid arguments because they only produce quarrels, but instead, you must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful, gently instructing those who oppose you, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they will come to their senses, escaping from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2

Do not rely on those who rely on false gods, My dear one, or the might of the flesh or the systems of the world. Do you seek the protection of the government of your nation, or depend for your living on the corporations of the world, or even seek for eternal life and justification through the religious institutions of man? You say within your heart that you believe in Me, but what do you dwell on and speak of in times of national uncertainty? Do you worry about the level of your nation's military readiness, or do you give Me thanks for the stronghold I have prepared for your refuge? When the financial outlook for the economy is grim, what steps do you take? Do you see your job as your way through a crisis, counting on a paycheck to give you what you need? Do you check and recheck your bank balance, hoping to find the answer there? Do you watch the market for fast-growing stocks and safe investments? Or do you realize that I have promised to meet your every need as you walk in the way I set before you? Can you trust Me enough to willingly walk away from a job when I confirm to you that I have someplace else for you to minister in? Can you demonstrate your faith through obedient action that I am your Source and, whether I use ravens to bring you food or simply refill the jar of oil and the pot of flour each night, trust that I will take care of you? Can you obediently give when I direct you to meet the needs of others in the midst of your want with confidence in My supply? When the dark night of the soul is upon you, do you seek for encouragement in the words of men and solace in the music of the soul as your first step? Can you name the names of religious speakers and their spouses and the names of their ministries more quickly and readily than you can find the scriptures of comfort in My Word? Do you find yourself turning in your mind to replay words of peace from a man whose life is lived large in this world, or does your heart cling to the remembered witness of a life lived with few worldly pleasures but rich in godly faith and strong with My authority in prayer, bearing the marks in their soul of My continued and abiding presence? Do not simply turn from idols, My child, but turn even from those who rely on them. Do not seek the strength, the assurance, the comfort they offer, for it will fail. Be, instead, the one who knows the Light of God and walks in My path of righteousness and obedience, pointing others to the gracious acceptance of My compassion for all who humble themselves in repentance before Me.

May you have nothing to do with the people who have a form of godliness but deny the power of God, loving themselves rather than the Lord, always studying but never acknowledging the truth, opposing those who walk in the truth, persecuting all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, for the Lord will rescue you from them all. 2 Timothy 3

May you continue in what you have learned, because you know those from whom you learned it, and you have known the Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, for all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3

May you know the blessing of being taught from the law of God and receiving the discipline of the Lord, for He will grant you relief from days of trouble till a pit is dug for the wicked, for the Lord will not reject His people and will never forsake His inheritance, and judgment will again be founded on righteousness and all the upright in heart will follow it. Psalm 94

When anxiety rises up greatly in you, may God's consolation bring joy to your soul, for when you find your foot is starting to slip, the Lord's love will support you. Psalm 94

May you take refuge in God your rock and let the Lord become your fortress, for when corrupt authorities which bring misery by their decrees band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death, the Lord our God will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness. Psalm 94

#daily #blessings #prayers #scripture

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thxnews · 10 months

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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Mansion House speech

My Lord Mayor, Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen – it is an honour to be with you at the Mansion House tonight. While some may be distracted by events in Windsor, we all know that Walbrook is the place to be this evening. Thank you to the City of London Corporation for hosting us so generously. It is a privilege to follow the Lord Mayor’s excellent address and to give my first Mansion House speech as Chancellor. Tonight, I want to talk about long-term reforms to our competitiveness, but let me start with the immediate challenge of tackling inflation. Following the pandemic and energy shock, like other countries, the UK faces difficult challenges. It has shown itself more resilient than many predicted, but that resilience is itself one of the reasons for higher inflation. In a cost-of-living crisis, that leads to great concern for many families who see the cost of their weekly food shop or the price of petrol go up. But with the levers of fiscal and monetary policy, wholesale food and energy prices falling and a government that has made the battle against inflation its number one priority, there is nothing insurmountable in the current situation. Let me be clear again tonight. Working with the Bank, we will do what is necessary for as long as necessary to tackle inflation persistence and bring it back to the 2% target. Delivering sound money is our number one focus. That means taking responsible decisions on public finances, including public sector pay because more borrowing is itself inflationary. It means recognising that bringing down inflation puts more money into people’s pockets than any tax cut. And it means recognising that there can be no sustainable growth without eliminating the inflation that deters investment and erodes consumer confidence. Tackling inflation, therefore, unlocks the Prime Minister’s two other economic priorities – growing our economy and reducing debt – but because it is a prerequisite for both, it must come first. As we tackle inflation, we must always remember our responsibilities to those struggling the most, so I am therefore grateful to our banks and mortgage lenders for their help in developing last month’s Mortgage Charter. I agree with the Governor that margin recovery benefits no one if it feeds inflation. And I will continue to work with regulators to make sure the needs of families are prioritised in a tough period. This evening, though, I want to look further ahead. I want to lay out our plans to enable our financial services sector to increase returns for pensioners, improve outcomes for investors and unlock capital for our growth businesses. We start from a position of strength. The financial and related professional services industry employs over 2.5 million people. Although two-thirds of them are outside the South-East, it has made London the world’s second-largest financial centre and one of the most dynamic cities on the planet. It generates more than £100 billion in tax revenue, paying for half the cost of running the NHS. A strong City needs a successful economy, and a strong economy needs a successful City. Recent challenges have led to some losing hope and even peddling a declinist narrative. They are profoundly wrong. I am proud that since 2010, we have one million more businesses and one million fewer unemployed. And we’ve grown faster than France, Italy, Japan or Germany. In the last decade we have become Europe’s largest life science sector, Europe’s largest technology sector, its biggest film and TV sector and its second-largest clean energy sector. But as we emerge from our current challenges, the Prime Minister and I have big ambitions for the British economy. We want to be the world’s next Silicon Valley and a science superpower, embracing new technologies like AI in a way that brings together the skills of our financiers, entrepreneurs and scientists to make our country a force for good in the world. That means making sure our financial services sector, traditionally so nimble and agile, has the right architecture to provide the best possible security for investors as well as capital for businesses, and the best talent right here in the UK to make that happen. The structures put in place after the financial crisis have served us well and financial stability will always be our top priority. But we can further improve the functioning of capital markets, so this evening I set out the government’s Mansion House reforms. They build on the Edinburgh Reforms I announced in December and the vision for financial services which the now Prime Minister spoke about here in 2021 of an open, sustainable, innovative and globally competitive sector. Firstly, I am announcing a series of measures to boost returns and improve outcomes for pension fund holders whilst increasing funding liquidity for high-growth companies. Second, I will set out ways to incentivise companies to start and grow in the UK by strengthening our position as a listings destination. And finally, we will reform and simplify our financial services rulebook to ensure we have the most growth-friendly regulation possible without compromising our commitment to stability.

Pensions

I begin with pensions. The UK has the largest pension market in Europe, worth over £2.5 trillion. It plays a critical role in providing safe retirement income as part of the social contract between generations. Government policy, such as autoenrollment, has strengthened it but so too has confidence in the expertise of our financial institutions to manage investments wisely. However, currently, we have a perverse situation in which UK institutional investors are not investing as much in UK high-growth companies as their international counterparts. At the same time on their current trajectory, some defined contribution schemes may not provide the returns their pension fund holders expect or need. Whilst many defined benefit funds are in surplus, their returns are lower than some international peers and some are still underfunded. So alongside our outstanding Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith and brilliant Pensions Minister Laura Trott, I have engaged with some of our largest pension schemes, insurers, asset managers and experts to put together tonight’s Mansion House reforms. I am also immensely grateful to Sir Jon Symonds and Sir Steve Webb for their advice on how to construct this package. And I’m also very grateful to Gwyneth Nurse and her brilliant team in the Treasury. Gwyneth is of course the real Chancellor as we Official Chancellors come and go. Tonight I lay out the direction of travel. Sometimes consultations will be necessary, but all final decisions will be made ahead of the Autumn Statement later this year. And as we make those decisions, I will be guided by three golden rules. Firstly everything we do we will seek to secure the best possible outcomes for pension savers, with any changes to investment structures putting their needs first and foremost. Secondly, we will always prioritise a strong and diversified gilt market. It will be an evolutionary not revolutionary change to our pensions market. Those who invest in our gilts are helping to fund vital public services and any changes must recognise the important role they play. The third golden rule is that the decisions we take must always strengthen the UK’s competitive position as a leading financial centre able to fund, through the wealth it creates, our precious public services. I start with Defined Contribution pension schemes, which in the UK now invest under 1% in unlisted equity, compared to between 5 and 6% in Australia. Today I am pleased to announce that the Lord Mayor and I joined the CEOs of many of our largest DC pension schemes – namely Aviva, Scottish Widows, L&G, Aegon, Phoenix, Nest, Smart Pension, M&G & Mercer – for the formal signing of the “Mansion House Compact”. The Compact – which is a great personal triumph for the Lord Mayor - commits these DC funds, which represent around two-thirds of the UK’s entire DC workplace market, to the objective of allocating at least 5% of their default funds to unlisted equities by 2030. If the rest of the UK’s DC market follows suit, this could unlock up to £50 billion of investment into high-growth companies by that time. Secondly, we know funds can only optimise returns from a balanced portfolio if they have the scale to do so. We will therefore facilitate a programme of DC consolidation, to ensure that funds are able to maintain a diverse portfolio of bonds, equity and unlisted assets and deliver the best possible returns for savers. Tomorrow, the Department for Work and Pensions will publish its joint consultation response with the Pensions Regulator and the FCA on the Value For Money framework, clarifying that investment decisions should be made on the basis of long-term returns and not simply cost. Pension schemes which are not achieving the best possible outcome for their members will face being wound up by the Pensions Regulator. We will also set out a roadmap to encourage Collective DC funds, a new type of pension fund which we believe holds great promise for the future. Third, we need to ensure that all schemes have access to a wide range of investment vehicles that enable them to invest quickly and effectively in unlisted high-growth companies. We have launched the LIFTS competition and will consider closely the bids that have already started to come in for up to £250 million of government support. Alongside that, we will explore the case for government to play a greater role in establishing investment vehicles, building on the skills and expertise of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm which has helped to mobilise £15bn of capital into over 20,000 companies. Ahead of Autumn Statement, we will test options to open those investment opportunities in high-growth companies to pension funds as a way of crowding in more investment. I now move on to Defined Benefit schemes which number over 5000 and operate under a different regulatory regime. Their landscape is also too fragmented. I recognise the important role played by insurers offering buy-out schemes, which will continue to be an essential part of the way we improve security for pension members in this market. But in addition, we will set out our plans on introducing a permanent superfund regulatory regime to provide sponsoring employers and trustees with a new scaled-up way of managing DB liabilities. Having engaged closely with a range of experts, we will launch a call for evidence tomorrow on the role of the PPF and the part DB schemes play in productive investment - whilst always being mindful of the second golden rule to protect the sound functioning and effectiveness of the gilt market. Fifth, we will look at the culture of investment decisions and improve the understanding of pension trustees’ fiduciary duty across both DB and DC schemes. DWP and HMT will jointly launch a call for evidence to explore how we can overcome barriers and ensure a focus on good saver outcomes. And finally, the government must lead by example, so we will consult on accelerating the consolidation of Local Government Pension Scheme assets, with a deadline of March 2025 for all LGPS funds to transfer their assets into local government pension pools and ensure greater transparency on investments. To make sure we are delivering the maximum benefits of scale, we will invite views on barriers to achieving better investment returns across the LGPS as well as setting a direction that each asset pool should exceed £50 billion of assets. We will also consult on an ambition to double the existing local government pension scheme allocations in private equity to 10%, which could unlock a further £25 billion by 2030. Today’s announcements could have a real and significant impact on people across the country. For an average earner who starts saving at 18, these measures could increase the size of their pension pot by 12% over their career - that’s worth over £1,000 more a year in retirement. At the same time, this package has the potential to unlock an additional £75 billion of financing for growth by 2030, finally addressing the shortage of scale-up capital holding back so many of our most promising companies. Increasing borrowing through £28 billion a year of unfunded spending commitments, as some are suggesting, would entrench inflation and push up interest rates. These reforms, conversely, unlock capital from the private sector delivering growth not by subsidy, but by increasing support for entrepreneurs and investors who take risks to create long-term value.

Listings

I now move on to listings. The UK has the largest stock market in Europe and in 2021 attracted the most global IPOs of any stock market outside the US. But between 1997 and 2019, there was a 44% decline in the number of domestic listed companies in the UK, part of a wider trend across Western markets, with the US and France seeing even steeper falls. I want the world’s fastest-growing companies to grow and list right here, making LSE not just Europe’s NASDAQ but much more. As David Schwimmer and Julia Hoggett say, we want it to be the global capital for capital. So today we are publishing draft legislation on prospectus reforms, delivering another milestone of Lord Hill’s UK Listing Review. This will create a more effective regime than its EU predecessor, giving companies the flexibility to raise larger sums from investors more quickly. The government welcomes Rachel Kent’s excellent Investment Research Review published today and has accepted all recommendations made to it. We, therefore, welcome the FCA’s commitment to start immediate engagement with the market to inform any rule changes on removing the requirement to unbundle research costs by the first half of next year. This will ensure we are better able to fund quality research into the new Silicon Valley sectors. Last week, we abolished protectionist rules inherited from our time in the EU such as the Share Trading Obligation and Double Volume Cap so UK businesses can now access the best and most liquid markets anywhere in the world. And, in a highly innovative step which represents a global first, we will establish a pioneering new “intermittent trading venue” that will improve private companies' access to capital markets before they publicly list. This will be up and running before the end of 2024 and put the UK at the forefront of capital market innovation.

Smart regulation

Finally, behind all those plans must sit a financial services sector ready to innovate faster with regulators willing to support them as they do. We have one of the most robust regulatory regimes and some of the best regulators in the world. Brexit gives us the autonomy to put their skills to even better use as we seek to become leaders in the industries of the future. So I am delighted that we have just last month passed into law the landmark Financial Services and Markets Act, which will ensure our regulators have an appropriate focus on growth and competitiveness alongside their wider responsibilities. The Act also unlocks wholesale reform of our approach to regulation and today I can announce that we are commencing repeal of almost 100 pieces of unnecessary retained EU law, further simplifying our rulebook whilst retaining our high regulatory standards. Alongside this, last month I was delighted to sign the new UK-EU financial services Memorandum of Understanding as we build a new relationship with our European partners. We are working closely with the Bank of England to reflect on lessons from recent events to ensure the UK has the best possible arrangements in place to improve continuity of access to deposits when a bank fails even if it is not a systemically important one. And I want to make sure we remain at the forefront of payments technology. So I am launching an independent review into the future of payments - led by Joe Garner - to help deliver the next generation of world-class retail payments, including looking at mobile payments. We are laying new legislation to give regulators the powers they need to reform rules on innovative payments and fintech services, and, together with the Bank of England, we are exploring potential designs for the digital pound should we decide to introduce it.

Conclusion

My Lord Mayor, Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen. Pension industry and listings reforms, backed by smart regulation, to unlock better returns for savers and more growth capital for businesses. That is what today’s Mansion House reforms deliver. British growth driven by British financial firepower, providing higher living standards and better-funded public services. With cooperation between government, regulators and business closer than ever… … we will deliver not just more competitive financial services but a more innovative economy. More money for savers. More funding for our high-growth companies. And more investment to grow our economy. That is the vision I have set out today – let’s deliver it together. Thank you. Sources: THX News, HM Treasury & The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP. Read the full article

#Capitalmarkets #Cost-of-livingcrisis #Definedcontributionschemes #Financialservicessector #Listingsandstockmarket #Long-termreformscompetitiveness #Pensionfundholders #Soundmoney #Sustainablegrowth #Tacklinginflation

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college-girl199328 · 1 year

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Lisa MacLeod is speaking out about her struggles with mental health and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder after taking a step back from politics last summer.

The Progressive Conservative MPP for Nepean spoke on TVO's The Agenda with host Steve Paikin about the years she dealt with the problems while soldiering on.

CBC News made multiple attempts to reach MacLeod but was unsuccessful. "I think it was probably during the minority parliament between 2011 and 2014, and the only reason I say that now is I recognize I was losing my hair and I was probably in a state of mania," she said.

"But I definitely knew between 2014 and 2016 I was dealing with depression." She said things came to a head in the first year after she became a cabinet minister, in June 2018.

"It took taking on a number of complex files that were very controversial," she recounted. She ended up being referred to The Ottawa Hospital and speaking with a psychiatrist, "dealing with a whole host of issues, which I'm still dealing with now."

About two weeks after being re-elected in June for the sixth time in her career — and on the same day she lost her cabinet post — MacLeod announced she was taking some time off to address her mental and physical health.

During the campaign, the Ontario NDP revealed MacLeod had received more than $44,000 in the form of an allowance from her Ottawa-area riding association over three years, including money to help pay for her housing.

Although it was legal, PC Leader Doug Ford said he was "frustrated" by it and would work with other party leaders to prevent the use of riding association funds for MPP allowances.

"After a couple of years, and in particular dealing with a very serious crisis during the election, it was really high time that I understood exactly what I had," she said.

"I knew it couldn't just be attributed to some of the trauma from around-the-clock police protection. My mood wasn't stable and I had some very serious thoughts of self-harm."

Trying to deal with her mental health during an election campaign was "the most terrible nightmare for a politician." I enjoyed my time in the cabinet, I enjoyed my time on the front bench in opposition.

"You're actually in the middle of an election campaign with your psychiatrist taking layers of you away and trying to depoliticize you as a politician." She said as minister of some of the hardest hit sectors of the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, coupled with the pressure of being an Ottawa politician during the Freedom Convoy protests, she wasn't sure if she had it in her to continue in her position.

"I wrote myself a letter on Feb. 23 and said I wouldn't run [in the 2022 election]," she wrote. But, she said, time just kept ticking by and she ended up running again.

"It was a very tough one — it was the toughest of my six," she said. "None of this was on my bingo card. It wasn't like, 'Oh yeah, let's spend our whole life, our family, sacrificing weekends and holidays just so in the middle of it all it'll blow up.'"

MacLeod said the help she received came from a team of people including family, doctors and specialists. However, even through that she said she had kept her sense of humour.

"I'm bipolar, or as Frank Sinatra would say, 18-karat manic depressive." She said she thought the diagnosis would be her "magic pill" but realized there was still work to do.

"Whatever they're planning to give me, in my case, lithium is just going to cure me. And then that doesn't work either, because, you know … it really is a cocktail that works for you and only you," she said.

"So over the last several months, it's been trying to find that right prescription or cocktail or medicine and quantity that will stabilize me and put me on the path to success."

She said the diagnosis has been tough on her family, especially her husband. "Joe is very involved in my electoral campaigns. He was actually the one who told my psychiatrist that I'd been living with this disorder, and he had seen it for many years and so it's been very difficult for him."

MacLeod said when she told her daughter about her diagnosis, she already knew. "She knew before I did, apparently," she said.

Though she was angry finding out she needed help with her mental health, MacLeod said she wants to focus on making sure people who need help get it. She said they shouldn't be held back by societal stigma.

"Someone who you think is strong and can do anything and is capable could be sick. … So maybe let's not judge people," she said. "It's OK not to be OK. Mental health is health."

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almostnoisydonut · 1 year

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𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼, 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓣𝓸𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓸𝔀

Dear children and grandchildren,

Can you imagine that back when I was a young woman, many people failed to think that one day you too would like to live well on our planet? That we were destroying our own quality of life by poisoning our soil, the air, the rivers, and threatening the complete eradication of countless plants and animals? That we produced things only to throw them away or even burn them? That we spent most of our lifetimes doing activities that made us unhappy? This world was absurd. It made us humans and our planet sick.

A virus, of all things, put an end to this madness. It interrupted our noisy, hectic, self-centred lives.

Within a few weeks our lives changed dramatically. We were barely allowed to leave our homes. Every day the number of casualties shot up; I feared for the lives of my grandparents, for the health of my friends. Income for survival was falling away; many of us were without a job. “The Future” became a great unknown that frightened us.

And yet we found ourselves in a comparatively privileged situation.

It was the first serious crisis that I had experienced so tangibly. But instead of remaining in a state of shock, many of us felt that it was the long-awaited opportunity for a new beginning. It was as if someone had pressed the stop button of our world. When I looked out of my window, I no longer saw cars, but children playing. Instead of exhaust fumes I breathed fresh, clear spring air. In this time of silence not only the air became clearer, but also our thoughts. “What was really important in life?”

Simply pressing “play again” was no longer an option. As we said then, no more “business as usual”. We began a new chapter in our history. And we saw how the impossible was made possible.

The long-desired turnaround had come. With the energy of the many people who yearned for a positive and safe future, we were able to prove that a future free of crisis is a sustainable future by itself.

Governments wanted to get the collapsing economy up and running quickly with economic stimulus programmes. But this was the long-awaited chance to tie those billions of Euros and Dollars to future-oriented (i.e. sustainable) criteria and thereby assist companies in the transformation. Traditional paths and dependencies that had been damaging to society at large could thus be left behind more quickly – because sustainable investment proved to be a crisis-proof and future-proof investment.

Finally, my beloved, I pray that a man’s dream from 1963 has become a reality in your time. The dream that you will live in a nation where you are not judged by the color of your skin but by the content of your character. I know that unconscious biases are stereotypes that individuals form about other people outside of their own conscious awareness. I know that there is systemic racism within our educational systems, housing markets and employment opportunities. I know dreams promised are sometimes deferred. And yet, I stand resilient and strong so not to give up because it’s not about me, but you. I will work to cultivate a legacy for you where division is bridged by inclusion, safe spaces and belonging.

There were many before me that paved the way to make the world better. Now it’s my turn to make the world richer, better, safer and more fulfilling for you. I am excited about leaving you a legacy of resources to help you maneuver through this world.

You may encounter times when you want to give up or days when things don’t go your way, but remember and speak this mantra my mother told me, “keep living.” Despite disappointments, distractions and discouragements, keep living! If you haven’t reached a goal, keep living – you will! Failed today? Keep living – tomorrow you will succeed! You were born to be great. Keep living until those around you know the same!

Ancestrally yours…

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