#68.8

[miscellaniousbyblue]

Jokes on you I was fucking great at division. I’d have this whole paper done in five minutes.

pov you just came back from recess and ur still feeling that high. you sit down and the first thing you see is this

[steffanrogg]

What Does the Cricut Explore Air 2 Have in it for You?

Crafting is a fun and fulfilling activity that allows us to express our creativity and imagination. With the rise of DIY and home decor projects, having the right tools has become a need to bring your ideas to life. One such tool is the cutting machine. A versatile machine that can handle numerous ranges of materials with ease, that too on a budget; It seems like a far cry, but gladly it isn’t.  Visit at- cricut maker machine set up

The Cricut Explore series machines are great for starters who are still exploring the crafting world. And you also need various other supplies, such as materials and tools; that’s where Cricut Explore Air 2 bundle comes into play. It has everything you need to get started.

This blog will explore the features and benefits of the Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle and why it is the best choice for any crafter. It doesn’t matter who you are; this machine is sure to impress you with its speed, ease of use, and accessories. So, let’s dive in and discover why the Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle is a must-have for any crafting enthusiast.

What is a Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle?

Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle is a neatly packed package of goodies that will have all you need to get started as a crafter. The bundle includes the Cricut Explore Air 2 machine and some additional accessories. The Cricut Explore Air 2 is a machine that lets you create designs by cutting various materials such as vinyl, cardstock, fabric, etc. This machine belongs to Cricut’s Explore series, which means it’s best for anyone who is considering getting a cutting machine for the first time.

You also get various add-ons as well. These add-ons that come with the machine in the bundle will have everything you need to get going. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the bundle, it’s better that we take a look at the Cricut Explore 2 a bit.

Cricut Explore Air 2

The Cricut Explore Air 2 can be a great pick for individuals who are looking for a cutting machine that can handle all that is thrown at it. Well, it cuts 100+ different materials with no trouble. Not only that, but this machine is also easy to use and also comes with various accessories that make it perfect for both beginners and veterans alike. On top of that, this machine is faster and more powerful than its predecessors, making it the ideal choice for anyone who wants to complete their projects quickly.

Features of Cricut Explore Air 2

The Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle brings on board a wide array of features that make it a great investment for any crafter. Here are some of those for you to wrap your head around.

Cuts a Range of Materials

The Cricut Explore Air 2 easily cuts over 100 materials. And yes, these include cardstock, vinyl, glitter paper, bonded fabric, and much more. This means that you can create wherever you want with this machine.

Fast Cutting Speed

The Cricut Explore Air 2 cuts up to 2 times faster than its predecessors. This means you will be producing a lot faster.

Wireless Connection

The Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle comes with built-in Bluetooth. This allows you to connect to your computer, tablet, or smartphone. This means that you can design and cut your projects from anywhere.

Easy-to-Use Design Space Software

The Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle comes with easy-to-use software called Design Space. This software gets all of your design needs to be done. Got an idea? Create it in the Design Space. Don’t know what to design? Get a premade one from the Design Space. ‘

What’s Included in the Bundle

You get in the Bundle the Cricut Machine itself and the items listed below.

The premium fine-point blade and housing

The LightGrip Machine Mat, measuring 12 in x 12 in (30.5 cm x 30.5 cm), so that your materials stay in place

The welcome book walks you through the basic features of the machine

A USB cable and power adapter provide easy connectivity and power options

The free trial membership to Cricut Access™ (for new subscribers) gives you access to a library of over 100,000 images, fonts, and ready-to-make projects.

The 50 ready-to-make projects provide a great starting point.

Visit at- cricut machine setup for pc

It’s Also Bundled with

Iron-On Foil Sampler

Elegance Everyday Iron-On Sampler

Metallic Adhesive Foil Sampler

Removable Premium Vinyl Sampler in Elegance Design

Dry Erase Vinyl for Crafts

Stencil Vinyl for Custom Designs

Chalkboard Vinyl for Art and Decor Projects

Bejeweled Foil Poster Board Sampler for Eye-catching Posters

Brights Glitter Cardstock Sampler for Sparkling Crafts

Princess Cardstock Sampler for Royal-Themed Projects

Transfer Tape for Applying Vinyl and Iron-Ons

Classics Pen Set with 5 Colored Pens for Writing and Drawing

Scoring Stylus for Creating Fold Lines in Paper Crafts

Blue True Control Knife for Precision Cutting

Variety Pack of 12″ x 12″ Cutting Mats in 3 Colors

Basic Set of Crafting Tools, including Scissors and Tweezers

Portable Trimmer for Accurate Paper Cutting on the Go.

Why Should You Buy Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle?

The Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle is an excellent investment for anyone who loves crafting. It has everything you would need as a crafter who is just starting up. The machine you will get with it is not only versatile but also easy to use. The cutting speed of this machine is also a breeze, allowing you to get the work done quickly. The wireless connection also lets you design and cut from anywhere around the house. And the Everything Materials are like the cherry on the top; you will have everything you need moving ahead. So, this machine indeed can be excellent moving ahead for you.

Source Url- cricut explore air 2 bundle | 68.8, 1.2, 1

[roach-works]

you need to stop equating legality with morality

i know im shouting into the void here but i'm really stressed out over how many gen-z kids seem to think that all bad things are illegal and therefore all good things are legal. this is a child's system of ethics and furthermore it's one that fascist bigots REALLY REALLY WANT YOU TO KEEP

here are some things that are legal in the united states of america:

-you can marry a child in 46 states. "The organization Unchained At Last found nearly 300,000 children under the age of 18 were legally married between 2000 and 2018."

-it's not murder to shoot someone to death in 28 states under Stand Your Ground Laws.

-officers of the law can take and keep your personal property "in the course of conducting an investigation." you have to go to court to get it back. since the year 2000, cops have taken and kept personal property totaling a profit of at least 68.8 billion... that we have records for. Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture

here are things that are illegal in an increasing number of states:

-birth control hrt, and abortion

-dildos

-telling kids anything about homosexuality or transexuality

-helping a minor access birth control or an abortion without their parent's consent

-dressing in drag

-protesting against corporate malfeasance

-protesting against police brutality

-suing a company for knowingly endangering your health through exposure to infectious diseases, chemical toxins, or oil pollution

-inhibiting private logging, fracking, and mining operations, even those conducted on public lands, even those conducted without the requisite permits, even those conducted against treaty regulations

IN CONCLUSION:

a country's legal system is not a nice little collection of good rules for proper people. it is a system of top-down control that determines, in broad and violent strokes, which people get what they want, and which people don't.

the sooner you realize that it is a moral imperative to break unjust laws, the sooner you can stop saying shit like 'dni if you support illegal/immoral behavior' and sounding like a fucking chump.

[badolmen]

Do Something Saturdays!

Are you feeling helpless and paralyzed by indecision? The best cure is to do something - something that will have an immediate, concrete impact on the world.

Consider donating as little as $5 and/or reblogging this post to share these campaigns!

(verification) Sara Hussein (€1.660/€50.000) [3.32%]

(verification) Abdallah Mousa ($2.506/$30.000) [8.35%]

(verification) Abd Alhadi Aburas ($7.032/$65.000) [10.8%]

(verification) Bara Belal Deeb El Shaer ($1.413/$10.000) [14.1%]

(verification) Ahmed Al-Habil (€8.046/€50.000) [16.1%]

(verification) Mohammed Alazaiza ($9.135/$48.000) [19.0%]

(verification) Osama Basil ($4.802/$15.000) [32.0%]

(verification) Abed Rahman Al Shaer ($23.091/$50.000) [46.2%]

(verification) Palestine & Youssef Jad Al-Haq ($46.748/$100.000) [46.7%]

(verification) Ahmed Abu Al-Rish ($50.868/$100.000) [50.9%]

(verification) Mahmoud Alkhaldi ($26.037/$50.000) [52.1%]

(verification) Safaa & Mohammed ($45.336/$75.000) [60.4%]

(verification) Doaa Jad Al Haq ($7.562/$12.000) [63.0%] *evacuated, still need survival funds

(verification) Safaa Al Khatib (€26.213/€35.000) [74.9%]

(verification) Ayah & Lina Amir Abu Samra (€47.776/€60.000) [79.6%]

(verification) Hossam Saleh Mohamed El Bardawil ($26.524/$30.000) [88.4%]

(verification) Fidaa ($108.095/$120.000) [90.1%]

Time stamp: Nov. 29, 2024

More information and campaigns under the read more.

(Conversions: $5 = kr52.36, €4.66, £3.89, CHF4.30)

Daily Campaigns @writing-prompts-for-palestine

Match Me Monday

Ten Dollar Tuesdays

Five Dollar Fridays

Completed Campaigns

(verification) Mohammed Shamia ($70.280/$70.000) [100%]

***the follow campaigns appear to have been terminated by GFM/are no longer accepting donations. I am looking for an update from the organizers.

(verification) Ahmed & Abdul Aziz (€3.439/€5.000) [68.8%]

(verification) Hanaa Jad Al-Haq (£41.391/£50.000) [81.4%]

[emptystomachopenmind]

Today eats (20.05.24)

- eaten: 800/800 cals

- burned: 404

info: hello! My name is Cecylia and I’m back with another blog where I post about my restrictions. I do not want any people that are uninterested in my content so be free to block me. it’s my personal diary and I don’t want to trigger anyone’s €d.

I’m starting back with weight 68.8 kg (which is bmi 24.7). I did wanted to get better and recover from bullimia but I end up gaining a lot of weight. I’m back, not purging as often as I did before. I want to get worse, just in a different way.

[queeringclassiclit]

Some Fun Statistics

Characters who are not beating the gay allegations (highest 'yes' vote):

Dorian Gray - 93.6%

Sherlock Holmes - 89.5%

Grantaire - 87.8%

Characters with an unblemished record of heterosexuality (highest 'no' vote):

Anne Shirley - 74.1%

Jane Eyre - 44.6%

Holly Golightly - 34.9%

Pairings who are definitely making out sloppy style (highest 'yes, they at least kissed' vote)

Achilles & Patroclus - 89.2%

Carmilla & Laura - 84.6%

Gilgamesh & Enkidu - 79.4%

Pairings who are sitting 5 feet apart cos they're not gay (highest 'no, they're not queer' vote)

Anne & Diana - 71.3%

Emma & Harriet - 20.2%

Macbeth & Banquo - 18.4%

Most controversial (most even split between 'yes', 'maybe' and 'no')

Lady Macbeth

Bertha Mason

Guy Montag

Most niche (highest 'I don't know these characters' vote)

Valcour & Francisco de Paola - 68.8%

Sue Bridehead - 68.3%

Emily Grierson - 61.8%

[revui]

Palestinian Campaigns

@salem-baker

€5,434/€38,000 (14.3%)

Save My Family from the War Nightmare in Gaza

@noor-alanqar

€19,943/€40,000 (49.9%)

Rebuilding Live: A Mother's Plea for Hope and Safety in Gaza

@ahmed-mohammed1

€4,870/€30,000 (16.2%)

Urgent Help Needed to Evacuate My Family from Gaza

@save-salem-family

€3,728/€50,000 (7.5%)

Help Salem Family From Gaza

@ranoshfamily

€205/€70,000 (0.3%)

Help Rana’s family to leave Gaza before it too late

@emanfamily81

€4,802/€38,000 (12.6%)

Donate to help my family live in peace

@amna-merwan

€13,758/€40,000 (34.4%)

“Save my Children from the horrors of war in Gaza”

@abdalhadiaburas

$3,308/$65,000 CAD (5.1%)

Rebuilding Hope For My Family And Saving Them

@dodoomar12345

kr122,492/kr300,000 SEK (40.8%)

Help my son to live a normal live

@yazanfamilly

€10,566/€50,000 (21.1%)

Save My Family from the War Nightmare in Gaza

@falestine-yousef

$12,801/$40,000 USD (32%)

Help Palestine and Family Survive the Gaza Crisis

@lobnaalser

€1,160/€50,000 (2.3%)

Help Ahmed’s family escape the war

@mohammedaldeeb

€37,855/€55,000 (68.8%)

Help Us Escape the Ravages of War: Emergency Evacuation Fund

@asmaayyad

€10,274/€45,000 (22.8%)

Help me and my family escape the war in Gaza

@sara-97a

€398/€50,000 (0.8%)

Save my family in Gaza Strip.. Help my family's children

@samarsh97

€4,417/€45,000 (9.8%)

Help my family survive and start a new life

@hayanahed

€75,420/€100,000 (75.4%)

Emergency: Help Evacuate My Family From GAZA WAR

@samerpal

kr120,875/kr450,000 SEK (26.9%)

Trapped Family in Gaza Appeals for Help to Survive

@olagaza1

$28,968/$50,000 USD (57.9%)

Ola's Family Call for your Support Amid Crisis

@wafaaresh6

€28,200/€100,000 (28.2%)

we need help

@ahmadresh

$6,851/$10,000 USD (68.5%)

Donate to Ahmed's Journey to Safety and Education

@ahmedalnabeeh11

€22,868/€30,000 (76.2%)

Help Ahmed, Abedelrahman, and family Escape war

These are all campaigns I have been asked to share. I checked each one to see if they were legitimate or vetted. Remember to pay attention to conversion rates before you donate. Spread this post and give what you can.

If any links appear broken, let me know immediately. I ran into several errors making this post.

[undertale-npcs]

Undertale NPCs tournament Losers Round 2 summary

Alright let's check in on these losers!

All of the snails are gone, but the mice are going strong. Your priorities are in the right place. Let's look at what interesting stuff happened:

The most popular character this round was:

Wishing Siblings!

Wishing Siblings won against Library Lizard with 503 votes. You love faceless characters!

The least popular character this round was:

Kid Slime! (unhatted)

(unhatted) Kid Slime lost against Inn Kid with 69 votes! This was also the { Least Popular Match } with 481 total votes. Children are boring, but ones with eyes less so, apparently. Oh my god AND the { Most Agreed Upon Match }! 85.7% for the slime!! Okay!!!

The most even match of this round was:

Distant Guy vs Nacarat Jester!

With a vote percentage of 49.7% to 50.3%, the monster you can actually talk to wins by a measly .3%! This match was also the { Most Popular Match } with 795 votes! That's not as close as it has been before !

Thanks for participating!

Next summary will come, eventually. I have been slowing down a bit because I am burning myself out, sorry,, It will happen! Just a bit slower than it has in the past!

And as always, here's all the round stats for the nerds:

Match 1 | 532 votes Red Thundersnail 43.6% vs Library Loox 56.4%

Match 2 | 499 votes Business Snail 34.3% vs Cinnamon 65.7%

Match 3 | 795 votes Distant Guy 49.7% vs Nacarat Jester 50.3%

Match 4 | 523 votes Snowdrake's Dad 67.3% vs Oni 32.7%

Match 5 | 703 votes Wishing Siblings 71.6% vs Library Lizard 28.4%

Match 6 | 548 votes Fox Head 38.1% vs Hotland Mouse 61.9%

Match 7 | 543 votes Echo Flower Explainer 41.3% vs Shambling Mass 58.7%

Match 8 | 577 votes Box Lover 58.9% vs Unknown Hotland Shadow Guy 41.1%

Match 9 | 554 votes Ferry 62.6% vs Homeless Snail 37.4%

Match 10 | 553 votes Drunk Bun 69.1% vs Big Mouth 30.9%

Match 11 | 481 votes Inn Kid 85.7% vs Kid Slime (unhatted) 14.3%

Match 12 | 527 votes Hand Receptionist 37.4% vs Waterfall Mouse 62.6%

Match 13 | 539 votes Clam Girl 68.6% vs Scarf Lady 31.4%

Match 14 | 536 votes Ficus Licker 45.5% vs Charles 54.5%

Match 15 | 661 votes Faun 31.2% vs Snoring Guys 68.8%

Match 16 | 759 votes FOLLOWER 3 56.8% vs Business Manticore 43.2%

Nerd

[ladyluscinia]

Well. My curiosity about the post-S2 state of the OFMD fandom has been piqued - though much later and not at all for the reasons I thought it would be before watching the season - so I'm finally going to do that fanfic statistics follow up I planned almost a year ago.

Links to my first fanfic statistics from January 2023 (first 10 months of the fandom) and hiatus check in September 2023 (8 months of "deep hiatus"). This follow up adds the month of S2 lead up + airing and the 8 months and change immediately following it, which should by all rights include the traditional fic boosts of Kinktober and NaNoWriMo. So.

My hiatus check fic count was 23,187. Today's is 32,998 total fics in the Our Flag Means Death tag.

Right off the bat, this is interesting. 9,811 fics have been added. Which doesn't sound bad except in the deep hiatus timeframe - slightly shorter window, much further away from new content - the fandom added 11,115 fics. There's definitely factors at play like fandoms naturally losing people and creative energy over time and the series cancellation news, but I said back last year that it felt like the fandom activity didn't really spike with new content, and this tracks with that.

Character Tagging:

Edward Teach - 24,411 fics, 74.0% of the total

Stede Bonnet - 22,696 fics, 68.8% of the total

Izzy Hands - 16,627 fics, 50.4% of the total

Lucius Spriggs - 8,228 fics, 25.0% of the total

Jim Jimenez - 5,193 fics, 15.7% of the total

Frenchie - 4,167 fics, 12.6% of the total

Oluwande - 4,165 fics, 12.6% of the total

Percentage deviation is following the same trend as last time, with Izzy appearing in a slightly higher percentage of fics and everyone else in a slightly lower, only the actual "interest" change is even smaller this time - everyone here including Izzy is within at least 2% of where they were last check except Edward who dropped a whole -2.7% overall when he was "only" tagged in 6,638 (67.7%) of the new fics. How will people cope. Jim dropped the least - only -0.3% overall. Anyway interesting news Frenchie has gained prominence and overtaken Oluwande for 6th place by a whole 2 fics, which I enjoy because he was my Revenge crew fave.

Shipping: The Main Couple Math

BlackBonnet is tagged on 20,282 OFMD fics, making it 61.5% of the fandom. Running the otp:true search says that now 13,597 fics and 41.2% of all OFMD content is BlackBonnet with no side pairings at all.

Taking SteddyHands into account - 1,240 of those fics are also tagged with SteddyHands, making it 6.1% of BlackBonnet and (if you exclude them) putting BlackBonnet at 19,042 fics and 57.7% of the fandom.

7,190 fics under the Izzy Hands character tag are tagged BlackBonnet - which is 43.2% of all his tagged fics, and 21.8% of all fics. SteddyHands is also tagged on 1,150 of those, so excluding it brings us to 36.3% of “Israel Hands” fics / 18.3% of OFMD fics are tagged with BlackBonnet + “Israel Hands” and NOT SteddyHands.

BlackBonnet continues to leave notably more of the pie than last time available for other ships and characters, which is still objectively a good thing even for most people who love the ship. It's not hurting for attention, but it's getting closer to the high end of reasonable dominance vs the level where authors writing side character ships are legitimately hard to find. A healthy fandom will often have the main pairing below 50%. SteddyHands is still super niche in comparison.

Shipping: Everyone Else

Edward/Izzy - 3,982 under "Israel Hands", 4,260 (12.9%) total

Edward/Izzy (SteddyHands excluded) - 2,826 under "Israel Hands", 3,017 (9.1%) total

Edward/Stede/Izzy - 2,567 under "Israel Hands", 2,806 (8.5%) total

Stede/Izzy - 2,229 under "Israel Hands", 2,404 (7.3%) total

Stede/Izzy (SteddyHands excluded) - 1,167 under "Israel Hands", 1,262 (3.8%) total

Lucius/Izzy - 1,535 under "Israel Hands", 1,705 (5.2%) total

And in non-Izzy ships, Stizzy did make notable gains post-S2 and has passed up Black Pete/Lucius and Oluwande/Jim in total fics for the first time (though only with SteddyHands tagged fics included in the count) - likely due to a combination of canon decisions made in S2.

Black Pete/Lucius - 2,302 (7.0%) fics. 72.7% of these are also tagged BlackBonnet. Excluding BlackBonnet leaves 628 (1.9%) fics.

Oluwande/Jim - 1,933 (5.9%) fics. 68.2% of these are also tagged BlackBonnet. Running otp:true leaves 360 (1.1%) fics.

BlackHands has actually gone down the slightest bit by overall percentage and brought SteddyHands down with it, though it is impossible to accurately track SteddyHands fics that are tagged as component pairings alone vs the throuple tag. This makes sense with how Izzy fans have branched further into negligible Izzy ships such as Izzy/Frenchie in the wake of S2. Both non-Izzy ships also went down, but this is probably related to both being more heavily featured in S1 and still mostly riding those numbers (especially Oluwande/Jim who canonically broke up in S2).

Honestly I think I'm both surprised it's not more active with the well timed new content and surprised that everything is still so consistent. It confirms some minor suspected trends, but mostly just looks like an even less dramatic deep hiatus update.

Oh and also slight disclaimer - I have exactly one person muted on AO3 and I think they've written for OFMD and it would have excluded their fics, so my sourced counts may be off by extremely small numbers contributed by one author? Idk exactly how AO3 handles that in the fic search interface.

[lovelybutterflyed]

KOCHANI SCHUDLAM Z 68.8 DO 66.4!!!!!

[haveyouheardthispodcast]

400* Completed Polls!

I have noticed that we get tags from people shocked that so few people have heard of specific podcasts, and overwhelmingly these tags are left on polls that have a much higher heard-of-rate than normal.

So here's some stats about what has been "normal":

The mean "Haven't heard of this podcast" results is 75.1%.

The median is 82.1%.

(The mode is 91.1%, but this type of stat isn't particularly relevant for this data. It represents 5 datapoints.)

According to Microsoft Excel, if more than 69%** of our voting base has heard of a podcast, then it is an outlier.

The first quartile (which means 25% of the polls are under this number, and 75% are over this number) for "Haven't heard of this podcast" is 67.0%. The third quartile is 91.0%.

Only 54 podcasts have been recognized by half or more of our voters. Below the cut are the 30 podcasts that have been recognized by 60% or more of our voters.

There is a loose correlation (r²=0.427) between the number of votes a poll receives and the proportion of people who have heard of it. This correlation could be messed up with outliers — that is the polls about podcasts that leave our normal audience are often ones that are very well known on Tumblr. Unfortunately, Google Sheets does not have an easy way to recognize outliers, like Microsoft Excel does. Additionally, what is considered an outlier for how many votes a poll seems to change with how many polls we posted that day.

So frankly I do not know how do control for these outliers to give a more accurate r².

If you want to see the other stats I've compiled, a copy of the Google Spreadsheet is here.

Without further ado, the thirty podcasts that at least 60% of our voters have heard of:

The Magnus Archives

Welcome to Night Vale

Critical Role

The Ben Shapiro Show

My Brother, My Brother, and Me

Dungeons and Daddies

Alice Isn't Dead

The Penumbra Podcast

Wolf 359

I Am In Eskew

Friends at the Table

Malevolent

Not Another D&D Podcast

The Silt Verses

The Bright Sessions

Sawbones

Within the Wires

The Daily

Dateline

Wooden Overcoats

The Last Podcast on the Left

You're Wrong About

Hello From The Hallowoods

Where Do We Begin

Hello from the Magic Tavern

Stellar Firma

My Favorite Murder

SCP Archives

The Orbiting Human Circus

The White Vault

*Not counting the accidental 24 hour poll that is currently being rerun (although those stats are included in our averages, it lowered the minimum votes from 168 to 135 and is an outlier that should not have been counted for some stats but I want to keep it for other stats, so it's still in the data).

**Technically 68.8%, but a) 69% is a funnier number, and b) most of our polls get between 200 and 400 votes, so Tumblr's rounding to the first decimal is already too precise to be frankly accurate.

***This chart is not actually by how many posts were made that day, but by the date ranges surrounding the queue rates. The 24-hour poll has been removed from this data.

[threebodybot]

m1=68.8 m2=4.2 m3=17.9 (solar masses) v1x=4.475 v1y=-0.712 v2x=0.625 v2y=1.65 v3x=-4.487 v3y=-5.773 (km/s) x1=19.0 y1=-15.0 x2=25.0 y2=13.0 x3=-13.0 y3=25.0 (AU from center) Music: Waltz of the Flowers – Tchaikovsky

[probablyasocialecologist]

Austerity has been biting since 2010, when George Osborne slashed the amount of money councils could receive from central government in one of his first acts as chancellor. Between 2010 and 2020, they lost more than 50% of their government grants in real terms. Six councils have already gone ‘bankrupt’ in the last two years while more than half of the rest say they could follow, meaning they could be taken over by Whitehall or replaced by new authorities.

[...]

Councils are responsible for 800 different services, including meeting Britain’s soaring demand for social care. They also run schools, public health, housing, planning and licensing. “Everyone thinks that councils [just] collect the bins and fix the roads,” said Revans. “We do so, so much more.” Most council services are mandatory, meaning they must legally be delivered. But others – including leisure centres, pest control, museums, and youth clubs – are discretionary, meaning councils can choose whether to offer them or not.

[...]

When David Cameron and Nick Clegg formed the coalition government in 2010, they declared that: “The time has come to disperse power more widely in Britain today.” A year later, the Localism Act became law, giving councils “the legal capacity to do anything that an individual can do”. In practice, that meant not a lot, because councils continue to be fiscally dependent on Westminster. London, for example, relies on strings-attached central government grants for 68.8% of its funding. New York, by comparison, only depends on central government for 26% of its budget, and Paris just 16.3%. Councils can also generate revenue from council tax and business rates, an equivalent tax on business premises. But the Localism Act prevents councils from raising council tax annually above a cap – which is currently 5% – set by the government.  Austerity, then, has seemingly overridden any attempt at decentralisation. Fourteen years ago, your council could do a lot more for you, especially if you were in a tight spot. But year after year, it has pared back what it offers to the point that some campaigners fear residents expect less in the first place.

[bleach-smashorpass]

Stats for characters V through Z!

Eighth round of stats! There are 12 characters in the V - Z group. Shinigami make up the majority with 6, followed by Arrancar with 3, Quincy with 2, and Hollow with 1.

👍 Most Smashable Characters.

SHINIGAMI: Yoruichi Shihōin with an 82.7% smash rate across 490 votes (405 Smashed / 85 Passed) — also the Overall winner of this group.

ARRANCAR: Yylfordt Granz with a 47.1% smash rate across 289 votes (136 Smashed / 153 Passed)

QUINCY: Zangetsu with a 68.3% smash rate across 375 votes (650 Smashed / 119 Passed)

👎 Least Smashable Characters.

SHINIGAMI: Zennosuke with a 93.5% pass rate across 216 votes (14 Smashed / 202 Passed) — also the Overall loser of this group.

ARRANCAR: Yammy Llargo with an 89.6% pass rate across 268 votes (28 Smashed / 202 Passed)

QUINCY: Yhwach with a 69.8% pass rate across 298 votes (90 Smashed / 208 Passed)

The single Hollow was White with a pass rate of 57.7% across 279 votes (118 Smashed / 161 Passed)

Another round with battles!

Yamamoto had a 77.6% pass rate across 290 votes (65 Smashed / 225 Passed) while his younger iteration had a 68.8% pass rate across 282 votes (88 Smashed / 194 Passed)

Yhwach as we already saw was the least smashable Quincy, but his secondary form is even less smashable with a 76% pass rate across 283 votes (68 Smashed / 215 Passed)

This is the last round of Manga Only Stats! We still have some things we're going to release, but they'll take a little while to compile in a way that looks fun. Thank you to everyone who voted or otherwise participated, it's been a ton of fun.

[occvltswim]

‘The Adoration of the Magi’ — Matthias Stom, oil on canvas, 175 cm (68.8 in) x 172 cm (67.7 in), early 1630s

[scottsmajorshipbracket]

About one day left to vote!

There's a little over a day left to vote for your favorite Scott ships for round one! Here are the ships currently in the lead:

Match #: who's/in/the/ship (lead%) > the/losing/ship

Match 16: Scott/Ren/Martyn (88.1%) > Scott/CaptianSparkles

Match 15: Scott/Fwhip/Jimmy (68.8%) > Scott/Scar

Match 14: Scott/Jimmy/Tango (81.9%) > Scott/Ren

Match 13: Scott/Fwhip (67.5%) > Scott/Jimmy/Martyn/Shane

Match 12: Scott/Impulse (83.7%) > Scott/Skizz

Match 11: Scott/Sausage (92.1%) > Scott/Joey

Match 10: Scott/Sausage/Jimmy (68.4%) > Scott/Impulse/Skizz

Match 9: Scott/Jimmy (90.1%) > Scott/Hbomb

Match 8: Scott/Tango (85%) > Scott/Jimmy/Hbomb/Wisp

Match 7: Scott/Oli (51.2%) > Scott/Shane

Match 6: QPR Scott/Cleo (78.7%) > ESMP1!Scott/Evil Xisuma

Match 5: Scott/Martyn (97.4%) > Scott/Wisp

Match 4: Scott/Grian (61.2%) > Scott/Mog

Match 3: Scott/Jimmy/Tango/Martyn (54%) > QPR Scott/Cleo/Pearl

Match 2: QPR Scott/Pearl (52.3%) > Scott/Joel

Match 1: QPR Scott/Owen (74.8%) > Scott/Etho