#Financial Discrepancies Tumblr posts

[phagodyke]

and the moral of the story is to always question every single thing private healthcare providers tell u as fact esp if it involves ur time/money and someone not involved in ur case is telling u 👍

[nightpool]

If you are an auditor, and you call up the chief financial officer of the company you are auditing and ask “hey when is a convenient time for me to come to your office to review the books,” and he replies “no, no office, parking lot,” and you say “okay I’ll drive to your office and you’ll come down—” and he says “oh no, not our parking lot, a different parking lot,” and you meet him in a parking lot 40 miles from his office, and he hands you printouts of the financial statements and drives away, how should you begin your audit? Which of the financial statements is most likely to contain red flags or discrepancies to be addressed? I feel like the answer is “the parking lot”? If I were auditing those financial statements, most of my questions would not be about technical accounting matters but “why are we meeting in a parking lot again?”

Here is a story about the CFO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, William Smith, who was arrested last week for allegedly stealing $40 million from the nonprofit:

"Mr. Smith’s grip on the nonprofit’s finances was so tight that even the nonprofit’s accountant, charged with tracking spending, could not log into one of the group’s bank accounts. Only Mr. Smith had the password. He gave her the bank statements on paper and met her only four times a year, in the parking lot of a Honey Baked Ham store 40 miles from the office. […]

"Brian Mittendorf, a professor who studies nonprofit accounting at Ohio State University, said that the conservancy’s official documents show that it took steps to safeguard its finances — including oversight from its board of directors and annual audits.

"‘All these things sound as if it’s an organization with a pretty robust review in place. On the other hand, only one person can access the money, and provides paper copies in a Honey Baked Ham parking lot?’ Mr. Mittendorf said. ‘Those sound like the opposite of a robust governance mechanism.��"

As it happens, Smith allegedly altered the bank statements by “[removing] the payments to himself and [replacing] them with fake payments to other vendors.” I still don’t fully understand the parking lot, though? Like you can meet the accountant in your office to hand over the doctored paper financial statements; just unplug your computer first. I just feel like meeting in the parking lot sends a pretty strong message of “I AM DOING CRIME” that you might want to avoid, if you are doing crime.

[juneyjubilation]

Peter Parker x Reader

jealous + first kiss :) At the Daily Bugle, you and Peter are a reporter and photographer, and form a strong working relationship while exposing corruption. Betty, a new reporter, creates tension between them as she flirts with Peter. Your jealousy surfaces, leading to an tense argument. but y'all makeup and kisth.

. . .

You and Peter sat across from each other at your shared desk, going over the latest scoop. The room was dimly lit, the only sound was the rustling of papers and the occasional clacking of a keyboard. As you and Peter Parker worked late into the night at the Daily Bugle, the tension between you thickened with each passing moment. The story you were working on was a big one, exposing corruption within the city's police department. The pressure was tangible, and it wasn't just from the deadline.

The tension between you had been building for days, fueled by the constant proximity and the way your eyes met whenever you thought no one was looking. But the daggers that Betty Brant, the newest reporter and former secretary of J. Jonah Jameson, threw your way didn't help matters.

"Peter, I think we should focus on this angle," you suggested, trying to maintain professionalism.

Peter, his eyes locked on the documents, hesitated before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I think you're right," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

You could feel Peter's gaze on you as you typed away, your fingers flying over the keyboard. You knew that he had feelings for you, and the same was true for you. But the presence of a new reporter, the sultry and alluring Betty Brant, had thrown a wrench into your burgeoning relationship.

Peter couldn't help but notice the way Betty flirted with him, the way she leaned in close, brushing her chest against his arm. But at least for now, you had him all to yourself.

You leaned back in your chair, rubbing your eyes as you scrolled through the latest batch of documents Peter had sent over. "Okay, let's see here," you muttered, your voice low and thoughtful. "The mayor's office is definitely involved in this cover-up. But we need to find a way to link them directly to the police department."

Peter leaned forward, his eyes shining with excitement. "I think I can help with that," he said, pulling up a file on his laptop. "I managed to get my hands on some internal memos that show the mayor's office was pressuring the police to keep quiet about the corruption."

You leaned forward, your heart racing. "That's fantastic, Peter," you breathed. "But we need to be careful. If we publish this without concrete evidence, we could be in for a world of trouble."

Peter nodded, his jaw set in determination. "I know. But I think I can help with that too. I've been going over the financial records, and I found some discrepancies that could link the mayor's office directly to the corrupt officers."

You reached out, your hand brushing against Peter's as you took the laptop from him. "Let me take a look," you said, your voice low and husky. "I want to make sure we have everything we need before we go to print."

As you scrolled through the files, your fingers brushing against Peter's for a moment, you couldn't help but steal glances at him. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the way his hair curled slightly at the nape of his neck.

You and Peter were in the midst of a heated discussion about the latest developments in your story. The tension between you was palpable, and you could feel the electricity between you as you worked together.

Just as you were about to make a breakthrough, Betty Brant's voice cut through the air, shrill and insistent. "Peter Parker, can I see you in my office for a moment?" she called out, her voice dripping with sweetness.

Peter's eyes flickered to you, and for a moment, you saw a flash of annoyance. But he stood up, brushing off his jeans, and followed Betty out of the room. You watched them go, your mouth tightening in annoyance.

You waited for a few moments, tapping your pen against the desk impatiently. Finally, you heard the door open again, and Peter walked back in, a look of irritation on his face.

"What was that about?" you asked, your voice low and even.

"I don't know, she just needed to talk to me about something," Peter shrugged, his voice dismissive. "Don't worry about it."

You narrowed your eyes, your annoyance simmering. "About what?"

Peter frowned, clearly not understanding your sudden anger. "I don't know, she didn't say. It was just a quick conversation."

You crossed your arms, your eyes flashing. "Did she say anything about me?"

Peter blinked, confusion etched on his face. "No, why?"

"I thought so," you muttered in a huff, turning back to your work.

Peter's confusion deepened. "What's wrong?"

You didn't respond, your jaw clenched. Peter sighed and walked over to where you were sitting, his hands on your shoulders. "Hey, what's going on? You're acting really weird all of a sudden."

You shrugged him off, your frustration boiling over. "Just drop it, Peter."

Peter's hands fell away, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "No, come on. Talk to me. What's going on?"

You shook your head, not trusting yourself to speak. Peter's face fell, and he looked at you with a mixture of confusion and worry.

"Look, I know we've been working really closely together, and I know there's something between us," he said, his voice gentle. "But I don't understand why you're acting like this. Did I do something wrong?"

Peter's words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. You couldn't meet his gaze, your heart pounding in your chest. Suddenly, the tension between you seemed to crack and crumble, leaving only raw emotion in its wake.

Peter stepped closer, his eyes searching yours. "Vienna, please," he whispered. "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

Your breath caught in your throat as his lips brushed against your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You felt the heat of his body against yours, the strength of his arms as he pulled you close.

"Peter," you breathed, your voice barely audible. "I'm so sorry. I...I didn't mean to snap at you."

Peter's arms tightened around you, holding you close. "It's okay," he murmured. "I know you're stressed. But please, tell me what's going on. I want to help you."

You bit your lip, trying to find the words. "It's just... I don't know, being around Betty all the time, the way she looks at you, it's..." You trailed off, shaking your head. "I don't know, maybe I'm just tired or frustrated."

You kept going, your voice trembling as you spoke, "I mean, this story is important, and we're under so much pressure. It's just a lot, and I guess it's getting to me.” You continued to ramble, your words spilling out in a jumbled mess. "I mean, I know it's not fair, she's just doing her job, but... I don't know, maybe I'm just tired and tense from work. I've been putting in a lot of long hours, and I'm probably just imagining–!”

Peter's lips crashed against yours, his hands moving to cradle your cheeks. The kiss was tender, yet insistent, as if he was trying to reassure you that everything would be alright. You melted into the embrace, your thoughts scattering as your heart raced.

For a moment, everything around you faded away. The dim lights of the office, the sound of the city beyond the walls, all of it ceased to exist. All that was left was the two of you, sitting at your stupidly small desk in the middle of the empty newsroom.

Your hands were still on the edge of the desk, and Peter's hands were still on your face, but it was as if the rest of the world had disappeared.

You could feel his breath on your lips, hear the slight catch in his chest as he pulled away. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just couldn't help myself."

Your heart was still racing, your skin flushed with heat. You could feel the warmth of his body against yours, the strength of his arms as he held you close. It was as if you were the only two people in the world, lost in a moment of pure emotion.

Peter leaned in again, pressing his lips to yours in a soft, sweet kiss. You could taste the salt of his tears on your tongue, the hint of coffee and chocolate on his breath. It was a kiss that spoke of longing and desire, of two people who had been dancing around each other for too long.

As you pulled away, you could see the vulnerability in his eyes, the raw emotion that you had never seen before. It was a look that told you that he was just as lost as you were, just as unsure of what to do next.

But at that moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the two of you, standing in the middle of the Daily Bugle, lost in a world of your own making.

. . . bonus! . . . “so… betty huh?” “oh, shut up.”

[emeritusemeritus]

Rough sex with reader with both Weasley twins? Just after a hard day at Weasley Wizard Wheezes, both men are pent up with the amount of problems that had in just literally one day. This could range from a customer to you possibly trying to tease the shit out of them before fleeing away. 🤭 I hope this isn’t too big of an idea and I’ll leave the rest up to by you. 🫶

Hi Anon! Please accept this offering as a token of my appreciation 🖤 I set it at Christmas time for reasons unknown to me, mostly because I thought it would be super busy?

Warnings: SMUT. Piv, blowjobs, oral (f&m receiving) use of Angel/baby/sweetheart/princess. Slightly Dom/sub behaviours. Rough sex. Cumplay. Polyamory, kind of?

Word count: 3k (of pure smut)

Yuletide stress relief.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was bursting with shoppers since the moment the doors had opened that morning, a sea of people already lined up right down the street stretching all the way down past Ollivanders. Since the moment the doors had opened, it had been non-stop work with customers who were packed in like sardines across all five floors of the shop, desperately searching for Christmas presents for their loved ones.

Although he was always thankful for the success of their business, Fred was completely exhausted and a little worn down by the relentlessness of the day.

He'd been up early, having to leave the two warm bodies in the comfy bed, and had dressed quickly, not even stopping to get a cup of tea or any breakfast and had gone straight to the office to sort out a cash discrepancy he'd noticed upon closing last night. After recounting all the gold from yesterday and revising all the paperwork, he had eventually found the accounting issue and then had to redo all the paperwork.

George turned up to help with opening the store and they'd quickly discovered that they were running low of the Peruvian instant darkness powder crystals which would be a devastating loss to their business this close to Christmas with it being one of their best sellers and the top money spinner.

Fred had once again climbed the multiple stairs to the office and had checked in the books, seeing that a shipment was actually due to arrive this week but when he looked at the number ordered, he realised the grave mistake he'd made. Instead of ordering it in individual batches like usual, he'd confused the numbers and had ordered 60 crates instead which would be a massive overbuy and therefore a massive overspend. It was imported from Peru and the cost of shipping was astronomical, so he had really made a grave mistake. Not only that but the darkness powder had a relatively short shelf life compared to some of their other products and so it could be a complete financial loss.

Running his hands over his face and through his hair, he made his way down the stairs to begrudgingly tell his twin of his error, only to realise that the store was already open and the shop was already packed with customers needing help left, right and center. He'd not taken a single break that day nor stopped for any lunch, working right through as the heavy flow of customers never dwindled. A kid had knocked over a display of wonderwitch products requiring a massive cleanup, even though the child's mother had cast a spell to prevent the rest from falling and it had fallen to Fred to clean up the mess, seeing that his twin was currently helping a large family, Verity was stuck with a line of customers at the till and their temporary Christmas staff were all dotted about busy with other tasks.

He'd thought multiple times during the day to send you an owl to ask you to help out, but he'd never actually got the chance to slip away for long enough. He knew you'd come if he asked but he also didn't want to bother you on your day off, knowing that you were spending it at the Burrow with his mum, busy making preparations for Christmas next week.

When the doors to the shop closed around 7pm and the last of the customers trailed out of the store around 10 minutes past, Fred let out a sigh of relief as he flicked his wand and cast the closing spells, locking the doors.

He couldn't even bring himself to make conversation with his twin, who in striking contact to himself was buzzing from the successful day. He trudged up the stairs, not trusting himself to apparate into the office in his exhaustion; the last thing he needed today was to get splinched because he wasn't paying enough attention.

He was nearly finished with the nightly paperwork when the door to the office creaked open and you walked through with a wide smile on your face, seeing him for the first time that day. Usually he loved to see your smile, even more so when he knew it was because of him, but after the day he'd had and the foul mood that had settled within him, the smile on your face only exasperated how he was feeling, resenting the fact that you'd had a much easier day than him.

"Hey Freddie," you said with a smile, walking over to him and hopping up on the desk. He looked dishevelled to say the least, his jacket thrown off, shirt sleeves rolled up his forearms and tie hanging loosely around his neck, clearly having been loosed hastily. He looked unbelievably hot, like his hand had been repeatedly running through his hair making that ultra sexy dishevelled look.

He hardly looked up, which you thought was strange, simply nodding his head as if to tell you that he'd heard you and acknowledging your presence.  Realising he was busy, you move to hop off the desk ready to walk away, immediately feeling like you were intruding and bothering him.

"Princess wait,” he says, stopping you from walking away, casting his arm out to grab at you. He pauses when he feels your bare skin under his hand, your dress having ridden up when you climbed onto the desk. For the first time, his eyes flick up to you, specifically your bare thigh that his hand is wrapped around.

The sudden change in atmosphere seems to affect you almost instantly. His eyes are piercing, dark as they look at your skin under his hand and you don’t need to be a skilled occlumens to know exactly what is going through his mind. When his hand squeezes down on your flesh, you know exactly what he’s thinking and you can’t help but feel a little flushed with the influx of arousal that spreads through your body.

For the first time, his gaze travels across your body and up towards your face until he’s looking in your eyes. It’s tense for a moment when nothing happens until he suddenly stands from the chair, right in front of you and nudging your legs apart until they’re pulled taught either side of his hips. His tongue pokes out and wets his lips as he gazes at you hungrily and you can almost see your chest rising and falling with the sudden need to take deep breaths to calm yourself.

“Wanna be my good girl?” He says, leaning down slightly, towering over you as his hands dance along the hemline of your dress, thumbs teasing the skin of your thighs as your legs part even wider automatically. He smirks to himself, not missing the way your body always submits to him so willingly as he takes a step back. You nod, staring up at him with wide, imploring eyes awaiting your instruction.

Your gaze follows his hands as they pull away from your thighs and go straight to his belt, unlooping it, opening up his belt buckle and pulling open the buttons until he can free himself. He reaches into his underwear and pulls out his hardening cock as you watch on desperately, mouth watering at the sight.

“Suck it baby,” he says with a slight coo, “want your beautiful lips around me.”

You do as your told almost immediately, maintaining eye contact with him as you slip down off the desk so that you’re eye level with his perfect clock. Ensuring that he’s watching your every move, you timidly stick out your tongue and lock all around the head of his cock, watching closely as his eyes close on their own accord, a heavy breath falling from his lips. You take his rapidly hardening cock into your mouth seconds later, as much as you can and give one long, drawn out suck that causes him to let out a low, breathy moan. You bob up and down on his cock, running your tongue against the prominent veins underneath and try to take more and more in your mouth just like you know he likes. His hand rests in your hair but he does it to feel, not to control as gorgeous intimate moans fall from his lips, his eyes flicking between watching you and closing in pleasure.

“Well this is a sight,” you hear from behind you, making you moan against Fred’s cock. You pull off Fred’s cock, a string of spit trailing between you and his swollen member as you turn your head towards George who looks at you with a lustful gaze. You’re buzzing with arousal, being caught with a mouth full of cock, feeling so dirty by the thought.

“Princess,” Fred says, pulling your attention back to him as you slowly lick all up the sensitive underside before taking him back into your mouth.

George appears by your side in moments and begins unbuckling his own suit trousers, freeing himself and reaching down for your hand as he moves to stand beside Fred. Your hand wraps around his length and you stroke it just how he likes, feeling him harden in your hand.

Both of them moan out at the same time when you switch sides, taking George in your mouth and wrapping your hand around Fred, feasting on them both. You alternate between the twins, your hands never leaving their cocks as you give them pleasure, enjoying the glorious sounds they are unashamedly making.

As soon as you take Fred into your mouth, George slips out of your grasp and reaches for your dress, tearing at it and pulling it open until your breasts spill out, having taken off your bra the moment you got in. You gasp, feeling your nipples harden under the cold air and the feeling of being exposed and it’s mere seconds before George’s hands greedily grab at them.

Fred pulls you off his cock, his hand gently cupping your jaw as he looks at you with lust blown eyes for a second before turning to his twin who seems to have the same idea.

In a manoeuvre so slick it surprised you, Fred picks you up and exits the office with a slight slam of the door, carrying you bridal style all the way through the apartment until he places you on the bed. You watch as George steps through the doors, looking at them both eyeing you hungrily with their cocks still out and you have to bite your lip, so overwhelmingly aroused and untouched that it’s near painful.

George steps forward first, crawling up your body on the bed until he leads you into a surprisingly passionate kiss. Whilst you’re kissing George, you feel Fred reach up your dress and pull down your underwear, the wet gusset feeling heavy, drenched in your arousal. Your hips flail trying to make contact as you spread your legs, hearing Fred curse at the sight in front of him.

George pulls away and gives you a little smirk before he begins to kiss down your body, stopping to feast on your heaving chest before he carries on further and further downwards until his lips ghost over your mound.

The second his tongue laps as your heated, wet flesh you cry out, back arching in pleasure. You look down and see his eyes watching you as he feasts on your cunt, lips and tongue already working you perfectly as he sucks and slurps at your clit.

Fred appears next to you and holds out his cock for you to take back into your mouth, the angle a little awkward but your make do. It’s so sinfully dirty having one twin feasting on your cunt whilst you suck off the other one and you can’t help but feel your climax building already, so worked up.

“I don’t think so Angel,” George says, pulling away from your weeping cunt, hips undulating desperately as your climax fades. “When you cum it’s going to be on our cocks.”

Both twins pull away from you as they quickly throw off the rest of their clothes and you sit up on the bed, tits exposed in your ripped dressed waiting for them.

George gets to you first, pulling you in for a scorching kiss as his hands wander, gathering the material of your dress in his fists. It’s quick and oh so arousing when he suddenly reaches out and manhandles you, flipping you over until you’re on your front, hips high in the air for him. He pushes up the material of your dress, completely exposing you to their gaze and you bite your lip once again when you hear their breathy moans, curses and playful banter, talking about your pretty little wet cunt.

George’s cock slips between your wet lips with ease, your gasps only fuelling his desire to get inside you. The second he slips inside you cry out in ecstasy, finally feeling full just like you needed. He’s rough and sets a brutal pace almost instantly, both of you keyed up enough to take it.

“You like that Angel? You like when I���m rough with you?” His deep voice says from behind you, making your clench around him. “Mmm yeah you do, dirty girl.”

Fred slips beside you on the bed and captures your lips into a blistering kiss, his big hands squeezing at your bouncing tits, thumbs stroking over your hard nipples. You cry out about into Fred’s mouth as George shifts and gets even deeper.

“Fuuuuck that’s it baby, use me just like that, fuck yourself on me,” he cries out when you begin to meet his hard thrusts, arching your back further.

It’s dirty and messy, the feel of their hands on you, Fred’s on your tits and George’s gripping your hips tight as he controls your movements. You can feel him start to lose his tempo, thrusts getting sloppy and harder until he’s fucking you with force, no doubt watching as your ass jiggles for him.

“Fuck gonna make me cum Angel, oh fuck!” He cries out as you clench him again, making your pussy even tighter around his sensitive cock.

You reach out for Fred’s spare hand as George starts to cum, hips slamming into yours as your moans mix with George’s and echo through the bedroom. You feel like you can feel every single shot of cum filling you as George roars, his load shooting deep inside you as he continues sloppily thrusting in and out of you.

Fred gives you almost no time to recover when George pulls away breathless. He pulls you up, pulls you into a dangerously arousing kiss as he peels the useless fabric away from your frame, leaving you completely nude for him. He turns you around and lays you on the bed before slipping inside your open legs, grabbing them and throwing them over his shoulders.

You’re already oversensitive pussy burns in the most delicious way as you feel the weight of his impossibly hard cock hitting your clit. You cry out, reaching for your breasts as he devilishly taps his cock on your clit, rubbing and giving you the most delicious friction just like you need. He slips his cock inside you and you scream out, feeling him deep inside you, deeper than George had been, your body so sensitive and needy for an orgasm. He leans forward and puts his hands either side of your head, contorting you exactly as he wants you, leans down to give you a single kiss and a smirk before he draws his hips back and slams back inside you. Your whole body rocks with the movement, his pace already fast and brutal as he fucks into you for all he’s worth. It’s nasty and dirty, the mix of his brutal thrusts and teasing smirk and you claw at his back as you cry out. He curses and groans with each thrust as your pussy grips him, climax building deep in your belly.

“Fred, fuck!” You cry out, his cock staying deep inside you as he gives you short, hard thrusts, your clit rubbing deliciously on his pubic bone.

“That’s it sweetheart, fuck you’re so tight, cum for me baby, cum on me.”

Your orgasm hits you out of nowhere, his voice so arousing, his words so demanding that your body submits to him instantly. You can’t stop moaning as he continues to fuck you through your orgasm, his own rapidly approaching. His arms bulge under his own weight, a delicious sight as you canter your hips to meet his thrusts, watching as his eyes close, his face scrunching up.

“Freddie cum for me, cum Freddie!”

It’s a shock when his blistering hot cum suddenly shoots out and hits your chest, your tits covered right across to your neck and your chin. He pants, slipping back into his knees as he looks at you, so perfectly defiled and covered in his cum.

“You’re bloody perfect,” he says breathlessly with a slight laugh, the sensations overwhelming him as he looks at you. When you take a single finger and trace it across your breast, scooping up a little bit of his cum before bringing it up to your lips to suck on he looks at you in amazement, mouth contorting into a little ‘o’ shape.

“Dirty girl,” George says, making you turn in his direction, so consumed by Fred that you’d not even considered where he’d gone. He runs a warm washcloth over you, cleaning up his and his twins mess as you smile at him tiredly. “You did so well for us.”

You laze in between completely naked and free between the two equally naked bodies for a little while, your legs feeling like jelly as George strokes your hair and Fred holds you tightly.

“So did you steal us any Christmas cookies?”

“On the counter,” you say tiredly with a knowing smile.

It takes less than three seconds before both twins race out of bed and run straight towards the kitchen as you laugh at them, their very naked arses jiggling in the gentle lamp light.

[50calmadeuce]

Ch. 41: Court - Dorian Again Con't

Warning: Mention of miscarriage. Some chapters have sex.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.

The story and situation I am creating are a work of my imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.

I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, but I do hope it gives you happy thoughts.

These stories are my own, so please do not take them and use them for yourself without my permission. If you see them somewhere else, please let me know. :)

Dorian's attorney slowly approached the witness stand. "Dr. Stryker. You stated in your last statement that you and Dr. Seresin are married and the child she is currently carrying is yours."

"Yes," Dorian agreed.

Mr. Rowe walked over to his desk and grabbed a piece of paper. "I'd like to submit the marriage certificate of Dr. Stryker and Dr. Seresin."

Your eyes widened in surprise, and Dunby glanced at you. You shrugged and shook your head, equally astonished.

Mr. Rowe handed the marriage certificate to the judge, who examined it carefully before raising an eyebrow. "Mr. Rowe, this document claims that Dr. Seresin is married to Dr. Stryker, but this contradicts the testimony we’ve already heard. Do you have any explanation for this?"

Mr. Dunby stood up, visibly irritated. "Your Honor, this is clearly fraudulent. Dr. Seresin has already testified about her marriage to Lieutenant Jake Seresin. This document cannot be legitimate. I have right here the marriage certificate of Jake and Y/N Seresin."

The judge nodded as the bailiff walked over and grabbed the paper from Mr. Dunby and walked it over to the judge.

Dorian’s attorney remained calm. "Your Honor, we believe that this document will prove to be genuine and that it was obtained under legally binding circumstances."

The judge reviewed both marriage certificates, his expression growing more serious with each passing moment. "Mr. Rowe, I now have two conflicting marriage certificates in front of me. One for Dr. Y/N Seresin and Lieutenant Jake Seresin, and another for Dr. Y/N Seresin and Dr. Dorian Stryker. This is a serious matter, and we will need to resolve this discrepancy immediately."

Mr. Dunby stepped forward. "Your Honor, we request that the so-called marriage certificate between Dr. Stryker and Dr. Seresin be reviewed by a forensic document expert. It’s clear to me that Dr. Stryker is attempting to manipulate this court, and my client has already testified to the truth."

Dorian sat quietly, his eyes fixed on you, while his attorney tried to regain control of the situation. "Your Honor, we are confident that the authenticity of this document will hold up under scrutiny. Dr. Stryker and Dr. Seresin have a complicated history, and we ask that the court consider all the facts before passing judgment."

The judge leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. "Very well. I will order an immediate review of these documents. Until we have clarity on this issue, we will adjourn for the day. Court will reconvene tomorrow at 9 AM."

With that, he banged his gavel, and the tension in the room broke as people began to file out. You, still in shock, couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to get even more complicated.

You walked out of the courthouse with Mr. Dunby, Max and Chuck right behind.

Dunby stopped and looked at you. "Where the hell did he get a marriage certificate with your name on it?"

You shrugged. "I have no clue. I know I signed a lot of stuff during the first time we worked together and when we created the book."

Mr. Dunby rubbed his temples, clearly frustrated. "We’ll need to go over everything you signed back then. He might have slipped something in without you realizing."

Max stepped in. "If he forged your signature or tricked you into signing something, we’ll find out. Dorian's desperate, and he's trying to pull every trick in the book."

Chuck chimed in, his voice steady. "We’ll get to the bottom of this, Doc. No way he can get away with something like this."

You nodded, feeling a mix of frustration and disbelief. "I just don’t understand how he managed to pull this off. I mean, I’ve only ever been married to Jake."

Dunby sighed, his expression growing more determined. "We’ll look into every document tied to that time. If he slipped something into the paperwork, we'll catch it. You’re only married to Jake, and we'll prove that in court." He pat your shoulder. "I'll stop by later and we'll go over some things."

"You might as well just come over for dinner. I know how much you enjoy Chuck's cooking." You took a deep breath, grateful for the support from all of them. "Thanks, all of you. I’m just ready to put this nightmare behind me."

Max added, "And we will. One step at a time."

Dunby looked at you. "Have you spoken to Jake lately?"

You shook your head. "No and I have no clue where he is or what he's doing. Welcome to being married to a fighter pilot."

Dunby reached out and placed his hand on your shoulder. "It's okay. We may not need him, but if you talk to him, give him my information."

You nodded. "I will."

"Now. Go and get some rest. I'll see you later."

As you nodded and walked away from the courthouse, you felt the weight of everything that had happened so far. The day had been overwhelming, but you knew that rest was necessary if you were going to continue fighting tomorrow.

Later that evening, Dunby stopped by and the two of you sat on the couch. He pulled some papers out of his brief case and set them down in front of you.

"Do you recognize these?"

You looked at one that said Wyoming Marriage Certificate. It had your signature along with Dorian's.

You shook your head. "No. I don't."

You looked at the date. "This apparently was done while I was working on the grant then."

"And what about this one?" he asked as he set another marriage certificate in front of her. This one said Texas Marriage certificate.

"Yeah! I had to sign that after the officiant married Jake and I."

Dunby nodded, his brow furrowed in thought as he studied both documents. "The Texas certificate is legitimate, no doubt about that. But this Wyoming one… it looks convincing, but if you don't remember signing it, something's not right."

You stared at the Wyoming certificate, feeling a mix of confusion and anger. "I never married Dorian. I would remember something like that."

Dunby leaned back, tapping his fingers on the arm of the couch. "I believe you. But we’ll need to prove that this Wyoming certificate was forged or obtained under false pretenses. The timing, with you working on the grant, could have been when he slipped this in without your knowledge."

You sighed, rubbing your temples. "It makes sense, I signed so many things back then. I didn’t read every little thing, and I trusted him professionally."

"We’ll dig deeper," Dunby assured you.

Your cellphone rang and you looked to see who it was. It was Jake!

You answered and placed him on speaker phone.

"Hey, babe!" you answered excitedly. "You're on speaker phone and you called at the perfect time. Mr. Dunby wants to talk to you.

"Hey, darlin'. That's fine."

You held the phone out towards Mr. Dunby.

"Hello, Lieutenant Seresin," he said.

"Mr. Dunby. How is the case going?" Jake asked curiously.

"Well, that's what I want to talk about. I know you and Y/N didn't really talk much for four years, but Dr. Stryker brought up a marriage certificate between him and Y/N while she was in Wyoming."

Jake sighed and you could tell he was upset. "Is it legit?"

"It looks like it, but we also have your marriage certificate from Texas."

"Then you should be fine."

"Yes and I hate to ask this, but you didn't file for a divorce while separated, did you?"

"No. I wouldn't do that. I may have been a shitty husband for four years, but I would've talked to Y/N if I wanted that."

Mr. Dunby nodded, clearly relieved. "That’s good to hear, Jake. We just needed to be sure. This whole situation with Dr. Stryker is complicated enough, and the last thing we need is any confusion about your marriage."

Jake's jaw tightened, clearly frustrated. "I can't believe this guy is pulling this kind of stunt. How did he even manage to get her signature?"

"That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Y/N doesn’t remember signing anything like that. It might have been slipped in with other documents when they were working together," Dunby explained.

Jake sighed.

"Lieutenant. Is there any way you could come to the hearing? Even if it's virtual?"

"I can talk to my superior and let you know."

"That would be great. I'll let you talk to Y/N now." Mr. Dunby stood up and went to the kitchen.

You took the phone off of speaker and placed it to your ear. "Ok. It's just me now."

"How are you holding up, Y/N?"

You sighed. "As best as I can."

Jake's voice softened. "I wish I could be there with you. This whole thing sounds like a mess."

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you. "It is. I never expected Dorian to pull something like this, especially not with a fake marriage certificate. It's exhausting."

"I know," Jake replied, his tone filled with concern. "But you’re strong, and we’ll figure it out. I hate that I can’t be there right now, but you’re not alone in this."

"Thanks," you whispered. "It helps to hear you say that. I just want all of this to be over."

"I meant what I said, Y/N. I may have been a douche of a husband for four years, but if I did want a divorce, I would've talked to you in person."

"I know, Jake," you acknowledged.

"I don't know how I got so lucky to have someone like you in my life."

You smiled. "You're not the only lucky one, Jake," you said softly.

"I love you, Y/N. I'm going to go talk to Maverick and see what I can do to help with this trial," he said.

"I love you, too. Let me know what you find out."

"I will. Talk to you later."

With that, he hung up his phone.

Tags: @buckysteveloki-me @bellyliveslife @tgmreader @callsign-barbelle @86laura11 @dizzybee03 @kmc1989 @guacam011y @nerdgirljen @hookslove1592 @dempy @djs8891 @smoothdogsgirl @devil-angel-winchester

[kimlerde]

Booking market

In the fast-paced world of online gaming and sports betting, transparency and trust are paramount. Enter BookieComplain.com, your one-stop solution for navigating the often murky waters of bookmaker, casino, and sportsbook experiences. With an extensive database of verified complaints and user reviews, we empower players and bettors to make informed decisions. Whether you're facing issues with a specific bookmaker like 1xbet or need to voice your concerns about a casino, our platform provides the necessary resources to resolve your grievances. Join a growing community dedicated to ensuring fair play and accountability in the betting industry. 

Bookmaker Complaints

When it comes to online gambling, players often encounter various issues leading to bookmaker complaints. These complaints can range from delayed withdrawals, account verification processes, to discrepancies in odds and betting limits. Understanding how to navigate these challenges is essential for a seamless betting experience.

Bookmaker complaints can significantly impact a user's experience and trust in the platform. Many players seek resolutions, but the effectiveness of the casino's customer service varies widely. Prompt and fair handling of complaints is crucial for maintaining player loyalty.

By addressing common issues through the lens of bookmaker complaints, players can gain insight into the reputation of different sportsbooks. This understanding also aids in making informed decisions when choosing where to place their bets, ensuring they select a platform that prioritizes customer satisfaction and trust.

Casino Complaints

When it comes to online gambling, players often encounter various issues, leading to numerous casino complaints. These grievances can range from delayed payouts to unfair bonus terms, creating frustration and distrust among players. Understanding common complaints can help players make informed decisions when choosing where to wager their money.

Moreover, regulatory compliance is vital. Casinos operating under unclear or unreliable licenses can lead to a host of problems, including unfair practices and difficulty in resolving complaints. Therefore, players should always verify a casino's licensing and regulation status.

Technology and security breaches can be alarming, leading to complaints about compromised personal information or financial data. Ensuring that a casino employs the latest encryption methods to protect user data adds another layer of safety for players.

Sportbook Complaints

When it comes to online betting, sportsbook complaints form a significant part of the conversations among users. These complaints can vary widely, ranging from unreliable payment processes to poor customer service. Many bettors, especially newcomers, find themselves entangled in frustrating situations due to these issues.

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1xbet Complaints

When it comes to online betting, 1xbet has garnered significant attention, both positive and negative. Many users have reported various issues leading to a surge in 1xbet complaints. Some of the most common grievances include delayed withdrawals and disputes regarding account verification processes.

Additionally, players have voiced concerns over the transparency of the platform, often citing problems with the clarity of terms and conditions tied to promotions and bonuses. This lack of transparency can be particularly frustrating for users, as misunderstandings often lead to issues that require further debate.

While 1xbet offers a range of betting options, it is clear that addressing these ongoing bookmaker complaints is crucial for enhancing user satisfaction. Consistently negative feedback regarding handling disputes and customer interactions suggests the need for improvements in communication and service delivery.

[joefangs]

There are so many discrepancies if we compare season 1 Louis' memories and season 2 recollections of his. He made Lestat look almost bad, devilish in season 1, blamed everything on him, and stayed clean with Claudia. In season 2, we can finally see the issues with his memories of Lestat. Even in season 1 Louis changed his words in front of Daniel. In S2 it kind of proved that Louis' collections were muddled. He changed his memories way too many times. At last he admitted to go on with Lestat's version. I mean, I know and I can confirm that Lestat has always been good as far as the definition of "a good vampire" can go, and all the things Louis said about him are not all true.

If I go according to the books, Interview with the vampire and The Vampire Lestat are two different books with different Lestats to be precise. TV Louis said that Lestat didn't hesitate to kill, but the book Lestat from the second book, said he made a grave mistake of making Claudia ( About who, he said that he loved his dark daughter, and he didn't want that fate for her. He regretted making a young fledgling because Marius warned him about his mistake of creating Armand that young) and other than that he vowed to never kill any innocents. He only killed the damned ones, and the ones who were about to die. Also, got me thinking, how can he kill innocent people, when he took care of his family in France, who were all human. Even his mother opposed his actions, but Lestat didn't listen. So, how can a century old vampire, who still cares about his human family, gives them financial support all along, can kill mercilessly. It just didn't add to my wits. Most important of all, he loved Louis, more than Nicki even and admitted it over and over again. He longed to be with Louis, not because he always felt lonely, but because he loved Louis the most, so much that he rejected Armand in the book.

Louis' recollections of Lestat in season 1 is filled with somewhat hatred, because at that moment he thought Armand was his saviour. In S2, he started to have some clarity, mostly thanks to Daniel, and finally we know what happened.

In the book, Lestat was there at the Theatre the Vampire, he did accuse Claudia for his attempted murder, but let me tell you, he wasn't even in his right mind at that time. Even so, at that time he didn't accuse his Louis, and looked for his love, asked Armand, who (the B***h he is) lied to him about Louis' whereabouts. Lestat was somehow tricked by Armand, his thinking didn't work, as he mentioned that everything went in a trance, and after he accused Claudia, he was taken away forcibly, and he screamed Louis, Louis but with no avail, and they again fed him blood, and he forgot everything. I think Armand used magic, or he fed something to Lestat so he doesn't protest. After all of these, Lestat looked for Louis, and asked Armand to help him, and that BHole said he will not.

So, what I can surmise is, whatever you watched in S1, do not entirely believe it. This is mostly because, Lestat wasn't the one who lost his mind and hurt his Louis entirely. Louis was the pioneer of trouble in their home. He wasn't satisfied, he didn't accept the dark gift completely, and despised Lestat for that. That physical fight between them you can see, Lestat was hurt the most, both physically and mentally. And now I understand, why Louis kept seeing Dreamstat over and over again. Because, his guilt made him conjure Lestat everytime he thought he wanted a "home" with Armand.

Finally, the last episode depicted almost what The Vampire Lestat book has. They didn't show it, but Louis came back to Lestat, which he said was 'you came back to me'. Here, Lestat talks about a world tour, which is his rock concert in San Francisco. Here, Louis asks him to take him, and Lestat complies ecstatically. Also, they hugged compassiontely after meeting each other, just as they showed in the series. However, TV version displayed it as a part of Interview with the Vampire book, which is in reality from the book The Vampire Lestat.

[gacha-incels]

"Feminists Deserve to Be Beaten": Jinju Convenience Store Assault Recognized as 'Misogynistic Crime' by Court

published Oct 15th

this article is originally in Korean and has been mtl and edited into English here. it’s not going to be 1:1 but the basic info should be there, if you see any discrepancies though lmk and I’ll edit it asap. thanks everyone for your continued help and understanding.

On October 15th, the appellate court ruled that the assault of a female convenience store worker in Jinju was motivated by "unfounded hatred against women." The court's decision overturned the initial ruling, which did not recognize misogyny as a motive, marking the first time in South Korea that misogyny was acknowledged as a valid and condemnable motive in a crime.

The Changwon District Court's Criminal Division 1, led by Chief Judge Lee Joo-yeon, upheld the three-year prison sentence for a man in his 20s, referred to as Mr. A, who was charged with special injury, property damage, and interference with business. The court rejected appeals from both the prosecution and the defendant.

In November of last year, Mr. A assaulted a female worker, Ms. B, at a convenience store in Jinju, and also attacked a man in his 50s, Mr. C, who tried to intervene. The investigation revealed that Mr. A targeted Ms. B because she had short hair, saying, "You're a feminist, so you deserve to be beaten." As a result of the assault, Ms. B permanently lost hearing in her left ear and now requires a hearing aid for life. Mr. C, who suffered a bone fracture and other injuries requiring three weeks of recovery, later lost his job and faced financial difficulties, ultimately being recognized as a meritorious person by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

In April, the first trial court had acknowledged that Mr. A was suffering from bipolar disorder and was possibly in a state of diminished capacity during the incident, based on evaluations from the National Forensic Hospital and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's forensic division. The court sentenced him to three years in prison, considering his misogynistic remarks as evidence of his mental state but not as a motive for the crime.

However, the appellate court disagreed, stating, "Mr. A's crime was driven by unfounded hatred and prejudice against women, making it a condemnable motive. His continued false claim that Ms. B attacked him first raises doubts about his remorse." The court did acknowledge some shortcomings in the original ruling, such as the characterization of Mr. A's bizarre act of putting Ms. B's phone in a microwave as evidence of his diminished capacity, but found that the prosecution had not sufficiently disproven his mental state.

The victim's side expressed disappointment that the sentence remained the same despite recognizing Mr. A's diminished capacity. However, they emphasized the social significance of this being the first legal precedent in South Korea to classify misogyny as a criminal motive. Activist "Solidarity D," who supports sexual violence victims, stated, "This ruling is the first to recognize misogyny as a motive worthy of condemnation. In the past, defendants would use misogyny to argue for diminished responsibility, but now it can be considered a motive that warrants harsher punishment."

Attorney Lee Kyung-ha, representing Ms. B, said, "While it's regrettable that the sentence remained unchanged, the recognition that the defendant's misogynistic behavior, including his statement 'feminist women deserve to be beaten,' constituted a condemnable motive is significant. This sets a precedent that may deter defendants from using misogyny as a basis for claims of diminished responsibility in the future."

[sunshinesmebdy]

Your Week Ahead: A Business and Finance Astrology Guide (June 9th — 15th, 2024)

June 9:

Mars enters Taurus: Mars, the planet of action and drive, moves into Taurus, an earth sign. This shift encourages practicality, determination, and a focus on material stability. It’s an excellent time for steady progress in business ventures and financial matters.

Sun in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces: The Sun (representing vitality) forms a challenging square aspect with Saturn (representing structure and responsibility). This may bring obstacles or limitations, especially related to communication, contracts, or travel. Patience and adaptability are key.

Moon enters Leo: The Moon in Leo enhances creativity, self-expression, and confidence. Use this energy to showcase your unique talents and connect with others.

June 10:

Moon in Leo sextile Mercury in Gemini: A harmonious aspect between the Moon and Mercury fosters clear thinking, effective communication, and networking. It’s an ideal time for business meetings or brainstorming sessions.

Moon in Leo trine North Node in Aries: The alignment with the North Node (associated with destiny and growth) encourages bold actions and stepping out of your comfort zone. Trust your instincts and take calculated risks.

June 11:

Moon in Leo sextile Mercury in Gemini (again): Reinforcing the theme of communication, this aspect supports negotiations, marketing, and social interactions.

Mars in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius: A powerful but potentially intense aspect. Mars square Pluto can trigger power struggles or transformational shifts. Use this energy wisely to address any business challenges or conflicts.

June 12:

Mercury in Gemini square Saturn in Pisces (again): Another encounter between Mercury and Saturn, emphasizing the need for precision and patience. Be thorough in your business dealings and avoid rushing decisions.

Moon enters Virgo: The Moon in Virgo promotes practical organization, attention to detail, and efficiency. A great time for analyzing financial data or refining business processes.

June 13:

Moon in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces: Balancing practicality with intuition, this aspect may highlight any discrepancies between your goals and current reality. Adjust your strategies accordingly.

June 14:

Sun in Gemini conjunct Mercury in Gemini: A powerful alignment for communication, learning, and networking. Share your ideas, collaborate, and stay adaptable.

Moon enters Libra: The Moon in Libra encourages diplomacy, fairness, and partnerships. Seek harmony in business relationships.

June 15:

Moon in Libra trine Jupiter in Gemini: A positive aspect for expansion, growth, and optimism. Business ventures may flourish, and networking efforts pay off.

[biracy]

Can you elaborate on the idea that rape, abuse, etc mostly occur due to unfair, uneven power imbalances? I’m trying to understand this sort of thing in the context where there isn’t necessarily a power imbalance e.g. COCSA

COCSA (child-on-child sexual assault) can absolutely come from power imbalances; power imbalances between a child and someone else do not just come from age differences. Obviously adults have power over children, but other children can gain social power over them too: think about a bully who has a higher social standing over their victim. Think about families where one sibling is clearly favored over another, even if they are close in age. Think about power discrepancies between white and nonwhite children, rich and poor children, abled and disabled children. I am not a victim of CSA or COCSA and am not trying to speak over anyone, but I was repeatedly socially victimized by other children because of my (then undiagnosed) social disability. I was someone other children felt they had power over. I think there are far more assertions of power than people think there are, even in very small, complex, intersectional ways. It's not clean-cut at all. I think people tend to have a very "oppressed vs oppressor" idea of power (to use the example here, children vs adults), which in turn can promote the idea that power imbalances cannot exist within the "oppressed" group (in this case, children), even though they most certainly can. Assault is inherently defined by an imbalance of power; even people who define assault as, idk, "the uncontrollable urges of an ontologically sick mind" seem to understand this. To abuse someone is to inherently exert power over them, whether it be physical, social, financial, structural, political, whatever, even if the power held is relatively very small (like the power imbalances within social hierarchies among children). So to answer your question as succinctly as I can, abuse and assault inherently about power. A person who abuses or assaults another has, whether knowingly or not, exerted some kind of power over them, which can be as simple as wielding a weapon or as complex as the intersections between wealth, gender, race, and fame. Abuse is defined by power. Hope this cleared things up for you! This means a lot to me and I try to be as eloquent yet concise as possible when I talk about it

[simplyghosting]

If you’re Christian why would you not reblog donation posts? Genuine question.

Hi Anon! That's a good question! Thank you for asking!

*crack knuckles* Get ready for a long post.

It's not that I don't reblog any donation posts at all, but only from people I know well or accredited organizations. Not from strangers, like my blog description says.

In person I don't have as much of an issue giving to a stranger, but the issue with a lot of donation posts I see online is that a lot of them have red flags as being scams.

I've been on this site for years and I get a LOT of donation requests in my inbox (despite not being a popular blog) and I suspect recently a lot of people have gotten a lot of requests as well because they tend to rise in times of unrest (such as the current war in Gaza). I genuinely believe that most, if not all, of them are from scammers.

As for the red flags I've seen from these requests I've gotten from strangers, I'll focus on the ones I've seen from GoFundMe for now.

Repeated images/images that don't make sense with the explanation given

Pages that raised their donation goal with no explanation.

Donation goals with no explanation for the amount requested

Similar sets of emojis and writing style from all of them

Pages being run from countries unrelated to the person asking for donations with no explanation of a middleman/discrepancy

AI art/photos

If you're interested, good reddit threads to look at are r/scams and some threads for specific scam themes, which is where I found some good discussions about it

One redditor left a good note on part of how GoFundMe functions that people can use as more ways to look for red flags

"But Ghostie," You might ask. "Isn't it better just to give anyway just in case it isn't a scam? People should give recklessly."

Which is a very compassionate thing to say! If it was a risk of a single individual lying I would say then that is between you and God for the decision you make (though be careful of identity theft and your bank info, too) however there is a link between cyberscams and the human trafficking industry.

Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming

INTERPOL issues global warning on human trafficking-fueled fraud

Bluntly put: scams you encounter could very well be funding human trafficking.

Links on my blog to other tumblr scam discussion threads that touch on these topics (that also have links to charities for Gaza) :

Thread One

Thread Two

Scammers prey on emotions and people's goodwill. Emotionally charged words about sympathetic issues. Things that tug at and rend the heart. Pets. Children. Illness. Devastating loss. People naturally react to these things. If you fall for a scam, it doesn't make you a bad person, some of them are really good at lying, but do your best to be wise, ask questions, and think through it first.

Corinthians 9:7 says

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

While I think this verse applies to more than just financial giving, finances are definitely applied. Christians are to use discernment, be cheerful, not just give under guilt, compulsion, or intense emotion, though I won't say God doesn't use the latter conditions for good. When giving, do some research and, if you're a Christian, above all, pray about it. Be well and God bless.

[parabiota]

(No need to respond) the validation I admittedly feel seeing your post cannot be understated. I went through the same realizations because of her ai gen pfp where she said she was seeing if she could draw on her tablet again and someone asked for a timelapse and she wouldn't do it. Then i realized she was posting art she made using stock images (not really a crime) but claiming she drew them for wallpapers and inevitably I couldn't find any proof of her degree. It was maddening.

I couldn't find anyone else making these same discoveries so I wasn't sure if I was just going crazy over it. I think your post isn't really *that* harmful especislly if shes profiting off the lies. I dont even really care about the ai art on its own. I care about the way it compounds onto other discrepencies that accumulate into profit and is ultimately seeming to be built on lies. My only hope is she isn't lying about her financial situation. And she really does just need the money.

ultimately i believe you gave plenty of grace where grace could b given. And to me at lesst, i feel a little less crazy knowing I was seeing something fishy.

Arthur (the show) was right. Sometimes people can in fact just come on the internet and lie.

YEAH honestly Idgaf about any of this if she was telling the truth — if she was like ‘this is my ai generated art’ or ‘I used to study physics but I dropped out’ I would not care. Like that’s fine, none of those are inherently bad statements — the ai one is a bit tasteless but I’d be willing to accept it as just a difference in opinion. If she was honest while making donation posts, I wouldn’t have even raised an eyebrow. I probably would’ve tossed her a few dollars.

But noooo it has to be ‘this is my incredible art that I created’ and ‘I’m an astrophysicist with 2 phds’ like both of those statements are so utterly ridiculous. & it’s not like these lies have started recently — it’s been like 2 yrs of ai art and 8 years of claiming to be an astrophysicist. She started in 2015, when she was a freshman in college, and if my weird investigative journalism is right and she did drop out in 2017, then she has been lying for 6 years straight while not even being enrolled in a uni. I’m a bio student in my 3rd year and I feel weird about calling myself a biologist because I’m still a *student*.

The point I was trying to make w that post was ‘if she has been lying for 8 (or 6 if we’re being nice) years about X, and 2 years about Y, then she might be lying about Z too.’ I don’t really want to hurt her but girl how long do you expect this to go on lol. Genuinely.

I’ve said it before but I personally think people who are considering to send her a tenner should donate it to like. Palestinian relief organizations or one of the many actual homeless people who use this site. But like idk it’s your money you can do whatever you want with it !

[mariacallous]

Some Fortune 500 companies have begun testing software that can spot a deepfake of a real person in a live video call, following a spate of scams involving fraudulent job seekers who take a signing bonus and run.

The detection technology comes courtesy of GetReal Labs, a new company founded by Hany Farid, a UC-Berkeley professor and renowned authority on deepfakes and image and video manipulation.

GetReal Labs has developed a suite of tools for spotting images, audio, and video that are generated or manipulated either with artificial intelligence or manual methods. The company’s software can analyze the face in a video call and spot clues that may indicate it has been artificially generated and swapped onto the body of a real person.

“These aren’t hypothetical attacks, we’ve been hearing about it more and more,” Farid says. “In some cases, it seems they're trying to get intellectual property, infiltrating the company. In other cases, it seems purely financial, they just take the signing bonus.”

The FBI issued a warning in 2022 about deepfake job hunters who assume a real person’s identity during video calls. UK-based design and engineering firm Arup lost $25 million to a deepfake scammer posing as the company’s CFO. Romance scammers have also adopted the technology, swindling unsuspecting victims out of their savings.

Impersonating a real person on a live video feed is just one example of the kind of reality-melting trickery now possible thanks to AI. Large language models can convincingly mimic a real person in online chat, while short videos can be generated by tools like OpenAI’s Sora. Impressive AI advances in recent years have made deepfakery more convincing and more accessible. Free software makes it easy to hone deepfakery skills, and easily accessible AI tools can turn text prompts into realistic-looking photographs and videos.

But impersonating a person in a live video is a relatively new frontier. Creating this type of a deepfake typically involves using a mix of machine learning and face-tracking algorithms to seamlessly stitch a fake face onto a real one, allowing an interloper to control what an illicit likeness appears to say and do on screen.

Farid gave WIRED a demo of GetReal Labs’ technology. When shown a photograph of a corporate boardroom, the software analyzes the metadata associated with the image for signs that it has been modified. Several major AI companies including OpenAI, Google, and Meta now add digital signatures to AI-generated images, providing a solid way to confirm their inauthenticity. However, not all tools provide such stamps, and open source image generators can be configured not to. Metadata can also be easily manipulated.

GetReal Labs also uses several AI models, trained to distinguish between real and fake images and video, to flag likely forgeries. Other tools, a mix of AI and traditional forensics, help a user scrutinize an image for visual and physical discrepancies, for example highlighting shadows that point in different directions despite having the same light source, or that do not appear to match the object that cast them.

Lines drawn on different objects shown in perspective will also reveal if they converge on a common vanishing point, as would be the case in a real image.

Other startups that promise to flag deepfakes rely heavily on AI, but Farid says manual forensic analysis will also be crucial to flagging media manipulation. “Anybody who tells you that the solution to this problem is to just train an AI model is either a fool or a liar,” he says.

The need for a reality check extends beyond Fortune 500 firms. Deepfakes and manipulated media are already a major problem in the world of politics, an area Farid hopes his company’s technology could do real good. The WIRED Elections Project is tracking deepfakes used to boost or trash political candidates in elections in India, Indonesia, South Africa, and elsewhere. In the United States, a fake Joe Biden robocall was deployed last January in an effort to dissuade people from turning out to vote in the New Hampshire Presidential primary. Election-related “cheapfake” videos, edited in misleading ways, have gone viral of late, while a Russian disinformation unit has promoted an AI-manipulated clip disparaging Joe Biden.

Vincent Conitzer, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and coauthor of the book Moral AI, expects AI fakery to become more pervasive and more pernicious. That means, he says, there will be growing demand for tools designed to counter them.

“It is an arms race,” Conitzer says. “Even if you have something that right now is very effective at catching deepfakes, there's no guarantee that it will be effective at catching the next generation. A successful detector might even be used to train the next generation of deepfakes to evade that detector.”

GetReal Labs agrees it will be a constant battle to keep up with deepfakery. Ted Schlein, a cofounder of GetReal Labs and a veteran of the computer security industry, says it may not be long before everyone is confronted with some form of deepfake deception, as cybercrooks become more conversant with the technology and dream up ingenious new scams. He adds that manipulated media is a top topic of concern for many chief security officers. “Disinformation is the new malware,” Schlein says.

With significant potential to poison political discourse, Farid notes that media manipulation can be considered a more challenging problem. “I can reset my computer or buy a new one,” he says. “But the poisoning of the human mind is an existential threat to our democracy.”

[barryogg]

On Democracy

A recent post made me think about finally writing an effortpoast from a series that's been bouncing around my head for years.

What does it mean to Believe in Democracy? Because, uh, I don't think I do.

If I would, I think it would mean something like this: I am a citizen, and I have sort of a partial share of the country. I am able to identify my interests and causes that are important to me, and I want to redirect my share of governance towards those interests and causes. Constant direct voting is cumbersome and costly. (Is it? The Swiss manage it. We may get to it later.) So I look for reasonably like-minded people to band with in a party, and get representatives.

As in, people who represent me. As in, people who are my subjects. Who are supposed to defer to us. And if they don't represent my interests and causes I owe them jack shit.

It seems that the median person has this relation inverted almost exactly. Instead of treating politicians like they're public's servants, they treat them like celebrities! Like movie stars, Taylor Swift (I'd say "music stars" here, but she's the last remaining western one) or top sportsmen. They think that the public has an obligation to the political class, that the public owes them to vote in certain ways that'll give certain politicians more power.

Politicians who act like they're kowtowing to the public's most voiced demands are called "populists", and I'm led to believe that it's a bad thing that we're supposed to minimize.

So I don't know what is it that you people believe, but it sure doesn't look like what I would call "democracy".

Step 2: ??? Step 3: Policy!

The usual way people try to square this circle is pointing that nobody can be a completely informed voter. Economy is fractally complicated, therefore you can't intuit your economic interests! Biology if fractally complicated, therefor you can't know what's good for your health! Etc.

The thing is, how are politicians supposed to be better at that than genpop? By education, they're primarily lawyers, i.e. people who operate in the symbolic space to get what they want from a bureaucratic system, and not in any object-level knowledge domain. Map, not territory. The typical answer to that is that the domain knowledge is supposed to come from either "experts" or policy wonks.

But even if we assume: that the median voter cannot be informed about their best interest, that the experts interfacing with politicians operate not with their immediate interests in mind, but with the goal of allowing the politicians to make the best decisions (ahahaha), and that the politicians listen to the wonks and experts to the best of their ability (ohohoho).

Even if we assume all that, how are the voters (who we've established as not informed) are supposed to know which politicians to trust? At which point of the process the not-knowledge is supposed to be transmuted into knowledge and expertise?

If only the emperor knew!

But sometimes there are discrepancies large enough that they can't be explained away by parts of the public not knowing what's good for them. Things like banks not being allowed to fail in wake of a financial crisis, or Disney getting another copyright extension. In that case, it's because democracy has been corrupted, you see. It cannot be that a system may be suitable for governing 300 thousand people (Iceland, which managed to basically expel the banks after the crisis, or so I'm told) but less so for governing 300 million people. Not, the system is flawless, definitionally flawless! The flaws mean we've strayed from true democracy, towards corrupted one!

And then sometimes you get a mix of the two, when the corruption exists because some voters (who don't know what's good for them) have been deceived by the Evil party and are voting against their interests. They cannot possibly have different fundamental irreducible values which are split 40+%/40+% in the population because obviously my values are the only correct ones, and true democracy would mean tiling the country with my values.

(Dropping the snark for a moment and being explicit: if you believe something that's even passably familiar to the above paragraph, and if you want to centralize the bureaucracy e.g. by removing the US senate, you don't actually value democracy. Never have, never will, and it would do us all some good if you dropped the façade.)

...except for all the others that have been tried

Surprise! Despite all that, I'm still glad that I'm living in (some approximation of) democracy. This is an inversion from my teenage edgelord years, where I believed in the democracy but nonetheless wanted to supplant it with something more efficient. I like it now because there's a huge upside: peaceful transfer of power. But as the (social media-induced? that's the leading hypothesis, right?) gap between values widens, that center may not hold in the future.

So what do I want? These are all a bit pie-in-the-sky, but:

I want people who are softly authoritarian to be honest with themselves (obviously won't happen because they have a tremendous amount of energy invested in not thinking about themselves as authoritarians, but sill, putting this out there)

I want people to turn off fandom brain when thinking about politics. Have a healthy dose of disdain for politicians on your "team".

Decentralization! Direct representation! Switzerland has direct voting about tons of stuff, and it works! Cantons' population ranges from 1.5 million to 16 thousand, so they can vote on things that matter to them without intermediate assholes inserting themselves into the situation.

Fuck first-past-the-post! Let's do ranked voting! Down with thresholds, let's have 50 parties in each parliament! "But that would severely disrupt the process of passing new laws and regulations!" Precisely.

Sortition! Because why the hell not, the current system of career politics is an industrial-strength asshole filter, random people would genuinely improve the situation.

If I were good at writing essays, there would be a sentence here that ties everything together. But I'm not.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Daughter of the Rain and Snow

Concept: Around ten years after the events of Crooked Kingdom, 25-year-old Captain Inej Ghafa frees Maya Olsen from a pleasure house in Ketterdam. Maya is looking for revenge against the man who put her in her position, a man who she knows nothing about except his name: Kaz Brekker.

Tags: @wraith--2 @lunarthecorvus @just2bubbly @real-fragments7 @ethereal-maia @cartoon-clifford @origami-butterfly

Content Warnings: in more general terms I want to remind people to be aware of the nature of Kaz and Inej's experiences and relationship since even if I'm not directly addressing these things they tend to be implicit in any writing about them, but specifically to this chapter there's ptsd references, discussion about drowning, threats, violence, and there isn’t any child death taking place but it is talked about so I wanted to mention that just to make sure I’m being clear

Chapter 15 - Kaz

“What are the chances of being arrested if I murder a member of the Merchant Council in broad daylight?” Kaz snarled as he limped into the Crow Club.

He was finally going to give Ethan this Saints-forsaken financial record. Part of him was hoping the boy was guilty after all, so he’d have an excuse to kill someone. Annika looked up from her table and snorted a short laugh.

“For anyone else pretty high. For you? Depends on the Council member,”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning it depends on whether Jesper would shoot you before the Stadwatch got there,”

“Like Jesper could take me,”

She laughed again. Kaz didn’t have time for that. He flung two bags of coins into her lap and marched on past as he said:

“One for you. One for Rotty. Keep the tables busy,”

Annika’s mock salute was the last thing he saw from the corner of his eye as he headed straight for the back room.

Ethan sat, alone, behind his desk, head half buried in the books until Kaz hit his cane against the doorframe to summon some attention. Ethan flinched and threw his head up, and upon seeing Kaz found himself somewhere between relieved and even more anxious. He closed the book in front of him with slightly trembling fingers.

“Kaz, you - I don’t-”

Kaz dropped the record into front of Ethan, open on the Olsen transaction. He took in Ethan’s twitchy manner and dishevelled appearance with a slow study if the boy, who was now leaning over and blinking several times to read the words.

“When did you last sleep?”

“Wh- I don’t- I was waiting for you,”

Ghezen, the kid hadn’t left the room since Kaz told him he’d be back with the ledger.

“It’s been 30 hours,”

“You said you didn’t know how long you’d be,”

“Well you’re useless to me like this. Go back to the Slat and get some sleep, we’ll talk about this tomorrow,”

Ethan left in a haze and Kaz shook his head as he took a chair and pulled the most recent books towards him. Something was telling him the last 2 days of adding were going to need redoing, and besides it gave him a good opportunity to read through the recent ledgers for any discrepancies. This wasn’t as good a distraction as talking to Ethan would have been, but it was something. Kaz thought of Inej pulling away from him in their little house, dark eyes burning like a fire half- hidden by the black silhouette of the moon. He flexed his fingers in his gloves.

“What was the alternative?”

“Me!”

She was right, in a way, he thought. What would their little piece of the world look like if he had taken the energy he gave to the Dregs and put it into them? A marriage that didn’t rely on letters left from the beyond, safety, security, maybe family. And where would that leave him? Following Inej around Ravka, replacing the fear of the ship with the fear of her falling from the swings? Watching her teach their children the high wire whilst he imagined them falling, saw their little bodies splayed across the concrete? Or would he still be left waiting for her ship to return, tucking the children in every night whilst they asked when their mother would come home and he had no answer to give them? Always passive, always outside, watching her life through a lens whilst he couldn’t find where he fit into it.

She would have her ship, and he would have his city.

Even now that had to be the way it was. He had watched her try to be part of his world for years and known she wasn’t happy, he couldn’t ask her to sacrifice that again. But he didn’t know if he had the strength to sacrifice his world for hers instead.

And now this.

Kaz didn’t want to blame Inej for being angry with him, but she’d read the Saintsforsaken ledger hadn’t she? She knew he’d done nothing to this girl or her father that justified her placing blame on him. Something itched at him in the corners of his mind her shut out. You didn’t want to blame Jordie. Of course he didn’t. But it seemed all a more clean cut affair with Maya’s father, didn’t it?

No matter how Maya felt though, surely Inej could see?

She reminds me of you.

Kaz had no hope of focusing on these stupid ledgers. The numbers swam from line to line, like they were taunting him with the one thing he was supposed to be able to do. This, at least he was supposed to still be good at. A glance, an acknowledgment, and the numbers should have been stored in his mind. The filing cabinets in there scrolling over a decade of records that he could call upon at will. But now he was straining to concentrate, and his mind was filled with nothing but Inej and her dark, burning eyes. Flinching away from his touch. Drowning in the harbour. Thirty hours. When had he last slept? He didn’t want to. The dream came too fresh, too often. That oil black hair spilling around her, floating in the water. Limbs drooping, borne aloft by the waves, fingers in his turning to taut and bloated flesh. He couldn’t touch her. Couldn’t reach her. He was falling from the wire without a net.

He shoved the books away and hurried out, ignoring Pim trying to get his attention as they passed each other near the stairs. He went into his office and slammed the door shut, feeling the shake of his gloved fingers on the lock. He was stronger than this. This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore.

And if it did? He wasn’t supposed to be alone.

He slid down the door and sat on the floor in cold, shivering silence, his bad leg stretched out in front of him. He had to get her, had to explain to her, had to - what? What did he even want to say?

He would move the earth for her. He would kill, had killed, for her. He would die for her. And it didn’t mean anything, because even now he didn’t show it. Because even now, he refused to torture himself with the idea of their future. Their happiness, together. In Kerch, in Ravka, they could move to the permafrost in Fjerda for all he cared. He would carve a life for her in the face of a mountain, if that was what she wanted. But it felt like an infection. It was worming its way through him, and if he didn’t quash it there was every change it might destroy him. Destroy them both. All he was so desperate to give her was impossible to say, because saying it out loud made it real. It made it something that could be lost.

Kaz didn’t know how long he’d sat there before he managed to slowly pull himself back up, weight first in the door handle and then against his cane. There were no lights on in the room. He let the door swing on its hinges as he left, to walk back to the Slat. To force himself to sleep; to let the dream wash over him so he could fight it like he’d fought everyone and everything else.

And so it was as the door swung and the lights remained off, as Kaz limped away in stoic silence and the street lamps began to glow, that no-one noticed the hand reach up from beneath the desk and leave a neat, sealed letter next to the inkwell.