#Free Canada Wide Calling

[neofelis----nebulosa]

Propaganda:

Serval:

Pampas cat:

Canada lynx:

Jaguarundi:

Pallas' cat:

Fishing cat

Flat headed cat:

"Jungle" cat:

Sand cat:

[aeolianblues]

Plaid are nationalists but I don't think necessarily in a bad way? What I mean is Plaid are far from the nationalism being seen across Europe right now. Yes they're the party that has historically advocated for Welsh independence from the UK, but in the 7-way National debate, them and the SNP were also the only parties I saw actually criticise Nigel Farage's views on immigration. The only ones pushing back on that national podium against the racism and villainisation of refugees and migrants, saying that the UK needs migrants, has a responsibility to take care of them after playing a direct hand in destabilising their countries and pushed back on the Conservatives' plans to just pull out of the human rights commission because it didn't suit their failed Rwanda deportation scheme. Here's Plaid's official stance on asylum, from their manifesto, nothing about this seemed particularly bad to me.

Also, like SNP, the party focus wasn't on independence this time for Plaid, it was on securing fairer funding for Welsh affairs, and devolution. Rhun ap Iorwerth is hardly a Marie Le Pen, thankfully.

THERE ARE NO TORIES LEFT IN WALES

[woso-dreamzzz]

Languages

Hardersson x Child!Reader

Jessie Fleming x Child!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: You don't want to speak your English

In Canada, almost everyone speaks English as their first language. It's simple and easy to communicate and even those from the French-speaking provinces can speak English too.

At Chelsea, the team was from all across the world so the blend of accents and languages made it difficult to communicate sometimes.

But, Jessie's biggest challenge to date after leaving Canada, is communicating with you.

You're Magda and Pernille's little girl so you speak Swedish and Danish. You were born in Germany though so Jessie supposes you speak German too despite how little you are. Your English is practically non-existent to Jessie's ears though.

Either you can't speak it just yet or you're refusing to because the only English Jessie's heard you speak is the word 'no' when Magda tried to feed you sweetcorn at lunch a few weeks ago.

You communicate exclusively with your mothers in a different language to English despite the way Magda's pressing you to speak it.

You're sweet though, a loveable little girl with a lot of energy and a penchant for stealing footballs.

Jessie just wishes there was another way to communicate with you, especially when you wander over to her in the queue for lunch with a plate.

"Huh? What's up?"

You're look up at her with big wide eyes and smile. You say something and Jessie just stares.

"Sorry, what was that?"

You repeat the word again and present Jessie your plate.

"Oh...wow, cool plate."

Evidently, it's the wrong thing to say because you stamp your foot and repeat the word.

Jessie's still drawing a blank.

You switch what you're saying now - another word Jessie doesn't understand - and then you say something completely different again.

She still can't understand you and she can clearly see that you're getting annoyed with her.

"Er..."

"Maybe," Comes Magda's pointed voice," If you spoke your English, princesse, then Jessie will understand you."

"No!"

That's your favourite English word and Magda rolls her eyes, taking your plate.

"She wanted the chicken," Magda explains with a laugh, placing your desired meat on your plate.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. Princesse knows she should be practicing her English."

"No!" Your little voice insists and Magda looks down at you fondly, a hand coming up to stroke through your hair.

"Yes. You should be practice your English."

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Nej!"

Magda sighs, shaking her head softly before taking you back over to your lunch table with Jessie trailing after.

Now that Jessie's looking out for it, it becomes much more obvious to her just how often you blend your languages. She's not an expert on Swedish and Danish but she can recognise German and has to smother her laughter on many occasions when requests for food or questions are done by using at least two languages.

You jump between words easily and without even batting an eye and it seems only Pernille's the one completely fluent in Princesse speak.

You're getting better though, branching out to one or two words of English every so often when it's just you and Jessie.

You're steadfast in your refusal to speak English to Magda outside of your usual one word answer of 'no'.

Currently, it's you, Jessie and Pernille in the break room.

Everyone else has either already gone home or, like Magda, stuck in meetings or doing media. Pernille and Jessie are free to go home but Jessie's coming over after training is over and Pernille and Magda share the car so you're all waiting for Magda to finish up so you can finally go.

You're sitting on the floor with Jessie, playing around with girl-swan and girl-moose. You stop playing for a moment, frowning to yourself before calling out to Momma in a jumbled mess of Swedish, Danish and Germany, pointing to the bag of toys on Jessie's other side.

"Ask Jessie, princesse," Pernille says and you huff.

You make your request again to Pernille but she gives you a look.

"Jessie's closer," She says and you pout.

Jessie braces herself for the jumbled mess of languages about to come out of your mouth and the mad scramble to guess what you want before you get annoyed.

You open your mouth.

Jessie readies herself.

"Building blocks, please Jessie," You say," In the bag."

Jessie's mouth hangs open in shock.

You frown at her, pointing this time. "Building blocks, please."

Mutely, Jessie hands them to you and you beam.

"Going to be a castle," You tell her earnestly," And we can knock it down!"

[erismourn]

evacuation fundraisers in CAD

for whatever reason my bank won't let me donate any money to fundraisers that aren't in Canadian dollars so I've collected a small and surely incomplete list of fundraisers in CAD for those of us in so-called canada. please feel free to add to this list if you know of any more fundraisers in Canadian dollars and I'll boost to the best of my ability. these should all be coming from sources that have verified every fundraiser, but I am not perfect and may have mistaken some.

Help Basel Abughaben's family evacuate Gaza: Basel left Gaza four years ago to look for work outside of Palestine, and now needs to evacuate his wife and four children from Gaza. the fund seeks to get evacuation money as well as funds to keep his family housed and fed in Egypt.

Bring Najlaa's family to safety in Canada: Najlaa moved to Canada to complete her studies, and was unable to go back to Palestine due to Israeli border restrictions. Najlaa is trying to evacuate her mother, sisters, brothers, and their spouses and children.

Help Sanaa Abu Ghaiben's family evacuate Gaza: Sanaa's family consists of three brothers, two sisters, their partners and children, and Sanaa's elderly parents. His family consists of 25 people.

Help Sujoud reunite with her family: Sujoud left her husband and three sons to seek treatment for her son, Abdullah, who has had health problems since infancy. Her family is still trapped in Gaza.

Help Mahmoud evacuate and continue his education: Mahmoud Abu Hamam is a 20 year-old engineering student seeking to evacuate to Egypt and continue his studies.

I have donated $10 each to these campaigns. if you can match that for even one of these, I would be so grateful. please share widely, and do not give up hope.

[weirdrtvscomments]

in case anyone is struggling with deciding who they want to vote for in the RTVStan/RTVS Nation/RTVSia/RTVS Topia/RTVS Topia-Ville presidential election, i have compiled a list:

Log

Representing the Ethernet Party: “A people with 5 ping to the main server is a people that prospers.”

Will change the name to RTVS Nation

Comic books are a part of the platform

Everybody gets a free moat

Eyes that are twice as big for everyone that wants them

Offload cost to Wifi users

Working on a battery charged snack

Hypnotist is a protected class

Robloxia war veteran

Defenses are proven

Will take your ants and import more

Endorsed by: Soulja Boy, Ken Masters, Stitch 

Signature move when President: Snake Trick (no weaknesses)

Punishment for other candidates: Follow him out & about like an RPG party

Mike

Representing the Sweets & Treats Party: “I was just outside eating a sandwich.”

Orange creamsicles will be available in every store

Free Steam Deck for every American citizen

Will lower tariffs and imports on all types of sweets and treats from Canada, while raising tariffs on everything else

Most important snack is Wasabi Peas

Not very good against zoners

Why are ants so bad?

Endorsed by: 2 (anonymous), Trap Snax

Signature gimmick when President: Whenever he eats a yummy piece of candy he gets an install, which gets its own theme

Special move when President: A cool punch like Marissa from Street Fighter 6

Punishment for other candidates: Have to reach into a bin of Bean Boozled that's 90% gross ones and eat it in public in front of cameras and the press. After, push into the alligator moat. Also, Mira’s idea

Mira

Representing the Drinks & Eats party: “I was rooting around in a dumpster out back.”

Will change the name to RTVSia

One of every food and drink, free of charge

Will develop a chemical compound called “Ketracel White,” will genetically engineer ants to be dependent on it 

Endorsed by: IceFrog, Yoshi, Yoshi (from Mario), baby Yoshi (might be one and the same), Chun Lee

Signature move(s) when President: Level up system (up to 3), if she gets knocked down she loses a charge of it, gets it when she does some power up move (or something), negative edge inputs (landmine, fireball, that one thing Bison does in Street Fighter 5), install where she gets a command grab, 8-way air dash, guard impact, levels reset between rounds, invincible super (can do it on wakeup)

Punishment for other candidates: Detractors rounded up and taken into woods where they are given a knife, camera, and laptop to make a Youtube channel of them living in the woods (Ethernet in the trees)

Trog

Representing the People’s Choice Freedom Integrity Liberty Justice Prosperity Sovereign Citizen’s Ethical Governance Democratic Renewal Global Sustainability Citizens for Unity (may be part of the Lego Star Wars Party): “We’re all part of God’s nation in my eyes.”

All breakfast restaurants have to be open for lunch & dinner in addition to breakfast

THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU A LARGE WATER WHEN YOU ASK FOR IT

Desegregate PornHub and GayTube

Everybody gets a free castle

Immediately cease all snack exports 

Will start war with Canada

Will mail a bomb if you want him to

Will double your ants and give them to the next guy OR will turn them all into 1 big ant

New category on PornHub for ants

Will build death robots and a spaceship

Will be inventing gorgons, griffins, vampires, Frankenstiens, zombies, mummies, insects, gorgon ants (small)

Endorsed by: The Sims, Captain Video, Half Life 2: Lost Coast (demo), Tobuscus

Super move when President: 1 Sphinx on every tile surrounding, +1 food, +1 culture (if next to a river, +2 food, +2 culture instead)

Theme song: Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson

Punishment for other candidates: All other candidates have to do an embarrassing pose and gaze into Medusa’s eyes, which will turn them into stone. The statues will be put in front of the White House, where during a nation-wide celebration they will be knocked down with a wrecking ball/individually destroyed with dirty bombs

Wayneradiotv/Wayne John 

Representing the California Milk Processors Board: “Enjoy DOGh.”

Every gallon of milk will have $2,000 in it

Free PornHub premium

Any dairy product you want whenever you want it

Will attract more ants

Will rename it to Milk Nation

Pig milk Iron Fist

Endorsed by: Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rhianna, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Shaquille O’Neal, Harrison Ford (all branded with Permanent Milk Mustache & committed their eternal lives), Batman, Mario, Spongebob

Signature move when President: Cow army that walks on their hind legs and shoot milk as projectiles

Punishment for other candidates: Mulched into feed for his cows

Things you need to rememer for the ONLY ELECTION THAT MATTERS!!!!

[sleepymirko]

Reaction to s/o liking winter but being very chilly (part 2)

..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..

Featuring Bachira Meguru, Reo Mikage, Nagi Seishiro

Fluff

Let me know if there's errors! Enjoy!

..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..

“Y/N, I finished showering. The bathroom’s all yours if you need it,” Bachira said, entering your shared bedroom. When he’d left to shower, you had been engrossed in a book, and you barely nodded at him when he left.

You raised your head and what you saw was enough to make you freeze under covers.

Your boyfriend was standing with only a towel around his hips, droplets falling from his bicoloured locks and the most bizarre thing was that he wasn't shivering in the slightest.

"I was already freezing under the covers but seeing you like this... Feels like torture" you said shivering slightly.

The boy simply chuckled and walked towards the bed, sitting comfortably on the edge, right next to you.

"Are we sure you're not sick? Today is less cold than last week"

"It's probably your fault"

"How is that even possible?"

"You're half naked Meguru???" You said looking at him slightly wide eyed, a smile creeping up your face.

"Oh."

"You're gonna catch a cold at this rate"

"I swear I'm not feeling cold maybe because the house is warm.. wait a minute .."

You looked at him confused as he looked like he had an idea.

"Why don't you go take a shower? You'll feel even better, no?" He said smiling proudly.

"A hot shower is what you need, trust me!"

You looked up, considering his suggestion. It wasn't a bad idea, maybe it was what you needed.

"Okay, why not.." you nodded and Bachira smiled and quickly got up.

"Let's go then" he said offering his hand to you.

You looked at him, noticing that glimmer in his eyes that only meant one thing. He was going to shower again, but this time with you.

"...you realize that you already showered, don’t you?"

"Eheh, let's just say that I forgot to put the shampoo on my hair" he said smiling, faking innocence. What a menace.

..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..

You and Reo had been thinking about what to do for the holiday season in his studio. Saying that Reo was a great planner was an understatement, the guy already thought about 7 holiday location ideas for impressing his girl.

"You already have seven ideas for our holidays?" You asked shocked, struggling to hold your smile at how determined your boyfriend looked.

"Absolutely, and let me tell you which location I thought of.." he said bringing his laptop closer to her.

"First of all, we have Finland. Apparently there's a Santa Village in a certain city called 'Rovaniemi'. If Finland is not speaking to your soul there's Banff in Canada, the place has a lot of mountains and offsprings. Skiing must be fantastic there" he said smiling while checking with her the photos.

"When can even plan on going to the Alps, if you want something more quiet we can pass the holidays in Kyoto, between tea houses and snowy landscapes.."

While Reo kept talking, you couldn't help but smile. And shiver slightly.

But Reo surely hadn't missed that.

"Oh? Is my princess freezing? Should we move the planning in front of the fireplace?" He offered as he looked at her with a soft smile, finding her wrapped in a warm blanket cute. Once he picked up the laptop, he offered his hand, and they both moved toward the fireplace in their living room.

Sitting there, he placed her on his lap and handled her his laptop. "While I keep you warm, feel free to choose the location of our holiday." He said and continued, this time speaking into her ear. "I'll handle the rest".

..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..•°•..

"You're always cold" Nagi mumbled, thumbs moving around his controller as his focus was mostly on the boss he was fighting.

You guys agreed on a simple cozy weekend, with videogames keeping you company as you guys were doing co-op together.

"How are you not feeling cold Nagi?" You asked as despite you were helping him with the boss your controller was under the warm comforter.

"I'm completely fine." When he finished the boss, he laid the controller down the bed and handed her his hand. When she reached for it she looked at him surprised, his hand was really warm and she wondered if his body was like the rest.

"To be one that claims to love winter you have poor luck by suffering the cold like this" he said bluntly while picking up his controller, resuming playing as you rolled your eyes.

"Then why don't you keep me warm?" You asked half jokingly as you resumed playing with him as well.

He paused, giving her a sidelong glance. “Isn’t that, like, extra work?” he asked, sounding as unbothered as ever.

However, he stopped playing and wrapped an arm around you, letting you warm up close to him.

"Didn't you just say that was extra work?" you teased, as he sighed, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly, a shadow of a smile creeping into his usual unbothered expression.

With that, he leaned back, letting you curl up against him while he held the controller lazily in one hand, his other arm wrapped around your shoulders.

"You better worry about not turning into an Icycle" he paused looking at the game, his tone uneven yet with a hint of teasing. "that would be a real hassle."

Let me know if there's errors! Thank you for reading!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

UK publishers suing Google for $17.4b over rigged ad markets

THIS WEEKEND (June 7–9), I'm in AMHERST, NEW YORK to keynote the 25th Annual Media Ecology Association Convention and accept the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

Look, no one wants to kick Big Tech to the curb more than I do, but, also: it's good that Google indexes the news so people can find it, and it's good that Facebook provides forums where people can talk about the news.

It's not news if you can't find it. It's not news if you can't talk about it. We don't call information you can't find or discuss "news" – we call it "secrets."

And yet, the most popular – and widely deployed – anti-Big Tech tactic promulgated by the news industry and supported by many of my fellow trustbusters is premised on making Big Tech pay to index the news and/or provide a forum to discuss news articles. These "news bargaining codes" (or, less charitably, "link taxes") have been mooted or introduced in the EU, France, Spain, Australia, and Canada. There are proposals to introduce these in the US (through the JCPA) and in California (the CJPA).

These US bills are probably dead on arrival, for reasons that can be easily understood by the Canadian experience with them. After Canada introduced Bill C-18 – its own news bargaining code – Meta did exactly what it had done in many other places where this had been tried: blocked all news from Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and other Meta properties.

This has been a disaster for the news industry and a disaster for Canadians' ability to discuss the news. Oh, it makes Meta look like assholes, too, but Meta is the poster child for "too big to care" and is palpably indifferent to the PR costs of this boycott.

Frustrated lawmakers are now trying to figure out what to do next. The most common proposal is to order Meta to carry the news. Canadians should be worried about this, because the next government will almost certainly be helmed by the far-right conspiratorialist culture warrior Pierre Poilievre, who will doubtless use this power to order Facebook to platform "news sites" to give prominence to Canada's rotten bushel of crypto-fascist (and openly fascist) "news" sites.

Americans should worry about this too. A Donald Trump 2028 presidency combined with a must-carry rule for news would see Trump's cabinet appointees deciding what is (and is not) news, and ordering large social media platforms to cram the Daily Caller (or, you know, the Daily Stormer) into our eyeballs.

But there's another, more fundamental reason that must-carry is incompatible with the American system: the First Amendment. The government simply can't issue a blanket legal order to platforms requiring them to carry certain speech. They can strongly encourage it. A court can order limited compelled speech (say, a retraction following a finding of libel). Under emergency conditions, the government might be able to compel the transmission of urgent messages. But there's just no way the First Amendment can be squared with a blanket, ongoing order issued by the government to communications platforms requiring them to reproduce, and make available, everything published by some collection of their favorite news outlets.

This might also be illegal in Canada, but it's harder to be definitive. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enshrined in 1982, and Canada's Supreme Court is still figuring out what it means. Section Two of the Charter enshrines a free expression right, but it's worded in less absolute terms than the First Amendment, and that's deliberate. During the debate over the wording of the Charter, Canadian scholars and policymakers specifically invoked problems with First Amendment absolutism and tried to chart a middle course between strong protections for free expression and problems with the First Amendment's brook-no-exceptions language.

So maybe Canada's Supreme Court would find a must-carry order to Meta to be a violation of the Charter, but it's hard to say for sure. The Charter is both young and ambiguous, so it's harder to be definitive about what it would say about this hypothetical. But when it comes to the US and the First Amendment, that's categorically untrue. The US Constitution is centuries older than the Canadian Charter, and the First Amendment is extremely definitive, and there are reams of precedent interpreting it. The JPCA and CJPA are totally incompatible with the US Constitution. Passing them isn't as silly as passing a law declaring that Pi equals three or that water isn't wet, but it's in the neighborhood.

But all that isn't to say that the news industry shouldn't be attacking Big Tech. Far from it. Big Tech compulsively steals from the news!

But what Big Tech steals from the news isn't content.

It's money.

Big Tech steals money from the news. Take social media: when a news outlet invests in building a subscriber base on a social media platform, they're giving that platform a stick to beat them with. The more subscribers you have on social media, the more you'll be willing to pay to reach those subscribers, and the more incentive there is for the platform to suppress the reach of your articles unless you pay to "boost" your content.

This is plainly fraudulent. When I sign up to follow a news outlet on a social media site, I'm telling the platform to show me the things the news outlet publishes. When the platform uses that subscription as the basis for a blackmail plot, holding my desire to read the news to ransom, they are breaking their implied promise to me to show me the things I asked to see:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-need-end-end-web

This is stealing money from the news. It's the definition of an "unfair method of competition." Article 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act gives the FTC the power to step in and ban this practice, and they should:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

Big Tech also steals money from the news via the App Tax: the 30% rake that the mobile OS duopoly (Apple/Google) requires for every in-app purchase (Apple/Google also have policies that punish app vendors who take you to the web to make payments without paying the App Tax). 30% out of every subscriber dollar sent via an app is highway robbery! By contrast, the hyperconcentrated, price-gouging payment processing cartel charges 2-5% – about a tenth of the Big Tech tax. This is Big Tech stealing money from the news:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Finally, Big Tech steals money by monopolizing the ad market. The Google-Meta ad duopoly takes 51% out of every ad-dollar spent. The historic share going to advertising "intermediaries" is 10-15%. In other words, Google/Meta cornered the market on ads and then tripled the bite they were taking out of publishers' advertising revenue. They even have an illegal, collusive arrangement to rig this market, codenamed "Jedi Blue":

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

There's two ways to unrig the ad market, and we should do both of them.

First, we should trustbust both Google and Meta and force them to sell off parts of their advertising businesses. Currently, both Google and Meta operate a "full stack" of ad services. They have an arm that represents advertisers buying space for ads. Another arm represents publishers selling space to advertisers. A third arm operates the marketplace where these sales take place. All three arms collect fees. On top of that: Google/Meta are both publishers and advertisers, competing with their own customers!

This is as if you were in court for a divorce and you discovered that the same lawyer representing your soon-to-be ex was also representing you…while serving as the judge…and trying to match with you both on Tinder. It shouldn't surprise you if at the end of that divorce, the court ruled that the family home should go to the lawyer.

So yeah, we should break up ad-tech:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-shatter-ad-tech

Also: we should ban surveillance advertising. Surveillance advertising gives ad-tech companies a permanent advantage over publishers. Ad-tech will always know more about readers' behavior than publishers do, because Big Tech engages in continuous, highly invasive surveillance of every internet user in the world. Surveillance ads perform a little better than "content-based ads" (ads sold based on the content of a web-page, not the behavior of the person looking at the page), but publishers will always know more about their content than ad-tech does. That means that even if content-based ads command a slightly lower price than surveillance ads, a much larger share of that payment will go to publishers:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

Banning surveillance advertising isn't just good business, it's good politics. The potential coalition for banning surveillance ads is everyone who is harmed by commercial surveillance. That's a coalition that's orders of magnitude larger than the pool of people who merely care about fairness in the ad/news industries. It's everyone who's worried about their grandparents being brainwashed on Facebook, or their teens becoming anorexic because of Instagram. It includes people angry about deepfake porn, and people angry about Black Lives Matter protesters' identities being handed to the cops by Google (see also: Jan 6 insurrectionists).

It also includes everyone who discovers that they're paying higher prices because a vendor is using surveillance data to determine how much they'll pay – like when McDonald's raises the price of your "meal deal" on your payday, based on the assumption that you will spend more when your bank account is at its highest monthly level:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/05/your-price-named/#privacy-first-again

Attacking Big Tech for stealing money is much smarter than pretending that the problem is Big Tech stealing content. We want Big Tech to make the news easy to find and discuss. We just want them to stop pocketing 30 cents out of every subscriber dollar and 51 cents out of ever ad dollar, and ransoming subscribers' social media subscriptions to extort publishers.

And there's amazing news on this front: a consortium of UK web-publishers called Ad Tech Collective Action has just triumphed in a high-stakes proceeding, and can now go ahead with a suit against Google, seeking damages of GBP13.6b ($17.4b) for the rigged ad-tech market:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/17-bln-uk-adtech-lawsuit-against-google-can-go-ahead-tribunal-rules-2024-06-05/

The ruling, from the Competition Appeal Tribunal, paves the way for a frontal assault on the thing Big Tech actually steals from publishers: money, not content.

This is exactly what publishing should be doing. Targeting the method by which tech steals from the news is a benefit to all kinds of news organizations, including the independent, journalist-owned publishers that are doing the best news work today. These independents do not have the same interests as corporate news, which is dominated by hedge funds and private equity raiders, who have spent decades buying up and hollowing out news outlets, and blaming the resulting decline in readership and profits on Craiglist.

You can read more about Big Finance's raid on the news in Margot Susca's Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy:

https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p087561

You can also watch/listen to Adam Conover's excellent interview with Susca:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21YfWy0-bA

Frankly, the looters and billionaires who bought and gutted our great papers are no more interested in the health of the news industry or democracy than Big Tech is. We should care about the news and the workers who produce the news, not the profits of the hedge-funds that own the news. An assault on Big Tech's monetary theft levels the playing field, making it easier for news workers and indies to compete directly with financialized news outlets and billionaire playthings, by letting indies keep more of every ad-dollar and more of every subscriber-dollar – and to reach their subscribers without paying ransom to social media.

Ending monetary theft – rather than licensing news search and discussion – is something that workers are far more interested in than their bosses. Any time you see workers and their bosses on the same side as a fight against Big Tech, you should look more closely. Bosses are not on their workers' side. If bosses get more money out of Big Tech, they will not share those gains with workers unless someone forces them to.

That's where antitrust comes in. Antitrust is designed to strike at power, and enforcers have broad authority to blunt the power of corporate juggernauts. Remember Article 5 of the FTC Act, the one that lets the FTC block "unfair methods of competition?" FTC Chair Lina Khan has proposed using it to regulate training AI, specifically to craft rules that address the labor and privacy issues with AI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mh8Z5pcJpg

This is an approach that can put creative workers where they belong, in a coalition with other workers, rather than with their bosses. The copyright approach to curbing AI training is beloved of the same media companies that are eagerly screwing their workers. If we manage to make copyright – a transferrable right that a worker can be forced to turn over their employer – into the system that regulates AI training, it won't stop training. It'll just trigger every entertainment company changing their boilerplate contract so that creative workers have to sign over their AI rights or be shown the door:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/#invisible-hand

Then those same entertainment and news companies will train AI models and try to fire most of their workers and slash the pay of the remainder using those models' output. Using copyright to regulate AI training makes changes to who gets to benefit from workers' misery, shifting some of our stolen wages from AI companies to entertainment companies. But it won't stop them from ruining our lives.

By contrast, focusing on actual labor rights – say, through an FTCA 5 rulemaking – has the potential to protect those rights from all parties, and puts us on the same side as call-center workers, train drivers, radiologists and anyone else whose wages are being targeted by AI companies and their customers.

Policy fights are a recurring monkey's paw nightmare in which we try to do something to fight corruption and bullying, only to be outmaneuvered by corrupt bullies. Making good policy is no guarantee of a good outcome, but it sure helps – and good policy starts with targeting the thing you want to fix. If we're worried that news is being financially starved by Big Tech, then we should go after the money, not the links.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/06/stealing-money-not-content/#content-free

[reasonsforhope]

"In short: Nine million Canadian women of reproductive age will have the full cost of their contraception covered as part of a major health care reform, the government says.

The reform includes the most widely used contraceptive methods, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants and the day after pill.

What's next? The government must still win the approval of Canada's provinces, which administer health care."

"Canada will cover the full cost of contraception for women, the government says as it highlights the first part of a major health care reform.

The government will pay for the most widely used contraceptive methods, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants or the day after pill, for the nine million Canadian women of reproductive age, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Sunday at a press conference in a pharmacy in Toronto.

"Women should be free to choose the contraceptives they need without cost getting in the way. So, we're making contraceptives free," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X, formerly Twitter.

The announcement fleshes out the first part of a bill unveiled in February that, once completed, would mark the biggest expansion of Canada's publicly funded health care system in decades.

This new regime will also cover the cost of diabetes medication for some 3.7 million Canadians.

The cost of the new system and timing of the launch have not been announced...

The government must now win the approval of Canada's provinces, which actually administer health care, for this new system. Alberta and Quebec have already said they would opt out.

The pharmacare plan — as it is called locally — follows protracted negotiations between Mr Trudeau's Liberal minority government and a small leftist faction in parliament.

The New Democratic Party agreed to prop up the Liberals until the fall of 2025, on the condition that the government immediately launch the drug program."

-via ABC News Australia, March 31, 2024

[earl-grey-teacake]

hi!! i hope you're doing well!! i saw your baby!loscar au post where you answered an ask about how logan and oscar react to the other drivers on the grid, and the bit on max showing up to their karting events when they're older is SO on brand fr!! especially after canada, i just want to give logan the biggest hug ever and (if you want to) would love to hear more of your thoughts about max cheering on/advising logan during karting races. ofc no pressure!!

Hello! Yes, I am doing much better!

Canada made me so sad but I am hopeful and whatever happens, I will follow Logan to whatever sport he moves to.

I can absolutely expand on that.

When Oscar and Logan first started karting, some of the drivers would come out to support them. They were disguised as to not take attention away from the kids but Logan and Oscar knew who they were. Max was one of the ones who would go out consistently to cheer them on and provide that positive validation he never got as a kid.

He gets more involved when Alex and George have to fly back to England but Logan has school, practices, and a race to attend. Oscar, Lando, and Carlos are sick so Max jumps in and offers to watch Logan for them. His flat is just him, Charles, and their pets and Logan is quite comfortable with animals.

So Logan stays with Max for 2 weeks as Charles has media duties in Maranello. Logan is surprisingly good with the pets and they seem to like him enough to sleep on him- they are not allowed in at night out fear they will suffocate him and Max cannot have that on his soul.

Is Logan old enough to shove them off?

Yes. Does Max have anxiety? Yeah.

Max drives him to school and then to the track for practice sessions. He’s instructing him where to brake, what he did wrong on a turn, why he spun out and what to look out for. Max is free to maxplain and Logan soaks it up like a sponge.

Before the race, he’s checking the helmet, the kart, making sure Logan remember his lessons and then send him off. He’s cheering on the sidelines, anxious when a kid in a similar white helmet spins out, angry and calling for a black flag on another kid’s reckless maneuver.

******

“You got everything? Your helmet is in tight?” Max checked just in case. “Do you remember everything I taught you?”

Logan nodded. “Go wide on turn 1 and brake later on turn 3. Be careful of exiting turn 5.”

“Good job! You’ll do great!” Max gave a high-five.

—-

Max’s heart sinks when he sees a blue kart and a white helmet spin off the track and his the wall. He watches as a red flag is called and breathes a sigh of relief when he seen a white helmet and blue kart come into pit.

—-

Max was going to march down there and yell at an organizer as some kid tried to run Logan off the track. There should’ve been a black flag two laps ago.

“That’s a black flag. Are you blind? He’s shoved two kids into the gravel already!”

When they’re driving back home, Max says, “Logan, next time someone does that. You run him off the track you hear me. It might ruin your race but it’ll teach him a lesson.”

******

Logan places 1st and Max is ecstatic and sending photos to the official GPDA group chat.

After those two weeks and Logan placing 1st in both races, Max, unofficially, has taken him under his wing. Charles comes back, competitive and unhappy that Max has become a favorite, take Oscar under his tutelage.

Alex finds Logan’s admiration of Max adorable but is a little jealous. George is very jealous since he’s also won a WDC but Logan doesn’t listen to him.

Lewis is a bit concerned that Max and Charles mentoring Logan and Oscar might lead to some unhealthy competition like from when they were children.

Thank you for the ask! I hope you enjoyed it! ❤️

[skipper1331]

Mini Swiftie // Jessie Fleming

a/n: based off this request. Hope you like it.

JFlem✔️

i miss you :(

see you tonight? x

you smiled at your phone, pressing the icon to call your girl. Leaving the room where your team mates were sat, watching a movie while you went down to the hotel lobby. "Hey" you said as she accepted your call, "hello, my girl" the freckled girl whispered, slipping out of her hotel room. "How was your day?"

Canada and the Uswnt would face each other at the weekend in a friendly but staying away from your lover was awful. In London you lived together, slept next to each other every day and now not doing so was something neither of you liked. But at least due to the friendly, your teams were in the same town.

One evening, the two of you found a little bench that was located halfway to each of your hotels. It became your spot. "Can i see you tonight?" she repeated her text question "yeah, same time, same place?"

"Yeah"

As you were about to say someting when you saw a glimpse of a small brunette. Kelley. "Gotta go!" Immediately, you ended the call.

You

sorry, Kelley is on her way

see you later x

"Mini Swiftie! We‘re watching your favorite movie and you‘re not there" the veteran ruffled through your hair. Your hands went back in your hair to straighten it. "Who did you talk to lover?" the lover was in the same sing-song voice as your sister performed it, "kelley, you need to stop with these references", you stood up as she dramatically clutched her heart, "don’t blame, love made me crazy" you rolled your eyes, walking to the elevators.

Ever since you made your debut for the senior team, the team loved to tease you with Taylor Swift song lyrics. You get it, you‘re a Swift but it‘s not your fault that she was your older sister, you loved her and she was your biggest supporter (Jess would fight her because according to her, she‘s your number one fan) but sometimes it was heavingly annoying.

"Come on, Mini Swiftie, you didn‘t answer my question!" she ran after you, jumping in the elevator just in time. "My mom" you replied nonchalantly, hoping she wouldn‘t realize that you‘re lying.

Nobody knew about you and the canadian girl and it should stay that way. Compared to your sister, you didn't like the stage. Yes, you played football on a world stage, you became a world champion in 2019, but the comparison to a sold-out stadium and a sold-out Taylor concert was something different. You only got to know peace through the Canadian woman who showed you how it was possible to live in peace despite the fact that you were in the public eye. You loved her for that, you loved her for so many reasons.

-

Midnight couldn‘t come fast enough. Mal was in a deep slumber already as you were wide awake. Mal and you roomed together all the time, you were one of the og-youngsters, gave your debut together and were great friends so it became a common thing. The forward was always in a deep sleep, you could scream next to her and she wouldn't notice, it made things a lot easier to sneak out of the room and sneak in later in the night without getting caught.

20 minutes before midnight, you got up, dressed yourself in a hoodie and some shorts. Thankfully, the weather wasn‘t cold or rainy. You sneaked out of the room and hotel, walking down the streets to your spot.

"Hi, baby" you greeted your girl as you took a seat beside her, your lips pressing against her cheek. "Gimme a real kiss" the canadian whined, chuckling at her antics, "so needy" nonetheless you gave her the sweet kiss she deserved.

-

The following days, you met up with Jess at the same time and same place. During the day you hadn’t had much free time so midnight was perfect to update on how your day was and the missing kisses, something important for the both of you.

"Do you think Mini Swiftie is acting weird?" Sonnett asked her friends, looking at you as you smiled at your phone (texting with Jessie) "how come?" Alex asked. Trying to explain what Sonnett meant, Christen cut her attempt short, "give her a rest, she‘s young" you didn‘t hear Christen protect you but if you had, you would‘ve been very thankful. The defender took the matters in her own hands as she looked at Kelley and Alex. They shared a look before they nodded.

-

"Today was awful" you grumbled as you flopped down next to your girlfriend, ready to rest your head on her chest. "What happened, love?" lovingly, she scartched through your hair, a method to calm you down. "Sonny and Kelley didn‘t leave my side all day long and when I said something they replied with lyrics"

"Oh my girl, you have to tell them If you don‘t like it" her voice was quiet, understanding. "Jess, you know how they are" the midfielder sighed, she knew exactly how they were, "can you just hold me?"

You loved your team mates to death but sometimes they‘re just too much. You had no problem with their teasing, you‘re proud to call yourself a Swift and you didn‘t care If they called you Mini Swiftie but if they don’t give real answer after every spoken sentence of you, only a lyric, it made you angry. That way you couldn't have a real conversation with them and you didn‘t want to either. How do they even come up with (you hate to admit that) a perfect song line in such a short time slot?

"Anything, baby" your girlfriend pulled you closer as she continued to massage your scalp.

-

"Hey, was Y/n with you guys last night?" Mal asked the group. "No, why?" came the reply from the Room Morgan-O��Hara, Press-Heath, Lavelle-Mewis and Sonnett-Horan. "Weird" your room mate mumbled. Last night, she drank a cup of coffee before going to bed which was why she had to get up 3 times during the night to go to the bathroom.

The first time was shortly after midnight - your bed empty. She thought you were in the bathroom so she waited, no light was on, you weren‘t there.

The second time was around 2am tending towards 3am - your bed still empty.

The last time she went to the bathroom was around 5am, you were soundfully asleep in your bed.

The big question: where had you been?

"Interesting. She's hiding something from us." Kelley had a mischief smile on her face while clapping her hands together. "Detectives, let‘s go!"

Hard to believe but everyone agreed to Kelley's plan.

-

"Good night" Mal whispered in to the dark room, ready to fake her sleep. Her back was facing you while you laid on your bed, staring at the ceiling. Mal‘s phone was hidden under her pillow as your team mates waited for a signal. Sonny had even created a groupchat 'Mission: Swift' with Tobin, Chris, Alex, Kelley, Mal, Rose, Sam and Lindsey.

20 minutes before midnight you checked If Mallory was asleep, "Mal, are you up?" she didn‘t answer you - in your eyes she was in her deep slumber. You got out of your pyjama and dressed into the same outfit as usual. The forward could only assume what you did, her eyes closed.

When she heard the door open and shut, she grabbed her phone and texted.

Mal

suspect left the room.

Team Kellex and Preath were down in the lobby, Chris and Tobin sitting at the bar while Kelley and Alex sat in the armchairs which were not in your sight. The other group members were still in their rooms, waiting for the next sign.

Kelley

down.

As soon as they saw Kelley‘s text, everyone sprinted out of their rooms, down the stairs to join the rest of the group. "She went this way" Alex whispered as they arrived, Chris and Tobin already by their sides.

They kept enough distance from you as they followed you yet always had an eye on you. Every once in a while you turned around but didn't see anyone so you just kept walking like nothing happened, maybe your mind was messing with you.

The team felt like fbi agents, working on an undercover case or like they‘re in a movie, either way it was exciting.

"My love, hello" you sat down next to her, giving her a kiss.

"Did she- did she just-" Sonnett started, completely shocked.

"..kiss someone?" Rose ended the question, eyes wide.

Everyone‘s mouth was agape, mini swiftie with a girlfriend? What? "I didn‘t expect that" the tall blonde said, looking at her friends.

"Yeah, yeah, but who is she?" Lindsey chipped in, her curiosity on high-levels.

Tobin was the first to approach you and the mysterious girl by your side, Chris, Kelley and Alex close behind, Mal, Rose, Sam, Sonny and Lindsey following. Tobin scoffed, clearing her throat. It made you turn around, your eyes wide as you stood up, pulling Jessie behind you. The first who opened her mouth was Kelley though, who would‘ve thought. "What‘s this?" Kelley asked, her tone strict, kind of like a mom. The others gathered around you, glaring a the girl behind you "Baby Canada!" Tobin said, walking around the bench. "H- Hi" the canadian gave a little wave, shaking slightly as all the women stared at her. "So?" the small but scary brunette asked, she wanted an answer, everybody wanted. You looked at your girlfriend, you didn't want to tell them anything she wasn‘t comfortable with. "We saw you kiss so don‘t lie to us" Alex added. As Jess nodded with a reassuring smile, you turned back to your team mates "Jessie is my girlfriend. We‘re a couple" you squeezed her hand for your own sake. "Well, well, well, baby Canada" Kelley joined Tobin, intimidating the freckled girl "do we have to give you the shovel talk?" It was Alex who was talking, taking some steps to stand next to Kelley "Stop it guys" you didn‘t like how that turned out at all, you had a feeling that your girlfriend was scared, not that she wouldn‘t face them but it was dark and late and 9 women were just to much. "Go back to the hotel, we‘ll talk in the morning" you said about to walk away with Jess. "What‘re you gonna do?" Rose asked.

"I will walk her to her hotel"

"She‘s old enough to walk alone!" you glared at Kelley. "I don‘t care, I’ll walk her back to the hotel and then go back to ours."

"Well then we‘re all gonna bring her, we won‘t let you walk on your own" Christen added, not liking the feeling to let you walk home alone. She liked that you felt the same way with Jess walking alone.

"Fine"

Jessie and you walked ahead of them as they trailed behind you, gushing over the new information they had about their Mini Swiftie. "I‘m so sorry" you murmured while you pulled her into you, your arm around her shoulders as hers went around your mid section. "It‘s fine, they love you"

"They‘re annoying" you grumbled.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, you ignored your friends, your only focus: the midfielder in your arms. As you arrived at the hotel, Kelley instantly opened her mouth again "Now say bye, we all want to sleep" rolling your eyes, you looked at your girl, smiling fondly. You were so in love with her. "Good night, my love. Sweet dreams" you pushed your lips against her forehead, not giving her a real kiss as your team mates stared at you. "Good night, baby" she gave your cheek a peck, understanding why you didn‘t give her the proper good night kiss like usual.

You watched her as she entered the hotel, waiting till she wasn‘t in sight anymore before you turned around.

"Tell us everything, Mini Swiftie"

————————

[brainddeadd]

everyone thinking that yn and luke are rivals from usa to canada games, michigan vs michigan state, rangers to devils. everyone has always assumed they hated each other and they always sasses each other but what they didn’t know was they were just teasing each other and have been together for while

maybe the devil finding out by catching the two kissing

i love this idea it's so cute

For years, the narrative around Y/N and Luke Hughes was set in stone: *rivals.* It started with USA vs. Canada junior games, intensified with Michigan vs. Michigan State battles, and continued when they entered the NHL — Y/N drafted by the Rangers, Luke by the Devils. The media ate it up. Every interaction, every chirp, every scuffle on the ice was treated like proof that they couldn’t stand each other. Fans on both sides loved the drama, calling it “The Feud.”

But what no one knew was that all the trash talk and teasing? It was just part of the fun. Off the ice, Y/N and Luke had been dating for over a year, and their so-called rivalry was more like flirting than anything else. They never denied the rumors, mostly because it was hilarious to them how everyone misread their dynamic.

"Try to keep up, Hughes," Y/N smirked during their last game, bumping his shoulder as they skated past each other during warmups.

"Better hope I don't embarrass you out there," Luke shot back, his grin hidden behind his helmet.

Even their teammates thought they hated each other, and neither of them corrected the assumption. After games, Y/N would text him things like “Nice assist, loser” or “Gonna be fun sweeping your team next time :)” — Luke replying with things like “Sure thing, trash can” but always ending with a “<3.”

But their secret almost came crashing down one night after a Devils practice. Luke stayed behind to work on faceoffs, and Y/N had slipped into the arena through a side entrance to wait for him. It wasn’t the first time she'd snuck in—New Jersey was only a quick train ride from New York, and they made the most of every free moment they had.

Luke finally walked out of the locker room, still damp from his post-practice shower. "There’s my favorite enemy," Y/N greeted, arms folded, grinning.

"Favorite enemy, huh?" Luke teased, pulling her into a hug. "That sounds suspiciously like a compliment."

"Don’t get used to it," she murmured, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his lips.

Neither of them noticed Jack Hughes and a couple of Luke’s teammates walking back into the tunnel until Jack's voice rang out.

"What. The. Hell?"

Y/N and Luke sprang apart, wide-eyed and caught completely off guard. Jack stood there, mouth agape, with a couple of the guys exchanging stunned looks behind him.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Jack said, a mix of amusement and disbelief on his face. "You two?"

Luke rubbed the back of his neck, shooting Y/N an apologetic glance before smirking at his brother. "Yeah. Surprise."

The Devils players started laughing, still half-shocked but enjoying the absurdity of it. "So all that sass was just... flirting?" someone asked.

Y/N shrugged, trying not to blush. "More or less."

Jack shook his head in disbelief, grinning. "You guys had everyone convinced you hated each other. You’re like... hockey’s Romeo and Juliet."

"Don’t say that," Luke groaned, but he was smiling too, knowing that the secret was finally out — and honestly? It felt pretty good.

[bimoonphases]

@wolfstarmicrofic September 8 - prompt 8: Patronus [word count 590]

They had been at it for two weeks now, and it had been exhausting. Still, Mary had to admit their DADA professor had been right about all the hard work paying off, since now most of them had been able to produce a fully-fledged Patronus. She leaned back on the desk, her silvery squirrel immediately running up her leg and settling on her shoulder, its eyes comically wide as if it had misplaced a walnut in the classroom, and looked around at the chaos of students and various animal-shaped clouds of silver light, some brighter, some dimmer. She had spent long hours poring over most of the literature on the Patronus charm, not only how to better obtain it, but also the endless academic discourse on what the singular shape a person obtained could have some deep meaning. She honestly wasn’t sure it had one, but she was glad hers was that cute, with its feather-like tail, even if she hadn’t expected a squirrel at all. Exactly like Marlene, who had worked really hard and now was staring at a Canada goose who just looked back at her before flying to the top of the professor’s desk.

“Is it because I like flying?” she asked as the goose started to peck at some papers left around.

“It’s a very elegant animal,” Mary said.

“And they mate for life, isn’t it romantic?” Lily added.

Lily had been very happy when her own Patronus had turned out to be the most elegant silver doe who was now moving around the classroom in dainty little steps.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” she sighed.

That enthusiasm ended up being short-lived when they turned around to loud cheers and saw James’s silvery stag prance around the boys.

“Called it!” Peter clapped James on the back.

“What can I say, I’m amazing,” James smirked.

“That you are, dear Prongs,” Sirius nodded, his own large dog already whirling around the stag.

Mary smiled, happy to see Sirius had managed to get a Patronus as well. He hadn’t said anything, at least not to her, but she knew he was terrified of not having a happy enough memory to cast the spell correctly. She then turned back to Lily and elbowed her.

“You know what they say about having similar Patronuses?”

“Don’t you dare, MacDonald,” Lily hissed, making the doe disappear with a flick of her wand before the boys could see it.

Mary rolled her eyes and looked back at the other group right in the moment when a silver Komodo Dragon shook its head to free itself of the skin it was shedding and turned back to Peter, affectionately bumping its head on the boy’s leg.

“Why always me?” Peter sighed while behind him James and Sirius almost collapsed with laughter for some reason.

“Same,” Remus muttered by his side.

Mary followed his gaze and her mouth dropped open as she saw the magnificent silver wolf quietly sniffing Sirius’s dog. The dog wagged his tail happily and soon enough the two had settled on the floor, the dog curled up between the wolf’s paws. Mary looked up from the lovely sight and  half the class cooing at it and saw Remus look at Sirius, the both of them staring at each other for a second before immediately looking away, a blush creeping on their faces. She rolled her eyes. Those two were absolutely lovesick, still dancing around each other and definitely not subtle at all. She might start considering locking them in a supply closet sooner or later.

[peppermint-cardboard]

hey. hello my friend. i am grabbing you by the shoulders oh so gently. do not become hopeless. that is exactly what they want. blue state governments will give them hell over the next presidential term, and you can rest assured there will absolutely be people in our government fighting for democracy.

the thing we can all do that will have the most direct immediate impact and will lay the groundwork for cultures of help, creativity, and love is to get involved at the local community level.

i’m talking especially to my fellow teens here!!! may not be able to vote but that doesn’t mean we’re not able to help.

for my fellow Angelenos!

Hollywood Food Coalition - free food! you can sign up to volunteer and do meal prep (cooking), meal service (serving food), or help at their food bank. locations are on their website. thanksgiving is coming up and HFC will need volunteers!

My Friend’s Place - free aid for youth homelessness, especially queer youth homelessness. volunteering is for 18 years and older

Los Angeles LGBT Center - exactly what it sounds like. offers a wide range of wonderful services and opportunities for volunteering. also works with school GSAs!

Moonwater Farm - a community farm in Compton with great opportunities for education and sometimes paid fellowships

for people everywhere else! just some general recommendations:

The Trevor Project - queer youth services that have saved my ass a number of times. i don’t know if they call the police as part of their responses or not (offers a single-click-to-leave button in case of emergency)

TrevorSpace - a great queer youth-centered website and a very safe place for queer community and discussion

Debate Me, Bro - a great anarchist newsletter/advice column run by a friend of mine!

The Child And Its Enemies - anarchist child rights-focused podcast also run by that same friend of mine :)

Neocities - make a website! learn some HTML! it’s fun, it’s pretty simple, and it’s a way to get a message out if that’s what you want but it’s also just a great de-stresser

Queer Liberation Library - need i even elaborate on the importance of libraries and access to queer media over the coming few years? (offers a single-click-to-leave button in case of emergency)

American Civil Liberties Union - an activism and aid organization that gave the Republicans absolute hell last time and will continue to do so this time

Blackline (800-604-5841) - a crisis and help hotline prioritizing BI&POC and black queer people. will not call the police!

Trans Lifeline (US: 877-565-8860, Canada: 877-330-6366) - a helpline run by and for trans folks. has a quick escape button and will not call the police!

Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line (888-407-4515) - a warmline to chat with trained therapists and professionals. will not call the police!

StrongHearts Native Helpline (844-762-8483) - a domestic and sexual violence helpline prioritizing Native Americans and Alaska Natives. has a quick escape button and will not call the police!

Thrive Lifeline (313-662-8209) - a live crisis warmline prioritizing marginalized people. also offers text messaging! will not call the police!

LGBT National Health Center (888-843-4564) - exactly what it sounds like! warmlines for queer people if you need help. has a quick escape button and will not call the police!

Transfeminine Science - a fantastic resource for... transfeminine science. exactly what it says on the tin.

Planned Parenthood - an incredibly prolific and important organization that offers a very wide array of vastly important services. if you live in an at least semi-urban city in the U.S., Planned Parenthood probably has a clinic near you. you should find out if they do!!!

please feel free to add more resources if you know any!!

other recommendations: say hi to a neighbor. bake someone a pie. start a garden. treat homeless people like your neighbors (because they are). propose a community movie night. have a party in your apartment building. call a friend. text a friend. draw something. cook something good. go to a restaurant you like. buy some DVDs. get a new stuffed animal. compliment a stranger’s shirt. ask for a hug. offer someone a hug. listen to music. KEEP LIVING!!!!!!!!!

don't just survive, keep living <3

[official-darkforest]

in your anthro au, does bramble actually make it to canada? is the plotline of the lake territory scrapped for something else?

rambled quite a bit here!

no, they dont make it to canada. they abandoned that idea after feather was killed. instead her funeral and burial is held in california by her dying wish and her family drives/flies over. graystripe and mosspelt took feather's car, but mosspelt flies back home via plane. graystripe is staying wirh storm indefinitely and eventually meets millie.

with storm's blessing, bramble,tawny, crow, and squirrel take the van back home. tawny is dropped off on the way, but crow insists on tagging along to thunder because he's not ready to be alone yet. his family is pretty small and he's not sure his parents will be able to help much, as much as they may try.

dodging the draft can get you into trouble, but there are many that got off scot free and bramble was one pf those lucky fellows (especially with firestar's involvement. he made sure bramble wouldn't have it held against him in return for keeping squirrel safe and bringing her home). firestar was furious at both bramble and squirrel but he's not cruel and unsympathetic, especially considering they just lost a very close friend (and that gray isnt coming back for a while).

this is where crow and leaf meet, crow is kinda bunking with bramble at his place and even had plans to move in for good. his parents were pretty combative but couldnt do much since he was a few states away!!! they dont know where the fuck thunder-whatever is. but eventually he gets a call about his father's rapidly declining health and immediately abandons his plans to stay. he asks leaf to come with him but leaf still isn't finished with med school (she doesn't know she's pregnant yet) and they part ways. crow makes it home to help ashfoot care for deadfoot in his final few months and fills in after his father dies. it's something he didnt plan to continue but its notnlike he HATES doing the work. eventually meets+marries nightcloud a 1-4 yrs later

leaf meanwhile continues med school. being unmarried with kids is still a social taboo, especially at such a young age (im imagining she and squirrel are around 18-19 by now, 17 during the road trip). squirrel and bramble, however, had been in a relationship with one another for a while after coming back home. sure, it got a bit messy when ashfur came back from vietnam and got a bit too close to squirrel for comfort, but they sorta resolved it and eventually bramble/squirrel got engaged. leaf confided in squirrel for her help with the pregnancy and squirrel immediately offered to take the children in as her own if leaf needed. it was a huge jump but leaf took the offer. bramble was let in on the plan the closer leaf got to her due date. he thought it was a very impulsive decision and they fought a bit about making the decision without him but he was enthusiastic about being a father regardless.

the others in town had their suspicions but dont ask dont tell.

theres some other parts i havent fully ironed out yet like where hawkfrost and mothwint come in.

as for the actual lake territories, they coexist with the forest territories by just being in different states LOL windclan and thunderclan's territory was pretty consistent in terms of The Basics so theyre mostly in the same general area (tc is east coast forests, wc is southwest-midwest prairies. theres a lot of cowboys, farmers, and ranchers in "windclan" as a result). shadowclan i can see being in the southern swamps, especially florida or louisiana, and riverclan is kinda interspersed alont the mississippi and ohio rivers. maybe a few along the east coast, too, as the lake territory equivalent. skyclan is probably in the rockies or the redwood forests out west. maybeeee old skyclan is in the appalachias???? idk LOL since the cats are so far apaer now the conflicts are a little less wide scale and more personal if rhat makes any sense at all. of course this whole au is a huge work in progress so some of what i say here may change!

the clans are rural/small/poor towns in my head. tight knit communities that have to rely on each other. kittypets are urban/suburbanites as a contrast and keep the 'kittypets r fucjing spoiled' theme going . you inow the city slicker junk LOL

bloodclan is probably a gang in new york. at least scourge's bloodclan. the other iterations are probably in other huge metropolitan cities. idk what warriorclan is, and the tribe is a whole can of worms im trying to be very careful with so im not gonna talk about them as a whole quite yet other than imply they exist

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 26, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Nov 27, 2024

Today presented a good example of the difference between governance by social media and governance by policy.

Although incoming presidents traditionally stay out of the way of the administration currently in office, last night, Trump announced on his social media site that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump claimed that they could solve the problem “easily” and that until they do, “it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

In a separate post, he held China to account for fentanyl and said he would impose a 10% tariff on all Chinese products on top of the tariffs already levied on those goods. “Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

In fact, since 2023 there has been a drop of 14.5% in deaths from drug overdose, the first such decrease since the epidemic began, and border patrol apprehensions of people crossing the southern border illegally have fallen to the lowest number since August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. In any case, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute shows that from 2019 to 2024, more than 80% of the people caught with fentanyl at ports of entry—where the vast majority of fentanyl is seized—were U.S. citizens.

Very few undocumented immigrants and very little illegal fentanyl come into the U.S. from Canada.

Washington Post economics reporter Catherine Rampell noted that Mexico and Canada are the biggest trading partners of the United States. Mexico sends cars, machinery, electrical equipment, and beer to the U.S., along with about $19 billion worth of fruits and vegetables. About half of U.S. fresh fruit imports come from Mexico, including about two thirds of our fresh tomatoes and about 90% of our avocados.

Transferring that production to the U.S. would be difficult, especially since about half of the 2 million agricultural workers in the U.S. are undocumented and Trump has vowed to deport them all. Rampell points out as well that Project 2025 calls for getting rid of the visa system that gives legal status to agricultural workers. U.S. farm industry groups have asked Trump to spare the agricultural sector, which contributed about $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2023, from his mass deportations.

Canada exports a wide range of products to the U.S., including significant amounts of oil. Rampell quotes GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, as saying that a 25% tax on Canadian crude oil would increase gas prices in the Midwest and the Rockies by 25 cents to 75 cents a gallon, costing U.S. consumers about $6 billion to $10 billion more per year.

Canada is also the source of about a quarter of the lumber builders use in the U.S., as well as other home building materials. Tariffs would raise prices there, too, while construction is another industry that will be crushed by Trump’s threatened deportations. According to NPR’s Julian Aguilar, in 2022, nearly 60% of the more than half a million construction workers in Texas were undocumented.

Construction company officials are begging Trump to leave their workers alone. Deporting them “would devastate our industry, we wouldn’t finish our highways, we wouldn’t finish our schools,” the chief executive officer of a major Houston-based construction company told Aguilar. “Housing would disappear. I think they’d lose half their labor.”

Former trade negotiator under George W. Bush John Veroneau said Trump’s plans would violate U.S. trade agreements, including the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) that replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump killed. The USMCA was negotiated during Trump’s own first term, and although it was based on NAFTA, he praised it as “the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law. It’s the best agreement we’ve ever made.”

Trump apologists immediately began to assure investors that he really didn’t mean it. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted that Trump wouldn’t impose the tariffs if “Mexico and Canada stop the flow of illegal immigrants and fentanyl into the U.S.” Trump’s threat simply meant that Trump “is going to use tariffs as a weapon to achieve economic and political outcomes which are in the best interest of America,” Ackman wrote.

Iowa Republican lawmaker Senator Chuck Grassley, who represents a farm state that was badly burned by Trump’s tariffs in his first term, told reporters that he sees the tariff threats as a “negotiating tool.”

Foreign leaders had no choice but to respond. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum issued an open letter to Trump pointing out that Mexico has developed a comprehensive immigration system that has reduced border encounters by 75% since December 2023, and that the U.S. CBP One program has ended the “caravans” he talks about. She noted that it is imperative for the U.S. and Mexico jointly to “arrive at another model of labor mobility that is necessary for your country and to address the causes that lead families to leave their places of origin out of necessity.”

She noted that the fentanyl problem in the U.S. is a public health problem and that Mexican authorities have this year “seized tons of different types of drugs, 10,340 weapons, and arrested 15,640 people for violence related to drug trafficking,” and added that “70% of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country.” She also suggested that Mexico would retaliate with tariffs of its own if the U.S. imposed tariffs on Mexico.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau did not go that far but talked to Trump shortly after the social media post. The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trading partner, and a 25% tariff would devastate its economy. The premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, seemed to try to keep her province’s oil out of the line of fire by agreeing with Trump that the Canadian government should work with him and adding, “The vast majority of Alberta’s energy exports to the US are delivered through secure and safe pipelines which do not in any way contribute to these illegal activities at the border.”

Trudeau has called an emergency meeting with Canada’s provincial premiers tomorrow to discuss the threat.

Spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington Liu Pengyu simply said: “No one will win a trade war or a tariff war” and “the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality.”

In contrast to Trump’s sudden social media posts that threaten global trade and caused a frenzy today, President Joe Biden this evening announced that, after months of negotiations, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and France, to take effect at 4:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday. “This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel shortly after Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023. Fighting on the border between Israel and Lebanon has turned 300,000 Lebanese people and 70,000 Israelis into refugees, with Israel bombing southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s tunnel system and killing its leaders. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,000 people and injured more than 13,000, while CBS News reports that about 90 Israeli soldiers and nearly 50 Israeli civilians have been killed in the fighting. Under the agreement, Israel’s forces currently occupying southern Lebanon will withdraw over the next 60 days as Lebanon’s army moves in. Hezbollah will be kept from rebuilding.

According to Laura Rozen in her newsletter Diplomatic, before the agreement went into effect, Israel increased its airstrikes in Beirut and Tyre.

When he announced the deal, Biden pushed again for a ceasefire in Gaza, whose people, he said, “have been through hell. Their…world is absolutely shattered.” Biden called again for Hamas to release the more than 100 hostages it still holds and to negotiate a ceasefire. Biden said the U.S. will “make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and the end to the war without Hamas in power.”

Today’s announcement, Biden said, brings closer the realization of his vision for a peaceful Middle East where both Israel and a Palestinian state are established and recognized, a plan he tried to push before October 7 by linking Saudi Arabia’s normalization of relations with Israel to a Palestinian state. Biden has argued that such a deal is key to Israel’s long-term security, and today he pressed Israel to “be bold in turning tactical gains against Iran and its proxies into a coherent strategy that secures Israel’s long-term…safety and advances a broader peace and prosperity in the region.”

“I believe this agenda remains possible,” Biden said. “And in my remaining time in office, I will work tirelessly to advance this vision of—for an integrated, secure, and prosperous region, all of which…strengthens America’s national security.”

“Today’s announcement is a critical step in advancing that vision,” Biden said. “It reminds us that peace is possible.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[porterdavis]

Political hacks in black robes (not white)

We will do well to remember that when the issue of Presidential immunity reached the Appellate Court (the one just below the Supreme Court), that court unanimously ruled no such immunity did (or should) exist. Trump appealed that to the SCOTUS, which sat on their decision long enough to ensure no trial of Trump could proceed prior to the November election, then issued a bizarre, tortured verdict that has been widely condemned as one of the worst ever by that Court.

Two of the Justices (Alito and Thomas) should have recused themselves for having (at the very least) the appearance of bias in the case; three of the Justices were appointed by the very man the ruling benefitted. That smacks of third-world machinations.

I have lived in Canada for 44 years now, and while I consider myself a student of current events, I cannot name a single Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court. That's a good thing. They go about their business of calling balls and strikes without fanfare or favour.

Sadly the SCOTUS has been largely reduced to a den of grifters and sycophants who preach 'originalism' and practice partisan skullduggery. They have changed the face of American life drastically in recent weeks, not just abortion, but the ability of government to regulate health and safety, curb predatory business practices, and mandate free and fair elections. The Court is rubber-stamping the christo-fascists attempt to remake America in their vision.

It may be too late, but we must resist and fight back.