#I have to operate like this though cause if I don't have a million options at once to move between at will I will never get anything read

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tech’s benevolent-dictator-for-life to authoritarian pipeline

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/2024/12/10/bdfl/#high-on-your-own-supply

Silicon Valley's "authoritarian turn" is hard to miss: tech bosses have come out for autocrats like Trump, Orban, Milei, Bolsonaro, et al, and want to turn San Francisco into a militia-patrolled apartheid state operated for the benefit of tech bros:

https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat

Smart people have written well about what this means, and have gotten me thinking, too:

https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/why-did-silicon-valley-turn-right

Regular readers will know that I make a kind of hobby of collecting definitions of right-wing thought:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#tolerable-racism

One of these – a hoary old cliche – is that "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged." I don't give this one much credence, but it takes on an interesting sheen when combined with this anonymous gem: "Conservatives say they long for the simpler times of their childhood, but what they miss is that the reason they lived simpler lives back then wasn't that the times were simpler; rather, it's because they were children."

If you're a tech founder who once lived in a world where your workers were also your pals and didn't shout at you about labor relations, perhaps that's not because workers got "woke," but rather, because when you were all scrapping at a startup, you were all on an equal footing and there weren't any labor relations to speak of. And if you're a once-right-on tech founder who used to abstractly favor "social justice" but now find yourself beset by people demanding that you confront your privilege, perhaps what's changed isn't those people, but rather the amount of privilege you have.

In other words, "a reactionary tech boss is a liberal tech boss who hired a bunch of pals only to have them turn around and start a union." And also: "Tech founders say things were simpler when they were running startups, but what they miss is that the reason no one asked their startup to seriously engage with the social harms it caused is the because the startup was largely irrelevant to society, while the large company it turned into is destroying millions of peoples' lives today."

The oft-repeated reactionary excuse that "I didn't leave the progressive movement, they left me," can be both technically true and also profoundly wrong: if progressives in your circle never bothered you about your commercial affairs, perhaps that's because those affairs didn't matter when you were grinding out code in your hacker house, but they matter a lot now that you have millions of users and thousands of employees.

I've been in tech circles since before the dawn of the dotcoms; I was part of a movement of people who would come over to your house with a stack of floppies and install TCP/IP and PPP networking software on your computer and show you how to connect to a BBS or ISP, because we wanted everyone to have as much fun as we were having.

Some of us channeled that excitement into starting companies that let people get online, create digital presences of their own, and connect with other people. Some of us were more .ORG than .COM and gave our lives over to activism and nonprofits, missing out on the stock options and big paydays. But even though we ended up in different places, we mostly started in the same place, as spittle-flecked, excited kids talking a mile a minute about how cool this internet thing would be and helping you, a normie, jump into it.

Many of my peers from the .ORG and .COM worlds went on to set up institutions – both companies and nonprofits – that have since grown to be critical pieces of internet infrastructure: classified ad platforms, online encyclopedias, CMSes and personal publishing services, critical free/open source projects, standards bodies, server-to-server utilities, and more.

These all started out as benevolent autocracies: personal projects started by people who pitched in to help their virtual neighbors with the new, digital problems we were all facing. These good people, with good impulses, did good: their projects filled an important need, and grew, and grew, and became structurally important to the digital world. What started off as "Our pal's project that we all pitch in on," became, "Our pal's important mission that we help with, but that also has paid staff and important stakeholders, which they oversee as 'benevolent dictator for life.'"

Which was fine. The people who kicked off these projects had nurtured them all the way from a napkin doodle to infrastructure. They understood them better than anyone else, had sacrificed much for them, and it made sense for them to be installed as stewards.

But what they did next, how they used their powers as "BFDLs," made a huge difference. Because we are all imperfect, we are all capable of rationalizing our way into bad choices, we are all riven with insecurities that can push us to do things we later regret. When our actions are checked – by our peers' social approval or approbation; by the need to keep our volunteers happy; by the possibility of a mass exodus of our users or a fork of our code – these imperfections are balanced by consequences.

Dictators aren't necessarily any more prone to these lapses in judgment than anyone else. Benevolent dictators actually exist, people who only retain power because they genuinely want to use that power for good. Those people aren't more likely to fly off the handle or talk themselves into bad places than you or me – but to be a dictator (benevolent or otherwise) is to exist without the consequences that prevent you from giving in to those impulses. Worse: if you are the dictator – again, benevolent or otherwise – of a big, structurally important company or nonprofit that millions of people rely on, the consequences of these lapses are extremely consequential.

This is how BDFL arrangements turn sour: by removing themselves from formal constraint, the people whose screwups matter the most end up with the fewest guardrails to prevent themselves from screwing up.

No wonder people who set out to do good, to help others find safe and satisfying digital homes online, find themselves feeling furious and beset. Given those feelings, can we really be surprised when "benevolent" dictators discover that they have sympathy for real-world autocrats whose core ethos is, "I know what needs to be done and I could do it, if only the rest of you would stop nagging me about petty bullshit that you just made up 10 minutes ago but now insist is the most important thing in the world?"

That all said, it's interesting to look at the process by which some BDFLs transitioned to community-run projects with checks and balances. I often think about how Wikipedia's BDFL, the self-avowed libertarian Jimmy Wales, decided (correctly, and to his everlasting credit), that the project he raised from a weird idea into a world-historic phenomenon should not be ruled over by one guy, not even him.

(Jimmy is one of those libertarians who believes that we don't need governments to make us be kind and take care of one another because he is kind and takes care of other people – see also John Gilmore and Penn Jillette:)

https://www.cracked.com/article_40871_penn-jillette-wants-to-talk-it-all-out.html

Jimmy's handover to the Wikimedia Foundation gives me hope for our other BDFLs. He's proof that you can find yourself in the hotseat without being so overwhelmed with personal grievance that you find yourself in sympathy with actual fascists, but rather, have the maturity and self-awareness to know that the reason people are demanding so much of you is that you have – deliberately and with great effort – created a situation in which you owe the world a superhuman degree of care and attention, and the only way to resolve that situation equitably and secure your own posterity is to share that power around, not demand that you be allowed to wield it without reproach.

[tiny-brass-bot]

Hi! I saw a post where you had a game made in godot with old school rendering, do you maybe have any tips on how to make godot render a game like that instead of its normal rendering method?

I'd be right happy to!

I'll try to make this concise lol, I always end up overexplaining and then getting lost in the weeds. Buckle up, it's a loooooot of little little things that all add up.

First off, you should decide which look you're going for. N64 and PS1, the two consoles I'm emulating, both had drastically different specs. (plus, there's plenty of other early 3D systems I've not even touched!)

The N64 had texture filtering (textures were interpolated aka "blurry"), it had floating point vertex precision (points moved correctly), it had perspective correction on its textures (no warping)

The PS1 had no texture filtering, no floating point vertex precision (vertices snap and pop around), affine texture mapping (textures warp weird). I also think the color space they operate in is different? Don't quote me

So you can go hard one way or another or pick and choose what you think looks good! We don't have anywhere near the hardware restrictions they did in the 90s so go nuts.

RESOLUTION

To get a low resolution window, I set the window size of the game and the window override size to different amounts

In green is actually how big the window is on my screen (4k monitor) and in red is the retro resolution I want. If you set the stretch mode correctly (an option a little further down the Window tab) then it'll make the pixels big

COLORS

Now the PS1 had the capability of showing you over 16 million different colors, but it could only display 50,000-150,000 at a time, so in order to get more fidelity out of it, the engineers implemented a dithering effect to better blend the otherwise sharp edges between colors.

I used this shader to achieve the dithering effect. If you don't understand shader languages, that's fine. There are a few different pre-built ones for looking like the PlayStation 1 out there.

TEXTURES

Textures for the PS1 could be as big as 256x256, but they were typically 128x128. And they would squish everything a model needed into there usually, at least with like player models and objects and such.

As mentioned, if you're not good with shader language don't worry. There are countless resources out there that people will either let you use or teach you how it works. But I'm gonna touch on it a little bit here.

PS1 textures had no pixel filtering, so you could see individual pixels.

This is what determines that in the shader code. If you want it to look like the N64 (blurry lol), the proper hint is "filter_linear". Note that it won't be 1:1 with N64, cuz they used bilinear filtering (which kinda sucks and causes weird quirks) whereas now you'll only find linear or trilinear filtering. It's a negligible difference imo.

PS1 textures also were only saved using 15 bit color. I'm told that Photoshop's "Posterize" filter set to 32 can achieve this, but don't use photoshop if you can help it. I use GIMP, and while a newer version might have a posterize filter, or there may be a plugin out there, my version doesn't so I cluge it a little.

Change your color mode to "indexed", set color dithering to how you like it, and the number of colors in the palette to a number to get a good result. Usually I'll do 16, 8, 32, but occasionally I'll cheat and do a non-multiple-of-8 teehee >:3c

You can change it back to RGB after to make further editing easier.

LIGHTING

N64 and PS1 both implemented vertex lighting, as opposed to the more modern and (now) ubiquitous per-pixel lighting. Godot as it is right now (4.2 i think?) claims it has vertex lighting that you can set as a shader property but they're lying and it doesn't work yet.

The old consoles could only handle like, 2 lights though so it doesn't matter much.

The real star of the show, and in my opinion the one thing that makes a game most look like the 90s is the inclusion of vertex colors.

By multiplying the color of your texture by its stored vertex color, you can do all the shading yourself!

Plus you can reuse textures like crazy just by coloring them differently. The N64 also made heavy use of vertex colors by forgoing a texture on models entirely and just painting them using verticies. The only textures on SM64 Mario are his eyes, stache, hat emblem, buttons, and sideburns. Everything else is done with vertex colors.

Here you can see this level from my Crock Land with no vertex coloring, with some of the vertex colors only, and then with the two combined.

Rare loved this. Look at how colorful that cliffside is in Jungle Japes. It makes it so much more interesting than just a brown cliff face. Plus you can see the vertex coloration instead of textures at work on DK and the Gnawty.

My go-to example for PS1 is always Spyro, what a gorgeous game. All of those colors there are not made by a light or an environment. They're hand painted babey! Also! With spyro! The skyboxes are actually just huge domes made up of vertices that are colored in different ways! That's how they can look so colorful and "hi-res".

There's plenty more you can do, like adding a CRT filter or a little bit of chromatic aberration which I haven't gotten into yet.

The way I've learned all this is just by being curious as to how the old consoles did their thing, and slowly accruing the knowledge over time. There's still infinite stuff I don't know too.

I hope that helped! And wasn't too longwinded or confusing! Like I said, it's all about piling up tons and tons of little things, small details, weird graphical quirks that really bring out the retro 3D feel for me.

And I didn't even get into the modeling side of things! That's an entirely different "color-of-the-sky"-sized post though.

I'd be happy to re-explain or explain more about any of this!

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

So, just to be clear, The Good Place is the greatest show in history, it is my heart, my soul, my everything. That said, after the bilionth rewatch, I need to talk about a couple of things:

1. Not a single person in the real Good Place should have been okay with the concept of the Bad Place from the beginning of time. The thing is that eternity, of any kind, is inherently cruel, and I was so happy that the show actually delt with it and acknowledged the problem of it, both as punishment and as a reward. But it makes no sense to me whatsoever that a person who is presumably good and caring would reach paradise and learn that there are people who will never ever reach it, and not immediately demand to talk to the manager or start a riot. In fact, even the people in the bad place wouldn't accept that. And not necessarily just about themselves! Knowing that people will suffer endlessly for the rest of time, regardless of their actions, is beyond horrific for the majority of people in the world, let alone ones who get into heaven. Even in the fake Good Place, there's no way that someone like Chiddi wouldn't be disturbed by it. You can say that Eleanor and Jason had other things to worry about, and that Tahani was too self centered at the beginning to care (though I don't think she was so self centered that she would become that cruel as to think that eternity of suffering is okay for anyone), but to know that your loved ones would never be there with you, that humans will suffer for the rest of time... I don't know how anyone could live with that. Or technically not-live with it, I guess. You know. Cause they're dead. Anyway, I know that we wouldn't have a show if this wasn't the case, but it still doesn't really make sense once you think about it.

2. Even if the humans in the existing system wouldn't revolt over the cruelty of infinity, I feel like the accountants should have. Technically speaking, within the existing system amazingly good people and generally good ones still went to the Bad Place because they had like 1,150,000 points instead of 1,200,000, and not to mention every other person with points between zero and the lower cut of the Good Place. The system makes no sense from its inception. Why on earth should a person with more than a million point literally burn in hell? Why would accountants be okay with this? To see so many green points go to hell? It's horrible.

3. Also, infinity doesn't apply only to humans - it is cruel and unfair that all non-humans in this world are immortal, and on top of that, forced into a job essentially from birth. They did touch it with Michael both changing his job and later becoming mortal, but it's such a shame that the possibility wasn't given to all non-humans. When your only options are forced labour (that you can't choose the type of) or brutal death ("retirement"), you are just as much of a prisoner of the system as the humans.

4. Why exactly is there a system? I know it is irrelevant within the frame of the show, but I am genuinely curious in the philosophical aspect of this, especially since the system in the show is explicitly detached from any religion, religiosity and divinity. Why are humans judged at all? Why only humans? What right or authority do the non-humans have to operate this system and judge humans in the first place? Does this imply a higher being does exist? Or is the universe just really into burocracy, randomly placing atoms in the shape of accountants and fire monsters?

4. Doug Forcett shouldn't have had any points at all. His motivation was just as curupt as Tahani's, and so it didn't matter how much good he did.

5. Funny enough, through the experiment Michael actually found a more moral and fair way to torture people, regardless of how it revealed the flaws in the system. This goes back to the fact that a lot of good people and just normal average people filled the Bad Place. It was established that the Bad Place workers truly believe in justice. They don't do their job because they're evil, they do it because it's their part in keeping the universe balanced. But I can't believe that a demon looks at essentially a good person's file and says "yeah they deserve to get their intestines pulled out of their ass for the rest of eternity". If the revolt wouldn't start from the humans or the accountans (or angles for that matter), it should have started with the demons, who actually deal with the consequences of the flaws in the system every day. Michael's solution is what the Bad Place should have been from the beginning - a tailored torture that fits the crimes of the individual human. Finding out that they're in the Bad Place didn't actually harm the torture at all, it's a form of torture all of its own and should have been incorporated into the new technique (which, technically, it was in the end, when it became the new system). Beyond that, it's just a question of the length of the punishment, which brings us full circle to the first point.

Still the best show ever.

[gracecarstairss]

Prosper Beck: His Patron and His Purpose

In Sword Catcher, Prosper Beck came into Castellane raising hell and causing problems. I am trying to figure out what his secrets are, who his wealthy patron may be, and what purpose he served in the story (and what foreshadowing he provides for book 2). Spoilers below!

THE PATRON

In Sword Catcher, we hear that Prosper Beck came out of nowhere and was already immediately powerful due to a wealthy patron. Andreyen (Ragpicker King) states:

"I wish to know who is funding Prosper Beck. I can tell you it is not just unusual for a criminal so wealthy and connected to simply appear in Castellane, like a sailor stepping off a ship; it is impossible. It takes years to build oneself up in a business. Yet Prosper Beck came from nowhere and has already moved to control the Maze." - Sword Catcher, page 105.

Not only did the wealthy patron fund Beck's entire enterprise, they also gave Beck the money AND the idea to buy up all of Conor's debts as a legal way to back Conor into a corner. If he asks the Treasury for the money, it publicly humiliates House Aurelian and make Conor seem unfit for leadership; therefore, this debt is a way to ensure Conor is going to be forced into doing something that the sponsor wants him to do. In one conversation, Kel tells Antonetta that Conor does not want to marry yet, so will likely not get married until he wants to. Antonetta responds:

"Because he's a Prince? You'd be surprised. We can all be made to do things. It simply requires finding the right way to push." - Sword Catcher, page 142.

The big question is: what does this wealthy sponsor want from Conor; what direction are they pushing him in? To pay back the debt on such short notice, Conor has few options. One is to go to the Treasury, which, as already stated, he is unlikely to do. The other main option for money is to get paid a dowry for marriage (or a loan from a wealthy noble?). Conor chooses the option of marrying a Sarthe princess to get the dowry money. It is possible that the wealthy sponsor is in league with Sarthe, and performed this ploy knowing that the dowry for a Sarthe princess is worth at least 10,000 crowns (the amount Conor owes Beck), successfully pushing Conor to marry into Sarthe and sparking outrage in Castellane, which also causes humiliation of House Aurelian and puts them in a vulnerable spot. Any way Conor tries to pay back the debt, he is screwed.

If the sponsor has a connection to Sarthe, they could be Joss Falconet, since his sister is married to a Sarthian duke, and an alliance with Sarthe would benefit his family (as stated on page 156). However, I don't think it is Joss because although he is a little smarter than Conor's other friends and might have the brains to pull it off, he has clearly stated many times that he is loyal to Conor himself, and this points to him not being the patron as he probably thinks it's in his best interest to stay close and loyal to the Prince. Kel does not closely interact with that many members of the Charter families, so at this point it is unknown if any other members have a connection with Sarthe and a reason to benefit from a Sarthe/Castellane alliance.

However, it is also possible that the noble benefactor was not interested in steering Conor in the direction of Sarthe to stir public outrage. Another option for Conor could have been asking for a loan from a wealthy noble, specifically someone in a Charter family because they are most likely to have 10,000 crowns on hand. Antonetta is the heir of the Silk Charter, which is the most powerful and wealthy charter of the 12. On page 324 of Sword Catcher, Montfaucon says that Antonetta is worth millions. If she is worth millions of crowns, then surely she has the wealth to fund Prosper Beck's operations and provide those 10,000 crowns to buy up Conor's debt. Additionally, Antonetta is intelligent and well-versed in politics, though she hides behind a persona of being vapid and clueless, and from all the nobles Kel interacts with, it is clear to me that Antonetta is the one that is most cunning and least likely to get caught. Sponsoring Beck's enterprise and presenting the idea of buying up Conor's debts is extremely ambitious and risky, something that most nobles would not even think of doing because the risks are too great. However, Antonetta seems like just the person to think up such a scheme and execute it with proficiency, all the while never getting caught because she presents herself as vapid and naive, fooling most (if not all) of the nobility.

If Antonetta is Beck's patron, her motive would likely not include Sarthe at all. She was likely trying to push Conor in her direction, looking for help to pay all this debt off on such short notice. Since she is from the most wealthy Charter family, surely she has the funds to lend Conor this debt, or at least part of it. Perhaps Antonetta's dowry is 10,000 crowns?? (We have no idea if she has a dowry). In return for the loan (or if she has a dowry), she would ask for Conor to marry her. From a conversation Kel and Antonetta have, she says that marrying Conor would give her the main thing she wants and what she has been working towards - control of the Silk Charter (page 484), because if Conor is her husband and is King, he cannot inherit her Charter and so she would inherit it instead. She was working very hard to exploit this loophole because she has little options. In this same conversation, Antonetta says:

"Of course I am interested in power. Everyone is interested in power. Power allows us to chart our own course, make our own choices. And look at my other choices, Kellian. They are few and constraining. I feel them close in on me like the walls of a labyrinth." - Sword Catcher, page 485.

However, there are many confusing problems/issues that come along with this theory that Antonetta is the wealthy patron, partly because we don't have enough information yet to make the full connections. If Conor, who is the Crown Prince, does not even have 10,000 crowns of his own unless he goes to the Treasury, how does Antonetta, who doesn't even have control of the Silk Charter, have that amount of money to loan Conor? Unless it is a dowry, it would be hard for her to get that money from somewhere. This also goes for the idea that she is funding Beck's entire enterprise - that is a HUGE amount of money, so how the hell does she have access to it? This would also mean that Antonetta gave Prosper Beck 10,000 crowns for buying up Conor's debts, and then would plan on giving Conor another 10,000 to pay off the debt (whether as a loan or a dowry). That is 20,000 crowns spent solely on pressuring Conor, which is a huge investment and might not make sense logically for Antonetta. Not to mention the insane amount of money spent to fund Prosper Beck's quick rise to wealth and power. Beck did say that he gets only a cut of the money, and so his patron gets some back, so not all 20,000 is gone. Antonetta would probably get at least 40-50% back? As far as I know, Sword Catcher does not go into much detail on how the Charters have their money set up and how they access it. The Treasury appears to be House Aurelian's money, so the Charter families likely have another way to manage their finances that we are unaware of, and this is why Antonetta may be able to get access to a bunch of money whereas Conor cannot. Still, the money trail is kind of bizarre. Plus, there is this quote from Prosper Beck when Kel meets him:

"And I am sure you wish to know where the money I used to set up my business came from. Specifically, who on the Hill gave it to me. A person who wishes very much, let us say, to destabilize the monarchy. It was their idea that I buy up Conor Aurelian's debts. And they gave the the money to do it." - Sword Catcher, page 352.

It doesn't seem like Antonetta necessarily has any goals to destabilize the monarchy (neither does Joss Falconet). Both of them would be inconvenienced by the fall of House Aurelian, so I don't think they are banking on that. From the bizarre money trail and mental gymnastics needed to be done to figure out why Antonetta would logically invest so much money into trying to trick Conor into owing her money & eventually marrying her due to that debt, I think Antonetta is not the wealthy patron. The interest in "destabilizing the monarchy" also doesn't seem to benefit Antonetta (as far as we know), so I am not banking on her being the patron.

This leaves us with barely anyone else to work with because Kel doesn't closely interact with many of the other nobles, especially the older ones. We have the suspicious Matthieu Gremont having shady meetings in the Maze (page 420) and the Roverges, who had the same brand of wine at their party that Kel saw in Beck's warehouse (page 489). Additionally, Kel had a weird interaction with Sardou, who seemingly was trying to offer...ominous(?) aid to get rid of the Sarthians on the Hill (page 491), but doesn't seem want House Aurelian to fall, so it doesn't seem like he is the most likely candidate for the patron, especially since we know the absolute least about him. Roverge and Gremont (possibly Artal Gremont is doing this business from outside of Castellane and his father was aware of it and helping out) are the most likely candidates, from what we have seen. The patron's motives other than destabilizing the monarchy are really not very well known so we'll see in The Ragpicker King once we get more information. Interestingly, the mysterious wealthy patron funding Beck is not the only odd thing about him. Is Prosper Beck even a man at all, or is he just a name - an alias - for the wealthy patron?

THE PURPOSE

Prosper Beck has some really weird, confusing demands and interests. Every interaction with him or one of his associates gives us more questions about what the hell is going on with him.

We only see him in person once in the book. I think that this man that Kel meets is actually not Beck in the first place. Very little people know what he looks like and where he resides (page 105) and even Andreyen does not know who Beck is - in fact, Andreyen asks Kel to attempt to find out who Beck is from the King (page 292), and this inquiry goes terribly with no information provided (page 308). Then, when Kel meets him, he feels like there's something weird about him:

"Kel watched him go. There was something odd about Beck, something that did not seem to quite match up, but he could not quite put his finger on it, and Jerrod and Beck did not seem to be coming back." - Sword Catcher, page 354.

"Prosper Beck had not been at all what he had imagined. That sense of wrongness, of something being off about the man, nagged at him." Sword Catcher, page 358.

There is no way that Beck just decided to meet Kel even though no other person has been able to meet him before. I think that the real Prosper Beck is actually the wealthy patron. The patron is a wealthy noble that obviously knows who Kel is, got word about the Crawlers almost killing Kel, and this guy is just an intermediary to give out orders to his employees and pretend to be Beck to throw people looking for him (like Kel) off the scent.

Next, I wanted to talk about Beck's weird ass demands. These weird demands also give the idea that Beck really is the patron because he asks really weird, specific, humiliating tasks that show that Beck would have to personally know Conor to ask of him. For example, he tells Conor to put an emetic in a wine bottle, giving it to Roverge and Montfaucon, and then telling him to kill his horse (page 391), which is horrible. Beck also gets Kel to focus on acquiring Antonetta's locket. About the locket fiasco, Kel tells Jerrod:

"And then it occurred to me. Beck wants me to be driven mad with pointless questions. He wants me to be gazing over at the locket and the Alleynes, so I won't be looking somewhere else, somewhere he doesn't want me to look." - Sword Catcher, page 513.

Clearly these ridiculous demands are supposed to just fuck with Conor and Kel and distract them from things that are going on, and are possibly chosen because the patron knows that they will obsess over these things that they care about. The patron might even know about Kel and Antonetta being interested in one another (obviously not know about the grass ring in the locket, just that Kel would grapple with the idea of betraying Antonetta), or it might have just been a request because Beck is aware they know each other and grew up together/were close friends growing up. Still, knowing these things lends the idea that Beck is the patron. It also just makes me think that there might be more to these demands than meets the eye? I'm unsure as to what that would be, though.

When Beck dips on Castellane, he gives Jerrod a message to relay to Kel. It is kind of odd that Beck wanted to give Kel an ominous message as he left. I think Beck is obviously not gone, but the alias of Prosper Beck has left. Beck's enterprise served its purpose and now the patron is moving on, so they swiftly dismantled every trace of Beck. The wealthy patron is giving Kel this message because they want to instill fear into him. This almost leads me to believe that the the patron actually knows who Kel really is, or suspects that Kel is more than he seems. The mysterious message is:

"Trouble is coming for the Hill, Anjuman, and Marivent will not be exempt. You have no idea how bad it will get. Blood will run from the height to the depth. The Hill will drown in it." - Sword Catcher, page 514.

Okay, drama queen. This actually sounds a lot like the warning from the assassin at the very end of the book. It is possible that the patron is also the person who orchestrated the attack on the palace and the assassinations of Princess Luisa, Sena Anessa, and the attempted assassination of Conor. I definitely think there might be more than one noble orchestrating these things because there has got to be at least two nobles that are actively attempting to destabilize the monarchy.

One final thing I wanted to talk about when it comes to Prosper Beck's importance/purpose in the story is Jerrod's reactions to Kel. Jerrod is Beck's right hand man (you could say that Jerrod is...at his beck and call). When Kel first interacts with the Crawlers, Jerrod is the first person to realize that Kel is not the Prince, and actually tries to deter the other Crawlers from trying to kill him immediately (before the arrows start flying):

"She started toward Kel, Kaspar and the others following. Kel flexed his hands at his sides, preparing to fight. Jerrod, to his surprise, hadn't moved. He was still holding on to the front of Kel's jacket.

'Back off, Lola,' he said. 'And the rest of you. Listen to me-'" - Sword Catcher, page 186.

After Kel is stabbed and lying in the alley, Jerrod asks him who he is and apologizes to him about what happened. He is still acting pretty weird. It seems like he might actually recognize him from somewhere? Then, at the end of the book, in Kel and Jerrod's last interaction, Kel asks why he didn't just kill him, but instead left him dying. This is his response:

"'You've made plenty of trouble for me,' Jerrod said shortly. 'The answer is simple. I saw Ji-An on the wall. She seemed invested in keeping you alive, and I didn't want to go directly against the Ragpicker King.'

It was a sound enough reason, but it didn't sit quite right with Kel. Something about the whole situation gnawed at him." - Sword Catcher, page 514.

This is so bizarre. I have looked at the prologue and there doesn't appear to be anyone matching Jerrod's name or description when Kel is in the Orfelinat, so Jerrod probably wouldn't know him from there. I almost suspected that he used to be Kel's friend Cas, but Cas has a much different physical description than Jerrod (he has dark hair, while Cas is blonde w/ freckles; that's basically all I could find). Also, I would think that Kel would recognize that he was Cas after a while. They are definitely not the same person. I just don't know how Jerrod recognized him or whatever happened there. It seemed like he may not have met Kel before, but possibly heard about the Sword Catcher and suspects it to be Kel - we still have no idea how Andreyen found out that Kel was the Sword Catcher (we maybe can assume that his spies in the Palace found out and relayed the information to him?). It may be possible that Jerrod found out information from some of these spies, or found out the information through Prosper Beck (the fake intermediary) from the patron. Running with this theory, the assassin at the end of the book knew that Kel was the Sword Catcher, and if we can assume that Beck's patron is behind the Palace attack, then it's possible that the patron knows who Kel really is. I think I'm just running my mind in circles trying to figure it out when in reality I don't think we have enough information yet.

Overall, I think that Prosper Beck is the alias of the patron, who is controlling all of Beck's enterprises. This patron's identity is still up in the air, but I am betting on either Roverge, Gremont, or Sardou - all of which seem kind of obvious though, seeing that they have all been seen with shady ties to the Maze (Roverge, Gremont) or ominous conversations that hint to having shady ambitions (Sardou). Even though I like the theory that Antonetta is the patron, I don't think it makes sense with her character (unless she is a huge anti-monarchist, or will highly benefit from the fall of House Aurelian, which remains to be seen).

The main purpose of Beck's character is, evidently, to cause a monumental shift in the power dynamics of the Hill, destabilizing the monarchy and making House Aurelian vulnerable. Not only is this patron using the alias of Prosper Beck to cause chaos within the Hill, but also within the Ragpicker King's business as well. From the disruption of both House Aurelian and the Ragpicker King, the patron was able to prevent the two from interacting (likely responsible for killing the guard that was the go-between for King Markus and Andreyen), further maintaining Castellane's vulnerability and hiding the identity of the patron. This patron is really well-versed in everything that's going on both in the Hill and in the City, so I think that they are definitely going to be spending a lot of effort to kill Kel in book 2, seeing as the assassin wasn't too happy with his interference in Conor's assassination attempt. It is unclear what the end goal is - Castellane takeover? Maybe the anti-monarchists want to make it a democracy? We will find out in book 2, I suppose!

[berrylover0571]

People will look propaganda straight in the face, identify it as truth, and pretend very earnestly that they are telling the truth.

There is not a single state in the entire world, not one, that has your best interests in mind. People do, friends, comrades, people willing to fight have your best interests in mind. Anyone representing a state power, anyone in any capacity, for any reason does not care about you and will never care about you so long as they represent and continue to represent the state power uncritically.

The problem is not that the United States is worse than China or vice versa, the problem is that these organizations exist at all to police and control people. The problem is they are, by and large, bureaucracies that inhibit people's ability to directly influence the needs they have, and the systems they have to provide for the people are almost always predicated upon some form of prejudice ingrained into the society. No person, speaking for State media, will ever tell you the truth, they will tell you their State's version of the truth, and not the actual lived experience or lived truth that people exist in. They will sanitize, recontextualize, repurpose, edit, and omit any number of things to tell the narrative they want to tell. This is not unique to the United states, this is not unique to britain, this is not unique to russia, ukraine, china, korea, Japan, indonesia, the Philippines, mexico, brazil, guatemala, venezuela, argentina, georgia, finland, denmark, the netherlands, france, spain, italy, austria, the fucking Vatican City, Greece, turkey, ethiopia, Libya, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and on, and on, and on, and on. All of these states have different interests, some of them influence definitely by others substantially, While others definitely have more influence than others, some of them influence based on capital, some of them influence based on fear, some of them influence based upon the Assumption of benignity, some operate based upon lack of common understanding and education upon their issues, some operate based upon fucking tourism, some operate based upon who they're in proximity to and what alliances they are a part of, and some operate upon the understanding that everyone operates just like they do. Every fucking state has a checkered history, a checkered past, a monster sitting in his closet, because if we look at the past of humanity, if we look at the hundreds of years that exist from now, backwards, we will find that there are quite a number of terrible things, because humans do a number of terrible things when there are no better options.

And when better options are presented and there are people who have vested interests in the terrible options, people will fight to maintain the terrible ones even if there are better options. If you ask why, you don't understand in any fundamental way how humans work, it's not born out of any savagery, it's not born out of any possible evil that exists, even though I do believe evil does fucking exist, it's born out of the gross and disgusting systems that are established that cause us to exploit each other. When you look back at history, there are terrible people doing terrible things, but every single terrible system has in some uncomfortable capacity a large number of normal people doing normal things for normal reasons. For every evil dictator there is a thousand office workers, a million laborers, some who are forced and some who are voluntary, all of whom simply do it because the system says to. The best thing you can do to oppose this is to ask questions, oppose these very systems of Oppression, and to stop going with the assumption that evil people will present themselves. That evil is so plain and obvious that everyone will oppose it when it comes about.

The most uncomfortable reality is understanding that no state has your best interests in mind, every single one of them has the capacity to do harm and reciprocates and reinforces harm, and in that way, for that reason, they are not to be trusted, and people acting for them are not to be trusted. Until we forsake the chains that bind us, until we look at these borders that we respect so reverently, these governments the Dominate and calculate and count us, until we create a new system where these people cannot be empowered in this terrible system cannot be made, until we take power for ourselves and for the people around us, we cannot trust a single thing said by somebody who does those things.

I do not trust official statements by the US government to clarify or embold in anything, I don't trust Joe biden, I will never trust Joe biden, I will never trust his government or his people, I did not trust Trump's government or his people, I don't trust China's government for the people that work for Xi Jinping, I don't trust Putin and his government people, I don't trust anyone who I can't sit down and have lunch with, who I couldn't on any given day for any given reason bump into an offer food to, I don't trust any self-important self-righteous monsters who can have, at the weight of a hand, the capacity to annihilate an entire city without ever having to witness the explosion.

The only people I trust aren't influencers, they're people, people I can text, I can talk to, I can reason with, I can ask questions to, someone who I can have lunch with, who can come to a reasonable conclusion with, who isn't trying to spin the narrative, I only trust people who are willing to speak plainly with me, forsaking of formalities, and honest. Not trying to win me over, not trying to perform something, not trying to sell me something, honest people who talk plainly.

The fact that so many people on the internet are willing, almost disgustingly so, to just believe anything they hear for any reason, so long as it's told to them in an entertaining way tells me exactly where their priorities lie and exactly how to motivate them. That's scary. If you are that reactionary, if you are that willing to engage with an ideology simply because it is presented in a pretty way, I don't trust you to fight for my rights and I don't trust you to do the things that I need you to do. If it is so easy to motivate you, you don't actually believe in what you're saying, no matter how true it is, you believe in its entertainment value, you believe in its engagement, and there's no neurodivergent explanation for that, there's no marginalized explanation for that, the only explanation is that you are reactionary, human, but reactionary nonetheless, and you need to establish a firm basis for your beliefs.

If all it takes for you to believe something is a fancy text and a pretty presenter, you were never going to believe that in the first place, you just needed somebody to sell it to you. That is the worst part of capitalism.

The most malicious part of capitalism, the most detrimental and dangerous thing is the fact that it has wired many people, many many people, to look for good salesman to rationalize their beliefs, and not good people to help them. The problem with capitalism is that everything becomes a product to sell you, including things to believe, and causes to fight for.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Forty-Two

Not every state has a system in which townspeople vote on their school district's operating budget, union contracts, etc... but New Hampshire does. Yesterday was voting day here, and the budget didn't pass, meaning we're left with a default budget (this year's budget plus any expenditures that are mandatory) that's about $1.2 million shorter than what the district had wanted. The admins say they're "exploring all options," but the likely outcome will be the closure of an elementary school.

The school board already voted to close one in the 2025-2026 school year, this just speeds it up by a year. There was much debate at the deliberative session about why we didn't just speed it up a year, so I assume that's what voters had in mind when they made this decision.

As you can imagine, it's causing a lot of emotions for parents, teachers, kids, etc... So that's rough.

It's not rough for me personally, though. I don't have kids, for one thing. And, as a high school teacher, my job is in no danger; plus, the high school may actually benefit because the paras, custodians, etc... at the elementary school can be transferred up here where we're desperately short-staffed. I'm not pointing that out to anybody who's upset, of course, because that'd be a jerk move. I'm just writing it here because, well, it is what it is.

Anyways.

Today was also an early release day, so some of my students didn't come to school (that's less of an issue than it used to be because the district's taken steps to address the importance of attendance, even for short classes, with parents, but it's definitely still an issue), and some of the students who were in attendance got a talking-to about utilizing the time as opposed to packing up ten minutes early and playing on their phones. It wasn't a super stern talking-to, just a gentle one, but I think it was effective because a lot of the students I spoke to returned to their seats and to their work. So that's a win.

It's a "B" day, so I was doing the same thing I did with the other half of my ninth graders yesterday. First, they took a content quiz, and then they either read or, if they'd finished their books, worked on their papers. My APGOV students also had a quiz- a vocab quiz- and then we played a rowdy game of Kahoot to prepare for their next test. We finished right at the bell, so some of my ninth graders got to witness the (very loud and jubilant) ending of that. That was fun.

We had a faculty meeting in the afternoon and worked on some curriculum mapping stuff in interdisciplinary groups, which wasn't bad. After that, I met quickly with my department to go over some information and get their nominees for our academic awards. That left us all with about 45 minutes of time to work on our own. So I did a bit of grading, wrote a scholarship recommendation letter, and then it was time to go!

[alliedcreation]

Space Tourism Market is set to zoom past $12,690.6 Million by 2031 end at a moderate CAGR of 36.4%

 Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022–2031,” the space tourism market size was $598.4 million in 2021 and is expected to reach $12,690.6 million by 2031, registering a CAGR of 36.4% from 2022 to 2031.

The market for space tourism is mostly driven by the rising trend of space tourism across the globe. The market for space tourism is expected to grow faster than expected throughout the projected period as the practice becomes more widely accepted in international markets. In addition, it is anticipated that increasing competition in the space tourism sector will drive down prices. Furthermore, as the orbit is reached by the next-generation space planes, the cost of entering space is anticipated to fall sharply. As a result, the price of launching satellites is probably going to drop significantly, which would lower the overall cost of space exploration operations. As a result, space flight will eventually become a viable economic option.

Request For Sample :- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11039

The space tourism market shows high growth potential in Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. Significant contributors to the growth of the Asia-Pacific market include the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). CAS Space, a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) spinoff, has been developing rockets for commercial satellite launches.

On the other side, the environment is harmed by space travel. Launches of rockets harm the environment in general. Ozone depletion is caused by the discharge of hazardous gases and black carbon (soot particles) into the upper atmosphere by rocket engines using rocket fuels. Some space firms, though, don't use black carbon as fuel. Rockets powered by liquid hydrogen-hydrogen fuel are used by businesses like Blue Origin's New Shepard. Burning hydrogen produces water vapor instead of carbon dioxide. Such factors are restraining the space tourism market growth.

The space tourism market forecast is segmented on the basis of type, end use, and region. On the basis of type, the market is divided into orbital and sub orbital. The sub orbital segment accounted for a major space tourism market share in 2021, and is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Suborbital tourism is on the rise as it allows individuals to experience weightlessness and observe space without actually exiting the Earth's orbit. As a result, human spaceflight can reach the edge of the universe without entering orbit.

As per end use, the space tourism market analysis is segmented into Government and commercial. The commercial segment accounted for a major share of the market in 2021, and is expected to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. The commercial space tourism market is rising and expected to dominate the market. There were thirteen commercial spaceflight missions undertaken by several private and government organizations, of which seven missions were executed successfully. Billionaires have invested considerable sums in traveling to space and witnessing the Earth from above.

In 2021, North America accounted for 43.7% share in the global space tourism market and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. However, LAMEA and Asia-Pacific are expected to possess the highest CAGRs, owing to the rising space tourism market trends and Focus on Research and Development (R&D) initiatives by market players.

Request For Customization :- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/11039

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on the commercial aviation sector and has prevented many people from travelling for both leisure and business. The growth of the space tourism market has been hampered by the setback in the travel and tourism sector. It is believed that this effect may lengthen space missions and momentarily halt long-haul missions. There are now more options for supersonic and hypersonic flights because to the expansion of corporate jet travel and in-flight connectivity. When compared to other mediums, it has enabled the companies to realize the potential for time savings on long-haul flights.

The major players analyzed for the global space tourism industry is Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Airbus Group SE, Boeing, ZERO-G, Axiom Space, Bigelow Aerospace, Orion Span, Space Adventures, Space Perspective, World View Enterprises, Zero2Infinity.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

By type, the sub-orbital segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market with $355.3 million in 2021 and is estimated to reach $7,227.7 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 35.8%. Depending on end-use, the commercial segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market, with $348.2 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $7,046.4 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 37.7%. Region-wise, North America was the highest revenue contributor, accounting for $267.2 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $4,936.7 million by 2031, with a CAGR of 34.6%.

Buy Now :- :- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/82fcd0aa3e33a7fe66937f2bcdd9bdeb

[dankovskaya]

What comics are u reading?? Since u got all your recs and that besides ur tabs

Oh lord this depends on how loosely I can consider myself to be reading something. "Actively" reading as in I've read at least one issue in the past week I've got Green Lantern v3, Hellblazer, Midnighter 2007, No Man's Land, Moon Knight 2016 and Storm 2014. Oh and I just started Gambit 2012. The backburner comics that I am technically in the process of reading but have not touched in a while are Aquaman v5, Blood Syndicate, Flash v2, and Birds of Prey. I'm also sporadically following reading lists for Kory and Talia and Mari (and Garth but I've been stuck on Aquaman v5 for a while 😭), plus there's all the random smaller/one-off stories or individual arcs/issues I read in one sitting on impulse all the time, and all the "projected" readings and rereadings I have open but haven't started yet... Basically TOO MUCH!

[tf2canons]

I know this is heavy, but, what if the mercs S/O was prone to cutting because they get a rush out of it, not because they're depressed or anything. However, I understand if you don't want to do this one

Content warning: Self harm

Spy - He does his best to control his feelings, but he’s frustrated. He doesn’t like to see you hurt, and he hates to see you hurting yourself for no good reason even more. There’s a million other things you could do to get a rush, and he’ll tell you that. Why not go sky diving? Swimming with sharks? Literally anything else? He will try his best to be patient with you but he will insist that you work on stopping. It’s going to be tough love, but he has your best interest at heart.

Sniper - When you first tell him, he says he needs some time to think about it. You don’t see him for three whole days, and god knows what he does during that time, but when you see him again he’ll have his thoughts sorted out. “Look, love, I kill people for a living. I live in a van and I don’t shower half the fucking time. I’m not going to get pissed at you over this. Just don’t let it get any worse, yeah?” He doesn’t like it, but he’ll tolerate it as long as it doesn’t get extreme or cause you any serious problems. If it starts impacting your health or getting in the way of your functioning, that is when he’ll step in and try to get you to quit. 

Medic - He’s upset when he first sees your injuries, but once you explain to him why you do it, it becomes a different story. He thinks he has a solution. “Why don’t you let me operate on you instead? I can run some experiments and you still get to feel that rush- I’ll keep you conscious! And it is productive!” He figures that it will be more sanitary and controlled that way, and will give him a new victim patient to experiment on. He won’t hold it against you if you turn him down. However, he will try to help you quit, suggesting alternatives and ways for you to distract yourself. 

Scout - It really scares him. He knows it’ll get worse. If you’re doing this now, how bad is it going to be in a month? Or a year? The first time he sees all your injuries it’ll be hard for him to keep himself from crying. He’ll give you a huge hug and practically beg for you to quit. “Please don’t keep doin’ this. We can find something else that’ll give you a rush- you just can’t keep hurting yourself, babe, please.” If you can’t stop it’s going to be a problem; he’ll feel like he’s stuck helplessly watching you slowly destroy yourself, and he won’t be able to handle it. 

Pyro - When you show them your injuries and explain it to them, they’ll just stare at you for a good few uncomfortable minutes. Then they’ll suddenly take your hand and lead you outside, where they go to the nearest flammable object and put their flame thrower in your hands, then look back and forth between you and said flammable object until you get the message. There’s a pretty simply solution, Pyro thinks. Nothing gives a better rush than lighting something on fire. You’ll be trading self harm for arson, but to them that is a much better option. 

Soldier - “This is reckless endangerment of a soldier and I will not stand for it! We are going to blow things up instead!” Like Pyro, he figures there’s better ways to give you a rush. So he’s going to buy you a rocket launcher and take you somewhere you can blow things up. It’s still dangerous and it’s still reckless, but you aren’t intentionally physically hurting yourself anymore. Plus it’s something he can do with you to make sure you’re okay. And rocket jumping is pretty fun. 

Heavy - It troubles him deeply. He’ll ask you to explain why you do it to him in an effort to understand, but it’s hard for him to grasp. He is very patient with you but he’ll ask you to stop, saying that no rush is worth harming yourself over. He cares about you a lot and he doesn’t want to see you in pain. He’ll worry about it almost constantly until he knows that you’ve quit, and you’ll be able to tell that it’s on his mind. He’ll stick near you more than ever before, like he doesn’t want to leave you alone, and he’ll hold you a little tighter when he hugs you.

Demo - He’s no stranger to addiction and self harm, though he harms himself through his alcohol addiction instead of with a blade. He understands it better than any of the others would and he will be very patient with you. He won’t judge, but he will try to convince you to stop, or to at least do it less. He’ll do his best to motivate you through recovery, reminding you that your body and your health are worth more than this. 

Engineer - “Darlin, that ain’t accomplishin’ anything. You’ll just be making problems for yourself once you get addicted to it.” He’s gentle about it but he makes it clear he doesn’t approve. He tries to help you find alternative, less destructive things for you to do whenever you’re craving a rush, and he offers to distract you from yourself whenever you need it. But it’s very important to him that you understand how harmful this could get and that you stop before its too late. 

[k-p-p-d]

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (M)

Summary: His intentions aren’t necessarily good, but don’t ever let Dr. Kim Minseok be misunderstood.

Warning: graphic content, mentions of torture, minor character death

Length: 3.7k

A/N: Don’t hate me, @admincl.

Previously...

“If they find out, we’re dead.”

Han cut his eyes to the slightly trembling man sat across from him, gaze decidedly annoyed and boyish features pulled down into a scowl. “Ye of little faith, Park.” He sighed, “How long have we been running this operation?”

“About a year--“

“And how much have we made?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Maybe about 20 million?”

“USD?”

“Yeah.”

Han nodded, “And how much are we projected to make with just this shipment  alone?”

“Almost 3 million.” Han lifted a brow, wordlessly demanding clarification which the other hurriedly supplied, “USD. Sir.”

“And what’s the conversion rate of USD to yuan?”

“Um,” a beat of silence passed between them as the other man wracked his brain for the right number. Han almost scoffed; what was the point of having an accountant (an American, no less) if he couldn’t even keep track of simple exchange rates.  “It’s 6.62 to 1?”

Han did scoff this time. “Are you asking or telling me?”

“Telling. Sir. It’s 6.62 yen to one dollar.”

“So that means we’re pretty rich, aren’t we?”

The accountant shifted uncomfortably as he affirmed, “Yes, sir, it does.”

“And how many times have we been close to getting caught?”

“Well, none—“

Han hummed as he momentarily contemplated the other man’s answers.  “You know,” he began slowly as he shifted the papers on his desk, “a betting man would say the odds are in our favor.   Would you agree?”

“Yes, sir, I would—“

“And yet, here you are, ready to piss your pants instead of doing your fucking job,” the Chinese man snapped venomously.  “Amazing,” he chuckled humorlessly.

“I’m sorry, sir! I didn’t mean to—“

“Waste my time?” Han interjected icily, making the accountant blanch at the allegation.  He rolled his doe eyes as he dismissively continued, “Well, unfortunately for you, you have.  So you have two options: You can continue to waste my time while I find someone to replace you, which won’t take more than a phone call. Or…” He leaned over his desk until his face was squarely in the other man’s as he growled, “You can get the fuck out of my office and go do whatever the fuck it is I pay you for while I worry about shit far above your paygrade.” Han grinned brightly--his pearly white teeth bared to catch the fluorescent light--as he lilted, “The choice is up to you!”

The American hurriedly scrambled out of the office, leaving Han in peaceful silence.  Fate being the cruel mistress that she was, less than a minute later a harsh knock against his door resounded ominously through his office.  “What?” he gruffly barked, a string of curses flying through his head and ready to roll off his tongue if one Park J--

“Now Lu,” a silvery voice drawled, “is that anyway to greet your guests?”

The Chinese man started as his eyes met the catlike ones belonging to none other than-- “Minseok-ge,” he chirped brightly as he swiftly gathered himself, “what a lovely surprise!” Han rose from his desk and beckoned the man into his office. “I wasn’t expecting you!”

Minseok smiled pleasantly, though the warmth of his smile didn’t reach his eyes, as he shrugged, “I know how much you love surprises so here I am. And I even brought a friend!”

Han’s hackles rose as Kyungsoo sauntered into the room with a broad grin on his cherubic face. “Lu Han-ge, it’s so wonderful to finally see you again,” he greeted the elder smoothly.

“Kyungsoo, if I wasn’t staring at you now, I’d think you were a fellow Beijing son,” he complimented.  “Your Mandarin has improved greatly since the last time I saw you. Yixing has taught you quite well.”  Kyungsoo only hummed in response as he gracefully dropped into one of the oversized leather armchairs sat in the elder’s office.  Han couldn’t help the downward tick of his lips at the presumptuous action of the younger (especially after said younger had criticized the exact same chairs on his last visit--”They’re comfortable but they’re not black”) but he quickly recovered and waved an arm towards the other seat as he courteously offered in Korean, “Please, have a seat, Minseok-ssi.”

The chemist shook his head and declined in Mandarin, “No, thank you.  I’d prefer to stand as I’ve been sitting all evening so far. But please, don’t stand on just my behalf.”  Despite the friendliness in his voice, Han knew the polite request was a thinly veiled command; and to disobey Minseok in any way would be to incur the punishment of Kyungsoo. So he sat, eyes lowered slightly and lips spread into a demure smile.  “Business has been doing quite well for us lately, hasn’t it,” the eldest began as he lazily thumbed through the opened ledger sat on the desk between them.

“Yes, it has.  Would you like for us to speak in Korean for Kyungsoo’s sake or…?” Han proffered.

“If his Mandarin wasn’t sufficient, he wouldn’t be here,” Minseok returned warmly as he glanced toward the youngest, who simply beamed at them both. Turning back toward Han, he flicked the ledger shut and sighed, ”You look tired, Lu. Are you resting well?”

There was something about the eldest man’s countenance which made Han shift uncomfortably in his seat. He was far too calm, far too collected.  Something was off and Han didn’t know what, but his body was on high alert as his mind ran through every possible scenario that would let him escape this encounter with his life. “They say there’s no rest for the wicked and considering the bags under my eyes, I’d say it’s true,” he answered with a lighthearted chuckle.

Minseok leaned forward slightly to curiously examine the other man’s eyes, felinesque eyes narrowed and gaze piercing, and not for the first time that evening did Han feel as if he were baited prey one wrong move away from death. The chemist’s mouth twitched downward as he straightened up. With a solemn nod he declared, “You need a vacation, Lu.”

“A vacation would be nice, but—”

“That wasn’t up for debate.”

Han blanched.  An icy chill spiked through his blood vessels and his heart skidded to a halt as panic flooded his system.  He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sharp ones staring so intensely into his but his ears didn’t miss the sounds of Kyungsoo fishing out his favorite switchblade from his pocket.  

This was it.  

This was the end.  

His senses kicked into overdrive as his body readied itself to either put up a fight or take flight.  If he tried to fight, he would definitely die.  Even though the gun he had latched to the underside of his desk would give him a slight advantage, Kyungsoo was 77 for 0. If he tried to escape, he’d still have to fight his way out of the office, putting him right back at the end of Kyungsoo’s blade. Every scenario he played in his head all ended the same: Him on the floor, lifeless body cold and bloodied and wide eyes vacant staring blankly into darker, wider ones as a signature tally mark was sliced into his forearm. The odds were not in his favor.

Staring Death in the eyes was a funny thing, Han realized bitterly. Being confronted with one’s own mortality so suddenly could make a person as desperate to live as a sewer rat trying to find food.  But he wasn’t a sewer rat: He had reasoning and he had cunning. No matter what he did, someone was going to die today.  But that didn’t mean it had to be him.

Han grinned warmly, “Well, I have always wanted to go to Macau as a tourist, especially with the way Yifan drones on and on about its beauty.  When should I go?”

Minseok smiled, again the mirth of his gummy smile failed to reach his icy glare, “Tonight.  You can take the yacht.”

“Wonderful.” The Chinese man reached toward the desk phone, “I’ll just notify my secr--”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kyungsoo interrupted, his smooth baritone voice hung thick and heavy in the air as if it were trying to smother the feeble flicker of hope for survival surging through Han’s body.

Minseok pushed the phone to the farthest corner of the desk as he explained, “We’ve already arranged everything for you and your secretary will be notified of your departure after we conclude our business here.  Now whether or not you’re able to enjoy your vacation in one or two or seven pieces is entirely dependent upon you.”

“I’m not quite sure—“ Minseok clicked his tongue loudly. “You have such an interesting face,” he mused. Lazily he stroked the back of his thumb against Han’s full cheek, causing the other man to startle at the sudden and highly intimate touch. “It gives you such a boyishly aloof charm, did you know that? Of course you did because you yourself aren’t aloof about the effects your looks have on others. You’re not aloof about anything really. So before you even think to try to lie to me again, know this: Your charm has no effect on me and I won’t even bat an eye while Kyungsoo slices it off.”

“He really won’t!” the disconcertingly cheerful psychopath brightly chimed in at the mention of his name.

Han gulped, barely managing to stammer, “T-that won’t be n-necessary, I’m sure.”

“Let’s hope not.”  Minseok smirked, and this time his eyes glowed brightly with a sinister glint.  “Kyungsoo, do you mind?”

“Not at all.”  In the blink of an eye, Kyungsoo’s strong arms were wrapped tightly around Han’s body--one arm around his waist and the other constricting along his neck as a hand pressed the smooth edge of the sharp blade into his carotid--in a deadly snare.  He felt in that moment every bit like the deer his features made him resemble.

The chemist casually strode past the two men to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows behind them.  He inhaled deeply as he carefully surveyed the twinkling lights of the city sprawled beneath them.  He’d always loved Beijing and there truly was no better view of the city than this. Maybe after it was all over, he thought absentmindedly, he’d permanently relocate here; after all, Han wouldn’t be in much need of an office anymore.  Shrugging, he plucked up the ornate glass decanter from the table next to him.  “I won’t insult your intelligence by saying I know you’re probably wondering what this is really all about,” he began in a honey-coated purr as he smoothly poured the amber liquid into an equally ornate tumbler.  “Someone has been stealing from me and I need to know who.”

“Minseok, I don’t ha—” 

The words died in Han’s constricted throat as the blade pressed harder into the soft, vulnerable flesh. “Ah, ah, gege; don’t break my heart and make me have to kill you,” Kyungsoo murmured darkly in his ear, the heat of his breath making the trembling man’s ripple with chills. “That’d be such a shame because I truly do like you. Good company is so hard for me to come by these days.”

The soft clink of glass drew Han’s attention back toward the other Korean. “Kyungsoo finds liars to be incredibly rude,” the eldest stated matter of factly. Minseok lifted the glass to the light to admire the clarity of the glowing liquid. “You have very excellent taste, Lu,” he complimented, “very excellent taste, indeed, in so many things. Whiskey, women, wingbacks. So unfortunate your taste doesn’t extend into your hiring practices. Could have saved us all so much trouble.” He shrugged before taking a swig of his drink. “Thankfully, you’re incredibly observant so I’m certain you know exactly who’s responsible.” He walked back around until he was staring into the man’s doe eyes. “All we need is a name.”

The way he saw it, Han had three choices: He could confess, play dumb, or lie.  If he confessed, he’d be separated from his beloved neck then and there. If he played dumb, he’d be subjected to whatever sadistic torture tactics swirling in Kyungsoo’s twisted mind; torture, while not fun, was survivable and he knew plenty of skilled surgeons who owed him a favor or two.  If he lied, well… 

Lying had always been his strongest suit.

Han swallowed hard, a grimace crossing his face as the blade dug into his Adam’s apple. Slowly, he raised both of his hands. “There’s a file in my desk,” he began, “with all the intel I’ve gathered on Park Jaebeom. The key to the drawer is in my pocket.” He motioned cautiously with a finger to left leg, “If I may…” 

Minseok assented with a nod and Kyungsoo loosened his grip on Han’s waist. Han swiftly fished out the silver key and handed it to the man behind him. Kyungsoo leaned their bodies forward—the blade digging that much harder into Han’s throat—so he could unlock the drawer. Standing them both back up, the younger slid the file across the glass surface of the desk toward the chemist, who lazily flicked it open and thumbed through every sheet in the file.  Minute after minute crawled past at an excruciatingly slow pace. Han knew it was essential to keep his composure yet his racing thoughts had his breath threatening to hitch with every heartbeat. At long last, the chemist closed the file and straightened his posture. “Well,” he sighed, “I must apologize for ever doubting you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” Han managed a smile, “You’re forgiven.”  

The chemist flashed his signature gummy grin before he waved his hand to signal Kyungsoo to stand down. Reaching out, he ghosted his fingertips over Han’s tender throat as he checked the reddened flesh for any cuts. “How’s your throat feel?”

Han wanted to scoff at the absurdity of the question and careful touches but instead he shrugged, “Best shave of my life.”

Minseok chuckled lightly as he pushed the phone back toward the center of the desk. “Do you mind?” he posed sweetly while handing the receiver to the other man. Another threatening demand painted in the soft hues of a polite request. Han gingerly took the receiver. “What should I tell him?”

“That you need to see him,” he tossed over his shoulder as he refilled his glass.

“Right.” 

“It’s important for you to act natural,” Kyungsoo stressed as he slithered to stand beside the door. “That shouldn’t be too difficult for you to manage, right?”

Han chose to ignore the barb in favor of swiftly dialing the familiar number. “Get your ass in here,” he barked harshly before slamming the receiver down. “How was that?” he inquired sheepishly. Minseok simply nodded, not even bothering to turn around from where he stood at the window.

A few moments passed before a soft knock sounded on the door. “You wanted to see me, sir?” a muffled voice called.

Han reflexively rolled his eyes and flatly quipped, “No. I wanted to see your mother. Now get your ass in here and give me her number.”

The world itself seemed to suddenly spin in slow motion to Han as the door slid open. He watched as Jaebeom stepped into the well-laid snare he had so desperately rigged. And in the exact instant the steel jaws of reality bit down viciously into Han’s conscience, Kyungsoo sprang into action with a brutal elbow strike to the back of his prey’s head, the blow rendering the man into a crumpled heap on the floor. Han could barely breathe, could barely think, could barely choke down the clammy grip of guilt as it struggled to claw its way out of his throat and past his lips in a scream of horror while he helplessly watched Kyungsoo almost gleefully tore Jaebeom’s tongue from his mouth, ripping a bloodcurdling shriek of agony from the bloodied man. Kyungsoo patted his cheek with his right hand while lifted the severed tongue to where its previous owner could ogle at it. “Can’t lie if you can’t speak,” he explained, smoothly switching to Korean. He flung the useless muscle across the room where it landed at Han’s feet. “He certainly won’t be needing that anymore,” he commented in Mandarin with a wink at the elder. 

Turning back to the trapped man beneath him, he ghosted the handle of his blade across Jaebeom’s trembling throat. “Good evening, Jaebeom-ssi. My name is Do Kyungsoo and that man over there is Kim Minseok. I presume you know who we are. Now Minseok-hyung is going to ask you some questions; you will nod for ‘yes’ and shake your head for ‘no.’ If your answers don’t satisfy hyung, I’ll take another piece of you until there’s nothing left. If your answers are satisfactory, you might just make it out of here in two pieces. Assuming of course you want your tongue back…” Jaebeom thrashed weakly beneath him, a desperate sob gurgling out of him and splattering blood across his captor’s cheeks. Kyungsoo clicked his teeth. He hated messes. He haphazardly tore a strip of fabric from the accountant’s shirt and stuffed it into his mouth. “Is that better?” Jaebeom sobbed harder.

“Lu Han tells me you’re the man behind the delay and alterations of my shipments. Is that correct?” Minseok questioned tersely. Jaebeom vehemently shook his head as he tried to deny it. “Pick a number, Lu,” the chemist instructed.

Han tore his eyes away to stare bewildered at Minseok. “W-what?”

“Pick a number. 1-10.”

“I-I don’t...7?”

“Your lucky number. How fitting.”

A muffled howl pierced the air, dragging Han’s attention back down in enough time to see Kyungsoo casually fling a severed ring finger over his shoulder. “Let’s try this again,” Minseok insisted evenly. “You started your operation in December, correct?” Jaebeom nodded. “You purposefully remove less than a half ounce from each individual package, correct?” Another nod. “You repackage those ounces with your own branding to sell as your own, correct?” Nod. “You smuggle exactly 5 grams to my direct competition Jung Hoseok so he can keep his drug competitive to mine, correct?” Head shake. “Is that name unfamiliar to you? Perhaps you know him by another. Professor Hope?” Head shake. “Dr. Sun?” Head shake. “Sunshine Man?” Head shake. “His other one, Kyungsoo.” Another howl, another severed finger.

Han wanted to close his eyes and scratch out the savage images permanently etched into his corneas.  He wanted to block out his ears and purge the gruesome screams echoing in his ringing ear drums. But he couldn’t. If he showed an ounce more of horror than appropriate, then his ruse would come crashing down and it would be him under Kyungsoo’s unforgiving knife. So he forced himself to look unto the chaos he had wrought. And with every slice of the blade into Jaebeom’s flesh, he forced himself not to lose his stomach. He had been boxed into a corner and he had made his decision; this was the consequence of his action, but it would be all worth it because he would be alive. 

The interrogation seemed to carry on for hours until Minseok exhaled heavily as he turned towards the Chinese man. “I am so sorry you had to witness this, Lu.” He fixed a drink and handed it to him before fixing himself one. “At least we have our answers. Cheers.” He clinked their glasses together and downed his own, sharp gaze never leaving Han’s face. Han robotically unclenched his jaw to guzzle the burning liquid.

Kyungsoo swiped his bloodied fingers through Jaebeom’s sweaty hair as he whispered, “Hush now, it’ll all be over soon. We know he’s behind all of it. It’s just that business is business and you’re also complicit so we have to make an example out of you. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure he gets ten times worse than what I’ve given you, all of which you’ve taken so well by the way.” Jaebeom’s nostrils flared as he struggled to scream out despite the tattered fabric stuffed down his throat. Kyungsoo gazed down at the desperate man with a look akin to paternal pride (if he was capable of feeling such a thing, he was certain this was the right moment for it), a heavy sigh escaping his full lips. He really did admire the fighters. They always made for the best memories. “You’ve definitely been one of my favorites to play with but now I must set you free.”

One final stroke of the cheek was all the warning given before Kyungsoo plunged his knife deep into his victim’s neck. As gently as he could manage, Kyungsoo laid the dying man down onto the pale wood floor. He hummed low in his chest with satisfaction as he intently gazed into the glassy eyes staring back at him in horror, the bass of the noise vibrating the tense atmosphere and rippling through Han’s shaken core. The Chinese man drew in a ragged breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the scene—the murder scene—that had just unfolded before him. 

He…

Jaebeom was…

Kyungsoo had…

A crisp chill raced down his spine as Minseok’s dulcet voice sliced through the still air, “Don’t let me be misunderstood: This is not mercy, this is a stay of execution.  I know you were behind this and I know every single detail of your little operation. I’ve had surveillance on you since March and none of your lackeys are intelligent enough or capable of the level of deception and restraint this requires. The only reason you are alive right now is because you are slightly more valuable to me than…” Minseok’s voice trailed off as he flicked his eyes toward where Kyungsoo was hunched over carving a tally mark into the forearm of his fresh kill, “whoever that was, is simply because of who you know.  But understand that you, too, are expendable.” He polished off his drink—piercing eyes never breaking contact as he did—before he made his way to the door. Just as he wrapped a hand around the handle, he turned his head just so to glance back at the visibly shaken man behind him. “One day, Death is going to come back for you; and on that day, you’ll be just another tally mark.”

Continue...

—Admin Lily

[filmardotcom-blog-blog]

Don't be SCAMMED this is important

Don't be SCAMMED this is important Have you ever received an email like this: "Dear Traders, Beware of . When you buy from them and send them money, you’ll never get your products and then suddenly can’t contact them anymore. Then they won't answer your emails or take your calls. Soon, you lose all your money. Please share this information with your customers." Or this: "It has been brought to our attention that there may be individuals operating in the marketplace impersonating in order to perpetuate fraud." You’d be surprised how often I get these emails. This next one is especially tricky because it could be legit, depending on your business. “The customer is willing to place a big order but needs sample units first and is not willing to pay for the samples upfront. This is going to be an issue because the sample units are going to be quite expensive.” Whatever your business and wherever you live, scam artists are out there, waiting to take advantage and siphon away your hard-earned revenue. They regularly change their alleged business names, aliases and even their scamming methods to avoid getting caught. But I’ve learned a few tricks in my years about spotting scam artists and I want to provide you with the knowledge and confidence you’ll need to remain scam-free. Below are some tools, tips and resources to help you curtail any future losses. Here are a few more common scams: You pay someone and then don’t receive anything. You buy AC adapters or batteries that turn out to be counterfeit. A product’s condition turns out to be misrepresented. For instance, you were promised Grade A or B, but what you got was junk. The deal you signed up for turns out to be significantly not-as-described. You try to remedy it with the seller but they stop answering your phone calls and responding to emails. Scammers often purchase a domain name similar to yours. They might even take your exact same name but use a .net, .org, or .us, instead of .com. A scam site might link its reviews to your site to make it seem legit. Then when customers Google your company, your reviews will come up. The customer feels comfortable even if the deals seem too good to be true, so they start placing orders on the fraudulent site. The scam site takes the order, but nothing ships out. Soon you start getting calls for order statuses you can’t locate. Read more details of the scam here. This next scam is the most popular one. You order all “Grade A,” “New,” or “Refurbished” products, but when they show up at your dock, they’re all wrong, or it’s all junk. I won’t say you should have gone out and inspected the products yourself, because I‘ve hand-tested each product in an order, then had the boxes swapped during shipping. I probably missed a few but if you come across any other scams, let me know so we can protect other traders. You might not have come across these issues yourself, but it could be worth your while to have some contacts and tools at your disposal when scoping out new customers and vendors. I also have more tricks in my E-book to help you circumvent cheating and get inspections performed on the cheap. The evolving scam Scam deals typically start with a phone call or email. Look closely at the email and the associated domains to get a sense of how serious the request is. Keep in mind, scam artists are going to be slippery. They love to use tricky domain names and fake social media accounts. They’ll even build websites to try to convince you they’re legit. When you talk on the phone with a possible scammer, it’s a good idea to jot down the number they called from. Reverse phone lookups and simple Google searches can help fill in missing information to verify a company. When determining if a buyer is safe or a scam, consider if their reviews are real or fake. Scamadviser.com is a good tool for assessing the risk of third-party websites. This tool saves you time authenticating domains. Scamadviser uses an algorithm to authenticate reviews, as well as determine if a website is legit or a front for phishing, and if a seller is peddling fake products. Two important things to consider here are 1) was the domain name registered recently? 2)how long until the domain name expires? Scammers are not going to register a domain name years in advance. Scam domains are usually registered recently. Next, look closer at the email. Does it have a signature, address, phone number, fax? Try to verify some of those details on your own. If they have Skype, WhatsApp or social media contacts, check them out and connect with them. Do those accounts look legit? When did the user last write a post? Use Google Maps to verify addresses, and zoom in using Street View to check out the building. Another verification hack I’ve found useful is calling neighboring businesses and asking about a business I’m suspicious of. How long have they been there? What type of unit are they in? Ask if trucks roll in and out of the location. You’d be surprised how much info people give out to strangers. Counterfeit products are another big problem in our industry — everything from batteries to AC adapters. Some of you probably know this a big problem and don't care because counterfeiting means cheap products. But counterfeit products can cause an end-user’s computer to fail, catch fire or worse, explode. Needless to say, this can lead to very high return rates for you and your resellers. Detecting counterfeit products or fakes can be difficult. RAM modules, hard drives, power adapters and batteries can be verified with the manufacturer, though it’s a time-consuming process. And checking with a manufacturer is really only feasible if you have a very specific need and must be 100% sure an item is legit. So here’s a quick hack to find out if your adapter or battery is legit. Get out a scale and weigh the original and the potential fake. The fake will always weigh less than the original. Here’s a video showing the obvious difference in weight. Payment time So you’re ready to pay and you’re feeling good about the deal. Now comes time to pay. I know what you’re going to say: wire transfer only. But I want to tell you that if the funds were obtained and transferred illegally, they can be reversed by your bank or the originating bank for up to one year. Wire transfers seem to be the favorite method for scammers these days. Good companies take credit cards and charge fees to do so. If a seller insists on wire-only, further investigation on your part is needed. There is too much material to go over in one blog post, but I go over ACH payments, Paypal and credit card payments scams in detail in my E-book (which I highly recommend reading because there is a lot to learn about ACH and the capabilities of reversals and chargebacks). Who can help me? Depending on the type of scam and the legalities of your county, state or country, I would contact a few agencies along with your local police. But first, I recommend consulting with your attorney to see what your options are. You must find a good attorney. If you need help finding an attorney anywhere in the globe, download my E-book. I’ll show you where to find them and how to keep them accountable as you track down buyers and sellers. Here are some other tools and processes you should put in place to avoid becoming a victim yourself. According to the Better Business Bureau’s investigative project Scam Studies, millions of people fall victim to scams each year. Take some time to check out the content there, which is very informative and should keep you updated on the latest scamming techniques. Also, check out the BBB’s Scam Tracker, where you can see all its reports. There are some methods to slow down a scam, but it will take hard work and it’s best to get ahead of the problem. So here are two tips to help make your online presence a little more bulletproof: Register all variations of your domain name — .net .org, .us, with dashes and without. Trademark your domain name. That way you can get the domain’s registrar to take down any infringing domains. I’m sure I missed a scam or two but I’ll leave you with a starting point and some additional links and search tools. Come back often because I’ll be updating this list and adding some content to make sure you’re aware of future cons. MANTA Company Lookup Hoovers Company Search California Secretary Of State Delaware State Divisions of Corporations Florida Department Of Division of Corporations Georgia Corporations Division Iowa Secretary Of State Kansas Business Center Massachusetts Michigan Corporations Division Business Entity Missouri Nebraska Secretary Of State New Hampshire Corporation Division New Jersey New York Corporation and Business Entity Database Ohio Secretary Of State Oklahoma State Corporation Entities Pennslyvania Department Of State Rhode Island Texas Secretary Of State Canadian Govt Corporate Records Search. Duedil.com: UK/Ireland Company Background Search Companies House UK Company Check UK CD Rex Check Website and Email Domain Owners Guidestar.org - US non-profit look up tool Arizona Corporation Commission Glassdoor Company Reviews (UK) North Carolina Department Of The Secretary Maryland Department Of Assessments & Taxation Virginia State Corporation Commission Illinois Secretary Of State Minnesota Secretary Of State Utah Divisions Of Corporations European Commission VAT verification Danish Business Authority Database British Columbia Registry Services Nevada Secretary Of State Charitable Organizations within Quebec Hong Kong Washington State Corporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs India Microsoft Refurbisher Directory Dun & Bradstreet State of Colorado B2B Yellow Pages Merchant Circle UK Company List kompany Tennessee Business Entity Search Hong Kong DIR Hong Kong Company List New Zealand Companies Office New Mexico Secretary of State Bizfile Kentucky Secretary of State Online Resources Bizearch Connecticut Secretary of the State FBR Pakistan ESC Corporate Services SERI Washington DC Business Verification Belgium Business Database Maine Department of the Secretary of the State e-information of Hungary Companies System for Award Management Shenzhen Credit Org Oregon Business Directory California Board of Equalization Idaho State Business Directory Mississippi Secretary of State United Arab Emirates Government of Pakistan - Federal Board of Revenue Registraire des entreprises Quebec Find the Company | A Company Research Engine Kyckr EU Business Lookup Open Corporates Netherlands Business Directory NY State Tax Vendor Lookup UAE TRN Number Verification IRS - Exempt Organizations Check Tool Texas TaxPayer Search Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Ireland - Companies Registration Office Italian Business Register Vietnam Business Registration Portal Malaysia Registration Search Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission Arkansas Secretary of State Germany - Unternehmensregister Bloomberg San Jose Business License Lookup Wyoming Secretary of State Kenya Revenue Authority Zoominfo Argentina - CUIT (Tax Lookup) e-Information on Hungarian Companies France - sirene.fr Social Media Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Alibaba eBay Seller Profile Google + Amazon Foursquare Pinterest Newegg Seller Profile Panjiva - Global Trade Insights Other Company Directory Listing Online Review Sites Ripoffreport.com Reseller Ratings Scambook Better Business Bureau Yelp Google Reviews Yahoo Local eBay Feedback Profile Angie''s List HomeAdvisor Environmental, Health, and Safety Compliance EPA - Enforcement & Compliance History Online US Dept. of Labor - OSHA enforcement inspections ISRI SREA Reasonable Care Compliance Program NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection CA.gov Envirostor Texas Commission on Environmental Quality SERI e-Stewards Directory   There is a lot here and if you think I missed one leave a comment below and we can add it. At Filmar.com I Buy Sell End of Life Corporate IT Assets is an expert on the secondary market of IT products. Specialties include used and off-lease refurbished computer products, laptops, computers, LED LCD TVs, digital cameras, electronics, unlocked phones, tablets and enterprise IT equipment. These are my observations and my opinions but I would love to hear more about your frustrations Read the full article