#Launchpad Funding

[writebackatya]

FUTURE DuckTales (2017) Headcanons:

Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

Also don’t think that I’m picturing the boys’ future designs like their future designs from the ‘87 show. This is just to illustrate that I’m talking about them as adults

As I am posting this post, it is April 15th, the birthday of Huey, Dewey, and Louie! Happy Birthday boys!

To celebrate the occasion, I thought I’d share some of my headcanons of what I think the future would look like each for each of the boys. This won’t be too in-depth, just some ideas I had. Let’s starts with the “oldest” triplet:

Huey:

When I think about Huey Duck there are two things that come to mind: Junior Woodchuck and Science. Obviously we know that Huey will someday become a Senior Woodchuck (we believe in you buddy!) and I think he will be a Woodchuck for life. I can see him being a great Woodchuck leader

And out of the triplets, I honestly think Huey would be the one who does the most world traveling in his future. He has such a thirst for knowledge I can see him also being somewhat of an archeologist

As for the science part, I always love seeing Huey included in Team Science fanart so I can see him working alongside Fenton and Gyro in the lab whenever he’s not out adventuring

Dewey:

Personally, I don’t see Dewey staying in Duckburg for his adult life. Like Launchpad, I like to think Dewey eventually moves to St. Canard where he joins Darkwing, LP, and Gosalyn on their adventures

Fans of Darkwing Duck are probably familiar with Gosalyn’s superhero persona, Quiverwing Quack, well I like to think in the DT17 universe Gosalyn eventually does become Quiverwing and Dewey is basically her sidekick like how Launchpad is Darkwing’s sidekick

As for his career, I like to think that Dewey starts his own entertainment and mass media company where he works on and funds projects ranging from movies, television, and whatever catches his fancy. (Think Disney, but not evil). Gosalyn also assists Dewey in his career and the two eventually get married (like Launchpad and Drake!)

Louie:

There’s no doubt in my mind that Louie will someday become the richest duck in the world and I think he will get that title by a bunch of smart (and ethical) business decisions and help from his family. I never really was a fan of “Louie becomes Scrooge’s heir” because I don’t like the idea of Louie just inheriting a bunch of money to become rich

Like Scrooge, I can see Louie owning a bunch of different companies, but his most well-known company would be Louie’s Kids™️ which would be a for-real charity that helps needy kids

Louie may not do much adventuring compared to his two brothers but I still like to think he helps fund things for his family’s adventuring needs (especially when if it will help give his companies a profit). Also I like to think Della Duck becomes his personal pilot/driver/body guard in case an unexpected adventure pops up on him

You know part of me is sad that I’m separating the boys for their futures, but sometimes life has different plans for each of us. Obviously they still keep in touch with one another, visit one another, and sometimes cross paths while on their own adventures

[captainzigo]

since I have been making my little pony comics for the past few months, I have basically forgotten what every single one of my duckverse comic prompts means. I had a big list full of one sentence prompts for duckverse comics that I was going to make, and I was reading through it yesterday, because I thought about making one. I was surprised to find out that I have no idea what any of them mean. instead of just deleting the list, I have decided to share with you. For what good it will do you. Think of this as a little shout out to the people who followed me for duckverse content. i havent forgotten about you. it’s also a little peek in my twisted mind. my horrible creation process. a behind the scenes look from hell. the list of prompts is below the break

max college fund

launchpad rescue hero

costco 22¢ per bite

house of mouse

door to darkness

because i’m hispanic?

donald cousins catch and release

fish wife

the greatest skateboard trick in the seven seas

backyardagins movie

evil versions boy band

gladstone gay moms

the poor part of town

private army of freaks vs my boys

you own the town. you are politics - what do you think taxes are for - not gladstone bail - id be doing everyone a favor

kids table is great actually

donald cry gold swim

beautiful gold moon

villains table

these lovebirds

gladstone can’t read

gladstone hyper specific thrift store shirt

louie seeing anyone right now?

managed my uncle’s finances

june dolls episode

may louie webs spy episode

house of mouse christmas hdl want to come

propeller cap start to turn. big wind. its a helicopter landing. thanks babe

double gay batteries

daisy likes donald snoring

if you can understand anything he says then yeah!

sora. quack pack. bald monkey

i respect your pronouns. i dont not respect YOU scrooge

why are you friends with my rival’s girlfriend

we’re sisters now too???

The dancing hacker - do you know how hard it is to lucid dream

are you guys playing dancing hacker?

how did you do that? Those dice were rigged i mean.

you guys were supposed to prepare a musical number every session

Lady in pink but with a knife

girl boss? No girl lady. But not a girl.

sephirof at the door. never seen Donald that serious in my life.

I have a superhero alter ego - like super Grover?

louie x robin the frog

daffy: i’m getting you a job in Hollywood, kid! You gonna make big times. Why? uh… i’m friends with your mom.

Duckburg community college is the only community college that does dance scholarship

duckberg community ducks, and the Duckburg University geese

in helicopter: you ever going to get tired of having our dates like this? no never.

donald take responsibility for our son! panchito what

babe your costume is terrible. why are you still in a sailor hat

tasha austin gay lesbian solidarity

hey webby! *glittery hands*

webby diary

shake for trust? glitter on hand. body slam

why did t you tell me your girlfriend is a pilot? tasha said i shouldn’t tell you because of what happened to you pilot ex. he’s still alive!

pablo: sleeper agents be like time for my next mission

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

WHATS UP T-BOYS?

donald’s boyfriends what does gladstone have against gay people

donald you should wingman for me. i thought you were gay

dugan duck is your secret kid isn’t he

huey ponytail

donald has three boyfriends why can’t i have two

woops i mexed up their super powers - let’s go, t boys! i didn’t make them trans! they were like that before, right?

your brother donald has like five partners. yeah and i’m not my brother donald. you’re right. i should date your brother donald

dewey damn girl your ass phat what are your pronouns. katy nun/ya

tying normie trans girl to a chair turbo pablo

don’t worry. the promise ring is just a tracking device

punch buggy gets steadily more and more violent

dewey’s many licenses

duck twins cobwebs

beaks: help! #911

katy can not entertain in her tiny trailer

uno gaydar donald i finally give you a job and you’re being gay on the clock??

when mom comes in and you have to hide your DS under your pillow

HDL Tulin

HDL chart

[solarpunkbusiness]

The pandemic was a “big pivot” for Bali, says Lauren Blasco of AC Ventures, a Bali-based early-stage technology venture fund. Blasco, who is head of environment, social and governance (ESG) at the venture capital firm, adds that entrepreneurs who would otherwise set up in Singapore or Jakarta chose Bali, plugging into the island’s half-decent wi-fi and well-equipped co-working spaces as remote work graduated from pandemic-time necessity to accepted business practice.

From hard-nosed investors looking to turn a fast buck from Indonesia’s multi-billion dollar sustainable business opportunity to “woo-woo” fly-by-nighters dabbling in alternative healing and spiritual psycho-babble, Bali is home to a colourful concoction of green startups of all different derivations, sizes and shades of credibility.

“It’s a crazy spectrum,” says Christian Oechtering, a German early-stage investor with an interest in sustainability, wellness, hospitality and psychedelics. “One minute you’re talking to a Russian billionaire building an eco-village, the next a former Amsterdam drug dealer turned life coach.”

There are two types of eco-preneurs in Bali: “inspirators” and “aspirators”, says Oechtering. Inspirators are switched-on entrepreneurs looking to make a genuine difference, aspirators are less credible dreamers living in a bubble – and aspirators outnumber inspirators by two to one in Bali, reckons Oechtering.

“You have to be careful who you work with. You don’t want to squander your time here,” he says.

Bali is a natural launchpad for conscious startups because of its unique cultural identity,says Blasco. Rooted in the island’s philosophy is the saying Nangun Sat Kerthi Loka Bali, which roughly translates to respecting nature and culture to make Bali prosperous. In that sense, new enterprises that work on conserving the island’s natural beauty have a head start, says Toshihiro Nakamura, a former United Nations executive who co-founded Kopernik, an Ubud-based research and development lab for startups working on social and environmental problems.

It helps that the government wants to diversify Bali’s economy beyond tourism. Haunted by the lean pandemic years of empty hotels and barren beaches, when Bali’s economy was hit harder than any province in Indonesia, the local authorities have signalled an intention to attract greener industries and reduce the island’s reliance on tourism, which accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of the local economy. 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

SVB bailouts for everyone - except affordable housing projects

For the apologists, the SVB bailout was merely prudent: a bunch of innocent bystanders stood in harm’s way — from the rank-and-file employees at startups to the scholarship kids at elite private schools that trusted their endowment to Silicon Valley Bank — and so the government made an exception, improvising measures that made everyone whole without costing the public a dime. What’s not to like?

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/2023/04/15/socialism-for-the-rich/#rugged-individualism-for-the-poor

But that account doesn’t hold up to even the most cursory scrutiny. Everything about it is untrue. Take the idea that this wasn’t a “bailout” because it was the depositors who got rescued, not the shareholders. That’s just factually untrue: guess where the shareholders kept their money? That’s right, SVB. The shareholders of SVB will get billions in public money thanks to the bailout. Billions:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/18/2-billion-here-2-billion-there/#socialism-for-the-rich

But is it really public money? After all, the FDIC payouts come from a pool of funds raised from all of America’s banks. The billions the public put into SVB will be recouped through hikes on the premiums paid by every bank. Well, sure — but who do you think the banks are going to gouge to cover those additional expenses? Hint: it’s not going to be the millionaires who get white-glove treatment and below-cost loans. It’ll be the working people whom the banks steal billions from every year in overdraft fees — 78% of these are paid by 9.2% of customers, the very poorest, and they amortize to a 3,500% loan:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/22/ihor-kolomoisky/#usurers

As Adam Levitin put it on Credit Slips:

They will pass those premiums through to customers because the market for banking services is less competitive than the market for capital. In particular, the higher costs for increased insurance premiums are likely to flow to the least price-sensitive and most “sticky” customers: less wealthy individuals. So average Joes are going to be facing things like higher account fees or lower APYs, without gaining any benefit. Instead, the benefit of removing the cap would flow entirely to wealthy individuals and businesses. This is one massive, regressive cross-subsidy. It’s not determinative of whether raising the cap is the right policy move in the end, but this is something that should be considered.

https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2023/03/the-regressive-cross-subsidy-of-uncapping-deposit-insurance.html

The SVB apologists display the most curious and bizarre imaginative leaps…and imaginative failings. For them, imagining that regulators will just wing it to the tune of hundreds of billions in public money is simplicity itself. Meanwhile, imagining that those same regulators would say, “Not one penny unless every shareholder agrees to sign away their deposits” is literally impossible.

This bizarrely inconstant imagination carries over into all of the claims used to justify the SVB bailout — like, say, the claim that if SVB wasn’t bailed out, everyone would pile into too big to fail banks like Jpmorgan. This is undoubtably true — unless (and hear me out here!), regulators were to use this failure as a launchpad for public banks, and breakups of Jpmorgan, Wells Fargo, Citi, et al.

This is a very weird imaginative failure. America operated public banks. It had broken up too big to fail banks. These weren’t the deeds of a fallen civilization whose techniques were lost to the mists of time. There are literally people alive today who were around when America operated nationwide public banks — a practice that only ended in 1966! We’re not talking about recovering the lost praxis of the druids who built Stonehenge without power-tools, here.

The most telling imaginative failure of SVB apologists, though, is this: they think that people are angry that the government saved the janitors at startups and the scholarship kids at private schools, and can’t imagine that people are angry that America didn’t save anyone else. If you’re a low-income student at an elite private school, there’s billions on hand to save you — but not because the government gives a damn about you — saving you is a side effect of saving all the rich kids you go to school with.

Likewise, the startup janitors aren’t the target of the bailout — they’re overspill from the billions mobilized to rescue the personal fortunes of tech billionaires who supply VCs’ investment capital. If there was a way to bail out the startups without bailing out the janitors, that’s exactly what would happen.

How do I know this? Well, first of all, the “investors” who demanded — and received — a bailout are on record as hating workers and wanting to fire as many of them as possible. As one of the loudest voices for the bailout said of Twitter employees, in a private message to Elon Musk following the takeover: “Day zero: Sharpen your blades boys 🔪”:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/21/tech-workers/#sharpen-your-blades-boys

But there’s even better evidence that the bailout’s intended target was wealthy, powerful people, and every chance to carve out working people was seized upon. When regulators engineered the sale of SVB to First Citizens Bank, they did not require First Citizens to honor SVB’s community development obligations, killing thousands of affordable housing units that had been previously greenlit:

https://calreinvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Community-Benefits-Plan-SVB-CRC-GLI.pdf

Tens of thousands of people wrote to regulators, urging them to transfer SVB’s Community Benefits Plan obligation to First Citizens:

https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-the-petition-save-affordable-housing-keep-the-promises-silicon-valley-bank-made

As did Rep Maxine Waters, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee:

https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/318_cwm_ltr_fdic.pdf

But First Citizens — a bank whose slot in America’s top-20 banks was secured through a string of exceptions, exemptions and waivers — was not required to take on SVB’s obligations to carry out loans to build thousands of affordable housing units in the Bay Area and Boston, including a 112-unit building for people with disabilities planned for a plum spot across from San Francisco City Hall:

https://www.levernews.com/regulators-stiffed-low-income-communities-in-silicon-valley-bank-bailout/

All those people who wanted SVB’s community development obligations to carry forward vastly outnumbered the people calling for billionaires portfolio companies to be saved — but they merely spoke on behalf of people who sought the most basic of human rights — shelter. No one listened to them. Instead, it was the hyperventilating all-caps “investors” who spent SVB’s no-good weekend shouting on Twitter about the fall of civilization who got what they wanted, with a bow on top, and a glass of publicly funded warm milk before bed.

The US finance sector is reckless to the point of being criminally negligent. It constitutes an existential risk to the nation. And yet, every time it gets into trouble, regulators are able to imagine anything and everything to shift their risks to the public’s shoulders.

Meanwhile, everyday people are frozen out. School lunches? Unaffordable. Student debt cancellation? Inconceivable. Help for the hundreds of thousands of NYC schoolchildren whose schools are facing a $469m hack-and-slash attack? That’s clearly impossible:

https://council.nyc.gov/joseph-borelli/2022/09/06/nyc-council-calls-for-mayor-adams-doe-to-fully-restore-469m-in-school-funding/

When it comes to helping everyday people, American elites and their captured champions in the US government have minds that are so rigid and inflexible that it’s a wonder they can even dress themselves. But when the fortunes and wellbeing of the wealthy and powerful are on the line, their minds are so open that some of their brains actually leak out of their ears and nostrils:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/15/mon-dieu-les-guillotines/#ceci-nes-pas-une-bailout

Every bank merger is supposed to come with a “public interest analysis.” But these analyses are “perfunctory.” They needn’t be:

https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/8305/Kress_Article._Publication__1_.pdf

First Citizens got a hell of a bargain: it paid zero dollars for SVB’s assets, its deposits and its loans. Any losses it incurs from its commercial loans over the next five years will be paid by the FDIC, no questions asked. The inability of regulators to convince First Citizens to assume SVB’s community obligations along with those billions in public largesse speaks volumes.

Meanwhile, SVB’s shareholders continue to claim that their headquarters are a relatively unimportant office in Manhattan, and not their glittering, massive corporate offices in San Jose, as part of their bid to shift their bankruptcy proceeding to the Southern District of New York, where corporate criminals like the Sackler opioid family have found such a warm reception that they were able to escape “bankruptcy” with billions in the bank, while their victims were left in the cold:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/18/2-billion-here-2-billion-there/#socialism-for-the-rich

Contrary to what SVB’s apologists think, the case against them isn’t driven by spite — it’s driven by fury. America’s “socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor” has been with us for generations, but rarely is it so plain as it is in this case.

There’s only two days left in the Kickstarter campaign for the audiobook of my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon’s Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they’re DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

[Image ID: A glass-and-steel, high-tech office building. Atop it is a cartoon figure of Humpty Dumpty, whose fall has been arrested by masses of top-hatted financiers, who hold fast to a rope that keeps him in place. At the foot of the office tower is heaped rubble. On top of the rubble is another Humpty Dumpty figure, this one shattered and dripping yolk. Protruding from the rubble are modest multi-family housing units.]

Image:

Lydia (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vicroft_Court_Starley_Housing_Co-operative_%282996695836%29.jpg

Oatsy40 (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/oatsy40/21647688003

Håkan Dahlström (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/93755244@N00/4140459965

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[pcttrailsidereader]

Trash on the Trail -- What's Out There

Bandages, balloons, bullet casings: Here’s how much trash is on the Pacific Crest Trail

A pair of environmental scientists who thru-hiked the trail last year conducted the largest known and most comprehensive survey of litter on the Pacific Crest Trail. Illustration by Sophie D'Amato/The Chronicle from No Trace Trails elements.

Their findings reflected my own perception of trash on the PCT. The litter I have encountered does seem to be concentrated around highway crossings, campgrounds, trailheads, and high-use areas with easy road access. The issue of toilet paper along the trail is a more complicated issue . . . one that seemingly combines awareness, behavioral change, and some infrastructure support.

ByGregory Thomas and Harsha Devulapalli

Roughly 1 million people per year venture onto the wild and scenic Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,650-mile hiking route that winds through the West Coast’s soaring mountain ranges between Mexico and Canada.

That includes hikers out for a day in the woods, backpackers on multiday trips and thru-hikers seeking to conquer the whole thing in one long trek. Inevitably, some of those nature lovers leave behind micro-trash and bits of plastic litter. No one has sought to quantify the impact of trash on the trail — until now.

A pair of environmental scientists who thru-hiked the trail last year conducted the largest known survey of litter on the PCT, providing a sharp look at the kinds of materials people leave on the trail, in what concentrations, and where. The project was carried out, mile by mile, by Tori McGruer, 29, who holds a doctorate in environmental toxicology, and Macy Gustavus, 25, who holds a master’s degree in watershed sciences.

Here’s what they found.

A look at a few of McGruer and Gustavus’ findings

Graphic by Sophie D'Amato/The Chronicle from No Trace Trails elements

© OpenMapTiles© OpenStreetMap contributors

McGruer and Gustavus started their journey in March 2023 in Campo (San Diego County), near the Mexican border, the launchpad for northbound thru-hikers. They’d secured $16,000 in funding through grants and partnerships, quit their jobs and hit the trail.

From the get-go, they found significant concentrations of litter — bottle caps, gum wrappers and rubber fragments.

Over the next six months, McGruer (right) and Gustavus hiked the full 2,650-mile trail, which crosses the High Sierra and the Cascade Range, to the Canadian border. They cataloged — and usually collected — more than 1,000 pieces of trash. They found lots of snack wrappers, used toilet paper, Band-Aids and cigarette butts as well as novelties like Mylar balloons, a spent shotgun cartridge and a rusty horseshoe.

The researchers surveyed 1-kilometer segments of trail at 10-mile intervals — a total of 260 survey areas ● (a rate of about 2-3 per day). Each hiker scoped for litter on her respective side of the trail to a distance of about 6 feet from its center.

They handled trash objects with plastic salad tongs for sanitary reasons and deposited them into waterproof stuff sacks, “so if there was something gross we could put it in there and not worry about it leaching out,” McGruer said.

Certain heavy or cumbersome items, like pieces of an abandoned car, were cataloged but left on the trail. They categorized each item using Rubbish, a mobile app that helps users organize and geolocate litter in open spaces.

So, the dirtiest stretch of the entire trail?

A long segment bookending the San Gabriel Mountains on the outskirts of Los Angeles was the dirtiest of the entire PCT, presumably due to its proximity to a major metropolis. One-third of all the trash the researchers logged during their trip came from this region.

A few survey areas there contained hundreds of litter items. However, the researchers set a 100-item maximum when counting litter in a given survey area. When they hit that threshold, they believed they could extrapolate the trash concentration with reasonable accuracy, they said.

Mylar Balloons

Those shiny, metallic, helium-filled balloons are remarkably durable and capable of floating long distances. Strangely, they are winding up in remote wilderness areas at a rate that is concerning to biologists, as the Chronicle has recently reported.

McGruer retrieved several of them in the Southern California desert — one stuck in a patch of bushes, another submerged in a river. Survey aside, she made it a personal mission to remove the ones she found.

“One day I had like three partially inflated ones attached to my pack and someone passing us on the trail said ‘happy birthday’ to me,” she said.

The researchers found trash in about 60% of the 260 survey zones, meaning 40% contained no discernible litter. The hot spots along the trail tended to correlate with areas of easy access and high human traffic like highway crossings, campgrounds and day-use areas.

Brian Feulner/Special to the Chronicle

Many of the zero-trash areas were in remote mountain regions like Northern California’s High Sierra and Washington’s Cascade Range, where few people set foot.

That finding tracks with the experience of Jack Haskel, trail information manager for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, which maintains the trail on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service.

“Much of the trail is pretty pristine regarding trash but you do find hot spots where there’s a lot of it,” he said.

The most common trash materials found were: soft plastics, such as bits of bar wrappers or cuts of duct tape; hard plastics like water bottles and broken trekking pole baskets; brass bullet casings; paper shreds and used toilet paper; cigarette butts; and miscellaneous fragments.

In many instances, researchers encountered single pieces of stray trash, one at a time. But sometimes they’d find dozens of pieces of litter linked to a single event. For instance, in the backcountry of Shasta County they found 50 or more strands of tree-flagging tape used by foresters scattered on the ground.

What’s that?

In some cases, differentiating rubbish from natural ground materials was challenging. Identifying and classifying objects required four of the five senses — sight, smell, touch and, at one point, taste.

Unsure about the makeup of a smooth chunk of translucent detritus they found in the dirt –— was it plastic? glass? a natural mineral? — Gustavus popped it into her mouth and bit down. Glass, she decided.

“That’s not common,” Gustavus said. “I don’t encourage people to do that.”

Toilet paper

Used toilet paper left along the trail — half-buried, stuffed under a rock, clinging to bushes — is the PCT’s single, stand-out trash problem, according to Haskel of the Pacific Crest Trail Association. It is a gross, unsightly bane of trail rangers and volunteer stewards. The trash researchers found a lot of it — particularly in the northern states.

“In Oregon and Washington there was toilet paper everywhere,” McGruer said. “I was like, what is happening?”

In lieu of using a toilet, backpackers and hikers should bury their waste several inches deep in the ground, or use a wag bag and carry it out, and take their soiled toilet paper with them. Poop carries toxins and bacteria that, even when buried, can leach into nearby water sources and infect wildlife, Haskel said.

Biodegradables

Sunflower seeds, pistachio and peanut shells, orange peels — the researchers found them scattered along the entire trail route, and seeing them drove Gustavus “absolutely insane.” Yes, they should technically break down over time, she said, but hikers shouldn’t feel free to dump them in the natural environment.

“It’s kind of a misguided principle,” Gustavus said. “That stuff does not belong out there.”

Pictured: Pistachio shells on the trail in the mountains of Washington State.

The pair completed their thru-hike in September 2023. McGruer (left) and Gustavus are shown here at the PCT's northern terminus in the remote mountains where Washington State meets Canada.

It’s important to note that many PCT users actively beautify the trail each year.

Local volunteer groups, rangers and backpackers are all known to pick up trash they encounter on their outings as a simple act of altruism. Also, eight years ago a pair of young men made it their mission to remove the junk they encountered during their thru-hike; they ended up with more than 700 pounds of stuff, including a mattress.

Extrapolating from their data, McGruer and Gustavus estimate there to be about 200,000 pieces of trash along the trail at any given moment. But that’s not to say the trail feels trashy, McGruer said.

“We frequently saw trash, but often there would be a small piece in one of our 1-kilometer surveys. You wouldn't register that as a ton of trash,” she said. “I think what our survey findings say is that people leave a trash footprint wherever we go with these materials that really don't break down in the environment.”

The survey project, which the researchers dubbed No Trace Trails, was supported by grant funding and financial backing through the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research in Long Beach via the Richard Lounsbery Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the American Alpine Club.

McGruer and Gustavus are putting together a research manuscript for peer review. They’re also seeking funds to help analyze the microplastic content of a series of soil samples they collected during their hike.

Sarah “Mountain Goat” Steinbauer from Austria hikes the Pacific Crest Trail near Quincy (Plumas County) on June 19, 2023. The heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada that year created special challenges for thru-hikers along the PCT. Brian Feulner / Special To The Chronicle

Credits

Reporting by Gregory Thomas. Reporting and graphics development by Harsha Devulapalli. Editing by Yoohyun Jung and Kate Galbraith. Design, development and illustration by Sophie D'Amato. Design editing by Alex K. Fong. Visuals editing by Ramin Rahimian. Powered by the Hearst Newspapers DevHub.

[difofinance]

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[scream-into-the-voiddd]

Duck details

Hi i’m bored, 

so i decide to share and sate some details that i found in dt17, these are in no particulate order.

1) the way m’ma Cabrera calls Fenton  ‘Pollito’ - that means little chicken/ duckling (not a Spanish speaker myself but this was translated for me, its just so cute and pure my heart!!) 

bonus-  is when in moonvation when she calls him Gizmo- Pollito  

 2) Gladstone mostly likely gave Donald the stuff he needed to shave and clean up with 

as he has his house blimp with him.

3) the band-aids and tape Donald has, keeping his car dash together

4) that the news paper in scrooge’s first scene actually mentions the snow storm on the reef.  

the board also mentions cutting funding to experimental tech (the bin) and  space exploration (Della) 

5) when launchpad keeps saying he is a bit of a pilot, which is one, a great set up for him, but two, is a great and clever joke about ‘Woo-woo’ being the PILOT episode for the reboot. 

6) that Donald goes out of his way to turn the sign 

7)

that darkwing is holding a saxophone in the closing credits of the ‘show’ within a show.

8) the names and ‘jobs’ the people in these credits have.

i think, page flipper and pencil sharpener is my fav. and Rambo “snickerdoodle” smith.

 these credits imply one of two things 

1) that these are peoples jobs, like literally turning pages for jim starling 

or 

2) he (or someone else) wrote the episodes and was naming characters after office objects and/or the bit parts in this show were insane 

(like when you see ‘rude stranger’ in T.V / movie credits) 

and i don’t know which is better, but they are both equally as believable.

9)  

this map 

I just love it, its so constant with the show and the detail is just great  

10)

LP’s licences 

- that he lives in mcduck manor garage or at least this is where he lists his address as (we see him and dewey in the Garage in sliverbeak)

-his signature is adorable with a little propeller

- the side photo 

[side bar, LP is the same age as my oldest sister and that trips me out a bit, that has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was neat, and a little confronting not gonna lie]

[hext00ns]

Can you please give me your headcanons on Drake. ❤️.

Like his first word or how on earth he found that tower. ( Personally I headcanon he was homeless until shush got him)

Do you think he had pets ( for me he had two cats and a bunny over the years.

Ps drake is my baby 💕

Vague questions about hcs are harder to answer tbh. It’s like when you know the answers but the test makes you fuckinn brain dead. However I will do my best to answer what you have and give anything else I can think of!

With the tower, I do think he was on the road for a hot second. I don’t, however, think SHUSH found him. I personally think that Drake has a hideout in the first place cause motherfucker ran away from home and decided fuck the day job I’m vigilante now at like fuckkin 18 or some shit and he did need somewhere to hideout. I will also say, teens are the motherfuckers of finding wild ass placed to vibe so I’m not too surprised this weirdo found out the fucking bridge tower was not only hollow but that he could renovate that shit. You think his hideout is legal? Hell nah. This man is so fuckin lucky that he did end up working for SHUSH eventually. SHUSH keeps the city officials away from his hideout as one of the fun little perks for working with them. I honestly believe that SHUSH has always been Drake’s main income before Launchpad came into the picture. Launchpad is the breadwinner of the house he has a whole ass job as a personal pilot in Duckburg to some rich asshole Drake never wants to meet again. It did, however, take a good moment before he was working for them. He isn’t a full time agent he’s a for hire. They bring him on when they need him (or when he begs for work cause bro needs a hamburger please for the love of god)

It took him a nasty while to get his life set up to where he is by the time the pilot airs. But also from his start as DW to the pilot was almost two decades so like. Yk. He had time that’s for sure.

I don’t think he had any pets. I think he totally wanted like a turtle or some shit maybe a ferret as a kid like the kinda pet that is normal but not as common kinda thing. He never got one though

I also think he built a lot of, if not most, of his equipment. It’s highly implied that this is the case. The more fancy or expensive stuff he had help from SHUSH for but, again, that was a little bit into his carrier. Before he got SHUSH funding he would do odd jobs like mow grass or try to sell some of his less lethal and crime fighting inventions. Nothing lasted very long and he NEVER gave out his name. Drake didn’t start using the name Drake Mallard (a name he gave himself when he came out as trans as a kid to Elmo and his mom and eventually attempted to socially transition in high school) after high school till he met Gosalyn. She is quite literally the reason he took his civilian identity back up. She’s the ONLY reason. When he says in Darkly Dawns the Duck part two “if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have a life worth risking” HE MEANS THAT SHIT FULL CHEST. He is not Drake Mallard without Gosalyn I will die on this hill

SHUSH is the reason he even owns a social security number attached to his chosen name. He went up to them like. Hey. Do me a solid. I wanna adopt a child but I was like 18 when I started this and I don’t have much of a legal identity anymore. Of course, they set it up to where no one knows his identity. Like sending the forms to an undisclosed location then sending them off to a third party with no information about the situation to put into the system. Like shit was handled with UTMOST care and Hooter helped a lot with it. Darkwing is genuinely a huge asset to Hooter so he pulls a lot of strings to get Drake what he needs when he needs it. Having a guy on the outside who isn’t chained down by rules and regulations is way way way more useful to SHUSH than Hooter is legally allowed to say (also why a lot of SHUSH agents don’t realize or know why he’s kept around when he fucks up so much)

[uniqueinfo]

Introduction : Brief overview of cryptocurrency investing.

Best Cryptocurrency to Invest in 2023: A Comprehensive Guide

Investing in cryptocurrencies can be both exciting and daunting. With the market constantly evolving, it's crucial to stay informed about the best options for potential investments. In this guide, we'll explore the landscape of cryptocurrency investments, highlighting the top choices and offering insights into the factors that influence their performance.

Introduction

Cryptocurrency has become a buzzword in the financial world, with investors seeking opportunities in the decentralized digital assets. As the market continues to expand, it's essential to navigate through the various options and make informed decisions.

Understanding Cryptocurrency

At its core, cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual form of currency that uses cryptography for security. Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies operate on decentralized networks based on blockchain technology, ensuring transparency and immutability.

Factors Influencing Cryptocurrency Investments

Market Trends and Analysis

The cryptocurrency market is known for its volatility, influenced by various factors such as market demand, technological advancements, and macroeconomic trends. Analyzing these trends provides valuable insights for investors.

Regulatory Factors Affecting Investments

Government regulations play a significant role in shaping the cryptocurrency landscape. Understanding the regulatory environment is crucial as it can impact the legality and acceptance of specific cryptocurrencies.

Best Cryptocurrencies to Invest In

Bitcoin

As the pioneer of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin remains a prominent choice for investors. Its historical performance and market dominance make it a relatively stable option, especially for those new to the crypto space.

Ethereum

Beyond being a digital currency, Ethereum is known for its smart contract capabilities, enabling the creation of decentralized applications (DApps). Its potential for future growth is tied to the continued development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Binance Coin

Operating within the Binance ecosystem, Binance Coin has gained popularity due to its various use cases, including transaction fee discounts and participation in token sales on the Binance Launchpad.

Cardano

Cardano stands out for its focus on sustainability and scalability. With a unique consensus algorithm and a commitment to research-driven development, Cardano offers features that set it apart from other cryptocurrencies.

Solana

Solana boasts impressive speed and scalability, making it a preferred choice for developers. Projects built on Solana benefit from its efficient and low-cost transactions.

Risks and Challenges

While the potential for high returns exists, cryptocurrency investments come with inherent risks. Market volatility, security concerns, and regulatory uncertainties are challenges investors must navigate.

Tips for Successful Cryptocurrency Investing

Diversification of the Portfolio

Diversifying your investment portfolio helps spread risk. Consider allocating funds across different cryptocurrencies to minimize the impact of poor performance in a single asset.

Research and Staying Informed

In the ever-evolving cryptocurrency market, staying informed is crucial. Regularly conduct research, follow market trends, and stay updated on news that may influence your investment decisions.

Risk Management Strategies

Implementing risk management strategies, such as setting stop-loss orders and defining an exit strategy, can help protect your investment from sudden market fluctuations.

Future Trends in Cryptocurrency

As technology advances, new trends emerge in the cryptocurrency space. Keep an eye on developments such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other innovative applications that could shape the future of the market.

Case Studies

Learning from the experiences of successful cryptocurrency investors can provide valuable insights. Additionally, understanding the mistakes made by others can help you avoid common pitfalls.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is cryptocurrency a safe investment?

While the potential for high returns exists, cryptocurrency investments come with risks. It's essential to conduct thorough research and only invest what you can afford to lose.

Which cryptocurrency is the most stable?

Bitcoin is often considered a more stable option due to its long history and market dominance.

How do I diversify my cryptocurrency portfolio?

Diversification involves allocating funds across different cryptocurrencies to minimize risk. Consider a mix of established and promising projects.

What are the security risks associated with cryptocurrency?

Security risks include hacking, fraud, and the potential for technological vulnerabilities. Using secure wallets and practicing good cybersecurity habits is crucial.

How often should I review my cryptocurrency portfolio?

Regularly review your portfolio to stay informed about market trends and adjust your strategy based on changing conditions.

Conclusion

Navigating the world of cryptocurrency investments requires a combination of research, risk management, and a forward-looking perspective. By understanding the factors influencing the market and exploring the best cryptocurrency options available, investors can make informed decisions that align with their financial goals.

[zebee-nyx]

CalmWriMo Day 15

[11/15/2023]

Update!

So didn't really get around to working on the prologue today... (-.-) So kinda kicking myself for that. But I did make the writing goal time on other stuff so there is that. On that topic tho! I've been a little bit busier with work than I was honestly anticipating when I made the goal. (o.o) So I'm considering halfling it if things persist like this much longer. Cause the most important part of goals [and for me mental stability (0~o)b] is that they are obtainable! Still just considering it for now, but if it randomly changes next week that'll be why. ('^.^)

Progress:

2 Hour Writing Goal: ✅

Blurb: [see below]

Self Care:

Food: ✅

Hydration: ✅

Sleep: ✅

Reading: ✅

Blurb: NEX Conglomerate

(NEX = Neocago Enterprise Annexes... unless I figure a better acronym that fits lol)

The NEX Conglomerate, or simply NEX, was originally formed behind closed doors by a coalition of corporations who wanted to seize power over the city from Plax Technologies (Neocago's founding corporation). In a rapid hostile take over using both buy outs, refusals to honor security contracts, and a raid on Plax's headquarters the coup of the city ended almost as soon as it started. Now with NEX as the unshakable top dog in the city a new chapter opened in the city's history... and it would be one of cold corporate dominance. NEX is made up of seven corporations alongside their numerous subsidiaries.

List of NEX members:

Ferncorp: At NEX's head is Ferncorp, who controls most of the agriscrapers around the city and with them most of the city's food supply. A fact that they have used to leverage their power to maintain their position. Their subsidiaries are some of the more essential for the city's more financial functions, official media, as well as the remains of Plax itself.

Apex Water: This corporation was originally contracted to provide clean water and plumbing services for the city by Plax. Following the takeover they have effectively gained a monopoly on water in the city. They have begun producing several flavored soft drinks.

Biotechna: Is a corporation that before the Great Collapse was funded by the US government to gather and preserve the genetic material of as many species of plants and animals as possible. Following the collapse they found new contracts with Ferncorp to work on bioengineering projects to design superior crops among other things...

Holder&Holder Security Firm: A security firm with a small military at it's disposal. They primarily only provide protection for NEX assets, properties, and personnel.

Ares Armaments: A corporation that once was contacted to develop and produce weapons for the US. They moved on to working with Plax, and just as quickly jumped to NEX. While significantly quieter than other NEX member corporations they have the widest global reach and sell weapons across the world.

Street Flex: This corporation owns most of the road and rail infrastructure in Neocago after winning a major contract with NEX following the takeover. They keep the city's "veins" maintained and operational in return for a sizable stipend.

Ace Aero: Originally simply an airline company Ace Aero has developed into massive aerospace industry. They own and operated numerous space stations, satellites, and moon bases. They are only headquarter in Neocago as most of their launchpads and vehicle assembly buildings are further south nearer to the Gulf of Mexico. They also own the primary airport in the city.

[Bit of a random lore dump... Not short on ideas, but also not sure what to focus the blurbs on. ('^.^) So if anyone is curious any bits about this world feel free to ask! (^.^)b Anyways and always, I hope you had a lovely day, peace (^v^)v]

[epfcmoberlyfieldhouse]

EPFC NORTH MARCH 2024 EVENTS

Events happening at Moberly Fieldhouse is located at Moberly Park, 7646 Prince Albert St, Vancouver, BC V5X 3Z4 unless otherwise indicated.

Workshop with EPFC International Online via Zoom | OSTRANENIE MAKING STRANGE: CREATIVE WRITING FOR FILM (SESSION 2) Friday, March 1: 2 - 4 PM PACIFIC | In this writing workshop for filmmakers and writers we will explore the possibilities offered by the use of written and spoken texts in films and art works following specific prompts and creative stimuli. Whether you’re a filmmaker looking to find personal ways to express that idea you have in mind, or someone who’s trying to write something new, this workshop is for you! Workshop Facilitator: Andrea Márquez, Zooming in from London! Free workshop! Space is limited! Sign up by sending an email with CINEMATIC WRITING in the subject line to: epfccollective@gmail.com

BEATS + TREATS Sunday, March 3: 1 - 4 PM An afternoon of live music TREATS and creating BEATS!!! There will be a record player to spin your favourite vinyl; guitars, bass and drums to rock some tunes; and our NEW in-house DAW Launchpad to share your beats with the world!!!FREE! FUN!! Some lights Snacks (aka Treats) provided. No experience needed!! Let’s make beautiful music together! Free event!

KITE CLUB | Sunday, March 10: 10 AM – Noon | Join us for the March edition of Kite Club, a new monthly offering from EPFC North! Bring a kite, make a kite, draw a kite, fly a kite in solidarity with the children of Gaza who, in 2011 “set a remarkable world record, flying 12,350 kites simultaneously at Al-Waha beach, symbolising their resilience.” More info at Kites in Solidarity on Instagram. Materials provided. Free event! All welcome!

WINTER MEDICINE CABINET Sunday, March 10: 1 – 4 PM Stewarded by Alisha Lettman, the Moberly Community Garden is a community resource where participants can learn special skills and knowledge, and care for a shared source of food, medicine and pollinators for their community. Workshops led by Alisha will pair learning special medicines and gardening skills with community giveback, allowing members to care for and grow the shared land and its gifts. Free event! All welcome! Moberly Community Garden is located at Moberly Park, 7646 Prince Albert St, Vancouver, BC V5X 3Z4.

ART CLUB Tuesday, March 12: 11 AM – 1 PM PACIFIC Our 39th Zoom instalment of our international collaboration with Art Club Frome in Somerset, UK! Zoom on in for relaxed art-making on a secret theme to be announced at the start of the session. The only rule is MAKE. Free online event! Everyone welcome! More info https://www.facebook.com/ArtClubFrome/

SoVa A – Z: A 16MM COMMUNITY FILM PROJECT BEGINS! | Saturday, March 16: 1 - 4 PM Exciting news!!! We’re making a collaborative community documentary on 16mm film celebrating our South Vancouver neighbourhood and YOU are invited to be part of it! Learn more at this fun workshop and planning session where we’ll talk about the project, share our favourite SoVa people/places/orgs/events, and even learn how to use a beautiful vintage Bolex camera. Free! Fun for the whole family! Everyone welcome… No filmmaking experience necessary. Refreshments will be served. Support generously provided by the City of Vancouver Park Board Neighbourhood Matching Fund and the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.

CELLULOID WEEKEND: AN INTRODUCTION TO 16MM SPECIAL EFFECTS Saturday, March 23: 1 – 4 PM Double exposures! Split screens! Fades and fantastic images! In this playful, collaborative workshop, we’ll explore some old-school in-camera 16mm special effects sure to bring some cinematic wonder and analog awesomeness to your afternoon. FREE WORKSHOP! EVERYONE WELCOME! Please rsvp so we know who to expect: epfccollective@gmail.com 

CELLULOID WEEKEND: PROCESS LAB Sunday, March 24: 1 – 4 PM | Drop by Moberly Fieldhouse for some relaxed hand-processing experimentation… Got stuff to develop? BYOF! Free event! Everyone welcome! Please rsvp so we know who to expect: epfccollective@gmail.com 

Workshop with EPFC International Online via Zoom | HAIKU YOU Wednesday, March 27: 4 - 5 PM PACIFIC “A Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time.”—Poetry Foundation Now in its fourth fabulous year, this workshop for poets and filmmakers, taps into the natural wonders of the season as our inspiration to write and share haikus and then turn them into experimental short films. Free event! To sign up and receive the Zoom link send an email with HAIKU in the subject line to epfccollective@gmail.com

Screening with EPFC North at Vancouver Tool Library | LAST FRIDAY CINEMA | Friday, March 29: 1 – 4 PM | EPFC North is delighted to partner again with the Vancouver Tool Library (VTL) to bring to you the 2nd edition of LAST FRIDAY CINEMA!!! Have you ever watched films in a tool library?? NO? Well now you can!!! And join friends, eat delicious food and chat about life, love and the cinematic revolution. For the March edition we have a guest curator who will be announced shortly! The screening is FREE and OPEN to EVERYONE, however, please RSVP to the VTL Library at april@vancouvertoollibrary.com. The Vancouver Tool Library is located at 3448 Commercial St, Vancouver, BC V5N 4E9

EGG REGGAE Saturday, March 30: 1 – 4 PM | Join us at Moberly Fieldhouse for an afternoon of Easter Egg decorating and reggae music! Free event! All welcome! Materials and Music provided.

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up October 7, 2022

Under the cut:

More than 20 suspected Russian “torture chambers” have been found in the northeast territory recently retaken from Russian forces, a top police official said 

The bodies of more than 500 civilians have been discovered in the territory in northeast Ukraine that has recently been retaken from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian police

France has created a fund, initially worth €100 million ($98 million), for Ukraine to directly buy weapons and other materiel it needs in its war against invading Russia, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday

Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices while fighting on the frontline, according to Ukrainian officials and soldiers

Russia has targeted Zaporizhzhia with explosive-packed “kamikaze drones” for the first time, as the death toll from a missile strike on an apartment building in the city rose to 11

“More than 20 suspected Russian “torture chambers” have been found in the northeast territory recently retaken from Russian forces, a top police official said.

“In almost all large cities and towns, where military units of the Russian army were based, they set up such places of detention of civilians and prisoners of war and tortured them,” said Serhii Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of the regional police, adding that one was in the town of Pisky-Radkivski.

The most common torture techniques were electric shocks and severe beatings with sticks and other objects, he said, adding that there were also cases of nails being pulled out and the use of gas masks to restrict breathing.

Bolvinov cited testimony from a 67-year-old man in Izium, who the Russians accused of assisting Ukrainian targeting.

According to Bolvinov:

   This man was taken to the local police department and later had a black hood put over his head. One of his interrogators had put a gun to his head and demanded to know to whom he had given the coordinates of targets. When he denied doing so, they used a pipe or bat on his hands and broke his arm. The man had testified that later his captors had pushed metal spokes from a bicycle wheel under his skin, and beat him. His injuries included internal bleeding and he was now in a Kharkiv hospital, according to Bolvinov.

CNN has not been able to verify the regional police chief's account.

Bolvinov also said there were also criminal proceedings underway regarding allegations of rape.

"We understand that it is very difficult for victims to testify about such facts. However, there are proceedings that we have registered, there are appeals from women who were raped. We have information about the alleged facts of rapes in torture chambers," Bolvinov added.”-via CNN

~

“The bodies of more than 500 civilians have been discovered in the territory in northeast Ukraine that has recently been retaken from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian police.

Most of the remains — 447, according to Ukrainian forces — were found at what was described as a mass burial site in the town of Izium, which Ukrainian forces liberated from Russian occupation in early September. Russian troops had been using Izium as a launchpad for attacks southward into the Donetsk region.

As Ukrainian forces liberated more land in the northeast, new burial sites are being discovered.

   “We found the bodies of 534 civilians from the de-occupied territories," said Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police,

They included 226 women and 19 children, Bolvinov added.”-via CNN

~

“France has created a fund, initially worth €100 million ($98 million), for Ukraine to directly buy weapons and other materiel it needs in its war against invading Russia, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

"We are setting up this special, dedicated fund initially with €100 million to allow the acquisition of equipment that we have already delivered and that we will continue to do so in terms of weapons, meaning defensive ones," Macron said after a summit in Prague.

He added that discussions were being held, particularly with Denmark, to deliver more highly accurate CAESAR truck-mounted cannons to Ukraine, on top of the 18 France has already given.

"France has been giving military support to Ukraine from the first day, with anti-tank and individual anti-aircraft systems," Macron said.

The new fund, he said, "will allow... to also work with France's defence industry base" and "demonstrates our will to act as Europeans and to align ourselves with this collective effort" helping Ukraine.

The fund would significantly boost the military support France is showing Ukraine, from the €233 million committed so far, which is a fraction of what some other allies have allocated.

The United States is the biggest military supplier to Ukraine, to the tune of the equivalent of 25 billion euros, while Britain has given some €4 billion worth of weapons and gear, and Poland €1.8 billion worth.

Publicly-known shipments that France has so far made include anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, armoured personnel carriers, fuel, infantry gear and towed artillery cannons -- as well as the 18 prized CAESARs.

The discussions with Denmark would be to see about diverting some CAESAR units Copenhagen had ordered from France.”-via France24

~

“Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices while fighting on the frontline, according to Ukrainian officials and soldiers.

Thousands of terminals by Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service have been delivered to Ukraine to help troops operate drones, receive vital intelligence updates and communicate with each other.

The disruptions have hindered efforts to liberate territory from Russian forces, with some of the outages resulting in a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent weeks, the Financial Times cited one senior Ukrainian government official as saying.

Many of the outages were reported as troops breached the frontline into Russian-controlled territory and some during pitched battles, according to the official.

They were acute in the south around the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, but also took place along the frontline in eastern Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk, the Ukrainian official said.

Another Ukrainian official said the connection failures were widespread and prompted panicked calls from soldiers to helplines.

The FT reports that the disruptions underline Starlink’s outsized role in Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, and comes after Musk angered Kyiv when he asked Twitter users to weigh in on his ideas to end Russia’s war.”-via The Guardian

~

“Russia has targeted Zaporizhzhia with explosive-packed “kamikaze drones” for the first time, as the death toll from a missile strike on an apartment building in the city rose to 11.

The regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh, said Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones damaged two infrastructure facilities in the city. He said other missiles also struck the city, injuring one person.

With its army losing ground to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Moscow has started to deploy drones to attack Ukrainian targets. According to Ukrainian military officials, “kamikaze drones” are cheaper and less sophisticated than missiles but have proved effective at causing damage to targets on the ground. The Shahed-136 drones are able to remain airborne for several hours and circle over potential targets before being flown into enemy troops, armour or buildings and exploding on impact.

On Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani denied supplying the drones to Russia, calling the claims “baseless”. However, the Ukrainian military said its forces had shot down more than 20 drones over the last 24 hours and that most were Iranian-made.”-via The Guardian

[female-malice]

Girl, Exxon didnt got their manual from UFO cover ups. They got it from Phillip Morris and how they dealt with tobacco and lung cancer. Read about agnotology. Not everything is a conspiracy with ufos. Sometimes is just a megacorp funding contradictory science to mess with legislators heads. The usa doesnt need aliens to be evil crazy conspiracionists. They actually hired nazis for their science. No need for crazy ufo stories.

All I said was Exxon wasn't the first to manipulate public science discourse. Edward Condon and Project Blue Book successfully manipulated public science discourse in the 1950s.

Also, do you know what the US government hired those Nazis for? Interior decorating? Uniform fashion? No. They hired them to start US aerospace agencies and NASA. But they weren't just hired to build rocket launchpads. There were definitely Americans who could design and build those launchpads. That's not a good enough reason to pardon Nazi war criminals and bring them into your classified aerospace programs. But that foo fighter technology is a pretty compelling reason.

Not everything is about UFOs. But Operation Paperclip definitely was so it's very funny that you'd bring that up. And there's a difference between conspiracies and whistleblowers.

[anandrettisimp]

The 2024 Women In Motorsports initiative with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and PNC Bank is officially open

It’s open to students in the United State and is a fully funded intership working with Ganassi on their IndyCar program.

It’s going into its 3rd year and one former intern has already ended up with a full time job with Ganassi.

From the official press statement:

Chip Ganassi Racing has already leveraged the talent introduced by the program, bringing former intern Rebecca Hutton onboard full-time within the team's engineering division.

"The Women In Motorsports initiative has given me the opportunity to transition from intern to full time within one year,” said Hutton. “Angela Ashmore was my mentor during the internship and she continues to be a big influence on me now. You can already see the influence this initiative has made not only at Chip Ganassi Racing, but within the paddock. It's all thanks to programs like Women In Motorsports powered by PNC Bank and it continues to accelerate the change."

Interns will be fully integrated into CGR’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams, including six-time champion Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank crew.

With projects ranging from engine builds and electronic design in the team’s Indianapolis headquarters, to race day duties and performance modifications at tracks across the country, the internship class will be able to use this opportunity as a launchpad toward a career in motorsports.

So if you want to want to apply then click here you have until the 30th of September

[beardedmrbean]

ATLANTA (AP) — Activists announced an effort Wednesday to force a referendum that would allow Atlanta voters to decide whether the construction of a proposed police and firefighter training center should proceed, in a potential last-ditch effort to halt the project that its opponents refer to as “Cop City.”

A day after the City Council rejected protesters' pleas to refuse to fund the police and firefighter training facility, the activists returned to City Hall to file a referendum petition, hoping to take the fight to the ballot box. Under the proposed referendum, voters would choose whether they want to repeal the ordinance that authorized the lease of the city-owned land upon which the project is being built.

In order for the language to get on the ballot, though, organizers must first gather the signatures of more than 70,000 Atlanta voters over 60 days once the city clerk approves the petition. They would also have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay canvassers to help them do that.

“The exciting thing about the referendum is that it’s a silver bullet,” said Alex Joseph, a local attorney who is helping to lead the legal effort. “If we win, it shuts down the project.”

Joseph said the campaign is modeled after a successful effort in coastal Georgia, where Camden County residents voted overwhelmingly last year to block county officials from building a launchpad for blasting commercial rockets into space.

The Georgia Supreme Court in February unanimously upheld the legality of the Camden County referendum, though it remains an open question whether citizens can veto decisions of city governments.

Opponents of the proposed training center say they need to gather the signatures of 15% of the approximately 469,000 city residents who were registered to vote in the last election, which would be 70,330 signatures. Among the groups backing the effort are the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Working Families Party.

Construction crews have already begun clearing wide swaths of the overgrown, urban forest in unincorporated DeKalb County ahead of the planned construction of the 85-acre (34-hectare) campus. Project opponents said they plan to seek a court order to halt the work pending the outcome of their proposed referendum.

City officials say the $90 million facility would replace inadequate training facilities and would help address difficulties in hiring and retaining police officers that worsened after nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice three years ago.

But opponents, who have been joined by activists from around the country, say they fear it will lead to greater militarization of the police and that its construction will exacerbate environmental damage in a poor, majority-Black area.

The “Stop Cop City” effort has gone on for more than two years and at times has veered into vandalism and violence, with protesters having been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers.

More than 350 people signed up Monday to deliver impassioned speeches against the facility, with testimony inside the City Council chamber lasting so long — more than 14 hours — that the 11-4 vote in favor of funding the facility did not take place until around 5:30 a.m. the next morning.

Having been unable to convince the council to halt the project, Joseph said it’s time for activists to make the case to the larger public.

“Hundreds of us have spoken and yet (city officials) have moved forward with this project,” Joseph said. “To me, in the face of being ignored like that, this calls for direct democracy.”

As approved by the City Council in September 2021, the land is being leased to the private Atlanta Police Foundation for $10 a year. The proposed referendum would seek to cancel that agreement.

Atlanta native and local organizer Clara Totenberg Green said gathering enough signatures in time will be difficult, but she thinks it's doable.

“There are hundreds, thousands of folks that are mobilized and ready to act," Green said. "We can absolutely get the signatures. The challenge is the fast turnaround, but we can do it. People are ready.”

[littlemissidontcare]

Well, the status of the guests tells how much money a festival has (except Cannes and Venice, which is about prestige). When Alejandra attended the first edition of the Red Sea festival, they had as special guests Catherine Deneuve, Hillary Swank and Anthony Mackie, because the Saudis have money and paid them royally (and they attended in spite of the international boycott related to the human rights abuse in SA, so the check must have been huge).

Right, it’s just as someone with a marketing/promotion background, this festival is dropping the ball as far as promoting what they do have and if it had been me on the committee, I’d have either pushed for more financial backing or repositioned. Even waited a year to launch so it could afford a bigger set of stars to attract attention. And if they couldn’t wait or get more funding, positioning as a launchpad and focusing on the younger, up & coming stars from the countries of focus would’ve been a more innovative strategy than booking AW.