#Non-Oil Sector

[gadgets-ark]

Reliance's Jio Financial Services Makes Grand Market Debut, Driven by Ambani Leadership

Elevating the Ambani Legacy: Jio Financial Services’ Stock Market Debut The resounding entry of Jio Financial Services onto the stock market stage marks a significant achievement for the pioneering Ambani family. The journey, led by the visionary minds of Mukesh and Isha Ambani, stands as a testament to their unwavering commitment to innovation and expansion. This strategic stride is a direct…

[nextgen00]

Are you planning to setup your business in Dubai in the non-oil sector? Contact Next Generation Corporate Services, which will guide you in every aspect and fulfill all the requirements. We are the best corporate service provider in Dubai. To know more https://nxtg.ae/emerging-business-opportunities-in-dubais-booming-non-oil-sector/

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #28

July 19-26 2024

The EPA announced the award of $4.3 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants. The grants support community-driven solutions to fight climate change, and accelerate America’s clean energy transition. The grants will go to 25 projects across 30 states, and one tribal community. When combined the projects will reduce greenhouse gas pollution by as much as 971 million metric tons of CO2, roughly the output of 5 million American homes over 25 years. Major projects include $396 million for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection as it tries to curb greenhouse gas emissions from industrial production, and $500 million for transportation and freight decarbonization at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced a plan to phase out the federal government's use of single use plastics. The plan calls for the federal government to stop using single use plastics in food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035. The US government is the single largest employer in the country and the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services. Its move away from plastics will redefine the global market.

The White House hosted a summit on super pollutants with the goals of better measuring them and dramatically reducing them. Roughly half of today's climate change is caused by so called super pollutants, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Public-private partnerships between NOAA and United Airlines, The State Department and NASA, and the non-profit Carbon Mapper Coalition will all help collect important data on these pollutants. While private firms announced with the White House plans that by early next year will reduce overall U.S. industrial emissions of nitrous oxide by over 50% from 2020 numbers. The summit also highlighted the EPA's new rule to reduce methane from oil and gas by 80%.

The EPA announced $325 million in grants for climate justice. The Community Change Grants Program, powered by President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act will ultimately bring $2 billion dollars to disadvantaged communities and help them combat climate change. Some of the projects funded in this first round of grant were: $20 million for Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association, which will help weatherize and energy efficiency upgrade homes for 35 tribes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, $14 million to install onsite wastewater treatment systems throughout 17 Black Belt counties in Alabama, and $14 million to urban forestry, expanding tree canopy in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The Department of Interior approved 3 new solar projects on public land. The 3 projects, two in Nevada and one in Arizona, once finished could generate enough to power 2 million homes. This comes on top of DoI already having beaten its goal of 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects by the end of 2025, in April 2024. This is all part of President Biden’s goal of creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged $667 million to global Pandemic Fund. The fund set up in 2022 seeks to support Pandemic prevention, and readiness in low income nations who can't do it on their own. At the G20 meeting Yellen pushed other nations of the 20 largest economies to double their pledges to the $2 billion dollar fund. Yellen highlighted the importance of the fund by saying "President Biden and I believe that a fully-resourced Pandemic Fund will enable us to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics – protecting Americans and people around the world from the devastating human and economic costs of infectious disease threats,"

The Departments of the Interior and Commerce today announced a $240 million investment in tribal fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. This is in line with an Executive Order President Biden signed in 2023 during the White House Tribal Nations Summit to mpower Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. An initial $54 million for hatchery maintenance and modernization will be made available for 27 tribes in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The rest will be invested in longer term fishery projects in the coming years.

The IRS announced that thanks to funding from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, it'll be able to digitize much of its operations. This means tax payers will be able to retrieve all their tax related information from one source, including Wage & Income, Account, Record of Account, and Return transcripts, using on-line Individual Online Account.

The IRS also announced that New Jersey will be joining the direct file program in 2025. The direct file program ran as a pilot in 12 states in 2024, allowing tax-payers in those states to file simple tax returns using a free online filing tool directly with the IRS. In 2024 140,000 Americans were able to file this way, they collectively saved $5.6 million in tax preparation fees, claiming $90 million in returns. The average American spends $270 and 13 hours filing their taxes. More than a million people in New Jersey alone will qualify for direct file next year. Oregon opted to join last month. Republicans in Congress lead by Congressmen Adrian Smith of Nebraska and Chuck Edwards of North Carolina have put forward legislation to do away with direct file.

Bonus: American law enforcement arrested co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. El Mayo co-founded the cartel in the 1980s along side Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Since El Chapo's incarceration in the United States in 2019, El Mayo has been sole head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Authorities also arrested El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez. The Sinaloa Cartel has been a major player in the cross border drug trade, and has often used extreme violence to further their aims.

[reasonsforhope]

"India’s announcement that it aims to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and to meet fifty percent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030 is a hugely significant moment for the global fight against climate change. India is pioneering a new model of economic development that could avoid the carbon-intensive approaches that many countries have pursued in the past – and provide a blueprint for other developing economies.

The scale of transformation in India is stunning. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world over the past two decades, lifting of millions of people out of poverty. Every year, India adds a city the size of London to its urban population, involving vast construction of new buildings, factories and transportation networks. Coal and oil have so far served as bedrocks of India’s industrial growth and modernisation, giving a rising number of Indian people access to modern energy services. This includes adding new electricity connections for 50 million citizens each year over the past decade. 

The rapid growth in fossil energy consumption has also meant India’s annual CO2 emissions have risen to become the third highest in the world. However, India’s CO2 emissions per person put it near the bottom of the world’s emitters, and they are lower still if you consider historical emissions per person. The same is true of energy consumption: the average household in India consumes a tenth as much electricity as the average household in the United States.  

India’s sheer size and its huge scope for growth means that its energy demand is set to grow by more than that of any other country in the coming decades. In a pathway to net zero emissions by 2070, we estimate that most of the growth in energy demand this decade would already have to be met with low-carbon energy sources. It therefore makes sense that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced more ambitious targets for 2030, including installing 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, reducing the emissions intensity of its economy by 45%, and reducing a billion tonnes of CO2. 

These targets are formidable, but the good news is that the clean energy transition in India is already well underway. It has overachieved its commitment made at COP 21- Paris Summit [a.k.a. 2015, at the same conference that produced the Paris Agreement] by already meeting 40% of its power capacity from non-fossil fuels- almost nine years ahead of its commitment, and the share of solar and wind in India’s energy mix have grown phenomenally. Owing to technological developments, steady policy support, and a vibrant private sector, solar power plants are cheaper to build than coal ones. Renewable electricity is growing at a faster rate in India than any other major economy, with new capacity additions on track to double by 2026...

Subsidies for petrol and diesel were removed in the early 2010s, and subsidies for electric vehicles were introduced in 2019. India’s robust energy efficiency programme has been successful in reducing energy use and emissions from buildings, transport and major industries. Government efforts to provide millions of households with fuel gas for cooking and heating are enabling a steady transition away from the use of traditional biomass such as burning wood. India is also laying the groundwork to scale up important emerging technologies such as hydrogen, battery storage, and low-carbon steel, cement and fertilisers..."

-via IEA (International Energy Agency), January 10, 2022

Note: And since that's a little old, here's an update to show that progress is still going strong:

-via Economic Times: EnergyWorld, March 10, 2023

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Jan behind the cut; the Gotham Kid. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

Kid actually jams the warehouse doors with his TTK, then steps forward into the street. Just–there’s other exits out of the building, obviously. He wouldn’t trap them all in there. 

He just needs to be sure no one’s gonna freak out and fuck up into following him right now, is all.

Kid does find some clay. It’s smeared across the bars of a grate he passes. It’s hard to tell if it’s from Clayface dragging his injured body away into the sewers to hide or just . . . blood splatter, technically. 

Blood splatter, or . . .

Kid doesn’t feel anyone or anything Clayface’s size moving anywhere nearby, but his TTK is still acting up, so maybe . . . maybe he’s just missing him–like, not picking up on him–or maybe Clayface is just already holed up and hidden away somewhere, or . . . 

Or maybe Kid’s just fucking deluding himself. 

Kid trembles, just once, and then fists his hands and locks his TTK around his muscles, and makes himself cross the street. 

No sign of Clayface, aside from the clay on the sewer grate. No blood or body parts anywhere immediately visible or TTK-able. No bodies anywhere, at least not as far as Kid can see or feel. His TTK keeps flickering unreliably, which is–it doesn’t work great against fire or temperature or concussive force and literally all of that stuff happens in explosions and all at once, so . . . probably that’s why it’s kinda fucked-up right now, yeah. He thinks, anyway. 

The street smells like burnt rubber and motor oil and a little bit like almonds, which Clark’s memories say is a plastic explosives thing. They also provide him with a list of search pattern options to use on search-and-rescue missions, which is more, like–immediately helpful, at least in theory. 

Sector search’ll be best, probably, at least right now. He’s not going aerial, obviously, and expanding square is too– 

Something moves. Kid’s TTK is still flickering in and out and only just catches it, but–something definitely just moved. 

He doesn’t run straight towards it, whatever it is. He probably would’ve, before he figured out he was remembering Superman’s memories and lived six months in the worst parts of Gotham, but he knows better now. Rushing straight towards the problem only solves the problem in very specific situations, and “standing in the middle of a blown-up street in Crime Alley while trying to do search-and-rescue without looking like you either have superpowers or know how to do search-and-rescue” is not one of those situations. Not even remotely. 

Kid adjusts his search pattern carefully to work his way towards that hitched little flash of movement and concentrates on getting his TTK back under control enough to feel what’s ahead. Visually, he sees a couple of cars that got blown off the street crashed sideways across the mouth of a skinny alleyway. Tactilely, he feels . . . 

There’s a body in the alley behind the cars, yeah. Physically male, tall and broad and muscular; prone on its back, head lolled to one side and breathing slow and steady and careful, one arm clutched tight to its side. 

It’s Pete, and he’s alive. Injured, definitely, but–but alive. 

So that’s at least one person Kid maybe hasn’t gotten killed, depending on just how injured Pete actually is. 

Kid swallows rough and hard; clenches his fists for a moment and stiffens his shoulders; squares up like he’s trying to scare someone off. Makes himself big, like he used to try to when he was brand-new and in Metropolis and desperate for the kind of attention he didn’t know was dangerous. 

Then he just–makes as much tension as he can go out of himself and tries to just–calm himself, and center himself, and . . . 

Clark could do that a lot better than he can, no matter what he remembers about how to do it, but it’s . . . something, Kid guesses. Just–a little better, anyway. 

It’s . . . a start, yeah. 

He clambers over the cars because he’s not stupid enough to fly–hasn’t flown once since leaving Metropolis, in fact, not for anything and especially not in Gotham–and especially he’s not stupid enough to fly when he doesn’t know who might be sneaking around. The cops aren’t gonna show up for at least a couple hours, assuming they even bother showing up at all, but that doesn’t mean Crime Alley’s empty right now. If nothing else, no matter what happened to Clayface, Killer Croc is still supposed to be out here somewhere. 

Or there could always be a Bat. 

Their response times are a hell of a lot better than the cops’, around here.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The agricultural lobby is a sprawling, complex machine with vast financial resources, deep political connections and a sophisticated network of legal and public relations experts.  “The farm lobby has been one of the most successful lobbies in Europe in terms of relentlessly getting what they want over a very long time,” says Ariel Brunner, Europe director of non-governmental organisation BirdLife International.  Industry groups spend between €9.35mn and €11.54mn a year lobbying Brussels alone, according to a recent report by the Changing Markets Foundation, another NGO. In the US, agricultural trade associations are “enormously powerful”, says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. “Our farm policy is very much their policy.” The sector’s spending on US lobbying rose from $145mn in 2019 to $177mn last year, more than the total big oil and gas spent, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).  In Brazil, where agribusiness accounts for a quarter of GDP, the Instituto Pensar Agropecuária is “the most influential lobbying group”, according to Caio Pompeia, an anthropologist and researcher at the University of São Paulo. “It combines economic strength with clearly defined aims, a well-executed strategy and political intelligence,” he adds. As a result of this reach, big agribusinesses and farmers have successfully secured exemptions from stringent environmental regulations, won significant subsidies and maintained favourable tax breaks.

[...]

Research suggests that big farms and landowners reap far greater benefits from subsidy packages than small-scale growers, even though the latter are often the public face of lobbying efforts. “It’ll almost always be a farmer testifying before Congress or talking to the press, rather than the CEO of JBS,” says Lilliston. But between 1995 and 2023, some 27 per cent of subsidies to farmers in the US went to the richest 1 per cent of recipients, according to NGO the Environmental Working Group. In the EU, 80 per cent of the cash handed out under the CAP goes to just 20 per cent of farms.

22 August 2024

[covid-safer-hotties]

How The Koch Network Hijacked The War On COVID - Published Dec 22, 2021

Almost 3 years out from publication, and we can see the very real effects conservative dark money has played on public health in general, even for the liberal. (They never shift left for some strange reason.) Might be something to show your vote-blue-no-matter-who unmaskers in your life.

As Omicron surges, a shadowy institute filled with fringe doctors appears to be part of big business’ two-year strategy to legitimize attacks on pandemic interventions.

Earlier this month, as the Omicron variant began to spread, a small liberal arts school on a tree-lined campus in Michigan called Hillsdale College announced it was launching an Academy for Science and Freedom to “educate the American people about the free exchange of scientific ideas and the proper relationship between freedom and science in the pursuit of truth.”

The academy was inspired by the pandemic. “As we reflect on the worst public health fiasco in history, our pandemic response has unveiled serious issues with how science is administered,” noted the college president in a press release.

But the venture isn't exactly an effort to apply science to the COVID-19 crisis. The so-called “fiasco” was government pandemic measures like mask and vaccine mandates, contact tracing, and lockdowns.

Hillsdale is a conservative Christian institution with ties to the Trump administration. And the scholars behind the academy — Scott Atlas, Jay Bhattacharya, and Martin Kulldorff — are connected to right-wing dark money attacking public health measures.

The trio also has ties to the Great Barrington Declaration, a widely-rebuked yet influential missive that encouraged governments to adopt a “herd immunity” policy letting COVID-19 spread largely unchecked, even as the virus has killed more than 800,000 Americans.

The academy is the newest initiative designed to provide intellectual cover to a nearly two-year campaign by right-wing and big business interests to force a return to normalcy to boost corporate profits amid a pandemic that is now surging once again thanks to Omicron.

That campaign’s most recent success came earlier this month when Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats joined together to pass a symbolic measure to repeal a Biden administration rule requiring large corporations to mandate vaccines or regular COVID tests for workers.

This is the story of how that corporate-bankrolled campaign originally started, and how it has continued to supplant public health experts and hijack the governmental response to the pandemic.

The War On Public Health When COVID began its spread across the United States in early March 2020, states responded by locking down to varying extents. All 24 Democratic governors and 19 of the 26 Republican governors issued weeks-long stay-at-home orders and restrictions on non-essential businesses.

Lockdown measures drove down cases in the U.S. and likely saved millions of lives globally. But the decline of in-person shopping and work, combined with factory shutdowns in places like China, disrupted the economy. A 2020 report from the corporate consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found the hardest-hit industries would take years to recover.

One sector in particular that took a big hit was the fossil fuel industry. Oil demand fell sharply in 2020, placing the global economy on uncertain footing.

Before long, business-aligned groups — particularly those connected to fossil fuels — began targeting the public health measures threatening their bottom lines. Chief among them were groups tied to billionaire Charles Koch, owner of Koch Industries, the largest privately held fossil fuel company in the world.

The war on public health measures began on March 20, 2020, when Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the right-wing nonprofit founded by Charles and David Koch, issued a press release calling on states to remain open.

“We can achieve public health without depriving the people most in need of the products and services provided by businesses across the country,” it read.

A month later, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a business lobbying group partially funded by Koch Industries, published a letter calling on President Donald Trump to enable states to reopen. That letter was signed by over 200 state legislators and “stakeholders,” including leaders from Koch-funded groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the James Madison Institute.

To fight its war, the Koch network also relied on the astroturf roadmap behind the anti-government Tea Party movement, using its dark money apparatus to coordinate anti-lockdown protests.

Participants for a number of anti-lockdown rallies were recruited by FreedomWorks, a dark money group tied to Charles Koch instrumental in organizing Tea Party protests in 2009. Several of the 2020 rallies were also promoted by the Convention of States Action, a group founded by an organization with ties to the Koch network and hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer that wants to rewrite the U.S. Constitution. In Michigan, a major event was organized by the Michigan Freedom Fund, a nonprofit funded by the family of Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.

Groups funded by the Kochs and their colleagues also turned to a more insidious form of combat adapted from Tea Party strategies: building an academic and intellectual network that would create and promote its own “science” to attack COVID mitigation policies.

“Build Up Immunity… Through Natural Infection” On October 4, 2020, the Great Barrington Declaration was released to the world. Authored by Stanford University professor Jay Bhattacharya, former Harvard Medical School professor Martin Kulldorff, and Oxford University professor Sunetra Gupta, the declaration recommended governments allow younger, healthier people to become infected with COVID-19 while reserving “focused protection” for the vulnerable, in order to reach herd immunity. Suggestions included having nursing homes limit staff rotations and businesses rely on workers with “acquired immunity.”

“The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection,” read the declaration.

The document boasted a veneer of academic legitimacy. Its credentialed authors wrote the letter at a conference hosted by the auspicious-sounding American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. According to the declaration’s website, the letter has since been signed by more than 2,700 “Medical and Public Health Scientists,” and “none of the authors or co-signers received any money, honoraria, stipend, or salary from anyone.”

But the declaration arose out of the world of right-wing dark money and corporate interests, and many of its signatories aren’t verified.

AIER, which hosted and filmed the conference and registered the declaration’s website, is a Koch-tied libertarian think tank. From 2018 to 2020, the Charles Koch Foundation donated more than $100,000 to the institute. And before that, the Koch Foundation donated nearly $1.5 million to the Emergent Order Foundation, formerly Emergent Order LLC, a PR firm that engaged in hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of marketing consulting for AIER.

AIER has also received $54,000 from the Atlas Network, an anti-regulation group formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation that has received more than a half million dollars from the Charles Koch Foundation and the connected Charles Koch Institute. The Atlas Network also pocketed nearly $3.9 million from DonorsTrust, a dark money fund connected to wealthy right-wing donors such as Koch and Mercer, and its sister group, Donors Capital Fund.

In exchange, AIER has provided fellowships to academics in several Koch-funded programs. That includes economist Peter Boettke, the former president of the Mont Pelerin Society, of which Charles Koch has been a member, and Michael Munger, an adjunct scholar at the Koch-backed Cato Institute. AIER’s trustees include Benjamin Powell, director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University, which has received millions from the Koch network. Powell is known for his defense of sweatshops.

Bhattacharya, co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, is a former research fellow at the Hoover Institution, which received $430,000 from Charles Koch’s foundation between 2017 and 2018, as well as $1.4 million from the dark money fund DonorsTrust from 2016 to 2020. Since then, Bhattacharya has appeared in multiple Hoover video programs.

Bhattacharya, Gupta, and representatives of AIER did not respond to requests for comment. Kulldorff insisted that he has never received money from the Koch network.

“Koch-affiliated foundations funded pro-lockdown COVID research by Dr. Neil Ferguson at Imperial College, but they have never funded me, either directly or indirectly,” said Kulldorff. “Lockdowns have generated huge profits for Koch and other big businesses while throwing children and the working class under the bus.”

“Access To The Very Highest Levers Of Government” The Great Barrington Declaration and its natural immunity strategy were widely derided by scientists around the world. The strategy was condemned by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and its HIV Medicine Association while World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it “unethical.” Thousands of medical professionals called on governments to disregard strategies that rely on natural infection.

“Never in the history of public health has anyone suggested infecting the entire population with a pathogen with which we have no long term experience as a strategy for managing a pandemic,” said epidemiologist and physician Robert Morris, who has advised several federal agencies.

Nevertheless, the declaration and its authors were embraced by a number of political leaders, since their arguments provided their laissez-faire approaches to the pandemic with scholarly validity.

This list included President Trump. Two months before the release of the Great Barrington Declaration, Trump welcomed the document’s authors to a White House meeting, even though the administration’s COVID-19 advisor, Deborah Birx, warned colleagues that the doctors were “a fringe group without grounding in epidemics, public health, or on-the-ground common sense experience.”

Trump’s COVID-19 adviser, Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no background in infectious diseases, appeared to be one of several staff who supported the declaration’s strategy. While Atlas has denied urging the natural immunity approach, he publicly claimed that masks do not help curb the virus and called the idea of mandating vaccines for young people a “denial of science,” a claim that has been thoroughly disproved.

The president became enamored with herd immunity and the quick fix it promised for his reelection campaign. In mid-September 2020, Trump began trotting out the concepts that would soon be codified in the Great Barrington Declaration. He declared at an ABC News town hall, “And you’ll develop…a herd mentality. It’s going to be — it’s going to be herd-developed, and that’s going to happen.”

Following Trump’s lead, a number of Republican-led states adopted hands-off pandemic strategies.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the resumption of most commerce in November 2020, including indoor dining, and barred localities from enforcing mask mandates and social distancing.

Declaration co-author Bhattacharya advised DeSantis on his approach and called the governor “extraordinary” for his handling of the pandemic. Last month, DeSantis signed legislation banning vaccine mandates statewide.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted his state’s mask mandate and COVID business restrictions in March 2021. The next month, he declared Texas could be close to herd immunity. Recently, Abbott issued an executive order banning mask mandates, which a federal judge recently ruled unenforceable because it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Great Barrington Declaration’s central arguments also found support overseas. In September 2020, co-author Gupta met in London with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had been slow to impose lockdowns and implement testing after the coronavirus was first identified in his country. A month after this meeting, Johnson sent a series of texts echoing talking points from the declaration, including that the virus wasn’t a real risk to people under 60.

The London meeting was also attended by Anders Tegnell, the state epidemiologist for Sweden, a country that became well known for its rejection of lockdowns. In April 2020, Sweden’s public health director asserted, “There is no clear correlation between the lockdown measures taken in countries and the effect on the pandemic.”

“You have to hand it to the [authors of the] Great Barrington declaration: They have had extraordinary access to the very highest levers of government,” said Gavin Yamey, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of global health and public policy at Duke University. “They have had a profound impact on policy-making. Time and time again, we’ve seen the [people behind the] Great Barrington Declaration get what they want.”

A Devastating Toll Despite the Great Barrington Declaration’s claim that it was delineating “the most compassionate approach” to COVID-19, states and countries that embraced its anti-interventionist strategy have all experienced a COVID massacre.

At the time of the declaration’s publication, roughly 200,000 Americans had died from the virus. Since then, that number has quadrupled, the highest known number of any country.

Florida has become a COVID-19 hotspot, accounting for nearly one in five U.S. cases last summer. Virus numbers also surged in Texas, with the two states accounting for one third of all U.S. COVID-19 deaths at the time.

Even with all those infections, herd immunity was never achieved. Last week, University of Texas researchers warned that the Omicron variant could lead to the largest surge to date in the state.

International efforts to reach natural herd immunity haven’t fared much better. A scathing report released in October by British lawmakers — many from Prime Minister Johnson’s own party — found that the country’s failure to respond to the virus quickly and aggressively was “one of the most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced” and led to “many thousands of deaths which could have been avoided.”

And in Sweden, where roughly 11 out every 100 people had been diagnosed with the virus, COVID-19 fatalities stand at 1,476 deaths per million, many times that of its closest neighbors.

“We Are Intent On Not Letting Omicron Disrupt Work & School” Despite the costs, right-wing messaging against public health measures continues.

At first glance, lockdowns may appear beneficial to some big businesses, especially those that were deemed essential businesses and boasted robust online marketplaces. But social epidemiologist Justin Feldman, of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, noted that “some regulations directly cost businesses money.”

Feldman explained that “paid quarantine and isolation means workers will be paid to stay home instead of working,” vaccine mandates could “make hiring difficult during a labor shortage,” and mask mandates “signal to the public that there is danger and they will then not patronize businesses.”

That’s likely why in March 2021, the dark money fund DonorsTrust spent nearly $800,000 to spread the narrative that the pandemic’s toll was actually due to government interventions. In May, DonorsTrust issued a press release claiming lockdowns hurt workers.

In June, Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank at George Mason University heavily funded by the Koch family, began funding a database run by Emily Oster, an economist who has argued that the drawbacks of school closures outweigh the risks of COVID-19 exposure. Oster’s work was cited by Gov. DeSantis when he signed an order last August allowing parents to defy school mask mandates.

And earlier this month, the Foundation for Economic Education, another Koch-funded nonprofit, claimed that “naive government interventions” were responsible for a rise in global malaria cases and a spike in worldwide poverty.

Such anti-public health intervention narratives have had a lasting impact.

President Joe Biden hasn’t embraced herd immunity through infection the way Trump did, and he instituted a vaccine mandate for large companies that has faced court challenges and pushback from Republican and conservative Democratic lawmakers.

But Biden, whose COVID-19 response team is headed by former investment firm CEO and so-called “businessman’s businessman” Jeffrey Zients, has continued his predecessor’s push to keep the country open, even prematurely declaring “independence” from COVID-19 on Fourth of July last summer.

Earlier this month, Biden assured reporters that lockdowns would not be returning, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant and continued spread of Delta. According to a recent scientific simulation, an eight-week stay-at-home order in response to the new surge could save 300,000 lives.

Last Friday, the White House’s coronavirus response team put out a statement reaffirming its limited approach, a stance Biden reiterated in his remarks on Omicron on Tuesday: “We are intent on not letting Omicron disrupt work & school for the vaccinated.”

The defeat of lockdowns is only part of big business’ takeover of the country’s COVID-19 response.

The country’s eviction moratorium was allowed to lapse after it faced multiple legal challenges funded in part by the Charles Koch Foundation — at the same time as Charles Koch began making new investments in real estate. A subsequent moratorium put in place by the Biden administration was also struck down by the Supreme Court.

And while one of Biden’s first presidential promises was to clarify COVID-19 workplace safety standards, the resulting guidelines ended up limited to a small subsection of workers, following months of lobbying by business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber and other corporate interests have also pushed for a corporate liability shield to protect employers from COVID-19-related lawsuits and have also been fighting against ongoing efforts to release the vaccine intellectual property at the World Trade Organization to speed up global vaccination.

The right-wing push against public health measures shows signs of success. Support for pandemic lockdown measures dropped significantly over nine months from the start of the pandemic. A Gallup poll from November 2020 found that a plurality of 49 percent of Americans said they would shelter in place in response to a serious outbreak, down from 67 percent in March. The decline was mostly due to a “sharp drop” among Republicans.

“A Shining City On A Hill” The Great Barrington Declaration’s authors continue to push herd immunity through COVID-19 infections. Gupta co-founded a U.K. nonprofit called Collateral Global dedicated to exposing alleged negative impacts of COVID mitigation measures, which has Bhattacharya on staff.

Bhattacharya, meanwhile, published an op-ed last January claiming that vaccinating people in his native India was “unethical” because most had “natural immunity” and the risk of adverse reactions outweighed the benefits of inoculation. A month later, the country experienced its worst-ever surge.

All three co-authors are also now affiliated with the Brownstone Institute for Social and Economic Research, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit founded by former AIER editorial director Jeffrey Tucker in May 2021 to prevent “the recurrence of lockdowns.” Bhattacharya serves as the organization's senior scholar, Kulldorff is a senior scientific director, and Gupta is an author.

According to Yamey at Duke University, the institute has been actively promoting vaccine disinformation.

“Time and time again, they have peddled dreadful misinformation and disinformation about vaccines,” he said. “They are, for example, vehemently opposed to vaccinating children, even though we know that unvaccinated children are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized. They very sadly went on television to say that health workers don't need to be vaccinated because they falsely claimed vaccination has no effect on transmission.”

Now declaration co-authors Bhattacharya and Kulldorff, as well as former Trump advisor Scott Atlas have surfaced yet again, as the first three “fellows” at the new Academy for Science and Freedom at Hillsdale College.

Hillsdale, a private non-sectarian Christian school, has long been a factory for conservative thought. In 2016, during a Hillsdale commencement speech, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called it a “shining city on a hill.” Statues of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher adorn a section of its campus known as “Liberty Walk.” Hillsdale President Larry Arnn chaired Donald Trump’s reactionary 1776 Commission, which sought to craft American history curriculums around America’s strengths.

Hillsdale refuses to accept public funds so it can be free from government mandates. Instead, it accepts large sums from the foundations and donor conduits of right-wing corporate executives and their families. The Charles Koch Foundation has donated over $300,000 to Hillsdale since 2015, and DonorsTrust gave over $3.6 million since 2014, including $2.5 million in 2020. The school has also found generous benefactors in the DeVos family, known for their Amway fortune, and Betsy DeVos’ parents, the Princes.

According to the academy’s recently launched website, the new academy will work “to educate policymakers and the general public about important discoveries and ideas that might otherwise be ignored by scientific journals and corporate media.” To do so, the academy plans to host scientific workshops and conferences, publish academic papers, and engage in “media and government outreach.”

But Feldman isn’t buying it.

“They have no interest in science,” he said. “They have been wrong about the pandemic time and time again. They use their stature as 'experts' to push for policies that are indifferent to ongoing mass death.”

[khalid-albeshri]

Reasons behind the fast economic growth of Saudi Arabia:

The rapid economic growth of Saudi Arabia in 2022, especially being the fastest-growing among G20 economies, can be attributed to several key factors:

- Increased Oil Production and Prices: Saudi Arabia, being one of the world's largest oil producers, benefited significantly from rising global oil prices and increased production levels. The rebound in global demand for oil post-pandemic, combined with geopolitical tensions that disrupted other oil supplies, contributed to higher revenues.

- Economic Reforms Under Vision 2030: The Saudi government’s Vision 2030 initiative aims to diversify the economy away from oil dependency. Reforms under this vision have encouraged growth in non-oil sectors such as tourism, entertainment, real estate, and finance, driving economic expansion.

- Investment in Infrastructure: Major infrastructure projects, including NEOM, the Red Sea Project, and the expansion of Riyadh, have attracted significant investments. These projects are not only boosting construction and related industries but are also creating jobs and stimulating the overall economy.

- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in FDI due to improved business regulations, economic reforms, and strategic partnerships with global companies. The Kingdom's efforts to create a more business-friendly environment have made it an attractive destination for foreign investors.

- Strong Private Sector Growth: Government initiatives to boost the private sector, including supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), have contributed to economic growth. Privatization of certain sectors and public-private partnerships have also played a role.

- Expansion of Non-Oil Sectors: Sectors such as tourism, entertainment, and technology have seen rapid growth, fueled by government support and increased consumer spending. Events like the Saudi Seasons, international sporting events, and cultural festivals have attracted visitors and investments.

- Labor Market Reforms: Reforms in the labor market, including Saudization efforts (Nitaqat program) and improved labor laws, have increased workforce participation and productivity, particularly among women and young Saudis.

- Fiscal Prudence and Debt Management: Saudi Arabia has implemented effective fiscal policies, including managing public debt and reducing the budget deficit, which has helped stabilize the economy and promote growth.

- Global Economic Recovery: The global economic recovery post-COVID-19 also played a role, as increased global trade and investment flows positively impacted Saudi Arabia's economy.

These factors combined to create a robust and diversified growth environment, contributing to Saudi Arabia's rapid economic expansion

#KhalidAlbeshri #خالدالبشري

[dailyanarchistposts]

Gender, Dress, and Capitalist Discipline

In the current revolutionary movement in Iran, women appear to be in the vanguard, whether this be in the workplace, classroom, or community. The radical feminist character of the current revolutionary movement is one of the main features that distinguishes it from past revolutionary movements. Although women have been an important presence in all past struggles, today it is young women who constitute its vanguard, shaping the very nature of the struggle, its ideas and aspirations. The current struggle has also reached deeper into student life than ever before: although universities have always been a center of radical activity in Iranian politics, the present struggle has seen this participation expand not only to high-schoolers but to children in middle schools and elementary schools, who defy authorities and tear up the pictures of the supreme leader.

Culture is a terrain of struggle in Iran, as it is everywhere. As a flashpoint in this conflict, the hijab is not merely a religious symbol, but is also about ideological allegiance. The cops that enforce its use — often women — identify with the ideology of the state, and see their enforcing of these laws as their role in upholding it. In this case, it is pro-regime women who police and control other women. These enforcers often harbor resentment toward those who flaunt such norms and who mock their ideology. The struggle against the hijab is therefore not primarily against people who wear Islamic dress out of piety or religiosity, but is rather political in nature, since it concerns the freedom to choose. By defying the hijab mandate, one is challenging an ideological pillar of the state, one which has, since the revolution, worked assiduously to incorporate lumpen and poorer women into its repressive apparatus.

The Islamic Republic is an instructive reminder that even laws that seem to have no rational economic logic can nevertheless be incorporated into the logic of capitalism and play an important role in its reproduction. Gender oppression is linked to capital accumulation in a way perhaps not apparent at first sight. It has long been observed that labor taking place outside the formal workplace, particularly women’s domestic labor, is vital for the existence of wage labor and capital. In many regions, moreover, women’s labor includes both unwaged domestic labor and waged work, both the production of commodities for sale on the market and housework. Sometimes both are done within the same space, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly commonplace in both core and peripheral countries, often driven by the force of necessity. In such cases, the distinction between waged and unwaged labor no longer corresponds to a distinction between two distinct or non-overlapping sets of workers, thereby challenging the distinction between “economic” and “extra-economic.”

Since the 1979 Revolution, the state has led a concerted campaign to encourage women to be primarily domestic caretakers, pushing womens’ role as mother to the forefront of official state ideology. Yet capitalist accumulation also requires women’s participation in production. The result is a labor system aimed at enabling this participation, without directly challenging patriarchal state ideology. In this system, a sizable sector of Iranian women does productive labor in its classical sense, but must do so under the cloak of invisibility.[24]

This is an important characteristic of Iranian capitalism, and is indeed a common feature of capitalist production everywhere. It was the case during the Shah, but has been exacerbated by neoliberalism. One of the main reasons that trade unionism, or even the more radical syndicalism, become difficult concerns the uneven nature of production: Iran is an island of large modern production surrounded by a sea of primitive and traditional production. Even in large scale industries such as oil and petrochemicals, an increasing number of workers are precarious and work on temporary contracts.

The introduction of a strong gender division within the working class complicates conventional lines of class struggle, from which women’s issues are often dismissed as external. The small workshops typically found in the textile industry — particularly in rural areas — were the first to be excluded from all labor legislation, whereas for women working at home there has, of course, never been any protection. This is one of the “advantages” of employing women: they are easily exploitable, as their connection to the labor market proper is never more than casual, and officially regarded so by the state. This also demonstrates how intimate and symbiotic the relation of class and gender can be. It becomes hard if not impossible to draw a sharp line between exploitation and domination, and between questions of gender and class.

The Islamic Republic reveals the inability of state ideology to overcome the contradictions inherent to capitalism. From its inception, the ruling order has tried to construct an order in which ideology, repression, and state control could be used to suppress the contradictions and crises inherent to the system. But if the global history of the past four decades has shown us anything, it is that what we call neoliberalism is nothing other than the inherent contradictions of capitalism manifesting themselves. Such is undoubtedly the case in Iran. Many of the laws and regulations that may seem to have no economic bottomline turn out to be intimately bound up with particular forms of labor discipline. Iran’s regulations around gender offer a case in point.

[thetruearchmagos]

To make up for a lack in recent Worldbuilding stuff, I'm gonna take the time to rapid fire a few details and let people choose which one interests them most before I eventually decide to elaborate on them in turn.

Be warned, none of these are interesting:

1. Vehicles on the road drive on the left in the United Commonwealth, though when it comes to private car ownership that's basically non-existent.

2. The UC's currency, the Chequer, derives its name from its pre-Commonwealth history as promissory notes and cheques between the major financial institutions of the nations that would eventually form the UC.

3. I have a meticulously planned out history of Inter-World communication in the 12 Worlds that spans about two centuries, and which terrifies me everytime I think about explaining it.

4. So-called 'Kraken', which at the recorded smallest are as large as corvettes, swim across and between the layers of the Warp and various Worldly oceans.

5. Ash Shrub, once regarded as a hazardous wild grass prone to seemingly spontaneous combustion, briefly served as a source of fuel so effective as to rival coal and oil when put through the right industrial processes. While the sheer scale of the 12 Worlds' oil deposits have since assured black gold's dominance in much of the energy sector, Ash Shrub derivatives still hole some market share

And.... that's a wrap! Feel like doing more of these, they're much easier than the usual long-form articles.

Tagging @athenswrites @caxycreations @hessdalen-globe @theprissythumbelina @moonscribbler @thatndginger @lividdreamz @avrablake @imslowlydisintegrating

[tanyaadsad]

The Ultimate Choice for PTFE Wires

What are PTFE Wires?

PTFE wires, also known as Polytetrafluoroethylene wires, are a type of electrical wire that uses a unique material called PTFE as its insulation. PTFE is a synthetic fluoropolymer that is known for its exceptional non-stick properties, high temperature resistance, and excellent dielectric strength.

Properties of PTFE Wires

PTFE wires have several properties that make them ideal for use in a wide range of applications. Some of the key benefits of PTFE wires include:

High Temperature Resistance: PTFE wires can withstand extremely high temperatures, making them suitable for use in applications where other wires would melt or degrade.

Chemical Resistance: PTFE wires are resistant to corrosion and damage from chemicals, making them ideal for use in harsh environments.

Low Friction: The non-stick properties of PTFE make it easy to strip and terminate the wires, reducing the risk of damage during installation.

High Dielectric Strength: PTFE wires have a high dielectric strength, which means they can withstand high voltages without breaking down.

Polytetrafluoroethylene wires

Applications of PTFE Wires

PTFE wires are used in a variety of applications, including:

Aerospace: PTFE wires are used in aircraft and spacecraft due to their high temperature resistance and ability to withstand extreme conditions.

Automotive: PTFE wires are used in high-performance vehicles due to their ability to withstand high temperatures and harsh environments.

Medical Devices: PTFE wires are used in medical devices such as catheters and guidewires due to their biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion.

Industrial Applications: PTFE wires are used in industrial applications such as chemical plants and oil refineries due to their ability to withstand harsh environments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, PTFE wires are a unique type of electrical wire that offers a range of benefits and advantages over traditional wires. Their high temperature resistance, chemical resistance, low friction, and high dielectric strength make them ideal for use in a wide range of applications. Whether you're working in aerospace, automotive, medical devices, or industrial applications, PTFE wires are an excellent choice for any project that requires high-performance and reliability.

visit- https://www.insulatedwires.com/ptfe-wires Address- Factory 46-Vedvyaspuri industrial Area,Sector-8 Meerut Pin-250103, INDIA

[fatehbaz]

Bringing to the fore fungi feasting on palm trees, fungi that established symbiotic relations with those trees, and salvific plants turned into invasives, together with the perspectives of indigenous communities working for/fighting against the oil palm sector in West Papua, Chao casts light on the interdependent if unstable relations across species that are formed in those ecologies. [...] [T]his [...] highlights an aspect that the study of plantations has frequently ignored, namely the constant need for maintenance. Plantations’ disciplining (and policing the boundaries of) humans and “nature” has always been as much about repair and improvisation as about planning and control. [...]

Thus, plantation-making has always also been a matter of contention between alternative world views and agendas [...]. But despite the violent and unequal power relations spun within and through plantations, projects for taming “the wild” and building strict social hierarchies always left “room to maneuver” for alternative livelihoods (Trouillot 2002b). [...]

Over the centuries, assemblages of humans and non-humans opened up possibilities for the subversion of plantation discipline. Bulamah’s contribution explores an array of geographies in the early modern and modern Caribbean that run counter or parallel to plantation apparatuses. These geographies -- inhabited by enslaved men and women, pirates, smugglers, maroons, Marrons and their “companion species” -- functioned as spaces of subsistence, autonomy, healing or struggle. [...] Such crafted and nurtured environments that subaltern peoples created along with their animals helped mitigate or evade subordination in plantation spaces.

Moore’s chapter also highlights how the imperial and colonial imaginaries imposed onto the land and its inhabitants collide with those of local communities. It discusses precisely the (too often neglected) conflictual relation between peasant and plantation modes of production. Focused on Haiti’s Central plateau during US occupation, this case study examines the efforts of both scientists and the military to transform the landscape into cotton plantations, and the struggle of Afro-Caribbean communities to defend their livelihoods. The environmental characteristics of the Central Plateau and the biological properties of the cotton plant are essential to Moore’s story. The physiological features of cotton varieties and the physical qualities of this borderland, together with imperial authorities’ changing perception of them, make the various elements necessary to bring a plantation into existence visible. This chapter is also a good reminder that plantations recurrently failed.

In Haiti, even under the oppression of US imperialism, other forms of cultivation prevailed over cotton monocrops. However, regardless of plantations’ actual workings, the racialized representations of the peasant guerrilla (“cacos”) as wild, wasteful and primitive still linger in public memory, making the enduring ideological power of plantation imaginaries evident.

---

Text by: Irene Peano, Marta Macedo, and Colette Le Petitcorps. “Introduction: Viewing Plantations at the Intersection of Political Ecologies and Multiple Space-Times.” Global Plantations in the Modern World: Sovereignties, Ecologies, Afterlives. 2023. [Some paragraph breaks added by me.]

[tubetrading]

Exploring Large Diameter Pipes – Construction Challenges and Solutions

Understanding Large Diameter Pipes

Large diameter (Dia) pipes are essential components in many infrastructure projects, including water supply systems, sewage treatment plants, and oil and gas pipelines.  Their size and functionality enable the efficient transport of large volumes of liquids and gases, making them indispensable in modern construction.  However, working with large diameter pipes presents unique challenges that require specialized solutions.  Tube Trading, a leading large Dia pipe supplier in Vadodara, has extensive experience in addressing these challenges.  This article explores the construction challenges associated with large diameter pipes and the solutions provided by industry leaders like Tube Trading, a prominent large Dia pipe dealer in Vadodara and a reliable large Dia pipe distributor in Gujarat.

Large diameter pipes are typically defined as pipes with a diameter of 24 inches (600 mm) or more.  They are made from various materials, including steel, ductile iron, concrete, and plastic, each offering specific advantages depending on the application.  These pipes are used in a variety of sectors, such as:

Water and Wastewater:  For transporting potable water and sewage.

Oil and Gas:  For transporting crude oil, natural gas, and refined products.

Industrial Applications:  For transporting chemicals, slurry, and other industrial fluids.

Construction:  As structural elements in large infrastructure projects.

Construction Challenges of Large Diameter Pipes

The installation and maintenance of large diameter pipes pose several challenges, which include:

1.   Transportation and Handling

Transporting and handling large diameter pipes can be logistically complex due to their size and weight.  These pipes often require special equipment and careful planning to ensure they are transported safely and efficiently.

Solution:  Tube Trading, as a leading large Dia pipe distributor in Gujarat, uses specialized transportation methods and equipment to handle large diameter pipes.  This includes flatbed trucks, cranes, and forklifts designed to accommodate the size and weight of these pipes.  Their logistics team ensures that transportation complies with all safety regulations and standards.

2.   Site Preparation and Trenching

Proper site preparation and trenching are critical for the successful installation of large diameter pipes.  This involves clearing the site, excavating trenches, and ensuring that the ground conditions are suitable for pipe laying.

Solution:  Tube Trading provides comprehensive site assessment and preparation services.  They use advanced geotechnical surveys to analyze soil conditions and design appropriate trenching solutions.  This minimizes the risk of ground instability and ensures a solid foundation for the pipes.

3.   Jointing and Welding

Joining large diameter pipes securely is essential to prevent leaks and ensure the integrity of the pipeline.  This can be particularly challenging with materials like steel, which require precise welding techniques.

Solution:  As a top large Dia pipe dealer in Vadodara, Tube Trading offers expert welding and jointing services.  Their team of certified welders uses state-of-the-art welding equipment and techniques to ensure strong, leak-proof joints.  For non-metallic pipes, they provide specialized coupling systems that offer reliable connections.

4.   Pressure Testing and Quality Assurance

Large diameter pipes used in critical applications, such as water supply and oil and gas transport, must undergo rigorous pressure testing to ensure they can withstand operational pressures without failing.

Solution:  Tube Trading conducts thorough pressure testing and quality assurance checks on all pipes before installation.  Their testing procedures comply with international standards, ensuring the pipes’ durability and reliability.  This includes hydrostatic testing, where pipes are filled with water and pressurized to detect leaks and weaknesses.

5.   Corrosion Protection

Corrosion can significantly reduce the lifespan of large diameter pipes, especially those made from metal.  Protecting these pipes from corrosion is essential for long-term durability and performance.

Solution:  Tube Trading offers a range of corrosion protection solutions, including coatings, linings, and cathodic protection systems.  These measures protect the pipes from environmental factors and extend their service life.  Their experts recommend the most suitable protection method based on the pipe material and operating conditions.

6.   Environmental and Regulatory Compliance

Construction projects involving large diameter pipes must comply with environmental regulations and standards to minimize their impact on the environment.

Solution:  Tube Trading is committed to environmentally responsible practices.  They ensure all their projects comply with local and international environmental regulations.  This includes using environmentally friendly materials and methods, as well as implementing measures to protect natural habitats and water sources during construction.

Innovative Solutions by Tube Trading

Tube Trading’s extensive experience and expertise in handling large diameter pipes make them a trusted partner for construction projects in Vadodara and Gujarat.  Here are some innovative solutions they offer:

1.   Custom Pipe Fabrication

Tube Trading provides custom fabrication services to meet specific project requirements.  This includes custom lengths, bends, and fittings that ensure seamless integration with existing infrastructure.  Their fabrication facilities are equipped with the latest technology to deliver high-precision products.

2.   Comprehensive Project Management

From initial planning to final installation, Tube Trading offers comprehensive project management services.  Their team of experts oversees every aspect of the project, ensuring timely completion and adherence to budget.  This integrated approach minimizes disruptions and ensures smooth project execution.

3.   Advanced Material Solutions

Tube Trading supplies a variety of pipe materials, including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and ductile iron.  Each material is chosen based on the specific needs of the project, offering optimal performance and cost-effectiveness.  Their material experts provide guidance on selecting the best material for each application.

4.   Technical Support and Training

Tube Trading provides technical support and training to ensure that construction teams are well-equipped to handle large diameter pipes.  This includes training on installation techniques, safety procedures, and maintenance practices.  Their support services ensure that clients have the knowledge and resources needed for successful project execution.

Why Tube Trading Stands Out

As a premier large Dia pipe supplier in Vadodara, Tube Trading has built a reputation for excellence and reliability.  Their commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction sets them apart in the industry.  Here’s why Tube Trading is the preferred choice for large diameter pipe solutions:

1.   Extensive Industry Experience

With years of experience in the industry, Tube Trading has developed deep expertise in handling large diameter pipes.  Their extensive portfolio of completed projects demonstrates their capability and reliability.

2.   Quality Assurance

Tube Trading adheres to the highest quality standards in the industry.  Their products undergo rigorous testing and inspection to ensure they meet or exceed client expectations.  This commitment to quality ensures that clients receive durable, high-performance pipes for their projects.

3.   Customer-Centric Approach

Tube Trading’s customer-centric approach ensures that clients receive personalized solutions tailored to their specific needs.  Their team works closely with clients to understand their requirements and provide the most effective solutions.

4.   Comprehensive Solutions

From supply and fabrication to installation and maintenance, Tube Trading offers end-to-end solutions for large diameter pipes.  This comprehensive approach simplifies project management and ensures seamless execution.

Conclusion

Large diameter pipes are critical components in many infrastructure projects, but they come with unique construction challenges.  Addressing these challenges requires specialized expertise and innovative solutions.  Tube Trading, a leading large Dia pipe supplier in Vadodara, excels in providing comprehensive solutions that ensure successful project execution.  Their commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction makes them a trusted partner for large diameter pipe projects in Vadodara and Gujarat.  Whether you need custom fabrication, technical support, or comprehensive project management, Tube Trading is your go-to large Dia pipe dealer in Vadodara and a reliable large Dia pipe distributor in Gujarat.

[edelstahlviratiberica]

Intro: EDELSTAHL VIRAT IBERICA in #portugal An emerging importer Exporter, Supplier & Stockiest of Tool steel, Die & Mold Steels, Recycling products etc.

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Scrap / Recycling Products: https://moldsteel.eu/recycling-products/

👉 Used Tools(Carbide, Threading & HSS Cutting Tool Scrap) 👉Die & Mold Steel Blocks, Holder etc. 👉Steel lots, Cut short length, Prime over run 👉2344 Used Mandrel Bars 👉2344 Used Extrusion Dies 👉Forging Dies 👉Electric Motors 👉Used Machineries etc.

We are also involved in trading of Ferrous, Non Ferrous, Alloy steel scrap etc. The dynamic management has enabled the company to grow organically and sustainably in its search for Moving ahead globally with the exploration of Business Opportunities in several nations, including the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Middle East, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, and Philippines, etc.

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We work with a wide range of industries, including those related to Drop Forging, Aluminum Extrusion, Automotive, Mining, PDC, Power Generation, Petrochemical, Aviation, Railways, Agricultural, Oil and Gas, Drilling, Hand Tools, Bulk Material Handling, etc.

New Development in Special Steels, Recycled Products and Machine tools etc.

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[cactuswaterscactusfields]

Never About Us - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Another Day, Another Repair

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 4.9k

For anyone who has trouble imagining a sith din, here’s a link to a tumblr post with something I made on mandocreator. This does not have to be how you visualize him, it's just how I interpret him!

Chapter Warnings: Angst, verbal (and light physical) abuse. Violence, Suspense, cursing, mentions of death. Description of injuries, blood. Non canon compliant. Let me know if I missed any!! I’m making things up about ships and mechanics don’t eat me. 

Translation guide: Ner kar’taylir gar darasuum (mando’a): “I love you forever” lit. “I know you forever”

Ad’ika (mando’a): “Child” lit. little one

Wermo (geonosian): “idiot” lit. A stupid person.

Cyare (mando’a): “beloved” lit. “beloved, loved, popular”

Cyar’ika (mando’a): “darling” lit. “darling, sweetheart”

Aruetyc (mando’a): “traitorous” lit. “traitorous”

Darjetii (mando’a): “sith” lit. “sith, dark-side user”

– Thank you to my beloveds, Wren and Geo, for beta reading this. I couldn’t do it without you. MINORS DNI!

Your hands stick to the metallic wrench they’re holding, as a black, inky material sprays down at your face. The ship you’re facing the bottom of seems to have lost a panel, and a stray tube is spraying the remnants of whatever dirty oil the last mechanic seems to have loaded the ship with. So many mechanics around the galaxy will act like they’ve fixed a ship, only for it to break a couple of jumps later in their friends’ sectors, so that they get more money. Frankly, you hate it. But now is not the time to get lost in your despisings, as the dirty oil continues to paint your face a new shade of gross. 

“Shit!” 

You scoot out from underneath the ship and see the extent of the damage done by a singular fallen bolt. A metal plate is lying inches from your head, and the dark oil continues to spray where you were just laying. Your hair sticks to your forehead like glue, as the hot sun bears down on your shoulders. The dirty work overalls you had just washed are now freshly dirty as if this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day. Damnit.

“Kriffing hell, not again..” You mutter to yourself, getting back down to attempt to stop the oil flow from blasting down at your face. At least your boss isn’t here to see this, the geonosian would have a fit at seeing the state you’re in in front of a customer’s ship!

However, as if summoned by the force itself, the bug-like man flies in and screeches at the sight. Standing at a solid five-foot-flying, he’s not the most attractive bug like creature you’ve ever seen. In fact, he might be the ugliest. This is Gakrux Thern, your boss and fellow mechanic. Well, on paper he’s a mechanic, but in reality you do all the work around this damn yard. He pays you enough for you to live, but not enough to buy a ship to escape, not when rent gets higher every year you live here as clean water gets rarer and rarer to find. His four arms are waving about as he takes in the sight before him, and it can’t be pretty. You, crouched in front of a half-scalped razor crest, covered in oil, dripping literally from head-to-toe in the disgusting, maker-you-hope-it’s-not-caustic material.  Your hand tightens around your wrench, as you begin to attempt to fix the still-pouring oil flow coming out of this old beat-up bucket-of-bolts. 

“How dare you do this to a ship, when our customers are paying so much to have their ships fixed!” His thick, geonosian accent sends spittle flying at your face, and the screeching begins to give you a migraine. Another day, another repair, another verbal thrashing from your boss. His wings beat against the sand around you, which earns him a side-eye from you. “I’m sorry. A bolt came loose, and I’m working on fixing it. Just be patient.” You sigh, and he huffs, unsatisfied. “Ungrateful..” He trails off into a language you can’t understand, but the intention is clearly there. It always is, out here. Intentions leave you with yes’s and no’s and get out of this place’s, and nothing is ever kind. But that’s the way the desert is, isn’t it? Harsh, dry, irradiated, with no life for thousands of miles except for in the few sparse cities that still exist after the empire decided it would be a good idea to sterilize the entire planet. 

As you lay back down on the sliding board you use to get underneath ships now that the oil is quenched from its flow, for the time being, your mind wanders. After all, the creaking din of a wrench twisting a loose screw into place or hammering a plate back into shape gets old…

–

Smoke rises from a building and blasters whip past your head only to be bounced back by crimson sabers the color of death. Your father holds you tightly as he runs through alleys, feet pounding on the blood-soaked sands. He brushes your hair from your face, and your hand tightens around his flightsuit. You can’t have been more than five…Sharp pain comes across your face, and you feel tears leak out from your little eyes. Blood drips down your forehead, and he looks down at you, before placing his hand over the wound with a little rag. You can feel concern coming from him, as you see the perpetrator, a sharp rock, flying away from you both.

“Ner kar’taylir gar darasuum, ad’ika. Never forget I love you more than you could ever imagine. I will see you again, I promise. I will. Until then, you have to survive!” The helmet covering his head has a familiar emblem burnt into the side, but the image is fuzzy. The beskar is scratched, dented, stained with blood and ash, but the bright paint still sticks out to you. It’s home to you, a memory you can’t quite forget, a set of colors you can’t quite remember the exact shade of. You wonder if you’ll ever see that crest again.

As he runs, you see where he’s headed. A yard has a few finished escape pods, and one of them has your things in them. Did he know this was going to happen before now?

His hands push you down into the pod, and two small hands that must be yours press up on the glass between you and the man who raised you. As his hand touches yours through the glass for a moment, more blaster fire and smoke tarnish the already orange and dark brown sky, as tall creatures with glowing white eyes and metal skin aim blasters at him. He turns to face the creatures, reaching into his jacket to draw something, but you fear he’s too slow. 

You hold your little hands out to stop them, as if something you could do could stop immortal creatures of titanium and wire. One’s blaster floats slightly into the air, and..

–

“Fuck!” You’re snapped out of your memory when something sharp hits you on the arm. You slide out from under the ship to see the geonosian floating there, looking especially disgusted with you.

“Get up, ungrateful wermo.” 

He’s holding what look like bolts with sharpened corners, and he’s poised to throw another one at you. The bug-man’s face is wrinkled with anger, and the bolts he’s holding are rusted and worn with years of sand and difficulty working on the geonosian sands below and whatever other trash heap of a planet they come from. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get an infection from that bantha shit of a projectile.

You stand, dusting yourself off, small sand granules falling to the ground, joining the rest of the oily sand below. It clumps around you, as droplets of oil fall to the ground and seep into the earth. Yuck. 

He grunts, and looks away from the oil, disgusted with the state you’re in. You are too. The disgusting ship oil coats your arms up to your elbows, pastes your hair to your skin, and makes the shirt you had already wanted to get off cling to your skin even deeper. It’s not skin tight, just nasty and pressing the minute grains of sand against your skin.

“Get out of my yard. It’s late and I don’t want to pay you any more than I have to.”

At this point, there’s no point in arguing with him, so you walk away from the ship after packing your equipment into the wrenchbox where it is all kept. The rusty droid that cleans up the yard takes the wrenchbox, and wheels it away to the corner with the other tools. Those little metal fuckers can’t have a conversation or share friendship with you, but it’s better than one aiming a blaster at you. The lesser of two evils, you suppose. 

You see your pack in the corner where you’ve always kept it, same as ever. A bit sandy, a bit dusty, but there. 

You walk to it and sling it over your shoulder, before looking back at the yard and beyond it, the setting geonosian sun over the towering rocky cliffs and sandy buttes. Home? No, but as close as you’re going to get given the present circumstances. You make your way out of the yard and onto the evening streets of the geonosian city, and a few people give you a look but most keep to their business. That’s the way it goes out here. You kill or die, or somewhere in between. Everyone on this planet has dirty laundry they’d like kept swept under the rug, and everyone would kill before they let someone else find out. 

You don’t speak, don’t interact with any of the many passersby whose eyes you meet for but the shortest of moments. That’s the way to survive. Don’t speak, don’t get noticed, don’t say a word. What you are is hunted to veritable extinction, and those that remember the orders that came before the empire do not speak of them. That’s the way it goes.

You finally arrive at the small apartment building which you call a residence, and you enter. The glass doors shutter behind you, and you make your way up the elevator to your small, shabby apartment. It’s not much. Two rooms and a bathroom with a sonic shower in the corner, a sink that doesn’t work half the time, and a canister of water in the corner of the bedroom worth more than two months’ rent. How did geonosians survive for thousands of years in this place? You may never know the answer. The bug-like humanoids are hardy, you’ll give them that, but you aren’t one of them. You’re a mandalorian human. You grew up on a planet ravaged by war, yes, but it had water. It wasn’t barren like this place. The Sindari palace was always open to the different clans until that usurper…your mind wanders. It’s been so many years since your father told you the stories of mandalore from before your time, before the empire decided that the mandalorian people were better off dead. You finally get the door open after finagling with the key for a few minutes, and as you enter the dining room with the single table and windows against the wall, the dying light of the last dredges of the geonosian sunset greets you. You flick the lights on, beige paint peeling on the walls and reflecting the orangeish red sky. You lock the door, and finally set your bag on the counter. You can finally get out of the clothes that you deal with so much in. As you pull your overalls and undershirt off, you see the extent of the injury that that damn geonosian’s terrible throwing abilities graciously blessed you with. A bit of blood trickles down from the open cut, but it’s nothing a few bandages and a small bacta patch won’t fix. You gently paste the greenish patch onto the wound after cleaning it with a waterless cleaning solution (damn those aristocrats and damn this planet, with so little water) and finally, you can look in the mirror.

Your hair is still slightly pasted to your forehead, oil making it run slick and greasing it with a delicious coating of sand and dust. Gross. The oil still shines slightly on your skin, and your eyes are the only part of you that was fully spared from the dark liquid’s mayhem. You turn to the sonic shower in the corner, and after shedding your chest band and undergarments, step in.

The sonic waves slowly vibrate the oil, dust, and disgustingness off you, but it doesn’t make you feel truly clean. Nothing here does. That’s just another day, another sonic.

You step out after the oil seems to be gone from your body and hair, and you pull a shirt from your laundry that seems clean enough.

You finally flop into your bed, and the uncomfortable, tough mattress does wonders for your back. You can still feel sand pressing against your skin, even here in this bed of yours. It never truly leaves. The dry, disgusting feeling coating your skin and drying out your hair. That’s life on a sterile, irradiated desert planet that most would rather forget about. You stretch and sigh, and finally, uneasy sleep pulls you away from current reality.

–

Your hands grasp at a small bar of metal a familiar man holds, and he smiles. His hair is messy, like yours, but his smile is warm and holds deep love.He hands it to you, and the tiny hands hold onto it. Metal. “Beskar, cyar'ika.” He says to you, and you giggle.

You know when this is. You were but a small child, in your home.

Home. This was your home, with its comforting walls and roof and the soft bed you always played with your toys in. Your father studied at his desk in the other room most days, but always came and checked up on you. 

“Can you say cyare?” He smiles, touching your face. You blurble something out in response in some form of toddler speak, and he chuckles, round glasses sliding down his nose slightly.

“Not quite, my love. You’ll get there one day. I just know it.”

He ruffles the hair on your head, and you grab again at his hands, dropping the shiny metal in favor of your father’s love and warmth.  

As it hits the ground, your eyes follow, and you hold your hands out again. The beskar floats up toward you, and your father’s eyes widen just slightly, before they crinkle again with his smile.

“Be careful, sweetest one. Your power is beyond what anyone can imagine.”

–

Your dreams, lovely as they are, are interrupted by the loud screeching of your commlink. That’s your alarm, as always.

You grab it, and press the button on the side to turn it off. The light shines dimly from outside, and the sun is beginning to rise. Another day, another repair.

As you sit up from your bed, the metallic cylinder of your lightsaber glints on the table in the corner. 

You remember the day it was ungracefully thrust into your hands, and your eyes had met his for the last time. You remember the day you saw the crystal encased inside for the first time, and how that fiery orange had stuck out vibrantly against the dark sky of the night time in your home. 

You finally get up and pull your chest band and undergarments on, before finally donning a shirt and semi-clean pair of overalls, better than the oil nightmares of yesterday. Another day, another repair. You tame your hair in the mirror, and give your face a couple slaps to get the sleep out of it. Not like it ever rested in the first place. As you stare into the mirror a little while longer, tired eyes greet you. Eyes not full of rest, but full of exhaustion. Exhaustion from running your whole life, escaping slave catchers and force sensitive-killers alike. You’ve left countless times by now, and for what? Just to have to leave again? Is your whole life destined to be like this? Living in hiding while working for a man who you hate and who hates you? Are you to be nothing but a glimpse working in the shadows of a cruel, destructive empire? Is this what you are to be? Living on a planet irradiated by a too-close sun with water that costs more than your apartment? Only seeing the burnt orange of the deserts against the dull sandy yellow of the skies?

As your thoughts mingle onward, your com screams at you again. That’s your signal to leave. Your eyes land on that dark metal saber again, and before you know what you’re doing you place it into your overalls. Perhaps it’s for the best to keep it on you. You grab your bag and sling it over your shoulder, the extra clothes and medical supplies pressing against your side for a moment as a stark reminder of what you are.

You are a glimpse. Nothing but a haunted memory of something eviscerated in the past. 

–

You find yourself once again underneath the same ship as yesterday, finally finishing up the repairs. Luckily this time, there were no more oil incidents and your overalls are mostly clean, save a grease mark here or sand there. You tighten the last of the bolts on, and slide out from under the ship to examine your work. The metal hull of the ship before you reflects the yellow-orange sand that you’ve grown to..despise? Is that the word to describe the feelings you hold about this place, this job, this planet, this life? Is that who you have become? A despiser, hating the surroundings which have blessed you for so long with sunburns, dehydration, and sleep deprivation? “Wermo!” Your boss’s voice once again breaks you from the din of your thoughts about this place. “Is this ship done?”

“Yes, it is, Gakrux.” You speak his name, and he makes a noise akin to disdain. 

“Do not speak my name, child.” He shoves past you, and examines your work upon the ship which has cursed you with too many sonic showers and water bills. At least it’s pre-imperial, which makes it hard to track in case you missed something.

Your brain, mandalorian as it is, goes to how you could steal it. You’d have to break past the several security measures that likely line its technological innards, and you’d have to have the money for the fuel. That’s not even mentioning the fact that you’d have to figure out the controls to a pre-imperial warship.

Your father taught you how to fly, once. Doesn’t mean you know how to fly everything immediately.

–

“Pull up on the thrusters when you’re ready to take off.” His voice is warm, soft, and comforting. His hand rests on your shoulder as your small hands hold the controls, and you press a button before slowly lifting the ship into the air. You then press forward a little too hard, and the ship jerks forward.“Not that hard, dear. Let’s try again, okay?”–

You’re once again snapped out of your daydream by a smack on the back of your head. “I am speaking to you, child!” Your boss, understanding as ever, is glaring at you. His hand is poised to smack you again, but you steel your footing. “Yes? Can you repeat that?” “Only because I can’t afford a droid, you insufferable waste of water. If I had half the right mind I’d fire you and leave you out in the irradiated deserts. That’d be a better use of space than what you do all day.” You look away at his words. You’ve grown used to them. It’s not the first time he’s threatened to leave you in the deserts to die, and it probably won’t be the last. That’s how it goes out here. Once you lose your value, you’re left to die in the dust along with your past and your memories. They replace you almost invisibly, so that the next sorry soul to come along can give a few good years and then lose their value, and the cycle goes on and on. 

Before he’s able to start in on you again, however, what sounds like a shattering pot sounds out outside the yard. You look over, as does he, and you both instinctively go to investigate. And then you sense it. Darkness. Cold, unfeeling, darkness. Wafting through the air like choking smog, piercing your mind with images of red blades and dark helmets. It pushes away the already dim light around you, with nothing but numb pain left in its place. Claw-like shivers travel up your arms, down your spine, even into the back of your neck. The little force-weilder inside you screams, run! Run! Not safe! And then it comes to you like an arrow, landing dead-center at the forefront of your mind, as if aimed by a god itself, the answer of what brings this darkness. It’s every jedi’s worst fear, every force-weilder’s nightmare and dread.  

Inquisitors.

–

You and Gakrux make your way out of the yard into the main street, and you see the storm troopers slowly walking down the road. You stand in the back, blending into the shadows. And then you see him.

A crimson cape spreads down from his shoulder, covering an empire logo half cut off on the left side of his chest. His armor is dark gray, like beskar, and his helmet has red accents. This is a mandalorian, but he has been…corrupted. His flight suit is an even darker gray, while the whistling birds and missiles lining multiple parts of his armor are a deep scarlet. Even his beskar heart is corrupted, with a deep red surrounded by gray lined with a darker red replacing what should be honorable. A mandalorian inquisitor? Regardless, you’re looking right at him, and he’s looking right back at you. Before you know it, he takes a step toward you, and then another, and another, and then he’s running.

–

Your feet pound on the sand below as you twist and turn through the crowds, trying to put as many people and as much distance between you and the inquisitor behind you. You have no clue where you’re going. You take random twists and random turns, and there is no order to what alleys and streets you weave down. The sun flickers in and out of sight as you pass under roofs and tarps, and you can hear cries of pain behind you. That’s how it always is, isn’t it? You run and run and run, and flee and flee and flee, and yet you always leave suffering when you leave a place.

You turn toward another alley, but as you head down it you realize you’ve hit the wall at the end of this sandstony deathtrap.

You turn around, and see stormtroopers approaching you slowly. They slowly step aside, and the mandalorian inquistor approaches you. His coal-black visor bears down at you, and you step back, but your back presses against the stone. Reflecting into his plasteel you can see yourself, shaking slightly, eyes wide.

He takes another step, and you see him slowly reach for a saber hilt at his hip. Thank the maker you decided to bring that saber with you today. His armor reflects the sunlight above. You’re a little surprised at that, you were expecting him to wear plasteel like the stormtroopers he’s surrounded you both with. His saber gleams in the bright light, and as it reflects, you’re brought back to that day on mandalore.

–

Red sabers, crimson blades swinging through the air as an ominous, unstoppable force of death.

–

Your thoughts are ripped back into place as the clanking of stormtroopers amassing at the entrance to the alley sounds out.

He ignites his blade, and the threatening hum is, for a moment, all you can hear. 

And then, he speaks in a strange, modulated baritone voice you can’t but for a moment imagine would be rich like honey or molasses without that helmet. 

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

–

You reach into your overalls, and draw your saber, before igniting it. The orange reflects off his armor, and he tilts his head almost imperceptibly. Perhaps he knows what the orange color means? Your father knew. He would never tell you, not even when you had your desperate escape from your home. 

Pulling you back into the moment, the Mandalorian moves. His saber swings down toward you, and you instinctively raise yours to block it. He presses down, and you press back up. He’s clearly got experience with this kind of thing, unlike your sorry arms. They’re already aching with the force of his blow, and your blades are locked for a moment. What kind of mandalorian would betray your already aching culture and create this sort of suffering? Clearly, this kind would. He’s a traitor to your people, to your home, and he was there when that great extinction happened. He was there to watch your home planet die. Regardless of your flying thoughts, he lifts his blade before swiping at your face. You narrowly duck, and of course your wandering mind pulls out the memory of the oil yesterday, and how you wish you could have dodged that oil stream instead of getting coated. You swing your saber out at his armor, but of course it had to be beskar too.

Your saber bounces off, and he swipes across your chest, cleaving a burning path across it you’re lucky to have survived. Searing, agonizing pain radiates out from the instantaneously cauterized wound, and you wheeze in pain. The slice on your chest is indescribably painful, and even though your ever-wandering mind knows it isn’t deep, it hurts like kriffing mustafar’s lava was tossed into the wound. You feel the air itself seem to burn your skin more, the sand blowing its disgusting, coarse granules into your face and torso. You fall back from the force of the strike, landing on top of your bag. Your saber lies in your hand, and it deignites as it feels like your connection to the world is fading.

 He steps back, before lifting his saber again, no doubt to deal the final blow to your already half-incapacitated body. You can feel yourself leaving, dying. Is this how it ends? Lying on the sands in a back alley in a terrible city in the middle of a sterile desert planet? You’ve survived so long, this doesn’t seem right, seem honorable. This is not a death worthy of you, worthy of anyone mandalorian. For a moment, words not commonly spoken come to your dwindling mind. 

“Aruetyc darjetii..” You wheeze out, the words themselves feeling like they tear some of your already ebbing life force away from your body. He freezes. “You speak…mando’a?” He whispers, and you hear tones of shock and hints of surprise in his voice, and..almost regret. So he is truly a mandalorian, but an inquisitor. What in his life led him down this path? And why are you almost sickly curious? The whisper injected a bit of adrenaline into your system, enough for you to realize what you have to do. Your father spoke it to you long ago, in a situation almost akin to this one. You have to survive!

His hand slowly reaches out, and he’s distracted for a moment. You find your bag underneath you, and your hand lands on an emergency bacta-adrenaline shot. Bingo.

You bring it out from the bag very slowly, and jam it into your leg. The adrenaline instantly sends your heart beating like thunder, and you feel your mind snap back into action like whiplash. You can feel the almost addictive healing supplement flood through your antagonized veins, and the adrenaline from the shot is the only thing keeping you from succumbing to the unconsciousness that the bacta offers to you like a starving man to a feast. You see why this stuff was expensive–it’s a heal all shot with the added bonus of being awake during the healing so that you, you know, don’t get murdered by a mandalorian inquisitor.

Your body stumbles to its feet quickly, almost on its own volition, and he steps back with a growl. 

Before you know it, you’re flying up through the air and toward the rooftop above, hair whipping behind you as you lightly land on the rocky rooftops. Force jumps, right. You can do that. 

You take off running across the rooftops, and in the distance, you see Gakrux’s yard. You hop from building to building, before finally leaping down onto the sand. You hope you fixed it well enough. The crest gleams in the midday sun, with pipes and wires attached.  You see the stain on the sand from the earlier oil spill, still there as a tarnished reminder of the accident of yesterday. You wave your hand, and hope to everything in you that the force that allowed you earlier to leap will detach these pipes.

To your overwhelming joy, it does. The person who owned the razor crest was supposed to pick it up earlier today, but apparently, he never showed. That happens a lot, surprisingly. Free ship? No, but an escape route nonetheless. 

You trip and save yourself, before leaping onto the ship and climbing up the ladder to the cockpit. You look down at the controls, and at that moment, it hits you. You can leap fifteen feet into the air, detach pipes with your mind, lift objects just by thinking about it, and from what you’ve seen the mandalorian do, control people with your mind. But…nothing in the force prepared you for this moment.

You have no clue how to fly this thing.

–

After what feels like hours of pressing buttons, the ship comes to life with a roar, and you pull up on the controls. The ship slowly lifts into the air, and you slam forward onto them, and the ship jerks off into the sky. You’re so lucky the ship didn’t explode, with how randomly you were pressing the buttons. Your adrenaline begins to fade as you punch the only coordinates you can remember into the system, and the searing pain from your earlier fight returns with a vengeance worthy of a good man done wrong.

The razor crest jets off into the stratosphere, and for a moment, as your vision fades, you see him staring at you from the yard below. Your mind echoes with his voice, almost unnoticeably.

“I’ll see you again, little mandalorian.” 

And in your final moments, you know he speaks the truth.

–

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

~Cactus

[beardedmrbean]

Farmers in Spain have joined their European counterparts in staging protests across the country.

Like farmers elsewhere, they demand more flexibility from the European Union, tighter controls on the produce of non-EU countries and more help from their government.

In several regions, they blocked roads and caused severe disruption to motorists.

A large demonstration in central Madrid is planned for later this month.

On Tuesday, farmers took to the streets of agricultural areas in Spain's northern interior, driving tractors in convoys, beeping horns, waving Spanish flags and brandishing placards.

They also protested in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, the southern region of Andalusia and Extremadura in the west.

Spain's farmers have similar grievances to their counterparts in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and other countries that have been protesting recently.

They say that regulations which form part of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), along with high fuel and energy costs, make it difficult for them to make a profit.

"The costs, when it comes to producing wheat and barley, are very high," said Esteban, a cereal farmer who preferred not to give his surname who was protesting in Aranda de Duero. "You've got to pay for fertiliser, pesticides, fuel - it's killing us. We have to pay very high prices and yet we sell at low prices."

Protesting French farmers accused Spanish producers of undercutting them by not fully observing EU rules. Last week, French former minister Ségolène Royal triggered controversy by claiming that Spanish organic tomatoes were "false organic". Amid an angry backlash from the Spanish food and farming industry, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez invited Ms Royal to try a Spanish tomato.

However, Spain's agricultural sector in turn levels similar criticism at non-EU countries, such as its southern neighbour, Morocco, which it claims is not subject to the same environmental and sanitary regulations as European producers, allowing it to sell cheaper produce.

"We have to undergo a lot of controls, a lot of sanitary regulations which products from [non-EU countries] are not subject to," said Estrella Pérez, who farms livestock and cereal.

"We just want a future for farming and right now, we don't see it."

The plight of Spanish farmers has been compounded by drought. Many areas of the country have not seen normal levels of rain in recent months which is affecting harvests. Spain is the world's biggest olive oil producer, but prices have been pushed up by low production. Last week, Catalonia declared a state of emergency due to a three-year drought, the longest on record.

Elsewhere, Italian farmers have been gathering from north to south for a week, also protesting against EU regulations and red tape. They are planning to converge on Rome at the end of this week.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has backed them, saying that the EU's Green Deal will hit farmers' lives disproportionately. But farmers are also concerned about government plans to end tax subsidies for the agricultural sector.

On Tuesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced she wants to withdraw a plan to slash the use of pesticides, describing it as "a symbol of polarisation".

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo welcomed the announcement, saying it was "crucial we keep our farmers on board to a more sustainable future of farming, as part of our determination to get the Green Deal done".