#Our Composite Nationality

[reasonsforhope]

"A new study reveals the profound ecological effects of wolves and other large carnivores in Yellowstone National Park, showcasing the cascading effects predators can have on ecosystems. In Yellowstone, this involves wolves and other large carnivores, elk, and willows.

The research, which utilized previously published data from 25 riparian (streamside) sites and collected over a 20 year period, from 2001 to 2020, revealed a remarkable 1,500% increase in willow crown volume along riparian zones [note: riparian means in/around rivers] in northern Yellowstone National Park, driven by the effects on elk due to a restored large carnivore guild following the reintroduction of wolves in 1995–96, and other factors...

Pictured: Upstream view of Blacktail Deer Creek in 2005 and 2021, northern range of Yellowstone National Park.

Trophic cascades, the effects of predators on herbivores and plants, have long been a topic of ecological interest. The study quantifies the strength of this phenomenon for the first time using willow crown volume as a proxy for aboveground biomass, demonstrating a significant three-dimensional recovery of riparian vegetation represented by the growth in both crown area and height of established willows.

The strength of the Yellowstone trophic cascade observed in this study surpasses 82% of strengths presented in a synthesis of global trophic cascade studies, underscoring the strength of Yellowstone's willow recovery process. The authors note that there is considerable variability in the degree of recovery and not all sites are recovering.

Even though riparian areas in the western United States comprise a small portion of the landscape, the study has particular relevance since these areas provide important food resources and habitat for more wildlife species than any other habitat type. These areas also connect upland and aquatic ecosystems and are widely known for their high diversity in species composition, structure, and productivity.

"Our findings emphasize the power of predators as ecosystem architects," said William Ripple. "The restoration of wolves and other large predators has transformed parts of Yellowstone, benefiting not only willows but other woody species such as aspen, alder, and berry-producing shrubs. It's a compelling reminder of how predators, prey, and plants are interconnected in nature."

Pictured: An across channel view in 2005 and 2021 of a downstream reach on Blacktail Deer Creek, northern range of Yellowstone National Park.

Wolves were eradicated and cougars driven to low numbers from Yellowstone National Park by the 1920s. Browsing by elk soon increased, severely damaging the park's woody vegetation, especially in riparian areas. Similar effects were seen in places like Olympic National Park in Washington, and Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada after wolves were lost.

While it's well understood that removing predators can harm ecosystems, less is known about how strongly woody plants and ecosystems recover when predators are restored. Yellowstone offers a rare opportunity to study this effect since few studies worldwide have quantified how much plant life rebounds after large carnivores are restored.

"Our analysis of a long-term data set simply confirmed that ecosystem recovery takes time. In the early years of this trophic cascade, plants were only beginning to grow taller after decades of suppression by elk. But the strength of this recovery, as shown by the dramatic increases in willow crown volume, became increasingly apparent in subsequent years," said Dr. Robert Beschta, an emeritus professor at Oregon State University.

"These improving conditions have created vital habitats for birds and other species, while also enhancing other stream-side conditions."

The research points to the utility of using crown volume of stream-side shrubs as a key metric for evaluating trophic cascade strength, potentially advancing methods for riparian studies in other locations. It also contextualizes the value of predator restoration in fostering biodiversity and ecosystem resilience."

-via Phys.org, February 6, 2025

[struggling-author]

more pictures of the lovelies 🥰😍

inspired by this post

I love the idea of Sun Warrior Azula as bridging the gap between Fire Nation and Air Nomads. Like look at her! She would fit right in at any Air Temple, while also still maintaining her unique Firebending look and culture. Discovering the Sun Warriors could really give Azula some new perspective in life on her journey of finding herself, a way to channel her pride and ambition as a Firebender into something positive and find a new purpose, beyond the weapon her father had made her. Then she and Aang could travel around together and bring their near-extinct cultures back to life all over the world!And bonus she gets a cool blue dragon to race with Appa.

credit:

first Aang by our lord and savior @adajel!

second Aang by the talented @vosveti!

and both Azulas also by @adajel

edit/composition by me

[lesmisshippingshowdown]

Les Mis Shipping Showdown Quarter Finals: Official Winners Reveal

Wow! And I thought the Turnchetta vs. Courfius steal frenzy at the end of the Round of 16 was crazy. You guys have turned it up to a whole other level for the quarter finals, and trying to keep up with the steal totals was so thrilling and intense for me that I was listening to the MotoGP race in the background (sorry, you have jock mods) and my favourite rider crashed out from the lead and I didn't even care because I was so engrossed in doing Eposette maths.

Anyway, enough about motorsports, and let's focus on the ACTUAL greatest competition happening today: the Les Mis Shipping Showdown Quarter Finals.

Without further ado, the winners of the Les Mis Shipping Showdown Quarter Finals are...

Courfeyrac/Marius (33.1%) vs. Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta (66.9%)

A fairly easy ride for JBM once again - shoutout to @melannen for submitting the first JBM steal work of the contest! With E/R to contend with as your next opponents, I reckon we're only just getting started on the steal action for this fandom's certified favourite throuple...

Enjolras/Grantaire (51.4%) vs. Jehan/Montparnasse (48.6%)

From the biggest whitewash of the popular vote to the closest final points tally, Jehan/Montparnasse nation - you may not have won this particular battle but you have won my eternal admiration for your commitment. Well done for a hard fought battle - and, of course, we cannot forget to congratulate Enjolras/Grantaire for making it through to the semi finals ENTIRELY on votes. Not a single steal work has been submitted for our fandom's biggest ship (by numbers) so far, and they're still cruising on through.

Marius/Cosette (24.8%) vs. Combeferre/Enjolras (75.2%)

A successful steal from Combeferre/Enjolras fans after Marius/Cosette won the popular vote! IMO Combeferre/Enjolras is something of a dark horse in this contest. You guys just quietly work away on your steals and suddenly you're through to another round. I'm excited to see what you do next!

Valjean/Javert (15.2%) vs. Cosette/Éponine (84.8%)

The scale of this defeat in raw numbers does NOT do justice to how close this battle felt at every single point, from the very first day of polls to the last hours of steal submissions. Both sides fought and stole like their lives depended on it, and played the game to its fullest potential - Valvert nation by being the only shippers thus far to take advantage of our rule allowing for submissions of works published since February (to be fair, this rule was written partially with them in mind because I didn't want to put them at a disadvantage or overwork them so soon after their ship's own fanwork fest. And then they went and wrote several thousand words of new fic anyway, so what do I know!), and Eposette fans by introducing bold new fanwork formats (shoutout to @21stcenturyjolllly for writing literally an entire multi movement piece of classical music and doing more composition work in a week for a shipping contest than I did in 3 years of an undergraduate music degree). In total these ships alone amassed more steal points between them than every other ship combined across the Round of 16, Quarter Finals, and the Round 2 Steal-Off! Genuinely CRAZY work and my heartfelt hats off to both sides for their excellent effort.

News on the semi final (and a special announcement about the final) will be coming shortly, but I'll give you guys a second to bask in your respective victories first!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Matt Wuerker. Politico

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 11, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 12, 2025

The stock market continued to fall today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell another 478 points, or 1.14%; the S&P 500 fell almost 0.8%; and the Nasdaq Composite fell almost 0.2%. The S&P 500 briefly held its own in trading today, but then Trump announced on his social media platform that he was going to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum from the new 25% rates to a 50% rate on Canada and might increase tariffs to “permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada.”

Stocks fell again.

Unable to admit that he might be wrong, President Donald Trump is doubling down on the policies that are crashing the economy. In addition to his tariff threats, he also reiterated that “the only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” an outrageous position that he suddenly began to advance after the 2024 presidential election and which has Canadians so furious they are boycotting U.S. goods and booing the Star-Spangled Banner.

More than 100 top business leaders met with Trump today to urge him to stop destabilizing what had been a booming economy with his on-again-off-again tariffs. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told Jeff Stein and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post that in private, “[b]usiness leaders, CEOs and COOs are nervous, bordering on unnerved, by the policies that are being implemented, how they’re being implemented and what the fallout is. There’s overwhelming uncertainty and increasing discomfort with how policy is being implemented.”

The extreme unpredictability means that no one knows where or how to invest. Market strategist Art Hogan told CNN’s Matt Egan, “This market is just blatantly sick and tired of the back and forth on trade policy.” Yesterday, Delta Air Lines cut its forecasts for its first-quarter revenue and profits by half, a sign of weakening corporate and consumer confidence and concerns about the safety of air travel. Today, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines cut their forecasts, and American Airlines forecast a first-quarter loss.

When he talked to reporters, Trump reasserted that he intends to do what he wants regardless of the business leaders’ input. “Markets are going to go up and they’re going to go down, but you know what, we have to rebuild our country. Long-term what I’m doing is making our country strong again.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt advised, “If people are looking for certainty, they should look at the record of this president.”

Not everyone will find that suggestion comforting.

Trump backed off on his threat to raise the tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%, but went ahead with his threat to place 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum products. Those tariffs took effect at midnight.

In the face of his own troubles, Trump���s sidekick billionaire Elon Musk is also escalating his destructive behavior. Yesterday Musk’s social media platform X underwent three separate outages that spanned more than six hours. Lily Jamali and Liv McMahon of the BBC reported that Oxford professor Ciaran Martin, former head of the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Center, said that the outages appear to have been an attack called a “distributed denial of service,” or DDoS, attack. This is an old technique in which hackers flood a server to prevent authentic users from reaching a website.

"I can't think of a company of the size and standing internationally of X that's fallen over to a DDoS attack for a very long time," Martin said. The outage "doesn't reflect well on their cyber security." Without any evidence, Musk blamed hackers in Ukraine for the outages, an accusation Martin called “pretty much garbage.”

Four days ago, another of Musk’s SpaceX rockets exploded after takeoff, and now SpaceX’s Starlink internet service is facing headwinds. In February, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim canceled his collaborations with Starlink after growing tensions with Musk culminated with Musk alleging on X that Slim is tied to organized crime. The loss of that deal cost Musk about $7 billion in the short term, but more in the long term as Slim will work with European and Chinese companies in 25 Latin American countries rather than Starlink. Slim has said he would invest $22 billion in those projects over the next three years.

Also in February, after U.S. negotiators threatened to cut Ukraine’s access to the 42,000 Starlink terminals that supply information to the front lines, the European Commission began to look for either government or commercial alternatives. The European Commission is made up of a college of commissioners from each of the 27 European Union countries. It acts as the main executive branch of the European Union.

On Sunday, Musk posted: “[M]y Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.” Poland pays for about half the Starlink terminals in Ukraine, about $50 million a year. Poland’s minister of foreign affairs, Radosław Sikorski, responded that “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.” “Be quiet, small man,” Musk replied. “You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”

After all the tariff drama with Canada, last week Ontario also cancelled a deal it had with Starlink.

But perhaps the biggest hit Musk has taken lately is over his Tesla car brand. On February 6, Musk’s younger brother Kimbal, who sits on Tesla’s board, sold more than $27 million worth of shares in the company. Tesla chair Robyn Denholm sold about $43 million worth of Tesla stock in February and recently sold another $33 million. Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja has sold $8 million worth over the past 90 days. Yesterday, board member James Murdoch sold just over $13 million worth of stock.

Fred Lambert of Electrek, which follows the news about electric vehicles and Tesla, noted that Tesla stock dropped 15% yesterday, “down more than 50% from its all-time high just a few months ago.” “Tesla insiders are unloading,” he concluded.

Tesla sales are dropping across the globe owing to the unpopularity of Musk’s antics, along with the cuts and data breaches from his “Department of Government Efficiency.” Protesters have been gathering at Tesla dealerships to express their dismay. While the protests have been peaceful, as Chris Isidore of CNN reports, there have also been reports of vandalism. Tesla owners are facing ridicule as protesters take out their anger toward Musk on his customers, and at least one competitor is working to lure consumers away from Musk’s brand by offering a discount to Tesla owners.

Trump has jumped to Musk’s defense, posting just after midnight this morning that “Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out? In any event, I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”

Indeed, today Trump used the office of the presidency to bolster Musk’s business. Teslas were lined up at the White House, where Trump read from a Tesla sales pitch—photographer Andrew Harnik caught an image of his notes. And then the same man who gave a blanket pardon to those convicted of violent crimes related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol called those protesting at Tesla dealerships “domestic terrorists” and promised that the government would make sure they “go through hell.”

Trump and Musk appear to have taken the downturn in their fortunes by becoming more aggressive. Martin Pengelly of The Guardian noted that in the middle of Monday’s stock market plunge, Trump posted or reposted more than 100 messages on his social media channel. All of them showed him in a positive light, including reminders of the 2004 first season of the television show The Apprentice, in which Trump starred: a golden moment in Trump’s past when his ratings were high and the audience seemed to believe he was a brilliant and powerful businessman.

Today, egged on by Musk, Trump pushed again to take over other countries. He told reporters: "When you take away that artificial line that looks like it was done with a ruler…and you look at that beautiful formation of Canada and the United States, there is no place anywhere in the world that looks like that…. And then if you add Greenland…that's pretty good."

The Trump administration also announced today it was cutting about half the employees in the Department of Education. The Senate confirmed Linda McMahon, who has little experience with education, to head the department on March 3 by a party-line vote. Shutting down the department "was the president's mandate—his directive to me," McMahon told Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham. McMahon assured Ingraham that existing grants and programs would not “fall through the cracks.”

But when Ingraham asked her what IDEA stood for—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—she wasn’t sure, although she knew it was “the programs for disabled and needs.” Ingraham knew what the acronym meant but assured McMahon that after 30 years on the job, she still didn’t know all the acronyms. McMahon replied: “This is my fifth day on the job and I’m really trying to learn them very quickly.”

Musk lashed out at Arizona senator Mark Kelly on social media yesterday, after Kelly posted pictures of his recent trip to Ukraine and discussed the history of Russia’s invasion, concluding “it’s important we stand with Ukraine.” Musk responded: “You are a traitor.”

Kelly, who was in the Navy for 25 years and flew 39 combat missions in the Gulf War before becoming an astronaut, responded: “Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[democracyunderground]

BREAKING: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unleashes a historic speech scorching Donald Trump's idiocy over his disastrous new tariffs: "This is a very dumb thing to do."

This is what an actual world leader sounds like...

"The United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator," began Trudeau.

"Make that make sense."

Trump's 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect today and the markets are in free fall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has already plummeted 662 points after plunging 650 points on Monday. The S&P 500 lost 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%

The gullible fools who thought that Trump would be "good for the economy" have had the rug pulled out from under them in record time.

"Canadians are reasonable and we are polite," Trudeau continued. "But we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake. At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning and so did the Canadian response."

"Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in twenty-one days time," said Trudeau. "Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner."

"And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war," he threatened.

"Now just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don't want this," said Trudeau. "We want to work with you as a friend and ally and we don't want to see you hurt either."

"But your government has chosen to do this to you," he stated bluntly. "As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country."

"Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada or both," he went on.

"They've chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes, and everything in between," he continued.

"They've chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials, and fertilizers that we have and that the United States needs to grow and prosper," he explained.

"They've chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They've chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new 'Golden Age' for the United States," said Trudeau, taking a direct shot at MAGA's latest inane rhetoric.

"And they've chosen to undermine the incredible work that we've done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the Earth," he added. "So on that point, let me be crystal clear. There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today."

Trudeau then shifted gears to go after Donald Trump directly, the clueless mastermind behind this entire disaster—

"Now I want to speak directly to one specific American: Donald. In the over eight years you and I have worked together, we've done big things," said Trudeau, appealing to Trump's ego.

"We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We've done big things together on the world stage as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations," he continued. "And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world."

"Now, it's not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal but Donald, they point out that even though you're a very smart guy this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see," said Trudeau.

"And now to my fellow Canadians: I won't sugarcoat it. This is going to be tough even though we're all going to pull together because that's what we do," he added. "We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm."

Canadians are lucky to have someone like Trudeau steering the ship of state through the geopolitical waters of Hurricane Donald. The Canadian Prime Minister is sane, thoughtful, and well-intentioned, all of the things that Trump is not.

The worst part about this economic nosedive is that it's absolutely pointless and completely avoidable. Trump's demands make absolutely no sense. He's just trying to look tough to appease his MAGA base and dragging all of us along for the ride.

Buckle up. The Trump economy might soon be the worst in American history.

Please like and share!

[accio-victuuri]

March 2025 CPNs round-up ❤️💛💚

• a compilation post i translated of assorted fake stories from the past

• same calloused hands lol

• xz vacation pics on ig seem to cue mermaid/intercross

• the fact that wyb was supposed to fly out friday night 3/7 but no one saw him. we only got a clue from a stylist. which made us all think that if he doesn’t want to be seen he won’t be. so it kinda gives some weight to all our speculation that he goes to some places when he wants to — specifically, when he wants to be with xz and vice versa. i think even his flight details were not leaked. good for him. i really love how he goes out of his way to be private and at the same time not cause commotion at the airport. i know usually brands encourage this for exposure, but i’m glad that wyb said no. now that i think about it, something similar happened to xz. no more crowds and mob at the airport. i love how they are aligned with how they approach their status & influence. always making sure to not cause some disturbance.

• lacoste pfw clowning 🐊 - mostly about their same hair and photo composition from their studios & other coincidences

• loewe clowning - mushrooms and carrots! 😂😂😂

lemme just add here that i don’t understand the fixation with the carrots. it’s even on the caption, both yibo-official and over at instagram. i can’t help but think that it has something to do with our bunny xiao.

i think if it’s relevant, we will see it again 👀 there are other vegetables there, so why fixate on it? and the fact that they bought the carrots. fans saw it on oliverjune’s post, he had a shopping cart and you can see the baguette and the carrots among other things.

also look at them with their leica 📸

there is also some conversation about the theme they got going on for their photos. even if they both wear shades and some photography/editing choices are similar ( take note yibo’s is by oliverjune-warmstudio ) — the overall feel is different. yibo was leaning more towards the cactus, vegetable and greens. while gg was more of the colors and roses. i think it totally represents their personalities.

not to go into the whole “gg is the girl” mindset. not at all. it’s just their personality and their preference. it is what they are drawn too. we love to it! tho they have a lot of similarities, you can still their individuality.

• matching tulips 🌷 - this is a lot to handle. they are so loud. 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ why? why? why tulips and that close? you would think yibo will avoid it cause he knows he will be accused of copying gg or whatever but he still did it.

WORLD DOMINATION FOR OUR BOYS 💕🙌🏼

• YIBO GOING TO SPAIN after his PFW excursion. Take note, XZ also went to spain after MFW. Lol. they went to the same place! I wish they could go together someday 💕 this is up for debate cause some say it’s just an IP linked to Loewe weibo.

• 3/14/2025 candies! a puppy with his bone necklace and all the red, green and yellow

• there was a video that was never seen before of xz explaining some paintings and it includes van gogh’s sunflowers. people are saying it appears to be 2019 xz during OOL time. and some are saying it aligns with the whole yibo visiting the national portrait gallery to look at the same painting during this time.

• WX shirt logo

• some xzs vlog in europe episode 1 candies

• 3/21 tarot card reading

• a cute snowman in yibo’s glacier documentary looks similar to something xz made

• i’ll just add this here cause i briefly reacted to it on my blog then deleted cause i didn’t want that energy on main. so basically, a “paparazzi” who does blind item comics posted one that said there was an A list star in his 30s that was in a relationship with his female manager. Netizens guessed XZ. and shrimps were putting the blame on WYB who was not even in his 30s. lol. then the clarification account related to XZS posted that it’s not true and that XZ is single.

this has always been an anti rhetoric, that XZ is dating his manager. i guess, even if it was male, there will still be a relationship rumor. it’s a common rumor to pass around. as a cpf, i just roll my eyes at that. i know it’s easy to question things cause antis really do make a convincing argument with their bullshit “clues” but if you are a rational human being you will know better.

• oranges!!!!! xz’s is a ralph lauren ad released 0323 and bobo’s is jeanswest 0324 🍊🍊🍊

• yibo official leaves a cpf flag and then edits it

i guess it depends on who is looking and what they want people to see. because spotted in evisu’s short film docu, you can see a cpf’s bjyx phone case 😋

• a zhanbi-bobo umbrella during the race lol

and that’s it! i try my best to pack in as much as i can — with candies that are largely talked about and makes sense. anything can be “cpn” if you clown hard enough so i only include what i personally see as significant ones. 💛 see you next month!

<< previous post

[apod]

2025 January 27

Pleiades over Half Dome Image Credit & Copyright: Dheera Venkatraman

Explanation: Stars come in bunches. The most famous bunch of stars on the sky is the Pleiades, a bright cluster that can be easily seen with the unaided eye. The Pleiades lies only about 450 light years away, formed about 100 million years ago, and will likely last about another 250 million years. Our Sun was likely born in a star cluster, but now, being about 4.5 billion years old, its stellar birth companions have long since dispersed. The Pleiades star cluster is pictured over Half Dome, a famous rock structure in Yosemite National Park in California, USA. The featured image is a composite of 28 foreground exposures and 174 images of the stellar background, all taken from the same location and by the same camera on the same night in October 2019. After calculating the timing of a future juxtaposition of the Pleiades and Half Dome, the astrophotographer was unexpectedly rewarded by an electrical blackout, making the background sky unusually dark.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250127.html

[philosophybits]

Man is man the world over. This fact is affirmed and admitted in any effort to deny it. The sentiments we exhibit, whether love or hate, confidence or fear, respect or contempt, will always imply a like humanity. A smile or a tear has no nationality.

Frederick Douglass, "Our Composite Nationality (1869)"

[achelouise]

my love, my muse —kaveh

fandom: genshin

pairing: kaveh x reader!

a/n: i just realized i hadn’t written for kaveh, which is a crime against humanity. also kaveh x muse!reader brainrot sjzjjwjzjqjjajajajh (also switching formats, iiiiiii have no idea what im doing, can you tell)

— student!kaveh, who, even though loathed and respected his project partner to bits, would rather die than ever try to draw him for an assignment. “don’t even think about it,” he hisses, just as alhaitham quirks an unimpressed eyebrow. he understands that he has many friends and acquaintances that are willing to pose for him, but a small voice in the back of his head needles at him- telling him that no, we cannot create art with them as our muse. and to him, nothing is more important than making sure every single artwork he produces is with the utmost sincerity.

— student!kaveh, whose resolve crumbles bit after bit as the deadline creeps up, with no model to look for in sight, and is starting to think perhaps he should turn to his volunteering friends after all. he cannot compromise his diligence for his passion as a scholar, and so he heads to pupsa café, hoping to buy some coffee to prepare for his all-nighter that night.

—student!kaveh, who doesn’t even realize he’s pouting until he hears a cheery, unfamiliar voice bring it up- and he tilts his head up to find that he spilled all the coffee in his mouth onto his shirt (much to your alarm).

“you,” he gurgles, “you’re the muse i’ve been looking for!”

“excuse me?”

— perhaps he was a bit sleep-deprived, which explained his lack of inhibition, but student!kaveh latches onto you like a moth to a flame, stars swirling in his eyes. are you a student of the akademiya? which darshan are you from? which nation were you from to bless you with such beautiful eyes? could you be his muse? he asks them all, because he has to know.

— student!kaveh, who only later apologizes for his overbearing first-impression, while swearing up and down he wasn’t like that usually, and explaining his current predicament. perhaps you pitied him, or found him quite charming- whichever it was, you accepted his proposal to be his muse in exchange for some funds, much to his delight.

“thank you, thank you, oh, thank you! my assignment won’t be so lifeless after all!”

— student!kaveh, who arranges a time and place for you at his dorm with a sense of bravery he has absolutely no idea where he picked up from. when you come in with the most random set of outfit he’s ever seen, he chooses to hold back his tongue over your enthusiastic participation.

“sit tight!” he says, holding comically large canvas whose shadow swallowed up the whole room, “relax, and do whatever your heart tells you to do.”

— student!kaveh, who usually simply sketches things out of pure photographic memory, starts simple and structured for once. where would the chair go? where would you sit? would you look too stretched out if the table properties next to you weren’t matching? where should he exaggerate? how would the chandelier be hanging to get the perfect lighting? how would the painting behind you affect the composition?

— student!kaveh, who usually lets his hand dance on his canvas, plans everything out this time, and lets his mind flourish under the guidance of your radiant beauty. your soft smile, your relaxed posture, and your twinkling eyes lets him have fun- and he finds joy in drawing backgrounds, especially the furniture, for once- to emphasize the way you pose.

— student!kaveh, who drinks an ungodly amount of coffee every night and lets his sheer will do the rest, stops by in the kitchen to make you some snacks. he worries for you; “are you alright? is this posture tiring you? do you want water? i can get some for you. do you want some snacks, too? we can take a break. i don’t have much here, but i can always make a quick trip to the market.”

— student!kaveh, who finds joy in conversation with you while he works. you seem to harbor a decent amount of knowledge fitting for a scholar. if you talk about other subjects, kaveh’s more than willing to listen. if you enjoy studying architecture, that’s fine too! whatever the topic is, you both seem to have an endless stream of opinions and discussions to open up about, and watching your mouth run off on any particular topic brings him much satisfaction. it is always fascinating to understand another person deeply interested in a subject.

— student!kaveh, who starts to explore other color schemes in order to find the perfect one for you. your radiance is something that should be brought out and emphasized on his canvas, something future generations can look at and admire. maybe a bit of pink for the shadow? how about purple to shade your hair instead of gray? would yellow compliment your shoes? he thinks of them all, dabbling in this and that, until his palette blooms in different smears of colors.

— student!kaveh, who is willing to go on a rant to explain how you were the perfect muse, how your smile made his hand itch to draw it out, how your eyes crinkled and held the weight of your soul, how- oh. did he say muse? would you like to be? kaveh doesn’t mind in the slightest if you could continue to. in fact, how about he treats you to a nice meal tonight? the sun is setting, anyway, and it’ll be his way of saying thank you. (please say yes.)

— student!kaveh, who, after half an hour of deliberation on whether parting his bangs in a certain angle would make him look more presentable or not, shows up that night at the venue with a small sketchbook in his hands, telling you not to worry about it. every time your lips turn a certain way, or when the light hits your hand just right, he frantically sketches it down underneath the table, much to your confusion.

“did you enjoy the meal? hm? that? oh, it’s nothing. please, go on. you said something about how your friend could aether-edit?”

it was a pleasant time, despite him constantly dodging your questions on what in teyvat’s name he’s doing, and believing the constant rush he feels inside his head whenever you laugh is perfectly normal. you’re his muse, aren’t you? it’s only natural.

(and if the dinner spreads any rumors- well, kaveh thinks it’s normal to feel giddy, too.)

— student!kaveh, who, when looking at his graded paper days later, is pleased to know it is graded with high praise. the professor even commented on how he is finally starting to get a firm grasp on studying basic anatomy of architecture. (hmph. he thinks he was pretty good at anatomy up until then as well, but okay.) good- he’s put a lot of effort into that painting.

— student!kaveh, who insists on thanking you for the high grade again, the next time you run into each other- only this time with a bouquet of flowers, and a blush on his face.

[artandthebible]

Christ Carrying his Cross

Artist: Giampietrino, probably Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (Italian, active 1495–1549)

Date: About 1510-1530

Medium: Oil on wood

Collection: The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Overview

Christ turns to look at us as he carries the Cross on which he will be crucified. This type of painting, in which the viewer is put in the position of the holy women on whom Christ looked on the route to Calvary, was especially popular in North Italy in the sixteenth century. Christ’s eyes appeal to us in his pain to stir our emotions and arouse our compassion.

Giampietrino’s composition is based on a silver-point study of the same subject by Leonardo, which was also used by a range of artists working in Lombardy at the time.

[elancholia]

Our children are alienated pussies and we lack social cohesion.

Bring back chariot racing.

We don't build things any more! Modern public architecture sucks!

Turn the National Mall into a colossal neoclassical hippodrome.

Literature and the humanities are in decline!

Chariot races will furnish a perfect occasion for the composition of odes.

The male loneliness crisis and/or social atomization of late capitalism!

Consider the bond—presumably homoerotic—between two charioteers of the same faction cooperating to hem in and crush a rival against the spina.

Uhh sports gender biology spaces!

Chariot racing is open to all. A chariot is even sort of like a wheelchair (disability win!). All are equal before the terrible will of the gods, the merciless intensity of speed and mass, and the idiot mania of panicked horses.

[mariacallous]

My issue with this is not that I disagree with the points, but that it's too "Wow, a lot of us didn't expect the fate of the republic to be at stake like this when we were doing our coverage the last four years because we wanted access to Trump and his campaign! Who ever would have thought autocracy would have been a possibility like this!?"

Uh, a lot of fucking people did. At least 75 million people, even.

There's a lot of "sometimes this 'who you knew, who you had access to' kind of journalism was important and good! Sure, in a lot more cases it's also been really bad and a problem, but I never had too much of an issue with it - until now."

WASHINGTON — We are not ready for this.

The Washington, D.C., press corps, used to playing small ball for small exclusives, has been suddenly thrust into a presidential administration that appears hell-bent on transforming our constitutional republic into something entirely different.

For decades, the coin of the realm in political journalism was access. Who you knew determined what you knew, and especially what “inside” information the people you knew were willing to give you.

Sometimes this sort of journalism leads to big, important stories that bring out facts that otherwise would never see the light of day.

Far, far, far too often, though, and much more frequently in recent years with a never-ending news cycle, the “scoops” that win reporters’ attention and promotions and higher-profile jobs are stories that “reveal” news that was going to come out anyway. Sometimes you see scoops that brag about some nugget just minutes before it is officially announced.

We can debate what sort of value that offers our audience, particularly if the cost of getting it is treating the source who fed you that scoop with kid gloves. There are actually terms of art for this sort of story — “beat sweeteners,” “source maintenance” — that acknowledge the symbiotic relationship here.

I, personally, have never subscribed to this sort of reporting, but nor have I had a deep objection to it. Until now.

In the before days, if a reporter had the opportunity to get a new tax proposal from Mitt Romney’s campaign a day before he announced it, OK, whatever. If President Barack Obama’s campaign had some research they wanted to plant about Romney’s businesses, sure.

In the end, the source relationships that led to that genre of stories were harmless. Whether Obama won or Romney, the future of the republic was secure.

That is no longer the case.

Before our very eyes, Donald Trump and his administration, with what so far has been an extraordinarily pliant Republican Congress, are taking those exact steps that autocrats who were initially democratically elected take to consolidate power.

From installing people who appear to be more loyal to Trump personally than they are to the U.S. Constitution in the key national security positions, to asserting vast new powers via executive order, to telling journalists to toe the official line or else — this country has never dealt with a president and an administration as power-mad as this one since the founding.

In this environment, trading soft coverage for better access is going to fail not just our various audiences, but American democracy itself.

It was clear as day what Trump’s White House was doing when it ostentatiously punished The Associated Press for failing to call the Gulf of Mexico by Trump’s preferred name. We in the White House press corps should have understood that if we did not respond with a unified voice, solidly behind the world’s largest news organization, Trump would soon start pitting the rest of us against each other.

And, of course, he has. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that she and her assistants would henceforth choose the composition of the daily “pool,” that group of reporters who accompany the president at most events, usurping that role from the White House Correspondents’ Association, which has held that responsibility since the inception of the pool decades ago.

Hours later, they decided that HuffPost and I, personally, would be the next examples to be made. We were scheduled to take Wednesday’s slot. But two weeks earlier, I had asked Trump several questions he didn’t like during an in-flight news conference aboard Air Force One. And while Leavitt and the press shop resisted fully explaining their decision — in a brief encounter, she told me I should “be grateful” — it’s not hard to imagine the reason for what happened next.

Late Tuesday evening, Leavitt’s staff began trying to find another outlet to take over HuffPost’s pool spot. To their credit, The Wall Street Journal apparently refused to participate in Trump’s games. To their lasting shame, Axios did not.

Axios did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost, though a spokesperson gave a statement to other outlets that included: “We had nothing to do with the decision to remove HuffPost and were unaware of that decision when we accepted the spot.”

In the end, though, how the press pool is run and who participates is a symptom of the state of affairs, not the cause.

Trump made clear what he thought of democracy when he tried to end it four years ago by trying to overturn an election he had lost. Far too many of us accepted the bargain to leave out that context in our coverage for the sake of access to Trump’s campaign and the chance for an interview.

That was then, when the idea of a nation careening toward autocracy might have seemed just a wildly remote possibility. It seems neither wild nor remote now.

So now is the moment. Either we will help the nation meet it, or we won’t.

For the sake of 238 years of democracy, we should choose wisely.

[waitmyturtles]

(Source)

The Lower House (House of Representatives) will be hearing Thailand’s marriage equality bill at 9:30 am Bangkok time (10:30 pm Eastern for those of us in the States). The bill, if passed, would still have to be approved in Thailand’s Senate.

(Source and source)

Below the fold is Bloomberg.com's report on the happenings (source):

Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage in Thailand Heads to Parliament

Bill is supported by most major parties, needs king approval

Thailand would be first in region to codify marriage equality

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat, March 26, 2024 at 2:00 PM PDT

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage could face a vote in Thailand’s parliament as early as Wednesday. If it passes, the country will be the first in Southeast Asia to establish marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

The House of Representatives will take up the legislation, technically an amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code, for second and third readings when it meets at 9 a.m. Lawmakers may vote later in the day.

The bill would legalize marriage for same-sex partners aged 18 and above, along with rights to inheritance, tax allowances and child adoption, among others. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration has made it a signature issue, and advocates say it would also burnish Thailand’s reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly tourist destination.

Taiwan and Nepal are the only places in Asia that currently recognize same-sex marriage, and recent efforts elsewhere in the region have had mixed results. Hong Kong has yet to comply with a 2023 court order to establish laws recognizing same-sex partnerships, and India’s Supreme Court refused to legalize same-sex marriage, saying it’s an issue for parliament to consider.

The Thai bill would change the composition of a marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two individuals,” and change the official legal status from “husband and wife” to “married couple.”

Thai laws have protected LGBTQ people from most kinds of discrimination since 2015, but attempts to formalize marriage rights have stalled. In 2021, the Constitutional Court upheld the law recognizing marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Last year, a bill to recognize same-sex civil partnerships failed to clear parliament ahead of elections.

Rights advocates have higher hopes for the bill pending now, noting that it has broad support from most of the major parties. If it passes, it will need to be approved by the Senate and endorsed by the King. Then it would be published in the Royal Gazette and take effect 120 days later.

Srettha’s government has also promised to work on a bill to recognize gender identity, and the health ministry has also proposed legalizing commercial surrogacy to allow LGBTQ couples to adopt children. Thailand is seeking to host the WorldPride events in Bangkok in 2028.

Legalizing same-sex marriage could have positive effects on tourism, which contributes about 12% to the nation’s $500 billion economy. In 2019, before the pandemic froze international tourism, LGBTQ travel and tourism to Thailand generated about $6.5 billion, or 1.2% of gross domestic product, according to industry consultant LGBT Capital.

Formal recognition could boost the reputation of a place already considered one of Asia’s best for LGBTQ visitors, said Wittaya Luangsasipong, managing director of Siam Pride, an LGBTQ-friendly travel agency in Bangkok.

“It will become a selling point for Thailand and raise our strength in the global stage,” Wittaya said. “It will create a relaxed and safe atmosphere for tourism and help attract more and more LGBTQ visitors. We could also see more weddings by LGBTQ couples, which could generate income across industries and local communities.”

[praxcrown5]

Geology and the World of Cars: Part 2

Last time, we tackled metamorphic rocks. Today, we're gonna learn about igneous rocks! My favorites! Grab your aluminized suit and hug your Blade plushy, 'cause things are gonna get HOT.

Note: Any time you see information followed by an asterisk (*), it is a reference to my own, personal WOC headcanon.

Igneous rock formation is the easiest for humans to comprehend because the basic principals--melting and freezing--are very familiar to us AND happen on time scales that our silly, monkey brains can actually understand.

Behold! An igneous rock!

In all seriousness, if not for being man-made, this horrifying Spongebob popsicle could be classified as an igneous rock!

How?

Igneous rocks form from the cooling of molten rock (called magma or lava depending on whether it is underground or above ground, respectively).

Ice, believe it or not, IS an igneous rock. This is because the ice crystals that comprise it meet all the criteria to be classified as a mineral: They are naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solids with definite chemical compositions. To make ice, or any other igneous rock, a molten medium must be chilled to its "freezing point." Water has a freezing point of 32 Degrees F (0 degrees C). At this temperature the movement of individual water molecules is so slow that they start bonding with other water molecules into a repeating, three-dimensional lattice which we call a crystal.

As crystals continue to form and grow at the expense of the melt, they start bumping into other crystals, fusing with them along their edges. Once all the water has been used up, we're left with a solid composed of thousands of interlocking ice crystals.

Igneous rock forms in basically the same way, except that the freezing temperature of molten rock varies between 1,100 and 2,400°F (600-1,300°C)! This is why if you ever see scientists getting close to fresh lava, they wear special, heat-resistant suits that look like they'd fit in to any 1950's era science fiction motion picture.

*Note* I'm not going to into the details of magmagenesis (the formation of magma)...it could be it's own article, tbh. Suffice to say that molten rock is only generated in very specific environments along very specific plate boundaries. Volcanoes are the surface expression of magmagenesis, and most of them can be found in a belt of tectonic activity that "rings" the Pacific ocean, hence it's colloquial name "The Ring of Fire." Most of y'all don't need to worry about a volcano popping up in your backyard...

Ok...so let's apply what we've learned so far to the World of Cars, starting with volcanism.

A "volcano" is a mountain created when "volcanic materials," such as ash and lava, pile up over a fissure in the Earth's crust. There are many different types of volcanoes, each with their own eruptive styles and geomorphology (aka physical traits).

The only actively erupting volcano we see in the WOC is the unnamed mountain in Cars on the Road Episode 1: Dino Park.

Lookit how 'dorbs it is! Such a cute, widdle guy....

Note the steep sides and "cone" shaped profile. This shape is characteristic of "stratovolcanoes," a family of volcanoes that are built from alternating layers ("strata") of hardened lava and "tephra" (fragmented rock of varying sizes). Normally the slopes aren't as steep as what's depicted here, though there are exceptions (Ol Doinyo Lengai, Goma, etc...). Compare this to the much more realistic depiction of Mt. Fuji--also a stratovolcano--in Cars 2.

Fuji's sleek and beautiful cone was built on the remains of older volcanoes over a vast swath of geologic time (the earliest eruption on record was from 12,000 BE (Before Exodus--4.12 million years B.P.*). It warms my heart--no pun intended--that the animators really did their best to convey her size and natural beauty on the digital canvas.

Evidence of Plutonic (i.e. underground) processes: Piston Peak National Park (PPNP):

PPNP was modeled VERY heavily off of an Old World landmark: Yosemite National Park. After analyzing DOZENS of screencaps, it appears that the underlying geology is comparable to Yosemite, and I headcanon that the modern V6 valley is located in approximately the same location as Yosemite, albeit different due to a combination of time, terraforming and geologic processes.*

Piston Peak National Park is located within the heart of the Sierra Nevada, a massive, 300-mile long mountain range in California.* Most of the rocks in and around the valley are classified as "granitoids" AKA granite-like igneous rocks.

Most of you may be familiar with the word "granite." Maybe your ma installed some fancy, new "granite" countertops or you were touring a building that had "granite" floors. Notice I'm using a lot of quotation marks here...mostly because the word "granite" has become something of an umbrella term that folks use whenever they encounter something made out of sparkly rock. To a geologist, the word "granite" brings to mind an igneous rock that is "coarse-grained" (its component minerals are large enough to identify without a microscope) and contains the minerals quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase feldspar in a specific proportion (see graph below):

So...what does the rock actually look like? Below is a sample of rock that was collected from a long-since weathered landform called Half-Dome (close to where modern-day Piston Peak is located*).

Each speck of color you see here is a different mineral: The pinks and whites are various feldspar minerals, the grey-ish white ones are quartz and the darker minerals are hornblende and biotite. And while there is no scale bar in this image, the largest black mineral is about .5-1cm long. Big enough that you can see it without a microscope. To get crystals this big, magma must cool slowly...and usually that means staying underground for 10s or 1000s to millions of years (otherwise it would cool so quickly that the mineral crystals would be microscopic).

Now that we know what type of rock we're dealing with, let's zoom out a bit and look at ancient Yosemite and it's modern equivalent, V6 Valley.*

Most all of the rock that you see in these images is granite or granodiorite. That's a hell of a lot of cooled magma, well over 100 square kilometers of it. And due to the course-grained nature of the rock, all of it should have originated as huge, underground magma chambers that cooled slowly over tens of thousands of years.

So...how did it get to the surface?

The short answer is regional uplift. Most of the solidified magma (AKA "plutons") was emplaced during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Much later, during the Neogene period, new tectonic forces caused blocks of the now mostly-solid Sierra Nevadas (and the underlying igneous rocks) to rise upward. This exposed the rocks to greater amounts of wind and water erosion. Westward-flowing streams, especially, began to carve down through the rock creating deep, v-shaped valleys. Many times these rivers cut down a LOT faster than their "tributaries" (the smaller streams that flow into a larger one), creating "hanging valleys" and waterfalls. The waterfall at Augerin Canyon is an excellent example.

Other interesting features:

Desquamation (essentially, "removing or loss of scales"):

Remember how all this rock used to be deep underground? Once all of the overlying rock and sediment (collectively "overburden") was removed, the rocks were exposed to surface pressures, and began to to depressurize, breaking along curved fractures, creating an onion-skin like appearance to many exposed rock surfaces.

Image above: Desquamation on granite in Ancient Yosemite.*

Images above: Desquamation on modern Canopy Dome, Piston Peak and on the canyon walls near the park entrance!

Bonus Cabbie butt for...aesthetic reasons.

*Bonus geology--not igneous related*

Another thing you'll also notice in PPNP is that large swaths of rock appear to have been smoothed out. While you could chalk this up to animators not having the time/budget to render "accurate" rock texture, this type of erosion is VERY common in mountainous areas that have been affected by glaciers. A "Glacier" is channelized ice that flows downhill under its own weight. As the ice descends, it picks up sediment, everything from boulders to clay, and then drags it over the topography. Rugged crags are rounded or carved into sharp blades or spires (if they weren't covered), and v-shaped canyons and valleys take on U-shaped profiles (check out the group shot below).

I'm certain that if we zoomed in on some of the exposed rock, we'd also see "glacial striations" and/or "glacial polish," where the rock was scratched and/or polished by the sediment laden ice.

There's also some cool, structural stuff going on elsewhere in the park (Thunderbolt Bluffs and Rail Ridge...), but we'll discuss them in a future essay.

Ok, back to igneous stuffs...

Hot springs and Geysers:

Hot springs and geysers (collectively called "geothermal" features), are manifestations of volcanic activity. They form when groundwater, heated by magma or hot rock deep under ground, reaches the surface. A geyser differs from a hot spring in that the heated water flashes to steam and explodes upward in a stunning spray of steam and mist. Gasket Geyser is one such example.

The only feature in the park that appears out of place is Piston Peak, itself.

Piston Peak is a combination of two, different geologic landforms: a "hoodoo" and an "arch." Unfortunately, these delicate features require specific conditions to form: Variation in rock type (usually layered, sedimentary rock) and minimal moisture. The rocks in and around V6 valley are similar enough, compositionally and structurally, that they erode in a more uniform way compared to, say, the rocks in Monument Valley. Furthermore, there's quite a bit of water present in PPNP, flowing as rivers, and falling as rain or snow. Ice that forms within a crack or fracture can actually wedge the rock apart over long periods of time, a process called "frost wedging." Combined with desquamation, and Piston Peak should have been reduced to a pile of rubble within a few centuries. The same holds true for the arches inside Augerin Canyon (below). They're simply much too delicate to exist in a climate with severe winters that can dump as much as 15' of snow during a single event.

It is possible that these features were carved from existing features to accent their natural shapes, but since we don't have any canon evidence for that, such an assumption falls withing the realm of conjecture/headcanon.

That's all I got for now. Stay tuned for WOC Geology Part 3: Sedimentary Rocks.

Cheers!

Praxy

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 8, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Apr 09, 2025

Stocks were up early today as traders put their hopes in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion that the Trump administration was open to negotiations for lowering Trump’s proposed tariffs. But then U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there would not be exemptions from the tariffs for individual products or companies, and President Donald J. Trump said he was going forward with 104% tariffs on China, effective at 12:01 am on Wednesday.

Markets fell again. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by another 320 points, or 0.8%, a 52-week low. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%.

Rob Copeland, Maureen Farrell, and Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times reported today that over the weekend, Wall Street billionaires tried desperately and unsuccessfully to change Trump’s mind on tariffs. This week they have begun to go public, calling out what they call the “stupidity” of the new measures. These industry leaders, the reporters write, did not expect Trump to place such high tariffs on so many products and are shocked to find themselves outside the corridors of power where the tariff decisions have been made.

Elon Musk is one of the people Trump is ignoring to side with Peter Navarro, his senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Navarro went to prison for refusing to answer a congressional subpoena for information regarding Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Since Musk poured $290 million into getting Trump elected in 2024 and then burst into the news with his “Department of Government Efficiency,” he has seemed to be in control of the administration. But he has stolen the limelight from Trump, and it appears Trump’s patience with him might be wearing thin.

Elizabeth Dwoskin, Faiz Siddiqui, Pranshu Verma, and Trisha Thadani of the Washington Post reported today that Musk was among those who worked over the weekend to get Trump to end his new tariffs. When Musk failed to change the president’s mind, he took to social media to attack Navarro personally, saying the trade advisor is “truly a moron,” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

Asked about the public fight between two of Trump’s advisors—two of the most powerful men in the world—White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “Boys will be boys.”

Business interests hard hit by the proposed tariffs are less inclined to dismiss the men in the administration as madcap kids. They are certainly not letting Musk shift the blame for the economic crisis off Trump and onto Navarro. The right-wing New Civil Liberties Alliance, which is backed by billionaire Republican donor Charles Koch, has filed a lawsuit claiming that Trump’s tariffs against China are not permitted under the law. It argues that the president’s claim that he can impose sweeping tariffs by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is misguided. It notes that the Constitution gives to Congress, not the president, the power to levy tariffs.

With Trump’s extraordinary tariffs now threatening the global economy, some of those who once cheered on his dictatorial impulses are now recalling the checks and balances they were previously willing to undermine.

Today the editors of the right-wing National Review urged Congress to take back the power it has ceded to Trump, calling it “preposterous that a single person could enjoy this much power over…the global economy.” They decried the ”raw chaos” of the last week that has made it impossible for any business to plan for the future.

“What has happened since last Thursday is hard to fathom,” they write. “Based on an ever-shifting series of rationales, characterized by an embarrassing methodology, and punctuated with an extraordinary arrogance toward the country’s constitutional order, the Trump administration has alienated our global allies, discombobulated our domestic businesses, decimated our capital markets, and increased the likelihood of serious recession.” While this should worry all Americans, they write, Republicans in particular should remember that in less than two years, they “will be judged in large part on whether the president who shares their brand has done a good job.”

“No free man wants to be at the mercy of a king,” they write.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told the Senate yesterday: “I don’t care if the president is a Republican or a Democrat. I don’t want to live under emergency rule. I don’t want to live where my representatives cannot speak for me and have a check and balance on power.”

Adam Cancryn and Myah Ward reported in Politico today that Republican leaders are worried about Trump’s voters abandoning him as prices go up and their savings and jobs disappear. After all, voters elected Trump at least in part because he promised to lower inflation and spur the economy. “It’s a question of what the pain threshold is for the American people and the Republican voters,” one of Trump’s economic advisors told the reporters. “We’ve all lost a lot of money.”

MAGA influencers have begun to talk of the tariffs as a way to make the United States “manly” again, by bringing old-time manufacturing and mining back to the U.S. Writer Rotimi Adeoye today noted MAGA’s glorification of physical labor as a sort of moral purification. Adeoye points out how MAGA performs an identity that fetishizes “rural life, manual labor, and a kind of fake rugged masculinity.” That image—and the tradwife image that complements it—recalls an imagined American past. In reality, the 1960s manufacturing economy MAGA influencers appear to be celebrating depended on high rates of unionization and taxation, and on government investing heavily in infrastructure, including healthcare and education.

Adeoye notes that Trump is marketing the image of a world in which ordinary workers had a shot at prosperity, but his tariffs will not bring that world back.

In a larger sense, Trump’s undermining of the global economy reflects forty years of Republican emphasis on the myth that a true American man is an individual who operates outside the community, needs nothing from the government, and asserts his will by dominating others.

Associated with the American cowboy, that myth became central to the culture of Reagan’s America as a way for Republican politicians to convince voters to support the destruction of federal government programs that benefited them. Over time, those embracing that individualist vision came to dismiss all government policies that promoted social cooperation, whether at home or abroad, replacing that cooperation with the idea that strong men should dominate society, ordering it as they thought best.

The Trump administration has taken that idea to an extreme, gutting the U.S. government and centering power in the president, while also pulling the U.S. out of the web of international organizations that have stabilized the globe since World War II. In place of that cooperation, the Trump administration wants to invest $1 trillion in the military. It is not just exercising dominance over others, it is reveling in that dominance, especially over the migrants it has sent to prison in El Salvador. It has shown films of them being transported in chains and has displayed caged prisoners behind Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was wearing a $50,000 gold Rolex watch.

Now Trump is demonstrating his power over the global economy, rejecting the conviction of past American leaders that true power and prosperity rest in cooperation. Trump has always seen power as a zero-sum game in which for one party to win, others must lose, so he appears incapable of understanding that global trade does not mean the U.S. is getting “ripped off.” Now he appears unconcerned that other countries could work together against the U.S. and seems to assume they will have to do what he says.

We’ll see.

For his part, Trump appears to be enjoying that he is now undoubtedly the center of attention. Asked to make “dinner remarks” at the National Republican Congressional Committee tonight, he spoke for close to two hours. Discussing the tariffs, he delivered a story with the “sir” marker that indicates the story is false: “These countries are calling us up. Kissing my ass,” he told the audience. “They are dying to make a deal. “Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir. And then I’ll see some rebel Republican, you know, some guy that wants to grandstand, saying: ‘I think that Congress should take over negotiations.’ Let me tell you: you don’t negotiate like I negotiate.”

Trump also told the audience that "I really think we're helped a lot by the tariff situation that’s going on, which is a good situation, not a bad. It's great. It’s going to be legendary, you watch. Legendary in a positive way, I have to say. It’s gonna be legendary.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[callixpene]

L&DS Future Lifetime Series - PART 2: THIRD CONVERGENCE

Note: Starting from Part 2, some or all of the Love Interest's perspectives will be meshed together.

MASTERLIST for Part 1 is here(In case you haven't read it): ALL LIs - PART 1: WE MEET AGAIN

The previous part to this fic is here: RAFAYEL, ZAYNE & CALEB POV - PART 2: SECOND CONVERGENCE

The next part of this fic is here: RAFAYEL, ZAYNE & CALEB POV: FOURTH CONVERGENCE

XAVIER & SYLUS POV - PART 2 : THIRD CONVERGENCE

Xavier X OC. Sylus X OC.

Set in Future Timeline. All Love Interests have no memories of their past lives. All of the MCs(5 Sisters) all have memories of their past lives. Very persistent LIs. Avoidant MCs. Love at first sight. Soulmates.

Genre: Fluff, Some Angst

The interior of Steven Kingsley's office was sleek and modern.

Xavier and the other man, the smug bastard who the secretary called 'Sylus', were sat on a settee in front Mr. Kingsley's desk, whose whole demeanor was as calm as ever.

Xavier glared at Sylus. The bastard only smirked back to taunt him.

He was about to get up to give the crimson-eyed jerk a piece of his mind, but then suddenly, Mr. Kingsley cleared his throat.

"Prince Xavier. That's enough." He started. "I assume that you are here for urgent business, which is why you called for a meet-up out of the blue." Mr. Kingsley glanced at Sylus. "And I assume that is also the reason why you paid me a visit all of a sudden, Mr. Sylus".

He laced his fingers together atop his desk. "I'll start with you, Your Highness, since you were here first. What was so urgent that you needed to see me, today?"

"I had one of my assistants send a file here earlier." The secretary made his way in with the file and promptly handed it to Mr. Kingsley. "I know you're a busy man, so I'll make this quick. Please read it." Xavier replied.

Mr. Kingsley put on his reading glasses, then skimmed the document.

"A marriage proposal," Kingsley said. "For one of my daughters."

Sylus, who looked particularly uninterested during their exchange so far, suddenly got up from his seat.

"What?". He grit his teeth. "Which daughter?"

"Celeste." Mr. Kingsley replied in a calm manner. "My second daughter."

Sylus' stance almost immediately relaxed. He murmured "Good" - more to himself than to Mr. Kingsley.

Then, he simply sat back on the sette looking relatively uninterested once again as if nothing had just happened.

Xavier's irritation shifted to confusion. "What-"

"Prince Xavier." Kingsley started again, and Xavier abruptly faced him. "Why the proposal, all of a sudden?"

Xavier cleared his throat.

"To my knowledge, Nexus Innovations had been eyeing Philos' Protocores for years now." He started.

"As Wanderers no longer exist, Protocores have been extremely difficult to come by these days. Although you Mr. Kingsley, have developed the technology to mass produce Protocores by replicating the composition of existing ones, these artificially-made cores aren't as potent as genuine ones. As you know, Philos has the most reserves of genuine Protocores in the world, and for years, you have proposed a partnership to us: Nexus shall have free rein and access to our Protocores, and in return, Philos will have free rein and access to Nexus' latest technologies developed from the Protocores acquired from us."

Mr. Kingsley nodded. His expression was blank. He neither seemed interested nor impassive.

Xavier continued. "For years, my father consistently rejected this proposal whenever it was brought up. Our Protocore reserves are paramount. Everything in Philos is powered by Protocores. Therefore, we cannot permit a private organization from outside our nation to indulge in our reserves. A simple business partnership, however fair the terms may seem, would not be sufficient enough to allow that."

Mr. Kingsley sat up straight and seemed to understand what Xavier was implying. "But I suppose a marriage alliance would be sufficient enough to permit that?"

Xavier crossed his arms and smiled slightly.

Good.

He's up to speed.

"When I marry Celeste, she will officially be my royal consort." Xavier's heart fluttered at the thought. "As my consort, I will allow her to have free rein and access to Philos' Protocore reserves. She will be free to ship out Protocores from Philos, to Nexus."

Mr. Kingsley's eyes widened a bit. "You would allow that?"

Xavier's expression was resolute. "If that is what she wants. I will make it happen."

Then, all of a sudden, Sylus started chuckling.

Xavier and Kingsley both turned to face him.

"Well.....it seems His Highness here has quite the backbone. I applaud you. I seem to have greatly underestimated you." Sylus started. "It is so very evident that you care more about this girl than your nation and people."

Xavier just scowled at him in response. "This has nothing to do with you. Mind your own business."

Sylus crossed his legs and faced Kingsley. "Coincidentally, Mr. Kingsley, I have a similar offer."

Now, Kingsley's attention was on him. Good.

"Mephisto." Sylus called out.

Then, a mechanical crow flew in through the window. The way it swiftly flew in scared Mr. Kingsley's secretary so much he left the room. It dropped another file atop Mr. Kingsley's desk, who did not look perturbed at all.

The mechanical crow perched on Sylus' shoulder.

"Your eldest daughter, Nyx. She's mine." Sylus said with finality.

Mr. Kingsley sighed. "Yet another proposal, for my eldest this time."

Xavier scoffed. Copycat, he thought.

Sylus smirked in response. "I've got to hand it to you, Prince. That was a well thought-out plan. Nexus definitely can't refuse that." Then his gaze shifted towards Mr. Kingsley. "When Nyx becomes my wife, it'll guarantee that Onychinus will continue being your partner, for life. You won't have to constantly worry about losing our favor anymore." He continued, arrogantly.

Mr. Kingsley was silent for a while, as if he were pondering.

"Oh, and just in case His Highness over here can't provide you with real, quality Protocores, Onychinus has more of global reach. I can definitely provide you with rarer and better ones." Sylus added.

Xavier rapidly stood in a rage.

A sword emitting substantial light manifested from what looked like small flickers in his hand, and he pointed its sharp tip at Sylus' throat.

"I've had enough of this audacious bastard!" Xavier sneered. "One more sarcastic retort from you and I'll cut your tongue off."

Suddenly, red and black vines of pure energy materialized from out of nowhere, and they wrapped themselves all over Xavier's outstretched arm holding the glistening sword.

"I'd like to see you try, Prince." Sylus taunted.

But the Prince was a lot tougher than Sylus thought. He was trying to pull the sword out of Xavier's grasp with these strands of pure energy, then shove him a couple meters back. But Xavier was standing his ground, not even moving an inch.

Impressive, Sylus thought.

Several minutes passed and neither of them were willing to relent.

"If the both of you don't stop this immature behavior right this instant, I am going to actively reject both of these proposals."

Both the sword and the energy vines disappeared at once. However, Xavier and Sylus were still exchanging rageful, dirty looks at one another.

"Finally." Mr. Kingsley replied, then stood up to approach them. "Now, both of you listen. These offers are undeniably remarkable. Any businessman would accept them without a second thought." He paused abruptly, then his gaze shifted to the wall - there was a portrait of him, surrounded by all five of his daughters. His gaze softened.

"I am going to challenge you both." His calm voice changed to a more serious tone. "One month. I will give each of you one month maximum to convince Celeste" He glaced at Xavier. "And Nyx." He shifted his gaze to Sylus. "To marry you. Our marker to determine if you have succeeded will be a ring. If she is wearing your ring within thirty days, then we will proceed with your proposed partnerships." Mr. Kingsley paused, and this time, his expression had gone even more stern. "If she has no ring on after the days run out, then you will never be allowed to see her again."

Xavier's and Sylus' eyes widened. Before they could say anything in response, Mr. Kingsley continued:

"These are my terms. I am not open to any sort of negotiation." He spoke as he strode forward - towards the same portrait he was staring at earlier.

"My girls have been through so much. I don't wish for them to go through more pain. I know you both came here to gain my favor, and the sheer value of your offers have shown me how much you treasure my daughters. But it is them who must decide if they wish to be with you, I will not decide for them."

"The purpose of my offer was not to purchase Nyx as if she were a thing that could be bought." Sylus interjected. "My purpose was to give you, her father, incentive. To make sure I put the best foot forward, to prove that I have exceedingly more to offer than most men out there." He declared. "Nyx has a mind of her own. It was my intention from the very beginning to let her choose me, freely. And I have no doubt in my mind that she will." He continued, confidently.

Xavier stood there, astonished. Seems he's a little less of a bastard than he originally thought. "It is the same for me as well Mr. Kingsley. I wish for Celeste to choose me, freely, as well."

"Then, do you accept my challenge?" Mr. Kingsley asked.

"Yes."

"Yes Sir."

They replied in unison.

"Very good." Mr. Kingsley replied. "Now that that's done, both of you, get out of my office."

Before either of them could budge, the secretary barged into the room and accidentally slammed the door to the wall in one swift motion.

"Mr Kingsley! There are three men causing a commotion downstairs. Two of them look like they're about to brawl at the lobby. The other one's demanding to the receptionist that he needs to see your daughter, Nerissa, this instant. I would've called for security instead, but one of them is a world famous painter, the other's a world-renowned surgeon, and the last one's the new pilot you just hired."

Mr. Kingsley just sighed heavily in response as he still stood there facing the portrait.

Perfect.....

Hope you guys liked Part 2: Third Convergence💜❤️

This part was supposed to be written in all of the LIs perspectives, but Xavier's, Sylus' and Kingsleys exchanges took too long🥹

So, the part with Rafayel, Zayne and Caleb will be on Part 2: Fourth Convergence😁

Please stay tuned!!!

Tell your thoughts in the comments, what do you think of this series so far?

It will be much appreciated💜🩵🩷❤️🧡