#Products Retiring in 2024

[tech-sphere]

Tech Farewells of 2024: Products and Services We’re Saying Goodbye To

As we approach the end of 2024, the tech world bids farewell to a number of products, services, and platforms that have been integral to our digital lives for years. In an industry that evolves at lightning speed, obsolescence is inevitable, and even the most beloved technologies must eventually make way for newer innovations. This year, we saw some iconic tech products and services reach the end of their lives, leaving behind a legacy that will be remembered by users and industry experts alike.

Here’s a look at some of the most notable tech farewells of 2024:

1. Google Stadia: The End of the Cloud Gaming Experiment

Google’s ambitious cloud gaming service, Stadia, will officially shut down in 2024. Launched in 2019 with high expectations, Stadia aimed to revolutionize the gaming industry by allowing users to play high-quality games via streaming without the need for dedicated hardware. Despite an initial burst of excitement, Stadia struggled with issues like a limited game library, a lack of consumer interest, and competition from more established platforms. Google has already announced its plans to refund customers for hardware and games purchased on Stadia, marking the end of a bold but ultimately unsuccessful experiment in gaming.

2. Microsoft Internet Explorer: A Final Curtain Call

Internet Explorer, once the most widely used web browser in the world, will officially be retired in 2024. After decades of dominating the browser landscape, Microsoft Edge has now become the company’s focus. While Internet Explorer remained a staple for many users, especially in corporate environments, it’s been gradually replaced by more modern browsers that prioritize speed, security, and user experience. Microsoft has urged users to transition to Edge, which has gained popularity thanks to its fast performance and compatibility with newer web technologies. Though it has been a long time coming, saying goodbye to Internet Explorer marks the end of an era in web browsing.

3. Apple iTunes: A Digital Music Legacy

After over two decades, Apple will officially phase out iTunes in 2024, replacing it with its more streamlined and modern services like Apple Music and the Apple TV app. iTunes was once the go-to platform for purchasing and managing music, movies, and TV shows. However, with the rise of streaming services and digital downloads, iTunes has increasingly become outdated. The shift away from iTunes represents the changing landscape of digital media consumption, with streaming platforms taking center stage. For many long-time users, the shutdown of iTunes marks the end of an era of digital ownership.

4. Twitter (X): A New Beginning, But a Familiar Goodbye

In 2024, Twitter will undergo another major transformation. As part of Elon Musk’s ongoing rebranding efforts, Twitter will officially retire its iconic blue bird logo and become "X." Although the social media platform itself will remain, the shift to "X" is symbolic of Musk’s vision to turn the platform into a broader, all-encompassing digital service—potentially incorporating banking, shopping, and entertainment. While Twitter may continue to exist in some form, its farewell as the social media giant we’ve known for over a decade marks a significant cultural shift in the online space.

5. Adobe Flash Player: A Long-Awaited Farewell

Adobe Flash Player, which was officially phased out in 2020, will no longer receive any updates or support in 2024. While the end of life for Flash Player was announced several years ago, the actual closure of Flash-based content will finally be fully realized this year. Once a dominant tool for web developers, Flash was eventually replaced by more secure and efficient technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The final curtain for Flash means that many old Flash-based websites and games will be lost to the digital past. For those nostalgic about the days of Flash animations and games, this year marks the final goodbye.

6. Google Hangouts: A Shift to Google Meet and Chat

After years of providing a communication hub for users, Google Hangouts will officially be shut down in 2024. The app, which started as a casual chat platform, was eventually replaced by Google Meet and Google Chat, which offer more robust, business-friendly solutions for communication. Hangouts served as a bridge for many users transitioning from Google Talk to the modern world of video conferencing, but with the increasing dominance of platforms like Zoom and Teams, Google decided to consolidate its messaging services. The shutdown of Hangouts will leave behind a long history of chats, video calls, and memories for users who once relied on it for staying connected.

7. Windows 10: Transition to Windows 11

Windows 10, one of Microsoft’s most successful operating systems, will officially reach the end of support in 2024. Users who still rely on Windows 10 will need to upgrade to Windows 11 to receive updates and security patches. With a sleek, modern interface, better performance, and improved security features, Windows 11 has become the go-to OS for new devices. The phase-out of Windows 10 represents the culmination of Microsoft’s efforts to modernize its ecosystem and provide users with a more intuitive, integrated experience across devices.

Final Thoughts: The Evolution of Technology

As we say goodbye to these products and services in 2024, we are reminded of the rapid pace of technological advancement. While these farewells can feel bittersweet, they also represent progress and the constant reinvention of the tech landscape. New innovations, updated services, and improved devices are always on the horizon, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the digital world.

Though we may miss some of these familiar tools and platforms, their departure opens the door for new technologies to take their place. In the ever-changing world of tech, the only constant is change, and 2024 is proof of that. Here's to the future of innovation!

[heathenphotography]

TRIGGER FAE - Jay's Afterlife (live at swamp house summer 2024)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Leveraged buyouts are not like mortgages

I'm coming to DEFCON! On FRIDAY (Aug 9), I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On SATURDAY (Aug 10), I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

Here's an open secret: the confusing jargon of finance is not the product of some inherent complexity that requires a whole new vocabulary. Rather, finance-talk is all obfuscation, because if we called finance tactics by their plain-language names, it would be obvious that the sector exists to defraud the public and loot the real economy.

Take "leveraged buyout," a polite name for stealing a whole goddamned company:

Identify a company that owns valuable assets that are required for its continued operation, such as the real-estate occupied by its outlets, or even its lines of credit with suppliers;

Approach lenders (usually banks) and ask for money to buy the company, offering the company itself (which you don't own!) as collateral on the loan;

Offer some of those loaned funds to shareholders of the company and convince a key block of those shareholders (for example, executives with large stock grants, or speculators who've acquired large positions in the company, or people who've inherited shares from early investors but are disengaged from the operation of the firm) to demand that the company be sold to the looters;

Call a vote on selling the company at the promised price, counting on the fact that many investors will not participate in that vote (for example, the big index funds like Vanguard almost never vote on motions like this), which means that a minority of shareholders can force the sale;

Once you own the company, start to strip-mine its assets: sell its real-estate, start stiffing suppliers, fire masses of workers, all in the name of "repaying the debts" that you took on to buy the company.

This process has its own euphemistic jargon, for example, "rightsizing" for layoffs, or "introducing efficiencies" for stiffing suppliers or selling key assets and leasing them back. The looters – usually organized as private equity funds or hedge funds – will extract all the liquid capital – and give it to themselves as a "special dividend." Increasingly, there's also a "divi recap," which is a euphemism for borrowing even more money backed by the company's assets and then handing it to the private equity fund:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/17/divi-recaps/#graebers-ghost

If you're a Sopranos fan, this will all sound familiar, because when the (comparatively honest) mafia does this to a business, it's called a "bust-out":

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

The mafia destroys businesses on a onesy-twosey, retail scale; but private equity and hedge funds do their plunder wholesale.

It's how they killed Red Lobster:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/23/spineless/#invertebrates

And it's what they did to hospitals:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/#charnel-house

It's what happened to nursing homes, Armark, private prisons, funeral homes, pet groomers, nursing homes, Toys R Us, The Olive Garden and Pet Smart:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben

It's what happened to the housing co-ops of Cooper Village, Texas energy giant TXU, Old Country Buffet, Harrah's and Caesar's:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/14/billionaire-class-solidarity/#club-deals

And it's what's slated to happen to 2.9m Boomer-owned US businesses employing 32m people, whose owners are nearing retirement:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

Now, you can't demolish that much of the US productive economy without attracting some negative attention, so the looter spin-machine has perfected some talking points to hand-wave away the criticism that borrowing money using something you don't own as collateral in order to buy it and wreck it is obviously a dishonest (and potentially criminal) destructive practice.

The most common one is that borrowing money against an asset you don't own is just like getting a mortgage. This is such a badly flawed analogy that it is really a testament to the efficacy of the baffle-em-with-bullshit gambit to convince us all that we're too stupid to understand how finance works.

Sure: if I put an offer on your house, I will go to my credit union and ask the for a mortgage that uses your house as collateral. But the difference here is that you own your house, and the only way I can buy it – the only way I can actually get that mortgage – is if you agree to sell it to me.

Owner-occupied homes typically have uncomplicated ownership structures. Typically, they're owned by an individual or a couple. Sometimes they're the property of an estate that's divided up among multiple heirs, whose relationship is mediated by a will and a probate court. Title can be contested through a divorce, where disputes are settled by a divorce court. At the outer edge of complexity, you get things like polycules or lifelong roommates who've formed an LLC s they can own a house among several parties, but the LLC will have bylaws, and typically all those co-owners will be fully engaged in any sale process.

Leveraged buyouts don't target companies with simple ownership structures. They depend on firms whose equity is split among many parties, some of whom will be utterly disengaged from the firm's daily operations – say, the kids of an early employee who got a big stock grant but left before the company grew up. The looter needs to convince a few of these "owners" to force a vote on the acquisition, and then rely on the idea that many of the other shareholders will simply abstain from a vote. Asset managers are ubiquitous absentee owners who own large stakes in literally every major firm in the economy. The big funds – Vanguard, Blackrock, State Street – "buy the whole market" (a big share in every top-capitalized firm on a given stock exchange) and then seek to deliver returns equal to the overall performance of the market. If the market goes up by 5%, the index funds need to grow by 5%. If the market goes down by 5%, then so do those funds. The managers of those funds are trying to match the performance of the market, not improve on it (by voting on corporate governance decisions, say), or to beat it (by only buying stocks of companies they judge to be good bets):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/17/shareholder-socialism/#asset-manager-capitalism

Your family home is nothing like one of these companies. It doesn't have a bunch of minority shareholders who can force a vote, or a large block of disengaged "owners" who won't show up when that vote is called. There isn't a class of senior managers – Chief Kitchen Officer! – who have been granted large blocks of options that let them have a say in whether you will become homeless.

Now, there are homes that fit this description, and they're a fucking disaster. These are the "heirs property" homes, generally owned by the Black descendants of enslaved people who were given the proverbial 40 acres and a mule. Many prosperous majority Black settlements in the American South are composed of these kinds of lots.

Given the historical context – illiterate ex-slaves getting property as reparations or as reward for fighting with the Union Army – the titles for these lands are often muddy, with informal transfers from parents to kids sorted out with handshakes and not memorialized by hiring lawyers to update the deeds. This has created an irresistible opportunity for a certain kind of scammer, who will pull the deeds, hire genealogists to map the family trees of the original owners, and locate distant descendants with homeopathically small claims on the property. These descendants don't even know they own these claims, don't even know about these ancestors, and when they're offered a few thousand bucks for their claim, they naturally take it.

Now, armed with a claim on the property, the heirs property scammers force an auction of it, keeping the process under wraps until the last instant. If they're really lucky, they're the only bidder and they can buy the entire property for pennies on the dollar and then evict the family that has lived on it since Reconstruction. Sometimes, the family will get wind of the scam and show up to bid against the scammer, but the scammer has deep capital reserves and can easily win the auction, with the same result:

https://www.propublica.org/series/dispossessed

A similar outrage has been playing out for years in Hawai'i, where indigenous familial claims on ancestral lands have been diffused through descendants who don't even know they're co-owner of a place where their distant cousins have lived since pre-colonial times. These descendants are offered small sums to part with their stakes, which allows the speculator to force a sale and kick the indigenous Hawai'ians off their family lands so they can be turned into condos or hotels. Mark Zuckerberg used this "quiet title and partition" scam to dispossess hundreds of Hawai'ian families:

https://archive.is/g1YZ4

Heirs property and quiet title and partition are a much better analogy to a leveraged buyout than a mortgage is, because they're ways of stealing something valuable from people who depend on it and maintain it, and smashing it and selling it off.

Strip away all the jargon, and private equity is just another scam, albeit one with pretensions to respectability. Its practitioners are ripoff artists. You know the notorious "carried interest loophole" that politicians periodically discover and decry? "Carried interest" has nothing to do with the interest on a loan. The "carried interest" rule dates back to 16th century sea-captains, and it refers to the "interest" they had in the cargo they "carried":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/29/writers-must-be-paid/#carried-interest

Private equity managers are like sea captains in exactly the same way that leveraged buyouts are like mortgages: not at all.

And it's not like private equity is good to its investors: scams like "continuation funds" allow PE looters to steal all the money they made from strip mining valuable companies, so they show no profits on paper when it comes time to pay their investors:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/20/continuation-fraud/#buyout-groups

Those investors are just as bamboozled as we are, which is why they keep giving more money to PE funds. Today, the "dry powder" (uninvested money) that PE holds has reached an all-time record high of $2.62 trillion – money from pension funds and rich people and sovereign wealth funds, stockpiled in anticipation of buying and destroying even more profitable, productive, useful businesses:

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2di1vzgjcmzovkcea8f0g/portfolio/private-equitys-dry-powder-mountain-reaches-record-height

The practices of PE are crooked as hell, and it's only the fact that they use euphemisms and deceptive analogies to home mortgages that keeps them from being shut down. The more we strip away the bullshit, the faster we'll be able to kill this cancer, and the more of the real economy we'll be able to preserve.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/05/rugged-individuals/#misleading-by-analogy

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

What a difference 44 years makes juxtaposition of International Harvester Scout, 1980 and Scout Traveler Prototype, 2024. IH retired their Scout range in 1980 after a production run of 20 years. VW in the US has revived the Scout brand for a new electric SUV that will go on sale in 2027. The new Scout SUV uses advanced 800-volt electrical architecture, allowing the BEV variants to travel up to 350 miles (563 km) on a single charge, or more than 500 miles (805 km) in range-extender form.

[istodayajewishholiday]

12 June 2024 - 6 Sivan 5784

Yes, today is Shavuot, the festival marking both when the Torah was received at Sinai, and celebrating the spring harvest.

Shavuot means “Weeks,” and occurs “a week of weeks” (49 days) after Passover. It marks the conclusion of the period of Counting the Omer, where the days and weeks are counted to show anticipation of receiving the Torah.

The holiday is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, along with Passover and Sukkot, when in the times of the Temple, Israelites would make pilgrimage to the Temple and bring the first fruits of their harvests.

Shavuot does not have many biblical mitzvot (commandments) associated with it, but there are several wide-spread customs. These include consuming dairy products, reading the Book of Ruth, decorating the home and synagogue with greenery, and staying up all night studying Torah.

Staying up all night studying originates from that the night before the Israelites were to receive the Torah, they retired early to be well rested, but when it came to morning they overslept, and Moses had to awake them. To “rectify” this, it is common to stay up all night studying Torah.

Shavuot is typically celebrated for one day in Israel, and two days in the Diaspora. The reform movement typically observes one day world wide.

Chag Shavuot Sameach—Happy Shavuot!

[lavenderchqn]

"CAT-LIKE CUDDLES"

synopsis — after the longest day, you finally get to retire home. said situation allows your partner to discover a new side of you. pairing — wanderer x gn! reader (established romantic relationship) warnings — no warnings! just fluff! requested? — requested by anon! notes — scara being able to crochet just clicks in my brain beautifully.

By the time you get home, it’s completely dark outside. Today has been ridiculed with far too much overtime for a singular person. 

The first thing you do is head straight to the bathroom and take a well-deserved shower. At the very least you’ll feel less guilty tomorrow, having taken care of yourself the day prior. Who cares about being productive after that mess of a day. 

As you slowly open the door to your bedroom you’re greeted with your partner already lying in bed, crocheting yet another cat plushie. 

“Holy shit, you look dead.” He says, taking one of the earbuds out. You can only nod in agreement, faceplanting into the mattress.

“How’s the cat coming along?” You poke its crocheted ear, looking at Wanderer with tired eyes.

“Fine. I’m liking this yarn.” He puts a stitch marker in before leaving his creation to be completed for the next day. “I’m going to wash up, go sleep if you’re that tired.”

You only respond by flipping yourself under the blanket, becoming a human version of a burrito. 

By the time Wanderer gets back, you’re out like a light. Your side table lamp is still on, and your phone is not charging. At the very least your blanket still lays on top of your body. 

“Might as well charge it…” He knows you’ll appreciate it. You always do. No matter how much he tries to be sly with his actions, it seems as if you have a sixth sense just for finding stuff he did for you and being thankful for it. 

With this little act of kindness, he’s ready to retire for the night. The lights are now off, allowing him to peacefully fall asleep. 

And yet soon after he’s awake. It’s not noisy outside, he didn’t forget to do anything today… It’s just that… 

He has no sense in his right arm, not to mention he can’t move it for some reason. 

Trying to assess the situation, he lights up the lamp finally getting a good look at the culprit of the current situation. You’re the one who has claimed ownership of his arm — cuddled into it as if your life depended on how close you can be to him.

“Come on, give it up.” Wanderer tries his best to wiggle his arm out, to no avail. By the second it’s free, you gain ownership of it again… akin to that of a tiny kitten. “What the hell is up with you, you’re never clingy.” 

Now that he thinks about it, you’ve never been the one to cuddle him while asleep. Your affection would typically show itself in kind words or time spent together – never in physical touch. 

It seems as if your energy battery has run so dry, that you reset to factory settings or something.

All Wanderer can do is sigh, as he allows you to snuggle into his forearm. Turning around to turn the lamp off, his eyes land on the sleeping cat he’s been crocheting recently. 

Oh, he’s going to tease you to hell and back tomorrow. Might as well start calling you a snuggly kitten, if you keep this display of affection up. 

date of posting — july 3rd 2024 wave divider by @saradika-graphics

[sl-vega]

0.1; retired theater kids-(y/n's squad)

project: love liason! - a scaramouche smau

y/n:

hopelessly in love with childe (has been since freshman year) you are on fairly good terms with him, (even if half of your interactions play out in your head rather than reality)

(ridiculously) hopeful romantic

you were the one who started your friend group after you met everyone else in a drama camp during eighth grade (hence the name retired theater kids)

the "responsible" friend (even though the general consensus is that lynette and navia are the actual responsible ones)

mona:

your best friend and scara's academic "rival". having been forced to have tons of classes together in the past two years, mona and him have been pretty cut throat when it comes to them competing with each other

mona finds him insufferable, and has vented to you about him on numerous occasions, even though you've never even met the guy

super into astrology and zodiacs

she's well known around campus for having scary accurate predictions

"that wasn't on your 2024 bingo card? well it was on MINE."

furina:

president of the drama club at your school, and is often put in charge of directing all of the drama club's shows

she used to be a semi-popular child actress that frequently appeared in famous kids shows, but she took a break recently to focus more on her directing career

was essentially a guarantee for any lead in school productions when she was younger

absolute drama queen

navia frequently keeps her up to date with all the latest gossip so she's a real treat to talk to

lyney:

lynette's older twin brother, and a part time magician for kids birthday parties

one of the girls

also a member of the drama club

both an actor and member of the stage crew as he helps with special effects for productions as well

wants to continue working in the film industry after high school

bounces around as a freelance worker instead of being tied down to a specific gig despite having many offers from several places

says that if he waits the salary offers will get higher

lynette:

lyney's younger twin sister and part time magic assistant

her brother often jokes that she ditched him, but she just preferred to explore her own interests outside of lyney's career

member of both the drama club and science club

unlike lyney she only helps with behind the scenes work

most notably special effects, but she's more interested in the scientific aspect of making it work

navia:

DEFINITION of an fbi friend

knows everything about everyone, does loyalty tests on people's boyfriend's sometimes if they pay her

picks up crazy amounts of info, and has a shit ton of connections to tons of people and places

doesn't disclose how she finds out all of this

the type of friend that can find someone only by their first initial

give her a single piece of info and BOOM

she has their full legal name, all their social media accounts, the location of the grocery store they frequent, and their parent's Facebook pages

currently in a situation ship with chlorinde

additional notes:

profiles are out!

not much I wanna say but yeah :D

i'll try my best to do frequent updates

if you wanna be tagged just send me an ask/comment!

𝜗𝜚 SYNOPSIS: you're head over heels in love with childe, and scaramouche is (begrudingly) smitten with his "rival" mona. and, by sheer divine coincidence, you both happen to be the best friends of each other's objects of affection, so you strike a deal with each other. if scaramouche helps you ask out childe, you'll set him up with mona. so with the annual spring formal right around the corner, the two of you vow to be each other's wingmans so you can end your junior year on a high note (and maybe even kick off your senior year with a new relationship!). between, scheming, planning, and researching, you and scaramouche find yourselves developing a new relationship via helping each other out. now the real question is whether this friendship will remain as a pure platonic bond, or blossom into something more?

< PREV ll MASTERLIST ll NEXT >

🎀 - taglist!;

@agaygothicmushroom, @035814, @freyao7, @sketcheeee, @tsukimara, @shyentsmissingink, @justpeachyteastea, @aries-afk, @lxkeeeee, @sakiimeo, @sugxryratz, @shutingstar, @lalaloveallmydays, @bellflower1257, @haruumei, @kichiyosh1, @littlemisssatanist, @dee-zbignuts, @candyescapism, @crimxeorcremeexistspeacefully

[simply-ivanka]

Who’s Afraid of Project 2025?

Democrats run against a think-tank paper that Trump disavows. Why?

Wall Street Journal

July 29, 2024

By The Editorial Board

Americans are learning more about Kamala Harris, as Democrats rush to anoint the Vice President’s candidacy after throwing President Biden overboard. Ms. Harris wasted no time saying she’s going to run hard against a policy paper that Donald Trump has disavowed—the supposedly nefarious agenda known as Project 2025. But who’s afraid of a think-tank white paper?

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” Ms. Harris tweeted shortly after President Biden dropped out. She’s picking up this ball from Mr. Biden, and her campaign website claims that Project 2025 would “strip away our freedoms” and “abolish checks and balances.”

***

Sounds terrible, but is it? The 922-page document doesn’t lack for modesty, as a wish list of policy reforms that would touch every part of government from the Justice Department to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The project is led by the Heritage Foundation and melds the work of some 400 scholars and analysts from an eclectic mix of center-right groups. The project is also assembling a Rolodex of those who might work in a Trump Administration.

Most of the Democratic panic-mongering has focused on the project’s aim to rein in the administrative state. That includes civil service reform that would make it easier to remove some government workers, and potentially revisiting the independent status of agencies like the Federal Trade Commission.

The latter isn’t going to happen, but getting firmer presidential control over the bureaucracy would improve accountability. The federal government has become so vast that Presidents have difficulty even knowing what is going on in the executive branch. Americans don’t want to be ruled by a permanent governing class that doesn’t answer to voters.

Some items on this menu are also standard conservative fare. The document calls for an 18% corporate tax rate (now 21%), describing that levy as “the most damaging tax” in the U.S. system that falls heavily on workers. A mountain of economic literature backs that up. The blueprint suggests tying more welfare programs with work; de-regulating health insurance markets; expanding Medicare Advantage plans that seniors like; ending sugar subsidies; revving up U.S. energy production. That all sounds good to us.

Democrats are suggesting the project would gut Social Security, though in fact it bows to Mr. Trump’s preference not to touch the retirement program, which is headed for bankruptcy without reform. No project can profess to care about the rising national debt, as Heritage does, without fixing a program that was 22% of the federal budget in 2023.

At times the paper takes no position. For example: The blueprint features competing essays on trade policy. This is a tacit admission that for all the GOP’s ideological confusion on economics, many conservatives still understand that Mr. Trump’s 10% tariff is a terrible idea.

As for the politics, Mr. Trump recently said online that he knew “nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it.” That may be true. The chance that Mr. Trump has read any of it is remote to nil, and he doesn’t want to be tied to anyone’s ideas since he prizes maximum ideological flexibility.

The document mentions abortion nearly 200 times, but Mr. Trump wants to neutralize that issue. The project’s chief sponsor, Heritage president Kevin Roberts, also gave opponents a sword when he boasted of “a second American revolution” that would be peaceful “if the left allows it to be.” This won’t help Mr. Trump with the swing voters he needs to win re-election.

By our lights the project’s cultural overtones are also too dark and the agenda gives too little spotlight to the economic freedom and strong national defense that defined the think tank’s influence on Ronald Reagan in 1980.

***

But the left’s campaign against Project 2025 is reaching absurd decibels. You’d think Mr. Trump is a political mastermind hiding the secret plans he’ll implement with an army of shock troops marching in lockstep. If his first term is any guide, and it is the best we have, Mr. Trump will govern as a make-it-up-as-he-goes tactician rather than a strategist with a coherent policy guide. He’ll dodge and weave based on the news cycle and often based on whoever talks to him last.

Not much of the Project 2025 agenda is likely to happen, even if Republicans take the House and Senate. Democrats will block legislation with a filibuster. The bureaucracy will leak with abandon and oppose even the most minor reforms to the civil service. The press will revert to full resistance mode, and Mr. Trump’s staff will trip over their own ambitions.

Democrats know this, which is why they fear Trump II less than they claim. They’re targeting Project 2025 to distract from their own failed and unpopular policies.

[ddostoyevskyy]

YOU ATE THAT PLOT !!!!

You ate with that angel offering heart to bakugo and omg imagine she like in a coma cuz how much it took of her and bakugou wakes up before her questioning how he’s alive and everyone is dodging the question till he finally learns the truth and when he learns how she sacrificed her quirk for him he starts crying

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒!

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒: part one, part two

Nobody had told him yet, not even Aizawa (or Monoma) who had witnessed that moment. When he called for Bakugo’s protection, you were quick to aid, alongside with Best Jeanist who help you fix his heart. Not a single soul had told him yet — because they knew it will ruin him; just as how his outburst with All Might’s retirement.

He didn’t even know your real condition — your wings, nor how your heart’s only accompanied with your quirk now — (so, if ever Aizawa will erase your quirk, your heart will stop) nor the chances of waking up... or not. He was just told that you were fine and breathing, and that you always had been everytime you used much of your quirk. But that doesn’t leave his suspicion that there’s something wrong.

After all, he feels it in his heart where you were, beating and letting him live the second time around.

When he came back to war like nothing happened. When he felt the adrenaline and every veins in his arms felt like exploding, yet his heart remained tamed — unlike the first, he knew his quirk would affect his heart, he felt his suspicion building and thoughts about you wavered on his head.

It’s unfortunate that Tenko, of all people, had told him the truth of your sacrifice.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄... I’m quite invested with this, omg. Thank you for sending me your thoughts! 🫶🏻

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved 2024 © ddostoyevskyy. Do not repost without permission or plagiarized.

[mariacallous]

In 2025, we will see a fundamental transformation in the language of climate politics. We’re going to hear a lot less about “reducing emissions” from scientists and policymakers and a lot more about “phasing out fossil fuels” or “ending coal, oil, and methane gas.” This is a good thing. Although it is scientifically accurate, the phrase “reducing emissions” is too easily used for greenwashing by the fossil-energy industry and its advocates. The expression “ending coal, oil, and methane gas,” on the other hand, keeps the focus on the action that will do most to resolve the climate crisis.

This discourse shift has been initiated by the latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The world’s climate scientists say that already existing fossil-energy infrastructure is projected to emit the total carbon budget for halting global heating at 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial temperatures. This statement means two things. It means that the world cannot develop any more coal, oil, or gas, if we want our planet to remain relatively livable. And it means that even some already developed fossil-fuel deposits will need to be retired before the end of their lifetime, since we need to leave space in the carbon budget for essential activities like agriculture.

The international community has already integrated this new science into its global climate governance. The 28th Conference of the Parties—the annual conference of the world’s nations party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—called for every country to contribute to “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” Never before in the history of international climate negotiations had the main cause of global heating been clearly named and specifically targeted. The United Nations itself now calls for the phaseout of coal, oil, and methane gas.

This new climate language will become mainstream in 2025. In her policy plans for her second term aspPresident of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen pledged not to work to lower EU emissions, but to “continue to bring down energy prices by moving further away from fossil fuels.” The new UK government promised in its manifesto that it will withhold licenses for new coal and for oil exploration—and states outright that it will “ban fracking for good.” And in France, Macron has explicitly vowed to end fossil-fuel use entirely.

Climate politics in the US will also evolve in the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection for president. Republicans will continue to embrace a “drill, baby, drill” climate agenda, denying the danger or sometimes even the reality of climate change while advocating for expanding domestic crude and methane-gas production. They may try to greenwash their policies by claiming they embrace an “all of the above” energy strategy, but this messaging will have limited effects. Due to political polarization the association of Trump with coal, oil, and gas will raise Democratic support for phasing out fossil fuels. Before the 2024 election, 59 percent of Democrats said climate change should be the Federal government’s top priority, but only 48 percent said they supported a phaseout. In 2025 majorities of Democrats will begin to support fossil-fuel phaseout, especially if climate advocates revive science-based climate messaging, continue to emphasize that clean-energy deployment is job creation, and frame choosing to phase out fossil fuels as a form of freedom that upholds our right to a livable future.

Given that Democrats won many down-ballot races, and cities and states are still pledging to pass climate policies, this shift in the Democratic majority will keep the US on the map in international climate negotiations, whether or not Trump withdraws the US from the Paris Agreement, creating new local alliances with the UK, the EU, and global south nations calling for international fossil-fuel phaseout targets. This bloc can counter the power of petrostates in international climate negotiations. At the very least, the mainstreaming of the language of fossil-fuel phaseout will help undermine the greenwashing strategy of current oil and gas company PR, which falsely advertises industry as pursuing technologies at scale to help “reduce emissions” even as they continue their upstream investments.

Of course the petrostates, along with India and China, will push back against the rhetoric of fossil fuel phaseout. But India can be helped to turn away from its domestic coal stores by clean-energy financing at close to cost along with the international aid and technology transfers already pledged at previous climate conferences. And although its rhetoric may not align with that of the West, China should not be imagined as opposed to climate action. China has enacted the most comprehensive climate policy on the planet, in service of its goal to peak emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2060. If their climate messaging remains focused on “emissions,” in light of their plan to keep using fossil fuels past 2030, they are preparing for next decade’s pivot away from fossil fuels by building out clean energy at a truly extraordinary rate.

In 2025 climate discourse will recenter on the message that halting global heating requires the phaseout of coal, oil, and gas. This new consensus will shift the politics of climate change and help motivate an urgent sprint to a clean-energy, ecologically integrated economy—the only economy that ensures a livable future.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

What We Know, What To Expect, & Moving Forward!

Hey Y’All!

By the time this post is made, we’ll be–roughly–eleven months away from the release date of Sonic the Hedgehog 3(2024). As of now, we don’t have a whole lot of information concerning the Knuckles Series on Paramount + and when it will release. The same can be said for the third Sonic movie.  Last time I made an updated post was back in January of 2023. Since then, we’ve gained some new information. I’ve combed through everything that’s been posted since 2021 to compile into a large master post! When leaks and other news resurface, I’ll update this post monthly to share via reblog.

Release dates:

It’s safe to say that the third Sonic movie is on track to release on December 20th, 2024 in the United States. Global release dates for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 have yet to be released.

The SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023 has not interfered with the movie’s production. Though not yet confirmed, we can infer that the strike has pushed the Knuckles Series back by a few months. The original release date for the series was meant to release “sometime in 2023” (Otterson, 2023). It is unclear when the Knuckles Series will stream on Paramount +. However, Screen Rant’s interview with Tika Sumpter implies that a release date for the series will be shared on Super Bowl Sunday (Screen Rant, 2024). Super Bowl Sunday is on February 11th, 2024. 

Returning Actors/New Actors:

The following are actors that will be returning to SONIC MOVIE 3:

Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as “Sonic”

Colleen O'Shaughnessey will reprise her role as “Tails”

Idris Elba will reprise his role as “Knuckles”

James Marsden is expected to reprise his role as “Tom”

Tika Sumpter will reprise her role as “Maddie”

Lee Majdoub will reprise his role as “Agent Stone.”

As of now, a voice actor for “Shadow” has not been announced. A “Big Name Actor” has been chosen to voice “Shadow” since 2022 (Klamath Comicon, 2022). The popular rumor is that Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) will be Shadow’s VA (Physical Media President, 2024). This has not been confirmed as of yet. There is no indication that previous voice actors from other Sonic games will appear to voice Shadow the Hedgehog.

It’s unclear at this moment in time if Jim Carrey will reprise his role as “Dr. Robotnik.” The agreement is that if Jim Carrey is committed to his retirement, then the character will be retired completely. Dr. Robotnik will not be recast (Klamath Comicon, 2022). In late 2022, after announcing his retirement, Jim Carrey appeared in an interview with GMA saying that he would make an exception for Sonic 3 if he liked the script due to loving the Sonic series (GMA, 2022).

Other characters–Rachel, Randall, JoJo, Wade, “Crazy” Carl, and characters from the Knuckles Series–have yet to be announced.

The following are actors that will be starring/returning in KNUCKLES SERIES:

Idris Elba will reprise his role as “Knuckles”

Adam Pally will reprise his role as “Wade Whipple”

Tika Sumpter will reprise her role as “Maddie”

It is unclear who the newcomers to the Knuckles Series will be playing. The actor list can be found HERE.

**NOTE: At this moment in time, it is unclear whether or not we will gain new characters in the third Sonic film. Fans hope for Rouge, Amy Rose, Gerald Robotnik, and Maria Robotnik to appear in these continuations. Writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller are aware of there being more female Sonic characters and a need for Sonic characters in general (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). Also note that characters are meant to take reference from GAME CANON only; characters from comic books, mobile games, and other spinoff titles will NOT appear in the SCU franchise.**

Flexibility & Mandates:

Yes, this is a separate subject. I have received questions about this in the past and continue to today. In 2021, Pat Casey shared that mandates are not a thing when writing the films; they are provided lenient suggestions and have asked for source game material from SEGA in the past (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). These suggestions are NOT the same as the IDW comics. If the writers are not sure of something about Sonic lore, they contact SEGA. Canon for movies is meant to draw in from the game-verse instead of comic books and spin off titles due to familiarity.

“Everyone recognizes Sonic as a video game icon rather than a TV show or a comic strip.”

New lore can be created–I.E. chaos emeralds being entities within the Master Emerald rather than viewed as separate items–as long as it follows elements of games, and made easy for fans and newcomers to follow (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022).

The movies are NOT canon to the video games, but take heavy inspiration from them. They exist within their own canon universe.

Ian Flynn has NO involvement with the movies whatsoever.

Tyson Hesse is the producer for the Knuckles Series, the movies, and a creative consultant.

Pat Casey and Josh Miller have asked for game-material ONLY for Shadow's characterization, they do not plan to use the comic books or previous TV shows for writing Shadow (Legacy, 2022).

Story and Plot:

SONIC MOVIE 3–It is unclear at this moment in time what the plot is for the third Sonic film. What we can infer is that Sonic 3 will take “heavy inspiration” from both Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow’s solo game for plot (Klamath Comicon, 2022). This does NOT mean that it’s going to be an exact replica of these games. The third film is meant to tie-in with the Knuckles Series. Whatever is shared in the miniseries will be carried over to the movie’s plot (Lang, 2022). The plot synopsis shared in late 2022 with AmyRose, Big the Cat, and Metal Sonic was DEBUNKED by @tailschannel. The synopsis for Sonic 3 released in November of 2023 was DEBUNKED.

Drafting and planning for Sonic 3 began late 2021 (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). Storyboard planning for Sonic 3 began late 2022 (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2022). A finalized script for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was finished weeks before the SAG-AFTRA strike (Pat Casey, 2023). Filming for Sonic 3 began in August 2023 and continues currently (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2023). The budget for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is massive (Legacy, 2022).

In 2022, Pat Casey states that Sonic will have trouble trying to reach out to our beloved anti-hero. In the same interview, Pat Casey also stated that the tone of the third film is meant to be a bit darker. Understand that a story’s tone doesn’t always have to reflect a film’s rating, meaning that the story can be dark and still fit within the requirements of a PG or a PG-13 film. Pat Casey also shared with Screen Rant to be prepared to cry with their wild story (Bythrow, 2022).

What we can expect from the movie is a scene at a ski lodge, a GUN car and motorcycle chase scene on a bridge in a Tokyo-like city, scenes at a research facility/storage unit, scenes at Green Hills, and a scene in space.

KNUCKLES SERIES–The Knuckles series is a limited series debuting only on Paramount +. The story follows Knuckles as he teaches deputy Wade Whipple the ways of the Echidna Warrior and goes on an adventure of self-discovery (Otterson, 2022). The limited series is six episodes in total that are roughly an hour long (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). So far, leaks online have shown that Knuckles, Maddie, Wade, Wade’s extended family, and a female villain will be the main characters for the series. We can expect scenes to take place in Reno, a bowling alley, a diner, and parts of Green Hills, Montana. Lore and stories that take place in the Knuckles Series will continue over to the third Sonic film.

Music Selection:

The demand for Sonic music in the third film and the spinoff series has been at an all-time high. At Klamath Community College’s Comicon event, Pat Casey and Josh Miller have shared their hopes for Crush 40 to appear in the film, specifically the song “Live and Learn (2001).” An interview with Pat Casey in mid-to-late 2022 stated that SEGA’s copyright laws for their music are tricky to include into the films (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). He and Jeff Fowler (director) hope to find a loophole in the copyright.

Leaks Online:

Storyboards– On January 11th, 2024, Twitter user @/cartoonupdates released 462 storyboard pages of the Knuckles Series and 443 storyboard pages of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). These were taken down less than 24 hours after publication. Storyboard leaks for the Knuckles Series depicted a scene between Knuckles and Wade fighting the Black Arms, as well as a person in a mechanical suit. This scene is in front of a bowling alley with witnesses watching and Wade saying, “the flames of disaster.” Storyboard leaks for the third Sonic Movie depicted Super Shadow and Dr. Robotnik in a space station traveling back in time. Super Shadow spins the space station back in time to where Dr. Robotnik is able to see a fight between Super Sonic and Shadow, Agent Stone nursing him to health, and Dr. Robotnik firing a hand laser.

Reddit– At this moment in time, there have been no plot-related leaks regarding the third Sonic movie in Reddit chatrooms. We can expect NDA special screenings around mid-to-late summer, or early fall.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, & Instagram–Leaked set photos of Sonic 3 have surfaced during the SAG-AFTRA strike. These scenes show stand-in models of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles residing in a campsite near a snowy lodge. One leaked scene featured a motorcycle chase scene with police cars and an explosion on a bridge in London, England. Jeff Fowler shared a stand-in model of Shadow’s shoes in a warehouse-like setting.

Rating:

At this moment in time, both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) and the Knuckles Series do not have a strong rating. However, speculation is that Sonic 3 will push for a HARD PG due to the Slovakian rating/certificate system released earlier this year (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). Official ratings/certificates for both of the series are expected to release closer to their aimed launch dates. These ratings/certificates are usually given four weeks before released to the public.

Continuation(s):

There are no existing plans or confirmation that there will be a fourth installment of SCU currently. Clarity on whether or not Paramount will approve a fourth Sonic movie can be expected closer to, or after, Sonic 3’s release date. Rule of thumb is that if fans are interested in the series, then Jeff Fowler and Pat Casey will continue to make Sonic-related content (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022).

On January 16th, 2024, Hollywood Handle announced a potential “Shadow the Hedgehog” title (Hollywood Handle, 2024). It is unclear at the moment if it’s a limited series on Paramount +, or if it’s a movie. It’s also unclear if this rumor is true.

Reliable Sources:

In a world full of technology and misinformation, it is very hard to tell whether or not someone is a trustworthy source. This is understandable. The following are blogs and resources that can be used as a guide (I might miss some, sorry if I do):

TUMBLR

TailsChannel

Movie-Robotnik-Positivity

SonicStation

Aawesomepenguin

SonicMovieUpdates

Kitsuoi

If you want to include myself to the list, then cheers!

TWITTER

TailsChannel

SonicMovieUpdates

DiscussingFilm

The Hollywood Handle (50/50)

DanielRPK (50/50)

o_Azul35

Cybrid01

Contrieorb4

Movie-Robotnik-Positivity

SonicMovie (The original Twitter account with a golden checkmark and a Paramount logo on it)

If you want to include myself to the list, then cheers!

Any staff members of SCU

INSTAGRAM

TailsChannel

Cybrid01

Paramount

Any staff members of SCU

MAGAZINES/NEWS ARTICLES

TailsChannel

Variety Magazine

ScreenRant (Please be careful reading subtitles. Sometimes they don’t like to clarify whether or not it’s an opinion article or not unless a subtitle is given).

The Gamer

DiscussingFilm.net

SonicStadium.org

For the love of god almighty, do NOT use Giant Freaking Robot as a source. They are notorious for spreading misinformation.

REDDIT (Disclaimer):

Reddit is notorious for leaking NDA special screenings, photos, as well as having members of the SCU crew make throw-away accounts to post teasers. “Leaks” of any kind can be found in either “#SonicMovie3” or “#SonicMovie” chat rooms with a spoiler warning.

Reddit posters that usually make these leaks get to see special screenings of films in mid-production. Understand that these advanced screenings are given to people on invite; they are asked to watch a film that’s in mid-production and critique it for improvement. If leaks are shared about their advanced screening, they can’t always go into full detail due to violation of their NDAs. On the rare occasion that they do share details of the screening, the posts are taken down by both Paramount and by Reddit Staff within 24 hours.

It is also common for there to be two screenings of the same movie with minor tweaks. I.E., in 2019, two versions of the first movie were available for test screening within a week’s time. One test screener’s filming experience featured a “campfire scene” and Longclaw going to earth with Sonic. Another test screener’s filming experience was the same, but featured a Dr. Robotnik and Agent Stone fight scene with General Walters. These were scrapped later on and found in the first movie’s “deleted scenes” feature.

The best advice that I can give for checking the authenticity of a post is to look for consistency, as well as HOW test screeners describe their experience. It’s easy to tell the difference between sharing a feeling and telling a fabricated story for likes.

Moving Forward:

Both Tika Sumpter and Pat Casey have shared that any members of SCU CANNOT share anything related to Sonic 3 or the Knuckles Series. They are under a strict NDA contract that could remove them from the projects entirely if discussed publicly. Questions online, private interviews, and so forth cannot be shared unless Paramount gives them permission to. If you ask them a question on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or any other social media platform regarding the movies, they will ignore it. This isn’t them being rude, it’s them honoring a NDA contract.

Expect radio silence for extended periods of time. The third Sonic film is meant to be a major improvement from the last two films. Paramount has been cracking down on leaks and anonymous tippers online for the past two months. There will be times where we receive a flood of information about the films, other times there will be nothing. This is completely normal, I promise.

If Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the Knuckles Series are the end of SCU, know that I’ve had an incredible time enjoying the hype and moments with y’all. What an amazing journey we’ve been on! Thank you! And know that as long as there’s a talking blue hedgehog around, I’ll be here. Until then, let’s enjoy this adventure together!

[srbachchan]

DAY 5982

Jalsa, Mumbai July 4/July 5, 2024 Thu/Fri 10:52 am

Birthday .. Ef Sweta Prasad .. July 5, 2024 .. all our good wishes and love ❤️

🪔 ,

July 05 .. birthday greetings to Ef Shashikant Pedwal from Pune .. and Rajat Watel from Jammu .. 🙏🏻❤️🚩

.. a 3rd viewing for me and twice for many that came on an invite .. the experience just keeps building .. every time you notice and admire the pains taken by the Director in putting this massive vision into fructification , and presenting it in a manner that makes the film historic .. historic not just in its commercial prospects, but historic in its values of the audacious mind of the Director in metamorphosing the legend of the Mahabharat with its manifestation after 6000 years , into the viewage of modern day humans that go to see the film TODAY in 2024 ..

2024 ... centuries away from 2898 ( in the title of the film) .. which has been calculated after references to the Puran and Ved to be the moment of the reincarnation of Krishna - the Avatar that shall be born at the ending of the Kalyug - when all the atrocities, lies and irregularities of the World to be exhausted and overcome ..

The brilliance of interpreting a mythological Epic - the Mahabharata, which comprises of over 1 lakh 40 thousand verses , the largest epic ever in the history - and bringing it to modern day - well modern meaning 2898 AD - and to embellish it with the subtle nuances, which govern the past with what is to happen after the Mahabharata is over - the war between the Kauravas and the Pandav armies that lasted 18 days ..

SO WHAT NEXT .. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER IT WAS OVER ..

does life remain in its stagnancy or there is more ..

WELL FIND OUT BY SEEING KALKI .. and revel in its vast and massive presentation .. and to live till the FINALITY of its story-telling in the wait of the Part 2 ..

SO .. had a wonderful chat with Nag Ashwin for the camera and it should be out soon hopefully as a Podcast or on the TV channels , soon ..

Yes the film is a massive spectacle .. but it is also a learning .. a learning of the merger of myth and reality .. and a learning to the film makers on the process of putting this mammoth together for a viewing audience ..

It is humbling and perhaps not in my league to speak of a project which has been involved with me also , but at times it does become unavoidable .. such be its magnification in its discuss ...

The chat, or as some prominent journalists have titled previous effort with me and the cast of the film as the Kalki Chronicles , could well be titled the Kalki Director Chronicles ..

And I do wish that the Production be swift in putting it out as a PodCast , for it to be viewed and heard by several more ..

I retire now as the night was long and the morning early .. but shall slumber in the essence of Kalki , irrespective of the yay's and nay's of the World for it ..

My love 😍

Amitabh Bachchan

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Steven Monacelli and Tristan Lee at Texas Observer:

Under owner Elon Musk, the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, has become a hotbed of white supremacist and neo-Nazi content. A recent headline in the Atlantic doesn’t mince words: “X is a white supremacist site.” Musk has allowed formerly banned far-right and neo-Nazi accounts back on the platform, and, in some instances, he’s directly responded to accounts that traffic in white supremacist and neo-Nazi rhetoric. Meanwhile, anonymous accounts that regularly promote racial hate on the platform have seen their follower counts grow substantially as Musk has taken a more hands-off approach to moderation compared to the social media network’s prior owners.  Anonymity has long been a tactic used by extremists to spread their ideology while avoiding consequences, from Klansmen hoods to online pseudonyms. With such ideas spreading rapidly on X, the Texas Observer has identified the operators of four anonymous accounts that regularly share racist, antisemitic, and neo-Nazi content on the platform. Three of the operators appear to live or have claimed to own property in Texas, where X moderation operations are based and Musk resides.

Through reviewing posts on X, web archives, leak databases, and other social media profiles, the Observer identified the following individuals as the anonymous operators of neo-Nazi X accounts, which had a collective 500,000 followers at their peak: Cyan Cruz, a 40-year-old marketing professional who appears to have lived in Austin and Amarillo and operates the X account TheOfficial1984; Michael Gramer, a 42-year-old retired mechanical engineer who has lived in New Hampshire, operates the X account 9mm_SMG, and has claimed to have a house in Galveston and to be spending time in Dallas; Robert “Bobby” Thorne, a 35-year-old vice president at JP Morgan Chase in Plano, who operates the account Noble1945 and previously operated the account Noble_x_x_; and John Anthony Provenzano, a 30-year-old who appears to live in Virginia, operates the account utism_ (formerly known as JohnnyBullzeye), and, according to a tip and a records request response from the U.S. Navy, works at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, Maryland—where the Navy manufactures explosive ordnance.

These individuals are part of a broader ecosystem of far-right accounts that have rapidly expanded their reach in recent months. They are among the most popular white nationalist and neo-Nazi accounts on X whose operators have not yet been publicly identified. (While this article was in production, the Anti-Defamation League also identified Cruz as the operator of TheOfficial1984.) Their rise to prominence tracks with a dramatic decrease in moderation of hateful content on the platform, which dropped from 1 million moderated accounts in 2021 to only 2,361 accounts in the most recent 2024 X transparency report. Posts from these individuals have received tens of millions of views over the last year and a half. The accounts have also attracted the attention of major public figures. Two of the accounts have received replies from the X account of Elon Musk, who has said he writes all of his own X posts and who, as reported by Mother Jones, has amplified users who promote pseudoscientific arguments that those of European descent are biologically superior. Three of the accounts are followed by a sitting congressman, and many other right-wing media figures and outlets follow at least one of the four accounts.

All four accounts follow the other three, and all four have interacted with at least two of the other three in posts, replies, and spaces on X. The host of a June 2024 X space, an online voice chat room on the X platform, focused on “JQ 101”—“JQ” being an abbreviation used by anti-semitic extremists for the “Jewish Question”—tagged all four of the accounts in a post promoting the gathering, in which three of the four accounts participated. Nearly 17,000 listeners tuned into the conversation. On July 9, Musk posted two replies to Cruz’s account TheOfficial1984, which Cruz has used to post pro-Hitler, Holocaust denial, and other antisemitic content. Musk’s posts were in response to TheOfficial1984’s call to reinstate a prominent neo-Nazi account, Lucas Gage, who had been banned for six months. In the replies, Musk explained that Gage had been temporarily banned for “repeated and clear calls for violence” and identified one of Gage’s many antisemitic posts as the specific reason. While Gage cannot currently post, his virulently antisemitic posts from prior to the ban remain visible on X, with many having hundreds of thousands of views. On July 23, Musk replied to Gramer’s account 9mm_smg, which Gramer has used to make posts referring to neo-Nazi tropes such as the “14 Words” and “blood and soil” and identifying himself as a white nationalist. Musk’s reply was a laughing emoji in response to a post about a community note—a feature that allows users to add context under a post if enough users vote on it—that described Vice President Kamala Harris as former TV host Montel Williams’ “main hoe,” which 9mm_smg described as “the greatest community note of all time.”  Musk’s engagement with these accounts may fit a pattern of the mogul amplifying far-right views on X, including promoting Tucker Carlson’s interview with a Nazi apologist, in a since-deleted post, and explicitly agreeing with an antisemitic conspiracy theory, for which he later apologized. 

Texas Observer doing the Lord’s work in exposing the people behind the four Neo-Nazi accounts that have major followings on X.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Scout Terra Prototype, 2024. A production intent concept for the new electric pick-up that has been developed by Volkswagen in the US and revives the Scout model name that was retired by International Harvester 44 years ago. The new Scout with be available in fully electric (BEV) or range-extender electric (EREV) form and will go on sale in 2026. The Extended Range Electric Vehicle version will be called the Harvester and will have a small combustion engine designed to recharge the high-voltage battery

[d-criss-news]

Best of the City: The 17 best things Time Out New York editors saw, ate and visited in 2024

At a time when most new Broadway musicals pitch their tents on existing intellectual property, Will Aronson and Hue Park’s enchanting sci-fi romance stands out for its originality—and its humanity, which is not what you might expect from the tale of two obsolescent androids who connect at a home for retired robots. Michael Arden directs a pitch-perfect production that stars Darren Criss and Helen J Shen. These are the droids you’re looking for.

The 10 best Broadway shows of 2024 (and 3 worst)

2. Maybe Happy Ending

It's ostensibly a dying battery and a moment of desperation that moves Claire (Helen J. Shen) to knock on Oliver's (Darren Criss) door — and though that may not sound like the most romantic conceit, that mix of circumstance and fate kickstarts the alluring atypical love story at the center of Maybe Happy Ending. The refreshingly original sci-fi musical sees one Helperbot aid another and just like that, neighbors become reluctant friends become more. It's a love story as sweet as can be, bolstered by easy chemistry, luminous performances, and wondrous set design. With impressively integrated technology, the musical makes clever use of time and space, tugging at our heartstrings with ease and lulling us along with its dulcet tones. It's delightfully awkward, playfully tender, and liable to fill your eyes with tears because above all, Maybe Happy Ending leads with heart. —SR

[lemonhemlock]

what are your thoughts on the madonna-whore complex allegations constantly lobbed at criston from rhaenicent and rhaenyra stans alike. because i dont see it at all. also a lot of them don't even seem to be using the madonna-whore complex correctly. it's supposed to be in regard to men in relationships with woman that lose sexual arousal for these women when they see them in more domestic, motherly, etc. light. the fandom is so collectively off base about this lmao.

yeah, i feel like criston's stuff is a bit more complicated, even just based on the information given in S1. in a way, you can say he grows to be attracted to the mother figure and repulsed by the whore figure, but he wasn't always like that. he himself said he had dalliances with girls before joining the kingsguard and he is very much attracted to the outgoing, spunky maiden rhaenyra, but there is also this tension with the quiet, introverted young alicent in his confession scene!

i'm not sure exactly how to word this, but criston strikes me as the type of man who is malleable, who doesn't have much in the way of plans or objectives. he lived a pretty aimless life before he is introduced on screen and joined the kingsguard as it was a prestigious institution which offered him structure and something to strive for. so, in a way, he replaced his haphazard youth with knightly ideals and gallantry. but, even this purposelessness - i wouldn't hold it above his head as a fault either. westerosi society just doesn't have the space for someone like him - the son of minor nobility, who probably doesn't have much in the way of inheritance. he can't exactly go out and "get a job" (the sources of wealth creation aren't very diversified) without it being considered a huge stepdown and humiliation and bringing shame on his family (the social stratification really might seem very alien to someone living in 2024). so, of course that in a society that values martial prowess (something he happens to be good at), he would be attracted to activities in the militaristic sphere.

and i don't mean to say that he is just amoral and doesn't have any principles either, i'm sure he would LIKE to be this perfect knight that embodies self-sacrifice and courage and selflessness, but, like many other westerosi institutions, the kingsguard is an oppressive one. it's NOT normal to impose abstinence on someone, it's NOT normal to not allow them to retire and make them live this frugal, unattached life, just trailing after royalty all day, standing for hours on end in rooms and hallways. so, of course, criston finds it difficult (i'm guessing a lot of the kingsguard members had similar feelings) and of course he "strays" (that's one way of putting it, bc we all remember the discussions on the non-consensual nature of that scene).

criston's existential crisis is very real and raw and a by-product of the westerosi feudal system - what IS a man like him supposed to do with his life? he thought he had found purpose in the kingsguard, but he found himself in a situation where he broke his vows, so he tries to reason that maybe his new purpose can be rhaenyra - his love for her, running away with her, marrying her, taking care of her etc. so it very much doesn't matter for him that she herself gave away her chastity before marriage (and could be thus labelled a "whore" by their society's standards). but when rhaenyra refuses him - it's like that quote from dostoevsky - “your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”

so, where i'm going with this is that criston has personal beef with rhaenyra. she behaved towards him in a careless way and discarded him without a second thought, whereas for him their affair was a huge, all-consuming thing. now, had rhaenyra went on and lived an exemplary life as a married woman, with no bastard children, he still probably would have hated her for what she did, but, i'm not sure, just based off S1 information, that he would still call her names

to go back to the madonna-whore axis, like you said, men who have that complex tend to view the "whore" as someone sexually appealing - whereas i think criston's disillusionment with rhaenyra has surpassed any attraction he had for her in the past. meanwhile, despite being a "mother" figure, alicent's life of quiet servitude has made her very attractive in his eyes. but! who is to say that rhaenyra couldn't have been more diplomatic and empathetic with him in handling their affair? had she put a bit more effort in, manipulated him into being her secret lover instead of harwin strong? sure, he could have refused, but had she played the woe-is-me card, the i-have-to-sacrifice-my-happiness-for-the-good-of-the-realm and convinced him that she wasn't going along with his oranges plan because she, too, had higher ideals she had to serve, i don't think he would have seen her in this unfavourable light (what if rhaenyra were a different person entirely LOL)

so, basically, what i mean to say is that, ultimately, rhaenyra treated criston in a nasty way and now he hates her, whereas alicent treated him with kindness and now he worships the ground she walks on. but what if the roles were reversed? what if alicent had been unpleasant to him and rhaenyra the compassionate one? would criston still be crowning king aegon? is this truly about a madonna-whore complex or about personal relationships, how you behave towards people and how those past grievances interact when it comes to securing someone's loyalty? everyone is more inclined to be indulgent towards their friends and to keep their side, even if they might not always be in the right. it's easier to go to bat for someone you like than for someone you don't! people can always rationalise their principles away in such situations and develop double-standards