#What is FDD

[crystalmagpie447]

GFRFGGRGGTRR RFFRGBHYENJWMAKF <-SNARLING SHAKING ICANT RGGRBHUNJSMR PUNCHINGWALLS (thesounds of me readingstuff and itS MAKING ME SOFLUSTERED OUGH GIYRHUJIEO I WI EINUF OAKIJFNDMK) RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[koushirouizumi]

{C.O.F.T.F.F.} ("Chosen of Faith") ~ Page 40 -> Page 47 + Taichi (+Bonus COFTFF!Koushiro/my older Koushiro writing) & O.C. Hikaru - Hikari's Arc

"I'M COUNTING ON YOU

to SAVE Hikari and DAISUKE, ALL RIGHT?" - TAICHI, to Hikaru

{Originally written: pre 2k11~}

{Fic I was writing back before I understood more about my own A u t i s m}

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said on April 6 that it had “incomplete data” for 11,371 of the 33,091 Palestinian fatalities it claims to have documented. In a statistical report, the ministry notes that it considers an individual record to be incomplete if it is missing any of the following key data points: identity number, full name, date of birth, or date of death. The health ministry also released a report on April 3 that acknowledged the presence of incomplete data but did not define what it meant by “incomplete.” In that earlier report, the ministry acknowledged the incompleteness of 12,263 records. It is unclear why, after just three more days, the number fell to 11,371 — a decrease of more than 900 records.

Prior to its admissions of incomplete data, the health ministry asserted that the information in more than 15,000 fatality records had stemmed from “reliable media sources.” However, the ministry never identified the sources in question and Gaza has no independent media.

Expert Analysis

“The sudden shifts in the ministry’s reporting methods suggest it is scrambling to prevent exposure of its shoddy work. For months, U.S. media have taken for granted that the ministry’s top-line figure for casualties was reliable enough to include in daily updates on the war. Even President Biden has cited its numbers. Now we’re seeing that a third or more of the ministry’s data may be incomplete at best — and fictional at worst.” — David Adesnik, Senior Fellow and Director of Research

“It is important to recognize that Hamas is deeply invested in shaping the narrative that emerges from Gaza, particularly regarding the number of casualties in the war. Moreover, this control of data extends beyond the statistics provided by the Hamas-controlled health ministry, as there is also a deliberate effort to downplay the number of terrorists who have been killed by Israel in the war, potentially numbering more than 10,000.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

[nhaneh]

oh hey look it LIVES

obviously a mainboard, RAM, CPU, graphics card, and power supply does not a complete system make - it at least needs some kind of bootable storage medium for the OS to sit on, preferably also adding an FDD, an optical drive, sound and network cards, etc.

a decent AGP graphics card that goes well with Windows 95/98 would also be nice but I'm not sure how easily I could get my hands on one of those that's both functional and affordable

but hey all the necessary core components seem to work without issue, which means this whole project is, at the very least, viable.

Also looking at the mainboard specs, it looks like I might be able to desolder the big DIN keyboard connector and put a pair of mouse and keyboard PS/2 connectors in its place, which.. honestly, I'm tempted? PS/2 keyboards and mice are at least still kind of possible to obtain these days.

I still probably should dig through the mainboard manual proper and see what exactly it can do just to see if there's anything else I might want to add or modify.

[ntrlily]

is it possible for people to like, create old consoles/computers from scratch? like if they could replicate the physical hardware using new materials, and plant old software onto the new hardware to create like, a totally new, say, win98 pc? cause i browse online and see a lot of secondhand stuff, but the issue is always that machines break down over time due to physical wear on the hardware itself, so old pcs aren't going to last forever. it makes me wonder if at a certain point, old consoles and computers are just gonna degrade past usability, or if it's possible to build new pieces of retro hardware just as they would have been built 30 or 40 years ago

Can of worms! I am happy to open it though. For the moment I will ignore any rights issues for various reasons including "those eventually expire" and "patent law is the branch of IP law I know the least about"

Off the top of my head so long as you're only* talking computer/console hardware there aren't any particular parts that we've lost the capability to start manufacturing again, but there's more economical approaches to building neo-retro** hardware.

But before digging into that I would like to mention that anecdotally, a great many hardware failures I see on old computers are on parts that you can just remove and replace with something new. Hard drive failures, floppy disc drive failures, damaged capacitors, various issues with batteries/battery compartments, these are mostly fixable without resorting to scavenging genuine old parts. Hard drive and floppy drive failures may require finding something that you can actually plug into the device but this isn't strictly impossible.

Additionally, it's common among retro computing enthusiasts to replace some of these parts with fancier parts than were possible when those machines were new. The primary use cases for buying say, floppy-to-USB converters are keeping old industrial and aviation computers alive longer, but hobbyists do also buy these (I want to put one in my 9801 too but that's pricy so it's just on my wishlist for after I have finished school and settled down ;u;) Sticking SSDs in old computers is also not an uncommon mod.

So-- hold on let me grab my half-disassembled PC-9801 BX2 to help me explain

(Feat. the parts I pulled out of it in the second photo)

In that second photo we have some ram modules, a power supply, floppy drives, a hard drive, and floppy+hard drive cables. The fdd+hdd+cables are easily replaceable with new parts as mentioned, the power supply is a power supply, and the ram chips are... actually I don't know a lot about this one. I have enough old ram chips laying around that I haven't had to think hard about how to replace them.

Now in photo number 1 we have the motherboard and some expansion chips. The sound card is centered a bit here*** and underneath it is a video expansion card and underneath that interesting expansion card setup is the motherboard itself.

The big kickers for manufacturing new would be the CPU and the sound card-- you in theory could make those new but chip fabrication is only economical if it's done beyond a certain scale that's not quite realistic for a niche hobbyist market.

But what you could use instead of those is an FPGA, or Field Programmable Gate Array. These aren't within my field of expertise so to simplify a bit, these are integrated chips (like a CPU or a sound chip) but unlike those, they can be reprogrammed after manufacture, rather than having a set-in-stone layout. So you could program one to act as an old CPU, at a cost that is... more than that of getting a standard mass-manufactured CPU, and less than attempting small scale manufacture of a CPU.

So in theory you could plunk one of those down into a custom circuit board, use the closest approximate off the shelf parts, and make something that runs like a pc-98 (or commodore, or famicom, or saturn, or whatever.) In practice as far as I'm aware, users who want hardware like this use something like the MiSTer FPGA (Third party link but I think it's a pretty useful intro to the project)

And of course for many users, emulation will also do the trick.

*manufacturing cathode ray tube displays is out of the question

**idk if this is a term but I hope it is. If it's not, I'm coining it

***That's a 26k which isn't the best soundcard but it's super moe!!!!!!!!!!

[mariacallous]

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died on Sunday when a helicopter carrying him and a delegation of other Iranian officials crash-landed in the mountains of northern Iran, throwing the future of the country and the region into further doubt.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other top officials were also killed in the crash as the group was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, the Iranian state-run Islamic Republic News Agency confirmed. Dense fog impeded search and rescue operations for hours before the crash site was found. The fog was so thick that it forced the Iranians to call on the support of European Union satellites to help locate the helicopter. 

Raisi’s death puts a coda on a short but transformative era in Iranian politics that saw the country lurch in a hard-line direction and threatened to bring the Middle East to the brink of regional war. In nearly three years in power, Raisi moved Iran’s domestic politics and social policy in a more conservative direction and pushed the country further into the role of clear U.S. antagonist in the region after his predecessor, Hassan Rouhani—who defeated him in the 2017 presidential election—first sought a detente with the West over Iran’s nuclear program before stepping up proxy attacks.

An Islamic jurist noted for his close relationship with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and considered by many officials and experts as a likely candidate to succeed the aging supreme leader, Raisi’s tenure saw Iran speed up uranium enrichment and slow down negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after the United States exited the deal in 2018, three years before he came into office.

Iran under Raisi also supported Russia in its war against Ukraine with extensive exports of Shahed suicide drones and artillery; increased attacks by regional proxy militias against the United States and Israel after Hamas’s October 2023 cross-border attack on Israel; and just a month before his death launched a massive drone and missile attack against Israel. 

Experts say that regardless of who replaces Raisi, the strategy he pursued is unlikely to change, having been solidified among the higher echelons of Iran’s political and clerical leadership. 

“With Raisi, without Raisi, the regime is quite content with the way the post-Oct. 7 Middle East has been shaking out,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow focused on Iran at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “It’s been able to continue its death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy, firing directly against the U.S. and Israel via proxy and then even directly a few times itself with the tit-for-tat you saw in April, and still look like it won the round.”

Under the Iranian Constitution, First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber is likely to fill in as head of the cabinet for the next 50 days until elections can be called. Recent parliamentary elections drew record-low turnouts, analysts said. What’s more, significant effort was expended by Khamenei and his allies to ensure Raisi’s win during the last presidential election in 2021, disqualifying potential rivals. 

Before becoming president, Raisi served on Iran’s prosecution committee that was responsible for executing an estimated 5,000 dissidents in 1988. He had been accused of crimes against humanity by the United Nations and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. And that heavy-handed approach continued with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September 2022 after allegedly not wearing a hijab properly in public, which sparked nationwide protests. 

Beyond the horizon of snap elections and the presidential election set for next year, there is potential for upheaval at the top of Iran’s ruling class. With a short line of possible successors to the 85-year-old Khamenei, other than the head of state’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, Raisi’s death could throw the country’s political future into further turmoil. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the largest branch of the Iranian armed forces that controls major swaths of the country’s economy, could also use the upheaval to strengthen its hand.

“There is no heir apparent if he’s gone,” said David Des Roches, a professor at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies and retired U.S. Army colonel. “What’s really interesting is to see if the IRGC will basically complete a slow-motion coup.”

As rescue workers searched for Raisi’s downed helicopter, state media asked the Iranian people to pray for him. Instead, in the wake of reports of the crash, some Iranians appeared to light celebratory fireworks, cheering the demise of the hard-line leader.

“Today’s crash & likely death of president Raisi and his [foreign minister] will shake up Iranian politics,” Afshon Ostovar, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and a longtime Iran expert, wrote in a post on X before the president’s death had been confirmed. “Regardless of the cause, perceptions of foul play will be rife within the regime. Ambitious elements may press for advantage, compelling reactions from other parts of the regime. Buckle up.” 

While experts said it was unlikely that a liberalizing figure would emerge in either snap elections or Iran’s 2025 presidential election, Raisi’s death could leave a small opening for resurgent protest movements that have persisted under the surface. 

“These movements are not dead,” said Ben Taleblu, the FDD expert. “They operate on the low level, on the periphery—usually strikes, labor unions, that kind of thing. It could lead to a nationwide trigger, and it could be a nothing burger. But the story of the Iranian protest movement is always a matter of when and not if.”

[tomorrowusa]

China is joining Russia as part of an axis of misinformation in trying to influence American elections.

Rachel Maddow referenced this article in her report from the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). It's worth a look.

Much Ado About ‘Somethings’

Being a democracy can be a disadvantage in the digital age. Malefactors can easily manipulate information to attempt to achieve dubious goals.

We need to retaliate against China and Russia. But spamming such populations under totalitarian rule would not have the same impact that it does in democracies. But we could try to punch holes in the firewalls such countries erect around their own information infrastructure. Let the breeze of free information occasionally flow and permit Russians to know about Putin's war crimes in Ukraine and let Chinese see Xi's genocide against the Uygurs in Xinjiang.

What people can do here is get off of Twitter/X and urge others to do the same. Under megalomaniac billionaire Elon Musk, misleading information and hate speech have grown exponentially on the platform.

Old habits die hard and some people have a preternatural attachment to tweeting. But as we see in Rachel Maddow's piece and in the FDD article, Twitter/X is responsible for an inordinate amount of misinformation. It's time to starve the beast one account at a time.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Zachary Berman

Published: Apr 4, 2024

Latest Developments

Hamas rejected the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal on April 4, refusing to compromise on its maximalist position. “We are committed to our demands,” Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said. Those demands include a permanent ceasefire, Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza, and an “honorable prisoner exchange deal,” Haniyeh said. Jerusalem has repeatedly made clear that any deal that leaves Hamas intact is unacceptable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greenlighted the latest round of Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated talks on March 29, giving the Israeli team what his office described as “room to operate” in negotiations. Jerusalem accepted the latest proposal, which would have seen Israel temporarily pause its counteroffensive in Gaza and Hamas free the remaining hostages.

Expert Analysis

“Hamas has said that it is unwilling to back down from its outrageous demands. Since Yahya Sinwar and Mohammad Deif understand their days are numbered, their incentive to make a deal is limited or possibly nonexistent. They seem to be mercilessly dragging the hostage families through this process over and over again just to remain in the headlines.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

“Israel wants to negotiate a hostage release before finishing off Hamas. Hamas wants to survive. The more Hamas leaders believe they will survive without giving up their leverage — hostages — the more they will hold out. The more they believe they have no other choice, the more seriously they will negotiate.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

Hamas Turns Down Four Ceasefire Offers

Hamas rejected previous ceasefire proposals in December and January. In February, the White House expressed hope that Hamas had scaled back its demands, but the terrorist group continued to dig in its heels. In late March, Israel agreed to pause its counteroffensive in Gaza for six weeks and release approximately 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages. Hamas rejected that offer on March 26. Israeli officials claimed that Hamas had sabotaged negotiations by trying to turn the proposed ceasefire into the restoration of the status quo ante.

Israeli officials attributed Hamas’s position to efforts by the group’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, to keep tensions high during Ramadan, with a view to provoking escalation. They also suggested that Hamas’s position hardened after the United States abstained from a UN Security Council vote on March 25, tacitly allowing the council to pass a resolution that called for a ceasefire without explicitly conditioning it on a hostage release.

130 Hostages Remain in Gaza

Hamas released 81 Israeli hostages during a week-long pause in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Additionally, Hamas released 23 Thai nationals, one Filipino, and three Israeli-Russian dual citizens under separate arrangements with Bangkok, Manila, and Moscow. The pause collapsed on December 1, when Hamas refused to provide a list of the remaining women and children in captivity and resumed launching rockets at Israel. On February 12, Israeli special forces rescued two hostages — Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70 — from Rafah in southern Gaza. Approximately 130 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom Israel believes are no longer alive.

==

Reminder, and particularly for the "ceasefire now" apologists, that Hamas don't want a "ceasefire," they want dead Jews. They broke the last ceasefire, and October 7 terrorist attack was itself a violation of the ceasefire in place at the time.

The only way this ends is for Hamas to be completely exterminated.

[eretzyisrael]

by Jake Smith

“I had predicted shortly after the war that, despite President Biden’s overwhelming support for Israel at the time, he would cave to his extreme, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel base once Israel began to fight back after the October 7 atrocities,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, D.C.-based defense think tank, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are fighting in one of the most dangerous and complicated urban environments in the history of warfare, against an enemy whose entire strategy rests on maximizing the number of dead Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”

”Hamas has run one of the most successful disinformation campaigns by lying about the number of casualties and how many are terrorists versus civilians. President Biden has fallen for this, even quoting Hamas [Gaza casualty figure] numbers in his State of the Union,” Dubowitz told the DCNF. “In doing so, he has fallen into the political trap set by Hamas, their terror masters in Iran and their supporters in Michigan and other key states.”

Gabriel Noronha, executive director of Polaris National Security and former State Department official, told the DCNF that Biden could have stayed the course in its support for Israel’s war against Hamas, but the recent “political” decision by the administration only bolsters the terrorist group’s chances of survival because the U.S. is indicating it wants the conflict to stop.

“Biden is falling for what his own administration correctly identified as Hamas’ war strategy. And they’re playing completely into it,” Noronha told the DCNF. “These are not idiots in the White House. They know exactly what they’re doing. They’re cognizant that the policy choices they’re making will ensure Hamas’ survival and their ability to attack Israel again. They have just chosen to put political expediency above the national security of the United States or Israel, to try to increase their odds of reelection.”

The administration’s decision comes after months of pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout the country, with protestors demanding Biden call on Israel to initiate a ceasefire in Gaza immediately. A series of protests — some of which turned violent — disrupted civilian life, shut down buildings and roadways, and in some cases propagated antisemitism and targeted Jewish individuals.

[fursasaida]

it would seem Israel is attempting or testing some ground infiltration operations into Lebanon. Hizballah is shooting them, obviously. things are either about to escalate big time or get really weird and shifty for a while.

anyway this article on Hizballah's rocket arsenal and capabilities in the event of open war is worth a read.

(David Daoud's bias is generally toward Israel, but his work overall is factual and detailed. there's a lot to pick up from this piece regardless; the grain of salt would really be whether this is actually overstating Hizballah's capabilities and Israel's vulnerability. but to some extent that would be true whoever was writing, because no one is going to know for sure what the stockpiles look like and how Iron Beam will perform etc until it actually happens.)

[digimonascending]

So from my understanding, the Digidestined from both Inferno and Playing With Matches are from the UK. Is that the case with all the series in your FDD verse (main and side)?

That is true so far, though it's mainly a case of me being British and writing what I'm familiar with. The Inferno/Chasm casts are from a fictional South Coastal England town, and the 404 cast is Welsh (all unless otherwise specified in story). I have plans to expand it out a bit for some future stories/teams, but the main story cast will remain fictional-UK-based for human-world settings.

[koushirouizumi]

Digimon Adventure 02 ~ O.C.s Fanfiction, featuring once-known as "FDD", "Fictional Digidestined & Digimon", or Fictional Chosen Children (using Japanese original terms) ~ "COF:TFF" ({Chosen} of Faith): The Fan Fic +Daisuke is visiting my 02 O.C. Hikaru, (NOT Hikari) {who Daisuke may have (mutual?!) starting crushes with} except meets a 'surprise visitor?' {"Shane!"} instead. {Exact cap of the file on my old C.D.} which has all the pages I could save before webpurges except site images + font colors won't display until I re-create the ENTIRE SITE again.

In the old story Young Me accidentally spelled Michael (American Chosen Child) wrong so it's 'corrected' here, lol. (I was also using "Willis" but since am correcting it to Japanese original canon!"Wallace".) Thus the implication here is Shane apparently 'knows' (of) Michael & Wallace But is it The Case Shane knows them WELL? Dun-dun-dun... "Meanwhile with Daisuke (+Shane)" Mini-Chatstyle Series: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 13 / 14 / 14.5 {Lightly PG-15} / 15 / 16 / 17* (A.U. Spin-off {Digimon x Pokemon Crossover!}) (A.K.A., "The Fate of Four Worlds"/TFOFWVerse) 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31* / 32 {+O.C. Hikaru}: 33 / 34 / 35 / 36 / 37 / 38 / 39 / 40* Psuedo-{+Epilogue} ({*} Marked parts are ongoing/incomplete plotlines!!) ["To Be Continued" Someday, mAYBE...] (It's mostly crack {humor} A.U. spin-offs, 02 Chosen+KouTai also show briefly in-between, Ken->Daisuke<-Hikaru as open relationships (Mains), Ken->DaisukexHikari<-Hikaru is also strongly implied; Takeru/Miyako happened previously in my past fics, but currently mutually unrequited, as they "split" on good terms. (However, Miyako still has "some" feelings to handle re both Takeru and Ken...) {More might come later!} + Kou+Tai in background; are all main featured 'ship's here, but as for KouTai, mostly in the background for now. Hikaru still exists in this too, though, +does appear!)

{More details under the 'read more'!}

Shane did mention another given name here; however, I might pick a different one this time {unsure}

The precursor to the "REPEAT?_Verse" and "The Past World" (Royalty/Clones-verse A.U. timeline spinoffs!) (Hikaru cameos in Chapters 4 + 6 of 'The Past World', it also shows a later section of what would have eventually been part of Koushiro's 'ARC' in my old story, in my later fanfiction 'Infalliable', featuring Daisuke and Koushiro friendship during 'Chosen of Faith'!)

by Young Me circa Pre-2k10 (to eventually be re-written in Full) Or, in which Young Me casually uses foreshadowing to conceal that my O.C. is very much a Very (Mostly) Dead One. {i.e. SHANE answering the door instead of owner of the home}

... Except this may or may not have been on the site. I honesly can't remember, but if SOMEONE remembers seeing this, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING let me know!

{DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post} {DO NOT re-produce under ANY Circumstances!}

{DO NOT Copy} {DO NOT re-post} (DO NOT re-produce anything on this post under ANY Circumstances)

^ YES, this is my original banner I used on the site back then, in all its badly-edited, badly-autoconverted-to-H.D. graphics glory.

[floweramon]

Mine was made over a decade ago by DigistarDBZ (they go by @shinyhappydigistar here on tumblr) If I remember right they were offering to make icons for digimon fans of their OCs. (this was either during or after the height of Digimon FDD) They actually made icons of a few digimon OCs I had, but I loved this one so much that once I started using that OC as my username I made it my icon on everything all these years. (I wish I had gotten a matching icon of her sister but it is what it is)

By "made it" I mean any possible way of making: drew it, took a photo, made a collage, made it in Picrew, photoshopped it, etc.

If your pfp is just slightly modified by you (e.g. a screenshot of a character with added pride flag) feel free to choose between options 1 and 4 as you will

Reblog for more votes

[mariacallous]

WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect J.D. Vance joined Elon Musk in appearing to defend the policies of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, and also seemed to take aim at a pro-Israel Washington think tank whose staffer had criticized the party.

Vance was responding to a post on X on Friday by Ivana Stradner, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies whose specialties include Russia and Ukraine. She said that Musk’s praise of Alternative for Germany, known as AfD, was “SO dangerous” both for Europe and the United States.

Vance responded sarcastically, implying an endorsement one of AfD’s core policies — stricter limits on immigration.

“It’s so dangerous for people to control their borders. So so dangerous. The dangerous level is off the charts,” Vance tweeted on Saturday. “I wonder how much money this person’s employer gets from the American taxpayer?”

AfD, which is known for its anti-immigrant and anti-European Union stances, and whose popularity has been on the rise in Germany, has unsettled the country’s Jews. Some of its members have downplayed the Holocaust.

On Friday Musk, one of the world’s richest people and an influential adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, set off a torrent of concerned comment on Friday when he said on X, which he owns, that “Only the AfD can save Germany.” Musk, who is poised to take a role in Trump’s White House, doubled down on Saturday, tweeting “AfD is the only hope for Germany.”

In addition to working at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Stradner is also a correspondent for KyivPost, which covers Ukraine. While neither organization receives U.S. government funding — though FDD, a nonprofit, gets certain tax benefits — Vance’s jibe at Stradner’s “employer” could rattle Jewish and pro-Israel foreign policy mavens who otherwise have welcomed Trump’s impending return to the White House.

FDD favors a more confrontational posture toward Iran, Russia’s ally in the Middle East. It is independent and nonpartisan, but its leaders have made clear they believe Trump will be more robust than Biden in dealing with Iran in the region.

FDD and the Trump-Vance transition team did not return requests for comment.

Rep. Daniel Goldman, a New York Democrat who is Jewish, took aim at Vance for boosting the party on the weekend of a deadly car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market. The alleged attacker, a Saudi national, posted a range of sentiments online, including some that reportedly backed AfD.

“Yesterday, a right-wing terrorist murdered 5 people in Germany and @JDVance and @elonmusk are endorsing the Neo-Nazi AfD party that inspired him,” Goldman said. “You know what’s dangerous @JDVance? The antisemitism and Neo-Nazi ideology you’re supporting.”

Trump’s selection of Vance as running mate unsettled some in the conservative Jewish foreign policy community because of his isolationist bent. Vance has opposed continued U.S. backing for Ukraine in its efforts to repel the Russian invasion. He has said that Israel is an exception to his desire to pull America back from its involvement in foreign conflicts.

It’s not clear yet what Trump’s Ukraine plans are, other than a desire to quickly broker a peace.

[ib-cas-project]

CAS OCTOBER

Activity

I continued running as I wrote in my last post, increasing the distance by one km. Unfortunately due to the weather and being sick i did not run as much as last month :( But I did definitely notice more energy to go running, which was a bit of a problem befor, so I suppose I started enjoying it even more. I actually can't wait for my evening run after 8h of sitting by the desk.

Service

I volunteered to help review short films made for Fundacja Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę [FDDS] for their future informational campaign in primary schools and first years of high school. The films were all interconented and touched upon the topic of consequences on on line actions, like posting funny clips of people without their knowledge etc. I honestly loved this task as I (with all of my experinces in primary shcool) had this idea of pubic educational campaigns being completely detached from reality and not at all relatable, and also kind of lame tbh. However in this case they actually asked us what we think about the language the kids in the film use, the music etc and it was really grat to have such impat. Honestly it is visible that they consulted the target audience aged kids while filming because they sound just like my brother does. I shared my feedback, mainly on the volume of sound and a few visual details.

CREATIVITY

This month, i came back to playing chess as it is nearly a year since i started and i felt kind of bad with the amount of rogress i have made. i watched some videos and played a lot, this time more in real life with my boyfriend and friends. It was a humbling experience but also mood lifting because some people that used to win against me with no trouble now either lost or the game had a good method.

***pictures will be attached in separate post***

[thefranchiseinstituteau]

Tips from Franchising Consultants on Expanding Local Dessert Shops Nationwide

Do you own a local dessert shop and are looking for ways to expand it across the nation? Instead of opening multiple units, think of franchising your local dessert shop nationwide. Franchising is one of the best and most efficient ways to expand your local business across the country. It allows other dessert shops to run under your brand and offer your services countrywide. However, there are a few tips from professional franchising consultants you must consider before franchising the dessert shop.

Wondering what are those? Let’s dive into the following blog post to discuss more about that.

The top 7 things you must consider before thinking of franchising your dessert shop

Do you think franchising a business sounds easy?

Well, let us tell you that franchising isn’t as easy as it seems.

Without proper considerations, you may fail your franchises, which, on the other hand, can ruin your brand reputation.

Hence, you should consider the following 7 tips from franchise experts:

First, ensure that your dessert shop business model is scalable and replicable. Scalability is a must for franchising a business. It allows your franchisees to run the brand franchises without your physical presence. Hence, if your business model isn’t scalable or replicable, it still isn’t ready to be franchised.

Second, ensure that you have sufficient money. Even though your franchisees will do all the investment work, you’ll still need enough funds to draft legal documents and train your franchisees.

Third, check the popularity of your dessert shop. As per the latest reports, the Australian confectionary market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.63% between 2024 and 2029. Though the stat helps attract potential franchisees to dessert franchises, you should ensure that your local dessert shop is popular within and outside of the local marketplace.

Fourth, you must prepare the necessary paperwork such as the FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) and FA (Franchise Agreement) before franchising your dessert shop with adept franchise lawyers. Also, ensure that the documents contain every small detail about your local dessert shop.

Fifth, consider the brand revenue. Data reveals that the confectionary market in Australia is valued at USD 13.91 billion in 2024. This stat may interest potential franchisees to invest in dessert franchises. But you must consider the business revenue of your local dessert to make them interested in your franchise model.

Sixth, ensure to hire the right franchisees for your dessert shop franchises. Most business owners tend to hire someone from their family or friends as their franchisees. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, you must ensure that the ones you’re hiring are more interested in growing with your brand rather than thinking of getting rich faster.

Last, be sure to consult the franchising matter with a professional franchise expert before franchising your local dessert shop countrywide. They come with years of experience and skills in franchising dessert shops across Australia. Hence, they can guide you through the process and ensure that you’re on the right path.

Take away

Are you wondering what would be the best way to expand your local dessert shop countrywide? Well, there are tonnes of ways you can do it, but none can be more beneficial than franchising your brand. Having proficient franchising consultants by your side can guide you through the process with various tips. We hope this blog post can help you understand that.

Also Read: THE ROLE OF DATA ANALYTICS IN IMPROVING FRANCHISE PERFORMANCE