#Will never had that option because he is visibly gay and has been bullied for it since he was a kid// plus he grew up poor

[tender-emotional-music]

Me when I see a byler take or fanfiction which turns Will into a doormat and gives the entire premise of his character arc and troubles to Mike:

[hcfiles]

He spent so much time staging, so much effort creating a persona, to have it destroyed in the first week of this shenanigan PR. For years, they made sure articles were published, interviews were staged bringing (fake?) info about him, his hobbies, girlfriends and especially his Character, selling him as a Humpty Dumpty (dubious).

Now, all that material is being questioned and has been used against him. The straight womanizer gave place to the guy who staged dates to avoid being seen as gay, the gentlemanly gave place to rudeness as he starts to block people on his IG, avoids giving autographs and runs from reporters, the speeches and stories in interviews are, now, pointed as idiotic lies. Now, everything goes through a microscope and the dubious gave place to fake.

Differently from the original story, Dr. Frankenstein seems to be in total control of his creature. Whoever created Henry Cavill was always in control. The creature doesn't bother. As long as cash continues falling in his account to pay for his vanities and for expensive and silly hobbies. Of course, having all that money followed by an Ego massage practiced by fans, is much better. But, apparently, he won't be able to have both.

He will be sad for a while, but money and visibility (the celeb complex) will speak louder. As long as he has a role and continues partying, playing his silly games and spending in fancy suits he will be pleased. What he doesn't realize is that roles, money and fans' messages come together. If there are no fans, there are no significant roles, money will be low and visibility (the reason why they insisted on this trashy PR stunt with a promiscuous) will be gone.

But, apparently, his team is, now, and discretely, trying to make him look like an unfriendly, unsympathetic and unpleasant celeb, like JLo. Or an actor who distances himself from fans, like GC and AJ. Why? Is that the other option they found to replace the fake dates? Can't he be a celeb for something really meaningful?

Where are all those campaigns promoting fake health (MT) and love for animals (Was that even true?) and his hometown (Durell)? Why not continue the ambassador of something really meaningful and important, instead of parading with promiscuous, sl*t and gullible for fame women? The way he stopped all his promotional PRs gives the idea he had decided to start from scratch with a new persona and management (who might turn him into the kind of actor who heads a foundation for money).

Why not have a real cause to start with? How about doing PR stunts promoting things he really believes in and not just stuff for money and fame? How about representing a significant cause that would really help and is meaningful? Like being the voice of many? He could start promoting mental health, for a change, speaking in the name of children, against bullying, for example. But, not while mocking, bullying and gaslighting fans.

Notice he never leaves his comfort zone. Promoting Durell is promoting home. It was always safe. But, I'm sure there are other more significant causes to promote that could give him much more visibility and the status of a SS or an AJ. The problem is he doesn't like to commit to bigger things, 'cause it makes him uncomfortable. And he has no emotional IQ to deal with those. He always has to be in his comfort zone.

Henry Cavill is emotionally very weak, afraid and insecure. Acting was a pleasant and profitable way he managed to deal with his insecurities. He could be considered an ignorant for never being in college for a degree. He didn't go to the army, maybe because of emotional limitations. He never commits to serious and real relationships, only to staged and fake ones. The self-confident man he portrays doesn't exist and he has been showing it.

The impression is that the new management, with or without DG - He's with a new agency that bought the old one he was with -, seems to be the reason for some of the changes. But, this transition was a disaster. Because, DG did her best, according to how she sees acting management. But, it wasn't enough.

She overwhelmingly enhanced the sex symbol model image, but, significantly belittled the actor. The result was, of course, a tarnished image of himself. It was easier to push his pretty face and hot body rather than make him a better actor. She might be a great business woman (what I doubt, for I think that is a fake image, as well), but as a manager she surely, left a lot behind to be desired.

And her lack of response to everything that has been happening by addressing it to his fans, shows that: or the circus created was a reckless first attempt of the new agency or she is really a sloppy manager and gives a f**k to her client's integrity.

[papatonyinsandiego]

Finding a Sir

From Sub One:  Hi...just a new sub ...shy and trying to learn. Any advice for me...I can c u are real-I will answer any question-I am very submissive-in LA. I am looking for a Master...I am bi - I like Total Power Exchange service....how should I start my search, or exploring, do you think?

From Sub Two: This is being a little frustrating to be honest with you.. I didn't think it would be so hard to find someone that I felt attraction to who was into what I like. I have a profile on recon.com but everyone I talk to there say they like me and they are looking for a slave/boi but when I ask to meet or exchange numbers they say they are too busy or they stop answering or they say they already have one.. but yet they are still logged in there.

Requesting such a relationship from strangers (as you have now learned) simply doesn't work.  That is because it is a deeper-than-usual relationship that you are requesting. Back in the days when I made the mistake of creating an accurate, authentic Recon personal profile, I received A HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN requests like yours in the very first 24 hours of creating the profile. I received hundreds more (from every major continent) before I pulled the plug.

As a very high-status, ridiculously visible Sir/Daddy/Master/Dominant, I recognize that there are plenty of applicants for the position of submissive, boy or slave. Hundreds of requests (with nothing other than sheer neediness behind them) simply become background noise. It's just how the human brain works.

You will ONLY achieve the most-effective results by becoming active in your local kinky community.  Go forth and let yourself be known, not just as a submissive candidate for a relationship with a Sir, but as a great guy that your new friends can recommend.  

It only works if you take the time and energy to build a solid reputation in a Tribe that wants to know what you are truly like.  Otherwise, you're just one of zillions, and nobody will notice you in the crowds.

One boy got in touch with his natural, honorable role as a Boot Submissive at last night's Men's Discussion. It rocked his world, and he was surrounded with approval. The Tops in the crowd noticed, too.

Your attractiveness rises:

- If you're not a flake, and ALWAYS keep your word.

- If you're willing to contribute to the success of various events (such as by volunteering)

- If you have Boy Scout tendencies - Trustworthy, Loyal, etc.

- If you ask for help, and listen to advice.  That is what we are here for.

If you DO these things, then doors will open for you, that are invisible to most people. You'll receive extra helpings of advice and coaching.  You'll gain better friends in your life by BEING a better friend to others.

I'm currently training dozens of dominant males to take ownership of their Mastery and Sir status.  They will ALL need boys, slaves, submissives, eventually.

If you are the type of guy who wants to grow and learn, and support others in their growth, then you're the kind of submissive male that GETS THE SIR.

The ball is now in your court. Let's see if you can take the first steps that I recommend, and then you will find that more, really useful information gets unlocked for you…

To become active in your local kinky community, requires there to actually be a local kinky community.

Try going lateral - What if there is a THRIVING community nearby, but it is not visible to you?

Many isolated gay males are find community of a sort on Fetlife.  They can attend local “munches” where male and female Doms and subs mingle.  You may well be the only visible gay-male there, but you will still be welcome.  They may have wise advice for you that will help you on your path.  Some of the best wisdom I have ever received as been from heterosexuals, lesbians and transfolk.

They might be able to steer you into better directions that lead to you achieving your goals.  It’s an option.

There are also issues when those active in your local community. When it is dominated by dangerous idiots who wantonly will not take advice, who will not practice safer sex and have no regard for the basics of sane safe and consensual interactions and have injured people. I am currently trying to persuade an acquaintance that they should go to the police. However the “Spanner judgement” is a major impediment - this judgement states “any injury, no matter how transient cannot be consented to.

I agree!  There has never been a time where we didn’t have crap like this happening.  In the absence of kind, wise and respectable leaders, then the Law of the Jungle prevails.  When that happens, then bullies get to be at the top of the heap.

In my own case, I had to create my own, separate and safe social circle.  When given a better choice, the brotherly men came running, and the bullies lost all power.

[cbk1000]

Jenn Recommends: Historical Fiction II

Welcome to another blog post in which I tell you what to read, and you just sit and passively do it because I have excellent taste in literature and also I’m kind of a bully. Check this tag for more recommendations.

Today we revisit historical fiction, because it’s one of my favourite genres and I have lots of suggestions, all of which you should definitely take to heart. My first list of historical fiction recs (which can be found here if you’re curious) was all gay, all the time; this list is slightly more heterosexual, although not much, because here be lesbians.

If You Like: Dickensian lesbians (and really, who doesn’t?)

Read: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

I’m going to lift the summary from Goodreads, because it’s faster, and I’m lazy:  Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

This novel really hearkens back to ye old days of sensation fiction when literary thrillers were a bit slower, a little more cumbersome; they wanted more patience from the reader, who watches all the little threads get teased out bit by excruciating bit. There’s a sinister undercurrent you feel pulling at you till about the halfway point of the novel, when everything is suddenly upended and you sit up in bed screaming, “BRUH!!” because your stupid ass did NOT SEE THAT COMING EVEN A LITTLE BIT.

Waters is really good at this; her evocation of Victorian England is excellent, and transports you in a way that only the best historical fiction can manage. The narrative unfolds slowly in the first half, building upon itself with a sense of heightening doom that a faster pace could never achieve. As the reader, you’re in on the con (or are you?), and you know what’s going to happen, how it’s all going to end, where the burgeoning relationship between the two girls is painfully trundling along to--except you don’t. Waters pulls the rug out from under your feet, and she doesn’t just do it once, which is why I’m reluctant to say too much about the plot. AND--she does it all in really lovely prose that’s reminiscent of the time period she’s working in; I never really felt a modern hand guiding me. I could have been reading any piece of 19th century literature; the seams between the 21st century and the 19th are never visible, never jarring. If you, like me, are a slut for ornate Gothic literature, and/or you want your historical lesbians and you want them now, give this a try.

If You Like: Watching an oblivious pre-WWI Edwardian society hurtling to its inevitable doom through the eyes of a fucked-up family whose matriarch loses herself in the magic of her own fairytales instead of actually paying attention to the flesh and blood children they are based upon

Read: The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt  

From Goodreads:  When Olive Wellwood’s oldest son discovers a runaway named Philip sketching in the basement of the new Victoria and Albert Museum—a talented working-class boy who could be a character out of one of Olive’s magical tales—she takes him into the storybook world of her family and friends. But the joyful bacchanals Olive hosts at her rambling country house—and the separate, private books she writes for each of her seven children—conceal more treachery and darkness than Philip has ever imagined. As these lives—of adults and children alike—unfold, lies are revealed, hearts are broken, and the damaging truth about the Wellwoods slowly emerges. But their personal struggles, their hidden desires, will soon be eclipsed by far greater forces, as the tides turn across Europe and a golden era comes to an end.

It actually took me about a month or so to read this book--not because I kept putting it down and then begrudgingly picking it back up again, but rather because I purposefully wanted to draw it out. The language, the atmosphere--it was all just something I needed to savour. This is a slow, thoughtful book that focuses rather minutely on the dramas of one family and the people who become entangled with it; it will not be for everyone (which is a caveat attached to every book, but I feel this one in particular requires the warning). This is a book about the creative process and the myriad escape hatches it offers us from the real world, sometimes to our own detriment. It is a book about WWI even though the actual war inhabits only the last quarter of the book. It is a book about the options of women in a time when society was still debating whether or not they should be considered full-fledged people. 

This is one of those books that sort of just crawled inside me and stayed; I didn’t want to leave it. I think part of my reluctance came in not wanting to reach the end, knowing WWI was bearing down on these characters, knowing many of them wouldn’t make it, because that’s what the war did to an entire generation: it erased it. I knew it was going to erase whole swathes of the story I had spent hours devoting myself to. I knew for so many of the characters there wasn’t going to be a tidy ending, and there wasn’t; they just stopped, abruptly. You follow generations of the family and in the end feel cheated, not through any failing of the author, but through the cruel and arbitrary machinations of history and the things it has perpetuated against the human race through our own blind stupidity (I’m still upset about WWI, ok??? please don’t touch me).

There was magic in this book, in Olive’s fairytales, in the puppet shows of a family friend: but it’s magic that the matriarch in particular is using to encapsulate herself. It’s not a childlike reverence for things we forget about as we age; it’s a hiding. It’s a sort of disappearance into ourselves and our storytelling because we can’t bring ourselves to look at the material world in all its varying shades of shit and wonder.

Anyway, I had feelings, ok?

If You Like: Italian people, anatomically impressive statues, and erotic descriptions of marble (seriously, I think my dude Michelangelo might have put his penis in a block or two of it)

Read: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone 

This is a biographical novel of Michelangelo which begins when he is thirteen and still in the very beginning throes of his artistic talents. Stone apparently read through Michelangelo’s entire personal correspondence (and patiently waited years for it all to be translated) and also moved to Italy to write this, so that’s dedication, and the least you can do to repay it is sit through the sometimes vaguely uncomfortable descriptions of Michelangelo’s artwork and his sexual tension with it.

While this doesn’t have the literary merits of the previous recommendations, it’s meticulous historical fiction; Stone painstakingly recreated Michelangelo and his work. It’s an interesting peek into a niche section of art history and also covers part of the turbulent Renaissance period and the powerful politics at play which snare the hapless Michelangelo when all he wants to do is sculpt (and probably wank to) realistic marble people, goddammit. It’s entirely believable as a biography (though it is, in fact, fiction).

Bonus: Michelangelo’s poetry, which was not a thing I even knew about prior to reading this book.

[cotecoyotegrrrl]

by Tom Davila-Witkowski 

 We’re in the final hours of Pride month 2021, so I’m going to take you back in time for a history lesson and hopefully share a little about the importance of LGBTQ+ Pride, and what it means besides parades, celebrations and drag brunches. This photo was taken in August 1991, 30 years ago, and, yes, that is me on the right. 

 Let’s go back to 1991 for a minute—an AIDS diagnosis was still a death sentence. We were still four years from the approval of the combination therapy that would be known as the drug cocktail that would save so many lives and make AIDS a manageable disease. The Catholic Church’s institutional pedophilia was still just rumored while the church devoted its resources to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people (some things never change) and trying to stop people from giving out condoms to slow the spread of AIDS. At this point, the LGBTQ+ community was still fighting to stay alive and activist groups like ACT UP and Queer Nation, two groups in which I played some small role, were on the front lines. Marriage equality wasn’t even on our political roadmap because we were more focused on being more visible as LGBTQ+ people—getting police to stop harassing us, stopping bars from kicking us out for dancing together, and fighting back against gay bashers. That was what our day-to-day lives were like when a group of us in Queer Nation asked what would be more audacious than to not only demand that we be allowed to live our lives in peace, but that our love and relationships be treated as equal and entitled to the same rights and protections as straight people. So in a grand gesture of F—k you to the legal establishment and the Catholic Church, we decided to leapfrog forward and just start getting married. 

 Over the summer of 1991, we met weekly in Queer Nation members’ apartments in Cambridge and Somerville to plan a day of protest and street theater. We connected with another activist group, Food Not Bombs, and had them cater the party—fluffernutter sandwiches for everyone. We planned to take over the streets abutting the Holy Cross Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, as the ideal location for our wedding. We wheat-pasted flyers to poles all over Boston’s gay neighborhoods, Cambridge, and Somerville. We found a pagan priestess to officiate. We recruited couples willing to take vows and commit to each other. And I took on the job as official wedding photographer. We brought hundreds of people to a fabulous wedding that afternoon. It would be another 12 years before the US Supreme Court would rule that same gender people having sex wasn’t a crime, and 14 years before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and 24 years before the US Supreme Court would rule in favor of marriage equality. 

 As a protest and street theater, the Queer Wedding was a great success—we achieved the media coverage we were hoping for. The two guys in this photo with me, who were visiting for the summer from France, made the front page of the Boston Herald. I didn’t know them well, and cannot remember their names, but I remember important parts of their story. They were here because one of them had a job with a Boston company for the summer as part of their university education. And, within days of his photo appearing in the Boston Herald, he was fired by that company, his sponsorship to be in the US working was revoked, and they were sent back to France. He was fired from his job for being gay and demonstrating in favor of gay rights. And, until a Supreme Court decision in 2020, that could still happen in many states in this country. 

 Fast forward to about 2006, Mark and I were beginning our journey toward starting a family and meeting with adoption experts. Although marriage equality was now possible in Massachusetts, and we were engaged, we were not yet married. And our adoption agency advised us to stay unmarried. It would give us more options when adopting. You see, in many states LGBTQ+ people were prohibited from adopting and, if we were not married, and we were matched with a baby in one of those states, we could pretend we weren’t gay, one of us would do a single parent adoption in that state, and then he and the baby would fly back to Massachusetts where the other of us would then legally adopt the baby here. That’s right, to create a family, we would have had to deny our relationship and love and closet ourselves until we were back in the safety of Massachusetts. It took a US Supreme Court ruling in 2017—a very different Supreme Court—to make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ adoptive and foster parents. 

 Until the current Supreme Court, many of our rights as LGBTQ+ people have been upheld by rulings of the Court in our favor, something we can no longer count on, thanks to the supporters of 45 and the ignorant or malicious people who voted for him. And this month, in a case known as Fulton v. the City of Philadelphia, which we have been watching work its way through the courts since 2018, we were given a view of the future under the current far-right Supreme Court. In this case, the city of Philadelphia told two foster care agencies that it would no longer refer children to them if they would not accept same-sex couples as foster parents. One of those agencies, Catholic Social Services, sued the city claiming that because of their religion they had the right to discriminate. After losing the case in the lower courts, Catholic Social Services took the case all the way to the far-right Supreme Court. That’s right, rather than focus on placing foster children in need of families and parents with same-sex couples, the Catholic agency devoted its resources to ensuring it could discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, because the institution that has done so much to protect pedophiles prioritized discrimination over helping children, and a far-right Supreme Court agreed. While the ruling was very narrow and can be easily rectified by the city of Philadelphia fixing its policies, the Court’s written decisions made it clear that this Supreme Court, a far-right Court that we will be living with for possibly the next generation, prioritizes allowing religions to discriminate over LGBTQ+ civil rights. 

 What this means is that in the years to come, court cases that have already been or are going to be filed to try and limit or reduce LGBTQ+ rights in the name of religious discrimination with the express intention of ending up in the Supreme Court will come before a far-right Supreme Court that has signaled it will not protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people at the federal level. 

 And so, as Pride month 2021 comes to a close and I think back 30 years, it’s important to note we’re not celebrating because we’re gay. We’re celebrating because we survived. We survived the bullies and the bashers. We survived the “Moral Majority” and the Reagans. Hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ people died from a disease while conservatives ignored their suffering, blamed them for their illness, and targeted them because of who they were, but for some reason we survived. We survived the people who ignorantly voted for those conservatives, not willing or interested in knowing the impact of their votes. We survived to make great progress in LGBTQ+ rights since those dark, dark days of the late 1980s and early 1990s. But we also survived to once again have to fight battles we thought were long past as we navigate a dangerous time, with a far-right Supreme Court, and the tremendous damage caused by the previous occupant of the White House that it will likely take a generation to repair—if we can at all. And I ask you to understand the pride we celebrate this month is pride in surviving—that the month represents more than parties and drag brunches. And think about where you have stood in these three decades of history. Have you fought for LGBTQ+ rights? Have you fought against discrimination? Have you voted for politicians who have actively (Ronald Reagan, George Bush, George W. Bush) or maliciously (Ronald Reagan and the last occupant of the White House) tried to harm the LGBTQ+ community? Have you been actively working to end LGBTQ+ discrimination, or have you been one of the challenges we have had to survive?

[ruslanalekseev]

Was Hiruzen a Good Hokage?

No. As many people have already pointed out, Hiruzen was very indecisive, and he always did what his advisors told him to. Which wouldnt be that bad, if not the fact that almost every single one of their decisions were suggested to them by Danzo.

Hiruzen might have had good intentions, but good intentions wont do you much good, if:You orchestrate the massacre of one of the founding clans in your village. You dont react to bullying towards the villages probably most valuable shinobi.You cant even bring yourself to killing one of the greatest criminals from your village

· Suggested Reading

What if a gay person was elected as the POTUS?

We have already had a gay President. James Buchanan Jr. was the 15th President (18571861) He was a member of the Democratic Party.

The only president to remain a bachelor, Buchanan's personal life has attracted great historical interest. Buchanan had a close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King, an Alabama politician. Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington boardinghouse for many years, from 1834 until King's departure for France in 1844.

King referred to the relationship as a "communion", and the two attended social functions together. Contemporaries also noted the closeness. Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy" and prominent Democrat Aaron V.

Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half", "wife" and "Aunt Fancy"

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How did Canada manage to control COVID 19 so well despite its shared border with the US?

When doctors and scientists here in Canada told us that the COVID-19 virus would not only kill some people, but others who contracted the disease might suffer permanent damage to organs and body systems, we listened and became afraid. Then, when it was shown some young children also suffered devastating organ failures, we knew we must all do what we can to protect ourselves and others.

We didnt each need to personally know someone who has been so affected, we just imagined how our own actions could cause this result. For some reason, Americans do not seem to feel that same empathy for their fellow citizens. Tragic and sad

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What is the significance of WhatsApp for Facebook?

Why did Facebook acquire WhatsApp at such a hefty price of $19 billion?

Let us think about it. Say you are talking to your girlfriemd and you decide to go for a movie coming weekend.

It is not a big information for you. But for facebook it is a priceless piece of information. Since it they know now that you ar going to the movie they will project all the ads that is pertaining to movie going.

. Hence facebook achieves a greater accuracy of targeted ads. And hence 19Billion dollars.

Also facebook knows everything about you except your messages to your intimate people. Now that they bought whatsapp they literally know everything about you to sell you out when the time comes.

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Will Joe Biden be worse than Trump?

Worse at what? I guess it depends on what you value and what you place importance on. If youre a Republican partisan it doesnt matter what Biden does itll be worse than Trump.

If youre a Democrat partisan it doesnt matter what Biden does because itll be better than Trump. If youre an independent youll recognize that all Presidents have pluses and minuses. Theyll do things at annoy you and things youll applaud.

I didnt vote for Trump in 16 and hes done things I despise and things I applaud. I didnt vote for Obama either time and he did thinks I liked and things I hated

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Do many Chinese people hate Fujianese people?

I don't know where did you get this view.

In college, I had a roommate coming from Fujian who is an authentic, courteous, helpful person with lots of computer's knowledge. Every time our computers occur in problems, our first thought is to seek for his help not to go maintenance store straightly because of its expensive charge. There are a few Fujianese.

as far as I'm concerned, They all good person through conversation and cooperation. But, I can't say Fujianese all good people since I had met all good Fujianese. In working with people, The significant thing We need to do is giving our sincere heart to them.

Similarly, you will be rewarded for your sowing.

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How old should a kid be before seeing Deadpool?

FWIW, the airline cut is devoid of *all* sexual content (to the point of blurring out the slight glimpse of butt-crack visible in the opening credits, as well as losing the Stan Lee cameo), but I dont believe they removed *any* of the violence or swearing.

What a country!As for child-appropriateness, it depends on the child. I was OK with my kid seeing the airline cut because he never swears and he doesnt like gory violence (it wasnt too gruesome on my 5 phone screen).

Other kids his age may not be able to handle this material. Heck, I know adults who wouldnt do so well with this material

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How can we stop people from throwing garbage in the empty plots?

Please know that if people throw biodegradable garbage only in an empty plot after removing all plastics and dry wastes, you are actually replenishing the ground.

This will improve vegetation of the plot.The second approach is to promote home composting and community composting. This can happen only if there is source segregation.

Third approach is to penalize through a law.Instal leaves composter in the entrance of the plot and encourage people to deposit the dried leaves into it. Many aesthetically good looking composters are available.

The process is very simple and no stink involved.Be creative and you will have many more options. Cheers.

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Could we derive energy from gravity in space?

You mean free flowing gravity? Yes.

Look at a grandfather clock and see the weights it has to keep it going. Except for dams most of the ways are small but all together make up huge amounts. You could use the same clock system method with a much larger counter weight and just by hand moving it back up daily to the top would generate constant power.

In other words you could produce huge amounts of potential power by a little daily hand labor.Now you got me wondering if there is a natural limit it this because it is not being done or that people are just lazy in not doing this

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How will the GOP change if Trump loses to Biden?

I dont think they will change at all, at least in the short term.

Trumps presidency has done one useful thing - exposed the corrupt innards of the Democratic party, and the Republicans, with or without Trump, are going to want to follow through on things, especially when the Durham report comes out. Trump has also shown how to do things economically, such that even Biden wants to plagiarize him. Theres been absolutely nothing wrong with his policies.

They were working great prior to the pandemic and theres no reason to think they wont work again when things finally get back to normal

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Who is the best teacher for sociology for the UPSC optional preparation in Delhi?

Hello there .I am a Civil engineer , who did not have any prior knowledge about sociology .

I was an expressive person and with the suggestions of friends , I chose sociology as my optional .I went to Pranay Aggarwal Sir and that was the best decision I made . Reasons :-He took classes in small batches with led me to focus more on the subject .

He is very interactive which makes sociology come out very naturally from oneself .He is very helpful and extremely accepting of different ideas which gave me confidence and started loving the subject . His notes are all encompassing and I can vouch for it

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Why was Paul Manafort sent to prison?

This just reported by NY Times:Banker Accused of Arranging $16 Million in Loans to Manafort to Gain High-Level Trump PostA banker in Chicago has been changed with trying to buy an appointment as Treasury Secretary. He arranged $16 million in loans to Paul Mafort. I dont know if the prosecutors knew about that alleged crime when Manafort was sent to prison.

This news certainly speaks to what kind of person Manafort is. It continues to astound me how corrupt Trump is that he picks people like Manafort. How can Trump voters have been so clueless to have voted for this narcissistic(oops, I better restrain myself).

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Why was the Roman Empire so successful?

the roman empire was successful in its government form.it probably had the most advanced government in ancient times, a republic which represent each of the classes in society.

Outsiders or barbarians could also aspire to gain citizenship if they work hard enough, slaves could gain or buy their freedom. This makes roman empire have a equal opportunity system similar to the american dream.But things slowly deteriorated once ceasar become dictator for life, or sulla and marius trying to monopolize power through using the military triumphs.

It lead to rise of emperors and rulers not acccountable to the public, and right to rule slowly degenerate into hereditary succession or military coup.

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Did the music of led Zeppelin change your life?

Yes!

As does every song does, some more than others. The Rain Song played while I was enjoying the company of a young lady I met on Manhattan Beach as I was coming out the ocean, exhausted from surfing for 5 hours. I collapsed on my board and was laying there taking in the scene when this beautiful blonde girl with curly hair, piercing blue eyes, and a body of a Black girl, blocked the sun, looked down and said are you ok?

. That was the beginning of summer of 91 and we had fun. Especially the night we spent in a motel on the beach, listening to led Zeppelin

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Who is the most under appreciated American president?

Adams greatest war president in our nations history.When almost everyone in the young country wanted war with France egged on by that snake Jefferson. Adams held back, he understood war was not necessary would be destructive and would cripple the country for decades, he also well understood his stand would likely cost him his reelection but he stood firm.

The country did not go to war but he did loose his office. Such a shame the country remembers the man who did his most noble service as a citizen under an English king and not the man who formed the nation after the Revolutionary War

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Why did you leave Hinduism for Islam?

People group or regroup into religion for rudimentary security reasons, not due to any love for a religion.

Any person who understands the first alphabet of any religion will know the purpose of religion is to help and serve the society he or she lives selflessly, particularly those who donu2019t follow his/her beliefs and faith has to be served, loved and cared.If someone thinks that his/her religious group is better than the other, it discredit the fundamental first alphabet of the religion. Islam, Hinduism or any religion in the world, if it is practiced by grouping and subgrouping its practioners, it is deplorably divisive for the society and in general human welfare

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In WW2 during the Battle of France, why did it take so long for France to surrender?

Why didn't France surrender earlier?

France waited so that the English could be evacuated from Dunkirk. They held the German back while the small boats could get in and get the boys home.

Then they had a resistance to organise not easy when you have a whole lot of tanks running over your toes. Finally, the Italians decided to pop in for a late entry in the game of conquest so they had them to send packing. Then they surrendered.

That is to say the French Government surrendered, the French people on the other hand fought on.If you have ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you see just how ferocious the French can be in their taunting of opponents.

[heartbattled-a]

on my way is in my top three of hardest episodes to watch, without a doubt. i’m going to go into a slight headcanon about dave, re: that episode and i’m going to put it under the cut (not for length but because i’m going to touch on some triggering subjects), proceed with caution.

let me start off by saying that while i appreciate the way this episode was directed, i still have some sadness about it. as i always do.

dave was outed. not by choice. in the episode beforehand, he was telling kurt about how he might come out next year. he wasn’t ready to come out yet. he was still struggling with his identity. he was still struggling with accepting who he was. he was still coming to terms with the fact that he was gay. at that point, i don’t think he was proud of who he was.

see: the episode where dave is seen in scandals. dressed up with a hat on to hide his identity, very careful about who sees him. he wasn’t proud to be out. he was still testing the waters, getting used to this new person that he was becoming. dave was still very much learning to be okay with the fact that he is gay.

while i think the fact that dave was shoved into lockers, called names and looked down on was a taste of his own medicine ... that doesn’t make it okay. bullying affects everyone differently. see: kurt. kurt was able to come out on his own terms, he was able to come out when he was ready. dave wasn’t. he had that taken away from him. 

then there’s the name calling on facebook. i think that hurt dave more than the ‘fag’ spray painted across his locker. because it wasn’t just a select group of people, it was everyone. everyone was coming down hard on him, making fun of him and his orientation and suddenly... he realised what kurt had gone through. he realised in that moment what hell he’d put kurt through. this is further mentioned in the hospital scene. he fully realised what he’d done.

a slight divergence but still relevant to the subject: i think dave’s parents were very simply put...  very anti-gay. his own mother told him that he had a disease. that being gay was wrong, that it was something that needed to be cured. i think that had a lot to do with the reasons why dave never even humoured the idea that he might like guys, because his parents seemed very important to him before this incident. he wanted to make sure that they were proud of him, that they wouldn’t ever stop loving him. he wanted to be the best, he wanted to do something to distract himself from having lingering thoughts about being gay. 

we never heard much about what his dad thought but i think his mother overpowered him in the discussion. that dave was sick, that he had a disease and needed to be cured. maybe he didn’t agree with that. the way that his mom sounds, i truly believe that she would have been the kind of person to say that he needed to go to a church or something along those lines to be cured, to be made straight again. i think that would be where paul put his foot down. 

anyway, back to the scene where dave is contemplating what to do: when he knocks over the CD cases in rage and upset, we see him sit down with the broken plastic, pick it up and look at it. i’m not trying to be dramatic or add extra angst here but i genuinely, in my heart of hearts, believe that dave would have hurt himself. somewhere that isn’t visible, such as his stomach; sides; the tops of his thighs. somewhere that couldn’t be seen unless almost completely undressed or entirely naked. i think he would have done it to feel something other than the pain and anger and hurt that he was feeling. i think he would have done it because he wanted to feel something, anything. and because he had the power to do that. he lost the power to out himself but not for this. 

and it’s clear that he struggled with a few ideas. he laid on the bed with the belt in his hands and he sobbed. he didn’t know what to do. didn’t know what his options were. he felt lost, he felt hurt, he felt angry. he wanted to do something about it. and then he had the idea. it also says a lot about dave with how he dressed himself up in a suit, even tied up his shoes before proceeding to stand on that chair. he wanted to be found looking okay, he didn’t want to look damaged, he didn’t want to look upset. he wanted to look okay. at least, that’s how i interpret it.

flash forward to the hospital scene, where kurt goes to visit dave (which was a really nice thing for kurt to do after everything). dave understands now. he understands what he put kurt through. he understands what kurt felt and just how brave kurt is for not giving into the hurt and the sadness. kurt is like his hero, in a way. because kurt never showed just how badly it hurt. but i think dave regretted the attempt because when kurt said “i’m really glad you’re alive.” dave said “me too.” i think he realised that suicide wasn’t the way to go. 

anyway, dave has a really fucked up past and a damaged heart. he also has scars and a very unsupportive family. 

[eichy815]

Still Faking the Cake

Two-and-a-half years ago, I wrote an op-ed piece titled “Faking the Cake.”  In it, I took the rather libertarian position that the federal government should refrain from penalizing baker Jack C. Phillips of Lakewood, Colorado’s Masterpiece Cakeshop for refusing to bake a wedding cake when a gay couple requested that he do so for them. I’m fully aware that this position of mine is in stark opposition to many of my brethren and sisteren in the LGBT community.

Fast-forward to the present: on June 4 of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled with a 7-2 majority in favor of Phillips during the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.  And, even in the aftermath of that ruling, my position has remained unchanged (with one slight modification, which I will address momentarily).

First, let’s review the arguments I made in favor of Phillips (as much as I personally oppose his religious bigotry) back in 2015.  The foundation for my belief is that there should be a strict delineation between the freedoms and discretions of private businesses (which Masterpiece Cakeshop was) versus public institutions (such as a city hall or mass transit).  

Hence, why I’ve always been a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage in the secular world.  Churches and private venues shouldn't be forced by our government to recognize LGBT weddings...just like religious organizations shouldn't be able to force their “values” on the general public through legislative manipulation.

There is one caveat that I will clarify, which I hadn’ t considered back when I’d first weighed this issue in 2015.  Private businesses shouldn’t be allowed to broadly refuse service to customers based on the customer belonging to a protected class (race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, age, disability, genetics, citizenship, veteran status).  I would also extend this sentiment to other groups that aren’t technically protected by the Civil Rights Act (e.g. sexual orientation, political affiliation or ideology, socioeconomic class, etc.).

But let’s be clear:  that means the de facto reason for refusing service cannot be because someone belongs to a specific group.

A tailor shouldn’t be able to say, “I won’t offer my services to Jews.”

But a tailor *can* say, “I don’t offer yarmulke-repair as part of my services.”

John C. Phillips wasn’t denying Charlie Craig and David Mullins service because of their sexual orientation, per se.  He would have gladly sold them any of the items available for purchase in his bakery.  Phillips just declined to cater gay weddings (among other types of events) – and, in making this choice, he was also voluntarily shrinking his customer base.

After all, there were undoubtedly plenty of gay-friendly (or ambivalent) bakers who would have gladly made a fantastic wedding cake for the Craig/Mullins reception.  And, on top of that, if Phillips was going to wear his anti-gay bigotry on his sleeve (in his capacity as a business owner), then Craig and Mullins and anybody else would have had full discretion to organize a mass-boycott against him for that reason.

Free market capitalism should reward good behavior and upstanding morals, by design.  In this day and age, someone like Phillips would be fair game to lose a sizable portion of his customer base when he chooses to flaunt his hateful attitude.

This is the reason why I agree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, in this particular instance.  Phillips wasn’t saying, “I’m going to deny service to a customer if I find out that they are gay.”  He was merely saying, “Gay weddings are one type of special event for which I decline to design cakes.”

Devil’s advocates might challenge me as to why, under this framework, businesses such as female-only gyms should be allowed to exist and thrive.  Again, it all comes back to the entrepreneurial spirit...and context.

A gym for working out is a very intimate place.  If a gym owner wants to make their gym “female-only,” “male-only,” or “coed,” there are other gym options (usually coed) available in most communities.  This is the same concept that is used in Title IX sports (be it K-12 or collegiate).

So, if a private gym owner wanted to make their fitness center “male-only,” they should have that exact same option as we’d give to a Curves franchisee.

The only type of case in which the federal government should be able to step in – within the context of this particular scenario – would be if someone was being barred from attaining gym membership due to their sex and there was LITERALLY no other gym available for them to patronize within a reasonable distance.  

But it’s highly unlikely that there are any towns or cities in the United States where Curves is the *ONLY* gym located in someone’s community.

Yes, I would likewise apply that concept to salons, country clubs, support groups (within health facilities), or temporary housing.

We should also consider how, despite the anti-LGBT bigotry of certain U.S. Supreme Court justices, the Court’s majority itself made this ruling with very narrow nuance.

In the majority’s opinion, it’s the “equal access” to goods and services that the federal government must mandate.  The Court never deemed that this gives business owners some broad constitutional “right” to discriminate against groups.  

That was the difference from the 1968 Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises case:  Maurice Bessinger was trying to use his “religious beliefs” as the basis for denying any seating area service whatsoever to people of color.  John C. Phillips, by contrast, never refused to sell cupcakes or brownies to LGBT people who were entering his bakery.  His religious beliefs only came into play when the request was made to design a specific type of cake.

In the aftermath of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court has now refused to hear a similar case: the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Barronnelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers refusing to make floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding was in violation of state nondiscrimination statutes.  By punting the case back down to the lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court is asking Washington state to reconsider the context of that case in the same way the higher court did for Masterpiece Cakeshop.

So what does this mean for the recent incident where Donald Trump’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was kicked out of a Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia by owner Stephanie Wilkinson?  Again, context.

Wilkinson asked Huckabee Sanders to leave because she is personally repulsed by the Press Secretary’s chosen role as a mouthpiece for Trump.  It wasn’t due to Sarah Huckabee Sanders being a woman...or a white person...or a Christian...or a Republican.

Was it a bad idea on Wilkinson’s part?  Probably – the jury’s still out on that. Conservatives will conceivably organize a boycott of Red Hen franchises all over the country (and certainly against Wilkinson’s individual restaurant).  Meanwhile, many liberals and progressives are praising Wilkinson for standing up for her convictions – and have promised her their future patronage.

Honestly, if I had been the restaurant owner, I would have served Huckabee Sanders and allowed her to finish her meal.  Although I might have been constantly stopping by her table, annoying her with “small talk” about my own political beliefs.  She is, after all, a public figure – and any public figure should expect strangers to confront them in public when they are in such a visible and outspoken position.

Again – context, context, context!

As a community, LGBT people should be focusing on getting the ENDA (Employment Nondiscrimination Act) passed, in future sessions of Congress.  We should be cracking down on the bullying that occurs against our community’s youth, while making sure we are included in the public discourse (along with various forms of representation, therein).

And, without question, we should dig in our heels at defending the maintenance of Obergfell v. Hodges in the same way that pro-choice activists defend Roe v. Wade.

We have much bigger things to worry about than wedding cakes and floral arrangements.  If you object to a private business owner’s bigotry – put them on blast.  That’s the beauty of social media, after all.

[iblackgirlanonymousblog]

Whitney: Can I Be Me

Whitney Houston, publicly  known as, The Voice but to her close family she was Nippy. Recently, director Nick Broomfield created a documentary, shedding light on the demise of our beloved Whitney.  Whitney, originally from Newark, NJ , grew up in a rough neighborhood where she was exposed to many things at a young age.  The child of a strict mother, Cissy Houston, Whitney was raised in the church. That nurtured the God given talent we all witnessed. After the riots, the Houston family moved out east.  The move brought with it the introduction of drugs by Whitney’s older brother. In the documentary he admitted they both used heroin. Whitney continued to use drugs throughout her career up until  her untimely death.

many of them used her for their own benefits. Many say Cissy was envious of her daughter’s success. Cissy was a singer as well, and she groomed her daughter to be the powerhouse we know. Whitney adored her father, who was her accountant and her everything. We eventually learn about Robin, Whitney’s rumored lover. Whitney and Robin had been friends for 18 years. Robin looked after her when Whitney struggled with bullying at school. Robin was Whitney’s  solace.Whitney was discovered by Clive Davis, a man with a vision for what Whitney should be to the world; and that she was. Whitney broke through the charts with mega hits and box office movies, but underneath that, Whitney was medicating her pain that was not visible to anyone outside of her world. There were many people around Whitney who loved her, but the industry has a way of embracing people, chewing them up and then spitting them out. 

The speculation about Whitney’s sexuality became the topic of discussion because know one had ever seen her with anyone other than her close friend Robin. During this time in the industry and even the world, being gay was unacceptable. That mean being gay, publicly. was not an option which was another chip at Whitney’s heart. Whitney then started dating Bobby Brown and the rumours went hush, but behind closed doors things became tense. Bobby knew Robin meant the world to Whitney, they had a relationship that Bobby knew he would never have with Whitney, he became jealous and angry. Robin didn’t like Bobby and it was known the two tolerated each other. This took a toll on Whitney, another chip to her heart. 

Eventually, Whitney and Robin parted ways. Whitney medicated herself to get through the separation.  Whitney had overdosed on the set of  one of my favorite movies “Waiting to Exhale”. Her then bodyguard wrote a letter to her family that Whitney would eventually die if she did not get any help. Many people around Whitney were using drugs as well. The advice to help her went unnoticed. It wasn’t obvious to the world until the late Michael Jackson’s tribute that Whitney had a drug addiction. The people who surrounded her told her she was beautiful, that she looked fine. It was not until her long time makeup artist and friend became the mirror for Whitney. Whitney began to take the steps towards recovery. With Whitney’s recovery, meant her being more aware. She had no problem of telling people no and people didn’t like that. Bobby eventually cheated on Whitney, which became an even bigger chip at her heart.

Whitney was a giving, loving, self-less person who would do anything for anyone, and eventually sacrificed herself for everyone. Many people speculate why or how Whitney was killed. Honestly, we will never know, but some speculate she died from a broken heart. After watching this documentary, I can say our Nippy died from a broken heart caused by the people she loved the most.