#and have the 'reward' for their most loyal and strongest fans be. giving their power to the twins

[borderlandsmostwanted]

I think the twins had the potential to be the best borderlands antagonists if they were handled properly. Like if gearbox pulled more from reality it could have been a really interesting concept about parasocial relationships, the dangers of blurring the lines between online and reality, and how idolization can turn someone into a faux god

[theangrypokemaniac]

Ma and Pa James's Second Biggest Fan (we plough a lonely furrow) continues to find Ma Jess's appeal mystifying, since everything about her is negative:

1. Signing up for Team Rocket suggests someone of a morally dubious character to start with, but the truth lies in the clothing, and she's in black!

Black!

It's code for her personality:

• Jessie wears white:

Pure, beautiful, innocent, sweet-natured, not really bad, dealt a severe hand in life but a fighter.

• Cassidy wears black:

EVIL!!! EVIL, EVIL, EEEEEEVUL!!! FOUL SIRENIC TEMPTRESS!!! EVIL HEARTLESS BITCH STEALING JAMES'S NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN WEEPINBELL!!!

Speaking of which:

2. She was Madame Boss's best agent.

You don't get there being kind.

To reach that standing requires hundreds of successful heists, and we aren't talking nicking gold bars. It's living things.

How many Pokémon do you imagine she stole with merciless efficiency?

How many children did she set upon, pinching every animal they had?

How many innocent lives did she ruin by depriving kids of the pets they loved, never to see them again, eaten away with the not-knowing and the false hope?

The glory of her reign ran on the fuel of blood and tears.

What fate do you envision awaited those Pokémon? It's not exchanging one master for another, it's entering slavery.

Jessie and James aren't the epitome of Team Rocket. They are minnows on the outskirts, despised and mocked by most of their fellow members. The actual group isn't particularly famous for prioritizing Pokémon welfare.

The preferable outcome is being handed out to agents to help catch other victims. Otherwise it's transformation into a war machine, forced to fight on and on to the point of exhaustion and death, no doubt tortured and tested on to boot.

What happens if they don't come up to scratch or are pushed for years until too aged and broken to be of any use? Are Team Rocket ready to pension them off to animal sanctuary?

As if. It's euthanasia or on to the streets to waste away, if not fed to the strongest first.

Ma Jess knew this and worse occurred thanks to her, yet paid it no mind, and felt not a single twinge of guilt in that time of service, then met her end trying to draw another Pokémon into imprisonment.

Some might say it was a case of what goes around, comes around. As her behaviour led to God knows how many Pokémon dying alone, leaving their loved ones to wonder and grieve, so in turn did she die alone in the snow, and Jessie had to carry on without her.

I'm not against Ma Jess, I neither feel like or dislike, but I don't understand how so many fans can happily overlook her murky past of inflicting pain, instead elevating her to a semi-divine tragic heroine, yet apparently Ma and Pa's heinous offences of not stealing and treating Pokémon well are beyond forgiveness.

3. It's the Red Ribbon Army! Save yourselves!

Jessie joined Team Rocket to follow in Ma's footsteps. James went with her. Both moved (upwardly in scale, downwardly in morals) from Sunny Town's gang of petty thief kids to a complex Mafia organisation stretching its wriggling tentacles around the world to crush the air from its lungs.

Why? Ma Jess's baleful influence led the two down that path.

Of course Jessie wants to copy Ma, how and where else can she feel close to her?

There's not even a grave to visit!

Rising in the ranks and Giovanni's favour is both to strike it rich and take her place, becoming Ma in essence. That would make her proud, which is all Jessie ever wanted.

What alternative is there? Stay with Chopper and Tyra forever, ekeing an existence pickpocketing and shoplifting, until mortality comes calling sooner than is welcome, or get loaded quickly and retire early?

James theoretically could've gone home at this point, but when it came to which angry redhead he preferred to beat him up, he chose Jessie.

He was henceforth obliged to go whenever she led, even if it meant following the ghost of her mother into the jaws of evil.

They have an excuse, but what was Ma's for getting involved?

However much they boast and revel in their wickedness, the motto proves the couple still believe themselves on a noble quest, despite everything to the contrary, and why?

Jessie isn't about to accept that Ma Jess, whom she's probably idolized as one of few people to love her and a role model of how a woman should be, was nasty or unpleasant. If she was in Team Rocket, it must be good, whatever the outer appearance.

Except Jessie and James are bad at being bad. They are not master criminals. All their plans fail, rendering them poor and starving in consequence. The inner circle of Team Rocket will always be barred to them because they lack the inner darkness it requires.

The joke is they flourish in any other occupation, whether that be Salon Rocquet, reporters, or flogging merchandise and food at the League. If employed elsewhere they'd be better off, but they have to stay because Jessie can't let go, or bear the thought she might be a disappointment to her mother's name. A different career looks unworthy by comparison.

What, so Ma and Pa have got no son because of Ma Jess? They just wanted him to be a gentleman!

If she hadn't set such a terrible example to her daughter she might have an increased quality of life, but then had she done so Ma wouldn't be dead in the first place.

4. Can't pick 'em can she?

What was it that first attracted Ma to Windy Miller? Does she go for the rustic charm, or the promise of a lifetime's supply of bread to feed the abundance of babies planned?

Don't do it, Ma! He's an alky!

Some birds are like that you see. It's the maternal instinct gone haywire. They find a local reprobate and somehow decide he's really a damaged soul crying out for love, the scapegoat of a cruel society.

He's not evil, he's just misunderstood!

This is why you get nutters wanting to marry the Yorkshire Ripper: they put his 'mischief' down to bad women mistreating his gentle heart, but they of course are devoted to his happiness. They can change him.

You don't know him like I do!

In their fantasy, under the influence of a 'proper' woman he'll transform in to a flower-picking hippie, but not too much, they still like him to be dangerously 'manly' (keeps 'em on their toes), then they can feel smugly superior and more truly female than the 'lesser' breed who failed to tame his sexy pashuns.

And if there's one thing Windy has in abundance, it's raw animal magnetism.

Stop it, Ma! You can't help those who don't want helping!

She put up with the boozing, the flour dust and his somewhat limited communication skills, but what really let him down was the company he kept.

Ever after she would insist Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub led him astray. That's firemen for yer.

Cuthbert? That name's died out.

Sure enough, some point after Ma Jess was stuffed up the spout, old Windy legged it back to Camberwick Green, like the rascal he is, and not a sweet penny piece did she receive in maintenance, the bastard.

At least Ma James got pregnant by a man who stood by her.

She wasn't married to Windy Miller!

Oh, you mean they were living over the brush? I see.

It's all in your head!

Do it my way, and we have Pa Jess. Do it yours, and we're back to a cavernous emptiness. Unless you can supply a picture of the 'real' (pffft) Pa Jess, this is the best available.

Anyway, 'Jessie Miller' just sounds right.

Coincidence? I think not.

5. She went to look for Mew dressed like this.

I could forgive it had she gone in her normal uniform, that's just whimsy, but to have made some effort emphasises that it's not enough!

Some part of her understood a mountain might be a bit parky out, but this was deemed sufficient coverage!

What happened?

She bloody died didn't she?!

6. Ma Boss points the way to doom.

Ma Jess was at least loyal to the mistress she served, but it was a wasted dedication. She squandered her life obeying a heartless virago who could cast aside apparently valued staff without a qualm, whatever thanks she owed them.

The millions Ma Jess accumulated for Madame are probably uncountable, yet she was so worthless that, when dispatched to the mountain, on her own, expected to catch a Legendary Pokémon, by herself, which many doubted even existed, and wasn't likely to come quietly, or put up with orders, but then didn't come back, Madame Boss allowed her only child to sink into poverty and the infamous 'care' of the State.

Everyone knows what goes on there. Entering a home has replaced the workhouse as the place of dread.

Jessie might have been killed or attacked and it didn't remotely concern Madame Boss, unwilling to spare a meagre fraction of her massive fortune to give the girl she made an orphan any comfort or security.

What did she matter? Her mother failed. Why reward that?

In her turn, Jessie became just as obsequious to an undeserving master, who went further than his mama and actively tried to murder her, and still she suffers to please him.

Team Rocket devoured her mother, and now it's swallowed her.

Oh, and Madame Boss got her way upon discovering Mew's fossil, so Ma Jess died for nothing.

7. This.

I'm not surprised Mew wouldn't go with Ma. She probably sensed the vivisection awaiting, and didn't give a toss about the avalanche in revenge.

Mew hasn't got where she is today falling for any old shallow promises from a stranger, thank you.

Suppose the mission had worked, with Mew caught and gift wrapped for Madame's delectation: what then?

Perhaps Mew's power, proving so impressive, would've pushed any cloning scheme aside, leaving Mewtwo unborn and Mew as the mightiest weapon. Or in greed Madame Boss demands more, and in arrogance the scientists promise the earth, the seas and the heavens.

Mew I could see subjected to some non-lethal form of dissection, just to understand how she ticked, that is if they could build the cage to hold her.

As they couldn't, and catching Mew was never a possibility, then Ma Jess's sacrificed herself on a fool's errand, which was obviously one from the outset. If Mew was easy to handle she'd have been captured long before now.

Either Ma dies, Mew's safe, but Madame Boss starts the cloning scheme anyway, or Ma's victorious, Mew is a tool of Team Rocket and the scientists have more sample to experiment upon. Mewtwo is still made, alongside short-lived creations and dozens of unseen freakish abominations preceding.

Now Mewtwo isn't what you call at peace with himself, nor has he received a particularly wholesome experience. One could think Ma indirectly caused that. Her branch of the project may have fizzled to cinders but she still played her role.

What would her legacy have been but to help bring forth the being that wiped out mankind? Where's the future for Jessie when there isn't one?

It's not her fault, but she died in the name of cloning a biological disaster, the creation of synthetic life leading to the destruction of it all.

8. Let's have a gander at Ma in the anime:

• Can afford rent.

• Can afford a tray.

• Can afford crockery.

• Can afford condiments to add flavour to food.

• Can't afford any actual food.

Something's wrong there.

I intended to include affording clothes too, but now I'm not so sure.

I never took Ma to be a brown-all-over kind of woman. At least she gave the fancy stuff to Jessie.

For years I've assumed she wore a brightly coloured jacket, but now I suspect it's a red one heavily patched up, because buying a replacement isn't an option.

Really old clothes are being mended with whatever can be salvaged from even more worn-out clobber.

Best agent Madame Boss has and she's practically living in her own filth.

Team Rocket takes care of its own, eh?

Oh no, let's not get a proper job, one that allows me to provide for my daughter and doesn't ask for my life. Let's stay in this one!

9. Look at Jessie's face!

By her own admission, being tricked into eating snow is the best thing that ever happened to her during an 'otherwise wretched childhood', to the extent she doesn't know it was wrong!

I don't hear Ma and Pa doing that. The only ice James got was an ice-cream sandwich.

What kind of infancy did Ma Jess give the girl for her to be nostalgic about almost dying of malnutrition?

If we say that's a foster mother as in the sub, it means Jessie's fondest memory is after Ma died, which is too brutal for me.

Yeah, thank goodness she's snuffed it.

You think Ma might have taught her not to eat snow! She left her so ill-prepared!

Consequently the sub version makes Ma Jess an awful creature, although I don't see why that Jessie would so desire to mimic a mom she apparently doesn't care about.

10. She's not even bloody here!

I have no picture to signify absence, therefore I must show whom she left behind.

Ma Jess is Pokémon's answer to Bobba Fett: background figure, barely involved, no information, dies early, yet became a fan favourite nevertheless.

If nothing really exists, what is there to like? Why are you contented weaving smoke?

When Rocketshippers put forward the manga as proof, the Anti-Ships used to insist that it 'didn't count' for being set in a 'separate universe'.

If that still goes, and only the contents of the anime apply to the anime, well then it's bye-bye to Ma Jess and Madame Boss, because they aren't real either.

I sometimes think that's true. However traumatic, would Jessie not have acknowledged her mother by now otherwise?

We grasp the characters all had two parents in a nebulous fashion, although not being real people means they don't 'technically' need them, but Ma Jess is the only one who vanished to be granted a face. Why is she then ignored?

She's briefly glimpsed in a passing scene of a single episode of the first series and is never seen or referenced again. The sub doesn't even have that. Where was the use in creating her if only to leave that thread of the tale billowing in the breeze?

We may decide her actions affect Jessie's but we're only imprinting assumptions. She might as well have remained unwritten for all that's made of her.

What we can glean doesn't bode well, irrespective of things left unmentioned.

Her one redeeming deed was dying, thus at least she didn't choose to abandon Jessie. We may presume she'd have stayed with her girl given the chance.

By my reckoning that puts her as Fifth-Best Mother Of Pokémon, behind Ma Brock, Ma James, Dame Ketchum and Ma Boss, in that order.

Then they're those who claim she never died, so she just pissed off like everyone else, rendering her devoid of a single positive quality.

This is the woman you sigh and agonise over for decades.

Ma and Pa are right there, man! Show 'em some love!

[danwhobrowses]

Dragon Ball: Why Tien Shinhan deserves respect

Not a Tinfoil Discussion because there’s no theory crafting going on but this is one of those rants that has often sat below the surface. Here I’m going to sing the praises and express the undervalue of the Dragon Ball franchise’s side characters: Tien Shinhan

So I’m gonna start this very easily: Tien Shinhan is perhaps one of the most disrespected characters in Dragon Ball. Sure, Yamcha is now a parody but he was happy to bow out of fighting post-Androids, and I can easily express disappointment in his character arc in a later date, but Tien Shinhan gets mistreated something rotten.

The Mistreatment of Tien Shinhan Imagine if you will the uproar if someone like Piccolo or Vegeta didn’t just lose to some secondary villain, but was quickly swatted off by someone who didn’t even have a name until now, that is the level Tien has to deal with in anime and manga. This guy is a Tenkaichi Budokai Winner in a tournament that involved Goku, Krillin and Master Roshi, fast forward to now and this guy is considered weaker than Krillin - the same Krillin that in Super could be harmed by bullets because he stopped training - and Roshi - the same Roshi who Tien’s power dwarfed in the Saiyans Saga. And it’s not just that, all people seem to remember of him now is the multiform technique and the Kikoho, both very self-harming techniques. Don’t even try to have him learn new attacks since ki sense has rendered the Solar Flare redundant even though he’s constantly shown up to aid Goku. Fight Semi-Perfect Cell and Gotenks-fused Super Majin Freaking Buu by himself and he’s not even considered the strongest non-saiyan earthling of the damn planet, in the manga he gets eliminated from the Tournament of Power OFF-SCREEN just been shrugged off as a ‘weak human’. And you know what the worst part of that is? Toriyama made Tien with so much power potential; his Third Eye is supposed to have untapped godlike power, he trains so much he’s a human equivalent of a Saiyan, his story is one of redemption and true dedication to friendship and the warrior’s way and he derives from a Journey of the West character (Erlang Shen) who is the greatest warrior god of heaven and frequent rival to Son Wukong. All this and his reward is being pictured as ‘that weird stoic guy who’s not Piccolo’ If you are one of those guys who don’t know why they don’t take to Tien Shinhan, maybe this will enlighten you Tien Shinhan is Vegeta before Vegeta Let’s play a game shall we? It’s called Tien or Vegeta. I’ll say some statements canon to the Dragon Ball Series, you tell me if I’m talking about Tien or Vegeta. Simple? Then let’s begin

A rival of Goku who trained in solitude to best him

A humanoid character who started off as a brutish, merciless villain with a weaker companion

A character who has unique powers due to his non-human heritage

A character who stood against an Alien ruler amassing the Dragon Balls for Immortality on a road to redemption, but failed 

A character who was defeated by said Alien ruler’s powerful subordiante until Goku arrived with new power to easily wipe them out

His love interest is a blue haired woman from the OG Dragon Ball series

Their second true canon battle with Goku comes years later in a Tenkaichi Budokai

In an attempt to kill an arc villain, they use the last of their energy into one attack, dying in the process but failing

Not that easy now was it? That’s because the answer is both of them. It is worth remembering that many people nowadays were first introduced to the Dragon Ball Franchise through Z, the ‘first come’ effect may’ve just been a term I made up on the spot, but usually when you see something for the first time you consider it the first instant, so to many the traits of Tien seem like a copy from Vegeta and Piccolo Jr - characters he in reality preceded quite a bit. Sadly the fact is that a lot of Tien was in a way ‘Vegeta in Beta’, so Vegeta’s traits came off a lot more polished - but even now with Super’s latest chapter we have Vegeta embarking on learning Ki Control to multiply, which is basically Tien’s Multiform Technique (Meanwhile Tien was referred to as one of ‘those baldies’ to basically fill numbers), so even now the mistreatment doesn’t end.

Where did it go wrong with Tien? You may’ve watched a video called ‘Japan hates Tien’ and believe straight off that the reason Tien got a short straw, but this is a misconception; people in Japan are fans and non-fans with Tien just like the rest of the world. The problem mainly lies with Toriyama ‘moving on’ from an idea. It was clear that initially there were bigger plans for him, but they were written off as the story took a life of its own. The series more or less moved on from the Z-Fighters from Namek, with Piccolo and Krillin salvaging themselves because of arching storylines in the current arc (Namek being Piccolo’s home planet and Krillin having his romance with 18). There is also the misconception that ‘if you’re not a Saiyan or some super alien you’re weak’, and despite having a third eye, Tien gets associated with the ‘weak human’ category, so despite him being a character constantly training he’s never been treated as good enough or worth being powerful. The third downfall was that Toriyama failed the characters around him, Chiaotzu and Yamcha never amounted to even being viable allies and his love interest (regardless on whether you feel it requited or not) Launch was completely dropped from the series after his death - we can discuss that another time. These three factors left Tien in Limbo, he has no arc that he can legitimately contribute to, he’s not comic relief, he’s not a mentor and he’s not a love interest, but this realisation is not without its silver lining.

Tien can be Saved He won’t, this is an ‘if it ain’t broke’ scenario where Tien is not popular enough to be considered worth salvaging in the eyes of Toyotaro (also Merus is making impressive waves), but even if it’s not this arc there are easy ways to bring Tien back on a high level. Firstly is to bring back Launch, even if it’s not for love interest Dragon Ball is better when you bring back Launch, in seriousness Tien’s strength should be acknowledged (not just his too, Humans get thrown down the gutter but it’s often cited that Gohan’s human half is why he has so much potential, if Jiren boring as his character is can achieve unimaginable strength without Zenkai hax then why not a constantly training human?), a way to make it understandable is by having him, like Vegeta did, branch out of solitude and learn something unique, and the answer is looking you dead in the eye: The Third Eye. Toriyama said that Tien’s eye has the capability of a God, but his dark past had closed it from him, I think decades is enough to bring it back - maybe track down his ancestors to unlock it using the TOP as incentive and Beerus and Whis as people who would know their whereabouts. From there we can have Tien learn newer moves and then find a proper purpose for the series, like one of the Earth’s Protector since Goku is picking fights across Space, Dimensions and Universes, he could even be Trunks and Goten’s sensei and actually fix up their characters. Fact of the matter is that opportunity is there to reintegrate Tien as a valuable ally to Goku and the Earth, maybe not as the Universe’s strongest fighter but the Best Martial Artist

So Why Does Tien Deserve Respect? Tien as a character has been through a lot, but as the first proper Dragon Ball character who went through an effective redemption arc and still sought to train his own way, Tien should deserve respect by default. But it is more than just humble hrm nodding respect, Tien may not be the strongest character in the Franchise but he has been one of Goku’s most consistent allies, almost every threat to the Earth he has come to their aid; King Piccolo, the Saiyans, Mecha Freeza, the Androids, Cell, Buu, Beerus, Golden Freeza and the Tournament of Power, compare that to the likes of Chiaotzu, Yamcha and Roshi and you’ll realise that Tien is on par with Piccolo and Krillin when it comes to backing up his friends. The moves they show him doing do severe harm to himself, reducing his power or his lifeforce, but he also had unique moves he innovated that helped characters out way down the line, also the Four Witches is still awesome and the Dodon Ray is technically still stronger than the Kamehameha (which Tien also knows by the way). The man is fiercely loyal, cares deeply for his friends and even in the face of certain defeat he has stood his ground. This is the man whose triangle made a square hole with Semi-Imperfect Cell - who prior had bested 16, 17 and Piccolo - at the bottom, this is the guy who took on Super Buu with Piccolo and a SSJ3 Fusion Gotenks absorbed within him and had just beaten Mystic Gohan, Tien has bigger balls, courage and warrior spirit than anyone gives him credit for Like him or not, all this should at least be worthy of respect.

[kartiavelino]

How the Kardashians became more powerful than the royals

On Aug. 9, the Kardashian clan descended upon Los Angeles scorching spot Craig’s in all their color-coordinated finery for newly minted billionaire Kylie Jenner’s 21st birthday. Inside the Barbie-themed bash, sisters Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie and Kendall Jenner, together with queen mom Kris Jenner, posed for a household portrait — smiling coyly and sticking up six center fingers. Take into account it their model of the royal wave. Prefer it or not, the Kardashians have risen from reality-TV stars — famed for intercourse tapes, cosmetic surgery and shotgun weddings — to America’s royal household. Critics have discounted the clan as an unlucky blip on our cultural radar. However the women have taken their 15 minutes of fame and created a dynasty that may simply be the most powerful in the world. In Could, Kim efficiently lobbied President Trump to commute the jail sentence of a 63-year-old grandmother, Alice Marie Johnson, who had served more than 20 years on drug prices. Kylie, in the meantime, single-handedly tanked Snapchat’s inventory in February — sending it plummeting $1.three billion — with a disparaging tweet about the social-media platform’s redesign. That’s true energy. They usually’re not simply making waves in the worlds of social justice and enterprise. The household’s interracial relationships have been shifting societal norms since lengthy earlier than the Windsor household was lavished with reward for Prince Harry’s Could marriage to mixed-race Meghan Markle. To many, the Kardashians are the pinnacle of the American dream. Queen Kim, the first on the scene, rose from the Los Angeles model of nothing (Paris Hilton’s closet organizer) to a multi-millionaire with direct entry to the president of the United States. Folks need what the Kardashians have — the “Pleased Birthday” Rolls-Royces, the diamonds value robbing, the audacity to get an earlobe discount so mentioned diamonds sit good. Not like in England, the place royal watchers squeal when Kate Middleton or Markle put on a excessive road model, in the US, the more over-the-top the Kardashians’ purchases, the greater the response. However like every good monarchy, the Kardashians understand they should at the least seem accessible. The Windsors have their walk-abouts, the place they stroll by means of quaint village streets and glad-hand their loyal topics. The Kardashians have interaction with followers on Instagram — the sisters’ collective following totals almost 500 million. If an everyday particular person posts a flattering remark ­underneath considered one of the siblings’ photographs, there’s all the time an opportunity their icon will deem them worthy of a direct response. Conscious that the plebes can’t afford their life, the Kardashians hawk their very own model of royal memorabilia: $29 Kylie Jenner lip kits and $149 Good American denims (that’s Khloé’s line). Need additional proof the Kardashians are more powerful than the Windsors? Not like the actual royals, the sisters are unburdened by almost 10 centuries of custom and protocol. In June, it was reported that Markle obtained a slap on the wrist for having informed an Irish politician she was “happy” by that nation’s pro-abortion vote — going towards the monarchy’s politically impartial stance. The queen stirs tea, not the pot. Kim & Co. might maintain mum about their political affiliations — lest they lose a crimson or blue-state fan — however they’re not afraid to publicly weigh in on high-profile issues. In July 2016, Kim tried to show America’s sweetheart, Taylor Swift, as two-faced. After Swift publicly feigned shock at how she was name-checked in the lyrics of a tune, “Well-known,” by Kim’s husband, rapper Kanye West, Kim Snapchatted a video of West warning Swift of considered one of the more controversial strains — and Swift giving her blessing. Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump A technique the Kardashians are like the Windsors: Typically they must maintain one another in line. In April, after the notoriously outspoken West posted a sequence of tweets praising Trump, he pulled again, writing: “My spouse simply referred to as me and she or he needed me to make this clear to everybody. I don’t agree with the whole lot Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anybody however myself.” Right here’s one other: Many Brits really feel the royals ought to be banished as a result of they’re a waste of taxpayer cash. Many Individuals want the Kardashians would go away as a result of they make our nation seem cheesy and materialistic. And simply as the royals have the causes they champion — Prince Harry for HIV/AIDS, Prince William for neighborhood improvement in Africa — the Kardashians have raised social consciousness. “I’ve by no means seen anybody on tv do such an incredible job of being so inclusive and so numerous,” mentioned Ian Halperin, writer of the e book “Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America’s Royal Household.” There is no such thing as a doubt that the American dialog about gender acceptance has been massively impacted in a optimistic method because of Kylie and Kendall’s father, Caitlyn (né Bruce) Jenner, publicly popping out as transgender in 2015. Whereas Bruce was already well-known as an Olympic champion, the plain reality is that his profile was raised exponentially by his daughters’ and stepdaughters’ success. Would Self-importance Honest have put Caitlyn on the cowl had she not spent eight years on E! as the clan’s goofy dad? They’re additionally breaking down racial boundaries. Three of the sisters — Kim, Khloé and Kylie — have kids with black males. “I feel any civil-rights chief would applaud them for what they’ve achieved,” mentioned Halperin. “You see folks of all ethnicities and backgrounds on their present and that’s considered one of the strongest elements of what they’ve completed.” Like the Windsors, the Kardashian household is a matriarchy with a queen mom — Kris — pulling the strings behind the scenes. She organizes her daughters’ appearances and enterprise offers with royal precision, making certain that every member of her queendom makes a most influence. However lest you assume the Kardashian monarchy is a fad that can fade over time, be warned: This yr alone, three new kids have been born amongst the sisters. There are 9 little Kardashian princes and princesses. One in every of Kim’s children has already appeared in a Fendi advert marketing campaign and two grace the September cowl of Harper’s Bazaar. For God’s sake, Kourtney’s son’s title is Reign! Whereas Kim has lengthy been thought to be the most well-known sister, Kylie — America’s youngest “self-made” billionaire — is nipping at her heels and able to usurp her title. Whoever captures the throne, one factor is for certain — it’s going to be one hell of a coronation. Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/08/18/how-the-kardashians-became-more-powerful-than-the-royals/ The post How the Kardashians became more powerful than the royals appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/08/how-the-kardashians-became-more-powerful-than-the-royals.html

[theconservativebrief]

“I’ve done town hall meetings for 25 years of my life,” says Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC). “But what I saw over the last couple years since Trump came into office was a degree of polarization and friction and animosity that I’d never seen before.”

Sanford recalls one town hall in particular. It was a big crowd of about 1,000 people. But there was this one guy who was just “chewing my head off.” So Sanford went up afterward to talk to him.

“I’m from South Carolina,” Sanford told him. “You are, too. Your vocabulary just doesn’t fit with who I know you to be by reputation.”

As Sanford recalls it, the guy looked back at him and said, “Here’s the deal. If the president of the United States can say anything to anybody at any time on any subject, why can’t I?”

That, Sanford told me, “is the demon that either Trump has unleashed or exposed.”

The opposition to Trump inside the Republican Party has never fallen cleanly along ideological lines. Some of Trump’s strongest supporters are Northeastern Republicans, like Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, whose ideological pragmatism eventually blurred into careerist pandering. Some of his biggest detractors are hardline conservatives whose long practice at withstanding public blowback for their ideas gave them the ballast to make their disgust with Trump’s behavior known.

Mark Sanford is as conservative as they come. He was first elected to Congress as part of the 1994 Republican Revolution, where he was named the most fiscally conservative member of the chamber; then to South Carolina’s governorship in 2002. He became a Republican hero for rejecting President Obama’s stimulus money. By 2010, the libertarian Cato Institute was calling him the best governor in America, and he was being talked about as a possible Republican nominee for president.

Sanford waits for his introduction during a town hall meeting March 18, 2017. That’s not his sign, but he doesn’t seem too perturbed by it. Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Then came the collapse — the scandal, the disappearance to “hike the Appalachian trail,” the revelations of an affair. Yet Sanford made a comeback. He won a special election for the House in 2013. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2014. He won with 58 percent of the vote in 2016. In 25 years, he’d never lost an election, or even come all that close. His career was a testament to how far principled conservatism could take you in South Carolina politics.

But Sanford was a conservative, not a Trumpist. And as a conservative, Trump’s behavior offended him. He wrote a New York Times op-ed calling on Trump to release his tax returns, said the president “fanned the flames of intolerance,” and lamented his lack of constitutional knowledge. “Somebody asked about Article I powers and what he would do to protect them,” Sanford told reporters. “I think his response was, ‘I want to protect Article I, Article II, Article XII,’ going down the list. Of course, there is no Article XII.”

Of Trump, Sanford, a former Eagle Scout, said, “at some level he represents the antithesis, or the undoing, of everything I thought I knew about politics, preparation and life.”

In return, Sanford faced a primary challenge from Katie Arrington, a state legislator who sold herself as the loyal Trumpist Sanford refused to be. And Sanford could feel it working. “People would come up and they say, ‘Look, he’s the quarterback. You got to go with the quarterback.’”

On the night of the election, the president tweeted:

Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018

It was enough. Sanford lost by 2,500 votes.

Sanford’s not alone. The small cadre of Sanford-style Trump skeptics face near-extinction. Many are retiring or being beaten. Those who remain are assimilating. They have quieted, or abandoned, their criticisms of the president after seeing the fates of their colleagues.

The next phase of the Trump era will begin in Washington with a Republican Party purged of most of the members of Congress who sought — and largely failed — to act as the party’s conscience. The question is whether it matters.

Whether Republican lose the House, the Senate, both, or neither, one thing is certain: The ranks of the not-quite-Trumpers will be thinned come January. The highest-profile skeptics are all retiring —Sen. Jeff Flake, Rep. Paul Ryan, and Sen. Bob Corker. Sanford lost his primary.

Behind them are an array of House and Senate Republicans who, though not quite never-Trumpers, are definitely not quite Trumpists, either.

In the New Yorker, George Packer profiles Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA), a backbench House member who fits the brand. The piece is headlined “The demise of the moderate Republican,” but there’s no historically legible sense in which Costello is ideologically moderate. He’s a Paul Ryan conservative whose temperament and district led him to keep some distance from Trump.

“I don’t call myself an ‘anti-Trump Republican,’” Costello told Packer. “It’s not my thing. I’ll speak out about something if I disagree, but I don’t wish to be defined by that.” He’s the kind of Republican who criticized Trump after the violence in Charlottesville and the Helsinki summit but who tried mightily to avoid commenting on — much less condemning — the latest Trump tweet.

Costello is retiring, but he’s the kind of Republican who is most endangered this cycle: not Trumpy enough to thrill the right, not critical enough to win any real plaudits from the left. “Democrats berated him for complicity, Republicans attacked him for disloyalty,” laments Packer.

Democrats will unseat some true Trumpists, but they’re likelier to knock out (or force into retirement) candidates like Costello — Republicans who sit in blueish districts, who support Trump uneasily, criticize him occasionally, and draw at least some lines he can’t cross. As a result, whether Republicans win the House or lose it, they’re going to be returning with a Trumpier caucus.

To Trump’s true critics — the ones who believe he’s a threat to both basic democratic norms and political decency — the not-quite-Trumpers are an endless disappointment. Corker and Flake could’ve joined with their comrade-in-lamentations Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) to form a never-Trump caucus that effectively controlled the Senate. If Trump wanted appointments cleared, if Mitch McConnell wanted judges confirmed, then Trump would have to give up his tax returns or sign legislation protecting Robert Mueller’s investigation from interference.

Nothing like that ever happened. In the eyes of the resistance, the not-quite-Trumpers posture and tweet and make sad sounds to reporters, but they don’t actually do anything. In fact, they supported Trump’s legislative agenda overwhelmingly.

Sad eyes, supportive votes. Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The not-quite-Trumpers see it differently. They support Trump’s congressional agenda because he supports their congressional agenda — holding up the judges they want to confirm in order to curb a president of their own party isn’t a trade they came to Washington to make. But they believe their presence puts boundaries on Trump’s most extreme actions.

After all, Trump didn’t fire Mueller, or even replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He clearly wanted to, but he didn’t. Perhaps that’s because Republicans like Flake were warning that could lead to impeachment. “Mr. President, please don’t go there,” he begged.

I polled a handful of congressional aides on this question. Perhaps predictably, the responses split across party lines: Republicans told me there’d been more, and more effective, behind-the-scenes containment of Trump than people realized. Democrats said the Republican resistance had been so feckless, and so thoroughly quashed, as to be mostly useless.

But mostly useless isn’t the same as completely useless (a stirring endorsement, I know). “It’s about pushing back against authoritarian and autocratic moves,” says Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute. “That is where you see the Flakes and the Sasses a bit. If we lose them, or if those voices are muted, even though it may not make any difference in terms of votes, it becomes easier for Trump to frame these fights as partisan issues.”

My read of the situation is the GOP’s Trump skeptics probably did constrain some of Trump’s most illiberal impulses a year ago. But that’s over, and Trump knows it.

What Trump has proven, decisively, is you can’t be in his party, oppose him, and expect to thrive. Corker and Flake decided to retire rather than fight it out as internal critics. Sanford lost his primary. Democrats are picking off the Republicans who held Trump at arm’s length.

Trump’s remaining Republican critics are changing their tune. Sen. Lindsey Graham, for instance, used to warn of a “constitutional crisis” if the president interfered with Mueller. Now he’s golfing with the president and giving him permission to fire Sessions after the election.

Mitt Romney used to call Trump a “fraud” who “inherited his business” and is “very, very not smart.” Since entering the Utah Senate race, he’s quieted his criticisms of Trump, and been rewarded for it:

.@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018

After the midterm, “expect the GOP to be more Trumpist,” says Sarah Binder, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution. “But it’s also possible, if it’s a strong night for Democrats, that at least some Republicans grow more cautious about Trump and his electoral prospects in 2020.”

If the midterm election ends in a rout for Republicans — if they lose 55 House seats and unexpectedly collapse in the Senate — perhaps a new not-quite-Trump caucus composed of endangered 2020ers like Colorado’s Cory Gardner and temperamental opponents like Romney might emerge.

But if the midterm ends in a stalemate where Democrats narrowly take the House and Republicans gain seats in the Senate, and particularly if it ends with Republicans defying expectations and keeping control of both chambers, we will see Trump unleashed. He’ll have nothing to fear from his own party, and if Democrats take the House, he’ll be delighted to provoke confrontation with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It’s an article of faith in the White House that impeachment proceedings would backfire on Democrats, and so Trump may see actions that court such a response as a win-win.

Since winning office, Trump has often talked like an authoritarian, but he mostly has refrained from acting like one. But as his administration gets purged of skeptics and his party gets purged of opponents, it’s possible that could change.

Similarly, a Trumpier Republican Party now means a Trumpier Republican Party in the future. “One of the most important questions of American politics right now is whether Republicans will ‘snap back’ if Trump is defeated in 2020, or whether they will remain the voice of authoritarian populism,” says political scientist Yascha Mounk. “The fewer traditional conservatives there are in the party, and especially in elected office, the bleaker the prospects for leaving Trumpism behind once Trump is gone.”

When I talked with Sanford, he was comfortable with his loss but depressed by the way he saw his party becoming a cult of personality.

“If you read [Friederich] Hayek’s book The Road to Serfdom,” he said, “what it talks about is how in open political systems, over time, they become more and more dysfunctional, to the point that the electorate gets frustrated. Then a strongman comes along and says, ‘Look, I’ll take care of these problems for you.’ You’re going to give him a couple freedoms, but ‘I’ll take care of these problems for you.’ And the deal is struck. That’s obviously the story of the rise of Hitler.”

“We’re playing with some of those same things,” he says.

[embedded content]

Original Source -> The fall of the not-quite-Trumpers

via The Conservative Brief

[flickdirect]

Geoffrey Chaucer is attributed with coining the phrase "All good things must come to an end" and with Black Sails, that is sadly true. Starz aired its fourth and final season- of this epic story this past season and The Complete Fourth Season is available on Blu-ray for purchase.

Much aligned with Starz' penchant for airing wonderfully enjoyable mature content, Black Sails brought sex, violence, pirates, and a rich history to our homes for fours years. While not a show for the entire family, adults in the house who have never seen Black Sails are missing out on an epic story. Black Sails navigates the final season like none other- it seems to be the best season yet and definitely one of the strongest seasons of all of the Starz shows, to date. Instead of just focusing on old characters and prior storylines, Black Sails introduces us to new faces, such as Israel Hands (David Wilmot; The Tudors), who is an ally to the infamous Blackbeard. While finding Long John Silver (Luke Arnold; The Tunnel) a prospective "treasure", his newfound loyalty to Silver colors much of Season Four, pushing Silver to limits much needed. One of the most beloved lines in the season is when Hands accuses Silver of not making up his mind- "You don't know? Why should I … follow you if you don't know? Why would anyone?" The interaction between the two strikes at the heart- Hands makes it known that he will not be a babysitter or a friend- but he will be loyal.

While the season finale sets us up for a Treasure Island storyline that can reasonably follow, the actors in Black Sails never lost steam the entire season. Actors are usually as good as the storyline- I have seen amazing actors fall flat on their face because the story was underdeveloped- but Season Four of Black Sails is on the opposite spectrum. In fact, Season Four was the best season ever in regards to the actors dynamic and the fact that the plot was better developed and engaging than prior seasons (I know- hard to believe Black Sails could get even better than the year before). The cast- actors, writers, directors, production crew- everyone involved- seemed to give everything they had to make this season the most powerful yet- leaving its fans rewarded for watching Black Sails throughout these past few years.

Black Sails is presented in 1080p High Definition with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. There is no difference from the precise HD presentation that has been present for the three previous seasons - caked on blood and grime, homespun or elegant clothing, chiseled features of the actors is highly accurate and sharp. The depth with which the details are presented is magnificent. Blacks are inky and skin tones are natural. Honestly, the picture quality is supportive of the storyline - just like you will get caught up in the plot, you will get caught up in the realistic and detailed definition of the video presentation.

Audio is presented in 7.1 Dolby TrueHD. Sound quality is dynamic with concise dialogue and emotion heard throughout. Sound effects are clear and impressive without being overdone, such as cannons and gunfire. Waves heard are subtle and well placed, not taking over the scene when on the ship. The instrumental music in opening scenes and throughout is impressive. The background sound supports the storyline and immerses the viewer in their details.

The Blu-ray features many bonus features on Disc 3- all presented in 1080p HD, as well as a digital Ultraviolet copy of the series.

Inside the World of Black Sails: Almost 20 minutes of recaps by each episode including some of the making-of parts.

Creating the World: Listen to a brief overview of the production of Season 4.

Roundtable: Women in Piracy: Almost two minutes about the shows female stars.

Roundtable: The Legends of Treasure Island: Woman actors aren't the only bonus feature- listen to a few moments from our beloved swashbucklers.

Roundtable: Fearless Fans: The actors share stories about the fans.

Fans around the world will surely miss a new season of Black Sails. What is wonderful is that no one will have to miss this past season. Black Sails: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray / Digital combo is a treasure to definitely claim.

Grade: B

About Jennifer Broderick A graduate of The George Washington University and Nova Southeastern Law School Jennifer Fischer Broderick’s fascination with the movie world started when she first saw Snow White on the big screen as a young child. When the producers of the movie Annie held auditions in NYC, Jennifer stood on line in the cold to try out for a part and actually made it past the first few try-outs. A vivacious reader, she is fascinated watching books and stories brought to life on the big screen. Jennifer has passed her love of movies onto her children and they are often found planning their weekends around opening premieres.

Read more reviews and content by Jennifer Broderick.

via FlickDirect Entertainment News and Film Reviews

[minnievirizarry]

6 Essential Steps to Increase Facebook Organic Reach & Grow Your Audience

Far too often, brands spend days devising a Facebook marketing strategy only to see their post go live and ultimately show very little traffic or engagement. You immediately think what went wrong or what if no one really likes our brand? Don’t go down that dark rabbit hole because Facebook organic reach is still a struggle for even some of the biggest brands.

In fact, SocialFlow discovered brands saw a 42% decline in Facebook organic reach within the first two quarters of 2016. Additionally, data showed by the third quarter of 2016, brands experienced a 52% decline (10 percentage point drop) on Facebook Pages.

Let’s be honest–Facebook organic reach is extremely tough for those looking to boost their Page without ads. But there are ways to improve your reach and build a Facebook audience. Here are six steps to help your brand increase Facebook organic reach:

1. Use Facebook as a Community Hub

Having trouble building an audience on your Facebook Business Page? Ask yourself this–why should people even follow you on Facebook? If there’s no reward for hitting the Like button, most users won’t bother in the first place.

However, giving customers a rhyme and a reason to click “Like” on your page sweetens the pot a bit. One way marketers increase their Facebook community is by making a hub for discussions. Whether it’s weekly chats, a place for digital industry gatherings or simple Q&As, making your Facebook Page the go-to spot will help.

Offer your fans something unique that they can only get on your Facebook Page. That way people know there’s a payoff to follow and Like your page. This means you have to stay active, constantly offer new topics of discussion and hone in on the community aspect.

Bringing users in through community building is a great way to not only increase engagement, but get people to notice your brand organically. The more people interact with your brand on Facebook, the likelier your Facebook posts will pop up in their feed.

2. Funnel Traffic From Other Pages

Building that initial audience is one of the hardest parts of increasing Facebook organic reach. And a simple way to increase traffic is to consistently remind audiences in other channels about your Facebook presence.

We’re not recommending to go overboard with Tweets and Instagram posts linking to Facebook. At the same time, what’s the harm of letting people know where to find you on Facebook within your Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram bio?

If not there, what about on your website? Is there an easy click to Like your Facebook Page on your homepage? Don’t worry about overhauling your website, but providing more than enough links to your Facebook page can do wonders. To add to this idea, try posting on whichever platform has the larger audience and remind users you’re on Facebook.

Take lessons from the first tip and let people know what to expect or what they’ll get in return for following you on Facebook. Open communication is always the best for a healthy relationship, so why not bring this aspect to your loyal customers?

3. Find & Collaborate With Influencers

To piggyback on the last tip, another channel you could use to get more traffic is social media influencers. These power users can drive authentic traffic to your Facebook page with the right strategy in place.

According to MuseFind, 92% of consumers are more likely to trust a social media influencer over an ad or celebrity endorsement. While this isn’t the most ���organic” way to increase traffic since influencers often have a price tag for their work, it’s still a method to funnel potential customers.

You might not find that many influencers willing to work for free, so try to sweeten the deal with perks to help their brand recognition on your website or through link building. But you don’t want to start emailing a bunch of influencers and asking to work for free. No one wants to open that email–ever.

Use Influencer Search Tools

Instead of emailing blindly, try using influencer search tools to find the perfect match. BuzzSumo is a great place to locate, analyze or discover non-celebrity influencers in your industry. With easy search functions, you can limit results to bloggers, journalists, companies or regular social media users who just have good followings.

Be careful to research your results by looking influencers up on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to ensure they’re active with their audience. If you’re in a more general industry, try to narrow search terms for your company to find the perfect fit.

Follow users on social sites, interact and engage and then begin discussing collaborative strategies that could help both sides. Show influencers you’re invested and tell them your real problems like “nobody visits my Facebook.”

Another simple tool to use is LinkedIn. It’s the largest professional social network for a reason. So use LinkedIn’s user search to find those active and engaging people in your industry. Again, try to follow users on multiple profiles before sending any spammy emails.

4. Know Your Optimal Times to Post on Facebook

It’s hard to tell the difference between being spammy and attentive on Facebook. Out of the major social media networks, it’s one of the few places users don’t like brands to be too active. Even CoSchedule’s research from 10 studies discovered the middle ground for posting to Facebook at only once a day.

If you couple that with Sprout Social’s 2017 Q1 Index discovery that 29% of baby boomers will unfollow a brand for being to spammy, it’s easy to see the dangers of over-posting. This is why brands have to be cautious when they post and how much.

Now that you know your brand should rarely post more than once a day, what time should you publish? It’s smart to learn your most optimal Facebook posting times and luckily, we did research on the best times to post to social media. Here’s what we found for Facebook:

The most recommended day to post is Thursday.

The most active time is 1 p.m. on Thursday.

The strongest days to post are between Wednesday and Sunday.

The safest time to post is practically any day between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The least recommended time to post is during early mornings and late nights.

5. Schedule Consistent Content

After learning how much and when to post to Facebook, it’s time to make sure your content is consistent. While it might not seem like a critical aspect to your Facebook organic reach, consistent content is everything.

Think of what social media actually does for your customers–it’s a line of communication where you want to build a relationship. If you only engage or post a few times a month, or try various content types, you’re not creating a clear path of communication.

Increasing Facebook organic reach is about being persistent and reliable with your content. You ultimately build trust with users as you post in relative themes. For example, Groupon is notorious for its various deals, which would make posting a news-related article out of place. Instead, the company shares Mother’s Day deals and other topical content that wouldn’t necessarily surprise readers.

However, other brands who rely on topical events, may need to update content to match breaking news or industry updates. The main goal should be to provide content your target audience wants.

More Ways to Stay Consistent

Like we mentioned, consistency is everything to your social media content strategy. But there are other ways to make sure you’re consistent by addressing holidays, product updates or new marketing strategies.

It starts with intuitive social media scheduling tools. By using software like Sprout Social, you can easily schedule all your Facebook content, across multiple profiles, days or weeks in advance. Our social media calendar allows you to view your scheduled content across all platforms, so your entire team is on track with what’s being published.

And on Facebook, you’ll be able to schedule one-off and recurring posts through Sprout. You can manually choose the day and time you want to post, or use our ViralPost feature to automatically choose the best time to publish to get the most engagement.

6. Don’t Just Rely on Organic Content

Last but not least, it’s in your best interest to use as many different channels for Facebook–which includes paid ads. Facebook has quickly become one of the biggest paid social ad channels. This means you have to include paid strategies into a successful Facebook marketing plan.

When you only rely on organic Facebook methods, you’re missing out on opportunities to grow your audience. However, if you don’t consider organic in your strategy, your Facebook Business Page will be boring to your followers.

We understand that advertising on Facebook might be a bit pricy for some brands, but organic content can help you save in the long run.

How?

Use organic content to analyze and test to see what works best. Once you understand more about what your audience wants, your brand can then use the same content strategies for paid ads. It’s smart to A/B test content on paid and organic channels as well.

Users tend to act differently when it comes to paid and organic content. Luckily with Sprout Social, you can track your engagement across organic channels and even respond to comments on paid Facebook posts.

Be smart with your Facebook strategy and use organic content to increase your reach on the world’s most popular social media channel!

This post 6 Essential Steps to Increase Facebook Organic Reach & Grow Your Audience originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-organic-reach/

[kartiavelino]

The Kardashians are officially more powerful than the Windsors

On Aug. 9, the Kardashian clan descended upon Los Angeles sizzling spot Craig’s in all their color-coordinated finery for newly minted billionaire Kylie Jenner’s 21st birthday. Inside the Barbie-themed bash, sisters Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie and Kendall Jenner, together with queen mom Kris Jenner, posed for a household portrait — smiling coyly and sticking up six center fingers. Contemplate it their model of the royal wave. Prefer it or not, the Kardashians have risen from reality-TV stars — famed for intercourse tapes, cosmetic surgery and shotgun weddings — to America’s royal household. Critics have discounted the clan as an unlucky blip on our cultural radar. However the girls have taken their 15 minutes of fame and created a dynasty which may simply be the most powerful in the world. In Might, Kim efficiently lobbied President Trump to commute the jail sentence of a 63-year-old grandmother, Alice Marie Johnson, who had served more than 20 years on drug costs. Kylie, in the meantime, single-handedly tanked Snapchat’s inventory in February — sending it plummeting $1.three billion — with a disparaging tweet about the social-media platform’s redesign. That’s true energy. And so they’re not simply making waves in the worlds of social justice and enterprise. The household’s interracial relationships have been shifting societal norms since lengthy earlier than the Windsor household was lavished with reward for Prince Harry’s Might marriage to mixed-race Meghan Markle. To many, the Kardashians are the pinnacle of the American dream. Queen Kim, the first on the scene, rose from the Los Angeles model of nothing (Paris Hilton’s closet organizer) to a multi-millionaire with direct entry to the president of the United States. Individuals need what the Kardashians have — the “Glad Birthday” Rolls-Royces, the diamonds value robbing, the audacity to get an earlobe discount so mentioned diamonds sit excellent. In contrast to in England, the place royal watchers squeal when Kate Middleton or Markle put on a excessive road model, in the US, the more over-the-top the Kardashians’ purchases, the greater the response. However like several good monarchy, the Kardashians notice they should not less than seem accessible. The Windsors have their walk-abouts, the place they stroll via quaint village streets and glad-hand their loyal topics. The Kardashians have interaction with followers on Instagram — the sisters’ collective following totals practically 500 million. If an everyday individual posts a flattering remark ­below certainly one of the siblings’ images, there’s at all times an opportunity their icon will deem them worthy of a direct response. Conscious that the plebes can’t afford their existence, the Kardashians hawk their very own model of royal memorabilia: $29 Kylie Jenner lip kits and $149 Good American denims (that’s Khloé’s line). Need additional proof the Kardashians are more powerful than the Windsors? In contrast to the actual royals, the sisters are unburdened by practically 10 centuries of custom and protocol. In June, it was reported that Markle acquired a slap on the wrist for having instructed an Irish politician she was “happy” by that nation’s pro-abortion vote — going towards the monarchy’s politically impartial stance. The queen stirs tea, not the pot. Kim & Co. could maintain mum about their political affiliations — lest they lose a pink or blue-state fan — however they’re not afraid to publicly weigh in on high-profile issues. In July 2016, Kim tried to reveal America’s sweetheart, Taylor Swift, as two-faced. After Swift publicly feigned shock at how she was name-checked in the lyrics of a track, “Well-known,” by Kim’s husband, rapper Kanye West, Kim Snapchatted a video of West warning Swift of certainly one of the more controversial traces — and Swift giving her blessing. Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump A technique the Kardashians are like the Windsors: Typically they must maintain one another in line. In April, after the notoriously outspoken West posted a collection of tweets praising Trump, he pulled again, writing: “My spouse simply referred to as me and she or he wished me to make this clear to everybody. I don’t agree with all the pieces Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anybody however myself.” Right here’s one other: Many Brits really feel the royals ought to be banished as a result of they’re a waste of taxpayer cash. Many Individuals want the Kardashians would go away as a result of they make our nation seem cheesy and materialistic. And simply as the royals have the causes they champion — Prince Harry for HIV/AIDS, Prince William for neighborhood growth in Africa — the Kardashians have raised social consciousness. “I’ve by no means seen anybody on tv do such a terrific job of being so inclusive and so various,” mentioned Ian Halperin, creator of the e-book “Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America’s Royal Household.” There isn’t any doubt that the American dialog about gender acceptance has been vastly impacted in a optimistic manner because of Kylie and Kendall’s father, Caitlyn (né Bruce) Jenner, publicly popping out as transgender in 2015. Whereas Bruce was already well-known as an Olympic champion, the plain reality is that his profile was raised exponentially by his daughters’ and stepdaughters’ success. Would Vainness Truthful have put Caitlyn on the cowl had she not spent eight years on E! as the clan’s goofy dad? They’re additionally breaking down racial limitations. Three of the sisters — Kim, Khloé and Kylie — have kids with black males. “I believe any civil-rights chief would applaud them for what they’ve completed,” mentioned Halperin. “You see folks of all ethnicities and backgrounds on their present and that’s certainly one of the strongest elements of what they’ve completed.” Like the Windsors, the Kardashian household is a matriarchy with a queen mom — Kris — pulling the strings behind the scenes. She organizes her daughters’ appearances and enterprise offers with royal precision, making certain that every member of her queendom makes a most influence. However lest you suppose the Kardashian monarchy is a fad that may fade over time, be warned: This 12 months alone, three new kids had been born amongst the sisters. There are 9 little Kardashian princes and princesses. One in every of Kim’s youngsters has already appeared in a Fendi advert marketing campaign and two grace the September cowl of Harper’s Bazaar. For God’s sake, Kourtney’s son’s identify is Reign! Whereas Kim has lengthy been thought to be the most well-known sister, Kylie — America’s youngest “self-made” billionaire — is nipping at her heels and able to usurp her title. Whoever captures the throne, one factor is for positive — it’s going to be one hell of a coronation. Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/08/18/how-the-kardashians-became-more-powerful-than-the-royals/ The post The Kardashians are officially more powerful than the Windsors appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/08/the-kardashians-are-officially-more-powerful-than-the-windsors.html