#and if your relationship is legally recognized you still need to protect everybody involved

[fukuwatchesbl]

I don’t know what the legislation is in Thailand, but this always bugs me. There are places where you can put both your names on a bank account even if you aren’t married, either as private people (me and my partner in France did that for the household expenses), or as business partners by both owning part of the business.

No but I genuinely can't stop thinking about all the ways Beam betrayed Jim. I can't stop thinking about how everything was in Beam's name probably because Jim's finances were such that Beam looked better to the banks, and how much it must have taken as a person who grew up in poverty like Jim to trust Beam with his money like that, how much in love he must have been. I can't stop thinking about how Beam didn't do anything to protect Jim's hard-earned financial stability. Sure he probably didn't expect to die tragically in a ferry accident, and nobody in love wants to think about the love possibly ending someday, but NOTHING? Jim didn't keep money under the mattress? He trusted Beam that much? I think about my aunties and great aunties who from even before I was old enough to understand what they were saying and why were telling me 'you must always have your own' and always had cash squirreled away in their house somewhere. Like, Jim not really having queer community then meant that he never learned that lesson until he learned it the hard way. Because I'm sure that as a man it never occurred to him that he could be in that situation until Beam's parents were taking everything from him.

Jim might forgive Beam, but I sure as shit never will.

[cryptovalid]

The weird politics of the Blip

The more the MCU fleshes out the events after Avengers: Endgame, but especially in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the less sense the geopolitics of the MCU makes to me. In this essay I will be sharing my perspectives on politics in the MCU. If you’re not interested in that sort of thing, don’t feel obligated to engage. Also, by the very nature of this essay it will involve spoilers for the MCU and discussions of topics like state violence and terrorism, so consider this a trigger warning.

It’s an understatement to say that the world would change radically if half the population would randomly disintegrate, and I understand that speculating on the consequences of those people coming back after five years is no simple task. There might even be story considerations I am unaware of.

But the idea that the world’s governments would immediately start forcibly removing people from the homes they lived in for five years, to accommodate people who were declared dead five years ago sounds really strange to me. Let’s explore this.

If you were the survivor of a disaster that cut the world’s population in half, what would this look like to you? You’ve presumably went through a lot of hardship and trauma in the years following. You’ve sold some of the things belonging to your deceased loved ones, or bought stuff from other people in a similar situation. You may have relocated, started a new family. Grieved.

And suddenly those people you literally saw turn to dust in front of you just appear again, like nothing happened? Literally in the same befuddled state in which they died. 

And I have to stress: they died. there is no way to suggest that a person can be atomized and still be alive.

So why would you even trust that this was the same person? In a very real sense, it’s an identical copy of your deceased loved one. Similar to teleportation, this should cause us to wonder if they were truly resurrected, or merely cloned. What kinds of rights do they have, being legally deceased? Would we even know if these were impostors, if the situation changed them somehow?

I’m not saying there’s no answer to these questions, just that people should disagree on this. People would have high-minded philosophical, scientific and religious debates. Conspiracy theories and fistfights. This is by far the most world-changing event ever recorded. It should have massive ethical, political and spiritual implications.

And what I think we should think about is that these people who returned have nothing. They have no memory or lived experience to prepare them for this different world, all of their material possessions belong to someone else now, and by definition, all political, economic and military power is held by those who stayed, who now have a material conflict of interest, because if they acknowledge that you are the same person and deserving of the things you had 5 years ago, they have to give it back. Even without the administrative nightmare this would represent, the returned have nothing. Even their work experience is practically meaningless, especially in high-paying jobs. 

What would happen if Steve Jobs somehow magically returned, having no idea what Apple had been doing in the last couple of years, and demanded to be put back in charge of Apple? It’s not exactly an easy ‘yes’, is it? The world’s power balance would be forever shifted. 

I’m not saying everybody would be unsympathetic to the plight of the people who unblipped. But I am saying there would be a massive movement or series of movements opposed to giving them back their stuff. And I’m saying that movement would not only be popular but also backed by every powerful business interest and government.

Because realistically, the unblipped would be the refugees. They are the ones who would have lost everything, fighting an uphill legal battle to even be recognized as alive and as the same person they were 5 years ago. They would be the ones in camps, waiting for supplies.

Ironically, they would be the ones most hurt by the status quo returning to normal, as there is no way to keep massive famines and shortages from happening in this situation without international coordination. 

So why did the MCU decide on the opposite idea? There are two arguments I can think of: one narrative, and one political. On a narrative level, speculating on a changed world is complicated and risky. If Marvel wants to make stories relevant to us in our world, they have to more or less get back to a status quo we would recognize before it would complicate their properties going forward.

The second reason, I think, is that to truly explore a world like this is radical and potentially a liability for Disney, both in terms of their audience and their relationship with the US military.

Of course any real discussion on policy in this situation requires the heroes to at least pay lip service to a political opinion, which could cost them a lot of fans. We are talking about the legitimacy of borders, of private ownership. Any examination of the edge cases will cause people to have Strong Opinions of their own. In a crisis like this, can people squat in empty houses? Do these people have human rights and refugee status, and how should those be protected in the real world? Can any state justly displace people and if not, are these people allowed to disobey the government or even fight them?

Since the US military subsidizes Marvel’s use of military hardware, it has script approval. So that can also explain why they can’t make the US government the bad guy or present a truly different world where the US military is rightfully no longer in control. 

Who can legitimately deprive people of things they need to survive in a crisis like this? What’s more important: the right to own a house and keep it empty if we so choose, or the right to live in a house? 

If we get too deeply into it, Karly’s position (in theory) seems very compelling, like Erik Killmonger’s before her. And so, they have to make her (like him) a hypocrite who goes too far, so it doesn’t seem like the MCU is advocating violence against the state. 

Karly’s ideology is muddled by the writers because the violence she performs has no chance of actually achieving her goals of global solidarity. It feels tacked on to make her less sympathetic. Realistically, someone like Karli would be holding political rallies, sit-ins. Writing op-eds, staging marches and organizing her community into self-sufficiency. Possibly getting into fights with the cops during evictions or protests. If you read Falcon and the Winter Soldier as a kind of allegory for American politics, then Walker represents Trump, Sam represents Obama, and Karly represents... whatever conservatives think socialism/BLM is?

So it feels like FatWS is trying to thread the needle: Nationalism is bad, but so is statelessness. A state should have integrity, and benevolence. And it can have those things, if represented by the right people. Then, the violence is just and measured. It’s barely even violence at all.

I’m kidding of course, the kinds of solutions the MCU offers are basically ‘Co-Intelpro, PMC’s and neighbourhood watches... but run by morally perfect people’. It’s the way a propagandist would represent clandestine domestic espoinage or police brutality: Sam and Bucky would never kill anybody defenseless, and they would never interfere with legitimate polical movements. Because the writers create a perfect world where it’s always clear what everybody’s intention is before the fighting starts, and non-lethal violence is a reliable default option, no more morally problematic than some rough-housing by rambunctious kids.

I know I can trust Sam and Bucky because the writers would never give them realistic implicit biases in a way that would endanger their moral character. They are perfect because they are not real.

The robots, aliens and wizards are not the only unrealistic thing about the MCU. we have to be aware of how artificial the politics are, even if we want to suspend our disbelief. Or else we end up trusting politicians when they embrace a fundamentally immoral status quo, and let thousands die to maintain it (I know, a WILD hypothetical that will surely never come true, but worth keeping an eye out for.)  

The politics that a blip would realistically set in motion are so different from our own, that it would call into question the legitimacy of private ownership and the state. In order to avoid upsetting its fans and its financiers, the MCU has to return to a status quo where those political realities can be taken for granted.    

[cybersecurityinfo]

Tips to Ensure the Prevention of Spoofing, Phishing, and Spam in Google Workspace

With increasing dependency on the web and modernization of the industries moving to the cloud, data security and vulnerability to scams have become a major point of concern. Spoofing, Phishing, Spams are few threats an individual or an entire organization is always prone to in the current scenario.

Now, what do these terms- Spoofing, Phishing, and Spamming mean?

Spoofing- is a criminal activity where a scammer tries to get access to someone's personal information by pretending to be a legitimate business.

Phishing-Phishing attacks are always ensuring you are who you say you are and that any information you provide is genuine. There have been several recent high-profile cyber breaches involving UK government departments. Information that could uncover sources of classified information has been released online, compromising military and diplomatic networks. This has resulted in the necessity for individuals to train themselves how to spot phishing scams in their own inboxes.

The most common source of phishing attacks are emails sent to employees or customers that seem to come from legitimate sources but are loaded with malicious macros or spyware hiding amongst legitimate documents or other material designed to infiltrate computer systems. Aside from trivializing the browsing experience of those who receive them, these tactics also serve as a boon for scammers looking to infiltrate employee or business networks to steal data or infiltrate organizations in hopes of causing financial harm.

Spamming-It is important to understand that there is a difference between spamming and unwanted email. Unwanted email is unwanted because it is bulk and impersonal. Spamming, on the other hand, is personalized and comes from a genuine place. If you want something from someone (an answer to a question, for example), it's important not to fall for the tactics used by spammers. Email marketing has become one of the most potent forms of internet marketing, used to send out hundreds or even thousands of emails to thousands of recipients in an attempt to build a database of potentially interested parties. This forms a huge part of spamming as it will always outnumber genuine emails, which makes it much easier to identify and deal with spam messages.

If you send mass emails without looking for feedback or educational purposes, you run a high risk of spammers finding your address and sending you junk mail. Avoid making purchases from sources that offer free shipping or require you to validate your ID before getting your products. Avoid sending out marketing emails unless you have a good relationship with the senders and can trust them to deliver only legally obtained products or services. It's important to realize that today's social networking is a whole-of-communication platform wherein every message or piece of content is equally available to everybody within a given circle. This creates the urgent need to fight spamming and connect people in a more constructive way. Of late, social networking sites have introduced a feature wherein you can report spamming emails or social media posts to the respective service providers.

Below are a few tips that an Admin of an Organization who has just moved into.

cloud emails with Google Workspace can implement in order to prevent the threats.

Sender policy framework is an email authentication technique that publishes authorized mail servers to send emails for your domain. SPF protects your domain from spoofing and helps to ensure that messages are delivered correctly. It has been designed to improve the overall security of e-mail communication by creating a visible reputation system for sending e-mail messages from an organization. Consequently, SPF also helps avoid spamming. Mail servers verify the origin of emails using the Domain Name System (DNS) records. An SPF record is included in each email message, indicating which mail servers issued the email.

If a domain is registered with multiple mail service providers, then each provider will forward mail to the corresponding mail server. However, since these providers may not keep a consistent record of who owns what domain, SPF falls short of protecting against spoofing and human error. Sender Policy Framework is an email authentication technique that publishes authorized mail servers to send emails for your domain. SPF protects your domain from spoofing and helps to ensure that messages are delivered correctly. SPF prevents spoofing using Gmail accounts by default; however, you can change this behavior and return mail to the sender by including an SPF record in your domain's MX records or adding Spam Warning in your email Header (as well as any other Within Network record).

DomainKey Identified Mail (DKIM) is a protocol that improves email delivery security. It can be used for several purposes, but most importantly it improves message authentication. By ensuring that messages are signed by the actual domain owner, it enables the originator to be verified and protected when sending emails from an address that might not be authorized. The problem with relying solely on email providers to implement domain key-based e-mail protection is that they often implement it in a way that makes it difficult for spammers to hide their identities.

This is why you have to find ways to ensure that your DKIM signed emails aren't automatically deleted by your recipient's mail client or server. You can prevent spammers from sending you spam emails by following best practices for email filtering. By implementing a spam filter, you can also quickly identify when a message is from a known source. Spam filters use DomainKeys Infrastructure (DKI), a public key infrastructure for email domains. When you communicate with an email server using HTTPS, both sides of the communication have a private, randomly generated key a DomainKeys Header. This is used to encrypt the data flow between your computer and the email server. It prevents spoofing of your identity across different servers.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance or DMARC record is a standardized email authentication method used by organization admins to prevent hackers and other scammers from spoofing their domain. It also helps the admins to request reports that get messages from the company or domain from email servers.

Any changes to your domain will result in the email service using DMARC to send an alert to your at least local domain administrators, including the senior management if there are changes made on the upper-level domain DNS is used to resolve the domain name into an IP address. Without this step, a fake site could still be displayed in your browser because the browser would interpret the domain name as referring to a real server instead of the intended one.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance or DMARC record is a standardized email authentication method used by organization admins to prevent hackers and other scammers from spoofing their domain. It also helps the admins to request reports that get messages from the company or domain from email servers and It also helps the admins to request reports that get messages from the company or domain from email servers. To help them recognize malicious activity and potential authentication problems for messages sent from their domain, these reports have details.

The 3 major security measures of DKIM, DMARC, and SPF that Google recommends to ensure the prevention of spoofing, phishing, and spam in Google Workspace boosts an organization’s dependency and helps them explore a secure email solution like Google Workspace.

Source :-https://atozcybersecurity.blogspot.com/2021/09/tips-to-ensure-prevention-of-spoofing.html

[ourmrmel]

Mel Feller MPA, MHR, Details How to Start a Home based Business

Mel Feller MPA, MHR, Details How to Start a Homebased Business

 Mel is the President/Founder of Mel Feller Seminars with Coaching for Success 360, Inc. and Mel Feller Coaching. Mel Feller is an Innovator and Business Leader. Mel Feller currently maintains offices in Texas and in Utah. Currently an MBA Candidate.

  Family businesses come with many advantages and this is why they have been able to thrive in the country despite all odds. Businesses started up by family members provide a number of advantages, and the most common is freedom, independence, and control. In addition, they also offer many lifestyle benefits such as flexibility.

   Mel Feller MPA, MHR, Details How to Start a Homebased Business

One of the drawbacks of starting a family business is that most family businesses find it difficult to implement a succession plan. In the event of the sudden demise of the founder, the remaining family members do not know where to begin to pick up the pieces. This is the reason why most family businesses do not succeed to the next generation as leadership fights have crashed

more than a few family run firms.

 Succession becomes an issue when the senior generation does not allow the junior generation the necessary room to grow, effectively develop, and eventually assume the leadership of the business.

  Family communication, conflict with relatives, and sibling relationships typically rank among the top ten concerns among family-owned businesses. When these issues conflict with shareholder value, it often becomes necessary to bring in an outside consultant to deal with them.

  A business idea can come from anywhere and any source. It could be an interest in the family, a collective hobby, or a creative idea that was just dropped by someone, but whatever the source, whenever a family decides to start a business collectively, they must follow certain procedures.

  Since this business is not like an ordinary sole-proprietor business, certain things have to be put into consideration to protect the business both in the here and in the future. Following these simple rules would ensure you set up a very viable family business that can last for generations. Therefore, by following these Mel Feller tips on how to a home based family business, you should be able to join the ranks of other successful family owned businesses.

   Appraise your idea

 Ideas are usually the acorns from which businesses grow. You or a family member must have just stumbled into an idea of how to sell pizza with an awesome pizza recipe that was handed down from generation to generation. This is a great idea no doubt, but you have to figure out if your neighborhood needs another pizza parlor, if people are likely to fall for grandma’s pizza recipe, if your neighborhood is the right place for such business, if your family is dogged enough to run a business etc.

  Note that everybody must be included in this discussion, because if some people are just not interested, then your idea may not see the light of day. If you have appraised all these and other related questions, and you are comfortable with your answers, then it is time to get things started.

   Assess skills and experience

 Look at the talents, experience, strengths and weaknesses of each member of the family and determine the best role for each person. Do you have someone who can work the grills, who can handle publicity, who can do the legwork, fill orders?

  Please note that you must not force everyone to join your business, as not every family member will share your dreams or passions. Only work with people who have indicated a certain level of interest. I would also recommend that employees outside the family should fill gaps in experience or skills.

   Be ready for the worst

 Business is an investment that can always go both ways, so everyone who is willing to lay down finances for the business should prepare for the possibility of losing his or her investment.

  If three brothers for example are all going to invest money in the company, they each must understand that there is a risk of losing their investment. Find out everyone’s attitude towards risk and whether they can accept possible failure. However, failure does lead to lessons that can improve yourself or future businesses.

   Bring everybody up to speed

 Make certain family members, not just those who will be working in the company, recognize the difficulties and sacrifices necessary to start a business. They may face a reduction in lifestyle because the company will not generate lots of money right away. Starting a company is time consuming. Family members may be away from home more than their spouses would like.

You should equally access their temperaments and make sure they can work together as a team without constantly being in conflict. The possibility of starting a business together can make or break a family. Some families come closer together in challenging times while others shut each other out.

  Again, make sure all the family members who will be involved are enthusiastic about the venture and not doing it reluctantly or out of a sense of obligation.

   Figure out how to find startup capital and how to share profits

  Not many businesses start without financing, so the family has to figure out where to find their startup capital. Talk with each other about who can contribute what in terms of financial support. You should also discuss the splitting of profits. You should also make a decision together about where you will find additional financial support.

  Money is always a source of conflict in family businesses where procedures were not properly discussed. Therefore, always inform family members about the finances for the business. You equally need to sort out how each contributor will be repaid and with what percentage rate.

   Choose leaders

 This process is quite imperative as it could provide another source of conflict. Deciding early who will be in charge of what can help each family member have a sense of control and purpose.

Assuming that you would sort this part out as you go along can breed fights and bad blood, so it must be settled.

  A key on how to choose leaders for your family business is to assess each person’s potential and decide where they would fit in perfectly. It is a fact that there are people who are natural leaders and organizers, so maybe you should leave such one to head the business. The extrovert and easy speaker should handle marketing and publicity. If roles were shared within the business, it would make sense to everyone.

   Set up your business

 No matter how small a business you want to set up, you should know that starting a business is no easy, it involves many technicalities, and each step you miss would breed problems for you. If you cannot go the route alone, then you need to contact the Small Business Association (SBA).

The SBA exists to help make the process a bit easier for you. In some cases, they may be able to help you find investors or secure a loan to get your business off the ground.

Even if you do not need the extra financial support, it is still a good idea to reach out to them since they may be able to offer you lots of information on how to get your business started.

    Draw up a business plan

 No matter how small a business is, it needs a business plan to guide it. One family member might be in charge of writing this plan, but all family members involved in getting the business set up should have an opportunity to give their own input on how the business should run and make profit.

  The family members involved in the business should have series of meeting to give their ideas on what they think would be the best action plan for the business. Anyone who is left out of any process may feel hurt.

   Sort out location, license and permits

 If your business would require customers to come into your shop regularly, like a pizza parlor, then you should make sure to get a location that is in a visible area of the city. If your business does not rely on people coming into a shop, then think about what kind of location would be suitable for your business.

  As you are sorting out your location, you should equally sort out licensing and permits. Almost all businesses will require some kind of permit or license, and these may vary widely by country, state, and even city. You can also visit your state’s SBA if you are not sure of what licenses you need.

  Do not put off taking care of this. If you do, you could face severe legal consequences. You can delegate the acquisition of various permits to various family members in order to help keep the work spread even.

   Complete Your business registration

 To complete your business registration, you need to choose a suitable name. This activity should be done collectively to ensure that you come up with something unique. Since you are starting a family business, you might want to opt for a name that reflects the family-oriented nature of your business. You will need to register your business name, which will be called a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name.

  Separate family from work life

It is always easy for family and work life to clash in a family business, but you all have to endeavor to leave family issues back at home. Never make business decisions based on family sentiments and never make a deal when you are running high on emotions. Make sure non-family employees are treated as fairly as family members are, so there is no resentment among the non-family employees.

   Separate Personal and Business Assets

 Once you have established your LLC, corporation or other business entity, you need to set up business banking accounts that are separate from the owner’s personal accounts. Owners who commingle their business and personal assets regularly wind up on the Internal Revenue Service’s radar.

   Establish a succession plan

 One of the things that destroy family businesses is the issue of succession. It is on record that 80 percent of family businesses do not transition to the next generation because the families were unable to reach a consensus on transition. Therefore, in order to avoid this scenario for your business, the family has to start planning for succession quite early in the business.

  Deciding who will be your successor in a family business can be a tricky one, so it is essential you go through your options. It is natural to want to pass your business on to your children or close relatives, but they may not be the best ones to succeed you and you could risk upsetting non- family staff by overlooking them. A family member will be a much more worthy successor if they have already worked for the business and shown potential.

  Think carefully on the sharing formula especially if about two or three family members are involved in the business. Point out who would take over which role, and who will succeed whom. In doing thing, you would have succeeded in saving future generations a lot of stress.

  In Conclusion, family businesses will continue to play a great role in world economies into the next century. Therefore, taking everything into consideration, would be your best bet at making your family business thrive. Try to be fair in all your dealings and make sure everyone is on the same page in order to avoid tension and potential conflict.

  Running a family-owned business is hard work, and individuals need to have specific responsibilities in place if the company is to succeed. It is your responsibility to draw this up and make sure it is followed to the letter. Do not hesitate to bring in outside help when needed.

Sometimes families while running their businesses can encounter conflicts they cannot resolve alone and as such would need a mediator or a third party.

   Mel Feller, MPA, MHR, is a well-known real estate, business consultant, personal development consultant and speaker, specializing in performance, productivity, and profits. Mel is the President/Founder of Mel Feller Seminars with Coaching For Success 360, Inc. and Mel Feller Coaching, a real estate and business specific coaching company. His three books for real estate professionals are systems on how to become an exceptional sales performer. His four books in Business and Government Grants are ways to leverage and increase your business Success in both time and money! His book on Personal Development “Lies that Will Sabotage Your Success”. Mel Feller is in Texas and In Utah.