#anti aging products that work

[theygender]

Having a dermatologist-prescribed skincare routine after never really doing anything with my face for my entire life is so funny. Like did you guys know you can use more than one product on your face? Potentially even as often as once or twice a day? I feel like one of those cishet men being introduced to the concept of a wash rag

[myhealr]

The Future of Pain Management: Smart Patches & Advanced Technology

The X39 stem cell patch X39 Patch stands out for its innovative approach to stimulating stem cells, promoting natural healing without the use of drugs. The X39 patch is a breakthrough in regenerative medicine, designed to activate the body's own stem cells. Unlike traditional pain relief patches that work by delivering medication, this patch uses phototherapy to stimulate cellular regeneration. The X39 stem cell patch is applied to the skin, where it interacts with body heat to emit specific wavelengths of light.

[alpha-mag-media]

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work | In Trend Today

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[ur-mag]

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work | In Trend Today

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[bloomzone]

The essential skincare acids guide

type of acids sheet

Salicylic Acid – Best for oily and acne-prone skin. It penetrates deep into the pores, unclogs blackheads and whiteheads, controls excess oil, and prevents breakouts.

Glycolic Acid – Ideal for normal to oily skin. It exfoliates the top layer, brightens the skin, improves texture, and reduces fine lines and hyperpigmentation.

Lactic Acid – Suitable for dry and sensitive skin. It gently exfoliates while providing hydration, making it great for dullness and rough texture without irritation.

Mandelic Acid – Best for sensitive and acne-prone skin. It helps with uneven skin tone, reduces breakouts, and provides mild exfoliation without irritation.

Azelaic Acid – Works for all skin types, including sensitive skin. It reduces redness, fades hyperpigmentation, treats acne, and calms rosacea.

Kojic Acid – Best for hyperpigmented and sun-damaged skin. It helps lighten dark spots, melasma, and discoloration caused by acne scars or sun exposure.

Tranexamic Acid – Ideal for all skin types struggling with stubborn pigmentation. It effectively reduces melasma, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), and sunspots.

Hyaluronic Acid – Suitable for all skin types, especially dry and dehydrated skin. It deeply hydrates, plumps fine lines, and retains moisture for a youthful look.

Polyglutamic Acid – Great for dry and dehydrated skin. It locks in moisture, provides long-lasting hydration, and enhances the skin’s elasticity.

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) – Best for dull, uneven, and aging skin. It brightens, reduces pigmentation, fights free radicals, and boosts collagen production.

Ferulic Acid – Works for all skin types, particularly those using Vitamin C. It enhances the antioxidant power of Vitamin C and E, preventing premature aging.

Ceramides (Fatty Acids) – Essential for dry and sensitive skin. They repair and strengthen the skin barrier, preventing water loss and irritation.

Linoleic Acid (Omega-6 Fatty Acid) – Ideal for acne-prone and oily skin. It reduces clogged pores, balances oil production, and supports a healthy skin barrier.

Ellagic Acid – Good for sun-damaged and aging skin. It protects against UV damage, brightens skin, and provides antioxidant benefits.

Cinnamic Acid – Suitable for all skin types. It has anti-inflammatory properties and helps protect against environmental damage.

Succinic Acid – Best for oily and acne-prone skin. It controls sebum production, fights acne-causing bacteria, and soothes inflammation.

How to choose the right skincare acid for ur skin type

Oily & Acne-Prone Skin

Salicylic Acid (BHA): Penetrates deep into pores to remove excess oil and prevent breakouts.

Azelaic Acid: Reduces acne, fades dark spots, and calms redness.

Succinic Acid: A gentle anti-inflammatory that helps control breakouts.

Dry & Dehydrated Skin

Lactic Acid (AHA): Exfoliates while hydrating the skin.

Hyaluronic Acid: Retains moisture and plumps the skin.

Mandelic Acid: A mild exfoliant that improves texture without drying.

Combination Skin

Glycolic Acid (AHA): Brightens skin and smooths texture.

Salicylic Acid (BHA) (my bff🦅) : Controls oil production in the T-zone.

Hyaluronic Acid: Hydrates dry areas while balancing oil.

Sensitive Skin

Mandelic Acid: A gentle AHA that exfoliates with minimal irritation.

Azelaic Acid: Soothes inflammation and reduces redness.

PHA (Polyhydroxy Acids): Provides mild exfoliation while boosting hydration.

Hyperpigmentation & Dark Spots

Kojic Acid: Brightens skin and reduces discoloration.

Tranexamic Acid: Fades stubborn dark spots and melasma.

Glycolic Acid (AHA): Speeds up cell turnover for an even skin tone.

Aging & Wrinkles

Glycolic Acid (AHA): Stimulates collagen production and smooths fine lines.

Ferulic Acid: Enhances antioxidant protection and stabilizes vitamin C.

Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C): Brightens skin and fights free radical damage.

Common Mistakes When Using Skincare Acids

Using skincare acids can transform your skin, but when used incorrectly, they can cause irritation, sensitivity, or even worsen skin concerns. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

1. Over-Exfoliating

Many people think using glycolic or salicylic acid daily will give them faster results, but excessive exfoliation weakens the skin barrier. This can lead to redness, peeling, breakouts, and sensitivity. (especially for oily skin)

Solution: Use exfoliating acids (AHAs/BHAs) 2-3 times per week and always listen to your skin. If it feels irritated, take a break pleaaase

2. Skipping Sunscreen

Acids like glycolic, lactic, and salicylic acid increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun. Without SPF, you risk sunburn, premature aging, and even worsening of dark spots.

Solution: Always use a broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen daily when using serums with those acids.

3. Mixing the Wrong Acids

Not all acids work well together. Using too many active ingredients in one routine can cause irritation.

🔴 Examples of bad combinations:

Vitamin C + AHAs/BHAs → Can cause irritation and weaken Vitamin C’s effectiveness.

Retinol + AHAs/BHAs → Too harsh on the skin, leading to peeling and sensitivity. (by experience 💁🏻‍♀️)

Niacinamide + Vitamin C (unless properly formulated) → Can cause flushing or reduce effectiveness.

Solution: Use exfoliating acids on alternate days and simplify your routine to avoid irritation.

4. Not Hydrating Properly

Exfoliating acids remove dead skin cells but can also strip away moisture. Without proper hydration, the skin can feel tight, dry, or irritated.

Solution: After using acids, apply thick a moisturizer to maintain balance especially if the acids dry ur skin so fast

@bloomzone

[sprintingowl]

Deadball

Deadball Second Edition is a platinum bestseller on DrivethruRPG. This means it's in the top 2% of all products on the site. Its back cover has an endorsement from Sports Illustrated Kids.

It's also not an rpg I'd heard about until I discovered all of these facts one after another.

I was raised in a profoundly anti-sports household. My father would say stuff like "sports is for people who can't think" and "there's no point in exercising, everything in your body goes away eventually." So I didn't learn really any of the rules of the more popular American sports until I was in my mid twenties, and I've been to two ballgames in my life. I appreciate the enthusiasm that people have for sports, but it's in the same way that I appreciate anyone talking about their specific fandom.

One of the things that struck me reading Deadball was its sense of reverence for the sport. Its language isn't flowery. It's plain and technical and smart. But its love for baseball radiates off of the pages. Not like a blind adoration. But like when a dog sits with you on the porch.

For folks familiar with indie rpgs, there's a tone throughout the book that feels OSR. Deadball doesn't claim to be a precise simulation or a baseball wargame or anything like that---instead it lays out a bunch of rules and then encourages you to treat them like a recipe, adjusting to your taste. And it does this *while* being a detailed simulation that skirts the line of wargaming, which is an extremely OSR thing to do.

For folks not familiar with baseball, Deadball starts off assuming you know nothing and it explains the core rules of the sport before trying to pin dice and mechanics onto anything. It also explains baseball notation (which I was not able to decipher) and it uses this notation to track a play-by-play report of each game. Following this is an example of play and---in a move I think more rpgs should steal from---it has you play out a few rounds of this example of play. Again, this is all before it's really had a section explaining its rules.

In terms of characters and stats, Deadball is a detailed game. You can play modern or early 1900s baseball, and players can be of any gender on the same team, so there's a sort of alt history flavor to the whole experience, but there's also an intricate dice roll for every at bat and a full list of complex baseball feats that any character can have alongside their normal baseball stats. Plus there's a full table for oddities (things not normally covered by the rules of baseball, such as a raccoon straying onto the field and attacking a pitcher,) and a whole fatigue system for pitchers that contributes a strong sense of momentum to the game.

Deadball is also as much about franchises as it is about individual games, and you can also scout players, trade players, track injuries, track aging, appoint managers of different temperaments, rest pitchers in between games, etc.

For fans of specific athletes, Deadball includes rules for creating players, for playing in different eras, for adapting historical greats into one massively achronological superteam, and for playing through two different campaigns---one in a 2020s that wasn't and one in the 1910s.

There's also thankfully a simplified single roll you can use to abstract an entire game, allowing you to speed through seasons and potentially take a franchise far into the future. Finances and concession sales and things like that aren't tracked, but Deadball has already had a few expansions and a second edition, so this might be its next frontier.

Overall, my takeaway from Deadball is that it's a heck of a game. It's a remarkably detailed single or multiplayer simulation that I think might work really well for play-by-post (you could get a few friends to form a league and have a whole discord about it,) and it could certainly be used to generate some Blaseball if you start tweaking the rules as you play and never stop.

It's also an interesting read from a purely rpg design perspective. Deadball recognizes that its rules have the potential to be a little overbearing and so it puts in lots of little checks against that. It also keeps its more complex systems from sprawling out of control by trying to pack as much information as possible into a single dice roll.

For someone like me who has zero background in baseball, I don't think I'd properly play Deadball unless I had a bunch of friends who were into it and I could ride along with that enthusiasm. However as a designer I like the book a lot, and I'm putting it on my shelf of rpgs that have been formative for me, alongside Into The Odd, Monsterhearts, Mausritter, and Transit.

[slttygeto]

to love you is to grow old with you - GOJO. S

synopsis: satoru learns to appreciate the little things in life thanks to you.

c.w: just tooth rotting fluff, wrote this w fem! reader on mind but there are no gendered terms, physical touch being gojo’s love language, slow mornings with pookie bear himself, he deserves all the love.

note: im on a ROLL.

to age is such a blessing and a privilege in itself, and gojo only learns how much he loves it when he notices it on you. it’s not too obvious, he never points it out to you, but over the past couple of years of dating you, he’s noticed a few changes in you, all positive.

your smile lines have gotten deeper with him around, and when he stands in front of the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning to wash his face while you were still fast asleep, he notices how his own dimples have gotten more prominent. he glances at your skin care products and although he appreciates how much you take care of yourself, he is not looking forward for the day where you start buying “anti-aging” cremes or face masks.

he wants the full experience with you, and for the very first time, gojo wants to live for a long time and is certain that he wants to die with you next to him. he doesn’t fear death, he knows it’s inevitable, but something about dying in a boring manner has always irked him—until he met you.

now he doesn’t mind if he gets sick, because he knows you will be there to take care of him. he doesn’t mind when he gets fevers because he knows you’d immediately notice based on his reddened face and would quickly but surely treat his fever and ask him to lie down and be careful, as if the man wasn’t the strongest himself.

he finds himself so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice when you start waking up from sleep and your first instinct is to look for him.

“satoru?” you call out sleepily and satoru snaps out of his thoughts and walks towards your bedroom.

“oh look who’s awake.” he grins when he sees the sleep lines on your arm and face. his hand goes towards your hair as he takes a seat at the edge of the bed and strokes it before leaning in a planting a kiss to your forehead.

“did you sleep well?” he mumbles against your forehead before planting another kiss. “any dreams of me?” another kiss to your nose. “did i look handsome in them?” and another on your cheek before going down to your neck. “were you always my pretty girl in them?” he mumbles against your pulse and you giggle at the ticklish feeling.

“satoruuu,” you whine out loud. “I just woke up,” your hand rests on top of his head when he keeps peppering kisses all over your neck.

“and plus, what were you doing in the bathroom just staring at yourself?” your fingers scratch his scalp and the man immediately melts on top of you, making you lie back down on the mattress.

“i think i changed my mind about aging,” he replies and your other hand rests on the back of his neck before sliding upwards to feel his undercut and scratch the hair there as well.

“changed your mind how?” you feel the man wrap his arms around your middle and pull you tightly towards him. he pushes his face down and plants it on your chest, enjoying the way he gets to hear your heartbeat that seems to have a nice rhythm to it.

“i wanna grow old as long as i get to do it with you,” he mumbles again and his arms unwrap from your middle and you watch as his hands push up the shirt you were wearing to kiss your stomach. “i want us to get wrinkly and ugly together,”

“you can never be ugly,” you say as you roll your eyes at your man but he strongly disagrees and pinches your sides.

“my hairline is receding.”

“please stop taking what nobara tells you so seriously,” you chuckle at how serious he is and a hand rests on his cheek. “in my eyes, you can never be ugly.”

“even when I forget to put my socks in the laundry basket and accidentally use your shower gel?”

“you’re only ugly when you do that.”

2023 ; all works belong to @ slttygeto. do not repost my works on any other platofrm.

[honeytonedhottie]

refresh, reboot shower routine⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🧖🏽‍♀️🧁

WHATS A REFRESH REBOOT SHOWER? ;

a refresh reboot shower are the kind of showers that u take that act like a reset button. i personally love them especially when i feel like i have so much energy pent up and i can channel it into doing something positive for myself.

ROMANTICIZE ;

something important to remember while taking a refresh reboot shower is to be PRESENT. thats what makes these showers different. instead of doing ur normal shower routine, or ur everything shower routine, this is the REFRESH REBOOT shower routine.

take time to feel the water on your skin. make sure its to the exact temperature that you like. smell the products that ur putting on ur body and bask in how yummy they smell. feel the soapy foam beneath ur fingers, wash every inch of urself HAVE FUN.

GUA SHA IN THE SHOWER ;

sculpt that beautiful face. gua sha is good for so many reasons. its good to reduce puffiness and swelling and its amazing for ur lymph nodes. do a full gua sha routine and watch how amazing u feel.

EXFOLIATION ;

exfoliation feels like (at least for me) like im shedding an old skin and revealing a new one so its a MUST for a refresh and reboot shower. so before the shower do some dry brushing for the softest skin then go in with a body scrub.

i rly recommend the tree hut scrubs or you can make your own with this simple body scrub recipe. so first off decide if ur doing a salt or a sugar scrub and i'll briefly explain the difference here.

sugar scrub ; deposits minerals into the skin, gentle exfoliation, hydrates the skin, helps draw water into the skin, less abrasive, smoothens and brightens the skin.

salt scrub ; eliminates toxins, gives a rosy glow, anti aging abilities, provides minerals vitamins and nutrients, tones and restores the skin.

to make a sugar scrub simply (1/2 cup of coconut oil + 1/2 cup of granulated sugar + 15-20 drops of essential oil of choice)...💬🎀

hot tip ; if u want to make it more scented you can even use a couple drops of a body wash along with the essential oil

to make a salt scrub simply (1 cup of sea salt + 1/4 cup of a carrier oil + 10-20 drops of essential oil of choice)...💬🎀

CHANGE UP THE SCENT ;

if u have a signature scent that you do a lot of the time, try and go for a different scent. im a hygiene junkie so i like to have a variety of different soaps to use, even though i almost always stick with the basics (smelling like a yummy cupcake) unless i want something different. changing up the scent can be refreshing so if you feel like it'll be refreshing for you, try and go for a different scent for a couple of days.

DOUBLE CLEANSE ;

if double cleansing isnt something that u do on a day to day basis then its perfect to do in ur refresh and reboot shower. wash ur body first with a bar soap (preferably something unscented or organic)

doctor bronners soaps work good too if u dont have a bar soap that u like. after using the bar soap go in with a liquid soap (ofc following the scent guide in the previous section) that way you can feel even more squeaky clean and refreshed.

[astrstqr]

☆˙˖ DESIRED REALITY !

things i script for my modern dr. lmk if you want more

⬭ racism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, islamophobia, anti semitism, misogyny, global warming, climate change, overconsumption, overpopulation, deforestation, habitat destruction etc., used to exist, however they currently do not and will never suffer from them again.

⬭ everyone is treated equal

⬭ no “pro-life”

⬭ people are allowed to have abortions no matter what age they are

⬭ women products are free such as pads/tampons and birth control

⬭ everyone is educated on problems happening around the world

⬭ health care is free

⬭ natives are seen as the founders of America

⬭ south, west, southeast, & central Asians are seen too + people know Asia is not just the east

⬭ having guns are illegal unless your job requires you to have one and there is no other way to get a gun

⬭ periods last a day and are very light

⬭ covid-19 doesn’t exist

⬭ plastic surgery is normalized , isnt look down on but people rarely gets it unless necessary

⬭ children of any age are not sexualized in any form or shape

⬭ in public bathrooms the toilet is always clean, people don't knock on the stall you are in, there is always toilet paper, always soap and a hand dryer

⬭ the Chinese government isn't so harsh & gives the citizens freedom

⬭ people of color’s cultures are RESPECTED, & not appropriated

⬭ foster care takes treats kids nicely

⬭ nobody harms animals and kill shelters are not a thing

⬭ all country leaders are good and honest people

⬭ human trafficking does not exist

⬭ the government never watches you through your phone

⬭ trump never ran for president

⬭ no world hungers

⬭ no one is homeless, and everyone has a home

⬭ world peace

⬭ women and men are equal

⬭ it’s easy for people to make money

⬭ all sickness has a cure

⬭ bullying does not exist

⬭ black history and pride month still exist

⬭ the government isn't greedy and take care of their people

⬭ every country has money, food, isnt poor, etc. etc.

⬭ no toxic parenting

⬭ the Sewol ferry never had an accident

⬭ school shooting doesn’t exist

⬭ minimum wage is $15-$20 an hour

⬭ crimes are punished with justice in mind

⬭ history is recorded correctly

⬭ people can start driving at 15

⬭ Korea is not conservative

⬭ Korea doesn’t have an unrealistic beauty standard

⬭ Korea never divided, it is united and free. But south of korea is like the city part and the north is like rural part

⬭ pollution does not exist

⬭ earth air is clean and easy to breathe no matter where you are

⬭ no acid rain, urban sprawl, ozone layer depletion

⬭ allergies do not exist

⬭ the world is more colorful and not dull looking

⬭ coral reef still has it color

⬭ no water in unwanted places

⬭ grass is always green

⬭ if the population increases the planet gets bigger to produce resources to accommodate the growing population. it doesnt effect the mass of the earth or the gravitational pull

⬭ global warming doesn't exist

⬭ humidity doesn't ruin hair

⬭ the library of alexandria was never destroyed

⬭ apple pencils work on iPhone

⬭ everything is wireless, and nothing needs a cord

⬭ line is always short in stores and restaurants

⬭ buildings and renovating don’t take longer than a wee

⬭ you can book a hotel with being 18 or older

⬭ traffic is always fine

⬭ netflix have more of a large selection of things and dont remove shows/add shows no one wants

⬭ spotify is free

⬭ the switch have a web browser

⬭ tv companies still make tv shows similar to the 2000s and early 2010s , just updated to keep up with the times

⬭ the sims franchise lore is linear throughout the series

the open world features from sims 3 is still present in sims 4

sims 4 is like an updated and better version of sims 3 keeping all the features from the sims 3 (still including everything that is already in sims 4)

non of the games have bugs

every expansion pack etc is just added to the game as an update and no one has to pay for it

⬭ cheap jewelry doesnt tarnish

⬭ washer/dryer cycles are 15 mins

⬭ in the show dancing dolls everyone was treated equally and was never fake to each other.

⬭ people actually do the theme for the met gala and it’s always unique

୨୧⠀˙⠀⠀˖⠀ world aesthetic & vibe

[sapphiresaphics]

I think what bothers me the most about a lot of the arcane criticism is how anti-creative it ends up being. Even well meaning criticisms such as “it needed another season” or “we needed one more episode for things to cook properly” come across to me as really defeatist.

Arcane is one of the most ambitious animated projects in recent memory. It’s one of the most expensive animated TV shows ever produced. It took over 6 years just to get a first season into production. It features a massive amount of talent from all over the industry from voice actors, to animators, to music producers and writers. Its narrative is challenging and complex but easily digestible and gorgeous to watch. There are tons of hidden details, a world that is fleshed out to an absurd degree, and fan service for longtime gamers. Its characters are morally grey and complicated, and the debates around said characters continues long after the show ended.

In this day and age of recycled copy/pasted mediocre products shoved down our throats to say Arcane was ambitious is an understatement. By all accounts… this should have FAILED.

But it didn’t. It’s a MASTERCLASS of filmmaking and storytelling. Nearly every episode is highly rated and ranked. It’s one of the highest received and watched shows on Netflix.

So when I see people say “it didn’t quite stick to landing” or say “it tried to do too much,” I just feel… exhausted.

What MORE do you people want? How much more perfection can they force into a product like this? If the creatives tried THIS HARD and spent THAT MUCH to make a product THIS BELOVED… and you’re STILL not satisfied… what are we even doing anymore? And by extension… what’s that mentality say to all of us smaller independent creators who just want to make stuff?

Some people are spurned by criticism to strive to do better. But in my experience that is a rare breed and more often than not when you give something your all and are received with disappointment you end up internalizing that disappointment and not doing the thing anymore.

Is it not better that the creatives tried and were ambitious and that their ambitions didn’t quite make it all the way but they still made a quality product that is more than just a sum of its parts, than if they just didn’t bother trying at all? Isn’t it better that we try and come up short than to never try? Isn’t it better they still managed to make a successful show that millions of people love, than to make a dumpster fire that alienated people and killed the franchise?

I’m not saying you can’t criticize the show. Every work of media deserves some level of criticism. But I just feel like the HEIGHTS that this show reaches for are SO HIGH that it almost feels greedy and entitled to try and bring it down to the levels of the SLOP we get from Disney or Marvel or DC every few years.

When is see intense hatred and criticism lobbied at Arcane I just feel like “why bother trying?” Why bother trying to do anything innovate or wild or creative and ambitious if it’s going to be met with such unrelenting hatred and stupidity. Why should I subject myself to that level of scrutiny and rejection?

If arcane is a master class made by some of the most talented people on the planet and it’s STILL not good enough… then what hope do I have?

Why should I even try?

[myhealr]

Best Regenerative Health Solutions for Natural Healing

Looking for the best regenerative health solutions? LifeWave’s X39 patch offers a breakthrough in non-invasive wellness by using light therapy to activate stem cells. This innovative approach promotes natural healing, pain relief, and anti-aging benefits without drugs or injections. Users report increased energy, faster recovery, and overall improved well-being. While clinical studies are ongoing, many have experienced transformative results. Could this be the future of regenerative health? Explore the science, user testimonials, and benefits today. Visit MyHealr to learn more about this revolutionary wellness solution!

[alpha-mag-media]

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work | In Trend Today

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[ur-mag]

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work | In Trend Today

24 Affordable Anti-Ageing Skincare Products That Truly Work Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The unexpected upside of global monopoly capitalism

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TODAY (Apr 10) at UCLA, then Chicago (Apr 17), Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Here's a silver lining to global monopoly capitalism: it means we're all fighting the same enemy, who is using the same tactics everywhere. The same coordination tools that allow corporations to extend their tendrils to every corner of the Earth allows regulators and labor organizers to coordinate their resistance.

That's a lesson Mercedes is learning. In 2023, Germany's Supply Chain Act went into effect, which bans large corporations with a German presence from using child labor, violating health and safety standards, and (critically) interfering with union organizers:

https://www.bafa.de/EN/Supply_Chain_Act/Overview/overview_node.html

Across the ocean, in the USA, Mercedes has a preference for building its cars in the American South, the so-called "right to work" states where US labor law is routinely flouted and unions are thin on the ground. As The American Prospect's Harold Meyerson writes, the only non-union Mercedes factories in the world are in the US:

https://prospect.org/labor/2024-04-08-american-workers-german-law-uaw-unions/

But American workers – especially southern workers – are on an organizing tear, unionizing their workplaces at a rate not seen in generations. Their unprecedented success is down to their commitment, solidarity and shrewd tactics – all buoyed by a refreshingly pro-worker NLRB, who have workers' backs in ways also not seen since the Carter administration:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

Workers at Mercedes' factory in Vance, Alabama are trying to join the UAW, and Mercedes is playing dirty, using the tried-and-true union-busting tactics that have held workplace democracy at bay for decades. The UAW has lodged a complaint with the NLRB, naturally:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/alabama-mercedes-benz

But the UAW has also filed a complaint with BAFA, the German regulator in charge of the Supply Chain Act, seeking penalties against Mercedes-Benz Group AG:

https://uaw.org/uaw-files-charges-in-germany-against-mercedes-benz-companys-anti-union-campaign-against-u-s-autoworkers-violates-new-german-law-on-global-supply-chain-practices/

That's a huge deal, because the German Supply Chain Act goes hard. If Mercedes is convicted of union-busting in Alabama, its German parent-company faces a fine of 2% of its global total revenue, and will no longer be eligible to sell products to the German government. Chomp.

Now, the German Supply Chain Act is new, and this is the first petition filed by a non-German union with BAFA, so it's not a slam dunk. But supermajorities of Mercedes workers at the Alabama factory have signed UAW cards, and the election is going to happen in May or June. And the UAW – under new leadership, thanks to a revolution that overthrew the corrupt old guard – has its sights set on all the auto-makers in the American south.

As Meyerson writes, the south is America's onshore offshore, a regulatory haven where corporations pay minimal or no tax and are free to abuse their workers, pollute, and corrupt local governments with a free hand (no wonder American industry is flocking to these states). Meyerson: "The economic impact of unionizing the South, in other words, could almost be placed in the same category as reshoring work that had gone to China."

The German Supply Chain Act was passed with the help of Germany's powerful labor unions, in an act of solidarity with workers employed by German companies all over the world. This is that unexpected benefit to globalism: the fact that Mercedes has extrusions into both the American and German political spheres means that both American and German workers can collaborate to bring it to heel.

The same is true for antitrust regulators. The multinational corporations that are in regulators' crosshairs in the US, the EU, the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea and beyond use the same playbook in every country. That's doubly true of Big Tech companies, who literally run the same code – embodying the same illegal practices – on servers in every country.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has led the pack on convening summits where antitrust enforcers from all over the world gather to compare notes and collaborate on enforcement strategies:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cma-data-technology-and-analytics-conference-2022-registration-308678625077

And the CMA's Digital Markets Unit – which boasts the the largest tech staff of any competition regulator in the world – produces detailed market studies that turn out to be roadmaps for other territories' enforces to follow – like this mobile market study:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63f61bc0d3bf7f62e8c34a02/Mobile_Ecosystems_Final_Report_amended_2.pdf

Which was extensively referenced in the EU during the planning of the Digital Markets Act, and in the US Congress for similar legislation:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2710

It also helped enforcers in Japan:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And South Korea:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/skorea-considers-505-mln-fine-against-google-apple-over-app-market-practices-2023-10-06/

Just as Mercedes workers in Germany and the USA share a common enemy, allowing for coordinated action that takes advantage of vulnerable flanks wherever they are found, anti-monopoly enforcers are sharing notes, evidence, and tactics to strike at multinationals that are bigger than most countries – but not when those countries combine.

This is an unexpected upside to global monopolies: when we all share a common enemy, we've got endless opportunities for coordinated offenses and devastating pincer maneuvers.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

[xx-slug-xx]

If antis are going to start calling anime fanfiction “pedo propaganda”, then I cannot stress enough how important it is to actually learn what real propaganda looks like.

Great example: if your in the US, turn on any service that gives you ads. Sure this works in other countries too though! YouTube, Hulu, or anything else, doesn’t really matter. There’s a pattern I want y’all to look for, it’s the depiction of the upper class. It might look like upper middle class, but that is not where the upper middle class is really at right now considering everyone is constantly struggling financially. In every advertisement I’ve seen, every commercial that try’s to make you buy their product or sign up for something, it’s always depictions of “nice” upper class people. Never the lower class. The actors are always attractive for their age range, their homes are always spotless, and they can afford to live. It depicts the life that most everyday Americans want, and it’s just at the price of buying something. This is the most prominent form of propaganda, and it’s everywhere. Capitalism at the stage it’s at now, in the point of our society where we’re at now, is spreading propaganda in every corner so that we can buy things to be poorer. It’s propaganda because it’s spreading the idea that most Americans belong to the upper class, when most people are lower to lower middle class where the economy is at currently. Even the upper middle class isn’t doing all that great.

If antis are going to complain about propaganda, they need to learn what it looks like. Because it’s not in the form of a stupid fanfic some 14 year old wrote. It’s not in the form of lolisho. It’s not even in the form of a giant flyer on the side of a building that says “racism is good actually!” because that’s way too obvious to convince the general public!Propaganda doesn’t even need to be about spreading something bad either. Ever wonder why queer topics are so big in the US current government right now? Why the Democratic Party really pushes for equality for minorities (not just queer people). It’s bc they are using our own kindness as a way to convince us that “hey the government is your friend actually! Look how much we love you people who belong to minorities!”. They are using a GOOD message against us to gain our trust, never trust the government! They always have alternative motives behind EVERYTHING. That’s propaganda!

“You are not immune to propaganda” exists for a reason, and it means that it hides in every corner of your everyday life. It means that it’s designed to be unnoticeable by the average person. Learn what propaganda looks like, learn how to avoid listening to it the best you can.

[applejuiz]

thinking about this post I saw ages ago that said d20 feels like a bunch of friends who just like playing dnd together while critical role feels like coworkers coming together for a professional production. it was so striking to me because it’s literally the opposite, like factually and practically the opposite of that is true. critical role came from a home game of friends and d20 is a show produced by a streaming service. even in the way they talk about the shows, cr cast members frequently discuss how they prioritize their fun and would continue playing together even without the show, whereas d20 cast members constantly mention how they’re on a filming schedule, how they’re coming together to tell a story for the audience and have things they need to accomplish or achieve for the sake of the story and the audience. that’s not to say that those statements from cr aren’t meant to impart maintain a certain brand image or that the d20 cast members aren’t actual friends. i just think that the surface level picture of these shows is very clear, cr is a group of friends who are letting you watch their game and d20 is a entertainment production that seems like a fun place to work. AND this is not to pit two bad bitches against each other (unlike the original post), I think they’re both doing their own thing very successfully. there’s just an interesting moralization to that post that I saw that one time. instead of stating a preference for the way d20 tells stories or the working relationship of the cast, there’s an interesting moralization that literally flips the reality of these shows to justify this preference. idk it speaks to our weird relationship to creative work maybe, that a true creative would make art even without pay, that it’s passion and not labor, that any discussion from artists about pay or conditions of their work gets buried with accusations of not being a true artist or not caring enough about the art for the sake of art. therefore good art cannot be thought about as a product, and good artists cannot be thought of as doing labor, it is passion and creativity and then money just so happens to fall out and get to the artists how lucky. (this is true for cr as well. it is a business and it is their job, even if they do love it unequivocally and would continue playing even if they didn’t make any money.) it may also be tangled in how the parasocial entertainment dropout provides is dependent on their image as a “progressive” “anti-capitalist” workplace. I do wonder what would happen if someone working at dropout had a bad experience, had to go to hr for something, wanted to negotiate the conditions of their labor, or just didn’t like their job (normal things that happen in any workplace that’s not a condemnation of the morality of anyone involved in these situations). granted this probably has happened and we don’t know about it because we shouldn’t. but it’s interesting how people are rightly suspicious of tech start ups who try to claim ‘we’re like a family here’ yet are completely willing to accept and reaffirm this idea about a creative workplace when those interpersonal relationships are the product being sold to us. would it be the end of the world if a dropout cast member said, I just showed up to filming and did what I was expected to do to get paid and then I went home? would it be the end of the world to say, I like the way the cast of d20 work as creative collaborators more than the cast of critical role, instead of trying to permeate their real relationships and their relationship to the work they do?