#brokerage definition

[roseband]

i mean this in all seriousness.....

every bonus and raise i get at work is cuz i taught myself adobe automation tools and javascript for adobe (even though i took cs in hs like, i could not find a class in what i wanted so i just had to self teach it)

but the only reason i self taught that was cuz i was overly obsessed with kpop

so as long as all my savings accounts are where they should be (percentage of income-wise)... so like 401k, emergency fund, down-payment fund.......(which.....are all invested and/or in high yield 4.5% monthly compounding interest accts and are making their own money)

i can just dump all my disposable income into kpop because if i wasn't unhinged about kpop, i would not have this much disposable income lol

i feel like this is 100% an original meaning of girlmath moment tbh

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Apple to EU: “Go fuck yourself”

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/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

There's a strain of anti-anti-monopolist that insists that they're not pro-monopoly – they're just realists who understand that global gigacorporations are too big to fail, too big to jail, and that governments can't hope to rein them in. Trying to regulate a tech giant, they say, is like trying to regulate the weather.

This ploy is cousins with Jay Rosen's idea of "savvying," defined as: "dismissing valid questions with the insider's, 'and this surprises you?'"

https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/344825874362810369?lang=en

In both cases, an apologist for corruption masquerades as a pragmatist who understands the ways of the world, unlike you, a pathetic dreamer who foolishly hopes for a better world. In both cases, the apologist provides cover for corruption, painting it as an inevitability, not a choice. "Don't hate the player. Hate the game."

The reason this foolish nonsense flies is that we are living in an age of rampant corruption and utter impunity. Companies really do get away with both literal and figurative murder. Governments really do ignore horrible crimes by the rich and powerful, and fumble what rare, few enforcement efforts they assay.

Take the GDPR, Europe's landmark privacy law. The GDPR establishes strict limitations of data-collection and processing, and provides for brutal penalties for companies that violate its rules. The immediate impact of the GDPR was a mass-extinction event for Europe's data-brokerages and surveillance advertising companies, all of which were in obvious violation of the GDPR's rules.

But there was a curious pattern to GDPR enforcement: while smaller, EU-based companies were swiftly shuttered by its provisions, the US-based giants that conduct the most brazen, wide-ranging, illegal surveillance escaped unscathed for years and years, continuing to spy on Europeans.

One (erroneous) way to look at this is as a "compliance moat" story. In that story, GDPR requires a bunch of expensive systems that only gigantic companies like Facebook and Google can afford. These compliance costs are a "capital moat" – a way to exclude smaller companies from functioning in the market. Thus, the GDPR acted as an anticompetitive wrecking ball, clearing the field for the largest companies, who get to operate without having to contend with smaller companies nipping at their heels:

https://www.techdirt.com/2019/06/27/another-report-shows-gdpr-benefited-google-facebook-hurt-everyone-else/

This is wrong.

Oh, compliance moats are definitely real – think of the calls for AI companies to license their training data. AI companies can easily do this – they'll just buy training data from giant media companies – the very same companies that hope to use models to replace creative workers with algorithms. Create a new copyright over training data won't eliminate AI – it'll just confine AI to the largest, best capitalized companies, who will gladly provide tools to corporations hoping to fire their workforces:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/09/ai-monkeys-paw/#bullied-schoolkids

But just because some regulations can be compliance moats, that doesn't mean that all regulations are compliance moats. And just because some regulations are vigorously applied to small companies while leaving larger firms unscathed, it doesn't follow that the regulation in question is a compliance moat.

A harder look at what happened with the GDPR reveals a completely different dynamic at work. The reason the GDPR vaporized small surveillance companies and left the big companies untouched had nothing to do with compliance costs. The Big Tech companies don't comply with the GDPR – they just get away with violating the GDPR.

How do they get away with it? They fly Irish flags of convenience. Decades ago, Ireland started dabbling with offering tax-havens to the wealthy and mobile – they invented the duty-free store:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty-free_shop#1947%E2%80%931990:_duty_free_establishment

Capturing pennies from the wealthy by helping them avoid fortunes they owed in taxes elsewhere was terribly seductive. In the years that followed, Ireland began aggressively courting the wealthy on an industrial scale, offering corporations the chance to duck their obligations to their host countries by flying an Irish flag of convenience.

There are other countries who've tried this gambit – the "treasure islands" of the Caribbean, the English channel, and elsewhere – but Ireland is part of the EU. In the global competition to help the rich to get richer, Ireland had a killer advantage: access to the EU, the common market, and 500m affluent potential customers. The Caymans can hide your money for you, and there's a few super-luxe stores and art-galleries in George Town where you can spend it, but it's no Champs Elysees or Ku-Damm.

But when you're competing with other countries for the pennies of trillion-dollar tax-dodgers, any wins can be turned into a loss in an instant. After all, any corporation that is footloose enough to establish a Potemkin Headquarters in Dublin and fly the trídhathach can easily up sticks and open another Big Store HQ in some other haven that offers it a sweeter deal.

This has created a global race to the bottom among tax-havens to also serve as regulatory havens – and there's a made-in-the-EU version that sees Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and sometimes the Netherlands competing to see who can offer the most impunity for the worst crimes to the most awful corporations in the world.

And that's why Google and Facebook haven't been extinguished by the GDPR while their rivals were. It's not compliance moats – it's impunity. Once a corporation attains a certain scale, it has the excess capital to spend on phony relocations that let it hop from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, chasing the loosest slots on the strip. Ireland is a made town, where the cops are all on the take, and two thirds of the data commissioner's rulings are eventually overturned by the federal court:

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/iccl-2023-gdpr-report/

This is a problem among many federations, not just the EU. The US has its onshore-offshore tax- and regulation-havens (Delaware, South Dakota, Texas, etc), and so does Canada (Alberta), and some Swiss cantons are, frankly, batshit:

https://lenews.ch/2017/11/25/swiss-fact-some-swiss-women-had-to-wait-until-1991-to-vote/

None of this is to condemn federations outright. Federations are (potentially) good! But federalism has a vulnerability: the autonomy of the federated states means that they can be played against each other by national or transnational entities, like corporations. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to regulate powerful entities within a federation – but it means that federal regulation needs to account for the risk of jurisdiction-shopping.

Enter the Digital Markets Act, a new Big Tech specific law that, among other things, bans monopoly app stores and payment processing, through which companies like Apple and Google have levied a 30% tax on the entire app market, while arrogating to themselves the right to decide which software their customers may run on their own devices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/07/curatorial-vig/#app-tax

Apple has responded to this regulation with a gesture of contempt so naked and broad that it beggars belief. As Proton describes, Apple's DMA plan is the very definition of malicious compliance:

https://proton.me/blog/apple-dma-compliance-plan-trap

Recall that the DMA is intended to curtail monopoly software distribution through app stores and mobile platforms' insistence on using their payment processors, whose fees are sky-high. The law is intended to extinguish developer agreements that ban software creators from informing customers that they can get a better deal by initiating payments elsewhere, or by getting a service through the web instead of via an app.

In response, Apple, has instituted a junk fee it calls the "Core Technology Fee": EUR0.50/install for every installation over 1m. As Proton writes, as apps grow more popular, using third-party payment systems will grow less attractive. Apple has offered discounts on its eye-watering payment processing fees to a mere 20% for the first payment and 13% for renewals. Compare this with the normal – and far, far too high – payment processing fees the rest of the industry charges, which run 2-5%. On top of all this, Apple has lied about these new discounted rates, hiding a 3% "processing" fee in its headline figures.

As Proton explains, paying 17% fees and EUR0.50 for each subscriber's renewal makes most software businesses into money-losers. The only way to keep them afloat is to use Apple's old, default payment system. That choice is made more attractive by Apple's inclusion of a "scare screen" that warns you that demons will rend your soul for all eternity if you try to use an alternative payment scheme.

Apple defends this scare screen by saying that it will protect users from the intrinsic unreliability of third-party processors, but as Proton points out, there are plenty of giant corporations who get to use their own payment processors with their iOS apps, because Apple decided they were too big to fuck with. Somehow, Apple can let its customers spend money Uber, McDonald's, Airbnb, Doordash and Amazon without terrorizing them about existential security risks – but not mom-and-pop software vendors or publishers who don't want to hand 30% of their income over to a three-trillion-dollar company.

Apple has also reserved the right to cancel any alternative app store and nuke it from Apple customers' devices without warning, reason or liability. Those app stores also have to post a one-million euro line of credit in order to be considered for iOS. Given these terms, it's obvious that no one is going to offer a third-party app store for iOS and if they did, no one would list their apps in it.

The fuckery goes on and on. If an app developer opts into third-party payments, they can't use Apple's payment processing too – so any users who are scared off by the scare screen have no way to pay the app's creators. And once an app creator opts into third party payments, they can never go back – the decision is permanent.

Apple also reserves the right to change all of these policies later, for the worse ("I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it further" -D. Vader). They have warned developers that they might change the API for reporting external sales and revoke developers' right to use alternative app stores at its discretion, with no penalties if that screws the developer.

Apple's contempt extends beyond app marketplaces. The DMA also obliges Apple to open its platform to third party browsers and browser engines. Every browser on iOS is actually just Safari wrapped in a cosmetic skin, because Apple bans third-party browser-engines:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

But, as Mozilla puts it, Apple's plan for this is "as painful as possible":

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/26/24052067/mozilla-apple-ios-browser-rules-firefox

For one thing, Apple will only allow European customers to run alternative browser engines. That means that Firefox will have to "build and maintain two separate browser implementations — a burden Apple themselves will not have to bear."

(One wonders how Apple will treat Americans living in the EU, whose Apple accounts still have US billing addresses – these people will still be entitled to the browser choice that Apple is grudgingly extending to Europeans.)

All of this sends a strong signal that Apple is planning to run the same playbook with the DMA that Google and Facebook used on the GDPR: ignore the law, use lawyerly bullshit to chaff regulators, and hope that European federalism has sufficiently deep cracks that it can hide in them when the enforcers come to call.

But Apple is about to get a nasty shock. For one thing, the DMA allows wronged parties to start their search for justice in the European federal court system – bypassing the Irish regulators and courts. For another, there is a global movement to check corporate power, and because the tech companies do the same kinds of fuckery in every territory, regulators are able to collaborate across borders to take them down.

Take Apple's app store monopoly. The best reference on this is the report published by the UK Competition and Markets Authority's Digital Markets Unit:

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

The devastating case that the DMU report was key to crafting the DMA – but it also inspired a US law aimed at forcing app markets open:

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

And a Japanese enforcement action:

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

And action in South Korea:

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

These enforcers gather for annual meetings – I spoke at one in London, convened by the Competition and Markets Authority – where they compare notes, form coalitions, and plan strategy:

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

This is where the savvying breaks down. Yes, Apple is big enough to run circles around Japan, or South Korea, or the UK. But when those countries join forces with the EU, the USA and other countries that are fed up to the eyeballs with Apple's bullshit, the company is in serious danger.

It's true that Apple has convinced a bunch of its customers that buying a phone from a multi-trillion-dollar corporation makes you a member of an oppressed religious minority:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Some of those self-avowed members of the "Cult of Mac" are willing to take the company's pronouncements at face value and will dutifully repeat Apple's claims to be "protecting" its customers. But even that credulity has its breaking point – Apple can only poison the well so many times before people stop drinking from it. Remember when the company announced a miraculous reversal to its war on right to repair, later revealed to be a bald-faced lie?

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Or when Apple claimed to be protecting phone users' privacy, which was also a lie?

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The savvy will see Apple lying (again) and say, "this surprises you?" No, it doesn't surprise me, but it pisses me off – and I'm not the only one, and Apple's insulting lies are getting less effective by the day.

Image: Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil from Brazil (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annelid_worm,_Atlantic_forest,_northern_littoral_of_Bahia,_Brazil_%2816107326533%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

--

Hubertl (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-03-04_Elstar_%28apple%29_starting_putrefying_IMG_9761_bis_9772.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮🦮

Hiii!

Okay 51 new sentences for 📚:

---

See, when Ravi dropped out of college, his parents had been scared for him. Convinced he was throwing his life away to become a city employee. Like it was a dirty word. His father, one of the owners in a large property management company, had felt the need to take matters into his own hands. I won’t stop you from following what your heart says is right, Ravi, he’d said. But I also will not leave you without a safety net. He’d always thought his safety net was exorbitantly rich parents, but apparently not. Apparently, he needed properties. To begin building his own generational wealth. His father, therefore, put the ownership of two apartment complexes in Ravi’s name. One in Montebello and one in La Cienega Heights. 

The latter building was smaller. Only six units, one of which Ravi lived in. It was close to work. Easy to manage. And yes, a good asset to his name. The Montebello property - much larger - and the one across the street his father was pushing him to buy? A way bigger chore. One that Ravi was finding difficult to manage. 

“No,” Ravi shook his head. “No, I wasn’t just going to sell it.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Anil said, doing an excellent impression of sincere curiosity. 

“I was going to talk to you,” Ravi promised his father. “About taking it back or selling it. Investing the money properly. Letting the funds accrue.”

His father looked crestfallen.

“You did this behind your father’s back?” His mother asked. 

“No, no.” Ravi said again. “I haven’t done anything.”

“Well you talked to Shin.” Anil dropped another colossal bomb. 

“You talked to an agent at a rival brokerage to your brother’s?” His mother gasped, like Anil accused Ravi of stabbing him.

“I talked to my friend, who is familiar with the area and prices.” Ravi clarified. “It was one lunch.”

And how word of that got to Anil, Ravi did not know. 

“You don’t sell a gift, Ravi,” his father chastized. 

“It’s not…” Ravi sighed. “Look, I’m keeping the La Cienaga place. Montebello is too much for me, right now.”

“Too much for you to manage? Free real estate?” His father retorted.

“Pops, between all the shifts I’m working, and the drive out that way more than once a week, it’s been a lot,” Ravi tried to appeal to him. “I need down time. Time to decompress. I don’t do well if I-”

Anil scoffed. “So this is an autism thing, then.”

---

30 for 🦮:

---

“Are you sure?” Bobby asks.

“Yeah,” Buck nods. “Trainer says it’s my choice.”

Bobby smiles giddily. “Well, good. I love dogs.”

Buck grins. He misses Bobby. He visits sometimes, but it’s different from being here everyday. It’s different when it feels like he’s visiting out of some strange guilt.

“Also, I made everyone wait up there so they don’t overwhelm her,” Bobby says. Buck looks up. Sure enough, Hen, Chim, Eddie, and someone Buck has never seen before are standing at the rails of the mezzanine, looking down. “But we can bring coffee and lunch and everything down here so you don’t have to use the stairs.”

Buck gives the team a small wave before answering Bobby. 

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Buck says. “I can do stairs. It’s good to get practice in.”

He doesn’t want any more accommodation than he already has by bringing a dog in with him. He’s fine. He’s capable. 

“Okay,” Bobby nods. “Well, then up we go.”

Buck walks towards the fire station stairs as if he isn’t at all daunted. Not just to be climbing them, but to be climbing them with a dog. He’s definitely nervous. And he’s definitely going to feel a little wiped afterwards. Bobby walks ahead of him, and then Buck focuses on climbing each step the way he’s worked on in physical therapy. Foot first, then prosthetic.

[astrojulia]

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2th house through the signs

ARIES. Your independence and freedom are extremely important to you, and this is reflected in the way you handle money and personal resources. While you may make impulsive purchases, you also have a strong drive to reach financial security and are quite aggressive in your pursuit of it. It's important to note, however, that managing stress and impulse buying is key to maintaining a healthy budget. When you're invested in a project, you have a strong work ethic and are willing to put in the effort to get the job done quickly and efficiently. You might find that you thrive in fields related to construction, mechanical design, or architecture, as these industries can help you build a strong financial foundation. Professions such as police work, military service, firefighting, and manufacturing can be especially lucrative for you, as you have a strong desire to make money and are confident in your ability to do so. It's clear that your financial situation is tied to your self-esteem, and achieving financial success can make you feel even better about yourself. Overall, it's important to strike a balance between your desire for financial security and your impulsive tendencies. With the right mindset and a bit of careful planning, you can achieve your goals while maintaining a healthy relationship with money.

TAURUS. You have a down-to-earth and practical approach when it comes to managing your finances, and you place a high value on security and convenience. You have a great talent for handling money and are known for being dependable and sensual. You take a realistic approach when making investment and savings decisions, and while you may sometimes be stubborn when it comes to financial advice, it has helped you save money in the past. Although trusting your intuition has worked in your favor before, expanding your knowledge of financial institutions like banks and brokerages could benefit you even further. You have a keen interest in the arts and entertainment industries, which offer great potential for financial success. Your desire for wealth is driven by a passion for acquiring luxurious and valuable items, and you may have expensive tastes. While you occasionally indulge in impulse purchases, you generally have a practical approach to money and excel in business. With your skills, quick monetary gains are definitely within reach.

GEMINI. You have a lot of great ideas for generating income. However, it's important to keep in mind that you tend to let money slip away, so it's a good idea to be mindful of that. Your intelligence and quick thinking skills are definitely assets, but try not to jump too quickly from one venture to the next, as it may cause some turbulence in your financial affairs. It might be helpful to consolidate your interests a bit, rather than spreading yourself too thin. If you're looking to diversify your approach to earning a living, switching careers or exploring new investments could be great options for you. You have a knack for developing creative ways to improve your financial foundation, so don't be afraid to try new things. There are plenty of opportunities out there, particularly in fields like teaching, writing, transportation, and tourism. One thing to keep in mind is to avoid mixing finances with family or neighbors. You approach your finances from a logical perspective, which can be helpful, but it's important not to get too caught up in fretting about your finances or developing overly complicated budgets and plans. The good news is that you have the ability to adapt to any financial situation, so you'll be able to navigate whatever comes your way.

CANCER. You value financial security and stability, which is totally understandable. You like to have a safety net and make sure you can take care of yourself and your loved ones. Family may play a role in how you manage your money, but you're creative and resourceful when it comes to finding ways to keep your hard-earned cash safe. You're a caring and generous person, and you may be inclined to give to others or support causes you believe in. When you do spend money, you tend to focus on things that bring you joy, comfort, or improve your overall well-being. Investing in areas like agriculture, property, and commodities can be a smart move for you, and you take a thoughtful and careful approach to managing your money. You love spoiling your family and friends, but you also recognize the importance of being financially responsible and keeping your funds in order. When your finances are in good shape, you feel more relaxed and able to enjoy the things that matter most in life.

LEO. You have worked hard to achieve financial stability and you take pride in your earnings and assets. Your creativity and business acumen have played a significant role in your success, and you are always looking for new ways to reach your goals. You are fortunate to have the support of high-ranking individuals who want to see you succeed, and you value their encouragement. You are drawn to business or career opportunities that allow you to showcase your skills and put you in the public eye. Your organizational talents have helped you to effectively manage people and situations related to finances, leading to recognition within your community or the entertainment industry. While you have a natural inclination towards investing and taking risks, it's important to be cautious and mindful of the potential risks involved. You understand that financial success is important, but you also know that it's not the only thing that brings happiness and fulfillment in life. At times, you may enjoy indulging in luxury and extravagance, but ultimately you understand that material possessions are not the most important things in life. You value the simple pleasures and find joy in the things that truly matter, like spending time with loved ones and pursuing your passions.

VIRGO. You have a habit of keeping your money and valuables safe, and takes pride in accumulating material goods in an organized and methodical manner. People around you truly admire your attention to detail, and it's fantastic that you handle your finances with caution and wisdom. You're always aware of your financial situation, which helps you stay within your budget and avoid impulsive purchases that could result in financial trouble. Your sharp focus and attention to detail are excellent assets when it comes to keeping your investments on track, but it's important to keep in mind that being overly critical of others, especially those close to you, can be harmful. Nonetheless, you have a clear vision of what you want to do with your money and keep thorough records to achieve your goals. It's impressive that you're sensible with your finances, always planning ahead, but it's crucial to avoid impulsive decisions that could cause issues. When your finances aren't in order, it can cause physical and emotional stress, which can be avoided by staying organized and in control of your money. Remember to take care of your financial health to prevent anxiety and possible physical illnesses.

LIBRA. When it comes to your financial situation, things are likely to work in your favor, giving you the opportunity to achieve some level of success in reaching your goals. However, there's a good chance that you weren't satisfied with a job where you made most of your money in ways that didn't suit you or in areas where you lacked skill. You'd find more fulfillment in earning money through creative pursuits like writing, painting, sculpture, architecture, interior design, or even through investments that provide a steady income. If you enter into business partnerships or agreements with others for mutual gain, there's a chance for success. But hey, be careful with your choices, as you could end up losing money. A partnership in business or a supportive marriage can be a great asset. You strive to maintain a balanced budget by carefully considering the pros and cons of your expenses and investments. If you feel your financial life is out of whack, it's okay to start from scratch. Making money with the help of a partner or through marriage is a possibility. You have expensive taste, but you're not one to spend beyond your means, and you try to avoid wasting money on unnecessary purchases. You could find opportunities to make money in the arts, law, beauty industry, fashion, or even the wedding industry, for example.

SCORPIO. Money and material possessions really get your emotions going. Sometimes you might feel a twinge of envy when you see others succeeding financially. You value your enthusiasm and have a positive outlook when it comes to your financial situation. You're willing to put in the hard work to reach your goals. Your determination usually helps you overcome any obstacles, whether they're natural or man-made. In the end, you should be able to achieve financial independence and create a comfortable home for yourself. While you're not one to be frivolous, you do have a strong desire to spend money to grow your financial base or expand your influence. Just be careful not to react too slowly when it comes to financial matters, as that could lead to temporary losses or setbacks. When it comes to investments that involve growth and expansion or utilities with future potential, you can usually rely on your keen judgment. You prefer to keep your financial life private because you don't want others to know about your wealth or lack thereof. You have the potential to make a good amount of money in your life, but it may not be your ultimate ambition. You might consider long-term investments or even partnering up with someone in a business venture to make money.

SAGITTARIUS. When it comes to money, you have a sense of abundance. You might even be a bit of a scrooge at times. You're great at seeing the big picture, which often gives you a feeling of luck or fortune when it comes to handling your finances. However, this mindset also makes you more prone to taking risks in the hopes of boosting your bank account. Unfortunately, it can lead to financial losses if you're not careful with your planning. You may have a tendency to gamble or turn money into a game, finding excitement in the ups and downs of your fortunes. You naturally gravitate towards industries involved in international affairs, foreign investment, travel, publishing, and higher education. Just make sure to research the merits of any cause before you start throwing money around or making generous contributions in public. When it comes to money, you have a generous attitude and don't mind giving it away. As long as you have enough to cover your needs and help others, you're content. You're not afraid to take risks to make more money, and if things don't work out, you're ready to shrug it off and try again.

CAPRICORN. When it comes to making money, you're all about being organized and methodical. You take pride in your self-control and wisdom when it comes to your finances. You're not one to spend money without thinking it through and doing thorough research. Keeping to a savings plan is your jam, which shows that you value stability and setting yourself up for a better future. And hey, investing in things like real estate, property, or precious metals might bring in some extra cash. Your knack for organization and sense of responsibility make you a pro at handling business and financial matters. You're all about exploring opportunities for profit and bringing people together to make it happen. Who knows, this could even catch the attention of the public or politicians, leading to some community or national service. But don't get me wrong, you're no spendthrift. You're cautious and calculated with your money, always thinking twice before making financial decisions. Some might see you as frugal, thinking you have less than you actually do. But that's because you're smart about getting the most out of your money and gradually building up your savings for a more comfortable future. With your skills, you could make some serious dough in fields like politics, entrepreneurship, or working as a career planner or counselor. Just be careful with your spending and keep that financial sense in check.

AQUARIUS. When it comes to money and things, you're in for a wild ride. You value your uniqueness and creativity above all else. Get ready for some unpredictable twists and turns in your financial matters because your income sources can be anything but ordinary. Don't worry though, this doesn't mean you won't succeed. In fact, many of your dreams and aspirations are rooted in this unpredictability. You've got the potential to make connections with people who can directly impact your financial ambitions, and you might even stumble upon opportunities through your acquaintances who know all the right folks. If you're looking to make investments, areas like electronics, aircraft, inventions, scientific research and development, and the computer sector can be pretty lucrative. But here's a piece of advice: avoid relying on other people's money. It can lead to a whole bunch of issues and misunderstandings. You're the kind of person who keeps emotions separate from finances, and you don't stress too much about money on an emotional level. It may come and go in bursts, and you might find yourself in jobs where income isn't consistent, like commission-based or sales roles. Fluctuating earnings are pretty common, and you might depend on these avenues for the bulk of your income.

PISCES. So, money matters can be a bit confusing for you. It's not always easy to meet your financial obligations, and you might find yourself scratching your head about it. But hey, you really value compassion, and that's awesome. When it comes to finances, keep an eye out for unexpected opportunities that might come your way. But be careful, 'cause there can be risks involved. Make sure you know what you're getting into before jumping in blindly. There might be hidden conditions or consequences that you need to consider. Don't worry, though. If you take the time to investigate and gather all the info, it won't feel like such a mysterious puzzle. You've got this natural psychic sense that helps you see through dishonesty and deception, which is pretty cool. But hey, don't take your financial life too lightly. It's important to be responsible with your money. Sometimes you might come up with these grand money-making schemes that never really pan out, or you struggle to keep track of your funds. Just try to be a bit more organized and thoughtful when it comes to your finances.

(CC) AstroJulia Some Rights Reserved

[snepril]

Been mulling over an idea that I may or may not make into a story: a world where magic is a known factor, and where magical brokers can offer "Change of Fortune" contracts - essentially the option to trade your current existence for a new one. Everyone knows about it, but it's not often something people actually do - after all, you have to be willing to give up more than you get. So when you wander into one such brokerage, it's really just to kill time. You chat with the broker, and they share some of their past clients stories.

One story in particular sticks with you: someone who chose to become an inanimate object. It's a simple trade, after all - life as a human is definitely more valuable than life as a thing. But why would someone ever agree to that?

...and why can't you stop thinking about it?

At first, you tell yourself it's just a passing fancy, just a silly little thought. You'd never actually go through with it! I mean, if you did, there'd be no going back! You'd be stuck that way for the rest of your life - no, your existence! You'd definitely regret it.

So why can't you stop thinking about it?

[noah-andrews]

Noah showed up at JB's door wearing the outfit they'd picked out at Goodwill the day before. It actually looks pretty good on him. He looks like he's going for a job interview at an insurance brokerage, but just a little more hip. That was thanks to JB mostly. He was leaning toward a ridiculous 1970's looking polyester suit in a particular shade of rust that seems to have been banned in 1982. The gray one he has on is much better really, but he thought about going back to get that other one. Thinking about that distracts him from what he's going to have to do for the rest of the afternoon.

He checks that he has everything and then knocks at her door. He can do this. He can definitely do this. It's not D/s. It is actually, but it's not. He's just playing a part and the part isn't D/s either except in the way that it is. He shakes his head and puts on a smile. He can do this.

@jbjonesxdomme

[bitchesgetriches]

Hey Bitches!

How long have you had Acorn? Do you still recommend it for first time investors? And for any particular type of account? On another note, do you recommend have both a IRA and a 401k? Or stick to one to start?

I've had Acorns for about 8 years and I still definitely recommend it for first-time investors. I think the basic brokerage account is all you need, but you can evaluate their checking/debit account and other products for yourself. Remember--personal finance is personal, and your needs might be different from mine!

Here's our Acorns sign-up link if you're interested (we'll get a kickback).

I definitely recommend you have multiple retirement accounts (both a 401k and an IRA or similar). It's the basic concept of not putting one's eggs all in one basket. I have a brokerage account, a 401(k), AND a Roth IRA and I'm very happy with the setup.

Here's more advice, my sweet lil bee:

How To Start Small by Saving Small 

Cheat on Your Bank—It's Not Your Girlfriend 

Dafuq Is a Retirement Plan and Why Do You Need One? 

Did we just help you out? Tip us!

[cj-emhoff]

full name — CJ Emhoff

faceclaim — Leo Woodall

gender & pronouns — Male, He/Him

sexuality — Bisexual

age & birthday —  27 & August 10th, 1997

Zodiac — Leo ☼ , Cancer ☾, Aquarius ↑

occupation — Surf Instructor for Neptune Surf & Co.

hometown — Asbury Park, NJ

living — Asbury Bay

~Biographical Stuff~

CJ "Christopher John" was born in Asbury Park — a home birth as it was, Nina Emhoff always wanting a water birth - having seen Pamela Anderson at the time had had two by then, just once she wanted that experience. Scott Emhoff though; absent. Another world market crash, gain, brokerage deal, late nights with the clients in NYC, who really knew.

That alllmost setting the tone for life ahead - Nina, founder and CEO of New Emerald Health & Life. With wellness retreats spanning the East Coast, breaking into the South American market currently where Nina lives with her new life partner in Mexico City. Scott - Finance bro. Through and through (Watch Industry? He is Eric) on his third wife, spends the majority of his time in the office and his loft in New York City when he's not entertaining clients.

CJ has two younger sisters — one just graduated college, one in high school currently. (May make one a WC so will keep the background vague) He's pretty close to both.

CJ was a star athlete, nabbing a soccer scholarship (though he definitely didn't need it) to UConn. Rushed & joined Alpha Sigma Phi Frat, all was looking good.

During winter break his Sophomore year back in Asbury, CJ was out partying with old friends and stupidly got behind the wheel. Driving the windy coastal road from Long Branch there was an accident. Both drivers were intoxicated and only one survived. CJ walked away with his life and a broken leg, broken collar bone and ribs.

a fairly big legal battle ensued, but as it goes, CJ comes from money. The accident with the potential to garner more attention, was kept at bay to his parents contacts. A judge in the family finagaling a light sentence— (keeping the victim and family vague for potential WC) CJ walking away with six months house arrest and probation, and 300 hours of community service.

Dropping out of UConn, CJ was housebound.

Rehab, court requirements, time passed slowly then really quick. Life happened, moved on. Not without plenty guilt, and a mini stint in a facility when painkillers were too good.

CJ moved out to the pool house that became his future and current residence to this day.

Eventually, his parents divorced, he got a new stepmom who lives in the main house permanently with his youngest sister.

Once the knee was rehabbed he picked up a job at Neptunes Surf & Co. to teach tourists and the milf's of Asbury's children how to surf. While his knee never will be 100%, he's gotten very comfortable in his current situation. He loves surfing, the ocean, his pool house. ~Random Stuff~

He has an accent, a "Jersey accent" not super thick but noticeable to outsiders.

Discovered he's outdoorsy-lite. When he couldn't surf he was introduced to camping - not a man of the woods per say lol but he enjoys acting like it.

hugely into older women - a bit of a milf slut.

has his therapist on speed dial ever since the accident, and does still abuse prescription pain relievers from time to time. (a lot of the time)

May have a budding tattoo addiction - anything to not think right? ~Possible Connections~

childhood/high school friends/enemies - born and raised, dynamics of all kinds welcome.

UConn/Greek life connections - never know

Rehab stint folks - always fun, CJ went once, didn't take it very seriously at all.

family of the man that died in the car accident - just. yes. please.

exes/hookups/messes - always love that kind of mess pls

and really anything else we can conjure up, truly down for most anything. On dash chem is my favorite and just love winging it too! I’ll fill this all out more as time goes on for sure!

[directdogman]

Hello sir doggo, a friend of mine made a lil dumpster for Randy and I was wondering if this makes him feel at home or if this is giving him ptsd flashbacks everytime I shove him in there.

Follow up question does each Randy plush have memory’s of his life before being kidnapped and dropped off at peoples houses or have you gifted around 2,000 babies to the hands of people who play dating sims religiously…

sir doggo

just for the record, i had to piss into a bottle less than a month ago, so I am definitely NOT distinguished enough to be considered any sort of 'sir'. Seriously, take a survey of politicians, wall street brokerage firm CEOS, distinguished local gentlemen, etc... I guarantee you this: statistically? virtually NONE of them'll have pissed into a bottle recently. I actually had a good friend directly tell me that i'd lost my humanity one of the previous times i had to do this, so I'm certain I don't qualify as a 'sir' and haven't for a while now.

I was wondering if this makes him feel at home or if this is giving him ptsd flashbacks everytime I shove him in there.

maybe you should put yourself in randy's shoes. imagine you've just been randomly adopted by an inter-dimensional turtle or something, transported to serve as its pet, in a vast and alien dimension beyond your comprehension. Then, the turtle uses its god-like power of matter manipulation to form a cardboard replica of your previous WORST living arrangements for you to live in. Like, your bedroom is missing decorations, the walls are bare as if you haven't ever lived in it, but the drywall still also has that hole you punched in it when you were 16 and your parents wouldn't let you go see Will Smith's Shark Tale (2004). Then, as you're lying in your awful cardboard bed, the turtle posts on Turtblr: "̵A̷C̸T̸U̵A̴L̷L̴Y̴ ̶A̸M̴ ̷I̵ ̶B̷U̷M̷M̷I̷N̸G̷ ̴O̷U̵T̶ ̸M̸Y̵ ̸S̴P̷E̵C̵I̴M̷E̴N̸?̵ ̶I̸N̷ ̶H̶I̶N̴D̷S̶I̸G̶H̵T̶,̷ ̵T̷H̸I̵S̷ ̶D̸W̶E̵L̸L̷I̷N̸G̷ ̵I̸S̷ ̸P̷R̸E̷T̶T̴Y̷ ̴D̶R̷A̵B̶.̷"̴

it's a lil like hell, I s'pose, but the turtle is in control. that's the fate you've given Randy.

does each Randy plush have memory’s of his life before being kidnapped and dropped off at peoples houses

I like to believe it's like being in a nightmare where you're so disorientated that you don't necessarily remember any specifics from your life, but you have the same thought process that your intact mind (memories and all) would have if you weren't too petrified to remember your own name. Then again, that's just my answer. If you wanted, you could just imagine that your Randy plush is just dimly grinning inside and slightly amused at all times, like he's a kitten that's full of milk and about to fall asleep, or alternatively, like he's strung out on pretty strong painkillers. Whatever makes you happiest!

[accio-victuuri]

From this article about One & Only “The "easter eggs" that are not on the screen of "One and Only" are here”

Recently, Entertainment Studio talked to "One and Only" director Dapeng and starring Huang Bo, and shared the stories behind the scenes of 10 movies with everyone here.

"Passionate" is an adjective that is aptly used to describe the newly released movie "One and Only".

This movie focusing on street dance is dazzling, and the last 20 minutes of the national competition are especially hearty, making people's palms sweat;

Outside the shoot, every member of the "One and Only" crew is doing their best for the cause they love, and the soul of the group is burning. Dapeng took the main creator to run desperately across the country, dancing in amusement parks, singing at barbecue stalls, checking tickets in movie theaters, handing out posters in frog suits under the scorching sun, riding bicycles for publicity, taking trains for publicity, and promoting at scenic spots... Wang Yibo fell ill and returned to the team after only two days of rest to continue the roadshow. Like Chen Shuo in the film, everyone is desperate to give, just to get closer to their dreams, and their warm emotions are constantly transmitted to more audiences.

"One and Only" is a film project born under the trend of the times to break prejudice.

"After the release of "Sewing Machine Band", the business of many local piano shops began to improve, because there were many children who went to learn musical instruments. This "One and Only" also carries the blessing of the entire Chinese street dance circle, from the preparation stage to the end of the shooting, the street dance circle is looking forward to and blessing this movie, I believe that this movie will definitely usher in a peak of rapid development of Chinese street dance after its release. They may be children and parents, or they may be people who have been prejudiced against street dance, but they will all fall in love with street dance and the people in the story. Dapeng said.

The best candidate for Bboy

In order to understand the real street dance culture, Dapeng did a lot of homework.

He watched street dance movies all over the world, and interviewed a large number of street dancers of different ages in various cities across the country, from three to forty and fifty years old. In April 2021, during the preparation of "One and Only" and before the start of "Keep You Safe", Dapeng asked all the Bboys he knew the same question-

"If I'm looking for someone to play Bboy, he has to be a well-known actor, he has to be able to act and dance at the same time, and his temperament can be recognized by the Bboy community, who should I go to?"

Dapeng got a unified answer, Wang Yibo.

At that time, Dapeng did not know Wang Yibo, he did not even have a script, and he met Yibo nervously through the brokerage company. In order to prevent his expression from being in place, Dapeng also wrote a letter in advance and handed it to Yibo.

Later, Dapeng received a reply from Wang Yibo and wrote a lot of words. Wang Yibo said that he is very happy to be invited to play this role, street dance and movies are his passion, so doing this thing is a superposition of love. He agreed to star in "One and Only".

With a specific object, the film began to enter a stage of rapid progress. Screenwriter Su Biao printed a photo of Wang Yibo and pasted it above the table, looked at his photo every day, and began to write the script.

The script grows from the double BO

The earliest "One and Only" stories tried different directions. At the beginning, the main line is the relationship between mother and son, about how a mother raises her children, and the "exclamation point" is actually derived from a plot in the early version of the script. When Chen Shuo was young, his mother took him to choose his favorite extracurricular class, and if he didn't learn well, he would put a cross or question mark, and only the street dance chosen by Xiao Chen Shuo himself was given an exclamation point. The exclamation point became a small code word between mother and son, and Chen Shuo finally used it on the stage of the national competition.

In the process of the development of the script, they want to write how Chen Shuo is getting stronger and stronger, then he must have a good coach. The coach's line is getting fuller and fuller, and slowly becomes the protagonist.

At the same time, Dapeng they are going to start looking for actors. An OG who can dance, his acting skills are also brilliant, and the only thing Dapeng can think of is Huang Bo. He had shown every script to Huang Bo before, but he didn't find a suitable opportunity for cooperation, but he didn't expect that Huang Bo agreed very happily this time.

"Brother Bo told me that he could finish his last job within a time frame and have a whole block of time to shoot "One and Only", which scared me. Because it is not even a complete script, only the outline of the story. He seemed to have been waiting for the role, and the invitation process went smoothly beyond my own imagination. Dapeng said.

"So we have the double BO combination. We project our impression of them into the script, maybe you can see that there is a part of Huang Bo's shadow on the characters, and there is a growth trajectory of Yibo, that is because these two characters can be said to be tailored for Huang Bo and Yibo, and the story is grown from them.

This time is different from my previous creative path, I used to write one draft, two drafts and three drafts of the script, and even the punctuation marks I felt very satisfied with before I went to find an actor, but in the end it didn't work, and I acted by myself. "One and Only" was unexpectedly smooth, and it was the most efficient film I created. ”

Chen Shuo and his mother

In the final film, the line between Chen Shuo and his mother was compressed, but it was still the biggest crying point.

"The two of them are still a bit alike, did you feel it?" Dapeng laughed.

Liu Mintao and Wang Yibo each did their homework for the role, and the first rivalry scene they wanted to shoot was the scene where Chen Shuo rushed to the wedding scene to find that it was his mother singing on stage, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

The crew spent a while to set up the studio scene for the filming of this scene, and ran in a group of extras. As soon as the shout began, Liu Mintao and Wang Yibo quickly entered the situation, and both of them shed tears from their hearts.

Dapeng in front of the monitor was a little confused - a scene that took so much effort to prepare, the result was so easy? He said it would be okay or ... Do it again? But in fact, the first take is used in the end. The two actors have done a lot of homework before this, and their understanding of the characters has been very thorough, realizing the "one take" of this heavy emotional scene.

Uncle's wax figure

Living with them in the film is Chen Shuo's uncle, played by the bald Yue Yunpeng, a character with few scenes but dense laughter.

Because her mother's surname is Du, the team came up with a somewhat nonsensical shop name called "Madame Tussauds Restaurant". There are a lot of wax figures in the store, and authorization is required to shoot wax figures, so the crew first considered Dapeng's friends, Jia Ling, Zhang Xiaofei, Yang Di, Li Xueqin, etc., and also thought of world-class celebrity images such as Monkey King, Einstein, Bruce Lee, and Tyson.

Yang Di not only has wax figures, but he himself also came to play a moving wax figure in a nightmare, which is scary and funny. Li Xueqin could have had a wax figure in the shape of a female ghost in "Keep You Safe", but because it was not sure which of "One and Only" or "Keep You Safe" would be on first, the audience might not get this meme, so they could only remove it first.

"With wax figures and a little bit of my own thinking in it. What kind of people are those who have wax figures, they are all successful people. But my uncle has been sculpting a wax figure of himself, and the closer to the end of the movie, the wax figure becomes more and more complete. If you have a belief in your heart, no matter how ordinary and ordinary people are, you can shape your appearance like your uncle. Dapeng said.

Huang Bo backflipped, Wang Yibo hit closed, and the crew rolled up

For movies dedicated to street dance, the dance part must be burning and fried enough, and it must be able to bring a strong visual and psychological impact to the audience.

Dapeng spent a long time researching how to make street dance look better, he organized a group of dancers to the studio to test shoot, try various equipment and mirror movement, and also hired a new editing director, Zhang Yibo, who had cut "Young You", to cut the dance part, because Zhang Yibo himself is also a dancer.

Most of the members of the exclamation point are real-life top dancers, each specializing in different dances. Between "let professional actors learn to dance" and "ask professional dancers to perform", he chose the latter in order to save the dance. But I didn't expect that the dancers' performances in the final film were also very good, because most of the time Dapeng let them "play themselves", eating the hot pot scene, everyone talked about why they wanted to dance, which is the true voice of the dancers themselves.

And the two leading actors, Huang Bo and Wang Yibo, both showed the highest professionalism and did their best to exceed the required dance moves. In the original script, there was no Ding Lei on the scene, but Huang Bo felt that since he came, it was difficult to jump again. Wang Yibo also strives to jump to perfection every time, and finally jumps with closure.

"Yibo and Brother Bo are very serious, so serious that I don't think it's necessary, for example, Brother Bo has a flip, in fact, you can do it with a stand-in, and you can't see it, but he must do it himself. Spirits can infect each other, there is a competitive atmosphere in the crew, you want to do a backflip by yourself, what should others do?

For the last street dance competition, we filmed at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center for 10 days, and the shooting intensity was very large. The movie is cut shot by shot, but the actors can't jump only part of it, the movements are coherent, so jumping over and over again is a test of everyone's physical endurance.

On the penultimate days of filming, they told me that Chen Shuo (Wang Yibo) had an uncomfortable ankle, but he didn't tell me that I only learned about it after several people. Although there was a team doctor on the scene every day, I told Yibo at that time that the movie is edited, and it doesn't matter if a certain time you dance is not so perfect, as long as a few moments are good, and then we can make up for it through other angles.

But he just has to be good from beginning to end, he is too demanding of himself. On the last day, he should have filmed the scene in a closed position.

In order to live up to his efforts, in the end, in the choice of editing, you can go to watch, I try my best to ensure that his performance is a complete camera, not cut. ”

An avid group performer

Dapeng used to watch many group performances in film and television dramas, such as a group of reporters mechanically pressing the camera shutter, and a group of wooden audiences under the concert stage, they would feel very dramatic. The main creator may pay more attention to the protagonist, and the supporting role is just a human flesh background board. This time filming "One and Only", Dapeng felt that the atmosphere creation of the competition scene was the top priority, and it was the key point for the audience to have a sense of presence and thus believe in the story.

No matter how big the scene, Dapeng requires every group audience in the audience to react with passion and commitment.

"Every day I try everything to liven up the atmosphere on the spot," Dapeng said, "The whole voice is dumb, if I can't do it, I will want my sister to go up, and if she can't do it, I will go up to others, and take turns to drive the atmosphere."

One day at 11 p.m., everyone started to get sleepy, and I felt as if the atmosphere was going to fall, so I rushed into the crowd myself. I said, look how I play an avid hip-hop audience. When you go to drive the atmosphere, everyone will be infected by you, and the atmosphere of the game can be more enthusiastic. ”

Dapeng, who did not star in his own movie for the first time, played a fanatical live audience, and he also set his "black photo" as a Weibo avatar

Prepare the last scene as if it were a movie

The last 20 minutes of the hip-hop competition were constantly reversed, and the climax was stacked, and wave after wave raised the atmosphere. How was this scene designed?

"We prepared the last scene as a movie. Although it is an action scene, it also takes on a lot of narrative functions, so that the game is always in suspense, there are constant reversals and accidents, and each round has ups and downs. Before filming this competition, our crew stopped work for a few days, and there were meetings every day, and various departments coordinated how to shoot this game.

Fortunately, we have the best dancers in China, the best dance consultants, the members of the coaching staff of the national team, and they give a lot of ideas. For example, someone was injured on the spot, how to persist with the injury, and impress the judges with spirit, such as the music suddenly stopped, the team's creativity..."

In the end, the exclamation point won satisfactory results with the comprehensive strength of the dance company, Chen Shuo's personal efforts, on-the-spot adaptability, team soul and creativity, etc., and I believe that it will definitely bring unexpected surprises to the audience.

Making a movie is very simple, it is a group of people who go all out for one thing

Chen Shuo in the play and Dapeng outside the play are both inspirational examples of struggle.

Recently, Dapeng turned out an old photo, which was a photo of his back with Wang Yibo at an event in Sina when he first stepped into the film industry nine years ago. At that time, he must not have imagined that one day they would collaborate on a movie.

In the ten days we filmed the National Street Dance Competition, every day burned to the fullest. About one day at the end of work, I found a room, and when there was no one, I cried there myself. It's not sad, it's reluctant to finish filming this scene. Even if this group of people gathers at another event in the future, it is not the feeling at this moment, and I miss the time I spent together. ”

"I thought later, maybe that's why I prefer to make movies. Life is hard, but making a movie is much simpler because it's simple, and everyone is desperately trying to give it their all for one thing.

Have you noticed that Yibo has become more smiling in this crew? Because that's what a twenty-four-five-year-old young man should look like, but he is Wang Yibo, and I know the pressure he faces, so in the crew, I try to make him find more security and trust. I believe that he was also very engaged and happy not to talk about the outcome of the final movie, but only about the summer they experienced together. ”

"This time I am also immersed in the directing work, I hope that this film can have a breakthrough in my career, because it is different, with such a powerful Bo Ge, Yibo, and such a group of the best Chinese dancers, everyone likes actors, I think it will become my best work so far." Dapeng said.

As the exclamation point recruitment slogan writes, "Keep working hard and you'll succeed!" This sentence is also true for each of the creators of Dapeng and "One and Only".

( Note : I removed some parts and paragraphs that focus more on DP and his past works. what is left here is about the movie, wyb and chen shuo. )

[cazort]

I see a disturbing number of people, mostly millennials, these days, who have significant incomes and are starting to amass significant savings, who have terrible financial management skills. People who live at home with parents and get a full time job can accumulate money really fast. A lot of people are letting huge amounts of money, like sometimes as much as $20,000 or more, accumulate in checking accounts where it is earning either no interest or negligible interest.

Because inflation is high (over 3% these days), you are effectively losing money when it sits there. Also you're allowing the bank to profit off it; it's lending your money out to other people, often at interest rates as high as 6-7% or more, and it's not paying you for it.

If you have more than maybe around $3000 dollars in an account, you want that money earning interest. Here are things you can do to earn more from your money:

Open a savings account at a higher yield. Go to a different bank if necessary. CIT Bank has rates around 5% these days.

Pay off high interest rate debt but not low-interest rate debt. If the interest rate is above about 7-8% definitely make it a priority to pay it off ASAP. If it is above 5% it is still better to pay it off than to sit on your money. If it is much below 5%, pay it off as slowly as possible (minimum payment only) because there are risk-free ways to earn more interest on your money.

If you don't need the money in the short-term, consider a CD (Certificate of Deposit) which offers a fixed interest rate over a certain time. Often you can get a slightly higher rate by tying your money up for 3 months or 6 months or sometimes even longer. These are good options if you have a specific expenditure in your future, like perhaps moving or buying a home, but you know it won't happen until after a certain date.

Open a brokerage account. Brokerage accounts allow you to buy and sell investments such as stocks, mutual funds, or bonds, which include CD's from banks as well as treasury and municipal bonds and corporate bonds. You get more options for buying CD's (i.e. you can compare many different banks side-by-side, buy CD with the best rate, and manage multiple CD's within a single interface.) Most brokerage accounts have no fees and typically no or very low minimum investments. There is no reason not to have one if you have a few thousand dollars.

In a brokerage account, buy a money market mutual fund. Look for one with no load and no transaction fee, a high yield, and a low expense ratio, and a fixed share price of $1 per share. My two favorite are SWVXX and SNSXX. SWVXX has a higher yield (about 5.19%) whereas SNSXX has a lower yield (just over 5%) but is non-taxable on state income taxes, so SNSXX is a better choice if you have a high state tax rate, otherwise SWVXX is better.

Consider opening a Roth IRA if you haven't, and then, if able, contribute the maximum amount each year. You are allowed to make a contribution that counts towards the previous year, up until the tax filing deadline of the current year. So for example today it is Mar. 14th, 2024, so you can open a Roth IRA today and contribute the max ($6,500) for the 2023 year and also the max ($7,000) for 2024, for a total of $13,500. The main advantage of a Roth IRA is that the money in them can grow tax-free. Roth IRA's benefit anyone able to have one (the richest people are not allowed to contribute to them) and are especially important for people who are self-employed, change jobs a lot, or never work full-time, so they don't have a consistent employee-provided retirement plan.

Consider investing in stocks. Stocks are riskier (in that their price changes, and you can lose money when investing in them), but tend to have a higher yield than savings and money market accounts and funds. The simplest way to buy stocks is to buy an ETF (exchange-traded-fund). I recommend buying one that follows the S&P 500 and has a low expense ratio like SPY or VOO. Whatever you buy, reinvest the dividends and let it grow, contribute a little money every year so are putting in money even in years the market is down. On average you get about a 10% return in the market but it is unpredictable and you will lose in some years, but that's okay, you're not retiring for many decades and the money will have grown a lot by then.

There are options regardless of your risk profile. It is throwing your money away to let a lot of money sit in a checking account. At a bare minimum, go for a high-yield savings account, CD, or better yet get a brokerage account, put it in high-yield money market funds like SWVXX, shop around for CD's or other bonds with the highest rates, and if you are able to tolerate some risk and want a higher return, consider putting some money in more aggressive investments like stocks.

I am 100% for tax reform and other reform to curb the extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, but it's also important to take your financial situation into your own hands. Get financially comfortable. Get a stake in the US economy. Empower yourself so you can live better and help your family, friends, and the causes you care about.

[thepowerisyouth]

MONEY / FINANCE STRESS CONTENT WARNING, this next line is unfortunately quite stressful about money so this was an important warning for me to add:

This is also less for the random strangers on the internet who have no reason to trust my advice but more for the 10-15 people I know personally who trust my money advice based on prior experience and Ive sent them my blog link in the last month or two

US stock market is about to tank. On a global perspective its stupidly overpriced because markets like China are hitting 5 year lows (as in we've increased our stock market over 2x since "COVID lows", but their market is even lower than it was then.

Timing is hard but it is entirely possible yesterday was the peak of the market. Might also not tank for 6 months.

Market psychology is fucking weird tho so please absolutely dont 'short' anything, which is basically the same as 'buying puts'. Michael Burry nearly bankrupted all his friends, family, and random investors by insisting on 'shorting' things based on knowledge of impending crisis.

Just sell everything. I mean literally everything. Bond etfs might go up but youd have to have eyes glued to the charts to sell in time. Gold wont do, neither will bitcoin. Their negative correlation to stocks isnt really a thing anymore.

Get every etf, stock, whatever into cash in the brokerage account, then move it out of the banks/brokerage firms and into something physically in front of you because we are, in fact, in another 'historical period of bank runs' its just not quite at the peak yet.

Not trying to increase anxiety beyond nessecary-- its just that any, single bank can immediately freeze your money-- leaving it up to the Federal Government to pay you back-- and it might possibly be the case that youd have to rely on whats called a "bank bail in" to see your savings again.

Not a fun situation to be in, even if it wont happen to most people its just safe practice to do this during a "historical period of bank runs"

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This blog is basically my diary of my thoughts (suprise suprise). But Im an open book, privileged (but poor) little white boy with complex societal/generational abuse and very little home problems so lets fucking go theres a whole mormon cargo van to unpack

Definitely recommend tags Im terrible at them.

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To those reading this, if you have ever met me in real-life or on the internet than you have taught me varying degrees of information which can be randomly retrieved by my brain at any time depending on current CPU performance. Thoughts of my loving husband have occupied my headspace probably 95% of my time since 14 so he has absolutely taught me at least 100x more than anyone else in the world.

When I say "I", oftentimes Im thinking about "me and my husband", or even sometimes "me and my friends/family", or even sometimes "me and society"--- but I am not always 100% aware of the current headspace environment and/or beliefs of the minds of those around me without feedback

---

There are currently over 8 billion individual varieties of the global human language spoken within the mind. Lets start translating them all. Misunderstood words become mean labels.

I fucking hate mean labels

"Math wiz" = racism and/or classism and/or gender shit. Fuck that shit

When a person is niched off into one part of an 8 billion population human society, it becomes impossible to not "live in a bubble". Bubbles change in size constantly even if not visibly observed. Bubbles can be different sizes depending on your current day-to-day thoughts of your own society. Bubbles must pop. Enlightenment implies life only gets better the more times ya pop and lock it

My path away from purely mathematics, logic, and scientific theory began when I met my husband, and for the first time in my life it became important to me not to be an asshole to everyone around me

Ive been told (only after I started dating my traumatized husband tho and helped him heal a lot) that I'm a natural communicator-- and all my life I found myself listening and learning to everything and everyone around me trying to understand both their and my own motivations-- then I like to garble them up and spit 'em out. My memory recall ability is wonky tho and fluctuates highly with nutrient intake-- I'll get into that later

I wish I could have a million years to read every blog on tumblr. I really do. Connecting & communating is extremely important for understanding one another but it takes time

I had an extremely unique childhood (who hasnt lol), enough so to isolate myself quite a lot through sheer dumb luck. My mom is also everyone's favorite school teacher so of course I was learning a lot from a young age. Luckily I glued myself to the first person who wanted to glue themselves to me equally & we grew exponentially closer to eternity

If its still not clear: my husband and I are bored and love chatting with people, but like most internet loving freaks my mouth don't work sometimes well but my fingies do. My ears got fluff a lot but I got eyes for LEDs like a hawk. Wish they werent LED tho

I also have a naturally short sleep cycle (i.e. extra time for this), and I really wont be offended or weirded out by someone reading through and liking 20+ or whatever of my posts at once randomly. Stories are supposed to be read in chunks, and I think of this blog as a story & also workspace for my thoughts that Id love to see which chapters everyone has read through. Also I love (and only respond positively to) positive feedback, yet also suggestions for ways to improve my "theorums". As in, good faith discussions are totally welcome on any post.

For my 50 year old parents reading my blog so lovingly in their limited evening time-- you can sort by tags to see what topics your familiar with, if you play around with the search function while on my page. Mom. Show dad how to do it

In the very, very bottom of my blog I dont even think I managed to tag shit properly-- but its the roughdraft workings of the philosophy, as well as my own logical framework for answering lifes questions. Its 2 months ago so I might not even be writing according to my own works down there anymore idk I change fast sometimes

Last thing for now here is that I was always criticized by teachers for not showing my work, and for not reviewing my tests before turning in, and I pushed back hard because nearly every time I went over and corrected a mistake-- I saw I most often got it right the first fucking time on a pure hunch. I act on impulse when I'm not meditating mostly for efficiency purposes because I believe I'm correct, but remain open to emotionally positive feedback so I can help remove all doubt.

-------

This might turn into my 'life story' post, as its already going there. Heres what I have so far in the way of my knowledge of my family before I was brought into existence, and my "earliest memories":

Family context:

I dont know jack shit. Nobody talks about it at all.

Here's my own observations Ive made using the framework and perceptive filters I was given--

My whole family is white Texans.

Ancestory is slaveowners of course, further back is a very likely direct parent-child descendent line from the most famous inbred british royalty of the 13th century i.e. King John, whose brother was the arab genociding Richard.

I would call my immediate family as upper poverty class. Its more like poverty with extra privileges cause mental health stigma was the only thing holding them back not other shit too.

As children we had a lot of very privileged opportunities because my parents made a lot of sacrifices to try and bring us back up the class ladder. Lets look into that generational trauma issue

My dads parents (born in the early 40s, dont know the year exactly. I think '43 or '44) were more upper middle class, pretty high income. Owned an insurance business that was very successful by the early 2000s at least. My grandpa is described to me as a "monster" and "violently abusive". I have a single memory of him screaming at me as a young child and I was cowering under a desk, so I really believe it. No other stories at all to provide context.

-- I gotta split this section off I realized I wrote the next thing about post-me context Ill need to move this part lower down later--

My grandpa got early onset dementia, my dad didnt notice in time, and my grandpa bankrupted his successful company and lost several million of dollars to "scammers and sexy ladies."

My dad found out around 2015-16 or so. He told me a little bit after telling me my grandparents were getting divorced. My dad managed to scrape together about $200,000 which is being sued for by the IRS actively.

(He split that money in two, and entrusted me tell him how to invest half in safe value stocks that I handpicked as well as a calculated risk allocation to bonds which we sold for 30% profit the second the market crashed. He gave the other half to a brokerage advisor. I never met the advisor but saw the results. Dont get me started on how the other dude did with that money-- we started this endeavor in January 2020.)

Personally I also dont believe that its possible to spend an entire fortune on scammers and strippers, so Id love to see his books and figure out what the hell went wrong with that asshole. I have a hunch I know something more than anyone else ("Enron", guys, we're talking about an insurance company in HOUSTON, in the 2000s) but I will never be sure without the books.

----

Back to other family--

I do not know a single thing about my grandma on my dads side. She raised me quite a lot, but yeah I literally have only heard her life described to me as "she was a housewife"

On my moms side, my Mimi (also born 1940s but slightly younger so I think 1946 or 1947) came from a divorced, upper middle class family. In 1964-65, She and her step mom both got knocked up the same year so she watched her divorced dad remarry to said step mom when she was 18-19 and getting a shotgun marriage herself, so you can imagine what that was like. The "biological" of the two moms was a very good mom and very queer from what I hear. She died when I was a baby, from lung cancer. Thats all I know. My mimi raised me quite a lot, nearly equally as much as my mom did

My mom's dad, my Papa, came from a rural farming family in East Texas. Dont know much else of anything, but he and his siblings were named "Billy, Bobby, and Betty". As in, they are what everyone likes to call "hicks"

--

Moving onto my direct parents now. I know a little more about them of course, but since we're getting closer in age to the present-- I think itll be easier to describe my understanding as common stereotypes. If its unclear what I mean definitely feel free to ask, but I'll probably say "I dont really know"

Not much else is relevant other than knowing that my moms family was the mormon one, but that as soon as my dad was love-bombed by the church he joined to. Mormons were also different in the 90s I'm told.

My dad struggled with being one of the "crazy schizos" of the 90s. As in, very traumatized, upset, and gaslit by the government and his parents. Must have done a damn good job dealing with it by the time he was in his late 20s and I popped out cause he was never a "bad dad" to me at all. Definitely yelled and was more angry at times, but less than any other friends parents Ive ever met, and from what I remember he came into my room at night and apologized to me literally every single time within like 5-10 minutes. I know pretty much nothing about him pre-me. He was a tradesman my whole life and specialized in remodeling kitchens & bathrooms (the 'dirty work of construction'). All his initial clientele were the rich people my grandma lived near and was friends with.

My mom would have been extremely queer-presenting and posting on tumblr if born in the year 2000, but was born in early 70s, and was a raegan teen in high-school in Texas during the satanic panic-- she presents completely cis, straight, but has body dysmorphia issues. Thats about you need to know about those issues I'm sure my tumblr folks can assume the rest and be perfectly correct. Cause thats about all I know too and I'm assuming the rest about my own mother

--- Earliest memories

I think a lot of people face doubt about their own earliest memories, maybe hearing the way I connect the images of these events in my head to my emotions I felt will help others do the same.

----

Two disclosers about me & my current healthcare discoveries before moving on

1) My only "major" childhood trauma is loneliness. I have a partner now (started dating early high school, nearing 10 years together now) who was just as lonely and we are glued to each others side constantly, and have made our life work great that way. So don't feel too bad reading this, I'm only able to write it down because Ive healed that trauma and can dig this stuff up with no issues to validate the emotions I felt even as a child

1) I believe I have a genetic trait that is only just getting discovered. There are something like 6 discovered mutations that hold this similar trait so far, and its just basically chronic insomia.

It being a genetic trait tracks with how my mom describes me as never settling into a normal sleep pattern at 6 months old, having absurd amounts of nightmares and death anxiety keeping me up at night as a child, and I still dont sleep at any given time. I average 2 hours less sleep than my husband, who averages 7-8 now that he isnt actively being abused at home.

Going to get sequenced but even if negative I'd probably just be a 7th mutation, as they only found the other 6 genes via case study.

The scientists whove discovered it call it "Familial Natural Short Sleeper", if you desire to look it up. They describe the trait like its the best possible thing in the world. Well... terminally chronic insomia is not the best thing in THIS world thats for sure.

---------

My "earliest memories"

These arent ranked by time accurately of course. Took enough effort digging through my brain to turn them up, not like Ive got a 2003 calendar stuffed in here as well.

I did do my best to sort by first memory but it also might be sorted by the order at which I recovered the memories as being one of my "earliest" when I was a child and asked such things

1. Pure emptiness. I can only describe it as dissociation. I can remember nothing about the environment around me, except feeling suddenly sucked out of it, seeing only darkness, feeling almost a ringing in my ears and the deepest dread possible. This same feeling followed me in life for a little while, but started to take more visual shape when I was an adolescent, until at some point I would see myself sitting in a chair alone in a room that is infinitely sized but that slowly gets darker the further out you go. I cant remember what exact "real-world" event caused this feeling to ever happen each time it did. I just can remember having it happen occasionally when I was awake and doing things. Definitely dissociation. (If you are willing to believe me further I think its just probably "lights out" and being scared of that)

1. Riding a mattress down the stairs. I kind of remember two images, one is the tunnel vision of going high speed down the stairs and the other would be from looking back up at the stairs when I was done going down. Totally fun, probably my first rollar coaster ride. I might remember my siblings laughing too but it wouldnt be because I can remember the actual laughing-- but I can remember feeling the joy of being in a group of people laughing. At the time, my parents were selling the house so thats why I also remember it being a completely empty carpeted room that we were riding down into

2. My brother smashing his head repeatedly into the refrigerator for 'fun' and someone saying "wow he has a hard head" or something along those lines. I was learning english I cant remember exactly what they said but that was definitely the meaning I took from their words. I think this memory is strong, because I was truly very curious as to why my brother was just running at full speed, head down, and headbutting a hard surface. The words someone said after that must have been one of my first 'answers'

3. Watching my siblings play in rare Houston snow. Not much remembering there actually. Probably just thought it was mezmorizing to watch as I just really remember a picture and feeling peace

4. Will add more later.

[drfeelgreed]

❔ ( you're helping me craft the verse so now i've GOTTA know )

OK! just got home from work, let's do it.

because of what we discussed it might be a little obvious but i would naturally say that my daily days affiliated muses would be a great way to start. i'd actually submit gustav st. germain as my first option; gustav would technically be his boss as the vice president of the daily days! also he's much more actively involved in situations than most of the rest of the infobrokers and would probably be the sort of person who would frustrate alastor with his unwillingness to actually sanction any formal involvement in brokerage without the proper approval. he's like the main guy who CANNOT be coerced. rachel and carol would be alright choices too but i think he'd scare carol and rachel wouldn't care much about him.

my next victim i mean muse is going to be keith gandor, obviously of the gandor family, you literally know keith. you know keith. anyway, keith works the most closely with the daily days of the gandor family and after the events of 1932 d&td alastor would actually know keith to be immortal, hence the reason to get into his good graces. that's not to say keith would particularly like alastor, but he's also not about to risk a good relationship with the daily days over being impolite to their new radio host who has theoretically done nothing to him. he gets chatty over the phone which is probably where most correspondence would take place anyway. goes without saying but berga and luck are available too based on this. just. keith would be the one i toss out first.

edward noah would be a good straightforward pick. definitely for a more like, detective v. killer plot. though. he's a cop turned member of the fbi who works under victor talbot's specially created division that deals with the containing of immortals, but they also investigate ordinary crimes that MIGHT have a connection from time to time so there's ample reason for him to be going after alastor, especially if he catches wind that alastor is looking to become immortal ...

this is such a baccano ass plot that i'm throwing out next but in my head and i literally can't let this go by the way but in my head alastor getting involved with the vanishing bunny would be hilarious, like a classic "whoops, we're all in a situation and hijinks started happening" situation where they have no idea how dangerous alastor really is and are like "WE GOT THIS RANDOM GUY INVOLVED IN OUR WEIRD HEIST" except pamela (the one who has a brain and rational thought) is clocking the serial killer vibes, lana is like pamela you can't just SAY that about people, and sonja literally could not care less she is shooting guns right now. actually i think alastor might even like sonja.

IT'S CHRISTOPHER TIME. that's right i'm recommending you christopher shaldred not because i think plotting would be easy but because i think they have very interesting differences and similarities. especially because you mentioned he's looking for any excuse to "shrug off god's intentions" in relation to this au whereas christopher was created and considers himself to be an abomination against god and secretly envies nature and humanity for their natural existence. but if you examine their personalities their personalities are weirdly similar it's weird. they seem like people who'd get along on the surface. christopher even has the classic sharp teeth grin.

gunmeister smith. no further questions.

claire OR ladd would be very interesting considering what you've laid out to me as his criteria and philosophy when it comes to killing. claire because. well, he's SEEN the rail tracer in action thanks to his presence on the flying pussyfoot, but also because claire is exactly the sort of pompous person who alastor might butt heads with, though claire wouldn't butt heads back. ladd on the other hand is the sort of person alastor might take pleasure in killing in terms of his general audacity and harm to others, but then again they might get along since ladd ALSO really only kills people who are arrogant enough to believe death will escape him. he's just umm. a lot more open about his own proclivities for violence.

anyways. sorry. send stuff to literally anyone these are merely suggestions.

let's all hold hands and write with baccano! muses together. / accepting.

[fuzzy-contrarian]

retirement 101: a very basic guide.

This is instructions without explanations to keep it short.  Think of this as a recipe; if you are an expert cook you don't need a recipe, if you are a good cook you can improvise around a recipe.  if you are a novice, just follow the recipe to get a decent result.  

1) If your employer offers a 401k/403b match, *take advantage of it*.  Even if you need the money in the short term, this is a good deal - they are giving you extra money even after you pay an early-withdrawal penalty.  Estimated spoon cost: 1  Certainty of advice: 100%.  do this.

2) if you have credit card or other bad debt that you don't pay off every month, pay it down as fast as you can.  if you have multiple debts, pay down the highest interest rate first.  it is okay to have minimal savings if you're paying down a credit card - you can always pull money back out of the card.  Estimated spoon cost: 1   Certainty of advice: 90%.  Definitely pay off your bad debt, but maybe have an emergency fund first if you feel the need.

2a) if you don't have a credit card or if all of your bad debts are paid off, save in checking or easy-access savings until you have 3 months of expenses saved up.  This is your emergency fund and your monthly expense fund.  Estimated spoon cost: 0  Certainty of advice: 100%.  do this.

3) if you have at least $3000 more than 3 months of savings, open an account at Vanguard (https://personal1.vanguard.com/mmx-move-money/funding-method).  Pick Roth IRA for your first account type, and put $3000 - $6500 in it to start, as your available cash allows.  This money will be mostly unavailable until you retire.  The benefit is that you don't get taxed on money you get from the investments. You can put another $6500 in it every year.  You'll need to select some investments.   See below for instructions on that.  Estimated spoon cost: 1  Certainty of advice: 90%.  There are *some* other retirement companies that don't suck, you might want to use them (Fidelity and Charles Schwab are not terrible, for example)

3a) if you have pre-existing 401ks from prior employers or whatever, roll them into Vanguard IRA.  If they are Traditional (not Roth) 401ks you will need to open a Traditional IRA at Vanguard to roll into.  This process will almost certainly require calling the 401k custodian repeatedly, and having them send the money to either you or Vanguard.  Estimated spoon cost: 8  Certainty of advice: 50%.  Leaving the money where it is costs ongoing spoons of remembering and managing, and employer 401ks are often suboptimal in terms of fees and investment choices.  But if it's a decent custodian and management is nbd, leaving it is okay too.

4) If you have more available money than that, open a Brokerage account at vanguard.  This is an *uninsured* and *unsheltered* account - you will be taxed on it and there is the potential for it to be lost.  You'll need to select some investments.  See below for instructions on that.  Certainty of advice: 90%.  It is possible to lose money this way, but the upside outweighs the downside.

Selecting investments:

$3000 - $6000: just leave it in the money market default account.  Estimated spoon cost: 0

$6000 - $12000: put $5000 in VTSAX and select VTSAX for future contributions. Estimated spoon cost: 1

More: put around 80% in VTSAX and around 20% in VBTLX and select that for future contributions.  Estimated spoon cost: 1

Certainty of advice: 70%.  These are decent choices but may not match your appetite for risk and/or retirement horizon.  

5) continuing work: contribute up to $6500/year into your IRA.  contribute as much as you can afford to lock up into your company 401k, up to $22500/year.  If your bank account grows much past 3 months while doing those things, move some into your brokerage account.  

[rinhaler]

Hey!!! How's everything? Hope no one fishy is copying your divine content✨️👑 keep making amazing content!

But anyways I have been seeing fellow anons enjoying your underground fighter AU Sukuna and I read it myself and I have to say I am thrilled by the details and tangent, especially with how Sukuna is portrayed.

I honestly got inspired to create a Fight Club JJK AU where Sukuna is the main character and is the older brother of Yuuji. I got inspired by you to create a Sukuna x reader series where the reader is wealthy and a securities broker and consultant who finds out her 18 year-old foul mouth cousin who is still in high school is apart of the shady fight club. But then I made changes where Sukuna isn't just a fight club owner but owns several shady businesses in Tokyo's underworld and reader ends up meeting Sukuna at a nightclub, then a casino, and to her horror and anger, her own brokerage as one of her associate brokers has Sukuna as a client.

What do you think? How salacious, angsty, and comical the series sounds?

Aaaaa hi hi!! Definitely sounds juicy and interesting 👀 would love to read it if you ever wanna share hehe 🫶🏽

[berniesrevolution]

CATALYST JOURNAL

In his essay “The Panthers Can’t Save Us Now” and his new book of the same title, Cedric Johnson persuasively argues for a multiracial, class-based movement toward racial justice, but he questions whether the legacy of the Panthers is suitable for this strategy. This essay argues that the Panthers in fact advocated for the very strategy Johnson recommends, and that they ought to be considered exemplars of the socialist rejection of elite identity politics.

Few recent scholarly interventions have immediately received a more impassioned response than Cedric Johnson’s 2017 article “The Panthers Can’t Save Us Now.”1 With some of the earliest substantial contributions now helpfully gathered into a collection bearing the same title, the debate surrounding it will assuredly grow exponentially.2 The central theses of the piece are now both well known and relatively easy to sketch. Against the prevailing identitarian tide vaguely marching under the banner of Black Lives Matter (BLM), Johnson “takes aim at [the] notion of black exceptionalism,” which posits the existence of a generally homogenous “‘black community,’ all of which suffers the indignities and liabilities of racial subordination.”3 As a result of their common experience of racial oppression, the members of this “community” are assumed to “possess territorial ways of knowing the world and, by extension, deeply shared political interests” that radically distinguish them from others as a group.4 Blackness, in other words, is a not just a real and specifiable identity but a political one, and the black community is correlatively defined by political problems, aspirations, and perhaps even strategies that are radically unique to black life, and thus by definition not shared with others. In essence, Johnson argues, black exceptionalism “falsely equates racial identity with political constituency,” for it either unconsciously elides or intentionally conceals the “cultural and class diversity of Black America,” erasing the vital differences between the needs, interests, aims, and political positions internal to any sufficiently large group in a stratified society.5 Black exceptionalism, which “wrongly views blacks as ‘a people without classes or differing class interests,’” is perfectly suited to bolster and impose a form of brokerage politics wherein individual members of an internally diverse and even contestatory population are transformed into its authentic representatives — regardless of their distance from the problems, regions, and constituencies at issue, their differing grasp of the most vital problems faced by said communities as well as the most viable or supported solutions to them, and even their own role in entrenching the very structures in need of the deepest transformation.6 Thus, when “we examine the social composition of left currents, which are largely the same as those articulating the rhetoric of Black [exceptionalism] today,” we find primarily “academics, nonprofits, political operators, and a thin layer of professionals” — in other words, cultural elites “largely unmoored from the working class.”7

Put bluntly, Johnson argues that black exceptionalism, as well as the contemporary “anti-racist” activism grounded in it, not only undermines organized, truly grassroots struggles for substantive structural change but deflects from a critical focus on the economic engine of insecurity and inequality, replacing it with a focus on issues of special concern to the black (and white) liberal elite: increased representation on corporate and other institutional boards, mandatory DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) training in educational and governmental bodies, the identification and reduction of microaggressions, and other “progressive” changes the owning class is all too happy to incorporate into its language and practice to appear consonant with trends in “social justice.” As he puts it, “corporate anti-racism is the perfect egress from … labor conflicts. Black Lives Matter to the front office, as long as they don’t demand a living wage … and quality health care.”8 This, Johnson argues, explains why — as his earlier monograph Revolutionaries to Race Leaders demonstrates with exacting detail — black exceptionalism was and still is “encouraged by liberal statecraft from above”; it facilitates and entrenches “a form of ventriloquism that has long been a problem within black political life and scholarly and popular interpretations thereof,” creates a disciplinary managerial and academic caste whose “egalitarian” demands subvert the difficult but demonstrably achievable forms of cross-racial solidarity necessary to force deep-rooted structural change, and redirects popular struggle into largely superfluous battles, even if there are occasional victories therein. Against this trend, Johnson issues a full-throated call to “make common cause with the millions of over-policed Americans who do not fit into a Black Lives Matter framework” in order to “grow beyond street demonstrations to build popular consensus and effective power.”9

I should make clear from the outset my complete and enthusiastic agreement with Johnson’s central argument. In both The Panthers Can’t Save Us Now and his previous work, he has, in my view, convincingly demonstrated not only the conceptual and strategic limits of the ideology of Black Power but the need to find a way to recenter economic analysis and universalist solutions in contemporary leftist struggle. However, given the book’s emphasis on BLM, corporate anti-racism, and an academically tinged ethnic politics, as well as Johnson’s virtually unparalleled knowledge of the historical context from which they emerged, I find it perplexing that not only the original essay but the expanded volume uses the Black Panther Party (BPP) as a key exemplar of black exceptionalism. This decision is especially curious because — much like in his magisterial monograph on the historical evolution of Black Power — the BPP features only marginally in both the titular essay and the other contributions. Why give the original article and even the subsequent and expanded book a title that focuses on an organization barely mentioned in either?

In introducing the volume, Vivek Chibber provides something of an answer: because Johnson identifies “a dominant trend in intellectual circles to seek inspiration and guidance from the anti-racist movement of the 1960s,” and because his goal in the piece “was to question the political vision of Black Power writ large, and by extension, to critique the present-day tendency to resurrect it as a model,” “the Black Panthers were the natural choice” because “no organization in that corner of anti-racist mobilization … has come close to occupying such a conspicuous place in the popular imagination.” In other words, because the anti-racist activists of the present invoke — whether explicitly or implicitly, through style or slogan — the history and legacy of the BPP, “Johnson’s project was, in part, to interrogate the viability of the Panthers as an organizational model and a strategic actor,” and to reveal the inherent limits of the exceptionalist framework they represent in the popular sphere.10 On Johnson’s reading, then, because the Panthers give us a historical precedent whose flaws and failures point to the inevitable trajectory of contemporary anti-racism, it makes sense to center them, if only in image and outline.

The problem with this strategy, I want to argue in what follows, is twofold. First, and most obviously, in order to use them to make his case, Johnson must elide what any serious examination of the history of the Panthers reveals — that BPP leadership made essentially all of Johnson’s arguments against black exceptionalism long before him. While the Panthers certainly emerged from the nationalism in vogue during the Black Power era, the party’s expansion coincided not only with their abandonment of that ideology but with their articulation of an increasingly harsh critique of black exceptionalism, as well as a strenuous advocacy for, and instructive practice in, cross-racial coalition politics. This turn brought them into violent, and occasionally lethal, conflict with nationalist organizations and the state, confuting Johnson’s effort to tie them to later forms of neoliberal anti-racism and revealing their continuity with the vital project of left reorientation for which he rightly calls. But second, and perhaps more important, precisely because — despite their manifest hostility to the ideology — they remain the symbol of Black Power–era exceptionalism in the public imagination, the BPP represents a unique resource for undermining the hegemony of BLM-style anti-racism. On the one hand, their unique theory and practice of political vanguardism represents an inspiring case study in how to organize a population divided by the rhetoric of identity politics into a potent political coalition; on the other hand, even if one contests the enduring value of their methods or the import and extent of their achievements, promoting the Panther critique of, and literally life-and-death struggle against, the brokerage politics of Black Power would allow the arguments Johnson brings to bear on it to resonate more deeply with those who embrace that ideology in the mistaken belief they are furthering the Panther legacy. In what follows, I aim to show that, given its powerful critique of black exceptionalism, the central role it plays in the imaginary of neoliberal anti-racism, and its fruitful efforts to move a population divided by such discourses into productive unity, the BPP represent not only an instructive exception to the brokerage politics of black exceptionalism but an essential resource in the struggle against its hegemony.

(Continue Reading)