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naamahdarling · 2 months ago

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You know what? You know what I think?

I think that if we lived as we were meant to, in larger intimate ("extended family") groups and with more shared labor and time to do it (UBI NOW) people like me would not feel so useless and burdensome because there would be people around to help and to do what neurodivergent people can't while making valuable space for the neurodivergent to do what they ARE good at.

The way we live right now, all right, the way we live right now forces units of two adults to be able to do EVERYTHING or PAY to have someone come do it for them. I have to do the housework. I have to do it! But I am having to do a million different things and most of them I am not good at. I suck at them.

I wouldn't feel like shit, okay, if I had more than one other person around who was not a child and who could do the things I can't, like do the yard and cook and do repairs and basic maintenance; and someone else to split everything else that I like but is too much for me. It would free me to do what I am good at and enjoy. Cleaning, as in the sink and toilet, the windows, the blinds. Taking out trash. Folding, hanging, and sorting laundry.

But because all the shit I can do often relies on other shit being done first, and I can't do or have trouble doing those things, the shit I can do often can't be done. And even the shit I can do, I can't do ALL of it. So I can't keep up, and things get very bad.

We aren't meant to live like this. We are not meant to live like this.

That thought hurts so much because being able to flee the birth family is integral to survival for so many people. I'm so afraid that living in larger family groups would create more opportunities for, say, queer kids to be isolated, rejected, bullied, and abused. But if we gave people enough money to survive, and stopped considering children the property of their parents with no system in place to help them escape bad situations except a system that is often just as bad, just different.

I'm aware that communes and collectives aren't all that successful and are kind of a joke. I don't mean that. I mean a fundamental shift to multigenerational families where taking in "strays" (which my family did) is also normalized so people escaping abuse into existing households was accepted, with these families centered in maybe a couple of different larger residences so not everyone has to buy and maintain their own fucking washing machine and vacuum cleaner, and so people can benefit from large group meals that yield leftovers, and so child and elder care can also be centralized.

Then disabled people and the neurodivergent and sick and injured people, and pregnant people, and grieving people, would not have to either labor through all those stressors or consign themselves to living off an unlivable pittance or being put under legal guardianship.

I'm not saying anything new. People live like this in other parts of the world and maybe it sucks and I am wrong. But I'm just really mad right now because I can either do laundry or clean the sink but not both, and I really think we could improve society somewhat by making it so I did not have to choose one without sacrificing the other.

#im feverish feeling (not a real fever just malaise that i have no other way to describe) from the IBS (which can affect you like that #)#and i don't actually want to do ANYTHING #i would have to even living with others but it would be easier #at the very least i wouldn't have had to clean the microwave earlier which is hard because my arms are like the size of a meerkat's #and i can only reach the back with my fingertips #where is my BF in all this?#WORKING FULL TIME WITH BACK PAIN #yes i AM going to want him to have to do as little as possible when he comes home #he's neurodivergent too and struggles with the same shit #it's all a mess #we are doing way better i didn't realize how deep a drain three very sick cats were #but there's still only two of us #if you are disabled physically OR MENTALLY you should at least get in-home household help once a week or so #there's places that do that but the limitations are usually severe and always rule me out #because im not single im not an elder im not a veteran and im not physically disabled #if we have to ration that sort of thing i can see how on the whole it is more caring to allocate those resources to for example elders #but the fact that i celebrate what help there is doesn't mean i don't get mad that more people can't access it #is2g if i was functional enough snd physically sound enough i would start a charity that did intervention cleaning for people like us #who have fallen behind and can't catch up but can MAINTAIN #and who helped people clean for a few months during and after an illness pregnancy trauma major loss etc. so they could stay on their feet

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machineheraldbabe · 3 months ago

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arcane, populism, and why viktor is the odd one out (yet again)

as a piltover-anti, a silco criticizer, and a pacifist, i am very very interested in how arcane presents not just the political undertones of both topside and the undercity, but the characters/dialogue through which they communicate those undertones. allow me to use some political science bro lingo to air out some thoughts.

long, long post incoming.

there are 2 ideological struggles at war throughout s1 (and i can predict that the struggle will carry over into s2): neoliberalism and populism - in their broadest terms since we're talking ofc about a fictional show dealing with surface level political machinations. by neoliberalism, i mean a focus on the social, political, and cultural structures of a polity (piltover, for our purposes) refocused into a strictly economic vacuum. and by populism i mean a unifying belief that the existing political systems of a polity fail to adequately represent their constituents, so the masses choose to rally around a specific gripe or issue, i.e., class discrimination, xenophobia toward immigrants, etc. this, in turn, forms a populist party or movement. an applicable example i can think of would be Nasser's Egypt in the 1950s.

*i know these are weighty topics with very real world implications! i just want to separate the theory to apply to our favorite fictional world.

the political struggle in question is put forward immediately by piltover, who, though presented as a technocratic state, embodies crucial neoliberal ideals emphasized especially by up-and-coming counilor mel medarda, much like how fresh-eyed american economists blew up the economic scene in the 1980s with a revival of capitalist, free market enterprise. take how she seizes the advent of hextech, for example:

she quickly sees hextech's potential yet not from the solely intellectual standpoint that jayce and viktor do - for her, it is profitable, literally and in terms of international relations. her goal is for piltover to prosper, but she has no rose-colored glasses on; prosperity means capital gain, and she's willing to override piltover's political and social systems to achieve her goal. an important caveat is that she draws the line at ambessa medarda's progression into militant authoritarianism, which deserves a whole post of its own!

piltover's populism moment will come later. first, let's unpack silco, who is probably arcane's most blatantly political figure, and a masterclass in the merits and failures of left wing, class-based populism.

silco, having been spurned by the classism and xenophobia that piltover's elite proliferate, and assisted by his rampant shimmer operation, fills the vacuum that vander's pacifism opened up. though silco's methods are unilaterally cruel (argue with the wall), the undercity clearly invested faith in him at some point, especially as vander's credibility as a guiding figure wavered over the years. he was fighting alongside vander for zaun's right to exist as their own independent body. in other words, he was uniting the undercity toward a common cause because the existing political system failed their constituents. to quote councilor shoola: "they may not be our preferred constituents, but they're still our people."

the track record of populism in our real world frequently ends in the ruin that silco himself brought upon the undercity. the kingpin is too dedicated to self-preservation, sees himself as too central to the movement, which prevents both compromise and/or a necessary armed revolt (insert your own politics about self-determination here). see italy's right wing populism party, Lega Nord, as a real-time example of this phenomenon.

but arcane makes an interesting plot decision with jayce, a very unexpected and "unwilling" contributor to piltover's abrupt dip into right wing populism. the showrunners love foils!

in arcane lore, i think it's safe to say that jayce's moniker "the man of progress" is pretty tongue-in-cheek. both he and viktor have a bemused tone about it in the run-up to his speech, and jayce is taken aback by heimerdinger's insistence that he deliver said speech. but the glowing, savior-esque imagery can't be ignored, nor can jayce's quick switch into his councilor role, no matter how reluctantly he makes it.

jayce is confronted by 2 forces that he seeks to combat in his quick tenure as councilor: internal corruption and an ineffective governing body. the latter goal is inspired almost solely by viktor, playing into jayce's naivety as a fresh-faced political figure, but this will be especially important to note later on. the innocence he offers up to mel is quickly erased, transformed instead into an uncomfortable - and inexperienced - militancy:

important in the bridge scene to my analysis is the populist "out group," or the designation populists give to those whom they actively oppose, and this opposition serves as their basis for organization. in this case, it's the undercity (keep this in mind for viktor's role!!).

jayce's combined frustrations at the unrest in the undercity and the council's (namely heimerdinger's) refusal to act, to both save viktor and to deal with the undercity's looming violence, motivates him to act like silco for a short time. unsatisfied with the status quo, he unites a likeminded individual, vi, along with the enforcers, to undercut the political system he feels is unable to represent its constituents or act in an effective manner. however, UNLIKE silco, jayce's realizes the inevitable cost the method of violence has and refrains in the end. he returns to the council and capitulates to some of silco's demands in the name of a peace piltover and zaun always thought impossible.

jinx's complete undoing of this underscores the failures of populism, especially as an extended movement over time. she wasn't accounted for. it's common sentiment at this point that she didn't attack the council for political gain. she was not invested in zaun's independence. she did it out of her and silco's twisted parental bond, and thus undid piltover's brief instance of compromise and compassion.

so...where does viktor fit into all this? and what are his implications for neoliberalism vs. populism in season 2?

viktor is neither wholly within nor wholly outside the populist outgroup - though jayce unintentionally shoves him back there in the pivotal bridge scene. furthermore, viktor also makes use of piltover's technocracy. he seems to have had a "raise yourself up by your bootstraps" history in arcane, contrary to left wing populist insistence that neoliberal ideals make this impossible.

this compounds as a double alienation for viktor, who also is straddled with the complications of his disability. a lot of his story is searching for a fellow in arms, if you ask me, and he had that with jayce until the pendulum swung, hence his return to singed.

if we stop there, viktor represents the failing of these 2 very flawed political ideologies. he fits nowhere and arcane uses him adeptly as a symbol of the failings of binaristic ideologues and systems. but let's speculate some more!

i'm convinced that viktor, due to his ambiguous 3rd party role in the story so far, will be one of the central villains (if not THE villain, if you allow me to be admittedly hopeful/biased) in season 2. consult the innumerable very well written theory/meta posts about the subject for more details, but one piece of evidence i want to focus on is this inherent physical, cultural, and ideological separateness that is innate to his character.

can we see him allying ever again with piltover, knowing that there's a split incoming? even without outside knowledge of league lore, singed's damning prediction ("if you take this path, they will despise you") cannot go unheeded. alternatively, then, can we see viktor allying with the supposed jinx-as-revolutionary side? no. personally, i see him as becoming increasingly unwillingly to compromise his a) immediate survival; and b) his ideals, especially after being endlessly sidelined in his attempts to express them in acts 2 and 3. he's also just a loner, guys.

there's some controversy on this point, but i'm convinced that the finger-printed cultists/followers we saw in the s2 trailer are devoted to viktor. starting with the shimmer addict he touched in the teaser, he is accruing a following all his own. and since noxus is here, touting their authoritarian militancy to replace piltover's outdated liberal ideals, nothing that jinx's revolution OR viktor's following does can be apolitical. to organize and to fight is survival under s2's raised stakes.

there aren't any binary spectrums when it comes to political theory in my opinion, so i am prepared to witness viktor introduce an entirely separate totalitarian narrative into arcane. where it will surely lack in militancy, it will make up for in its domination of the arcane. my biggest speculation is that, as they always do, piltover will fold and compromise at the last minute, perhaps yield to noxus, and invest wholeheartedly in taking down viktor's BBEG cultist regime. and by isolating his narrative repeatedly in s1, the writers planned this out expertly.

even if i'm wrong about viktor as third party, i like to think my observations still stand about the specific and qualifiable political divisions between piltover and zaun. the biggest hole this leaves for me is the question: will arcane ever take a stand? they seem very averse to making a blatant political statement, but i think their pervasive anti-police thread makes it clear that we're not meant to sympathize with piltover yuppies or their seasoned, jaded councilmen. let me know your thoughts!

also, as a jayce fan and a fan of arcane's overall story, none of this is meant as a CRITIQUE of him, mel, or silco. as silco said, "we all have our parts to play." i believe arcane's very greatest strength is their archetypal storytelling, and these distinct character roles are crucial to the success and vibrancy of the story.

if you read all the way to this point - ily <3

#arcane #arcane season 1 #arcane season 2 #arcane s2 #mel medarda #silco #jayce talis #viktor arcane #ambessa medarda #arcane analysis #arcane meta #sorry to word vom i'm in grad school now and writing about political realism #these things just fascinate me #and you know i have to viktor truth at the end

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justsescape · 5 months ago

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I want to see Asuka treated like a barn cow and milked consistently.-

"Another nineteen inches added to my bust measurement today," Asuka declared proudly. The tape measure was so tightly wound across her gigantic breasts that flesh was bulging around its length. "HA! No other cow in this barn can even hope to compare to my greatness. I am the best and most productive cow this barn has ever known!"

Asuka's body was downright unrealistically proportioned. Her arms and legs were so slender that they could have led her through a career in ballet -- but her boobs were like beanbag chairs, draping over her fragile figure like they aimed to cover it entirely. In her stall, she had taken up a habit of sitting atop one of her many, many filled milk barrels and letting her bust simply spread across her thighs and droop down until her downturned nipples grazed against her toes. Come nightfall, she never asked for a blanket. Slipping beneath her overdeveloped chest was like sleeping underneath a thick down comforter.

"Oooof... carrying the weight of this business makes my back hurt in more ways than one." Asuka had long since traded her Evangelion's hair clips for a cow-eared headband. The rest of her outfit was similar: cowprint thigh-highs, cowprint gloves, and a cowbell dangling from a collar around her neck. Practically the only thing that she couldn't cover up were her titanic tits. An entire alphabet's worth of bras trembled in fear at the mere thought of it. "But if my milk is the best, then it's my duty to serve the clueless masses!"

The measuring tape retracted from Asuka's chest as a pair of manhole-sized, clear plastic cones clung themselves to her oversized nipples. They didn't always land in the same place each day; familiar red rings still marred her pale skin as mementos of the previous week's sessions. The staff never let them fade completely. No one produced more milk than her.

"Would you hurry up and start already?!" Asuka's arms flailed as wildly as they could -- perhaps to overcompensate for all the ways the rest of her body now couldn't. The cowbell rang dully with every little tilt of her head. "It's not like I can drag my boobs down to the milking machine and do it myself! You know I would if I could, just so I wouldn't have to put up with you incompetent morons!"

Attached to the plastic cones were a pair of tubes that slunk lazily over the fence surrounding Asuka's stall. They snaked and coiled through the thoroughfare of the barn, into a door that was consistently ajar, and down a flight of stairs into an underground repository. Somewhere in the dark, they connected themselves to the barn's central milking machine. It was a towering, modular, deafening system -- like a server farm stacked on top of another server farm. Multiple clean-suit technicians ran around its perimeter, barking orders and readings and jargon at one another. Perhaps this was the job of the least-endowed cows.

The entire complex began to buzz. It took every ounce of power the barn could muster to service Asuka's outrageously productive breasts.

"Here it goes!" Asuka's toes curled in anticipation; her hands dug into her bust, skin bulging in between her fingers. "I'm ready!"

BZZZZZZZZZZZ!

It was less like a pump and more like a vacuum. Milk didn't come out of Asuka's nipples in rhythmic spurts, but in a hydrant-like flow that resembled that of a pressure washer. Her product coursed violently through the tubes like water through a fire fighter's hose. Other cows in the neighboring stalls -- some with D cups, some with beach balls, but none bigger than Asuka herself -- gripped their own fences as they watched the tubes jostle and shake against the hay-covered ground in the thoroughfare.

"MMMMMMMMF!~" A bit lip; trembling knees. Asuka's hands clutched the barrel she sat upon like she was a pilot gripping an ejected seat. "How... h-how does this f-feel... even... nnNNNnnfff~... even better every time...?!"

Down in the underground, the technicians rapidly exchanged full barrels of milk for empty ones. They stacked atop one another against the walls -- almost like the beer cans in Misato's apartment. Years ago, that was the place Asuka called home. Now she wouldn't be able to fit through the front door.

"Nnnngh... I... I can't... I c-can't st-stop myself... m... mmMMmmm... moooOOOOoooo~..."

Beads of sweat clung to the tips of Asuka's bangs. She panted like she had just run a marathon -- but the marathon of milking had only just begun.

#muse: asuka #breast expansion #lactation #cow stuff #anonymous #ask #i'm just being self-indulgent here carry on lol #the drabble zone

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sasquapossum · 8 months ago

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On my mind: why has there been such an increase in adulation and loyalty toward obviously defective people like Trump and Musk? Have people become more gullible than they were when I was younger? Seems unlikely. We internalized all sorts of stupid shit too, but it wasn't so focused on personalities. Then it struck me: the problem is that we've lost faith in institutions and personalities are what's left. Consider...

Politicians: believe it or not, we used to trust that they were at least sane and working generally for some vision of public good, even when we disagreed. Not since Nixon, Reagan, Dubya, etc.

Journalists: we used to trust them to report the facts in a reasonably objective way, even when that isn't necessarily what they were doing. Then came Fox and that all went out the window.

TV/radio media became all about engagement, a form of entertainment, not actual reporting. Now it's all podcasts and TikTok or YouTube, but basically same. There are some who believe one particular favorite speaks the truth, but few who would say these folks in general are trustworthy.

Print media failed in a different way, partly by being partisans for the establishment (e.g. NYT and the Iraq war) but mostly by totally missing the boat on going online. They could have agreed on a single shared subscription or micropayment system, but they each had to be greedy with their own paywalls etc. So their lunch got eaten by social media (who bear their own share of blame for eroding trust), and the press got even more unhinged about it.

Science, engineering, academe: we used to believe promises about new miracle materials, chemicals, drugs, etc. Even before anti-vaccine lunacy became a thing, a long string of disasters - microplastics, DDT, thalidomide - changed that.

Unions: they've experienced a resurgence very recently, but that's almost a "dead cat bounce" after being moribund for decades. Some people would blame Reagan and PATCO. I think the collapse of major union-heavy industries - auto, steel, mining - had more to do with it, but the result was the same.

I could go on - there's a whole other post I could write about the mixed role of churches in this context - but you get the idea. The fact that in many cases there were good reasons to withdraw our trust doesn't change the fact that such a general withdrawal creates a vacuum which we've filled with hero worship instead. That's where people like Musk and Trump come from.

Here's the kicker: it's not an accident. Undermining trust in institutions has been part of the authoritarian playbook since forever. Julius Caesar is the earliest example that most people would be familiar with, hence the silly illustration, but the phenomenon goes back much further than that. Creating that vacuum is central to authoritarian strategy. Remember Reagan's "nine most terrifying words"? Some people think of that as a libertarian statement but, with the so-called Moral Majority and various militia groups (then as now galvanized by immigration) behind him, that misses the mark. It was part of an authoritarian strategy, demeaning the administrative state and permanent civil service (i.e. institutions) in favor of raw executive power (i.e. personalities).

I'm all for unions, co-ops, mutual aid, etc. but they can't stand alone. Never have. Without a government enforcing rules (including against itself), anarchy will always evolve toward autocracy. If you think the role of government should be minimized, then congratulations, you're part of the Reagan Left ... or worse. A red hat with a hammer and sickle on it is still a red hat. You are effectively supporting authoritarianism whether you mean to or not. Also, since there's no significant left-authoritarian element in US politics - no Stalin or Mao and thank FSM for that - that means you're supporting right-authoritarians. You should stop, especially if you're a member of a group that would suffer most under such a regime.

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possumcollege · 5 months ago

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Tumblr just fed me a repost thread where someone responded to a meme that said "The Right gave us the Klan and the Left gave us weekends" with this extremely broken nugget of US history. 👇

🌈 This is horseshit.

1: In the 1860s, under what US historians call the Third Party System Republicans were what we would call "progressive" and Democrats were the "conservative" party.

Lincoln was a Republican, as were many Americans who called for the abolition of slavery. Lincoln stated that he was not personally in favor of total abolition and emancipation but he did believe regulation of slavery was a power of the federal government as opposed to state governments. Democrats of the Reconstruction Era favored strict moral legislation against race mixing, opposed citizenship and voting rights for African Americans, and largely opposed the expansion of Federal powers over the individual states.

It's honest-to-god not that hard to understand that American political parties haven't always been the exact same parties they are today. I can't help it if no one ever taught them this but it isn't an obscure or contested piece of information. Anybody trotting this shit out as a dunk on contemporary Democrats is either wrong or lying.

2: The Klan was never a "Leftist Anarchist alternative to law enforcement"

The concept of organized State law enforcement was barely a thing in the South at that time. Most southern law enforcemement consisted of slave patrols mustered from state militias, tasked with finding and capturing runaways, and preventing large-scale slave rebellions like the French experienced in the Caribbean. Slave patrols were abolished after the Civil War and officers were instead charged with enforcing "Jim Crow" laws under Reconstruction. Many of the Klan's tactics were literally the unofficial, vigilante continuation of practices that were legal for slave patrols. At no point were organized "law enforcement" and the Klan working at cross purposes. They both sought to maintain the social order through violent enforcement of white supremacy, the klan just wasn't an official agent of the state.

Anarchists may seek to operate without centralized state authority, but vigilantes are not inherently "Anarchists" because they're ungoverned. By that reasoning, children fighting on the playground are Anarchists.

White Supremacy is itself antithetical to central Anarchist principles, which call for a society based on voluntary participation, free of social heirarchy, or rule-by-force.

3: Whether they know it or not, when someone says that the Klan formed as any kind of peacekeeping force, they are parroting Pro-Klan propaganda.

There are 3 distinct, widely accepted eras of organizations calling themselves the KKK. The first is the most relevant as it formed during Reconstruction in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. It began when a number of young Southern men and Confederate veterans took it upon themselves to terrorize and intimidate newly-free African Americans by raiding homes and businesses, destroying property, harassing black communities, and murdering black leaders, organizers, and their allies.

The first iterations of the Klan were heavily influenced by a growing fascination with fraternal orders and secret societies in America during that era. They cribbed heavily from another secret society, the Knights of the Golden Circle, (the Klan's name came from the Greek word for "circle") who hoped to establish a new county around the legality of slavery. This country would've included the states of the CSA, Mexico, Cuba, the islands of the Caribbean, and parts of Central/ South America.

Claims that the Klan existed to oust Scalawags, Carpetbaggers and other Northern opportunists (often said to be Jews and Catholics) who rushed in to fill the vacuum of deposed Southern leadership doesn't emerge until 1868-69 when Nathan Bedford Forrest was formally elected as their first (holy fucking shit 🤦‍♂️) "Grand Wizard."

(this absolute dipshit)

These retroactive narratives were further amplified in the 1880s-90s as Lost Cause rhetoric began to gain momentum among those sympathetic to the confederacy, white supremacists, and those seeking to profit off the continued disenfranchisement of African Americans as cheap prison labor.

These tales of masked men protecting downtrodden southern whites from the grasping, predatory Yankee Carpetbaggers were further enshrined as founding myths of the second Klan, in Georgia in 1915. It remains a popular Whitewashing narrative to this day.

I do not give half a proud southern shit what the guys who were scamming their buddies into buying official Klan dishes in the 20s said the Klan was about. Those actually existed btw. I don't have to give Forrest's claims any more weight than I give Spencer's claims on the motivation of neo-nazis.

Spencer got exactly what both of them deserved when he got socked in the head on TV.

#us history #cw: hate crime

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dalekofchaos · 8 months ago

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Context

Context for choice 3.

Here is what I mean about The New Republic and The First Order.

What happens after you win a war? How do you not make the same mistakes or become the thing you fought. What happens in a power vacuum? The New Republic should have been the dominant emerging power, and the Remnant should have been a small, secretive, unknown order, striking strategically from the Unknown Regions where they hid, and causing fear and panic to spread in the NR. After the Galactic Civil War, The New Republic commanders the Imperial Fleet and starts protecting systems who join the NR, all while chasing down and fighting any of the Remnants (Moffs, Warlords, Crime Lords, etc) who have grabbed power in the resulting vacuum. We could have seen an evolution of ships from Old Republic to Empire to NR ones. They could have renamed Star Destroyers into Star Defenders. Hell, they could have had a Republic of independent systems, each with their own sizable military, so that power isn’t centralized.

But no, instead of telling an interesting story, we are force fed the recycled poorly written rehashed Rebels vs Empire and the Rebels are made to be weaker than The First Order. The First Order are a terrorist movement, they should not be reigning after Hosnian Prime’s destruction, ESPECIALLY AFTER LOSING STARKILLER BASE!

Choice 4. Here is how I would give Kylo Ren motivation as to why Ben Solo fell and his main motivation as Kylo Ren.

Choice 6. I don't think there was absolutely no need for a Palpatine clone and eventually Palpatine himself(🙄) we all knew what was happening around the time this trilogy was being made. Trump. Base Snoke around the mango Mussolini and his lunatic fringe followers. An Alt-Right cult leader who cultivates the worst people imaginable. All The First Order needed to be was pointing out The New Republic brought the galaxy to an age of scum and villainy. A lawless state that usurped the rightful rulers that brought law and order. Basically "Make the Galaxy great again with Imperial Greatness"

You see, originally Lucas was going to make Palpatine JUST a politician and base him around Richard Nixon.

“George Lucas has spoken on various occasions of the way that the Nixon administration and the Vietnam war had an important influence on how he shaped the plot of the early films in the saga. The impact that these two events had an American in the 1970s started him thinking about the ways in which democracies can sale and how they deteriorating to dictatorships when corruption goes unchecked. He’s quoted as saying that Nixon - Who he viewed as having subverted the Senate and as acting an increasingly imperialistic way - what is the direct inspiration for Emperor Palpatine the supreme leader of the evil Empire in the first Star Wars trilogy”

So I don't see why they couldn't do something similar with the CLEAR FUCKING EVIL going on in the world at the time this trilogy was being made. No Sith master was needed.

In this scenario, I would call The First Order, The Imperium

Now you might have questions. What about the Stormtroopers and Kylo?

Stormtroopers? Don’t abduct kids, nationalize and recruit them willingly. Abducting children and training them to be Stormtroopers instantly made The First Order out to be cartoonishly evil from the start. So what do you do instead? Use propaganda. Nationalize them. Make them believe The Empire was right and convince them that the life of a Stormtrooper will help bring order in a chaotic galaxy. We’ve seen cults do something similar, Far Right Wing groups do it and we’ve seen Trump radicalize and nationalize white supremacists, so it’s not impossible for The First Order to do the logical thing.

Finn only leaves because he sees they are murdering unarmed civilians and chooses to leave. He is an example that it isn't too late to leave harmful fringe cult movements.

So how would Ben turn in this scenario? He's radicalized by Snoke. Ben starts hearing passionate speeches in the senate and Ben is moved. "I know he opposes my mother, but he's making a lot of sense" "He's right, we need to bring order to the galaxy" and Ben is radicalized by this Imperium movement and what he believes is Snoke's righteous cause. To Snoke, Ben represents everything great about the Empire. Snoke collects Sith Holocrons and uses the holocrons to turn Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.

In this scenario, I wouldn't redeem Ben. He is far too gone. He's committed atrocities in Snoke's name, for The Imperium and to bring order to the galaxy. While Finn represents those who could break away from Right Wing movements and Cults. Kylo Ren is far too gone, he's radicalized to the point where he's a die hard believer like Hux and Phasma and he's willing to fight and die for this indoctrination.

Choice 11. The Episode IX rewrite with Ben living and Reylo ending

Choice 12. The original plan for the Sequel Trilogy was to just get three young directors together to direct the Sequel Trilogy. It was supposed to be JJ, Rian and Colin Trevorrow, but Colin's IX was bad and his Jurassic World trilogy was terrible. So I would make either Matt Reves or Greta Gerwig as the director for Episode IX and ideally they would plan the trilogy out together instead of JJ setting up Mystery Boxes and expecting Rian and others open said mystery boxes and Rian subverting expectations.

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thevacuumstore · 1 month ago

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A central vacuum system is an effective, practical, and strong approach to maintaining cleanliness in your house or place of business. Compared to standard vacuums, central vacuums have better suction power, produce less noise, and do away with the need to move bulky equipment. However, high-quality accessories are frequently needed to maximize the usefulness and performance of your central vacuum system. The Vacuum Store provides a selection of high-quality add-ons to upgrade your central vacuum system. Coxreels is a prominent producer of hose reels engineered to maximize performance and ease.

Why Choose a Central Vacuum System?

Understanding the benefits of central vacuum systems for residential and commercial properties is critical before learning how Coxreels can optimize your system. Here are some of the main advantages:

Superior Suction Power: In general, central vacuum systems have a stronger suction than portable ones. A central vacuum's motor is often significantly larger and placed in a space like a basement or a garage, which enables it to efficiently handle more particles and deeply clean hardwood floors or carpets.

Quiet Operation: The elimination of noise is a significant advantage of central vacuums. Using the vacuum causes significantly less disturbance because the motor is situated away from the living or working areas. For this reason, it is the perfect choice for homes with small children, pets, or commercial spaces where noise reduction is desired.

Health Benefits: It is well known that central vacuum systems enhance interior air quality. A central vacuum system removes dust and allergens from the house, resulting in cleaner air than traditional vacuums, which recycle these pollutants back into the atmosphere.

Convenience and Flexibility: Using a central vacuum system eliminates the need to move a bulky device up and down stairs, making cleaning easier. You just need to attach the hose and begin cleaning—there are inlets all over the house or place of business. The device works well with a variety of floor types and may also be used to vacuum upholstery, blinds, and difficult-to-reach places.

Why Choose Coxreels?

In the business, Coxreels is a well-known brand that produces premium hose reels that are dependable, long-lasting, and effective. Here's how can improve your central vacuum system and why they stand out:

Durability and Strength: Coxreels have a long lifespan. Because they are made of high-quality materials, they can withstand normal use's wear and tear. Because of this, they are an excellent investment for central vacuum systems, both home and business.

Smooth Operation: Coxreels' smooth retraction mechanism makes hose storage simple. Their precisely engineered reels guarantee that your hose won't kink either in use or storage.

Customizable Options: Coxreels have a range of types to meet varied demands, whether you need a heavy-duty reel for a larger, industrial vacuum system or retractable reels for a shorter hose. This adaptability guarantees that there is a Coxreel model suitable for your central vacuum system, regardless of its size or scope.

Safety Features: Additional safety measures, including hose locks that stop the hose from unexpectedly retracting, are included with a lot of Coxreels models. This contributes to a hassle-free and safe vacuuming experience.

Easy Installation: Coxreels are made to be easily integrated into your central vacuum system and installed. These reels are easy to add and use immediately, whether you're replacing an old system or installing a new one.

How The Vacuum Store Can Help

The Vacuum Store works to offer the best products and services to guarantee your central vacuum system operates at its best since we recognize the importance of having a well-functioning system. We provide a large selection of models that address various hose lengths, situations, and particular demands as an authorized Coxreels retailer.

Here are some reasons to choose The Vacuum Store for all of your central vacuum system and Cox reel needs:

Expert Advice: You can get assistance from our team of skilled professionals in selecting the ideal Coxreel for your system. Regardless of whether you're replacing an old central vacuum or installing a new one, we can help you choose the best model to meet your unique needs.

Comprehensive Support: In addition to providing you with the greatest equipment, we also provide installation and maintenance services to make sure your system keeps performing at its peak. Our professionals are skilled at handling both home and business settings.

Wide Range of Accessories: We have an extensive selection of central vacuum system components, ranging from hoses and powerheads to filters and cleaning attachments, in addition to Coxreels. This allows you to modify and improve your system to its fullest for optimal performance.

Customer-Centric Service: We at The Vacuum Store take great pleasure in providing outstanding customer service. We are available to help you with any problems you may be having with your central vacuum, system upgrades, or troubleshooting.

Conclusion

Adding a premium hose reel from Coxreels to your central vacuum system is a wise choice if you want to maximize its effectiveness and ease. Due to their robustness, user-friendliness, and safety features, they are a necessary component for anyone wishing to enhance their vacuuming experience. Come see the selection of Coxreels and other central vacuum accessories at The Vacuum Store today, and allow our knowledgeable staff to assist you in locating the ideal item for your needs.

#Central Vacuum System #Coxreels

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covid-safer-hotties · 3 months ago

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The Long Covid Groups say patients are being abandoned as dedicated clinics close despite a rise in UK cases - Published Sept 8, 2024

As the UK Covid-19 Inquiry resumes with a focus on healthcare systems in each of the four nations, the Long Covid Groups (comprising Long Covid Support, Long Covid SOS, Long Covid Physio and Long Covid Kids) are shocked and deeply concerned to learn that Long Covid clinics are being closed at a time when reported cases are continuing to rise.

Charities and many medical experts have long maintained we are in the midst of a global health crisis. Without a concerted effort to address this issue, the closures will only add to the significant burdens already being faced by healthcare systems and economies.

Recent data from the US has suggested that Long Covid may affect up to 7% of the population and prevalence could rise further. The latest ONS updates have shown that incidence of long-term sickness is at record levels and has been on an upward trajectory since early 2020. Staff shortages and high levels of school absenteeism are frequently reported across the UK. The annual productivity loss in the UK resulting from Long Covid is currently estimated to be £1.5 billion.

This stark picture contrasts with the lack of support Long Covid patients are receiving. At the start of the year, there were close to 100 Long Covid clinics for adults and 13 hubs for children and young people (CYP) in England. Earlier this year however, the highly regarded NHS England national programme was stood down with responsibility for Long Covid services being delegated to each of the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). In recent months, patients and staff have reported the closure and a severe scaling back of clinics including Devon, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Lancashire and Surrey. Key personnel and resources are being subsumed into other NHS services and, in some cases, staff are leaving the NHS altogether. Some CYP hubs are being forced to take on patients from those that have already closed with no extra funding.

In the other UK nations, the provision of Long Covid services is individual to each health board with no centrally agreed model on what Long Covid clinics should look like. They mostly focus on therapies designed to help patients manage their conditions rather than being clinician led. There is only one service dedicated to paediatrics in Scotland with none in Northern Ireland and Wales.

The Long Covid Groups urge all governments and healthcare providers to adopt a service model that prioritises dedicated clinics supported by experienced clinician-led, multidisciplinary teams. Given the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the condition, the Long Covid Groups stress that specialists from each of the relevant disciplines should work collaboratively. In partnership with patients, they call for a healthcare framework that is dedicated to successfully diagnosing, treating and preventing Long Covid; this will contribute towards relieving the operational and financial pressures on the NHS.

Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist & Long Covid SOS Trustee

“The evidence for the health, healthcare and economic effects of Long Covid, whether on individuals or societies, is unequivocal. Therefore, we must ensure that coordinated research and care are prioritised for Long Covid."

Sammie McFarland, CEO & Founder, Long Covid Kids

"Appropriate funding and resources would provide clinicians with the best possible opportunity to improve patients' lives, but this hasn't been forthcoming. Rising school absenteeism and Long Covid in children are red flags demanding immediate action. Closing specialised clinics risks creating a healthcare vacuum with far-reaching consequences for healthcare, education, families, and the future workforce."

Professor Mark Faghy, Vice-Chair of Long Covid Physio

“The scaling back and closure of services around the UK at a time when the prevalence of Long Covid is rising seems counterintuitive. Before these decisions were made, there were calls from patients and healthcare workers to grow services and ensure consistency across the UK but it seems to be going the other way.”

Nikki Smith, Founding Member, Long Covid Support

“With many people now getting Covid-19 multiple times, the risk of having on-going symptoms of Long Covid is increasing, which will result in more pressure on the NHS, fewer people able to work and an even bigger hit on the economy. It must be a priority of our new public service Government to ensure effective Long Covid clinics that are up to date with the latest research, are accessible by all.”

#mask up #covid #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #public health #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #still coviding #wear a respirator #long covid

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vacuumspro · 8 months ago

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Discover the benefits of a central vacuum system for a cleaner, quieter, and more efficient home! 🏡💨 Learn how these powerful systems work and if they're the right fit for your space. Dive into the details here:

#vacuums #central vacuum #central vacuum system #superior vacuums

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pattern-recognition · 9 months ago

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In the mass protest decade, street explosions created revolutionary situations, often on accident. But a protest is very poorly equipped to take advantage of a revolutionary situation, and that particular kind of protest is especially bad at it. If you believe that you can forge a better society, if you are willing to run the risk of trying, then you should enter the vacuum yourself. But a diffuse group of individuals who come out to the streets for very different reasons cannot simply take power themselves, at least not as an entire diffuse group of individuals. Once someone goes in there and takes power in the name of the masses, you are talking about a type of vanguard—a particular ideological project, and a minority of people who dare to try to represent the rest of the population. In some of the more utopian strains of anti-authoritarian thought, the riot is supposed to become the new society, but this has not worked out so far.11 Perhaps it might, someday, but it would probably not work very well in the actually existing Global South, which is surrounded by so many foreign actors that might be sucked very quickly into an apparent power vacuum by the possibility of easy profit and plunder.

If some new group boldly steps into the vacuum, manages to stay there, and transforms society, then that’s a revolution. But if you find your political system broadly acceptable, or you don’t think you can replace it with something better, then the thing to do is to negotiate. That is called reform. You can use your power on the streets to extract concessions, if you play it right. But once more, this necessarily entails representation.

It was not just Mayara and Haddad who overlapped in their answers to my question. I heard it very often—it came in different forms, but I heard it more than any other response. I think Hossam Bahgat put it best, or at least, the most directly.

“Organize. Create an organized movement. And don’t be afraid of representation,” he said without hesitation, in his office in Giza, as his world fell apart around him. “We thought representation was elitism, but actually it is the essence of democracy.” I heard answers like this over and over, confirming research compiled by scholars. As early as 1975, William Gamson found that movements succeed more often when they deploy hierarchical forms of organization. In a wide-ranging 2022 study, Mark Beissinger found that loose uprisings of the Maidan type tend to increase inequality and ethnic tensions, while they do not consolidate democracy or end corruption.

“After Maidan, I decided I do not believe in self-organization,” said Artem Tidva, the young leftist who brought a red European Union flag to the square, as we grabbed a bite to eat in central Kyiv in the summer of 2021. “I used to be more anarchist. Back then everyone wanted to do an assembly; whenever there was a protest, always an assembly. But I think any revolution with no organized labor party will just give more power to economic elites, who are already very well-organized.” Unlike some of his former comrades, Artem never gave up on the Ukrainian uprising and stayed active in the post-Maidan political scene, working to push for center-left, anti-racist alternatives in the context of the new political order. But in Ukraine, it seemed clear that the uprising had benefited the groups that had already formed coherent, disciplined organizations before the uprising began, and we had seen more evidence of that earlier in the day.

“I definitely don’t have the same views on these things as I did before 2013,” said Lucas “Vegetable” Monteiro. He still believes that a better society must be born out of this one, not just created after some revolution seizes state power. But he now thinks that the Movimento Passe Livre turned the principles of horizontalism, autonomy, and prefiguration “into a dogma, into a kind of religion, and we could not turn them into real political practice. Instead, they became a kind of identity. And we ended up quickly crashing into barriers that we ourselves had created.” The MPL still exists, but no one who was in the group in 2013 is still a member. Looking back on 2019 in Hong Kong, Theo told me, “[It] was very fun to see the China building defaced, I had a lot of fun on the streets, but the decentralized nature of the movement meant that there was no room for discussion about how it should work, or how a coherent strategy could be developed.”

Not everyone I met came out of the decade adopting positions in favor of formal structures, in support of “verticalism” and hierarchy, insisting that representation matters. Mayara, for example, remains mostly true to the ideals she adopted as a young punk. But everyone moved in the same direction. I spent years doing interviews, and not one person told me that they had become more horizontalist, or more anarchist, or more in favor of spontaneity and structurelessness. Some people stayed in the same place. But everyone that changed their views on the question of organization moved closer to classically “Leninist” ones.

Bevins, Vincent. If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution

#it all comes back to Lenin

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