#claim processing outsourcing

[logistiservices]

Revolutionizing Logistics: The Strategic Integration of BPO Services

In the fast-paced world of logistics, companies are increasingly turning to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to navigate challenges, streamline operations, and foster sustained growth. This blog explores the how and whys behind the utilization of BPO services in the logistics sector.

Unpacking the Dynamics of Logistics Business Process Outsourcing

1. Enhancing Operational Efficiency

At the core of Logistics Business Process Outsourcing lies a commitment to enhancing operational efficiency. Logistics companies leverage BPO services to streamline intricate processes, from order management to inventory control. This strategic move allows these companies to focus on their core competencies while experts handle the nuances of logistics operations.

2. Optimizing Costs for Scalability

Cost optimization is a driving force behind the adoption of Logistics Business Process Outsourcing. Logistics companies can scale their operations without the burden of significant overhead costs. BPO services offer a cost-effective solution for scalability, allowing businesses to align their resources with the demands of a dynamic market without compromising profitability.

LOGISTICS BACK OFFICE: A Strategic Backbone

1. Efficient Data Management

The LOGISTICS BACK OFFICE becomes a strategic backbone for logistics companies, especially in terms of efficient data management. BPO services specialize in handling vast amounts of data, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely reporting. This data-centric approach empowers logistics companies with actionable insights for informed decision-making.

2. Navigating Regulatory Compliance

Logistics Back Office Services play a pivotal role in navigating the complex web of regulatory compliance. From customs documentation to adherence to international shipping standards, BPO services ensure that logistics companies operate within the bounds of regulations. This meticulous approach minimizes risks and positions businesses for global success.

The Strategic Integration of Logistics Back Office Services

1. Harnessing Technological Advancements

The utilization of Logistics Back Office Services is synonymous with harnessing technological advancements. BPO providers leverage state-of-the-art technologies, including automation and analytics, to optimize logistics processes. This tech-savvy integration ensures precision, speed, and adaptability in the face of evolving market demands.

2. Strategic Focus on Core Competencies

The strategic integration of Logistics Back Office Services allows logistics companies to maintain a laser focus on core competencies. Whether it's refining supply chain strategies, optimizing transportation routes, or enhancing customer experiences, BPO services become the operational backbone that handles non-core functions with unparalleled expertise.

Conclusion: Redefining Logistics Excellence

In conclusion, Logistics Business Process Outsourcing, especially through the utilization of LOGISTICS BACK OFFICE Services, emerges as a transformative strategy for logistics companies. By enhancing efficiency, optimizing costs, and strategically integrating back-office support, businesses redefine logistics excellence in a competitive landscape.

As logistics companies embrace the symbiotic relationship with BPO services, they not only navigate operational challenges but also position themselves as agile, tech-driven, and poised for sustained growth. The strategic integration of Logistics Back Office Services is not merely a trend; it's a paradigm shift that propels logistics companies toward a future defined by operational excellence and global competitiveness.

[cbsl]

Data Processing as per GDPR: Ensuring Privacy and Security in the Digital Age

In the fast-paced landscape of the digital era, where information is the cornerstone of innovation, the complexities of data processing demand our unwavering attention. As professionals navigate this intricate realm, the looming concern for privacy and security is ever-present. Enter GDPR, a beacon of assurance in this digital wilderness. This introduction marks the threshold of our journey, where we delve into the profound impact of GDPR, unravelling its significance in safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring the trustworthiness of data processing practices. Let’s embark on a voyage into the heart of GDPR, exploring how it reshapes the landscape of data privacy and security.

Complexities of Data Privacy in the Digital Age

Rapid Growth of Data and Its Challenges : In the relentless surge of the digital age, data proliferates at an unprecedented pace, presenting professionals with a monumental challenge. The sheer volume and velocity of information pose intricate challenges, demanding vigilant strategies for responsible processing.

Risks of Unauthorised Access and Data Breaches : Amidst the data deluge, the spectre of unauthorised access and data breaches lurks ominously. The vulnerability of sensitive information to cyber threats necessitates a robust defence mechanism. Professionals must navigate the intricate terrain of cybersecurity to shield against potential breaches and safeguard the integrity of data.

Legal and Financial Consequences of Non-Compliance : In the regulatory landscape, the stakes are high. Non-compliance with data protection regulations carries not only legal repercussions but also substantial financial penalties. Navigating the labyrinth of rules and ensuring adherence becomes imperative, underscoring the critical need for meticulous compliance with data protection frameworks.

Understanding GDPR: A Comprehensive Overview

Embarking on our exploration, an introduction to GDPR unfolds—a regulatory cornerstone in the digital realm. GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation, stands as a sentinel guarding the sanctity of personal information. Its inception marks a pivotal moment, reshaping the landscape of data processing with a focus on transparency, accountability, and user-centric control

Key Principles of GDPR and Their Implications : At the core of GDPR lie key principles, each a guiding beacon for ethical data processing. From the necessity of lawful and transparent processing to the demand for purpose limitation and data minimization, these principles weave a tapestry of responsible data management. Understanding their implications is paramount for professionals navigating the complex web of data protection.

The Scope of GDPR and Its Applicability: GDPR’s influence extends across diverse industries, transcending boundaries to encompass varied sectors. From healthcare to finance, its reach is all-encompassing. Unveiling the intricate nuances of its applicability, we delve into how GDPR sets the stage for a unified approach to data protection, ensuring a standardised safeguarding of information irrespective of the industry landscape

GDPR-Compliant Data Processing Practices

Data Collection: Ensuring Transparent and Lawful Processing: In the intricate dance of data processing, the spotlight turns to the crucial phase of collection. Transparency and lawfulness become paramount as professionals navigate the delicate balance between access and protection.

Consent Mechanisms and the Importance of Informed Consent: Central to GDPR compliance is the concept of informed consent. Professionals must craft clear and concise consent mechanisms, empowering individuals to make informed choices about their data. This ensures a foundation built on trust and respect for user privacy.

Legitimate Interests and Lawful Bases for Data Processing: Beyond consent, GDPR recognizes legitimate interests and lawful bases for data processing. Understanding and justifying the legal grounds for processing is essential. This multifaceted approach ensures that data processing aligns with legal and ethical standards, reinforcing the pillars of GDPR compliance.

Data Storage: Securing Sensitive Information: As the digital vault for sensitive information, data storage demands fortified defenses. Two pivotal strategies emerge:

Encryption and Pseudonymization Techniques Data security takes center stage with encryption and pseudonymization. These techniques cloak sensitive data, rendering it unreadable to unauthorized entities. A robust shield against potential breaches, they elevate the security paradigm.

Data Access and Sharing: Limiting Access to Authorized Personnel: Navigating the delicate balance between accessibility and security requires a nuanced approach.

Role-Based Access Control and Authentication Measures: Implementing role-based access control and authentication measures ensures that data access is restricted to authorized personnel only. This layered defense fortifies the perimeter, thwarting unauthorized entry.

Secure Data Sharing Practices and Confidentiality Agreements: In the collaborative landscape, secure data sharing practices and confidentiality agreements become keystones. Professionals must forge a secure framework for sharing information, upholding GDPR principles while fostering collaboration.

Data Processing Impact Assessments: Identifying and Mitigating Risks: The proactive stance of GDPR is evident in its call for impact assessments.

Conducting Thorough Assessments for Data Processing Activities: Thorough assessments unveil potential risks associated with data processing activities. This diligent examination lays the foundation for strategic decision-making in data management.

Implementing Necessary Safeguards Based on Assessment Results: Armed with assessment insights, professionals can implement necessary safeguards. This iterative process ensures ongoing risk mitigation, aligning data processing practices with the stringent standards set forth by GDPR.

Challenges and Future Trends in GDPR Compliance

Ongoing Challenges in Implementing and Maintaining GDPR Compliance : The journey toward GDPR compliance is fraught with challenges, both persistent and evolving. Professionals grapple with the dynamic nature of regulations, ever-changing threat landscapes, and the need for continuous adaptation to ensure sustained compliance.

Emerging Trends and Technologies to Enhance Data Protection : Amidst challenges, a tapestry of innovation unfolds. Emerging trends and technologies stand as sentinels, enhancing the arsenal for data protection. From artificial intelligence-driven security measures to blockchain technologies, the landscape is ripe with tools that fortify the defense against evolving threats.

The Evolving Landscape of Global Data Protection Regulations : Beyond individual regulations, the global landscape of data protection is in a state of flux. Professionals must navigate the convergence and divergence of regulations worldwide, understanding the interconnected nature of global data protection frameworks. Staying abreast of these shifts is imperative for a holistic approach to data governance in the digital age.

https://nextgen.cbslgroup.in/data-processing-as-per-gdpr-ensuring-privacy-and-security-in-the-digital-age/

[mywebmastersocial]

Enhancing Efficiency and Cutting Costs through Medical Claims Adjudication Outsourcing

The healthcare industry is no stranger to the challenges of managing the complex process of medical claims adjudication. It's a critical function that involves verifying the accuracy of medical claims, determining coverage, and processing payments to healthcare providers. However, it's also an area that can be particularly resource-intensive for healthcare organizations. This is where outsourcing medical claims adjudication can prove to be a game-changer.

The Complexity of Medical Claims Adjudication

Medical claims adjudication involves a multitude of tasks, including verifying patient information, checking for insurance coverage, reviewing medical codes, and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations. These processes are time-consuming and require a high degree of accuracy. Any errors or delays can result in claim denials, payment disputes, and dissatisfied patients and providers.

In-house claims adjudication teams often find themselves grappling with a massive volume of claims, leading to backlogs and potential bottlenecks. This not only affects the efficiency of claims processing but also adds to the operational costs of healthcare providers.

The Case for Outsourcing

Outsourcing medical claims adjudication services offers a solution to these challenges. By partnering with a specialized outsourcing provider, healthcare organizations can gain several key advantages:

1. Expertise and Experience: Outsourcing firms specializing in medical claims adjudication bring years of experience and expertise to the table. They are well-versed in industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and the latest technologies, ensuring accurate and efficient claims processing.

2. Scalability: The volume of medical claims can vary significantly, and healthcare providers often struggle to adjust their in-house teams accordingly. Outsourcing providers can scale their services up or down based on your organization's needs, ensuring that claims are processed efficiently, regardless of volume fluctuations.

3. Cost Savings: Outsourcing can lead to significant cost savings for healthcare providers. By eliminating the need for hiring and training in-house staff, maintaining infrastructure, and managing overhead costs, organizations can allocate their resources more strategically.

4. Reduced Errors and Faster Processing: With experienced professionals and advanced technology, outsourced claims adjudication services can significantly reduce errors and processing times. This leads to fewer claim denials, faster reimbursements, and improved satisfaction among patients and providers.

5. Focus on Core Activities: By outsourcing claims adjudication, healthcare organizations can redirect their internal resources and focus on core activities such as patient care, quality improvement, and strategic planning.

6. Improved Compliance: Outsourcing providers are well-versed in healthcare regulations and compliance requirements. They can ensure that claims are processed in accordance with industry standards and legal guidelines, reducing the risk of compliance issues.

Conclusion

Outsourcing medical claims adjudication services is a strategic move that can deliver efficiency gains and cost reductions while maintaining a high standard of accuracy and compliance. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, providers must seek innovative solutions to optimize their operations.

By partnering with a trusted outsourcing provider, healthcare organizations can streamline their claims adjudication processes, reduce operational costs, and ultimately provide better service to patients and healthcare providers. It's a win-win solution that allows healthcare organizations to stay competitive and focused on what matters most—delivering quality healthcare.

[goteamphilippines]

Outsourcing For Insurance Business

Outsourcing key support roles for your Insurance business is a must, especially since the demand for insurance coverage and risk management services keeps rising.

Highly skilled virtual assistants and global team members can take care of your accounting and payroll, claims processing, data entry and processing, customer success, and tech support needs.

This way, you can focus on scaling your business while ensuring that you and your onshore team never get burned out or overwhelmed. Check out this list of roles we can source for your Insurance business!

[saintsenara]

I’m curious how you envision Voldemort tasking Draco with killing Dumbledore. What would the conversation sound like? Angry threats, quiet manipulation, dramatics? Did he outsource it? Stick a post-it to the top of Nagini’s head and send her into Draco’s room? HBP provides some insights into Voldemort’s reasons and expectations and Draco’s motivations for attempting the task. And if I recall, it’s meant to be a secret even among the Death Eaters (Bellatrix is surprised that Snape knows already, right?), otherwise I’d be inclined to imagine some public humiliation during one of the biweekly Death Eater meetings. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fan take on the scene itself and would love to hear your thoughts!

the only logical conclusion is that voldemort is lovely to him, which - in context - means voldemort honing in on his desire to avenge his father's incarceration [for which he can be plausibly made to blame dumbledore, as well as harry], his belief that this makes him the man of the house with a responsibility to protect his mother and honour his family name, and his belief that voldemort's aims are the establishment of pureblood oligarchy, in which families like his will be at the top of the pile.

draco is bullish about his task at the start of half-blood prince because - as narcissa tells snape - he genuinely believes it will all be fine. this is clearly an impression voldemort himself has given him - if voldemort's saying "if you fail, i will make you watch greyback tear your mother's throat out" from the off, his attitude would be very different.

and voldemort not telling many people about the mission is another strand of this grooming process. if draco's mission were public knowledge, there's a reasonable chance that several death eaters might at least hint to draco that he's fucked - or might alternatively offer him help in successfully killing dumbledore [which voldemort doesn't want him to actually do; he wants dumbldore dead, but he wants snape to do it, with draco then tortured/killed as a punishment for his failure]. keeping it a secret indulges draco's desire to be seen as special and to have a uniquely important relationship with voldemort, while making him all the more vulnerable to voldemort's control.

the threats clearly come later. by christmas, draco is looking "ill", but is still defiant and still claims he'll be successful. by easter, he's started crying to myrtle and has started to openly acknowledge that voldemort's going to kill him. on the basis of this, i imagine that the botched necklace scheme got him something along the lines of "ah... draco... lord voldemort understands that mistakes happen... but he does not tolerate them happening more than once", and the botched poison scheme got him "you have until 30th june. if dumbledore's still alive by then i will kill your father, your mother, and you. in that order."

[fortunelowtier]

I was gonna reblog my original post but I didn't wanna spam people with a long ass post (this post is already long enough) so instead I'll just link the previous post here and if yall wanna go look at it you can, but the short version is that a few days ago I made a post talking about HBs incredibly high turnover rate, and apparently within a few days it got enough traction to where it started spreading to the higher-ups of Spindlehorse, including Viv herself. I decided to make this update post just as a way to debunk what I can and as clearly as I can. 

First tweet:

So for starters, they say this as if IMDB's numbers aren't publically available, it's not like I pulled these numbers out of my ass without merit, these are numbers I got off of IMDB. And I know some people might pull the high school English teacher card of “Anyone can edit that!!” and to be honest I dont feel like going into the semantics of one of the most non-arguments you can possibly use so all I’ll say is that the process of editing a Wikipedia or IMDB page is not as easy as your English teachers taught you to think it is. Sure you can edit it but it's another story if the edit will be saved. There's moderation, it's not a free-for-all.

Also, I find it interesting how this tweet was made (and subsequently deleted) mere days after their promotion to Animation Director, and if there's anything I've learned from Spindlehorse controversies it is that if someone is in any real position at the top of the companies proverbial food chain they shouldn't be allowed to speak for the experiences of employees lower on the ladder than them, especially when a lot of them seem to have a habit of denying certain claims despite the public availability of numerous pieces of evidence pointing toward the contrary

It's like if you visited a bunch of former employees of a restaurant with a high turnover rate with proof that they had worked there and for exactly how long they worked there and then the manager comes along and tries to basically say “NUH UH” despite information proving the contrary being publicly available (maybe not the best analogy but you get what I mean)

—

Ok now onto the second one by Viv herself:

There’s a lot to dissect here so I’m gonna break it down bit by bit.

Firstly:

"They’re listing every single credited person in EVERY art department"

So the way I got my numbers was by going to the Series Animation Department section of HB's IMDB, highlighting every name from the beginning of the section to the end, and then pasting them into this website which gave me the line count of 444. Was that the most optimal way of doing so? No, especially after I learned after the fact that there's a way to just see the numbers straight up, but that hardly matters considering the fact that there are allegedly more people in the animation dept who were uncredited, however, I'm still waiting on some more info from my source as to the validity and the scale of these claims (How many people were uncredited, how little were they paid for their work, etc etc) to make a proper post about it, so until then ill just leave it at that as to not make accusations without merit.

So, humoring Viv, I added up the total IMDB credits for the Art Dept and Visual Effects Dept, as well as the Sound Dept since I qualify sound as a form of art and because I wanted to give Viv as fair a chance as possible and actually tally the total credits of “every art department” as Viv claims I did, and it still only equals 155 total credits, a little over a third of the credits in the Animation Dept

Secondly:

“That includes the TC and Chaos credits”

So these are in reference to Toon City and Chaos Emporium, 2 companies known as a source for outsourcing animation, and just to humor Viv I decided to go onto IMDB and tally up all of the Chaos and TC credits since according to her that's where I got most of my final number.

After doing so, Chaos Emporium had a total of 15 credits, and Toon City had a total of 45

So Viv is making it seem like the TC and CE credits make up a large majority of them, which is why I got the number I did, when in reality when combined they only equal 60 credits. 14% of the total (technically it’s 13.5% but I’m rounding to the nearest whole for the sake of convenience)

Thirdly:

“We dont even have 400 people. Simply Misinformation.”

You’re right Viv, you dont have 400 people, because I never said you did, nor did I imply you did. I said you've had 400. Of course you dont have 400 current employees, your company burns through them like paper because you underpay them while you go burning your Amazon and merch money on cruises and vacations and continuously post photos of you buying from zionist companies knowing full well that they're part of an active boycott.

—

So yeah, that's my 2 cents. Sorry if this sounded like some shit you'd see on a Twitlonger but after Viv was made aware of the posts I made about the turnover rate (and subsequently blocked me within the hour after seeing it) I knew that it wasn't gonna be long before I had people DMing me about how wrong I was because “Viv said it was wrong so it must be wrong”. 

One more thing I wanna add because I've gotten a lot of angry messages/asks about this, a lot of Viv stans seem to think I have this bizarre hate boner for Viv when I really don’t. I don’t hate Viv, I hate what she’s become. I hate how ever since the HH pilot she’s become a bully who can’t take criticism. And not just on the surface level of “criticism makes her upset”, because yea no shit, criticism makes everyone upset at least a little, and it's why I hate it when people see someone being upset at criticism and going “ERMM, CANT TAKE CRITICISM?”

When I say “Viv can’t take criticism” I mean she actively tries to shut down any convo about it without trying to learn from it. She blocks anyone who talks poorly about her or her company and makes baseless claims knowing full well her fans will follow her to the ends of Hell regardless of whether or not what she’s saying is even correct.

That’s all I got for now

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Nguyen at Mother Jones:

Long gone are the innocent days when media outlets claimed the independence and nuance of the politics of Elon Musk. Now, amid myriad X posts spreading far-right propaganda on immigrants, trans people, and, well, just about any other topic, it has become obvious where one of the richest men in the world stands. This week, there was more proof that Musk has put his money where his mouth has been. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Musk poured tens of millions of dollars into Republican campaigns and conservative groups even before he publicly endorsed Donald Trump in July. Conservatives helped conceal Musk’s contributions through so-called social welfare or “dark money” groups that do not have to disclose their donors and can raise unlimited funds. (Musk did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.) One piece of reporting stood out. The newspaper found that the tech billionaire donated more than $50 million in 2022 for campaign advertisements by Citizens for Sanity, a group connected to former Trump aide Stephen Miller and his non-profit America First Legal, which bills itself as ���the long-awaited answer to the ACLU.”  Ties to Miller back in 2022 illuminate Musk’s current penchant for posting about immigrants. Musk has increasingly aligned himself with xenophobic anti-migrant plans and trans hysteria championed by Miller within the Trump administration. 

[...] In recent months, Musk’s posts have sunken to lies of mass voter fraud to help Trump win. As I reported, the billionaire recently posted a rant about how Democrats are the true threat to democracy by fast-tracking asylum seekers for citizenship so that they can vote in swing states. Simple fact-checking finds that asylum seekers are not being flown to battleground states, are not being given a facilitated citizenship process, and are not being allowed to vote—it is all false.  As we previously noted, these statements fall within the 2024 iteration of the Republicans’ “Big Lie.” If Trump loses in November, then Democrats stole the election through noncitizen voters.  Musk has also directly aligned himself with Trump, founding a super PAC called America PAC to get 800,000 people to vote for the former president in key battleground states. According to the Guardian, Trump’s ground operation in swing states are now mostly outsourced to America PAC, and Business Insider said that Musk is now shelling out millions to Republicans in 15 competitive House races. Yesterday, Politico reported that America PAC was teaming up with Turning Point Action, the political advocacy division of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, to fund hundreds of “ballot chasers” in Wisconsin. 

A Wall Street Journal reports that right-wing X owner Elon Musk has been funding anti-immigrant propaganda, including funding $50M to right-wing group linked to Stephen Miller called Citizens For Sanity (or more accurately, Citizens For Insanity).

[electricbathsalt]

Yaknow, all that talk of “Why don’t any of you understand what I’m trying to accomplish/that it’s for the greater good” from Chisaki gains a whole bunch more layers with the confirmation that he was in one of AFO’s facilities as a kid.

Because since he was potentially experimented on (and considering he was the direct source of an apparent quirk copy, the chances of that are extremely high), that can spin the context/thought process greatly from apathetic stubbornness. He repeatedly claims that quirks are diseases and humanity needs to be rid of them, and it’s said he gained this mindset from a pretty much baseless study he read when he was younger.

Now here’s the thing; I always thought that was stupid. Or, uncharacteristic is a better word. I always thought “Really? Chisaki wholeheartedly believes some unsupported, one-off article and that’s why he hates quirks? The guy who meticulously thinks out and plans everything based on stone-cold facts and logic?” But then I realized. Humans in general, but especially kids, are going to look for anything to latch onto to outsource their frustrations about the traumas they’re going through that they don’t yet understand. Chisaki didn’t necessarily buy into that theory because he genuinely believed it, but because that while everyone else was treating quirks like the best thing a person could have, he knew that his own quirk was causing him pain via the experimentation (and potentially whatever landed him in the orphanage in the first place), and he wanted a way to outlet that distress, and to finally fault quirks, to tell everyone they’re not amazing or good. And that’s why he ‘believed’ that article. It gave him an out, an “I told you so!” moment, validation.

But what’s also interesting is how that all didn’t stop him from experimenting on Eri. And truth be told, I think Chisaki genuinely doesn’t understand that he’s traumatized. He doesn’t realize what he went through had actual, lasting effects on him. Instead he thinks, “If I could endure it, why can’t she?” And moreover, that whole “it’s for the greater good” thing is probably, whether consciously or subconsciously (most likely the latter), stemming from a thought that kids will no longer be experimented on for their quirks if quirks don’t exist anymore. He’s thinking, con or subcon (probably latter), “One last kid in the cycle before it’s broken”, since we know he thinks of Eri as a symbol for ridding the world of quirks and “returning it to normal”.

Also the whole thing that how Chisaki manipulates Eri (and kinda just his opponents in general) is potentially him repeating words that were said to him/him projecting, which coincides with his mindset that kindness is something that makes you indebted to someone else, going off the idea he possibly thinks of himself as a burden or a curse (hm), because what value does he have if he can’t be used to achieve someone else’s goals for them? To the point he simultaneously resents his own quirk and fears losing it because he thinks he’s worthless/weak without it.

Ahhh, anyway, this was like. My longest yap session yet. Sorry 💀🙏 but the facts are I’ll keep going. I’m just choosing to shut my mouth so that this doesn’t get any longer. 💀

[allthecanadianpolitics]

As the number of cancelled WestJet flights continues to climb over the Canada Day long weekend, the head of the union representing the airline's striking mechanics is pledging to continue the work stoppage until a new contract deal is reached. Bret Oestreich, president of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), told Reuters the two sides will reconvene with a mediator on Sunday, but the strike will continue during the talks. "All we want to do is to go back to the table," said Oestreich. "The strike will be in effect until we get an agreement." In an emailed update to CBC News Sunday afternoon, WestJet said 832 flights had been cancelled so far, including 78 flights scheduled for Monday, July 1, and three flights scheduled for Tuesday, July 2. [...] WestJet claims the deal would have made employees the best-paid airplane mechanics in the country, but the union says the final offer was more than 30 per cent below the prevailing rate of North American carriers — also citing outsourcing, scheduling and layoff protection as central issues in the bargaining process. Roughly 97 per cent of its members cast a ballot against the deal.

Continue Reading

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[logistiservices]

Elevating Excellence: Why the Transportation and Logistics Industry Should Prioritize Enhanced Customer Service

In the fast-paced and competitive realm of transportation and logistics, the emphasis on enhanced customer service is becoming increasingly vital. This blog post delves into the reasons why the transportation and logistics industry should prioritize customer service, exploring how it can lead to increased customer satisfaction, improved operational efficiency, and a strengthened market position.

Transportation Customer Service:

Transportation customer service underscores the unique challenges and opportunities within the transportation sector. Acknowledging the specific needs of customers in the logistics chain is crucial for building lasting relationships and ensuring a positive overall experience.

Customer Support Management:

The customer support management highlights the strategic approach required to deliver exceptional customer service. Effective management of customer support processes, from order inquiries to issue resolution, is instrumental in meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

Multilingual Customer Support:

In an increasingly globalized world, the term Multilingual customer support becomes pivotal. Offering customer support in multiple languages is not just a convenience; it is a necessity in a diverse and interconnected marketplace. Multilingual customer support enhances accessibility, fosters international collaboration, and demonstrates a commitment to meeting the unique needs of a global customer base.

Reasons to Prioritize Enhanced Customer Service:

Customer Satisfaction: A focus on enhanced customer service directly correlates with increased customer satisfaction. By providing prompt and accurate information, addressing concerns proactively, and ensuring a seamless experience, businesses build trust and loyalty among their clientele.

Operational Efficiency: Streamlining customer support management contributes to operational efficiency. Resolving issues promptly, minimizing order discrepancies, and optimizing communication channels lead to smoother logistics operations and reduced disruptions.

Competitive Edge: In an industry where competition is fierce, superior customer service becomes a key differentiator. Companies that prioritize customer satisfaction gain a competitive edge, attracting and retaining clients in a market where service quality often defines success.

Brand Reputation: Customer service plays a crucial role in shaping a brand's reputation. Positive interactions with customers contribute to a positive brand image, while subpar customer service can lead to reputational damage. A strong brand reputation, built on excellent customer service, enhances market credibility and trust.

Conclusion: In conclusion, prioritizing enhanced customer service in the transportation and logistics industry is not just a matter of meeting expectations; it is a strategic imperative. From transportation customer service tailored to the unique needs of the industry to effective customer support management and multilingual support for a global clientele, the benefits are manifold. By placing customer satisfaction at the forefront, businesses in the transportation and logistics sector can navigate challenges, foster growth, and secure a prominent position in an ever-evolving and competitive marketplace. In a world where customer-centricity is paramount, elevating customer service becomes a pathway to sustained success and industry leadership.

[angelshizuka]

Oooh okay okay, permission to be a little petty? This has been eating me up for a minute! On the topic of the helluva/hazbin redesigns: there are a lot of times in the critical side of this fandom where I’ll see people talking about what they would “fix” about the character designs, and like you said- some of the specifics people think they need to fix just…undermine the point of the character?? (I.e making Stolas big and burly) But it also feels like they’re ignoring that these characters look the way they do because they have to be ANIMATED. There’s been a handful of times I’ve seen people with that “fix it” attitude where they just waaaaay over complicate textures and shapes then say it’s so much better. For example some were saying Blitz’s design was bad because you can’t tell his burn scars were burn scars because the edges were too round. So they completely rendered the scars in their redesign and said they fixed it. I absolutely understand wanting to make detailed artwork. I LOVE detailing the hell out of a character in a drawing!! But to animate?? Especially with helluva where the spindle horse team doesn’t often outsource its animation?? I KNOW it’s silly but sometimes in passing I want to be like- ok. YOU animate your incredibly complicated redesign for a 20 minute animation at 24 frames per second. Then you get to handle the budget you’d need to get it finished and add in lighting/effects/etc. Then you ALSO get to handle the complaints from people who say episodes take too long to come out. Animation is a HUUUGE process! I feel like the work it takes to make it look so good is really taken for granted :,)

(I should be in bed so I hope any of this makes sense lmao I’m so sorry in advance!! Love your account your takes are so well thought out and you’re very funny <3)

Yes, thank you for your excellent point, I totally agree!

I mean, I will always defend CGI animation (I'm a firm believer all animation mediums are beautiful and valid), but I feel like it's spoiled people in how detailed a character's design can be. While part of the charm of 2D animation is how simplified lines can still get so much across.

It's been more than a decade since I studied animation and we only really did puppet animation, but even with that I quickly realized my designs could never be as detailed as when I just made a stand alone drawing (also, rip to my old animations that are lost to time, because my hard drive died a few years back...)

I'd honestly argue that for 2D animation standards the designs are really detailed. Maybe not for every character, but that's part of the beauty of it. Just like how in real life not all people dress all fancy and complicated, some people prefer simpler outfits, and they know how to make that come across in the character designs.

Especially Blitz is a prime example of being tailor made for 2D animation, that's also part of why some of the best facial expressions come from him, they know how to play around with his face shape. Regarding the scars, it's not just a 2D thing, it's the fact that imps scar differently than humans. So, again haters claiming they "fixed it" by completely ignoring lore.

(Aw, thank you! I try my best to put my thoughts into words and it helps make sense of whatever the hell is going on up there. I take a lot of pride in it, because my mother complimenting me on "knowing how to word things" was one of our last conversations before she passed.)

[ae-azile]

I can't start another fic due to too many WIPs, but this ArmKhun idea has been on my mind for a while now.

Summary:

After Tankhun gradually and quietly weans himself off of the last of his psychiatric medications, he prepares himself for the worst. There is a chance his emotions will get the best of him and he will cause a scene at a family dinner. Or maybe his sleep schedule will be no more and he will stay up several nights in a row before hallucinating. In contrast, he may sleep the day away and spend his waking hours in a catatonic state. There is always the possibility of the suicidal ideation making a comeback. And if he is perseverating on certain memories intently enough, that ideation could lead to an attempt. So many risks.

But despite the medications being adjusted again and again the first few years after his kidnapping, they have been left as is for over twice as long.

Tankhun just wants to know who he is, despite the risks. He may have lost Pete, but still has Arm and Pol. They're his guards and his friends. If one of those risks becomes a reality, he knows he just needs to say one word and they will help him. With Arm, he often doesn't have to say anything at all.

But somehow, Tankhun feels fantastic. Even after the first week completely off his medications, he isn't easily distracted, somehow feels calmer but still has energy, and does not have one suicidal thought cross his mind. In fact, he has only had one side effect: persistent and repetitive sexual arousal all throughout the day accompanied by the most vivid dreams at night.

Suddenly, saying one word for help seems incredibly daunting, especially when the dreams revolve around the person who helps him the most.

Warnings: hinted medical abuse/control, references to past suicidal ideation and attempts, past kidnapping, and past sexual abuse, yet somehow manages to be sassy and funny.

Pairing: Arm/Tankhun, a copious amount of Tankhun/OMC and Tankhun/OFC

Rating: E

Key Tags: Masturbation, prostitutes and random hookups, confused/concerned/jealous Arm, sexually and emotionally frustrated Tankhun, impromptu vacation, friends (or boss/employee) to lovers, post-canon.

Key Details:

Tankhun begins questioning not only his kidnapping, but the way his trauma was treated after his father's lies from the finale are uncovered.

Once the lack of meds bring Tankhun's libido back in full force, he tries to take care of it himself until he realizes that isn't good enough for him. It does not escape him who he fantasizes about. His attraction to Arm isn't particularly new, but it was easily dismissed and ignored until they bonded during the attack. Once his urges come back, Tankhun tends to hyper focus on him. Arm is beautiful, safe, kind, and (seemingly) unattainable for various reasons. It is the one realization that this might be the tipping point when it comes to a relapse, so Tankhun decides to outsource when it comes to distraction and relief.

He first resorts to utilizing an escort service. He is very sneaky about it at first. He waits until nights where he is alone and his guards are scheduled elsewhere. He is nervous at first, but begins to grow used to the process.

Because of the sneakiness,no one catches the escorts coming in and out. Except for Arm. At first, Arm tries not to overstep out of courtesy. Tankhun claims the escorts are old friends. Arm tries his best to believe him, but doesn't.

Tankhun makes it through the entire roster of the escort service and ends up rotating through three after a while - two men and one woman. If they are the ones who look the most like Arm, then that's his business.

Arm tries to hint that he would like details about what is going on. Tankhun is very evasive and successful when it comes to changing the subject. He tries to be respectful for as long as possible until he can't do it anymore and runs a facial recognition software on their security footage. He figures out who they are after that. While he really struggles with it, he ultimately decides not to tell anyone, but makes himself persistently and stubbornly more present when they come over. Pol has caught onto Arm's change in demeanor and asks if he is jealous over Tankhun's friends. Arm says he isn't, but clearly is. But the strong resemblance doesn't register until Pol brings it up.

The escort issue doesn't become more common knowledge until one of the escorts falls in love with Tankhun and it becomes a nuisance and a security issue. Tankhun does the mature thing and calmly explains his situation to Arm and Kinn. Kinn is in shock and extremely concerned for multiple reasons. Arm, however, just goes straight into action and makes sure the escort won't be a problem. He thinks it will be the end of an upsetting phase.

And then Tankhun starts hooking up with people at Yok's - almost every time they go.

Kinn is extremely upset. He keeps going to Arm and Pol and asking what is going on. While Arm wants this situation to stop too, Arm doesn't want Tankhun to feel controlled. Pol is just like, "I dunno." Word of Tankhun's conquests and abilities in bed travels. Even Pete calls up and is like, "Wtf is going on?"

Kinn ends up approaching Arm personally when Tankhun asks him for the number of his escort service. Apparently, Tankhun - who has mostly enjoyed his bar hook-ups - is still upset that he can't find his type. He plans on hooking up at bars since he has a reputation to uphold now, but he needs someone to match his type, at least some of the time. When Kinn explores what that means by going through their pictures, the ones Tankhun picks seem to somewhat resemble Arm.

During a group outing where Kinn gets particularly drunk after Tankhun wanders off with someone, he approaches Arm and asks if he thinks Tankhun would stop if he has more consistent access to his type. When Arm asks what Kinn means, Kinn just looks at him pointedly and says he will double his pay. Arm declines and Porsche quickly redirects Kinn from the conversation anyway.

However, Kinn's suggestion sticks with him. Arm won't take the money, mainly because he has now realized by this point he would be intimate with Tankhun for free. But he wonders if he would have a chance with Tankhun after all, considering he might be his type.

But instead of seducing Tankhun, he tries to spend more time with him. He asks him out to eat, he has movie marathons with him. He even suggests day trips.

While Tankhun isn't hooking up with people close to everyday now, Arm is now so completely gone for him that it makes him sick to his stomach. He doesn't even know how to admit there are feelings on his end - to his boss, nonetheless. Especially when his boss is still hooking up with people.

Meanwhile, Tankhun is completely oblivious to Arm's feelings. He doesn't even consider the possibility that his own long-standing feelings for Arm may be returned.

Anyway, it's an idea I have had for a while but I seriously doubt I could make it a one-shot. 😔 😂

[reasonsforhope]

"More than 150 workers whose labor underpins the AI systems of Facebook, TikTok and ChatGPT gathered in Nairobi on Monday [May 1st, 2023] and pledged to establish the first African Content Moderators Union, in a move that could have significant consequences for the businesses of some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

The current and former workers, all employed by third party outsourcing companies, have provided content moderation services for AI tools used by Meta, Bytedance, and OpenAI—the respective owners of Facebook, TikTok and the breakout AI chatbot ChatGPT. Despite the mental toll of the work, which has left many content moderators suffering from PTSD, their jobs are some of the lowest-paid in the global tech industry, with some workers earning as little as $1.50 per hour.

As news of the successful vote to register the union was read out, the packed room of workers at the Mövenpick Hotel in Nairobi burst into cheers and applause, a video from the event seen by TIME shows. Confetti fell onto the stage, and jubilant music began to play as the crowd continued to cheer.

The establishment of the Content Moderators Union is the culmination of a process that began in 2019, when Daniel Motaung, a Facebook content moderator, was fired from his role at the outsourcing company Sama after he attempted to convene a workers’ union called the Alliance. Motaung, whose story was first revealed by TIME, is now suing both Facebook and Sama in a Nairobi court. Motaung traveled from his home in South Africa to attend the Labor Day meeting of more than 150 content moderators in Nairobi, and addressed the group.

“I never thought, when I started the Alliance in 2019, we would be here today—with moderators from every major social media giant forming the first African moderators union,” Motaung said in a statement. “There have never been more of us. Our cause is right, our way is just, and we shall prevail. I couldn’t be more proud of today’s decision to register the Content Moderators Union.”

TIME’s reporting on Motaung “kicked off a wave of legal action and organizing that has culminated in two judgments against Meta and planted the seeds for today’s mass worker summit,” said Foxglove, a non-profit legal NGO that is supporting the cases, in a press release.

Those two judgments against Meta include one from April in which a Kenyan judge ruled Meta could be sued in a Kenyan court—following an argument from the company that, since it did not formally trade in Kenya, it should not be subject to claims under the country’s legal system. Meta is also being sued, separately, in a $2 billion case alleging it has failed to act swiftly enough to remove posts that, the case says, incited deadly violence in Ethiopia...

Workers who helped OpenAI detoxify the breakout AI chatbot ChatGPT were present at the event in Nairobi, and said they would also join the union. TIME was the first to reveal the conditions faced by these workers, many of whom were paid less than $2 per hour to view traumatizing content including descriptions and depictions of child sexual abuse. ...Said Richard Mathenge, a former ChatGPT content moderator... “Our work is just as important and it is also dangerous. We took an historic step today. The way is long but we are determined to fight on so that people are not abused the way we were.”

-via TIME, 5/1/23

[Note: In addition to Big Tech outsourcing and exploiting workers for social media and AI moderation, many companies also exploit and vastly underpay mostly overseas workers to straight up pretend to be AI. I'm really glad issues around this are starting to get attention AND UNIONS because exploited overseas labor is so often the backbone of AI--or even the "AI" itself.]

[dipperdesperado]

Notes on Solarpunk Beyond Eurocentrism

Crisis and collapse seem to be the currency of the present. 1st World societies, enveloped in the long shadow cast by prosperity, find themselves coming into open, naked conflict. Reality, or Eurocentricity¹? Reality says, ‘we can't have infinite growth on a finite planet!’ Eurocentrism laughs, walking away with delight. Rather than understanding “that which cannot be repaired is already broken,”² Eurocentricity tells us that we can pull and pull and pull, that a rudderless faith in extraction will somehow lead to balance. What happens if the world is bent until it breaks? All of our communities are at stake. This is “the clearest signal that there is something deeply wrong with the global system in its current form”³. We can see that somewhere along the line, someone fucked shit up. There's no other meaningful way to explain how we've gotten to where we're at. Eurocentricity is so prevalent that we even understand our technology on the scale of the “complex and special”, rather than “how a society copes with physical reality.���⁴ Solarpunk's focus on appropriate technology⁵ is a welcome corrective to the myopia of modernity⁶ and capitalism⁷. However, it is incomplete without an understanding of coloniality⁸.

If there are facets of coloniality that we need to address, they are the processes of (1) creating rigid taxonomies and categories for classifying the world⁹, and (2) creating hierarchies of power and value for the ways those things are classified. These two moves are embedded in the in-group/out-group exclusionary dynamics that coloniality needs to function, from the way that we privilege ‘humans’ over ‘non-humans’, ‘centers’ over ‘margins’, and the ‘visible’ over the ‘invisible’. This isn't just philosophical or for the sake of pontification. These presuppositions of knowledge, being, and meaning privilege Eurocentric assertions that see "other human beings’ ways of life [as] wrong and harming nature, [since] nature needs no human beings."¹⁰ If we are to move out of ecological calamity, ‘The Last Shall be First’ must be our operating system. By centering the margins (in the ontological and epistemological sense), we can actually end suffering, rather than outsourcing it. This has to take shape in such a way that engenders room for a polyculture of meaning, diametrically opposed to the hegemonic "monoculture of meaning"¹¹, beyond the ability to label any human based on what they "lack" as an "Other"¹².

This move to truly embody decoloniality has to critique modernity, capitalism, and coloniality. This is important to understand as “modernity organizes the world ontologically in terms of atomic, homogeneous, separable categories. Contemporary women of color and third-world women's critique of feminist universalism centers the claim that the intersection of race, class, sexuality, and gender exceeds the categories of modernity. If woman and black are terms for homogeneous, atomic, separable categories, then their intersection shows us the absence of black women rather than their presence. So, to see non-white women is to exceed "categorial" logic. [...] the modern, colonial, gender system [is] a lens through which to theorize further the oppressive logic of colonial modernity, its use of hierarchical dichotomies and categorial logic. [...] categorial, dichotomous, hierarchical logic [is] central to modern, colonial, capitalist thinking about race, gender, and sexuality.”¹³ We see that even in ostensibly postcolonial societies, "indigenous people who had already suffered from decades of colonial conservation policies, little changed with decolonization."¹⁴ This shows the depth at which we have to go to adequately respond to the social and ecological issues that are currently coming to a head.

This commitment isn't (principally) a moral or ethical one. One of the main reasons that we have to move towards a holistic decoloniality is because of the inability of coloniality to address the issues we're facing. "Indigenous leaders say [30x30, a worldwide conservation program] ignores generations of effective indigenous land management. [...] there was limited scientific attention paid to Indigenous stewardship."¹⁵ Unless we are willing to be radical, to grasp the roots of all the oppressive structures that we're facing, we will reproduce the things we are (ostensibly) trying to abolish in our (potentially unintentional) inability to critique coloniality onto-epistemically while proposing responses rooted in other ways of being. In the effort to try and correct the excesses of Eurocentricity, we see that Eurocentric modes of being like "nation-states [...] struggling to catch up with indigenous and other non-capitalist cultures’ understanding of the interdependence of life."¹⁶ This is not to exalt Indigenous, Black and 3rd/4th world onto-epistemes, to reify them beyond critique. It is to say that the Eurocentric onto-epistemic inability to see those modes as valid dampers the emancipatory potential extant in the world preventing the ability to reach the purported values of "progress" and "development". Eurocentric ideas have to play catch-up, and by their colonial and capitalist nature are unable to.

We have to problematize, to see as an issue, many of the foundational concepts might deploy as mired in Eurocentrism and coloniality. We can do this by (1) decolonizing what it means to be human by creating the space for Black, Indigenous and 3rd/4th worlders to self-determine and (2) "[take] non-humans seriously as persons[/beings] with agency [which] allows us to de-center humans, to notice how limited our field of sight becomes when fixated by the idea of the Anthropocene. Far from remaining a matter of theoretical discussion, non-humans [... ] influenc[e] social, political and legal realities."¹⁷ We have to bridge these two worlds: acknowledging the ways that the ideas of animality were defined along the bodies of Black people, how that relates to conceptions of humanity, and the care that we should have in highlighting the agency of non-human beings (both in the actual sense, and those who get denied humanity). This has to be done on the terms of those beings, as best as we can manage. If we are able to acknowledge that there are issues in modernity with how we taxonomize humans & how that relates to non-humans, for the sake of the biosphere, and we center those marginal and invisible beings, we can get a lot done.

I really want to impress the fact that not taking the trifecta of Eurocentrism¹⁸ seriously is resigning ourselves to doom. If we continue to build the cyberpunk future that we've been worried about for decades, the future of "urban decay, corporate power and globalization. The rise of zero tolerance policing, anxieties around health care and the psychological toll of the Cold ‘Forever war’ and the possibility of nuclear annihilation,"¹⁹ we resign ourselves, even in our imaginaries, to further our immiseration. We can use the 30 x 30 framework for conservation as a great example, where 200 countries were willing to accept it²⁰. This conservation framework reinforces the dichotomy between human/non-human²¹, assuming that top-down, bureaucratic processes of "management" are the answer to the problems that those very ideas created. The ironic thing is, even though this move would be woefully inadequate in addressing the issue of biodiversity loss or climate change²², we very likely won't even get to see it achieve protection of "30% of the world's land and water by 2030."²³ There's no meaningful accountability structure within the Eurocentric hegemony to do this. There is no room for living freely and honestly under these conditions.

"To see the coloniality is to see the powerful reduction of human beings to animals, to inferiors by nature, in a [piece-meal] understanding of reality that dichotomizes the human from nature, the human from the non-human, and thus imposes an ontology and a cosmology that, in its power and constitution, disallows all humanity, all possibility of understanding, all possibility of human communication, to dehumanized beings."²⁴ This is the double-edged sword of creating hierarchies and taxonomies around valid ways of being, knowing, and meaning. By operating along these lines, we end up in a situation where there is no meaningful way for anyone to truly reach the kinds of fulfillment that modernity is supposed to provide. Now, this is not to say that I'm personally going to cry very hard about colonizers dehumanizing themselves by dehumanizing me, but I think it's worthwhile to mention; we all benefit by tearing down Eurocentrism and building a new, multifaceted perspective that allows for mutualism between different ways of thinking about the world and our relations with/in it.

By creating these rigid categories of difference, there is an assumption of innateness that tends to become a part of it. If we are looking to dismantle coloniality, we have to situate ourselves in such a way that those seemingly subtle distinctions between differences in general²⁵ and the specific conception of colonial difference become visible. This allows us to see that "the epistemological fractures between the Eurocentric critique of Eurocentrism is distinguished from the critique of Eurocentrism anchored in the colonial difference."²⁶ Critiques of Eurocentrism that don't apprehend the imbrication of coloniality, capital, and modernity are left unaware at the meaningful distinctions that can be made between critique left incomplete and critique that gives us a way to move forward and build new relationalities.

I want to point back towards the phrase "The Last Shall Be First", which comes from Fanon (and the Bible). I understand this as resonant with the adage of centering the marginalized. If we truly believe that harmony and unity in life are worthwhile to work towards, the practical move to make is to, in every moment, work towards empowering those removed from power. By foregrounding those most negatively impacted by Eurocentrism through an understanding of intersectionality in material and onto-epistemological senses while spotlighting the "'decolonizers of the imaginary’, [which can be understood as] future generations, past generations, non-humans, and spiritual beings and concepts"²⁷, we can point ourselves towards more egalitarian and self-determining outcomes. We can compose and integrate efforts together, where cultural workers can do solarpunk art and organizers & community/affinity groups can build solarpunk sociality and architects can do solarpunk guerrilla urbanism and more, where collaboration becomes a space that starts to break down the borders between different ways of relating to the world. By problematizing the human "we", by understanding that while, ideally, abstractly we are including everyone, in practice, there are critical things missed that lead to the issues we purportedly want to face. We have to point towards a world where many fit.

As far as my specific commitments on the matter, I'm what I call an egoist. I've appropriated this term to mean that I find myself to be important (though not supremely so), to assert my onto-epistemology as valid, even though Eurocentric society was built at my (people’s) expense²⁸. I have hope, which I understand as the grounded counterpart to "faith" or "optimism", that things can change, that even if the world has to be broken down, that it can be, and a new, decolonial one can be built. In this space, I hope that every being is acknowledged on its own terms, to have the capacity for its "ego" to be fulfilled, roughly along the lines of the golden and platinum rules, depending on what makes sense given the situation²⁹. Solarpunk is very egoistic/anarchistic in my conception. Through horizontal power structures, we can minimize immiseration and foreground approaches to life that move our social activity towards the biosphere.

We can start working towards this, right now. Like, on some "you can go do the work after this" kind of thing. While we don't necessarily have a linear path forward, we can listen to ourselves and our desires, and experiment with doing things to fulfill them in the present, seeing them as springboards for further movement into the kind of spaces that we want to go. On a basic level, we can think about the ways that we are restricted by our needs due to alienation from self-determination, and devise plans to get those things, from food autonomy, to housing security, to social and cultural spaces. With this, I want us to be rooted in place--no White Flight ass culty commune shit. Our work should ground in locality and communality. If every being deserves the kind of world that solarpunk futures suggest, it makes no sense to leave if we have capacity³⁰ to stay. In a more egoist turn, I think places where we can practice what James Scott calls anarchist calisthenics³¹ are worthwhile endeavors; authority, as in authoritarian rule, is never legitimate. Whenever we can and have the desire to, we should rage against it. Hosting do it yourself (DIY) events are a good example of this. DIY events are usually music shows, but they can be parties or anything else, where you do it without "permission" from the state or authorities. They can happen "in a park, on a beach, deep in the forest, in a barn, under a bridge, in a parking lot, next to a pool, or at the top of a mountain. The event could be on wheels: in an RV, on the back of a truck, in a van. You could build a secret tree house. You could borrow a boat. You could find an abandoned or empty building and re-purpose it. If there’s no electricity and you need it for a PA, find a generator. If you don’t need electricity, use candles for lighting. If you would like to lessen the chance of police interference, acquire several buildings and move people from building to building during breaks. You could even take over a street."³²

If we're willing to commandeer space, the elusive element in much theorizing on change³³, we can start changing the paradigms. Rather than "fall[ing] back on [...] creat[ing] protected areas"³⁴ for the sake of reaching "biodiversity goals" and "ecological harmony", we can focus on land back, we can pull from knowledges in appropriate technology, traditional ecological knowledge, and the best that western science has to offer for being good partners with other beings in our communities. To horizontalize relationships between humans, breaking down barriers of political and socioeconomic varieties, we can put the last first and act as accomplices, supporting their needs and fighting alongside them. Any critiques that we have of the system should, within our capacities, be externalized, the (dialectical and logical³⁵) contradictions laid bare in the material world. If there is a public building that isn't being used for the public, we can commandeer it and turn it into a commons³⁶. Around these moves we can build or tie in networks of support and take seriously the militancy, strategy, and tactics required to defend that space. Or, we can be more fluid, moving from place to place, an occupation traveling band that swarms spaces, creates more solarpunk and communistic relations within, shares those tools and collaborates with folks more rooted in that space, and floats out as to remain flexible. Or, a ton of other possibilities, a ton of other ways to engage space. There are many ways to do it.

This is meant to be a conversation starter. I have a lot of love for solarpunk--you can see that from my writings. It is a really useful meta-frame for the narrative component of systems change. I also acknowledge the susceptibility that it has towards eco-modernism, crypto-scheming, and reactionary yearning to return to the "good old days", whether it's a time "before agriculture" or a time before industrialization". I hope that, through the works of 3rd and 4th worlders, and more material ties to prefigurative and insurgent practices vis a vis systems change, solarpunk can shake off the chains of Eurocentrism, towards a pluralistic decoloniality and anti/non-capitalism.

Notes

Eurocentricity/Eurocentrism is the cultural and philosophical constellation of worldviews that sees the ideas birthed from Europe and wedded to capitalism and coloniality as the only valid, worthwhile, and legible modes of knowledge, being/existence (especially as it relates to “humanity”/humanism), and meaning. Things like linear progressions of time, a fetish for scientific thought, and atomistic conceptions of the individual permeate Eurocentric thought.

XXIIVV — permacomputing

Beyond Extinction. Transition to post-capitalism is inevitable | by Nafeez Ahmed

Anthem of the Sun — Real Life

Appropriate technology is essentially what it sounds like; it looks at what technology would be appropriate, meaning that it would minimize ecological harm, to achieve specific needs/goals.

The advent of nation-statism, colonial empires, and industrial capital make up modernity. It is the “never-ending” historical period in which we find ourselves.

Capitalism is distinct, in all of its configurations, for the fact that it combines: (1)private, dictatorial authority over property, most notably of the means of production, (2) wage labor relations where those who don’t have productive private property need to work using someone else’s to survive, and (3) a focus on continual growth, which is seen as an unquestionable good.

Coloniality is the power structural relationships and ways in which society was chopped up and categorized, that, while originating during the eras of European Colonialism, still persist to this day.

Toward a Decolonial Feminism - Maria Lugones

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

Decolonizers of the imaginary

Wynter Sylvia 1492 A New World View

Toward a Decolonial Feminism

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

Decolonizers of the imaginary

Decolonizers of the imaginary

Capitalism, coloniality, modernity

SOLARPUNK: Life in the future - Beyond the rusted chrome

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

This is meant in an expansive sense, where colonized subjects and what is commonly referred to as nature is included

Eurocentric assumptions on what it means to "conserve" certain lands go against the very things that are done to preserve biodiversity. There is not a mechanism by which we can meaningfully protect lands from "on high", away from an intimate understanding rooted in place.

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

Toward a Decolonial Feminism

I don't find issue with the concept of "difference". I am not my phone, or my mom, or my favorite animal. At the same time, we have to be able to separate the idea of difference from the idea of colonial difference, and understand the ways that material and social processes shape the ways that difference in general is constructed. Ossified understandings of difference, like "I am a man and men do X" are antithetical to liberatory change.

Toward a Decolonial Feminism

Decolonizers of the imaginary. Not that there's overlap here between acknowledging 3rd & 4th world folks ways of being and knowing and a flattening of the "nature-culture" dichotomy that is generally espoused in 'colonized imaginaries'

This system tells me to assimilate or to stop existing. I choose neither, and go towards full spectrum resistance and abolition.

The golden rule is treat people how you want to be treated. The platinum rule is treat people how they want to be treated. I think there's an innumerable number of options in this range, depending on how well we can understand what other beings need. By not pedestalizing any one being over the other while understanding the deep history and present, we can move towards that. I want to make it abundantly clear that we cannot just "jump" towards that moment, as things like reparations and land back need to happen. It's a yes and situation. We should understand that every being deserves what it wants as long as it doesn't systematically/power structurally prevent someone from doing the same. And to this end, there are certain, non-privileged/marginalized/invisibled beings that will have needs that reflect a different reality visavis self-determination.

I am not saying to stay in dangerous, toxic, harmful situations. I'm saying that changing the places you're already in has more radical potential, if you're specifically looking for that, than getting a commune established out of arms reach from society.

Anarchist Calisthenics, by James C. Scott

A DIY Guide to Creating Spaces

Anecdotally, it seems easier to imagine vastly different economic, political, and social systems, but it is harder to imagine different technologies, and even harder to imagine different ways of interacting with spatial-temporal dynamics. Much of politics is actually about space and how it is occupied, and we should lean into anarchic, decolonial takes on "geography", "urban planning", and "architecture" among other fields so we can really take seriously how we are addressing all the things we need to.

How the world’s favorite conservation model was built on colonial violence

Contradiction (logical): when a subject, object, or phenomena is said to have features or properties that can’t exist at the same time and be factual. For example, All apples are fruits. If someone were to say that some apples are not fruits, that is a logical contradiction, because there is no way to substantiate that claim through information, reasoning, or data. Logic is all about “internal” consistency, where the “internal” refers to the relation between the claims being made and the things being compared. Within the system of interest, in this case the “system” of fruit classifications, of which an apple is an element, the claims and conclusions should be supported by the characteristics of that system. Contradiction (dialectical): In dialectics (or a dialectical process), contradictions can take the shape of logical contradictions, (All X are Y → Some X are not Y | No X is Y → Some X are Y) but they only need to take the shape of tensions between elements in a system more broadly. It’s all about the relationship between elements.

What if We Cancel the Apocalypse

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Hey! love your analytical posts! These recent ones... you've really knocked it out of the ballpark! I was wondering whether you'd like to share your take on a few moments in the soc books. Thank you so much:)

How does Kaz know what Inej's tells are? Is it because he "sees everything"? Or maybe because he always looks at her before a fight? What made him look at Inej before the fight with Van Eck?

When Kaz tells Matthias to "watch his tone" with Inej, is it because of her recent injury? Inej doesn't seem surprised by his words, so maybe he's done it before?

If Kaz had known the incinerator shaft was still really hot, would he have still sent her up ("the Wraith can manage it")? Kaz isn't uncaring, especially where Inej is concerned, so why a net for the silos but not a net (or something akin to that) for the incinerator shaft?

Hi, thanks for your question and so sorry I’ve taken so long to answer it!!

On Kaz and Inej’s tells, I definitely think it’s fair to say that he knows hers because he looks at her before the fight; that being his tell. Before the fight on Vellgeluk, Kaz expresses an awareness of this tell and implies that he was trying to stop himself from doing it - “Kaz knew the instant he made his mistake. They’d all known it might come to this. He should have trusted his crew. His eyes should have stayed trained on Van Eck. I est was, in that moment of threat, when he should have thought only of the fight, he looked at Inej.” This is interesting because Inej is entirely unaware of her tell, squaring her shoulders before a move, but Kaz is actively noticing his and condemning himself for it. This probably has a lot to do with Kaz’s self-hatred and his self-destructive nature; if there is any reason to blame himself for something then he finds it, and he takes it out on someone (in this case, Jesper) effectively to jeopardise their relationship as a punishment to himself for ‘failing’. At least that’s how I see it, it’s obviously a very subjective thing and that’s just my interpretation. What I do find particularly interesting, is that Kaz claims no-one notices his real tell because they assume the cane is his tell, revealing an attack against his bad leg to be an easy target, and this is confirmed by Pekka Rollins’ complete failure to acknowledge his tell and/or Kaz and Inej’s feelings towards each other (I’ve talk about that a bit before so I won’t go into major detail), but Van Eck does notice. And not only does he notice the tell, but he immediately recognises what he can do to exploit it - “I wonder what will prove more effective, Ma Ghafa? Torturing Mr Brekker, or making him watch as I torture you” (paraphrasing, I don’t have my Crooked Kingdom on me this second; sorry). I think this is important because this is how Kaz thinks, and there are a couple of parallels between him and Van Eck threaded through the duology as a constant reminder of two things: 1) that Kaz could have been massively successful in Ketterdam as a merchant if only he’d been born rich, meant to highlight the inequity and massive classism of the city/Kerch as a whole, and 2) That Van Eck is just as much a criminal as Kaz or anyone else in the Barrel. He’s Pekka Rollins with a lot more money and a much better reputation, because when you have enough money to outsource you don’t have to get your own hands dirty in the process of scamming people out of their money (secretly bought you jurda farms, kept property off the books, cheated on his taxes, etc), or to buy and se children who are either forced into it or don’t know what they’re signing up for (I’m using his indentured Grisha, the foreign children Inej talks about, and the fact he knows about Vellgeluk as my evidence that he is at the very least wilfully ignorant of a system he’s supporting, and at the worst an active participant in the auction blocks that the other children on the ship with Inej were being taken to or other forms of trading indentures)

When Kaz tells Matthias to watch his tone with Inej, it’s left purposefully ambiguous as to whether his concern is for her or for the general integrity of the group, since this is before the Ice Court Heist and he needs them to trust, or at least co-operate with, each other if he has any hopes of success. I think it’s probably, at least on some level, about both and that could be linked to Inej’s injury - we all know how protective he is of her in the immediate aftermath at the very least. Although I wouldn’t be surprise if he’s defended Inej in this way before, I think it’s also arguable that she has no expectation for the words to be genuinely for her; she always assumes Kaz cares first for the job, second for himself, and third for all others. It’s really only during the Ice Court Heist that she begins to notice the reciprocation of her feelings for him, which is emphasised by her discussion with Jesper in the boat about how uncertain they are that he cares for either of them, and question if it would have killed him to come and see her when she was recovering from the knife wound. We as the readers understand he couldn’t bring himself to see her due to the intensity of his fear and his feelings towards her, but he has thus far given her no reason to think he cares for anyone but himself. Even right before the incinerator shaft climb, she and Jesper express concern to each other that Kaz has set them up somehow and abandoned them to be captured and executed by the Fjerdan guards.

The incinerator is an interesting one, because Kaz never actually mentions the heat. Even when he comments in Inej’s impressive feat afterwards, his exact words are “six storeys in the dark” not ‘six storeys of burning hell in the pitch black with hot coals beneath you’, which is probably how I would’ve categorised the experience. However, having climbed the rope he must have been aware of the heat, so it’s unclear what his real reaction to this is - to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if her hadn’t noticed at all, since this is in the aftermath of Yellow Protocol being set off by either him or Nina (it’s left ambiguous), him seeing Pekka Rollins, him being chased/attacked by a guard, and him arriving to the others late. I don’t think that any kind of safety feature would have been viable for the incinerator, since they couldn’t have brought anything with them. If they’d known that their clothes would be in the same room then they could have possibly left something with them, but the clothes’ presence was a surprise (“These are our clothes!”) and it would have been nearly impossible to conceal anything or use to her. However, I also think that his insistance on Inej using a net for is important because it’s in the aftermath of him truly coming to terms with his feelings. There’s no denying the way he felt in her absence, the gnawing, empty sensation that came with the fear of losing her, so actually think that his direct quote being something along the lines of “I just spent a lot of time and money on getting my Wraith back, I didn’t do that to lose her again” is a callous way of wording his genuine feelings in this moment. Inej’s refusal to use the net and the restructuring of the plan excluding its presence is also a tension building device, and foreshadows Inej falling from the high wire.

Thank you so much for your question, I am so sorry it’s taken me genuinely forever to answer it!!