#death to america too for their billions and billions of dollars being shipped to help continue genocide

[bloodycoolfrye]

🇱🇧🇵🇸🇾🇪YOU CAN NOT BEAT A COUNTRY THAT IS PROTECTED BY ALLAH!❤️‍🔥

[ad1thi]

2020 fic recs!! [Part 1]

this idea was stolen from @iam93percentstardust cuz i just,,,thought that this year was absolute shit and it would be nice to make a fic rec list of fics from this year that helped me through it. this will be over a range of fandoms and ships, but all fics were written this year. 

fics are ordered by the month they were published. ive tried to keep to five fics per month, but this is not obviously all the fics ive read that month - i just didn’t want to make this insanely long. 

im releasing the first half of this on the 1st of December, and the second half on the 1st of January 2021 - because otherwise it would just get so long (and also so i will actually have fics for December)

happy reading!! hopefully you find fics on this you haven’t read yet

***

January

The cat is mighty dignified (until the dog comes by): @five-wow

Steve and Danny find them on the pillow in the corner of the dining area, where Eddie is on his side, ass half on the floor because the pillow is more cat-sized than lab-sized, and Pickles is nestled between Eddie’s front legs, essentially being spooned and looking very I-got-the-cream about it. Pickles’ head is tucked into the crook of Eddie’s neck and Eddie’s head slots perfectly on top of Mr. Pickles’, like a furry jigsaw puzzle.

“They’re cuddling,” Steve points out, unnecessarily.

Or: There is a love story unfolding under the McGarrett roof.

Captain ‘Socialist Rage Muffin’ America: @baffledkingcomposinghallelujah

It takes three months of dating Steve Rogers for Tony to understand why Aunt Peggy once shot at him in sheer frustration.

Alternately titled, Honey, I committed treason again.

The Best Laid Plans (Of Mice and Men): @arboreal-elm-ash-oak

His Dark Materials AU

It was Annalise who noticed their small visitor first.

“Tony,” the spider daemon said softly, skittering up the collar of his dress shirt, two of her eight legs resting delicately against his cheek, “Don’t startle them, but I believe we have a guest. Look, by the coffee table.”

Fourteen Million to One: @tunastorks

Six months after Thanos, six months after Tony’s death, six months after Steve returns to his own timeline, Tony Stark turns up on their doorstep.

Brewed Awakening: @iam93percentstardust

Two years after he comes out of the ice, Steve is drifting through life. On his teammate's recommendation, he decides to go back to school where he meets the grandson of an old friend. He finds happiness with Tony but Steve won't be in Boston forever and someone is out to hurt the Starks. Will Steve and Tony be able to reach their happily ever after?

February

the young, the reckless and the foolish: @bruciewayne

In most universes, they don't know each other, not in the slightest, or they hate each other, in a way that's perfectly logical for anyone who were to find themselves in a similar situation.

In this one, they've known each other since they were four years old and naively idealistic.

This is them over the years, against the odds.

a giant sign: @areiton

“Think you can get him to open the weapons division up again?” his CO asks, his voice hungry and Rhodey laughs because this--

“No. Tony hung up his weapons.”

“That’s not what the suit says,” his CO objects, and Rhodey shrugs.

Tony has always had rules, rules he expects the entire world to live by.

And then there was Rhodey, slipping under them.

my heart is driftwood, floating down your coast: @nethandrake

Tonight, there’s a stranger in his backseat. That’s not unusual.

He’s also sad. That’s not unusual either.

What is unusual is that the stranger is silent.

(One night, a stranger enters Steve's taxi. Nothing is the same again.)

Just A Cold: @/delighted 

There’s a new text waiting for him. It’s from Steve of course, and it’s vaguely threatening as most messages from Steve are these days. Still Danny ignores it, and now he’s really playing with fire. Maybe it’ll burn the cold out of him.

Or, Danny’s sick, and Steve can’t stay away. The usual comfort fluff. With a little cameo from a gently meddling Grace.

An Unexpected Guide: @/Rachel500

Danny Williams has hidden his Guide status to keep being a detective, but his time of hiding is up when he unexpectedly finds his Sentinel, Steve McGarrett in the midst of a tragedy.

March

Why don’t we (Collide the spaces that divide us): @five-wow

When they finally catch sight of each other again through the milling crowds, they’re both a little worse for wear. Danny’s left side is covered in glitter and every time he brushes a hand over his hair, more blue and purple confetti rains down. Steve is- Well, Steve is randomly shirtless, which is all things considered not excessively remarkable, but he’s also covered in smudges of colorful paint and has a very nicely printed bloodred lipstick kiss mark on his cheek.

“What did you do?” Danny asks, because it looks like Steve had a lot more fun than he did.

Or: Steve and Danny accidentally end up in the middle of something entirely new.

A Little Unsteady: @finduilasclln 

Written for the Tumblr prompt meme : "Hey! I was gonna eat that!"

Tony lashes out at Bucky for eating his dessert. Only, it really isn't about the dessert.

a national treasure: @starklysteve

Steve isn't looking for an apple and Tony decides his passion is to inspire young souls. -x- OR: the AU where Tony is a Youtuber and Steve is Captain America and somehow they still save the world together.

April

cycle through: @ambivalentmarvel

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Stark disappeared from his family home a month after the tragic deaths of his parents, Howard and Maria Stark, leaving a billion-dollar tech conglomerate without an heir and the world wondering what happened.

Twenty-three years ago, HYDRA gained another super soldier.

Ten years ago, Peter Parker’s parents died in what is ruled as a home invasion gone wrong but he knows was murder, plain and simple, because he spoke to the killer.

And in the present, Project Insight fails, and the Iron Soldier pays the price.

FOREVER-LOVE YOU-I: @/Eudoxia

Tony Stark is twenty-one when he loses his voice. It shouldn't matter, but in a world where the first words your Soulmate says to you are marked on your skin, it can be pretty damn annoying.

Especially for Tony's soulmate.

--

Companion piece to my fic Thumb, Index, and Pinky Extended. This is Steve's POV, with a few extra scenes, as a treat.

(Edit: Sorry if you guys get multiple notifications for this. I just realized (about two hours after posting it) that I fucked up the grammar in the title and I HAD to fix it. YOLO, I guess.)

come build a home out of me: @maguna-stxrk

Steve clears his throat.

“What if I went with you?” he asks nonchalantly, like his heart isn’t threatening to beat out of his ribcage.

Tony blinks a few times, looking at Steve, his mouth ajar. “As a— As my date?”

“Yeah.” Steve nods, feeling a little breathless.

“You don’t mind?” Tony furrows his eyebrows.

“I don’t. In fact, you can just tell them I’m your boyfriend. I’m sure they’ll back off, wouldn’t they?”

What.

“I— Huh?” Tony stares at him, brown eyes blown wide open.

What. What. What.

“Huh? Uh, I mean— You know, that way people will see that you have definitely moved on. Monica will see that you have moved on. Right?” Steve smiles, hoping that it masks his inner panic, because what?

Steve Rogers, what have you done?

i don’t have a choice (but i’d still choose you): @nethandrake

There’s a name inked onto his chest, a name written in an all-too familiar scrawl. And it’s— It’s—

Steve doesn’t realize his body is quaking until he’s tracing the tattoo with a shaky finger.

Because of course that is the name etched into the skin. Like a brand, a reminder for everything he has done. An appropriate retribution.

Anthony Edward Stark.

(When Thanos snaps half of the universe away, he unknowingly leaves the other half with soulmarks.)

ua haʻalele ʻoe iaʻu (a ua hoʻomālamalama ʻoe iaʻu): @just-fandomthings

"The truth is, I was shot in the chest and nearly died, and not even three days after I was released from the hospital, you up and left-- and of those two, I'm not sure which one hurt me worse!"

(Coda to 10x22 because come on, we all need a better ending than the one given to us.)

Title loosely translates to: "You left me in the dark (you lit me up)" -- inspired by the brilliant song "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur

May

A Piece Of The Past: @hddnone

It had been so many years since Bucky had gone undercover in the Stark family's mob, he thought he'd gotten away clean.

Then Tony Stark slid into the seat across from him at his breakfast diner, and Bucky's boss has a new case for him.

the privilege of loving you: @starklysteve

“Why won’t you let me touch you?”

It’s a desperate plea, half-shouted and half-whispered, Steve’s voice cracking at the end. Tony stops in his tracks, halfway to the stairs. He doesn’t dare to turn back, and he really doesn’t want to fight, or to leave, to spend the last month of his life away from his husband and their son. But Steve can’t know, can he?

-x-

Or: Tony has palladium poisoning, but he doesn't tell Steve and Peter

your pillow feels so soft now (but still you must advance): @firebrands

When Bruce is 13, he decides to go to boarding school. It's an opportunity for him to learn about other people, and how to interact with them.

Bruce has the misfortune of meeting Tony Stark upon his arrival in Roxbury. Bruce is moving into his room, and Tony opens the door of his room to watch. He looks a bit younger than Bruce, hair wild and eyes bright. Bruce has never seen a boy like him before—handsome and confident.

Bruce doesn’t like it.

IMPORTANT: This fic has them meeting at 14, then progresses slowly until they’re 17. Includes underage drinking and kissing.

This is set before Bruce becomes Batman and Tony becomes Iron Man and I have no explanation as to how or why they just DO Canonically, Bruce is 17 when he finishes school and goes around the world to train, so we're sticking with that

The Real MVP: @sword-and-stars (part of a series)

[“I have saved this Tuesday!” Sokka announces, rattling the bag upon reentry.

Zuko doesn’t even look up from his phone as he deadpans, “It’s Thursday.”

Okay, so Sokka is still having trouble getting his days right without checking. At least he’s gone back to sleeping at night! Going to bed at night is way easier when you have a cute, cuddly boyfriend who starts falling asleep around eleven o’clock. It also helps that he and Zuko are on solid gold butt-touching terms.

It’s been a while since Sokka has been on butt-touching terms with someone and it’s amazing.]

Or,

Sokka knows a guy, gets laid, and introduces Zuko to the merits of an afternoon delight.

When is a bed not a bed? (When you’re not in it): @riotwritesthings

There’s a tiny safe house, with one tiny window and one tiny couch.

And one tiny little bed.

June

Nice Fingers: @anthonyed

A single compliment given by Tony stirs Bucky restless until he caves in and asks him out on a date.

With Steve’s help of course (whether he likes it or not).

The Darkest Touch: @starkrogerrs

This is the story of how Steve finds that it has been ordained that he is to marry a monster he cannot resist aka the God of Love himself, Tony.

It's Cupid x Psyche retold, but with thrice the amount of porn.

The Night Shift:  @weethreequarter

Welcome to the Emergency Department of San Antonio General where Dr. Tony Stark joins the team fresh from his most recent tour in Afghanistan and - much to the consternation of the other staff - strikes up an instant rapport with Nurse Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, new resident Bruce Banner refuses to give up on his patient, and Dr. Sharon Carter learns something from her own patients. Throw in a pissed off hospital administrator, Clint using the coffee pot as a mug again, and a major car crash and you have, well, just another night shift.

Wind Beneath My Wings: @iam93percentstardust

Sam first meets Tony Stark in 2005 when he joins the EXO-7 Falcon program.

In jest: @/apathyinreverie

“No, babe,” Danny shakes his head with a grin. “If the apocalypse were to go down while I’m elsewhere for some godforsaken reason, then you stay put and I’m coming to wherever you are.” His grin widens. “And I expect you to have cleared any aliens or zombies or whatever else might be messing with us off the island and to have set up a nice, comfortable military dictatorship for us to rule over by the time I get back.”

It’s a joke.

Of course it’s a joke.

Until it isn’t.

(A the-day-after-tomorrow-style apocalypse AU, where the world decides to end right when Danny is visiting one of the other islands with Grace. Because, of course, it does.)

[qqueenofhades]

I was hoping you would be able to help me form a response when my family says they're sick of hearing of systemic racism and white privilege because THEY have had to work for everything and believe nothing got handed to them (true in the way they're thinking, but you know what I mean).

Welp. First, I applaud you for taking the initiative to engage in difficult conversations with your family, since the only way embedded racist ideas are going to get confronted in white society is if racist white people hear it from their friends and family. They are going to cheerily ignore protestors, academics, newsreaders, popular culture, and certainly politicians who say anything to the contrary, but it’s harder to ignore and brush aside when it’s coming from people who are directly within your own family group. They can still then ignore it, but at least you’re trying to do something that is not at all fun but which is deeply necessary, and good for you.

First, there are a few things for you to consider. Is this a case where they actually don’t know the difference, but are willing to learn, or is this essentially sealioning (where they act like they don’t know the difference, but they absolutely do, and put the emotional labor on you to extensively define and explain and educate while never intending to change their stances on anything). If it’s the former, then there is some point in engaging in dialogue with them. If it’s the latter, it’s a giant emotional trap that you are within your rights not to engage with until they signal that they’re willing to engage productively. You don’t have to educate someone who is categorically unwilling to be educated (especially when it’s often deliberate ignorance). As people like to say, Google is free, and it’s their responsibility to take the first steps to change. You can continue to talk with them, but yes, that is contingent on them actually standing a chance of listening to you and not just you wearing yourself out on something that they don’t want to actually hear (because it threatens them and makes them feel Personally Wrong, and white people don’t like that).

There have been various books written on why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism, which you may be interested in checking out, not least the book "Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Renni Eddo-Lodge. Ibram X. Kendi has also written “How to Be An Antiracist,” one of the bestselling books of this summer, either of which would be useful either in shaping your own arguments or (if they’re receptive) giving to your family. Once again, this is contingent on them signalling that they’re actually willing to listen, and not just to make you do pointless emotional labor. These books are probably available from your public library (though there’s probably a waitlist) or in other easily available formats.

Next, it’s a basic tenet of an anti-racist education that white people have never had to do this kind of reckoning, and thus get whiny, defensive, guilt-tripping, and “it’s not about ME I’m a GOOD PERSON” when it comes up. This also rests on the damaging and deeply intertwined effects of racism and classism, which has to be understood if you’re going to talk about it. One of the greatest tricks that racist capitalism ever pulled is convincing poor white people that they had more in common with their filthy rich white masters (people whose way of life will never in a thousand years be anything like each other’s) simply because they shared the inherent racial “purity” of being white. There have been political studies written on how poor/undereducated/working class white people have become such a reliably Republican constituency, because they have been successfully manipulated to believe that the white overlords are their “people” and they will constantly vote against their own economic, social, and cultural interests in favor of enriching amoral white demagogues who beat the populist xenophobic drum. Then they blame black and brown people for society’s ills and for the reason that they stay poor, rather than the rampaging oligarchs awarding themselves massive tax breaks and billion-dollar bailouts and refusing to extend unemployment benefits in case people “make too much money” from not working, just to name the most recent example. They are so poisoned on populist politics and white supremacy, which assures them that they’re better than anyone else by virtue of being white, that they actively attack politicians and policy platforms and other social welfare initiatives that would materially improve their own lives as “un-American.” This is maddening and sometimes baffling, but it’s how it works. Whiteness trumps all, currently literally thanks to the Orange Fuhrer. Problems in life are the fault of the Other.

This isn’t to say that poor white people are “dumb” and just unable to realize it, because they’re caught in a system that has done this literally from the start of America. In the early 17th century, indentured laborers and slaves in the American colonies were in fact more likely to be white. (The word “slave” comes from “Slav,” since that was the predominant ethnicity of slaves in medieval Europe; i.e. white eastern Europeans.) But even despite the fact that they were unpaid laborers, they were still white and thus recognized as human by their white masters, and thus when slave ships began arriving, it was easier for everybody to simply outright demonize and dehumanize the black African slaves. The poor white indentured servants got to feel better than the black slaves simply for the fact of their whiteness. Their lives obviously sucked, but their whiteness was in fact a mitigating factor in the suckiness that it involved once it was easier to use “animalistic” black people. And we wonder why America can’t ever confront its racist history properly. As Kendi calls it in his other book, it is stamped from the beginning.

As it has been put before, white people can and often do have difficult lives, because late-stage capitalism devours its workers no matter what color they are, but their whiteness isn’t a factor in why their lives are difficult. They will never encounter racial prejudice, race-based hate crime, discrimination for housing, education, employment, bank loans, daily microaggressions and identity erasure, constantly racist tropes in the media, politicians fingering them as everything wrong with America/the world, casual prejudices or assumptions even from close friends, assumed criminality based just on their race -- etc etc. The list goes on and on. Just because you have a hardscrabble economic background does not mean that your life has been made harder by your race -- because if you’re white, it hasn’t. (And as noted, poor white people have consistently voted for megalomaniac white men who don’t give a shit about them but promise them that everything is fine or should be better for them because of their whiteness, and then blame minorities for being the source of their problems.)

I honestly wonder if racism would still be such a problem in America if we had a remotely more equitable economic system, because when you’re well off and have your basic needs consistently met and don’t need to worry that you’re one paycheck away from disaster, it’s harder to constantly be paranoid that your differently colored neighbors are stealing everything from you and the cause of all society’s ills. The historian Patrick Hyder Patterson wrote a very interesting book on material culture in Yugoslavia in the 20th century, where he basically argued that despite the spectacular collapse of the federation into the Yugoslavian wars of the 90s, things didn’t really go to hell until after the economy crashed following Josip Broz Tito’s death in 1980. While there were obviously ethnic fault lines and conflicts between Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Bosniaks, Albanians, etc, when there wasn’t any money and any jobs and everyone thought everyone else was to blame, THAT is when the whole thing blew up into a genocidal civil war clusterfuck. Food for thought.

This is why people talk about economic justice and racial justice as going hand in hand. When there is a scarcity of resources and no social safety net, people are obviously more inclined to look for scapegoats and to blame someone for taking their entitlement (while still somehow refusing to blame the billionaires and corporate oligarch who are ACTUALLY stealing from them). They indeed actively resist any attempts to make their own lives better as being “socialist” or “un-American” and take pride in the fact that there’s absolutely jacksquat nothing (until of course, something like the coronavirus pandemic hits and it’s revealed just how many of us were always one missed paycheck away from disaster). Then when they need government assistance (while disdaining the government as tyrannical the rest of the time, unless it’s Trump’s actively tyrannical lot, but hey, we don’t have time to unpack all that) it’s still shameful and something they shouldn’t be using, instead of their basic entitlement to a decent life.

This country is poisoned on a lot of toxic beliefs, but this is one of the deepest-running one, and which will always get in the way of poor white people dealing with racism: their lives suck, but they have ALWAYS been told that despite that, they’re still better just for being white, which is their consolation prize for supporting white populists who actively rob them, and they haven’t even always consciously registered that. They just feel that if they’re “fine,” even if they’re not fine, then black people are just malcontents and criminals who can’t hack it. In 2016, there was a lot of ink spilled over how poor white people felt a sense of economic grievance and being left behind, which was why they voted for Trump, but... Trump was never going to do a damn thing about that??? He doesn’t actually do anything for his supporters except feed them his jingoistic Orange Nazi stump speeches. They voted for Trump to feel vindicated, not to actually improve their lives, and it’s damn clear by now that not only has he NOT improved their lives, he has no desire to do so. He just wants them to cheer for him and feed his ego, not fix any problems.

Basically, racism and capitalism and the American political system intersect in multiple deeply toxic ways to do precisely what you’re talking about; producing poor white people who feel that they shouldn’t be included in the reckoning with racism because if THEY worked hard and they don’t live in a mansion, somehow racism is fake and black people should just shut up and get a job etc etc. This is because poor white people have been systematically conditioned to support white supremacy at the direct expense of their own economic and social interests; it’s terrible, but that’s how it functions. They will never in a million years have anything in common with the (white) ruling class, but they still instinctively identify with them rather than people in their own deprived economic class who are different races or colors or religions. That is how white supremacy has supported the hyper-inequality of the industrial age, and vice verse, and it is one of capitalism’s best functions for survival, so it’s in the interests of the overlords to maintain it. Stop the workers from recognizing pan-racial solidarity based on economic grievance, and compete with each other and blame each other rather than the overarching system, easy!

Anyway. Once again, this is long. But in short, the attitudes your family are exemplifying are a direct result of both racism and classism as they have been deliberately cultivated in the American social and political system, and the interlocking causes and symptoms of both have to be recognized (and acknowledged) before they can get to dealing with that. I don’t know how that will go, and I don’t have an easy shortcut. But I’m glad you’re trying. Good luck.

[thembnko]

The China/US spat hurts Africa and will escalate into WWIII Since its outbreak in early 2018 China's spat with the United States (US) hurt Africa. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows in its World Economic Outlook for 2019 the US was first to increase tensions through imposing higher tariffs on aluminum and steel of 25 percentage points on imports of $50 billion from China and 10 percentage points on imports of an additional $200 billion. After China retaliated the US imposed 15 percentage points in tariffs on all goods (roughly $300 billion) that had not yet incurred tariffs starting in September 2019 and a 5 percentage-point increase on already-tariffed $250 billion imports. The imposition of higher tariffs reduce Africa's economic activity for China depends on the continent for aluminium. China's impact increased the continent's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1 percent. Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo, Ethiopia and Namibia feature in investments while Europe and the US regards them as 'failed states.' The countries had 1.6 percent of the population move out of poverty annually. In Tanzania extreme poverty fell by 5.3 million people. Chad and the DRC saw a 3 percent drop. Since South Africa started a peace process focusing on the DRC and Burundi n 2000 and helped the countries run elections, negotiated with the South African private sector to invest, refocused the Organization for African Unity hence its renaming to being the African Union, and established additionally the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) China boosted the initiatives by providing finance. The United Nations names it in all peace reports as the only country in the world helping the African Peace and Security Architecture. South Africa accepted more than 2 million refugees from the continent before this. Now they have reduced by more than 800,000. China brought a new emphasis on development boosting the NEPAD by promulgating the Belt Road Initiative in 2013. Though focused upon growing Asian economies it includes non-regional countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Djibouti. It ‘grows’ its power with them miles away from its geographic space building a vast network of railroads and shipping lanes at an investment in 2019 of $1.2 trillion. All US thinktanks see this as China's efforts at 'recolonizing' Africa yet the US does not provide investments. Meanwhile, the Belt Road Initiative will increase investments by 14 percent annually reaching $1.3 trillion by 2027. China encouraged all its companies and banks to go into the continent, restructured its economic model to move away from cheap labour so the country moved up the value chain of high-quality electronics and new technologies while the US and Europe only encouraged big companies like Google and Microsoft. Regionalisation as initially conceptualized by Britain worked on the basis of colonization. It has no place in a rising Africa. For economic growth to happen with it being at the centre or part of economic objectives all regional players must agree before they each have national economic policies on priorities, objectives, resources, budgeting and implementation methodology. China facilitated that yearly having African policy makers and Heads of States assembled in a single forum with it's own leaders. Throughout the 400 years Europe had colonized the entirety of Africa and after liberation from 1960 when Africa needed help with development it had no such plans and initiatives. It hated the idea of an African Rennaissance and blemished Kwame Nkrumah's image for it. World Bank and IMF officials colluded with the US in hating Thabo Mbeki for reviving the idea. He had South Africa help Zimbabwe boost its currency with the rand and not the US dollar alone. More importantly tensions between the US and China escalate when European economists are now realising because of prosperity J.M. Keynes’s famous economic 'prophecy' that Europe and the US would have solved all their economic problems by 2030 is coming true. He wrote leisure was to be their focus

since working hours were historically to be reduced. To emphasise its poverty Africa meanwhile has not even a Survey of Income to measure incomes after colonization and make comparisons with Europe. The US has high labour participation rates giving a high standard of living that in the case of an outright war will not make US citizens poor but only reduce equality.

Evidence since 2017 - that is before the trade tensions erupted - is the US was given China's growth in Africa preparing for war. All US thinktanks have discussion documents showing US military mobilization in the Pacific Rim pretended to be a watch on China's East Asian ambitions. They did not see regionalisation taking place which Europe and South America permitted through respectively having Britain and the US lead. The Economist's 16 August 2020 publication titled "America musters the world's biggest naval exercise" described the exercise as 'bibulous' showing off the newest US destroyers. The magazine described the relationship between the US and China which was in 'freefall.' The now overtly shown military build up comes as more than in any country and continent the US has 7 million Covid-19 cases and 170,000 deaths. China where Covid-19 it claims originated has less than a third of both. The US's foreign policy calls for military action when its citizens are affected by death while based in another country or the death is imported into the US. Who does not recall the demise of Libya and Muammar Gadhaffi? The pretext against China is it is hiding information on the origins of Covid-19. The Rand Corporation which produces policy and discussion documents for the US President, Department of Defence, and the Department of Homeland Security recently bolstered Donald Trump's and the Secretary of State's rhetoric on the claim. It documents, researches, analyses, and conducts a project entitled U.S.-China Long-Term Competition sponsored by the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army which has the stated purpose of helping the US Army understand China's capabilities and military.

It published a tool detailing air travel data from the International Air Transport Association. This data visualizes how the coronavirus travelled from China between December 2019-February 2020. The tool titled The Covid-19 Air Traffic Visualization (CAT-V) tool has a "heat spot." It has never been commercialised or made known to the public and was given to the Rand Corporation on condition it showed the public the coronavirus emanated from China. It boosts the underreporting claim and uses estimates of importation risk to the US. It concludes air travel interacted to export infection risk across the world and states by late January 2020 exported from China via commercial air travel on a daily basis. One other conclusion is that countries with modest numbers of confirmed cases still represent the greatest risks of virus exportation to the US if those countries have relatively high active case rates per capita and high levels of connectivity to China. The organization specifically writes the tool inform(s) 'defense-related decisions.' It is preparing for WWIII escalating tensions to more than a Cold War. If WWIII takes place South Africa and Africa must take sides. This is because • the US jeopardizes the New Partnership for African Development and peace initiatives South Africa commenced. • food in the whole of Africa will become short since Covid-19 already disrupted chains of supply • refugees will increase • China's obliteration will mean an end to the whole of humanity because high precision weapons will be used by both sides and the US has a military station mounted on the Moon

Before the tensions rose Africa was projected to have a food market of $740 billion by 2027. It will not come. Hence, the entirety of Africa must take sides. Huawei will stop its investments. South African companies are in Nigeria. They will close. Africa and South Africa will have bourgeoining unemployment which will never get reversed. South Africa has because of Covid-19 a $40 billion loan from the IMF it will never repay because its economy will never grow again. Europe and the US on the other hand will keep growing whatever the outcome because they have just respectively publicized agreements for an injection of $858 billion and $1 trillion to grow businesses and give more than 50 million workers affected by Covid-19 income. The entire world will be imperiled because Russia has an alliance with China including India. They are with South Africa part of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. Taking sides means South Africa's national defence force and those of all countries in the continent must start training. Citizens must be told to stockpile food and other necessities and plans drawn to move them to places of safety. This must happen whilst efforts as a priority are made to broker peace. China has since February 2020 been refusing to sign a nuclear deal with the US. The US has been hoping to pressurise Russia to convince China to become part of a deal that involved the three countries. But China has been seeing war coming. With tensions now nearing military confrontation it indeed will be suicidal if it signed including Russia. The US has a military station on the Moon which fact they must consider extremely seriously. So to protect humanity both Russia and China deserve support in maintaining their current nuclear capacity. Maintaining it as a minimum deterrent force is of interest to Africa. In fact it is also time Africa asked both nations to train and equip the continents' separate national defence forces including India. BRIC had better be military. South Africa must use its muscle to negotiate with both. China too has responsibility to start the negotiations if South Africa delays. Tanzania after South Africa has the next best national defence force to train and Libya though it had suffered defeat in the hands of the US's army in 2009. It wants revenge. When the war breaks out Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, and the entire Western Europe will side with the US. Japan has in South Africa investments of R100 billion consisting of 5 different car manufacturers (R60 billion) employing 25,000 South Africans; electronics (R2 billion) employing 20,000. Its Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reported to have the closest personal relationship with former US President Donald Trump. Trump consulted him closely on the Indo-Pacific. Japan views China in its 2020 defense White Paper as the region's greatest security threat and is responsible for the US's majority intelligence products concerning China's maneuvers there. It has allowed the US Navy to mobilize and gives it at present very extensive logistical support. China deteriorated relations with it for years over the conduct. It has not been able to succeed to make Japan look towards Asia for its security because after the outbreak of WWII the US government invested heavily in Japan advised by its Navy to keep its power in check. The relationship was based on racism for both the US and Britain regarded Asia Pacific as an extremely important geographical space for the expansion and protection of British colonialism that included Africa. It levies extraordinary payments upon the US for hosting its bases. Australia lies not far from Japan.

[larryfanfiction]

Movie! AU

🎬 The Proposal by curlshire (20k)

Louis is a tetchy editor and Harry is his unfortunate assistant. After Louis is threatened with a demotion, he quickly makes plans to fake a marriage to Harry. (Based off the movie The Proposal)

🎬 Supposed to Be by kikikryslee (26k)

“I’m making a movie for a film competition, and I want you to be in it,” Harry told Louis. “I think you would be a great leading actor in it.” “Why?” “Because it’s you. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know all about the amazing Louis Tomlinson? It would be a great movie.” “You don’t have some weird crush or, like, secret obsession with me, do you?” Louis asked. Harry bit his tongue so he didn’t say “Ew, I have standards.” He didn’t think that would go over well. Of course, that was assuming Louis understood what that meant. — Or, the Geek Charming AU where Harry’s a film geek, Louis’ a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.

🎬 If I Should Stay by gloria_andrews (31k)

Louis is a television actor who suddenly needs a bodyguard. Harry is the bodyguard he ends up hiring.

A fic loosely based on the classic 1992 movie The Bodyguard.

🎬 Elysian by wonderlou (81k)

“What could be it, Niall?” Harry asks gently with a sigh. He slouches down further into his chair, crossing his arms lazily across his chest. He is bored. He has been bored for five years straight, but even more so now that his one interest has shut himself out entirely. Harry had not even heard from Louis, not since last night, not since he had gotten on his nerves so much that he was torn between knocking him out and smiling in surrender to the slight awe he felt. Louis is opinionated like no one he’s ever seen, but his voice is honeyed; high-pitched and indignant. Harry is nothing short of entranced.

Or, Harry is running out of time to fall in love, but with Louis, it seems as if there’s all the time in the world.

🎬 Because You Saw Me When I Was Invisible by supernope (32k)

A (not so) loosely-based Princess Diaries AU, in which Harry finds out he’s the heir to the throne of a country he’s never even heard of.

🎬 Dangerous Liaisons by IWillSingWithYou (42k)

Niall is the master of deceit and Harry is the master of seduction. Louis is just a very strong willed male model who happens to be straight. When Niall tells Harry he wouldn’t be able to seduce Louis, the bet is on, but Niall’s schemes are hard to avoid.

🎬 Leave Before The Lights Come On by Velvetoscar (15k)

Louis’ never had a one night stand in his entire twenty-one years of existence. Not once. That is…until now. And OF COURSE this is how it happened.

🎬 Let’s Fall in Love in a Place You Want to Stay by embro (134k)

A George of the Jungle / Tarzan AU where Louis is a model who meets Wild Man Harry in the Congo. He was raised by apes and barely speaks a word of English and turns Louis’ life upside down.

🎬 If You Wanna Try Me On by zimriya (18k)

To be fair, Harry’d been half asleep when Niall convinced him to put in his CV in the first place. Like, Harry wants to be a proper serious journalist–he’s not about to give up that dream in favour of becoming a personal assistant at a fashion magazine, or…whatever. Harry’s not actually all that sure what Tomlinson Styles even is, beyond his ticket to fame or any of the other things Niall’d spouted off at him, but when he shows up for the interview and is unceremoniously shoved into an office with the Tomlinson part of that equation, all Harry can really think about is that he would like to be a Tomlinson-Styles.

…or the Devil Wears Prada AU that no one wanted. Sort of.

🎬 when the city shines (like the sun at night) by fondleeds (37k)

In a different universe, a parallel dimension in which Harry is a braver version of himself, maybe he’d cup the back of Louis’ neck softly and melt their mouths together.

Maybe they’d tread on light feet up to Louis’ room because the house would be empty and they’d just kiss-and-kiss-and-kiss until their lungs burst, and then Harry would press his face into Louis’ neck and whisper I know you’re Blue, and Louis would do the same in turn, breathe that sentiment into Harry’s skin like a relief, and all the bad weight would lift, just the hot pressure of feeling so much remaining.

Love, Simon AU.

🎬 Now In A Minute by thealmightyavocado (150k)

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was.

More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life.

So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems.

Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

🎬 got the sunshine on my shoulders by hattalove (124k)

five years ago, harry styles left his tiny home town to make it big as a recording artist. he didn’t have much regard for what he left behind - a life, a family, and a husband, who woke up one morning to find him gone.

now, harry has everything he could possibly want: he’s rich, famous, and adored by everyone he meets, including his boyfriend. but when said boyfriend proposes to him, he’s forced to face the uncomfortable facts of his past - and louis, who’s spent the last five years returning every set of divorce papers harry sent him.

(or, an au based on the movie sweet home alabama.)

🎬 like cabbages and kings by you_explode (60k)

When Louis was a kid, he had a series of very vivid dreams about a place called Wonderland. There were rabbits wearing waistcoats and talking cats and ridiculous tea parties, and amidst all the absurdity, there was a boy. A boy with dimples, big green eyes and the sweetest soul Louis has ever known. Louis has always kept a place in his heart for that boy and for his funny dreamworld, and when he’s twenty-five and his life falls apart, it turns out Wonderland might not be so imaginary after all.

🎬 You Drive Me Crazy (but it feels alright) by MrsStylinson (102k)

Bridget Jones’ Diary AU.

“Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”

Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.

“You’re mocking me. Again.”

Harry smiles and it’s a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them.

🎬 Just a Walk in the Park by comingbackhometoyou, forehead (124k)

It’s 2015, the first time dinosaurs walked the earth in over 65 million years. The multi-billion dollar company, Twist Corporations, is planning a summer opening for their world changing attraction, “Jurassic Park”.

They take an interest in the history making duo of Dr. Louis Tomlinson, a stubborn paleontologist, and his partner, paleobotanist Dr. Liam Payne, giving them the chance of a lifetime to work for the new theme park. Louis is apprehensive, but Liam has a “gut feeling” that it will change their lives. He isn’t wrong.

Featuring Niall as the top engineer to get the park up and running, Zayn as the raptor expert, and Harry as the grandson of one of the most influential men in the world.

🎬 Drowning In Your Eyes by smittenwithlouis (45k)

“Capt’n Styles, are you certain of this? They be attracted to man-made light.” “What is? Sharks?” The young blonde asks in terror. “Worse than sharks, lad. There’ll be flesh eating mermaids upon us in minutes, mark my words!” Paul huffs as he continues to wave the bright lantern in front of him, “And Captain Styles here, has us bait!” Or: The Pirates of the Caribbean inspired au where Harry is a fierce pirate who holds the heart of a beautiful merman.

🎬 everything that shine ain’t always gonna be gold by sarcasticfluentry (49k)

Inception-inspired AU. Louis Tomlinson is the most respected and skilled extractor in the dream-sharing business; together he and his point man Zayn have been hired countless times to steal hundreds of valuable secrets straight from the minds of CEOs and politicians. One day, a mysterious and wealthy client contacts Louis and Zayn, offering them triple their normal rate in exchange for successfully completing a job that other extracting teams have deemed "impossible.” The one catch is that this client wants the very best - so he’s decided to team Louis’ skills up with those of Louis’ most hated rival, another highly-respected extractor named Harry Styles. Can Louis and Harry work together to complete the job and get the payout, or will they lose their minds along the way?

🎬 Friendly Neighborhood Spideypool by shitucute (18k)

“Don’t fuck with me, I’m not in the mood.” Louis’ got the urge to punch him in the face, but he knows deep down that if anything it’ll just add fuel to Harry’s innuendo fire.

“You know I only fuck you, not with you. There’s a difference. It’s slight but still there.” He’s joking, but it’s sincere in a way that only Deadpool could make it. It gives Louis a strange mix of emotions, his body doesn’t know whether to fill with butterflies or to knee Deadpool in the balls again for insinuating them fucking.

or, Harry is Deadpool and Louis is Spider-Man and they’ve got way too much history

🎬 Paint The Sky With Stars by kiwikero (62k)

On 10 April 1912, Harry Styles boards the finest ship the world has ever seen. Still grieving the death of their mother, he and his sister are being sent to America to live with a callous uncle who cares more about his business connections than family. Harry prepares himself for a long, disappointing voyage alone in his stateroom.

Louis Tomlinson has borrowed and saved, and finally has enough to purchase a Third Class ticket to America. With all of his belongings in a single ruck sack, he boards the Titanic filled with hope for a brighter future. Never one to sit still, he can’t resist exploring the massive ship, and soon goes sneaking into First Class in a stolen steward’s uniform.

By a twist of fate, Louis finds himself in Harry’s stateroom, entranced by the most attractive man he’s ever laid eyes on. He keeps returning day after day, even if he doesn’t understand what it is about Harry that continues pulling him in. That’s all right; Louis has a week to figure it out, and Harry is plenty willing to help.

Except they don’t have a week. They have four days. Because on 15 April, their entire world will be turned upside down.

Or, the historically accurate Titanic AU with a happy ending.

🎬 The Dead of July by whimsicule (117k)

Being an Avenger means continuing to be Captain America and smiling and being honorable for the public and Harry does his best. But it doesn’t give him time to figure out who he is supposed to be once he takes off his uniform and puts the shield to the side. Just being Harry had always involved Louis, and Harry fears he doesn’t know how to exist without him.

or: Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years.

🎬 through struggles, to the stars by thedeathchamber (80k)

Louis is a Starfleet captain trying to find his place in the universe. Harry is a prince just trying to do what’s right. A Star Trek-inspired AU.

🎬 Who Painted the Moon Black by throughthedark (95k)

“People died,” Harry whispers so quietly Louis strains to hear. “People died, and I killed some of them. How does life just go on after something like that?”

Louis shakes his head. “I don’t know. It just does.”

Hunger Games AU where Louis Tomlinson is district six’s victor from the 69th Hunger Games and Harry Styles is district seven’s victor from the 72nd Hunger Games.

🎬 It Had To Be You by FullOnLarrie (45k)

Harry and Louis are strangers who share the long drive from Chicago to NYC after college. They don’t have anything in common, don’t get along, and at the end of their trip, they’re both glad to say goodbye.

During a chance meeting five years later, they find that nothing has changed, and they part ways expecting never to see each other again.

Ten years after their post-college road trip, Louis and Harry meet once again, but this time they become friends. Eventually, things get complicated.

A When Harry Met Sally AU.

🎬 Fool’s Gold by freetheankles (55k)

Leaflet for Over Again Inc.

“In relationships, there are three types of people: those who are happy, those who are unhappy but accept it and deal, those who are unhappy and in denial.

Handling this last category is our job: we are professional couple breakers.

To reach our goal, we use all means necessary.”

Or the Arnacoeur AU in which Harry is scheduled to be married to Liam in 10 days and Harry’s mother hires Louis and his team to break them up.

🎬 Light My Fire, Blow My Flame by messofgorgeouschaos (98k)

“In New York, you can be a new man.” Broadway actor Louis Tomlinson has it all. An amazing flat, a wonderful friend group, a Tony under his belt, and the world at his fingertips. Yet there’s one thing that’s missing. And it might be in the shape of the curly haired lawyer who becomes Zayn’s new roommate.

Or, the One Where…. Louis is a Broadway actor, Harry is a newly graduated lawyer, Liam is a radio DJ, Zayn is an English Professor at NYU, and Niall is a music producer. A Friends AU.

🎬 King of wishful thinking by Star_Henderson (38k)

“Don’t umm don’t get on the bus, come inside.” Louis blurted the words out, speaking quickly.

Harry looked startled.

“Just. Look I don’t know if I want..” Louis scrubbed his face with his hand. “I’ll pay for your time. Just come in.”

Harry stepped away from the bus stop and the bus sailed straight past.

“What’s umm what do you guys make these days?”

Harry shuffled his feet. “Depends. Like two hundred an hour.”

Louis hummed. “Reasonable.” He gestured towards the hotel. “Come up for a drink or some room service or something.”

Harry scraped the toe of his already scuffed boots on the floor. “You don’t have to do this, I feel like… like you’re a nice person who feels bad but it’s fine. I get it. You don’t have to make it up to me.”

Louis stared at Harry. It’d been so long since he’d even spoken to a guy let alone hung out with one. He’d enjoyed the banter and the flirting.

“Come up.” Louis’ voice was soft.

Harry’s face bloomed into a smile. “Ok.”

🎬 Supposed to Be by kikikryslee (26k)

“I’m making a movie for a film competition, and I want you to be in it,” Harry told Louis. “I think you would be a great leading actor in it.” “Why?” “Because it’s you. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know all about the amazing Louis Tomlinson? It would be a great movie.” “You don’t have some weird crush or, like, secret obsession with me, do you?” Louis asked. Harry bit his tongue so he didn’t say “Ew, I have standards.” He didn’t think that would go over well. Of course, that was assuming Louis understood what that meant. — Or, the Geek Charming AU where Harry’s a film geek, Louis’ a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.

🎬 The Edge of the Stars by casuallyhl (16k)

Louis laughed. “You think you can convince some random guy to want to go out with me?”

“Oh baby,” Jay chuckled. “I can convince all of the UK to want to go out with you.”

Or, a Meet the Parents AU where Harry is the man of Louis’ dreams, and it’s up to Jay to convince him to date her son.

🎬 Keep on Dreaming, This is Hollywood by popfly (31k)

Louis Tomlinson, a pop star manager, makes his way to LA with a pop star (and his new music demands) and a very busy schedule.

Harry Styles came to Los Angeles with a dream and ended up sharing a flat and an occupation with a male prostitute from Ireland.

What happens when Louis meets Harry, and makes him an offer he can’t refuse?

AKA A Pretty Woman AU where Louis is the high-powered businessman and Harry is the hooker. No, there is no necklace scene, but there is definitely piano sex.

🎬 a promise lives within you now by sarcasticfluentry (45k)

A Lord of the Rings-inspired Middle Earth AU. Louis is an Elven prince, next in line to become King of Mirkwood, and Harry is the orphaned Human boy who grows up alongside him. They fall in love, but Louis’s obligations to the throne, Harry’s mortality, and impending war threaten to tear them apart.

🎬 don’t be afraid, it’s only love by threewhitehorses (14k)

A proposal!AU where Louis is at risk of being deported back to England and Harry just really wants a promotion.

🎬 I won’t be afraid (Just as long as you stand by me) by larrycaring (49k)

Harry leads an ordinary life, and he’s totally okay with it.

So, of course, when it all changes and he learns he is the actual Crown Prince of a whole country he’s never heard of, he doesn’t welcome the news with open arms.

Thankfully, Louis is there by his side, and that? That, will never change.

or a Princess Diaries AU that I just really, really needed to write. No regrets.

🎬 There’s Such a Lot of World to See by crinkle-eyed-boo (125k)

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Harry asks, thumbing at Louis’ hip. “Like what?” Louis asks breathlessly. “Like you’ve seen a ghost or summat,” Harry muses. “You did it all the time the other day and you did it just now.” Louis swallows hard, studying him intently. “You remind me of someone,” Louis says softly, tucking a curl behind Harry’s ear. “Someone I lost.”

Louis has seen a great many things throughout his travels in time and space, but only one he can’t explain: He keeps meeting the same boy, who says the same thing to him each time. The boy should be impossible.

Maybe he is.

A love story that defies the boundaries of space and time. Doctor Who AU.

🎬 Music To My Eyes by twoshipstiedup (23k)

A closeted actor and a struggling musician meet one night.

They fall in love.

A Star is Born AU

🎬 After Hours by Velvetoscar (26k)

Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are the bane of each other’s existences. Unfortunately, they’re already in love–even if they aren’t completely aware of this minor detail.

[A “You’ve Got Mail” AU]

🎬  Simply Irresistible by Rearviewdreamer (12k)

Louis only comes to town to start up a successful restaurant, but finds he can't quite leave once the job is done. Though, that might have more to do with him falling for his quirky neighbor than anything else.

or

A fic loosely based on the movie Simply Irresistible. A silly and funny movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar about witchcraft, cooking, and sex that everybody needs to watch at some point in their lives.

🎬  A Study in Love by Rearviewdreamer (24k)

Louis knows everything about everyone which has put him at a great and weird advantage over nearly all of them since the very beginning. He can solve any puzzle before most people know where to begin. He is rarely perplexed, mistaken, or wrong, and obviously, Louis is never ever surprised. And yet, his new flatmate after a very long string of failed ones has Louis questioning how he ever did any of it without him.

[phroyd]

Every year, I look for important themes in sustainability that will have lasting impact on society, from glaring evidence of global megatrends to inspiring stories of corporate action. The year 2018 brought extreme change — in weather and environmental ecosystems, in political winds and power, and in the expectations of business. It also brought incredible clarity about the scale of our challenges and opportunities.

So let’s start with the big picture before moving to some corporate success stories.

The world’s scientists sound a final alarm on climate

We have about 12 years left. That’s the clear message from a monumental studyfrom the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To avoid some of the most devastating impacts of climate change, the world must slash carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, and completely decarbonize by 2050 (while, in the meantime, emissions are still rising).

The IPCC looked at the difference between the world “only” warming two degrees Celsius (3.8°F) — the agreed upon goal at global climate summits in Copenhagen and Paris — or holding warming to just 1.5 degrees. Even the latter, they say, will require a monumental effort “unprecedented in terms of scale.” We face serious problems either way, but every half degree matters a great deal in human, planetary, and economic losses.

It wasn’t just the IPCC that told a stark story. Thirteen U.S. government agencies issued the U.S. National Climate Assessment, which concluded that climate change could knock at least 10% off of GDP. Other studies tell us that sea level rise is going to be worse than we thought, Antarctica is melting three times faster than a decade ago, and Greenland is losing ice quickly as well. If both those ice sheets go, sea level rise could reach 200-plus feet, resulting in utter devastation, including the loss of the entire Atlantic seaboard (Boston, New York, D.C., etc.), all of Florida, London, Stockholm, Denmark, Uruguay and Paraguay, and land now inhabited by more than 1 billion Asians.

All of this suggests that business must dramatically change how it operates: companies will need to push well past their comfort zones from areas like politics and policy to engaging consumers to how they make investment decisions.

Entire towns are wiped off the map by extreme weather

This year the weather devastation around the world got, in the words of one colleague, “biblical.” The town of Paradise, California, was effectively eliminated by wildfires (that, yes, are made worse by climate change), killing at least 85 people. Most houses in Mexico Beach, Florida, were destroyed by Hurricane Michael. Unprecedented rains and damage from Hurricane Florence slammed North Carolina and temporarily turned a major highway into a river. Typhoon Mangkhut ravagedthe Philippines and parts of China, killing dozens of people. Incredible heat blanketed four continents this summer, with records falling across Europe and Asia. Venezuela’s last glacier is disappearing. Finally, Capetown, South Africa, is essentially out of water due in part to drought — the city nearly shut off all the taps this year, but has held off “Day Zero” through ongoing restrictions and aggressive citizen action.

The consequences of these extremes are not theoretical. What is the economic cost to an area with no water, or one that’s under water, or burned to the ground? In the U.S. alone, it was $306 billion in 2017, shattering records.

Coral is dying, insects are disappearing, and the fate of major ecosystems looks dim

The world’s top coral expert confirms that at 2 degrees of warming, all coral will die. This will destroy a critical part of an ocean system that provides protein to hundreds of millions of people, helps blunt coastal storm surges, and supports the livelihoods of people working in fishing and tourism.

And it’s not just coral: there’s the death of pacific kelp forests, radical declines in insect populations, and continuing population drops in all mammals and bees.

How does this all connect to business? For some sectors, it’s obvious: the food and agriculture industry will have trouble feeding us without pollinators, and tourism takes a big hit without coral and other wildlife. But more broadly, society will not thrive in a world where entire pillars of planetary support are collapsing. And if society can’t thrive, neither can business.

The U.S. environmental protection system continues being dismantled … from within

The EPA and Department of Interior are reversing years of protections for air, water, and land. In 2018, the Trump administration has opened up offshore waters and rolled back safety rules for drilling, greatly weakened the voice of science in policy, reduced focus on children’s health, and moved to make it easier to build dirty coal plants.

The big question now is whether businesses will push back and go down a cleaner path on their own. It’s easy to see why multinationals might as they face pressure from sub-national regions — California Gov. Jerry Brown held a Global Climate Action Summit which produced many aggressive climate goals from cities and state, for example. Gov. Brown also signed aggressive new laws committing to carbon-free electricity statewide by 2045 and requiring solar on all new homes. So even if U.S. action sputters, governors and mayors who influence local and regional business conditions will be pushing the clean economy and pro-climate agendas.

In pointed contrast to the U.S., the EU backed a proposal to strike no new trade deals with countries not in the Paris climate accord (i.e., only the U.S.), France will shut coal plants by 2021, India just cancelled plans for big coal plants, and China banned 500 inefficient models of cars.

A prominent leader retires, but new leaders step up

For nearly a decade, no business leader has done more to bring sustainability into the business mainstream than Paul Polman, Unilever’s outgoing CEO (Full disclosure: I’ve worked with Unilever). His depth of understanding of our biggest global, social, and environmental challenges, and his commitment to use business as a way to tackle them, has been unparalleled. But it wasn’t just talk. The company also grew throughout Polman’s tenure and the stock outperformed peers and the FTSE index. Luckily, there are other corporate leaders who are stepping up, including Danone’s Emmanuel Faber (see below for more).

But climate isn’t the only area where we’re seeing bold stances. Societal issues more broadly made headlines, too. The New York Times declared 2018 year that “CEO activism has become the new normal,” with prominent voices like Salesforce’s Marc Benioff leading the way. Other notable moments include Nike making Colin Kaepernick — the man who led NFL player protests about police violence against African Americans — the face of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign (sales rose quickly). Under pressure from survivors of school mass shootings, Dick’s Sporting Goods stopped selling assault weapons, and other companies cut ties to the powerful National Rifle Association. Kroger celebrated a year of its “End Hunger” initiative. Unilever threatened to pull its substantial ad dollars from Facebook and Google if they didn’t police “fake news and toxic content.” One hundred U.S. CEOs urged action on controversial immigration issues. And more than 100 U.S. companies gave employees time off to vote.

Danone North America becomes the world’s largest B Corporation

A “B Corp” certification requires answering an intensive set of questions on environmental, social, and governance issues. But most importantly, it commits a company to create value for all stakeholders (customers, employees, communities, and so on), not just shareholders.

French consumer products giant Danone has now put 30% of its brands and businesses through the certification process and says that “companies are fundamentally challenged as to whose interests they really serve.” Becoming a B Corp is arguably is a direct statement about whose interests it values most, and it’s and fascinating frontal attack on the dominance of shareholder capitalism.

More investors are viewing climate and sustainability as core value issues

Something is shifting in finance. Vanguard wants CEOs to be a force for good. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said that “70% of [UK] banks, who normally have a shorter horizon, are viewing climate as a financial risk—not a CSR one.” Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset owner, encouraged longer-term thinking about environmental, social, and governance issues in a strongly-worded letter to large-company CEOs.

Anecdotally, I’ve talked to leaders at big banks who are now thinking differently about purpose and systemic risk. And in a quieter move, a major real estate investor in Miami began pulling money out of coastal assets to avoid risk of sea level rise. Watch this space.

The clean technology explosion continues and accelerates

Three big clean tech themes wowed me this year.

1) Renewables keep getting cheaper. According to Lazard’s annual analysis of the cost of building new power plants, renewables are now the cheapest. And another global analysis showed that new wind and solar are cheaper than one-third of the coal already on the grid — and will be cheaper than 96% of existing plants by 2030.

2) Corporate buying of clean energy keeps rising. By the end of just the first half of 2018, businesses bought more clean energy than they did in 2017. Companies like Owens Corning (disclosure: a client of mine) are buying enough green energy to pitch their products as cleanly manufactured (which they started doing in late 2017).

3) Electric vehicle sales are exploding, and it’s not just small vehicles: even container ships are going electric. UPS bought its first EV delivery vehicles at price parity to combustion engines, and China is adding nearly 10,000 electric buses to the roads — equal to the size of London’s entire bus fleet – every five weeks.

China rejects the world’s trash

For years, the U.S. had a great deal: When container ships arrived from China with goods, we sent them back filled with our recyclable paper and glass. But starting January 1, 2018, China stopped accepting our trash. The ripples of this move are unpredictable and still moving through the system, but in some regions, materials piled up and prices for recycled content plummeted. In a business world trying to go “circular” (i.e., find a use for everything and eliminate waste), it was a wake-up call about how much waste we still produce.

The battle against single-use plastic heats up, starting (somewhat oddly) with straws

Sometimes weird things hit a tipping point. For a combination of reasons, including a viral video showing a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, companies waged war on straws this year. Marriott, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, and the city of Seattle, among others, all banned or are phasing out straws. It was a very small part of a larger conversation about “single-use plastics,” most notably plastic bags, which IKEA and Taiwan are banning as well.

Raising the bar for suppliers

The greening of the supply chain is a perennial story, but there are some noteworthy recent actions. Apple created a $300 million fund to help suppliers in China build more solar, and also partnered with Alcoa and Rio Tinto to develop a better smelting process to make carbon-free aluminum. On the labor side of the supply chain equation, PepsiCo and Nestle cut ties with a palm oil supplier over human rights abuses and Coca-Cola said it would work with the U.S. State Department to use blockchain to fight forced labor.

Meatless options grow plentiful

Given the way most cattle is currently raised, one of the most effective things an individual can do to reduce her carbon footprint is eat less meat. The options to do so are growing, and the rise of products made from non-animal proteins has been remarkable. The Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat, and other brands have made believers out of skeptics (they taste great) and are, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “overrunning grocery meat cases.” In another fascinating move, tech company WeWork went meat-free in its offices and even stopped reimbursing employees on business trips for meat meals.

What comes next…

I’m sure I missed many stories, especially globally (my view is from the U.S.). Predictions are hard, but I’m safe in assuming 2019 will be a bumpy ride again. Ultimately, today’s global political situation is, at best, unpredictable. Brazil now has a strongman-style leader who talks about cutting down the Amazon, but the U.S. just swung its House of Representatives back the other way, giving power to Democrats who want more focus on climate change, inequality, and other sustainability agenda items. No matter what happens politically, it seems clear that companies will continue to feel pressure, internally and externally, to do more on social and environmental issues. While the problems face we are extremely serious, I remain optimistic that companies will be doing more in 2019 than ever before.

[popcorn-for-dinner]

I don’t want to wait for my dad to die, to cry.

If my dad died today, what would I say? What would I wish I had said?

Sat in the darkness of my movie theatre, as Alan Silvestri’s sombre score begins to swell, I can feel my neighbours on the brink of breaking down- some had already been weeping for a solid five minutes. Then, as if to break those of us still holding it together, Tony Stark’s pre-recorded hologram gets up from his seat, stares directly at his wife and daughter and proclaims “I love you 3000”.  

All I could think about at this point was how far he (Tony not “Iron Man”) had come and how rich that journey had been. As if to buttress my point, a minute later, Tony’s memorial floats across the lake, adorned with his first arc reactor- a call back to his first appearance in this sprawling cinematic universe. When Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) had gifted it to him in Iron Man 1, she had inscribed on it “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart”.

Boy, did he!

In the lead up to last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, I discussed the paternal relationships portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (coincidentally, Infinity War is a film in which a father throws the daughter he loves off a cliff, to her death. Father issues? What Father issues?). Some criticisms levied against that piece were that it was too long and bloated. So, my response? A sequel, naturally.

With that article, I wanted to highlight that we all have our different parental issues- even superheroes have them! These issues were not peculiar to us individually. Naturally, we might feel this way but they were so commonplace in fact, that the biggest franchise in the world was examining them in their billion-dollar entries.  

What I had not thought about though, was what was next? I had not fully considered what happens after you acknowledge your issues. What do you do next, is it important to do anything, can I (please) just revert to auto-pilot? In a cruel twist of art imitating life, I had failed to consider the aftermath, because I had not yet reached that point of “after”. How could I write about a journey I had not yet taken?

Which brings us to here and now. During (yes, during) Avengers: Endgame, I began to see just how unfinished my writing was and as I continued to mull the themes over, this spiritual sequel began to take shape. I also noticed that just as Marvel had posed the question for my first article, they had also provided the answer for my follow up. So, because I am nothing if not consistent (read: one-dimensional), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) will once again serve, one last time, as both muse and avatar as I discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) portrayal of healing during the aftermath. 

Healing can only begin when you confront your shit.

Deflection is easy. Deflection is safe. However, the true “after”- the needed healing, can only begin when we’ve been able to acknowledge and confront the issues.  

Tony Stark had a very tumultuous relationship with his father. Slowly, over the course of the earlier MCU instalments, we are given an idea of how this relationship grew from unrequited admiration/attention in Tony’s adolescence to estrangement and eventual resentment. After spending his childhood with a distant father and being “shipped off” to boarding school at the earliest convenience, Tony has no reason to believe that his father even likes him, much less loves or respects. This lack (and subconscious search) of validation would end up guiding Tony’s actions in his adulthood, both the applaudable and the self-destructive.

In Iron Man 2, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) gives Tony some of his father’s research which he had left specifically for him. It is in those research documents that he finally finds the validation he had been searching for his entire life- that direct vote of confidence from his father. In this direct-to-video address, Howard Stark (John Slattery) expresses belief in his son’s untapped potential while also, subtly, explaining the reasoning behind some of his actions.  

This is a rare feat. Many aren’t afforded that kind of insight into their parent’s thinking while they are alive much less decades after they’ve died. Tony was able to have a real confrontation with his past and as a result, the issues it had borne.  

As a side note, it is important to address that while it may be the method being discussed, this “direct confrontation” is not the only way to begin our healing. What is universal though, is the domino effect any meaningful confrontation can have. In Tony’s case, the closure this brings finally helps him get rid of the chip on his shoulder and kickstart his own healing process- a process we see begin halfway through Iron Man 2 and finally come to a (satisfying) conclusion in Avengers: Endgame.

Much like his tech, Tony Stark was always evolving, improving. From that moment in the cave in Iron Man 1 when he decided to be a better person, he was constantly on a path of self- improvement and in Iron Man 2, his relationship with his father was added to the checklist. With the earlier detailed confrontation, he was provided with some much-needed clarity. It was almost as if, immediately, in the back of his head, the emotional cogs began to move smoothly after years of disharmony. With the chip off his shoulder, things seemed easier. Slowly that paternal toxicity in him began to dissipate. He was no longer relying on the crutches he once had, and the healing truly began.

What we would then witness was that, with every succeeding movie, a more “fatherly” side of Tony began to appear. His healing process wasn’t explicit or in your face, he just slowly became better.  

Tony, of course, spends a large portion of 2013’s Iron Man 3 with a 12-year-old kid (Ty Simpkins) in a father-son, buddy cop relationship but it wasn’t until he recruited a teenage Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in Captain America: Civil War that we would see just how far he had come. Crucially, this doesn’t happen until Tony reaches a viable, satisfactory, conclusion to his arc with his father.

Ready or not, you have to move on with your life.

Time isn’t going to wait for you. Eventually, life is going to catch up with you. So, you need to start the healing process as soon as you can because it’s a life-long mission.

Tony Stark’s introduction in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War is during an augmented reality session. This particular session is set on the final day he sees his parents, the day they die. Towards the end, his mum breaks the fourth wall of the memory and implores young Tony to say something to his father because it’s the last time he will see them. He doesn’t argue or deflect, he isn’t sarcastic, instead he says to Howard, honestly, “I love you, Dad” and informs his mother that he knows “he (his father) did the best he could”.  

Sure, Tony engineered the situation, but that’s more growth than most of us experience. The silent healing at the back of his psyche had now got Tony to a position where he was comfortable telling his father he loved him and acknowledging that he probably did the best he could, mistakes and all. He didn’t say this because he felt it was expected of him but rather because he had got to a point where he truly believed it. Yes, his (real) father couldn’t hear him but he could say it. He could make this admission to himself.

For his healing, this was a conclusion he needed to reach before being able to successfully move on with his life. In the larger picture of the MCU’s story, this was an admission he had to make to be effective in the two very important relationships that were about to occur in his life- the first being with a certain precocious teenager from Queens.  

After enlisting Peter Parker, Tony assumes guardianship over him. Peter, also trying to fill that Uncle Ben shaped hole in his life is eager to impress “Mr Stark” and receive his validation- not unlike a young Tony trying to impress his father. Having done the necessary healing, Tony is now in a place where he can be that father figure to Peter. He now understands not only, how it feels to be the son of a distant father but also the reasoning behind the actions that might have made his father come across as distant.  

Knowing that life is never going to wait for us, it is incumbent on us to be serious about our healing. Because without it, we’ll just step back into life, into relationships, with the same hurt, ignorance, pride that will only serve to continue the wheel.  Like Tony in the cave, we need to make a decision to do better, be better.  

Don���t wait, cry now.

What was most indicative of Tony’s healing, was his self-awareness. At one point during an argument with Peter, Tony catches himself and mutters “Gosh, I sound just like my dad”. It’s the type of self-awareness that only comes as a result of doing the healing work.  

Like Tony, many of us take too long to confront the complexities in our parental relationships. We now find, that at this late stage, we are wistful for the relationship that could have been. We mourn the vulnerability that was skipped on, the laughs that were not shared, the emotions that were not laid bare, the cries that never were.    

This is why Tony’s augmented reality session was always important. It was his way of creating a model reality where he confronted his issues in time to have a good relationship with his dad, if only for just a second. It provided him with the opportunity to finally let go of his baggage and honestly and wholeheartedly appreciate his father, knowing “he did the best he could”.

With the results of his private healing in tow, he is now able to be a good surrogate father to Peter and real father to Morgan (Alexandra Rabe). We see that, to Morgan, Tony is everything he wished his dad was to him- affectionate, understanding, present. It may seem obvious that he would be the father he wished his father was but as we tend to see, that is rarely the case. What is more common though, is a continuous perpetuation of the cycle. Of course, it isn’t always intentional but without proper attention to the emotional scars, hurt kids become hurt adults who, via releasing their pent-up pain, raise hurt kids. Spokes on a wheel.  

Perhaps because of how perfect and apparent a conclusion the AR session was to the arc, I found the time travel sequence in Avengers: Endgame very surprising and equally impactful. Tony, after all he’s been through, all he’s learnt, is now face to face with his father. This isn’t a home video or a billion-dollar augmented reality experiment, it’s the real deal.

The Tony from a decade prior might have been sarcastic, snarky, deflective. But not this one. Not this Tony who knows his dad’s real feelings and motivations. Not this Tony who’s done all his healing work, who’s lost his adopted son and fathered a daughter. No, this Tony is honest, raw, emotional, thankful even.  He is appreciative of the life he’s had. He understands what his father is going through and will go through. He is (finally) at peace with the issues that arose because of both he and his father’s insecurities, and willingly accepts all he has become because of them.

And is that not the goal? To be able to reach a point where we can now look into their eyes and understand where they are coming from. To be at peace with all that we are and all that they were/are. To be able to finally accept and understand the importance of all the rough edges in creating us as rounded human beings. It should be the aim but like any other desired goal it requires work to get there. Sometimes even, unpleasant work.  

As Tony exemplified, everyone (even seemingly irredeemable billionaire, playboy, philanthropists) deserves to confront and conquer their issues and mend a tense relationship. While it will be tough, I write this with the hope that I have inspired someone to begin their own healing process. While yours is most likely not going to involve a billion-dollar AR experiment or time travel, you have the power to begin today.

It is admittedly easier for some than it is for others but like every other thing, it begins with starting. So, pick up a phone, send an e-mail, book an appointment or if you want, just start by yourself, in your head. Your confrontation can take any and many forms and I am ill-equipped to tell you what is best for you. There’s no manual on how to do it, what I have learnt though, is that the only important thing is that you start.  

“I thought my dad was tough on me, but now looking back, I just remember the good stuff” 

                                                                           -Tony Stark, Avengers: Endgame

Here’s to us, eventually, remembering only the good stuff.

Bankole Imoukhuede

@banky_I

[bountyofbeads]

The 'fool' that fentanyl made into a millionaire

https://apnews.com/ce51cf7c958643629bce76764f71058d

This is a fascinating read 📖 looking at who stoked and helped create the Fentanyl Crisis that has taken so many lives. 😱 😭 😭 😭

The 'Fool ' That Fentanyl Made Into A Millionaire

By CLAIRE GALOFARO and LINDSAY WHITEHURST | Published September 14, 2019 10:20 AM ET | AP | Posted September 14, 2019 10:40 AM ET |

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The photo that flashed onto the courtroom screen showed a young man dead on his bedroom floor, bare feet poking from the cuffs of his rolled up jeans. Lurking on a trash can at the edge of the picture was what prosecutors said delivered this death: an ordinary, U.S. Postal Service envelope.

It had arrived with 10 round, blue pills inside, the markings of pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone stamped onto the surface. The young man took out two, crushed and snorted them. But the pills were poison, prosecutors said: counterfeits containing fatal grains of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has written a deadly new chapter in the American opioid epidemic.

The envelope was postmarked from the suburbs of Salt Lake City.

That's where a clean-cut, 29-year-old college dropout and Eagle Scout named Aaron Shamo made himself a millionaire by building a fentanyl trafficking empire with not much more than his computer and the help of a few friends.

___

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

___

For three weeks this summer, those suburban millennials climbed onto the witness stand at his federal trial and offered an unprecedented window into how fentanyl bought and sold online has transformed the global drug trade. There was no testimony of underground tunnels or gangland murders or anything that a wall at the southern border might stop. Shamo called himself a "white-collar drug dealer," drew in co-workers from his time at eBay and peppered his messages to them with smiley-face emojis. His attorney called him a fool; his primary defense was that he isn't smart enough to be a kingpin.

How he and his friends managed to flood the country with a half-million fake oxycodone pills reveals the ease with which fentanyl now moves around the world, threatening to expand the epidemic beyond America's borders. It is so potent, so easy to transport, experts say, large-scale traffickers no longer require sophisticated networks to send it to any corner of the globe. All they need is a mailbox, internet access and people with an appetite for opioids. And consumption rates are rising from Asia to Europe to Latin America as pharmaceutical companies promote painkillers abroad.

The case against Shamo detailed how white powder up to 100 times stronger than morphine was bought online from a laboratory in China and arrived in Utah via international mail; it was shaped into perfect-looking replicas of oxycodone tablets in the press that thumped in Shamo's basement and resold on the internet's black markets. Then it was routed back into the postal system in thousands of packages addressed to homes across this country awash with prescription painkiller addiction.

When Shamo took the stand to try to spare himself a lifetime in prison, he began with a nervous chuckle. He careened from one topic to the next in a monologue prosecutors would later describe as masterful manipulation to convince the jury he thought his drug-dealing was helping people. Customers wrote thank you notes because their doctors refused to prescribe more painkillers, he said. It felt like "a win-win situation" — he got rich and his customers got drugs.

One of them was a struggling 21-year-old named Ruslan Klyuev who died in his bedroom in Daly City, California, the envelope from Utah at his feet. Shamo was charged in connection to that overdose alone, but when investigators scoured the list of customers they said they counted dozens more dead.

___

The question before this jury is being debated all across America: Two decades into the opioid epidemic, is there such a thing as justice for 400,000 lost lives?

The largest civil litigation in history is testing how the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for inundating the country with billions of addictive pain pills. Purdue Pharma, seen by many as the primary villain for deceptively pushing the blockbuster drug OxyContin, reached a tentative $12 billion settlement this week with about half the states and roughly 2,000 local governments. Attorneys general who didn't sign on say the figure is far too low. A trial of other pharmaceutical companies is scheduled for next month, in which communities will contend that their mass marketing of prescription painkillers sparked an epidemic.

This crisis began in the 1990s and has since has spiraled into waves, each worse than the one before: Prescription opioids spread addiction, then a crackdown on prescribing paved the road to heroin, which led to fentanyl — a synthetic opioid made entirely in a laboratory. Traffickers added it to heroin to boost its potency and profitability. That transition happened slowly at first, then with extraordinary ferocity.

By 2017, deaths from synthetic opioids had increased more than 800 percent, to 28,466, dragging the United States' overall life expectancy down for a third consecutive year for the first time in a century. Fentanyl deaths have been reported abroad, in Canada, Sweden, Estonia, the United Kingdom. Countries with surging prescription opioid addiction, like Australia, fear they are on the brink.

"Fentanyl will be the bubonic plague," said Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, warning that any country with a burgeoning prescription opioid problem could soon find itself following American footsteps. "It's just a matter of time."

No one can say exactly how or why fentanyl, first synthesized in 1959 as a powerful painkiller, entered the modern illicit drug market, said Bryce Pardo, a researcher at the Rand Corporation. In 2013, people began overdosing on heroin laced with fentanyl in New England and Ohio, and it spread from there. Shabbir Safdar, the Partnership for Safe Medicines' executive director, said the first known death from a fentanyl-laced pill was in San Francisco in October 2015.

It was a frightening development: The DEA estimates 3.4 million Americans misuse prescription painkillers, compared to 475,000 heroin users — meaning the pool potentially exposed is 10 times bigger.

There are two sources of supply. Mexican cartels and packages shipped direct from China, where it is produced in a huge and under-regulated chemical sector. A Senate investigation last year found massive quantities of fentanyl pouring in from China through the Postal Service. The report largely blamed dated technology that left customs inspectors sifting through packages manually looking for "the proverbial needle in a haystack." The Postal Service wrote in a statement to The Associated Press that it is working hard with its international counterparts to close those loopholes, and is improving its technology to intercept fentanyl shipments.

By the time a seized package heading from China to Utah led investigators to Shamo, he had already turned fentanyl into at least 458,946 potentially poisonous pills, the government said. There are many more like him, officials say, upstart traffickers pressing pure Chinese-made fentanyl into pills in their basements and kitchens with unsophisticated equipment. In a single batch, one pill might have no fentanyl and another enough to kill a person instantly. One agent at Shamo's trial compared it to making chocolate-chip cookies, only if too many chips ended up in a "cookie," whoever ate it dropped dead.

For traffickers, the profit margins are irresistible: The DEA estimates a kilogram of fentanyl synthesized for a few thousand dollars could make a dealer more than $1 million.

"Any moron can basically become a major drug kingpin by dealing in fentanyl," said Vigil. "You can have somebody with an IQ minus 100 who becomes an overnight multimillionaire."

___

Aaron Shamo dreamed of entrepreneurial riches. He idolized Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and studied self-improvement books like "Think and Grow Rich."

He and a longtime friend, Drew Crandall, worked at eBay after failed stints in college. But Crandall was fired and Shamo decided it was "unfair" that he still had to work, so he quit. They wanted easy money.

Shamo grew up in Phoenix with three older sisters. As a teenager, he started smoking pot and refusing to attend services with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His parents sent him to boarding school in Utah, where he earned his Eagle Scout badge. He later met Crandall through their shared love of longboarding and they moved in together. Crandall was awkward and shy; Shamo was charismatic, and prided himself on helping his friend talk to girls.

The pair concocted a plan to sell their Adderall, prescribed for attention deficit disorder, on the dark web — a wild, unregulated layer of the internet reached through a special browser. There are underground marketplaces there that mimic Amazon or eBay, where guns and drugs and pirated software are traded. Money is exchanged anonymously through cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

They learned what they needed on the web, searching with queries like "how to ship drugs." It was so easy. They expanded, ordering drugs in bulk, breaking them down and selling at a mark-up, all while barely having to leave the house.

They used the postal system like a drug mule, peddling the club drug MDMA, magic mushrooms, date rape drugs — they once bought a kilogram of cocaine from Peru. They recruited friends, offering them $100 to have parcels mailed to their homes, no questions asked.

But the profit margins were slim and their ambitions were greater: They bought a pill press, ordered the sedative alprazolam online from India and watched YouTube videos to figure out how to turn it into fake Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. Crandall, math minded, created the recipe. They mixed it up by shaking it in mason jars.

Then Crandall fell in love.

His new girlfriend grew suspicious when he would sneak away to package drugs. When she confronted him at a party, he tearfully confessed. She forgave him, if he promised to leave the business. They bought one-way tickets to New Zealand.

Then a local drug dealer made a suggestion to Shamo that would change the course of his life: There was a fortune to be made in producing fake oxycodone.

Shamo enlisted his gym buddy, Jonathan Luke Paz, to help him. Shamo ordered fentanyl online from China, set up the pill press in the basement and bought dyes and stamps to match popular pharmaceuticals. Then they handed them over to the local dealer, who tested them on his own customers. The first batches were weak or speckled in color, he told them, or didn't react like real oxycodone when users heated it on tinfoil to smoke it.

But they were getting better.

"Close to being money in the bank," the dealer messaged Shamo. "You did it, bro."

On the first day of 2016, Shamo he wrote out his goals for the upcoming year: He would be rich. All the girls would want him.

"I will overachieve," he wrote. "I will overcome."

He went online with his products a month later. Some were specified as fentanyl, but some weren't, purporting instead to contain 30 milligrams of oxycodone. Shamo named this new store Pharma-Master.

___

As winter turned to summer, sales skyrocketed. Pharma-Master started selling thousands of pills a week, charging around $10 each.

On June 6, a relatively small order came in: 10 pills, to be shipped to an apartment house in Daly City, a working-class suburb of San Francisco.

Like every order, it was sent in an encrypted email to two former eBay co-workers in charge of distribution. Alexandrya Tonge and Katherine Bustin counted out the pills in their suburban condo, packaged the shipments and dropped them in the mail.

The envelope arrived at the doorstep at 3 p.m. on June 11.

Under different circumstances, Shamo might have been friends with the 21-year-old man who lived there. Ruslan Klyuev, a Russian immigrant, was also an aspiring tech entrepreneur interested in the dark web. He had a baby face: rosy cheeks and curly hair. Klyuev loved to cook and would make extravagant meals for the house.

But his relationship ended, his web design business sputtered and he became estranged from his family, said Barry, a roommate who spoke on the condition that his last name not be published. His emotions toggled between sorrow and elation, and he struggled with substance abuse.

After drinking vodka, Klyuev crushed two of the pills with a battery and snorted the powder with a rolled-up sticky note, according to testimony. He started drifting in and out of sleep. He couldn't stand up.

He was found dead the next day, with fentanyl, alcohol and a substance associated with cocaine in his system.

His was the only death with which Shamo would be charged. His defense attorney, Greg Skordas, argued that neither his death nor any others can be definitely linked with Shamo's operation.

But in documents, prosecutors connected Shamo to a veritable slaughter:

A 24-year-old man in Seattle overdosed three weeks after he bought pills from Pharma-Master in March 2016.

Later that spring, 40 pills were shipped to a 21-year-old in Washington, D.C. He died in his dorm room 11 days later.

In Utah, a 29-year-old software analyst named Devin Meldrum had been searching since he was a teenager for a cure for cluster headaches that felt like knives stabbing his skull, said his father, Rod.

Doctors had prescribed opioids but limited the dosage, so he bought a backup supply from Pharma-Master. On Aug. 13, 2016, he ran out of pills days before his refill. As he got ready for bed, he texted his fiance and took a pill from his reserve for the first time, his father said.

He was dead before she arrived to say goodnight, blue on his bathroom floor.

His father isn't sure Shamo even now understands the magnitude of what happened: "Does he even comprehend how many families have had their hearts torn out?"

___

Online, Pharma-Master was getting rave reviews.

"These will make u a millionaire in under a year, guarantee," wrote one shopper who called himself "Trustworthy Money."

He was a dealer in Portland named Jared Gillespie. He bought 80,000 pills from Pharma-Master, according to documents filed against Gillespie in Oregon. He knew he was buying fentanyl pills, the Oregon prosecutors alleged, but the people buying from him had no way to know that. They are unknown and uncounted.

Shamo offered steep discounts for bulk buyers. Tonge, one of his distributors, testified that she began to question Shamo's claim that he was helping patients who couldn't get medication: Why would one person need 5,000 pills?

Her vacuum cleaner would become a critical piece of evidence. Its dust bin was filled with pills. The operation had grown so frantic, pumping out tens of thousands of tablets a month, that when they spilled onto the floor, they weren't worth saving.

Tonge and her partner complained that the orders were coming too quickly, so Shamo hired a "runner" named Sean Gygi to pick up the packages and drop them in the mail, dozens of them a day.

Drug manufacturing became routine: Shamo once wrote himself a to-do list, and included a reminder to "make blues," the street name for oxycodone, along with getting a haircut, washing his sheets, cleaning the kitchen. And Shamo planned to expand. He bought another press so big agents would later need a tow truck to drag it out of his garage.

The money was pouring in, and out.

Shamo hired a personal assistant; she did his shopping, had his car detailed. He stuffed a duffel bag with $429,000 cash and asked his parents to hold it. He bragged to friends about VIP bottle service at clubs and gambling in Las Vegas. He shopped for real estate in Puerto Rico; took photos sipping champagne on a cruise ship; bought designer jeans, an 88-inch television, a boat and BMW.

Crandall and his girlfriend posted photos on Instagram of trips to Laos, Thailand, Singapore, kayaking and partying. But he was running out of money and agreed to become a remote customer service representative. The list of people accepting packages from China ballooned to more than a dozen. Everyone was making easy money and getting text messages from Shamo dotted with "lol" and "awesome!"

Shamo penned another note: "I am Shamo. I am awesome. My friends love me. I created an empire."

But even as he cheered himself on, there were signs of danger.

One customer reported an overdose death. Shamo scanned obituaries, then declared it was a faked, Crandall said. Then a message said pills were making people sick.

Crandall forwarded it to Shamo with a dismissive question: Should he tell them to "suck it up?" Or send more pills to pacify them?

___

They didn't know it, but a suspicious customs agent at the Los Angeles International Airport had flagged a box from Shanghai, China, pulled it off the belt and looked inside. The agent found 98.7 grams of fentanyl powder — enough to make almost 100,000 pills. The box was destined for Utah.

Agents looked for more packages making their way from China to Utah, and eventually one arrived, said an agent with Homeland Security Investigations who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect ongoing investigations. On Nov. 8, 2016, postal inspectors seized a box en route from a port city in China known to law enforcement as a fentanyl-trafficking hub. It was addressed to Sean Gygi, Shamo's "runner," so agents arrived at his house with a search warrant.

Gygi said he thought the hundreds of envelopes he'd put in the mail contained the party drugs he sometimes took himself. Told it was fentanyl, the agent recalled, Gygi drooped.

He agreed to wear a wire while he picked up the packages, like he did every day. But instead of dropping them in the mail, he delivered them to police.

This single day's shipment contained 34,828 fentanyl pills destined for homes in 26 states.

Four days later, on Nov. 22, 2016, agents stood on Shamo's stoop, shouted through a bullhorn, then broke the door down with a battering ram. They were dressed in neon-orange hazmat suits with clear bowls around their faces that made them look like astronauts.

Shamo came up the stairs in a T-shirt and shorts, a mask and gloves in his pocket. A pill press downstairs was running, in a room with powder caked on the walls and the furniture.

Others were raiding the stash at Bustin and Tonge's condo. Veteran vice officers would say they had never seen so many pills, even in international operations. In total, they packed up over 74,000 fentanyl pills awaiting distribution.

In Shamo's sock drawer, agents found stack after stack of cash. There was more money in a safe in the closet. Agents totaled up more than $1.2 million, not including the money he had tied up in Bitcoin or bags he'd stashed with his family. Investigators eventually caught up with Paz, who Shamo paid around a dollar per pill, and he surrendered $800,000 more.

Crandall was in Laos, still traveling with his girlfriend, when he heard the news. He stored his drug-related data on a flash drive, threw it down a storm drain and sent an email to the dark web marketplace: "This account has been compromised." After a few months, he figured he was in the clear. He and his girlfriend planned their wedding and invited guests to meet them in Hawaii for the big day: May 12, 2017. They bought rings, and a dress.

Agents were waiting when they stepped onto American soil in Honolulu.

___

When Crandall sat on the witness stand, he was slump-shouldered and shackled, clumsily trying to maneuver his handcuffs to pull a tissue out of the box to wipe his eyes. In the two years since his arrest, he has been imprisoned in a county jail and watched his fellow inmates suffer the brutal fallout of an opioid epidemic. They stole from their parents, cycled in and out of jail and shivered, sweated, sobbed through withdrawal.

He'd helped feed this, he realized. For money.

He and Shamo's other ex-partners and packagers pleaded guilty, agreed to testify against their friend and hoped for mercy.

The story they told convinced the jury to convict Shamo of 12 counts, including continuing criminal enterprise, the so-called "kingpin charge" that is typically reserved for drug lords like El Chapo and carries a mandatory life sentence. The jury deadlocked, though on the 13th count: the death of Klyuev.

The bust was one of the largest operations in the country in 2016. But the fentanyl trade has only grown more sophisticated since. By comparison, Shamo now looks "small-time," said Safdar, with the Partnership for Safe Medicines. The most notorious Mexican drug cartels have transitioned to fentanyl, even as homegrown upstarts like Shamo's proliferate.

Seizure data in the United Nation's World Drug Report shows trafficking quickly expanding worldwide. In 2013, four countries reported fentanyl seizures. By 2016: 12 countries. In 2017, 16 countries reported seizing fentanyl.

And there is no reason to believe it will not spread further. In Africa and the Middle East, the synthetic opioid tramadol is widely abused, much of it illicitly manufactured in Asia. If that market transitions to fentanyl it would be catastrophic, said Scott Stewart, a former agent with the State Department. In Australia, prescription opioid consumption has quadrupled. Marianne Jauncey, medical director of a Sydney harm-reduction center, can't think of any reason fentanyl won't soon arrive — all they can do is prepare for the day that it does.

As Shamo was convicted, a single dark web marketplace still had 32,000 listings for drugs, thousands of them claiming to be oxycodone. There was no way to tell whether they originated in a pharmacy or somebody's basement.

One vendor even borrowed a version of Shamo's name. Pharmamaster peddles oxys online, sold in bulk at a discount. It has, it boasts, an "unlimited" supply.

"Pharma-grade A++," the listings promise. "24-hour shipping!"

[prkrc]

hey there demons! it me, sam! this is just parker’s same old intro edited with some updates and wanted / taken connections, so feel free to take a look if you’re interested! messaging me @ellvie is probably easiest!

DISCLAIMER: this is a sideblog so i might post stuff to the wrong acc sometimes js

so, this guy right here…riley ignatius parker-warrington…will throw hands if you call him anything other than parker. it’s what everyone calls him. you gotta be really special to call him riley and not immediately get decked for it. tbh most people probably think parker is his first name anyway so! moving on

parker was born to a wealthy family in a small but affluent village called alderley edge in cheshire, england. he’s the youngest of four sons so he has three older brothers.

his family, the parker-warringtons ( known more commonly as the warringtons ) are stupid rich. it hurts me to think about it askdh. they’re basically the british rockefellers. parker’s great x6 granddad started the family business back a couple centuries ago and nowadays they’ve got their hands in everything from business to architecture to real estate to education to oil…they own a lot of stuff. the warrington building in downtown london was completely made up just now is basically the rockefeller center of the uk. 

the family drama has been highly publicized in the uk & europe for longer than anyone can remember at this point, but not as much in america. 

anyway, parker spent his early years sheltered and pampered and homeschooled by tutors and nannies bc his parents never had time for him but it’s whatever he got over it really early on in life.

parker’s always been a huge troublemaker with a restless nature so his wealthy, uptight, lowkey shady af parents who are obsessed with the family’s image could never really deal with him and eventually decided to just ship him off to boarding schools all over europe, just one after the other after the other bc he kept getting kicked out lmao.

about the only thing he enjoyed about his childhood and schooling were his music lessons. he was taught to play piano, violin, and even the harp. other things like math and history and science didn’t come easily to him at all, but music? he was great at it and he’s always loved it. during his teen years while away at boarding school was when he first procured an electric guitar and learned to play. along with that, he also discovered punk music, aka the greatest thing in the entire fucking universe if you ask him. far as music goes, he’d found his calling in his early teenage years.

at school he was basically that rebellious kid in all the movies who wore doc martens with his prim & proper school uniform and carried around a pocket knife and cut class to go smoke while vandalizing school property and would absolutely fuck up some prissy pretty boy’s face just for looking at him the wrong way.

literally the only reason he actually graduated rather than flunking out was because his father was able to pull some strings aka bought his very last boarding school a whole new library wing. parker did actually consider running away a few times, but there was a part of him really reaaaaally deep down that actually enjoyed some aspects of school ( though he very strongly believes many education systems across the world need a serious overhaul and blahblahblah don’t ask him unless you want a lecture ). anyway, the moment he was done with school, he did finally skip out on…well, everything and everyone and ditched the country altogether, heading out first to seattle washington, then to los angeles, california, and then he finally settled in new york city when he was twenty years old, meaning that he’s lived in nyc for the last three years!

started his band, rabid porcupine, right after moving to the city. they’re a punk band, popular among the subculture and virtually unknown to everyone else. parker is the lead vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, overall face of the band but don’t get it twisted he could never go solo his whole band is important to him.

his parents have threatened to cut him off & disinherit him about a billion times but will probably never actually do it even though they see him as a huge disgrace to the family name. they call sometimes but he never picks up. if anybody asks he’d probably say that he hates his family but he honestly doesn’t. i don’t think he’s capable of hate lmao. he doesn’t like them and he’d rather stay away from them bc he and his family just do not get along, but at the end of the end of the day, v deep down he has like….a teeny tiny molecule of affection for them even though his family is 100% genuinely awful people

so, parker left nyc for a bit! even though it was only like a week ago in real time i wanna say he’s actually been gone for about two to three months maybe? idk but he went back to england in a rush, just kinda vanishing overnight as he tends to do.

he told no one where he was going or that he was even leaving at all. not even his roommate or…the person he’s very attached to, stas. he didn’t wanna tell anyone why he had to leave.

BUT WE’RE ALL GONNA FIND OUT RIGHT HERE AND NOW SURPRISE! his dad died. yikes. now they had a very…complicated relationship. parker hated his father and his father hated him. tbh his death wouldn’t have been enough for parker to go all the way back to england bc he fucking hates it there if it weren’t for the fact that his dad was pulling some fuck shit from the grave.

long story short, he left the family company to parker in his will. not the family, not his wife, not any of his other three sons. nope. the whole ass billion dollar company, every single subset, everything…was left to one riley ignatius parker-warrington.

naturally he was fucking furious. he hates the family business, he hates their company, he hates office work, and he hates knowing that his father only did it to spite him. he immediately attempted to get rid of the company. tried selling it, just straight up giving it away, even driving it into the ground lmao. just, anything to get it off of his hands and out of his responsibility but nothing has worked so far.

and that’s why he’s back in nyc! he wants a lawyer’s opinion so what i think parker is gonna do here? lowkey try to sneak into town, get some help from a lawyer he trusts and then leave without anyone else noticing or knowing that he was in town at all because he absolutely does not want to be here and he especially doesn’t wanna show his face. too bad for him!

lemme…stop? and just give you a few quick facts bc this is getting super long who’s even still reading this?

looks like he could kill you and could actually kill you

he hasn’t been home in like five years but he still has the heaviest most posh british accent you will ever hear in your life + he knows he’s fulfilling a stereotype here but he doesn’t care he fuckin loves tea

his three older brothers are named sebastian, nikolai, & rian. he doesn’t get along with any of them but he and rian he by far has the worst relationship with rian, his identical twin who’s a few minutes older. unlike most stereotypical twins they’ve literally never been in sync, have never gotten along and have probably beaten each other up before.

his family is big on modern day arranged marriages but you can miss parker with that bullshit he will date whoever he wants

that being said i think he’s probably…straight? idk tho & like who’s really straight anymore honestly

most people think that he’s a jerk bc he’s incredibly standoffish and temperamental but he’s actually…not that bad? like he’s sure he’s permanently grumpy but he also holds the door open for people and says thank you to janitors and probably helps old ladies across the street and would literally rather die than be rude to wait staff in a restaurant

seemingly very passionate about everything always openly expresses his emotions. he doesn’t…know how to hide them? he doesn’t know how to pretend like he doesn’t care?

adrenaline junkie, reckless af & likes to party but isn’t into hard drugs. he’s tried once or twice but just really isn’t a fan. he smokes & drinks & smokes weed sometimes but that’s it

very observant and good at reading people

basically the walking talking rl embodiment of the jerk with a heart of gold trope.

knows he’s not the easiest person to befriend but if you are his friend, then he’s gonna be loyal af, the realest ride or die of all time

however, he tends to take the tough love route when he’s trying to help someone out. like just bc you’re his friend he’s not gonna coddle you bc you’re upset he’s gonna tell you how to how to deal with your problems & emotions

which is funny bc lmao he’s angry af 1000% of the time. will throw hands anytime anywhere

so to the surprise as nobody he took up boxing as a kid and to this day it’s the only sport he cares about at all. he still boxes once or twice a week as a hobby & it’s probs pretty good for him tbh

also took a lot of music lessons back in the day. he’s actually a very talented pianist who probably could’ve gone on to play professionally if he stuck with it but nah. he likes the guitar. you’ll probs never catch him playing the piano which is a shame bc he honestly is a beautiful pianist :/

worked as an auto mechanic before he committed to his band full time but highkey misses it sometimes. he still likes cars & absolutely loves motorcycles, will talk about them all day with you if you want.

he has a motorcycle which pretty much built it himself from scratch and it’s just…it’s literally his child ok he will freak if you so much as lay a hand on his motorcycle ok /f r e a k/ like don’t even look at it the wrong way

feminist af

parker is grumpy and angry and standoffish but look he really is and really tries to be a decent guy. anyone who knows him well would see that very clearly and honestly, that’s probably why they stick around even though he can be difficult.

CONNECTIONS

family

future step sibling - genesis iver

maternal cousin, don’t get along - open.

paternal cousin, basically the only family member he likes - ingrid larson

romantic

ex girlfriend / highkey in love - anastasia sangster

ex on good terms - open.

ex on bad terms - open.

former toxic on / off relationship - open.

fwb - maia kauri.

former fwb - open.

platonic

best friend / ride or die - mason grey

roommate - open. please check the main for info on this wc!

close friends - reese monroe, kennedy drakos, isla thompson, open to more.

friends -  warren daily, marnie almeida, sullivan ramsey, alexandra blakely, cameron jones, open to more.

unlikely friends - wren daily, open to more.

frenemies - rosalind cox, jake carver, open to more.

attempted good influence - logan van kamp

workout buddy - willow sparks

negative

enemies - lukas donovan, open to several. parker is a goblin so he could’ve pissed someone off for many reasons

ex friends - jay weston, open to more.

doesn’t like / trust - lex sinclair

since this is officially a novel i think it’s time for me to sTOP LMAO. i have no specific wc in mind but i’d love to plot so please feel free to message me if you’re interested! as always i’m super excited to plot and write with everyone!

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Some Hotels Are Mandating Vaccines. Will Others Follow? (NYT) As travelers prepare for their next vacation, among the essentials to take—along with items such as a toothbrush, wallet and phone charger—could be proof of vaccination for COVID-19, depending on where they are booked to sleep. As coronavirus cases surge again across the country, driven by the highly contagious delta variant, a small number of hotels in the United States have announced that they will require proof of vaccination from guests and staff. The precedent for hotels requiring vaccination is already being set beyond the contiguous United States. In August, Puerto Rico issued an islandwide vaccine mandate that requires guests and staff at all hotels, guesthouses and short-term rentals, including Airbnb, to provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours before their visit. Although European destinations are rolling out various vaccine mandates, hotels are mostly not requiring proof of immunization. In Portugal, however, hotel guests need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

Louisiana gets a first look at the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida (Washington Post) People clung to rooftops awaiting rescue, entire towns were cut off from communication, and more than a million faced the prospect of days—even weeks—without power as Louisianans awoke Monday and began to take stock of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida. Parts of the state remained unreachable, making it impossible to fully assess the damage. Four deaths were confirmed, but Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected the toll to be “considerably” higher. Ida, which made landfall just before noon Sunday local time as a Category 4 storm, the most powerful storm to hit the area in over a century, continued to batter the region well into Monday. While New Orleans was spared the worst, thanks in large part to the $14.5 billion federally funded levee system built after Hurricane Katrina, communities west and south of the city were completely routed by the storm. There were widespread reports of downed power lines and trees, levee failures and flooding, collapsed buildings and people trapped in flooded homes. Utility officials said it would take days just to assess the damage before repairs could begin. Meanwhile, gas, food and water supplies were affected, with several communities instituting “boil water” advisories.

The World Is Still Short of Everything. Get Used to It. (NYT) Like most people in the developed world, Kirsten Gjesdal had long taken for granted her ability to order whatever she needed and then watch the goods arrive, without any thought about the factories, container ships and trucks involved in delivery. Not anymore. At her kitchen supply store in Brookings, S.D., Ms. Gjesdal has given up stocking place mats, having wearied of telling customers that she can only guess when more will come. She recently received a pot lid she had purchased eight months earlier. She has grown accustomed to paying surcharges to cover the soaring shipping costs of the goods she buys. She has already placed orders for Christmas items like wreaths and baking pans. “It’s nuts,” she said. “It’s definitely not getting back to normal.” The challenges confronting Ms. Gjesdal’s shop, Carrot Seed Kitchen, are a testament to the breadth and persistence of the chaos roiling the global economy, as manufacturers and the shipping industry contend with an unrelenting pandemic. Delays, product shortages and rising costs continue to bedevil businesses large and small. And consumers are confronted with an experience once rare in modern times: no stock available, and no idea when it will come in.

US judge revokes mother’s right to visit son over her refusal to get Covid vaccine (Guardian) A judge in Illinois revoked a mother’s right to visit her 11-year-old son because she refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. In what is believed to be an unprecedented ruling, Cook county judge James Shapiro said Rebecca Firlit, 39, who shares custody of her son with her divorced husband, could not see the boy again until she had taken the shot. “I was confused because it was just supposed to be about expenses and child support,” Firlit told the Chicago Sun-Times about the virtual court hearing, which took place earlier this month. “One of the first things he asked me when I got on the Zoom call was whether or not I was vaccinated, which threw me off because I asked him what it had to do with the hearing. “He said, ‘I am the judge, and I make the decisions for your case.’” Firlit’s lawyer, Annette Fernholz, said she had filed a legal challenge to the state appellate court, noting that the boy’s father had not been seeking such a ruling. Firlit, who has not said if she will get the vaccine, told the judge her decision not to take it was not political. “I’ve had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past and was advised not to get vaccinated by my doctor,” she said. “It poses a risk.” Her son, she said, was upset at not being allowed to see her and cries when they speak by phone.

Colombia’s Troubles Put a President’s Legacy on the Line (NYT) Iván Duque swept into Colombia’s presidency in 2018 as a young, little-known technocrat riding a surging right-wing movement. He tapped public anger against a peace deal that he said had treated the country’s deadly insurgents too softly. And he warned that the proposals of his left-wing opponent could stifle steady growth. Three years and a global pandemic later, it is Mr. Duque who is presiding over high unemployment and an angry electorate—and who is on the defensive about the steps he has taken to tame persistent violence by militants. Colombian voters go to the polls in May, when Gustavo Petro, a former presidential candidate, previous mayor of Bogotá and a onetime guerrilla member, could become the country’s furthest-left leader in its history at a time when leftists are again claiming victories across South America.

China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week (AP) China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector. Minors in China can only play games between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends and on public holidays starting Sept. 1, according to a notice from the National Press and Publication Administration. That limits gaming to three hours a week for most weeks of the year, down from a previous restriction set in 2019 that allowed minors play games for an hour and a half per day and three hours on public holidays. The gaming restrictions are part of an ongoing crackdown on technology companies, amid concerns that technology firms—many of which provide ubiquitous messaging, payments and gaming services—may have an outsized influence on society. A state-affiliated newspaper has criticized the gaming industry and called games “spiritual opium.”

Taliban declare victory from Kabul airport (AP) The Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul’s international airport on Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended America’s longest war. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents. Getting the airport running again is just one of the sizeable challenges the Taliban face in governing a nation of 38 million people that for two decades had survived on billions of dollars in foreign aid. Just hours earlier, the U.S. military had wrapped up its largest airlift of non-combatants in history. On Tuesday morning, signs of the chaos of recent days were still visible. In the terminal, rifled luggage and clothes were strewn across the ground, alongside wads of documents. Concertina wire stills separated areas while overturned cars and parked vehicles blocked routes around the civilian airport—a sign of measures taken to protect against possible suicide car bombers entering the facility.

Moscow and Afghanistan (Washington Post) Russia’s ban on the Taliban as a terrorist group has not stopped Moscow officials from stepping in to support it by calling for the freeze on Afghanistan’s financial reserves to be lifted and for Western countries to lead a global conference to help rebuild the country’s economy. Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Monday that the international community should unfreeze the Afghan government’s reserves or risk a spike in illegal narcotics and arms traffic. Speaking to state-owned television, he also called for an international conference to support Afghanistan’s recovery under the Taliban’s leadership, so that the United States and its allies could “correct at least some of the mistakes they have made” in the past 20 years. Last week’s suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan, threw Russia’s fears about Afghanistan into sharp relief—that the Taliban’s governance effort could fail, that extremists affiliated with the Islamic State could gain a stronger foothold and that the country could slide into chaos, destabilizing Russia’s neighborhood. Moscow has been calling on the West to “accept the reality” of the Taliban’s victory, while pressing the Taliban to form a government that includes different political and ethnic groups. At the same time, Russian officials are warning that no one should expect the Taliban to meet Western standards for democracy and cultural and religious practices.

The Great Resignation is here (Wired) When Ashley was offered a job at a digital agency over Zoom during the last lockdown, they thought they had found the perfect set-up. Flexitime would be a given. Working from home would continue post-pandemic. The office would be a place to pop in only occasionally. By the time they’d started the new role six weeks later in Leeds, everything had changed. Cast iron guarantees of flexible hours had melted away. Promises of remote working had crumbled. Even before social restrictions had ended, staff were expected to be in the office every day, from 9am until 5.30pm. “It was incredibly frustrating,” Ashley recalls. “All these changes were done between my interview and my first day—and my new boss decided they didn’t need to explain their decision making.” Rather than ride out the disappointment and stick with the new role, Ashley decided to join ‘The Great Resignation’ and the millions of others who have quit their jobs over the spring and summer months. Workers are drafting up resignation emails, handing in their notices and heading for the exit door in their droves. The trend is worldwide. In the UK, job vacancies soared to an all-time high in July, with available posts surpassing one million for the first time. In the US, four million people quit their jobs in April—a 20-year high—followed by a record ten million jobs being available by the end of June. A Microsoft study has found that 41 per cent of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year. As more of the economy reopens following Covid vaccinations and the end of social restrictions, demand for talent is fast outstripping supply—it’s now an employee’s market.

[ccphotomedia]

You’ve probably seen reports in the media about obesity and overweight statistics, and it’s true – the numbers and prevalence of these conditions are definitely increasing. And, we can see the effects in real life… Have you noticed, for instance, when walking down the street, taking the subway/bus, shopping in a store, working at the office, attending public events, or eating at a restaurant, that more and more people seem to be larger and larger and taking up more and more space? I know I definitely have.

The numbers are startling. According to the CDC, about 70% of adults 20 or older are considered overweight or obese… that’s more than 2 out of every 3 people who are facing a higher risk for a variety of diseases and early death. And, even worse, about 1 in 5 teens, about 1 in 6 kids aged 6-11, and about 1 in ten toddlers and kids up to 5 years old are considered obese. What was that old adage how about how our kids are our future? If that’s true, what do these statistics tell us about our future?

Here’s the thing, there are a lot of people that say that it’s totally fine to be overweight. That it’s “normal” and to quit the “fat shaming”… but… to deny that this is a problem is to not live in reality.

This issue of obesity and overweight is certainly complex, and not attributable to one simple cause, and, yes, I agree, people still deserve dignity, but this issue definitively has a huge impact on us, both on an individual level and society at large.

Again, to deny the health impacts on individuals who are overweight is to deny reality. For instance, overweight and obese people pay, on average, $1,429 more per year in health care costs, according to a 2009 study by Finkelstein, Trogdon, Cohen and Dietz published on Health Affairs. And this is not institutional/systemic bias against “people with larger bodies,” it is a sign that there is a clear correlation between weight and impacts on health, regardless of whether you believe any data from the CDC or scientific studies on the correlations of overweight/obesity on the risk for diabetes, heart disease and other conditions, for instance.

“But, I’m healthy, why should I care,” you might think? Well, because, as I mentioned above, it’s not just about the individual, his/her costs and his/her increased risks of pre-mature death. There is a cost to society as a whole, both financially and progress-wise.

The Finkelstein study above estimated that total annual costs of health care related to obesity came in at about $147 billion dollars for 2008. (Yes, I realize this is 10 years ago… so imagine what that number is now.) If you divvied that up among our current population, to reduce the impact, that works out to be about $451 per person per year.

Don’t think that you foot the bill for any of this? Do you pay taxes?

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, in 2016, health programs including Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and Affordable Care Act made up about 26% of the annual budget. And, according to an article on financial expert Dave Ramsey’s website, a “sample 2011 tax receipt provided by whitehouse.gov shows the total tax bill for a married couple with two kids making $80,000 was just over $9,000″ total, and of that, about 21% was designated to health care related programs. And, in that Finkelstein study, they determined that 8.5% and 11.5% of Medicare and Medicaid spending, respectively, are directly related to obesity/overweight. That means, about $1,800 (or more) of this sample family’s income taxes are going to medical programs in general, and about $360 obesity related care directly. How much of your money do you want to spend on obesity care for society, or on yourself, for that matter?

And, to top it off, this isn’t even taking into account the cost of lost productivity… based on time out of work due to health issues connected to obesity, obesity-related disabilities, and so on, which I don’t have numbers for at the moment.

So, why am I so passionate about this? It’s not really about the money, for me. I personally grew up over weight and out of shape, and not for a lack of exercise, as I was pretty active doing soccer and dance throughout my childhood. I later realized that the food I was eating, and I don’t blame my parents, but the food I was eating was not properly fueling my body. In addition to eating too much processed food and sugary foods, I also ate a lot of refined carbs and not a lot of nutritious veggies/etc. I am partially to blame/responsible for this, having been a picky eater for most of my youth, and busy/on the go a lot… And it wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I decided I would do something about it. So, I set about to learning about food, nutrition and going down the rabbit hole of attempting to figure out “the truth” about healthy eating.

I got so passionate about this area that I decided to devote some of my professional work in photography to this area – particularly through food photography – but also started a podcast exploring topics around food, health, food systems, food entrepreneurship, nutrition and more with entrepreneurs, game changers and experts.

This all, ultimately, led to my attending the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference, this past February, where I met a woman named Sophie who works in the Culinary Institute of America’s strategic department. When I mentioned my podcast, Put a Fork In It, and how I’m on a mission to create a healthier, wealthier and happier world, she told me about a conference she was working on through the CIA – the Menus of Change.

I didn’t know what it was at that time, but she mentioned to follow up and she could connect me with the right people to get a press pass, on behalf of the podcast and my blogging.

Being the diligent person I am, I did just that, and with that deal of networking, a few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to attend this 2.5 day leadership summit at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY (not too far from where I live).

This conference was founded several years back as a way to include the food service and food consumer packaged goods industries in the good fight: helping to shape these industries to influence healthier options/choices for consumers and adapting our current food system to a healthier and more sustainable version that prioritizes personal and environmental health and, ultimately, delicious food.

It was truly a great opportunity to be among the CEOs of large food companies, chefs and culinary/nutrition directors, scientists, and more who are all on the cutting edge of this work.

My eyes were opened to the fact that the food industry and agriculture are one of the leadings contributors of climate change. Something I realized while at the conference, since I really try to be apolitical and not polarizing, and try to find the middle ground on these types of things, is that whether you believe in human caused climate change or not, there are definitely measurable and important impacts on the environment from our current behaviors in the food/ag industries, and we can always improve. In retrospect, that should of been pretty obvious, considering that we use land to grow our food, both plants and animals, which certainly has impacts on the soil, and, how about erosion of soil from replanting crops annually, or methane coming from livestock, or waste and pollutants of all sorts from shipping materials, or pollutants from herbicides, or decreasing bee populations, or getting rid of “sub par” produce, or packaging from processed goods (or otherwise), and so on.

If you want more specific information, here are a few resources to get you started:

Environmental Effects of the US Food System, a report on the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s website, and

Environmental Impacts of Food Production and Consumption, a report from the UNESCO- Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, which catalogs “state-of-the-art, high quality, peer reviewed, thematically organized archival content in many traditional disciplines and interdisciplinary subjects with including the coverage of transdisciplinary pathways”.

Or, if you prefer something a little simpler to follow, check out the this Vice piece about the impacts of Climate Change on the wine industry.

Another interesting show is Rotten, on Netflix.

So, similar to above, regarding denial of health impacts of obesity, to deny that our actions in the food/ag industry has an environmental impact, is to deny reality. So, again, whether we believe in climate change or if we do believe it exists, but aren’t sure that we could really do anything about it, the fact is that we are currently doing things that impact the environment and, again, if we believe in our kids being our future, it’s really in our best interests to take care of the environment, to do a better job, and create a sustainable world where our kids can grow up and raise kids of their own.

This event, the Menus of Change, really opened my eyes to this. And while, at first, I did have some resistance and skepticism to what was being said, since environmental issues are often a politicized and therefore polarizing and propagandized issues with a lot of buzz words designed to make us feel guilty and shameful (from both sides of the spectrum), I’ve opened my mind back up to this topic and it’s true importance, because it’s critical to recognize that our actions, individually, as as people and businesses, as well as in the collective industry and society at large do really matter for the long term success of our species and life on earth. And, if we don’t take care of our environment and resources, we all lose out in the end regardless of whether you’re on the left, on the right, believe that humans have caused climate change, or that we can’t do anything to prevent or reverse climate change.

So, as you might expect, the conference included presentations from industry leaders in various sectors of the culinary and food system, entrepreneurs, scientists, chefs and so on, as well as networking opportunities. But, what was unique was really how deeply the concepts and values were actually applied. What I mean is… they actually practiced what they were preaching about plant-forward menus, the “protein flip” and the “Mediterranean diet”/using unique ingredients and local sourcing. It wasn’t just a load of preaching or trying to “inspire” or “educate” or propagandize to make change, there was actually a full-reaching application of the principles during their own meal times. They sampled some of the dishes that were discussed or shown during cooking demos, and even provided the recipes for the foods that were served, through the conference app. It was certainly a refreshing change to be at an event that actually served delicious AND nutritious foods – a pet-peeve and big weakness for me.

This really is exciting and makes me grateful to have been a part of it and to meet so many people that also want to improve the food system and public health. It’s very encouraging and, even if there are certain things that may be polarizing or pique my skepticism or critical side, it really comes back to one of my favorite guiding principles, from Ghandi himself, to the CIA: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” and, therefore, lead by example.

It was really wonderful to be a part of that experience and be able to be a part of something that embodies this philosophy – it’s one of the reasons that I do what I do and pursue the goals that I pursue, in spite of challenges and naysayers. I really believe that if you want to change the world, you have to start with your self and act in accordance with your values, first, and if you do that in your own life, the more people around you will see that it’s possible and be inspired to try it too. And to me, this is the greatest approach we can take to create the positive changes we wish to see. One small act and one person or organization at a time.

  Here are some of my photos:

Pork Tsukune and Shishito Skewer, tare glaze over warm lentil salad

Kozy Shack Rice Pudding with slow roasted strawberries and crispy citrus pistachios

Kozy Shack Rice Pudding with slow roasted strawberries and crispy citrus pistachios

Illy coffee rubbed blended mushroom and beef slider with coffee barbecue sauce

Improved Nature Mini Bites Creamy Pistachio Pesto Pizza

Wonderful Pistachio and Almond Orange Energy Bite

Wonderful Pistachio and Almond Orange Energy Bite

Menus of Change: a summit aimed at making a healthier world through the food industry You've probably seen reports in the media about obesity and overweight statistics, and it's true - the numbers and prevalence of these conditions are definitely increasing.

[orbemnews]

What Would It Take to Vaccinate the World Against Covid? In delivering vaccines, pharmaceutical companies aided by monumental government investments have given humanity a miraculous shot at liberation from the worst pandemic in a century. But wealthy countries have captured an overwhelming share of the benefit. Only 0.3 percent of the vaccine doses administered globally have been given in the 29 poorest countries, home to about 9 percent of the world’s population. Vaccine manufacturers assert that a fix is already at hand as they aggressively expand production lines and contract with counterparts around the world to yield billions of additional doses. Each month, 400 million to 500 million doses of the vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are now being produced, according to an American official with knowledge of global supply. But the world is nowhere close to having enough. About 11 billion shots are needed to vaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population, the rough threshold needed for herd immunity, researchers at Duke University estimate. Yet, so far, only a small fraction of that has been produced. While global production is difficult to measure, the analytics firm Airfinity estimates the total so far at 1.7 billion doses. The problem is that many raw materials and key equipment remain in short supply. And the global need for vaccines might prove far greater than currently estimated, given that the coronavirus presents a moving target: If dangerous new variants emerge, requiring booster shots and reformulated vaccines, demand could dramatically increase, intensifying the imperative for every country to lock up supply for its own people. The only way around the zero-sum competition for doses is to greatly expand the global supply of vaccines. On that point, nearly everyone agrees. But what is the fastest way to make that happen? On that question, divisions remain stark, undermining collective efforts to end the pandemic. Some health experts argue that the only way to avert catastrophe is to force drug giants to relax their grip on their secrets and enlist many more manufacturers in making vaccines. In place of the existing arrangement — in which drug companies set up partnerships on their terms, while setting the prices of their vaccines — world leaders could compel or persuade the industry to cooperate with more companies to yield additional doses at rates affordable to poor countries. Those advocating such intervention have focused on two primary approaches: waiving patents to allow many more manufacturers to copy existing vaccines, and requiring the pharmaceutical companies to transfer their technology — that is, help other manufacturers learn to replicate their products. The World Trade Organization — the de facto referee in international trade disputes — is the venue for negotiations on how to proceed. But the institution operates by consensus, and so far, there is none. The Biden administration recently joined more than 100 countries in asking the W.T.O. to partially set aside vaccine patents. But the European Union has signaled its intent to oppose waivers and support only voluntary tech transfers, essentially taking the same position as the pharmaceutical industry, whose aggressive lobbying has heavily shaped the rules in its favor. Some experts warn that revoking intellectual property rules could disrupt the industry, slowing its efforts to deliver vaccines — like reorganizing the fire department amid an inferno. “We need them to scale up and deliver,” said Simon J. Evenett, an expert on trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. “We have this huge production ramp up. Nothing should get in the way to threaten it.” Others counter that trusting the pharmaceutical industry to provide the world with vaccines helped create the current chasm between vaccine haves and have-nots. The world should not put poorer countries “in this position of essentially having to go begging, or waiting for donations of small amounts of vaccine,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, senior scientific liaison to the Covid-19 Prevention Network. “The model of charity is, I think, an unacceptable model.” In this fractious atmosphere, the W.T.O.’s leaders are crafting their proceedings less as a push to formally change the rules than as a negotiation that will persuade national governments and the global pharmaceutical industry to agree on a unified plan — ideally in the next few months. The Europeans are banking on the notion that the vaccine makers, fearing patent waivers, will eventually agree to the transfers, especially if the world’s richest countries throw money their way to make sharing know-how more palatable. Many public health experts say that patent waivers will have no meaningful effect unless vaccine makers also share their manufacturing methods. Waivers are akin to publishing a complex recipe; tech transfer is like sending a master chef to someone’s kitchen to teach them how to cook the dish. “If you’re to manufacture vaccines, you need several things to work at the same time,” the W.T.O. director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told journalists recently. “If there is no transfer of technology, it won’t work.” Even with waivers, technology transfers and expanded access to raw materials, experts say it would take about six months for more drug makers to start churning out vaccines. The only short-term fix, they and European leaders say, is for wealthy countries — especially the United States — to donate and export more of their stock to the rest of the world. The European Union allowed the export of hundreds of millions of doses, as many as it kept at home, while the United States held fast to its supply. But boosting donations and exports entails risk. India shipped out more than 60 million doses this year, including donations, before halting vaccine exports a month ago. Now, as a wave of death ravages the largely unvaccinated Indian population, the government is drawing fire at home for having let go of doses. The details of any plan to boost vaccinations worldwide may matter less than revamping the incentives that have produced the status quo. Wealthy countries, especially in the West, have monopolized most of the supply of vaccines not through happenstance, but as a result of economic and political realities. Companies like Pfizer and Moderna have logged billions of dollars in revenue by selling most of their doses to deep-pocketed governments in North America and Europe. The deals left too few doses available for Covax, a multilateral partnership created to funnel vaccines to low- and middle-income nations at relatively low prices. While the partnership has been hampered by multiple problems — most recently India’s blocking exports amid its own crisis — the snapping up of doses by rich countries was a crucial blow. “We as high-income countries made sure the market was lopsided,” said Mark Eccleston-Turner, an expert on international law and infectious diseases at Keele University in England. “The fundamental problem is that the system is broken, but it’s broken in our favor.” Changing that calculus may depend on persuading wealthy countries that allowing the pandemic to rage on in much of the world poses universal risks by allowing variants to take hold, forcing the world into an endless cycle of pharmaceutical catch-up. “It needs to be global leaders functioning as a unit, to say that vaccine is a form of global security,” said Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, a global health expert at Harvard Medical School. She suggested that the G7, the group of leading economies, could lead such a campaign and finance it when the members convene in England next month. The argument over Covid vaccines harkens back to the debate over access to antiretroviral drugs for H.I.V. in the 1990s. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first powerful H.I.V. drug therapy in 1995, resulting in a plunge in deaths in the United States and Europe, where people could afford the therapy. But deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia continued to climb. In 2001, the W.T.O. ruled that countries could allow local companies to break patents for domestic use given an urgent need. The ruling is still in place. But without technology transfers, few local drug makers would be able to quickly replicate vaccines. In 2003, the W.T.O. took a crucial further step for H.I.V. drugs, waiving patents and allowing low-income countries to import generic versions manufactured in Thailand, South Africa and India, helping contain the epidemic. With Covid, the request for a patent waiver has come from the South African and Indian governments, which are seeking to engineer a repeat of that history. In opposing the initiative, the pharmaceutical industry has reprised the argument it made decades ago: Any weakening of intellectual property, or I.P., protection discourages the investment that yields lifesaving innovation. “The only reason why we have vaccines right now was because there was a vibrant private sector,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, speaking in a recent interview. “The vibrancy of the private sector, the lifeblood, is the I.P. protection.” But in producing vaccines, the private sector harnessed research financed by taxpayers in the United States, Germany and other wealthy nations. Pfizer expects to sell $26 billion worth of Covid vaccines this year; Moderna forecasts that its sales of Covid vaccines will exceed $19 billion for 2021. History also challenges industry claims that blanket global patent rights are a requirement for the creation of new medicines. Until the mid-1990s, drug makers could patent their products only in the wealthiest markets, while negotiating licenses that allowed companies in other parts of the world to make generic versions. Even in that era, drug companies continued to innovate. And they continued to prosper even with the later waivers on H.I.V. drugs. “At the time, it rattled a lot of people, like ‘How could you do that? It’s going to destroy the pharmaceutical industry,’” recalled Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser for the pandemic. “It didn’t destroy them at all. They continue to make billions of dollars.” Leaders in the wealthiest Western nations have endorsed more equitable distribution of vaccines for this latest scourge. But the imperative to ensure ample supplies for their own nations has won out as the virus killed hundreds of thousands of their own people, devastated economies, and sowed despair. The drug companies have also promised more support for poorer nations. AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been the primary supply for Covax, and the company says it has sold its doses at a nonprofit price. In January, Pfizer announced that it was joining Covax, agreeing to contribute 40 million doses at a not-for-profit price. So far only 1.25 million of those doses have been shipped out, less than what Pfizer produces in a single day. Whether the world possesses enough underused and suitable factories to quickly boost supply and bridge the inequities is a fiercely debated question. During a vaccine summit convened by the W.T.O. last month, the body heard testimony that manufacturers in Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Senegal and Indonesia all have capacity that could be quickly deployed to produce Covid vaccines. One Canadian company, Biolyse Pharma, which focuses on cancer drugs, has already agreed to supply 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to Bolivia — if it gains legal permission and technological know-how from Johnson & Johnson. But even major companies like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have stumbled, falling short of production targets. And producing the new class of mRNA vaccines, like those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, is complicated. Where pharmaceutical companies have struck deals with partners, the pace of production has frequently disappointed. “Even with voluntary licensing and technology transfer, it’s not easy to make complex vaccines,” said Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center. Much of the global capacity for vaccine manufacturing is already being used to produce other lifesaving inoculations, he added. But other health experts accuse major pharmaceutical companies of exaggerating the manufacturing challenges to protect their monopoly power, and implying that developing countries lack the acumen to master sophisticated techniques is “an offensive and a racist notion,” said Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at Georgetown University. With no clear path forward, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, the W.T.O. director-general, expressed hope that the Indian and South African patent-waiver proposal can be a starting point for dialogue. “I believe we can come to a pragmatic outcome,” she said. “The disparity is just too much.” Peter S. Goodman reported from London, Apoorva Mandavilli from New York, Rebecca Robbins from Bellingham, Wash., and Matina Stevis-Gridneff from Brussels. Noah Weiland contributed reporting from New York. Source link Orbem News #Covid #Vaccinate #World

[hopefulfestivaltastemaker]

April 18, 2021

My weekly roundup of things I am up to. This is a long one because I skipped last week. Topics include noise pollution, light pollution, LNG for shipping, the Henry Adams curve, nuclear costs, and charter cities.

Noise Pollution

My main accomplishment for the past week is writing up two new sections for the Urban Cruise Ship site on some environmental topics I have heretofore overlooked. One of them is on noise pollution.

Noise pollution might seem more like a nuisance than a serious problem--I thought so until this week--but aside from causing irritation and sleep deprivation, noise pollution has been linked with heart problems and hypertension and high cholesterol.

One thing I try to think about in the context of other environmental issues is to get a rough idea of the magnitude of the problem. For example, annual monetized damages from land use change and degradation has been estimated in the 10′s of trillions of dollars. From climate change, nutrient pollution, air pollution, and chemical pollution, I’d estimate the damage in the 1′s of trillions. For ozone depletion, I’d estimate in the 100′s of billion of dollars. How does noise fit into this rough hierarchy?

This study from the World Health Organization estimates that 1,573,000 DALY’s (disability-adjusted life-years) are lost in Europe to noise pollution. If a person loses their life prematurely by a 1 year, that’s a loss of 1 DALY, and partial DALY’s are accounted for disabilities or suffering that falls short of loss of life. This quick-and-dirty calculation puts the monetized value of a DALY in the US in 2008 at $120,000. It’s probably about the same in Europe. So that’s about $189 billion of damages from premature death and diminished quality of life.

Europe comprises about 10% of the world’s population. Crass though it may be to say it, the statistical value of a life and a DALY is probably higher there than in most places because Europeans are richer and are willing to pay more to mitigate harms. On the other hand, I’d guess Europe is over the hump of the Kuznets curve for noise pollution, as the problem is worse in middle income megacities. So, as a very rough estimate, I’d say that $2 trillion is fairly reasonable for damages from noise pollution, which would put the problem on par with climate change.

Noise pollution affects animals other than humans. Sound travels farther and faster in water than in air, and ocean noise pollution, though a different phenomenon than urban noise pollution, is a serious problem. This review shows that most ocean noise is some military sources, though a nontrivial amount comes from shipping. There are many studies showing harms from noise to terrestrial ecosystems as well; this one on bird populations is just one.

This study from Norway finds that the biggest contributor by far to noise pollution is roadways, with aircraft coming in second. But the contributors are diffuse. Trains and subways, music, construction, and night life are some of them. Thus I very much doubt there is any kind of silver bullet. We can do things like hedgerows or sound barriers around roadways, stricter noise ordinances, and noise dampening building materials, among other things. I would be curious to know if there really is a Kuznets curve as suggested above, and if so, how countries and cities beyond the hump of the curve have dealt with the problem.

Light Pollution

The other topics I looked at recently is light pollution. Unlike noise pollution, I don’t even have a back-of-the-envelope estimate for monetized damages, but I would guess that it’s a comparable problem.

Some interesting headline stats: about 83% of the world’s population, and 99% of the population of North America and Europe, experience light pollution, which is defined to be artificial light that exceeds 8% of natural light at the darkest moment, typically about 1 AM. About a third of the world’s population can’t see the Milky Way at night. About 23% of the land area of the world is under light pollution, so this must be having a major ecological impact if light really does seriously affect other organisms.

As with noise, light pollution probably seems to most people to be a nuisance first and foremost. But it can have more serious impacts, such as causing cancer though stimulating hormone production. There are a whole bunch of studies detailing ecological impacts, with a small sampling related to sea turtles, insects, algae blooms, and birds.

I was surprised by the lack of reliable information on the contributors to light pollution. I would think this would be a well-studied topic and one that isn’t too hard to estimate. This study found that streetlights contribute 16-21% of the skyglow in Tucson, Arizona, which they found by convincing the city to dim the lights by 10% and seeing what impact this has on overall skyglow. Other contributors include buildings, car headlights, stadiums, billboards, and probably many others.

There probably isn’t a simple solution here either, but there is a lot we can do. Designing streetlights so no light goes up or along the horizon would help. Yellow light doesn’t travel as far in the atmosphere as blue light, which is why astronomers like low-pressure sodium lamps near observatories, but this works against cost and energy efficiency savings that come with using LEDs more widely. Light pollution is so pervasive that we often use night light as a proxy for a city’s wealth, and we see night light more as a marker of success.

Both noise pollution and light pollution are topics that I hope to study more coming up. I suspect they are both emerging environmental issues, in that we will hear more about them in coming years, especially is climate change as an issue starts to get played out.

LNG for Shipping

Liquified natural gas for shipping has been on the agenda for a long time, but just in the last few years it is starting to becoming a significant player in the industry. LNG eliminates most air pollution compared to heavy fuel oil, but it may have higher lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.

There are several studies that have been done on GHGs and LNG. Several of them find slightly lower emissions, but I don’t think they account for methane leakage as well as the study I linked above. It’s probably better to think of the two as being fairly close.

Because ships last for decades, building LNG infrastructure now will enable us to switch to synthetic forms of methane that are definitely lower in emissions, like biomethane or electromethane. But the cost figures for these two options don’t look particularly promising right now, and we would either run out of biomethane or exert intolerable land use impacts well before we’ve used that fuel to substitute for natural gas.

The Henry Adams Curve

The Henry Adams curve, developed by John Storrs Hall and discussed here by Robin Hanson, is one of the starkest illustrations of stagnation in the Western world that has set in since the 1970s.

I would suspect, as might David Stern, that the flatlining of energy consumption is more a symptom of stagnation than a cause, but I think it is fairly clear that the two are related.

It is tempting to think of this in “what if” terms. The 1970s was supposed to be the breakout decade for nuclear power, but instead it is the time when the nuclear industry started coming off the rails and failing to deliver on hopes that were set midcentury. Could we have had flying cars like Storrs Hall imagines? Again, it seems to me like something went wrong about 50 years ago, but I still don’t have a good sense of the problem.

Nuclear Costs

Speaking of nuclear energy, Jason Crawford has a good post now on how nuclear power got so expensive in the West. His main focus is on the regulatory failures that have inflated cost.

I have no doubt that the industry is overregulated, due in part to fears that greatly exceed the actual danger. Two issues in particular, the Linear No Threshold rule, and the ALARA (as low as reasonable achievable) approach to radiation, are things that I think should be addressed. But I haven’t yet seen a good quantification of the cost of regulation, and so I don’t know how serious these issues really are to overall costs.

I haven’t ready Devanney’s book, on which Crawford’s post is based, but it’s freely available so I don’t have a good excuse. Crawford also plans to do some more work in this topic I think, so I’ll be looking forward to what he comes up with.

Charter Cities

Scott Alexander (Slate Star Codex) has a long explainer out on Próspera, which is a charter city under development in Honduras. After a few false starts in that country, it looks like Próspera will go ahead. I’m excited to se how this plays out.

The post goes into several criticisms of the charter city concept, some of which he regards as reasonable and most not. But I think he avoids the biggest issue. We know fairly well the extent to which economic freedom is good for prosperity and quality of life. There are numerous examples in the world of how some cities and countries, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, have achieved wealth by better institutions that the areas surrounding them. Do we need charter cities to demonstrate what we already know? If a country, e.g. Honduras, knows enough to give greater freedom to a city, then why can’t they grant greater freedom across the country?

This question aside, I’ll be rooting for Próspera to succeed. For one thing, there are a whole bunch of neat concepts that I would like to see take off. For another thing, we need competition and destinations for people who want better institutions. Given the high level of sclerosis that has set in throughout much of the world, I’ll take any credible alternative.

[ventingblacklist]

3x22  Alexander Kirk Pt. 1

“That house by the water, holding a gun in your mouth? I should have pulled the trigger.”

Scottie is in Indonesia. This is a separate thing that happened in the past. Red will later tell the task force about it as if it was a past incident. The people captured already back home.

The mission supposedly involves ransoming some woman back from terrorists, but really she’s already had Halcyon rescue the woman. And she’s taken the dude’s brother hostage and ends up getting three times the amount she was supposed to pay him.

And then she starts talking.

I don’t know if it bothers you telling people things they don’t want to hear, but it makes me uncomfortable, which is ironic because most people think I’m a bully. They think I enjoy it, being blunt, making people feel small, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Years ago, I-I suffered an unspeakable loss. And since then, I’ve been crippled by free-floating anxieties that attach to pretty much anything. Some days I-I can’t even get out of bed. I haven’t slept through the night in two years. 4:00 a.m., I’m up doing Sudoku.

Normally, I delegate a meeting like this because, conflict, it’s debilitating. But I’m working on the power of positive confrontation.

I think she thinks that everybody is a therapist.

We pick up pretty quickly after the airport incident. 

Red seems to go right from the airport to Liz’s apartment. Tom enters and immediately asks about what happened at the airport. 

Tom has things packed up. I guess he’s moving. Ha. Maybe Kaplan is shipping stuff down to Cuba. 

Red has come to offer his resources in the raising of Agnes. And to tell Tom they need to go into a safehouse until he can dispatch with Kirk. 

He’s in Liz’s apartment alone. He stops to pick up Liz’s bunny from a packed up box. 

Tom enters, gun drawn. Sees it’s just Red and tells him to put the bunny down. 

grrrr

Red: Tom, I want to speak with you about your daughter...Even if you don’t want me to have contact with Elizabeth’s child…I have virtually unlimited resources. I want you to know that those resources are at your disposal in the raising of Agnes.

Tom keeps breaking in asking about Hargrave.

Red: Alexander Kirk. Tom: I don’t know who that is. Red: The man who ordered the attack on your wedding. He’s ultimately responsible for Elizabeth’s death. I’m going to find him. Tom: No, no, Susan Hargrave… Red: Was a contractor. A hired hand. Tom, until I end this, your only concern is to keep Agnes safe.

Tom wants in on going after Kirk. Red says no. But Tom is like, you want me to accept help for Agnes? Then you need to let me in on this. 

Tom should know about hired hands who screw things up. He was one himself. Like mother like son, apparently. He should be thankful Red was more interested in killing the power behind him.

“Alexander Kirk is the alias of an oligarch who made a fortune after the fall of the Soviet Union buying mining operations for pennies on the dollar. In 2002, he went into hiding after falling out of favor with the Kremlin. He owes his survival to some of the world’s most powerful politicians whose careers he secretly bankrolls.”

Everybody’s all hesitant about working with Halcyon. Red says Kirk is ultimately responsible and he lists some of the good operations Halcyon has pulled off, like the Jakarta one, to get people on board. 

But Red tells Scottie later that he still holds her responsible:

“I think you’re responsible for her death. I’m looking past that because I want Alexander Kirk’s head.”

He’s putting her aside because this is personal. 

But back in the war room:

“She’s a brilliant strategist. And if we want to get Alexander Kirk, we’re going to need her help to do it.”

Scottie knows things about Kirk’s operations. His money and such. That will come in handy.

Red and Scottie brainstorm on how to get to Kirk. Scottie says through Kirk’s finances. Red says they’re untouchable. Scottie tells him about Kirk funneling around $300 million into Diaz’s campaign.

Scottie: Diaz is the front-runner. If he gets elected, Kirk’s reach will extend into the White House. Red: ...If we steal Diaz’s money, Kirk won’t be far behind.

Scottie is concerned about Tom’s anger. Red says that they’re both looking past her role in what happened in order to get to Kirk. 

Red says he’s never liked Scottie. But he’s a tad giddy at the thought of robbing the next President of the United States.

Scottie: It’s a presidential campaign. If that money goes missing, everyone on the planet will take notice. Red: You make it sound so fun.

Tom arrives at the hospital to see Agnes. He nods to a couple of bodyguards, FBI guys, I think. But Scottie is inside holding Agnes.

She’s come to make sure Tom is willing to work with her.

"I remember my little one looking up at me, eyes full of wonder. They say losing a child is something one never recovers from.”

“I hope you never experience that kind of loss.”

There’s something a little threatening in the whole scene. 

Tom says he’ll work with her for the moment. She sends Solomon to pick him up. They helicopter into the place. 

The task force is already there waiting.

Ressler: I’m sorry. I can’t. I thought I could, but I can’t. Cooper: Remember, we’re doing this for Elizabeth. Ressler: Yeah, but they’re the same people who killed her.

Kirk is having a meeting. Saying something about approval being a formality after the U.S. election. I guess some oil deal or something.

An aide breaks in to whisper to him that they know the location of the child. Kirk says he wants it done today.

Lots of technical stuff in this ‘Grey Matters’ meeting. Suffice it to say there’s a terminal at a bank that wires Kirk’s money into buying campaign ads for Diaz. So they’re going to ‘rob’ the bank, then skedaddle, then the FBI will come in after them to investigate the robbery and access the terminal. 

Cooper and Ressler are all like, ‘we’re not going to rob a bank, bladey blah.’

Scottie - 

"You work with the single most sought-after criminal in America. Thanks to you, he’s not only free, his criminal empire’s expanding. You, all of you, have proven quite capable of parking your selective morality when the moment serves. I suggest finding Elizabeth Keen’s killer is just such a moment.”

They ‘rob’ the bank. A kid gets shot in the crossfire. Tom rushes her to an ambulance. They blow up their van for... I have no idea why. 

Ressler and Samar come in to do the actual robbing. 

Ressler: Tell me you’re not okay with this. Samar: I wouldn’t be if I had a better idea, but I don’t.

Ressler goes with the bank guy while Aram directs Samar to the terminal. She puts the dongle in the thingie and Aram and Dumont, Halcyon tech guy, have a bit of a pissing contest over generating the bank president’s password.

They also need a retinal scan. 

They must leave the FBI hack thingie in place until they can finish grabbing the money.

Tom returns to the hospital to find a dead nurse and a missing daughter. 

The hospital tells him Scottie took Agnes. He stomps over to Scottie’s place. She’s holding a fundraiser dinner for Diaz.

Scottie sees Tom watching her. 

She gets her guy to have Tom wait somewhere else. 

Tom paces and looks at pictures. Including the one at the beach. He hears a noise and goes down the hallway a bit. Scottie’s guy closes the door. 

Sounds like some kind of medical equipment.

She tells him that the girl from the robbery survived. Tom is out of patience.

Um. 

Um.

Yeah. 

Is this some GSA thing? (Which, apparently is a thing. Thanks internet, for telling me another thing I did not need to know.)

They’re definitely trying to show that there’s a draw there.

It’s a good thing Red told one of them they were related, or some really screwed up stuff might have started happening.

Agnes to the rescue!

“My people received word Kirk was on the move. I alerted the FBI, and because of it, more people weren’t hurt.” 

From the deleted scene from this episode, it appears that Reddington is the one who tipped Scottie off. He had Scottie intervene at the hospital since his own goons weren’t welcome. 

Scottie goes back down to Diaz. She’s supposed to be ‘hooking the fish.’ I’m guessing the deleted scene took place right after this one. In it, Tom reiterates his desire to kill Hargrave. 

Deleted Scene.

Deleted Scene Analysis.

Back in the aired episode, Tom is back at ‘Grey Matters.’ 

The president of the bank that was robbed is staying at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin. He’s also the treasurer of ‘Futures America,’ the PAC that Kirk used to buy ads for Diaz. Explains why Kirk’s money is funneled through that bank. 

“Pruitt manages assets worth over $4 billion belonging to fugitives like Alexander Kirk.”

In order to access Kirk’s money, they need to scan this guy’s retina. So they need to get into a reception at the embassy. 

Tom offers up a plan to have him go undercover as one of his aliases. 

Tom: Pavlenko is a fugitive wanted in Turkey on money-laundering charges. When the ID gets flagged by INTERPOL, it will require my provisional arrest. Once that happens, officials in Ankara will immediately insist that I am transported to…

Solomon: To the Turkish Embassy.

Tom will get in, escape the authorities, poison Pruitt, and Halcyon will be waiting with an ambulance and a retinal scanner outside. 

Um. What the frick? How does Tom still have the box?

Was it not taken into evidence in season one? Maybe it’s not the same? But I seem to recall the hinges being that way.

Is this just a prop sloppy thing? I feel like this might be a prop sloppy thing.  

Dumont creates a loop on the security camera so he can escape undetected.

He swipes a key card from one of the guards, finds a waiter jacket, and is on his way to Pruitt.

Tom replaces Pruitt’s cigarettes with poison ones. 

Tom speaks German. We already knew that. 

Pruitt smokes. Pruitt collapses. Nez and Solomon are waiting. 

The first retinal scan fails. Aram figures out it’s because his pupils are too tiny. So they have to go to a pharmacy and get pupil biggener.

Solomon pushes Tom a step too far. Tom shoots him. Solomon survives. 

Cooper gets on the line with Tom. The guy at the bank has gotten word of Pruitt’s abduction. He’s on his way to the bank now to freeze the accounts. 

It’s a race as the locking out and the transferring are happening at the same time. The funds win. Scottie calls Red. Time to talk to Diaz.

Diaz gets home. He’s on the phone demanding that someone get a hold of Pruitt. 

Scottie is waiting on his couch. She tells him she took the money. Or rather, they did. 

"Unlike Scottie, I have little use for politicians and even less for their politics. Who occupies the White House is of no interest to me.”

Diaz goes to call the police, but Red tells him to call Kirk. 

Red has just taken Kirk’s most powerful potential ally away by taking away his ability to bribe him. Red knowing about the dirty money makes him immune to any action Diaz might take against Red. And without Kirk’s money, Diaz won’t win. So he calls Kirk.

"I have your money. I have your senator.”

"Do you know what I’m thinking, Raymond? That house by the water, holding a gun in your mouth? I should have pulled the trigger.

“So, you have my money and my senator. You don’t have me.”

Red turns back to Diaz.

“You’re gonna hold a press conference to announce you’re taking a moment away from the campaign trail to compel billionaire Alexander Kirk to testify about some of his business activities before the Congressional committee you chair.”

Scottie tells Diaz that once Red has Kirk, he’ll get his money back. Freshly laundered to a PAC of his choice. 

Diaz: I am not gonna be an accomplice to murder. Red: You are if you want to be President.

Apparently he really wants to be President.

Cooper and Ressler are talking. Aram comes in and tells them that Diaz is compelling Kirk to testify. 

Cooper: When this started, Kirk was the criminal who was going to be controlling the next President. Now it’s Reddington.

Ressler, Cooper, Aram, and Samar are all made Agnes’ godparents. 

“You know, Liz and I never really had a family until we met you guys. Albeit a slightly dysfunctional family, the kind where you try to kill each other occasionally.”

Sam continues to be chopped liver in this story. Poor guy. You take in a child and love her as your own and nobody remembers you existed.

Also, as much as that last line pissed me off because ‘haha, oh, it’s so funny how meera’s dead and everyone else almost died, haha’ I think it has more to do from the writer’s perspective with the revelation of who Tom’s parents are. 

He’s literally part of a dysfunctional family that tries to kill each other. Ya know. Occasionally. 

Red appears in the doorway for a sec. Tom is the only one who sees him.

Red leaves.

Tom goes to kill Scottie, still in his christening suit. Despite Red warning him against it earlier. 

He struggles with the decision a bit. I’m not sure if the struggle indicates that he’s killing Scottie because of Agnes, or in spite of Agnes. Based on the deleted bit with Red, I would say in spite of? 

See, I get this if Liz actually died. Tom wanting revenge. But, ya know. She really didn’t die. And Tom knows that. And Scottie wasn’t trying to kill Liz at all and actually just saved Agnes and is not at all a threat to Agnes in the future.

The guy who was waaay too gung ho and handled the abduction of Liz with the finesse of a bull in a china shop is shot dead in Germany for all Tom knows, so why the need to kill Scottie?

Tom goes in and the assistant tells him she’s not there. Tom says he’ll wait. 

In other words, if he kills her, someone will know exactly who did it. This is not a tie up of a loose ends here, this is an opening of a giant can of worms if Tom does this. Apparently he thinks he can just kill Scottie and the full force of Halcyon, which he has seen with his own eyes, will not pursue him to the ends of the earth.

Anyway, Red calls him and tells him not to do it. 

Red: If you kill her, the answers you’ve been looking for your entire life will die with her. Tom: What are you talking about?

Tom looks at the picture. And puts together that she’s his mother. 

Tom: My mother. Red: Yes. Which is why I didn’t want you involved. Tom: Why didn’t you tell me? Red: You have a child to raise, Tom. If you start asking questions, it will put her at risk, it will put you at risk.

Tom: But her son is dead. She told me that herself. Red: Christopher Hargrave went missing when he was only 3 years old.

Tom: Christopher… Hargrave. Is that my name? Red: Susan Hargrave genuinely believes her son is dead.

Tom: So, she has no idea who I am? What, did somebody fake my death and hide me from her all these years? Why would anybody do that?

Red: Listen to me, Tom. Susan Hargrave has many secrets. Some of them concern you. If you want answers, you must conceal your true identity.

And there’s your basis for a new show. 

“My perfect baby boy. He loved the water. Found that necklace in a trinket shop during a trip to Ocean City. We had rented a house that summer, spent the whole week on the beach building sand castles with drawbridges and moats.That night, Howard and I had a… big fight. Too much to drink. Next morning, Christopher was gone. The police searched everywhere, but... nothing. He was just… gone. Like his castle.

“It’s been 28 years, and not a day goes by where I don’t walk into a room… hoping, praying he’ll be there.”

She half-jokingly asks if he’s here to kill her again. Tom says he was, but he won’t for his daughter’s sake. 

She tells him he’s hired. 

“In my experience, there’s a very fine line between love and hate. We could do incredible things together.”

He seems mistrustful. Says he’s sorry about her son and leaves. 

[bangkokjacknews]

Thai tourism industry and how the Thais are ruining it

The Thai tourism industry has been suffering over recent years, despite the claims of the Tourist Authority of Thailand.

And this is largely the fault of the Thai people themselves and their behavior towards their fee paying guests. Recently a tourist who turned off a moped because he said it was too loud was left dripping in blood when the furious rider punched him in the back of the head, during a holiday in Thailand. This is typical behaviour for the average Thai man who specialise in the cowardly strike from behind on old men, or women, who have had one too many and are ill-prepared for such an assault. Often with a crash helmet or wooden club. You never see Thai men being 'offended' by young, fit and sober chaps. You won't find them attacking anybody who can defend themselves, even from behind and with a helmet. Instead, they run away. Last year Chiang Mai started a campaign to try and lure back Chinese tourists, whose visits have fallen significantly lately. The drop in visitor numbers is thought to be related to the Thais’ constant criticism of the Chinese on social media, causing the them to boycott Thailand. Why have Westerners stopped going? And this is something like the reason the Americans stopped going there in numbers a few years ago. And the British, Australians & Europeans. The attitude of the Thai authorities and, in some cases the population, towards their guests is driving people away. The fifteen-year prosperity, thanks to the wealth Westerners brought in by the billion that looked, only a few years ago, as if it would never end, may well be ending. Take a look at tourism over the last forty-years and a pattern emerges. In the 1970's the early package tours took wealth and prosperity to Spain's, previously undeveloped, Costa del Sol region. The Coast of the Sun was cheap, easy to reach, beautiful, unspoiled and safe. The Spanish welcomed new customers to their bars, taverns, hotels & beaches by the million. And, of course, the crooks moved in too. The pickpockets, the muggers, the taxi driver scams, the water-ski scammers (you damaged my ski, that's $50, gracias). Waiters watered down wine, shops short-changed. Every non Spaniard was an opportunity and the Spanish police were bought and paid for. In on it - up to the nail-bag. So were the authorities. Ugly hotels went up, the beautiful shoreline was ruined, the seawater polluted, condos were bought and never built. Now-famous time share scams were established. . Golf club memberships were sold, to courses that would never be played. Nightmares were had and tears flowed. Greed flourished and wealth changed hands. https://bangkokjack.com/2019/06/19/epidemic-tourist-death-in-thailand/ The Crooks Then the foreign crooks all moved in and gun-fights were common. Taxi drivers cheated, robbed and raped. And the tourists were all chased out of town. People just stopped going there. First the Americans left. Then the British and other Europeans. The Japanese, so affluent during the 1970's & 80's, stopped going. The Russians had a brief look around, after their borders opened in the 1990's, but it was too late for Spain by then. There was no way to change the attitudes of the people by that time. A whole generation had grown up thinking tourists in numbers had always been there, and always would be. But the Russians also found somewhere else to go before long. Spain then spent the next twenty-years with its collective arms out saying, 'where you go, please come back handsome man.' But no-one goes back there now. Not in any numbers anyway. Spain is broke. The money is gone. Buildings lay derelict and a decent condo can now be picked up from a bank for the price of a medium sized car. And it serves them right. Spain was onto a good thing in the 1980's. And they thought it would last forever. But people who are abused, everywhere they go in a country, just stop going there. The tourist dollar went to Greece instead during the 1990's and exactly the same thing happen there too. Now their elderly scavenge for food in street bins and you can buy a decent apartment in Athens for pocket change. But, who would? The gravy train pulled into Turkey next, for a brief while, until the same thing happened there and tourists were chased away by robbing, thieving locals who thought they knew a good thing when it walked past them at night. Who, in their right minds, would go on holiday to Turkey now? Fifteen years ago (or something) the same gravy train left western stations and pulled into Thailand. Is any of this sounding familiar yet? https://bangkokjack.com/2019/08/25/beer-t-shirts-illegal-thailand/ So what is going on? It doesn't take long for the so-called quality tourist to be driven out of town. Parts of Thailand today mirror the Costa Del Sol during the 1980's. And I don't just mean the once beautiful coastline through Naklua and Wongamat that is now so badly scarred by high-rise chicken boxes. And nor do I just mean the polluted seawater, thanks to cheap drainage. It is every baht bus driver who pulled away without giving change. It is every chicken vendor who charged the white face more than they saw the person before them pay. And all the gold stealing ladyboys in the dead of night and every traffic ticket that is issued unfairly. Your Man in the Orient - Albert Jack It is every motorbike taxi driver who beat up and robbed a drunk tourist instead of helping him home and every bar worker who added tabs to a bin. And the tour guides who refused to help a stranded tourist because 'he didn’t pay for a tour guide. Next time he come he pay for tour guide. He learn his lesson and more money for us. Why should we help him now?’ I will tell you why, my lovely. Because he isn't coming back. There is no next time. The next time his (or anybody he knows) cruise ship docks in Laem Chabang Port him and his wife will stay on board, in the casino, and not come to Pattaya or Bangkok. The next stop for them is Saigon. Because you think he 'learn his lesson' sitting, sweating like a farmer, outside Mike's Mall having missed his bus. And you won't take him back to the ship on your half-empty, air-conditioned, tour bus because 'he no pay for guide.' He learned his lesson alright. 'He no come back' - ever. That is why you should have given him a lift, and been nice. And multiply that example by tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions of times over the few short years the gravy train has been coming to Thailand. It is every single thing, big or small. Because every time anything like this happens someone goes home and tells all of their friends, on Facebook, ‘don’t go there, go somewhere else instead.’ Most Thais are lovely people Now, obviously I don't mean everybody in Thailand are mistreating their guests. I don't even imply it is anybody outside the tourist centres. It is not that many inside towns like Pattaya & Phuket either. But it is enough. The small minority that are causing people to go home with a bad experience. Just as it was in Spain, Greece and Turkey.. And the Thai police do nothing about these people. Instead the tourist is usually blamed in some way. In Thailand the paying customer is always wrong. And imagine those bad experiences being shared many hundreds of thousands of times by modern social media users in all corners of the world over the last five years. As it is in China, right now. https://bangkokjack.com/2018/11/05/thai-politics-red-shirts-yellow-shirts/   They just don't understand it do they The people seem unaware of any of this. Chiang Mai deputy governor Mongkol Suksai tried to calm feelings down in the province when he said 'it is just a significant difference between cultures which, on many occasions, we Thais are not accustomed to. That is why it is vital that we make them understand how Thai people are. It is our job to show them what is acceptable, and more importantly, what is inappropriate in Thai culture.’ I am afraid not, Mr Governor. You couldn't be more wrong than that. It is an Olympic gold medal effort in being wrong. Who the hell made you deputy governor? The Chinese, Indian and Arab tourists are the level you are at right now, in terms of visitor. They are the customer. They bring the money. This is what you are left to work with. Europe, America, Australia and Russia have all been chased out of town, to Vietnam perhaps. Hurried over the border. This is what Thailand have right now. It is you who must adapt your service to suit the Chinese. If you want them to keep coming. Because if you don't then your tour guides, who have all been learning Manderin over the last twelve months, had better start learning Arabic, Hindi and Urdu instead. And it will serve them right too. Because that is what is coming next. Just ask the Spanish, the Greeks or the Turks. (First published as 'Are Days Numbered for the Thai tourist industry - August 2016) Report by Albert Jack https://bangkokjack.com/2019/08/28/top-scams-in-thailand/   – – You can follow BangkokJack on Facebook, Minds & Twitter. Or join the free mailing list (top right) Please help us continue to bring the REAL NEWS - PayPal Read the full article

[gettzapped]

Want more sacred TRUTH & fun, smart-mouth brutal honesty?

TAP FOLLOW!!

#JoinTheConsciousRevolution

This message is for anyone it reaches.

This is the story of The Decline of Civility & How We Rise to the Occasion, in a NUTSHELL.

Dare ya to read til the end.

Namaste.

You know you’re climbin’ the hill when yer having your morning coffee & you look up & see Bob Marley’s grown grandson jammin’ on Good Morning America. At age 16, I literally drove up & down all the back roads of my neighborhood, just to smoke weed & sing along to the entire Bob Marley box set word for word. I would totally crush that category on Jeopardy right now. Bob had it right, from the get go. Bob to me then… was this super awesome human that ruled the world.

He was young-ish to me, even though he had already passed away by then via a sudden death, & would have been around 45, my age now. Back in the 90s he was this bold & beautiful teacher & preacher who was & is one of my most cherished & significant life-altering mentors to date.💯 He was the dude who taught me the real meaning of God & love, going way beyond the antiquated & limiting, many times hypocritical, beliefs of the Catholic church, with all due respect.

Everything I was taught to believe growing up via the Catholic curriculum, was tainted with guilt & repetitive prayers that underhandedly belittled our beings as if our duty was to grovel at the foot of a holier than thou God Man in the sky. Bob Marley was a pure channel of the most high without the filter of man. He told the TRUTH, not the bent or twisted truth version. Looking back in retrospect, what a special soul, nothing short of a GIFT to this world. Fast forward… THIRTY years later…

Times, they are ‘a’ changin’.

Here we are, circa 2020. Is it me? Or, does being alive right now, in this strange day & age feel just a wee bit kinda heavy, too serious, a small drag even, & not very sweet or free spirited? Travel is either banned or limited, stay at home orders are either being encouraged or enforced. Mask wearing has us all hidden from each other. Not to mention, events, celebrations, Sunday Funday, Date Night or Girls Night Out… are just not the same with a mask on. Ya think? Masks, the Corona Virus itself, a giant dense dust cloud aptly named Godzilla, & recently banned choke holds, are literally limiting our ability to breathe in not just fresh oxygen, but also Prana life-force. What a sad state of affairs.

Massive locust swarms are ravaging Africa, the Middle East & India in record numbers causing all kinds of serious problems. There is such a thing as a murder hornet, & you might have one in your back yard. The impending election is more like an impending knock down drag out street fight to the death. Can you picture it?

Trump Vs Biden>>>

  Calling the cops right now for regular community concerns is debatable. Law enforcement folks everywhere are either getting hemmed up or resigning. Skeletons are coming out of high places & are causing people to step down from offices. Fatal “lost” footage of incidents of police brutality are now surfacing every week & these incidents contain absolutely unacceptable & shocking behavior.

There are protests all over the world, daily & for the 5th week in a row now because of this. National statues & monuments are being defaced & knocked down. New laws are being passed, executive orders enforced, states of emergencies declared, & Constitutional rights are in major question. Not to mention, the official 2020 hurricane season just began. And, oh yes… wild fire season is coming for ya too… I can already see the ominous glow strewn across the horizon.

Cyber bandits are in hacker heaven as they ruthlessly stalk work at homers like never before. Glitches have been common place beginning with PPP loans going to businesses that didn’t even need it. Our federal government just sent 1.5 BILLION dollars in stimulus payments to deceased people by accident. Can someone tell me how it makes any sense that people are still starving in other countries when dead people have that much money? And, if millions of mistakes were made with stimulus checks… imagine how many mistakes will be made with mail-in-ballads?

Social distancing has us all separated & suspicious of each other.

Hugs, kisses & mingling are frowned upon. Vacationing is practically prohibited, & god forbid you might want to casually date, have a cocktail, see live music… or get on a dance floor. Many pools are closed & you could get a hefty fine if you are on a beach without a mask. There is crazy talk about mandating vaccines, & that if you don’t comply, you could be dragged into a clinic & forced to take the needle. Did someone say “Police State?”

po·lice state /pəˈlēs ˈstāt/ noun [a totalitarian state controlled by a political police force that secretly supervises the citizens’ activities. A police state is a government that exercises power through the power of the police force. Since the beginning of the 20th century it has “taken on an emotional and derogatory meaning” by describing an undesirable state of living characterized by the overbearing presence of the civil authorities. The inhabitants of a police state may experience restrictions on their mobility, or on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement.]

SOUND FAMILIAR? You tell me…

There continues to be an uptick in cases, a reverse in openings, a rise in unemployment, & many small businesses do not have a fighting chance. Our economy is crashing & I wouldn’t be surprised if front line workers across the globe either seek an early retirement or become alcoholics at the end of this. Just the words alone “Corona Virus,” are enough to drive anyone mad at this point. If I have to hear David Muir say those two words one more time, I think I will just… spit. lol

What I would give to just have another go at summer camp ’85… when Tom & Jerry & a fat bowl of Apple Jacks ruled Saturday mornings, MTV was the greatest new invention, the pool & the ice cream man were the highlights of my day. Ah, days of innocence, ignorance & bliss, pig tails, & pink glitter jellies…  I was 8, lol.

The Old Earth is dying to make way for the New Earth that is emerging.

I feel sad, I can’t help it. There is a death taking place. A grieving period is at hand. The old familiar is being laid to rest. If you are a Gen-Xer, & you don’t feel just a wee bit sentimental right now, you might just be a robot with wirey machine guts & no soul. Those do exist ya know. They work for the impostor network, fondly named  hu-bots in our likeness. 🤖🤖🤖 Just making that up. But ya never know… 😳

As far as I am concerned, we have all been here on earth before, many, many times actually. Indeed, according to the Akashic records (or book of life), we have all lived on Earth in various other forms & dimensions or lifetimes of experience & expression that took place among all the many chapters of human existence. The returning is called reincarnation.

That said, I’m really not being a brat when I snip snap how annoyed I am right now. We might have cell phones & instant gratifications all over the place, & could be considered the most spoiled of any generation before us. And, no, we are not having to run for cover from bombs or hide from dictators, forage for food, or travel for days on horseback just to get home, but… god damn it…

We ARE having to endure a planetary transformation, like none ever experienced before. 🦋

Akashic Records Explained: click here!

There has got to be something said about that, right? I mean, come on. Let’s not sugarcoat. This entire stranger than fiction scene via 2020, is a straight shit show, if I ever saw one. If Aliens were looking down on us right now, they’d be like, “pass the space curls, Bra, what do ya say we kick it at the ship for a bit, rock some Netflix & chill… looks like the Earthlings are straight freaking out.” 👽👽👽

Ya think? Just when ya think it can’t get crazier, IT DOES. Am I lying? You just can’t make it up. And, every time ya turn on the talking head show… Blondie’s at the center of it all with some variation of reckless tweet in hand & that weird game face grimace that was solely constructed to throw people off. That part frown, part scowl & part smirk face. The smirk scowl frown. Trump has officially coined it, for sure.

To be clear, I’m not for or against Mister Trump, for several valid reasons.

But, as far as lip service is concerned, his stage presence could use a little pick me up. You know I’m not lying. We could really all use an articulate leader right about now, who knows how to speak from the heart & genuinely channel some wisdom, grace, goodness & guidance. But… we have the game show host of the Apprentice instead. Oh well. Looks like it’s up to us to be individually empowered cheerleaders then. 😎

I gotta say, if you are truly what you eat, then Mister Trump is definitely a hot dog. His diet is not a healthy one. I kinda feel sorry for the guy a little, I really do honestly feel like he is missing LOVE in his life. It just goes to show that you can have all the money & power in the world, but still be empty inside. No wonder why he insists on holding these big rallies, it’s the only way he receives the praise he needs to feel loved. Even Donald Trump deserves that. I think someone needs to tap ’em on the shoulder & when he turns around, just pull ’em in for a great big 5 minute bear hug. He needs it.

Anyway… going back to what’s happening to society at large, our entire infrastructure of how we KNEW things, what we grew up on, have been accustomed to, & familiar with… is crumbling. It’s a hard pill to swallow, any way you look at it… no matter who you are & how you slice it. Even history is being rewritten, if that even makes any sense. Sometimes deep down in that remote part of me, I just wish I was time traveled back on that horse in the Midwest riding through hills & valleys marveling at the sunset on the stretching vast horizon, chewing on a stick, tipping my hat to strangers, the whistle in the wind, my zen.

No more innocent puffy cotton candy days of ignorance & bliss for us.

The truth is all over the place now, in our face, on sidewalks, picket signs, park benches, billboards, bumper-stickers, brands, sides of buildings, peoples masks & tee shirts. Truth messages are everywhere ya turn. We can no longer get away with being spaced out, uninformed, unaware or broken. It is the information age after all. Now-a-days, ignorance is a choice.

Healing your demons or not, is also a choice, with so many various modalities currently available to clean, clear & help navigate through problematic issues, mental illness, or psychological challenges. Shame on you if you choose to continue to stay sick, stuck or stewing. For the love of God, you have a duty to the human race to be your best self. Stop being a pussy (with all due respect). There are no more excuses that give you a pass. We are all NOW WOKE, almost upon every single level, & if you are not… well, you must be either living under a rock, in major denial, not have internet, in a coma, really stoned, zoned out or zooted.

Speaking of which, opioids are NOT cool anymore, kids. They used to be though, in the Frank Lucas days of the sixties, or back when Sid Vicious shouted obscenities all over London town like a raging mad lunatic. They were even cooler when the garage band, grunge era squeezed every melodramatic dark & stormy personality out of the wormwood-work in the 90s. Kurt Cobain was smashing guitars & falling off stages, the ghost of Jim Morrison was God, mosh pits were a local staple, & droves of squatters, “gutter punks,” & “Deadheads” traveled in packs. They were a movement of sorts blanketing the nation with their knotty beaded dreads, guitar cases full of coins & joints, scabies, body odor, stray dogs, tatts & green & gold mohawks.

Just loitering all over your town, this brand of misguided youth had a knack for learning the hard way, & probably really thought they could put Raves & Dead shows on their resume under the relevant experience section. In those days, a Rock Stars’s M.O. was: dead in a hotel room at the ripe age of 27… The magic # for dying young. Being found dead with a needle in your arm under a bridge was not all that uncommon. Back in the day, that was actually a dignified way to to go, of sorts, in a twisted poetic kind of way.

EVERYBODY was high back then.

  Nothing mattered. No one cared. No one had to, really. Cause we all had a slew of good excuses memorized that made total sense & could hardly be denied by the status quo. Society was in the throes of dirty secrets, social injustice & an impending civil war, not to mention WAR. The kind where 1000s of soldiers are senselessly killed on foreign soil. Irac war, Desert storm, Gulf war, Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, eventually 911 & the war on terror. I’m no war buff but if you Google “war from 1990-2002,” Wikapedia produces a list 50+ long. War List

We were the rebellious kids making noise all over the place that carried the sins of our fathers to the extreme & acted out on the world stage because of it. That was the way we protested for change. Black painted nails, lips & eyes, ripped flannels, fishnets, chains, piercings, steel toe Doc Martins, patchouli, & cloves. Mosh pits, crowd surfing, a week long Dead show tripping balls was how we channeled our inner rage & copped right out of society.

We all had shitty childhoods. We all were scarred by religion or abuse. All of our genes were compromised & most of our family units were broken & dysfunctional. Many of us came from drugs & alcohol & poverty in the first place. Especially those who wound up trapped in a broken system disguised as a rescue mission called “Foster care.” We were bullied, outcasted, still in the closet, & also still secretly separated by race, gender, sexual preference, religion, nationality & class, whether anyone wanted to admit to it or not. There was an underlying segregation on every level.

We all smoked cigs, blunts, bowls, hit bongs, you name it.

There was the straight edge crew, however we all had the same core emotional discourse with each other. Speaking from the perspective of the darker end of the spectrum, we were constantly skeeming, scamming, bending the rules & breaking the law. School royally sucked & prospects for college weren’t a priority. We were gonna play music, hang on the corner or in a yard, get high n live in the basement or a back seat of a car forever & pan handle, dumpster dive, table score, & steal shit to stay afloat. Most of us wound up addicts or alcoholics & had to diligently dig ourselves out of a big black hole eventually later on, me included. Jay & silent Bob ring a bell? Yep, totally my generation.

Jackass anyone? Yep, also my generation… 😬

I wonder whatever happened to the many peeps of crazy Gen-X? I bet at least half are dead.

News update: those days are over, people. Heroin, dope, smack, whatever ya wanna call it, is OUT, not in. Heavy drugs & any kind of substance abuse is super frowned upon now. Copping out, dropping out & nodding out is no longer a thing. Can’t get away with shit, now. Not to mention there are cameras on every single stitch of every single corner. Big brother is not only watching, but if you have your location feature turned on, on your phone right now… the feds can show up at your exact location within seconds. Back in the day, drug dealers had cops paid off. Crooked cops & local politicians were not uncommon. And when the warrant unit kicked in the door with a Rolodex of mug shots, a blow job for a blind eye was an even exchange. Not to mention, no one had phones with recording  or location devices back then, no body cams… it was easy to be a stealthy deviant.

Can’t even get high, now-a-days, cause you are more likely to die first. Heroin packets are laced with Phentanol, first & foremost, AND ALSO… many other cuts that kill. Now, is not the time to be an Amateur. Heroin is no longer a recreational drug people may casually partake. It was always a risk & had always been abused to the max, no doubt… BUT NOW>>> it is a bonafide death wish, 100%, hands down. Russian Roulette, anyone? Doing dope is dangerous circa 2020, now more than ever before, simply for this very reason.

JUST SAY NO, is an understatement.

There is no endearment in the dope department, no fondness of the “nod,” or the punk rock kid just wigging out on the front lawn. No, we are woke now. Ignorance & bliss no longer exist. Period. End of story. Now is the time to get clean, if your not. Seriously, it’s just not cool anymore. The opioid crisis as they call it now, is such an F-ing, annoyance of our day. If you are not a part of the solution, then you are absolutely part of the problem. We frown upon problem people with issues, & addictions. The world today doesn’t play that mini violin for ya any more. Either you utilize the massively funded system in place to stop using drugs, get help, get healed & get completely redirected or go to jail & stay there. Zero tolerance is en vogue now. People are sick & tired of dealing with the folks who are sick & tired.😕

Back in my day, you were lucky if you could get into a 3 day detox… & if you did, there was a good chance you wouldn’t get any further treatment after that. The government didn’t care about us. We were scum of the earth to them. Not to mention, that 3 day detox was likely located right in the heart of the hood where you got high in the first place. All we did for 3 days was throw back orangy shots of methadone, gobble carbs, binge on sugary snacks, slirp serious coffee & smoke loads of everybody’s cigarettes.

With any luck, we’d catch a 5 cent rehab romance or two & get laid in a maintenance closet. Then we lazily lounged around in our shower shoes, with our “poor me” hats on… bragging about endless war stories, each one trumping the next. Squeeze a few mandatory NA meetings in there, & we were all feeling like, (big fat L on the forehead) Laaa—ooosers. By the time they let us back out… we weren’t clean or rehabilitated, we were worse, with brighter bad ideas & way better connections to way better shit. And waiting right outside, strategically placed there I’m sure… was the pusherman across the street on the corner, with your fresh blue Bart Simpson wake up bag to boot.

Once again, in case you haven’t noticed there is zero tolerance these days for any of that business. No body likes drug dealers who pollute our youth & no body wants to see anymore succubuses running around dumbfounded by life. Go get yourself some help, & stay there, ride it out & come out the other side with some sense, bro. Our world needs people with clarity, useful knowledge, skills & INTEGRITY. Not drop out losers & leechers. Take that shit elsewhere.

Maybe the Aliens will let you kick it with them in some space pod, where you will be welcome to space out. Cause this world today that we live in? Ain’t playin’ that runaway train wreck shit. 76 is the new 46 & Jerry Springer is probably floating around on a catamaran somewhere in the south of France right about now, puffin’ a Cuban & sippin’ Scotch from a lowball. And 81 year old Maury Povich is finally retired, probably livin’ in a Hawaiian shirt on a fishing dock in the Keys, sittin’ pretty on that heap of stock he invested in the paternity test market back in the early 2000’s.⛳🏌🌴

Yes… okay, it’s the 21st century, so let’s be reminded that unlike ever before, a large demographic of opioid addicts are actually functional responsible adults. The addict avatar is no longer just the junkie.

I see you…

“Soccer mom” types top the list. Suburbia pill pushers that have normal 9-5 lives & even go to church on Sunday are the new brand of dealers on speed dial. Attention: YOU TOO… need to snap out of it. You’re not foolin’ anybody, with your salon fresh, tennis mini skort wine Wednesday happy pill prance. You’re not foolin’ anybody with your side part Rico suave, plaid golf shirt little league coach next door swagger. We know what you have in your purse or back pocket. No matter who you are, it’s all the SAME GAME. Substance abuse doesn’t discriminate. Your behavior is no more useful to our society than the kid stoned on the step. You are reading this for a reason. Pass this message on to your base!

Remember when the Jehovah Witness folks used to go around knocking on everyone’s door & then leave those sunshiny pamphlets all over town for the pigeons to shit on? Those “Watchtower” pamphlets some with the heading: “The New Earth,” had pencil sketches of the world all happy, free & in perfect harmony. Well, turns out they weren’t too far off base. This historic moment now, is the long awaited age of Aquarius which has been described in religious literature to be the fateful end of times & the birth of the New Earth times.

However, the fantasy cartooned depiction of a mass “Rapture,” where only those who are saved fly up to heaven on some wondrous beaming holy elevator, while all the others are left here to go up in the flames of hell fire, isn’t accurate. This implication of impending doom was & is simply just a tall tale or fantastic fable construed to depict an exaggerated version of events that would come to be. The truth of the matter is, yes, while it may look like a shitshow here on Earth right now, there will be no actual Rapture. There will be a rather, gradual process of renewal, redefinition, reinvention, restoration & new beginnings here on the planet as we get through to the other side beyond the death & destruction of the old familiar ego-based infrastructure. “Oh so that’s what those cats were talkin’ about…”

This era we are living through & particularly this year 2020 phase of it… is the day & age when all the old distorted programs get extinguished.

Any & all the sludge that is leftover stuck to the streets, bathroom walls, or to peoples attitudes… will be exterminated. Up to & including the opioid crisis. This opioid crisis is gonna get flushed right down the toilet of yesteryear with the rest of the outcasted old paradigms, bad habits, poor patterns & expired programs. 🚬🚽💉💊 The system has already been implementing pseudo opioid pharmaceutical maintenance drugs such as buprenorphine, for some time now, which will indefinitely replace actual opioids in the end, for good. Going forward from now on, these controlled substances will initiate a mass rehabilitation like none ever seen before. No exceptions. So if you are a drug addict… you best rethink your position & consider jumping on the bandwagon… before one of those itty bitty bags or homemade pills drops YOU like a fly. Cause it’s only a matter of time.

Just like Antifa… there are underground militia that are wired for active duty, who work for the upper echelon who are given special orders to corrupt the system in special very intentional ways. Opioids are deliberately laced with lethal chemicals. You don’t know?? Nothing is an accident. The system will clean up these streets one way or another. May as well go get on the all expenses paid million dollar maintenance plan express. Choo! Choo! That’s what the system has set up for the substance abuser, the addict & user, at this time.

Then, you too can start being an asset to the community instead of a billowing idiot who nods out on steps & forgets to eat & shower, work & be responsible. Society has outgrown the drone. Bands like Alice & Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Tool, Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Danzig, Disturbed… just to name a few, aren’t relevant anymore. On the other end of the spectrum, Biggie Smalls, Tupac, NWA growin up in the hood type stuff that was super fueled with aggressive tones, egregious frustration, anger, revile & retribution, too, are not relevant any more.

That kind of corrupt cryptic culture no longer serves us.

Teenage angst, overdosing, gang banging & suicidal tendencies are no longer en vogue. The heavy wave of darkness that was held in place by art imitating life like that… is no longer drowning our culture in lament & contempt.

Rolling Stone is now about the band or musician most likely to start a non profit & raise a skillion dollars for hungry kids & starving goats somewhere in Thailand. These artists today are all evolved & enlightened with backstories of triumph & positive vibes. Most of the musicians & artists who created memorable moments back in the day, did so from a place of total unrest, rebellion, anger & anxiety & as a reflection of the dark underbelly of a society gone rogue on so many levels.

It was the beautifully flawed artistic era of the creative expression of the “shadow.”

It was where conflict, dark emotional stuff, pain, grit, grief, & escape mechanisms lived & were even celebrated. Being stoned to oblivion, tripping balls for days, slingin’ rock, dope or weed, partying overboard or head banging with a vengeance was a common thread. However what the world needs now… is LOVE, sweet love, drug & hostility free. All that crazy immature rigmarole that made us pumped for destruction before, is simply not accurate or useful anymore.

Geez, for the past 100 years, since Al Capone days, our culture has both feared, served, & glorified gangsters. The Italian Mob, The Irish Mob, The Cartels. These people were glamorized for their bad attitudes, & bass ass personas. They were esteemed for their violent no nonsense malevolent activity. Story after bloody story told, movie after movie made to showcase their swag. Talk about art imitating life, the general populous romanticized De Niro movies & the Sopranos. And, Al Pacino? The holy grail. Every drug dealer’s house I ever went to back in the day had a “Scarface” poster on the wall, no kidding.

“Say hi to my little friend…” was like a friggin mission statement to them.

  I mean, don’t get it twisted, I am 100% Italian from Philadelphia Pa, & these people were my ancestors. They have an endearing quality to me more than anybody. But, just because that’s what one is familiar with, doesn’t make it right. These guys look like my Dad, brothers, grandfather, uncles & cousins. I get warm & fuzzy just seeing their stony mugs. Somehow, It makes me feel safe & like Spaghetti dinner on Sunday. And, voila! That’s how they get ya. A good mastermind lures you in with Ted Bundy charm, smarts & swagger & then when you’re not looking, he beheads the dog & cuts you into pieces & sends them in a box to your mother.

Our culture has put bad characters on pedestals, idolized cold blooded killers that were ruthless & dangerous.

In doing so, we basically condoned cruel & unusual punishment & just about revered made men as hometown heroes. Mafiosos were nothing short of a menace to society. These local terrorists infiltrated the streets, neighborhoods, & communities with fear, lies, deceit, drugs, infidelity, violence, greed, prostitution & organized crime. Law enforcement was in on it many times, they all were in bed together. So many senseless deaths over the years. Thank god, that craze & obsession with this avatar is expiring now. Those old gangsters need to stay right in the graves they lie in. R.I.P.

We do not have room for angst or aggression in our midst, anymore.

Don’t ya think we’ve had enough?? That tired old program is defeated & withering away with the horse it rode in on. It’s about time that we move to improve, & begin to infuse our communities with positive vibrations. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Bob Marley box set anyone? Gee, if Bob was alive circa 2020, he would have been proud… lol. Hemp gardens, weed farms, weed bars, CBD products, cannabis culture, legalization of marijuana. I bet Bob has rolled over in his grave so many times by now, he decided to get up, climb out & do a dance. Not saying cannabis is the answer, but, it can definitely be a vice we can work with going forward, to help generations transition to an eventual substance free life mode.

That said, we now have the tools to go forth in style & become the tribe of humans we were destined to become.

Not only do we have the cannabis culture to assist by making the transitions smoother & less resistant, but we have established & secured a holistic movement. Today in this country & across the globe, there is a mass alliance of lightworker individuals who work for the highest good of humanity. This worldwide movement of people endorse, promote & practice holistic healing methods, spiritual guidance systems, natural remedies, mindset shifting, metaphysics, meditation, yoga, breathwork, & all the Spiritual Arts. In lieu of pharmaceutical drugs, holistic health practitioners now offer organic natural medicinal solutions to ailments & illnesses that do indeed work to restore & protect wellness without toxic chemicals with likely side effects.

Now more than any time in history, we have 1000s of healers (with bells on) all over the map, who are ready & waiting to help.

If you are willing, you can even learn to be one of these people, via online certification programs, classes, retreats, & live events that teach,  reveal & implement sacred knowledge. You too, can now become a life coach, energy worker, healer, wayshower, soul guide, spiritual advisor, or holistic practitioner. There are thousands of specialized programs to explore. The Mind Valley Academy, being one of the most popular educational platforms with a plethora of bootcamps, classes & programs to sharpen, shift, & assist you in becoming the best version of yourself thus fulfilling your Divine purpose. Heck, YouTube is now chock full of amazing portals of knowledge & wisdom, as is Facebook live.

No longer must we sit around waiting & wondering when & how & who & what & why me?? No longer do we need to be victims & victimizers, escape artists, fear-based hate mongers, or blind followers who avoid the true good humane experience of a life well-lived. No longer must we subject ourselves to distorted miscreated wounded identities that evolved from the lack, limitation, blocks, densities, & old stuck stuff inherited from our wounded ancestors generation after bloody generation. That’s the outdated version of the human being.

👿😟😱😠😓😫😞😒😢😐😬😶😖😵😴

It’s time for love, light & high vibration. Lets graduate.

It’s time to upgrade the system to meet the needs of the new normal the new brand of human wherefore he is mostly freed from those spiky chain links of a distorted, miscreated, wounded identity.

The melancholy of yesteryear was born from the underlying sicknesses beneath the surface.

Just look at all the sick, twisted, despicable, & most times diabolical behaviors of Catholic child molesters, Boy Scout molesters, Olympic (USA Gymnastics) molesters, & all the famous rapists like Cosby, Weinstein, Epstein, R Kelly, & Matt Lauer who ruined soooooo many lives. Look at all the covered up sex assault cases in the Military. Look at the millions of Indigenous women that have gone missing to no avail. Look at the 10’s of thousands of unsolved rape cases, with kits to prove it, dating back decades, that are still buried in file cabinets to the ceiling in warehouses across every municipality there is. Look at all the clandestine sex trafficking rings, incest cases, international gender inequalities that force females to be slaves or sexually mutilated. Look at all the insidious sex assaults that had been woven into the fabric of the dysfunctional modern day corporate world & a predominately sexist society, up until now. Harassment in the workplace, unfair treatment, unequal pay, & mad disparities between races & genders have been rampant across the board.

In the current 2020 climate, we are now seeing sex abuse, racism & police brutality unearthed center stage for everyone to witness. All the wrongdoing in our culture is now being EXPOSED in all its glory once & for all. The Twelve Step program says: “secrets keep us sick,” & this applies here. No longer can any of these unethical destructive behavioral patterns infiltrate our human society, if they are publicly displayed. As all of it becomes a secret no more… we as a nation of human beings can begin to walk down the road to recovery & heal. Recovery from the addictions humans have to each other, injustice, control, power, mistakes, missteps, fear, anger, pain, grief, greed, suffering, sex, food, abuse, overuse, the 7 deadly sins, if you will.

Originating in Christian theology, the seven deadly sins are pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. Pride is sometimes referred to as vanity or vainglory, greed as avarice or covetousness, and wrath as anger. That sounds about right.

How about human’s horrible addiction to animal flesh & product, otherwise known as meat, seafood & dairy?

This unnecessary propensity to consume animal at all the levels that we do as a race… is no longer a mode of survival, it is a gross abuse & misuse of power to the absolute EXTREME. There is absolutely NO REASON we as a human race NEED to consume animal product in the excessive EXTREME way that we are brainwashed to do. IT’S WRONG.

And, I’m sorry I’m not sorry, but Asian countries are the worst. They kill dogs for food, for godsake. RIGHT NOW, terrified dogs & cats are crammed in cages in some dark back alley in China, waiting to be tormented, tortured & killed by sick & twisted bad greedy people for the sake of a sale & unnecessary human consumption. What is wrong with these people??

Animals in cages, animals shoved in pens, animals caught in traps, animals violated, tortured, taunted, hunted or executed… THIS IS  NOT OKAY. God’s creatures deserve humane rights & dignities, & deserve to be honored, respected & valued. Any human being that goes against that, is going against GOD. In circa 2020, there are millions of animals far & wide abused, hurt, tortured, imprisoned, slaughtered & murdered every single second of every single day upon this Earth planet. Any HUMAN drone, monster or blind follower that commits these heinous acts, plays any part in them, endorses them, funds them or participates in any way… will be subject to KARMIC BACKLASH. Do not be mistaken.

🐷🐮🐶🐒🐴🐑🐘🐔🐣🐖🐂🐎🐄🐟🐙🐬🐐🐏🐅🐕🐓🦌🦏🦆🦅🦁🦃🦀🦂🐰🐒🐢🐧🐦🐻🐨

Did you know that kielbasa & sausage are made of residual meat guts stuffed into a casing made of animal intestines. The chicken you ate yesterday was slaughtered inhumanely for your unnecessary consumption.

Gummy bears are made with beef gelatin. Red food coloring like in a Red Velvet cake is made of beetle bodies. That collagen in your beauty product is likely made of bovine connective tissue. Cow’s milk does NOT do a body good, either.

Maybe we should consider taking a page out of certain celebrity playbooks…

  Sugary stuff made with sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, “diet” stuff made with sucralose, & artificially flavored & colored stuff made with genetically modified organisms… are harmful & can even be deadly. These things if consumed regularly over a period of time, will rot your teeth, corrode your arteries, spike your blood levels, & age & deteriorate your body, heart & mind. Over time, these things will produce poisonous bacteria & micro organisms that will make a home in your G.I. track & inevitably will compromise your ability to expel waste. That means, you will rot from the inside out, like a toilet that is never flushed. Pretty gross, but pretty true.

PROPAGANDA is false advertising that is constructed for one reason: to make people believe they need a certain product in order to be healthy or happy… or else. Or else is the key catch phrase here. It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book… to employ urgency via a fear of the consequences of missing out on that benefit.

They lie to us.

  This shit is not cool or healthy or aligned with any kind of new improved direction we as humans are desperately attempting to move in. We should outlaw all of it. That stuff doesn’t reflect us anymore. Just like the Confederate flag, the slave owner soldier statues, the class warfare of our tax system, the rich getting richer & poor getting poorer system of a bogus democracy, the 9 to 5 American Dream sham model, lame excuses for hourly wages, the federal standard “minimum wage,” exorbitant student loan debt, high interest car payments & mortgages that enslave us for decades. Then we have deeply inaccurate text books, biased history books, an uninspiring school system & an outdated crooked curriculum that we have been forcing on our children generation upon generation, to learn & absorb by law. What a miscarriage of justice. None of it works. None of it even makes sense.

This is the “old familiar” that no longer serves us.

All of it is based on rotting outdated principles that do not build or advance us positively. All of it was invented by the ego-based regime of a man made system that honored a man-made rule of law. At this point, it no longer fits the bill, & has proven over time to be extremely insidiously damaging & counter intuitive, to say the least. Statistic after sad statistic we see a clear systemic failure to properly deliver life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. Do people really still believe the BIG LIE? It’s hard to watch the mainstream media sometimes, when so many stories featured are with people who play the victim card. The system was made to label, divide, separate, brainwash, control, manipulate & victimize. It was a set up to begin with.

The entire world infrastructure has produced extreme class warfare, economic, cultural & educational disparities. The American system has produced extreme class warfare, economic, cultural & educational disparities & has been designed to work only for a select few. The system has failed the rest of us royally. The system that had been in place all these years has essentially sold us all snake oil. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The good intention in this case is the sale of the American pipe dream. Buying into the chasing the tail mentality of a 40 hour workweek & all that goes with it, has taken our souls hostage while breaking spirits & breaking up families. Ants marching, drones, zombies, blind followers, rats in cages, sheeple, whatever ya wanna call it. The system over all, has produced & proliferated a plethora of adverse conditions. Instead of thriving citizens, we have just surviving citizens, big difference. The system of man’s government, society & free enterprise needs to be revised.

In one way or another, the current structure of government, society & free enterprise has clearly produced & proliferated the following:

[Sickness, disease, dissatisfaction, unfulfillment, obesity, struggle, fear, anger, sadness, stress, anxiety, mental illness, poverty, food deserts, food insecurity, hunger, homelessness, helplessness, hopelessness, violence, terrorism, war, slavery, addiction, substance abuse, crime, suicide, child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, unwanted pregnancies, abortion, damaging control dramas, a dog eat dog dynamic, us versus them mentality, overworked & underpaid struggling slaves to society & ultimately a compromised quality of life across the board.]

I don’t call that a successful system. That system has riddled us with issues, drama, & pain. That system has exhausted us, diluted us, damaged us, & corrupted us. What we need is reform to the highest degree. We need mass renovation, redefinition & reinvention, NOW. This unjust system must be rewired to fit a new improved system of advancement that serves us honestly, fair, balanced, efficiently, effectively for all, & based on principles with morals & values that serve God’s law not man’s.

We must ultimately move away from the “rape consciousness” of the earth & its inhabitants, to the consciousness of compassion.

By honoring Mother Earth we activate the Divine force of unity, oneness & love. We go from ego-based living to soul based living, leaving behind what no longer serves us as we go forth to unlock the Divine within. This shift must happen in order for humankind & the planet to be spared from karmic consequences of death & destruction. Matter of fact it IS happening right now as we go through this 2020 year. Lightworkers & Wayshowers are working tirelessly across the globe to download new DNA codes & upgrades so to assist humanity into moving into a 5D experience here on Earth. Not to mention, the planetary realm & the sacred science of astrology has been delivering eclipse after eclipse to assist in these massive energy shifts happening to not only us, but by & large to the very crystalline core of the Earth Star, upon every single level!

Flowers will smell more fragrant, air will be fresher, music more melodic, food will feed not just the senses, but the soul.

Our lives will no longer be burdened by old expired programs of survival, sacrifice, suffering, trading time for money, but be aligned, attuned, calibrated & upgraded, rather, to a new & improved level of existence. A new level of existence wherefore everything we have been living thus far will just BE BETTER, brighter, easier, more advanced, enjoyable, flowing & fulfilling. You could call it, moving closer to the paradigm of Heaven on Earth.

Instead of being takers, thieves, or energy vampires stealing from the planet, others, animals & resources… we become radiant evolved bringers of light, harvesters of abundance, & conscious creators. Instead of being savage scavengers, suffering succubuses, victims & blamers we become responsible manifestors of life-giving habits & practices. Habits & practices that restore, preserve, protect, fortify, revitalize, & energize. Habits & practices that produce, provide & promote peace. Habits & practices that heartily harness holistic health, happiness & harmony.

The goal & ultimate endgame, is to collectively move away from our addiction to pain, struggle & suffering.

This long overdue courageous quantum LEAP of faith begins when we give ourselves permission to level up. When we willfully choose to move into embodying our light codes, activating our light bodies & thus upgrading our beings into a higher vibratory frequency on a cellular level, we do that. Only in this way can our multi-dimensionality be integrated into our “mundane” daily lives. Mundane daily lives AKA the 3 Dimensional & 4 Dimensional realms.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Christians are often criticized for claiming that Jesus is the only way to God. But what he/they meant was this: only by raising the vibration/frequency of our energetic Auric fields, can we coexist with the Earth plane & Planet Terra in a more advanced 5 Dimensional God-forward way. Raising our vibration is how we embody the Christ (Cosmic) Consciousness (essentially embodiment of said Jesus), & is indeed the ONE & ONLY way to live free & be in alignment with the totality of LOVE. Only via raising our vibration can we experience & express the “God Image” we were meant to be made in. Only by WAY of raising our vibration do we & can we embody the TRUTH & LIFE, Jesus was speaking about.

*3 Dimensional (height, width & depth physical plane)

*4 Dimensional (emotions, time, space, astral plane)

*5 Dimensional (Angels, guides, elemental beings, beyond the veil of illusion or physical/emotional planes. The Fifth Dimension is a level of consciousness. We move into this level of consciousness after Self Realization or the realization of our GOD selves has occurred.

And in & through entering the “Kingdom of God” this way… we thus free up the many burdens of this 3D level of experience. We thus loosen the chains of the 3D physical realm of low hanging fruit which has essentially bound us to the dense & heavy vibration of malevolence & misfortune. if we choose to RISE, we can & will facilitate a much smoother earth plane experience & thus exist here in a higher vibratory frequency mode. Technology is now in the process of going from 4G to 5G, just as our beings are now similarly going from 3D to 5D & beyond. It’s no coincidence this is happening simultaneously. We update & upgrade our technology as warranted, what makes our beings or souls any different? I’m like walking around with a sign that says: “Getchyour DNA upgrades here!” lol

It is now TIME to integrate our Divine Sovereignty.

There are free ACTIVATIONS available all over the place. I will list links below. That said, let’s reach up & pull that grace down into us. It is now time for us to no longer fear death by no longer fearing to live LIFE FULLY. It is now time to delete old programs & paradigms that kept harbored heartache alive. Each & every time an old pattern or program, or deceptive or negative thought arises, just consciously release it into the white light of transmutation. It’s easy. Each time one surfaces, simply acknowledge it & let it go. Catch & release, if you will. Imagine watching it rise into the light, pop & disappear with all the rest of the popping bubbles of injustice, inequity, & fear.

Then, state this powerful affirmation with conviction: “I NOW RELEASE any pattern or program that no longer serves my highest good or the highest good of others. I NOW RELEASE any & all habits or addictions that no longer serve my highest good or the highest good of others. I NOW UNLOCK my true Divine I AM presence. I NOW UNLOCK my true inner Divine avatar. I NOW EMBRACE my soul’s true purpose. I NOW EMBRACE my highest vibrational center point of gravity. I NOW ALLOW perfect union with the Divine. I NOW ALLOW the ease of this life to serve me. I NOW KNOW my next step. I NOW KNOW my next move. I AM confidently moving into Authentic Action. I AM Divinely guided & light-filled as I move forward ever-present on the Divine path of my highest calling. Easily & effortlessly do I RISE. Repeat as needed. 

Fear & scarcity only arise to protect us. These are a false sense of security & are illusions there-of. F. E. A. R. False Evidence Appearing Real.

There is nothing to fear here.

A new day has dawned, one of perfect union with the Divine, one heart, one love, together we rise. So it is!

Namaste

Jenay Zapp (keep scrolling)

One Love

Bob Marley

Press Play!

One love One heart Let’s get together and feel all right Hear the children cryin’ (One love) Hear the children cryin’ (One heart) Sayin’ give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right Sayin’ let’s get together and feel all right

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One love) There is one question I’d really love to ask (One heart) Is there a place for the hopeless sinners Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs

One love! What about the one heart (One heart) What about the people Let’s get together and feel all right As it was in the beginning (One love) So shall it be in the end (One heart) All right Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right Let’s get together and feel all right

One more thing Let’s get together to fight this Holy Armageddon (One love) So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One song) Have pity on those whose chances grows thinner There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation

Sayin’ one love What about the one heart (One heart) What about the Let’s get together and feel all right

I’m pleadin’ to mankind! (One love) Oh, Lord (One heart) Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right Let’s get together and feel all right Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right Let’s get together and feel all right

Songwriters: Curtis Mayfield / Bob Marley

3D… R.I.P.✌

Press Play!

Activation List:

Ask Angels website for activations

Era of Peace website for Vlog activations

New Earth One website for 100s of activations

“The name AMERICA is an anagram for the I AM RACE. This name was intended to reflect a race of God Conscious people comprised of ALL races, ALL nationalities, ALL cultures, ALL religions, ALL creeds and ALL Lifestyles. A race of people who are functioning within the full embrace of their I AM Presence reflecting Oneness, Divine Love, Reverence for ALL Life, and decisions and actions that perpetually reflect the highest good for ALL concerned.”

—Patricia Cota-Robles http://www.eraofpeace.org

It’s now up to you to decide for yourself. If you made it all the way through til the end, this message was meant FOR YOU.

Namaste 

Want more sacred TRUTH & fun smart mouth brutal honesty?

TAP FOLLOW!!

#JoinTheConsciousRevolution

My most recent BOOK HERE>>> Rise! To the occasion!

Click Link>>>View & purchase All BOOKS here!

11 ways we Birth the New Earth: 2020 edition

Ignorance & Bliss no longer exist: A message for addicts & everyone else Want more sacred TRUTH & fun, smart-mouth brutal honesty? TAP FOLLOW!! #JoinTheConsciousRevolution This message is for anyone it reaches.