#employees fired over facebook

[fallingfor-fics]

Business Ethics- Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x fem! IT employee

Word count: 4.3k

Warnings: none, drinking, angst, implied smut. flirting

Summary: Melissa finds out you're getting fired and doesnt know how to tell you but eventually word gets out.

You had worked at Abbott for about 3 years now in the IT department and loved your job with a passion. You had skills with computers and didn't mind using those to make some good money, not to mention you got to work with good people. They never gave a shitty attitude or were sexist pigs like other places you worked. Not to mention thanks to this job you met your girlfriend Melissa. Her being a teacher here worked out well, but you haven't got around to telling anyone yet because you don't want to worry about gossip, and of course the HR issues. You were currently on your way to the break room because someone had called about the wifi not working in there. It usually is just an issue on their end, but you don't mind since it's an easy fix and you get to stop and chat with some of the other staff for a bit. You are an angel in about half of the staff's eyes since you seem to magically fix all their tech issues with projectors and what not. The other half never paid mind to you but were always friendly. 

“Hey! Got a call about Wifi?” you say walking in and Barb sticks up her hand with a finger pointed to signal you over. 

“Yeah Facebook isn't loading and it's really ruining my relaxing lunch.” she scoffed and you smiled walking over.

“May I?” you ask, gesturing to her phone and she hands it to you. You peek above her phone to spot the empty seat beside her. She notices and stares at you intensely. 

“She’s not here yet, I think she ran off campus for food today.” Barb answers and you look at her with a faux confused face.

“Um..” you pause and clear your throat before sitting up straight and handing her phone back, “You were on the guest Wifi.” you said before turning to leave. 

You are met with Melissa's bright eyes and large smirk as she looks you up and down. “Hey Wall-E what brings you to these parts?” Melissa mocks at you as she moves past to sit down.

You roll your eyes at the name she chose today, usually she goes for Specs, Droid, or Short Circuit. You turn to face her and she smiles when your eyes meet, you can tell she enjoys teasing you like this in front of everyone and you hold back your own smile. Before you can answer you get a call from another teacher to help with their computer and so you bite your tongue and walk away. Once you are gone Barb lets out a large breath. 

“Oh my god I thought I was gonna go crazy.” Barb gasps

“What? How come?” Melissa asks, confused. Barbra leans in close to whisper. 

“Ok Ava told me this earlier and you can not tell anyone, especially Y/n,” she started and Melissa nodded for her to continue “according to Ava since they have to make some departmental cuts, the superintendent said they are going to have to let Y/n go” She sits back up and looks around to make sure no one heard. 

Melissa leans up slowly with shock over her face. She feels her stomach drop and she begins to already grow guilty for having this knowledge. 

“That's crazy.” Melissa mutters with a clear upset. 

“I know and who knows what this means for the other staff and oh I feel so bad for the girl but ya know last one in first one out..” Barbra keeps rambling on but Melissa tunes her out as she thinks about you. She gets up without a word and rushes to Avas office. She knew the superintendent, Jamie, was still on campus and likely to be talking with Ava so she took this as her opportunity.

She doesn't bother knocking and just opens Ava’s door, standing in front of her desk with a tight lip and furrowed brow.

“What now Schemmenti? Did you really have to disturb my meeting?” Ava says annoyed.

“You're firing Y/n?” she says with attitude and Ava sighs, setting her magazine down.

“Um, Yes we are letting her go.” Jaime says calmly with a sympathetic smile, not allowing Ava to speak.

“But why? She has been here for three years and she has been helping us out so much she doesn't deserve this.” Melissa said with anger in her throat, she tried her best to stay calm and not yell, but she felt so much for you she couldn't not say anything.

“I don't want to Ms.Schemmenti but with where we are at it was either her or one of our Food Service Directors and that department is a complete mess so we couldn't afford to lose one of them.” Jaime says trying to reason with her by providing her excuses

“Bullshit.” Melissa scoffs

“Look I don't like this anymore than you do but at the end of the day it has nothing to do with you so just let it go Ms. Schemmenti. Understood?” Ava was now standing to level with Melissa and Melissa's arms were crossed as she shook her head and clenched her jaw. 

“And you can't tell her Melissa, it's not your place and if I find out that you even mentioned the possibility to her-” Ava began trying to sympathize before Jamie cuts her off

“We will have to ask you to resign.” Jaime finished and both Melissa and Ava’s  eyes went wide. 

“You can't fire me for telling her.” Melissa scoffed, Ava looked down. 

“We have a long list of new teachers that want to work here Ms. Schemmenti, so it wouldn't be an issue.” Jaime smirked and Melissa held back the words that were prying to pour from her mouth and just stormed out. 

--

Later that day you and Melissa were hanging out at her place and watching some random Judge show and after some comfortable silence, Melissa spoke softly and with a rather monotone voice. 

“If you had bad news about a coworker but you couldn't tell them or you may get fired, would you risk that or just ya know mind your own business?” She muttered and you scrunched your brows.

“Hmm, that's a good question. Normally I'd mind my own business, but..” You paused looking up at her from your place on her shoulder, “I think it also depends on how close you are with them you know?” you finish and then look back at the TV. 

“Yeah, good point.” she sighs as she chews on her cheek with furrowed brows.

--

You haven't seen Melissa all week and she was being super dry in text and it was beginning to worry you, she did this every now and then and it usually meant she was dealing with some personal or family stuff, but it hasn't happened in a while since she was getting really good at communicating these things to you. You finally decided to corner her during the lunch hour and see what was going on. 

You spotted her walking down the hall as you left another classroom and you walked faster to catch up. 

“Melissa, hey can I uh, talk to you?” you asked softly and she stopped to look at you. She fidgeted and looked at her watch as if she was in a hurry, but eventually nodded.

“Yeah sure.”

You looked around before grabbing her hand and leading her to one of the far stairwells you often met up in since it hardly got used. You waited for the door to shut before sitting on one of the steps.

“Mel, what's been going on? I haven't seen you all week.” you asked softly and she sighed her hands coming to cover her face in frustration before they ran through her hair and she started pacing slowly. 

“I know and I'm sorry.” she muttered, not looking at you. 

“Is it something between you and your family, or work, or.. Us?” you hesitated with the last topic and she shook her head. You stood up and grabbed her hips to get her to stop pacing and face you. You pushed her to lean against the wall behind her and she sighed. 

“I have to tell you something but if anyone finds out i'll get fired.” she said plainly.

You laughed, thinking she was joking. “Mel, come on, don't be dramatic.” 

“I wish I was Y/n but I'm serious, and it's been tearing me up all week long and I didnt think I could hold it in if I was around you.” she smiled and your own smile faded as you looked between her eyes. 

“Just tell me it's fine, I won't say anything!” you said sincerely and she nodded.

“Ok, um, I was told that due to lack of resources and financial issues, they are going to…fire some people.” she said with a worried tone and sympathetic but slightly awkward smile. Melissa did plan on telling you but she saw your worried gaze and panicked, skipping around the truth. 

“What? You’re kidding me! How do you know this? Do we know who yet?” you asked with furrowed brows.

“Um Barb told me and I got it confirmed by Ava and Jamie, but we don't know who or how many.” she stated plainly.

“Oh my gosh, I mean i'm sure we will be fine, it’ll be the last one in the first one out.” you said looking down as you shook your head. 

Melissa looked at you and felt her chest tighten, she felt panic wash over her again and pushed herself off the wall.

“Well I got to go back to class hon.” She chirped, walking over to stand in front of you. 

“Yeah I should head back too. Ill see you later tonight?” you asked and she moved her hands to your hips. 

“Umm it's maybe on tonight, I have papers to grade and stuff. Ill see you tomorrow night though, for drinks with the others yeah?” she said with a cheery tone as she lifted your chin to look at her. 

“Yeah.” 

“Great, and I’ll pick you up so you don't have to drive.” she smiled and leaned in for a kiss. You kissed her softly and slowly, you hands moving to slide into the back pockets of her jeans, her hands roamed down to your hips again to grasp them firmly and you pushed into the kiss harder. Finally you pulled away to get air and your cheeks flushed a deep red. 

“Fuck Schemmenti. Bring that energy tomorrow night.” You whispered out of breath, your eyes looking into her with heavy lids. She laughed and pulled away, kissing your cheek and leaving.

--

The group that was going to the bar consisted of Barbara, Melissa, Ava, Jacob, and Janine, and of course yourself. Gregory opted out so he could come pick the others up when we were all ready to leave. You were finishing your makeup as you waited for Melissa to get here, excitement to go out with everyone filled your chest, the only downside was having to act just friendly with Melissa after having some drinks. You were fine if you took it slow and paced yourself, but one too many cocktails and Melissa turns into a lone flame, dancing in the air before your eyes, illuminating your whole face and making it devilishly hot. She draws you in and you can't feel satisfaction or peace until you have her around you. Melissa loves this about you obviously, and nine times out of ten she gives you what you want. 

So tonight you were sticking to beer. Or at least that's what you told yourself.

You heard a car door and quickly headed downstairs, grabbing your purse and locking the door behind you. You were wearing casual yet flattering clothes, ones that accentuated your features and wouldn't make you overheat. 

“Hey baby.” Melissa smiled as she got out of the car and opened your door. 

“Hi love.” you said, giving her a peck before getting into the passenger seat. She shut the door and walked around to get back in. You changed the station as she did so and when she got back in she looked at you, your face gazing out the window. 

“Night just started and you’re already being a brat.” her tone was low and sarcastic and you couldn't help the grin that spread on your face.

“I don't know what you’re talking about.” you said slyly and she scoffed, pulling out of the driveway and heading to the bar. It wasn't far from her house thankfully, and you were able to get decent parking. The first hour went by fast, and Ava had made everyone do a shot when they got there, so you made sure to be careful. You all just talked and gossiped for most of the night, watching drunk people do karaoke at the front of the bar. You looked over and saw a pool table and got excited, you nudged Melissa and she looked over. 

“Maybe we can sneak away for a round or two?” you said looking at her, she turned to look at you, her face dangerously close to yours. 

“Damn already? I thought you were pacing yourself.” she smirked and you rolled your eyes.

“Of pool.” you remarked and she tilted her head with a teasing glance.

“Mhm. Lead the way.” she said and you got up, going to the bar to get you and Melissa another beer, and then heading to the table, Melissa took the cold bottle from your hand, her fingers brushing yours and you smiled at her. 

“Watch it.” She just shrugged in response and you grabbed a stick, handing her one after she finished setting it up. You moved aside and let her break and she looked at you with a spine chilling smirk. You watched as she bent over, your eyes tracing over her back and around the curve of her ass, her fingers delicately placed around the stick as she moved it back and forth. You took a sip to cool you down, and looked away. You looked over at the group and they were still in a deep gossip session. You looked back and Melissa was lining up for another shot and you laughed. 

“How many did you get in on the break?” you questioned and she looked up at you after hitting another and making it in.

“Two.” she moved to stand in front of you, lining up her next shot, she bent down slowly and you looked in  disbelief, looking around to see if anyone noticed, she pressed her ass into your center and right as she went to hit the ball you gripped her hips, your thumbs sliding up her shirt slightly so they could press into her skin with force, she tensed up and let out a small gasp and it caused her to miss the shot. She stood up quickly and looked at you. 

“So that's how we are going to play huh?” you smiled and walked to take a shot. You got two in before you were getting ready for your next and Melissa started to fidget with her heel, she stood across from you, her hand on the side of the table. She leaned down slightly, fixing the non existent issue and causing her cleavage to be directly in your eyeline. You looked into her eyes that were dark and secretive. You couldn't help your eyes dipping back down to her perfect breasts and you rolled your eyes, taking the shot and standing back up before the ball even made it halfway to the pocket. Of course to no one's surprise, you missed, and you went to sip your drink while Melissa took her next turn.

Eventually it was down to Melissa and you both one away from the 8 ball, you had both continued playing dirty and Melissa just happened to be better at doing that, and with assets like hers it's easier to do. Melissa paused to drink her beer as she prepared for her turn. You quickly went to the bartender and ordered two shots, heading back over to Melissa. She looked at you and raised a brow. 

“Thanks hon but I probably shouldn't drink anymore.” she said kindly and you downed one of the shots as you looked at her. Your eyes were determined and full of admiration and a hunger to win. 

“Wasn’t for you.” you said with a smile as you did the other one. She looked at you confused and you walked over to her. 

“Now, if you win, you will get to deal with future drunk me however you’d like.” you said smiling. Her jaw slacked and she looked over your face.

“And if you win?” she asked with a curious smile.

“I'm going to go home alone, and get myself off. And if you talk me through it you may get a few selfies.” you muttered softly and she felt her muscles tense up at the thought. As hot as that would be, she loves when you are drunk and needy, she doesn't want to miss out on this. 

“And we are playing clean from here on.” you added and she agreed, walking to line up her shot. You watched as you sipped your drink, the drinks finally catching up to you and your legs suddenly felt weak. You stayed standing and focused your vision on Melissa, your blood rising in temperature as your eyes looked over her. 

“That look is not playing clean.” she muttered, not looking away from the ball. You didn't say anything and she took her shot. The force of her strong arm caused a loud pop to be heard and it made your core twitch and your legs push together. She made the shot and you scoffed. Her hazey eyes met yours with a cocky smirk and you looked away, when you looked over Barbara was heading towards you and you straightened up. Melissa noticed and she smiled. 

“Hey Barb, what's up?” Melissa asked and she sat down at the high table next to us.

“Jacob and Ava are getting into it about some stupid show.” she sighed and you laughed 

“Wow you left Janine alone over there?” you looked over and she was sinking into the booth sitting between the other two.

“Mm. How's your game?” she asked and Melissa's smiled widened. 

“I'm winning of course.” she didn't hesitate to state and you rolled your eyes.

“Just go on already, Schemmenti.” She looked at you with a daring eye and you laughed. 

“I'm gonna go to the bathroom, Barb, take my shot for me.” she said, handing her stick to the woman before disappearing. You sat in shock and Barb looked at you. 

“I won't lie, Y/n, I had a lot of beverages tonight.” she smiled walking over to the table, you smiled in response hoping this would give you an advantage.

“That's okay, me too.” you laughed, the drinks were really hitting you now and time seemed to slow down as you waited. You could hear the people talking loudly over the music, and the colorful lights made everything glow.

“Yeah I don't blame you, I would in your situation. It really is just awful.” she said looking for the best place to shoot from. You furrowed your brows in confusion and looked over at her. 

“What do you mean?” you asked, your words slightly slurred.

“Well you know with the whole letting you go, situation.” she looked up at you and the loud noises along with drinks in your system caused you to have a harder time piecing it together. She noticed and pushed her own brows together.

“Wait, Melissa didn't tell you? Woah I was sure she would have.” she said shocked and you shook your head.

“Melissa?” you said at the mention of her name and Barbara nodded. 

“Yeah Ava said they had to let you go.” she said as she took the shot. You watched as she missed and you stepped back. “Damn I missed.” 

“When did you tell her?” you asked and she paused to think.

“Hmm like two weeks ago.” she said as she set the stick down. Behind her you saw Melissa walking over, she came into focus and you saw her face turn down, surely a reaction to your own stoic and melancholy expression. Your brows tight together and your eyes full of confusion. She walked closer and you sighed. 

“Two weeks you knew and you didn't tell me.” you muttered and Melissa immediately realized what happened. Barbara looked at you both, confused and unsure if her suspicions were correct. She muttered and apology to Melissa and walked back to the group. You didn't say anything else and just grabbed your purse and walked away, you paused at the others to let them know you were leaving cause you didn't feel well, and headed out the door. Melissa grabbed her own belongings and hurried to close out the tab, she told the others she was driving you home, and hurried out after you. You had already started your journey down the street, your feet hurt and your legs were slightly numb from the cold night air nipping at them. Your vision was slightly delayed, but overall you were conscious enough to make it home at a decent time. You finally realized why you were walking away and you sighed. You realized Melissa had not only not told you but had the chance and lied instead. You loved your job so hearing this information stung. Learning your girlfriend that you met here, knew before you though, that hurt worse. 

“Y/n, baby please let me drive you.” she shouted after you and you shook your head. 

“I need to clear my thoughts. I'll be fine.” you said and you heard her heels stop clicking. You figured she gave up with your stubborn attitude and went back. No more than a minute later, she was pulled up driving next to you as you walked. 

“Sweetie, I'm sorry, please get in the car and then we can talk about it.” she said, genuine sorrow and worry laced in her tone which led you to look up at her.

“I dont want to fucking talk Melissa.” you said with your voice raised, walking ahead once more. 

“Get in the car.” she demanded with a flat tone that intimidated you to your bones. You ignored her and she stopped the car, you stopped walking and looked over and she raised an eyebrow at you. “Just let me get you home safe and ill give you all the space you want.” she said softly and the amount of care that seeped out of her words made your heart flutter and you walked over and got in the car. After a few moments of silence you sighed. 

“Did you talk to anyone else?” you asked and she nodded.

“After I found out I went to Ava’s office and she was with Jamie and they told me there was nothing they could do. Trust me when I say I tried baby. Then they said I would get replaced if I told you. You nodded in shock and chewed on your lip before starting back up.

“God I mean did you tell them to cut someone else? To fire fucking Gary or something?” you asked and she nodded. 

“Yes baby I tried but they said they had no other choice.” her brows pushed together as she rubbed your thigh in comfort. 

“Fuck.” you muttered looking down and running a hand through your hair. “What the hell am I going to do, I mean finding a new job isn't hard but leaving my friends and you. Not to mention I'll have to go work at another bro-ey tech department.” you rolled your eyes and she sighed.

“I know hon, I'm sorry. I will help you find a new position and I'm sure we have time to find a good fit.” she tried her best to comfort you but you were so angry that Ava allowed this to happen and you knew you would either snap or start crying so you just turned and looked out the window.

“And you… why didn't you just tell me?” you muttered with judgment and her mouth turned down in guilt. 

“I don't know. I just panicked.” she said softly and you nodded, accepting her reasoning and deciding to just forget about it for tonight. You got to your house and insisted she didn't need to walk you to the door, so you grabbed your things and looked at her with an awkward smile. 

“I guess ill maybe, see you at work on Monday.” you joked and she just stared at you with sympathy, you kissed her cheek and she kissed yours before you got out and headed inside. 

After you got inside you immediately showered and got ready for bed, you finally checked your phone as you turned on your TV and sat on your plush comforter. There were messages from Melissa, one letting you know she made it home, and one apologizing again. As you read them she texted again asking if you were mad and you pondered for a moment. You sat up and flipped to your camera, sitting against the pillows, you held your arm out, your thighs up to your mouth in frame, wearing a sheer burgundy panty set. You looked at it before sending it along with ‘we are okay’ and then you put your phone on silent, and went to sleep. Leaving Melissa with nothing but the photo of you.

--

this was a quick little one I hope yall like these angsty fics sorry about no smut

please send int requests yall!! and feel free to ask for other characters and ill lyk if I write for em.

[i-am-aprl]

@apple employees, who organized under the name #Apples4Ceasefire, had previously objected to the disciplining and firing of Apple Store employees who “dared to express support of the Palestinian people in the form of kaffiyehs, pins, bracelets, or clothing,” according to a public statement published in April.

The letter — signed by 133 people who describe themselves as “a group of shareholders and current and former employees” — comes on the heels of broader activism at tech companies by some workers objecting to perceived complicity between their employers and the ongoing war in #Gaza. Earlier this year, Google fired dozens of employees who took part in a protest over the company’s involvement in a cloud-computing project known as Project Nimbus, which provided services to the Israeli government and military. An open letter from employees of @meta — which owns #Facebook, #Instagram, and #WhatsApp — has criticized its treatment of Palestinian solidarity within the company.

@theintercept ✍️

[canonicallyobserving911]

A possible reason why Gerrard's and T.K. 2.0's pasts weren't/won't be addressed.

Within my review of episode 8x4 (linked here), underneath my dislikes section, I included a statement that I would do a separate post regarding the reason why I believe Gerrard's racist and bigoted past wasn't addressed and it's the same reason why I don't think they'll do it for T.K. 2.0 either. They were both complicit but neither of them was or will be called out on the things they did and said.

Details underneath the cut!

I considered this at the beginning of the season when I noticed in 8x1 how Gerrard was acting differently than he had been in Chimney's and Hen's Begins episodes (linked here). I knew then something changed and I believe I was right because after 8x3 aired, TM (showrunner) posted the message below about the "bees."

Basically, he explained the "network" stepped in and made the change to advertise the season opener as a "Bee-nado" instead of them letting him lead with Athena's airline disaster like he planned. Why? Because doing what he wanted to do during the month of September wasn't a good idea. He also included it was due to reasons he shouldn't have to explain.

It's understandable because it's likely everyone remembers what happened in September 23 years ago. But if there are some who aren't aware, it can be Googled.

The details TM included in his Facebook post, led me to believe I was right in my original post about someone (the network) telling him it wasn't a good idea to have a racist and bigoted captain be at a firehouse filled with minorities and have him spouting trifling comments towards the employees like he did in Hen Begins. The audience was already in an uproar about it at the end of season 7 and during the hiatus, there was all sorts of speculation about what was going to happen to Hen, Chimney, Eddie and Ravi (this is one of the reasons why I believe Ravi hasn't been in any episodes thus far) and I think all of it has to do with the current political climate here in the U.S.

It wouldn't be good for the network or the show to stoke the flames of an already palpable time that's leading to one of the biggest elections in U.S. history. Please understand, I don't converse about politics here! Therefore, I'll move on but... IYKYK!

Do I like it? NO! I HATE IT!

WHY?

BECAUSE GERRARD AND T.K. 2.0 SHOULD BOTH BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE THINGS THEY DID AND SAID!

However, if this is the case, it's understandable why the "network" would tell him not to follow through on the storyline he originally had planned.

IMO, this is the reason why Buck's storyline with Gerrard in episodes 8x1 - 8x4 made absolutely no narrative sense. I explained this in a response to someone who reblogged a post I made while I watched the episode (linked here). I asked why Gerrard would think Buck was going to help him fire someone from the 118. It was RIDICULOUS because anyone who knows Buck would understand it wasn't the original storyline since the one thing Buck has always been, is loyal to the 118. Reminder, he filed a lawsuit to get his job back in season 3 because he felt like they were moving on without him (his words to Eddie in 3x6). Also, he went back to work before he processed his death after he died for 3 minutes and 17 seconds in season 6 but I digress.

I suspect whatever TF they've included for 8x5 between Buck and T.K. 2.0 will make even less narrative sense. Especially since T*mmy won't be allowed to be the true version of his racist and bigoted self. It's unlikely Buck will call him out on his past transgressions against his found family the same way Hen and Chimney weren't allowed to do it with Gerrard. It'll probably be something lame like T.K. is jealous over Buck buying an expensive pair of socks or some other ridiculous BS that makes absolutely no sense. It happened before with T.K. 1.0 when Buck didn't break up with her because he was unhappy even though she was allowed to say, "You knew who I was when you started dating me." 🙄 He did know which means he shouldn't have been dating her in the first place the same way I believe Buck should know about T.K. 2.0's past since the 118 tells each other all their business.

The point of this post is to illustrate that it appears TM had an idea when he reintroduced two problematic characters from season 2 in season 7 and the network said, "Hell no! Not in this political climate" and he had to change course. If this is what happened, he should have had a plan B but it was established during the hiatus that he doesn't plan episodes too far in advance (it's the reason why we all had to suffer through that "Vertigo" doppelgänger BS for Eddie last season). (Related post about his lack of planning linked here.) He's been a showrunner long enough to know that he needs to always have a backup plan.

Let's be real for a minute, the whole situation with Gerrard hugging Buck because he saved his life and taking him under his wing was weird AF. I HATED the piss poor redemption arc they gave Gerrard and yesterday, an article was released with OS indicating T.K. will be "weirded out" by something Buck's going to do or from his connections with the 118 or something but I have absolutely no idea what that is and at this point I don't care because I want T.K. gone the same way I wanted Gerrard gone.

If my speculation about what happened is correct, then TM shouldn't have ever tried it with the storyline from the beginning. He should have gotten two new characters so when their plot device arcs were over, they could have been forgotten and everyone could move on but NOOOOO, he tried to do something else that he wasn't going to fully address and it backfired and now Buck's storyline is suffering because of it. Buck breaking up with T*mmy because he was complicit and participated in the f~ckery would have been perfect but now the audience won't ever get to see it.

Just saying.

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

“We need to strengthen the conflict between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, along the lines of ‘he intends to fire him,’” one Kremlin political strategist wrote a year ago, after a meeting of senior Russian officials and Moscow spin doctors, according to internal Kremlin documents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration ordered a group of Russian political strategists to use social media and fake news articles to push the theme that Zelensky “is hysterical and weak. … He fears that he will be pushed aside, therefore he is getting rid of the dangerous ones.”

The Kremlin instruction resulted in thousands of social media posts and hundreds of fabricated articles, created by troll farms and circulated in Ukraine and across Europe, that tried to exploit what were then rumored tensions between the two Ukrainian leaders, according to a trove of Kremlin documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post. The files, numbering more than 100 documents, were shared with The Post to expose for the first time the scale of Kremlin propaganda targeting Zelensky with the aim of dividing and destabilizing Ukrainian society — efforts that Moscow dubbed “information psychological operations.”(..)

The documents show how in January 2023 the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, tasked a team of officials and political strategists with establishing a presence on Ukrainian social media to distribute disinformation.

The effort built on an earlier project that Kiriyenko, a longtime Putin aide, had been running to subvert Western support for Ukraine, including in France and Germany, previous reporting by The Post shows. The European propaganda group was overseen by one of Kiriyenko’s deputies, Tatyana Matveeva, head of the Kremlin’s department for developing information and communication technologies, the documents show.(..)

At a Jan. 16, 2023, meeting, Kiriyenko laid out four key objectives for the Ukraine propaganda team: discrediting Kyiv’s military and political leadership, splitting the Ukrainian elite, demoralizing Ukrainian troops and disorienting the Ukrainian population, the documents show.(..)

By early March, dozens of hired trolls were pumping out more than 1,300 texts and 37,000 comments on Ukrainian social media each week, according to one of the dashboard presentations. Records show that employees at troll farms earned 60,000 rubles a month, or $660, for writing 100 comments a day.(..)

The strategists advised developing “a network of Telegram channels in combination with Twitter and Facebook/Instagram” as the most effective way of penetrating Ukraine’s media space, noting that the Telegram audience in Ukraine had grown 600 percent over the previous year. (..)

By the first week of May,a post the Kremlin strategists had planted on Facebook, saying that “Valery Zaluzhny can become the next president of Ukraine,” had garnered 4.3 million views, one of the dashboard presentations shows. The Kremlin then issued orders to create similar posts or “additional reality” — a term used by Russian officials for fake news — including reports that Western leaders were looking for a replacement for Zelensky and that Zaluzhny intended to halt the counteroffensive.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said in a statement referring to the Russian posts about Zaluzhny and the alleged lack of state aid for the fallen soldier that it had been “monitoring and blocking accounts, Pages and websites run by this campaign” since 2022, “including these two Pages that were quickly detected and disabled by our security team.”

Undeterred, the strategists planted a plethora of articles in Ukraine via social media, with one in May headlined “Zelensky is holding on to the throne. In Ukraine democracy is being liquidated,” the documents show. Another in June sought to play up what it claimed was the prolonged disappearance of Zaluzhny from public view, with bloggers instructed to post comments declaring: “This is why Zaluzhny disappeared: Because he could have and should have taken Zelensky’s place.”

The strategists also sought to exploit Kiriyenko’s campaign in Western Europe by recycling its disinformation for use in Ukraine. The tactics in the European campaign included cloning and usurping media and government websites, such as those for Le Monde and the French Foreign Ministry, and then posting fake content on them denigrating the Ukrainian government, in an operation dubbed Doppelgänger by European Union officials. They also included creating fake accounts on X, or Twitter, for prominent figures including German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The strategists sought to place stories or posts from those websites or accounts on Ukrainian social media as genuine European reporting or commentary.

After the fake Baerbock account declared in September that “the war in Ukraine will be over in 3 months,” the German authorities launched an investigation and found more than 50,000 fake user accounts coordinating pro-Russian propaganda, including those promoting the tweet. Officials believe the fake accounts were an extension of the Doppelgänger campaign, Der Spiegel reported.

The Doppelgänger operation was first exposed by Meta in September 2022 and then by French authoritieslast summer and tied to Reliable Recent News, a fake news site traced back to two Russian companies, the Social Design Agency and Structura National Technologies. The Kremlin documents show that the heads of Social Design Agency and Structura — Ilya Gambashidze and Nikolai Tupikin — worked directly with Kiriyenko and another Kremlin official, Sofiya Zakharova, who coordinated efforts in Europe and Ukraine.“She is the brain,” a European security official said.

The E.U. imposed sanctions in July on Gambashidze, Structura National Technologies and Social Design Agency for what it said was their role in creating fake webpages and social media accounts “usurping the identity of national media outlets and government websites” as part of “a hybrid campaign by Russia against the EU and member states.” Gambashidze and Tupikin were named by the U.S. State Department in November for their role in Kremlin efforts to spread disinformation in Latin America(..)

Gambashidze, Tupikin and their colleagues proposed narratives they hoped would destroy Zelensky’s image in the West as “the hero of a small country fighting a global evil,” one of the documents sent in April shows. They suggested portraying Zelensky as an actor only capable of following a script written for him by the United States and NATO,and his Western backers as tiring of him. They proposed distributing fake Ukrainian government documents as evidence of corrupt military procurement schemes, and suggesting that Zelensky and his family had Western bank accounts, the document shows.

The plans led to hundreds of articles and thousands of social media posts translated into French, German and English that targeted Zelensky, the document trove shows.

One article, for a French audience, was headlined: “The conductor has gotten bored of Zelensky’s concerts: the actions of the U.S. in Ukraine lead one to believe that Washington soon intends to get rid of Zelensky, without discussing this with Paris.”

On the basis of this article, one of the strategists ordered a troll farm employee to prepare social media posts in French saying, “Washington will replace Zelensky with a more capable president. And France will have to silently continue arming and financing Ukraine.”

Another article described how Zelensky had pushed for Ukrainian forces to defend Bakhmut against Zaluzhny’s wishes, leading, it said, to the deaths of 250,000 Ukrainian troops, a wildly exaggerated death toll in what was nonetheless a brutal battle for the city. The troll farm employees were asked to write comments such as “Why do Ukrainian generals hate Zelensky? PR out of the blood of fighters” and “To shoot the exhausted president? In Ukraine, a generals’ conspiracy is brewing.”

One of the strategists’ aims, European security officials said, was to ensure that the themes placed in European social media filtered back into Ukraine, through reposts and amplification,or by being picked up by Ukrainian politicians keen to boost their profiles with provocative posts.(..)

The strategists also had price lists for planting pro-Russian commentary in prominent Western media and for paying social media “influencers” in the United States and Europe “willing to work with Russian clients.” The documents say the Russians were willing to pay up to $39,000 for the planting of pro-Russian commentary in major media outlets in the West.

“Practically everywhere this will be columnists, leaders of public opinion, former diplomats, officials, professors and so on,” a note attached to the price list states.”

Catherine Belton, “Kremlin runs disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky, documents show”

[fuck-customers]

Why have customers decided that their shopping experience is no longer their own responsibility and they can just have us do literally everything for them?? Like whyyyyy is there not a single molecule of thought or effort put in from their end!!?? Examples:

- Googling the phone number of our store to call and ask what time we open/close (the opening hours are right under the phone number, including clearly labelled public holiday hours)

- Phoning our store or asking in person for information about another store in the chain (their hours, address, stock availability etc.) When they could easily google it or call THAT store

- walking into the store and asking the first person they see for help without even looking around first. Especially when they walk past the thing they're looking for on their way to an employee.

- not being able to find their way with pointing and verbal directions, needing to be walked over to and handed everything even when it's right in front of them and I'm pointing to it. Also the people that ask where the exit is when our store is laid out in a big square with a huge middle walkway and if you keep walking around in either direction you will reach the exit.

- asking questions that have nothing to do with me, information on other stores in the complex, asking for directions, asking touristy questions... Where's a good place to eat around here? How about the dumpster behind the store? fuck off

- wanting to start a new project or hobby and coming in without doing ANY research on it and what they might need to purchase and expecting us to give them a free class like we have the time/training for that sort of thing. YOUTUBE IS FREE. GOOGLE IS FREE. FACEBOOK HOBBY GROUPS ARE FREE. This goes triple for the Cricut ladies, if you are going to drop 300 dollars on a craft machine please learn how to use it. One lady asked me if her cricut could cut a certain cardstock and got mad when I said I'd never used one and she should check the manual

- wanting personal opinions on what to buy. There's a difference between "what are the benefits of buying x over y?" and "which one do you like better?" like for one we sell thousands of different things, I haven't personally used them all and secondly my tastes, opinions and needs for a product could be totally different from yours. So pick the one YOU like plzzz, you're the one paying for it.

- wanting to purchase fabric and not doing their measurements or calculations beforehand. Like babe, only YOU know how much fabric you need. Next time someone asks how much they need to make a dress I'm saying 10 metres because I'm going to assume they're making a ball gown

Anyway, fuck these dumb, lazy sacks of shit, I have no idea how they managed to get this far in life without firing a single neuron.

Posted by admin Rodney.

[eretzyisrael]

by Chuck Ross

The New York Times over the weekend published a splashy profile of Arab-American activists in Michigan, detailing Muslim voters' anger over President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

It didn't tell readers, however, that several of the people featured in the piece, titled "Here’s How Joe Biden Loses Michigan," have praised Hamas or called for the destruction of Israel, providing a window into the nature of the opposition even to the Biden administration's tepid support for the Jewish state.

The activists featured in the video essay include:

Amer Zahr, an activist based in Dearborn, Mich., told the Times the United States is "actively funding" genocide in Gaza. What they didn't tell us: Zahr, a former surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), said at a Dearborn rally in December 2017 that he "stand[s] with every resistance against Israel and every resistance against the occupation … whether it's called Hamas, whether it's called Hezbollah." In a Facebook video in December 2021, Zahr urged Muslims and Arabs to "stop condemning anti-Semitism."

Imran Salha, the imam of the Islamic Center of Detroit, told the Times he would only vote for Biden on a ballot signed with "blood" thanks to Biden’s funding for "genocide" in Gaza. What they didn’t tell us: Salha said at a pro-Palestinian rally in Detroit days after Hamas's invasion of Israel that Muslims have a "fire in our hearts that will burn that state until its demise," the Washington Free Beacon reported. In a sermon at the Islamic Center of Detroit in May 2023, Salha referred to the "sick, disgusting Zionist regime" and prayed: "may Allah eradicate them from existence."

Wissam Charafeddine, whom the Times identified as an employee of the Dearborn public school system, told the paper he would not vote for Biden, "and no one will be voting for Biden that I know of." What they didn’t tell us: He has called in social media posts for the "elimination" of Israel and sided with Hamas over the Jewish state. "Israel deserves elimination more than Hamas given the genocide and thousands of massacres," Charafeddine wrote in April. In February, he stated: "Hamas should not negotiate with terrorists."

Nidal Jboor, a physician, asserted to the Times that "no Americans should vote for a president who supported genocide." What they didn’t tell us: Jboor is the cofounder of Doctors Against Genocide, an anti-Israel group that planned to hold a protest in December against the Jewish state inside the United States Holocaust Museum. The museum called the protest "deeply offensive to survivors and the memory of the victims to exploit Holocaust history."

Biden, who beat former president Donald Trump in Michigan by 150,000 votes in 2020, narrowly trails the Republican in recent polls, according to FiveThirtyEight. And according to the Times, anti-Biden sentiments among Michigan’s sizable Arab- and Muslim-American communities are "more than enough" to swing the battleground state against Biden. "This enclave may pick America’s next president," a Times narrator says.

Biden has sought to alleviate his eroding support in Michigan, dispatching White House and campaign officials to meet with Arab-American leaders in Dearborn, some of whom have expressed support for Hamas.

Team Biden met earlier this year with Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani, who has referred to Hamas and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah as "freedom fighters." In 2022, Siblani urged Arabs to "fight" Israel with "stones" or "guns," the Free Beacon reported. The Times has quoted Siblani in multiple stories in its coverage of Biden's relationship with Arab and Muslim voters without mentioning Siblani’s sympathetic views of terrorist groups.

The Times did not respond to a request for comment.

Here is a 2021 Amer Zahr Twitter post - EY

[currymanganese]

I sad. I saw a sydcarmy post on Instagram and the comments were saying that they were brothers, syd was a lesbian (wtf???) and that if anyone there had feelings it was her and not him... I left there very sad 😪😔

Idk what else to say other than - you may want to steer clear of The Bear related fan spaces apart from here on Tumblr, on TikTok, and some corners of Twitter. Many fan spaces on Reddit, Facebook and IG etc. are dominated by casual fans that either a) gloss over Sydney's importance to Carmy, or b) outright hate her because of their own unchecked biases. So if these fans can get away with it they'll argue and downplay the possibility of a romantic relationship developing between the show's leads even if it doesn't align with what we've seen so far on the show.

1. Refuting the first claim "they're like brothers":

In addition to baselessly masculinizing Sydney (a common manifestation of misogynoir) - this claim ignores the fact that Carmy does not treat his siblings the way he treats Sydney, in any given regular moment with his brother and sister, he casually trades barbs with them, curses and verbally fights them. In S1 when Nat tells him the IRS is threathening to seize her house, because of all Mikey's unpaid business taxes, Carmy bitterly and bluntly tells her she shouldn't have cosigned for an addict. Now, mind you, Carmy was under a lot of stress and grieving himself in that moment, but it shows a lack of sensitivity to Nat's feelings / a lack of fear of pushing her away emotionally, "blood is thicker than water" after all and by the end of the episode he and his sister smooth things over.

Also in S2 in Fishes after Mikey makes a comment to Donna that Carmy perceives as Mikey being passive aggressive towards him - "get Carmy to help you, all he does is help." Carmy lashes out at Mikey (his beloved hero of an older brother/father figure mind you) and, to paraphrase, he says (possibly parroting the vitriol that Uncle Lee regularly wields against Mikey) that all Mikey does is make plans and come up with businesses that fail. When stressed Carmy can resort to very low blows against his siblings at the slightest provocations - and in the way that siblings often are - he is not overly concerned about hurting their feelings in these moments, or about running the risk of driving them away permanently.

In contrast, even when (on paper anyways) Syd was just his employee in S1, whenever Carmy loses his temper with Sydney (over the stock that Tina secretly sabotages, and over Syd's eagerness to have her dish approved for the menu) he is on pins and needles when he senses she is withdrawn and unhappy with him in response. He goes out of his way to try to apologize to her - checking in with her by bringing her a meal and prying into what's bothering her in Brigade, and by asking her if THEY are okay again at the end of episode 6. As early as episode 3 in season 1, Brigade, Carmy begins outright referring to himself and Sydney as a "We" - "We wanna change this restaurant, right? We need to change the chemistry." He confides that he's going to Al-anon to Syd in this same episode even before he tells his sister Natalie in episode 4, even though Nat was the one that asked him to go in the first place! And this is after knowing Sydney for a few weeks, maybe even for a month at most!

And in the most startling demonstration of why Carmy does not think of Sydney as a sister, when she leaves in Review after he rages at her, he is despondent - distraught even - he caresses her notebook that she left behind, he wistfully tells Tina that she is dressed like Syd when she finally dons the staff uniform (that everyone wears, including him), he almost burns the restaurant down and makes no move to get the fire under control, and he verbally chides possibly Mikey AND himself for being stupid before opening Mikey's suicide note - AND desperately tries to touch base / reconnect with Syd through text before he opens Mikey's note.

If Syd is like a sister to him, why didn't he reach out to Natalie via text first to let her know he was about to open Mikey's note? Why did he need to know Syd wouldn't ignore him to get the courage to open that envelope? Why does he worry that he may offend Syd by having Mikey's note on the expo in S2, so much so that he delegates Richie to have that conversation with her in Bolognese instead? Why can't he talk to her about something like that himself? Is he afraid of exposing himself by getting too personal with her, like he wanted to in their alley talk in Brigade?

To say nothing of the intensity with which he gazes at Sydney, before nearly always looking away when she looks at him too. What brother feels guilty and self conscious about being caught staring at their sister? And lastly, Carmy bluntly reprimanded his sister for cosigning for Mikey's debts in Season 1, but by Season 2 he and Natalie are jointly jumping 800k, plus interest, into debt to Cicero to open Carmy and Mikey's (but really it's for Sydney!)'s dream restaurant - and he tells Sydney the whole thing is for her in so many words, "Family style? Two tops, booths?" and, "I couldn't do this without you, I wouldn't even wanna do this without you.", and last, but not least, "It's your ship now, Captain." And before they open their doors for Family and Friends night, Syd validates Carmy's affections for her by reassuring him and his family with the mantra that Mikey left behind in the note that Carmy worried that Syd would've been uncomfortable with having on her workstation.

"Let it rip."

Only the note said, "Love you dude, let it rip." Syd wouldn't tell them the first part, "Love you dudes-" for good reason.

Can Syd tell Nat that she loves her and have things remain platonic between them? Syd may think it would be too over familiar to say now since she hasn't known her for long, but yes, things would remain platonic and sisterly between her and Nat if she said that she loved her. Can Syd tell Richie that she loves him and have things remain platonic between them? They were at loggerheads in S1 and have come to have an awkward level of comfort and respect with one another, with Richie telling her father how important she has become to the restaurant (but really, how important she has become to the Berzattos), so yes, if Syd ever told Richie that she loved him in passing in the future, things could still conceivably remain platonic and fraternal/sororal between them. However, as their relationship stands now, can Syd tell Carmy that she loves him and have things remain platonic and comfortable/affable/sexually neutral between them?

NO! SHE CAN'T!

AND THAT'S BECAUSE THIS UNSPOKEN THING BETWEEN SYD AND CARMY IS NOT SIBLING BEHAVIOUR!

AND SYD IS NOT ANOTHER NATALIE BERZATTO, NOR IS SHE CARMY'S SURROGATE FOR MIKEY! 🗣

From personal experience, I have two beloved older brothers and one of them is even a father figure to me, similar to the way that Carmy adored and looked up to Mikey, but I can assure you that they would not jeopardize their livelihoods to appease me after a disagreement or period of estrangement to make my dreams come true to the tune of going almost US$1,000,000 into debt! Carmy has never demonstrated normal platonic/fraternal regard towards Sydney, NEVER! Like @gingerylangylang1979 said, he wants her carnally, he's in love!

2. Syd's sexuality:

And as for Syd being a lesbian? Some of us Sydcarmy girlies hashed out our skepticism over this assumption in the replies of @cruciomione ' s post here. If Syd was a lesbian, if she had not even an iota of romantic affection and desire for Carmy, and her desire to work with him was only attached to her professional regard for him, then she could've left immediately after episode one when Carmy aired out that the business was failing in his argument with Richie

- and nobody would be able to blame her if she never looked back.

Regardless of whether she was consciously in love with him or not at the time, it took no small measure of selflessness, combined with faith in Carmy's skills as a chef and deep compassion for him as a person, for Syd to want to stay with Carmy and help him sort out the mess that was The Original Beef. Carmy was in way over his head. Sydney has seen Carmy at his worst and because he is currently so embattled with unprocessed trauma, grief, stress, and mental illness, and because she is already extremely capable as a chef and former business owner herself, he has not proven himself to be the mentor that she would've been hoping for when she first came to stage at The Beef, but she still chooses him time and time again. It would make sense if she stays and is so devoted to him and the idea of partnering with him to operate his family's restaurant, if her fidelity is partly due to her having feelings for him.

3. Only Syd is attracted to Carmy:

WRONG! See Points 1 and 2 (why they're not like brother and sister/ why it's unlikely that Syd is a lesbian) and also try to explain why a man without feelings for a woman, a man without curtains in his apartment or proper storage for his beloved denim collection would go exponentially deeper into debt to open a dream restaurant with said woman he supposedly has no feelings for, a woman he has known for a year at most, no less! And also explain why (if he has no feelings for her) he'd procure an expensive custom monogrammed designer chef jacket for her even when he left all his other (ACTUAL) work obligations to her undone all season long?? You can't explain it unless his interest in her is not exclusively altruistic and professional, and unless his personal fondness for her and her importance to him (as a woman he is deeply ATTRACTED TO) is superseding everything else he should be caring about, even their own business and his new girlfriend herself.

Only Syd is attracted to Carmy?? But I thought they said she was a lesbian? She can't be a card carrying Kinsey 6 lesbian AND have unrequited love for him at the same time. Antis have to make up their minds, which is it? At the end of the day, Syd still manages to focus on her job despite her possible attraction to Carmy, she doesn't let her feelings distract her from her goals, but Carmy on the other hand is absolutely crushed when he can't make good on his promises he made to her in Omelette, and begins rapidly spiralling downward in the S2 finale accordingly, even before Claire breaks things off with him.

Carmy undoubtedly has feelings for Sydney, otherwise why would he be so frantic when she didn't come to him when he screamed for her from the walk-in the S2 finale? He is deathly afraid of upsetting her and letting her down AND losing her again. His mind is addled for sheer love of her, he is grappling with emotions he is yet to fully understand.

P.S. If you've read this long post, thank you and allow me to shamelessly plug one of my relevant edits 🥰

[kenyatta]

These companies have strayed from their core products — helping you find information, buy things, or connect with people — because their focus is no longer on innovation or providing a service, but finding a "good enough" service that they can then sell advertising around. Despite statements reiterating their commitment to users, workers, or the world, it's clear that tech companies and executives have become totally enthralled by one set of stakeholders: Wall Street. CEOs over hired and then laid off thousands of people or hyped new tech only to reverse course months later, all in an attempt to woo investors. This monomaniacal focus on market performance incentivizes a rot economy — a consistent yet unsustainable trajectory that favors the illusion of growth at the expense of actual development.

The biggest tech companies are encouraged to chase growth not as a way to have happy customers or become sustainable and profitable enterprises, but to have fancy-sounding numbers to send the stock price higher. It doesn't matter to investors that Mark Zuckerberg is burning billions of dollars a year and has absolutely nothing to show for it, or that the basic Facebook product experience has been getting worse for 10 years. Zuckerberg began "the year of efficiency" to show some newfound sense of discipline, but the mass firings are only going to make employees more miserable and the product worse. Even these companies' internal evaluation and compensation systems push employees to develop shiny "new" projects that produce flash-in-the-pan customer interest over building or sustaining existing products for current users.

This mindset has even trickled down to early-stage startups, which are typically thought of as proving grounds for innovation. Venture capital and other investors have pushed for a growth-first model, prioritizing "line goes up" metrics rather than building a useful product and sustainable business. VCs also incentivize companies to appeal to whatever hot trend could get them the highest multiple on their initial investment, rather than doing what will make the best user experience.

The net result of these rotten economics is a genuine lack of innovation. When companies are incentivized to grow at any cost — even if that means degrading the user experience — they will never seek to change or improve the world. Innovation can be expensive, time-consuming, and unprofitable, which means that the only innovation we'll ever see is the short-term kind that leaves a smile on a VC's face but angers average users.

Google, Amazon, and Meta are making their core products worse — on purpose

[argumate]

But if you traveled back in time two years and said “two years from now, Twitter will no longer exist, and you will be able to choose between a Twitter-like service called ‘X’ run by Elon Musk and a Twitter-like service called ‘Threads’ run by Facebook, which by the way will be called Meta,” I’m not sure it’s obvious that X is the winner there? Facebook/Meta/Mark Zuckerberg have a lot of experience running popular social media platforms, and they employ a lot of people who have built social media platforms (some of them hired from Twitter!), while Musk mostly has experience tweeting (now called x’ing???) and employs strikingly few people who have built social media platforms, because he fired most of them. There is a certain inertia that causes people to stay on Twitter, but if you get rid of Twitter I’m not sure the inertia will fully carry over to X.

I guess my question is, what was he paying for? Musk didn’t want Twitter for its employees (whom he fired) or its code (which he trashes regularly) or its brand (which he abandoned) or its most dedicated users (whom he is working to drive away); he just wanted an entirely different Twitter-like service. Surely he could have built that for less than $44 billion? Mark Zuckerberg did!

funny if Musk's massive L on Twitter saves Zuckerberg from his massive L on the metaverse

[beardedmrbean]

A BBC staffer is under fire for a string of antisemitic Facebook posts in which she referred to Jewish people as “Nazi apartheid parasites” and called white people a “virus.”

Dawn Queva, Senior Scheduling Coordinator & Playout Planner at BBC Three, made many of the troubling, since-deleted posts over the last few months, Deadline revealed.

In one rant, Queva – whose profile appeared under the name Dawn Las Quevas-Allen – called Jewish people “Nazi apartheid parasites” and accused them of funding a “holohoax,” the outlet said.

She also made several posts criticizing Israel and Zionism – including one in which she referred to “a bunch of subcontinental European melanin recessive CaucAsian japhetic AshkeNazi who have no None zero zilch blood connection to the land of Palestine or Israel historically.”

Some of Queva’s disturbing posts go back nearly a decade: In 2014, she referred to Israel as “Israhell,” the Times of Israel said.

“The Zionist genocidal land squatting so called Jew’ irrespective of the fact that The UKKK and Amerikkka gave away land they had no god given right to a people who have no god given right to,” Queva added in another post, according to screenshots shared by Deadline.

Queva – who previously worked for A+E Networks, UKTV, and Disney, according to Deadline – also repeatedly hit out at white people, whom she referred to as a “virus” and a “mutant invader species,” the Telegraph wrote.

Several of her posts refer to Great Britain as the “UKKK,” in reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

In another update, she wrote that white people were a “barbaric bloodthirsty rapacious murderous genocidal thieving parasitical deviant breed”.

Several of her posts were removed or restricted by Facebook – including an early January incident in which her activity was restricted for bullying and hate speech, the Times of Israel said.

Queva then slammed the action as “anti black klu klux klan white/Zionist restrictions,” the outlet reported.

Queva appeared to respond to the reports about her previous posts on Friday, when she updated her Facebook wall with a video from the 1987 movie “The Garbage Pail Kids” alongside a caption that read “only those who live a lie hate the truth!”

She also commented below to add an infographic supposedly listing Jewish slave ship owners, as well as the infamous photo of Gordon, an escaped slave with a heinously scarred back due to years of abuse.

Queva’s disturbing posts are believed to have been circulated in BBC WhatsApp groups that formed in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The BBC was under scrutiny for its coverage of the attack and subsequent war – and Director General Time Davie has held “listening meetings’ in order to address the perceived bias in its work, Deadline explained.

There have also been recent reports that 22 employees at the national broadcaster have filed complaints about antisemitism in the workplace, the Telegraph added.

“We don’t comment on individual members of staff and we have well-established and robust processes in place to handle such issues, we do not tolerate anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or any form of abuse and we take any such allegations seriously and take appropriate disciplinary action wherever necessary,” a BBC spokesperson told The Post.

[lemoncrushh]

a sad little life update...

hi friends. I know Tumblr isn't always the best place to post about personal shit, but I feel the need to let some things out, and if you wondered why I've been MIA...

a few weeks ago, I got fired from my job. it was a sucky job, I didn't really like it, but it was close to where I live and it had health insurance. I'd only been there since January. the ironic thing is it was a mental health treatment center. but the owner didn't give a shit about the mental health of his own employees. he just wanted to make money. I ended up sending a long email about how I felt working there and what I was unhappy with (I won't go into those details here). a week later the HR lady told me they were letting me go. not the boss. not my supervisor. nobody else talked to me.

in the meantime (actually the day before), I had reconnected through Facebook with an old high school boyfriend. we exchanged numbers and chatted every day. he had been going through his own shit, but had a new outlook on life, positivity and all that. so he told me he wanted to help me. he lives three hours from me, and he even offered to let me live with him and get a job there. so anyway, he invited me to come visit for a weekend, and I was so excited. although we both agreed not to have any expectations (just see how it goes), we flirted all the time. for the first time in a really long time, I was feeling happy.

when I got to his place, I didn't notice the change at first. but that night he pretty much rejected me. we kissed, but he said we shouldn't "do anything reckless." I was like what?? I let it go because I knew he was tired (he works nights and had been killing it all week). the next day, although he wasn't really standoffish, I kept getting the feeling he was entering the friend zone. that night, he rejected me again (gave me some lame friend excuse), and I cried my eyes out. the next morning he asked if we were okay, but I told him I didn't know. honestly, I couldn't even look at him knowing he didn't want me. so I left. I cried almost the whole way home.

he'd told me to text him when I got home, so I did. but he didn't reply. I kept texting him, but I got nothing. when I finally heard from him, he said he was "giving me space". I told him I didn't want space, I wanted to talk. I couldn't tell if he was angry at me for leaving, or at himself for rejecting me, but I think it's the latter. we had even had a discussion at his place about how I hate when guys ghost me. but that's exactly what he's doing. he told me he was "attracted to my heart and my mind", something about my potential. That was over a week ago. Last Wednesday is the last time I heard from him. I'd asked him what I could do to make things better. he said to let him finish his day and catch up on what I wrote. he has not texted me since, even though I've sent a few more messages.

I feel so pathetic. if it was just some random guy, I probably would have just shaken it off and moved on. but because we had history, and because he'd seemed so adamant (and excited) about helping me, I just feel so lost and confused. my heart hurts so bad. some days are worse than others. today was the worst because I went back and read some of our old conversations. how could he say those things and then take it all back?

when he knew me before, I barely weighed 100 pounds. I have gained another 80 since then. I told him I was fat. he argued I wasn't. but I think once he saw me in person he was disappointed. he was probably trying to let me down easy, hoping we could still be friends. but it ended up biting him in the ass because I got upset and called him on it. he's choosing to ignore me rather than admit the truth because then he'd be the asshole. that is the only explanation that makes any kind of sense to me.

anyway, sorry for the rambling. in the meantime, I'm still living at my ex's house, still trying to find a job. I'm still waiting for my bankruptcy to be filed (just a couple things left to do, but it's taking forever), and I have no money.

because of all this shit, I have had no motivation to do any writing, or even reading. I'm so sorry. I just can't even bring myself to think about it.

rejection seems to be following me everywhere. in my teens, I was always rejected by guys I liked because I was a virgin and they didn't wanna be my first. when I finally found someone, he rejected me a week later to go back to his ex. my own ex husband didn't wanna marry me at first. now that I'm older, men don't want me because of my age or my body. I get rejected for jobs because I don't have a four year degree or the experience they want or I'm too old. I've never been anyone's favorite. never been anyone's first choice.

I had really hoped this old boyfriend connection was kismet. that we had come full circle and were supposed to help each other (even though I never believed in that sort of thing before). I'm so heartbroken :(. it hurts.

[mariacallous]

A ‘guest’ appearance by a right-wing politician at a local arts festival, who ordered attendees to remove children from what he called a ‘perverted’ play, would normally make for an amusing anecdote were it not indicative of a wider trend in Fico’s Slovakia.

On August 18, the state secretary of Slovakia’s Environment Ministry, Stefan Kuffa, stood up in front of an audience at an open-air theatre in the tiny northern village of Mala Frankova, interrupting a performance by actors from the Kosice National Theatre. Witnessed by an editor at the local newspaper Zamagurske noviny, this government representative of the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) then began to berate members of the audience for bringing their children to a “perverted” play, Little Gem by Irish playwright Elaine Murphy, and ordered the parents to take them home.

“It's unbelievable. It doesn't matter whether someone liked the show or not. If you like, you can stay; if not, you can go. But we can't have people coming here to a small village, flashing lights [on a limousine] paid for with state money, displaying brute strength,” the local editor, Lukas Marhefka, said in a video posted on Facebook.

This scene, which played out like a dystopian farce, actually captures well the current state of affairs in Slovakia: a mixture of authoritarian intimidation, attempts at free-style censorship, no open communication from officials in the aftermath.

Normally, summer in Slovakia is what local media refer to as the “cucumber season”: the country’s parliament has a two-month vacation, and it often seems as though the government and president follow suit. In other words, politics tends to be rather boring and quiet. This year, it was anything but.

In July and August, Robert Fico’s government – a nationalist-populist coalition of the Smer, Hlas and SNS parties – took control of the public service TV and radio broadcaster; the justice minister released from jail a former special prosecutor, Dusan Kovacik, who had been convicted of taking a bribe to help a mafia boss stay out of prison during a previous Fico government; and Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova, a pro-Russian internet TV personality, caused uproar in the arts sector after dismissing the directors of two of the nation’s most prominent cultural institutions for no apparent reason.

If the last few months and promises by officials are anything to go by, Slovakia is in for a troubling fall season, with several new legislative proposals in the works aimed at limiting citizens’ freedom of speech and expression, and restricting their rights to information and free assembly.

Two steps closer to autocracy

Only three months since the shocking assassination attempt on the prime minister, political pressure can be seen impinging on multiple levels of public life – from local municipalities firing employees for “not sharing the opinion of the town’s magistrate”, to ministers sacking the legally appointed managers of important state institutions, to former prosecutors of high level crimes and corruption being investigated and demoted, down to artists being interrogated by the police for organising a petition calling for a minister’s resignation.

Over the summer months, there have been several reports of rising censorship at STVR (formerly RTVS), the new public service broadcaster under the control of the government. In the weeks since the takeover, several high-profile reporters have left the broadcaster in an effort to avoid the rising editorial interference and censorship.

Miro Frindt, a long-time presenter at RTVS and its news channel :24, decided to resign after the nominees of the SNS party took control of the Culture Ministry.

“I had expected that they would replace the director of RTVS, as they did in the past. But they went even further, destroyed RTVS completely and built a new medium, STVR, with an even stronger state influence,” Frindt tells BIRN. “There are several mechanisms that turned a public institution into a state one. It doesn’t matter what the new law actually says, it matters how the processes are set. And they are set up for a complete political takeover of television.”

Kristina Chrenkova, a foreign news reporter at Slovak Radio, part of STVR, echoes the fears of many about the turn to censorship. “I think that people are starting to be more cautious with the topics they cover, with the things they say in public. We are not getting any explicit instructions of course, but you can see that they’re not happy if you express any concerns,” Chrenkova says.

Her work on the international desk has been made significantly more difficult by the decision of their colleagues at Czech Radio to withdraw cooperation out of concerns for journalistic freedom at STVR. Besides the foreign correspondents that contributed regular reports from geopolitical hotspots like Ukraine or Middle East, the Slovak public broadcaster also lost the opportunity to talk to foreign policy experts and analysts from Czech Radio.

Peace and ‘normalisation’ of society

The purge of personnel in the public sector is merely a symptom of deeper changes taking place in Slovakia, experts warn.

First, the government took control of all law enforcement and judicial institutions, save for the (for now) independent courts. A new law closed the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which had been responsible for prosecuting organised crime, extremism and corruption, demoting all the specialised experienced prosecutors to common regional offices. The government also took control of the Judicial Council, which effectively controls the judiciary in the country. And effective from September 1, it dissolved the National Criminal Agency (NAKA), responsible for investigating high-level criminality, which Stefan Hamran, a former police chief, criticised as an attempt to remove inconvenient officers and weaken special units, specifically those targeting high-profile figures involved in public finance corruption.

“In this case it’s not really so important that Fico’s government is intimidating people, that some people are starting to be afraid, that it’s all very vulgar and primitive, especially in the culture sector. There are much more worrying things happening in the Judicial council, NAKA, Special Prosecution, Special Court, Supreme Court, General Prosecution, SIS [intelligence agency], the police in general – they’ve subjugated all these forces completely,” Michal Vasecka, a sociologist and director of the Bratislava Policy Institute, tells BIRN.

“If Slovakia were trying to get into the EU today, it would never be accepted. It might get a similar rating as, say, Serbia,” he adds.

After the latest controversial steps of the government brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets of Bratislava on August 13, coalition leaders began calling for new regulations on public gatherings, citing the need to limit the “vulgar language” being used.

Ironically, it was actually current government members who had been encouraging the vilest language during their own anti-government protests not so long ago when they were in opposition, targeting migrants (neo-Nazi LSNS party), COVID-19 restrictions (LSNS, Smer, SNS), and the former president Zuzana Caputova or Igor Matovic’s cabinet members (Smer, SNS, Hlas).

“It’s a restriction on freedom of speech,” Vasecka says of the new proposals to regulate public gatherings. “After all, we can argue that our long-term experience with political manifestations, protests, participation organised by civil society have always been very peaceful, for over 35 years, contrary to many other countries.”

In a series of legislative changes dubbed Lex attentat (“Law assassination”) at the end of June, the government already limited the right to assemble by forbidding public protests from being held closer than 50 metres to residences of government officials, the president or other state institutions. Lex atentat II, which is already in the works, should extend those measures even further.

“We don’t want to limit freedom of speech, but we want to limit the spread of hate,” explained Tibor Gaspar, an MP of the ruling Smer party, using as an example the chant for “Robert Fico to jail” heard at previous anti-government protests.

Experts, as well as opposition politicians, keep referring back to the term “normalisation”, the period following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 during which the authorities clamped down on the opposition, civil society and critics by means of persecution, censorship and intimidation.

“In everyday life, this ‘normalisation’ demonstrated itself in the moderation of the social dynamic: instilling fear in people, making them stop caring about public affairs. In this sense, ‘normalisation’ is really powerful – it is an attempt to discourage people so much that they retreat to their homes, holiday cottages, and stop caring,” explains Vasecka, saying he is sure this is already happening in Slovakia today.

No information, no problems

The Slovak government is now turning its attention towards ways to limit public access to information.

SNS, which is in charge of the Culture Ministry, announced it wants people to pay if they request an “excessive amount” of information from public institutions. “The legislative change is in reaction to the long-term problems created in cases where public officials are overwhelmed by frequent or excessive requests for access to information,” SNS legislators wrote in their proposal, which should be discussed in September.

In the meantime, a group of Slovak NGOs has been fighting another attempt to limit public access to information, this time coming from the Hlas-led Interior Ministry.

“Using a critical infrastructure law, they wanted to change the law about classified information, introducing a new term, ‘limited information’. This could be any information regarding a public institution that could endanger the trustworthiness of the institution ‘in particular’,” says Lubomir Danko, a former police investigator who now works for the Stop Corruption Foundation.

Since this proposal was submitted via a traditional legal process, activists and the public were able to submit comments. Significant public pressure, including a collective comment signed by 15,000 people, seems to have had an effect and forced the Interior Ministry to amend its proposal. Even so, the NGOs are still trying to get the ministry to change the term “internal affairs” of the state from the definition, which could give the government wide latitude to hide a range of information from the public.

Fico’s government members, especially from the SNS party, are becoming increasingly creative in finding ways to limit free expression in multiple areas.

In late August, SNS legislators said they would propose a law to order all state-owned buildings to fly a Slovak and EU flag, banning all others. The opposition sees this as a clear attempt to ban the rainbow flag of the LBGTQ+ community from state institutions. Moreover, the same legislators want to ban any information relating to “non-traditional sexual orientations or gender identities” from schools, essentially banning educators from providing any information about LGBTQ+ issues or modern sex education.

“They don’t do it because of a deep ideology or refined geopolitical strategy about redirecting Slovakia,” argues Vasecka about the motivations for Fico’s government, which often mimics ideas coming out of Russia and Hungary rather than the West. “[Fico] has started ruling the country not just in an authoritarian way, but in a truly autocratic way. Just like [Viktor] Orban in Hungary, Fico too has become a ruler with unlimited power,” he says.

“What is surprising, however, is the speed with which Fico is taking control. What Robert Fico has reached in merely ten months since the [last general] elections, Orban reached after maybe three terms in office,” he adds.

Speaking at the Globsec Forum 2024 in Prague on August 30, Michal Simecka, leader of the opposition party Progresivne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia), said the government and Fico in particular wants to make political debate in the country all about culture wars, LGBT issues and gender. “Fico wants to create permanent cultural conflict and polaristaion because that’s the way he stays in the majority. But it’s a trap – we need to tell voters that this does nothing to make peoples’ lives better,” Simecka said.

[blueflameswordsman]

left wing empathy

youtube comments

I recall seeing someone spout that if you lose your job to illegal immigrants or you are hindered due to them then you just suck rather then the fact illegal immigration provides cheap labor ( I recall a story that I heard during trumps presidency where a factory lost the illegal immigrant workers so they had to have a hiring event and give out good benefits to the people who would take the offer which they never provided to illegals

left often likes to be self righteous and claim anyone they oppose lacks compassion/empathy rather then their ideas being idiotic and damaging

like claiming that open borders or opposite to ICE arresting illegal immigrants is just compassion when not its

illegal immigration damages the country

they broke the law and snuck through the borders (not to mention abusing/lying systems ( like economic migrants who lie to claim they are asylum seekers)

saying that the people claiming they want asylum should wait outside the country so they can check isn't a lack of empathy ( and to be frank if they went through multiple countries who offered them asylum they are obviously not asylum seekers/lose their right to claim)

america has every right to police their orders and punish illegal immigrants

the notion that what happened with the native Americans ( who were fighting over the land with each other long before pilgrims came) where we conquered their lands somehow means we don't get to restrict the borders is just pure idiocy.

we owe them nothing we do not need to atone for anything or change our border policy because of what happened.

every group of people had bloodshed in the past

I was once told that I lacked “human decency” because I asked for statistics that contributed to the reasoning for defunding the police and wasn’t given any.

It's supposed to be hyperbole, but I've encountered people with this mindset on facebook when talking about unchecked immigration and minimum wage.

The thing is the zeal of the lefts convictions really is a caricature because they're so self-righteous and holier than thou that anyone with a different view is immediately condescended to.

Ironically being 100 times more insufferable than the Christians they disdain so much. Yet while hypocritically giving a free pass to other religions because "muh diversity".

You forgot, "We need to ban guns, to keep kids safe. What do you mean, 'You own a firearm to protect your family?' JUST CALL THE POLICE! (that we just defunded)

Just remember everyone: Tom Brady is racist for winning the superbowl during black history month.

Yes, this was actually tweeted.

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Left Wing Empathy: “caring” for people who fit and/or help move the lefts political agenda forward.

You forgot their new argument against small businesses:

"If you cannot pay your employees a proper wage, you deserve to be out of business!"

3 years ago Also heard "If you can't factor in crises' like this pandemic then you didn't deserve to be in business in the first place. Walmart is also supposedly now good because my handlers told me it is. Until I'm arguing about minimum wage laws then they're the bad guy again."

the problems with the $15/H minimum wage are 1)employers will just fire people and cut the hours off the ones they keep so they earn about the same, while making them work harder (iirc Target did this exact thing some time ago), and 2)a lower-paying job beats not having a job at all.

[uncloseted]

Imho we need to stop research deep diving into the people behind our entertainment and holding them to impossible standards because you will literally end up not being able to consume any media again. Your favorite actors/musicians/influencers/writer/etc have all done something problematic at some point and aren't morally perfect people that consumers are slowly demanding them to be. Of course it's different if they've committed a crime but I'm not talking about those types of creators here

I agree, 100%. I think people online need to have an honest conversation with themselves about what their actual goals are and what the best way to achieve those goals would be. Do you want someone to change their views or actions? If that's the case, the best way to achieve that goal is to nicely call them in to a conversation about it. It's not to dig up a post from fifteen years ago, send the person death threats, and then refuse to change your mind about them when they tell you that that's no longer their position. Doing that will only push the person further in the direction of the "problematic" belief or action, because at least the people who support that belief/action aren't trying to dox their families and get them fired from their jobs.

But I think truthfully, a lot of people online don't want other people to grow and change. They want to feel morally superior by punishing "bad" people who have done "bad" things. And in doing so, a lot of those people then start doing the bad things they accuse others of doing and justify it by saying that they had to do those things so that the "bad people" would be held accountable. Righteousness is a dangerous cycle to get trapped in.

I also think it's really strange because people don't apply this same logic in any other area of their lives. Like, would I start boycotting a restaurant because some line cook posted a bad take on his Facebook or stop buying from a store because the owner is an absent parent to his children? No. As long as I get the product I paid for, I don't really care what the personal lives of the employees are like beyond hoping that they're, like, happy and healthy and being paid a fair wage. But the minute the product in question is a celebrity, people lose the plot so quickly. Why should any of us care if actors are uninvolved parents or in a weird relationship as long as they're good at acting, the thing we pay them to do?

And of course, there are some important parameters on that, which I feel like I need to say lest I too be mobbed for having a bad take. For example, the Me Too movement was hugely important because it was about removing people with a history of illegal behavior from having access to the influence that would allow them to continue to abuse people. That's huge. I am in no way saying that we should uncancel Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey. Cancelling them removed them from the film industry, which meant that they were removed from the position of power that they held over others and used to abuse people who were subordinate to them. The film industry is safer without them there.

But... do I care that, for example, Barry Keoghan is "problematic" because he got divorced, moved to a different country from his son, and started dating someone new? Is that worth boycotting his movies over? Saltburn was a good movie. Please, Please, Please is a good song with a good music video. I got what I paid for, which is him being a good actor. Me refusing to watch him in things because he's "problematic" would do very little in the way of his son seeing him more. Even if he wasn't famous, he very well might have done the same thing. Would I care about this if he was a guy who served me a drink in Dublin or something? No. So why should I care because he's someone famous?

Similarly, and this is maybe my more controversial take here, I don't really care if celebrities have an opinion on global sociopolitical events or not. The majority of celebrities barely have a high school education. For the most part, they don't really have the educational or informational background to comment on complex and nuanced issues in any meaningful way. There are some exceptions to that (Tom Morello especially comes to mind- also Natalie Portman, Emma Watson, and Bridgit Mendler), but those are also the people who are using their platform exclusively for business and have opted out of trying to be "relatable" celebrities on social media. And if I'm being honest, I think that's fine. I don't really want, like, Ariana Grande's publicist to post on Instagram about Palestine telling me what they think I want to hear so that Ariana doesn't lose public support (not sure if this is actually a thing that happened- just an example I'm making up). If anything, I think celebrities should be platforming people who are actually experts on these topics and sharing donation links for reputable organizations.

But nobody wants that, because by and large, people don't care about understanding any one conflict in particular. They just want proof that their fave agrees with them on whatever issue is most popular on the internet at that moment, and they want to prove that they're on the right side of history. And that's fine, I guess. Like I was saying the other day, I think people doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is better than people doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. The way things work now, at least people in Palestine are getting the aid that they need. But I think it also creates an environment in which the voices of experts (including the people who are actually living through the conflict) are getting drowned out, and it creates an environment where misinformation can spread rapidly.

All this is just to say that I think we need to be more aware of our motivations and make sure we have all of the information we need before we act. I think it's really easy to get caught up in internet hate trains, especially if you already didn't like the person and have been looking for a reason to justify your dislike for them. And the internet makes it really easy to jump onto those hate trains and feel totally justified in doing so. But as boring as it is, I think we have to take a step back and ask ourselves, "do I have a legitimate reason to dislike this person or are they just not for me? If I think I have a legitimate reason to dislike them, do I have all of the facts, or am I going off the word of someone who already dislikes them? If I have a legitimate reason to dislike them, will my actions encourage them to think differently about the issue, or do I just want to see them be punished? What would this person have to do for me to change my mind on them/forgive them? If there's nothing that would change my mind or make me forgive them, is it better to just block them so I don't waste mental energy on them?" I think it's better for ourselves and for the world at large if we choose to engage thoughtfully online instead of engaging impulsively.

[coochiequeens]

Bring back the old days when men used to kill themselves if these kinds of pictures went public

By Genevieve Gluck February 18, 2024

CONTENT NOTICE: This article contains photos which might be considered Not Safe For Work. Reader discretion is appreciated.

A British retailer is under fire after featuring a transgender BDSM fetishist in a new ad campaign highlighting “diverse” employees. To commemorate LGBT+ History Month, John Lewis Partnership (JLP) released a photo exhibition called the Identity Project, which highlights staff who identify as transgender or queer. The content was created as part of JLP’s 32-page internal magazine, Identity, which was distributed to the company’s 80,000 employees.

Yet critics on social media swiftly pointed out that some participants in the photography project had troubling backgrounds — including one trans-identified male who had been uploading disturbing bondage fetish photos to his Flickr and Facebook accounts

Marc Geoffrey Albert Whitcombe, who was positively profiled in the campaign, has worked for JLP at Waitrose Brighton for over two decades. In February 2021, Whitcombe legally changed his name to “Ruby Geoffrey Michael Porcelain Whitcombe,” in accordance with his self-declared transgender status.

According to the image produced in collaboration with photographer Chris Jepson for JLP, Whitcombe began to identify as transgender in 2015 “after accessing mental health support.” The photo of Whitcombe depicts him in fetish attire, wearing a wig, and holding a multi-tailed whip.

“[He] came out to [his] friends and family and started transitioning, presenting more and more as female, and [he] now presents as female full-time,” reads the copy, referring to Whitcombe with feminine pronouns. “[His] transition brought about a new confidence that saw [him] start performing at local competitions and open mics, culminating in lip-syncing for Graham Norton in the grand final of one of Europe’s biggest Lip Sync competitions and singing live on stage at one of Europe’s biggest trans Pride events.”

Prior to identifying as transgender, Whitcombe had been performing as a drag queen at burlesque shows under the moniker Tran-Tula. A Facebook account used to promote his events is described as “a page for my kinky and trans-drag performing alter-ego.”

Posting under the alias Ruby Porcelain online, Whitcombe has uploaded hundreds of images of himself in fetish gear, bondage, and lingerie. Some photos depicted Whitcombe in dresses, spreading his legs to reveal himself in women’s underwear, and others show Whitcombe holding sex toys in his mouth.

Under a now-deleted Flickr account, Whitcombe can be seen in a variety of sexual poses, holding handcuffs, wearing a police uniform and brandishing a whip, or sporting thigh-high PVC boots.

Pornographic images seen by Reduxx that were saved under Whitcombe’s favorites folder depict other “sissy” crossdressing men in bondage, hogtied and gagged, or alternatively decked out in silicone costumes designed to resemble women — part of a fetish subculture known as female masking.

One of the first groups joined by Whitcombe, according to his profile, is a crossdressing fetish community where men share similar content, captioned with pornographic language, such as “Sucking cock: the ultimate turn-on,” and, “Who goes out in public?”

Ruby Whitcombe.

An alternative Flickr account run by Whitcombe interacts with dozens of groups dedicated to photos of graveyards. Whitcombe uses the account to share hundreds of his own images of cemeteries and tombstones as a participant in a taphophilia subculture that celebrates a compulsive interest in the rituals of death. In one Facebook post dated April 2020, Whitcombe states that he regularly frequents graveyards in order to “exercise.”

Following the revelation of Whitcombe’s sadomasochistic proclivities, JLP Executive Director James Bailey released an internal staff memo that was leaked by former barrister and advocate James Esses.

“You may have seen coverage in the press and on social media over the past 24 hours following the publication of the Identity magazine,” reads the memo. “We have an ambition to become the UK’s most inclusive employer, because celebrating diversity will make us a better business. That means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome irrespective of their backgrounds or beliefs.”

The statement went on to offer mental health support to any individual who had been “affected” by any of the “coverage,” without mentioning the fetish content and pornography that had been publicly shared by Whitcombe.

Ruby Whitcombe.

An alternative Flickr account run by Whitcombe interacts with dozens of groups dedicated to photos of graveyards. Whitcombe uses the account to share hundreds of his own images of cemeteries and tombstones as a participant in a taphophilia subculture that celebrates a compulsive interest in the rituals of death. In one Facebook post dated April 2020, Whitcombe states that he regularly frequents graveyards in order to “exercise.”

Following the revelation of Whitcombe’s sadomasochistic proclivities, JLP Executive Director James Bailey released an internal staff memo that was leaked by former barrister and advocate James Esses.

“You may have seen coverage in the press and on social media over the past 24 hours following the publication of the Identity magazine,” reads the memo. “We have an ambition to become the UK’s most inclusive employer, because celebrating diversity will make us a better business. That means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome irrespective of their backgrounds or beliefs.”

The statement went on to offer mental health support to any individual who had been “affected” by any of the “coverage,” without mentioning the fetish content and pornography that had been publicly shared by Whitcombe.

Other JLP employees featured in the LGBT+ campaign included a nursery advisor in bondage gear associated with the so called ‘pup’ and furry community, which incorporates a sexual interest in dressing up as animals. Additionally, Liberal Democrat councillor Sean Macleod, of Lewes and Eastbourne, was profiled despite being publicly criticized last year for a “misogynistic” social media post which read, “Fuck the TERFs,” a euphemism for women who oppose gender identity policies.

In 2019, public outcry erupted after John Lewis’ clothing retail shops were discovered to have adopted a ‘gender-neutral’ policy for its changing rooms, which, as critics pointed out, allowed men who declared a transgender status to use the fitting rooms reserved for women.

In the days leading up to the most recent controversy, which saw John Lewis trending on social media platform X for two days with calls for a boycott, Esses had criticized what he called the “trans takeover of John Lewis,” and described in detail other aspects of JLP’s Identity magazine.

“This month, JLP published a new internal magazine, entitled ‘Identity’. It was the brainchild of JLP’s ‘LGBTQIA+ network’. It was promoted to every one of its 80,000 staff members (known as Partners). A copy of the magazine was sent to me by someone working at JLP, too afraid to speak out themselves,” Esses wrote on his Substack.

Among the concerning ideological content highlighted by Esses was the promotion of breast binders for minors and pressure from higher-ups on personnel to wear pronoun badges at work.

“Most worrying of all is when the article goes on to recommend Mermaids as a resource to parents. This is the same Mermaids currently under investigation by the Charity Commission for safeguarding concerns, including sending breast binders to children behind parents’ backs,” Esses says.

“Shockingly, the article goes a step further, by actually recommending online videos which show children how to achieve their ‘desired gender identity, for example, chest binders’. Readers are told that ‘a binder is always safer than the alternatives.'”

Women’s rights campaigner and founder of advocacy group Sex Matters, Maya Forstater, referred to JLP’s promotion of Whitcombe as part of a larger trend she called “bring your autogynephilia to work,” a term defined as a male sexual fetish for pretending to be female.

“It is sexist and insulting to women to pretend that these men’s hobby of dressing up and wearing wigs makes them women,” Forstater remarked.

In recent years, several other men have been held up as role models for wearing sexualized female-coded attire. One of the men presented as an example of the phenomenon, Philip, or ‘Pippa’ Bunce, was in 2018 included in a list of Britain’s top 100 female executives compiled for the Champions of Women in Business awards.

[eretzyisrael]

BBC’s director general has penned a message to staffers expressing regret over “antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us” as part of an apparent effort to rebuild fraught ties with Jewish staffers.

“As many of you may have seen, sadly in recent weeks we have been alerted to some antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us. I want to be clear that there can be no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind, whether towards our Jewish colleagues or indeed colleagues from any background or belief. Any form of antisemitism, Islamophobia or racist abuse is abhorrent, and we will always act whenever it occurs. We must play our role to build understanding and tolerance,” he writes in an email obtained by the Deadline entertainment news outlet.

“We will continue to talk to a range of groups across the organization as part of our shared commitment to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of background or belief,” Davie adds.Golan FamilyKeep Watching

Earlier this month, a senior BBC employee came under scrutiny for having shared a plethora of antisemitic posts publicly on Facebook.

The BBC itself has come under fire for its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and has had to issue several apologies since October 7.

In mid-November, the BBC apologized after one of its presenters said and then repeated that IDF soldiers who had entered Shifa Hospital in Gaza “were targeting people including medical teams and Arab speakers.”

The broadcaster was also slammed for its rush to report unverified and later disproved claims that an Israeli airstrike was responsible for a deadly explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital on October 17. The BBC subsequently apologized for that coverage as well, saying it had been too swift to assign blame.

Finally, in early January, the BBC apologized for a December report on its radio station in which it accused Israel Defense Forces troops of executing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.