#galston

[househuntingscotland]

1 bedroom house for sale on Duke Street, Galston, East Ayrshire

Asking price: £39,995

[natequarter]

in defence of the verginixes: becoming a single dad who makes bad life choices happens to every fourthling on the edge it seems

[cecexwrites]

Wasting Time with Rabbits Mini Moodboards pt 1

Galston Legume

Cedrick Facilier

Quinn Queen

[pakalolo-mermaid]

Maui kine💥🤙🏽

[thymehaspassed]

My ass can NOT fail two tests in one day. But who the fuck was Howard Gardner

[toestalucia]

filed under things i think r funny they canonly say

more event lines but these...

Lauphit: I could see everyone's enthusiasm for comedy… Really made an impression on me. Farrah: Ahaha… I guess at the end of the day, we're just a fun-loving crew—captain included.

Seruel: Well, since you'll be representing our crew, it wouldn't do us any good if you looked slovenly on stage.

Lauphit: Captain's pretty funny too! I don't get how someone with such an innocent-lookin' face can have such a sharp tongue!

in general 1) taking that one seasonal login (white days??) and going 'what if we made an entire comedy event' is so funny 2) juri rly was an excellent choice seeing how competitive & justice-oriented & passionate he is (when he yells at renvauro) #notbiased 3) zehek being there solely to be the dude who laughs at Everything lord (loved it) 4) if the new juri doesnt have new seasonal lines ill cry 5) yknow with the latest 4kishi event where lanceys mom recognizes captain...and the new years lanvane line where they bring captain to their home-village...and now with them mentioning the galston unit halloween tradition that juri talks about in a halloween line too...... i love that 6) when galston spoke about juris dad and mom buuuHHUUUUUUUUUU juri has 3 dads club 7) farrahT____T my favorite besties of all time

[thenewdemocratus]

Brookings Institution: William Galston: The American People to its Leaders: Ground Troops Against ISIS & a Stronger National Defense

Source:Brookings Institution I think its pretty clear about what we’ve learned in the last thirteen-years or so in our Middle East adventures. That if you try to defend and govern a country that won’t do that for themselves, then they’ll expect you to stay indefinitely especially if you’re also putting up the bills. And the answer to that is don’t fight other people’s wars for them. This is what…

[shadowworldwanderers]

Pippa Galston

Name: Pippa Galston Nickname: Pip, Gal Love Interest: Diner Crew Appearance: Blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin. Pippa describes herself as ‘hug-shaped’. Pippa’s clothing is always bright, even her cooking outfits.  Height: 5′7 History: Pippa grew up with her parents locally, learning to cook when she’s in high-school and learning to take care of herself in the same time. Pippa can’t help being friendly, but she admits she’s afraid that her natural kindness makes her easy to manipulate.

[neutrandrogyne]

stummy achey breaky owiee

[mariacallous]

There are many reasons for the stunning election victories of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans: inflation fears, concerns about border security, worries about cultural issues related to race, gender, and sexuality, and feelings that President Joe Biden and the country as a whole were headed in the wrong direction. As my colleague Bill Galston persuasively has argued, people’s judgements about inflation and immigration were harsh during this election season, and these views harmed their assessments of Kamala Harris and strengthened the case for Trump.

But we can’t ignore the ways in which disinformation shaped views about the candidates, affected how voters saw leader performance, and generated widespread media attention. As Elaine Kamarck and I argue in our Brookings Press book “Lies That Kill: A Citizen’s Guide to Disinformation,” there are systematic and organized efforts to shape public opinion in many areas, from public health and climate change to race relations.

So, we shouldn’t be surprised that the same thing happened during the 2024 election. Campaign examples this fall include the infamous stories about immigrants eating cats and dogs, hurricane disaster relief funding going to undocumented immigrants, Kamala Harris in a swimsuit hugging convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the supposed case of Tim Walz abusing a young man 30 years ago. Disinformation flowed into our info-ecosystem from other countries as well. One video featured a Haitian man (although he was not really Haitian) saying he had just gotten to the United States and had voted in two counties—Gwinnett and Fulton—in Georgia, but it turned out to be a fake video made in Russia.

These and other efforts were successful in shaping the campaign narrative because they were disseminated broadly on social media platforms, promoted through funny memes, picked up and publicized by mainstream media outlets, circulated by internet mega-influencers, and amplified by leading candidates during rallies, debates, and interviews. In a situation where public confidence in news reporters is very low and new generative AI tools make it easy to create and disseminate fake pictures, videos, and narratives, the 2024 campaign was rife with organized efforts to sway voters, twist perceptions, and make people believe negative material about various candidates.

Polling data suggest that false claims affected how people saw the candidates, their views about leading issues such as the economy, immigration, and crime, and the way the news media covered the campaign. Take the case of immigration and border security. According to candidate Trump, there were hordes of migrants overrunning the country’s southern border, unfairly monopolizing scarce public resources and endangering public security through dangerous crime waves.

Actual border statistics consistently showed weak support for those claims, but that wasn’t enough to quell unfavorable views about Harris on border security. The idea that 10 million migrants had crossed the border and that many were released after capture was not true, according to independent fact-checkers. Apprehension and release numbers dropped during the Biden administration and were comparable to figures during the Trump administration.

In addition, crime statistics showed that native-born Americans actually committed crimes at levels three times higher than immigrants. According to the National Institute for Justice, native-born Americans committed around 1,100 crimes per 100,000 people, compared to 800 by legal immigrants and 400 for undocumented immigrants. But Trump’s false claims in this area made Harris look ineffective on crime and immigration.

On views about inflation and the overall economy, people in 2024 consistently reported very negative opinions compared to actual inflation, unemployment, and GDP figures. Europeans have been especially perplexed by American’s sour views of the economy. On the eve of the general election, the Economist magazine even had a cover story saying the U.S. economy was the envy of the world. Yet voters had a dismal view of the economy and rated Harris negatively for the economic situation.

For coming political battles, people need to be aware of how the current information ecosystem regularly is promoting falsehoods and skewing views about important issues. But we do not need to stand back and accept widespread misperceptions as the new reality. There are several things people and organizations can do to protect themselves for what will be a continuing wave of misinformation, disinformation, and false narratives.

There needs to be meaningful content moderation by social media platforms. Right now, many leading platforms are cesspools of rumors, false information, and outright lies. They are widely disseminated and seen by millions of people. If that continues, it will become increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction—endangering our country’s ability to address major problems. Companies need to get far more serious about content moderation.

The disinformation risks have grown stronger in recent months due to new tech tools such as generative AI. There are easy-to-use tools that can create false pictures, videos, audio, and narratives. People no longer need a technical background to use AI tools but can make requests through prompts and templates and become master propagandists. We need digital literacy programs that train people on how to evaluate online information and spot fakes and deceptions.

We have to understand how changes in the contemporary political environment make people want to believe negative information about the opposition. In a highly polarized world, where people are divided into competing political tribes, millions of Americans admit they themselves have intentionally spread information they know to be false. If that continues, it will lead to disaster for our country’s politics and governance.

Finally, many individuals and organizations have financial incentives to spread blatant lies. Through websites, newsletters, and digital platforms, they make money from subscriptions, advertising, and merchandise sales. As long as spreading lies is lucrative, it will be hard to get a serious handle on the flood of disinformation that plagues our current system.

[scotianostra]

It was every medieval Knight's ambition to go on a Crusade, they saw it as a sense of duty. Robert the Bruce was no different, nor his faithful friend James Douglas, Lord of Douglas. The Bruce had been excommunicated barring him from taking the "pilgrimage" Sir James and he were rather busy as well, there was the matter of a war with England.

The English called Sir James "The Black Douglas" , the man was so frightening a wee verse has survived through the centuries that mothers used to whisper to their children when trying to get them to sleep.

Hush Ye, Hush Ye Do not fret you, The Black Douglas, Will not get you.

The Douglas must have hated the English with a passion, his father Sir William Douglas, known as "le Hardi" or "the bold" had been one of the few nobles who openly supported Sir William Wallace, he died a prisoner of Longshanks in The Tower of London around 1298, the young James had been sent to France for safety during the early years of the Wars of Independence, and was educated in Paris, it was where he met William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, who took him as a squire. He returned to Scotland with Lamberton. His lands had been seized and awarded to Robert Clifford. Lamberton presented him at the occupying English court to petition for the return of his land shortly after the capture of Stirling Castle in 1304, but when Edward I of England heard whose son he was he grew angry and Douglas was forced to depart.

James seems to have went about his business after this not causing any problems of note until The Bruce took up arms against the English in 1306, it is clear that he had been starting to feel somewhat disgruntled about his lack of inheritance and, after Bruce’s return from exile a year later, the nineteen-year old joined the Scottish camp. Not long afterward, on Palm Sunday, he launched a swift and brutal attack on his castle of Douglas (held at this point by Lord Clifford) reportedly seizing the castle while the defenders were at church and shutting the garrison up in the cellar to burn to death. After Bruce’s victory at Loudon later that year, despite Douglas momentarily getting cold feet and attempting peace negotiations, he became active in the region that his descendants would draw their main strength from- the Borders. And so it was that he fought with Bruce right through the campaign to free Scotland from Edwards tyranny. Fast forward to 1330 and it is said Sir James was called to the bedside of King Robert as he lay dying he asked his loyal friend to remove his heart after death, place it in a casket, and take them on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and bury his heart in the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Sir James took Bruce’s heart, embalmed it then put it in a casket which he wore round his neck, and set off on the crusade to the Holy Land with a party of 25, made up of knights and noblemen, among them Sir William de Keith of Galston, Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig and his brother Sir John, Sir William de St Clair and his brother John de St Clair of Rosslyn ,Sir Alan Cathcart and Sir Symon Loccard of Lee. Having been granted a promise of safe conduct from Edward III of England, the party sailed from North Berwick and made for Luys in Flanders in the spring of 1330 remaining there for 12 days and attracting more followers from all over Europe. Their intention was to then sail to Cape Finnestere in the North West of Spain to visit Santiago de Campostella which had been ordained as a holy town by Pope Alexander lll following the discovery of the remains of the Apostle James. A pilgrimage to Santiago captured the imagination of Christian Europe on an unprecedented scale as it was the 3rd holiest site in Christendom and at the height of its popularity in the 11th and 12th century attracted over half a million pilgrims each year. However, before they could set off for Santiago word reached them that the King of Castile and Leon, Alphonso Xl , in his efforts to drive the Moors out of Granada had laid siege to the Castillo de las Estrellas(Castle of the Stars)at Teba which was occupied by the Saracen Army of Mohammed lV,Sultan of Granada. Douglas sent word that they were prepared to join forces with Alphonso and sailed immediately to help, making landfall at Seville and marching the short distance to Teba. Alphonso having heard tales of Douglas’s bravery and leadership skills gave him the right flank of the Castilian Army. On the morning of the August 25th the Saracen army had assembled below the Castillo de las Estrellas under the command of Osmyn. The Castilian trumpets sounded and Douglas, thinking it was a general advance, led his troops forward.

The Scottish contingent charged the Saracens and, although not fully supported by the rest of the army, managed to hold them, finally the Moors, unable to withstand the furious onslaught,fled.

Douglas, as was his custom, followed them until finding himself deserted, turned his horse with the intention of joining the main body.

Just then he observed Sir William St Clair surrounded by a body of Moors who had suddenly rallied. With the few knights who attended him Douglas turned hastily to attempt a rescue.

He soon found himself surrounded and, making one last charge shouting the words “A Bruce A Bruce”, took the casket containing the heart from around his neck and hurled into the enemies’ path shouting “Now go in front, as you desired and Ill follow you or die”. Douglas and a party of his followers were all slain but they had diverted enough of the enemy forces away from the main thrust to enable the Castilian army to overrun the remainder and capture the Castle.

It has been speculated that the Moors lack of knowledge of European heraldry had a part to play in the death of Douglas.

Noblemen on both sides were valued as hostages, but because Douglas did not display the red cross on his tabard that distinguished English knights, but instead had the 3 stars of the Douglas family on his harness and shield, the Moors did not recognize his status or they would probably have spared his life.

Douglas’s body was recovered from the battlefield along with the casket, his bones, the flesh boiled off them, were taken back to Scotland by Sir William Keith of Galston in Ayrshire (who had missed the battle because of a broken arm), and deposited at St Bride's Church. The Heart of The Bruce was given to Regent Moray, who interred it under the high altar of Melrose Abbey. The pics are one of Strathleven Artizans dressed as Sir James and the Memorial to Douglas at Teba.

[cecexwrites]

👗 + Gal, first scene?

It's what she wears when she loots the market

[weiwhat]

'Hogwarts school of Activism: Harry Potter’s Fandom for Social Change?'

Traditional notions of civic engagement often conjure images of town hall meetings, community volunteering, and grassroots political campaigns.  William Galston, for instance, laments the perceived disengagement of young people, attributing it to their immersion in media and the internet (Kligler-Vilenchik et al. 2011). This perspective, however, overlooks the evolving landscape of civic participation in the digital age.  Increasingly, scholars recognize that younger generations are embracing new forms of engagement, deeply intertwined with their personal interests and online social network (Kahne, Lee & Feezell 2013).  Rather than being a source of apathy, popular culture and participatory platforms are emerging as powerful catalysts for youth-driven social action, enable by social media (Kligler-Vilenchik et al. 2011).

At the forefront of this shift is the rise of "fandom activism." But what exactly is fandom? More than just enthusiastic consumers of media, fandoms represent vibrant subcultures united by shared passions (Foster & Class n.d.). As noted by Leno, these communities foster a profound sense of empathy and camaraderie among individuals who connect over common interests(Leno 2024). In essence, fandom provides a modern iteration of social connection, offering a sense of belonging and collective identity, particularly in an increasingly digital world (Groene & Hettinger 2016). 1997 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, acclaim have earn the fandom; Potterheads. Today Potterheads are found all over the globe, standing in millions of stan fans.

This inherent sense of community and shared purpose within Potterheads creates fertile ground for activism(Kligler-Vilenchik et al. 2011).  Leveraging their digital fluency and collaborative spirit, fans translate their passion into tangible action, mobilizing around causes that resonate with their values (Kligler-Vilenchik et al. 2011).  From fundraising for charitable organizations to orchestrating online awareness campaigns, fandom activism transcends the boundaries of traditional civic engagement, harnessing the power of popular fan’s culture for social good (Foster & Class n.d.).

-Deathly Hallows Campaign-2011

The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA), founded in 2005, truly embodies Foster and Class’s definition of fan activism. Taking inspiration from book’s "Dumbledore's Army," the fictional student activist group in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) presents a compelling case study in the evolution of civic engagement, demonstrating how fandom can be a powerful catalyst for social change (Jenkins 2014). Far from a mere online fan club, the HPA strategically harnesses the digital landscape and the shared passion of Harry Potter enthusiasts to mobilize a generation of activists.

Their campaigns, often inspired by events and themes from the books, are carefully crafted to engage and mobilize fans to digital activism in their rights (Jenkins 2014). The "Deathly Hallows" campaign, for instance, mirrored the quest for Voldemort's Horcruxes, challenging fans to identify and combat real-world "Horcruxes" such as poverty and discrimination (Jenkins 2014). This approach translates fictional concepts into strong tangible actions, empowering fans to step beyond the screen and engage in meaningful change to people around them.

-Harry Potter Alliance's SocMed Hashtag Campaigns on Facebook

Beyond targeted campaigns, the HPA excels at grassroots mobilization through social media. Online forums from reddit to HPFF (Harry Potter Fan Forum) buzz with discussions, Facebook groups like Harry Potter Alliance UIUC and regional HPA groups transforming into virtual town halls, and Twitter hashtags from #BLACKLIVESMATTER serve as rallying cries. Through these digital channels, the HPA facilitates exchanges, disseminates vital information, and orchestrates collective action on a local and global scale (Jenkins 2014).

Fans are not merely encouraged to consume content; they are invited to become creators themselves(Jenkins 2014). Fanfiction, fanart, and music become powerful mediums for exploring social and political themes within the familiar context of the Harry Potter universe. This couple with social media’s reach not only nurtures a thriving sense of community but also allows fans to engage with activism on a personal and profound level, blurring the lines between fandom and social action whilst fostering a sense of ownership and agency among participants, making activism a more personal and empowering experience (Jenkins 2014).

HPA’ssuccess lies in its strategic engagement with the existing Harry Potter fandom. Instead of creating a separate movement, the HPA taps into the shared passion that already unites millions of fans worldwide (Potter 2019). This allows them to leverage a pre-existing sense of community and shared purpose, providing a powerful foundation for collective action. By organizing campaigns and events framed within the context of the Harry Potter universe, the HPA makes digital activism more engaging and relatable to its target audience(Potter 2019).

These examples highlight the versatility and adaptability of fan activism. Whether harnessing the power of established fandoms or building new communities around shared concerns, fan activism offers a compelling model for civic engagement in the digital age (Leno 2024). By tapping into the passion, creativity, and digital fluency of young people, fan activism has the potential to reshape the landscape of social and political change.

 

References

Foster, D & Class, the n.d., ‘Fandom as Participatory Culture’, ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub, viewed https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/comm3p18/chapter/fandom-as-participatory-culture/.

Groene, SL & Hettinger, VE 2016, ‘Are you “fan” enough? The role of identity in media fandoms.’, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 324–339.

Jenkins, H 2014, ‘View of “Cultural acupuncture”: Fan activism and the Harry Potter Alliance | Transformative Works and Cultures’, journal.transformativeworks.org, viewed <https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/305/259>.

Kahne, J, Lee, N-J & Feezell, JT 2013, ‘The Civic and Political Significance of Online Participatory Cultures among Youth Transitioning to Adulthood’, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–20.

Kligler-Vilenchik, N, McVeigh-Schultz, J, Weitbrecht, C & Tokuhama, C 2011, ‘Experiencing fan activism: Understanding the power of fan activist organizations through members’ narratives’, ResearchGate, Transformative Works and Cultures, viewed <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259823285_Experiencing_fan_activism_Understanding_the_power_of_fan_activist_organizations_through_members>.

Leno, M 2024, ‘The Healing Power of Pop Culture Communities’, Psychology Today, viewed <https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/mind-matters/202407/the-healing-power-of-pop-culture-communities>.

Potter, H 2019, ‘The Culture Crush’, The Culture Crush, viewed 19 November 2024, <https://www.theculturecrush.com/feature/fan-activism>.

[blitzy-blitzwing]

oh geez I hope they find a way to remove the galstone as painless as possible I had kidneystones and know those are absolutely awefull Hope galstones are less painful

I hope so, too. I don’t like pain. 🥺🥺

[toxicgreenslime]

You 🤝 me

Abnormal galstones

Instead of lots of galstones i had two big (acorn sized!!!) galstones and my galbladder was possibly starting to necrotize when the surgeons removed it (it was gray)

that sounds TERRIBLE acorn sized oh my god... those fuckers hurt like all hell though god i never want my body to make another rock in my life i hope you never have to deal with more body rocks either they are Evil