#he's actually already upset many conservatives

[ka-hi-witchfinder]

Honestly as a non catholic raised by catholics, pope Francis is so important to me

watching the pope be one of the only mainstream voices willing to flatly call what's happening in gaza a genocide is probably one of the most surreal parts of this whole thing

[shego1142]

Okay so… I don’t really want to make this post, mostly because I feel like I’m always the one wearing tin foil hats on tumblr

But listen… I understand being upset and sad and afraid right now

But yall some of these posts are going beyond doomerism

Some of these posts

A lot of these posts, actually

Look quite a bit like demoralisation

So many of these posts I’ve seen look very much like purposeful targeted demoralisation

And I do hope everyone can understand very quickly how bad demoralising people right now is.

I do hope everyone can very quickly understand just how much people in power stand to gain from demoralising us.

I mean, you know, not that I’m saying that there’s a psyop taking place on the website that has routinely had multiple proven right wing/conservative/white supremacist psyops take place or anything

You know, that would be bonkers.

But all of these blogs out here saying that everything is hopeless and nothing will ever get better and we are all doomed and we should just tear each other apart and play the blame game?

That’s a little fishy.

Especially given that now more than ever is a time to stand with one another and hold on to hope and start organising together.

All of these blogs just blind faith accepting the election results as they are and not even considering any bad acting is at play? Just rolling over without any hint of a fight and implying that everyone else has to as well?

That’s a little fishy.

Especially given that:

The election results are not certified until December 25th and the House and Senate do have the power to object to the electoral college votes (especially if enough pressure is put on them to do so)

Especially given that it took a long time before we were sure who won in the last presidential race and it looked like Trump had won that first week back then too

Especially given that Kamala Harris’ Concession speech is not legally binding, and if it is found out between now and December 25th that she has won, then that will still be considered a legal win.

Especially given that many states, including battleground states, are already doing a recount and many more states are presumed to follow (So far Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada are recounting the ballots and Arizona and Texas are considering)

Especially given that there has already been proven minimal forms of tampering with the election process including multiple burnt absentee ballot boxes, bomb threats at polling places, as well as just plain human error whether malicious or benign.

So… you know… anyone posting on here saying that hope is dead and that we should all hate each other and everyone should just fuck off and stop caring about everything and stop supporting each other?

That seems a little bit fishy, doesn’t it?

That seems a little bit fucking sus, doesn’t it?!

Especially given that, even after all is said and done, even if he 100% did win and there’s no doubt that it’s legitimate

He’s still being sued for multiple charges and violations of conduct, he could still end up in jail

Especially since even if he doesn’t, even if he is sitting as acting president one January:

We have 2 and 1/2 months to mobilise

2 and 1/2 months to organise

Sure would be convenient for Trump and the 1% and the right wing pundits to make everyone feel like everything is hopeless and tragic and to pit leftist against democrats and what not

Sure would be useful to them if we were all just sad and hateful to each other these next coming months

Like I’ve seen many posts tying to do.

You can feel your feelings but if you start advocating for us to attack one another, for women to fight and hate leftist men who voted for Kamala, for black people to fight and hate other people of color, for leftists to hate democrats for not “going far enough” and for democrats to hate leftists for “going too far”

And all this bullshit in-fighting

I’m just going to assume you’re a bad actor and block you

This isn’t the time for the blame game, there’s no fucking one to blame other than Trump and most likely Elon Musk’s money.

Now isn’t the time to give a shit about why the election results are what they are.

Now is a time to stand together, united, to make our communities better, safer, sanctuaries.

Now is the time to talk to one another, to not strive for perfection but for safety.

Call your representatives

Get your passport

Print out as many copies of books (especially banned ones) as possible and fill your local little libraries with them, fill it with zines about community building too,

Check out these links:

Talk to the queers and the people of colour and the disabled people in your community

Book a meeting room in your local library

Talk to your librarians, talk to your teachers and health care workers

Talk to your local conservationists.

Don’t just talk to leftist spaces either, remember:

There is Power in Making Friends, Not Winning Battles - reach out to your community and find out what the real issues are, it’s very rarely actually just hate, it’s usually fear and poverty.

Do nice things for your community in the name of Queerness - in some places you can adopt a road and make it beautiful, so this with a group of queer friends and get a plaque that says “This Road Was Adopted by The Queer Community”

Get together with your minority friends and figure out how to open a soup kitchen (easiest than you think and registering as a non profit is actually a great way to stay safe for many reasons)

Have your community see you as a part of it, not a threat to it.

Speak at schools

Fundraiser for the library

If you’re included to do so, you could partner with different religious groups as well, especially since there are in fact religious groups that are inclusive and welcoming and supportive.

Make your community know that the “threat” of the “lgbtqia” is non-existent

Don’t make yourself less queer, less a person of colour, less disabled, etc, don’t fade into the background

Become a shining beacon of positivity and goodness that everyone in your community can see as an asset to the community.

Give back more than you e ever gotten.

I know how difficult that can be but trust me, it will be worth it. Work with the leaders in your community to lobby for more rights just in your town and then you can lobby for more rights in your state.

Just like how many states have now said that if Trump tries to do mass deportations they will stop him, work to create that solidarity within your own communities.

Do not sit quietly in fear doing and saying nothing but hopeless things for the next two months.

Do not let anyone convince you that it’s over.

Do not become another statistic.

[byunpum]

The new member

Pair: Miles Quaritch (baby blue boii) x Human reader

tw: Recom squad, fluff, save pandora team, nothing special for the moment. This changes according to the chapter.

POV: Y/N is sent from Earth to Pandora to be part of a particular group of people…

p.s. This story is created after the ship altercation. Neteyam never dies, the sullys are able to run away, but spider decides to go with his "father" to the base. All recoms are still alive.

AVATAR MASTERLIST |Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

NOTE: Hello!!! I'm back with one of my stories, which I usually imagine before going to sleep XD. Actually, I had thought about this story, while I was writing the 'experiment 56' parts. You know this is a pilot, if you like it and I see that it has a good feedback, I'll keep going. From now on I warn you that I am not very expert in this Navi culture, but I did my best. And sorry for the spelling. English is not my mother tongue.

Protecting Pandora Association or by its initials PPA. The association dedicated to the welfare and conservation of pandora. Our goal is to make pandora our home, in a safe and healthy way. Respecting the life that already inhabits the planet. We want humans to be able to coexist and adapt to pandora. Trying not to make the same mistakes we made on earth.

"Are you serious Dr. Williams? The RDA is doing a good job here on Pandora," says General Ardmore, sitting in her office. This was one of the many quotes, complaints and scoldings that Dr. Williams had, towards the RDA and their inappropriate work in Pandora.

"A good job? General Ardmore, they are annihilating Pandora's wildlife and its creatures. Everything. They are supposed to be adapting, not attacking pandora" the doctor complained, the annoyance in his voice was palpable. "we can modify some things, but you don't have the right to question my work here in the RDA" says the general. Taking a sip from his coffee cup.

"Yes, I have all the rights I want. Because I am the director of the PPA, I am the one who signs the checks so that the RDA can continue to survive. And I'm going to make a lot of changes." Dr. Williams was very sure of his plan, and the disaster that was happening in Pandora was going to end.

General Ardmore kept silent, she knew it was better to keep quiet. The PPA was the association that sent money to the RDA to survive on Pandora, for their research and civilization on this new planet.

"Listen to me carefully because I am not going to repeat myself. You are going to stop every attack towards the life of pandora, be it towards the wildlife, the navis and when I speak of all the navi, you are also going to stop the attacks on the tulkun. EVERYTHING HAS TO STOP" the dr, Williams continues speaking. "In addition I am going to send a group of people who will be in charge of keeping an eye on your teams. And they will notify me of everything that is going on." General Ardmore, swallowed deeply and nodded her head down.

A Quaritch was sitting on his bed, as he analyzed some of the bruises on his arms. After the altercation he had with Jake Sully two months ago, he had gotten his non-son, 'Spider', to come with him to the base. The boy had tried to convince his "father" to stop chasing Jake Sully, but he was still analyzing the issue. He was in no physical condition to act and get into trouble.

He heard several knocks on the door. "colonel general Ardmore is looking for you" mansk says, as he peeks in the door. "did he tell you what he wanted to talk to me about?" asks Quaritch to one of his squadron members. "she didn't tell me anything, but she looks kind of upset" says mansk, walking away. Quaritch gets up and heads straight for the exit. He is surprised when he sees General Ardmore outside the rooms. " good morning general" Ardmore interrupts " we are going to have some changes here at the base… well at RDA".

"The PPA association wants to make some changes, and that includes sending staff to supervise our teams," says Ardmore. "With all due respect, but my team doesn't need any supervisors," Quaritch says with an annoyed tone. "But you will, it would be a new member of your team." Ardmore begins to explain everything to quaritch, what was going on and what was going to happen in the RDA. Ardmore hands him some documents, where it is written his new rules to follow. "This can't be," says Quaritch. "Believe me I don't agree with this, but they are the ones giving the money. So we have to play their game" Ardmore walks away down the hall. "The new member of your team arrives tomorrow" says Ardmore as he disappears from sight.

Damn protective association, and their damn rules. A new member, and them watching them all the time?. He wasn't going to stand for this. But he had to, he had no choice. Quaritch entered the common room area. All members of his team were there. "Good fellows…. We are joined by a new member" he says with a cheeky, sarcastic grin.

The RDA and PPA had greatly improved the technology of the transport ships from earth to pandora. Before it was 6 years to arrive, then it improved and was 6 months and currently it was a week. And there was Y/N getting up from her induced sleep. You were a little dizzy, and you were nauseous. The doctors on the transport ship helped stabilize you. And then they moved you to the recessed area, so you could get acclimated to gravity again. A noticeable change in the technology was the new exopacks, which were now super small tubes that were placed in the nose and the rest of the plastic tube was placed in the ears until it was connected to the oxygen machine at the waist. Your mouth was left uncovered, but the oxygen you breathed was enough to keep your lungs from collapsing.

You were transferred with other members of the PPA team, all of them human. You could see through the window how the sun was approaching on the horizon, while everyone was preparing to descend from space orbit to the planet. You had never seen anything like this before, you were in shock. You sat in your seat and waited for the descent to begin.

"Well team, today the newest member of our squadron arrives" says Quaritch, trying to sound positive. But the faces of the team members were something else. They didn't seem to have another member in the group, let alone one to supervise them. They had enough, with the scientists monitoring their new avatar bodies. "You don't know who it will be? Or what he looks like?" asks lyle, as he continues to get ready for the day. " I don't know, but I imagine it will be someone on our level" Quaritch tries to be funny, but manages to get the team to scoff a little. "That's enough… keep getting ready. I'll go to the welcome area and greet the new member" Quaritch leaves the room. "this is going to suck" says Soldier Lopez, as he laughs.

The landing didn't take long, and the entire PPA team arrived safely at the RDA facility. You were a little nervous, you knew what your mission was. You were an ambientalist who had just graduated, you were the youngest in your class. And even in this very team you were the youngest. Many could not explain why they recruited you, but your dedication and preparation got you here at Pandora. As soon as the doors of the ship opened, you were speechless. It was a beautiful landscape, you couldn't wait to investigate the place. Of course, they had already told you that you were going to be part of a group and that they were avatars. And that they were Marines and blah blah blah. You had confidence in yourself, but you couldn't lie… you were scared to death.

Outside the ship were the leaders of each team. They were all human soldiers, except Quaritch, his squadron were the only avatar recoms on the base. The other avatars still had their human bodies. Miles stood there, watching as a number of scientists got off the ship. To his impression, most of them were strong, tall and looked imposing, even some women were like that. He figured if he got someone like that, well… it would be good for the group.

"Colonel Miles Quaritch?" asked a manager." Yes, that's me," Quaritch said as he stepped forward. "Well, here's your new member," said the officer, standing in front of him was a strong, tall man. Quite a perfect soldier. "Nice to meet you" said Miles offering his hand as a greeting, to the boy, until the manager interrupted him. The officer takes you by the arm and pushes you in front of Quaritch. "Y/N…mmm member code 786. Yes, this is your new member." The man drops you in front of this very very tall blue man who was looking at you with a disappointed look on his face.

" Hello!!!! My name is Y/N, I am your new supervisor" he says with a wide smile. This must be a joke, it's the only thing that comes to mind. They just gave him a bunny." H-hello my name is" Miles tries to speak, until you reach over take his hand and give it a squeeze. " Colonel Miles quaritch, I know all about you, it's nice to meet you" you say without taking off your stupid grin. "Ahhh, it's nice to meet you" Quaritch tries to analyze you. You were small, you looked smart and if you could hold half your weight, that was amazing. He knew his team wouldn't like this.

"Are you sure I'm the team you're looking for?" asks Quaritch still in a state of shook. You look down at your papers, then back up at him. "Yes, look!!!" you raise your arms, so he can see the papers. Oh my goodness, you were adorable. Miles takes the papers in his hands and starts reading. "oh, that's right… well we have to deal with this chihuahua" says the man, and you look at him somewhat surprised. He just called you a chihuahua. "Well, y/n….follow me I'll introduce you to your new team" says Quaritch starting to walk inside the base. While he is walking, you were running.

He led you through the hallways, he was quiet. You were pretty sure, he was not happy with your presence. It's not like you are the ideal warrior, you would get fatigued if you ran for 10 minutes and that's if it was a good day. You just wished his team was nice. You had never been in a good group, they always pushed you away from the others, and didn't include you. " Are they nice?" you ask as you try to keep up with him. " No promises" Quaritch says as he keeps walking. Before long you arrived at the door to the bedroom area.

It was a huge door, as it opened you saw how big the place was. Well, for you it sure was big, but for them it was something of normal size. In the middle was a sitting area, in another corner some tables and board games. And all around were the rooms. Each one had the name of each member of the team, but what impressed you the most was the large window on the ceiling. You could see the whole sky of Pandora. And a beautiful illumination came into the whole area. In this area, were all the members of the squadron, they were sitting, they had comfortable clothes. Apparently they were waiting for you to arrive.

Quaritch entered first, and you followed him. All eyes of the members turned to you. You felt your breath stop, when you see how they are getting up and approaching you. "And this beautiful princess who is she?" says Brown as he looks you up and down. Lyle and mansk are whispering various things to each other. " Guys…this is new member" says Quaritch, and everyone gets quiet. " You're kidding, right?" says z-dog, the woman gives you a quick look. "Hey, slow down" lyle kneels down to be at your level. "Nice to meet you, gorgeous…what's your name" lyle, takes your hand and gives it a little kiss. " stop being flirty" Miles pushes him away, lyle stands up and gives you a smile. "My name is y/n" you speak shyly.

"hey, relax… we're not going to eat you" says mansk, as he sits down on the couch." Well come… I'll show you your room" Quaritch guides you to your room, when you get to the door you see that next to you is his room. "This is your room, it's set up for you, you know…it's all oxygen stuff. And you're right next to me. If anything happens let me know" Quaritch hands you the key to your room. "Take the day off, I imagine your suitcases will be arriving later. And don't worry, you'll get used to being here with us" Miles gives you a smile. "Thank you" There is a small silence between the two of you, until Quaritch shifts his gaze.

"I'll let you know when dinner is ready" You give him a smile. Quaritch had to admit, you had a beautiful smile. You walk into your room and he sees the door close. He feels someone tap him on the shoulder. "Wow Colonel…the girl is beautiful!!!" says Brown, shaking him a little. "Yes…she is very…" Quaritch fixes his throat, and pushes his roommate away. "Idiot" Quaritch walks out of the bedroom area. Lyle gives Brown a look, and they laugh.

p.s. If you like this pilot, let me know. That way I'll be encouraged to continue with the story.

The "I know I can change him" squad: @mechformers @cullenswife @littlethief78 @nieshiren @parasiiite @bxnnywriting @shelbythequeen @sassvy-blog-blog @shaylang21

[msfbgraves]

Keeping in mind the danger of flogging a dead horse:

Cobra Kai has shown its true colours: it's a deeply conservative show about a piece of shit white guy who suffers no consequences for any of his assholery; like him it's lowkey racist, deeply sexist with utterly mediocre writing. There are so many shows like that it's not worth getting upset about. But usually, at least they're upfront about it. They're going to performatively humiliate Daniel to show him his proper place as Other (when has American media done anything else to any of Ralph's characters?), and are probably ending with Daniel handing Johnny the trophy with the words "You're alright, Lawrence." Balance restored.

Going off about that now feels as redundant as raging against Stephen Moffat, who also never hid what he was. I owe CK the madness that is part III of The Karate Kid and a wider exploration of Ralph Macchio's hidden gems. I simply can't stop thinking: did they have to? Did they have to take one of the few things that actually float my boat and turn it into something American incels can jerk off to? I kept saying that Cobra Kai was a show fighting to be good but it isn't. Not anymore. It's revealed itself to be a vehicle to dismantle everything The Karate Kid stood for and fuck them for that, honestly. Everything in this world already is for boomers. Daniel LaRusso and Mr Miyagi were not all American heroes. They were more universal. The Republicanism of Cobra Kai is off putting: it feels like being stuck in one room with the American deligation of the Model United Nations - loud, arrogant, completely convinced of their brilliance yet so shallow that the only thing they could ask members of their host country was "hey dude, where can I buy weed around here?" The type of person you'd collectively pretend not to know English for. Had it been that from the first season onward I would have not wasted my time. Now I am having to debate suffering through the Johnny Lawrence is a Badass show to see two of my favourite characters, knowing full well that the only thing they're going to do is mistreat my blorbo, or not watch it and enjoy my fandom in peace.

Fuck this American propaganda. I want some random African or South American dojo to win the Sekai Taikai.

[antrea]

hello

if you wanted to know my thoughts about morgan frost and his decision to follow donald fucking trump on ig here they are. if not that's fine this is kinda my own ranting exercise lol

also i don't think this ramble will follow a structure so sorry about that.

ok so as many ppl will know i was in japan during election day (did mail in early voting due to this) so i didn't really react to much on the tumble but invasive thoughts would follow me if i was just sitting there trying to relax in an onsen or like waiting for a train or something. and it would just like frustrate me to no end. like i know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter AT ALL and there are much more serious things to be worried about instead of some random athlete's political stance. but it's just horrible as a fan to find out that i dedicated all this time (and honestly money - looking at you, adidas stadium series jersey with full stitched lettering) to supporting a player and now the question is like ok so which are you: are you homophobic/transphobic, sexist/women-hater, racist/xenophobic, a climate change denier, etc. etc., all of the above, or what? but you know it's like my own fault for trying to think i know these people (didn't you learn this lesson from kpop? i guess the fuck not) like just bc he seems to treat his sis and mom right and seems to be a nice boy to all the media doesn't mean that we know him!!! d'oh!

then there's the whole like canadian aspect of it all, like well thank goodness he's not actually american and could vote for this guy! but then sometimes it feels even worse that he's canadian and STILL likes some part of trump enough to follow him on ig the day after the election (and yeah i used some third party app to confirm this, because if he followed trump back in 2016 or before for the memes and shits and giggles and didn't unfollow later, honestly i would prefer that so much over following him in nov 2024.), when literally ryan poehling who owns like trump books doesn't even follow the guy on ig then wow you must fucking LOVE trump then. it makes me SO mad. like if the actual conservative americans on the team -- which i'm sure there's a bunch -- don't follow him on ig and you're making a point to as a fucking canadian then like -- !!!!!! like just keep your politics private at that point because i do not want to fucking know!!! why exactly do you love him so much?!?!?! fuck!!!!

i also feel so bad when i think of ppl who have been following him and the flyers for so much longer than i have bc i literally didn't know who morgan frost was this time last year so it hasn't even been long since he's been my favorite athlete and i already feel like this :(

the final thing i've been grappling with is like how do i go on from here. as i bet everyone could tell just by looking at my blog this year i've basically giffed the shit out of him and taken loads of pics as well at voorhees or at games. in the list of upsetting and annoying things, i KNOW that if this was like any other team's player and they did something like this i would be like "ew gross, that player is gross and so is anyone who is still a fan of them". but then it's happened to MY fave guy and i'm just like :| like in general i think it would be great if i just stopped stanning real life people entirely but it's so hard. i think one thing that has helped is that frost has kinda sucked overall this season so i haven't even needed to see him much lmao. i think the best i can do is just dial back my posts and thoughts about him and just treat him as an Average Player. again, it sucks, because i'm out here going like "well i can sort of still like him because he hasn't done anything like actually posted 'yay trump!' or like explicitly endorsed him" but isn't the follow itself pretty telling of him???? again it's like how freaking of a hypocrite am i for not holding the same standard for these privileged white men just because this one was my fave and the others don't play for my team.

i guess one thing i'm completely ok with is let's keep the rpf rolling lmao. esp if he's a homophobe or something let's keep him kissing boys.

[mariacallous]

The Trump administration should be congratulated for making government efficiency a high priority. Absolutely no one, liberal or conservative, wants to see their tax dollars wasted. But cutting government is a tricky business for two reasons. The first, outlined in a companion piece here by John Dilulio, is that the vast majority of the government’s work is not conducted by civil servants paid by the federal government—it is conducted by contractors who spend tax dollars. Any honest look at efficiency would have to take a look at contractors as well as the federal workers. The second is that if the Trump administration were to be successful in actually cutting as deeply as they are suggesting, the disruption would be intolerable to nearly every American regardless of party.

People like to say they want less government spending but hate it when their favorite program is cut. Conservatives want defense spending to be maintained or even increased. Senior citizens don’t want anyone to touch Social Security or Medicare. Most want law enforcement and health programs to promote their well-being. Nearly everyone wants clean water, reliable power grids, and strong border security.

“Disruption” is a favorite word in the business community, where it sometimes results in innovation, ingenious products, and great profits. But no one has to buy a particular car or frequent a special e-commerce site. The problem is that in contrast to the private sector, many of the things government does are not optional. They are required to serve the public and maintain vital services already approved by federal officials. Thus “disruption” in government can mean that Congress won’t approve the reductions and the “government disruptor” will be thrown out at the next election by voters upset at the proposed reductions.

So, let’s see how government cuts might work in the Trump administration. Trump has chosen Vivek Ramaswamy along with Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. So far, they’ve said they want to cut $2 trillion from the federal government, dissolve agencies, and reduce the workforce by draconian amounts.

The biggest portion of federal spending is mandatory spending—money that goes directly back to the citizen; this includes Social Security, (the largest), Medicare and Medicaid, veteran benefits, and unemployment insurance. Who gets these benefits and how much they get them is set in law. The DOGE team could chalk up a lot of savings by cutting Social Security benefits, but they would have to go to Congress to change the law first. No executive can unilaterally  impose spending reductions on programs already approved by Congress. Indeed, Trump himself, who made one of the wisest political decisions ever when he promised not to touch people’s Social Security or Medicare, would probably be the first politician in line to throw the DOGE team out if they want to cut Social Security.

Assuming that you can’t cut mandatory spending (which is 66% of the 2022 budget), the DOGE team will have to look for savings in what’s known as discretionary spending. After paying interest on the debt, that amounts to about 26% of overall federal spending. In 2023, this category was $1.7 trillion, much of which is traditional defense spending. There is not enough money in the discretionary pot to meet Ramaswamy’s goal in one year; over two years, the cuts would be almost impossible.

Here are some examples of what’s in the discretionary part of the budget and how deep cuts would affect it. Let’s suppose that to meet these goals, the DOGE team planned to cut 80% of the workforce. Here’s what would happen:

There are about 1,800 air traffic controllers right now. These are highly skilled workers who keep planes from crashing into one another on the runway or in the air. Cutting air traffic controllers by 80% would mean we’d be left with 360 people to manage American air space. Perhaps artificial intelligence could someday replace these people but right now that seems as unsafe as self-driving cars.

There are about 19,357 border patrol agents working to protect American borders right now. An 80% cut would leave just under 4,000 agents protecting our borders. It’s hard enough to hire border patrol agents as it is, so a cut that big will truly open the borders and make a complete mockery of Trump’s pledge to be tough on illegal border crossings.

Over at the Social Security Administration, 60,000 people are responsible for approving checks totaling over $1.5 trillion per year. They approve benefits for people who are newly retiring, take people off the rolls as they die, correct mistakes, search for fraud, and do many other jobs to keep the money flowing to those who earned it. An 80% cut would leave 12,000 people to administer a program that represents 30% of income for people over age 65 and considerably more for poorer people.

Other “bloated bureaucracies” that come under the discretionary portion of the budget are the people at the Centers for Disease Control that track down foodborne illnesses each year. The FBI has come under extreme criticism ever since they took documents from Mar-a-Lago. But if it was abolished, who would track down and prosecute the drug cartels that bring fentanyl and other drugs that are destroying America into the country? And who would supply weather forecasts, including hurricane and tornado warnings if the employees at the National Oceanic and Space Administration were cut?

So how do you cut government? With a scalpel, not an axe. I know because between 1993 and 2000, the Clinton administration ran a program called the National Performance Review, which I directed under Vice President Al Gore. Nicknamed REGO for “reinventing government,” the program became the longest-running reform effort in American history—resulting in 426,000 cuts to the federal workforce. We conducted a thorough review agency by agency, something the DOGE program would be wise to repeat. That resulted in hundreds of recommendations, two-thirds of which were enacted with $136 billion in savings. We enacted customer service standards and performance metrics (under the Government Performance and Results Act passed in 1993). We closed superfluous offices, cut 16,000 pages of regulations, passed a major procurement reform bill, and fixed longstanding challenges in agencies from FEMA to the FAA.

But that was thirty years ago. It’s time to do it again. Things that were just pipe dreams back then, like filing taxes electronically, are now standard operating procedures. When we started the National Performance Review, the internet was just becoming available to Americans; by moving government information and then transactions online, we saved a lot of money. No doubt today’s technology can save even more.

But so far, the unrealistic approach DOGE has taken has in it the seeds of its own failure, both from a policy and political standpoint. Americans won’t like it if the border becomes more open or if airplane safety is dramatically imperiled. And don’t mess with Social Security checks. A screwup there will create such a blowback that it will have Trump running his efficiency experts out of the White House faster than you can say “Department of Government Efficiency.”

[akwardlyuncool]

Black and Akward In The Scene #1: He's Still A White Man.

I've decided that I'm gonna start a series of blog posts talking about being Black in "the scene." (Y'all know what scene I'm talking about, so no need to clarify in this moment.) Today is the first post in that series and we'll see if I post more. I have some writing in my drafts that might make an appearance, but let's just start with this first one.

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.

So I recently learned the Billie Joe Armstrong said the N Word with the hard "r" in Green Day's song American Eulogy for their album 21st Century Breakdown. On the TikTok video where I learned this information, I commented "as a Black fan this gives me the ick." Some people agreed and then some folks decided I needed further context on the lyrics. (As in that would help.) Now I personally don't need further context because I can just go listen to the song and see what's up, however context isn't going to change the fact that Billie Joe is at the end of the day, a white man.

The context: The Lyrics: "Fight fire with a riot the class war is hangin' on a wire because the martyr is a compulsive liar when he said, "It's just a bunch of n*ggers throwing gas into the hysteria." The full song for those who want to hear it. The Note: Either he's quoting an actual racist or a fictional one (I haven't found full confirmation on either) and speaking from their point of view, neither in an agreement sort of way.

I've listened to this song a bunch of times, because I was checking the CD out from the library back in 09, have owned the album myself for probably close to 10 years now, (I have a special copy) and this moment is one I just happened to miss. To be fair maybe there was a time I'm forgetting where I was made aware and have long since forgotten, but today it feels fresh. Today I'm bummed. Today I'm uncomfortable. And today I'm irritated at all the, you know what people, that felt the need to jump to his defense instead of acting like I didn't have a reason to feel some sort of way about his actions.

In that same comment section I also stated that I'm not gonna stop listening to Green Day, just that this is a weird moment for me. I have hella expensive tickets to see Green Day on tour this summer. I've been listening to this album for years and they've literally been one of my favorite bands since I was in middle school, he's not getting canceled. So it's rather ironic that these people are treating my discomfort or the discomfort of other Black fans that agreed and shared similar sentiment, like fires that need to be simmered before the flames get too big.

How many times do I have to remind these folks that context will not help him here. At most the context, which I could have already deduced by simply being the fan that I am, let's me know that Billie Joe wasn't speaking from his own opinions. All that being said he still felt the need to write the lyrics and preform them as is, as a white man. I'm not giving him a pass in that regard and I think that's whats making people upset or at least be on the defense.

I think they want the Black fans to give him a pass, so that they can still feel comfortable. This is Quentin Tarantino. Truly if you know, you're a girl that gets it. It's also ironic cause the folks that made the video were also not Black either.

My point is that I'm tired of non-Black people invalidating our (mine specifically) feelings to make sure their fave, that once again is not getting canceled, doesn't get called racist. They also cited the other slurs that he's used in his music, not stating the fact that those are slurs he as a queer man has the ability to reclaim. And maybe none of this is true and they're just "making sure I'm aware." If that's the case then, go "educate" one of those conservatives who didn't know that Green Day was one of those darn "liberals," I'm sure they're interested in learning.

[vacantgodling]

I can't think of a specific question, but I'd love to hear anything about Godeater ! That wip scratches a very specific itch in my head it's very satisfying <3

hi after 80 years i’m finally answering this teehee 💀

something i haven’t fully talked about is how The Under mirrors The Upper.

like The Sun, The Waning Moon is “guarded” from those who would sneak to snuff out its power. however, the waning moon doesn’t have as much power as the sun, so not many go after it; leaving the “guardians” of the moon more freedom to do as they please.

the guardians of the waning moon are the 6 SINS; some of the first demons to defect from the upper after lucifer. the most powerful of the sins is avarice or “ava” (greed) and i’ve talked about him a bit before (and i love him) but i don’t give the other sins as much attention so let’s talk about them!!

also as a side note the sin gluttony doesn’t exist. why? cuz ava killed him :))))))

anyway tho:

(1) IRE (the SIN of wrath) -> she/her

ire is the resident hot head of the sins and the second shortest, taller than ava by a mere inch. she wears her hair in spiky ponytails, half red, half purple, and while she has a bad attitude she actually avoids cursing and tends to insert nonsense words into her speech when she gets really upset. she loves sweets and cute things but hates when people call her cute. very much a “that’s cute i want to break it” energy. she’s the third strongest of the sins but the most likely to whoop some ass bc of aforementioned anger issues LMAO.

(2) HUBRIS (the SIN of pride) -> he/him

literally the most flamboyant fag on planet earth i’m not even joking. he’s a diva and a model; tall and pretty with long hair and thick lashes. he’s overconfident but also loves to hype other people up, and can be extremely dramatic, his emotions a constant whirlwind. he cares about people very very deeply and always wants to lend a helping hand or ear to those in need. he’s actually the second strongest of the sins but is perhaps the least likely to use his powers. he hates blood and gore but if you really manage to push his buttons (he keeps them secret so it’s less likely) then he’ll tear you (the bitch) apart :3c

(3) PASSION “SION” (the SIN of lust) -> they/them

sion is team parent, the second eldest of the sins (younger than ava by a tad) and always looking after the rest of them as though they were their children. they’re very patient and mature and seem almost conservative in their appearance… though what they get up to in their own time is between themself and their partners lmao. despite being lust, like ava is greed, lust extends to a variety of different things and their thirst for companionship, care or affection runs deeper than only surface level sex. if they want something they want it in every way they can attain it. ava considers the two of them the most alike; very unassuming but carnal in every sense of the word :)

(4) APATHY (the SIN of sloth) -> he/they

the most similar to his calling card of the entire bunch, apa tends to be the most lowkey of the sins. he’s the most likely to stay behind and watch over the waning moon, and while he isn’t always a napper he does prefer a sedentary life. he does hibernate tho i need to figure out when and how, and to compensate stays awake 24/7 without needing sleep when he’s not in hibernation mode. low fi beats, music, and pillows are his jam.

(5): COVET “COVE” (the SIN of envy) -> they/them

cove is the youngest of the sins and has a big inferiority complex in being so young. they don’t have as much power as the other sins, and their childish ways do get the others to look after them quite often and they just want to be wise and powerful already. secretly they do enjoy the attention and enjoy being babied which is something ava and hubris tease them about a lot much to their chagrin, and they usually have a monopoly on sion’s time; the two of them go everywhere together. as they continue to gain exposure to the waning moon’s light hopefully they too will become just as powerful a sin as the rest of them :3

[asurrogateblog]

anymore lore ⁉️

also sorry if this is annoying i’m just such a sucker for band ocs they’re all so fun. i love band ocs <3

not annoying at all! and yes, I sure do have more (threat)

I guess I could talk about their backgrounds and the band's early history, which is something I've been fleshing out more recently. Read as much or as little of this as you'd like....

Childhoods

Nelson Singhal was born in Woking, Surrey (west of London) on July 22nd, 1948. His parents deeply involved anti-establishment communists who frequently put The Cause over raising their child. They were "why do you need a birthday present when there are children starving?" types. Unfortunately for them, this backfired, and he became an attention-seeker with a love of the finer things in life. However, he does carry their sensibility for self-sacrifice.

Roy Gardner was born in West London on January 12th, 1948. His father was an American air force officer stationed in England, and his mother worked as a nurse at his air base. As a child, Roy moved around a lot, and also coming from a mixed-faith household (his dad irish catholic and his mom jewish), he was always between worlds. As a result, he's very socially cautious and often prefers to keep to himself. It can come across as standoffish but he doesn't mean it.

Izzy Riles was born in Tblisi, Georgia sometime in February of 1947. He was adopted by a humanitarian aid worker and brought back to the UK. He had a cozy early childhood, save for being a bit pushed aside once his parents had biological children. Importantly, Izzy is actually short for Isabella. Unbeknownst to everyone, he was intersex and raised as a girl until age twelve, when he began to show signs of male puberty. His conservative 1950's parents had no idea what to do about this, so they moved towns and had Izzy socially transition. LUCKILY, Izzy's biggest concern was "so does this mean I can play in the mud without getting yelled at now?". Even so, he deeply internalized feeling like a burden, and had already learned by then that it simply wasn't worth sharing negative feelings.

-----------

Early Band History

Nelson and Izzy met when Izzy moved to Woking and began attending the local secondary school. They bonded over the many attempts to bully both of them, which subsided with Izzy's winning strategy of "simply smile and pretend not to notice anyone said anything upsetting". It's no fun to taunt someone if you get no reaction.

Roy arrived a couple years later, his parents moving back to the UK from California after his father left the military. Roy was surprised to find his childhood friend Izzy at the boy's school, but was glad to reunite. By then, Nelson had taken up guitar to move up from "not bullied" to "actually popular" and Roy was not impressed. Their friendship began competitively, with Roy challenging him with his own skills on the piano.

By the time they graduated six-forms, the three of them were writing music together – Izzy having taken up drums so he would have a part to play. He was the most encouraging of taking their music seriously, and when they moved to central London in 1966 to start university, he insisted that they moonlight as a band. Izzy got involved in the underground psychedelia scene, which got them some of their earliest gigs. Roy, who was starting a sound engineering apprenticeship, also made connections in the industry, and soon enough, they had a record deal with Polydor. They named the band Clarion Call after an article Izzy had read in a counter-culture magazine about the new generation of musicians.

In 1968, they released their first single, "Six Feet Over". When the single was successful, they finally decided to drop out of university to focus on the band. Their debut album, Answer the Call, was received respectably well despite poor promotion, providing them with their first UK and continental tour. Their manager renegotiated their deal, and when they dropped their second album Puzzle Master in late 1969, it was a surprise hit in the US.

Their first international tour was set for summer of 1970. That spring, however, Izzy went missing and never returned. Roy and Nelson were forced to delay the tour, but after the search failed, they went on without him. The mystery of his disappearance in many ways contributed to the fame they would soon gain.

-----------

What Happened to Izzy?

As far as the public was concerned, Izzy had just disappeared. That is not, however, what actually happened.

One weekend in April of 1970, the three of them took a trip to Northern England to get away from their increasingly busy lives and celebrate the tour – staying alone at a rural guest house owned by Roy's wealthy aunt. Unbeknownst to Roy and Nelson, their burgeoning success had started to dig at some of Izzy's most repressed insecurities. He had seen what the music industry had done to good friends of his, and feared what those same poisons would do to them. Worse, he worried that the other two didn't really need him, and that he was ultimately holding them back.

Izzy never had any intention of actually quitting the band, but despite being the ray-of-sunshine optimist of the group, he could be just as much of a manipulative horrorshow as the others under the right pressure. One night while lounging on the balcony of the guest house, he told Nelson and Roy that he was not coming on the tour. Nelson, who was unbelievably anxious about their success, blew up at him over it. Unfortunately, Izzy happened to have been idly walking along the edge of the balcony, and Nelson's reaction shocked him so much he lost his balance. They rushed down to find him bleeding out on the concrete. Realizing there was no nearby hospital, and seeing that Izzy was beyond repair and in a lot of pain, Roy made the impulse decision to. Well. Hit him over the head with a rock to mercy-kill him.

In the midst of their grief and panic, Roy and Nelson decided to – instead of trying to explain what had happened to the authorities – hide Izzy's body. Once they realized that there was no turning back on this now, they chose to pretend that he had simply gone missing – claiming he had left to hitchhike to town and never returned. Only by sheer stroke of luck did they actually get away with this.

Of course, this was by far the most traumatic event of both of their lives, and it left them deeply wounded with guilt over the incident. Their feelings about what happened to Izzy made its way into a lot of their future music. In fact, it's probably what made it so good.

(okay. done for now)

[cursedvibes]

Sorry I have to rant, I just saw post on reddit about how Gege hates his main trio and has completely destroyed them(I'm paraphrasing) and I get it everyone has their own opinions and they can complain etc etc but the whole thing was so dumb!😭 Literally stupid reasons only because they have made so many assumptions about how the story would/should go. These last two chapters have caused such a mayhem in the fandom. People are impatient, quick to make predictions, and get upset when they things don't happen their way. And that's one thing I really don't understand and absolutely hate, how fans of a media think that they know how the story should go better than the creator itself, especially if it's something like a manga which is released on a chapter by chapter basis. Only two chapters have been out! There is more to come! Don't be hasty to judge and please have some patience! Hell! even the shippers are mad I don't know if you ship fushiita, sukuita or sukufushi but it's really chaotic right now. Fans seem to think Yuuji's only purpose was being a vessel(which is a pretty gross way to think about him in my opinion) and now he's useless. Btw thanks for the earlier ask you answered about this because I was also upset about it but that had more to do with 'megumi is the perfect vessel actually' and not Sukuna being separated from Yuuji, anyway you really helped me deal and understand it. Thank you for that! Your blog feels like a safe haven for Yuuji and Kenjaku fans. They're both so underrated and completely overshadowed by other flashier characters (megumi, Yuuta and getou respectively) I cannot tell you how happy I was that I've found like-minded people like you. They're both my faves and I feel so sad that they're ignored by most of the fandom especially Kenny who's only misfortune is being in gojou's ex's ex body.

Well, I got completely derailed and this is more of a rambling than a vent. Sorry for sending such a long ask😅. Thank you for being a part of this fandom. Also, you are very funny even your tags are so hilarious, they make my day. Keep up the good work! And have a good morning/night!

Thank you for the nice words! Funny on the internet and having correct takes on fictional characters, such high praise 😌 I'm gonna add it to my CV

It is quite a shame that Kenjaku is so unpopular. Honestly don't know why? They have the looks, the smarts, the connection to the main character (although somehow that often gets overlooked beyond the milf jokes), they drive the entire plot and have an entertaining personality. But most of the time people don't even notice that. They're just Geto 2.0.... Or a grumpy conservative old man. No idea where that characterization came from or why it's so prevalent, but especially in fanfics I see it a lot.

Yuuji is very popular, but he's often turned into Pink Naruto, despite them being very different besides some standard shonen tropes. Naruto without Kurama is unthinkable (well until Boruto happened, but that was after Naruto's main development was already over), so the same must apply to Yuuji, right? If Yuuji doesn't have Sukuna, what's the point?

Also, I don't know what it is with this fandom and going off the rails every break week. Like clockwork the "Yuuta is the real mc because he stronk and his laser beam go pew" take comes back every time and people make up the wildest stuff. I'm surprised by how many genuinely think Yuuji is dead dead. Done. Story over I guess. Megumi hasn't gotten any points, so that's clearly not the case yet. If not, he obviously has to throw around some Infinity-level technique to "prove" he's the mc. They also already see Hana at the bottom of Megumi-Sukuna's stomach I guess and/or Yuuji as Angel's new host. Somehow...how would she even get to him so fast? And sure, switch one manipulative 1000 yo sorcerer for another...what a fun and unique concept. At this point I'm more looking forward to the next leaks because it will give people something meaningful to talk about than the story (not true, I really want to know what happens next, but these takes are very annoying).

I haven't heard that Gege hates the main trio before, but I certainly see it paraded around a lot in regards to Yuuji, even though Gege clearly says in the fanbook that that comment was simply about how he is hard to write and they want to make sure to do him justice. Of course an author can get a bit exasperated, but that doesn't mean they hate the character. If that was the case, Gege wouldn't put this much thought into Yuuji.

In regards to the trio, with how jjk works and everything that's been happening, there was no way they would stay together (assuming that's what people take issue with). It's basically a tradition. Sashisu, Nanami & Haibara, Maki's group, the Kyoto gang, they all got separated, some even died. Honestly, it would be pretty unrealistic for the Tokyo trio to stay together. And as you said, things just started to pick up, much can happen. Megumi is probably gonna resurface for at least a little bit before he dies - or not who knows. Nobara's situation is a bit iffy, but she was never as important as Megumi or Maki so eh. If she comes back, I need her to be properly integrated into the story. She has no connection to the current plot, any of the main villains or adds to the lore. Her coming back with some new strong technique would be nice, but what's her function gonna be besides moral support for Yuuji and killing some less important enemies? So far I don't feel like she needs to come back for parts of the plot to progress. If she doesn't, it wouldn't be a huge loss. Therefore, if it happens, I need some character exploration for her. I still think it would be neat if her grandma somehow shows up and does...idk something, but she sounds awesome (knew from the start not to trust Jujutsu Tech, best woman) I want to know more about her.

I don't really ship any combination of Yuuji-Sukuna-Megumi, so I don't know what happened on their side. Fanartists have put out some very dramatic, traumatic and bloody ItaFushi art recently, which I appreciate, but that's all I know. After ch 212 I got the impression shippers liked the new development for the angst. Didn't know that changed, but I'm really not that in touch with that side of the fandom. Either way, Yuuji not being a vessel anymore sounds more like it would be beneficial for them (separate bodies and all) unless you're really into the possession trope.

[stinkrascal]

hi jaiden! I dont know if youve answered this already but what is brie's relationship with her mom like? Mother-daughter relationships are always so interesting to me because they seem to be the most complex so :>

hi anon!!! oh man im so glad you asked this question aha. there's some spoilers in this since A LOT of this stuff will be talked about in the brie/vlad backstory whenever i get around to posting it, but i'll discuss it here anyways since i think it's really interesting!!

breanna's relationship with her mother was extremely tumultuous. breanna's mother was only 16 years old when she had breanna, so she had to give up her childhood to raise her, and because breanna's mother comes from a staunchly religious, conservative background in poverty-stricken southern louisiana, she had no help from her parents, who essentially disowned her. because of that, her mother held a lot of resentment towards breanna, but she did try to be a good mother. i think brie's mom genuinely thought she was doing her best, but she struggled to relate to and help breanna, who was admittedly a very troubled child. breanna struggled in school, struggled with her weight, and struggled in social settings (this was due to having undiagnosed autism, something which her mother refused to have treated as she didn't want to accept her child having autism due to its many cruel misconceptions), and often this greatly upset brie's mother, as she felt breanna's misbehaviors reflected badly on her. she couldn't understand that breanna's academic, physical, and social difficulties weren't because of laziness, but because of severe untreated mental illness, and breanna's mother often lashed out because of it.

all this was compounded by the fact that breanna's little sister, madeline, was by all accounts a gifted child; madeline was less temperamental than breanna, going along with whatever her mother said while breanna was often more combative and dismissive. madeline was academically gifted, conventionally attractive (re: thin) and thrived in social settings, as she mimicked those around her to appear as though she fit in, unlike breanna, who often struggled to understand and emulate the people in her life, instead focusing on her own interests and hobbies. in every sense, madeline was the "golden child" and breanna's mother often compared the two, in her attempts to get breanna to behave, not understanding that comparing the two would only make breanna resent both her mother and her little sister. in breanna's mother's mind, she genuinely wanted breanna to see madeline as inspiration, a role model, a guideline for how breanna could live a happier life, but to breanna, it just felt as though she always loved madeline more than she loved her.

their relationship became especially strained when, on breanna's 16th birthday, she attacked madeline, 13 at the time, which resulted in permanent damage to madeline's left eye. breanna's mother was absolutely distraught at the fact that breanna would cause such harm to her own sister, and she basically demanded breanna leave their house, which she did. breanna left to live with a much older man, someone she met online, and she ceased contact with her family, only talking through madeline for years. madeline actually makes the comment at one point that breanna's mom was "relieved" over the fact that breanna had a boyfriend, as she showed no interest in dating prior. nevermind the fact that he was a man 12 years her senior - the mere fact she was socially acceptable enough to have a partner was enough for her mother.

the man eventually broke up with breanna when she was 19, and she reunited with her family after not speaking to them for three years. breanna's mother was resentful for breanna having abandoned her family, though in breanna's mind she felt as though she did them a favor - they never wanted her around anyways. occasionally breanna's mother would give her sly compliments, mainly about her weight loss (which was on account of living with her older boyfriend, who had gotten her addicted to marijuana, which caused her drastic weight loss), but their relationship never healed. from this point forward, they constantly fought, as breanna's mother felt breanna was aimless, unambitious, and content with mooching off her parents for the rest of her life, while breanna felt her mother was overbearing, coldhearted and uninterested in her feelings and her struggles. this eventually culminated into breanna's decision to run away for good, where, by pure chance, she fell unconscious in the woods, where the vatore twins discovered her...

for a long time, breanna goes through this child-hating phase where she absolutely detests the idea of having children, because of her fear of becoming like her mother, someone who, in her eyes, hated her own daughter. the truth was far from this, as whenever breanna interacted with children, she always enjoyed herself, but her fear was so deeply-rooted, she felt she had to convince herself she despised children to soothe those fears. a lot of her willfully incompetent personality stems from her relationship with her mother as well, as she always felt growing up that she wasn't good enough to meet her mother's expectations, so why bother at all? even her insecurities about being autistic stem from her mother's insistence that breanna doesn't have any mental health problems, she's just not trying hard enough to live a normal life, which stopped her from wanting to receive a diagnosis for a long, long time. and tbh i hc that she was never officially diagnosed. it was only when the triplets were diagnosed with autism at a young age, that she realized she was likely also autistic. by that point it became undeniable, since, you know, they have to get it from somewhere, and she knows they didn't get it from vlad. she just related too much to the symptoms to ignore it any longer.

she is a lot better about handling her insecurities surrounding her autism, and her fear of motherhood is all but completely vanished!! so she has healed in a lot of regards. but she still struggles a lot with feeling useless, with feeling like she isn't good enough to accomplish the things she wants, therefore she needs others to do those things for her.

[cuntylouis]

final oscar predictions

95th Academy Awards will happen on March 12th, so here are my unnecessarily detailed predictions for winners in the above-the-line categories, in the order of likelihood, based on the precursors, analysis, hopediction, and pure vibes:

Best Original Screenplay

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

2. Tar

3. The Banshees of Inisherin

4. The Fabelmans

5. Triangle of Sadness

Early in the season many people thought that EEAAO would be too weird and comedic for the relatively conservative Academy voters but by now it’s clear that it was an unnecessary worry and this movie is pretty much universally loved. It’s going to win at minimum 4 awards of the 11 it’s nominated for and might do a full sweep that is rare with oscars nowadays. I’ve heard many voters also really, really liked Tar so i think it’s the second competitor.

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. All Quiet on the Western Front

2. Women Talking

3. Top Gun: Maverick

4. Glass Onion

5. Living

There is apparently a lot of support for Women Talking among the voters but i’m slightly leaning toward AQotWF based mostly just on hunch and also just because of personal bias because i didn’t like Women Talking myself lol.

Best Director

1. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (EEAAO)

2. Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)

3. Todd Field (Tar)

4. Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

5. Ruben Ostlund (Triangle of Sadness)

The Daniels won the top prize at the DGA awards which is historically a very strong predictor for the Best Director at Oscars. Everyone else except Ostlund still has a chance though.

Best Actor

1. Austin Butler (Elvis)

2. Brendan Fraser (The Whale)

3. Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)

4. Bill Nighy (Living)

5. Paul Mescal (Aftersun)

My two personal favorites, Farrell and Mescal, are unlikely to win because their performances were very subtle and internal and the Academy tends to think “best acting” means “most acting”. The precursors and the Academy’s well-known biopic obsession point toward Butler likely being the winner, but Fraser is beloved and has a great comeback narrative which could help him.

Best Actress

1. Michelle Yeoh (EEAAO)

2. Cate Blanchett (Tar)

3. Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)

4. Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)

5. Ana de Armas (Blonde)

This is going to be between Blanchett and Yeoh, whose performances are so above the rest of the competition it’s not even funny. I would say it’s genuinely 50/50 coin toss. I’m putting Yeoh first because i personally want her to win, Blanchett gave arguably one of the best performances of her career but she already has two oscars and will probably get more in the future. Yeoh doesn’t have similar opportunities. I’m just praying there won’t be Riseborough upset...

Best Supporting Actor

1. Ke Huy Quan (EEAAO)

2. Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)

3. Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)

4. Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)

5. Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)

Quan is practically 100% locked. He’s been absolutely steamrolling it on unprecedented level through the whole award season. If anyone else wins i’ll eat my hat.

Best Supporting Actress

1. Jamie Lee Curtis (EEAAO)

2. Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)

3. Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

4. Hong Chau (The Whale)

5. Stephanie Hsu (EEAAO)

The most difficult category to predict. I could see any one of this women winning - except my and many other’s favorite, Hsu. It’s unfortunately clear she’s an afterthought for the Academy voters, if even that. Whether it’s racism or their bias against young and new actors they don’t seem to think much about her performance. I’m leaning towards JLC over Condon and Bassett. She’s a well-established and beloved actress in a beloved movie, she has the narrative, she won the SAG, she’s been campaigning like crazy, and the voters seem to REALLY love her performance. I know it will be absolute shitstorm if she wins. I actually really liked her performance in EEAAO, i think it had a lot of charm and heart, was transformative without prosthetics, and it was also genuinely supporting performance when lots of supporting nominations are nowadays actually co-leads through category fraud. It’s just that i liked Hsu’s performance even more, and the Academy completely ignoring her in favor of JLCn makes it very blatant that they favor white and well-connected actors.

Best Picture

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

2. The Banshees of Inisherin

3. Top Gun: Maverick

4. Tar

5. All Quiet on the Western Front

6. Elvis

7. Avatar: The Way of the Water

8. The Fabelmans

9. Women Talking

10. Triangle of Sadness

EEAAO has beat all the odds and become the very likely winner after winning DGA, PGA and SAG. The only others i think have a legit chance are Banshees, Top Gun and Tar. The Fabelmans shows up high in many lists but to me it seems clear it doesn’t have much passion. Elvis and Avatar are crowdpleasers but may not appeal to more ‘highbrow’ voters. AQotWF did well at BAFTAs but american voters are not as enthusiastic. EEAAO it is.

[mariacallous]

The Church of England currently teaches two totally incompatible visions of God. On the one hand, there is a gospel of grace, where the love of God is unconditional and available to all. On the other, there is a God who places restrictions on that grace and asks the church to act as the gatekeeper. The latter teaches that if someone like me, a lesbian, has sex then I will go to hell – a truth as central to this branch of faith as believing in the virgin birth or the resurrection.

For years, the church’s solution to this contradiction has been to kick the can marked “LGBT+ relationships” down the road, and the “historic” proposals announced last month on sexuality were no exception. They continue to embed discrimination by refusing to recognise civil marriage as “holy matrimony” and only offer token prayers of blessing to gay couples, cunningly blessing the individuals rather than their union. There are also many shades of grey – especially as to whether our unions can actually now be consummated. All this from our established church, the official state church that operates thanks to delegated powers from parliament, which continues to be allowed to discriminate against those it serves.

This is an unholy fudge. It is a mess designed to try to keep us all happy but that has only succeeded in upsetting everyone. Progressives are angry – they know that while discrimination remains embedded in our teaching, LGBT+ people’s lives will continue to be severely impacted and pose a major safeguarding risk. Conservative Christians are miserable, issuing a statement saying that any hint of change will mean that they will call on their churches to leave the established church.

The church cannot be allowed to continue kicking the can down the road. That is why I have tabled an amendment at the General Synod next week, requesting that provisions for equal marriage legislation be brought back to the synod at its next meeting in July. I am not alone – following her tea with the archbishop of Canterbury, Sandi Toksvig has concluded that “the present position is untenable”. Parliament was also given a warning by Peter Bottomley, the father of the House, during an urgent question last week, when he said that “the Church of England needs to wake up”. Even Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, has said as much in a letter to her bishop.

The proverbial can in this scenario is the LGBT+ community and our relationships, and we get badly hurt every time it is kicked. Current church teaching has already cost far too many LGBT+ lives. It has led to countless LGBT+ teenagers being rejected by their families while others are crushed by heavy weights of shame and guilt. A large number have left the church, such as Wes Streeting MP, who last week in parliament told his own story of rejection and hurt.

Against this backdrop, my synod amendment also proposes that we remove the apology that the bishops have tabled in their motion, which seeks to “lament and repent” for the harm that the church has “caused and continues to cause” LGBT+ people. I believe this would be better until such a time that this discrimination, the “kicking”, embedded in the current proposals ends. Put simply, it is sheer hypocrisy for the church to apologise while at the same time wilfully enabling the abuse to continue. It is also hypocritical for the archbishop of Canterbury to say that he “joyfully celebrates” the provision of prayers of blessing for gay couples while refusing to say the prayers himself and while stating that he would rather the church be disestablished than split over same-sex marriage.

The powers that be in the Church of England would like us to accept that this is just an issue of differing “points of view” with each having equal merit, despite the harm that is inflicted on the lives of LGBT+ people. It won’t work. Those vigorously opposed to equal marriage will never accept there is a diversity of views on this. To them, prayers, blessings, marriage are all the same – if any ground is conceded then all is lost. That is why the matter needs settling now, once and for all.

I understand it was political expediency rather than doctrinal theology that lay behind the bishops’ proposals, as they did not believe that a vote on equal marriage would get sufficient support in the synod. Rather than capitulating to these fears our bishops – and indeed all those on the synod – need to show some spiritual leadership and embrace the Anglican moral tradition of conscience, making room for a plurality of views.

Unless we do, I foresee this will be the hill on which the Church of England, quite literally, will die.

[inspectorseb]

Quick warning that this is EXTREMELY long lol.

Honestly the ndp have been pissing me off recently. Before I explain, fyi I do not have an affiliation with a specific party because my personal beliefs are too far left to perfectly align with any party. But I can tell you I would only vote either liberal or ndp. And before now i really struggled trying to decide which one to vote for in the next election, but after everything that has been happening recently I’m severely leaning towards the liberals, and that’s upsetting. I’m trying to figure out how to express everything without writing a book lol. I don’t know what exactly snapped and caused the ndp to switch up but literally none of what they’re doing makes sense on a political level, and honestly it feels like they’re trying to copy some of the conservative strategies (which will work in a ‘right’ environment but not in a ‘left’ one) and it’s just making them look terrible. First of all, the tearing up of the liberal agreement. There’s still a year before the next election, and while they weren’t happy that everything wasn’t going their way (which of course it wouldn’t, you’re only in an agreement you’re not the one in charge), they showed that they actually made progress. So why not use the agreement for at least a couple more months to get shit done for Canadians? Instead it just comes off as them throwing a tantrum (very conservative like). And while they say that the timing was a pure coincidence that they ended it right after the conservatives said they should, something which we’ll never know the validity of, it just makes it look like you’re bending to the conservatives. And the tearing up of the agreement is purely symbolic, because I know damn well you’re not gonna all of a sudden start voting with the pcs. So you’re basically putting strain on a relationship that is only going to get more important over the next year, and for what? The second thing, which I really consider my breaking point is the carbon tax. First of all if you’re still too stupid to understand that you actually don’t lose money from the carbon tax, because you get reimbursed by the government, then I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not hard to understand but apparently no one fucking gets it. And if you think it’s the reason why groceries and shit are so expensive, that’s just capitalism and living in a grocery monopoly, it has literally been proven that the carbon tax only increases the price of food by less than 1% (generally around 0.3). I could go on for a long time about the logistics of it but that’s not what this is about. Before what has happened in recent days, something that really pissed me off happened late last year when Trudeau agreed to pause the carbon tax on home heating oil in Atlantic provinces (where I’m from). While this doesn’t impact everyone, it was a rare win for the Atlantic. And just a note to everyone who said “oh he’s only doing this to try to keep his supporters because those are the only liberal provinces”. What’s your point? On a political level, that just makes sense. And also the only current liberal province in the entire country is Newfoundland (where I’m from), and Newfoundland is already very loyal to the liberals for many historical reasons that would take a long time to explain. Anyways, when the liberals announced this deal, all of a sudden the pcs and ndp teamed up to protest this plan because it was “unfair to everyone else”. In this situation i don’t care about everyone else because we never get anything, and no one cares about us. We usually only get mentioned when it’s convenient. But I digress, this plan actually makes sense considering that Atlantic Canada has WAY more oil heated homes (because they’re old) than the rest of the country. There’s 25% across the Atlantic, while there’s 6% for the other 6 provinces (which way more population) combined. But all of a sudden the two parties complained that it wasn’t fair that oil heating got a break but natural gas didn’t. Oil heating is still 4 times more expensive to use than natural gas, even if you include the tax break.

Also we literally can’t get natural gas so it’s not like it’s a choice. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI, have all banned fracking. And Newfoundland and PEI have absolutely zero natural gas heated homes. Basically, we have no pipelines for natural gas to be possible for heating. I remember this incident because it was obviously no surprise for the pcs to say it, but I was honestly surprised and upset that the ndp supported their movement. Quick note, I remember when this was happening that some news sources and politicians were saying how unfair it is because “we [the Atlantic provinces] get everything” and I pretty much lost my mind. Cause if you really think that you’re delusional and you know nothing.

Going back to the present, we have the ndp all of a sudden revoking their support for the carbon tax. A move in which Singh actually referenced the incident I just talked about saying how Trudeau apparently made it unfair by “favouring certain provinces and making working people pay the price instead of big polluters”. And while I very much agree with their point that the big polluters are the ones who should have to pay for climate action, it’s better that they’re doing something rather than nothing. Along with Singh they have the premier of BC, Eby, on board saying that they would end the carbon tax. He also said how this is all Trudeau’s fault for “politicizing” the carbon tax. What the actual fuck are you talking about? All taxes are political first off, economics and politics go hand in hand. And you’re really saying Trudeau is the one who politicized it instead of the opposition who hasn’t stopped bitching about it and has literally been running (an unconstitutional) political campaign based upon it?

The ndp has basically said that this is a move to try and gain back their blue collar support that has been swaying toward the pcs in the west. But it feels a little too late for that. And in my opinion, I don’t think this move is going to regain them the support that they think it will. No matter what your rhyme or reasons are, making this decision now just makes it look like you’re trying to ride on the coattails of the conservatives, which will never work. In reality, even with the ndp continuing to gain support every election, Canada is still a two party system and the ndp are not even close to being competition for prime minister for this election (or maybe even the next). So most people are still choosing between red or blue. And by doing this, it feels like you’re trying to tell people ‘hey the conservatives are right and the liberals are wrong, that’s why we’re all of a sudden siding with them and ditching the liberals’. Oh you’re ditching the carbon tax? Well the conservatives have wanted to do that forever. To me this move just really feels like they’re actually gonna drive people red or blue instead of orange. But I mean I could be wrong. If the ndp had done all this a while ago I think it might be a different story. But the timing of all this is absolutely terrible for them, whether it was actually a coincidence or not. And I think it’s also to do with the fact of the upcoming election in BC, and that the competition with the cons is actually gonna be a lot closer than they thought. And also the fact that federally, the pcs have been gaining traction in previous ndp stronghold areas, especially in Manitoba.

Not too long ago, the ndp was considered the party for leftists (even though they’re not even left, they’re just the most left), but it feels like they’re now trying to go for the centrist vote as well. Which means that it really feels like there’s been a bit of a change in identity and politics recently. And it really is upsetting to me.

[barbiegirldream]

wait why were the two brothers connected on the love triangle

well to put it simply vampire diaries had two main relationship types. Family and Lovers. These roles have pretty standard tropes and behavioral beats. If they were a venn diagram Damon and Stefan sit uncomfortably close to the middle.

To put it more explained

The siblings in the show acted in very particular ways. TVD siblings were often protective of one another. Taking on a parental role was not out of the norm at all. Our main three examples early on were Elena and Jeremy, Vickie and Matt, and Damon and Stefan. Damon was notably much older than Stefan. And in the flashbacks is due to this parental in nature. But in flashbacks with teenage Stefan this isn't present and Damon acts like at 25 his 17 year old brother is his peer and they're best friends. A unique dynamic shift.

The Original siblings were more often than not adversaries but to quote someone vincent or whoever you can always trust a mikaelson to back another mikaelson. So picture a brutal death match with your siblings and then you go play basketball together. Their drama with each other was often about trying to get each other killed then backing out and tormenting each other with physical harm to one another.

Elijah and Klaus are the only other two siblings who competed for romantic affection but this was very lackluster on Klaus's part like they barely tried to develop this at all. It was pretty much Elijah's thing with Klaus being a teasing little brother

Damon and Stefan were romantic rivals in a very contrived way. Stefan was being forced into it and was just a victim. Damon was full steam ahead. But the pure familial bonds with parental ties get dropped here. The idea of Katherine turning the brothers as her lovers to both be with her forever fails for reasons. But then Damon is going to die. Stefan steps into the role Katherine was playing in the Lover bubble and forces Damon to turn. Damon angry with Stefan still stays with him until Stefan scares him away. Stefan scares him away by drinking too much blood and the debauchery of all the women he brings around it's very Stefan's sexually (murderously) liberated and Damon is too conservative and scared of it framed.

Damon for all his posturing is incredibly easy for Stefan to reconcile with, Stefan is just a moron. In 1912 Sage one of Damon's lovers teaches him to feed for fun. The first thing Damon does is take the erotic new fun way to feed and takes it to Stefan. Stefan goes overboard as per usual and runs away from Damon horrified at himself and Damon. Again the theme of debauchery is here.

Blood sharing is later explained to be erotic for vampires and Damon takes advantage of and assaults Elena in a bathroom this way in season 4 and Stefan punches Damon out over it. So to sum up on two occasions now Damon and Stefan have by proxy shared blood and then gotten disgusted about it. There is a scene in season 3 where Damon makes Stefan drink from a woman and when Elena comes across them she freaks out. And it's very much like Elena is upset about the blood drinking. However this is like her 900th time seeing them drink blood. So it comes across as if Elena caught them doing something bad. Which is backed up by Stefan's guilty face and Damon's ... ? face in the background.

In the 20s Stefan was perusing around Chicago and Damon was secretly keeping an eye on him the whole time. Stefan forges a new bond with Klaus during this era. They say brothers but it more clearly mirrors Stefan and Rebekah's relationship and Rebekah gets jealous about it. So many fans point out Klaus has an obvious crush on Stefan who definitely is never treated like Finn, Elijah, or Kol who are Klaus's actual brothers. Later in the end of season 3 at the dance Klaus refers to him and Stefan as brother's. And Damon steps in and says "not to get territorial or anything but he already has a brother" no other sibling relationship at Any point is given a jealousy/replacement arc. This also mirrors Elena's shifting desire from Stefan to Damon. (Alaric in season 7 or 8 hits Stefan with Damon being like his brother and I have Got to go back because Stefan reacts incredibly bizarrely)

In Season 5 the show throws out this concept of Elena and Damon competing about who loves Stefan more??? And Damon tells Stefan they both have to get home safe at one point or he'll have to kick Elena's ass for losing him which Stefan finds funny. And when Stefan is being quizzed about memories there is this bit where Damon asks how much Stefan's junk motorcycle costs and Stefan says trick question you bought it and Elena grins soooo wide. This isn't actually relevant btw I just wanted to bring this up for being so fucking cute. Also Paul Wesley as Silas takes the opportunity to flirt with Damon and Damon hits him with 'well you've never had sex with me' so those interactions are also present for me to set on the table.

When Damon goes missing with Enzo this is the end of season 7 and the plot set up for season 8. Caroline gives a voice over that Bonnie is grieving because Enzo is her lover. But since Elena is sleepy time the only person for. Damon is Stefan. Who reacts by throwing himself against the locked door again and again until they can get it open. And while Enzo's love for Bonnie is supposed to bring him back. Again Damon has no one but Stefan so in season 8 Damon and Stefan get really into confessing their love for each other. Which takes the exact beat of Elena trying to love confess Stefan into turning his humanity on and Damon to stop being a sociopath generally. Damon even goes catatonic and they have Stefan whose emotions are off go in and wake him up and they love confession each other back to normal. And you might be thinking Sally siblings say they love each other. And of course they do. Damon and Stefan just Don't and no other siblings do this ever in This show.

Also one of the first Delena bonding moments is Damon recusing Elena from a car wreck. And then there's also the canon lesbian Nora and Mary Louise explode in a car together. And then Elena and Damon also blew themselves up in a car. And when Stefan loses his memory and can't recall Damon is his brother Damon flips the car and wrecks it which isn't a major thing but there is a lot of car related couple stuff and then they did that. And Tyler crashing his car and causing Caroline such injuries. Where in that same episode is about showing in season one that Damon is just as insane about Stefan as Stefan is about him. With Elena screaming about needing to recuse Stefan and Damon holding her face and going "Elena I know. I know"

And we get another blood share situation where Elena feeds Stefan against his will. And at the end of the episode Stefan is crying and looks up helpless at Damon as Damon watches him drink the blood. And then Stefan goes off the rails and ends up trying to kill himself about Damon. The blood is so bizarrely charged and with the later vampirism = gay ??? plotline they ran in season 3 I just fail to see what else they mean with these constant shamings of Stefan drinking out of control and it being tied to what he's done to Damon.

The most damning thing though was Stefan taking the Reyna Cruz sword for Damon. And Klaus being like mate you gotta get over your brother or stop dating. And then Stefan has an existential hell trip about needing to let go of Damon. And Stefan resents Damon dessicating himself for Elena accusing him of leaving him. Saying Damon didn't love him enough to stay and Damon countered saying it had nothing to do with him and Stefan says "I begged you". Like they were beyond reason about one another at every opportunity. And then Stefan dies for Damon after they have one last joint love confession the day he married Caroline.

To finish do I think Damon and Stefan were in any way involved with each other? No. Do I think their emotional bond was incredibly unhealthy? Of course it is that's the point of the show. Do I think these plot beats were because they didn't know how to write a compelling in depth relationship that wasn't romantic so their emotional attachment comes off incredibly strong? Yeah pretty much

[blackleopardgirl]

Grown man screaming in his car-

  MTR is in his car, on a nice summer day screaming and ranting. He is angry and upset talking about how marriage isn’t worth it today. I am screaming. The initial video he’s responding to, is a joke video. The woman joked and said she didn’t want to obey him. The groom didn’t seem to care, he was laughing and so was the pastor. So I don’t see why MTR cares so much about this situation, if the people who were involved in the actual situation didn’t care. They were laughing- if the husband was upset then I can see why you have this response because then he wasn’t ok with her objecting to the word obey. 

  I will say that she shouldn’t get married in a church and recite the words obey if she wasn’t ok with that word. Because personally, I am not a christian and I am not going to be getting married in a church and I’m not going to recite that I’ll obey anyone because I’m just not ok with those words. But then again, I already said I am not a Christian conservative. 

Then he starts talking about the fantasy men bravery scenario that most likely won’t happen. Destiny brought up how this most likely won’t happen to them anyways, so there’s no reason to even get this worked up, it’s ok and he’s ok and everything in his life will be ok. 

  My favorite part was when he sat up there and responded to a response of, “it’s not that serious.” Because it’s really not. My other favorite part was when he sat up there and asked for “feminine women” to combat this narrative on the internet. Just because if there’s one thing that does bother me, it’s this idea that other women should fight the battles of men like him.  

  I don’t understand how in one breath you can tell everybody that you have so many options abroad, and that the women are so much better, yet you’re now in your care probably back home in the states yelling over a video of three people that you don’t even know. Just relax and find a woman outside the U.S. MTR, it’s ok, and I think more people would be happy for you if you did that. But I think its either he doesn’t like his options outside the U.S, the language and cultural barrier is too much, or something. Because it seems like his main issue is that he can’t control the behaviors of the women here that he’s attracted to, or the women here in general and that bothers him. And it shouldn’t. Just stop complaining and find a woman overseas since so many women over there want you.

Oh but you won’t, because the women overseas don’t really want you, there’s a language and cultural barrier and you aren’t really interested in moving overseas- even if it is to a fully developed country like Germany or Switzerland. It’s cope that you tell yourself and your viewers so you all can collectively sleep better at night. No young women in their 20s who are pretty, smart and ambitious are looking for a 38 year old gapped toothed man who complains all day wearing beaded bracelets. Get a grip!