#i used to be a document writer for the department of education

[pynkhues]

Hi!! This is so random but I am having my 1st ever team meeting today and I’m soo soo anxious. Would love some words of encouragement and advice if you don’t mind ♥️♥️

Hi! Ah! How exciting for you, anon! Team meetings can be a lot of things, but at their best they can be great for communication and relationship-building, particularly when you're starting out at a new job or with a new team. I don't know if I have any advice exactly, but just going in ready to listen and be engaged with the discussion (and being engaged doesn't have to mean verbally contributing, it can and does mean hearing and responding to other people's contributions) is always a good place to start.

Oh! And if there are people you don't know in the meeting, introduce yourself! It sounds like such a simple thing, but you'd be surprised how many people might suddenly appear in team meetings and others don't know who they are, particularly in larger organisations. Taking the time to introduce yourself not only is polite, but can also provide the space for others to introduce themselves and talk to you which can help you to build up work relationships, both in a professional sense, and in terms of making some work friends. :-)

[ririkookiemonster]

no textbooks here — JJK

Summary: being a model in the art class was common for you, but this time, you gave a chance to be the female model in biology class. it was for educational purposes anyway, how far could it go?

Pairing: male model jungkook x female model oc

Genre: Smut

Warnings: human sexuality/ biology class au, university au, voyeurism, unprotected sex (DO NOTTT unless you wanna be a mama) public sex, sex ed au, nipple stimulation, cock stimulation, kissing, multiple orgasm f, missionary, riding, cumming inside, no use of contraceptives specified, shy jk at first, they both are so cute at the end.

Word count: 5k+

Writer: riri🪵

Writer’s note: omg its finally here! i was thinking to write smth ab this ever since i read a voyeurism smut ab sex ed and i hadddd to write one. i love how cute jk is. i love the scenes where they well… get passionate. too cute ahhh. lemme know if you liked it. to be added in the taglist, fill the google form given below or leave a comment!

MASTERLIST

🖇️click here to be added in the taglist🖇️

You paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before nervously pushing open the classroom door. The soft creak of the hinges seemed louder in the stillness, amplifying your unease. As you stepped inside, your eyes immediately scanned the room. It was as you expected—empty, save for one person seated at the front: Mr. Jung, the lecturer you had been told about. His presence was commanding but gentle, his smile warm and welcoming, like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dreary day.

“Come in, come in!” he called out with a bright tone, his gaze locking onto you as you hovered awkwardly in the doorway. His voice had a way of cutting through the silence, easing some of the tension you hadn’t realized you were carrying. You stepped forward, your footsteps quiet but deliberate as you made your way to his desk, each step a small victory over your nerves.

“It’s great to meet you,” Mr. Jung said with a friendly nod, his voice smooth and calm. His smile lingered, putting you at ease, if only slightly. He pushed a sheet of paper across the desk in your direction, his movements unhurried. “I just need you to fill out this liability waiver.”

The words were said so casually, but the simple task still felt like a small hurdle. You stood across from him, fingers lightly brushing the paper as you picked it up, your heart still racing just a bit, though his calm demeanor had begun to settle the unease that had gripped you since you walked in.

“Just the standard agreement,” Mr. Jung continued with a calm, practiced tone. “You’ll be paid at the end of the class. And... you’re aware that this is a practical demonstration, meaning you’ll be fully naked?”

“Yes... Of c-course,” you stammered, the words tumbling out awkwardly. You reached for a pen from the stand, trying to ignore the sudden wave of nervousness. Your eyes skimmed over the document—standard terms, conditions, rules, payment details, and all that. You’d done this sort of thing before for life drawing classes in the art department, so the nudity didn’t bother you as much as it used to. Still, this was the biology department, and that made it feel... different. Without much thought, you roughly scribbled ‘Y/N’ at the bottom of the page, the pen shaking just a little in your hand.

As you set the pen down, your gaze drifted around the room once more, and that’s when you noticed something or rather, someone you hadn’t before. Sitting off to the side, near the blackboard, was a guy you hadn’t seen when you first walked in. He was quiet, almost too still, which explained why he had escaped your attention earlier.

He looked up, and your breath hitched for a moment. His piercings were the first thing you noticed. his lips, eyebrow, and ears all adorned with silver hoops and studs that caught the light. Despite his edgy appearance, his eyes were surprisingly soft, a stark contrast to his sharp jawline and the strength in his build. Even beneath the loose, black T-shirt he wore, you could tell he was well-muscled, his broad shoulders and solid frame evident.

Your gaze continued downward, noticing his dark blue jeans tucked into chunky, black combat boots. His medium-length curly hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, a few strands escaping to frame his face. Everything about him radiated a kind of effortless cool. And, if you were being honest, this man was HOT.

You swallowed hard, trying to keep your composure as you realized just how much this guy's presence added to the tension simmering beneath the surface.

He glanced at you for just a fraction of a second, barely acknowledging your presence before averting his gaze, his expression unreadable. It was almost as if he didn’t want to make eye contact. “This is Jungkook, third-year, and the male model for today’s demonstration,” Mr. Jung explained, nodding toward the guy. “Please, take a seat next to him.”

You gave a quick nod and made your way over, sitting down in the chair beside him. Jungkook’s hands rested in his lap, fingers nervously intertwined. It surprised you to see that, beneath his tough, bad-boy exterior, he seemed just as anxious as you were. Sure, he was undeniably attractive—more than that, really. but the way he fidgeted made him look kind of... cute. You couldn't help but wonder how someone who appeared so effortlessly cool could be just as nervous about this as you were.

And then it hit you: you were both about to be naked. Fully.

But, of course, it was purely for educational purposes��nothing more than a biology lesson where the two of you were simply models helping students learn. Still, the thought had your stomach doing somersaults.

You cleared your throat, hoping to ease the tension between you two. “Hey…are you nervous?” you asked, leaning slightly toward him, trying to break the ice.

Before Jungkook could respond, the door swung open with a loud bang, and a flood of students poured in, filling the once-quiet room with laughter and chatter. You watched as they settled into their individual seats, each equipped with small, built-in desks, their attention mostly focused on their own conversations rather than the two of you.

Whatever nervous conversation you had hoped to start was quickly drowned out by the buzz of the classroom coming to life. You stole another glance at Jungkook, catching him briefly biting his lip before his gaze returned to his lap. It was clear neither of you was prepared for what was about to happen, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on that now.

Once the room settled and Mr. Jung began the lesson, you couldn't help but scan the students seated before you. Their eyes were on you-curious, almost probing. You were relieved that they were all first years, strangers whose names and faces you didn't know. It made things a little easier. Still, a few boys in the crowd kept sneaking glances in your direction, and you swore you caught some of them smirking, making your nerves spike even more.

After about five minutes of introductory remarks, Professor Jung's voice called both you and Jungkook to the front of the room. Your stomach twisted as you slowly stood up, feeling Jungkook rise just behind you. The two of you walked forward in unison, the students' gazes growing heavier with every step.

"Good morning, everyone," Mr. Jung addressed the class. "Meet Y/N Y/L/N and Jeon Jungkook. They'll be the models for today's lesson." His voice carried easily through the room, formal yet calm, as though what was about to happen was routine.

Then he turned to face both of you. "If you could both remove your clothes, please," he said, his tone polite but firm. You felt a sharp wave of mixture of excitement and anxiety rise within you, knowing the moment had finally come. and you two began two began to undress in front of the class.

You always enjoyed the thrill you got from being naked in front of the art classes you had modeled in. You like being a muse. You liked the feeling of all their eyes on your body and you expected this to be no different. You pulled off your white sweater over your head, followed by your tank top. You slowly began to unbutton your baggy jeans and slipped them down to the floor, pulling off each leg in turn until you were just in the simple baby pink underwear you had chosen to wear today.

You glanced next to you, where Jungkook was also down to his Calvin Klein underpants. You glanced over as he pulled them down and almost gasped out loud. His cock, although soft, was massive. You could see its outline from the white underwear he was wearing. It hung down limply between his legs, framed by a thin patch of newly grown hair, as if shaved recently.

You hastily turned your eyes back to the class and unhooked your bra, exposing your firm breasts. Then you removed the final item of your clothing, your panties, slipping them down your knees, revealing your own trimmed bush to the watching eyes. Not gonna lie, you were kinda embarrassed. You could have shaved or waxed. But you were here as a model anyway. You just wanted your paycheck for the day.

Your eyes scanned through the crowd. Some of the students looked embarrassed, red in the face, others looked excited. One boy right at the front was watching both of you with curious eyes, a big grin on his mouth. You and Jungkook stood there, upright and completely naked, as Professor Jung walked back and forth in front of you both, talking about various parts of anatomy and pointing at them by his telescopic pointer.

"Here we see,the female nipples are not yet aroused. The areola are widened and flat and the nipples themselves are not yet hard." Mr Jung explained, the end of the pointer hovering an inch from one of your nipples.

"And below," he continued, moving the pointer to indicate the area between your legs, "Is the Vulva. Not to be confused with the Vagina, of course, which is the interior part we can't see at the moment. In this, as you can see, the subject has chosen only to trim and not remove her pubic hair."

Some of the students nodded, while others just kept gaping at you. You were enjoying them all looking yourself naked, especially the guy in the front with a strange twinkle in his eyes. You felt yourself getting a bit aroused, your heart thumping loudly in your chest.

Mr Jung then moved on to Jungkook, pointing out at his much smaller nipples than his penis and testicles. The pointer then moved to his dick and balls, as the professor went on about the anatomy of a male’s cock. It was unusual that he made no mention of the fact that Jungkook’s cock was well…. big.

"Okay," Mr Jung said, striding back in front of you. "Y/N, if you could lie on the desk please? Yes, like that, lift your legs up. Perfect.”

You followed Mr Jung’s instructions and laid on the desk, your feet facing the students. Under his direction, you opened your legs up and put your feet on the desk so that your opening was all on display of the students now. You felt a strange feeling of thrill arising in your chest yet again, but you couldn’t see the reactions of the crowd, as you were looking up at the ceiling.

Soon after, Professor Jung began indicating parts of your vulva with his pointer.

"This outer area here is the labia majora," he explained, the cold metal of the pointer touching your lower petals, making your lips slightly open because of the sensation.

"The vaginal opening, and above the labia minora. This subject has fairly small labia minora but it's not uncommon for them to be much bigger and extend beyond the labia majora." Mr Jung continued, the pointer gently kept touching you, as if almost being teased. You felt yourself getting wet from the sensation and kept praying that it wouldn’t be visible.

"This is the urethral opening where urine is excreted from and also female ejaculate, we'll cover that in week five. And finally, the clitoris, also called the clit. Boys take careful note exactly where that is." He joked as the pointer came to rest on my clit, nestled under its hood. The class tittered dutifully.

"Thank you Y/N, you can stand up again," Mr Jung asked. Once again, You both stood naked and motionless before the class as he continued to drone on about the concept, that was arousal now. Soon again, Mr Jung turned to both of you again.

"Now, remember how we saw that the subject was not showing any signs of arousal…?"

There were a few nods from the class, and Mr Jung smiled. "Jungkook, can you rub or suck Y/N’s nipples please? We need you to stimulate them, and we’ll see what outcome we get from that.”

Jungkook glanced at you nervously, and then made his way to you until he was facing you. He lifted one hand up to your breast and cupped it gently, then very carefully he rubbed your nipple with his thumb. It felt nice and you felt a burst of pleasure rush through you.

"Look!" Professor Jung said, his voice was getting excited. “as we expect, the areola has tightened and contracted and the nipple has hardened as blood has rushed into it..”You were enjoying the stimulation Jungkook was providing you by using your tits as stress balls that you felt your breathing was getting deeper. Thats when you heard Mr Jung’s voice again.

"See how the subject's breathing has also changed. Jungkook, give the other one a suck, see how much you can stimulate it."

Jungkook bent down and took your other sensitive peak into his mouth, his tongue, warm and wet, lapping against your skin as if trying to explore the most of it. He started sucking more effectively, his teeth gently grazing on your nub, making you feel hot and bothered. You let out an involuntary gasp, which seemed to please the professor to heights as he gestured excitedly to the class.

"Okay, that's enough," He said as Jungkook returned to his original position beside you. The professor indicated your saliva glistened nipple with the pointer, and flicked it back and forth with the end, making you gasp again.

"Look, it's very hard and so much larger now. That's the result of the extra stimulation we saw. There are other signs of arousal we can look at on the female in a moment, but first let's have a look at arousal on the male. Is there anyone who can tell me the most obvious signs of arousal in the male of the species?"

There was a slight hesitation evident in the class which was quite expected and understandable. After a few seconds, a girl in the left wearing yellow shirt cautiously put hand up.

"Erection?" she asked, biting her lip in nervousness and embarrassment.

"Exactly!"Mr Jung chirped. "Increased heart rate, change in breathing, even hardened nipples are some signs when a male is sexually aroused, but the most obvious sign will be the enlargement in penis size as the blood rushes through the Male genitalia, also called erection."

Mr Jung turned back to you, "Y/N, can you get on your knees and stimulate Jungkook’s penis with your mouth please?”

You almost got a heart attack as you heard that. Yes, you were here just for a biology lesson but the thought of sucking Jungkook’s huge cock in front of the whole class sent a bolt of lightning straight to your cunt. The professor reached behind the desk and handed you a cushion, that you put on the floor in front of Jungkook’s feet and knelt on it, your knees buried in it for support. Jungkook’s cock was inches from your face. It was still soft, but long. You gingerly reached up and held it, your hand surrounding all the way round his girth.

You felt the warm member twitch in your hand, as you wrapped your other hand around it too. Its bulbous head was red and there were three prominent veins visible on it. You took a dee breath before leaning in and putting his thick shaft in your mouth and you knew that now, it was Jungkook’s turn to start breathing heavily.

As your tongue played with the head of his cock, you swore you heard an ‘ah’ leave his mouth, his Adam’s apple bobbing as you felt it pulsing and swelling. You bobbed your head back and forth, only getting a couple of inches in your mouth, but using your hands to jerk his shaft too.

The class was absolutely silent and they watched in rapt attention as you continued to work on him. You could feel their stares on both of you. You felt kinda excited and thrilled doing this in front of so many people that the weird pleasure caused your cunt get more wet with your slick, aching with need. You took his cock out of your mouth and looked up at it, still holding it in both hands. It was fully erect now, warm and slick with your saliva.

"Perfect!" Mr Jung exclaimed, "And quite an impressive specimen as you can see. Notice how the veins in the penis have become more prominent and also how the scrotum has become tense and doesn't hang down so low. Thank you Y/N, I think you can let go now." he said, causing a ripple of nervous laughter around the class and lightening the tension.

You stood up and came back to your original position, wiping the wetness around your mouth and chin with the back of your hand. Jungkook meanwhile, turned back to face the front, his big cock still pointing straight upwards in salute.

"Now, I mentioned there were other signs of female arousal. Let's see if any have presented themselves. Y/N, if you could turn around and bend over the desk for us please?”

You did as he asked, soon following his next instruction to spread your lips with your hands.

You were bent over the desk now, your hands on your cheeks spreading them apart to give the audience a view of your asshole and cunt wide open. You felt the cold metal of the telescopic pointer against your ass when you heard professor Jung again.

"So, who can tell me what signs of arousal we can see here?”

You couldn’t see who was talking, but a guy with a deep voice cleared his throat and spoke up, "She's wet professor,"

"Good," said the professor, "The vagina has produced some fluid to aid in lubrication, and you can see it's practically dripping out in this case. The act of stimulating her partner has clearly caused her to become quite aroused. Anything else?"

There was silence from the class. "Come on," he encouraged.

After a few more moments, a nervous female voice said "Labia are engorged?"

"Yes! You can see that is quite obvious here," the pointer touched your lips. "In fact, the whole vulva is slightly swollen and engorged with blood now. Her clitoris also looks a lot bigger and redder now." You just stood there, bent over the desk, your nipples pressed against the cool wood as everyone stared at your swollen hole.

“On to the next part of the demonstration. Y/N, can you come round the side of the desk please, yes bend over the desk again. That's right, so they can see you from the side. And Jeon, come behind her and penetrate her."

You instantly felt your heart racing at thousand miles per hour as soon as you heard the professor say that. This man, with a HUGE dick was going to what, fuck you in front of literally everyone? Considering your state right now, you desperately wanted him to fuck you, as you could feel your pussy throb for him, but in front of the class? It was kinda… interesting but it sure was a turn on for you.

You felt Jungkook approach you from behind, his hands lightly rubbing the flesh of my ass cheeks, his hardness pressed against your opening. You could feel his head teasing your folds when he slid himself inside your pussy in one swift movement. You cried out at the feeling of being stretched and opened by him, even though you were wet as fuck. Being filled up by his cock let pleasure rushed through your body and you felt every part of yourself tingling with energy.

You were bent over the desk, your head turned to the class. You could see their faces watching You as Jungkook started thrust inside you, your cunt gripping him tighter after another thrust.

“Ah fuck, so tight!” Jungkook moaned out, his pace quite rough as his one hand was on your cheek, spreading them apart so he could see your asshole and pussy clenching around him, swallowing every inch of him. Your loud cry with every thrust only fueled his arousal as he fucked you with reckless abandon.

The professor was pacing up and down, still talking to the class, occasionally gesturing towards both as he explained something. Either of you both couldn't understand what he was saying, your whole attention was taken up by the relentless pleasure. You felt a pit in your stomach as you felt a tingling sensation of climax rising inside you, which made you slightly anxious; you felt it would be embarrassing to lose control and orgasm in front of the class.

Suddenly, professor Jung’s voice interrupted, "Stop right there then Jungkook, that's great."

Jungkook breathed out, and pulled out, as you let out a whispered whine and glanced around. He held his hard cock in one hand and it was covered in your essence. You felt empty and open, as if something you needed had been taken away from you and left you incomplete. The professor was pointing out the creamy wetness on Jungkook’s cock.

"Okay, I think it would be interesting to demonstrate a couple of other key sexual positions." Mr Jung continued. "Y/N, would you mind getting on your back on the desk so we can demonstrate the missionary position?”

You nodded and laid on the hard desk before professor Jung passed you the cushion to put under your head. Luckily, it was a sturdy, old fashioned oak desk, and it hardly moved as Jungkook added his weight to it, climbing on top of you between your legs.

"Now, we saw in the previous position that the penis can stimulate the g-spot, but the clitoris would need manual stimulation. In the missionary position however, the male's pubic bone can provide some clitoral stimulation." He then continued to say something about it being the most common position, but at that point, Jungkook’s huge cock entered you again and you completely switched off.

Our gaze locked together, Jungkook began to fuck you hard again, both of you breathing heavily as his one hand groped your right breast. You loved the feeling of him inside you, fucking you as deep as he could go, and you felt the same feeling rising up in you again.”

"Jungkook, please. Can we demonstrate some kissing, let's try to make it slightly realistic for the class." professor Jung told him, before going back to talking to the class about how the vaginal canal lengthens during arousal.

Jungkook leaned over, his lips grazing over yours as he sucked on your bottom lip, his tongue grazing between them as if seeing permission to enter your mouth, and in the next moment, you felt his tongue inside your mouth as you both let out a shaky moan. He was warm, and tasted of mint. His loosened locks from the ponytail hair hung down over your face.

The combined sensation of the passionate kiss with hard thrusting into your core suddenly spiraled you out of control and you felt myself go over the edge. An intense orgasm washed over you, consuming your whole body. You screamed and dug your fingers into Jungkook’s back as you rode wave after wave of pleasure that coursed through you, your pussy convulsing violently.

“oh my god!” you breathed out, throwing your head back in pleasure.

Jungkook slowed, and kissed you again as you came down from your high. Mr Jung was continuing to talk to the class, "So, we weren't going to do the female orgasm until week three, but never mind. As our subjects have accidentally demonstrated already, it's interesting to note that only around 25% of females can climax from penetration alone."

Jungkook was slowly moving his cock in and out of your soaking cunt now, giving you a break after your orgasm, but it felt amazing. You were already hoping that you’d be able to meet up with him privately for a more intimate sex session. And he was a great kisser.

"Fantastic," said the professor, "But we're running out of time, so let's move on to the male orgasm." You heard a groan, this time from Jungkook almost like a whine as he pulled out from you, and got off from the table, helping you do the same.

Mr Jung fetched a chair and placed it in front of the class. "Jungkook, please on the chair. and Y/N, if you mount him. Let's make sure everyone can see properly." Jungkook followed, sitting on the chair, facing the crowd as you walked over to where Jungkook was sitting on the chair, your legs weak and shaking from the orgasm. You could feel your juices running down your thighs. You glanced at the crowd once and saw they were squirming in their seats looking all hot and bothered.

You turned my back on the class and straddled Jungkook, sinking down onto his cock, feeling him filling you once again. “Oh my god, Y/N.” Jungkook moaned, throwing his head back from the sensation.

Professor Jung was behind you pointing out the details of the penetration and how your lips gripped his penis and-all-that. He pointed to your exposed asshole, "We'll cover anal sex in week four.”

You started to ride Jungkook, wrapping your arms around him as you rode him on the chair. You wanted the sensations to last forever, the thought of thirty pairs of eyes watching your lips wrapped around his cock only spurred you on even more. You started fucking Jungkook as hard as you could, leaning in to thrust your tongue in his mouth.

"Okay Jungkook, when you're ready you can climax inside her." Mr Jung said, folding his arms and stepping back slightly to allow the class a good view. Jungkook hands grabbed your ass and he spread your ass with his fingers as you rode him.

“Oh yes, fuck! yes” You moaned out as you felt yourself coming again. You cried out as your whole body shook and your cunt contracted around his swollen meat. His fingers gripped your ass tightly, and he let out a low groan as you felt him unload his hot ropes of cum inside you, his cock throbbing and pulsing.

You held each other tightly as you took heavy breaths. You saw how worn out he was, how his big doe eyes were staring into your, and how his bottom lip twitched slightly as he lets out ragged breaths. You could see his mole under his bottom lip and a scar on his left cheek from the first time up this close.

He was beautiful.

You couldn’t help yourself, as you grabbed his face in your hands and kissed him sensually, to which he immediately responded to, kissing you back gently, as he felt you thumb caressing his scarred cheek. Even the professor was momentarily speechless. There was not a sound from anyone in the class.

Finally, You pulled off, breathing heavily and lifted yourself off his cock and floods of cum poured out of you, covering Jungkook’s cock and thighs with your slick and his release. Both of you were in quite a state, covered in sweat and cum.

Mr Jung quickly regained his composure, his signature smile back in his face. "An excellent demonstration from our two models." he began, "Please give them a round of applause."There was a smattering of clapping from the class for a while before he continued.

"The semen in this position is leaking out of the female. If they were having sex for breeding purposes, the missionary position would be better."

The bell for the end of the lesson rang and he raised his voice over the sounds of the rest of the class getting to their feet and packing up their things. "The homework for this week, please try to engage in the sexual act yourself with as many partners as possible, but please ensure to use protection and get tested for HIV with your partner. Better be safer than sorry. Also, I'd like two thousand words on your experiences, due in before the lesson next week."

The class filed out and Jungkook and you retrieved your clothes and hastily got dressed. The professor came up to us with a smile.

"Not too bad for a first attempt," he said, "Same time next week. you’ll get your pay by 6 in the evening.” He smiled as he exited the classroom, leaving both of you alone in the classroom. You sighed as started you started to walk up to the door to leave before you heard Jungkook’s voice behind you, stopping you in your tracks.

“Hey… Y/N?” He took some calculated steps towards you, his hand shoved in his pocket as he continued,

“I had well… fun in today’s lesson.”

You bit your lips nervously, nodding slightly, “I did too. You were amazing.”

Your words caused Jungkook to chuckle a little, as he walked close to you, looking down at you. “I’d want to experience everything with you again. Not in lesson’s though….”

You nodded, before he continued.

“You wanna go get coffee to celebrate our demonstration with me after you get cleaned up? I’ll wait for you outside the locker room’s bathroom. You can take as much time as you want.”

You could feel your cheeks heating up, you were definitely flustered.

“I’d love too….”

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@jkslipppiercing @rispwr @iarchmybaculaa @jmstoesblog @lovelyglares @jeonaissance @maimurachulsoo09 @whatifyoulivelikethat @erotica-ficx @frmisnow @kookiecrumb @luvismenu @paletangerine

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-riri🥞

[coochiequeens]

A man who got where he is, careerwise and having a family by transitioning later in life, wants to take that way from minors.

Image: WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 21: (L-R) Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, President of the American Medical Association; Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD, the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Charlotte Clymer, writer, transgender activist, and military veteran speak on stage during Learning With Love: The 2023 PFLAG National Convention, four days of educating, lobbying, networking, and leading with love, taking place October 19-22, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National)

A head-on collision between science and politics

By JESSE SINGAL JUN 25, 2024

When the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care Version 8 was released in September 2022, a very strange thing happened: WPATH removed references to minimum age requirements for various medical interventions, describing the change as a “correction” in a notice that now reads, weirdly: “This correction notice has been removed as it referred to a previous version of the article, which was published in error.” Whatever happened, exactly, it’s clear that until late in the game the document did have age minimums until, suddenly, it did not.

The SoC 8 was supposed to have been created via something called the Delphi process. As the document itself explains: “Consensus on the final recommendations was attained using the Delphi process that included all members of the guidelines committee and required that recommendation statements were approved by at least 75% of members.” Suffice it to say that making a sudden, major change so late in the game calls into question whether that process was fully adhered to.

Thanks to a rather remarkable document just unsealed as part of Boe v. Marshall, one of the many American lawsuits over youth gender medicine, we now have a potential explanation for why the age guidelines were removed: direct pressure from assistant secretary for health of the Department of Health and Human Services Admiral Rachel Levine (who is a trans woman herself) and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The document is titled “Appendix A To Supplemental Expert Report Of James Cantor, Ph.D. In it Cantor, a Canadian sex researcher, critic of youth gender medicine, and frequent expert witness on behalf of those attempting to ban or or restrict it (including in this case), claims that “Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine strongly pressured WPATH leadership to rush the development and issuance of SOC-8, in order to assist with Administration political strategy.”

He backs this claim up with the following internal communications from WPATH members involved with the creation of the SoC 8 (here and elsewhere in the document, the names of the people who wrote the words in question are redacted):

I have just spoken to Admiral Levine today, who—as always is extremelysupportive of the SOC 8, but also very eager for its release—so to ensureintegration in the US health policies of the Biden government. So, let’s crack onwith the job!!! 

I am meeting with Rachel Levine and her team next week, as the US Department of Health is very keen to bring the trans health agenda forward.

The failure of WPATH to be ready with SOC 8 is proving a barrier to optimal policy progress and she [Dr. Levine] was eager to learn when SOC 8 might be published. 

[T]his should be taken as a charge from the United States government to do what is required to complete the project immediately. 

More worryingly, Cantor charges that “Assistant Secretary Levine also attempted to and did influence the substantive content of SOC-8, based on political goals rather than science. Specifically, Assistant Secretary Levine, though [sic] a staff member, pressured WPATH to remove recommended minimum ages for medical transition treatments from SOC-8.”

Here, too, he has evidence from anonymized emails written by those involved in the SoC 8:

Sarah Boateng, who is Adm. Levine’s chief of staff [said the] biggest concern is the section below in the Adolescent Chapter that lists specific minimum ages for treatment, she is confident, based on the rhetoric she is hearing in DC, and from what we have already seen, that these specific listings of ages, under 18, will result in devastating legislation for trans care. She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out and perhaps an adjunct document could be created that is published or distributed in a way that is less visible than the SOC8, is the way to go. 

The issue of ages and treatment has been quite controversial (mainly for surgery) and it has come up again. We sent the document to Admiral Levine. . . She like [sic] the SOC-8 very much but she was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to health care for trans youth and maybe adults too. Apparently the situation in the USA is terrible and she and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse. She asked us to remove them. We have the WPATH executive committee in this meeting and we explained to her that we could not just remove them at this stage. 

[W]e heard your [Dr. Levine’s] comments regarding the minimal age criteria for transgender healthcare adolescents; the potential negative outcome of these minimal ages as recommendations in the US [. . . ] Consequently, we have changes to the SOC 8 in this respect. Given that the recommendations for minimal ages for the various gender affirming medical and surgical intervention are consensus-based, we could not remove them from the document. Therefore, we have made changes as to how the minimal ages are presented in the documents. [Note: “your” may well refer to an aide of Levine’s rather than the Secretary herself, though it’s unclear.] 

Cantor also includes emails from SoC 8 contributors expressing surprise at the sudden change, including this one making. . . well, the same point everyone else made after news of the late-stage “correction” broke:

I don’t see how we can simply remove something that important from the document—without going through a Delphi—at this final stage of the game [. . . ] I realize that those in favor of the bans are going to go right to the age criteria and ignore the fact that we actually strengthened the strictness of the criteria to help clinicians better discern appropriate surgical candidates from those who are inappropriate [. . . ] It’s all about messaging and marketing. 

I’m actually crashing on a different but related freelance story at the moment. Check out Leor Sapir’s Twitter timeline for more details about this and another just-unsealed document. Next week, when I’ve caught my breath, I’ll write a little bit more about this as well as yet another damning claim Cantor makes, that the American Academy of Pediatrics “issued an ultimatum to WPATH: Should WPATH not delete the age minimums, AAP would not only withhold endorsement of SOC-8, but would publicly oppose the document.” 

But I wanted to at least get this short piece up, because the Levine angle is important and alarming. It demonstrates an indisputable conflict between how WPATH has portrayed the SoC 8 — as a document steeped in evidence and careful deliberation on the part of experts — and how the guidelines were actually formulated.

[create-with-afp]

Bleach Fanfiction Master Post

Figured I would make a fun little catalog of my years of Bleach fanfiction. (Jeez, I am so old.) All of it is ByaHisa because that is my special kind of brain rot. My favorite romantic set-up involves a firm stoic falling hard, and we know like… five things … maybe? … about the other half of this canon pairing, which leaves a lot open to interpretation/artistic license. Also, contextualizing or reframing the woman character whose sole function in a narrative is to serve as characterization for a male character is a Fine Undertaking* in my opinion, and Bleach has so many interesting dead wives to choose from….

So, without further ado, here we go (in-progress or completed stories only):

Mortal Devices: Part III of the Maid!Heist/Dark Academia series with The Darkest Black as Part I and An Education as Part II. This WIP departs from both Maid!Heist and Dark Academia, as it's more of a political slow burn with espionage and clan politics taking up most of the breathing room. It's still firmly ByaHisa (as the politics of their marriage is explored in depth), but the main plot revolves around locating stolen documents and research from the Twelfth before they can be used to devastating effect in the WOTL. [a03 exclusive]

An Education: Part II of the Maid!Heist/Dark Academia series with The Darkest Black (described below) as Part I. This is finally complete and is the “Dark Academia” portion of the tale. The chapters are broken up into seasons for each year (Year One: Autumn, Year One: Winter, etc.). Accordingly, the chapters are largely episodic with a few themes woven into each “Year.” I’m not quite convinced I’ve nailed Dark Academia with this one; it seems more “Slice of Life” than anything else, which I think is partially owing to the dual POVs with Byakuya (the other POV character) not attending the Academy. (He’s actually banned so… yikes….) [ff.net (discontinued on ffn, but there are a few chapters there so I'll link it) │ a03]

A Thin Red Line: This is my longest work to date, as it’s basically the length of four traditionally published fantasy novels (400k+ words). To be fair to me, this is a retelling of Bleach where Hisana does not die so it covers the Byakuya and Hisana origin story, the major arcs, plus that whole 40-year period where canon Rukia was basically living in a gothic novel. Mind the tags. Still in progress after like 10 years…. Edit 6/19/23: And she’s DONE! Bonus content on AO3 for registered users. [ff.net │ a03]

The Darkest Black: While stuck with writer’s block on ATRL, I wrote an entirely different “how did Byakuya meet Hisana” story that is… bleak? Bleak for me, at least. Probably not bleak objectively. Hisana is a thief who agrees to steal a priceless piece of art from the Kuchiki family posing as a maid. Hijinks ensue. Byakuya is particularly unlikeable as a character in this one, but that’s probably more of a side-effect of Hisana being the main POV character. This was my way to make a “Hisana as a maid” meet-cute between these two characters make sense in my head. Complete. [ff.net │ a03]

Smoke and Mirrors: A dark ByaHisa origin story with Hisana as an oiran. It isn’t particularly graphic in terms of sex or violence since that isn’t really my style, but the text and subtext are definitely there that terrible things happen to Hisana, and her mental state is understandably not great. [ff.net │ a03]

Without Frontiers: Like the Peter Gabriel song! (Yes, that song was the inspo. I write to music just like probably 95% of anyone who writes.) This is a pretty fluffy one-shot where Byakuya and Hisana are childhood friends. There is like 0 romance. They are legit kids just making up stories and being goofy. There are some hints that Hisana may be exposed to Bad Things that she is trying to process through story-telling because, really, who doesn’t want a little Adult Fear injected into an otherwise light-hearted story? [ff.net │ a03]

Charcoal Hearts: This is my very tame attempt at a reincarnation fic. The story is about Byakuya taking Rukia to a ballet during their off-time. He is there basically to ogle the reincarnation of his dead wife as a ballerina performing Serenade. It has a flirty ending, but, since I don’t particularly love Hisana reincarnation fics, it ends ambiguously. [ff.net │ a03]

So Far Away: A pretty depressive one-shot where an injured Byakuya recovers in Hisana’s hovel in the deep Rukon. Here, Hisana is a barmaid who scavenges and does side jobs to support herself, and Byakuya is… well… sort of an asshole? Like I think writing this one-shot was where I had an epiphany about Byakuya’s character (or at least my attempt to write his character): That “epiphany” being that because he lives in a rich people bubble, he (1) is extremely entitled and (2) struggles to understand and connect with others. These two traits create a feedback loop that makes him come off as simultaneously arrogant and stiff/awkward. I don’t think Byakuya is canonically on the spectrum, but I could entertain that theory, especially in light of the CFYOW books. Instead, I think there is a point when someone has so much privilege that they never learn how to read the damn room because all rooms, at that point, are basically designed to cater to them. Everyone is artificial with them so genuine concern or emotion seems inconvenient, at best, to alien, at worst. All that said, in this story he very much trips all over himself, but he improves. Slowly. Over the course of like years. [ff.net │ a03]

Stages: A short ByaHisa origin story that incorporates the five stages of love challenge that was popular on LiveJournal back when LJ was a thing. (Is it still a thing?) Hisana is a courtesan. It isn’t the best, and I sort of hate it, but it is part of the plot bunny that prompted me to make a version of Hisana as a courtesan that would be interesting, or more interesting, and better researched in keeping with the Edo Period sensibilities of Soul Society, which led to Smoke and Mirrors and A Thin Red Line. [ff.net │ a03]

White Flowers and Red Hearts Trilogy: These stories are the earliest of my ByaHisa brain rot, and they probably read exactly like that. I have not done a re-write (or, hell, even a re-read) of any of these in like a decade or more so… yikes… But, from what I recall, the first story, Dissidence is the meet-cute, where Byakuya meets Hisana while on a mission. Hisana is a Rukon local working as a host performing tea ceremonies, and Byakuya sort of winds up in a “you broke the thing, now you must buy the thing” situation with Hisana, explaining his decision to marry her. Dimuendo is the middle child, and it chronicles their first year of marriage. Both Dissidence and Dimuendo are pretty fluffy with some light angst. Dolente is like super depressive because… well… death is pretty sad, and it is the final year of their marriage. Would not recommend any of these, and, like Stages, I would probably delete them if not for the sentimental value. [a03]

The Rites of the Dead: It’s a weird story. Technically, it’s a one-shot, but it has a few “movements” that break the story into parts. It has no romance. The subject matter is dark: Hisana is a member of the Fourth and is tasked with preparing the funerary arrangements upon Ginrei’s death. And, I like it? Still. For some strange reason. Sure, there are things that I would go back and fix on a technical level if I were to re-edit it (which I have no plans to do), but the idea of Hisana and Byakuya’s first meeting being on a tragic occasion seems poetic? Also, the idea of a bunch of “dead” people having to mourn and “bury” their dead is so on the nose, that it seems right. I found the wordplay in some parts of this story to be pretty clever. (No one else did.) [ff.net │ a03]

A Suggestion of Marriage: A light fluffy one-shot where Byakuya asks Hisana to marry him. She says, “yes.” Shocker. I know. I do kind of like the backstory for Hisana in this one, which is that of an Academy flunkie who goes on to work at a tea house. I think this is the story where I got the idea to finally take the plunge and make her an oiran; although, she isn’t technically one here. [ff.net │ a03]

Fan Dance: A one-shot where Byakuya and Hisana meet during a sparring match. She is the Lieutenant of the Fourth, Byakuya is the Lieutenant of the Sixth, and they get matched to spar during an event where all the fancy pants Shinigami are supposed to release their zanpakuto for public spectacle. Byakuya gets more than he bargains for when Hisana winds up not being a total powder puff. No hugging or kissing, which seems to be a theme among like half of the one-shots…. [ff.net │ a03]

*On a tangentially-related aside for anyone who comes across this random post and who wants recommendations from an internet rando on actual literature where real, serious authors reframe women who got the short end of the narrative stick, see Wide Sargasso Sea, The Penelopiad, or The Problem with Susan (Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, and the Narnia series, respectively).

[techtired]

Exploring the Influence of Technical Writing on the User Perceptions and Conceptualization of Products

With organizations having to communicate loads of information as quickly and accurately as possible, technical writing has become essential for improving user experience and understanding of products. In this article, the author focuses on the importance of technical writing services and how they can enhance users’ satisfaction and the product's usability. Technical writing, therefore, concerns information communication in a simple, straightforward, forward and easy-to-understand manner. This may extend to incorporate user Guides, Handbooks, Technical papers, product descriptions and brochures, online help and several others. While creative writing is a form of art that can be regarded as a work of fiction, technical writing is more pragmatic in that the target reader can understand the material given in the best possible manner. Different Technical Writing Services Technical writing services are essential in providing documentation that will be useful to the targeted organization as well as the users of the documentation. Such services may include a team of qualified writers, editors, and experts in different fields and subject matters. Engaging subject-matter experts helps organizations avoid errors in information and the lack of end-users understanding of it. These providers provide extensive technical writing services, including user manuals with clear, step-by-step instructions for using products and services. Also on offer are technical writing services for clear and effective communication, ensuring that complex information is conveyed accurately and understood easily by users. Service providers also create detailed technical specifications that outline product features and functionalities, ensuring users fully understand what they are working with. Additionally, they develop online help systems that provide contextual support, allowing users to find answers to their questions quickly. Their training materials are designed to educate users on practical product usage, empowering them to fully leverage the benefits of the offerings. Enhancing User Experience The first advantage of seeking technical writers' services is they will help you create better user experiences. Users who receive clear, documented information understand how to operate certain products. It was established that 60% of users are willing to quit using a particular product after a single negative experience, hence the need for documentation. Clear technical communication relieves users’ information processing burden by being as transparent as possible. This includes the choice of language, how the information is arranged, and compliance with style and formatted guidelines. Using such features as headings, lists, and images may increase content comprehension by up to 40%; people can find what they want faster. I am tapping customer insights to gain a better understanding of products. Good technical communication helps users know how to use technical things and the actions of the gadget. This is especially true in industries where the product delivered is sophisticated, such as software, engineering or healthcare. Technical writing services also assist properly in presenting the organization's worth proposition. Several studies show that by making documentation clear, one may be able to get up to 25% more customers because they like products which are explained in an easily understandable manner. Reducing Support Costs It will be seen that with resultant accuracy and documentation, the organization saves a lot of money by investing in good technical writers. Of course, simplified and detailed documented information helps many customers solve problems independently with little or no intervention from the support department. Research by the International Data Corporation estimated that companies can save between $1,000 and $ 1300 per employee annually by offering clear documentation on self-service options. This can improve user satisfaction and enable organizations to manage their resources better. Additionally, research conducted by the Service Desk Institute revealed that about 70% of support ticket volumes could quickly be addressed through volunteering self-help resources such as documents – making the need for technical writing indispensable. Accuracy of technical writing is essential in regulated industries to meet the requirements set by the law. Technical writing services assist organizations in coming up with technically written material, hence avoiding the organization's being on the wrong side of the law and avoiding any danger that may arise. This is especially valid in fields such as manufacturing and financial, where documentation has to be accurate and within legal specifications. Working with Technical Writers To get the best out of technical writing services, there is a need to encourage interdependency between technical writers and SMEs. Thus, writers can clearly understand how a given product or service functions to optimize the documentation process. Clarity in parent and child relations and ensuring the writers have all materials would probably improve the quality of the final content. Besides, organizations must involve the users and get their feedback regarding the documentation they provide and the gaps they notice. In an information-diet-savvy generation, the ability of technical writing services to build and shape organizational communication cannot be overemphasized. By positively influencing how people utilize products, these services can be seen as promoting more satisfied customers and, therefore, increased ‘customer loyalty’. Any organization that spends money to become technically correct in their writing does so while raising the quality of their documentation, decreasing their need for support costs, and enhancing legal compliance. With the constant rise of the need for clear communication, hiring professional technical writing services as a partner to an organization has become an economic boon across all forms of industries. With the right strategy aligned with business goals, businesses can ensure that users get the correct information to achieve better results, thus developing loyalty to their business. Read the full article

[billconrad]

Life is Always More Complicated

    It is tempting to describe daily life events using simple explanations. Sally entered the conference room and yelled at her coworkers. Why? Person one thinks Sally is a mean person and cannot help herself. Person two knows Sally’s issues, which affect her judgment. Person three knows her anger resulted from their project failing to meet the required numbers. Person four insulted Sally last week, and this is retribution. There were four different people with four different conclusions, and each was sure they understood Sally.

    In the above example, the truth is likely a combination of factors, a single overriding factor, or something unrelated. Humans can be unpredictable, distracted, confused, and obsessed. Plus, the very element that guides us (our minds) may be damaged, obsessed, or drugged out. The possibility also exists that our actions result from boredom, mistakes, or somebody else’s involvement. Worse, we lie, deceive, hate, and get confused.

    What kind of person is Sally? Is she a jerk, uncontrolled, arrogant, over-confident, or spiteful? Did she make an honest mistake? Is this event indicative of her life? Will the team’s performance improve because of her outburst? Will there be hurt feelings, retribution, slowdown, HR reports, or sabotage?

    What’s the point? It’s easy to assume that Sally is not a complex person. She got mad one day and nothing more. I can’t entirely agree. Sally is a mature woman with a developed personality based on a lifetime of education, experiences, social interaction, observation, victories, and mistakes. Even if she had a single overriding reason, many aspects came into play. It took effort to voice anger, and Sally chose to do so.

    Now that we have discussed Sally’s complex life, let’s write about it. Err. Big problem. Real life, Sally is not a flat person, but stories require characters with obvious motives, clear intentions, and well-defined actions to move the plot along. This will allow readers to appreciate the character’s role, decisions, actions, and reasoning.

    Even if Sally’s character contains a well-described background, no book could fully capture her lifetime of experience. As readers, we understand that the simple act of yelling at a bunch of people must be inspired by something tangible. To solve this issue, we accepted an uncomplicated Sally; one day, she yelled at her team because the project was behind schedule. Nothing more.

    Nonfiction authors must travel down a different path. Let’s pretend Sally is the famous aviator Amelia Earhart. Amelia walked into the room and yelled at the people about her flight plan. Umm... What? Amelia is no longer with us. How does the author know the foundation for her anger? Why did she choose to speak up that day? Is she always this angry? Readers must understand her personality, motives, and history, but Amelia’s actions are in the past, cannot be changed, and cannot be interviewed. As a writer, the only option is to explain (guess) her actions/decisions.

    This article’s point is that life is complex, and a simple event is not simple. Even a well-documented event is challenging to describe in words. Humans have a lot going on, yet we try to write about complex events as if they were simple. This makes it fun to create stories, but writers can never fully capture a person.

    You’re the best -Bill

    September 28, 2024

    Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

[kennyfischerconsulting]

YOU WANTED WAR STORIES?

I got several emails recently asking for “War Stories” about business.  Here is the one from my first scrap metal job.

BENNY the FIX.     Ben Fixman Diversified Metals Corporation -   Part 0ne

I came back from 6 months of hitch hiking around Europe and Israel in April 1964. I was 22, broke, living at home and driving a $300 Chevy that my dad had brought from Laclede Gas Company. I needed a job, so I went to an interview with Benny Fixman, my dad’s ex- partner at Fischer Fixman Metals.  Dad, 15 years older than Benny, was the only one in St. Louis willing to take Benny as a partner, due to his rather rough, brash, and aggressive attitude. 

So, they formed Fischer-Fixman Metal Company in 1954. Irv said Benny was at the office an hour before him, left 2 hours after him and sucked 15 years of Irv’s knowledge and experience in scrap metals out of his brain in a little over a year.  So, they parted friends in the late 50’s and when I went to see Ben in 1964 the company was then called Diversified Metals Corporation. Unlike most junk dealers, Diversified dealt only in industrial non-ferrous metals. There was no over-the-scale retail trade. DMC occupied a maze of stuck together buildings, including 2 zinc and lead melting pots, on Duncan Ave. in mid-town St. Louis.

 What really separated DMC from the other dealers was that they had two insulated wire chopping lines. The normal way to remove the insulation from copper wire was to burn it out in the country or a furnace of some sorts, but Benny was a very bright visionary and saw that soon the toxics and pollution from burning would not be long tolerated in the US.  I remember that when DMC went on a campaign to get the major wire manufacturers to ship us their scrap and over runs, Ben took out the full-page back cover of the Wall Street Journal showing a big polluting smokestack and a caption about the pollution from their metal going up in smoke.

To make a long story short, Ben hired me at $100 a week as an assistant foreman to Kenny Cherry, his scale man. I supervised the laborers as they unloaded the industrial scrap metal and wire from 40 foot over the road trailers. Ben made sure that I did the physical work with the laborers.  He wanted me to know what it was like, so no one could BS me as a foreman and I would appreciate what is what like to freeze or sweat your butt of in the plant.  Unknown to me, he also had big plans for me and wanted to make sure I got a full education.  He had me rotated to the foundry, loading, and unloading rail cars, and eventually running one of the 2- 12-hour shifts on the chopping lines.  After about a year he moved me into the office where I became a settlement clerk.  I would take the receiving documents, which I used to fill out in the plant, and create a settlement for the accounting department so they could pay the industrial account. BTW:  Benny Fixman wrote his autobiography From the Ghetto to the Gold a few years ago if you want more details on him.  I read most of it and found it fairly accurate (as I knew it) and have to say that I am sure all autobiographies (like mine also) are usually slanted in a benevolent manner, with occasional amnesia, in favor of the writer.

Whatever anyone says about Benny, who died at age 90 on November 7, 2015, he was the smartest and most forward-thinking scrap man of that era. DMC would go on to become a NYSE, Fortune 1,000 Company, and the largest recycler/trader of non-ferrous metals in the world.  We had 1,441 employees, trading offices in St, Louis, MO., New York, Beverly Hills, CA. Tokyo Japan, Seoul Korea, and Hamburg Germany, plus large recycling plants in Montreal, Canada, Cucamonga, CA. St. Louis, MO., and Tamaqua, PA.

[shraddhamatre]

Navigating Through the SSC AE Exam: 

A Complete Guide As engineering students near the end of their studies, the possibility of joining the workforce becomes more and more real. The Staff Selection Commission Junior Engineer (SSC AE) test stands out among the many options as a coveted entry point to a fulfilling career in the public sector. Engineers who pass this exam and make it through the screening procedure stand a good chance of landing a desirable job in a government agency. This is a thorough guide to passing the post-engineering SSC AE test.

Comprehending the SSC AE Test The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) administers the SSC AE test every year to hire Assistant Engineers for a number of government agencies, including the Department of Posts, Military Engineering Services, and the Central Water Commission. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate applicants' problem-solving skills, general aptitude, and technical knowledge. Qualifications and Readiness Candidates must have a degree in engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, or Civil) from an accredited university in order to be eligible for the SSC AE test. A methodical approach to exam preparation is necessary, with an emphasis on both technical subjects and general awareness

Technical Preparation: Review the fundamental topics related to your engineering field. Pay attention to topics like environmental, geotechnical, and structural engineering if you're a civil engineer. While mechanical engineers should focus on fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and manufacturing technology, electrical engineers should prioritize power systems, control systems, and electrical machines. Standard Textbooks: Make use of standard materials and textbooks. Books by writers with extensive subject coverage, such as R.K. Rajput, S.K. Duggal, and P. Khanna, come highly recommended.

Solving prior year's question papers might aid in comprehending the format and style of questions answered on the test. Additionally, it helps with time management on the real test. Overall Intelligence and Reasoning Practice your numeric ability by answering practice questions on a regular basis. Arithmetic, geometry, and algebra are essential subjects. R.S. Aggarwal's books can be especially helpful. Logical Reasoning: Practice solving reasoning problems and puzzles to improve your logical thinking abilities. Making it a regular habit to solve puzzles can greatly increase one's quickness at solving problems.

General Awareness: Keep up with current events, particularly those pertaining to technology and science. It might be helpful to read newspapers, watch news channels, and use current affairs-focused smartphone apps. Exam Format There are two papers in the SSC AE exam: Paper I: This is an objective-style paper that covers technical topics, general awareness, and general intelligence and reasoning. It is done online and is worth 200 marks. Paper II: This is a descriptive paper with an emphasis on technical topics related to the engineering specialty of the candidate. It is worth 300 points.

To do well on these tests, one must have a solid grasp of the material and practice often. After-Examination Procedure Upon passing the written examination, applicants get an invitation to proceed with the document verification procedure. At this point, the legitimacy of the candidate's credentials, including their education, is confirmed. The final selection list is released when verification is finished. Opportunities for a Career There are several options available to those who pass the SSC AE test and secure a career as an Assistant Engineer. It provides good pay rates, employment stability, and the opportunity to work on important government initiatives. It also offers a platform for professional advancement, with opportunities for promotions and ongoing training.

In overview The path from engineering degree to Assistant Engineer hired by the government is difficult but worthwhile. An essential milestone in this process is the SSC AE test, which calls for commitment, careful planning, and persistence. Engineering graduates may ace this test and start a rewarding career in public service by concentrating on key courses, developing general aptitude abilities, and keeping up with current events.

Start Your Preparation With: https://gameacademy.in/ / https://clppenny.page.link/cTBm 

Recomended: https://www.youtube.com/@gblions / https://www.youtube.com/@gblionsaeje 

[archivyrep]

"The Ghost and Molly McGee" employs archives stereotypes with basement archive [Part 3]

Continued from part 2

Photo of Ricky Roxburgh from Central Coast Writers Conference in Sept. 2020, where he is described as a "Emmy winning writer of animated film and television"

Speaking of Tangled, there are four episodes in that animated series which have archivy themes: "Keeper of the Spire," "Rapunzel and the Great Tree," "Islands Apart," and "Race to the Spire." It turns out, according his IMDB page, that Ricky Roxburgh was a staff writer for all of these episodes, the same ones which had no archivist, archivy themes, and scrolls stuck in a tree, as I referenced earlier in this post.

Reprinted from my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks WordPress blog. Originally published on Nov. 18, 2021.

As such, episode of The Ghost and Molly McGee was not the first time, he had, sadly, contributed to perpetuation of archives stereotypes. Roxburgh has a degree from SUNY Albany, according to his IMDB bio, and is well-educated, making this even more unfortunate. Chang, on the hand, seems to be a new writer, as his only credits on IMDB are seven episodes of The Ghost and Molly McGee.

Sometimes it feels like series like The Ghost and Molly McGee are stuck back in time. The National Archives and Record Administration (NARA)'s Archives II location, where I worked for a short time, has multiple levels of stacks of records, ranging five to seven floors, which can be accessed by employees. However, before 1934, when NARA was founded, national documents were stored "essentially at random," with no plan for preserving the Constitution, and was stuffed in a storage space, even spending time in the basement of the State Department for over forty years! There was, before 1934, a pattern of "astonishingly haphazard record-keeping" which each federal department having its own archive, with many records either not accessible, or lost.

Since 1934, there have been efforts to ensure that records can be accurately cataloged, organized, arranged, and so on. While one could easily, and rightly, point to the backlog in processing NARA's records, or the fact that only 1.2% of the records in NARA's holdings have been digitized, there is no doubt that it is better to have national records organized together under one agency than have them haphazardly organized across many departments.

This is something that the episode is missing. It is also, by saying that the archives is dusty, little-used, and dirty, devaluing the work of archivists themselves. If an archives was realistically in that shape, such an archivist would undoubtedly be violating codes of ethics, whether from state-specific professional organizations or nationally from organizations like the Society of American Archivists. It would also run afoul of records laws on a state level as well.

Andrew Raymond and James O'Toole pointed this out in 1978, arguing that in some respects, archives was seen as a branch of academic history, with the importance of archives depending on the importance of history. They went onto say that "the archivist is therefore consigned to life in the basement. He is forced into a stereotype that is dark, dusty, unpleasant, and most of all irrelevant," only providing services to genealogists and scholar-historians, leading to less funding and regard from others, like administrators and various public officials. [3]

People think all archives look like the above stock image, a photograph of an archive in Sicily, apparently.

Episodes like the The Ghost and Molly McGee episode described in this article feed into those determinations and have real-world effects on public opinion and the lives of archivists themselves.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[3] Raymond, Andrew, and James M. O’Toole. “Up from the Basement: Archives, History and Public Administration.” Georgia Archive 6, no. 2 (January 1978): 20–21, 28–30. I used Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (Full note) here. This article seems to assume that the default is a male archivist, even though the most recent A*Census (a new one is in the works) noted that the archives field is female-majority, meaning that for every 10 archivists, six or seven are female, as shown on page 21 of "Part 3. A*CENSUS: A Closer Look." More about that census, with various analyses of the information provided, is available here. A new A*Census, A*Census II, is currently in the works and will be released some time next year.

[superlinguo]

Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a CEO of a SaaS company

Today’s interview is with Alyona Medelyan, CEO of a Thematic, a company that provides customer feedback analysis as software as a service (SaaS). The SaaS model means that they create software that people use regularly and subscribe to using, rather than just buying once-off (like getting a netflix subscription rather than buying a DVD of a single movie). Alyona’s story is a great example of how it’s possible to craft your own opportunities, rather than building projects for other people’s companies. You can get in touch with Alyona via LinkedIn, or Twitter, and you can check out the Thematic website.

An exciting development in today’s interview is that after 5 years... I’ve added another question to the standard question set! This new question asks about the transition from university to work, and I hope that it can help to demystify a period that can often be stressful. Thanks to Alyona for being the first interviewee to answer this new question.

What did you study at university?

I did my undergraduate and Masters degree in Germany. My Major was German Linguistics, with two Minors were Computational Linguistics and Computer Science.

I ended up doing a PhD specializing in Natural Language Processing.

What is your job?

As a Co-Founder and the CEO of Thematic. I’m in charge of a young company. My job is to grow the company as fast as possible in a sustainable way (meaning building a solution people want and not running out of money). I do operations, company culture, focusing the most on Sales & Marketing. This means lots of meetings, strategic planning, looking at data, and also simply getting things done. I love my job, even though it has many ups and downs. If we win, it’s the team’s win. If we fail, it’s my failure as the CEO. And yet, building something from nothing and learning how to motivate a team to succeed has been transformative for me as a person.

How does your linguistics training help you in your job?

Our solution is a customer feedback analysis platform. We analyze feedback that people leave through reviews, surveys and contact center, e.g. chat or support tickets. The core technology and our IP is about analyzing text. So, it’s built on the core principles of linguistics. Having linguistic training gave us a critical advantage over many competing solutions. Where others treat words like numbers, our technology treats them semantically. We use the notion of concepts when analyzing data. Because we use this approach, we can also automatically create taxonomies of concepts and themes from text. Interestingly, another key feature of our product, sentiment analysis sits at the intersection of linguistics and computer science. It’s both through my training at university, but also internship at Google, where I gained useful skills to now apply in my job.

What was the transition from university to work like for you?

Straight out of university, I joined a startup as a Software Researcher. Our team implemented new ways of analyzing documents and search queries. After building a few sales demos, I was invited to present them at trade shows. Luckily, I already did this during my internship while studying Linguistics, so it wasn’t new. I quickly got promoted to lead the R&D department and was invited to participate in sales and strategy meetings. This all happened within a year or so, so I had to quickly adapt to new things. Ultimately, I decided to become a consultant. I founded Thematic after keep getting requests to analyze customer feedback.

Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

For me, internships were a key factor to my success. I ended up doing 3 different internships. One at a 15 people company, another at a research institute, and a final one at Google. You get exposed to many different ways of building a career and get to learn what’s the best fit. You also meet many different people and make connections that will be valuable in your career going forward. In all cases, my internships were paid, but it wasn’t much. This was a while ago, but for reference, in one case, I got paid 700 Euros for a month, more than half of which was my rent. What’s more important was the amount of time experienced folks at the company spent supervising and training me.

Any other thoughts or comments?

One skill that I learned during my studies that benefited me was writing. You end up writing your research papers, your thesis, I even wrote a blog about my research. This has been useful when starting my own company and writing content pieces to educate others about what we do and why it matters.

Related interviews:

Interview with a Communications Specialist

Interview with two Communications Professionals

Interview with an Editor and Copywriter

Recent interview:

Interview with a Communications and Engagement Assistant

Interview with a Technical Writer

Interview with a Stay-at-home Mom and Twitch Streamer

Interview with a Peer Review Program Manager

Interview with an Associate at the Children’s Center for Communication, Beverly School for the Deaf

Check out the full Linguist Jobs Interview List and the Linguist Jobs tag for even more interviews  

[sardonicallys]

𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱

masterlist

𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: Seungmin + Reader

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Television Production AU, Fluff

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: A very coy Seungmin

𝗦𝘆𝗽𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Society's promise of success is never quite how we imagine it to be, and often times a job is a job. Maybe that's why they call it a dream job. Regardless, you're thankful for the support of your boss who's helped support your work, put it into practice, and then some.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 769

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: Seungmin in the building! Honestly he's so playful I was crushing on him throughout Howl in Harmony.

Graduation never guaranteed the lies institutionalized education attempted to hypnotize its students with, but you were unfortunately one of its victims. Awarded several prestigious prizes and accolades for your screenplays throughout your post secondary education, you were doted with high expectations to be one of the most sought after new writers in television.

So why were you trapped creating questionnaires for a vapid dating quiz show? Once a dream, now turned nightmare, is what kept you parked at your desk, long after office hours. Working on new questions to pitch to the main production team who vocalized their dislike for your "creative" suggestions that didn't seem to fit with their trash television agenda, you combed your fingers through your hair in frustration as your boss — Mr. Kim — pulled a chair up at the opposite end of your desk, "Stuck?"

"Yeah, sorta," exhaling an exasperated in between of a sigh and a laugh, you peered up at him as you felt a hard thump against your ribcage. The glow of the lamp must have been angled to his benefit because he looked a little too, ethereal, with his tie loosened and first two buttons apart.

"On what?"

"Some truth or dare questions..." sighing, you nervously shifted in your seat as you watched his eyes scan over your messy scrawl, fingers twitching with an urge to cover up your work — a habit you had gained during university when your professors would snatch your papers and read them aloud to the class. Trauma responses really had a strange hold on humanity, didn't they?

Propping an elbow onto your desk, cheek cradled into his palm, a crooked smile appeared on his lips, "Okay, ask me one."

"...Uh, some of these aren't," clearing your throat, you sheepishly spoke lower, "Aren't really appropriate?"

"Well you wrote them so you know which ones you can use, I'm sure it's fine, right?" Leaning in closer, his expression didn't falter as you felt yourself sinking back in your chair. The energy Mr. Kim exuded always managed to overwhelm you, and you never could quite figure out why. A pleasantly average, polite, and quiet manager — despite being just around your age — he was the type to work hard and support his team from the backend, rarely ever surfacing as the boisterous supervisors that were littered through the departments. Honestly, it was probably the main reason why you even stayed at the company. It didn't hurt that you found that when he smiled or laughed — the very rare and fleeting moments that it occurred — it was rather cute.

"I, uh, okay," nodding, you skimmed through a few that were mild to keep in mind while mumbling out the initiation, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

You froze — not having imagined he would have picked the latter — hesitating as your head rowed back and forth, taking turns looking up at him and then back down at the paper on your desk, "I— Uh?"

"...You have so much written there," Mr. Kim closed his eyes as he hovered a finger over the document, landing randomly on a suggestion. When you finally had a chance to see what was beneath it, you felt a fervent tempered blush blossom over your skin. Before you could quit your game, reject the entire simulation and dispose of it as a good run of a joke, his fingers were already at the back of your neck. Free hand on your desk for leverage, he leaned over with easy fluidity while your lips met. Gripping at the margin of your desk, you couldn't find a single breath in your lungs to capture or even the desire to pull away.

It seemed he figured that much and pulled away himself, you caught a glimpse of the smile you found yourself drowning in the first time he complimented your work, "So what's my prize?"

"...Your what?"

"I completed the challenge, what's the prize?"

"...I didn't know there was—"

"You haven't watched an airing of the show?" Feigning shock as you reeled through your thoughts, still muddled from the kiss you shared, your dazed confusion crept over your face.

"I haven't either," shrugging, he laughed when your flustered sputtering was starting to fall from your lips, "But I think I should still get a prize."

Deeply exhaling, attempting to settle the incessant drumming in your ears, your nods signaled that you conceded, "Sure, Mr. Kim, what kind of prize do you want?"

"Seungmin," he corrected as you felt your skin grow blistering hot again, nodding slow, "And why not an eye for an eye? I want one back."

"...What back?"

"I gave you a kiss, shouldn't I get one back?"

[rockislandadultreads]

Important Titles: Black History Month Books 

And Still I Rise: Black America Since MLK by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kevin M. Burke

Beginning with the assassination of Malcolm X in February 1965, And Still I Rise: From Black Power to the White House explores the last half-century of the African American experience. More than fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the birth of Black Power, the United States has both a black president and black CEOs running Fortune 500 companies—and a large black underclass beset by persistent poverty, inadequate education, and an epidemic of incarceration. Harvard professor and scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. raises disturbing and vital questions about this dichotomy. How did the African American community end up encompassing such profound contradictions? And what will “the black community” mean tomorrow? Gates takes readers through the major historical events and untold stories of the sixty years that have irrevocably shaped both the African American experience and the nation as a whole, from the explosive social and political changes of the 1960s, into the 1970s and 1980s—eras characterized by both prosperity and neglect—through the turn of the century to today, taking measure of such racial flashpoints as the Tawana Brawley case, OJ Simpson’s murder trial, the murders of Amadou Diallo and Trayvon Martin, and debates around the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” policies. Even as it surveys the political and social evolution of black America, And Still I Rise is also a celebration of the accomplishments of black artists, musicians, writers, comedians, and thinkers who have helped to define American popular culture and to change our world.

Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events by Jessie Carney Smith

A celebration of achievement, accomplishments, and pride! The first African American president, U.S. senator, and the first black lawyer in the Department of Education. The first black chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first African American commissioned officer in the Marine Corps. The first black professors in a variety of fields. The first African American advertising agency. The first African American Olympian. The first black pilot for a scheduled commercial airline. The first recorded slave revolt in North America. The first African American cookbook writer. Revel and rejoice in the renowned and lesser-known, barrier-breaking trailblazers in all fields--arts, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, invention, journalism, religion, science, sports, music, and more. Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events, Fourth Edition bears witness to the long and complex history of African Americans! Expanded, updated, and revised for the first time in over eight years, Black Firsts collects more than 500 all-new achievements and previously unearthed firsts. This massive tome proves that African American accomplishments are wide-ranging and ongoing, documenting thousands of personal victories and triumphs.

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker, Marcus Kwame Anderson (Illustrations)

A bold and fascinating graphic novel history of the revolutionary Black Panther Party, from an award-winning comic book writer. Founded in Oakland, California, in 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was a revolutionary political organization that stood in defiant contrast to the mainstream civil rights movement. This gripping illustrated history explores the impact and legacy of the Panthers, from their social, educational, and healthcare programs that were designed to uplift the Black community to their battle against police brutality through citizen patrols and frequent clashes with the FBI, which targeted the Party from its outset. Using dramatic comic book-style retellings and illustrated profiles of key figures, The Black Panther Party captures the major events, people, and actions of the party, as well as their cultural and political influence and enduring significance.

A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry, Kali Nicole Gross

A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are--and have always been--instrumental in shaping our country In centering Black women's stories, two award-winning historians seek both to empower African American women and to show their allies that Black women's unique ability to make their own communities while combatting centuries of oppression is an essential component in our continued resistance to systemic racism and sexism. Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross offer an examination and celebration of Black womanhood, beginning with the first African women who arrived in what became the United States to African American women of today. A Black Women's History of the United States reaches far beyond a single narrative to showcase Black women's lives in all their fraught complexities. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. The result is a starting point for exploring Black women's history and a testament to the beauty, richness, rhythm, tragedy, heartbreak, rage, and enduring love that abounds in the spirit of Black women in communities throughout the nation.

[thepolyamorouspolymath]

The other thing I want to take over (well, like everything because most people are incompetent and it's easier to do it myself than deal with aggravation) is because we do not have at least the major department I work in well documented.

For instance, we have a spreadsheet with names we use for each client who uses ach. We have no such list for checks despite the fact we all have to find the checks that we've processed on a giant list of department processed checks which is sorted by name -- so no, there is no coordination.

Also, there is no procedures file or manual. Just notes, which cover only things that occurred to my boss, which is to say most of what you'd need is missing, set in weirdly colored excel sheets that actually make it harder to read, using terminology that you don't know unless you already know how to do it.

Now, *I* write step by step instructions for every process I learn. Because I hate to look stupid asking a question I should already know, not any sense of organization.

In the past I have taken this, streamlined the language and format -- I am a writer, I know how to be clear, I just don't bother here -- and built training manuals, complete with a section of commonly needed cheat sheets and corresponding shared drive files, so you can use the manual when you start and make a paper copy of the cheat sheet if you like that or have a doc of it on your computer if you prefer. It has never failed to improve training and overall efficiency.

But pretty sure I'm gonna get told "we've always done it this way" and I'm gonna be seen as the problem child, especially because I could tell them a couple dozen things to fix within my first two weeks.

(BTW, the other department I've trained in at all, I'm never in, does have a cheatsheet for one thing... in size 6 font. Yeah)

And where in my foolish youth I just put it together in my off time and gave it toy boss, so I could demonstrate the advantage -- no one has to use it but it's available for people who need it. Which means you're saving everyone time and reducing errors from people guessing because they were too embarrassed or didn't know to ask.

Now? I'm happy to do all of it... on the clock, after hiring me on directly. With a raise since they no longer have to pay the agency.

How long does one have to wait before saying "this is all mess, give me an extra $5 an hour and I'll double your production while making workers lives easier."

(Any boss tells you that can't happen, I figured it out at 19 with no business experience or education, yes it most definitely can. And the company even saves money because staff turnover goes down unless someone is a dick -- in which case, regardless of position, get rid of the dick. That lesson came directly from the owner when I was 19 and said I was quitting now because my boss was a bitch with specifics, so he fired her. That man was the CEO of a Fortune 500 company for decades.)

But somehow I think that will end badly after two weeks, even though the problems are that apparent.

This is why people hate working for corporations-- they do fucking stupid things stupidly abd no one stops them.

[antoine-roquentin]

Myanmar: Vast arsenal and notorious troops deployed during nationwide ‘killing spree’ protest crackdown – new research

The Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.

By verifying more than 50 videos from the ongoing crackdown, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab can confirm that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions.

Footage clearly shows that Myanmar military troops - also known as the Tatmadaw - are increasingly armed with weapons that are only appropriate for the battlefield, not for policing actions. Officers are frequently seen engaging in reckless behavior, including the indiscriminate spraying of live ammunition in urban areas.

‘We are frontliners’: Youth brave bullets and arrest to keep protests alive 

While the early street protests against the February 1 military takeover remained largely peaceful, attracting people from all strata of society, the police and army have violently broken up more recent demonstrations, killing more than 70 so far. This has whittled down protests to younger, more daring groups engaging in cat-and-mouse games with security forces: making tactical retreats and reassembling the moment forces move on. To avoid death, injury or arrest, they have had to quickly adopt new methods and tools.

Mayangone Township resident Ko Phyo Tin, 25, who joins the Kyun Taw protest group every day, uses a shield improvised from a piece of steel as protection against rubber bullets and live rounds, and dons a Chinese-made combat helmet.

“Most of us are using protective equipment made in China. We don’t trust its quality but we have no alternative,” he said, adding that the group would gladly accept donations of quality gas masks, hard hats and body armour.

Women have also taken up positions as “frontliners”, the protesters bearing the brunt of the police and army assaults and shielding those behind them. They include Ma Thu Thu, 23, a founder of a team of frontliners that operates in Hlaing and Kamaryut townships, where such groups proliferate.

Thu Thu said her team comprises a core group of more than 10 people that is supported by about another 50 volunteers, who have learned from the street tactics used in dissident movements overseas.

“I saw the protests in Hong Kong and they gave me ideas about how we could defend ourselves,” said Thu Thu, whose small frame belies a capacity to endure gruelling confrontations with security forces.

She has been protesting against military rule since February 6 and is increasingly convinced that the people need protection from the lethal force police and soldiers used against striking dockworkers in Mandalay on February 20, when security forces fired live rounds on a crowd of more than 1,000 demonstrators at a shipyard, killing two and injuring dozens.

On February 26, Thu Thu watched a violent crackdown by police on big crowds of protesters at the Myanigone and Hledan junctions in Yangon.

“Police opened fire to disperse protesters, who fled in chaos. Some were arrested. When I saw that, I thought we needed to be able to protect protesters during demonstrations planned for February 28, Milk Tea Alliance Day,” she said, referring to a loose alliance of pro-democracy movements in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and now Myanmar.

“I posted [these thoughts] on Facebook and one of my friends said she would donate 30 shields. I talked with some of my male friends and we decided to volunteer as frontliners,” she added.

“When we first started posting [about our plan], about a hundred people contacted us [wanting to join]. Members of our group are from many different townships in Yangon.”

Myanmar junta hires Israeli intelligence veteran for international lobbying campaign 

Defense Minister Mya Tun Oo retained Ari Ben-Menashe and his Montreal-based Dickens & Madson Canada to “assist in explaining the real situation in the country,” according to a consultancy agreement dated Thursday. The firm is tasked with lobbying Congress and the Joe Biden administration as well as the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Russia in addition to the United Nations, the African Union and other international organizations and NGOs.

The firm is expected to file a formal lobbying contract with the US Department of Justice early next week, Ben-Menashe said in a telephone interview Friday morning from Myanmar, where he’s wrapping up his second trip in the past few weeks. He said the contract was for a “big amount” but declined to get into specifics.

(Update: Dickens & Madson said the contract with Mya Tun Oo was for $2 million in a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) disclosure filed Monday, March 8 with the US Department of Justice. The amount is to be paid  “when legally permissible by controlling jurisdictions” since the minister and other military leaders are under US sanctions.

“Within the United States, Registrant will provide advice and counsel to the foreign principal and advocate before the executive and/or legislative branches of the government of the United States to seek support and humanitarian aid for the benefit of the citizens of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and to strive for the removal or modification of current sanctions,” the lobbying disclosure states. “Additionally, Registrant proposes to provide media and public relations services to further the country’s goals and activities. Registrant also provides lobbying services to the foreign principal in other countries.”)

Ben-Menashe indicated that he plans to present the country’s military rulers as a counterweight to alleged growing Chinese influence in the country under Aung San Suu Kyi, the government leader whose National League for Democracy swept legislative elections in November. The Burmese military declared the elections to be illegitimate on Feb. 1 and deposed Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, sparking international condemnation.

“Aung San Suu Kyi moved toward China while she was in power,” Ben-Menashe said. “And these guys [in the military] don’t like it.”

He added that officials in Saudi Arabia and the UAE had offered to assist with the return of Rohingya Muslims, almost a million of whom have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in recent years amid what the United Nations have labeled a campaign of genocide. Ben-Menashe said he had advised the country’s rulers in the 1990s and warned at the time against having Suu Kyi in the government, claiming she had shown anti-Muslim animus.

“Aung San Suu Kyi as leader was the one who did in the Rohingyas, not the army,” he insisted.

Democratic shadow government taking form in Myanmar 

Myanmar’s banking system, always feeble, looks close to collapse. With banking havens for the junta’s finances, namely the US and Singapore, restricting capital flows, the Biden administration’s freeze on $1 billion of Myanmar’s US-held assets and an ongoing national boycott of military-affiliated businesses, the junta’s finances are being squeezed.

All this definitely means the junta’s strategy of carrying on with business as usual has gone out the window and makes large-scale violent escalation likely.

The writers disagree with the view that the disparate Civil Disobedience Movement can win by sheer power of will and personal sacrifice. Look at the numbers: In some ministries, such as health and education, participation in the movement is substantial, with estimates that a third of staff are actively involved. In others, it is much smaller.

Some 600 policemen are said to have defected so far. Overall, the number of Civil Disobedience Movement participants is likely in the tens of thousands, out of a million or so civil servants across the country.

The junta is cracking down hard. Participating civil servants have been suspended by the junta, with some losing their pay and benefits and others potentially charged with treason.

One senior civil servant told us: “I really want to participate in the civil disobedience campaign but I have to take care of my family – we rely on my salary [and] the housing provided by the department.”

One month on, the story of Myanmar’s coup has become a tale of two governments, the junta and the acting administration of the Committee Representing the National Parliament (CRPH), a group of MPs mostly from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

With many of its members including Suu Kyi detained and least one who has died in the junta’s custody, the democratically-elected NLD has been hit hard by the coup.

“We cannot operate as a political party right now. [The junta] seized our leaders… Our party headquarter is closed. But we are trying to connect with our party members,” Phyo Zeya Thaw, NLD Central Committee Member, told the writers.

The CRPH has sought to challenge the junta while running and hiding. It has already announced a public administration program that established local councils led by MPs and loyal local officials to run affairs in Myanmar’s 360 townships in competition with the junta.

Preliminary data from a survey we are conducting on this parallel governance bid suggest that early success is mixed: In parts of the country, the NLD’s grassroots networks have been able to set up structures, in particular in Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing regions, all part of the NLD’s heartland. In other townships, the junta has the upper hand.

Significantly, the CRPH is now putting itself firmly at the head of the disparate civil disobedience movement. On its website, the CRPH is registering civil servants participating in CDM who it will provide support.

It has also formed an ”acting administration” of acting ministers. They will cover all portfolios of the toppled NLD government until a new unity resistance government is formed.

To form this unity government, the CRPH is competing with the junta in reaching out to both civil society leaders and to ethnic political parties and ethnic armed groups. The success of these overtures may decide the ultimate fate of Myanmar’s coup.

Two other resistance organizations, a General Strike Committee and a General Strike Committee of Nationalities, that sprung up to organize a general strike in February are still organizing protests and strikes independently.

Business revolt brewing in coup-crippled Myanmar 

Western business groups, namely European, American, British, Italian and French chambers of commerce, rejected the regime’s invitation to meet on March 4. At the same time, major Asian business groups such as the Thai, Hong Kong, Japanese and Chinese have not released any statements of concern since the coup and lethal crackdown on protesters.

The Western chambers’ refusal comes at a time of widespread and rising condemnation against the regime’s brutal crackdown on unarmed protesting civilians, with more than 50 killed as of March 3, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an independent monitoring group.

Australian business group AustCham Myanmar said on Wednesday it has “serious concern over the increasing use of violence against the people campaigning for a return to democratic Government in Myanmar.”

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

I’ve hated writing stories like this as long as I’ve been a writer, because it’s one of those “where do you start?” stories, or alternatively, “let me count the ways.”  Here’s what I mean:  I’ve read the DOJ lawsuit against the state of Texas, and to be brief, it is a masterpiece.  So, having delved into every one of its 26 pages, almost every one of which has at least one quotable sentence, where do I start?

Well, the best place is probably page 25, where the DOJ states flat-out why the Texas fetal heartbeat law is unconstitutional: “S.B. 8 violates the supremacy clause and is preempted because it is contrary to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

That would be Article VI, Clause 2 of the Constitution, folks, which establishes that the Constitution and all federal laws enacted pursuant to it take precedence over any and all state laws or court decisions, even those bound by state constitutions, which are subordinate to the U.S. Constitution, the “supreme law of the land.”  Here it is in full:

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

Boom.

I think we can agree it’s a pretty straightforward statement by the “founders” who conservatives are so fond of lionizing.  This document…forgive me…trumps everything else.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted after the Civil War in 1868, guarantees to every citizen of the United States equal protection of the law and the right to “due process,” defined as forbidding the denial of life, liberty, and property without due process of law.

Zang.

Two of the biggies, wouldn’t you say?  Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice are saying that the Texas law essentially ending the right to abortion in the state violates the legal and moral principles on which this country was founded.

The way the DOJ goes about its pleading, filed yesterday in the federal court located in Austin, Texas, the state capital, is comprehensive and methodical.  The state of Texas and its law, S.B. 8, set out to violate women’s constitutional rights to abortion under the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 and get away with it by essentially negating and nullifying that decision and every abortion decision which came after it, such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey.  On top of that, the DOJ says, Texas has attempted to put its anti-abortion law beyond the reach of challenge under the Constitution.

How’s that for hutzpah, huh?

To support its case, the DOJ goes into the ways the “scheme” (Merrick Garland’s word) not only violates elemental principles in the Constitution but undermines the authority of the federal government in various ways, such as interfering with and restricting its legal control of interstate commerce and its obligation under the law to provide healthcare to the employees of the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Prisons, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the Department of Labor.  Attempting to restrain the authority of the federal government in its management and administration of its departments is, to put it bluntly, against the law.

The elemental case the DOJ makes in its brief is easy to understand when you put it in context.  Texas is attempting to interfere with women’s rights to choose abortion under the Roe v. Wade decision in the same way Southern states attempted to interfere with the rights of Black children to an equal education after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education.

It is often forgotten that it took several subsequent court decisions after Brown to end school segregation in the South.  In 1956, in Cooper v. Aaron, a federal district court in Arkansas ordered the state school board to formulate a plan to desegregate the state’s schools and denied a request by the board to delay desegregation by 30 months.  President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent 1000 troops from the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to enforce the court’s order to integrate Arkansas schools.

The case was appealed, upheld by the Circuit Court of Appeals, and appealed again to the Supreme Court.  In 1958, the Supreme Court decided Cooper v. Aaron in a 9-0 decision and issued the only unanimous opinion signed by all nine justices on record.  The court essentially found that all states are bound by Supreme Court decisions and must enforce them even if they disagree with them.

In support of its finding, the court cited the supremacy clause in Article VI and the 14th Amendment.

Sound familiar?  Here we are 63 years later and the DOJ is filing a lawsuit to uphold yet another constitutional right, the right to choose abortion, against a state violating the Constitution in the same way Southern states attempted to violate the Constitution by refusing to integrate their school systems.  They never give up, do they?  And they do the same thing over and over and over again.

I don’t know how the Supreme Court will decide the Mississippi abortion case it is due to take up this term.  Experts are divided on what the court will do, but lean toward the court using the case to overturn Roe v. Wade.  But the state of Arkansas lost its case against integration in 1958, and the state of Texas is going to lose the case filed yesterday by Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that from my reading of the DOJ brief, I predict that a stay will be issued against the Texas fetal heartbeat law by the district court in Austin, and the stay will be upheld, yes, even by the current arch-conservative Supreme Court.

They may eventually use the Mississippi case to overturn Roe, but in the not too distant future, they will be forced by their own precedents and the words of the Constitution itself to stay the Texas law from enforcement, and women will once again, if only temporarily, have the right to choose an abortion in the state of Texas.

Lucian Truscott Newsletter

[kennyfischerconsulting]

BRILLIANT SCRAP MEN - Ben Fixman - #2 I remember when DMC went on a campaign to get the major wire manufacturers to ship us their scrap and over runs, Ben took out the full-page back cover of the Wall Street Journal showing a big polluting smokestack and a caption about the pollution from their metal going up in smoke. To make a long story short, Ben hired me at $100 a week as an assistant foreman to Kenny Cherry, his scale man. I supervised the laborers as they unloaded the industrial scrap metal and wire from 40 foot over the road trailers. Ben made sure that I did the physical work with the laborers. He wanted me to know what it was like, so no one could BS me as a foreman and I would appreciate what is what like to freeze or sweat your butt of in the plant. Unknown to me, he also had big plans for me and wanted to make sure I got a full education. He had me rotated to the foundry, loading, and unloading rail cars, and eventually running one of the 2- 12-hour shifts on the chopping lines. After about a year he moved me into the office where I became a settlement clerk. I would take the receiving documents, which I used to fill out in the plant, and create a settlement for the accounting department so they could pay the industrial account. BTW: Benny Fixman wrote his autobiography From the Ghetto to the Gold if you want more details on him. I read most of it and found it fairly accurate (as I knew it) and have to say that I am sure all autobiographies (like mine also) are usually slanted in a benevolent manner, with occasional amnesia, in favor of the writer. Whatever anyone says about Benny, who died at age 90 on November 7, 2015, he was the smartest and most forward-thinking scrap man of that era. DMC would go on to become a NYSE, Fortune 1,000 Company, and the largest recycler/trader of non-ferrous metals in the world. We had 1,441 employees, trading offices in St, Louis, MO., New York, Beverly Hills, CA. Tokyo Japan, Seoul Korea, and Hamburg Germany, plus large recycling plants in Montreal, Canada, Cucamonga, CA. St. Louis, MO., and Tamaqua, PA.

Benny took DMC public and bought around 33 other companies. This was a brilliant idea, because we were buying bricks and mortar with stock (or as he called it “inflated toilet paper”) plus we got the smart Jewish owners who built those companies from the ground up. That became a two-edged sword, since once these guys had all their stock and the stock was rapidly rising from the IPO price of $9 to an eventual $132, they then laid back and didn’t push too hard. They all had 100k salaries, a company car, and not much oversight on their expense accounts. There was really no motivation for them and when their monthly P&L got hit with corporate overhead, they kind of lost interest. That is not a new phenomenon. Stay tuned.