#massive blue

[thefreethoughtprojectcom]

Border-area police are spending hundreds of thousands on secretive AI tech that creates fake online personas to spy on college protesters, political activists, and suspected traffickers, leaked documents reveal.

Read More: https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-watch/police-are-now-using-ai-to-create-fake-undercover-profiles-online

#TheFreeThoughtProject

[hinamie]

happy gojoday to all who celebrate

[keferon]

This is what madness looks like

[reasonsforhope]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger King to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

Clearer explanation of noncompete agreements below the cut.

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

[just-some-user-hunny]

Gushing to your friends about your fiance, Nikto/Andre, and them curiously asking to see a picture of him. He's been such a mysterious and elusive figure in your life, from their understanding he's just an introverted guy who doesn't get out much.

You giddily swipe through your photo album and pull out a slightly blurry selfie of his the only one he's sent that doesn't look like rushed Bigfoot sighting photography.

And whilst you're smiling ear to ear, gushing about how sweet and kind he is, your friends just stare in horror because IS THAT THE GRIM REAPER??!!!!

[wnacn]

Don't think too hard on it Sonic. Ỳ̷͓ȏ̴̬u̵̳̕ ̴̪̓w̶̩͒o̴̞̿n̴̩͌'̶̰͛ṫ̶͖ ̴͖̀g̷̻̋e̶̟̕t̶̥̆ ̸̧͠t̵͈̐h̶͇́e̸̱͠ ̵̥̐c̴̩͗h̵̻̽a̷̺̅n̷̠͠č̵͎ḙ̸̀ ̸̭͑t̸͈́o̴̼͂.̸̛̗

Welcome to 🍂Paradise Peninsula🍂! One of seven unique cyber space stages Sonic gets to explore once reaching an emerald powered portal.

Pages: 20-22

Pages: 17-19

Find all the pages here!

[ethicalcannibalisms]

blue eye samurai + text posts 2/? mizu edition

[beatsforbrothels]

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

[midnight-in-town]

Long dead contractor or fake one ?

Thinking again about this guy ^ who probably isn't the Polaris Star Lord (because Polaris from ch169 doesn't have the similar neck tattoo thingy).

Crack theory from my insomnia : the thing is, we know UT checked Seb's cinematic records during the Campania arc and thus knows what contract Seb made with Ciel (i.e the 3 rules from ch138)...

...the remaining question though is whether he saw more than what we readers saw of Seb's CR.

When it comes to humans, their cinematic records start at birth and end at death. However, we don't know enough about demonology in Kuro to be sure

whether Seb's own CR only begins at his current summoning,

or if he has centuries old CR depicting his entire existence as a demon and thus all his previous contracts.

Depending on the answer, this means UT could have seen just Seb's existence since being summoned by our!Ciel, or also past contractors. Noteworthy, when Grelle briefly checked Seb's CR during the JTR arc, she too only saw moments of Seb's "life" as Ciel's butler.

So, if UT had access to Seb's memories of previous contractors, then he could have somehow found this guy and brought him back to life (somehow finding his corpse where Seb ate his soul, idek).

However, if UT didn't have access to Seb's CR before the current summoning and contract with our!Ciel, then the question remains : who is this guy from the cliffhanger and how did he end up involved ?

Considering UT's goal of separating Ciel from Seb...

...if UT had no way of finding a previous recent contractor and bringing him back to bizarre doll state, what if he faked one ? After all, he doesn't have to play fair when it comes to fighting against a demon.

Seb's contract with Ciel is based on the 3 main rules they discussed during ch138. Namely in that chapter, Seb and Ciel discussed the matter of possible betrayal and...

...while Seb said that multiple contracts were against his aesthetics, UT could have taken a corpse and altered his CR (by adding fake memories, like he did with the Campania BDs) to trick Ciel into thinking Seb broke their agreement of no multiple contracts, thus rendering the contract null.

This would explain the whole "would you like me to give you a hand ?"

And "then why did they welcome us ?"

Now, for anyone who might come at me saying "but Ciel would never believe such a thing" : I understand the feeling since Seb is indeed too stupid to betray his own aesthetics, but I beg to differ considering the Green Witch arc, the "90% serious" incident and mostly the fact that...

...Ciel doesn't trust that Seb has his best intentions in mind, far from it.

It will take convincing arguments for sure, but UT is not some ordinary villain and, again, the Nectar Springs Hotel staff was expecting them. Lastly, considering the theory that UT could be Cedric K. Ros, Frances once said in ch14...

...and I think it could apply to UT as well.

I mean, so far, the Campania, Weston and Blue Sect arcs saw UT winning every time. As for the current investigations, Mey and Bard were successful but Finny & Snake weren't, meaning that if Ciel & Seb lose, it's going to be a tie (which would keep real!Ciel longer in the story).

Maybe this arc will highlight that Seb was right in ch14 and our!Ciel can't win against UT and his brother if he doesn't add more Phantomhive brains to his side (aka Frances becoming some sort of mentor like Seb mentioned) :

TL;DR I don't know if Seb's past as a demon before the contract with Ciel could be relevant to the plot, so I wouldn't put it past UT to create a fake contractor to try and make the contract with our!Ciel null.

UT doesn't know how to mourn but he does know how to hatch conniving plans.

[avanii]

Typhlosion is finished! All handmade with super soft faux furs and minky details; featuring hand-painted safety eyes, fangs and eyewhites of felt, magnets in each of the red spots (to attach a fiery collar to once I make one), lots of plastic beans in the belly, and extensive thread sculpting on the face and paws.

He measures 65 cm (25,6 inch) from nose to bum and gives great hugs! I’m really happy with how he came out 😄 Also featuring Quilava, whom I made early this year.

See how I made him here

[vinestaff]

what being in class does to an artist

[rockethorse]

Same content, different vibes

[geekwarriorgoddess]

I like the idea of Crystal starting an Instagram (Twitter, tumblr would work too, but for this I need insta) and posting about the boys. Like:

*photo of the office. No one there. Irl Charles is holding a book out of Edwin's reach, both are laughing*

Caption: "Edwin and Charles are flirting again... maybe we'll get work done tomorrow"

And so people think she's a great shit poster, with these two OC's that are gay teen ghost detectives.

I can also imagine her having a vlog, or maybe Nico, and it's just her talking so it'd be like "today's case - yes Edwin im filming a "vlog" - today's case - Charles they can't hear you, yes I'll tell them you were bad ass, no you can't show them your moves - today's case we had to-"

[waddingham]

hannah lime green suit im in love with you

[justgleekout]

Staying over to my parents’ house is… an experience… Behold! My childhood bedroom: