#me: I’m going to create a poll that’s got such an obvious final result

[jianghushenanigans]

If you vote for Blorbo you're legally required to tell me who I always need recommendations even though it takes me forever to watch things

[thanksjro]

Dark Cybertron Chapter 1: Welcome to Comic Event Hell

You know what readers love? When the stories they’ve gotten invested in over the course of a couple years get interrupted for some pseudo-crossover bullshit.

And you know what writers love? When the story they’ve been crafting over the course of a couple years get interrupted for some pseudo-crossover bullshit.

Did I say love?

Because I didn’t mean it.

“Dark Cybertron” was penned by John Barber and James Roberts, with collaboration with comic writer and artist Phil Jimenez, and was published from early November, 2013 to late March, 2014. Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, and Livio Ramondelli did the art, each responsible for scenes in specific locations, with Robert Gill filling in as needed. Alex Milne, Andrew Griffith, and Brendan Cahill would also contribute pencils to the first issue and the back half of the series. It was a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the franchise, and the second birthday of Phase Two... which went on for over four months, but never mind that!

Both "Dark Cybertron” and its preliminary materials were made to go alongside the Transformers: Generations toy-line, each issue being included as a toy pack-in with whatever character was being featured… or, at least, that was the plan. Sometimes it didn’t work out. Regardless, this storyline was created to sell toys directly, as opposed to the MTMTE/RID series being made to sell toys more through the power of suggestion. It’s a small distinction, but important, because it will help explain any lack of soul one may perceive while they read “Dark Cybertron”.

“But Hannz!” you cry out, reaching to grab me by the throat and shake me like a rag doll, because to you I’m merely a faceless voice on the internet. “Surely by calling this specific storyline soulless, you’re completely ignoring the very nature of this franchise that you’re almost uncomfortably invested in!”

To which I’ll say this: look, I’m pretty realistic about where my giant space robots came from; Transformers as a franchise would not exist the way it does without Ronald Reagan introducing the Free Market to literal children and fucking up how we interact with media for the rest of time. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and that rings especially true when I’ve got a Spinister on my bookshelf staring me down as I write this, that was likely made out of plastics which either involved blood oil or unethical labor practices, if not both.

However!

The choices of a company to have their comic license holders to cook up an entire plot that derails what they’ve already got planned out for toy tie-in comics is a completely different animal than what IDW had had going on up to this point. Phase Two had been about exploring different ideas that hadn’t been able to be explored during the war, and seeing what happens when you take away a third of the logline for Transformers G1 as a whole. Being a part of a brand of toys was almost inconsequential to how the stories were being told; even the Spotlights, which were also toy tie-in comics, had plenty of charm to them, if only because there weren’t quite as many constraints placed on the writers, and they were stand-alone issues.

Of course, being tie-in comics isn’t the only reason that “Dark Cybertron” is a bit of a slog, considering everything IDW itself was trying to get done within this storyline, but we’ll cover the publishing company’s/Simon Furman’s/Transformers’ tumultuous relationship with the concept of gender identity and expression later on, when it becomes relevant to the story proper. This point also ties into the interesting origin of Windblade, who we’ll meet in a few issues, and what happens when you let your fanbase have a taste of power and forget that people might like to see themselves represented in the media they consume.

“Dark Cybertron” is what ended up making me stop reading MTMTE the first time I tried it in 2015. A big part of it was because it forced the reader to need so much information from RID and even events prior to Phase Two, it wasn’t very fun to try to parse what was going on, on top of the writing beginning to flag because of obvious constraints to what Barber and Roberts could actually do, both within their deadlines and the rules put in place by their higher ups for the event.

 “Dark Cybertron” is the result of the sort of executive meddling that kills reader enjoyment by requiring writers to cram their two worlds together as quickly as possible, without the option to go for nuance because there simply isn’t time. The reason we have four separate artists for the front half of this story is because Milne and Griffith didn’t have time to draw both their current workload and “Dark Cybertron” at the same time... but sales probably went up due to the nature of how the story was published, so I’m sure they didn’t really see a problem with it.

That’s a general “they”, not a Milne and Griffith “they”.

In short, we’ve got license contract obligations, fan-poll obligations, and gender stuff fighting for space within the next 12 issues, which will be published in the span of roughly four months. Things are probably going to be a little bloated and sloppy.

Regardless of any of these points, this is what we’ve got. It’s not like it’s all bad- “Dark Cybertron” has the benefit of being written by two people who had been working closely before it had even been conceptualized. Barber was the senior editor for MTMTE, and IDW as a whole until he left in 2016. It also isn’t a proper crossover- y’know, where two completely separate titles get mashed together for a bit. MTMTE and RID exist in the same universe, just have their own things going on, so a decent amount of things still carry over without you needing to have read every single thing in both. The writing, while not quite up to par with pieces that had more creative freedom and breathing room between scenes, is still recognizable as being Barber and Roberts’. Their voices are still here, they’re just strained under the weight of everything that has to be said inside of 12 issues.

With all THAT out of the way, let’s dive in to Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1.

We get a quick rundown of the most basic information you’ll need for this entire story to make sense, as we reintroduce the fact that Shockwave is an ecoterrorist with more agendas than a daily planner factory on meth, and also that he grows magic crystals. I don’t care what he says, the Ores are fucking space-magic. If you don’t want to read through all of RID for everything else, please see Robots in Disguise (2012), #1-22- A Recap, For Reference Purposes.  We also get a quick rundown of the Lost Lighters’ deal, as Swerve potentially has a meta-episode.

Be careful what you fucking wish for, bucko.

Our story proper starts with a flashback to the shittiest road trip Cyclonus ever went on, as the Ark 1 finds itself at the edge of a mysterious portal. This is likely why he wasn’t super thrilled when the portal to Luna 1 showed up- portals are probably a touchy subject for him.

Jhiaxus doesn’t know what this portal is- surely this means that science has failed us, and it’s time to call in the religious crowd to try and suss out what’s going on here.

It’s moments like this that make me wonder what exactly happened in the Dead Universe that made Cyclonus’ cheek meat just pack up and leave.

Now, we know that Cyclonus is correct here, because we as readers have more knowledge than the characters at this point, but Jhiaxus tries to write off this theory as hogwash, because he is a man of rationality and science. This is a slight removal from his character in the present, whose most notable traits seem to be a lack of ethics and screaming.

Everyone here seems to be slightly different from their current iterations, actually; Galvatron doesn’t say a word as he steps between Jhiaxus and Cyclonus, only using his body to communicate that the scientist might want to back off. Cyclonus himself is certainly the wordiest we’ve ever seen him to be, droning on through his actual thought process before he comes to a conclusion on what exactly they’ve found. Compare this to the Cyclonus of today, who only deigns to grace everyone with his voice if they outright threaten him, have something he wants, or are Tailgate. If he were to ever pull this verbal meandering on board the Lost Light, people would probably assume he’s having a stroke.

Nova Prime- you remember him, don’t you?- gives not a fuck about the Dead Universe, only what it means for him personally. And what it means for him is more locations to subjugate, because he is cartoonishly evil. His character is the least removed from his present-day iteration out of everyone. He tells the crew they’ll be getting a little closer, only for the portal to do the work for them, by way of dark energy tentacles.

Wow, the pilot for the Ark 1 really is just straight-up named Butt, isn’t he? And what the fuck is that face you’re making, Cyclonus? Are you- oh my god, are you emoting? Oh my god, he’s emoting.

As the Ark 1 is pulled to its doom, Jhiaxus makes a quick phone call to Shockwave to tell him he’s his favorite, and to keep up the good work.

In the present, Shockwave reflects on just how friggin’ long this whole ordeal has taken. Fortunately, Waspinator and the Titan are almost here, and he can hardly wait.

Not, uh, that he’s got emotions or anything. It’s been established that he doesn’t have those anymore. Is impatience an emotion? Does that count?

Shockwave seems like he’d be really frustrating to write for.

Anyway, the Titan shows up, the Ore inside him and the Ore in the underground Crystal City combine, and the Titan starts screaming because everything hurts. Shockwave’s about as thrilled as he can be about the situation, given his lack of emotions.

Above Crystal City, we finally get back to that nonsense about the early sunrise, as someone- maybe Starscream, given the color of the narration box- waxes poetic on the planet of Cybertron, wartorn and wild in its rebirth, ruled by paranoia that has nothing to bounce off of, and so creates its own walls.

Then we get a detailed shot of Rattrap’s mug, and the moment is broken.

Rattrap’s character is a lot of fun in everything he gets tossed into, but you’re a goddamn liar if you think he’s pretty to look at. You are lying to yourself, and I won’t apologize for saying it.

Starscream walks out of his room in his hot new body, feeling fine and ready to take on the world. We’ll check in on him later in the day to see how that positive mentality is working out for him.

So, the sun hasn’t moved, and it’s way too early for the sun to even be up right now. That’s weird. Because I guess he didn’t know how the sun works, Starscream’s only just realized that this is perhaps a problem. He does some computer work and realizes that this is indeed a very bad thing, and asks that Rattrap call the Autobots. Not the ones who fucked off into the wilderness, the other ones. The gay, space ones.

Up in space, Orion Pax and his pals have found themselves in dire straits, the collapsing Gorlam Prime sucking their ship back down as the Death Ore consumes everything.

That’s not how engines work! And I think it really says something about the “Prelude” issues that I completely forgot why Wheelie was down an arm for a solid five seconds.

It turns out that Orion was the narrator the entire time, which I should have known- since when is the once and future Optimus Prime not the primary voice in any media he appears in?

It’s looking rough for the fellas, but luckily we’ve got to get the plot rolling, so the Lost Light VZZZZTs into existence and picks up the Skyroller to place it gently into its belly.

Orion isn’t exactly jazzed about the fact that Rodimus didn’t listen to what he told him, not even bothering to thank the guy for saving his life. I say y’all keep going on your Thunderclash Quest and leave this ungrateful loser behind. No space yachting for you, Orion.

The rest of the Pax Posse enter the Lost Light proper, and Hardhead reveals that he nearly joined the Quest, before he saw who all would be coming with, while Garnak has a tearful reunion with Rodimus. The fact that he’s calling him Sir- which I don’t recall him doing in Transformers (2009), at least not in a way that seems reminiscent of an unfortunate Antebellum Period Romance- feels rather weird, but I’m glad someone’s fucking happy to see Rodimus at least. Ultra Magnus asks Orion if he’ll be assuming command of the vessel, as Rodimus tries not to look horrified by the thought alone, but fortunately Orion’s not going to pull his “I’m Optimus Prime and I Can Do What I Want” Card just yet.

Smash cut to the bridge, as Rodimus tries to make himself sound competent, when Starscream calls. Orion doesn’t like that Starscream has their number, Perceptor almost reveals the fact that this ship technically doesn’t belong to a faction, likely due to being purchased after the war, and Cyclonus gets brought in for his professional opinion.

As it turns out, that early sunrise isn’t a sunrise at all, but a portal to the Dead Universe. This is a problem, because the Dead Universe really sucks, and you don’t want to go there, especially if you enjoy being alive. Orion seems more concerned about the fact that Starscream is ruling the planet, and Bumblebee is nowhere to be found.

Speaking of Bumblebee, he and all his camp buddies are psyching themselves up for a confrontation.

Swoop, please, this is hardly the time for crudeness.

The Dinobots, sick of Bumblebee’s dithering about, decide they’re going to fight the fucking sun and gear up. Prowl, though generally disliking their brand of problem-solving, does share his begrudging respect of their can-do attitude.

Their can-do attitude over fighting the fucking sun.

Then an earthquake happens and the ground rips open to reveal that Titan that Waspinator showed up with.

Shockwave takes over the narration at this point, and we get artsy, as we see events that haven’t transpired yet over musings on the nature of... time? Maybe? It would be in line with Roberts’ go-to topics, but honestly the whole thing’s kind of vague so I couldn’t give you a solid answer. Shockwave gets awfully introspective for a guy who shouldn’t care, I know that much. The point is, he is inevitable and is super good at logic and science.

Also, Nova Prime and Galvatron are back, which is cool, I guess. Not sure where Galvatron had gotten to exactly after the events of “Chaos”, but he’s back now, so it doesn’t matter too terribly much. Shockwave serves them, which we’ll probably get an explanation for at some point.

God, you can practically taste the desperation to pin all these plot points together before the entire thing implodes on itself.

[poubelleidole]

N Card Girls Deserve Better

K, so I figure it’s old news (BUT I don’t care because I missed all the good stuff in my llsif hiatus) but the N card elections for best N card girl that resulted in Emma, Shizuko, and Kanata winning and eventually becoming members of PDP didn’t feel right to me. To clarify, I love all three of them and I can see why they won - Kanata has a cute sleepy personality that manages to be memorable in the short bond episodes we get (along with her wavy hair and big sister aura) - Shizuko has a pure and refreshing design and her acting hobby is a little less gimmicky than, I don’t know, owning a chameleon - and finally, Emma, who has freckles, cute twin braids, a sweet personality, and is foreign.

And I’m really enjoying their characters in PDP, they really achieved their potential! So I get why they won, even though they never really stood out to me for more than an admiring glance before becoming practice fodder. And I wouldn’t want to change the results of the polls, it all worked out great in the end.

HOWEVER.

In my totally subjective opinion, I don’t think that they were prominent enough (at least as N cards) to have won. I figure it’s because the voting was JP players only, so the western players didn’t get the chance to put their two cents in. Of all the girls I can recall off the top of my head, those three would never have turned up. And maybe memorability isn’t always a good thing, considering...

(I can unapologetically say Leo is my least favorite girl, but she is memorable.)

Now, I searched for a bit for the overall poll results so I could know how the rest of the girls ranked, but I could not find one that wasn’t in Japanese or didn’t only include the top ~7.

To me, girls that stand out the most in both character design and card art quality (as in, what I would have expected from the rankings outside of my own preferences) are:

#1: Miyashita Coco:

Everyone remembers that one llsif player who was super into Coco (which, if the voting included those outside of Japan would have altered the results a bit, I’m sure) But aside from that Coco has a very moe design. Huge twintails, droopy eyes, a cute name, her hobbies include volunteering - basically pure through and through. I imagine she’d be very upbeat and adorable if she were ever animated.

#2: Shiga Hitomi:

The way Hitomi goes from generic delinquent to shy and sweet is a trait I thought would be rather popular, gap moe and all that. Her design can work as cool and stylish while managing to be all bashful and cute when she’s put into an idol outfit. Her hair style and sharp eyes work especially well together (overall she sort of reminds me of Umi). It’s fun to idolize her and see how different her expression is.

#3: Mido Yuri:

I feel like Yuri would be popular for several reasons. She’s best friends with Coco (I’m not sure why they’re not just sisters, they look so much alike.) She’s a cool type, with narrow eyes and a delinquent air to her, but she’s easily dragged along by Coco and seems to have a bit of a tsundere side to her. For the most part, I think Yuri’s stylish cards and unique character design would have pushed her up in the rankings. 

But those three are cards I expected would win or at least end up high in the rankings. Personally, I prefer these cards:

#1: Sakamaki Chiduko!! (Chizuko?)

First off, and I know this might be a strange detail to mention, but it seems like Chiduko has the largest proportions out of all the girls -

B95 / W61 / H89

I’m not going to pretend that’s not a factor in my appreciation of her design.

She’s got a great hairstyle and droopy eyes, along with a mature fashion sense. And that mole under her left eye is just A+. Not to mention, if you don’t skip through the side stories like I do, you’ll see that Chiduko is all about love and expressing herself through affection (she likes to give hugs as greetings.)

Partner up with her and you’ll also see that she is very, very gay:

“A girl with another girl? I don’t mind it at all.”

Which to many might seem like more pandering, but I find it refreshing that someone is forward about it. And maybe it’s obvious that Chiduko is my N card best girl since I consider Nozomi the bestest of the best girls, but I find that their personalities do differ greatly. Chiduko is somewhat flirty but with that Kanata-esque soothing aura.

...

(I’ll probably be coming out with some Chiduko fan art now, look forward to it.)

#2: Konoe Haruka!

Haruka deserves as much love as Kanata is getting, because her character design really stands out. Her hair is this perfect shade of brown that is really eye-catching even among her multi-colored counterparts, and her hair style is peak cuteness (a lot like Ruby’s.)

While I am never a fan of the weird sibling relationships that anime tends to bring up;

“Wha!?! It doesn’t mean I’m in love with my sister!”

( I sure hope not.)

I do think that Haruka is the diligent and caring type, a bit of a reversal from what is seen from Dia and Ruby’s sibling dynamic. And even disregarding her relation to Kanata, Haruka has the potential to stand out on her own.

#3: Jennifer

I don’t get why Jennifer doesn’t get a last name, but either way I’ve always found her cards to be the best in terms of art quality, the liveliness of the poses, and her overall character design. It’s simple - blonde hair in twin tails, but she’s got a neat western fashion sense and (for lack of a better term) pretty eyes.

Unfortunately, Jennifer severely lacks any depth of character from the side stories, so I can’t say much about her aside from the fact that she’s foreign. I did manage to find this little bit of info off the wiki page:

There was a small chance for Jennifer to star in the main cast of PDP, as she ranked in the top 9 girls in the poll, however, the decision was made to create 6 new idols alongside the top 3 winners of the poll. 

I guess that means a lot of other people have noticed and enjoy her design too.

O---kay, seems like the wiki can tell me the names of the girls ranked below #3 up until #9:

#4: Himeno Ayanokouji: I’m sure she’s ranked high because she has a traditional aura to her, as she’s a part of the flower arrangement club and often wears kimonos. Her cards are pretty cute too.

#5: Koyuki Shirase: Cute, likes ballet, but not much about her stands out. Her hair is cute? Her cards are also fairly middling in memorability and quality.

#6: Kasane Hasekura: I have NO idea how she ranked so high considering she’s extremely generic. She does have an MC air to her, but little impact.

#7: Ranpha: Ranpha is cute, her gimmick is... being a Chinese foreigner? Liking Chinese food? Either way, her cards are always energetic with cute poses and outfits.

#8: Coco Miyashita: Figures! I’m just surprised she isn’t ranked higher.

#9: Jennifer: Again, I can see why she’s high on the list.

[bssaz97]

RWBY Ancestries Chapter 5 Part 1 of 3

* Hello everyone, here’s the new chapter of 2020. Sorry for late update and yes I know I’m evil for sliptting this chapter in three parts but I couldn’t find a way to include this chapter without it being too long to read. Also this will be interconnecting some characters we haven’t seen in this story. Hope you enjoy! *

*WARNING! Just a heads up we’re going to be seeing some sensitive material near the second half of this current part, related to abusive manipulation of family (Take a guess from whom) and if you are a victim of squeamish towards this kind of treatment I would advise skipping over the part I’ll mark as such ‘^^^^^^^^’, so be advised it gonna get fucked up.

- In Mantle, Wyvern Crash Site -

In a open space, a multitude of Atlesian Knights are shown to be dismembered, beheaded, and destroyed beyond any repair. In the middle of said destruction is the Grimm Queen looking very much disgruntled. Why? Well for one, she started the day with the best of news she had heard in over a millennium.

She found out that she had a descendant from her one of her once thought to be dead children and that they were in this kingdom. So naturally she wanted to meet the boy in person. Unfortunately she didn’t account for one important thing. She hadn’t left her castle in a very long time so....she got lost. One would think that with a kingdom with a flying city in the sky kingdom it would be easy to spot. Sadly that didn’t help much when said kingdom was in a land of mostly ice and mountains, so almost every landmark would look the same. Not to mention the fact of said kingdom to have multiple military battle stations all over the place, so she had a long time getting pass them all. She didn’t even attempt to attack them, since she was in a good mood, she was simply going to ignore them. Too bad the Atlesian military didn’t share such sentiment.

Salem: I swear I don’t know what’s more annoying. The fact the these machines share the same ‘shoot first’ mentality as their creators or the fact that they tried to bomb me out of the cursed sky!

Salem turns towards the Wyvern and sees it nursing its injury. Salem thinned her lips. This wouldn’t be good at all, with her only transport to this wretched kingdom not being able to fly it would prove to be a major setback. So with a sigh she approached said Grimm and placed her palm on the injury.

Salem: There, there my companion. Your time isn’t through yet. I still need your presence if I am to leave this place. So here’s a small comfort.

Her hand begins to glow a purple hue and slowly spreads throughout the Wyvern’s wings. Witb her magic she is able to heal the Wyvern’s injuries and makes them more durable, so that they wouldn’t be so vulnerable again. She removes her hand away from the Grimm and look towards it.

Salem: Good, good. Now I still require your assistance, I need to create a diversion of some kind to get those huntsmen off our backs. At least until I’m able find and separate my grandchild from the others.

The Wyvern nods in understanding, the Grimm begins to flap its wings and ascend to the sky.

- Meanwhile with Teams RWBY and JNPR -

Ruby: Ok everyone the Wyvern’s weaker now. So we can execute the next phase of the plan. Killing this Grimm and saving Mantle!

Blake: I have to admit this has been going to plan far more easily than I originally thought it would be.

Yang: Come on, Blakey! It’s us we’re talking about here. We probably just haven’t got the chance to really see how we’ve improved since coming here.

Weiss: Not to sound the skeptic, but Blake does have a point. This is going far too easy than what was originally planned for.

Ruby: What do you mean Weiss?

Weiss: I mean does this feel like the night that Beacon fell when we first saw a Wyvern. Shouldn’t we have gotten reports of multiple Grimm attacks all over Mantle and not just the Wyvern.

The group was silent after the former heiress made her point. It was true, they hadn’t seen any more Grimm besides the Wyvern showing up. The also haven’t heard any reports of anymore attacks going on over the comms. If such a massive Grimm like the Wyvern were to come to the kingdom, why wouldn’t others follow?

Ren:(Whispering) Something doesn’t feel right? The Grimm have never been this easy to take down. It’s almost like it wasn’t even fighting.

Nora:(Whispering) Ren, what do you mean? We saw the Wyvern attack the battleships when it got to Mantle.

Ren:(Whispering) Maybe, but back at beacon when the Wyvern first appeared their was a sense of dread in the very air. But I don’t sense that right now.

Nora:(Whispering) I guess I see your poi....have you noticed that fearless leader’s been acting strange.

Both look towards the direction of their blonde leader and they see that he seemed to be staring off to space again, almost like he was in some form of trance.

Ren:(Whispering) Now that you mention it he does seem unfocused. You don’t suppose he suffered any head injury when he landed on the building, do you?

Nora:(Whispering) He seemed fine from the landing though. But I think he’s been like this even before the meeting started.

The two of them have finally had enough time to question the subject before they confront their leader on his state of being. Being the more negotiating of the two, Ren lightly grips his leaders right shoulder. Unfortunately, Jaune was it paying attention towards any of them as he still seemed to be in some form of trance. Hearing a voice only he can hear.

???: Jaune, where are you?... Jaune?...Jaune?...come to me...

Ren: Jaune?! (Shaking his shoulder hard)

Jaune: Gah?! What!

Jaune looks towards his friend and sees that he has a very concerned look on his face. So does Nora and Oscar for that matter.

Jaune: What happened? Why is everyone looking at me?

Ren: Jaune you have been unresponsive to us for the past five minutes. Like you were standing dead. What’s going on with you? And don’t say it’s nothing because you were acting like this even before the mission started.

Jaune: I...something’s wrong...

Ren: What?

Almost like a crazed man, Jaune leapt towards the cockpit. Once inside the second pilot takes notice of him.

Pilot 2: Hey, you’re not supposed to be back here!-

Jaune: You need to turn us back right now!

Pilot 2: What? What’re you on ab-

Pilot 1: OH SHIT! TARGET ON SIGHT! TARGET ON SIGHT!

Both the pilot and Jaune see the Grimm Wyvern flying towards their ships at a very quick pace. Jaune sees this and moves quickly back to the main deck towards his teammates. But alas there was no time

Jaune: Guys!!! BRACE!!!-

Just then, as he was warning his friends the Wyvern struck the airship. Using its new armored wings, the Wyvern hit the two airships with a mighty flap of it’s wings, causing damage to the transports that contained both teams. The resulting collision caused both the airships to lose stability and the began falling out of the sky. One of the pilots see that they had lost one wing entirely, making them spin uncontrollably.

Pilot 1: EVACUATE! EVACUATE THE SHIP!

Pilot 2: WE DON’T HAVE TIME I CAN’T STABILIZE!

Pilot 1: EVERYONE BRACE!

*CRASH!* *EXPLOSION!*

- Atlas Academy, Battle Room -

Ironwood: Blue Hawk! What is your status, Blue Hawk! Gold Eagle do you copy!

Comms: *///Static///*

Ironwood: Damn it! (Slams his desk)

Qrow:(On Comms) Ironwood! What’s going on, did something happen!

Ironwood:....We just lost contact with both team RWBY and JNPR.

Qrow/Winter:(Both on Comms) What?!

Ironwood: It seems the plan didn’t follow through.

Qrow: Well that’s obvious enough! I’m going to go look for them.

Ironwood: No Qrow! You need to stay in position, I can send a team to look for-

Qrow: They won’t get there on time! Jimmy we both know that I can make it there much faster than you can assemble a rescue team. My nieces are out there, god dammit!

Ironwood: Qrow I know how much this means for you, but you need to think more cautiously. What if they are stuck under a building, there won’t be anything you can do to help them, this is why I have rescue teams for.

Winter:(On Comms) Sir with all do respect but our forces are stretched thin as is, and we still have a Wyvern flying around the kingdom, I think it would be quicker if to send a two man team.

Ironwood:...What do you have in mind Specialist.

Winter: (On Comms) Sir, send both Branwen and I to recover the teams. With my semblance I can easily be able to aid the teams if they are in any position where they are immobile. Just lend us a pilot and a ship to retrieve both teams.

Ironwood: That would be more faster than assembling a rescue squad in the middle of all this. Very well, I’ll have my forces keep the Wyvern occupied while Qrow and you retrieve both teams. But exercise extreme caution. We don’t know if this Grimm is intelligent enough to prey on smaller ships.

Winter:(On Comms) Understood Sir!

Ironwood: Ironwood out. (Turns off Comms) ...please be safe.

- Schnee Manor -

From inside the office of Jacques Schnee, said CEO was scrambling to get a scroll message through to his secret informant. Saying that he was more than ‘unpleased with the current situation’ would be a understatement.

Jacques: Arthur! Arthur! Answer your Scroll, damn you!

After for the sixth time of not receiving any response he threw the scroll towards his bookcase with a snarl, almost breaking the device on impact.

Jacques: Damn that man, why can he never be around when you need him! ‘Huff’

Originally their partnership was intended for the goal of making sure that he won the election despite his low poll numbers and keep his position on the council, frame Ironwood, and beat that vigilante leader Robyn Hill and her group of thieves. But what does he get instead. A GODDAMN WYVERN ATTACKING HIS KINGDOM AND THE DAMN CHEEKY BASTARD NOT RETURNING HIS CALLS! Was this the plan from the start to let him into his fold and then frame Jacques with this occurrence instead. His anger started to turn to paranoia.

Jacques: If somehow Ironwood gets word that Watts is alive and that I tried frame him, he’ll have me outcasted as a traitor....No he wouldn’t do that I’m still a member of the council and he has no proof that we tried to sabotage the election....but what if he catches Arthur, where does that leave me. I need to do something.

Jacques Schnee look towards his old portrait of a much younger looking version of himself. That was taken back when he was an ambitious up-comer in the business world, where he was able to skillfully manipulate his way to power through forming a close bond to the late Nicholas Schnee, the original founder of his company and the father of his wife and grandfather to his children. He helped the old fool during his last days, getting on his good side and persuaded him to have him take over the company and marry his only daughter. Clearly a masterful manipulation to win over the foolish old man.

While he may have been the eager and ambitious opportunist back then, he clearly knows that he was not the same man as he was back then. Where there was a youthful man full of vigor to Turing a small dust company into a empire, now resides a frail old businessman much out of his prime. While he was CEO of the largest company in Remnant, he no longer could intimidate his opponents with his power plays.

Not even his two oldest daughters considered him intimidating anymore, the former latched on to Ironwood’s side and the latter leaning on her new ‘family’ for support. While he still had Whitley under his influence, he didn’t see his own son being anything more than a tool to extend his control over the company. While the boy was obedient, intelligent, and talented in musical instruments, Whitley would never live up to his standards. While he spend many years having him and his other siblings to learn how the economic world works, only Whitley took those studies seriously. However, he could plainly se that the boy was much too eager to please and did not have enough spine to ever question why he was told to do certain tasks, didn’t help that he was much like his mother in demeanor than how an actual boy would act his age. The perfect pawn, but only that. His wife, Willow, was a shadow of her former self. He knew that if he didn’t break down the woman so much to the point of alcoholism, he would have never gone as far in life as he has. But alas he seems to have come to an end of his road.

There was no doubt in his mind that Ironwood will find a way to link this back to him and prosecute him in front of the council and he will lose everything, while Watts is able to walk invulnerable to any charge due to his powerful connections and the fact that he is believed to be dead. So really there was only one option left for him that he could at least save some dignity left. He moves towards his portrait and pressed a secret button on the bottom center of the frame. From there the frame moved to the side and revealed a empty suitcase and a black box. This would ensure that he will escapes this unscathed.

Yes, the only option now was to leave. Leave Atlas and all this old life behind a live the rest of his days in hiding in a safe house he acquired a long time ago in remote island off the shore of Mistral. There he could live a relatively peaceful life and avoid any attempt against his life or imprisonment. At least with this black box he could still have connection to his secret bank account and still live like a king.

He grabs his suitcase and pockets the black box, then closes his secret compartment and moving the portrait back in place. Jacques Schnee will finish his career his way, and that won’t be in a cell. As he goes to leave his office he opened the door and there he finds his only son outside looking like he was about to knock.

Jaqcues:(Shocked) Whitley!- For crying out load you nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing standing outside my office!

Whitley: (Steps back and looks down) M-my apologies, Father, but I was coming to see if you were in your office.

Jaqcues:(Annoyed) Well congratulations, you’ve found me. Now step aside I have important business to attend to!

Whitley moves out of his Father’s path and watches him go down the hallway to toward the main stairway. He follows after at a close distance but not too close to be shoulder to shoulder but behind him. He observes that his father has a briefcase, much like the one he takes to go on a business trip but he hasn’t seen this one before. Another thing puzzled him though.

Whitley: Father, what exactly did you mean by having ‘important business to attend to.’ We’re in the middle of Grimm attack.-

Jaqcues:(Turns to side glance him) Did I say you could follow me boy.

Whitley: N-no, of course not Father! I meant no disrespect at all, I was just worried-

Jaqcues: Well you did just disrespect me, right now. You’re following me without permission and you are also talking aback towards me. If I were you, I’d watch my next few words.

‘^*Trigger Warning: Scumbag Jaqcues Imbound**^^^^^^^’

Whitley keeps his mouth shut and does not look towards him. Knowing better that it is foolish not to do as he wishes. When he is sure the boy wouldn’t question him further he moves back towards the stairs. But gets held back again from his son.

Whitley:...But Father where do you intend to go at a time like-

*SMACK!*

Whitley jolts back from his Father and holds right side of his face. He could feel the stinging sensation of his cheek getting struck harshly across his face, not only that he think the strike may have stuck his nose as well. Causing a small trinkle of blood to run down his right nostril. He could feel wetness forming from the corner of his eyes due to the pain, but they don’t fall. He looks towards his Father who just struck him and saw the dead eyes stare he gave towards him. Quickly he looks down, now too afraid to look at him in the eye.

Jaqcues: Didn’t I just say to watch your next few words... Answer me when I’m speaking to you boy!

Whitley: Y-y-yes sir.

Jaqcues: ‘Huff’ Now what do you have to say for yourself.

Whitley:(Hold back a sob) I-I’m sorry for di-disrespecting you F-father.

Jaqcues:...Look at me boy.

Whitley:(Looks at Jaqcues)

Jaqcues: Now what have you learned. Once again, for the eleventh time.

Whitley:... It’s f-foolish not to do a-as Father asks.

Jaqcues:(Nods) Now go clean yourself up before any of the help or your mother sees you. Or we’ll have a repeat of what happened last time when Klein was let go after seeing your correction for letting your sister leave.

Whitley:(Nods shakily, holding back more sobs) Y-yes, Father.

Jaqcues: Now you may leave.

Whitley turns around and heads towards his bedroom to tend to his nose. As he usually does. Alone, and holding back sobs.

Jaqcues: Such a waste of DNA. Maybe I should have had that operation to stop having children.

‘^^Trigger Warning Ended ^^’

Jaqcues now with this son out of the way makes his way down the main stairway. But once again he stops dead in his tracts, not by any of his help or family. Rather by a unfriendly looking group of people. Consisting of two youths, a Faunus, and a familiar looking bastard.

Watts: Hello Jaqcues. We have much to discuss. Hope you don’t mind us spending the night.

- End of Chapter 5 Part 1 of 3 -

* Oh lord that was hard to write, hope you all enjoyed the first half of the chapter. The second half I’ll admit was hard to write for me personally, so if you want to skip that part if you don’t wish to see sensitive material, please by all means skip it. Anyway I’m going to have part 2 uploaded around two days from this post so stay tuned. Be good people *

[sparda3g]

The Seven Deadly Sins Chapter 312 Review

The war has begun, yet again, for the third time maybe. Whatever it is, it’s time for Sins versus the Demon King Part Deux. I’m still no fan of the current scenario but I will roll with it and see what will happen next. In the meantime, let’s appreciate a nice chapter’s cover page that highlights the popularity poll. Luckily for Meliodas, he is placed at 1st, and his lover at 9th. It’s not a bad result overall; I can appreciate it.

The beginning restate the shocking twist that the Demon King has returned. Again, maybe this would have been incredibly shocking, have he not lost twice (technically) already. It is worse to be reminded by Hawk no less that he was defeated by simply two people, Ban and Meliodas. What’s there to be afraid of? The real question for them is who and Meliodas continues to be the biggest liar, but more on that later.

Despite the fact the Demon King is using Zeldris’ body, supposedly weaker than Meliodas’, his appearance does fit him better with that black hair. Nakaba decided to grant him a power to create a new armor for himself and he looks even better. Although on a losing spree, at least he dressed up a part as a final villain. Despite Zeldris’ body being inferior in compare, his power is still quite powerful. It’s as if Nakaba erase that limitation to create a believable endgame boss. It’s like in another series, where the villain no longer needs requirements because plot. Eventually, the Demon King at full power will return.

The actual Zeldris is in hibernation. I got a feeling that he will wake up at a very specific moment, which I will talk more about later. The point is, he’s alive. One would wonder, “So what, are we going to have another war in our hand?” Supposedly so, but rather than gathering nothing but easy targets, he will summon a powerful entity. Of course, he will. Why not done it earlier? Reasons.

Like the Demon King said, it’s pretty convenient that a portal to the Underworld was left barely opened, so he can stretch it out and unleash hell on Earth. It’s kind of idiotic of Merlin for not closing it, though she did say she destroyed it. You can say this moment is one of those, “What can possibly go wrong,” especially the way she set up the obvious backfire. No wonder she’s not in the top 10 popularity poll.

Anyway, Indra is summoned. It’s the demon that was used way back when; we do need a powerful foe to “even the odds.” I’m a little surprised Nakaba remembered considering how little mention they had. It was only done in a flashback and nothing more, so it was essentially an excuse for a sacrifice scene. Also, there may be more of them since they are considered legendary. If it wasn’t for the Demon King’s loss earlier, this would have been intense. It appears to be an excuse to lower the count for an actual climatic end, though at least it has a chance to be better than the fake ending.

I said this, because Indra seems to be designed as a distraction for the five Sins that can fight; sad for Escanor to be a messenger boy that is losing the race to a pig. As for Meliodas, he is on protection standby because Elizabeth’s Death Day is today, so who know when it will happen. I do like the respect they have for each other as well as trust. Sure, Meliodas has to standby, but his friends don’t want him to worry too much. It’s nice and all, but Meliodas did lie about the Demon King.

It’s reassuring that Nakaba continues to escalate the dilemma Meliodas has that doesn’t have to center around Elizabeth. Case in point, he knows that Zeldris is the vessel, but he hates the fact he won’t able to save him again because of Elizabeth. How is she’s in 9th place is beyond me. Fortunately, she is willing to not only allow him to go but also joining in. She just saved her spot. I do like the sensation of the series truly reaching to the end. With the return of Meliodas’ sacred treasure to the recap of his struggles that will finally resolve, it really feels like the ending is here. It’s a good build-up for a likely better ending that the fans deserved.

Let’s do a quick prediction, judging by its setup. I believe Sins will face off Indra for majority of the finale while Meliodas and Elizabeth take on the Demon King. It is a full circle; being cursed after defeat, now removing it once they win. I believe Zeldris will wake up and fill in the role of Meliodas in the previous battle, where he fought the actual Demon King’s body while Ban fought the vessel. I can’t help but think this feels oddly familiar to another series. A quick bias side of mine: I doubt it will capture the same feelings because of the setup and foundation. Aside from that, I am willing to place hope for a good climatic end.

Overall, this was a good chapter for the setup for the actual finale; unless this is another troll. While I’m not hyped up for another round, at least the Demon King looks like the final boss with his latest attire. The climax seems to suggest the Sins will be busy with one beast while Meliodas and Elizabeth handle the final boss. It’s not a bad approach, given how it could be a bit more personal than the last time. Also, you have Elizabeth’s and Zeldris’ life at stake, so it adds the suspense. Now, imagine if Meliodas has to make a choice to save. In due time. The end is upon us.

[megacircuit9universe]

Fly Boy

WED OCT 07 2020

Tonight we had the Vice Presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris.  And as such debates go, it felt pretty unremarkable... except for the fact that a fly chose to land on Pence’s bright white head and stay there, unnoticed by Pence, for over two minutes.

TikTok had videos of people’s cats at home, trying to get the fly off Pence’s head... because, you know... HD television these days, and... a black fly in a sea of snow white hair is impossible to miss.

And you might be thinking, you’re just pickig on some random act of nature, to embarass Pence, rather than dealing with the substance of his arguments, because you’re lazy and biased!

But I would answer that this fly on his head was incredibly symbolic of what made this debate truly unique and remarkable... because the fly is a symbol of death.  And death... is now the central issue of the election.

Return with me in your memory to eight days ago... the Tuesday night Presidential debate between Trump and Biden.  That was the last night, in which we did not yet know that Trump, most of the white house, and a good many more GOP elites in other high seats... were all positive for Covid.

A few entries back, after the conventions, I wrote that the tone of the two campaigns was now set in stone.  Biden/Harris would focus on the pandemic, while Trump Pence would ignore the pandemic, and focus on the lawless chaos of protests and rioting.

We’ll set aside the absurdity of blaming Biden for protests and rioting that are happening on Trump’s watch... as the result of the great civil and economic unrest created by Trump’s incompetence in the face of a crisis...

...and focus on the fact that now, in the first full business week of October, and just 8 days after the first debate... Covid19 is undeniably, inescapably front and center.

Not because the numbers are ticking up again, due to the fall weather creeping in (but they are).

Not because Biden/Harris have been banging the drum about it to any exceptional degree.

Rather because Trump himself is now positive... was hospitalized... and has since become a roid-raging lunatic about it... at the same time as it’s spreading like wildfire through the White House, and beyond... to GOP elites in other branches of government.

The massive failure of leadership, this betrays, could not be more obvious to the public, and cannot be overstated.

With more power than any other human on the planet... Trump could not protect himself, or the White House, or congressmen and governors who attended a White House event... from Covid19.  

And like a black-light at a rave, exposing all the invisible stains on your clothing and your skin... this White House outbreak has all of their hands glowing very brightly, with the blood of the two-hundred and ten thousand Americans who have died of the novel virus over the past seven months.

If your arrogance, and ignorance are so blinding... that you can’t even keep yourself and the White House (or Pentagon!) safe... then you haven’t a leg to stand on when pretending you did anything at all to save a single life out there in the electorate.

The fly, in everyday life, is seen as a harmless nuisance... but occasionally we’re reminded that... oh yeah... they do really love dead bodies, don’t they?  And for that reason, they are occasionally portrayed in movies as attendants of evil.

And tonight, just as they could not keep Covid from breaching the White House... Pence and his team could not keep out every last fly from the debate space... and could not keep the one who got through, from attending to his evil master’s side.

But lest you think I’m getting overly dramatic, let’s look at tonight’s debate from a different angle...

If the Trump/Pence administration had done everything exactly the same, through 2017, 2018, and 2019... with all the controversey they created... 

...if they’d simply dealt with Caronavirus in 2020 the way any other previous administration would have; giving the CDC the reigns and taking credit when the curve flattened... leading by example, by simply wearing masks in photo ops... encouraging congress to write up some fat stimulus bills to help the public survive quarantine, and keep small businesses afloat... and preaching a little unity in times of adversity...

...they would be untouchable, here in October of the election year!

The Biden/Harris ticket would look like a white flag of surrender from the Democrats... just a token ticket of losers to run for the sake of running... that everybody would understand, were gonna be steam rolled under the momentum of another incumbent administration getting it’s God-given second term.

Both last weeks Presidential, and this week’s Vice Presidential debates would have been walks in the park for Trump and Pence, who would have both been relaxed, jovial, and 100% Covid free... because the death toll would be low, the virus would’ve been under control for months, there would never have been any protests, much less rioting, and even if the economy wasn’t booming... people would still feel confident that the government was doing their best to have their backs.

They would be untouchable... despite... babies in cages being lost to human trafficking... cover ups of endless criminal scandals... amassing executive power while deconstructing checks and balances... and all the other atrocities and naked power grabs of their first three years.

Instead, here in October 2020, the only issue is Covid, and it’s death toll.

Nobody cares right now about last summer’s protests and riots.  And nobody cares about illegal imigrants, for God’s sake, in a world where Americans are barred from flying to any other country on the planet, because we’re the filthy diseased losers... and even our President is a defiant super spreader.

A defiant super spreader who, two days ago, shut down any hope of a second stimulus package until he’s reelected... which is another way of saying he’s taking the nation hostage, demanding reelection.

The first stimulus was extremely disappointing... at first promising everyody 1200.00 a month until the crisis was over... but then only being a one time payment of 1200.00 last April, which did virtually nothing to help... and left us all hanging out to dry for five long months. 

Here in October, no sign of any further aid... and only the promise to withold all aid until a reelection?  How monsterous!

This, from a crazed, steroid-addled lunatic who can’t possibly win without Wisconsin, Arizona, and Florida.  He needs all three to have any chance, and they’re all leaning blue, which means any one of them will definitely flip, if he’s fucking over the working class voters of their big cities by promising zero stimulus.

And while it DID look, as recently as last September, and last August, like these strong man tactics could actually prevail... like Trump might just bully himself into a second term through relentless intimidation... well, the firm ground he stood upon has lately turned to quicksand.

It was less than two weeks ago, I was writing that people need to lose the superstition about Trump being magical... and fated to win against all odds.

A day later,  was saying that the New York Times had gotten a single drop of blood from the Mad Titan, by publishing his tax returns and showing he was not a billionaire, but in fact, billions in debt... and that this was a good sign, because it exposed a bit of weakness.

But since then... the house of cards has collapsed very quickly.  And not because of another expose’... but because he got Covid... which has exposed him as not only mortal, and non-magical... but also pathetically weak when it comes to the basic self preservation abilities we would attribute to any strong man worth his salt.

And since then he’s just been slipping and sliding... crashing the stock market with a single tweet... floundering desperately to get any political footing at all, while Biden is running further away with the lead every day.

God’s not just bleeding... he’s on the floor, reaching out for a grab bar that nobody installed, because those are only for invalids.

How he comes back from this to win four more years... with less than one lunation before Election Day*... is difficult to fathom.

We could learn tomorrow that Pence too, is Covid positive... or that the stock market is finally falling over a cliff... or that the pandemic is raging back with a vengeance... or that civil unrest is sparking anew... or any combination of the above... making life ever more insecure and intolerable for average Americans as we get closer to November 3rd.

Could we learn tomorrow that things are instead turning around?

Nearly impossible.

But, we’ll see.

Go to bed.

*October 2020 began with a full moon on the 1st.  It will end with another full moon on the 31st.  On November 3rd, it will be a slightly waning gibbous moon... still close to being full.

At the time of writing, the moon, that was full on the 1st has already waned to a half moon... which means that the election is less than one lunation away. We will be at new moon on the 16th, and after that... the ever growing crescent will count down the nights to D-day.

It’s coming fast, and the poll results now... and the events that transpire now... mean everything for the outcome.

And nobody and nothing... can halt the moon in it’s phases. 

[junker-town]

The 25 biggest game-day bangers of the decade, ranked

We asked 27 arena and stadium DJs around the country which songs defined the decade.

When you reflect on your favorite sports moments of the decade, your first thought probably isn’t about what song was playing when they happened. After all, “jock jams” (which are a specific ESPN-branded thing, and thus not a wholly effective universal term) are corny and dated, right?

Obviously the answer to that question is subjective, but there are plenty of DJs working overtime to try to get you pumped AND jacked — whether you’re a fan or an athlete yourself. SB Nation polled 27 of them from universities and clubs around the country to try to get a sense of which tracks released from 2010-19 were making the biggest impact in arenas and stadiums. Not the best songs, mind you, but the ones they played the most often.

Some of them were unimpressed by the options. “We have played all these songs a lot of times in the past, but we rarely play any of these in ATL now (they’re all old),” wrote legendary Hawks organist and DJ Sir Foster. “Now we play ‘Hot’ by Young Thug.” It’s tricky for anyone trying to chronicle the genre to pin down one set of criteria for a jock jam: some are upbeat and danceable, or well suited for kids of all ages (think “Jump Around”), and then some that are aggressive and intense and make you want to run headfirst into a brick wall. Plus, there’s just about everything in between — as hip-hop has gotten more laidback, so have the songs deemed pump-up worthy by players and fans. How can you separate the trends from the songs that will still be played in 20 years?

The DJs gave their takes, and with some editorializing (the list does not exactly reflect the poll results, but overall it tracks and aberrations are noted) SB Nation has narrowed down the field to 25 essentials.

25. “Timber” by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha (2013)

Pitbull singing about do-si-dos is an admittedly odd formula for a pop song, but it worked — and teams latched on to the upbeat pace and promises that lay in “It’s going down” (“it” being, probably, a victory).

24. “Big Rings” by Drake and Future (2015)

What A Time To Be Alive, the messy, bombastic joint mixtape that Drake and Future released in 2015, was essentially designed as a sports soundtrack. It’s not making a dent on any critics’ end-of-decade lists, but the message — “I got a really big team, they need some really big rings” — endures, as does the hard-edged, shimmering beat, perfectly suited for highlight reels of more literal ring-chasers.

23. “Hard In Da Paint” by Waka Flocka Flame (2010)

It might seem overly literal, but just listen to the first 30 seconds of “Hard In Da Paint” and try to do anything but go ... well, hard in the paint. Lex Luger has a doctorate in turning orchestral might into unfriendly, relentless and yet entirely undeniable beats; Flocka balances the impulse to yell over the beat’s perfect chaos with swaggy nonchalance. Who would ever want to hear anything else as they walk on the court?

22. “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” by Silentó (2015)

The viral dance craze was an integral part of arena and stadium soundtracks in the 2010s, and Silentó created something of the viral dance crazy with “Watch Me” — simultaneously, he created fodder for in-game fan participation for years to come. (I am intentionally ignoring Katy Perry’s “Swish Swish” in hopes that it goes away.)

21. “Work (Remix)” by A$AP Ferg (2013)

This is the rare tune that is as serviceable as a turn-up anthem as it is a pregame pump-up jam (or fodder for postgame celebration). Its central theme — the titular “work” — is obviously relevant to sports, especially when delivered in Ferg’s trademark growl. But it’s more about getting hyped up in the grand scheme than keeping one’s nose to the grindstone, the perfect reminder to athletes that this is supposed to be fun. Plus they’re playing basketball in the video ...

20. “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake (2016)/”Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (2014)

Both of these songs exist in the jock jams twilight zone: they’re upbeat and inoffensive enough to get regular spins inside arenas and stadiums, but don’t exactly convey beatdown-level intensity or walking-out-to-the-hardwood swagger. Also, they are functionally the same (and not particularly memorable as a result).

19. “We Dem Boyz” by Wiz Khalifa (2014)

“I like ‘We Dem Boyz’ as the first single because of the energy,” Khalifa told Billboard in 2014. “It reaches so many audiences other than just a rap audience. It’s kind of like how ‘Black and Yellow’ was — a big sports song to get everybody riled. It’s more of an anthem.” “Black and Yellow,” of course, is the Pittsburgh native’s Steelers-themed hit; with “Dem Boyz,” Khalifa found a team-agnostic expression of the same sentiment. “Hold up, we dem boyz/hold up, we makin’ noise” — if you read “boyz” as not being gender-specific (it is 2019 after all), it’s about as universal a sports fan sentiment as exists.

18. “Jumpman” by Drake and Future (2015)

Essentially a lesser “March Madness” knock-off, the undeniably sporty WATTBA track nevertheless endures in arenas and basketball mixtapes everywhere.

17. “March Madness” by Future (2015)

Built atop one of the single best beats of the decade, “March Madness” doesn’t really feel like a typical jock jam — but that’s what makes it so special. The practically baroque combination of strings and keyboards is propulsive and fresh, and Future drops the requisite sports references to pay off the title (“We’re ballin’ like March Madness”/“Livin’ lavish, like I’m playing for the Mavericks”). “On behalf of the Dallas Mavericks, I would just like to thank Future so much for the mention in ‘March Madness,’” says the Mavericks’ DJ Poison Ivy. “I know not too many things rhyme with Mavericks!”

16. “Let’s Go” by Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo (2012)

“Let’s go, make no excuses now” — OK, we get it, this song was built to be played on the treadmill. Amongst the pinnacles of the EDM-fueled pregame pump-up genre, “Let’s Go” is aggressively generic in ways that are pitch-perfect for the purposes of sports and exercising. As such, it still gets played a lot — after all, who among us can resist a good drop?

15. “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton (2011)

Do I want this to be on the list? Not particularly. But the DJs have spoken (12 of them) and so I begrudgingly acknowledge Macklemore’s early-decade pop-rap dominance. People still play this song frequently, and though I understand why in theory, I still can’t in good conscience support it. Are we sure we can’t listen to Waka Flocka instead?

14. “Going Bad” by Meek Mill featuring Drake (2018)

I mean, the album is called Championships — though in Meek’s case, it was more about his long-overdue release from prison than a title (even though the Eagles had chosen his music as their official soundtrack en route to winning the Super Bowl). There’s a bit of recency bias with this one, but the irresistible beat and (again) requisite sports references (shout out to Seattle’s own Jason Terry) make it seem like it will last in arenas even once the sheen wears off. “There was a Lakers game the day or two after Meek Mill released the Championships album, and it was such a moment that I played at least three songs from the album during warmups,” says the Lakers’ DJ Roueche. “‘Going Bad’ is still, and probably always will be, in heavy rotation in my DJ sets.”

13. “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock (2011)

Any song that features someone named GoonRock demands a certain degree of respect, just for its sheer audacity. In this case, Mr. Rock helped produce one of the most enduring artifacts of the EDM era — a song that only those with truly blackened hearts would profess not to find at least a little tiny bit festive. It’s a “Sandstorm” for the next generation, absurd and corny and yet extremely hard to ignore.

12. “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes (2017)

A song about a top-tier — but not ubiquitous — NBA Draft pick that is more than a little rough around the edges might not be the most obvious choice for one of the decade’s top jock jams. But the doomy track has become a cathartic favorite in locker rooms and on fields alike — its mosh-pit vibes make it good for celebratory thrashing. “I’ll never forget the first time I played ‘Mo Bamba’ at a Steelers game,” says DJ Digital Dave, who DJs for the Steelers as well as Pitt football and basketball games. “I approached my producer the week before the 2018 Patriots game and said ‘I know this song will probably sound awful to you but it’s huge right now.’ He gave me the green light, and we played it as our defense walked onto the field to shut down Tom Brady’s final drive of the game. The stadium just erupted.”

11. “HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar (2017)

Being humble is a classic sports cliche — demanding the same of your opponents, not so much. But that’s one of the reasons this variation on a classic theme works, as is its 2K-ready beat. Kendrick doesn’t really do arena-sized as a rule, so it seems like sports DJs tend to grade his music on a curve as far as its in-game usefulness given his massive popularity.

10. “Levels” by Avicii (2011)

When you have one song to get an entire stadium on its feet, it’s hard to to imagine a better pick than “Levels.” Arguably the biggest hits of the EDM era, it’s straightforward and to the point: move your person. Handclaps, synths, an Etta James sample and (obviously) a litany of drops make it perfect for pushing people to the next level (get it!?) of playing or cheering or celebrating or whatever it is they’re doing. “The EDM bubble of the early to mid 2010’s was the closest thing to commercial Jocks Jams in the past 20 years,” says Andrew Rivas, DJ for the San Jose Sharks. “‘Levels’ is this decade’s ‘Get Ready For This.’” RIP Tim Bergling.

9. “All The Way Up” by Fat Joe and Remy Ma featuring French Montana and InfaRed (2016)

The Remy Ma freedom tour was a great moment for popular rap, mostly thanks to this track — the ultimate soundtrack to any dunk. New York is back baby! (Kidding, kidding ...) Centering a slick sax hook and an easily sung hook, the song was more or less money in the bank.

8. “Win” by Jay Rock (2018)

This is the rare jock jam that should get played more than it is: aesthetically, the prepares-you-to-run-through-a-wall quotient is through the roof (pun intended), and thematically it’s centered on winning which is ... fairly central to sports. Whether you’re struggling to get off your couch or getting ready for the game of your life, this song feels pitch-perfect.

7. “Boneless” by Steve Aoki, Chris Lake and Tujamo (2013)

Not the kind of song you’ve probably sought out for casual listening, but perhaps one that makes it onto your gym playlist if you’re very hardcore. It has become an in-game go-to, though, with its pump-it-up ready synth riff and background “hey-hey-heys” well-suited to getting the people going, to paraphrase Blades Of Glory. (Oh, hey, sports again!) It’s also relatively big in gymnastics, apparently:

6. “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott featuring Drake (2018)

Here is where the “rap that people like” and “jock jam” categories truly get blurred: “SICKO MODE” was mostly just a massive song, without many specific characteristics that make it uniquely suited to soundtracking sporting events. BUT it was one of the most popular tracks among our DJs, and is more or less inescapable among athletes — so who’s to say taking half the recommended dose of a prescription medication isn’t motivational? Also there’s the pick and roll line, and the Liz Cambage reference (!)...

5. “Dreams & Nightmares (Intro)” by Meek Mill (2012)

Calling an audible on this one: it was not among the top picks by our DJs (a paltry six votes), but there is no way to listen to this song without feeling ready to hit something or run really fast or just yell. Not since the “Rocky” theme has Philly spawned such a transcendent us-against-the-world anthem — and better yet, the song itself is an underdog. It wasn’t a single, and it doesn’t sound like one. But the number of people — Meek Mill fans and otherwise — who know every word to the emotional, vivid, often tragic song speaks to its impact. “I had to grind like that to shine like this” is the ethos of just about every athlete from high school to the pros (much like “It was time to marry the game and I said, “Yeah, I do”). Then, the beat drops — it’s Meek in all his yelling glory, personally goading you to get on his level.

It’s no wonder that the Eagles adopted it as their own during their Super Bowl run, as have athletes of all stripes. “Meek Mill’s ‘Dreams & Nightmares’ will always remind me of the Mystics’ championship run,” says DJ Heat, who spins for the Mystics and the Wizards. “Natasha Cloud wanted to hear it every game. There were times where she sent one of the ball girls up to me to let me know to play it while the team was warming up — and of course I played it while the team was celebrating their championship win on the court.”

4. “POWER” by Kanye West (2012)

It’s become increasingly easy to forget that there was a point at which Kanye had hits — but he did, obviously, and “POWER” is is one product of what might in retrospect be seen as his zenith (though I’m a Yeezus girl myself — “Black Skinhead,” or at least the beat, is also still in heavy rotation). There’s something about leaving a little space at the beginning of a song that just builds anticipation — who has ever heard more than the first 30 seconds of “Crazy Train” at a sporting event? — and the intro to “POWER” follows this rule to a T. After the first 30 seconds it loses much of its heft, but does that even matter when you start that strong?

3. “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars (2016)

This falls into the “family-friendly dance music” category of in-game songs. Is it getting anyone particularly pumped? Probably not, but it’s also not not getting them pumped. If anything, the endurance of this particular track on in-game playlists (it got the highest number of votes) speaks to its overall impact — you’re as likely to hear it at a wedding, which can’t necessarily be said for most of the songs on this list. Also trophies and rings are often gold, so that is something!

2. “All I Do Is Win” - DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross (2010)

Did you just win? Better yet, is your team undefeated? More trivially, did your team just win a challenge? Boom, DJ Khaled has a song for you. What for some of us might be indelibly linked to tragic college parties has become a stadium staple for obvious reasons: who among us does not want to exclusively win? It’s a holdover from the gaudy, gloriously Autotuned rap of the late aughts and early 2010s, built for sports primarily by T-Pain and his remarkable gift for hooks. There’s prompts for audience participation, Snoop repping the U — basically if Shakira and J.Lo don’t bring the whole crew out for halftime, it will be a serious lost opportunity to rep Florida.

1. “Turn Down For What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon (2013)

It’s the pinnacle of pump-up music in the 2010s: EDM and party rap, combined. You just cannot listen to this song without losing your mind — it’s science. The build, the Lil Jon, the drops. So many drops. Mechanized handclaps, distorted hooks, the “ays,” and still more drops. Under “getting hype” in the dictionary (work with me here), there’s a copy of this song. I’m sure that the New York Seahawks bar is one of about five zillion places that played this song after every touchdown, and somehow the impact of all those drops never dulled. Look at how excited these figure skating fans are. “‘Turn Down For What’ is so perfect for arena use that it’s almost too easy,” says Grubes, DJ for the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. “When deployed at the proper moment (typically after a scoring run that puts the game away), it has never failed to get everyone going nuts!”

Editor’s pick:

“Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” by Rich Homie Quan

Flexing is a thing athletes do, this song is great, and as a bonus I heard it once at Seahawks training camp right before I interviewed Christine Michael — it was a very special moment.

Many thanks to all the DJs who participated:

Andrew Rivas (@andrewrivasdj): San Jose Sharks, US Open, Santa Cruz Warriors, San Jose Barracuda

Ben Bruud (@benbruud): Auburn University football and basketball

DJ Cmix (@DJCmix_): LSU

DJ Digital Dave (@djdigitaldave1): Pittsburgh Steelers, Pitt Panthers football and basketball

DJ Dior (@_djdior): George Washington University basketball (men’s and women’s)

DJ EJ (@itsDJEJ): Dallas Cowboys, among others

DJ Flipside (djflipside33): Chicago Bulls

DJ Heat (@djheatdc): Washington Mystics and Washington Wizards

DJ Hek Yeh (@DJHekYeh): Wake Forest University football and basketball

DJ Kay Cali (@DJKayCali): Austin Spurs

DJ Mad Mardigan (@DJMadMardigan): Timberwolves, Lynx, Vikings, United, Gophers

DJ Mel (@djmel): University of Texas football and men’s basketball

DJ Poizon Ivy (@poizonivythedj): Dallas Mavericks

DJ Premonition (Djpremonition): Washington Redskins

DJ Questionmark (Djquestionmark1): University of North Texas Athletics

DJ Roueche (DJRoueche): Los Angeles Lakers and AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour

DJ SupaSam (@djsupasam): Seattle Seahawks, UW Huskies football

DJ Triple T (@theDJtripleT): Denver Broncos and Colorado Avalanche

DJ Yoshi (djyoshi): B1G Ten Football

DJ Zimbo (@zimbothedj): Colorado State University, Air Force Academy, University of Wyoming athletics

DJay Jung (@_djayjung_): Brooklyn Nets

DJSC (@DJSCMUSIC): Dallas Cowboys and Pro Football Hall of Fame

DJ Dudley D (@nomusicnoparty): Minnesota Timberwolves, Lynx, Gophers men’s basketball, and United FC

GLOtron (@theglotron): Mississippi State men’s and women’s basketball

Grubes (@tweetgrubes): Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers

PJ Krolak (DJPJ) (@pjkrolak5): Toledo Mud Hens, Toledo Walleye, University of Toledo

Sir Foster (@sirfoster): Atlanta Hawks and Georgia Bulldogs

[daxolotl]

On UK Politics, or, “The Absolute Shambles”

Christ, it’s been a week, hasn’t it?

I say that, but I know I have a lot of followers in the US and elsewhere, so...not everyone might know about exactly what’s been going on in the UK recently. So I thought I’d take a bit of time to cover everything that’s happened to lead us up to where we are now - and where exactly that is.

I’m not going to provide references to anything I say in this because there’s a LOT, but if you want references for anything I say, please feel free to send me an Ask or reblog this and I’ll find you references for whatever you’re interested in.

Cheat sheet:

‘Tories’ = The Conservative Party. Basically the Republicans. One of the two biggest parties.

‘Lib Dems’ = Liberal Democrat Party. Centrist, slightly left

‘Labour’ = Labour Party. Left-wing. One of the two biggest parties.

‘New Labour’ = A movement that happened in the Labour Party in the late ‘90s that created ten years of Labour government and saw them pushing from the Left towards...basically slightly-less-right-wing than the Conservatives. It was shitty.

‘UKIP’ = UK Independence Party. Far Right Assholes, want to leave the European Union.

‘SNP’ = Scottish Nationalist Party. Slightly left-wing from what I understand but I’m not overly familiar with Scottish politics. Mainly want independence from the UK.

‘DUP’ = Democratic Unionist Party. Far-right hyper-religious party in Northern Ireland.

‘Sinn Fein’ = Sinn Fein. In a deadlock with the DUP the Northern Irish Assembly which is the core of the Good Friday Agreement - letting UK Parliament govern them while the two parties remain deadlocked. Have a Thing about never taking their seats in UK Parliament.

Putting all the rest of this under a read more because...things are gonna get long. It’s a fuckin’ ride.

FLASHBACK - 2015

It’s a General Election year. There’s been five horrible years of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, during which time the Lib Dems (who were the minority) weren’t able to get any of their policies through, and were pressured into delivering ALL of the bad news that the Conservative government pushed through. As a result, their approval dropped to rock bottom between 2010 and 2015.

David Cameron, current Conservative Prime Minister in coalition, needed something to get a ratings boost and to ensure votes. So what should he do? Well, UKIP has been pushing for a referendum to leave the European Union for years - so he decides a good plan would be to boost his ratings by promising that Referendum if he’s elected, securing the rising UKIP vote for himself.

It works - just. The Tories get a 5-seat Majority (you need a minimum of 326 seats for your party in order to win a Majority), allowing him to form a Conservative government. The Referendum is arranged for 2016, and David Cameron gets to work campaigning...in favour of Remaining in the EU. He agreed to call a referendum about leaving when he personally is not in favour of leaving. What could go wrong?

Also in response to this, the heads of the Labour and Lib Dem parties stepped down. The Lib Dem leader was swiftly replaced by a man with the personality of dried toothpaste, while in the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn (a genuinely left-wing figure and socialist) was put into the running as a joke by several Labour MPs, and he proceeded to sweep the entire party leadership race in a flood of youth support.

The Labour party, still with much New Labour support, responded to that by immediately trying to backstab and oust their most popular leader in decades, which didn’t work particularly well.

FLASHBACK - 2016

The Referendum campaign was a mess. Lies and slander everywhere, Boris Johnson (a Conservative dick) becoming a prominent Vote Leave campaigner not because he wanted to leave but because he wanted to use it to boost his career against David Cameron. Theresa May (remember her name, it’ll be important later) siding on Vote Remain. UKIP and their leader being plastered on the front page of newspapers despite being a small party.

Oh, and Labour MP (and Remainer) Jo Cox being murdered in broad daylight by a white supremacist.

And then Vote Leave won. 52% to 48%. This was taken as a clear mandate, and David Cameron set to work starting the process of leaving the EU.

Oh wait, no he didn’t. He immediately resigned, causing a leadership race within the Conservative Party. Okay, Boris Johnson was prominent in Vote Leave, surely he’ll take this opportunity to...oh wait, no, he decided not to run for position of Prime Minister. Eventually, it got down to two candidates - Theresa May and one other. The one other proceeded to step down before members of the Conservative Party got to actually vote on the issue, meaning that Theresa May became Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party MPs, having failed to support Jeremy Corbyn up until now, decided this was the perfect time to try and backstab and oust their most popular leader in deca--wait, didn’t this happen already, last year? It doesn’t work, again, and he wins a second leadership race by an even bigger margin than last time.

However, two backstab attempts has left Jeremy Corbyn seeming, publicly, to be a weak Labour leader, while Theresa May appears to be strong.

FLASHBACK - 2017

Theresa May triggers Article 50 - which marks the formal beginning of our exit from the EU (”Brexit”). It can be cancelled at any time, but from when it’s triggered, we have two years to organise everything before we leave. Talks with the EU are set to begin on the 19th of June. Time for Theresa May to start preparing for talks, surel--

JUST KIDDING! SNAP ELECTION TIME!

Apparently, the Conservative 5-seat majority was not a “clear mandate” for leading Brexit, so Theresa May decides to call an early snap election, because politicians are allowed to do that for some reason. It’s definitely to get a stronger mandate, and not blatant profiteering by Theresa May to try and gain a larger majority due to the fact that the Conservatives are polling with a TWENTY POINT LEAD over the Labour Party.

The snap election is arranged to take place on the 8th of June - just 11 days before talks with the EU are due to begin. What could go wrong?

So Theresa May starts by talking about how the Conservative party is Strong and Stable, and that’s why she called an unexpected election after promising she wouldn’t, after taking control of the party after David Cameron stepped down after promising he wouldn’t. Strong. Stable.

It’s worth noting now that with a 20-point lead, Theresa May could have personally kicked all of her constituents in the kneecaps and she’d STILL get a majority government.

She follows up with the Strong and Stable argument by saying that she...will not attend any debates with any other parties. At all. She basically goes into hiding after calling the General Election.

Over time, she comes out of hiding. Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning publicly across the country, drawing huge crowds, so May counters him by attending private rallies in locked rooms with CEOs where the press aren’t allowed to attend. She also counters him by suggesting that he’s soft on terrorism and that he has past dealings with the IRA in Ireland, which...he doesn’t, other than as part of the peace process. She also counters him by suggesting that any Labour leadership would be a weak “Coalition of Chaos”.

Other parties slowly release their manifestos. The Labour party talks about their pledges, and the Conservatives jump on their most classic of attack tactics - that Labour is bad with money and the Conservatives are good with the economy. Their favourite is to talk about a “magic money tree” which pays for all of Labour’s pledges.

Labour responds by releasing a fully-costed Manifesto with clear detailing of where every policy will be funded from. This doesn’t actually seem to bother the Conservatives, who continue talking about how Labour uses magic money trees.

Shortly after this, the Conservatives release their own manifesto. It’s half the length of the Labour manifesto, and is...completely uncosted. In fact, the only costing in it is the fact that it would cost 7p to bring in free school meals. This, for obvious reasons, doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.

What sits even worse is one of their manifesto pledges, coined a “Dementia Tax”. Within it, anyone who needs a carer to help them would have to pay large fees for the carer provided they have money or property worth more than a £100,000. What this meant, essentially, was that any older person who, oh, happened to own any house at all, would be ineligible for the Council to pay for their social care, and would have to pay for their care from their own pocket. In practise, this would result in many older people being forced to sell their houses, even if they’re living in them, in order to afford the social care.

In a single move, she managed to alienate the largest, most reliable Conservative voters - old people with houses.

Following huge outcry and her approval rating in the polls dropping by another few points as Corbyn’s continued to climb, Theresa May announced that the Dementia Tax would NOT be happening. The “Strong and Stable” leader becomes the first leader in history to go back on a campaign promise DURING THE CAMPAIGN she’s running.

Election Day and Now

The 8th of June comes. The “unassailable” 20-point lead of Theresa May and the Tories has narrowed to just a few points.

Voting closes. The BBC Exit Poll releases, predicting...a hung parliament. It predicts that the Conservatives will be the largest party, but will NOT have a majority. If that happens, then they have to try and make a deal with another party in order to gain a Majority - either through smaller deals, or with an outright Coalition.

Results roll in over the night. By 4am, it’s clear the predictions of a hung parliament are correct. By final results, the Conservatives have 318 seats out of the 326 that they need - losing 13 compared to last election. Labour, meanwhile, sit at 262 seats, having gained 30 compared to last election. (Percentagewise, the Conservatives had 42% of the vote while Labour had 40%). Most of that gain is ‘blamed’ on young voters who had a massive turnout.

The only possible majority is still Conservative - they just need to find a party who’ll work with them. Labour obviously won’t. The Lib Dems aren’t making that mistake again. The SNP in Scotland won’t. The Green Party won’t. Sinn Fein won’t. UKIP, previously with a few seats, earn NO MPs.

Then it comes to them. The DUP. They’re right-wing, and they earned 10 seats - just enough to push a Majority, if they can get a deal. A deal the Conservatives desperately need to avoid another election.

The DUP who have current links with nationalist militant groups in Northern Ireland. The DUP who compare homosexuality to paedophilia. The DUP who push to keep abortion illegal in Ireland. The DUP who believe the Earth is 10,000 years old. That DUP.

LGBT constituents and LGBT Conservative MPs are against it.

Sinn Fein are against it, because they claim any Coalition or deal would breach the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, prioritising one of Northern Ireland’s two parties over the other.

And most amusingly: https://twitter.com/AbiWilks/status/873691569504882689 THEY WON’T NEGOTIATE ON SUNDAYS.

It’s now one week until talks with the EU are due to begin. And the UK has never seemed weaker.

And it’s fucking hilarious. Theresa May tried to push for more power for herself, and instead, she’s seen a genuine appetite from the people of the UK for socialism and left-wing ideas. She wanted to create a huge Conservative majority from a 20-point lead, and instead she LOST her majority and is having to try for a chaotic coalition to desperately cling on to power.

The UK is in disarray. We have no government. The Conservatives announced a deal with the DUP which, https://twitter.com/skydavidblevins/status/873811317068627968 as it turns out, hasn’t been struck yet, and they’ll be meeting to try and reach a deal on Tuesday.

I, and much of the youth of the UK, is looking at all of this with delight. Logically, I know that long-term we’re probably still fucked in a lot of ways. But short-term? Short-term, Right-Wing power is disintegrating because of their greed and overconfidence, socialism earned 40% of the total vote, and we get to see the Government that has fucked us in the name of personal profit for the last seven years get forced to beg to hold on what vestiges of their power still remain. The Conservatives look pathetic, and even if/when a deal with the DUP is struck, they will have no authority in any negotiation with the EU. They have been humiliated.

David Cameron might have fucked a dead pig in the mouth, but the Conservatives have fucked themselves.

[bethevenyc]

How to Talk to Your Teen About Marijuana

For parents, talking to teens can feel like tiptoeing through a minefield. And while part of it is because adolescents can be so volatile, it’s also because teens can be easily influenced, and it’s hard to know which way parental input will push them.

This is why so many moms and dads avoid talking about important things altogether — including marijuana, according to the results of an exclusive new Yahoo News/Marist Poll, which found that 28 percent of parents have never once broached the heady topic.

While 37 percent of those parents say they don’t talk to their kids about weed because they simply don’t know what to say, 34 percent say it’s because they are not comfortable talking about it. And 19 percent had another reason for keeping mum: They don’t want to encourage use of the drug.

But that’s faulty logic, according to Barbara Greenberg, a Connecticut-based adolescent psychologist and co-author of Teenage as a Second Language: A Parent’s Guide to Becoming Bilingual.

“Not talking about something doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen,” Greenberg tells Yahoo Beauty. “That’s superstitious thinking.”

  So what should you say about the perils of smoking weed — which has been shown to be particularly harmful to the vulnerable teenage brain — and what should you not say? Some rules of thumb, according to Greenberg and other experts who spoke with Yahoo Beauty, are to start early (preferably while you’ve still got a tween), be direct and honest, and have good timing. For details and talking points to get through to your intimidating adolescent, read on…

Start before high school begins.

It’s best to start addressing the topic “as soon as kids start hearing about marijuana, and as soon as they start being exposed to media about marijuana … probably best around 11,” Greenberg suggests. The Yahoo News/Marist Poll shows that adults who have talked to their kids about marijuana agree that it’s good to start the conversation early, though they may wait a year or two longer — the average age when parents report first talking to their children about the subject is between 12 and 13.

Lisa Damour, teen psychologist and director of Laurel School’s Center for Research on Girls in Ohio, says that’s a good starting point, telling Yahoo Beauty that tackling thorny topics early is a good idea, and “especially with marijuana, because it is so commonly talked about in music and videos in a completely normalized way.”

Treat it as an ongoing conversation.

“This isn’t a one-time deal — so there’s no such thing as The Talk,” stresses Damour, author of the new book Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood. One reason for this, she explains, is that “kids can only take in so much at a time” and may exit such difficult conversations swiftly. So you’ll need to spread it out. Also, the message changes over time, so you’ll want to give a different level of detail at various points in development, Damour says. Besides, adolescents change their minds. “A 13-year-old could think that the last thing they want to do is put a foreign substance in their body,” she says. But once that 13-year-old becomes a 15-year-old who discovers that his or her peers are smoking regularly, that position could shift.

Talking to your teen about marijuana can be awkward, but it has to be done. (Photo: Getty Images)

(Luckily, many parents do understand this, according to the new Yahoo News/Marist Poll, which found that, while 40 percent of parents who have spoken about weed with their kids have done so once, twice, or a few times, 33 percent say they have the discussion often or all the time.)

Don’t miss natural cues for discussion.

Make sure you have good timing, and don’t bring up the subject at a bad moment, such as in the midst of a fight. Instead, “look for conversation openings, like when marijuana comes up in popular culture, or when there’s local debate about something like the opening of a medical marijuana shop,” Sharon Levy, pediatrician and director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, suggests to Yahoo Beauty. And don’t be afraid to ask questions at opportune times, such as before your teens head off to a party. “What might kids be doing there?” you could say. Or “Why do you think someone might be tempted to try weed?” Get them thinking, and talking.

Damour adds that it’s a good idea to welcome any mention of the topic “as an opening to a conversation,” even though it’s easy to be caught off-guard as a parent when you weren’t the one to kick off the conversation.

“So often, the kid opens the door and the parents slam it shut,” she warns. “Look for openings the kids themselves are creating.” That could even include, alarmingly, a direct question about your own past drug use. But don’t let that cause panic, says Greenberg: “What they’re typically assessing with that question is how willing you are to discuss the subject.”

On that note, be prepared to answer questions about your own experience with pot.

The Yahoo News/Marist Poll finds that 60 percent of parents who have tried marijuana have told their children about it, and 71 percent of regular users have divulged their use to their children.

As for parents uncertain of how to respond to the direct question? “There are lots of ways to answer this,” says Damour, who suggests the following options:

“Actually, I didn’t, and I’m really glad, because of what we now know.”

“I did, and I feel really lucky that nothing went wrong and that the pot was seven times less potent than it is today.”

“I did, and I have a lot of regrets about it.”

If none of the above fit your personal experience, Damour says, and you’re worried about what your teen will do with the truth, you can be straight about that too. “Say, ‘I want to have an honest conversation with you, but I don’t want you to take this as permission. So what do we do about that?’” she suggests as a possible approach.

Don’t glamorize your own past use or employ it as a way to connect with your kids, Greenberg says, but do share any negative experiences you’ve had, such as having had paranoia or anxiety attacks. “Don’t make them into horror stories, though,” she suggests. “If something is too scary, your child will tune you out.”

Finally, Levy says, “You don’t have to tell your kid your whole history.”

Whatever you do, don’t lie or exaggerate.

“Arm yourself with facts, or lose credibility,” Greenberg says. “Kids don’t listen to parents who are clueless.”

To that end, notes Levy, “you can say it’s absolutely true that the concentration of THC [marijuana’s psychoactive element] has been consistently increasing,” she says. “When this generation of parents was teenaged, the THC was 4 percent, and it’s about 19 percent now.” In relation to that, Greenberg adds, let your teen know that “we are seeing the presentation of marijuana-use disorders evolve — from motivational problems, which is what it used to be, to what we’re now seeing, which is kids with acute psychiatric problems and psychotic reactions, which is becoming more and more common.”

Kids like to see themselves as smart, Greenberg adds, so show them research about how it lowers IQs. “And explain how smoking marijuana makes driving out of the question,” she says. “And talk about how it’s better to get to know people while you have your wits about you and that being high can make you more likely to try risky behavior — such as sex and other drugs.”

But it’s also important to consider what teens themselves are observing — such as friends who smoke pot frequently and still get straight A’s. “Heavy-handed advice that doesn’t jibe with that makes it harder to take the adult seriously,” Damour advises. “Instead, ask them: ‘What do you think? Do you see an impact?’ I’d like [parents] to have the tolerance and the willingness to engage in that conversation.” And it’s fine to point out, she says, that “not everyone who diets goes on to have an eating disorder, but practically every eating disorder begins with a diet.”

Further, she suggests, you can share some of the wisdom you’ve gained, especially through firsthand experience: “You can tell them: ‘It’s very hard with drugs to know where the line is with you being in control of it and it being in control of you. You are more precious to me than anything, and the last thing I’d want is for you to find yourself under its control.’”

Stress safety — not the law.

“Do not have these conversations be about the law, because the laws make no sense, and aside from getting arrested, it’s immaterial to the risks,” Damour notes. “Remind them that cigarettes and tanning beds are legal — and that you’ve got one brain for the rest of your life.”

She adds, “We want to position ourselves as the protector, not the punisher. It’s safety, it’s not, like, ‘Busted!’ The point shouldn’t be how not to get busted.”

If you know your teen has already smoked pot, try empathy over anger.

“Teenagers often have difficulty regulating emotions and how they express those emotions, so be sure to lay a foundation for the discussion with empathy; try to remember how it felt to be a teen,” suggests Kristin Wilson, director of clinical outreach at Newport Academy residential treatment center. Lay out your concerns, she says, while also giving your child an opportunity to express his or her own feelings.

“If you can, avoid giving a lecture, as most teens will stop listening and shut down; instead, try some active listening. Ask questions that are open-ended (that require more than ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers), and repeat back what you’re hearing,” Wilson suggests. Then validate their feelings and try to offer support and alternative solutions. But if your teen’s pattern of use continues, she warns, “you should seek out professional help.”

Bottom line: Be clear and firm.

“Teens really consider marijuana to be a legal drug and don’t see it as harmful,” Damour points out. So while it might be obvious to you, “it’s important to say, ‘Let’s be clear, we are not OK with you smoking marijuana,’ which might be surprising for them to hear.”

Levy also stresses the importance of clarity. “Just this morning I saw parents who had said to their 15-year-old, ‘We don’t think it will kill you to use occasionally,’” she says. “But I think it was a green light, which got him in a substance abuse program and kicked out of school.” When you consider that 90 percent of teen drinking is in the context of binge drinking, Levy adds, it becomes clear that teens “have a different idea of what ‘occasional use’ means” and that “what kids are hearing with these messages is, ‘It’s OK to [use].’”

Basically, Levy adds, whether they try to paint you as hypocrites or the pot police, you can simply bring it back to this: “There are some adult behaviors that we don’t want you doing. Just put this on the list.”

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty.

[miguelmarias]

Forever falling: Vertigo

For some, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) has always been one of those ‘bedside’ films (as François Truffaut put it, before such a thing could be taken literally) – which means that we store it so well in our minds, and in our hearts, that we can think about it and ‘watch’ it again whenever the mood takes us. We do this to delve a little bit deeper into the film’s inexhaustible and fascinating enigmas, to relive our first impressions and to compare Hitchcock’s film to the rest of filmmaking – if only to reassure ourselves of its status as an unsurpassed peak, making films that hold more prestige for critics and historians seem lesser works by comparison. And yet the truth is that its status as a great work has only been admitted comparatively recently.

None of Hitchcock’s films, for instance, featured in Sight & Sound’s first top ten in 1952, and Vertigo didn’t feature in the 1962 critics’ poll, compiled four years after the film’s release. In fact Vertigo didn’t appear in the poll until 1982, when it came seventh. By 1992 it was up to fourth (and sixth in the newly instigated directors’ poll); then in 2002 it came second (remaining sixth for the directors).

Why did it take so long? Unlike, say, Bicycle Thieves, which was more or less instantly acclaimed as a masterpiece (coming top in the 1952 poll, only four years after its release), films such as Vertigo and John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) initially met with a mixed reception from critics – and with indifference from the public. Which means that, beyond the mere passing of time and the perseverance of their defenders, these works must have something very special about them to have been able to finally impose themselves as great works.

But why, in the case of Vertigo, do we come back again and again, even though the art of cinema and the film’s original audience have changed? The generation that first revered the film has got older and gained experience, but we have also lost illusions and enthusiasm. Why, after watching Vertigo more than, say, 30 times, are we confident that there are things to discover in it – that some aspects remain ambiguous and uncertain, unfathomably complex, even if we scrutinise every look, every cut, every movement of the camera? Why do we never get tired of Hitchcock telling us the story of Scottie Ferguson’s obsession with three people in one – Madeleine Elster, Carlotta Valdes and Judy Barton – even though we know it by heart?

Narrative discoveries

It is generally accepted that Hitchcock was one of the great film narrators. He has long been considered a skilful artisan at the service of his audience, willing to flatter us, and eager to make the biggest profit with his products – a direct concern for him, because he participated in the financing of his films, which meant that his future creative freedom depended on good commercial results. Hitchcock always wanted to keep his hands free so he could make something greater than he’d made before.

The tendency among earlier critics was to try to reduce him to the role of ‘master of suspense’, perhaps because his success sparked off a multitude of inferior imitators. Hitchcock’s narrative discoveries, the structural audacity with which he surprised us – the death of the love interest 70 minutes into Vertigo, or of protagonist Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) 40 minutes into Psycho – all those innovations were considered mistakes by critics then. These were possibilities no other producer would have tolerated; even with Hitchcock’s creative autonomy, few would have dared to attempt them.

Of course Hitchcock understood the importance of dramatic narrative and character conventions. He knew how to play with them and pretend he was complying with them – as when retired policeman Scottie (James Stewart) initiates his investigation of Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) at the behest of her husband Gavin (Tom Helmore) – so that the spectator, trusting in orthodoxy, would anticipate the position where the director wanted them to be, allowing him to create and dilate that mixture of tension and uncertainty that is ‘suspense’.

Come the time, he also knew how to brutally undermine those conventional expectations (making us realise, for instance, that Scottie has been suckered into the Elster case because of his fatal flaw, the vertigo he has experienced ever since he was left dangling from the edge of a roof during a chase in the film’s opening sequence), leaving the spectator disoriented – and therefore ready to be taken wherever he wanted us to go.

Hitchcock knew that an excess of confusion can distance, that too many explanations can tire and make us lose the thread, that a prolonged vagueness can jeopardise the credibility of a story. Yet he also knew that if one wants to put aside (or forget for a while) the plausible and go deep into the terrain of the extraordinary and the improbable, ambiguity is necessary to preserve a fragile realism – in misè en scene, wardrobe, behaviour. Hitchcock was never spineless in this regard: when he was certain, he would jump in and violate any rule.

This allowed him to dive into the depths of the invisible, the ungraspable, the imperceptible, the unsafe, the weightless, the strange, the impossible (that which worryingly can happen). And this would provide him with the most adequate and efficient tools to lure us into that “momentary suspension of disbelief” of which Coleridge spoke, and elongate it in order for us to immerse ourselves in the inextricable depths of the human being. I won’t use the word ‘soul’, even though I’m sure Hitchcock believed in the existence of something like this.

There is no need to be a Christian to succumb to Hitchcock, just – ever so slightly – Freudian or Jungian. I suspect that Hitchcock, regardless of how sceptically or ironically he considered the jargon of psychoanalysis and its therapeutic virtues, didn’t ignore the theories and the institutions of the different psychoanalytic schools. Subjects that preoccupied and intrigued Sigmund Freud and his followers – such as sexuality and repression, dreams and the Oedipus complex, fear and the ‘lapsus’, lies and masks, sublimation and mythology, jokes, the subconscious and feelings of guilt, the illusion of grandeur and the persecution complex, paternal or authoritarian figures and possessive mothers, the family structure and hereditary features, child fixations and hysteria, hypnotism and schizophrenia, the uncanny and many others – seem like a repertoire of themes that recur in Hitchcock’s filmography.

That said, Catholicism provided Hitchcock with certain variations (or aggravating circumstances) on some of these themes: the notion of sin; the fear of knowledge and of woman as dangerous temptress; the expulsion from Paradise and the shame of the body; the mythologising of virginity and maternity; plagues and the way to the cross; mourning and the cult of the dead; faith in the afterlife and in the resurrection of the flesh; the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins as opportunities for transgression and guilt; miracle healing; eternal punishment; the consecration of ‘the wrong man’ in the figure of Christ; confession and its inviolable confidentiality; the inquisition and torture; the devil as seductive and astute being, proudly defiant of the divine supremacy; the conflict between predestination and freedom; the Apocalypse and the Last Judgement…

It would be as ridiculous to deny the importance of Judaeo-Christian obsessions in Hitchcock as it would be to reduce everything to a succession of Catholic dogmas and rituals. These obsessions are the perfect complement, conflictual and partly antithetical – and therefore dialectical, to his psychoanalytic sources of inspiration.

Another even less explored cultural source for Hitchcock – which strengthens the Catholic (which came from his education by the Jesuits) and the Freudian (which he encountered during his film apprenticeship in Weimar-era Germany) – is surrealism. This may be obvious, but in order to highlight it we need to look at the composition and framing, the texture and the combination of his images – above all in the silent part of his British period, chronologically the closest to those encounters.

Like the surrealists, Hitchcock thought that the interior (what happens ‘inside’) and the imaginary (dreamed, remembered or hallucinated) are as real as the external and tangible to which ‘reality’ is normally restricted. The influence here is not primarily literary but rather pictorial, and can be sensed in paintings by Richard Oelze, Max Ernst, Emil Nolde, Dorothea Tanning, Hans Bellmer, and in some of their predecessors, such as Friedrich, Böcklin, Munch and Fuseli.

Lastly, there remains a vision of the world to which this last clue drives us: romanticism. From many spheres – musical, literary, pictorial – and from various places – British, German, Italian, American, Russian – the footprints of romanticism can be detected in Hitchcock’s films. One feels the spectres of Poe, Stevenson, Hawthorne, Melville, George Du Maurier, Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Mary Shelley, Wilkie Collins, Georg Trakl, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Achim von Arnim and Gérard de Nerval.

In the same way, one can hear – under the curiously related melodies composed for his films by such different musicians as Franz Waxman, Hugo Friedhofer, Roy Webb, Maurice Jarre, Miklós Rózsa, Dimitri Tiomkin and above all Bernard Herrmann – measures and harmonies by Wagner, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Fauré, Franck, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Britten, early Stravinsky, the Schoenberg of ‘Verklärte Nacht’ (‘Transfigured Night’) – all of them centred in the recreation and transmission of emotions.

For me romanticism – often concealed under a layer of cynicism and humour, as in Lubitsch, Sternberg, Wilder, Ophuls, Stroheim or Mankiewicz – is the key to Hitchcock’s unequalled capacity to unsettle and move the spectator with a degree of implication and intensity that goes beyond a supposed ‘identification’ with the protagonist – an identification that Hitchcock tended to rupture violently and traumatically, and which in general was projected not on to a single (male) person, but on to the couple, at least.

Notorious (1946), for instance, is not the story of Devlin (Cary Grant) – even if its first part is told from his narrative (but not visual) point of view – nor is it that of Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), as the title may make us think; it is the story of that couple – or more so, of the triangle composed by Sebastian (Claude Rains), and the quadrilateral that would include his ominous mother (Leopoldine Konstantin).

More than the drama of the neurotic woman personified by Tippi Hedren, Marnie (1964) narrates her complex relationship with Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), and the no less ambiguous relationship with her mother. Vertigo, of course, is not just the story of Scottie, but also – even more so – of Judy in her different simulations or incarnations, manipulated, feigned, spontaneous or forced.

Seduction manoeuvres

Another reason why Vertigo turns out to be so intriguing, complex and suggestive stems from the fact that it gathers together a strange synthesis of various myths of Western culture, connected to the mystery of artistic creation, which is perhaps the film’s ultimate subject.

The most obvious myth is Pygmalion, combined with the Frankenstein variant of Prometheus; others would include Orpheus and Eurydice, although in a very sombre version, and almost inverted; the double or Döppelganger of the romantics and German expressionists, filtered through the schizoid sieve of Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; the love in death and beyond this world of ‘Tristan and Isolde’ (and it is no coincidence that the ‘Liebestod’ of Wagner’s opera is the audible origin of Herrmann’s score, mainly of the ‘Love Theme’); some vampire tales and the novel Peter Ibbetson by George Du Maurier (not the pale and miscast film version by Henry Hathaway).

Some others could also be mentioned, such as Faust, but what’s interesting here is that it is not a case of showing off cultural references, but of a melancholic and tragic story of love (much more than a detective story), full of multiple resonances that are admirably integrated, and which converge in what Robin Wood, Jean Douchet and Eugenio Trías have considered a parable of creation, and of the mise en scène.

Let’s not forget that Vertigo is a succession of mises en scène and seduction manoeuvres. The first shows us how Gavin Elster, an old friend from student days, requests Scottie’s services as a detective in order to use him in an improbable criminal conspiracy. First he tempts him, like Mephistopheles, with a return to action, restoring Scottie’s lost confidence. Once this route fails, Elster intrigues him with the implausible story of Carlotta Valdes and the power it exerts over his wife Madeleine – a story told in encircling movements, going up and down the different ‘levels’ of his huge office, like the scriptwriter and director who first seduce the producer, then the actors and finally the audience. Elster banks on the fact that – in a third phase, admirably staged in Ernie’s restaurant – Scottie is going to be captivated by the ethereal, ghostly, hieratic and gliding beauty of Madeleine, which will finally convince him to believe such a fantastic tale and accept the mission of following and protecting her.

From the moment he positions himself inside his car at the door of Elster’s mansion and furtively follows Madeleine, Scottie thinks he is directing the second mise en scène. The mix of contemplation and distance and growing curiosity is intoxicating as Scottie, without realising it, starts falling in love with an imaginary person whom he dreams of saving, without ever suspecting that ‘Madeleine’ has been forced to interpret a role. He follows her, bewitched, through different places, each more or less funereal: a flower shop, which she enters through the back door; the cemetery of the Mission Dolores; the museum where she contemplates the portrait of the unfortunate Carlotta; the lonely room in the sinister and desolate McKittrick Hotel (a herald of the house in which Norman Bates coexists with the memory of his mother), in which Madeleine vanishes like a ghost, as if she were a hallucination of Scottie’s.

His unconscious desires start to become a reality when Madeleine throws herself into San Francisco Bay by the Golden Gate, giving him the opportunity to save her like some knight errant – and to feel, as in the Chinese tradition he cites, responsible for her; to take her to his flat, undress her, watch her sleeping and talk to her for the first time. In this phase, a relationship of affinity binds these prowling idlers. They visit different places on the outskirts of San Francisco, exchange confidences, fears and dreams. This phase is consummated – once Scottie is in love with Madeleine – with the unseen murder of Elster’s real wife, presented traumatically to Scottie (and the viewer) as a suicide that he couldn’t prevent.

The third mise en scène takes to the limit the condition of the powerless spectator, which we share with Scottie; it’s a painful repetition, under the effects of the loss or abandonment syndrome of the previous ‘movement’. Like an inconsolable widower, Scottie revisits the places where he first followed and spied on Madeleine from a distance, and those where they were together: the giant sequoias, the solitary coast beaten by the swell and the wind, the Mission San Juan Bautista.

The fourth mise en scène – after a few false alarms that leave us breathless, making our heart skip in rhythm with the wounded and depressed Scottie – starts when the ex-detective bumps into Judy Barton. A shop assistant, she seems carnal, even vulgar – very far from the formal elegance and distinction of Madeleine, who was so pale and whispering, so shy and fragile, so ethereal and disturbed; but in Judy he discovers an echo of the loved and lost image. Now Scottie becomes scriptwriter and producer, director and wardrobe designer, make-up artist and decorator, as he obsessively tries to transform Judy into his Madeleine, taking that resemblance as a starting point, polishing and fine-tuning her into the yearned-for image of his unacceptably lost love.

But Judy is scared, because she knows what Scottie and we still don’t. The key moment of the film – truly revolutionary from the dramatic and narrative point of view – is the revelation (for us the spectators, when we hear Judy writing her confession; Scottie’s realisation will still take a bit longer) of what really happened on the top of the bell tower of the Mission. This is a moment that gives a different sense to everything we think we know, and changes our point of view: we shift from Scottie’s viewpoint – from the sadness and desperation we’ve shared – to Judy’s, which allows us to consider her as a victim.

The fifth mise en scène begins when Judy, trapped by the love she had to feign for Scottie when she was experiencing his so intensely, gives herself away – almost abandons herself to love – with an indirect confession. (It’s difficult to know to what extent it’s conscious on Judy’s part; is she even jealous of the fictitious Madeleine, who was herself?)

When Scottie tries to regain control of the drama – which will now be that of vengeance, as he is determined to force a confession out of Judy – he will drag her to her death. And this is the definitive disappearance of Madeleine that will drive Scottie to the absolute void. In the end, Scottie is left ‘suspended’ over the abyss, just as he was when a compassionate fade-out closed the film’s prologue of the police chase over the roofs of San Francisco.

During this gradual process of spiral ascents and falls, punctuated by ominous low and high angles, we the viewers are successively – or simultaneously – busybodies and onlookers, meddlers and dupes, accomplices and sceptics, co-scriptwriters and extras, witnesses and victims of three machinations: Elster’s, Scottie’s and – above both of them, permanent and masterly – Hitchcock’s.

 Miguel Marías

Sight & Sound 2012 poll essay

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/greatest-films-all-time/forever-falling-vertigo

[cashcounts]

Vaping without nicotine: who’s doing it?

Vaping is vaping, whether you’re doing it with or without nicotine. In fact, one of the most important things about vaping has always been the vaper’s ability to precisely control their nicotine. If you’re smoking cigarettes, the only way to reduce the nicotine is to smoke less.

But because you can get e-liquid in every nicotine level, you can vape just a little and get a big dose of nic, or vape a lot with no nicotine at all — and everything in between. For some vapers, they’re happy using a lot of nicotine, like they did with smoking. For others, reducing nic is important.

When I started vaping in 2012, I had the idea almost immediately of reducing my nicotine intake and just enjoying the flavor. What could be better after 38 years of Camels, I thought, than to kick back with a relaxing zero-nicotine vape while being free of the chains of addiction. Goodbye, demon nicotine!

We know that smoking addiction is more than just the nic.

But it wasn’t to be. For me, the nic was a crucial element of vaping success. I needed to feel the vapor when I inhaled it, and without nicotine, there was no feeling at all. Close your eyes and no-nicotine vaping is the same as breathing clean air. The horror! I needed nic’s scratchy kiss to enjoy vaping. And almost five years later, I still do.

I’m not alone either. It seems that the vast majority of vapers like nicotine and stick with it, though in lower and lower concentrations as the gear we vape with gets more powerful and efficient. That’s not to say that non-nicotine vaping isn’t a thing; it’s just not a huge thing compared to the traditional way we vape.

After all, most vapers were smokers (or still are). A big part of smoking is the nicotine. Why vaping seems to work better than pharmaceutical nicotine products to quit cigarettes is that in addition to the nic, it gives us a good simulation of the act of smoking. If you’re a typical vaper, you inhale, you exhale, you watch the vapor drift through the air…and you probably also enjoy the effects of nicotine.

Has vaping caused an epidemic of teen nicotine use?

The regular accusation is that vaping is causing a resurgence of teen nicotine addiction. In his foreword to the Surgeon General’s report, “E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults,” former chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tom Frieden laid out the supposed fear. “E-cigarettes are tobacco products that deliver nicotine,” wrote Frieden. “Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and many of today’s youth who are using e-cigarettes could become tomorrow’s cigarette smokers.”

Is that a legitimate fear? We have good information on teen nicotine use from data gathered in the annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, conducted by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The MTF questionnaire has asked teens twice now if they use nicotine when they vape.

Whipping up fear about nicotine addiction is big business.

Last December’s MTF data showed fewer than one in four 12th grade vapers reported using nicotine. If you think that was a fluke, remember that the previous year’s survey showed almost exactly the same result.

If just 25 percent of the high school seniors who vape are using nicotine, vaping is going to make a really rotten tool for big tobacco to “recruit a new generation of addicts,” as the anti-vaping zealots always say. But they keep saying it anyway. Don’t expect to see any letup in studies that purport to show a gateway from vaping to smoking — or news stories giving their authors the desired publicity. Whipping up fear about nicotine addiction is big business.

Could vaping itself just be…a fad?!

Nobody talks much about the nicotine-free vaping teenagers, because the story just doesn’t line up with the agenda the anti-nic activists want to push. If 75 percent of vaping teens aren’t using the “addictive drug” they claim to fear, then what’s the story?

Probably the story is that for many teenagers, vaping is just a fad. Like hula hoops, break dancing, bell bottom pants and the Backstreet Boys, vaping is just taking its lap in the here-today-gone-tomorrow teen trend pool. That fits with the data we have, which show that after a meteoric rise in teen vaping, it’s actually been declining for the last couple years. And that’s fine. Teen smoking is declining too, and that’s what really matters.

Next time someone brags how they’ve stepped down their nic, make them do the math.

It’d probably be smarter for the hyped-up haters of vaping to just quit making such a big deal of teen vaping. Kids probably will keep stubbornly doing it as long as our enemies continue to work so hard painting it as a big taboo. The FDA finally made it official by basing their slow-motion destruction of the vapor industry on the supposed danger of teen nicotine uptake.

Another indication that it’s a high school fad (or was) is the number of Google searches for the question, “Is vaping without nicotine bad for you?” Those are people wanting to try vaping who are worried about the health risks. If you got to this article with that search, the quick answer is no…probably. No-nicotine vaping probably isn’t dangerous — but vaping with nicotine likely isn’t bad for you either, at least for non-pregnant adults without heart disease.

Blowing the clouds, doing the tricks

Aside from trend-seeking teens, who are the other big consumers of nicotine free e-juice? You know who they are: the vape tricksters and cloud chasers. For obvious reasons, cloud blowers and tricksters require nothing more than VG to create their room-filling billows. They’d be spending half their lives lying on a couch if they were doing those big pulls all day on live e-juice, so many vape performers avoid nic.

But most vapers are using nicotine. That’s because, despite what the public health drones tell each other, the vast majority of vapers are current or ex-smokers. Most of us want nicotine. A quick and unscientific poll of e-liquid sellers tells the story: five percent or less of my correspondents’ sales comes from zero-nicotine vape juice. Some said one to two percent. It’s a very niche market.

How low can you go?

However, the nic that most people are vaping now is less concentrated. For the same reason cloud competitions and vape tricking are popular these days, vapers are buying e-liquid with less nic. According to one vape shop owner, the average nic level in the e-juice he sells has gone from 12 mg to 3 mg in just the last two years.

That’s because sub-ohm tanks have made it easy for lots of vapers to blow some clouds of their own. Before 2014, you had to build your own coils to produce those cumulus-style plumes. Once the Atlantis and its followers came along, every vaper could fog up a room. And that changed a lot of traditional mouth-to-lung vapers into volumizers. That big airflow and those chunky coils suck up the liquid. You just can’t direct-lung inhale with high nic; you’d get way too much of it.

We know that smoking addiction is more than just the nic.

So the nic levels dropped with the easy availability of cloud-producing gear. That doesn’t mean vapers are getting less nicotine though. If you used to vape 3 mL a day of 18 mg/mL liquid, and now you vape 18 mL of 3 mg/mL juice, have you reduced your nic? Nope, it’s the same quantity of nicotine. Next time someone brags how they’ve stepped down their nic, make them do the math. They might be wrong.

There are lots of vapers who’ve seriously reduced their nicotine intake though. Many do it intentionally, by gradually stepping down their nic levels in their juice till it reaches zero. There are others that reduce their nic over time just because they lose interest in the effects.

We know that smoking addiction is more than just the nic. Burning tobacco has monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI’s) that combine with nicotine to create the powerful sense of reward our brains get when we light a cigarette. And the tobacco companies often add ammonia, which allegedly speeds the nicotine into the bloodstream. Vaping has no MAOI’s and no ammonia, which may mean that the nicotine’s addictive hold on ex-smoking vapers declines over time. Current scientific consensus says that nic without smoke is probably just not very addictive.

What’s your story? High nic, low nic, no nic?

We at Vaping360 are really curious about our readers’ nicotine use. If you vape no-nic e-juice, tell us your story in the comments section. How did you get there? What did you start at? Are you a cloud chaser? Can you just enjoy the flavors with no nicotine, or do you crave that big thump in your throat, as our editor-in-chief says before he picks up a bottle of 24 mg juice for another couple drops in his atty.

[filipeteimuraz]

How to Grow Your Email List as an Ecommerce Brand (A Beginner’s Guide)

It’s important you recognize the significance of your email marketing strategy.

It’s an essential method of communication with your ecommerce customers.

Email will probably be your most profitable channel if you nurture it right.

Don’t believe me? Activewear brand Rone is able to generate $80,000 in sales during product launch purely from its email list.

But before you can start sending out emails, you need to build your list.

Not sure where to start?

Don’t worry—I’ve got you covered.

I have a ton of experience building email lists for my companies: Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics, Hello Bar, and my blog.

While none of these businesses have an ecommerce store, you can still use many of the strategies I used in your list building.

I even have some other methods specifically designed for gaining exposure and increasing conversions on your ecommerce platform.

Here’s what you need to know before you start building lists.

Signup forms on the website

You’ve got to give your customers plenty of options to sign up for your email list.

Having a signup form on your website is a pretty standard option.

While it may not be the most effective way to build your email list, it’s a necessity and has to be somewhere on your site.

But where do you put it?

The most optimal location to place your signup form, which will show up on each page, is in the footer:

While the number of companies using the footer form to solicit signups is slightly down in 2017 compared to 2016, the footer is still by far the most common placement for an opt-in location.

By the time your customers reach the footer, they have already had a chance to browse through your site and get a feel for your brand and product.

Now, they can make a more informed decision if they want to be on your email list.

This is different from having your opt-in form in the header because your visitors may feel spammed or forced to sign up too soon.

Chances are, joining your email list is not the first thing on someone’s mind when they visit your website.

The customer has other priorities and intentions.

So ease them into it, and put your opt-in form at the bottom of your page.

Here’s an example from the Adidas store:

If you want to sign up for their email list, you can enter your email address at the bottom of their page.

Notice that Adidas also gives you an incentive to sign up.

Get news and 15% off.

It’s a great way to get more people on board.

We’ll discuss incentives in greater detail shortly.

If you have an ecommerce store and you’re just getting your feet wet with your list building strategy, adding an opt-in option to your footer is a logical place to start.

Use standard popups and incentive-based popups

Based on the graph we looked at earlier, popup ads are the second most popular method of gathering email addresses on websites.

I think they are more effective, so I’m surprised more ecommerce sites aren’t using this strategy.

Don’t believe me?

Well, the numbers don’t lie.

Brian Dean at Backlinko added a popup to his website, which looked like this:

The results were undeniable.

The popup had a conversion rate of 3.42%.

Before implementing the popup, Brian was getting 35 people subscribing to his newsletter each day.

After he implemented the popup strategy, this number jumped to 75 subscribers per day.

He’s not the only one who had success with popups.

According to a case study by OptiMonk, companies like BitNinja got 65% more leads and saw a 114% improvement in their subscriber rates.

This was all done with a simple popup.

Companies may be hesitant to use popups because they have a bad reputation.

The word popup can sound like spam—something intrusive and unwanted by the users.

While this may hold true for harmful, malicious, or unwanted advertisement popups, that’s not the case with our list-building strategy.

The consumer is already on your website.

Your popup isn’t opening a new window or spamming them with irrelevant content.

In fact, the information may be extremely useful for the visitors, especially if your popup adds an incentive.

“Sign up for emails” isn’t the most effective way to build your list.

Why should the consumer provide you with their email address?

You need to give them a reason.

Look back at some of the examples we saw earlier.

Adidas – “Get news and 15% off.”

Backlinko – “Get exclusive strategies for more traffic.”

What’s your incentive?

Forever21 offers customers 10% off with this popup strategy:

Don’t think of popups in a negative way.

You should be using this strategy to build the email list for your ecommerce website.

Just make sure you give your customers a good incentive to subscribe.

Collect email addresses from customers making a purchase

People are hesitant to give out their information.

It’s understandable.

There’s a good chance your customers have had some negative experiences with other companies after giving out their email addresses.

A few bad apples ruined it for the rest of us.

They got a hold of their customers’ email information and abused the trust.

Spam.

Sending out way too many promotions.

Your customers do not want many emails.

It’s the biggest issue reported by consumers.

After some bad experiences, people may not be so willing to hand over their email addresses to every brand that asks for it.

You may need to get creative.

Ask for your customers’ email addresses while they are finalizing the order.

But give them a reason.

You’re not adding them to your email list just yet, but you’ll need to send them an order confirmation.

Here’s a great example from SAXX:

The email address is required to check out.

Why?

SAXX will send you a confirmation of your order.

They also don’t force you to create an account.

Forcing the customer to make a profile in order to check out is one of the top reasons ecommerce sites experience shopping cart abandonment.

So it’s an added bonus that this checkout form specifies that.

All right, let’s get back to building your email list.

You have an excuse to send them some emails now.

Specifically, you can email your customer four times before they officially sign up for your email list or newsletter.

Here’s what you send:

Order confirmation message.

Email stating that the order has shipped.

Confirmation when the package gets delivered.

“How did we do?” follow-up message.

Each of these emails is a chance for you to get these people on to your subscriber list.

Make sure you have an option in each message that allows the customer to join.

You already have all their information, so it should be a simple process taking only one or two clicks on the part of the consumer to sign up.

But keep in mind, the majority of people don’t want to disclose personal data.

That’s why most of the top Internet retailers are only asking for email addresses and names.

Requiring too much personal information to join a subscription list could be the reason why a customer decides not to subscribe.

If your customers are hesitant, just ask for their email addresses while they check out and finalize their purchases.

Then you can send a drip campaign with subsequent messages about the status of their orders.

This is a prime opportunity to get more subscribers.

However, if the customer still doesn’t sign up, don’t keep harassing them.

You’ll have another opportunity to send the same drip campaign when they make another purchase in the future.

Develop a segmentation strategy

Once you add someone to your email list, make sure to segment the user into a specific category.

Not every message you send will be applicable to everyone on your subscriber list.

This is why a proper email segmentation strategy is absolutely essential.

These are some of the top benefits of segmenting your email lists:

increased open rates

improved unsubscribe rates

higher customer retention

fewer spam complaints

Email segmentation will ensure your content is relevant to each subscriber.

Let’s look at an easy example.

If you have customers all over the world, sending a promotion for the 4th of July is not relevant to everyone.

Independence Day in America is only relevant to your customers in the United States.

Geographic location is an obvious way to create segments, but it’s not the only way.

The graph above shows you some other data you can take into consideration when developing your lists.

It’s a great reference to make sure your content is relevant to all subscribers in each segment.

So before you start building your email lists, think about some general segments you’ll want to use.

Keep in mind, as you continue to add subscribers, you may slightly change or tweak your segmentation strategy.

It’s not a perfect process, and you’ll still get some customers who’ll unsubscribe or feel like they’re getting irrelevant emails.

That’s inevitable.

But the key is making sure you minimize these instances.

It’s a difficult strategy to master, but it needs to be a top priority.

Improving segmentation and increasing subscriber engagement are the top two initiatives for email marketers.

Engagement and segmentation go hand in hand.

Proper segmentation will ultimately increase engagement.

It’s important you recognize all of this before you start building your list.

Don’t just start mass emailing everyone until you can figure out what messages are relevant to each subscriber.

Create interactivity with your email marketing campaigns

Once you have customers on your email subscriber list, you’ll want to make sure you keep them there.

Don’t give them a reason to unsubscribe.

You spent all this time and effort acquiring their email addresses, now you need to keep them engaged.

How can you accomplish this?

Follow the trends.

Use interactive emails to stay relevant.

This is the top email marketing trend of 2017.

Here are some of the best ways you can increase interactivity in your emails:

use real-time marketing

incorporate reviews, polls, and surveys

run scratch card advertisements

add menus to the message

incorporate videos within the email

use live shopping carts

add GIFs

These strategies will keep your ecommerce site relevant.

You don’t want to send dull emails to your subscribers.

Use interactivity to retain users who signed up for your messages.

Conclusion

It’s awesome you’ve recognized the importance of building an email list for your ecommerce site.

But before you jump in, think about some of the things we discussed.

If you don’t know where to get started, add a signup form to your page.

The most common place to include this is in the footer of your website.

While it’s a necessary feature, it’s not the most effective.

You also need to add popups to your website.

Just make sure these popups give the consumer an incentive to join your email list.

If your website visitors don’t take the bait signing up through your popups or footer, it’s not over yet.

Get their email addresses when they check out.

Develop an automation strategy, like a drip campaign, to send them messages about the status of their orders.

You’ve got several chances to add subscribers during the following emails:

order confirmed

order shipped

order delivered

order follow-up

If this strategy doesn’t work, it’s okay.

Try again the next time this customer makes a purchase.

You need to develop a segmentation strategy before you start sending out emails to your subscribers.

Not every message is relevant to every subscriber.

Segmenting your lists will help you increase opens and conversions.

It will also improve your unsubscribe rate.

Interactive emails will help prevent customers from unsubscribing.

Creating interactivity will keep the subscribers engaged.

Follow these tips before you start building an email list for your website.

What popup incentive will you offer to your site visitors to encourage them to sign up to your email list?

https://www.quicksprout.com/2017/10/11/how-to-grow-your-email-list-as-an-ecommerce-brand-a-beginners-guide/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2017/10/how-to-grow-your-email-list-as.html

[maxximillian]

Phenibut—the mood-enhancing nootropic smart-drug (that I finally gave a try)

Phenibut just might be your new wingman (or wingwoman)

There were a lot of nootropics to choose from but I had a specific scenario which I was seeking to see if I could improve so it was easy to narrow it down to Phenibut.

As you may know (and if you didn’t you now know!) that I am the host of three podcasts, two are fiction—audio drama—podcasts. I perform these works—yes, I do all the voices—and I engineer myself. I’m coming to the close of my first year, which is to say that I’ve recorded and produced an episode of either comedic or suspense fiction every week for the past 49 weeks.

Some of those episodes are over an hour long. I have experimented with a few different methods of production but early on I realized that the best (read: most efficient) way to produce an episode is to spend a minimal amount of time editing so, unlike my audio drama brethren who record a number of takes then choose the best take to edit into the mix, I rehearse my episode and perform it straight through. I sometimes mispronounce a word, and when I do—just as an engineer would—I roll back to just before the flub, hit play then tap the red button to record to punch myself in at the point where I left off, leaving no trace of a break in dialogue. Over the year, I’ve learned to come in on the middle of a phrase with the appropriate inflection—you can never tell when you’re listening where I may have broken off to correct a mistake but it’s a better experience for me not to mess up in the first place. It allows me to lose myself in the piece and really get into the emotionality of what’s going on in the story.

Some sessions run more smoothly than others. That is to say that some days my reading is more fluid than others. I’m doing what I love so there’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ day but I have wanted to feel more in control of my performances. Before many performances I feel anxious or excited. My general solution is to start off the recording session with a big fat glass of red wine… and then maybe another. Which works. It’s a lovely thing: wine. I love it. (You too, right?)

Here’s the thing about wine, too much turns my reading pear-shaped. After a few glasses I might as well hang it up. So you can see, for some of those longer episodes—or on days where I record more than one episode, wine isn’t a viable solution.

Enter Phenibut.

I’d heard about it mostly from people who were using it in social situations as an alcohol replacement—it’s reported to give that same calming mood lift and genial sociability that I could expect from a couple drinks. Since a couple drinks is what I generally have to smooth out my performance anxiety, I thought I should give it a try.

After reading literally a hundred or more reviews, I decided to place my order from LiftMode. Why? LiftMode had mostly five-star reviews. Repeated in each of the reviews were comments that their orders had arrived quickly—a big green check mark in my book. Some customers left video reviews on YouTube—yes, I looked on YouTube for reviews! I found several unboxing vids of LiftMode customers showing off their wares. The packaging was clean and packed with obvious care. Plus, the product reviews all seemed satisfactory—customers seemed enthusiastic about the quality of the products, and the consistency.

The LiftMode website is nice to look at and use. It was easy to find what I wanted, explore all their products and place my order. There is a lot of useful information on their website, and there’s even a little box on the side for customer support. I used that box to ask a few questions and received a friendly email from customer support within minutes answering my questions in a way I could understand.

Certain beyond a doubt that I’d found a reputable company, I placed my order on liftmode.com.

Within a few days a small box came in the mail. It was clean and undented. Inside were all the products I’d ordered with a receipt, a quality assurance report, and a scoop in an appropriate size to accurately measure the product—there was some love and appreciation inside that box too, I could feel it.

The recommended dosage for Phenibut varies but the range suggested is from 500mg to 2000mg per day. As with anything employed to achieve a result, it’s best to go with the minimum effective dose. Also, Phenibut has the potential to achieve two effects: nootropic and calming. A larger dose might feel nice but I didn’t want to be too relaxed in my performance, or succumb to the irresistible urge to take a mid-afternoon nap in the sunshine.

I dosed 500mg of Phenibut Free Amino Acid.

After about 40 minutes I was sure that I was feeling a subtle improvement in my mood but I didn’t experience the other effects I’d read about. I decided to dose larger the next time.

The following day I dosed 750mg of Phenibut … and recorded an episode straight through without stopping once to punch myself in.

I was mind-blown.

My read was flawless.

But the thing that impressed me the most was this: the performance had been effortless.

I’ll continue to experiment with my dosage. It may be that 750mg isn’t even my sweet-spot. We shall see. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve heard about Phenibut being helpful to people in social situations and I can personally attest that it is helpful in performance situations too. I tried it again, and again I was able to replicate that same effortlessness in my work.

Generally I need to intensely focus to maintain the high-quality concentration required to read long passages aloud without making errors, simultaneously imparting the appropriate emotion and vocal inflection in my narration to keep the listener engaged and be hyper-aware of which of the characters is speaking and about to speak—each character has his or her own cadence and dialect, and I have to keep them clear so that the listener always knows who is speaking. It takes a tremendous amount of focus to do all that while at the same time listening to myself—keeping an ear out for mispronunciations or words spoken too low… there’s more, but you get the idea.

For me to flow effortlessly through an entire episode without stopping seemed like a dream. When I’d reached the end of the recording, the pessimist in me said, 

  “Yeah, but listen back to it and see if you actually did such a great job.”

Of course, you’ve heard of the writer or painter who got into some powders or a bottle of good wine and created a masterpiece only to discover the next day that their masterpiece was a piece of sh*t —LOL — hey it happens to the best of us. But guess what?

The next day it was still a masterpiece.

No matter what it is you do throughout your days and nights, I encourage you to give this a try and compare your results experientially. If you paint gnomes for a living, or are a writer like me, or any type of performer certainly—if you do anything that you feel could be easier with enhanced confidence, focus, or cognition, I hope you will give LiftMode’s Phenibut a try. You can buy a sample — which itself will give you between 2-10 doses (depending on the effect you want to achieve) — for less than $5. Here’s the link.

As with anything, read the guidelines, ask questions if you don’t understand something; use it responsibly—and if you try it, let me know about your awesome experience.

Something to consider: Phenibut is available in capsules and bulk powders. If you don’t have a .001 gram scale at home and do not plan to invest in one, I suggest choosing the capsules. As you experiment to find your most beneficial dose, you’ll want to know exactly how much you’re taking so that you can replicate your results once you hit your sweet spot. You don’t want to be guessing about what that is — after all, this isn’t iced tea mix we’re talking about, these are nootropics. The scoop included is helpful but it’s a measurement of volume and can at best provide an approximate range of  the amount of product in the scoop, and there will always be variations depending on how densely you pack the powder into the scoop and how high you’re piling the powder upon the scoop: no scoop can provide you with an accurate measurement the way a scale can. Capsules have the additional benefit of being easy to transport for travel and to consume on the road should you wish to do so. They are also more discreet. The quality of your experience will be the same no matter which you choose. Bulk powder has the advantage of being administered sublingually, which means that you won’t have to wait for 30 minutes for the capsules to dissolve in your belly. If you’re a mad scientist like me and you do want a scale, consider this one.

And if you’d like to take a listen to my fiction podcasts, here they are: The Mollyville Dystopian Suspense Audio Drama and my award nominated Afterlife Paranormal Audio Drama Podcast — Afterlife is nominated for multiple awards, including Best New Original, Long Form, Small Cast, Ongoing Production and Best Writing of a Fan/Adaptation Production. At the time of this posting the polls are still open. Here’s the link if you’d like to cast a vote for me. Whether you choose to vote or not, I hope you’ll take a listen. It’s a deep little podcast, and darkly funny so I’m told. If you like what you hear, please tell a friend who you think would appreciate it and let me know you’re listening. I always appreciate a hello. You can find me on twitter at @maxximillian.

  Click here to get a free checklist of this post!

Enter your email to grab the checklist:

Phenibut—the mood-enhancing nootropic smart-drug (that I finally gave a try) was originally published on MAXXIMILLIAN DAFOE

[oldguardaudio]

Rush Limbaugh tells us why 90% of Americans Support Trump’s Infrastructure Stimulus

rush obama shadow government against trump at HoaxAndChange.com

Rush USA Flag at HoaxAndChange.com

rush-limbaugh @ Old Guard Audio

Mar 9, 2017

  RUSH: We have a couple of surveys out here that have a lot of people stymied, and one of them is from Quinnipiac University. Ninety percent of the people surveyed favor Trump’s trillion-dollar infrastructure spending bill. Ninety percent. Ninety percent of Republicans. Ninety percent of Democrats. Ninety-one percent independents. Ninety-two percent men. Eighty-eight percent women. Ninety-two percent white college graduates agree.

So it’s overwhelming. And there are people out there trying to figure this out ’cause it doesn’t jibe. Republicans, 90% favor trillion-dollar government stimulus. This is not just Trump voters. This is everybody. And it doesn’t make sense, because all of these years everybody has assumed that it’s Republicans and conservatives who would oppose this in numbers close to 90%. And yet here they are supporting it. It’s not a surprise that 90% of Democrats would support this, but that 90% of Republicans, slash, conservatives has got people pulling their hair out.

CNN with basically the same question. Seventy-nine percent approve of the government spending a trillion dollars on infrastructure. Seventy-two percent Democrat, 79% Independent, 87% Republican approval in the CNN poll. Why do you think this is? ‘Cause a lot of people are saying, “This doesn’t make any sense. Look at the numbers of Republicans that opposed Obama’s stimulus.” Now, I think it’s easy. I think the explanation here is easy. And it’s one of the reasons that people are rock-ribbed ideological miss what’s happening.

Some of these rock-ribbed Republicans and conservatives are still trying to figure out how Trump won. So they’re still in a state of confusion over that. Well, let’s compare the two stimuli. The Obama stimulus, otherwise known as the Porkulus bill, was never going to be spent on the claims Obama made: rebuilding roads and bridges and schools. Everybody knew, on the Republican side, because they know who Obama was and is. Obama is a Big Government liberal, and when Big Government liberals spend Big Government money, it’s usually spent on welfare or similar type things.

In the case of Obama’s stimulus, most of it went to union groups state by state by state. They weren’t any new roads built, other than those already scheduled to be repaired and built. There weren’t any new school repairs, and there weren’t any bridges. None of the things that Obama got the money for actually happened. But Trump has been very specific about what he wants to use this money for. He wants to rebuild roads, bridges, and he makes a point of airports. And he talks about how dilapidated they are compared to other modernized airports in other places around the world.

And I think all this reflects is a realization on the part of American people. The American people, many of them, and particularly on the Republican side, think the country is falling apart in a whole bunch of different ways. We’re falling apart culturally. We are falling apart in our politics. We’re falling apart politically. And I believe it’s nothing more complicated than people actually do think that we need to modernize some things in this country. And I believe that if you would deeply ask these people, if you would find these people that make up the people saying 90%, say, agree with the premise, you would find that the vast majority of them think that this is a legitimate responsibility for government, state and federal combined, to make sure that the airports are modernized and not falling apart, to make sure bridges are not gonna collapse down the road, to make sure dams are okay. The stuff that people assume government does anyway, that’s government’s responsibility, state and local.

I mean, the private sector gets hired to do these projects. That’s another aspect of this. You’re gonna spend a trillion dollars, but who’s gonna get it? It’s gonna go to jobs, it’s gonna go to contractors, it’s gonna go to people who get hired to build and rebuild and refurbish these various projects. This money is literally going to end up — I think people trust Trump on this — this money is literally going to end up in the economy. It’s going to end up as commerce. It’s going to create jobs. It’s going to have demonstrable upside results.

I think it’s just a simple matter of trusting Trump when he says this is what he’s gonna do, plus he’s a builder. And they look at Trump’s properties, they see the buildings and other things that Trump has built, and they are all modern, and they’re all state-of-the-art, and they all look cool. And this is what Trump’s expertise is. And I think people agree with Trump when he runs around complaining about the state of infrastructure in this country.

As he points out himself, you can’t drive along the FDR, head up by Yankee Stadium on your way to the George Washington Bridge, you can’t help but look up at some of those tunnels and bridges and wonder how many days they’ve got left before they start to fall apart. They’re rusted out here. You can’t miss it just looking at it. You go through the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel and you see whole sections where the bricks have fallen, and you wonder, did they fall on a car driving in front of you? What happened? Where are those missing tiles?

Those bridges and tunnels, the tunnels particularly, have been there for who knows how long. In some cases, yeah, you gotta go back to Robert Moses who got the Triborough Bridge built and all these things in New York. In some cases it’s a hundred years for some of these things and there hasn’t been any modernizing. People see this each and every day. You go to the airports in this country, and it’s a ditto.

You know, I’ve got Apple TV, and Apple TV has a bunch of screen savers. If you put the setting to download new screen savers every month, then you get new ones, and what they are are 4K — well, you can’t get 4K in the — They’re high-definition, slo-mo drone footage of some of the most beautiful places in the world. That’s the screen saver for Apple TV. And I noticed in the last three weeks that there are cities and airports that I’ve not seen. I take pictures of these and try to find, where is that? And most of them are in Asia. Many of them, some of the stuff in Hong Kong, some of the stuff in the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai.

We have nothing like it in this country. Skylines of cities in Malaysia put us to shame. Now, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m saying it’s patently obvious to anybody who observes that we haven’t modernized a whole lot of our infrastructure in many, many years, and yet people are very aware of how much money has ostensibly been allocated for it. Then you add the experience people have at the airport with the TSA and with the hassle it is to get to the gate, get on your airplane, and what you have to walk through to get there and so forth.

I think it all resonates. I think 90% of the people in this country are common-sensical and realize that we have fallen way behind on simply maintaining the status — you know, the Golden Gate Bridge, I’m fascinated with the Golden Gate Bridge. I have been to the top of the South Tower. When I lived in Sacramento, I on the air expressed the desire countless times, especially after I saw the movie A View to a Kill, which they ostensibly staged a fight scene on top of the North Tower. They did, actually. And I met somebody in the highway patrol who arranged for me to get to the top of the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

And the way you do it is this. You drive down there to the bridge and you go to the bridge authority office and you get in the golf cart. They know you’re coming. It’s all preset. Get in the golf cart, and they drive you out to where the South Tower intersects the bridge, and you go in a hatch like you would find on a submarine, and inside there is an elevator that holds two people. And it’s not a luxury elevator. It’s a construction elevator with a floorboard and not much on the side or top.

I had a little video camera and I had to put my camera on top of my head and hold my arms up for the other people in the elevator to have room. It goes very slow. You go up there, and you can hear the bridge moving with the traffic and the wind. It’s dark. Every 10 or 20 feet is a 10-watt lightbulb. And you just keep going and going, because it’s slow. When the elevator stops, you’re still not there. You have to climb a 30-foot ladder to get to a hatch that opens like a literal hatch at the top of a submarine that’s wide enough for one person to go. Then you finally climb up to that ladder, 30 feet, 20 feet, whatever it is. It’s a straight-up ladder. It’s not a stepladder. It’s a ladder built onto the side of some wall in there. You climb up there, and there you are, you’re on the top.

I looked at this and I imagined building this in the Great Depression. And they got it done, along with the Bay Bridge, in four years. And it has withstood everything the world’s climate has thrown at it. It’s painted every day. It’s constantly painted. They never are not painting it or doing maintenance on it. It requires it, all the fog, the rust prevention that they have to do. I got an education on just how many cables, the strength of the cables that are anchored on both sides of the bridge in the earth to support the cables and the roadway that’s supported by the two towers.

It just impressed upon me how difficult building that bridge was, especially with the technology we didn’t have back in the 1930s when this was done. And that bridge has been maintained. That bridge is every bit as functional and as new, modern as it was when it opened. But look what it takes for that. But you can’t say that about a lot of the other infrastructure in the country. I’m only focusing on the Golden Gate Bridge ’cause I’m fascinated with it. I’m sure there are other places just as good, just as maintained, not trying to slight anybody here. I’m sure the George Washington Bridge — well, no, I’m not. (laughing) I’m not. But that’s only because I haven’t studied it. And the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is even bigger than the Golden Gate, even longer than that.

But I just think people are very attuned to the fact that the United States is not keeping pace. And yet they’re aware of how much money this government spends on stuff. And then they read the other day where California just spent a hundred million dollars in legislative bills on fairness? And, meanwhile, they’re worried the Oroville Dam is not gonna hold up, but we’ve spent a hundred million dollars on fairness? Believe me, more Americans than you would know are aware of this kind of stuff and think it’s long past time the United States got its act together and modernized airports and made sure that bridges were shored up or were not gonna plummet or collapse. Same thing with potholes in highways.

Look at New York City. How many people live in a block? You have a couple skyscrapers, condos and apartments. Thousands of people living in a block. The streets ought to be paved in gold with the tax revenue just for the block! They aren’t, obviously. But a trillion dollars to make America great again, people in this country think that’s a valid investment. But a trillion dollars to buy votes for the Democrat Party, no way. That isn’t gonna help them.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Somebody here wants to weigh in on the stimulus and why 90% support it. This is Klein in Des Moines, Iowa. Welcome to the program. It’s great to have you here, sir.

CALLER: Thanks Rush. I just wanted to mention that the first thing that popped in my head when you mentioned that 90% is most people understand that Trump’s gonna get three times more done with that money than any other politician would have.

RUSH: Do you really think that? I mean, that’s a specific thing to say. You think people are confident Trump is going to actually get three times the value for that trillion dollars?

CALLER: Yeah, I do. And it’s actually gonna get done. You know, right now they do so many surveys and studies and spend half the money, and then a year later it’s yet to be even started. And I think Trump’s actually gonna —

RUSH: Well, that’s true. The lawyers get their share, and then the environmentalists get their share, and there’s a whole bunch of different hands in any kind of allocation or spending, appropriation, and by the time you end up with a net amount, it’s way below what has actually been appropriated, ’cause so many people are taking their cut out of the deal. Well, anyway, thanks. I appreciate it. It’s interesting.

I don’t doubt that people are confident Trump will get it done. That’s why he was elected. He’s a builder. I don’t doubt that people believe it’s needed. But the real thing here, folks, maybe I should emphasize this again. Let’s go back to what the traditional ideological divide in the country is. You would think that the automatic response to this by Republicans and conservatives would be to oppose it. “Government? Trillion dollars?” In the first place, they would ask, “Where we gonna get the money? We don’t have the money!”

The second thing they would say is, “It’s not the government’s job, for crying out loud, we’ve spent our whole career, we’ve written, we’ve established think tanks, whole identities predicated on the fact that we oppose this kind of stuff and now all of a sudden you’re for it?” So they’re scratching their heads trying to figure this out. It boils down to one reality, and that is most people are not ideological, sadly. They’re not.

But I think the reason why those old rules of thumb don’t apply here, and the polling data, if we choose to believe it, indicates it doesn’t apply, how in the world can 90% of Republicans and 91% of independents support the government growing by a trillion dollars? Which is essentially what we’re talking about here. And I think it boils down to substance. I think people have certain beliefs in the role of government. What is it for? And in many cases, it’s kind of like definition of federalism, which that word causes most people to misunderstand what it actually is.

Federalism actually is the system where the states and local communities do the vast majority of things under the belief that people closest to a situation should be the ones to deal with it, to resolve it, repair it, fix it. The other part of federalism is that by virtue of our founding, the federal government’s supposed to be distant and involved in as little as possible.

The federal government is only supposed to do the things no one else can do, such as wage war. The states cannot wage war. There would never be unity. The federal government has to wage war. The federal government has to provide for the national defense. The states can’t do that. But when it comes to things like bridges and highways, well, the national highway system, the Interstate Highway System, that again was the federal government. The states could not have done that themselves unless all 48, 50 would have gotten together. I’m sorry, 57 had gotten together. But the federal government can get it done, design it and so forth.

Federalism is where anything the federal government shouldn’t do or can’t do, the states do. Well, that’s the opposite of liberalism. Liberalism wants to give as much as possible to the federal government. There was a story the last couple of weeks, transgender bathroom bill. Trump signed an executive order taking the federal government out of the equation. He sent it back to the states and he said you people figure this out.

If the people in Minnesota want anybody to be able to use any bathroom because they identify as a boy or girl on a given day, you decide. The governor of Minnesota was livid. He didn’t want it. He wanted some distant capital mandating it, taking the heat off of him. He wanted transgender bathrooms, but he didn’t want to be on the hook for it. He’s a liberal Democrat governor. He wanted Washington to mandate it.

This is the difference. Liberals want Washington mandating as much as possible. Federalism says, nope, the federal government you don’t even see if it’s a state or local issue. Well, you know as well as I do that the federal government is involved in so much that you can’t shake a stick at it. And it’s gotten way big, too powerful, and so forth.

Now, this proposal of modernizing roads, bridges, airports, I think these are the kinds of things that most Americans think the federal government’s gonna have to direct it to get it done. But you’re saying, “Rush, airports are not national, and bridges are not.” Which I think offers up something else fascinating. Trump has said that there’s going to be a mixture of federal and state and local private revenue. And people start hearing that, they shake their head, “Well, what? Private revenue?” Yeah. “How’s that gonna work?”

Well, Trump hasn’t explained it yet, but we might be able to imagine what it would be. Partial equity for helping to rebuild a building or a bridge or a road or modernizing a portion of an airport. The point is, it isn’t all gonna be federal money by the time Trump gets around to actually proposing what this is. But I think most people that voted for Trump, and apparently a lot of people that didn’t, really believe this is necessary, bottom line really think that it is a proper role for government.

Now, if you take the trillion dollars and you just start pork barrel spending it, that 90%’s not gonna stay 90%. I think it also means that people do not yet associate Trump with traditional Washington behavior, among things at the top of that list would be pork barrel spending. I think they genuinely believe that Trump is a get in, get out, and fix it, move on to something else kind of guy. I don’t think they see Trump as a traditional politician. That’s why he was elected.

But you have some lifelong Democrat like Obama come along and propose this, and the suspicions are immediate because of experience guided by intelligence. We know what Democrats do with all this big money, and we never see anything modernized, we never see anything fixed. All we see is constituents of Democrats paid off and strengthened.

It’s like the story we had last week. Do you remember when I passed on to you what happens to most of the corporate fine money under the Obama administration? Corporation X commits a crime or a violation, such as BP oil, the oil spill in the Gulf. And so here comes the Obama administration. And after they’re found guilty, the Regime sends the DOJ, the attorney general out to send a message: Okay, we’re gonna fine you. You got two options here. You can pay $50 billion — I’m picking a number here — $50 billion to the United States Treasury or you can pay $20 million to Planned Parenthood.

Well, if you’re BP oil, what are you gonna do? You mean $50 billion to you or $20 million to plan? Yep. I’ll send the $20 million to Planned Parenthood. The Obama administration was using fines to underwrite left-wing, extremist, radical groups. It’s one of the reasons they sought corporate violations. Corporations would roll over. I mean, the federal government comes calling, the Department of Justice, you’re all over. It’s easier to pay ’em the money than to fight ’em ’cause they’ve got all the money they need to hire lawyers ’cause they got a printing press. Corporation doesn’t, they got stockholders.

I don’t think people associate anything like that with Trump. They take him seriously so far. They think he’s being straight with ’em. And when he says he’s gonna modernize this, he’s gonna build a wall, whatever he’s gonna do, they trust that he’s gonna do it. That’s why this health care thing is kind of important, and he’s out there tweeting (paraphrasing), “Stick with me on this. First Phase, it’s gonna be beautiful when we’re finished with it. It’s gonna be wonderful. Don’t doubt me.” He’s tweeting this out to conservative groups and others who are not cool with this health care reform bill as they know of it right now.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We had an audio sound bite on the program yesterday from Salena Zito, the reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She’s written in the New York Post, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. She made a name for herself during the campaign by going into all of the small towns that she could in interior Pennsylvania and Ohio, many traditional Democrat states, and she saw nothing but Trump signs.

She found people, Democrats, independents, just could not wait to vote for Trump. She, therefore, believed Trump was going to win even before the convention. She thought Trump was gonna win in September 2015, based on the people she was talking to. And she’s continuing to go back and talk to these people. And they haven’t changed. They have not soured on Trump. They have not softened. They have not lost any enthusiasm.

And in fact she has a column that ran the New York Post yesterday about all this, and this goes to why so many people that voted — actually it’s people that didn’t vote for Trump, too, in the Quinnipiac poll who support to the tune of 90% Trump’s trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. The headline of her piece: “Trump’s Voters Have High Hopes Even if They Don’t Expect Miracles.” And I think that says it all. They’re not expecting miracles. And this is where the anti-Trump forces are missing it again.

They think Trump is gonna have to hit a grand-slam home run and come through specifically on every promise he made or else Trump voters will abandon him. That’s what they’re hoping on and counting on, and they are wrong. And they’re wrong because they still do not understand the people who voted for Trump. They still hold those people in contempt.

And they’re not interested in getting to know them, they’re not interested in understanding them. They don’t want them to win ever again. They don’t care what those people think. There’s nothing to learn from them. They’re just the nameless, faceless rabble that make up the population of the country, but that’s all they are to the Washington establishment.

“Trump’s Voters Have High Hopes Even if They Don’t Expect Miracles.” And her date line here is Mingo Junction, Ohio. Just one of the countless places that she toured during the campaign, and now as I say she’s going back to these places.

“Many people living in this town of used-to-be’s don’t expect their community will ever return to its glory days. They don’t anticipate the return to a downtown of bustling businesses patronized by a well-paid middle class working at the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plant. They want a little fresh paint on the vacant buildings, to cover up the sorrows lining the main business district’s ironically named Commerce Street.

“And they’re not expecting magic from President Trump. ‘All we need is to invest in ourselves with some small businesses up and down the street, and we’ll be fine,’ said Rich Grimm, a retired steel worker. Grimm is aspirational, pragmatic about the return of steel or coal jobs, and determined.”

All these people are Democrats. She makes it a point to speak to mostly Democrats. These people just want a change in direction. They just want America to be what it was when they were growing up. They want to live in a place they think is getting better all the time. They want to live in a place that even though there’s drastic change, that there is adaptation to it, the opportunity to adapt.

Okay, so Main Street shuts down, but what’s gonna take its place? Why does our community have to die? We don’t want our community to die. And in Trump they believe that he has them in mind when he talks about making America great again. So again, the strict ideological analysis of this is people are gonna miss the boat if that’s how they continue to look at this.

And, look, folks, it’s tough. I mean, I know some rob ridiculous conservatives who love Trump who are still, “What is this trillion dollars, I can’t get any arms around it. We’re not supposed to support this. I don’t get this localism. I don’t get this partnership, government, what do you mean, user fees? How is all of this gonna work? It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand the government spending a trillion dollars. Why are we for it? I don’t understand.”

And the confusion there is all rooted in this is just not something we Republicans or conservatives we’re supposed to automatically reject this because the result of this is not something we support, government getting bigger. And I think that’s also the key. If this money is spent outside Washington, how’s Washington getting bigger?

I’m trying to tell you how I think people are looking at this. And I think part and partial to understanding this, understanding public opinion on this, is being honest with what people outside Washington actually think of it and have thought of it for a long time. They don’t trust it. They don’t like it. They don’t believe in it. They don’t think they have any impact on what happens there. Along comes Trump. Boom. In their minds, things have changed.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Just got an email. I’m not gonna mention the airport. “It’s like going to the Third World. English is the second language!” Yeah, I know. I know; that’s exactly my point.

Rush Limbaugh tells us why 90% of Americans Support Trump’s Infrastructure Stimulus Rush Limbaugh tells us why 90% of Americans Support Trump’s Infrastructure Stimulus Mar 9, 2017 RUSH: We have a couple of surveys out here that have a lot of people stymied, and one of them is from…