#norbert lead generation

[marketncard]

Norbert Lead Generation- Viola Norbert 2023 | Lead generation and email outreach tool

Norbert Lead Generation – The business world today has become highly competitive. For this reason, lead generation has taken the top stage in marketing as businesses need a constant flow of new customers or “leads” to stay afloat and generate revenue. However, lead generation can be a daunting task, especially for small businesses that lack the resources and manpower to execute a successful…

[nkjemisin]

Hi there, I hope this is ok. I thought about asking on the twitsphere, but you understandably left. Anyway, I am an older student at Portland State University and today we were discussing your lovely short story "The effluent Engine". What I was curious about was the timeline of the story. For instance, it took place two generations after the Haitian Revolution, which of course ended in 1804, which would place the timeframe around or after the American Civil War. Then, the Order of the White Camilla was, as you know, founded in 1867. So, my question is what is the timeframe of the story? Did the Civil War actually happen in your world? Or is it up to the reader to decide for themself? Anyway, thank you for your time. I love your work. Nathan Tompkins

Hi there! What a cool question.

Mostly the answer boils down to "this was an alternate universe and I pulled details from history, but it obviously isn't real history, so please still treat it as fiction." That is, I used part of the name of the Knights of the White Camellia, but it's not meant to be the actual organization (the real version might have been into espionage, IDK, but mostly afaict they were just wealthy violent racists who considered themselves too good to rub elbows with "trash" in the Klan). That's why I changed the name very slightly to "the Order of the White Camellia," instead of the Knights. I also made substantial changes to Norbert Rilleux, who really did invent a bunch of amazing stuff, some of which got blatantly stolen from him due to racism... but who probably wasn't as obnoxious as I wrote him to be. There's no evidence his sister Eugenie was lesbian or bi, either (but also no evidence that she wasn't...). Such is fiction.

As for the Civil War in that world, I do believe that Haiti becoming a successful superpower with an effective air force would either have a) supercharged secessionism in the South leading up to the war, and thus triggered the war earlier... or b) it would have made the architects of the war very wary, because it would be easy to see AU Haiti as a knife laid right at the South's throat. That might have delayed the war. So I went with B.

But really? I wasn't thinking about the Civil War. I just wanted to write a cute swashbuckling old-school adventure-romance with a couple of Black lesbians fucking up racists. I wasn't aiming for historical accuracy at all, lol.

[rarilee33]

On automation- thoughts

20/6/23

(Okay this is not Moral Orel related (sorry) BUT it is art related, kinda, and I'm sorry if it seems messy).

I have been thinking about the core problems with increasing automation and the advent of ai/machine learning 'creations' (as in ai generated so-called 'art') that lead back to the problems with capitalism and the way our society functions, dysfunctionally.

If you've read anything from the anarchist library (anarchistlibrary.org), you may have read "Abolish Restaurants" which is a great essay detailing the history of restaurants and why its form and methodology are flawed at the core.

Anyway there is a passage on automation in this essay that I think is relevant to the discourse around AI and the replacement of creative human output with fed computer generation and the like. It's not exactly the same but I think it should be brought up as a point. "Machines are not used to make our jobs easier. They are used as a way to increase the amount of product a particular worker can pump out in a given amount of time... machines replace human tasks. They become just another link the chain of tasks. We don't have less work to do. We just have to do a smaller range of tasks, more often" (Abolish Restaurants). The described chain of command here highlights the problem with the restaurant model and automation. Particularly the bolded phrases indicate the similar issues with machine domination as in AI generation in lieu of human expression. The issue with all of this is nothing fundementally changes for society. Technology as a concept is neither progressive nor regressive, but the way it's formed, how it is used and who uses it for what means, is. In his essay, "Forcing Marx into the Automation Debate", Eric Fleischmann relates MIT professor Norbert Weiner's words about automation from his book The Human Use of Human Beings. Weiner wrote “that such machines, though helpless by themselves, may be used by a human being or a block of human beings to increase their control over the rest of the human race” (Fleischmann).

What does this have to do with the use of ai? Well, the way machine learning and automation in general has been utilised on a large scale does not do anything radical for society or especially for reduction of people's labour. This disparity is despite the way this particular field of technology might be framed as being 'new' and 'exciting' and even 'revolutionary', as 'game changers'. I am absolutely not saying that every use of machine learning/ automation is the same because they are not- that would be a mischaracterisation. BUT in relation to the discourse over the many problems with popular ai content generation, and with means of automation in the workplace, there is much space to critique and re-imagine.

At the core, the way automation is implemented only enforces a hierarchy/chain of command in which the few have power over the many. And it all comes back to prioritisation of capital procurement over considerations for people. That goal is at heavy odds with progress and getting out of this static hell in which we are marching through late-stage capitalism.

In their essay "When the Robots Fire Us", the Federation of Anarchists in Bulgaria wrote, "Technological progress gives us opportunities to work less and less, and to create more. Instead of this, however, the need to sell ourselves on the “labor market” threatens to ruin us. The only decision is to remove this market, the removal of ownership over our natural resources, technologies and robots, distribution of resources based on the needs of the people. We are valuable because we are people, not because we work. Only then will we be secure in our futures. We will surpass the monotony of work, the repetitiveness of every day, and the shorter days with more creativity".

I wanted to include this quote because it speaks to a future without the labour market and essentially without prioritisation of capital, wherein the means of production- that is, how goods are produced, and who does the work- must change from the current form(s) to realize a radical potential that benefits everyone. In this imaginary we can create without the oppressive and regressive capitalist systems looming overhead.

TL;DR: Automation and AI machine learning pretend to be radical when they aren't and only serve the status quo

essays referenced:

Abolish Restaurants; Forcing Marx into the Automation Debate ; When the Robots Fire Us

There's much more I could say on this topic but I don't want to go on much longer here. Back to the usual art posting next time, I just wanted to get this out. I apologise if it's a bit all about the place.

[stateofsport211]

📸 ATP official website

The action in the Zhangjiagang Challenger continued with seventh seed Mark Lajal, who notably came back from 4-6, 3-5 down in the first round against alternate Philip Henning and straightforwardly knocked out Rio Noguchi 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, faced qualifier Norbert Gombos, who advanced after Dalibor Svrcina's withdrawal for some unspecified reasons. While this match could have been exciting at their best, this turned out to be a more straightforward one for some baseline game-related reasons.

In a start marred by forehand errors from the Slovak qualifier, M. Lajal fired a forehand winner to confirm his balance before breaking early to 2-0, consolidating his lead to 3-0 afterward. Thanks to his cross-court forehand winner, M. Lajal generated another break point before N. Gombos secured a massive hold to 3-1, which finally put himself in the scoreboard.

Several games later, N. Gombos tried to use his forehands to his advantage, one of which winners created his forehand winner before turning out to have several break points, but M. Lajal also secured a big hold to 5-2. Two games later, the Estonian seventh seed earned his chance to serve for the first set, where even though one of his set points were saved thanks to a rare forehand return ace from N. Gombos, the former still took the first set 6-3 to assert his dominance in this match. By the end of the first set, the Slovakian qualifier took a medical timeout.

[hammadchauhdary]

Best Email Finder Tools: Finding Email Addresses

In an interconnected world driven by digital communication, accessing accurate email addresses is paramount for effective outreach and networking. Whether you're reaching out to potential clients, collaborators, or recruiters, harnessing the right tools can streamline your efforts and amplify your impact. Here are some of the best email finder tools to elevate your outreach game:

Hunter.io: With its vast database and user-friendly interface, Hunter.io allows you to find email addresses associated with a specific domain effortlessly. Simply enter the domain name, and Hunter.io provides a list of verified email addresses associated with that domain.

Snov.io: Snov.io offers a comprehensive suite of email outreach tools, including an email finder feature that enables you to search for email addresses by name and company. Its advanced search filters and Chrome extension make prospecting and lead generation seamless.

Clearbit Connect: Clearbit Connect integrates seamlessly with Gmail, providing real-time enrichment data and email finding capabilities within your inbox. By simply typing in a company name or domain, Clearbit Connect retrieves relevant contact information, including email addresses and social media profiles.

Voila Norbert: Voila Norbert specializes in email address verification and enrichment, helping you find and verify email addresses with precision. Its intuitive interface and bulk search functionality make it ideal for large-scale prospecting campaigns.

Find That Email: Find That Email offers a straightforward email finding solution, allowing you to search for email addresses by entering a person's name and their company website. With its built-in verification tool, you can ensure the accuracy of your contact list.

In conclusion, leveraging email finder tools empowers you to expand your network, nurture relationships, and drive business growth. By incorporating these top email finder tools into your outreach strategy, you can unlock the power of connectivity and propel your endeavors to new heights.

Best Email Finder Tools for Seamless Outreach: Unlocking the Power of Connectivity"

[prnanayarquah]

EN.AR Limited sponsors Koby Symple, CMA 2023 Artiste of the Year, to Dubai.

New Post has been published on https://plugzafrica.com/en-ar-limited-sponsors-koby-symple-cma-2023-artiste-of-the-year-to-dubai/

EN.AR Limited sponsors Koby Symple, CMA 2023 Artiste of the Year, to Dubai.

EN.AR Limited, the official sponsors for the Central Music Awards 2023, have honored their promise to the reigning Artiste of the Year, Koby Symple, by providing him with a sponsored trip to Dubai.

This sponsorship package, as promised by Chairman Kweku Etuaful, the Chief Executive Director of EN.AR Limited was dedicated to the Artist of the Year category as part of the Central Music Awards 2023.

Koby Symple in Dubai

This is in reference to the surprise announcement made by the General Manager of Fays Lounge, Norbert Onoman, during the main event night on Saturday, November 25th, 2023.

On Wednesday, January 10, 2024, Koby Symple, the reigning CMA Artiste of the Year, together with Mr. Spio Jungo, the CEO of Heritage Promotions, and the organizers of the annual Central Music Awards, arrived in Dubai.

Spio Jungo, the CEO of Heritage Promotions

Koby Symple is in Dubai for vacation, to attend a Music & Event Summit, and to shoot an official music video for his timeless song dubbed “Straight Win” off his “Dear Mr. Symple EP”.

Koby Symple, Chairman Kweku Etuaful and an official at EN.AR Limited

EN.AR Limited, a leading company in Ghana, and its subsidiary brands such as Fays Lounge, nJet, and Club 161, BB Winery & Li-Quora were official sponsors for the Central Music Awards 2023.

Source: Bismark Botchwey

Deputy Communications Executive

Heritage Promotions

[fozzieio]

Are you looking for Lusha top alternatives?

Lusha is a popular tool for finding contact information, primarily email addresses and phone numbers, for professionals and businesses. Here are some potential alternatives to Lusha for finding contact information:

1. Hunter (formerly known as Email Hunter): Hunter allows you to find email addresses associated with a specific domain or company. It also provides a verification feature to check the deliverability of email addresses.

2. Clearbit Connect: Clearbit offers a suite of data enrichment tools, including Clearbit Connect, which helps you find email addresses, job titles, and other information about prospects. It integrates with popular email platforms like Gmail.

3. ZoomInfo: ZoomInfo provides a database of company and contact information, including email addresses, phone numbers, and company details. It's often used for sales and marketing purposes.

4. Find That Email: This tool allows you to search for email addresses by entering a person's name and their company domain. It also offers a Chrome extension for easy access.

5. Snov.io: Snov.io offers a range of email finder and outreach tools, including an email verifier, to help you find and verify email addresses. It integrates with various platforms and offers a Google Chrome extension.

6. Adapt.io: Adapt.io provides contact information for businesses and professionals, including email addresses and phone numbers. It's often used for lead generation and sales prospecting.

7. RocketReach: RocketReach helps you find email addresses, phone numbers, and social media profiles of professionals and businesses. It also offers a Chrome extension for easy access.

8. Voila Norbert: This tool specializes in finding email addresses by entering the person's name and their company's domain. It verifies email addresses for deliverability.

9. GetProspect: GetProspect is a LinkedIn email finder that helps you extract contact information, including email addresses, from LinkedIn profiles. It's particularly useful for B2B lead generation.

10. Lead411: Lead411 provides contact information for businesses and professionals, with a focus on company news and updates that can be useful for sales and marketing efforts. Read the Lusha top alternatives at Fozzie.io. Before choosing an alternative to Lusha, we recommend checking the latest reviews, pricing, and features to determine which one best suit your needs and budget. Additionally, ensure that you comply with privacy and data protection regulations when using such tools for contact information retrieval.

[fredborges98]

"Every day he lectured me, "Look at the mess I'm in. If I ever catch you smoking, you'll be sorry, drinking even a glass of booze because you'll like it too much." ... Freddy Trump did a good job."Donald Trump

By: Fred Borges

Narcisismo and political study areas.

What does really matters?

Lula da Silva( Brazil) George W. Bush( USA),Vladimir Putin ( Russia).Common pitfalls of narcissism's traps.

Extremely self-centered with an exaggerated sense of self-importance : marked by or characteristic of excessive admiration of or infatuation with oneself. a narcissistic personality.

Social power is irresistibly appealing to narcissistically disturbed personalities. Uninhibited egocentricity, career obsession, a winning mentality and fantasies of grandeur - the narcissist employs these traits to clear the way through the corridors of economic and political power.

"Blinded by his fantasies of grandeur and omnipotence, the narcissist loses his grasp on social reality and necessarily fails in the end.

It is closely related to this loss of reality that the leader turns away from the norms, values and ideals to which he should actually be committed.

Obsession with power, unscrupulousness and cynicism can give rise to brutal misanthropy.

A masterpiece of political psychology, in which the age of abnormal narcissism." Norbert Copray, Dr. phil.

Hans-Jürgen Wirth has reached the stage at which a general psychology of politics can be established. This step had been indispensable. Paul Parin (1916 2009), M.D., psychoanalyst in Zurich, International Sigmund Freud Award of Vienna.

To better understand our political leaders is to better understand our political leaders is to better understand ourselves, and humanitys chances for survival.

In this extraordinary book, Hans-Jürgen Wirth explores the impact of narcissism on how political power is exercised. Scholarly, insightful, passionate, and beautifully illustrated, this book challenges us to take a hard look at the characters of those we choose as our leaders.

"It affirms that psychoanalysis can make vital contributions to our comprehension of political processes." Sandra Buechler, Ph.D., is training and supervising analyst at the William Alanson White Institute in New York.

People usually think of “high self-esteem” as optimal. However, esteem that relies on others’ opinion is not self-esteem, but “other-esteem.”

Believing that unrealistic and other-dependent self-esteem is unhealthy and prefer to describe self-esteem as either healthy or imor- impaired.

Impaired self-esteem leads to defensiveness, interpersonal and professional problems, and with narcissists, aggression as well.

Ranking narcissists’ self-esteem high is misleading, due to the fact it’s generally inflated and unrelated to objective reality.

Additionally, it’s fragile and easily deflated.

Healthy self-esteem is stable and not so reactive to the environment.

It’s non-hierarchical and not based on feeling superior to others.

Nor is it associated with aggression and relationship problems, but the reverse. People with healthy self-esteem aren’t aggressive and have fewer relationship conflicts.

They’re able to compromise and get along.

According to the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV, everything so far described these three leaders temperament and reported behavior would classify them as schizophrenics due to his aggressive, violent behavioral displays combined with an essentially withdrawn, sexually dysfunctional personality.

Profiles closely seems to match a schizophrenic paranoid type with delusions of grandeur and persecution.

Analysts who have studied over the decades generally agree with this diagnosis of schizophrenia for them.

According to the Freud (1940/1964) and his theory on personality, he suggested that our personalities were our way of interacting with the world.

He referenced 3 personality types (schemas) found within every person as being: (1) Erotic, (2) Obsessive, and (3) Narcissistic. Regarding these three specific personalities, Freud’s theory would label Lula da Silva as being a clear example of the Narcissistic type, yet who at the same time displayed features of the Obsessive and Erotic personality type.

A narcissistic personality, according to Freud, is the self-defining and/or self-directed type who alone will decide for themselves what is right and wrong, and what values are appropriate to hold.

He makes note that narcissists are not to be confused with egoists because they are, in fact, set apart from one another in that an egotist takes no interest in putting forth the efforts narcissists do to impress others. Instead, egoists insist on constantly highlighting to others their actual accomplishments.

Lastly, Freud emphasizes a narcissist’s single-minded vision is his most important feature, explaining that someone of this personality type chooses not to take into consideration what others say or do because he is so focused on pursuit of his own vision. (Freud, S. 1940/1964).

[dailynewsresearch]

[Leadfeeder, Prospect.Io, Reply.Io, Voila Norbert] Lead Generation Tools Competitive Market Insight| 2023-2033

Lead Generation Tools Market Overview

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Leading players of the global Lead Generation Tools Market are analyzed taking into account their market share, recent developments, new product launches, partnerships, mergers or acquisitions, and markets served. We also provide a comprehensive analysis of their product portfolios to explore the products and applications they focus on when operating in the global marketplace. Furthermore, the report offers two separate industry forecasts – one for the production side and one for the consumption side of the global industry. It also provides useful recommendations for new and established players of the global market.

Lead Generation Tools Competitive Market Outlook, Product Types And Applications

GuysApplicationscompaniesLead Data Collection Tools Marketing Automation ToolsSMEs Large OrganizationsLeadfeeder Prospect.io Reply.io Voila Norbert HubSpot Albacross Discover.ly WisePops OptinMonster Lusha Hello Bar ReferralCandy Jotform Hunter Skrapp Hunter.io

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(2) Another broad section of the research study is reserved for regional analysis of the Global Lead Generation Tools industry, where important regions and countries are evaluated for their growth potential, consumption, industry share, and other vital factors. that indicate the growth of your market.

(3) Players can use the competitive analysis provided in the report to create new strategies or adjust existing ones to overcome market challenges and increase their share in the global Lead Generation Tools industry.

(4) The report also analyzes the competitive situations and trends and throws light on the expansions and mergers and acquisitions of companies taking place in the global Lead Generation Tools market. Furthermore, it brings to light the industry concentration rate and the market shares of the top three and top five players.

(5) Readers are provided with the results and conclusion of the research study provided in the global Lead Generation Tools market report.

Inquire Here If You Have Any Inquiries@  https://market.biz/report/global-lead-generation-tools-market-gm/#inquiry

[bwoahtastic]

Just read the norbert ask and just the picture of Kevin using all his badboy training to try and scare away norbert while little imick is in his arms probably agresivly staring at him and chewing real hard on his rope toy to sow how strong his teeth are and he is also super scawwy and you should be careful about getting closer to his mumma

Oh plss!! Kevin is so protective of momma so the fact that Norbert made Seb upset means Kev will not play nice. He thumps and scowls and is just generally unpleasant lol. And ofcourse Mick follows his big brothers lead and pup growls and bites his rope toy to be tough too!

Norbert going over to all the pups to introduce himself and Mick ofc quickly starts wagging his tail but Kevin is not easily convinced even after seb tells them it's okay.

Kevin being quite close to grandpa toto and he refuses to interact with norbert for a while because he has the most amazing grandpa already and he doesn't need norbert to take toto's place. It's only when Toto hugs the grumpy bun close one day and twlls him he can have multiple grandpa's that Kevin slowly starts to open up to Norbert!

[demi-shoggoth]

2022 Reading Log, pt 25

121. A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present  by Pieter Spierenburg. I wish I could recommend this book, because it has a lot of interesting discussion of how toxic masculinity and honor culture leads to violence, and how this reduced in Europe as honor became seen as more of an internal quality of morals and behavior rather than an external quality of reputation and posturing. I cannot recommend it, however, because the book is also incredibly racist, especially in the last 50 pages as we move into the modern era. Spierenburg blames the up tick in violence in Europe between 1970 and 2000 on immigrants and “the influence of hip-hop and African American culture”. He also dismisses antisemitic violence as a factor in the Middle Ages and early modern period, and only discusses it around the 19th and 20th centuries, where he talks about blood libel as a cause for murder but never gets around to actually saying that blood libel is libelous. This is especially wild, since his academic mentor, Norbert Elias, was a Jewish refugee during the Holocaust, and Spierenburg served on the board of the Netherland’s center for Holocaust studies!

122. Numenera: The Ninth World Bestiary by Monte Cook and Bruce Cordell. Numenera has always been vaguely on my radar, since a number of artists I follow have done art for it, and I’m into weird monsters. Having now read the first dedicated monster book for this RPG, I am intrigued enough to actually want to check out the core book, which is a high honor for me. The setting is post-post apocalyptic, in a vaguely medieval society a billion years into Earth’s future, where magical technology has prevented the sun from expanding and eight previous hyper-advanced civilizations have ruins to explore. And have generated and attracted a wide variety of weird monsters. This bestiary does a very good job of feeling like Weird Fiction, from the pulp roots of the early 20th century to the modern New Weird movement of the Vandermeers. To give you an idea of some of the monsters in here, we have the falling maw, an intelligent singularity; the latos, a giant robot whose head contains a preserved city, a la the bottled city of Kandor; the jurulisk, a colonial entity made of one dimensional animals joining together into a three dimensional shape; and the weaponized meme, which has to be fought entirely mentally because it is a word, phrase or image that eats your brain if you think about it. There’s also a gallery of NPCs in the back, who would probably be more meaningful to me if I had read the setting book first, but are written to have plot uses and be potentially either allies or enemies, depending on the party and the context of the encounter.

123. The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel. This book looks at fabric as technology, and how their development and innovations had strong ripple effects in building cultures both historical and modern. The book is organized via the fabric making process, from source material to making thread, from thread to cloth, from cloth to clothes, to sellers and traders to consumer preferences. I learned quite a bit, and the author’s thesis is well supported by ideas like how the development of arithmetic relates to organizing threads for weaving cloth, how the creation of hybrid cotton impacted the 19th century slave economy as much if not more than the cotton gin, and how cloth merchants were de facto banks in Europe for centuries before national centralization became the rule of the land. However, the author is clearly more enamored with capitalism and neo-liberalism than I am, having very nice things to say about a variety of corporations and the development of free-market economies in general. The traders chapter, for example, is mostly a paean to the idea of the middleman, and even includes a sympathetic portrayal of the Lehman brothers!

124. In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet, translated by Sophie R. Lewis. This book, originally in French, is an examination of how traits that the “witches” of the Early Modern Era were demonized and murdered for are still punished in modern society. The book is organized by those traits—independence, birth control and abortion, old age and medical knowledge—but the topics often run far afield, making those more guidelines than strong chapter topics. The book really isn’t much about witches, but is a good accessible text about feminism. It might pale for me a little bit because I recently read Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers, which I liked more, but this is still a solid book.

125. Ten Tomatoes that Changed the World by William Alexander. This is a food history about tomatoes, divided roughly into thirds. The first third is how tomatoes were adopted as crops by Europeans and Americans, slowly and hesitantly at first, but eventually with enthusiasm. The second third covers the development of tomato recipes; the facts and myths about the development and global spread of pizza, ketchup and tomato sauce on pasta. The final third covers the rising and falling of various tomato cultivars; how hybrid seeds took over, why the fast food tomato tastes terrible and the backlash to this. The book is a breezy read; the author’s voice is strong but not overpoweringly so, and there’s a memoir element that crops up in places, like when the author visits the “original” pizzeria in Naples and visits a greenhouse growing tomatoes in a Canadian winter. One of the better food history books I’ve read recently.

[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing Baseless Harry Potter Arguments#2 (i) : Harmione Edition

Obviously I once again do not mean to target all Harmione shippers. I know quite a few who're very good human beings and tolerant and accepting above all. However these aren't. In this case, you might sense quite a bit of levelheadedness in the beginning, however you must not be fooled as it goes south and takes a nasty turn very quickly. Don't get your hopes up, this is some of the worst shit I've ever seen, especially the way in which it progresses through its course. Naturally, for this post I have picked my own style of writing which will match that of those redditors. Reddit is the perfect breeding ground for all these weird cults, honestly. I shall be resorting to a formal language and style of conversation, very much like a debater would to sound as pretentious as these do. These posts are found on the instagram handle toxicharmonyshippers who gather such toxic musings and sayings for Harmione shippers while respecting the ones that are nice.

1)

Oh yes, let's use words like 'vehemently' to sound smart, why not? Of course, this little tidbit of the highly stupendous post seems more or less civil at the start. They also have the common decency to say "some Romione shippers" rather than generalizing all of us. Very nice of you, how very saint like. Let's wait till they drop the act and show us their true colors. Harkening back to the argument, I have but one question for you, "where do you find these people?". Where's the proof? Who are these radical Romione shippers who worship Ron and dislike Hermione? I haven't seen any such shippers and I am surrounded by Romione shippers on tumblr, instagram and fan fiction sites as well and haven't met the people you speak of. Some point out her flaws, yes, but no one hates her or dislikes her that much. I have seen two or three Romione shippers across hundreds and thousands who're skeptical of Hermione's perfection. Skeptical. Not hating, disliking, or anything. Of course, unlike this person, I have evidence: find these pi charts for your referral (clickable): https://imgur.com/a/QfPnQbB

you can, through these, see the amount of Hermione bashing across Harry Potter fanfiction and you can see that even in Romione fanfiction there's more Ron bashing. Hermione-bashing is a non-issue. That's what it is. Regarding the "nagging" statement, where's the lie in that? "Annoying" is somewhat subjective, I personally don't find her annoying at all. Who are these people and how often do you find them? "Mary Sue" is only reserved for Movie!Hermione. I have only seen book fans call her that. No one has ever called Book!Hermione Mary Sue. The movie does paint her as a flawless, all-rounder who's also drop-dead gorgeous. Only things she's bad at are flying and divination, all of which she denounces as useless, even though flying is like biking for wizards, divination, sure, not that important. with a teacher like Trelawney, even I would denounce it as hokum.

2)

Remember what I said about waiting for them to show us their true colors, well here they are. Bask in the glory of their senseless arguments. Why, I am from reddit, heck I have 25 thousand karma points on there, I just left because it was too stupid for me but I can argue like them very well. And in this case I would like to say that these people are under the impression that Ron is just there in the story for the sake of existence. And he doesn't work hard. That argument is of course, wrong. Because Ron (in no particular order):

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

now since I have 8 more such pictures to rebut and I do have a life, I will stop. These aren't even a twelfth of the remarkable things Ron has done though, so rest assured.

oh wait what did you say about him just existing and not working for anything? If I recall correctly, he did just as well as Harry did in school and didn't score well only in subjects he didn't care about. Which is true for most people except for Hermione who has an eidetic memory which not everyone has, understandably. Rote memorization is not the best way to get by in life, by the way.

what are the "so many reasons" behind why Harry is the best fit for Hermione? Kindly share so I can rebut those too, I'm rather free nowadays, my finals have been cancelled. You say there are so many reasons but don't even give one, yet you want me to take you seriously. I'm afraid that's impossible.

Romione shipper here, i don't dislike Hermione. I haven't met or seen many people in the book!romione fandom who dislike Hermione (except for Movie!Hermione). The question of someone you like ending up with someone you dislike doesn't particularly make sense. In Friends, Chandler ends up with Monica: now I'm not the biggest Monica fan (I don't hate her but I don't like her very much either) but they are my favorite couple because they make sense. It's about compatibility and character traits, not liking or disliking because that's just a set-up for a ghastly invitation for people to pair up hideousness. "Oh yeah, I like Harry and I also like Hagrid, they should be together. I mean it would be very very disgusting but that's my logic, now, you can't fight it. "- that's how you sound. Please read what you write. Your logic is just...abysmal. That's all I can say without breaking my resolve and berating you with colorful profanities.

3)

This is without the doubt, the easiest one to rebut. It's a delight to see such terrible arguments at my disposal. Come on, dear Harmione shippers, write something that makes me question my choices, not things that make me scoff in disbelief.

In this case, you're essentially providing us with theories. Unproved theories and speculation of what you believe because you'd say anything you like. Where's the proof of your theory, though? Where is that crazy radical Romione shipper who does this? Kindly show me these people. Oh yes, you wanna say we objectify Hermione and disrespect her and view her as a prize. This aches me, that you believe this. No one has ever insinuated this, ever, in the history of anything. What is this winner-loser theory? How do you round off Harry Potter to "an alpha-male ends up with lead-lady" trope and still say you're a fan of the series? Harry Potter doesn't fit in with that format. Ron, Hermione and Harry are co-heroes. Similar to how there's no main character in Friends or the Heroes of Olympus series or the Avengers. We're not living in the 80s anymore. Hermione will be a hero, invariably whether she ends up with Harry, Ron or no one. She ends up with Ron and that's it. Talking about her like this doesn't make you sound any better either. Now you're calling me a misogynist because I don't support the ship of two people who describe themselves as siblings. That's very mature of you. Well here's the thing- I'm not a misogynist. It's as simple as that. I believe that women are capable of anything and everything. I believe Hermione is an amazing person and she is a hero and a different person. I believe the series would be impossible without her. I believe she is no one's prize. There's no requirement of a prize. I just think, similar to canon and the truth and her romantic interest, she will have a great relationship with Ron. There's nothing complex or deep about it, really. No personal weird-thing, no psychological complex, no internalized misogyny. There's nothing deeper than what I said. I am not sexist. I am a feminist. I am all for women empowerment. I love women with the fabric of my being. I love Hermione. I think she's amazing. You only become sexist when you ship people with unstable power dynamics, a bully-victim relation or something of the sort. Neither Romione, nor Harmione are sexist. Heck if you paired Neville with Hermione you wouldn't be sexist. And I hate talking about this so much, I can't even tell you. This talk does make it sound like I treat Hermione like an object and I assure you I respect her and I normally won't talk like this unless someone just outright calls me sexist for something that's not sexist. And this is that situation.

4)

in the case of Romione, no one is too good for anyone. Both are amazing people who're heroes and have done amazing work. That's all I have to say. There's no league, they are romantically interested in each other. I have no intention on sounding lame, but, in love there is no league. As long as you're not putting in any effort and are extremely lazy and leech off of your partner, there is no such concept and no, Hermione is not "too good" for him. Unless of course you're talking about movie Hermione, who is too good for anyone.

5) (halftime!)

oh yes they try to pull this off and wonder why we hate them. Classic. This person likes to sound british, so let's switch up our language, yeah? At least then I won't be out of my element. Let me correct ya, Ron at his best is an amazing, loyal, friendly, brave, strategic hero. There you have it. Ron and 'git' can't be used in the same sentence. Now if you talk about Ron's achievements, I re-iterate you to point two. If it's too much work, here:

1) fights a troll when he's 11

2) is willing to sacrifice himself when he's 11

3) stands up for his friends

4) makes sure Harry feels like he belongs in the family

5) worries about Harry and rescues him from literal jail

6) stands up against Draco rather than by-standing and enabling his behavior

7) tries his level best to make sure Norbert the dragon is in safe hands and carries it out, albeit not in perfection

8) is with Harry every step of the way in his confronting the basilisk

9) sends Harry and Hermione long letters and calls them often to check up on them

10) stands up on a bitten leg to defend his best friend

11) always apologizes for any of his mistakes and is forgiving when others wrong him

12) works his way to join the Quidditch team unlike Draco who most certainly bought his way in

13) destroys at least 2 horcruxes

14) finds out how to defeat a horcrux

15) has an excellent enough memory and observation to notice Harry speaking parseltongue and also using it to his benefit which proves he's resourceful

hey, see, I like Ron and I took the time to copy-paste this instead of asking you to scroll up. And I'm a lot of bad things but I am not lazy. I stick to my deadlines like Hermione. I start my homework in library class and continue it during phys ed the day its given. And I am not exaggerating. Bloody hell, I wish I was. I'm the ceo of deadlines, mate, don't tempt me! So you can see that Ron is much more than just a "nice bloke". And being a "nice bloke" isn't a bad thing either. He's all the things I said: intuitive, strategic, helpful, loyal and on top of that he's also a nice person. Yes, I do see a bit of myself in Ron. I do. I see the insecure side. I waste my time hating myself and criticizing myself and undermining myself, telling me I'm no good. But Ron overcomes that. He inspires me to appreciate myself. Is that a bad thing? Are you going to shame me for having a low self-esteem? Do you want to worsen my low self-esteem and make me feel more like shit?

Now the person who replied to your comment saying, "he isn't a nice bloke most of time.", he is. He is not being nice twice in a span of 7 years. How often do you act rudely or with jealousy? Wasn't Harry yelling at everyone in caps lock in OOTP. Now I don't condemn him for that because he's a fucking hormonal teenager like me and that would make me a hypocrite, but by your logic why don't you condemn him? Or why not condemn Hermione for saying "I only date good Quidditch players" and shoving canaries at Ron's face because someone else kissed him, while she kept using Krum and Cormac to make him jealous. She wasn't being a nice girl, then, was she? Now, once again, i don't dislike her or hold that against her because guess what, mate, I'm a hormonal teenage girl who gets jealous most of the time and would probably react in a similar fashion in the spur of the moment (Not defending her actions here, just putting myself in her shoes.) In short, Ron is a nice bloke MOST OF THE TIME.

6)

It would be misogynistic to think that. The thing is, NO ONE DOES my dear friend! My dear daft friend. I have never heard anyone say that! why are you so hell-bent on portraying us as misogynists when no one ever says that? Stop assuming. Just stop. You are crossing a limit here, aren't you? Yes you are. You cannot say these sort of things. We never said that or believed that, no one ever said this to be a reason to ship Romione. God what is wrong with you? Literally, stop fucking ASSUMING god damn it! Do you want me to assume things about Harmione shippers? Do you want me to go there? Because I will go there! I will go there the moment you tell me to. Just challenge me.

Ron is not a perfect best boi , the reason why so many of us like him is that he's imperfect and tries to become better through the course of time. You are once again assuming and I am once again asking you to stop.

Ron might be an ordinary wizard. He might be poor, sure, but he's a pure-blood and won't face much if he chose not to fight. But he did. He fought. Now I identify with Ron's attitude a fair bit, but I am also likely to spend my day in a library without noticing. People aren't one dimensional. Stop trying to act like you're a psychologist, i know you're not. I don't even think Hermione's overbearing at all! You just insulted someone you're a big fan of. Jesus.

Both Hermione and Ron are strategic, jealous, passionate, feisty, argumentative, intellectual...

that's like 6 similarities. They aren't polar opposites in the slightest. Their differences are just: workaholic, not workaholic. Nerd, not a nerd. Like that's fucking it, man!

8)

being relaxed doesn't make you less independent or driven. A relaxed and levelheaded Hermione will think through things, not be impulsive, not panic etc. She doesn't need Ron. I don't understand your obsession with acting like we ever insinuated that. Then she doesn't need Harry either lol. Stop shipping her with Harry, then or like shut the fuck up. Being a bit relaxed won't stop her or anyone from hitting great strides. Just don't get relaxed to the point you're lazy and casual about everything, that's it.

9)

What do you mean? Ron is balanced. He does finish his work on time. And even if he does procrastinate, she could also help him not and be more driven. Of course, this is an open invitation for you to call me a sexist bitch because I said that she could help him and now you'll think her goal is to help him become better yada yada yada. Fuck off. Defeating the horcrux taught him enough. He respected her. He remembered about the elves when she didn't. He begged to be tortured instead of her. He wouldn't need it because school work and jobs are different and the same person might perceive those differently. Calmness and relaxation doesn't hinder your potential. Not caring and laziness does. You can't function if you work and are stressed 24/7 with zero breaks. Period.

10)

No i do not want (nor does anyone want) Hermione to become Ron. Being slightly calmer doesn't change up your personality. I'm sure many people dislike those sort of fanfics without a doubt. I hate OOC and I don't want Hermione to lose her intellect with Ron because that makes no sense. Ron himself is intellectual and loves arguing with her. They'd boost each other, more like it.

-------

okay thats it i am exhausted as fuck. thanks for reading, i appreciate it. notes and reblogs are appreciated, this takes work.

[nicklloydnow]

“Little Man is a literary analogue to Antonio Gramsci’s reflection on interregnum, written from within a Fascist prison around the same time: “The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.”1 Interregnum was the term used in ancient Rome to refer to the moment of legal and political in-betweenness that followed the death of the sovereign and preceded the enthronement of his successor. The declaration of interregnum was accompanied by the proclamation of justitium, for it was not only sovereignty but also legality that was suspended. Gramsci brilliantly played with these terms, extending them as he grappled with the generalized crisis of authority in his own time. Old hegemonies were crumbling. The ruling order had lost its capacity to lead through consent. The masses had drifted away from traditional ideologies and toward a structure of feeling that awaited full articulation. The horizon was open.

The rest, as we know, is history.

(…)

This is a time of monsters. What unites them (in contrast to, say, the blatant irrationalities of a Donald Trump) is their reliance on an Enlightenment rationality that rails against the unreason of liberal humanitarian empathy. In early 2016, when thousands of refugees were arriving daily at Germany’s borders, Petry said that police might have to shoot them. Petry likes to flaunt the fact that she has a PhD in chemistry, particularly when humiliating critics by pointing out that their hypotheses are wrong. A monster speaking with the voice of reason, not the heart; science, not pathos; realism, not faith or idealism. Just across the border in Austria, the right-wing presidential hopeful Norbert Hofer is similarly campaigning with the slogan Stimme der Vernunft (Voice of Reason).

Like the monstrous Enlightenment described by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (2002, 89) so long ago, we see reason rising like a “chemical agent” that “absorbs the individual substance of things and volatilizes them in the mere autonomy of reason.” This is a fascism inhabiting the lexicon of practical reason: an illiberal politics ventriloquizing the liberal language of Vernunft—“We can’t let everyone in!” It is destroying the very infrastructures of compassion that Europe and the world built after World War II: the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, and so on. This return of reason as chemical agent means corroding—and possibly undoing—what no one ever dreamed would become so volatile, so fast.”

[seeneverything]

today i decided to replay nick’s dlc! not only to catch back up and remain canon, but to look into his journals and the notes / environment around a little deeper to see if i can discover anything more about him, the game’s story, and the timeline of the game.

i have to say it somewhat surprised me that nick has handwriting that’s legible. i figured it would be similar to sally’s -- very here and there with hardly any grammar, punctuation, and horrendous spelling. yet nick’s journals though brief, are quite linguistic. a pleasant surprise.

but without further ado, my metas are under the cut! a very long read so i hope you enjoy it. i tried my best to divide it into some sort of organization as i could. <3

GENERAL LORE :

ever wondered what an original joy bottle looks like? well, nick has one.

it’s tucked in the far back in his kitchen, behind a light on his shelf. initially i thought it was some random drug and it was more proof of the dlc being pre-game. but if you look closer, the words underneath wellington wells’ emblem say  “EVERY DAY, JOIN THE FUN”  which is a clear indication of what it actually was. and beside the emblem, just to the right, if you really squint, it says  “FLAVOR:”  but it’s hidden and you can’t sneak around to the other side. however, considering how old it is, especially from the wear and tear on the sticker, one could probably imagine it being haworth’s own vanilla.

which intrigues me. i wouldn’t doubt that nick was one of the very first people who got the initial batches. virgil dainty found him when he was still a young poet in his teenage years. meaning he probably snatched him when he was around 16. if we play it out like he was 16 when the train came and took all 13 and under, nick would be around 32 during the base game. but i honestly doubt that since the make believes released more singles than albums, and they released the album around the time of strawberry’s release, as inferred by the cover of the album. so for now and to me, nick is somewhere between mid-late 30s.

speaking of joy though, does anyone remember the whole debate about the type of joy nick was taking in the dlc? it wasn’t any type at all. in fact, it was something sally made herself.

“Vibing my guitar always helps me remember things. Like where I put my Sally Specials.”

Those reds and yellows are just another one of the many street drugs that Sally sells to her clients. Probably something like rainbow and the like, but much, much weaker and not as long-lasting. After all, Nick has to take five at one time to black out. Probably at least three of them to feel any sort of a buzz at all.   ( as a side note, it personally makes me wonder if sally had anything to do with the production phlash. i’d love to see if there were any notes of it anywhere. )

I had a headcanon a while back that the woman using the power cell was using a sex toy. After all, she has a suitcase that’s cleverly hidden under her bed. If Nick believes it’s this, it makes sense that he’s aware of the “fun part of town,” unlike Arthur and Ollie once in the Parade. Yes, he goes there for sex and relief, but also because he makes deals with the owners to sell adult-themed merch. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were dildos, lube, even lingerie like Nick’s threads -- very, very plausible if there are full sex dolls.

With the Sally Specials and the Joy Bottle being so old, it could still be proof that it’s pre-game as well. After all, if Nick is still around Sally ONLY to obtain to drugs from her, then it could be easily inferred. After all, Sally remembers her time with Nick in the past together, not in the present. And that is pre-1964.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT NICKY :

it’s absolutely no secret that nick hates himself. from the scratches on the mirror that hide his face and spell  “USELESS,”  to the inferred suicidal attempts from downing entire bottles of joy with alcohol. the puke is always so rancid in the sink. but there’s also this, too.

it’s funny how nick tends to keep scratching at his head and his eyes. the persona is who he’s trying to cover up i imagine, considering that there are multiple voicelines in the game that says he never meant to cause any harm. and he never meant to commit all the unpleasantries that come with being a rockstar. one of them being infidelity and adultery, and another being a general asshole to the public. overtime i believed that nick gained celebrity syndrome. which is essentially just being a karen on steroids. nick believes he doesn’t need to pay for anything, and he also has the innate ability to give orders to people. just because, in his mind, he’s the best in the world. the avalon’s manager wants to get back at him once and for all for his bossy attitude. but he’s not the only one who feels that, either.

petunia does as well.

nick’s love-life is an extremely complicated one. aside from the the various forms of substance abuse and exposure to said substances, nick has always had his rockstardom become the center of his universe. see, this is all headcanon but, i personally believe that nick was coddled as a child by his overbearing mother. mama told him the world would love him. and mama told him that the world would never hurt him, and that it would be perfect and easy to get through. but then he saw just how hurtful people could be, and just how much hate the world had to offer. and to him, at that. it was extremely difficult to find love in anything and anyone. especially himself. so finding petunia was very, very reassuring. after all, she did promise him, as nick said during the boss fight, to be the lighthouse on all his rocky shores. indicating that she would be the one to lead him back home, and make him stable. and i’m sure for a while, it did.

canonically, until nick lightbearer overtook norbert pickles. he found so many more people who loved him that way. and thus, he let the life of his own stardom take over everything else. including his love life. even more so when the birds threatened hatred and slander to his name if they couldn’t shag him. and if they didn’t manipulate him, nick was so afraid of losing another fan that he wouldn’t care. it felt good anyway, why not fuck people? he keeps a fan, doesn’t worry about being hated, and keeps the life of love toward him going.

not even thinking about petunia in the process. and instead of showing him that he didn’t need all the fans, instead of showing him that he needed to remain faithful and loyal, she lashed out and belittled him from every other corner. though he did deserve it for encouraging her into polygamy and bigamy and definitely by his demanding attitude(later in the note it mentions how he was a henpicker), she did not help his mental state in any capacity. petunia, the moment she didn’t help him anymore and show him the love he thought she promised him, became nothing more than someone who belittled him. truthfully nick never meant to hurt her, but it’s seen through his celebrity ideology that he truly believes in quantity over quality. a sad shame. nick’s mental state is so fucked he doesn’t even really know what true love is by this point. meaning he could potentially be easily manipulated without realization.

despite all this though, i found this to be especially intriguing:

a little hard to read, but this is during the scene before he fights the fans at the contest. his journal reads:

“They think I’m an IMPERSONATOR? Have I lost the Lightbearer aura? How much lower can I sink?”

this heavily implies that nick sets his own idolism over his chances of being a murderer. meaning that somewhere, deep in the crevasse of his subconscious, nick is so desperate for some true love and still can’t grasp hatred that he is clinging onto his persona for as much love as he can. even if it’s fake. thrice as intriguing when one learns that, during his breakdowns, he always explains how he wants his fans to know who he really is:

“i wonder if i remember how to sound polite,” “things are sure to look up once i’m not soaked in hemoglobin.”

an intelligent, young man who was so wrongly brought up into the world by an attached mother who never taught him what punishment really was. nick has been using his celebrity name as a clutch for so long that he’s having difficulty remembering who he really was, or if he can ever be norbert pickles again. he cannot handle being a celebrity, and he never could because of what his mother taught him and grew him to be. yet somewhere deep down, he knows his true self is there. but what nick doesn’t know how to do is accept the hatred of the world enough, especially to him, in order to ever take norbert pickles out.

it’s a constant mish-mash. he can hardly handle the hatred from being a celebrity, but what he does handle from stardom is what keeps him going with it. a war between nick lightbearer and norbert pickles. but neither side has proper ammo because the battlefield is strife with a lack of vegetation.

nick lightbearer in himself is an irony. he shines so bright for everyone around him but yet truly, the light is most needed for himself.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Gavia

Common Loon by Amy Widenhofer, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Etymology: Unidentified Sea Bird

First Described By: Coues, 1903

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Ardeae, Aequornithes, Gaviiformes, Gaviidae

Referred Species: G. egeriana, G. schultzi, G. brodkorbi, G. moldavica, G. paradoxa, G. concinna, G. fortis, G. palaeodytes, G. howardae, G. concinna, G. stellata (Red-Throated Loon), G. arctica (Black-Throated Loon), G. pacifica (Pacific Loon), G. immer (Common Loon), G. adamsii (Yellow-Billed Loon)

Status: Extinct - Extant, Near Threatened - Least Concern

Time and Place: Since 18 million years ago, from the Burdigalian of the Miocene of the Neogene until the Holocene of the Quaternary 

Loons have lived throughout the Northern Hemisphere, originating on the Eastern Coast of North America and spreading from there through the Neogene until today 

Physical Description: Loons are squat birds, with long bodies and tiny little legs, and very short tails. They also have long necks, with round heads and long pointed beaks. They also have small, beady red eyes. The different species of loon differ greatly on color, though there are some common themes. Their backs are darker, usually black, with white streaks; they often have white bellies that may have some black speckles. They have distinctive black and white striping on the neck - though the extent of the striping varies from species to species, with some Loons having stripes all along the neck, and others only in isolated patches, surrounded by black feathers. The heads are usually a dark color, black or grey, with some lightness more towards the top of the head. They have black feet and flippers attached to their weird lopsided legs. In a lot of ways, Loons are modern, toothless Hesperornithines in general appearance and lopsidedness. They range from 53 to 91 centimeters in length - with many sizes in between. 

Red-Throated Loon by the Bureau of Land Management, in the Public Domain 

Diet: Loons primarily feed on fish, though they will occasionally supplement their diet with other small aquatic animals.

Black-Throated Loon by Bengt Nyman, CC BY 2.0 

Behavior: Loons are diving birds, spending most of their time going back and forth in the water searching for food. They will engage in pursuit dives, diving many meters under the water for sources of food, and chasing their fish very vigorously in order to catch them. In some of the better known species, food will be gathered up in ponds and inshore waters and brought back to the young; in the ocean, they’ll join mixed-species flocks in order to gather more fish from the water. Spawns of new fish and crustaceans will often attract groups of Loons to new feeding locations. They tend to swallow gastroliths to aid in crushing hard parts of food in the stomach of the Loons, though they may also aid in causing reguritation when needed Loons are excessively loud during the breeding season and much quieter when hunting; the males will make loud “arroarroarro” and other cackling calls when fighting over territory, which the females often match. The Common Loon especially makes a very distinctive breeding sound, going “ooo-aaaa-eeeeeeeee” and other rising vowel sounds. While nesting, they’ll also make rising, higher-pitched “week-week-week” calls, depending on the species. But, when not breeding, they are fairly silent birds all things considered. 

Pacific Loon by Tim Bowman, in the Public Domain 

Loons breed mainly in the warmer summertime months, which of course varies extensively based on habitat and location - some loons begin breeding as late as June, while others start as soon as March. It really depends on how quickly the spring begins to thaw to allow for appropriate nesting time. They make nests out of heaps of plant matter placed near the water, laying between one two three eggs into the nest (though usually it’s just two, no more no less). The incubation period lasts for about a month, and the chicks are usually balls of fluffy brownish-grey down. They take around another two months to fledge, depending somewhat on their parents for food during this time. They usually take about two years to reach sexual maturity, and can live for at least a couple of decades (if not longer). Both parents usually take care of the young and will work together to move the nest if needed due to rising water levels. 

Common Loon by Mike’s Birds, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Loons are fairly strong fliers, though they do have trouble taking off and many have to run along the water surface while flapping wings in order to take flight - only the Red-Throated Loon can take off from land. IN the air, they can fly for long periods of time in order to migrate. Loons have extensive migration ranges, going from warmer coastal waters in the summer to their breeding sites in more northern locations in the winter. They are also extremely strong swimmers. In general, they really aren’t good at walking - the downside of their funkily-placed little legs! 

Red-Throated Loon by Don Faulkner, CC BY-SA 2.0 

Ecosystem: Loons mainly live in aquatic habitats - in freshwater pools, ponds, and lakes in cold locations such as tundra and taiga habitat; they will also be found on the Arctic and northern Atlantic/Pacific coasts and in rivers and estuaries along those coasts. They especially prefer to stay along the coasts and in sheltered bays during the wintertime, when it is more dangerous to be out on the open waters. They try to stay to deeper freshwater lakes and ponds when in freshwater habitats, rather than more shallow aquatic locations. 

Pacific Loon by the NBII, in the Public Domain 

Other: Loons are primarily doing fine, conservation wise; only one species is considered Near Threatened, the Yellow-Billed Loon. This species is suffering due to unsustainable fish harvesting, leading to dramatic population declines in recent years. They are also vulnerable to oil-spills and heavy-metal poisoning. These risks also apply to the other Loon species, they just aren’t as heavily hit by them. 

Yellow-Billed Loon by Ryan Askren, in the Public Domain 

Species Differences: The oldest definite members of Gavia are known from the early-middle Miocene of the Eastern United States. However, loons in general evolved possibly in the Late Cretaceous, at least by the start of the Cenozoic. There are potential members of Gavia as early as the Eocene. This indicates that Loons evolved fairly rapidly in direct response to vacant niches after the mass extinctions of the time. Other fossil species of Loon include G. egeriana from the Early Miocene of the United States and potentially Czechoslovakia; G. schultzi from the Middle Miocene of Austria; G. brodkorbi from the Late Miocene of the United States; G. moldavica from the Late Miocene of Moldova, G. paradoxa from the Late Miocene of the Ukraine, G. concinna from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of the United States, G. fortis from the Early Pliocene of the United States, G. palaeodytes from the Early Pliocene of the United States, G. howardae from the Early Pliocene of the United States, and G. concinna from the late Pliocene of San Diego. This showcases how Loons were much more widely distributed for much of their history, found in more southerly locations during the Neogene and up until the Ice Age. 

Red-Throated Loon by Ómar Runólfsson, CC BY 2.0 

Today, there are five living Loons, with distinctly different appearances and slightly different ranges. Red-Throated Loons spend their summers in the Arctic Ocean area - so along the northern parts of Russia, Canada, and around Greenland, Alaska, and Scandinavia. They will spend their winters along the coasts of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They are some of the smallest loons, and also the most lightly colored - they have brown plumage and red patches on the front of their necks, and their heads and necks are primarily grey. 

Black-Throated Loon by Robert Bergman, in the Public Domain 

Black-Throated Loons have similar ranges to the Red-Throated Loons, but only in Eurasia - they are rarely found in North America, only some parts of Alaska. They are also somewhat smaller, but they are black in color over most of their body with distinctive white patches. The tops of their necks and heads are grey, while they have black patches on their throats and black and white striping across their necks. 

Pacific Loon by Alan Vernon, CC BY 2.0 

The Pacific Loon is found more in North America than in Eurasia, occasionally reaching Northeastern Russia and wintering in Japan and Korea. They also winter along the pacific coast of North America. They are the smallest of all Loons, and look very similar to Black-Throated Loons except for their size and having nrounded heads and thinner bills. 

Common Loon by John Picken, CC BY 2.0 

Common Loons live throughout the Northernmost part of North America, even extending somewhat into the Continental US; they also will winter along the coasts of North America. They can be found in Greenland and Western Europe, as well as Scandinavia, during the winter; they also congregate in Iceland during the winter. They are larger loons, and don’t have as much striping on their necks; their backs are also in a funky black and white checkerboard pattern. 

Yellow-Billed Loon by Norbert Potensky, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Finally, the Yellow-Billed Loon - unlike all other loons - have yellow bilsl, instead of grey ones. They have a similar range to the Red-Throated Loon, though somewhat more limited. They also grow extensively large, and have somewhat larger stripe patches on their necks than Common Loons - though not as much as other Loon species.

~ By Meig Dickson

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[spaceexp]

Record-breaking Explosion by Black Hole Spotted

ESA - XMM-Newton Mission patch / NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch. Feb. 27, 2020

Image above: Evidence for the biggest explosion seen in the Universe comes from a combination of X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, and the Murchison Widefield Array and Giant Metrewave Telescope, as shown here. The eruption is generated by a black hole located in the cluster's central galaxy, which has blasted out jets and carved a large cavity in the surrounding hot gas. Researchers estimate this explosion released five times more energy than the previous record holder and hundreds of thousands of times more than a typical galaxy cluster. Image Credits: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/NRL/S. Giacintucci, et al., XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRT; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF. The biggest explosion seen in the universe has been found. This record-breaking, gargantuan eruption came from a black hole in a distant galaxy cluster hundreds of millions of light years away. "In some ways, this blast is similar to how the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 ripped off the top of the mountain," said Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, and lead author of the study. "A key difference is that you could fit fifteen Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater this eruption punched into the cluster's hot gas." Astronomers made this discovery using X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton, and radio data from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Australia and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India. The unrivaled outburst was detected in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, which is about 390 million light years from Earth. Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity, containing thousands of individual galaxies, dark matter, and hot gas. In the center of the Ophiuchus cluster, there is a large galaxy that contains a supermassive black hole. Researchers think that the source of the gigantic eruption is this black hole. Although black holes are famous for pulling material toward them, they often expel prodigious amounts of material and energy. This happens when matter falling toward the black hole is redirected into jets, or beams, that blast outward into space and slam into any surrounding material.

The most powerful black hole eruption in the Universe

Image above: Astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray space observatories, along with radio telescopes on ground, have spotted the aftermath of the most powerful explosion ever seen in the Universe. Image Credits: X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton and NASA/CXC/Naval Research Lab/S. Giacintucci; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRTN; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF. Chandra observations reported in 2016 first revealed hints of the giant explosion in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. Norbert Werner and colleagues reported the discovery of an unusual curved edge in the Chandra image of the cluster. They considered whether this represented part of the wall of a cavity in the hot gas created by jets from the supermassive black hole. However, they discounted this possibility, in part because a huge amount of energy would have been required for the black hole to create a cavity this large. The latest study by Giacintucci and her colleagues show that an enormous explosion did, in fact, occur. First, they showed that the curved edge is also detected by XMM-Newton, thus confirming the Chandra observation. Their crucial advance was the use of new radio data from the MWA and data from the GMRT archives to show the curved edge is indeed part of the wall of a cavity, because it borders a region filled with radio emission. This emission is from electrons accelerated to nearly the speed of light. The acceleration likely originated from the supermassive black hole.

Chandra X-ray Observatory. Animation Credits: NASACXC

"The radio data fit inside the X-rays like a hand in a glove," said co-author Maxim Markevitch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "This is the clincher that tells us an eruption of unprecedented size occurred here." The amount of energy required to create the cavity in Ophiuchus is about five times greater than the previous record holder, MS 0735+74, and hundreds and thousands of times greater than typical clusters. The black hole eruption must have finished because the researchers do not see any evidence for current jets in the radio data. This shutdown can be explained by the Chandra data, which show that the densest and coolest gas seen in X-rays is currently located at a different position from the central galaxy. If this gas shifted away from the galaxy it will have deprived the black hole of fuel for its growth, turning off the jets. This gas displacement is likely caused by "sloshing" of the gas around the middle of the cluster, like wine sloshing around in a glass. Usually the merger of two galaxy clusters triggers such sloshing, but here it could have been set off by the eruption. One puzzle is that only one giant region of radio emission is seen, as these systems usually contain two on opposite sides of the black hole. It is possible that the gas on the other side of the cluster from the cavity is less dense so the radio emission there faded more quickly.

XMM-Newton. Image Credit: ESA

"As is often the case in astrophysics we really need multiwavelength observations to truly understand the physical processes at work," said Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, a co-author from International Centre for Radio Astronomy in Australia. "Having the combined information from X-ray and radio telescopes has revealed this extraordinary source, but more data will be needed to answer the many remaining questions this object poses." A paper describing these results appears in the February 27th issue of The Astrophysical Journal, and a preprint is available here. In addition to Giacintucci, Markevitch, and Johnston-Hollitt, the authors are Daniel Wik (University of Utah), Qian Wang (University of Utah), and Tracy Clarke (Naval Research Laboratory). The 2016 paper by Norbert Werner was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.460.2752W/abstract NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science and flight operations from Cambridge and Burlington, Massachusetts. Read more from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory: https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2020/ophiuchus/ For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra ESA's XMM-Newton: http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/ Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lee Mohon/Marshall Space Flight Center/Molly Porter/Chandra X-ray Center/Megan Watzke. Greetings, Orbiter.ch Full article