#not until august so i have time to financially recover

[allbeendonebefore]

i said i was done camping and done spending money this month and here i am booking a night at elk island OTL

[writingmochi]

hello! it has been a long time since i posted last july (not including rb-ing a network thing early august)

i'm back from my two-month break!

i would *love* to say that i have a fic ready to be released right now, but life moves you in different ways so i've been busy irl, especially with an upcoming international study exchange that i'll be doing starting this month. another frustrating thing is that one of my fic docs got corrupted so i have to start from scratch again. so, i won't be able to post a fic around this week or so.

also ngl i didn't expect this blog to still be relevant activity-wise because i haven't posted anything. but, i have queued rbs and posts about things that you all will be seeing in the next two weeks or so while i prepared something for y'all based on what i've planned to release this year.

if you've seen this on your timeline, hi and thank you for reading.

here are the confirmed works that i will push myself to publish this year! (if yall are interested)

i only said: this is the fic that got corrupted though it was still around the beginning of the story. i remember what i wrote at that time cause it is mostly world-building. current progress is that i am recovering the parts that i've lost and have already outlined the rest of the fic and believe me when i say that this can make you weep. idk why but i'm always able to make a painfully meaningful story when it comes to soobin.

terra incognita act 1: for this fic specifically, i've already made a 10k excerpt around 2022-ish so i'm currently editing that excerpt and adding backstory through little prologues from both mc and jake's povs. i have also outlined the rest of the part !

loomer: i have also already outlined what will happen throughout the fic. i've watched chungking express and it does add a bit of nuance to what mc and jay's relationship. it's actually the first time i'm doing a historical fiction that will include a real-world historical event in it that is the form of the impact of the miracle on the han river and late 90s asian financial crisis and its effect on the people growing up in that era, but make it grounded cause this is a wong kar-wai/hou hsiao-hsien esque characters

murder by numbers: maybe you can predict this one based on a title: this is a halloween fic baby! will be set during the last halloween in the 1980s about a group of high school friends who were invited to go to a halloween party in a rented summer camp area when a slasher gets in that way and it is soobin fic again, of course ! this will be like until dawn meets 80s-90s slasher horror. i haven't actually outlined much of the fic, but i will be editing like 80s horror-style poster for this!

so yeah, those are the ones that i'm sure i will be able to post this year...

[valyalyon]

August, 2023

CW: Domestic violence, verbal and physical abuse, brief descriptive details of sexual violence. Minors DNI.

August 1, 2023. 9:00pm.

I’m a mom, now! I feel overjoyed, exhausted, and entirely overwhelmed by love. His name is Theo, and he’s just 2 hours old. I’m staring at him in the bassinet. He’s so sweet… My soul feels light for once. I always wondered if it was possible to feel this happy and free.

Harvey’s been hanging around, typical Harvey fashion he only wants to be around for the “important” windows of time. Not because he considered them important, but because he knew other people would be there and he wanted to save face. Anyway, he left 5 minutes after the nurses left the room, 10 minutes after the birth of our son.

I think he went back home. I don’t care.

I have Theo, and nothing matters. Love is a bond forged through shared experiences, and Theo had been mine long before his birth, and before mine.

August 4, 2023.

Back home with Harvey and Theo. Theo is still melting my heart with every second. I’ve been breastfeeding and staying up with him, making sure he’s clean and taken care of. He latches onto me easily, and hasn’t given me any issues. I don’t know why I’m so lucky, but I love him endlessly.

Harvey might not be the most emotional, but he is always financially taking care of us, and making sure I don’t have to work again until I’m ready. I’ve been working since I was 15, and while I have a full time job now, I’ve had 2-3 jobs at a time, for years. I’m just saying I’m tired.

Getting to spend this time with Theo, without having to worry about working to pay bills? It’s nice.

August 11, 2023.

I had been heating up pre-packaged meals for Harvey and I since I returned from the hospital, since I didn’t have the energy to stand in the kitchen and cook, and since Harvey absolutely refused to cook. On our 1 year wedding anniversary, 10 days after the birth of our son while I still hadn’t recovered, I decided to spend a little extra time to make him a fresh meal.

It took me a little longer than it would have if I was healed, but by the time he arrived home, the food was ready for him and I served it to him.

I walked to his side and kissed him, “Happy anniversary, Harvey… Thank you for everything you do for Theo and I.”

“Is this really what you fucking made?”

“What? You… you said you like this.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, are you stupid? Just because I like it, doesn’t mean I want it. Get me one of the packaged steaks or something,” his voice was getting louder, “hurry the fuck up!���

I quickly turned and started to get the packaged meal out of the fridge. I guess I wasn’t moving fast enough, because when I turned to walk to the microwave, I heard him get out of the chair violently causing it to screech against the floor.

“Harvey?”

He hit me right across the face. It was just a slap, but it was hard, “you’re fucking useless aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry,” I quivered in response, trying to get past him to microwave his meal for him.

He grabbed me and shoved me hard into the counters. He then grabbed my hair and threw me onto the ground. He picked up the food and put it in the microwave. He stood there waiting for it to finish, “stay on the ground, bitch. You don’t deserve to get up.”

August 30, 2023.

The second time that he beat me, he did it until I blacked out. A combination of punches, slaps, shoves… I don’t know, I disassociated during the beating.

When I came to after the black out, he was above me. He was inside of me.

“Harvey… We had to wait 8 weeks… Please, stop… You’re going to hurt me,” I was whimpering, the pain was already happening.

He put his hand over my mouth, and continued, even as the pain got worse for me, and I began to scream under him. Once he was finished, he pulled out and left to clean himself, leaving me to sit up.

I was laying on our bed, in a puddle of blood from what he had just done to me.

August 31, 2023.

Harvey held me and Theo in his arms today… he cried and apologized for the night before. I can’t leave him, Theo and I need him.

I keep seeing my bloody face in the reflection of Harvey’s eyes, above me — but I know I can’t go anywhere. This is the home I have created.

Note from Valya

Definitely one of the darker posts I’ve had to write for this story. Still, I hope it was a nice read and that D’s motivation to keep her family together was clear. See below for more of Dreams, Ink and Embers.

DIE MASTER LIST OR #LYONDIE

[katyspersonal]

I really need a mental health break from social media, sorry.

I just can't recover from what happened this summer. Like.. sure, Percy-nal Offence finally slipping and sending their harassment mail off anon let me sigh with relief at last, but not only it was a bit too late to heal the damage from being stalked and harassed that much, but also it was soured by a person that backstabbed me and my friends earlier (I just call her A here) coming to me right after, to lie that she never doubted that anon was them (when she literally chose to throw me away all because she defended Percy and I blew up over it) and worse yet, victim blame me for being angry at her betrayal. Could not be happy that the truth finally came up when I had to hear "well yeah I threw you to the wolves but you are really mean still being salty about it :/". ...and, then, in August, someone else betrayed me, with empty promises. Yes, the guy that crawled to me begging to live together and claiming his life was nothing without me, but then changed his opinion 10 days later and ditched me like dead weight that "wasted his time", although I've been there for him through his worst and lowest and tolerated his BPD abuse, when his current friends that are oh so much better than me are only there for him when he is stable and happy.

Normally I am able to cope and distract myself and just.. bear with it. Like A is pretty much thriving and very active on Tumblr, so most of the time I have to see her somewhat and it is fine, but recently something seriously opened the wound again. And with the guy, TOO many things remind me of him, and yesterday something reminded me of his broken promise again and I just.. I just can't. I broke into a sobbing, helpless mess completely.

The problem is, my mom left in another town (really has to do some stuff there). For like, a week... I am feeling at my lowest, and for at least a week there won't be anyone to control me if I want to do something bad. I don't have any help right now. I have no more irl friends left since everyone left the city/country and the last one ditched me when she found a boyfriend. I can't seek a therapist in my sorry financial state, I can't count on my online friends since our timezones are very different and they're either too busy with work/school or have their own problems to deal with. Like... I am scared. I am very unstable and no one will help me for at least one week. The only choice I have left is to remove myself from everything that could remind me of either of those two people, or otherwise destabilize me.. And that means avoiding first of all, this fandom, especially on Tumblr, until mom is back or better yet, until I am stable again

Just, don't worry about me, okay? I've done urgent removal of myself from social media before, and it often helps to stabilize emotionally. It is just all a very, very bad timing, and I am constantly exposed to things that provoke bad memories and make me spiral, and there is no way to do anything but to let the time make me not care anymore. But I can't ALWAYS be strong and distracted with memes and fun things that make me happy. I've just cracked, but I can't afford trusting myself with social media at this time. I'll come back later, okay? Okay

[mewpre]

The past couple of days has put me in super weird headspace.

Yesterday:

Got invited to a meeting only to find out everyone in said meeting is getting laid off :/

Fuck I need to apply to jobs I hate interviewing everything sucks

As I’m trying to process my imminent unemployment, I find out that my last day will be…in August?!

I’ll be getting paid but I still have to do work and be productive until then, knowing I’m laid off

Also, I will be getting a lot of severance and I have a lot of vacation time to be paid out, so I’m…pretty set financially for a while

Told my partner, who reminded me that my current salary is below market rate and I’ll definitely get a better-paying job anywhere else so getting laid off is actually a good thing

All this while I’m still recovering from a badly sprained ankle and have been useless around the house

Today:

Have a meeting with my manager who tells me she was surprised and sad that I was affected by the layoff since she thought I was a great asset to the team

Almost makes me cry with all the nice things she’s saying about me and my work

Next meeting is with the rest of the team keep it together so you’re not bawling your eyes out

Said manager just sent me a opening at another team within the company that she thinks I’d be a good fit for

I’m not even sure I want to pursue staying here because the pay is lower than industry standards and there may be another round of layoffs sooner rather than later but really touched by how much my manager cares

Yeah, this combination of positive and negative outcomes is turning my brain into soup.

[goodmorrowing]

Bestie what happened 😭

ALRIGHT i'm going to give the most brief timeline of events this year that i can 😭 this comes with light trigger warnings for abuse, sa, poor mental health + associated behaviors. i think that's it.

JANUARY: celebrated my one year anniversaryyy with the love of my lifeeee and honestly everything was fine. i was having fights with my mom but generally things were good. i was gearing up for my last semester of college and going around and it was good!

FEBRUARY: again it was FINE i was starting to panic about my life changing but that's normal. early in the month i started getting harrassed by my ex-boyfriend and it became a whole situation. but i was still okay. i was working my dream job as a paid internship and planning to move but not stressing too much because i had everything in order!

MARCH: march actually came and went really fucking fast. a lot happened and my gf was playing lacrosse so it was a blur of finishing up coursework and watching so!! much!!!! lacrosse!!! + a whole field of other spring sports. again there was more with my mother siding with my ex but that came and went.

APRIL: april was my birthday month! had a birthday, and then the panic really started to set in. i was searching for apartments in washington dc but my heart really wasn't there because my mother was in the area. everything got a little slower when my gf suffered an injury from lacrosse and was ordered rest. also the harrassment from my ex increased tenfold but the first part kind of culminated here. overall, it was okay.

MAY: i graduated!! it was not as joyous as i thought it would be because i wasn't rich in family or friends, but it was okay. at a grad party, i was taken advantage of and humiliated. it was more impactful than it should have been. i was ashamed and trying to forget it happened. i wasn't coping too well. at the time everything going on just turned into a puddle of mental wreck. it got to a point that i was having daily anxiety attacks and in a bad place. i adopted a cat though!

JUNE: so i thought the ex situation was over but! it wasn't! this guy found my address through his friends and showed up at my place regularly, would non-stop call and text me from different phone numbers, would threaten me and my girlfriend, etc. he even found out about my sa from the month prior and attempted to use it to humiliate me, on top of so much other bullshit. my mother was fully on his side at this point and the whole situation made my mental health plummet. i felt so fucking scared all the time. another thing to note is that he got married in april (which was a leading cause of the fight we had then) and was still married at this point. it felt awful to know that we had both "moved on" and i was still stuck in cycles of his abuse.

JULY: i was supposed to move in june, but complications prevented me from doing so until july. so in july i moved from new jersey to washington dc! it was honestly huge for me. i lived in the dmv area during my teen years, so it was refreshing. my girlfriend had gone for the first time the prior year when she was helping me after i went low contact with my mother. my girlfriend and i moved into our first place together and we loved it. i was working my dream job for real and kate was taking up work as an artist and it was one of the best months of my life. all of the stress i had slowly started to fade out.

AUGUST: there were some complications here. we found out that my gf's injury wasn't healing right and would require surgery. which was fine. we were tight financially, as an artist and a writer often are, so i started waitressing again, which was my student employment job of choice during college. my girlfriend got surgery and started physical therapy, so she was recovering well. everything was still okay.

SEPTEMBER: in september my mental health began to tank again without much rhyme or reason. after seeing my mother for the first time in months, i decided to go no-contact with her because it went terribly. the whole thing filled me with so. much. guilt. my father passed away when i was a kid, so cutting my mother out felt worse than it should have. i was barred from seeing my younger sister until she turned eighteen (but she is thankfully so understanding) and everything just felt like a wreck. at this time i also had to take a break from my dream job because it wasn't making ends meet. my girlfriend and i were experiencing some personal conflicts but it was nothing huge. it was mostly just added pressure on top of everything that had already happened.

OCTOBER: october was a wreck of a month. my girlfriend and i quickly recovered from our spats but my mental health wasn't getting any better. i couldn't afford therapy and things were getting bad faster than i could handle them. it was a vertical battle. essentially i abandoned everything that wasn't absolutely necessary and began living in a perpetual routine of working shifts that could go on upwards of twelve hours, several times a week... cooking dinner from nothing... cleaning... making minimal conversation... and downing energy drinks so i could do it all again. any semblance of life that i had just simply felt like it was gone. all of the things i was looking forward to? gone. at the end of the month, there was an emergency in my girlfriend's family and we had to make an emergent trip to boston.

NOVEMBER: cont'd. so we went to boston and stayed for about a week (this was actually the time when my phone broke lmao). i had to go back because we'd left our cat in the care of friends and had to sort some things. kate stayed in boston. i came back to learn that i'd lost my waitress job and would lose my apartment without proof of income. so i made the spur of a moment decision to pack some of our things, deal with the rest, grab the cat, and come up to boston indefinitely.

flash forward to december, things are getting better. it's still difficult. it's getting better. and hopefully next month things will be great. hopefully next year everything will be okay again. but all is well, besties ✨ and god that was long! oopsies.

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on https://yaroreviews.info/2023/10/uk-house-prices-to-fall-until-2025-predicts-lloyds

UK house prices to fall until 2025, predicts Lloyds

Getty Images

By Michael Race

Business reporter, BBC News

The UK’s largest mortgage lender expects house prices to fall this year and next before rising in 2025.

Halifax-owner Lloyds Banking Group predicts prices will drop 4.7% this year and by a further 2.4% in 2024 before recovering.

Lenders have blamed higher borrowing costs for a slowdown in house sales.

But the average house price remains about £40,000 higher than at the height of Covid when prices soared, as people working from home sought more space.

Lloyds said on Wednesday that while prices would fall over the next two years, longer term growth would be steady with prices rising 0.6% by 2027.

Interest rates are currently at 5.25%, their highest level for 15 years, driven by a series of rate rises aimed at tackling soaring consumer prices.

As a result, lenders have raised their borrowing rates, including for mortgages. The latest figures show the average rate on two-year fixed is 6.24% on average, according to financial information service Moneyfacts.

Lloyds’ forecasting is based on the Halifax House Price Index, which excludes figures for cash buyers, which currently make up over 30% of housing sales.

Despite data from mortgage lenders showing falls in house prices, the average price of a home in the UK remains high.

According to the UK House Price Index, the average property price based on completed transactions in the UK in August this year was £291,044, which was little changed from 12 months ago.

What is happening to house prices?

House prices are falling, so why can’t I afford a home?

First-time buyer help considered by government

Why does the Bank of England change interest rates?

Lloyds, which also owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, issued its house prices forecast alongside its trading statement revealing it had made bumper profits as it continues to benefit from higher interest rates.

The banking group revealed a pre-tax profit of £1.9bn for the three months to September, up from £576m in the same period last year.

Most banks have reported higher profits due to rising interest rates, as customers pay more to borrow cash for mortgages, loans and credit cards.

There have been concerns banks are raising borrowing rates much faster than they are savings rates, particularly for easy access accounts. The average easy access savings rate, the most common on the market, is currently 3.21%.

But banks including Lloyds have defended themselves against the criticism.

Charlie Nunn, group chief executive at Lloyds, said the bank remained “focused on supporting our customers and helping them navigate the uncertain economic environment”.

The bank said it had seen more customers move cash out of current accounts and into savings accounts.

‘Filling their coffers’

Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Lloyd’s performance was helped by it managing to “keep hold of savers looking for better rates”.

But Fran Boait, co-executive director of campaign group Positive Money, accused banks of “filling their coffers”, “whilst ordinary people are pushed into poverty by soaring interest rates”.

On Tuesday, Barclays reported profits before tax of £1.89bn for the three months to September, down slightly from £1.96bn for the same period in 2022, leading it to cut its profit forecasts.

Meanwhile, Santander posted UK profits before tax of £1.73bn in the nine months to September, also driven by higher rates.

Mike Regnier, UK chief executive of the Spanish-owned group, said the bank had “prioritised” the needs of customers and “provided competitive rates for savers”.

Last month, Santander decided to withdraw an easy access account with a rate of 5.2% “following significant demand”. It said the product was a “limited edition”.

In July, the financial watchdog warned that banks would face “robust action” for offering unjustifiably low savings rates to customers at time when borrowing rates had risen sharply.

Under new rules brought in by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), banks must now prove they are offering their customers fair value. Last month, the regulator said it was looking into savings offers from nine firms.

Related Topics

Savings

Companies

Lloyds Banking Group

Money

Personal finance

Banking

More on this story

Lloyds hits back at criticism over savings rates

22 February

Interest rates tipped to be held as jobs market slows

1 day ago

First-time buyer help considered by government

2 days ago

[ailtrahq]

In 2022, FTX crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy, sending shockwaves through the crypto community. Legal actions against its former management have persisted. Nearly a year later, founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces an impending trial. The trial of the disgraced businessman will begin on October 3 and will last at least 21 days until November 9 inclusive. At least until sentencing, Bankman-Fried will be held in custody in the Brooklyn prison where he was sent on August 11. Sam is accused of seven counts of fraud. According to investigators, the former head of the trading platform illegally seized the assets of FTX clients. For the scams committed, he faces a penalty of imprisonment for a term of 110 years. I made a lot of big mistakes this year.But this wasn't one of them. There's no evidence, because it didn't happen. Please, please, focus on your own house. https://t.co/tlcQu9zFdf— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 9, 2022 Who is affected by the FTX collapse? Many companies in which FTX and Alameda Research invested suffered catastrophic business consequences. The collapse of FTX and the loss of Sam’s reputation was a tragedy for the industry not only because of the multi-billion dollar losses. Bankman-Fried was a prominent figure in US political circles, speaking in Congress and sponsoring political campaigns. The collapse of its exchange significantly damaged the reputation of cryptocurrencies in the eyes of regulators. Because authorities have accused Bankman-Fried of misusing customer money, other centralized exchanges rushed to release proof of reserves to ensure that users’ funds were safe. New management is trying to get customers’ money back FTX owed customers $8.7 billion after allegedly embezzling and misusing customer deposits. This was covered up by senior management back in August 2022. John J. Ray III is a CEO trying to pay back creditors. According to Ray, FTX has so far recovered US$7 billion in liquid assets and is continuing to pursue the remaining assets. In a second interim report, FTX debtors said the company concealed its actions with the help of FTX Group’s lawyer. At the same time, FTX spends millions of dollars every month on lawyers who are trying to unravel the financial fraud of the company’s former management. Representatives of the form also asked politicians to return donations from Bankman-Fried. What awaits SBF? On November 11, Bankman-Fried resigned from his post as head of the exchange. Ten days later, he was extradited from the Bahamas to New York. He pleaded not guilty to any of the eight charges, including fraud and violating campaign finance laws. 1) Hi all:Today, I filed FTX, FTX US, and Alameda for voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US.— SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 11, 2022 Bankman-Fried was under house arrest at his parents’ home in California; he was able to avoid arrest by posting bail of $250 million. However, the court ruled that the FTX founder had repeatedly tried to influence prosecution witnesses and revoked the bail. As a result, in August, a New York court arrested the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of stealing investor funds. Does SBF have a chance to win? Prosecutors are likely to portray Bankman-Fried as a money-hungry child of privilege, facilitated by his parents’ connections, while defense attorneys will highlight his intense work habits, philanthropy, and determination to try to pay clients what they were owed. However, Sam Bankman-Fried’s chances of winning the case are probably low. First, the top management of FTX and Alameda Research changed their minds and decided to cooperate with the prosecutor’s office. They include his ex-girlfriend Caroline Alison, who ran Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, the co-founder of the collapsed crypto exchange. The lead prosecutor on the case, Nicholas Roos, worked on cases against Steve Bannon and Michael Cohen; the other, Danielle Sassoon, was a Supreme Court law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan is used to high-profile cases: He oversaw E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against former President Donald Trump, which Carroll won; a civil lawsuit against Kevin Spacey for sexual harassment, in which the actor was found not guilty; and the terrorism trial of Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and senior al-Qaeda official, who was convicted. In addition, SBF has provided too much information to the press about the trials. This makes it difficult for lawyers, as they usually advise their clients not to discuss ongoing cases with the media. An examination of documents and depositions in multiple FTX cases reveals an extravagant world, from how the company paid one executive for a yacht, to spending millions on hotels in one month, to business practices such as approving expenses using emojis through Slack, to paying for the house in the Bahamas where Bankman-Fried’s parents lived, to the head of the charity FTX, discussing with Bankman-Fried’s younger brother the possibility of buying the Micronesian island nation of Nauru. Therefore, most lawyers believe that Sam Bankman Freed will be found guilty of several crimes. They also expect him to spend decades in federal prison. For example, Bernie Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in the world, was jailed for 150 years.

[halfcrackedguru]

April 2023 New Moon Tarotscope

New Moon Tarotscope May 2023 The May 2023 New Moon is the opportune time to reflect on the past month so you can adjust and set intentions for the month to come. Mercury is finally out of retrograde but there is about a 2-week "shadow" period where the retrograde energy will be ramping down. For more information on this New Moon as well as a few journal prompts, check out the "New Moon May 19th/20th - 5 Things to Know" YouTube video by Alina Alive. This forecast covers the time period of May 19th, 2023 through June 18th, 2023. Time and energy are fluid so if you're seeing this at a later date then it will still apply. This is a general reading so take what resonates and leave the rest.

Aries, March 21 - April 19

Use the energy of this New Moon to examine your relationship with money and material resources. You may be pinching those pennies a little too tightly or you may be spending too much on things that you don't need. I think most of you are either expecting some financial difficulties or trying to avoid finding yourselves in unstable conditions that you experienced in the past. Money is an exchange of energy so, as with anything, finding balance is key.

Taurus, April 20 - May 20

The amount of financial resources you give to others or the amount you're paying out regularly for bills and whatnot needs some trimming. You can give to others but you might want to consider if it's actually helpful for them, if they are taking advantage of you, or if you are giving more than you can afford. It's possible you may be enabling them. If you're not concerned about what you're giving to others then it's time to examine your expenses to cut out the unnecessaries and create a budget that covers your needs as best as possible. Make sure to include a little "play" money for yourself, even if it's only $5.00. This will help you to avoid dipping into bill money.

Gemini, May 21 - June 21

Be careful of falling into, or back into, destructive habits and be careful of others who might feel shady to you. If you feel like someone is stealing form you or taking advantage of you then be done. You do not need evidence, if it doesn't feel right then it's not right. Concerning your own destructive habits, attachments, or patterns, stay strong but also, don't berate yourself if you relapsed. This can pertain to your attachment to a person or people in general. Use the energy of this new moon to identify your triggers and climb back up onto a healthier path.

Cancer, June 22 - July 23

You may have had a difficult time recovering after a pretty big heartache. Of course, there are some things, like the death of a loved one, that might stick with you throughout the years but you can learn to live with a happy heart even though you may be missing someone. Two things can be true at the same time. Use the energy of this New Moon to find gratitude for the lessons and blessings this person brought to your life. Release them with love and know that if they passed from this life then they are always accessible to you even if you can't see or hear them. Watch for signs like birds or butterflies and, this is really loud, get up or get out and dance!

Leo, July 24 - August 23

You've been hard at work and far more patient than you give yourself credit for! Don't wait until things are perfect or even complete to celebrate. Noting and celebrating your progress is super important because that's what keeps you motivated ad carries you to the finish line. It's sometimes almost impossible to see your progress when you're deep in trying to make things happen. Seeking out and marking your milestones will give your brain the boost it needs to feel good about what you're doing.

Virgo, August 24 - September 22

You've really been through it and worked so hard to come out on the other side! I know it seems like everything is at a standstill but it's moving and making waves beneath the surface. It's time to let time and the universe do whatever it's going to do. If you surrender to this divine timing, you might then see some pretty wonderful things that you couldn't see while you were so entrenched in forcing this other thing. Give yourself some time to just be and experience with gratitude what you already have.

Libra, September 23 - October 22

Karma is working her magic in your life at this time. If you are involved in any legal proceedings or considering new contracts, big purchases, etc, they will work in your favor. Take this time to take a break and blow off a little steam. Go out with friends, create some art, or make a nice fire to help you enjoy a beautiful night. Do whatever makes your heart sing because this thing will no longer be a worry!

Scorpio, October 23 - November 22

You may be causing yourself a bit more anxiety than is necessary at this time. Of course, it stems from a real worry but you are allowing it to color everything you think and experience. As with everything, the situation that's causing your anxiety is temporary. While it may be a little difficult to acclimate to the coming changes, you will find that the difficulty is mainly comprised of anticipation and fear. Do not fear, while you may need to adapt to these changes, you will find that they put you in a far better place than you are now.

Sagittarius, November 23 - December 20

You have overcome some pretty rough circumstances and it's beautiful! While you may want to shout it from the rooftops, be careful you do not create your identity around your trauma or difficulty. You may use what you have learned to help others in similar situations but some of the details should be reserved only for those closest to you or a professional at this time. This new you is still tender and needs to build around learning who you are becoming and who you want to be. Use this New Moon energy to try new things and revisit important parts of yourself that you've hidden away for so long.

Capricorn, December 21 - January 20

Use this New Moon energy to cultivate hope in your heart. The past does not predict your future; old obstacles, patterns, and habits no longer apply to who you are becoming, even if you are still struggling with some. You have learned new coping tools and have an idea of who you would like to be so all the things that held you back before no longer apply. All you have to do is believe that what you want is possible. Try to catch yourself when harmful thoughts and self-doubt occur and replace them with healthy thoughts. Remove "I can't" from your vocabulary. You don't know what you're capable of now because you're stuck on what the old you "couldn't" do. Also, giving something a good try doesn't mean you're committing to it. Try it then try something else if that doesn't work.

Aquarius, January 21 - February 19

There is a "lack" mindset that seems to taint all your hard work and accomplishments. You may have struggled financially your entire life and find it hard to get out of it no matter what you do. If you tell yourself that you are abundant often and consistently, you should start to actually feel and believe it. Let's start with using this New Moon energy to help you focus, feel, and become the financially free person that is buried inside of you. Use some form of music in a prayer, spell, or ritual to help you really feel it!

Pisces, February 20 - March 20

You've recently made a decision that will bring about a new beginning regarding your finances or other material resources. Do not be afraid to invest your money and time, even if you have almost none to spare. The more you're able to give of whatever you have, the faster this thing will show you it's viability. This is especially the case if being seen by others on social media platforms is part of the recipe for your success. Read the full article

[canisbaileyilupus]

I've had a lot going on, time to recap. Can't seem to do a read more on mobile for some reason.

My mom's friend is mentally ill and has been floating around with meds for a couple years and hasn't been consistent in taking them properly. She's also a recovering alcoholic and relapses often.

My mom has been friends with her for 30 years and I am forced to live with my mom bc I can't live alone (rent is awful). Now, mom decides on her own to let her live with us. I disagree but she never asked me. So, in August (I think?) She moves in. She's been told it's not permanent and she'd have to get back on her feet since she was escaping an abusive relationship. Not my problem, I didn't have a choice. So, she's been told the rules, no smoking inside, clean up after yourself, no drugs or alcohol, take her meds on time, etc. This also included buying her own food and paying rent. Mom then goes back on that, saying she can buy her own food but also share ours. That wasn't in the agreement, but I can't fight her on it. Now, food and bills go up. It's costing me more to feed this 55 year old spoiled brat than to put gas in the car.

Since being diagnosed with autism, she's ignored my "I can't handle loud voices and sounds" and the rules of "be quiet or people will report us." She uses her vape pen inside (yes that's included in the smoking rule) and she's relapsed twice since being here (alcohol). She waits until the last minute to make phone calls to therapists, doctors, and housing office to find a place to live. When she doesn't get the therapy she wants she throws a fit.

Now, it's months later, and we got our very first lease violation. The apartment complex office is aware we have someone living here that's not on the lease. And she's been warned on her voice (blames BPD) so much it's annoying and that's also a lease violation.

I am in fear of being evicted. This is our only warning. The next time they send our a lease violation email, they will file eviction papers and we will end up with 30 days to leave.

This is what I've been dealing with for months. I'm so fucking tired.

And there's a lot of small things that bother me too, really gross stuff. She shits and pees herself and refuses to wear diapers. She has done so much laundry it's scary. If we paid for water, we would be unable to live here. She uses a full roll of toilet paper a day to wipe her ass and absolutely explodes the toilet. She leaves her hair everywhere. She never put her shit away either, everything is everywhere. Every room she goes in it's like a tornado. She also doesn't clean her dishes, leaves coffee grounds everywhere and doesn't understand that the water bottles are for my mom and I bc we can't drink the tap water. She's also said I'm rude bc I don't want to have a conversation. I'm not someone who talks a lot, everyone knows this about me. If I wanna talk, I'll talk. If not, I don't participate in conversation.

Let's put this last bit out here for you guys. She is spoiled. She has gotten everything she's ever wanted to a point where if she wanted money, all she has to do is cry to the right people, annoy her mother long enough, abuse her power over a partner to a point they give her money. Even now, she's 55 and her mom is dealing with her father who has dementia. She still calls her crying and to shut her up her mom throws money at her. She's had a maid pretty much her whole life and has never had to struggle financially. Now that she is poor, she doesn't want to give up her spending habits and everytime she has a little money she'll buy shit she doesn't need, including furniture she can't put anywhere for an apartment she doesn't have.

I'll be adding photos when I get a moment as well. Some photos will include a toilet bowl but only if people wanna see it.

[dragonnan]

This is very difficult for me.

I am not someone who easily, if ever, asks for help. However I am in that position and have been since 2020. I realize it is not a unique situation - so many of us are in the same boat that to even ask for help feels galling. To clarify, I'm not asking for charity. And I'm not asking for help if you are someone also struggling. What I'm hoping, is that I can share my story, and if you feel moved, you'll help share my post.

In the spring of 2020, my father had a fall. He was 85 and had developed pain in his legs and knees after decades of hard work as a carpet installer. That day, in February, he stumbled over a bunched up rug and landed hard. The fall ended up fracturing his hip. I immediately was the one to take point - getting dad to the hospital for X-Rays as well as other procedures. I still remember the many hours sitting in that cold hospital room - acting as interpreter between Dad and the hospital staff due to his partial deafness.

At the time, we assumed Dad would slowly recover and eventually be able to get back to doing the things he enjoyed. 85 wasn't that old, after all.

But it was not to be.

Over the months, he steadily grew worse. Oh, the fracture healed - but his ability to be mobile grew less and less. I became his full time caretaker. I don't think I slept more than a few hours a night for the next 9 months. I didn't have work - due to Covid, my full time freelance job had vanished along with many of the opportunities I had cultivated. I'm honestly not sure how I managed to get by at all, financially. I made enough - and sometimes that's the absolute best outcome one can have.

In May, my maternal grandmother, and the last grandparent I had remaining, died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 101.

We mourned, and we pressed onward. I won't detail out every single moment/event of the months that followed. We did the best we could until it became impossible to do more. And then, finally, the horrible day came when I had to tell my Dad that he no longer could be in his home. We had to send him away so that he could receive a level of care beyond my abilities. To this day I feel tremendous guilt for that. That somehow I should have tried harder - done more. I suppose that's a very human thing, though.

Dad lingered at the nursing home for several more months. One blessing was that it was across the street. One hardship was that this was during the height on Covid - making visiting complex. But we did the best we could (a refrain that became an unpleasant mantra over time).

On December 8th, at around 3am, my Dad passed away. It happened quickly - I wasn't able to be there but my two brothers had been contacted and were able to be by his side. Stubbornly Norwegian to the last, Dad clung to life until finally my younger brother, held his hand, and told him it was okay to let go. He took two more breaths, and he was gone.

Going back, towards the start of this same year, one other event took place that has profoundly impacted us all. My mother was diagnosed with dementia. Even with Dad's decline, I was finding myself with two parents to care for. After Dad's passing, for a few years, Mom was mostly okay. I was able to take a job with the same printing company I'd worked for several years ago. It was very part time, but it was enough income to keep the lights on, so to speak.

And then I got Covid - and Mom got Covid too. And, while it was mild, and we recovered in about a week, something changed with Mom's dementia after that. She could no longer safely be alone. A week after I called in sick, I was forced to call my boss to officially quit. This was sometime around July or August I think? In any event, I've had no steady income since that time. My saving grace was a freelance job to illustrate a book (actually I had 2 jobs like that about the same time) so I was able to get a bit of income to carry me forward a few months. But it won't last and I'm finding myself, at last, coming to social media for help.

I feel the weight of stress so profoundly.

That is the primary reason I chose to share what I did. In the last few month's of Dad's life, I even hit such a dark and horrid place that I began contemplating the logistics of suicide. No, I wasn't to a point of making it actionable - but I was incredibly close. It was that point that actually help motivate me to talk with a mental health professional about medication. Its been helping.

So do I actually have a point after all of this massive and unsolicited sharing?

It is to ask that you do a small thing. Help share my site. And, if you feel you can afford it, maybe purchase some of my products.

Nothing I sell is expensive. My sets of clipart are $3.99 for 10 (I also have larger sets at different price points). I also offer stickers for $4.99 and a variety of other digital and physical wares.

My shop is now my only semi-steady source of income. It gets a lot of great reviews but not a lot of visitors despite it being live since 2013.

I'm not looking for wealth. I simply need enough - to lift that blanket of uncertainty and fear about what the next week - next month will bring.

I'm sorry, this is really sounding like one of those "For just a Dollar a day - help feed a starving artist down on their luck" commercials...

If you've made it this far, I appreciate you traveling through my ramblings. If you are able to visit my shop - share - even buy one of my wares, thank you tremendously!

I also can create any freelance design you'd like - everything I create is digital so when it's completed you'll get it instantly. You can send me a private message for rates.

TL:DR - I'm struggling financially and its been a really tough few years and I could really use some help.

[geegirlsworld]

Ternant and Laurens part 2

It's not hard to see why Ternant and Laurens became friends. They both shared a love of natural history and a commitment to the American cause. Ternant also supported Laurens's black brigade idea. Laurens seems like one of those people who has to have someone in their life they can be intimate with, but not necessarily in a physical way. Who's he going to talk to, Dad? Hell, no and Hamilton is hundreds of miles away, so why not turn to the guy you knows shares your beliefs and, maybe, has a crush on you.

Down south Ternant did his job and did it well, everyone thought so. But he had issues with his health and financial situation. There was a lot of malaria in the Carolinas and Ternant came down with it. Back then you really could not get rid of it so you either died or dealt with the periodic bout of fever. That's why Ternant was taking those letters up to headquarters in July of '79 because he had been given a few months leave to recover his health and his finances.

I'm not going to go into this part in great detail but basically many of the foreign officers serving in the Continental army were willing to forgo pay in exchange of a settlement after the war. I'm still working my way through the Whitney book but it looks like Ternant did get something. He bought a farm in Ohio, and a boardinghouse in Philadelphia (I think) which generated some income. But let's skip over all this and go forward to the fall of Charlestown and the day Ternant met John Andre.

In May 1780 Charlestown (that's how they spelled it back then) fell to Clinton's forces and Lincoln had to surrender his army. It was the biggest American defeat of the war. Ternant was appointed by Gen. Lincoln to negotiate the surrender ceremony (because by this time his acting adjutant general) and that's how he met Andre. It didn't go well for the Americans; they were not allowed to unfurl their flags or play a British tune as they marched out. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal now but at the time it was seen as a humiliation, though this might have been due to Clinton's mood rather than Andre's. This cannot have been a fun meeting for Ternant and I'm sure he told Laurens all about it. That might be why Laurens sends Hamilton that "nobody's too pretty to hang" letter after Andre gets executed for spying.

Ternant is the one who has to carry news of the defeat to Philadelphia. This is where, according to his biographer, Whitney, he encounters a modicum of fame, albeit briefly. That's when Peale does his portrait and he meets all the bigwigs in town and gets elected to the American Philosophical Society.

So there they all were, Lincoln, Laurens, Ternant and other officers hanging out in Philadelphia because they're under parole and can't leave Pennsylvania. Ternant deals with it in his usual easy-going way, not so Laurens who is devastated by the defeat and "humiliation." His emotional health takes a dive as seen in a letter from Hamilton where he tells him to bear his captivity "like a man" and not consider suicide. He also mentions about Laurens exploring some caves and tells him to do it. I like to think that this was Ternant's idea because he and John like studying nature but there's no record they actually went.

Laurens got exchanged in November 1780 but Ternant had to wait until 1782 before he got off parole. He went back down south to continue his job and was there when Laurens was killed in August 1782. There is no record of how he reacted to this news but I imagine it was no different to how all the others who knew Laurens felt; he'd been chasing that bullet for a long time, no one who knew him was was surprised.

And that is Ternant's wartime in America. He stayed in country until 1784 when he left to return to France and then came back in 1791 as the French ambassador until 1793. And it is at this point in Whitney's biography that he asked the question that is niggling at the back of his and everyone's mind.

Ternant never married. It is not known what personal experiences or reservations caused him to remain a bachelor, but judging from his letters it seems to have been the result of a conscious decision to do so. As the French minister to the United States Jean was welcomed into the homes of Philadelphia’s elite and certainly had the opportunity to find a socially acceptable wife. He was in his early 40s, handsome, well educated and mannered, with a career. He would have been a good catch.

He sounds like a great guy, so why didn't he find a wife? Ternant himself said, while he was still living in Philadelphia, "finding in my books, papers and small study all the necessary resources for the enjoyment of family." Whitney probably should have left it at that but he seems to have felt the need to assure readers that Ternant was, well, "normal."

Jean liked women. He enjoyed their company, valued their opinions, fashioned numerous long-term relationships with them and was generous to his friends' wives and daughters in his final testament. Women reciprocated his interest and found Jean charming and a good companion.

Not content to leave things there Whitney then says:

The only hint in the records of a romantic relationship with a woman is a reference in the 1800 census. Ternant is listed as sharing his accommodations in Southwark, a suburb of Philadelphia, with an unnamed white female between the the ages of fifteen and twenty-six. Her status was not described but as she was specifically not listed in the categories of either servant or others, it is possible that Jean was involved in an affair of the heart. How long this relationship lasted or its nature remains a mystery. There is no mention of her in Jean's letters and she did not accompany him when he returned to France.

So let me get this straight..Jean Ternant, who up to this time has shown no romantic interests with anyone, male or female, suddenly moves an anonymous woman/girl into his home. He never mentions her name and none of wide circle of friends do so either. Good God, the man was friends with Gouverneur Morris and I know HE would have taken note of that. I don't know who this woman/girl was but if I had to hazard a guess she was either a servant or maybe a refugee. Philadelphia was a wash in French refugees from Europe and the French caribbean and I can see a young woman begging help from the nice man who fought in the American revolution. Anyone who has done genealogy research knows that census records can be inaccurate or incomplete.

And here's a thought: would Whitney have been so quick to put this anonymous individual into Ternant's bed if they had been a male?

Ternant returned to France in 1801 and died there in 1833, unmarried, childless and happily ever after.

Rest in Peace my dude.

[tangent101]

Perceptions of Wealth with Max Caulfield in Life is Strange

One thing I’ve noticed repeatedly in Life is Strange fanfics (and in occasional commentaries elsewhere) is how people assume Max Caulfield comes from a wealthy family. And while I’ve talked about this in the past, it’s probably about time to mention yet again that Max is in fact from a poor family, and that her parents either live in an apartment complex or in her grandfather’s house.

It’s easy to claim otherwise, especially when you compare Max to Chloe, but when you look a little deeper, the signs are clear that not only is Max poor, but she may in fact be as poor as Chloe. We can start by looking at Max’s clothes. Let’s start by looking at Max’s journal entries on clothes:

My mom cried, and my dad laughed. They're so weird. But they're happy and this means extra financial support because they don't have to pay anything to Blackwell. This means new clothes and if I can work it, a new laptop.

Max’s journal entry for July 10th already lays the groundwork here. She believes that seeing her family doesn’t have to pay for tuition, she can get new clothes and maybe even a new laptop. And to be honest, I actually bought into this... until just now when I saw this August 25th entry as well:

That made me want to cry like a little girl. And never leave Seattle. So instead of packing, I feel like burning all my clothes, then just raiding a thrift store to build up a new Max wardrobe over my junior year. Not that I even have an old Max wardrobe.

First, do note that Max talked about “raiding a thrift store” to build up a wardrobe. Her comment here is so matter-of-fact that the point Max was thinking of going to a thrift store for her clothes slipped past my radar... but as a middle-class woman, I do have to admit that it wasn’t until finances got rather tight that I started buying at thrift stores myself. Given that clothes aren’t tremendously expensive at Walmart and the like (especially if you hit sales) that’s perhaps not surprising. But there are no back-to-school sales for Max mentioned or the like.

In fact, we see no signs that Max got a new wardrobe (and admittedly she doesn’t have a lot of outfits, even accounting for keeping jeans in the bureau). Her laptop also is a fairly small one and may in fact be her old laptop. I cannot recall anything Max says or does that genuinely states that anything Max brings with her is new. (This also is true for alt-Max, seeing alt-Max’s journal states on September 14th “Yes, I'm older and thanks to Vic and Nathan I'm now a bit more fashionable too.” In other words, the nice clothing alt-Max wore were gifts from Victoria and Nathan.)

Max even comments on this when perusing Victoria’s clothes. She comes across some socks that “cost more than my entire wardrobe” and given a nice pair of thigh-high silk stockings can cost $75 or more, this might not have been hyperbole. Given that if you’re very lucky on sales you could probably snag skinny jeans for $8 new, and designer t-shirts for close to that (and let’s not go into the hoodies)... and it becomes most likely Max’s wardrobe, with (as Chloe puts it) “chlorine brand [T-shirts] and generic jeans” is cheap used clothing.

Hell, even Chloe’s clothing is in better shape. Despite the fact Chloe’s “poorer” than Max, her clothes look much less shabby and worn. Her ripped jeans look designer. Her shirts are likewise in good shape, with any “damage” being strategic and done for looks. Admittedly, Chloe may prefer certain outfits over others, and thus the lack of wear is Chloe not wearing most of her outfits all the time... but if you put Max and Chloe side-by-side (without Max’s camera evident) and ask which girl is from a wealthier family... and people would probably think Chloe is.

This also helps explain why Max never visited her best friend even in the summer despite living six hours away. If Max’s parents lived paycheck to paycheck then the cost of fueling up a car to drive Max to Arcadia Bay would be painful. (I say this as someone who once had to put her last two dollars in her car so to have just enough gas to last a week, back when that would buy two gallons of gas.) Max didn’t fall out of touch because of stressing out over William or being a bad friend. Max probably didn’t have a cell phone for the first year she lived in Seattle. 

Again. Max and her parents moved to Seattle in the middle of the Great Recession. Yes, that was 11 years back but a lot of people lost their homes. Some of those who become financially destitute never recovered, even today. Others were forced to move in with parents. So if Max is living in a house, it belongs to her grandfather. She probably lives in a two-bedroom apartment and one that’s not even in a good part of Seattle. (She most definitely never rubbed elbows with Victoria in Seattle and never met Victoria prior to Blackwell.)

Speaking of Victoria, this gives another reason for Victoria’s harassment of Max and that is classism. Victoria acts like the typical snobby rich girl who sneers at those who struggle financially. Add in that Max has actual talent despite her lack of wealth, and she becomes a prime target for Victoria (along with Kate for her religious upbringing and lack of “shame” over her religiosity). 

There’s another aspect of this “economic value” with Max that you might not expect, and that’s behavior. When you’re poor, you tend to become invisible to people wealthier than you. In return, some poor people will try and avoid standing out and drawing attention to them. Max has this in spades. She is a “shy cliched geek” who hides behind a lens rather than interact with a world that judges based on appearances. Well, Max appears as shabby and without value. 

She is treated as such by various people as well. And trust me, if Max dressed like Victoria or Juliet, she would not be treated as dismissively. Appearance and behavior are reflections of each other, and we again see this with alt-Max with her nice clothes and more assertive personality, compared to the original Max who feels out of place.

Amusingly enough, as she starts wearing Rachel and Chloe’s clothing she increasingly becomes assertive and willing to take a stand. A good part of this lies with Chloe’s confidence with her, but we the players get to see this as well with Max’s clothes changing and becoming more vibrant. 

So, why do people think Max is financially comfortable? I suspect it’s primarily because Max uses an instant camera. I once calculated out the financial value of the Caulfield Photo Wall, and came to over $100. Admittedly, that may have been all of Max’s photos (outside of ones that Chloe or other people had claimed over the years)... but when you also account for however many photos get rejected for not being good enough (and Max rips up several photographs in Life is Strange) and you’re left with the possibility Max has taken probably a thousand dollars’ worth of pictures.

That said? This doesn’t mean Max has spent a thousand dollars on film. Don’t forget, Max starts out with a battered camera that despite the design being extremely sturdy falls apart when it is knocked off a desk. Polaroid Instant Cameras are much sturdier than that, so the only way that camera fell apart that easily is if it had been broken in the past (which would explain why Max knows how to repair the camera). And with Max’s own journal, we know that Max is perfectly willing to buy and utilize previously-owned items.

In all likelihood, Max lucked across an estate sale or yard sale where someone was getting rid of an old camera they didn’t know the value of and all the film with it and Max walked away with $500+ of film and camera for $10 or so. If she bought more film via eBay and was lucky? She could very well be getting more film for only a couple dollars per cartridge of eight shots. It is also noteworthy to state Max doesn’t have a backup camera. She doesn’t have a digital camera on the side for most of her shots. She uses her phone for some pictures but mostly it’s that old beast of a camera that barely is holding together. 

There’s another reason why a lot of people just assume Max is from a nice middle-class family and that’s because many gamers are from that setting. Who wants to think of Max as a poor girl who is only attending Blackwell because of a art grant? Especially when you add in shabby clothes that highlight Max’s shy and withdrawn personality... you end up with someone that people can have difficulty connecting with. So it’s understandable people just assume the best for Max. After all, they are Max in the game, and who wants to be poor?

[billehrman]

Markets Hate Uncertainty

Markets Hate Uncertainty

There are many questions out there today: when will the Delta variant peak; will opening reaccelerate; will shortages end; will supply line issues abate; will inflationary pressures ease; will the Fed begin tapering; will Congress pass an infrastructure bill and raise the debt limit, and when and if will Federal Chairman Powell be reappointed. That’s quite a lot of uncertainty, and there’s more to factor in.  The successful investor must formulate an opinion on each. That is why each week, we believe the greatest value we can bring you is to discuss issues and what is happening overseas, to help you develop your investment outlook.

After taking a top-down global economic, financial, and political view, we then take a bottom-up approach analyzing industries/companies searching for the best investment opportunities. Our approach is analytical and systemic. We attempt to take emotion out of the decision as best, which is not easy at times, we can especially if our conclusions point to going against the grain. We invest with a 12 to 24-month time frame while the market is dominated by day traders who rely on charts and momentum, which creates unusual opportunities for us at times. Several long-term investable trends are apparent today, such a digitalization, the cloud, the web, security, EV, going green, 5G, and infrastructure spending, but patience is necessary as the rewards come over a few years, not months, weeks, or days.  Do you have the patience to be an investor?

Let’s look at each of these issues, including an update on current economic data points, then formulate a market opinion including a view on interest rates, and finally discuss the sectors we emphasize in our portfolios. We continue to focus on shortages and supply line issues as overcoming them is pivotal to accelerating growth next year and beyond.

The spread of the Delta variant continues to impact global growth. Fortunately, the number of cases here and abroad continues to decline on a 14-day basis, although deaths continue to increase here but are falling abroad. More than 5.83 billion doses have been administered globally across 184 countries at a rate of 30.3 million doses per day. In the U.S., 382 million doses have been given so far at an average rate of 787,751 per day. At this pace, it will take six months to cover 75% of the global population, which should be enough for herd immunity. Studies indicate that a booster shot slashes the rate of covid infections and restores waning immunity. We must vaccinate the unvaccinated, including children. Fortunately, there will be ample supplies of doses available over the foreseeable future to vaccinate the world, including booster shots six months after being vaccinated. We also need to worry about the upcoming flu season. Get your flu shots too. While we are learning to live with COVID, the opening will slowly reaccelerate here and abroad as we move through the fall, which will naturally help the global economy.

We expect no change in Fed policy next week or a proposed time frame for tapering to begin. There are tremendous crosscurrents in the economy from a slowdown in travel and leisure, an increase in unemployment claims, a turndown in high-frequency data, and the end of extra unemployment benefits. On the other hand, we have strong capital spending, higher industrial production, and retail sales. The Fed has a dual mandate: reducing unemployment and controlling inflation. The last employment report was a big disappointment while the rate of change in the CPI slowed in August. The jury is out whether higher inflationary pressures will be transitory. Powell thinks so, as do we. He wants the economy to run hot rather than risk taking the punch bowl away too soon. Also, the Fed knows that their policy will have little impact on shortages and supply line issues. If the economy improves over a few months and employment numbers improve again, we expect the Fed to announce tapering in November and begin by the end of the year or early 2022. We expect them to finish tapering by the fall of 2022 and start hiking the fund's rate by mid-2023 if the data points support the move. Remember that tapering and a negative real funds rate are NOT tightening. Finally, Powell seems to be gaining ground in the Senate for his reappointment as Fed Chairman with bipartisan support. Even Chris Dodd and Barney Frank (remember Dodd-Frank?) support Powell’s renomination.

Biden and his party are pushing hard for their vast $3.5 trillion-dollar social infrastructure bill as well as hiking the debt limit. Highlights of the Ways and Means proposal to pay for the bill include:  top capital gains increases to 25% from 20%; maximum corporate rate rises to 26.5% from 21%; increases carried interest holding period to five years from three; cut some estate tax discounts; cuts tax rate for small businesses to 18%; crypto subject to wash rule; and a Medicare surtax on high earners. The package is expected to raise $2 trillion. The Dems are looking for $700 billion in revenue and cost savings from Medicare drug price changes and $600 billion from faster economic growth. Democratic Senator Manchin and other moderates are against this enormous social spending and tax bill, a deal-breaker for the Dems which dooms Biden’s economic agenda. Fortunately, he needs a win as his poll ratings are hitting new lows, so we believe that he will support the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, in the end, without tying it to his $3.5 trillion social infrastructure bill. This bill could be on his desk within a month, which would be a pleasant surprise for the market benefitting specific sectors tied to infrastructure.

Recent data points continue to be a mixed bag: industrial production increased by 0.4% in August despite shutdowns caused by Hurricane Ida; wholesale sales increased 2% in July while inventories rose only 0.6%, bringing the I/S ratio to new lows at 1.25; monthly retail sales increased a surprising 0.7% in August and are up over 15% from a year ago; the CPI increased only 0.3% from July and excluding food and energy the core inflation index rose only 0.1%, the smallest gain since February; and finally, the Phili and Empire Manufacturing surveys were robust. On the other side, unemployment claims rose to 332,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week; small business optimism fell to 99.7, and the August PPI index rose 0.7% and is up 8.3% year over year while the core PPI increased 0.6% and 6.7% vs. last year. Shortages and supply line issues are continuing to penalize sales and production while increasing inflationary pressures. We do not see improvement for both problems until mid-2022, but by then, we see higher sales/production/margins and lower inflation.

While the outlook for the Eurozone, India, Australia, and Japan have improved, China’s economy has not begun to recover from the outbreak of the Delta variant. ECB President Christine Lagarde said, “unprecedented monetary and fiscal aid and more vaccinations have brought the region to a point where it is recovering more rapidly than anticipated and output should reach pre-pandemic levels before the end of the year.” Most Japanese firms see the economy recovering to pre-pandemic levels in FY2022. The Japanese economy grew by 1.9% in the April-June quarter. India’s economy is expected to expand by over 7% this year and more next year, while Australia could expand close to 4% in both years.

On the other hand, China's outlook has slowed over the last month due to the outbreak of the Delta variant and needs additional monetary and fiscal stimulus to reaccelerate. So far, the government has targeted programs for smaller businesses and pledged additional support using local government bonds. We expect the Bank of China to announce another cut in the reserve requirement soon plus additional stimulus programs to boost consumption, which has been hit far more than production. The financial problems of Evergrande, a huge developer in China, will force the Bank of China to inject trillions into the domestic economy to prevent a Lehman moment. Foolishly, the government continues to release industrial commodities from its inventories, including oil, to put downward pressure on inflation just as global demand increases and supplies are tight.

Investment Conclusions

As indicated by the latest bull/bear ratio, market psychology has turned decidedly bearish, which is interestingly a contra-indicator, meaning that it is an excellent time to be nibbling at the market. It helps that inflows continue at a record pace; corporate deals and buybacks are nearing prior peak levels; dividends are increasing at a record pace; we have record excess liquidity in the trillions; the earnings yield compared to 10-year bond yield has never been wider; operating profits/margins/cash flow are increasing to record levels, and the Fed is our friend. Of course, there are negatives. We are worried about COVID, excessive federal spending, taxes that hurt our global competitiveness and investing in America, the buildup in government debt, excessive speculation, the political climate in America, geopolitical risks, and the power of fringe factions.

We maintain a positive view of the financial markets over the next 12-24 months based on an improving global economy as put the coronavirus in the rear view mirror; shortages and supply line issues abate; record operating profits and cash flow; accommodative fiscal and monetary policies; continued record flows from abroad keeping a lid on our interest rates; and trillions of excess liquidities still in the financial system. The preconditions for a market top are not present, but there can always be corrections like now.

As always, it is where you invest that counts. We maintain a balanced approach between growth, mainly technology and value. We like to invest where the government is our friend, so we own sectors that will benefit from the infrastructure bill, increased capital spending, and higher high-tech defense spending.  While we expect the yield curve to slowly steepen, we do not expect the 10-year treasury yield to get much above 1.80% over the next year, which is good for stock valuations.

Markets detest uncertainty, creating opportunities for true investors with a positive longer-term outlook. The key has always been to remain patient, which most can’t do, and always maintain reserves.

[lovesaadiqa]

BBL Costs, Prep + Recovery

Im booked!!  I talked to a few friends who I know either got this surgery or is getting this done.  I wanted one since forever but I wanted my teeth done first.  The deciding factor came down to my birthday plans.  

Originally I was going to do a birthday tour.  First weekend of October in Miami for carnival, 2nd weekend in Atl for Freak Nik, 3rd weekend in Bahamas and finally Nola for the finale.  Well Nola was just hit with a storm so yeah that’s out. Once I totaled up the flights, hotels, food and spending money.. I was like hmm, I can get a fat ass and started this process.  Immediately looked into surgeon and Dr. Pena was my favorite, his bodies come out so mf snatched, he’s located in Columbia.  Columbian surgeons can take out way more fat than American doctors however, the fatality rate is stupid and ultimately the factor that made me choose an American doctor.  

The next step was choosing the surgeon for the body I have and the one I want.  I weigh 151 and im 5′6″ I’m considered a “skinny bbl”.  I started researching doctors in Atlanta (so I could recover at home) and Miami (like duh).  I chose to go with Dr. Desouza in Miami with CG Cosmetics for a few reasons.  First, I love the look of his skinny bbl’s on other women with the same body type, weight and height as me.  Secondly, he was having a special for the end of the year (lipo 360, bbl, jplasma for $6500 for the surgeon I wanted) this almost sold me but it was the surgery date!!  Jplasma is skin tightening procedure to help with loose skin, you can only get this with lipo.  When they perform lipo they created canals under your skin to remove the fat.. well those same canals are essential when getting Jplasma.

Ok so I decided on the surgeon, contacted the cosmetic group and had a consultation which is pretty much just front, side and back view pictures.. I think they use this to make sure you don’t need a tummy tuck prior to surgery.  They also asked me questions about previous surgeries and if i’ve ever had anesthesia.  The next step went pretty quickly, we talked about what would be lipo’d (abs, waist, back.. I wanted inner thighs, an additional 2k, but was advised to wait on my pre-op to decide), when I wanted to book and how I'd pay.  My consult was on August 30th.. I bitched up when she attempted to take my payment.  I am a money hoarder and spending that much money made me feel like I was being financially irresponsible.  I called one of my Aunt’s who I felt wouldn’t judge me and also give me sound advise.  We talked about my fears, why I was getting the procedure and of course money.  My Aunt gave me excellent advice, reassured me and is a professional CNA who offered to accompany me so yeah I dare not turn that down, lol.  August 31, 2021, I called my coordinator (the contact between me and my surgeon) and told her I wanted to book, she asked me when I’d be ready and I requested first available which was 9/20/21!! Excited is an understatement.. I'd be 24 days post op on my birthday.  After I calmed down I paid in full for multiple reasons:  had to in order to secure the date, all surgeries book in this year had to be paid in full, it was the only way to get the discount.. My coordinator gave me so much information I couldn’t see straight (I was also high as shit off life thinking about a fat ass and me in the same sentence).. she emailed + texted everything, congratulated me and we hung up.

I get the emails:  “raise you hemoglobin with these vitamins” I purchased vitamin C $2, folic acid $2, iron $3 and floradix $35 - amazon, I take them as directed on the bottle and start eating my ass off (just to give my surgeon more to work with, lol).  Talking to one of my gf’s I realize I have to be cleared for surgery?!?!  What?  I open my email and sure enough I have to have blood work done 15-20 prior to surgery, it was 9/3 and a Friday.. SHIT!! I fly over to an Piedmont Wellstreet urgent care facility as recommended by my friend (she started this process as well so I was crazy grateful for her experience and that she shared it with me).  Urgent care was full but opened the next day, my ass was in that line at 7:32 am, I was the 13th person in line and they opened at 8.  I get to the desk and my appointment is at 10:30 and I'd have to pay the office visit fee to be seen, it was $155.  I came back at my allotted time and was told how much all of my labs would be.. $302.  My labs were to be processed and faxed to my surgeon by 9/9 because Labor Day weekend so.. yeah.  

I discuss accommodations with my Aunt and realize it’s cheaper, safer and more beneficial for me to go to a recovery house.  I search high and low baby and most of them were booked.. found one regardless with lymphatic massages included called Flawless Recovery House.  This wasn’t my 1st-6th option but the one with availability on my surgery date so I paid a deposit to hold onto my spot.  Total was $1312 for 5 days with 5 massages, I paid a $200 deposit.  Next, I booked my flight, round trip $116 with Delta.  My surgery date is on a Monday, I have to have my pre-op done on the Saturday prior so I booked a hostel from the 18th-20th on booking.com for $66.  I know I could have gotten an airbnb or hotel room but I wanted this experience.  I want to go to Amsterdam and stay in a hostel so I need to know what to expect.  Also I cannot party, smoke, drink or eat before surgery so fuck it.. a hostel will do, lol. 

I smoke big fucking weed and watched someone else’s bbl journey today and realize if I fail the drug test, my surgery will be cancelled and it’ll cost me $1500 to reschedule.  Boy the shit sent me into panic mode like I've never experienced before, only to find out the weed isn’t the issue nicotine is, it slows down your heart rate.  I can smoke weed just not out of a wood or a rillo and nicotine takes 3-4 days to get out of your system so a bitch barely made it.  I just won't be smoking until I get back home lol.  Just to be super informative no alcohol, diabetic meds, cocaine, pcp or anything that will fool with your heart or makes your bleed.  Today is 9/11 and im one week out from my pre-op... my body is a joke cause I haven’t gained a single pound and normally it’s nothing for me to put on weight.  I took my acrylics off, when you’re put to sleep they monitor your oxygen levels with those clamps they put on your fingers and they aren't the most accurate when you have on dark polish or acrylics.  I also cannot wear lashes cause when they go to fill this ass in I'll be laying flat on my face.  I mean my hair didn’t have requirements but I figure since im naked I might as well be bald.. y'all should see me rn, I look very much like a young man but im hype.  I’ll be back later to tell y'all what I pack and purchase prior to my flight.  Imma put the dates at the end of each update.. today is 9/11/21

My surgery group send me list of supplies  that I would need and the cost came to roughly $1100.  Naive me was definitely going to purchase everything on the list from them until I saw Leslie’s (@prettyhaute - on ig) bbl vlog.  I went on amazon and got away with murder.  Below I’ll list what I purchased and the price I paid versus what the surgery center was quoting me.

Faja - I paid $74.69 - Quoted $160.50 || BBL Pillow - $26.99 - Qouted $42.80 || Arnica pills - $8.95 - Quoted $37.45 || Compression socks - $13.99 for 3 - Quoted $10.70 for 1 || Foams - $17.99 for 3 - Quoted $64.20 for 3 || Scar Cream  $$29.82 - Quoted $80.25 || Arnica Gel - $7.92 - Quoted $21.40 || 

There a shit ton of items on the suggested list that I didn't purchase but way more items that wasn’t on the list I still need for instance:

Crocs, benadryll, robe, adult diapers, straws, earplugs, liquid iv, stool softener, antiseptic body wash, avocado float, back board, urinal, pineapple juice, throat calm, 3 moo-moo’s and a massage roller (the crocs are the only thing on this list that cost more than $20).  My flight is at 7:15a tomorrow and im so damn nervous but excited.  I will spend Saturday and Sunday gallivanting around Miami and then body , ody, ody, ody, ody, ody.  I still have to send my entire itinerary to my aunt but I think im all set.  9/17/21

Pre-op was packed but I went on Saturday and was in and out in an hour.  I was charged for a covid $80, 3 post-op massages $150 and a drug test $20.  I went over my clearance paper work with a medical assistant who also took 9 before pics of me.  Keep in mind, your surgery can be cancelled or reschedule if all of you labs aren’t at the surgery center on pre-op day.  I cannot stress how important it is to take your labs with you!!!  Mine were faxed over from urgent care but I was also provided copies which I took with me.  The photos were sent directly to my surgeon to analyze before surgery.  From my knowledge, I was also to be fitted for my faja but that never happened, do NOT leave pre-op without a faja!!! I paid for 3 massages from CG totaling $150 which I regret badly.  I do NOT recommend getting massages from the surgery center.  There are 4-5 different surgeons performing surgeries on any given day and they do at minimum 4 surgeries per day, that’s at least 15-20 different girls with the same surgery and post-op date.  CG had 2 massage therapists to drain 15-20 girls.  I was drained for 9 mins, your drain massages should last at least 45 mins for maximum drainage.  I only used 1 of the 3 massages I paid for and was denied a refund.  That is a huge downside to CG once they have your money good fucking luck getting it back! Ps. Ellie was a royal fucking cunt!!!!!  She told my medical assistant that I didn’t need a faja so I was never fitted for one and woke up out of surgery with a binder on versus a faja like I should have.  I wanted to slap the shit out of her and took the charge on the chin but I wanted my surgery so I refrained.. I was put on a 12 hour fast and contacted an hour after pre-op with my surgery address and time.  My fast started at 7pm the day before surgery and my surgery time wa at 6:30a, there was a $300 for showing up to surgery late.  All I could bring to surgery was compression socks and a faja (that I didn’t have), I was instructed to bathe with dial (the orange one) before surgery to make sure my incisions weren’t infected, no lotion, perfume, deodorant, makeup, nails, lashes, no jewelry/piercing or hair products and no personals ie, purse money, wallet also you will need a companion or surgery will be cancelled.  I’ll upload all my paperwork at the end.   Surgery day arrive at the surgery center at 6:15 am how about the entire fucking staff was late!  Bitch I was outside in Miami alone with compression socks on and a moo moo, LIVID.  No one arrived until 7:10 am, baby I wanted to kill everyone but fuck it, it was go time.  I’m escorted to a room, changed into a paper gown, piss tested, my labs were reviewed again and finally my surgeon comes in!  We were in the exam room alone which was weird cause I was asshole naked but he kept it 1000% professional, he asked me what I wanted and I say “the fattest ass” he looked me dead in my eyes without a single hesitation and said “it’ll heal like a diaper”  LMAO.  I showed him areas that I wanted lipo’d to death and he marked me up, I didn’t aka e picture of my mark ups but shit was rolling by then, he walked out I put my paper gown back on and the anesthesiologist walked in.  I expressed my biggest concerns to him, I didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to wake up during surgery.  He explain why the drug test was so important because certain street drugs will have adverse effect with the anesthesia.  My anesthesiologist walked me up to the surgery room and I hopped on the table, they put massage boots on both of my feet and inserted an iv, the mask was put on my face and my heart rate went to heaven, I wanted to shit myself bro.  The anesthesiologist told me to make a tight fist, I asked what time it was, 8:08am.. I woke up to a nurse helping me into a wheelchair with a binder around my waist and I was scream crying because my entire body ached, I didn't know where I was and the anesthesia is no hoe.  I was escorted to my recovery house’s transportation van and taken to my damn bed.  

I chose Flawlesss Recovery House with Ms. Opal.  I paid a $200 deposit before 2 weeks before surgery and the balance the day I left.  I opted for a 5 day stay.  I loved it there bro and couldn’t imagine trying to recover at a hotel or air bnb!  There were nurses there 24-7, I was roomed with one other girl but the house had a total of 4 bedrooms, one of which no one occupied and the door was always shut but my room was the only room with 2 beds, the others had 3 beds.  I had a call button, it was love, the nurses came expeditiously when I rang it.  They made 3 home cooked meals per day and I don’t eat meat, they accommodated me with no hesitation.  I loved it man.  So couple hours after surgery I attempted to use the bathroom on my own and blacked out, the anesthesia is really fucking strong and took an entire day to wear off (for me), the nurses helped me pee in a cup until then.  Post op day 9/21/21, I went in to make sure I looked good, got a faja finally and received that lousy as drain.  Back to the recovery house I was able to walk finally w/o passing out and in went my foams, I also could pee by myself with the use of a urinal.  I was constipated for 2 days, first bowel movement was on post op day 2. I paid for an independent massage therapist named Tatiana, she used a ultrasound machine to massage me so I cancelled her.  When I took my faja off for my massage it was washed and dried by the time I was done, I took a shower and put my faja on with my foams.  I cancelled Tatiana because don’t let nobody use no machine on you until you are at least 2 weeks post op, hand massages only.  All the girls were getting massaged by the literal best massage therapist (in my opinion) her name is Brittany, I could cry she was EVERYTHING, I was tender but she put the painful massage theory to bed!  She taught me how to drain myself and how to open my incisions without the q-tip looking thing.  In 45 mins she drained 5 of those doggy pad things worth of fluid off of me.  I received 4 massages in 5 days.  I left on Saturday 9/25/2021 on Sunday, back in Atlanta, I received my 5th massage and that when I was told I have not one but 2 seromas.  I swear on everything I love it was because everyone wakes up from surgery with a faja on but not me (Fuck you Ellie, lil bitch) I had on a binder (its what they use for tummy tucks).  The lady who did my 1st massage in Atlanta was Bri, not gone post her ig cause she did a damn good massage but when I asked her to syringe drain me the good sis stuck this long ass needle in my seroma but could get the fluid out, cancelled her too (the massage was good asf tho but nah).  Tired and tried I bit the bullet and booked a packed with Dream Body ($455 for 5 massage, I think, don’t quote me look it up on there site and follow them on ig)  because they are the biggest name in Atlanta, Jayda Wayda goes to them.  The  most painful massage yet, yes Michelle lil ass is so strong but she will get the fluid up off you.  She made me tear up bad and no matter how much I screamed or even tried to push her off of me she understood the assignment, Michelle helped me get back into my faja after my massage and told me my faja was too big and to have it altered.  She recommended a lady on ig @siri2sir but to know me is to know I altered my shit myself.  Allow me to tell y'all, I look good asf!!!!!!! 10/4/2021 

[what-is-your-plan-today]

A WEEK IN BRITAIN...

1. Boris Johnson announced a new 3 Tier lockdown system, with the lowest Tier being “medium”, like at McDonalds

2. As part of the announcement, the Chief Medical Officer reassuringly said the plan wouldn’t work

3. The govt said “in all cases, we are following the science”

4. It was revealed the SAGE science committee told the govt to lockdown weeks ago, but that bit of science wasn’t followed very far

5. SAGE went on to say the govt’s “world-beating” £12bn Test and Trace system was having only “a marginal impact on transmission rates”

6. Dido Harding, head of Seemingly Everything, said Test and Trace would be “local by default” and be “highly efficient”

7. She then handed £12bn to Serco, which is highly efficiently charging us £7360 per day for consultants. To trace Covid infections. Which they aren’t doing

8. Serco’s CEO is the brother of an ex-Tory MP. His partner is a Tory donor. Serco’s ex-head of PR is now a Tory Health Minister

9. If you feel all this is a bit corrupt, you can complain to the govt’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose, who is married to Dido Harding

10. Meanwhile an investigation by the Good Law Project found PPE suppliers owned by Tory donors or associates were paid 30% more per item than similar businesses globally. I'm talling you: John Penrose. He’s your fella. He’ll get to the bottom of it, fo shizzle

11. And only 34 days since the announcement of Boris Johnson’s "brainchild", the £100bn Operation Moonshot, it was quietly scrapped, along with (apparently) Boris Johnson’s brain and around 28% of his children

12. A Tory MP said Boris Johnson’s “personal skillset this doesn't play to this. He's not a details, manager type. He's a picture painter”. On the side of wine-boxes, mostly.

13. Another said “I think it's obvious this is a government happier picking fights than governing”

14. Another said Boris Johnson “prefers to get on with dog-walking” and “let’s Dominic do the work”

15. Chastened by reports local authorities were given only 5 minutes notice of previous lockdowns, this time the govt gave them ... 7 minutes notice of the meeting to discuss it

16. Except some MPs didn't even get that, and were only invited after the meeting had started

17. And the govt invited the MP for Sunderland, who had to inform them she was only of 3 Sunderland MPs. The govt was “surprised to be informed” of this

18. The dep Chief Medical Officer said the infection rate in the north “never dropped” meaning the relaxation of lockdown was at the expense of lives oop north

19. Then the govt said they would “devolve more decision-making” and “give more financial aid to local authorities”

20. But the aid is conditional on the "devolved" local authority doing what the govt wants, which is quite a novel a definition of "devolved"

21. So, following criticism, the govt briefed the press that it was going to consult more with regional govts

22. Literally 2 hours later, the govt briefed the press that Manchester was moving into Tier 3 restrictions. The Mayor of Manchester was not consulted (or even informed) about a decision he must implement, and which affects the largest city-region outside London.

23. A Tory MP, anxious about the lockdown affecting businesses over the party season, asked the PM “what can you tell us about Christmas”. Boris Johnson replied, “it’s a religious festival that’s been celebrated 2020 years”, which I’m sure helps us all

24. Matt Hancock insisted we all follow the science and adhere to the 10pm pub curfew that scientists say makes absolutely no improvement on infection rates

25. Then Matt Hancock broke that curfew, in a House of Commons bar

26. And then Matt Hancock said “The drinks are on me but Public Health England are in charge of payment methodology so I will not be paying anything”

27. In August, Public Health England was scrapped by [checks notes ] Matt Hancock

28. But prior to that, Tories imposed budget cuts of 5% to 10% on Public Health England for each of the previous 7 years

29. Unsurprisingly, it was reported that hospitals in the north of England would run out of beds within 7 days

30. The govt said "Hospital Trusts should consider cancelling all non-urgent treatments"

31. The govt then refused to drop fines it imposes on Hospital Trusts which cancel non-urgent treatments

32. So Matt Hancock announced the reopening of Nightingale Hospitals, which were closed last time because nobody could send patients to them, due to them not being staffed

33. They still aren’t staffed: Matt Hancock's' "urgent boost to nursing training" doesn’t start until 2021

34. Fortunately, the govt began a campaign to get ballerinas to retrain, and then scrapped the campaign 24 hours later

35. In June, Boris Johnson announced an "urgent" £1.57bn Arts Rescue Plan

36. A mere 127 days later, it "urgently" got around to paying out some of that money

37. And then Lord West reassuringly said, “we need to deal with migrants in a concentrated place, a camp or whatever”. He didn’t mention whether Arbeit Macht Frei, but it’s still only Thursday, and who can tell what the remainder of the week will bring?

38. Speaking of dates: 15th Oct, the absolute, immoveable deadline for trade talks that mighty, fearsome  Boris Johnson laid down to the cowed and quivering EU

39. Talks continue tomorrow. Because obviously, duuur

40. The Road Haulage Assoc pointed out we have only 1,668 of the 33,000 EU Haulage Permits we need on 1 Jan

41. Software to control our borders won’t be ready until 4 months after 1 Jan

42. And the govt is “still in the planning stage” of the “Kent Passports” we need on 1 Jan

43. And construction of Kent's “world’s largest lorry park” is behind schedule, so probably not ready on 1 Jan

44. Fortunately the govt is well-prepared, and plans to install 1000s of Portaloos in Kent, the garden of England, to be used by lorry drivers trapped in 2-day queues

45. And our food standards will still be fine, as Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi tweeted “Our manifesto was clear. We will not compromise our animal welfare and food standards”

46. He then voted to compromise our animal welfare and food standards, as did the rest of the Tory Party

47. And then govt used an obscure rule to deny MPs a vote on whether to allow chlorinated chicken

48. Meanwhile, 20 years after North Sea Cod became so overfished the WWF declared it “economically extinct”, Tory MPs voted to reduce protections designed to let fish stocks recover

49. So, after Brexit, our current plan is to accept tariffs that will destroy our manufacturing sector, and border delays that will destroy farming exports and imperil food supplies, and destroy the farming sector ... all so we can go and catch a fish that doesn’t exist

50. But at least we’ve now "got back control", and therefore we can level up the playing field by implementing the govt's landmark “digital tax” policy on giants such as Amazon

51. This week it was announced Amazon will be exempt from the digital tax

52. Speaking of tax exemptions, it was revealed Dominic Cummings has had a £30,000 council tax bill “written off” because he built the house illegally, so it doesn’t count as a real house, or summat. Sorry, my hurricane-force sarcasm briefly turned me more northern.

53. And on the subject of extreme dodgy dealing, let me direct your attention to Robert Jenrick, who set up the £3.6bn “Towns Fund” for the 101 most deprived town, and then gave the maximum grant of £25m to his own constituency, which is the 270th most deprived town

54. His explanation was that he, Jenrick, did not make the decision. It was made by a colleague, Jake Berry.

55. Jake Berry also got money for his constituency. By a dazzling coincidence, that decision was made by – you guessed it – Robert Jenrick

56. Finally: at a meeting led by Liam Fox, the TaxPayers Alliance (insanity-pushers to the Tory Party) advocated cutting pensions immediately because half of old people “won't be around to vote against you in the next election”, and the other half “will have forgotten by then”