#paid political broadcast

[sohannabarberaesque]

Nothing could be finer--

--than to imagine certain obnoxiously pathetic "political messages" airing at time rates cut short when the message starts getting dreadfully pathetic and conspiratorial, Twilight Zone-like even, and quickly replaced with some choice Hanna-Barbera flicktoon called from abeyance with no warning to the viewer (mostly lower-class "poor white trash" living in economically-challenged areas) save for an unexplained increase in volume when the flicktoon comes on.

[askblueandviolet]

Can I ask Aigou something? If so then...

You finally meet "the needy lunch date". What do you think about Macaque? Do you approve? Do you think he's the one for mayor? Will Public Relations do anything about it?

MASTER POST

Asks Start 💙💜🩷

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[mariacallous]

When Germany’s election results were announced on Feb. 23 at the packed headquarters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Berlin, the hall erupted into wild rejoicing. The party’s leadership, among it frontperson Alice Weidel, and hundreds of supporters waving German flags immediately recognized the party’s 21 percent tally as a conspicuous victory—exactly twice its 2021 result—even though the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) won more votes by 8 percentage points, and with this the mandate to form a government.

Despite the fact that Germany’s other parties refuse to govern with it, the AfD—an extremist xenophobic party with ties to neo-Nazis—has definitively broken out of the margins and is positioned squarely at the center of German politics. It is now Germany’s second-strongest party; the largest opposition party in the Bundestag; the favored party of the working class; the no. 1 party in Germany’s eastern states; a darling of the new U.S. administration; and it also boasts representation in the regional legislatures of all but one German state and in the EU parliament, too, where it is buttressed by like-minded allies.

Perhaps, though, most critically: The election campaign illustrated just how fundamentally the AfD—as a party operating exclusively from opposition rows—can leverage a crude racist populism to swing the country’s political discourse and move rivals in its direction. The AfD’s cudgel was migration, which it wielded ruthlessly to force every other party (save the democratic socialist party, The Left) to harden their positions on the treatment of asylum-seekers, political asylum as such, policing practices, labor migration, and border policies. Every one of those parties paid a price at the urns for their acquiescence. The Left, on the other hand, was the only democratic party to significantly better its 2021 result and outperform the polls.

This applies to the CDU and Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, too—and will follow them into the chancellery. In response to the AfD’s drumbeat and a series of tragic, violent incidents involving asylum-seekers in Germany, Merz threw caution to the wind in late January, just weeks before the vote, to switch the campaign’s focus from the economy, Merz’s specialty, to migration, the AfD’s bugbear. Merz went so far as to propose a raft of measures restricting migration from the Bundestag floor with the help of AfD votes—a step he and other mainstream politicos pledged they would never take—thus further eroding the anti-AfD “firewall” that the centrist parties vowed to respect.

With eyes wide shut, the CDU walked into a trap that has spelled the marginalization or even disappearance of center-right parties across Europe: By taking up the call of the far right, Europe’s conservatives feed the extremists that voters ultimately deem more authentic or convincing on their own bread-and-butter issues—at the conservatives’ expense. While the CDU captured more votes than the AfD, its 28.5 percent showing counts as its second-lowest ever and several points below its polling before Merz’s controversial maneuver. Like in France, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as across Central Europe, the center right’s adoption of far-right positions played right into the court of radicals. Election data shows that the CDU and the Social Democrats (SPD) lost voters to the AfD.

The CDU can’t claim a “resounding victory,” concluded ARD, Germany’s public broadcaster. “Instead, it is well above the worst-ever 2021 tally of 24 percent, but far below the 42 percent that Angela Merkel’s CDU captured in 2013. Why is that?” the broadcaster asked. “It’s a combination of the generally difficult situation, the aftereffects of the Merkel era, mistakes made by the CDU leadership, but certainly also competition from the right. … Merz’s goal was not to leave the topic of migration to the AfD. … Did this tactic work? The numbers suggest: probably not.”

“Parties such as the AfD thrive on the longing for authority and security, and the current government [led by SPD] conveyed the opposite,” opined the daily Tageszeitung. “This is where the incessant crisis rhetoric of the right, whose slogans of ‘foreigners out’ offer a simple solution using authoritarian means, catches on,” social psychologist Oliver Decker told the media outlet. The fact that the centrist parties have jumped on the migration issue has not weakened the AfD, but rather legitimized it, he concluded.

The AfD was born in 2013, not as an extremist party but as an EU-critical collection of nationally minded neoliberal economists who questioned Germany’s role in Europe’s 2009-10 financial crisis and the replacement of the Deutsche mark, Germany’s postwar currency, with the euro. But soon after its founding, the party started creeping to the right—its earliest successes happening in Germany’s eastern states, which have proved its bastion ever since. “Initially, the AfD appealed to older voters who considered themselves conservative but were disenchanted with Merkel,” Rüdiger Maas, the author of bestselling books on Germany, told FP.

The east was fertile soil for the increasingly hard-right party: Easterners expressed broad disappointment with unification, which they felt had treated them unfairly and turned them into second-class citizens. The east’s economic transition—a bill footed by the state to the tune of $2 trillion—resulted in rampant unemployment and, to this day, lower wages and living standards for those in the east. (That is, for those who didn’t flee it: Around 3.6 million people left.)

Moreover, the easterners had very little experience with migration, foreign cultures such as Islam, and coexistence with non-Germans. The first nonwhite migrants in the 1990s were often confronted with naked violence; a hard-right neo-Nazi scene flourished and even dominated rural locations. When over a million migrants streamed into Germany from 2015 to 2016, those who settled in the east faced hostility and deep-seated resentment. The AfD radicalized, as did the eastern Germans: above all, the non-college-educated, male, rural-situated, and over-40 voters, who constituted the party’s mainstay.

“From the very beginning, the AfD was a male party that appealed above all to men,” Daniela Rüther, an historian at Bochum University, told FP. “Like every völkische Bewegung (ethnically defined national movement) in German history, it puts the traditional family with its male-led hierarchy at the center of the community. Some of its gender policies are taken directly, one-to-one, from the Nazis.” The fact that the AfD is today led by a (gay) woman in Weidel only appears to be a contradiction, Rüther said. Were the AfD to come to power, she said, Weidel would be sidelined just as the female antagonist of Serena Joy is in the conservative revolution in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

As the AfD entered eastern German legislatures, it simultaneously shed its liberal sensibilities for an ever more hard-right archconservatism. The AfD swung sharply to the far right, adopting ever more radical positions on migration, Islam, the climate crisis, and foreign nationals in Germany, as well as an affinity for President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, latent antisemitism, and a rebuttal of Germany’s self-critical approach to its World War II past.

Its stunning electoral successes, however, first came in response to the refugee crisis. In 2016 and 2017, it stormed into regional legislatures in western Germany and then with tallies above 20 percent in several of the eastern states. In the east, a West German-born fortysomething and former schoolteacher named Björn Höcke gained prominence as the leader of the AfD’s most radical branch, called Der Flügel. Höcke made no bones about his sympathies for the Third Reich and disdain for Western-style democracy. Höcke, for example, referred to the Holocaust memorial in central Berlin as a “monument of shame,” the kind of breach of German taboo that many observers, including relative moderates in the party, thought would disqualify him from German politics. These views attracted the attention of Germany’s intelligence services, which put several of the eastern party branches, including Höcke’s, under surveillance.

On the contrary, Höcke and his allies helped the party chalk up ever larger tallies. In 2019, he led the Thuringia AfD to a 23 percent showing and then five years later to capture 33 percent of the vote—making it Thuringia’s strongest party, another milestone.

Yesterday, in Thuringia, Höcke took the party to a new record high: a full 38 percent of the vote. So tenuous are the democratic parties’ hold on Thuringia that they agreed last year to govern in a desperate, ungainly coalition of CDU, SPD, and the left-populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance. But at least the firewall held. Another grim statistic: In the east, it’s no longer old voters who back the party but rather the youngest: One in three male voters under 24 cast their ballot for the AfD. “These young people grew up with the AfD,” Maas explained. “In many cases their parents were the first AfD voters. For them, the AfD was always part of the Bundestag, talk shows, regional politics.” Moreover, Maas said, this generation gets its politics from social media, mostly TikTok, which the far right (and the far left) swamped with their messages.

In yesterday’s poll—as in the June 2024 EU parliament vote—the AfD swept the five eastern states: its bright blue party color standing in stark contrast to the jet black of the western states, the CDU’s color. This is Germany: a country divided between democratic and undemocratic archconservatives. From the AfD’s point of view, a coalition between conservatives and the right makes all the sense in the world. It looks natural in light of the striking overlap, not least on migration. Their voters share similar concerns. But the Christian conservatives remain adamant that it will never happen. “Never again” was the promise of the postwar generation that Germany would never be home to a fascist politics again. As one of the placards at the anti-right demonstrations across Germany earlier this month proclaimed: “Never again is now.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dan Rather at Steady:

The morning after the election, I was talking with a friend who said something that made me pause: “The American people aren’t buying what the Dems are selling.” At the time I acknowledged the notion but filed it away for closer inspection, once the shock wore off.  Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party were selling hope and freedom, upholding the rule of law, saving democracy. What’s not to buy? With the benefit of lots of discussion, reading, watching, and thinking over the past 17 days, it became apparent that that analysis is incomplete.  It isn’t that the American people didn’t buy what Harris was selling; they didn’t know what she was selling. The increasingly powerful right-wing media championed her opponent’s message while distorting hers. And millions of Americans bought it. 

As The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky wrote, “It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.” The right-wing media now controls the agenda.   For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of truth-telling, it’s gut-wrenching to see this mega misinformation machine grow into a multi-headed monster.   Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock. Gallup says trust in the media is at an all-time low. The most trusted news source according to YouGov is … The Weather Channel. Couple that with exit polls showing people who consume a lot of news from traditional sources voted overwhelmingly for Harris. 

If you only read The New York Times or watch CNN or so-called legacy networks such as CBS News, you might be surprised to learn there is a vast right-wing media ecosystem that goes well beyond Fox News. Founded in 1996, Fox is the granddaddy of the far-right media but has since been joined by Newsmax and One America News Network. This media universe also includes Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns hundreds of radio and TV stations — reaching 40% of the viewing public — and newspapers, including the recently purchased Baltimore Sun; iHeartMedia, which dominates right-wing talk radio and podcasting; Trinity and Bott Radio, two massive Christian broadcasting networks; social media platforms like Trump’s own Truth Social and X, owned by Trump bestie Elon Musk; and a multitude of hugely popular far-right podcasts.  Collectively, these various and varied media outlets have been feeding growing audiences a constant diet of disinformation for years. They have been fighting and winning an information war Democrats didn’t seem to know existed. The 2024 election may have been the inflection point when the right-wing media’s influence finally eclipsed the mainstream media. That is a major reason a convicted felon won with just under 50% of the popular vote.

The landscape is changing at light speed. Today, traditional media is not where most people get their news. Not so long ago you had to pick up a morning newspaper or turn on a television at a specific time to get news. Now “news” is available 24-7, from hundreds of sources, in tiny bite-sized portions, often without the benefit of context or even fact-checking. Right-wing outlets peddling half truths have learned how to navigate and thus dominate this new landscape. It is important to note that this battle is being waged between right-leaning media and mainstream media. The combatants are not two ideologues. One group is pushing a hard-right agenda, and the other is striving to report and expose the truth. The social media landscape mirrors this reality. On the right, you have Truth Social and X. On the left, not much. In reaction to the misinformation rampant on its sites during the 2020 election, Meta-owned platforms like Facebook and Instagram removed most political content.

An excellent read from longtime CBS News journalist Dan Rather on how right-wing media propaganda being fed to millions of Americans without any real fact-checking of lies is what led to Donald Trump become a Presidential candidate in the first place, let alone win twice.

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

First drink headquartered!

A very legitimate question: What is the connection between Sassenach Spirits and STARZ? 🤔

STARZ invited Sam to promote a tasting at its headquarters during his alcohol tour in Denver. This marked the first time STARZ was directly involved in promoting Sam Heughan's alcohol business at its main office.

Does Sam Heughan's new role as STARZ’s host involve entertaining guests, employees, cast and crew while promoting his business? Is Heughan's alcohol venture related to his actor’s contract?

The American network has long supported Heughan's alcohol; Even their bottles of gin were included as gifts sent to entertainment critics to bolster the Outlander series for consideration, demonstrating Starz network's support to their favourite actor’s side venture.

In case you didn't know for award actors/shows, usually the network is the one to submit actors because it's expensive and very politic-y.

Additionally, during Outlander's wrap parties for the end-of-season, they were topped off with Sassenach whisky, gin, and tequila to entertain attendees, indicating further increased sponsorship by the broadcaster. It should be noted that some STARZ executives travelled to Scotland precisely to attend these end-of-season parties.

However, there seems to be an unusual level of engagement from STARZ regarding Sam’s opportunities, which is not commonly seen with other actors on the network. This raises questions about the nature of his invitation to STARZ headquarters: Was it as an actor, or was it more in line with promoting his alcohol brand?

What role did Alex Norouzi, Sam’s partner who closely resembles his “attached at the hip”, play in this invitation as well? Did he receive an invitation for what purpose? Or was Sam there as a pedlar boozer, pleasing STARZ employees with private whisky and gin tastings and signing bottles during work hours? Because they did not have chance a to meet up with him at a local Total Wine & More store in Denver instead?

Regardless of the reason for his appearance at the network, he ended up on the list of pedlar booze in STARZ headquarters, dressed for the part, no less. His last two series, Outlander, finished filming in 2024 (despite having one more season left the contract is over - a contract usually says “payment will be sent upon completion of filming”), and the series finale in the US, The Couple Next Door, finished airing, leaving no immediate projects on the horizon.

Actors primarily sign contracts specific to a single film or TV show, not a long-term deal with one studio. The old system where actors were tied to one studio for long periods has largely faded away.

This raises more questions: was this an instance of absurd innovation to entertain the employees of the network? Or is STARZ more interested in Heughan’s alcohol business than anyone anticipated?

If this is the point, an arrangement likely involves separate compensation to keep SH engaged, it’s possibly through extra payments for merchandise rather than paid for an acting role. This will seem an inadequate combination and does not support the actor's creativity or allow him to showcase his acting abilities.

#STARZ

Posted 26th February 2025

@yeahyeahoks No, TCND never was part of the BBC. The series is from Channel 4 (Channel Four Television), another British media company that is funded by commercial activities, unlike the BBC, which receives funding through the licence fee. TCND is a collaboration between Channel 4, Starz, and Eagle Eye Drama, the producer, and distributed by Beta Film.

@imahalfemptykindofgirl Sam has found his home at STARZ 🙄, unlike other actors who seek opportunities at different studios to advance their careers. He has focused his attention on this American network, embodying the saying, “Any port in a storm.” I agree that he won't become a top actor at STARZ, despite their efforts to showcase him everywhere across their slate. Although he has appeared in three series on this network, he hasn't delivered standout performances in any of them. Now, they seem determined to turn him into a sales alcohol success that will ignite his STARZ family 🤯

Sam arriving at STARZ….

[kkoffin]

Im sorry I just have to rant for a sec.

Everytime I see a radfem talk about the palestine and isreal situation, they never actually talk about whats happening in palestine or the history behind it. Like they never have a discussion about palestine itself.

Unless to say, that hating on jews isn't right. Which I agree with 100%. But why is that the only time the situation, or the GENOCIDE gets talked about in radfem spaces.

Why isn't radfems actually advocting/discussing about it, with deep analysis and data, as they do with other important discussions (fgm, racism, gender ideology, misogyny in many types, ect ect)

Idk maybe I'm just full of hate.

I believe that if you aren’t thoroughly educated on a topic I don’t think you should broadcast your uneducated opinions to ur followers. I do not consider myself educated enough on the history and politics to speak on the topic, but I assure you, there’s aplenty of discussion about it not only in radfem spaces but in all leftist spaces if you want to engage with it. Or even better, just do your own research. Stop relying on fucking social media accounts and tumblr blogs for your global political views. I kinda have to ask, why is it that every time I talk about being jewish or about antisemitism, my ask inbox is flooded with interrogations regarding a conflict I never claimed to be educated on? As far as I’m aware, I speak very little on the I/P conflict outside of responding to said asks. Even then, I ignore half of them.

I recognise antisemitism when I see it. I am cautious of who I tell I’m jewish. I keep updated on who’s yelling “fuck the jews” and who’s burning and graffitiing synagogues, only for my own safety. I’ll say something when someone in my community says “antisemitism isn’t real” or “I wouldn’t shed a tear if there was an organised rape against jewish women”, but I never claimed to be an expert on some many many decade old political issue. I’m not a journalist, I don’t research every happening in Israel and Palestine and its entire history. It’s simply not my area of expertise, but for some fucking reason when yall hear I’m jewish, you insist it must be, and interrogate me with questions about it. My blog and my interests are with women’s issues, not wars. I am jewish, sometimes I will speak about antisemitism and the jewish experience. “they never talk about the history” okay and yall don’t talk about the history of the civil war in Syria. Or immigration, or global warming or animal abuse. It’s just not my field. I do not know enough of the history to make claims and start debates. You cannot expect everyone to know everything. I have a fucking law degree to fill my brain with on top of women’s issues. Do not expect every social media influencer and blogger to know everything about every issue enough to speak on them all. We are not the president. We are (mostly) teenagers and young adults who have laundry to fold.

“why aren’t radfems actually advocating…” probably the same mf reason. they have a focus on women’s issues. I have occasionally mentioned the rape involved in the conflict, but all that boils down to is men rape. no matter what their political alignment, no matter who they think owns what land. If men are so inclined and they are provided the opportunity, they rape women. That’s as far as it goes regarding my field.

I will not speak on an issue I do not feel confidently educated on. Just because I’m jewish doesn’t mean I know every working of the IDF, and I never claimed to. Please fuck off and stop interrogating jewish people on their opinions of the actions of a government/military they aren’t even governed by. And stop relying on and expecting fucking tumblr blogs to tell you about every issue in the world. Go ask someone who’s got it as their paid job.

[elisysd]

Epilogue

Masterlist - Previously

Monaco - May 2024

“Charles Leclerc is the Monaco Grand Prix winner!” 

The room erupted in cheers and cries. Hugs were met in awkward embraces while tears were streaming down his loved ones faces. Years of hard work and sacrifices finally paid off. And it was so worth it. He could feel his own tears on his cheeks but he didn’t care. That win mattered more than any others. Frantically he searched for his team on the side and ran towards them. Arthur was crying, Lorenzo was not far from doing so, Joris was a happy mess, Andrea was beaming with pride but the only face that truly mattered to him was so far in the back that the only thing he could notice was the hair and the sunglasses perched above. He tried to tell everyone to move so you could make your way to him but no one was hearing him and far too soon he was dragged away from the red sea acclaiming him like the hometown hero he was. 

On the podium, he tried to engrave every sensation he was feeling. The sun on his face, the cool breeze making its way under the monegasque flag resting around his shoulders, the applause and chants from the crowd. When he opened his eyes, he met almost immediately yours. You were there, next to his mom who was keeping her hand in yours. You had cried and maybe you were still doing so. 

It hadn’t been a walk in the park for both of you since Abu Dhabi. You had moved back to Paris and had been swamped by work and opportunities. The podcast had taken off very well and you knew you partly had Charles to thank for that. It was going on so well that your old boss had come crawling back to you, trying to persuade you to sell the projects to the channel so it could have a broader audience. You politely declined the offer but not without asking Jean and Marion if they were interested in working with you. Your new goal was to expand the coverage to Formula 2 and Formula 3. Moto GP was also a target, but you couldn’t do it on your own, especially since Susie Wolff had offered you to partner with the F1 Academy. And besides the podcast, you also had a Youtube channel where you were broadcasting reports and soon a website. A lot of work that you couldn’t achieve all alone. Jean and Marion hadn’t given a lot of thought to the project, accepting almost immediately, eager and enthusiastic to work with you again. 

Needless to say that you had barely enough time for your personal life. But it didn’t matter, you were managing it. Whenever Charles had time, he was coming to Paris and you were trying your best to fit him in your schedule. Your relationship with Charles was going slowly but you both didn’t mind. You were taking your time, truly getting to know one another in every way possible to the point that now you could say you were knowing his soul by heart. And he could say the same about you. All was well. 

You were waiting near the hospitality where Charles was going to arrive any minute now. You couldn’t wait to see him, especially since you had good news to tell him. You had kept it for yourself for a while now, waiting for the right opportunity to tell him. If Monaco was working out, it would have been an added bonus and if it didn’t, it would have been nice comforting news. You were glad it was the first option. 

He finally came through the door, hair a mess and his trophy firmly pressed against his chest. 

“Congrats, champ!” you said as you put a hand on his cheek.

“I did it. I finally did it. Can you believe it?”

“I do. Because I always had faith in you and in your talent.”

“Not always,” he winked, giving you a slow kiss, shushing you as you were about to reply.

“I have something to tell you,” you slowly said, both hands laid flat against his chest as you closed your eyes, taking a deep breath in. 

Charles took your hands in his, guiding you towards the sofa as he gave you a worried look. 

“It’s not bad,” you quickly reassured him. “On the contrary, I think it will make you happy,” you paused before continuing. “With how much the podcast and everything revolving around it grows, I thought it was time to search for offices. That way, it will be easier to separate my professional life with the personal one. I need it. And maybe it will be the occasion to recruit some new people. And I found ones which I really loved. I signed the lease on Friday, so I guess it is official.”

Charles gulped, unsure of what to say. On one hand, he was happy for you, truly. He loved seeing you going for things you were passionate about. But at the same time, it was hard to see you building your life so far away from him.

“I’m glad, that’s nice,” he managed to say. 

“Yeah, and I’m sure you will love them.”

“I have no doubt. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to travel to Paris to see them, though.”

“That’s a good thing, they are in Monaco, then,” you winked as his mouth was opening and closing in disbelief. 

“Monaco? But… how? Why? When?”

“Because I wanna get closer to you. I want to see you more and have more time for us. I think that if I’m there, it will be easier to find the right balance. As much as I don’t like the idea of delegating, I know that I need to. And if it results from being by your side more than a few days a month, then I think it’s only right to take that step. And who doesn’t want to have a view of the sea from the office?” 

Charles was at a loss for words. He had so many questions to ask but didn’t know where to start. 

“So you’re leaving Paris?”

“I do. I found an apartment in Menton. And who knows, if everything goes to plan, maybe in a few months, we can move in together.”

It was not the first time the subject was dropping but you had quickly come to an agreement that you both needed to find the right pace in your relationship and as long as you were comfortable by being the way you were, there was no need to rush anything. And as you both had discussed it, the day you would move in together, it would be in a neutral place where no bad and bitter memories were living in the walls. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he asked, stars in his eyes, cradling your face. 

“I know, I am. But I can only be amazing if you are as well. And you, Charles Leclerc, you are the most perfectly imperfect man I’ve come across. I love you today, tomorrow and for as long as you will want me.”

“Then, I hope you are ready for forever,” he smiled. 

“Even forever doesn’t seem long enough.”

Author's note: What a ride it has been but the final word has been written down. Again, thank you for everything and your support. Genuinely, I think that if you hadn't been there motivating me, this story wouldn't have been finished and I would have given up a long time ago. So thanks you. This story is more yours than it ever been mine. Thank you for bearing with me and the messy schedule upload. Until next time and until then, I will take a few weeks of rest while preparing the next story. I'll post snippet soon.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. Besides the fact that I absolutely love to read you, it helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

If you wanna be part of the taglist, let me know.

Taglist: @itsjustkhaos @thirstylion @cmleitora @charizznorizz @sltwins @boherahpsody @herondalism @roseamongthorns13 @aundercover @snowflakesfluff @fictional-l0v3r @queensassybitchsworld @jehun @reengard @valntynebaby @janeh22

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[probablyasocialecologist]

Internet politics have been shaped by a cyberlibertarian framing best exemplified by the writings of Electronic Frontier Foundation cofounder John Perry Barlow, whose Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace became a key statement of principles for digital activists. His manifesto targeted its ire at governments, telling them, “You have no sovereignty where we gather.” He made no mention of the harmful influence corporations could have on online spaces, which was a reflection of Barlow’s personal politics. He was not only a speechwriter for Dick Cheney in the 1970s, but the Declaration itself was published at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 1996. This cyberlibertarian framing of digital politics and its focus on speech over political economy has proved beneficial for tech companies for many years. As US tech firms went global, digital activists frequently opposed government efforts to regulate or restrict tech platforms as threats to their citizens’ digital rights and freedom of expression, largely ignoring the economic impacts of US economic imperialism in those countries. In the process, US companies were able to dominate international markets and few countries were able to establish the necessary economic protections to develop serious competitors to the American giants. In countries like China, where protections were effectively implemented, digital and human rights groups rarely paid any mind to the economic component of those policies; they were narrowly positioned as censorship measures. The Great Firewall is used to restrict what Chinese internet users can access and post online, but it is also an economic measure. China protected its tech sector in a similar way that Japan and South Korea protected their automotive and electronics industries in decades past, spawning globally competitive, export-oriented companies like Toyota and Samsung. China’s Great Firewall allowed it to do the same, creating serious competition for Silicon Valley that would have never happened without economic protectionism. Digital rights activism served the global ambitions of the tech monopolies forming in Silicon Valley and Greater Seattle by positioning attempts at restricting platforms and making companies abide by local rules and norms appear as overbearing government intrusions on people’s rights. In the cyberlibertarian framing, government — not corporations — are the enemy, and that was reflected in the way many activists long approached tech policy. It certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that it also served US commercial and geopolitical ambitions. Where countries previously placed ownership restrictions on its media and telecommunications sectors and invested in public broadcasters, that was all out the window with the internet. Foreign governments were expected to accept the dominance of US firms, or else be accused of breaching their citizens’ rights.

6 September 2024

[notaluckypup]

Okie doke! Now that I know how things work here a bit better here’s a full update to my ✨intro✨ post😵‍💫

DNI-

Minors- this is a Nsfw blog, enough said. Ageless blogs will be blocked for safety unless I can 100% tell you are over 18.

Terfs, swerfs- I am both trans and a sex worker.

Bigots of all kinds- self explanatory.

Okokok Hey There‼️

I’m Lucky🍀

I’m 20

they/he pronouns

I’m a switch who’s been a cam model for about a year now and looking to have more connections and experience😵‍💫����

This is a blog full of all the things I fantasize about, as well as my personal little hub for letting the world know when I have photo sets, am available for personal calls, or am broadcasting!

Dm me for my menu!!! I am happy to discuss and explain things in detail so please do not hesitate to ask💕

All of my scene and roleplay work is discussed before hand with safewords and limits pre-discussed and consented to. I do not work with no limits.

💕Likes💕

🔥Names- lucky, puppy, sir, good boy, mutt

🔥Compliments- handsome, pretty, whatever you like really as long as it has good intentions^^

🔥Anatomy- cunt, boycunt, boypussy, tits, chest

🔥Getting asks/comments/dms- again as long as you’re polite

🔥Basic Kinks you’ll find here- puppy play, primal, dumbification, overstim, edging, cock warming, weed intox, cnc/ free use and breeding themes

Tag system:

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[kevin-ibw]

Omg I love your Vees but I’m kinda curious as to how they run the entertainment district. I feel like I understand how they run the church very well and how they promote constant indulgence in sin but I’m curious as to how the Vees themself run their original area of expertise.

Does anything change with how they run stuff. Does Velvette run her fashion industry like normal does she change the algorithm to boost anything related to religion? Does Val continue to run his industry like normal or is it different too. Is Angel Dust still owned by Val and what’s his relation to the Hotel and Val with this AU and how things are ran. Does Vox do his broadcast and do they run like those 24 hour church sermon tv channels?

How the Vees run the Entertainment District

Vox: He has the most popular streaming services, so It's not surprising he'd have an ad that plays once and while that preaches about how you should trust your safety with our savior, and yes he does indeed have a broadcast dedicated to a 24hr church sermon, it's the only you can get until you pay for other cables or the streaming services.

Velvette: You're right about the algorithm thing. She runs the fashion industry as she usually does. Occasionally, Velvette will add a line of various different nun outfits that look rather explicit and scandalous. She always reassures everyone that clothes should be a freedom of expression. Velvette had threatened everyone that questioning her words is equivalent to questioning Vox's words, and you don't want to question your savior, now do you?

Valentino: Funnily enough, Val's the only one that doesn't have a religious role between the three of them. Vox is the angel, Vel is the nun, but Val? He's a mafioso leader, something that has NO ties to Christianity. The other Vees have told him that he could always be a priest but Val would rather shoot himself with an angelic bullet than ever pick up those garments of clothing.

But he does have a way of implementing some religious innuendos in his porn films. Val selectively interpret biblical passages about sex to fit his narrative and justify certain behaviors depicted in his films. He emphasizes passages that highlight the beauty and pleasure of sexual intimacy while downplaying or ignoring passages that emphasize restraint or monogamy.

He manipulates the feelings of guilt and shame associated with people's sexual desire, offering his films as a form of relief or absolution. Eventually, his viewers would indulge in lustful sinning themselves.

Val is a lot more stricter in his terms on what is acceptable for his films, he has high standards for his scripts which kind of bite him in the ass the majority of the time. "The best kind of porn is the one that has an underlying plot point, no matter how small it is." As he would put it.

One thing that seems heavily ironic to his character is that the act of sex isn't actually something that Val indulges in often. Sure he fucks and sleeps around a few times, but this is his way of relaxing from all the mafioso business, a way to display his artistic creativity.

But despite the fact that the porn gig is supposed to be his way of relaxation, he reviews several manuscripts for his films overnight and doesn't get enough sleep for it.

Angel and his relationship to Valentino and the Hotel

Being done with his family business, Angel tries to find an excuse to get away from it all by working with a moth who runs hell's porn industry, only for him to realize that said moth also runs a mafioso. Perhaps he should've paid more attention to politics.

Angel tells himself that it's fine. The guy seems decent enough so far. He's allowed to do some porn gigs and occasionally snark back at the boss without much repercussion, so he's safe so far. But then things start getting a bit complicated, and Angel gets dragged into Val's more shady business. Debt collecting, drug trading, and even deal making, and suddenly he realizes he's now into some deeper shit.

"If you think I don't do background checks on my employees, then you're sorely mistaken, Angie."

"Your father's been a real thorn at my side for far too long."

Angel tries to compromise. He doesn't exactly hate his family, but he doesn't want them double dead either, so he offers his soul as a way of exchange to live them alone. They're the only thing left he has in this shithole of an afterlife, and having something is better than having nothing.

Val considers it, Angie has been his top earner for the time he spent being employed. He's fairly skilled with guns and has a natural charm that can be used for negotiation, so he agrees. The rest is history. Then we catch up to the events of season one.

Angel: "So what's this hotel all about?"

Charlie: "We are attempting to give sinners in hell salvation so they can be redeemed!"

Angel: "... so a cult?"

Vaggie irritated: "Not a cult."

Angel sounding really unconvinced: "A cult."

Part two of Angel getting dragged into situations where he doesn't want to, he couldn't say no a gaint 10ft moth overlord, he can't exactly say no to the princess of hell and her exorcist girlfriend, ESPECIALLY when he knows what happens to the people that even lightly insult Lucifer's daughter. I guess he's now involved in her little pet project now. Doesn't mean Val is happy about it.

Because great, if Vox beinf gone for 7 years didn't make Val unhappy, hearing that his now top earning employee is now a patron of CHARLIE MORNINGSTAR's little hotel, then more fuel is just being added to the fire that is Val's stress levels.

Val: "Angie why the fuck are you associated with LUCIFER'S DAUGHTER."

Angel: "Val, I'm telling ya, I literally got dragged into this unwillingly. You gotta believe me."

Val: "Por el amor de Lucifer- and WHY exactly?" He violently hisses out.

Angel shrugs all four of his arms.

[mariacallous]

It would be silly to think, in this time of spectacular fools, that the Donald Trump administration mandate to kill diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs was simply a workplace issue. What’s happening is bigger than that, says Vernā Myers, and it will have implications for years to come. The US government has declared war on American culture.

The removal of DEI efforts doesn’t just impact the workforces at specific companies, it also impacts what those companies produce, their cultural output. Removing diversity programs limits the voices present when decisions are made about features on social media platforms or what TV show to make. But for Myers, a longtime consultant and cultural strategist who served as Netflix’s vice president of inclusion strategy from 2018 to 2023, the administration’s anti-DEI agenda is “not about how DEI is practiced.”

“This is about the principles of equality and inclusion for all,” Myers says. “This is, ‘We are going to take down the structure of values that DEI is associated with, and by doing so we are going to pull back your civil rights.’”

Trump made a target of DEI on day one, signing an executive order to end “radical and wasteful” preferencing in federal agencies. He followed that up with another order aimed squarely at DEI programs in the private sector. His attorney general Pam Bondi has called for investigations into companies that uphold DEI standards.

A federal judge subsequently blocked Trump’s DEI orders, but that hasn’t stopped companies from scaling back on their initiatives. Warner Bros. Discovery changed the title of its DEI program to simply “Inclusion.” Paramount put a stop to several policies. Disney changed the diversity and inclusion factors it used to determine executive compensation. Per a report in Axios, the company also altered some of the content advisory disclaimers that ran before older titles on Disney+.

Companies like Meta, meanwhile, were eager to embrace a corporate culture of “masculine energy,” because it aligns with the Trump administration’s “warrior” ethos. It also preemptively ditched its third-party fact-checking program and paid moderators in favor of a system that is similar to Community Notes on X. The move, coupled with changes to its Community Guidelines, has exposed users across Facebook, Threads, and Instagram to more hate speech and abuse.

In Hollywood, there is a shift happening, a move toward programming geared to Trump’s America. Law-and-order shows are making a comeback (Prime Video’s On Call; A+E’s Ozark Law) as broadcast-style TV slowly reasserts its dominance. Even the first breakout show of the year—Paradise on Hulu—is all about keeping order in a world ripped apart by nuclear warfare and climate disaster. Rolling back the studios’ diversity initiatives will likely only ensure this continues.

Last month, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist who previously said he would end the agency’s DEI efforts if appointed, opened a probe into NBC parent company Comcast, promising to take action against the telecom giant if it found “any programs that promote invidious forms of DEI.”

“This whole, we want MEI over DEI is laughable,” Myers says. “Who do you actually think is disadvantaged by DEI? It certainly cannot be white men or white people because they are not. If you do a cultural audit, those are the groups that are doing best. The highest percentages are coming from men and white folks.”

In a political climate where Republicans hold power, she says the current temperature is to be expected. “When you've been in the majority for a very long time and pretty much your world is at ease, you don’t like when it gets disrupted. You don’t like when it feels uncomfortable. You certainly don’t like when things are pointing at you,” Myers tells me.

Myers left Netflix in 2023. The timing of her departure was, she says, coincidental. That June, several Black studio executives also exited top-level roles. The exodus included LaTondra Newton, chief diversity officer and senior vice president at Disney, Karen Horne, head of DEI efforts at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Jeanell English, executive VP of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, among others.

The joint departures sent the rumor mill into overdrive. Almost all of the women oversaw DEI initiatives, and their exits suggested that maybe the entertainment industry—and America at large, some speculated—wasn’t exactly ready to commit to a shared vision of inclusion, both onscreen and off. Corporate power would only allow change to go so far.

Myers says that wasn’t the whole story. “When people start going on about what was happening in Hollywood, somehow they're not paying attention to the fact that studios were losing money,” she adds. “And often DEI is a cost center.” Myers says all of that talk merged together. Some women were let go in response to DEI rollbacks. Others, like her, were already planning an exit. Still, Myers says, the problem is that DEI is seen as an ancillary resource—necessary only when it benefits the bottom line.

In fulfilling his pledge to “make America great again,” Trump finds no benefit in how DEI points the finger at white power structures that prop up men like him. The remaking of his America demands blind complicity. It requires the kind of stale cultural programming that DEI—the work of giving everyone a voice—stands in opposition to. Thus far, reviews have been mixed.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

S.V. Dáte at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON ― The White House’s favored new reporter, the one who scolded Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit, was the primary voice at a “news” outlet that has taken $192,000 from President Donald Trump’s political committees, nearly half of which came while he was program director there. Brian Glenn now works for a pro-Trump streaming platform called Real America’s Voice, but from September 2020 to May 2024, he was the most visible face at Right Side Broadcasting Network. Over those years, the outlet took $92,000 in “broadcast” fees, first from Trump’s Save America committee and then from Trump’s campaign, according to a HuffPost review of Federal Election Commission filings. Glenn acknowledged the payments in a brief interview, describing them as “production” costs, and then pointed to the row of television cameras set up in the back of the White House briefing room. “Who pays for them?” he asked, suggesting that the major networks like NBC, CNN and Fox also accept money from the entities they cover. In fact, taking such payments would be considered a serious ethical breach among reputable news outlets. The television networks covering this and previous White Houses, as well as print and radio outlets, all pay their own expenses when covering political events, as does HuffPost. Indeed, the Trump administration, including the White House, has falsely accused legitimate news organizations of corruption because government agencies, even those in the first Trump term, bought subscriptions from them, including some to expensive, lobbyist-oriented trade publications. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary who had worked on Trump’s campaign, also acknowledged the payments. “The Trump campaign paid RSBN for the usage of their live stream,” she said. She did not address HuffPost’s question regarding the ethics of an outlet accepting money from the subject it was covering. Those payments continued after Glenn left RSBN to join Real America’s Voice last spring. The campaign gave the online video outlet an additional $100,000 from June 2024 through the end of the year, capped off with a $57,000 payment on Nov. 14, the week following the election.

Right-wing outfit Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN), where Brian Glenn previously worked before high-tailing it over to another right-wing outfit in Real America’s Voice, took over $192,000 in payments from pro-Trump committees.

[lady-rosceline-hurst]

--------------------------

>>Connecting to the Omninet..

…

>>Connection secured, details below.

>>Current Solar System - Erinyes

>>Location - [REMOVED]

>>Terminal - [REMOVED]

>>Broadcasting encrypted message..

>>Receiver - [REDACTED]

--------------------------

“..Well, this is a fucked situation you've gotten yourself in. Always with the damned nobles and fuck ass political shit."

[A sigh can be heard, alongside various mechanical clings, a few grunts, and a muttered curse.]

"..But you're better than your ass-cabbage of a mother. I'll cut you a deal. I'll help out with whatever fuck ass plan you have going on, in return for something; you get more aggressive with yer planned reforms, and follow through. More benefits to the people."

"For the record, I still hate you damn nobles. House o' Stone especially, they can hang themselves with their own intestines. If they don't, I'll do it myself. I wouldn't mind havin' yer mother's skull in either, but that's beside the point."

--------------------------

>>Broadcast terminated.

>>Good hunting.

--------------------------

[ECHO.EXE RUNNING]

- Fuhu~

- I must admit, several weeks ago I would have found thine attitude repulsive and unacceptable. But as it doth stand now? I do find thine... enthusiasm... most refreshing, truth be told.

- A release of all indentures under the House of Hurst, fair pay, room and board, medical benefits (including trans-affirmative health-care), paid vacation days, sanctuary for those fleeing other houses...

- Fuhu... were it not for the ECHO I would surely be taken back to the dungeons for such speech. I sound damn near Republican. Be this sample of mine planned reforms for those under mine care sufficient to convince thee?

- If so, thou shalt find covert room and board not far in the city from mine estate, and thine part in mine plans shall be revealed to thee within due time. I would request as well that thou tryest to conceal thine identity, for reasons that should be obvious.

- Thou dost a service unto mine people, I hope thou knowest. I await thine response.

[transmutationisms]

i think it's easy to feel a sense of special moral urgency when people are spouting horseshit or lies on social media because it's like, we still have a tendency to conceptualise these platforms the same way we do legacy mass media like newspapers and tv: as a one-way broadcast that has power to sway 'public opinion' en masse and create material change as a result. in reality (and leaving aside the question of how well that model even applies to the old media forms—ie, to what extent they create material conditions vs reflect them), i don't think social media really functions the same way. it often feels like "everyone" is on there and "everyone" is hearing whatever potentially dangerous nonsense, but like. most people are not actually users of any given platform, and even if they are, most of them are not following any one specific creator lol. posts and videos get circulated, but in such a massive and fractured conversation, as opposed to a unilateral broadcast model, that i think stupid bullshit on social media is more akin to stupid bullshit people say to each other in line at the bakery or whatever than it is to some kind of mass-converting propaganda brainzap emanating from the tv. which is again not even really an accurate understanding of the state of information and mass politics even in the case of like, legacy media forms in the 20th century imho. none of this means it's, like, good when people are walking around saying lies or getting paid for doing so. but i don't think it's really helpful to keep playing this one-upping game of morally inflected fact-checking, and if it were it presumably would have yielded some result in between now and like y2k

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Markled Tyler Perry RESCUES boys (& girls) that cry wolf.

Illinois Appeals Court Affirms Actor Jussie Smollett's Convictions and Jail Sentence | Newsmax.com

https://www.newsmax.com/us/jussie-smollett-illinois-appeal/2023/12/01/id/1144444/

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police.

Smollett, who appeared in the TV show "Empire," challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.

Smollett had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The search for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the whole thing.

Authorities said he paid two men whom he knew from work on "Empire," which filmed in Chicago. Prosecutors said Smollett told the men what slurs to shout, and to yell that he was in "MAGA country," a reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

A jury convicted Smollett in 2021 on five felony counts of disorderly conduct, a charge that can be filed in Illinois when a person lies to police.

He now will have to finish a 150-day stint in jail that was part of his sentence. Smollett spent just six days in jail while his appeal was pending.

A message seeking comment from his attorney, Nenye Uche, was not immediately returned. Lawyers for Smollett, who is Black and gay, have publicly claimed that he was the target of a racist justice system and people playing politics.

Appellate Justice Freddrenna Lyle would have thrown out the convictions. She said it was "fundamentally unfair" to appoint a special prosecutor and charge Smollett when he had already performed community service as part of a 2019 deal with Cook County prosecutors to close the case.

"It was common sense that Smollett was bargaining for a complete resolution of the matter, not simply a temporary one," Lyle said.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb was appointed to look into why the case was dropped. A grand jury subsequently restored charges against Smollett in 2020, and Webb concluded there were "substantial abuses of discretion" in the state's attorney office during the earlier round.

Smollett was not immune to a fresh round of charges, appellate Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan said in the majority opinion.

"The record does not contain any evidence that (prosecutors) agreed Smollett would not be further prosecuted in exchange for forfeiting his bond and performing community service," they said.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

[marcusrobertobaq]

soo what kind of headcanons do you have about what happens after the successfull revolution + connor army? like what are all the characters doing? what will the world look like? will androids rule over the humans?

It's kinda difficult for me really thinking about a post-canon scenario itself but I think I got some basic stuff in mind.

[ALERT OF BIG ASS TEXT]

So first off all I think it's just the beginning of a quite turbulent period in US, both economically and legally. The androids start taking Detroit, like, the whole city after they took from Belle Isle to Downtown. I also must remember even if we got a sympathetic public opinion doesn't mean everybody is suddenly chill about androids, it's quite the opposite. The majority is either neutral or negative about it but now there's a big enough supportive crowd

Everything in the city is kinda "dead" for some months due to the androids not working anymore, the humans who stayed in Detroit are kinda worried but some folks think it's a good message to Cristina and CyberLife the androids taking Detroit

We got some looting and troublesome folks on the streets in the first days but after the android leadership reassure they won't bother patrol cops as long as they don't attack androids out of nothing there are few cops patrolling around

Yep, I do hc androids took HQs, including where the mayor (who ran away for safety) stays. After very few days the android leadership wanted her back so they can talk, very few people from the staff stayed during the event of Nov 11th

Some people in some major cities are trynna escalate hostility towards androids due to the whole "first they took our jobs, took a city now they wanna get paid for it?" sentiment. Anti-Android groups will always be Anti-Android groups. Difference is now there are Pro-Android groups to point out hypocritical discourses

[Kara Captured] Kara and her crew are in Detroit after being saved by the rebels. For now they're just walking from place to place to stay, maybe the androids are even turning the camps into bases and they stay there for some weeks. Alice discover other android kids and start developing ties with 'em even tho everybody is kinda shy, Luther is always there more closely

Kara and Luther managed to get in contact with Rose again somehow after few days

After the battle was over androids were finally able to decide what to do with the ones who fell in battle. There's no one to bother 'em bout looting CyberLife stores for supplies. They managed to bring some back to life, other ones weren't that lucky. I like thinking they managed to brought Josh back to life

[Kara Leaving Detroit] Kara and her crew are in Rose's family house in Canada, they stay mostly inside the house or in empty places they can't be recognized, but usually no one really recognize 'em or detect weird things on 'em ID, still they were recommended to not leave tracks

But they ain't the only ones that made across the border. I guess they stay there for some good weeks waiting what the Canadian suits will decide about the android situation, considering Detroit was taken by the androids. At the same time they're happy they escaped the confront Luther is worried they may be trapped in there for the moment, totally dependent on Rose's crew

The androids may have sent a "violent" message with the assaults on the camps but a considerably amount of people supports 'em. They usually leave the androids alone but some folks like helping androids getting fixed or even clothes - these people are usually people that dislike Cristina's acts

Markus finally got 3 days of peace waiting for the gov to seek dialogue while the internet is in total chaos, he realizes his rebellion started a political polarization "war". Simon and North ain't surprised

Markus broadcasts another message saying humans shouldn't see androids as the enemy cuz guess who started the whole problem? Exactly. It's part of a new tactic of trynna get more human support and put 'em against the gov and CyberLife, after all humans and androids share the planet, they WILL have to cooperate

Suits just don't know where to start, what the androids want and how modifying laws is something that people need to sit down and think about everything. Not to mention they're kinda desperate cuz androids got the economy hostage and lotta stuff in the country is just not working cuz androids refuse to work

First step was considering androids a new species on paper, and also the right of owning things related to 'em wellbeing and being able to refuse orders, just a temporary change (a first deal) - that's where the conflict starts as lotta people dislike the idea of androids receiving a relatively "good" compensation for labor. And also what's attached to the fact now androids are considered people (in the "rights" sense) as a non-human person

We got people divided, politicians wanting to farm votes, tech specialists worried suits don't know how to deal with things, especially without complicating things for humans as androids even if people they're still computers. There are riots, protests both pro-human and pro-android all over the world. Pro-humans are actually more pissed at the fact the top brass never listened to 'em own people but now they're moving everything as fast as possible for androids

Pressure was made in CyebrLife letting android related supplies in androids hands but there's this thing called capitalism and they kinda want androids to pay taxes and pay for 'em products if they really want to be considered people. They often use this narrative to manipulate androids against humans in a subtle way, ofc using politicians

Connor is alive and helping some new Jericho folks, the androids he converted got a positive image of him and often sees him as a leader or sorts. I dare saying some may develop a crush on him

He's now trynna figure out what CyberLife's next step and this is exactly what North got in mind

Thing is our friend here doesn't stop and stay in a specific place, he likes walking around alone analyzing just for fun and also cuz he thinks he may be a high value target, so it's more difficult catching a moving target. With this he kinda met lotta people (humans and androids) in the neighborhoods. But he usually stays with the androids in Downtown (up until they start going more north and northwest in more quite places) and sometimes talk to Hank to know how's he's doing (considering the events from LCC and CLT)

Connor explains his situation and everything he discovered bout CyberLife to Markus, North and Simon and they all agree they gotta be the ones making the moves first considering CL is powerful and got lotta corrupt politicians on 'em hands. But they still worried CyberLife may try something using Connor again

CyberLife is now in a tight situation considering they lost deviant Connor, and the fact everybody saw the android marching on TV makes more difficult for 'em to just send another Connor in uniform

Markus got a bit ? after Connor told him he was gifted to Carl...and that Kamski was the one doing it. Ain't a relevant topic in the moment as they're trynna deal with the politicians in the table of diplomatic negotiations but they're both curious about it

Jericho leadership starts getting in contact with other android rebel groups first in the state of Michigan and later other cities like NY and Chicago

Even with all the pressure I hc it took around a year to get some papers with basic things actually made, like, altering Android Act and some other constitution lines to add androids as a person

It was actually funny cuz there's the whole "are non-deviants considered people? Or they still just machines, products?" and Markus and North hated the idea of choosing who deserves rights based on what humans think a person should be. They tried forcing CyberLife to unlock all non-deviant androids from the handler system but faced quite a resistance at first

They had lotta reunions with the president, some secretaries and the mayor in Detroit and they often ended up without major progress due to the nature of what androids were asking and the consequences. I think divided people making noise outside was what made things go more slowly. Let's not forget about the elections factor here.

This New Year's Eve was def a different one, but I guess by december we already had more people on the streets, a decent number just having 'em business as usual after few months but still not the average movement at all

A deal was made where all androids that escaped to Canada are to return to US. If Kara escaped there I like thinking she returns. I honestly don't know what to think about it in a smaller picture cuz I just don't know how the Canadian gov would react and if they would start accepting androids there based on the events from Detroit

Markus didn't want get involved in all this political mess but he was the leader, the face and he wanted to be a present guy instead of just recording videos and making broadcasts like some sorta "I took your city hostage, pay this price and we let 'em go". North knew the country was in a fucked up way and that it could mean terror for humans (economically and politically) and that they should use it at 'em favor. They had all the time in the world, still they didn't want to make innocent people suffer and be equal to the same gov that forgot about 'em

Kara can't help but watch the news and Alice is also always curious about why things are so complicated, she feels kinda sad. If she's in Canada she can't help but want to explore this new world she's in with Kara and they know

Hank left/got fired from the DPD after everything that happened, he couldn't just work for an Anti-Android org like that anymore, he and Chris were the only ones that were positive about androids, all the other rest thought androids were make things difficult in the city.

[In the verse where Hank punch Perkins] the guy indeed pressed charges against Hank. I still don't know what he's doing after this whole thing, maybe just at his home or trynna help the androids with donations

Basically androids are still fighting for 'em things even after months, humans too. It'll be always be like that until people get used to androids fighting for something, I guess. Some places are more chill than others

Android psychology and physiology became a quite relevant theme and people wanting to make some studies about it, especially deviancy (CyberLife is alert on this one). Techies will be techies.

Androids didn't get the right to vote until 2040, the year the new Android Act was finalized and also... I think it's the presidential elections year? I don't remember. The country is still trynna recover from the 2038 events

There are still conflicts in the labor kinda thing as androids are computers and almost no one wanna pay former slaves but they also recognize paying a human can look more "expensive". I think a deal was forced to be made where androids receive very little money or worked the double and it created a whole ass conflict cuz what about android care and all this thing? All machines need care and shit, but at the same time what happens to humans? This conflict still a thing even after temporary measures

Markus also wanted humans to have jobs instead of everybody using androids, an equal balance but some suits probably didn't see this as something very positive but let's not forget the androids got the upper hand in the negotiation tables

Well, I guess that's all for now. I really ain't got a long term thing in mind as it's something I feel like sitting down and studying so u make better scenarios but I think u get the idea and where I'm going.