#paywall alert

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Kingdom Headline, December 2023: The Holiday Express

It turns out that Icicle Yeti’s Winter Song was primarily filler, but that’s Meringue’s opinion on the matter and part of the reason why he requested to start studio renovations for the next month or so through the holidays. But no matter, we’ve still got matters to attend to, whether we post here or not. Perhaps this part will be slightly more interesting. Merry Cookiemas!

Perceived Duration: 12/13 - 1/4

Main Events

2023 Cookie of the Year

Jolly Daily Gifts

Board of Mysteries - Meet Linzer Cookie! (Random Board Event)

The Great Leap - Level Up Your Kingdom!

2023 Kingdom of the Year

Seasonal Modes

Squirrel Shop (12/13 - 1/4): A special exchange with a chance to receive the Festive Acorn Gift Box and Acorn Snowball With a Tiny Cookie: two Special Treasures only available from here!

Tower of Sweet Chaos: Season 17 (Ends 12/18)

Tower of Sweet Chaos: Final Season (12/18 - 1/18): This mode and all associated events, packages, and rewards will disappear for a rework after this season ends.

Cookie Alliance: Season 2-1 (Ends 12/18)

Kingdom Arena: Gleaming Memories Season 2 (Ends 12/26)

Gift Month: 🦄 Cream Unicorn Cookie (Ends 12/27)

Guild Battle: Destiny’s Wrath Season 8-3 (12/13 - 12/19)

Cookie & Gacha Features

🎹 Crème Brûlée Cookie (Epic Cookie) 🏹

A renowned pianist known for his skills. Deals Light damage and provides ATK speed buffs that also influence his bonus damage output. Meet him in the Gacha with a chance-up banner.

✒️ Linzer Cookie (Epic Cookie) ⏫️

A mystery writer who can cast a growing Suspect debuff as she gains Deduction stacks instead of attacking. The Suspect debuff can override debuff immunity (IE what Madeline and Caramel Arrow have with their skills). Meet her through the Board of Mysteries event. She can still appear in the Gacha as normal.

🏜️🧀 Burnt Cheese Cookie (Epic Cookie) ✊

The Gatekeeper of the Golden Paradise. Deals Earth damage that can stun enemies and provides a powerful buff to the highest ATK Cookie, which includes DMG Focus, Debuff Immunity, and Curse Protection. Has several bonus passives when Golden Cheese Cookie is on the same team. His Soulstones are now available in the Mileage Shop.

Holiday Parade Costumes

Rhythm of Doo-da Doo-da - 🍩 Space Doughnut

Milky Way Resonance - 🚂🌌 Milky Way Cookie

Embroidered Starlight - ☄️ Stardust Cookie

These holiday themed Special-rarity Costumes can only be found here, and they’ll disappear from the drop list once the banner closes.

Squirrel Shop

Festive Acorn Gift Box

Acorn Snowball With a Tiny Cookie

See Squirrel Shop under the Seasonal Modes subheading for more details on how to get these Special Treasures.

Major Update Features

Added Title and Guild tabs next to your name on the main Kingdom screen

Added Kingdom level milestone rewards

Added Kingdom EXP rewards for Guild Battle, Kingdom Arena, Cookie Alliance, and Trial Grounds

Increased Kingdom EXP rewards for World Exploration, Daily Bounties, Tropical Soda Islands, Balloon Expeditions, Tree of Wishes, and Producing Goods

Added 2.5x speed for World Exploration and Special Episodes after reaching Kingdom level 15

Holiday Express

A mystery is afoot on this holiday train, and Linzer Cookie is keen on solving it with other Cookies such as Crème Brûlée Cookie. Unfortunately… there is a hard paywall here. Without an upgraded Story or First Class ticket, you’ll have to wait for Chapters to unlock. To view the epilogue and get a commemorative photo, you’ll have to buy the First Class ticket. Each ticket, including your free Gift Ticket, also has chapter completion rewards that you can claim for your ticket and anything below it.

Gift Ticket: Free, unlocks chapters every few days

Story Ticket: $11.99 USD, unlocks all chapters immediately, gives the Holiday Preparations Train design, and enables extra rewards

First Class Ticket: $15.99 USD, has all the benefits of the Story Ticket, even more rewards including 50 of Linzer Cookie’s Soulstones, the Happy Holidays Train design, a commemorative picture, and the ability to watch the Epilogue. WHY LOCK THE EPILOGUE BEHIND THIS.

Chapter 1 (Open immediately)

Chapter 2 (Open 12/14)

Chapter 3 (Open 12/16)

Chapter 4 (Open 12/19)

Chapter 5 (Open 12/22)

Event Achievements - Unlockable tasks with bonus rewards. You can only see the tasks after the associated stage is open. Until then… it’s a mystery.

The real mystery, however, is why Devsisters thought it was a good idea to put the Epilogue behind something that’s $16. All it takes is one buyer and a YouTube channel to circumvent this idea anyway. Unfortunately, Editor Meringue is NOT that buyer. The price is too steep for him.

[diejager]

Idk if anyone’s written this yet, but I am craving some professional sex worker!reader. cw: smut, sex work, prostitution, OnlyFans, tell me if I missed any.

Soap just happened to find out your little account, the profile image so salaciously tempting with your big, doe eyes, small smile and lacy lingerie. Seated on your bed, you pushed your chest out, showing how your lacy bra made your tits perk up through the sheer camisole, teasing him with a taste of something he couldn’t get, and spread your legs open, revealing your black, floral panty with a garter belt keeping your pretty stockings up your thighs to the camera. You looked so innocent in that attire, a little angel dressed in black, just as your profile name —Seraphim.

He was hooked on the first second, quickly clicking to see more of you. Your subscription was free, to let him have a taste of what was waiting for him behind the paywall of different memberships with pictures of your covered cunt, breasts pushed outwards, sunbathing under the sun and laying belly up while staring at the camera with a pout. He was painfully hard in his briefs, staring at his phone, he needed to see more, he had to at this point when you sunk your fingers so deeply in his psyche.

Without wasting another second, he quickly tapped on the highest membership you had, deciding to pay you monthly for everything you had, and coincidentally, you were live. He felt his cock jump when he caught sight of you, naked and bouncing on a dildo, thick and veiny that curved enough to hit your cervix. His appearance seemed to get your attention, the soft ping of your computer alerting you of a new viewer. You smiled, sweet and delicious, calling out the username he hastily came up with, never once stopping as you spoke breathily, gasping and mewling to the screen.

“Oh! Hi SexiSoap. I hope you’ll enjoy your first live.”

He almost came in his pants, his cock throbbing painfully, the head leaking copious amount of pre. He couldn’t stop himself from replying to you, watching your eyes gleam with excitement when you saw his shyly written Hi, boonie, hips stuttering and bucking sloppily against the round base on the silicone dick. He wished that was him, he wished he was the one you were riding, his cock that you milked and came over.

Ghostie: Cum, love.

He was so drawn by you that he nearly missed those words from a suspiciously familiar name, he wasn’t sure if it were Ghost, but the love in the end only solidified his suspicion. It drove both you and him wild, you let out a cry as you came, thighs jerking as you slumped forward, back arched and ass up; and Soap with feral jealousy and hunger. He hadn’t even realized he came untouched, a wet spot growing on his pants.

After you waved everyone good night, stream ending and Soap panting hotly, he sluggishly cleaned himself up, changing pants and laying on his bed, mind wandering to your body sprawled in every position.

Knock knock

He jumped at the loud knocks, heavy and quick, impatiently waiting for him to answer the door.

“Aye, aye, A’m coming,” he unlocked the door to a black wall, eyes moving up to see a skull-painted balaclava and brown eyes —it was Ghost. “Hey, LT-”

“SexiSoap, huh?”

Soap froze up, his mind going through all the what ifs scenario and how he’d explain to Ghost how he came to find your account. SO he did the one thing he did best, smile and shoot back:

“Ghostie, yeah? Real original, LT.”

Part 2

[nahare-shin]

Great news for the “Octolings can purr” truthers out there.

Funnier news is they do it for seduction, getting kids off their lawns, and talking mad smack about how they’re gonna beat your ass.

Maybe that’s what this is. Eight threat purring with all their might.

Octarians like music turned up so loud it sounds like the speakers are purring at them.

Octavio has never stopped threat purring in his life.

Marina’s ass is flirt purring constantly around Pearl.

You know her ass was purring so hard she was like a cell phone getting an emergency alert.

ETA: it’s not real apparently, not to that extent anyway. For some reason searching “octopus body language” leads to a LOT of paywalled results and the free results ended up being AI-sourced. Octopuses do make some sounds by expelling water through their siphons, but there is not evidence of them communicating through vibration sadly.

Having said that, you can pull this headcanon out of my cold, dead hands. Im just calling it a trait Octarians developed as they evolved away from our current octopuses and changed to live on land. I just like it adding an alien aspect to them that’s distinct from inklings because I consider inklings and Octolings pretty genetically different and just filling similar niches due to convergent evolution.

[myxdollyt]

MyxDoll On Hi-Alert 420 Decor Tray

MyxDoll On Hi-Alert 420 Collection. I really wanted to try something different so I decided to make my own faux brand for 420. I like the idea, so enjoy lol.

Mesh made by me

All LODS are the same

Do not claim it as yours

Do not edit the mesh nor recolor

Do not put behind paywalls

Give credit to me and link cc back to my Patreon MyxDollYT

(Check my gallery for sims and builds @23Chelzea or #MyxDoll)

DOWNLOAD ♡ | Public Release 4/24

[rylem33]

God Mode

Avery Hart was good at what she did. She was raking in the easy money on OnlyFans. A master at teasing, showing just enough with a few soft moans behind a paywall. A few hours of that every week and the loser brigade paid her rent and kept her in designer clothes.

She leaned back in her desk chair, thighs bare, the orange bandeau top tied tight across her chest. It clung perfectly and pushed everything up just right.

She checked her phone: four hundred in pre-stream tips.

“God, you’re all such pathetic little wallets,” she muttered, but she smiled anyway.

Her laptop pinged. Her fanboys were already begging in the chat.

bigtoe45: Live soon, right??

cash4feet: I’ve been edging for 2 days …

ObeyZane: Here early, ready for you.

She hit Start Stream and gave the camera her best pout.

“Hey, simps,” she cooed, lips glistening. “Ready for Mommy?”

Instant explosion in chat.

CreamKing: FUCK YES

anonDude: goddesss please

ObeyZane: UNLOCKED: God Mode.

Avery narrowed her eyes.

“Okay, what the hell does that mean?”

Nobody answered. Just more messages, more tributes, more praise.

She struck a pose, bent forward on her knees so her cleavage spilled down the middle of the top. She’d done this shot a thousand times.

Except now, her body kept going.

Her arms shifted inward, squeezing her tits together hard. Her tongue flicked out, dragging across her top lip.

“Mmm, my boys missed me, didn’t you?”

She froze.

That… wasn’t her. She didn’t mean to say that. Her heart started racing.

She moved to end the stream, except her hand didn’t reach for the laptop. It trailed down her thigh instead, nails grazing soft skin as she purred.

“Let’s give my sexy men a little treat.”

Her fingers slid between her legs, right there in full view. The chat lost it.

CreamKing: HOOLLYY SHIT

bigtoe45: I’m going to CUM

ObeyZane: Good girl.

Avery screamed…silently. Internally. Her body was moving, her mouth talking, but it wasn’t her behind the wheel.

“You want to see what Mommy’s hiding under this tight little top?” her voice asked sweetly.

“No. No no no,” she thought, trying to resist, to pull back, but her hands worked on their own.

She stood, backing into the frame, and with a slutty little giggle, untied the bandeau. It fluttered to the floor.

She was topless.

“God, I bet you’re so hard right now, baby. I’m such a tease, aren’t I?”

Her nipples stiffened in the cool air. The camera zoomed, its autofocus tracking her curves.

She reached behind her and slid her shorts down. A black thong hugged her ass.

Avery was panicking. This can’t be happening.

She tried to stop, but her mouth just smiled.

“Let’s be real,” she purred, turning to show her full ass to the camera, “you’d do anything for a taste.”

The tip alert chimed again.

ObeyZane: Fingers. Now.

Her body responded before she could even register it.

She turned around, legs parting slightly, and her fingers dipped beneath her thong.

She felt the heat, the slickness, the arousal she refused to admit was growing.

“Ohh, fuck,” she moaned, her fingers sliding up and down, putting on a show. “I’m so wet for you, baby.”

She wasn’t acting. Her body wanted this now. Her brain fought it, but her nerves lit up every time her fingers curled.

Chat was going wild.

CreamKing: I’m cumming so fucking hard rn

bigtoe45: IS THIS REAL??

ObeyZane: Tell them who owns you.

Her body slowed. She tried to resist, but her lips parted, and her voice said:

“Zane… owns me.”

“I’m his little toy now.”

“And I love it.”

The orgasm hit her like a wave. Her back arched. Her knees trembled. She cried out in pleasure, as her fingers kept working, milking every twitch out of her slick little cunt.

She came hard. Harder than she ever had.

And she hated it.

When it was over, her body collapsed back onto the bed. Breathing heavy. Nipples wet. Hair clinging to her face.

Avery’s lip quivered. Without her willing it, she smiled at the camera.

Then, still panting, legs shaking, the stream ended. Just like that. The screen cut to black.

Her body slumped forward, hair falling into her face.

And… she could move again.

She scrambled backward across the bed, tugged the orange top from the floor and hugged it against her chest. Her breaths were short, panicked. She reached for the mouse and her hand responded. She clicked out of the camera window. Closed the stream tab. Disconnected the mic.

It was over.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Oh my god, what the fuck was that… What the fuck…”

She was shaking. Her skin burned with leftover arousal. She felt used, violated, on display.

“It’s okay,” she whispered to herself. “It’s done. You’re in control again.”

She stood slowly, half-expecting her limbs to betray her. But they didn’t.

One step. Two. Still hers.

She let out a breath. Sat down on the edge of the bed. She was going to delete everything. Cancel the account. Block Zane. Call the police, maybe. She just needed…

Her phone buzzed. Avery looked down.

Incoming call: Unknown Number

Avery wasn’t in the mood. She went to cancel the call, but her hand answered it on its own.

Her fingers swiped the screen. She pressed it to her ear. Her throat swallowed hard.

“Hello, Avery,” a familiar voice said, smooth and calm and full of absolute control.

She tried to say something, tears finally forming in the corners of her eyes, but she couldn’t. And she couldn’t hang up. Her body wouldn’t let her.

Zane chuckled softly in her ear.

“Don’t worry. You’ve got your body most of the time. But when I want, the power to control you is mine.”

Avery’s lips trembled. Her other hand, limp in her lap, twitched, like it was waiting for instructions.

“We’re going to have so much fun.”

The line went dead.

[deadpresidents]

"Somehow disruption doesn't begin to cover it. Upheaval might be closer. Revolution maybe. In less than two weeks since being elected again, Donald J. Trump has embarked on a new campaign to shatter the institutions of Washington as no incoming President has in his lifetime.

He has rolled a giant grenade into the middle of the nation's capital and watched with mischievous glee to see who runs away and who throws themselves on it. Suffice it to say, so far there have been more of the former than the latter. Mr. Trump has said that 'real power' is the ability to engender fear, and he seems to have achieved that.

Mr. Trump's early transition moves amount to a generational stress test for the system. If Republicans bow to his demand to recess the Senate so that he can install appointees without confirmation, it would rewrite the balance of power established by the Founders more than two centuries ago. And if he gets his way on selections for some of the most important posts in government, he would put in place loyalists intent on blowing up the very departments they would lead.

He has chosen a bomb-throwing backbench congressman who has spent his career attacking fellow Republicans and fending off sex-and-drugs allegations to run the same Justice Department that investigated him, though it did not charge him, on suspicion of trafficking underage girls. He has chosen a conspiracy theorist with no medical training who disparages the foundations of conventional health care to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

He has chosen a weekend morning television host with a history of defending convicted war criminals while sporting a Christian Crusader tattoo that has been adopted as a symbol by the far right to run the most powerful armed forces in the history of the world. He has chosen a former congresswoman who has defended Middle East dictators and echoed positions favored by Russia to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies.

Nine years after Mr. Trump began upsetting political norms, it may be easy to underestimate just how extraordinary all of this is. In the past, none of those selections would have passed muster in Washington, where a failure to pay employment taxes for a nanny used to be enough to disqualify a cabinet nominee. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has bulled past the old red lines, opting for nominees who are so provocative that even fellow Republicans wondered whether he is trolling them.

The message to Washington is simple, according to Roger Stone, the longtime Trump friend who relishes his own reputation as a political dirty trickster. 'Things are going to be different,' he said by text."

-- Peter Baker, "Trump Signals a 'Seismic Shift,' Shocking the Washington Establishment,' The New York Times, November 17, 2024.

Here's another incisive article about President-elect Donald Trump's transition and his frightening Cabinet nominees, who are abnormal even for Trump and the personality cult that has been built around him since 2015. For the past quarter-century, Peter Baker has been one of the very best, most level-headed analysts of the contemporary American Presidency, and he seems be stunned by the direction the incoming Trump Administration is already heading. Once again, all of these links are gift links to bypass the New York Times paywall so that you may read and share these important pieces and remain alert to the very real consequences of the 2024 election which are already taking shape.

[electricwhims]

Phone Call Poses (Standing)

Phone Call Poses (Laying Down)

It's been soooo long since I released a pose pack. Now you have 2. I felt we were SEVERLY lacking poses for @natalia-auditore 's phone accessory, which, spoiler alert, is my favorite! So here are some varies emotions. Both packs have MOSTLY the same poses with minor tweaks. Except the standing ones include 1 extra sad pose. (And the preview is missing the last pose for laying down because I waited too long to release these and therefore lost one of the pictures. woopsie.

If you have any issues, please let me know!

Includes: -11-12 Single phonecall poses for each pack, plus All-In-Ones

What You Need: -Andrew’s Pose Player -Teleport Any Sim, - @natalia-auditore 's iphone HERE -Any bed for the laying down ones, blanket is unfortunately not included.

TOU: -Do not reupload -Do not put these poses behind a paywall -Do not edit my poses. You may add extra poses to the pack for personal use ONLY, but do NOT distribute them without asking. IF THESE TOUs ARE VIOLATED I WILL BLOCK YOU ON ALL PLATFORMS

If you use them, please tag me on here or on Instagram @electric.whims Not a requirement, but I do want to see! !

@ts4-poses

DOWNLOADS: STANDING: SIMSFILESHARE (Free, No adfly) LAYING DOWN: SIMSFILESHARE (Free, No adfly)

[oldguardleatherdog]

[Gift link, no paywall]

Zuck wiļl now explicitly allow vile and dehumanizing hate speech against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people to be posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads without adverse consequences for the poster. He has gone so far as to provide Meta employees with detailed examples of speech that will now be allowed on Meta platforms. This article goes into detail as to how these new policies were formulated and rolled out. It's worth a read to understand the calculation and planning that went into this.

This is more than "mere" homophobia and transphobia. Zuck went out of his way to explicitly target us and single us out over other minorities who use these platforms.

It's clear that this is Zuck prepping and staging his platforms for use in actions that The Rapist Administration is setting up to launch against us in the days to come. Our elected officials and our so-called national LGBTQ+ leaders and organizations have put out a statement or two, but I'd hate to be hanging until they actually take action to protect us.

We need to find a way to mount a response to this, and to all the rest of what's coming at us. Good people of good will are gathering and planning, but it's early yet. Take note of these signs, keep watch and stay alert, don't detach, don't look away.

From the article:

"Among its changes, Meta loosened rules so people could post statements saying they hated people of certain races, religions or sexual orientations, including permitting 'allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation.' The company cited political discourse about transgender rights for the change. 

"The company also removed the transgender and nonbinary 'themes' on its Messenger chat app, which allows users to customize the app’s colors and wallpaper, two employees said.

"That same day at Meta’s offices in Silicon Valley, Texas and New York, facilities managers were instructed to remove tampons from men’s bathrooms, which the company had provided for nonbinary and transgender employees who use the men’s room and who may have required sanitary pads, two employees said.

"In the @Pride employee resource group, where workers who support L.G.B.T.Q. issues convene, at least one person announced their resignation as others privately relayed to one another that they planned to look for jobs elsewhere, two people said.

"In a post this week to the @Pride group, Alex Schultz, Meta’s chief marketing officer [and Meta's highest-ranking openly gay executive], defended Mr. Zuckerberg and said topics like transgender issues had become politicized. He said Meta’s policies should not get in the way of allowing societal debate and pointed to Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case, as an example of 'courts getting ahead of society' in the 1970s. Mr. Schultz said the courts had 'politicized' the issue instead of allowing it to be debated civically.

"'You find topics become politicized and stay in the political conversation for far longer than they would’ve if society just debated them out,' Mr. Schultz wrote. He said looser restrictions on speech in Meta’s apps would allow for this kind of debate.

"On Friday, Roy Austin, Meta’s vice president of civil rights, announced he was leaving the company. He did not give a reason."

[Emphasis added.]

[agena87]

Geometric Earrings (with ears)

I always loved those ears by @saruin and am always in need of more earrings diversity compatible with those, so, since Saruin is so generous with her T.O.U., I decided to make some myself and I included the ears (the v1 ones). So thank you, Saruin for letting me play with your creation 💛

---

What to know:

-BGC -Male & female, teen to elder -100 swatches -Found in earrings (use a no ear preset like this one* or that one -Polys: 2210 | 1720 | 1102 -Disallowed for randoms -All occults (except werewolves) -Colour tagged

*simsfinds alert, sorry

---

TOU

🔸 Don’t claim as yours 🔸 Don’t re-upload 🔸 Recolours are OK (even including the mesh), just credit me and redirect to the original 🔸Obviously, if you do recolours, DO NOT PUT BEHIND A PAYWALL OF ANY KIND (no EA, no adlink, no whatever). And don't post it on Curseforge under any circumstance. 🔸 Edits are also OK, but the same rules as for recolours apply! (credit me, no paywall, no Curseforge) 🔸 Eat broccoli! 🥦 🔸 Enjoy! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

---

DOWNLOAD Patreon (always free) SFS

[contemplatingoutlander]

U.S. ENTERS WAR AGAINST IRAN

The New York Times | U.S. Military Is Pulled Back Into Middle East Wars

The strikes on Iran ushered in a period of high alert as the Pentagon braced for almost-certain retaliation against American forces in the region.

Well, so much for Trump being the "peace" president.

This is a gift 🎁 link, so there is no paywall. Below are some excerpts:

The U.S. strikes on nuclear sites in Iran are an extraordinary turn for a military that was supposed to be moving on from two decades of forever wars in the Middle East, and they put the United States back on war footing.

Across the region, where more than 40,000 American troops are on bases and warships, the strikes ushered in a period of high alert as the Pentagon braced for almost-certain retaliation from Iran.

President Trump announced on social media that three Iranian sites were hit, including the mountain facility at Fordo. The bombs used in the strikes are believed to include “bunker busters,” which are designed to destroy deep underground bunkers or well-buried weapons in highly protected facilities.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential intelligence said that multiple 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordo, and that initial damage assessments indicated that the facility had been “taken off the table.”

The strikes, whether successful or not, are likely to trigger a fierce response. Tehran has vowed to strike at American bases in the Middle East, and American intelligence agencies confirmed before the strikes took place that Iran would take steps to widen the war and hit U.S. forces in the region.

[mariacallous]

Last September, I learned via a Sky breaking news alert, that the Guardian was seeking to sell off a core part of the news organisation. My part of it. All of my work has been published on the Guardian’s website – the Cambridge Analytica story actually made more money for the organisation than any other story before or since – but in the UK, it also appears in the Sunday print edition, the Observer.

And on Thursday night 100+ of my colleagues and I were “banged out” of the Guardian’s offices. Yesterday saw the last edition of the Guardian-owned Observer. Tomorrow, after more than three decades as a core part of what is a non-profit organisation, it’s being “transferred” into private ownership.

“Transferred” is corporate-speak for “given away”, if you’re wondering.

My t-shirt is very much not-authorised Guardian merch. It’s based on this message which the website is still using on stories, even now. Which even by marketing industry standards is some next level chutzpah.

A large chunk of the Guardian’s journalism will no longer be “free and open”. It’ll either be non-existent - most of the journalists have no jobs to go to - and those who do will now be published on a privately-owned website behind a paywall.

“Banging out” is a Fleet Street tradition that dates back to the days of hot metal: journalists and printers would “bang” their colleagues out the door when they left, hitting their tools against the metal presses. It's normally a jolly occasion: a fond farewell to people moving on, to new jobs or into retirement.

This was not a jolly occasion. It was a bloodletting

[didalexiabreakupwitholgaisback]

https://x.com/Boom_DO_/status/1905343271783505946

New meme alert, courtesy of Cata haha

thank you for your service. i will add it my collection! 🫡

the article is behind a paywall. but i think we have beaten this topic to death. keira has been up front since the summer that she wanted to go home for personal reasons. nothing more to say there.

that is absolutely horrible. glad you at least told a steward, but that's the type of behaviour that if goes unpunished, keeps growing and growing. 😵‍💫

[ggensblog]

even though i personally wasn’t affected by the ‘TikTok ban’, im still American and i can feel that the after effects of it are going to be really messy. not to get radical on main, but that’s exactly what i’m going to do because this is such a dark and scary time and people cannot just dismiss it after the problem is “resolved”

- the whole ‘we are working with president Trump to bring the app back’ message that popped up for Americans upon the app shutting down for them should have been a warning sign- no actually it should have been a slap in the face that the TikTok team was working with Trump to build this publicity stunt.

- and that’s exactly what it was: a publicity stunt. Donald Trump found a way to buy his way into painting himself as some kind of ‘savior’ of tiktok/social media/the first amendment, whatever. Donald Trump is a businessman first and foremost, he knew how to navigate and MANIPULATE not only TikTok, but the entire community of americans on the app.

- even scarier, this event- no matter how trivial it seems- can be seen as a blatant power move. a way for the government to show the American people that they can easily break apart their community by shutting down what has been a decent resource for organizing and discussing politics and word events. the fact that the ‘ban’ lasted all of 16 hours proved that it was not a national security risk- so why bother? other than to prove a point? that they have the power to do whatever they want by buying out companies to do their bidding - because money makes the oligarchy go round.

- it was never about national security. it wasn’t about national security when the presidential candidates were using TikTok not even 3 months ago for their political campaigns. it wasn’t about national security when the app was off for a mere 16 hours. it was NEVER about national security. it was, again, about the money. TikTok being a foreign application that was major competition for Facebook/Meta and Google financially- they showed us that they can buy their way into making more corporate puppets to shape the American mind.

- these are the kinds of moves that are pulled by dictators and facists. manipulating the perspective of the American people to shift focus away from large issues while still proving that they are the ones in power.

we cannot afford to dismiss how this was just an example of what can be done to what is the best way for people to stay informed. this is not to say that social media is the best news outlet, but it is objectively more accessible for the general public compared to news that sits behind a paywall in other areas of the internet.

stay alert, stay informed- and continue to inform yourselves. we are not so fortunate to live in an age where we can afford to be willfully ignorant.

[nightmaretour]

Follow up on the Medisafe bullshit, Pillo is actually SO MUCH BETTER. I didn't think it would have as many features but it does, plus so much more

-You can set it to remind you to start eating before it's time to take your meds if that's a requirement

-It has a system in place to stop you from tapping that you've taken them beforehand and then getting distracted

-You can add a photo of the pill in case you or someone else needs help distinguishing it.

-You can add caregivers to get alerts to their phone when you miss doses!! (This is a paid feature though)

-Similarly you can add dependents to your app and get reminders for their meds too! (I'm not sure how many you can add for free but premium is unlimited)

-It lets you distinguish between prescription and non prescription meds, and "take as needed" meds stay there at the bottom for you to easily track whenever you take them

-It gives you a notification when "take as needed" meds are able to be taken again! So helpful for when I'm having One Of Those Days and need to take paracetamol regularly

-It lets you easily share your logs with your doctor as an email!

-It has a built in drug interaction checker, although this is down for improvements right now

-On top of ALL of Medisafe's existing features

Anyway I'm in love with this app, I'm so glad I saw it suggested because I never found it listed on other websites. It's truly amazing and I really won't miss Medisafe and their paywalling all but two of my medications bullshit.

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New beans alert!

Creamy tomato beans and greens from the NY Times (I don't believe in paywalled recipes so I coped it below). This recipe caught my attention when I saw it because it has over 4000 reviews at 5 stars, which I figured was either a lie or made it a contender for greatest bean recipe of all time.

This was delicious! It's a really good creamy tomato-y bean dish, but adding the lemony salad and bread crumbs on top makes it feel much fancier and adds another dimension of flavor. I used microgreens instead of arugula, and they worked perfectly as a substitute. I recommend trying it - Not a heavy investment of time for a very tasty payoff!

Recipe below!

Creamy Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens 

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 4 servings

* 6 tablespoons olive oil

* ⅔ cup panko bread crumbs

* Salt and black pepper

* 1 medium yellow onion, minced

* 4 garlic cloves, minced

* ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

* ⅓ cup tomato paste

* 2 (14-ounce) cans cannellini beans or other creamy white beans, rinsed

* 1 cup heavy cream

* ½ cup chopped jarred sun-dried tomatoes in oil

* ⅔ cup finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan

* 4 (packed) cups/3 ounces baby arugula

* 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest plus 4 teaspoons juice (from 1 lemon)

* Toasted bread (optional), for serving

PREPARATION

* Step 1 - In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium. Stir in the panko, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently and shaking the pan, until toasted and golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer seasoned panko to a paper-towel lined plate, then wipe out the skillet.

* Step 2 - Add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium. Add the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 4 minutes.

* Step 3 - Add the tomato paste and stir until darkened and mixture is combined, about 3 minutes.

* Step 4 - Stir in beans, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes and ⅓ cup water, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Stir in half the cheese, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

* Step 5 - In a medium bowl, toss the arugula with the seasoned panko, lemon zest and juice, plus the remaining ⅓ cup cheese and 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Pile the greens at the center of the bean mixture. Serve with toasted bread, if desired.

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good article about the new immigration law project in france. tldr: it would emphasize primacy of national french law over international law, reference an undefined "French identity" and guarantee a "national priority" which would uphold french (understand white and catholic) citizens over everyone else.

don't think I agree with the framework of the fifth republic being in shambles and under threat as if this was a new, unpredicted development, but anyway.

behind paywall but full article under the cut:

C’est un texte trop peu remarqué et commenté. Il a été déposé à la présidence de l’Assemblée nationale par Marine Le Pen et les député·es du Rassemblement national (RN) le 25 janvier 2024, soit le jour même de la censure par le Conseil constitutionnel de 35 des 86 articles de la dernière loi sur l’immigration. Intitulée « Citoyenneté-Identité-Immigration », cette proposition de loi constitutionnelle est la formulation la plus complète et la plus explicite du projet politique de l’extrême droite en cas de victoire à une future élection présidentielle.  

On doit à un haut fonctionnaire, Pierre-Yves Bocquet, actuellement directeur adjoint de la Fondation pour la mémoire de l’esclavage, une alerte aussi pertinente qu’inquiétante sur sa portée et sa dangerosité. En cas d’adoption par référendum de ces dispositions, explique-t-il, ce ne serait pas un changement de politique, mais un changement de régime, « une nouvelle Révolution nationale, autoritaire, plébiscitaire et xénophobe. La VIe République du RN ».  

Développée de façon fort pédagogique dans une récente livraison de la collection « Tracts / Gallimard », cette démonstration surgit au moment même où deux figures éminentes du gouvernement de François Bayrou, le ministre de l’intérieur Bruno Retailleau et le ministre de la justice Gérald Darmanin, plaident pour un référendum sur l’immigration. Au-delà de l’enjeu invoqué, dans la foulée de sa remise en cause à Mayotte, qui est la fin du droit du sol, leurs plaidoyers légitiment par avance la voie choisie par le RN pour son coup de force institutionnel.  

Reprenant et développant un projet de loi référendaire présenté lors de la campagne présidentielle de 2022, le texte déposé en 2024 par le RN montre combien la question obsessionnelle de l’immigration, et donc des droits des étrangers et des étrangères, est le cheval de Troie d’une remise en cause de l’État de droit, et donc des droits des citoyen·nes.  

Son premier objectif est l’affirmation de « la primauté du droit national », c’est-à-dire le rejet radical de tout droit supranational veillant au respect par un État des droits humains fondamentaux. Exactement ce que met en œuvre Donald Trump depuis qu’il a pris ses fonctions de président des États-Unis, mais aussi ce que revendiquent la Russie de Vladimir Poutine et la Hongrie de Viktor Orbán, explicitement mentionnées par le RN dans l’exposé des motifs.  

Cette inversion de la hiérarchie des normes entre le droit interne et le droit international, que partagent tous les régimes autoritaires et identitaires, se traduit dans le texte du RN par une modification radicale de l’article 1er de la Constitution : « La Constitution est la norme suprême de l’ordre juridique français. Elle s’impose aux pouvoirs publics et aux autorités administratives et juridictionnelles. Aucun engagement international de la France, aucune règle du droit international public ou de la coutume internationale ni aucune décision d’une juridiction internationale ne peut avoir pour effet de remettre en cause la Constitution. Toute juridiction doit, le cas échéant, laisser inappliquées de telles stipulations, règles ou décisions. »  

L’instauration de ce « bouclier constitutionnel », selon la formulation du RN, signifierait que la France ne serait plus tenue de se conformer au droit international et européen qui protège les libertés fondamentales. Le droit des étrangers sert ici de levier pour un coup de force antidémocratique, instaurant, écrit Pierre-Yves Bocquet, « une prison juridique à la taille de la France, qui prive tous ses habitants, français comme étrangers, de la faculté qu’ils ont aujourd’hui de saisir les juridictions internationales pour faire reconnaître leurs droits fondamentaux ».  

Le deuxième bouleversement introduit par ce projet référendaire est l’instauration de la « priorité nationale », autrement dit d’une xénophobie légale. Ce nouveau principe constitutionnel est ainsi formulé : « Afin de garantir aux Français, en toutes circonstances, une priorité dans l’accès à l’emploi, à égalité de mérites, dans le secteur privé et, le cas échéant, dans le secteur public, ainsi que dans le bénéfice de l’action des services publics et des politiques publiques, y compris le logement, la loi y limite l’accès des étrangers. »  

Cette xénophobie d’État accompagne toute une série de dispositions qui constitutionnalisent le rejet des étrangers et des étrangères – suppression du droit du sol, discrimination des binationaux et des binationales, limitation des politiques de lutte contre les discriminations.  

Enfin, le projet du RN instaure explicitement une République identitaire en faisant entrer dans la Constitution plusieurs références à « l’identité de la France » sans prendre la peine de la définir, sinon par le refrain sous-jacent qu’elle est menacée par les migrant·es et les étrangers et étrangères.  

« La République assure la sauvegarde de l’identité de la France et la protection de son patrimoine historique, culturel et linguistique et de ses paysages, en métropole et en outre-mer », énonce l’article 2 révisé, tandis qu’un amendement à l’article 5 de la Constitution confie au président la République la responsabilité de veiller « à la sauvegarde de l’identité et du patrimoine matériel et immatériel, historique et culturel de la France ».  

« Pistolet braqué sur la Constitution »  

Continuant de faire la courte échelle à l’extrême droite, les apprentis sorciers du gouvernement Bayrou légitiment donc, en revendiquant eux aussi un référendum sur les questions migratoires, la voie institutionnelle choisie par le RN pour son coup de force contre une République garante des droits fondamentaux.  

L’esprit bonapartiste de la Constitution de la Ve République, qui permet la confiscation de la volonté de toutes et tous par le pouvoir d’un·e seul·e, offre au présidentialisme cette arme redoutable : le référendum. « En proposant aux électeurs de trancher des problèmes compliqués avec une réponse simple (oui ou non),écrit Pierre-Yves Bocquet, le référendum ne leur donne la parole que pour les empêcher de délibérer. »  

C’est en fait la perpétuation du plébiscite dont Napoléon Bonaparte fut l’inventeur – de l’instauration du Consulat à celle de l’Empire héréditaire – et son neveu Napoléon III le perpétuateur – pas moins de cinq durant son long règne, dont celui qui a rétabli l’Empire sur les décombres de la Deuxième République.  

Avec une grande cohérence, le projet référendaire du RN s’empare de cette arme redoutable en revendiquant l’usage discrétionnaire qu’en fit, à deux reprises, le fondateur de la Ve République. « La voie la plus démocratique qui soit » : ces mots de Charles de Gaulle sont cités dès les premières lignes de son exposé des motifs par le RN.  

Par deux fois – en 1962 avec succès pour imposer l’élection du président au suffrage universel et en 1969 en vain pour réduire les pouvoirs du Sénat –, le général de Gaulle s’est appuyé sur l’article 11 de la Constitution pour contourner les assemblées, opposées à des réformes qui affaiblissaient le pouvoir législatif au bénéfice du pouvoir présidentiel.  

« Pistolet braqué sur la Constitution », cet article 11, qui donne au président de la République le pouvoir de soumettre un référendum, est au cœur d’un débat entre constitutionnalistes. À l’instar de Laurent Fabius en 2022, alors président du Conseil constitutionnel, ils lui opposent l’article 89 qui à la fois contraint tout référendum au préalable d’un vote identique des deux assemblées et en limite le champ, précisant notamment que « la forme républicaine du gouvernement ne peut faire l’objet d’une révision ».  

Un scénario à la Donald Trump  

Au-delà de l’alarme sur le projet politique de l’extrême droite, l’intérêt du « tract » de Pierre-Yves Bocquet est de démontrer que cette parade est bien fragile face à l’absolutisme présidentiel dont on ne cesse de constater combien il peut allègrement malmener les principes démocratiques les plus élémentaires.  

Outre le général de Gaulle, qui en 1962 fut accusé par ses opposants de violer la Constitution, le RN peut même convoquer l’un d’entre eux, et non des moindres, qui se convertit avec zèle au présidentialisme alors même qu’il était supposé le défaire. En 1988, François Mitterrand, président de la République depuis 1981, n’hésita pas à déclarer que « l’usage de l’article 11 établi et approuvé par le peuple peut désormais être considéré comme l’une des voies de la révision concurremment à l’article 89 ».  

En cas de victoire de l’extrême droite à la prochaine élection présidentielle, le scénario d’un coup de force institutionnel est donc écrit, à l’image de celui que met en pratique Donald Trump depuis qu’il est à la Maison-Blanche, ne se privant d’aucun des leviers de l’abus de pouvoir présidentiel. Forte de l’effet de souffle qui lui conférerait sa légitimité électorale, Marine Le Pen, s’il s’agit d’elle, invoquera l’article 11 pour imposer ce référendum dans un délai que Pierre-Yves Bocquet estime à 70 jours après le deuxième tour de l’élection présidentielle.  

Et si le « oui » l’emporte, la xénophobie d’État aura valeur constitutionnelle, « ointe de la légitimité que donne l’expression directe de la volonté populaire ». Dès lors, poursuit Pierre-Yves Bocquet, la devise de la France sera transformée en : « Liberté – seulement pour les Français –, Égalité – seulement entre les Français – et Fraternité – seulement des Français entre eux ».  

Il n’y a d’autre parade que de tenir bon, politiquement, sur le refus de cette perdition politique. Elle n’a d’autre but que de détourner notre pays des urgences démocratiques, sociales, écologiques…  

Pour éviter cette catastrophe, le haut fonctionnaire suggère aux responsables politiques de ne pas trop tarder à la rendre impossible par l’instauration d’un simple alinéa à l’article 89 de la Constitution, énonçant que celle-ci « ne peut être révisée que selon les procédures prévues par le présent article ».  

Mais cette parade constitutionnelle, qui entend désamorcer la machine infernale de l’article 11, semble bien fragile quand les digues politiques ne cessent de céder. C’est ainsi que François Bayrou, devenu premier ministre, propose de relancer un débat sur l’identité française alors même qu’en 2009, sous la présidence de Nicolas Sarkozy, il fit partie des opposants à cette diversion xénophobe autour de « l’identité nationale ». Aujourd’hui, il n’hésite pas à convoquer un imaginaire que ne renierait pas l’extrême droite, après avoir utilisé ses mots de « submersion migratoire » : « C’est une remise en cause de ce que nous sommes, nous, Occidentaux », a-t-il déclaré le 8 février au Parisien.  

Comme Mediapart l’avait défendu en 2009, dans un appel intitulé « Nous ne débattrons pas » dont les signataires allaient de Dominique de Villepin à Olivier Besancenot, en passant par François Hollande, il n’y a d’autre parade que de tenir bon, politiquement, sur le refus de cette perdition politique. Elle n’a d’autre but que de détourner notre pays des urgences démocratiques, sociales, écologiques, etc., qui permettent de construire du commun, dans la diversité de notre peuple.  

Depuis 1945, la France a connu 118 textes majeurs sur l’immigration (lire ici et là leur inventaire), à un rythme qui s’est accéléré depuis 1980, avec 49 lois et ordonnances en quatre décennies, soit plus d’une par an. Cette frénésie n’a rien réglé des problèmes vécus au quotidien par toutes celles et tous ceux qui vivent dans ce pays. Bien au contraire, elle n’a fait que donner crédit aux adversaires historiques de la promesse démocratique d’une égalité des droits, sans distinction d’origine, de condition, d’apparence, de croyance, de sexe ou de genre.  

Renvoyée aux marges politiques par la défaite du nazisme, puis par la décolonisation, l’extrême droite, dont la haine de l’égalité est le socle idéologique, n’est revenue en force dans le débat public qu’avec ce refrain du bouc émissaire, l’immigration. Tous les élus et gouvernants, de quelque bord qu’ils soient, qui acceptent de l’entonner à leur tour lui ouvrent grand la route du pouvoir.