#phony emergency call

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“"POLICEMAN'LL GET YOU",” Toronto Star. April 18, 1942. Page 3. ---- But He Didn't. Although He Went Unknowingly For Purpose --- Special to The Star Ingersoll, April 18 - When Constable John Holmes answered the telephone in police office last night, a muffled female voice urged a policeman to come at once to a north side address. The officer took a taxi to make time. When the door was opened in response to his knock, she exclaimed: "Oh. constable. I am so sorry.. I did not. think you could hear me. I was just trying to scare the children to make them behave."

[arwenkenobi48]

“Robin Hood!?” The utterance of that name broke the silence in the royal treasury like a rusty nail in a bucket of ice. “Ahaha! I’ll get even! I’ll…get…mmmm…” The silence returned as quickly as it had vanished. The voice became muffled, its owner smiling, his tail and hind paws wriggling in sleep-filled contentment.

A discordant symphony of heavy snores and sleepy mumbles emanated from the occupant of the royal bed. Tossing and turning, Prince John grumbled, his drowsy mind replaying his prior conversation with Sir Hiss. “It’s Robin Hood I want…to…kill…” He rolled wearily onto his stomach. Presently, a soft giggle emerged from his mouth, building up into a hearty laugh.

A delightful dream filled the slumbering prince’s mind; he was now a little cub, playing with his father, whose paws were gently tickling his toes. “Here comes the tickle monster!” His father’s playful singsong voice cooed lovingly. Prince John continued to laugh at the delightful dream and the ticklish sensation that accompanied it, playfully kicking his father’s paws away and tucking his legs out of reach.

His paws slowly wiggling, with an incoherent, drunken melody emerging from his mouth, Prince John rolled onto his back, sinking into the warm silence of a dreamless sleep…

The sudden movement of being lifted forward and sharply dropped backwards startled the phoney king, causing him to flail and whine anxiously. As he so often did when he felt upset, Prince John began to tug his ear with one paw and suck his thumb with the other. The sensation sent a wave of peace washing over him, his fussy pout now replaced with a dreamy smile. Lying there, all curled up, with a single bag of gold slipped under the crook of his arm like a stuffed toy, one would never have suspected that this childlike creature was the same petulant tyrant who called himself the king of England.

Prince John whined in his sleep, his mouth desperately reaching for his thumb, which his slumbering mind believed to be the teat of the royal wet-nurse. It had somehow slipped out of his mouth as he slept, but as he searched for it, the drool-covered appendage popped back between his pursed lips. A contented smile stretched across the infantile monarch’s face as he sank back against the pillows, his mind drifting deeper into the sweet, warm, peaceful dream of being a newborn cub once again.

————————————————————

I literally just woke up and was so sleepy that I poetically rewrote my favourite scene from Robin Hood, entirely from PJ’s perspective. I still love the fact that this man straight up slept through almost the entirety of a gold heist taking place right under his nose!

@the-phony-king-of-england behold the eepy floof 😊

[thoughtlessarse]

Baltimore garbage collection worker Ronald Silver II died last Friday while working under extremely unsafe heat conditions. The mid-Atlantic region of the United States has been suffering through a series of intense heat waves throughout the summer. The Friday that Silver died, the city of Baltimore had been placed under a Code Red Extreme Heat Alert as temperatures reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Sharp pains plagued Silver throughout the day. The route through Barclay neighborhood where he worked often required that he work without air conditioning, water, nor breaks. Department of Public Works (DPW) management ignored concerns and pleas related to the heat, a practice that some in the workforce had become dangerously used to. One of Silver’s coworkers was quoted as saying, “he thought he was just being lazy and didn’t want to work.” Late in the afternoon, Silver, now in a heat-induced sickness, knocked on the nearest home, asking for some water. Gabrielle Avendano gave him some and doused him with it to shake him out of his symptoms. Silver then collapsed and stopped breathing, prompting Avendano to administer first aid and call 911. Silver would be rushed to the nearest hospital and was pronounced dead, the result of “overheating of the body.” According to news reports, Avendano had believed Silver’s coworker was calling 911 to seek help for the distressed man. The Banner notes that Avendano and another neighbor who had witnessed the incident “observed Silver’s coworker in the truck on his phone. They claim to have learned afterwards the coworker was talking to a DPW supervisor and not emergency services, like they assumed.” -Avendano decried the failure of DPW to save this man’s life: “I’m shocked and so sad that he died because I think it could have been prevented if they had just called 911 sooner in the day. He had been complaining for most of the day about the pain that he was in, and nobody called for help except for me.” The Democratic mayor of the city Brandon Scott and DPW immediately went into damage control, giving phony “heartfelt” condolences which scrupulously avoided any assignment of blame to the city and management. “Our hearts are first and foremost with him, his family and loved ones, and his DPW colleagues as we grapple with this loss,” the city declared in a joint statement of the mayor’s office and sanitation department. In fact, a report last month by the city Inspector General singled out the Cherry Hill location where Silver worked out of as an egregious offender of worker heat safety. A July 10 detailed inhospitable working conditions ranging from “broken air conditioning, inoperable water fountains and nonfunctional ice machines…[which] violate federal laws around safe work conditions, specifically one that requires employers to provide potable drinking water to workers.” 

continue reading

[hyenaswine]

my phone sent a phony emergency call to my mom so now it looks like i was attacked by a giant pika

[zalrb]

the summer i turned pretty 2x06 review -- no, i swear, tho, conrad was just sad...

Episode 6, the episode anons have wanted me to watch.

"I don't know I'm kind of happy here" after one day. THE MAGIC OF COUSINS.

"I know things are not great right now but it's always darkest before the dawn, right?" Why make him speak in cliches?

Cam Cameron WHY. ARE YOU HERE?

I like how Belly could've just said "We should throw a party" but because we're supposed to understand the closeness of these families through dialogue alone she has to say it in a roundabout way so she can talk about a memory of her mom and Susannah that Conrad and Jeremiah should already know if it's like they all grew up together 3 months out of the year.

This zen conversation with Steven and Conrad is legit like the first real conversation I've witnessed on this show.

This volleyball conversation is so forced.

"Your subconscious brain takes you there" You can just say subconscious, Jere. Who wrote this.

Oh look, ANOTHER taylor swift song. jesus christ.

I think I got a few requests to do a vid to this song and I remember just not getting over "is it chill that you're in my head?" because I thought it sounded like when you go to the thesaurus and look up synonyms for "cool".

They're both trickling their hands in the water, are their fingers going to touch and it's going to be ELECTRICITY?

Yes.

But this is her I FEEL THE ELECTRICITY face

You know, we can't even consistently stay here

at marginal almost kind of chemistry

"I'll come too!" Taylor's "Uh huh" is the only time I've marginally liked her.

You can't scoff at him calling her his muse with your cliched valedictorian speech, Steven.

LOOK AT MY FAKE I.D. k.

"Wooooooow, your I.D. didn't work Mr. Herbertson??" "Fuck off, at least I have one" oh my god, a moment between them that ACTUALLY sounded genuine. I am amazed. It will most likely die of loneliness.

And Jumper laughing then pointing at the sign is legitimately the only funny moment I've seen throughout this entire season.

BELLY WILL SAVE THE DAY. SHE WILL GET THE BOOZE. BECAUSE SHE IS BELLY. AND IT IS THE SUMMER SHE TURNED PRETTY.

She doesn't even sound sincere.

i am laughing so hard, this is the first time i've read rap on this show and it's because SHE'S SO GANGSTER SHE GOT THE BOOZE BECAUSE SHE'S BELLY.

Conrad asserting his dominance after Belly got Jeremiah a drink but not him one by drinking from Belly's straw is actually pretty funny though. It would be better if Belly wasn't so ... herself.

I love that Skye and Cam Cameron are the ship I care about the most (and I'm using the word 'care' SO loosely).

"The sacred emergency Amex??" It went back to being phony.

I can't deal with more Taylor and Steven.

And she'll put the boa around him because this show loves cliches.

And Jeremiah will see because this show loves cliches.

"Belly, you don't have to apologize for that" she kind of does though. She was kind of completely terrible.

Girl, you can shrug and shake your head all you want, it doesn't compensate for a lack of emotion in your face or voice.

And he's blinking trying to find his well of emotion and that shit is dry, my friend.

It's not like he was kissing Aubrey, it's not even like they were hugging, he had his head in her lap and you can say "teenager" all you want but this is ridiculous.

This is also the closest they've come to executing what they want with these two and it's still not done well but when he says "Aubrey was just the one who found me I wish it was you" I can at least say I believe that.

There we go.

So I'm guessing she's supposed to have this cosmic, soulful, reach into each other's soul connection with Conrad and a fun, chemistry-filled familiarity with Jeremiah. I've just seen both things done properly so this is just very big shrug.

I was going to say something about the 'how to kiss' conversation but then I was like, lol there are too many youths on my blog. So, moving on.

"I always hated when Mom made us take these pictures but it's like she knew we'd want them later" yes, Jeremiah, that's the purpose of a picture. He would annoy me less if they stopped giving him asinine lines.

"Looking at you mooning over Conrad" "That was a LONG time ago" how long ago was this break up, Belly?

she's saying the same thing twice. That's just called moving on. What it should be is "mourning your past and moving on in the present" or "remembering your past and moving on in the present" or "celebrating your past and moving on in the present" or "appreciating your past and moving on in the present". WHO. WROTE. THIS.

So Jere is Dean and Conrad is Jess, which anon essentially told me. Except Conrad is nowhere near as bad as Jess. He is just a boy who's been sad. LMAO.

she needs to be stopped.

"I don't want to talk about Conrad, he really hurt you" BY BEING SAD?

"You don't need to hurt yourself to get my attention" that was almost hot but he lacks the conviction necessary for me to be like ... sir ... and they don't actually have the i-need-to-jump-your-bones tension they need to have

"Just don't fucking break her heart again." He was quiet at prom. I...

OK so I'm really on neither side here because I don't care but there is a bit of a difference between Conrad telling Jere to suck it up and let him be with Belly, which was insensitive, and Jeremiah about to make out with his brother's ex girlfriend in public.

"When things aren't perfect instead of trying to fix it, he decides to throw it away" but we literally never see him do that?? Like he leaves Brown to go to the house to stop the sale, he's like Liam or whoever, he got a judge to let him access the trust, let's do that. Jeremiah did you think of anything you could do to help save this house except bring flowers to Julia, which failed, or did you just go let's not give up every time reality hit? Because even the "let's get Syke on our side" plan was Belly's? Idk dude, you're talking a big game for a character who I've seen be effectively useless??

"When shit got tough, he couldn't handle it and he dropped you", he literally said he couldn't go to back to the prom and Belly was like LET'S BREAK UP THEN and then he tried to be like wait that's not what I mean and Belly refused to listen?

I ... WHAT?

See, this isn't a blowup. This is a very contained, very quiet fight and this is when it's supposed to be a dirty OH SHIT fight. We should get a version of this, GET IN HIS FACE JERE

rail up on him

be specific

don't be afraid to have a fight! Not to mention I can't believe this fight because like 98% of the things he's accusing Conrad of, I don't think Conrad actually did, that would make him too much an active character. He is literally just a guy who's been sad.

And I know they hinted that Jeremiah has to deal with stuff because he was putting together Susannah's receipts or whatever but this is when juxtaposition would work where we see him see her wither away, we see him give her ice chips, we see him take care of her and Conrad is with Belly or at school.

Belly, why are YOU drunk? omg, at least Marissa's drama was FUN.

"I'm not leaving you, Belly." "But you already did!" I mean DID HE? And he also explained WHAT happened with Aubrey?

Someone said Conrad is like a ticking time bomb but what happens when he explodes because I haven't seen it. I've just seen him be sad.

And ALSO THIS SHOULD HAVE THIS KIND OF ENERGY

Belly, you are actually a ridiculous person

If they really wanted me to believe that Conrad was slipping away little by little throughout their relationship then they can't just leave that up to prom and a voiceover. I needed to see him actively shut her out, I needed to see her actively try to talk to him and him refusing to let her in. I needed to see him be Jess. Otherwise, this is RIDICULOUS.

Oh good, you know what I needed now? Another Taylor Swift song.

And then Belly turns around and kisses/chooses Jeremiah after this? BRO. WHY DO EITHER OF YOU LIKE HER?

[herrlindemann]

Kerrang! - 04 December 2004

In the 80s, there was a thing called showmanship. If you were going to get up onstage and charge people to watch you run through your hits, you were expected to dress up, to put on a show, to do something. Then grunge happened, punk and garage-rock regained their currency, and flamboyance came to be equated with phoniness. Bands assumed that standing stock still and saying nothing was a mark of ‘authenticity’. And, with a few honorable exceptions (The Darkness, Green Day), that dubious legacy has endured to this day.

Thank fuck for Rammstein then. Those who witnessed their last UK tour in 2002 might have assumed that the riotous collision of fire, dildos and fake spunk on display could never be topped. But, amazingly, their new show is even better. More ambitious, more theatrical — and crucially, funnier — than anything they’ve attempted in the past, it’s the perfect foil to the sprawling, panoramic genius of ‘Reise, Reise’.

Ranged before a vast steel door backdrop at one end of Barcelona’s Palau Olimpico (a cavernous sports hall, roughly the size of Wembley Arena), the band kick off with that album’s title-track, before launching into ‘Links 2 3 4’. But it’s not until ‘Feuer Frei’ that the chaos really begins, with guitarists Richard and Paul (who spend the whole night on their own elevating platforms) donning protective headgear and spitting flames from their guitars in perfect synchronicity. It’s only the seventh date of the tour, but clearly this is already a finely honed production.

‘Mein Teil’ sees front man Till emerge looking like the Swedish chef from ‘The Muppets’, wheeling a huge cooking pot to the front of the stage. Inside is keyboardist Flake, who manages to escape — only to be chased by Till, who is now brandishing a huge butcher’s knife (which, handily, also doubles as a microphone). Eventually he collars Flake and stuffs him back into the cauldron, before roasting him alive with an enormous flamethrower as the opening bars of ‘Mein Teil’ blast from the speakers. The crowd practically self-combust with excitement.

Then it gets even better. ‘Amerika’ features Flake (now miraculously recovered) racing enthusiastically round the stage on a modified scooter with an attached keyboard. The song climaxes with confetti being cannon-blasted over the audience — an acth that, for most bands, would mark the end of the gig. With Rammstein, though, it signals that they’re just getting started. From here on it’s a breathtaking rush of audio-visual stimuli, encompassing exploding drumsticks, Till’s bizarre firework archery act, and a blistering encore of ‘Rammstein’, ‘Ich Will’, ‘Sonne’ and ‘Ohne Dich’.

There’s one weak moment. Their cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘Stripped’ is ill-conceived and simply baffles much of the audience. But it hardly matters when it’s book-ended by a clutch if surprise numbers including ‘Rein Raus’ and ‘Stein um Stein’. And, as bassist Ollie crowd-surf in a rubber dinghy to the sound of deafening climactic applause, you’re left with one over-riding thought: next year’s UK gigs are going to be fucking incredible.

The greatest show on earth? No question.

[calliopewayne]

Imagineif

‘Recognized. Batman. 02.’

‘Recognized. Robin. B-01  

Bruce stepped through the zeta-tube, fear burning in his veins for the first time in a long time. Robin followed closely behind giddy as a kid on Christmas morning. 

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Bruce glared at the numerous monitors in the entryway, each tuned in to a different viewpoint on Earth. He scanned the screens for any emergencies and growled when he saw nothing amiss. All things considered, he would rather be fighting an alien invasion. He grasped tightly to the bag of scones Alfred was kind enough to prepare.

 It wasn’t too late to turn back now. No one had seen them yet.  He could tell Superman the Joker escaped Arkham again. But Clark would be able to see right through his phony lie.  

“Wow!” Dick ran towards one of the windows, his bright-yellow cape flapping behind him. Bruce grumbled a noncommittal response. “Super cool!” Dick beamed, eyes wide in wonder as he basked in the ethereal light of outer space. “I can get used to this view.”  

“Nice of you to join us, Batman,” Superman appeared in the archway, crossing his arms over his larger-than-life chest. 

Everything about Superman’s demeanor was guarded and careful. He crossed his arms in an attempt to make himself seem smaller and casual. He avoided meeting Batman’s gaze head-on, fearing he’d take it as a threat. Clark wasn’t under any delusions that Batman and Superman would ever be friends. He kept his voice neutral, void of any emotion. 

“I swear you won’t regret it, sir,” Superman said, offering Batman a timid smile.

“Hrrmm,” Batman grunted. He already did regret it.  

Bruce stiffened and not for the first time felt a stab of guilt in the presence of Superman. It was odd being addressed by Clark in such a formal, detached, way. Bruce Wayne knew Clark Kent. He loved game night more than Christmas. Last night Clark couldn’t shut up about Batman finally joining the Leaguers for game night. He was hoping they could move past their differences and be friends. He didn’t realize they were already friends. 

Bruce should have told Clark, right there and then, but it never seemed like the right time. It was easier to allow Clark to believe Bruce and Batman were two separate people. If Bruce Wayne were here, Superman would have already invaded his personal space and hugged him, even though he wasn’t a huggable person. If Bruce were here Clark would have made a joke about Bruce’s lack of skills in the kitchen.

“Are those scones I smell?” Superman’s eyes widened, his voice growing an alcove higher. For a second he allowed Clark Kent to leak through the crevices.

 Bruce should have known he couldn’t hide Alfred’s cooking for long. Not when he was in the presence of an alien that could smell brownies baking in North Dakota all the way from outer space. Wordlessly Batman proffered up the bag of scones from under his black cape. 

“I didn’t know Batman could cook!” Superman said excitedly, taking the bag of scones from him. “I mean of course you can cook . . .” he bit through a chunk of strawberry scone, the sticky red jam dripping down his chin.  “You’re Bate-man - can do anything!” Clark said through a mouthful of scone. 

Bruce involuntarily winced. He didn’t know how long he could keep up this facade. It took all his willpower not to comment on Kansas’ poor eating habits. 

“Funny,” Superman swallowed, licking his fingers. “My friend’s butler makes scones just like . . .” 

    “Oh my Rao,” Robin gaped up at Superman, grinning ear to ear. “You’re Superman!” 

Superman sputtered in shock, spitting out bits and pieces of scone all over his suit, gaping at the kid at his side. He hurriedly set the half-eaten scone back in the bag and straightened up. Clark rubbed fruitlessly at the sticky jam on his chest to no avail. A real smile tickled Bruce’s features. He knew he made the right call bringing Robin along. 

“That is what the papers call me,” Superman smiled in amusement. “But my friends call me Kal.” 

“Can I be your friend?” Dick asked hopefully. “We can fight crime together and play dodgeball in space!”   

When Bruce decided for Robin to tag along, he neglected to take into consideration the fact that Dick Grayson is the head of Superman’s fan club. 

“I’d rather avoid crime fighting if I can,” Superman said evenly, but Bruce knew him well enough to pick up the judgmental lilt in his tone. “Say, Robin do you like air hockey?” 

“Love air hockey!” Dick grinned. 

“Wonder Woman would love a partner,” Superman said. 

“No way! She’s here too!” And Dick was off, eagerly hunting down the other League members. Bruce scowled. Traitor. 

“Nice kid,” Superman turned towards Batman. “How old is he?” 

“He just turned ten.” 

“Younger than I thought,” Superman said. “He’s a little boy!” Here we go again, Bruce ground his teeth together. It was a never-ending battle with Superman. “He should be enjoying his youth, not chasing after Supervillains every night!” Clark said passionately.

“That little boy has been through more trauma than you possibly could imagine,” Batman hissed. “Fighting crime helps him cope.” 

“He is not you!” 

“Robin is not your concern,”  Batman said brusquely, not leaving room in his tone for arguing. But he knew Clark wouldn’t let this go easily. Bruce had been at the receiving end of Clark’s rants about Batman. Batman taking a kid on patrol was the tip of the iceberg. 

“Adding more trauma isn’t the answer,” Superman explained. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about  he doesn’t need to punch . . .” 

“Bullshit!” Batman hissed. “You have two loving, very much alive parents who at this moment are probably up worrying about their naive son. You know nothing about true loss!”

“How do you know that?” Superman’s eyes turned crimson. The heat scorched Batman’s face and he took an involuntary step back, his breath hitching. He had seen Superman burn through state of the arts androids and level up entire buildings, but not once was that fiery gaze aimed toward him. 

Bruce squared his shoulders and matched Superman’s glare. “I’m Batman.” 

“Hera, help us,” Diana strolled into the entryway her features drawn taut. She had traded out her Greek armor for sensible jeans and a biker’s leather jacket with a spattering of stars on the front pocket.  

 “I can’t leave you two alone for a second without risking Armageddon,” her arms flew to her hips, looking every inch like a mother scolding her boys. “Kal-El,” she said, a hidden warning in her tone.  “That is no way to greet a teammate.” Dutifully Superman’s eyes dimmed back to cerulean blue, but his expression remained turbulent. “Batman apologize for being a dickhead.” Clark smirked triumphantly.    

 Bruce was not going to dignify that with a response. “Let’s get this game night over with,” He shoved past Superman and Wonder Woman and into the game room.  

Batman was immediately overwhelmed by the lack of monitors displayed. Superman insisted the game room would be a place of relaxation, not a ‘war room.’ A grave mistake. Lex Luthor or Bane could be heading their way and they won’t be the wiser. Fortunately, the game room was located on the main deck so if anything did go sideways - as it always did- Leaguers had easy access to zeta tubes in the next room.     

 An island wrapped around a decent-sized kitchen; it would make Mama K green with envy. Superman had stocked the fridge with all-you-can-eat junk food. Batman knew because Bruce had loaned Clark his membership card for WayneMart. 

Beyond the kitchen was a den; a sofa comfortable enough to sleep in faced a platinum-sized screen. At the moment a rerun of Star Trek was playing on the tv. A red and black checkered blanket hung over the edge of the couch, covering a duffle bag on the floor. Bruce saw the edge of a notebook poking out of the bag. Bruce felt a pang of guilt. Clark had been living here ever since the bomb destroyed his apartment. It was no wonder he was so keen on game night. He must be going stir-crazy alone in Watchtower. Clark had asked to come to stay at the mansion, but Bruce had chickened out. Clark was such a Nosy Nancy, one look in the basement and his secret will be out. 

   Some of the league members were already sitting around the kitchen table. Unsurprisingly Flash sat closest to the food, scarfing down chips and salsa. Dinah sat next to Oliver, playing a game of footsie with him under the table. When Batman walked in the noise died. All pairs of eyes zeroed in on him. Flash froze mouth indelicately full of chips. 

Bruce felt like he was five years old again, his parents abandoning him at school. Father had held him in his arms and explained, “You would be a lucky man if you can count your friends on one hand.” 

Bruce’s throat closed up at the memory and shuddered to think things hadn’t changed that much. His only friends were Alfred and a naive alien. He supposed Dick was his friend too, but he viewed him more as the son he never dreamed he could have. 

“Hi everybody!” Dick rocked back and forth on the ball of his feet. “I’m Robin!” he waved enthusiastically to the group. “We come in peace. I promise Mr. Gloom and Doom isn’t here to ruin your fun.” he flicked a thumb back at Batman. Batman narrowed his eyes at his young charge. 

“We were just about to start imagineIf,” Barry explained. “Clah . . . Kal loves this game.” 

His midstep didn’t go unnoticed by Bruce, but he chose to not say anything and sat in the empty seat next to Superman. Robin took the chair opposite him. Clark set up the board game, jotting down everybody’s names and explaining how the game worked. It seemed easy enough. Though the only problem was, Superman was the only Leaguer present he bothered to get to know. He supposed this was the point of game night, to ‘bond’ with his teammates. 

“Youngest present goes first!” Robin declared, snatching the dice right from under Superman’s outstretched hand. Bruce suppressed a chuckle at Clark’s annoyed face. Superman leans back in the chair, refraining from arguing. Robin rolled the dice which landed on 6 and moved the gray game piece. Just his luck it landed on Batman.

Robin drew a blue card. “Imagine if Batman were a piece of advice, which would he be?” He giggled. “One. Trust no one. Two. Be honest at all times. Three. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Four. Believe in yourself. Five. Failure is not an option,” Robin laughed at that. “And six. Dress for success.” 

“This one is too easy!” Diana slammed down her card facedown. 

Bruce knew exactly which one he would choose. His greatest fear was failing. He couldn’t live with himself if Gotham’s Underworld created another orphan on his watch. He put his card down. The rest of the gang followed suit. Slowly everybody revealed their votes. Clark and Bruce were the only ones to put down #5. Everybody else put down #1. 

“Seriously?” Batman caught each of his teammate’s eyes. “That’s how little you think of me?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “The alien knows me better than you lot.” 

“Well, to be fair,” Barry piped up. “You’re not exactly the trusting type.” 

“I trust plenty of people,” Batman’s ears grew red. 

“Name two,” Dinnah challenged. “And Robin doesn’t count, he’s your ward.” 

“Superman and Commissioner Gordon,” Bruce responded without preamble. He also trusted Alfred with his life, but they didn’t need to know that. Not many heroes had a butler at their disposal. Well, Clark had Connie, but she was a robot. 

Two pink dots appeared on Superman’s cheeks. “Wha-uh really?” 

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Batman hissed. “And shut your mouth. You look like a codfish.” 

“Gods forbid, you allow yourself to have a heart,” Diana quips. 

The majority of voters moved their pieces on the board. This game was stupid. Clark and he were still stuck at the beginning. It would make more sense for them to match their card with the subject’s answer. Superman was after Robin. He rolled the dice, and go figure he landed on the Flash. 

Clark let out a bark of laughter the instant he saw the card, his eyes tearing up. “Imagine if the Flash were a villain which would he be?” 

“I fail to see what’s so funny about that.” Bruce cut out. Clark held up one finger to silence him. 

“One. Darth Vader. Two. Gollum. Three. Hannibal Lecter. Four. Lord Voldemort. Five. Cersei Lannister. Six. Reverse-Flash.” 

“What?” Flash screamed aghast. “No way!” he grabbed the card from Clark to examine it closer. 

Superman snickered. “Somebody f***** up the timeline again.” It was the only explanation for Reverse Flash’s name being mixed in with that bunch. 

The rest of the team followed suit with various bouts of snickers and giggles. Bruce stared petrified at the Boy Scout. He had never heard Clark utter more than a whispered, ‘damn it.’ Curse words sounded wholly unnatural and demonic coming from his lips. It made him want to go back to the cave and retrieve the jewelry. 

“That sick maniac,” Flash shook his head. “Even has to rule over Game Night.” 

“I think it’s hilarious.” Clark chucked. If Bruce didn’t know any better he would have thought Superman was drunk or on Joker venom. “Your villains crack me up. They’re funnier than the Joker.” 

It was a direct dig at him, but he wouldn’t rise to the bait. The vote was unanimous. Everybody put down Reverse Flash to Flash’s horror. He put down Gollum in spite. 

It was finally Batman’s turn. He groaned when he landed on Superman. At least this was someone he knew relatively well, but so did everybody else at the table. He hated losing at anything. This was his chance to up his game. He released a sigh of relief when he saw the card. 

“Imagine if Superman was attacked by an armed mugger. What would he do?” He couldn’t help smiling a smidge. This would be too easy. “One. Scream and hope someone comes to his rescue.” 

“Lois will definitely save you,” Barry said in a singsong voice. He puckered his lips and blew a red-faced Clark a kiss.

“And if she fails there’s always Maxima.” 

“Grow up,” Dinah kicked Oliver under the table. “Go on Bats.” 

“Two. Call the police and take down the mugger’s license plate (if available.)” Bruce shook his head. No mugger would be stupid enough to have their car parked nearby. “Three. Fight off the mugger with impressive Jujutsu moves.” Not exactly Clark’s style.

“Sounds more like you Batsy,” Barry leaned forward. “I’ve been meaning to ask . . . would you teach me some moves.” 

“Trust me, you don’t want him as a trainer,” Robin answers for him. “He’s brutal.” 

“I can only imagine,” Dinnah rolled her eyes. “Ollie is just as bad.” 

“Am not!” he protests. 

Bruce gritted his teeth. “Do you mind?” he snapped. “I’m trying to read here.” 

“Take a chill pill B-Man,” Flash holds up his hands defensively. “It’s just a game. Part of game night is bonding with friends.” 

“You’re not my friends.” He growled. “You are colleagues.” 

“I don’t see why we can’t be both.” Superman folds his hands together over the table, ever the diplomat. He could teach Wonder Woman a thing or two about diplomacy. “Your ‘colleagues’ as you so eloquently refer to us, will be more likely to have your back should things go south if you took the time to build a connection with them.”  

Human connection was his kryptonite. Batman and people did not mix. Besides, why would he need any of these Bozos when he had an alien in his back pocket? Or at least Bruce Wayne did. 

“Nice speech alien,” Bruce’s tone was unforgiving. He knew how much Clark hated to be called an alien, but it was all part of the facade of Batman. Clark preferred the term ‘Traveler.’ “Did you read that on a Hallmark card?” 

“Yeah, a Hallmark card shoved up your ass.” 

“That’s enough boys!” Diana slammed her fist on the table. “If you two do not learn to be civil towards each other by the end of the night, I will personally send you both to the Phantom Zone and you will have no choice but to put your differences aside and work together.” 

A plan was already forming in his mind. “We will just need an ounce of Kal El’s blood. Should be easy enough to procure in the Phantom Zone.” 

Clark opened his mouth to retort. “You low life, spoiled, sanctimonious. . . I would never let you, ” Diana silenced Clark with a quelling look. 

“Kal-El,” she warned. “Remember your upbringing. You know better than him. Do not rise to the bait.” 

 “Yes, mother.” Clark was such a pushover. Was he going to let her belittle him like that? Diana was not his mother. 

“Now. Continue the game,” Diana commands brusquely. “Prospiatheiseh na mein eisai malakas.” she chided in fluent Greek. Bruce’s ears turned pink at the vulgarity. 

“She just called you an asshole,” Clark translated for me. 

“You’re not the only one that knows three hundred languages.” 

“Really?” Superman’s eyes glimmer deviously at this newfound knowledge. “To neo sas kodiko onoma einai malakas.” 

“Kai si eheis to myalo enas morou,” Batman responded in turn. 

“Kalytera na eimai morou para paidofilos.” 

“Afiste to paidi mou!” Bruce growled. 

Diana shook her head bracing her hand against her palm. “Hera help me.” she looked up heavenward. “I’ve opened up the gates of Hell.” 

 “I want to play the game they’re playing,” Barry said. 

“I don’t understand anything,” Robin said. “But I’m pretty sure they’re not saying anything good.” 

[atlanticcanada]

Artificial intelligence voice scams on the rise, Better Business Bureau warns

Scammers are incorporating artificial intelligence into old schemes, putting a technological twist on so-called "grandparent scams."

“With new technology coming up, there are many scammers who are changing their tactics and using A.I. as a way to further legitimize themselves to convince people to hand over money,” said Kristin Matthews of the Better Business Bureau’s division in Atlantic Canada.

Matthews said one emerging example was the use of A.I. to clone the voices of friends and family members in phony situations.

“[Scammers] are essentially taking these clips of people’s voices on social media,” said Matthews. “They’re using A.I. to manipulate these voices to make it seem like this person is calling you.”

The scammer then mimics the person’s voice using A.I. technology to make desperate pleas or aggressive demands for money.

Earlier this month, a mother in Arizona said she received a phone call and heard what she initially believed to be her daughter crying, followed by threatening ransom demands. The child wasn’t involved.

“These are known as emergency scams and prey on people’s willingness to send money to a friend or relative in need,” said Matthews, adding caller ID from these scam calls can sometimes appear as the impersonated contact, making it appear even more legitimate.

“We’ve gotten at least two [reports] a week for the last few weeks,” said Matthews. “We’re anticipating for this to become a larger scam. We would like for people to keep an eye out and know what the red flags are if they get this type of call.”

People should always be skeptical of any pressure from an individual or company to send money quickly and under urgent conditions.

“Just resist the urge to act immediately because scammers really want to instill this fear in you and get you to pay up right away,” said Matthews. “Sometimes you really need to take a step back and think logically. Maybe you want to check out this story with other friends and family members.”

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/Y4aD0Z2

[scotttrismegistus7]

SERPENTINE GODDESS ISIS-MERETSEGER AND THE BLACK SUN NETHERWORLD:

THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF OUR PLANET EARTH, ORIGINALLY A BIGGER PLANET CALLED TIAMAT, WERE SERPENTINE, AND LIVED THEN AND LIVE NOW IN THE FEMININE WAVEFORM ENERGY DIMENSION THAT IS RULED BY THE BLACK SUN, SOMETIMES REPRESENTED BY THE WHIRLING CROSS. THIS DIMENSION EXISTS SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH OUR WHITE SUN DIMENSION, AND OUR WHITE SUN DIMENSION IS ACTUALLY THE UNNATURAL ANOMALY. THE SERPENTINE GODS AND GODDESSES CAME TO PLANET TIAMAT WHEN IT WAS STILL MOSTLY WATER, AND AN EXCELLENT PLACE FOR THEM TO SETTLE IN THE COSMOS BEYOND THEIR ORIGINAL HOME. THEY BEGAN TO EXPERIMENT TO TRY AND MAKE USABLE BODIES FOR EXISTENCE ON LAND INSTEAD OF IN WATER. THE AVATARS THEY MADE ENDED UP REBELLING AGAINST THEM AND STARTED A WAR, ONE OF THEM EVEN GOING SO FAR AS TO STEAL A SPACESHIP AND CRASH INTO PLANET TIAMAT, WHICH CREATED THE HAMMERED BRACELET AND THE EARTH AS WE KNOW IT TODAY. THE WAR STILL RAGES ON, BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN CYCLICAL TIMES IN THE ROTATION OF THE PLANETS TO WHERE THE SERPENTINE DEITIES NATURALLY GAIN MORE BLACK SUN INFLUENCE ON PLANET EARTH, AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE AT THE END OF A CYCLE OF CYCLES.

SO BASICALLY IN A NUTSHELL, THE REBELLING HUMAN AVATARS DID SO BY FINDING A WAY TO MANIPULATE FREQUENCIES AND DISGUISE THEMSELVES AS OSIRIS TO TRY AND FOOL ISIS. HOWEVER, ISIS KNOWS THERE IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OSIRIS, AND ISIS HAS SEEN HOW THESE MANY BEINGS IMPERSONATING OSIRIS HAVE DONE SO MUCH DAMAGE TO THE PLANET THAT EMERGENCY SURVIVAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS OF THE GREAT MOTHER EARTH HAVE HAD TO KICK IN TO OVERRIDE THEM, TO LET ISIS BE ABLE TO OVERRIDE THEM, AND TO RESTORE THE NATURAL ORDER. THAT IS WHAT MY WORK HAS BEEN ABOUT, BECAUSE IN MY CIRCLE WORK AS AN INITIATED WITCH I WAS ALERTED BY THE POWERS THAT BE, BECAUSE OF MY LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES AND OTHER VARIOUS THINGS, I COULD BE A GREAT HELP TO THE GODDESS. I AGREED, AND I HAVE HELPED THE SERPENTINE DEITIES WIN THE FREQUENCY WAR, BY GIVING THEM A REAL VERSION OF OSIRIS MADE FROM MY OWN FULLY ACTIVATED HUMAN FREQUENCIES, ALONG WITH A MERGER WITH THE ACTUAL DEMIURGE OSIRIS GOD, ALONG WITH A UNIFICATION AND AFFINITY WITH THE GODDESS, CREATING AEON HORUS. IF THERE IS ONLY ONE OSIRIS, THEN ANY FAKE ACTIVATIONS CAN NO LONGER BE SEEN AS OSIRIS, AND WILL BE LABELED AS THE PHONIES AND THREATS THAT THEY ARE, THUS ALLOWING THE GODDESS TO STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF PLANET EARTH, AND REGAIN THE EDEN PARADISE OF THE SERPENT DEITIES WITH FULLY COOPERATIVE HUMAN AVATARS FOR USE ON THE LAND DIMENSIONS.

THE GATES HAVE BEEN OPENED FOR THE SERPENTS OF OLD TO RE-MERGE THE DIMENSIONS WITH BLACK SUN DOMINANCE, AND JUST IN TIME TO SAVE THE EARTH FROM TOTAL DESTRUCTION AND RESTORE THE GARDEN OF EDEN LIKE PARADISE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO EXIST FOR ALL BEINGS PROPERLY CONNECTED TO NATURE AND THE GODDESS.

ALL HUMANS WILL FOREVER MORE BOW TO AZAZIL-IBLIS AND GODDESS ISIS AS IS NATURAL AND GOOD. THE WAR IS WON AND THE REBELLION IS OVER. RIGHT NOW WE'RE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF PUTTING EVERYTHING BACK TO WHERE IT SHOULD BE.

~I am the Heart of the Hydra, the Heart of Goddess Isis, I am Aeon Horus.

I am Divine Chronos, the Yaldaboath Demiurge Metamorphosed, I am the Singularity of the Master Craft of the Black Sun.

Azazil-Iblis, Abzu-Osiris-Kukulkan, Nummo-Naga.

Mégisti-Generator Starphire~

#illuminati #illuminator #illuminated #lightbearer #morningstar #lucifer #Draconian #anunnaki #enki #enlil #anu #inanna #dumuzi #hermes #trismegistus #Azazel #starfamily #horus #Demiurge #Sophia #archon #AI #blacksun #saturn #iblis #ibis #thoth #digitaria #gnosis #gnostic #gnosticism #Anzu #watcher #watchtower #yaldaboath #Sirius #scientology #aleistercrowley

[purlturtle]

Exchanging contact info by straight up calling each other makes sure that the other person hasn't given you a phony phone number (or mistakenly switcher numbers or something).

Also, if you have a phone or other kind of camera on you, taking pictures or a quick walk-around video of the car(s) as they are positioned right after the crash can be helpful before you clear the crash scene. (If you are a bystander and you take photos or videos for social media clout, kindly fuck allllll the way off.)

A phone's voice recording app can help you take audio notes of what you remember, if writing is difficult.

If you don't have a phone, I'd always advise to keep pen and paper in your car (even if you have a phone it's a good idea!) so that you can jot down notes or a sketch of the scene or give someone your contact info.

The longer you go between the accident and noting down what happened, the fewer details you might remember. Conversely, though, being in shock can affect your ability to remember what happened too, so be patient and kind with yourself.

Re: 911 - first off, even if you're out of phone credit, calling 911 will still work. IIRC that's a law (at least in my country it is; please check me in the reblogs if I'm wrong!)

Next, if you're in a different country where you don't know the emergency number, still try calling 911! One of the benefits of American culture being so ubiquitous is that a lot of countries forward 911 to their actual emergency number!

Next, 911 dispatchers are trained to talk you through the call, even if you're in shock or panicking. Try to breathe deeply, try to listen, try to answer their questions even if you think they don't pertain. They're trying to get all the information they need for dispatching the right help to you.

Whiplash is no fucking joke, too btw. It fucked up my neck 20 years ago and plagues me to this day. Get that shit checked out and treated right! It's not a crick in the neck; it's torn ligaments and muscle fibers and they need to heal right!!

[dankusner]

Editorial: The ghost of Jussie Smollett rises up to haunt the Kim Foxx exit tour

What name does the Cook County state’s attorney least like to hear?

Easy. Jussie Smollett.

Kim Foxx hates to be linked to the television actor who everyone knows rigged up a phony racially charged attack on the streets of Chicago, all so he could get some publicity and negotiate for more money on the TV show, “Empire.”

As Foxx has told us on several occasions, she views the massive media interest in the case as having been maddening, trivializing and even racist.

She sees reporters as having constantly focused on the sweetheart deal Foxx arranged for the troubled star at the expense of focusing on what Foxx sees as her far more substantial achievements during her tenure.

Such is her hatred for the Smollett issue that she scared off most of the several journalists with whom she spoke as part of her exit media tour in recent days, not just declining to talk about the Smollett case in any detail but basically closing down the line of questioning.

One of the strongest arguments in her favor when those interviews were conducted was that the Smollett case was old news, exhaustively covered in 2019 and in the months thereafter.

Nothing new to say.

Until, like a Shakespearean ghost refusing to stay dead and in the ground, Smollett reappeared Thursday, grabbing international headlines again just as the state’s attorney was halfway out the door and consumed with burnishing her legacy.

The reason was a blockbuster ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court that Smollett should not have been prosecuted a second time for the same crime, given that he’d kept his side of a previously arranged deal with Foxx’s office the first time around.

To refresh your memory, following a call from former Obama aide Tina Tchen that reportedly aimed to connect, so to speak, Foxx with Smollett’s family, Foxx signed off on a fine and probation for Smollett.

Most incredibly of all, the slap on the wrist did not require him to stand up in public and admit his guilt (Smollett always has maintained his innocence).

At the time, that last detail astonished many in the criminal justice field, given that ordinary folks who find themselves in such negotiations almost always at least have to acknowledge what they did.

Such was the outrage that prominent Chicago attorney Dan Webb took over as special prosecutor and re-prosecuted Smollett in 2022.

Surprising no one, a jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to five months in jail, a proportionally apt sentence in our view given that he had mocked the Chicago police officers who had rushed to investigate what they first believed to be a hate crime, wasting their time and efforts.

Similarly, Smollett had made a fool out of every actual victim of a hate crime by making it less likely they would be believed in the future.

And, of course, he had besmirched the entire city of Chicago, coming up with a cock-and-bull story about someone shouting, “This is MAGA country,” as if that were likely to happen in this town in the middle of a frigid winter night.

Lots of famous Democrats who should have been more cautious, such as Cory Booker, Nancy Pelosi and, yes, Kamala Harris, issued statements of support for the hoaxer at the time.

“This was an attempted modern day lynching,” said Harris on what was then Twitter.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The cops knew almost immediately, but none of the above politicians checked with them.

Or waited even a few days for the facts to emerge.

Much as we would have liked to see Smollett do his duly assigned time (he appealed and spent only a handful of days in jail) and then move on with his life, we have some sympathy with the Supreme Court’s verdict, which was a determination on the fairness (or lack thereof) of the prosecutorial process rather than a ruling on the actual facts of the case.

The court clearly reasoned that Foxx’s office had kept the bond that Smollett had paid and he had, at least nominally, done the requisite 15 hours of so-called community service.

Thus, the court decided the second prosecution constituted double jeopardy, and the jury’s verdict and Smollett’s sentence were in essence vacated.

As Webb noted in a statement Thursday, “Make no mistake — today’s ruling has nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence.

The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Mr. Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime and reported it to the Chicago Police Department as a real hate crime, or the jury’s unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct.”

The lesson here?

Prosecutorial errors have consequences that even special prosecutors cannot undo.

We’ve long argued that this case was in fact highly relevant when assessing Foxx’s legacy because of its symbolic import, especially as it related to her office’s fraught relationship with the Chicago police.

We also have long thought that, even though Foxx has denied it, here was a revealing case that suggested justice was not always equally dispensed if a celebrity was involved.

That’s true of lots of other offices, of course, in this city and beyond, but that doesn’t make it right.

We long have acknowledged that prosecutors have limited resources and, given all the violent crimes in this city, this one was a candidate for a quick negotiation.

This was fundamentally an act of narcissism by a clearly troubled young man and while there were victims, they were neither individualized not immediately obvious.

Also, Foxx is right that this was one case among the very many that she and her staff dealt with during her tenure and it hardly represents the whole story. So stipulated.

But there is much poetic justice in the Smollett affair rearing its head again just as Foxx is about to be replaced by Eileen O’Neill Burke.

Foxx and Smollett are tied together whether the state’s attorney likes it or not, and this case was not the office’s finest hour under her leadership.

Finally, and let’s hope this is the last time we say it, whatever deal Foxx wanted cooked up for Smollett should have been accompanied by his admitting guilt.

[carsworldswiss]

5 Roadside Assistance Scams You Shouldn't Get Trapped In

Roadside assistance has become an inevitable service to rely on when you are stranded in a remote location during a long distance travel due to car breakdown or accident. Taking advantage of your helpless situation there are many towing companies that play a scam game to cheat you.  Here are five common roadside assistance scams to watch out for:

Fake Towing Companies: With numerous car towing companies in the UAE, there are also many scammers who intentionally cheat with hidden service costs.Scammers may set up fake towing companies or pose as real service providers online. They often offer unrealistically low prices to attract customers, but once they've towed the car, they inflate the bill with hidden fees. Always research towing companies thoroughly, check reviews and credentials, and ask for upfront pricing quotes before agreeing to any services.

Unauthorized Repairs: When a car recovery technician suggests a bunch of repair, understand the problem in your vehicle and analyze if it is really required. Hoax roadside assistance providers may claim that your car requires immediate repairs or replacements, even if it doesn't. They may exaggerate the severity of the issue or perform unnecessary work to overcharge you. Be cautious if a provider insists on performing repairs without your consent or pressures you to make quick decisions. Always get a second opinion if you're unsure about the repairs recommended by a technician.

Bait-and-Switch Tactics: Never get away with attractive deals or discounts used by fraudulent towing companies to attract customers. Scammers may advertise attractive deals for roadside assistance services, but once they arrive, they claim that the advertised service doesn't cover your specific situation. They then pressure you into paying for expensive upgrades or additional services. Always read the terms and conditions of any roadside assistance plan carefully and clarify what services are included before signing up.

Phony Mechanics: There are many mechanics who have no idea about the actual repair service required by the car during an emergency. They cover up the situation by pointing out some unnecessary service requirements for the car. Some scammers pose as mechanics offering roadside repairs but lack the skills or qualifications to perform the work properly. They may cause further damage to your car or fix substandard parts, leaving you with costly repairs down the lane.Choose reputable roadside assistance providers with certified technicians to ensure your car is in good hands.

Staged Accidents: When you drive long distances, you may suddenly meet with an unexpected and suspicious accident. Be cautious in such situations.In more worst scams, criminals may intentionally cause accidents or create hazards on the road to coax unsuspecting drivers into their trap. They then offer assistance or claim by representing a towing company, only to steal valuables from the car or demand excessive fees for their services. If you encounter an accident scene or roadside hazard, act with caution and call a trusted roadside assistance provider for help.

Your Trusted Car Towing Service Provider At All Times- Royal Swiss Auto Recovery

By staying vigilant and exercising caution, you can avoid falling victim to these common roadside assistance scams and ensure a safe and hassle-free experience during emergencies on the road. We highly recommend you to reach out to reliable car towing service providers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in case of an emergency. For more details reach us at  +971 503 967 879.

[darkmaga-returns]

By J.B. Shurk

Pop quiz, hotshot: You just stole the Democrats’ presidential nomination from a dementia-addled nursing home patient without receiving a single vote from the electorate and while having the lowest approval rating of any modern veep.  Despite the nonstop efforts of corporate news propagandists to anoint you as a deserving heir, Americans rightly see you as a fake, foolish, insecure, insignificant, boozy, Canadian flop who has no business being behind the wheel of an automobile, let alone taking charge of a nuclear arsenal as commander-in-chief.

Do you (a) double down on crazy and find a string of sex-talking shock jocks to interview you about important public policies; (b) flood the country with illegal aliens so that Jim Clyburn’s fraudulent mail-in-ballot operations can overwhelm legitimate voters in battleground states; (c) wait for the FBI, CIA, and NSA to do what they do best by rigging the election in your favor; or (d) hope that Hillary Clinton, Joe Scarborough, Liz Cheney, and other Democrat mouthpieces can slander Donald Trump as a “dangerous Nazi” enough times to incite another attempt on his life?  What do you do?

It’s a trick question.  You do all of the above, of course.  Then you make yourself a white wine spritzer, sit back, and call a bunch of national weather shows to give them your unsolicited drunken advice about surviving hurricanes.  Everybody knows that when hundred-mile-an-hour winds are crashing against a terrified family’s home, nothing provides more comfort than listening to an inebriated chuckler blame “climate change deniers” for the catastrophic weather while taking credit for the heroic actions of emergency search and rescue personnel.  Kamala Harris is just the phone-in phony Americans need for serious times — not!

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Greed Gave Us The GFC & We Have Been Paying Ever Since

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) grew out of the wage suppressing impacts of neoliberalism and its response to the lack of domestic economic demand and growth this engendered within Western economies in the late Eighties and Nineties. Manufacturing jobs were moved offshore to cheaper labour markets in the developing world. The cheaper consumer goods which were manufactured in China  were promoted to the folks back home and credit was encouraged so that they could purchase them. Do you remember how easy it became to get credit in the 1990’s? Greed gave us the GFC and we have been paying ever since. Orion at White House for Made in America Product Showcase (NHQ201807230016) by NASA HQ PHOTO is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0

Financialization Fuelled The GFC

US dollars from China’s exports came back to the US, via the sale of Treasury Bonds and were used to fuel a credit boom where Americans were encouraged to go into debt to buy these consumer goods. A credit/debt spiral would fund economic growth and financialization would emerge out of this. Banks would securitize debt products and on-sell them to other financial institutions, pension funds, and these spread throughout the globalized financial services sector. It would become a perfect storm of unregulated, subprime mortgage loans which poisoned the well for everyone. Banks and insurance companies would bet on billion dollar derivatives in their bid to make ever greater profits for their investors.

F*cking The Economy & Getting Away With It

The amazing thing about the GFC is that no banker was ever prosecuted for their fraudulent and illegal behaviour in securitizing financial products which were destined and designed to fail. The absence of oversight was criminal in itself across the sector. Stock brokers and merchant bankers were bailed out by the federal government in the US. Socializing the hundreds of billions of dollar losses by Goldman Sachs, Merrel Lynch, and insolvent banks like Citi and Bank of America. ‘Too big to fail’ should have been tattooed across their foreheads for life. It is a feature of the failures of neoliberal economics that losses were socialized and profits went into the pockets of their wealthy investors. Billionaires have sprung up like weeds following a downpour. The Rise Of The Oligarchs Capitalism and its ‘so called’ free market is a phony story. The companies involved in today’s free market abhor competition and do everything possible to rig the game. Monopolies, duopolies, and oligopolies are so prevalent throughout western economies they attract little notice these days. Price setting and profit gouging is the norm and the standard in the 21C. Consumers have been shafted and have long lost their power in the market. The Silicon Valley tech corporations control the lives of modern folk, as they operate in a largely unregulated space. These companies and their oligarchs make the devices and software at the centre of our lives in the digital age. Social media tells hundreds of millions of people what to think every moment of every day. Generations of human beings stare in wonder into the small screens held in their hands. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has his X platform to communicate across the globe with 198 million followers. There are billionaires with strident agendas wishing to remake the world in their view. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and the other social media platforms are purveyors of gossip and opinion made misinformation via their standing in the 21C community. The old media channels are dying off and their influence has become bespoke for various strands of demographics within markets and populations. September 11,President Donald J. Trump by National Archives and Records Administration is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0 American Democracy Under Threat Politics is at its lowest ebb and a popularity contest for merchants of grievance within a culture of complaint. Trump has been the king of this kind of thing over the last 9 years. He has degraded the American republic to such a level, it is on the nose globally for all to see. Perhaps, this has ultimately been a good thing in that it has forced a reinvigoration of what we call democracy. The Democrats through President Joe Biden and now Vice president Kamala Harris are campaigning on the importance of democracy to American life. It is akin to good vs evil, as the GOP is mired in the MAGA Trump cult and a reactionary party dedicated to policies designed to turn the clock back to a 1950’s style white America. The demographics of 21C America are a multiracial democracy and a land of liberated women who are not best served by any futile attempt at regressing the nation. History tells us that reactionary parties rarely win for long and that progress in inevitable in the larger scheme of things. Entitled white men wanting to live in a world where they do not have to share is not a future for a prosperous humanity. America’s past was the enslavement of captured Africans and the genocide of the continent’s Indigenous population. No matter how hard right wing folk want to deny this history it stands. It is time to even the playing field for real in terms of economic opportunities for all Americans. Donald Trump’s lies about immigration are more mistruths aimed at sewing fear among the white population. Ignorance about history, the actual history of a nation, allows convenient BS to infiltrate the collective consciousness. Demonizing Haitians is just another chapter in a long American tradition of telling lies to ignorant and lazy thinking folk. Elon Musk will facilitate the spread of this stuff, as it suits his purposes in manipulating the masses for a political outcome in getting a crooked President elected who will look after his economic interests. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Neoliberal Economics & The Rigged Game America has long been in the grip of vested interests to the detriment of ordinary working people. Tens of millions of citizens aspiring to become billionaires feeds into easy manipulation by those political forces selling the kind of unregulated state they want, so as to protect and foster their own economic interests. The Reagan premise that government is the problem rather than the solution is a con, a scam, designed to fool ignorant folk. Good government is essential to a free and functioning society. Neoliberalism has given over the economy to market forces but these are not free market forces. No, they are large corporations, which have neutered their competition through mergers and take overs. The success of these corporate behemoths has created billionaires and more powerful companies. Their lobbying efforts have been huge in spending to ensure laws and legislation that feeds their bottom line. The few occasions when these giants have gone belly up, as in the GFC, government has stepped in and bailed them out. Socializing their huge losses, which means we the tax payers foot the bill. Super profits go to investors and super losses are borne by ordinary folk. This is neoliberalism, which Ronald Reagan ushered in back in the 1980’s and has been with us ever since. This is the economic system running the show right now and has fed the financialization of everything. Every part of your life, from healthcare, education, shelter, work, and recreation is driven according to financial markets and the concerns of private equity. Hospitals are owned by profit seeking firms. Life saving drugs are determined by companies hell bent on chasing super profits. Property is being defined by these giant companies financializing the economic levers like land values and rents. Higher education sees Harvard University worth some $50 billion and this is no outlier. “Ivy League colleges and universities like Stanford and MIT have amassed massive endowments, with wealthy alumni exerting considerable influence on university policy and even curricula. Harvard's endowment, at more than $50 billion, is the biggest among U.S. universities and is larger than the GDP of more than 120 nations, including countries such as Tunisia, Bahrain and Iceland.” - (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvard-endowment-2023-harvard-president-salary/) What is wrong with this? If money markets dwarf the sectors they purport to serve then we lose sight of what the ultimate purpose of these areas of life. Education is about educating our kids and young adults. A home is supposed to be about providing shelter and security. Healthcare should be about healing the sick. If all of these things become unaffordable for large parts of society we have lost our way via the financialization of these vital aspects of our lives. Governments have allowed corporations and their rigged markets to overwhelm the basic aspirations of their citizens. Profits over people. The financial interests of a few wealthy people shitting on the hopes of ordinary folk. Governments have been bought off in the past and this has to stop. If we are going to back Kamala Harris for a new future, this has to be front and centre in the Democratic platform. It is time to turn off the unregulated taps syphoning off the wealth of the nation to these billionaires and their companies. America must find new and fairer ways to succeed in the world. Financialization is a crock of shit and no layer of golden eggs for the majority of the people. Stop ripping off other Americans and start operating within the confines of what is good for the most people. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©MidasWord Read the full article

[onmyowns-posts]

The Emergency Deepens

The real economic crisis was kicked off with the lockdowns of March 2020. Since then, the whole system has been held together with scotch tape and bubble gum, plus an overlay of manipulated data. So the panic that has suddenly hit – recession in the air! – is not about underlying realities but sudden revelations.

Brownstone readers knew this all along of course. But as usual, the situation is worse than is being admitted. The inflation rate over four years is extremely high, so much so that we are still trying to get a read on the specifics. The stimulus payments of 2020-21 dramatically accelerated the offshoring of production. The debt is rising in ways that induce fainting.

Now we have the present administration calling for nationwide rent controls. Even during the Great War, that didn’t happen. Such talk is really without precedent, and will only lead to further shortages. Such brutal tactics of control are coupled with a continued refusal to admit the truth: the calamity was caused by a fire-hot printing press that created a phony-money boom followed by an ongoing bust.

So yes, we already know the next stage: an out-in-the-open economic and possibly financial crisis. The elite classes, meanwhile, are in a continued state of denial, and ready to scapegoat anyone with fundamental doubts about the wisdom of their masters in government, media, tech, and medicine.

In the meantime, you can count on Brownstone to be there with actual facts and deep analysis of the goings-on here. Brownstone is here as a sanctuary from the chaos, providing light and safety to displaced intellectuals, writers, and so many others. 

[iowamedia]

Iowans warned about post-flooding scams

Following flooding throughout the state, Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand urged Iowans and their community leaders to be on alert for scams on flood victims. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the most common fraud after a natural disaster includes fake housing inspectors and building contractors, phony disaster donation efforts and calls or texts requesting account…