#public complaint resolution

[townpostin]

Saryu Roy Slams Electricity Dept, Raises School Admission Issues

MLA criticizes unsafe power practices, questions RTE implementation in Jamshedpur Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy voiced concerns over electricity safety and school admissions for BPL children at a Disha meeting. JAMSHEDPUR – At a Disha committee meeting, MLA Saryu Roy criticized unsafe electrical practices and raised issues about BPL children’s school admissions. During a District Development…

[officialmahmoudsaad]

Online Outrage? 5 Steps to Resurrect Your Brand's Reputation

In the digital age, your brand’s online reputation is its lifeblood. But one misstep, scandal, or even just a string of bad reviews can send your carefully cultivated image crashing down. So, what do you do when your brand is facing online outrage? Don’t panic! Here are 5 key steps to navigate the choppy waters and steer your reputation back to shore: 1. Face the Facts: First things first,…

[eretzyisrael]

by Richard Goldberg

Anti-Semitism is spreading in K–12 school districts. Even in primary and secondary education, Jews are often viewed as privileged whites and oppressors, with Israel branded as an egregious example of “settler colonialism” and oppression of “indigenous people.” “Liberated ethnic studies” curricula, like the one mandated by California, have created a distinct variant of critical theory aimed at Jews for being Zionist colonial oppressors.

Teachers’ unions are the leading purveyors of this approach. Two years ago, the United Educators of San Francisco adopted a resolution calling for a boycott of Israel. The Chicago Teachers Union instigated pro-Hamas demonstrations in the Windy City after October 7. The union persuaded Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson (a former CTU lobbyist) to condemn Israel in the city council, and it organized a student and faculty “walkout” to show solidarity with Hamas—a city-authorized event that left Jewish students and teachers feeling intimidated. In suburban Seattle, kids as young as seven were recently encouraged to condemn Israel and join in anti-Semitic chants. Oakland Unified School District faces a federal investigation after 30 Jewish families removed their kids from school due to rampant anti-Semitism. And at a high school in New York City, hundreds of students hunted down a female teacher they saw on social media holding a sign supporting Israel.

Marxist ideology is the primary culprit influencing this mind-set, but not the only one. Qatar, a tiny Persian Gulf country that supports Hamas, is funding anti-Semitic “scholarship” not only in American universities but also in K–12 schools. Qatar Foundation International gave $1 million to the New York City Department of Education between 2019 and 2022 for a program featuring a map of the Middle East that erases the Jewish state. The same story played out at a public charter school in Irving, Texas. What other districts in the country might be taking money directly or indirectly from a chief Hamas sponsor? Brown University’s Choices Program, used by more than 1 million high school students nationwide, exhibits a clear anti-Israel bias. According to Brown, the Qataris “purchased and distributed a selection of existing Choices curriculum units to 75 teachers whose districts didn’t have funding to buy them.”

Tools to fight back, however, are available. Governors and state legislatures can begin by blocking “ethnic studies” from the K–12 curriculum and by imposing new teacher-certification requirements. To curb foreign meddling, states should ban school funding or in-kind donations from entities connected with countries that harbor U.S.-designated terrorist organizations. School districts and state boards of education should use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism to root out conduct meeting its standard. Several groups sued the Santa Ana, California, school district in state court for failing to notify parents before approving ethnic studies courses that contain anti-Jewish bias and for harassing Jewish parents at school board meetings.

At the federal level, parents could file formal complaints with the Department of Education for discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Such complaints are increasingly common against colleges and universities, but any school that receives federal funding must comply with Title VI. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce should consider holding a hearing on anti-Semitism in K–12 schools, putting the national spotlight on anti-Jewish administrators and school board leaders.

Local, state, and federal officials have played meaningful roles in fighting back against critical race theory in the classroom. They need to fight equally hard to stop anti-Semitism masquerading as Middle East or ethnic studies.

[bethanydelleman]

New Year's Resolutions for Jane Austen Characters (mid-novel) Part 2

George Wickham: Marry a heiress. Stop gambling lol, as if, that's what marrying the heiress is for.

Lady Catherine: Convince Darcy to follow through with his duty and honour of marrying my daughter Anne. Learn pianoforte

William Collins: Continue in the esteem of my patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh in order to secure additional livings. My wonderful partner in life joins me in this goal.

Charlotte Collins: Convince husband to spend as much time in the garden as possible. Secure extra livings in order to gain more Mr. Collins-free time.

Georgiana Darcy: Practice harp at 10am sharp every day until fingering improves

Mrs. Jennings: Marry off every eligible girl within sight, beginning with the Miss Dashwoods.

Fanny Dashwood: 1. Suck up to mom to secure inheritance 2. Keep Edward & Elinor apart at all costs, 3. Hang out with this Steele girl to make Elinor jealous

John Willoughby: 1. Marry an heiress before my entire life explodes 2. Worm my way back into Mrs. Smith's good graces. 3. Marianne???

Sir John Middleton: 1. Go hunting 2. Host parties and balls 3. Make sure my tenants in Barton cottage are happy (Not actually goals, just what he does anyway)

Lady Middleton: Maintain the propriety of my great house and title while spoiling my children

John Thorpe: 1. Marry that rich heiress I so cleverly secured 2. Buy and sell horses for extravagant prices 3. Attend Belle & James's wedding (If I have time)

Isabella Thorpe: ❤️❤️❤️ Marry Captain Frederick Tilney ❤️❤️❤️

Jane Fairfax: *hands back the paper blank and blushes*

Frank Churchill: MARRY THE LOVE OF MY LIFE JANE FAIRFAX um, some girl I know. Don't tell my aunt, please

Mr. Elton & Mrs. Elton: keep being the hottest couple in Highbury *high five*

Dr. Grant: Eat a lot of yummy dinners (same goal since he was born)

Julia Bertram: Catch a better husband than Maria Keep partying with Maria

Mrs. Price: hire better servants, have Rebecca fix that carpet... I really have the worst servants in Portsmouth, it's a tragedy... (we cut off her complaints here)

William Price: MAKE LIEUTENANT

Sir Thomas: Finally figure out how to make Tom stay at home and do his duty as the eldest son. All the other kids are doing very well so I have nothing to improve there.

Sir Walter: There is nothing I would ever change about the amazing person that is myself.

Elizabeth Elliot: Marry Mr. Elliot and reestablish myself as the mistress of Kellynch

Lady Russell: encourage Anne to marry Mr. Elliot, read all new poetry publications

Mr. Elliot: Keep Sir Walter from marrying that vile seductress so I stay in the line of succession

Mrs. Clay: Marry Sir Walter, at all costs

Part 1

[luna-rainbow]

So I read this interesting analysis on why revenge drama is so popular in Korea. Even in the last 2 years there's been a whole bunch of revenge-centered dramas, like Revenge of Others, The King of Pigs, The Glory, Reborn Rich etc. I remember one of my first fave Japanese dramas was adapted from a Korean drama (Maou - adapted from The Devil).

I think the analysis is interesting. It talks about the burden of "hate" within the social mindset. Not just hatred, rather a combination of regret, grief, shame, self-blame, numbness and suffering. It links this to modern Korean history, the terrible tragedy and near genocide Korea experienced during the war, the sadness of having a single country torn in two (I remember in Descendants of the Sun, one of the quotes was "Korea is the only country in the world separated into two"...which while not technically true, surprised me with how close they must feel to their northern counterparts), and the toxic effect chaebol families have had on their society, and the lack of reparations for any of these tragedies.

So there's a strong preference for revenge fantasies that go by "using violence to resolve violence" (ahem Vincenzo), because like in real life, no resolution or closure was reached despite exhausting all legal avenues.

However, one frequent complaint is that Korean revenge fantasies, while often brave in their depiction, rarely effect change. The chaebol's grip on Korean economy and politics remains, misogyny persists, hierarchy continues to suffocate, and academics grows ever more cut throat.

An interesting point the article poses is whether this feeds into maintaining the status quo. There is catharsis through the fantasy of vengeance...so the crowd can then return to their ordinary life accepting things as it is -- despite the portrayals of corruption, public servants and conglomerate employees remain the most sought after professions. Chaebols allow shows that criticise them because they're aware of media's immense drawing power, while being well aware those stories are powerless to mobilise change.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Dion J. Pierre

The settlement of a federal discrimination suit filed by Jewish students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has severed their obligation to pay dues to the school’s Graduate Student Union (GSU), a major victory precipitated by the union’s endorsement of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Represented by the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), a nonprofit founded in 1968 which aims to abolish mandatory union membership, the students filed their complaint against GSU in March, arguing that its embrace of anti-Zionism discriminated against them as Jews as well as their religious belief that the Jewish people were always destined to return to their homeland.

The students had attempted to resist financially supporting GSU’s anti-Zionism, refusing to pay dues, but union bosses attempted to coerce their compliance, telling them that “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees to a labor union.”

With the settlement, they are released from an obligation which they said violated their core beliefs and freedom of association.

“The foundation-backed MIT graduate students who fought these legal battles have earned well deserved victories,” the organization’s president, Mark Mix, said on Wednesday. “Forcing GSU union officials to abandon their blatantly discriminatory dues practices is only the tip of the iceberg: because Massachusetts lacks Right to Work protections, GSU still has the power to force the vast majority of MIT graduate students to subsidize some portion of their activities.”

Mix added that NRTW intends to challenge compulsory union membership in unions pursuing controversial political aims at other universities, including the University of Chicago and John Hopkins University.

“Foundation attorneys are continuing to provide legal aid for all those who challenge the imposition of radical union agendas at the University of Chicago, Dartmouth, and John Hopkins, and they are doing so for adherents of both Judaism and Christianity,” he continued. “But this ordeal at MIT should remind lawmakers that all Americans should have a right to protect their money from going to union bosses they don’t support, whether those objections are based on religion, politics, or any other reason.”

NRTW is currently litigating another similar case brought by six City University of New York (CUNY) professors who sued to dissolve their membership in the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) public sector union after it passed an anti-Israel resolution during the country’s May 2021 war with Hamas. The measure declared solidarity with Palestinians and accused the Jewish state of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity.

[breathe-2am]

Im excited for the demasking of the gerrard/ortiz collusion of cruelty bc it will DEFINITELY be the culmination/resolution of the mara adoption drama and the henchim friend divorce

Bc look at it from the outside

Youre councilwoman ortiz. Ur son was driving under the influence and caused a nasty car accident that hurt multiple people. He loudly refused treatment in front of multiple witnesses, including telling a paramedic that if he even touched him hed get him fired and ruin his career. The acting captain on the scene then gets his confirmation that he is refusing treatment, and then moves on to focus on the other people in the accident that your son caused. Your son then dies later that night, which could have been prevented if he got checked out and not refused to be looked at. Your kneejerk reaction is to suspend the acting captain, but when the toxicology report comes back its confirmed that your sons alcohol level was several times the legal limit to be driving at the time of the accident. She is reinstated, but in the time between that she orchestrated and executed a high profile dangerous rescue of multiple people, including her stations captain, a police sergeant, and a child- an act of bravery for which she and her team received medals of valor, and the fire chief is using as major publicity to promote his department and political career.

And then you suspend the paramedic and her wifes fostering license, and directly prevent them from adopting a child, who has been in the foster system for years, and who would now be with a permanent family if you didnt interfere. The paramedics longtime friend and coworker (the one your son threatened to get fired) gets the child an emergency placement with him instead so that this poor nine year old girl doesnt go straight back into a group home.

And then when that paramedics captain has a family and medical emergency that takes him out of his job, you reinstate the captain who was at the station twenty years ago, who was removed for how poorly he treated the people he had power over, and specifically targeted the paramedic you hate on the basis of her race and sexuality. There is a mountain of complaints from that firehouse against him, and a matching mountain of commendations for the paramedic, all submitted without her knowledge or direction, and in the years following that captains removal, her firehouse becomes one of the most high profile and celebrated teams in the city, and is in the public eye for their part in helping many many people as well as being major players in triaging the natural disasters that have happened. One of the newer firemen dated a reporter who kept them on the news, and she even published a tell all book detailing the trials and tribulations this team (and specifically the two paramedics) went through.

And now imagine youre a random person in los angeles and you read all of that in the news. You read how this public official used her political connections to enact a personal vendetta against a paramedic because she did not treat your son when he refused (as is her job, it would be illegal for her to do so without his consent) after he was driving drunk and caused a multi car accident.

Would you vote for her?

Tldr councilwoman ortiz is COOKED

[ozonecologne]

What's going on in California?

Ok, I know we were on strike just last year, but we're doing this shit again everybody!!!! Resources at the bottom.

If you haven't been following what's been happening at the University of California (the largest employer and schooling/housing provider in the 5th largest economy in the world) here's the situation: graduate student workers and other members of the UAW union are currently striking following the UC's recent unfair labor practices (ULPs), which have included arresting, suspending, and blacklisting peaceful pro-Palestinian protestors on their own campuses. This was particularly egregious at UCLA (read this, this, this, and this), but the same thing has happened on other UC campuses like UC San Diego and UC Irvine too.

These actions were unlawful. The administration has turned campuses across the UC system into a zone of militarized policing and begun criminalizing UC students’ right to protest. By resorting to intimidation and force, UC administration has created a hostile working environment and violated the terms of our contracts. So, we're not working!

Image source

The UC hates that we are protesting about this and is trying to block this strike in every way they can. They already filed two injunctions with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to have our strike declared unlawful, and both injunctions were swiftly denied. In fact, PERB just launched a formal complaint about the UC on the back of this second injunction :)

It should be very clear to everyone watching that students and workers should have the right to exercise their freedom of assembly and freedom of speech on their campuses! So we have to stand up and fight back!

The current demands by striking UAW members are:

Amnesty for all academic employees, students, student groups, faculty, and staff who have faced disciplinary action or arrest due to protest.

Right to free speech and political expression on campus.

Divestment from UC's known investments in weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and companies profiting from Israel's war on Palestine.

Disclosure of all funding sources and investments, including contracts, grants, and investments, through a publicly available, publicly accessible, and up-to-date database.

Empower researchers to opt out of funding sources tied to the military or oppression of Palestinians. 

Votes on key policies are still being delayed by the UC Regents, so this protest does have the potential to change how things at the university are done. The good news is that some UC campuses have even already done these things! UC Riverside avoided this before the strike even happened by reaching peaceful resolution!

WE CAN AND WE WILL WIN! WE WILL DO IT FOR PALESTINE!

If you'd like to support the ongoing strike efforts, here are some ways that you can help the UAW directly:

Repost content from the UAW and make some noise! Here is their Twitter; here is their Insta

Show your support for the strike on social media! Here are some IG templates for you to use :)

Donate to the hardship solidarity fund

Thanks for supporting workers' rights! Solidarity forever ✊

[zenia62]

Daendels and Talleyrand Letters (Part 1)

Hey guys, like I said in the last post, I will now share Daendels correspondence w Talleyrand. I already counted how many that I've found n in total there is 11 letters 👀 But, only 2 of them were from n to Daendels 🥲 It's alright, I thought why not I'll share it aswell incase y'all are curious or need it. I'm pretty sure that it could still have a connection to Daendels since Mendels put it in his book 🤔

As usual, I'm sorry if there is misinformation due to translation 🙏 and I will be posting 3 or 4 letters per series as always. I'm also still understanding the letters so I won't be able to give summary 😔 But I believe these letters here were written before the Anglo-Russian war in 1799. Thank you guys n have a wonderful day 🌙

1st Letter :

Daendels to Talleyrand The Hague, July 20, 1799, 5th year of Batavian Liberty. Citizen Minister, I received with great gratitude the letter with which you were so kind as to have Citizen Fouché entrusted on my behalf. I will make every effort to justify to him the favorable opinion you have inspired in my favor. I have already endeavored to provide him with all the information that may enable him to make a sound judgment of the situation in our country, which absurd slanders have endeavored to distort.

You know, Citizen Minister, the slowness with which the previous Directory has handled the resolution of all interests, which remain in dispute between the two republics. This delay, causing doubt as to its goodwill towards us, has lent significant weight to the arguments of malice, which have seized upon all motives for complaints to exacerbate them and have employed all kinds of public and secret maneuvers to attempt to alienate the spirits from the system of alliance.

Efforts have been made to exaggerate these fruitless efforts, but one never speaks of the excellent spirit that animates our primary authorities, who have already managed to reconcile wisdom with energy to both calm our republic internally from any political reaction and create powerful military means that not only allow us to repel any enemy attack but also to support the operations of our ally.

Thus, while we are accused of unwillingness to offer resistance or even of favoring the invasion contemplated by Russia and England, we are creating national guard battalions amounting to 32,000 men, ready to act alongside our line army. We are also increasing this line army by 10,000, forming a total of 65,000 men. A decree will soon be issued to bring these forces together with the French troops stationed in Holland under the chief command of General Brune. Thus, France could have no more certain guarantee of the intentions with which they will be used when the time for action arrives; it may be assured that all energy and resources available in our republic will be deployed for the success of the common cause.

But also, Citizen Minister, may the French Government, convinced of our commitment to this cause, provide us with evidence of its goodwill, which the indifference of the previous Directory had allowed us to doubt. Let it put an end to the negotiation of our trade treaty, to the discussion of other interests, whose indecision breeds distrust and division. Any suspicion of a shameful abandonment of one by the other republic will be forever annihilated, and whatever the circumstances, nothing can disturb the harmony of our efforts. So that the French Government may be assured in a certain manner of the spirit that animates our primary authorities, as some French newspapers delight in slandering, I thought it would be useful to send you a copy of a proclamation just issued by the legislative corps, which is a frank declaration of our principles. Respectfully, Lieutenant-General Daendels

2nd Letter :

Talleyrand to Daendels Paris, 18 Messidor Year 7 (6 July 1799). General, You are not unaware that your homeland is threatened and that England's preparations are evidently directed against it. Under these circumstances, the Executive Directory has considered it useful to send a new Minister Plenipotentiary to The Hague. They have chosen Citizen Fouché, who is leaving today to take up his post and who has kindly agreed to carry this letter, in which I must tell you that I did not hesitate to assure Citizen Fouché, a patriot as enlightened as he is free from prejudice, that he would find in you a true friend of liberty, a zealous defender of his country, eager to devote your talents, your courage, and to respond with the energy of a republican conduct to the malicious rumors that malevolence has tried to spread and that only credulity would accept. I believe, General, that you will approve, and that I will have nothing but your applause for the testimony I have given. Respect and fraternity, Ch. Man. Talleyrand.

3rd Letter :

Fouché to Talleyrand The Hague, 3 Thermidor VII (24 July 1799). Citizen Minister, I hope to provide you with an accurate account of the forces and the public spirit of the Batavian Republic in my next letter. By comparing the situation before my arrival with everything that has been done since, the Directory will be able to judge if I have used my time well.

The most challenging task was to instill movement, and this momentum has taken strong hold within a few days. This republic will soon be in a respectable defensive state. Even it will be astonished by all that was prepared and accomplished without its knowledge. Others will also be surprised and perhaps accuse me; however, out of respect for the independence of the Batavian people, I did not wish to provoke changes that passions placed at the forefront of their rights and my duties. Respectfully, Fouché.

P.S. D. continues to support me with his zeal and shows me great devotion. P.S. I just received the brochure you sent me. I didn’t need to read it to be thoroughly convinced that you remain worthy of the hatred of the enemies of the French Republic.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey, may I ask what you thought of how they dealt with Rollo in the end? I heard that he doesn't really get punished and I'm confused about why that is since he posed such a threat to all of Twst Wndrlnd

I’ve actually received several similar asks about this matter, so I’d like to analyze the ending here. (This is coming out a few months after the event because I kept going back to add thoughts and revise large parts of this post.)

I’ll look at some of the common points brought up as to why some felt that the conclusion was not satisfying, then give my thoughts on them and discuss Rollo’s fate in detail.

***Spoilers ahead!!***

Mmm, I feel like I’ve seen similar complaints (about how the main conflict was resolved) floating around in the fandom. I’ve seen a number of fans express upset with this conclusion, most often citing that “Rollo got off too easy” and “his punishment should have been worse”. Some people have even stated they wanted Rollo arrested and/or extreme physical violence to be enacted on him (Malleus killing Rollo and/or the NRC boys beating him up badly).

Firstly, this is nothing new for how TWST typically deals with resolutions of massive conflicts and characters with deep trauma. Every single one of the OB boys also got let off relatively scot-free despite also putting others in grave danger. From a meta perspective, this makes sense. TWST has always been and always will be a game that asks us to empathize with villains, to show us that behind every evil, there is a chance to be good--and by offering them the chance to repent and to reflect, they can rehabilitate on their own terms.

I feel that a lot of this demand for “more” in Rollo’s case stems from a fundamental difference between him and the OB boys (who are also largely forgiven and let off with a slap on the wrist for their actions). This, of course, is that Rollo’s plans were far greater in scale and had immediate consequences on a larger population than any OB would. By all metrics, Rollo has done “worse”, and thus should warrant a “worse” punishment than being forced to play in a Magift tournament or being forced to perform onstage after taking substantial damage (ie as were the cases for Leona, Vil, etc.) in the eyes of some fans.

While I do agree that what Rollo did was deplorable and that he got off lightly compared to the gravity of his crimes, I don’t think that he deserves “more” of a punishment, and certainly not anything close to physical harm. Like... realistically, what would inflicting physical harm onto Rollo do for anyone? Catharsis? That’s but a temporary emotional release for the ones inflicting the pain, and it ultimately doesn’t do anything meaningful. That’s just an “easy” solution that doesn’t actually solve the core problem. If Rollo is kicked while he’s down, won’t that just make him double down on his ideals? And if he gets slain, that’s just an “easy” way out so the NRC students don’t actually have to deal with others of dubious morals existing in their world. Their group includes several people who were shown mercy at their worst moments (Riddle, Jamil, Azul, Idia), and to refuse Rollo the same would make them massive hypocrites.

Violence aside, there’s also significant disappointment that Rollo’s actions are being kept a secret, so that the public cannot hold him accountable for what he has done. The very minimum some fans wanted was for the City of Flowers locals and/or NBC students to become aware of Rollo’s true nature, and thus turn on him for it. This is very similar to Vil’s OB in episode 5, when he comes close to revealing his unsightly self to the public and risks tarnishing his public image. Again, I feel that Rollo isn’t extended the same courtesy because of the scale of his ambitions, but also because he doesn’t automatically express remorse for what he did (whereas Vil apologizes so many times over). What we need to keep in mind is that characters are different from one another, so what is seen as awful and world-ending is not the same for one character as it is to another. In my opinion, THIS is what makes the conclusion to Glorious Masquerade so fitting.

I want to point out here that in choosing to not expose Rollo or to beat up/kill him, it doesn’t mean the NRC boys entirely forgive him or that they aren’t holding him accountable for his actions. They call Rollo out several times throughout the climax and falling action, telling him how deplorable he is and how he’s endangering so many lives in the process of pursuing his “justice”. How they ultimately choose to deal with him is an extension of that, but it doesn’t involve needless violence.

Rollo’s punishment is a personalized hell in HIS eyes, even if we, the audience, don’t see it that way and call for “more” justice. Just because his punishment isn’t immediately tangible or isn’t recognized by a large population doesn’t make it any less of one, and this shouldn’t be underestimated. To “punish” does not necessarily mean its easy to see, it just means that it is substantially punishing to the one receiving it. That alone is enough, and it is something that is acknowledged by both the NRC boys and Rollo himself.

After Rollo is defeated, he knows that he will inevitably receive the consequences for what he has done. He tells the NRC boys to punish him, take him to the authorities, to basically do whatever they see fit to him, and he will accept it without resistance. Rollo expects ruthlessness, that he will not be granted any sort of forgiveness. Why is that? Because Rollo is ruthless with himself, and he expects the world and the other people in it to act no differently towards him. It’s not that Rollo has automatically realized the error of his ways, but that he is, as his mob students describe him, “hard on others and hard on himself”. Rollo has ultimately failed to accomplish his goal, and he believes he must be punished for this failure.

But, much to Rollo’s surprise, that isn’t what he gets. Malleus and co. lead him down the bell tower, and when they run into NBC’s vice president and student council aide, they show that they were worried for him. Rollo tries to explain to what happened to them. However, Malleus cuts him off and claims that they don’t know how the crimson flowers even started growing and overtaking the school and the city to begin with. Idia and Azul chime in, giving vague details like that Rollo was already up the bell tower before they were, and they allow the NBC mob students to make their own assumptions about what happened. Because the mob students revere Rollo so much, they come to the conclusion that he was a selfless hero and worked with the NRC students to save the day, then praise him for his heroism and emphasize just how proud they are of him. They even say Rollo is like the Just Judge of legend, someone that we know Rollo admires.

And the twisted thing about all of this is that the NRC boys just purposefully never bother correcting them. At this point, neither can Rollo. The mobs have piled on so much praise, have expressed so much concern for their president's safety, so how would they feel to have all of that hope and happiness come crashing down on them? What would happen if those feelings turned into betrayal and hurt? It is these types of questions that speaks to the true gravity of Rollo's "punishment".

He at first accuses the NRC boys of hiding the truth because they pity him, and he's insulted by the perceived pity. However, as Azul explains, it is not pity. Malleus and the others will allow Rollo to confess to his sins or pretend like nothing happened. In fact, it is the perfect punishment for someone like Rollo, someone who is so hard on themselves and cannot come to terms with the truth of his own insecurities. Rollo doesn't seem to realize it right away, so he instead grows cocky and says it's basically the same as him being absolved. On the contrary, as Malleus points out, while lying to himself will make it easier for him to deceive others, Rollo cannot lie to the Bell of Salvation--a precious magical artifact which Rollo has been tending to for some time now, the one thing that watches over everything in the City of Flowers, and the object used by Rollo to sow cataclysm.

It is the bell's eyes which bring Rollo to his senses and makes him realize how insidious the NRC boys truly are. In leaving him to his own devices, knowing that the Bell knows the truth while others continue to praise him for what are ultimately lies will plague him with never-ending guilt and remorse. Even if Rollo doesn't automatically acknowledge those feelings, there will still always be an unconscious part of him that does--must like how there's a part of him that seeks salvation for others as an unspoken excuse to seek salvation for himself. He calls others monsters, but does not look in the mirror and see himself for the monster that he is. The problem with Rollo is that he deflects and blames others rather than accepting his share of the responsibility for tragedies, and so forcing him into a situation where he is forced to confront his role in committing great evil or live every day with that burden, is his own living hell. Rollo says it himself: the "villains" of NRC are well-versed in "tormenting" people.

Living on with the weight of his sins is literally a fate WORSE than death for Rollo specifically. He is someone who has had a history of internalizing guilt already (as is evident in his motivations and backstory), so this is where it will hurt him most. Rollo has to go around every day with full awareness of what he did, and knowing that if it were to ever get out, he’d likely be seen completely differently by his peers, maybe even become a social pariah. And that’s the point. In realizing that others will judge him differently when they know of his “true” self, Rollo has the chance to see his own rights as “wrong”. He is being left with himself and his festering thoughts, with his sin–something he can never, EVER be rid of. Every day, he will pass by the statue of the Just Judge, an admirable role model for justice, a figure whom others believe you live up to, knowing he has buried his own sins that the Judge would have wished eradicated. Every day, those intense feelings of guilt, shame, and regret will be with him, eating away at him, and Rollo will suffer immensely as a result. “There is nothing that would torment Flamme more than this, correct?” Malleus says. Rollo himself also acknowledges that this would make him suffer; both parties are confessing that this is the best course of recompense for Rollo.

This is a slightly different scenario than other serious situations kept hidden from the public, such as Jamil and Vil's Overblots. In those cases, their OBs were not kept secret in order to punish them, but rather to shield their families and/or the public from the knowledge that they had lost themselves. Unlike Jamil and Vil, Rollo ISN'T worried about how his actions may impact others, and he isn't remorseful or apologetic, because he still refuses to see he is wrong and refuses to change. When faced with this stubbornness, the NRC students have chosen to make him "look in a mirror" first. That is a process that will bring him great pain in the actual setting of the world and its story--but at the same time, it does a favor for the fans by offering Rollo a chance at redemption, much like the OB boys have.

From another angle, this is also the oddly kind thing to do in regards to those in Rollo’s life. No one has to suffer with the knowledge that their “golden boy” has committed a grave sin well, except that one gargoyle. They can keep living on in blissful ignorance... and thus put further strain on Rollo mentally, who will face his punishment ALONE, just as he did when lashing out at all magicians. This is something that Idia points out: that Rollo is allowed to be upset, that he is allowed to rampage, but that he shouldn’t hurt others or get them involved with his own rage. And now, like he did with his crimson flower plot, Rollo is alone in the aftermath.

In another way, this fate is a cool parallel because of Rollo being twisted from Frollo. If you watch the opening to the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie, Frollo comes close to killing baby Quasimodo because he is so repulsed by his deformed appearance. However, as another character points out to Frollo in that scene, he can never “hide from the eyes of Notre Dame”. This prompts Frollo to take notice of all of the statues surrounding him, their stone eyes staring and silently judging him. It is this that ultimately makes Frollo change his mind about killing Quasimodo, instead choosing to raise him as his own son and bellringer. In Rollo’s case, this is also true. In the NRC boys granting him his freedom and keeping his actions a secret, Rollo will never be able to escape “the eyes of Notre Dame”/the Bell of Salvation. Every person’s wide-eyed, innocent stare or respectful reverence cast upon Rollo will make him recognize he’s living a lie, and it will only intensify his guilt… and guilt, as we’ve already seen with how Rollo coped with the loss of his brother, can eat a man from the inside out.

“What [he] wants to save is not his brother or the world... but himself,” Idia states atop the bell tower--and by refusing this “salvation” to Rollo, who believed so desperately that he is not the villain of this story, he will never be liberated. And if he doesn’t believe with all his heart that everyone else are the villains and he is the hero, “he wouldn’t be able to live with himself”, as Azul puts it. It’s eternal damnation for Rollo—at the hands of his own inner demons. 

Later on in the event, we get little hints that maybe Rollo is starting to accept some responsibility for the chaos he has caused (albeit in very small ways), or at least he's conflicted about it. For example, he insists on preparing the venue for the masquerade all by himself, which the NRC boys debate if he's doing to atone or to save face and avoid asking the mages he despises for assistance. No matter the reasoning, the task must be difficult to complete by one person, especially considering Rollo's injuries. Would he allow himself to use magic for such a task?? If he doesn't permit himself this luxury, then it makes the preparations even harder--and yet he somehow still managed to pull it off. This subtly says a lot about how hard he works, but also speaks to his pride and stubbornness.

Rollo gives a speech to those in attendance at the masquerade to address the strange happenings of the night. This is something which Sebek calls out as audacious, as Rollo was the cause of those events to begin with. To this, Azul commends Rollo for his mental fortitude, pointing out that even though Rollo must be extremely conflicted inside, he is hiding the truth of the matter to the public very well. I imagine that these conflicted feelings only ramp up when the NRC boys, whom Rollo has perceived as villains the entirety of the event, present him with a gift that he calls wonderful: performing the Gentle Bell Ringer's song, and singing of hope for the future, something relatable and encouraging in the aftermath of a great disaster. He tries to insult it, calls it a waste of time--but in the end, he goes quiet, moved by the song in spite of himself.

It all culminates in Malleus--the embodiment of magic that Rollo despises--asking to share a dance with him, the one that sought his destruction. During their dance, Rollo swears that he has not given up yet, and that he will never see eye-to-eye with mages. He's still deeply ingrained in his own mindset--but as we've seen with how he reacted to the song and how the NRC boys disagree with how Rollo must be feeling in the moment, the seeds of conflict have been strewn in him. It will take some time before they take root and blossom, but the fact is that his punishment (and, subsequently, his change) has only just scarcely begun.

So ends the Glorious Masquerade, with Rollo sentenced to a fitting end. ***Note: One part of Rollo's punishment that isn't mentioned in a lot of discussions is that Trein has stated he will be in contact with the school board and keeping a close eye on Rollo; this detail is only supplemental to everything else, much like how the dorm members of the OB boys try to offer better social support after the OB incidents, but I thought I should also bring this up.***

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur Residents Get Digital Access to Civic Grievance System

Public Grievance Management System streamlines municipal complaint process Jharkhand’s urban areas benefit from multi-channel platform for registering and resolving civic issues, enhancing citizen engagement in local governance. JAMSHEDPUR – Residents of Jamshedpur and surrounding urban areas can now register civic complaints and suggestions from home through the Public Grievance Management…

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 3 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

Zo: GAIA, I had a question about the data we've been studying.

ADMIN [GAIA]: Of course. How may I help?

Zo: Where did it all come from? You told me that you don't have access to APOLLO or any other Old World archives. This seems like far more data than what Aloy could have found on a few scattered devices.

Zo: I scanned some devices around the base and only found a few lines in each.

ADMIN [GAIA]: Before the Faro Plague, even the most commonly available devices could store libraries worth of text and hundreds of hours of high-resolution video. While most people rarely filled their devices to capacity, they would often be filled with many incidental articles and video clips related to their favorite topics. Time and inevitable data corruption rendered many of those files difficult or impossible to read; however, the last file the device accessed has minimal corruption and is most intact. With time, your Focus can restore many corrupted files, and I can accelerate this process. The restored files are then placed in an archive.

Erend: I WAS WONDERING HOW ALOY FOUND SO MUCH OF THIS CONCRETE BEACH PARTY STUFF.

ADMIN [GAIA]: Yes, she found several devices with many hours of their music. The redundancy is also why I was able to ensure the final archive versions were of such high quality.

Erend: NO COMPLAINTS HERE!

Varl: Many complaints here.

Zo: I suppose that explains why so much of the data is entertainment and history, rather than more directly useful information, such as farming.

Erend: I FOUND STUFF ON HOW THOSE FARO MACHINES WERE BUILT. I MEAN, I KNOW IT'S IMPORTANT, THESE WERE THE THINGS THAT WERE ENDING THE WORLD, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNICAL SPECS IN THERE. HARDER TO READ THAN THE CRAZIEST TINKER'S BLUEPRINT. AND I'VE SEEN SOME CRAZY TINKERS.

Erend: WHAT, DID ALOY JUST FIND SOME TINKER'S JOURNAL SOMEWHERE AND DOWNLOAD ALL HIS DATA?

ADMIN [GAIA]: That is not impossible. However, I do not believe I have properly impressed upon you how easy it was to access information. Once the threat of the Faro Plague became clear, all information on their design, weaknesses, and specifications was available for public perusal, and anyone could choose to download such information from the global data net at a moment's thought. Many of the devices Aloy scanned had gigabytes of data on the Faro Plague.

Erend: GIGA WHAT?

Zo: It's a measure of information. It should have been in one of the first files GAIA gave you, the terminology file.

Erend: UH, I SKIMMED THAT.

Zo: Sigh.

Varl: Did you just typed sigh?

Zo: It's difficult to convey tone and expression in a text.

Varl: I think the Old Ones must have had some way, considering how much they texted. I'll loom into it.

Erend: SO WHAT'S A GIGABYTE? LIKE, HOW MUCH DATA IS IT?

Aloy: A byte is eight bits, or the amount of data required to encode a single character of text. It's basically the smallest measurable amount of data.

Varl: Aloy? You were listening? Or reading?

Aloy: I have a minute. I can text while I ride.

Zo: That doesn't seem safe.

Erend: OKAY, OKAY, BYTE IS ONE LETTER, GOT IT. SO WHAT'S A GIGABYTE?

Aloy: Ten to the ninth power bytes.

Varl: What?

Zo: I don't understand either.

Erend: OH, MATH. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WOULD BE MATH.

Erend: SO IT'S A STUPIDLY BIG NUMBER. BUT, I MEAN... HOW MANY BOOKS IS THAT?

Aloy: One gigabyte of pure text is probably more books than you could read in a lifetime.

Erend: SO, WHAT, THREE?

Aloy: I'm glad I took time out of my busy day to explain this to you.

Erend: I AIM TO PLEASE!

Chapter 3 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Grace Hills at Kansas Reflector:

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a civil lawsuit Monday against pharmaceutical company Pfizer, alleging that “Pfizer misled the public that it had a ‘safe and effective’ COVID-19 vaccine,” violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act.  The state seeks “civil monetary penalties, damages, and injunctive relief from misleading and deceptive statements made in marketing its COVID-19 vaccine,” Kobach said.  In the complaint, Kobach alleges that Pfizer willfully concealed, suppressed and omitted material facts relating to the COVID-19 vaccine, the “most egregious” ones regarding safety of the vaccine for pregnant people, in regard to heart conditions, its effectiveness against variants and its ability to stop transmission. 

“Pfizer marketed its vaccine as safe for pregnant women,” Kobach said. “However, in February of 2021 (they) possessed reports of 458 pregnant women who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. More than half of the pregnant women reported an adverse event, and more than 10% reported a miscarriage.”  The percentage of “adverse events” — which is a term that means any negative reaction — was higher in pregnant women than the general population by roughly 17 percent, according to a study published in the journal Medicine in February 2022.  An earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2021 offered preliminary findings that did not show any significant safety concerns among pregnant individuals who received the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, indicating that observed miscarriages were not unusual and likely not a direct result of the vaccine. 

Kobach says that Pfizer marketed the vaccine as safe in terms of heart conditions such as myocarditis and pericarditis. He referenced a question Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO was asked in January 2023 of if the vaccine caused severe myocarditis, to which Bourla responded “we have not seen a single signal, although we have distributed billions of doses.”  “However, as Pfizer knew, the United States Government, the United States Military foreign governments and others have found that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine caused myocarditis and pericarditis,” Kobach said. According to the CDC, cases of myocarditis and pericarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine are rare, and most patients experienced resolution of symptoms by hospital discharge. 

Kobach says Pfizer marketed its vaccine as effective against COVID-19 variants, “even though data available at the time showed Pfizer’s vaccine was effective less than half the time.” His final allegation in the complaint was that the company falsely marketed the vaccine as preventing transmission. 

Kansas AG Kris Kobach (R) files politically-motivated lawsuit against Pfizer and their COVID vaccine to score brownie points with anti-vaxxer extremists.

[exoluxionlove]

[INFO] EXO-CBX lawyer files a complaint against SM with the FTC.

230605 Rough Papago translation of EXO-CBX's third legal statement

"This is Lee Jae-hak, a lawyer for Lin, a law firm that acted as legal representatives for Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen (Byun Baek-hyun, Kim Min-seok, Kim Jong-dae, hereinafter referred to as "artists").

On behalf of the client, the legal representative filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Fair Trade Commission") against SM Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as "SM")'s "abuse of trading status" yesterday (June 4, 2023).

Through this complaint, we reported that unfair contractual activities that ignored the correction order have been carried out in SM, even though the FTC has already issued correction orders twice against SM in October 2007 and January 2011.

In addition, we asked the Fair Trade Commission for a strict investigation into SM's violations and prompt corrective measures to correct them, and further requested a full investigation into the exclusive contracts of SM entertainers.

In fact, three of our client artists signed an unfair contract that did not reflect any corrective measures ordered by the FTC to SM in the past, and were continuously damaged by SM's abuse of trading status.

Failure to correct it even after receiving a correction order from the Fair Trade Commission is also a criminal punishment subject to up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 150 million won as a "person who fails to comply with correction measures under Article 49 (1)" of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.

Below, the legal representative of the party will deliver the detailed position on the FTC's complaint against SM.

1. Despite the FTC's decision to ban SM twice in 2007 and 2011, SM did not correct it.

Until the FTC complaint, the artists made a really difficult decision after careful consideration.

This is not what happened yesterday or today.

Already in 2007 and 2011, SM, not any other company, has repeated the abuse of each trading position that the Fair Trade Commission has decided to ban the act to this day until 2023.

SM has already been judged to be unfair in terms of the FTC Resolution No. 2007-488 (2007 Seogyeong 0209) on October 8, 2007 (1) the starting point of the contract period of the exclusive contract as the debut date, and (2) the contract period provisions of other entertainment agencies in the same industry. (Refer to the decision sheet on pages 3 to 5 below

In addition, SM was also judged that the FTC's Resolution No. 2011-002 (2009 Seogyeong2741) on January 13, 2011 should not again apply the extended contract period to trainees for reasons such as overseas expansion. (See the decision sheet on pages 6-7 below.)

However, SM completely ignored the FTC's public judgment and repeated unfair tyranny again by signing exclusive contracts for Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen. This is an act that directly contradicts the Fair Trade Commission's judgment made to SM itself, not anyone else, and is a mockery of national public power.

The practices and behaviors that SM has repeated so far will not only be a matter for the artists of Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen. Considering many other trainees and artists, the damage can be enormous. And considering the unfair behavior that will be repeated not only now but also in the future, we couldn't help but step up for junior trainees and artists. In response, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen artists decided to file a complaint with the FTC against SM's abuse of trading status with the help of their legal representatives.

I hope our efforts and courage will be a small addition and hope for the protection of the rights and interests of juniors and the fair and sound development of the pop culture industry.

2. Although it has already been confirmed that calculating the end date of the exclusive contract from the time of the 'entertainment activity debut' (not from the date of the exclusive contract) is unfair to set a long-term exclusive contract at the agency's will, SM still does not follow the FTC's corrective measures.

As of October 8, 2007, FTC Resolution No. 2007-488 (2007 Seogyeong 0209) was ordered to prohibit SM from "excessively prolonging the contract period by setting the exclusive contract period to "end on the 5th year after the release of the first album" or "end on the 5th year from the date of cast of the supporting grade or higher."

However, after receiving the FTC's correction order in 2007, SM repeatedly presented and concluded exactly the same unfair provisions in exclusive contracts with Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen signed in 2010 and 2011. (Excerpt from exclusive contract of client Byun Baek-hyun below)

In this way, the expiration date of the exclusive contract can be set to "five years after the release date of the first album" or "five years after the debut date of the first work" if the artist debuts as an actor.

The Fair Trade Commission Resolution No. 2007-488 (2007 Seogyeong 0209) on October 8, 2007 also judged exactly that.

In this way, SM repeatedly presented and concluded the same unfair provisions even after receiving the FTC's corrective order in 2007, which is a criminal punishment case that must be sentenced to up to two years in prison or fined up to 150 million won.

3. Even though the FTC's decision in 2007 judged that the contract period of "five years from the debut date (not from the contract date) was excessively long, SM made a more unfair contract with a period of "7 years" in the main body of the exclusive contract and "3 years" in the annex agreement.

In the 2007 FTC resolution above, SM's exclusive contract and other entertainment agencies' exclusive contract terms were compared, and the FTC judged that SM had set an overly unfavorable contract period clause.

As shown below, according to the FTC investigation at the time, (1) other agencies in the same industry did not set the starting date of the contract as "debut date" like SM, but as from "the date of signing the contract," and (2) the exclusive contract period was three to five years below the contract period set by SM.

As a result of this investigation, the Fair Trade Commission issued an order prohibiting excessive prolongation of the contract period by setting the exclusive contract period as "5th year after the release of the first album" or "5th year from the date of cast of the supporting grade or higher."

Nevertheless, SM did not correct this and signed the contract under unfair contract conditions, which is an act that did not comply with the Fair Trade Commission's corrective measures and is a criminal punishment issue as mentioned earlier.

4. SM is violating the Fair Trade Commission's corrective order by using the expedient to apply the extended contract period uniformly for reasons such as overseas expansion that has not been confirmed at the time of signing the contract.

According to FTC Resolution No. 2011-002 (2009 Seogyeong2741), SM is not ordered to correct the other party by applying the extended contract period to all trainees without considering their individual circumstances using their trading status.

In addition, the FTC pointed out the annex agreement of Table 3 as below in the above resolution in 2011, and SM uniformly concluded the annex agreement in this form, which was judged to be an unfair contract condition.

Upon receipt of such a corrective action order, SM should no longer enter into a contract that violates the corrective action order, and even if the contract is already signed, it should be revised to suit the purpose of the corrective action order. However, SM repeatedly presented and signed exactly the same unfair subsidiary agreement provisions in exclusive contracts with Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen in 2010 and 2011, before and after receiving the FTC's correction order in 2011. (Excerpt from exclusive contract of client Byun Baek-hyun below)

And as far as the client artists know, SM has been signing an annex agreement to extend the three-year contract period for other artists due to preparations for overseas expansion.

In this way, SM repeatedly presented and concluded the same unfair provisions even after receiving the FTC's correction order in 2011, which is a criminal punishment of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 150 million as defined in Article 125 (1) of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.

5. The follow-up exclusive contract, which is automatically extended until the album release volume is filled, is extremely unfair as it has not even set a minimum limit on the period.

As you can see, the artist decided to calculate the contract period from the debut date, and the trainee period was added to the exclusive contract period, extended by 3 years, and the military service period was added to the exclusive contract for more than 12 to 13 years.

This is too different from the standard exclusive contract for pop culture artists (singer-centered) announced by the Fair Trade Commission based on 7 years of contract period, and SM claims at least 17 or 18 years of contract period by signing 12 to 13 years of exclusive contract.

It is pointed out again that such subsequent signing of an exclusive contract constitutes "an act of unfairly using the status of the transaction" in Article 45 (1) 6 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. In other words, the long-term compulsion using a subsequent exclusive contract is considered to correspond separately to the "compulsory provision of profits" or "unprofitable provision of transaction conditions" in attached Table 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act.

And Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the subsequent exclusive contract says, 'This contract is... for five years from. However, if the minimum number of albums specified in Article 4 (4) is not released within the same period, the contract period shall be automatically extended until the time of implementation.' There is no upper limit to the period of automatic extension.

In this way, the clause that the contract period is automatically extended without a cap is clearly a slave contract, and the legal representative pointed out that it is an act of "unfairly exploiting the trading position to deal with the other party," and the artists agree.

And with more than a year left of the existing exclusive contract, it is not justifiable to "tie" the artists by signing a follow-up exclusive contract without a limit on the period. SM has never paid artists a down payment for subsequent exclusive contracts.

ccording to Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the "Popular Culture Artist (Singer-centered) Standard Exclusive Contract" announced by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the singer can notify the planner of the termination of the contract at any time after seven years. However, SM has signed a very long-term contract and is tying up the artists again a year or so before the contract ends.

6. We have filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission with the hope that our small courage will be helpful for the establishment of fair pop culture and junior artists.

Despite corrective action by the Fair Trade Commission in 2007 and 2011, SM has repeatedly engaged in unfair contract practices.

Such an act ignores the legitimate act of state government power, and the damage caused by it has occurred repeatedly to trainees and artists.

In response, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen artists decided to file a complaint with the FTC against SM's abuse of trading status with the help of their legal representatives.

I hope our efforts and courage will be a small addition and hope for the protection of the rights and interests of juniors and the fair and sound development of the pop culture industry."

Source

[highly-important]

Thoughts on the Venture Bros Movie

I absolutely love this series and periodically get obsessed with it. The last two seasons were especially some of my favorites. I enjoyed the movie, it really felt like an episode. Any complaints I have are really in the "I loved it but the portions are too small" category.

I love that Shoreleave and Dr. Girlfriend are friends. I think this was kind of established earlier. It just makes sense.

I like how Brock - who knows Rusty better than anybody for better or worse- went to the bat defending Rusty to the OSI. And that Brock's shining moment isn't him being super kill guy.

Along those lines, I like how Rusty's entire arc this show is realizing to some degree or another that he isn't a failure. His father was able to present an idealized image of himself to the public, and it meant Rusty growing up under a shadow he could never live up to. But the reality is Rusty isn't as incapable as he or others believe he is.

We’ve kind of gotten this growth with Rusty during the show so we don’t need it as much in the movie. But it’s very interesting that he can use his brother’s robot to save not only the building but “restore” the destroyed Venture compound. I think it’s Rusty really earning his own legacy.

Plus his attempt to build something Jonas Jr-ish just made something super Science-y. Maybe he’s returning to his true calling

I like how the movie represents Dr. Girlfriend's powers. Yes, she is good at fighting, and is intelligent enough to build super science tech, but her strength is also in her diplomacy and the loyal connections she builds. Part of that is that when she is in trouble, others come to her aid. And her challenge in the movie is a test of her negotiation and diplomacy. I like that the movie takes time to give her this moment.

You can really see how Hank got a lot of his personality from Debra.

Debra’s tech was really cool and I love the scene on the train platform. Its a little frustrating that we don’t get more, but I think Venture Bros is very good at building expectations and then letting your imagination fill in the gaps.

I think this is partially because Venture Bros often ends at the climax and skips over the resolution. The building tension makes you want answers. And often the end-credit sequence gives us the pieces to put the puzzle together without handing it to us. It creates a sandbox and asks you to play in it.

Gary is just living his best life. He got a grappling gun and got to co-pilot a giant robot.

Hank's multiple personalities was never something I'd imagine getting conclusion on, but I'm glad they did. It kind of reminds me of Return to Oz, where at the beginning Ozma is free to wander around the real word, but is trapped in a mirror in Oz. And at the end that reverses. Hank doesn’t destroy these pieces of himself, he just puts them in a place where they can’t control him.

Dean's plot was kind of interesting, there was rumor that one of the brothers would be a protag and one would become an arch. Dean is so worried that his negative life experiences are going to ruin him and prevent him from having the type of life he wants to have. But sometimes things aren't as bad as we think they are. And I think it suggests he can stay with his brother and not be damaged by the experience

Hank and Dean are both controlled by vivid imaginations in different ways. Hank imagines how good things could be, and Dean imagines how bad things could be. Meeting his mother is never going to be as good or cathartic or as healing as Hank imagines it, just as reality isn’t as horrible as Dean imagines it.

I really like the story structure of this show where an emphasis is put on something - like who is the mother - and then the mystery is eventually dropped. But the reality is that who is their mother isn't as important. Hank didn't need to find his mom, and finding her wont give him what he wants. He needed to reconnect with his brother. But it’s also fun that we can solve this puzzle on our own, it’s just not the point.

Of course, I think it does mean Dean is heir to the guild.

I wasn't expecting the twist with the Monarch at all, and in retrospect I think I should have ? Its really interesting how well it fits with Rusty's arc the entire show. Rusty turns his hatred inwards and blames himself for not being his dad. Now that Malcolm understands his unconscious thoughts, it shifts his relationship to arching from an impulse to a choice.

[tittytania]

🚨PLEASE HELP SAVE LUCKY THE CAT FROM HEARTBREAKING ABUSE AND NEGLECT, AND STOP A MAJOR PUBLICATION FROM PROFITING OFF OF ANIMAL ABUSE🚨

Back in August, The Cut (@thecut), an online division of New York Mag (@nymag), published a story by an anonymous woman who, after giving birth to her baby, started to despise her cat Lucky and chose to abuse her, including starving her and leaving her to live in filth.

Some selections about Lucky from the article:

Obviously, openly admitting to chilling animal abuse did not go over well with The Cut's readers. People were rightfully outraged at both the anonymous writer and the magazine for publishing the article and profiting off of animal abuse. After the predictable backlash, The Cut put the article behind a paywall and added an editor's note to the beginning, claiming that they confirmed the welfare of the cat prior to publication. (Here is an archived version without the paywall. Look at a more recent capture to see the note that was added.) The magazine also made a post to their Instagram about the situation, reiterating their claim of confirming Lucky's safety and health. They are limiting comments on their socials to remove comments that relate to the backlash about Lucky's abuse, and they are blocking accounts that comment on it. A screenshot of the Instagram post is below.

(note: I cannot confirm or deny the claims of racism and misogyny. I have not seen anything like that myself, but someone on reddit claimed they saw a person call the anonymous woman's behavior "white woman bullshit." That is the extent of what I have heard on that. I also cannot comment on the claims of abuse and threats towards the staff).

Clearly, The Cut's claims about Lucky's welfare are bullshit. The resolution of the article ends with the author saying simply "I haven't fallen back in love with Lucky, but it could still happen. I'll shut the windows til then." According to the article itself, Lucky is still in the home with an owner who is abusing her, an owner who has, and I quote, "an unwillingness... to change anything about (the abuse)." By definition, this means Lucky's welfare is not being probably cared for. You cannot claim that Lucky is ok when her owner already said that she is abusing her and is unwilling to stop the abuse. New York Mag is hiding behind activism buzzwords to protect an animal abuser and shelter themselves from the justified backlash to their publication's choices so they can continue to profit off of animal abuse.

Please please please help to get a real update about Lucky's condition.

What can I do?

There is a change.org petition requesting a real update about her, which as of writing has over 17,000 signatures. You can also reach out to the magazines' staff and demand a real update from them. Their emails are listed below:

swati.sharma@voxmedia.com | bill.carey@voxmedia.com | lauren.starke@voxmedia.com | priyanka.mantha@voxmedia.com | amani.orr@voxmedia.com | lindsay.peoples@nymag.com | rachel.bashein@nymag.com | jen.ortiz@nymag.com | marisa.carroll@nymag.com | evan.murray@voxmedia.com

The email of Jim Bankoff, the Chairman and CEO of vox media (which owns New York Mag) is bankoff@gmail.com

Here is an email template that you can follow.

You can also report online animal abuse to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) here.

If you are in New York, you can contact the 311 website or call 1-800-577-TIPS (1-800-577-8477) to report ongoing online animal abuse or neglect.

The Instagram account @lucilletherescuecat has a story highlight where she has posted several resources in addition to the ones mentioned here.

My heart deeply aches for poor Lucky, who cannot understand why the human she loves has changed so drastically. Why her life changed from daily brushies and pillow snuggles to being ignored and starved. She used to have her own space heater, and now she doesn't even have water. I'm devastated at the thought of how heartbroken and miserable she must be. Her owner even admitted that she would be in jail if she did this to a person. While I doubt this will result in a jail sentence, we can at least make sure that Lucky is rehomed to place where she is properly cared for.

Please share and encourage others to do the same, using the #SAVELUCKYTHECAT hashtag. Thank you so much for reading.