#public money

[irreplaceable-spark]

Under our scheme of government the waste of public money is a crime against the citizen, and the contempt of our people for economy and frugality in their personal affairs deplorably saps the strength and sturdiness of our national character.

President Grover Cleveland, Second Inaugural Address on Wednesday, March 4, 1893

[aurianneor]

A united Europe to protect our standards!

Europe is the world’s largest market. It’s the market that offers the greatest safety for its citizens. There are standards for testing food, medicines, products, vehicles and so on.

Deregulation is on Trump’s agenda at the request of billionaires like Elon Musk, the Sackler family and Peter Thiel. They are calling for a return to the “gilded age” (1870-1890), during which companies were not burdened by social, environmental or hygienic standards. But food was produced on site, which is no longer the case today. The consequences would be worse. It’s the age of the “Robber Barons”. Incommensurable fortunes were made. They made the laws and paid no taxes, to the detriment of consumer safety, workers and the environment.

There are products that aren’t sold because they don’t meet these standards. These people consider it a business opportunity gone.

If there’s no need to test or buy quality products, it drives prices down and wins markets. This drags everyone down and transfers the costs to society: the cost of the sick, environmental pollution, accident compensation, etc.

The USA will promise either sanctions or benefits to certain European countries in order to divide Europe and force it to lower its standards. For example, Perrier would not be troubled by health standards, and could sell water unfit for human consumption. For example, toys could be sold even if they contain toxic products. For example, GMOs would be on the European market.

In addition, the agri-business sector is exerting pressure within Europe to abandon environmental and social standards. For example, they would like to reuse dangerous plant protection products, or bleach chickens raised in appalling conditions.

Some European standards have been hijacked for individual interests, and with excessive administration. For example, the format of vegetables is designed to favor manufacturers. As a result, some would like to undo the standards. But that’s forgetting that the majority of these standards protect us against poisoning, fires, accidents and so on. Not all standards are bad. People should be able to exert pressure to improve standards and remove those that only serve individual interests. They are not guaranteed.

« Les bénéfices de l’Union européenne sont systématiquement sous-estimés, parce qu’ils sont considérés comme acquis » – Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2024/12/26/les-benefices-de-l-union-europeenne-sont-systematiquement-sous-estimes-parce-qu-ils-sont-consideres-comme-acquis_6468688_3232.html

With the EU-Mercosur agreement, products from Brazil or Argentina can enter the European market without being subject to standards. Europe is already under internal pressure to lower these standards.

If standards disappear, there’ll be a lot of sickness and accidents. Today’s societies are complex. Only a few ultra-rich people are going to make huge short-term profits, to the detriment of society as a whole. We need to be able to trust medicines, food and means of transport. For example, meningitis has resurfaced because some people had doubts about the vaccine. Another example: the Boeing 737 max was grounded because it was unreliable. What would happen if it was allowed to fly again? Chinese, Russian and Indian products, among others, of low quality or potentially dangerous, would arrive on the European market.

Wasteful use of public money is another issue. If those who receive public money are not held to the same standards, many things go wrong. For example, Space X was not subject to the same standards as NASA. Many rockets exploded because the materials used were not suitable, not up to standard but cheaper. NASA couldn’t have afforded so many failures. It’s a monstrous waste of public money (these tests were financed by the U.S. government), an enormous source of pollution and unfair competition with NASA.

If one European political leader has a political interest in lowering standards, this weakens the whole of Europe, which is less able to impose its conditions. Selfishly following the Americans does not make for a strong Europe.

Gatsby le Magnifique – F. Scott Fitzgerald – Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatsby_le_Magnifique

The Current War (2017) – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140507/?ref_=ext_shr_em

John Le Carré’s Gardener’s Constancy , a well-researched novel about pharmaceutical trials in Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constant_Gardener

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Pour une Europe unie pour protéger nos normes!: https://www.aurianneor.org/pour-une-europe-unie-pour-proteger-nos-normes/

EU-Mercosur: https://www.aurianneor.org/eu-mercosur/

The pill umbrella: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-pill-umbrella-drug-research-went-from-the/

Price ceilings and price floors: https://www.aurianneor.org/price-ceilings-and-price-floors/

We’re all in it together: https://www.aurianneor.org/were-all-in-it-together/

Ayn Rand is popular today; but her ideas lead to destruction, what are the solutions?: https://www.aurianneor.org/ayn-rand-is-popular-today-but-that-leads-to-destruction-what-are-the-solutions/

En pro de una defensa europea: https://www.aurianneor.org/en-pro-de-una-defensa-europea/

Conditional military assistance: https://www.aurianneor.org/conditional-support/

The moral compass: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-moral-compass/

Who backs the US military?: https://www.aurianneor.org/who-backs-the-us-military/

The richest 1% are at war with the rest of the world: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-richest-1-are-at-war-with-the-rest-of-the-world/

Solidarité Hélvétique: https://www.aurianneor.org/solidarite-helvetique-democratie-semi-directe/

[alohapromisesforever]

First Principles: It Is To Be Regretted That the Rich and Powerful Too Often Bend the Acts of Government To Their Own Selfish Purposes

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.” – Andrew Jackson, in his Veto Message to Congress regarding the Bank of the United States (July 10, 1832) — This statement regarding the Bank of the United States was made on July 10, 1832. Then as now, politics seems to remain largely the same. Like Trump, Jackson was…

[mckinlily]

Plot armor but it’s Bruce Wayne’s wealth.

Bruce is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce does not want to be one of the richest men in world.

He starts by implementing high starting salaries and full health care coverages for all levels at Wayne Enterprises. This in vastly improves retention and worker productivity, and WE profits soar. He increases PTO, grants generous parental and family leave, funds diversity initiatives, boosts salaries again. WE is ranked “#1 worker-friendly corporation”, and productively and profits soar again.

Ok, so clearly investing his workers isn’t the profit-destroying doomed strategy his peers claim it is. Bruce is going to keep doing it obviously (his next initiative is to ensure all part-time and contractors get the same benefits and pay as full time employees), but he is going to have to find a different way to dump his money.

But you know what else is supposed to be prohibitively expensive? Green and ethical initiatives. Yes, Bruce can do that. He creates and fund a 10 year plan to covert all Wayne facilities to renewable energy. He overhauls all factories to employ the best environmentally friendly practices and technologies. He cuts contracts with all suppliers that engage in unethical employment practices and pays for other to upgrade their equipment and facilities to meet WE’s new environmental and safety requirements. He spares no expense.

Yeah, Wayne Enterprises is so successful that they spin off an entire new business arm focused on helping other companies convert to environmentally friendly and safe practices like they did in an efficient, cost effective, successful way.

Admittedly, investing in his own company was probably never going to be the best way to get rid of his wealth. He slashes his own salary to a pittance (god knows he has more money than he could possibly know what to do with already) and keeps investing the profits back into the workers, and WE keeps responding with nearly terrifying success.

So WE is a no-go, and Bruce now has numerous angry billionaires on his back because they’ve been claiming all these measures he’s implementing are too expensive to justify for decades and they’re finding it a little hard to keep the wool over everyone’s eyes when Idiot Softheart Bruice Wayne has money spilling out his ears. BUT Bruce can invest in Gotham. That’ll go well, right?

Gotham’s infrastructure is the OSHA anti-Christ and even what little is up to code is constantly getting destroyed by Rogue attacks. Surely THAT will be a money sink.

Except the only non-corrupt employer in Gotham city is….Wayne Enterprises. Or contractors or companies or businesses that somehow, in some way or other, feed back to WE. Paying wholesale for improvement to Gotham’s infrastructure somehow increases WE’s profits.

Bruce funds a full system overhaul of Gotham hospital (it’s not his fault the best administrative system software is WE—he looked), he sets up foundations and trusts for shelters, free clinics, schools, meal plans, day care, literally anything he can think of.

Gotham continues to be a shithole. Bruce Wayne continues to be richer than god against his Batman-ingrained will.

Oh, and Bruice Wayne is no longer viewed as solely a spoiled idiot nepo baby. The public responds by investing in WE and anything else he owns, and stop doing this, please.

Bruce sets up a foundation to pay the college tuition of every Gotham citizen who applies. It’s so successful that within 10 years, donations from previous recipients more than cover incoming need, and Bruce can’t even donate to his own charity.

But by this time, Bruce has children. If he can’t get rid of his wealth, he can at least distribute it, right?

Except Dick Grayson absolutely refuses to receive any of his money, won’t touch his trust fund, and in fact has never been so successful and creative with his hacking skills as he is in dumping the money BACK on Bruce. Jason died and won’t legally resurrect to take his trust fund. Tim has his own inherited wealth, refuses to inherit more, and in fact happily joins forces with Dick to hack accounts and return whatever money he tries to give them. Cass has no concept of monetary wealth and gives him panicked, overwhelmed eyes whenever he so much as implies offering more than $100 at once. Damian is showing worrying signs of following in his precious Richard’s footsteps, and Babs barely allows him to fund tech for the Clocktower. At least Steph lets him pay for her tuition and uses his credit card to buy unholy amounts of Batburger. But that is hardly a drop in the ocean of Bruce’s wealth. And she won’t even accept a trust fund of only one million.

Jason wins for best-worst child though because he currently runs a very lucrative crime empire. And although he pours the vast, vast majority of his profits back into Crime Alley, whenever he gets a little too rich for his tastes, he dumps the money on Bruce. At this point, Bruce almost wishes he was being used for money laundering because then he’s at least not have the money.

So children—generous, kindhearted, stubborn till the day they die the little shits, children—are also out.

Bruce was funding the Justice League. But then finances were leaked, and the public had an outcry over one man holding so much sway over the world’s superheroes (nevermind Bruce is one of those superheroes—but the public can’t know that). So Bruce had to do some fancy PR trickery, concede to a policy of not receiving a majority of funds from one individual, and significantly decrease his contributions because no one could match his donations.

At his wits end, Bruce hires a team of accounts to search through every crinkle and crevice of tax law to find what loopholes or shortcuts can be avoided in order to pay his damn taxes to the MAX.

The results are horrifying. According to the strictest definition of the law, the government owes him money.

Bruce burns the report, buries any evidence as deeply as he can, and organizes a foundation to lobby for FAR higher taxation of the upper class.

All this, and Wayne Enterprises is happily chugging along, churning profit, expanding into new markets, growing in the stock market, and trying to force the credit and proportionate compensation on their increasingly horrified CEO.

Bruce Wayne is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce Wayne will never not be one of the richest men in the world.

But by GOD is he trying.

[bet-on-me-13]

Bruce owes Danny money. He does Not want to pay up.

So! Danny had to run away from Amity Park when his parents discovered his Powers. But every time he tried to stay in a single place in America, they somehow managed to find him.

Turns out, they were working with the GIW to track him using the GIW's resources and the Fenton's Genius to find him everywhere he ran to. Eventually, Danny figured he had had enough and ran to Europe where the GIW had no Jurisdiction.

After wandering for a while, Danny was found and recruited by the League of Assasins. He was powerful, skilled, and connected to the Lazarus Pits, so they approached him with a job offer.

They would hide him from the Fentons, who had began to search for him in Europe independently, and in return he would work for them as an Assasin.

Considering his situation, Danny agreed.

He began training to be an Assasin, supplementing his Ghost Abilities with the abilities of an Assasin to become even more Stealthy.

While training under the League, Danny met another recruit simply known as Bruce. They trained together for years, even going on a few missions together gathering intel, and using disguises to hid in plain sight.

On one of these missions, Danny lent Bruce some money with the promise to get paid back when they returned to the League. That same night, Bruce left the League of Assasins and never came back.

...

Bruce was sitting in the Batcave going over a case with Tim, Jason was off to the side cleaning his Guns, and Dick and Cass were holding an acrobatics competition in their Obstacle Course, with Damien, Steph, and Duke cheering them on.

Suddenly an Eldritch Emerald Light sprang to life in the center of the Batcave, and everybody dropped what they were doing and sprang to action.

Slowly, a glowing green figure emerged from the Light. He appeared Eldritch in Nature, as if he existed in multiple layers of reality at once and looking at him gave them minor headaches. Then, the figure spoke up.

"BRUCE. ITS BEEN 15 YEARS. YOU STILL OWE ME 16 DOLLARS."

Recognizing Danny, Bruce took a moment to compose himself before responding.

"Fuck Off."

[carrypointedsticks]

An incredibly rare W for my local authority. Now stop closing the libraries you bastards.

Fucking 10/10

[zhelin-thames]

Now pay interest - 10% per year

Masterpost

As the Bat-family processed what had just happened, Jason was already plotting.

“So,” Jason began, a wicked grin spreading across his face, “does this mean we have a ghost King in the family now? Because I’ve got so many questions.”

“Focus, Todd,” Damian snapped, though his own curiosity was evident in his furrowed brow. “That... entity was clearly powerful. Father, why did you not inform us of this connection sooner?”

Bruce didn’t even glance up from his computer. “It was irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?” Dick exclaimed, gesturing wildly. “A glowing ghost guy just popped out of a portal in our cave to collect a debt, and you think it’s irrelevant?”

Tim, typing furiously, pulled up the mission logs from Bruce’s early years. “Okay, I think I found the mission in Prague where this all went down. It says here... wait. Danny wasn’t just some guy you ran into. You trained with him in the League of Assassins?”

Steph leaned over Tim’s shoulder to read. “Wait, what?! He’s an assassin ghost King?”

Jason let out a low whistle. “This just gets better and better.”

Duke raised his hand, hesitant. “Uh, just a thought… if he’s the Ghost King, doesn’t that mean he has control over, like, all ghosts? Including... uh, Lazarus Pits?”

Everyone froze. Slowly, they all turned to Bruce, whose expression darkened slightly.

“Yes,” Bruce admitted reluctantly.

“Holy crap,” Jason said, leaning back with a stunned look. “He’s the reason the Pits freaked me out after I came back, isn’t he? I thought it was just the resurrection thing, but you knew he was tied to them!”

Bruce’s silence was answer enough.

“I want to meet him,” Cass signed firmly.

“Seconded,” Duke added. “He seems cool.”

“No,” Bruce said, finally standing and cutting through the rising chatter. His tone was firm, brooking no argument. “Danny is not someone you want to get involved with.”

But before Bruce could elaborate, the room was bathed in green light again.

Danny reappeared, now sitting cross-legged in mid-air, holding what looked like a spectral clipboard. “Forgot one thing,” he announced casually.

Bruce’s glare could have burned through steel. “What now?”

Danny smirked. “I want interest. Fifteen years is a long time to wait for sixteen bucks. So let’s say... ten percent per year?”

Jason cackled as the rest of the family broke out into laughter. Even Damian couldn’t entirely suppress a smirk.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose again. “I’m not paying you interest.”

Danny shrugged, grinning. “Guess I’ll have to stick around until you do. Hope you’ve got extra space, because I’m moving in.”

The Batcave erupted into chaos. Jason and Steph cheered, Tim frantically calculated how much Bruce technically owed, and Bruce’s patience reached its breaking point.

“Fine,” Bruce growled. “But you’re staying in the guest room.”

Danny floated down, looking entirely too smug. “Deal. Now, who’s up for pizza? I’m starving.”

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"REBATE CHEQUES TO BE MAILED OUT VERY SOON," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 20, 1933. Page 2. ---- Commissioner McFarlane Strongly Protested Against Grant --- The rebate cheques for the electrical consumers will be mailed from the office of the Public Utilities Comimission at once. This was the decision reached at a meeting of the commission held on Monday after-noon.

It will be recalled that the Ontario Hydro-Electric Commission, a few weeks ago, sanctioned a rebate of 10 per cent. of the amount paid during 1932, following a motion in favor of the rebate, which was sponsored by Commissioner James Halliday and seconded by Mayor Bruce Hopkins. The total amount of the rebate will be in the neighborhood of $25,000.

It was reported at the meeting that the rebate cheques were ready to be sent out to the consumers, and on motion of Commissioner Halliday, seconded by Commissioner Harris, it was decided to have them sent out at once.

In an endeavor to alleviate the unemployment situation, Commissioner Halliday asked the commission to undertake all the extension work possible. Commissioner Halliday asked particularly that the underground extension work be undertaken from Queen's power plant on King Street West to the city limits, and that efforts be made to the end that this work will not cost the city extra for street lighting. Mr. Halliday said that he felt that the Commission should do everything possible to create work for the unemployed.

Manager Folger will present a report to the commission in regard to extension work that can be undertaken.

The chairman, John P. Sowards, presided at the meeting, and also present were James Halliday, R. N. F.McFarlane, James Harris and Manager C. C. Folger. Mayor Hopkins was out of the city on business, and unable to be present.

Manager Folger stated that he was working on a report dealing with the arrears in accounts. This report will be ready in the course of the next few days, and it was decided to hold a special meeting on Monday next to deal with it. Following this meeting, it is expected that the commissionwill adjourn for the summer holidays.

With a strong protest from Commissioner McFarlane, the commission, on motion of Commissioner Halliday, voted the sum of $50 for "advertising purposes" to the Electrical Contractors' Association of Ontario, meeting in Kingston on June 29 and 30.

Commissioner Halliday said he felt that the commission should make a grant to this convention and he was warmly supported by Commissioner Harris. It is expected that the convention will bring about 400 visitors to the city, and Mr. Harris said that it would mean that money would be spent in the city, and that the commission should encourage such conventions by making a grant.

"I am not in favor of spending the money of the people in this way," said Mr. McFarlane. "It is illegal to vote money for this purpose, and I am not in favor of the proposition and will not vote for it."

Mr. McFarlane recorded his vote against the motion sponsored by Mr. Halliday, who had the support of Mr.Harris, and the motion was declared carried. Mr. McFarlane held that the vote was illegal, pointing cut that there were five members of the commission and that only two members had voted in favor of the motion.

Mayor Hopkins being absent from the meeting, however, did not have an opportunity to vote, and as there was no tie, the chairman was not called upon to cast his vote.

Commissioner Harris drew attention to the fact that the City Council it a recent meeting had voted the sum of $50 for the Corporation to take out one page in the official program for the Orange celebration to be held in Kingston on July 12. He felt the commission was justified in making this grant to the electrical convention. "The motion has not been carried legally, but has just been railroaded through," remarked Mr. McFarlane, after the vote had been taken on Mr. Halliday's motion.

On the recommendation of Manager Folger the commission decided to purchase a set of fireproof filing trays for the housing of the ledger records from Hanson and Edgar for the sum of $126. The filing trays are similar to those used in practically all the offices of the Public Utilities all over Ontario. The question of the purchase of a stoker which has been under consideration for some time was further laid over in order to secure additional information.

Theft of Lanterns Manager Folger brought to the attention of the members of the commission the theft of a number of red lanterns placed for the protection of the public on the excavation jobs around the city. Mr. Folger said that just recently four lanterns had been stolen from an excavation in front of Tete de Pont Barracks and that last year seven lanterns had been stolen. He pointed out that as these lanterns were placed on excavation work for the protection of the public was a serious matter. As a result of the thefts special nightwatchmen had to be hired. The members of the commission decided that it was a case for the police to investigate, and the matter will be reported to the police, in an endeavor to run down the guilty party or parties, and to avoid future trouble.

The commission decided to extend its power line on the south side of Highway No. 2, so as to provide a service for the military camp known as Project No. 47. The matter of the purchase of cable and a carload of fire brick was referred to Manager Folger.

An application for electrical power was received from six householders residing on a roadway beyond the Outer Station, will be referred to the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission.

On the recommendation of Manager Folger the commission appointed A. D. Nelson, accountant and Oscar J. Cherry, chief electrician, as delegates to the sessions of the Ontario Electrical Municipal Association to be held shortly at Windsor.

The commission received an application from Dr. N. E. Berry for gas, water and sewer services for Queen's Crescent from Lower Albert to Collingwood Street. Dr. Berry will be advised to place his request before the City Council.

[chawsl]

[prussianmemes]

arguing with a friend over not all zoomers abandoning normal wallets. i love my george costanza oversized dad wallet. how could you not love a pocket office...

let me hear your wisdom in notes!!!

[aurianneor]

Housing

Why is housing so expensive, whether to buy or rent? Why are people forced to pay when "the right to housing is a human right." With limited financial means, it's hard to find affordable, good-quality housing. (https://www.humanrights.ch/fr/nouvelles/droit-humain-logement)

In the cities, prices have skyrocketed. They have become inaccessible to part of the population. And the countryside is emptying out because there are no public services or means of subsistence (no jobs). (Map of average prices per m² per municipality for house and apartment sales in 2020: https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/reuses/carte-des-prix-moyens-au-m2-par-commune-des-ventes-de-maisons-et-dappartements-en-2020/) Yet property owners and sellers don't produce wealth. They collect it from others. Employers have to raise wages to keep up with housing costs. In order to pay, employees have to cut back on other expenses , even though they are the ones producing the wealth. The number of meals served at the "restos du coeur" is exploding, as are requests for social housing.

The state's response is to pay ever more to build housing, and governments all over the world are defiscalising housing production to implore homeowners to build more. These owners are the ones who pay the lowest taxes. Real estate is the goose that lays the golden egg for property owners, and a financial drain on the rest of us, who pay twice. What's more, as people are forced to live further and further away from their place of work, this creates fatigue and pollution, as well as additional costs due to fuel prices. And in exchange, people are living in housing that is in poor condition, too small and built of concrete with no soundproofing. These buildings are rapidly falling into disrepair and they pollute. They're not built for the well-being of living, but to maximize profits.

In the same way as in the food sector, we need to stop subsidizing local residents so that they can then pay the subsidies directly to the owners. That's like giving public money to landlords! We need to control prices to house people. In the 70s, in the West, people paid off their homes in 10 years. We also need to restore efficient public services throughout the country: roads, hospitals, police, swimming pools, schools and so on. Last but not least, there must be farmers in the countryside. Before the Second World War, 40% of the population worked on farms. We need to stop using machines and chemicals to compensate for labor that could be used in the fields. We need fair purchase prices for farmers using organic permaculture. In all industrialized countries, farmers employ illegal immigrants under very poor conditions in order to cope.

We need a universal basic income. Today, without work there is no sustenance and no dignity. We have regulations that create "bullshit jobs", as David Graeber puts it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs). People are forced to live in the city. Instead, we need people in the countryside to create healthy food, which is also a human right (https://www.humanrights.ch/fr/pfi/fondamentaux/en-bref/couverture-minimum-vital/droit-a-lalimentation/). In wartime, when the men were soldiers, the country ran on the labor of women and the elderly. With robotization, there's even less need for manpower. (In Praise of Idleness - Bertrand Russell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Praise_of_Idleness_and_Other_Essays). We need to redistribute wealth instead of concentrating it in the hands of the richest.

Le combat d’une lanceuse d’alerte contre les dérives de la défiscalisation locative - Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2019/02/12/le-combat-d-une-lanceuse-d-alerte-contre-les-derives-de-la-defiscalisation-locative_5422456_1653578.html

Crise du logement - Le Devoir: https://www.ledevoir.com/crise-du-logement

POINT DE VUE. « L’avenir des villes dépend de plus en plus de l’avenir des campagnes »- Ouest France: https://www.ouest-france.fr/reflexion/point-de-vue/point-de-vue-lavenir-des-villes-depend-de-plus-en-plus-de-lavenir-des-campagnes-5f7cff50-7d93-11ee-9e40-5131acac1bc0

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4-day workweek: https://www.aurianneor.org/4-day-workweek-2/

Le goût et la santé: https://www.aurianneor.org/le-gout-et-la-sante-savoir-lire-les-etiquettes/

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do”: https://www.aurianneor.org/it-doesnt-make-sense-to-hire-smart-people-and/

“I once calculated that I did about one thousand hours of work in the three years I was at Oxford-an average of an hour a day. I am not proud of this lack of work. I’m just describing my attitude at the time, shared by most of my fellow students”: https://www.aurianneor.org/i-once-calculated-that-i-did-about-one-thousand/

Basic Income is possible: https://www.aurianneor.org/basic-income-is-possible-the-instrument-of/

I moved out: https://www.aurianneor.org/i-moved-out/

Stop the all-concrete approach: https://www.aurianneor.org/stop-the-all-concrete-approach/

Fair trade and organic farming: https://www.aurianneor.org/fair-trade-and-organic-farming/

Ecoterrorism: https://www.aurianneor.org/ecoterrorism/

How can we win back trust?: https://www.aurianneor.org/how-can-we-win-back-trust/

Freedom and coexistence: https://www.aurianneor.org/freedom-and-coexistence/

Humiliated by the Republic: https://www.aurianneor.org/humiliated-by-the-republic/

Restricting personal wealth: https://www.aurianneor.org/restricting-personal-wealth/

Cut out the middleman: https://www.aurianneor.org/cut-out-the-middleman/

Organic mass production has no future: https://www.aurianneor.org/organic-mass-production-has-no-future/

Isolation phonique: https://www.aurianneor.org/isolation-phonique-le-silence-est-dor-et-comme/

Rob the poor to feed the rich: https://www.aurianneor.org/rob-the-poor-to-feed-the-rich/

Le logement: https://www.aurianneor.org/le-logement/

[palatinewolfsblog]

“We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice.  Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.” Martin Luther King.

[taffywabbit]

so like. at what point are we going to stop listening to game companies saying "the game was poorly received and didn't meet our sales targets, and that's why we're removing it from storefronts and taking down all the servers mere months or even weeks after release" for titles that had a long expensive development, were barely marketed, and nobody knew they'd even released until after they heard they were getting shut down and couldn't be played/purchased anymore?

I feel like the prevailing takeaway for anyone who doesn't just conclude "yeah, game was pretty mid, makes sense to me" has usually been "this company just has unreasonably impossible sales expectations and treats every project like a failure if it doesn't print a trillion dollars". but these ARE allegedly experienced business execs who aren't complete idiots, and after this most recent debacle with Concord I'm starting to wonder if a bunch of these "games getting wiped out of existence when they underperform instead of just being allowed to persist as they are and maybe improve with time" cases in recent years might be more of a Warner-Discovery type situation, like nuking an entire animated series or film that was worked on for years and preventing it from being sold because it has to be officially unprofitable for the company to use it as a tax write-off. I look at a game that was worked on for 8 years and only made available for 2 weeks, and it's hard not to see the parallels.

great work, AAA games industry, really normal and sustainable stuff you're doing over there as usual

[comicsmithy]

Crazy.

The opposite of functional and good.