#stock co-ops

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Thanks to Curieously for sending another fabulous New York City apt. I can never afford. It's a penthouse (my dream, but I'd settle for any floor) in a 1927 Pre-War building and it's another one of those stock co-ops w/exorbitant HOA fees. 3bds, 3ba, $4.5M + the $5,536mo. HOA fee. And, just in case any of my LGBTQ friends are filthy rich, when you go before the stick-up-the-ass co-op board, there are legal protections for the LGBTQ community at the state level in New York. I, however, can be rejected for any reason, and those interviews can be brutal.

Love this room so much. It's so cozy, and love the library ladder and fireplace.

Not too sure I like that it's open like this. This isn't the dining room, so maybe it should be the entire living room? It's listed on the floor plan as a den. A door opens to the wrap-around terrace.

This is the dining room. Wow, the shelving! Love the brick floor and the fireplace. This room has a great view and sliders to the terrace.

For a NYC kitchen this is a good size. Gets a lot of nice natural light, too.

The primary bedroom is quite spacious. More built-ins, too.

Bedroom #2 looks like it has built-in bunks. Very cozy room.

Well, to me the the 3rd bedroom looks more like a reading nook or sunroom. It has paned windows and doors that let in a lot of light, plus the terrace is separate from the larger wraparound one.

This must be the primary bath. Not bad, but this place is a lot of money, so it's not exactly what one would expect.

Bath #2 looks like it was remodeled in the 80s. (Note - that low toilet doesn't take a standard tank float replacement, b/c it's too small, so you can't just buy it at Home Depot, you have to get a plumber.)

The terrace really does wrap around the entire apt.

Here's the view. Some ugly rooftop HVACs.

[headlamprey]

I love telling people I'm a high school drop out. It is rare for people my age, when EVERYONE was expected to do ANYTHING to go to college. Now I know a bunch of people not even working in their field. I know a woman who got a degree in marine biology, but was making more money from unemployment than any other job she could find. I ran an accounting department for over ten years. As a high school drop out. When I was 16 I would sneak into college art courses, and it turned out I LOVED the art history class I was going to. I wish I could take classes for my enjoyment. This system is a fuckin farce. It needs to be destroyed.

[chaotictomtom]

PUHLEAAASE AUUUGHHHHHH

[ilgalantuomo]

All of this said, remember that economic metrics (including price of goods at market) often are bundles (aggregates) of all economics activity that fits certain criteria. So, in other words, a change in one area will affect a portion or sector of the economy. But also, it affects the whole (even if slight). And this is on multiple levels economically, due to multiple companies all trying to operate and dominate over each other in all industries. This is further amplified by tiered types of products (economy, value sized, premium, luxury, quick service vs fine dining, etc.)

Example: food prices have risen generally. Like @weshallbekind said, certain foods increase some don't. Gas and certain new cars have higher prices, some haven't. Of course something like gas, however, is an everyday good, as are many food items. These essential items having increased prices is a component of inflation (as are interest rates, unemployment, speculation booms, currency changes, etc. different rant though). Again, aggregates, so potentially many factors. But aggregates don't reflect capitalism's main goal. Instead these aggregates are used as tools to accomplish said goal.

Keep in mind, however, that this is why capitalism like ours inherently doesn't work. It seeks to minimize costs (see also: not paying for enough workers, vertical integration, flip flopping between self check out and cashiers, moving/outsourcing, and raising prices [despite having massive economies of scale and the ability to negotiate]) for the benefit of profit. Not progress and profit, not progress, not satisfying the customers needs and wants; profit.

What does this mean then? It means profit over everything, while also creating desires in you (via marketing) to buy things you don't really need (mostly) or into which you invest your personality, time, or data. But mostly your money. Now, of course, everyone needs food, shelter, miscellaneous tools and safeguards, etc. Now those things are regulated to some degree, but nonetheless goods sold and marketed to you to profit.

Therefore, anything to make profit and make you buy it regularly could at least be attempted. Pay undocumented citizens pennies on the dollar so you don't have to give them benefits, minimum wage, or rights, check. Purposefully not include the charger and cable needed to use the phone, check. Use surge pricing to maximize profit and stress the existing infrastructure (human or otherwise), check. Overcharge you for literally the same exact product by calling it something fancy and putting their label on it, check.

And sure, of course costs increase. Of course paying people more means higher costs, especially if "times are tough". You know what takes more priority, usually, though? Executive compensation ratios, cash reserves, market dominance, mergers and acquisitions, vertical integration, lobbying, tax benefits.

Once again, let me remind you: metrics are aggregates, statistics, and computations based on demand, supply, input costs, interest rates, taxes, preferences, laws, availability of resources, currency exchange rates, speculation booms, etc. All these metrics and their formulas, however, are used (by corporations) to find their way to massive profits. By using these metrics in manipulating the market and their business practices, they're working to profit; they're striving for greater capital than the next company. Always.

[elainemorisi]

an Eastern European grocery store just opened downtown, what sort of items should I be looking for

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Leveraged buyouts are not like mortgages

I'm coming to DEFCON! On FRIDAY (Aug 9), I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On SATURDAY (Aug 10), I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

Here's an open secret: the confusing jargon of finance is not the product of some inherent complexity that requires a whole new vocabulary. Rather, finance-talk is all obfuscation, because if we called finance tactics by their plain-language names, it would be obvious that the sector exists to defraud the public and loot the real economy.

Take "leveraged buyout," a polite name for stealing a whole goddamned company:

Identify a company that owns valuable assets that are required for its continued operation, such as the real-estate occupied by its outlets, or even its lines of credit with suppliers;

Approach lenders (usually banks) and ask for money to buy the company, offering the company itself (which you don't own!) as collateral on the loan;

Offer some of those loaned funds to shareholders of the company and convince a key block of those shareholders (for example, executives with large stock grants, or speculators who've acquired large positions in the company, or people who've inherited shares from early investors but are disengaged from the operation of the firm) to demand that the company be sold to the looters;

Call a vote on selling the company at the promised price, counting on the fact that many investors will not participate in that vote (for example, the big index funds like Vanguard almost never vote on motions like this), which means that a minority of shareholders can force the sale;

Once you own the company, start to strip-mine its assets: sell its real-estate, start stiffing suppliers, fire masses of workers, all in the name of "repaying the debts" that you took on to buy the company.

This process has its own euphemistic jargon, for example, "rightsizing" for layoffs, or "introducing efficiencies" for stiffing suppliers or selling key assets and leasing them back. The looters – usually organized as private equity funds or hedge funds – will extract all the liquid capital – and give it to themselves as a "special dividend." Increasingly, there's also a "divi recap," which is a euphemism for borrowing even more money backed by the company's assets and then handing it to the private equity fund:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/17/divi-recaps/#graebers-ghost

If you're a Sopranos fan, this will all sound familiar, because when the (comparatively honest) mafia does this to a business, it's called a "bust-out":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bust_Out

The mafia destroys businesses on a onesy-twosey, retail scale; but private equity and hedge funds do their plunder wholesale.

It's how they killed Red Lobster:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/23/spineless/#invertebrates

And it's what they did to hospitals:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/#charnel-house

It's what happened to nursing homes, Armark, private prisons, funeral homes, pet groomers, nursing homes, Toys R Us, The Olive Garden and Pet Smart:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben

It's what happened to the housing co-ops of Cooper Village, Texas energy giant TXU, Old Country Buffet, Harrah's and Caesar's:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/14/billionaire-class-solidarity/#club-deals

And it's what's slated to happen to 2.9m Boomer-owned US businesses employing 32m people, whose owners are nearing retirement:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

Now, you can't demolish that much of the US productive economy without attracting some negative attention, so the looter spin-machine has perfected some talking points to hand-wave away the criticism that borrowing money using something you don't own as collateral in order to buy it and wreck it is obviously a dishonest (and potentially criminal) destructive practice.

The most common one is that borrowing money against an asset you don't own is just like getting a mortgage. This is such a badly flawed analogy that it is really a testament to the efficacy of the baffle-em-with-bullshit gambit to convince us all that we're too stupid to understand how finance works.

Sure: if I put an offer on your house, I will go to my credit union and ask the for a mortgage that uses your house as collateral. But the difference here is that you own your house, and the only way I can buy it – the only way I can actually get that mortgage – is if you agree to sell it to me.

Owner-occupied homes typically have uncomplicated ownership structures. Typically, they're owned by an individual or a couple. Sometimes they're the property of an estate that's divided up among multiple heirs, whose relationship is mediated by a will and a probate court. Title can be contested through a divorce, where disputes are settled by a divorce court. At the outer edge of complexity, you get things like polycules or lifelong roommates who've formed an LLC s they can own a house among several parties, but the LLC will have bylaws, and typically all those co-owners will be fully engaged in any sale process.

Leveraged buyouts don't target companies with simple ownership structures. They depend on firms whose equity is split among many parties, some of whom will be utterly disengaged from the firm's daily operations – say, the kids of an early employee who got a big stock grant but left before the company grew up. The looter needs to convince a few of these "owners" to force a vote on the acquisition, and then rely on the idea that many of the other shareholders will simply abstain from a vote. Asset managers are ubiquitous absentee owners who own large stakes in literally every major firm in the economy. The big funds – Vanguard, Blackrock, State Street – "buy the whole market" (a big share in every top-capitalized firm on a given stock exchange) and then seek to deliver returns equal to the overall performance of the market. If the market goes up by 5%, the index funds need to grow by 5%. If the market goes down by 5%, then so do those funds. The managers of those funds are trying to match the performance of the market, not improve on it (by voting on corporate governance decisions, say), or to beat it (by only buying stocks of companies they judge to be good bets):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/17/shareholder-socialism/#asset-manager-capitalism

Your family home is nothing like one of these companies. It doesn't have a bunch of minority shareholders who can force a vote, or a large block of disengaged "owners" who won't show up when that vote is called. There isn't a class of senior managers – Chief Kitchen Officer! – who have been granted large blocks of options that let them have a say in whether you will become homeless.

Now, there are homes that fit this description, and they're a fucking disaster. These are the "heirs property" homes, generally owned by the Black descendants of enslaved people who were given the proverbial 40 acres and a mule. Many prosperous majority Black settlements in the American South are composed of these kinds of lots.

Given the historical context – illiterate ex-slaves getting property as reparations or as reward for fighting with the Union Army – the titles for these lands are often muddy, with informal transfers from parents to kids sorted out with handshakes and not memorialized by hiring lawyers to update the deeds. This has created an irresistible opportunity for a certain kind of scammer, who will pull the deeds, hire genealogists to map the family trees of the original owners, and locate distant descendants with homeopathically small claims on the property. These descendants don't even know they own these claims, don't even know about these ancestors, and when they're offered a few thousand bucks for their claim, they naturally take it.

Now, armed with a claim on the property, the heirs property scammers force an auction of it, keeping the process under wraps until the last instant. If they're really lucky, they're the only bidder and they can buy the entire property for pennies on the dollar and then evict the family that has lived on it since Reconstruction. Sometimes, the family will get wind of the scam and show up to bid against the scammer, but the scammer has deep capital reserves and can easily win the auction, with the same result:

https://www.propublica.org/series/dispossessed

A similar outrage has been playing out for years in Hawai'i, where indigenous familial claims on ancestral lands have been diffused through descendants who don't even know they're co-owner of a place where their distant cousins have lived since pre-colonial times. These descendants are offered small sums to part with their stakes, which allows the speculator to force a sale and kick the indigenous Hawai'ians off their family lands so they can be turned into condos or hotels. Mark Zuckerberg used this "quiet title and partition" scam to dispossess hundreds of Hawai'ian families:

https://archive.is/g1YZ4

Heirs property and quiet title and partition are a much better analogy to a leveraged buyout than a mortgage is, because they're ways of stealing something valuable from people who depend on it and maintain it, and smashing it and selling it off.

Strip away all the jargon, and private equity is just another scam, albeit one with pretensions to respectability. Its practitioners are ripoff artists. You know the notorious "carried interest loophole" that politicians periodically discover and decry? "Carried interest" has nothing to do with the interest on a loan. The "carried interest" rule dates back to 16th century sea-captains, and it refers to the "interest" they had in the cargo they "carried":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/29/writers-must-be-paid/#carried-interest

Private equity managers are like sea captains in exactly the same way that leveraged buyouts are like mortgages: not at all.

And it's not like private equity is good to its investors: scams like "continuation funds" allow PE looters to steal all the money they made from strip mining valuable companies, so they show no profits on paper when it comes time to pay their investors:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/20/continuation-fraud/#buyout-groups

Those investors are just as bamboozled as we are, which is why they keep giving more money to PE funds. Today, the "dry powder" (uninvested money) that PE holds has reached an all-time record high of $2.62 trillion – money from pension funds and rich people and sovereign wealth funds, stockpiled in anticipation of buying and destroying even more profitable, productive, useful businesses:

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2di1vzgjcmzovkcea8f0g/portfolio/private-equitys-dry-powder-mountain-reaches-record-height

The practices of PE are crooked as hell, and it's only the fact that they use euphemisms and deceptive analogies to home mortgages that keeps them from being shut down. The more we strip away the bullshit, the faster we'll be able to kill this cancer, and the more of the real economy we'll be able to preserve.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/05/rugged-individuals/#misleading-by-analogy

[asymmetryestablished]

also I can't vouch for anywhere else, but most major cities in north america will probably have at least one sex shop, where you can go in and talk to a real live human person who will help you find what you're looking for. people who work in sex shops tend to be awesome and very knowledgeable

how do you find/buy sex stuff? I'm sure there are websites, but I don't even know where to start. What would be safe and reputable? Do you have any suggestions, or advice on picking something "good"? Also thank you for opening your asks for stuff like this.

okay, so here's the shake:

I personally believe that you can buy decent sex toys anywhere, providing that:

The listing is honest about the product's materials

You know what to look for

Silicone, glass, and metal are the safest materials you can use. They're the least reactive with natural bodily chemicals and are the least likely to give you problems.

SILICONE: Not 'silicon'- silicon is NOT SILICONE. Slicone solids are never 100% transparent and might, MIGHT appear translucent and foggy at the clearest. Silicon might be shiny OR matte, but if it's matte please know that velvet or soft-touch coatings are most often non-silicone materials added after the toy itself is molded. This is usually fine, but if you know your body is sensitive to that, one brand I know has the texture built into the mold is Fun Factory. It's pricy, but it's high quality and comes with a warranty.

NEVER ASSUME AN ITEM IS SILICONE UNLESS THE ITEM IS DESCRIBED AS SILICONE.

GLASS: Tempered glass is usually fine. If you notice chips, cracks, or hairline fractures in it, bag it up and throw it out.

Metal: Same story. Chipping, flaking, cracks, oxidization, toss it. Acrylic toys with metallic coatings will degrade in contact with oils, unlike actual metal, so be sure to check materials.

People shit on sites like Adam & Eve and Pinkcherry, and yeah those are cheap stores that dont sell the best stuff, but they still have LOADS of good quality product and do frequent sales and clearouts if you're nervous and not looking to drop a lot of cash right off.

If you can afford it, brands I absolutely recommend are Womanizer, Fun Factory, Hitachi (now owned by Vibratex), Tom of Finland, Sinvention, and We Vibe. They're all high-quality and most have warranties for damage or malfunction.

On the cheaper end, Calexotics, Doc Johnson, Evolved, and Ouch!.

Websites like Bad Dragon, Extreme Restraints, and Sinvention are known to have good customer service and high-quality products.

Websites like Adam and Eve, Pinkcherry, and Lovehoney I've heard good reviews for, you just need to be careful about what you buy.

I've yet to encounter a legit site that isn't discrete, btw. Everything is usually sent out in boxes.

Please avoid AliExpress. You CAN buy there, but I don't trust that shit

[6okuto]

KENMA RELATIONSHIP HCS

gn!reader, timeskip mentions

isn't a pda guy, but will fall asleep on your shoulder/rest against you as he games, and if you play with his hair, who's he to say no?

if you change your contact name in his phone, he keeps whatever it is, even if it's super silly or cheesy. like okay call "my honeybear darling angel 😚". he says it's because he's lazy but he does find it kinda cute/amusing

you cheer for kenma at practice in like, a sort of exaggerated way, like "gooo kenma!!! yeaahh!! let's go kenma!! kenma! kenma!" and he tries really hard not to look at you—not because he's annoyed, but because he doesn't want you to notice how red his face has gotten. his teammates point it out anyway

lol his team using you as motivation. "don't you want to impress them?" and kenma's like 😒😒 but gets up from the floor

kenma teaching you how to play his favourite (co-op) video games!! he's pretty patient and explains things well, so if you don't have a lot of gaming experience, don't worry too much ^^ buttt if you're competitive, get ready to Compete. he seems like someone who doesn't take it too seriously unless you start (jokingly) shit talking him

he'll try out any games you like too, even if it isn't something he'd pick himself. he doesn't really plan to when you're describing it, but then he thinks about it, or sees a post mentioning it, and the curiosity (And Affection 4 U :3) gets him

easily notices if you've gotten quieter/tired when you're out. if you're with a group, he'll tap your shoulder and offer his own, ask if you're alright, and or make up an excuse so you can both leave. if it's just the two of you, he's quick to find a place to rest for a while

he'll never make you join if you don't want to, but fans eat up any videos or streams with you—they make edits and compilations of you walking in during streams and everything. the amount of begging for a q&a and story time of how you met is crazydsjdhsj

chat is soo annoying about it too /lh "no they're not single," "i know they're out of my league," "yes they were my first subscriber," kenma telling you not to answer them when they ask if he's clingy, etc etc

! i think it'd be cute if you guys had matching phone cases, but his fans didn't know until you showed up with the other one. and they realize Just how much he has on that's matching you—the bracelet and necklace that they catch glimpses of under his hoodie, the hoodie itself from the same line as yours... yeah.

time for "he said no pickles." unless you also don't like asking/don't care,, then you guys can just take the pickles off together <3

^ if it's a serious mistake they made with your food, kenma's a lot more compelled to approach the counter.

would teach you about stocks. if you asked

mutual info dumping and yapping... he's very aware of how much he's telling you the first couple of times, but gets more comfortable when you do it back !

^ kind of guy to do his own research afterward. he makes a semi-obscure reference/joke the day after and you're like ???? Who told you that.

kind of boyfriend who hears you go "i want him" "wait why's this character kinda..." and isn't like, that offended or put off by it. says "understandable" (or questions your taste), but knows they're a character at the end of the day

quality time kind of guy. people know you're special even if they don't know you're dating because you can convince kenma to go to events or try something new when they wouldn't expect it. (obviously it's never something crazy out of his comfort zone, and it's probably because he knows you'd feel better with someone with you, but he's going all the same!!)

kenma isn't the best with receiving words of affirmation or gifts... he appreciates it, but gets awkward and doesn't know how to react ^^; you reassure him that he doesn't have to jump for joy or be super affectionate back—he shows his love in his own ways !

his gifts are very thoughtful. he gets you something practical, and then things that you've really wanted for a while. his cards aren't filled with long letters of adoration, but they're genuine and very much kenma. (+ having money in the timeskip doesn't mean he'd ever buy something expensive or flashy just because it might be 'easier.' it means he gets to buy you way more merchandise for your favourite media, paying the shipping fees that kept you away.)

you get him a super thoughtful (and maybe expensive) gift and he Lights Up. and then he's like ? you remembered / really paid that much ? really ? and he keeps smiling when he looks at it..

kenma coming downstairs with super bad bedhead and pouting when you snicker. but then he relaxes as you comb your fingers through to fix it

tying up his hair... a little ponytail or bun...

matching pajamas... or those fluffy headbands you wear to wash your face... he looks so silly and cute

university student kenma who walks in visibly irritated, and you know you're about to shit talk his group members or professor together.

late night breakfast. sitting in the kitchen eating bowls of cereal past midnight

! late night gaming sessions... and or sometimes you fall asleep waiting for kenma to finish, then wake up to realize he fell asleep at his desk. you have to coax him into bed after saving the game for him

very nervous during the first year you're together any time there's a holiday, especially valentine's day or your anniversary. he wonders if his plans and gifts are enough, not romantic enough, too boring, if you'd rather do something exciting, even if logically he knows you'll like anything he thinks up

sometimes you guys will just lie on the floor, stare at the ceiling together, and talk. maybe there's music, a game menu screen playing in the background, or you're just listening to the birds and neighbours outside. floor time is healing all the same

bleaching kenma's hair + him helping dye yours... timeskip where chat asks if you've done your hair recently because his hands have been stained :')

it's super easy to team up with kuroo to tease him but also ! teaming up to taunt and prank kuroo !! think of kenma laughing bright and loudly, eyes squinting and arms clutching his middle !! kuroo can't be that mad because he's happy someone else can get kenma this happy too

🏷️ | @icekitgeorge3 @dira333 (hey guys) @pelicanpizza @godoffuckedupcats @causenessus @priv-rose @ur-local-simp @respitable @deepenthevoid

[dallasgallant]

Country/southern slang and vernacular-

This is what I’m going with for the title as honestly I’m not sure what else you would call it, but it is also linked to class a little bit? It’s complicated. Anyways, surprised I haven’t done one like this sooner as I’ve done:

JD slang. 60s slang. Rodeo terms

However, it can’t include everything! As usual take this as a jumping off point, it’s funny as Oklahoma is technically southern, culturally and such. Some are sourced from general knowledge, others from southern or “Oklahoma slang” which heavily overlaps but is more accented.

A lot of this ended up actually being more writing accented speech with some slang thrown in, a lot of it is about contractions! Also word usage! They’ll be a more “general grammar” and accent section at the bottom.

—

All get out- sentence enhancer (ex. Funny as all get out)

Air up - Pump air into something (Tires, mattress)

Ain’t - am not; are not; is not. has not; have not.

An’ all - and all

Belted- beaten

‘Bout - about

Billfold- Wallet (Oklahoman, used in place of wallet)

‘Cos - cause/because

Coke- soda (any kind) (ex. You wanna get a Coke? What kind?)

Crick- creek

Do up - prepare : clean/repair (Ex. Y’all do up the dishes)

Do wut - say again

D’yall - Do y’all or did y’all

don’tcha - Don’t you

Drop trou- pull down one’s pants , especially as a stunt in public

dyeet - did you eat?

Figure- Calculate, consider, decide

Fixin’ - on the verge of something : getting ready to

fronta - in front of

Fo’ sure- for sure

Fussin’- overexagerated concern, fidgeting

Gettin’ round - getting ready to go somewhere or do something (ex. Gettin’ round to it)

Gonna- going to

Gussied up - dressed nicer than everyday (ex. Church clothes)

hafta- have to

Hankering- desire, yearning, craving

Heap - a large quantity (ex. Heap of trouble)

Holler- loud cry or shout

Honky tonk - bar where people dance (typically to county, line dance )

Howdy- Greeting or used to express surprise

howta - how to

Hush- quiet, shut up

Ice box - fridge (Oklahoman or rural)

I’mma - I’m gonna or I am

Imma geddin sig n tard" - I’m getting sick and tired

ja'eet yet?- did you eat yet?

Kin- family (not always by blood. Could be someone you’re close to)

Laying out - staying the night (doing something illicit) or

Let alone - leave alone or to indicate somethings less likely

Like to - Almost (rare)

Lick [Noun] - any amount (Ex. Didn’t get a lick of sleep last night)

Lick [Verb] - beat (ex. Steve Licked that soc good)

Musta- must have

Muddin’ (Oklahoman) - off-roading, going down muddy trails

‘N - then/than or and

Naw- no

Neither- not one or other (sometimes used in place of either)

Nuss - To nurse

Okie- native resent of Oklahoma (formerly derogatory during dust bowl)

Ornery- combative, mean

Ought- indicate something correct or probable

Oughta- ought to

Ope- oops

Outta- out or

Preddy sure - pretty sure

Prolly- probably

Pop- soda

Purdy- pretty

Pitch a fit- throw a fit, be really upset

Reckon- think: suppose

Rise- upset someone (ex. He sure got a rise out of her)

Rile- upset someone (ex. Don’t rile up the dog)

Ruther - rather

Shouldn’t’ve- shouldnt have (double negative)

Shoot- polite way to say shit : go ahead and speak

Sho’ nuff - sure enough

‘Sides - besides

s’not - it’s not/is not

s’okay - it’s okay

Sorta- sort of

Sprinklin’ - light rain

stocking feet - wearing just socks

Sumbitch - son of a bitch

Tailing- follow without being noticed

The city - Oklahoma City (even if you live in Tulsa. ‘The city’ is Oklahoma City)

Tore up - upset

Twister- Tornado (used to be more regional)

Upitty- conceited, fancy, snobby

Welp - well or expression (ex. Welp, I better head out)

Whup/whoop- hit

Whipped- beaten

won’tcha = won’t you

Y’all - you all

Yall’re- y’all are

Y’ain’t - you ain’t

Yer - your

-

Grammar-

The more I added to the list the more I realized writing for the gang is just as much learning to write accent than it is slang, it’s the way they talk and that includes grammar etc. Im going to try and explain some points that I’ve noticed in an understandable way, but it’s also important to note that these rules don’t apply every time necessarily.

Using the wrong word

less words in certain sentences (ex. Don’t mean nothin’)

With above, fewer words to describe things.

Drop the G occasionally (ex. Nothin’ )

Adding ‘d instead of saying ‘would (ex. Soda’d)

Real> really (descriptive)

Anybody > anyone

Weren’t typically goes with a double negative ( ex. weren’t nothing we could do)

Use of ‘you’ (used instead of a name or ‘your’)

Use of ‘was’ instead of ‘were’ ( ex. I knew you was)

Both Aren’t and isn’t become ain’t (sometimes even more)

A LOT OF CONTRACTIONS

Combing words - either a new contraction or new spelling to emphasize accent, especially around questions (ex. ja'eet yet?)

Use of expressions/idioms (ex. That dog won’t hunt)

[mahou-furbies]

57 years of magical girls!

List of series they're from:

Pic 1

Row 1: Sally the Witch, Himitsu no Akko-chan, Cutie Honey, Mahou Shoujo Lalabel, Minky Momo, Creamy Mami

Row 2: Persia the Magic Fairy, Magical Emi, Pastel Yumi, Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Wedding Peach

Row 3: Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Saint Tail, Cardcaptor Sakura, Mahou Tsukai Tai, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne

Pic 2

Row 1: Ojamajo Doremi, Corrector Yui, Time Stranger Kyouko, Tokyo Mew Mew, Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san, W.i.t.c.h.

Row 2: Pretear, Princess Tutu, Mermaid Melody, Kamichama Karin, Sugar Sugar Rune, Winx Club

Row 3: Futari wa Precure, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Uta Kata, Fushigiboshi no Futagohime, Happy Seven, Shugo Chara!

Pic 3

Row 1: Futari wa Precure Splash Star, Powerpuff Girls Z, Nanatsuiro Drops, Yes! Precure 5, Balala the Fairies, Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel

Row 2: Fresh Precure!, Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Umimonogatari, Heartcatch Precure!, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Row 3: Wish Upon the Pleiades, Suite Precure, Magical Lollipop, Symphogear, Smile Precure!, Magical Girl Ore

Pic 4

Row 1: Vividred Operation, Doki Doki! Precure, Day Break Illusion, Magical Girl Site, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Katsute Mahou Shoujo to Aku wa Tekitai shiteita.

Row 2: 6 Hearts Princess, Kill la Kill, Samurai Flamenco, Happiness Charge Precure!, Magica Wars, Machikado Mazoku

Row 3: Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero, Lolirock, Go! Princess Precure, Miss Guillotine, Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara, Sleepless Domain

Pic 5

Row 1: Punch Line, Apricot Cookie(s)!, Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka, Concrete Revolutio, Miraculous Ladybug, Magical Suite Prism Nana

Row 2: Myriad Colors Phantom World, Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R, Mahou Tsukai Precure!, Flowering Heart, Mahou Shoujo? Naria☆Girls, Magical Girl Raising Project

Row 3: Matoi the Sacred Slayer, Flip Flappers, Balala the Fairies: Over the Rainbow, Pop in Q, Acro Trip, Kira Kira Precure a la Mode

Pic 6

Row 1: Märchen Mädchen, Twin Angel Break, Re:Creators, Magia Record, Cloudy Wondrous, Strawberry Seafoam

Row 2: HUGtto! Precure, Balala the Fairies: Ocean Magic, Tsukurotte Piature, Gushing Over Magical Girls, Star Twinkle Precure, Stellar Witch LIPS

Row 3: Healin’ Good Precure, Catch Teenieping, Mewkledreamy, Dame Daffodil, Sasaki and Peeps, Tropical Rouge! Precure

Pic 7

Row 1: Blue Reflection Ray, Magical Mom, Magilumiere Co. Ltd., Tea Tea Cherry, Delicious Party Precure, Balala the Fairies: Magic Star Fate Castle

Row 2: Hirogaru Sky! Precure, Magical Destroyers, Magical Girl Tsubame: I Will (Not) Save the World!, Wonderful Precure!

[read-marx-and-lenin]

I'm not sure if I should be asking this here, but would a worker-owned business be different from a """small business"""?

There are no revolutionary business structures. While the bourgeois state remains, worker co-ops, like labor unions, will only ever be making the best of a bad situation.

A proper democratic worker co-op where the workers share ownership and decisions are made collectively is fundamentally different from a privately owned small business, even under capitalism. However, "worker-owned" doesn't always mean this. Limited stock options and employee trusts are often referred to as "employee ownership" despite the business still operating as a private business run by capitalists.

Worker co-ops do offer better wages and working conditions and can raise class consciousness by means of demonstrating how the workplace can be collectively owned and operated by the workers instead of through private capitalist ownership and control, but without the support of a worker's party such co-ops would remain disjointed and vulnerable.

A worker co-op under capitalism is different from a private small business in its class character, but it is not different from a private small business in that it still must take the form of a for-profit business competing with other for-profit businesses within the capitalist marketplace. Without the benefits of a socialist government and economic system, it is limited in its ability to coordinate and cooperate with other workplaces and is often forced to prioritize profitability at the expense of other concerns.

[felassan]

Some more info on the Mass Effect board game, from co-designer Calvin:

"Hi all, Calvin here, co-designer of the game. I've gathered all the frequently asked questions on social media and bgg and gathered them into some answers for you. Feel free to ask more questions if yours is not answered, and if I can answer it I will. I will be updating this as more information about the game becomes available. Release info - The release date is (hopefully) November depending on the gods of shipping - Price is confirmed, the game will be $50/£40 - The team is currently working on translation deals for 9 or so languages. More details soon. - For info on pre-orders go to https://www.modiphius.net/pages/mass-effect-signup - There are currently no plans for a collector’s edition vs standard edition - It is not crowdfunded, the game is direct to retail - "If you'd like to support the game right now, there's nothing better than going into your local FLGS and asking them if they'll stock the game when it comes out. With the vast amount of great games coming out every week, retailers rely on fans asking about the game. This helps them gauge how much to buy, the more people ask, the more buzz they know there is, the more confident they are to buy enough and the more likely there's one waiting for you on the shelf when you go in :-) That feeds up the chain; the more retailers ask their sales reps at Asmodee, the more Asmodee goes, "Oh wait, let's order more, so we have enough for all the shops". Plot - The game is set on the planet Hagalaz, early during the events of Mass Effect 3 - The players are tasked with investigating a crashed Cerberus research cruiser which could have info that contributes to War Readiness and could help stop the Reapers - The game is designed so people who have never played Mass Effect can still enjoy it. Eric hasn't played the games as much as I did so he got to do what he calls “the meathead test” on all the theming and story. - We worked with Bioware on all the plot and theming. - Yes you can do calibrations in this game Basic game info - Co-operative squad tactics - 1-4 players - Included are six 32mm minis, masc Shep, fem Shep, Liara, Garrus, Tali, and Wrex - Not many other components to keep price and complexity low - 45 minute missions - 3-5 missions per campaign - Branching paragon/renegade choices + sidequests - Enough missions to replay the campaign several times without repeats - Solo play is really fun, in fact I like all the player counts equally, which is something I’m very proud that we were able to achieve in this game - Solo play is basically multi-handing, you control more than one character. - There is no legacy aspect, the game is fully resettable - There will be new original art"

[character limit text break]

"Gameplay info - Low rules complexity, but with lots of tactical depth. We aimed for an audience of Mass Effect fans who might not know anything about board games. Board gamers should still find something to enjoy if they’re into co-op tactics. - A group that just wants to turn their brain off and blast through the game should have an easy time - But a group who wants to get the best endings, complete all the sidequests, get all the level ups will have to min-max pretty heavily - The game has relatively low randomness. Planning, prediction, and preparation are very important to avoid bad outcomes - but there’s still enough randomness to avoid AP as players try to plan out perfect turns. - Important gameplay elements include positioning and combo-ing abilities with other players. - There is a tactical map. - Players will level up their characters by performing in game actions and learn new abilities. - We got all 6 Shepard classes in there. It is one of the things I am very proud of doing. - Re: alpha gamers, Eric and I do not believe it is the designer’s job to solve for jerks at your gaming table. Obviously we have designed the game so that every player has something to contribute and there’s plenty of info so that it’s hard to track. But we also recommend having adult conversations with your table partners. Interviews/Behind The Scenes Beyond Solitaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-nLGDt97i4 Topics: how we designed the game and implemented the narrative UKGE promo copy https://twitter.com/Modiphius/status/1796844231018811782/" Post last updated August 8th

[source]

New original art 👀

[acti-veg]

"Hock burn" is caused by ammonia from excrement. A sign of poorer welfare on farms, it can be seen on a third of birds in some supermarkets, data shows.

The BBC asked the 10 biggest UK chains about its presence on their shelves. Co-op and Aldi reported the highest rates but five (Asda, Morrisons, Lidl, Iceland and Ocado) refused to release data.

Hock burn is often associated with a high-stocking density of birds and is a result of prolonged contact to moist, dirty litter. It shows up on packaged and prepared meat as brown ulcers on the back of the leg.

Chicken with hock burn markings is still safe to eat. But the amount of hock burn within a poultry flock is an industry-accepted indicator of wider welfare standards on farms.

Red Tractor, the UK's biggest farm and food assurance scheme, sets a target rate for hock burn of no more than 15% of a flock.

[lilnasxvevo]

It’s only $5 for a 16 oz cup which is an absolute STEAL for a fun little beverage from a locally owned restaurant but I want to drink like 3 of these a day forever now so you can see why I mentioned in my previous tags that I’m desperate to find out what brand they use so I can just buy my own

I got a lychee iced tea from a local bakery today and it’s so good and I’m obsessed and I need 500 gallons of this bitch immediately

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Got a crazy one for you today. I still can't get over it. I live near this, but thanks to Curieously for bringing it to my attention. I had no idea. This is Horizon House in Fort Lee, New Jersey, built in the 1960s- there are several buildings. It was always THE most prestigious place. How I always wanted to live here. My mom, who was a decorator, had several clients there. Okay, but here's where it gets weird- this is a glam penthouse for sale. 2bds, 3.5ba, yet it's only $190K. I won't reveal why until the end. You will be shocked. Curieously and I are still talking about it.

The sunken living room is very large. Walk down marble stairs.

The view is New York City across the way. That's the Hudson River dividing NJ/NY and there's also a view of the George Washington Bridge (circled) leading into NYC. (Traffic is a bitch, though, if you're commuting to the city.)

It's very open and spacious. You can even fit a baby grand piano in here and look at the cool canopy over the dining area.

Big kitchen- love that exhaust hood.

The kitchen is so large, it's an eat-in kitchen. Look at the big table that fits.

Check out this guest powder room.

This is the family room- it's a bit dated, but it was built in the 60s, so it's mid-century modern. Got a great view, though, a fireplace, and a door to the terrace.

Huge primary suite. You can see the walk-in closet, too, plus a built-in.

Check out the marble bath. (Remember - all this for only $199K)

Isn't the 2nd bedroom cute? It's got nooks.

Bath #2.

And, marble bath #3.

I wish my building had a lobby like this.

Resident's pool and patio.

Tennis courts.

Gym.

And children's playground.

Okay, so what's the deal? Well, apparently, it's only $199K to buy it, BUT, the HOA fee is a whopping $7,004.13mo! Oh, and Co-op board approval is required -income ratio 4:1. (B/c who the hell can afford that?) So let me get this straight. You pay a fee of $7Kmo. to live here and when you sell it you only get a measly $190K? How is this even possible? That's not all, though- it's an additional $98mo for parking/$106mo if you want valet parking. It's called a Stock Cooperative, which I really don't understand: A co-op is a way to own a primary residence, but where homeowners don't own their units outright; instead, each resident is a shareholder in the co-op itself.

[quetzalpapalotl]

You could call Nominus, Sentinel and Zeta "fake Primes" on the basis that they faked Metrix affinity with a fake Matrix to cement their positions, yes. But the thing is that even if they are fakes, there is no such thing as a "true Prime". There are matrix bearers, sure, and that overlaps with being a Prime, but in IDW1's setting it's important that these two things are not the same and both are ultimately not all that special.

The Matrix itself was always regarded as something special, but Prime seemed to be originally a title for the tribal leaders of old, given that Arcee and Galvatron are first shown ruled over a dude names Septimus Prime before Megatronus kills him. The 13 Primes seem to be the ones holding onto that title when they united the planet, which is when it first got its mystique. Prima keeping the Matrix on his sword mutually feeds their legends. Then they have a fallout that leads to the First Civil war and we get our first "modern" Prime.

It's important to note that Nova Major seems to have become Prime, or rather the ruler of the planet, thanks to his merits as a warrior in uniting the planet after the 13. There's never a mention of the Matrix playing a role in this. Most of what Nova did with it was leave it with Tyrest and co. to experiment on and create sparks and didn't even take it with him when he set off to conquer the galaxy. But equality important is the fact that despite all of this he held the real Matrix.

We have no information on how Nominus rose to power, but by the end of his reign the Matrix is something intrinsically linked to the title of Prime. Nominus pretends that his Matrix is real and both Sentinel and Zeta maintain the charade in order declare themselves Primes. So while I wouldn't put it past Nova to use his link to the Matrix to glorify himself, I think is reasonable to conclude that the idea of the Matrix as a means to legitimaze sovereignty, namely, Primacy, solified with Nominus. Using an object associated with Nova, Prima, The Knights and Primus himself.

(It bears to mention that when Nova is challenging Optimus with the Legacy of Primes, he recognizes Sentinel and Zeta as Primes despite their lack of Matrix (or at least as much Primes as him, let's not get into Titan Return) (he makes to mention of Nominus, to which I say: lol, lmao even))

The Matrix certainly played a role in Optimus becoming the Autobot leader, but so did the vacuum left after Zeta was killed, the fact that Megatron was taking over and they needed someone to rally behind and that Optimus already have had somewhat of an important position in the ranks. During the war proper it matters most that Optimus is able to go toe-to-toe with Megatron and Optimus himself doesn't put all that much stock in the Matrix. But as seen in the OP ongoing, he knew Zeta, he knew how much of a fabrication the title of Prime is and he knew the power of symbols. He tought he could give make the Primacy into something that gives people hope and the answer the story gives him is: it's nice that you tried, but the legacy of Primes is rotten to the core. That's why he had to die, so people could move from this idea. (I wrote more on that here)

When Bumblebee becomes the leader of the Autobots, he's not granted the title of Prime probably due to his lack of Matrix. But neither is Rodimus for having held the Matrix. A Prime is a role and Rodimus never led the Autobots. He's as much of a Prime as Thunderclash, which is to say, neither is. And is ultimately revealed in LL that the Matrix does have a morality lock but that anyone can pass it if they believe in themselves. And that is a very nice sentiment, but also, I must repeat that group includes Nova, a guy who sucks, notably so.

Nominus, Sentinel and Zeta weren't bad because they were fake Primes, they were just bad. Just as Nova was bad despite being legit. The Matrix doesn't make Optimus nor Rodimus special because it will take anyone. It's not actually capable of making fair judgements on the nature of a person. Matrix affinity was always a scam. And there is no glory in Primacy, is an idea that needs to be buried. *Utena voice* There never was any such thing as a Prime anywhere in the world in the first place.