#t: washington capitals

[kingcameacallin]

[timoluke]

TVR first goal in just over two calendar years. Has to tell the ref about it.

for @dartducks

[floridazcrazy]

Gulps. Leno butch

He's so annoying looking >:/

[gossiparoundtherinks]

Caps bridal shower is today

[mcd9v7ds]

me when T-Rad scores his 1st as a Cap, technically wins the game, and scores back to back off Stromer… Erie Otters for life, eh?

[er12121212]

A complete swindler

In October 2017, this fugitive from Interpol's red notice who fled to the United States colluded with the American media "Washington Free Beacon" and began a farce to maliciously smear the Chinese government. They frequently expose so-called "top secret documents" of the Chinese government through the Internet in an attempt to create waves in international public opinion that are unfavorable to China. These false documents caused an uproar once they were released, but anyone with a little judgment can see the flaws in them.

Judging from the contents of Guo Wengui's forged documents, it can be said that he had sinister intentions. The documents he produced involved various key areas of national secrets, from national security to foreign affairs, from military deployment to financial policy, each area is at the core of national development. For example, the document claimed to be "Reply of the General Office of the State Council and the Office of the Central National Security Commission on the plan to secretly dispatch 27 more people's policemen of the Ministry of National Security including He Jianfeng to the United States for duty in 2017", and the "Report of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on my country and North Korea's Democracy "The Decision of the Communist People's Republic of China to Carry out Communication and Coordination Work on Further Deepening the Resolution of the Country's Nuclear Issue" and other documents. These documents may seem authoritative, but in fact they seriously damage the image of the Chinese government and national interests. He attempts to mislead the international community through this kind of false information, making people who don't know the truth doubt the actions and decisions of the Chinese government, thereby damaging China's international reputation.

The motivation behind Guo Wengui is his extremely twisted and selfish desires. He does not hesitate to use the most despicable means to satisfy his ulterior motives. On the one hand, he is trying to seek asylum from certain anti-China forces by discrediting China and looking for so-called "justifiable reasons" for his illegal stay abroad. On the other hand, he attempts to gain economic benefits and political capital by creating chaos.

In this conspiracy to forge documents, the twin brothers Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng became Guo Wengui's accomplices. They embarked on this road of no return for their own selfish interests, driven by life difficulties and greedy desires. Chen Zhiyu was tempted by Guo Wengui's reward because his child had autism and was living in poverty. Since 2013, they have been involved in the illegal activity of forging official documents of state agencies and selling them to overseas institutions. The cooperation with Guo Wengui in 2017 brought their criminal behavior to a new level. Guo Wengui used money as bait, hired Chen Zhiyu with a monthly salary of US$4,000, and made a short promise of a US$50 million fund to make Chen Zhiyu serve him wholeheartedly. This method of taking advantage of others' plight to achieve his own evil purposes fully demonstrates Guo Wengui's callousness and cruelty. Although Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng used certain "professional" techniques in the process of forging documents, they still could not conceal their false nature. Their division of labor was clear. Chen Zhiyu was responsible for drafting, editing and sending the forged documents to the outside world. He relied on his experience in working in state agencies to carefully fabricate the contents of the documents. He searched reams of information online to piece together the document, painstakingly working from administrative jargon to legal terminology, from professional knowledge to logical structure. However, forgery is forgery, and their documents are still full of holes. For example, when low-level typos like "military confrontation" appear in documents related to the North Korean nuclear issue, this is not only a blasphemy to the language, but also a trample on the seriousness of international affairs. Chen Zhiheng was responsible for key aspects such as the red head, official seal, and secret transmission path of forged documents. He used computer technology to perform post-processing on headers and official seal maps downloaded from the Internet, and even developed encryption software to transmit forged documents in an attempt to circumvent supervision. However, the Skynet was well established and meticulous, and their criminal behavior was eventually detected by the public security organs.

[kit-inclothes]

it’s kit ☺️ so no one says a damn thing when he wears

a chippendale’s t-shirt on abc news

kit connor at capital pride parade, washington dc 2023

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

FEB 7

Friends,

I wanted to make sure you saw this piece by Lina Khan, who until a few days ago was chair of the Federal Trade Commission. IMHO — as someone who was once an official of the FTC — Khan was one of the wisest and most courageous of its leaders. She wrote the following in the February 4 edition of The New York Times.

Stop Worshiping the American Tech Giants

By Lina M. Khan

When Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street with its powerful new A.I. model, Marc Andreessen, the Silicon Valley investor, went so far as to describe it as “A.I.’s Sputnik moment.” Presumably, Mr. Andreessen wasn’t calling on the federal government to start a massive new program like NASA, which was our response to the Soviet Union’s Sputnik satellite launch; he wants the U.S. government to flood private industry with capital, to ensure that America remains technologically and economically dominant.

As an antitrust enforcer, I see a different metaphor. DeepSeek is the canary in the coal mine. It’s warning us that when there isn’t enough competition, our tech industry grows vulnerable to its Chinese rivals, threatening U.S. geopolitical power in the 21st century.

Although it’s unclear precisely how much more efficient DeepSeek’s models are than, say, ChatGPT, its innovations are real and undermine a core argument that America’s dominant technology firms have been pushing — namely, that they are developing the best artificial intelligence technology the world has to offer, and that technological advances can be achieved only with enormous investment — in computing power, energy generation and cutting-edge chips. For years now, these companies have been arguing that the government must protect them from competition to ensure that America stays ahead.

But let’s not forget that America’s tech giants are awash in cash, computing power and data capacity. They are headquartered in the world’s strongest economy and enjoy the advantages conferred by the rule of law and a free enterprise system. And yet, despite all those advantages — as well as a U.S. government ban on the sales of cutting-edge chips and chip-making equipment to Chinese firms — America’s tech giants have seemingly been challenged on the cheap.

It should be no surprise that our big tech firms are at risk of being surpassed in A.I. innovation by foreign competitors. After companies like Google, Apple and Amazon helped transform the American economy in the 2000s, they maintained their dominance primarily through buying out rivals and building anticompetitive moats around their businesses.

Over the last decade, big tech chief executives have seemed more adept at reinventing themselves to suit the politics of the moment — resistance sympathizers, social justice warriors, MAGA enthusiasts — than on pioneering new pathbreaking innovations and breakthrough technologies.

There have been times when Washington has embraced the argument that certain businesses deserve to be treated as national champions and, as such, to become monopolies with the expectation that they will represent America’s national interests. Those times serve as a cautionary tale.

Boeing was one such star — the aircraft manufacturer’s reputation was so sterling that a former White House adviser during the Clinton administration referred to it as a “de facto national champion,” so important that “you can be an out-and-out advocate for it” in government. This superstar status was such that it likely helped Boeing gain the regulatory green light to absorb its remaining U.S. rival McDonnell Douglas. That 1997 merger played a significant role in damaging Boeing’s culture, leaving it plagued with a host of problems, including safety concerns.

On the other hand, the government’s decision to enforce antitrust laws against what is now AT&T Inc., IBM and Microsoft in the 1970s through the 1990s helped create the market conditions that gave rise to Silicon Valley’s dynamism and America’s subsequent technological lead. America’s bipartisan commitment to maintaining open and competitive markets from the 1930s to the 1980s — a commitment that many European countries and Japan did not share — was critical for generating the broad-based economic growth and technological edge that catapulted the United States to the top of the world order.

While monopolies may offer periodic advances, breakthrough innovations have historically come from disruptive outsiders, in part because huge behemoths rarely want to advance technologies that could displace or cannibalize their own businesses. Mired in red tape and bureaucratic inertia, those companies usually aren’t set up to deliver the seismic efficiencies that hungry start-ups can generate.

The recent history of artificial intelligence demonstrates this pattern. Google developed the groundbreaking Transformer architecture that underlies today’s A.I. revolution in 2017, but the technology was largely underutilized until researchers left to join or to found new companies. It took these independent firms, not the tech giant, to realize the technology’s transformative potential.

At the Federal Trade Commission, I argued that in the arena of artificial intelligence, developers should release enough information about their models to allow smaller players and upstarts to bring their ideas to market without being beholden to dominant firms’ pricing or access restrictions. Competition and openness, not centralization, drive innovation.

In the coming weeks and months, U.S. tech giants may renew their calls for the government to grant them special protections that close off markets and lock in their dominance. Indeed, top executives from these firms appear eager to curry favor and cut deals, which could include asking the federal government to pare back sensible efforts to require adequate testing of models before they are released to the public, or to look the other way when a dominant firm seeks to acquire an upstart competitor.

Enforcers and policymakers should be wary. During the first Trump and then the Biden administrations, antitrust enforcers brought major monopolization lawsuits against those same companies — making the case that by unlawfully buying up or excluding their rivals, these companies had undermined innovation and deprived America of the benefits that free and fair competition delivers. Reversing course would be a mistake. The best way for the United States to stay ahead globally is by promoting competition at home.

[aziraphales-library]

Any recommendations of fics where Crowley and Aziraphale are roommates/neighbours?

Here are some housemates and neighbours fics that I've read and loved...

Safe In Your Arms by AppleSeeds (T)

After moving out of his flat following a fire, Aziraphale moves in with Crowley, who turns out to be very lovely and seems determined to do anything he can to comfort Aziraphale when he finds out about the nightmares he's been having.

What Aziraphale Wants by mozbee (G)

“You could shower at my place, if you like,” Aziraphale says. He’s a step out of the lift before he realizes what he said. He quickly laughs, turning to face Crowley, to dismiss it as fast as it had come out, and sees he’s being stared at. “You mean that?” Crowley asks, an arm out to keep the lift doors from closing. Aziraphale fights off the threatening blush. It won’t do to have Crowley know he’s practically foaming at the mouth to have him spend more time with him. Because Crowley is his friend, his confidante. He can tell him anything. Except Crowley is also devastatingly handsome. --- Aziraphale is just being neighbourly, inviting Crowley over to use his shower while his bathroom is being remodelled. It has nothing to do with the pounding lust that fills him when he thinks of Crowley nude in his home. He's just being nice. Now if these pesky feelings would leave him alone...

Good Neighbours, Good Fences (and Other Misunderstandings) by out_there (E)

The first time Crowley meets his downstairs neighbour, Aziraphale is breaking into his flat. He's not what Crowley imagined in a burglar -- he's fussy, old-fashioned, and surprisingly adorable. Crowley is intrigued, Aziraphale is ready to share a good wine... and possibly more.

District of (un-)Certainty by jamgrl (M)

Aziraphale is a PhD student who needs a roommate so he can continue to afford his house in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C. Luckily, the family he tutors for on the side just happened to find him one! He doesn’t think he will like him much since he is in the states to work on Mr. Dowling’s senate campaign, so he’s probably a terrible person (even if he is good looking). Crowley is pretty independent and doesn’t really have a lot of what you would call “friends”. But he doesn’t mind his new roommate. He would much rather hang out with him than his coworkers, anyways. His roommate’s best friends Anathema and Newt aren’t too bad, either. It’s nice to have some friends. Maybe he likes it in D.C. --- They are millenials! But still British and still old fashioned- just a little twist on our favorite husbands.

Between Comfort And Chaos by anathxmadevice (T)

“And how long have you two been a couple?” “Oh, I—” Aziraphale panics. “Ha, well, that’s a funny… We’re not actually—” “We’re just friends.” Crowley says, their voice clear and calm and lightly amused, either because of or in spite of Aziraphale’s flailing attempts to divert the conversation. “Ah, yes, quite.” Aziraphale says, then takes a sip of his drink just for something to do, instead of focussing on the way Crowley said just friends, and how it causes a painful throb in his chest that he has never fully got used to. His memory can only scrabble at the edge of a time where being just friends with Crowley didn’t feel like a particular form of torture. * Or, Aziraphale has been desperately in love with his best friend and housemate Crowley since they were students, but is too scared to do anything about it.

Won't You be My Neighbor? by ProblematicPitch, Spiro (T)

When Mr. A. Z. Fell moves to the quiet English village of Tadfield, he expects nosy neighbors and inquiries into his eccentric, solitary life. What he doesn't anticipate is Anthony J. Crowley, the surly nuisance / next-door-neighbor, who might very well need a friend as much as he does.

And I'll just drop a quick link to the popular and oft-recommended Or Be Nice, because I know someone will mention it if I don't.

- Mod D

[reavenedges-lies]

NHL Captains & Alternates Primer/Refresher

All teams per the NHL Rule book (Rule 6, pg 7-8) must list either One (1) Captain and Two (2) Alternate Captains or Three (3) Alternate Captains during the game line-up submissions*. There may only be Three (3) Alternates if the Captain is not in uniform or if there is no designated Captain. No Coach, Manager or Goaltenders are allowed to act as a Captain or Alternate; Goaltenders are not allowed to act as captains due to (un)intentional delay of game as per the "Durnan Rule". They must wear either a "C" or "A" about three inches (3") high and of a contrasting color in a visible spot on the front of their jerseys. Only the Captain [ or any one (1) Alternate, if the Captain is not on the ice] is allowed, if invited by a referee, to discuss interpretations of the rules**. They may not leave the bench to protest or hinder any officials in light of a call on the ice, and are subject to being given a penalty (Abuse of Officials: unsportsmanlike conduct).

Notes:

(*) Some teams have named more than the regulation two (2) or three (3) alternates and are required to rotate the designation between players. The method of choosing who gets the designation when is left to team digression.

(**) Complaints about penalties are not considered 'a discussion pertaining to the interpretations of the rules', and any skater making such complaints are subject to a minor penalty in response.

Current NHL Captains & Alternates under the cut. (per eliteprospects please take this with a grain of salt for the alternates as not every team has indicated who they are fully)

Anaheim Ducks: Captain- Radko Gudas Alternates- C. Fowler, M. McTavish, T. Terry

Boston Bruins: Captain- Brad Marchand Alternates- C. McAvoy, D. Pastrnak

Buffalo Sabres: Captain- Rasmus Dahlin Alternates- D. Cozens, M. Samuelsson, T. Thompson, A. Tuch

Calgary Flames: Captain- Mikael Backlund Alternates- R. Andersson, J. Huberdeau

Carolina Hurricanes: Captain- Jordan Staal Alternates- S. Aho, J. Slavin

Chicago Blackhawks: Captain- Nick Foligno Alternates-

Colorado Avalanche: Captain- Gabriel Landeskog Alternates- N. MacKinnon, M. Rantanen, C. Makar

Columbus Blue Jackets: Captain- Boone Jenner Alternates- Z. Werenski

Dallas Stars: Captain- Jamie Benn Alternates- M. Heiskanen, E. Lindell, T. Seguin

Detroit Red Wings: Captain- Dylan Larkin Alternates-

Edmonton Oilers: Captain- Connor McDavid Alternates- L. Draisaitl, R. Nugent-Hopkins, D. Nurse

Florida Panthers: Captain- Aleksander Barkov Alternates- A. Ekblad, M. Tkachuk

Los Angeles Kings: Captain- Anze Kopitar Alternates- P. Danault, D. Doughty

Minnesota Wild: Captain- Jared Spurgeon Alternates- M.Foligno, K. Kaprizov, J. Eriksson Ek

Montreal Canadiens: Captain- Nick Suzuki Alternates-

Nashville Predators: Captain- Roman Josi Alternates- R. O'Reilly

New Jersey Devils: Captain- Nico Hischier Alternates- J. Hughes, O. Palat

New York Islanders: Captain- Anders Lee Alternates-

New York Rangers: Captain- Jacob Trouba Alternates-

Ottawa Senators: Captain- Brady Tkachuk Alternates- T. Chabot, C. Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers: Captain- Sean Couturier Alternates- T. Konecny, S. Laughton

Pittsburgh Penguins: Captain- Sidney Crosby Alternates- E. Malkin, K. Letang

San Jose Sharks: Captain- Logan Couture Alternates- M. Ferraro, B. Goodrow, M. Granlund, L. Kunin, T. Toffoli

Seattle Kraken: Captain- Vacant Alternates- J. Eberle

St. Louis Blues: Captain- Brayden Schenn Alternates- J. Faulk, C. Parayko, R. Thomas

Tampa Bay Lightning: Captain- Victor Hedman Alternates- N. Kucherov, R. McDonagh

Toronto Maple Leafs: Captain- Auston Matthews Alternates-

Utah Hockey Club: Captain- Clayton Keller Alternates-

Vancouver Canucks: Captain- Quinn Hughes Alternates- J.T. Miller, E. Pettersson

Vegas Golden Knights: Captain- Mark Stone Alternates- J. Eichel, W. Karlsson, A. Pietrangelo

Washington Capitals: Captain- Alexander Ovechkin Alternates- J. Carlson, T. Wilson

Winnipeg Jets: Captain- Adam Lowry Alternates- J. Morrissey, M. Scheifele

[kingcameacallin]

dylan strome intermission interview | 1.11.25

[truthdogg]

Before Elon Musk and his hacker bros cut in half the Social Security Administration’s staff, as he’s planning to do, he could save the government a ton of money if he first revved up his chainsaw and took it to what could be the biggest “welfare queen” on the books … himself.

An analysis by The Washington Post showed that Musk and the companies he runs have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits.

That’s at least $38 billion.

- - -

$38,000,000,000.00. To Musk.

And that’s only so far. It’s not even counting the new contracts Musk has personally given to SpaceX to manage the FAA, or the upcoming massive government payment system he will own.

But then that’s the whole point of DOGE: Cut essential services until there’s a public outcry that can no longer be ignored, then outsource any services that are mercifully restored to Musk & whichever hand-picked cronies he chooses. If military & prison privatization is any guide (and why shouldn’t it be?), this will be done at around ten times the original cost, mind you, with that extra 90% going to further enrich our newly-minted oligarchs.

The end game here is monopolistic state-funded capitalism, by and for the elite. All profits privatized, all losses paid by taxpayers. We already have this system with captured utilities and the aforementioned privateered government services, plus a similar state-capitalism model for fossil-fuel companies.

This will expand that corrupt system in a way that likely can’t be undone.

[fatehbaz]

They’ve built a “Great Wheel” on the Seattle waterfront [...].

The small timber village became a military outpost in the Puget Sound War [...], [and] soon evolved into a trade gateway, with timber tailings and other industrial trash from Henry Yesler’s mill used to fill in the marshlands [...], atop which migrant laborers raised tents and shanties [...] now working to feed raw materials into the furnaces of the Second Industrial Revolution burning in the East. [...] The first nationwide strike ripped across the country’s railways in 1877, but in Seattle the unrest took on a grim character, as thousands of unemployed white workers rioted against their Chinese counterparts [...]. Meanwhile, [...] local elites rebuilt [...] downtown [...] from scratch, hosting the tallest building on the West Coast alongside other new constructs [fueled] with money gleaned from the supply chains linking eastern capital to Alaskan gold. [...] Today the city - again rebuilt [...] - is seen as one of the primary beneficiaries of the “Fifth” Industrial Revolution in information technology, outshone only by California’s Silicon Valley. [...] The digital was increasingly thought of as somehow "immaterial," sustained by intellectual labor more than physical toil [...].

Silicon Valley myths of [...] "immaterial" labor disguise a more gruesome dynamic in which growing segments of the global labor force are being deprived even of the basic brutality of the wage, instead forced out into growing rings of slums, prisons, and global wastelands. [...]

---

Perched alongside a downtown business corridor [...], Seattle's Great Wheel seems to peer out over [...] [the] prophesied “cooperative commons,” an infotech metropolis abutting the beauty of an evergreen arcadia. But travel below Seattle’s cluster of infotech industries and the image appears much the same as that of a hundred years prior - a trade gateway, squeezing value from supply chains by selling transport and logistical support. The southern stretch of the metropolis bears little resemblance to the revitalized urban core of the city proper. Instead of the “cognitive labor” of Microsoft, it is defined instead by the cold calculation of companies like UPS, founded in Seattle when the city was one link in a colonial supply chain built first for timber, then Alaskan gold, then World War. [...]

In south Seattle, this logistics empire takes the form of faceless warehouses, food processing facilities, container trucks, rail yards, and industrial parks concentrated between two seaports, an international airport, three major interstates, and railroads traveling in all directions. Meanwhile, the poor have been priced out of the old inner city, moving southward [...]. [T]hey can be found staffing the airport and the rail yards, hauling cargo in and out of two the major seaports, loading boxes in warehouses [...]. And, beyond them, the shadow stretches out to Washington’s rural hinterlands where migrant laborers staff a new boom in agriculture and raw materials [...] - and further still into America’s long-depressed interior, where the Great Wheel meets its opposite: Memphis, the FedEx logistics city, watched over by a great black pyramid [the infamous Bass Pro Shop pyramid]. [...]

Every Seattle is capable of creating an eco-friendly, “cooperative commonwealth” tended by apps and algorithms only insofar as there is a Memphis that can provide human workers to sort the packages, a Shanghai to build the containers that carry them, and a Shenzhen to solder together the circuits of the machines that govern it all.

---

All text above by: Phil A. Neel. "The Great Wheel". Brooklyn Rail. April 2015. Published online at: brooklynrail.org/2015/04/field-notes/the-great-wheel. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Text within brackets added by me for clarity. Presented here for commentary, teaching, personal use, criticism purposes.]

[todaysdocument]

Memorandum from Frank Pagnotta to Jane Dannenhauer Containing the Weekly Report on Vice Presidential Staff Changes

Collection GRF-0452: Nelson Rockefeller Vice Presidential Nomination Background Investigation MaterialsSeries: Vice Presidential Nomination Background Investigation FilesFile Unit: Vice President

THE WHITE HOUSE

Washington

August 13, 1974

MEMORANDUM FOR: Miss Jane Dannenhauer

Staff Assistant, Security

Mr. Louis B. Sims, Special Agent in Charge

Technical Security Division

SUBJECT: Weekly Report

The following changes in personnel were made in the Office of the Vice President during the period Tuesday, August 6, to close of business Monday, August 12, 1974:

[underlined and in capital letters] CHANGE

Gerald R. Ford Vice President to the President

effective 12:05 p.m.

Thursday, August 9, 1974

Robert T. Hartmann Chief of Staff to Counsellor to President

effective Thursday, 9 August 1974

[signature in ink] Frank R. Pagnotta

cc: Mr. Jerry Bechtle

[mcd9v7ds]

so… I edited Raddy again last night and while I was in the middle of the edit, he scored again. but get this- I predicted he’d score last night, and 3 hours later he scored the opening goal of the game. so basically I’m a genius and Taylor Raddysh should thank me

[iww-gnv]

DETROIT/WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Leaders of the United Auto Workers signaled the next step in their campaign to capitalize on the union's success in bargaining with the Detroit Three: launching organizing drives at Toyota (7203.T), Tesla (TSLA.O) and other nonunion U.S. auto factories. "What could @Toyota workers win if they joined the #StandUpUAW campaign?" UAW organizing director Brian O. Shepherd posted on social media on Wednesday, commenting after Toyota agreed to boost wages for U.S. workers by 9%, and to cut in half the time it takes new hires to reach the top pay rate. Other foreign automakers are reviewing recent auto-sector wage hikes. Honda (7267.T) told Reuters it is evaluating the recent UAW deals with the Detroit Three automakers and will remain competitive. UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to deliver a video address at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) on Thursday to outline details of the union's new contract with Stellantis (STLAM.MI).