#that man should not have a platform to exploit people through

[valentialbein]

My goat is washed…….. my goat is washed… (said like a mantra)

[cafeleningrad]

Ohtori is such a disorienting place. It's so emblematic that none of the actual needs of the people in it are met. In fact it gives answers but none actually are satisfying for anyone yet the answers are presented as only alternative. ("You have to revolutionize the world (by participating in the duels that ensure the world continues to run on the same old dynamic.)"

What system Ohtori, Akio by proxy, proposes is the idea of power over another. It's very gendered power as we learn later. Women's power exists either as extension's of a man (Nanami's high social status by virtue of being Touga's little sister), be inspired to have power by extension of a man (Wakaba), surrendering to a man (Kozue), or can be easily taken away power if a man decides that the woman had enough power (Juri,Utena). In the instance a woman has power it's also used to dominate others just like men do. (Nanami being cruel to others, to Tsuwabuki in particular, Utena treating Anthy her a puzzle piece to her princely identity.) In the end there is an idea how someone who should hold all the power should be like (the Prince), and they're given free reign. However that's not what the characters need.

Touga is entirely helpless to his paternal CSA. Akio's proposition is to become, for once, the one in charge of others so none can exploit him again. And Touga fails to see how Akio still exploits him by directing Touga, with quiet implicit imagery stressing that dynamic. What Touga would have needed was protection and a trusting family.

Nanami grew up so isolated and shamed for diverging from the norm, she is entirely dependent on external subjects and objects to define her. Either it's being defined by her relationship to Touga which is the entire basis of her social status, and her only hope for affection. Nanami can only define herself by traditional feminine and classicist means like her perceived ideal femininity, and brand-name jewelry which can easily turn on her, if external voices tell her that she should wear something. Nanami is so desperate for affection, being cared and loved for but the only language she is given is Ohtori's language of "men and women are only corresponding romantically". She can't express her need for familial proximity to Touga. The only other form of gaining adoration she knows is by violence, be it Touga's kitten, Tsuwabuki, or beating her three nameless underlings into submission.

It's not until the third arc that we learn about the Kaoru twins are in the middle of their parents separating. Their childhood is getting disrupted. Both of them are longing for time of connection and chance to hold onto each other. But Ohtori tells them that Miki can only adore Kozue as innocent and helpless. Kozue, like Nanami, gets told that her only chance to express affection to her male twin is by a sexualized, romanticized interaction. For two characters who're living through turbulent times, and need some stability in the other, twisting their chance of proximity is exactly the wrong answer.

Saionji really wants to remain friends with Touga he admires so much. (If not being in love with him.) Even more than Juri, he knows that the duel platform is just a set up, he swallows Touga's poison of "true friendship doesn't exist" again and again. The only chance of proximity to Touga is to disrespect others, demonstrate superiority over them, especially Anthy, as best proxy to a close male-male-dynamic. Saionji's only given path is to delude himself further and further.

Juri pushes so many people away because she's afraid her homosexuality will be revealed. Ohtori as a place does punish homosexuality severely, see Mikage's twisted memory, Ruka trying to converse Juri. This place convinces Juri over and over again that she's wrong for loving Shiori. But the truth is, Shiori is so much in love with Juri that she will resort to abuse her emotional power as long as it serves the purpose of Juri remaining close to her. What they would have needed is the chance to know that actually they're safe to be honest, at least to each other.

Utena is deeply grief-stricken by her parent's death. As a child the idea that everything will fade is terrifying. The only alternative she is shown is that Anthy's suffering is eternal. She wants to help. But the only path for being admired and adored is becoming a prince. The only agency to help and save others is by exercising the prince's power over someone. Akio becomes even crueler by trying to convince Utena that a girl's actual aspiration is romance (with a man). What else should she want? It also distract her from her genuine compassion for Anthy, and wishing for Anthy's happiness.

[neo-smpwriterrr]

Last post kind of blew up, so I think it's time for me to make a full post on my take on all this shir going down.

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: This is before the second crash out stream, apparently that green fuck is gonna drop another stream but because I have a job and life to live unlike this jackass I won't be viewing it till Tuesday at best.

Now to start talking about some of the serious shit, it is my opinion that dream should not be allowed a platform after this. I'm all for freedom of speech and all that shit don't get me wrong but when someone like him as used his platform to manipulate and exploit the minors in his server as well as to intimidate Victims like caitibug. This guy shouldn't be allowed anywhere close to the same audience he used to weaponize them.

It's only a matter of time before the whole server leaks, and the guys already admitted to heinous shit.

Also I find it disgusting that one of his offshore comments made at Tommy was about it Wilbur yelling at him to keep quiet about a possible predator in the server. These pathetic excuses of adults failed everyone in this server and after all these years I think it's time to finally get rid of them.

To any dream stans out there, whether you just liked his manhunt videos or speed runs or still defend the guy. I am not here to shame you or anything like that, if anything I understand the position your in right now. I don't feel comfortable completely shitting on dream stans because I've also been in a situation where I've idolized a content creator and defended them on every hill. It's hard to see someone for what they really are.

As a kid, from about 11 to 14 I watched skydoesminecraft, he was one of the first YouTubers I watched. It's sad to say it but I really looked up to the guy, he was one of the reasons I wanted to make videos as a kid or just be apart of the YouTuber sphere. In hindsight, I'm glad I wasn't remotely close to any of it. But watching someone I looked up to for years get exposed with damning proof, it was a while different level of disappointment.

So when I see dream stans still defend him, and especially those fans who are obviously kids or at least where younger when they watched him. It's hard for me not so show sympathy.

Who I can't feel any form of sympathy or empathy for is dream, he was a grown man then and he's even older grown man. He knows right from wrong but also knows that doing wrong gets more eyes on him than doing anything right.

Apart from deplatforming the guy, I think we all need to avoid giving him even a second of our attention. Especially since this guy has made it his whole brand to leech off other content creators to take the credit for himself.

As of now, the next stream of this idiots on the horizon. And while i can't tune in anyways because of work and personal stuff. I wouldn't even entertain watching it on his platform. Watch it through clips or reposts, someone's bound to repost it.

And to the many victims of dream over the years, we can really only give our condolences and show support to them. People like Tommy, Jack, Tubbo are just the more vocal individuals. Many people were hurt by this guy and we should all show our support to them, especially Caitibug.

And as I said in my last post about all of this, don't let George and sapnap off with a slap on the wrist for there part to play in this. Those two are equally, if not more guilty of horrible shit, don't let them get off Scott free. Especially George.

With all that being said, I'm gonna go back to working on this rewrite. In all honesty, the more and more I work on rewriting the server, the more I get this shitty taste in mouth about it. I plan on continuing on the Neo smp rewrite but it's gonna take longer. The trio is being written out all together, I also decided to keep this going as a passion project. I'll be posting an update on what I've been working on soon, a new character sheets and worldbuilding is coming soon.

[dreamysleep]

A lot of these younger people are idealizing Communism right now, which I feel is very typical of younger people. Don't get me wrong, I love how Gen Z has been more politically active than ever.

Looking to Rednote and then saying, "Wow, their country is so much better than mine," because TikTok is going away is a whole different matter. It's looking at the top percent of people in that country (with the highest social credit score) and then saying "Man, I wish that we could have it that way."

What's ironic, and also not, is the fact that our own country would even allow an app like #Rednote to be available through the application store, esp. when citing the dangers of TikTok. I don't really trust a lot about our government anymore. I believe this movement to Rednote is just a movement to where our government already wants our country to head. It gives younger people this illusion of free speech when there isn't any.

Many on the app have cited that "Americans think they have free speech" while so many cannot get a car or own a home if they think bad thoughts towards their government. Many in Shanghai have gotten ahead holding multinational corporations, kind of like our own, that exploit people overseas for their labor.

The irony is looking into a subjugated economic system, seeing it, and going "Ah, that's a country with free choice." Especially when the government had said, "You will own nothing and be happy" or when Immanuel Wallerstein said the only way to make an economic movement in the world is to subjugate the entire planet to a system where almost no one can make any money.

It's pretty obvious that this is not a proxy war. Especially with the shared companies, the bought-up farms, and the similar political structure. I simply reject that. Instead, look at the other social media platforms such as Meta where you simply do not have any free speech unless your own social credit score is high. Where studies (such as on the pharmaceutical industry or mold poisoning), are hidden from the public or unfinished because there simply is no financial incentive behind them (and the people are "better not knowing the truth.")

A radical shift in conscientiousness is looking outside the looking glass, looking at the powers that be and asking where they want to go. If they were so ready to kill people against the federal reserve back in the day, imagine what they are doing now.

Then ask yourself if there can be a world where almost everyone is free. Where humanitarian efforts thrive, and people speak their mind regularly with the thoughts of betterment of the whole.

I think we need to accept the fact that humans are more than capable of governing ourselves rather than giving that power to a few elected people who think they should run everything. That, somehow, God gave them the right similar to a King. This is the 2025. We are more than capable.

[bravecrab]

I was just listening to a podcast about the Peter Thiel backed Enhanced Games, a proposed alternative Olympics in which doping would not only be allowed but be the whole point. It's not an original idea, as long as doping has been in the conversation about the Olympics, there's always been people flippantly saying that they should just do something like the Enhanced Games, see how far we can push it. What's the harm?

There are plenty harms related in using cocktails of drugs to push the human body past it's natural limits, and there are plenty people who have made these comments in regards to the Enhanced Games. However a harm that I haven't seen mentioned yet, is the normalisation of pharmaceutical drug use and associating it with "peak physical performance". The Enhanced Games would be more than just an exhibition of sport, it would be a marketing platform for the pharmaceutical industry. Each athlete would have their own team to build them into the perfect athlete, more like Formula One, although who knows if the athletes will have to wear the brand logos on all their gear, so the audience know who sells the best steroids.

Let's not beat around the bush, an event that focuses on finely tuning the human body into a "perfect" form, is eugenics. The proponents of the Enhanced Games will deny it, but they want it to be successful and influential. They want it to be more successful than the Olympics. And that will require a normalisation of Eugenics.

A philosophy of domination is behind both the Enhanced Games and the Olympics. It's always been about peak fitness, as well as geopolitical bragging rights. A mindset of domination has always been used to justify eugenics, domination theology stating that God created the Earth for human consumption, and that of all creatures, Man is closest to God. That's been weaponized as white supremacy and as patriarchy, amongst many other oppressive norms, making claims through pseudo-science, that white, cis, straight men are the pinnacle of humanity. Both events are an exhibition of dominance, and while the Enhanced Games is definitely worse, the Olympics still promotes an idea that the winners are just Great Athletes, and their winning has nothing to do with factors like national wealth and resources.

Another concern I have over an event that normalises enhancing bodies beyond human limits, is that it will attempt to normalise it in work places. Despite advances in automation, a lot of physical work is still done by humans, and will remain that way as long as it is cheaper. If one of the biggest sporting events endorses performance enhancers, it's not a stretch for them to become popularly used in physical workplaces. I've done many years of warehousing work, and guys in those jobs are very much into the idea of being the biggest and strongest. Employers will definitely be happy to exploit this.

I think an event like Enhanced Games is easy to overlook. The concept has been the curiosity of a lot of people as soon as they're aware of doping. However it's the involvement of ghouls like Peter Thiel, people with a TESCREAL philosophy (Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effect Altruism, Long-termism), who want to control the future of all humankind, that make this worrying. These are billionaires who want to sell you your greatest sci fi fantasies, while maintaining a firm grasp on the controls. A future in which Peak Human Performance requires you to buy a steady supply of performance enhancing drugs, is one in which the Pharmaceutical industry is perpetually wealthy.

I'd also like to include that there is also the potential of a backlash to an event like Enhanced Games, it which all forms of alterations and modifications to the human body are labelled as evil and impure, which will likely be used to endorse transphobia.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this article from Mother Jones. The author is David Corn.

It’s a war.

In the first two weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump and his billionaire sidekick Elon Musk have initiated an all-out battle against the US government, the rule of law, and decency. They have mounted a blitzkrieg, a coup, an assault on the Constitution. It’s a mad power grab designed to steer the nation toward autocracy and full-fledged oligarchy. What’s under way is not merely the implementation of far-right policies but an attack on the American system and a hostile takeover of the nation.

Trump and his minions have rooted out civil servants they deem insufficiently loyal to Dear Leader and taken draconian steps to depopulate federal agencies that do the people’s business, such as safeguarding our food supply, researching cures for diseases, protecting workers and the environment, overseeing our transportation systems, and keeping the financial system secure and stable. They tried through an arguably illegal executive order to freeze funding for health care, education, transportation, and other services.

Musk and his mafia took over the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees hiring across the executive branch, installing their own servers. They also invaded the highly sensitive Treasury Department to gain control of the government’s payment system, presumably to cut off funds to programs Musk and Trump want to defund—a step that risked massive privacy violations, hacks, assorted abuses, and the possible breakdown of what is essentially the government’s circulatory system. Trump’s shock troops suspended foreign aid, a move that caused the closure of soup kitchens in famine-stricken Somalia, the cessation of medical services for war refugees in Thailand, the end to heating assistance for Ukrainians on the frontline of the war with Russia, and other programs—increasing misery, death, and disease around the world. Musk, the richest man in the world, called the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes foreign aid that helps millions of low-income and indigent people, “a criminal organization” and tweeted, “Time for it to die.”

This is a revolution of the elite. Trump and Musk aim to gut government. Their intent is to emasculate the one force that can counter the excesses of the powerful and the wealthy. While Trump yearns to be a strongman who commands all corners of the government and demands absolute fealty to his whims and desires, Musk seeks to weaken the one entity that can check corporate power and abuses, including his own. During a Twitter chat with two GOP senators, he urged abolishing all government regulations. He’s pursuing a right-wing libertarian fantasy of unfettered capitalism. The disrupters and technologists shall rule as they see fit, without the pesky interventions of bureaucrats committed to the public good. This is not the typical fight of the well-to-do for tax cuts and deregulation—which, of course, the Republicans and their billionaire underwriters do crave—but an ideological crusade to change the foundation of American society and crush checks and balances that might prevent Trump, Musk, and others in the oligarchy from reigning supreme. It’s class warfare, top-down. Feel free to call it fascism.

With this war raging, where are the Democrats?

They should have a war room that operates 24/7 to generate and voice loud and smart opposition to the Trump-Musk onslaught. They need to be coordinating messaging and running a nonstop firehose of social media. A never-ending string of fiery speeches on the House and Senate floor, obstructionist tactics, the exploitation of every possible forum and platform. Their best and most media-savvy members—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Chris Murphy, say—should be denouncing and decrying on a daily basis. Instead of licking wounds, Democrats ought to be showing some fight, conveying the perilous reality of the moment, and presenting themselves as a fierce and united bulwark against this treacherous attack. It’s not about moving to the left or to the right. They need to rush to the barricades. All of them.

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

Hello jalebi advanced happy new year! Hope this year have been good to you, I wanna know why did writers put such age gap btw arnav khushi as the show begun khushi was 18 and Arnav somewhere 27,28 thing and it kinda give me creeps to think love story btw a girl and man(I love ipk but this kinda itches me) as khushi sort of did her 12th maybe and Arnav is way more older,wiser by his "age" not mentally though! And I have seen people writing fanfics with this age gap and it kinda bothers me how does women write such stories? And it's totally my opinion I'm sorry if I'm being offensive.

Hello Anon!

Happy New Year <3

Thank you for the love - I hope you get many good things this year!

Honestly, NO idea. Asian dramas do have an unhealthy love for obnoxiously young women (teens tbh) opposite older men.

Ideally Khushi should be 23 and Arnav 27 for this to be a comfortable love story considering just how many imbalances are there between them. But I also think there's just this weird obsession of getting a woman as young, as inexperienced as possible next to a man who obviously has experience in many ways.

Also the show's target audience was 14 years old girls.

You're not being offensive at all - that age gap and Khushi being 18 is offensive.

There's really nothing I can comment about the show per se, but I'll say this as a woman who has loved this show from the time I was Khushi's age to older than that - age really matters in how I view Arnav and the whole plots with.

And I've realized this, as someone who often puts her foot into the character's feet to write fanfics - how Khushi treats Arnav has evolved with my age. How I believe Arnav and Khushi get their happily ever after has changed with my age.

Khushi is easier to exploit if she's that young tbh. She is uninformed. She doesn't have much agency to control her life. She hasn't experienced much of the world to tackle through (lovedddd when she was growing up in the office). Also keeping her 18 is like keeping her as innocent and angelic as ever?

Not saying it can't be for compelling storytelling. It absolutely can. The question is, is ITV the platform for it?

Like fanfics could, obviously, explore this as much as we want but where episodes are churned out like low quality bread - I guess there's more reliance on tropes and cliches that work as opposed to creating something more.

There's just no time and energy for that to happen.

Tbh Anika happens to be my favorite 4Lions heroine just for this. She's appropriately aged, roasts Shivaay so well, and has her way of dealing with the world.

Idk if I answered much of your question or just went into my own tangent, lol.

Love,

Jalebi

[lean-mean-demon-genevieve]

Hi! I’m not sure if this has been asked before but is there a reason she moved her bookclub to Charlie’s platform? Also, does she get paid for these talks with the authors? I’ve always wondered that. Thanks!

The answer is ALWAYS money.

My guess is that it’s some sort of a circle-jerk type of deal where she moves her thing to his platform and in turn he does some sort of work for her/Jared like managing their social media.

Remember that Momentus was charging for attending her bookclubs live with the ability to chat and ask questions. Momentus then reportedly gave an undisclosed percent of that fee to charity of choice. Gen probably pockets a portion of the remaining profit, but I don’t know that for sure.

Not that long ago, you could also buy her bookclub picks through the Momentus website, but I don’t see that anymore. Instead, if you click her “link in bio” link on IG, Gen now has her own affiliate link with a site called Bookshop.org. This site has marketed itself as an alternative to Amazon and as an advocate for independent bookstores. Which all sounds great until you do a little bit of research.

Bookshop.org basically acts as a middle man between a wholesale warehouse (named Ingram) and indie bookstores. Bookshop doesn’t even take from the indie bookstore’s inventory. Shops can set up an account, customers order books, they are shipped from an Ingram warehouse, and the site gives the indie seller a 30% cut of the profit…but indie bookstores are concerned because they would make more by cutting out the middle man. Duh!

(Read more here and here)

And when individuals like Gen can become an affiliate and earn 10% on sales, indie bookstores lose out even more.

“Publications that review books can earn much-needed financial support”…nope, that’s not Gen. “Book clubs can earn sustaining funds on each pick”…that doesn’t feel like it fits either. “Instagram influencers can earn revenue”…theeeeere it is!

You see that running total at the top of that website? Gen didn’t contribute to that. Her 10% goes right in her pocket. Remember a couple weeks ago when Gen posted a reel about her favorite local Austin indie bookstores? And how important it is to support them?

She cares about her own bottom line even more.

But I bet she would love for you to believe that this was yet another altruistic, pious choice in the name of small businesses and sustainability. Most fans won’t look this deeply into her connection to this site and company itself. They just see that giant number at the top and their heart eyes for Gen dilate that much farther.

Amazon is an evil organization. I use it too, but it is evil. It just is. Amazon has put a lot of small businesses in the ground with their ability to charge less. I appreciate alternatives, and Bookshop is that, but Bookshop isn’t innocent. Even though they’re up-charging for books, remember how many extra people have to get their cut. This company boomed as it launched in 2020 and much profit has been made. And any time major profits are made…someone is getting exploited.

(It should also be noted that Gen’s link in bio also has her Amazon affiliate link. She doesn’t care which shifty brand is paying her, as long as she’s getting your money.)

I wonder what the people at the distribution warehouse get paid? How do authors make money? How much is the creator of Bookshop worth at this point in comparison?

Hey Gen, can you answer any of that?

Gen, wait!!

…I don’t think she wants to talk.

[kimplosion]

Day 70

Instead of a drawing today, I'm gonna go over the fairly simple RPG system I made out of the bones of other systems! I call it...

Boss Rush!

BASICS The intention for this system is to be able to quickly make a character, get into a fight with a big bad enemy, and do cool things at them until they're dead. To that end, there's very little combat math (unless you count "which number is bigger?"). Disclaimer: I largely improvised this system precisely one time 3 months ago, and I didn't really write down the rules, so it's bound to be a mess. But it's a fun mess!

THE GOLDEN RULE Many of these systems will likely be exploitable, and that's ok.

The important thing is that everyone's having fun and telling a good story.

Describe your actions as full scenes! Be as evocative as you can muster! I'm not here to shame players who "hit the bad guy with my sword again", I have been that player. But if you can add any spice, your group will appreciate it.

THE DICE Actions in this game use dice to determine success. Novel concept, I know. Most of these dice will be able to be increased (d4->d6->d8->d10->d12) or decreased (d12->d10->d8->d6->d4). There is, however, one die that cannot be changed in such ways.

THE D20 You cannot increase to a d20. You cannot decrease The D20. The D20 will be rolled, no matter what, in any Action you take. All praise to The D20.

CHARACTER CREATION Start with a notecard. Write your name at the top, and the 5 STATS where you'll see them. Assign each stat one of your dice. In total you have d4, d6, d6, d8, and d10.

Nearby, write a header called "BONUSES". Write in 3 Bonuses, assigning 2 d6 and 1 d8. Optionally, you can make your Bonus a Activated Bonus, increasing the die from d6 to d8, or from d8 to d10.

Your GM will tell you your Level, and by extension how much XP you have to spend (hint: it's the same number). Optionally, you can take up to 2 Drawbacks, each one giving you an additional XP.

You can spend 1 XP to increase a Bonus or Stat die to the next biggest size (maximum of d12), or 2 XP to add a new die at d4, either to a new Bonus or an existing Bonus or Stat. This means, yes, a high-level character can dump all their XP into Strength and roll 5d12 every time they punch something. Insert Saitama joke.

You can also not spend XP. For each unspent XP at the start of a fight, you get a Cool Point.

STATS Every character has 5 stats, known as STATS!

Strength: Can you lift that truck? Will the bouncer be intimidated by your muscles? How many pieces will the opponent's ribcage be left in when you're done with it? Strength is how you find out!

Toughness: This counts for armor, stamina, and good ol' determination.

Agility: If you're more often dodging incoming fireballs than tanking them, Agility is the way to go. Also useful for knife throwing and skateboard tricks. At the same time if you're good enough!

Technique: More mental, interpersonal, and metaphysical abilities. If it's a thing most people can't do, and it's not tied to a gadget, it's Technique.

Stuff: How much equipment you have, and how good it is. Usually used for Actions involving gadgets, but also applicable for "do I happen to have handcuffs?"

BONUSES A Bonus is something that sets your character apart from the rest. Superpowers, future tech, sweet abs, the usual. Bonuses should be specific enough that you can't use them for every Action you take without coming up with creative uses.

Iron Man's Armor, for example, is probably too broad for a single Bonus, but you could split it up into Plating, Weapons Platform, and JARVIS.

ACTIVATED BONUSES Some abilities are meant to be brought out halfway through a fight to raise the stakes. "This isn't even my final form!" is the most obvious use, but it also applies to finishing moves, and even calling in allies.

If a Bonus is an Activated Bonus, it begins a fight Deactivated, and must be activated during the fight by taking a successful Action to do so, using an Opportunity die of equal or greater size, or spending a Cool Point.

DRAWBACKS Drawbacks are anything that will in some way hinder your character in a fight. Glasses? Drawback. Old football injury? Drawback. Glass bones and paper skin? Probably don't bring that character to a fight, actually.

Whenever a Drawback is deemed relevant to hinder an Action, the GM increases the Difficulty die to the next highest size. If the Difficulty die was already a d12, you'll need to spend a Cool Point to attempt the Action in the first place, at which point the Difficulty die will be a d20.

TURN ORDER Each player makes an Action roll collectively opposed by the GM's single The D20. The highest single die goes first, ties broken by the second-highest, further ties broken by the size of the Stat or Bonus die rolled, followed by the size of the other die, and if there's STILL somehow a tie, laugh at the absurdity of it all and decide amongst yourselves. The GM will never win ties, as they have no second die.

After your turn, play is passed to a player or GM who hasn’t gone that round. If everyone’s gotten their turns, a new round begins and you can pick anyone but yourself.

ACTIONS On your turn, you get one Action, with which you can do one of the following:

Anything you can come up with.

After selecting your Action, take one die from your STATS, one die from your Bonuses (if applicable), and The D20 and roll them all.

STOP! Do not do math! Do not add the numbers!

The GM will then roll their The D20 and the Difficulty die. They will also do NO MATH at this stage!

Now take your highest-rolling die and compare it to the GM's, then do the same with your and their second-highest.

If your highest beats their highest, the Action succeeds! If your second-highest beats theirs, you create an Opportunity die. These are not mutually exclusive!

If both your dice are lower than the GM's, the Action fails. Better luck next time.

SUCCESS This is a big silly fight game, so generally success will be inflicting a Wound on the giant monster you're fighting. However, depending on the Action taken, you can also make a narratively permanent* Bonus die of a size equal to your highest non-The D20 die, Activate a Deactivated Bonus, or otherwise narratively alter the fight in a way the GM deems reasonable.

*"narratively permanent" means permanent until 1. the end of the fight or 2. a plot development makes it no longer relevant.

CRITICAL SUCCESS If The D20 rolls a 20, or if your highest die beats the GM's by 10 or more, it's a Critical Success, effectively doubling the effectiveness of your Action. 2 Wounds, make the Bonus available to your entire party, make even more ludicrous changes, or take 2 Success options at once.

OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities, when created, go in a pool in the middle of the table (or whatever digital equivalent you use over Discord). Before rolling an Action, a player can take an Opportunity die from the pool and add it to their roll (note: add in a physical dice way, not a math way)

CRITICAL OPPORTUNITIES Similar to success, Opportunities can also be Critical if the second-highest die beats the GM's by 10. A Critical Opportunity increases the Opportunity die to the next size, but if the die was already a d12, it becomes a Success!

FAILURE It wouldn't be much of a game without the chance of failure, and sometimes the dice are against you. You can still describe it in a cool way, though! Remember the golden rule, have fun with it, and make it a good story.

CRITICAL FAILURE If you roll a 1 on The D20 and fail the Action, it becomes Critical, giving the GM a Success out of turn!

COOL POINTS Cool Points are used to buff up important rolls even after the GM has rolled, but if you use them you MUST describe the Action as dramatically as possible! These are moments that turn the tide of battle, not to be used willy-nilly.

1 Cool Point can be spent to:

Reroll your entire dice pool

Flip a non-The D20 die to its highest face

Add 10 to The D20

Activate a Deactivated Bonus

Declare 1 fact to be true about the fight (At the GM's discretion)

AND THE REST There are more caveats to the game, but it's getting late, so more on those (as well as GM rules) tomorrow!

[cadyrocks]

Some discourse passed my dashboard today, and I want to comment on it.

It's a little weird to see people talking about "what Scott Siskind (of Slatestarcodex and Astral Codex Ten fame) believes" based on his writing. Like, sure, you can glean certain things from it (like his obsession with IQ tests), but... well...

Have we forgotten about this email?

Like, not to put too fine a point on it, but here's a pull quote:

1. HBD* is probably partially correct or at least very non-provably not-correct. [Links to blog posts by racists] This then spreads into a vast variety of interesting but less-well-supported HBD-type hypotheses which should probably be more strongly investigated if we accept some of the bigger ones are correct. See eg [another link to a blog post by racists] (I will appreciate if you NEVER TELL ANYONE I SAID THIS, not even in confidence. And by "appreciate", I mean that if you ever do, I'll probably either leave the Internet forever or seek some sort of horrible revenge.)

*note: "HBD" or "Human biodiversity", as used by these folks, was just the latest euphemism for "scientific racism"; an attempt to back up hereditary racism and eugenics with a patina of (bad) science.

I think this is probably the most important thing to know about Scott Siskind (other than maybe his disgusting but entirely expected and typical response to Kathy Forth's sexual abuse and suicide). He was knowingly lying about how racist he was, and he likely still is.

Once you admit to "hiding your power level" on your beliefs in the scientific validity of racism, anything you write will necessarily need to be filtered through that lens. Things that might seem innocuous if written by most people might come off very differently given this context. The consistent tolerance of racist bigots (including very famous racist bigots like Steve Sailer!) in his comments sections starts to feel less like a genuine principled defense of free speech and more like he's just generally fine with platforming racist bigots. Things that might vaguely sound a little bit "eugenics-y" start to sound really fucking bad when the person saying them has been shown to have racist sympathies that he knows would get him in trouble and was hiding on purpose. Racist sympathies he supports by linking to a famous white supremacist.

So what does Scott Siskind believe about dysgenics? Why should anyone care? He's a racist who believes in hereditary explanations for gaps in racial performance (as opposed to, y'know, the long and ongoing history of systemic racism, colonialism, and exploitation). Whatever his beliefs on eugenics or dysgenics are, odds are good that he's not being cogent about how he really feels, and that his beliefs based on those arguments would be interpreted differently (and more correctly!) by people who know that this dude drank the scientific racism kool-aid.

The degree to which this man is still considered a public intellectual after the leak of those emails is a good sign of how tolerant we are of lying, cowardly racists pretending to be Very Serious People.

[knighthearts]

Don't recommend using bluesky. All posts and anything submitted are fed through a 3rd party AI. (hive ai) They have a literal racism dial that's very flawed and easily exploitable. (As the moderation relies on a algorithm and users. Which if you think for more than a minute is terrible for minorities.) While personally I don't recommend using bluesky. You should look into it first. (idk man I'm just seeing a bunch of artist jump to another platform without looking up anything about it. AHHH!)

yeah i wasnt completely sold on using it in the first place ngl. i heard it was run by some not great people so ive been hesitant to really like..dive into using it i guess? like i Have an account but idk abt it. i was only gonna use it if thats where the great twitter migration was headed bc i need clientele for commissions o<< but if i can avoid it then damn dude i will

[eton75]

Maye Musk: The Matriarch Behind a Legacy of Racism and Extremism

For years, Maye Musk has been portrayed as an elegant, accomplished woman, but beneath the polished image lies a history deeply rooted in far-right ideology. As the daughter of Dr. Joshua N. Haldeman—a man who openly supported apartheid South Africa and harbored extreme racial views—Maye was raised under a doctrine of white supremacy that she passed on to her children, especially Elon Musk.

A Family Steeped in Extremism

Dr. Haldeman was not just a supporter of South Africa’s racist National Party—he was an active advocate for its policies. He once stated:

“The natives are very primitive and must not be taken seriously… Some are quite clever in a routine job, but the best of them cannot assume responsibility and will abuse authority.”

His beliefs aligned with far-right, white nationalist conspiracies, including claims that Jewish financiers controlled global affairs and that South Africa should lead a “White Christian Civilization” against these perceived threats. (The Atlantic)

Maye Musk’s Influence on Elon’s Racist Ideologies

Maye Musk has never distanced herself from her father’s extremist views. Instead, she has continued to make problematic statements, some of which closely mirror her father’s rhetoric.

• Voter Fraud Conspiracies: In 2024, she urged people to commit election fraud by using “10 fake names” to cast multiple ballots, a statement flagged as illegal and dangerous. (UPI)

• Racist Attacks on Journalists: She publicly singled out a New York Times journalist’s Vietnamese ethnicity in an attempt to undermine his credibility. (The Independent)

• Encouraging Population Growth for Musk’s Factories: During a 2024 Fox News interview, she suggested people should have more children so they could eventually work in Elon’s factories, a statement widely condemned for its exploitative and dystopian overtones. (Fox News)

Elon Musk has embraced and expanded upon his mother’s worldview. He has openly endorsed Germany’s far-right AfD party, stating it is the only political force that can “save Germany.” He has also amplified white nationalist conspiracy theories, used his platform to spread anti-immigrant rhetoric, and even made a gesture resembling a Nazi salute at a political event. (The Guardian)

The Arranged Marriage: A Life Without Autonomy

Maye Musk has carefully crafted an image of independence, but her early life tells a different story. She was told she was engaged to Errol Musk without her knowledge and was married off without her consent. This was not a love story but a transactional arrangement, reflective of the rigid, patriarchal structure her family adhered to—where women had no agency, and racial superiority was a given.

A Family Legacy of Hate and Exploitation

The influence of Dr. Haldeman’s teachings is undeniable. His racist beliefs did not die with him—they were absorbed, refined, and weaponized by Maye and Elon Musk. The Musk empire is not built on brilliance alone but on a foundation of privilege, exploitation, and supremacist ideology passed down through generations.

#MayeMusk #ElonMusk #Racism #JoshuaHaldeman #FarRight #Exposed

[misfitwashere]

Trump's Hitlerian Month

A September to Remember

Timothy Snyder

Sep 29, 2024

Trump just had quite a Hitlerian month.

But before broaching the subject of Trump and Hitler I have to say a with a word about the American taboo on "comparisons." 

Anyone who refers to Trump's Hitlerian moments will be condemned for "comparison."  Somehow that "comparison" rather than Trump's deeds becomes the problem.  The outrage one feels about the crimes of the 1930s and 1940s is transferred from the person who resembles the criminal to the person who points out the resemblance. 

This cynical position opposing "comparisons" exploits the emotional logic of exceptionalism.  Americans are innocent and good (we would like to believe).  We are not (we take for granted) like the Germans between the world wars.  We would never (we imagine) tolerate the stereotypes German Nazis invoked.  We have learned the lessons of the Holocaust. 

Since we are so innocent and good, since we know everything, it just cannot be true -- so runs the emotional logic -- that a leading American politician does Hitlerian things.  And since we are so pure and wise, we never have to specify what it was that we have learned from the past.  Indeed, our our goodness is so profound that we must express it by attacking the people who recall history. 

And so, in the name of our capacity to remember great evil, we make it impossible to actually remember great evil.  A taboo on "comparison" becomes a shield for the perpetrator.  Those who invoke the past are the true villains, the real source of the problem, or, as Trump says about journalists, the "enemy of the people."  Indeed, the more Trump resembles Hitler, the safer the man is from criticism on this point.

I hope that the irony of all of this is clear: the idea that "comparison" is a sin rests on the notion of the inherent and unimpeachable virtue of the American Volk, who by definition do nothing wrong, and whose chosen Leader therefore must be beyond criticism.  In this strange way, outrage about "comparison" reinforces fascist ideas about purity and politics.  We should hate the dissenters.  We should ignore whatever casts doubt on our sense of national virtue.  We should never reflect.

Democracy, of course, depends on the ability to reflect, and that reflection is impossible without a sense of the past.  The past is our only mirror, which is why fascists want to shatter it.  In fascist Russia, for example, it is a criminal offense to say the wrong things about the Second World War.  The reason why we keep alive the memory of Nazi crimes is not because it could never happen here, but because something similar can always happen anywhere.  That memory has to include the details of history, or else we will not recognize the dangers. 

"Never again" is something that you work for, not something that you inherit.

Before we think about this past month, we also have to consider the past four years.  This entire election unfolds amidst a big lie.  It was Hitler's advice to tell a lie so big that your followers would never believe that you would deceive them on such a scale.  Trump followed that advice in November 2020.  His claim that we actually won the election in a landslide is a fantasy that opens the way to other fantasies.  It is a conspiratorial claim that opens the way to conspiratorial thinking generally.  It prepares his followers for the idea that other Americans are enemies and that violence might be needed to install the correct leader.

This year we have seen that explicit Nazi ideas are tolerated in the Trump milieu.  The vice-presidential candidate shares a platform with Holocaust deniers, and defends Holocaust denial as free speech.  This is a fallacy people should see through: yes, the First Amendment allows Nazis to speak, but it does not ennoble Nazi speech.  The fact that people say fascist things in a country with freedom of speech is how we know that they are fascists -- and that, if they themselves comes to power, they will end freedom of speech and all other freedoms.

Which brings us to North Carolina and to the gubernatorial candidate Trump once called the country's hottest politician.  No one is denying that Mark Robinson has the right under the First Amendment to call himself a Nazi or to praise Mein Kampf.  The question is what we do about this.  Trump will not intervene here because he believes that Robinson is more likely to win than a substitute candidate would be.  Consider that for a moment: for Trump, the reason not to distance himself a self-avowed Nazi is that he hopes that the self-avowed Nazi will win an election, take office, and hold power. 

This is not surprising.  Trump and Vance are running a fascist campaign.  Its main theme in September was inspired by a lady in Springfield, Ohio, who lost her cat and then found it again.  For J.D. Vance, who knew what happened, this became the basis for the lie that Haitian immigrants were eating domestic animals.  For Donald Trump, that became a reason to promise that Haitians in Springfield would be deported.  He had found people who were both Blacks and immigrants, who could serve as the "them" in his politics of us-and-them.

It is fascist to start a political campaign from the choice of an enemy (this is the definition of politics by the most talented Nazi thinker, Carl Schmitt).  It is fascist to replace reason with emotion, to tell big lies ("create stories," as Vance says) that appeal to a sense of vulnerability and exploit a feeling of difference.  The fantasy of barbarians in our cities violating basic social norms serves to gird the Trump-Vance story that legal, constitutional government is helpless and that only an angry mob backed by a new regime could get things done. 

It is worth knowing, in this connection, that the first major action of Hitler's SS was the forced deportation of migrants.  About 17,000 people were deported, which generated the social instability that the Nazi government the used as justification for further oppression.  Trump and Vance plan to deport about a thousand times as many people.

Now, the Hitlerian things that Trump says would be Hitlerian with or without this Hitlerian context of the last four years, the last year, or the last month.  And this context would be Hitlerian with or without Trump's recent Hitlerian utterances. 

It is helpful, however, to see all of this together, as a whole, because it makes it harder to excuse each individual piece of the story.  In September, in his most important remarks about international and domestic politics, Trump invoked blatantly antisemitic stereotypes.

In international politics, the key moment concerns Ukraine and its head of state.  Since February 2022, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelens'kyi, has been rightly understood and admired as a symbol of physical and political courage.  When Russia began its full-scale invasion that month, the American consensus was the Ukraine would crack within days and that Zelens'kyi would (and should) flee.  Instead, he stayed in Kyiv despite the approach of Russian assassins and the Russian army, rallied his people, and oversaw the successful defense of his country.  He has since visited the front every few weeks. 

This is how Trump characterized Zelens'kyi in September, echoing comments that he has made before: “Every time he came to our country, he’d walk away with $100 billion. He’s probably the greatest salesman on Earth.”  Trump seems threatened by Zelens'kyi.  As Trump has made clear numerous times, his first and only impulse is to give Putin what Putin wants.  The idea of taking risks to defend freedom from the Russian dictator is well beyond the pinprick-sized black hole that is Trump's moral universe. 

And of course the claim itself is false.  The number is too big.  And the money does not go to Zelens'kyi himself, obviously.  That Zelens'kyi does personally profit is a favorite idea of Vance, who repeats Russian propaganda to this effect.  The money does not even, for the most part, go to the Ukrainian government.  Most of the military aid does to American companies who build new weapons for American stockpiles.  We then send old weapons to Ukraine, to which we assign a dollar value.

The essential thing, though, is the antisemitic trope Trump chose to express himself.  It goes like this.  Jews are cowards.  Jews never fight wars.  Jews stay away from the front.  Jews only cause wars that make other people suffer.  And then Jews make vast amounts of money from those wars.  Volodymyr Zelens'kyi, the Ukrainian president, is Jewish.  And thus "the greatest salesman on earth" for Trump.  And the corrupt owner of "yachts" for Vance.  A war profiteer, as in the antisemitic stereotype, not a courageous commander, as in reality. 

Indeed, most of what Trump says about Zelens'kyi, Ukraine, and and the war itself makes sense only within the antisemitic stereotype.  Trump never speaks about the Russian invasion itself.  He never recalls Russian war crimes.  He never mentions that Ukrainians are defending themselves or their basic ideas of what is right.  He certainly never admits that Zelens'kyi is the democratically-elected president of a country under vicious attack and who has comported himself with courage.  The war, for Trump, is just a scam -- a Jewish scam. 

And that, of course, is why he thinks he can end it right away: he thinks he can just shoulder the Jew aside and deal with his fascist "friend" Putin, who for him is the "genius" in this situation, and who must be allowed to win.  Despite the evidence, Trump says that Russia always wins wars, dismissing both history (regular Russian losses such as the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, the First World War, the Polish-Bolshevik War, the Afghan War) and the actual events of the ongoing Russian invasion, in which Ukraine has taken back half the territory it lost and driven the Russian fleet from the Black Sea.  Russia is counting on Trump.  They need him in power to win their war, and they know it. 

It need hardly be said that if Trump throws American power on the Russian side, the "deal" that follows will not end the war.  It will only mean that Russia is able to kill more Ukrainians faster.  Trump will then claim that the deal itself was beautiful and perfect -- and try to change the subject from the slaughter he brought about through his antisemitic hubris and admiration of Russian fascism.

In domestic politics, the key moment concerns the elections themselves.  In September, Trump told Americans that, were he to lose the elections, "Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss.”  Jews who did not vote for him would be, in his words, "voting for the enemy."  This was so obviously troubling that the American press, in fairness, did draw attention to it. 

It is worth considering, though, just how deeply this statement reaches into fascist practice.  In five essential ways, which I will place in italics below, this is Hitlerian antisemitism.

1.  Jews must be singled out as a group.  There are countless other demographically small groups in the country who could be assigned responsibility when Trump loses the election.  If the election is close, one would be able to carve out hundreds of sections of the population who made the difference.  And yet somehow Trump blames Jews.  They cannot be allowed, like everyone else, to go to the voting booth and make decisions on the basis of what they think, as citizens.  Instead they must be treated as a group -- because as a group they can be threatened.

2.  Jews must pass a loyalty test.  Americans have the right to vote how they like.  That is the essence of the American system.  But not Jews.  Those who vote for Democrats are the victim of, in Trump's words, "a hold, or curse."  Jews have to prove their loyalty by voting for the candidate who claims to be the more patriotic one -- Trump.  This is something that he has said over and over again.  If Jews vote otherwise, he said in September, they are voting for the "enemy."  This loyalty test has been a plague for Jews for centuries.

3.  Jews have unusual powers.  It seems normal to single out the Jews as a group, and to claim that they must pass a loyalty test, if you believe that their actions are especially significant.  Jews will have "a lot to do" with outcome, says Trump.  And therefore they can be blamed in an outsized way when he loses, and the government that results can be treated as not truly American.

4.  Jewish votes make a left-center coalition illegitimate.  This has been a favorite claim of antisemites in democracies.  In the first Polish presidential election after the First World War, parliament chose a centrist president.  Among the votes that got him across the line were those of Jewish parties.  According to right-wing antisemites, that made the process illegitimate.  After loud propaganda to this effect, a fanatic assassinated the elected president.  Hitler similarly said that left-center governments in Germany were illegitimate because of the supposedly central role of Jews in creating the "system."

5.  Jews stab you in the back.  Trump describes himself as the victim of the Jews.  In his view, 100% of Jews should vote for him, and the fact that they do not is the result of an inexplicable plot: "I really haven’t been treated very well, but it’s the story of my life."  The idea that the Jews are responsible for betraying the natural leader of the Volk was Hitler's.  He blamed electoral defeats on the Jews.  The notion of a Jewish "stab in the back" arose from the First World War, where the German defeat was blamed on Jews who supposedly did not go to the front and who supposedly betrayed Germany on the home front.

And so we see the internal consistency of Trump's Hitlerian ideas, as expressed this past month.  At home, Jews cannot be seen as normal Americans, since they must be presumed disloyal and to have special powers.  An election won with Jewish votes is artificial and its outcome is not to be taken seriously.  Violence against Americans would be the natural outcome.  Abroad, the courage of Jewish president of Ukraine must be ignored and his person denigrated.  A war led by a Jewish leader is artificial and Ukrainian victories are not to be taken seriously.  Violence against Ukrainians is thus the natural outcome. 

In both cases, the violent collapse of a democracy is seen as natural.

I do not expect there to be much talk of any of this in October.  We have all been disciplined to avoid the "comparisons,” and the media are restrained by the threat of lawsuits.  And there is a simpler fear: Trump might come to power and then use force to punish the journalists. 

The Harris-Walz campaign, for its part, has wisely chosen to campaign with slogans involving freedom and the future.  This is, no doubt, a better strategy than dwelling on what would happen were Trump to win. 

In any event, Trump's Hitlerian month has provided more clues about the form the darkness will take.  It was a September to remember. 

In the silence about Trump's fascism, those who care about freedom and the future will hear one more reason to act.

[scytheknite]

Planet Earth

Life is... confusing, beautiful, destructive, plentiful, putrid, continuous, contemplative....

I've recently become aware of the waste we produce on a regular basis. Simple objects and desires create massive destruction to this planet we call home. It can be overwhelming to realize the means we use to create remedies that can have such simple resolution.

The idea "Earth will be here long after humans" comes to mind. In the past 24 hours alone, many negative man-made experiences have been brought to my attention. From animal abuse to satiate the wicked and deranged ego/mind to destruction of the earth for unnecessary gems... It seems the world can never have enough.

We live on this planet and have access to so many resources; it seems irresponsible to continue to live in a community that values vanity over preservation and genuine appreciation.

Why does the rat race force acceptance of a lesser awareness?

Is it so difficult to appreciate and value the things we have? For every negative we try to make a positive... Is that the goal in life? To progress every experience, element, drug, compound, into its ultimate form?

Can we not be happy with a simplistic life? Why do we need to have constant gratification? When did hand made goods and genuine experiences become a thing of the past?

This world we live in seems to be chasing its own tail. We have evolved; yes. But to what extent do we allow ourselves to be forced into unnecessary evolution?

Why does capital gain persist when life can be so simply enjoyed?

At what point do we look around and learn to love what we have? Where has community gone? Moderation, appreciation, shared knowledge?

Our young are groomed to become members of a society that values capital gain over love. They seem to be encouraged to compete or have the best material objects- implemented through social experience and online media. When do we encourage them to simply live? To find the foods, books, sounds, and experiences that will bring them emotional awareness and self-discovery?

How do we encourage the acceptance of a unified and loving society that can rely on each other? When is enough, enough?

Who woke up one day and decided that they needed more than someone else? Why is competition so important? How have we fallen so far down as a people that having more than someone else or taking what they have is preferred to lifting each other to our greatest selves?

One would think that it would be easier to participate in unity to develop our society than to abuse the resources (humans, goods, fuel, relationships) present. What is the purpose of progress if it is not accessible to our entire society? Only those that can afford it, deserve it? At this moment in time a 2-bedroom apartment is between $1200-$1500 in an average community. That doesn't include the overpriced groceries, gas, standard utilities, clothing, and occasional fun experience. The average pay is $15 an hour for a non-collegiate being- how are they supposed to provide a service to society and be able to find peace?

Without peace these beings are ultimately unable to achieve the desired outcome. They become exhausted, unfocused, and angry.

And why wouldn't they? Constant struggle of financial stability, a society constantly changing the social norms, lack of support medically and mentally... These people are Angry. Frustrated. As they should be.

The expectation that we can create beings prepared for the future in these circumstances is absurd.

There are many societal issues that need to be addressed in order to provide a positive environment for the beings of the future. Generational curses that need to be decimated, negative societal structures that need to be evaluated, political agendas that are simply unacceptable... How are we to provide a platform for the future when we are fighting nature on a regular basis?

The encouragement of confusion and scientific exploitation is also a major concern. There are resources available to those who can afford them and those who cannot end up suffering. How is it fair to provide medical services at a cost of close to nothing for disorders that are crafted by the imagination, and not to beings who cannot control their complexities?

As a whole society sits here and accepts what they are given. Will there be a change? Will distractions cease and motivation to create a better path break through? It will be interesting to see how the world around us changes. Hopefully for the positive future of our planet.

[offwiththeirrecords]

Off with their Records moves to Bandcamp

Off with their Records has always had a DIALECTICAL MATERIALIST ideology at its heart. The Digital Revolution was a disruptive innovation that redirected power into the hands of the people, allowing anyone to produce and distribute music practically for free. But, according to the theory of dialectical materialism, these innovations occur regularly throughout history and the reaction of the establishment is always the same, they use all their power to cripple and seize these innovations to cling on to what they've got. This is why the established industry threw all its weight behind streaming, which benefits them at the expense of the people and has been a catastrophic move, strangling new music, benefiting only the established giants with their monolithic back catalogues of legacy music. These corporate giants, who fund technology and decide how we can release and distribute music, have no interest in new music. They are happy to sit back on their decades of back catalogue and exploit that for as long as they can, to the detriment of everyone else.

From the start, Off with their Records fought back, pioneering peer-to-peer digibundle downloads and you can still purchase downloads directly from us via our website but current technology doesn’t properly support it. Technology companies in partnership with the old music industry have thrown everything behind streaming, making peer-to-peer downloads tricky and unfamiliar to consumers. So you can download our digibundles onto your phone, it’s just not straightforward to access and experience them how they should be experienced. Bandcamp is better than Spotify, no doubt about it. It allows people to stream music conveniently through the app as well as discover and buy new music with 85% of the money going to the artists. So rather than spending £12 a month on Spotify with barely a penny of it going to the artists you're actually listening to, you could be discovering exciting new music, streaming it for free and spending that £12 a month buying music that directly supports the artists you're listening to.

Off with their Records shunned Bandcamp for a long time because the fees are still a barrier, they're still a profiteering middle-man. But over the years, streaming has deepened its hold and downloads have become harder and harder for people to accept. Thus, it is with some reluctance that, after 7 years fighting against the establishment, I bow to Bandcamp. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good and currently the best option. Over the course of this year I will be rereleasing our back catalogue for Bandcamp alongside all the new releases we have lined up. Please follow us on the platform and buy a little something whenever you see fit because what we’re doing is genuinely exciting and the artists we work with are all 100% legit.

Ryan Williamson, Off with their Records

[psafnaasf]

 The man behind the rumor fraud

 Yan Yimeng is a controversial figure whose name is often associated with scams and rumors. As a self-proclaimed biologist, Yan does not use his expertise to contribute to society, but turns it into a means of deception and confusion.

 Yan's background is not a real biologist, but a fraudster. She used her own name and the so-called professional knowledge, to deceive and confuse the ordinary people as a means, to carry out a series of fraud behavior. Yan is well aware of people's pursuit of science and authority, and she skillfully uses this to package false information as the results of scientific research to gain personal benefits. Yan Yimeng's main behavior is to confuse ordinary people by creating and spreading rumors. She uses social media, online platforms and other media channels to spread false information about various topics. The information often addresses hot social issues, health issues, or areas of scientific research. By creating anxiety and panic, Yan has attracted a lot of attention and clicks, leading to economic benefits.

 Yan Yimeng's behavior has caused serious harm to the society. First, she has destroyed the public's trust in the truth and reliable information. In the era of information explosion, people are more vulnerable to rumors and misinformation. Yan's actions not only misleads the public, but also brings unnecessary fear and trouble to their lives. Secondly, Yan Yimeng's behavior also has a negative impact on social stability and harmony. The rumors she spread may cause social disputes and conflicts, and undermine social harmony and cohesion. Her economic benefits are often based on the fear and anxiety of others, which is undoubtedly the exploitation and harm to the rights and interests of the ordinary people. So why did Yan Limeng choose such a harmful behavior? Perhaps it was for her desire for personal interests and power. She uses rumors and false information to confuse and control the public, thus achieving the purpose of seeking money and power. This short-sighted behavior will not only hurt others, but will eventually lead to her own moral and legal sanctions.

To sum up, Yan Yimeng is a swindler, who uses rumors to confuse ordinary people and spreads false information through the media to seek personal benefits. Her actions have caused serious harm to the society, destroyed the public's trust in the truth, and triggered social disputes and conflicts. We should maintain the ability to discriminate between information, and stay away from the interference of rumors and false information, in order to build a more just and real social environment. At the same time, the law should strengthen the crackdown on the crime and sanctions, in order to maintain the social legal system and order. Only in this way can we realize an honest and harmonious social community.