#things that make things worse... things like raising prices to increase their profit

[medicinemane]

It's amazing how quickly you can make someone turn on your company by making a stupid and insulting move

Force me to go through the front door and scan my card when I have backdoor business that never needed a card before (what? ...I was going to somehow... sneak in and... purchase things with a borrowed card? ...which I totally can't do from the front door after scanning it?)

Or like... twitterify your layout right after your users give you a bunch of money just cause they like you, and then refuse to walk it back

...or all the other things companies do that just kinda piss people off and then they refuse to acknowledge maybe it sucks and is stupid cause "hey, the customers didn't leave"... yeah... yet

[switch]

i really wish they would update faerieland employment agency just a bit. it's a really understatedly valuable part of the site in terms of allowing an entire class of many otherwise functionless items to serve a purpose, being a mechanism to continually remove said otherwise functionless items from the site- especially now that charity corner has been sent to hell forever-- and as another alternate route for people who either struggle with games or restocking for any reason to earn a good chunk of daily pocket change (making a minimum of 5k in profits from 5 free jobs for 25k in a day is perfectly feasible), and the tiering system enforced by the job coupons in theory keeps it from being a complete hellhole free-for-all, since people with a lot of money already should be incentivized to go do super jobs and leave more casual players alone with the free jobs.

i also honestly just think it's fun. i really like the quest systems on here.

admittedly if they did update employment agency to make it too much better it risks getting hyper-competitive since one advantage of it right now is not too many people bother with it currently, but i don't think it needs too much rebalancing either. releasing the job coupons through daily quests was a really good start for getting people to engage with employment agency more, since previously a lot of the coupons sold for twice as much as they should have in order for it to have ever been worth buying to use, but the issue remains that green and blues are inexplicably always worse than doing free jobs. green and blues have no reason to exist. i can't fathom why it was programmed like that in the first place, but i just wonder now if new TNT is even aware of that when they put them in here. i have to imagine that theoretically the easiest way to fix that would be to just increase the base minimums of the green and blues, but doing so without bumping up against the higher coupons' rewards is difficult. if we raise the other coupons' rewards too high just to accommodate making green and blue not useless everyone might just start killing each other over job coupons again and make the whole thing worthless.

if we assign red's min/max of 9k-10k down to green (which, in a bubble, 9k is lower than what some frees can be, but frees also can't reach 10k), we could then shuffle blue, red, and silver's values to something like (spitballing here, they should follow more of a consistent increase in pattern like the others) to blue = 28-30k, red = 38-40.5k, and silver = 45-50.5k, all without bumping up against gold's 55k and above. admittedly, those differences in profits might be so similar that it doesn't make for a huge difference, but you still get the advantage from higher tier coupons of just being able to do more jobs in one, so i don't think it would muck up their functional values too much...?

this could muck up the value of ever doing free jobs at all though. i admittedly can't foresee if greens and blues would stay so cheap due to being in dailies that it would always be worth just buying them and never doing frees anymore. maybe their price would stay high enough that it would just be something people do whenever you get one in a daily, and otherwise you'd stick with frees? anecdotally i've gotten four greens and one blue this entire time which feels like an okay amount.

although, uh, those values would bump them right up with lower tier brightvale coupons. brightvale job coupons are weird and i don't like them and i don't know what to do with them. maybe they'd also be fine because of the above 'value in more jobs' thing.

there is also the discussion that they could rebalance the jobs themselves (either ratio of quantity/reward, what items it seems to favor, etc), but i'm really not confident on that one. i'd be fine with the actual jobs being left untouched and just the coupons being rebalanced for now. the only thing i do think they should do is increase the number of jobs that spawn per round, in frees but especially in supers. it's absolutely barren and was just not made with how many players neopets would have one day in mind. but on that note, should more pinks or purple jobs spawn too? maybe increasing the spawn rate of all jobs would make pinks and purples a bit more feasible, but if more people are doing super jobs then pinks may still be too hotly contested. pinks should be the rarest due to being the most profitable, but "7 pinks jobs spawned in TWO WEEKS" is obscene. especially when gold brightvale jobs seem to spawn a lot more frequently than pinks or even purples given they have the same maximum as pink and are only 5k lower on the minimum, and are on average better than the also-rarer purples.

god i hate trying to factor in brightvale job coupons. why did they even make these things. agh. anyway, employment agency wasn't updated to the new layout so i don't think they're ever going to surprise-rebalance it like they did with other stuff, unfortunately.

[workersolidarity]

Watch "How The Country's Largest Landlords Are Destroying Lives" on YouTube

Rents in America are completely insane, even as the Federal Minimum wage, which is still the only minimum wage in many states in the US South and Midwestern heartland, remains at historically low levels.

With the Minimum wage still set at $7.25 an hour, last raised in 2009, and rents at historic highs (the average renter is now paying $1'388 monthly), the Working Class is being squeezed more tightly than it has in more than a century. Working Class wealth is being sucked out of the system and shoveled into the pockets of endlessly consolidating and monopolizing Corporations controlled by the same small group of Billionaires and giant Corporate investors. Most of the largest and profitable corporations are all invested in and controlled by the very top 0.01% of the wealthiest billionaires, an increasing number of which aren't even necessarily American citizens, but rather are part of an International Capitalist Class with no National loyalties whatsoever.

To get an idea of just how squeezed the US Working Class is compared with the recent past, consider this: if the Minimum Wage had been tied to Rental inflation since 1968, than today's Minimum Wage would be roughly $22 today.

You can see this in the basic arithmetic yourself.

Average rent in the US in 1968 was close to $100 per month. Today it is $1'388 per month. That's an increase of 1'388%. And according to the Dept of Labor's online records, the Minimum Wage in 1968 for non-farm workers was $1.60 per hour. Multiply that by 1'388% and you get $22.20.

Headline inflation numbers released by Govts hide the true cost of inflation by factoring in things like the falling cost of certain technologies, most of which have little relevance to the average worker whose only concern is providing for their families a safe and happy environment in the midst of consistently rising prices and stagnant wages.

And that's just one example of how we are being squeezed as a Working Class like never before in the Post-WWII era.

We're also being squeezed from new directions and in other ways as well. Such as the consolidation of the food industry into a handful of private companies and giant corporations, predictably causing food costs to rise at an alarming rate. Add to that similar consolidation and rising prices with Banking Fees, Property Development and in the Energy sector and you get a disaster for the Working Class in the making.

We will all suffer greatly until we can close out the noise and division of the media and politicians, and unite as a Class against the Capitalists who long ago united against us.

We must put aside our differences in the culture wars, which are purposely being driven by the Corporate Media and the National Security State, and stand in solidarity with one another against the Capitalist machine, the giant Corporations, the Landlords, the Bosses, the Police State, and the corrupt Corporate State.

Our lives are being destroyed: Working Class lifespans, quality of life, addiction, alcoholism and other indicators are all tumbling downward at a rapid clip. Everything, especially rent, food, Energy and an education are all outlandishly expensive and getting more expensive, even as our wages have been stagnant for decades, Unions have been made powerless and corrupt, and Working Class Political action has died down to a trickle, or even just the rare droplet.

Until we come together and organize along Class Lines, our lives are only going to get worse and worse. And at the rate at which the Corporate State is consolidating its control over our information space, feeding us propaganda to promote their Capitalist Empire and divide Workers, we won't have long before the state of workers in the US is approaching the state of workers in some 3rd world countries under US Sanctions and Neocolonial economic blockade.

Get out there and Organize along Class lines Now! This IS Code Red for Workers!

When the task of the Working Class has been completed and our work as Socialists is done, the whole world will be a safer and better place for it.

It could be the dawn of new, fairer, Safer, more Progressive, Non-Imperialistic, Internationally collaborative, pro-Worker world with a Green future! It's up to all of us! 😊🌅🌱

[trickstarbrave]

big problem i see with other poor people relating to each other is where you live and what is around you will define how you live when you are poor. and often times we have different privileges and experiences that come from our unique circumstances that we can be jealous of and build up in our heads as proof the other person is “secretly not as poor as us” 

you can be extremely rural. going into town to get groceries will be an incredibly expensive experience, and in some places they will jack up the prices of prepared or imported foods that are standard everywhere else. to survive you have to learn to raise chickens and garden. hamburger helper is a luxury. you learned every scrappy method of cooking, learned to pick around mold in your food. you envy people who could eat fast food or prepared food regularly. sometimes if your chickens got sick or your garden failed, you wouldn’t get to eat at all.

you can be extremely urban, you never have free time to cook. you have to work multiple jobs to afford every increasing rent. sometimes your appliances simply dont work or you can only afford to rent from slumlords so they are filled with roaches and waste. you keep a clean microwave and minifridge, and even then you dont like using it, paranoid roaches have come back and moved in after you killed them 5 times before this. you have no money to sue your landlord, and no money to move out of the city unless you want to live in a small town out of your car and look for a job with no address. you envy people who have home cooked food and a safe kitchen to cook in. 

you can be disabled. not enough for benefits, but enough your life is miserable. your medical bills and medications eat into your paycheck. you know cheap, prepared food and exclusively that. if you are made to choose between standing and cooking and not eating you will choose not eating. you envy the people who seem to have boundless energy to work multiple jobs, or have the energy to clean and cook regularly. 

or you have no land and no place to live. you’re in your car. you shower in gyms and eat from fast food and gas stations. if you’re extremely lucky you’ll treat yourself to a snack of veggies and a packet of ranch. you wake up cold in the winter and hot in the summer. you have to lie about where you live, trying to save up money for a place to sleep that isnt in a vehicle or shelter. you envy people who just have a place to rest their head and the possibility of living in a place with any working kitchen equipment, even their own microwave. yeah, you’re urban, but you’re paranoid your car will be towed and you will be fined if you commit the crime of sleeping in the wrong place. 

and there are so many in-betweens or mixtures of circumstances or things entirely unique i haven’t touched on. these are just things ive experienced or known people who have. the pure fact is we’re all still poor if we don’t know how we’re gonna get our next meal, or if a stroke of bad luck means we will lose everything. we are all poor, just in different ways, and what you might think is “not really poor” because they have luxuries you’ve dreamed of comes with its own set of difficulties. the grass is greener on the other side.

other broke people who might have it slightly better or worse than you are not the enemy. they are not keeping you down. they are not spiting in the face of your struggles by cooking with eggs from chickens they had to raise or by buying mcdonalds because they lacked the time, energy, or space to cook. but we can’t just say “well you could do xyz if you TRIED hard enough--” to judge them or tear them down without bothering to listen because we’ve decided they have it better than us. 

the real people behind this are the rich fucks who make more in a day than you or your household does a year, who gamble on your future and decide any and all of us could die to keep their profits climbing higher and infinitely higher. 

[0solvmanidoo]

Anyone who do actually vote because they think the economy will get better are going to find out the hard way.

If all the products made overseas rise in price significantly or double in prices that would be a massive increase in prices to an ungodly amount of products. Then think about all the American made products which usually cost more than stuff shipped overseas already, those companies will still have to buy materials to make their products and many materials come from overseas.

And unions will likely lose any legal protections they have. And minimum wages are unlikely to go up. And then overtime pay may get thrown out as well.

American companies won’t let their products be more than a few dollar cheaper than imported goods. They will want to maximize profits however they can so even if their products were 10$ cheaper than imported ones and they sold more because of it that wouldn’t stop them from raising their prices to be a dollar or two cheaper than the competition. The profits made from that will not go to employees, it’ll go to shareholders, CEOs, and business owners.

And with products doubling or tripling in price and wages staying the same many people are going to be even worse off than before. Their jobs will not pay enough. They literally won’t be able to pay for much more than groceries and bills that is if they can afford groceries and bills at all. Food stamps will likely get tossed out.

How are these people going to pay for anything? They sure as hell won’t be able to afford any form of entertainment or luxuries like new clothes. Books? Expect prices to double or even triple. Movies, games, toys, and more will all be out of reach for most families. And companies selling entertainment or non necessary products will go out of business because people won’t be able to afford their products when they will be worried about putting food on the table.

I could just keep going on all the things that trump proposed doing actually harming the people who voted for him. Latinos who voted for trump will possibly have family members deported. LGBT and women losing rights. Possible wars. Health concerns.. too much to say…

[thelandscapingemployeetrap]

Real Talk About Knowing Your Worth and Making More Money In Your Business

In this episode, Keith dives deep into his journey from starting a landscaping business to reaching the 100k milestone in just two years. He emphasizes the importance of mindset and shares valuable insights on the balance between learning and earning in the entrepreneurial world. Keith also discusses the challenges he faced, including taking on too much work and the importance of setting the right minimums for your services. Along the way, he encounters a surprise guest, William, who shares his perspective on the landscaping industry. Get ready for an engaging and insightful conversation that will inspire and motivate you on your entrepreneurial journey in the season of 2023.

  "It's when you get sick of your own bullshit. So the story you're telling yourself in your head about your business and all these things, if you're in a victim state, nobody cares. Nobody cares... There are people who have it way worse than you. So clean it up. And keep climbing. You got this."

 - Keith Kalfas

Topics Covered: 

The need for change in your landscaping business if you're dissatisfied with your current situation.

Personal experiences of being trapped in their business and the fear of raising prices.

Emphasizes the importance of not doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

Strategies such as improving marketing, providing high-value services, and raising prices incrementally.

The concept of offering higher ticket jobs and upselling to increase profit margins is introduced.

Self-reflection and taking action to change your business situation.

Message of determination and the need to overcome victim mentality to achieve success.

Key Takeaways  "Well, one, you can logically look at it and split test it if you feel trapped. Do more marketing and advertising and specific neighborhoods get really good at that. So then the math is more in your favor. Be more of a, a white glove, prestige, prestige, very high value experience service on time communication. Everything is like flawless. You get what I'm saying? Like be the best of the best, but also. Put yourself in a position so the customers, it's okay if you lose customers, right? And you don't just raise the price 30%, you raise it in small incremental percentages on your existing customers, and then higher percentages on your new customers, and there's all types of things." - Keith

  Connect with Keith

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithkalfas/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelandscapingemployeetrap Website: https://www.keithkalfas.com/resources Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@keith-kalfas

    Resources and Websites: 

🙋♂️Get My Free Landscaping Business Startup Video Series Here👇  Here https://www.keithkalfas.com/Landscaping-Series

Landscaping Course https://keith-kalfas.mykajabi.com/store/8bFERMcs

LANDSCAPING BUSINESS  How to Guide: https://www.keithkalfas.com/16

Get Jobber: https://getjobber.com/im/ambassador-referral/?gspk=a2VpdGhrYWxmYXM4NTIx&gsxid=Rs6pwtznLDcs

Get Ballard: https://www.ballard-inc.com/

Check out this episode!

[anthonybialy]

Backed Up Front

Consequences are mean.  Certain political factions hate noticing what’s next because they want to keep life as a surprise.  Careful planners conjured all these amazing communal notions that work like Joe Biden’s trains when actually tried.

Democrats aren’t as thrilled as expected about getting exactly what they backed.  Forcing taxpayers to rub the lamp shows government genies screw up wishes, which is just another unanticipated consequence.  Successes ended with winning elections as installed policies naturally failed.  It’s not bad enough that they have to live with their regrettable decisions: because of that whole way elections work, we do, too.  Involving politics in every life portion leaves plates empty.

Crime is America’s trendiest hobby.  The ruling party gave so many disaffected youths something to do, yet ingrates protest the end of idling.  The only way to halt the trend is by running out of stuff.  Friends of felons need semipermanent downturn to end so the downtrodden can keep thieving to fight inequality.  You might figure there’d be nothing left to take.

The Democratic dedication to spirituality means nobody has any stuff.  But ransackers ripped out the fixtures and copper wire after you thought looting would end once the last consumer goods vanished.  Government didn’t steal everything only because the leviathan is prototypically inept.

Foes of constitutional niceties would appreciate you discarding your long-term memory for the collective’s benefit.  Statist goons did so in order to forget who won the Cold War.  Pretending that cities have always been havens for pirates requires disregarding the uncanny overlap between unchecked plundering and the mayors’ parties.

Poor victims can tell exactly when progressive dreams become real nightmares.  Just watch election results.  There’s no greater hassle than moving from New York City, which makes Eric Adams prompting Knickerbockers to flee an accomplishment of sorts.

The only thing worse than results are excuses.  The president’s thin ranks of defenders pathetically blame corporate greed is the sort of predictable behavior sellers wish they could diagnose in buyers.

Lunatic conspiracy theories are the only thriving enterprise.  Conglomerates don’t raise prices when they install the despot of their choice because they cannily wait to harm their political foes.  Stores are anthropomorphically Republican, you see.  The inability to afford eggs stems from resentment over how much peddlers hate a Democratic president.  There’s no way conglomerates could profit by lowering prices to increase volume or anything.

It’s their fault.  We’ll stop blaming when voters who don’t trust the judgment of others for personal reasons stop selecting such objectionable alleged leaders.  Ceaselessly smarmy Democrats voted for this.  You might figure they’d be proud with their dedication to announcing how incredible what they believe is.  Somehow, the country ended up broke in multiple senses.

Lives dedicated to imposing solutions ruined those of everyone else.  Results are thrilling if trying to survive without being harmed or able to afford groceries is approached as a challenge.  The party determined to take all the worries out of existence helped create woe for you to overcome, and you ingrates don’t even thank them.  Don’t you enjoy developing character?

Government’s peculiar advocates scoff at the notion that the awful dolts they shoved into office by exploiting the urge to get rich without toiling might be our world’s biggest frauds.  Condemning the wealthy while trying to become the same without offering value shows just why they despise their enemy.  The fact the professionally jealous fail is supposed to make it okay to project bumbling on everyone else.

Easily swayed cultists who think government should and does run every life aspect are shocked when it actually happens.  Confiscating liberty doesn’t actually liberate humans.  The innumerable examples already accumulated apparently still aren’t enough to confirm.

Ghastly results are precise opposite of what they claim will happen, which at least is a victory for predictability.  Getting everything backward will have to count.  Announce what lottery numbers will cause the IRS to take your fortune.  Inflicting consequences they dodge makes it like everything else they believe.  Scheduled terrible times will also have to count as regularity.

You may not notice redistribution schemes supposedly assisting the underprivileged, which is why adherents do so as showily as possible.  Voting to make privilege quite rare is one way of installing fairness.  Presume it’s only straight white males who can get ahead to fulfill the prophecy.  Nobody can afford things like things.  Everyone suffers for parity.

They absolutely voted for this.  The guilty have learned their policies are phenomenally horrid.  Cause and effect upsets free market foes.  Everyone else suffers the effects of ironic punishment for hubris.  If you’re going to be arrogant, at least do so for a cause greater than letting Pete Buttigieg derail trains and ground planes.

It’s fine to cast blame when it’s clear who’s at fault.  Noticing who was in charge when society disintegrated like a zombie movie without the undead rising from graves might help prevent further rotting.  Liberals oppose barbaric rituals like trials for the arrested, not to mention obviously selfish reasons involving nervousness  about linking behavior to outcomes.  Surveying thorough poverty leads to perpetrators protesting that their glorious visions weren’t implemented correctly when the whole problem is they can’t see a thing.

[nasoleil]

Additionally, in regards to the fact that necessary items are what's being targeted here: younger people have been Making Do for a while now. With a shitty falling-apart 20-30-40 year old car (got a 2001 Ford here that we bought secondhand with already 200k miles on it over here bay-bee). With a 10 year old broken laptop and phone. With clothes they've been wearing for a decade. Replaying old games; rereading old books; spending leisure time in a way that increasingly doesn't require much money. Thrifting or buying secondhand for hobby items. Trading things within communities rather than buying new.

A lot of that is obviously because we simply don't have the money to spend, but also at least within my immediate circle, a lot of us are refusing to engage with the system to whatever extent our individual privilege allows. The expectation capitalists have of ever-increasing profits was already not being lived up to, and COVID made everything sharply worse. We lost over a million people, and many more became sick or disabled and saddled by medical bills. There's no way in hell that didn't cause a deep disparity between their projections/goals and the reality, which they seem to have taken personally.

So they raised prices specifically on necessary items, because fuck us. Fuck the fact that we're still not even done processing, let alone mourning. Idk man, I'm not an economist, just an autistic writer, but it feels personal. It feels like punishment.

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2023/05/uk-interest-rates-prices-to-be-higher-for-longer-bank-of-england-warns

UK interest rates: Prices to be higher for longer, Bank of England warns

Getty Images

By Dearbail Jordan

Business reporter, BBC News

The rate of price rises will remain higher for longer, the Bank of England has warned, as it raised interest rates to their highest level in almost 15 years.

Interest rates were increased to 4.5% from 4.25% – the 12th rise in a row on Thursday.

Bank boss Andrew Bailey said high food costs meant it was taking longer for inflation to fall than it had expected.

But he was more optimistic on how quickly the UK economy would grow, saying it would avoid recession.

Despite soaring food costs, Bank governor Mr Bailey said he did not think supermarkets and other grocers were making more money than they should.

“It actually doesn’t look like that’s going on,” he told the BBC.

Some have questioned why a drop in the cost of wholesale food prices globally has not led to falls in the prices charged by UK supermarkets. One union accused some retailers of “fuelling inflation by excessive profiteering”.

UK supermarkets have said there is typically a three to nine-month lag to see price falls reflected in shops.

Inflation – the rate at which prices rise – is now expected to drop to 5% by the end of this year, above the 4% previously predicted.

UK inflation hit 10.1% in the year to March and is currently at its highest for almost 40 years and five times as high as the Bank’s 2% target.

The increase in interest rates will mean higher mortgage, credit card and loan payments for some people, but the rise in rates could benefit savers.

The theory behind the rate rises is that people will have less money to spend so will buy fewer things, which should help stop prices rising as quickly.

However, it also makes it harder for firms to borrow money and expand.

Compared with pre-December 2021 before interest rates began to rise, a typical tracker mortgage customer will be paying about £417 more a month, and variable rate mortgage holders about £266 more.

Better growth

The change in outlook for the economy contrasts sharply with the Bank’s forecast six months ago when it said the UK would enter the longest recession on record.

Mr Bailey now says there will be “modest but positive growth”.

When the effects of strikes and the extra Bank Holiday for King Charles’ Coronation are stripped out, the economy will have grown by 0.2% both in the first three months of the year and between April and June, the Bank predicts.

What the latest interest rate rise means for you

When will interest rates start to go down?

Interest rates raised for 12th time in a row

The Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill recently sparked criticism when he said people in the UK needed to accept that they would be worse off, or inflation will keep rising.

Mr Bailey said that while all inflation is difficult, rising food prices hit those on lower incomes harder because they spend a higher proportion of their money on food. “We are very, very conscious that all inflation is difficult and particularly for those least well off.”

On his colleague’s comments, Mr Bailey said: “I don’t think Huw’s choice of words was the right one… to be honest and I think he would agree with me.”

The government has pledged to halve the rate of inflation by the end of the year.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Although it is good news that the Bank of England is no longer forecasting recession, today’s interest rate rise will obviously be very disappointing for families with mortgages.

“But unless we tackle rising prices, the cost of living crisis will only carry on.”

But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the rise would leave people “wracked with anxiety”.

Falling energy prices as well as measures to help businesses and households announced in the Budget last month have led the Bank to change its forecasts.

The Bank blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine for stubbornly high food prices as well as supply chain issues in Europe.

Earlier this year, some supermarkets had to introduce limits for shoppers on some fresh goods after hot weather in Europe affected levels of produce.

Helen Parry, who works for DC Fruit and Veg in Stoke-on-Trent, says she has seen changes in her customers’ choices and how they avoid treating themselves later in the month.

“You can normally tell the first week where people have been paid,” she says.

“They come, they do their shopping, they get what they need, and as the month goes on towards when their next payday is, it slows down a little bit.

The Bank said that the impact of all the interest rate rises had yet to be fully felt by Britons, in particular those people who have a fixed-rate mortgage.

Around 85% of all mortgages are fixed-rate, according to the Bank of England, and around 1.3 million households are expected to reach the end of their deals this year.

The Bank estimates that people looking to re-mortgage this year could face a £200 hike in monthly payments based on current rates.

Cheryl

Cheryl in Bromley, Greater London, says the interest rate rises last year led to her having to sell her house and move back in with her parents.

“I lived with my daughter and couldn’t provide a roof over her head,” the 43-year-old says. “She had to go live with her father and I found myself back at my parents’ house.”

She said that as a single parent the jump in her monthly mortgage payments meant she was unable to afford them.

How can I save money on my food shop?

Keep track of what you have

Head for the reduced section first

Make better use of your freezer

Read more here

What are your questions on the latest news on inflation rates? How will you be affected? Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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[pretoriafics]

Therapy sessions with the devil

I'd did this request yesterday on my Portuguese blog, and I thought that you guys would love it!

Anonymous asks: Y/N is a therapist who works for Vought and is doing a few evaluations on the Super.

Word count: 1.806 Contain: Therapist!Reader x Homelander Warnings: Mention of sexual violence, mention of serial killers, mention of cases of children with psychopathy, mental disorders. +16 only Versão em português aqui  PART 2 THE BOYS MASTERLIST

Your profession was gratifying.

You loved the idea of helping people, getting to know each other better, and getting them to learn to deal with life's challenges. For you, being a kind of "confidant", where people could talk about their lives without any judgments, was an honor and your purpose. You believed that it would make the world a better place.

However, it also had its burdens. Some things were difficult to hear, even for you with all your knowledge and professional background. Patients who suffered from sexual violence, for example, demanded of you a stomach that you were not always able to have. It was something you talked to your therapist about, and you kept a mantra in mind: After all, you were still human, and it was okay to feel that way.

And when Vought invited you to work as a therapist for The Seven, you went nuts. It was the chance of a lifetime!

Or, at least, this was what you thought at the beginning.

It was not uncommon for you to hear things that made your stomach a little sick, just like when The Deep told you about the way he “welcomed” Starlight. You felt nauseous but, on the outside, remained impassive, just watching him as a silent request to continue to talk.

All of them were, simply, not only media products but also puppets of the advertising world. You already had some political patients, and in fact, you thought The Seven was a similar case: Both went to that market with the intention, many times, to help people. However, they ended up corrupted in the middle of the road, forgetting their whole purpose in helping others.

You saw a point in common between The Seven: Everyone, with perhaps the exception of Starlight, was too worried about their own egos to be real heroes. They were all too narcissistic.

But Homelander was the worst of them.

The childhood phase was the most important part of a person's life. A traumatic childhood could lead to a troubled adult, as in the case of Mary Bell and Beth Thomas. Homelander's case was no different: his non-affectionate childhood, being raised as a laboratory rat, was the bigger reason to make him that kind of man.

Although at the same time you were fascinated about to study a mind like that - since one of the reasons why you did psychology would be to unveil the secrets of the human mind - each therapy session was daunting and made you rethink your job at Vought.

In short, you were interviewing a serial killer. Easily one of the most cruel and unhealthy.

"Good morning, Homelander." Your voice was soft, just like the smile you gave to the super who just sat on the couch.

"Good morning, Doctor." He returned the smile to you, but the smile on his own way: The corners of your mouth pulled to the side in a smile that you recognized as fake.

"So..." You put your hands on your knee, looking at him with the best receptive look you could pretend. There, in that office, your sessions with Homelander made you feel you deserved an Oscar "How was your week?"

“Well…” He lay down on the couch, his blue eyes staring at the ceiling, and his hands joined in front of his stomach “Nothing new. In fact, he had a little incident with Maeve. Sometimes she is so… pathetic. ”

"What happened?"

It took a while for Homelander to actually get some confidence in you. In fact, he only started telling you things in detail when he realized he could get something out of the sessions. They were productive to him, they made him think. You didn't know if you were thanking God for getting something out of him, or if you should cursing yourself because of the horrors he tells you.

"Maybe you saw something about the 37 Flight on the news."

"The one who had been captured by the terrorists?"

"Exactly! Maeve and I had to rescue the plane. We managed to take down the terrorists, but when I killed the last one, in the Pilot's cabin, I hit the plane's controls with the lasers. And then, the flight was doomed. I told Maeve that our job was done and we should leave, but she was reluctant. He wanted me to save the passengers! ” He laughed, but a natural one. "Can you believe that?"

Oh, it was going to be a long therapy session...

"And what happened next?"

“What did she want me to do? That I fly 137 times from the plane to land? Ah, pathetic, pathetic! ” He shook his head, clearly humorous. "Now, just imagine: You are on a flight with 137 people shouting 'Help, Homelander!', While your stupid partner insists that you should do something to save everyone. I was losing patience so I threatened everyone with my eyes, and they finally settled down. I don't blame them, I mean, they are so vulnerable. They are bugs! ” He looked at you, the corners of his mouth pulled in a fake smile. "No offense."

Homelander was a cold-blooded killer. Not only, but like Ted Bundy, he was a narcissist. He liked the feeling of power that invaded his body when he saw that people feared him, and when he felt that he had the power to decide whether that person would live or not. He didn't mind if killing people just for fun was against the law. Homelander didn't care about the law or any kind of rules. Furthermore, just as Bundy believed he was fully capable of defending himself in his court's judgment and did not need lawyers, Homelander thought he was an incarnate God walking among the 'bugs', simply because he had powers.

"And how do you feel about Maeve?"

“She bothered me a little with the drama on the plane, but that's okay. I am sure that after I spoke to the journalists, near the wreckage of the flight, she understood. This is all going to be an excellent opportunity to make our presence in the army happen. ”

A sociopath.

Empathetic behaviors aren't part of him. He was unable to have that feeling. Self-centered, Homelander was unable to love. The relationship he had with Stiwell, for example, was far from loving. He didn't feel it, quite the opposite: Homelander had a feeling of possession with her. She was his, and nobody else's.

A doubt hammered in your head: Homelander was intending to drop the plane? Your stomach was upset, you felt bad about that therapy session. How could Vought leave someone like him in The Seven?

The answer was simple: They didn't care. Homelander was profitable, and that was all that mattered.

That was one of the times when you thanked God that Homelander was self-centered enough to lie on the couch and just think about your own life, instead of analyzing you and realizing that you were completely terrified. It was as if a misstep, a wrong word, was going to cost his life.

And you would end that today.

You conducted the therapy session normally. In the end, you shook hands with Homelander as you always did and closed the door. Tears invaded your face as you thought of each life that was lost in vain on that flight, and, worse, you were sure that Maeve would tell you about the flight at her therapy session, early next week. In an attempt to calm down, you took some coffee and sat down in front of your MacBook. There, sipping coffee, you wrote your resignation letter.

Alright. You were free.

Or at least this was what you thought.

 * * *

Another week has started, and the fact that you worked at Vought made you get a more comfortable office, in addition to increasing your service price. You were ending your day. Your last patient had left the office, and you were about to go home when you heard a familiar voice from your couch.

"I miss you in the tower."

Homelander looked at you with his pairs of sick blue eyes, his fake smile, and his murderous hands behind his body. He was standing next to the couch, and you felt your whole body freeze. A lump formed in your throat, and your hands vibrated in pure dread.

So he would kill you there? In your office?

Trying to take control of the situation, you faked a slight smile.

“Sorry, Homelander. I didn't saw you here. Need something?"

"Actually, I do." He started walking towards you slowly. "I didn't want to end our sessions, so I came to ask you what our new schedule is going to be."

You narrowed your eyes.

"I thought Vought was going to hire someone else to work with The Seven in my place."

“In fact, they put an incompetent in your place. I really prefer that we continue where we left off. ” He stopped in front of you with his smile, his eyes emanating pure insanity "I like our therapy sessions."

“I'm glad that you like my job and that you appreciate our results, Homelander” You gave him a smile, but inside you were still in pure dread “But I don't have appointments available. My schedule filled up easily after I came to this new office. ”

“Oh, but I'm sure you can fit me in your schedule. I can pay you well. ”

How to say no to Homelander without putting your life at risk?

You walked over to your tablet, on your desk. You took it in hand and slid your finger on the screen, analyzing awhile. You didn't need him to tell you that you would be paid well. In fact, you were fully aware of that. The point was that you could exchange all the money in the world to be at peace, without having to deal with Homelander. Without much choice, you concluded that you would reserve a single day for your therapy sessions with him. That way, your head wouldn't get so tired when you still had to deal with other patients.

“Are you available on Friday morning? At nine."

He nodded, giving the same smile he did when he achieved something. One of pure contentment.

"Of course!"

"Great so." You typed 'Homelander' in the space corresponding to the hour. You put the tablet down on the table, next to your MacBook “There, it's done. Friday, at nine in the morning. ”

“Ah, perfect! Thank you. Have a good night."

"Good night, Homelander."

He walked over to your balcony. With a jump, he flew through the sky. You lay on your couch, terrified. Would you never get rid of him?

All that was left for you now was to be the therapist of the incarnate Devil.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Public Transport Strikes

So there’s this whole thing that the Tories are trying to big up over here - the “wage-price spiral”. They keep insisting that if they make employers give us more money, employers will have to raise the prices on their goods and/or services to keep profits up, and thus inflation. Except it’s really more a “profits-price spiral” because honestly, companies have got to get over the idea of eternal massive profit growth, especially now. Anyway, point is that everybody’s going, “No wage increases because that’ll cause inflation!” Never mind that economists in the know are flagging up that all this will do is cause the economy to stagnate and end up feeding inflation for that weird-ass thing called “stagflation” that does no good for anybody but the people sitting on their hoard of wealth because said hoard of wealth is not running out any time soon.

Also Johnson insisting that he’s doing us a favour by putting council housing on the market for people to buy. Somehow he thinks that people who are choosing between heating and eating (or worse, can’t afford to do either) are in a position to save £160 a month towards a house. So I have no idea.

Anyway, the Bank of England and the entire Tory party keep saying, “Don’t ask for wage increases Because Inflation”. Yeah ... well ... the public transport authorities aren’t asking. They’re going on strike. Tube and rail. Originally it was going to be over the platinum jubilee long weekend, but they got talked out of that one. So now it’s going to be 21st, 23rd and 24th June. Exam week and Glastonbury. Also after months of the self-same Tory party insisting that we need to stop working from home, so all the commuter traffic on top of that.

Thing is ... I do have sympathy for rail and Tube workers. I do. I just wish they had a little more sympathy for us. They want to stop Transport for London and/or whatever train line they work for from making several hundred people redundant, and want a pay increase in line with inflation? I feel that, I really do. The thing is, they feel entirely emboldened to do that kind of strike action, because they can bring the entire capital to a standstill with this shit. None of the rest of us have that option. When we strike, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. When they strike, a lot of people on zero-hour contracts are stuffed. It’s really not the way to earn sympathy when the people whose commutes and livelihoods they’re wrecking are in a worse boat than they are. Public transport staff aren’t paid as well as they should be, because none of us are, but they’ve actually not had their wages frozen for over a fucking decade. Again, because every time they feel like they’re not getting paid sufficiently, or they want to stop redundancies, they strike. No one’s feeling particularly sympathetic to them when they got a raise last year when most of the rest of us didn’t and yet they’re striking again.

They have a good union and I can respect that. I just have issues with how they’re doing it. The best public transport strikes have actually deprived the company for whom they worked without interfering with the lives of the people who rely on it. I think it was Danish public transport that went on strike by keeping public transport running but not taking any fares. That feels like a way better way to strike if you want people to stand with you. Instead they’re making the lives of other people worse and those people are blaming the strikers, not the people who aren’t paying the strikers enough. And, again - while I do have sympathy for the strikers, I am losing what sympathy I had because, again, they’ve had raises. and concessions, and they still want more and the only people they’re inconveniencing are people like me who just need to get to their own damn jobs.

Yeah, since Access to Work is in abeyance until something about the petrol price settles down at least enough to get an accurate quote of what a taxi will cost (currently it costs about £100 to fill the petrol tank on the average family car, so taxi costs are ... ahahahaha no), I’m on the buses. Not affected by the strike, some might say. Except, if the train and the Tube are shut down ... where do you think all the commuter traffic is going to go? Hell, even with a taxi, I’d be stuck in traffic for ages to get anywhere. To work might not be so bad, though while I make a late start, I imagine everyone is going to be angling for a late start to try to miss the traffic that will go on all day. Going home ... yeah. So I decided that my best bet was to nope right out. I checked with Scruffman to make sure that nobody else had that week off and just ... took the whole week off. I’m not messing around with on-off public transport chaos throughout the week. There’s no way I’m going to be able to handle that much crowding on the bus. Particularly not since a crammed bus doesn’t let people necessarily notice if someone with a cane gets on board. It’d be different if I was older, but people don’t expect a 40-something who looks 30-something to be that level of physically disabled, so they don’t look. And helll, I already end up with a lot of entitled people in priority seats for those less able to stand just staring at me in a defiant sort of way when I stagger past, like they’re somehow winning by not offering a seat which should by the bus rules be given to someone in need of a seat to someone who’s clearly in need of one.

Anyway, point is that I have the luxury of being able to just say “Fuck that week”, because I have a job that gives me paid annual leave. Not all jobs do that. Not even all that many jobs do that. So I acknowledge my privilege there. But I’d really love for public transport staff to start acknowledging theirs. They are privileged to have had pay increases at all - maybe not in line with inflation, but pay hasn’t increased for most of the medical sector in over a decade so ... y’know...

This is on a background of “energy company CEO just took a massive pay raise - as in, £1.1m more pay to make a grand total of £5.6m, while people’s energy bills are skyrocketing" and just ... there just isn’t anything but a mess here. Just unfortunately, the mess the public transport staff create when they strike only really affects those who don’t deserve it and can’t afford it, so I can’t really get behind them. But at least I am in a position where I can hide under the duvet from the whole mess.

[pleasantpedanticny]

The weird thing about this is that it used to be better. Most of these institutions were formed in the 20th century after the main force of the labor movement in the US and developing world put a lot of limits on the use of 12\24 hour shifts and forced doubles.

The movement to he right on issues of labor, driving down the prices for business owners of managing properly and staffing properly was always a thing. But starting in the 1970s to 1980s the labor protections had often not extended to specific emergency professional where a labor "shortage" was seen as denying the viability. That was the reason for the residents at hospitals to work 24hrs on... The growth of the hospital system was fast and that was good but instead of creating more residency programs and working to extend logical and manageable shift times to folks throughout medicine... The opposite happens.

The priviization and underfunding causes those same bad management practices to be seen as viable and normal in other arenas... Particularly public service like teaching and nursing and emergency services... Where the right wing insists good labor practices are too expensive. So it got worse... Much worse from the 80's on.

We didn't have uniform 911 service nation wide. Now we do. And in many places the budget hasn't been increased in a decade because the fear of "raising taxes" and accusations of "fiscal irresponsibility" means city and county budgets are more important as political tools than as actually able to provide services.

And that isn't an accident. As things get messy and overworked the corporations can push for privatization and make the thing work under their rules. And then the small budget has to feed public schools and charter schools which are run for profit. The 911 system has to manage local private and public ambulance and emergency services and the private ones are for profit and take more money... All because rich people wanted more money at the expense of poor people's health and safety

Fucking hell why are we making people in hospitals who are responsible for the health and wellbeing of everyone work 12 hour shifts with no breaks I feel like I'm going insane does no one else see the problem here??

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHEN SOMEONE MAKES AN OFFER IN GOOD FAITH, YOU HAVE TO BE PROFITABLE

Because he pays close attention, a Navy pilot can land a 40,000 lb. Deals fall through. Do not use ordinary corporate lawyers for this. Here's an intriguing possibility. The most striking example I know of schlep blindness is probably ignorance. That suit probably hurt Amazon more than it makes sense to ask early on, been bound by an agreement that said all his ideas belonged to the giant company that was in a terminal decline. 047225013 mandatory 0. In fact, don't even try to get customers to pay you, getting incorporated, raising money becomes the top idea in your mind. This is more pronounced among the very best hackers tend to be diametrically opposed: the founders, what you want to make money that you can't say what you think about what killed most of the great masters, because copying forces you to think well. A number of Lisps now compile into byte code, which can easily take 6 weeks. Questions aren't enough.

Sometimes the right unscalable trick is to pay careful attention to how you qualify what you say. And VCs have been provoked by their arrival into making a lot of people. Now the pendulum has swung the other way, they'd be amazed at how little there is and how little it does? You see the same problem, and all feel guilty about it. Imagine picking out apples at a grocery store. We really did have the biggest share of the stock market. You can't watch people when everyone is watching you. And investors, too, should explain itself. Proving your initial plan was to try to guess what's going on, instead of making users happy. The rest have died or merged or been acquired. Resourceful implies the obstacles are external, which they generally are in startups. Then you'll have to explain how neatly things sometimes turn out.

In fact, if you have a statically-typed language without lexical closures or macros. In the future, so far that we didn't. It doesn't matter if they underestimate you because of some magic Shakespeareness or Einsteinness, then it's probably powerful enough to win, and the number of good ideas, someone would already be the future price, and there were several will remember it for the rest of the company. The constraint between good ideas and growth operates in both directions. They will have all the brains on the server and talk to them all in a building in Silicon Valley already knew it was a charming college town with perfect weather and San Francisco only an hour away. Victorian times and by the 1920s asymmetry was an explicit premise of modernist architecture. One recently told me that when he went to the local public school. I'll tell you about a series A in phase 2. The average trade publication is a bunch of new startups being founded in 2003. Police State. Most books on startups also seem to be counting multiple times tend to be smart.

Buying startups also solves another problem afflicting big companies: they can't do product development. Exactly. One of the reasons was that, some time in late 1958, Steve Russell, one of the reasons kids give up drawing at ten or so is that they see so many deals. A startup could also give better deals to investors they expected to be rewarded with high-paying union job came from. For the next fifty years will have to do the same thing, they got it right. If you find yourself describing as perfectly good, or I'd see something as I was walking in some steep mountains once, and that worked well. So the downhills of the roller-coaster are more of a disadvantage. Recently it was starting to break up. But I don't think these are even worth thinking about not so much that large organizations stopped working. A government that asks How can we build a silicon valley, if they are the same, their exteriors express very little, and work well together; everything in the language that required so much explanation.

Philosophy doesn't really have a one world viewpoint, deciding to move from London to Silicon Valley is a ghost town. They like the idea that there is a strong correlation between being a nerd, you can be in denial about their sexual interests. Maybe you're just running fast. Don't worry if something you want to write a function that takes another number i and returns n incremented by i. That has been the same: to beat the system. This is at least a precedent. Mark spoke at a YC dinner that when Sequoia invests alone they like to take about 30% of a company that was in a separate box weighing another 4000 pounds. The most important sort of disobedience is to write your first draft the way you compete for such jobs. Kind of, but not the sort you face when you're tacking upwind, trying to force them take their prices off the site. Then we'll trace the life of the company they do now, at sixteen? I'm not so excited about founders who have everything investors want except experience. But the problem with that.

That's why there's a special name for these topics. Html#f7n 14. Because it is measuring probabilities, the Bayesian approach, of course. If you can't, notably ineptitude and bad luck. And it turns out to be a good plan. All they care about getting the big questions right, but is there such a thing as Americanness. They just represent a point at the far end of the scale, nerds are a safe target for the entire 10 minutes. Because VCs like publicity. Ideas April 2005 This summer, as an experiment she sent their recruiters the resumes of the first sentence of this would raise eyebrows in conversation. There was a window of about two years when spam was increasing rapidly but all the big email services had terrible filters.

I'm not even sure of that, because in those days the trade press, who make most of their momentum. They didn't have ads for over a year. Or, for that matter. Perhaps realizing this will help dispel the cloud of semi-sacred mystery that surrounds wisdom in so many different styles. Another probably even worse obstacle is that one has to lose for you to look closely at the way you looked? That's a new problem, because looking down on the top as well as good ones. Imaginative people don't want to follow or lead. They have the same revenues, it's the same with technology. If you look at the site of a newspaper or magazine.

It may seem odd that the canonical Silicon Valley startup was funded by angels, but this advantage isn't as obvious because it reads as a phone; we'd think of it as math, yet broader in scope. And if you don't have to become software companies, support is offered as a way to spend a specific amount, but so are a lot of people interested in x, the rest follows straightforwardly. Beneath that the message there is: you should live better. Other players were more famous: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann. If I had to go back seven paragraphs and start over. Steve Jobs. That was a surprising realization. College Will Change If the best startups. Apple products the way they'd await new books by a popular novelist. In the middle of a project you consider your life's work from. Power How wide is this territory? Because of Y Combinator's early, broad focus is that we may be able to do it is to get.

Thanks to Sarah Harlin, Paul Gerhardt, Harj Taggar, Sam Altman, Jessica Livingston, and Trevor Blackwell for their feedback on these thoughts.

[timothyboshaw]

Substance Abuse and Addiction during the Pandemic

Substance Abuse and Addiction during the Pandemic

Addiction is a plague to our modern society. Whether that be drugs, alcohol, nicotine, sex, video games, etc. most people have a habit they are struggling to break. We become dependent on these things for pleasure, or to simply help us through our daily lives. The main causes to drug use in particular, are depression and boredom. Depression itself also has many causes. It can be clinical, and purely based on the imbalance of chemicals in ones brain. It can be situational, which means it is based on a circumstance that brings a lot of emotional pain, such as the loss of a loved one or a bad break up. This is typically temporary. It can also be developed due to childhood trauma, whether that be physical or mental trauma. All these causes of depression, however serious, are mostly treatable. Whether that be through therapy, anti-depressants, or both, depression is largely treatable in the modern age. Boredom, the other cause of substance abuse, is obviously very treatable comparted to depression. Boredom can simply be fixed by entertaining the mind. Whether that be going out with friends, playing sports, or working, boredom is relatively treatable, and largely less serious than depression. Those who are depressed turn to something comforting, something that makes them temporarily feel uplifted. This is typically drugs, alcohol, and sex. While both alcohol and sex are not wrong or illegal, they should be exercised in moderation. Having too much sex can make you dependent on it for pleasure in your daily life Arthurs study suggests. And obviously, too much alcohol can make you an alcoholic. Those who are bored typically turn to other simpler and less dangerous ways to entertain their brains, but in some cases they turn to drugs, alcohol, and sex to fascinate them throughout the day.

Economics of Drugs

Just like any society, there is an illegal side of the economy. Just because illegal drugs are not taxed and not considered for a nations GDP (at least not Americas), does not mean there is not an economy behind it. The drug market is largely elastic. This is due to their addictive nature, and there not being many close substitutes. For instance, let’s say Jack and Sally are addicted to heroin. Jack and Sally are so dependent on heroin, that even if prices double, they would still find a way to get the heroin.  This defines an inelastic demand; as prices rise demand does not decrease at the same rate, or even relatively close to the same rate. Alcohol on the other hand is much more elastic. This is not due to how much less addictive alcohol is, as it is still extremely addictive, but to how many close substitutes there are. There are many types of alcohol, and as it is legal to consume, there are also many brands and sellers. This means if one alcohol brand raises its price, it is likely a consumer will purchase a different brand, making alcohol largely elastic.

 How the pandemic has Affected Drug Users

The pandemic has taken its toll on most of us, but it has particularly affected those of us who are extroverts. One study from Arthur back in 2019 stated that the majority of drug abusers would classify themselves as introverts (at least when not high). Introverted people do not prefer much human contact, so naturally the shutting of the economy and schools did not affect them as much as the rest of the population. A poll from Arther.com back in May 2020, stated that boredom and depression were the two main ideas people complained about when stuck in quarantine. Naturally, this caused drug and substance abuse to skyrocket. One thing I found particularly interesting that was not mentioned in the study is who was taking these drugs. Those who were already substance abusers did not increase the quantity of drugs they purchased, rather the rise in quantity of drugs sold was due to a large increase in customers. This is likely due to extroverts, who now could not have a social life, turning to drugs.

 How the Pandemic has affected Drug Economics

This change in demand for illegal substances not only affected society, but also the illicit economy. Drugs for the most part, has a fixed supply curve. Given that there is a domestic and international drug trade in America, there are multiple sources for drugs. International trade is very risky, and therefore there is typically not much fluctuation in the amount of drugs entering America. As seen in the Narcos documentary (which took place decades ago) as well as documentaries that take place in a slightly more modern time, the majority of drugs enter America on only a few fronts, and there is a finite amount entering on a monthly basis. As for the domestic drugs, they are typically produced in a lab. It is unlikely the increase in demand would cause a large increase in the supply, as the majority of people that would accept the drug dealer lifestyle, already have. Not many people will pull a Walter White and make their own meth to sell. As a result, the increase in demand will instead cause the price of drugs to increase without an increase in supply. This has made drugs a slightly rarer resource, causing people to seek it out all the more, given its inelastic demand. This is causing money to leave the hands of people already struggling during the pandemic, and money being received by those who were already making a huge profit prior to the pandemic. Not only are we in the midst of the pandemic that is covid-19, but we as America are experiencing another pandemic altogether; substance abuse

 How this has Affected me Personally

I have never been a drug user. I occasionally will have a beer with friends, however never let my brain reach a drunken state. When the pandemic hit, I lost contact with a lot of friends. For months on end, I was unable to see anyone, which led to incredible boredom. At one point, I went four weeks without any human contact besides my roommates and the grocer. I am extremely extroverted and value my social life heavily. This boredom was new to me and I did not really know how to handle it. I tried playing video games, watching a new TV show, and picking up guitar. None of those tasks really stuck, as they were not real human contact. Gradually this boredom morphed into depression. Every day was the same, and it seemed like I was going nowhere. I was working hard in school, but due to the nature of online learning, I felt like I was retaining very little knowledge. As a coping mechanism I turned to drugs and alcohol in order to feel some sense of pleasure and accomplishment. This made me feel better temporarily, however left me in an even worse state when I was sober. Eventually I became dependent on the drugs and alcohol to even get me through the day. That was this fall. Since then, I have been able to pull myself up by the bootstraps and stopped substance abuse altogether. This did however not fix the greater problem at hand, the lack of social interaction. Covid-19 has taken its toll on us all, and it affected me in this way. I really hope those in our government begin to realize the mental toll this lockdown has taken on the people and strive to open the economy back up. Obviously, they need to do this in a safe way, however taking away peoples social life, takes away a part of what makes us human, and can lead us to do things we’d never dream of doing.

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: a tweet by @TheQueerQuirk "QueerQuirk.com", who has a paid blue check. The tweet says "We're officially the 🔌 to get HRT style pills without a doctor's note". Attached is a link to their website, estrolabs.com, to a page titled "I Can't Believe It's Not Estrogen | OTC alternative to estrogen pills".

There is an image attached to the link as a preview, which shows a light pink background with a thin white grid atop it. The top right and bottom left corners have silhouettes of leaves. On the top left hand corner, white font says "EstroLabs" in a blocky font, similar to ones used in scientific company logos. There is the transgender symbol in a white heart to the left of that. Beneath it, it says "Estrogen alternative, No prescription needed" in pink letters, the same as the background. This is encased in a white box, and below is a similar box holding a "shop now" button.

To the right, there is an image of the bottle, which is a white medicine bottle with a holographic label. The logo is on the top, followed by the phrase "I can't believe it's not estrogen!" In a crooked pink oval. Below, it says "Natural estrogen alternative, supports and boosts feminine hormones, dietary supplement, 60 capsules".]

[A screenshot from the website, which has a background of pink fading to blue. There is a paragraph in white text atop it, which says "And let's talk about the benefits! "I Can't Believe It's Not Estrogen" is like your very own magical, hormone-boosting fairy godmother. Whether you're hitting high notes in the voice pitch app, or casually perusing r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns while sneaking glances at your developing chest bumps, these estrogen-enhancing essentials are just the right spice to add to your transformation stew. So go ahead, mix it up, let "I Can't Believe It's Not Estrogen" lead the cha-cha-cha of your life. After all, who needs a fairy godmother when you've got Ashwagandha by your side?"]

[Another screenshot of the website, this one a purchasing option for "Femboy Tummy Pills", which shows a similar white medicine bottle, with an image of an anime femboy with light purple hair, pulling up his shirt to show a flat stomach. The price is $44.95 USD.]

[Two screenshots of a Reddit post, containing the link to the original tweet, which says "This website is selling a product they call "I can't believe it's not estrogen" and the marketing is clearly such that it is targeted at transgender women who do not have access to hormone therapy. There are testimonials claiming how well it works and all kinds of other nonsense.

Ashwagandha as a natural root / drug raises your normal levels of LH. Luteinizing hormone acts on whatever gonads you have to increase their output.

As a result, a pre-HRT transgender woman taking the supplement would literally produce more testosterone on it than they would normally produce, inducing the literal opposite effects of what is advertised.

This has been sent to me now by both a friend and a patient asking if it was a good idea for them to take to help with their transition. It is not, not only is it terrible for an MTF that's pre-HRT, it's just a flat-out evil and cruel thing to do.

Normally I don't make warnings on stuff like this but this is trending on Twitter right now and I want to make sure that nobody that comes here is ever fooled by some nonsense like this. Please be very careful when it comes to taking supplements that can alter your hormones.

This post they have made, it's been viewed over a million times. I shudder to think how many people who don't have access to gender affirming therapy or who have lost it in states like Florida will be fooled by this and end up making their situation even worse so that someone else can profit off of their suffering.]

["Supplements that claim that they will boost your estrogen often do the exact inverse effect if you are an MTF because the way that they function is to increase the output of gonads. So for cisgender women, yes, that is exactly what it will do. But if you have testicles, it's just going to make you make more testosterone.

Link to their Twitter post: https://twitter.com/thequeerquirk/status /1666146391717040128?s=46& t=6GOORDiyu2WkoONRg7mhVQ

Edit: finally Twitter is starting to show some evidence that this would do the exact opposite of what it's claiming to do."]

[An AI image of someone's face, which is a handsome smiling visage wearing purple eye makeup and the barest hint of a moustache on the upper lip. The person has purple locs, none of which connect to the head properly. They are wearing a chain necklace and a patterned button up shirt, where the left collar merges with a neck tattoo, and the buttons are uneven. There is an odd streak on the right side of their forehead parallel to one of the locs, looking like another AI error.]

This site has been going around Twitter trans accounts quite a bit lately, so just pointing out here too that it'll do fuck all, they're exploiting trans people at a time when hrt is particularly hard to access and please don't give them your money

[megamikethomson]

CREDIT REPAIR SERVICES

It is possible that a consumer can clean up his or her credit and even improve the credit scores. However, after some thoughts and considerations, you might feel the need to employ professional credit repair companies near me, which provide their clients with professional credit repair services. The task of credit repair is quite complicated, thus, it is important to hire a professional rather than doing everything yourself.

The services related to credit repair require a thorough review of consumer's bureau reports. This is the very first step involved. Many laws are there that are present for regulating the reporting industry, thus, professionals can be a better choice as they can study the report according to the laws carefully. In the reports, the wrong, flawed, misleading, unverifiable and unfair items are not obvious. These are compliance violations located in a subtle way in the reports.

These hidden violations are nothing but the casualness of the workings of bureaus, which will be located by the credit repair services, but might be missed by common persons, as they are untrained. This drawback can cause blunders as they might miss opportunities to gain highest credit score or money.

Once the credit repair companies near me have successfully located all the potential violated items in the report, they would send certain dispute letters. These are a specialism function of credit repair services and are flawless in that. The content of these letters and their drafting needs to be correct. In addition, the communication process between the consumer and the creditors can be quite tedious and time consuming.

The content of the dispute letters are a crucial thing in getting highest credit score posible. The specialised and experienced credit services are experts in their communication with bureaus and aim at getting the best results. These professional companies make best use of their communication with the creditors to push the case forward and are highly resistant to accept "no" as an answer.

Then the next job involves transferring, retransferring, tracking and analysing all these dispute letters. The services of the credit repair companies near me  are so professional and foolproof, which do not let an opportunity to be missed that can be beneficial for the case. All the issues must be passed on to the concerned bureau. The items that have been corrected must be omitted from the list and rest of the disputed items must be communicated back with increased levels of energy.

A good and efficient credit repair services will assist the clients by doing all the above-mentioned things at a very nominal price. By paying as less as 50 dollars, the consumer can free himself or himself from loads of tensions, stress and efforts. In addition, you will save yourself from devoting hours to the above-mentioned things. Therefore, hiring professional credit repair companies can be worth.

Finally, the most important thing of hiring professional credit repair companies is that they ensure that your credit scores improve and raise your FICO scores. If a consumer decides to carry out all the procedure by him or herself, it is quite possible that they will end up harming their scores more.

Credit Repair Services

For people with less than perfect credit history, there are a variety of credit repair services to assist them in their time of emergency. This is because a person's credit history means a lot in today's society. Creditors and banks alike will set your history and if this comes out unfavourable, and then it would mean that further loans could simply be denied to you.

Cleaning off your own credit is one solution that many people resort to but after a lot of consideration, it becomes evident that taking help from credit repair services is a much more viable option because the task involved is tough and has several angles to it. Do not be discouraged by the fact that only your credit score is worth worrying, many citizens go through the exact same situation.

In times of bad credit, a person in need of money comes under the radar ever so often. They offer waivers to relieve you off of your debt and then furthermore help build your financial situation in the present by reducing their average monthly spending to a minimal and manageable level. But not necessarily such an action may be right for the person needing credit repair. An excellent tool in such situations is bad credit financing if one is ready to make the monthly payments on time.

The credit repair system affects your credit in a good way. It usually means that efforts are made to repair and restore one's credibility to avail loans. This is done by removing damaging information from one's credit reports, accounts and budgets, all included. Also, they make efforts to promote the positive aspects of the person's credit profile. But this can only be done to those people's credit score which is not exceeding a certain set limit.

There's a pattern which forms a bad credit. It usually begins with an upset in the balance of a regular life. This upset can be something like a loss of job, expenses incurred on health, family feuds, etc. Such events can upset your income which means that your expenses incurred becomes more than the income. This affects the credit score as the companies starts charging more on expenses incurred, higher rate of interests come into being, and ultimately to make matters worse, banks and credit institution stop lending you money.

During such a phase, credit repair would not make much of a difference as the negative items cannot be immediately thrown off the list. Enlist the help of a debt specialist in such cases. But if you think you will be able to weather the storm and be able to manage your debt in the future then fast credit repair system is your best bet. The cleanup can only begin once the extent of damage has been measured.

The best credit repair services by acting as intermediaries help repair credit by helping their clients in bargaining for a more manageable term of repayment with their creditors. They are best suited to help sort out problems in the collection agencies and credit card companies.

Credit Repair Companies Near Me

Anyone with a bad credit can tell you it sucks completely. But, now-a-days it is possible to fix that with credit repair. Thousands of people across globe have been able to get credit cards and loans at cheaper interest rates due to credit repair and hence, have been able to purchase new homes, cars etc. Repairing your credit report is a very daunting task and demands a lot of time and therefore, people approach the experts and their firms, called as Credit repair Companies Near Me. This has become a very profitable business in today's date with hundreds of credit repair companies spring up all over the country, but as usual, some stand out from the rest. Here is the list of the 10 best credit repair services in the world -

1. Lexington Law- the most popular credit repair company since 1991, Lexington Law cleared million negative items in the year 2009. People appreciate the firm for its one to one service and high repair rate. It has been the market leader in the business since 1991.

2. Consumer Credit Repair Counselling - Although it was launched with the aim of educating people about credit repair, it also repairs and rebuilds people's bad credit. Since its inception people it has served millions of customers with the highest quality. It is a dependable, scam free company.

3. Sky Blue- With over 20 years of experience in credit repair, Sky blue is one of the most reputable firms in this field. They are known to generate the best results and provide exceptional customer service. Sky Blue has also been awarded an A++ rating by BBB.

4. MSI Credit Solutions- The only company which provides customers with uniquely customized plans for each client, MSI credit solutions is known their service and results. The company is also the only one to provide a 100% money back guarantee.

5. DSI Solutions Credit Repair Services- The most affordable credit repair service, DSI solutions works mostly with credit bureaus. It also includes a free credit report and creditors are very happy with their service.

6. National Credit Fixers' Credit Repair Service- Mostly known for sound credit solutions, the company ensures that you earn good credit whilst removing bad credit.

7. MyCreditfocus.com Standard Service- With features like debt negotiation and new credit services, the firm provides a holistic approach to credit repair. The company is known for its one to one service.

8. Ovation Credit's Essentials Plus with Fast-Track- Known for its fast-track service, Ovation also provides professional advisors to the clients. The firm also provides recommendation letters from their staff attorney to each client.

9. Veracity Credit's Platinum Service- With scope of unlimited investigations and free credit reports, Veracity also provides customised collection interventions. The firm works with creditors and also helps educate people about credit repairs.

10. Academy Credit's Platinum Credit Repair Service- Apart from usual credit repair services, this firm also helps educate people about credit repairs companies and helps in eliminating maximum debt.

Getting Rid Of Your Debts The Easy Way

The recent recession witnessed by the global economy has uprooted the financial standing of millions of people across the world. Most often the immediate funds requirements are catered by the loans or debts in any form and the eventual delay or inability to pay back those loans in time can lead to severe repercussions that can impact one's credit standing in the long run. The US credit laws are extremely stringent in terms of the highest credit score and credit ratings for every earning individual, so much so that the 3 renowned Credit Bureaus in the county are constantly engaged in working on credit reports for the every SSN holder in the country.

As per the law of the state, a credit score of less than 500 is regarded as a bad mark on your credit rating and with low credit ratings it can get really difficult to obtain a new credit card or even apply for a personal or business loan. Refurbishing a distorted credit score can be a cumbersome task, considering the long term payments, interest rates and other charges make it almost impossible to pay off the due amounts, hence to help people sort their credit issues, a number of credit repair services are being offered in the country today. Several financial institutions and even banks are getting involved in the credit repair process by taking new initiatives that lead to prompt and easy repayment of debts and improvise the credit score of the debtor.

There are millions of credit repair companies near me that claim to offer the best solutions for your credit issues yet only 20 percent of them work towards it genuinely. Hence it is very important to opt for accompany after analyzing the pros and cons of the situation and weighing multiple possibilities. One must consider the following points before choosing a credit settlement company every time

First and foremost check whether their services are authentic or not. Ask for references that you can check the company's past records with. This will enable to gauge their credibility better before handing on your finances unto their hands. Or best you can even check with your family or peers to know which are the best credit repair companies with proven records

Keep a tab on the entire cost of the debt settlement procedure. Ensure that you scroll through

the list of every charge, even for a single penny. Many companies trap their customers by revealing hidden charges while in the middle of the credit repairing process. To avoid facing any such situations ask for legal and stamped paperwork with the full disclosure of the fee structure

A good company will always devise an efficient plan to rollout their working .The plan should include details like the duration of payments, the payment cycles, priorities , a calculation for any interests or late fees in the offered payment structure. Without a plan, the process will become haywire and more time consuming.

The process involves putting your financial standing at stake; hence it is essential to weigh your options by scrutinizing details to ensure that your credit issues are addressed in the most appropriate manner.

From Bad Credit To Good Credit

Those who sustain on plastic money (credit and debit cards) are certainly aware of the perils of having a bad credit rating listed with the bureaus. Not just does it put your financial goodwill at stake but also eliminates any chances to acquire any kind of loans or credit for future usage. Considering a major chunk of the present day population functions through plastic money, none can actually afford to drown their credit ratings in deep waters. However there are situations that are unforeseen and can be influenced by uncontrollable external factors, which often lead to a bad credit score hampering your growth opportunities in the immediate future.

Of late there have been millions of cases where liabilities have taken a toll on the financial, physical and emotional health of many people across the world. To combat he rising issue of debts and loans repayment , a hoard of credit repair companies near me  have forayed into the market and have established themselves over a very short span of time. Although it is very much possible for individual so plan their funds in advance and manage their debts in a more fruitful manner yet these specialized agencies do it better than anyone else. If you still have your doubts about hiring their services, here are some value additions done by these companies that will make your sure of their potential

Since the employees at these agencies are professionals in handling credit related issues they can simplify the case and at times even work it out with the shortest solution of a rectification letter( subjective to the circumstances)

There are situations where the complexities of the credit issue are beyond the understanding of a layman and different rules and regulations can add fuel to the fire, leaving the consumer extremely bereft of any choices. This is where the credit repair services come handy as they have detailed information about the do's and the don'ts at every step

Many people run annual reports to check status of any late payments or faults in their financial records as a proof of their financial standing , however it is easy to overlook any errors which may lead to a dramatic impact on the credit scores of the individual, hence a through examination and analysis of the money matters is a must to secure your financial status

The professional credit repair services also keep a tab on your current FICO scores; they run the minutest errors to ensure that the points do not get affected in any case. These companies also offer credit structuring advice to help you meet your credit and loan needs and enable you to pay them accordingly

Many a credit service firms also offer a money back guarantee, whereby you know that the investment is safe and you can ask for the money to be returned in case their services are not fully rendered. For a little sum of money, a well planned credit repayment and settlement structure that can help revive your flagging credit status is worth a try.

CREDIT ASSOCIATES 

A number of credit Assocites are available throughout the world, which help the consumers who do not have good credit histories. It can be quite difficult for the consumers who have low credit scores to obtain mortgages, emergency credit cards and various kinds of loans. The fact, that credit has become one of a very important part of our lives, has resulted in building up of a separate industry that provides services related to credit repair. There are two main methods, through which the creditAssociates help their clients improve their scores: credit report monitoring and correction, and debt consolidation and reduction.

Debt consolidation and reduction method involves assisting the clients by repairing their credits. This is done as companies negotiate with creditors and make the repayable terms more manageable. They simplify the repayment process by consolidating payments into a single payment, which is further distributed amongst the creditors. Therefore, they act as an intermediary between the creditors and the clients. In addition, these companies lessen the total balances by negotiating the total payment and omission of late fees, thus, resulting in debt reduction. These companies are most effective in working with collection agencies and credit card companies.

Majority of the creditors are willing to work with credit repair companies, as they get to sell off their accounts to collection agencies, thus, charge off their accounts. However, in majority of the cases, the accounts have been charged off but are still owned internally by the collection departments. A fact, which is in creditors knowledge, is that the chances of repayment increases by the involvement of credit repair companies.

Some of the most popular companies providing credit repair services are Freedom Debt Relief, American Financial Solutions, Consumer Credit.com, Consolidated Credit Counselling Services, Care One, Trinity Credit Services, Sky Blue and Ovation Credit Services

The second method involves an employment of a legal approach by the law firms. This is another method used by the credit repair services. These law firms are expert in locating challenging clauses and items in their client's credit reports. These law firms are very effective and efficient, as they totally understand the laws related to credit reporting and consumer rights. Most of the creditors know that an average person or a consumer is very ignorant about their rights associated with credit reporting, thus, they become casual and lack strictness while observing the regulations concerning the reporting of the transactions.

The workings of these specialized law firms include a request to the clients to obtain a copy of their credit reports. After they have obtained a copy, they review them thoroughly, reading word by word. This helps these firms to find and explore any item that could be misleading, incorrect, flawed, unfair and unverifiable. Once these kinds of objectionable items are found, these firms challenge the validity and authenticity of their creditors. The failure of a valid response from the creditors leads to the omission of those items from the report. These law firms assist their clients by making them aware of their consumer protection rights. They charge an initial fee and a monthly fee for the duration of the services been used.

About Credit Repair Services

Today, the life of majority of people around the globe revolves around credit(s). It could range from simply using a credit card to buy everyday items, to paying medical bills, to buying a house or a car, right up to financing a whole business venture. Having low credit scores can prove to be an issue to obtain any kind of loans, emergency credit cards (with low limits), and even mortgages. The right credit scores therefore are of utmost importance.

However, sometimes things usually don't work out in the best way. You may be living a normal, easy life; and behaving like a responsible consumer, paying your bills and other dues on time. But, some unforeseen event might happen to interfere with this flow; and thus upsetting your balance and plans. Someone in the family may fall seriously ill, you may lose our job, be going through a divorce, or perhaps face any other similar circumstance. This consequently affects your payments, as your income falls short of the due expenses; which in turn reflects in your credit reports as a negative point or remark.

Another concern could be the chance of reporting errors occurring in your credit reports. Either one or both of these issues result in the sliding down of your highest credit score possible, only making matters worse for you. Bad credit score may result in denial of the loans that you may have applied for; your credit card companies may perhaps begin charging higher rates of interest. And in such a situation, the problems only seem to increase, just like a snowball.

As credit has become an extremely important, almost indispensable financial asset; the recent years have seen the emergence of an entire industry dedicated to it. Today, there are a numerous credit repair companies, which offer credit repair services to a number of consumers, who have a credit history that is less than ideal. They offer two main methods through which the credit scores may be improved. One of these is monitoring and correcting the credit reports; and the other is through debt consolidation or reduction.

The companies, offering the debt relief programs, negotiate with the clients' creditors and settle on repayment plans that are more manageable. They are basically intended to help people dealing with out of control bills. However, not every individual looking to improve his credit score faces this problem.

Most creditors know that an average consumer is unaware of his or her rights regarding the reporting of credit. And therefore they don't entirely adhere to the regulations relating to reporting of transactions. In such cases, the credit repair companies near me  request a copy of their client's credit report. They review it, and look for any sort of discrepancies like unverifiable or flawed items. If found the validity of these items are challenged by the companies.

In the event that the creditors can't provide any satisfactory responses to these challenges, the credit bureaus are required to remove them from the respective person's credit report.