#those are two very different threat levels in my humble opinion

[brokensticks]

We've gotta find a nicer way to warn people about weather conditions cuz every time that freaky ass alarm goes off on my phone I think I'm gonna get bombed or something

[therealvinelle]

Tw: talking about r#pe ASOIAF anon here! Sorry, I might have been a bit misleading

On the GRRM part I think you are right. I'm saying this because I haven't run into a person who criticised him so far. And I don't even have to mention D&D after the shit show they made out of GOT, everyone in the fandom hates those two.

But if you take a deep breath and dive into the fandom.......people will try to defend their favorites no matter what the cost is.

Unfortunately, I like the edits about GOT on Tiktok. That was what captured me at first because there are some very talented people out there. But here comes the catch. Let me give you an example that I run in to frequently. The Daenerys vs Sansa fandom.

If you criticise Daenerys as a Sansa Stan they will make fun of your fave as if they are still in Kindergarten. I once saw tiktok about Sansa getting r#ped or abused in an other way to promote Daenerys.

Same goes for Sansa's team. I saw it in both teams that there are people who do shit like that. And the beauty of this that these "Stans" in the fandom will try to deny it, that it never ever happened and that it never will because their fave is Jesus come again and those who love this character are the loveliest people in the world. If you think differently, you're wrong and an idiot. (And there are way more competitions where they put different characters against each other because they want to have a beef with someone.)

And do not let me get started on Team Black or Team Green. You will see people cheering about murdering children in the most brutal way imaginable.

You see, my problem is that you can't have an opinion about almost every character that counts because there will be always at least one "XY's d*ck rider" who will defend their every action as if they were their bear cubs. Also they will make fun of the or send them death threats to the actors/actresses because they played a character who they hated.

I'm sorry that I ended up ranting and taking up place in your ask box but I wanted to give you a warning about what is lurking in the Dark side of this fandom if you will ever get into it somehow, (Run you fool! Run and don't look back! ) that this will be one helluva ride. I know, I know that every fandom has its weird people but ASOIAF and GOT and HOTD in my humble opinion are on another level.

There is a possibility that these toxic takes only exist on Tiktok and Twitter but let's not forget that Tumblr had its dark side era.

So...yeah......again. I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. And sorry for my English

(^me reading this ask)

(Anon is referring to this post.)

Thank you for clearing up, anon, I... god. Good god. I will keep this in mind.

[violet-t-9]

Different perspectives (episode 131)

I’ve seen a lot of people saying how choosing Trent to ally with would be a horrible idea, and I 100% believe it too. However, I think we need to see how that is a valid option to consider from the cast’s perspective (and Matt clearly prepared for it to be at least a possibility, especially given the bit at the end where he showed the two minis). 

Suggesting letting Trent in on their plan is not as unwise as many make it out to be. Sure it has very, very high risk, but M9 is just looking at all their options based on the information they are given and it’s worth considering.

1. The city will consume literally everything if they fail to stop the TT.

- Obviously, Trent is bad, but is Trent as bad as the end of the world though? (Well, that is still a bit debatable...) Sometimes, you got to work with your worst enemies to save the world, it’s just how it goes.

- M9 sought help from A LOT of people who they were not supposed to trust, and so far it has been working out. Not saying it would have worked out with Trent, but it is a valid option to consider. They worked with: Lucien and TT, Vess DeRogna, and to a lesser extent, Astrid/Eadwulf, Essek, etc. This is not their first rodeo guys. Obviously imo Trent is more horrible than any of the above mentioned, but like I understand why it would be an option.

- I have a hard time believing that Trent, who probably has some intelligence of some kind, would want the world to end, so even if he obviously will try to undermine M9 at some point I think it would be after the city is no longer the immediate threat (if they convince him of the gravity of the situation).

2. There is a high chance that they can persuade Trent to help, and Trent may come with extra people and more power.

- Sure Trent may be chaotic evil but even that kind of person would want self-preservation and also knowledge/power. If the M9 played it well I have no doubt Trent would join them. He wants to get close/monitor/get rid of M9 especially Caleb, he wants to know what they are doing and is certainly going to be interested in the city. So the chances of Trent going is... well, honestly, high. I don’t think he would just give up control over the situation. If he doesn’t go and sends others instead then working with Trent wouldn’t even be a concern now would it? Working with Astrid and Eadwulf doesn’t seem too bad.

- From a meta perspective Matt probably doesn’t want to play a lot of NPCs, but from a game perspective it makes sense that Trent would have more people to send. This is really a world-ending all-hands-on-deck situation. Yes this may not be the correct kind of help, but it is an option to consider - especially since they are trying to get Trent killed/kill Trent as a bonus anyways.

3. Trent will 100% double-cross them, or try to kill Caleb, or get tempted by the city, or all of the above; but consider, they can also use it against Trent.

- If Trent double-crosses them, M9 would at least expect it to happen and would see it coming. Especially if Trent already follows them and plans to pursue them anyways - then forming an “alliance” would give them an advantage. They would have to deal with Trent anyways. Sure Trent will probably choose a time when the city is no longer a threat and when they are vulnerable, but it would not come as a surprise. Trent could very well try to get Caleb/other members killed, but they would also be trying to get Trent killed. If Trent got tempted by the city, well all the better if he ends up like Vess DeRogna or if his mind got consumed by a hundred screaming voices. 

- Now, since they are definitely not working with Trent, Trent could still be lying in wait to ambush them when they return, vulnerable and exhausted from the city business, and they may still have to fight him at their weakest anyways. So really, the confrontation is bound to happen. 

- As for Caleb, he IS the one person who knows how absolutely horrible Trent is. The fact that he is even entertaining this idea means it must have some merit. He has shown that he is willing to face his trauma if it will benefit the party/others/himself in some way (things that he considers “bigger than himself”), and of course “allying” with Trent would be an opportunity for a lot of things (namely, killing Trent, catching him off guard and slipping the collar on, learning more information, finding some things against Trent) that Caleb is interested in. 

- Also a bit unrelated, but they also had kind of a similar conversation regarding working with the Assembly before the Sanatorium, and decided to try reaching out to Astrid anyways. They also decided to work with the TT, which some would argue was a horrible, horrible idea, but they lost things as well as gained things in those interactions. High risk, high reward. Even though in this case, the risk might be too high, it is still worth M9′s discussion.

4. They didn’t just immediately get all the relevant information - the options changed throughout the episode.

- They didn’t always have to choose between Trent and Essek, there WAS a slim chance that they could have some semblance of both - which would actually be beneficial in its own ways, if played correctly. Obviously it carries a lot of risk, but everything they do have risks. It failed because of the failed persuasion check, and I’m glad it failed, but the potential benefits still exist.

- They asked Astrid precisely to confirm Trent’s level of interest, and dropped the idea soon after because Trent turned out to be REAL invested in terminating them as a threat and less in the “curiosity”/“wanting conversation” stage now. After the messaging, they quickly decided that associating with Trent wouldn’t be worth it.  

Now for the list of cons against working with Trent: I don’t even think I need to list them, just typing his name so many times already made me feel revolted. He is dangerous, unpredictable, and he is as untrustworthy as it gets. Also he is just a horrible presence to be around (Lucien/TT are such nice companions  in comparison, just in my humble opinion) everybody especially Caleb, and Essek is 100% valid in not wanting to work with Trent. Please don’t send me anything to argue about why working with Trent would be a horrible idea - I agree, I’m not arguing against that at all.

I know that it can seem like the choice between two potential allies should be obvious, but it is a nuanced situation (see above), and Essek is one person, who is at similar levels as M9, whom they still are not sure they trust completely - and have good reason not to (but they obviously do trust him, because they tell him everything and choose him as soon as they have confirmation about Trent’s intentions). All I’m saying is it is good for M9 to weigh their options, even if the choice may seem “obvious” to some of us. Personally I’m really glad that we don’t need to see Trent being even in proximity of them, but there were merits to either option and I think it was nice to see the options explored.

TL;DR: Trent is horrible and I’m so thankful they didn’t “ally” with him but M9 did have many valid reasons to consider, talk about and explore that option. It is NOT M9 being unwise or idiotic (at least not any more than normal). In fact, I think it was great and careful planning on their part that they took time to consider all the options - even though this option is pretty terrible in many people’s opinions (including some of their own and my own).

This is the cast’s game and they can decide how they want to play. If they want to take the time to discuss all the options available to them and the potential pros/cons, I consider that thorough exploration of the story on their part. The fact that they can have such discussions shows how detailed and complicated Matt’s world and characters are. I, for one, love those moments when they lay out their options and weigh the risks and benefits and would never consider M9 any lesser for addressing these options.

[remmushound]

Beyond the Bay Chapter 20: Family friend

Summary: Leonardo calls a family friend in to help assess Mikey

Tags: @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @digitl-art-monstr @ilo-artistry @dakotafinely

Content warning: mild swearing

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Leo’s knock and voice snapped Leonardo out of his daze. The teen blinked first, and then shook his head to rattle his thoughts back into place.

“I hope you don’t mind my intrusion.” Leo said, coming further into Leonardo’s room.

“Not at all.” Leonardo lied, because he did mind the intrusion in his personal space but he wasn’t going to say that! Besides, this face was exactly the one he had been planning to seek out. “But I’ll have you know my thoughts cost no less than a dollar a piece, I know my worth.”

Leo sat on the bed and it gave a loud groan under the strain of his weight; the leader snorted a forced laugh through his nose and shook his head.

“I think I’ll have to pass, thanks.”

“He’s fine.” Said Leonardo.

Leo blinked, cocking his head. “Pardon?”

“You came here to ask about your father, right?” Leonardo asked. “He’s fine, stable and resting. We’ll know more when he wakes.”

“Is it advisable to leave him alone?”

“Your Raph’s sitting in with him. Figured he'd appreciate seeing a familiar face when he wakes up and not this.” Leonardo motioned to his face. “As beautifully handsome as it is, it’s not his son.”

“Right.” Leo nodded. The box turtle had picked up on Leonardo’s lie of not minding his presence and was quick to try and justify himself.  “Well, I just noticed you in here alone looking like you just kicked a puppy, so I figured I’d check on you. I— I can go.”

“No.” Leonardo grabbed Leo’s hand to stop any escape. “Don’t go. I was actually wanting to talk with you.”

Leo sat back down. “You have my full attention.”

“With all this stuff going on, your dad and… and that dino dude and… and Mikey…and I mean, there’s only so much me and Donnie can do. We— we’re not trained physicians by any means and we don’t have all the medicines and equipment that one might need to treat him—“

“What are you saying?” Leo prompted Leonardo to just get to the point.

“I was just considering that it could be beneficial to start looking into more… mystic solutions.”

“Mystic— like, like those Yokai in the Hidden City— like, Draxum?”

“I take dad to them all the time! And I know mutants and yokai are like, waaay different, but there are a few younger doctors who are learning experimental procedures to specialize in mutant care!”

“Key word being experimental?” Leonardo’s words left a bad taste on Leo’s tongue.

“Everything’s experimental before its effective— mutants haven’t even been around a decade yet. The work they do is surprisingly advanced for such a short period!” Leonardo argued

“You’re suggesting using Mikey as an experiment?” Every sense of protective nature surged through Leo in that moment, eyes of ice boring into Leonardo’s sapphire and ruby one.

“No, I’m suggesting we take him to someone better equipped to handle him. Someone more… familiar with seizures. Donnie and I are just making stuff up as we go along, and that’s not what's best for Mikey…”

“If you’re not qualified to help him, how could you possibly be qualified to state any opinion on the matter?” Leo crossed his arms, “You’re your team's medic! You're supposed to heal, so heal him!”

Leonardo only smiled his dumb smile and rested his head on his hand. “You’re not very bright, are you?”

“What?” Came Leo’s bitter response.

“I am a medic, and in my humble medical opinion, he needs someone better than me! Two seizures in two days can’t be good, not for a person and not for a mutant. Just think for a second what would be best for your brother.”

“Are you accusing me of not thinking about that?” Leo let his perfect white teeth show a sharp threat. “Mikey is fine where he is!”

Leonardo’s eyes turned cool, like a layer of soft mist had laid over them and softened his voice several degrees until it came out like a gentle winter sound. “Are you willing to risk Mikey’s life for it?”

Leo felt his blood run cold, the collected chi inside him shattering and dissipating to the farthest reaches of his form. His throat was too dry, even to swallow, and he could hear his blood rushing in his ears. Leonardo knew in that moment he was victorious, for he leaned forward and entwined his fingers together, his smug smile not near as perfect as Leo’s, but just as confident.

“Fine.” Leo’s bitter relent came, “Call a specialist.”

“I got one on speed dial.”

Leo deadpanned. “Is it Baron Draxum?”

“N-no!” Leonardo lied, then immediately said, “It’s Baron Draxum.”

***

“Hm.” Baron Draxum mused as he looked over Mikey. The entire Clan was gathered in the infirmary, apparently too close for the faun’s liking because in the next breath he said, “Could I please get some peace and quiet?”

“We’re… not talking.” Raph pointed out, and nobody moved.

“I meant that as a polite way of asking you all to leave me alone.” Draxum said slow and sharp, like he was talking to a dense wall.

“Like hell we’re leaving you alone with him!” Leo snarled, and there was a determined chorus of agreement from his brothers.

“Why, do you not trust me?”

Draxum turned his full attention to the rest of the Splinterson family, his lips pulling back in a sneer. He started to walk ever so slowly around the beds of the infirmary, dragging hooved hands across the beds holding Mikey, who was disgruntled at being forced into another exam, and Splinter who still sleeping off his trauma. Draxum’s hands traced over Mikey’s arms and Mikey winced and pulled away as if the fingers were knives. As Draxum circled around to do the same to Splinter, who in his unconscious state couldn’t retreat, Raph stepped forward with both hands on his sai, ready to gouge and destroy.

“Draxum, cut it out!” Michelangelo scolded, hand on his hip and cheeks puffed out like a middle aged grandmother scolding her grown child.

Draxum rolled his eyes, but gave into grandmother Michelangelo’s demands and stopped his slow taunting walk. Raph returned his sai to their holsters, but kept forest eyes fixed on the yokai menace.

“I still say some privacy would be preferable for my assessment. I don’t do well in a crowd.”

“Why did it have to be him, again?” Leo asked in a sharp and bitter voice as he motioned to the faun who couldn’t appear more bored if he tried.

“Draxum’s a family friend— we trust him!” Raphael tried to reassure everyone, including himself.

“But I don’t.” Leo said simply. “Not around my brother alone…”

“Leo, I’m fine!” Mikey complained, “Honestly, you’re all making a big deal out of nothing!”

“A seizure isn’t ‘nothing’ Mikey.” Donnie sighed and shook his head.

“And nothing is exactly what I can do if you keep crowding me.” Draxum’s vine snared around Donnie’s belt to pull him away from Mikey’s bedside, much to the ire of the box turtle.

“How about this?” Leonardo interrupted before another argument could break out, “Leo, why don’t you stay here with Mikey while we take Donnie and Raph on tonight’s patrol? We missed last night’s, we can’t miss another.”

“Yeah!” Raphael immediately agreed, but louder, stealing the show and the attention from his younger brother. “That’s a great idea, Leo. We should get ready to do that now, actually.”

“Raph, Donnie.” Leo said, nodding to them as he addressed them. “You heard the snapper. Suit up.”

Donnie was quick to rise and obey, eyes on Mikey until the very last second when he left the room. Raph didn't move from Mikey’s side.

“Raph.” Leo said again, this time louder.

“I’m not leaving him.” Raph’s voice was low. He tightened his grip.

“I wasn’t asking.” Came Leo’s sharp retort. “Raphael asked you to go on patrol with him, and I told you to suit up.”

“It’s okay Raphie!” Mikey said, and he knew he could get away with it; Raph wouldn’t rebuke him when he was in a med bed after all! “Go knock some heads in and chill. I’ll be fine!”

Raph shook his head and clicked his tongue but his eyes held nothing but playful mischief. “You know I hate that nickname.”

“Duh!” Mikey slung a lazy arm around Raph to hug him one last time before giving him a push to start him on leaving the room.

When the entire group was finally ready to depart some five minutes later, it was Raphael who put a delay on their plans. It seemed the minute they were about to leave, he had a million and one things he needed to say.

“April’s here to help you if you have any questions.” Raphael said, practically doting over Leo like he was one of his younger siblings.

“Understood.” Was Leo’s simple response.

“And— and there’s some pizza you can make if you get hungry— if dad complains about being hungry, you can make him a snack but no big meals until breakfast. Leo likes to keep close eyes on his calories. Dad really likes the sweet stuff, so make sure it’s sugary.”

“Will do.” Leo nodded.

“But if you do get him a snack, make sure you mark down how much he eats so we can adjust his intake, otherwise we’ll be all thrown out of wack.”

“Alright.” Leo couldn’t help but smile at Raphael’s anxious rantings.

“Oh, and he— he goes to bed at twelve, could you just make double sure that his door alarm is set?”

“Raph.” Leonardo grabbed Raphael by the arm.

“It gives a little ring whenever it’s opened so he can’t wander off…”

“Raph.” Leonardo’s patience was weining.

“And make sure you get him up at four for a bathroom break or else he’ll have an accident. And sometimes he has trouble sleeping—“

“RAPH.” Leonardo reached up and grabbed Raphael by the cheeks, dragging the snappers head down to his level. “They’ll be fine. Draxum and April are here with them.”

“I know…” Raphael said and his words came out a low whisper. Still he didn't move.

“Come on.” Leonardo said and he didn't give Raphael a choice in the matter. He yanked and yanked on Raphael until the turtle relented and followed after him, and when Raphael tried to look back and add one last thing, Leonardo only tugged harder. “We’ll be back before sunrise.”

Leo only nodded and waved as the two mutants disappeared after the rest of the patrol, and for a long moment Leo couldn’t help but think that it was Leonardo doing the leading...

[mai-fanblog]

Review/Opinion of Angry Birds Movie 2

Warning!

Contains spoilers (but is to highlight some points)

The Good

Angry Birds Movie 2 in narrative themes is more structured in terms of story, is well posed and goes straight to the issue without so many detours unlike the previous one, in the main story is centered and does not lose its goal, which is well done.

The first and second acts are fine, but the best thing about the film was the plot twist of the third act that left me surprised.

The humour is good, the gags are good and there are some jokes better than others, but I'll specify it later; but I liked those tributes to the Looney Toons' humour.

The direction and the animation are good, has the added visual gags giving some personality and dynamism to the film doing something entertaining. The animation is good, nothing from another world, it is conventional, but effective.

The acting is quite good (mostly, there are some exceptions).

There are 3 important characters who shone brighter than others:

 First Red, who sees the most arrogant and proud side of himself, but who has a good justification for his attitude and seeing his greatest fear throughout the film, however his development was more than well learning to be humble and not be afraid to lose something that makes you feel good, because in the first if he was rejected by everyone for being an orphan until becoming the hero, in this expands that feeling of no longer being useful and execute well.

Zeta, the villain interpreted by Leslie Jones, steals the reflectors like a cynical villain, extravagant, thirsty for revenge and intelligently dangerous, giving an entertaining personality and enjoyable to see, giving quite funny and interesting scenes; if Leonard in the first cause chaos by stealing eggs, Zeta takes destruction and chaos to a new level that I quite like, and if that means killing birds and pigs that have nothing to do with her motives, she will do so without hesitation; giving to a good villain who has a good development at the end.

And surprisingly Mighty Eagle was also an important piece for this film, he let it be a joke to be someone who has an issue to resolve; in the third act this shows very well and leaves anyone satisfied. And having a direct relationship with Zeta further strengthened his participation and surpassed his expectations of these two.

Other characters that stood out the most were Glenn played by Eugenio Derbez who shines very well in both English and Latin Spanish and Debbie who has a very important role until the end of the story and is the most empathetic character in the film. And why not Axel...good dance there, and also Jerry and Carl as the bird version of Jasper and Horace (reference).

THE BAD

However, not everything is perfect, like everything, but I will say that some exaggerated some parts of the film.

Its strong point is its humour as several people have said, it is almost the same as the first, reducing the double-meaning humour and adult jokes, which is not bad, but it becomes childish; although it is a children's film, it does not mean that they should reduce some jokes and make them simple. Like the first is very over-saturated and only relies on the same humor several times. It's funny, but it gets tired after a few minutes.

There are characters that were very untapped; like Matilda and The Blues that if they had kept their original version, especially Jay (I don't say it as an offense, but it seemed very forced to me, only to be interpreted by JoJo Siwa and they changed their parents apart, what happened there?) would have been more useful for the mission.

(I don't like the reduction of Matilda's role from being the woman on the team who wants peace and helping the flock become Terence's "wife," but that's something personal that won't affect my opinion.)

Chuck and Bomb were reduced to just being jokes every time that they appear, although they still support Red, unfortunately they didn't develop it as much as the first one; Leonard still retains its charm, but also turned him into a joke even though he was a threat in the first movie almost finished with birds.

Courtney and Garry are very good characters, but unfortunately they didn't have much time on screen.

And characters like Pinky, Ella, and a few others had nothing memorable about them.

 Here it comes

Now the crux of the matter... "Silver", is intelligent and nothing more, offers nothing beyond solving the problem, if Zeta is also intelligent minimum showed something more than that quality. "Silver" is the "Mary Sue" and often contradicts Red, her attitude towards him at first was inappropriate, that is to say, he was also rude, but there was minimal context and if she was intelligent she would have let him go on the speed date without doing anything instead of criticizing him in front of everyone; she has nothing interesting in her being Chuck's sister and nothing more to tell about there. Her original version, being a falcon bred by pigs would have been more interesting and giving a much more powerful message.

Apart from that, "female empowerment" is very weak in execution and not very credible and makes the rest of the team act like fools, only Red questions her and agrees with her at the end and "toxic masculinity" doesn't convince me, as Red had a quite justifiable context in the first film.(if the latter, Rachel Bloom who plays her in the film, commented it in the premiere) Also that of "gender equality" which is highlighted every minute she appears is annoying, in the first where Matilda and Stella are thrown into the castle they simply do it and are not criticized for their gender.

(and I say that as a woman)

And the relationship between her and Red, already presided over it and I don't like it, as it fell into the cliché of the protagonist and the "empowered" woman end up together (even Zeta mocks that in a scene) and was also forced, if they didn't like each other at first and then suddenly like each other they're not convincing; "Silver" is the female character that helps Red (if we completely ignore that Matilda wanted to help him as in the first and it didn't work out for him), but she also criticized Red as well as the rest as the first , making her a hypocrite. If Red was also indifferent to her too, minimum there was context from the first film and it was understandable, different from "Silver" which only acts as the "intelligent".

In other words, with "Silver" is a character that only highlights a quality with nothing else to offer and that I do not generate any sympathy, it can be " cute " (apart from the fact that I didn't like the design, but that's personal), but it doesn't deliver anything new and that doesn't have a development in the story. If she had been a new and different character I believe her there (although I wouldn't have liked her too), but that wasn't the case and she changed to a character that was already established 4 years ago.

(I finally let off steam!!!!)

The story of the Hatchlings, obviously is funny, just like Scart of ice age, which only serves to make you laugh and then you have only one major participation in the end (like ice age 2), however it is unnecessary and I generate nothing, until only in the third act are useful.

Another thing that I don't like about the film is the reduction of the conflict between birds and pigs to a simple war of pranks; which bothers me a little bit, since the pigs tried to eat the eggs and reduce their subject matter which is a bit dark if one thinks about it to a rather ridiculous war of pranks, that doesn't concern the essence of the game, it's as if stealing and eating the unborn children of their enemies were in the background nothing important.

And their teamwork that presented us as something awkward for both sides, in the film they don't show us that, which is contradicted in the film's advertisements.

 CONCLUSION

Angry Birds Movie 2 is an enjoyable movie, but it doesn't have an essence of the game itself. It's fun, colorful and good gags, yet there's nothing extraordinary about it.

The director did a good job to get the film flowing.

Red, Zeta, Mighty Eagle, Debbie and Glenn steal the movie and the others are background noise.

It's a little higher than its predecessor, but only in the main story points and animation with good visuals.

Personally I don't consider it as the best movie based on a video game, but it's close to being one of the good ones, but it still has some notable flaws (since the best movies based on a video game are Street Fighter II: The Animeted Movie and Detective Pikachu, those are the ones that kept an interesting story and respect the essence of the game)

It is advisable, if you want to take the children to have a good time, as a fan of the franchise may be something bipolar, as there may be things that do not fit you.

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Deku!

I know it’s been a while, but this ask was in response to a post I put out asking others to give me characters from HeroAca other than Hawks to stretch my character analysis skills to see what theories, predictions, or just interesting observations I find. Because this is outside the realm of my usual character subjects and my style may not be well known in this tag - I ramble and am long-winded, hence the cut to not be obnoxious to scroll past. As a manga reader I won’t add any information past the anime’s run so far if you’re curious and want to hear what I have to say.

Deku’s an interesting character to look at in the series because compared to the way we find out about literally every other character, we outright know what he’s thinking or what he’s doing or how he’s feeling, so any development we see from him we pretty much see it coming from a mile away. He’s an open book.

In contrast, not many fans were able to see how Aoyama may have been struggling with feelings of inadequacy over his abilities - particularly in the Sports Festival Arc; and this became obvious with the license exam in season 3, but the point goes that while many fans saw it coming, there were those who weren’t able to read between the lines and saw him as a two-dimensional joke character meant to fill up the class roster up to that point.

We don’t really have that level of mystery or uncertainty with Deku. As the main viewpoint into the series and the world Horikoshi is building, we’re basically experiencing everything that’s happening vicariously through Deku. Yet, it’s not like there’s no room for theories, specularization, or characterization with his character. I’ve already said I’m avoiding spoilers so theories and most speculation are out of the question as I can only vaguely hint that there’s some potentially neat thematic parallels beginning to be explored in part through him, but that’s about as many of the beans I can spill without dumping out the whole thing.

I had some neat stuff to talk about before I actually sat down and started writing this and realized so much of it was spoiler-y; but at least in way of my opinions on Deku, I haven’t actively rooted for the main anime protagonist like this in a while and his likeability is off the charts. That said, he’s not a stellar role model just yet, mainly due to his hero complex. We’ll see some of the nuance of this subject explored in the next season, but by and large Deku’s drive to save people can use some level-headed reigning in before he acts. There are many times where his action is completely appropriate and justified - almost always when there’s someone right in front of him that needs saving; and let me make it perfectly clear that the unyielding drive to help someone in distress is a positive quality through and through; but when he goes out of his way to break the rules and disregards the repercussions in order to save someone I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t gotten in much bigger trouble so far what with his history of it at this point.  That’s all to say that he’s a loose canon in the series so far and needs more experience before he’s real top hero material.

However, I don’t think this lone wolf mentality is what Horikoshi is trying to glorify or endorse through the series. My guess is that the series as a whole is philosophically leaning towards the Good Samaritan principle. (I said I wasn’t theorizing, but I guess I’m a liar now.)

If you aren’t familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan, it’s a parable in the Bible Jesus told about doing the right thing in helping others, no matter who you or the other person is - even if under normal circumstances the person you’re helping would despise you. This story is so iconic that there’s a type of law named after it - The Good Samaritan Law.  (And if you’re unfamiliar with it you should read it and the other parables in the Bible, they’re not just moral tales but might get you good points on an English/Literature essay if you reference them well.) 

It differs from place to place and not all countries have them, but the principle is if you think someone is in immediate danger and you attempt to save them they can’t turn around and sue you for “wrongdoing.” For example, if you see a baby or an animal locked in a car on a hot day and you smash the windows to pull them out and get them cooled down, whoever owns that car can’t sue you for smashing their windows and damaging their car. There’s a lot more nuance and fine print, but that’s the basic idea. In many cases where this law exists it actually legally obligates the bystander to help. The hope is that these laws help reduce the Bystander Effect (really neat if you look it up, but also scary and very humbling) and encourage people to help those in imminent danger without fear of negative repercussions.

Something I didn’t quite realize until now is that with the advent of a superhuman society, the Good Samaritan Principle is largely done away with all the way across the globe. Even if people are in active, life-threatening danger, you can’t use your powers to step in unless you have a hero license or you risk getting in serious legal trouble. To an extent this is understandable in a precarious and delicate situation - just look at the precision called for in the second half of the Provisional License Exam; but it occurred to me that not only are everyday people discouraged from getting directly involved they’re actively penalized if they do! If a hero was already on the case or shows up while you stall for time it makes sense to not insert yourself and complicate matters - you wouldn’t get in the middle of a hostage negotiation, for instance. Yet, that’s not what we see reflected in the series. There’s an over-saturation of heroes to the general public so that there’s almost always a hero close by to swoop in which rarely ever leaves an opening for someone else to step in while a hero is on their way; and the problem with this is that it leads to an over-dependence on heroes to intervene in other’s lives instead of taking the responsibility into one’s own hands as a citizen of the community.

This has repercussions that are directly echoed across the series, even (and especially) up to date. If you’re not a hero, you’re supposed to step back and let a “professional” handle it. If there’s truly no “Good Samaritan” exception in the world of HeroAca then that really gives Deku a solid ideal to embody and work towards in his world. He outright inspired All Might at the beginning of the series because he demonstrated the Good Samaritan Principle when rescuing Bakugo.

“It doesn’t matter that he hates me and bullies me and steps on my dreams. It doesn’t matter that I’m not a hero and can’t even stand up for myself. It doesn’t even matter that I don’t have any kind of superpower to use in this situation. He’s in danger and if I don’t do something now he’ll die! I can’t let that happen, and I won’t let that happen!”

That’s literally the parable in a nutshell. He even gets reprimanded for it after the fact, but he certainly doesn’t apologize for it. Deku is the personification of the “hero’s heart.” It’s recklessly helping others when they need help, and the moment he recognizes that someone is lashing out in pain (a la Todoroki or Shinsou or even Bakugo) he instantly recognizes that even though they may be against him in the moment and that threat needs to be reigned in, they’re still as much in need of saving as someone falling from a building. While All Might deterred crime through threat of force, Deku is on track to deter them before they even get to that place at all, and his character is making a case of normalizing this mentality instead of drawing black and white lines in the sand and chasing the symptoms of the disease rather than the cause. (I’m literally having a big brain moment typing this, “All Might-y power” in one generation vs “Deku” as someone who might normally be worthless but only needs a nudge to become “Dekiru/ I-can-do-it!”)

It’s a theme resonating through the series about how heroism and villainy both have roots in the heart, and while there are threats that have to be dealt with in the immediate and physical, there’s still an emotional and psychological component that has not only gone unaddressed for too long but is directly responsible for the surge of villains in society. You can already see it in so many of the League of Villains’ members (and some of the more troubled heroes) - if someone had been there to reach out their hand and metaphorically save them when they personally needed it in their lives (“It’s okay, I’m here.”) then they probably never would have become bad guys in the first place.

When all’s said and done, I think that’s the point of Deku’s character in the story, why he’s the main character, and why he’s going to be the greatest hero in the world.

~~~~~

Wow, that was more satisfying to write than I thought it would be. And to you, Momo and Uraraka anon, I have heard your question and I am trying to get it out soon. I just have… Much work to do.

After that, though, I hope to open HC requests again soon!

[andrewuttaro]

An Open Letter to the American Sports Fan (EXPLICIT)

Dear American Sports Fan,

Soccer is the realist shit you’ll ever support as a sports fan.

All the bullshit you put up with following NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and even College Sports, that’s all hot garbage compared to following a soccer club in your City.

Sure, there is plenty of BS in Soccer but it’s kinda irrelevant in that sport because when soccer is at it’s best your club is bigger than any player, league, or tournament it maybe in. Your little patch of humanity, Rochester, New York in my case, transcends normal sports BS. You know why? You know why Supporters Groups exist in Soccer more than any other American Sport?

Fraternity.

Whole groups of fans feel more empowered to drive club narrative and stadium atmosphere because they know in soccer their support, not just their money, actually drive where a team goes. Atmosphere and narrative matter, crucially so, and that falls on fans more than the media or money in Soccer. Fans aren’t just revenue sources in soccer: they’re life. The bond with fans isn’t just business, its fraternal.

Let me explain. That was sappy AF and normally you save that for the end. I’m not writing this letter to belittle the big American Pro Sports or any other popular organized sport in this Country. We all know who runs the show in this country and we all know it’s a cold business for making money. Soccer is that too. However, I would be wrong to say it’s no different. Soccer is different from the sports we’ve gotten used to as Americans. Soccer is different in all the right ways. There are some foreign concepts to us Americans that really make a difference in my humble opinion. This is a letter to my fellow American Sports fans on why Soccer is the realist shit you might ever support as a fan.  

Exhibit 1A is team achievement; in other words, authentic competitive merit. As a fan of the Buffalo Bills I know the greatest thing they could ever achieve is a Superbowl title. After surviving a handful of one-game elimination playoff matchups they could win on one night in February and lift a trophy. Sweet. With the other three major professional sports leagues in America it’s the same way: your greatest achievement is an NBA Title, a World Series title or a Stanley Cup Championship. Sweet. You did that one thing you can do and did it with a few guys who were good enough at the right time to do it. It’s a small sample size for actual sporting merit, huh? What if there was a broader range of things you could win? Never mind actual sporting merit, doesn’t that just sound more fun?

In Soccer (when it’s done right), there are two or three potential trophies you can win in addition to your league title that matter as much if not more. There are Supporter’s Shields, Champions League titles, another continental club tournament normally and an open domestic championship in most soccer-playing countries. That last one, the domestic championship, involves every professional (and some semi-professional and amateur) teams in the country. This is called the U.S. Open Cup in this country and its pretty awesome if you ask me. The point here is that team achievement is so much broader when soccer is done right and allows you to measure the greatness of your team in a range of ways. Sporting merit is as real as its going to get in soccer.

Promotion/Relegation is more a punchline than a real thing in this country. There are teams in each of the big 4 American Pro Leagues that have been so bad for so long that they are almost in another league below the top teams in their league. But they’re not. Authentic competitive merit is kind of a joke when the Golden State Warriors are in the same league as the New York Knicks. If the bottom two or three teams in the NBA were relegated each year how many times would the Knicks be relegated since the early 1970s? Four dozen? Five dozen? Six dozen times? I’m not just beating up on the Knicks, the fact of the matter is there’s no real accountability in professional American sports for being trash. Being trash for two generations like that hurts your fanbase, even kills it in some cases. Ask Stephen A. Smith, he’ll tell you all about the misery of being a Knicks fan. Rough shit because James Dolan doesn’t have to spend jack shit on that team if he doesn’t want to. Never mind the glorious opportunity of promotion, the threat of relegation is part of what makes soccer absolutely wicked.

Exhibit 1B is locality. In Europe there are important teams from little-ass towns in the far-flung countryside. Since leagues have less power when soccer is done right any team with ambition can cobble together a team and a home field and climb the ladder. Similar to the American way of doing things, such a climb does often involve a wealthy investor but the emphasis on locality balances out those wealthy sugar-daddies. This locality also allows you to cheer for a team you actually can connect with on a geographic/cultural level and… dare I say it, go to games regularly without mortgaging your house.

Money is part of this locality point, but the other part is just good old fashion sectionalism. I’m from Rochester, New York. If I have a choice, I would prefer not to support any sports team from New York City. This state is a downstate versus upstate sort of state and if you’re from upstate you probably tire of being compared to literally the greatest City on earth all the time. If you’re from downstate you probably have never thought you’re anything but the hottest shit in the country. Fuck that. Fuck New York City. When soccer is done right you don’t need to support the team that best represents the people you hate downstate, down the highway or even across town if you’re lucky. Those divisions are unhelpful in real life but they make sports fun.

Exhibit 2 is back to the point I started on emphatically: the fraternity of Supporters Groups. If you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan at Heinz Field in December and witness an enthralling close victory over a hated rival… say the Baltimore Ravens… you get to experience that with a few thousand other Steelers fans and… what? You go home happy for the experience. If you’re a member of a Supporters Group in Soccer there are organized events, tailgates, banners, flags, and organized cheers with a specific group of people who come together to make that stadium a place you want to be. Many pro sports teams in this country have those things without organized Supporters Groups. The Seattle Seahawks fanbase has a great tradition of the 12th man which is essentially a way of honoring and organizing the fans present at games. That’s fantastic. In soccer (when it’s done right), that sort of thing is do or die. The Seahawks aren’t going to disappear tomorrow if the 12th man thing ends. Manchester United FC won’t disappear tomorrow if their Supporters Groups stopped supporting them, but it would hurt bad and most other clubs would not survive such a blow.

The key there is those groups are part of what makes the team remain a team. They are as essential as the General Manager or Coach. That sentiment is spoken of glowingly in this country, but it is actually some real, dire shit in most soccer playing countries. You matter as a fan in soccer and not just because you buy merchandise and tickets, but because if you aren’t engaged in that team… well that team isn’t going to be all that relevant and be around much longer. Supporters define their team in soccer like the Bills Mafia’s tailgates can’t even hold a candle to.

Enough abstract shit, Exhibit 3 is very simple. Its worth being a fan of your local soccer team. Why? Well as I’ve laid out in prior points: they actually need you. Moreover, it’s worth it because not only can you be a part of something truly local, truly authentic and truly fraternal, American Soccer needs you right now. You’ve probably noticed me write “when it’s done right” a few times through this letter. Soccer isn’t being done right here. There are some who are trying to do it the right way, still others covertly doing it the right way. But the most powerful forces in American soccer are not. I have nothing personal against Major League Soccer, but they aren’t building something to last or even to be fun at the end of the day: they’re building something to make money like the other American Pro Sports leagues do.

Come support your local soccer team not because it’s a professional team or even an interesting team. Support your local soccer team because you have more power than you realize. You, the fan, have more power in soccer than you’ve ever been let on to. Even if you casually follow that club in your town, are sending a message that simply cannot exist in the other big sports in this country. Its worth being a soccer fan because when you support soccer you’re a piece of the future of the game as much as you’re a piece of that one club. It may take some time to adjust but let me tell you: it is so worth being a supporter of soccer in America.

[oosteven-universe]

World War 3 #3

World War 3 #3 Antarctic Press 2021 By Motofumi Kobayashi    1994, in a world like our own, but different.  The Soviet policy of perestroika has failed, and General Secretary Gorbachev has been assassinated.  Now, a rampaging portion of the Soviet military has resolved to invade the Western Bloc countries, escalating the threat of devastating global conflict.  Leading war manga figure Motofumi Kobayashi, creator of the hit series Cat Shit One, delivers a gritty, realistic depiction of a third World War that might have actually happened had there been one wrong move!    One of the first things I noticed was that there weren't any coloured pages, the previous two had them and I checked for ‘em here but alas it was to my chagrin.  That was just a side note because it doesn’t change a single thing about how we feel about the story.  The story itself is strong, powerful and shows the darker side of those fighting which can definitely make the reader feel uncomfortable.  By provoking an emotional response in the reader and having them become engaged in the story on such a level is just the sign of an exceptionally talented individual.  I mean the man does it all, he writes and illustrates the book which in and of itself alone would be something to celebrate but to do both at this insane level of quality is extraordinary.      I am very much a fan of the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well.  The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter which continues to bring their personalities front and centre.  The pacing that we see is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story the more we are pulled into this world being devastated.    I greatly appreciate the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen.  That scene with the Frau was intense to say the least but it’s moments like this that help add so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story.  How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is immaculately handled.    I am in awe of the level and quality of work that we see within these pages.  The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the attention to detail to such a degree is mind boggling.  The way that backgrounds become another character here and how they enhance and expand the moments so brilliantly is impressive as all get out.  That they also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificent.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling.  The black & white style is as unforgiving as it is beautiful to see and with all the gray tones added for depth and dimension what we get really is akin to a visual masterpiece. ​    It is in my humble yet esteemed opinion that Motofumi should receive some huge accolades, awards and whatever else is heaped onto him for having such a bold, relentless story and the kind of talent we only dream of seeing yet alone possessing.  He is definitely a modern master storyteller and what’s he does here is just another perfect example of this. 

[phaelosopher]

New Post has been published on http://www.phaelosopher.com/2018/06/24/creation-nature-god-life-no-difference/

Creation, Nature, God, Life: No Difference

Achillea millefolium, a.k.a. Yarrow

This commentary began its life as a post on Facebook, but in bringing it to this medium much has been added.

Mt. St. Helens from 47 miles away.

Working through my first year (two-plus seasons ~ fall, winter, and spring) in the Pacific Northwest, I am literally *awed* by Nature: its beauty, intelligence, power and grace. It is humbling to see how *little* this great Gift is appreciated or used intelligently in our society. Indeed, we still act as though Nature is either a conquest to be pursued, or when it knocks us on our asses, a malevolent adversary.

How ironic since we can’t live a life of any real quality without it.

As such, it is appalling how *alien* our social/cultural and technological beliefs, habits and practices have become, when measured against Nature’s Design and Standard Instruction Set.

SOURCE: Naturalnews.com

One example is how we’ve grown accustomed to administering (or receiving) ~ especially to children ~ chemical injections to “fight” future diseases that we don’t have now, as though the human immune system is incapable of responding to *any* real threat.

SOURCE: NaturalBlaze.com

The human body comes standard with full self-repair capability. In the same way that the heart beats on its own and systems work without us having to go to school to learn how to “control” them, a wide range of injuries will repair quite automatically with minimal intervention on our parts.

And if we know and give our body what it needs, it will reciprocate by sustained health, strength, longevity, and more qualities that we have believed were not “standard” fare.

Available at shopphaelos.com

No one told us that throughout primary education (but is included in my book, I Am My Body, NOT!) Apparently, no one tells this simple fact to future doctors during all their years of training in medical school.

Since we don’t think of the body having self-repair abilities built-in, then we’re not inclined to see government-led obsession with vaccination policies and practices as a convenient way to intentionally break down the population’s natural defense systems (and their cognitive abilities), as part of some broader plan of what might be termed, “population duncity” and control.

The net effect is a dumber and more “manageable” population, whose social norms are presumed to reflect their general, and actual level of evolution and intelligence.

But this is a false reading.

How can there be true evolution when devolving social norms have been “programmed” in and are running with our help and defense?

A devolving social norm is any standardized activity that, in an of itself, lowers the quality of life, often under the guise of improving it. In addition to the practice of vaccine use and policy already described, our society today there are many examples:

War (killing and destruction to get one’s way) or the threat thereof

Circumcision ~ easily forgotten and dismissed later in life, but this act creates a major trauma that affects the child’s metabolic and psychological development

Application and use of toxic agents to “fight” (meaning kill) microorganisms in humans and animals that are thought to be causes of “disease”.

Application and use of toxic agents to “fight” (kill) microorganisms in soils to make it more convenient to grow single crops.

Application and use of toxic agents into the water supply and atmosphere.

Extraction of fluid substances from the earth to run our internal combustion engines when other methods are available that are more efficient, produce far more power, with far less adverse effects to the environment.

There are many more examples.

A Mind Game

The Mind: More than we have been led to think.

Yes, the social drivers of society are running a self-destruct program targeted at the mind of every human being, where it can’t be seen, but from whence all beliefs and behaviors are formed.

HOWEVER, since the program itself is unnatural it will degrade on its own if not reinforced regularly. This applies to genetically modified organisms (GMO) as well as psychological operations (PSYOPS). Human Nature would immediately restore itself if we turn off the nefarious suggestions of institutionalized cultural “programming”.

The Natural Human Being is nothing like the crazed animal that is suggested in some “civilized” circles.

By the way, the human mind is not the brain. There is one Mind, from which all that we see, perceive, and imagine, springs. The brain, and every component that makes up the human body, is a product of the Mind. All that exists, both manifested and unmanifested, comes from the Mind. You journey within the Mind whether you have a physical body, or not.

The Mind is “physical” and not physical. ALL that is “physical” come into existence from the Mind as a product, effect, and result of your desire and Will, and through the auspices of vibrational resonance and affinity.

In the non-physical regions of The Mind are the patterns and matrices that make physical organization and change possible. It is due to the existence of these perfect and unalterable templates that a consistently recognizable “you” is possible. The stability of these templates is also why and how the microscopic lifeforms that live within the body are able to repair and renew body parts through the process known as healing.

The practice of administering antibiotics, another of those self-destructive cultural norms, decimates entire populations of lifeforms that would normally and naturally protect, repair or rebuild areas within the body that had been injured, or become dysfunctional.

SOURCE: goodreads.com

We allow these lifeforms populations to be decimated by doctors’ prescriptions without a second thought, and oblivious to the effect that such medications have on overall balance within the ecosystem.

Yet, if left alone, balance would restore itself. This is why opinion managers need humanity’s attention in order to continue the distraction, diversion, and deception through empty promises, fear, misinformation, and outright lies.

Another great title that goes into great detail on the roles that the microbial population plays within the human body, is Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future and a Way to Get There, co-written by Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D and Steve Bhaerman.

SOURCE: hayhouse.com

SOURCE: hayhouse.com

The degrees and levels of cognitive and metabolic dysfunction that humanity presently experiences and exhibits is the result of the imposition, perpetuation, and intensification of unnatural, unsustainable, destructive behaviors for the apparent gain of a minuscule segment of the population (“rulers” and “leaders”) at the great expense to the vast majority.

A Microbial Holocaust

Indeed, the process of introducing such substances into the human ecosystem actually kills off large numbers of proto-lifeforms and microorganisms that would normally respond IF the need arrived.

The ability to heal is implicit with the ability to disable. The relationship between the two activities ~ thought to be linear in nature ~ has been elusive, mainly because the perpetrators (latter-day elites who run major corporations, governments, military, medical institutions and their agents) are getting what they want; a sense of control over, and ownership of the planet and all that dwell thereon.

Furthermore, the “prey” have been convinced that it is better not to question. In other words, “Conquered”.

We, who either promote or defend such practices or allow them to continue, don’t help ourselves by simply following precedent and bowing (or bending over) to these Draconian “traditions”, especially in light of the astounding rise in crises, chronic disorders, and conflicts that, in spite of claims to the contrary, can be linked to certain practices.

This stuff eventually reaches consumers’ stomachs.

The substances used today (not just vaccines) are far different (and more damaging) than they were even a few decades ago. While there is great denial of any link to damage to health, the environment, or human cognitive abilities and consciousness, there is little appreciation for the real price, beyond “money” and “health”, that is extracted and paid from ALL.

Passive Parties to Insanity

It’s amazing how we continue to allow ourselves and our children to be exposed to these substances in so many ways. This is the effect of trusting (or not questioning) the perpetrators, and the not knowing to what extent they affect us.

There may be another factor: cellular memory of gruesome measures taken against large populations by people intent on “playing God”.

SOURCE: amredeemed.com

 inquisition: n. ~ an ecclesiastical tribunal established by Pope Gregory IX c. 1232 for the suppression of heresy. It was active chiefly in northern Italy and southern France, becoming notorious for the use of torture. In 1542 the papal Inquisition was re-established to combat Protestantism, eventually becoming an organ of papal government.

A significant portion of the world’s population, proponents of Christianity, is expecting a major conflagration, a head-to-head battle between “good” and “evil”, as embodied in their chief protagonist, Jesus Christ, “Lord” and “Son of God”.

My use of quote marks is not to mock the term, or the use thereof. I use them to question, even challenge the appellation. The Jesus figure has been set up as someone to worship; an idol by any other definition. He is called a “Savior” by many believers, who think they are incapable of being or setting the example or living up to the standard that He apparently set.

Based on the stories written in the bible, for which a dear price was very likely paid many generations ago by those who didn’t believe, adherents today are thoroughly immersed in the idea that He had powers then that they don’t possess today.

Wisdom and Knowledge? Yes. Powers, No.

One thing about “worshiping” another being, the worshiper excuses and absolves himself from taking an active role in knowing the truth (that we are expressions of Source), and when the truth is known, then making it part of your day-to-day experience.

This includes the simple advice to treat others the way you would be treated, “loving your neighbor as yourself”.

No one can “love” another if they are of a mind that they need a “savior”. They can’t even accept, respect, or love who they are. Yet true love, freedom, truth and knowledge begins there… within

A Long History of Little Change

Few humans can imagine doing this to other humans, but such practices were once widespread.

“Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with Church dogma must be burned without pity.” – Pope Innocent III

SOURCE: crashedculture.com

Some will rationalize the acts inferred above as being of the “Dark Ages”, but its easy to see that the same type of thinking is liberally sprinkled throughout certain sectors of society to this very day.

Our fixation on the visible, perceivable world renders us blind to the ideas (of Mind) that drive them. The incessant debate for and against gun control in response to the growing phenomena of cultural self-destruction with guns, totally ignores the ecological, metabolic, and psychological damage that is still being by our unchallenged use of chemicals. Few voices are being raised (though some are) to end vaccination and circumcision practices.

More people are preferring foods that have not been injected with hormones and genetically modified. Even more are preferring produce grown on lands, and using methods that restore balance to soil and water.

We’ve got a lot of turning around to do, as the greatest damage was psychological and spiritual, which is both the hardest and easiest to change.

A New Day: Loving Nature

These toxin-free apples will enhance someone’s life when they grow up.

If we imagine that the practices associated with that period for which millions of people horribly, wrongly, and needlessly suffered were passed on as recollections from generation to generation, it would be easy to see how, or why so many people today are content to believe in God, or a doctrine rather than seek to know and exercise their own, true, creative, equal, divine nature.

Then they’ll act surprised, unduly inconvenienced, and unfairly targeted when diseases surface after we have indulged, or permitted one egregious crime against Nature after another for years and even generations.

For those who may wonder what a crime against Nature is, please consider for a moment that ALL of humanity (you and me included) is part of Nature. (Even Trump, Hillary, et al.)

As expressions of Life (and sometimes sentient), we are already part of the Natural Order; not apart from it. No other “Order”, neither “New” nor “Old” World, is Natural.

The Natural Order will always trump the unnatural schemes and practices dreamed up by wannabe “emperors”.

For these and other reasons, we have institutionalized many unnatural practices with respect to our environment, both inside the body, and out.

The alarming rise in long-term, chronic diseases can also be stated as the decline in natural immune function. This should be, and would be obvious to anyone not trained to set aside common sense, ignore reason, or suppress the truth in order to continue receiving a paycheck, or to not question an opinion simply because the practitioner has “credentials” (and we’re not worthy if we don’t) or might get offended.

Do you see the mental “game” they’re playing?

The social experiment on the human race has gone so far that Pavlov would be green with envy.

We who make wars possible by cooperation with puerile tyrants and despots, who make famine possible by making a world industry that grows and delivers “foods” that provide little nourishment; we have grown accustomed to sitting around, waiting for our Savior, and listening to others’ promises to make our lives better, to the point that we don’t actively do it ourselves.

How ironic that we’ve grown so mentally, emotionally, and socially afraid and dependent, then boast our courage and independence? How tragic that we’re so ready to “protect” ourselves from each other that “killing” is the way… as long as its an *approved* “enemy?”

I write these thoughts because, consciously or not, intentionally or not, this is our doing. Whether we knew it, agreed, or not, our BS meters were damaged or turned off when we entered this realm.

I say this because I KNOW that in spite of claims of intelligence ~ evidence of which is seen everywhere in the Natural Order ~ humanity acts pretty damn DUMB in matters that count, and appears to be doing much too little to right its own ship. We’d rather wait and see if the politician or oligarch du jour has promised to do it, or people in some government agency have *blocked* promising new approaches.

They need our compliance in order to do these things. Non-compliance does not have to mean violence or anarchy.

It might mean, however, that we’re growing up to become the one’s we’ve been wishing for.

We Always have a Choice

That said, we ~ the collective human population “we”~ are still the Power that makes it all possible; not only the crap that I have described, but amazing new directions that make you *want* to get up each morning to enjoy… not just the final realization, but *the journey* too.

You don’t have to believe me. You must know yourself, which only you can choose to do. I can only suggest to you that the choice, and the journey, when you decide to take it, will be well worth it.

Please enjoy this short video that I produced of Life expressing and co-existing.

Life is everywhere, in ALL forms of expression. We can learn from ALL life, because a piece of us is being expressed through ALL life that we see and encounter. Doing what they do is as much part of the Natural Order as our actions are. Their cooperative activities and interactions affect the quality of *our* lives, as our toxic, combative interactions with each other affect theirs.

Get Yours Now

Mutually respectful, proactive, constructive balancing cooperation sustains a high quality of life for all Life involved. Competitive, combative, destructive and destablizing activity lowers the quality of life for ALL, even while *some* may thing they’re exempt. There are no “privileged” classes who are exempt from Nature’s Laws.

Even insects appear to know this, but many of humanity’s apparently “brightest minds” (that the masses are encouraged to listen to), don’t have a clue.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Enjoy~

[misterrockett]

Sally Acorn Should Have Gotten Kidnapped More

Whenever there is a polarizing opinion in a particular fanbase I like to try and analyze why because a lot of times the reasons can be a lot more complex than most people think.

This leads me to thinking about Sally Acorn a lot because she’s really one of the characters the Sonic fanbase are most split on. One of the oldest arguments against her is that she’s a Mary Sue and the retort is that the concept of a Mary Sue in and of itself is pretty sexist. I do think there’s an underlying theme of sexism as the term got more popular and got thrown around more often but I think there’s something to unpack here.

A Mary Sue is an idealized seemingly perfect character able to perform tasks better than most with less amount of practice or training. While the narrative problem with this type of character seems obvious, we DO have popular Mary Sue’s in fiction, the most well known one being Superman. An idealized symbol of American ideals able to do fantastic feats of strength and power. Despite the various “darker” takes on the character the one everyone adores is the boyscout who can do no wrong and does no wrong and always saves the day.

The accusation that the Mary Sue title can be sexist is because, despite the gendered variant “Gary Sue” it’s an often times negative label put on overachieving female characters.

And that’s certainly the truth and may be one of the reasons it’s attached to many female characters. But here’s my challenge for that when it comes to Sally. Superman exist in a world that’s able to support his actions without making them look like they’re narratively undercutting those of his supporting cast, from the residents of Metropolis to the Justice League.

I believe the reason why we call them “Mary Sues” and not “Supermans” (ignore times when we do pls) is because the Mary Sue character existed in a Star Trek fan fiction. Star Trek is a series all about complex ideas that might not always have a single right answer, or at least one that’s incredibly hard to obtain. Kirk and Picard were, in their own unique ways, male ideals faced with complicated problems that they often struggled to solve. At times it might have even challenged the very ideals that made them who they were. It’s not a series about being able to complete simple but hard tasks with little effort.

Often times people say the difference between Marvel and DC is that Marvel’s heroes are heroes you can relate to while DC’s are heroes you aspire to be. There’s some overlap on both sides but that’s more or less the philosophy of each company’s characters. If Superman was just plopped into the X-Men or Fantastic Four the way he is as a member of the team people would likely hate him in those instances as well and label him a Mary Sue. Because he doesn’t need other people to solve any issue he faces and being a hero doesn’t encroach on his personal life. His ability to keep the two seperate almost perfectly is one of the staples of his story. Superman doesn’t have as big a problem keeping dates as Spiderman does.

So how does this come back on Sally?

Well I think one of the reasons the character is popular is because she bucks trends. It’s actually the main reason I hear most often in support of her. But it also might be the thing that hurts her the most. She’s a princess but she does stuff, she’s active and isn’t just a damsel in distress. She has a lot of positive traits and very few to no negative ones. She’s a positive role model for girls for sure.

But the issue is that most people, most Sonic fans, see the Sonic franchise as a series that might be closer to Marvel’s philosophy than DC’s. And I think it’s an issue that a lot of the narrative of the franchise as a whole might not be sure which direction to go.

See, most of the Sonic cast members are flawed in some way. Sonic is brash, Amy is overbearing and obnoxious, Knuckles is thick headed, Rouge is greedy, Blaze has a temper and lacks confidence, Cream is naive and young. I could go on but you get the picture.

The characters set themselves up for more personal stories because they themselves aren’t perfect people. But then you have Princess Sally, who is basically this idealized wife character. She’s not only a natural born leader and tactician, but also humble and maternal and can kick ass if and when she needs to and is smart enough to get herself out of most situations without help. But this also swings back in on herself, as the only flaw she has is that she is incredibly underpowered compared to the rest of the cast. One of the only obvious and consistent flaws she has is that she has no powers and is unable to defend herself against a lot of the series villains.

See, the very reason people like her, because she bucks the damsel in distress trope, is the very reason a lot of people dislike her. She’s the exact TYPE of character that needs to be a damsel in distress.

Let’s go back to my Superman example. Lois Lane is a character that gets kidnapped/thrust into danger a LOT. People have pointed it out and make fun of it. But why does she get kidnapped? In the animated series alone the main reason seems to be her own fault. She’s a go getting reporter always willing to walk into the seediest back allies for her next story no matter the danger it might bring her. Sure on the one hand, Superman NEEDS to have the people in his life thrust into danger just as often if not more than random people so the threats feel real when you know your main character can’t be killed. But whenever Louis was in danger it was because of her own volition to thrust herself into dangerous situations. She wasn’t Superman’s girlfriend, object to get his goat. Most people weren’t even aware she had any sort of personal relationship with him outside of newspaper interviews.

She was her own character with a personality just as progressive as Sally’s, but thrust into danger because the type of story she was in needed to be.

But with Sally it’s a lot less fluid. All of Sally’s best traits are social based while everyone else’ are based on physical prowlice. They have good personality traits too but they’re balanced with bad ones while Sally’s isn’t. By itself this isn’t terrible but it means Sally can’t have abilities just to keep her balanced. Even fans of the character agree that her getting a super power would be a poor move. But she also bucks the damsel in distress trope. So her one weakness isn’t capitalized often or is made irrelevant because any trouble she gets into she is capable of freeing herself from. It also creates this strange meta narrative where, in order to keep up with everyone else power level wise she HAS to always be right, know what to do, and have her instructions followed to the letter. And yet her skills are downplayed in the broader narrative because the villains of the series don’t find her important enough to take out.

She’s a character that can’t be looked at too closely. And for many, they don’t! The tropes and trends Sally bucks are enough for find enjoyment and i know what it’s like. Sometimes something is so much your jam that your lizard brain is firing off in all cylinders going “Yeah that’s the thing I wanted!”

I can totally understand that someone might not care about narrative dissonance when what they’ve always wanted is being validated right in front of them and it’s so easy to see. But I see SO much potential in this character if she were tweaked a bit. Going back to the title of this essay, having more stories involving her getting kidnapped is really just one small thing that would have helped her original characterization find balance. But if more people were receptive to a far more extreme twist on her character. A personality that was more balanced like the rest of the cast with abilities that brought her closer to the level of her peers it could be interesting. And it’s something the rebooted Archie comics played with a little bit but didn’t go full cowl on.

Maybe we’ll see something closer to what I’m talking about one day.

If I can get this damn project off the ground.

[gyrlversion]

Democrats: Trump’s GOP Is a Threat to Democracy — So We Better Play Nice

Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no vice? Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Nancy Pelosi says that the United States is in a “constitutional crisis,” that White House officials have “decided that they are not going to honor their oath of office,” and that Donald Trump is an aspiring autocrat who might well refuse to relinquish the presidency even if he loses next year’s election.

Which is why, in the speaker’s view, Democrats must avoid checking the president’s power too aggressively.

Joe Biden says that Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to our republic’s bedrock values — and that, if Trump wins a second term, congressional Republicans will allow their standard-bearer to “forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation,” not least by destroying “our very democracy.”

Which is why, in the 2020 frontrunner’s opinion, Democrats must neither give up on bipartisanship, nor forfeit their faith in the fundamental decency of congressional Republicans.

Pelosi and Biden’s positions are a bit less absurd than they sound. But they also could not be more antithetical to the consensus view among liberal intellectuals, blue-state back-benchers, and progressive 2020 candidates — which holds that solving our democracy’s present crisis requires waging total war on the Republican president and his party. For this reason, the most divisive question in the Democratic Party today may be, “Do desperate times call for milquetoast measures?”

In ordinary times, Democrats who preach moderation and bipartisanship tend to also endorse a (relatively) sanguine view of the state of the union. In 2016, Bernie Sanders paired his calls for a “political revolution” with lamentations of America’s descent into oligarchy — while Hillary Clinton complemented her more incremental program with the declaration, “America is already great.”

But we live in abnormal times. Robert Mueller’s investigation confirmed that the president of the United States routinely orders his subordinates to subvert the law, believes that the Justice Department should comport itself as his personal detective agency, and is willing to use one of his office’s most extraordinary powers — the authority to pardon convicted criminals — to undermine a federal investigation. Further, while the special counsel declined to recommend obstruction charges against Donald Trump, more than 800 former federal prosecutors have said that the evidence Mueller produced “would have been sufficient to prosecute Trump were he a private citizen.”

Nevertheless, the report’s release did not humble the administration. Quite the contrary. The White House proceeded to recast the fact that Mueller had merely established the Trump campaign’s complicity in Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election (as opposed to the campaign’s participation in a related criminal conspiracy) as both a “total exoneration” of the president and a damning indictment of the Mueller investigation’s very existence. Now, the administration insists that all investigations of its activities constitute “coup” attempts against a duly elected president. Thus, administration officials are refusing to comply with House subpoenas, while Attorney General William Barr has ordered multiple investigations into the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation.

These events have persuaded Nancy Pelosi that the United States has entered a constitutional crisis. The speaker recognizes that the White House is nullifying Congress’s authority to conduct oversight, and undermining the independence of federal law enforcement. Her diagnosis is extreme. But her prescription remains mild: The speaker has deflected calls within her caucus for impeachment proceedings, and discouraged her colleagues from asserting the House’s statutory authority to fine or jail those who refuse to comply with its subpoenas.

The logic of Pelosi’s position is straightforward: The fact that Donald Trump is a lawless, would-be autocrat makes it absolutely imperative to remove him from office. And since there is an approximately zero percent chance that two thirds of the GOP-controlled Senate will ever vote to evict Trump from the White House, the only viable means of ending his presidency is to defeat him at the ballot box next year.

The question then is whether impeaching Trump — or taking other radical actions to hold him accountable — would increase the Democratic Party’s prospects for defeating him next year. And all available polling suggests that the small fraction of Americans who regularly vote in elections — but have no fixed partisan preference — really hate the idea of impeachment. It is theoretically possible that actual impeachment proceedings could change their minds. But remember: These are voters who have looked at the past three years of widely-publicized, highly-damning information about Donald Trump, and remain unsure about whether they should vote for his reelection. If Trump’s boasts about sexual assault, praise of neo-Nazis, attacks on prisoners of war, and attempts to throw millions of Americans off of health insurance didn’t persuade these people that they should remove him from office through conventional means, why would impeachment proceedings convince them that Democrats should expel Trump through extraordinary ones? After all, the whole saga would inevitably end with the Senate awarding Trump “total exoneration,” thereby signaling to these low-information Americans that the whole impeachment thing had been a partisan crusade.

Meeting fire with fecklessness may feel wrong. But the fate of our republic lies in the hands of a very small, very strange subset of the American electorate. And for God knows what reason, these people despise the very concept of impeachment. Thus, moral courage in this moment requires Democrats to do the right thing, not the satisfying one — and meet Trump’s assaults on the rule of law with calls for infrastructure deals instead of accountability.

Joe Biden claims that Donald Trump’s reelection would irrevocably compromise “the core values of this nation, our standing in the world, our very democracy.” He has likened Republican Voter ID laws to “Jim Crow,” and suggested that the modern GOP is right to regard democracy as its enemy, telling a crowd in South Carolina, “You know what happens when you have an equal right to vote? They lose.”

In other words: Biden ostensibly believes that the Republican Party cannot survive in its current form without disenfranchising nonwhite voters, and is on the cusp of helping its authoritarian leader drive a nail into the coffin of the American republic.

Nevertheless, Biden maintains that Trump is a kind of demon that’s taken possession of the Republican Party; once the “aberration” of his presidency is over, the evil within the GOP will be exorcised, and high-minded bipartisan governance will reign throughout the land.

“What’s happened is, between gerrymandering and unlimited campaign spending, we found ourselves in a position where an awful lot of Republicans have become intimidated by the president,” Biden said in New Hampshire Tuesday. “If you notice, most Republicans — leaders, don’t lose from the left. They lose on the right … I think there is not a middle ground.”

“The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House — not a joke — you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends,” the former vice president continued. “And it’s already beginning. In the House now, you’ve seen people that in fact were not willing to vote for any Democratic initiative, even if they agreed with it, because they didn’t want to be the odd person out if it wasn’t going to pass. There’s no sense in getting politically beaten for something that’s not going to happen. But you are seeing the talk, even the dialogue is changing.”

Biden’s narrative doesn’t make sense on its own terms. If gerrymandering and unlimited campaign contributions have left most congressional Republicans unaccountable to anyone save GOP primary voters, then what difference would Trump’s defeat make?

As Biden surely remembers, it wasn’t that long ago that an unpopular Republican president suffered a landslide rebuke at the polls. In 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain by 192 votes in the Electoral College, and Democrats gained 8 seats in the Senate and 21 in the House — leaving Team Blue in full command of the federal government. And yet, this shellacking did not awaken the Republican Party to the beauty of bipartisanship and ideological moderation. Instead, the GOP opted for obstructionist nihilism, refusing to support any and all efforts to stimulate the American economy amid the worst recession in a generation. At the time, Republicans insisted that this intransigence was motivated by a sincere belief that the U.S. could not afford to increase its deficit; subsequent events have proven that this was a lie. Sabotage was the point. What was bad for the U.S. economy, Mitch McConnell reasoned, would be good for the party out of power. In 2010, voters proved McConnell right. And the Obama administration responded to the Tea Party wave by turning its focus to deficit reduction, a pivot that would ultimately weaken the economic recovery, and thereby undermine Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016.

Donald Trump played no role in any of this. Nor did he have a hand in the nullification of Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, or any of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts at the state level, or its new habit of using its heavily gerrymandered state legislative majorities to strip incoming Democratic governors of their offices’ traditional powers.

It is essentially impossible for the GOP to suffer a worse defeat in 2020 than it did in 2008. Given the current partisan balance in the Senate, there is no way Democrats will secure a filibuster-proof majority next year. It will take a minor miracle for them win control of 50 Senate seats. Barring a sudden turn in the Roberts Court’s jurisprudence, gerrymandering and Citizens United will remain. As will the many structural advantages the GOP derives from being the party of white, rural America in an era of polarized, culture war politics. The pro-life movement will still believe that the Democratic Party stands for neverending genocide. Trump’s base will still believe that Democrats stand for “open borders” immigration policies that are destroying the America they love. The Koch brothers will still see Social Security as a crime against humanity. Which is to say: The donors and social movements that constitute the GOP will still have every incentive to demand purity and obstruction from their leadership. And that leadership will still have every incentive to answer the challenges posed by demographic change with voter suppression instead of triangulation.

It is possible that Biden actually understands all of this. If so, then his case for moderation in the defense of democracy is similar to Pelosi’s: precisely because the GOP is irredeemable, it is imperative to pretend that it is not, so as to maximize the Democrats’ chances of expelling Republicans from the White House.

Swing voters like talk of bipartisanship. There are some Republican-leaning independents who dislike Trump but retain some affection for the Republican Party. By insisting that Trump is the cancer – and the GOP, merely his victim – Biden is making it a bit less psychologically threatening for such independents to pull the Democratic lever.

Alternatively, Biden may really believe that defeating Trump will “break the GOP’s fever,” in the same way that a devout – but doubting – zealot believes in God’s mercy. He may see faith in bipartisanship less as a choice than a necessity.

“Let me put it another way,” Biden went on to say in New Hampshire Tuesday. “If we can’t change, we’re in trouble. The nation cannot function without generating consensus. You can’t do it. Because what happens is, if you can’t generate consensus under our system of separated powers, all the power moves to the executive.”

Waiting for Republicans to come to their senses may sound delusional. But given the structure of our government – and all-but unamendable constitution – there is no alternative.

If one defines Donald Trump’s presidency as the alpha and omega of our democracy’s crisis, then Pelosi and Biden both have reasonable arguments. One can certainly question whether avoiding impeachment at all costs is politically optimal for Democrats. But there is some empirical basis for Pelosi’s view on that score. Meanwhile, appealing to the other party’s soft supporters – by assuring them that their nominee this year is an awful aberration – has long been a best practice of both Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. So, while one can certainly argue that it would be more electorally expedient for Biden to decry the GOP as a cancer on our body politic, he has some cause for taking the opposite approach.

But, as we just saw, the Pelosi-Biden worldview has no real answer for what happens when Trump leaves, and the crisis persists. Odds are, even in a landslide election, Democrats won’t take the upper chamber next year. Thanks to urban-rural polarization, Republicans enjoy a historic structural advantage in the Senate that is poised to grow in the coming decades (by 2040, about 70 percent of Americans are expected to live in 15 states). It’s quite possible that the next Democratic president will not be allowed to appoint federal judges. Thus, even without the White House, the conservative movement could leverage its control of the judiciary, the Senate, and most state governments to block progressive governance (including existentially necessary climate action) at the federal level, while rolling back voting rights in the states.

Recognition of this threat has led progressive intellectuals, and many of Biden’s rivals – including ostensible moderates like Pete Buttigieg – to endorse procedurally radical reforms to democratize the federal government. If Democrats do find a way to eke out a Senate majority in 2021, this contingent argues, they must be prepared to approve statehood for (at least) Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico – not only as a matter of justice, but also, for the sake of mitigating the Senate’s underrepresentation of nonwhite (and thus, for now, Democratic) voters. Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren have also endorsed measures to reform the Supreme Court, so that a conservative majority won’t spend the next three decades standing athwart history yelling stop. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi’s caucus has already passed a formidable voting rights bill that would protect the foundations of the republic from conservative assaults.

But none of these reforms will have a prayer unless 50 Democratic senators are willing to vote to abolish the legislative filibuster.

And if the Democratic leadership is too afraid of swing voters to impeach a lawless president – or to cease vouching for the pre-Trump Republican Party’s fundamental decency – how will it ever create a political climate in which Jon Tester feels comfortable violating Senate norms for the sake of mitigating the overrepresentation of his own tiny state?

Tip-toeing around swing voters’ pet peeves may be a sound strategy for winning a single election. But to cure what ails our polity and planet, we’ll need to walk a bolder path.

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The post Democrats: Trump’s GOP Is a Threat to Democracy — So We Better Play Nice appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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[mregtec]

This sense of loneliness is its causes and the most important steps to get rid of it.

Melancholy is an overall human tendency that is amazing and uncommon to each individual and considering the way that this tendency has no signs and ordinary causes, checking or treating it depends upon the condition of each individual and what caused his sentiment of despondency thus as to understand what solidarity may be, we ought to examine what may be It causes disheartening, what it infers, unequivocally how we can treat it. Misery Melancholy What does hopelessness feel? Despondency is a veritable tendency, and if you feel alone, you're by all record not by any means the only person who feels it, just one out of ten people feel baffled about not having a singular dear buddy, which crushes practically 4.7 million people, which is a high and forlorn number. The inconvenient thing about feelings is that they change from individual to individual, for example, for specific people need to have two or three associates or value contributing a great deal of vitality alone, and for other individuals, comparative potential results may make a significant sentiment of disheartening and separation. Feeling alone can genuinely influence mental prosperity, for example, being introduced to a sentiment of ceaseless discouragement. It may incite a higher peril of death from coronary ailment, incapacitate the protected system and lead to less great eating less junk food, for instance, vegetables. Feeling alone can in like manner hurt your rest plan, increase your threat of dementia in front line age and add to early passing. The reasons behind feeling alone A segment of the reasons why people feel alone are: 1.You need to move close: "if my relationship with an individual doesn't have a segment of blend, it will by and large make me feel more disconnected than alone," explained relationship guide Kira Asatrin. Furthermore, in this proverb a huge amount of basis as there is a standard saying that people who feel alone feel it since they disguise themselves from society and decrease to connect with others and in spite of the way that there are various people who contribute a lot of vitality alone they feel alone anyway this expression The prosaism can be destructive as there are a huge amount of social people who feel alone as well. This may be a result of what Kira referenced as you may have various associations, yet in case you are not comfortable associations, you will feel unfilled, to a great extent the detachment among you and someone you know grows your sentiment of withdrawal as it makes you feel incomprehensible or disengaged from it. 2. You may be a pulled back individual: Introverting has a dreadful reputation for living in detachment, anyway in truth there are a lot of free people who find social associations terrible, especially inside seeing a tremendous get-together of people. Since it may be something over the imperativeness of the individual to have little talks with various people in a gigantic circumstance and remembering that it may be entertaining to listen to them externally level, it doesn't make you feel on a very basic level close to other people. 3. You need a lot of good associations and generally not many associations: One of the most huge steps to overcome downfall is this movement you may have a lot of sidekicks and still feel alone as you can have a million friends anyway if you don't place a short period and essentialness in those associations you will continue feeling alone. Concerning Associations are related to slants, not numbers. Clearly, developing a relationship is a two-way street, it doesn't suggest that you're close to someone, you will have all of your issues, yet you're developing a relationship and making a common preferred position interface. Remember that dear allies can't deal with your issues, yet they can give the assist you with requiring and your responsibility is to help them when they need you. In like manner, you should review that not in light of the fact that you are anxious to develop your relationship with an individual will do as such also, few out of every odd individual needs to participate in a comfortable relationship. 4. Keep your ready high: You may be incorporated by people who might favor not to have another friend or comfortable relationship, and you're moreover in all likelihood being wary and hence don't send clear banner about your hankering to pass on and outline an association. Clearly no one needs to see himself as the issue yet it is for each situation incredible to restore a phase to see what is the probability of your collaboration in this situation.So in social conditions make sure to talk with the eye and listen carefully and guarantee that your non-verbal correspondence shows your eagerness for talking . There are various habits by which you can show up For other individuals, you are enthusiastic about what they do and share it with you in the accompanying, they will be excited about what you care about as well. 5. Put a lot of vitality in online life: Web put together life districts depend with respect to appearances and wants and in case you starting at now feel forsaken or disconnected, it is hard to see that everyone is gaining some incredible experiences without you. 6.Afraid of closeness: To a great extent a person who takes after a social individual may be the individual who covers his fear of expulsion and shields everyone from gravitating toward to him. To gravitate toward to other individuals and quit feeling lamentable, you should empower people to see who you genuinely are and you should be intrepid enough to look for after the associations you need, paying little heed to whether they now and again don't work. 7. To be related to the past: To a great extent you get desolate without understanding the reason behind that feeling and the result in any case you're associated with the past. You may have been a forsaken or humble kid or a castaway at school, and in spite of the way that you're at present an adult and a social iterator, notwithstanding you're associated. With that sentiment of sadness that you've had previously. Or of course it may be damage from a prior time that shields you from confining the associations you need by and by in order to feel better. Other important ways to deal with assistance you not neglect how to overcome melancholy 8. Treatment of misery: An advisor can help you with understanding the assumptions you feel or things that shield you from mixing in with others and confining new associations. The opinion of discouragement can similarly be overpowered by attempting on your part to have any sort of impact and revealing an improvement as time goes on can make you playful and progressively advantageous and empower you to affect individuals around you in a useful way. A couple of various ways you can turn away misery: Seeing that feeling alone means that something needs to change. Appreciate the impact that sadness has on both your physical and enthusiastic prosperity. You can consider doing system organizations, for instance, volunteering in a spot to consider kids and the old or some different activities you acknowledge as these outlooks are a not too bad opportunity to meet new people and have sidekicks and social associations. Focus on working up the idea of your relationship with others. Who share comparable moods, interests and characteristics. Stop the best, as people who feel alone are consistently holding on for expulsion, and somewhat base on constructive considerations in your social associations..

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[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Pettersson’s Line Mates, Lee’s Future, Talented Young Blue Liners

    Don’t forget, next week will be Bubble Keeper Week on DobberHockey. A whole week dedicated to players who are fighting for a continued spot on your rosters as we gear up for draft season.

  I’m so excited that I’ll even talk about a bubbler this week too!

  **

  A few more signings have occurred recently. Derek Grant landed in Pittsburgh for the league minimum. He’ll likely get the fourth line centre gig. The 28-year-old managed 12 goals and 24 points in 66 games with Anaheim last season.

  **

Madison Bowey re-signed as an RFA with the Stanley Cup Champions. The two-year, one-way deal pays him a million per season and should solidify his spot on the club. The 23-year-old was a healthy scratch for the final quarter and entirety of the Caps’ playoff run.

  The right-side on the third pair should be his in 2018-19.

  **

Troy Stecher avoided arbitration with Vancouver by signing a two-year deal worth 2.325 million per season. The 24-year-old saw his production drop by 55 percent last season after a 24-point rookie campaign in 2016-17. The difference? He saw nearly three minutes of power play time per game as a freshman. He was essentially banished from it last year.  He's a valuable piece to the Canucks as the only right-side defender who can motor and create offense. 

  If he's going to be productive though, the team will need to find a way to get him into more offensive situations. 

  **

  For all of you who are excited about Elias Pettersson, I'll preach patience at the start. I was on Sportsnet650 on Friday afternoon and discussed the likely line combinations to begin the season. In my humble opinion, the most likely second line features:

  Loui Eriksson – Brandon Sutter – Elias Pettersson

  Not exactly ideal.

  The Canucks were clear when the signed Jay Beagle that it was to provide Sutter with an opportunity to no longer be buried in the defensive end – he started a ridiculous 22.65 percent of his draws in the offensive zone. The hope for the team is that they’re paying him like a second line centre (4.35MM), hopefully, he can produce like one if freed up.

  Having him play with an elite talent like Pettersson and a bounce-back candidate in Eriksson won’t hurt. However, I question his ability to drive offence on a consistent basis.

  As for Pettersson, he should be able to carve out a role on the team’s top power-play unit in Henrik Sedin’s old spot on the right half wall or patrolling the right point. Having Pettersson and Boeser on opposite sides will be chaos for opposing defenders, but it’ll take the rookie some time to adjust.

His ceiling remains sky-high

  **

  Who do you like?

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Points Only Keeper League Pickum!</p>— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hockey_Robinson/status/1019796102533402625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  **

  This time of year, much is written and spoken about how a player’s circumstances have changed as a result of Free Agency. Did you just gain a number one centre? Did you lose one? Has your position in the lineup been positively affected or negatively?

  These are the questions that roll around in my skull on a near-constant basis.

  I’ll spend the rest of the summer sprinkling in a few examples of players and how their stock in the fantasy world was altered when GMs were out there burning their owner’s money before kicking off to the cottages for a few weeks.

  The first up, Anders Lee.

  Wait, clearly, he intends to state the obvious and say that Lee is in line to falter. He just lost a top 10 pivot in John Tavares. He plays for an organization that went out and gave money and term to players who likely didn’t deserve so much in their primes let alone their twilights. Not to mention all the career-high marks he just set at 27.

  Get ready to have your minds blown.

  {youtube}p4bbsz5q8Wg{/youtube}

  True, the now 28-year-old recorded a whole bunch of career-highs in 2017-18. Goals (40), points (61), shots-on-goal (207), power-play goals (14), power-play points (22), shooting percentage (19.3), blocks (37), and time-on-ice (17:16).

  He’s been a goal-scoring machine since locking onto Tavares’ hip a couple seasons ago. During that time, he sits fifth in total goals (74) and 10th in power-play tallies (23).

  He’s also clicked on the fifth highest all-situations shooting percentage since the start of 2016-17 at 18.5 percent. He trails only Brett Connolly (20.3), Paul Byron (19.9), Mark Scheifele (19.3), and TJ Oshie (18.9) for NHL regulars.

  Interestingly enough, despite all of those career-highs, Lee witnessed his offensive zone start times, IPP and CF% take substantial hits.

    Lee isn’t what you would consider a volume shooter. He’s a sniper. Last season’s 2.56 shots per game were the most the former Notre Dame star had mustered. That sat just barely among the top 100 league-wide.

  He played virtually every minute next to Tavares, a player who nearly scored as many goals (37) and shot the puck more frequently (3.15 per game). But of course, now Tavares is gone.

    However, of all the Islanders, I believe Lee is the player who will be least affected by the loss of Tavares. His spot on the top line and top power play unit will be unaffected. And he will be given an elite centre to work with who may just provide a better compliment of skills to his own.

  Mat Barzal may have been a rookie last season, but he impacted things all over the ice. He and his linemates were consistently controlling the play; providing positive CF% despite being deployed in the defensive end as much or more than the fun end of the rink.

  Don’t let the 22 goals fool you, Barzal is as pure a passer as there is in the league. He averaged just 2.08 shots-per-game as a freshman. His 34 primary assists sat tied for eighth most in the league with Johnny Gaudreau, Leon Draisaitl and Jonathan Marchessault. His 0.77 assists-per-game sat seventh.

  Not bad company to keep.

  Now a pure distributor gets to dish to one of the league’s most deadly finishers. Sure, Barzal will have a hill to climb. He is no longer insulated by Tavares and will earn the opposition’s top defensive pairing and shutdown line. He will be game-planned against and tested on a nightly basis. However, he’s already an elite talent and the safe money is to bet that he finds a way to be successful as the top offensive option.

  Lee may not hit new career-highs in a myriad of categories again in 2018-19, but he’s ripe to slip on draft day due to the perceived loss of Tavares. You can take advantage of that by sneaking him in as category filler with a solid floor and legitimate ceiling.

  **

  Less than two weeks until the 13th Annual Dobber Fantasy Guide is released. This is the crème de la crème of fantasy guides. You want it. You need it. Go on and get it. Pre-order here

    **

  Some youngsters snuck their entry-level deals in under the radar recently. Perhaps it’s just my foggy summer brain, but it seemed like an awful lot of the 2018 draftees had already put pen to paper in the month since they heard their names called. There have been 18 to be exact. This time last year, 12 recently-drafted players had signed. In July 2016, just nine. 

  It's definitely becoming a younger league with each passing season. 

  The most recent two were Evan Bouchard (EDM) and Ryan Merkley (SJ). The two defenders arguably have the highest fantasy potential for 2018 blueliners outside of Rasmus Dahlin, but both carry varying degrees of risk.

  As a 1999 birthdate, Bouchard is physically ready to play in the NHL. He’s accomplished a great deal in his three years with the London Knights, including a monstrous 26-goal, 87-point draft-eligible campaign. His shot is large and in charge and he has very strong vision. He would instantly become a threat on Edmonton’s top power-play unit.

  That said, his skating and pace of play need to improve. Not to mention the sheer difficulty in teenagers playing defense against the very best forwards in the world.

  Bouchard should be targeted high in keeper leagues and is one to watch in one-year leagues if he’s still hanging around camp when the pre-season is coming to a close.

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SJSharks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SJSharks</a> sign 2018 first round pick <a href="https://twitter.com/ryan_merkley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ryan_merkley</a> to a standard, entry-level contract. <a href="https://t.co/vvUZK6iqx4">https://t.co/vvUZK6iqx4</a></p>— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) <a href="https://twitter.com/SanJoseSharks/status/1019645768204894208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  Meanwhile, Merkley is one of the most divisive prospects we’ve seen in several years. The late-2000 birthday means he’s one the youngest from the crop and also the most under-developed physically and mentally. Questions surrounding his commitment to all facets of the game, and attitude issues have followed the wildly talented blueliner for a few years.

  There’s one thing that is not in doubt: when he has the puck on his stick, magic can happen. His ability to create offence is unmatched by nearly everyone in the 2018 group.

  The Sharks clearly aren’t too concerned with potential attitude concerns. They traded for and then committed major money to Evander Kane. You can’t have a soft stomach to make those moves.

  Here’s a fun a story. A former NHL’er told me about his experience at the combine nearly 20 years ago. He walked into the San Jose room, sat down and after about 30 seconds of silent staring from the Sharks Director of Scouting, Tim Burke, all that was said was, “What the **** are you even doing here? You think you belong? Do you honestly think we'll draft you?”

  Evidently, they don’t mind throwing some grenades at these youngsters to see what they’re made of. The former player felt that Burke’s tough and abrasive interview tactics were to get some honesty and cut through the BS with players. Clearly, they liked what Merkley said back in June and liked what he did on the ice at development camp even more.

  **

  That's all for this week. Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-petterssons-line-mates-lees-future-talented-young-blue-liners/

[clusterassets]

New world news from Time: ‘Fight Our Tribal Mindset.’ Read Justin Trudeau’s Commencement Address to NYU Graduates

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered the commencement address for New York University (NYU) on Wednesday, urging graduates to fight tribalism and “aggressive nationalism” and to find common ground across political and cultural divides.

“I think we can aim a little higher than mere tolerance,” Trudeau said. “Think about it: Saying ‘I tolerate you’ actually means something like, ‘Ok, I grudgingly admit that you have a right to exist, just don’t get in my face about it, and oh, don’t date my sister.’ There’s not a religion in the world that asks you to ‘tolerate thy neighbor.’ So let’s try for something a little more like acceptance, respect, friendship, and yes, even love. And why does this matter? Because, in our aspiration to relevance; in our love for our families; in our desire to contribute, to make this world a better place, despite our differences, we are all the same.”

He encouraged graduates to engage with people other than those with whom they already agree. “This world is and must be bigger than that,” he said.

“It’s been pointed out that one of the many differences between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis was that Davis preferred to win a debate, while Lincoln would rather win the war,” he said. “And that’s the question: Do you want to win an argument or do you want to change the world?”

Read the full text of his speech, delivered at Yankee Stadium, here:

Bonjour tout le monde! Merci et félicitations!

I am very happy to be here with you today, deeply honored. Thank you for that kind introduction, Niobe. Andy, it’s wonderful to see you again. I am so grateful for the honor you and NYU have given me today. Now, you know — you may not know, but Andrew is an honorary Canadian and British Columbian because, like me, he studied at the University of British Columbia back in the day. It makes me proud that Canada was part of Andrew’s formation, just as NYU has helped form so many amazing Canadians, including two members of my own staff.

I’m actually told that 180 of the NYU class of 2018 are Canadians. Hello! Welcome, my friends!

I have to say, to be here now, speaking with all of you — in Yankee Stadium, one of the greatest places in one of the greatest cities on Earth — is more than a little humbling. My friends, you are now NYU graduates — the best and the brightest. You have great potential and possibilities. And therefore, you have enormous responsibility, too. So today, I’d like to talk about the nature of both those things, and I’d like to offer you a challenge. One that I think is essential for your future success as individuals, and as the leaders that you are becoming.

Among the many things I admire about NYU, is that about a fifth of the students are international. And a similar proportion are the very first in their families to go to college. This group is truly diverse in every possible way. And I think that is an extraordinarily valuable and important thing. When I graduated in the early 1990s, I went on a trip around the world with a few good friends — who actually remain good friends to this day, which is sort of a miracle.

We trekked and traveled, mostly over land, from Europe to Africa to Asia. And that remains one of the great formative experiences of my life. It was an amazing adventure.

Le voyage s’est aussi avéré essentiel à mon éducation au sens plus large du terme, parce que j’ai dû, pour la première fois en tant qu’adulte, rencontrer, échanger et tisser des liens d’amitié avec des gens qui ne partageaient toujours pas mes opinions, mes expériences, mes idées et mes valeurs.

It was also a really important contributor to my continued, broader education. Because it forced me, really for the first time as an adult, to meet, engage, befriend people whose views and experiences, ideas, values and language were very different from my own. When a kid from Montreal meets a Korean fisherman living in Mauritania, befriends a Russian veteran of their Afghan war, or a shopkeeper and his family living in Danang, interesting conversations always happen. Now, maybe some of you have talked about doing something like a great trip like that after graduation. But I’d be willing to bet one of the first things you heard was a warning: “You can’t do that in this day and age. It’s not safe!” But here’s my question: Is it really just the issue of physical safety that makes our loved ones so anxious at the idea of us getting out there, or is it the threat that if we look past our frames — the frames of our own lives, of our own community’s structured values and belief systems — to truly engage with people who believe fundamentally different things, we could perhaps be transformed into someone new and unfamiliar to those who know and love us?

See, there’s no question that today’s world is more complex than it was in the mid-1990s. There are serious and important problems that we are grappling with and will continue to grapple with.

But we are not going to arrive at mutual respect, which is where we solve common problems, if we cocoon ourselves in an ideological, social or intellectual bubble. Now, we can see it all around us — there’s a peculiar fascination with dystopia in our culture today. You see it everywhere on film and TV, but the truth is that, on balance, we have the good fortune to live in a time of tremendous possibility and potential; a time when it is within our grasp to eliminate extreme poverty, to end terrible diseases like malaria and TB, and to offer a real chance at an education to everyone on this planet.

But for us to move forward, to keep moving and moving forward, we have to do it together — all together. Humanity has to fight our tribal mindset. We go to the same church? Cool, you’re in my tribe. You speak my language? You’re in my tribe. You’re an NYU alumni? You’re in my tribe. You play Pokémon Go? You’re a vegetarian? You like the Yankees? You go to the gun range? You’re pro-choice? Tribe, tribe, tribe. But of course, its not the “belonging” part that is the problem, it’s the corollary: You are part of my tribe, and they are not.

Whether it’s race, gender, language, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic origin, or our beliefs and values themselves — diversity doesn’t have to be a weakness. It can be our greatest strength. Now often, people talk about striving for tolerance. Now, don’t get me wrong: there are places in this world where a little more tolerance would go a long way, but if we’re being honest right here, right now, I think we can aim a little higher than mere tolerance.

Think about it: Saying “I tolerate you” actually means something like, “Ok, I grudgingly admit that you have a right to exist, just don’t get in my face about it, and oh, don’t date my sister.” There’s not a religion in the world that asks you to “tolerate thy neighbor.” So let’s try for something a little more like acceptance, respect, friendship, and yes, even love. And why does this matter? Because, in our aspiration to relevance; in our love for our families; in our desire to contribute, to make this world a better place, despite our differences, we are all the same.

And when you meet and befriend someone from another country or another culture who speaks a different language or who worships differently, you quickly realize this. And here’s my main point, and the challenge I’m offering you today. Our celebration of difference needs to extend to differences of values and belief, too. Diversity includes political and cultural diversity. It includes a diversity of perspectives and approaches to solving problems. See, it’s far too easy, with social media shaping our interactions, to engage only with people with whom we already agree — members of our tribe. Well, this world is and must be bigger than that.

So here is my request: As you go forward from this place, I would like you to make a point of reaching out to people whose beliefs and values differ from your own. I would like you to listen to them, truly listen, and try to understand them, and find that common ground. You have a world of opportunity at your fingertips. But as you go forward from here, understand that just around the corner, a whole different order of learning awaits, in which your teachers will come from every station in life, every education level, every belief system, every lifestyle. And I hope you will embrace that. You have been students, you will continue to learn all your lives, but now it is also time for you to become leaders.

In every generation, leaders emerge because they one day awake to the realization that it’s not up to someone else to fix this problem, or take up that cause. It’s up to them. So now is the time for you to lead.

Leaders. Now, I’m sure that’s a word that’s been tossed around you and at you quite a bit over the past few hours, days, weeks and years. Leaders of tomorrow. Leaders of today. But what does it mean? What attributes does a 21st century leader need to have? What do people need most from their leaders today and tomorrow? Now, I think you need to be brave. Really brave. And I know, when you think of courageous leaders, you think of those folks who stood implacably and fearlessly, anchored in their sense of rightness, willing to pit their ideals against all comers, against the slings and arrows aimed their way. Well, I don’t think that’s brave enough. I don’t think that’s good enough for what our shared future will ask of you. I actually don’t think it’s ever been good enough.

Let me tell you a bit about Wilfrid Laurier, a promising young lawyer at the end of the 19th century, who would go on to become my second-favorite Prime Minister. He was raised and educated as a proud, Catholic French-Canadian, an exemplary representative of one side of the two identities that had come together to found Canada just a few decades before. The two solitudes — the other half being English-speaking, Protestant, and fiercely loyal to the British Crown — accommodated each other, cooperated together, and generally put up with each other to build our country, but still felt all too well the divisions and fault lines that had led them through almost a millennium of tensions and wars between English and French. It was impressed upon young Wilfrid by his teachers and elders that he must stand up unflinchingly for the values and the identity of his heritage, those beliefs and approaches that were his birthright, and would be his legacy. That, they told him, was leadership.

But Wilfrid grew to believe otherwise. He realized that it’s actually easy to stand rooted in the conviction that you are right, and either wait for others to come to you, or wait for your chance to impose your rightness on others. He saw that it’s actually harder to seek compromise, to dig deep into yourself, your ideas and convictions, honestly and rigorously, to see where you can give and where you do need to stand, while opening yourself up to the other point of view, to seek out and find that common ground. And that remains Wilfrid Laurier’s political legacy, more than 100 years later. To let yourself be vulnerable to another point of view — that’s what takes true courage. To open yourself to another’s convictions, and risk being convinced, a little, or a lot, of the validity of their perspective.

Now that’s scary: discovering that someone you vehemently disagree with might have a point. Might even be right. But it shouldn’t be scary, or threatening. Particularly to all of you, who have worked so hard these past years to pursue truth, to learn, to grow. Being open to others is what has gradually led Canadians to the understanding that differences can and must be a source of strength, not of weakness. And I say “gradually,” because 20th century Canadian history is filled with counter-examples and terrible setbacks that we are still trying to remedy today, most notably the systemic marginalization and oppression of Indigenous Peoples. We’re not perfect, of course, but that sense of openness, respect for other points of view, and acceptance of each other really does underpin our approach as we try to solve the great problems of our time. And not because we’re nice — but of course we are — but because by bringing together diverse perspectives, you get a much better shot at meeting those challenges. And that’s how we come back to you and the leaders the world needs you to be.

Leadership has always been about getting people to act in common cause. “We’re going to build a new country! We’re going to war! We’re going to the moon!” It usually required convincing, or coercing, a specific group to follow you. And the easiest way to do that has always been through tribal contrasts: “They believe in a different God! They speak a different language! They don’t want the same things as we do.” But the leadership we need most today and in the years to come is leadership that brings people together. That brings diversity to a common cause. This is the antithesis of the polarization, the aggressive nationalism, the identity politics that have grown so common of late. It’s harder, of course. It’s always been easier to divide than unite. But mostly, it requires true courage. Because if you want to bring people around to your way of thinking, you need to first show them that you are open to theirs. That you are willing to enter into a conversation that might change your mind. Show respect for their point of view, and you have a better chance of actually having them listen to yours. And regardless of what happens, you will have had a genuine exchange that focused on understanding, not on winning a debate or scoring points. And you will both be improved for it.

Let me be very clear: this is not an endorsement of moral relativism or a declaration that all points of view are valid. Female genital mutilation is wrong, no matter how many generations have practiced it. Anthropogenic climate change is real, no matter how much some folks want to deny it. But here’s the question: do you want to win an argument and feel good about how superior you are? Or do you actually want to change behaviors and beliefs? See, it’s been pointed out that one of the many differences between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis was that Davis preferred to win a debate, while Lincoln would rather win the war. And that’s the question: Do you want to win an argument or do you want to change the world?

“With malice toward none, and charity toward all.” Let those greatest words of this country’s greatest president guide your ambitions, your hopes for yourselves, your families, your country, your planet. There is no shortage of cynicism and selfishness in the world. Be their answer, their antidote. I am abundantly optimistic about the future because of you. It is yours to make and mold and shape. The world eagerly awaits, indeed requires, your ideas. Your initiative. Your enterprise. Your energy. Your passion and compassion. Your idealism, and your ambition. But remember that true courage is the essential ingredient in all your efforts.

Congratulations, Class of 2018. Now go change the world.

Merci!

May 17, 2018 at 04:37AM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com

[nemesis-nexus]

AVÈ MARDUK! AVÈ SATANÌ! Great Father who fought on our behalf and triumphed over the destructive tirade of Tiamat, hear us! There is so much going on around the world and there are so many around the world that don’t have even the bare essentials either due to extreme poverty or because their part of the world was turned upside down by the hurricanes or earthquakes, that we need to be grateful for all the things we have and never take anything for granted! That being said I would like to share on this Mabon/Autumnal Equinox all that for which I am grateful: 1) First and foremost I am grateful to my Deity for helping me to find my path, I admit it took a while to figure it out and there were many obstacles I had to overcome, but at the end of the day I understand why it was necessary. It needed to happen this way so that not only would I have an actual appreciation for everything I gained through my personal trials, including wisdom and insight, but so that I would see the world with eyes unclouded, meaning that I would accept the truth no matter how much it might hurt. Part of this is accepting any situation – especially personal situations – for what they are and to not deny it out of a misguided sense of loyalty or duty. One of the harshest lessons that lead to being able to do this was seeing people for who they are and to stop helping those who don’t deserve it! Unfortunately this can apply to family as much as friends and co-workers. One thing a person needs to keep in mind is that there is a huge difference between trying to help someone who is being resistant because they might have issues in their past that makes it hard for them to trust anyone and someone who takes both you and EVERYTHING you do for them for granted! The first may be dismissive because they aren't used to ANYONE giving a damn, the second has become so accustomed to others doing things FOR them that they don't bother doing anything for themselves or they continuously ask you for favors and get mad if you say no! There are those that will never accept your help no matter how sincere you are and then there are those that will not only accept your help but will milk it for all they can until such time as you cut them off, in both cases you have to let them go and move on! 2) I am grateful for my Family both Blood and Spiritual. There are two forms of Family, our Blood Family whom we are connected to on the deepest level there is and our Spiritual Family with whom we share a common Path and Belief. We may not always agree with our Blood Family on everything especially religion, but we will go through the fire for them! Our Spiritual Family are the ones who offer us the kind of support that repairs most past damage that has been inflicted by those we have met all along the road called life and as such we in turn are able to help others through their difficult times. I am grateful for both because I know who I am and where I came from due to my Blood and that is a privilege that many people are denied! I am grateful for my Spiritual Family because not only do we share a common bond through our beliefs but we also stand together regardless of where we come from or where we are going! 3) I am grateful for my Friends online and offline. There are people that we meet in life who stay with us no matter what happens and these people may be physically present or they may be communicated with via the internet. While we may be able to hang out with our offline friends, go to the movies, have private conversations that can’t be hacked and go through the motions of life, our online friends are also a source of support especially in a social media forum where it can get so bad that it’s literally a free for all where there are no punches pulled. Online friends are also in many cases the only people that some have to talk to either because a person is deathly shy or because they need to talk to someone about something they feel they can’t speak to anyone in their immediate area about out of fear something may be overheard or that they might be betrayed by that person. In essence online friends are something of a safe harbor because when we are in dire straits and there is no one else around to talk to, we can go online and talk to them. We must ALWAYS however be very careful who we trust because online friends CAN be a double edge sword, because unlike offline we can never be certain who we are talking to at first, however as time goes on and we become more and more familiar we can usually tell who is legit and who isn’t. Sad to say but people we know offline can be even shadier than those we meet online. It’s all a matter of paying attention and never taking anything at face value. I am grateful to my offline friends because I have people I am able to physically be with and confide in and I am grateful to my online friends because no matter where I am (for example on a train for 24 hours) I always have people to talk to! I am MOST grateful for those who start out as online friends and eventually become offline friends and in some cases Spiritual Family! Nobody crosses our paths for no reason, they are either there to become someone of importance to us personally or they are there to be a lesson to remind us that not everyone who enters our lives should be trusted and as such are not meant to stay. 4) I am grateful for my Temple as well as each and every member in it. When I formed the Temple of the Eternal Dragon, it came on the heels of a VERY stressful time where I had to make a choice; either continue to be used by an ungrateful man child who felt he was entitled to have other people do his work for him while he took the credit and simultaneously disrespected me behind closed doors every chance he got, or lead by example and show the congregation that I had told many times to never be afraid to walk away from a bad situation and an equally toxic person. I chose the latter and when I did that bad situation got even worse because not only was I accused of ruining the church while I was still running it, after I left I was accused of being a member of a terrorist group that exploited children and people were told to not trust me. There was so much more vitriolic and hateful things said but you get the idea. When I formed the TotED I vowed to not bring the drama into it and to also NEVER “recruit” member or otherwise bribe people into joining by offering automatic ordainments just for joining. In my opinion ANY rank or titled NOT EARNED is not only superficial, it is completely meaningless! Ordainments should ONLY be offered if a person has demonstrated knowledge of the Path itself, the ability to think for themselves and not be lead by the nose and also has been a member of the Path long enough to prove their loyalty and that they are NOT just getting ordained because they can! There are too many people who claim all sorts of ranks and titles yet they have NO background in the Path and they don’t know anything other than what was dictated to them AFTER they joined the organization! Mind you we all start somewhere and there is nothing wrong with learning about the Path after you join an organization, the problem is when the ONLY knowledge you possess is what is dictated to you and you demonstrate absolutely NO desire to learn anything else. This is dangerous because ALL cult leaders rely on their members to rely SOLELY on what they are told and to NEVER look things up for themselves. This shows a clear lack of personal application and NO ONE who lacks the desire to take part in their education or Spiritual awareness should ever be ordained because they have no more to offer someone else than the one who dictated copy and paste garbage had to offer them. In fact a person in that position stands to be more of a hindrance to someone else’s Spiritual growth and personal evolution than anything else. Not only this, but a person who cannot think for themselves or do their own research is someone who stands to MISREPRESENT the Deity rather than uphold his honor! This is an insult to the Deity primarily but also to the individual themselves as it insinuates that they are unable to stand on their own without the man behind the curtain feeding them their lines! Our Deity created us to be able to stand together or alone, whichever the situation calls for, he NEVER intended for us to ever become so dependent on another person that we are unable to function without them or to ever be so easily won over with empty titles and meaningless ranks that we would be willing to claim belief in something ONLY to hold said meaningless rank and titles! There are few things I have and will ever ask from those looking to join or are currently in my Temple; one is that you join of your own accord as you will not be given anything except respect and support by myself as well as resources to begin your own personal journey on the Path. Your connection to the Deity is your own, I cannot make it for you and despite what you may hear from other groups NO AMOUNT of contract writing in blood or any other medium will establish this connection. You need to approach the Deity with respect and humbleness. Satan is not a genie, he does not grant wishes and if the ONLY reason you are looking to become a Satanist is to try to sell your soul for money or power then do us ALL a favor and find another Path. Also despite what you have heard in other groups Satan is also NOT a demon nor is he the “King of Demons” this is another insult as he is the one who banished the demons from this realm so that the human race could flourish without the threat of the more dangerous ones constantly overshadowing them. The idea that he is a demon was created by the Abrahamic religions, therefore to perpetuate this falsehood is to say that you are in fact still a follower of the Abrahamic religions! This is a hard pill for many to swallow because they are so conditioned to believe this that some refuse to believe any differently. It is neither my job nor my inclination to convince anyone otherwise, however, it IS my discretion to not allow this misguided belief into my Temple! Two is that you are respectful of the other members keeping in mind that while you may possess advanced knowledge or at the very least MORE knowledge than some, that there are others who are just starting out and therefore there is no such thing as a stupid question. I would rather have someone ask me a question that has been asked 10,000 times before so that THEY know the answer than EVER have a member who is to afraid of retaliation in the form of harassment or flaming to even pose it in the first place! A person who is denied access to the same knowledge everyone else possesses is a person who will never know more than they previously did and that doesn’t help ANYONE trying to advance on their Path! Remember we ALL had our “first day” and we knew just as much then as the newbies know now, so for all intents and purposes we are not above them when it comes to following the Path! Three is that you do NOT mindlessly attack ANYONE else regardless of their faith. If a person wants to be a Christian, Buddhist or Pastafarian that is entirely at THEIR discretion NOT YOURS and you have no more right or business to mock them than they do to mock us! If you emulate the behavior of your so called enemy then you are really no better than your so called enemy! Keep in mind if you want Satanism to be respected as a religion or Path then you need to ACT like you do! Also whenever you are out and about keep in mind that it is NOT just you or this Temple that you are representing when you talk to people, it is the Deity himself and if you behave in a manner that reflects THEIR preconceived notions as to what Satanism is about or how Satanists behave then all you are doing is proving THEM right! Words can never express fully how grateful I am to those who joined in the beginning - especially those who followed me from my old church - and stayed no matter how much drama was going on at the time! There was plenty of it and although I kept it out of my Temple pages I know that some people were in fact contacted via PM, I know this because you contacted me to let me know and THAT demonstrate a level of mutual respect that speaks volumes! I am grateful that the members of this Temple continue to stand unified against such unscrupulous and useless frauds such as the Atheist cult and their disreputable ilk! I am grateful that this Temple is 2.5 years strong with no signs of slowing down! I am grateful that people continue to join every day and while not everyone sticks around I take pride in the fact that they came in the first place! It shows that they were curious enough to want to know more and even though they decided this wasn’t for them, they could have just dismissed me completely as someone not worth their time! 5) I am grateful that I was able to travel to Europe because I had the opportunity to see another part of the world and meet many new people in the process! I always wanted to go to Amsterdam and even though my friend and I were almost abducted and sold into sexual slavery – I WISH I was only joking about this - my time there was well spent! We walked all over the city, took a ride around the canal, saw lots of old architecture, checked out a couple museums and had a lot of fun generally speaking! Germany was a trip too especially Cologne where an old church which now serves as a library is SO domineering that it TOWERS over the train station that sits right next to it! Again lots of beautiful architecture and I loved the waterfront, we ended up missing the last tour boat (booo) but I found the water to be very relaxing despite there being a ton of people all over the place! Brussels was intriguing, more awesome architecture of course, but what REALLY made me stop and do a double take is the fact that they don’t believe in traffic lights of any kind! They also don’t believe in crosswalks or crossing signals so if you need to get to the other side of the street, you need to wait for an opening in the traffic then literally grab your ass with both hands and RUN! I am grateful that a lifelong wish came true and I thank Marduk every day for the experience! Generous Father Marduk, there is so much more I am grateful for but at the end of the day but I think the thing I am most grateful for, aside from the afore mentioned, is that no matter how arduous the road that led me here has been, I kept moving forward and because I did I found my way to my and even though new challenges arise every day in various forms, I know we will NEVER back up, we will NEVER back down! We will NEVER give up! We will NEVER give in! That so long as you are by my side, I can handle anything! It is my fervent hope that I convey all the lessons I have learned through my own experiences to every member of the Temple of the Eternal Dragon so that they may glean a little something from them and even avoid certain situations altogether so as to not have to go through what I did! I would like to take this opportunity to say a resounding THANK YOU to the members of the Temple of the Eternal Dragon, to my Sister Cindy who has helped me and continues to help me with various aspects of my Path, to my Blood Family for putting up with me, to my Spiritual Family for their continued support, to my Friends online and off for not abandoning me and especially to my Blessed and Most Exalted Father Satan for showing me the way and for helping me to remain strong during the very worst of times – THANK YOU ALL! HAVE A MAGICKAL MABON AND A VERY BLESSED AUTUMN EQUINOX! “Sometimes in our lives We all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow Lean on me When you're not strong And I'll be your friend (I'll be your friend) I'll help you carry on (lean on me) For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on Please swallow your pride If I have things you need to borrow For no one can fill Those of your needs That you won't let show Lean on me When you're not strong And I'll be your friend (I'll be your friend) I'll help you carry on (lean on me) For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on So just call on me brother, when you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'd understand We all need somebody to lean on Lean on me When you're not strong (when you're not strong) And I'll be your friend (I'll be your friend) I'll help you carry on (lean on me) For, said, it won't be long (won't be too long) 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on We be jammin' We be jammin' (hey now) We be jammin' We be jammin' We be jammin' We be jammin' We be jammin' (hey) We be jammin' (just call me) uh, when you need a friend (call me) oh, baby now (call me) uh, when you need a friend (call me) oh, baby now (call me) uh, when you need a friend (call me) oh, baby now.. -Club Nouveau (“Lean On Me”)” ZI ANA KANPA! ZI KIA KANPA! MAY THE DEAD RISE AND SMELL THE INCENSE! Etiamsi MULTA Et Nos UNUM Sumus Nos Sto Validus Ut Nos Sto Una! Semper Veritas, Semper Fideles, In Diabolus Nomen Nos Fides! AVE SATANÍ! (We Are ONE Even Though We Are MANY And We Stand STRONGEST When We Stand TOGETHER! Always TRUTHFUL, Always FAITHFUL, In Satan's Name We Trust! HAIL SATAN!) Ave URURU! Ave EA! Ave DIMUZI! Ave ININNI! Ave GILGAMESH! Ave ENKIDU! Ave TIAMAT! Ave ABSU! Ave MARDUK! Ave SARPANITUM! Ave SATANÍ! HAIL SATAN! HPS Meg “Nemesis Nexus” Prentiss

[thesnhuup]

After Charlottesville

MEMO

To:                          SNHU Community

From:                     Paul LeBlanc

Date:                     August 16, 2017

Subject:                In the Aftermath of Events in Charlottesville

Like so many, I watched with outrage and near despair at the violence and hatred of those who marched on Charlottesville last weekend.  Those emotions were exacerbated by a lack of moral leadership and the false equivalency between the alt-right marchers, using the First Amendment as a platform for hateful vitriol, and the small number of counter-protestors who engaged with them.  The former, who marched into town, are to be reviled.  The counter-marchers were there to protest the evil that is the alt-right and defend American values.

While I made my opinions immediately known on social media, I’ve wanted to be thoughtful about this more formal message to the SNHU community.  It should go without saying that we condemn the alt-right marchers and the movement in all its forms.  This is not a political stance.  This is an American stance and one taken up by Republican and Democratic leaders alike, the CEOs of companies like Wal-Mart, Merck, and Under Armour, and military leaders like USMC General Robert Neller. While the marchers’ speech may be protected – and should be protected – those constitutional protections do not make them any less vile.  Those who went beyond speech to attacks, murder, and threats are domestic terrorists and should be prosecuted with the same zeal we use in suppressing foreign terrorism, and other threats to American life and liberty.

With the fall semester soon approaching, I want to reaffirm SNHU’s commitment to ensuring a safe and welcoming living-learning environment for every member of our community.

Let me be clear about what SNHU stands for today.

We stand for inclusivity.  We are working hard to be more supportive and embracing of difference.  This extends from small things, such as how we manage restrooms, to big things, like diversity on our Board of Trustees.  It means the very basic, like ensuring the safety of all our students, faculty, and staff to the complicated work of building culture and community, especially one that embraces all, while tolerating difference in opinion.  We commit to being intolerant of intolerance.  Which means we will actively work to prevent hate speech, while ensuring that we protect speech – civic and civil – across the political and intellectual spectrum.

We stand for the marketplace of ideas.  Universities have struggled with those from both the left and the right who interfere with conference speakers or others with whom they disagree.  Disagreement, discomfort, and dislike are not a basis for barring speech, and while we will not tolerate hate speech, we will promote – we desire – a robust exchange of ideas.  We want that exchange to be civil, constructive, and respectful – that’s part of a diverse and pluralistic community.  It feels like our society has lost a lot of that ability, and we will in this next year spend more time in workshops and other teaching venues developing the skill of having difficult conversations, and navigating sensitive and fraught topics.

We stand for social justice.  This University is built on the core transformational power of education to help people achieve a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. The greatest instrument of social mobility in America is education, so we remain committed to innovating and finding ways to bring education to first generation college students, to low-income students, and to students of color.  Economic justice is one aspect of this work, but so is the work of extending rights and freedoms to those for whom they have been long denied, including members of our LGBTQ community.  At a time when wealth inequity is reaching record levels, we commit to being part of the solution.

We stand for rationality, science, evidence, and facts. The world is a wondrous place full of mystery and awe, and the best scientists and researchers are humble in the face of what we do not know, but we should make policy and advances on the basis of what we do know.  Unfortunately, we live in a time of willful ignorance.  The alt-right movement promulgates lies about climate change, immigrants and crime, and sews seeds of doubt about fundamental institutions of our democracy. In these times, universities have to stand as beacons of light against that darkness.

Standing for a pluralistic society, the free exchange of ideas, social justice, and facts are core American principles; they are also core SNHU principles.

Universities do not only stand for things.  They also take care of their people.  Right now, too many of our students and employees feel frightened and under assault, and it is incumbent on us, as an institution, and as colleagues, and friends, and peers, to reassure them that we have their back, that we are allies.  We have to do it in words, speaking up when we see their safety or rights under threat, and in deeds.  Our actions will be louder than our words.  Tomorrow we will announce an important new initiative to support refugees and immigrants in our local community.  We are welcoming to our Board of Trustees Maribel Duran, child of immigrants from Mexico, and former head of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellent for Hispanic Americans; and Rick Banks, an African-American Stanford School of Law Professor, who writes about race and law.  We will work diligently to recruit more students and employees of color, to better support our LGBTQ community members, and to stand by their side every time their rights, and their freedoms are under threat.

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to tour the Fidelity Investment facilities in nearby Merrimack.  At one point, I was introduced to an engineering team.  On the team was a mix of men and women.  Two of them were of Indian descent, another was Chinese, the team leader was Latino, and two team members were joining by video-conference from Poland. They were doing impressive work and they were doing it with laughter, respect, and efficiency, using agile development techniques that they had developed as a team.  In our complex and globally connected world, this is what wins.  Research shows that diverse teams are smarter teams.  History shows that American success has been built on the success of immigrants and refugees and the castoffs of other lands. Meeting them felt like an antidote to this weekend’s headlines.

I had another recent opportunity this year when I spent the day touring the beaches of Normandy.  Standing on those beaches which had been blood-soaked, where so many Americans died saving the world from Nazis, and then thinking about those who walked the streets of Charlottesville giving the Hitler salute and parading the swastika, I can’t help think about those who sacrificed so much, and what they would think of our country today. What would they think of those who remain silent in the face of such a threat to our country? As a community, please join me in raising your voice and reaffirming the goodness of who we are as a diverse and richly supportive community.

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