#unregulated resource use

[daymemebeliever]

Hey Fanguins! Want to Help Real Life Penguins? :D

Why Now?

5 out of the 18 penguin species are listed as endangered

That’s approximately 28% that are endangered, not including those under the “vulnerable” or “near threatened” statuses.

These endangered species include:

The Yellow-eyed Penguin

Northern Rockhopper Penguin

Galapagos Penguin

Erect-Crested Penguin

African Penguin

Cute little guys like these African penguins are predicted to go EXTINCT by 2035.

Biggest Threats to Penguins:

Overfishing

Plastic Pollution

Oil Spills

Habitat Disruption

Invasive Species

Climate Change

So… What can We Do?

I know sometimes it seems hopeless when there are major corporations having extensive negative impacts on the environment.

But there are small, everyday changes you may be able to make to contribute for the better (at least a little).

Small actions can add up over time.

Shop Consciously

Overfishing and unregulated fishing are big contributors to penguin populations decreasing.

Less available prey means penguins have to spend longer time at sea to feed their chicks and themselves. This could force them to abandon their chicks, reach the point of exhaustion and pass away as a result, or return to emaciated chicks.

Seafood Watch is a wonderful resource to ensure the seafood you’re buying has been caught sustainably. https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendations/download-consumer-guides

Swap for More Sustainable Options

Aside from seafood, you might be able to make many swaps to reusable products.

Reusable grocery bags/tote bags can actually make transporting groceries easier while reducing plastic usage.

If you have access to clean water, a water filter pitcher or a reusable water bottle are also great options when available! 😊

Swapping plastic containers for aluminum cans or cartons (these are easier to recycle)

Swap balloons for other party favors (many released balloons end up in our oceans). Penguins and other sea animals can choke on or get tangled in these while swimming.

Conscious Pet Ownership

Choose pets responsibly and never abandon a pet if you can no longer take care of it. This could lead to the rise of invasive species.

Keep pets on a leash when outside even when you do not see local wildlife.

Penguins, especially those whose habits are around human populations, are regularly attacked and lethally injured by unattended dogs or cats. These include feral or stray animals that have become invasive.

Learn More Directly from Non-Profits:

SANCCOB is an internationally renowned rehabilitation center for South African seabirds (including African penguins) leading conservation efforts for this species. https://sanccob.co.za/about-sanccob/

The Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust is another great non-profit located in New Zealand that tracks behavior and nesting patterns of the Yellow-eyed penguins. They also remove invasive predators to ensure Yellow-eyed penguins have a chance at repopulating to sustainable levels. https://www.yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz/yellow-eyed-penguin-trust/about-the-trust/

Penguins International is a nonprofit that educates about penguins and penguin conservation efforts. https://www.penguinsinternational.org/about-us/

Any AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums that support conservation efforts

Advocate:

Sign petitions encouraging legislation change that aims to reduce climate change or regulate fishing

Write to/email legislators when penguin species are at risk

Donate (if you can/would like):

Both Penguins International and SANCCOB do symbolic penguin adoptions to support penguin conservation.

On SANCCOB’s website, you can choose an egg, hatchling, rehabilitated penguin, or long-term penguin resident to symbolically adopt/sponsor. You even get to give your adopted penguin a name!

The Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust also accepts donations of various amounts.

I figured since if you follow this blog, penguins have inspired media and art that means a lot to you or that has at least brightened your day. If you’re as amazed as I am about the real life species, please consider taking steps to help or learn more about real penguins. I figured sharing this information, while trying to make these changes myself, are the least I could do to honor these amazing creatures!

Thank you for reading! 😁

(Lol I’ll get off my soapbox now 😉)

Maybe Tom McGrath can explain it better 😉 (skip to 3:16 to hear him talk about how amazing penguins are! 😊)

[mrghostrat]

How old were you when you started reading fanfics and do you think someone can do to young to read fanfic?

12 or 13 i think! friends at school introduced me to bandom, and i started reading (and writing) my chemical romance, the used, and fall out boy fics on livejournal 😂

i don't think you can be too young, just like a teenager can go and help themselves to adult shelves at the library. but it's important to have someone in your life who you're comfortable talking to about themes that might arise in fics, just like when reading a difficult book. and to remember that fic is uncensored, unregulated content made just for fun, and not an informative resource

[witchofthesouls]

Hey! I saw an earlier post you had about the boys in the grocery store and it got me wondering about how they would react to hunting. I’m a hunter, have been all my life. I hunt deer, boars, ducks, coyotes, turkeys, quails, pheasants, wild Burmese pythons, and I fish locally too (strictly a vermin exterminator and food hunter, I find sports hunting to be distasteful and I strictly use a bow and arrow, no traps or guns as I take issues with those too). I can picture the absolute horror of the TFP or Lost Light bots seeing their/a human skinning and processing an animal that they just hunted for food, they see the modern convinces that are grocery stores so it’s easy to forget where human food actually comes from 😂

Weirdly enough, IDW/MTMTE does have Cybertronian edibles like cesium salami and rust sticks.

But then again, there's a big percentage of the crew members who were produced by the war, so there's a great chance that they didn't get a crash course on things that were deemed "unnecessary," like Cybertronian cuisine and fauna to forage and hunt.

TFP Cybertronians, on the other hand, have Questions.

Get ready to pull up diagrams, manuals, videos, and live demonstrations via YouTube or your own hands because they got the curiosity of two-year-old with the capacity to keep you in their palm for no escape.

Ratchet absolutely hates it. It's too messy and squishy and completely unalike the organized and relatively clean method of converting crystals to fuel. Horrified over the mysteries of hotdogs and how everything can and will kill humans without specific preparations to negate the toxins. Ratchet is boggled over spice challenges and how the hell humanity hadn't died in its infancy over culinary explorations. Someone told him to look up Hákarl.

He takes great displeasure when the kids sass him over Cybertronians eating their own blood. Different. Absolutely different. He clucks over the base kitchen and is not above making things disappear. He argues with June and Agent Fowler over the groceries and fast food bags. Ratchet's crunchy.

Bulkhead actually enjoys fishing. He's more catch and release rather than for keeping and gutting. He likes soaking up the heat of the sun, the sound of running water, birdsong, and insects buzzing, the gear setup and picking out the right lure and bait. It's a different kind of downtime, but it's nice. All he's missing is engex, but he's able to throw a line farther out than anyone else and has the capability to detect motion far greater than an average human. He still wants an engex cube.

Arcee has mixed feelings. She enjoys hunting. Patience, tracking, stealth, and the sense of accomplishment with a clean catch. She likes less the process of handling carcasses, but really hates waste anything that could have been useful. Meat, leather, tools, jewelry, and raw ingredients that could be sold or traded. Arcee just doesn't like sharing something with Airachnid's methods.

Bumblebee's a scout. People expected him to like foraging or the wilds. He prefers domesticated stock. In particular, beekeeping. To him, it represents a more equivalent partnership: he provides accessible resources and safe quarters and the bees yield honey, comb, and wax in return. If the hive don't like him or the area, then they can leave elsewhere.

Optimus is deeply fascinated by how Earth's biodiversity is so immense and how ecosystems are so diverse and complex, yet so fragile. He quietly wishes for Alpha Trion's presence because Optimus is seeing familiar similarities of Cybertronian long gone biomes: wetlands, woodlands, and reefs. The Sea of Rust once was a massive ocean of mineral-laden Energon. It has long since disappeared by the consensus of heavy, unregulated industrialization, but if Earth has the water cycle, ocean currents and belts, and complex system of thermoregulation that replenishes itself, then Cybertron had to have something similar at one point, no?

[todaysbird]

thoughts on falconry?

So, upfront, I’m going to say that this is not my area of expertise and what I DO know is largely US-based, so some falconry practices in different locations may differ. I have only personally worked with parrots, finches, and other common (unregulated) birds in a professional capacity, and while I have done independent research for fun, I do not have any hands-on experience with raptors.

My opinion on falconry growing up was mostly concern beyond the ‘cool’ factor, because I thought the birds were ‘kidnapped’ from their families and then kept lifelong. This went against everything I knew about handling and treating wildlife, so it initially seemed pretty messed up to do to a native bird.

However, beyond the initial shock value, and as I learned more, I found that falconry has actually shown to be very beneficial to birds. Falconers were largely behind the ongoing Peregrine Falcon restoration after the species was almost wiped out. Also, raptors have a VERY high mortality rate in their first year. Falconers keep young raptors taken from the wild in safe enclosed mews for their vulnerable years, while providing them with food while they hone their hunting skills. When the raptors are released (it’s very rare for a falconry bird to be kept permanently), they have a better set of skills to navigate the world. Temporarily captive birds = more healthy adult birds. With most raptor species on the decline due to habitat loss, climate change, introduced species and other impacts, this is a good thing.

Falconers also may use their birds to hunt for invasive species by taking them to areas where they are common. This is not a surefire thing, as raptors do not recognize species-specific commands - they will take down any rodent regardless if it is a squirrel or rat, for example. But some falconers have been successful in decreasing numbers of problematic species like starlings, Norway rats, and others (at least on a local level).

The downside is, like with any animal caretaker, bad falconers exist. It is possible to not give a bird enough free flight and let them actually become a poor hunter. It’s possible to provide improper nutrition in captivity and make your bird sick or fail to thrive. Injuries and accidents happen. But again, this is more on the shoulders of individuals than falconry as a whole.

With that being said, falconers DO have to complete licensing programs, so a bad/uninformed falconer is less common than most domestic animal owners, because you can’t legally go out and get a kestrel on a whim because it’s cute.

Overall, tldr: when performed by knowledgeable individuals, falconry can really benefit the birds and the environment.

(For a great beginner’s resource on falconry, read this - I also recommend checking out @raptorsandpoultry and @ordinaryredtail)

[mumblesplash]

You like these questions? I have more!!!

Is Redstone closer in nature to a base or an acid? Does it have corrosive properties if left unchecked and unregulated?

Does Redstone have a catalyst and if so what happens?

Can Redstone be used as seasoning? Is there a hybrid you would attribute a strong enough palette to safely consume it?

What is the general consensus on whether Redstone is dangerous? Are there people who believe that it should not be used?

How does Redstone react with Skulk? Additionally, how does it react with mobs spawning from the Deep Dark such as Wardens?

Would Redstone ever be considered a fashion statement, and if so, as what kind of clothing piece? Could you, if you made it thick enough, potentially knit with Redstone?

Can Redstone be used as a spell component for witches and evokers?

Is Redstone a unlimited resource, and if it isn't, what are the precautions on how much you can use?

Will Redstone alter properties of inherently magical things, like end crystals or totems of undying?

I have so many nessecary and unessecary questions

oh nice questions! (just for the sake of efficiency i'm gna put asterisks by any questions i had answers for already, everything else you can assume i'm making up on the spot lmao)

*Is Redstone closer in nature to a base or an acid?

neither! it's more like a scab :)

*Does Redstone have a catalyst and if so what happens?

no it does not, at least by my understanding of what a catalyst is in this context

Does it have corrosive properties?

hmm i'm gonna go with no

*Can Redstone be used as seasoning? Is there a hybrid you would attribute a strong enough palette to safely consume it?

can? yes. should? no. safely? well, tango's still alive, so...

*What is the general consensus on whether Redstone is dangerous?

the general consensus is that yes, it is dangerous, though the extent of the danger is unknown. safety measures are taken out of an abundance of caution

Are there people who believe that it should not be used?

probably. none of the hermits, obviously, but it would be very easy to disapprove of from a number of angles. at least a few people being Anti Redstone seems pretty much inevitable

*How does Redstone react with Skulk?

...see me after class

Would Redstone ever be considered a fashion statement, and if so, as what kind of clothing piece?

not clothing but i bet there's some level of prestige associated with the color of redstoners' eyes. whether they're considered good or bad would be pretty context-dependent though

Could you, if you made it thick enough, potentially knit with Redstone?

no, but you could probably dye clothes with it

Can Redstone be used as a spell component for witches and evokers?

i don't think evokers have much use for it, and i don't think witches use extended potions (could be wrong there, but also i don't consider the witches to be canon to the game lore)

*Is Redstone a unlimited resource, and if it isn't, what are the precautions on how much you can use?

the stone itself exists in unknown but presumably finite quantities, the signal it emits is infinite

Will Redstone alter properties of inherently magical things, like end crystals or totems of undying?

i don't think so? it does extend the duration of potion effects, though

[reaper2187]

Caitlyn x Female prisoner reader

Prisoner's help (part 4) pev

The night air was cool against their skin as Y/N and Caitlyn listened intently to their captive's revelations. The well-dressed man, who introduced himself as Elias, spoke quickly, his eyes darting nervously as if expecting danger to materialize out of the shadows.

"The Chem-Baron," Elias began, his voice trembling, "his real name is Viktor. He's a brilliant scientist who turned to crime after Piltover’s elite rejected his radical ideas. He’s been consolidating power in Zaun, leveraging his technological prowess to control the underworld."

Caitlyn frowned, her mind racing. "And his connections in Piltover?"

Elias nodded, wiping sweat from his brow. "Viktor has people inside Piltover's Council. They've been funding his operations in exchange for new technologies and illicit substances. It's all about power and control. They want to dominate both Piltover and Zaun, and they're using Viktor to do it."

Y/N's eyes narrowed. "Who on the Council? Give us names."

Elias hesitated, glancing around nervously. "There’s one in particular. Councilor Salo. He's been the main contact, facilitating the exchange of funds and resources. He’s deeply embedded in Piltover’s political structure, making him almost untouchable."

Caitlyn’s jaw clenched. "We need proof. Something we can take to the authorities, expose this conspiracy."

Elias nodded. "I can help with that. I have access to Viktor’s records. They’re stored in a secure location, a hidden lab beneath an old warehouse in the Industrial District. It’s heavily guarded, but if you can get in, you’ll find everything you need."

Y/N and Caitlyn exchanged a look, a silent agreement passing between them. This was their chance to strike at the heart of the conspiracy, to bring down the Chem-Baron and his allies.

"Alright," Caitlyn said, her voice firm. "You’re coming with us. Show us the way."

Elias nodded, his fear palpable. "Just keep me alive. If Viktor finds out I helped you…"

"He won’t," Y/N said, her voice steely. "But if you betray us, you'll wish he did."

The Industrial District of Zaun was a labyrinth of factories and warehouses, a grim testament to the city’s unregulated industry. As they approached the old warehouse Elias had mentioned, Y/N and Caitlyn could see the telltale signs of security: guards patrolling the perimeter, surveillance cameras scanning the area.

"We need a plan," Caitlyn whispered, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the situation.

Y/N nodded. "We can’t take them head-on. We’ll need to find a way to disable the cameras and create a diversion to draw the guards away from the entrance."

Elias fidgeted nervously. "There’s a maintenance entrance on the east side. Less guarded, but still watched. If we can get in there, we can access the security room and disable the cameras."

Caitlyn smiled, a plan forming in her mind. "Good. Y/N, you and Elias take the maintenance entrance. I’ll create a diversion to draw the guards away. Once inside, disable the cameras and signal me."

Y/N nodded, her determination matching Caitlyn’s. "Let’s do this."

Caitlyn moved off to create the diversion, while Y/N and Elias made their way to the east side of the warehouse. They stuck to the shadows, avoiding the patrols until they reached the maintenance entrance. A single guard stood watch, his back turned to them.

"Stay here," Y/N whispered to Elias. "I’ll take care of him."

She moved silently, her steps as light as a cat’s. In one swift motion, she incapacitated the guard, catching him before he could hit the ground. She waved Elias over, and they slipped inside, making their way through the narrow corridors towards the security room.

The hum of machinery filled the air as they reached the security room. Y/N peered through the door’s small window, seeing a lone technician monitoring the camera feeds. She nodded to Elias, who took a deep breath and followed her lead.

They burst into the room, Y/N swiftly subduing the technician while Elias moved to the control panel. His fingers flew over the keys, disabling the cameras and unlocking the main entrance for Caitlyn.

"Done," Elias said, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple. "Cameras are down. She should be able to get in now."

Y/N nodded, pulling out a small communicator. "Caitlyn, you’re clear."

"On my way," came Caitlyn’s reply, crackling through the device.

Minutes later, Caitlyn joined them in the security room, her expression focused and determined. "Good work. Now, let’s find those records."

Elias led them through a series of winding corridors, descending deeper into the bowels of the warehouse. They reached a heavy, reinforced door, which Elias unlocked with a trembling hand.

Inside, the lab was a stark contrast to the grimy exterior of the warehouse. It was filled with state-of-the-art equipment and shelves lined with files and documents. A terminal sat in the corner, its screen glowing softly.

"This is it," Elias said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Everything Viktor’s been working on, all his transactions and communications, are in this terminal."

Caitlyn moved to the terminal, her fingers dancing over the keyboard as she began to download the data. "We need to move quickly. It won’t be long before they realize something’s wrong."

Y/N nodded, her eyes scanning the room for any signs of danger. "Elias, keep watch at the door. Let us know if anyone’s coming."

Elias nodded, taking up a position by the door. The seconds ticked by, each one feeling like an eternity as Caitlyn worked. Finally, the download was complete, and Caitlyn transferred the data to a secure drive.

"Got it," Caitlyn said, standing up. "Let’s get out of here."

As they turned to leave, a sudden noise made them freeze. Footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing louder with each passing second.

"Elias, what’s happening?" Y/N whispered urgently.

Elias’s face was pale. "They’re coming. We need to move, now!"

They rushed out of the lab, the sound of approaching guards spurring them on. The corridors twisted and turned, a maze designed to confuse intruders. Y/N led the way, her memory of the route guiding them through the labyrinth.

As they neared the exit, they were confronted by a group of armed guards. "Stop right there!" one of the guards shouted, raising his weapon.

Y/N and Caitlyn moved in unison, their training and experience turning them into a well-oiled machine. They disarmed the guards with precision, their movements a blur of speed and efficiency. Within moments, the guards were incapacitated, and the path to the exit was clear.

Bursting out into the night air, they ran towards the nearest safe house, a hidden bolthole known only to Y/N. They slipped inside, barricading the door behind them.

Panting and adrenaline-fueled, they took a moment to catch their breath. Caitlyn plugged the secure drive into a portable terminal, scanning through the data they had retrieved.

"This is it," Caitlyn said, her eyes wide with realization. "Everything we need to expose Viktor and his connections in Piltover. Transactions, communications, even blueprints for new technologies."

Y/N leaned over her shoulder, her eyes scanning the screen. "We need to get this to someone we can trust. Someone who can act on it without tipping off the Council."

Caitlyn nodded. "I know just the person. We need to get back to Piltover and deliver this data to Jayce Talis. He’s a Councilor, but he’s also one of the few who’s not corrupt. He’ll help us."

Y/N’s eyes met Caitlyn’s, a mixture of determination and exhaustion in her gaze. "Alright. But we need to be careful. Viktor and his allies will stop at nothing to protect their secrets."

The journey back to Piltover was fraught with tension. They moved under the cover of darkness, avoiding patrols and keeping to the shadows. Every sound, every movement in the night, set their nerves on edge.

As they approached the city, the towering spires of Piltover loomed above them, a stark reminder of the power and corruption they were up against. They slipped through the gates, making their way to Jayce Talis’s residence.

Jayce’s home was a blend of elegance and practicality, a testament to his dual role as an inventor and Councilor. They knocked on the door, their urgency apparent. Moments later, Jayce himself opened the door, his expression one of surprise and concern.

"Caitlyn, Y/N," Jayce said, ushering them inside. "What’s going on? You look like you’ve been through hell."

Caitlyn wasted no time, handing him the secure drive. "We have proof, Jayce. Proof of a conspiracy involving Viktor, the Chem-Baron, and members of the Council. They’re using him to consolidate power in Zaun and Piltover. We need your help to expose them."

Jayce’s eyes widened as he scanned the data. "This is… this is incredible. If this gets out, it could bring down half the Council."

"That’s the idea," Y/N said, her voice grim. "But we need to act fast. Viktor’s men will come after us, and they won’t stop until we’re dead."

Jayce nodded, his expression resolute. "I’ll take this to the authorities, but we need

to be smart about it. We can’t trust just anyone. I’ll gather a few trusted allies, and we’ll make our move."

As Jayce moved to make the necessary arrangements, Y/N and Caitlyn exchanged a weary glance. They had taken the first step in dismantling the conspiracy, but the road ahead was still fraught with danger.

Y/N reached out, her hand brushing against Caitlyn’s. "We’ll get through this. Together."

Caitlyn squeezed her hand, a small smile playing on her lips. "Together."

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

some of yall should consider unlearning your superiority complex regarding drugs for real. you can talk about the issues with drugs from production to trade, addiction and social consequences without demonising individual drug users. if you want to be supportive of homeless, mentally ill, prostituted, traumatised and otherwise marginalised women - who obviously are not all on drugs but might be at a higher risk - you cant go around and scream about how evil they are for struggling with addiction and substance abuse.

a lot of people with substance abuse issues have started young and often have a family history of drug and alcohol abuse. and if this is the case for you and you didnt develop addiction - congratulations, good for you. if you could just turn addiction on and off, a lot of people would be a lot happier, but fact is that most people with addiction will relapse even if they try going sober, and guilt just makes it more difficult to stop.

if i have to see one more feminist comparing drug use to watching porn i will go feral. porn is harmful to the people in it and women as a group, drugs are primarily self harm. which is an issue but not a moral failure. a lot of porn consumption is literally getting off on violence, the product is the harm done to others, meanwhile buying drugs - like many other products under capitalism - is supporting a system that sadly exploits the most vulnerable without enacting or even engaging with violence yourself. and additionally, a lot of women exploited by the sex industry are on drugs. now what? they are the same as porn consumers? fuck off.

of course it is unethical to buy drugs when it directly supports gang violence, and i understand that someone whose home and people they know have been destroyed by drug use or the drug trade doesnt have the patience for drug users, but its also extremely oversimplified to think these issues will be solved if people just stopped buying drugs. 

blaming drug users for gang members raping and murdering women as a feminist is fucking wild. a woman smoking a joint is responsible for a gang member sexually assaulting another woman? like okay. people also dont need chocolate or coffee which is produced under infamously exploitative conditions with no regard for human rights, should people stop buying that also, or is it more useful to the workers to establish fair trade and urge governments to force corporations to adhere to human and workers rights? what good is it to coca farmers to demonise drug users when gang violence is a result of systemic destabilisation of governments and poverty in production countries as well as the war on drugs, which is directly supported by the demonisation and stigmatisation of addicts?

and dont get me started on gendered aspects of gang violence and how masculinity and machismo play into it. if gangs dont sell drugs, they go more into human and sex trafficking, weapons, and other shit, as long as corruption and poverty are not alleviated. the local drug dealer is also just trying to get by and make cash in a rigged system.

in my humble opinion, legalisation of production, trade and consumption would help both the regions where its produced and the people affected and exploited in the drug trade as well as addicts because a fair trade, workers rights and unions and so on could be established, and money saved on persecuting drug dealers and users could go into rehabilitation programs, and taxes could be used to support everyone involved. resources wasted on the war on drugs could be used to fight remaining gang activity. and so on!

drug use in dedicated places and moderation just like alcohol is not the issue, the issues are one: the production and trade, which is illegalised and criminalised and because of this in the hands of brutal gangs (while other products under capitalism are in the hands of unregulated corporations who care as much about human rights and dignity as gangs do); and two: addiction and other consequences of substance abuse like lowered inhibitions and the link to domestic abuse and other violence, which is also not helped when drug users are stigmatised and buying drugs is criminalised.

i completely understand if you personally take issue and voice criticism of buying drugs especially towards privileged westerners as someone from a country of production, all im asking is some more nuance and as a feminist, compassion with women who have substance abuse issues. no need to coddle anyones feelings, but most addicts - especially women - already feel bad about struggling with addiction and frankly dont need women telling them what a terrible person they are for it, or be told they are just like people who get off on sexual violence.

[flock-talk]

I know you’ve mentioned toto drawing blood recently and it’s made me wonder: what are you supposed to do you when your bird bites you? It’s not like you can just set them down and walk away (at least not in my case, he will immediately fly back to me). I’ve been trying really hard to pay attention to body language and reduce hormonal triggers to try and prevent them more in the first place, but it’s left me wondering what I should be doing in the immediate moment.

much love to the husbirbs!

It varies on the scenario, species, and resources available

The biggest priority when dealing with a bite is safety - don't just leave your hand there waiting for them to calm down (worlds worst tidbit of outdated information), be proactive in getting yourself to safety. For most birds you can curl your hand in to a fist and present the back of your hand to use like a shield as there's no loose skin to grab on to and swiftly remove yourself from the situation. If they're on you grabbing your neck/ arm/ wherever depending on the intensity of the bite you may be able to just peel them off with a perch or use a high value treat lure/ well known behaviour to redirect them off of you. With birds that latch on and don't let go you want to move your hand in towards them to cause them to release their grip so you can get out, if they're on you biting what they're standing on you can use an object to tap the top of their head which typically triggers them to release and latch on to the other object while you pry them off.

A key thing to keep in mind is that once a bite has happened the damage is already done, there's no point trying to make a big deal out of the moment or apply more fear/ punishers to the situation. If we make a big deal out of a bite and tell them 'no gentle!, bad bird!" etc. you're drawing a lot of attention to the bite which can either cause them to be focused on it and be more likely to repeat it, cause them to feel more threatened, or your addition of noises/ arm movements can be interpreted as entertaining which can cause the bird to begin to fake aggression just to get a reaction. If we apply punishers, yell, or otherwise add more stress after the bite we're just confirming to them that we were in fact scary and that the bite was warranted, causing them to be more hesitant towards us in the future and potentially be more likely to use biting as a primary form of communication.

The bite having happened has occurred because something was triggering enough to cause it, they experienced whatever they were feeling and felt that a bite was necessary to alleviate it. A behaviour we don't want was practiced, the feelings they experienced have been associated with us, from this point on we want to make sure we can undo what they've just learned.

Each bird, each trigger, and each emotion behind a bite will all warrant different approaches following it.

If the bite occurred and you're feeling really distraught and emotionally unregulated it's best to prioritize that - if you need to cage them or just shut them in a room for a couple minutes so you can catch your breath and regain control then absolutely do that. There's nothing you can add to this situation by being impulsive or struggling yourself.

If the bird is lunging, hissing or clearly distressed by your attempts to remedy the situation then take a step back and give them a break. Continuing to trigger them will only make them ingrain those emotions with you even more, they need to be under threshold to be able to make new, happier, connections.

Next goal after getting yourself safe is to have a couple moments of neutrality. Ideally getting them on to a perch and just standing a couple steps away, no eye contact, body angled away from them, head tipped down, hands out of sight, remaining pretty still and quiet. This is a moment for both parties to breathe after the event, regulate emotions, realize they're safe, and reset. If they keep trying to get at you aggressively it may be best to leave entirely, if they're trying to get at you because they're more comfortable on you than the perch you can try a different spot, try standing closer, try being lower than their perch, try moving their perch up higher if you're not comfortable with them on you at that time. I like to use my knees for these situations, just sit down with my knees up so the bird can sit on me but be somewhere I can easily control if they aggress again. You can also utilize thick coats and gloves to help you mentally feel a bit better.

After that moment to breathe and reset you progress depending on the bird and the trigger. In some cases offering tasty treats can help them form new associations with you - in others the aggression was triggered by excitement so adding more exciting food to the situation can trigger it again. For some talking to them calmly can be a safe way to reengage with them, announce peace between the two and be able to progress - for others any vocalization may be interpreted as you being more confrontational. For some just sitting quietly near one another can reset the situation and cause them to realize it wasn't threatening - for others the continuous silence can cause them to stew in their feelings and retaliate. For some just remove the trigger from the situation and they'll regulate again, you can work on desensitizing that trigger another day - for some there isn't an easy clear cut trigger so you now get to evaluate what just happened and try to isolate it while monitoring your own body language extremely closely.

The main goal is to help them no longer feel like biting is necessary, achieving emotional regulation, form new positive associations, and isolate/ prevent the trigger from occurring again. Biting is a symptom of a bigger problem, and treating the root problem is going to be the most effective way to get long term solutions to that biting.

[partikron]

Rubicon is Dying - What About Earth?

The planet Rubicon-3 is a world ravaged by corporate greed. The planet is absolutely covered in Grids, structures that bear an eerie resemblance to oil rigs many thousands of feet tall. The world has clearly been strip-mined to no end, as I imagine the corps and even the PCA wouldn't spend the extra cash to bring resources in from off-world in order to rebuild after the Fires of Ibis, so to build the planetary closure system and rebuild the Grids must have required an ungodly amount of resource extraction.

This makes me wonder: what does Earth look like in this universe?

Somehow I doubt it's a conservation and resource management success. If we use history as our guide, colonial powers devastated Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere for their resources, but that didn't mean that they conserved their own. No, quite the opposite: while colonial powers got richer and their elites more decadent, their own nations still suffered under heavy and unregulated industrialization, and while the average European might have enjoyed better standards of living than those in far-away nations being broken and exploited to extract those resources, they were still oppressed by those same elites. Makes me think that Earth might even be worse off than Rubicon, the planet stripped of all useful resources and natural beauty, a wrecked world that we wouldn't recognize. Maybe that's what pushed humans out into space.

But it could also be the opposite. What if the governments of Earth and its colonies elsewhere had put in place heavy regulations on industry and corporate power, and so Balam, Arquebus et al. pushed outward to strip another world of its bounty because they couldn't do it there. We know from the modern world that people will allow needless slavery, death and the wanton pillaging of resources as long as it is far enough away from them, so I wonder if perhaps Rubicon is damned only because Earth has even the slightest modicum of sense, but perhaps political power is too distant, too decentralized or perhaps too apathetic to do anything for Rubicon-3 and its people.

My guess is that Earth looks as bad as Rubicon, because the thematic vibe of Armored Core is that corporate greed knows no bounds, and its appetite can never be sated.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The global market for carbon offsets is worth about $2 billion today and projected to grow to as much as $1 trillion in 15 years even as it faces fundamental questions about credibility and effectiveness. Add government appropriation to the list of risks for this climate solution. A shock announcement this week that Zimbabwe will take half of all revenues generated from offsets projects developed on its territory is a harbinger of an uncertain future in the carbon trade. The African nation is the world’s 12th largest creator of offsets, with 4.2 million credits from 30 registered projects last year, according to BloombergNEF.

Zimbabwe’s move gives the government control of carbon credit production and cancels all past agreements with international organizations. That means more revenue generated from credits tied to protecting forests and other efforts to cut emissions will flow into national coffers rather than going to project developers. There’s now risk that other countries might follow suit, creating new uncertainties for businesses that develop and sell offsets, corporations that purchase offsets as a way to counterbalance their greenhouse gas pollution and the cohort of traders who invest in this emerging asset class. [...]

The move “blindsided” CO2balance, a company that runs five carbon offset projects in Zimbabwe. “Everyone knew changes were happening but we weren’t expecting this — it wasn’t on the horizon,” said Paul Chiplen, head of sales, in an interview on Thursday. “It does put a question mark in investors’ minds when you’re not quite sure of what level of return you’re getting.” [...]

“I think it is an entirely understandable thing for Zimbabwe to want to take a proportion of the funds from any exports of carbon from its territory,” said Edward Hanrahan, director at carbon project developer Climate Impact Partners. “But the issue is they acted rapidly and without prior notice.”[...]

Each credit represents one ton of carbon dioxide and can be bought and sold many times before being used. The unregulated structure of the market involving companies, traders and governments creates risk of double counting. What if a government seeks to benefit by trading a credit produced in its territory after its been sold to an investor or used in a corporate sustainability plan?[...]

Treating carbon credits as just another export commodity underscores an imbalance at the heart of this global trade: Efforts to develop credits are usually funded by firms from wealthy countries and sold to corporate buyers in Europe and the US, yet most of the projects are located in emerging economies. This setup has been derided as a form of carbon colonialism that strips developing countries of an increasingly valuable resource. “Rushing to frame the decision by Zimbabwe as ‘nationalization risk’ exposes a sense of entitlement to access those resources by the global North,” said Rich Gilmore, chief executive officer at investment manager Carbon Growth Partners in Melbourne. “We need to acknowledge that the past 200 years of resource extraction have miserably failed people and the planet. And if we want the carbon market to scale, we need to respect the right of the nations of the south to determine their own rules.”[...]

Developers and investors might start to prioritize countries where governments have been transparent about their future carbon policies. Plus, if governments follow Zimbabwe in taking half of the project revenues, that will create a barrier to carbon projects that are the most costly to implement.[...]

It’s “entirely appropriate” for countries to seek a larger share from their carbon resources but they must “carefully consider the economics,” said Martijn Wilder, chief executive officer of Pollination, a climate advisory and investment firm. “If what’s left for a project developer is not sufficient to cover an investible rate of return, the project simply won’t happen.”

21 May 23

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

I don’t know, I can’t swallow the arguments posed by some amateur ‘class conscious’ and marxist critics of shows like Arcane have where “the villain made good points and the writers were too cowardly to put their all in revolution so they wrote in some stuff that made him evil to show that revolution is bad.’

Like what moment did you think that Silco was a good guy, and what point did you think that the revolution was being portrayed as bad? Ekko is RIGHT there not disagreeing with the need for change but very much disagreeing with how Silco is literally poisoning Zaun in his efforts to make weapons and scary super soldiers. Silco reluctantly and cynically understands that ‘base violence’, or the threat of it, is necessary to force change but where Silco gets it wrong is that he’s willing to sacrifice the well-being of his own people to achieve it. You can have a militant revolution and not poison your people. You can have a violent uprising and not force children to work in dangerous toxic factories, but for Silco, such exploitation is all he knows, because that exploitation is what got Piltover their prosperity and results, so in Silco’s mind the same exploitation is alright because it will be for Zaun’s benefit.

The writers of Arcane didn’t just randomly tack on some evil moments to Silco’s character to undermine his cause. The man’s final form is from the ground up a complex character sketch of how the violence of poverty can turn you down several different paths. You become a Silco, a Vander, an Ekko, a Powder, a Vi.

Do you think that gangs in real life are some knights in shining serving their communities? No, they’re terrorizing it same as the police. They’re poisoning their neighborhoods with drugs and weapons and intimidating shops and luring kids with no future prospects into violent lives. The only difference between them and Silco is that Silco is a Thomas Shelby/Don Corleone type, an echo of the early 20th century organized crime boss who has the business acumen and political savoire faire to match and mirror any of their ‘legitimate’ oligarch counterparts.

Silco is not a political leader who happens to do ‘counterproductive criminal things’ that are then supposed to be intended by the writers as ‘see? Revolution bad’. He was an aggrieved socioeconomically marginalized man who threw himself into the gray-black world of unregulated drug and weapon manufacturing because those avenues granted a modicum of power and money back to the community (see the tweet about Vander and Silco setting up the Lanes with smuggling. That was to take back some economic power denied to them by Piltover). Silco distinguished himself by wanting to go further. He wanted to use what resources Zaun had to fight for its independence. Of course he was a criminal and did criminal things. Being poor in Zaun is a crime and a punishment in the eyes of Piltover. When fighting for the right to exist is a crime, when basic luxuries and staples of decent living are inaccessible except through illegal channels, do you honestly not expect or understand why men like Silco might want to push the envelope further? Why the exploitation and violence (inherent to scarcely fettered capitalism) inflicted upon them might not then be internalized and reflected back onto the world in retaliation? Do you not expect men like Silco to be moulded from these circumstances, to be a bit wayward and skewed in their morals and values? Like what the hell are we even doing here.

[goodluckclove]

Is there someone willing to explain what Therapy Speak is? And maybe tell me if the people who talk about how unrealistic and impossible and stupid and manipulative it is has ever been to therapy?

This got long. I am genuinely upset over this so pardon my intensity and here's a read more. It does not feel good to have the first thing you see online be calling the way I communicate in the world as a human being "unrealistic, stupid, and poor writing". So just humor me.

Like this sounds gatekeeping. And in a way it is. I know therapy is a privilege and good therapy a luxury. As I type this I realize some people dissing Therapy Speak might actually be people who either had a bad experience with a therapist, or just don't have the resources to form a relationship with one at all. And if your way to cope with that is saying it actually would suck to have one - I kind of get that. I'm still going to share my perspective though.

So therapy, like literally everything else in the world, is a spectrum with tons of nuance. One therapist might hand out worksheets or practice CBT or DBT or EMDR or have an endless list of specialities. One therapist might encourage "I feel" statements, but that's a structure that's smart to help you develop a new skill in your own personal style. Much like how no one expects every writer to create only using prompts forever, they're not telling you to rely solely on the "when you X, I feel X" Mad Lib from now on.

When you first start actually using "I feel" statements, it might look like "When you blow me off for plans, I feel upset". It's vulnerable, but it's actually an effective thing to say in conversation.

Flash forward a while later, and you start saying things like "when I make plans with a friend I really put a lot of faith in that structure, and when it's taken away - even for a good reason - it sort of makes me feel anxious and unregulated. It takes me a while to get back on track."

If you have relationships that are platonic, romantic, sexual, familial - I promise you that is important information. You tell someone that and they might be able to recontextualize behavior from you that they perceived as an attack. Virtually every relationship can benefit from knowing the reason why people do things. Miscommunications are inevitable but often easily solved if you're willing to slow down and be vulnerable.

It is not trauma dumping if you do it without relishing in the trauma and throwing the responsibility on the other person. Saying "I get anxious at social events because I'm used to being outcast and sometimes I just assume that'll happen" is not trauma dumping. If anyone in my life said something like that to me I would be so glad to have that information. That's a way to progress in a dozen different ways.

I get there are bad therapists. There are also bad doctors, dentists, and people who work at your local deli. I had a mean barista at a coffee shop I went to. So now I go to a different coffee shop with different baristas.

But like holy shit, if you think it's not worth anyone crafting characters that actually know how to express and explore their emotions in a human way that matches their personality? If you don't think a book can have that and still be interesting? For anyone????

Skill issue. Flat out. And while there is really nothing that would make me believe someone is a bad writer - I do think an inability to explore something this basic and insist no one else explore it either is terrible work ethic.

Also like my therapist saved my fucking life. I've been in therapy for almost ten years, and if I wasn't my life would be drastically worse. I would probably still be in California, a victim of Munchausen By Proxy for the rest of my life.

So yeah, expositional dialogue is bad when handled badly. People who use therapy language as an excuse to manipulate are trash. Sometimes assholes go to therapy and the therapist sees immediately that there really isn't anything they're capable of doing to help them because they just want to be justified for their current mindset. Thats what my mom did.

But like people communicate their emotions. Everyone should be able to learn how to communicate their emotions with at least one relationship in their life. I would really love it if people stopped perpetuating the belief that that is not something that ever actually happens in life. I want to feel sympathy because I'm sure there's a reason why someone would think that, but frankly that was an existentially horrifying thing to read first thing after waking up.

Anyway if anyone has an alternate perspective I'm happy to hear it. I'm going to eat some guac and try to calm down.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

EU to Facebook: 'Drop Dead'

A leak from the European Data Protection Board reveals that the EU’s top privacy regulator is about to overrule the Irish Data Protection Commission and declare Facebook’s business model illegal, banning surveillance-based ads without explicit consent:

https://noyb.eu/en/noyb-win-personalized-ads-facebook-instagram-and-whatsapp-declared-illegal

In some ways, this is unsurprising. Since the GDPR’s beginning, it’s been crystal clear that the intention of the landmark privacy regulation was to extinguish commercial surveillance and ring down the curtain on “consent theater” — the fiction that you “agree” to be spied on by clicking “I agree” or just by landing on a web-page that has a link to some fine-print.

Under the GDPR, the default for data-collection is meaningful consent, meaning that a company that wants to spy on you and then sell or use the data it gathers has to ask you about each piece of data they plan to capture and each use they plan to make of it.

These uses have to be individually enumerated, and the user has to actively opt into giving up each piece of data and into each use of that data. That means that if you’re planning to steal 700 pieces of information from me and then use it in 700 ways, you need to ask me 1,400 questions and get a “Yes” to each of them.

What’s more, I have to be given a single tickbox at the start of this process that says, “No to all,” and then I have to be given access to all the features of the site or service.

The point of this exercise is to reveal consent theater for the sham it is. For all that apologists for commercial surveillance insist that “people like ads, so long as they’re well-targeted” and “the fact that people use high-surveillance services like Facebook shows a ‘revealed preference’ for being spied on,” we all know that no one likes surveillance.

There’s empirical proof of this! When Apple added one-click tracker opt-out on its Ios platform, 96% of users opted out, costing Facebook more than $10b in the first year (talk about a ‘revealed preference!’) (of course, Apple only opted those users out of tracking by its rivals, and secretly continued highly invasive, nonconsenual tracking of its customers):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Properly enforced, the GDPR would have upended the order of the digital world: any argument about surveillance between product managers at a digital firm would have been settled in favor of privacy, because the pro-privacy side could argue that no one would give consent, and the very act of asking would scare off lots of users.

But the GDPR wasn’t properly enforced, thanks to structural problems with European federalism itself. The first line of GDPR enforcement came from privacy regulators in whatever country a privacy-violator called home. That meant that when Big Tech companies violated the GDPR, they’d have to account for themselves to the privacy regulator in Ireland.

For multinational corporations, Ireland is what old-time con-artists used to call a “made town,” where the cop on the beat is in on the side of the criminals. Ireland’s decision to transform itself into a tax haven means that it can’t afford to upset the corporations that fly Irish flags of convenience and maintain the pretense that all their profits are floating in a state of untaxable grace in the Irish Sea.

That’s because there are plenty of other EU countries that compete with Ireland in the international race to the bottom on corporate governance: Malta, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Cyprus, etc (and of course, there’s post-Brexit UK, where the plan is to create an unregulated haven for the worst, wealthiest companies in the world).

All this means that seeking Irish justice from a corporation that wronged you is like asking a court in Moscow to punish an oligarch’s commercial empire on your behalf. Irish regulators are either “dingo babysitters” (guards in league with the guarded) or resource-starved into ineffectual torpor.

That’s how Facebook got away with violating the GDPR for so many years. The company hid behind the laughable fairy-tale that it didn’t need our consent to spy on us because it had a “legitimate purpose” for its surveillance, namely, that it was contractually obliged to spy on us thanks to the “agreement” we clicked on when we signed up for the service.

That is, you and Facebook had entered into a contract whereby Facebook promised you that it would spy on you, and if it didn’t spy on you, it would be violating that promise.

Har.

Har.

Har.

But while the GDPR has a structural weakness — allowing corporations to choose to be regulated in countries that can’t afford to piss them off — it also has a key strength: the private right of action, that is, the right of individuals to sue companies that violate the law, rather than having to convince a public prosecutor to take up their case.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/you-should-have-right-sue-companies-violate-your-privacy

The private right of action is vital to any privacy regulation, which is why companies fight it so hard. Whenever a privacy bill with a private right of action comes up, they tell scare-stories about “ambulance chasers” who’ll “clog up the system,” trotting out urban legends like the McDonald’s Hot Coffee story:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot-coffee/#mcgeico

But here we are, in the last days of 2022, and the private right of action is about to do what the Irish regulators wouldn’t do: force Facebook to obey the law. For that, we can thank Max Schrems and the nonprofit he founded, noyb.

Schrems, you may recall, is the Austrian activist, who, as a Stanford law student, realized that EU law barred American tech companies from sending their surveillance data on Europeans to US data-centers, which the NSA and other spy agencies treated as an arm of their own surveillance projects:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/16/text-adventures-resurgent/#nein

Schrems brought a case against the Irish regulator to the EU’s top privacy authority, arguing that it had failed its duty by ruling that Facebook’s “contractual obligation” excuse held water. According to the leaked report, Schrems has succeeded, which means, once again, Facebook’s business model is illegal.

Facebook will doubtless appeal, but the writing is on the wall here: it’s the end of the line for surveillance advertising in Europe, an affluent territory with 500m+ residents. This decision will doubtless give a tailwind to other important privacy cases in the EU, like Johnny Ryan’s case against the ad-tech consortium IAB over its “audience taxonomy” codes:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/16/inside-the-clock-tower/#inference

It’s also likely good news for Schrems’ other ongoing cases, like the one he’s brought against Google:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/15/out-here-everything-hurts/#noyb

Facebook has repeatedly threatened to leave the EU if it is required to stop breaking the law:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/22/uncivvl/#fb-v-eu

This is a pretty implausible threat, growing less plausible by the day. The company keeps delivering bad news to investors, who are not mollified by Mark Zuckerberg’s promise to rescue the company by convincing all of humanity to spend the rest of their lives as highly surveilled, legless, sexless, low-polygon cartoon characters:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/12/06/why-meta-platforms-stock-dove-today/

Zuckerberg and his entire senior team have seen their net worth plummet with Meta’s share price, and that means the company needs to pay engineers with actual dollars, rather than promises of shares, which kills the massive wage-bill discount the company has enjoyed. This is not a company that can afford to walk away from Europe!

Between Apple’s mobile (third-party) tracker-blocking and the EU calling time on surveillance ads, things are looking grim for Facebook. You love to see it! But things could get even worse, and soon, thanks to the double-edged sword of “network effects.”

Facebook is a network effects business: people join the service to socialize with the people who are already there — then more people join to socialize with them. But what network effects give, they can also take away: a service that gets more valuable when a new user signs up loses value when that user leaves.

This is beautifully explained in danah boyd’s “What if failure is the plan?” which recounts boyd’s experiences watching MySpace unravel as key nodes in its social graph disappeared when users quit: “Failure of social media sites tends to be slow then fast”:

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2022/12/05/what-if-failure-is-the-plan.html

Facebook long understood this, which is why it spent years creating artificial “switching costs” — penalties it could impose on users who quit, such as the loss of their family photos:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

This is why Facebook and other tech giants are so scared of interoperability, and why they are so furious about the new EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will force them to allow new services to connect to their platforms, so that users who quit Big Tech won’t have to lose their friends or data:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/04/eu-digital-markets-acts-interoperability-rule-addresses-important-need-raises

An interoperable Facebook would make it easy to leave social media by removing the penalties Facebook imposes on its disloyal users, and the EU’s privacy framework means that when they flee to a smaller safe haven, they won’t have to worry about commercial surveillance:

https://www.eff.org/interoperablefacebook

But what about advertising-supported media? Sure, being spied on sucks, but a subscription-first media landscape is a world where “the truth is paywalled, but the lies are free”:

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/08/the-truth-is-paywalled-but-the-lies-are-free/

Ironically, killing surveillance ads is good news for ad-driven media. Surveillance-based ad-targeting is nowhere near as effective as Google, Facebook and the other ad-tech companies claim (these companies are compulsive liars, it would be amazing if the only time they told the truth is when they were boasting about their products!):

https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

And consent-theater or no, targeted ads reach fewer users every day, thanks to ad- blockers, AKA, “the biggest boycott in world history”:

https://blogs.harvard.edu/doc/2015/09/28/beyond-ad-blocking-the-biggest-boycott-in-human-history/

And when a publisher does manage to display a targeted ad, they get screwed. The Googbook dupololy is a crooked affair, with the two tech companies illegally colluding (via the Jedi Blue conspiracy) to divert money from publishers to their own pockets:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/11/google-meta-jedi-blue-eu-uk-antitrust-probes/

Targeted ads are a cesspit of ad-fraud. 15% of all ad revenues are just unaccounted for:

https://twitter.com/swodinsky/status/1511172472762163202

The remaining funds aren’t any more trustworthy. Ad-tech is a bezzle (“the magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it”):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/

As Tim Hwang foretold in his essential Subprime Attention Crisis, the pretense that targeted ads are wildly effective has been slowly but surely losing ground to the wider awareness of the fraud behind the system, and a reckoning is at hand:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/05/florida-man/#wannamakers-ghost

Experiments with contextual ads (ads based on the content of the page you’re looking at, not on your behavior and demographics) have found them to about as effective in generated clicks and sales as surveillance ads.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/29/taken-in-context/#creep-me-not

But this is misleading. Contextual ads don’t require consent opt-in (because they’re not based on your data) and they don’t drive users to install blockers the way creepy surveillance ads do, so lots more people will see a contextual ad than a surveillance one. Thus, even if contextual ads generate slightly less money per reader or viewer, they generate far more money overall, because they are aren’t blocked.

Even better for publishers: contextual ads don’t erode their own rate cards. Today, when you visit a high-quality publisher like the Washington Post, many ad brokers bid to show you an ad, but only one wins the auction. However, all the others have tagged you as a “Washington Post reader,” and they can sell that to bottom-feeder junk sites. That is, they can collude with Tabooleh or its rivals to offer advertisers a chance to advertise to Post readers at a fraction of what the Post charges. Lather, rinse, repeat, and the Post’s own ad revenues are drained.

This doesn’t apply with contextual ads. Indeed, none of the tech giants’ much-vaunted “data advantage” — the largely overstated value of knowing what you did online 10 or 20 years ago, the belief in which keeps new companies out of the market — applies to context ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/11/halflife/#minatory-legend

The transformative power of banning surveillance advertising goes beyond merely protecting our privacy. It also largely answers the case for “link taxes” (pseudo-copyright systems that let giant media companies decide who can link to them and charge for the privilege).

The underlying case for link taxes, snippet taxes, etc, is that Big Tech is stealing the news media’s content (by letting their users talk about and quote the news), when the reality is that Big Tech is stealing their money (through ad-fraud):

https://doctorow.medium.com/big-tech-isnt-stealing-news-publishers-content-a97306884a6b

Unrigging the ad-tech market is a much better policy than establishing a link-tax, like the Democrats are poised to do with their Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA):

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2022/12/06/jcpa-opponents-spring-into-action-to-block-ndaa-inclusion-00072602

It’s easy to understand why the monopoly/private-equity-dominated news industry wants JCPA, rather than a clean ad market. The JCPA just imposes a tax on the crooked ad-tech giants that is paid to the largest media companies, while a fair ad market would reward the media outlets that invested most in news (and thus in expensive, unionized news-gathering reporters).

Indeed, the JCPA only works if the ad-tech market remains corrupt: the excess Big Tech rents that Big News wants to claim here are the product of a rigged system. Unrig the system and there won’t be any money to pay the link tax with.

Image: Anthony Quintano (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_F8_2018_Keynote_%2841118883004%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A theater proscenium. Over the proscenium, in script, are the words 'Consent Theatre.' On the screen is an image of Mark Zuckerberg standing in front of the words 'Data Privacy.' He is gesturing expansively. A targeting reticle is centered on his face. The reticle is made of the stars from the EU flag.]

[kyra45]

furiousinternetenemy

This is a text archive for the following scam post by the user above. Do not give them money as they’re pretending to be diabetic. They may claim they can’t get help, but there are actual resources out there for insulin aid. I could not locate the source of the switch pic they used but it’s not their switch please don’t buy it they can’t mail you it so they’re legitimately scamming people using a stolen image. Below is the full text of their post. Images are not being shown for this archive but rest assured they have just stolen all of their content from someone else. If you can locate the source of this text and images, please let me know.

(Scam post text below for archiving purposes)

July 5th, 2:56 PM (Post date + time. Not in post but listing anyway)

hey guys, with the beginning of the month here its time for me to refill my insulin urgently, i’ve already waited long enough and my sugar being unregulated has put me in the beginning stages of dka (for the fourth time). i need $250 as soon as possible. literally anything helps.

i’ve tried asking everyone i could, but there’s no use. i use two different vials of insulin, and am unable to use JUST short acting for a long period of time since i am a type one diabetic and my body requires more regulation. i have been hospitalized twice for dka now, and i need help. the reason the price has skyrocketed is because there is a major complication with my health insurance and i cannot wait another few months while they try and fix it. as i get sicker, i cannot work my two jobs. barely even work one. i cannot stomach food, and then my sugar drops even more. i become insanely groggy and begin having phases of fainting and also lose my ability to drive.

please, this is a medical emergency. please refer to the info below in terms of where to send any fvnds. thank you all so much.

(PayPal url redacted for this archive, but the name is A'lycia Thorn-ton)

$94-$250 Thanks 🙏

using this photo to show that i have no ability to purchase my insulin without help. i am also trying to sell a somewhat new nintendo switch lite (gray) for $150.

[agentsquirrelsgotrobots]

Beachcomber startled as someone started to knock on the door, just to start pounding on it as he took his time reluctantly getting off the couch.

He opened the door to find whoever was there gone, a plastic box emitting a faint hum covered with a towel sitting on his door stoop. Beachcomber sighed and brought the box inside.

Swindle must have lied again, passing off a pregnant or disabled human as a special breed again.

Beachcomber wasn't shocked to find a human and its offspring in the box, the little mech, barely past the toddler stage, running up to an offered finger using his arms, his bowed, too small feet just barely skimming the ground, the toes on one twisted and fused. Beachcomber smiled, admiring how happy-go-lucky this one was. There was no harm in letting him run around. His mother was minding him well enough.

He hooked up a little extra oxygen and refilled their water, and added a vitamin additive to their food. He sent a comm to the vet specialist he often worked with, he himself having taken and aced a general veterinarian course on humans, but that was good for setting bones, delivering babies, and routine checkups, not prosthesis fittings or possibly amputations if the boy's feet didn't respond to treatment.

"Someone needs to start regulating beyond just euthanasia and vaccines. This is the fourth surrender I have had this decacycle." He muttered, carefully bringing the carrying case to his makeshift human room, setting it into the much bigger quarantine tank and opening the case door to let the humans explore on their own.

If they didn't get sick, Beachcomber had a few other rescues he knew wouldn't mind sharing a tank, given their own hutch and feeding spaces, of course. He always ended up correcting new owners about how dangerous it was to feed all their humans from one food or water source, along with stressing the importance of putting a hide around waste and bathing areas, and that they even needed them in the first place. Most of the mechs who Beachcomber saw were open to change anyway, willing to pay that small fee for a private health exam instead of just the required vaccination clinics. But, he still felt the need to publish resources, findings, and guidelines online, especially considering that most of the importers of humans are still shady and unregulated smugglers, and those that are well trusted pet traders are still working with lawmakers for the proper permits.

Reputable breeders haven't been very successful yet, as humans mate for life, or at least, are heavily monogamous. Most of the pregnant humans he had entrusted in his care were accidents, and their owners wanted them returned once they delivered their offspring.

But, their were a few mechs who panicked or couldn't afford a second human to feed.

Anyway, after he fed Cali, his latest pregnant boarder, he would film a segment for his human care series and wait for any walk-ins.

He walked upstairs and into his room and retrieved his first human, an older male named James. He had been offered James by a local landlord, as a previous tenant had left him behind, and upkeep was too expensive for her tastes.

James was sweet and enjoyed filming, showing off to the camera, and generally being easy to handle.

"We are filming a training segment today, James. Be good, and I will let you introduce yourself to the new arrivals."

James nodded, and Beachcomber smiled. He doubted he understood full sentences, but Beachcomber knew that he understood "arrival, " "filming," and "training," from repetition. He walked into the exam room, his two story apartment separated into a downstairs storefront and sitting room and upstairs living quarters. He set up the camera and turned it on, smiling and welcoming his viewers to his care series, showing the camera his degree and certifications and telling them the name of his clinic before moving on to the command he had taught James earlier that week.

"This one is good for vet visits and general care. James, come." James walked over to Beachcomber's hand, letting him ruffle his hair before taking a treat, tucking it into his pocket. "The benefits of this command are abundant, as it allows for easy removal in emergencies and at vet appointments. Practice while your human is alert and fed at least once that cycle to reduce stress. Reward for any small progress, as the goal for this command is for your human to be willing to leave food, toys, or social interaction for your hand. As a substitute, you can also combine this command with a tap on the side of your human's tank for easy administration of medicine. They tend to respond to a tap on the glass better, as they feel it when asleep and using the private bathing and sitting waste areas that should be standard in all human tank setups."

James pawed at Beachcomber's fingers, and Beachcomber chuckled and scratched his head again. "That's all for today, folks. I've taken in a few rescues, so uploads may be sparce in the coming weeks. Feel free to leave questions in the comment section and subscribe for more instructional videos and tips, and remember to properly vaccinate your humans! I will keep you updated on more low and free human clinics that pop up on my radar."

Beachcomber turned off the camera and brought James downstairs to hang out with Jane, a human with vitiligo that was left on a subscriber's doorstep. She had some expensive dietary needs, so the subscriber brought her to him instead of the rescues that had started to pop up.

The specialist had gotten back to him, willing to see the two humans he had brought in on short notice.

Beachcomber put on some gloves and carefully moved the two humans back into the carrying case. He checked on the rest of his rescues, then closed the clinic for the afternoon and brought him to his specialist, Caremark. She was a no-nonsense femme, and she didn't mess around with chasing the two humans around, connecting a canister of laughing gas to the case and waiting for the two to get sleepy. She confirmed their sex before moving the mech to her scanner to examine his feet, showing Beachcomber that his bad foot had badly fused toes and foot bones, the nerves and muscles pinched and twisted. She casted and splinted the mech's feet for now, wanting to try a nonsurgical route before committing to amputation or surgery to correct the bones. She sent him on his way with some pain medication, the mech's mother being perfectly healthy.

He walked back to his apartment and reopened the clinic for walk-ins as he kept an eye on the groggy humans.

No one but his one scheduled appointment showed up, so after closing, he brought his one adoptable human, Haley, to the nearby Rescue Bots Academy to get a little bit of socialization with the professors' families of humans. She was lukewarm with their redheaded male, and Heatwave hoped having a mate would make him mellow out a bit.

They already had two family units, a single father and his offspring that Boulder had successfully gotten to accept an older female and, surprisingly, managed to have a single offspring with, and the massive, five human family unit of a male, his three adult offspring, and an adolescent, all living in relative peace. This was the group that Heatwave was trying to split up, as they had a truly massive tank, and the academy directors were getting annoyed with how often recruits would hang out in Heatwave's office and classroom after class to watch them and ask questions.

But, all attempts to get the adults interested in settling into new groups failed, as even though they were happy with being on their own with one of the professors, they were just not a fan of sharing a space with any other humans but their whole group. But, the director's word was law, even if Beachcomber thought the whole thing was stupid.

As predicted, the redhead pissed Haley off, and Beachcomber had to remove her. This time, they caught it on video, so maybe this time, Heatwave could convince his boss to leave well enough alone.

[cadencedreaming]

Neurodiverse Relationships and Trust

I recently came across the statement that a Neurodivergent's “love language” is Trust. 

Now if you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what love languages are, it’s a system of how different people express love to the people in their lives.  The five identified “languages” are Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Quality Time, Acts of Service, and Receiving Gifts.  This is not a post about that, but there are plenty of resources online if you want to look it up. 

There’s been content circulating in recent times about ‘Neurodivergent love languages’ which is quite good, looking at some additional ways a Neurodivergent person might express their affection - Infodumping, Body Doubling/Parallel Play, Support Swapping, Deep Pressure, and Penguin Pebbling (more info here: https://careclinic.io/neurodivergent-love-languages/).  

Getting back to the idea of Trust as a love language, I would disagree that it is a ‘love language’ in itself.  Rather, I’d say that Trust is the foundational requirement for a healthy relationship to flourish - it’s the umbrella under which love can be expressed. And it’s intrinsic for the survival of a Neurodiverse relationship.  

See, a lot of Neurodivergent people have “learned” that showing others our true selves is often the quickest pathway to rejection. What is ‘learning’?  At a base level, ‘learning’ is the acquisition and retention of knowledge for future application.  It is the ability to comprehend that x + y = z, and to later apply ‘y’ to ‘x’ to get ‘z’ because we know that is the formula for a successful outcome. 

People learn all kinds of things. We learn mathematics.  We learn to spell our own name, to tie our shoes.  We learn how to boil water and make soup. We learn that socks and sandals are a combination to be mocked.  We learn that humans make mistakes. We learn that touching a hot stove hurts.  We learn that love hurts. 

And what do we do with that knowledge?  We retain it for future use.  We use math to sew and cook and create. We use appropriate tools to avoid physical pain.  We use social cues to avoid emotional pain.  We learn to exercise caution in relationships, because we know they can fail.  We avoid circumstances that have harmed us in the past.  

It can be hard to unlearn things. Because in fact you never ‘unlearn’ something - it’s always there, embedded in our brains.  All we can do is add to, overwrite, amend and adapt the knowledge we’ve gained through past education and experiences.

Neurodivergent people ‘learn’ early on that we are different, that we don’t quite fit in, that some of the things we do are odd or ‘quirky’.  We learn because we are told that our whole lives will now be a series of masks and pretending to be "normal", a pretension that will often demand every resource in our bodies and leave us exhausted for days, weeks or months. We learn that our emotions and natural responses to things are unregulated and unacceptable. 

Some of us only know that we are different, but never know why.  A lot of us end up choosing to shut down, to shut the world off, or to seek out other neurodiverse people for our primary social circles. Some of us give up on finding love, on finding acceptance, indeed, on even finding a place for ourselves in this world at all. 

This is why it is absolutely necessary to know that when we do open up, when we do choose to trust another human enough to let them through our defenses, that we’re not inadvertently subjecting ourselves to yet another instance of being othered.  That we’re not going to experience ridicule, condescension and disdain just for being ourselves.  Because we are weird - and we know we’re weird - but we don’t want to have to mask around the people who should accept us at face value. 

I’ve got a particular stim that past partners have made fun of me for doing.  I’ve been called weird for talking to myself and made fun of for instances of involuntary echolalia. I’ve been coerced into social occasions because my partner hasn’t understood my battery is way too low. I’ve been forced into conversations I didn’t have the energy for just because I didn’t want the other person to be upset. I’ve been patronised by partners for failing at a task they thought was easy. I’ve been dismissed by partners during moments of vulnerability, because they didn’t understand how the things I was being exposed to could pose a challenge for me, because it didn’t for them.  

Of course, there’s always going to be misunderstandings, and the need for communication lines to be kept open and flowing to combat those misunderstandings will always be present. Humans are always going to find other humans weird.  But we need to know that the people we choose to spend our most intimate moments with are not going to judge us for being weird.  We need to know that they’re not going to fetishise our quirks.  We need to know that they’re going to be supportive, no matter what. 

If we feel like we are being othered or forced into situations where we will need to mask around a potential partner, it only creates barriers to the fostering of that relationship, or even brings the premature conclusion of what could have been a potentially good partnership.   

Some personal examples… 

I was chatting to a guy a few years ago who wouldn’t stop bombarding me with messages.  He said all the wrong things, through no fault of his own, and I didn’t have the words to be able to tell him. He finally started hurling passive aggressive phrases at me until I blocked him.  (Interestingly, he still follows me on Instagram!) 

I was dating someone during an intense period of stress where my ability to be verbal was wildly fluctuating, and he didn’t understand that sometimes an emoji or meme was all I could manage, even after I summoned enough spoons to tell him that. He laughed off my meme-speak as an ‘attempt to be funny’ and kept trying to force conversation. Needless to say, he didn't last long either.

Another person I met was fairly “mainstream” - normal job, normal style of dressing, typical cishet "guy" interests like pub rock and footy. He constantly commented favourably on my alternative style of dress, my alternative hair, asked me to take him to a goth club some time, etc.  He said he’d never met anyone like me and it was “cool” how I was so “different”.  Yet whenever I tried to deepen our connection and share some of my challenges on the spectrum, he either didn’t want to or was unable to understand that the very thing that made me ‘cool’ in his eyes also presented barriers he would have to acknowledge in order for us to take things to the next level. 

Even recently, I had brunch with someone who really wanted to meet me, and the conversation kept cycling through me sharing something about myself and then having them question why I had said or done this, why didn’t I just do that instead, etc. It was exhausting and as a result I didn’t give this person a second date.  

So assuming I even have the spoons to be able to navigate the hurdles necessary to form a significant connection, I now have a huge amount of trust-trauma, a kind of trust bankruptcy if you will, and no desire to ‘be myself’ around a potential partner only to have that backfire in my face again. 

But the feeling of being loved and supported unconditionally is amazing, when you can achieve that with someone. When you feel you can be your most authentic self with someone, you have the confidence to let them laugh with you, because you know they’re not laughing AT you.  And when you know the person you’re with isn’t going to judge you, that you don’t have to monitor every word or action, that you don’t have to live every moment self-consciously, that you can be as weird as you want and let your freak flag fly and they’re not going to walk away - now THAT is pure magic.  

So I guess the TL;DR here is - Trust is not just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.  Especially for Neurodivergent people who are often operating on a deficit of trust. Because a lot of us have had the world telling us we’re weirdos from the moment we were born, and it’s so refreshing and soul-restoring to sit confidently in a relationship environment that celebrates our weirdness as uniqueness, without judgement.  It’s like being able to breathe fresh air again, after being underwater for far too long.