#wall street fraud

[traumatizedtrader]

Criminal #Naked Shorting

How one targeted company has managed to survive against the odds.

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Criminal Naked Short Selling 

How one targeted company has managed to survive against the odds.

  Over the course of 15 years, I have diligently refined this piece of writing through multiple revisions. I’ve carefully removed sections to not overwhelm the reader or convey my palpable anger. It’s important to note that this essay reflects my personal opinions and should not be construed as financial advice or an offer to buy company shares. Instead, I offer this article as a means of education and encourage readers to follow the embedded links to completely appreciate the crime at hand.

  Since the early 90s, I have been a shareholder of TMMI an OTC Pink sheet listed company with a rich history founded by a former rock star turned computer scientist Philip Taylor Kramer, and have followed TMMI’s stock, particularly over the last few years and I am appalled by the daily oppressive and manipulative trading practice that has recently become widely recognized as “Naked Shorting.” It is a tool that is commonly used by unscrupulous market participants via equally corrupt market makers, using this once relatively unknown tool that was at one time referred to as “the Madoff Exception”. It is my belief this misunderstood practice currently plagues TMMI’s market valuation, and I have concluded that the stock price has been criminally manipulated to an artificially depressed stock price and is currently using a manipulative practice commonly referred to as “cellar boxing,” to protect an undeclared naked short position caught within TMMI’s share structure. This fraudulent act is openly conducted against the shareholders of TMMI without fear of regulatory repercussions.

  To understand how this is possible, I will provide some charts to illustrate the trading history and supporting links to give a clearer picture. There are several key events that I will touch on that I believe will support my conclusions

The Naked Short

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The first indications of this naked short existence first came to light in late 1999 and into the new millennium. TMMI had a very liquid market that consistently traded several million shares daily with a share structure representing about one-third of the current issued and outstanding share structure TMMI has today. When you look at the current daily volume, liquidity is virtually non-existent. This has been achieved as previously mentioned, through the manipulative practice of “cellar boxing” the share price of the stock, currently employed by the naked short cabal. The multi-year chart illustrates the spectacular appreciation of the stock price right into the millennium with several hundred million shares exchanging hands leading to an explosive mid-January trading session with the share price being quoted with the bid price of 1.70 above the quoted offer of 1.65 and followed up in the morning opening with the share price gapping up over a dollar from the previous day’s closing price of $1.70 per share with the first trade a consisting of block trade of over 15 million shares at $2.87. I believe this first trade of the day represents the last of the off-side naked short position being held at a major firm.

  Take note that during this period, Naked Shorting was a well-kept secret among the major Wall Street Bank Brokerages and was a very effective tool in the overall manipulation of share prices of countless public companies.

  What was the cause of this millennium run in the price of TMMI? Going back to this period in time there was a tech bubble that was in full bloom and TMMI’s fractal compression technology was receiving widespread investor and media attention for the potential impact TMMI would have in the video delivery market. This millennium run took place long after the founding partner and brain trust behind the technology, Taylor Kramer had disappeared and the company had been thrown into total disarray.

  TMMI had somehow managed to overcome this tragic event and through the efforts of some of Taylor’s friends and shareholders against tremendous odds managed to keep his dream, and more importantly the company Total Multimedia (www.tmmi.us) he founded, alive to this day.

  Several years after Kramer’s disappearance with the help of dedicated friends and shareholders, TMMI was preparing to release demos consisting of video clips showcasing TMMI’s fractal compression technology for the burgeoning CD-ROM market and it’s in this overheated tech environment that TMMI’s share price began its meteoric price rise. Most people at the time attributed this price rise to heavy promotion but I believe that the real cause for this sudden and aggressive run-up in price was simply the result of a massive short squeeze by a major Wall St. Bank needing to recalibrate its books. It was at the tail end of this short squeeze when a few rogue shareholders unbelievably laid claim to ownership of TMMI’s proprietary fractal compression technology that TMMI had spent in excess of 30 million dollars in development costs. This act ultimately led to the re-establishment of what I now believe is an enormous naked short position caught within TMMI’s share structure created via the unbridled naked short sell-off of stock once again involving hedge funds with complicit market makers and facilitated through major Wall St. bank brokerage firms. Just how many shares were naked shorted during this sell-off is anybody’s guess, but I suspect the entire capitalization and more may have been naked shorted when one considers the consistent daily fails to deliver now dating back over two decades. 

The Mazuma Affair

  In June of 2007, an already toxic environment at TMMI was further exacerbated by the actions of Corene Dion King, who had appointed herself as custodian. Without any board discussion or approval, King entered into a 504 reg D debt financing with Mazuma Corporation based in New Jersey and operated by Curt Kramer (no relation to Taylor Kramer). The deal involved exchanging $50,000 for 27 million shares intended for investment purposes. Three separate entities under King’s control also received a further 150 million shares. Mazuma wasted no time initiating an aggressive selling campaign, showing little regard for TMMI’s share price nor TMMI's shareholders' interests. As soon as TMMI’s then-acting president, Mr. Fernandez, learned of these highly suspicious actions by the custodian, he immediately contacted the SEC and sought relief in the Nevada State court. Thanks to his swift action, the illegal issuance of stock was halted and further trading and distribution of TMMI shares were prevented.

The Mazuma Sell-Off

  What I found intriguing was when the illegal shares were introduced into the system there came this sudden spike in volume and the aggressive selling of TMMI shares began. When you take a look at the chart below, you will see the malicious sell-off orchestrated by Mazuma of these 504 shares into the public market. What was their goal in selling the stock down with such unbridled aggression? Was it a setup for the naked short position to finally cover their positions? Who else may be involved in this oppressive act and as we have come to know, why did it take so long for Mazuma to comply with the Nevada State Court ordering the return of all the unauthorized shares to the company?

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  The DTCC initiated a Global Lock or Chill on the clearing of all TMMI’s publicly traded shares, which was a relatively obscure action at the time. This move spelled doom for TMMI as no public company had ever successfully unwound this action before. The DTCC’s handling of the situation was breathtaking in its opacity. For several months, there was little or no communication from the DTCC about returning the unauthorized shares as per the Nevada State Judge’s order. To add to the confusion, Mazuma had sold 7.254 million shares of the 27.5 million shares issued to it through a suspect 504 share offering of TMMI. Yet, during an eight-day trading period, approximately 22 million shares were traded. The chart raises questions about the extra 15 million shares that were not accounted for and where they ended up.

The Chill Unwinds

  The DTCC took a circuitous stance, claiming that it had placed a chill or global lock on all TMMI shares held in the system due to the presence of illegally issued shares. As a result, the identified “illegal” shares couldn’t be returned. Despite this specific rationale, DTC officials remained hesitant to expedite the return of the Mazuma shares to TMMI’s treasury, and several long months passed with little progress. Eventually, a misdirected internal email revealed that the illegal shares had been loaned out in violation of the court order, and within 48 hours of the DTCC being notified of the contents of the internal email the Global Lock was rescinded. The unsold shares were returned to TMMI’s treasury. 

Unbelievable.

  As the above chart shows, the trading volume immediately drops once the court order was issued against Mazuma. With liquidity disappearing, the daily naked short manipulation and cellar boxing resume. Naked short-selling in illiquid markets can be disastrous for a company, as it depresses the stock price and deters potential buyers. The company is then forced to sell additional shares at a low price to raise capital, further diluting its value and perpetuating the vicious cycle. How Mazuma’s involvement came to be is still somewhat of a mystery to me.

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  When one studies the above ten-year snapshot chart. You will notice as TMMI’s volume and share price starts to increase, several out-of-market trades are printed that can serve no purpose other than to reset the price of some undisclosed off-side position.

  What transpires in this historical perspective serves to confirm my suspicions that the short position that is caught in TMMI’s structure is a massive one and it is my belief there exists a low share price threshold that could potentially instigate a short cover as a most likely scenario unfolding before us.

  Looking back at the trading history of TMMI, you’ll see that in the lead-up to the millennial run, the company’s shares consistently traded several million shares daily, ranging from sub-penny to higher values, despite a total float of only 100 million outstanding shares. However, now, with almost three times the float, the stock rarely trades above a couple of hundred thousand shares on any given day. This begs the question: why is there a need for TMMI to be traded in this illiquid manner over such a long period? Could it be fear of liquidity attracting investors? Despite the daily low volume, there is a consistently high percentage of daily fails to deliver dating back to the early millennium, as seen on the OTC short report website. This leads one to believe that the naked short position is so large that the act of covering it could be catastrophic for the perpetrators of this fraud on TMMI shareholders.

Naked Shorting Gets Exposed

  What we witnessed during the 2008 global financial crisis was the SEC’s unusual and unprecedented emergency regulation prohibiting naked short selling, protecting just 17 banking institutions and upon the ensuing public outcry, the naked short selling ban was expanded to all publicly traded companies. There is evidence to support that it is not uncommon for the naked short position to represent from 30% to over 100% (in some cases even more) above the issued and outstanding shares of targeted companies illustrating just how serious and dangerous this practice has become to the overall stability of our financial markets.

  This can only be described as corporate and financial terrorism against a publicly traded US company. TMMI was developing crucial software technology that had the potential to provide the US with a global strategic advantage in video processing. Unfortunately, shareholders have been robbed of any opportunity to see the technology developed to fruition nor the chance to profit from their investment in TMMI. It’s time to put an end to this insidious and illegal method of price manipulation, which protects mammoth naked short positions that have been “grandfathered” within the DTCC. These positions sit outside of TMMI’s legally authorized share structure, and the need to address this issue is more pressing than ever.

  Fortunately for some of the long suffering shareholders, TMMI is still alive and trading, and with the recent board additions, TMMI may be ready to make some moves.

In-A-Gada-Da-Vida-Baby

______________________ The Rabbit Hole _____________________

Unsolved Mysteries - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_amjG-naxU

Systemic Risk - https://vimeo.com/4520843

SEC Charges Merrill Lynch - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sec-charges-merrill-lynch-fines-firm-11-million-for-short-sales-violations-2015-06-01

The Maddoff Exception - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-madoff-sec-remarks-idUKTRE4BG6US20081217

Companies Fight Back - https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/02/08/2603973/0/en/Companies-Fight-Back-Against-Market-Manipulation-and-Illegal-Short-Selling-Here-are-Four-Stocks-in-the-News.html

Cellar Boxing - https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/cellar-boxing-the-predatory-secret-that-wall-street-uses-to-exploit-an-infinite-money-glitch-in-97ccbd6c9923

Wall Streets Naked Swindle - https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/wall-streets-naked-swindle-194908/

Naked Short and Greedy - https://www.amazon.ca/Naked-Short-Greedy-Streets-Failure/dp/1910151343

Anger at Goldman Still Simmers - https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/business/goldman-sachs-denies-claims-it-led-to-copper-rivers-demise.html?_r=3&

My Main Squeeze Fractal Compression - https://www.wired.com/1993/05/fractal/

The Vanishing - https://web.archive.org/web/20020204114404/http://www.maximonline.com/maximwear/articles/article_2193.html

Taylor Kramer Fandom -  https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Taylor_Kramer

TMMI TruDef - http://www.trudef.us/

Mazuma Funding Corporation - https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2013-249#.U7wtPbGTFv0

Nevada Court Order - https://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/07/prweb537846.htm

Global Lock or Chill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVVEiyJ3DQ

Fails to Deliver - https://www.otcshortreport.com/company/TMMI

"Grandfathered" - https://www.dtcc.com/clearing-services/equities-clearing-services/ow

Protecting the Banks from Naked Shorting - https://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1842499,00.html

Taser International Responds - https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-12-06/dklint7619.pdf

Patrick Byrne on Naked Shorting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_FZO9-ZIWU

Naked Short redefining systemic risk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH5cMQLJRUo

[signode-blog]

10 Movies on Stock Markets You Should Watch

The world of stock markets is full of drama, intrigue, and high stakes, making it a captivating subject for movies. I would recommend you to watch these movies on stock markets. Here are 10 films that offer a glimpse into the thrilling world of finance: The Big Short (2015) “The Big Short” is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Adam McKay, based on the 2010 book “The Big…

[canadianabroadvery]

“...  The suggestion is that both women were somehow able to outwit two of the most sophisticated Wall Street law firms. Big Law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, was outside legal counsel to FTX and Alameda. Two of Sullivan & Cromwell’s former law partners worked in key legal positions at FTX businesses but failed to notice that Alameda was looting $8 billion from FTX exchange customers, according to regulators...”

[trendynewsnow]

Bill Hwang Sentenced to 18 Years for Archegos Capital Collapse

Sentencing of Bill Hwang: A Major Fall from Grace A federal judge has handed down an 18-year prison sentence to Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, following his involvement in the dramatic collapse of his once-thriving investment firm. This failure resulted in approximately $10 billion in losses for major Wall Street banks. Mr. Hwang, whose legal name is Sung Kook Hwang, was…

[edsonjnovaes]

A maior FRAUDE da história: como GOVERNOS e BANCOS drenam o SEU DINHEIRO 1.2

A maior FRAUDE da história: como GOVERNOS e BANCOS drenam o SEU DINHEIRO – Area Bitcoin. 20 mar 2024 in: AICARR – 2024 abr 01 00:00 – Como começou a fraude fiat 02:03 – Como surgiram os primeiros bancos 04:01 – Bancos viraram parte do Estado: surgimento dos Bancos Centrais 04:57 – Confisco é roubo regulado 06:25 – Como os EUA se tornaram a maior economia do mundo 07:55 – Fim do lastro do…

[catvampire]

just when seb stan couldn't get any worse, apparently he's gonna play trump in a movie

i'm not gonna lie i thought i hallucinated this ask until i just saw the images

bro.

[thenerdcantina]

Pirate Cove by Richard D. Bailey: Book Review

Members of the capital investment industry and especially Wall Street will remember the Southport Lane Scandal headed by self-proclaimed financial prodigy Alexander Chatfield Burns. The criminal activity had been occurring long before The Wall Street Journal got wind of it. But all it took was one rule-following, good-natured, morally-sound employee to connect the dots and secretly sound the…

[robertreich]

Should Billionaires Exist? 

Do billionaires have a right to exist?

America has driven more than 650 species to extinction. And it should do the same to billionaires.

Why? Because there are only five ways to become one, and they’re all bad for free-market capitalism:

1. Exploit a Monopoly.

Jamie Dimon is worth $2 billion today… but not because he succeeded in the “free market.” In 2008, the government bailed out his bank JPMorgan and other giant Wall Street banks, keeping them off the endangered species list.

This government “insurance policy” scored these struggling Mom-and-Pop megabanks an estimated $34 billion a year.

But doesn’t entrepreneur Jeff Bezos deserve his billions for building Amazon?

No, because he also built a monopoly that’s been charged by the federal government and 17 states for inflating prices, overcharging sellers, and stifling competition like a predator in the wild.

With better anti-monopoly enforcement, Bezos would be worth closer to his fair-market value.

2. Exploit Inside Information

Steven A. Cohen, worth roughly $20 billion headed a hedge fund charged by the Justice Department with insider trading “on a scale without known precedent.” Another innovator!

Taming insider trading would level the investing field between the C Suite and Main Street.

3.  Buy Off Politicians

That’s a great way to become a billionaire! The Koch family and Koch Industries saved roughly $1 billion a year from the Trump tax cut they and allies spent $20 million lobbying for. What a return on investment!

If we had tougher lobbying laws, political corruption would go extinct.

4. Defraud Investors

Adam Neumann conned investors out of hundreds of millions for WeWork, an office-sharing startup. WeWork didn’t make a nickel of profit, but Neumann still funded his extravagant lifestyle, including a $60 million private jet. Not exactly “sharing.”

Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud for her blood-testing company, Theranos. So was Sam Bankman-Fried of crypto-exchange FTX. Remember a supposed billionaire named Donald Trump? He was also found to have committed fraud.

Presumably, if we had tougher anti-fraud laws, more would be caught and there’d be fewer billionaires to preserve.

5. Get Money From Rich Relatives

About 60 percent of all wealth in America today is inherited.

That’s because loopholes in U.S. tax law —lobbied for by the wealthy — allow rich families to avoid taxes on assets they inherit. And the estate tax has been so defanged that fewer than 0.2 percent of estates have paid it in recent years.

Tax reform would disrupt the circle of life for the rich, stopping them from automatically becoming billionaires at their birth, or someone else’s death.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing against big rewards for entrepreneurs and inventors. But do today’s entrepreneurs really need billions of dollars? Couldn’t they survive on a measly hundred million?

Because they’re now using those billions to erode American institutions. They spent fortunes bringing Supreme Court justices with them into the wild.They treated news organizations and social media platforms like prey, and they turned their relationships with politicians into patronage troughs.

This has created an America where fewer than ever can become millionaires (or even thousandaires) through hard work and actual innovation.

If capitalism were working properly, billionaires would have gone the way of the dodo.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How finfluencers destroyed the housing and lives of thousands of people

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

The crash of 2008 imparted many lessons to those of us who were only dimly aware of finance, especially the problems of complexity as a way of disguising fraud and recklessness. That was really the first lesson of 2008: "financial engineering" is mostly a way of obscuring crime behind a screen of technical jargon.

This is a vital principle to keep in mind, because obscenely well-resourced "financial engineers" are on a tireless, perennial search for opportunities to disguise fraud as innovation. As Riley Quinn says, "Any time you hear 'fintech,' substitute 'unlicensed bank'":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

But there's another important lesson to learn from the 2008 disaster, a lesson that's as old as the South Seas Bubble: "leverage" (that is, debt) is a force multiplier for fraud. Easy credit for financial speculation turns local scams into regional crime waves; it turns regional crime into national crises; it turns national crises into destabilizing global meltdowns.

When financial speculators have easy access to credit, they "lever up" their wagers. A speculator buys your house and uses it for collateral for a loan to buy another house, then they make a bet using that house as collateral and buy a third house, and so on. This is an obviously terrible practice and lenders who extend credit on this basis end up riddling the real economy with rot – a single default in the chain can ripple up and down it and take down a whole neighborhood, town or city. Any time you see this behavior in debt markets, you should batten your hatches for the coming collapse. Unsurprisingly, this is very common in crypto speculation, where it's obscured behind the bland, unpronounceable euphemism of "re-hypothecation":

https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/05/10/rehypothecation-may-be-common-in-traditional-finance-but-it-will-never-work-with-bitcoin/

Loose credit markets often originate with central banks. The dogma that holds that the only role the government has to play in tuning the economy is in setting interest rates at the Fed means the answer to a cooling economy is cranking down the prime rate, meaning that everyone earns less money on their savings and are therefore incentivized to go and risk their retirement playing at Wall Street's casino.

The "zero interest rate policy" shows what happens when this tactic is carried out for long enough. When the economy is built upon mountains of low-interest debt, when every business, every stick of physical plant, every car and every home is leveraged to the brim and cross-collateralized with one another, central bankers have to keep interest rates low. Raising them, even a little, could trigger waves of defaults and blow up the whole economy.

Holding interest rates at zero – or even flipping them to negative, so that your savings lose value every day you refuse to flush them into the finance casino – results in still more reckless betting, and that results in even more risk, which makes it even harder to put interest rates back up again.

This is a morally and economically complicated phenomenon. On the one hand, when the government provides risk-free bonds to investors (that is, when the Fed rate is over 0%), they're providing "universal basic income for people with money." If you have money, you can park it in T-Bills (Treasury bonds) and the US government will give you more money:

https://realprogressives.org/mmp-blog-34-responses/

On the other hand, while T-Bills exist and are foundational to the borrowing picture for speculators, ZIRP creates free debt for people with money – it allows for ever-greater, ever-deadlier forms of leverage, with ever-worsening consequences for turning off the tap. As 2008 forcibly reminded us, the vast mountains of complex derivatives and other forms of exotic debt only seems like an abstraction. In reality, these exotic financial instruments are directly tethered to real things in the real economy, and when the faery gold disappears, it takes down your home, your job, your community center, your schools, and your whole country's access to cancer medication:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/08/greek-drug-shortage-worsens

Being a billionaire automatically lowers your IQ by 30 points, as you are insulated from the consequences of your follies, lapses, prejudices and superstitions. As @pixelpusher220@dmv.community says, Elon Musk is what Howard Hughes would have turned into if he hadn't been a recluse:

https://mamot.fr/@pixelpusher220@dmv.community/112457199729198644

The same goes for financiers during periods of loose credit. Loose Fed money created an "everything bubble" that saw the prices of every asset explode, from housing to stocks, from wine to baseball cards. When every bet pays off, you win the game by betting on everything:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_bubble

That meant that the ZIRPocene was an era in which ever-stupider people were given ever-larger sums of money to gamble with. This was the golden age of the "finfluencer" – a Tiktok dolt with a surefire way for you to get rich by making reckless bets that endanger the livelihoods, homes and wellbeing of your neighbors.

Finfluencers are dolts, but they're also dangerous. Writing for The American Prospect, the always-amazing Maureen Tkacik describes how a small clutch of passive-income-brainworm gurus created a financial weapon of mass destruction, buying swathes of apartment buildings and then destroying them, ruining the lives of their tenants, and their investors:

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/housing/2024-05-22-hell-underwater-landlord/

Tcacik's main characters are Matt Picheny, Brent Ritchie and Koteswar “Jay” Gajavelli, who ran a scheme to flip apartment buildings, primarily in Houston, America's fastest growing metro, which also boasts some of America's weakest protections for tenants. These finance bros worked through Gajavelli's company Applesway Investment Group, which levered up his investors' money with massive loans from Arbor Realty Trust, who also originated loans to many other speculators and flippers.

For investors, the scheme was a classic heads-I-win/tails-you-lose: Gajavelli paid himself a percentage of the price of every building he bought, a percentage of monthly rental income, and a percentage of the resale price. This is typical of the "syndicating" sector, which raised $111 billion on this basis:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-housing-bust-comes-for-thousands-of-small-time-investors-3934beb3

Gajavelli and co bought up whole swathes of Houston and other cities, apartment blocks both modest and luxurious, including buildings that had already been looted by previous speculators. As interest rates crept up and the payments for the adjustable-rate loans supporting these investments exploded, Gajavell's Applesway and its subsidiary LLCs started to stiff their suppliers. Garbage collection dwindled, then ceased. Water outages became common – first weekly, then daily. Community rooms and pools shuttered. Lawns grew to waist-high gardens of weeds, fouled with mounds of fossil dogshit. Crime ran rampant, including murders. Buildings filled with rats and bedbugs. Ceilings caved in. Toilets backed up. Hallways filled with raw sewage:

https://pluralistic.net/timberridge

Meanwhile, the value of these buildings was plummeting, and not just because of their terrible condition – the whole market was cooling off, in part thanks to those same interest-rate hikes. Because the loans were daisy-chained, problems with a single building threatened every building in the portfolio – and there were problems with a lot more than one building.

This ruination wasn't limited to Gajavelli's holdings. Arbor lent to multiple finfluencer grifters, providing the leverage for every Tiktok dolt to ruin a neighborhood of their choosing. Arbor's founder, the "flamboyant" Ivan Kaufman, is associated with a long list of bizarre pop-culture and financial freak incidents. These have somehow eclipsed his scandals, involving – you guessed it – buying up apartment buildings and turning them into dangerous slums. Two of his buildings in Hyattsville, MD accumulated 2,162 violations in less than three years.

Arbor graduated from owning slums to creating them, lending out money to grifters via a "crowdfunding" platform that rooked retail investors into the scam, taking advantage of Obama-era deregulation of "qualified investor" restrictions to sucker unsophisticated savers into handing over money that was funneled to dolts like Gajavelli. Arbor ran the loosest book in town, originating mortgages that wouldn't pass the (relatively lax) criteria of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This created an ever-enlarging pool of apartments run by dolts, without the benefit of federal insurance. As one short-seller's report on Arbor put it, they were the origin of an epidemic of "Slumlord Millionaires":

https://viceroyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Arbor-Slumlord-Millionaires-Jan-8-2023.pdf

The private equity grift is hard to understand from the outside, because it appears that a bunch of sober-sided, responsible institutions lose out big when PE firms default on their loans. But the story of the Slumlord Millionaires shows how such a scam could be durable over such long timescales: remember that the "syndicating" sector pays itself giant amounts of money whether it wins or loses. The consider that they finance this with investor capital from "crowdfunding" platforms that rope in naive investors. The owners of these crowdfunding platforms are conduits for the money to make the loans to make the bets – but it's not their money. Quite the contrary: they get a fee on every loan they originate, and a share of the interest payments, but they're not on the hook for loans that default. Heads they win, tails we lose.

In other words, these crooks are intermediaries – they're platforms. When you're on the customer side of the platform, it's easy to think that your misery benefits the sellers on the platform's other side. For example, it's easy to believe that as your Facebook feed becomes enshittified with ads, that advertisers are the beneficiaries of this enshittification.

But the reason you're seeing so many ads in your feed is that Facebook is also ripping off advertisers: charging them more, spending less to police ad-fraud, being sloppier with ad-targeting. If you're not paying for the product, you're the product. But if you are paying for the product? You're still the product:

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

In the same way: the private equity slumlord who raises your rent, loads up on junk fees, and lets your building disintegrate into a crime-riddled, sewage-tainted, rat-infested literal pile of garbage is absolutely fucking you over. But they're also fucking over their investors. They didn't buy the building with their own money, so they're not on the hook when it's condemned or when there's a forced sale. They got a share of the initial sale price, they get a percentage of your rental payments, so any upside they miss out on from a successful sale is just a little extra they're not getting. If they squeeze you hard enough, they can probably make up the difference.

The fact that this criminal playbook has wormed its way into every corner of the housing market makes it especially urgent and visible. Housing – shelter – is a human right, and no person can thrive without a stable home. The conversion of housing, from human right to speculative asset, has been a catastrophe:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/06/the-rents-too-damned-high/

Of course, that's not the only "asset class" that has been enshittified by private equity looters. They love any kind of business that you must patronize. Capitalists hate capitalism, so they love a captive audience, which is why PE took over your local nursing home and murdered your gran:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/23/acceptable-losses/#disposable-olds

Homes are the last asset of the middle class, and the grifter class know it, so they're coming for your house. Willie Sutton robbed banks because "that's where the money is" and We Buy Ugly Houses defrauds your parents out of their family home because that's where their money is:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/11/ugly-houses-ugly-truth/#homevestor

The plague of housing speculation isn't a US-only phenomenon. We have allies in Spain who are fighting our Wall Street landlords:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/24/no-puedo-pagar-no-pagara/#fuckin-aardvarks

Also in Berlin:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/16/die-miete-ist-zu-hoch/#assets-v-human-rights

The fight for decent housing is the fight for a decent world. That's why unions have joined the fight for better, de-financialized housing. When a union member spends two hours commuting every day from a black-mold-filled apartment that costs 50% of their paycheck, they suffer just as surely as if their boss cut their wage:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/13/i-want-a-roof-over-my-head/#and-bread-on-the-table

The solutions to our housing crises aren't all that complicated – they just run counter to the interests of speculators and the ruling class. Rent control, which neoliberal economists have long dismissed as an impossible, inevitable disaster, actually works very well:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/16/mortgages-are-rent-control/#housing-is-a-human-right-not-an-asset

As does public housing:

https://jacobin.com/2023/10/red-vienna-public-affordable-housing-homelessness-matthew-yglesias

There are ways to have a decent home and a decent life without being burdened with debt, and without being a pawn in someone else's highly leveraged casino bet.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/22/koteswar-jay-gajavelli/#if-you-ever-go-to-houston

Image: Boy G/Google Maps (modified) https://pluralistic.net/timberridge

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 2 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1])

surprise sunday double drop!

insert the mommy? sorry. mommy? sorry meme here

dressed for success, armor on, time to do what she does best.

the way she visibly shrinks and trembles at the salem seven watching her. this coward is so terrified of dying and having to face her wife and son.

NO THEY ARE NOT WELCOME BILLY. WE'RE GONNA KILL THEM BILLY

look at how agatha's body language changes as soon as the others arrive. she's doing the thing!

lilia hasn't eaten in three days. she's poor, okay. her bed is literally inside her wall. (jen is mirroring agatha, interesting! they're both on high alert)

"High Priestess." Immense spiritual power, unwilling or unable to use it. meanwhile, future!lilia is sitting at the tarot table, looking for her coven through time. Unwilling or unable is a funny way to describe Jen's situation, I need to think about it a bit more.

she heard the Ballad, jen. you might even say she wrote it, jen. lol all her crime scene pictures are walls and gardens and random street corners.

look at the symmetry in this shot, it's beautifully composed. alice leaning against the door, a bit shy

I can't get over how agatha takes a moment to feel the weight of what she's about to do to sharon. the girls want a green witch and rio is out of the question, so sharon has to be sacrificed in her place, simple as that. a complete innocent. agatha is about to kill her.

branded is such a violent word too. as if the people of westview were cattle.

how lonely she's been since her husband died. how thrilled and glad she is to be invited to a party. I have very strong feelings about sharon and I'm gonna destroy you with them, don't you worry.

agatha's fake smile fades the moment she's alone. and you know the recurring joke about her forgetting sharon's name and calling her mrs. hart? it's on purpose, and it's demeaning, and it's a way to distance herself from her guilt. she does that with Tommy's name too. if sharon is a joke, maybe her death won't be so wrong. as if she's hurting a caricature rather than a real person.

agatha doesn't want billy anywhere near the crossfire

sharon took her purse but forgot to take off her gardening apron

future!lilia jumps back in time for a second to let us know she doesn't appreciate elphabagatha straddling her. couldn't be me.

BILLY HAS ALWAYS BEEN LINKED TO RABBITS AND SEÑOR SCRATCHY AND NICKY. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL-

nicky's bell!

lilia always singing backup is both hilarious and in character tbh. agatha would think she deserves to be lead singer. lilia would think she's undeserving despite literally sounding like patti lupone and being the most powerful witch around

(has there been anything from the costume department about lilia's necklace and vest decorations? they look fascinating)

herb, my guy. it's time to move to eastview or smth

there is absolutely NO REASON for agatha to be that intense. she is not doing any real magic, she's playing a part and being cheesy about it as usual

yeah, sorry girls. you are all great singers and harmonize together beautifully, but like. you know. patti lupone. she's on another plane of existence. like I said perfectly in character! lilia is that bitch!! be glad she has a heart of gold and the self-confidence of a shoelace, or she would literally be ruling a couple galaxies at this point

oh, alice, sweetie. while agatha is faking emotion, alice's tears are so real and painful. what's worse, agatha's feelings about the song are just as deep and complex, but she won't let herself feel them. especially not in front of other people.

gasp! how DARE YOU ma'am! lol they were all speechless for a moment at the intimacy they just shared and now they are deflecting

oooh Agatha trying to get a rise out of them calls Lilia a coward, jen a fraud and alice a disappointment. We have our lion, scarecrow and tin man.

well someone's panicking

well well well how the turntables

lmao billy going agathaahahahahahaha

kudos for making the salem seven so creepy on zero budget tbh

agatha looks at the Road, looks at the blue magic, looks at Billy. and you know what I think? this is when she knew. right from the start. that this is Billy, Wanda's Billy, and that he created this. Her heart is still pounding in panic, she cannot believe she's still alive. She could call the kid out immediately, but she still hasn't got what she wanted: the others' powers. and she has learned the hard way how dangerous chaos magic is, so she chooses to lay low and study the situation a little more. she is always, always scheming and studying and improvising, she is bullshitting when she takes off her shoes, needs to pretend she knows what's going on.

toto we're not in kansas etc etc. dear lord these scenes are so infuriatingly dark. it's gonna be a bitch to brighten them.

and that's it for episode two! next we look at sharon's tragic demise. shoutout to @73chn1c0l0rr3v3l for always being first to like and reblog, thank you!

go to episode 3 part 1

[seat-safety-switch]

Like most of you, I was at the grocery store, tripping balls. I was wondering why the entire pancake mix aisle is now gluten-free. Yes, Julia Child, I could make my own, but I like how the binders work to seal the hole in my radiator. Plus, it smells great.

Why was there such a wide variety of pancake product available these days? I am cool with there being one kind of gluten-free pancake mix, and one kind of gluten-heavy pancake mix. Surely, there cannot be room in this market for twelve kinds of each, the shelves groaning beneath their weight, threatening to fall on someone who has very strong opinions about what kind of pancake they want to mix, exactly. Someone has gotta be putting this on the shelves and selling, like, zero fucking boxes. To get to the bottom of this, I decided that I would trick Netflix into giving me money to make a documentary.

Folks, that was what Wall Street would call a "forward-looking statement," because it was horseshit. Not only has Netflix beefed up their security since the release of Pointlessly Offensive Statements About Things People Care Way Too Much About IX, but they're also in, like, a whole different country. And my parole officer gets froggy whenever I tell him I'm going to cross international borders to commit something that sounds a whole lot like fraud. That's big government for you.

So I had to figure it out my own way, which involved staying up all night and intercepting a shipment of pancake mix to the local grocery store. It was there that I saw the horrible truth: all that pancake mix, all that distinctiveness? Came out of the same truck. They were competing against themselves. Once the driver spotted me, he realized I had figured it out. Picked up his little radio and called it in. I had to run, which was not particularly easy when you're wheezing through a single-barrel carburetor that had last been adjusted in the Carter administration. Flooring it, I jumped over several curbs, the decorative flower display in the garden centre, and made good (or at least well) my escape through the bank parking lot next door.

I thought I had gotten away scot free, until I opened the front door to my house the next morning and found a box of my favourite buttermilk pancake mix sitting on the porch, with a knife stuck in it. I love it when I get two bribes.

[sixosix]

ARE YOU READY FOR IT? | LYNEY

warnings 1.8k words, implied child neglect, the dark themes of the house of the hearth, once again i will say that this is not canon compliant

notes thank u naosaki (art) for proofreading the first ever chapter of the series!!! and being my hypeman overall LMFAO, see the end of the work for more notes + FANART

masterlist | next chapter

A deep breath. In, out. Once more. Rehearsed lines, practiced smiles, and a heart as steady as a frightened squirrel.

“Good?”

You meet his eyes. “Good.”

The corset isn’t as suffocating as you expected it would be. Aether ensures that you’re as comfortable as possible dressed in this snug bodice with a puffed-up, full skirt that drapes gracefully down your legs in a deep shade that blends in seamlessly with those of those who walk past the busy streets of Fontaine—because you’d eventually have to fight with this thing on.

The polearm feels heavy nestled in your palms. Strange, as you had never gone through a night without spinning it around your body and thrusting it into the air in the solitude of the night where no one would suspect a thing. You flick your wrist, not bothered to watch it disperse into the air. You’ve come to a point where green stems are more at home in your hands than weapons. You’re not sure why you don’t feel content with that revelation.

“Are you ready?”

Your gaze snaps to Aether, who’s looking at you warily as if standing across a ticking bomb. “Yes.” You offer a smile, hoping it comes across as comforting.

Aether tries for a smile back, though it looks more like a grimace. You can see it in his eyes: he doesn’t trust you. But his desire to learn more overpowers his wariness, and now, you’ve struck a deal. So long as you’re wearing this disguise, you are allies.

“Paimon is starting to miss your muddy apron,” Paimon says, wilting as you twirl around. “You look a lot less like Y/N.”

“This is who I really am, Paimon.” You glance to the ruffles and the thick coat, engulfing you in everything Fontaine. 

Paimon tilts her head. ���Who?”

You cast her a dry smile. “Runaway coward, fraud, and Fatuu.”

YEARS BEFORE.

For as long as you can remember, you’ve been an orphan under the care of ‘Father’.

If you were to shut your eyes and reminisce about life before the orphanage, you’d catch a fleeting glimpse of your mother’s face as you were surrendered over to grand doors, ones that felt like they were fifteen feet tall and thick enough to keep you from your family. You don’t know if your mother was kind or if she intended to leave you here long enough for everyone to call you an orphan. You eventually stopped dreaming about her.

You find that it doesn’t matter because you’re already here. You wouldn’t know where she would be. Waking up spelled out another day of pushing through.

“Hush, child,” a voice whispered as you hiccuped, overwhelmed with unfamiliar faces and tall, tall walls. Your chin was gripped by hands with sharp nails, but they didn’t hurt you. “Save your tears. You are safer here.”

You blinked rapidly, tremors jostling your shoulders with each ugly sob, tears rolling down your cheeks. Your breathing slowed as the shed tears cleared your vision, finally seeing the woman in front of you. She looked as if she had just done something horrible; she looked as if she wouldn’t hesitate to slit your throat if you screamed and thrashed around her hold.

You looked at her and saw someone you knew would protect you.

It became a little less dull when ‘Father’ let you borrow one of the weapons from the stash. The one you chose reeked of dried blood and looked dangerously unused, its surface marred by rust. It was long, and you concluded from the tip that it was no sword; it was all too different from the weapons you’ve seen around. On your first swing, you stumbled and nearly let it slip through your fingers.

“A polearm,” ‘Father’ noted, staring down at you in a way that felt as if she was scrutinizing every action and every thought running through your head. “Would you like to try it out?”

It was difficult. Each swing felt as if you were inches away from hitting your own head—or, even worse, felt as if you would make the wrong move and hit ‘Father’, who’s watching you in silence. She doesn’t stand from where she’s seated, though she does speak here and there. Stand straighter; don’t hold it too tightly; watch your balance.

You loved it. You held onto the rusty polearm more than you breathe. You train, and train, and train until it twirls around your fingers seamlessly, like water rushing through smooth rocks, until it’s as easy as a second limb.

That is how you made a name for yourself in the House of the Hearth.

During the times ‘Father’ returned briefly from business trips, you’d make her watch you train. You made her see how far you’d come, and she knew it, too. She’d even invite the other orphans to spar with you, but you were never defeated.

The orphans would hear your name, and they’d either scrunch their noses in distaste or brighten up in awe—it’s all the same, in your opinion. They hear your name and think of how fondly Arlecchino favors you.

The next one, they whisper. The next king.

The House of the Hearth became something greater than a home. It became a training ground for future soldiers, disguised as an orphanage, yet it treated you far better than your own household. Here, you've matured in wisdom with each thrust of your weapon and with every hidden truth that Teyvat conceals; it's where you learned to sharpen and embrace them all. Here, no one can hurt you. No one tries to break down your walls or question why you have them up in the first place. 

‘Father’ took you in and gave you another chance. ‘Father’ saw your battered arms and torn faith and introduced you to a house where you wouldn’t ever have to feel this broken again. And you, too young and too aware of the creeping loneliness clawing at you, took her hand and never looked back.

The House of the Hearth is where you learned what it was like to feel respect. Fear goes hand-in-hand with it, but you can’t help it if it can’t bring you down because you’ve climbed far too out of reach.

“That was a really good match,” Freminet mumbles as you walk over, sweaty all over and panting from exhaustion—but there’s a wide smile on your face, only ever appearing after battling someone.

You beam at his praise. “Yeah? I was testing a new move last night. It didn’t work, though.”

“I didn’t even notice you slipping,” Freminet says, puzzled, prompting a burst of laughter from you.

This side of you is only reserved for Freminet. To everyone else��and especially ‘Father’—you’re cold and cruel, and you don’t like wasting time with other people. But you’ve grown fond of Freminet, just as his quiet murmurs and hours-long of whispers are meant just for you. It’s a strange friendship. Everyone else thinks you could never get along.

What everyone else thinks doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters, not when you’re something here.

“‘Father’ is calling for you,” Freminet says, gesturing vaguely to the side.

You pat Freminet’s head and flick the polearm back to life, materializing in your hands. “I’ll see you at dinner, ‘kay? Don’t sneak off this time.” Freminet pretends to think about it, humming thoughtfully, then smiles when you nudge his shoulder before darting off.

“Every kingdom would have the next king,” is what ‘Father’ says when you’re a few steps across her. There’s a ghost of a smile on her face—or at least is what you like to think. Your heart races. “I see it in you, child.”

Warmth fills your chest. You bow your head to hide the unprofessional and childish smile.

“Ah,” she continues, looking off to the side. “Before I forget…fetch your siblings. I have news to share.”

You frown, failing to hide your disappointment. You were hoping for a bit more. “Of course, ‘Father’.”

The House of the Hearth was perfect. This was where you thrived—where no one else could take this victorious feeling away.

But then Lynette became a part of the ‘family’, and with it, she dragged along Lyney.

Lyney, with his slicked back, matted hair, violet eyes wide yet somehow dim, and figure thinner than a stick—the picture of every orphan stumbling into their new home for the very first time. Lyney, who stands beside ‘Father’ as they’re introduced, his gaze wandering the room, the unfamiliar faces, then your unimpressed eyes. Lynette is behind him, peeking out from his shoulder.

‘Father’ gives them the usual: a promise of no betrayal, a promise of a bond as strong as the blood shared between the twins. They listen. You scowl.

It is also here, in the House of the Hearth, where your world is flipped upside down, all because of violet eyes that seem to have never left yours.

There’s something about Lyney that unnerves you.

You assure Freminet that it’s not just because you’re miffed that The Knave is paying too close attention to the twins. You would get over the jealousy—you knew it was for the twins to feel at ease as they settled in; she’d done the same to you (the only difference is she never stopped). But Freminet has also taken a deep liking to them, saying you’re wary for no reason.

He isn’t wrong. You’re wary for a reason you’re not sure why just yet.

It was just that Lyney’s face pissed you off.

He keeps staring from over ‘Father’’s legs, sharp eyes following your movements. His face is blank, keeping you from reading his thoughts, yet his eyes are wide. You can’t tell if it’s akin to a trembling puppy or a cat prepared to pounce. You hate the feeling of his eyes boring into your skin.

You tell ‘Father’ all of this as the other orphans scurry off to bed, and you’re in charge of cleaning the dining table. With each plate stacked, venom spits from your mouth, brows knitted, and teeth bared in a snarl. You haven’t questioned any of ‘Father’’s decisions—you’re wary of this particular one, though.

‘Father’ has that quirk on her lips, amusement evident on her suspiciously bright expression. “You haven’t met Lyney yet, have you? What’s brought this reaction out of you?”

You nearly fumble with the glasses, avoiding her eyes. “I-It’s not as if I hate him. I just—I don’t know. There’s something strange about him.”

And speaking of strange, ‘Father’ has that look in her eye that you’re starting to feel agitated by. You think that the knowing smile is a nice look on her, however, you’re not sure if what’s running through her head at the moment can be considered nice.

“I see,” she says, a lilt in her tone.

“See what, ‘Father’?” You bristle when she smiles wider. “See what?”

references: kingdom and the next king — lyney voiceline: about “father”: king

BEFORE U STOP READING, Pls check out this AWESOME FANART (FANART!!!) of the first scene by akagi0021

taglist @thenyxsky

[sepdet]

Try to imagine Trump going to campaign HQ to reassure those working to get him elected with a speech like this after one of his unwelcome surprises.

Of course, that's impossible. This classy speech is all about "we" — the team, and the American people — although of course it's got a few "I's" in there to contrast herself with Trump and sketch out goals.

First five minutes: Squaring the circle of saluting Biden graciously, thanking and reassuring his election team, and moving forward

05:40 - rundown of major accomplishments of President Biden's administration

8:45 Harris lays out how she sees this election and I'm actually gonna transcribe it despite my arthritis because YES YES YES. (It's not very long.)

"It is my great honor to go out and EARN this nomination, and to win.

"So in the days and weeks ahead, I together with you will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic party, to unite our nation, and to win this election.

"You know, as many of you know, before I was elected as Vice President, before I was elected as United States Senator, I was the elected Attorney General of California, and before that I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. [chuckles start around the room, she smiles.] Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type.

"And in this campaign I will proudly — I will proudly put my record against his. As a young prosecutor, when I was in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse. As Attorney General of California I took on one of our country's largest for-profit colleges and put it out of business. Donald Trump ran a for-profit college, Trump University, that was forced to pay $25 million to the students it scammed. As District Attorney, to go after polluters, I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation. Donald Trump stood in Mar-o-lago and told Big Oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution. During the foreclosure crisis, I took on the big Wall Street banks and won $20 billion for California families, holding those banks accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of 34 counts of fraud.

"But make no mistake — all that being said, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. There is more to this campaign than that. Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country, two different visions for the future of our country. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past.

"Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights.

"But we believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans. We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. [Calls of "That's right!"] We believe in a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every person can buy a home, start a family and build wealth, and where every person has access to paid family leave and affordable child care. That's the future we see! [Applause.] Together we fight to build a nation where every person has affordable healthcare, where every worker is paid fairly, and where every senior can retire with dignity.

"All of this is to say that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. Because we here know that when our middle class is strong, America is strong. And we know that's not the future Donald Trump is fighting for. He and his extreme Project 2025 will weaken the middle class and bring us backward — please do note that — back to the failed trickle-down policies that gave huge tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and made working families pay the cost, back to policies that put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block, back to policies that treat healthcare as only a privilege for the wealthy, instead of what we all know it should be, which is a right for every American.

"America has tried these economic policies before. They do not lead to prosperity. They lead to inequity and economic injustice. And we are NOT GOING BACK. We are not going back. (You're not taking us back.)

"Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedom. Generations of Americans before us have led the fight for freedom from our founders to our framers, to the abolitionists and the suffragettes, to the Freedom Riders and farm workers. And now I say, team, the baton is in our hands. We, who believe in the sacred freedom to vote. We, who are committed to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. We, who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence, and that's why we will work to pass universal background checks, red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban. We, who will fight for reproductive freedom, knowing if Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every. single. state—but we are not going to let that happen.

"It is this team here that is going to help in this November to elect a majority of members of the United States Congress who agreethe government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body. And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as President of the United States I will sign it into law! [cheers, someone shouts "we the people!"] "Indeed, we the people.

"So ultimately, to all the friends here I say: in this election we know we each face a question. What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, ["Yes!"] or a country of chaos, fear, and hate? [Boos] You all are here because you as leaders know we each — including our neighbors and our friends and our family — we each as Americans have the power to answer that question. That's the beauty of it, the power of the people. We each have the ability to answer that question.

"So in the next 106 days—" looks around the room smiling at various people, "We have work to do. We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win. …" [a few final crowd -whipping-up platitudes like "Do we believe in freedom"]

------

Note: Yes, I know, she spoke about rights for all Americans without getting into any specifics besides reproductive and voting rights, because those two are core values of the Democratic party and the ones most Americans agree with. Unifying a party and coalition building starts by finding common ground. The approach Harris is taking will pull away some old-school moderate Republicans who are reluctant to leave their party even as it changes beyond recognition, but who really don't like Trump. Many of them have been poisoned more or less by Fox News, so they need to see she's not a crazy crazy liberal.

[decayedgloria]

jailhouse rock

ft. Wriothesley

You land behind the bars of the Fortress of Meropide once again, and Wriothesley isn’t too keen on letting you off the hook this time.

Tags: Wriothesley x afab!reader, fwb-ish relationship, inspired by The Sin by Henreich Lassow, might be ooc/not canon, hate sex?, rough sex, oral m!receiving, degradation, copious amounts of swearing from Wriothesley, nsfw under cut, mdni

Word count: ~1.8k words, not really proofread lmao

One might call you stupid. Others might call you opportunistic. But as you sat in a dark, damp cell in the infamous Fortress of Meropide, you couldn’t help but grin.

You were a repeat offender. Petty theft, fraud, and money laundering were your specialties- roaming the streets of Fontaine having every intention of being an inconvenience to everyone who crosses paths with you. You’ve landed in prison on numerous occasions, with the Gardes already being on a first-name basis with you given how frequently you seemed to be thrown there.

But those weren’t the ones you came for. No, the prize you were after was much, much sweeter. You perk up as you hear the familiar heavy footsteps trudging closer to your cell, adrenaline and excitement flowing through your veins. The clanging of the metal doors opening and closing occupied the otherwise empty cell block as he neared, only stopping once he was directly in front of you.

Tall, looming, and dangerous- Wriothesley’s sharp eyes bore down on your hunched figure like a hawk examining its prey. You share his stare in response, a cheeky grin replacing your grimace at the sight of the man. Something inside you stirred- and it desperately needed to be quelled by him.

“Hello, Duke.” The nickname rolled off your tongue smoothly, a hint of mischief in your honeyed words. Wriothesley narrowed his eyes, brows furrowed as he huffed deeply.

“Don’t you get tired of this?” He draws closer to you, his large figure mere inches away from your smaller one with only the cell bars keeping him from coming closer. The moonlight seeped through a small window, illuminating his domineering figure and angular features. All you could do was smile, standing up and sauntering towards him.

“Not if it means seeing you…” Your eyes trail from his face to his chest, appreciating how his suit made his body look without his fur coat. Arousal stirred in your lower abdomen as he brought a firm hand to your jaw, forcing you to look at him once more. “Oh? And what now, my dear Wriothesley?”

“You’re such a fucking whore.”

Bringing you in between the gaps of the bars, he leaned in and began kissing you roughly- which you returned in earnest. His large hand was still on your jaw, while his other hastily unbuttoned your shirt, squeezing your mounds as you moaned into his lips. Your own hands made their way to his tie, easily tugging it off like you had countless times before.

You and Wriothesley’s relationship- if it could even be called that, at this point- was a complicated notion. On one hand, you were on drastically different sides of society; you, a feeble criminal, and him, the one who is responsible for punishing said criminals. Yet, no matter how much he tried to keep you as far away as possible, both of you always seemed to land in the same predicament.

Wriothesley dragged his teeth down your jawline, making its way to your neck and latching on your skin, leaving dark bruises where his lips were. Moans and groans bounced off the stone walls as you writhed against him, your cunt growing ever so needy with the way he practically manhandled you through the bars. Your clothes had long been discarded, and the last of his were finally thrown on the floor.

“This isn’t very responsible of you, Duke.” Your voice, despite its teasing tone, was breathy and weak. Wriothesley looked to you once again, uttering a tsk sound before shoving you down on your knees, rather easily, and had you face to face with his hard, angry cock. Licking your lips, you began languidly stroking him, almost instinctively as your eyes scanned his face, stricken with passion and lust. 

Wriothesley’s half-lidded eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head as your mouth enveloped him, a guttural groan escaping his throat. His hands gripped your hair tightly as you bobbed up and down, making sure to swirl your tongue on his tip as he practically facefucks you. You only grinned as he continued, sighing and growling while he used your head like a toy for his own pleasure. The thought of him being so rough and uncaring for you excited you more than you’d like to admit, feeling your panties getting wetter by the second as you took him in your mouth over and over again.

“You couldn’t get enough of my cock?” He said through gritted teeth, gazing down on you pleasuring him through the bars. “Fuck- you couldn’t last one week without my dick being shoved- shit, down your fucking throat?”

In response, you only took him in deeper, letting the tip of his cock hit the back of your throat in one long, agonizing motion. To this he cursed, moaning your name as his hands tried moving your head to bury himself deeper. His cock, girthy and long, almost didn't fit in your mouth- but it would be nothing compared to how it would stretch your pussy when he fucks you.

You pick up your pace as you slobber on his cock, matching the rhythm of his arms as he nears his release. Your eyes gaze up at the man standing over you, panting and moaning your name as if he were the whore that he always called you. Drinking in the rare sight of the Lord of Meropide coming undone by you, a criminal of all people- it turned you on in more ways that you could imagine.

By the trembling of his thighs and the careless groans coming from him, you could tell he was nearing his high. Just to tease him once more (and to make your inevitable punishment sweeter) you pulled yourself away from his grasp, slipping his cock out of your mouth as you grin up at him innocently. Wriothesley gasped at the sensation, eyes snapping open to look back at you, brows furrowed in frustration.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Can't have you cum right now, Duke. We're not even at the best part." Your wicked grin only served to aggravate him further, gloved hands yanking you up to your feet and connecting your lips once more, roughly shedding what clothing you had on left, fingers grasping and kneading at any flesh he could. A bruising grip found its way on to your hips as he spun you around, catching you off-guard.

"What are you-" Your resolve faltered when you found your bare ass rubbing against his slick cock. "Wriothesley-"

His large hand lands on the small of your back, pushing your upper body down to bend over so your cunt was easier for him to access. Not a second later, the same hand comes down hard on your ass, eliciting a delicious mewl from your lips as you get wetter and wetter.

His fingers ran up and down your already sopping cunt, making sure you were prepared to take him before suddenly plowing his hard cock into you. "The least you can do is take my cock, slut." he scoffed, deep voice filled with arousal as he stretched your hole open.

You moaned and whined at the sudden intrusion, arching your back as you threw your head back in pleasure. Your hands braced themselves on the bars behind you as Wriothesley began his slow, but deep thrusts in and out of you, hands firmly gripping your hips as he does so.

The rattling of the bars as Wriothesley pounds into you and your sinful noises were the only sounds in the otherwise silent cell block. His pace was becoming ruthless, rutting into you as if his life depended on it while his hands landed smack after smack on your plush ass.

"Your pussy belongs to me-" He pants, "Fuck- you're so fucking tight…" Another slap across your cheeks, "Take it, whore. Let the entire prison know who you belong to."

"Wriothesley-!" You were reduced to a blubbering mess, singing praises of him and his cock as your mind was consumed by endless pleasure from the way he drilled himself into your pussy repeatedly. "Your cock's s'big! Ah, fuck! More, more please more!" You could hear him chuckle at how pathetic you sounded.

"Yeah? Getting enough of this cock?" He grunts, well aware that the sounds coming out of your mouth were nothing more than slurred words as you helplessly writhe, body twisting and contorting in pleasure. He brings another hand to your ass, forcing you to reply to him.

"Y-yes! Oh yes- m'god yes!" You managed to whine out, voice shaking with each thrust. "Cock's so good- ngh, yes! 'Thesley-" Wriothesley's pace had become more and more erratic, breathing ragged and muscles tensing as he finally reached his high, spilling his cum inside your cunt as you shudder trying to chase your own.

The glow of the moonlight had now occupied much of the cell block, shedding light on just how much of a mess Wriothesley made of you as he pulled himself out of your stuffed cunt. Your shaky legs gave out, nearly collapsing until Wriothesley held your waist to gently pull you up; a stark contrast to how his touch was moments before.

Trying to catch your breath, you try your best to turn to face him, ready to tease the officer- but to your surprise he was already dressed, merely fixing his sweat-beaded forehead while he turned to look at you. You grimaced, a part of you wanting to spend some more time with the ever-so elusive man.

"It's best you get dressed." Wriothesley stated, casting a brief glance at your naked form. "I don't want anyone to see you like this tomorrow."

"Jealous?" You grin, trying to dress yourself with trembling arms. He focused his gaze on you once more, before sighing and reaching a hand through the bars to fix your hair. An unfamiliar gesture, one that had you stopping your actions to look at the tall man.

"The next time you want to see me, be a normal person and ask me on a date or something." Giving your cheek a gentle caress with his thumb, he gives you a small smile before finally walking away, tall strides echoing throughout the empty block once more.

You sit there and ponder the suggestion a little. Yes, that was always an option, but… isn't playing cop and thief much more fun?

im gonna be totally honest i lost interest in this fic like halfway through lowk and like begrudgingly finished it for yall

just started school so i might not upload as much, still trying tho

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Nguyen at Mother Jones:

Long gone are the innocent days when media outlets claimed the independence and nuance of the politics of Elon Musk. Now, amid myriad X posts spreading far-right propaganda on immigrants, trans people, and, well, just about any other topic, it has become obvious where one of the richest men in the world stands. This week, there was more proof that Musk has put his money where his mouth has been. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Musk poured tens of millions of dollars into Republican campaigns and conservative groups even before he publicly endorsed Donald Trump in July. Conservatives helped conceal Musk’s contributions through so-called social welfare or “dark money” groups that do not have to disclose their donors and can raise unlimited funds. (Musk did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.) One piece of reporting stood out. The newspaper found that the tech billionaire donated more than $50 million in 2022 for campaign advertisements by Citizens for Sanity, a group connected to former Trump aide Stephen Miller and his non-profit America First Legal, which bills itself as “the long-awaited answer to the ACLU.”  Ties to Miller back in 2022 illuminate Musk’s current penchant for posting about immigrants. Musk has increasingly aligned himself with xenophobic anti-migrant plans and trans hysteria championed by Miller within the Trump administration. 

[...] In recent months, Musk’s posts have sunken to lies of mass voter fraud to help Trump win. As I reported, the billionaire recently posted a rant about how Democrats are the true threat to democracy by fast-tracking asylum seekers for citizenship so that they can vote in swing states. Simple fact-checking finds that asylum seekers are not being flown to battleground states, are not being given a facilitated citizenship process, and are not being allowed to vote—it is all false.  As we previously noted, these statements fall within the 2024 iteration of the Republicans’ “Big Lie.” If Trump loses in November, then Democrats stole the election through noncitizen voters.  Musk has also directly aligned himself with Trump, founding a super PAC called America PAC to get 800,000 people to vote for the former president in key battleground states. According to the Guardian, Trump’s ground operation in swing states are now mostly outsourced to America PAC, and Business Insider said that Musk is now shelling out millions to Republicans in 15 competitive House races. Yesterday, Politico reported that America PAC was teaming up with Turning Point Action, the political advocacy division of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, to fund hundreds of “ballot chasers” in Wisconsin. 

A Wall Street Journal reports that right-wing X owner Elon Musk has been funding anti-immigrant propaganda, including funding $50M to right-wing group linked to Stephen Miller called Citizens For Sanity (or more accurately, Citizens For Insanity).