#when did they get a way to express 'billions' and did they coin it themselves or borrow it?

[kiralamouse]

Oooh, more details. May have to try playing with this with my niblings. Although I don’t know how well I’ll be able to convert between the Kaktovik numerals and actual numbers** - a lot of the advantages for calculating, say, long division with large numbers look like I’ll be able to smile and nod and complete the calculations in Kaktovik without ever translating it into a concept I understand.

**with the understanding that 1,2,3, etc are not actual numbers either - “11″ means “eleven” in familiar ol’ base-10 notation, but “three” in base-2, or whatever. I can mentally translate Hindu-Arabic numerals in base-10 notation into actual numbers, or at least the English words for actual numbers, without thinking about it. Change the base - e.g. base-20 with a base-5 subdivision - and I’m lost till I carefully do the math in base 10.

In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The “Kaktovik numerals,” named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm.

Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. This system, adopted by almost every society, is what many people think of as “numbers”—values expressed in a written form using the digits 0 through 9. But meaningful alternatives exist, and they are as varied as the cultures they belong to.

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[2k18leo]

“Did you just kiss me?”

((reposting this because I made a few alterations. Happy (little late) New Year!!!)

“So, you think you’ll go through with it tonight?” April asked you with a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle. The two of you were heading up the elevator of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. It was already past nightfall on New Years Eve and you were both lugging around big boxes of various fireworks to the roof, where you would later meet up with the turtles.

A warm, pink glow flashed across your cheeks as your eyes glanced to hers and then straight down to the floor. Letting out a little wry chuckle, you stammered, “I-I don’t know. I mean, all you guys are gonna be there and--” She cut you off,

“Girl,” she let out a groan, “So what? It’s New Years!” She straightened her glasses with her cheek while shrugging her shoulders. Her hands were placed in their usual spot, within the pockets of her bright yellow-green sweatshirt. “We’re literally gonna have the best seats in the city. It’ll be perfect!”

“What if he… rejects me?” You say in a joking way to help keep the mood light, but deep down that question has been burning inside you for so long.

April let out a hearty laugh, her shoulders twitching rhythmically, “Don’t be crazy. He would never.”

“But what if—” you began.

“But nothing, hon.” She cut you off, smiling, “Trust me. I know him. I know all of them. We’ve been friends since I was, what, eleven? You gon’ be just fine.”

April has known the boys for a much longer time than you have. You’ve only been friends with them for maybe a little over half a year? Maybe April did know what she was talking about… you hope.

The elevator finally came to a halt at the top floor and the both of you carried the boxes of fireworks out and down the hall to a fire escape exit. There, the two of you carefully climbed the rest of the way to the rooftop.

The crisp air hit you right away, blowing your hair out of your face and back behind you. And the lights. Wow. You never, ever seemed to get tired of this view. It was breathtaking, to say the least. An image could never entirely capture the beauty of that skyline. Billions of shimmering lights dazzled beneath you to miles ahead of you. But this, Times Square, there’s just nothing like it. Millions of people were crowded together at the base of the hotel, all clamoring, laughing, and continuously waiting for the big ball to eventually drop, marking a new year.

“Ayyeee, there’s my favorite girls!” You heard that familiar voice behind you. Turning around, you recognized the blue-clad turtle with the shit-eating grin, followed by his three brothers who were leaping up from the side of the building. Of course, Leo’s presence made a slight pink glow across your cheeks. Out of the corner of your eye you see April giving a smirk in your direction as she eyed the two of you. Leo was oblivious to the expressions between the both of you as you shot her a warning glance. The turtle’s mask tails lightly flapped in the wind as he made his way over to the boxes of fireworks.

“Ho-ho yeah! Let’s see what we got!” He rummaged through the boxes with Mikey when you heard Raph set down a large watercooler on the other side of you. He tossed you a soda in a koozie, which you gratefully accepted, and then one to April and another to Donnie. The purple-clad, who was tinkering on his bo staff to make sure the flame thrower worked, as well as the fire extinguisher, caught the soda without even glancing away from his weapon.

“How you been, Shorty?” said Raph, shutting the cooler after getting himself a soda, then using the cooler as a seat.

You answered, completely used to that nickname he had coined for you, “Great! Bit chilly, but what else is new, y’know?” You shrugged your shoulders in your big wool and polyester coat. The weather was even harsher on the roof of this building. “Still job hunting, so that’s a drag.”

“Ah, well,” said the snapping turtle, raising his soda can in your direction, “To a new year and a new job.” And everyone chimed in to repeat the phrase, wishing you good luck. An appreciative smile took a new expression upon your face as you raised your drink as well.

A short time passed and it was about seven minutes to midnight; you were mingling with Donnie and Raph about random topics. Mikey has been deejaying in the middle of the roof. You guys were sitting on the edge of the building, overlooking the crowd. You three were currently discussing where you would each like to travel and why. You could hear April howling with laughter from somewhere behind you, probably at some wise-crack Mikey or Leo made.

You kept a close eye on your phone to check the time. The closer it got to midnight, the more nerves scattered themselves inside your body. You were really trying hard to listen to Donnie explain how the pyramids of Egypt would be such a fascinating travel location because of all the myths saying that aliens created them or something, but your mind was just mostly focusing on a completely other topic. Leo.

While subconsciously nodding along to Donnie’s story, now off on some tangent about wheatfields, you were straining your ears just to hear Leo’s voice, or even his laugh, behind you. It was such an attracting sound. So sweet. Like honey attracts bees. And you, of course, were the bee. Gah, were you even going to have the balls to pull this off tonight? Every feeling inside of you was either rooting for it to happen or for you to back out and play it safe. Now normally, you weren’t a risk taker, but this was gonna be different. When that ball dropped, you were gonna change that part of yourself. This is the time to try new things, after all. Ugh. Why does this have to be so difficult?

“Yo, y/n!” Leo’s voice chimed, calling to you, “Hey, come look at what we’ve set up. D, bring your torch!”

You got up, followed by Donnie, and walked up to the other three who were gesturing to the fireworks they had laid out in such a specific pattern. Raph stayed behind to alert the rest of you when the time comes. Four minutes to midnight. The crowd’s cheering grew slightly louder as the time passed.

“Alrighty, so you got your standard Peony shells,” Mikey pointed at a few rather large firework casings, “Some Chrysanthemums, a few Willows, a Diadem, which I’m more than pumped more, your Palms, Horse Tails, and Rings. And as for the smaller stuff, we got Roman Candles, Fountains, Firecrackers, Sparklers, Smoke Bombs, and some Ground Spinners. So, I’ll definitely be the first to say, you girls hit the jackpot!”

Directly after April first bumped you proudly, Leo nudged your shoulder in an approving way. You smiled up at him, praying that he couldn’t see the blush on your face. He smiled back and you couldn’t tell if he gave you a wink or not, the moment passed too quick. Okay, two minutes to midnight.

“Aye, the ball’s about to drop.” Raph called to us, “C’mon, let’s go!”

You all made your way back over to the edge of the building, hanging your legs over the edge. You sat by Mikey, who plopped himself in between you and April, and Leo made his seat on the other side of you. Something in your heart did a tiny dance and you couldn’t help but smile. Not just about the fact that Leo was sitting next to you, but about the whole scene. Times Square, the crowd of millions of people beneath your feet, you literally dangling your feet off the edge of the rooftop of a towering hotel, your closest friends in the world by your side. Honestly, what could top this?

There it went, the chrome ball that everyone had their eyes on, slowly falling every second. The swarm of people below you started chanting, “SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR…”

You and the gang joined in, “THREE… TWO… ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Loud cheers and screams echoed all around you. Mikey spun his flaming kusari-fundo around above his head in a celebratory twirl, making you laugh. You turned to your other side to finally do it. You were going to kiss Leo. This was it. Your body felt so light. A huge smile was across your face as you turned to face him. But before you could even act on anything, his hands were latched to your cheeks with his lips pressed against yours. Wait. He kissed you?! Immediately, Mikey said exactly what you were thinking,

“Omigosh!”

April laughed at Mikey’s reaction as you flooded out all noise around you. So, this is what it was like… kissing him. Wow. You couldn’t believe your senses. The only thing that made you pull away was a thundering BOOM that erupted above you. Once you realized it was only Donnie who had set off the first of the fireworks, you looked back to Leo who was smiling wildly at you.

You smiled back and then realization hit you a second time, “D-Did you just kiss me?”

His expression faltered a little bit. Was that disappointment in your voice? But he nodded back with a smaller smile. Your eyes lit up as another firework went off above the roof. Without warning, you practically threw yourself on him, kissing him again.

Behind you, Mikey turned to April, “Did you see—?”

April nodded in a smug fashion, “Yeah, she planned for it.”

“Pay up; he kissed her first,” said Raph, chuckling to April. He held his hand out, awaiting his prize for winning some bet he and April had set months ago. April rolled her eyes and slapped a ten dollar bill in his huge hand.

The rest of the night was spent with laughter and shimmering lights followed by booming sounds. Leo had his arm around you most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to do some reckless tricks over the fountain fireworks, of course. Mikey was trying out some moves with his kusari-fundo by trying to light multiple fireworks at once. Donnie was ready with the fire extinguisher application wired into his staff. Raph and April were having a Roman Candle fight and laughing when Leo got hit with one of the blasts. When you checked to see if he was alright, trying to stifle the laughter that was bubbling inside you, he gave you a reassuring wink and kissed you on the forehead before lighting a Roman Candle himself to chase Raph with. Was it always this easy? Why did you believe things had to be so complicated? He liked you back. After months of overthinking things, he actually liked you back. What a wonderful start to the year.

[mrsq8geek]

Advice for an aspiring author hoping to write lgbt muslim characters?

Hi, thanks for your question!  This is quite the rabbit hole, so I can't cover everything, but I did my best.  Some general guidelines and then my own view:

1. Do not write this story unless it is from personal experience or with the direct express written permission from the person it’s based on, and I hesitate with that second one.  Like many other experiences, this story hasn’t been told all that often, so unless you’re one of the above, you don’t have many points of reference and will probably get it wrong and, I suspect, as ‘exotic’.

That said:

2.  Start by examining yourself. One of my favourite resources is @writingwithcolor​, which has many great references for this.  At this point, we're asking questions such as "Why do you not want to represent us?" and "Why do you need to tell this story right now?" among others.  Do check it out.

3.  Please, please don't write an apologetic acceptably assimilated model minority.  I don't know where you're from, or where you intend to set the story, but we're all influenced by American media, so I feel it's important to mention.  We generally don't have positive feelings towards those characters, let alone relating to them, at least not to the aspects where they're supposed to represent us.

(My personal pet peeve example is Abed Nadir from Community, a Muslim enamoured with Christmas and is an all-around Acceptable Arab... played by an Indian actor.  It's extra irking because the show was touted as being Better Than Big Bang Theory, and it seemed okay addressing many other nuances, but when it came to this? Think of it this way: why didn't they cast an Asian actress to play Britta or Annie and called her white? Or, indeed, an Indian actress to play Shirley and called her black? Because clearly they believe the audience can't tell the difference? Arabs are black or white but not brown, guys.  Not all Arabs are Muslims and vice versa.  Some Muslims are (gasp!) white.)

Anyway, the point is Abed, and others like him, are non-threatening.  They reject their own identity and are desperate to be Just Like Us Default White People.  While this is definitely the case for some people, 1. it's not the case for most people, 2. it's just a really tired trope especially in current times, and 3. the other side of this trope’s coin is that in order to be acceptable for The West, they have to rebel against their character’s original identity, which is just as tired.

But I digress.  You already know by asking this question that it’s controversial.  Why not play it straight instead?  Pun unintended.  Do your research, whatever way you choose to go. 

4.  Speaking of doing your research, do. your. research! Muslims are a diverse group of about 2 billion people*.  There are two major sects and many smaller ones.  In the major ones, homosexuality (etc) is a sin, haram, full stop, end of sentence.  Any level of presenting like the opposite gender is not only haram, it’s cursed.  Yes, there are many people coming up with exceptions and loopholes, or just doing what they want regardless, and if you want to write about them, that's your prerogative, but:

* so Kamala Khan, for example, is completely unrelatable to me. (See: 9)

5.  You know what else is considered haram in majority Islam? Extra-marital sex.  Pork.  Alcohol.  Drugs, yes including cannabis, in fact even nutmeg.  People do all that anyway! Especially in non-Muslim-majority countries where the laws don’t make it harder for them, or in poorer Muslim-majority countries where people don’t get educated in religious matters, or indeed all over everywhere because not all people of any religion actively practice that religion.  It's a non-issue by this point. 

5A. The only reason LGBT Muslims is An Issue, and it’s An Issue Now, is because America’s making it one.  It’s no different than, say, modern white feminism.  They stir the pot, we deal with the mess.

5B. Muslims are people, and people aren't perfect. We know this, and we've addressed it as nauseam… and that’s just it, we’re allowed* to talk about these things because we know ourselves and our experiences.  It’s more acceptable coming from us to us because we have a common ground to start discussing things.

* I wrote allowed, but it really depends on the situation. Sometimes you’re not allowed simply because you don’t want to make it an issue, and that’s okay too.

5C. Since you’re asking, I’m assuming you’re not a Muslim yourself, and that puts a layer on scrutiny on you.  We don’t know where to begin to talk to you, and it’s worse if you represent us in any controversial way or in any way less than perfect.  Less than perfect by whose standards? It depends. Nobody knows! (See: 3)

5D. Examine yourself, research the topic, and know just what you’re trying to say.

6.  That said, here’s my personal take on it that I’d love to see someone do, but haven’t so far.  I don’t know how people arrive at their sexuality, whether it’s by nature or nurture, but they do end up there one way or another.  When it comes to Islam, you’re highly encouraged to (heterosexually, to be clear) marry and reproduce.  You’re discouraged from sex outside that framework.  If you are unable to marry for whatever reason, you’re supposed to find a way to deal with it. Fasting is often recommended.

And the way I see it, finding yourself not being attracted to the opposite gender is just one reason to not marry.  “So I NEVER get to have sex?” Yes, just like your straight brothers and sisters who realize they can never marry for their own reasons. Maybe their health prevents them. Maybe they have family depending on them, especially financially, and they realize can’t add a husband or wife into the mix. Maybe they’re incompatible with the person they wanted.  

The West worships Romantic Love (also money, but that’s another thing), but it really isn’t everything in life*.  Just see any post here on tumblr dot com discussing the different kinds of love the Romans acknowledged and wrote about extensively.  Yes, it’s a powerful drive, but again, it’s not the only thing in life, and coming to that realization is its own journey.

* (Something something Harry Potter)

I am so, so sick and tired of characters who don’t practice their religion (“hi, I’m Muslim/Jewish/Christian/Hindu/Buddhist/whatever, but I will have that pork, that beef cheeseburger, whatever”*), and equally tired of characters who are the personification of their religion (“hi, I’m religious, hear me act out my stereotypes”). Don’t get me started on characters who exist just so the authors can bash that religion.  

* a recent disappointing example was the show Crazy Ex Girlfriend.  When Rebecca is first introduced, I was excited to learn the show was about a Jewish character, finally a religious character portrayed as practicing!  But it was quickly revealed they were focusing on the cultural aspects, and not only is she non-practicing, she doesn’t even believe any god exists.  Snore. In contrast, see: Shepherd Book from the show Firefly.  Not just a practicing Christian, an actually interesting character in his own right.  Not a perfect person by far, but someone who’s doing his utmost to live his life and still maintain his faith. 

I want a Muslim character who finds themselves attracted to whomever, someone from the same gender or whatever you want, or feeling like they want to present as not their birth gender, and then proceeds to do what so many of us real-life Muslims do: find ways to deal with it and come to terms with it.  Acknowledge it and make peace with it.  Make the choice, the conscious decision, to remain faithful to their beliefs and maybe not pursue a romantic relationship with the other person… and instead interact with them like a human being they care about.  Help them reach a goal or achieve a dream, keep them safe from harm, something.  Maybe focus on the traits of the other gender that are accessible, or fight the toxic effects of the patriarchy, something.  Writing like “a happy ending == they end up together”, and any and all other outcomes are Bad and Tragic and Void, is boring and unrealistic.

Just as a black woman being soft and feminine is a rebellion against the mainstream, a religious character sticking to their faith above all else is way more interesting than yet another character breaking the rules.

Addendums:

7. “But Islam is homophobic?” No, Islam has rules against intentionally engaging in specific behaviors.  You’re not faulted for having low alcohol tolerance, you’re faulted for the act of consumption. You’re not faulted for being addicted to drugs, you’re faulted for making the decision to try it the first time, or if you were tricked into it, for not trying to get clean once you’re there.  However!  People, all people, hashtag not just Muslims, often try to enforce rules by creating fear and hatred around them.  It’s a convenient societal shorthand, even if the consequences can be different than intended.  It’s the same mechanism that leads to “abstinence = zero sex ed” in the US.  Abstinence isn’t the issue, people trying to enforce it by making information around sex opaque are the ones causing problems.

So some Muslim people end up homophobic, and some Muslim people go all in the other direction, because the balance is delicate and difficult to find.  

8. “LGBT stories aren’t just about sex, what about asexuals, transsexuals, etc?” True, but most LGBT stories tend to go in that direction, and I’m keeping it as broad as I can here.

9. Even if your character is Muslim but not Arab, it’s probably going to come up, in your research if not in your story.  Although the most populous Muslim nation is Indonesia and the most famous “Muslim” terrorists are Afghani, the most prominent Muslim sites are in Saudi Arabia and Palestine.  The branding is there.  With that in mind, required reading is the film Reel Bad Arabs, and any primers you can find on Orientalism, Colonialism, and Imperialism.

***

Honourable mentions:

Check out the Saudi series Masameer by Myrkott on YouTube, many episodes have subtitles. They recently made a movie and it's on Netflix internationally!  You can't escape American Imperialism any more than you can escape British Colonialism*, but we're all way past being enamoured by them.  The Emirati series Freej is also in Youtube, sans subtitles, though the DVDs have them, and I’ll leave it at that.  Hashtag quarantine let us catch up on shows?  Stay safe, stay home.

* she said, in English.

[theseadagiodays]

May 4, 2020

This is Not a Performance

Irving H Bolano’s incredible repurposed newspaper fashion for the Met Gala Challenge on Twitter #HFMetGala2020

May the Fourth be With You as you reach the next chapter of this current sci-fi drama we seem to be living through.   As the saying goes, reality can be stranger than fiction.   But it just happens to be a many red-eyed virus rather than an evil, black-masked father that we’re fighting as we all walk around like Storm Troopers.  

There are so many aspects of our lives, during Covid, which make it feel like we are actors in a make-believe story.   First of all, we’ve all become movie stars, with our faces, homes, and even pets showcased on our own silver screens.  As isolated as we are, our private lives now play out in the public sphere more than ever - no paparazzi required.    For some, this invasion of privacy is unwelcomed. But for many people, it satisfies a secret longing to share themselves with a wider audience.  After all, deep down, everyone wants to be seen and heard (I guess, me included, since I have this blog, after all).  It’s why TikTok and YouTube and Facebook have become multi-billion dollar companies so quickly.  And now, while this pandemic is a harsh daily reminder of the impermanence of all things, it makes sense that these digital missives are an attempt to seek immortality, in some strange way.

As someone whose work responds to human’s need to have a voice, I truly get why this is the case.  And I love that this time has turned housewives into opera stars, and health care workers into hip hop dancers, and housepets into circus performers. But, at the same time, I have become very aware of the masks that we wear, even inside our homes, to portray a certain self to the world that may stray quite far from our authentic selves.  The expression “dance like no one is watching” acknowledges the fact that we all tend to perform when we have an audience, and perhaps we’re only truly ourselves when we don’t.   I understand that the way we “perform” ourselves online gives each of us a chance to reinvent the fictions we want our stories to have.   So, while I surely take some guilty pleasure from intimate glimpses into strangers’ lives, I also do so with a certain skepticism about the veracity of what I’m seeing.  

This became particularly true for me when I received a recent link from my friend and amazing singer/songwriter, Dominique Fricot. Capitalizing on this current trend of oversharing, he cleverly asked his fans to film their morning routines for the music video of his new song, Wake Up, by his duo, Flora Falls.  Dom’s warm tenor voice blended with his partner’s breathy tones feel just like a lazy morning in bed.  But I’ll leave it up to you to decide just how accurate these portrayals of people’s idyllic daytime rituals actually are.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbsqXou5FeY

May 5, 2020

Homeschool Heroes

About twenty years ago,  I was invited to adjudicate a youth music competition in the Yukon.  Travelling to one of the northernmost inhabited spots on earth, I imagined that my greatest surprise might have been a polar bear or Northern Lights sighting.  But it turned out to be something entirely different.  Among the 25,000 residents of the thriving metropolis of Whitehorse exists a treasure trove of talent.  I could not believe the incredibly honed skills and nuanced expression with which these 11-18 year-olds played.   Wondering why, I developed a theory that I now call SLoW: Sheltered Living Wonder.  When long, dark days, cold climates or pandemics force people indoors, they tend to spend inordinate amounts of time on creative endeavors and skill development.  In other words, they slow down and take time for wonder.

This theory has surely applied during these past few months of sheltering in place.   One of the most remarkable examples has been the inventiveness that many of my friends have brought to their first attempts with homeschooling.   So, I wanted to give a few shout outs to some of these Homeschool Heroes and the highly imaginative projects they’ve done with their kids.

Stunning Easter Eggs made from natural materials and dye, by my friend Jane Cox and her kids  (Botany lesson)

Candy Covid virus, made by Amelia, my friend Jen Sanke’s daughter, as she learned about the virus’ proteins (Biology lesson)

But perhaps the prize for most complex homeschool project has to go to my architect friend, Bryn Davidson, who upon returning from Australia, in late March, had to fully quarantine for 2-weeks.  So, with his 5-year old son Bei as helper, this Physics lesson allowed him to enjoy home delivery beer while in isolation.  Just brilliant!

https://youtu.be/FF9-2dWoUtc

May 6, 2020

Living in livestream

So today, 5 million British Columbian’s awaited our “sentence” with baited breath, as word spread that our provincial prime minister would deliver the Re-Open BC plan at 3 pm.   I have to admit, it felt a bit like when you were “grounded” as an adolescent and then your parents returned certain privileges to you.  Of course, I’m well aware that our province has already been far more licentious than many places around the globe.  We’ve been fortunate to maintain reasonably low numbers of infection (just over 2,000), with counts as low as 8 new cases per day, at this point. So, while our provincial parks closed, our beaches never did.  While we were encouraged, within a reasonable range of home, to be active outdoors, we were not restricted to walks only within the 100 metre radius of our house, as my Israeli friends were.  And while we could still shop at gardening and furniture stores, to make sheltering at home more enjoyable, New Zealanders had nothing but grocery stores and pharmacies open, for two months.  

I have sensed the gratitude my fellow Vancouverites have felt about these privileges.  But that does not mean that we aren’t still anxious to return to other aspects of living which we’ve missed.  When lockdown began, ominously on the Ides of March (the 15th), I’d harboured a secret hope that certain restrictions might be lifted on my birthday (exactly two months later).  And it turns out that Phase Two of the BC ReOpen plan will commence on May 19th, just 4 days later than I’d hoped.  What I most look forward to experiencing again are small gatherings with friends, (we’ll soon be allowed to socialize in public with up to 10 people); meals inside certain restaurants and pubs (those that are able to function within WorkPlace BC’s safety regulations); visits to registered massage therapists; and hugs with select people, (”using one’s own ‘risk assessment’.”)

But in the long-range plan, the harsh reality for artists has been laid out, as Phase Four (which includes resuming large-venue concerts, conventions, and international travel) can not occur until either a vaccine has been developed, an effective treatment plan is widely available, or herd immunity is achieved.  And this is not estimated to occur until mid-2021 or later.  So, the prospects are still bleak for symphony orchestras, opera and dance companies, artists who perform in crowded bars, or musicians who travel for arena shows and festivals.  This likely means that in order to satisfy audiences’ need to access live performance, and for artists to continue to share their creativity,  livestream formats will still have to persist for some time.  Therefore, I thought I’d share a few regular weekly livestream arts events here, both from Vancouver, LA & NY.

Canadian National Live Art Champion, Dmitri Sirenko, who we featured at our non-profit’s annual benefit on February 20th, 2020

Every Monday Night at 7 pm PST (Vancouver) Poetry Slam: https://www.facebook.com/Vancouverpoetryslam/

Every Thursday at 5 pm PST (LA): LIVE Art Battles - Watch painters do their magic in just 20 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJoWGVwzGtk99nTOCib9vg

Every Thursday at 8 pm EST (NY): Spotlight on Plays - famous actors perform readings of theatre pieces, online: https://www.broadwaysbestshows.com/post/the-best-of-series/

May 7, 2020

Collateral Blessings

So many thoughtful writers are adding to the discourse, as we all strive to make meaning from what can feel like a senseliess time.  I have so appreciated the abundance with which people are sharing these missives, right now.  Every day, bursts of inspiration or flickers of insight come my way, thru texts, emails and Facebook.  Like adventurers, traveling together thru the dark of night, we shine light on guideposts, anywhere we can find them, as we collectively quench each other’s thirst for wisdom.  

One of the most profound writings I‘ve recently discovered came from a stranger’s blog.  In The Examined Family, Courtney Martin, without ever diminishing the gravity of the havoc that this virus has wreaked, writes about some of the assets that have also come out of this time.  New friendships with neighbors.  A long-neglected puzzle completed with her kids.   The time to draw and truly notice an artichoke in her back garden. My good friend Juan calls these collateral blessings.  This reference to the accidental gifts that this cruel virus has given us, is a beautiful twist on “collateral damage”, a term coined to explain accidental friendly-fire deaths during the Gulf War.  Commenting on the anticipatory nostalgia that she projects she will feel about certain things, once this time has passed, Courtney writes:

“I instantly feel overwhelmed at the prospect of schedules and stuff. I don’t want to go back to our former accumulation or frenetic pace. I don’t want to stop texting (my neighbor) my little triumphs. I don’t want to forget about the artichokes in the garden. I don’t ever want to forget this happened--the grief and the beauty of it. I’m not even sure that will be possible, but if it were, I wouldn’t want it. I don’t want to vote like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to eat like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to consume like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to schedule like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to mother or daughter or befriend or neighbor like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to sit inside this little life, noticing and appreciating and breathing, like it didn’t happen. There is unnecessary suffering all around me, and inside of me, too, but there is also necessary meaning. May we hold on to that.”      

You can read her full entry here: https://courtney.substack.com/p/unnecessary-suffering-and-necessary?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3OTg0NDcyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozNzU1NDMsIl8iOiJCTnk2VyIsImlhdCI6MTU4NzA1MjgyMCwiZXhwIjoxNTg3MDU2NDIwLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjA5MjIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.puI9NMne-783ypInpvTkJ96T237WcrTo2ItDhqlkMiY

May 8, 2020

Nostalgia

I’m rarely one prone to nostalgia.  My childhood photo albums are in storage.  I have no family heirlooms displayed in my home.  My tendency is to revel in the present or dream about the future.  But this pandemic has strangely turned me into a sentimental fool.  Perhaps this return to simpler times, where we seldom shop, where we wander mostly by foot, or where we get to know our neighbors better, makes us long for the past in certain ways.  

For me, I’ve honored this by resurrecting my daily teenage Twizzler habit - a candy I’ve rarely eaten since then, but that now feels so satisfying during my Netflix & Chill evenings (while watching films almost as old like Groundhog Day & Anchorman).  

I’m also listening a lot to Old School Hip Hop, where the explative-free rhymes of the 90’s feel so strangely innocent.  It’s refreshing to listen to these musicians spit verses that merely celebrate the joys of dance and rap, rather than ranting about gun violence and other societal ills.  Run DMC It’s Tricky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-O5IHVhWj0) and Beastie Boys Body Movin’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRBUw_Ls2o) happen to be personal favorites.  

Last month, I was tickled by an old memory while planting a lilac bush in my backyard.  I suddenly remembered a story about my college boyfriend, whom I hadn’t thought of in 30 years.  Our relationship started a bit secretively, so as not to hurt his ex’s feelings.  So, one May afternoon, we snuck away to a distant park that was hosting a Lilac Festival.  Unfortunately, our ruse was quickly spoiled when a candid photo of our picnic under the purple blooms was plastered all over the front page of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle the next morning.  

Another sweet memory returned in culinary form. Every Tuesday, for 7 years, my mother selflessly drove me an hour from home and back, for my flute lesson.  And to break up the long drive, we regularly stopped at Bickford’s Pancake House for my favorite adolescent treat: breakfast for dinner. Their specialty was the Dutch Baby Apple.  And I finally made my first homemade attempt at this deceptively easy delicacy, last Tuesday.  

This has also been a time to return to bedtime stories (some I’ve read to friends’ kids, and others for adults to hear.)  The Great Realisation by British performance artist, Tom Foolery, has been making the social media rounds. But in case you missed this touching tale that looks back on this time as if the tale is being told in a not-so-distant future, it’s a wistful story about some aspects of modern life that we may never long for in the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4

[localbizlift]

Zuckerberg on Chinese censorship: Is that the internet we want?

China is exporting its social values, political ads are an important part of free expression, and the definition of dangerous speech must be kept in check, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued today in a speech at Georgetown University.

He criticized how American companies that do business with China were becoming influenced by the country’s values. “While our services like WhatsApp are used by protestors and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy practices, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these same protests are censored, even here in the US!” Zuckerberg said. “Is that the Internet that we want?”

Because Facebook couldn’t come to an agreement with Chinese censors and thereby doesn’t operate in the nation, “Now, we have more freedom to speak out and stand up for the values that we believe in and fight for free expression around the world.” While he didn’t mention Apple, the NBA, and Blizzard who are amidst scandals about cowwing to Chinese policy, the shade thrown at them was clear.

Live from Georgetown — Standing For Voice and Free Expression.

Live from Georgetown — Standing For Voice and Free Expression.

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, October 17, 2019

Zuckerberg spoke today for 40 minutes at Georgetown University and then did a Q&A to share his thoughts on speech and “how we might address the challenges that more voice and the internet introduce, and the major threats to free expression around the world.” He discussed how “We want the progress of free expression without the tension” leading people to advocate for pulling back on free expression. “Where do you draw the line?”

Zuckerberg says that Facebook now has 35,000 people working on security, and the company’s security budget is higher now than the whole revenue of the company when it IPO’d, which was $5 billion in 2012. Facebook removes or downranks content that is objectively dangerous. Still, he says that he doesn’t want to “let the definition of what is dangerous expand beyond what’s absolutely necessary.”

Coining a new phrase, Zuckerberg noted that “People having the power to express themselves at scale is a new kind of force in the world — a Fifth Estate alongside the other power structures of society.”

Facebook should ban campaign ads. End the lies.

On allowing political ads on Facebook even if they carry misinformation, Zuckerberg argues that “political ads can be an important part of voice, especially for local candidates, up and coming challengers and advocacy groups that the media might not otherwise cover. That way they they can get their voice into the debate.” While that may be true, the same system allows whichever group or candidate has the most funding to dominate the narrative.

I recently argued that Facebook should drop all political ads until regulation to prevent their use to spread misinformation was passed. President Trump is spending more than many of his Democratic party rivals combined while using lies about them planning to remove the second amendment to raise money.

Still, Zuckerberg argues, “Banning political ads favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.” He did not address who spends the most or how Facebook could still offer free expression of candidates to their own followers even if it banned political ads. He essentially drew no distinction between freedom of speech and freedom of reach aka paid amplification through ads. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri echoed this sentiment, equating ads and speech, tweeting “I believe that people deserve to hear what politicians are saying and make up their own minds.”

This ignores how President Trump has spent $4.9 million on Facebook ads this year compared to $9.6 million spent by the 23 Democratic candidates combined, and that Trump had outspent them all put together as of March. Banning political ads wouldn’t prevent candidates from saying what they want and being judged, but it would stop richer candidates’ speech from having more weight.

Overall, Zuckerberg sounded more passionate and empathetic than in his recent testimonies on Capitol Hill. He seemed to take on some of the cadence and tone of former President Barack Obama, pitching up his voice to stress the urgency of challenges facing democracy. However, the speech format allowed Zuckerberg to avoid immediate pushback on his points, such as why political advertising favors challengers if it’s incumbents with the most money to spend. Zuckerberg did hold a Q&A after his speech, but the stream of that wasn’t broadcast from his Page like the prepared remarks, and he mostly reiterated points from the speech.

Zuckerberg drove home one important theme threaded throughout the talk, though. He attempted to link the idea of US companies potentially policing free expression to protect safety and elections with how China censors speech. And while other companies like the NBA and Blizzard that do significant business with the country try to downplay its influence, Zuckerberg spoke up about how the tentacles of China’s values are choking off speech far beyond its borders.

[stainedinlavenderblood]

Hollow - Short Story

i just remembered i had a storytime tag where i posted short stories so im going to be posting like 4 of those. enjoy

This world is empty. There’s little for me to write here, so expect nothing but filler. I am writing this entry in my diary during what is possibly the end of the world. We went down not with a bang, but with a long malcontented sigh. My name is… my name was… well, I can’t remember, since that’s been taken from me too. Everything this world once had was taken. I don’t even know why I’m still alive, but I feel myself obligated to record this. Maybe that’s my final purpose here in this life.

I don’t remember when it began, but sometime back the world started to lose color. It started off small, and hardly anybody noticed. The first symptom was the rise of depression. Those who became afflicted with this mental disease were enlightened to the colorlessness of the world that others could not see. They felt a compulsion to talk about it, to relay to others how empty and meaningless everything now was to them. Through this, their infection spread. It was the most contagious disease known to man, spread through simple words alone. Some were more resilient than others, but more and more fell into deep depressions and spread their pessimistic ideologies to others, infecting them as well.

As the number of depressed people increased in the world, those who weren’t yet affected and those who had the power and money to do so, began to take advantage of society. Cruelty and greed the likes of which have never been seen before on Earth, a lack of empathy so huge it was almost unbelievable. And the world, depressed as it was, sat by and watched as the select few destroyed it from the inside out.

Pollution, oil spills, food wasting, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, the war on homelessness, the war on drugs, the increasing wage gap, the inflation of prices, the greed, the hunger, the insatiable desire for money no matter the cost, even at the expense of countless human lives. These were a portion of the many things that led our world to ruin. The rich and the powerful bred nothing but hate and hate turned into money. The irrational anger of the masses was taken advantage of and  converted directly into coin.

The extent at which humans destroyed the world as they knew it is immeasurable. Over the decades, society crumbled and everyone became a slave of their own akilter moral codes. The people religiously worshipped the government and the country they lived in and malevolently maladapted the religions which had been followed for centuries before.

No progress was made in these dark times, and they became a second Dark Ages, by every definition. The only things that were done were things that were considered profitable. If it didn’t turn a profit, or if it limited the profit produced by other things, no matter how harmful they were, it wasn’t done. Science was rejected by society and the few who believed in it grew increasingly outnumbered by the ignorant masses who were comfortable losing themselves in their own delusions, dissuading all rational explanation.

When society had finally crumbled as far as it could go, the physical world began to lose its inherent properties, as a direct result of their own meaninglessness. Every human on Earth woke up one morning to find that the world was devoid of color, nothing but shades of black and white, and no one was surprised. The next thing to go was positive emotions. It became impossible to be happy or excited, even a little bit. No more warm fuzzy feelings, no more joyful summer days, no more youthful excitement. The world became just as bleak as its inhabitants had believed for many years beforehand.

The next things to be taken from us were fundamental senses, anything that gave our bodies and minds stimulus. Hearing was lost, and now no sounds could be perceived. The sound of a lover’s voice vanished from existence. Not as though it mattered, because even if someone had heard it, they wouldn’t get the same feeling of enrapturement and joy as they would have in the old days. Then, our sense of touch was taken. We could no longer feel anything physically, no matter how soft, how sharp, how hot, or how cold. Then we lost our senses of taste and smell. Food, the last joy on Earth for many people, became unenjoyable. The world became more bleak than anyone could have ever imagined. If they were capable, people would have started to panic, to question “Why? What’s going on?” and to think to themselves “I knew the world was empty, but I never thought it could be this empty!”

It’s a classic mistake of the human mind to underestimate just how bad it can get. Perhaps that’s the reason why this disaster was allowed to unfold. Nobody did anything about it because they (ir)rationalized with themselves that it wasn’t as bad as everyone said it was and that the situation would take care of itself in time. That self reassurance, that enabler of inaction, the terrible curse of procrastination; it was our undoing.

The final thing to be taken from mankind was ourselves. And no, I don’t mean that we died, because how would I be writing this then? No, what I imply is something far more terrible. The loss of self. The loss of individuality, of personality. Everyone became a mindless cardboard cutout, a reflection of everyone else without depth or intrigue. But if the person who was first reflected was empty too, then that means that everyone was completely and utterly void. The world and its people were now as empty as they could ever be.

And now, here we are, at the end of it all. The final breath of Mother Earth was expressed as the longest sigh in history, followed by a curling into the fetal position and a lack of movement. A resignation to stay there, floating empty and meaningless through the great wide universe.

I wonder if there’s anything else out there that may find us one day, and ask themselves “What happened here?” Believing in aliens is just about the only hope I have left. It would be a right shame if Earth housed the only life in the universe, and it had just died so anticlimactically. Billions of years of evolution, all leading up to what?

The hope that life will continue elsewhere in the universe was probably the only thing that inspired me to write this entry in my journal, a play-by-play commentary on the end of the world. I don’t even know if they’ll be able to understand English, but hey, they can probably translate it eventually, right? It’d just be lame if they couldn’t.

And so I leave my final message to whoever may come across this journal and the desolate planet it was written on. Do not make our mistakes. If the disease of depression, categorized by chronic sadness, a bored outlook on life, an incurable jadedness, and a belief that the universe is devoid of meaning, ever shows up on your planet, you must take what steps you can to eradicate it immediately.

Do not allow compassion to die. Do not allow empathy to die. Do not allow greed and hunger to overcome you. Do not allow the suffering of countless millions to come to your people for naught but the gain of material possession.

No matter what hardships come your way don’t allow anyone to convince you that this is the end; there is always a second chance, unless you never take your first. Fill your life with happiness and create what purpose you can find for yourselves, since no divine purpose will ever be given to you. Don’t allow the universe to truly lose its meaning.

Fight on.

- The last man on Earth.

[the-name-isnt-important]

Social Movements

So this is where I think I lose some of you who have been so gracious about my posts. I've been pretty safe up until this point (only three posts in, not that many), but this is where I feel there will be some conflict.

I started writing this six days ago at five in the morning. Since I started this blog, I knew this was a topic I wanted to talk about. Apparently, the built-up of excitement got me to wake up and not calm down until I wrote.

This is my second draft, by the way. The first one was, as I said, written at 5 in the morning, so there were spelling errors galore and grammatical whatthefucks everywhere. So let's try this again!

I'm happy to be in a time where we are seeing more people step up against inequality. It never quite made sense to me, even as a kid, to think I was better than someone else in society just because of how I was born. I'm happy to tell anyone that black lives do matter, so much so that I hope it's a cliché one day to say that because "well duh, everyone matters". And the same goes for gender equality. While there are differences, we are all human, and me owning another person as property or thinking I have to be domineering to women to have respect. I'll stay confident-neutral: respect and love to all, with the hope I get the same in return, while still loving who I am.

I suppose you can sense the shift is coming, huh?

Kind of.

There is no counter to what I said before. There is no condition to loving and respecting everyone I see (only that they treat me in a similar way; the golden rule). What I have a counter to is what we see more of: social movements.

Social movements do not have the impact they should. Right out of the gate, movements like BLM or Gay Rights or #MeToo do phenomenally. It seems like a train is moving that people are happy to jump onto, from politicians to celebrities to Joe down the street, it feels good to be part of something that is new-ish and gaining momentum. And the motives are so pure. Equal rights! Right to marry whoever! No pink tax! Only a monster would consciously notice that and actively work against it. Those people should be brought down. But onto the matter at hand...

There are two problems I see with these movements that cause it to lose all credibility: hate and greed. Both are subtle, but noticeable if you're looking.

Hate occurs when there's a lull in a movement. It's no longer about the purity of this right. It's about finding an enemy and giving them a taste of their own medicine. An eye for an eye! Sounds fair, right? What happens, however, is the hate that faced the prejudiced group is only redirected, never eliminated. The hate that a white police officer shows to a black man unjustly needs to be sent back to the police officer, people will say. He needs to get what he deserves!

No he doesn't. There could be many reasons why he's like that: poor parenting, wrong city culture, unconsciously following the leaders like many of us do! Like I said, the monsters are the ones who know right and wrong and choose wrong anyway. How many of these people truly are consciously committing evil when they could be acting unknowingly? You do NOT create a culture of love and respect by directing love the other way. You do it by forgiveness. By showing you're better than the ones who cause harm. Calling out Jimmy Fallon for using blackface in the late 90's will not bring justice to our system.

Greed is the other problem. Let me say this: I support black lives matter, but I do not support BLM. Does that make sense?

Over the past few months, companies like Nike, Netflix, Reddit, Audible, and hundreds of others are sending out support for their black employees. Some are even featuring black content on their homepages. Great. But what was the motive for doing that? Let's say you're a multi-billion dollar company and you see a movement for hamster rights (weird example, but bear with me). As a PR head of the company, you may think "What the fuck? This is stupid! The world was fine before!" However, every other major billion dollar empire is featuring books on hamsters and movies like G-Force on their front page. Well shit, as the head of PR, you better get on it, because the world will see that you did not support hamsters and will vilify you! Send out that email that you support all your hamster workers and put up an orange and white flag on your social media. Otherwise, you won't survive as a company.

That's just on a business level. How many of you posted the black screen on your Instagram? I did, and it felt good to be part of something that, by the time I posted, 12 million people already tagged. But people still took advantage of the post that was only supposed to say #blackouttuesday. Next to it, they put a post telling people "you should really increase your awareness like I did" or even, instead of a black screen, posting a picture of themselves modeling. Because they were so overwhelmed with love and support, they couldn't help but look at the camera in a sexy way! What a hard life.

You want true, honest activism? Look up Zianna Oliphant's speech to the Charlotte City Council. A nine year old girl in tears speaking about how it shouldn't be this way. Nine years old. My word was weeping as I watched that. Or maybe Tarana Burke coining the phrase "MeToo" back in 2006 empowering women through empathy. Trailblazer in her own right. But don't expect my ass to just sit here while I listen to all the bandwagoners jump onto some movement that's catching heat when in reality you don't know what you believe and you're really just acting like everyone else because you don't know how to think for yourself. And also (rant continued) it is not brave to sit behind your screen and harass those who do not believe the same things you do. You are not a hero. Step up to the plate and express the love that's real, not the faux affection you put up because you want to be noticed or liked. This is my passion: people thinking for themselves and defending what they know is important, not because anyone told them to believe it, but because they decided it for themselves. I will die by free thinking. Would you die for your values?

Selfishly, I have noticed another trend that will start to become more real. This is something I've known for the last 10 years. And it is: some day, someone like me (straight, white, man, middle-class family, tall, blonde hair, Christian parents) will be seen as the enemy. In every one of those areas I have been called ignorant. Soon, someone will just have to look at me (if some don't already) and get filled with nothing but hate. I don't want that. But I also don't want that for anyone else. That's why I express my concerns like this.

I would love to have a conversation on this topic. Whether you disagree or love it, let's have a civil conversation. I am open for the opportunity to be wrong on anything I have said, but just know I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I have said, and I won't be swayed easily.

The heart is crucial in times like this. Love, joy, compassion, peace, forgiveness, it's all needed. I want to see the world grow. I want love, not hate. Generosity, not greed. People, not profit.

[superseraphim7]

Our Ancient Galactic Heritage Alex Collier: I want to talk to you about Lyrae and how the human race colonized our galaxy. Based on the age of the Suns and the planets in our galaxy, it was decided that the human life form was to be created in the Lyran system. The human race lived there for approximately 40 million years, evolving. The orientation of the human race in Lyrae was agricultural in nature. Apparently, we were very plentiful and abundant, and lived in peace. Then, one day, huge craft appeared in the sky. A large ship came out of the huge craft and approached the planet Bila, and reptilians from Alpha Draconis disembarked. Apparently, the Alpha Draconians and the Lyrans were afraid of each other. I told you before that the Alpha Draconians were apparently the first race in our galaxy to have interstellar space travel, and have had this capability for 4 billion years. Well, when the Draconians came and saw Bila, with all its abundance and food and natural resources, the Draconians wanted to control it. There was apparently a mis-communication or misunderstanding between the Draconians and Lyran humans. The Lyrans wanted to know more about the Draconians before some kind of "assistance" was offered. The Draconians mistook the communication as a refusal, and subsequently destroyed three out of 14 planets in the Lyran system. The Lyrans were basically defenseless. The planets Bila, Teka and Merck were destroyed. Over 50 million Lyran humans were killed. It is at this point in history that the Draconians began to look at humans as a food source. This is how old the struggle is between the reptilian and human races. Now, I must make the point that not all the reptilian or human races are "dark". There is a mix. When we start meeting these races, you are going to have to trust your gut instinct. But, they are coming. Hale Bopp is on its way here. It is not a comet. The Draconians AC: The Draconians are the force behind the repression of human populations everywhere in this galaxy instilling fear-based belief systems and restrictive hierarchies. I asked Morenae about them, and he said, "the Draconian race is probably the most understood race of beings. I have witnessed a deep respect for this race." The Andromedans consider the Draconians the "ultimate warriors," in a negative sense. Moranae continues, "the Draconians are the oldest reptilian race in our universe. Their forefathers came to our universe from another separate universe or reality system. When this occurred, no one really knows. The Draconians themselves are not really clear on when they got here. The Draconians teach their masses that they were here in this universe first, before humans, and as such they are heirs to the universe and should be considered royalty. They find disgust in the fact that humans do not recognize this as a truth. They have conquered many star systems and have genetically altered many of the life forms they have encountered. The area of the galaxy most densely populated with Draconian sub-races is in the Orion system, which is a huge system, and systems in Rigel and Capella. The mind set or consciousness of the majority of races in these systems is Service-to-Self, and as such they are always invading, subverting and manipulating less advanced races, and using their technology for control and domination. This is a very old and ancient war, and the peace that does not exist is always being tested by these beings, who believe that fear rules, and love is weak. They believe that those they perceive to be less fortunate, in comparison to them, are meant to be slaves. This belief system is promoted at birth in the reptilian races, wherein the mother, after giving birth, will abandon the offspring to fend for themselves. If they survive they are cared for by a warrior class that uses these children for games of combat and amusement." So, you can see that the reptilians are forever stuck in survival mode. This means they have no boundaries in what they will do to other beings. Morenae continues, "it is engrained in them never to trust a human. They are taught the Draconian version of the history of the 'Great Galactic War', which teaches that humans are at fault for invading the universe, and that humans selfishly wanted the Draconian society to starve and struggle for the basic materials that would allow them to exist." AC: Now, there are some real similarities there. The expression 'Draconian thought' is an expression on our world. I would suggest you research that. The Hierarchy in Our Galaxy [DSG, Ch 1]: There are two schools of thought in our galaxy. There are the regressives, who are races that carry fear and because of that want to control others. The hierarchy of the regressives starts with a group from Alpha Draconis. The Andromedans have no idea where the Alpha Draconians came from, but what they have learned through interaction with other dimensional races is that somebody brought the Draconians to this universe and "dumped" them in the Alpha Draconis system, where they had the highest probability of survival. According to the Andromedans, the Alpha Draconians have had space travel for 4 billion years. They are an incredible race and have achieved great things, but they are bullies. They are jerks, and that's a judgment - I'm taking that judgment myself. That's my judgment based on what I know about them. The Draconians do not like human beings. The Andromedans say that Draconians believe that this universe was here for them - that their history teaches them that they were left here to rule it. But, when they started traveling, they ran across other races. They were able to conquer many of those races through genetic manipulation. Now, our government, the United States government, the New World Order - whatever you want to call it - wants to implant everybody. From the Andromedan perspective that means ownership. Extraterrestrial don't want to bother with that stuff, since that is not permanent. Extraterrestrials value genetics. What they do is they come in, conquer a race and genetically alter it. From that moment on, that race is genetically altered. The genetic changes alter the frequency, sound and thought patterns of the race if they move into a physical form. Does everyone understand this? Q: Could you give us an example of this? AC: The best example I could give you concerns the Greys. Apparently, the Greys were much more human-looking at one time. What happened was that they, as a race, were captured 891,000 years ago while leaving Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 to go off and do their own thing. This is very common, and it is how Earth became colonized. What happened is that they got captured by a group in Orion that was already genetically altered and under control of the Alpha Draconians. According to Morenae, the first thing this Draconian- altered Orion group did was slaughter almost all of the females of the captured race in order to control the birth process. They then genetically altered the remaining females, so that all the children born after that were genetically altered. The males were enslaved, made to work in mines and slaughtered by the Draconian-controlled Orion group, who had absolutely no regard for life. What we know now as the Greys became a natural resource. General Trends of Humanoid Races in the Universe [DSG, Ch 4]: Val: How about humanoid races and societies, in comparison to us? The society on Earth has a manipulative base historically grounded in the Orion system. What about things on the opposite side of the coin? What is the "norm" in space societies, insofar as you are aware of? AC: Well, the "norm" is definitely "light". You know, self-rule and self-responsibility. The thing in that is going on in our particular part of the galaxy, which includes 21 systems, concerns the idea of tyranny. What is interesting about this is that the area in which this tyranny is occurring is a very very old area. It has been colonized for a long time, and it has been under control of some of the oldest races, like the Alpha Draconians. They were the first race to have space travel in our galaxy and were remarkable builders, but their species multiplied so rapidly that they decided to conquer other races to make room for them. Our race, the Earth human race, was literally created by a group that came down from a dimensional realm, and these were the Paa Tal. This verbal expression called Paa Tal is actually of Draconian origin. Val: So in actuality the genetics comprising the human body are a composite from around the galaxy, but the spiritual entities occupying human bodies are literally the Paa Tal? AC: Right. Val: So, are there any Paa Tal occupying reptilian bodies? AC: I don't know. Val: That would be an interesting twist on events. If there is a huge time-loop, maybe the reptilians actually came from "now", and swung back 4 billion years and started something there. AC: Interesting. Anything is certainly possible. So, anyway, how the humans in this galaxy apparently found out about the Paa Tal was that somehow they were able to get hold of ancient Draconian records. Now, the Draconians are apparently extremely private about their lineage and their history. Everything is "a secret". They have family "houses" of lineage they are very proud of. Val: Sort of like the Klingons on Star Trek. AC: Probably similar. Anyway, they found out about the Draconian legends which speak of a time where a group of beings came out of "nowhere" and created a race to war against and challenge the Draconian sovereignty. Val: Of the universe? AC: Well, no. We only see a small part of the universe. Even if you look at the part of the universe we can see physically, they say there are 100 trillion galaxies. So, the Draconians are not everywhere. There are a lot of them here, and this is one of the areas that is causing a problem. More on the history of the Zenetaen Civilization [DSG, Ch 6]: Alex: Let me answer that question this way. I have that question written down to ask them, because you gave me a question like that before to ask them. But, they did tell me that there was a time when they first left the Lyrae system, after about 21 generations had gone by, where they found themselves hiding. Again, I don't know all the details, but they were being hunted by another race. They were living in hollowed-out asteroids and moons. They were moving all the time. Val: This is the whole Zenetaen civilization. Alex: That's correct, and I do not know how many there were. They were basically living on craft and having to move around all the time, looking for a place that was safe. Well, there were beings from the Casseopian system that helped them, and apparently at that point in time the Zenetaens were under a kind of imposed dictatorship, because they were in survival mode and one person took control of their civilization. I can remember Morenae saying that it was imperative that they receive help, because they may not have evolved out of that , had it gone on any longer. What happened was that they were taken to two solar systems in the Andromedan constellation. We know them as "star 42" and "star 44". Star 42 is Zenetae, which is now their star system. Star 44 is Tishtae. Star 42 has 27 planets around the binary stars. Star 44 has nine planets, but all of the planets are equal to or greater than the size of Jupiter. They at this point were all terraformed. Val: These beings from the Casseopian system interacted with them approximately how long ago in our terms? Alex: About 2.5 million years ago, but perhaps a little longer. Val: Has the Zenetaen skin color always been blue? Alex: No. It was red at one time. Their original forefathers were red-skinned, and I am told that the Lyraens and Vegans were red-skinned at that time. Val: How did the progression begin to where the skin color changed to blue? Alex: Apparently it had to do with a pigmentation change caused by the ingestion of certain minerals... Val: Copper based minerals. Alex: It was in the food and everything they ate, and the double sun had an effect on this too. You have to remember something here. We are talking about fifth density beings, not third density, so you have the additional three color spectrums. I always try to take that into account when comparing them to us. They do literally live in another frequency. Val: So, were they ever in third density? Alex: I am not sure about that. Val: There seems to be a prevalent assumption among humans that things "start" at a level of third density existence. But, that's a misnomer, because... Alex: No all the races have been or are third density. Val: So, since the period approximately 2.5 million years go, do you have any idea of how their civilization has grown and changed since then? Alex: No, I don't know. All I know is where they are now because that's the only way I know them. That would be a question I would have to ask them. The Nature of Nibiru [DSG, Ch 6]: Val: Here's another question that was submitted to me: "You mentioned that the Lemurians and Atlanteans were extraterrestrials and you also mentioned Nibiru. Tell us about Nibiru and its role and relationship to us in this solar system." Alex: This is what I have been told about who those connected with Nibiru are. A very long time ago, colonies on Sirius B and the Orion Group were having trouble with each other. In order to bring peace, there was a marriage between two members of each group. The woman came from the Orion Group, where the hierarchy includes a queen - the matriarchal paradigm. The male was from Sirius B. Both members were considered royalty of their respective line. When these two came together in marriage, their offspring had the genetics from both lines. Because of these genetics, the new race that was created was given the name "Nibiru", which I am told by Morenae in the Orion tongue means "divided amongst two". This is who they literally are - a cross between those from Sirius B and a race from the Orion system. They formed a new "tribe" which has continued to flourish for at least hundreds of thousands of years. So, they are a tribe that has become a race. Thoughts on the Nature of the Universe [LFA v 2, n.2, 1996] In the beginning, Earth was colonized by 22 E.T. races - 17 human, the rest insectual, botanical and reptilian. Land continents first supporting white race colonies were Mu and Poseidia. Atlantis sank 23,712 years ago. E.T.'s came fro mineral and natural resources, especially gold and borax. Terrians - Earth Sitchin's 5,000 - 6,000 years cataclysmic events - lost record. Our Universe is approximately 21 trillion years old. Earth is 7-1/2 billion years old. The conception that we have regarding the age of physicalness is not how more advanced beings or civilizations think or measure material that makes up our Universe, so I will explain to your the reader the concepts that I've been taught by the beings that have contacted me from the constellation of Andromeda. Our Universe consists of eleven primary dimensional levels or belts. Within these levels are 11 different levels or frequencies of sound and color. This is important to state because that which we perceive as the Universe is the last level of creation that is occurring i our present. In other words 4th density is our next level and within that vibration is 11 levels of matter and creation, and so on with all the other levels until we reach the 11th density and the last level of that density. Now in the creation of this Universe the more advanced civilizations state that the true beginning of this Universe starts with the thought conception of it. First there was the idea and then the word and then it became manifest into the many levels moving down the scale into physical matter that we call 3rd density. It is here that we, with our still limited sciences try to measure. Time and space to equal or validate our belief systems that focus most of the time on the physical realm. Accordingly, the sciences of some of the extraterrestrial civilizations state that our Universe is 21 trillion years old as we measure time which is not how they measure time. But, for the sake of all the readers I will state all measurements of time in Earth years. Using this conception or truth we are being asked to look at our home and ourselves in a different light. The beings which I shall refer to from this moment on as the 11, have stated that not all of the civilizations in space explain the truths the same way so I leave it to the reader to absorb and feel the information and trust your own wisdom. The physical creation of our Universe accordingly was 21 billion years ago. If this is the true nature of what our Universe is and how it works then we must come to realize that there is more to us also since we are connected to this process as well, on most levels if not all of them. It has been explained to me that our conception of the big bang theory is correct in its simplicity and that the idea of creation and evolution are correct also, so everyone is right and all of our present theories and evaluations are incomplete. The creation of our physical Universe occurred quite suddenly if we could have all been watching it. The 11 have said that on the 1st level of 4th density it was agreed to by the power of our thoughts to create a lower vibration of density. We were in fact very successful. In 4th density as this idea was given power 3 huge pockets were created and as soon as these pockets of energy could not hold any more light and all that we wanted to create was manifested, then these pockets of matter exploded into a void of space and time thus creating the magnificents that we see as our present home physical Universe. This is also the same process that we used to create the last level of the 11th density. This also explains why our science sees this Universe as a closed Universe. Because we have not created any levels of density below or lower than 3rd density. This is they lowest level of the dimensional ladder. From here everyone evolves up. The black holes are the windows from which the big bang explosions originally came from. They are portals to another dimension of Universe the Andromedans think. We the creators and the infants of the Isness, we all as a collective consciousness created it. All thought from all forms of spirits, both individually and those that are collective created this particular Universe. We all come from another Universe and/or thought dimensional plane. This dimensional plane is said to be on the 45th plane. Here we all joined to create another separate, but very different physical and spiritual density, as well as other density bodies that accompany any pure energy. Three large groups of souls, totaling on the trillions decided that they were going to leave the source and create. The Isness set up the rules for the experiment and we all had to agree to play by the rules. Not one soul was kidnapped or forced. Free will overrode any and all decisions. We gathered at our respective portal or black hole. Each portal had a significant position or path of evolution. The paths were different as per each soul. We all chose a different journey, we were separated into three groups. Those that were to remain in 4th density and evolve up. The 2nd group were those souls that were to be planets, moons, stars, suns, planets, animals, and other forms. The 3rd density group were those that were to be true carriers of the spirit in physical forms. This group had to begin, with the 2nd group and evolve to the 3rd density and up. This is not to be misunderstood with the idea that human beings or other conscious physical life forms are better than any other evolved life forms. Mankind could not exist if it were not for the efforts of the 1st and 2nd kingdoms. Each Universe is a living organism. Each Universe is in the mind of God (Isness) one living soul. The shaping of our Universe of history is unique in the vastness of time. Creational love and advancement, technology and happiness are second to none. But, because of our other polarity of fear which we agreed to experience, we also have gone to the extreme of war, hate, destruction and self-punishment. Fear is almost as powerful a creational force as love. Even though it is not real, real in the sense that your are truly threatened, you're not; not the real you. However, fear in its creational form is not free. It is very restrictive, controlling and destructive. I will begin to give some historic examples of this in our Universe. Lyrans The Lyrans are the original white Aryan Race and what is left of the Aryans is the Pleaidians and Andromedans. Birth of the humanoid race has all of the genetic DNA from this area. Ancient Lyrans were the Titans. The giants Bigfoot also descended from Lyrans. All life destroyed on Lyra and the ring Nebula eye Og God. Lyra consists of 14 inhabited planets, three planets were destroyed during the wars Bila, Teka and Merok. 50 million were slaughtered. Lyrans started the Black League. The Black Dragon. Lyrans grew into Sirian, Arcturian, Antarian, Pleaidian, Andromedan, Cignus Alphan, Alpha Centauri, Sagittarius A & B, Cassiopia, all human evolution. Based upon genetically human forms in higher realms and very highly evolved Universes, it was decided that many forms of life would be created here in Lyra because it appeared to be ideal as far as the age of the Suns and Planets and the length of probable stability. The human race would have time to evolve and create space exploration and gravitate by means of energy and spiritual recognition into planetary civilizations and that those races would in turn create there own root races and life. It was also important that these races be allowed to manifest and create different aspects of ourselves mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Thus we would be creating diversity and expressing our own need to create. As the human race fragmented, the races moved, traveled, and settled many different planets in many systems as space travel evolved. The human became aware of other planetary civilizations in theses systems. Different cultures meet and grew. Belief systems clashed or spread. New thoughts of Philosophy or technologies came into being. Mankind was evolving. A very strong social community developed between all in the Lyra System. The Lyrans were a very peaceful race on the whole. There were disagreements and light conflicts, but much was always cleared and resolved. The Lyrans learned to adapt to virtually all of the planetary environments that they settled. They learned to live in complete harmony with their respective planets. They developed agricultural communities that were literally awesome. They were not only efficient and could feed billions of beings, but it was actually enhancing the planet itself and creating an even wealthier environment. All aspects of life seem to benefit from the Lyran's commitment to be at one with their home planets. At the same time, the life expectancy was between 300 - 425 years on the average. This was to increase by 3 times later, but everyone worked as a community. They were not in service of self, but were a race that beat as one heart, and shared and moved in the same direction as a whole and would try to make sure that none of their race would lag or fall too far behind the whole. In other words, "The needs of the many, out weigh the needs of the few." They were an incredible role model for all humanity that followed to this present moment. The human race is history. the works of the mind are a record of that history, for the whole record of the human race is in one man. If you read these words then you are a part of Lyran heritage and a part of your carries this history within. The Pleaidians - The Seven Sisters The human species of Pleaidians evolved from Lyra. And they did develop effective weapons of war that helped sustain them through the Orion Wars and beyond. It has been said that the Pleaidians as we know then were Lyrans that came to Earth and then went to the Pleaides. Although some of the Lyrans that colonized her and our Earth for a time, a larger group of Lyrans went to the seven sisters and to other star systems during the Orion Wars. The Pleaidians are our far distant first cousins and ancestral forefathers of some of our races. The Pleaidians are also descendants of the Lyrans who came from Lyra in space stations or arks because of the your star systems and the potential for stable longevity. The Lyrans would send down scout teams consisting of scientists and engineers and agricultural specialists to explore the surface of possible habitable planets and to explore them and return data and information to the mothership. Each planet is explored and based upon its unique nature, the is developed and colonies are then sent down to settle. It is in this way that the Pleaidians are so interested in our world and our races here. They have been visiting Earth for at least 79,743 years, with many large settlements. They've just come and gone throughout our planets history. We are very similar in many ways to them, however, they are emotionally and spiritually more evolved than we at this time. But they too have gone through their growing pains, as we are going through them right now. They have made attempts to share with us the benefits of their experience. So we ourselves don't have to experience the same kinds of setback and possible destructions, but at present, not enough people are listening. The Pleaides is an open star cluster consisting of 254 stars and many times that planetary bodies. Many of the stars are very young. This is located in the constellation of Taurus. The Pleaidians and the alphabets of Earth are both very similar. This was noted as of about 11,157 years ago that the script form was developed here on Earth and carried back to the seven sisters. This script form is the parent of most of our present day alphabets. Three of the star systems have human life as we know it, the most advance is the system of Taygeta. And the other is the system of Taro which circles Alcyone. Most of the Pleaidians look like us in both size and stature, build, color of hair, etc. They are also very affluent and articulate when speaking any of our languages, or discussing our sciences, history, etc. We have inherited our aggressiveness towards each other from them. Their life spans far exceed our own by at least 10 times what is our norm. Their technology has made it possible to travel anywhere in our Universe at speeds faster than the speed of light. They are capable of using the oceans for undersea operations. They are very concerned about our misuse for our sciences today and that we have completely lost our spiritual center or harmony with our sciences. They have no use for money, politics and religions, clearly stating that the later two-politics and religions are really the same. The Pleaidians are worried as our most benevolent races visit, that we will destroy our planet and ourselves. All Earths languages are derived from a ancient Pre-Sumerian language called Tamil which was spoken in Lyra and in the Pleaides. The Pleaidians as well as other groups have left descendants on the Earth in the past. They have said they are willing to help us but not to the point of changing our own evolution and then therefore becoming responsible for us as a race. They say we create our own future as we go that we need to correct our own mistakes ourselves or suffer because of them. The Arcturians This group of beings settled in the constellation of Arcturius. These races of humanity are very private, and for very specific reasons do they get involved with Earth. They think of themselves as healers. They carry a strong pride of technology in the arts of physical healing, and emotional and spiritual bodies. They have been known to intervene in the ancient past to help resolve very serious conflicts in our area of the Universe by sharing their unique ability to show others how to integrate their belief systems and feelings to resolve conflict. They can be very silent, and can and will keep very much to themselves. They as a group, have done much to help raise the overall levels of consciousness in our Universe. At this time the Andromedans have added little more than this.

[preciousmetals0]

How Real World Use Cases Will Drive Crypto Growth in 2020

How Real World Use Cases Will Drive Crypto Growth in 2020:

As Bitcoin enters its twelfth year, the past eleven offer a meaningful amount of time to identify key trends that have emerged around cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. These trends provide insights that are helpful in projecting the future of the digital asset space and how it will take shape over the next decade.

In reflecting on the history of cryptocurrencies over their lifetime, there’s one pattern that immediately jumps out. Each successive wave of interest in the cryptocurrency space has been galvanized by new developments in the ecosystem. In particular, two significant catalysts were the rise of crypto exchanges and the initial coin offerings craze.

Rapid acceleration

These days, crypto users are spoilt for choice when it comes to exchanges, so it’s easy to overlook the seismic impact that these platforms had when they first emerged. Although Bitcoin launched in January 2009, it was over a year before Bitcoin Market — the first cryptocurrency exchange — opened its doors in February 2010. Other exchanges swiftly followed, including the now infamous Mt.Gox. It took less than eleven months from the opening of Bitcoin Market for Bitcoin to achieve parity with the United States dollar.

Fast-forward to 2016, Ethereum unleashed its ERC-20 token standard to the world, which quickly evolved into the 2017/2018 ICO boom. Whether people loved it or loathed it, the ICO craze was probably the biggest moment in the industry’s history. Once tech entrepreneurs became aware of how easy it is to create their own token, the blockchain scene — and the price of Bitcoin — exploded.

Related: ERC-20 Tokens, Explained

Even before Bitcoin hit its peak price of $20,000 in December 2017, there was talk of the ICO bubble bursting. In a nascent sector where so many companies claim to offer a unique value proposition that is often a carbon-copy of its peers, it’s inevitable that many of them would eventually fizzle out.

However, the crypto sector is unusual in that the value of the underlying technology is often perceived in line with market capitalization. Once the crypto winter hit, it hit hard. Once the crypto winter hit, it hit hard. As the prices remained low from the beginning of 2018 all the way until the spring of 2019, the perceived value of blockchain also went down, along with the value of the vast majority of tokens that had been issued during the boom. One study reported that less than half of the projects were still active a mere five months after their token sales.

Crypto cannot live by hype alone

Since the 2018 crash, it’s become increasingly evident that hype alone cannot sustain the industry. The vast majority of firms that promised to “revolutionize” existing industries through the introduction of a token have failed, leading to criticisms that blockchain is “a solution in search of a problem.”

Despite the critics, Bitcoin and many altcoins have survived well. But what’s clear is that many of the initiatives that survived the crypto winter did so by keeping their promise and offering a real-world use case. There are several examples that illustrate this point well.

Related: What’s Next for the Industry as ‘Crypto Winter’ Thaws?

Proving provenance

Supply chain was one sector where blockchain appeared to have a lot to offer, promising transparent proof of provenance from factory to end consumer. In mid-2019, Gartner reported that over 90% of blockchain-based supply chain projects were failing. This is allegedly because the technology was failing to live up to the hype.

However, there are several notable examples of multinational firms using blockchain in supply chain and logistics, indicating that the tech’s use case does indeed hold value. Maersk implemented its TradeLens blockchain solution in 2018, which now boasts 90 partners and was adopted by the Thai customs agency in August last year. Coca-Cola is another case in point, having expanded its pilot solution from two to 70 partners late last year.

Gaming

Gaming is another example of a use case where blockchain is adding real value. In-game assets are big business, with the virtual goods market worth over $50 billion. However, without blockchain, the assets themselves have no underlying value and are under the control of the game developers and publishers. Non-fungible tokens may well be set to transform the gaming sector, enabling users to take full ownership of one-of-a-kind assets, as pioneered by games like CryptoKitties.

There are other applications in the gaming sector. Royalty payments have been an ongoing challenge, with Microsoft Xbox developers working to resolve payment delays of up to 45 days due to difficulties in manual calculations and distribution. The company partnered with Ernst & Young to develop an automated, blockchain-based solution for its royalty payments, creating a more efficient, streamlined process.

Related: Gaming Is Key to the Mass Adoption of Crypto

Creating interest in interest

Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s been virtually impossible to earn decent returns from good, old-fashioned savings accounts. Now, interest-earning accounts for cryptocurrency are opening up new avenues of passive income that doesn’t involve pure speculation on the volatile crypto markets or an active investment strategy.

One of the most popular ways is lending, allowing holders to deposit their funds on a loan platform so other users can take a loan, providing interest to the lender. However, staking offers another way of generating returns, where proof-of-stake blockchains distribute the equivalent of mining rewards to network participants.

Regardless of which lending solution crypto holders opt for, the returns are generally far higher than one would get from placing funds into a traditional bank savings account. Of course, the risks may also be more significant, depending on the type of investment and the chosen platform.

Store of Value

The original use case of Bitcoin was as a store of value, and it remains one of the biggest growth drivers today. Over recent years and throughout the crypto winter, citizens in countries including Venezuela, Argentina and Iran have turned to Bitcoin as a means of protecting their wealth from the effects of hyperinflation. Global or political events may also have an impact on the appeal of cryptocurrencies as a store of value.

Related: Global Economic Crises Show Idea of BTC as Store of Value Catching On

The real-world use case of blockchain as a reprise from hyperinflation demonstrates the bridge being established between the emerging technology and a current economic problem.

Related: Is Bitcoin a Store of Value? Experts on BTC as Digital Gold

More room for improvement

Despite the progress, there is still plenty of room for improvement. In particular, the barrier to entry for new users remains a major issue for the cryptocurrency space. Even now in 2020, owning digital currency often still means navigating unfamiliar technologies and platforms. This can be off-putting to the less technologically capable users, however, organizations such as Skrill are working to eliminate the barriers to entering the crypto space.

Reputation is a separate challenge. In 2019 alone, there were 12 high-profile attacks on exchanges. Scams are also still all too common. It’s an unfortunate reality that the biggest stories about crypto tend to be scandalous, and therefore make headlines in the mainstream media. For example, the BBC’s Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, covering the disappearance of OneCoin’s Dr. Ruja Ignatova, was a major viral hit.

The reality is that for many people uninitiated to cryptocurrency, stories like this will probably form the basis of their perceptions.

Building the reputation of crypto

None of this is to detract from the efforts of key players in the industry to establish a more reliable reputation for cryptocurrency. Coinbase has always worked hard to hold itself up as an example of how exchanges can operate in compliance with regulators. It was the second company to win the coveted New York Bitlicense, followed by others such as Xapo and Bitstamp. In the United Kingdom, Kraken Futures operates under the supervision of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

However, the entry of existing reputable payment firms and banks into the crypto space is critical to increasing adoption among new crypto users. This serves several purposes.

Firstly, their entry creates a concrete link between the existing financial world and the new world of digital assets. As outlined above, creating a real-world bridge between any particular industry and blockchain is a proven recipe for success in the space of emerging technologies. Furthermore, reducing the barriers to entry for new users is critical if crypto is to attain widespread adoption.

A less tangible benefit — but one that is no less important — is to further bolster the reputability of cryptocurrencies among the uninitiated. This reputational problem can be solved by creating a bridge between established, trusted financial services and cryptocurrencies.

The eleven years since Bitcoin’s launch have been a rollercoaster ride for anyone involved in the space. But during that time, the token has grown from its cypherpunk roots to becoming a credible investment vehicle. Meanwhile, the potential of the underlying technology has only just started to make its mark on industry and the economy. Further removing the barriers to entry will go a long way toward allowing cryptocurrencies to settle into their niche among the existing financial infrastructure. Once that happens, widespread adoption should soon follow. 

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Lorenzo Pellegrino is the CEO of Skrill, Neteller and Income Access, at Paysafe Group. Prior to his current role, Lorenzo was the executive vice president for digital development at Optimal Payments plc from 2012 to 2015. Before joining Optimal Payments, he held executive level positions at Skrill (previously known as Moneybookers); first as vice president for sales and account management in the U.K., and then as vice president of business development in the U.S. Lorenzo earned his degree in public administration and international institutions management from Bocconi University, located in Milan. He also attended the University of Westminster in the U.K., where he completed a business English certificate and diploma, with a focus on marketing.

[goldira01]

As Bitcoin enters its twelfth year, the past eleven offer a meaningful amount of time to identify key trends that have emerged around cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. These trends provide insights that are helpful in projecting the future of the digital asset space and how it will take shape over the next decade.

In reflecting on the history of cryptocurrencies over their lifetime, there’s one pattern that immediately jumps out. Each successive wave of interest in the cryptocurrency space has been galvanized by new developments in the ecosystem. In particular, two significant catalysts were the rise of crypto exchanges and the initial coin offerings craze.

Rapid acceleration

These days, crypto users are spoilt for choice when it comes to exchanges, so it’s easy to overlook the seismic impact that these platforms had when they first emerged. Although Bitcoin launched in January 2009, it was over a year before Bitcoin Market — the first cryptocurrency exchange — opened its doors in February 2010. Other exchanges swiftly followed, including the now infamous Mt.Gox. It took less than eleven months from the opening of Bitcoin Market for Bitcoin to achieve parity with the United States dollar.

Fast-forward to 2016, Ethereum unleashed its ERC-20 token standard to the world, which quickly evolved into the 2017/2018 ICO boom. Whether people loved it or loathed it, the ICO craze was probably the biggest moment in the industry’s history. Once tech entrepreneurs became aware of how easy it is to create their own token, the blockchain scene — and the price of Bitcoin — exploded.

Related: ERC-20 Tokens, Explained

Even before Bitcoin hit its peak price of $20,000 in December 2017, there was talk of the ICO bubble bursting. In a nascent sector where so many companies claim to offer a unique value proposition that is often a carbon-copy of its peers, it’s inevitable that many of them would eventually fizzle out.

However, the crypto sector is unusual in that the value of the underlying technology is often perceived in line with market capitalization. Once the crypto winter hit, it hit hard. Once the crypto winter hit, it hit hard. As the prices remained low from the beginning of 2018 all the way until the spring of 2019, the perceived value of blockchain also went down, along with the value of the vast majority of tokens that had been issued during the boom. One study reported that less than half of the projects were still active a mere five months after their token sales.

Crypto cannot live by hype alone

Since the 2018 crash, it’s become increasingly evident that hype alone cannot sustain the industry. The vast majority of firms that promised to “revolutionize” existing industries through the introduction of a token have failed, leading to criticisms that blockchain is “a solution in search of a problem.”

Despite the critics, Bitcoin and many altcoins have survived well. But what’s clear is that many of the initiatives that survived the crypto winter did so by keeping their promise and offering a real-world use case. There are several examples that illustrate this point well.

Related: What’s Next for the Industry as ‘Crypto Winter’ Thaws?

Proving provenance

Supply chain was one sector where blockchain appeared to have a lot to offer, promising transparent proof of provenance from factory to end consumer. In mid-2019, Gartner reported that over 90% of blockchain-based supply chain projects were failing. This is allegedly because the technology was failing to live up to the hype.

However, there are several notable examples of multinational firms using blockchain in supply chain and logistics, indicating that the tech’s use case does indeed hold value. Maersk implemented its TradeLens blockchain solution in 2018, which now boasts 90 partners and was adopted by the Thai customs agency in August last year. Coca-Cola is another case in point, having expanded its pilot solution from two to 70 partners late last year.

Gaming

Gaming is another example of a use case where blockchain is adding real value. In-game assets are big business, with the virtual goods market worth over $50 billion. However, without blockchain, the assets themselves have no underlying value and are under the control of the game developers and publishers. Non-fungible tokens may well be set to transform the gaming sector, enabling users to take full ownership of one-of-a-kind assets, as pioneered by games like CryptoKitties.

There are other applications in the gaming sector. Royalty payments have been an ongoing challenge, with Microsoft Xbox developers working to resolve payment delays of up to 45 days due to difficulties in manual calculations and distribution. The company partnered with Ernst & Young to develop an automated, blockchain-based solution for its royalty payments, creating a more efficient, streamlined process.

Related: Gaming Is Key to the Mass Adoption of Crypto

Creating interest in interest

Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s been virtually impossible to earn decent returns from good, old-fashioned savings accounts. Now, interest-earning accounts for cryptocurrency are opening up new avenues of passive income that doesn’t involve pure speculation on the volatile crypto markets or an active investment strategy.

One of the most popular ways is lending, allowing holders to deposit their funds on a loan platform so other users can take a loan, providing interest to the lender. However, staking offers another way of generating returns, where proof-of-stake blockchains distribute the equivalent of mining rewards to network participants.

Regardless of which lending solution crypto holders opt for, the returns are generally far higher than one would get from placing funds into a traditional bank savings account. Of course, the risks may also be more significant, depending on the type of investment and the chosen platform.

Store of Value

The original use case of Bitcoin was as a store of value, and it remains one of the biggest growth drivers today. Over recent years and throughout the crypto winter, citizens in countries including Venezuela, Argentina and Iran have turned to Bitcoin as a means of protecting their wealth from the effects of hyperinflation. Global or political events may also have an impact on the appeal of cryptocurrencies as a store of value.

Related: Global Economic Crises Show Idea of BTC as Store of Value Catching On

The real-world use case of blockchain as a reprise from hyperinflation demonstrates the bridge being established between the emerging technology and a current economic problem.

Related: Is Bitcoin a Store of Value? Experts on BTC as Digital Gold

More room for improvement

Despite the progress, there is still plenty of room for improvement. In particular, the barrier to entry for new users remains a major issue for the cryptocurrency space. Even now in 2020, owning digital currency often still means navigating unfamiliar technologies and platforms. This can be off-putting to the less technologically capable users, however, organizations such as Skrill are working to eliminate the barriers to entering the crypto space.

Reputation is a separate challenge. In 2019 alone, there were 12 high-profile attacks on exchanges. Scams are also still all too common. It’s an unfortunate reality that the biggest stories about crypto tend to be scandalous, and therefore make headlines in the mainstream media. For example, the BBC’s Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, covering the disappearance of OneCoin’s Dr. Ruja Ignatova, was a major viral hit.

The reality is that for many people uninitiated to cryptocurrency, stories like this will probably form the basis of their perceptions.

Building the reputation of crypto

None of this is to detract from the efforts of key players in the industry to establish a more reliable reputation for cryptocurrency. Coinbase has always worked hard to hold itself up as an example of how exchanges can operate in compliance with regulators. It was the second company to win the coveted New York Bitlicense, followed by others such as Xapo and Bitstamp. In the United Kingdom, Kraken Futures operates under the supervision of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

However, the entry of existing reputable payment firms and banks into the crypto space is critical to increasing adoption among new crypto users. This serves several purposes.

Firstly, their entry creates a concrete link between the existing financial world and the new world of digital assets. As outlined above, creating a real-world bridge between any particular industry and blockchain is a proven recipe for success in the space of emerging technologies. Furthermore, reducing the barriers to entry for new users is critical if crypto is to attain widespread adoption.

A less tangible benefit — but one that is no less important — is to further bolster the reputability of cryptocurrencies among the uninitiated. This reputational problem can be solved by creating a bridge between established, trusted financial services and cryptocurrencies.

The eleven years since Bitcoin’s launch have been a rollercoaster ride for anyone involved in the space. But during that time, the token has grown from its cypherpunk roots to becoming a credible investment vehicle. Meanwhile, the potential of the underlying technology has only just started to make its mark on industry and the economy. Further removing the barriers to entry will go a long way toward allowing cryptocurrencies to settle into their niche among the existing financial infrastructure. Once that happens, widespread adoption should soon follow. 

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Lorenzo Pellegrino is the CEO of Skrill, Neteller and Income Access, at Paysafe Group. Prior to his current role, Lorenzo was the executive vice president for digital development at Optimal Payments plc from 2012 to 2015. Before joining Optimal Payments, he held executive level positions at Skrill (previously known as Moneybookers); first as vice president for sales and account management in the U.K., and then as vice president of business development in the U.S. Lorenzo earned his degree in public administration and international institutions management from Bocconi University, located in Milan. He also attended the University of Westminster in the U.K., where he completed a business English certificate and diploma, with a focus on marketing.

[workfromhom]

Zuckerberg on Chinese censorship: Is that the internet we want?

China is exporting its social values, political ads are an important part of free expression, and the definition of dangerous speech must be kept in check, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued today in a speech at Georgetown University.

He criticized how American companies that do business with China were becoming influenced by the country’s values. “While our services like WhatsApp are used by protestors and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy practices, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these same protests are censored, even here in the US!” Zuckerberg said. “Is that the Internet that we want?”

Because Facebook couldn’t come to an agreement with Chinese censors and thereby doesn’t operate in the nation, “Now, we have more freedom to speak out and stand up for the values that we believe in and fight for free expression around the world.” While he didn’t mention Apple, the NBA, and Blizzard who are amidst scandals about cowwing to Chinese policy, the shade thrown at them was clear.

Live from Georgetown — Standing For Voice and Free Expression.

Live from Georgetown — Standing For Voice and Free Expression.

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, October 17, 2019

Zuckerberg spoke today for 40 minutes at Georgetown University and then did a Q&A to share his thoughts on speech and “how we might address the challenges that more voice and the internet introduce, and the major threats to free expression around the world.” He discussed how “We want the progress of free expression without the tension” leading people to advocate for pulling back on free expression. “Where do you draw the line?”

Zuckerberg says that Facebook now has 35,000 people working on security, and the company’s security budget is higher now than the whole revenue of the company when it IPO’d, which was $5 billion in 2012. Facebook removes or downranks content that is objectively dangerous. Still, he says that he doesn’t want to “let the definition of what is dangerous expand beyond what’s absolutely necessary.”

Coining a new phrase, Zuckerberg noted that “People having the power to express themselves at scale is a new kind of force in the world — a Fifth Estate alongside the other power structures of society.”

Facebook should ban campaign ads. End the lies.

On allowing political ads on Facebook even if they carry misinformation, Zuckerberg argues that “political ads can be an important part of voice, especially for local candidates, up and coming challengers and advocacy groups that the media might not otherwise cover. That way they they can get their voice into the debate.” While that may be true, the same system allows whichever group or candidate has the most funding to dominate the narrative.

I recently argued that Facebook should drop all political ads until regulation to prevent their use to spread misinformation was passed. President Trump is spending more than many of his Democratic party rivals combined while using lies about them planning to remove the second amendment to raise money.

Still, Zuckerberg argues, “Banning political ads favors incumbents and whoever the media chooses to cover.” He did not address who spends the most or how Facebook could still offer free expression of candidates to their own followers even if it banned political ads. He essentially drew no distinction between freedom of speech and freedom of reach aka paid amplification through ads. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri echoed this sentiment, equating ads and speech, tweeting “I believe that people deserve to hear what politicians are saying and make up their own minds.”

This ignores how President Trump has spent $4.9 million on Facebook ads this year compared to $9.6 million spent by the 23 Democratic candidates combined, and that Trump had outspent them all put together as of March. Banning political ads wouldn’t prevent candidates from saying what they want and being judged, but it would stop richer candidates’ speech from having more weight.

Overall, Zuckerberg sounded more passionate and empathetic than in his recent testimonies on Capitol Hill. He seemed to take on some of the cadence and tone of former President Barack Obama, pitching up his voice to stress the urgency of challenges facing democracy. However, the speech format allowed Zuckerberg to avoid immediate pushback on his points, such as why political advertising favors challengers if it’s incumbents with the most money to spend. Zuckerberg did hold a Q&A after his speech, but the stream of that wasn’t broadcast from his Page like the prepared remarks, and he mostly reiterated points from the speech.

Zuckerberg drove home one important theme threaded throughout the talk, though. He attempted to link the idea of US companies potentially policing free expression to protect safety and elections with how China censors speech. And while other companies like the NBA and Blizzard that do significant business with the country try to downplay its influence, Zuckerberg spoke up about how the tentacles of China’s values are choking off speech far beyond its borders.

from Facebook – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2ps6r5u via IFTTT

[hellocheyenne-ashe]

The Online Influences Of Today

           The internet is a millennial. Officially born and released to the public in 1990 through the studies and efforts of  Tim Burners-Lee, this unfathomable idea of an untouchable “network of networks” (Andrews) had finally become a reality. As the host of our world’s most vast and fast-paced culture, no one could have predicted the extensive influence of the internet. As of today, it is one of the world’s most prevalent and important cultures shaping the radical behavior, trends and outlook of modern society.

           Despite growing from “738 million in 2000 to 3.2 billion in 2015…” (Davidson) the internet still retains a sense of community. Different social media platforms cater to different personalities but there are common threads that tie it all together, into one cohesive virtual civilization.  A civilization is based on and unified by its traditions and customs and the internet is no different. Defined majorly by around-the-clock contact and instant updates from anywhere in the world with access, communication no longer has borders.  Wi-fi culture has allowed this to be the most inclusive and boundless group of people yet. With translate buttons at our fingertips, language is no longer an insurmountable barrier.  Because language barriers are few and far between on the internet, everything from businesses to friendships flourishes.

           Cyberspace does come with its own vernacular, as does every enclave. The closest thing online dialects and communication can be compared to is abstract art and cave paintings. The slang used, the sarcastic humor and the images sent and received are all biased toward those who are aware of and relate to their context. For example, gifs are the tiny and pixelated images on a loop that move for just long enough to convey your point. If someone finds out that their friend has just been broken up with, a gif of a cat being scared and jumping straight up could convey the kind of shock that is being felt without actual dialogue or human involvement.

           Common slang includes the term ‘mood’, which tends to be connected to things sporadically and means “that object/event is something that can be identified with as an emotional feeling.” If one is having a bad day and sees a picture of a child who dropped his taco, one might respond with “Mood.” Another example would be one saying “There’s tea.” which would pertain to gossip or drama. Shortened words and acronyms such as omg, brb, btw, lmao, and af are also highly popular online. For most teenagers who have well developed online presences, including multiple social media profiles, their online vernacular tends to spill over into their daily language and life. One could bump into a trash can and say “Mood.” and one’s friends might respond with “Me too.” or “Same.” even though they did not physically bump into the trash can themselves.

           Internet culture would be incomplete without internet humor and some of it is quite complex. Lack of punctuation and proper capitalization is notorious among younger internet users, so when capital letters are used (see fig. 1) the context and tone are key to the delivery of what is being said. It is important to have the first sentence as a reference sentence so when the irregular capitalization is used in the second sentence it conveys a sense of mockery of what was originally being said, which is only amplified when paired with the photo below. Someone who was not aware of these unspoken grammar rules might see the same photo and only assume that Republicans have poor grammar.

           Other people are the biggest influence on  the internet. As opposed to the culture of a country or a city, the amount of people there are to be exposed to is almost impossible to comprehend. There are billions of people as far as the other side of the world, but also as close as just the other side of a cell phone screen. Everything is a tap, follow or like away. Online culture is having 134 million people check Instagram to see what Selena Gomez had for dinner during Fashion Week (Gomez).

           Food has created its own niche in social media and online platforms. Aesthetically pleasing food pictures are a core part of successful social profiles so much so that the visual aspect of food and marketability of their trendiness has flooded real world eateries. Starbucks previously launched a Unicorn Frappuccino because the pastel color scheme of the drink made it desirable for social media. In spite of its mediocre taste, people spent their money on it. Recent online food trends have also included the infusion of squid ink in food as an anti-pastel option, making the food of choice an abnormal black color instead. Squid ink is being included in ice creams, pancakes, doughnuts and spaghetti so far. This is just the beginning of wacky and wild food trends because food is a necessity and aesthetic is marketable.

           No culture is complete without honoring the ones that came before them and it is seen here through fashion. Vintage pieces become relevant and trendy again thanks to the supermodels posting their outfit of the day. Current online fashion is an art because it enforces the need to “…think nontraditionally and to be on the hunt for the next best thing” (Cummings). It is an homage to one’s parents and the trends that might have been decades prior. It is localized high fashion because getting dressed is now an art of expression. It is athletic but never sweaty, only sporty and coined as athleisure. The difference is crucial because to look too much like you actually just came from the gym would not be high fashion. The terms co-exist and serve as a balance for those who care enough to walk the line. Online is the new standard of style. Trendsetting is virtual, so fashion is the forefront.

           Following closely behind fashion, however, is dance trends. Upload a 30-second video of one’s dance moves and one might go viral. Trends like Whipping, Dabbing, or Juju On That Beat flood social networking sites, being retweeted and recreated again and again. These dances become so popular that they are almost universally recognizable in style and name.

           One of the most recognizable names on the internet is the folktale of Slenderman. Created via photoshop the original photo is a grainy black and white featuring Slenderman. He is characterized as having no face and abnormally long and stretched out limbs and causing death in numerous ways, shapes and forms but hardly by his own hand. The myth spread like a virus, “the legend had become so deeply embedded in the Web…that even its original creator, Victor Surge, couldn’t believe how much it had spread.” (Dewey)

In 2014, when two young girls from Wisconsin attacked their friend and left her for dead in the name of Slenderman, the world was shocked. Every town has a scary story, a boogie monster, but these girls truly believed in what they were seeing go viral. Their belief in him and his promises of immortality led them to attempt a sacrifice by stabbing their friend 17 times. The internet is not entirely to blame. It has been revealed that one of the attackers had early-onset schizophrenia. The girls were tried and convicted as adults. Most societies are susceptible to the darker influences at play, but none more so than the internet.

           The internet is something that has woven itself into almost every aspect of daily life. It is only logical that the behaviors and culture that are experienced on the World Wide Web would eventually bleed into real world societies. The integration and immersive qualities of the internet only further the proof that human bonds have no limits. When limits are broken radically like so, human kind is blessed with a new complex and inclusive culture unlike before. Everyone has a place on the internet, because people are what define human culture.

- Cheyenne Ashe 

[2k18leo]

“Did you just kiss me?”

“So, you think you’ll go through with it tonight?” April asked you with a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle. The two of you were heading up the elevator of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. It was already past nightfall on New Years Eve and you were both lugging around big boxes of various fireworks to the roof, where you would later meet up with the turtles.

A warm, pink glow flashed across your cheeks as your eyes glanced to hers and then straight down to the floor. Letting out a little wry chuckle, you stammered, “I-I don’t know. I mean, all you guys are gonna be there and--” She cut you off,

“Girl,” she let out a groan, “So what? It’s New Years!” She straightened her glasses with her cheek while shrugging her shoulders. Her hands were placed in their usual spot, within the pockets of her bright yellow-green sweatshirt. “We’re literally gonna have the best seats in the city. It’ll be perfect!”

“What if he… rejects me?” You say in a joking way to help keep the mood light, but deep down that question has been burning inside you for so long.

April let out a hearty laugh, her shoulders twitching rhythmically, “Don’t be crazy. He would never.”

“But what if—” you began.

“But nothing, hon.” She cut you off, smiling, “Trust me. I know him. I know all of them. We’ve been friends since I was, what, eleven? You gon’ be just fine.”

April has known the boys for a much longer time than you have. You’ve only been friends with them for maybe a little over half a year? Maybe April did know what she was talking about… you hope.

The elevator finally came to a halt at the top floor and the both of you carried the boxes of fireworks out and down the hall to a fire escape exit. There, the two of you carefully climbed the rest of the way to the rooftop.

The crisp air hit you right away, blowing your hair out of your face and back behind you. And the lights. Wow. You never, ever seemed to get tired of this view. It was breathtaking, to say the least. An image could never entirely capture the beauty of that skyline. Billions of shimmering lights dazzled beneath you to miles ahead of you. But this, Times Square, there’s just nothing like it. Millions of people were crowded together at the base of the hotel, all clamoring, laughing, and continuously waiting for the big ball to eventually drop, marking a new year.

“Ayyeee, there’s my favorite girls!” You heard that familiar voice behind you. Turning around, you recognized the blue-clad turtle with the shit-eating grin, followed by his three brothers who were leaping up from the side of the building. Of course, Leo’s presence made a slight pink glow across your cheeks. Out of the corner of your eye you see April giving a smirk in your direction as she eyed the two of you. Leo was oblivious to the expressions between the both of you as you shot her a warning glance. The turtle’s mask tails lightly flapped in the wind as he made his way over to the boxes of fireworks.

“Ho-ho yeah! Let’s see what we got!” He rummaged through the boxes with Mikey when you heard Raph set down a large watercooler on the other side of you. He tossed you a soda in a koozie, which you gratefully accepted, and then one to April and another to Donnie. The purple-clad, who was tinkering on his bo staff to make sure the flame thrower worked, as well as the fire extinguisher, caught the soda without even glancing away from his weapon.

“How you been, Shorty?” said Raph, shutting the cooler after getting himself a soda, then using the cooler as a seat.

You answered, completely used to that nickname he had coined for you, “Great! Bit chilly, but what else is new, y’know?” You shrugged your shoulders in your big wool and polyester coat. The weather was even harsher on the roof of this building. “Still job hunting, so that’s a drag.”

“Ah, well,” said the snapping turtle, raising his soda can in your direction, “To a new year and a new job.” And everyone chimed in to repeat the phrase, wishing you good luck. An appreciative smile took a new expression upon your face as you raised your drink as well.

A short time passed and it was about seven minutes to midnight; you were mingling with Donnie and Raph about random topics. Mikey has been deejaying in the middle of the roof. You guys were sitting on the edge of the building, overlooking the crowd. You three were currently discussing where you would each like to travel and why.  You could hear April howling with laughter from somewhere behind you, probably at some wise-crack Mikey or Leo made.

You kept a close eye on your phone to check the time. The closer it got to midnight, the more nerves scattered themselves inside your body. You were really trying hard to listen to Donnie explain how the pyramids of Egypt would be such a fascinating travel location because of all the myths saying that aliens created them or something, but your mind was just mostly focusing on a completely other topic. Leo.

While subconsciously nodding along to Donnie’s story, now off on some tangent about wheatfields, you were straining your ears just to hear Leo’s voice, or even his laugh, behind you. It was such an attracting sound. So sweet. Like honey attracts bees. And you, of course, were the bee. Gah, were you even going to have the balls to pull this off tonight? Every feeling inside of you was either rooting for it to happen or for you to back out and play it safe. Now normally, you weren’t a risk taker, but this was gonna be different. When that ball dropped, you were gonna change that part of yourself. This is the time to try new things, after all. Ugh. Why does this have to be so difficult?

“Yo, y/n!” Leo’s voice chimed, calling to you, “Hey, come look at what we’ve set up. D, bring your torch!”

You got up, followed by Donnie, and walked up to the other three who were gesturing to the fireworks they had laid out in such a specific pattern. Raph stayed behind to alert the rest of you when the time comes. Four minutes to midnight. The crowd’s cheering grew slightly louder as the time passed.

“Alrighty, so you got your standard Peony shells,” Mikey pointed at a few rather large firework casings, “Some Chrysanthemums, a few Willows, a Diadem, which I’m more than pumped more, your Palms, Horse Tails, and Rings. And as for the smaller stuff, we got Roman Candles, Fountains, Firecrackers, Sparklers, Smoke Bombs, and some Ground Spinners. So, I’ll definitely be the first to say, you girls hit the jackpot!”

Directly after April first bumped you proudly, Leo nudged your shoulder in an approving way. You smiled up at him, praying that he couldn’t see the blush on your face. He smiled back and you couldn’t tell if he gave you a wink or not, the moment passed too quick. Okay, two minutes to midnight.

“Aye, the ball’s about to drop.” Raph called to us, “C’mon, let’s go!”

You all made your way back over to the edge of the building, hanging your legs over the edge. You sat by Mikey, who plopped himself in between you and April, and Leo made his seat on the other side of you. Something in your heart did a tiny dance and you couldn’t help but smile. Not just about the fact that Leo was sitting next to you, but about the whole scene. Times Square, the crowd of millions of people beneath your feet, you literally dangling your feet off the edge of the rooftop of a towering hotel, your closest friends in the world by your side. Honestly, what could top this?

There it went, the chrome ball that everyone had their eyes on, slowly falling every second. The swarm of people below you started chanting, “SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR…”

You and the gang joined in, “THREE… TWO… ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Loud cheers and screams echoed all around you. Mikey spun his flaming kusari-fundo around above his head in a celebratory twirl, making you laugh. You turned to your other side to finally do it. You were going to kiss Leo. This was it. Your body felt so light. A huge smile was across your face as you turned to face him. But before you could even act on anything, his hands were latched to your cheeks with his lips pressed against yours. Wait. He kissed you?! Immediately, Mikey said exactly what you were thinking,

“Omigosh!”

April laughed at Mikey’s reaction as you flooded out all noise around you. So, this is what it was like… kissing him. Wow. You couldn’t believe your senses. The only thing that made you pull away was a thundering BOOM that erupted above you. Once you realized it was only Donnie who had set off the first of the fireworks, you looked back to Leo who was smiling wildly at you.

You smiled back and then realization hit you a second time, “D-Did you just kiss me?”

His expression faltered a little bit. Was that disappointment in your voice? But he nodded back with a smaller smile. Your eyes lit up as another firework went off above the roof. Without warning, you practically threw yourself on him, kissing him again.

Behind you, Mikey turned to April, “Did you see—?”

April nodded in a smug fashion, “Yeah, she planned for it.”

“Obviously, he did, too,” said Raph, chuckling.

The rest of the night was spent with laughter and shimmering lights followed by booming sounds. Leo had his arm around you most of the time, when he wasn’t trying to do some reckless tricks over the fountain fireworks, of course. Mikey was trying out some moves with his kusari-fundo by trying to light multiple fireworks at once. Donnie was ready with the fire extinguisher application wired into his staff. Raph and April were having a Roman Candle fight and laughing when Leo got hit with one of the blasts. When you checked to see if he was alright, trying to stifle the laughter that was bubbling inside you, he gave you a reassuring wink and kissed you on the forehead before lighting a Roman Candle himself to chase Raph with. Was it always this easy? Why did you believe things had to be so complicated? He liked you back. After months of overthinking things, he actually liked you back. What a wonderful start to the year.

[kenisu]

DuckTales turns 30 on the 18th of this month, and a friend of mine, Jason Schlierman of DAF Radio, wanted a banner for his Facebook group, so I went full Don Rosa and illustrated a collage of some of the most memorable Duck stories (except, unlike Rosa, I'm focusing on the animated series)! Starting with the left margin... TOP ROW, left to right: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝘀' 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘁. Seen in various episodes, but depicted here is its appearance in "The Money Vanishes", after the Beagles teleport Scrooge's entire vault contents their way with the use of a special ray gun. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝘀. Namely, Bigtime, Burger and Bouncer, the typical "Big Three" players in most episodes featuring the Beagles. Bigtime is holding the ray gun from the aforementioned episode. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘹 (the rocketship from "Where No Duck Has Gone Before"). Scrooge visited the studio of the kids' favorite sci-fi TV series, "Courage of the Cosmos", and told Gyro to build a new set for it, making the spaceship "as real as it can be". Well, to everyone's shock, the 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘹 actually blasts off during the big unveiling, with Courage and the kids inside - Gyro DID make it real! 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱'𝘀 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿. Donald spends most of the series in the Navy, but a small handful of first season episodes do feature him, and when he does pop his head in, you can usually bet the aircraft carrier he serves on will at least make an appearance as well. 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸. Here he is in his Navy outfit, running away from the Beagle Boys (Bigtime is pointing the teleporter ray gun at him). No such scenario occurred in the series, but I wanted the characters to interact with each other amongst the margins. SECOND ROW: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼��𝗼𝘀𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀, from "Home Sweet Homer". This is one of those classic episodes that immediately comes to mind when someone thinks of DuckTales. It sort of retells the story of the Odyssey (with tons of creative license, of course), except that it takes place AFTER Ulysses has made his voyage, and his "nephew" Homer is the stand-in character. The Ducks, in a sailboat, approach a cleft between two cliffs, only to have a magical tornado sweep them up and send them back to Homer's time. They sail into the cleft, but the sorceress Circe uses her magic to move the cliffs together in an attempt to squash the Ducks. This causes the Colossus statue, which stands with its legs splayed apart, either leg to a cliff, to crumble away until only its feet remain, making clear why that's all that's left of it in Scrooge's time. I remember, when I was in 9th grade, the English class I was in actually watched this episode on its old laserdisc, when we were studying the Odyssey (though I did nudge the teacher a little into that decision). And when _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ came out in theaters, I immediately thought of this DuckTales episode during the Argonath scene (I hadn't yet read LOTR, so it was new to me). Now that I think about it, I wonder if the Argonath inspired the writer of "Home Sweet Homer" to some extent? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀, again from "Home Sweet Homer". How could I make a reference to that episode without also referencing what I still maintain is the scariest scene in all of DuckTales? (Though I guess the fake Scrooge and fake nephews from "Nothing to Fear" are a close second.) This version of the Sirens is terrifying to me. They come across as beautiful female ducks... except... you can tell from the get-go something's wrong with them. Never mind their croaky singing voices; the fact that they're packed up to their heads in what looks like purple mud, with no visible limbs (evoking some grotesque parody of a Pez Dispenser), and that they sway creepily as they sing, makes the whole package VERY Uncanny Valley. When Scrooge is lured to their island, a gigantic ogre-like head with arms and a massive gaping mouth emerges from the mud beneath the Sirens, and we see it's all one hideous creature. To be honest, I think the over-the-top mud monster does take some of the bite out of the subtlety of the horror of seeing the Sirens by themselves and knowing there's something wrong but not knowing what that is, but five-year-old me would probably beg to differ. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗹. The very last episode (technically, two episodes) of DuckTales involved a golden idol in the shape of a goose that gave Scrooge the Midas Touch. The Beagle Boys stole it for Flintheart Glomgold, and after a big struggle in Part Two over ownership of it, it transformed into a live goose, going on a wild spree transforming everything in sight into gold. Eventually the Goose shed its gold coating, and this is where things got epic. The gold it shed onto the ground began to spread, covering all of Duckburg and continuing on to the rest of the world. In order to reverse this process, Scrooge and his few remaining allies had to return the Goose to the fountain it came from, in a monastery in Barkladesh, before the entire planet was lost. There's a particularly memorable space-view shot of the earth as the gold creeps over its surface (so much for the Blue Marble), and I knew I had to depict that in this picture. 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 (Scrooge's butler), and 𝗕𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗲. In "Pearl of Wisdom", Huey, Dewey and Louie race through a hallway toward their room, to gather their marble collection together for a big tournament. They jostle a stand on the way, knocking a vase off and into Duckworth's hand (Duckworth's expression doesn't change). Then, Webby comes tearing through after the boys, bumping into a second stand with a duck bust, which Duckworth catches with his foot (again, without changing expression). It's one of Duckworth's funnier moments, and I really think he doesn't get enough credit. "Duckworth's Revolt", for instance, is one of the best episodes of the series, and he certainly deserved more than just that one focusing on him. Of course, here I change the reckless character from the usual kids to Bubba the Caveduck and his pet triceratops Tootsie. Bubba takes a lot of flak from critics, and he too I think wasn't nearly as bad of a character as some claim. Heck, I remember just being thrilled at his debut episode, "Time is Money", and sure that had a lot to do with the fact that it was the first new DuckTales episode in nearly a year (an eternity to a six-year-old), but it's actually a really touching story, and Ron Jones really brings that out in the hefty handful of new music score cues he composed for it. There's also the episode "Bubba's Big Brainstorm", which for all its flaws contains an adventure I love it to pieces for. I don't care if you think I have bad taste. THIRD ROW: 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗱𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿. Here he is freaked out by the fact that Magica has Scrooge's Number One Dime, evoking the plot of "Dime Enough for Luck", except that the manner in which she's procured it suggests "Magica's Shadow War". I fudged a bit here and depicted her shadow in its "super" form, which it takes on after it casts a spell to be freed from the flesh-and-blood Magica, even though here it's obviously still "attached". Magica's shadow could only grab the shadows of things and not the things themselves (though these objects would float through the air to keep up with their shadows), so here it grasps the shadow of the Dime's glass case. This is another great episode, and the original script is even online for us all to read. Check it out! It's awesome to see everything that didn't make the cut (spoiler: there's a scene where Scrooge and the kids cut through a department store to escape the shadows). And as for Gladstone, he was hypnotized in "Dime Enough" into handing over the Dime to Magica (side note: again, going back to LOTR, Magica actually makes a One Ring reference once she's back in her lair with the coin: "One Dime to Rule Them All", she cackles). Gladstone's character is notorious in DuckTales, because while his classic infuriating luck is there, he doesn't have the kind of gloating personality his creator Carl Barks gave him in the comics (Well, sort of. We do get a quick glimpse of what he's REALLY supposed to be like when he loses his luck and says: "I'll have to get a JOB like normal people!"). If you only watched the cartoon, you'd never know Gladstone was created to be unlikable, as he constantly makes his cousin Donald hate life by winning every contest he enters and rubbing in the fact that he never has to lift a finger to earn his next meal. This is exactly the impression I had of him as a kid, where the only Barks story I read in my youth that had Gladstone in it was "The Billion Dollar Safari", and there isn't much in that tale to indicate I should hate this character with every fiber of my being. 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗲. Magica is my favorite recurring villain in both the DuckTales episodes and the Barks comics, and I think it's a shame that she only gets one more episode once season two starts up, and even then it probably only featured her because she was in the Barks story it was a direct adaptation of. Seasons three and four are quite inundated with Flintheart plus-or-minus Beagle Boys episodes, and it does grate on one's endurance after a while. As for Poe, he's actually Magica's brother turned into a raven. We never see what he looked like before the transformation, but supposedly if Magica successfully melts the Number One Dime into her amulet, it'll give her enough power to turn Poe back into his old self. This is a bit of a contrast against Magica's raven in the comics, Ratface, who was in fact an actual raven. Kinda reminds me of the different takes on Splinter between Ninja Turtles comics canon and 1987 cartoon canon. 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗩𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘃𝗶𝘂𝘀. Magica's lair. In the comics she lived in a small hut on the slopes of the historical Mt. Vesuvius in Italy (usually these exterior shots have lots of inkwashed surfaces/sharp relief for atmosphere!), but in DuckTales she lived IN the volcano itself (which for some reason was isolated in the middle of the ocean), and Vesuvius was even shaped like her head. I was beyond thrilled when WayForward turned the final stage of DuckTales: Remastered into Mt. Vesuvius, it was so perfect. CENTERPIECE: That's the 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 on the top left, the 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗻 on the top right, and on the bottom, the 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, "Treasure of the Golden Suns". After Scrooge makes the mistake of opening all three doors in the vine-strewn temple, the giant discs lining the valley catch the rays of the sun and reflect off of each other to trigger the valley's final, horrifying trap: the molten gold deep in the temple's well rises to melt the temple and leave the Ducks stranded on the roof, seconds away from their doom, before Launchpad shows up in the nick of time. Again, I must tip my hat to Ron Jones, because the music in this scene is incredible, to match the visuals. Now, the right margin... TOP ROW, left to right: 𝗚𝘆𝗿𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗿/𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗹𝗯. They're sitting inside the Time Tub, which Gyro invented in "Sir Gyro de Gearloose" to escape the drudgery of always having to be the Mr. Fix-It (or "Gadget Man") of Duckburg. Most probably recognize this episode as the source of the shot in the opening sequence on the lyric "...or rewrite history!" The Time Tub also made an appearance in "Time Teasers". 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗸, from the episode of the same name. The face behind the mask is that of Count Roy, an old friend of Scrooge's, whose twin brother Ray overthrew his rule and cast him in prison wearing the mask. 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗲. In the flashback scene in "Back to the Klondike", this is how Scrooge first sees his main love interest, on a stage in a saloon, sitting on a swing while singing a song about her love of gold nuggets. SECOND ROW: 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘆. She's knitting the colorful scarf that would go to Skiddles the penguin in "Treasure of the Golden Suns, part 4". (Maybe I should have had her brandishing a tuning fork?) The 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿 from "Raiders of the Lost Harp". DuckTales just can't get any more vintage than a chilling reveal of a giant statue early in an episode, then the statue coming to life once the treasure it protects is stolen, and spending the rest of the episode pursuing the thief. Scary stuff for a five-year-old, and still pretty effective for an adult, too! 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻𝗲 from "Sphinx for the Memories". Specifically, the iconic scene of the crescent moon lining up behind the sphinx, a beam of light passing from the head decoration to a similar decoration worn by Donald, to complete the possession of Donald by the ancient spirit. I know I already showed Donald on the left margin, but I figured I could cheat for a scene as epic creepy as this. THIRD ROW: 𝗚𝗶𝗶𝗶~𝗶𝘇𝗺𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗸! Man, the introduction of Fenton Crackshell to the series may have taken some of the wind out of Launchpad's sails when it came to the role of the "heroic" character, but Gizmoduck is too awesome for me to have wanted it any other way. His debut story, "Super DuckTales", was just a blast all around. Blathering blatherskite! 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹, an uncannily talented door-to-door salesman. This is a DuckTales-exclusive character from "Much Ado About Scrooge", the story of a race to uncover the lost play of William Drakespeare (that's the play Brushbill is holding under his arm). The late, great Chris Barat speculated Brushbill was, in the early draft stages, intended to be Gladstone in his debut episode, and I think he was right - after all, Brushbill does exhibit the obnoxious personality traits one would expect from Gladstone, and has the right kind of voice, to boot. 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱. I know it's probably hard to tell since I drew him so small here, but he's eating his hat - holding up his end of the deal from "Treasure of the Golden Suns, part 2". I designed the margin this way to suggest a character interaction: Filler Brushbill is running away, play in hand, from a frustrated Glomgold, only to be stopped by Gizmoduck. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗰𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗰𝗗𝘂𝗰𝗸. "The Curse of Castle McDuck" is my favorite self-contained DuckTales episode (as opposed to the multi-part arcs). Scrooge takes the kids to visit his chilhood cottage in Scotland, only to discover that his ancestors' castle across the stream is haunted by a bloodthirsty hound, and occupied by druids. While Scrooge and the boys set traps for the druids, Webby ends up separated from the others and wanders into a misty forest behind the castle. The others look for her and, in the forest, find themselves confronted by the hound. Just a GREAT spooky atmosphere all around, helped marvelously along by, yes, the music - in this case, there are a number of electronic cues that lend a truly surreal and dreamlike feel to this tale. FOURTH ROW: The 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 roll toward a pillar to smack against it in competition for the Great Games. This depicts "Earth Quack", an adaptation of Barks's "Land Beneath the Ground". I was terrified of earthquakes as a kid (even though I've always lived in areas not particularly susceptible to them - but then, maybe never experiencing any made the fear worse), and I've always suspected it was this very episode that introduced me to the concept of earthquakes. FIFTH ROW: 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗳𝘂𝘀 in the orange helicopter. And, if you can't tell, that's the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook Doofus is holding. Doofus is another character that got the shaft post-season one. Some people were happy about that, but he really never bothered me, even in his biggest moments of overbearing hero-worship of Launchpad. 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴, from the episode of the same name. Gyro invents a robot that can outperform Launchpad at seemingly any task Scrooge can give him, but Armstrong eventually turns on the family and becomes bent on world domination, and it's up to Launchpad to stop him. It's a nice, solid episode, and I gotta mention the music again, as this was actually Ron Jones's audition for DuckTales composer, and you can tell he really gave it his all. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗹. These two actually never interacted, being from two completely separate episodes ("Double-O-Duck" and "Spies in Their Eyes", respectively), but as both episodes were spy-themed, I thought it appropriate to have them teamed up here in a sort of "Charlie's Angels" pose. Except their weapons aren't guns. Instead, Feathers is wielding her tube of poison lipstick, and Cinnamon is sort of gesturing toward her hypnotic eyes. Anyway, there are loads of other episodes and characters I could have included, but only so much can fit inside Facebook banner size specifications. I hope I properly captured the better part of what makes DuckTales so iconic! #DuckTales30

[lets-talk-about-politics]

What the Hell is Wrong with the Republican Party?

Table of Contents: 

The State of the Republican Party

The “Southern Strategy” and the “Silent Majority”

The “Religious Right”, the “Prosperity Gospel”, and Religious Crusade

The Rise of Conservative Media

A Radicalized and Obstructionist GOP Congress

Donald Trump and the Populist Rebellion

How Do We Save the Republican Party?

Preface 

This article is a very, very cursory overview of the history that I’m discussing. Each of the sections in this article could be a PhD dissertation. I’m essentially fitting 55 years of history into 4,000 words, and in doing so, I’m simplifying things quite a bit. But I stand by my depiction of the events themselves, as well as my analysis of those events. So give it a read, click on some of the links for further reading, and do some research of your own. The purpose of this article isn’t to demean or to vilify, it’s to instruct. And we’re going to need to sit down, read opposing perspectives, and do some analysis in order to move the country away from illiberalism and towards a more true democracy.

The State of the Republican Party

If you were to ask a Republican today what conservatism is, they would probably give you some version of the Reagan-era doctrine: respect for traditional social values, liberty above all, free trade, free market, private ownership, etc.

But that doesn’t really exist anymore.

Sure, some Republicans pretend that it does. Paul Ryan’s health care bill is an extreme version of Reagan-era conservatism: cut entitlement programs, cut taxes on the rich to stimulate economic growth, etc. But Paul Ryan isn’t the Republican Party. Neither is Mitch McConnell. Neither is Mike Pence. The country doesn’t really want them anymore. They’re desperately holding onto an idea that has been rejected by the American people, even by the base that they’ve tenuously held onto, though that hold has been slipping and continues to slip to this day.

Case in point: 

The AHCA, Paul Ryan’s health care bill, had only 21% approval when it passed. 64% of voters like the Affordable Care Act’s protections for pre-existing conditions, something that many conservatives hate.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 63% of Americans believe upper-income Americans pay too little in taxes, while 67% of Americans believe that corporations pay too little in taxes. Meanwhile, only 14% of Americans believe that lower-income Americans pay too little, down from 24% five years ago. Tax cuts for the rich and increased spending for the poor is a major component of the Republican Party’s agenda, and most Americans want nothing to do with it.

Republicans’ social agenda is, for the most part, widely unpopular as well. According to a recent Gallup poll, 64% of Americans support same-sex marriage being legal, with 47% of Republicans believing that as well. 

It should be noted that all of these numbers are only going to get worse over time. Americans are increasingly adopting the view that things like same-sex marriage should be legal, that rich people should pay more taxes, and that health care should be more comprehensive and more universal.

So, with that in mind, why are Republicans clinging to this dying agenda like their lives depend on it? Why would they be so desperate to push through that agenda that they are willing to support Donald Trump, a sexual predator who is now under investigation for colluding with Russia during the election, a man who has now almost certainly committed obstruction of justice? Do they really believe that lying about their agenda, which they have shamelessly done with the AHCA, will really work once the full effects of their agenda hits their voter base?

What the hell is wrong with them? Let’s take a look. 

The “Southern Strategy” and the “Silent Majority”

The Republican Party wasn’t always like this. It was a backlash to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s that really ushered in this modern shift. Barry Goldwater believed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was unconstitutional, thought that the federal government shouldn’t have the authority to force states to comply with a definition of racial equality, and with that, he welcomed in southern segregationists where they were previously distanced from the party.

Black voters clearly received the message. Around 60% of black voters were Democrats in 1960; around 90% of black voters were Democrats in 1968. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party completely lost the South after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and have never won it back since. A decision to cross the rubicon and let in the violence and the vitriol associated with segregationist attitudes remade the Republican Party because they began to see what they could do with it. Even if Goldwater didn’t believe in the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act because of federal overreach instead of a personal segregationist attitude, it didn’t matter. Playing off of the fear of change and the fear of the “other” has its advantages, namely, that there are more scared white voters than there are black voters.

They continued to capitalize on this strategy with Nixon’s campaign and his famous coining of the phrase “silent majority”. When he used that phrase in his famous 1969 speech, he wasn’t explicitly calling on white voters, but the “silent majority” was the antithesis to the “vocal minority” protesting Vietnam and other Nixon-era policies in the streets. The silent majority were those white people afraid of change, afraid of a future where the women’s rights movement and the Black Panthers and changing social norms made them somehow irrelevant and wrong.

But, of course, he didn’t come out and explicitly say “white people”, just as he didn’t explicitly say that his war on drugs was purposed to target black people and “hippies”. He was able to code racial rhetoric, using “dog whistle” phrases to remain “respectable’ while still winking at the fear and the violent anger of white people horrified at the notion of change.

This tactic has been employed over and over again, with Reagan as shown in Atwater’s infamous interview in 1981, with George H.W. Bush as shown in his Willie Horton campaign ad in 1988, with Ailes and the racist programming of Fox News, and with Donald Trump’s violent nativism and depiction of “inner cities” as eviscerated by “American Carnage”.

The rhetoric has only gotten more and more vicious, more and more violent, and has disconnected the Republican Party further and further from today’s reality. It has seeped into and infected almost every facet of conservatism and the Republican Party. Goldwater’s “Southern Strategy” and its use by Nixon really paved the way for Donald Trump today.

The “Religious Right”, the “Prosperity Gospel”, and Religious Crusade

Both political parties have been infused with Christian rhetoric for a long, long time, but it was Ronald Reagan that supercharged the Republican Party with evangelical Christianity. In the 1980 election, he very publicly aligned himself with the religious right and the Moral Majority, giving members from the Moral Majority speaking spots at the GOP conventions and positions as advisors to his campaign. He drastically modulated his tone as well, advocating “God in the classroom” as he referred to classroom prayer, expressing doubts about the theory of evolution, and asserting that the separation of church and state was unnecessary, as religious values should be allowed in government. He also openly embraced the “Southern Strategy”, beginning his campaign in the heart of Mississippi, declaring that he “believed in states’ rights”, a refrain used to justify regressive policy and a classic falsity about why the Civil War occurred. 

The policy implications of the merger between Reagan and the Moral Majority cut deep into his presidency. His reaction (or non-reaction) to the AIDS crisis was unconscionable, as it reeked of homophobia and essentially let a generation of homosexual men die from disease. He opposed not only LGBTQ rights, but welcomed in the racism of the Southern Strategy by also opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965. This kind of racism was clearly evident in his renewed dedication to the War on Drugs, as he signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, where he created mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses, paving the way to the mass incarceration of black people and the new Jim Crow.

The prosperity gospel, a strain of Christian thought that taught that God favors those with wealth, bled into conservative ideology, as evidenced by increasingly draconian economic policy (trickle-down economics). The wedding of the prosperity gospel and conservative ideology has deep implications to this day, as some who voted for the AHCA have voiced that poor people should simply live good lives like healthy people, and many conservatives value “personal responsibility” over all else.

The issue with this isn’t just that it produced bad policy, but also that it paved the way for candidates that infused politics and political crises with a deadly amount of religion. George W. Bush considered his doctrine “compassionate conservatism”, and to an extent, that was accurate. His AIDS initiative, where he funneled billions of dollars into helping those suffering from the disease in Africa, was extraordinarily compassionate. But part of what pushed him to commit as heavily as he did to the Iraq War was his born-again, evangelical Christianity.

George W. Bush was a deeply religious man, born again as an evangelical Christian in 1985. He brought that into his presidency, his staff expected to attend daily prayer meetings, religion laced into many of his speeches. After 9/11, he believed that he was undertaking a crusade to rid the world of evil and bring the beauty of democracy to countries that need it. That definition, painting the enemy as a force of evil, an “axis of evil”, paved the way for the atrocities that were committed during the Iraq War, the horrors at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay. If religion can be a way to better the lives of others, a way to emphasize “compassionate conservatism”, it can also be a way to justify making others’ lives a living hell, torturing them because they are the embodiment of evil.

And supercharging conservatism with religion as a method of justification, as a method to convince conservatives that some are worthy of humanity while others are not, led to the rise of Donald Trump. 

The Rise of Conservative Media

With Roger Ailes’ death recently, there has been a lot of soul-searching among conservatives, where they pontificate on how Roger Ailes has been revolutionary, but destructive. And that’s true. Roger Ailes’ media empire has created an enormous amount of influence and has transformed conservatism as we know it. But conservative media existed before Roger Ailes, and the conservative media outlets that spawned from the mainstreaming of conservative news have been far more vitriolic and hateful than Fox News.

Magazines and media outlets such as National Review have existed since the 50s, and are still seen as a legitimate authority today. But it was talk radio that pushed the boundary of acceptability, in that it existed outside of the realm of journalism, strictly and unapologetically advocating one point of view, aiming for ratings and profit above substance. Conservative talk ratio found prominence in the 1990s with Rush Limbaugh becoming popular, but didn’t explode until after the 9/11 attack, when people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham rode the nationalist wave to the radio.

It’s also worth noting that conservative talk radio has bled into mainstream channels like Fox News, with Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity having their own very, very popular shows. Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity were not moderated by having a presence on a mainstream news network; rather, Fox News was further radicalized by these far-right voices. Just recently, Sean Hannity, host of one of the top-rated shows on cable television, has been pushing an insane conspiracy theory about a DNC staffer who was killed, saying that it is somehow connected to the Trump/Russia scandal and the DNC hacking. Glenn Beck fanned the flames of the Tea Party with his doomsaying, talking about how Obama would bring about the end of democracy with his agenda. Fox News, while still holding onto a couple respectable reporters, has largely become radicalized, and now acts as a sort of state propaganda engine for the Trump administration.

Watching Fox News, as opposed to watching CNN, is like experiencing a completely different reality. MSNBC has tried something similar, infusing their late-night programming (All In with Chris Hayes, The Rachel Maddow Show) with a liberal edge, but those hosts, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow, still have a respectability to them (Rachel Maddow is a Rhodes scholar, Chris Hayes has a BA from Brown). This is likely because the origin story of conservative-leaning news is different from that of liberal-leaning news, where conservative-leaning news is deeply entangled with infotainment talk radio.

This feverish drive for ratings and profit, especially during the Obama era, has created a conservative base that is increasingly entrenched in their own reality, offering something genuinely detached from the reporting of other news sources. It contributed to the radicalization of conservatives, pushing them further right, but more than that, it stirred up a rabid hatred of liberals (“snowflakes”) and liberal values while promoting a nativism and a fear of the “other”. Fox News and conservative media have played a massive role in the denigration of conservative values, tainting them with a ruthless drive for profit that manifested itself in vile fearmongering.

But even Fox News is now fighting for relevance, with far more extreme outlets (Breitbart, InfoWars) taking hold of the conservative base. Breitbart, by far, had the most influence over the conservative media ecosystem during the 2016 election, completely eclipsing Fox News. Breitbart doesn’t even have the whiff of integrity that Fox News has, its sexism and racism even more blatant and more extreme. Even peddlers of conspiracy theories, media outlets like InfoWars, are gaining more popularity despite have no credibility at all. InfoWars even has temporary White House press credentials.

Ailes’ death seems a fitting bookend to an era of increasingly radicalized conservative media, resulting in the birth or mainstreaming of extreme outlets like Breitbart, Daily Caller, and InfoWars, outlets that are detached from fact-based reporting. We now live in the era of “fake news”, where those extreme outlets peddle stories that aren’t based in fact, all while calling respectable reporting from CNN and New York Times fake news.

Modern conservatism has been irreparably damaged by conservative media’s radicalization, and has helped lead to the rise of Donald Trump.

A Radicalized and Obstructionist GOP Congress

It started with Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. He made an effort to destroy congressional expertise, making it easier to pass ideological instead of practical legislation. He elevated legislative obstructionism to a level unseen in modern political history. He peddled in conspiracy theories such as the Vince Foster absurdity, vindictively presiding over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Newt Gingrich did more to destroy Congress as an institution than almost anybody else in modern political history, and he paved the way for the obstructionist nightmare that was Congress during the Obama presidency.

When Obama was elected in 2008, the Republican reaction was extreme. John Boehner wanted to stop movement in Congress entirely. Mitch McConnell’s biggest goal was to make Obama a one-term president. Obstructionism reached new heights, with judicial nominees being blocked in unprecedented fashion, budgets turning into vicious battlegrounds, and almost zero cooperation on major votes. Probably the most insane example of Republican obstructionism was the blocking of Merrick Garland as Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. The Senate refused to even hold a hearing on him, essentially keeping him off of the Supreme Court, holding the seat open until maybe a Republican president comes around (which indeed happened). What made this obstructionism so dangerous wasn’t just how it made Congress grind to a halt, but also how it led to the breakdown of political norms.

Congress also became increasingly radicalized. With some voters believing that Obama was going to commit unspeakable atrocities against the country, whether it was a descent into socialism or a coup, they came together into the Tea Party, which spoke of revolution and replacing establishment shills with extremists that would actually change things. The revolution deeply affected the Republican Party, as many were primaried and replaced with these more extreme politicians. One of the most notable primary battles was in 2014, with Eric Cantor vs. Dave Brat, where Cantor (someone that the Republican Party had high hopes for) lost by around 10 percent of the vote. These radicalized members of Congress pushed increasingly radical agendas (the Republican Party platform in 2016 was the most extreme in decades and decades), advocating total and complete resistance while demonizing liberals and peddling paranoid conspiracy theories. Birtherism may not have been born from the Tea Party, but it was enabled by it, with racist rhetoric about the Obamas intensifying as the Tea Party grew in strength.

Their radical agenda of revolution also led to near catastrophes, with the debt-ceiling crisis of 2011 creating the most volatile week in financial markets since the 2008 financial crisis. It also led to the government shutdown of 2013, where Ted Cruz tried to push Obama to strip the Affordable Care Act of funding, only to have the government shutdown for 16 days, after which Ted Cruz was largely stripped of credibility (we all remember him reading Green Eggs and Ham during a filibuster). These crises only decreased public trust in Congress, with approval of Congress at a historic low of 9% after the 2013 government shutdown.

If people voted for Trump because of dissatisfaction, positioning Congress as a radical do-nothing entity only pushed the country into his grasp. 

Donald Trump and the Populist Rebellion

We still don’t entirely know why Donald Trump won. The reasons are too numerous to count. Economic anxiety, racial anxiety, misogyny (whether external or internalized), dissatisfaction with “elites”, a polarized and often dissatisfactory fourth estate, fear-mongering rhetoric about immigrants and terrorists, Russian interference, the rise of illiberalism in Europe, the insular nature of social media. We can go on and on about why Donald Trump won, but here, let’s talk about one specific reason: the failure of the Republican Party.

The Republican Party, in 2012, released an RNC Election-Autopsy Report, where they discussed what major changes the Party needed to make in order to change public perception and start winning elections. Their analysis dictated that they should be more open to immigration, that they should advocate for policies that help women, that they should reach out more to college students (who largely see the Republican Party as a joke), and that they should go after corporations that advocate for executives over middle-class workers. It’s a position that they felt would help create longevity for their party, make it so that they’re able to win elections long-term.

So why didn’t they follow that report? Instead of moving in another direction, Tea Party candidates kept winning elections and the GOP candidates for the 2016 presidential election were far-right extremists like Ted Cruz and boring rank-and-file candidates like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. What went wrong? Well, the base for the Republican Party wasn’t a group that advocated for immigration reform, tax cuts for the rich, and deregulation. They were simply angry and wanted something to be different. Everything that had happened for decades and decades up to this point (Nixon’s Southern Strategy, Reagan’s evangelism, the toxicity of conservative media, and a radicalized Congress at a standstill) created a GOP base that peddled dark conspiracy theories, vicious racism and nativism, and a hatred for liberals and Democrats. The RNC Election-Autopsy Report was always going to be a joke because how does a political party with that kind of history just turn on a dime? How does a political party change when it’s unwilling to come to grips with the violence of its history?

And because the Republican Party wasn’t willing to come to grips with its history, because it had created a voter base that was furious and desperate and needed change, they didn’t choose somebody remarkably unlikable like Ted Cruz or bland and still disliked like Marco Rubio. They chose somebody that made them feel good, somebody who wasn’t a political elite or a cultural elite, somebody that carried with him the narrative that he was a winner who cared about the things they cared about: Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has no real policy agenda. He has no depth of understanding of the issues facing the country. He has no experience at leading anything that isn’t his company. But he said what his base had been thinking of years: the world is scary, Mexicans are stealing jobs and are raping our country, China is stealing from us, we need to become tough and strong again and not be wimpy and cowardly like the politicians in Washington. 2016 was the election of fear, and since Donald Trump won, conservatism has become even more toxic and violent, with reporters being harassed and beaten, people like Milo Yiannopolous, Richard Spencer, and Alex Jones becoming household names, and media outlets like Fox News essentially becoming state propaganda. We often hear the narrative that the Democratic Party is dying while the GOP is in complete power, but Trump’s election was the Republican Party killing itself, modern conservatism becoming poisoned beyond repair.

Donald Trump’s administration has been wracked with scandal from Day 1, and the GOP Congress both cannot lead with the scandal around them and don’t know how to lead. The only major piece of legislation passed is the AHCA through the House, and very few Republicans want to touch a bill that unbelievably unpopular and that poorly crafted. So what happens next? Donald Trump will eventually leave office and the Republican Party and modern conservatism will have to move on. But what does that even look like?

How Do We Save the Republican Party?

I don’t write any of this to say that conservatism is moronic and immortal, that Republicans are bad people, and that everybody on the right is racist and stupid. I know that there is a lot of anger and pain on both sides, that many conservatives believe that liberals think poorly of them. But that’s not what I think, and that’s not the point of this article. The point of all of this is to say that a strong Republican Party is necessary to serve as a counterbalance to a strong Democratic Party, that a conservatism divorced from vicious nativism and racism is necessary for a robust political discourse, and that revitalizing the Republican Party and redeeming it should be a priority for every American.

So what can Republicans do to revitalize their party? What lessons do we learn from this history?

First, Donald Trump has to go. Anybody connected to Donald Trump has to go. Desires for politicians to enrich themselves through their office need to be curbed, and curbed hard. Strict punishment needs to be enforced for corruption, as Trump has enabled corruption through his incredibly corrupt practices. Efforts also have to be taken to curb the rhetoric surrounding his campaign and his presidency. The GOP has winked at racists, homophobes, and sexists for decades, and there needs to be an active effort to reform the party to a place where they’re accepting of people who live differently than your average straight white male. But Donald Trump is a huge, huge problem that needs to be fixed before anything else can be done.

Second, the center-right needs to be rebuilt. The center-right is the bulwark against extremism in the party. Politics on the right have become way too extreme, with people like Mike Pence considered normal. Mike Pence is not normal. He is an extreme ideologue who advocates extreme policy, such as torturing young LGBTQ individuals through conversion therapy. The Republican Party needs to make an effort to weed out the extremists and replace them with center-right candidates who actually want to solve problems instead of advocate for policies that match extreme ideology.

Third, the Republican Party needs to become a party of ideas that respects its base. Right now, the Republican Party doesn’t do either of those things. They have remarkably few ideas that will actually produce positive results for the majority of Americans. They peddle conspiracy theories, whether through Fox News, the politicians in Congress, or administration officials. They lie to their base, telling them outright falsehoods about major legislation like the AHCA. All politicians lie, yes, but there needs to still be a level of respect for voters, treating them like people who would care about tax reform if you sold them hard enough on it. This means that the Republican Party needs to denounce media outlets like Breitbart and InfoWars, and even Fox News when they peddle stories that are nonsense. 

Fourth, the level of money in politics needs to decrease, and fast. 80% of all of the dark money in politics goes to Republicans. That is unacceptable. Republicans need to look at Donald Trump’s populist ideas during his campaign and find ways to tailor that approach to policies that will actually help that base and not their donors. If that means finding ways to help alleviate the opioid epidemic, great. If that means finding ways to reform politics to take dark money out, great. If that means loosening their position on market-based health insurance, great. Dark money is a blight on politics and the Republican Party has benefited on it for far too long, poisoning themselves in the process. Stances like climate denial are disgraceful and reek or corruption.

There are numerous other things that the Republican Party can do, but it’s all going to take time, and lots of it. Conservatives that care about the future of the Republican Party need to make an effort to do better, if not for the sake of the liberals on the other side of the aisle, then for the country at large. Because, at this rate, the Republican Party threatens to shred apart the political climate in America, promising things that aren’t true, training their base to be hateful and violent, and enriching themselves through their political donors and their corruption.

This cannot continue. It’s time to do better.

[alienvirals]

Alien intelligence: the extraordinary minds of octopuses and other cephalopods

After a startling encounter with a cuttlefish, Australian philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith set out to explore the mysterious lives of cephalopods. He was left asking: why do such smart creatures live such a short time?

Inches above the seafloor of Sydneys Cabbage Tree Bay, with the proximity made possible by several millimetres of neoprene and a scuba diving tank, Im just about eyeball to eyeball with this creature: an Australian giant cuttlefish.

Even allowing for the magnifying effects of the mask snug across my nose, it must be about 60cm (two feet) long, and the peculiarities that abound in the cephalopod family, that includes octopuses and squid, are the more striking writ so large.

Its body shaped around an internal surfboard-like shell, tailing off into a fistful of tentacles has the shifting colour of velvet in light, and its W-shaped pupils lend it a stern expression. I dont think Im imagining some recognition on its part. The question is, of what?

It was an encounter like this one at exactly the same place, actually, to the foot that first prompted Peter Godfrey-Smith to think about these most other of minds. An Australian academic philosopher, hed recently been appointed a professor at Harvard.

While snorkelling on a visit home to Sydney in about 2007, he came across a giant cuttlefish. The experience had a profound effect on him, establishing an unlikely framework for his own study of philosophy, first at Harvard and then the City University of New York.

The cuttlefish hadnt been afraid it had seemed as curious about him as he was about it. But to imagine cephalopods experience of the world as some iteration of our own may sell them short, given the many millions of years of separation between us nearly twice as many as with humans and any other vertebrate (mammal, bird or fish).

Elle Hunt with an Australian giant cuttlefish at Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly, Sydney. Photograph: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Cephalopods high-resolution camera eyes resemble our own, but we otherwise differ in every way. Octopuses in particular are peculiarly other. The majority of their 500m neurons are in their arms, which can not only touch but smell and taste they quite literally have minds of their own.

That it was possible to observe some kind of subjective experience, a sense of self, in cephalopods fascinated Godfrey-Smith. How that might differ to humans is the subject of his book Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness, published this month by HarperCollins.

In it Godfrey-Smith charts his path through philosophical problems as guided by cephalopods in one case quite literally, when he recounts an octopus taking his collaborator by hand on a 10-minute tour to its den, as if he were being led across the sea floor by a very small eight-legged child.

Charming anecdotes like this abound in Godfrey-Smiths book, particularly about captive octopuses frustrating scientists attempts at observation.

A 1959 paper detailed an attempt at the Naples Zoological Station to teach three octopuses to pull and release a lever in exchange for food. Albert and Bertram performed in a reasonably consistent manner, but one named Charles tried to drag a light suspended above the water into the tank; squirted water at anyone who approached; and prematurely ended the experiment when he broke the lever.

Most aquariums that have attempted to keep octopuses have tales to tell of their great escapes even their overnight raids of neighbouring tanks for food. Godfrey-Smith writes of animals learning to turn off lights by directing jets of water at them, short-circuiting the power supply. Elsewhere octopuses have plugged their tanks outflow valves, causing them to overflow.

This apparent problem-solving ability has led cephalopods (particularly octopuses, because theyve been studied more than squid or cuttlefish) to be recognised as intelligent. Half a billion neurons put octopuses close to the range of dogs and their brains are large relative to their size, both of which offer biologists a rough guide to brainpower.

The coconut octopus is one of the few cephalopods known to exhibit the behaviour of using a tool. Photograph: Mike Veitch/Alamy

In captivity, they have learned to navigate simple mazes, solve puzzles and open screw-top jars, while wild animals have been observed stacking rocks to protect the entrances to their dens, and hiding themselves inside coconut shell halves.

But thats also reflective of their dexterity: an animal with fewer than eight legs may accomplish less but not necessarily because it is more stupid. Theres no one metric by which to measure intelligence some markers, such as tool use, were settled on simply because they were evident in humans.

I think its a mistake to look for a single, definitive thing, says Godfrey-Smith. Octopuses are pretty good at sophisticated kinds of learning, but how good its hard to say, in part because theyre so hard to experiment on. You get a small amount of animals in the lab and some of them refuse to do anything you want them to do theyre just too unruly.

He sees that curiosity and opportunism their mischief and craft, as a Roman natural historian put it in the third century AD as characteristic of octopus intelligence.

Their great escapes from captivity, too, reflect an awareness of their special circumstances and their ability to adapt to them. A 2010 experiment confirmed anecdotal reports that cephalopods are able to recognise and like or dislike individual humans, even those that are dressed identically.

It is no stretch to say they have personalities. But the inconsistencies of their behaviour, combined with their apparent intelligence, presents an obvious trap of anthropomorphism. Its tempting, admits Godfrey-Smith, to attribute their many enigmas to some clever, human-like explanation.

A paradox: octopuses have big brains and short life spans. Photograph: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Opinions of octopus intelligence consequently vary within the scientific community. A fundamental precept of animal psychology, coined by the 19th-century British psychologist C Lloyd Morgan, says no behaviour should be attributed to a sophisticated internal process if it can be explained by a simpler one.

That is indicative of a general preference for simplicity of hypotheses in science, says Godfrey-Smith, that as a philosopher he is not convinced by. But scientific research across the board has become more outcome-driven as a result of the cycle of funding and publishing, and he is in the privileged position of being able to ask open-ended questions.

Thats a great luxury, to be able to roam around year after year, putting pieces together very slowly.

That process, set in motion by his chance encounter with a cuttlefish a decade ago, is ongoing. Now back based in Australia, lecturing at the University of Sydney, Godfrey-Smith says his study of cephalopods is increasingly influencing his professional life (and his personal one: Arrival, the 2016 film about first contact with cephalopod-esque aliens, was a good, inventive film, he says, though the invaders were a bit more like jellyfish).

When philosophers ponder the mind-body problem, none poses quite such a challenge as that of the octopuss, and the study of cephalopods gives some clues to questions about the origins of our own consciousness.

Our last common ancestor existed 600m years ago and was thought to resemble a flattened worm, perhaps only millimetres long. Yet somewhere along the line, cephalopods developed high-resolution, camera eyes as did we, entirely independently.

A camera eye, with a lens that focuses an image on a retina weve got it, theyve got it, and thats it, says Godfrey-Smith. That it was arrived at twice in such vastly different animals gives pause for thought about the process of evolution, as does their inexplicably short life spans: most species of cephalopods live only about one to two years.

The study of cephalopods gives some clues to questions about the origins of our own consciousness. Photograph: Peter Godfrey-Smith

When I learned that, I was just amazed it was such a surprise, says Godfrey-Smith, somewhat sadly. Id just gotten to know the animals. I thought, Ill be visiting these guys for ages. Then I thought, No, I wont, theyll be dead in a few months.

Its perhaps the biggest paradox presented by an animal that has no shortage of contradictions: A really big brain and a really short life. From an evolutionary perspective, Godfrey-Smith explains, it does not give a good return on investment.

Its a bit like spending a vast amount of money to do a PhD, and then youve got two years to make use of it … the accounting is really weird.

One possibility is that an octopuss brain needs to be powerful just to preside over such an unwieldy form, in the same way that a computer would need a state-of-the-art processor to perform a large volume of complex tasks.

I mean, the body is so hard to control, with eight arms and every possible inch an elbow. But that explanation doesnt account for the flair, even playfulness with which they apply it.

They behave smartly, they do all these novel, inventive things that line of reasoning doesnt resolve things, by any stretch, says Godfrey-Smith. Theres still a somewhat mysterious element there.

Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life is published by William Collins. To order a copy for 17 (RRP 20) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99. It is out through Harper Collins in Australia.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

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