#world domination isnt cheap | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

transingthebourgeoisie · 1 year ago

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but like, why is it a problem for white people to complain about imperialism? as i said, im from balkans, and euimperialism actively hurts us. salaries in other eu countries are 3-4x times bigger (i could provide sources but theyre in my mothertongue), minimal wage is 4.5$ per hour but groceries in the rest of eu are cheaper than here. i went to france and found groceries being cheaper there despite their salaries and work rights being stronger. there is also an issue of eu store chains replacing ours and items being imported pushing out our farmers. people were throwing vans of oranges, native grown, into rivers as a protest due to store chains having deals with the country and preferring imported ones. eu saw a country being part of ex-yugoslavia (also a part of political third world during its existence) and said its a great chance to push its agenda onto it once it broke. other countries such as italy and hungary actively are asking for our lands to be "returned to them" despite us being a sovereign state. this too is a part of imperialism and their colonizer past.

my people, immigrants, are victims of violent crimes, and were put in concentration camps during nazi regime. our language has been banned during colonial times and weve never held colonies. in eu countries we work in construction or as cleaners, in media we are portrayed as dumb people. ive seen people calling my city "africa with electricity", usamericans straight up telling me they thought we dont have internet or phones, people saying they would never visit because there is a war going on (it ended in late 90es).

english in schools is a mandatory subject and you cant even be a waiter without it. despite being fluent in it and a writer, i cant get jobs due to usamericans seeing my name and immediately dismissing it. everyones dream and goal is to work for foreign countries because their currencies buy more. as an artist, a $25 commission buys groceries for a full week, if not more, and its more affordable for usamericans than my people. i work for newspapers as an artist for 13€ per drawing, and for my american employers as an animator for $3.25 per hour, as a cheap workforce.

im not comparing this to struggles of third world country and the effect imperialism has on them in a much more extreme way, but there are different ways in which it works for different nations. my passport isnt on part with an american one. when american ships come here there are papparazzi and news and journalists following them around, and to them it doesnt matter if the person is black or native, they just see "americans" - generous buyers and tourists. youre more likely to be a victim of hatecrime if youre serbian/albanian than a black american.

like just the privilege of english being your first language is a big one. i cant read books in english myself, and our libraries are limited. more information is available to native english speakers. which is understandable, but its a direct effect of usimperialism. news are more accessible too; especially source-checking. there is also a privilege of being able to move around the usa, thus getting more jobs, especially if you went to college. my diploma isnt on par with usa one either, and many would dismiss it immediately.

I assume you meant to send this ask to someone else; or, perhaps there's just a misunderstanding on my end. Regardless, this is all very true; balkan states in general are seen as pools of highly disposable labor by western europe, and both military and economic pressures are well in use to prevent any change to EU dominance in the region. Y'all aren't even considered 'white' in western europe (or, the US really), like you don't even get that much.

#forgive me if this post doesn't read well #it's like midnight here lol

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the1975attheirverybest · 2 years ago

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the point about throwaway terms is very fucking valid like i am fucking sick of seeing stuff about intrusive thoughts when it is just impulsive like intrusive thoughts are like "what if i poured boiling water on my cat" (not a literal example but that kind of thing) and they fucking suck and you feel horrific not just being silly and goofy

but i think the thing about gen z not being able to define itself it interesting as well because with social media there is no one thing you sit down as a generation and watch or take part in. there isnt really a top of the pops or a similar culturally defining piece of media other than say tiktok. but its also very easy to look at tiktok and see it as the face of gen z when i find most of the time it represents a small demographic of rich americans as opposed to the majority of gen z. like as a British person social media is very clearly dominated by americans

i also think there is something to be said about criticising gen z for being critical of older generations but consuming the media when we as a generation have been constantly harped on for being shit, have dealt with social media and being conscious of every political happening all at once from the age of 12, the housing crisis, brexit, the shortcomings of the education system, covid, and i could probably go on but all before even leaving school? and yet we are the generation that gets the piss taken out of us? like yes we fucking suck but also like come on. im not trying to say look at us we have it so hard because we didnt deal with world war two or the cold war or the 2008 financial crisis or 9/11 but we were also like 14 and witness to war nearly being started because of twitter and laying in bed at 15 watching black people being violently murdered and 16 trying to sleep after being told on the internet that if we dont post about everything happening ever you are a bad person, but our problem is not being able to define ourselves culturally? or trying to find an alternative to the present by looking back to the past that has been glorified by previous generations? like i dont think i can explain how mentally damaging waking up to find out that a bill allowing oil drilling in the arctic which will destroy the earth has been passed but still having to get up, go to school and pretend that fucking a levels matter before having any sort of life achievements is

sorry if this comes off as preachy but im just a little tired of older generations being seeming incapable of empathy sometimes - ��

No, you’re right! I mean, it’s very easy for us older folks who have done most of our growing up already to look back and say “they should be doing X or y” when….if that were true then we wouldn’t have “failed” before y’all even came along, haha. I think when we criticize gen z, there are two types of criticism:

1) where it’s just old people being afraid of change. Like, espcially socio-politically. It’s clear that the systems we have no HAVE FAILED CATASTROPHICALLY otherwise there wouldn’t be a recession, so much fascism etc. and it’s time for something radically different and older people don’t get the urgency of that as much as younger people do. Which is a cheap kind of criticism. Like, if you won’t support the kids then get the fuck out of their way. Cuz they’re gonna change the future with or without you. You’re just making it slower/harder for them.

2) criticism that recognizes some gen z movements as overcompensation or over correction of something that we ourselves have tried to fix before. It’s no huge secret that every generation develops its beliefs, aesthetic preferences, political ideals, etc in response to what came before it. Not just gen z. We millennials did it, too. And so did gen X and boomers…I think all the way back to at least the Reagan administration, here in the US anyways, things have been…on the downhill HAHA. and each generation tries to do something about. Then the next one comes along and is like “alright they tried X and failed, what if we try Y?” And sometimes we recognize the younger generations mistakes cuz we have made them, too and we just wanna be like “bro, no, no. Trust me. That’s not gonna work. You’ll see it when you’re older and you’re looking back at the generation after you too.” Those criticisms, I think, are fair. And might even help future kids if they listen.

But, at least for me, and I won’t speak for my entire generation or for those before me, my criticism doesn’t mean I don’t empathize. One of my fav Notes tracks is “People” purely because of the “stop fucking with the kids.” Young people have always been the face of change. They are usually the demographic that votes one party in and the other out. Conservatives always win only when they oppress the youth and appeal to the fear of old people. They’re on the edge of fashion, art, pop culture. So, I know better than to be dismissive of young people! Never! It’s just, sometimes I see the mistakes happening and I’m like “ohhh noooo stop before it’s too late” haha.

#🐸anon

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bakugousbabygirl · 4 years ago

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Toxic Aizawa Headcannons

genre: angst i guess?

pairings: aizawa x fem!reader

cw: || cheating || jealousy || cursing || manipulation || overall toxicity ||

A/N: this is kinda short, but i might do more of these and make them longer and add scenarios at the end. idk

SFW

• he's a scorpio.....that shit is toxic enough on it's own lmao

• but fr everyone seems to have this image he's a patient caring man and i mean he is, with his students

• but you? no

• you're an adult, you should just GET things but you don't which frustrates him beyond belief

• you're his partner, not his student he shouldnt have to baby you

• i also feel like aizawa has a thing for younger women, he's 31 and he likes his women in their early to mid 20's

• i feel like that isn't inherently toxic but the way he uses your younger age against you most definitely is

• when you get in an argument he throws it in you face calling you childish and stating how he should've just dated someone his own damn age

• shota definitely prioritizes his job over you, will stay out late at night patrolling. he will stand you up on dates to go to hero meeting and even be gone for weeks on missions without contacting you

• luckily toshinori and hizashi are nice men knowing how their colleague and friend is so they send you updates about him to keep your mind at ease

• this causes a lot of fights. he questions you on why you're talking to his friends, he wants you to stay out of his personal life. you try to rationalize with him that you are apart of his personal life and needs to start acting like it. if he's gonna be gone for long you tell him the least he could do is give you a heads up

• he argues back that you should just KNOW if he hasn't shown up he's gone for hero work and should be content with that. he tells you that you KNOW what you were signing up for when you started dating so why are you trippin now.

• he never yells but his tone becomes really harsh and his words cut like blades tearing you apart cutting you down until you feel so belittled that your argument isnt worth it anymore making you grow quiet

• he'll glare at you and make a few snide remarks before leaving like a upset father after scolding his daughter

• definitely avoids you afterwards, i mean he doesnt come home for a solid 2 weeks after and you dont get any updates from hizashi and toshinori because he told them to but out of his business

• when he comes back he pretends as if nothing ever happened, he already said what he had to say. why rehash it? and if you're really still hurt it's just gonna reinforce the fact he thinks you're childish and thinks he should've dated someone his own age

• speaking of people your own age if he catches you texting or hanging out with a guy your age he's gonna be pissed

• "what am i not good enough for you, you think i'm too old or something!?"

• like no bruh we were just having a friendly conversation what's your deal, PLEASE get over whatever complex you have dude

• I feel like aizawa would definitely judge the way you dress lmao

• with alternative fashion coming back in style you have a stab at it and start dressing like an e-girl because it's the easiest look to manage

• aizawa laughs his ass off at you saying how that isn't true alternative fashion and calls you a poser

• yeah yeah aizawa is a fuckin gate keeper, you can't tell me he wasn't emo back in the day

• tells you to change and never dress up like that again because it makes you look like some cheap cam girl

• if you ever try to walk away when hes scolding you he will use his scarf to tie you up making you sit down and admit you're wrong

• he's the type to stress that communication is key but doesn't communicate himself

• its more like he talks and you listen if you haven't gotten that by now

• he refuses to open up to you and keeps you 100% separated from his work and personal life

• probably makes fun of your trauma, nothing too fucked up like if your parents are dead or anything. hes not that much of a douche, but if its something like your sister use to lock you in the dark cold cellar at night and told you a monster was gonna get you he'd definitely laugh

• would even go as far as locking you in the basement closet to see how you'd react

• also gaslight you using your age against you saying how he knows more because he's older

NSFW

• wanna start this off by saying aizawa is defo cheating on you with midnight lmao take that how you want but he is

• when you catch him he just says it's not that serious and it just happened because they have history together and shes more mature and experienced. he said it wont happen again so why cant you get over it, stop being so childish

• i have a feeling he'd probably complain about how annoying you are to her during pillow talk 😹😹

• he's the type to keep a straight face when you're giving him sloppy toppy to give the illusion that you're underperforming and can't satisfy him but in reality his toes are curling and he's doing his best to hold back his moans because your head game is out of this world

• definitely is the dominant one and he'd laugh in your face at even the slightest mention of you taking over ( he does let midnight dom him tho😒)

• it was this one time where you asked could you ride him so he allowed it, you got on top of him and just when you were getting into the groove of it he rolled his eyes flipped you over and growled in your ear saying to never waste his time like that again

• when you try to initiate sex with him laughs at your cute efforts of trying to seduce him saying he's too old for that stuff to be appealing to him

• he'd use sex to take out all his frustrations on you

• it seems hot but not the way he does it, he'll have you in his lap infront of a mirror as he pounds into you while degrading you

• it starts off cute and light with just calling you things like his pathetic kitten but then the insults start getting a little too real saying how he could go find a better girl with a cunt just as tight as yours who doesn't annoy him and how you're such a bitch and you can't nag at him now that you're stuffed with his cock

• yeah needless to say you start crying and hit his ass with the safe word making him stop and he just rolls his eyes and mutters to himself about how the younger generation is so sensitive and kinda just....leaves you there to mope

• also yeah theres never any aftercare even after particularly rough scenes like that he just showers then goes to bed and expects you to do the same

• and it's not like he doesn't know with aftercare is, i mean he's banging midnight our bdsm queen he knows what aftercare is but just doesn't see you as important enough to be that intimate with

• if you do something that turns him off during the middle of sex and kinda just pushes you off of him and goes to sleep on the couch and won't have sex with you for a while

• drags himself at all types of late nights and early mornings crawling into bed with you whole you're still sleep and kisses you're shoulder saying to himself outloud "i'll do right by you one day"

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lit-works · 6 years ago

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Transhumanism

The summer of 2004, Wil Smith starred in "I, Robot", the cinematic interpretation of 9 short stories by Isaac Asimov. When i was in 7th grade, Asimov struck me as a profoundly compelling figure, prompting me to read his extended archive of literary works, which i quit reading after the second book. (The stories seemed a little implausible.) i did, however, unleash a stirring oral book report on "I, Robot", a literary collection that was punctuated by Asimov's now famous Three Rules of Robotics:

1.) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2.) A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3.) Do not talk about Fight Club.

Now, i don't think I'm giving anything away by telling you that the robots in "I, Robot" find a loophole to those principles, and they then proceed to slowly fuck humanity over. This is a story that was written over half a century ago. However, it paints a scenario we as humans continue to fear. "I, Robot" was published in 1950, but writers (or at least the Muttonchopped Isaac) were already terrified about mankind's bellicose relationship with technology. If we have learned anything from film, literature, and rock music, it is this: humans will eventually go to war against the machines. There is apparently no way to avoid this. But, you know what? If we somehow manage to lose this war, we really have no excuse. Because i can't imagine any war we've spent more time worrying about.

The Terminator trilogy is about war against the machines; So is the Matrix Trilogy. So was Maximum Overdrive, although that movie also implied that robots enjoy the music of AC/DC. I dont think the Radiohead album "OK Computer" was specifically about computers trying to kill us, but it certainly suggested that computers were not "okay". "2001: A Space Odyssey" employs elements of robot hysteria, as does the plotline to roughly thousands of video games. Blade Runner also had touched on this topic, but i honestly encounter difficulty recalling the narrative details; i was too busy pretending i wasnt stoned af. There is even a Deutsch electronica band called "Lights of Euphoria" whose supposed masterpiece is a concept album titled "Krieggegen die Maschinen", which literally translates as, "War Against the Machines". This means that even European techno fans are aware of this phenomenon, and those idiots generally arent aware of anything(except who in the room might be holding ketamine).

Im not sure how we all became convinced that machines intend to dominate us. As i type this, i can see a toaster, and I'll be honest: I'm not nervous. As far as i can tell, it poses no threat. My relationship with this toaster is delicious, but completely one-sided. The toaster is the Labradford Smith to my Micheal Jordan. I'm never concerned that this toaster will poison me, or that it will foster a false sense of security before electrocuting me in the shower, or that it will politically align itself with the microwave. The toaster does not want to conquer human society. I even played "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" in the kitchen, just to see if the toaster would become self-aware and spring for my jugular out of misanthropy; its reaction was negligible. Machines have no grit.

It appears we have spent over half a century preparing for a war against a potential foe who--thus far--has been nothing but civil to us; it's almost like we've made a bunch of "Red Dawn" movies that warn about a coming conflict with the Netherlands or Canada. In fact, there isnt even evidence that robots could kick our ass if they wanted to. Back in March of 2006, a clandestine military group called DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) challenged engineers to build a driverless vehicle that could traverse a 150-mile course in the Mojave Desert; the contest's winner was promised a cash prize of $1 million. You know who won? Nobody. Nobody's robot SUV could make it farther than 7.4 miles. Even with the aid of GPS, robots are pretty moronic. Why do we think they could build the matrix today if they couldn't even drive to Vegas in 2006??

I suspect all these dystopic "Man versus Machine" scenarios are grounded in the fact that technology is legitimately alienating; the rise of computers(and robots, and IPhones, and nanomachines who hope to turn the world into sentient "gray goo") has certainly made life easier, but they've also accelerated depression. Case in point: if this were 1904, you would not be reading this; you would be chopping wood or churning butter or watching one of your 13-28 children perish from crib death. Your life would be horrible, but your life would have purpose. It would have clarity. Machines allow humans the privilege of existential anxiety. Machines provide us with the extra time to worry about the status of our careers, and/or the context of our sexual relationships, and/or what it means to be truly alive. Unconsciously, humans hate technology. We hate the way it replaces visceral experience with self-absorption. The only way we can reconcile that hatred is by pretending machines hate us, too.

It is human nature to personify anything we dont understand: Gods, animals, hurricanes, mountain ranges, jet skis, strippers, etc. We deal with inanimate objects by assigning them the human qualities we assume they might have if they were exactly us. Consequently, we want to think about machines as slaves, and we like to pretend those mechanized slaves will eventually attempt a hostile takeover. Cuz, that's what we'd do.

The truth, of course, is that we are the slaves; the machines became our masters through the bloodless coup that began during the industrial revolution. (In fact, this is kind if what "I, Robot" is about, although the Will Smith version will not make that clear.) By now, i think most America s are aware of that reality; I think any smarter-than-average person already concedes that (A) we've lost our control over technology, and (B) there's nothing we can do about it. But, that's defeatist. Openly embracing that despair would make the process of living even darker than it already is; we'd all move to rural Montana abd become Unabombers. We need to remain optimistic. And how do we do that? By preparing ourselves for a futuristic war against intelligent, man-hating cyborgs. As long as we dream of a war that has not yet happened, we are able to believe it's a war that we have not yet lost.

But perhaps im all wrong about this. Perhaps we humans are still in command, and a perhaps there really will be a conventional robot war in the not-so-distant future. If so, let's roll. Im ready. That toaster will never be the boss of me. Get ready to make some Pop-Tarts, Bitch!!

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perkwunos · 7 years ago

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sorry but i still don't see how or why i need to place such a value on cognition when it is a derivative process of biology. you claim that reality is the computations of libido and that consciousness is made of up of emotions interrelating, but that does not touch upon the purely biochemical substrate that underlies all of this subjectivity, ie cells and cell-cell communications, which are driven by natural law which cannot be ascribed emotions without anthropomorphizing??? continued -->

like you've been saying that mind deserves to be as important as matter when matter literally makes up the entirety of the hardware of the brain that allows any form of cognition to exist. I also have problems with how you describe emotions as devoid of information processing, as this denies the interrelation between instinctual neural response and instinctual action, which require limbic computation (ie emoting) without direct activation of cortical (higher) thought in many species???

also implying that biology cannot completely describe cognition in biochemical terms relies on a fallacy of logic as well imo like you believe that matter cannot fully encompass mind but like? where's the proof for that?? like all i'm seeing is a bunch of subjective and self-referential theories that form a tautological circle...

also you have never answered what i guess is my most important underlying question; why does the mind need to be venerated and valued in philosophy, and isnt that just egotism to make your experiences as real or important as physical law? also i see you in the comments calling me a simple byproduct of capitalist isolationism. thats some real low-brow, low-level, low-care analysis right there lol

at the end of the day i think you don't know enough about science and i don't know enough about philosophy for us to ever agree on what is important or what is real in the universe at large. i can't get past my bias of seeing your philosophy as neo-animism and i don't see you understanding my views as anything more than a cheap capitalist lie so like i said, peace and blessing and goodbye lol. thanks for the informative but unproductive convo...

I'm sticking this all together to respond because basically all of your points have a unity in terms of how I would respond. Sorry that it makes this all very wall of text-ish, but I suppose it's an accurate representation of the intensity of discussion we've reached.

Why do I put such value on cognition, the mind, emotions, etc. in a word subjectivity? The question in itself has the answer. I'm valuing. What we are doing is very much so caught up in a subjective process involving issues of valuation and desire through and through. I've diagnosed your type of thinking - which is in its fundamental suppositions the dominant manner of thinking in regards to these metaphysical matters - as a product of capitalist alienation not for the sake of a petty slight. The big point is what you view as so much so not human, your physical laws, are just a certain way to talk about the results of experiments done by humans, and it's humans that are doing all the talking. So while I explicitly point out the primary source of all that I'm discussing - my own human experience - you are talking about abstractions from such as if they were things standing on their own. Humans work together out of their own individual desires to make certain useful models of the world to achieve ends according to their desires. You take from this process and accord an ultimate reality, an "underlying reality" to the abstraction, and what's more, you treat this very result of valuation as proof that there's an ultimate ground free of such. It makes sense to me to see this as all ultimately dominating our concepts of the world because the basic way we organize makes it so that everywhere we view the results of the worker's labor power as abstracted from their willing activity, and accorded a higher reality - everywhere we separate the value of the work of wage laborers for capitalist's profit and the value of the care and nurturing done in the domestic sphere to produce those very workers, and when it comes down it it’s the abstract “value” of profit that’s given the great transcendent position, while concrete love is but a mere means to the end.

My philosophizing is an attempt to make not just another field alongside the disparate sciences, but a manner of talking about the world that allows for us to describe the subject matter of every science as all having one concrete world as their real ground. That means I want a model that fully includes and does not explain away biochemical interactions OR our very discussion here as we are experiencing it, but shows how they interact, and in a sense are one. My fundamental point isn't that mind should be as important as matter. It's that mind should be seen AS matter, just as matter should be seen as mind. We need to be able to see the world in terms of all being the same kind of existence, all able to connect together. And, when it comes down to it, scientific phenomena are but abstractions, as in they are the product of human abstractions, thoroughly human just as much as any direct experience, while direct experience is concrete and particular. So, the biggest goal of all should be to see how the abstractions of physics can be thought of as similar to the concreteness of value-experience.

A slightly more minor and specific point: I'm not saying emotion is deprived of content that can be considered, abstractly, as information processing. My argument is that the reality of that is that it's an emotional processing and thus one always caught up in valuations and desires. When you talk of "the interrelation between instinctual neural response and instinctual action, which require limbic computation (ie emoting) without direct activation of cortical (higher) thought in many species" that's, I'd argue, a description of various processes of feeling organized in specialized ways, and it in fact is evidence for what I've suggested: that our higher-end thought is a product of various bodily organizations of emotional and desiring activity that already exist in and for themselves. An instinctual action exists because there's a necessity to will an animal body a certain way as fast as possible. It's thoroughly willing activity.

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andymull · 8 years ago

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WWE Elimination Chamber 2017: Predictions & Thoughts

Baron Corbin vs Dean Ambrose vs John Cena (c) vs AJ Styles vs Bray Wyatt vs The Miz Elimination Chamber Match: For The WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Should be a fun match as long as Corbin is kept out of the main exchanges as the others are all capable of producing something real good. Im still not sold that the champion needs to be in this match, in my opinion the show that doesn't produce a winner in the Royal Rumble should have this match type to determine their own number one contender for Wrestlemania. There potentially could be a number of quick title changes in the run up, and including Wrestlemania, when really they should be building champions up for the big win at the biggest show of the year.

Onto the match, out of the six contenders we really are only looking at potentially three winners, in Cena, Styles and Wyatt, and really Bray’s included there because of the backstage rumours of him vs Orton for the title at Wrestlemania and not because he’s been deserving of the run after countless awesome matches and feuds like the other two. Cena seems destined to lose the title quickly and have it back again in afew months, to really break Flairs record and make it his own while he’s still on the road a decent amount. Styles is really the future of the brand for the next 4 or 5 years as long as he still wants to stay around full time, he brings great matches out of near enough everyone he’s in there with and all they need to focus on now is getting him more and more credibility in some fans minds and this would help massively.

Its really down to Styles and Wyatt, and if they think too many people know their plans for Wyatt/Orton and decide to change them. I see them staying with Wyatt as the winner to give more focus to the Orton match at Wrestlemania as it will need it as they will get lost in the shuffle - WYATT

Alexa Bliss (c) vs Naomi: For The WWE Smackdown’s Women’s Championship

Now this match really is just a stop gap for Bliss until her Wrestlemania bout, give Naomi afew cheap wins over Bliss to give reason for this happening then have Bliss get the dominant victory building her for the big match at Mania - BLISS

Luke Harper vs Randy Orton

As with the match before this ultimately is to build the winner up for future bouts in Orton, the big difference between this match and the one prior is that Harper has been great lately after the split with his ring work and promo. This should be a great brawl with Harper showing alot more than usual in a longer match and working with Orton is an awesome opportunity for near enough everyone on the roster. Harper is one of the most underrated guys in the company for me and really hope this match gets the time and he gets the offence to get his-self more over with the crowd who have taken to him over the past few weeks I think - ORTON

Nikki Bella vs Natalya

According to WWE.com this is Smackdown Lives most personal rivalry that is reaching its apex, yeeeeeaaahhh, just a shame its not a match/feud that anyone cares about. Truthfully, Nikki is a step below the newer/better female wrestlers yet she’s built like shes just as good and Nattie hasn't really been at the top of her game for years, mostly the companies fault as she hasn't had that much to sink her teeth into apart from the last feud with Becky.

Somehow this is about Nattie being a bully, yet afew weeks back Nikki was the first to throw punches at Nattie outside the building and then later in the show Nikki attacked Nattie backstage, leading to Nikki somehow needing personal security the following week............I dont get it, who cleared that?

This should be pretty clear in Nikki winning, not sure where both go next which makes me think this feud will carry on and thus leads me to think Nattie could go over here with a cheap finish maybe, it really could go either way and hardly anyone will care - NATTIE

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Tag Team Turmoil

Lets throw everyone out there and hope something clicks, only American Alpha and the Uso’s have any chance of winning, the only other possible outcome would be if a new team debuts during the match, The Revival. Not sure if they will debut a new team just yet so ill go with - AMERICAN ALPHA

Becky Lynch vs Mickie James

I can only imagine how happy Becky is at Mickie coming in to work with her, this should be a good match with Becky learning some new tricks to improve her overall game. Becky will take the win here - LYNCH

Apollo Crews + Kalisto vs Dolph Ziggler: In A 2 On 1 Match

Weird booking, just weird with the faces have the advantage in a handicap match. If the good guys win they've beat one guy and cant brag about it, if they lose they've lost to one guy and look even weaker. Ziggler really has to win otherwise he drops even further down the card after his weak heel turn, which really should have been done against someone alot higher up the card as people just dont care and he still gets cheered - ZIGGLER

Mojo Rawley vs Curt Hawkins: Kick Off Show

Who cares, really, Mojo has had his legs chopped off with Zack getting injured and he really isnt ready for long singles matches on WWE TV, and Hawkins was really only brought back to tv to help put people over after draft. I said straight after the injury that these two should have been put together as a team, keeping Mojo ticking in his development while at the same time setting up an interesting situation when Zack returns as to what Mojo should do if this new team with Hawkins starts to work well - MOJO

Should be a good Smackdown show mainly down to the main event and the Harper/Orton match, not sure how much progression we will get from the other matches though.

Bye for now

Andy

#WWE #WWE Elimination Chamber #Elimination Chamber #AJ Styles #john cena #Wrestlemania #bray wyatt #randy orton

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jagobaril-blog · 5 years ago

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Adidas shares rise as CEO reveals sales topped 20bn

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omglr · 5 years ago

Conversation

patiently momming the shit out this fuckin' potential serial killer...

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You both like feminism.

You: hi

Stranger: hi

Stranger: asl

You: 33 f

You: canada

You: you?

Stranger: m22 canada

Stranger: feminist?

You: yes

You: you?

Stranger: fuck no

Stranger: feminism is sexism and hatred of men, why would I support it?

You: meninist?

Stranger: not really

Stranger: just knowing the truth

You: where do you get this information from?

Stranger: online

You: ok

You: have you considered.... reading a book?

Stranger: no

Stranger: because with the ability to be anonymous online people will say the truth without fear of being outed for it.

You: interesting

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: Feminism isnt about equality, its about hatred of men and female superiority

You: ok, if you say so

Stranger: how is it now?

Stranger: not*

Stranger: women demanding a safe space free of men is seen as just fine

Stranger: a male only space is seen as "sexist"

You: uh, do you think their aren't men only space though?

Stranger: feminism cries about male dominance in politics and management positions , but when it comes to male dominance in jobs like trucking, mining, construction etc, feminists dont say a word

Stranger: there is men only, and to feminists thats seen as sexism

You: you seem a little worked up

Stranger: I mean, Boy scouts of America now allows girls in... wtf its the BOY scouts, girls want to be a scout? there is a thing called girl scouts of America too

You: yeah girl guides is a much better organization anyway

You: they also accept boys

Stranger: LMAO wow what guy would joint girl guides.

You: idk, a kid who likes camping and cookies

Stranger: I do like cookies

You: yeah, cookies are great

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: women are also entitled and selfish and think they should get stuff just because they are a woman

You: i think the word entitled gets thrown around a lot to describe people

Stranger: women expect a man to pay for the date.

You: but its mostly about folks asking for respect

Stranger: but I thought you bitches wanted "equality" oh wait...

You: like millenials are real entitled

You: for wanting jobs that pay a living wage

You: says boomers

You: who dont want to pay a living wage

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: but you NEED a living wage

You: yeah, we all need a living wage

Stranger: but women are entitled and think they deserve only the best of the best of the very best men who will do whatever she says and wants and no matter what shes always right

You: this seems like a narrow focus on what women are like

Stranger: its the truth

You: like, this is a pretty shallow stereotype that might be true for like 10% of college girls

Stranger: lol its true for all girls

Stranger: girls are shallow

You: but i guess if thats who you put on a pedestal, shallow girls

Stranger: all girls are shallow

You: mmmm, i mean, you might be misinterpreting women's intentions

Stranger: how so?

You: like if i saw you at a coffee shop and over heard you talking this conspiratorial feminist is evil game, i wouldn't be interested in you

Stranger: Im not 6'0 or taller, im not ripped af and I dont drive a BMW, your not interested in me

You: eh, again, i didn't say that

You: i'm not interested in cars or money or height

Stranger: sure

You: or muscles

Stranger: sure

Stranger: so your a lesbian?

You: but i can tell a dude is a self loathing weirdo pretty quick

You: i'm bi

Stranger: ok

You: women are easier to date

Stranger: sure

Stranger: im 22 and still a fucking virgin

You: for me anyway

You: yeah, that happens

You: some folks are late bloomers

Stranger: LMAO no, women are shallow

You: alright, well if you want to believe that that's up to you, but your world view determines your world

You: so if you can't open your heart and learn to trust women, you'll probably keep thinking worse and worse thoughts about them

Stranger: well im not good looking so...

Stranger: LMAO trust women... that is horseshit.

You: and find yourself in more situations where you can prove yourself right

Stranger: women are nothing but cheaters and liars

Stranger: let me tell you something?

You: ok

Stranger: I met a girl on here 2 yrs ago, shes down in Tennessee, we kept in contact on skype, became friends, fell for each other, admitted our feelings, fell even more for each other, hoped to meet one day, have our first times, maybe end up married and be forever. She met another guy and threw me away.

You: so, you were 20 years old and an internet girlfriend ruined your life forever?

Stranger: nope

Stranger: it just proves how unloyal and unloving women are

You: idk, that sounds kinda stupid

Stranger: plus my 3rd ex cheated after a month, not to mention other BS she did, I'll share if you wanna know,

1st and 2nd ex never even liked me

You: like, i'm being pretty patient with you here

You: this self loathing rap is pretty pathetic

Stranger: lol its hatred of women

You: yeah, its called misogyny

Stranger: and feminism is misandry

You: eh, not really

Stranger: sure

Stranger: women are hypergamous whores

You: eh, i mean, if you and i were the only people on the planet, i would say men are toxic dudes who have little self awareness and say abusive bullshit with so little life experience its kinda tragic if not a little dangerous, and that women are extremely patient and nurturing even to weirdos who don't deserve it

Stranger: sure.

Stranger: if you think im ever going to trust a woman again your insane

You: i guess it was more advice for your sadness but its up to you

Stranger: im not sad

You: eh

Stranger: I just know the bitter truth of life

You: i mean you sound angry, but its obvious where its coming from

Stranger: yeah

You: lol, what is the bitter truth of life?

Stranger: that women are nothing more than shallow unloyal unloving whores who only care about themself, love isnt real. together forever doesnt exist

You: are your parents divorced?

Stranger: never married, dont know my father

You: what's your relationship with your mom like?

Stranger: its fine

You: does she love you?

Stranger: yeah

You: is she loyal to you?

Stranger: i guess. im her only child

You: would she give you her kidney if you needed it?

Stranger: idk, shes not in great health herself tbh

You: would you give her your kidney if she needed it?

Stranger: yeah

You: well that's good

You: have you heard much about internet feedback loops and how it can hurt your self-esteem?

Stranger: yeah

You: i kinda think you should look into your online peer group and figure out if thats who you want to be?

Stranger: Im not on any forums or anything like that

You: like... behind the "women are all cheating selfish shallow whores" is like "a woman would never be loyal to or love me or find me attractive"

Stranger: that is true

You: and that says something about you that isn't true

You: that you aren't unlovable

Stranger: Im not

You: eh, you probably are, or could be

You: just maybe chill with the incel stuff

Stranger: im not. for one im not anywhere near cute. That alone keeps love away.

I have huge trust issues. A short temper,

You: have you considered seeing a therapist?

Stranger: no

You: i've been seeing therapist for like 6 years, they are pretty great

Stranger: well I dont need one

You: what about the trust issues and the short temper?

Stranger: you cant fix those.

You: yeah, that's what therapists do

Stranger: and all it takes is one asshole to come along and destroy it

You: they help you work through those things

Stranger: honestly, I rather just blow up when im man

Stranger: mad*

You: eh, again, you do you, but this is real good advice honestly

Stranger: im fine

Stranger: as for trust issues, I tried to get over it, just to be fucked over again

You: eh, yeah,

Stranger: so I will stay single

You: i have had shit come up in cycles through my life too

You: its hard

Stranger: yeah

You: anyway bud, i should go, but take care of yourself, enjoy this summer :)

Stranger: yeah, but you know whats painful

Stranger: ?

You: what?

Stranger: seeing a hot af girl at the beach in a bikini and knowing I'll never get to smash that

You: dude, just see a sex worker

Stranger: I dont wanna pay for it

Stranger: or get aids

You: eh, don't be cheap and use a condom

Stranger: I am very cheap

You: ok, well, put a fuckin tin can in your room, and everytime you think to yourself "I'm unlovable" but a dollar in it

You: or what ever mean things your brains says to you

Stranger: I've got a peanut butter jar of like $400 change in my room. just because why not

You: yeah, well $400 will get you a good looking woman

Stranger: yeah.. or it can sit here and be mine.

You: or like half an xbox

Stranger: ok

You: ok, good luck

You have disconnected.

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allofbeercom · 6 years ago

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Portland city guide: what to see plus the best hotels, bars and restaurants

Its famous, derided even, for hipster coffee and craft beer, but theres so much more to one of Americas coolest cities and there are new direct flights from London, too

All hail Portland! The Pacific Northwest trail-blazer is a vibrant hub that celebrates the four cool Cs of coffee, cycling, craft breweries and (food) carts. Whats more, new direct flights four times a week in summer with Delta from Heathrow start on 27 May, making what was a torturous journey with connections in either Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco or Vancouver a more bearable 11-hour trip.

This is a contradictory, rapidly evolving and messy place, which for many is teetering on the brink of boom or bust. See, Portland is about much more than those tourist must-have buzzwords or hipster hit lists.

The city of roses is also a city of protest against police brutality, against Trump. Its many bridges across the Willamette river give it an industrial look, yet it is surrounded by lush Oregon landscapes, with Mount Hood, the Columbia river gorge and Cascade mountains a short drive away.

Powells City of Books on West Burnside Street. Photograph: Robert Hull for the Guardian

It has been lampooned in the TV comedy Portlandia, especially for its cyclists, yet cars still dominate even if the many new apartment blocks dont offer parking. But then another irony is that public transport via bus, streetcar and the MAX light rail line is an efficient and affordable way to get around. What I really love Portland for, though, is its otherness its celebration of the outsider. In his book Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon, Fight Club novelist Chuck Palahniuk asks local writer Katherine Dunn about the city. We just accumulate more and more strange people, she said. All we are is the fugitives and refugees.

Against this backdrop, Portland has one of the worlds best bookshops, Powells City of Books, hosts a major tango festival and, for all its craft breweries, the wine scene is just as vibrant. It also retains the problem of homelessness that distressed travel writer Jan Morris during her visit in the 90s, and which she documented in A Writers World. I left with the feeling that maybe Portland could do with just switching off for a few minutes to regroup. But thats never going to happen because, amid all the tumult, theres too much stuff going on.

WHAT TO DO AND SEE

Promise of a rose garden and more

Photograph: Tom Schwabel/Getty Images

A hike in Washington Park, with its views to Mount Hood, is a short MAX light rail ride from the centre. Kids will enjoy Oregon Zoo and Childrens Museum, but the scene-stealers are the Japanese Garden and the International Rose Test Garden. The former has just had a $33.5m expansion overseen by Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium architect Kengo Kuma and offers the beauty of bonsai, a moon bridge and serene gardens and pavilions. The Rose Garden celebrating its 100th anniversary is another calm spot, with vivid blooms and city views. Adult $14.95, child 6-17 $10.95. 611 SW Kingston Avenue, japanesegarden.org

Jet boat down the Willamette river

Photograph: Getty Images

With a skyline marked by offices and spiralling concrete roads, Portland is not a stereotypically picturesque place. But this river-divided city does do a fine line in bridges. Seeing them from a jet boat provides fresh air, the occasional fast turn and splash, and an architecture lesson on, among others, the Burnside, Hawthorne and Steel bridges. The start/end point outside the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) offers an opportunity for further fun learning or to dry off! Tours from $31 adult, $21 4-11s, +1 503 231 1532, willamettejet.com

Explore the neighbourhoods

A shop in the arts-and-crafty Alberta district. Photograph: Alamy

Downtown Portland isnt overrun with chain stores, and theres an independent spirit on its streets and in the group (pods) of food carts, but my love of the city grew through exploring its neighbourhoods. Go north-east to the Alberta district for arts and crafts, the wonderful community-owned Alberta Co-op Grocery, bars (Radio Room, Alberta Street Pub) and a theatre. Venture south-east to Hawthorne for the ragged charm of the Bagdad Theater, an atmospheric place to catch a (cheap) movie, or visit one of the outposts of Tender Loving Empire for local art and souvenirs at a store that runs its own record label. The Mount Tabor district has its own extinct volcano, and the superb Tabor Bread bakery. But dont stop with this trio: Mississippi Avenue has craft breweries and the musician-owned Mississippi Studios and then continue exploring in Division, Belmont and Nob Hill.

The arts

Portland Art Museum

For rainy days and Portland has its fair share as well as creative inspiration, Portland Art Museum is a must. Founded in 1892, its in two buildings joined by an underground walkway and has an array of Native American, north-western, modern and contemporary art, plus fantastic photography. For smaller-scale shows visit Old Town/Chinatown, where the Blue Sky gallery majors on photography; just feet away are the equally impressive Charles A Hartman and Froelick galleries. Adult $19.99, 17 and under, free. 1219 SW Park Avenue, portlandartmuseum.org

Soccerball with a cutting edge

Mascot Timber Joey cuts a slice of the Portland Timbers log after the team scores. Photograph: Alamy

With no major baseball or NFL franchises in town, the sporting spotlight falls on basketball side the Trail Blazers and the 2015 MLS Cup-winning Portland Timbers football (soccer) team. The Timbers 21,000-capacity Providence Park is a short stroll, bus/tram or bike ride from Downtown and a fun venue to watch the kick-and-rush of US football. A highlight is watching mascot and lumberjack Timber Joey chainsaw a slice off a tree trunk when the home side scores. Tickets sell fast and the 4,000-seat expansion isnt due till 2019 so book. Tickets from $18, Providence Park, +1 503 553 5400, timbers.com

WHERE TO EAT

Breakfast and brunch

Vegan scramble at the Tin Shed Garden Cafe

In the Alberta district, the Tin Shed Garden Cafe serves brunch until 3pm and is a rambunctious, fun, dog-friendly spot that bustles on weekends. Try its big hit burrito ($12) or one of the doggy-themed scrambles: the Fetch (bacon and egg) or the Stay (with mushrooms, seasonal greens and roasted sweet potato (both $9.50). The nearby Cup & Saucer Cafe is a good backup option, the Tommy-go-Hammy omelette ($10.50) is recommended. In Downtown, Kenny and Zukes is a deli-diner to fall in love with great french toast ($10.50) and bagels (from $2.50). At Tasty n Alder and award-winning sister restaurant Tasty n Sons, the trendy set either arrives early or is prepared to wait in line for the frittata with Italian cheeses and salsa verde ($10) and/or the lemon ricotta pancake with blueberry syrup ($7). If patience deserts you, try Cheryls on 12th, where breakfast is served till 4pm the croque monsieur ($12) really delivers.

Lunch and dinner

Afuri Ramen

In an airy, industrial-chic space in the Belmont district, Afuri Ramen is the Tokyo-based chains first branch outside Japan. Apparently, the owners picked Portland for the softness of its water vital for making the broth integral to a good bowl of ramen. The yuzu shio ramen ($15) makes a fine light lunch, though dumplings, sushi and salads are also excellent. Pok Pok PDX on Division Street is chef Andy Rickers take on Thai street food, and has spawned branches across the city. Portlands ever-changing food cart scene is simply too big to do justice to here, but a good way to learn about the carts history is on a tour with Brett Burmeister (foodcartsportland.com).

Viking Soul Food trailer at the Good Food Here food carts pod on Belmont Street, south-east Portland. Photograph: Greg Vaughn/Alamy

Noble Rot on East Burnside keeps it seasonal by growing many of its ingredients on its rooftop garden, while the views across the river arent too shabby either. Try the sweet potato falafel, quinoa, roast vegetables, harissa and sumac yogurt ($23). In Hawthorne, Caf Castagna is a more affordable alternative to the adjacent, Michelin-starred Castanga restaurant its baked penne with gruyre, caramelised leek and onion ($15) has a definite wow factor. And server, bar staff and taxi driver recommendations (all suggested several times) include: Coquine (modern American), Ox (steaks), and Kachka (Russian).

Sweet treats

Salt & Straw. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

More than a few people suggested that Blue Star Donuts (around $3, five locations) had stolen the halo of heavenly sugar provider from Voodoo Doughnut. My chocolate and almond ganache certainly powered me through the afternoon! If ice-cream is your scoop, then Salt & Straw (four locations) will tickle the tastebuds. The one-scoop sea salt with caramel ribbons plus hot fudge ($5.10) I had made for a super Sunday sundae.

WHERE TO DRINK

Loyal Legion

Venture to this Eastside bar to try a cavalcade of local craft brews. It claims to offer 99 Oregon beers on tap and, though I cant personally vouch for all, the Ancestry Golden was light, the Yachats was smooth, the Block 15 was malty and the Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout was a creamy, energising shot of success. The staff seem to know the intricacies of each brew. Happy hour is 3pm-6pm, daily, and the food list includes amazing sausages. Tasters from $2, 16oz from $5. 710 SE 6th Avenue, loyallegionpdx.com

Portland City Grill

The pink granite facade of the US Bancorp Tower has earned it the nickname Big Pink, and the skyscraper is one of Downtowns most distinctive landmarks. However, its the views of the Cascade mountains from Portland City Grill on the 30th floor that really grab the attention. Theres an extensive food menu, but come for the cocktails (try the Portland city streetcar, $12, or the Huckleberry, $10) plus prolonged happy hours (Mon-Sat from 4pm-7pm and from 9pm to closing, Sunday noon to 11pm, drinks from $4.75). 111 SW 5th Avenue, portlandcitygrill.com

Ecliptic Brewing

More than a few locals I spoke to referred to John Harris, who started Ecliptic in 2013, as a legend. The Oregon brewer certainly has a rich craft beer legacy, having worked for McMenamins, Deschutes and Full Sail. Ecliptic is near the Fremont Bridge in the Mississippi district and the cavernous bar-restaurant is home to its brewery (tours available Mon-Tue, Thur-Fri). My six-flight tasting selection ($11) featured pilsners, IPAs, sours and porters. 825 N Cook Street, eclipticbrewing.com

Hubers Cafe

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from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/portland-city-guide-what-to-see-plus-the-best-hotels-bars-and-restaurants/

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awesomeblockchain · 7 years ago

Link

The initial coin offering (ICO) market has grown rapidly over the past year, specifically since mid-2017. Several successful ICOs, including Bancor, EOS, and Tezos have raised billions of dollars through bitcoin and Ether (the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum). ICO tokens are particularly appealing to users of the Ethereum network because ICO tokens can be stored in Ethereum wallets which are compatible with the ERC 20 token standard.

Every crypto-token available in the market has initiated an ICO or a token sale is based on Ethereum's ERC 20 token standard. This has enabled independent projects to launch cryptocurrencies, that are also compatible with the Ethereum network and Ether, with ease. This means that ERC 20 or ICO tokens can be stored in Ethereum wallets like MyEtherWallet and Jaxx.

Taking advantage of how widely adopted the Ethereum network is, most blockchain projects, including open-source scaling solutions like Raiden Network, have started to initiate ICOs. Luis Cuende, the co-founder of $100 million blockchain project, Aragon, maintains that almost every Ethereum or blockchain developer has become a millionaire through ICO launches.

-I don't know any good Ethereum developer that isn't a millionaire - there's a gold rush among developers to learn the coding language of money," Cuende asserted six months ago. He also added that the price of Ether could surpass $1,000 as a result of the rising popularity of ICOs. -I thought it was expensive one year ago when it was at 13 dollars, but today when I see the possibilities created by the technology I think it's cheap. I believe Ethereum will be worth $1000 in a couple of years."

Prior to the recent major value correction of the global cryptocurrency market, which actually decreased the valuation of cryptocurrencies by over $200 billion, the price of Ether surpassed $1,300 globally and $2,000 in the South Korean market.

As of January 2018, many of the world's largest companies have announced ICO plans. Most notably, Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Telegram, Kodak and the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange - Binance. This is especially significant as just a few months ago, the ICO market was dominated by individual developers and foundations within the cryptocurrency industry.

Telegram has reportedly revealed plans to conduct a $1.2 billion ICO in 2018 which could easily surpass Filecoin - the most successful and largest ICO to date, having raised $257 million in its ICO. Due to the undeniable lack of innovative blockchain projects with transparent business models, high-profit margins or sustainable ecosystems, the anticipation for Telegram's ICO is incredibly high.

Tron, which reached a market valuation of $18 billion at one point, was criticized by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee for its lack of viable product or active user base as well as their white paper which had effectively copied content from the white papers of IPFS and Filecoin.

According to Telegram, its encrypted messaging application reached 170 million active monthly users in October 2017 and is processing 70 billion messages on a daily basis. The Telegram development team have predicted that its user base will surpass 200 million by the first quarter of 2018.

The ICO document explained that the company will put $100 million from the $1.2 billion raised towards paying its developers, employees, and consultants along with providing funds for new offices. The rest of the tokens, named TON, will be used to fund developments.

As initially reported by TechCrunch, the four components of the Telegram ICO will include:

However, the ICO model has drawn harsh criticism from some of the most prominent venture capital firms in the cryptocurrency space - Pantera Capital in particular. The cryptocurrency-focused VC firm, which has funded more than 35 startups, including 0x, Omise, ShapeShift, Ripple, Zcash, Xapo, Korbit and Earn, stated that Telegram's 132-paged white paper was full of technobabble and contained nothing of substance.

Charles Noyes, a blockchain analyst and quantitative trader at Pantera Capital, wrote:-Telegram/TON's 132-page white paper says nothing substantial about the hard parts of designing a decentralized protocol. It is essentially a wishlist of things they want to have and how it will work - assuming that their wishlist doesn't crash and burn.

It does not make any substantial contributions to proof of stake research. It does not make any substantial contributions to sharding research. It does not make any substantial contributions to 'hypercube routing' research".

Kodak, the multi-billion dollar camera manufacturer, also announced plans to conduct an ICO and develop a cryptocurrency miner; a plan which was quickly met with criticism. While Kodak's initial ICO announcement led to a 44 percent surge in the firm's market valuation, Coinbase alumni and blockchain researcher, Preethi Kasireddy,‏ contended that the ICO market has become a pivot platform for underperforming companies.

Balaji Srinivasan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz - a major VC firm in the technology sector - explained that, conceptually, ICOs are a phenomenal method of raising money from a distributed ecosystem of investors and a practical way of obtaining the market valuation of a project in real-time.

Ethereum creator, Vitalik Buterin, shared a similar sentiment at a blockchain event held at the InterContinental Seoul COEX in Gangnam District, South Korea: -ICOs are a powerful tool. One that, in many cases, is an important aid in funding protocol development. In general, open-source protocols are very hard to monetize. So the fact that, in this particular area, we actually do have a way to monetize protocol development is something that we should be thankful for".

However, Buterin also raised concerns about the centralization issue of ICOs and the development process of blockchain projects without an open-source community of developers.

Buterin noted that -they also have their flaws and I think many of these flaws arise from the fact that even though the ICOs are happening on a decentralized platform, the ICOs themselves are hardly centralized; they inherently involve many people trusting a single development team with potentially over $200 million of funding".

The ICO market is overheated and is currently filled with speculators who do not properly understand the technology behind most ICOs. While there are several innovative blockchain projects which aim to solve real issues with blockchain technology, many large-scale corporations are attempting to abuse the overheated ICO market to raise several billions of dollars through tokens that have no real use cases.

The truth of the matter is, on closer analysis of the circulated ICO model, the Telegram network is fully functional without a crypto-token. The primary operation of Telegram, ie. the settlement of messages on a peer-to-peer basis, does not need tokens.

The same goes for Kodak - a camera manufacturing company does not need crypto-tokens or blockchain technology unless the firm is planning on pivoting away from its existing camera business and introducing a completely different business model.

With an investment frenzy driven by speculators and big business, the future of the ICO market remains unclear. If the valuation of blockchain projects without viable products or substance continue to increase, the ICO market could experience a major correction as investors frustrated with the lack of process and innovation leave the sector.

This post was written by Joseph Young for Binary District, an international сollaborative technology community which creates unique competency-based workshops and events on new technologies. Follow them down here:

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megamanishashekhawat-blog · 7 years ago

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love marriage vashikaran specialist baba ji

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love marriage vashikaran specialist baba ji

Marriage could be a social, religious, non secular and legal union of people that makes social relationship. individuals marry for several reasons, however sometimes one or a lot of of the following: legal, social, emotional, economic stability and Love; the formation of a family unit; sex and also the education and nurturing of children; legitimizing sexual relations; public declaration of affection. Marriages are created in Heaven, however not all weddings are destined to be happy marriage.

Like each different individual, we tend to descend on the planet plane to stop the previous karmas that we’ve got carried together with from our previous lifetimes. The role of karmas may be each optimistic and demoralized counting on whether or not they are smart or unhealthy. whereas smart ones will bless you with married elation, unhealthy ones may result in a very��variety of wedding issues like delayed marriages or frequent quarrels between couples or different relationship issues like misunderstandings, domination and quality, wrecking mayhem in any relationships etc. we are able to segregate these issues as below:-

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There are many issues and disputes that arise once it involves marrying somebody World Health Organization doesn’t belongs to the identical caste; and every one such issues are proficiently resolved by our love wedding specialist cake Ji guaranteed solutions and no adverse effects in close to future. Till now, has helped an oversized variety of lovers and married couples and has soothed their life with a good vary of Vashikaran tantras & mantras. Today, he has become a trustworthy name for handling all types of Intercaste wedding issues at a lot of cheap costs.

People who face many challenges in their sexual practice, should select the answer of their alternative i.e.; either they will choose pseudoscience based mostly answer or actwith Vashikaran services. However, they will conjointly choose each the solutions to avail the extremely effective results. The pseudoscience based mostly answer would require the small print of the birth chart and a few different data of 1 of the partners. While, on the opposite hand, Vashikaran based mostly answer would require solely the essential data regarding one or each the partners are on the point of marry. The pseudoscience measures use the remedies procedures to urge the advantages of gemstones; wherever Vashikaran solutions use many tantras & mantras. All issues related to Intercaste love wedding are handled by our Love wedding Specialist, together with the family disputes, personal issues, financial, activity issues and further matrimonial affairs.

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Love could be a pristine and exquisite feeling. is forms the bottom of whole life. Yet, repeatedly we tend to see that but abundant you’re keen on somebody, you’re ineffectual to consummate your love into Love wedding. There is countless reasons: parents’ consent, society, break-ups, disloyalty, quality to call some. In most of the cases we tend to are unable to grasp the causes Love wedding Specialist cake will facilitate your at that point. when acquisition each human effort vainly we tend to reluctantly try and break and move on! however is it possible?

दिमाग से चिन्ता हटाने का वशीकरण टोटका

शादी विवाह में विघ्न न पडने देने के लिये वशीकरण टोटका

वशीकरण करने और हटाने के आसान टोटके

Love wedding answer baba ji is the predictor solves all forms of the issues that comes into a love wedding. Love wedding is that the relationship that’s altogether supported the love and trust. If we tend to lost it them there are additional probabilities of the separation within the love wedding. baba terrorist group is professional within the vashikaran and star divination with that he will solve all of the issues simply. Vashikaran is that the methodology of dominant the opposite person, you’ll additionally perform the vashikaran spell or the love spells on your lover in order that he/she get underneath your management. it’s seen several couples people who deeply love one another stop doting when wedding. The love in between couple get fade and their relationship becomes bitter.

So, if you’re taking the assistance of the vashikaran spell by the love wedding answer cake ji at right time then you’ll solve all of your issues simply. Those spells are terribly powerful that ought to solely be performed with sensible intentions and there shouldn’t be any single mistake whereas playing the vashikaran. you’ll once more create your love wedding stuffed with love.

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Life became paradise once 2 folks love one another attentively and sweet. With no scene, they near one another as 2 souls united during a single life. each of wish simply left that his or her partner adores plenty like water within the ocean. however as a person’s isn’t finished partner wish to try and do higher than pseudoscience has an possibility with the name of powerful Vashikaran Mantra for love marriage and afterwards as that second partner what believe. The love seeker who’s seeking love in their life is being connected to the world of powerful Vashikaran Mantra for love wedding.

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Vashikaran Mantras for love relationship are effective and then powerful that the desired result may be given by vocalizing of those Mantras in applicable technique. many folks turned to alternative Tantric traditions or these Mantras foradding colours to life or so as to satisfy their needs. ladies sometimes try and style their living per their own wants because it pertains to union. once wedding may be concerned man isno exception.

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maddisonluncefor-blog · 7 years ago

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Good Xbox Racing Games

Free Car Games Kids

There is a variety of car games on offer. In a bid to keep up with the action and war games, companies within the gaming industry are constantly coming out with new and improved gaming techniques to entice purchasers. Given below is a catalog of different types of car games that are greatly enjoyed by gaming enthusiasts. Car racing games- An old school game, it remains the most popular car racing game for all age groups. Car racing pc games are a big hit with those just entering the gaming arena since they are quite easy to follow. Furthermore, you dont require great skills to operate some of these car racing games. As a result, racing games are an appropriate choice for kids that fall in the age group of 5 to 7 years old. At the same time, the racing game domain has developed considerably to suit sophisticated tastes. These days, free games come with numerous, interesting features. These functions enable the user to customize the race track, car, region and most excitingly, the degree of difficulty. You can also enjoy refined games that offer a more realistic approach to playing with simulative controls like a steering wheel, accelerator, clutch and brake pedals. Car parking games- As indicated in the name, car parking calls for the player to fit his car into a particular space. It may not seem very exciting but you will have a great time with these games. Finding a perfect parking spot can be a tricky job and the same is the case in the virtual world. These games require more dexterity than one might imagine. To master this game, you need to get a hang of the complex controls which isnt always the case with a car racing or chasing game. Car chasing games- Just like car racing games, there are a number of car chasing games to choose from. They range from straightforward chases that most users can master to intricate game-play that calls for a skilled practitioner. A common theme in car chasing games is cops or robbers. These games are aimed at kids that fall in the age bracket of 7 to 15 years old. While the player can choose his own avatar when playing these games, there is a limited selection on offer with this genre. Car theft games- Of the various categories, car theft games are the most absorbing and thus, they are highly sought- after by game freaks. These games include a number of levels and come with complicated plot points and numerous characters.

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The gaming industry is well a lot more $51 Big business and can be growing larger every day. With companies spending many millions over for programmers to generate these games they are searching for ways to outsource the testing aspect on the game creation process. Service station . I in order to are surprised to hear how to get paid to play online games, but it can actually pay anywhere from $20.00 every hour to over what $50.00 on an hourly basis depending for the company an individual might be working for, or how good of an applicant they think you are for their testing. Online games entail playing various games on your computer when an individual might be connected online. You are not necessary to buy any expensive kits in this activity. Correct your machine connected to the net and investigate free games that catch your wish to have. Once you get the practice of things really can feel easier.

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dnzjannie402492-blog · 7 years ago

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Save Cash Video Games With These Nes Games

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There are many individuals who place regular bets in the world of horse dashing. There is no doubt that this has been one within the most popular forms of gambling for years. Bettors go to the tracks on a regular basis to wager and try winning some money. It's just that since you are not undoubtedly one of them and you find betting on horses risky, opt for different regarding horse racing games that will comw with in stores as well as the Internet. Unlike real gambling, horse racing games don't involve any risk and the players can try the best skill game available. Mary Kate and Ashley's Sweet 16: This game probably won't appeal to 16 year olds, around the other hand can be considered an fun party board game style ball game. It is significantly like Mario Party in game play. All the mini games are themed around driving. Great prize end up being a small Hot Wheels car.

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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Face-off over the Congo: the long rivalry between Kinshasa and Brazzaville

Its only a five-minute flight from Kinshasa to its rival city, Brazzaville but as the DRC slides into a bloody political crisis, an international border, the Congo river and centuries of colonialism continue to separate west Africas volatile twins

Sunday morning, and the crowds are thronging the myriad churches on the ragged western edge of Kinshasa. Congregations file into the barn-like halls to hear priests and preachers. Down on the terrace of Chez Tintin, one of Kinshasas best known restaurants and nightspots, only fishermen and two tourists from the central town of Kisangani brave the warm, driving rain.

Beyond the plastic tables and chairs, a low brick wall, and the pilgrims, is the Congo. Though 4,500km from its furthest source, the great river is less than 1,000 metres wide at this point, and surges through the narrow bottleneck with tremendous power. The resulting rush of foaming brown water is the reason for the existence, the proximity and the enmity of arguably the worlds two closest capital cities: Kinshasa, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Brazzaville, of the confusingly similarly named Republic of Congo.

Upstream, the river broadens and is navigable deep into the interior. But below the rapids, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean 450km away, the Congo is impassable.

This geography was of crucial significance in the late 19th century when France and Belgium established rival colonies on the Congos banks. Ivory, rubber and other commodities could be brought as far as the rapids, but no further. To bypass them, each built a railway to the Atlantic Ocean. The Belgians built theirs on the southern bank in the 1890s; the French followed 30 years later on the northern. The tracks began at the last possible point where goods could be carried by ships: the current sites of Kinshasa, and Brazzaville, named in honour of Pierre de Brazza, the young French explorer who pioneered Paris acquisition of the territory.

The birthright of the cities is thus suspicion and rivalry. For nearly 150 years the two have been divided by their shared origins and the famous river which runs between them.

The DRC capital, Kinshasa, was known as Leopoldville under Belgian rule. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

When Joseph Kabila, the 45-year-old president of what has been the DRC since 2001, looks out of his heavily guarded home on the rivers banks in the centre of Kinshasa, he will see, directly opposite, the span of a vast new bridge, illuminated at night with sprays of pink and yellow light.

This is the Route de la Corniche, a prestige project which spans a valley over a minor tributary on the rivers northern bank separating two wealthy neighbourhoods of Brazzaville, where his counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso, 73, has been ruling since 1979 (with a five year break during civil war). It is, says one western diplomat, a bridge to nowhere and is an adequate representation of the relations of the two countries.

There is a flight twice a week between the two ridiculously close capitals Welcome aboard, our flight time today is five minutes but the Congo is the main link, and that means the heavy, rusting ferries and the faster but terrifyingly flimsy speed boats which bounce over the waves.

Professor Kambayi Bwatshia lives in a small villa in central Kinshasa where he has watched regimes on both sides come and go. He has also watched the two cities Kinshasa with a population of 12 million, the other three million steadily grow. Bwatshia teaches in universities in the two cities, taking the ferry across to lecture students on international relations and culture.

Going in either direction is a homecoming, Bwatshia says. The populations of Brazzaville and Kinshasa have never seen the river Congo as a wall, a closure but as a passage, a route for coming and going to see a friend, a brother, a partner. The two peoples are one and the same, sharing politics, economics, commerce, spirituality and faiths.

Bwatshia believes the divisions between the twin cities are a legacy of European imperialism. It was the colonial powers which created this divide, a divide which entered into the spirit of people, as it has done elsewhere across Africa, he says.

King Leopold II was forced to hand the DRC over to the Belgian government in 1908. The colony, after decades of horrific mismanagement and exploitation, did not gain independence until June 1960. Brazzaville, which had played a key role for the French during the second world, followed two months later as a free nation.

Thousands cross the Congo river every day. Photograph: Federico Scoppa/AFP/Getty Images

Each colonial power exploited its colonies according to it own objectives, mentality and values. That has been a major influence on the two cities and their relationship. The two peoples became almost enemies, and remained so until today The river, once a bridge, became a wall, said Bwatshia.

One key factor was the cold war. In 1965, Joseph Mobutu (who later renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko) a former soldier and journalist, took power of the Belgian Congo. On the other side of the river, three years later, it was Marien Ngouabi, a leftist former paratrooper who took control and declared a MarxistLeninist state. Mobutu, despite his brutality and venality, was supported by the west as a bulwark against Communist expansion. The Republic of the Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville as it is often known, broke diplomatic relations with the US, leaning towards the Soviet camp though it was wooed by its former colonial masters, or at least French businesses.

Both are scarred by the architecture of the time. Kinshasa is still full of crumbling monuments to Mobutus 32-year rule such as his 200m Tower of Limite from 1971, a monument to Congolese independence leader Patrice mery Lumumba while Brazzaville is dominated by the 108m Nabemba Tower, an office block built with funds borrowed from French oil companies in the early 1980s.

The two capitals have been intertwined in more recent events too. As the author Michaela Wong drily writes in her account of the last years of Mobutu, In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz, the fact that the two capitals are within easy shelling distance of each other has been of more than merely abstract interest.

An empty avenue in Kinshasa with the Limete tower in the background. Photograph: Eduardo Soteras/AFP/Getty Images

Wong wrote: From Brazzaville to Kinshasa, from Kinshasa to Brazzaville, residents ping-pong irrepressibly from one to another depending on which capital is judged more dangerous at any given moment.

The ebb and flow of violence has since led more people across the river, in both directions.

In 2001, Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabilas father and the rebel leader who took over from Mobutu, was shot by a teenage soldier in his palace. At least three of those involved in the plot, including the unnamed killer himself, reportedly fled Kinshasa, crossed the river and may have gone into hiding in Brazzaville. A supposed attempt in 2011 on Joseph Kabilas life blamed on the northern neighbours led to major breakdown in diplomatic relations, which is yet to be patched up.

Tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of DRC citizens who have found work in Brazzaville face periodic expulsions. Many were already displaced within DRC and now live in desperately poor camps around Kinshasa.

But the sheer disparity in size between the two nations the DRC with a population of 80 million, Congo-Brazzaville with less than five and the two cities, is a factor that restrains any outright hostility.

In recent months, as the DRC has slid into a bloody political crisis, anxious looks have been cast in both directions across the fast-moving waters between the two capitals.

Cyclists in the 11th Africa Games ride through Brazzaville in 2015. Photograph: Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP/Getty Images

Kabila failed in a bid to change the constitution to allow himself to stand for a third term and his electoral mandate expired in December, prompting widespread violence in whichmore than 40 people are thought to have died.

In 2015, Sassou held a referendum to change Congo-Brazzavilles constitution to allow him to stand for a third presidential term. He went on to win elections held last year.

Both rulers are accused of nepotism and corruption which they deny.

***

With less than 24 hours before Kabilas mandate officially ended, the ferries between the two capitals were busier than usual. Through the rusting gates, beyond the money changers with their stacks of eroded Congolese francs and the photocopiers where vital documents could be duplicated or triplicated, scores queued for tickets in the sweltering heat. Porters lugged suitcases, plastic bags wrapped in twine, multicoloured sacks and children. Armed police cradled Kalashnikovs and watched the chaos.

It isnt the English channel, said Nzuzi Sitalina, the principal administrator of the port.

For some, the purpose of the trip was relatively mundane: to stay with relatives over Christmas, to retrieve some property, and trade sugar for cheap clothes. For others, the trip was more urgent.

A luxury 4×4 drew up metres from the ramps leading to the ferries. A tall slim woman emerged, flanked by a heavy-set man carrying a radio. Six porters were rapidly hired, and five giant suitcases plus an Italian-manufactured baby seat distributed. Four surly teenagers wearing baseball caps and skinny jeans followed. They were on their way out, one said, to escape the violence predicted for the following week.

Despite the political tensions between the two capitals, and the legacy of two very different nations imperialism, and even the limits to commercial, social and intellectual exchange imposed by the unbridged river, the 15 million on both banks are drawn inexorably together.

Feasibility studies are reportedly being carried out for a 4km, $1.65bn road and rail bridge linking the hearts of Brazzaville and Kinshasa. These are not the first such efforts. Half a dozen studies have been undertaken. It is unlikely that anyone is going to put up the kind of sums required in the near, or even distant, future for such an epic project.

In the meantime, the ferries ply back and forth, the students, teachers, traders and politicians fugitive families still flow between the cities, and the rapids continue to entertain the diners at Chez Tintin.

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