2011 seniors catchy
☿ BLACKMAGE ☿
2016.12.28 16:41 TrapTarzan ☿ BLACKMAGE ☿
GHOSTEMANE is an underground artist heavily influenced by black metal. Not your customary South Florida rapper, GHOSTEMANE is a veteran known for his mesmerizing blend of lyrical, machine-gun flows and catchy mantras. Exploding on to the scene in 2011, the MC quickly developed a loyal fan base and distinct following, as he distanced himself from the typical sound/content of the artists surrounding him. https://discord.gg/jKrTRhJGnb
2013.05.11 23:23 Isoms The Kooks
A subreddit devoted to The Kooks!
2024.05.12 23:41 solace1234 My grandpa says I shouldn’t be a home aide with a car because it’ll break down. (Upstate NY)
I had this 2011 Nissan Cube which seemed to work fine, butt it lasted about 4 months before the transmission fluid fucked up and completely stopped accelerating so I scrapped it. I was driving to multiple patients, admittedly making the decision to drive all over the place and my Grandpa blames the inconvenience on this schedule. I wouldn’t go farther than 40 - 50 minutes to a patient, but I had 4 patients so I did a lot of driving regardless. Sometimes, two on the same day.
I love being a home aide. It’s quite a simple job and the pay is better than anything else that would hire me. Plus the schedule is incredibly flexible. The other jobs I’ve tried since losing my car (dishwasher, deli service, etc) are PURE STRESS and they don’t even pay nearly as much as my Home Aide Job, so I’ve decided to start biking to my patients or catching a bus when available and the pay + work is fulfilling enough to be worth it. If I do this temporarily, I can get a new car in, like, a month or two. I want to move out of my grandparents’ place before 2025 and i’m willing to do anything, even travel an hour and a half for this job.
However, my grandpa is a bit old fashioned and seems to think I would do better working at Lowe’s. They would be paying me 15 to do all sorts of uninteresting bs, while my Current job would pay 17+ for medically helping senior citizens and simply being good company.
My main question…
My grandpa’s opinion: Getting a ~$3,000 to $5,000 car would be pointless if I kept the Home Aide job, because my patients are far and my car would simply break down very quickly again. I agree with his lesser-emphasized point that I should get a job that doesn’t depend on me having a car, but it’s limiting and not perfectly possible (getting hired is hard).
My opinion: I find it hard to believe that a Home Aide’s used car breaking after 4 months is so common. If I simply get something with low mileage and decide to work a more practical schedule, perhaps even with a different agency that has closer patients, a used car could be fine for at least like a year or two while I save up, right? I admit I don’t know a single thing about cars besides driving them.
Either way I’m going to purchase a car asap by grinding, with this bike and my Home Aide job. But should I keep trying to work in Home Health Care once I get a used car, or try something else? An employment agency’s agent said they could hook me up with something, and if it pays higher I really might not mind depending on what it is.
submitted by solace1234 to cna [link] [comments]
I love being a home aide. It’s quite a simple job and the pay is better than anything else that would hire me. Plus the schedule is incredibly flexible. The other jobs I’ve tried since losing my car (dishwasher, deli service, etc) are PURE STRESS and they don’t even pay nearly as much as my Home Aide Job, so I’ve decided to start biking to my patients or catching a bus when available and the pay + work is fulfilling enough to be worth it. If I do this temporarily, I can get a new car in, like, a month or two. I want to move out of my grandparents’ place before 2025 and i’m willing to do anything, even travel an hour and a half for this job.
However, my grandpa is a bit old fashioned and seems to think I would do better working at Lowe’s. They would be paying me 15 to do all sorts of uninteresting bs, while my Current job would pay 17+ for medically helping senior citizens and simply being good company.
My main question…
My grandpa’s opinion: Getting a ~$3,000 to $5,000 car would be pointless if I kept the Home Aide job, because my patients are far and my car would simply break down very quickly again. I agree with his lesser-emphasized point that I should get a job that doesn’t depend on me having a car, but it’s limiting and not perfectly possible (getting hired is hard).
My opinion: I find it hard to believe that a Home Aide’s used car breaking after 4 months is so common. If I simply get something with low mileage and decide to work a more practical schedule, perhaps even with a different agency that has closer patients, a used car could be fine for at least like a year or two while I save up, right? I admit I don’t know a single thing about cars besides driving them.
Either way I’m going to purchase a car asap by grinding, with this bike and my Home Aide job. But should I keep trying to work in Home Health Care once I get a used car, or try something else? An employment agency’s agent said they could hook me up with something, and if it pays higher I really might not mind depending on what it is.
2024.05.12 22:03 kingofstormandfire These are the Top 6 songs of 1967 according to Billboard's year-end list. Which one is your favourite?
It was a race between The Four Tops and The Monkees, but in the end, The Monkees finished first with "Last Train to Clarksville", winning the 1966 poll. A great song. Well-deserved victory.
1967 is often considered one of the greatest years in popular music, and the year that psychedelia really became mainstream. It's also the year where the British Invasion has pretty much ended. It's also where the counterculture movement really became present in music. It's a year where rock is starting to become harder. Also, 1967 also saw a great explosion in popularity for soul music, which would continue all the way into the 1970s.
******
1) “To Sir With Love” (Lulu) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVQ4vAmM7Y
In the year of psychedelia, British singer Lulu's pop ballad from the Sidney Poitier-led film "To Sir, With Love" became the No. 1 song of 1967, making her the second British female artist to do so in the rock era, following Petula Clark in 1965. She also became the first of two Scottish female solo artists to achieve this, with Sheena Easton being the second in 1981. It was not until 2011, when Calvin Harris, featuring Rihanna, topped the Hot 100 with "We Found Love" that another Scottish artist topped the Hot 100.
I really enjoy this song. Lulu's performance is sincere, warm, and bubbly. I’m a little surprised that it was the number one song of the year, but it's definitely a great track.
2) “The Letter” (The Box Tops) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyq3PUTnpd0
"The Letter," a blue-eyed soul track by The Box Tops, topped the US charts with 16-year-old Alex Chilton as the lead vocalist. It was written by country musician Wayne Carson. Chilton later co-founded the highly influential cult power pop band Big Star. While The Box Tops never reached the top spot again, they achieved several more Top 40 hits, including the 1968 hit "Cry Like a Baby," which peaked at number two in the US. “The Letter” is also the last song to top the Hot 100 that is under 2 minutes.
I do enjoy this song, but it’s not long enough for me to truly connect with it. I always found it fascinating that Chilton sounds older and gruffer on this song at 16 than at age 23 when the first Big Star album came out.
3) “Ode to Billie Joe” (Bobbie Gentry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJZ_ViDADOE
A US No. 1, Bobbie Gentry's gothic country song, performed with a simple acoustic guitar and subtle string background, captures the haunting tale of Billie Joe McAllister's suicide in rural Mississippi. Narrated by a young woman with a secret connection to Billie Joe, the song explores her family's indifferent reaction to the tragedy. The mysterious element of what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge has intrigued listeners for decades. Gentry has repeatedly emphasised that the focus of the song is on the family's emotional detachment, describing it as "a study in unconscious cruelty," and stated that the object thrown off the bridge was irrelevant to the song's deeper message.
Fantastic song. Haunting. Very well written and performed by Gentry, who is an underappreciated artist nowadays. You can hear the influence this song had on the singer-songwriter movement of the early 70s. Check out her catalogue - she has several great songs and albums. She also scored a UK No. 1 in 1969 with her cover of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”.
4) “Windy” (The Association) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUv9OK4KUv8
The 2nd and final US No. 1 by the sunshine pop group The Association, this song was written by Ruthann Friedman. She initially claimed that she had written the song about a man that she had a crush on (the gender of the song was changed in The Association version), but she later revealed that she had written the song about herself during her mid-20s. She wrote "Windy" in waltz time, but the group’s producer Bones Howe changed it to the more common 4/4 to ensure the song's commercial appeal. The lead vocals were sung primarily by guitarist and new band member Larry Ramos along with vocalist Russ Giguere. Ramos, who was of Filipino descent, was a rare Asian-American lead singer to have a number one hit single.
I dunno about you, but I absolutely love this song. It’s honestly one of my all-time favourites (alongside their US Hot 100 No. 2 masterpiece “Never My Love”). It’s perfect pop. So catchy, and quite danceable. I remember first hearing it when it was used in “Breaking Bad” (how ‘bout a windy, Wendy?).
5) “I’m a Believer” (The Monkees) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PQAqprjOuA
I’m sure everyone knows this song, whether by The Monkees or the Smash Mouth cover. It was written by Neil Diamond and sung by Monkees’ lead singer Mickey Dolenz. Accounting for strictly sales of singles, this was the biggest-selling single of 1967, excluding radio play. It reached No. 1 in numerous countries all over the world.
Who doesn’t love this song? It may be overplayed, but it’s a classic.
6) “Light My Fire” (The Doors) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLiq8j29Lww
"Light My Fire," the first of two chart-toppers for American psychedelic rock band The Doors, was credited to the whole band but was largely written by guitarist Robby Krieger. The song, known for its erotic lyrics and distinctive structure, epitomises the '60s psychedelic and sexual revolutions. The album version stretches over 7 minutes, while the radio-friendly single cuts down to just under 3 minutes. Krieger drew inspiration from the melody of "Hey Joe" and the lyrics of the Rolling Stones' "Play with Fire." When he brought his initial draft to the band, drummer John Densmore proposed a Latin rhythm, lead vocalist Jim Morrison contributed to the second verse and part of the chorus, and Ray Manzarek introduced a Bach-inspired organ motif. The song famously starts with a single snare drum beat, a suggestion from Densmore.
Wow, I’m shocked The Doors scored a US No. 1, let alone two (their other chart-topper was “Hello, I Love You”). That’s awesome. Great song. Not my favourite song by the band, but still, it’s a classic. I put the single version as the link.
***
Rounding out the Top 10 is “Somethin’ Stupid” (Nancy and Frank Sinatra) (No. 7), “Happy Together” (The Turtles) (No. 8), “Groovin’” (The Rascals) (No. 9), “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Vali) (No. 10). An extremely strong Top 10. Even the worst song in the Top 10 - that Frank/Nancy song - isn’t that bad (it's more weird since it's a duet between fathedaughter).
***
Be sure to listen to all songs before voting.
View Poll
submitted by kingofstormandfire to ToddintheShadow [link] [comments]
1967 is often considered one of the greatest years in popular music, and the year that psychedelia really became mainstream. It's also the year where the British Invasion has pretty much ended. It's also where the counterculture movement really became present in music. It's a year where rock is starting to become harder. Also, 1967 also saw a great explosion in popularity for soul music, which would continue all the way into the 1970s.
******
1) “To Sir With Love” (Lulu) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVQ4vAmM7Y
In the year of psychedelia, British singer Lulu's pop ballad from the Sidney Poitier-led film "To Sir, With Love" became the No. 1 song of 1967, making her the second British female artist to do so in the rock era, following Petula Clark in 1965. She also became the first of two Scottish female solo artists to achieve this, with Sheena Easton being the second in 1981. It was not until 2011, when Calvin Harris, featuring Rihanna, topped the Hot 100 with "We Found Love" that another Scottish artist topped the Hot 100.
I really enjoy this song. Lulu's performance is sincere, warm, and bubbly. I’m a little surprised that it was the number one song of the year, but it's definitely a great track.
2) “The Letter” (The Box Tops) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyq3PUTnpd0
"The Letter," a blue-eyed soul track by The Box Tops, topped the US charts with 16-year-old Alex Chilton as the lead vocalist. It was written by country musician Wayne Carson. Chilton later co-founded the highly influential cult power pop band Big Star. While The Box Tops never reached the top spot again, they achieved several more Top 40 hits, including the 1968 hit "Cry Like a Baby," which peaked at number two in the US. “The Letter” is also the last song to top the Hot 100 that is under 2 minutes.
I do enjoy this song, but it’s not long enough for me to truly connect with it. I always found it fascinating that Chilton sounds older and gruffer on this song at 16 than at age 23 when the first Big Star album came out.
3) “Ode to Billie Joe” (Bobbie Gentry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJZ_ViDADOE
A US No. 1, Bobbie Gentry's gothic country song, performed with a simple acoustic guitar and subtle string background, captures the haunting tale of Billie Joe McAllister's suicide in rural Mississippi. Narrated by a young woman with a secret connection to Billie Joe, the song explores her family's indifferent reaction to the tragedy. The mysterious element of what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge has intrigued listeners for decades. Gentry has repeatedly emphasised that the focus of the song is on the family's emotional detachment, describing it as "a study in unconscious cruelty," and stated that the object thrown off the bridge was irrelevant to the song's deeper message.
Fantastic song. Haunting. Very well written and performed by Gentry, who is an underappreciated artist nowadays. You can hear the influence this song had on the singer-songwriter movement of the early 70s. Check out her catalogue - she has several great songs and albums. She also scored a UK No. 1 in 1969 with her cover of “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”.
4) “Windy” (The Association) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUv9OK4KUv8
The 2nd and final US No. 1 by the sunshine pop group The Association, this song was written by Ruthann Friedman. She initially claimed that she had written the song about a man that she had a crush on (the gender of the song was changed in The Association version), but she later revealed that she had written the song about herself during her mid-20s. She wrote "Windy" in waltz time, but the group’s producer Bones Howe changed it to the more common 4/4 to ensure the song's commercial appeal. The lead vocals were sung primarily by guitarist and new band member Larry Ramos along with vocalist Russ Giguere. Ramos, who was of Filipino descent, was a rare Asian-American lead singer to have a number one hit single.
I dunno about you, but I absolutely love this song. It’s honestly one of my all-time favourites (alongside their US Hot 100 No. 2 masterpiece “Never My Love”). It’s perfect pop. So catchy, and quite danceable. I remember first hearing it when it was used in “Breaking Bad” (how ‘bout a windy, Wendy?).
5) “I’m a Believer” (The Monkees) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PQAqprjOuA
I’m sure everyone knows this song, whether by The Monkees or the Smash Mouth cover. It was written by Neil Diamond and sung by Monkees’ lead singer Mickey Dolenz. Accounting for strictly sales of singles, this was the biggest-selling single of 1967, excluding radio play. It reached No. 1 in numerous countries all over the world.
Who doesn’t love this song? It may be overplayed, but it’s a classic.
6) “Light My Fire” (The Doors) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLiq8j29Lww
"Light My Fire," the first of two chart-toppers for American psychedelic rock band The Doors, was credited to the whole band but was largely written by guitarist Robby Krieger. The song, known for its erotic lyrics and distinctive structure, epitomises the '60s psychedelic and sexual revolutions. The album version stretches over 7 minutes, while the radio-friendly single cuts down to just under 3 minutes. Krieger drew inspiration from the melody of "Hey Joe" and the lyrics of the Rolling Stones' "Play with Fire." When he brought his initial draft to the band, drummer John Densmore proposed a Latin rhythm, lead vocalist Jim Morrison contributed to the second verse and part of the chorus, and Ray Manzarek introduced a Bach-inspired organ motif. The song famously starts with a single snare drum beat, a suggestion from Densmore.
Wow, I’m shocked The Doors scored a US No. 1, let alone two (their other chart-topper was “Hello, I Love You”). That’s awesome. Great song. Not my favourite song by the band, but still, it’s a classic. I put the single version as the link.
***
Rounding out the Top 10 is “Somethin’ Stupid” (Nancy and Frank Sinatra) (No. 7), “Happy Together” (The Turtles) (No. 8), “Groovin’” (The Rascals) (No. 9), “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Vali) (No. 10). An extremely strong Top 10. Even the worst song in the Top 10 - that Frank/Nancy song - isn’t that bad (it's more weird since it's a duet between fathedaughter).
***
Be sure to listen to all songs before voting.
View Poll
2024.05.12 17:32 othinthin Opisyal na PH army tatay ko and nasayang yung 20million+loan, ariarian, lupa, sasakyan dahil lang sa babae niya
Please huwag niyo tong iuupload sa ibang platforms :')sorry sa grammatical error di ako masyado fluent sa tagalog. Story time muna ako before umabot sa sinasabi ko abt sa title haha
Ever since bata palang kami, nangbababae na talaga si daddy. Nagstart non after na magka anak si mommy. Di ko pa alam nung bata ako sa mga nangyayari not until sinabi na samin to ng mother ko nung malaki na kami.
May time na nakita niya na nakakalat yung mga damit ng babae(1) ni daddy sa bahay namin tapos yung condom nakakalat pa sa sahig. Tapos nung dumating na inasthma kami ng ate ko and naka problema sa lungs, never na bumisita samin si daddy sa hospital kasi nasa boracay sila ng babae niya. Paano nalaman ni mommy? Kasi may nagsusumbong na army na kasama ni daddy sa kanya. Pero naka tira pa kami nyan sa nueva ecija.
(2011)Nagbeg si daddy kay mommy na pag lumipat kami sa bacolod, magbabago na daw siya, eh si mommy naman binigyan niya parin ng second chance para sa samin na mga anak niya. Akala ko nga bakasyon lang, yun pala permanet na kami dito hahaha. So ganon parin nagcheat parin. May nabuntis si dad sa babae(2) niya na taga australia, which is mas nauna siya ipinanganak kaysa sa pangatlong kapatid namin. Eventually namatay rin dahil sa heart failure and same rin yung death anniversary niya kay daddy.
(2012) Up till now di ako makapaniwala kasi yung pangalan ng pangatlo kong kapatid na bunso, is pangalan ng kabet(3) ni dad. Na disappoint si daddy kasi babae. So after a year nanganak ulit si mommy, lalake na lumabas.
(2014) Eventually, may urge na din si mommy makipag divorce kay dad pero naunahan ni daddy si mommy. Never pumirma si mommy sa divorce papers and finorge ni dad pirma niya.
2016- after 2 years umuwi dad ko after ni mommy magseparate. 1 week siya nagstay sa bahay. While si mommy umalis sa bahay and natutulog lang siya sa car.
(2016-2018) - Nagrerent kami lang ng bahay sa may white house. Comfortable siya kahit maliit lang. Nag iisip si mommy ng pagkikitaan niya ng pera kaya nag rent siya sa may squatter sa tawid. Malapit lang siya sa bahay namin pero maraming mga workers na bumibili don. Kaya dun si mommy nagstart magbenta ng mga ulam, may karaoke, tindahan. Sobrang nakaka draining and nakaka stress kasi wala kaming childhood dahil sa pag aalaga ng kapatid namin na age nila 5 y.o below palang. Kami ang taga hugas, taga bihis while si mommy busy sa pagtitinda. Never nagpadala si daddy that time. Palaging hindi pina pa access sa kay mommy yung atm. Lumipat kami sa squatter para iisa nalang yung bababayrin na rent. Di kami natutulog pag umuulan kasi pumapatak yung tubig sa loob ng kwarto namin. Walang kisame, at di kami makatulog kada gabi kasi may videoke sa labas.
Lumipat kami ng bahay malapit sa school ng kapatid ko nung 2018. Nag karenderya din kasi si mommy kaya plus points na rin kasi malapit sa school.
(2019)lumipat kami sa apartment and mas malaki sya. Naging stable naman buhay namin kasi nagpapadala na si dad samin.
(2021) May inintroduce yung kapatid ni daddy na nagtatrabaho daw sa dpwh na babae(4) tas nakatira daw sa penthouse. Antanga naman ni daddy eh wala nga naka punta sa penthouse niya yon naniwala naman. So naging sila. Pineke nila yung marriage contract nila and patay si mommy sa birth certificate and naka mark na first wife daw yung kabet😭. Wala pang idea diyan si mommy non pero naghihinala na talaga siya.
So dito talaga nagstart. Nag uusap sila ni dad at mommy sa phone. Sabi ni dad magpapadala daw siya ng 2 computer galing daw sa princess niya. Sabi ni ni mommy "baka nakaw niya lang yan" as a joke. Tapos na offend si princess ahahahhaha. Princess pala tawag ni dad sa kanya kasi nay dugong royal blood daw na muslim. Pinapagtanggol pa nga ni dad si princess. Sabi pa niya buti pa daw si princess iniisip yung future ng mga anak niya. Sabi ni mommy "sa tingin mo ba di ko iniisip future ng mga anak ko? Grabe sakripisyo ko sa mga anak ko tapos ikaw nagpapasarap ka"
Doon na nagstart ang argument nila mommy. Nagsumbatan sila ng babae at ni mommy and dinamay niya rin kaming magkakapatid. Pinagsabihan niya na bastos si ate as if kilala niya kami. Sinabihan niya rin ako na kahit na ibenta ko katawan ko, di ko maangat ang buhay ng pamilya ko. Eto chinat niya sakin pero message niya to para kay mommy. Lahat ng fake na pag akusa dito siya magaling. Hinide ko lang names dito pero orig message yan dito sa messenger
"Ikaw ----(mom's name) -, baka puwedeng tantanan mo ako ha ...ninyo ng mga bastos mong anak lalo na ang PASALO mong panganay este kay (dad's name) lang pala kasi kahit naman panay pagmamalinis mo alam mo sa sarili mo na sangkatutak ang anak mo sa ibang lalaki bago mo pa naging asawa si (--dads name) - - - (alam ba yan ng mga senior officer na kinakalandari mo o gusto mo ako magsabi kung anong klase kang pokpok?)- lalakero ka diba? Sabagay feeling mo kasi ang ganda ganda mo kung maka mata ng iba, eh mukha ka lang namang palahiang baboy. Tama na pagiging assuming mo (mom) dahil wala ka rin namang napapatunayan kahit s sarili mo na lang. Sana kung wala naman ginagawa sayo ang ibang tao huwag mong inaatake kasi minsan napupuno din yan at baka mas masahol ka pa pala sa mga sinasabi mo against sa iba. Isa kang babae na ni konting kahihiyan at respeto sa sarili ay wala in short wala kang delicadesa! Kung minalas ka man sa buhay mo dahil akala mo milyonarya ka na biglang naghirap dahil sa akin puwes nagkakamali ka. Yan kasi masyado kang assuming na can afford ka ero ang totoo mahirap ka pa sa daga - wake up om your wildest dream. Kung talagang matapang ka bakit dimo maharap ang mga unang babae ni (dad) ? Kilala mo sila diba ? Sino ang sumira sa pamilya dun ka magtapang tapangan letse ka! Pumyeta kang babae ka hindi ka na napapagod sa pagiging bitter mo. Sige dito tayo mag ladlaran sa social media para malaman ng lahat ang Past , Present at Future mo!"
(2022)Ilang months kami di pinadalhan ng pang rent sa bahay at kuryente, 8k bayad namin sa rent. Halos mahimatay kami sa init sa pagbenta ng barbecue, fishball. Umabot na rin sa point na nagkaroon ako ng line of 7 sa card, pero naka with honors parin ako :> Binenta ni mommy sasakyan niya na toyota for 100k na ginagamit namin since nakatira kami sa nueva ecija. Yun ang pinangbayad namin sa rent, tubig kuryente.
Pumunta sila mommy at ate sa manila para ng request ng allotment. Nakaabot sila ng almost 2 months sa pag stay and naiwan ako sa bahay kasama mga kapatid ko na grade 2 & 3. Na manage ko naman sila bantayan sa bahay :>.
Sa headquarters sila sa fort bonifacio nagstay. So tumawag si mommy kay daddy and sinabi ni daddy sa kanila na magdusa daw kami and deserve namin💀 eh putanginamo
Narealize na ni daddy na nascam siya ng babae kasi may nagprenda ng sasakyan niya. And yung bahay na pinapatayo ni dad binenta rin, yung 20million na niloan ni daddy para lupa wala na rin, kasi kinuha ng babae so ngayon kinakaltas yung pera niya bawas sa sweldo. Hanggang ngayon hindi parin mahuli. Takot rin ata mahuli si dad kasi nga pineke niya marriage contract ng baba niya and yun rin ang reason kung bakit di ma process retirement plan niya.
Imaginine mo position ni dad major general, 100k sobra sweldo niyan pero dahil sa nagawa niya 20k lang napapadala niya samin kasama na yan bayad sa rent na 8k ha.
Sabi mo nung grade 4 pa ako nag invest ka ng 500k thousand para sa educational plan namin ni ate pero asan na na kinakailangan ko na ngayon na college na ako next sy.
As of now di ko pa alam if mag cocollege pa ako or work na agad. Di ko alam kung saan ako magsisimula, wala akong experience aside sa pagtitinda. Please kailangan ko ng tulong(emotionally) motivate me pls ang hirap din magipon para sa requirements sa trabaho cz i dont have money :) btw happy mothers day
submitted by othinthin to OffMyChestPH [link] [comments]
Ever since bata palang kami, nangbababae na talaga si daddy. Nagstart non after na magka anak si mommy. Di ko pa alam nung bata ako sa mga nangyayari not until sinabi na samin to ng mother ko nung malaki na kami.
May time na nakita niya na nakakalat yung mga damit ng babae(1) ni daddy sa bahay namin tapos yung condom nakakalat pa sa sahig. Tapos nung dumating na inasthma kami ng ate ko and naka problema sa lungs, never na bumisita samin si daddy sa hospital kasi nasa boracay sila ng babae niya. Paano nalaman ni mommy? Kasi may nagsusumbong na army na kasama ni daddy sa kanya. Pero naka tira pa kami nyan sa nueva ecija.
(2011)Nagbeg si daddy kay mommy na pag lumipat kami sa bacolod, magbabago na daw siya, eh si mommy naman binigyan niya parin ng second chance para sa samin na mga anak niya. Akala ko nga bakasyon lang, yun pala permanet na kami dito hahaha. So ganon parin nagcheat parin. May nabuntis si dad sa babae(2) niya na taga australia, which is mas nauna siya ipinanganak kaysa sa pangatlong kapatid namin. Eventually namatay rin dahil sa heart failure and same rin yung death anniversary niya kay daddy.
(2012) Up till now di ako makapaniwala kasi yung pangalan ng pangatlo kong kapatid na bunso, is pangalan ng kabet(3) ni dad. Na disappoint si daddy kasi babae. So after a year nanganak ulit si mommy, lalake na lumabas.
(2014) Eventually, may urge na din si mommy makipag divorce kay dad pero naunahan ni daddy si mommy. Never pumirma si mommy sa divorce papers and finorge ni dad pirma niya.
2016- after 2 years umuwi dad ko after ni mommy magseparate. 1 week siya nagstay sa bahay. While si mommy umalis sa bahay and natutulog lang siya sa car.
(2016-2018) - Nagrerent kami lang ng bahay sa may white house. Comfortable siya kahit maliit lang. Nag iisip si mommy ng pagkikitaan niya ng pera kaya nag rent siya sa may squatter sa tawid. Malapit lang siya sa bahay namin pero maraming mga workers na bumibili don. Kaya dun si mommy nagstart magbenta ng mga ulam, may karaoke, tindahan. Sobrang nakaka draining and nakaka stress kasi wala kaming childhood dahil sa pag aalaga ng kapatid namin na age nila 5 y.o below palang. Kami ang taga hugas, taga bihis while si mommy busy sa pagtitinda. Never nagpadala si daddy that time. Palaging hindi pina pa access sa kay mommy yung atm. Lumipat kami sa squatter para iisa nalang yung bababayrin na rent. Di kami natutulog pag umuulan kasi pumapatak yung tubig sa loob ng kwarto namin. Walang kisame, at di kami makatulog kada gabi kasi may videoke sa labas.
Lumipat kami ng bahay malapit sa school ng kapatid ko nung 2018. Nag karenderya din kasi si mommy kaya plus points na rin kasi malapit sa school.
(2019)lumipat kami sa apartment and mas malaki sya. Naging stable naman buhay namin kasi nagpapadala na si dad samin.
(2021) May inintroduce yung kapatid ni daddy na nagtatrabaho daw sa dpwh na babae(4) tas nakatira daw sa penthouse. Antanga naman ni daddy eh wala nga naka punta sa penthouse niya yon naniwala naman. So naging sila. Pineke nila yung marriage contract nila and patay si mommy sa birth certificate and naka mark na first wife daw yung kabet😭. Wala pang idea diyan si mommy non pero naghihinala na talaga siya.
So dito talaga nagstart. Nag uusap sila ni dad at mommy sa phone. Sabi ni dad magpapadala daw siya ng 2 computer galing daw sa princess niya. Sabi ni ni mommy "baka nakaw niya lang yan" as a joke. Tapos na offend si princess ahahahhaha. Princess pala tawag ni dad sa kanya kasi nay dugong royal blood daw na muslim. Pinapagtanggol pa nga ni dad si princess. Sabi pa niya buti pa daw si princess iniisip yung future ng mga anak niya. Sabi ni mommy "sa tingin mo ba di ko iniisip future ng mga anak ko? Grabe sakripisyo ko sa mga anak ko tapos ikaw nagpapasarap ka"
Doon na nagstart ang argument nila mommy. Nagsumbatan sila ng babae at ni mommy and dinamay niya rin kaming magkakapatid. Pinagsabihan niya na bastos si ate as if kilala niya kami. Sinabihan niya rin ako na kahit na ibenta ko katawan ko, di ko maangat ang buhay ng pamilya ko. Eto chinat niya sakin pero message niya to para kay mommy. Lahat ng fake na pag akusa dito siya magaling. Hinide ko lang names dito pero orig message yan dito sa messenger
"Ikaw ----(mom's name) -, baka puwedeng tantanan mo ako ha ...ninyo ng mga bastos mong anak lalo na ang PASALO mong panganay este kay (dad's name) lang pala kasi kahit naman panay pagmamalinis mo alam mo sa sarili mo na sangkatutak ang anak mo sa ibang lalaki bago mo pa naging asawa si (--dads name) - - - (alam ba yan ng mga senior officer na kinakalandari mo o gusto mo ako magsabi kung anong klase kang pokpok?)- lalakero ka diba? Sabagay feeling mo kasi ang ganda ganda mo kung maka mata ng iba, eh mukha ka lang namang palahiang baboy. Tama na pagiging assuming mo (mom) dahil wala ka rin namang napapatunayan kahit s sarili mo na lang. Sana kung wala naman ginagawa sayo ang ibang tao huwag mong inaatake kasi minsan napupuno din yan at baka mas masahol ka pa pala sa mga sinasabi mo against sa iba. Isa kang babae na ni konting kahihiyan at respeto sa sarili ay wala in short wala kang delicadesa! Kung minalas ka man sa buhay mo dahil akala mo milyonarya ka na biglang naghirap dahil sa akin puwes nagkakamali ka. Yan kasi masyado kang assuming na can afford ka ero ang totoo mahirap ka pa sa daga - wake up om your wildest dream. Kung talagang matapang ka bakit dimo maharap ang mga unang babae ni (dad) ? Kilala mo sila diba ? Sino ang sumira sa pamilya dun ka magtapang tapangan letse ka! Pumyeta kang babae ka hindi ka na napapagod sa pagiging bitter mo. Sige dito tayo mag ladlaran sa social media para malaman ng lahat ang Past , Present at Future mo!"
(2022)Ilang months kami di pinadalhan ng pang rent sa bahay at kuryente, 8k bayad namin sa rent. Halos mahimatay kami sa init sa pagbenta ng barbecue, fishball. Umabot na rin sa point na nagkaroon ako ng line of 7 sa card, pero naka with honors parin ako :> Binenta ni mommy sasakyan niya na toyota for 100k na ginagamit namin since nakatira kami sa nueva ecija. Yun ang pinangbayad namin sa rent, tubig kuryente.
Pumunta sila mommy at ate sa manila para ng request ng allotment. Nakaabot sila ng almost 2 months sa pag stay and naiwan ako sa bahay kasama mga kapatid ko na grade 2 & 3. Na manage ko naman sila bantayan sa bahay :>.
Sa headquarters sila sa fort bonifacio nagstay. So tumawag si mommy kay daddy and sinabi ni daddy sa kanila na magdusa daw kami and deserve namin💀 eh putanginamo
Narealize na ni daddy na nascam siya ng babae kasi may nagprenda ng sasakyan niya. And yung bahay na pinapatayo ni dad binenta rin, yung 20million na niloan ni daddy para lupa wala na rin, kasi kinuha ng babae so ngayon kinakaltas yung pera niya bawas sa sweldo. Hanggang ngayon hindi parin mahuli. Takot rin ata mahuli si dad kasi nga pineke niya marriage contract ng baba niya and yun rin ang reason kung bakit di ma process retirement plan niya.
Imaginine mo position ni dad major general, 100k sobra sweldo niyan pero dahil sa nagawa niya 20k lang napapadala niya samin kasama na yan bayad sa rent na 8k ha.
Sabi mo nung grade 4 pa ako nag invest ka ng 500k thousand para sa educational plan namin ni ate pero asan na na kinakailangan ko na ngayon na college na ako next sy.
As of now di ko pa alam if mag cocollege pa ako or work na agad. Di ko alam kung saan ako magsisimula, wala akong experience aside sa pagtitinda. Please kailangan ko ng tulong(emotionally) motivate me pls ang hirap din magipon para sa requirements sa trabaho cz i dont have money :) btw happy mothers day
2024.05.12 16:15 PoisonedWhispers [Part 2] An analysis of the behaviour that leads to misinformation on the subreddit and in general; methods to curb this; and other malarkey.
The Short Version can be found here.
Part 1 can be found here.Example 5 - There's more to a BBC YouTube title
Returning to this dastardly subreddit, for my next example, points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are relevant. OP provided a screenshot of a BBC YouTube title, stating: "Israeli hit squad dressed as doctors kill Palestinians in hospital." Per point 2, by failing to immediately link to the video, or immediately mention what the video contains, folk could come away with the conclusion that the BBC never reports that these were militants. In other words, some might believe that the misreporting here extends past the video title, when it does not, and this could be avoided by providing salient details sooner rather than later. This submission was made during the temporary ban, and I thought it was interesting enough as a case study to come back to.Example 6 - Oxfam's full position
For this submission/meme, points 1, 2, and 6 are relevant. I saw that we weren’t going to get good-faith engagement with the entirety of Oxfam’s position here on why they initially opposed airdrops, and I attempted to outline the full extent of their views so that it can be critiqued appropriately. This meme is not too dissimilar from some Twitter leftist fixating on one short clip of Destiny during one of his heated gamer moments; his actual positions aren’t being engaged with, and it’s intellectually dull. There’s more to Destiny’s positions than a twenty-second clip; there’s more to Oxfam’s position than the one tweet. The fact of the matter is that there’s a long series of tweets here, and while the tweet OP chose to highlight is risible, is dumb, and is insufferable, we are more than capable on this subreddit in being more nuanced and fair when it comes to our criticism.As I highlight, there were some concerns here that were not entirely unreasonable. At the time of my comment, there weren’t yet any reports on injuries due to airdrops. These reports appeared in the following days and weeks, where Gazans were killed when a parachute in an airdrop failed to deploy, and some drowned in their attempts to retrieve parcels that landed in the sea. Retrospectively, I wouldn't say that aid should not have been airdropped merely because it would result in these deaths, but a fair assessment of Oxfam here at the time should have taken these concerns into account.
Oxfam’s associate director also endorses a Twitter thread where some prescriptions are given on how ought this aid delivery be facilitated. He recommends that the Gaza port be reopened, and to open more crossings. The Biden administration recognized that airdrops would not sufficiently alleviate the problem of being unable to get sufficient quantities of aid distributed, and while the port was not reopened, Biden did announce that a temporary port would be built. Further, Israel approved the reopening of the Erez crossing.
The misinformation in OP’s post stems from the fact that folk will be disinterested in reading the twitter thread or any additional threads where they might have elaborated on views. Out of the thousands that interact with the post, a significant chunk will come away with the incorrect belief that Oxfam’s opposition to airdrops was merely due to what was stated in the meme. That is misinformation being propagated — not the most egregious, Hamas-esqe level of misinformation in the world, but misinformation nonetheless.
Example 7 - NYT: Bananas, or Cool as a Cucumber?
For our final example points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are relevant; it’s the whole shebang. To give a quick recounting here, Hobbitfollower isn’t the only masochist that might, occasionally, choose to exclusively sort by new. When I saw the submission, I read the article, and I was a bit annoyed that the Jerusalem Post article doesn’t even link to the mission report that I was interested in reading. I searched for it, posted a link to the report in the very first comment of the thread as surely my fellow dggas would also like to read the report, and then I, well, read the report.When I returned back to the thread, I quoted favourably from the mission report to support another individual's comment. (I would again quote from it in another thread the next day to highlight why Israel struggled to acquire forensic evidence.)
But as I scrolled down the thread I came across the subject of our example; 50 upvotes, no article linked, and clearly a charged comment. Consider the steps involved to truly engage with this comment; one would need to:
- Click and read the article.
- Search for the mission report.
- Read the mission report (as some folk probably won’t wanna read 20 pages right off the bat).
- Search for the NYT article; bypass the paywall (which is trivially easy nowadays but is still a barrier, and people are lazy); and read the article.
When a misleading tweet goes viral, the damage has already been done, as a considerable amount of people won’t see the subsequent Community Notes that might be slapped on it. Likewise, some of the thousands who see OP’s highly upvoted comment will think, “Oh, this has a lot of upvotes, I guess it must be true. How horrible of the NYT to frame this as a both sides issue”, and thus misinformation has spread. This incorrect belief will mold their perceptions of the NYT. When they encounter more reporting by the NYT on I-P in the future, they might even think back to this moment: “Ah, I remember when these bozos tried to say that the Israeli accusations were the same as the Palestinian accusations.”
I also referred to OP’s comment as disinformation. In every example discussed so far, I don't assume malicious intent. I just begin with the foundation that a mistake was made, and I don’t enmesh myself by throwing out accusations of lying. In this case, however, OP has indirectly acknowledged that I was correct, but they still haven’t bothered to edit their original comment. Once again, this comment is a really good example of point 1. I obviously also disagree with their conclusion, and the process by which they’re arriving at their conclusion is still very flawed — and other people are simply going to adopt their conclusion while not even attempting to reach there by their own independent assessment. If you see someone quote from an article, and they don’t even link it, and the comment is very charged, I would encourage y’all to seek out the article yourself; you may come away with a different interpretation.
I'm sure you've seen this meme before: "I'm just waiting for Destiny to comment on this so that I know what to think 😎." We meme about it, but there is, of course, an undercurrent of truth here, as we have confidence in Destiny's ability to research, and thus we feel comfortable adopting his beliefs and opinions. It's nice not having to do the research ourselves. Lazy fucks.
This applies to Reddit comments you see as well. Don't just adopt the conclusion of someone else because their beliefs align with yours and they're speaking with authority. Do the legwork yourself; be mindful of The Six Points; and you might find that someone on your own side is actually spreading misinformation, or is espousing an opinion that you disagree with.
Purgatory
I was perma-banned some time after my previous comment for a comment I made in a different thread. Before I get to that in the next fuck-me-who-knows-how-I'm-gonna-write-that-I'm-so-fucked section, I did want to bring up two final examples.Example A - Haaretz and Amputations
For Example A, points 1, 3, 4, and 5 are relevant. Obviously, I can’t attempt point 6 because I was banned. Now, I actually agree with OP as I share their skepticism towards the notion that these amputations are “routine”, but referring to the article as a "fake story" is too strong, and, as always, their process here is flawed. The claims they make here about the Haaretz article and CNN article are misleading, but it is immediately upvoted because it feels right, particularly because the first reply just poisons the well. Haaretz did not speak to an anonymous person, they are reporting on a letter they have seen written by a doctor and sent to senior Israeli officials; the doctor did not justify the claim that the event is routine based on having seen only two amputations, that's merely the amputations they saw in the week they wrote the letter (but the phrasing here is ambiguous, as the doctor could be referring to the handcuff injuries as being the "routine" event); and the IDF did not confirm or deny all the claims, but gave a fairly standard, boilerplate response instead. The misleading claims in this comment was eventually addressed — and, as I’m sure you’re irritated by the repetition by now, the goal of this post is to turn this “eventually” into an “immediately.”Example B - Wikipedia and Devious Editing
For Example B, points 1 and 5 are relevant. I want to be very careful with this one as I don't want to be misconstrued. Similar to the previous example, I mostly agree with their conclusion that these Wikipedia pages can be very flawed, and partisan editors can tarnish the objectivity that we wish could be maintained across all articles. However, you know the drill by now, point 1. There’s much to be said about the infamous “24-hour window” debacle, and I made a submission a while ago on this. I think there are parts of this story that both the pro-Palestine and pro-Israel crowd get wrong — but the latter is generally more correct, and I would agree with OP here that the information here is, at the very least, incomplete.However, per point 5, the articles they are critiquing are not linked. How many people here actually sought out the two articles referenced here? As I’ve already demonstrated, we know how many misleading or false claims you can get away with before they’re finally addressed. A user in that thread made some edits to the contentious lines in question in the Wikipedia article. This was the Wikipedia article at the time OP’s comment was made. OP quotes this section:
Prior to the raids, Israel had called for the more than a million people living in the north half of the Gaza Strip to evacuate during a 24-hour window, while Hamas instructed those residents to stay put.The two citations here are a Reuters article and a Politico article. The Politico article is arguably redundant, but it’s not being cited because it’s supposed to make a statement about a 24-hour window; it’s being cited to support the statement about Hamas:
Hamas is complicating the situation, urging residents to stay in their homes.The Reuters article also mentions this:
“We tell the people of northern Gaza and from Gaza City, stay put in your homes, and your places," Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, told a news conference.Contrary to what OP said, both articles use the word “evacuation” at some point. The first part of the quote from the Wikipedia page is supported by this statement in the Reuters article:
On Friday Israel gave more than a million residents of the northern half of Gaza 24 hours to flee to the south to avoid an onslaught.In a follow-up comment OP claims that the archived link, which pulled the earliest version of the Reuters article available, does not support the line. This seems to have been an error on the part of whoever chose this hyperlink. When the Wikipedia article first mentions calls for evacuation, this was how the Reuters article cited looked like at the time; regardless of the veracity of the claim, the article did support what the Wikipedia page mentions.
To reiterate, OP is completely correct about this pernicious problem with Wikipedia. It’s just that in this example, I don’t think it qualifies as a case of those darn pro-Palestine editors back at it again. The nuanced position here is pretty difficult to get to, and I don’t think the editors wrote this line in the interest of distorting the truth to serve their own side.
Example B.5: A better yet slightly flawed post on Wikipedia and Euro-Med Monitor
This post about how Hamas supporters are influencing Wikipedia does better in terms of substantiating their claims — but there are issues here that I would have loved to address, and there is a good critique on OP’s prescriptions that was buried at the bottom. Unfortunately, OP has been suspended from Reddit. If you’re reading this mate, call me 🥺.There are a lot of hyperlinks in OP’s post (lol, sez fucking me), and it’s completely reasonable that someone won’t feel inclined to click every single one; that’s not an expectation I would ever demand. From going through the post, there are several small critiques I would have made (e.g., while I don’t believe the Mondo article should have been cited, OP claims that in the article, “The only people criticizing Wiesel here is the author of the opinion piece.” FWIW, the article does reference and cite a Haaretz article, and a Foreign policy article, both of which levy criticism against Wiesel), but I’m just going to focus on this line:
In fact, it is owned by a man named Ramy Abdu, who is a literal Hamas lobbyist.If you’re going to call someone a literal Hamas lobbyist, that is definitely a link I’m clicking. What I know about Abdu is simply what I can assume about his beliefs from various tweets I’ve seen by him over the past several months; but I’ve never looked into their background other than being aware of their position at EMM. Upon opening the link I see… a 2013 article about Clare Short. From reading the article, it looks like OP missed some steps in outlining how they arrived at their conclusion, and I saw only a few people inquiring about this. To fill in the steps on what I presume OP wanted to say, from the article they linked:
Moshe Ya’alon, former IDF chief of staff, outlawed the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR) – a Belgian non-profit organisation that lobbies on behalf of the Hamas-led Gaza Government – using emergency defence regulations.I haven’t looked into CEPR, and they obviously disputed the lobbying charge; I’m just going to take the claim at face-value. In 2011, Abdu was assistant director of the CEPR, and still held a position there for several years. They've since left the organization, but per point 1, if this is how OP arrived at the conclusion that Abdu is a “literal Hamas lobbyist”, I think it could use a bit more work, with additional clarification on what they mean by lobbyist here. I’m sure they can do it, it just happened to not be in this post.
I'm not going to harp on about point 5 here as I only apply that to incidents where a claim is made; one or two articles are linked; and then no one reads them, assuming the claim must be true as long as articles are provided. I would literally never make the prescription that if someone writes an effort-post, we must click every hyperlink to fact-check. I mean, it's not like I would have any other motivation for saying that... sweats profusely 🙄
Just to make one final point on EMM, it is a rubbish outlet, and any time I encounter one of their articles, I roll my eyes knowing I’m going to get some outlandish claim where I can find fuck-all for corroboration from other outlets. However, sometimes there is corroboration, where EMM was the first to notice that the IDF labelled a bicycle as an RPG in the drone footage they published, and then the NYT confirmed the finding (except for the other stupid claim made in the tweet.) But anyways, these moments are astronomically rare.
Example C - A Mysterious Royal Website (What a weaselly little --)
Okay, I lied, one final example as it’s interesting to see how people here parse articles and headlines, but before I address the example, let me talk about Reuters headlines.Reuters headlines
They’re not always consistent on this front, but I generally like how Reuters writes their headlines. A Reuters headline will often contain the phrase “US says”. [30] [31] [32] What I’m expecting in the article when I see a headline containing this phrase is some official representing the Biden administration outlining what their particular policy, position, belief, etc., is on whatever the subject matter may be, or some action they took which makes it clear what their position is. In the given examples, we have statements from Biden, Blinken, the US military, and so on. Sometimes the US officials remain anonymous, sharing information in private briefings.If there isn’t an official statement by the US available on a matter, the headline might use the phrase “source says” to talk about ongoing developments. [33] [34] “Reuters will use unnamed sources where necessary when they provide information of market or public interest that is not available on the record. We alone are responsible for the accuracy of such information.” [35]
Relevant to Example C, Reuters uses the same guidelines for “Saudi Arabia says” [36] [37] and “sources say” for information relevant to Saudi Arabia. [38]
Israeli outlets, A royal family website, and Saudi sources: An amusing chain of events
Keeping the previous section in mind, when I came across this version of a Jerusalem Post article posted to this subreddit, you can imagine what I’m expecting here — particularly because this would be momentous news to see Saudi Arabia make a public statement that they helped defend Israel. Instead, we get reporting on what Saudi Arabia’s royal family said on their website, and what a source connected to the Saudi royal family told KAN, another Israeli outlet — and we don’t get links to either of them. If there was no statement on the royal family’s website, this would have been a bad headline to write based on what this source said. Unfortunately for the JP, there is no official website for Saudi Arabia’s royal family. You’ll see in the current version, they remove the reference to that website, and also add the following line:The Al Arabiya news site said sources had informed it that Saudi Arabia had not participated in the interception of Iranian drones and missiles.Here’s the article by the Saudi state-owned outlet, which is essentially their mouthpiece to deny the ongoing report. I24news, however, didn’t get the memo:
Saudi Arabia publicly acknowledges role in defending Israel against Iranian attackWhen I first saw the JP submission on this subreddit, I bookmarked it for later to come back to and find the sources, as it’s not the first time I’ve seen dubious reporting from KAN news. I was also curious if anyone in the thread was going to highlight some of the discrepancies in the article, and, well, shoutout to this keen reader! Fact-checking the JP article slipped my mind, but thanks to a comment I saw on another subreddit, they correctly pointed out that the website referenced was not affiliated with the Saudi royal family, and thus the article the JP and other Israeli outlets had presumably read should not have been taken as an official statement. Christ, this is obvious from the very first line:
While Jordan had openly disclosed its role in the defensive maneuver, Saudi Arabia's acknowledgment came in the form of a summary on its official website
A source from the Saudi royal family, who prefers anonymity, converses with the Kan public broadcaster. The individual subtly acknowledges Saudi Arabia’s supposed involvement in thwarting Iranian attack drones bound for Israel the previous evening, citing that Saudi Arabian airspace automatically intercepts “any suspicious entity”.Why would the official Saudi royal website use an anonymous source within the royal family to make their public announcement, and why would they quote what the official said to an Israeli outlet?!
The same figure takes a swing at Iran, accusing them of instigating a conflict in Gaza. This, they suggest, is a deliberate attempt to unravel the progress established towards normalizing relations with Israel, as per Kan’s report.
In the words of the official, as put forth by Kan, “Iran is a nation that endorses terrorism, and the world should have curtailed it much earlier.”
It’s fascinating to see this play out: the supposed source spoke to Kan News; Houseofsaud presumably sees this and makes an article on the Kan segment; the JP sees this article and the segment, poorly reads it, and then cites it and the original Kan segment; outlets like the Daily Wire pick up on the story from the JP; and then on it goes, spreading like wildefire, before the Saudis take note (“oh fuck, oh fuck, where are these reports coming from?”) and disseminate a message denying that any “official” website publicly confirmed their involvement. The Saudis are involved, and they’re keeping tight-lipped about the extent of their involvement.
Just to quote one more line from the i24news article because it’s shockingly poor:
The post subtly hinted at Saudi Arabia's involvement in intercepting suspicious entities in its airspace, highlighting the kingdom's proactive stance in safeguarding regional stability.This is written based on this line from the HouseofSaud article:
A source from the Saudi royal family, who prefers anonymity, converses with the Kan public broadcaster. The individual subtly acknowledges Saudi Arabia’s supposed involvement in thwarting Iranian attack drones bound for Israel the previous evening, citing that Saudi Arabian airspace automatically intercepts “any suspicious entity”.It’s the individual/source who is being subtle, not the post itself as i24 news mentions.
Anyways, this is not a case of misinformation by the subreddit. There's nothing wrong with posting a JP article, and this is easily the least offensive Example, but point 5 is nicely relevant here. I thought y'all might find this to be interesting, particularly because some people probably still believe that Saudi Arabia has publicly acknowledged their involvement, and maybe that could be someone reading this section. It's also another example where, because I’m banned, I can’t offer a bit of nuance. stares intently at 4THOT
It’s a shame Destiny didn’t finish reading the article, I’m curious what he would have said. He speculates that the report was from intelligence or monitoring, but moves on before finishing the article; it’s also the updated version of the article, without the tidbit about the Saudi royal family website.
Finito
I'm going to close out this section here. There's always more to include, more examples that demonstrate the aforementioned points, but I'd rather focus on my own comments instead of threads where I was unable to contribute my thoughts. There's been a plethora of discourse here surrounding the campus protests, and maybe those are still ongoing if I manage to post this at a sooner date. For completely legitimate and fair justifications, all of these threads are going to be very charged; and maybe upon reading this post some of y'all might feel more inclined to analyze these situations dispassionately, mindful of cases where the reporting might not be the greatest.Example D - A Late Fact-check (Still lying, dude!)
I fucking lied again, there’s more. Literally the day after I finished writing the above paragraph, a new example popped up that I can’t resist the temptation to include. Stop giving me material! As I spoke of above, the campus protests have resulted in a charged atmosphere on the subreddit, which means that this post stating that a “Jewish-Israeli family’s restaurant was targeted in a hate crime” is immediately catapulted to the front page. The biggest problem here is that, per point 2, the presentation of the post led folk to believe that this was a recent event because OP had omitted the date this took place, and this led to one user to thoughtfully suggest that it might be worth setting up a GoFundMe to help the owners with the repairs.To reemphasize the point I’ve made throughout this post, I’m looking to incentivise better behaviour to occur sooner. It took nearly 10 hours before one jolly chap came along to do the fact-check. Naturally, had I seen this post while browsing arnew, I would have done the same, and so would a couple other users here as well who are good for this sort of thing — and that's unfortunate that I’m saying a “couple” instead of “many.” There is no curiosity amongst everyone who interacted with this post to inquire into the event; not even something simple as requesting OP for an article. So folks, always ask for a source if OP doesn’t provide one just so you have a bit more context. (Also, I am fascinated with the anecdote OP attached to this post. Did they just make up their credentials?)
Example E - Hebrew Sources and False Confidence
This is a wonderful example to close out this section because it exemplifies so many of the problematic behaviours that I have demonstrated in this post. I was only made aware of this thread because a user here DM'd me a link to the thread. I will refer to the individual posting misinformation in the comments as "OP", and I'll refer to the submitter of the post by their username, Sylmd. The rebuttals to OP are excellent, and I will focus more on the behaviour here.Sylmd posted a submission doing a quick lil' fact-check on a Destiny tweet, noting the fact that he seemed to have misread or misremembered a particular report. I say "seemed" here in case Destiny was referring to some other report or article he had read, but that seems unlikely as he has referenced this report in several of his debates, and the report was the subject of his previous tweets. Regardless, it was a small mistake, and apart from failing to immediately link the tweet and the report (link your sources you silly goose), Sylmd's post is civil, calm, and makes no accusations of malicious intent.
According to OP, Destiny was actually right, and 300+ IDF soldiers were in fact injured. Now, there's so much that is astonishingly problematic with OP's comment, and I gotta... mention it all! Sorry!
Naturally, they don't ever quote from their sources, which means it's on us to try and find the relevant sections. OP claims that the articles linked will demonstrate that 380 Israelis were injured -- despite the fact that Sylmd is obviously doing a fact-check on how many Israeli soldiers were injured, and that's literally the subject of Destiny's tweet.
Whatever, I'm sure the articles at least "discusses around 380 injuries"? Fuck no they don't! There's no mention of this figure anywhere, and OP somehow racks up 50 upvotes when they accuse Sylmd of lying after they correctly point this out. Did these people actually read the articles, find this magical 380 figure, and think, "Grrr, Sylmd you mendacious scumbag, I see through your Hamas propaganda." Sylmd was sitting at -31, one hour after the thread was made. (If you refer back to Example 2, you'll see that I felt compelled to make a submission when I saw a user was being downvoted for correctly pointing out that an article did not prove a particular claim.)
It gets worse. Apparently, you have to "click through all the links in these articles buddy." Well, okay, that's pretty elaborate, how silly of us not to realize this. OP wants us to open up nine Hebrew articles, translate them, and then tally up the number of casualties. Problem? Surely we get to the 380 figure if we click through all the hyperlinks in the article? Fuck no we don't! And even if we did, this is the most blisteringly cumbersome way to prove a claim. The sheer condescension in OP's comment is equivalent to that of a Twitter leftist: "It's not my job to educate you honey, you must read the literature."
So where does this mysterious figure come from? Well, as Sylmd correctly pointed out (before OP mentioned it), they are grabbing this figure from Hebrew Wikipedia. Sylmd doesn't provide a link to the article in question, so I will provide it here, and as you can see, the two articles that OP linked came from this Wikipedia page. I'm not convinced OP actually read either of these articles.
That's not all. They then linked a report in Hebrew in their edit. Where did they get this report from? It's not on the Wikipedia page, maybe this is something they have bookmarked? Nope, they got it from another user in the thread! After all is said and done, they still somehow racked up 270 upvotes for this awful rebuttal, and they were, "Proud to take a blast for defending the truth."
Do I even need to mention the points here? It's an authoritative comment; the linked articles give an "aura" of being correct; and there's confidence in all their comments.
To quote from Example 1:
Anyways, since I began this post it looks like the upvotes and downvotes on the original comment have since shifted. Mashallah. It's the behaviour I was describing before: all the low-effort garbage gets upvoted first, and then other people break the circlejerk and try to add nuance. But it would be nice if the nuance was added first and foremost without the need for tedious fact-checks.That still holds true today.
Consistency and Principles
Do I only address misinformation from the pro-Israel side? Not that it should matter, but no, I will address misinformation from the pro-Palestine on this subreddit if I see it and I feel like addressing it. I was irritated to see muppets like Rob Rousseau spread conspiracies about a "suspicious link" between ISIS and Mossad, and I encountered a user here who was sprouting similar conspiratorial nonsense. You’ll notice that (1) I was blessed to be called a “Reddit pseudo intellectual libtard” (not wrong, not false, this hurts bro); and (2) I apply the exact same methodology here as I do for the examples of misinformation I've addressed elsewhere — which isn’t to say I’m doing anything commendable here. I just read the articles, trying to find the primary sources where relevant, and then see if the “reporting” accurately conveys what was said or written.However, digging up the original source can be a time-consuming endeavour, and compounded by the fact that I might not speak the relevant language — which means that there was a case where I inadvertently made a comment containing misinformation. A couple months ago someone requested a steelman of the argument that Israel is conducting a genocide against Gazans; I offered one, and to support the case I used a misquote taken from a Bloomberg video which omitted a crucial part of Yoev Gallant’s statement: the reference to Hamas, and thus radically changing the context of the statement. I hold myself to the same principle when it comes to curbing misinformation, and I was more than content to edit my comment to ensure it did not propagate further than it already had.
Some of you eagle-eyed readers might recognize this Gallant quote, as it made a very marked appearance within… South Africa's genocide case against Israel. Here, that salient reference to Hamas is also omitted, and the accompanying footnote cites the same Bloomberg video that I did. As I wished in another reply, Bloomberg did indeed take the video down eventually. Now, I can be excused for my mistake as I’m not making the positive case outside of my steelman. For South Africa, this is unbelievably shoddy work when you're officially bringing a genocide case against another state.
Anyways, I've gone through many examples in this schizo-post, and it's entirely possible that I've made an error at some point; the irony is not lost on me. Feel free to point these errors out. I might not agree with your assessment, but I'm always willing to hear the arguments.
Prescriptions: The Six Points (Déjà vu)
I'm going to end with The Six Points because that's the focus of Part 1 and Part 2. As previously mentioned, this post is not intended to demonstrate that the misinformation the pro-Israel crowd spreads is as egregious as the misinformation the pro-Palestine spreads, whether in general or on this subreddit. While misinformation from the pro-Palestine crowd slips by every now and then on the subreddit, I would make the case that, generally speaking, it is quickly addressed. In my experience, however, I was finding quite a few cases of misinformation from the pro-Israel crowd were taking a concerning amount of time to be addressed; and in the interest of ensuring that it does get addressed in a more timely manner, I believe the following prescriptions would be helpful to keep in mind when browsing the subreddit:- Value the process just as much — if not, more — than the conclusion.
- Be wary of how the presentation of information or the omission of pertinent information can lead to the inadvertent spread of misinformation.
- Be aware of how “charged” topics/threads lead to poor reasoning that lacks dispassionate analysis.
- Be aware of how pre-existing beliefs about an individual or organization alongside the usual biases leads to a reluctance to fact-check, where claims are taken at face-value because they feel right.
- Link the article. Read the article. (Thoroughly.)
- Redirect criticism to areas where it will be the strongest.
Click here for Part 3. Warning: you might get stung by a bee 🐝
2024.05.12 15:23 JunoReactorFan Recommendation of trance with emotional melodies, modern stuff after 2015
I was a big listener of trance music between 1996 and 2005. My taste was always about tracks with catchy and emotional melodies, some names off the top of my head:
I have been totally out of the loop and am not sure trance even still exists , at least this kind of trance?
Anyway, I am open to recommendations, but only for trance music released in recent years (let's say 2015 to now), to find out what is considered emotional trance these days?
I am looking for tracks with emotional melodies, both positive or melancholic.
I would like to be suggested track names, and not artists, if possible. Thanks a lot :)
submitted by JunoReactorFan to trance [link] [comments]
- Aria - Dido (Armin van Burren remix)
- Talla 2XLC - Is Anybody out there (Taucher remix) EPIC BUILD UP AND CLIMAX
- Gouryella - Tenshi (Transa remix)
- The digital Blonde - Hydro (though it was released in 2011, this track is a pure gem)
- Shane 54 - Vampire ... Awesome melody
- Ferry Corsten - Sweet Sorrow (Thrillseekers remix) Godlike emotional melody
- Bobina - Invisible Touch (Ferry Costen remix)
- Adam White - Ballerina
I have been totally out of the loop and am not sure trance even still exists , at least this kind of trance?
Anyway, I am open to recommendations, but only for trance music released in recent years (let's say 2015 to now), to find out what is considered emotional trance these days?
I am looking for tracks with emotional melodies, both positive or melancholic.
I would like to be suggested track names, and not artists, if possible. Thanks a lot :)
2024.05.12 02:59 YoungOccultBookstore Doom metal band Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats release a musical tribute to italian crime cinema, and /r/UncleAcid is divided. Most fans are ready to follow the leader, but one fan is angry after spending six years waiting for blood.
Hey SRD, long time reader, first time poster. This might be a little niche and low stakes, but I'll do my best to give you all the necessary context.
Despite constant lineup changes, this style would remain fairly consistent. Mind Control (2013) swapped out the witchhunter narrator for a story about Manson-style hippy cults, but delivered the same kind of catchy, bluesy metal as their previous album. The Night Creeper (2015) was even more story driven, following the drug dealers and sex workers of 1960s London as they deal with the rise of a new Jack the Ripper hiding within the police. They followed this album up with Wasteland (2018), a more overtly political album about the collapse of a dystopian society into chaos and violence. Whether these themes arose in response to the 2016 US election or to Brexit is unclear to me, an American who reads more song lyrics than band interviews. Wasteland was still metal, but the songs on it are more layered and instrumentally varied than Uncle Acid's previous work.
submitted by YoungOccultBookstore to SubredditDrama [link] [comments]
EDIT: TL;DR Band does the same thing for a decade, then does a different thing. People who wanted the same thing again are devastated.
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats is an English band that first rose to prominence with Blood Lust (2011), an album about an impious witchhunter and the fearful townsfolk whose prejudice enables his acts of violence. Many people were enamored with their "Black Sabbath fronted by John Lennon" vibes and driving repetitive riffs. Full of lyrics about sex, witchcraft, and revenge the album is classic meat and potatoes metal fare. Not the heaviest music ever, but certainly worthy of headbanging until your neck is sore.Despite constant lineup changes, this style would remain fairly consistent. Mind Control (2013) swapped out the witchhunter narrator for a story about Manson-style hippy cults, but delivered the same kind of catchy, bluesy metal as their previous album. The Night Creeper (2015) was even more story driven, following the drug dealers and sex workers of 1960s London as they deal with the rise of a new Jack the Ripper hiding within the police. They followed this album up with Wasteland (2018), a more overtly political album about the collapse of a dystopian society into chaos and violence. Whether these themes arose in response to the 2016 US election or to Brexit is unclear to me, an American who reads more song lyrics than band interviews. Wasteland was still metal, but the songs on it are more layered and instrumentally varied than Uncle Acid's previous work.
The most recent album, Nell' Ora Blu, is a massive departure.
The songs are slow and atmospheric, but they're built more around synthesizers than electric guitar. There's a lot of narration in Italian. There's a lot of saxophone. The main thing absent from the album is musical elements that are instantly recognizable as "metal."I don't speak Italian, so I can't tell what is happening 100%, but I've seen enough Giallos to get an idea of what's happening. You could honestly plop a bunch of these songs in Giallos from the 70s, and they'd fit right in. You could drop Il gatto morto in something like Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key or Resti umani in The Bloodstaind Butterfly, and they'd fit right in. The Goblin influence is obvious, but there's some Fabio Frizzi and Bruno Nicolai in there as well. Giallo's are known to have pretty great soundtracks in general, even if a movie isn't great, the soundtracks are always a highlight. Nell' Ora Blu is no different. It's an amazing achievement for a band to make a genre film concept album and tonally transport you into a movie that doesn't exist.In theory, this move makes perfect sense. Uncle Acid has always been a band that makes psychedelic concept albums about occult murder and institutional corruption, and many of the disappointed fans understood how Nell' Ora Blu fit into the discography as a whole.
Great background music. Idk if ima be banging it on repeat though. I’m a lil bummed having to wait six years for this. Idk I like it but I don’t.
So I do dig the vibe and all but I still cant help but be a bit disappointed. I think I had the false expectations that there would still be plenty of "traditional" UA songs along with all the movie stuff to tie it all together. Its neat and I support artists doing what drives them but after 6 years its a bit of a let down for me.
One fan, however, did not understand why the band that wrote Mt. Abraxas would put out 19 songs of spooky Italian lounge music after going six years without releasing new material.
It's a massive let down, just be honest. Don't believe the fanboys who are saying this is "eNerGizInG" and "fReSH"...this is schizo garbage.
IMO they got way too fucking baked and thought this would be a good idea. I got 8 songs in and was like...what is this? A prank album to get people talking and then drop the real album? I get wanting to experiment with different types of music, but is this even music? Its kinda like that museum who featured a banana taped to a wall and said its art...yeah I guess technically it is, but this is just stupid. It's just an eclectic mash up of different tones, sound clips, different bits of "songs"(?), and random background synth noises. Anyone who is talking about how any of the almost 20 songs on this album are good are literally yapping because they are fanboys and would say that it was good even if it was an hour of a dog barking while a monkey hoots in the background. This is not the uncle acid I know. And again they are free to do whatever they want to, its their band. However, the level of mockery they are going to get from the community is almost certain; we're talking almost King Gizzard levels of bad. If this were a soundtrack to a movie or video game it'd make sense but...come on. Anyone speaking positively about this album is a foam-at-the-mouth fanboy who needs to be involuntarily committed and thrown in a padded cell.
Sorry not sorry.
NA/10 as there are no songs to actually review.
I guess my expectations were there would be some traditional Uncle Acid songs....while it seems to have its moments, it's not even close to something I would hear and think "Oh it's Uncle Acid".we’re talking almost King Gizzard levels of bad.Two braindead takes in one!
Yeah dude you’re an absolute moron. Between this baseless rant and you negatively responding to literally anyone who has something positive to say about the album, you’re a miserable bastard. Sorry you hate it, but we all absolutely LOVE it. Get niche motherfucker🤷♂️
I seriously came here to talk about how this is an almost perfect album and I see this one dude constantly shitting on it. I started it this morning and it absolutely captivated me from the first track.It is the soundtrack to a movie. An imagined film.
Whatever it is, it sucks, its bad, its bizarre, and frankly, its kind of lazy. Anyone mentioning any good things about any of the songs, are referencing the like combined total of 2 minutes where they are actually playing and singing. To put six years...into this...come on.
It's totally legitimate and cool to not like it. But to say that it's lazy just means that you don't get it. Which is also fine. There is a lot of music out there that I don't get.
There is a very specific kind of Italian movie from the 60s/70s that have soundtracks that feel exactly like this record. It's quite impressive that Uncle Acid have managed to replicate it and also inject their signature style.
Nah I think it's lazy because...they're not even playing any songs. There's maybe 3 minutes on the entire album of music or vocals...which requires songwriting (see: effort). It's a lazy, disappointing, passion project that they wanted to draw attention to through the use of their band name. For me personally, this album isn't canon. It doesn't exist. Just how GWAR disowned their own album We Kill Everything, they need to disown this album as it is not Uncle Acid...it was made by a member(s) of Uncle Acid.
I am certainly going to give it a chance and try to reframe my expectations but thus far...I am a bit disappointed.
Shit is trash lol you don't have to lieIl ritorno del chiamante silenzioso - Absolute banger.
Dude go get fucked not everyone has to agree with your shit taste.
Is it lol...phones ringing, a synth beat on repeat, random car noises...that's a banger?
They find some kindred spirits in the discussion thread, but mostly just get mad at people who liked the album.
I’ll take the downvotes, what on earth did I just listen to for the last hour or so? Slow drums, piano, and noises on top of it. I’m sorry but from blood lust to this. I don’t even know what genre of music this is.Lazy noise collages or an intricate tribute to the music of an obscure film genre? You be the judge.
Edit: 1/10
SO MANY DELUSIONAL FANBOYS defending this trash ass album and then pretending that this is to-form for Uncle Acid...this isn't... this is something you do as like a passion project but don't let anyone else find out about it because it's clearly schizo. I don't think anybody was expecting something like this with no normal songs for their fanbase. No one's mad, its just such a letdown and so bizarre its almost an insult to their fans.
Hard agree, put it out as a solo project. This ain’t the UA that I fell in love with. An album with 0 bangers.Isn’t that kind of exciting? Something unfamiliar and fresh in this day and age of music and media as a whole. Nell’ Ora Blu isn’t only genre bending, it’s kind of medium bending. I’ve never visualized a record more. It’s as much a movie as a record could be and it fascinates me.
0 bangers? 0 songs period.“I don’t even know what genre of music this is.”
Also true! Just a mash up of sounds
Yes, it’s a huge departure from their usual sound, but thematically speaking, it’s right on course for them. They seem to aim to explore every dark, macabre, horror, dystopian scene that exists and this is just a very unique example.
While I am just as bummed as anyone that there aren’t headbangers on this record, at least they nailed exactly what they were going to with this. It isn’t very rock and roll, but it isn’t a flop by any means.
I dunno, I’m not trying to lay into you, I just don’t think 1/10 is fair. If it were released by a different band that did this type of thing normally, might you be singing its praises? There are a bunch of records that aren’t for me, that I don’t enjoy, but also recognize that they are objectively good. I understand if you don’t like it, this record won’t be for everyone, but outside of crushed expectations did you really think it sucked?
No, it’s not an Uncle Acid thing. I’m not that unfair to bands I like. The album (just for me) was excruciating to get through. It’s like a spooky lounge album, nails on a chalkboard for me. Whatever new genre this is (atmospheric, spooky, mood music)is just not for me. The 1/10 is just my personal score. For what it is if you like it or music like this I’m sure it’s mind blowing. Im a straightforward music fan, I don’t like experimental things. Im a big fan of intro verse chorus verse chorus change verse chorus outro. But, the actual biggest thing that that completely ruined the album for me is the lack of vocals. The draw for me to uncle acid was the catchy vocal melodies. Any band can just be like sabbath but his voice, vocal melody, and delivery were the main reason I got into them.
2024.05.12 00:31 Substantial_Item_828 No, It’s Not Joever: How 2024 Polling Is Underestimating Joe Biden
 | Note: This essay was written about a month ago, for a school project. Some of the numbers and polling averages may be slightly outdated, but the point of the essay still stands. submitted by Substantial_Item_828 to AngryObservation [link] [comments] Introduction “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” That’s what the front-page headline of the Chicago Tribune said on November 3rd, 1948. It’s also what the polls had all been saying for months: that New York governor Thomas Dewey would defeat incumbent president Harry Truman and become the next president of the United States. And yet, he didn’t. Truman won reelection in a massive upset, defying the polls. Somehow, Truman had gone from trailing Dewey in polls by so much that cartoons like the following were created, to winning the election. https://preview.redd.it/oqba22kugvzc1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=92204f20feee6faea87f731a797760140c4a0814 Truman was a very unpopular president. His campaign was also plagued by third parties threatening to split his votes: Strom Thurmond on the right and Henry Wallace on the left. The way he was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat can’t be described as anything less than amazing. Historians still debate over it, but the most popular theory is that Truman was able to win many voters who disapproved of him because he successfully painted Republicans as being worse than he was. This strategy was aided by Dewey’s weak campaign. Many voters didn’t like Truman, and when polled, wouldn’t say they would vote for him, but when the time came, they held their nose and pulled the lever for the president. The election was a lesson to not treat polls as gospel. Today, the nation faces another presidential election. The Democratic candidate is incumbent president Joe Biden. He’s running for reelection despite concerns about his age and rumors he wouldn’t run again due to it. On the Republican side, former president Donald Trump is the nominee. He faced opposition in the primaries, most notably by former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, but beat her and his other opponents without too much trouble. The election is the first presidential rematch since 1956. Several independent/third-party candidates are running too, the most notable being Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr. for short), nephew of JFK. He’s been polling very high for a third-party candidate, getting double digits in many polls. Biden beat Trump in 2020, but opinion polls have been showing Trump leading Biden, often by large margins. As of April 1st, Trump leads Biden by 1.1% in the national polling average according to racetothewh.com, an election prediction/poll aggregation website. Biden won the popular vote by 4.5% in 2020, so this is a sizable swing right. Trump also leads Biden in all seven swing states. Below is a chart comparing the 2020 presidential election margin and the 2024 polling average in the seven swing states. https://preview.redd.it/9wvdn2yzgvzc1.png?width=631&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9c69e14cedfecc11d866837b9533d3e39a30db0 It seems like Biden’s doomed. He needs to win at least some of the swing states to win the election, and right now he isn’t winning any of them. It looks like Trump is on track to becoming the second president ever to win a non-consecutive second term, after Grover Cleveland. But there’s something else going on. Biden’s bad polling situation seems simple on the surface. He’s incredibly unpopular, having an approval rating of 39.1% (net -16.3%) according to FiveThirtyEight. His bout of unpopularity seems to have started around the Afghanistan withdrawal, although when asking someone their reason for disliking Biden they’ll probably say something about his age or the economy instead. So, it makes sense that Biden would be polling badly. He’s an unpopular president, and people would rather have Trump. But it isn’t that simple. Because looking deeper, there are some things that don’t make sense. Crosstabs of polls showing massive realignments not seen since the Civil Rights era. Other indicators of a president in trouble not showing up. Things that when put together, suggest Biden may not be in as much danger as the polls say. When all the evidence is put together and analyzed, it’s clear that Biden is not doomed, not at all. Biden’s bad polling can be explained by two things. First, bad polling methodology underpolling his supporters. Second, people who are supporting third parties now, but will eventually return to Biden. These two things are both making Biden’s polling look bad, although which one has a stronger effect depends on the poll and the demographic group. Additionally, all the indicators other than the polls, like primary elections and special/off-year elections, don’t show Biden in too much trouble. Explaining Racial and Age Depolarization First, context is needed for the rest of this essay to make sense. So, as was said earlier, 2024 polls are showing Biden doing much worse than his 2020 performance. That makes sense – Biden is less popular, so naturally fewer people want to vote for him. The strange part is what demographic groups Biden is slipping with. Instead of a mostly uniform shift, which would be expected, almost all of Biden’s losses seem to come among nonwhite voters – most significantly black and Hispanic voters. He’s also losing ground among young voters (usually defined as voters between the ages of 18 and 29). The Democratic Party traditionally does well with these groups, so this is of course concerning for Biden. Even more strange is that in some polls, Biden is actually making some inroads among the demographics that are historically the base of the Republican Party – those being white voters and seniors. Looking at the aggregation of crosstabs of polls during February, there are many abnormalities. The aggregation shows Trump making massive gains among black and Hispanic voters (swings of R+28.4 and R+18.5 respectively) but making almost zero gains among white voters (R+0.1, but right under that there are slight blue swings with both college educated and non-college educated whites, likely a product of not all polls recording results for those groups). This is strange, to say the least. White people seem to be perfectly fine with Biden, while nonwhite people suddenly despise him. This phenomenon is called racial depolarization, or racedep for short. Swings among different age groups are also odd. Trump is improving by 16.1 points among voters aged 18-29 but losing 1.8 points with seniors and 4 points with voters aged 50-64. Young voters are much more liberal than older voters. Every opinion poll and election result suggests this. Unless they’ve suddenly become much more conservative, them supporting Trump over Biden doesn’t make sense. Along with racedep, age depolarization ("agedep") is common in crosstabs of 2024 polls. Those are not the only depolarizations supposedly going on, as can be seen in the tweet. Urban and suburban voters moving towards Trump while rural voters move towards Biden. Democrats moving towards Trump, Republicans moving towards Biden. Geographical and political polarization have been increasing in recent years, so this suggests a strange reverse of that trend. 2024 probably won’t be a large realignment, it’s more likely something is just wrong with the polls. Explaining Primaries Presidential primary season has been going on for a few months, after the Iowa caucus kicked it off in January. While Biden and Trump both won their primaries easily, how strong their performances were in different areas can reveal a lot about how certain groups are feeling about the candidacies of the two – like black, Hispanic, and young voters. But first, protest voting has to be explained. When an incumbent president is running for reelection, they usually do not face much opposition in the primaries. Typically, only no-name minor candidates are the other people on the ballot besides the president. They do not have a chance at winning, but they do serve as a way for people who are upset with the president to express it. Sometimes, the “Uncommitted” option is also used to protest. Look back to 2012, when Obama was running for reelection. He swept the primaries, but his worst performances were in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, where he got under 60% of the vote. The four states all had something in common: a lot of the registered Democrats were white conservatives who before 2008 voted Democratic, but switched to McCain because they didn’t like Obama’s dark vision for America. They voted against Obama in the primaries because they didn’t like him and didn’t want him to be the nominee. Those voters would then go on to vote Republican in the general election. The places that swung the hardest against Obama in 2008 were also the places where he did the worst in the 2012 primaries. 2004-2008 swing 2012 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary 2012 Arkansas Democratic presidential primary 2012 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary 2012 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary Now, those four states were already very red even before 2008, Obama was not going to win them and he did not need to win them. But if a candidate is doing badly in a potentially competitive state’s primary, they should heed the warning – or risk losing. Another good example of protest voting can be found in the 2016 Democratic primary. Hillary Clinton did very poorly in the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania – losing the first two to Sanders and coming close to losing the last. And where Sanders’s support was strongest was in rural areas – also the areas that swung the most towards Trump in the general election. Trump narrowly flipped all three of those states, winning him the presidency. 2016 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary 2016 Michigan Democratic presidential primary 2016 Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary 2012-2016 swing The polls said Clinton would easily win all three states, while the primaries said she would struggle in them – and the primaries were right. The 2024 Primaries Presidential primaries can give an idea of where a candidate might underperform in the general election, and 2024 primaries are no exception. If black, Hispanic, and young voters are upset with Biden, like the polls are suggesting, then they will protest vote against him. The first primary that will be examined is the South Carolina primary. South Carolina is 26% black according to the 2020 census, and that number is even higher among Democratic primary voters thanks to the racial polarization of the state – Biden won 90% of black South Carolinians in the 2020 election, while Trump won 73% of white South Carolinians. https://preview.redd.it/x2t8cnl3hvzc1.png?width=338&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b5982c343da804a10a1221e623b2de84b2f1b86 South Carolina was also the first primary state (so Biden did not have momentum from winning contests at that point, nor was he the presumptive nominee), and the primary was open (meaning independents could vote), so the conditions for protest voting were as good as they could possibly be. But despite all that, Biden got 96% of the vote. If black people really are upset with Biden, they clearly don’t hate him enough to cast a protest vote against him. And looking at individual counties, there’s not even a correlation between the percent of black people and the percent of opposition vote. Biden got 97% of the vote in Allendale County (73% black, the blackest county in the state) and he got 95% in Pickens County (7% black, the least black county in the state). If anything, Biden did better in counties where there are more black people. And it’s not just South Carolina – in pretty much every state where black people make up a significant percentage of the Democratic electorate, Biden won by huge margins. He got 99% in Mississippi, 95% in Georgia, 90% in Alabama, and 86% in Louisiana. Biden came close to losing a few counties in Louisiana – but not the ones with lots of black people. The counties he did the worst in are heavily white. The same kind of people who gave Obama trouble in the 2012 primaries voted against Biden, too. Evidently, black people aren’t protest voting against Biden. Young voters will be looked at next, using the Michigan primary. Just like South Carolina, Michigan has open primaries. There was an organized campaign for the “Uncommitted” option in Michigan to protest Biden’s policy on Gaza and pressure him into calling for a ceasefire. The Uncommitted option did modestly well, getting 13% of the vote, slightly higher than it did twelve years ago when Obama was running for reelection. The Uncommitted campaign achieved their (unambitious) goal of 10,000 votes, getting slightly over 100,000. Biden got 81% of the vote, while Williamson and Phillips took the remaining 6%. What’s interesting though, is where Uncommitted did the best. Its strongest performance was in Wayne County (which includes Detroit and a few other cities), where it got 17%. Wayne County is home to 140,000 Arab Americans who make up 7.8% of the county’s population, so the strong Uncommitted performance wasn’t surprising. The second strongest county for Uncommitted was Washtenaw County (also 17%), which doesn’t have many Arab Americans. What it does have, however, is the University of Michigan. With over 50,000 students enrolled, it’s one of the largest colleges in the country. Looking at a precinct map of the results for Washtenaw County, Uncommitted did well because UMich students were protest voting against Biden. https://preview.redd.it/nov5qkx5hvzc1.png?width=629&format=png&auto=webp&s=cec905bdfdd4fa10be01d03a97a220925d4ffa6d Ann Arbor, the city where UMich is located, had a very high percentage of Uncommitted votes. There’s no doubt about it, college students were voting Uncommitted to protest Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. Looking at college counties in other primaries, there was generally a trend of the Uncommitted option (or whatever name the state has for it) doing well. In Dane County, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin), there was lots of protest voting against Biden. “Uninstructed” got 15% in Dane vs 8% statewide. “None of these names” did well in Douglas County, Kansas (University of Kansas), getting 14.5% of the vote, compared to the statewide average of 10.3%. And Uncommitted got a sizable 21% in New Haven, Connecticut (Yale University), compared to 11% statewide. There’s definitely some protest voting against Biden by young voters. But remember the reason most of them are unhappy with Biden in the first place: it’s because of Gaza. Trump is more pro-Israel then Biden, so it makes no sense for them to support him. That’s different from Haley voters, who are ideologically between Biden and Trump. Things may be more complicated than they seem, as will be discussed later, but first here’s the analysis of the third group Biden has been slipping with in polls: Hispanic voters. The Texas primary is a good place to judge how Hispanic voters are feeling about Biden. Texas has open primaries, like Michigan and South Carolina. Biden did the worst in South and West Texas. One of the places he underperformed the most was the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). He got percentages in the 60s, 50s, and even 40s in many RGV counties, with his worst performance being in Zapata County, where he got a pathetic 40% of the vote. The RGV is heavily Hispanic, so at first this seems like a validation of the polls showing Trump making massive gains among Hispanic voters – but it isn’t the only place in Texas where Hispanic people live. Biden performed very strongly in El Paso County, an 82% Hispanic county home to the city of the same name. He also did well in places like Bexar County (San Antonio, 59% Hispanic), Dallas County (Dallas, 40% Hispanic), and Harris County (Houston, 43% Hispanic). Looking at other states, it seems like Biden’s RGV performance was the exception, not the rule. He got 81% in Imperial County, California (86% Hispanic); and 83% in Santa Cruz County, Arizona (83% Hispanic). Hispanic voters have been slowly trending towards Republicans over time, so Biden’s performances are even more impressive when that factor is taken into account. According to exit polls, Hispanic voters voted for Obama by 44 points, Clinton by 38 points, and 2020 Biden by 33 points. A lot of the people voting against Biden may be registered as Democrats but didn’t vote for him in 2020. https://preview.redd.it/h35vewo8hvzc1.png?width=407&format=png&auto=webp&s=3c5b78394104a627ae1b8019db62aa1c3a4a1b70 https://preview.redd.it/jlo9nlhdhvzc1.png?width=377&format=png&auto=webp&s=726526e7da2a9c8690ab01e00a12e2e49265445d https://preview.redd.it/l4tremrehvzc1.png?width=458&format=png&auto=webp&s=0744e5c12f7c0c4eb05ec84b59a070174b017b98 Overall, primaries don’t support the polls showing Trump making huge gains among black/Hispanic/young voters. There’s zero evidence black voters are upset with Biden. As for the other two groups, there are some signs of discontent, but not enough to warrant the double-digit swings polls are showing. Biden’s underperformances in college counties/Hispanic counties, when present at all, are usually less than 10 points worse than his statewide performance. And that’s assuming every single person protest voting will go for Trump. If all protest voters really do vote for the other party in the general election, say hello to Biden’s second term, because Nikki Haley regularly gets twice the number of votes in Republican primaries as Biden’s opposition does in Democratic primaries. Even after she dropped out. Midterms, Off-Years, and Special Elections At the same time Biden has been doing well in primaries, Democrats have been scoring wins in special/off-year elections. These elections are historically correlated with the popularity of the president, so they conflict with the polls showing Biden down. Look at elections during the last three presidencies to know what happens when a president is unpopular. While Trump was in office, he was quite the unpopular president, and his party lost many elections because of it. Through 2017-2019, Republicans lost a net 8 governorships, going from 34 to 26; and a net 41 House seats, going from 241 to 200. The only chamber they managed to gain in was the Senate (thanks to a very favorable map and increased polarization causing many Democrats in red states to lose) – but not without losing a special election in Alabama, a deep red state that had voted for Trump over Clinton by almost 28 points. This pattern continues to back when Obama was in office. From 2009-2011, when he was at the height of his unpopularity due to the state of the economy and Obamacare, Democrats lost big. They went from 28 governorships to just 20, 257 House seats to only 193, and 59 Senate seats to only 53. Like Republicans with Alabama during Trump’s presidency, Democrats managed to lose a Senate special election in a state considered safe for their party – Massachusetts, which had voted for Obama by 26 points in 2008. And it goes even further back to Bush’s presidency. Backlash over the wars caused Republicans to lose 6 governorships from 2005-2007 (going from 28 seats to 22), 30 House seats (232 down to 202), and 6 Senate seats (55 to 49). But despite Biden’s unpopularity and bad polling, Democrats have been doing well in elections despite precedent saying they shouldn’t be. The 2022 midterms, which were supposed to be a red wave, were anything but. Democrats flipped a net 2 governorships and 1 Senate seat, and only barely lost the House. The small majority Republicans won has been giving them trouble when trying to govern. Already, one Speaker was ousted and it’s possible a second might be too. More recently, Democrats won the governorship in Kentucky and almost won it in Mississippi, both very red states. They flipped the Virginia state house and won a supreme court election in Pennsylvania by a large margin. Two months ago, they won a competitive special election for a House seat in New York by a decisive 8-point margin. Interestingly, the normal pattern of an unpopular president’s party doing poorly manifested early in Biden’s term. After his approval rating crashed during the Afghanistan withdrawal, Democrats went on to lose the governorship (and state house) of Virginia, and almost lost the governorship of New Jersey. Both states voted for Biden by double digits in the 2020 election. Something changed between November 2021 and November 2022 to cause this shift. It might have been the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade and allow states to ban abortion. In several special elections right after the decision, Democrats overperformed massively. For example, Republicans won the special election for Nebraska’s 1st congressional district, which voted for Trump by 11 points in 2020, by only a 5-point margin. The election took place just four days after the Dobbs decision. The Trump-backed candidates nominated in many Senate and governor elections could also be the ones to blame. Thanks to Trump’s endorsement, many extremist candidates won the primaries in key races. They often denied the results of the 2020 presidential election and had other problematic views. Most of them went on to lose the general election, sometimes by huge margins. Below is a table of all the results. https://preview.redd.it/vx1ilmujhvzc1.png?width=633&format=png&auto=webp&s=2771b74c5d4257d66b4825078ada46216b0be9bd Whatever the cause, Republicans flopped in 2022 and haven’t recovered since. And it doesn’t seem like Trump will be able to avoid the problems plaguing his party. His handpicked candidates were the ones that did terribly while other Republicans often did well; and the abortion issue isn’t just going away, not to mention Trump’s the one responsible for getting Roe overturned with his SCOTUS appointments. Of course, there’s a counterargument: that Biden is somehow breaking historical precedent, and he’ll do badly while other Democrats do fine. That seems like a reasonable theory, until the fact that Biden vs Trump and the generic congressional ballot are polling exactly the same is considered. As of April 5th, at least. https://preview.redd.it/l0ecq2slhvzc1.png?width=753&format=png&auto=webp&s=d8c231135e068129cc1f9c3e1a3b9b2ce41be3fb Since work on this essay has started, Biden has experienced a little surge of support in the polls. It could just be noise, but it might be something else. https://preview.redd.it/m14gsmjmhvzc1.png?width=1043&format=png&auto=webp&s=43bc8d8146b31f5a613a1e7a4adc4ca30a858750 Biden has also been polling as well as (or sometimes even better than) hypothetical Democratic candidates for president like VP Kamala Harris, California governor Gavin Newsom, and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. It could be argued Biden is only doing better because he has higher name recognition, and Democrats who don’t know the other three candidates are answering undecided. But Michelle Obama being extremely well-known didn’t stop her from trailing Trump by the exact same amount as Biden in a poll. https://preview.redd.it/7h189dpnhvzc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=42aa042e9462022d397bbe212c428e41f4d40c99 Democrats are doing much better in actual elections than in polls, and Biden’s polling the same as other Democrats. It stands to reason that Biden would also do better in an election than in polls. The Problem with the Polls While primary and off-year elections suggest Biden isn’t doing badly, they still don’t explain the polls. One theory is that the black/Hispanic/young voters who don’t like Biden aren’t voting in any elections, that’s why Democrats are doing well. Perhaps the biggest proponent of this theory is Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for the NYT. This theoretical group of low-propensity Trump supporters who love answering polls but don’t vote in any elections sounds dubious, and that’s probably because it doesn’t exist at all. Biden’s bad polling is caused by two main things. The first is bad methodology, but before that is discussed, how polls work must be explained. Polls work by contacting a certain number of voters, usually around a thousand, and asking them how they plan to vote. The 2024 options are usually Biden/Trump/Undecided/Other. Sometimes Other is changed to real third-party candidates, like RFK Jr. Polls also ask information on the voter, like their race, sex, age, and region. After data is collected, polls are weighted to reflect real demographics. For example, if a poll’s raw data has 40% of respondents living in urban areas while 60% live in rural areas, and the actual percentage of voters is 50% urban and 50% rural, then the responses of the urban voters are weighted higher. If that poll has urban areas voting 60D/40R and rural areas 40D/60R, then the raw data is 48D/52R while the weighted (and final) data is 50D/50R. This seems like an effective way to avoid bias in polls, and account for lower response rates from certain groups. If rural voters are answering at a higher rate, just give them less weight. If Hispanic voters are answering at a lower rate, give them more weight. The thing is, voters don’t belong to just one group. A person can both live in a rural area and be Hispanic. And while groups (rural voters, Hispanic voters) are weighted, subgroups (rural Hispanic voters) are not. Say, rural Hispanic voters are more Republican than urban and suburban Hispanic voters. Say, they’re answering polls at higher rates as well. Rural voters will be weighted lower in the poll, but that’s just all rural voters combined. Rural Hispanic voters are not weighted vs other Hispanics. That would lead to Hispanic voters in the poll being more Republican than they are in reality. A typical poll has around a thousand respondents, and a margin of error of about ±3%. The sample sizes for different groups, however, are much smaller, which means a bigger margin of error. Let’s say Hispanic voters are 10% of the poll’s respondents, or a hundred in total. That’s a margin of error of ±8%, much larger than the ±3% for the poll as a whole. And if rural Hispanic voters are 20% of all Hispanic voters, that’s a margin of error of ±18%! Small inaccuracies in subgroups can cause a ripple effect that makes the whole poll wrong. Let’s do a simulation to show this effect off.
You guessed it, this is happening in real life. And not just with Hispanic voters, but with everyone. A pattern among 2024 polls is that rural voters are answering at a higher rate than urban/suburban voters. In one NYT/Siena poll (Trump+4), rural voters made up about 35% of the respondents, when they only made up 19% of the 2020 electorate. In another poll by Grinnell College (Trump+7), rural voters made up 27% of the respondents. Voters who said they lived in a “town” made up 17%, and it’s likely at least some of them would break for rural if they had to choose between urban/suburban/rural. Looking at the 538 poll database, a clear pattern emerges. Polls that have Trump leading Biden have a proportion of rural voters that is way too high. Polls where Biden leads Trump have more normal numbers. Rural voters tend to be more conservative and vote Republican, and sure enough, Republicans are answering at a higher rate then Democrats. (scroll to "Do you consider yourself a Democrat, a Republican, an independent or a member of another party?" for the NYT/Siena poll and the top of page 6 for the Grinnell College poll. Both show more Republicans answering the poll than Democrats.) One pollster, Susquehanna Polling and Research, remarked that Trump supporters seem to have higher enthusiasm than Biden supporters, and so are answering polls at a higher rate. The second reason why Trump may not be winning Pennsylvania has to do with who is answering polls. We suspect because Trump is the only candidate with “enthusiastic” voters, it’s Trump voters in particular who are disproportionately talking to pollsters. It’s the reverse of what happened in 2016, when the phenomenon of “shy” Trump voters meant that many pollsters undercounted Trump’s base of support. Many voters were afraid to admit they were Trumpers back then. Today, we suspect many pollsters are not adjusting their samples to account for this “non-response” bias, as it’s typically called. But SP&R is doing so.Polls also say that Trump voters are more enthusiastic than Biden voters. Republicans are slightly more enthusiastic ahead of November’s general election, edging out Democrats, according to a new survey.Groups like seniors and white voters may not be swinging towards Trump because there isn’t an enthusiasm gap, unlike with black/Hispanic/young voters. According to a YouGov poll, groups that aren’t swinging towards Trump in the crosstab aggregate are also paying more attention to the election (and therefore are more enthusiastic, and answering more polls). When black/Hispanic/young voters start paying more attention, they’ll get enthusiastic and start answering polls, which should improve Biden’s polling. https://preview.redd.it/0899t1ephvzc1.png?width=1074&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f9fe91a2d30381a9f08e7e1883b90679aefd6a0 And that rural Hispanic voter hypothetical was based on something real. Rural Hispanic voters were already more Republican than other Hispanics in the 2020 election; and Biden did badly in the rural RGV in the primaries while doing better in cities like El Paso. The difference may be even larger than it was four years ago, with rural Hispanics swinging against Biden while urban and suburban Hispanics don’t. Rural Hispanics make up a small percentage of Hispanic voters (scroll down to "Area type"), so this swing doesn’t mean much for Biden’s electoral prospects. It screws with the crosstabs of Hispanic voters, however. As Biden’s voters become more enthusiastic and the gap closes, polls may start swinging towards him as more of his voters answer polls. There have already been signs of this happening, like that surge in support mentioned earlier. Perhaps it’s because of the recent ad blitz by Biden energizing his supporters? Oversamples, and the True State of the Election Biden voters are not answering polls as much as Trump voters, and this is creating big swings in crosstabs thanks to low sample sizes. Polls with bigger sample sizes would be much better. The margins of error would be much smaller and the crosstabs much more accurate. Unfortunately, it’s too expensive to make polls with huge sample sizes, but there’s still the next best thing – oversamples. Oversamples are polls that poll only one specific group. While a normal poll polls everyone, an oversample might poll only black voters, for example. Because of the big sample sizes, oversamples are much better for determining the voting intentions of groups than just looking at the crosstabs of normal polls. Oversamples can also use more advanced methods of polling to reach people who may not respond otherwise. There are three oversamples that are going to be examined here. The first is by Black PAC, and it’s an oversample of black voters. https://preview.redd.it/epcr7xeqhvzc1.png?width=680&format=png&auto=webp&s=6938941ae9e6b345778035bfd45f7ceb81aa98ed Trump gets a pathetic 8% of black voters, less than half of the polling aggregate showing him getting 18%. This, along with Biden’s strong primary performances, suggest that the bad polling for Biden among black voters is entirely due to bad polling methodology. Next, Hispanic voters. An oversample of Hispanic voters by Univision shows Biden leading Trump 58-31 (27 points). Again, that’s completely different from the polling aggregate showing Biden winning them by only 6 points. It is a slight decrease from 2020, where he won them by 33 points; but like stated earlier, Hispanics have been trending right for a while, so Trump making small gains among them isn’t surprising. And finally, young voters. Split Ticket, an election prediction and analysis website, polled young voters. They used live text interviews, rather than a normal method like calling landlines. In the poll, Biden leads Trump 35-25, a 10 point lead. Biden is disapproved of by 68% of young voters, while Trump is disapproved of by 70%. Of the three oversamples, this is the only one that lines up closely with the crosstab aggregate (Biden+8). Biden won young voters by 24 points in 2020, so it looks Trump is making large gains among the group. But it’s not that simple. Biden and Trump have a similar total disapproval rating, but the number of respondents who strongly disapprove of Trump is 61%. For Biden, it’s just 44%. This means Trump likely has a lower ceiling of support with young voters than Biden does – it’s hard to get someone who hates you to vote for you. Additionally, young voters who disapprove of both Biden and Trump overwhelmingly prefer Biden to Trump. RFK Jr. actually wins this group, but like all third party candidates, his support is declining as the election gets closer. The combined voteshare in polls for RFK Jr. and Cornel West (a left-wing independent candidate) has been steadily decreasing. 6 months ago, it was 17.9%. Today, it’s only 11.5%. This raises the question of who RFK Jr.’s supporters will break for when they realize he can’t win. https://preview.redd.it/zt0t5ptzhvzc1.png?width=763&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd1f7c717e66e750c57e76eaa617966708ebd222 Based on the approval ratings of Biden and Trump, and the “double haters” who already have chosen sides, it seems like the vast majority of young RFK Jr. supporters will go for Biden. His lead among young voters will only increase as time goes on. Of course, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to run ads like these to speed up the process. Split Ticket also conducted a poll using a more normal method, an opt-in web panel. This poll had Trump doing much better with young voters than in their live text poll. So yes, some commonly used polling methods don’t work correctly! Conclusion Biden has been polling badly lately. He’s been trailing Trump nationally as well as in swing states. Polls say key parts of the Democratic base, black/Hispanic/young voters, are abandoning Biden in huge numbers. But when looked at closely, it’s not so simple. Other signs for Biden are pretty good. He’s been doing pretty well in primaries, and Democrats have been doing well in special and off-year elections. Polls are underestimating Biden’s support due to bad methodology and Democrats not answering polls. Oversamples show Biden doing fine with black voters, and mostly fine with Hispanic voters. The only group he really needs to work on is young voters, by trying to decrease RFK Jr.’s support. So, 2024 won’t be a red wave where Trump wins big. But current signs don’t suggest 2024 is going to be a blue wave either, just another extremely close election like 2016 and 2020 both were. But there’s reason to believe Biden might outperform his 2020 showing despite that. The American public is not very engaged right now, as there’s still seven months until the election, so Trump’s latest ventures with the legal system aren’t on people’s minds. When people tune in more, he can only get hurt from it. There’s also the massive fundraising gap between the two, which Trump is scrambling to close. Here’s a prediction for how the election will actually go (margins are 20+, 15-19.9, 10-14.9, 5-9.9, 1-4.9, <1). https://preview.redd.it/ufw3oxa2ivzc1.png?width=810&format=png&auto=webp&s=55a5dcc6c246cb34381165d211b17181717ef196 |
2024.05.11 18:55 YodelingYoda Gentlemen, a short view back to the past.
 | I was in the process of cleaning out my old stuff and came across a couple of old Lacrosse Magazine from 2011. I figured you all would appreciate some of it. It’s been so long since I’ve had anything to do with lacrosse but it was a nice bit of nostalgia for simpler times. submitted by YodelingYoda to lacrosse [link] [comments] |
2024.05.11 13:39 xiaodaireddit List of Asian executives in non-Asian countries
| Name | Position/Company/Year | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Zhang | CEO/Airwallex | founder |
| Jensen Huang | CEO/Nvidia | founder |
| Lisa Su | CEO/AMD | |
| Manny Maceda | Worldwide Managing PartneBain & Company/2024 | |
| Theresa Tam | chief public health officer of Canada | Theresa Tam FRCPC (Chinese: 譚詠詩) is a Canadian physician and public servant who currently serves as the chief public health officer of Canada, who is the second-in-command of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). |
| Bei Ling | Wells Fargo/ Head of Human Resources | Bei Ling leads Human Resources for Wells Fargo and serves on the Wells Fargo Operating Committee. She is responsible for all aspects of the company’s human capital strategy. Bei and her team work closely with leaders across Wells Fargo’s global footprint to build a world-class culture and foster an inclusive environment committed to attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining the best talent. Before joining Wells Fargo in 2021, Bei was managing director and global head of Talent Development and Total Rewards at JPMorgan Chase. She was accountable for driving strategy and implementation across global functions, including leadership development and succession planning, learning, career development, compensation, benefits, and workforce data and analytics. At the same time, she was head of Human Resources for the Commercial Bank, leading end-to-end human capital strategy and programs for the business. Bei previously was deputy head of Human Resources at PNC Financial Services and co-chaired PNC’s Management Committee. She led multiple large-scale HR initiatives, including the PNC/National City merger and a redesign of the bank’s talent programs. She also held a variety of Human Resources and Global Finance roles at Merrill Lynch. A graduate of Beijing University in China, Bei earned her master’s degree in business administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. She serves as a board member for CareerWise USA, as well as on the Corporate Advisory Board for USC Marshall. |
| Thong M. NguyenBiography | Vice Chairman | Thong M. Nguyen is Vice Chairman and Head of Global Strategy & Enterprise Platforms at Bank of America. He serves as a member of the company’s executive management team, reporting to Chairman & CEO Brian Moynihan. Nguyen oversees Corporate Strategy, Enterprise Payments Strategy, Enterprise Data, Artificial Intelligence Governance, Operational Excellence/Change Management, Business Continuity, and Procurement/Vendor Management. Previously, Nguyen served as President of Retail Banking, with responsibility for operations of Bank of America’s coast-to-coast financial centers, contact centers and ATM networks, the nation’s leading digital banking platform, and Military Affairs Banking overseas. Nguyen has also served as the Strategy, Sales and Operations executive for Consumer Banking at Bank of America. Earlier, he was Bank of America’s Corporate Strategy, Planning and Development executive, responsible for M&A/dispositions activities, New BAC (a long-term initiative to simplify operations and reduce costs at Bank of America), the BAC Private Equity portfolio, and the China Construction Bank strategic assistance effort. Nguyen also held various other roles, including West Division executive for U.S. Trust; head of Fiduciary Solutions at U.S. Trust; head of Private Advisory Services at Global Private Banking; Global Corporate and Investment Banking business executive; and head of Global Wealth and Investment Management’s Marketing and Business Development groups. Before joining Bank of America in 2003, Nguyen worked at GE Capital and McKinsey & Co. Nguyen received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance and marketing from Columbia University. |
| Lu Qi | Microsoft high up | Left Microsoft after losing CEO role to Nadella. Went back to China to work for Baidu and got micromanaged out. |
| Peter Chun | CEO/UniSupe?-2024-? | Born in Hong Kong. UniSuper is one of the biggest superfunds in Australia ranking 5th in total assets (AUD127.45b as of Jun 2023) |
| Kelvin Vi Luan Tran | Group Head and Chief Financial OfficerTD Bank Group/2024 | |
| Tracy Bryan | Executive Vice President, Direct Channels and Enablement/Scotiabank/2024 | Tracy was named Executive Vice President, Direct Channels and Enablement in November 2023, with overall responsibility for the Bank’s Client Care Centres, Online and Digital Channels, Canadian Banking Internal Controls, and Real Estate, bringing together a number of our client-facing channels to develop a more seamless, effective, and efficient client experience. Since joining Scotiabank in 1994, Tracy has held progressively senior roles in Retail Banking, International Banking, Technology, and Global Operations. She was, most recently, Executive Vice President, Global Operations, with overall responsibility for the leadership, strategic direction and performance of the function and for ensuring that effective partnership with the business lines to improve our client experience. Tracy is an avid speaker at women’s mentoring events internally and externally on behalf of Scotiabank. https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/our-company/executive-management/tracy-bryan.html |
| Fleur Pellerin | French minister | Korean adopted by French parents |
| Philipp Rösler | Vice Chancellor of Germany/2011-2013 | Vietnamese adopted by German parents |
| Raymond Chun | Group Head, Canadian Personal BankingTD Bank Group/2024 | |
| Penny Wong | Foreign Minister of Australia | Halfie |
| Zhao Pun | CEO of Citadel Securities/2024 | USD10m+ salary |
2024.05.11 13:29 Objective-Data8240 Help! Need advice to improve my resume, is it being seen or just too vague?
I have been laid off not too long ago, have a family to support. Super stressful and surreal situation that most people like I have been experiencing. I have not updated my resume format / style in a while. I need some expertise as to how to improve it. Would greatly appreciate all the input before paying someone to review and potentially scammed.
Looking for a position in leading a team of test automation developers. I feel like my job title is not reflective of what I do. Please roast hard.
https://preview.redd.it/dkb0ejbb9szc1.png?width=696&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a5cca0fb7e956f7083abc98e6974e27075ad87
https://preview.redd.it/gh8f77vb9szc1.png?width=666&format=png&auto=webp&s=20051e4bd5c6a627c3fb3c15598a63dc6a4011ff
submitted by Objective-Data8240 to resumes [link] [comments]
Looking for a position in leading a team of test automation developers. I feel like my job title is not reflective of what I do. Please roast hard.
https://preview.redd.it/dkb0ejbb9szc1.png?width=696&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a5cca0fb7e956f7083abc98e6974e27075ad87
https://preview.redd.it/gh8f77vb9szc1.png?width=666&format=png&auto=webp&s=20051e4bd5c6a627c3fb3c15598a63dc6a4011ff
2024.05.11 02:02 Sensitive-Soft5823 next year the last zalphas are gonna be allowed on reddit
This is based on this subreddits definition (09-12)
The Zalpha Kids in 2025:
2009 kids are gonna be able to drive in the US, prob used to taking AP classes, but they're juniors so they gotta worry about the SAT and stuff
2010 kids are gonna be 15 and can go to drivers ed and stuff, and has to learn to balance that with school
2011 kids are gonna go into high school mostly, and have to learn time management for real
2012 kids are gonna be teenagers
Other years that are some times referred to as zalpha, (2008,2013,2014)
2008 kids are gonna be seniors and are prob applying for colleges and are prob a little too old for zalpha
2013 kids are 12 and are starting to enter the phase where they think they teens but they not, they act like a teenager, but don't get the teenager perks, like getting to freely be on social media (they gonna do it anyway, but they can't say their real age)
2014 kids are gonna enter middle school and they get introduced to grades and quizzes, and their life is still easy, but not as easy, has to learn some time management, also prob a little too young for zalpha
2007 and 2015 kids are sometimes considered zalpha, but there is no way they are zalpha. 2008 and 2014 is a maybe, and 2009-2013 is def zalpha
submitted by Sensitive-Soft5823 to gen_zalpha [link] [comments]
The Zalpha Kids in 2025:
2009 kids are gonna be able to drive in the US, prob used to taking AP classes, but they're juniors so they gotta worry about the SAT and stuff
2010 kids are gonna be 15 and can go to drivers ed and stuff, and has to learn to balance that with school
2011 kids are gonna go into high school mostly, and have to learn time management for real
2012 kids are gonna be teenagers
Other years that are some times referred to as zalpha, (2008,2013,2014)
2008 kids are gonna be seniors and are prob applying for colleges and are prob a little too old for zalpha
2013 kids are 12 and are starting to enter the phase where they think they teens but they not, they act like a teenager, but don't get the teenager perks, like getting to freely be on social media (they gonna do it anyway, but they can't say their real age)
2014 kids are gonna enter middle school and they get introduced to grades and quizzes, and their life is still easy, but not as easy, has to learn some time management, also prob a little too young for zalpha
2007 and 2015 kids are sometimes considered zalpha, but there is no way they are zalpha. 2008 and 2014 is a maybe, and 2009-2013 is def zalpha
2024.05.10 23:09 Loose-Apricot8689 Vent: Wedding planning while dealing with grief/trauma and feeling alone re family??
Hey all,
I (female, 37) am marrying my partner (non-binary, 41) next month. We have been together over 11 years, have pets together, own our first home, and have navigated all manner of life crises and jubilant triumphs together. In many ways it feels like we are already married. But wedding culture (especially on social media) is driving me up a wall with all these ideas of how I SHOULD experience our wedding, what my family relationships are supposed to look like, who is there to support me, what body image issues I should have and what I should be “fixing”, how damn heteronormative everything is, etc. I’ve been planning most of our wedding myself, and I can’t help but feel extremely stressed out and depressed, both because a LOT of bad things have happened this year and also because my family of origin is not there for me in the way wedding culture assumes.
In these first four-plus months of 2024, the following things have happened to me:
— Our precious senior rescue pittie died in February only 6 months after we rescued her from a lifetime of abuse
— Two days later, my preexisting dog I’ve had since 2011 (since I was a baby adult!) landed in the hospital multiple times with life-threatening health issues, was close to dying twice, and I just now felt hopeful enough to buy her the things we had been planning to so she can be our ring bearer as planned
— My mom, who lives 3000 miles away, had a stroke in the middle of our dog being hospitalized
— My partner learned they have an ovarian cyst that needs surgery, which they’ll get next week after being in excruciating pain on and off for the past few months
— My younger brother was in a serious car crash a couple days ago and is thankfully physically ok but mentally shaken up
So basically I’ve been running around with all of these crises going down constantly while also trying to plan for what is supposed to be a joyous time of love and positivity. At the same time, the only person coming to our intimate 33-person wedding who is biologically related to me will be my dad due to my mom’s health problems, my brother staying to take care of her, and my bio fam being estranged from any other extended family. I don’t relate to all the problems of parents being overinvolved in people’s weddings because my parents aren’t remotely involved in my wedding. I have strained relationships in different ways with both parents and even though my partner’s family is AMAZING and have made me feel extremely integrated into their family over the years, I can’t help but feel shame and resentment and despair over what my situation looks like vs the expectations — that my mom will be there to help me get ready on my wedding day, that multiple generations of my family will be there to cheer me on (or even have the functional relationships that would be celebrated in that context), that this day is something my bio family has been looking forward to forever, etc.
Can anyone relate to this? It’s all really bringing up a general pattern for me of the trauma in my life and who is there to support me or not. I could create a whole novel about eldest daughter syndrome in an enmeshed and toxic family system that my relationship with everyone has grown out of, but I’ve already written a lot, so I’d love to hear other’s experiences and any advice about how to mentally cope with similar situations.
submitted by Loose-Apricot8689 to weddingplanning [link] [comments]
I (female, 37) am marrying my partner (non-binary, 41) next month. We have been together over 11 years, have pets together, own our first home, and have navigated all manner of life crises and jubilant triumphs together. In many ways it feels like we are already married. But wedding culture (especially on social media) is driving me up a wall with all these ideas of how I SHOULD experience our wedding, what my family relationships are supposed to look like, who is there to support me, what body image issues I should have and what I should be “fixing”, how damn heteronormative everything is, etc. I’ve been planning most of our wedding myself, and I can’t help but feel extremely stressed out and depressed, both because a LOT of bad things have happened this year and also because my family of origin is not there for me in the way wedding culture assumes.
In these first four-plus months of 2024, the following things have happened to me:
— Our precious senior rescue pittie died in February only 6 months after we rescued her from a lifetime of abuse
— Two days later, my preexisting dog I’ve had since 2011 (since I was a baby adult!) landed in the hospital multiple times with life-threatening health issues, was close to dying twice, and I just now felt hopeful enough to buy her the things we had been planning to so she can be our ring bearer as planned
— My mom, who lives 3000 miles away, had a stroke in the middle of our dog being hospitalized
— My partner learned they have an ovarian cyst that needs surgery, which they’ll get next week after being in excruciating pain on and off for the past few months
— My younger brother was in a serious car crash a couple days ago and is thankfully physically ok but mentally shaken up
So basically I’ve been running around with all of these crises going down constantly while also trying to plan for what is supposed to be a joyous time of love and positivity. At the same time, the only person coming to our intimate 33-person wedding who is biologically related to me will be my dad due to my mom’s health problems, my brother staying to take care of her, and my bio fam being estranged from any other extended family. I don’t relate to all the problems of parents being overinvolved in people’s weddings because my parents aren’t remotely involved in my wedding. I have strained relationships in different ways with both parents and even though my partner’s family is AMAZING and have made me feel extremely integrated into their family over the years, I can’t help but feel shame and resentment and despair over what my situation looks like vs the expectations — that my mom will be there to help me get ready on my wedding day, that multiple generations of my family will be there to cheer me on (or even have the functional relationships that would be celebrated in that context), that this day is something my bio family has been looking forward to forever, etc.
Can anyone relate to this? It’s all really bringing up a general pattern for me of the trauma in my life and who is there to support me or not. I could create a whole novel about eldest daughter syndrome in an enmeshed and toxic family system that my relationship with everyone has grown out of, but I’ve already written a lot, so I’d love to hear other’s experiences and any advice about how to mentally cope with similar situations.
2024.05.10 20:28 pillowcase-of-eels [Music] Emilie Autumn's Asylum, pt. 5 – Musician spends years building vibrant and loyal audience; single-sentence comment from concerned fan triggers civil war and ruins everything forever
🪞 “It's much easier to get in that it is to get out,” Emilie Autumn used to say. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4.1 - Part 4.2
She was not wrong. Welcome back to the Asylum write-up!
In this installment, we're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of the enmity between EA and her fans.
It's time for war. It's time for blood. It's time... for tea. 🎵
Everyone ready for some dysfunctional family history?
CW for discussion of bullying, online harassment, mental illness stigma.
EA had the excellent instinct to start banking on her online presence📝 long before MySpace was even a thing. She had a website, several online stores, an active LiveJournal and a ProBoards forum right from the turn of the millennium.
In 2004, she attached an official forum to her website; the earliest archive shows 74 registered users. By the time Opheliac came out in 2006, that number had grown tenfold. And it was, by most accounts, a pretty dope place to be! (I should specify that this write-up focuses on the anglophone side of the fandom: there were also thriving fan-run communities in at least German, French, and Spanish. Because EA doesn't speak any of those languages, the lucky bastards were mostly left alone.)
Forum users enjoyed interacting with some of EA's closest IRL friends and associates – and with the mistress of the house herself (user flair: PsychoFiddler), when she occasionally responded to comments under her own posts. But that wasn't even the main appeal for many. For a long time, on top of all EA-related topics, the official forum had very active “Off-Topic” subforums, with lively and friendly conversation on a variety of subjects. (There was even a “Filthy Libertines (18+)” sub for a while, which was closed due to preemptive concerns about minors.) Swear words (not slurs) were allowed and encouraged, and moderation was overall pretty loose beyond basic enforcement of civility. There was a lot of mutual support, creativity, and solid banter going around.
In 2008, for instance, EA held an afternoon meet-up at Lincoln Park in Chicago. 📺 The event was free to attend; it featured live acoustic music and a reading from EA's upcoming book, the intriguingly-titled Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.
On the appointed day, EA rolled up in a fabulously tousled red wig, bedazzled white corset and steampunk-altered wedding dress. She had brought friends alongs. Sporting blue hair and a pink bustle and corset was her Chicago bestie, the main forum admin. Rocking a guitar and a top hat was EA's sound engineer, the soft-spoken wizard behind the Victoriandustrial sound, who was also a forum mod. The photographer from the original Opheliac cover art was there as well; he was formally introduced by EA and got his own round of applause.
The End Records, that is! Quick refresher: in 2009, after three years or so with Trisol, EA split from the label over allegations that the owner was embezzling money from ticket sales. A few months later, she signed with The End Records. Understandably, EA still wanted to sell the album that had made her famous, and to which she had smartly retained the rights – which meant a brand new, “Deluxe” release of Opheliac. (Remember, from part 3? The one you could pre-order as a bundle with the book? Some projects are just cursed, I guess.)
At that point, Opheliac had been released three times already, as recently as the year before, with only slight variations in format and tracklist. (Yes, that is a theme in this story.) The End Records version would feature new cover art and a handful of new tracks, but overall, it was... you know... the same album.
(The following paragraphs are largely sourced from this excellent recap 🔍📝, which also provides potato screenshots for all quotes.)
One fateful day of August 2009, a user started a thread entitled “Opheliac US edition deluxe re-release??” in the “EA News” subforum. In the thread, some people were kind of balking at the re-do, pondering whether to buy the “new” Opheliac or sit this one out. Some expressed that after three years, they were jonesing for a new album. Others shared what B-sides or dream covers they would have liked to see included on the bonus disc. Just... fans being fans, in a fan discussion space.
And then EA jumped out from behind the curtains.
But maybe we can also agree that those replies should have been screamed into a pillow rather than typed out on a keyboard.
EA was getting increasingly (and, I'll just say it: disproportionately) sarcastic and defensive in her replies. Enter poor FantineDormouse.
FantineDormouse meant well, I think. Maybe she thought, she's spiraling. Maybe she thought, friends don't let friends go down that road. Granted, FantineDormouse probably should have known better than to phrase it the way she did. Or to assume that EA perceived her as a friend.
Either way, at some point, FantineDormouse jumped in and posted the comment that finally made EA lose it. THE comment which, overnight, ended the honeymoon period of the Asylum, triggering a doomsday domino effect from which the fandom would never truly recover. Are you comfortably seated?
* sound of archduke getting shot *
Jaws dropped. After days of infighting between white knights, detractors, and crossfire negotiators, several mod resignations, and general mayhem surrounding the ban, EA made a post entitled “In Which: I Invite You to Make a Fucking Choice.” 📝 For brevity's sake (cue laugh track), I can't reproduce it in all of its righteous splendor, but it's quite a read. It runs the gamut from fair and articulate points about how mental illness shouldn't be used to discredit someone's legitimate anger... to histrionic commands that “deserters to the cause” should “turn in their weapons” if they can't handle her way of doing things.
...And now you understand why, in the following years, some fans were so delicate and diplomatic in voicing their very legitimate complaints about messed-up orders, unsigned books, and puzzling lies... while unofficial platforms like Tumblr flourished with pent-up resentment and snark. 🦠
Notwithstanding. In my decade-plus of following EA drama, the public comments on EA's own platforms (where people knew she was likely to be reading) have been, for the most part... civil and nuanced, and relatively mindful of the human? Even very confrontational comments (some clearly written from a place of anger and desire to shame) rarely resorted to outright name-calling or cruelty. When abusive or bigoted language did crop up, it was often promptly shut down by other fans as gross and uncalled for. In short: I have, with mine own two eyes, in real time, read some of the comment sections that EA described as cesspools of blind rage and odious attacks, and... I just couldn't see it.
If anything, for a long time, a lot of the angry comments directed at EA during any given controversy read more like break-up letters to an ex-best friend: harsh, curt and targeted in a way that cuts deep.... but also kind of screams how much love you still have for this person, against your better judgement.
Not that it wouldn't mess a person up to get hundred of those in a matter of hours, even if they don't individually qualify as “abusive”.
It's worth noting that prior to becoming semi-famous and regretting it, EA was also (by her own account and among other forms of abuse) a victim of intense childhood bullying. It feels like the two situations are closely connected in her mind when her focus seamlessly transitions from one to the other. 📺 I don't think that tremor in her voice is put on.
Based on her writings, I get the feeling that over the years, EA has developed a very black-and-white view of two monolithic groups of people. There's (an idealized vision of) her “real audience”, well-dressed, well-read, kind-hearted, and Asylum-savvy, who she fully trusts to “get it” – and buy it, and love it, unquestioningly, whatever “it” may be at any given time – because that is the true measure of love and loyalty. These are the people she makes art and merch for, the people she writes heart-emoji-filled newsletters to, and desperately longs to see in person again.
And then there's the lynch mob, those who really don't “get it”: the trolls, the faceless creeps, the basement-dwelling mouthbreathers, the ones who stalk her every move obsessively, waiting for any chance to spam her with vicious abuse and slander and obscenities. The latter only exist online (they are manifested into arbitrary existence by the internet itself, not by anything EA said or did), and there is zero overlap between the two sets of people. That seems to be the official narrative.
It makes for outstanding human-interest entertainment... but it also sounds an awful lot like the unhealthy patterns of a person suffering from all sorts of PTSD. 🔍 So, please bear that in mind as you read through this write-up. It's easy to make EA out to be the sole villain, a paranoid and delusional drama queen, based on her extreme reactions to things that often “weren't that bad”. Anything can, in fact, be “that bad” when you're thrown back into the very worst moments of your existence every time your brain decides that the situation is even remotely similar.
PTSD takes over your rational mind and actively distorts your perception of reality. That can be how a person ends up impulse-reacting to “a few people expressing an unfavorable opinion” as if the entire internet had just ganged up on them with knives. Which makes their audience feel unjustly accused, which makes them hostile, which gives the person actual good reason to feel attacked... and so the cycle of hurt continues.
Just because you expect something unpleasant to happen, doesn't mean your psyche will be ready to handle it when it does – or that you'll pick the best and most effective strategy to deal with it.
EA's next big release after the Asylum book came in 2012. It was a new album, an outline of the soon-to-be Asylum musical, called Fight Like a Girl (FLAG for short). As the name suggests, the main mood was bellicose. Incidentally, in the interim years, EA's communication style generally became noticeably more combative, incendiary, and (within her own spaces) controlling.📝 You remember those quirky word filters on the forum, that would change “fan” to “muffin” and “bra” to “teacup holder”? They kind of took on a Nineteen-Eighty-Four-burlesque flavor when you realized that one filter automatically changed “Fischkopf” to “Liddell” - and that circumventing the rule to address her totally real last name would get you banned, as would any discussion of her family. (“Wikipedia, random internet sites and heresay are not credible sources.” - Mod reminder of forum rules, 2010.)
Also, you try sustaining a serious, grown-up conversation among concerned fans about how Emilie Autumn should “take ratsponsibility for her mistakes out of ratspect for her muffins”. Thus, the official Asylum forum kept a tight grip on overt criticism of EA's claims and actions.
To be fair, it was never her forte to begin with. Will it come as a shock if I tell you that EA doesn't have the greatest track record for successful collaborative work? Let's do a quick-cut montage!
EA's very first corporate sponsor was her mother's “Enchant Clothing & Costume” online store 🔍; she went on to claim that her mother was dead. She sessioned for Billy Corgan, that went super well. 🎵 She liked Courtney Love for a minute, but that didn't work out because she felt that Courtney only valued her for her pee. 📝 (It probably didn't help that in early 2006, while EA was recording her post-break-up-tell-all album about Corgan, C-Love was recording her post-rehab-redemption album with Corgan. 🔍 Either way, EA didn't seem to like Courtney anymore after that. Courtney likes her, though! 📝) The one artist EA has ever approached for a duet (and by approached, I mean she recorded a demo and threw the CD on stage when he played Chicago in 2004) was, of all people, Morrissey. That never came to pass, thank mercy 🔍 – this fandom has suffered enough. In 2005, EA recorded some haunting vocals and violins for a potential collab with the frontman of Attrition. When, three years later, they were used on one track 🎵 of Attrition's All Mine Enemies Whisper, she alleged 📝 that the recordings had been obtained from her under the false pretense of a different project, then hideously altered to sound “out of tune”, and used without her permission. She enlisted her fans to boycott the album and the band, and threatened legal action. Meanwhile, on LiveJournal and Attrition's message boards, band associates were appalled: according to them, EA had been aware of the project's nature from the start... and had been completely unreachable, even through her label, during the months of its development. (Besides, Attrition is a semi-obscure English darkwave band from the 80s, whose micro-distributed albums don't even have their own Wikipedia pages... so I wonder what EA was hoping to get out of that theoretical lawsuit. These people own nothing but vintage gain pedals!) The song “Cold Hard Cash” 🎤 by Angelspit (who contributed a remix to one of her EPs in 2008) may or may not be an EA diss track. 🐀 Back when indie jewelry brand RockLove (which now has licensing deals with Disney, Marvel, and DC) was still someone's bedroom project, their first drop was an EA-inspired collection 🔍, which appears in many early Opheliac photoshoots. The partnership was terminated on bad terms, for unclear reasons; the RockLove owner shared in a statement that EA had “drunk the cool-aid” of Trisol Guy's shady business practices, and that the two of them had been spamming her with “crazed angry message[s]” for days.
Why am I talking about this? Because it was precisely one such ill-fated business partnership that triggered the Great Asylum Secession.
One fine day of spring 2010, the owner of vegan make-up brand Aromaleigh popped onto the Asylum forum to announce that they were cutting ties with EA, with damning receipts of copy-pasted emails (lost to time). Basically, the brand had been sponsoring her for half a decade, and while Aromaleigh had been actively promoting her music and tours, EA hadn't exactly been returning the favor. (Indeed, the extent of EA's sponcon seemed to have been a banner link to their website on her front page, and a single “random drunken endorsement” LiveJournal post that kind of reads like satire📝, from 2005.)
EA responded by banning the owner's account, deleting the thread, and posting this flippant statement a few days later:
So one Plague Rat decided to create a separate, members-only forum 📝, where users could recreate some of the now-defunct off-topic threads... and also freely voice their critical opinions of EA's behavior without fear of backlash from mods or rabid stans. Thus, “The Reform” was born. (Reform [n]: amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved.)
For a few weeks, the two-state solution seemed to work fine. And then word spread among forum mods and other diehard fans that there was this horrid other forum, where obsessive haters gathered to spew disgusting lies and vitriol about EA... and soon enough, it was bedlam in the Asylum.
Any explicit mention of the Reform was forbidden on the Asylum forum. Suspicion of participation in the Reform would get you banned. The party line was that The Reform was the enemy 🐀 – even though a number of people were active on both forums, because they liked freedom of expression almost as much as they liked EA. Double agents would lurk on the forum and report back with snark material; sycophants would infiltrate the Reform to identify traitors – much to the amusement of the “haters”, who mocked them and their ilk for “licking EA's pink sparkly boots”. There was no containing the seething, or the sass, among Asylum ranks.
Pretty soon, the insubordination spread to Tumblr. There was the “Ask the Reform” Q&A blog, where questioning fans could interact with “Rebel Rats”, get more details on past drama, and make up their own minds about the people EA called bullies.
And then, there were the “confession blogs”, which published anonymous submissions about EA, positive, negative or neutral, with little censorship. Finally, you didn't even have to pick a throw-away username on a private forum to voice your hottest / strangest / most controversial EA takes. Fans could vent, rant, lament, wonder, shitpost to their heart's content, anonymously. Obviously, given the context of frustration and censorship in the fandom, a lot of the first waves of confessions were EXTREMELY negative.
EA's acolyte Veronica managed to get the first one shut down. If memory serves, she misunderstood the confession blog format, and may have believed that all the posts on “Emilie Autumn Confessions” came from one or a small group of individuals. She was genuinely devastated, and wrote the blog admin to let them know that they were a terrible person who said terrible things. The admin was mortified, apologized profusely and deleted the blog of their own initiative. (Which goes to show that the concept did not come from cruel and malicious anti-fans, as detractors often claimed.)
But a new blog sprung up almost immediately, with a different mod team, and did not surrender. And much like in EA's own book, once the Plague Rats found out that they possessed the gift of speech... well, they really took to it.
Established in 2011 and passed on through generation after generation of mod teams to the present day, Wayward Victorian Confessions would turn out to be the longest-lived institution in the EA fandom. For over a decade now, through all the bleakest nights and dankest debacles of the Asylum, and despite its initial reputation as a troll den, WVC has acted as a kind of neutral ground and vox populi for the active fanbase and anti-fanbase. (The last nominally-active EA fansite to date, She Fights Like a Girl, is actually an offshoot of WVC: one of the old admins created it as a database to answer “frequently asked questions” about EA.)
Wayward Victorian Confessions has now outlived every other EA platform, official and unofficial. Were it not for the continued existence of the “troll den”, what little fan community survives in 2024 would be non-existent, plain and simple. To quote from late 20th century Canadian philosophy: isn't it ironic?
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She was not wrong. Welcome back to the Asylum write-up!
In this installment, we're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of the enmity between EA and her fans.
It's time for war. It's time for blood. It's time... for tea. 🎵
THE PRESENT DAY: “ASK ME ANYTHING (WELL, NOT QUITE)”
"Ask me anything" titles are catchy, and that’s why I’m using one. But, obviously, don’t ask me anything, by which I mean that, if you think I wouldn’t answer it, you’re probably right. Ask me something really good. I’d love to answer you. I’d love to have comments on these posts, in fact, so that I could answer questions there regularly and ask you things as well, but insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, or so Einstein is supposed to have said, and attempting to create yet another interactive online venue after every previous attempt has ended in heartbreak—forums, facebook groups, social media accounts—it would indeed be insanity to think that this time would be any different. So there are no comments. This too is heartbreaking in the sense that, and you may not realize this, but I desperately want to connect more completely with you—to be able to intelligently converse and share and exchange. We can do that in person, of course, because the wrong people never show up in person. Isn’t that funny… So, perhaps we’ll have to arrange that;). I’ll start you off with an example question I’d want to know if I were you (I can almost guarantee that you do not want to know this). Q. Hey EA, how do you keep your wireless bodypack transmitter secure when you are leaping about in skimpy costumes and doing frequent costume changes? Also, dye your roots. A. Fantastic question, EA, and I just dyed my roots thank you very much. ... (Deleted blog post followed by a year of radio silence, 2022 📝)Sooo. For the past five-ish years, the vibe in the Asylum has been that of a protracted Christmas dinner where everyone is tensely moving their food around in their plate, bracing themselves for whatever will trigger the screaming match. Wondering what it's going to be this time. Weary old-timers make small talk about the food because no other topic feels safe. Every glance, every forced smile, is fraught with eons-old grudges and unspoken regrets; every nervous pleasantry sounds like a thinly-veiled accusation. Aunt Emilie always insists on hosting, but not-so-secretly hates having people over. Sooner or later, she finds a way to get all of these assholes out of her house. Most of the adult children are daydreaming about going no-contact.
Everyone ready for some dysfunctional family history?
CW for discussion of bullying, online harassment, mental illness stigma.
YE OLDEN DAYS: CUCKOOS OF A FEATHER NEST TOGETHER
In the beginning, it was beautiful.EA had the excellent instinct to start banking on her online presence📝 long before MySpace was even a thing. She had a website, several online stores, an active LiveJournal and a ProBoards forum right from the turn of the millennium.
In 2004, she attached an official forum to her website; the earliest archive shows 74 registered users. By the time Opheliac came out in 2006, that number had grown tenfold. And it was, by most accounts, a pretty dope place to be! (I should specify that this write-up focuses on the anglophone side of the fandom: there were also thriving fan-run communities in at least German, French, and Spanish. Because EA doesn't speak any of those languages, the lucky bastards were mostly left alone.)
Forum users enjoyed interacting with some of EA's closest IRL friends and associates – and with the mistress of the house herself (user flair: PsychoFiddler), when she occasionally responded to comments under her own posts. But that wasn't even the main appeal for many. For a long time, on top of all EA-related topics, the official forum had very active “Off-Topic” subforums, with lively and friendly conversation on a variety of subjects. (There was even a “Filthy Libertines (18+)” sub for a while, which was closed due to preemptive concerns about minors.) Swear words (not slurs) were allowed and encouraged, and moderation was overall pretty loose beyond basic enforcement of civility. There was a lot of mutual support, creativity, and solid banter going around.
It wasn't just about Emilie on the forums. People could chat about almost anything with near free reign, making connections and lifelong friends. ... This community mattered SO MUCH to people. They felt included, accepted, and understood within the walls of the Asylum. People invested their time and creative energy into keeping the forums a vibrant, active community, and made sure that carried over into the real world. ... I've never seen anything like it in a fan space. I doubt I ever will again. (@Asylum_Oracle - “Fandom History” Instagram highlight 🔍📝, which contains most of the sources for this segment.)And it did, indeed, carry over into the real world. There were numerous meet-ups – a few organized by EA, many more spontaneous. People who didn't know any other EA fans in real life, or were just excited to add new Plague Rats to their friend group, would regularly connect with other forum users from their area to meet up and hang out before EA shows. “Who else is dressing up??”
In 2008, for instance, EA held an afternoon meet-up at Lincoln Park in Chicago. 📺 The event was free to attend; it featured live acoustic music and a reading from EA's upcoming book, the intriguingly-titled Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.
On the appointed day, EA rolled up in a fabulously tousled red wig, bedazzled white corset and steampunk-altered wedding dress. She had brought friends alongs. Sporting blue hair and a pink bustle and corset was her Chicago bestie, the main forum admin. Rocking a guitar and a top hat was EA's sound engineer, the soft-spoken wizard behind the Victoriandustrial sound, who was also a forum mod. The photographer from the original Opheliac cover art was there as well; he was formally introduced by EA and got his own round of applause.
People who would never normally be involved in an artist's fanbase were in EA's world. And not only were they known – they were respected and incredibly active with the fanbase. These people who managed an online message board were willing to engage in real-world meet-ups (with no security??) because of how tight-knit the community they had built was. People turned out to this event. People traveled to go to this event. It was a short reading of a book that hadn't been released yet, and wouldn't be for some time. Why? Because not only was it a chance to meet Emilie and listen to parts of the new book, but it was also a chance to hang out with their friends from the Asylum. ... The fandom really was a family for a lot of people. (@Asylum_Oracle)
“SERIOUSLY, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE.”
It all started with The End.The End Records, that is! Quick refresher: in 2009, after three years or so with Trisol, EA split from the label over allegations that the owner was embezzling money from ticket sales. A few months later, she signed with The End Records. Understandably, EA still wanted to sell the album that had made her famous, and to which she had smartly retained the rights – which meant a brand new, “Deluxe” release of Opheliac. (Remember, from part 3? The one you could pre-order as a bundle with the book? Some projects are just cursed, I guess.)
At that point, Opheliac had been released three times already, as recently as the year before, with only slight variations in format and tracklist. (Yes, that is a theme in this story.) The End Records version would feature new cover art and a handful of new tracks, but overall, it was... you know... the same album.
(The following paragraphs are largely sourced from this excellent recap 🔍📝, which also provides potato screenshots for all quotes.)
One fateful day of August 2009, a user started a thread entitled “Opheliac US edition deluxe re-release??” in the “EA News” subforum. In the thread, some people were kind of balking at the re-do, pondering whether to buy the “new” Opheliac or sit this one out. Some expressed that after three years, they were jonesing for a new album. Others shared what B-sides or dream covers they would have liked to see included on the bonus disc. Just... fans being fans, in a fan discussion space.
And then EA jumped out from behind the curtains.
Fan: Okay. Before I start, I just want you to know that I think it's very good that EA is getting more popularity, and that she can release lots of albums, but - are 5 editions of the same album really needed? You may say now “ah, it's not the same, it has 2 bonus tracks” or whatever, but I mean: it's not new material. Now don't get me wrong. I'm happy for it, maybe I'll even buy it, but I'm just wondering if she shouldn't keep herself busy with other (maybe more important) stuff? * hides * EA: Nobody's forcing you to buy it. Thanks.Record scratch.
Fan 1: is this Opheliac release version number 4? lol If she's recording NEW tracks, then surely they deserve to be sold by themselves, otherwise people are going to have to buy an album that they may have already bought twice (like me!). But... alas, I am a fool and adore everything this woman does... im buying it lol Fan 2: exactly – if it was just reissuing the last version of Opheliac to tap into new markets that would be fine (...) but if they start adding extra bits of material to albums people already have then the true muffins are going to feel obliged to buy new copies (...) EA: How exactly are you obliged to buy anything? Nobody is forcing you to spend a fucking penny, my dears. I suppose it would make more sense to you to simply not have my records available any more as the old label I just escaped from will no longer be distributing them? Forgive me for adding extra tracks. No obligation necessary....Okay, so I'm pretty sure that we can see both sides of the argument here. Fans are annoyed at the idea of spending money on barely-anything-new, because they love EA and buy every single CD she releases. EA is exasperated by fans acting like she's twisting their arm and somehow resenting the inclusion of new material, when she was just ensuring that her album would remain available for purchase and trying to keep things interesting.
But maybe we can also agree that those replies should have been screamed into a pillow rather than typed out on a keyboard.
EA was getting increasingly (and, I'll just say it: disproportionately) sarcastic and defensive in her replies. Enter poor FantineDormouse.
FantineDormouse meant well, I think. Maybe she thought, she's spiraling. Maybe she thought, friends don't let friends go down that road. Granted, FantineDormouse probably should have known better than to phrase it the way she did. Or to assume that EA perceived her as a friend.
Either way, at some point, FantineDormouse jumped in and posted the comment that finally made EA lose it. THE comment which, overnight, ended the honeymoon period of the Asylum, triggering a doomsday domino effect from which the fandom would never truly recover. Are you comfortably seated?
FantineDormouse: Uhm, Emilie, love, I don't mean to sound rude or anything... but maybe you should have a cup of tea and relax a little....
* sound of archduke getting shot *
EA: Excuse me? You can throw this onslaught of absolute cruel bullshit at me and those I work with in my own space that I own, and I can't say anything back? How fucking patronizing. Relax? Are you fucking kidding me? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? FD: I'm not trying to piss you off even more, Emilie. And trust me, I have to deal with it myself, and as much as I would really love to punch the cunts I have to deal with in the face, I don't. You're pissed off, I get it. You're bipolar, which makes it 10x worse, I get that. I'm just not the person to stand around and do nothing when a fight where I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of regret is going on.Famous last words. Literally! Immediately after EA delivered her irate closing statement – which includes one of my all-time favorite EA zingers, bolded...
EA: I cannot believe this... You just don't stop, do you? So just because I've shared the personal information with you all that I happen to be bipolar, I can't get pissed off at all of you being perfectly awful in the very space that I pay fuckloads a month to have up (has it ever occurred to you all that I pay dearly for this space you play around in?) Why not just tell me that I must be upset because it's my time of the month? Seriously, get the fuck out of my house. You are unbelievable, and your level of patronization is almost criminal. Don't make me write another book. With muffins like you, who needs enemies? Nothing I say or feel is legitimate, not ever ever ever because I'm bipolar... discredited before I begin... unbelievable......FantineDormouse got permabanned.
Jaws dropped. After days of infighting between white knights, detractors, and crossfire negotiators, several mod resignations, and general mayhem surrounding the ban, EA made a post entitled “In Which: I Invite You to Make a Fucking Choice.” 📝 For brevity's sake (cue laugh track), I can't reproduce it in all of its righteous splendor, but it's quite a read. It runs the gamut from fair and articulate points about how mental illness shouldn't be used to discredit someone's legitimate anger... to histrionic commands that “deserters to the cause” should “turn in their weapons” if they can't handle her way of doing things.
To those of you who appear not to understand why said posts, most especially those of the banned party, were offensive to me, I give you the option to either educate yourselves on your own time and in your own space (because please never forget that this is my space that I share with all of you at my own expense, and in which I generally give you all the freedom I would wish for myself), or to resign your posts in the Asylum Army – this is not the place for you, and I humbly suggest that you turn your attention and support towards other artists of a more placid, non-controversial, and less opinionated nature; there are more than enough of them out there, and I’m sure they all have forums of their own.Some fans did leave. Most stuck around, whiplashed. Soon, the storm quieted down, and business as usual resumed on the forum. But something had been damaged beyond repair. The FantineDormouse fiasco had erected walls and drawn lines in the sand, both around EA and among her fans; its sad specter would haunt every Asylum crisis that spiked up forever after. “Fucking Patronizing Fucking” or “FPF” 🔍 became memetic shorthand in the fandom for overreaction and self-righteousness. 🐀
...And now you understand why, in the following years, some fans were so delicate and diplomatic in voicing their very legitimate complaints about messed-up orders, unsigned books, and puzzling lies... while unofficial platforms like Tumblr flourished with pent-up resentment and snark. 🦠
A NOTE ON HARASSMENT: “MAD GIRL, CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU?”
Wouldn't they stop When you asked them to leave you alone? (“Mad Girl”, 2008 🎵)Now, let's be clear, because it should not be minimized: EA has also been the target of genuine online harassment. Based on the simple fact that she is a woman with a public presence on the internet, I have zero doubt that EA has received (and perhaps continues to receive) more than her share of truly vile, bigoted, creepy and threatening messages – and, knowing what I know about the darker recesses of the Asylum, a terrifying amount of emotional blackmail and obsessive projection from people who hold her to punitively high standards. I'm also inclined to believe that it started way before she ever did anything that warranted any backlash. And that fucking sucks. It's repulsive and inexcusable, and the people who harass her should crawl into a hole and live among the worms.
Notwithstanding. In my decade-plus of following EA drama, the public comments on EA's own platforms (where people knew she was likely to be reading) have been, for the most part... civil and nuanced, and relatively mindful of the human? Even very confrontational comments (some clearly written from a place of anger and desire to shame) rarely resorted to outright name-calling or cruelty. When abusive or bigoted language did crop up, it was often promptly shut down by other fans as gross and uncalled for. In short: I have, with mine own two eyes, in real time, read some of the comment sections that EA described as cesspools of blind rage and odious attacks, and... I just couldn't see it.
If anything, for a long time, a lot of the angry comments directed at EA during any given controversy read more like break-up letters to an ex-best friend: harsh, curt and targeted in a way that cuts deep.... but also kind of screams how much love you still have for this person, against your better judgement.
Not that it wouldn't mess a person up to get hundred of those in a matter of hours, even if they don't individually qualify as “abusive”.
It's worth noting that prior to becoming semi-famous and regretting it, EA was also (by her own account and among other forms of abuse) a victim of intense childhood bullying. It feels like the two situations are closely connected in her mind when her focus seamlessly transitions from one to the other. 📺 I don't think that tremor in her voice is put on.
Based on her writings, I get the feeling that over the years, EA has developed a very black-and-white view of two monolithic groups of people. There's (an idealized vision of) her “real audience”, well-dressed, well-read, kind-hearted, and Asylum-savvy, who she fully trusts to “get it” – and buy it, and love it, unquestioningly, whatever “it” may be at any given time – because that is the true measure of love and loyalty. These are the people she makes art and merch for, the people she writes heart-emoji-filled newsletters to, and desperately longs to see in person again.
And then there's the lynch mob, those who really don't “get it”: the trolls, the faceless creeps, the basement-dwelling mouthbreathers, the ones who stalk her every move obsessively, waiting for any chance to spam her with vicious abuse and slander and obscenities. The latter only exist online (they are manifested into arbitrary existence by the internet itself, not by anything EA said or did), and there is zero overlap between the two sets of people. That seems to be the official narrative.
The "public eye" isn't an [enviable] place to be, and the closer I've come to it, the more horrified I've been. Because, for starters, who is "the public?" Is "the public" my audience? Hell no. My audience is special. They are not the general public. If they were the general public I would be a lot wealthier. The "public eye" means getting stalked, harassed, viscously judged, and put in danger. If I do things in the future that gain notoriety, I will do them in spite of fame, not because of it. I am out for world domination, but not fame. (Interview for The Moaning Times, 2014 📝)In real life (well, mostly online, but I mean: on this shared plane of existence), things play out slightly differently. The Venn diagram of “true blue fans” and “people who criticize EA" and "people who know way too much about EA” is a circle. The call is 100% coming from inside the Asylum, and I think EA rationally knows that. But here's the thing: no matter how many shows and meet-and-greets you've dressed up for, how many loving and supportive comments you've left, or how many family heirlooms you once pawned to purchase a copy of the not-for-sale 2003 DJ pressing of Enchant... the instant EA feels attacked, everyone is a saboteur and a bully until proven otherwise, and suspected treason is dealt with on the spot. One strike, you're out. Unfortunately for everyone involved, her threshold for bullying seems to be “any remotely thoughtless opinion from any stranger on the internet”.
It makes for outstanding human-interest entertainment... but it also sounds an awful lot like the unhealthy patterns of a person suffering from all sorts of PTSD. 🔍 So, please bear that in mind as you read through this write-up. It's easy to make EA out to be the sole villain, a paranoid and delusional drama queen, based on her extreme reactions to things that often “weren't that bad”. Anything can, in fact, be “that bad” when you're thrown back into the very worst moments of your existence every time your brain decides that the situation is even remotely similar.
PTSD takes over your rational mind and actively distorts your perception of reality. That can be how a person ends up impulse-reacting to “a few people expressing an unfavorable opinion” as if the entire internet had just ganged up on them with knives. Which makes their audience feel unjustly accused, which makes them hostile, which gives the person actual good reason to feel attacked... and so the cycle of hurt continues.
You know the games I play And the words I say When I want my own way You know the lies I tell When you've gone through hell And I say I can't stay You know how hard it can be To keep believing in me When everything and everyone Becomes my enemy, and when There's nothing more you can do I'm gonna blame it on you – It's not the way I wanna be I only hope that in the end You will see: It's the Opheliac in me... (“Opheliac”, 2006 🎵)And YES, it is extremely regrettable to have this as a trigger, when you're a public figure and you're bound to receive more negative feedback than the average citizen. “It's what she signed up for”, “it comes with the territory” and all that jazz. I really don't think EA was unaware of that fact when she decided to become a musician, share her personal life, and form an intense parasocial bond with her audience. But maybe she underestimated how hard it would be to process and recover from.
Just because you expect something unpleasant to happen, doesn't mean your psyche will be ready to handle it when it does – or that you'll pick the best and most effective strategy to deal with it.
A MADHOUSE UNDER MARTIAL LAW: MARCHING INTO THE FORUM WARS
There are two sides to every story... except for this one! (“If I Burn”, 2012 🎵)You may have noted the military imagery in EA's “Make a Fucking Choice” response post – “resign your post in the Asylum Army”! What do psychiatry and the military have in common? They're both institutions of top-down social control. 🔍 EA's mixed metaphor may be a bit clunky, but it did foreshadow the evolution of the Asylum – in terms of aesthetics and power dynamics – in the years that followed the FantineDormouse incident and the release of The Book.
EA's next big release after the Asylum book came in 2012. It was a new album, an outline of the soon-to-be Asylum musical, called Fight Like a Girl (FLAG for short). As the name suggests, the main mood was bellicose. Incidentally, in the interim years, EA's communication style generally became noticeably more combative, incendiary, and (within her own spaces) controlling.📝 You remember those quirky word filters on the forum, that would change “fan” to “muffin” and “bra” to “teacup holder”? They kind of took on a Nineteen-Eighty-Four-burlesque flavor when you realized that one filter automatically changed “Fischkopf” to “Liddell” - and that circumventing the rule to address her totally real last name would get you banned, as would any discussion of her family. (“Wikipedia, random internet sites and heresay are not credible sources.” - Mod reminder of forum rules, 2010.)
Also, you try sustaining a serious, grown-up conversation among concerned fans about how Emilie Autumn should “take ratsponsibility for her mistakes out of ratspect for her muffins”. Thus, the official Asylum forum kept a tight grip on overt criticism of EA's claims and actions.
The Emilie Autumn forum is a dystopian hell. Truth be told, when I decided to leave you could not do anything but gush about Emilie. Otherwise all of her extremist arse kissing fans will be down your throat, ripping you apart in seconds, if you so much as questioned her behaviour. So much for freedom of opinion, let alone the idea of creating a harmonious community for ‘outcasts’. Hahaha. (2014 🐀)The word filter thing really wasn't a big deal – I'm just pointing it out as one goofy expression of EA's need to control the narrative and rhetoric, which became especially noticeable in those post-book, pre-FLAG years. By that point, EA's fuse had been shortened by near on half a decade of non-stop touring / recording / writing / promoting / adjusting to the pressure and demands of an ever-growing fanbase, while also dealing with a horrorshow of personal turmoil and health issues behind the scenes. In other words: she was done taking any shit, in any form, or humoring anyone's ridiculous feedback regarding anything.
To be fair, it was never her forte to begin with. Will it come as a shock if I tell you that EA doesn't have the greatest track record for successful collaborative work? Let's do a quick-cut montage!
EA's very first corporate sponsor was her mother's “Enchant Clothing & Costume” online store 🔍; she went on to claim that her mother was dead. She sessioned for Billy Corgan, that went super well. 🎵 She liked Courtney Love for a minute, but that didn't work out because she felt that Courtney only valued her for her pee. 📝 (It probably didn't help that in early 2006, while EA was recording her post-break-up-tell-all album about Corgan, C-Love was recording her post-rehab-redemption album with Corgan. 🔍 Either way, EA didn't seem to like Courtney anymore after that. Courtney likes her, though! 📝) The one artist EA has ever approached for a duet (and by approached, I mean she recorded a demo and threw the CD on stage when he played Chicago in 2004) was, of all people, Morrissey. That never came to pass, thank mercy 🔍 – this fandom has suffered enough. In 2005, EA recorded some haunting vocals and violins for a potential collab with the frontman of Attrition. When, three years later, they were used on one track 🎵 of Attrition's All Mine Enemies Whisper, she alleged 📝 that the recordings had been obtained from her under the false pretense of a different project, then hideously altered to sound “out of tune”, and used without her permission. She enlisted her fans to boycott the album and the band, and threatened legal action. Meanwhile, on LiveJournal and Attrition's message boards, band associates were appalled: according to them, EA had been aware of the project's nature from the start... and had been completely unreachable, even through her label, during the months of its development. (Besides, Attrition is a semi-obscure English darkwave band from the 80s, whose micro-distributed albums don't even have their own Wikipedia pages... so I wonder what EA was hoping to get out of that theoretical lawsuit. These people own nothing but vintage gain pedals!) The song “Cold Hard Cash” 🎤 by Angelspit (who contributed a remix to one of her EPs in 2008) may or may not be an EA diss track. 🐀 Back when indie jewelry brand RockLove (which now has licensing deals with Disney, Marvel, and DC) was still someone's bedroom project, their first drop was an EA-inspired collection 🔍, which appears in many early Opheliac photoshoots. The partnership was terminated on bad terms, for unclear reasons; the RockLove owner shared in a statement that EA had “drunk the cool-aid” of Trisol Guy's shady business practices, and that the two of them had been spamming her with “crazed angry message[s]” for days.
Why am I talking about this? Because it was precisely one such ill-fated business partnership that triggered the Great Asylum Secession.
One fine day of spring 2010, the owner of vegan make-up brand Aromaleigh popped onto the Asylum forum to announce that they were cutting ties with EA, with damning receipts of copy-pasted emails (lost to time). Basically, the brand had been sponsoring her for half a decade, and while Aromaleigh had been actively promoting her music and tours, EA hadn't exactly been returning the favor. (Indeed, the extent of EA's sponcon seemed to have been a banner link to their website on her front page, and a single “random drunken endorsement” LiveJournal post that kind of reads like satire📝, from 2005.)
EA responded by banning the owner's account, deleting the thread, and posting this flippant statement a few days later:
Dearest Plague Rats, To be honest, I have no idea of what the hell happened with Aromaleigh, and I don't care to find out – the whole drama is a complete mystery to me, as I've been away for months touring and have not been in contact with anyone. All I know is that I've been promoting the company for ages and have not asked them for anything in years. (...) Please focus on more interesting things. I am. (“Save the Drama...” forum post, March 2010)Posts questioning her good faith in the conflict were deleted from the forum. Shortly thereafter, citing how prolific and labor-intensive the Asylum forum had grown, EA shut down all non-EA related subforums – which, among many other topics, included a pretty active thread about Aromaleigh products.
So one Plague Rat decided to create a separate, members-only forum 📝, where users could recreate some of the now-defunct off-topic threads... and also freely voice their critical opinions of EA's behavior without fear of backlash from mods or rabid stans. Thus, “The Reform” was born. (Reform [n]: amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved.)
For a few weeks, the two-state solution seemed to work fine. And then word spread among forum mods and other diehard fans that there was this horrid other forum, where obsessive haters gathered to spew disgusting lies and vitriol about EA... and soon enough, it was bedlam in the Asylum.
Any explicit mention of the Reform was forbidden on the Asylum forum. Suspicion of participation in the Reform would get you banned. The party line was that The Reform was the enemy 🐀 – even though a number of people were active on both forums, because they liked freedom of expression almost as much as they liked EA. Double agents would lurk on the forum and report back with snark material; sycophants would infiltrate the Reform to identify traitors – much to the amusement of the “haters”, who mocked them and their ilk for “licking EA's pink sparkly boots”. There was no containing the seething, or the sass, among Asylum ranks.
Pretty soon, the insubordination spread to Tumblr. There was the “Ask the Reform” Q&A blog, where questioning fans could interact with “Rebel Rats”, get more details on past drama, and make up their own minds about the people EA called bullies.
And then, there were the “confession blogs”, which published anonymous submissions about EA, positive, negative or neutral, with little censorship. Finally, you didn't even have to pick a throw-away username on a private forum to voice your hottest / strangest / most controversial EA takes. Fans could vent, rant, lament, wonder, shitpost to their heart's content, anonymously. Obviously, given the context of frustration and censorship in the fandom, a lot of the first waves of confessions were EXTREMELY negative.
EA's acolyte Veronica managed to get the first one shut down. If memory serves, she misunderstood the confession blog format, and may have believed that all the posts on “Emilie Autumn Confessions” came from one or a small group of individuals. She was genuinely devastated, and wrote the blog admin to let them know that they were a terrible person who said terrible things. The admin was mortified, apologized profusely and deleted the blog of their own initiative. (Which goes to show that the concept did not come from cruel and malicious anti-fans, as detractors often claimed.)
But a new blog sprung up almost immediately, with a different mod team, and did not surrender. And much like in EA's own book, once the Plague Rats found out that they possessed the gift of speech... well, they really took to it.
Established in 2011 and passed on through generation after generation of mod teams to the present day, Wayward Victorian Confessions would turn out to be the longest-lived institution in the EA fandom. For over a decade now, through all the bleakest nights and dankest debacles of the Asylum, and despite its initial reputation as a troll den, WVC has acted as a kind of neutral ground and vox populi for the active fanbase and anti-fanbase. (The last nominally-active EA fansite to date, She Fights Like a Girl, is actually an offshoot of WVC: one of the old admins created it as a database to answer “frequently asked questions” about EA.)
Wayward Victorian Confessions has now outlived every other EA platform, official and unofficial. Were it not for the continued existence of the “troll den”, what little fan community survives in 2024 would be non-existent, plain and simple. To quote from late 20th century Canadian philosophy: isn't it ironic?
I feel like [WVC] is the only place I feel any of that old Asylum community kind of feeling I felt before EA got so focused on the book. It sucks that it’s so full of unhappiness, and I wish she hadn’t poisoned the sanctuary she claimed to have built. It’s just kind of fallen apart, like a crumbling building. (🐀 2016)
CONTINUED IN COMMENTS
2024.05.10 19:45 ChaChaMantaRay Having Fun
My review after listening through. I’m a musician and home studio hobbyist so I love to hone in on production. Been listening to KOL since I 2011 when I was 14. I learned how to write cool shit by listening to Kings of Leon and Caleb’s voice was a huge influence. Here we go.
Ballerina Radio-Awesome word painting throughout. “I’m a masochist I know”. Damn, you didn’t have to do me like that on the 1st track..
Rainbow Ball- Took me a close listen through headphones to start vibing with this one. There’s some really cool stereo guitar and synth interplay bouncing (a little too subtly for my taste) in the background.
Nowhere To Run- I think this is the “catchiest” KOL song. It’s hard to explain. Sex on Fire and Use Somebody are popular but they aren’t catchy to me if that makes sense. There’s like 4 hook lines going on simultaneously during the chorus alone. The verses are chill and vibey, the chorus slaps ass, and there a beautiful bridge section. I semi unironically hope this catches on TikTok.
Mustang- Bass baby. Heard this for awhile as I’m sure most of y’all have. Quirky ol’ AHA-ish lyrics for 2024 abound. Was a good choice for 1st single.
Actual Daydream- Minor key KOL is awesome. This song is pretty and sexy and badass all in one. Backing vocals are dope and mixed well. I do kinda wish the outro stretched out a bit more.
Split Screen- Didn’t love this single at first but as many said fits awesome in sequence. It’s slowly grown on me the past month. The verse starting back without the bass was a cool trick. Just a really lush epic track.
Don’t Stop The Bleeding- I think it’s rad.
Nothing To Do- The guitar sound is awesome and I love the “Charmer” adjacent vocal. Does punk rock much better than Don’t Matter imo.
M Television- The most confusing track for me. I like it and it probably just needs a few more listens. I really like the electric drums sound in the 2nd chorus on. It reminds me of The Bandit a lot.. like a lot. There’s just 3x the amount of stuff going on so it’s a lot to unpack. Ending feels kinda abrupt.
Hesitation Gen- Not feeling this one. That wailing guitar is just too much. Everything sounds muddy except the vocals and the lead guitar to me.
Ease Me On- Loving the tropical vibes. Reminds me of The Eagles and definitely “Tennessee Whiskey” haha. The harmonized guitar with the outro refrain is cool but maybe a bit loud?
Seen- Ooooh Weeee. KOL did a through composed Dark Dreampop song. And it is amazing. ELECTRICAL UNDERWORLD. The vocals and synths mix sooo well here. This is an amazing end to an amazing album that deserves the headphones listen.
submitted by ChaChaMantaRay to kingsofleon [link] [comments]
Ballerina Radio-Awesome word painting throughout. “I’m a masochist I know”. Damn, you didn’t have to do me like that on the 1st track..
Rainbow Ball- Took me a close listen through headphones to start vibing with this one. There’s some really cool stereo guitar and synth interplay bouncing (a little too subtly for my taste) in the background.
Nowhere To Run- I think this is the “catchiest” KOL song. It’s hard to explain. Sex on Fire and Use Somebody are popular but they aren’t catchy to me if that makes sense. There’s like 4 hook lines going on simultaneously during the chorus alone. The verses are chill and vibey, the chorus slaps ass, and there a beautiful bridge section. I semi unironically hope this catches on TikTok.
Mustang- Bass baby. Heard this for awhile as I’m sure most of y’all have. Quirky ol’ AHA-ish lyrics for 2024 abound. Was a good choice for 1st single.
Actual Daydream- Minor key KOL is awesome. This song is pretty and sexy and badass all in one. Backing vocals are dope and mixed well. I do kinda wish the outro stretched out a bit more.
Split Screen- Didn’t love this single at first but as many said fits awesome in sequence. It’s slowly grown on me the past month. The verse starting back without the bass was a cool trick. Just a really lush epic track.
Don’t Stop The Bleeding- I think it’s rad.
Nothing To Do- The guitar sound is awesome and I love the “Charmer” adjacent vocal. Does punk rock much better than Don’t Matter imo.
M Television- The most confusing track for me. I like it and it probably just needs a few more listens. I really like the electric drums sound in the 2nd chorus on. It reminds me of The Bandit a lot.. like a lot. There’s just 3x the amount of stuff going on so it’s a lot to unpack. Ending feels kinda abrupt.
Hesitation Gen- Not feeling this one. That wailing guitar is just too much. Everything sounds muddy except the vocals and the lead guitar to me.
Ease Me On- Loving the tropical vibes. Reminds me of The Eagles and definitely “Tennessee Whiskey” haha. The harmonized guitar with the outro refrain is cool but maybe a bit loud?
Seen- Ooooh Weeee. KOL did a through composed Dark Dreampop song. And it is amazing. ELECTRICAL UNDERWORLD. The vocals and synths mix sooo well here. This is an amazing end to an amazing album that deserves the headphones listen.
2024.05.10 16:22 Altruistic_Cream5407 Future of San Marino
 | submitted by Altruistic_Cream5407 to TheOldZealand [link] [comments] |
2024.05.10 11:24 JG98 Today I want to highlight Jaswant Singh Khalra, the prominent human rights activist from Panjab.
 | Jaswant Singh Khalra (November 2 1952 - September 6 1995) was a prominent human rights activist who shone a light on the dark period of violence in Charda Panjab. He is remembered for his bravery in uncovering illegal killings and cremations by the state police during the militancy period. submitted by JG98 to punjab [link] [comments] Born in Amritsar, Khalra came from a family with a history of activism. His grandfather, Harnam Singh, participated in the Ghadar movement, advocating for India's independence. In 1914, Harnam Singh was even among the passengers on the famous Komagata Maru ship, denied entry to Canada and forced to return to India, where he faced imprisonment for his activism. The events of 1984 Sikh genocide, and the subsequent police state, marked a turning point for Jaswant Singh Khalra. Witnessing the violence and the broad powers given to Police during the counter-insurgency period, Khalra became determined to fight for justice. He embarked on a mission to document human rights abuses, meticulously investigating disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the chilling practice of secret cremations employed by the police. His research extended beyond civilian deaths; he even documented the alleged killings of around 2,000 police officers who refused to participate in these acts. Khalra's relentless pursuit of the truth led him to investigate specific cases that exemplified the human rights violations taking place. One such case involved the death of a man named Behla in police custody, highlighting the dangers of custodial killings. Another case exposed the use of civilians as human shields by security forces, resulting in the deaths of innocent people. Perhaps most disturbing was Khalra's discovery of a horrifying pattern - state Police cremating a staggering number of unidentified bodies. His research in Amritsar alone suggested over 2,000 such cases, raising serious questions about the legitimacy of these deaths and the lack of proper investigations. Khalra's most explosive finding, however, may have been the alleged killings of around 2,000 police officers who refused to participate in these human rights abuses. This documented internal conflict within the police force painted a grim picture of the situation in Panjab. Khalra's pursuit of the truth wasn't limited to individual cases. While searching for missing colleagues, he made a chilling discovery in municipal corporation records in Amritsar. These records contained the names, ages, and addresses of those killed and cremated by the police, revealing a much larger scale of human rights violations. Further investigation across Panjab unearthed thousands more cases. The horrific truth that Khalra uncovered was corroborated by official sources. The National Human Rights Commission released a list of identified bodies cremated by police in Amritsar, Majitha, and Tarn Taran districts. The Supreme Court of India and the National Human Rights Commission validated this data. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also independently investigated and concluded that police had illegally cremated over 2,000 people in just Tarn Taran district alone. These findings strengthened the credibility of Khalra's broader claims about the human rights violations that had taken place. On September 6, 1995, while washing his car in front of his house, Khalra's fight for justice was tragically cut short. Witnesses reported seeing him abducted by plain clothes Police personnel and taken to Jhabal Police Station. Despite these statements implicating the police, including Director General Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, authorities initially denied any involvement and claimed to have no knowledge of Khalra's whereabouts. However, the fight for truth continued. In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation found evidence that Khalra was held at a police station in Tarn Taran. The CBI recommended prosecution of nine police officials for murder and kidnapping. The wait for justice was long, with charges against the accused coming only ten years later. It's important to note that one of the suspects, Senior Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Sandhu, was himself murdered in 1997, though his death was staged as a suicide. Finally, in 2005, a glimmer of justice emerged. Six police officials were convicted for Khalra's abduction and murder. Two defendants received life sentences, while the others faced seven years imprisonment. The following years saw further legal battles. In 2007, the Punjab and Haryana High Court extended the sentences to life imprisonment for four of the remaining accused. The Supreme Court of India upheld these sentences in 2011, dismissing the appeal that was filed. The legacy of Jaswant Singh Khalra has inspired many documentaries and even a feature biopic, 'Punjab 95'. The film starring Diljit Dosanjh as Jaswant Singh Khalra was supposed to premier in 2023 at the Toronto International Film Festival, but it was pulled due to censorship requirements from the Indian film board (21 cuts and a title change from the original working title 'Gallughara'). The film makers have challenged the cuts and hope to release the full uncut biopic in the near future. |
2024.05.10 05:12 appleman33145 Ashton Forbes has Solved the Case of MH370
All Pertinent Evidence
The Videos
Archive Satellite - http://web.archive.org/web/20170606182854/https://youtube.com/watch?v=5Ok1A1fSzxY
https://web.archive.org/web/20140827060121/https://youtube.com/watch?v=ShapuD290K0
Note - We started by trusting all the official data and systematically ruled it out as not factual or itself riddled with inconsistencies.
submitted by appleman33145 to conspiracy [link] [comments]
The Videos
Archive Satellite - http://web.archive.org/web/20170606182854/https://youtube.com/watch?v=5Ok1A1fSzxY
- Oldest version from ‘RegicideAnon’
- Received - March 12th, 2014, Uploaded - May 19th, 2014, Source - Protected
https://web.archive.org/web/20140827060121/https://youtube.com/watch?v=ShapuD290K0
- Oldest version from ‘RegicideAnon’
- Received - June 5th, 2014, Uploaded June 12th, 2014
- 2017 DoD Navy UAP videos that show drone FLIR
- 2019 Trump Satellite image from USA-224 (2011)
- Advanced theoretical physics concepts (ER = EPR, macroscopic quantum coherence, bose-einstein condensate)
- LK-99 and emergence of room-temperature superconductivity
- AI, ChatGPT in common use and Quantum Computers
- Videos proven to date back to 2014 from archives and people who saw them
- Satellite perspective changes 8 times with coordinates visible in 6
- Satellite coordinate shifts prove the location is in the Nicobar Islands
- General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle or MQ-9 (same chassis)
- Drone cannot catch the plane, must have intercepted it
- Likely drone deployment locations are Cope Tiger exercises, Car Nicobar or Port Blair
- MQ-1C Thermal using advanced electro-IR camera
- Purpose for SBIRS and SIGINT - tracking boats and planes, electronic signals monitoring, intelligence, and battlefield awareness
- SBIRS Video from Lockheed Martin - SBIRS Mission Overview - Lockheed Martin
- Alternate sources in higher quality exist that point to none of these users being the original source
- Clouds move and evolve dynamically
- Videos show coordinates in them that change but not when the mouse moves
- Videos show satellite designation NROL-22, the first launch for SBIRS system HEO-1
- Mouse moves off the screen in the bottom left and top right, indicating a large field of view
- Viewing custom video software (SBIRS), coordinates only 2 axis, tracking the ground
- 6fps indicative of a high field of view which requires more resources to render
- Plane is making a left hand turn and descending consistent with max capabilities of a 777-200
- Plane's altitude is low based on how close they are to the cumulus cloud (1k-5k feet)
- The MQ-1C is cropped out of the Satellite video, just out of view
- The user closes the window after the plane disappears, indicating this was not recorded in real time
- Googling SIGINT Payload top hit references MQ-1C Gray Eagle
- Regicide defended the veracity of the videos per later uploaded videos
- When the drone video zooms in we can see the clouds change size and clear parallax
- Drone deployed from Car Nicobar or Port Blair, direction of travel consistent with angle of camera view
- Raytheon AN/DAS-2 Electro-IR camera with rainbow palette
- Night vision cameras such as sionyx nightwave can make nighttime look like daytime
- Drone video starts once the plane gets into view of the right hand side camera
- SBIRS produced satellite video using data from USA-229 (NROL-34)
- NROL-22 released in 2006 is presumed to be a relay satellite due to it's Molniya orbit and clear view of the satellite that took the video
- Smoking Gun : USA-229 at the right location, time, apparent angle, with a sister 'debris' satellite capable of taking the stereoscopic video at ~18:40UTC
- USA-229 Flyover using historical data - USA-229 Flyover MH370 18:40UTC
- Satellite Video Explainer - MH370x Satellite Video Explainer
- Sentient AI is used to operationalize satellites and fuse multi-int for entity resolution, geolocation, and tracking
- Reports that Sentient can track aircraft movement
- Satellite video computer program may be Sentient producing a large battlefield space
- MQ-1C with Aerial Surveillance Loadout
- Original videos may have been leaked to a private forum
- Mouse acceleration explained by (Pluraview 3D mouse) with Stealth or Softmouse 3D controllers
- Screen capture of terminal running at some resolution of 30fps
- Citrix remote terminal running at default of 24fps
- Streaming a remote/virtual desktop at a resolution of 24fps
- Remotely navigating around a very large resolution video playing at 6fps
- Leaker of these videos was likely caught and went to prison
- Leaker was a US Military operator who saw the event in real time and had an emotional reaction
- Unclaimed $150,000 bounty for hoaxer & proof of source/draft work (expired)
- Between 4 and 72 days to create (March 12 or May 19)
- No reference to copy from
- How to create realistic volumetric clouds
- How clouds form at a low altitude (cumulus clouds)
- How to accurately light 3D volumetric clouds (‘zap’ accurately illuminates clouds in the foreground and background)
- Recreate what MH370 looked like exactly
- What the turn radius of a Boeing 777 is at a certain altitude and in descent
- Know the location of the turn into the south indian ocean 9+ days before raw telemetry data was made public, as indicated by coordinates in the video and Kate Tee’s sighting
- Accurate coordinate shifts relative to the location
- How to animate the coordinates shifts
- That the military are using the Citrix environment
- Frame rate difference of the mouse created by capturing sat footage on a Citrix remote terminal
- How/why to make the satellite video look like a cropped screen recording
- What the weather was like in the Nicobar islands
- Aware of the fire scenario (smoke coming out the back, too low for contrails)
- How to accurately create the smoke trailing the plane using particles in two videos
- How to anime the heat signature in the belly of the plane that morphs realistically
- Accurate camera shake on the drone and increased shake when zooming in
- Knowledge of military classified systems unknown to the public
- What satellites the US have in operation and what their payload is NOSS USA-229
- What false color IR looks like
- How to animate orbs including the heat signature that rotates on the axis
- How to create a particle system for the orb forward facing geodesic engine
- How to animate the final frames where the orbs flatten and plane blurs
- What a MQ-1C drone looks like
- Accurate delay in tracking the plane manually from the operator
- What the MQ-1C drone payload is
- Where that payload is located to get the exact camera angle
- How to accurately animate cameras
- Better VFX skills than the lead VFX artist for Top Gun Maverick
- Marvel VFX Expert says it would take at least 4-6 months with today’s technology
- Better understanding of physics than most PhDs
- Understanding of zero point scalar interferometry and mixed wave interferometry
- Understanding of topological monopoles before the science was publicly published
- How not to use low quality, 90s video game 2D VFX in a 3D environment
- How to turn a 2D cloud picture into a fully 3D rendered environment
- That we would never find a plane even 10+ years later
Note - We started by trusting all the official data and systematically ruled it out as not factual or itself riddled with inconsistencies.
- MH370x Flightpath Video - MH370 Flightpath
- MH370x Flightpath Explainer Video - MH370x Flightpath Explainer
- Lost trust in the WSPR data and Inmarsat pings after 18:40UTC
- Satellite pings switch to IOR at 15:59UTC and never change back to POR despite the plane flying East towards it
- Going east until 17:21 UTC the plane should have pinged POR but doesn't
- Pilot says goodnight MH370 at 17:19UTC
- At UTC 17:21 MH370 disappears from all civilian radar due to both ADS-B and ACARS being shut off
- 17:30UTC last radar contact according to transport minister
- Radar says the plane makes impossible altitude changes from 5000ft to 55,000ft
- Radar data not released for weeks and sent to Americans within five days
- “The armed forces knew much earlier that the aircraft could have turned back. That is why the search was expanded to include the Strait of Malacca within a day or two”
- “But the military did not confirm this until much later due to resistance from senior officers, and the government needed to step in. We wasted our time in the South China Sea.”
- Defense Minister claims they knew it was a civilian airliner but didn’t know it was MH370
- Defense minister claims they knew its civilian and not hostile without identification
- Plane changes directions and heads to Penang, airport, the closest airport that can accommodate a 777 in an emergency
- Wired article argues this would be the correct decision in an electrical fire
- When the plane gets over Penang, the co-pilot's cell phone pings
- Last Malaysian military radar is between 18:15 and 18:22 UTC, ~200 miles West by Northwest of Penang
- Reports the next day had loss of contact at 18:40UTC
- Anomalous ping data at 18:40UTC and subsequent limited data (ten rows) for the time between 19:41UTC and 23:15UTC
- No debris field found
- ‘Experts’ say plane crashed at 15,000ft per minute, would have exploded into thousand pieces
- Most expensive search in history didn’t find a single piece of the plane above or below water
- No Black Boxes will ever be found despite being able to produce a signal for up to 30 days at depths of 20,000ft
- Black Boxes would prove the conspiracy
- None of the four redundant ELT beacons activated on crash
- SOSUS would have heard it like the Titan sub where the Navy said nothing for 5 days while oxygen countdowns were on TV
- Western Australia and Diego Garcia hydrophones had no acoustic detections
- Thailand, India, Indonesia and JORN (Australia) radar systems would have seen the plane
- Diego Garcia, Coco Islands, and Pine Gap military bases should have tracked it
- Active shipping route
- No witnesses despite supposedly crashing in the morning
- Official flightpath has it running out of gas, there's nowhere else for it to go
- Official search searched everywhere along the final ping arc and along the flightpath, South Indian Ocean, Malacca Straits, and Andaman Sea
- 19 families of victims signed statement saying they could call the victims phones for up to four days
- 1 person proved they could call the passenger on live TV
- Some social media sites have shown missing passengers as still being 'online'
2024.05.10 04:16 hguz1987 Seniority swap
Hello people! I’m a locomotive engineer from the NorCal SU interested in swapping seniority with anyone in the AZ hub. I have a 2011 seniority date as a CON/BR1/SW1 and a 2015 date as an engineer. Check out rosters CON 220490 and ENG 220201. If interested or if you know someone that might be interested please message me I have plenty of info I can share with you. Thanks for reading!
submitted by hguz1987 to UnionPacific [link] [comments]
2024.05.09 21:50 RedditVaccineInjury "What The News Isn't Saying About Vaccine-Autism Studies"
Full article here:
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
submitted by RedditVaccineInjury to conspiracy_commons [link] [comments]
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
2024.05.09 21:50 RedditVaccineInjury "What The News Isn't Saying About Vaccine-Autism Studies"
Full article here:
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
submitted by RedditVaccineInjury to conspiracy [link] [comments]
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
2024.05.09 20:55 RedditVaccineInjury "What The News Isn't Saying About Vaccine-Autism Link"
Full article here:
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
submitted by RedditVaccineInjury to DebateVaccines [link] [comments]
https://sharylattkisson.com/2016/11/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/
A Small Sampling
Many of the studies have common themes regarding a subset of susceptible children with immunity issues who, when faced with various vaccine challenges, end up with brain damage described as autism.
“Permanent brain damage” is an acknowledged, rare side effect of vaccines; there’s no dispute in that arena. The question is whether the specific form of autism brain injury after vaccination is in any way related to vaccination.
So what are a few of these published studies supporting a possible link between vaccines and autism?
As far back as 1998, a serology study by the College of Pharmacy at University of Michigan supported the hypothesis that an autoimmune response from the live measles virus in MMR vaccine “may play a causal role in autism.” (Nothing to see here, say the critics, that study is old.)
In 2002, a Utah State University study found that “an inappropriate antibody response to MMR [vaccine], specifically the measles component thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.” (“Flawed and non-replicable,” insist the propagandists.)
Also in 2002, the Autism Research Institute in San Diego looked at a combination of vaccine factors. Scientists found the mercury preservative thimerosal used in some vaccines (such as flu shots) could depress a baby’s immunity. That could make him susceptible to chronic measles infection of the gut when he gets MMR vaccine, which contains live measles virus. (The bloggers say it’s an old study, and that other studies contradict it.)
In 2006, a team of microbiologists in Cairo, Egypt concluded, “deficient immune response to measles, mumps and rubella vaccine antigens might be associated with autism, as a leading cause or a resulting event.”
A 2007 study found statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys who got the triple series Hepatitis B vaccine when it contained thimerosal were “more susceptible to developmental disability” than unvaccinated boys.
Similarly, a 5-year study of 79,000 children by the same institution found boys given Hepatitis B vaccine at birth had a three times increased risk for autism than boys vaccinated later or not at all. Nonwhite boys were at greatest risk. (“Weak study,” say the critics.)
A 2009 study in The Journal of Child Neurology found a major flaw in a widely-cited study that claimed no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. Their analysis found that “the original p value was in error and that a significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.”
[quote]The researchers noted, “Like the link between aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health implications. If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating that no link occurs.”[/quote] (Critics: the study is not to be believed.)
A 2010 rat study by the Polish Academy of Sciences suggested “likely involvement” of thimerosal in vaccines (such as flu shots) “in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.” (The critics dismiss rat studies.)
In 2010, a pilot study in Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis found that infant monkeys given the 1990’s recommended pediatric vaccine regimen showed important brain changes warranting “additional research into the potential impact of an interaction between the MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines on brain structure and function.”
A study from Japan’s Kinki University in 2010 supported “the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”
A 2011 study from Australia’s Swinburne University supported the hypothesis that sensitivity to mercury, such as thimerosal in flu shots, may be a genetic risk factor for autism. (Critics call the study “strange” with “logical hurdles.”)
A Journal of Immunotoxicology review in 2011 by a former pharmaceutical company senior scientist concluded autism could result from more than one cause including encephalitis (brain damage) following vaccination. (Critics say she reviewed “debunked and fringe” science.)
In 2011, City University of New York correlated autism prevalence with increased childhood vaccine uptake. “Although mercury has been removed from many vaccines, other culprits may link vaccines to autism,” said the study’s lead author. (To critics, it’s “junk science.”)
A University of British Columbia study in 2011 that found “the correlation between Aluminum [an adjuvant] in vaccines and [autism] may be causal.” (More “junk science,” say the propagandists.)
A 2011 rat study out of Warsaw, Poland found thimerosal in vaccines given at a young age could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. (Proves nothing, say critics.)
A Chinese study in 2012 suggested that febrile seizures (an acknowledged side effect of some vaccines) and family history of neuropsychiatric disorders correlate with autistic regression.
A 2012 study from the Neurochemistry Research Marie Curie Chairs Program in Poland found that newborn exposure to vaccines with thimerosal (such as flu shots) might cause glutamate-related brain injuries.
In 2013, neurosurgeons at the Methodist Neurological Institute found that children with mild mitochondrial defect may be highly susceptible to toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal found in vaccines such as flu shots. (“Too small” of a study, say the critics.)
In 2016, Frontiers published a survey of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. The vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD (neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism) than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD.
Then, there’s a 2004 Columbia University study presented at the Institute of Medicine. It found that mice predisposed for genetic autoimmune disorder developed autistic-like behavior after receiving mercury-containing vaccines. (Critics say that’s not proof, and the work was not replicable.)
There’s Dr. William Thompson, the current CDC senior scientist who has come forward with an extraordinary statement to say that he and his agency have engaged in long term efforts to obscure a study’s significant link between vaccines and autism, heightened in African Americans boys. (The CDC says the data changes made were for legitimate reasons.)
There’s the current CDC immunization safety director who acknowledged to me that it’s possible vaccines may rarely trigger autism in children who are biologically or genetically susceptible to vaccine injury.
There’s the case of Hannah Poling, in which the government secretly admitted multiple vaccines given in one day triggered her brain injuries, including autism, then paid a multi-million dollar settlement, and had the case sealed from the prying public eyes under a confidentiality order.
There was the former head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who stoked her peers’ ire by publicly stating that the vaccine-autism link was not a “myth” as so many tried to claim. She disclosed that her colleagues at the Institute of Medicine did not wish to investigate the possible link because they feared the impact it would have on the vaccination program.
There’s former CDC researcher Poul Thorsen, whose studies dispelled a vaccine autism link. He’s now a “most wanted fugitive” after being charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering for allegedly using CDC grants of tax dollars to buy a house and cars for himself.
And there are the former scientists from Merck, maker of the MMR vaccine in question, who have turned into whistleblowers and accuse their company of committing vaccine fraud.
2024.05.09 15:15 MrC_Red Listening to 25 Great Rock Artists and their Albums for the First Time (Part 15)
1. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen (1968) A [3 listens B/A-/A] not really a "Rock" album, but it's one of those albums that constantly caught my eye, plus 60s albums are getting hard to come by. His writing is otherworldly. Fully lived experiences and age with every character in these songs. I would hate to live in his mind, as it seems so damn complex and very overanalytical on every single human interaction. If Bob Dylan is a storyteller, he is a painter; the level of complexity in all of these characters and people are so detailed. Similar to Blood on the Tracks, a lot of the songs are about romance and past relationships, however unlike that album, it isn't as heartbroken and shows a lot of value towards those experiences; even if they're all difficult to move past. Great album and that is enhanced by close, focused deep dives into these lyrics.
2. Yes: i. The Yes Album (1971) A++ [6 listens A+/A++/A+/A+/A++/A++] Close to the Edge is still one of the most Epic-like songs in Rock history, so I was thinking it was going to be pretty hard to top that, and it turns out, they already did lol. CttE is a great song, but the rest of the album is merely ok, whereas Venture is the only weak song. Everything else is MAGNIFICENT!! Move over harmonica, the organ is officially the most underrated instrument now. EVERY climax of each song is immaculate, the guitar and keyboards are always on point, the singing has never been better! Nothing could ever match what CttE is, but they started off with making a more consistent album throughout instead of only in one song. All timer. ii. Fragile (1971) A- [3 listens A-/A-/A-] first time I actually felt like I got Rick Roll'd by an album, as I didn't realize that the song from that meme was from Roundabout lol. The song is great and is even better the longer it develops. However, it does fall apart as the album gets deeper, particularly in the second side. I read on the recording of this album and saw that the individual members worked on separate tracks as they were being rushed and it really shows, as there are very understated and disconnected from everything else next to them. It becomes very noticeable when a song like Roundabout literally kicks off the tracklist and you have to follow it. Now, I can see the path on their way to how CttE is formatted, as it's just 3 "Roundabouts" in a row. Good listen, but very unbalanced.
3. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (1973) A++ [6 listens B/B++/A-/A+/A+/A++] I listened to Eliminator and thought it was kinda meh and someone suggested to listen to this, as this is their "signature sound". Thank God I did, because this is probably my favorite Blues Rock album I've heard so far. The choruses are solid and aren't straying too far from the standard Blues layout, but it's the drumming, guitar licks and the solos that won me. That drum lick on the opening of La Grange is so damn sweet. Hell Raiser's solo is so amazing. The guitar riff on Master of Sparks is so catchy. The guitar & bass interplay on Shiek and Precious and Grace are amazing. Honestly, even though the song structures aren't that unique, they did the absolute best with what they had. But if I'm being honest, the 3 additional live tracks at the end put it over the edge for me. The energy is palpable.
4. Joni Mitchell: i. Court and Spark (1974) A [3 listens A/A/A] been awhile since I listened to Joni Mitchell's Blue, but I still catch myself randomly humming verses from My Old Man and Carey, so she's managed to find a place to hide out in the corners of my brain. It's a more jovial Mitchell and a forward looking project, instead of her sulking in her life experiences. A "recollection" of memories with her stories, with how scattered the writing flows. My favorite songs are Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Just Like This Train, Raised On Robbery. Nice album, she's starting to flirt with Jazz, but not as risky as what would come after. Also, Twisted needs to be cut from this album tho; such an odd fit. ii. The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) A [3 listens A/A+/A] she's completely single and ready to mingle now with this one; in terms of the music. Playing off the cover art, its sound likes she's taking a stroll through the park, meeting strangers with different instruments and styles, stopping to sit in the grass or dance around with someone and moving on to the next person. This feels more unplanned compared to the others, which helps it create a separate identity from the rest of her work. I do think the songs struggle in the first half, but the second side are much stronger. Shades of Scarlett, Harry's House, The Boho Dance and the title track are my favorites. Also, the music and the combination of instruments on display is way more enthralling than the lyrics and her signature storytelling. It's very good, but there's definitely more complete albums she's made. iii. Hejira (1976) A+ [3 listens B/B++/A+/A+] For some reason, early on this is the album that hit the wall for me, as I i kinda got tired of her not really changing her vocal cadence that much in the first 2 listens. After getting pass that, it's hard not to respect her. I still don't think this album does much too advance her music on a stylistic level, as the previous two have, but fuck, she's so damn great at writing. Furry Sings the Blues, Refuge of the Road, A Strange Boy... just such amazing storytelling in those alone. Also, Song for Sharon is possibly my favorite Joni Mitchell song now; just perfection. Had that slow, casual feel reminiscent of Blue that is rare to come across. I honestly hate albums like this, "growers", as even now, I feel like if I listen to this a few more times, I'd come to admire it more.
5. Iggy Pop: i. The Idiot (1977) A+ [5 listens A-/A/A/A+/A+] I've gone through all of the Stooges albums and now it's time for Iggy Pop's solo material. Both of these were made along side Bowie's Berlin Trilogy and as the producer, his fingerprints are all over it. The desolate guitars ringing, while a very uncommonly low energy Iggy sings over it all. If the first half of Low could be called a trial run for New Wave music, then this album is the trial run for Post Punk. Also, the album art perfectly matches the tone of the album: a blue/black picture in the cold, mysterious darkness of night... with a clueless Iggy just along for the ride lol. This has his signature deadpan style, but none of the Garage Rock energy he's knows for, which imo makes this effort a more respectable leap then he may think. I read he really doesn't "claim" this album, as he sees it as more for a Bowie project, but this album is definitely made better with his inclusion. Yes, the music is the biggest part, but idk if you could just replace Bowie on any of these songs and it'd be instantly better. ii. Lust of Life (1977) B [3 listens B-/B+/B] Wow, the album where he put his "foot down" and went in on making an album that HE wanted, is of course the one I left unimpressed by. Not that it's bad, but it's just a Stooges album with, again, not of that high octane energy. Success and The Passenger are phenomenal songs, but everything else is just your by "the numbers" Rock n Roll standards with an updated Garage spirit than anything as inventive at The Idiot.
6. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978) B+ [2 listens B+/B+] Genuinely can't remember how he got on my list or even remember if anyone even recommended him. But this is considered his "best album" and plus, outside of Elton John, I haven't really explored many Rock that centers around the Piano. It's a fun album, albeit very crude and satirical at times, it managed to balance it out well. Outside the double take lyrics, none of these songs are too special. I like the nice piano jingle of Werewolves of London and the title track is an interesting song. However, the last few songs tanked it. Okay listen; not everybody is an "album artist", as the singles were the best parts.
7. Wire: i. Chairs Missing (1978) A [4 listens B++/A/A/A] Wire! Pink Flag has managed to become an all time favorite since discovering it and honestly wasn't aware that they actually had other albums just as critically praised as it. As a 2nd album, it comes off very odd, but with hindsight of what follows it, it's easy to see that it's just stuck between two worlds: the world of "Proto"-Post Punk and the extended end of the "concept" of Post Punk. None of their music really feels like "Post Punk" as they never seem to conform to any genre sound. Where Pink Flag feels like a group of teens making Punk with a solid background in music, they weren't out to be "experimental" with the music. Here the Hardcore edge is removed, which allows their artistry to become more visible, but they're moving away from this subversion. Mercy, Practice Makes Perfect, I Am the Fly, Marooned, Outdoor Minor are the good ones. It's still very ahead of its time and still ahead of the curb. ii. 154 (1979) A++ [6 listens A-/A+/A++/A++/A++/A++] sometimes you have to let the thing you want go in order to fully accept the possibility that something can be better. I still desire a Pink Flag 2, but I'll be a fool to dismiss how amazing this is. The extremely eeriely brooding and atmospheric environment is pushing the limits of what Post Punk should even be. A song like Other Window creepy as fuck, due to Graham Lewis' increased vocal role, adding SO much to this tone. Touching Display is how every droning guitar should be used; deep, whole notes and if it was made in the 90s, it'll be my favorite Post Rock song outside of Slint. This is Avant-Post Punk essentially; carving out a deep future path for Gothic Rock to eventually go down. Also, SYNCOPATED RHYTHMS!! There are many bands to do it (often Pop bands), but none do it better with a heavy and Punk sound as they do. Also, compared to Pink Flag, there's SO little fat on here; so yes, it's definitely their best album. The ONLY flaw is the ending sequencing of it... Map should've been the closer and it would be PERFECT. / Colin Newman - A-Z (1980) A [4 listens B++/B/A+/A] Colin Newman's solo project and the "unofficial 4th Wire album" as many of the songs were written while the band was together. And it is obvious the time frame when, as it's more of a 154 Part 2 with how very unattached it is to being "Post Punk". However, similar to Chairs Missing, it's an unfocused album with so many great ideas. This is probably where I'd say it's too experimental, as some of these songs are just too intentionally eccentric. To be frank, I think he's trying too hard to be "weird" to match that energy of 154, but the weirdness was from the tone and how desolate the energy was. Whereas here, the energy is completely up and down and the oddness is in the erratic style than it's ambiance. This one probably has more moments and songs that I love more, but this makes Chairs Missing appear more concise lol. Still very good if you're a Wire fan, even if you can still sense that it's not really a true "Wire" project.
8. Siouxsie and the Banshees: i. Kaleidoscope (1980) B+ [3 listens A/A-/B+] with a different lineup this time around, interested to see how they will develop their sound going into the 80s. And it's kinda as I expected: more diverse instruments, more grooves with in the basslines and leaning on the singing to lead the direction. As the songs go on, they (specifically Siouxsie Sioux) lose their energy. Side 2 has all the best songs, while the first is lacking. Solid listen, but feels they overdid it when they should've kept it simple like on Scream. I respect the attempt and was probably a needed change due to how fast Post Punk was developing, but it could've been done more succinctly. ii. Juju (1981) A+ [2 listens A/A+] Well shit, it's like they already knew my criticisms lol. Finally dynamic songs! Partially why Bauhaus has become my favorite Post Punk/Gothic band, is that the song's layout and rhythms changes throughout a single song and doesn't remain static. Sioux is an all timer in presence, but not so much with singing imo, so she's used so much better as she's highlighted spottingly, particularly in crescendoing over the music. Also, this is heavy as hell; Monitor sounds like a SOAD track... Damn! Honestly, I thought this was going to be a repeat of Kaleidoscope, but man did they knock it out of the park. Fine tuned what they did and allowed themselves to amplify it without losing their identity completely.
9. Bathory: i. Self-Titled (1984) B++ [3 listens B++/B++/B++] the first "official" Black Metal album or EP given its length. Not only are the song structures primitive, but the mixing is as well. I think it works for what it is; something completely new. Even they didn't know what they were doing and it feels that way. The bassline is what seals the deal, as it keeps things very grounded. And the guitar is... well, it lays down the foundation of what Black Metal will become; for better or for worse. The production is really holding this back; it's very poorly mixed. The frayed sound of the guitars looses a lot of edge, which admittedly does make it an easier listen, but so much of its power is lost. Reaper, Raise the Dead, Necromancy, guitar solo on Sacrifice are the highlights. ii. Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987) A+ [4 listens A+/A/A+/A+] I really love this album. Woman of Dark Desires, Massacre, 13 Candles, Enter the Eternal Fire, with that AWESOME guitar solo in the middle! This is the perfect step up, sound quality included. More songs with distinct identities, loved the pacing throughout and a very "easy" listen (i.e. no overly chaotic guitar solos). That's usually my main critique with most Extreme Metal albums is that songs tend to run into one another and there's very little differences between them all. The riffs are different, the tempo is different and the drumming is changed up on every song. Great album! But similar to all of their other stuff, I just wish it was longer. iii. Blood Fire Death (1988) A [3 listens A/A+/A] Another great album, but it's not a consistent as UtSotBM. I enjoyed the acoustic sections (that would later influence viking metal) which raises it up some points. It was an unexpected skill I didn't think they were capable of. However, this album is one that's trying to be two things: it does one really well and just "sorta" touches on the other one. It would've been great to see a better balance between these terrific Black Metal sections and these Viking Metal acoustic ones, giving equal time to each. I hope they would find a better balance in a future album, but I'm only listening to these 3. All were good listens and held up much better for pioneers of a genre.
10. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (1985) A [4 listens A+/A/A/A] a long awaited listen after seeing so much about this. It doesn't really come off as "Punk" but as legit, Irish/Celtic shanties. The novelty wears off after a few listens though. It's very genuine in its execution and doesn't come off as gimmicky at all. It's very 2 note: uptempo or slow wailing songs. Waltzing Matilda and I'm a Man You Don't Meet Everyday are by far the best songs here, with Dirty Old Town, Wild Cats and Sally MacLennane in that 2nd tier below. Really good and takes itself very serious.
11. Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician (1987) C+ [2 listens B-/C+] speaking of talking itself seriously.... here's the complete opposite. It's very VERY hard to actually get into this as it's just absurdist for absurdism sake as most of it is just so empty. There are a few sparks of musical inspirations that show they are capable of something more serious, but they seem to enjoy being nonsensical over making compelling music. It doesn't necessarily have to be serious satire or just cut and dry (I love Ween), but there has to be a point to this madness or else it just comes off as simply... madness.
12. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988) A+ [2 listens A/A+] Sounds like a "Heavy" Hair Metal band. The story is simply "okay" and that's being nice, as this was way over hyped, that I expected something like a To Pimp a Butterfly of themes and stories intersecting. This is like a Hair Metal version of the Wall. It feels more like a musical than a concept album with a linear story, which loses stream after Breaking the Silence. It is very melodramatic especially in the second half, but it was the 80s... However, it has Spreading the Disease so all of that is a wash; we don't got guys hitting high notes like that anymore, which you gotta admit Hair Metal nailed that with perfection. A++ music but A concept, so right in the middle.
13. Coroner: i. No More Color (1989) A- [3 listens A+/A/A-] first non big 4 Thrash. I don't know how popular they were beyond Europe, but they were pioneers in the Technical Thrash Metal (sometimes called Prog Thrash). The main issue is that all the songs run into one another, without any significant parts to either of them. They set their songs around the guitar solos (which can be unmemorable at best and very messy at worse), which furthers mushes everything together. This is why I tend to value pacing in music, especially in Heavy Metal. There's plenty of good riffs to be found, but you have to sludge your way to find them. ii. Mental Vortex (1991) A+ [2 listens A+/A+] great follow-up. The guitar is still leading every song, but it's not fully taking control over the identity of every one. The drumming and the shifts in the music (similar to Metallica's 80s work) better distinguishes each track, making every phrase more dynamic. It's pretty good, but admittedly the She's So Heavy cover puts it just over to be an A+; better than the original because its fully realized metal and ends 30 seconds sooner :p
14. Swervedriver - Mezcal Head (1993) A++ [4 listens A++/A++/A++/A++] a Grunge album in Shoegaze clothing. The music is very unassuming with its generic 90s vocals, but that's how that Shoegaze sound sneaks up on you. The reverb on every guitar note constantly adds texture to every moment, almost drowning you with its heaviness. And THEN, that's when the vocals start to shine; like warm light of a log cabin in the middle of a heavy, blinding blizzard. Also, Duress is up there along side Venus in Furs as those all timers I know I'll forever be listening to for decades to come. Phenomenal album, highly recommend! ii. Raise (1991) A- [2 listens A/A-] literally decided to listen to this days before finishing up as I didn't know this album was also a landmark in Shoegaze (maybe moreso than MH). This is the album shows that less discussed bridge from Noise Rock to Shoegaze, as so many places only consider Shoegaze as a direct evolution of Dream Pop. This is a true Alternate Rock sound, with heavy guitar distortion; but not to the extent to what Shoegaze is really known as. This is closer to Dinosaur Jr or Sonic Youth than MBV or Slowdive. That aside, its pretty good for a debut. The melodies aren't as great as MH, but a few songs like Son of Mustang Ford, Sandblasted and Sunset were great foundation points of what would follow. Wouldn't say it's a must listen, but it's a good entry.
15. Kyruss - Welcome to Sky Valley (1994) A [3 listens A-/A/A] Josh Homme from his original band and the "birth" of the Desert Rock genre. Solid album, I like the atmosphere it creates as a laid back, background album. Complete opposite of QQTSA in where it's like wandering down a barren "desert", instead of a isolated highway listening to a radio station. It works. Nothing here will jump out at you, but it's very clear that that's not the intent with it. Idk if I'd say it's a must listen, as I can see it being called uneventful. But it's a good listen if you want some background music with some grit to it.
16. Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind (1996) A+ [2 listens A+/A+] the last Swans I'm going to listen to as I didn't care much for To Be Kind, so I imagine I'm not gonna like any of their other stuff. This is in a different direction, where it doesn't even seem to be "music" at times. This makes GY!BE appear accessible in comparison. This is like flicking through the channels on a TV in this weird, strange motel in the middle of nowhere. A lot of dull, drawn out moments that actually work this time around, as it helps paint a better scene of this eldritch-like world it's in. If it had more of those spontaneous, random fully formed tracks, I'll love it more, however their sporadic appearances make them more special when they're coming out of nowhere. This is rare project where I feel that more listens would lower my love for it, as that unpredictability of it is its greatest strength.
17. Duster - Stratosphere (1998) A [3 listens A/A/A] VERY lofi with its low quality mixing. It's the pacing of Shoegaze without the distortion and the blasé attitude of Slacker Rock without the traditional song structure, to a point where it's closest to Post Rock but still has that character of your favorite 90s Indie Rock band (I'm also lost as well). RYM calls it Slowcore, which I find kinda cool. This is like if depression was an album; all the ebbs and flows of your mood slowly dropping, staying at a low point, that occasional optimism and right back into that shallow pit of somber, where you managed to make a somewhat cozy cottage due to you being there for so many times. Slowest part of a Built to Spill album, with a budget of $18 for production, bring a singer with possible self-esteem issues and tell them to make a 50 min lullaby to get a shoegaze-loving kid to sleep. I'm all out of metaphors.
18. Gustavo Cerati - Bocanada (1999) A+ [3 listens A+/A+/A+] another album I can't quite remember how it got on my list, but Trip Hop is another one of those genres that outside of Massive Attack and Portishead that I have very little experience with. Even though the lyrics are in a foreign language, it didn't hurt the overall experience of the album (it have may limited it being better though). Melancholy in his voice and the music, contrasting with the Trip Hop style. Tabu, Rio Babel, and Pasco Immoral are the ones that I recommend checking out if the runtime can be off-putting to some; but it's well worth the journey. Wonderful album that I'm glad I came across.
19. Immolation - Close to a World Below (2000) A [4 listens A+/A/A/A] Better than most Death Metal. Love that the vocalist is slow with his pace (he was great!), along with a solid and steady guitar riffs. I really dislike that drum sound (banging on the toms), but that's a hurdle it feels like you have to overcome to really get into the genre itself. Any of the first 4 songs and Lost Passion are worth checking out.
20. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001) B+ [3 listens B++/B++/B+] I get why they're labeled Blues Rock. Maybe I didn't notice it before, but he sings like John Lennon, where he constantly on that upper octave (which is well out of their ranges) and they crack notes a lot. It's charming to a certain degree, but I don't think it really works with this heavy style. My biggest issue with it is that it's doing multiple things at once, instead of separately. The loud songs are too understated, as Union or Offend should be a bigger, hard, fast paced songs but instead have slow sections. They have this heavy guitar for no reason. We're going to Be Friends and This Protector being tender songs, when it's full acoustic and has a consistent theme, further adds to the lack of uniformity. Also, songs rarely change/switch up, which normally isn't that big of a issue, but when they're all 3+ minutes long, they all drag on. I know what a "perfect version" sounds like from them, so a lot of missteps feel more obvious than if it was blind to me, but I'm not super invested in this album, even with the number of listens.
21. Muse: i. Absolution (2003) A++ [5 listens A++/A+/A++/A++/A++] what if Radiohead chose to stay in 1997? What is it with these Post BritPop bands with incredible sophomore releases? Similarly to Coldplay, I didn't care much for Origin of Symmetry and had low expectations going into this. I don't know if I'm being too generous as only about 3 or 4 of these songs are really strong, however none are what I'd consider skips. This album is so damn tight in its tracklist. Some of the best collections of hooks and bridges ever. The singing isn't always on point, but the way they nail down the perfect formula for every song overshadows most of their faults in not being too special in any particular category. ii. Black Holes and Revelations (2006) A++ [3 listens A/A++/A++] Back to back bangers?! This one is probably my favorite, especially with how strong the second half of the album is. All the songs are great, but aren't straight retreads of what Absolution brought with the varied added instruments. Again, nothing they're doing is otherworldly, but they execute the structures of all of the songs so perfectly, that you tend to ignore the mediocrity of the band members' skills individually. They're the sum of their parts; heavily carried by their collaboration with the songwriting. These two albums are BARLEY A++ though... so if I give these two A++s, then I'm going to retroactively make Ok Computer a "Masterpiece", because it doesn't sit right with me with them being on the same level. Great pair of albums; y'all sleeping on Muse?
22. My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) B+ [3 listens B+/B++/B+] okay, this is emo, like legit emo pop. TBP had a bigger theatrical element infused in its identity, whereas this has all of its personality in its lyrics. And the lyrics are very... tbh cringe. Songs go in too long; great choruses and lyrics, but having the same structure over and over is too repetitive for me to really get into it. It's very melodramatic, particularly in the singing, which at least does make it a compelling listen. I just wish the music followed suit as well. He is also too frantic in his performance, where on TBP it is limited to a few songs. Maybe this is the line where it is too raw.
23. Joanna Newsom: i. YS (2006) B- [2 listen A-/B-] DENSE AS FUCK. Makes Bob Dylan look like an haiku writer. Each song is a storybook, that requires heavy attention. Music itself is not too impressive outside its complexity in the instrumentation. This non-stop, continuous nature of her singing is the major turn off. To a point where it's very hard to follow any story she's trying to paint and the entire thing feels tiring. I do like the harp playing and the orchestral spurts that brighten phrases, but that's the only positive I can come up with. Big disappointment and kinda soured me on her going forward. However, I decided on a whim to give her one more try and.... ii. The Milk Eyed Mender (2004) Masterpiece [3 listens A++/MP/MP] being majorly disappointed with YS, I decided to try her more stripped down Debut before completely writing her off, as the albums following YS are very long listens. And it turns out I actually enjoy this much more; matter of fact, I can't find any flaws within it: ZERO. Yes, her voice is even more of a sore thumb when most of the attention is on it (those harmonies on Peach Plum and Pear sound like Nightmare Fuel tbh). But if I can call Blonde on Blonde a perfect album, I can give a pass to her voice. Her flow in the songs are SOOO much better, that it makes YS looks even worse in that department. The harp playing isn't grand, but subdued in line with her wandering through each song; ebbing and flowing along with her energy in each track. Her cadence and timbre in how she sings is second to none her.
24. The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2005) A- [2 listens A/A-] most of my thoughts on in the Sessions review, as his worned voice hampered the album. I will say this imo would've bombed in 1967; baroque ballads, no rock lol. It would've kicked started Progressive Rock about 5 years sooner, but it wouldn't have made such a huge splash considering the trend all of music was already headed in at that point. This feels more like a live album / The Smile Sessions (2011) A++ [5 listens A/A/A+/A+/A++] BWPS felt like a monkey Brian needed to finally get off his back. A personal album made by Brian himself, whereas BWPS kinda feels like the "gift" to the world that SMiLE was promised as. This still has that youthful, tender energy of creation, where it's unabashedly open with its oddities. Kind of like how Beach Boys Today! was a left turn in their careers, this would've been that for Pet Sounds. BWPS was trying to meet SMiLE's high expectations; this is more honest. The harmonies are so warm, with the perfect blend of pathos. There's more playful instruments in the background that make the whole thing feel more playful. A few of the mixes aren't done well - "Wistful" is the best way to describe this project. Good vibrations finally "fits" inside an album; we can all die in peace now. It's too baroque to be really accessible and too Prog to have real standout hit singles. But as a confined experience, BY FAR the best the Beach Boys have made... or uhm would've made.
25. Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why (2009) A++ [4 listens A-/A++/MP/A++] ...I wish I didn't look up the background of this band before I listened to this. I went into Velocity Design and Comfort fully blind and while it's not the exact style I'm personally into, it's still so unique in what it brought, that I still think of it fondly. That is until I learned about one of the band members. The thing people don't understand about the "separate the art from the artist" thing is that is isn't because of a sense of "morally superiority", it's that every time I listen or consume the art.... I can't NOT think of them and what happened. I enjoyed this album a lot, but most of my time listening, my mind was clearly distracted. I was dying for them to go fully into the Electronic-Jangle Pop space they only would briefly explore on VDC. Valerie Cooper's singing is still SO awe inspiring and freezes you in time, easily the greatest part of the music. The only flaw is that it has only a handful of jingles that really grip me. Also, no entire song pulls me in the whole run, it's only really the chorus and occasionally the transitions between tracks (which are outstanding btw) which was also an issue with the VDC. If it was also a tad bit heavier in certain moments, that would've helped me overlook a lot of this minor flaws. Phenomenal album and perfect follow up, but it's gonna take some time before I can revisit this, as it's hard to mentally disassociate the individual from the music while it's so fresh in my mind.
Bonus Albums: (shorter reviews)
• Yellow Magic Orchestra - Solid State Survivor (1979) A [3 listens B/A/A] colorful and joyful. Sounds like this was the singular inspiration of every Nintendo soundtrack from the 80s and 90s lol. Liked the slow parts, but the bouncy songs are very fun to listen to. Low stakes but still aged wonderfully.
• Gary Numen - The Pleasure Principal (1979) B [2 listens B+/B] futuristic, yet undefined. Weird vocal style is kinda weird, not everyone can pull it off like David Byrne or Devo. Isn't jovial enough like YMO nor is breaking any new ground with the layout like Kraftwerk to compensate for its simplicity. Cars was a nice surprise tho.
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture and Morality (1981) A- [3 listens B++/A-/A-] finally a legit "Pop" singer. Synths are used as an aesthetic and not a crutch, now starting to feel like a more modern (or 80s I guess) style. Joan of Arc and Souvenir are my favorites. Good, but nothing too incredible.
• Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair (1985) A++ [2 listens A++/A++] holy hell, way way better than I expected it would be. I knew the two popular songs, but they were more denser and bigger than I assumed they were. The production here is so lush and wide, immediately obvious they were very "familiar" with the technology by then. I will be adding more of their albums for more detailed reviews on a future list. (Prob the Hurting and Seeds)
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2. Yes: i. The Yes Album (1971) A++ [6 listens A+/A++/A+/A+/A++/A++] Close to the Edge is still one of the most Epic-like songs in Rock history, so I was thinking it was going to be pretty hard to top that, and it turns out, they already did lol. CttE is a great song, but the rest of the album is merely ok, whereas Venture is the only weak song. Everything else is MAGNIFICENT!! Move over harmonica, the organ is officially the most underrated instrument now. EVERY climax of each song is immaculate, the guitar and keyboards are always on point, the singing has never been better! Nothing could ever match what CttE is, but they started off with making a more consistent album throughout instead of only in one song. All timer. ii. Fragile (1971) A- [3 listens A-/A-/A-] first time I actually felt like I got Rick Roll'd by an album, as I didn't realize that the song from that meme was from Roundabout lol. The song is great and is even better the longer it develops. However, it does fall apart as the album gets deeper, particularly in the second side. I read on the recording of this album and saw that the individual members worked on separate tracks as they were being rushed and it really shows, as there are very understated and disconnected from everything else next to them. It becomes very noticeable when a song like Roundabout literally kicks off the tracklist and you have to follow it. Now, I can see the path on their way to how CttE is formatted, as it's just 3 "Roundabouts" in a row. Good listen, but very unbalanced.
3. ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (1973) A++ [6 listens B/B++/A-/A+/A+/A++] I listened to Eliminator and thought it was kinda meh and someone suggested to listen to this, as this is their "signature sound". Thank God I did, because this is probably my favorite Blues Rock album I've heard so far. The choruses are solid and aren't straying too far from the standard Blues layout, but it's the drumming, guitar licks and the solos that won me. That drum lick on the opening of La Grange is so damn sweet. Hell Raiser's solo is so amazing. The guitar riff on Master of Sparks is so catchy. The guitar & bass interplay on Shiek and Precious and Grace are amazing. Honestly, even though the song structures aren't that unique, they did the absolute best with what they had. But if I'm being honest, the 3 additional live tracks at the end put it over the edge for me. The energy is palpable.
4. Joni Mitchell: i. Court and Spark (1974) A [3 listens A/A/A] been awhile since I listened to Joni Mitchell's Blue, but I still catch myself randomly humming verses from My Old Man and Carey, so she's managed to find a place to hide out in the corners of my brain. It's a more jovial Mitchell and a forward looking project, instead of her sulking in her life experiences. A "recollection" of memories with her stories, with how scattered the writing flows. My favorite songs are Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Just Like This Train, Raised On Robbery. Nice album, she's starting to flirt with Jazz, but not as risky as what would come after. Also, Twisted needs to be cut from this album tho; such an odd fit. ii. The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) A [3 listens A/A+/A] she's completely single and ready to mingle now with this one; in terms of the music. Playing off the cover art, its sound likes she's taking a stroll through the park, meeting strangers with different instruments and styles, stopping to sit in the grass or dance around with someone and moving on to the next person. This feels more unplanned compared to the others, which helps it create a separate identity from the rest of her work. I do think the songs struggle in the first half, but the second side are much stronger. Shades of Scarlett, Harry's House, The Boho Dance and the title track are my favorites. Also, the music and the combination of instruments on display is way more enthralling than the lyrics and her signature storytelling. It's very good, but there's definitely more complete albums she's made. iii. Hejira (1976) A+ [3 listens B/B++/A+/A+] For some reason, early on this is the album that hit the wall for me, as I i kinda got tired of her not really changing her vocal cadence that much in the first 2 listens. After getting pass that, it's hard not to respect her. I still don't think this album does much too advance her music on a stylistic level, as the previous two have, but fuck, she's so damn great at writing. Furry Sings the Blues, Refuge of the Road, A Strange Boy... just such amazing storytelling in those alone. Also, Song for Sharon is possibly my favorite Joni Mitchell song now; just perfection. Had that slow, casual feel reminiscent of Blue that is rare to come across. I honestly hate albums like this, "growers", as even now, I feel like if I listen to this a few more times, I'd come to admire it more.
5. Iggy Pop: i. The Idiot (1977) A+ [5 listens A-/A/A/A+/A+] I've gone through all of the Stooges albums and now it's time for Iggy Pop's solo material. Both of these were made along side Bowie's Berlin Trilogy and as the producer, his fingerprints are all over it. The desolate guitars ringing, while a very uncommonly low energy Iggy sings over it all. If the first half of Low could be called a trial run for New Wave music, then this album is the trial run for Post Punk. Also, the album art perfectly matches the tone of the album: a blue/black picture in the cold, mysterious darkness of night... with a clueless Iggy just along for the ride lol. This has his signature deadpan style, but none of the Garage Rock energy he's knows for, which imo makes this effort a more respectable leap then he may think. I read he really doesn't "claim" this album, as he sees it as more for a Bowie project, but this album is definitely made better with his inclusion. Yes, the music is the biggest part, but idk if you could just replace Bowie on any of these songs and it'd be instantly better. ii. Lust of Life (1977) B [3 listens B-/B+/B] Wow, the album where he put his "foot down" and went in on making an album that HE wanted, is of course the one I left unimpressed by. Not that it's bad, but it's just a Stooges album with, again, not of that high octane energy. Success and The Passenger are phenomenal songs, but everything else is just your by "the numbers" Rock n Roll standards with an updated Garage spirit than anything as inventive at The Idiot.
6. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978) B+ [2 listens B+/B+] Genuinely can't remember how he got on my list or even remember if anyone even recommended him. But this is considered his "best album" and plus, outside of Elton John, I haven't really explored many Rock that centers around the Piano. It's a fun album, albeit very crude and satirical at times, it managed to balance it out well. Outside the double take lyrics, none of these songs are too special. I like the nice piano jingle of Werewolves of London and the title track is an interesting song. However, the last few songs tanked it. Okay listen; not everybody is an "album artist", as the singles were the best parts.
7. Wire: i. Chairs Missing (1978) A [4 listens B++/A/A/A] Wire! Pink Flag has managed to become an all time favorite since discovering it and honestly wasn't aware that they actually had other albums just as critically praised as it. As a 2nd album, it comes off very odd, but with hindsight of what follows it, it's easy to see that it's just stuck between two worlds: the world of "Proto"-Post Punk and the extended end of the "concept" of Post Punk. None of their music really feels like "Post Punk" as they never seem to conform to any genre sound. Where Pink Flag feels like a group of teens making Punk with a solid background in music, they weren't out to be "experimental" with the music. Here the Hardcore edge is removed, which allows their artistry to become more visible, but they're moving away from this subversion. Mercy, Practice Makes Perfect, I Am the Fly, Marooned, Outdoor Minor are the good ones. It's still very ahead of its time and still ahead of the curb. ii. 154 (1979) A++ [6 listens A-/A+/A++/A++/A++/A++] sometimes you have to let the thing you want go in order to fully accept the possibility that something can be better. I still desire a Pink Flag 2, but I'll be a fool to dismiss how amazing this is. The extremely eeriely brooding and atmospheric environment is pushing the limits of what Post Punk should even be. A song like Other Window creepy as fuck, due to Graham Lewis' increased vocal role, adding SO much to this tone. Touching Display is how every droning guitar should be used; deep, whole notes and if it was made in the 90s, it'll be my favorite Post Rock song outside of Slint. This is Avant-Post Punk essentially; carving out a deep future path for Gothic Rock to eventually go down. Also, SYNCOPATED RHYTHMS!! There are many bands to do it (often Pop bands), but none do it better with a heavy and Punk sound as they do. Also, compared to Pink Flag, there's SO little fat on here; so yes, it's definitely their best album. The ONLY flaw is the ending sequencing of it... Map should've been the closer and it would be PERFECT. / Colin Newman - A-Z (1980) A [4 listens B++/B/A+/A] Colin Newman's solo project and the "unofficial 4th Wire album" as many of the songs were written while the band was together. And it is obvious the time frame when, as it's more of a 154 Part 2 with how very unattached it is to being "Post Punk". However, similar to Chairs Missing, it's an unfocused album with so many great ideas. This is probably where I'd say it's too experimental, as some of these songs are just too intentionally eccentric. To be frank, I think he's trying too hard to be "weird" to match that energy of 154, but the weirdness was from the tone and how desolate the energy was. Whereas here, the energy is completely up and down and the oddness is in the erratic style than it's ambiance. This one probably has more moments and songs that I love more, but this makes Chairs Missing appear more concise lol. Still very good if you're a Wire fan, even if you can still sense that it's not really a true "Wire" project.
8. Siouxsie and the Banshees: i. Kaleidoscope (1980) B+ [3 listens A/A-/B+] with a different lineup this time around, interested to see how they will develop their sound going into the 80s. And it's kinda as I expected: more diverse instruments, more grooves with in the basslines and leaning on the singing to lead the direction. As the songs go on, they (specifically Siouxsie Sioux) lose their energy. Side 2 has all the best songs, while the first is lacking. Solid listen, but feels they overdid it when they should've kept it simple like on Scream. I respect the attempt and was probably a needed change due to how fast Post Punk was developing, but it could've been done more succinctly. ii. Juju (1981) A+ [2 listens A/A+] Well shit, it's like they already knew my criticisms lol. Finally dynamic songs! Partially why Bauhaus has become my favorite Post Punk/Gothic band, is that the song's layout and rhythms changes throughout a single song and doesn't remain static. Sioux is an all timer in presence, but not so much with singing imo, so she's used so much better as she's highlighted spottingly, particularly in crescendoing over the music. Also, this is heavy as hell; Monitor sounds like a SOAD track... Damn! Honestly, I thought this was going to be a repeat of Kaleidoscope, but man did they knock it out of the park. Fine tuned what they did and allowed themselves to amplify it without losing their identity completely.
9. Bathory: i. Self-Titled (1984) B++ [3 listens B++/B++/B++] the first "official" Black Metal album or EP given its length. Not only are the song structures primitive, but the mixing is as well. I think it works for what it is; something completely new. Even they didn't know what they were doing and it feels that way. The bassline is what seals the deal, as it keeps things very grounded. And the guitar is... well, it lays down the foundation of what Black Metal will become; for better or for worse. The production is really holding this back; it's very poorly mixed. The frayed sound of the guitars looses a lot of edge, which admittedly does make it an easier listen, but so much of its power is lost. Reaper, Raise the Dead, Necromancy, guitar solo on Sacrifice are the highlights. ii. Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987) A+ [4 listens A+/A/A+/A+] I really love this album. Woman of Dark Desires, Massacre, 13 Candles, Enter the Eternal Fire, with that AWESOME guitar solo in the middle! This is the perfect step up, sound quality included. More songs with distinct identities, loved the pacing throughout and a very "easy" listen (i.e. no overly chaotic guitar solos). That's usually my main critique with most Extreme Metal albums is that songs tend to run into one another and there's very little differences between them all. The riffs are different, the tempo is different and the drumming is changed up on every song. Great album! But similar to all of their other stuff, I just wish it was longer. iii. Blood Fire Death (1988) A [3 listens A/A+/A] Another great album, but it's not a consistent as UtSotBM. I enjoyed the acoustic sections (that would later influence viking metal) which raises it up some points. It was an unexpected skill I didn't think they were capable of. However, this album is one that's trying to be two things: it does one really well and just "sorta" touches on the other one. It would've been great to see a better balance between these terrific Black Metal sections and these Viking Metal acoustic ones, giving equal time to each. I hope they would find a better balance in a future album, but I'm only listening to these 3. All were good listens and held up much better for pioneers of a genre.
10. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (1985) A [4 listens A+/A/A/A] a long awaited listen after seeing so much about this. It doesn't really come off as "Punk" but as legit, Irish/Celtic shanties. The novelty wears off after a few listens though. It's very genuine in its execution and doesn't come off as gimmicky at all. It's very 2 note: uptempo or slow wailing songs. Waltzing Matilda and I'm a Man You Don't Meet Everyday are by far the best songs here, with Dirty Old Town, Wild Cats and Sally MacLennane in that 2nd tier below. Really good and takes itself very serious.
11. Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician (1987) C+ [2 listens B-/C+] speaking of talking itself seriously.... here's the complete opposite. It's very VERY hard to actually get into this as it's just absurdist for absurdism sake as most of it is just so empty. There are a few sparks of musical inspirations that show they are capable of something more serious, but they seem to enjoy being nonsensical over making compelling music. It doesn't necessarily have to be serious satire or just cut and dry (I love Ween), but there has to be a point to this madness or else it just comes off as simply... madness.
12. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988) A+ [2 listens A/A+] Sounds like a "Heavy" Hair Metal band. The story is simply "okay" and that's being nice, as this was way over hyped, that I expected something like a To Pimp a Butterfly of themes and stories intersecting. This is like a Hair Metal version of the Wall. It feels more like a musical than a concept album with a linear story, which loses stream after Breaking the Silence. It is very melodramatic especially in the second half, but it was the 80s... However, it has Spreading the Disease so all of that is a wash; we don't got guys hitting high notes like that anymore, which you gotta admit Hair Metal nailed that with perfection. A++ music but A concept, so right in the middle.
13. Coroner: i. No More Color (1989) A- [3 listens A+/A/A-] first non big 4 Thrash. I don't know how popular they were beyond Europe, but they were pioneers in the Technical Thrash Metal (sometimes called Prog Thrash). The main issue is that all the songs run into one another, without any significant parts to either of them. They set their songs around the guitar solos (which can be unmemorable at best and very messy at worse), which furthers mushes everything together. This is why I tend to value pacing in music, especially in Heavy Metal. There's plenty of good riffs to be found, but you have to sludge your way to find them. ii. Mental Vortex (1991) A+ [2 listens A+/A+] great follow-up. The guitar is still leading every song, but it's not fully taking control over the identity of every one. The drumming and the shifts in the music (similar to Metallica's 80s work) better distinguishes each track, making every phrase more dynamic. It's pretty good, but admittedly the She's So Heavy cover puts it just over to be an A+; better than the original because its fully realized metal and ends 30 seconds sooner :p
14. Swervedriver - Mezcal Head (1993) A++ [4 listens A++/A++/A++/A++] a Grunge album in Shoegaze clothing. The music is very unassuming with its generic 90s vocals, but that's how that Shoegaze sound sneaks up on you. The reverb on every guitar note constantly adds texture to every moment, almost drowning you with its heaviness. And THEN, that's when the vocals start to shine; like warm light of a log cabin in the middle of a heavy, blinding blizzard. Also, Duress is up there along side Venus in Furs as those all timers I know I'll forever be listening to for decades to come. Phenomenal album, highly recommend! ii. Raise (1991) A- [2 listens A/A-] literally decided to listen to this days before finishing up as I didn't know this album was also a landmark in Shoegaze (maybe moreso than MH). This is the album shows that less discussed bridge from Noise Rock to Shoegaze, as so many places only consider Shoegaze as a direct evolution of Dream Pop. This is a true Alternate Rock sound, with heavy guitar distortion; but not to the extent to what Shoegaze is really known as. This is closer to Dinosaur Jr or Sonic Youth than MBV or Slowdive. That aside, its pretty good for a debut. The melodies aren't as great as MH, but a few songs like Son of Mustang Ford, Sandblasted and Sunset were great foundation points of what would follow. Wouldn't say it's a must listen, but it's a good entry.
15. Kyruss - Welcome to Sky Valley (1994) A [3 listens A-/A/A] Josh Homme from his original band and the "birth" of the Desert Rock genre. Solid album, I like the atmosphere it creates as a laid back, background album. Complete opposite of QQTSA in where it's like wandering down a barren "desert", instead of a isolated highway listening to a radio station. It works. Nothing here will jump out at you, but it's very clear that that's not the intent with it. Idk if I'd say it's a must listen, as I can see it being called uneventful. But it's a good listen if you want some background music with some grit to it.
16. Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind (1996) A+ [2 listens A+/A+] the last Swans I'm going to listen to as I didn't care much for To Be Kind, so I imagine I'm not gonna like any of their other stuff. This is in a different direction, where it doesn't even seem to be "music" at times. This makes GY!BE appear accessible in comparison. This is like flicking through the channels on a TV in this weird, strange motel in the middle of nowhere. A lot of dull, drawn out moments that actually work this time around, as it helps paint a better scene of this eldritch-like world it's in. If it had more of those spontaneous, random fully formed tracks, I'll love it more, however their sporadic appearances make them more special when they're coming out of nowhere. This is rare project where I feel that more listens would lower my love for it, as that unpredictability of it is its greatest strength.
17. Duster - Stratosphere (1998) A [3 listens A/A/A] VERY lofi with its low quality mixing. It's the pacing of Shoegaze without the distortion and the blasé attitude of Slacker Rock without the traditional song structure, to a point where it's closest to Post Rock but still has that character of your favorite 90s Indie Rock band (I'm also lost as well). RYM calls it Slowcore, which I find kinda cool. This is like if depression was an album; all the ebbs and flows of your mood slowly dropping, staying at a low point, that occasional optimism and right back into that shallow pit of somber, where you managed to make a somewhat cozy cottage due to you being there for so many times. Slowest part of a Built to Spill album, with a budget of $18 for production, bring a singer with possible self-esteem issues and tell them to make a 50 min lullaby to get a shoegaze-loving kid to sleep. I'm all out of metaphors.
18. Gustavo Cerati - Bocanada (1999) A+ [3 listens A+/A+/A+] another album I can't quite remember how it got on my list, but Trip Hop is another one of those genres that outside of Massive Attack and Portishead that I have very little experience with. Even though the lyrics are in a foreign language, it didn't hurt the overall experience of the album (it have may limited it being better though). Melancholy in his voice and the music, contrasting with the Trip Hop style. Tabu, Rio Babel, and Pasco Immoral are the ones that I recommend checking out if the runtime can be off-putting to some; but it's well worth the journey. Wonderful album that I'm glad I came across.
19. Immolation - Close to a World Below (2000) A [4 listens A+/A/A/A] Better than most Death Metal. Love that the vocalist is slow with his pace (he was great!), along with a solid and steady guitar riffs. I really dislike that drum sound (banging on the toms), but that's a hurdle it feels like you have to overcome to really get into the genre itself. Any of the first 4 songs and Lost Passion are worth checking out.
20. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001) B+ [3 listens B++/B++/B+] I get why they're labeled Blues Rock. Maybe I didn't notice it before, but he sings like John Lennon, where he constantly on that upper octave (which is well out of their ranges) and they crack notes a lot. It's charming to a certain degree, but I don't think it really works with this heavy style. My biggest issue with it is that it's doing multiple things at once, instead of separately. The loud songs are too understated, as Union or Offend should be a bigger, hard, fast paced songs but instead have slow sections. They have this heavy guitar for no reason. We're going to Be Friends and This Protector being tender songs, when it's full acoustic and has a consistent theme, further adds to the lack of uniformity. Also, songs rarely change/switch up, which normally isn't that big of a issue, but when they're all 3+ minutes long, they all drag on. I know what a "perfect version" sounds like from them, so a lot of missteps feel more obvious than if it was blind to me, but I'm not super invested in this album, even with the number of listens.
21. Muse: i. Absolution (2003) A++ [5 listens A++/A+/A++/A++/A++] what if Radiohead chose to stay in 1997? What is it with these Post BritPop bands with incredible sophomore releases? Similarly to Coldplay, I didn't care much for Origin of Symmetry and had low expectations going into this. I don't know if I'm being too generous as only about 3 or 4 of these songs are really strong, however none are what I'd consider skips. This album is so damn tight in its tracklist. Some of the best collections of hooks and bridges ever. The singing isn't always on point, but the way they nail down the perfect formula for every song overshadows most of their faults in not being too special in any particular category. ii. Black Holes and Revelations (2006) A++ [3 listens A/A++/A++] Back to back bangers?! This one is probably my favorite, especially with how strong the second half of the album is. All the songs are great, but aren't straight retreads of what Absolution brought with the varied added instruments. Again, nothing they're doing is otherworldly, but they execute the structures of all of the songs so perfectly, that you tend to ignore the mediocrity of the band members' skills individually. They're the sum of their parts; heavily carried by their collaboration with the songwriting. These two albums are BARLEY A++ though... so if I give these two A++s, then I'm going to retroactively make Ok Computer a "Masterpiece", because it doesn't sit right with me with them being on the same level. Great pair of albums; y'all sleeping on Muse?
22. My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) B+ [3 listens B+/B++/B+] okay, this is emo, like legit emo pop. TBP had a bigger theatrical element infused in its identity, whereas this has all of its personality in its lyrics. And the lyrics are very... tbh cringe. Songs go in too long; great choruses and lyrics, but having the same structure over and over is too repetitive for me to really get into it. It's very melodramatic, particularly in the singing, which at least does make it a compelling listen. I just wish the music followed suit as well. He is also too frantic in his performance, where on TBP it is limited to a few songs. Maybe this is the line where it is too raw.
23. Joanna Newsom: i. YS (2006) B- [2 listen A-/B-] DENSE AS FUCK. Makes Bob Dylan look like an haiku writer. Each song is a storybook, that requires heavy attention. Music itself is not too impressive outside its complexity in the instrumentation. This non-stop, continuous nature of her singing is the major turn off. To a point where it's very hard to follow any story she's trying to paint and the entire thing feels tiring. I do like the harp playing and the orchestral spurts that brighten phrases, but that's the only positive I can come up with. Big disappointment and kinda soured me on her going forward. However, I decided on a whim to give her one more try and.... ii. The Milk Eyed Mender (2004) Masterpiece [3 listens A++/MP/MP] being majorly disappointed with YS, I decided to try her more stripped down Debut before completely writing her off, as the albums following YS are very long listens. And it turns out I actually enjoy this much more; matter of fact, I can't find any flaws within it: ZERO. Yes, her voice is even more of a sore thumb when most of the attention is on it (those harmonies on Peach Plum and Pear sound like Nightmare Fuel tbh). But if I can call Blonde on Blonde a perfect album, I can give a pass to her voice. Her flow in the songs are SOOO much better, that it makes YS looks even worse in that department. The harp playing isn't grand, but subdued in line with her wandering through each song; ebbing and flowing along with her energy in each track. Her cadence and timbre in how she sings is second to none her.
24. The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2005) A- [2 listens A/A-] most of my thoughts on in the Sessions review, as his worned voice hampered the album. I will say this imo would've bombed in 1967; baroque ballads, no rock lol. It would've kicked started Progressive Rock about 5 years sooner, but it wouldn't have made such a huge splash considering the trend all of music was already headed in at that point. This feels more like a live album / The Smile Sessions (2011) A++ [5 listens A/A/A+/A+/A++] BWPS felt like a monkey Brian needed to finally get off his back. A personal album made by Brian himself, whereas BWPS kinda feels like the "gift" to the world that SMiLE was promised as. This still has that youthful, tender energy of creation, where it's unabashedly open with its oddities. Kind of like how Beach Boys Today! was a left turn in their careers, this would've been that for Pet Sounds. BWPS was trying to meet SMiLE's high expectations; this is more honest. The harmonies are so warm, with the perfect blend of pathos. There's more playful instruments in the background that make the whole thing feel more playful. A few of the mixes aren't done well - "Wistful" is the best way to describe this project. Good vibrations finally "fits" inside an album; we can all die in peace now. It's too baroque to be really accessible and too Prog to have real standout hit singles. But as a confined experience, BY FAR the best the Beach Boys have made... or uhm would've made.
25. Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why (2009) A++ [4 listens A-/A++/MP/A++] ...I wish I didn't look up the background of this band before I listened to this. I went into Velocity Design and Comfort fully blind and while it's not the exact style I'm personally into, it's still so unique in what it brought, that I still think of it fondly. That is until I learned about one of the band members. The thing people don't understand about the "separate the art from the artist" thing is that is isn't because of a sense of "morally superiority", it's that every time I listen or consume the art.... I can't NOT think of them and what happened. I enjoyed this album a lot, but most of my time listening, my mind was clearly distracted. I was dying for them to go fully into the Electronic-Jangle Pop space they only would briefly explore on VDC. Valerie Cooper's singing is still SO awe inspiring and freezes you in time, easily the greatest part of the music. The only flaw is that it has only a handful of jingles that really grip me. Also, no entire song pulls me in the whole run, it's only really the chorus and occasionally the transitions between tracks (which are outstanding btw) which was also an issue with the VDC. If it was also a tad bit heavier in certain moments, that would've helped me overlook a lot of this minor flaws. Phenomenal album and perfect follow up, but it's gonna take some time before I can revisit this, as it's hard to mentally disassociate the individual from the music while it's so fresh in my mind.
Bonus Albums: (shorter reviews)
• Yellow Magic Orchestra - Solid State Survivor (1979) A [3 listens B/A/A] colorful and joyful. Sounds like this was the singular inspiration of every Nintendo soundtrack from the 80s and 90s lol. Liked the slow parts, but the bouncy songs are very fun to listen to. Low stakes but still aged wonderfully.
• Gary Numen - The Pleasure Principal (1979) B [2 listens B+/B] futuristic, yet undefined. Weird vocal style is kinda weird, not everyone can pull it off like David Byrne or Devo. Isn't jovial enough like YMO nor is breaking any new ground with the layout like Kraftwerk to compensate for its simplicity. Cars was a nice surprise tho.
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture and Morality (1981) A- [3 listens B++/A-/A-] finally a legit "Pop" singer. Synths are used as an aesthetic and not a crutch, now starting to feel like a more modern (or 80s I guess) style. Joan of Arc and Souvenir are my favorites. Good, but nothing too incredible.
• Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair (1985) A++ [2 listens A++/A++] holy hell, way way better than I expected it would be. I knew the two popular songs, but they were more denser and bigger than I assumed they were. The production here is so lush and wide, immediately obvious they were very "familiar" with the technology by then. I will be adding more of their albums for more detailed reviews on a future list. (Prob the Hurting and Seeds)