I really adore mystery in fiction and in general, so let's talk about the mysterious and unexplained elements in media that keep people puzzling and asking questions long after release.
My example is from two of my favorite Stephen King stories, From A Buick-8 and The Colorado Kid, both of which tackle similar themes of unsolved mysteries.
Colorado Kid is about two editors and an intern at a local newspaper on an island off the coast of Maine discussing an unsolved death on the island in the 80s. The victim, nicknamed the Colorado Kid for an out-of-state tax stamp found among his personal effects, is discovered slumped next to a trash can in an alley dead of asphyxiation from a large chunk of steak in his throat but no obvious signs of foul play besides. Countless clues and details are uncovered over the years of investigation, but each one just raises more questions (he has fish dinner - not steak - in his stomach, a single Russian coin in his pocket, etc.). By the end of the story, the only thing answered for sure is his identity; a commercial artist from Colorado with a perfectly average life who inexplicably disappeared after leaving work one day despite no indications he had any reason to. The closest guess anyone is able to make is that he chartered a jet and flew to Maine for God knows what reason and was murdered there, with the tax stamp being a clue to his origins he grabbed so he could be identified if he died (which he did). You're just left to chew on the mystery and play detective as to how it all goes together.
From A Buick-8 involves a rural police barracks who tell the son of one their own deceased members about the Buick 8, a vintage blue 1953 Buick Roadmaster that's been locked up in the precinct's storage shed since 1979 after it was left at a gas station by a driver who walked behind the station and promptly disappeared, never to be found (hinted to maybe be a Low Man, the henchmen for the Crimson King from The Dark Tower; this does not answer nearly as many questions as you'd think). The car is not a car at all, but some kind of bizarre living organism that seems to have made itself look like a car; the steering wheel, dashboard instruments, engine, and ignition wires are all props, and the car itself heals from damage done to it. It very occasionally "gives birth" to some kind of horrifying alien monsters that always die shortly after, seemingly because they can't survive in our atmosphere. And even more occasionally, it apparently eats people, as two people who went into it mysteriously disappeared. The closest thing to an answer about what the Buick is comes at the end when the cops discover that it can open a portal to another realm (presumably where the monsters are from and where the people eaten by the car go), but that's it. It's just this thing that exists without explanation and thus sits in the shed behind the barracks, people trying their best to ignore it after getting used to it's presence and finding no answers about it.
Both are really eerie and cool little stories that I dig a lot.

I would like to thank a lot of people in this community who actually helped me in writing this first book. I have been avid reader of suggestions and guidance provided by folks here. All your suggestions are deeply appreciated. 🙏🙏
The book is set to release in last week of may. I know science fiction is a tough genre and here is my feeble attempt. I have extensively read about hindu philosphies and researched on them to merge them with science fiction which spans across billions of years.
Here is the brief summary of the book.
Will you choose morality over love? And love over duty?
Are you willing to lose everything to save the billions or even trillions?
Embark on an extraordinary journey through time and space in Agni: Rise of Asuras, a blend of science fiction, action-adventure, mystery, fantasy, and romance . Inspired by Indian philosophies, which questions the actions of heroes and the morality of the villains.
Meet the Asuras inspired by the ancient Hindu epics. The formiddable warriors. They are the martial race with their society developed around warfare.
Meet the Suras inspired by the ancient Hindu epics. The legends, the formiddable defence force. The beings of culture, arts.
Meet the Kritikans / Mixed breeds forbidden love children of Asuras and Suras considered as abomination by both of them.
And the humans....
Ten thousand years ago, the Asura prince Indrajeet embarked on a covert mission to the distant star system of Kritika, entering a cryosleep that spanned millennia. Now, awakened aboard a technologically advanced spacecraft, he finds himself in a world of stark contrasts – a scorching desert juxtaposed against a frozen wasteland, a tidally locked planet, with a sliver of life clinging to the twilight zone. As Indrajeet seeks answers about his mission and grapples with fragmented memories, he encounters the Kritikans, a race ruled by a peaceful monarchy. But his arrival on Kritika is not without consequence, for it sets in motion a chain of events that could shatter the delicate balance of the cosmos.
Meanwhile, on present-day Earth, Kanishka, a single mother and successful IT professional, is plagued by recurring nightmares of a fiery inferno and accusations of being cursed. Haunted by these visions and a growing sense of unease, she embarks on an impromptu road trip with her childhood friend Ranveer. Little does she know that this journey will unveil hidden truths about her lineage. As Kanishka grapples with her trauma, she must navigate a world of deception, where allies are not always who they seem and the fate of the galaxy rests on her shoulders.
Agni: Rise of Asuras is a story of love, loss, trauma and the eternal struggle of what exactly is righteousness.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction created for entertainment purposes. The characters of John Constantine and Doctor Strange belong to their respective creators and copyright holders. No infringement is intended, and this story is not endorsed or authorized by any official source. Enjoy the adventure, and remember—it's all in good fun!
John Constantine's trench coat flapped wildly as the air around him crackled with eldritch energy. The ground beneath his feet was a mosaic of screaming faces, the very essence of Trigon's realm. With a flick of his lighter, Constantine ignited an enchanted flame, the light casting long shadows as he faced down the hordes of demons before him.
"Come on then, you ugly mugs," he taunted, the smirk on his face belying the tension in his stance. "Let's see what you've got."
The demons surged forward, a wave of malice and claws, but Constantine was ready. He chanted an incantation, ancient words of power that echoed through the abyss, and a barrier of blue light erupted from the ground. The demons screeched as they collided with the magical shield, their forms dissolving into ash.
But as Constantine prepared to press his advantage, a strange sensation washed over him. The air shimmered like a heat haze, and the very fabric of reality seemed to warp and twist. He felt a pull, a tug at his soul, and then the world went white.
When his vision cleared, he was no longer in Trigon's realm. The air was still, and it was filled with greenery. It was a familiar place but something feels different. It was New York Central Park.
Dr. Strange: (Opening a portal) By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, who dares trespass in my domain?
John Constantine: (Lighting a cigarette) Oh, look what we have here. Another one of Trigon's lackeys, I presume? You can tell your boss he's not getting the best of me.
Dr. Strange: (Raising an eyebrow) Trigon? I'm afraid you are mistaken. I am Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of this reality. And you are?
John Constantine: (Smirks) John Constantine, mate. Master of the dark arts and a thorn in the side of demons like Trigon. And this ain't your reality, it's Earth 1. So, which Earth did you say you're from?
Dr. Strange: I did not. But it seems we are both victims of circumstance. I am from this Earth, and you are clearly not. (Gestures around) This is my sanctum, and you are?
John Constantine: (Takes a drag) John bloody Constantine. And I was in the middle of kicking some demonic arse before I was rudely interrupted by your light show.
Dr. Strange: (Folds arms) There's no demonic activity here, Mr. Constantine. You've been transported to my world by some mysterious force. Now, if we can cease the hostilities, perhaps we can work together to unravel this mystery.
John Constantine: (Laughs) Work together? With a bloke who looks like he's just stepped out of a Renaissance fair? Tell you what, magician, prove to me you're not some illusion of Trigon's and maybe I'll consider it.
Dr. Strange: (Sighs) Very well. (Casts a spell to show Constantine the Sanctum Sanctorum) Behold the Sanctum Sanctorum, the axis of all realities. Does this look like the work of your demon?
John Constantine: (Looks around, impressed) Alright, you've got some tricks. But if you're really the Sorcerer Supreme, then help me get back to my fight. Or are you too busy polishing your orbs?
Dr. Strange: (Smirks) Polishing orbs is a hobby for another time. Let's find the source of your unexpected journey. Together, we might just stand a chance.
John Constantine: (With a wry smile) So, tell me, Sorcerer Supreme, ever heard of the Justice League? Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman?
Dr. Strange: (Shakes his head) Can't say that I have. They do not exist in my world. Here we have the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four.
John Constantine: (Raises an eyebrow) Avengers? Sounds like a second-rate football club. And what's so fantastic about this four?
Dr. Strange: (Chuckles) They are heroes of great power and even greater heart. But it seems our worlds are as different as magic and science.
John Constantine: (Nods) Seems like it. My world's got its own brand of chaos and capes. No shortage of troubles there, either.
Dr. Strange: (Looks thoughtful) Perhaps it is our differences that make our worlds unique. And yet, here we are, brought together by fate.
John Constantine: (Smirks) Fate? I call it a bloody inconvenience. But since we're stuck with each other, might as well get to the bottom of this. and they leaves to santum Santorum.
He glanced around the Sanctum Sanctorum, taking in the relics that held powers he could only guess at. There was a sense of order here, a stark contrast to the chaos of his own world.
"Alright, Doc," Constantine said after their exchange, flicking his cigarette to the ground. "Let's crack this pandora box . But just so we're clear, I'm not the sidekick in this story."
Dr. Strange nodded, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Agreed. Let us begin."
Together, they stepped deeper into the Sanctum, ready to uncover the truth behind Constantine's sudden displacement. Little did they know, their journey would take them across realities, challenging their understanding of magic, power, and the thin veil that separates worlds.

First time watching this film. I've heard of it for years but never got around to viewing it, not knowing what it could be about. Is it going to be horror? Thriller? Mystery? Drama? War? Turns out it was all of that and more. What an experience. The story follows Jacob, a Vietnam veteran, who begins having demonic visions and hallucinations in his waking life. What could be causing them? The entire supporting cast is excellent (especially Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello) and the effects are excellent and appropriately disturbing (no CGI, all in-camera). My only gripe is the casting of Tim Robbins in the lead, who was good yes but I felt didn't hit every single high note and feels a bit goofy at times. Apparently Tom Hanks was originally set to play Jacob and I think the film would have been better served with Hanks in the role, who IMO is generally a better actor. This is the kind of film that stays with you for a long time after, and encourages a lot of discussion. I think each person who watches it will have a different interpretation of certain scenes and their meaning. After months of watching newly-released crap, this film was like a revelation. At the same time, it was a depressing and unsettling journey. In summary, I highly recommend this film.
I'd consider this one underrated in the sense that it's largely been forgotten over the years and doesn't get anywhere near the amount of recognition by modern audiences that it deserves

My Dearest u/DernhelmLaughed,
Screw you for overusing the "Gwilty" pun last week, when this week could have offered me such amazing opportunities as "Catholic Gwilt" and "We find the defendant Gwilty." I shall have to find other ways to entertain my audience.
Yours sincerely,
u/Amanda39
(Note to everyone else: My apologies that this recap is late and not up to my usual standards. I foolishly forgot about Mother's Day and, just when I was going to sit down to compose the summary, realized that I would have to spend the next few hours at my sister's house, with her barking labradoodle and screaming children. Afterwards, I needed to spend at least an hour playing Beethoven to calm my nerves.)
Book the Third, Chapter 14: Miss Gwilt's Diary.
A lot happened this week, so let's rewind all the way back to when Lydia and Allan were on the train together. Lydia bribed the conductor make sure they were alone in the carriage, thus encouraging rumors about the two of them. Allan spends the trip awkwardly trying to not tell her that he's going to London to find out how he could marry Neelie, and Lydia invites him to come with her to see Ozias, in the hope of reconciling the two of them, which of course Allan is eager to do.
The next day, Lydia pawns her watch and visits a lawyer who informs her that there's no legal reason why she can't marry under her maiden name, although her husband could invalidate the marriage later if he found out. She also gives Ozias a made-up story about her past ("A dead father; a lost fortune; vagabond brothers, whom I dread ever seeing again; a bedridden mother dependent on my exertions...") but hates herself for it because she's honestly in love with him. Ozias, meanwhile, reveals that he's gotten a job as a foreign correspondent for a newspaper, and that the two of them will be moving to Naples once they get married. Lydia also agrees to let Ozias tell Allan about their plans to marry, so that it will be easier for her to learn if how the Major reacted to her anonymous letter about Allan and Neelie.
The Major, we learn, has agreed to their engagement, provided that Allan and Neelie remain separated and do not communicate for the next six months, during which Neelie will attend school, and then remain engaged for an additional six months before marrying. This, of course, gives Lydia's plan more than enough time to occur. Ozias suggests that Allan occupy the six months by visiting Mr. Brock and then sailing to Naples.
Lydia decides to amuse herself by annoying Mother Oldershaw, but ends up discovering that Oldershaw and Dr. Downward are in hiding for legal reasons. She also starts seeing spies everywhere, which I was hoping meant that she was descending into paranoia or something, but no, it's just Bashwood's son's employees spying on her. She doesn't know this, of course, and thinks Mother Oldershaw is after her. To throw them off, she switches locations and tells Ozias she's visiting her mother. She's also so convinced that her milliner is spying on her, she decides to not go back to pick up the finished dress. (I thought milliners made hats, not dresses?) This results in the milliner having the dress delivered to her new location, despite Lydia not having told the location to the milliner. Okay, yeah, that's kind of suspicious.
But Lydia is more than just distracted by spies. She's also tormented by her love for Ozias, and tells her diary that she isn't going to go through with her plans after all.
A surprising complication occurs: Mr. Brock dies. Ozias and Allan go to the funeral, with Ozias and Lydia planning to marry the next day. Lydia bribes a servant to have her lover, a soldier, distract the spy who's following her.
After the funeral, Ozias shows Lydia a letter that Brock had written to him just before he died. Brock begs Ozias to give up his superstitions and reconcile with Allan, arguing that, rather than being Allan's doom, Ozias may someday save Allan. This terrifies Lydia, who now believes that "if that old man’s last earthly conviction is prophetic of the truth, Armadale will escape me, do what I may. And Midwinter will be the victim who is sacrificed to save his life."
The chapter ends with Lydia and Ozias marrying.
Book the Third, Chapter 15: The Wedding-Day.
Okay, enough of Lydia Gwilt's diary. Time to revisit everyone's favorite delusional horny old man. Bashwood Sr. meets with Bashwood Jr. (who I'm going to call "Jemmy" because it's easier to type) and learns Lydia Gwilt's dark secrets.
But first, we get a description of how Bashwood desperately needs to be arrested by the fashion police. And then Jemmy insists on getting paid. And then on eating breakfast. Congratulations, Jemmy, you're even more annoying than your father. Anyhow, we finally get Lydia's entire life story out of Jemmy:
Lydia spent the first eight years of her life being raised by a baby farmer. For those of you who have participated in previous Victorian Lady Detective Squad books, I would like to state for the record that none of us knew in advance that a freaking baby farmer would show up in this one. If I had a nickel for every book I've run here where I put a link to the Wikipedia article on baby farming in the summary, I'd have ten cents, which isn't enough to pay someone to raise a kid for me but it's weird that it happened twice. Anyhow, her parents stopped paying for her, so the baby farmer sold her to a quack doctor named Oldershaw. Gee, why does that name sound familiar?
The Oldershaws use Lydia to demonstrate their hair care products. One day, while they're displaying their wares in Thorpe Ambrose, Miss Blanchard (Allan's mom) sees Lydia and takes an interest in her, which results in the Oldershaws abandoning Lydia with her. This is how she ended up becoming Miss Blanchard's maid. Of course, once everything happened in Madeira, the Blanchards had to keep Lydia from causing scandal by revealing everything that had happened. They sent Lydia to school in France, offering to support her until she married, in exchange for her never returning to England.
At 17, Lydia gets kicked out of school because a married teacher fell in love with her and tried to kill himself. This wasn't Lydia's fault, but they kicked her out anyway. Holy shit. Anyhow, the trauma caused Lydia to find God and try to become a nun. (Alright, I'll go ahead and make the obvious joke: is this what they mean by Catholic Gwilt?) But she changed her mind after two years, and which point Miss Blanchard cut contact with her.
Lydia becomes a piano player to support herself, and ends up meeting a baroness who's a card sharp. Wilkie, why are you giving us this through Jemmy? I would read an entire-ass book about Lydia's life story. You can't just go "oh yeah, she's a failed nun who travelled across Europe with a card sharp" and not actually tell that story. WTF. Anyhow, a man named Waldron threatens to expose them to the police, but (like every other man in this story) he falls for Lydia, so Lydia convinces him to marry her instead.
The two move back to England, where Waldron turns out to be an abusive asshole and Lydia falls in love with a Cuban captain named Manuel. One day, shortly after Waldron hit Lydia in the face with a riding whip, Waldron mysteriously falls ill and dies, and Lydia is put on trial for poisoning him. Lydia admits in court that she and Manuel were planning to run away together, but claims that she didn't poison her husband.
Waldron had initially left a large amount of money to Lydia in his will but, shortly before his death, wrote a new will drastically decreasing the amount. This casts suspicion on Manuel, who may only have known of the earlier will. Still, the court decides that Lydia had too much of a motive for killing her husband, and she's found Gwilty and sentenced to death. Of course, she gets pardoned after a public outcry, because she's too hot to die. But then she's immediately found guilty of theft, after it's discovered that she'd stolen her dead husband's jewels and hidden them in her corset. So she ends up serving two years in prison for that.
None of this has changed Bashwood's mind about her, and he wants to tell Allan ASAP, in the hope that Allan won't marry her after all and then he'll stand a chance. Jemmy's a fan of this plan, thinking he can get money from Allan, too. On the way to the hotel, Jemmy finishes the story: After getting out of prison, Lydia married Manuel. The marriage isn't legally valid, however, because it turned out that Manuel is already legally married to another woman. That didn't stop Manuel from taking Lydia's money and running off to another country with it. Oh, and Lydia reunited with Mrs. Oldershaw after she got out of prison, because they chop your hair off in prison and she needed a makeover.
It's too late. The Bashwoods cannot find Allan or Lydia, and they find the names "Allan Armadale" and "Lydia Gwilt" in the church's wedding register. Bashwood collapses in shock, and Jemmy once againd deserts his father.
Book the Fourth, Chapter 1: Miss Gwilt's Diary.
It's two months later, and the honeymoon has worn off. Ozias is depressed and throws himself into his work. Lydia feels abandoned. Out of boredom, she rereads her diary from when she was plotting to murder Allan, because who doesn't get nostalgic for premediated murder when they're bored? Speaking of Allan, he's on his way to visit them, but he got delayed when his failboat crashed off the coast of Portugal.
Allan finally arrives. He annoys the hell out of Lydia by constantly talking about yachts and Neelie. Yes, he talks to Lydia about Neelie. I think he's forgotten who Lydia is or something, I dunno. Lydia is as weirded out by this as I am. Oh yeah, Allan bought a new yacht. He may have trouble finding a crew that can speak English in Naples, though.
Lydia finds that Ozias has fallen asleep with both Brock's letter and Allan's dream in his hands. He's clearly still tormented by his superstition.
Book the Fourth, Chapter 2: The Diary Continued.
Lydia, Ozias, and Allan go to the opera, to see Bellini's Norma). Lydia gets a shock when she realizes that one of the chorus singers is Manuel. I was desperately hoping that she really was being paranoid this time, but no, it really freaking is Manuel. Look, I can deal with the "England only has twelve people in it" thing that happens in this type of book, but this is going too far. Why the hell would a Cuban captain running away from his English wife end up in Naples as an opera singer?
Later that night, Allan mentions Neelie one too many times, and Lydia blows up at him. Honestly, I'm with Lydia on this. I would have blown up, too, and I wasn't even plotting to marry him. She also says something to him that she doesn't write in her diary, which made me say "How dare she write like it's an actual diary, and not an epistolary narrative in a book?" Then she actually replied with "Why do I keep a diary at all? Why did the clever thief the other day (in the English newspaper) keep the very thing to convict him in the shape of a record of everything he stole? Why are we not perfectly reasonable in all that we do? Why am I not always on my guard and never inconsistent with myself, like a wicked character in a novel? Why? why? why?" and that's when I realized that I was arguing with a fictional character.
Later that night, Ozias talks to Lydia. He looks so sick, it makes Lydia worry about "what I had done—or, no, of what I had tried to do—in that interval between half-past ten and half-past eleven, which I have left unnoticed in my diary" because Lydia is apparently really embracing this whole "unreliable narrator" thing. Ozias tells her that he wants Allan to go back to England without the two of them. When she asks why, he explains:
The previous night, Allan didn't like the wine they were drinking, so Lydia offered to make lemonade for him. Lydia gave the lemonade to Ozias, who gave the lemonade to Allan, who collapsed because it contained brandy... although Lydia is very quick at this point to assume that Ozias is accusing her of poisoning Allan. (She also comes right out and tells her diary that she added the brandy "to disguise the taste of—never mind what!") Anyhow, this means that Ozias and Lydia accidentally acted out part of Allan's dream, so now Ozias is afraid to sail with him.
The next day, Lydia meets with Manuel, who tries to blackmail her. Lydia's like "I have a better idea. I know a rich idiot who carries all his money on him, and who needs an interpreter for his yacht. What if you worked for him, stole his money, and then, I dunno, threw him overboard or something?" Manuel asks what Lydia's interest in this is, which surprises Lydia, because she apparently forgot that she wanted Allan dead, and was just trying to keep Manuel and Ozias apart? "Thus far the sole object I had kept in view was to protect myself, by the sacrifice of Armadale, from the exposure that threatened me. I tell no lies to my Diary." Yeah, sure...
The yacht sets sail with Allan and Manuel, without Ozias and Lydia, and the chapter ends with Ozias wistfully saying goodbye.

I HAVE AN iDeA‼️
(Little bout meh!)- So, I’m sorta new to it all, writing, story building, world building, even discord and etc., however, I’ve been a fan of manga and anime since I was a lil dude. I was always the kid, trying to draw my Naruto oc and intertwine him into the story, or the kid that named every toy weapon as a zanpakuto with a Bankai ability when playing outside. Needless to say my mind always ventures further and in different avenues of the main storylines of what I read and watched, this bringing me to be the “hey, I have an idea!” Kind of guy I am today. I have a manga idea, with some inspiration from my little brother that I have been all over the place with, adding details here and there for about two months now and am seeking a serious partner or possibly partners to help me develop a potential manga, webcomic or webtoon.
(The iDeA‼️-in as few words as possible…
The Setting:
The setting is a world called Terracrest, which has been forever changed by an event known as The Shift. It's a blend of fantastical elements with many cultural influences.
Terracrest is made up of three massive continents:

1. Jinindali - The sun-drenched western continent with a diverse landscape. Think of the vibrant, warm colors of African savannas combined with the disciplined aesthetic of Japanese culture.
   
2. Nochevna - The eastern continent that basks in the gentle lunar glow. Imagine the mystery of moonlit African nights intertwined with the elegance and spirituality of Japanese forests.
   
3. Equidayne - The central continent where the energies of the sun and moon converge, creating a melting pot of cultures and traditions. This is where our story's heart beats the strongest.
   

The Summary:
Our world has been transformed by a colossal cosmic event that merged the sun and moon into a single entity, altering the flow of time and the fabric of reality. With this new world order, some humans have become Kagami, individuals who can harness the energy known as Taiji to perform incredible feats through Soul Reflection.
The Conflict:
Kagami must struggle to maintain balance within themselves, lest they succumb to their power and transform into Karma Demons, the fearsome Bakuma. Our heroes will encounter diverse cultures, each with unique perspectives on the use of Taiji, and face the threat of the Bakuma while exploring the mysteries of The Shift and possibly even bigger threats.
I have many more details but that’s the basics so far. What do you think? We can brainstorm character designs, plot arcs, and how we want to pace the story.
(IN CONCLUSION‼️) I’d like a partner who is dedicated to the development of this project. I am a M-25 that works a 9-5 Monday through Friday but can work with just about any schedule. I think working on projects as such is way more fun and interesting with the different perspectives of the creators and I’d love to see something like this come to life in the form of a manga, comic, webcomic, etc. please pm me if interested
(SIDE NOTE: (not important but…) I’d like someone with experience with discord so we can keep things nice, tidy and organized, as I am new to discord as well.)

Dear Sir,
I`m going to be honest with you, I love being terribly honest random strangers, and seeing that this is an online class, you might as well be a random stranger to me. I understand that the object of the assignment is to simply send you a message to confirm that everything is working in Canvas, but to that I object, as you stated in the assignment description that one should tell you about themselves, so I am going to do just that, and maybe a little more.
In life, there are many obstacles in between one and one`s dreams, these obstacles maybe these obstacles are simply a bump in the pavement, something that one can easily go around, or maybe even walk over. Others, however, can be massive insurmountable walls, that cannot be scaled or circumvented in anyway. Unfortunately, such walls exist in my life, My dream since age 2 was to be an airline pilot, but the powers that be had other plans, bestowing upon me Autism Spectrum Disorder, and while the condition does not prevent me from being a pilot, The medications I consume to give me a fighting chance of fitting into society unfortunately bar me from achieving my dreams, as they are a part of the FAA`s banned substance list. There`s nothing I can do about my condition, so I`ve had re-evaluate my purpose on this planet to find another space in society I can occupy. I got lucky, as I discovered I had a passion for working with computers. But unfortunately, the path to a successful, stable life, is one marred with obstacles.
I talked about insurmountable obstacles in the last section, but to me, those things are extremely rare. What is less uncommon, however, are obstacles that aren’t *technically* impossible, but they might as well be as the process of overcoming them is so painful and arduous, you begin to question if waking up tomorrow morning is a desirable outcome of laying down to sleep each night,
I consider math to be one of those obstacles,
I would like to say that this is not your fault, I’m sure you are an excellent professor. I am simply stating that I have never been enrolled in a math class that has had a positive effect on my mental health. I was enrolled in a gifted school in 3rd grade, and ever since then, my destiny was sealed, I was GIFTED, I was above the status quo, my parents could now pat themselves on the back knowing they will rest easy in a luxury retirement community because their son is destined for GREAT THINGS. I wasn’t supposed to go to school to simply pass, I was supposed to go to school and THRIVE.
But that never happened, because despite the fact that I exceled in pretty much everything else.
I always struggled with math.
I never got above a C in any math class I took, and every single C I got, was not for lack of trying, I fought for that 70 every, single, semester. I was the only person in my class in 3rd grade who couldn’t finish the 100-problem-times-tables test within the time limit, I failed a math test in 8th grade because I failed to make an Origami Crane, the test was supposed to be a gift of an easy A to the students before Christmas break, but for me, even things that were supposed to be easy, still ended up being a struggle.
I had to drop out of the gifted school and attend regular high school because it’s hard to focus on your schoolwork over the sound of your mother getting slammed into walls by her drunk (now thankfully ex) boyfriend. The first D I ever got in any class was in Algebra 2, I will never forget how disappointed my father was in me, to him, it was downright disgraceful that despite the fact I gave up on the gifted school, my performance remained the same despite the fact I was back with the “losers”. He finally realized his son wasn’t going to change the world, only after yelling at him for 8 straight years so now everytime the words “how do your grades look” are uttered, he gets PTSD Flashbacks of the hours he spent crying, trying to explain his failures. I know he says he`s proud of me, and my mom says that I shouldn’t care what he says because he`s a hypocrite, but it’s hard to not seek approval from the man who kept you out of harm’s way when mom was still a drunk. His son did not end up at Harvard, His son did not end up at Yale.
His son ended up at Community College and he can barely handle that.
If you looked at my transcript, you may have seen that this is my second time taking this class. This class, that I`m Only taking because the world works in cruel and mysterious ways. In other words, I was only allowed to enjoy the freedom that came with the eviction of my mother`s Ex-Boyfriend and my mother`s new-found sobriety for a year, as one Chinese man`s extremely, extremely, poor decision to consume a bat would ensure that any sense of normalcy that lay on the horizon would be completely eviscerated. In other words, the pandemic happened, and I was never able to take an SAT, or go to prom, or do any of the other cool things seniors do that you are supposed to look forward to for your entire life.
Last Semester, this class brought me to my knees, it had been over 5 years since id been in a proper math class. It didn’t take long for the pain, confusion, and frustration that I had experienced throughout my entire career as a student to all come flooding back to me. I had other things going on in my life as well, despite the fact I was interacting with people my age on a daily basis for the first time in over 3 years, I never felt more alone. there was a girl involved, a girl that I wanted to call my own but never got to, but I won’t bore you with those details.
The best part is, I didn’t actually fail, I got a 67 but apparently, I needed a 70 to get in this class to get into College Algebra, I’m actually kind of glad I didn`t know that, because I probably would have ended it right there and then considering the state I was in. it’s kind of the story of my life, not a complete failure, but not good enough to be acceptable,
I know it’s simple math, I know it’s not that hard, but numbers have always been a foreign language to me, and many math concepts continue to defy what I consider “logic” no matter how many times someone explains it to me.
I will most likely be taking my life if I do not pass this semester. But don’t worry, I will be trying everything in my power to pass, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to leave my mother, my family, and the 4-5 people outside of my family that give a damn about me. I know that our world is only going to get worse. The planet is only going to get hotter, resources are only going to get scarcer, and people will continue to grow more selfish and vitriolic towards each other. But I like to hold onto hope that one day I will be happy, I will sleep somewhere other than my childhood bedroom at my mother’s house, preferably far away from this cesspit known as the state of Florida,
I will try the Extra help, I will watch the Tutorials made by Indian people on youtube ( I can understand even the thickest of accents quite well, I have a lot of conversations with Xfinity/Frontier customer support as a part of my job. I am not taking this class a third time, and failure is not an option, I don’t subscribe to the notion that the president, whoever that may be, is going to snap his fingers and make all my student loan debt disappear, I pride myself on the fact that I am not several thousand dollars in debt, it’s the only reason I stayed in town to attend this college, If I was an (even more) reckless man, I would be far away from here, ~$50k in debt and probably performing just as well if not worse in school, except I would probably a heck of a lot happier, as I would have the ability to drown my sorrows in the debauchery that normal college students get up to.
If I fail, please know that the blood will not be on your hands, It will be on the hands of the system, In my opinion, I should only have to take courses that are relevant to my degree, and I would like to immediately come out and say that no, math is not important to my brand of CompSci, I am not a programmer, I am an IT Technician, I fix computers and set them up, I will make a promise to you that If I make it to the server room of a fortune 500 company like I desire, I will never simplify a complex fraction in my entire career as an IT technician. I wish I was in this class because I wanted to be here, I wish everyone could. I’m sure if everyone wanted to be here, your numbers would look better. And people would be a lot easier to teach. I don’t want you to worry about me, in fact, I don’t want you to forward this message to anyone on the school faculty. In fact, please, please, don’t. do not want to spend a week in the psych ward, losing out on an extremely valuable week of wages while I sit in a circle with a bunch of other broken people as we talk about our feelings like that’s going to fix anything.
As you can probably tell, I have a couple of screws loose, but the most important thing to you is I DON’T WANT TO HURT ANYBODY, I know that this email has made me seem like a potential threat to the innocent, but I need to make it completely clear that I do not wish harm upon a single living soul. I blame myself for everything. The last thing I want to do is take my frustration out on innocent people. Also please remember, I don’t want to end my life, and most likely, I won`t. I also don’t want you to think this is some twisted attempt to get you to give me some leeway. Even if I do fail, I probably won’t take my life, I`ve been told I am too much of a narcissist to do so. I wish I had the time or money to take a break and address my mental health, but life is short, and my Florida Prepaid runs out next year.
Remember, don’t worry about me, to you, I’m just words on screen. And to most everyone in this world, that’s all I’ll ever be.
Best wishes
A joyless Individual

Title: Echoes of the Past
Tags: Historical, Romance, Slow Burn, Angst, Mutual Pining, Canon Compliant
Summary: In the turbulent times of pre-war Germany, amidst political upheaval and societal unrest, an unexpected bond forms between two unlikely souls. Heinrich Bruning, the earnest and determined chancellor, finds himself drawn to the enigmatic presence of Paul von Hindenburg, the revered president. As they navigate the complexities of their positions and the looming shadows of history, their connection deepens, unraveling secrets and desires long buried. But in a world teetering on the brink of chaos, will their love withstand the tests of time, or will it be swept away by the tide of history?
Chapter 1: Chance Encounter
The corridors of the Reichstag were abuzz with whispers and murmurs as Chancellor Heinrich Bruning made his way through the labyrinthine halls. His mind was occupied with the weight of the nation's affairs, the economic crises, the rise of extremism—all pressing concerns demanding his attention. Yet, amidst the cacophony of voices, one presence stood out, commanding his attention in a way he couldn't quite explain.
Paul von Hindenburg, the venerable president, exuded an aura of quiet authority as he strode through the corridors, his gaze steady and unwavering. Bruning couldn't help but steal glances in his direction, drawn to the man's imposing presence like a moth to flame. There was a mysterious allure about Hindenburg, a sense of history and gravitas that seemed to envelop him like a cloak.
Their paths crossed unexpectedly one afternoon, as Bruning found himself caught in a whirlwind of paperwork and deadlines. Hindenburg, ever the stoic figure of authority, offered a nod of acknowledgment as their eyes met briefly. It was a fleeting moment, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, yet it left an indelible impression on Bruning's mind.
In the days that followed, their encounters became more frequent, each exchange leaving Bruning with a sense of longing he couldn't quite shake. There was something magnetic about Hindenburg, something that drew him in despite the vast chasm that separated their stations in life.
Chapter 2: Shared Secrets
As the political landscape grew increasingly tumultuous, Bruning found solace in the quiet moments shared with Hindenburg. Behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes of the world, they found sanctuary in each other's company.
Their conversations ranged from matters of state to personal anecdotes, each word exchanged like a piece of a puzzle, slowly revealing the depths of their souls. Bruning was surprised by the ease with which he opened up to Hindenburg, sharing his hopes and fears without reservation.
In turn, Hindenburg offered glimpses of his own inner turmoil, the weight of his responsibilities pressing down upon him like a heavy burden. It was in those moments of vulnerability that Bruning saw beyond the facade of the revered president, glimpsing the man beneath the legend.
Their bond deepened with each passing day, forging a connection that transcended the boundaries of politics and society. They found solace in each other's arms, seeking refuge from the storm raging outside. In Hindenburg's embrace, Bruning found a sense of belonging he had never known, a feeling of completeness that eluded him in the harsh realities of the world.
Chapter 3: Shadows of the Past
But their happiness was not to last, for the shadows of the past loomed large over their fragile love. As political tensions reached a boiling point, Bruning and Hindenburg found themselves caught in the crossfire of competing ideologies, their bond tested in ways they could never have imagined.
Whispers of scandal and innuendo followed them like a dark cloud, threatening to tear them apart at the seams. Bruning knew that their love was forbidden, a dangerous liaison that could spell disaster for them both if exposed to the harsh light of scrutiny.
Yet, despite the risks, he could not bring himself to turn away from Hindenburg, from the man who had captured his heart so completely. Their love was a flame burning bright amidst the darkness, a beacon of hope in a world consumed by chaos.
In the end, it was not the outside forces that tore them apart, but the inexorable march of time itself. As Hindenburg's health began to fail, Bruning was forced to confront the harsh reality of their situation, knowing that their time together was running out.
In the quiet moments before the end, as Hindenburg lay frail and fading, Bruning vowed to cherish every precious moment they had left, holding onto their love with a fierceness born of desperation. For in the end, all that mattered was the love they shared, a love that would endure long after they were gone, echoing through the annals of history for eternity.
End Notes:
In the annals of history, the love between Heinrich Bruning and Paul von Hindenburg remains a footnote, a whispered secret buried beneath the weight of time. Yet, for those who knew them, their love was a flame burning bright amidst the darkness, a testament to the enduring power of love in a world consumed by chaos. And though their story may have been forgotten by the passage of time, the echoes of their love remain, immortalized in the hearts of those who dared to believe in the possibility of a love that transcends all boundaries.

I believe that money and guns get you a lot further in a war than magic these days
Glad to finally knock this off of my list as it's been sitting in various places around my apartment for about 4 years now. Rebel of the Sands was the debut novel by Alwyn Hamilton and, as I discovered just recently, it went on to have 2 sequels making it into a trilogy. I'll be perfectly honest, this is a case where the book cover was so nice that I purchased it without really paying attention to anything else. But, i'm happy that I did because it ends up being an enjoyable, if formulaic, story.

Opening

Rebel of the Sands isn't exactly reinventing the wheel. If you're even a little bit familiar with the Young Adult Fantasy space you've probably come across a novel or two just like this. Young protagonist stuck in a backwater town, attempts to attain the money needed to leave without her caretakers learning about it, dead mother, unknown father, meets a mysterious boy from out of town, boy is being hunted by the authorities/army for whatever reason, girl hides boy, boy helps girl flee town, adventure ensues. The setup is very traditional and, I think, it held back my initial enjoyment of this book. I had to restart it maybe 3 or 4 times before I moved past the first chapter and finally started getting a grasp of the characters.

Setting

I would describe this setting as Prince of Persia with just a bit industrialization thrown in. There is a somewhat noticeable divide in the setting between magic and technology. You have things like firearms and trains, but Djinn copulating with women to create magical creatures known as Demdji are also very common and acknowledged by all parties. While in some places it might be rare to see a Ghoul or a Skinwalker, everyone knows that if you're travelling across the desert you need to be prepared in case you meet one. Overall the presence of magic in the story is more of a focus than any technology, except for guns. And that's only because this is a case where iron negates magic. So, guns are the most common weapon you'll see. As someone who loves Prince of Persia, the Arabian Knights, and really any type of story that takes place in those types of settings I found myself drawn further and further in as the story progressed and the world was fleshed out. There's a rebellion going on (Which you can probably guess by the title) and this is used to develop the world further as, once our protagonist spends more time with her rebel friend, we learn more about the conflict between different nations, weapons of war, tenuous alliances, etc.

The Protagonist

Amani Al'Hiza is the type of protagonist you can recognize from other works, but still respect due to the skill the author uses in creating her. A very nice touch, in my opinion, is how she develops from a girl who primarily only cares about her own life and freedom to someone who can believe in a cause greater than herself. She doesn't start off as the pinnacle of virtue and heroism that many other protagonists do. In fact, there is a notable moment where when choosing between escape or helping her best friend she chooses to escape. And it's never really made clear whether her friend actually died or not because in this novel she never goes back to that town where she left him (But he was wounded at the time and in a pretty dire situation). Rather than make her out to be selfish or unlikable I think this adds some complexity to her character. As I said earlier she comes from a poor situation. Living in the desert it is also common for people to accept death as a natural and regular event. Look out for yourself. If you're wounded on the trail you'll be left behind. That sort of thing. But through her journey outside of her hometown, by interacting with other people and seeing more of the world, she gradually changes until there is a notable difference in her nature by the story's end.
While her journey starts slow, maybe even very slow lol, it ends in a powerful showdown set between multiple different groups, with Amani and her friends caught in the middle. In the first few chapters I wasn't sure if I really wanted to continue this novel, but i'm glad I did, because seeing Amani's story play out as she traverses cities and learns more about herself made for an exciting tale.

Conclusion

I think Rebel of the Sands is something that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. But if you're specifically looking for something for a young reader in your life to try as a first helping of the Fantasy genre this is a perfect choice. I really do believe that the Prince of Persia is the best comparison that can be made. You have fast paced action, romance between our protagonist and her companion which doesn't overtake anything else going on in the story, magical forces that become more prominent as the story progresses, and a largescale conflict between nations that a young girl is brought into by accident. It's the type of read that, once you get out of the protagonist's hometown, quickly moves you along without ever actually rushing through important character moments. It's just some enjoyable, light fantasy that I think makes for a nice change of pace whenever you're tired from the large epics out there.

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.

This is a very charged thread: there are going to be a large group of pro-Israel folk browsing this thread, frustrated and irate as bad memories are invoked of all the times they’ve had to deal with or seen pro-Hamas folk engaging in rape denialism. In much the same way a leftist sub is not going to be interested in a dispassionate analysis of an Israeli strike with high civilian collateral damage, this sub — at times — will struggle to calmly assess the subject matter. An expected behaviour isn’t necessarily the correct behaviour — the actions we believe one ought to take.
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 attack
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

When 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:

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”.
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.”

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?!
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:

1. Value the process just as much — if not, more — than the conclusion.
2. Be wary of how the presentation of information or the omission of pertinent information can lead to the inadvertent spread of misinformation.
3. Be aware of how “charged” topics/threads lead to poor reasoning that lacks dispassionate analysis.
4. 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.
5. Link the article. Read the article. (Thoroughly.)
6. Redirect criticism to areas where it will be the strongest.

Click here for Part 3. Warning: you might get stung by a bee 🐝

For the sake of transparency, I am not the architect of the following discoveries, and am just helping to forward their message and clean it up. Copywrite of the following work belongs to no one and everyone is not only welcome to share these findings as if they were their own, but openly encouraged to do so.
Introduction
If you think you know anything about MAGA. Trust me, you know nothing. Not even his most devout followers or haters will have considered the following. And for the sake of our democracy and way of life, I hope people read this.
This work may very well help to shift the narrative on Trump in a meaningful and foundational way, but I don't want this work exacerbate any feelings of ill will to MAGA members, for they have been prey to possibly one of the largest con jobs our world has ever seen, especially without the help of this counternarrative.
Snippet From My Thesis On MAGA
As I work on tidying up the master file with the helpful dms I got, allow me to post just the most contentious part of it below, now that it’s able to stand on its own.
MAGA didn’t begin in 2015. I argue it began in 2001 on 9/11, while also harnessing and funneling decades of anti-government resentment till many Americans would openly call for a “wrecking ball” figure to help “drain the swamp.”

A Key Fueling Factor To American Outrage- Inflation
Many elements contributed to growing American anger that would later contribute to MAGA, this is a snippet from the larger work.
Rising Cost of Living
o In 1950, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 24.1. By 2000, it had risen to 168 (a 597% increase), and by 2023, it had reached 304.7, a 1163% increase from 1950.
o Housing prices saw a drastic rise overtime, with the median home price increasing from $7,354 in 1950 to $388,700 in 2023, a staggering 5185% increase.
o While rising rent costs can contribute to overall inflation and cost of living, even the left has largely failed to address how exponentially increasing real estate prices impact the cost of living. This omission has made many other conspiracy theories seem more plausible in its wake.
o If we don’t find real solutions for real estate that also aren’t extreme, then society will feel more and more pressure to accept “unreasonable solutions” like Trump, even though he’s the last person on earth who could solve it, considering his business acumen and history.
MAGA Dynamics and Blind Devotion
In 2016, it wasn't just the left calling the MAGA movement a cult. Trump famously said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." Even the left failed to grasp the gravity of this statement. As someone who nearly died in a deadly cult and based on my research, I don't know of a single cult where the founder could openly commit murder without losing members. Trump didn't just believe he'd created one of the largest cults ever; he believed he'd created the most fanatical. Let's hope his followers prove him wrong by showing a willingness to criticize him, regardless of their vote.

The MAGA Question
Instead of challenging MAGA supporters on fallacious beliefs, ask them this question to see if they’re at least able to see a world where Trump isn’t a biblical King: "If Trump admitted he was behind 9/11 and used resulting insurance money and donations from hostile governments to create false “grass root” campaigns. And did it all in a way to make it seem like others committed his own atrocities. And that he intended to destroy America in every way if he got elected, would you still vote for him?"

Yet even then, getting through to a MAGA supporter inevitably refers to 9/11 “research” out there when they realize individual positions are usually fallacious. This quagmire me decide to investigate this tragedy, to see if there was a more plausible counter theory. Honestly, the more I looked the more surprised I became. Here are my findings that are but a snippet of my full thesis on MAGA.

9/11 Conspiracy Theories and MAGA
Conspiracy Theories and Credibility:
o First off, conspiracy theories should involve some effort to verify narratives, rather than just repeating claims across multiple sources that mistake themselves as evidence; like a bunch of people who repeat “bob farted” across multiple websites may see that as evidence, when in fact, it was Sean. Sorry Sean.

Early Origins of MAGA:
o Although some believe MAGA began in 2015, its roots lie as early as the 1980s with Rush Limbaugh and later became "serious" on 9/11.
o 9/11 conspiracy theories claim controlled demolitions were used, but the lack of any cellphone recordings of explosions weakens this theory.

Suspicious Factors:
o The official narrative involving chaotic jet fuel leading to a straight fall seemed questionable.
o The collapse of a third building (WTC 7), which wasn’t directly hit, fueled suspicions.
o Airline stocks were heavily shorted before the attacks, raising concerns about insider trading. Harvey Pitt, Republican SEC Chairman at the time, investigated this and claimed there was nothing amiss, but was criticized for later crimes and forced to resign.
o It’s also suspicious that in Trumps 2000 book “The America We Deserve” that he stated, “I really am convinced we’re in danger of the sort of terrorist attacks that will make the [1993] bombing of the Trade Center look like kids playing with firecrackers. No sensible analyst rejects this possibility, and plenty of them, like me, are not wondering if but when it will happen*.”*
§ Yet democrats would largely miss this point entirely and obsess over his false claim that he called for Bin Laden to be killed, when he had not. Somehow conspiracy theorists would find this ‘cool’ rather than suspicious.
CNN Fact Check Donald Trump Osama Bin Laden Book Claim

Reports and Simplified Narratives:
o FEMA's 2002 report and NIST's 2005 report provided technical explanations of the tower collapses.
o However, the Port Authority Chairman stuck to the oversimplified narrative that "jet fuel melted steel beams," even though he knew this was a half-truth, as detailed in the next section, fueling anti-government conspiracies. The question is why.

Potential Impact:
o 9/11 conspiracy theories sowed distrust in the government, which may have been one of the attackers' objectives. Anyone that heavily profited from this tragedy, and helped further those objects, should be questioned.
o The ‘Loose Change’ “documentary” pointed out suspicious parts of the story, but failed to give any clear claims as to who was purportedly behind it. It also failed to note the Twin Towers titanic design flaw that could result in a straight fall. Even the 2015 version of this film fails to mention nearly all of the known facts in this report.
o The Director of that film later states:
“I DON’T THINK WE’D HAVE PRESIDENT TRUMP IF IT WEREN’T FOR 9/11”
“9/11 created a culture of fear, of xenophobia, this sense of entitlement and everything we’ve seen. Warrantless wire-tapping, Guantanamo Bay, everything that’s happened led us to this point, we wouldn’t be here without 9/11. They want to kick out all the Mexicans and Muslims because of this culture of fear and bigotry and xenophobia that directly led to the election of fucking Donald Trump. [laughing] That’s our world now! We had Reagan before, and Governor Schwarzenegger. But President Donald Trump? It’s just weird. Everything is just weird.”
Theoutline Reflecting On Loose Change
o While the director was in the right to ask questions, he failed to ask the most obvious ones.
o However, his lead “researcher,” Jason Bermas, would turn out to be a full blown MAGA wingnut.
Patriot Jason Bermas
o Anyone that would benefit politically and financially from 9/11 should be fully investigated.
Further Reading:
Harvey Pitt - Wikipedia
Politifact How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation
It will never be possible to defeat MAGA followers “logically” with people who believed his parties rhetoric “that 9/11 was an inside job.”

I say… what if those Republican leaders were self reporting?
What if Trump followers have been rallying behind the very man responsible for its orchestration?

The Twin Towers and Larry Silverstein
Architectural Pitfalls of the Twin Towers:
· The Twin Towers had unique architectural flaws due to the excessive heavy load on their exoskeletons to allow for more floor and leasing space, which greatly contributed to their straight collapse after the 9/11 attacks. This was the first and last skyscraper made in this way.
· For anyone who said that “any other building would have fallen sideways,” you were right, though perhaps not entirely how you may have imagined. A "Coke Can" analogy shows how a similar weakened structure can result in a straight fall, contrary to conspiracy theories claiming controlled demolitions. This isn't something I'm asking you to take for granted, or to read from media sources you don’t trust. This is something you can verify on your own, in person, in real time, in reality.
· However Trump, despite being close friends with Silverstein as we’ll cover later, claimed "It wasn’t architectural defects, you know, the World Trade Center was always known as a very, very strong building” per the attached PolitiFact article.
· Supporting Article:
Engineering Experts Explain the Collapse of the Twin Towers
Politifact Donald Trumps 911 Speculation

Larry Silverstein, The Leasor Of The Twin Towers:
· Nearly went bankrupt after losing his main tenant Drexel Burnham in 1980 after he built tower 7 with him in mind.
· I don't know how many of us understand the level of desperation a situation like this can cause in someone and how many potential crimes it can easily push them towards.
· He is known for then saying, “…looking up at the twin towers and thinking, my building is huge, but it is made diminutive by the twin towers. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be incredible someday to own those?" That's not the statement of a sane person who nearly went bankrupt, and if anything, hints towards jealousy.
· He managed to secure Salomon Brothers two years later, which later paid $300 million in securities fraud penalties casting suspicion over the entities who saved Silverstein, in addition to their overall plans for the future.
· How he would become able to outbid everyone else in 2001, for the right to lease the twin towers, would become a mystery we will untangle later.
Further Reading
Manhattan Institute – Silverstein On Ground Zero
Justice Department: Salomon Brothers Securities Fraud

Trump and Real Estate Connections
Historical Context and Redevelopment Plans:
· A redevelopment plan commenced in the 1990s by Gov. Pataki and Mayor Giuliani, spurred a commercial revival in downtown Manhattan, making the World Trade Center prime property. Pataki would go on to criticize trump, while the other would prove to be one of this wildest, if not craziest, supporters to truly fanatical degrees.
Further Reading:
Manhattan Institute: Rebuilding Ground Zero
· Tom Leppert was the CEO of Turner construction which right wing conspiracy theorists claimed helped ensure the towers would fall straight down. He also became part of Trumps transition team. While there’s no evidence of explosives being used, tampering with the exoskeleton and weaking the relatively thin central column ahead of time are theoretically plausible.
Huffpost Donald Trump Transition Team
Wikipedia Tom Leppert

The bidding for the World Trade Center lease involved only a few major real estate firms as allowed by the Port Authority Chairman. Below are the allowed bidders and their estimated worth at the time included:

· Donald J. Trump’s Organization:
o Worth around $1.5 billion in 1996 after multiple bankruptcies. Confirmed only by Forbes magazine in 2005.
· Tishman Speyer:
o Valued at approximately $1.8 billion in 2000, would soon face ‘tenant issues’ with many scrupulous legal claims against them.
· Gale & Wentworth:
o Worth a few million.
· Mortimer Zuckerman’s Boston Properties:
o Mortimer Zuckerman alone was worth around $2 billion.
· The Rouse Company:
o Mainly a shopping mall operator.
· Brookfield Properties:
o A Canadian firm valued at over $20 billion in 2000.
· Vornado Realty Trust:
o Worth an estimated $2-3 billion. Had the highest bid, but was unexpectedly outed by the Port Authority Chairman, paving the way for Silverstein’s win. CEO of Vornado Trust, Steven Roth would later do many deals with Trump in 2005 and beyond.
· Larry Silverstein:
o As mentioned, was nearly bankrupt in the 1980s, and was mysteriously awarded the right to lease the World Trade Center contract at $3.2 billion, twice the original asking price of 1.2 Billion. It would still be owned by the Port authority of NY and NJ, he would just own the rights to lease it.
o Port Authority Chairman, Lewis Eisenberg, made this unexplained decision, who also later became Trumps lead fundraiser in 2015.
o After putting down only $125 million, as per the contract, Silverstein would be getting back $100 million just 6 weeks after his bid and with an uncommon terrorist insurance addition. His exaggerated bid and insurance contract would also greatly inflate the amount of money he could get from an insurance claim. If the winning bid was 1.5 billion, the insurance payout would also have been much less.
o In real estate, its quite rare for a prudent investor to bid twice the asking price, as demonstrated by the other companies that backed out, of which I find no connections to Trump.
o If anyone had known about 9/11 ahead of time, like Trump claims he did, it would become drastically easier to outbid all competitors, knowing that for pennies on the dollar, you would be getting much more back.

Further Reading:
NY Times Article on World Trade Center Deal
Wikipedia on Lewis Eisenberg
Patch On Lew Eisenberg Leading Trump Fundraising
NY Times Article Silverstein Gets Most Of His Money Back

Giuliani’s Gangster Acts
Arguably, if the above points are what they objectively appear to be, that would be a bad thing. You’d think that would be enough. However, Guliani would say “hold my beer’ to those sentiments.

1. Outdated Equipment for First Responders:
· Due to Giuliani’s inadequate leadership, first responders used old equipment that failed to warn them to evacuate the towers. Which contributed to their deaths while they searched for survivors.
NY Times Article: Giuliani’s Preparedness on 9/11
2. Obstructed Recovery Efforts:
· Giuliani delayed proper search and rescue operations for days, possibly costing lives of citizens and first responders who didn’t know they needed to leave.
· 20 Years later he would claim that some of Bidens actions were so reckless that… “It would be as if I got down to ground zero and said take out the firefighters, all you civilians see if you can get yourselves out.” Self report?
NBC News Report: Giuliani’s Role in Recovery
NY1: Giuliani Reflects on 9/11 Anniversary
3. Twin Towers Fund and Privatization:
· Giuliani privatized the Twin Towers relief funds, making them unauditable.
NY Times Article on Privatization
NY Post Article: Giuliani and Twin Towers Fund
4. Survivors Threaten To SUE Guliani For Relief Funds
· Even after privatizing the twin towers fund, Giuliani would make it incredibly difficult for the victims to receive their fair share. Requiring many of them to spend unnecessary money on advisors and consultants.
· Even with their legal pressure, he only agreed to “give the remaining 100 million to victims,” out of 170 million, if he could first put the money into the bank account of a charity in which he controlled.
· From the attached article: “But Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said that he remained adamantly opposed to any transfer of funds to Mr. Giuliani's charity.
He also objected to Mr. Giuliani's continued control over even the $15 million in his private charity. Mr. Giuliani, he charged, gives every indication of using the Twin Towers Fund to maintain a staff of loyal supporters and to advance his political aspirations.
'The concern that politics will infiltrate the fund becomes even more apparent when one reviews the list of the mayor's former political appointees who are assuming senior staff positions or serving on the fund's board of directors,'' he wrote in a letter on Monday to Eliot L. Spitzer, the state attorney general.”
NY Times Article On Guliani Pressed To Disperse Twin Tower Funds
· However, there is no evidence of Giuliani making good on this promise.
· There are honestly no words for this. All associates of Guliani should be investigated.
5. Attempted Election Cancellation in 2001:
· Giuliani tried to cancel the 2001 election to stay mayor longer. He even considered removing term limits with Governor Pataki’s support. Similar to how Trump has “joked” about increasing his own term limits.
Business Insider: Giuliani and Pataki’s Attempt to Cancel Elections
Esquire Trump Joke Third Term
6. Motive
· In 2000, Guliani unfortunately got prostate cancer. We have to be willing to ask if this was a motive for his corrupt acts.
SurvivorNet: Giuliani’s Cancer


Silverstein’s Unscrupulous Greed
1. Initial Settlement Demands and Profit Claims:
· Despite only having been out for $25 million, Silverstein initially sought nearly $8 BILLION in insurance settlements and argued for "loss of revenue from those buildings," which is quite an uncompassionate claim considering how many lost their lives. Talk about a prime example of the working and lower classes making sacrifices while rich elites complain they didn’t profit enough from the same tragedy.
2. Rebuilding Contributions and Insurance Payout:
· Despite the fact that he only owned the leasing rights to the twin towers, ‘Silverstein Properties’ received up to $4 billion from insurance payouts, instead of the Port Authority, which would be customary as the owner.
· While it's assumed that most of that money went to rebuilding, this isn't actually known or proven. It would be different if he had a separate insurance policy that was not connected to the rebuilding of the towers, with different monies going to the Port Authority to rebuild. This was not the case.
History.com: Rebuilding of Ground Zero
· He additionally refused to return the rights of Building 1 to the Port Authority until he secured additional funds from an $8 billion state fund. Talk about heartless.
Wikipedia: Larry Silverstein
· Various entities would contribute a total of $20 billion to rebuild all six damaged or destroyed towers, including four towers leased by Silverstein and two others he hadn't. This makes it unlikely that he had to go out of pocket with his 4 Billion.
3. Estimated Net Worth:
· While earlier records of Silverstein's net worth are unavailable, aside from his near bankruptcy in 1980, he is currently estimated to be worth around $1 billion.
Forbes Profile: Larry Silverstein

Silverstein’s Controversial Alignment with Trump
Larry Silverstein's connections and public persona have often been scrutinized. This scrutiny became particularly relevant in 2015 when he publicly displayed his support for Donald Trump:

• Long-standing Relationship: Silverstein revealed a 30-year-long acquaintance with Trump, emphasizing the depth of their connection. This means his relationship started in 1985, roughly two years after gaining a powerful criminal organization as a tenant in his tower 7, that saved him from bankruptcy, and 6 years before Trumps first, of many, bankruptcies. This also means they knew each other before 9/11.
• Supportive Yet Vague: He commended Trump for diligently pursuing what he believed to be right, echoing Trump's own ambiguous rhetoric. When pressed about the righteousness of Trump’s goals, Silverstein ambiguously responded, "well, it’s... you know... we’ll find out." This mirrors Trump’s evasive " Well, we're going to have to see what happens" stance, when questioned about committing to a peaceful transfer of power prior to January 6th—an event that ultimately unfolded with violence and chaos.
• Early Endorsement: By voicing his support when Trump announced his presidential campaign, Silverstein positioned himself as one of the early prominent figures in the MAGA movement.

Watch Silverstein Discuss Trump
CNN Trump On 2020 Election

The Man Who Boasted
When most people witness a tragedy, especially of this size, it takes time for their brains to comprehend what happened, it takes even more time to process it. Thus, anyone who was able to brag about their own assets hours after this tragedy on a radio show, is at least worthy of Investigation, especially if this very event helped reshape a misinformation landscape in which he would thrive as its King.
Politifact – How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation

· Insensitive Boasts About Building Height:
o Trump also boasted that with the fall of the Twin Towers, his building became the tallest in Manhattan—an inaccurate and insensitive claim given the context.
Independent 9 11 Trump Tallest Building
· Early Claims and Revisions:
o Shortly after 9/11, Donald Trump claimed he saw the second plane hit the towers from his Manhattan apartment. He also made an unfounded claim that he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering, a statement that has been widely debunked. Despite varying explanations and suggesting that he saw it on an untraceable video that was “widely covered,” these claims helped fueled significant conspiracy theories. If anything, this was a self-report.
o Snopes: Trump Claims Muslims Cheered
o FactCheck.org: Trump’s Revised 9/11 Claim
· Visit to Ground Zero:
o A week after the attacks, Trump visited Ground Zero and stated that although he was present, he wouldn’t consider himself a first responder. This attempt at humility struck many as morbidly insensitive, considering the true heroism displayed by actual first responders.
ABC News: Trump Shares New Details About Morning of 9/11

Legacy of Suspicion:
These actions paint Trump as one of the more suspicious figures post-9/11, who may have used the tragedy for personal and political gain. His connections with figures like Larry Silverstein and Lewis Eisenberg, the Port Authority chairman, hint at deep financial interests potentially influenced by the 9/11 aftermath. Meanwhile, survivors and first responders faced challenges in securing support, highlighting the disparities between their experiences and the political maneuvers at play. Again morbidly juxtaposing the struggles of the poor and working class versus elite swamp members such as Trump and his ilk.

While being, arguably, one of the more suspicious Americans of potentially “being an insider," Trump would go on to cast doubt everywhere else with his new holier than thou rhetoric and hints and claims that “it was an inside job” for the next 15 years.

What if he was speaking from personal experience.

The Deepfake Dilemma
Now in a world where Trump's followers already discount reality, the emergence of AI-generated deepfakes threatens to further distort the truth. This technology could transform legal standards of evidence, making it easy to dismiss genuine evidence against the right as fabricated, while baseless accusations against the left might be accepted as the long-awaited proof.

The Potential Escalation of MAGA Actions
Given the willingness of MAGA supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th, bolstered by Trump's incendiary rhetoric, the potential for escalation is alarming. The advent of fabricated images and videos could present unprecedented national security threats.

Trump's Incendiary Rhetoric on January 6th
Trump's speech on January 6th was a clear incitement, as he urged his followers to "fight like hell" to "stop the steal," despite admitting DURING THE SPEECH that there was no evidence of the massive electoral fraud he claimed. As well as his lawyers laughable court “arguments.”
“...while there is no evidence to prove any wrongdoing…”
Npr.Org Read Trumps Jan 6 Speech
LawAndCrime Come On Now

This speech, coupled with his undermining of constitutional processes, underscores the risks and intentional deceit of his rhetoric. Too bad Republicans senators and our Supreme Court have either claimed he was above the law, or continue to postpone his court dates till after elections. A wild position when treason is on the table. Did that dude commit treason that claims he wants to become a dictator? I dunno, lets let him potentially get elected and then find out!

Elon Musk's Political Shift
Elon was once very much a leftist, unfortunately in more and more far left “activists” continue to attack him endlessly for not agreeing with them on their own singular issues and perspectives. To them I say congratulations, you successfully pushed the most powerful man on earth into the far right. Great job. Great job.
Elon Musk's journey from a liberal supporter to a figure embraced by the far right highlights the volatile nature of political affiliations in today's polarized environment. His actions since acquiring Twitter—such as promoting unfounded conspiracy theories and making high-profile firings—suggest a departure from his initial free speech advocacy.
Especially when considering he fired Don Lemon from his platform for an interview he found offensive. Canceling opinions you find offensive isn’t free speech, it’s literally the opposite. I’m sure many people were offended by the examples below. What about them?
Far Right Support Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Need for a Critical Approach
Supporters of Trump should critically evaluate why he did not pardon the January 6th insurrectionists during his term, despite using them as political leverage now. This pattern of using allies until they are no longer useful is evident throughout his political and personal dealings.
What better example could there possibly be as to what trump truly thinks of his supporters, how sacrificial he sees them as part of his endless narratives, then his refusal and failure to pardon January 6th insurrectionists while still in office?
Of course, anyone “just on the grass” or outside the building should only get a day in jail at most, however people that barged inside the capital should naturally get much more.
And while trump refused to pardon those people before, he now calls them “hostages” and is using them as political bait to a truly wild degree. It's very likely he will make good on this promise to further embolden the narrative that “Democrats are trying to take you down and only I can save you.”
His supporters need to seriously ask, “Why didn’t he pardon us before?”
Also, remember when he claimed he would pay legal fees for supporters that were violent at his rallies, but then seemed to falter and change his mind. Much like how Amber Heard donated her money, “by pledging it.”
List of allies he was quick to discard or dump. And let's face it, all of these people have done more for him than the average MAGA supporter. The only person he cares about is himself.
Trump claims that Mike Pence, the man he vetted more than anyone else, “has gone to the dark side.”
Trump seems to have supported the chants to “Hang Mike Pense,” at least in jest? We hope? There are also no links of him condemning them. Yet admittedly this one point doesn’t have hard evidence like a recording or video as far as I know, it certainly fits his brand.
Mike Flynn, a Trump appointee, later testifies against him.
Trump admits Flynn lied on his behalf, accidentally testifying against him, but does pardon him. As long as you’re colluding with Russia you’re ok it seems?

The Future Under Trump's Influence
Trump's rhetoric about overriding constitutional norms to address what he calls "massive fraud" hints at authoritarian aspirations. His praise for dictators and divisive language further aligns with dangerous historical precedents.
Important Articles:
“How a second trump term could end us democracy.” -commondreams
“Ask the expert: What a 2nd Trump term could mean for democracy and advancing policy.” - Msu Today
“Judgement Day” for political opponents.

To predict the future lets base it on known facts:
Apparently, he will help attack our constitution like he may have with the Twin Towers.
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Stated he intended to be a Dictator on day one, but then promises it will be just for a day. Is that how that works? Or is it “Once you go Dictator you don’t go back?”
Praising dictators, referring to immigrants as vermin etc, akin to Hitlers rhetoric against “blood mixing.”
More fraudulent use of lawyers and courts that gets everyone else in trouble but him, with them arguing he's above the law. This further shows how much he will consistently use people for his own ends and then dump them when they're no longer of use.
Warning from republicans and notes on ass kissing. As well as being generally unfit for office.
If you want help from Trump you better kiss his ***
Trumps says he kept Omarosa just because she said nice things about him, while defaming her
DeSantis: "You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful."
Thehill Trump Views People Who Kiss His A As Weak.
And if you dare to speak out against trump, you better kiss his ****
Politico Graham Breaks With Trump On Abortion
WashingtonPost Trump Graham Abortion
News Yahoo 30 More Republicans Denounce Donald Trump Unqualified President
Hot take, if he’s elected president America, and the world, is frankly fucked.

Predicting MAGA 2024 And Beyond
Naturally there are endless possibilities of what MAGA and dictators around the world decide to do this year and into the future. I believe that the one thing that insinuates when it's time for their next evil actions is dictated by their standings in the polls or when a fellow dictator needs a little more political pressure from war torn inflated oil prices etc.
Dictators Unite
While writing my thesis, I speculated that dictators globally were uniting, finding mutual benefits in their governance and deceitful tactics. This theory is increasingly recognized as these autocrats appear to be forming a coalition, undermining peaceful unity efforts through conspiracy theories to preserve their power.
Unherd How Autocrats Unite
The True Nature of MAGA
MAGA was never genuinely about speaking truth to power or restoring America's glory. It has been an elaborate scheme funded by immense wealth, perpetuating anti-American sentiments through fabricated grassroots movements by domestic and foreign actors. This movement has primarily enriched a select few power-hungry dictators and may have been responsible for some of our most horrific moments in history in the past and acts yet to come.
Trump and MAGA
While 'MAGA' predates Trump, he conveniently stepped into a role long in the making. Despite occasional deviations from the MAGA ideology, such as promoting vaccines to emphatic boos, Trump has largely embodied its principles. The real architects of MAGA, however, are likely disillusioned with his unpredictable attacks, which contradict their broader agenda of absolute power.
Nbc News Donald Trump Booed
Trump as a Martyr
Regardless of election outcomes, Trump is poised to claim interference. His rhetoric and the devout belief of his followers in his divine anointment could lead to his martyrdom, especially given his age and the vulnerabilities it brings. This martyrdom could solidify his legacy while serving the interests of MAGA strategists who find him increasingly burdensome even if he “wins.”
Factcheck Trumps Bogus Voter Fraud Claims
La Times Trump Democrats Effort Presidential Ballot

u/neodestiny and friends.
Introduction
If you think you know anything about MAGA. Trust me, you know nothing. Not even his most devout followers or haters will have considered the following. And for the sake of our democracy and way of life, I hope people read this.
This work may very well help to shift the narrative on Trump in a meaningful and foundational way, but I don't want this work exacerbate any feelings of ill will to MAGA members, for they have been prey to possibly one of the largest con jobs our world has ever seen, especially without the help of this counternarrative.
Snippet From My Thesis On MAGA
As I work on tidying up the master file with the helpful dms I got, allow me to post just the most contentious part of it below, now that it’s able to stand on its own.
MAGA didn’t begin in 2015. I argue it began in 2001 on 9/11, while also harnessing and funneling decades of anti-government resentment till many Americans would openly call for a “wrecking ball” figure to help “drain the swamp.”
This work may very well help to shift the narrative on Trump in a meaningful and foundational way, but I don't want this work exacerbate any feelings of ill will to MAGA members, for they have been prey to possibly one of the largest con jobs our world has ever seen, especially without the help of this counternarrative.
A Key Fueling Factor To American Outrage- Inflation
Many elements contributed to growing American anger that would later contribute to MAGA, this is a snippet from the larger work.
Rising Cost of Living
o In 1950, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 24.1. By 2000, it had risen to 168 (a 597% increase), and by 2023, it had reached 304.7, a 1163% increase from 1950.
o Housing prices saw a drastic rise overtime, with the median home price increasing from $7,354 in 1950 to $388,700 in 2023, a staggering 5185% increase.
o While rising rent costs can contribute to overall inflation and cost of living, even the left has largely failed to address how exponentially increasing real estate prices impact the cost of living. This omission has made many other conspiracy theories seem more plausible in its wake.
o If we don’t find real solutions for real estate that also aren’t extreme, then society will feel more and more pressure to accept “unreasonable solutions” like Trump, even though he’s the last person on earth who could solve it, considering his business acumen and history.
MAGA Dynamics and Blind Devotion
In 2016, it wasn't just the left calling the MAGA movement a cult. Trump famously said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." Even the left failed to grasp the gravity of this statement. As someone who nearly died in a deadly cult and based on my research, I don't know of a single cult where the founder could openly commit murder without losing members. Trump didn't just believe he'd created one of the largest cults ever; he believed he'd created the most fanatical. Let's hope his followers prove him wrong by showing a willingness to criticize him, regardless of their vote.

The MAGA Question
Instead of challenging MAGA supporters on fallacious beliefs, ask them this question to see if they’re at least able to see a world where Trump isn’t a biblical King: "If Trump admitted he was behind 9/11 and used resulting insurance money and donations from hostile governments to create false “grass root” campaigns. And did it all in a way to make it seem like others committed his own atrocities. And that he intended to destroy America in every way if he got elected, would you still vote for him?"

Yet even then, getting through to a MAGA supporter inevitably refers to 9/11 “research” out there when they realize individual positions are usually fallacious. This quagmire me decide to investigate this tragedy, to see if there was a more plausible counter theory. Honestly, the more I looked the more surprised I became. Here are my findings that are but a snippet of my full thesis on MAGA.

9/11 Conspiracy Theories and MAGA
Conspiracy Theories and Credibility:
o First off, conspiracy theories should involve some effort to verify narratives, rather than just repeating claims across multiple sources that mistake themselves as evidence; like a bunch of people who repeat “bob farted” across multiple websites may see that as evidence, when in fact, it was Sean. Sorry Sean.

Early Origins of MAGA:
o Although some believe MAGA began in 2015, its roots lie as early as the 1980s with Rush Limbaugh and later became "serious" on 9/11.
o 9/11 conspiracy theories claim controlled demolitions were used, but the lack of any cellphone recordings of explosions weakens this theory.

Suspicious Factors:
o The official narrative involving chaotic jet fuel leading to a straight fall seemed questionable.
o The collapse of a third building (WTC 7), which wasn’t directly hit, fueled suspicions.
o Airline stocks were heavily shorted before the attacks, raising concerns about insider trading. Harvey Pitt, Republican SEC Chairman at the time, investigated this and claimed there was nothing amiss, but was criticized for later crimes and forced to resign.
o It’s also suspicious that in Trumps 2000 book “The America We Deserve” that he stated, “I really am convinced we’re in danger of the sort of terrorist attacks that will make the [1993] bombing of the Trade Center look like kids playing with firecrackers. No sensible analyst rejects this possibility, and plenty of them, like me, are not wondering if but when it will happen*.”*
§ Yet democrats would largely miss this point entirely and obsess over his false claim that he called for Bin Laden to be killed, when he had not. Somehow conspiracy theorists would find this ‘cool’ rather than suspicious.
CNN Fact Check Donald Trump Osama Bin Laden Book Claim

Reports and Simplified Narratives:
o FEMA's 2002 report and NIST's 2005 report provided technical explanations of the tower collapses.
o However, the Port Authority Chairman stuck to the oversimplified narrative that "jet fuel melted steel beams," even though he knew this was a half-truth, as detailed in the next section, fueling anti-government conspiracies. The question is why.

Potential Impact:
o 9/11 conspiracy theories sowed distrust in the government, which may have been one of the attackers' objectives. Anyone that heavily profited from this tragedy, and helped further those objects, should be questioned.
o The ‘Loose Change’ “documentary” pointed out suspicious parts of the story, but failed to give any clear claims as to who was purportedly behind it. It also failed to note the Twin Towers titanic design flaw that could result in a straight fall. Even the 2015 version of this film fails to mention nearly all of the known facts in this report.
o The Director of that film later states:
“I DON’T THINK WE’D HAVE PRESIDENT TRUMP IF IT WEREN’T FOR 9/11”
“9/11 created a culture of fear, of xenophobia, this sense of entitlement and everything we’ve seen. Warrantless wire-tapping, Guantanamo Bay, everything that’s happened led us to this point, we wouldn’t be here without 9/11. They want to kick out all the Mexicans and Muslims because of this culture of fear and bigotry and xenophobia that directly led to the election of fucking Donald Trump. [laughing] That’s our world now! We had Reagan before, and Governor Schwarzenegger. But President Donald Trump? It’s just weird. Everything is just weird.”
Theoutline Reflecting On Loose Change
o While the director was in the right to ask questions, he failed to ask the most obvious ones.
o However, his lead “researcher,” Jason Bermas, would turn out to be a full blown MAGA wingnut.
Patriot Jason Bermas
o Anyone that would benefit politically and financially from 9/11 should be fully investigated.
Further Reading:
Harvey Pitt - Wikipedia
Politifact How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation
It will never be possible to defeat MAGA followers “logically” with people who believed his parties rhetoric “that 9/11 was an inside job.”

I say… what if those Republican leaders were self reporting?
What if Trump followers have been rallying behind the very man responsible for its orchestration?

The Twin Towers and Larry Silverstein
Architectural Pitfalls of the Twin Towers:
· The Twin Towers had unique architectural flaws due to the excessive heavy load on their exoskeletons to allow for more floor and leasing space, which greatly contributed to their straight collapse after the 9/11 attacks. This was the first and last skyscraper made in this way.
· For anyone who said that “any other building would have fallen sideways,” you were right, though perhaps not entirely how you may have imagined. A "Coke Can" analogy shows how a similar weakened structure can result in a straight fall, contrary to conspiracy theories claiming controlled demolitions. This isn't something I'm asking you to take for granted, or to read from media sources you don’t trust. This is something you can verify on your own, in person, in real time, in reality.
· However Trump, despite being close friends with Silverstein as we’ll cover later, claimed "It wasn’t architectural defects, you know, the World Trade Center was always known as a very, very strong building” per the attached PolitiFact article.
· Supporting Article:
Engineering Experts Explain the Collapse of the Twin Towers
Politifact Donald Trumps 911 Speculation

Larry Silverstein, The Leasor Of The Twin Towers:
· Nearly went bankrupt after losing his main tenant Drexel Burnham in 1980 after he built tower 7 with him in mind.
· I don't know how many of us understand the level of desperation a situation like this can cause in someone and how many potential crimes it can easily push them towards.
· He is known for then saying, “…looking up at the twin towers and thinking, my building is huge, but it is made diminutive by the twin towers. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be incredible someday to own those?" That's not the statement of a sane person who nearly went bankrupt, and if anything, hints towards jealousy.
· He managed to secure Salomon Brothers two years later, which later paid $300 million in securities fraud penalties casting suspicion over the entities who saved Silverstein, in addition to their overall plans for the future.
· How he would become able to outbid everyone else in 2001, for the right to lease the twin towers, would become a mystery we will untangle later.
Further Reading
Manhattan Institute – Silverstein On Ground Zero
Justice Department: Salomon Brothers Securities Fraud

Trump and Real Estate Connections
Historical Context and Redevelopment Plans:
· A redevelopment plan commenced in the 1990s by Gov. Pataki and Mayor Giuliani, spurred a commercial revival in downtown Manhattan, making the World Trade Center prime property. Pataki would go on to criticize trump, while the other would prove to be one of this wildest, if not craziest, supporters to truly fanatical degrees.
Further Reading:
Manhattan Institute: Rebuilding Ground Zero
· Tom Leppert was the CEO of Turner construction which right wing conspiracy theorists claimed helped ensure the towers would fall straight down. He also became part of Trumps transition team. While there’s no evidence of explosives being used, tampering with the exoskeleton and weaking the relatively thin central column ahead of time are theoretically plausible.
Huffpost Donald Trump Transition Team
Wikipedia Tom Leppert

The bidding for the World Trade Center lease involved only a few major real estate firms as allowed by the Port Authority Chairman. Below are the allowed bidders and their estimated worth at the time included:

· Donald J. Trump’s Organization:
o Worth around $1.5 billion in 1996 after multiple bankruptcies. Confirmed only by Forbes magazine in 2005.
· Tishman Speyer:
o Valued at approximately $1.8 billion in 2000, would soon face ‘tenant issues’ with many scrupulous legal claims against them.
· Gale & Wentworth:
o Worth a few million.
· Mortimer Zuckerman’s Boston Properties:
o Mortimer Zuckerman alone was worth around $2 billion.
· The Rouse Company:
o Mainly a shopping mall operator.
· Brookfield Properties:
o A Canadian firm valued at over $20 billion in 2000.
· Vornado Realty Trust:
o Worth an estimated $2-3 billion. Had the highest bid, but was unexpectedly outed by the Port Authority Chairman, paving the way for Silverstein’s win. CEO of Vornado Trust, Steven Roth would later do many deals with Trump in 2005 and beyond.
· Larry Silverstein:
o As mentioned, was nearly bankrupt in the 1980s, and was mysteriously awarded the right to lease the World Trade Center contract at $3.2 billion, twice the original asking price of 1.2 Billion. It would still be owned by the Port authority of NY and NJ, he would just own the rights to lease it.
o Port Authority Chairman, Lewis Eisenberg, made this unexplained decision, who also later became Trumps lead fundraiser in 2015.
o After putting down only $125 million, as per the contract, Silverstein would be getting back $100 million just 6 weeks after his bid and with an uncommon terrorist insurance addition. His exaggerated bid and insurance contract would also greatly inflate the amount of money he could get from an insurance claim. If the winning bid was 1.5 billion, the insurance payout would also have been much less.
o In real estate, its quite rare for a prudent investor to bid twice the asking price, as demonstrated by the other companies that backed out, of which I find no connections to Trump.
o If anyone had known about 9/11 ahead of time, like Trump claims he did, it would become drastically easier to outbid all competitors, knowing that for pennies on the dollar, you would be getting much more back.

Further Reading:
NY Times Article on World Trade Center Deal
Wikipedia on Lewis Eisenberg
Patch On Lew Eisenberg Leading Trump Fundraising
NY Times Article Silverstein Gets Most Of His Money Back

Giuliani’s Gangster Acts
Arguably, if the above points are what they objectively appear to be, that would be a bad thing. You’d think that would be enough. However, Guliani would say “hold my beer’ to those sentiments.

1. Outdated Equipment for First Responders:
· Due to Giuliani’s inadequate leadership, first responders used old equipment that failed to warn them to evacuate the towers. Which contributed to their deaths while they searched for survivors.
NY Times Article: Giuliani’s Preparedness on 9/11
2. Obstructed Recovery Efforts:
· Giuliani delayed proper search and rescue operations for days, possibly costing lives of citizens and first responders who didn’t know they needed to leave.
· 20 Years later he would claim that some of Bidens actions were so reckless that… “It would be as if I got down to ground zero and said take out the firefighters, all you civilians see if you can get yourselves out.” Self report?
NBC News Report: Giuliani’s Role in Recovery
NY1: Giuliani Reflects on 9/11 Anniversary
3. Twin Towers Fund and Privatization:
· Giuliani privatized the Twin Towers relief funds, making them unauditable.
NY Times Article on Privatization
NY Post Article: Giuliani and Twin Towers Fund
4. Survivors Threaten To SUE Guliani For Relief Funds
· Even after privatizing the twin towers fund, Giuliani would make it incredibly difficult for the victims to receive their fair share. Requiring many of them to spend unnecessary money on advisors and consultants.
· Even with their legal pressure, he only agreed to “give the remaining 100 million to victims,” out of 170 million, if he could first put the money into the bank account of a charity in which he controlled.
· From the attached article: “But Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said that he remained adamantly opposed to any transfer of funds to Mr. Giuliani's charity.
He also objected to Mr. Giuliani's continued control over even the $15 million in his private charity. Mr. Giuliani, he charged, gives every indication of using the Twin Towers Fund to maintain a staff of loyal supporters and to advance his political aspirations.
'The concern that politics will infiltrate the fund becomes even more apparent when one reviews the list of the mayor's former political appointees who are assuming senior staff positions or serving on the fund's board of directors,'' he wrote in a letter on Monday to Eliot L. Spitzer, the state attorney general.”
NY Times Article On Guliani Pressed To Disperse Twin Tower Funds
· However, there is no evidence of Giuliani making good on this promise.
· There are honestly no words for this. All associates of Guliani should be investigated.
5. Attempted Election Cancellation in 2001:
· Giuliani tried to cancel the 2001 election to stay mayor longer. He even considered removing term limits with Governor Pataki’s support. Similar to how Trump has “joked” about increasing his own term limits.
Business Insider: Giuliani and Pataki’s Attempt to Cancel Elections
Esquire Trump Joke Third Term
6. Motive
· In 2000, Guliani unfortunately got prostate cancer. We have to be willing to ask if this was a motive for his corrupt acts.
SurvivorNet: Giuliani’s Cancer


Silverstein’s Unscrupulous Greed
1. Initial Settlement Demands and Profit Claims:
· Despite only having been out for $25 million, Silverstein initially sought nearly $8 BILLION in insurance settlements and argued for "loss of revenue from those buildings," which is quite an uncompassionate claim considering how many lost their lives. Talk about a prime example of the working and lower classes making sacrifices while rich elites complain they didn’t profit enough from the same tragedy.
2. Rebuilding Contributions and Insurance Payout:
· Despite the fact that he only owned the leasing rights to the twin towers, ‘Silverstein Properties’ received up to $4 billion from insurance payouts, instead of the Port Authority, which would be customary as the owner.
· While it's assumed that most of that money went to rebuilding, this isn't actually known or proven. It would be different if he had a separate insurance policy that was not connected to the rebuilding of the towers, with different monies going to the Port Authority to rebuild. This was not the case.
History.com: Rebuilding of Ground Zero
· He additionally refused to return the rights of Building 1 to the Port Authority until he secured additional funds from an $8 billion state fund. Talk about heartless.
Wikipedia: Larry Silverstein
· Various entities would contribute a total of $20 billion to rebuild all six damaged or destroyed towers, including four towers leased by Silverstein and two others he hadn't. This makes it unlikely that he had to go out of pocket with his 4 Billion.
3. Estimated Net Worth:
· While earlier records of Silverstein's net worth are unavailable, aside from his near bankruptcy in 1980, he is currently estimated to be worth around $1 billion.
Forbes Profile: Larry Silverstein

Silverstein’s Controversial Alignment with Trump
Larry Silverstein's connections and public persona have often been scrutinized. This scrutiny became particularly relevant in 2015 when he publicly displayed his support for Donald Trump:

• Long-standing Relationship: Silverstein revealed a 30-year-long acquaintance with Trump, emphasizing the depth of their connection. This means his relationship started in 1985, roughly two years after gaining a powerful criminal organization as a tenant in his tower 7, that saved him from bankruptcy, and 6 years before Trumps first, of many, bankruptcies. This also means they knew each other before 9/11.
• Supportive Yet Vague: He commended Trump for diligently pursuing what he believed to be right, echoing Trump's own ambiguous rhetoric. When pressed about the righteousness of Trump’s goals, Silverstein ambiguously responded, "well, it’s... you know... we’ll find out." This mirrors Trump’s evasive " Well, we're going to have to see what happens" stance, when questioned about committing to a peaceful transfer of power prior to January 6th—an event that ultimately unfolded with violence and chaos.
• Early Endorsement: By voicing his support when Trump announced his presidential campaign, Silverstein positioned himself as one of the early prominent figures in the MAGA movement.

Watch Silverstein Discuss Trump
CNN Trump On 2020 Election

The Man Who Boasted
When most people witness a tragedy, especially of this size, it takes time for their brains to comprehend what happened, it takes even more time to process it. Thus, anyone who was able to brag about their own assets hours after this tragedy on a radio show, is at least worthy of Investigation, especially if this very event helped reshape a misinformation landscape in which he would thrive as its King.
Politifact – How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation

· Insensitive Boasts About Building Height:
o Trump also boasted that with the fall of the Twin Towers, his building became the tallest in Manhattan—an inaccurate and insensitive claim given the context.
Independent 9 11 Trump Tallest Building
· Early Claims and Revisions:
o Shortly after 9/11, Donald Trump claimed he saw the second plane hit the towers from his Manhattan apartment. He also made an unfounded claim that he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering, a statement that has been widely debunked. Despite varying explanations and suggesting that he saw it on an untraceable video that was “widely covered,” these claims helped fueled significant conspiracy theories. If anything, this was a self-report.
o Snopes: Trump Claims Muslims Cheered
o FactCheck.org: Trump’s Revised 9/11 Claim
· Visit to Ground Zero:
o A week after the attacks, Trump visited Ground Zero and stated that although he was present, he wouldn’t consider himself a first responder. This attempt at humility struck many as morbidly insensitive, considering the true heroism displayed by actual first responders.
ABC News: Trump Shares New Details About Morning of 9/11

Legacy of Suspicion:
These actions paint Trump as one of the more suspicious figures post-9/11, who may have used the tragedy for personal and political gain. His connections with figures like Larry Silverstein and Lewis Eisenberg, the Port Authority chairman, hint at deep financial interests potentially influenced by the 9/11 aftermath. Meanwhile, survivors and first responders faced challenges in securing support, highlighting the disparities between their experiences and the political maneuvers at play. Again morbidly juxtaposing the struggles of the poor and working class versus elite swamp members such as Trump and his ilk.

While being, arguably, one of the more suspicious Americans of potentially “being an insider," Trump would go on to cast doubt everywhere else with his new holier than thou rhetoric and hints and claims that “it was an inside job” for the next 15 years.

What if he was speaking from personal experience.

The Deepfake Dilemma
Now in a world where Trump's followers already discount reality, the emergence of AI-generated deepfakes threatens to further distort the truth. This technology could transform legal standards of evidence, making it easy to dismiss genuine evidence against the right as fabricated, while baseless accusations against the left might be accepted as the long-awaited proof.

The Potential Escalation of MAGA Actions
Given the willingness of MAGA supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th, bolstered by Trump's incendiary rhetoric, the potential for escalation is alarming. The advent of fabricated images and videos could present unprecedented national security threats.

Trump's Incendiary Rhetoric on January 6th
Trump's speech on January 6th was a clear incitement, as he urged his followers to "fight like hell" to "stop the steal," despite admitting DURING THE SPEECH that there was no evidence of the massive electoral fraud he claimed. As well as his lawyers laughable court “arguments.”
“...while there is no evidence to prove any wrongdoing…”
Npr.Org Read Trumps Jan 6 Speech
LawAndCrime Come On Now

This speech, coupled with his undermining of constitutional processes, underscores the risks and intentional deceit of his rhetoric. Too bad Republicans senators and our Supreme Court have either claimed he was above the law, or continue to postpone his court dates till after elections. A wild position when treason is on the table. Did that dude commit treason that claims he wants to become a dictator? I dunno, lets let him potentially get elected and then find out!

Elon Musk's Political Shift
Elon was once very much a leftist, unfortunately in more and more far left “activists” continue to attack him endlessly for not agreeing with them on their own singular issues and perspectives. To them I say congratulations, you successfully pushed the most powerful man on earth into the far right. Great job. Great job.
Elon Musk's journey from a liberal supporter to a figure embraced by the far right highlights the volatile nature of political affiliations in today's polarized environment. His actions since acquiring Twitter—such as promoting unfounded conspiracy theories and making high-profile firings—suggest a departure from his initial free speech advocacy.
Especially when considering he fired Don Lemon from his platform for an interview he found offensive. Canceling opinions you find offensive isn’t free speech, it’s literally the opposite. I’m sure many people were offended by the examples below. What about them?
Far Right Support Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Need for a Critical Approach
Supporters of Trump should critically evaluate why he did not pardon the January 6th insurrectionists during his term, despite using them as political leverage now. This pattern of using allies until they are no longer useful is evident throughout his political and personal dealings.
What better example could there possibly be as to what trump truly thinks of his supporters, how sacrificial he sees them as part of his endless narratives, then his refusal and failure to pardon January 6th insurrectionists while still in office?
Of course, anyone “just on the grass” or outside the building should only get a day in jail at most, however people that barged inside the capital should naturally get much more.
And while trump refused to pardon those people before, he now calls them “hostages” and is using them as political bait to a truly wild degree. It's very likely he will make good on this promise to further embolden the narrative that “Democrats are trying to take you down and only I can save you.”
His supporters need to seriously ask, “Why didn’t he pardon us before?”
Also, remember when he claimed he would pay legal fees for supporters that were violent at his rallies, but then seemed to falter and change his mind. Much like how Amber Heard donated her money, “by pledging it.”
List of allies he was quick to discard or dump. And let's face it, all of these people have done more for him than the average MAGA supporter. The only person he cares about is himself.
Trump claims that Mike Pence, the man he vetted more than anyone else, “has gone to the dark side.”
Trump seems to have supported the chants to “Hang Mike Pense,” at least in jest? We hope? There are also no links of him condemning them. Yet admittedly this one point doesn’t have hard evidence like a recording or video as far as I know, it certainly fits his brand.
Mike Flynn, a Trump appointee, later testifies against him.
Trump admits Flynn lied on his behalf, accidentally testifying against him, but does pardon him. As long as you’re colluding with Russia you’re ok it seems?

The Future Under Trump's Influence
Trump's rhetoric about overriding constitutional norms to address what he calls "massive fraud" hints at authoritarian aspirations. His praise for dictators and divisive language further aligns with dangerous historical precedents.
Important Articles:
“How a second trump term could end us democracy.” -commondreams
“Ask the expert: What a 2nd Trump term could mean for democracy and advancing policy.” - Msu Today
“Judgement Day” for political opponents.

To predict the future lets base it on known facts:
Apparently, he will help attack our constitution like he may have with the Twin Towers.
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Stated he intended to be a Dictator on day one, but then promises it will be just for a day. Is that how that works? Or is it “Once you go Dictator you don’t go back?”
Praising dictators, referring to immigrants as vermin etc, akin to Hitlers rhetoric against “blood mixing.”
More fraudulent use of lawyers and courts that gets everyone else in trouble but him, with them arguing he's above the law. This further shows how much he will consistently use people for his own ends and then dump them when they're no longer of use.
Warning from republicans and notes on ass kissing. As well as being generally unfit for office.
If you want help from Trump you better kiss his ***
Trumps says he kept Omarosa just because she said nice things about him, while defaming her
DeSantis: "You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful."
Thehill Trump Views People Who Kiss His A As Weak.
And if you dare to speak out against trump, you better kiss his ****
Politico Graham Breaks With Trump On Abortion
WashingtonPost Trump Graham Abortion
News Yahoo 30 More Republicans Denounce Donald Trump Unqualified President
Hot take, if he’s elected president America, and the world, is frankly fucked.

Predicting MAGA 2024 And Beyond
Naturally there are endless possibilities of what MAGA and dictators around the world decide to do this year and into the future. I believe that the one thing that insinuates when it's time for their next evil actions is dictated by their standings in the polls or when a fellow dictator needs a little more political pressure from war torn inflated oil prices etc.
Dictators Unite
While writing my thesis, I speculated that dictators globally were uniting, finding mutual benefits in their governance and deceitful tactics. This theory is increasingly recognized as these autocrats appear to be forming a coalition, undermining peaceful unity efforts through conspiracy theories to preserve their power.
Unherd How Autocrats Unite
The True Nature of MAGA
MAGA was never genuinely about speaking truth to power or restoring America's glory. It has been an elaborate scheme funded by immense wealth, perpetuating anti-American sentiments through fabricated grassroots movements by domestic and foreign actors. This movement has primarily enriched a select few power-hungry dictators and may have been responsible for some of our most horrific moments in history in the past and acts yet to come.
Trump and MAGA
While 'MAGA' predates Trump, he conveniently stepped into a role long in the making. Despite occasional deviations from the MAGA ideology, such as promoting vaccines to emphatic boos, Trump has largely embodied its principles. The real architects of MAGA, however, are likely disillusioned with his unpredictable attacks, which contradict their broader agenda of absolute power.
Nbc News Donald Trump Booed
Trump as a Martyr
Regardless of election outcomes, Trump is poised to claim interference. His rhetoric and the devout belief of his followers in his divine anointment could lead to his martyrdom, especially given his age and the vulnerabilities it brings. This martyrdom could solidify his legacy while serving the interests of MAGA strategists who find him increasingly burdensome even if he “wins.”
Factcheck Trumps Bogus Voter Fraud Claims
La Times Trump Democrats Effort Presidential Ballot

u/neodestiny and friends.
For the sake of transparency, I am not the architect of the following discoveries, and am just helping to forward their message and clean it up. Copywrite of the following work belongs to no one and everyone is not only welcome to share these findings as if they were their own, but openly encouraged to do so.
Introduction
If you think you know anything about MAGA. Trust me, you know nothing. Not even his most devout followers or haters will have considered the following. And for the sake of our democracy and way of life, I hope people read this.
This work may very well help to shift the narrative on Trump in a meaningful and foundational way, but I don't want this work exacerbate any feelings of ill will to MAGA members, for they have been prey to possibly one of the largest con jobs our world has ever seen, especially without the help of this counternarrative.
Snippet From My Thesis On MAGA
As I work on tidying up the master file with the helpful dms I got, allow me to post just the most contentious part of it below, now that it’s able to stand on its own.
MAGA didn’t begin in 2015. I argue it began in 2001 on 9/11, while also harnessing and funneling decades of anti-government resentment till many Americans would openly call for a “wrecking ball” figure to help “drain the swamp.”

A Key Fueling Factor To American Outrage- Inflation
Many elements contributed to growing American anger that would later contribute to MAGA, this is a snippet from the larger work.
Rising Cost of Living
o In 1950, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 24.1. By 2000, it had risen to 168 (a 597% increase), and by 2023, it had reached 304.7, a 1163% increase from 1950.
o Housing prices saw a drastic rise overtime, with the median home price increasing from $7,354 in 1950 to $388,700 in 2023, a staggering 5185% increase.
o While rising rent costs can contribute to overall inflation and cost of living, even the left has largely failed to address how exponentially increasing real estate prices impact the cost of living. This omission has made many other conspiracy theories seem more plausible in its wake.
o If we don’t find real solutions for real estate that also aren’t extreme, then society will feel more and more pressure to accept “unreasonable solutions” like Trump, even though he’s the last person on earth who could solve it, considering his business acumen and history.
MAGA Dynamics and Blind Devotion
In 2016, it wasn't just the left calling the MAGA movement a cult. Trump famously said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." Even the left failed to grasp the gravity of this statement. As someone who nearly died in a deadly cult and based on my research, I don't know of a single cult where the founder could openly commit murder without losing members. Trump didn't just believe he'd created one of the largest cults ever; he believed he'd created the most fanatical. Let's hope his followers prove him wrong by showing a willingness to criticize him, regardless of their vote.

The MAGA Question
Instead of challenging MAGA supporters on fallacious beliefs, ask them this question to see if they’re at least able to see a world where Trump isn’t a biblical King: "If Trump admitted he was behind 9/11 and used resulting insurance money and donations from hostile governments to create false “grass root” campaigns. And did it all in a way to make it seem like others committed his own atrocities. And that he intended to destroy America in every way if he got elected, would you still vote for him?"

Yet even then, getting through to a MAGA supporter inevitably refers to 9/11 “research” out there when they realize individual positions are usually fallacious. This quagmire me decide to investigate this tragedy, to see if there was a more plausible counter theory. Honestly, the more I looked the more surprised I became. Here are my findings that are but a snippet of my full thesis on MAGA.

9/11 Conspiracy Theories and MAGA
Conspiracy Theories and Credibility:
o First off, conspiracy theories should involve some effort to verify narratives, rather than just repeating claims across multiple sources that mistake themselves as evidence; like a bunch of people who repeat “bob farted” across multiple websites may see that as evidence, when in fact, it was Sean. Sorry Sean.

Early Origins of MAGA:
o Although some believe MAGA began in 2015, its roots lie as early as the 1980s with Rush Limbaugh and later became "serious" on 9/11.
o 9/11 conspiracy theories claim controlled demolitions were used, but the lack of any cellphone recordings of explosions weakens this theory.

Suspicious Factors:
o The official narrative involving chaotic jet fuel leading to a straight fall seemed questionable.
o The collapse of a third building (WTC 7), which wasn’t directly hit, fueled suspicions.
o Airline stocks were heavily shorted before the attacks, raising concerns about insider trading. Harvey Pitt, Republican SEC Chairman at the time, investigated this and claimed there was nothing amiss, but was criticized for later crimes and forced to resign.
o It’s also suspicious that in Trumps 2000 book “The America We Deserve” that he stated, “I really am convinced we’re in danger of the sort of terrorist attacks that will make the [1993] bombing of the Trade Center look like kids playing with firecrackers. No sensible analyst rejects this possibility, and plenty of them, like me, are not wondering if but when it will happen*.”*
§ Yet democrats would largely miss this point entirely and obsess over his false claim that he called for Bin Laden to be killed, when he had not. Somehow conspiracy theorists would find this ‘cool’ rather than suspicious.
CNN Fact Check Donald Trump Osama Bin Laden Book Claim

Reports and Simplified Narratives:
o FEMA's 2002 report and NIST's 2005 report provided technical explanations of the tower collapses.
o However, the Port Authority Chairman stuck to the oversimplified narrative that "jet fuel melted steel beams," even though he knew this was a half-truth, as detailed in the next section, fueling anti-government conspiracies. The question is why.

Potential Impact:
o 9/11 conspiracy theories sowed distrust in the government, which may have been one of the attackers' objectives. Anyone that heavily profited from this tragedy, and helped further those objects, should be questioned.
o The ‘Loose Change’ “documentary” pointed out suspicious parts of the story, but failed to give any clear claims as to who was purportedly behind it. It also failed to note the Twin Towers titanic design flaw that could result in a straight fall. Even the 2015 version of this film fails to mention nearly all of the known facts in this report.
o The Director of that film later states:
“I DON’T THINK WE’D HAVE PRESIDENT TRUMP IF IT WEREN’T FOR 9/11”
“9/11 created a culture of fear, of xenophobia, this sense of entitlement and everything we’ve seen. Warrantless wire-tapping, Guantanamo Bay, everything that’s happened led us to this point, we wouldn’t be here without 9/11. They want to kick out all the Mexicans and Muslims because of this culture of fear and bigotry and xenophobia that directly led to the election of fucking Donald Trump. [laughing] That’s our world now! We had Reagan before, and Governor Schwarzenegger. But President Donald Trump? It’s just weird. Everything is just weird.”
Theoutline Reflecting On Loose Change
o While the director was in the right to ask questions, he failed to ask the most obvious ones.
o However, his lead “researcher,” Jason Bermas, would turn out to be a full blown MAGA wingnut.
Patriot Jason Bermas
o Anyone that would benefit politically and financially from 9/11 should be fully investigated.
Further Reading:
Harvey Pitt - Wikipedia
Politifact How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation
It will never be possible to defeat MAGA followers “logically” with people who believed his parties rhetoric “that 9/11 was an inside job.”

I say… what if those Republican leaders were self reporting?
What if Trump followers have been rallying behind the very man responsible for its orchestration?

The Twin Towers and Larry Silverstein
Architectural Pitfalls of the Twin Towers:
· The Twin Towers had unique architectural flaws due to the excessive heavy load on their exoskeletons to allow for more floor and leasing space, which greatly contributed to their straight collapse after the 9/11 attacks. This was the first and last skyscraper made in this way.
· For anyone who said that “any other building would have fallen sideways,” you were right, though perhaps not entirely how you may have imagined. A "Coke Can" analogy shows how a similar weakened structure can result in a straight fall, contrary to conspiracy theories claiming controlled demolitions. This isn't something I'm asking you to take for granted, or to read from media sources you don’t trust. This is something you can verify on your own, in person, in real time, in reality.
· However Trump, despite being close friends with Silverstein as we’ll cover later, claimed "It wasn’t architectural defects, you know, the World Trade Center was always known as a very, very strong building” per the attached PolitiFact article.
· Supporting Article:
Engineering Experts Explain the Collapse of the Twin Towers
Politifact Donald Trumps 911 Speculation

Larry Silverstein, The Leasor Of The Twin Towers:
· Nearly went bankrupt after losing his main tenant Drexel Burnham in 1980 after he built tower 7 with him in mind.
· I don't know how many of us understand the level of desperation a situation like this can cause in someone and how many potential crimes it can easily push them towards.
· He is known for then saying, “…looking up at the twin towers and thinking, my building is huge, but it is made diminutive by the twin towers. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be incredible someday to own those?" That's not the statement of a sane person who nearly went bankrupt, and if anything, hints towards jealousy.
· He managed to secure Salomon Brothers two years later, which later paid $300 million in securities fraud penalties casting suspicion over the entities who saved Silverstein, in addition to their overall plans for the future.
· How he would become able to outbid everyone else in 2001, for the right to lease the twin towers, would become a mystery we will untangle later.
Further Reading
Manhattan Institute – Silverstein On Ground Zero
Justice Department: Salomon Brothers Securities Fraud

Trump and Real Estate Connections
Historical Context and Redevelopment Plans:
· A redevelopment plan commenced in the 1990s by Gov. Pataki and Mayor Giuliani, spurred a commercial revival in downtown Manhattan, making the World Trade Center prime property. Pataki would go on to criticize trump, while the other would prove to be one of this wildest, if not craziest, supporters to truly fanatical degrees.
Further Reading:
Manhattan Institute: Rebuilding Ground Zero
· Tom Leppert was the CEO of Turner construction which right wing conspiracy theorists claimed helped ensure the towers would fall straight down. He also became part of Trumps transition team. While there’s no evidence of explosives being used, tampering with the exoskeleton and weaking the relatively thin central column ahead of time are theoretically plausible.
Huffpost Donald Trump Transition Team
Wikipedia Tom Leppert

The bidding for the World Trade Center lease involved only a few major real estate firms as allowed by the Port Authority Chairman. Below are the allowed bidders and their estimated worth at the time included:

· Donald J. Trump’s Organization:
o Worth around $1.5 billion in 1996 after multiple bankruptcies. Confirmed only by Forbes magazine in 2005.
· Tishman Speyer:
o Valued at approximately $1.8 billion in 2000, would soon face ‘tenant issues’ with many scrupulous legal claims against them.
· Gale & Wentworth:
o Worth a few million.
· Mortimer Zuckerman’s Boston Properties:
o Mortimer Zuckerman alone was worth around $2 billion.
· The Rouse Company:
o Mainly a shopping mall operator.
· Brookfield Properties:
o A Canadian firm valued at over $20 billion in 2000.
· Vornado Realty Trust:
o Worth an estimated $2-3 billion. Had the highest bid, but was unexpectedly outed by the Port Authority Chairman, paving the way for Silverstein’s win. CEO of Vornado Trust, Steven Roth would later do many deals with Trump in 2005 and beyond.
· Larry Silverstein:
o As mentioned, was nearly bankrupt in the 1980s, and was mysteriously awarded the right to lease the World Trade Center contract at $3.2 billion, twice the original asking price of 1.2 Billion. It would still be owned by the Port authority of NY and NJ, he would just own the rights to lease it.
o Port Authority Chairman, Lewis Eisenberg, made this unexplained decision, who also later became Trumps lead fundraiser in 2015.
o After putting down only $125 million, as per the contract, Silverstein would be getting back $100 million just 6 weeks after his bid and with an uncommon terrorist insurance addition. His exaggerated bid and insurance contract would also greatly inflate the amount of money he could get from an insurance claim. If the winning bid was 1.5 billion, the insurance payout would also have been much less.
o In real estate, its quite rare for a prudent investor to bid twice the asking price, as demonstrated by the other companies that backed out, of which I find no connections to Trump.
o If anyone had known about 9/11 ahead of time, like Trump claims he did, it would become drastically easier to outbid all competitors, knowing that for pennies on the dollar, you would be getting much more back.

Further Reading:
NY Times Article on World Trade Center Deal
Wikipedia on Lewis Eisenberg
Patch On Lew Eisenberg Leading Trump Fundraising
NY Times Article Silverstein Gets Most Of His Money Back

Giuliani’s Gangster Acts
Arguably, if the above points are what they objectively appear to be, that would be a bad thing. You’d think that would be enough. However, Guliani would say “hold my beer’ to those sentiments.

1. Outdated Equipment for First Responders:
· Due to Giuliani’s inadequate leadership, first responders used old equipment that failed to warn them to evacuate the towers. Which contributed to their deaths while they searched for survivors.
NY Times Article: Giuliani’s Preparedness on 9/11
2. Obstructed Recovery Efforts:
· Giuliani delayed proper search and rescue operations for days, possibly costing lives of citizens and first responders who didn’t know they needed to leave.
· 20 Years later he would claim that some of Bidens actions were so reckless that… “It would be as if I got down to ground zero and said take out the firefighters, all you civilians see if you can get yourselves out.” Self report?
NBC News Report: Giuliani’s Role in Recovery
NY1: Giuliani Reflects on 9/11 Anniversary
3. Twin Towers Fund and Privatization:
· Giuliani privatized the Twin Towers relief funds, making them unauditable.
NY Times Article on Privatization
NY Post Article: Giuliani and Twin Towers Fund
4. Survivors Threaten To SUE Guliani For Relief Funds
· Even after privatizing the twin towers fund, Giuliani would make it incredibly difficult for the victims to receive their fair share. Requiring many of them to spend unnecessary money on advisors and consultants.
· Even with their legal pressure, he only agreed to “give the remaining 100 million to victims,” out of 170 million, if he could first put the money into the bank account of a charity in which he controlled.
· From the attached article: “But Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said that he remained adamantly opposed to any transfer of funds to Mr. Giuliani's charity.
He also objected to Mr. Giuliani's continued control over even the $15 million in his private charity. Mr. Giuliani, he charged, gives every indication of using the Twin Towers Fund to maintain a staff of loyal supporters and to advance his political aspirations.
'The concern that politics will infiltrate the fund becomes even more apparent when one reviews the list of the mayor's former political appointees who are assuming senior staff positions or serving on the fund's board of directors,'' he wrote in a letter on Monday to Eliot L. Spitzer, the state attorney general.”
NY Times Article On Guliani Pressed To Disperse Twin Tower Funds
· However, there is no evidence of Giuliani making good on this promise.
· There are honestly no words for this. All associates of Guliani should be investigated.
5. Attempted Election Cancellation in 2001:
· Giuliani tried to cancel the 2001 election to stay mayor longer. He even considered removing term limits with Governor Pataki’s support. Similar to how Trump has “joked” about increasing his own term limits.
Business Insider: Giuliani and Pataki’s Attempt to Cancel Elections
Esquire Trump Joke Third Term
6. Motive
· In 2000, Guliani unfortunately got prostate cancer. We have to be willing to ask if this was a motive for his corrupt acts.
SurvivorNet: Giuliani’s Cancer


Silverstein’s Unscrupulous Greed
1. Initial Settlement Demands and Profit Claims:
· Despite only having been out for $25 million, Silverstein initially sought nearly $8 BILLION in insurance settlements and argued for "loss of revenue from those buildings," which is quite an uncompassionate claim considering how many lost their lives. Talk about a prime example of the working and lower classes making sacrifices while rich elites complain they didn’t profit enough from the same tragedy.
2. Rebuilding Contributions and Insurance Payout:
· Despite the fact that he only owned the leasing rights to the twin towers, ‘Silverstein Properties’ received up to $4 billion from insurance payouts, instead of the Port Authority, which would be customary as the owner.
· While it's assumed that most of that money went to rebuilding, this isn't actually known or proven. It would be different if he had a separate insurance policy that was not connected to the rebuilding of the towers, with different monies going to the Port Authority to rebuild. This was not the case.
History.com: Rebuilding of Ground Zero
· He additionally refused to return the rights of Building 1 to the Port Authority until he secured additional funds from an $8 billion state fund. Talk about heartless.
Wikipedia: Larry Silverstein
· Various entities would contribute a total of $20 billion to rebuild all six damaged or destroyed towers, including four towers leased by Silverstein and two others he hadn't. This makes it unlikely that he had to go out of pocket with his 4 Billion.
3. Estimated Net Worth:
· While earlier records of Silverstein's net worth are unavailable, aside from his near bankruptcy in 1980, he is currently estimated to be worth around $1 billion.
Forbes Profile: Larry Silverstein

Silverstein’s Controversial Alignment with Trump
Larry Silverstein's connections and public persona have often been scrutinized. This scrutiny became particularly relevant in 2015 when he publicly displayed his support for Donald Trump:

• Long-standing Relationship: Silverstein revealed a 30-year-long acquaintance with Trump, emphasizing the depth of their connection. This means his relationship started in 1985, roughly two years after gaining a powerful criminal organization as a tenant in his tower 7, that saved him from bankruptcy, and 6 years before Trumps first, of many, bankruptcies. This also means they knew each other before 9/11.
• Supportive Yet Vague: He commended Trump for diligently pursuing what he believed to be right, echoing Trump's own ambiguous rhetoric. When pressed about the righteousness of Trump’s goals, Silverstein ambiguously responded, "well, it’s... you know... we’ll find out." This mirrors Trump’s evasive " Well, we're going to have to see what happens" stance, when questioned about committing to a peaceful transfer of power prior to January 6th—an event that ultimately unfolded with violence and chaos.
• Early Endorsement: By voicing his support when Trump announced his presidential campaign, Silverstein positioned himself as one of the early prominent figures in the MAGA movement.

Watch Silverstein Discuss Trump
CNN Trump On 2020 Election

The Man Who Boasted
When most people witness a tragedy, especially of this size, it takes time for their brains to comprehend what happened, it takes even more time to process it. Thus, anyone who was able to brag about their own assets hours after this tragedy on a radio show, is at least worthy of Investigation, especially if this very event helped reshape a misinformation landscape in which he would thrive as its King.
Politifact – How 911 Attacks Helped Shape Modern Misinformation

· Insensitive Boasts About Building Height:
o Trump also boasted that with the fall of the Twin Towers, his building became the tallest in Manhattan—an inaccurate and insensitive claim given the context.
Independent 9 11 Trump Tallest Building
· Early Claims and Revisions:
o Shortly after 9/11, Donald Trump claimed he saw the second plane hit the towers from his Manhattan apartment. He also made an unfounded claim that he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering, a statement that has been widely debunked. Despite varying explanations and suggesting that he saw it on an untraceable video that was “widely covered,” these claims helped fueled significant conspiracy theories. If anything, this was a self-report.
o Snopes: Trump Claims Muslims Cheered
o FactCheck.org: Trump’s Revised 9/11 Claim
· Visit to Ground Zero:
o A week after the attacks, Trump visited Ground Zero and stated that although he was present, he wouldn’t consider himself a first responder. This attempt at humility struck many as morbidly insensitive, considering the true heroism displayed by actual first responders.
ABC News: Trump Shares New Details About Morning of 9/11

Legacy of Suspicion:
These actions paint Trump as one of the more suspicious figures post-9/11, who may have used the tragedy for personal and political gain. His connections with figures like Larry Silverstein and Lewis Eisenberg, the Port Authority chairman, hint at deep financial interests potentially influenced by the 9/11 aftermath. Meanwhile, survivors and first responders faced challenges in securing support, highlighting the disparities between their experiences and the political maneuvers at play. Again morbidly juxtaposing the struggles of the poor and working class versus elite swamp members such as Trump and his ilk.

While being, arguably, one of the more suspicious Americans of potentially “being an insider," Trump would go on to cast doubt everywhere else with his new holier than thou rhetoric and hints and claims that “it was an inside job” for the next 15 years.

What if he was speaking from personal experience.

The Deepfake Dilemma
Now in a world where Trump's followers already discount reality, the emergence of AI-generated deepfakes threatens to further distort the truth. This technology could transform legal standards of evidence, making it easy to dismiss genuine evidence against the right as fabricated, while baseless accusations against the left might be accepted as the long-awaited proof.

The Potential Escalation of MAGA Actions
Given the willingness of MAGA supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th, bolstered by Trump's incendiary rhetoric, the potential for escalation is alarming. The advent of fabricated images and videos could present unprecedented national security threats.

Trump's Incendiary Rhetoric on January 6th
Trump's speech on January 6th was a clear incitement, as he urged his followers to "fight like hell" to "stop the steal," despite admitting DURING THE SPEECH that there was no evidence of the massive electoral fraud he claimed. As well as his lawyers laughable court “arguments.”
“...while there is no evidence to prove any wrongdoing…”
Npr.Org Read Trumps Jan 6 Speech
LawAndCrime Come On Now

This speech, coupled with his undermining of constitutional processes, underscores the risks and intentional deceit of his rhetoric. Too bad Republicans senators and our Supreme Court have either claimed he was above the law, or continue to postpone his court dates till after elections. A wild position when treason is on the table. Did that dude commit treason that claims he wants to become a dictator? I dunno, lets let him potentially get elected and then find out!

Elon Musk's Political Shift
Elon was once very much a leftist, unfortunately in more and more far left “activists” continue to attack him endlessly for not agreeing with them on their own singular issues and perspectives. To them I say congratulations, you successfully pushed the most powerful man on earth into the far right. Great job. Great job.
Elon Musk's journey from a liberal supporter to a figure embraced by the far right highlights the volatile nature of political affiliations in today's polarized environment. His actions since acquiring Twitter—such as promoting unfounded conspiracy theories and making high-profile firings—suggest a departure from his initial free speech advocacy.
Especially when considering he fired Don Lemon from his platform for an interview he found offensive. Canceling opinions you find offensive isn’t free speech, it’s literally the opposite. I’m sure many people were offended by the examples below. What about them?
Far Right Support Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Need for a Critical Approach
Supporters of Trump should critically evaluate why he did not pardon the January 6th insurrectionists during his term, despite using them as political leverage now. This pattern of using allies until they are no longer useful is evident throughout his political and personal dealings.
What better example could there possibly be as to what trump truly thinks of his supporters, how sacrificial he sees them as part of his endless narratives, then his refusal and failure to pardon January 6th insurrectionists while still in office?
Of course, anyone “just on the grass” or outside the building should only get a day in jail at most, however people that barged inside the capital should naturally get much more.
And while trump refused to pardon those people before, he now calls them “hostages” and is using them as political bait to a truly wild degree. It's very likely he will make good on this promise to further embolden the narrative that “Democrats are trying to take you down and only I can save you.”
His supporters need to seriously ask, “Why didn’t he pardon us before?”
Also, remember when he claimed he would pay legal fees for supporters that were violent at his rallies, but then seemed to falter and change his mind. Much like how Amber Heard donated her money, “by pledging it.”
List of allies he was quick to discard or dump. And let's face it, all of these people have done more for him than the average MAGA supporter. The only person he cares about is himself.
Trump claims that Mike Pence, the man he vetted more than anyone else, “has gone to the dark side.”
Trump seems to have supported the chants to “Hang Mike Pense,” at least in jest? We hope? There are also no links of him condemning them. Yet admittedly this one point doesn’t have hard evidence like a recording or video as far as I know, it certainly fits his brand.
Mike Flynn, a Trump appointee, later testifies against him.
Trump admits Flynn lied on his behalf, accidentally testifying against him, but does pardon him. As long as you’re colluding with Russia you’re ok it seems?

The Future Under Trump's Influence
Trump's rhetoric about overriding constitutional norms to address what he calls "massive fraud" hints at authoritarian aspirations. His praise for dictators and divisive language further aligns with dangerous historical precedents.
Important Articles:
“How a second trump term could end us democracy.” -commondreams
“Ask the expert: What a 2nd Trump term could mean for democracy and advancing policy.” - Msu Today
“Judgement Day” for political opponents.

To predict the future lets base it on known facts:
Apparently, he will help attack our constitution like he may have with the Twin Towers.
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Stated he intended to be a Dictator on day one, but then promises it will be just for a day. Is that how that works? Or is it “Once you go Dictator you don’t go back?”
Praising dictators, referring to immigrants as vermin etc, akin to Hitlers rhetoric against “blood mixing.”
More fraudulent use of lawyers and courts that gets everyone else in trouble but him, with them arguing he's above the law. This further shows how much he will consistently use people for his own ends and then dump them when they're no longer of use.
Warning from republicans and notes on ass kissing. As well as being generally unfit for office.
If you want help from Trump you better kiss his ***
Trumps says he kept Omarosa just because she said nice things about him, while defaming her
DeSantis: "You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful."
Thehill Trump Views People Who Kiss His A As Weak.
And if you dare to speak out against trump, you better kiss his ****
Politico Graham Breaks With Trump On Abortion
WashingtonPost Trump Graham Abortion
News Yahoo 30 More Republicans Denounce Donald Trump Unqualified President
Hot take, if he’s elected president America, and the world, is frankly fucked.

Predicting MAGA 2024 And Beyond
Naturally there are endless possibilities of what MAGA and dictators around the world decide to do this year and into the future. I believe that the one thing that insinuates when it's time for their next evil actions is dictated by their standings in the polls or when a fellow dictator needs a little more political pressure from war torn inflated oil prices etc.
Dictators Unite
While writing my thesis, I speculated that dictators globally were uniting, finding mutual benefits in their governance and deceitful tactics. This theory is increasingly recognized as these autocrats appear to be forming a coalition, undermining peaceful unity efforts through conspiracy theories to preserve their power.
Unherd How Autocrats Unite
The True Nature of MAGA
MAGA was never genuinely about speaking truth to power or restoring America's glory. It has been an elaborate scheme funded by immense wealth, perpetuating anti-American sentiments through fabricated grassroots movements by domestic and foreign actors. This movement has primarily enriched a select few power-hungry dictators and may have been responsible for some of our most horrific moments in history in the past and acts yet to come.
Trump and MAGA
While 'MAGA' predates Trump, he conveniently stepped into a role long in the making. Despite occasional deviations from the MAGA ideology, such as promoting vaccines to emphatic boos, Trump has largely embodied its principles. The real architects of MAGA, however, are likely disillusioned with his unpredictable attacks, which contradict their broader agenda of absolute power.
Nbc News Donald Trump Booed
Trump as a Martyr
Regardless of election outcomes, Trump is poised to claim interference. His rhetoric and the devout belief of his followers in his divine anointment could lead to his martyrdom, especially given his age and the vulnerabilities it brings. This martyrdom could solidify his legacy while serving the interests of MAGA strategists who find him increasingly burdensome even if he “wins.”
Factcheck Trumps Bogus Voter Fraud Claims
La Times Trump Democrats Effort Presidential Ballot

Did you know that Toei is filming the Summer Movie in the cities of Izumo and Unnan (Shimane Prefecture)? And that filming is taking place this month? No? Well, now you know!
List of the Chemy Ride Cards currently owned by the characters as of Episode 35

• Producer Minato gave 2 more reasons for the existence of the Legend Arc (if you're curious about the other reasons, read previous blog summaries). The first one is building momentum for the climax of Gotchard. As you probably know, a Kamen Rider series usually enters its climax in June. But while it is the most exciting part of the year, it is also the most closed-off to first-time viewers. Those who haven't watched in a while and who decide to turn on the TV will get lost between the new characters, the old enemies who joined the heroes' side, the new allegiances etc. A usual reaction to that is to give up and say "I'll start watching Kamen Rider again when the next series start". And so, by using someone who is foreign to the main plot (Kaguya) to introduce the story and characters of Gotchard, they wanted to create buzz around the series so those who haven't been watching can remember the show.
• The second one is to give us a sneak peek into the world of Daybreak. Only someone who can travel between worlds can do that after all. Oh right, Kamen Rider Gotchard Daybreak! Confirmed to appear in the Summer Movie! Future Houtarou will be played by DAIGO, who voiced Daybreak in Episodes 16-18!

Cool eyepatch btw!

• Oh and, latest Teaser visual poster too! Kamen Rider Rainbow Gotchard! Houtarou's final form! Coming bsoon!

This poster is 2535x3583!

• The Kamen Rider Zein cameo in Episode 33 was obviously there to promote Kamen Rider Outsiders, especially since ep.5 Goddess of Genesis and the Third Singularity is releasing today (May 5th). Producer Minato asks you to think of it as the same as when a new Rider briefly appears in the summer movie every year. Oh, and the Zein who appeared in Gotchard is post-ep.4.
• The "legendary weapon" Gigist was searching is the egg that's sleeping inside Houtarou/Gotchard. The reason he used Saigetsu's malice to create the Ark-One Malgam was to properly reveal its location. And he succeeded when a mysterious rainbow shield appeared to protect Houtarou during the fight.
• Fun fact not written in the blog: the Kaguya jewel bath scene was filmed in a real high school, and so, during recess (while they weren't able to film) the students were able to see Kaguya-sama in his bath. Seiichiro Nagata, who plays Kaguya, talked it while on stage during Gotchanko Festival, and more specifically about how embarrassing it was to be watched by high school girls (he also spoke about how he did push-ups before filming the scene so that his arms could appear as gorgeous as possible).
• Speaking of Seiichiro Nagata, here's a message from the man, the myth, the Legend himself:

Good morning!
This is Seiichiro Nagata, who plays Houou Kaguya Quartz!
I am also writing a comment to help Harashima-san reduce the amount of writing she has to do for the blog! lol
I'll simply follow Matsuura-san's lead from last week and aim for 5000 words! Just kidding!! lol
But, well, what should I write? I just wrote something to the producer Minato-san, and he brushed me off, so I can't think of anything at all! lol
And so! I would like to simply express my current feelings with words! lol

First of all, I'm really happy to be able to appear in Kamen Rider!
Moreover, I am very grateful to be able to appear in such a wonderful way, as I was even able to say lines of past Riders.
I’m really fortunate 😭 lol
I've always loved Rider; I was always going to hero shows and collecting belts! Kamen Rider was my youth! lol
That's why when I started acting, I always wanted to become a Rider someday!
Because it has given me dreams, I wanted to be the one who gives dreams to others someday.
But as I started acting, I met a lot of people, and there were times when some of them would tell me that I could never ever be a Rider, and to be honest, I was starting to give up, thinking that I'd never have anything to do with it.
Even so, I was really, really happy when I got the chance to be involved in it (Kamen Rider) and was given the opportunity to appear on the show.
I also received many comments from my own fans, such as "Legend is becoming the dream of children!" and "I'm so happy that Sei-chan's dream has become true, as if it were my own".
Aaah! I’m glad I continued acting!! I'm glad I didn't give up!!!! That's what I really thought.
I hope I can convey the charm of Legend to more people in the future, and give more dreams to those people!
Looking back on the TV series, filming went by in a blink of an eye!
I was following the story at the same speed as everyone else, so I received a lot of spoilers about Minato-sensei's return and Lachesis joining the team, but I had fun every day! lol
And above all, the people were the best.
The staff was kind and loving, and the cast members were also good friends, so there's not a single person I don't like!
The people were seriously the best, even making me think "is there really such a wonderful filming group? For real?!" lol
My current feeling is that I want to appear in Gotchard forever! lol
I am truly happy, from the bottom of my heart, to be a part of this group!
As Kaguya of course, but also as myself, I made friends and companions, and I am truly glad that I was able to come to this world!
To Junsei Motojima, who plays Houtarou.
He is definitely the best guy, without any doubt! lol
There were no days off at all during filming, and to be honest, there were times when I thought it was a little harsh, but Junsei-kun does it every day.
Since he is only 19 years old, I'm sure he's often told by people that he should do this or that.
Even so, he remains cheerful on set, never letting his hardships show on his face.
There's no other 19-year-old who's as praiseworthy as him! 😭
He's the best leader!
I think his cheerfulness created this cheerful and homely group and is the reason why he is loved.
In this case, Kaguya-sama has no choice but to participate in the heroine race... lol
Thank you for your continued support of Hotarou!!!
Also, Uchida-san's script.
Each and every character feels truly loved, and the setting of the story is cute, so I think Uchida-san's power is part of what created Gotchard's bright and kind atmosphere.
It was a truly happy and kind group, between Junsei-kun who Gotchanko'd with Uchida-san's scripts and the kind people around them!
I want to appear again!!!!! lol
Kaguya is seriously the strongest though lol
He's human just like us and has his weaknesses, but the way he tries to stay strong is gorgeous and I think that's what makes him so appealing.
I think everyone who reads this blog is fighting every day in their own places! lol
If you continue to be strong like Kaguya, you too will be a Living Legend! Or at least, that's what I think! lol
Don't give up, and let's gorgeously do our best from tomorrow on (^^) lol

And finally, Daybreak who appeared in the end.
Is that Houtarou?
I can't leave him like this!
Legendary never ends!
Please continue to support Kamen Rider Legend!
For now, I promised to treat Junsei-kun to some yakiniku, so I'm thinking of treating him gorgeously to a splendid banquet! lol
Seiichiro Nagata

• In the script, it was originally written that Houtarou and Kaguya became "mail friends". But kids today wouldn't get what a "mail friend" is, so they changed it to exchange contact information. Who would have thought you could do that kind of stuff with a Chemy Riser and a Kamen Riser!
• Next episode, The Origin of Chemies! I Understand, was written by Akiko Inoue (first episode since Episode 29 The Village Is Crying) and directed by Ryuuta Tasaki (first episode since Episode 27 Gotcha! Crosshopper!).

Dr. Pierres "Gang Stalking: Real-Life Harassment or Textbook Paranoia". Idiocy or Calculated Disinformation?
​Dr. Pierre's first blog post on "gangstalking" is an easily recognized disinformation campaign designed to influence public opinion that these vile crimes are not happening and all these victims are suffering from delusions. Lets look at how he attempts to disinform his readers. Lets start with the title.

Gang Stalking: Real-Life Harassment or Textbook Paranoia?​

At first it seems like a legitimate question, but in reality he created a false dilemma, a manipulation technique that presents us with a false premise right off the bat.
Disinformation is best dealt with the truth, So I'm just going to shell his bullshit dead with truth.. Dr. Pierre is well versed in disinformation as he is featured on this Cambridge Disinformation Summit webinar. The Cambridge Disinformation Summit is attempting to draw different disciplines together to combat disinformations current power to influence and manipulate us. Dr Pierre puts forth that "the antidote" to "bullshit thinking" is "analytical thinking." Lets see if his technique works against his disinformation.
An early goal of MKULTRA was to identify techniques to publicly discredit people. Modern technologically makes it possible to expand the original goals on a massive scale.
From the original mk documents this has been identified as a goal of one of its sub projects.

Discovery or the following materials and methods: that will promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the receiver would be discredited in public, increase the frequency of mentaion and perception, prevent or counteract the effects of alcohol, promote signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible way so they can be used for malingering and produce physical disablement like paralysis.

p9 Lineville 4-26-2016 Project MKULTRA and the Search for Mind Control: Clandestine Use of LSD Within the CIA Tani M. Linville Cedarville University, tanilinville@cedarville.edu
A false dilemma is textbook illogical thinking.
Here is a link to Dr. Pierre's first article.
Gang Stalking: Real-Life Harassment or Textbook Paranoia?
Part 1: The paranoid reality of "targeted individuals."📷 www.psychologytoday.com

Reports of “gang stalking" (a.k.a. "gang-stalking" or "gangstalking") began emerging at least 15 years ago..

Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control is a 2019 book by The New York Times journalist and historian[1] Stephen Kinzer. I repeatedly details how when eventually questioned by the US Congress and others Sydney Gottlieb and other conspirators stated they did such heinous disturbing acts because they were extremely fearful the Russians and Chinese would master "mind control" first, thus winning the Cold War. They used fear to justify torturing, completely and permanently devastating and destroying the minds and lives of innocent victims while also murdering, after torture, many enemy captives.
The attack on 911 may be what sparked the new chapter in this fraudulent pseudoscience criminal torturous failed vile bullshit.
There is no justification for unjustifiable actions.

by self-described “targeted individuals” (“T.I.s”) claiming to be followed, surveilled, harassed, and otherwise victimized by unknown forces wielding high-tech weapons of “mind control.” Since then, much more has been written about this phenomenon, especially over the past few years, with national attention devoted to a few notable cases of violence and mass shootings perpetrated by people identifying as T.I.s.1

What we see here is the introduction to his disinformation. It identifies the targets to be discredited. Targeted Individuals, high tech weapons of mind control, notable cases of violence and mass shootings perpetrated by people identifying as T.I.s, as well as the growing number mainstream and highly respected journalism pieces that have come out exposing it while giving sympathy and empathy to its victims.
Dr. Pierre's first article is a great example of discrediting at work. Discrediting uses psychological techniques to manipulate peoples thoughts and opinions on targeted topics. A powerful discrediting technique is to mix completely unbelievable claims with the legitimate ones targeted to be discredited.
Discrediting is simple and can be accomplished in multiple ways. You can manipulate the victims themselves to make statements that are clearly unbelievable (more about how this is done later), conspirators in this crime can pretend to be victims and post ridiculous claims, conspirators can create cheesy unbelievable websites that promote wholly unbelievable conspiracies along side real ones targeted and they employ legitimate trained professionals and journalists to publish media that promotes the desired public opinion. Or you can just blog I guess.
As its name states, MK's primary goal is mind control. If you believe that this program is not possible or is not currently operating due to associated unbelievable claims that are impossible.. congratulations you have been mind controlled. You need to distinguish between fact and fiction
This blog post uses language that has been intentionally highly biased. TI's, gangstalking, mind control and M2K to name a few. My suggestion is that victims consider dropping some of these terms. Language is so significant, it's how we think, mentally define and examine our experiences, it defines our personal realities and it can be manipulated. Biasing language is a very powerful technique to manipulate people that are exposed to it. These terms have been intentionally biased with unbelievable conspiracy and mental health accusations. My take is drop their biased language.

What Is Biased Language?

Biased language refers to words and phrases that are prejudiced, offensive, and hurtful. An explanation and examples show how to avoid such language.📷 www.thoughtco.com We are not individuals who are targeted, we are torture victims. We are not being gang stalked, we are victims of long running organized crime who's forefathers are Nazi pigs, Japanese war criminals, and Chinese political brain washing.
Its not harassment, its hard core covert torture.
Disinformation is used to purposefully manipulate public opinion. In this case it's an attempt at damage control. When they get caught, the world will know they are monsters. No one will be on their side, not even the other monsters. So they will do anything to discredit victims and accounts of the horror, misery and torture that they are doing.

By way of summary, T.I.s typically describe living in a state of constant fear, seeing evidence of being followed by unmarked police cars in every black SUV that drives by, of being zapped by “extremely low-frequency” (ELF) radiation or “Voice to Skull” (V2K) technology in every tingling sensation or bodily ache, and of malevolent intentions in other people’s every gesture.

The false dilemma offers harassment or delusion as explanations.
This manipulation attempts to minimize the fact that it is major hard core psychological and significant physical torture, it goes on relentlessly, interminably for fucking years and is committed against innocent civilians including children. Thats 24/7 for years and is intended to force a victim "to a state a state of antagonistic estrangement. He is not totally estranged from the environment, because even antagonism is a form of contact; but he is totally cut off from the essential succor of affectionate communication and relatedness, without which he can not survive. And at the same time his increasing self betrayal, sense of guilt, and loss of identity all join to estrange him from himself- or at least the self he has known. He contemplates the future with only hopelessness and dread. Literally and emotionally there seems to be no escape from this hermetically-sealed antagonism. As the assaults continue, and as they turn inward, he begins to experience one of the most primitive and painful emotions known to man, the fear of total annihilation.".. "This is the point where mental and physical interrogations break down. Some prisoners may be brought by their severe anxiety and depression to the point of suicidal preoccupations and attempts." (Lifton p70)
Victims face near constant torture, manipulation, sexual assault and harassment for very long periods. This is delivered verbally and physically; its delivered sonically and covertly. Its meant to utterly break you, destroy your identity, beliefs and obliterate your life. Conclusion of a never ending hell.
This causes a sustained inescapable hardcore traumatic experience. The delusions are a symptom, not the cause and harassment is the understatement of the century.
Prolonged trauma, from extreme periods of torture and harassment, results in paranoia, delusion, isolating and much more. Obviously, because of the heinous nature of these crimes they use an extremely covert delivery method. Victims often attribute it to RF or ELF and infrasound. Infrasound is almost impossible to shield from and currently very difficult to locate random small sources. It sure as fuck hurts and its sure as fuck make you sore as hell, after a couple days of infrasound physical torture you feel like you just climbed a 14 teener or unloaded three semi trailers solo or played a tournament of full check hockey. With repeated torture sessions the effects get worse.
Prolonged unavoidable unexplainable trauma and resultant PTSD can cause people to experience hypervigilance or even paranoia. Trauma requires the victim address the situation and deal with it. Being the victim of continuiose severe harassment and tourture will make anyone paranoid. A victim of MK is can't explain the unjust random trauma, but we are naturally compelled to do so. Paranoia is the result. Suggestion from the internet or the verbal assault can lead to paranoid delusions that are common among victims. When you are tortured constantly for no obsternable reason by covert means a victims mind is driven to and ultimately needs to make sense of what's happening to them.
Its trauma resolution and resolution of a very difficult problem easily leads to delusion. Dr. Pierre is well aware of this and presents his first reason for delusional beliefs as the psychological "need for certainty, control, closure." Victims psychologically need and are relentlessly driven to figure out the "who" and "why" and "how" these never-ending horrible crimes are being done to them. With the high tech covert torture of innocent civilians there are not a lot of logical reasons and this opens the doors to delusions and delusional implant as victims require the "certainty, control, closure" that any explanation provides. (31:26 CDS)
The resultant trauma induced delusions are a defense mechanism victims adopt or create to protect themselves from the brutal, continuous, unbearable, inescapable, inhumane and almost unendurable experience that is done to us.

2.2. Delusions as a shear pin​ According to the “shear-pin” account developed by McKay and Dennett (2009), some false beliefs that help manage negative emotions and avoid low self-esteem and depression can count as psychologically adaptive. McKay and Dennett suggest that, in situations of extreme stress, motivational influences are allowed to intervene in the process of belief evaluation, causing a breakage. Although the breakage is bad news epistemically, as the result is that people come to believe what they desire to be true and not what they have evidence for, it is not an evolutionary “mistake”, rather it is designed to avoid breakages that would have worse consequences for the person’s self-esteem and wellbeing. What might count as a doxastic analogue of shear pin breakage? We envision doxastic shear pins as components of belief evaluation machinery that are “designed” to break in situations of extreme psychological stress (analogous to the mechanical overload that breaks a shear pin or the power surge that blows a fuse). Perhaps the normal function (both normatively and statistically construed) of such components would be to constrain the influence of motivational processes on belief formation. Breakage of such components, therefore, might permit the formation and maintenance of comforting misbeliefs – beliefs that would ordinarily be rejected as ungrounded, but that would facilitate the negotiation of overwhelming circumstances (perhaps by enabling the management of powerful negative emotions) and that would thus be adaptive in such extraordinary circumstances. 📷The epistemic innocence of motivated delusions Delusions are defined as irrational beliefs that compromise good functioning. However, in the empirical literature, delusions have been found to have …📷 www.sciencedirect.comClick to expand...

📷

Population vs. Sample Definitions, Differences & Examples

A population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about. A sample is the specific group that you will collect data from. The size of the📷 www.scribbr.com Duhh..
And victims with a higher resistance to "mind control" will appear quite normal, while victims devastatingly effected will elicit the tragic symptoms of this totally inhumane and unethical horror they are assaulted with. Also, people suffering from medical conditions, but who are not victims, will be included in unfiltered data. You have to figure out what is and what is not real.
But why is this going on all around the planet? Turns out trauma is very cultural and what is traumatic in culture A can be quite different from what is traumatic in culture B. I think they want to make sure they are the biggest piles of dog shit in every culture.

and of malevolent intentions in other people’s every gesture.

This symptom comes from the prolonged trauma. This reports on findings for victims of trauma after the fact. Because sustained severe trauma , that is continuously forced for years, hasn't been studied by any ethical scientist we have to settle for these humane results.*
📷

Paranoia and post-traumatic stress disorder in the months after a physical assault: a longitudinal study examining shared and differential predictors Psychological Medicine Cambridge Core

Paranoia and post-traumatic stress disorder in the months after a physical assault: a longitudinal study examining shared and differential predictors - Volume 43 Issue 12📷 www.cambridge.org *unethical, nazi pig psyco fuctard want 2 bees can refer to their own personal notes

For example, the “who” is variably attributed to neighbors, ex-boyfriends, employers, police, and other law enforcement agencies, “the financial elite,” or less conventional sources, like Freemasons and space aliens. The “why” is often attributed to retaliation for ending relationships, acting as whistleblowers at work, political activism, having run-ins with the law, or being privy to secret information.

These are all attempts to begin to resolve the trauma. The interface also promotes the need to resolve the trauma by repeatedly triggering the victim with statements like "I can't believed you don't know who is doing this to you", "How is this even possible" and "why is this being done to you." The interface mixes in delusional suggestions to answer these questions. The real reason this is being done to them is they fit a profile that fulfills a part of a sample population created to reflect society as a whole and thats it. There are a few exceptions, but thats very rare.
If a delusional implant takes hold, then the more illogical the better for discrediting their reports. If they adopt the delusion its law enforcement then they are much less likely to report and seek help with them and this benefits the criminals.

Seemingly motiveless harassment is chalked up to being hapless victims of experimentation by government agencies testing new techniques of surveillance or mind control.

This is what it is, it may be private sector but its roots are in the government agencies thats work is kept secret and its motivation is the remote thought reform, brainwashing and control of individual victims.

If there’s a common thread to the accounts of gang stalking, it’s that T.I.s describe considerable suffering not only as a result of ongoing concerns about being harassed, but also from the experience of physical symptoms, like pain and “hearing voices,” and the significant social stigma associated with sharing their claims with family, friends, or mental health professionals who routinely dismiss them as “crazy.” As a result, T.I.s have found solace on the internet, where they share "war stories" and survival strategies with like-minded individuals who have similarly found themselves at the center of a vast conspiracy theory.

This is all true for once. People facing a common enemy or struggle often congregate together as in the 12 step groups. When you look at the devious nature of what we face its easy to see why its difficult to share with some people with out them being totally fooled by this program as thats what its designed to do.

And yes, a few real events in history, such as the CIA’s MK-Ultra “mind control” program and the FBI’s COINTELPRO surveillance program of the 1950s, have occurred, just as the modern-day mass manipulation of human behavior through social media is a reality in which we all now live.

This is the rebooted MK program, if it ever went away at all. Thats a fact.

But if you aren’t personally experiencing gang stalking, it’s hard for an outsider, much less a psychiatrist, to accept it as anything other than a textbook example of paranoia. Indeed, that’s been the conclusion of the few mental health researchers that have examined gang stalking to date. In 2006, Dr. Vaughn Bell and colleagues published an analysis of 10 online accounts of “mind control experiences” consistent with gang stalking (though they didn’t mention that word explicitly).2 When assessed by three independent psychiatrists, all of the accounts were classified as consistent with the evidence of a psychotic disorder

You have to stop trying to use the psychotic effects of severe trauma to discount that the trauma is happening.

n 2015, Drs. Lorraine Sheridan and David James conducted an analysis of 128 responses to a survey about stalking that similarly concluded that 100 percent of cases involving gang stalking by multiple coordinated individuals reflected paranoid delusions (in contrast, only 4 percent of those reporting stalking by a single individual were deemed to be delusional).3 In both of these studies, gang stalking claims were attributed to paranoia because they defied credulity, often due to the sheer amount of resources or level of coordinated organization that would be necessary to carry out what was claimed.

The need for sustained unexplainable trauma resolution creates a dynamic for delusion and easily accepted suggested delusion.

As a psychiatrist, it’s nearly impossible to disagree with those conclusions. Delusions are defined in psychiatry as “fixed, false beliefs,” with paranoia representing a classic version in which one believes they’re being followed, harassed, or otherwise persecuted. Vigilance—keeping an eye out for and being generally wary of potential threats—is normal and can transform into exaggerated hypervigilance under various conditions, such as having been an actual victim of violence. At the extreme, full-blown paranoia of delusional intensity can be understood as that same evolutionary warning system gone completely awry, to the point of seeing the evidence and believing that such threats are almost everywhere.

This was already explained, but to recap never-ending unresolvable trauma causes paranoia, hyper vigilance and leaves victims very vulnerable to delusion.

But digging deeper tells a different story. Many T.I.s report concerns not only about gang stalking but other common symptoms of mental illness, such as auditory hallucinations or voice-hearing and even less plausible beliefs, such as having “implants” inside their bodies that can control their thoughts or that people have been replaced by aliens. But even those with “pure” paranoia appear to display textbook examples of delusional thinking.

already explained. Victims have tried to explain how the tech works and years back implants could have been part of the solution, but now of course with the advent of technology in the civilian world victims recognize that no implant is needed to track someone.

First, there’s the unbelievably vast extent of what’s claimed… fleets of black SUVs with tinted windows, persecutors in disguise on every street corner, and futuristic secret technology being deployed from God knows where. Second, there’s a lack of any obvious or credible motive for the persecution…

Here he is giving a dose of the discrediting. The SUV are paranoia from the trauma. The tech is real.. and lol I don't think god has figured out where its coming from yet. It comes from speakers and an infrasonic microphone array and sound source triangulation software should solve this one finally.

futuristic secret technology being deployed from God knows where.

Nothing unbelievable about about "futuristic secret technology". It comes from infrasonic speakers or generators and infrasonic microphone array should easily triangulate the location of the sources.

… why would the CIA be devoting considerable resources to keep an “average Joe” under constant surveillance for years on end (note that paranoia and grandiosity—an exaggerated sense of self-importance—often go hand-in-hand)?

The surveillance is automated and done by a computer. No person is watching it all day. Certain thoughts and behaviors are tagged and logged for analysis if desired. This is clear as times you can do a certain behavior or think a certain thought and Alice will always make the same specific comment, indicating a grouping by the system.. you can sit there and just play with it entering in different thoughts and pay attention to its response. Its response is often a simple abusive statement the always conforms to the input groups.
As we are average joes.. and that goes for pretty much everyone on this planet. So what we all do and think is really pretty generic and boring in the end. Complete removal of privacy is very traumatic to victims as humans see privacy as a human right. Adopting grandiose delusions as reasoning why this is happening is a psychological defense mechanism to the trauma. In the end we are just a sample population for a inhuman unethical study of thought reform, behavior modification and attempted remote enslavement of innocent people. The real grandiosity is in the over educated narcissistic psycopath delusional criminals mascaraing scientists who have and are participating in this disgusting utter failure.

Third, the persecutory experiences continue regardless of attempts to escape or relocate

Escapable trauma wouldn't seem so hopeless nor tend to cause helplessness. They do have to relocate equipment when a victim moves or flees. So often times the torment is significantly reduced right after a move. They say this is a reward for moving, but its just the time it takes them to get equipment to the new location. It took them almost 6 weeks when I last jumped states. Well It is government work.
The current version of MK is confusing and thats the way its intended and designed. Once you figure it out its not all that complicated.
You have to figure out whats real and whats not.

“The universe without him in it didn’t make any sense at all. He’d taken risks; he’d seen other people die. Even people he loved. Now, for the first time, his own death was a real thing”
Welcome everyone to the fourth check in for Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. We continue with the story of Holden and his crew, joined by Miller, the detective as they begin to pull at the threads of the mystery they find themselves wrapped up in. In this fourth discussion, we will be discussing Chapter 25 through Chapter 33.
Now, a note about spoilers!
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Schedule
Marginalia
Hope you all Enjoy the discussion! Feel free to respond to any or all of the discussion questions below. Looking forward to discussing these chapters with you all!
Read on!

• Rogue

Chapter Summaries:
Chapter Twenty Five: Holden - They leave the scene of the crime. Out of Miller’s earshot, Naomi tells Holden that Miller knew the dead woman. She could see his shock at Julie’s condition. Miller wants to know how Holden knew someone from the Scopuli would be in that room. Holden wants to know how Miller knew the missing girl case was connected to something bigger. They both give half answers. Neither knows who the gunmen were or why they attacked, but Miller says it was a botched operation. Alex wonders why no one is talking about the condition of the corpse in the room. Miller confesses that he didn’t actually know Julie. The investigation gave him a picture of her: She was a good kid, a good racer. He wanted to get her back alive.
He guesses at Julie’s password (“Razorback”), which allows Naomi to access her terminal, which Naomi manipulates through a sealed plastic bag to reduce risk of contamination. Naomi opens a notes file that contains Julie’s account of catching the “Phoebe bug.” Julie referred to the “brown stuff” and described her symptoms, which included fever. She observed that the thing feeds on radiation and is anaerobic—meaning it does not require oxygen. Julie recorded the notes as she traveled to Eros, then contacted Fred Johnson. The group has no clue what caused all the tubes and spurs to sprout on Julie. The Roci crew decides to follow up on coordinates found in Julie’s notes for answers. They think she may have hidden a ship and want to check it out. Miller wants to go with them to find out who killed Julie.
Chapter Twenty Six: Miller - Their ship, The Roci, is in lockdown, unable to leave Eros, which angers Holden. Miller explains Sematimba wants them where he can find them. Miller makes a case for leaving with them but Holden is unsure he can trust Miller. Fred Johnston sends a message to the crew of the Roci: a spy has been caught and revealed danger on Eros. They conclude that someone wants to use Julie’s body as biological warfare. Eros seems an unlikely target and the crew wonders where Julie’s body was meant to go.
Eros is put in emergency lockdown, due to risk of radiation exposure. Everyone is ordered to the casino level. Radiation shelter space is limited but the crew is heading for the Roci anyway. Miller sees a security guard with scars and markings he recognizes as well as stolen riot gear from Star Helix. He’s a thug Miller once arrested and his presence speaks to a bigger picture: a coordinated attack. He warns Holden not to board his ship yet.
Chapter 27: Holden - Miller explains about the fake cops who are thugs that vanished from Ceres. He thinks they’re using the emergency to put everyone in lockup. They hide from the crowd going into shelter and make for the docks. Holden convinces Miller to check out what the thugs are up to and tells Naomi to take off without them if they’re not back in three hours. Following the guards, they see the people being put into the radiation shelter. All the guards leave except one. They ask to join the group inside. When the guard refuses, Miller puts a gun to his head. The guard lets him in. The shelter is dark inside and people are lying there, seemingly dead. The guard steps in and falls over, while Miller and Holden cough and stumble. They’ve been exposed to lethal radiation. They have six hours to get to the Roci’s med bay or they’ll die. They realize the ‘Phoebe bug” that infected Julie feeds on radiation and the people sent to the radiation shelters were likely sent there to be infected and used as incubators.
Chapter Twenty Eight: Miller - Holden and Miller have two hours to get to the Roci before Naomi and the others leave. Armored guards are keeping people away so Holden and Miller head for the maintenance tunnels. In the tunnels, they encounter a few guards, killing one and questioning the other, who Miller recognizes as a criminal from Ceres. The guy reveals he’s working for Protogen, a private Earth company based on Luna and led by Julie’s father. Miller shoots the guard and plans to use the body to rush past security, taking the guard for medical attention. As they carry the corpse, Miller reflects on when he lost his humanity. It’s been a cumulative process, starting with his first kill. He sees Julie as a symbol of the humanity he craves, which he could have had if he made different choices. They arrive at the hideout a few minutes past the deadline. No one is there.
Chapter Twenty Nine: Holden - Holden didn’t actually think they’d leave without him and realizes he is going to die from his own order. Miller suggests they head for the ship, though Holden doubts the ship will still be there. On the way, seeing a fake guard shoot a kid, leading Holden to empty his gun on the guard, but it doesn’t kill him. The guard aims at Holden but Miller kills him. They arrive at the port but mercenary cops with machine guns are blocking the way.
Chapter Thirty: Miller - Miller reflects on his two minds: his cop self, planning the next move and his ‘death self’. The name comes from a poem he once read. Holden wonders why someone would orchestrate such an elaborate deadly scheme. Miller says Protogen doesn’t know what the bug that infected Julie will do. He believes Eros is one big experiment and the scientists are observing the results. Suddenly, a horde of infected appear, moving like zombies, vomiting brown goo. Doors are opening all over the station and more zombies are pouring in. A riot cop starts shooting the zombies, their wounds ooze brown stuff. Miller gets an idea. They could follow the cops from behind as they fall back to escape the zombies. Time is short as Holden and Miller are in bad shape from the radiation poisoning as they follow the mercenaries.
Chapter Thirty One: Holden - Holden is ready to collapse so Miller drags him along as they make their way along the outer levels of the station. The guards are arguing as infected men approach. Miller is reluctant to shoot another person without Holden’s permission. Holden and Miller are trapped between the infected and the heavily armed guard, one faction looking professional and the other look like thugs from Ceres. The factions trade shots, bodies fall and the fighting continues down the corridor toward the ship. Four thugs approach. Miller gets Holden’s permission before he starts shooting. They take the guards armor and helmets and make a run for it. Progress is slow due to radiation poisoning and shots they're taking. They limp to the elevator which will take them to the Roci. The lift arrives and Amos is there holding an assault rifle in each hand.
Chapter Thirty Two: Miller - Miller wakes from dreaming, with something sticking out of his neck. Naomi is there and comments that its good their sick bay is well stocked. Miller passes out and wakes again. He sees Holden who looks terrible and falls unconscious again. Sometime later, while half-awake, he hears Holden tell Naomi that he loves her. Naomi admits that she fell for him more than four years earlier, but he only got interested in her when she was the only woman available. She knows his pattern—she’s seen it repeatedly—and a brief fling is not good enough for her.
Miller coughs and sits up. Naomi says both men died several times, but the ship’s medical resources saved them. They’re both going to have to be checked for cancer every month for the rest of their lives. They’ve had various parts removed; Holden’s thyroid was replaced with an implant, and Miller lost more than a foot of his small bowel. They’re probably sterile now, too, but otherwise they’re in good shape. Eros, however, is dead. There were 1.5 million people on the station. Miller and Holden discuss their escape and the men they killed along the way. Holden says he’s fine with it, but Miller doesn’t believe it. He says it’s good that Holden’s haunted by it and that the feeling won’t go away—so long as he still has a soul. He also tells Holden not to let Naomi put him off. In Miller’s imagination, Julie tells him she loves him too, and she’ll take care of him.
Chapter Thirty Three: Holden - Holden and Miller spend five days in the sick bay. Assorted explanations for the death of Eros are circulating, some political, some not. The Roci is heading for Julie’s asteroid. There’s distance between Naomi and Holden, who regrets his ill-timed romantic gesture. He gets up and finds he can walk. He heads to the ops deck, where Naomi is at a computer station. Holden starts to speak, wanting to have a personal conversation, but Naomi hits a button, and Fred Johnson’s face appears. Fred says they haven’t been able to get anything out of the data from the Donnager. Kelly died for that data, Holden recalls. He wonders if it’s showing Mars who killed the Donnager by revealing the enemy ship’s drive signature.
Miller joins them, and Holden asks him to solve a mystery: If he knew who killed someone, why would he send his partner the clues instead of just naming him? Miller says in case he’s wrong. He would want his partner to examine the clues and reach his own conclusion. Naomi thinks Earth is behind the whole thing. Holden wants to make another general broadcast to share the information they have, but Miller stops him, lest Holden make the largest war of all time—which he started—even bigger. Whoever did all this made it look like Mars killed the Cant, but it didn’t. They made it look like the OPA killed the Donnager—but it didn’t. Now Holden is going to drag Earth into it when he doesn’t know for sure. Holden sees it differently: He’s just releasing data, just exposing the secrets that will enable someone to find the answers.
They reach Julie’s asteroid and, sure enough, there’s a ship tethered there: the Anubis.

This is third version of an FAQ first posted several years ago by u/watts52 . The second version, posted by u/brassage is here. The primary changes have been to update links that have changed or are no longer active, and to add a few more resources and recent threads on the existing topics. Primary credit goes to u/watts52, the original poster.
This FAQ covers many common topics discussed on foreignservice . All answers have been pulled from public sources and without any information covered by NDA. Error reports, additions, and clarifications welcome in the comments. (Last update 11 May 2024)

Foreign Service Super FAQ

1. How do I become a diplomat? How do I work in the foreign service? The best place to learn about this is in the Careers Section of the State Department website. Start here.
2. What are the differences among FSO, FSS, LNA, CF, CS, and EFM?

• Here is an excellent general overview. {HT: zzonkmiles}
• FSO - Foreign service officers are generalists who serve, usually abroad, in one of five different "cones" (career tracks). Learn more.
• FSS - Foreign service specialists "provide important technical, management, healthcare, or administrative services" at overseas posts Learn more.
• LNA - Limited Non-Career Appointments are opportunities ranging from 15 to 60 months in a handful of specialized areas. Learn more.
• CF - Consular fellows (a subset of LNAs) work alongside FSOs and primarily "adjudicate visas for foreign nationals." Learn more.
• CS - The civil service is a part of the State Department, but is not considered part of the foreign service. Most civil service jobs are based in DC, and this sub typically does not deal with issues related to the civil service. Learn more.
• EFM - Eligible Family members - these are family members (typically spouses) of FSOs or FSSs who work for the State Department at the same post as the FSO or FSS. EFM jobs are not always available and sometimes subject to hiring freezes.

1. Is the Foreign Service the same thing as the State Department? No, the State Department consists of the foreign service (employees who are typically overseas) and the civil service (all other employees who are typically serving in DC). In addition, the term "foreign service" may also include:

• the US Foreign Commercial Service in the Commerce department.
• the US Foreign Agricultural Service
• the US Agency for Global Media (formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors)
• the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

1. Where can I find answers to nearly any question I might have about getting in to the foreign service?

• This foreignservice sub (search archives)
• The FSOT Yahoo Group (search archives)
• The FSOA Yahoo Group (search archives) No longer in service. If anyone has an updated option, please comment, and I'll edit the post.
• Read the selection process brochure.
• The official State Department FAQ
• For FSS Applicants, the Foreign Service Specialist Careers Yahoo Group {HT: kaiserjoeicem}

1. Why should I consider the foreign service? Why not?

• Various reasons for joining.
• Here is a thread mostly involving reasons against joining.
• An FSO's reasons for leaving the foreign service. A more recent thread on why some former FS personnel resigned.
• Pros and Cons of the Foreign Service lifestyle.
• Pleasant surprises and biggest disappointments about life in the Foreign Service.
• Misconceptions about life in the Foreign Service.

FSO Career Tracks / Cones

1. Which cone is the best fit for me? Take the Career Track Quiz to find out. It's really important for you to pick a track that you have a passion for.
2. What are the differences among the cones? How do I choose a cone?

• Read summaries & detailed job descriptions of all the cones.
• Watch employee video interviews covering all different parts of the State Department, including all different FSO cones.
• Read these threads about job duties in each of the cones: Consular, Economic, Management, Political, Public Diplomacy
• A Day in the Life Series - Some of these are pretty tongue-in-cheek, but still insightful in their own ways.
  • Political Officer
  • Consular Officer
  • CONS - American Citizen Services
  • Economic Officer
  • ECON - Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer
  • Management Officer
  • Management - General Services Officer
  • Public Diplomacy - Press Officer
  • Diplomatic Security Special Agent
  • Diplomatic Security - Security Engineering Officer
  • Office Management Specialist

1. Which cone gives me the best chance of getting in? Which cones are hiring the most people right now? It depends on your background and your own desires and motivations, and it depends on the needs of the service. Even if we could tell you which cones are hiring the most people now, the hiring process can take one to three years and things may be different by the time you are eligible to receive a job offer. Do not make the mistake of choosing a cone based on what you think your "chances" are. Too many people make this mistake. If you choose a cone this way, you will probably find yourself in a job you dislike, and you'll have wasted a lot of time and energy "getting in" and you'll be looking for a way to be "getting out." Further discussion here...
2. Can I change cones? Would it be a good idea to come in as a Consular Officer and later switch to a Political Officer? In theory it's possible to change cones. In practice, it's difficult to do so, and you shouldn't plan on it. Some discussion here.
3. Can I choose one cone and then simply do out-of-cone work? Maybe, but that's a silly game to play and it's likely counterproductive to your other career and non-career goals. If you are really interested in one cone, choose that one when you apply. Too many applicants attempt to game the system by choosing an "easy" cone with some scheme to actually end up switching to or working in a different cone, but experienced FSOs on this sub have stated repeatedly that such schemes never really work out. That said, there is a lot of variety in foreign service work. Pick a cone that is of interest to you, and you will have plenty of opportunities to serve in different roles. More thoughts here and here.
4. I have a terrific idea for how to game the cone system that is not listed here. No, you don't. Somebody has already tried it and ended up being sad. Please don't try to game the system - it won't work the way you're hoping it will. Instead, just choose a cone based on your interests, talents, abilities, and passions, and work from there. You'll be happier and more successful in the long run.

Posts, Assignments, and Worldwide Availability

1. How do post assignments work?

• A great overview of 1st and 2nd tour bidding, post assignments, and language training
• First tour assignment thoughts
• First & Second tour bidding and More information, and more here.
• Second tour bidding
• Entry Level Office Management Specialist Bidding
• Bidding for third tour and beyond
• More mid-level bidding

1. I have an interest in working in country X or at least in a certain region of the world. How can I do that in the foreign service? During your first two tours, you're "directed" meaning you have a restricted list of places you might end up. Beyond that, you'll be responsible for finding your own assignments. It would not be uncommon for someone to develop regional expertise over time, but regional expertise doesn't mean you'd be bouncing between Paris and Geneva for the rest of your career. It's also easier to specialize in bigger countries or regions like the PRC or former Soviet Union than it is to specialize in smaller countries or niche sub-regions like Austria or the Gulf. Further discussion
2. I have a terrific idea for how to game the assignment system that is not listed here. No, you don't. Somebody has already tried it and ended up being sad. Please don't try to game the system - it won't work the way you're hoping it will. Instead, just be prepared to be "worldwide available" and understand that might mean Paris or Bangui, Caracas or Tashkent, Wellington or Bamako, Tijuana or Toronto. If you are not comfortable with that type of availability, this is not the career for you.
3. What are the popular or unpopular posts? It depends on the person, on the people you work with at a given post, and on environmental factors, among other things. A lot of people come in imagining they'd love working in a western European capital city only to find the cost of living, culture of the post, personality of their direct supervisor, commute to the office, or some other factor makes life less fun than it would've been if they'd simply visited that same city on vacation. Posts in other parts of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa or central Asia may have tighter-knit expat communities or post culture or better housing options or other benefits that make them more desirable for some people. One person's best post might be another person's worst. Many people on this sub have indicated that they've hated posts they expected to love and loved posts they expected to hate. One frequently mentioned bit of advice on this sub is not to think of Foreign Service posts as you would think of vacation destinations. Here is a good discussion of this topic. And here is a longer discussion of various posts that current or aspiring FSOs either like or don't like for various reasons.
4. Where can I learn about what life is like at different posts? Try reading these real post reports.

Hiring process

1. Why does the hiring process seem so opaque/confusing/mysterious/complicated? It's not really opaque, as State tells you exactly what they're looking for in candidates and provides study materials and resources for preparing for each stage. That said, a lot of candidates seem to feel frustrated or confused by the process for a variety of reasons. These may include:

• The process is long and does not offer immediate gratification. You should plan to move forward with life as usual and work through the foreign service hiring process in the background. There is simply a lot of waiting involved.
• Many candidates, surprisingly, seem not to follow directions and are then confused when they don't pass a certain stage of the process. By way of example, the instructions from the QEP about how to write personal narratives include the instruction, "Simple lists of accomplishments, recaps of candidates' resumes...are not effective." But one person did exactly this in the Leadership Skills essay and did not pass. This is not to say there are no other problems with this candidate's PNs, but if you make sure to follow each stage's instructions exactly, the process (and your results) won't seem so confusing.
• Many candidates, young and old, mistakenly assume that their work/life/school experience makes them more than qualified for an entry-level FSO role. In actuality, successful candidates translate that experience into the six precepts and thirteen dimensions during the QEP and FSOA stages, respectively.

1. How can I improve my chances of passing?

• FSOT - Be well-read on a diverse set of subjects, take the State Department reading list seriously, practice good test taking skills, know your English grammar perfectly, and be able to write in a clear and concise manner.
• QEP - Follow the directions exactly. Answer the questions exactly as written. Do not list your resume in bullet points. Do tell relevant (and verifiably true) stories. Have diverse life and work experiences that map easily to the job description of the cone you've selected and to the precept described in the essay prompt.
• FSOA - Practice, practice, practice ahead of time. Use the former Yahoo Group Files. Be relaxed and composed. Make every action and every word you use roll up into one or more of the 11 dimensions. Come across as someone that other people would want to work with. Smile. Oh, and practice.
• Security clearance - Before you get to the security clearance stage, make sure you've buttoned up everything you can think of, from past stupid behavior to credit reports to tax filings. Consider running a cheap background check on yourself. When filling out your SF-86, disclose everything. Don't make anything a surprise. When you meet with your investigator, disclose everything relevant to the questions and the time frames included. Make sure you understand what they're looking for and be proactive about bringing troublesome/questionable points to the investigator's attention.
• For all stages - read the instructions and do exactly what they are asking you to do, no more and no less. Do not try to guess what the examiners want to hear. They are telling you exactly what they want each time - whether it's demonstration of general knowledge and English expertise, clear and concise writing, demonstration of the six precepts, or demonstration of the thirteen dimensions. Whichever stage you're working through, assume that you're being graded according to a rubric that matches exactly to the instructions you're given.

1. Approximately what percentage of people pass each of the stages? No one outside State really knows exactly, and numbers can vary from year to year, depending on hiring projections, but based on various reports (example) and conjecture here are some approximate guesses. Feel free to disagree.

• Total number of people who take the FSOT in a given year: 17000, give or take. (Although in 2017, State reportedthe number had dropped to just 9519. This lower number, though, does not mean one's "chances" are any better or any worse this year.) Note that while these numbers are expressed as numerical percentages, they should not be interpreted as probabilities.
• FSOT - No longer pass/fail
• QEP - This can vary greatly based on the needs of the service by cone, the total number of applicants, and various other factors.
• FSOA - Approximately 40-50% pass
• Clearances, suitability & receiving an offer before timing off the register: 60-80%. Very few people are denied a security clearance (though getting the clearance may take a long time). More commonly, the people that pass the FSOA but do not become FSOs are those with low FSOA scores who time off the register after 18 months or those who choose to cancel their candidacy for one reason or another. Historically, about 2-3% of FSOT takers ended up as FSOs eventually.

1. How long will it take me to get through the process? Assuming everything goes perfectly, at least a year but possibly much longer. For example: if you take the FSOT today, it will be a couple of months before you get your results. You'll have three weeks to submit your essays to the QEP and then another couple months of waiting. You'll then have to schedule your oral assessment (another 2-4 month wait) and if you pass that, you'll enter the medical and security clearance stage which will take at least 6 months in most cases, but possibly much longer. (Yes, there are anectodal exceptions to all of the above.) You'll then go through final suitability review, which will take anywhere from a week to several months and only at that point will you be on the register. You will then have to wait for hiring to be authorized and to receive an offer. You'll be on the register for 18 months, and if you don't get an offer during that window of time, your candidacy will end. If an offer doesn't come through (or if you fail any of the steps of the process), you'll have to start over by taking the FSOT again the next time you're eligible. So if you take the FSOT today, the best case scenario would be for you to be joining the foreign service a little over a year from now, but a more likely scenario is that you'll be working through this process and doing a lot of waiting for a couple of years or more. Use the time productively - there's no benefit to sitting around and stressing over the what-ifs of State Department hiring.
2. How can I use my time productively?

• Learn a language to improve your register position
• Engage in meaningful work to improve your demonstration of the 11 dimensions.
• Start another candidacy in parallel. In most cases, you are allowed to take the FSOT once per year, so take it every time you have the opportunity.
• Take this advice.

1. What if I fail one of the stages? Then you are human and you've had an experience not unlike ~98% of applicants each year. If you're interested in the foreign service, try again. Some people have taken the test more than ten times and many of today's FSO's were hired on subsequent tries because they persisted and improved themselves each time.
2. Is there a hiring freeze? Should I wait to apply until after things return to normal? Whether there is a hiring freeze in effect or not doesn't matter. As one person said, "It'll take a long time from test to diplomat, so I don't think the temporal minutia will really matter by the time we're on the register." If you're interested in the Foreign Service, go take the test and get the process started. It's free. Worst case, you fail and you'll take the test another time (which is what you would've done if you had tried to wait out the hiring freeze). But it might be that you succeed and find yourself well-positioned on the register in time for the next big round of hiring.
3. Is there going to be an A-100 soon? Will [cone] spots be available? How should I interpret the remarks of [important person]? Are they really only going to hire [number] of people this year? I can't deal with the stress! Why are they making me put my life on hold? Why won't they extend my time on the register? How many people will retire/resign/take an early buyout this year? How many Rangel/Pickering fellows are there and what percentage of the jobs will they take? What is the status of [funding legislation in congress]? Does [random thing I read in the news] mean we should expect to see a new A-100 now? Why does FSI have training classes on their schedule if no invites have gone out yet? etc. As an exasperated someone humorously posted on another forum, "Seriously chill. Even if you were provided this information, which isn’t likely, it has no effect on whether there are spots left for you. Enough with trying to predict what happens this year. Wait it out like any job interview."

FSOT - The Foreign Service officer Test

1. What is the difference between the FSWE and the FSOT? The FSOT is the Foreign Service Officer Test. Its predecessor was the FSWE, the Foreign Service Written Exam, and is no longer administered. You can sign up to take the FSOT here.
2. What are my chances of passing? There is no way to know without trying. If you're interested, take the test and see how you do. People on this sub won't be able to tell you how you're likely to do, and if you try and fail and then try again, you may find that you perform better and pass the second (or third or fourth) time around. Remember: taking the test is free. (You only have to pay if you sign up and then fail to take the test.) So you have nothing to lose - get out there and give it a go.
3. How can I prepare?

• Take the practice test.
• Read the Suggested Reading List.
• Set your expectations that this process will take a long time. If you are just now getting ready to take the FSOT, chances are you will not be a new FSO next year at this time. Most people will not successfully become FSO's on their first try. But that doesn't mean you should give up! You will try, you will try again. You will need to maintain a positive attitude. You will need to be patient. Don't make Foreign Service your Plan A. Move on with life while you are working your way through the foreign service hiring process.

1. Where can I find more information about the FSOT? Try the FSOT Frequently Asked Questions on the Pearson site. (Pearson is currently the company that administers the FSOT and some of the subsequent steps of the hiring process.)

QEP - The Qualifications Evaluation Panel

1. What is the difference between the QEP and the PN's or the PNQ's? People use these acronyms to talk about the same part of the process, even though they mean different things. The QEP is the Qualifications Evaluation Panel, and its job is to evaluate, based on a set of short essays, the likelihood that someone who passed the FSOT will also pass the FSOA. FSOT passers write one essay (a "personal narrative" or "PN") for each of six prompts (each a "personal narrative question" or "PNQ").
2. When will I know if I made it to the QEP? You will get an email from Pearson a few weeks after the close of the FSOT testing window. Your results will also appear in your online account with Pearson. When you are notified that you made it to the QEP, you will have approximately three weeks to write your essays and submit them through the Pearson interface.

FSOA - The Foreign Service Oral Assessment

1. Where is the FSOA held? As of May 2024, it is now held virtually, over the course of two days.
2. When will I know if I made it to the FSOA? You will get an email from Pearson a few weeks after you submit your personal narratives to the QEP. Your results will also appear in your online account with Pearson. When you are notified that you made it to the FSOA, you will have the opportunity to schedule your FSOA date through the Pearson interface.
3. How can I prepare?

• The FSOA evaluates your demonstration of the 11 dimensions. Know them inside and out.
• Take advantage of the old Yahoo Group FSOA files.
• Contact your Diplomat in Residence, as many of them hold FSOA info sessions.

Clearances

1. What is the process for getting my security clearance?
   1. After you pass the FSOA, you will receive a packet of information describing how this process works. Basically, within 30 days you will fill out a lengthy questionnaire electronically on the e-QIP system. (Read e-QIP FAQs here.)
   2. The e-QIP is the electronic version of the "SF-86," a standard PDF/printable form with essentially the same questions. Although not necessary, some have recommended using a printed SF-86 form to collect all of your responses to the e-QIP and then transcribe them into the electronic system when you are ready. (The e-QIP system does allow you to save and return to work again later.) Start early: many have reported that tracking down all their foreign contacts or previous addresses has taken a long time.
   3. You will wait for a period of time (say between a few days and a few months) and then you will be contacted by an investigator from Diplomatic Security. You will set up an interview with him or her. The investigator will let you know if additional information is required; you can speed up the process by disclosing everything up front. Don't try to hide the negatives; be up front and transparent.
2. Will X affect my ability to get a clearance? It depends. Here are the guidelines.
3. What percentage of applicants are denied a security clearance? Only about 0.1% of initial cases, per the 2015 ODNI report. However the report notes State may discontinue security processing due to automatic disqualifiers found during a suitability review before the case reaches the security clearance adjudication phase. These cases are cancelled by Human Resources before security clearance determinations are rendered and are not, therefore, categorized as security clearance denials. {HT: Christabel34}

Register

1. Where can I find the shadow registers? How can I be added? What is my position on the register? Contact the volunteer maintaining the shadow register for your career track or specialty

Languages

1. Do I have to know a foreign language to be in the foreign service? No, but if you do know a language well, you will receive bonus points and may be hired before a similarly-qualified candidate without language ability. Also, every new FSO must learn a language within the first few years of service. You are on so-called "language probation" until you have passed the appropriate language exam. FSI will provide the language training for any language-designated position in which you are to serve.
2. How do language bonus points work? When you pass the FSOA, you will have a score, usually between about 5.3 and 6, though scores can be as high as 7. You will be ranked by score against other people in your cone, and the higher scores will be hired first. So if you have the highest score for your cone. The only way to improve your score (unless you are a veteran) is to pass a language test. Most languages will get you an additional .17 points if you can demonstrate a "general professional proficiency" on the Interagency Language Roundtable Scale. For examples of the level of proficiency you would need, watch these videos. Harder languages that are in higher demand by the State Department can get you either .25 or .38 points. A list of languages for which State offers bonus points is here. And this thread has some excellent advice on languages.
3. If I speak language X, will I get sent to a post where that language is needed? Not necessarily, unless you received language bonus points for a super critical needs language. In that latter case, you can expect to serve in a position designated for that language at least twice in your career. The super critical needs languages are listed in the bottom table on this page. But if you come in with a fluency in, say, Spanish (which is not a super critical needs language), there is no guarantee that you'll be sent to a Spanish-speaking post.

Life & Work in the Foreign Service

1. What is it like to find out what your next post will be? Read many flag day stories here.
2. How does pay work? How is my salary calculated? What allowances do I get? Read this excellent Foreign Service Officer Salary Guide. You can also look up information about various posts, but be advised that the data on this site is not necessarily official and may be out of date.
3. Will I be required to serve in an unaccompanied post? You are "worldwide available," so in theory it can happen. In practice, there are a lot of people who volunteer to serve in unaccompanied posts for various reasons, and it would be unlikely that you would be forced to serve in one if you didn't want to.
4. What is it like to be LGBT in the foreign service? Review GLIFAA's website and resources, read read real post reports, which have a specific section for LGBT info, by post and these threads - LGBT, Foreign Commercial Service LGBT, same sex marriage, Robyn McCutcheon's book about her career Foreign Service, including as the first trans FSO.

Will it help/hurt my chances if...

1. ...I have a graduate degree from a really good school with a high GPA or I have no degree at all? No, it really doesn't matter.
2. ...I did drugs or committed a crime or did something stupid a long time ago? It could hurt you, but it really depends on what you did, how you dealt with the problem, and what you've been doing since then. Go ahead and apply.
3. ...I did drugs or committed a crime or did something stupid recently? It could hurt you, and if you're continuing to show poor judgment in life, it's going to be next to impossible for you to join the foreign service. However, no one on this sub will be able to tell you definitively what your outcome is likely to be. Fix whatever it is and try again. You won't know if or how this will affect your candidacy unless you try.
4. ...I have dual citizenship? Your clearances will take longer, but it's not a deal breaker. Read details here.
5. **...I have a foreign-born spouse or I have many contacts overseas or I have lived overseas for a long time?**Same answer: your clearances will take longer, but it's not a deal breaker. Read details here and here.

Miscellaneous

1. What happens after I receive my Orientation offer? Orientation 101 is the initial training class you take when you officially start work in the foreign service. Congratulations! It is a time of a lot of changes. Here is a description of what happens.
2. How can I become an Ambassador? You probably won't become an ambassador, and it's not worth the brain cycles to try to plan for it. But even if you have the right set of skills, knowledge, and luck through a career spanning many decades and you end up as an ambassador, you will still have spent far more time as a rank-and-file career employee than as an ambassador. So make sure you are interested, first and foremost, in the job and lifestyle of a foreign service officer, which is where you will spend the entirety of your career.
3. I am outraged over what the President / Secretary / someone else in power just said / did! Nothing wrong with feeling outrage, but what you do with that feeling may matter. And while you may dissent through the appropriate (private) channel, no matter who is in power and no matter who you voted for, your duty as a foreign service officer is to publicly advance the interests of the U.S. As a simplistic example, take a look at who came in first or second in the presidential elections going back ~20 years. Any of them could've been your boss (with small differences in electoral returns for the runners-up, of course): B. Clinton, Dole, Bush, Gore, Kerry, McCain, Obama, Romney, H. Clinton, Trump. Those individuals hold a pretty diverse set of policy views, and the next twenty years of presidential elections will probably result in a similarly diverse list. So if you want to be in the foreign service, think of your job as representing the U.S. regardless of who is in power. If you can see yourself representing the U.S. when person A is in power but not when person B is in power, this may not be the best career for you in the long run.

Additional Resources

• Department of State Careers
• Global Community Liaison Office
• American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)
  • Foreign Service Journal
  • AFSA's Foreign Service Statistics page
  • Foreign Service by the Numbers
• Tales from a Small Planet
• Path to Foreign Service
• American Diplomat podcast
• Modern American Diplomacy podcast