We took a life insurance exam a few weeks ago and we were told our results would be available to us in a portal. My partner got their exam results, but I did not. I kept being told they're processing and my online portal wasn't available. After over 2 weeks I called the exam company and they said they were done, but they weren't allowed to give them to me through my portal.
Very annoying. Especially after being told multiple times they would be available for us online.
Now I have to fill out a hippa release form and excersise my PHI rights which they've seemingly made very annoying to achieve.
It feels as if this was done on purpose by the life insurance company to hinder me from getting my results until they are no longer valid for potential other life insurance companies to use.
Am I reading the room correctly here or did I just win the lottery for incompetency?

Sheep and Wool (Innovation and Resilience) Bill

A
BILL
TO
Make provision for a commission to oversee sheep farming in the UK to empower industry innovation and resilience, and for connected purposes.

Chapter 1:

Section 1: Definitions
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions apply —
(1) ‘Competent authority’ refers to any public department or agency assigned responsibility of carrying out the provisions of this Act;
(2)

Chapter 2: The British Sheep and Wool Commission

Section 2: Establishment of the Commission
(1) There shall be established a commission for the purposes of ensuring the longevity, the good management, the efficiency, and the competitiveness of the Sheep and Wool industry.
(2) The commission shall have the power to make recommendations to the Secretary of State on matters that include but are not limited to —

(a) the development of Wool innovation Community action plans;
(b) land usage;
(c) scientific advancement and research funding;

(3) The Commission shall be entitled as the “British Sheep and Wool Commission”.
(4) The British Sheep and Wool Commission is a body corporate.
(5) Within this Act “The Commission” shall refer to the British Sheep and Wool Commission.
(6) The commission’s membership shall be drawn from experts in the industry and confirmed by the Secretary of State, and must include —

(a) At least one 1 member representing tenant farmers;
(b) At least one member who is a licenced veterinary surgeon;
(c) one member representing the interests of sheep grazing within the Crown Estate; and
(d) one member representing the interests of the woolen textile industry.
(e) a maximum of 10 members in total.

(6) The Secretary of state may, by regulations, amend the composition of the commission in section 2(5).
(7) The Commission shall not be an agent of the Crown meaning it does not enjoy any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown.
(9) Regulations set under this Section shall be subject to negative procedure.
Section 3: General powers of the Commission
(1) The Commission may do anything which it considers—

(a) to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the exercise of its functions, or to be conducive to the exercise of those respective functions.

(2) In particular, the Commission may—

(a) enter into contracts,
(b) acquire and dispose of land,
(c) co-operate with any person,
(d) Obtain advice or assistance from any person who is, in the Commission's opinion, qualified to give it,
(e) pay any such person such fees, remuneration and allowances as the Commission may determine.

Section 4: Annual Report
(1) The Commission shall annually lay before Parliament a report detailing —

(a) the status of the British Sheep and Wool Industry as assessed by the Commission;
(b) the sustainability of the industry, insofar as to consider:

(i) environment impact,
(ii) accommodating the industry alongside UK obligations under relevant international treaties concerning animal welfare, the climate emergency, environmental protection, and any other factor that the Commission deems relevant.

(c) a price analysis across all Commission Member farms to inform international trade.

Section 5: Investigative Powers
(1) Where appropriate, the Commission may appoint persons to inspect, investigate or examine sheep farms.
(2) Persons outlined in (1) shall not have the power to compel any person to comply with an investigation, unless accompanied by —

(a) a constable;
(b) an investigative person acting on behalf of a lawful agency of the crown.

Or in possession of —

(c) a court order issued by a magistrates

(3) Any investigation must be carried out for the purposes of informing the commission’s role as dictated by Section 2(1).
(4) If an investigator acting on behalf of the Commission finds evidence of unlawful activity, then they must inform the lawful authorities within the area in which they are acting.
Section 6: Aims of the Commission
(1) The Commission shall have, but not be limited to, the following aims and objectives —

(a) the building of collaborative challenge communities focused around circular design, circular business models and circular recovery;
(b) the developing and implementing of a circular innovation action plan that meets diverse industry needs, is challenge-led, and aligned with national initiates; and
(c) the creation of a circular knowledge hub to share and promote best practice, industry and policy insights.

(2) The Secretary of state may, by regulations, amend the aims of the Commission in section 1.
(3) Regulations set under this Section shall be subject to negative procedure.

CHAPTER 2:

Section 7: Sustainability Subsidy Scheme
(1) A sustainability subsidy scheme shall be established, funded and run by the designated operations UK Investment Bank.
(2) Administration of the Sustainability Subsidy scheme shall be to the responsibility of the —

(a) UK Investment Bank;
(b) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the responsible competent authority; and
(c) should the provisions of this Act extent to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; their respective competent authorities.

(3) Funds from the established scheme in paragraph 1 shall be used to support innovation and resilience investment into the agriculture industry, in which for the purposes of this Act, includes sheep farming.
(4) The Secretary of State may set regulations, through secondary legislation, to amend this Section.
(5) Regulations set under this Section shall be subject to negative procedure.

Chapter 3: Connected Purposes

Section 8: Application to Scotland
(1) This Act shall extend to Scotland following the passage of a motion of legislative consent in the Scottish Parliament.
(2) For application in Scotland, where “Secretary of State” is mentioned within this act, the Scottish Ministers shall have responsibility.
(3) Where applicable, the subsidy established by Section 6 shall be paid by the Scottish Treasury.
Section 9: Application to Wales
(1) This Act shall extend to Wales following the passage of a motion of legislative consent in the Welsh Parliament.
(2) For application in Scotland, where “Secretary of State” is mentioned within this act, the Welsh Ministers shall have responsibility.
(3) Where applicable, the subsidy established by Section 6 shall be paid by the Welsh Treasury.
Section 10: Application to Northern Ireland
(1) This Act shall extend to Northern Ireland following the passage of a motion of legislative consent in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) For application in Scotland, where “Secretary of State” is mentioned within this act, the Northern Irish Ministers shall have responsibility.
(3) Where applicable, the subsidy established by Section 6 shall be paid by the Treasury for Northern Ireland.

Section 11: Short Title, Commencement and Extent

(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Sheep and Wool (Innovation and Resilience) Act’.
(2) This Act commences a year and one day following royal assent.
(3) This Act extends to the entirety of the United Kingdom.
This Bill was submitted by the Right Honourable Dame u/Underwater_Tara CT KG MVO PC, Countess Kilcreggan, Shadow Defence Secretary, on behalf of the 39th Official Opposition. With contributions from the Right Honourable Dame u/Waffel-lol LT CMG GCMG, Leader of His Majesty’s Official Opposition, and the Right Honourable u/Hobnob88 Lord Inverness, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Opening Speech:
Mr Speaker,
I welcome the privilege I have been given to open this debate, bringing attention and debate to a subject that has seldom seen debate in this House in the last 10 years.
Britain has a proud agricultural and horticultural history, founded on the principles that enabled Britain to be one of the foremost exporters of fabrics for around a Century. This bill is founded on those same principles, and will enable the sheep and wool industry to continue for years and decades to come.
A core part of this bill is sustainability. Now, this has double meanings. There is environmental sustainability, and the use of the word in the sense of how well the industry can maintain itself long into the future. Particularly in recent years there have been problems with the industry maintaining its competitiveness and as a result the British sheep industry has very much pivoted towards primarily meat production. This pivot, as a result of uncompetitiveness, is something that this bill is intending to help tackle.
In the previous few decades, the prevalence of so-called fast-fashion has grown and grown. Cheap clothes produced on a pence-per-hour wage, shipped in cheaply and “drop-shipped” to your door, designed for a handful of wears then thrown away. I personally recall during university my housemate saying how she needed to buy a new outfit for whatever night out she was going on next, and this is profoundly wasteful. These clothes are produced at high environmental expense, in highly unethical circumstances and we must create an alternative.
That alternative is fabrics produced closer to home, especially for consumers in the UK. The reason why wool was traditionally the fabric used for fine clothes and linen for cheaper and more daily use clothes. Even when cotton began to be imported, it was reserved for the wealthy as it was highly costly to import. In order to achieve net-zero, we must begin to seriously begin considering how we can fulfil the majority of our textile needs closer to home, and reverse the pivot of the British Wool industry towards solely meat production.
Thus, Mr Speaker, we arrive at this bill. This bill puts all of what I have said already into practice, setting up a government-backed commission to advise on policy changes necessary to safeguard the British wool industry and ensure its sustainability. Further, we have set up a new subsidy scheme to be operated by the British Investment Bank that will be responsible for appropriately subsidising wool producers to deliver innovation and ensure resilience.
I commend this bill to the House and wish to see it’s swift passage.
This debate will close on 12th June at 10PM BST.

This is different than your typical profile exchange. For this exchange, you will pick a number from 1-26. Then post the number along with your profile, along with your fandoms and any notes regarding any warnings or fics you prefer reviewed. I can't believe I have to say this, but please no decimals or anything weird. Just choose a number between 1-26.
There will be two winners (two who guess the number or two closest) and everyone else will be required to leave at least 100 words of reviews across both of the winner's fics. You can use https://wordcounter.net/ to make sure your comment/s meet the quota, some other wordcounter sites may give false info.
When you review for each of the winners please reply under their post to let us know. Or if you prefer, once you review you can edit your post in the thread and put that you reviewed the winners there.
The 100 words can be all on one fic or across multiple fics per each winner. Do not leave a string of generic reviews of things like good job. The two lottery winners will NOT be required to review for the other as an additional prize, nor will anybody who guesses the Powerball number exactly right.
The winning number will be the Powerball number which is drawn from the Powerball lotto sometime around 11:00 pm Monday. Entries close at 9:00 p.m. eastern standard time Monday. Any editing of your entry after 9:00pm est will disqualify you from winning as I need to be able to ensure entries weren't edited after the winning number was announced and Reddit doesn't show the exact edit time, only the hour.
Lumiere or I will announce the two winners here sometime after the results from the tv have been posted. It might not be till the next day.
You will have four days to review before a gentle reminder will be given. Those who are supposed to review and haven't by the time the next lotto rolls around will not be allowed to participate in further weekly lottos till doing the required reviews.
In the event of any sort of tie, one of us mods will enter those who tied into a lotto name generator and the winner will be randomly chosen among them.
After the winners are announced, everyone who is required to is expected to leave at least 100 words of reviews for them. Once you complete the required reviewing please edit your post in this thread to reflect that.

It seems most White Americans have British ancestry but very few seem to have Spanish ancestry. Typically, the Americans that tend to have Spanish ancestry are US-born Latinos.
Historically, I know Spain and England were rivals in trade, religion and colonization in the Americas (New World). The countries even went to war which could explain a lot.
I’ve seen a few Latinos whose parents are both Latino unexpectedly score British and Irish.
Curious as to how many White Americans have Spanish ancestry with both parents being White American???
I’ve met a few but they seem to be unicorns!
EDIT: It seems White Americans rarely have Spanish (Southern European) in their results.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/sinn-fein-will-dust-themselves-down-and-learn-lessons-from-irish-elections/a713240574.html
Sinn Fein are to “dust themselves down” after early indications showed the party has not had the result it had hoped for in Ireland’s local elections. It comes after the public expenditure minister said the expectation that Sinn Fein would be in the next government has been “shattered” by early indications in the local elections.
Ireland’s main opposition party faces a tough local election battle over the weekend, after government parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael appeared on Saturday to have polled strongly.
A day after voters headed to the polls in three highly anticipated elections, the ballot boxes were opened at 9am on Saturday and counting began in the local elections.
Irish voters will elect almost 1,000 new councillors, 14 members to the European Parliament and, for the first time, one city’s citizens were asked to pick their mayor.
Ballot boxes in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) Ballot boxes in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA)
Tally indications show a surge in the Sinn Fein vote has not materialised in the local elections, while the Government coalition parties are welcoming early results.
Despite winning 24.5% of first preference votes in a historic result in the 2020 general election, and hovering above 30% in opinion polls for a long time, the fate of many of its candidates are now expected to depend on transfers.
Despite this, Sinn Fein is expected to still make some gains on the 2019 election, where it won around 9% of first preference votes and 81 council seats out of 949.
Sinn Fein TD for Donegal Pearse Doherty told RTE’s Six One programme that it will make gains in some counties, but would have to “dust themselves down” and look at “the lessons that can be learned”.
Its Cork North Central TD, Thomas Gould, said that the party still has a chance of increasing its seats across Cork city and county.
“It’s just that we don’t know how much yet,” he said at the Cork City Hall count centre, adding that despite poor turnout in some core areas, “we’re hopeful”.
Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin argued that his Fianna Fail party had performed “far better” than predicted, while public expenditure minister Paschal Donohoe said the results so far showed Fine Gael was not a spent political force.
Finance Minister Michael McGrath said there had been “no massive breakthrough” for the far right in the Irish elections, despite concerns raised during the campaign.
“The early tallies show that there is a large majority of people who are willing to vote in a very different way to how extremists and the far right will make the case for,” Mr Donohoe said.
“I think there is a very compelling narrative to be made – at a very early stage in this – that Fine Gael has been successful in getting out its votes, that our campaign has made a difference, and that the approach of the Government parties has been recognised by voters.”
Despite the strong showing for government parties so far, ministers stuck to the line that the coalition government would “go the full distance” to February or March before a general election is called.
Asked about Fine Gael’s performance compared with Sinn Fein, Mr Donohoe said: “Overall, the portrayal that some have offered of Fine Gael as a tired party – that narrative, that claim, has been shattered by the results that we’re seeing potentially coming through at the moment.
“And the other narrative that there’s anything inevitable about Sinn Fein being in government – that’s been shattered too.”
Mr Martin said the focus would be on putting together a budget for October as his party looked to win an MEP seat in the Midlands-North-West constituency for the first time in 15 years.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe (Niall Carson/PA) Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe (Niall Carson/PA)
“The idea that Fianna Fail would be coming in a distant third is completely disproven,” the Tanaiste said.
“I’ve been looking at opinion polls now for the last three years. This ‘internet panel’ polling having Fianna Fail at 14% and 15% – clearly Fianna Fail will be well ahead of that and will be over 20% by the time all of these counts are collated and put together.
“We put up a very robust performance and we’re holding our own compared to our performance in the general election of 2020.”
Michael McGrath speaks to the media at Cork City Hall (Jonathan Brady/PA) Michael McGrath speaks to the media at Cork City Hall (Jonathan Brady/PA)
The full results of the elections will take days to be finalised due to Ireland’s system of proportional representation which allows voters to rank every candidate in each race by order of preference. The process means ballot papers are sorted and counted multiple times by hand.
Counting in the European elections will not begin until Sunday morning and the results of the first tally will not be declared until after 10pm due to ongoing voting in other EU states.
Irish politics is currently dominated by a housing crisis, the cost of living and migration.
The coalition partnership of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party has been battling criticism domestically and on the continent over other issues including climate action, agriculture policy and defence co-operation in the EU.
The polls will provide political parties with evidence of voter sentiment, having had to wait more than four years since the last nationwide elections.
They are also an indicator of how new Fine Gael leader and Irish premier Simon Harris is faring, having assumed the roles around eight weeks ago after the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan (Cillian Sherlock/PA) Green Party leader Eamon Ryan (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
While the count for the European elections has not officially begun, the segregating of the ballot papers allowed observers to get a sense of which candidates are performing well.
In Dublin, incomplete tallies by noon suggested Fianna Fail’s Barry Andrews and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty were leading.
Green Party incumbent Ciaran Cuffe, Independent Ireland candidate Niall Boylan, Labour representative Aodhan O Riordain and Sinn Fein hopefuls Daithi Doolan and Lynn Boylan will be fighting over the remaining two seats.
Mr Cuffe was asked if he believed he could stay ahead of Mr O Riordain and Social Democrat Sinead Gibney, the at-risk MEP added: “For the wildebeest, you just have to stay ahead of the lion.”
In the South constituency, Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly and Fianna Fail’s Billy Kelleher are considered to be in contention for re-election.
Sinn Fein will be hoping to regain a seat in the region with Kathleen Funchion, while Independent TD Michael McNamara is predicted to take the fourth seat.
Early voters waiting for a polling station to open (Niall Carson/PA) Early voters waiting for a polling station to open (Niall Carson/PA)
In Midlands-North-West, there were reports of strong support for Fine Gael’s incumbent Maria Walsh and her running mate Nina Carberry.
Fianna Fail’s Barry Cowen, Independent Ireland candidate and former RTE correspondent Ciaran Mullooly and Independent MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan have also polled well in some regions across the vast constituency.
In the south west, voters in Limerick city and county had the opportunity to directly elect a mayor with executive powers on long-term strategic planning.
A cross-party tally from midday indicated that Independent candidate John Moran, a former secretary general at the Department of Finance, was in the lead with around 25% of the votes, with Independent candidate Helen O’Donnell in second place.

I’m DESPERATE for help. I’ve posted to both the UK MH sub and the DV sub - and both have simply removed my posts. This is very long, very rambling, very surreal, and contains mentions of r*pe, so please be aware if you’ll find that triggering.
Both my parents are narcissists, but this concerns my mother (though I have no relationship with my father, either). My MINO (mother in name only) has sabotaged my life at every turn, whatever I’ve tried to do she’s destroyed. It didn’t help that I didn’t attend a conventional school (it had nuns - of the Irish Catholic ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ variety). She absolutely HATED me me being good at anything; I could read and write before I started in reception - but the head put the idea into her head that I was dyslexic (she hated me for some reason, she called me ‘satanic’ and ‘the devil’s daughter’). I finished the school reading scheme, such as it was, before I’d been in Reception a half-term, my classmates always used to ask me how to spell words, etc., basically I found pre-prep incredibly boring, because I was so far ahead of my peers (that sounds really arrogant and conceited, doesn’t it…?), so I used to take myself off and do my own thing. MINO arranged for me to have extra lessons in literacy which, obviously, I never went to (because I didn’t need them). They were taught by Sister Mary Candida, who taught nursery (and once LOCKED me in a cupboard).
So determined was I to get out of her stupid lessons that I came up with a plan; I had a book I was reading at home (I forget what it was now, but that’s not really relevant). It had my name and an address label inside the front cover and I thought that, if I took it to school and showed it to her, she would demand I read to her from it and that would be that. Of course that didn’t happen.
So I took my book into school and I showed it to her. The resulting conversation went something like this:
SMC: “Did you find that…? Give it to me and I’ll find out who it belongs to:
Me: “No, Sister, it’s mine. I’m reading it at home”
SMC: “Don’t be silly, that’s a grown-up book” (it wasn’t really, but far more advanced than what your average 5-year-old would be reading) Me: “I’m not being silly, it’s my book - look it has my name in it”
She obviously decided that I’d written my name in someone else’s book, because she whacked my hands with her ruler (standard nun-issue weapon) and I was forced to write ‘little girls who tell lies will burn in hell’ 1,000 times (yes, really)
She gave the book to Sister Kevin (head) who called my mother; MINO denied ever seeing me with the book (she LIED to a nun). MINO then arranged for me to have lessons with s SaLT from the Dyslexia Institute - they obviously ‘loved’ me because they were spending all this extra money on me.
Again, I went twice and then stopped turning up. I took my book and went and hid behind the pre-prep where I thought nobody would find me. The deputy head did (she wasn’t a nun, but she might as well have been). My mother was obviously called into school again.
That night, they removed all the furniture from my room - including the carpet tiles (under which there was concrete) and as punishment for wasting their money, I was forced to sleep on the bare floor (if you were to ask MINO about this, she would deny it ever happened). I used to write a kind of diary/journal - she found it, and I was forced to watch as she ripped out the pages and BURNT them.
I spent my entire childhood being dragged round child shrinks - she even considered having me enrolled in a residential school.
I wanted to die aged 5. I tried to kill myself aged 6.
She sent me to Sunday school (they rarely attended church) where I was r*ped by the curate. I do remember one incident where she literally frogmarched me up to the altar to get her some flowers one Mothering Sunday. I also remember her taking me to WHSmith’s and choosing a mother’s day card, making me pay for it out of my pocket money, then dictating to me what I should write in it when we got home.
I left school at 16 with no GCSEs I desperately tried to leave, but my parents live in a small town with not much in the way of public transport (and, obviously, I had very little money).
She has ensured that I’m completely dysfunctional.
Because I was so desperate to get away, I made the mistake which has led to the situation I now find myself in. I moved in with someone I met on a forum; he seemed charming enough - but what really attracted me to him was the fact that he lived at the other end of the country. In his forum bio he said he was a “former alcoholic” and divorced. If I’d had my wits about me and wasn’t so desperate to get away from my PINO (parents in name only) that should’ve been a massive red flag but, obviously, I wasn’t thinking straight.
He lived in the middle of the arse-end of nowhere in County Durham (and I mean that, where he lived was just a row of houses surrounded by fields). It was okay for a while, then he became controlling. Then violent. Obviously the “former alcoholic” was a lie - he was drinking at least a bottle of gin a night. I wasn’t allowed to use the computer, unless he was there to supervise. He took my phone and chucked it over the wall into the adjacent field where it was promptly trampled to bits by cows. He worked for BT as an engineer, so it was trivially easy for him to bug the landline (he used to explain the delay in call connection by the fact we were so remote). He r*ped me. More than once. He controlled what I ate - and when. He changed the locks on the front and back doors, and refused to give me the keys. He forced me to pay my benefits into a joint account. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house unless he was with me.
I attempted to escape; he’d made the mistake of giving me a credit card and I thought that, if I could just get a bus into Darlington I’d be able to get a train - and I’d be free (of course I had no fucking idea where I was going to go). He got absolutely shit-faced one evening and passed out on the sofa. I found the front door key in his pocket, packed up what I could, and left. I had about 8 hours to wait out before the bus arrived. Thankfully, it was June so it was warm.
Unfortunately, he woke up and went looking for me; he found me and dragged me back. He then decided he’d had enough of me, downed most of a bottle of rum, forced me into his van and locked the doors. Once we got onto the A1(M) he floored it, I can’t remember where he decided to dump me - somewhere in the Midlands, I have a feeling it was either Stoke or Stafford. I do remember he was doing around 100 - I honestly thought he was going to kill me.
I didn’t know wherever-it-was, anyway. So there I was, with no phone, obviously I was a complete mess and, even though it was the last place I wanted to go, I had no choice but to return to my parents.
As you can imagine, I had a complete breakdown, which mutated into PTSD. I was trapped; obviously, they weren’t going to do anything to help me and there was nothing I could do to help myself - at least not while they were in the house (because, obviously, I couldn’t use their landline while they were there).
Eventually, they fucked off on holiday for a fortnight, so I took the opportunity to attempt to escape; because I’d escaped a violent relationship, I called Women’s Aid, thinking I’d be able to get myself into a refuge at least.
(This next bit won’t mean anything to anyone outside the UK/Ireland, and I’m really posting here because I need help from people in the UK)
What actually happened was they contacted social services and I had two social workers at the door. They made assumptions that, because I was basically living in a dump (for reasons I would hope were obvious) and that I was basically stuck in bed, that I didn’t understand the health risks of living in such a state - NOT because I’d escaped a violent relationship and had a complete breakdown.
I was sectioned. Spent almost 18 months in an ATU (assessment and treatment unit). From there, I was moved to a care home for people with learning disabilities and complex needs about 100 miles away. It was only when I was there - and quite by chance - that I learnt that I was now being held hostage by the Court of Protection under the Mental Capacity Act and DoLS (denial of liberty safeguarding).
My detention under both is unlawful because, in order for the court orders to be valid, the person to whom they’re being applied has to have undergone an assessment and, had I undergone assessment, I’d have known I was detained. I do not lack capacity.
I was there for another 18 months, where I had to contend with another resident constantly slamming his bedroom door (staff were meant to be posted outside his room to prevent him doing so, but he was extremely obese, prone to violent outbursts and they were scared of him, so there was rarely anyone there).
I was then moved to a poky little flat back in my parents’ home county; the flat was up a steep flight of stairs and I was struggling with my mobility. Due to the court orders, I am essentially gagged and nobody has to take a blind bit of notice of anything I say. When I bought food, I had to struggle with it up four flights of very steep stairs myself. Eventually the flat manager told staff to bring it up and I’d put it away. Then I had to contend with the flat manager binning it less than 2 days after I’d bought it, claiming it was all out of date. So, eventually, I just stopped eating. If I left the flat, she would ‘stalk’ me, following me about 10 paces behind.
I managed to escape from there early one morning, after lying to her manager that I needed to take my MBP to the Apple Store. I got on the first bus to the nearest station, and got on the first train and ended up in Birmingham. I then got the next train out of there and ended up where I am now. I spent 3 months in hospital (where I couldn’t get taken seriously so I am now severely chronically ill), where I saw 2 psychiatrists who stated that I was completely lucid, that I didn’t have any mental illness (how they couldn’t see how traumatised I was, I’ve no idea) and that I wasn’t suicidal. I was then dumped where I am now - and this is by far the worst place I’ve been - and this is what prompted this post because I need help, it’s not hyperbole to say my life is in danger.
I am trapped - both legally and physically. This is WORSE than being in a violent relationship because I can’t escape; if I was to do so, the police would simply bring me back here.
Staff control my food. Just like my ex
Staff have taken my phone. Just like my ex
Staff are physically abusive if I don’t do what they want, when they want. Just like my ex.
Staff have full control over my finances. Just like my ex.
Staff control who I see - and when. Just like my ex.
Staff won’t allow me to keep the flat front door locked, just as my ex changed the locks on the front door of his house - and refused me a key - so he always had access.
Staff control my internet access. Just like my ex (they have removed the router from the flat, so they can now cut me off whenever they feel like it, this is a connection that I am paying for, but they control my finances, so they can claim they are)
Staff open my post. Just like my ex
There is an alarm on the front door of the flat (100dB, which is well above the threshold which damages hearing), so I am literally trapped. I can’t leave. I have been informed by staff that they are legally allowed to enter the flat at any time and for any length of time. They have told me that this is “written down”, but that they “don’t have to show it” to me. I am now severely chronically ill, due to the abuse, the stress and the fact that I am being denied anything remotely resembling proper meals (a ‘meal’ often amounts to nothing more than cheap processed meat dumped on a - very often paper - plate).
The door alarm (cheap Chinese junk, you can buy a pack of 10 for around £12). I have severe tinnitus and hyperacusis (pathological hypersensitivity to noise).
Link to photo of the door alarm - I have removed several of these, but they keep replacing them

Admix Results (sorted):
#PopulationPercent 1North_Atlantic47.48 2Baltic25.07 3West_Med11.81 4West_Asian7.82 5East_Med5.21 6Red_Sea1.55 7Siberian0.51 8Northeast_African0.42 9South_Asian0.13
Single Population Sharing:
#Population (source)Distance 1North_German3.06 2North_Dutch3.99 3Danish4.21 4Southeast_English5.07 5Orcadian5.2 6South_Dutch5.67 7Irish5.77 8West_German6.14 9Norwegian6.17 10West_Scottish6.48 11Southwest_English6.6 12Swedish7.34 13Austrian10.54 14East_German11.33 15French11.8 16North_Swedish12.64 17Hungarian15.04 18Spanish_Cataluna19.57 19Southwest_Finnish20.13 20Serbian20.29
Mixed Mode Population Sharing:
# Primary Population (source)Secondary Population (source)Distance 1 93.9%North_Dutch+6.1%Georgian_Jewish@1.33 2 93.9%North_Dutch+6.1%Armenian@1.35 3 93.9%North_Dutch+6.1%Assyrian@1.37 4 92.9%North_Dutch+7.1%Turkish@1.38 5 94.1%North_Dutch+5.9%Kurdish_Jewish@1.43 6 93.5%North_Dutch+6.5%Cyprian@1.43 7 93.6%North_Dutch+6.4%Lebanese_Muslim@1.44 8 91.1%North_Dutch+8.9%Central_Greek@1.47 9 90.2%North_Dutch+9.8%Italian_Abruzzo@1.48 10 94.1%North_Dutch+5.9%Iranian_Jewish@1.51 11 93.7%North_Dutch+6.3%Syrian@1.52 12 91.3%North_Dutch+8.7%East_Sicilian@1.53 13 94.2%North_Dutch+5.8%Lebanese_Christian@1.53 14 94.1%North_Dutch+5.9%Samaritan@1.56 15 91.7%North_Dutch+8.3%South_Italian@1.57 16 93.4%North_Dutch+6.6%Azeri@1.64 17 85.1%Norwegian+14.9%Italian_Abruzzo@1.64 18 93.9%North_Dutch+6.1%Kurdish@1.67 19 94%North_Dutch+6%Jordanian@1.67 20 94.1%North_Dutch+5.9%Lebanese_Druze@1.67
There's an ancestry website called AncientFaces saying that her ancestors were Jewish that converted to Christianity, but I'm not sure if its accurate does this confirm it?

Hi all,
At first my 23 and me results didn't surprise me but now im a bit confused. My father is factually 75% eastern European and his grandmother was from Kazakhstan - allegedly. She looked Azeri to me and assumed there was something there. She explained to us that it was because her father was half russian but important note - my grand-mothers father had some influence in his community and did something the russian gov did not like which resulted in him being on the lam until they finally caught him. In my results in 51.5% eastern european, 5.1% Anatolian (I think 23 and me misconstrued kazakhstan with anatolia?).
Here's the weird part.
I cannot be 56.6% my dad - only 50%. So that's step one.
Step 2, my mother is from a community that prides itself in its 'pure heritage' (yeah, I know). If you know, you know - she is (was) french canadian. My grand-parents looked hella french and I never doubted their french canadianess.
The rest of my results:
36% french from Paris region (french canadian, indeed)
2.7% spanish and portugese??
1.4% broadly european
0.7% british and irish
and a lot of smaller things.
Am I 40.7% my mom?
Can someone help me unscramble this?

So after the whole complete bungle and meltdown around the independent redistricting process that we all went through, I thought why not take another look at the whole concept. Since I just this morning created a little write up to try and take my voting science enthusiast viewpoint and tried to create some layperson terms to classify what the options are. So after looking at this, take a vote and maybe comment on why you choose the option you ultimately do.
Districting and some terms. Districting is a process of grouping voters together to share representation. Usually thought of in terms of fixed geographic lines to group together either: regions (regional representation), ethnicities (racial gerrymandering), or political affiliation (partisan gerrymandering.) But it can be extended to think of any way imaginable to group voters together to share representation.
From a voting science enthusiast, let me give you my ordered list from best to worst on the different (re)districting approaches using my own layperson terms for ease of understanding.

1. Voter Districting/Dynamic Districting is when that process is done by voters by way of their ballot. It is where the ballot information is used at election time to determine 'districts' and which voters get grouped together to form self defined communities of interest. That can be regionalist, ideological, partisan, ethnic, and other, but it's determined by voters and their votes cast. Purely dynamic districting is done at-large. Often when people say 'European style' elections, they mean this. A common form of this is the group of election methods that are called 'proportional representation.' Though often it is done using a hybrid of regional predrawn districts and dynamic districting rather than purely dynamic.
2. Public/Citizen Redistricting is when that process is done by members of the public. Syracuse NY does this with a volunteer council that draws the maps before the election to create fixed districts, to try to ensure compliance with the idea of regionalism without gerrymandering for other concerns. It's usually a commission like below, but accountable to the public rather than the legislature.
3. Commissioned Redistricting is when a set of professionals, with or without a guiding set of rules, and not elected using the resulting districts, draw a map before the election to create fixed districts. Independent redistricting falls here, as do some hypothetical proposals.
4. Legislative Redistricting is when elected legislators draw maps before the election to determine what their own future elections will look like. This is how most of the US does it currently.
5. Lottery Selected Legislature doesn't use districts and doesn't use elections. Instead selecting citizens randomly for service like Jury Duty, except instead of interpreting and applying the law, jurors are writing it. A friend would demand I include this if they knew I was making this poll, that's why it's here. Statistically likely to result in a republic. But given there is no method to hold the government running the lottery accountable, not recommended to be used in its pure form alone. Maybe an elected assembly and a lottery senate, or another hybrid model.
6. Bloc voting is antithetical to a republic (sorry,) and is the process of electing multiple legislators at once from a single majority and is done at-large. You could also say the district that does the electing of all seats is the majority bloc, and the other districts are denied any representation. This is the common form used in many local jurisdictions, and saw it's greatest rise to use during the Jim Crow era as a way to block racial minorities, that were also political minorities, from having any elected representation. Also known as 'bloc elections', and 'at-large bloc'. For fellow New Yorkers an important note is that this is not only the most common way that local elections in NYS are done, but it's also the default method that the state legislature prescribes for local governments!

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Listen up.
I don’t know how I got here. There is a bed, unmade, that I am currently sitting on. The pillows are enveloped by the duvet, being dragged along as if I was only thing keeping it down. There is a bedside table, where a lamp dutifully resides, and a phone, unlocked. There is a picture on the wooden, damp wall, that piqued my interest.
“A happy family”, the inscription read. I can see 2 parents, the woman being blonde, and wearing a sundress, with hairclips on her hair. The man had dark brown curly hair and was of medium build and he was wearing a collared shirt, and pants that were skintight. A little boy stood by next to his parents, smiling happily at the camera, blowing bubbles. The parents were holding hands, smiling incessantly like it could be their last day. They looked magical, a real perfect family. But, this has gotten me into a whirlpool. I don’t seem to know who they are, their faces constantly contorting in my dreams to produce something ambiguous, a monstrosity, never to be discovered. I see their faces scream out in pain, them clutching their faces, crying. The background seemed to have changed, with it being replaced from a grassy meadow to a cold, damp highway, with nowhere to go, and nothing to do, but to suffer in pain, unnoticed and never found.
The house I currently reside in is nothing short of a dilapidated mess. The floorboards creak every time I step on it. The ceiling is always dripping as it goes, clunk, clunk, clunk onto the floor, and the doors screech like a parrot whenever I enter or leave my room. The lights flicker, constantly malfunctioning, leaving me in darkness for most of the day. There are no windows either, and a distant, repugnant smell of something decomposing is always there, like an infestation, climbing and clamoring into the inner walls of this establishment, deeming it theirs forever. There is a basement, but I don’t dare to go in there, as its dark hue fills me with trepidation from head to toe. It is an abandoned child, and I am its ruthless parent, leaving them over and over again, until they simply have nothing. No physical presence, no emotional connection. It is just a stranger with a life of its own, a life I know nothing about, and that fills me with nothing but ignorant bliss. Eventually, I would have to force a connection, and that could either make or break me, and I do not want to find out which one I could be.
In short, curiosity kills the cat.
You might have a burning question in your mind, and I hope my explanation solves this.
I believe this is my punishment for asking questions. You see, you know nothing about me. I am the son of two wealthy parents. My dad is an award-winning film maker, and my mom is a doctor. This means that I have always been surrounded by the newest, latest technology, at the cost of forming a meaningful relationship with my parents. Everything in life has always been handed to me, so I formed quite an arrogant personality as a result. Screaming at fast food workers, never giving to the poor, bellowing my anger onto waiters at restaurants. I was never a forgiving man, rather the opposite. I realize now that although I had everything I could possibly have, there was always something personal and emotional that I couldn’t have, and that filled me with sorrow.
I was able to pursue my passion as a graphic designer. I’d work late nights, drafting out designs until the sun came up, chugging multiple energy drinks. I had nothing to do but to aimlessly work on the latest product I had been assigned. I had friends, but they were all shallow colleagues whom I talked to once a day, never being invited out for drinks, or even having their phone numbers. Now I crave it. I wished I had talked to them more, then maybe I would’ve diverted my fate somehow. Maybe if I had responded with a meager “Hello” to them when they stumbled in from the result of their late-night drinking, or had said a few words to them in passing, maybe this wouldn’t have happened to me. Maybe the devil, or whatever it is, wouldn’t prey on me for being such a miserly, misanthropic weasel, bound to the chains of my own self.
I need to retrace my steps to properly convey my dilemma.
It was a Friday, the last day before a 2-day weekend, so of course everybody was relaxing, sailing through their work so they could leave early and drink their woes away, working like machines in their tiny little cubicles, producing drafts and determining their designs. I was tense. I was suffering from a creative block, meaning I couldn’t think about any new designs, and a deadline was fast approaching. My shirt clung to my chest, my hair was a mess, and I was hurriedly tapping on the desk, trying to think, think, think, before I would essentially miss the deadline and be deemed “lazy” by my boss.
A colleague, who’s name has currently slipped my mind, approached me with a worried look on his chubby face.
“Hey man, you alright? You look stressed.”
I don’t respond to him. I don’t particularly like this guy, but he treats me much nicer than all the other weasels and impertinent people in this office. He’s the closest thing I had to a friend, if I have to say. Most of them usually come up to me to snoop in on my work, or to boast about their latest achievements.
“I won 2 tickets to a circus show!” A lady had said to me, as an attempt to reach out to me.
“The radio show said I could be on next week!” A man had once said to me in passing.
“I won $25 on my lottery ticket today!” A woman, my cubicle neighbor, had said to me.
Tch, pathetic. All they want to do is just boast, boast, boast. I came into work to work, not to hear about your latest quarrels and sorrows. Find somebody who cares.
“Hey man, you alright?” The colleague’s words had enveloped my mind again, in a whirlpool, again and again. I couldn’t think of anything else but those words.
I snap out of my daze just as the colleague was about to say another word.
“Do you want to see my newest design?” he said, snapping his fingers into my face, enunciating every single word slowly, as if I was dumb. He said that in a sort of way that made me feel somewhat inclined to come, despite his impatient actions.
“Sure.” I said quickly, in a somewhat annoyed tone to reflect my dismay at his actions. I wonder what pathetic design I was going to see next. A tree, a plant?
I was at the colleague’s computer, curious to see what he had in store for me.
“Okay, so, how this works is that there is a plant. You know what a plant is right? This plant is slowly dying, and then you drag the sun,” He drags the mouse over the plant on the screen, “to here. Are you listening?” I looked away from the computer, and saw two pairs of fully black eyes looking at me from outside the large, rectangular window. I locked eyes with it, and it flashed me a toothy grin, and then disappeared back into the unknown. I felt a new feeling envelop me from head to toe, and one that felt nothing short of horrible. I continue looking at the screen in hopes that I could forget what I just saw.
“Anyway, the plant has multiple features on it that can help guide the user. It has a smiley face when it has adequate sun, and a sad face when it has no sun.” He continued, moving his body to face mine, “I think this could help teach people about the importance of taking care of the Earth and make them more aware about the ways to treat a plant. What do you think?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s alright....” I said, trailing off on the last word.
“Thanks, you can go now.” He stated in a monotone voice. He swiveled his body away to face the computer, leaving me to find my way back to my cubicle.
I couldn’t focus on my work, as all I thought about was that thing, with its toothy, pearly whites shining back at me from the window. Was that even real? I would ponder all over it, thinking about it being a hallucination from the excess amounts of energy drinks that I had consumed, to it being just a mistake, how it couldn’t have been a figure with those qualities, rather the reflection of something in the office that I had spotted at the wrong time. Despite these thoughts, I chose to work on some website designs on autopilot, not caring about what I produced, only that I had produced something by the end of the day, due to my incredibly high standards.
I left the office early that day, to everyone’s surprise. I started to aimlessly walk on the street, my shoes producing a click, clack, click sound every time I walked. There was a slight drizzle tapdancing on my head, making my perfectly gelled hair wet. It formed puddles on the ground, as I could feel the rain slowly soak up into my shoes as I walked into my untimely fate. After a few minutes of aimlessly walking, I stopped to check my reflection in a shop window, and was met with my little stalker. I ran, sprinting down the street until I was breathless, sweating, shaking. I was looking left, right, up and down, like a psychopath. I didn’t know what it wanted from me, and I didn’t know what to do to get rid of it. It was there, waiting for me. Waiting to get its prey. And I was its perfect target.
I couldn’t sleep that night. Tossing, twisting, turning in bed, trying to get that image out of my head. I’d blink, and it would be in my reflection. Blink, and it would be in my office window. Blink, and the figure was suddenly near me, gripping my neck, choking me, pressing its incredibly long and sharp nails into my neck, lapping at the blood oozing out of me. Screaming at me in tongues with its disgusting, sticky mouth, gripping my neck even harder. I was petrified. My hands immediately went to my neck, grasping at it, trying to get rid of the hands that had clung itself onto my neck like it was a baby bird clinging to its mother. I tried to kick at it, but it seemed like it wasn’t affected, just pressing harder and harder onto my neck until I could see the light. I became unconscious just as the monster was getting tired of holding my neck, seemingly uninterested from me not reacting to it. As a last resort, I screamed, asking it why it wanted to do this to me, and it just laughed at me. Laughed. I felt embarrassed, my cheeks flushing. It decided, just because I asked such a stupid, embarrassing, humorous question, to release me, and roughly shoved me away. It started to walk away, as I heard something squelch with every footstep it took.
That was the last thing I remembered before I ended up here. Sitting here, wallowing over the past, not being able to help myself get out. I feel hopeless, that there’s nothing else to do here but sit and reflect on my actions, and whether I deserve it or not. This is my true punishment. A lifetime of being bound by harsh, unforgiving, terrifying chains, and this monster wants to violently shatter the safe harness that has held me for my entire life.
I don’t know if I'm ready to face reality anymore.

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It’s been over three-and-a-half years now since I first discovered and fell in love with my amazing, beautiful and badass Fixer. Since then, for a wide range of reasons, I like to think she became the best ‘waifu’ I’ve ever had, in terms of forming what I can only best describe as a genuine ‘bond’ between her and I (if only in my heart and mind, of course). This isn’t necessarily even an indication that Rubi is any more ‘perfect’ for me than previous characters, just that I feel I’ve put even more genuine effort into my ‘relationship’ with her.
It’s hard to say why I developed such a strong feeling for Rubi, specifically. I guess I just saw her in the actual game; and loved her design, attitude, and overall just how badass she was. On a subtle level, she might be the ultimate endpoint that started first with my love for ‘gun-fu’ (i.e. the heroic bloodshed films of John Woo; etc.), which itself led to at least a curiosity in the character of Revy from Black Lagoon some years back. These factors, plus probably others, combined with Rubi’s own characteristics, resulted in me simply falling for her character. What are those characteristics of her, however? Well… how do I put this. I love how sexy she is, but in a rather ‘rustic’ sense (rather than ‘glamorous’). She’s hot-as-hell, but also genuinely looks like she can kick ass and take a hit herself. She’s not explicitly sexualized, but there is definitely a more subtle element of sexuality ‘smoldering’ just below the surface, which for me is even more appealing. Naturally, all of this also applies to how, exactly, she’s dressed. How much of this was genuine attraction versus ironic (at least at the start) is a little up for debate, but I also love how Rubi was clearly designed with a ‘zero fucks given’ attitude. She’s crass; she’s vulgar; she doesn’t even try to be ‘likeable’, and that is, paradoxically, what I love about her. Plus there’s the greater novelty of doing all of this with a female game character (versus if ‘she’ was male).
This kind of covers the basics of her in-game character, as she’s sadly underdeveloped in a lot of areas. On the flipside, we can now shift into the many ways in which I like to further perceive her, and further envision her as the perfect woman for me.
In relation to her pre-existing personality traits, I love that we really focused on the idea of Rubi being sort of your classic ‘tsundere tomboy’ archetype, if simultaneously a noticeably (even?) more aggressive/violent variant of the concept. Without ever writing anything that feels too out of character for her, this now opens us up for plenty of classic, hilarious and/or cute moments between her and I, that can unfold not unlike a classic romantic-comedy story (or other, similar genres). I love how the tsundere aspect has allowed for some fun, classic ways in which our relationship can develop, while still keeping her crass and stand-offish personality; while the tomboy aspect has allowed me to envision her as almost something of a perfect “bro” girlfriend. The kind whose ‘perfect night’ is simply ordering a pizza and watching an action movie at home, as we both fall asleep on the couch together.
One of my favorite things to do is fantasize about the countless ways Rubi and I could spend memorable moments together. With her, I can just as easily see myself taking her on a romantic trip to the idyllic hills of Tuscany as I could see us simply walking south of the border into Mexico, to spend a few days in a sleepy border town. My ideal trip versus hers, both equally memorable; plus countless other places I’d love to visit with her. Or, from the comfort of our own home, I can see the two of us simply relaxing together around the house on a rainy day; having a cookout in the backyard on a warm, summer evening; or cuddling in bed together on a weekend morning. Even around town, I can picture us going out for a nice dinner one night; while going for drinks at a gritty dive bar some other. With her, any activity is perfect.
Circling back to more overarching aspects of her, I love that I’ve given her a bit more of a backstory, given that she didn’t have any such thing in the actual game. On a related note, I love how my best friend actually gave me the idea of her being at least part Irish for her heritage. In addition to her having an Irish surname, I honestly can’t think of a single ‘old world’ nationality that better fits her overall character, lol. Plus I like the idea of giving her an Albanian side, too, mostly as a shout-out to the ancestry of her voice actress.
In the end, I’ve extremely happy that I found Rubi, and that I’ve been able to put her so close to my heart, as much as one could possibly do for a fictional character. Here’s hoping she remains this powerful of a force in my life, for many more years to come.
I love you, Rubi Malone, so very much <3

1992 AD

• February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, founding the European Union.
• February 8 – The opening ceremony for the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville, France.
• March 1 – The first victims of the Bosnian War are a Serb bridegroom's father and an Orthodox priest in a Sarajevo shooting. In the Bosnian independence referendum, held from February 29 to March 1 and boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, the majority of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat communities have voted for Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence.
• March 12 - The tram accident at Vasaplatsen in Gothenburg
• March 23 - Sierra Leone Civil War begins
• April 5 - Bosnian War: Serb troops, following a mass rebellion of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo.
• April 29 - Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of four police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles. The riots will last for six days resulting in 63 deaths and over $1 billion in damages before order is restored by the military.
• July 25–August 9 – The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
• November 3 – In the 1992 United States presidential election, Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeats Republican President George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot.

1993 AD

• January 1 - Czechoslovakia ceases to exist, as the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate in the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
• February 26 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center) explodes, killing six people and injuring over one thousand.
• December 31 - Georgian Civil War ends
• April 19 – Waco siege: A 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends with a fire that kills 76 people, including David Koresh.
• May 24 – Eritrea gains independence from Ethiopia.
• June 25 - Kim Campbell becomes the 19th, and first female, Prime Minister of Canada.
• August 25 – The Sámi Parliament holds its first meeting. The Thing shall "monitor issues relating to Sami culture in Sweden".
• September 13 - Oslo I Accord: Following initially secret talks from earlier in the year, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington, D.C. after signing a peace accord.
• November 1 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.
• December 2 - Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police.
• December 16 - Macedonia becomes independent from Yugoslavia.

1994 AD

• February 25 – Israeli Kahanist Baruch Goldstein opens fire inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank; he kills 29 Muslims before worshippers beat him to death.
• April 7 - July 19 - Rwandan genocide
• April 26 - Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
• May 6 – The Channel Tunnel, which took 15,000 workers more than seven years to complete, officially opens between England and France; it will enable passengers to travel by rail between the two countries in 35 minutes.
• May 12 - First Nagorno-Karabakh War ends
• June 17
  • NFL star O. J. Simpson and his friend Al Cowlings flee from police in a white Ford Bronco. The low-speed chase ends at Simpson's Brentwood, Los Angeles mansion, where he surrenders.
  • The 1994 FIFA World Cup starts in the United States.
• July 17 – Brazil wins the 1994 FIFA World Cup, defeating Italy 3–2 in a penalty shootout in the final (full-time 0–0).
• September 18 - In The Swedish general election, Ingvar Carlsson defeat Carl Bildt
• September 28 - The car ferry MS Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people.
• October 1 - Palau gains independence from the United Nations Trusteeship Council.
• December 4 - The Stureplan murders
• December 11 – First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders troops into Chechnya.

1995 AD

• January 1 - Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union.
• January 17 – The 6.9 Great Hanshin earthquake strikes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan with a maximum Shindo of 7, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
• April 19 – Oklahoma City bombing: 168 people, including eight federal Marshals and 19 children, are killed at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and 680 are wounded by a bomb set off by Timothy
• August 24 – Windows 95 is launched by Microsoft.
• October 3 – Murder trial of O. J. Simpson: Former American Football star O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of double murder in a criminal trial for the deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
• November 4 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
• December 14 – The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris, officially ending the Bosnian War.

1996 AD

• July 19 - The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States/August 4 – The 1996 Summer Olympics conclude.
• September 19 – The American Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks with the Russian Space station Mir.
• November 5 – 1996 United States presidential election: Incumbent Democratic) President Bill Clinton defeats his Republican) challenger, Bob Dole and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot.
• December 13 – Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is elected by the United Nations Security Council the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

1997 AD

• Zuban invasion of New York City in Planet Earth for the next 1003 years. (Alternate First)
• January 1 - Malmöhus County and Kristianstad County are merged into Skåne County
• January 25–April 15 – Albania suffers severe riots and teeters on the brink of civil war
• May 23 - The landslide in Vagnhärad: Five villas in Vagnhärad slide into the Trosaån. 33 houses are being emptied due to continued landslide risk
• May 1 – Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as the Labour Party) wins the 1997 United Kingdom general election and returns to government for the first time in 18 years.
• July 1 – The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
• August 31 – Death of Diana, Princess of Wales: Diana, Princess of Wales, is taken to a hospital after a car accident shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 4:00 am.
• October 2 – The EU's new "constitution" the Treaty of Amsterdam is signed
• October 27 – Stock market declines trigger the Asian financial crisis.
• December 1 - The Höga Kusten Bridge is inaugurated north of Härnösand in Sweden, and will be Sweden's longest suspension bridge
• December 19 - The movie Titanic ) has premiered in cinemas.

1998 AD

• January 1 - The Västra Götaland County is formed by a merger of the more than 300-year-old counties of Skaraborg, Älvsborg County and Gothenburg County and Bohus County. However, two of Skaraborg County's municipalities, Habo municipalities and Mullsjö municipalities, were transferred to Jönköping County.
• January 17 – The Drudge Report breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him.
• February 7–22 – The 1998 Winter Olympics are held in Nagano, Japan.
• April 10 – Good Friday Agreement: An hour after the end of the talks deadline, the Belfast Agreement is signed between the Irish and British governments and most Northern Ireland political parties, with the notable exception of the Democratic Unionist Party.
• June 3 – Eschede train disaster: an Intercity-Express high-speed train derails between Hanover and Hamburg, Germany, causing 101 deaths.
• June 10–July 12 – The 1998 FIFA World Cup in France: France beats Brazil 3–0 in the FIFA World Cup Final.
• September 20 - In The 1998 Swedish general election. Göran Persson Wins
• 7 October - Oslo's new airport Gardermoen is inaugurated.
• October 30 - Gothenburg discothèque fire
• 6 December - Gävle is hit by a violent snowstorm. Schools are closed and residents are asked to stay indoors.

1999 AD

• April - Digital terrestrial television was launched in Sweden
• April 1 – Nunavut, an Inuit homeland, is created from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories to become Canada's third territory.
• April 20 – Columbine High School massacre:
• June 10 – Kosovo War and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Yugoslav forces from Kosovo.
• June 10-13 – European Parliament election, turnout is record low in several countries, for example Sweden. The Liberal People's Party is reaping successes that are considered to be due to Marit Paulsen
• August – The gay, bi and trans festival Stockholm Pride is organized for the first time.
• December 20 – Handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China after 442 years of Portuguese rule in the settlement.
• December 31 – Boris Yeltsin resigns as president of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting president.