Looking to setup a few Econic lights outside my two entryways in my home. I have standard light switches installed now (which could easily be change, they will have neutral wires). I am trying to figure out what to install to allow for local usage of the switch along with control through HomeAssistant/HomeKit/etc. I don’t want to be in the situation where the switch gets shutoff and I lose connectivity to light.
There seems to be multiple options but I am trying to figure out which smart switch/relay options work with the smart light. I have read about the Philips relay and the Shelly relays along with switch options from Inovelli, Lutron, etc. I will need to provide power to the light constantly but want to minimize delays through usage of a local switch. Also, I don’t care a ton about local dimming or color changing from the switch (though I guess if it was an easy add-on it would be nice). Hope this all makes sense. Thanks!

MAIORES. IV, CAL. IUNI. FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA.

This subject follows along from the general conclusion of infantilism, i.e. if we agree that infantilism exists in a culture that therefore all aspects of (such a culture) must be examined as to how they are impacted ‘by’ that infantilism, as: infantilism constitutes an undeveloped form of a thing; here (without covering absolutely every single aspect of it, as this could be a book in and of itself) we explore ‘sexual immaturity’ and its promulgation and consequences (of which we could easily make the case of the consequences as to be the cause of ‘all social ill’).
In an anthropological view; as if like we are looking at a chimpanzee colony, both procreation and familial-tribal child-raising takes place in our contemporary Western societies in a very clumsy sort of way; with the latter (i.e. the actual raising of children) not occurring at all, with the consequence of ‘arrested development’ – usually we would recognize and name it as that, if we ever thought very deeply about it:
However, the notion that all of this could be reduced to and fathomed as ‘sexual immaturity’ is an interesting (and unexplored) avenue to approach these matters from; certainly the act of actual procreation is deliberately accidental (I mean here in the contemporary West) in that a Woman does “not seek a mate” and then become pregnant, i.e. she does not even consider the sexual act to be procreative, rather: she accidentally becomes pregnant (“it was a miracle”), having beforehand and all throughout the duration and beyond it a culture which is far detached from the physical reality of things and thus a new human is created with no forethought for its care or provision and no security net in place to provide for it and ensure its prosperity and intelligent up-bringing, and increasingly there are fewer and fewer intelligent older persons around who are capable of providing the education and care for that child as would naturally exist in the large familial-tribal unit of an extended family where, historically, we all came from and of which is still the norm across much of the world (i.e. village elders who would otherwise raise the children up to be intelligent even if the Mother herself is too young to be a real parent - if we imagine as the species norm would be that most Women historically had their first child at around the age of fourteen or fifteen). Without, then, that familial-tribal unit to instruct and care for the child’s intellectual development and without either land to make a living from to provide for it's economic development then we find a cursed life, that is: a life far more difficult than it otherwise ought be had it been born in a more wisely chosen environment.
My point here is that ‘procreation’ is considered almost never at all by our society as being the most basic step in the creation and promulgation ‘of’ a tribal unit; with procreation itself being left down to blind chance and more often either legitimately accidentally or feigned accidently so as to attempt to cement a relationship (see: divorce and break-up rates in the West), either way this is the material circumstance into which children are born.
To say, then, that not grasping this reality ‘is’ itself a product of sexual immaturity; i.e. a Woman who does not understand what a new human is, seems to me to be far more of an accurate view of the thing than to declare it as ‘sexual immorality’ as it is usually insisted by the Abramic types, as: rather obviously it is ‘Sexual Immaturity’ rather than ‘Sexual Immorality’ that is the really cause of (the above scenario), that is: it is not Men and Women knowing too much about sex but of Men and Women knowing virtually nothing at all and therefore absent of a practice and familiarity necessary for Sexual Maturity, with Sexual Maturity itself being the very thing declared to be Immorality - an irreconcilable paradox.
It seems to me, then, that the habits we observe of ‘accidental pregnancy’ are the natural occurrence in such an unnatural society; that is: a consequence of misplaced moralism over the vital mechanical sexual functions of the human body (a thing which may well dominate and drive our unconsciousness entirely) have been rendered so alien to our expression and consideration but of which are so incessant and irrepressible; that sexual release is habitually denied, I mean here societally (i.e. “it is not polite”), and only finds ‘permission’ to appear in extreme drunkenness in fits of frenzy, and so on, so that when procreation actually occurs it is sporadic and neither at that moment nor before it was the adult rational mind involved – again, this is plainly a consequence of ‘sexual immaturity’ ‘before’ it could ever be said to be a consequence of ‘sexual immorality’.
It’s worth considering, of our own society in contemporary times, how far removed we are from most of the world which practices arrange marriages in one form or another (i.e. whether we are speaking of large tribal units or smaller family units) and what the consequence of this is on our own communities being absent of that; that is: the most fertile years of our lives are not spent having gotten procreation out of the way by having five or six children by the age of twenty or nineteen (so that when the child is fifteen you might be thirty, which seems to be the age where the sexual drive begins to dissipate or has anyway lost its novelty), and instead (i.e. without of being match-made far earlier in life) procreation instead occurs – if it does at all – accidentally and well-past the most fertile and healthy years, with such children being often quite sickly and the strain on the body being significantly more risky to the Mother (haphazardly enabled only then by massive external resources which would not have been required at all beforehand). I do not mean to seem as if I am advocating “having five or six children by the age of twenty or nineteen” only that in our natural environment this has always been the way of the thing due to natural sexual exploration when we are at that age.
At the same time, at the beginning and at the end of this “waste of time” (as I would say) of those most fertile years in which our sexuality is forbidden to us; that culture which we examine here as being simply Sexual Immaturity, it has been the case that that “Immaturity” persists well into later life by those afflicted adults who were forbidden to practise their natural sexuality when they were at the age where they wanted to, that is that the culture and mentality of such persons subjected to such restrictions quite demonstrably can be shown to have regressed them to the point that, as then as adults, they dress as children, speak and think as children, shun adult responsibility and seem altogether to have matured intellectually no further than the age of twelve or thirteen years, despite physiologically and neurologically having surpassed far beyond that early almost larval-like stage of our development where the body and mind are both only partially formed.
Instead it has been the “dragging-out” of that childlike insensibility, again: to no useful outcome, which has by that point in time essentially mitigated most of their procreative potentiality in that 1) physically having children is then far more difficult for them, and 2) they are now twenty-five years behind where their familial-tribal unit might otherwise have been, i.e. they do not have five or six twenty year old children bringing in incomes to the Household (to purchase a Household in the first place if they did not possess one before) or working the land (or likewise to purchase land) so that their prosperity will not have developed beyond mere subsistence off of the external labour market so as to escape the poverty and dependency traps inherent in the cities – which nominally constitutes their entire existence ‘to’ escape such miseries. All in all it is a lot of hard work by that point and I could not help but notice, of my own generation and those slightly older, how this outcome would have been entirely altered and set on a more prosperous trajectory if, say, at the age of sixteen a couple had been put together and had a few children, as: by the age of twenty the best seeds would have been sewn and they would not have to even think about “having children” ever again which is itself a thing, I observe anyway, that is so daunting and bothersome later in life that it really is something better gotten out of the way as early as possible in the manner that we would have done quite naturally otherwise.
If the idea here is to build up that familial-tribal unit then this methodology serves the purpose in the most optimal manner; the adults are freed up and enjoy their liberties, the younger adults (i.e. the teenagers) are preoccupied quite happily fulfilling their single greatest biological urges to have sex as much as they like, and the population figures begin to climb up at a rate of replacement which is far superior, e.g. a thirty year old parent of a fifteen year old only has five years before that fifteen year becomes a physically matured adult ready to contribute to the unit, whereas by contrast a thirty year old parent of a five year old has a great longer time to wait for physical maturity so that the distance between the two age groups becomes fragile and thin the further it is stretched with a concurrent loss of replacement manpower by a space of ten additional years.
There is something to be said for the older more experienced Father, of course, I remember quite well that the children I grew up with whose Fathers were in their forties and fifties and whose Mothers were in their twenties or very early thirties were quite better-off in their disposition and intelligence (whilst those with older Mothers tended to be sickly in one way or another); simply put though I think it is more to do with the experience of age as the influencing factor than anything else and a functional familial-tribal unit would have this influence in far greater capacity.
If we add to this factor the notion of polygamy (something shunned as ‘pagan’ by the Abramic religions yet advocated for in their own holy books, indeed: it was the universal norm) then we find the whole circle being completed in that young teenagers do as they please with each other, becoming familiar with relationship and their sexuality, and then when they reach a more mature age they might marry each other or other people properly so as to begin families of their own; but that by that age they may well have produced several children already via multiple partners so that the actual ‘legitimate children’ (in the sense of inheriting land and titles) of a more formal marriage is superfluous to population replacement insofar as the tribe is concerned, as: they have already increased the headcount quite massively by comparison. It is worth mentioning here the legal problems of land inheritance and the seeming inability for people to ever work this all out amongst themselves as being one of the most desirable points of the introduction of some of the Abramic religions, when they first appeared, as rules were laid out of who could inherit (some rules more effective than others, some quite ruinous in fact) which provided a framework in perpetuity (but on the other hand, with all children being considered legitimate in some instances, i.e. the children of concubines, this produced the problem of “all children” being in competition for the single title or, in turn, a vast spread of land, i.e. a Kingdom, being broken apart “to make it all fair”: this did not differ in form from, say, Imperial China to the late Ottoman court whilst the European Monarchies to their credit, somewhat, temporarily solved the matter by the allocation of specific titles to be given to the first born, second born, third born, etc., and then bouncing back to the Monarch upon the death of that Duke to be allocated again – although some would say this is a feeble manner by which to govern large polities it differs not very much from the essential ‘oversight’ duties over local governments as practiced in the Roman Principate rather than direct-governorship over those provinces themselves).
The tribal influence in real terms upon children cannot be understated in its superior effects upon the character and long-term capacity of the children themselves (when compared to others); I have some experience in my own up-bringing with this and really the outcome (again: compared to the infantilism, i.e. arrested development, you will almost always find in the nuclear family type, which we might easily compare to factory farmed within four walls and a hen-pecking parental authority vs. free range) is a quite more matured and capable disposition (call it “street smarts” if you like; they follow what actually works rather than what is ‘pretended to them’ to work, which is typically nothing more than the parents own whimsical desires of the moment) amongst all the children when they are simply freed up from the poor influence of an unfit parent even without the good influence of a more fit parent of which, then, the fit parent itself could be determined to be largely superfluous, as: of their own accord they learn amongst themselves and become naturally fortified against being instructed into error by a witless or ill-inclined adult, whereas a child stuck under the thumb of a witless ‘parent’ has no means to disobey that witless parent without facing severe punishments and so there the child is sculpted into a helpless fool, later embittered in life and at the tender mercy of their peers, as: even as they might innately know-better (than to do the foolish thing their parent demands they do) they are forced nevertheless, either physically punished or emotionally coerced, into adopting the ‘silly walk’ and ‘dress’ of the witless parent, which is to say: they are forced into conforming toward the cultural idealism determined by the parent with no thought whatsoever for the practicalities of life, e.g. the matter of “how will my child earn a living” is addressed neither by parenting nor by schools thus begrudgingly selling themselves auction block of the labour market turns out to be the only method, whether they were deluded into thinking that their aspirations to be a professional athlete or an astronaut were entertained and encouraged for them at the expense of informing them about any other means of paying the rent or not.
I should say here that when I say “familial-tribal unit” I am broadly referring to any number of groupings, in whatsoever local forms they may take shape, but that the decisive factor, most chiefly, will be a large extended family network of which, if it ever needed to pool its resource together, would constitute a decent size force in land, resource production and manpower – but chiefly it is the possession of land which enables everything else:
More ideally, to my mind, it would resemble (or be very close in composition to) that Roman ‘Familia’ (the origin of the word ‘Family’ in our English) where a fairly large blood family of at least five generations inhabited in and around the same House or group of Houses (see: Palace, Villa and Manor Economy), with servants and adoptees and associates (business partners) likewise being considered as extended kin; altogether forming, as it were, a little nationality. In the sense of ‘Nationality’ it is, it ought be said, more a return to how we actually were prior to the ‘naming conventions’ of the 1700’s or so where the stupid surnames made up on the spot of many Europeans were forced into Law over what would have originally been clan and tribal identities and from which there came that fake sense of disparate ‘Nationality’ (i.e. cut off from tribe and forced into atomization; identity through a very small family unit alone) from which the misnomer of ‘Race’ would be made-up to lend credibility to. In many ways a great deal of the urbane ‘neurosis’, let’s call it, stems really from this absence of ‘true tribe’ with it having been eradicated either by the fecklessness of urban societies; societies of strangers and thieves, and also more directly via those religions which pretend to fill the void of ‘true tribe’ with their witless rituals and effete pretences – things which are a wet-blanket over true fellowship wrought in such a manner as comes in all reality perfectly naturally the moment the screws holding foolishness in place are undone and cast away – and really here, when we stack these observations together one upon the other, we are really speaking of a sound and strong society certainly immune to the shallow perversity created by denialism toward the basic mechanics of the human body – in addition to any other considerations which follow from that.

THE OVERALL INFLUENCE (OR LACK THEREOF) OF A TRIBAL-FAMILIAL UNIT

It must be considered quite seriously by the reader as to the overall influence, or lack thereof, of a tribal-familial unit as to what fills its place in the education of people otherwise and, as I began this text by considering for myself, how much of the ‘dysfunctionality’ can be attributed to the “lack thereof”.
Along with the cultural instance on sexual immaturity as to produce the consequence of delaying and drawing out for decades a fetish of normal sexuality which ought naturally be done with by a person after reaching the age, say, of maybe seventeen, there is the greater point which I am trying to relay here in this text of how many other aspects of ‘bad culture’ are singularly anchored to and thusly totally dependent upon that sexual immaturity – that is: we would be hard-pressed to imagine how really many of the pernicious scenarios in our contemporary society would even arise if that foundation stone of ‘sexual immaturity’ were removed from the equation:
For instance, how much of a ‘relationship’ is spent and sculpted (either by the Man or the Woman or both) on jealously and worry of the other ending the relationship for having found another person or another means to fulfil their sexual gratification? If a ‘relationship’ is based upon, let’s call this, “mutual masturbation” then at the heart of that is sexual immaturity of the mental age of maybe fourteen years whereupon a person has been sort of coaxed into dependency for orgasm on a third party; they are fraught and fearful that this should be taken away from them – it being so vital as like a mechanical necessity for either sex – that the entire content of their ‘relationship’ revolves around it; seeking it, coaxing it, demanding it, guarding it from be lost, and so on, of which I think it is not exaggeration to say that such concerns constitute 100% of the verbal interaction in such a ‘couple’; either outright or in the back of the mind so as to reinterpret all scenarios and verbal expressions as being related to that end-goal of maintaining the “mutual masturbation”.
Simply put this ‘relationship’, then, revolves around twenty minutes of sexual activity in a day – if that much (or even if every day), yet dominates the entirety of the mind; that is: the entirety of the ‘relationship’, when this action itself is something that a servant or a slave or a prostitute would be used for in many societies, with the ‘content’ of the marriage, say, being concerned more with running the business of a Household or concerned with procreation to produce legitimate children to inherit the business, the title, the land, whatever. My point here is that neither Man nor Woman are elevated or their dignity improved, somehow, by this absence of sexual maturity but rather that both are reduced; i.e. greatly lowered, to the cognitive and social standing of the “servant, slave, prostitute,” in that as far as they think of and conceptualize themselves as part of a Household at all it is singularly the concern with simple sexual acts which dominate their interpersonal interactions and their ideas about their own self; it is their ‘social currency’.
If this seems alien – I mean my observation on this – consider how much neurosis goes on in the daily grooming rituals of Women or those sad excuses for Men who “lift weights but cannot fight” (not to mention the ease at which a thin muscular physique bleeds out at the slightest of puncture wounds, see: Roman Gladiator training), i.e. whose only concern is that of admiring their own bodies in a mirror, this being intellectually identical to young Women. Is this not the mentally of a slave? If so, even if we shy away from saying it plainly, then we must ask “what forms the mentality of a slave (i.e. where does it come from)” – in the above equation a slave in a Household is more like an object fulfilling a function than He or She is a person with any autonomy (well, obviously there is no autonomy for a slave) so it is almost to be expected that in such an environment that the intellectual trajectory of an object-person goes away from externalities and becomes entirely absorbed with self-presentation and equates their social status from that, and if groups of such persons will set this to be the common culture; deriving status in that manner among themselves – although still these are slaves possessing no ‘status’ to speak of, as being object-people. This is evidenced also in victims of sexual abuse or those, in general, suffering at the hands of third parties whose autonomy is in some way or another restricted; that their singular focus becomes that of sexuality as like depression is “rage turned inward”, thus too it seems for sexual infantilism.
I cannot pass up this subject without mentioning a series of interviews describing, a thing quite novel to me, the notion of American Christian ‘Purity Culture’ from the point of view of those heavily indoctrinated into that; instilled with Catholic levels of guilt over the normal function of the body, who have then left their small churches or megachurches, or whatever, and spoken plainly about the mentality of those inside of it as relating to sexuality. It is a thing I think long suspected but seldom expressed that, as it was described, the mentality of such persons is that they are “horny all the time” due to the relentless guilt inculcated into them; that due to denialism of sexuality their ordinary sexual impulses are magnified to an incredible degree and that, consequentially, their entire being is animated by repressed sexuality so that their thoughts are ‘impure’ all the time whilst verbally they express strong denialism and shame over the thing. I think this is no real difference to any such religious malinstruction; be it Muslim, Jewish or Christian, in that the perpetual infantilism of their surrounding society stems first of all from their own bedrock religious culture (i.e. whatever religion which is at odds with the human body, etc.) were due to such ‘culture’ they never really get over, say, an early adolescent view of sexuality where they are driven entirely by it and never learn to overcome it, no pun intended, but utterly unrealized – which would take them leaving their religion – is that this process demonstrably brings out the absolute worst in their character and disposition with the process itself being the promulgation ‘of’ those very “Viceful thoughts ” that they claim to be “at War with in the world”, in other words: it is just they themselves who, for example, look at a young teenage girl (or god help us, a small boy) and thinks all manner of sexual rapacity – and that this animates them politically to campaign for restrictive legislation to be put into Law to police “all society” as if “all society” existed at their low level is an incredible thing to consider. But I do not think their broader societies are any exception to this, rather point here is that their broader societies are comprised of persons exactly like them; that the Christian or the Jew driven by a lifetimes shaming over their normal sexuality adopt, in turn, the most depraved expressions ‘of’ sexuality as a self-affirmation; that is: the extreme self-identification with a simple sexual action, for example, came to literally define a persons personality in such places to the point that (Americans anyway) seriously put out the notion during the late 1990’s and 2000’s that a fleeting sexual act 1) defines a persons entire character, and 2) it is also inborn, e.g. as like to say that whether you prefer this or that on the menu at a restaurant is something determined genetically; this is utterly stupid and utterly, in my opinion, a consequence of society which has not wanted to evolve beyond the ‘sexual immaturity’ of which physiologically seems to occupy a very small window of the middle to late teens and of which repression during those ages quite demonstrably creates madness and retardation – I mean that if their culture did not peripherally do this to them then the manner by which swathes of their cultural-historical institutions do this to them ‘outright’ by inculcation into this process in particular certainly does it to them, and merely it is the unwillingness to fully condemn these Religions and relegate these influences to the dustbin which keeps the entire thing ticking along with “just enough” of the population bent out of shape by it to present those same persons, seemingly confused as to where they came from, lumbering through the broader society and serving as examples of lunacy and degeneracy.
In short - and I may as well add this here also, the aim to abstain for a while from sexuality was a custom introduced by the Ancient Romans and was designed to heighten sexual pleasure; in effect, then, foreign barbarians coming to this culture much later on with nobody to really explain it to them ended up unwittingly engaging in what they would probably have recognized as ‘sex magic’ whereupon the denial of their own mechanical sexual function was ‘abstained’ by them; i.e. they saw the value in holding off on doing drugs or having sex for a while, – but they did not understand what the effect or the outcome of that was ‘intended’ to be in that one would abstain specifically ‘to’ heighten the senses toward that pleasure; and this is evidenced chiefly in the Lunar Orgies and the Fast/s of Ceres. Interestingly, Jesus himself in (i think the Gospel of Thomas?) mentions to his followers that “they will hate him for what he says now,” and that he says that “fasting brings out all the worst in them” – in other words, engaging in periodic abstinence will turn them all horny. Knowing this from a relatively early age it was no surprise to me at all why celibate priests ended up diddling children or member of their own congregation or why the most outwardly pious zealots proved to be the most morally weak people to be found as even with the most ‘clean’ example, let’s say, of a person who has never drank wine, for example, they have not ‘overcome’ that thing but have rather avoided ever experiencing that thing so that it will always be a novel temptation to them of which they will have no understanding of and which they can be leveraged by in various ways primarily due to their ignorance of which ‘experience itself’ would otherwise render them far more fortified against:
A good example here is the ‘pot scare’ of the early 1930’s in America when it was seriously believed by a wholly ignorant chunk of the urbane voting public that smoking cannabis (and drinking alcohol, for that matter) would turn a person into a serial killer, this is totally bizarre to us now, but notice that this was the same society whose moral standard was that “a table leg” should not be uncovered because it reminded them of a Womans bare leg – although here we might better understand why they were so preoccupied by thoughts like that (I think very seriously in their heightened state of perpetual arousal any little thing would send them to buggery of a farmyard creature)! Hilarious. But – notice also that this was the same society which was engaging in some of the most casually egregious inhumane criminality that history had ever seen, as if they ‘were’ high on narcotics and their rational senses dulled; I do not mean here to bring American notions of ‘Race’ into this as to be seen to ‘condemn Black Slavery’ in the fashion of my own day (although we mentioned family-tribe as a better form of so-called nationality earlier) but the ghastly images of actual Country Fairs where smiling families with children by their knees would pose for crude photographs with the charcoaled or bloated rotting carcass of a burned or lynched Man is beyond my ability to play-down or normalize. I mean here to say, that: far from the pretense of ‘clean mindedness’ of such persons about themselves that we find these same persons are the filthiest and most depraved characters around, being those few persons who walk amongst us who are actually capable of doing those inhumane things (again, see: Banality of Evil) as would be unthinkable to a person of normal rational healthy conscience. We might connect this, also, to the historical BDSM extravaganzas which took place in the Christian monasteries and public squares for many centuries where young Women were sexually tortured by celibate clergymen as to recognize how deep and quick a plunge it is from a person or their culture going from the denial of normal healthy sexuality into the kettled and sadistic gore fetish of outright murder.
It is always worth reminding the reader who wishes to minimize these more egregious aspects of the subject (as rape is still rampant among the clergy); which are consequential of sexual immaturity, that it was not ‘reason and rationality’ per se that stamped this out from European society but soldiers kicking in the doors of such Churches, Town Halls and Houses with muskets, rifles, long knives and grape-shot and physically eradicating the perpetrators and their willing congregations from America and France for the practice itself of sexually torturing a Woman and then burning the evidence on the fake pretexts of obviously made-up accusations of “she turned me into a frog” to actually be ended. That is to say that the ‘mentality’ and ‘culture’ which provided the framework for such inhumane activities was never formally realized or educated-out of a people, so to find it lingers along into contemporary times; animating the otherwise dormant farmyard animal-like character of such persons “like powers of evil”, is not surprising to me in the least. What was more surprising to me is that as so much of these religions are so obviously outright ‘evil’ that more persons do not speak of the intricacies of the things in such necessary detail these more ‘egregious’ cases would qualify, and then to spool back to discover the cause of every evil action in the mentality of every perpetrator – generally speaking, for instance, it will be a character with a disposition of infantilism and perhaps this is more easy to understand without needing to connect it to sexual immaturity though, to my mind, these are not distinct enough to warrant any separation; as: infantilism is always going to be immaturity and immaturity is always going to run concurrent with a lack of adult intellectual development where a mature and experienced view of a thing, sexuality in this case, has likely been within the powers of a person to have gleaned naturally through experiences – in which case there would be no argument with anything I say here, or of which such experiences have been prevented by external powers from being gleaned by the person in question; in which case they remain ‘as if’ they were fourteen years old with the allure of mysterious unknown sex acts utterly dominating their consciousness at all times and yet physically being thirty, forty, fifty years old – well past the age (certainly physiologically) where they should have gotten it all out of their system but of which they have not, chiefly because their experiences have been rather dull and monotone and so much social currency has been valued by it ‘being’ dull and monotone, e.g. monogamy, legal repercussions binding two people in place, the atomized kettling nature of the disconnected nuclear family unit, living amongst strangers in large cities where it not so simple as just going topless to change the local culture, control through the selective denial of the sex act itself (as William Reich and Esther Vilar both write on), the sexualisation of young people by adults, the accidental ‘perversity’ (in the real meaning of the word) of unfulfilled (or poorly fulfilled, or repressed altogether) sexuality and its effects on the brain and society, and so on and so on.
I am always inclined to think when considering this subject, and I may as well end this text in conclusion with this recurrent thought of mine, that ‘sexual perversion’ really begins in the mind of ourselves as young teenagers when the normal human body is leeringly presented to us as being something ‘illicit’, e.g. the breasts of Women are concealed in our society and so due to ‘hiding them away’ they become objects of mystery and fetish which they otherwise are not. I do not think this is deliberate reverse psychology (as god help us few enough people even understand the concept to understand what they do inadvertently) but it produces the same consequence of reverse psychology, whereupon quite arbitrarily a certain piece of the body, say, an ankle, is all of a sudden declared by a mad Adult to be “evil, sinful, lustful, of the devil,” when no such notion existed in the minds of people otherwise, as then: their natural curiosity is piqued by this imposition and so they develop a perversion dervied in chief part – as a sense of lewd pleasure – from bucking the arbitrary nonsensical imposition forced upon them by that dictate of which such a scenario never would have had cause to occur if not for that imposition having created it. I feel that this ‘perversion’ (again, in the real meaning of that word) stands in the way of a fully realized and fully pursued sense of actual sexuality and, from it, of a more resonant concordance between Men and Women whose interactions are otherwise thrown off balance by such impositions as they are dragged back down to sexual immaturity all the time; or into fear and jealously etc., as like a dozen avenues are presented in any conversation and virtually of them are strewn with piss, vomit and polyfoam which had no reason to be put there in the first place, or more accurately: it was put there through the carelessness of an atomized and witless peoples who knew no better than to do this to themselves but of which a familial-tribal unit would have drummed out of them quick sharp if for the actuality of nothing else than “we are all in this together” being something that is tangibly true and not merely shallow political rhetoric when it is said of a tribe vs. when it is said of a state polity comprised of countless strangers.

MAIORES. IV, CAL. IUNI. FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA.

I am considering running some MC cable for cameras and an extra receptacle in my garage.
The electrical panel is on the exterior of the rear wall of the house, so I would intend on running the new circuit with MC cable up the wall into the corner of where the soffit meets the house, where I would probably install an exterior junction box so I can split the circuit in two directions - one to terminate at a rear corner of the house, and the other wrapping around the house for the other side. On that second run, I would plan on going into the garage to add another junction for a receptacle and then the final termination for the other camera at the front corner of the house. I attached a diagram to make it make more sense.
From what I can tell, this is code compliant use for MC cable (without the need for conduit) under NEC 330.10. And I believe I would just need to use mounting brackets every six feet. I also think a 20 amp breaker is sufficient as the cams only pull at most about 0.75A together, with extra room for a 15A receptacle. Should that be a GFCI breaker since there are exterior connections at the termination? Any other advice or places I’ve gone wrong in my thinking?

-A vacuum chamber, preferably in a spherical shape -A roughing vacuum pump capable of reaching at least 75 microns vacuum -A secondary high vacuum pump, either a turbo pump or oil diffusion pump -A high voltage supply, preferably capable of at least 40kv 10ma - Must be negative polarity -A high voltage divider probe for use with a digital multimeter -A thermocouple or baratron (of appropriate scale) vacuum gauge -A neutron radiation detector, either a proportional He-3 or BF3 tube with counting instrumentation, or a bubble dosimeter -A Geiger counter, preferably a scintillator type, for x-ray detection and safety -Deuterium gas (can be purchased as a gas or extracted from D2O through electrolysis - it is much easier and more effective to use compressed gas) -A large ballast resistor in the range of 50-100k and at least a foot long -A camera and TV display for viewing the inside of the reactor -Lead to shield the camera viewport -General engineering tools, a machine shop if at all possible (although 90% of mine was built with nothing but a dremel and cordless drill, the only thing you really can't build without a shop is scratch building the vacuum chamber)

Step 1: Assemble the Vacuum Chamber

A quality high vacuum chamber is required for the fusor to operate. Sometimes an appropriate chamber can be found on eBay, but generally it is best to make one. Parts can be scrounged for several hundred dollars, or purchased new for $500+.
Get two stainless steel hemispheres, purchase two corresponding conflat-flanges (8" flanges in my case), bore out holes for accessory flanges, and then TIG weld it all together. Flanges are typically either of the KF or the conflat style. Conflat can be seen in the image below as the flanges with bolts, and KF (kwik-flange) are seen as those with only clamps holding an o-ring on the mating surface. Only weld on the inside, never on the outside (since virtual leaks can be formed if both inside and outside are welded). If you've never TIG welded before, it would be wise to have someone with experience do it as the welds must be flawless with no pin-sized holes or porous areas to hold a vacuum.
After machining, thoroughly clean the chamber and avoid getting fingerprints in it since these will outgas, which means at vacuum pressure molecules in the oil of finger prints or machining oil will become vapor and make it hard to maintain plasma stability or reach a good ultimate vacuum level.

Step 2: Prepare the High Vacuum Pump

Install the oil diffusion pump (or turbo pump if you have a bit of luck scrounging or a higher budget). Fill the pump with quality diffusion pump oil to whatever fill level the pump documentation suggests, attach the inlet to a valve which then connects to the chamber (see diagram), and attach the outlet to a mechanical backing pump capable of reaching at least around 75 microns (any higher and the diffusion pump will not operate properly or the oil will oxidize quickly).
Make sure the pump is sufficiently cooled, many oil diffusion pumps require water cooling, smaller ones such as the one pictured can get by with a decent air flow.
Once this is assembled, turn on the mechanical pump and wait for the vacuum to reach at least 75 microns. Next you can test the high vacuum pump by turning on the boiler on the diffusion pump. After it warms up (could take a while), the vacuum should rapidly drop below the single micron range.

Step 3: Build Inner Grid

The inner grid (where the high voltage is applied) must now be built and attached to a high voltage feedthrough.
It is best to use a metal such as tungsten for the grid wires since it has a very high melting point, and the grid will get extremely hot during high power runs.
This can be built however you wish, as long as it resembles a spherical shape of roughly 1-1.5 inches in diameter (for a 6-8" chamber), it should work fine.
The grid should be internally attached to an electrical feedthrough such as the one pictured in the second image. This feedthrough needs to be rated for the cathode voltage that will be used, typically 40kv is a good target voltage.

Step 4: Assemble the Deuterium System

Deuterium gas is used as the fuel for this fusion reactor. You will need to purchase a tank of this gas (unless you wish to do electrolysis on heavy water, this process will not be documented here but nothing more than a small Hoffman Apparatus is required - higher purity gas can be gotten from a compressed tank).
Attach a high pressure regulator directly to the tank, add an extremely fine-metering needle valve after this (or a laser drilled orifice in the range of 5 microns), then attach this to the chamber. A ball valve can also be installed between the regulator and the needle valve since needle valves are not shutoff valves.
See the attached diagram now updated with the deuterium handling system.

Step 5: High Voltage

If you can purchase a power supply (occasionally but not commonly found surplus) appropriate for fusion use, the high voltage becomes very simple. Simply take the output of the 40kv negative supply and attach it to the chamber with a physically large high voltage 50-100k ohm ballast resistor in series (large enough that its length will not flash-over if 40kv is applied to it in a plasma run-away or arc discharge).
The difficulty is that it is often difficult if not impossible to find an appropriate fully assembled DC supply of this voltage level that is affordable to the amateur scientist.
Pictured is my high frequency ferrite transformer pair, with a 4-stage multiplier seen behind it.
If a fully assembled power supply (typically manufactured by either Glassman or Spellman), there are a few options: -Find an x-ray transformer, and if necessary either reverse the rectifiers for negative polarity or add rectifiers if it has none (an x-ray transformer core won't have rectifiers, it probably will if it is in its oil tank) -Build a switching high frequency ferrite power supply. This is what I did, however it requires a bit of EE experience since several aspects must be resonant and if it is ever taken out of tune, the transistors will burn out. Probably not the best option for people with little electrical background.

Step 6: Setup Neutron Detection

The proof of fusion (and a quantitative analysis of how much fusion) is obtained through detecting neutron radiation, the byproduct of a D-D fusion reaction. There are three options which will be described. They are in order of descending ease of setup.
-A Neutron Bubble Dosimeter A bubble dosimeter is a small unit with a gel in it that forms bubbles when ionized by neutron radiation. This is the easiest form of neutron detection available since all you have to do is unscrew the top and set it next to the fusor. Some of the drawbacks are that it is an integrative detector which means all you get is a total neutron emission number over the time that it was used, rather than an instantaneous neutron rate. Additionally, they are somewhat hard to get since the only company to make them is Bubbletech in Canada, which has a minimum order of 3 with steep shipping and handling (expect to spend $700+ if ordering directly from them not in a group buy). Additionally, they tend to be fairly worn out after a year of shelf life (although I've kept mine in a refrigerated storage container at 50*F and it seems to be like new after I think more than a year). The advantage is that calibration data is provided with purchase and of course it is easy.
-Silver Activation When silver is placed near the reactor (with a moderator [paraffin wax, water, HDPE, etc] between it and the neutron source, since only thermal neutrons will activate the material) it becomes slightly radioactive with decent neutron fluxes. It has a short half life of only a few minutes, but if you quickly put a geiger counter next to the silver, counts can be detected. In my best runs, I have gotten a piece of silver to about 250CPM over background on a CDV-700 geiger-counter. The disadvantages of this are that it requires a decent neutron flux (at least about 100,000 neutrons/s) which is above the average "beginner's first run" neutron rate. Also, it is somewhat difficult to calibrate, and the counts can't be taken until after the fusor has been shut off.
-A Proportional Tube Tubes can be purchased which are filled with either BF3 or Helium-3 (some very old tubes are Boron-10 lined inert gas tubes). These tubes, similar to a geiger counter, can be used with a counting device to detect electrical pulses when neutrons pass through the tube. Either an all-in-one counter can be used, often made by a company called Ludlum, or a modular counting system can be made using NIM modules. The tube is surrounded by about 2 inches of moderating material such as wax or water. This is by far the most accurate and useful form of neutron detection, however the cost of a new tube is prohibitive to most people, and they are extremely rare on the surplus market. Also, counting equipment can become quite costly.
NIM Configuration: If you chose to make a NIM setup as I have, the typical layout is a charge sensitive pre-amplifier at the head of the proportional tube, which is plugged into both a high voltage power supply generating positive polarity voltage appropriate for the tube (in the range of 800V-2kV generally). The amplifier also hooks into a shaping amplifier, which is followed by a Single Channel Analyzer (for setting the detection discrimination level), followed by a pulse counter and/or rate meter.
Shown in the first picture is my NIM setup, the second picture is the pre-amplifier attached to a moderated helium-3 tube, the third picture is a bubble detector after being exposed to neutrons.

Step 7: Fire It Up (and Cross Your Fingers)

Time to turn it on (don't forget to cover any viewports/cameras with lead! Also x-rays can pour out of ceramic feedthroughs so point them away from people. It is a good idea to be monitoring for x-rays where any people are present). The basic procedure is:
-Turn on the roughing pump and wait for sufficient backing pressure, turn on the diffusion or turbo pump and wait for it to fully warm up or achieve running speed -Throttle the chamber back (with the valve between the diffusion/turbo pump and the chamber) -Ever so slightly open the needle valve to the deuterium tank -Turn up the high voltage until either plasma establishes on the camera, or you've reached 40kv and nothing has happened (don't forget, you only get one chance in your life to screw up with voltages of this degree) -If nothing has happened, keep admitting more gas and the pressure should keep going up. Plasma should form around 40kv at about 10-15 microns of deuterium.
If all goes well, you should see on your camera the image below, and you should be detecting neutrons at this point.
Operation is quite a balancing act, since the voltage is controlled by both the power supply, but also by Paschen's Curve and Ohm's Law relating to the pressure in the chamber. Great patience is required to "Get the hang of it", but after doing so it becomes quite simple to run. Operation can be aided by an ion-gun which will not be discussed in this article.

To get into some context, I(M25) would usually bring my girlfriend(F22) over to my house and spend a couple of nights. This has been a routine for the past 6 months. But recently she had a 1 week holiday from her semester so she stayed over during that whole period. That entire week was hectic, but not that horrible. She gets mad/upset/sad easily even an innocent joke then that leaves her sulking for an entire day.
I get sad too everytime she avoided me, but I would try my best to comfort her everytime. After the holiday week was over, I told her over the phone that the next weekend that she doesnt have to stay over, but we can still have dates on that weekend. The reason was we probably spent too much time and possibly needed some space alone for each other. She said she understood, and I assumed it was A-okay. Right after the call we continued on texting as usual, but she kept replying with dry texts, like "Okay" "Sure" "Nothing much".
This of course upsets me a bit, sure I understand she might got upset for me saying she shouldnt come over, but I try to let that go over my head. A day passed since that conversation she still sends me dry text. I got a bit more upset, I then unconciously started to reply her hours late because in my head I thought I was talking to a stranger.
One night she sent a text saying "Just do your stuff and act like you dont care". For some reason I got hurt by it, but instead of replying with my emotion immediately, I let it slide and planned to reply the text tomorrow morning. This is where my gut felt something's up. The entire day I felt like she's doing something behind my back, but I wanted to keep things positive. I couldn't handle it anymore I then decided to investigate myself.
I know this is a breach of privacy, but it was for the sake of my mental health due to past experience. She had logged in her Whatsapp account on my computer. This is where I could find out if something's happening. The reason why I was comfortable doing it was she once told me she doesn't mind me checking her stuff and all. I then saw a conversation with an unfamilliar name. I read it, and connected everything. They started talking to each other a day after that conversation. I was in disbelief.
Immediately that night I confronted her about it. I asked her to be 100% honest. She said the guy initiated first, and all she did was asked a small amount of money so she can buy food. I asked her why not from me? She then replied she didnt wanna ask money from me anymore because I spent alot for her. Addition to that I didnt took the hint when she did "asked" for money. I kept asking her intention on why him, and even if I didnt get the hint, its not my fault either because she could just ask from me directly, not from a random guy she used to talked with.
This then brought a hectic argument. I said we should stop because it's pointless to argue if all she did was to bring up other stuff. I proceeded to tell her "If you wanna cheat, go ahead, but remember we're over if you do so." She then said if that considers cheating for you, then we are over. I said fine. And then she sent me the most horrible insult I have ever received. "No wonder all your exes cheated on you"
Tldr: girlfriend said its no wonder all my exes cheated on me over an argument. Historical context on me: I've been into 5 relationships including her, all of them were serious, and all of them ended up cheated on me. The first ever to cheat on me was a 2 year relay, and that was the most horrible experience to ever deal with in my life.

It was the first book in a series, I'd love to try to find it again to see how the whole series ended, thanks for any help anyone can give! I remember a good amount of details from it, but my google searches are coming up empty.
Plot Synopsis: The main characters were two siblings (maybe twins?) that I think were around 15-16 years old. Their parents were adventurers and when the siblings were younger they disappeared without a trace. The story starts with them being given over to the care of their uncle. Their uncle is very mysterious boat captain with a crew, and he's hunting some type of ancient treasure. Eventually the kids discover the boat is a Q-ship, a heavily armed merchant ship with concealed weaponry. The boat travels to this island ruled by some kind of pirate warlord, who is connected somehow with the mysterious treasure the uncle is hunting for. The siblings go off, have adventures, and get into trouble on the island, eventually defeating the pirate warlord. From what I can remember of the mysterious treasure, it's connected to a magical gyroscope that the uncle has. The gyroscope might have been in multiple pieces and the uncle was searching for more pieces that the pirates have? The gyroscope definitely has magical powers, which is presented as advanced science in the book and might be related to unlimited energy.
Notable Characters: Main Characters: Two siblings, maybe twins, one boy and one girl. They do everything together and are close. Should be in their teens and are obsessed with adventure and finding out what happened to their parents. Uncle: Mysterious uncle, owns a merchant ship with hidden guns on it, is hunting for mysterious treasure. Pretty sure he's part of a secret organization that the main characters parents belonged to as well. Gruff but caring toward the main siblings.
Genre: As best as I can remember, the genre would probably be young adult adventure, with a dash of sci-fi and mystery.
Book Description: It was a hardcover book with a red cover, had an elastic band on the book that held it shut like a journal. It's most unique aspect that should help identify it was that it had multiple foldout sections with drawings, pictures, and text giving more background and details to the story. One foldout section I can specifically remember was a blueprint diagram of the uncles boat, I think the purpose of these was to emulate a expedition's journal.
Setting: It was definitely set in "real" earth, I think it was set in the early 1900's? Post WW1 but pre WW2, the ship was mechanical and there was modern technology like electricity, but the vibe of the setting was definitely "age of adventure".
Length: 200-400 pages is my best guess.
Personal Details: I read it around the 2010's, give or take a few years. It was newer when I read it, although it had a sequel out that I remember reading. It was definitely for middle school/early high school readers.

As a kid growing up in the 2000's I enjoyed the ABC Schools education blocks that would air after 9am, with shows like Count Us In, Take on Technology, For the Juniors, etc, but there's some shows in particular that I haven't found a single trace of online, but I know my parents had one episode taped to a VHS tape now lost.
One of which was called "Music Moves" or something like that. The episode was talking about Body Percussion in music. The clip was only the first part of the episode, but had a demonstration of people making noises, slapping their legs, etc, to create ambience for a creepy poem. I recall it going something like this;
Wind, creeps through the castle, an eerie chilling sound. Wind, bangs on doorpanes, and scatters leaves across the ground. Wind, drowns out footsteps, that chase me through the forest, till I scream. Wind, slams my window shut, and wakes me from my dream.
I also vividly remember a set of documentary pieces about the human body, the same tape had two episodes, one was about the lungs and Respiratory system, and the other about the heart and Circulatory system. It would show X-ray like diagrams throughout the 5-minute pieces, interposed with weirdly soothing melodic techno music.

DAY JUNE 8 2024
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STUDY ASSESSES ‘THE DANCER PERSONALITY’

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ONLINE SHOPPERS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY AFTER CHATTING WITH STAFF OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER, RESEARCH SHOWS

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TEENS TREATED UNFAIRLY BY TEACHERS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE POPULIST ATTITUDES

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MICROINCLUSIONS IMPROVE WOMEN’S WORKPLACE BELONGING AND COMMITMENT

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FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORKPLACES BENEFIT EMPLOYEES, BUSINESSES

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HOW TRUMP’S DEFINITION OF A ‘REAL’ AMERICAN HAS GRABBED HIS AUDIENCE—WHAT OUR RESEARCH SHOWS ABOUT WHY

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NEW STUDY SHOWS MARKETING A BRAND’S SIMPLICITY CAN BACKFIRE

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RESEARCHERS CREATE WINNING STRATEGY TO COMBAT VACCINE MISINFORMATION ON X

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STUDY SHOWS DISENGAGED STUDENTS MORE LIKELY TO USE AI TOOLS FOR ASSIGNMENTS

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HUMAN CULTURE IS CHANGING TOO FAST FOR EVOLUTION TO CATCH UP—HERE’S HOW IT MAY AFFECT YOU

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YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UK SAY THEY ARE LESS LIKELY TO VOTE IF THEIR PARENTS REPORT DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

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WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT COUNTS AS ‘DISORDER’?

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WHY THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY COULD DEPEND ON YOUR GROUP CHATS

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THE FASCINATING PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND ‘DINE AND DASH’ AND WHY IT’S ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN A FREE MEAL

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HOW CAN WE MAKE GOOD DECISIONS BY OBSERVING OTHERS? A VIDEOGAME AND COMPUTATIONAL MODEL HAVE THE ANSWER

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6-8-2024

OTHERS’ WORDS, NOT FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, SHAPE SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF FORMATION, STUDY FINDS

Three proposals explaining the differential confidence. (A) Intuitively, one might assume that confidence in scientific entities (e.g., germs) is higher than confidence in religious entities (e.g., angels) because scientific entities are observable in principle whereas religious entities are not. (B) The Dual- Pathway Model proposes separate information pathways for scientific versus religious beliefs; belief in scientific entities is primarily driven by direct experience of causal outcomes whereas belief in religious entities is primarily driven by testimony. (C) Contrary to these two models, the Unified Model proposes that belief in both
6-8-2024

TRYING TO SAVE MONEY? RESEARCH SUGGESTS PAYING IN CASH—WHILE YOU STILL CAN

Cash is in crisis. In Australia, it’s now only used for 16% of in-person transactions, down from about 70% in 2007. The situation is so dire that on Monday, independent federal MP Andrew Gee introduced a private member’s bill that would force businesses to accept cash or else face big fines. The reality is that over the past decade, technological advancements have utterly transformed the way we pay for goods and services. Phones and smartwatches can now easily be used to pay by card, and buy-now-pay-later
6-8-2024

MESSAGES CAN TRIGGER THE OPPOSITE OF THEIR DESIRED EFFECT—BUT YOU CAN AVOID COMMUNICATION THAT BACKFIRES

The best graduation speeches dispense wisdom you find yourself returning to long after the graduation tassels are turned. Take the feel-good life advice in Baz Luhrmann’s song to a class that graduated 25 years ago. Only on a recent relisten did I realize it also captures one of the research-based strategies I teach for avoiding communication that backfires. The tip is hiding in plain sight in the song’s title, “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen).” Communication aimed at promoting a certain behavior can have the opposite
6-8-2024

DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATION, VALUES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN CAUSE MISMATCHES WHEN SEEKING A PARTNER, FINDS SPANISH STUDY

The educational expansion of women has led to changes in the differences in educational level of men and women when looking for a partner. Research conducted by the UAB Center for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA) has examined for the first time the role of discrepancies in gender role values and education among potential spouses. According to the study, about a third of women in favor of gender equality and with a higher education would not be able to find a homogamous male partner. The work is published in the journal Perspectives
6-8-2024

‘FUZZY’ MAPS OFFER INSIGHT INTO LOCAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE VALUE OF VOLUNTEERING

In the global South, volunteer programs are framed by policymakers and scholars as an effective vehicle for empowering women living in poverty. But this narrative often rests on scant knowledge of the perspectives and experiences of a key set of local stakeholders: the volunteers. A new study co-authored by Yale anthropologist Catherine Panter-Brick addresses this knowledge gap by engaging with Syrian refugees and Jordanian women from poor households in Amman, Jordan,
6-8-2024

EXPERTS SAY USE OF POLITICAL MEMES ARE A PREDICTOR OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE

In a study of social media activity prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, researchers at the University of Notre Dame say a sharp increase in politically salient imagery online—visual content designed to influence, dehumanize, manipulate and motivate audiences—was a predictor of the conflict. With collaborators at Colby College and Kennesaw State University, the researchers collected post history from a select group of 989 Russian milbloggers—a term used for “military bloggers”
6-8-2024

PROGRAMS TO PREVENT SEXUAL VIOLENCE SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF CURBING ASSAULTS, ANALYSIS FINDS

Sexual violence prevention programs effectively change ideas and beliefs that underscore assaults, but show no evidence of reducing their actual occurrence, a new comprehensive analysis shows. The findings are published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Researchers led by behavioral scientist Roni Porat of Hebrew University challenge the assumption that changing people’s thoughts about sexual violence will change their actual behavior. They call on scientists to study more behavior-centered approaches to reducing sexual
6-8-2024

DIVERSE FRIEND GROUPS PROMOTE BETTER SOCIAL COHESION AND WELL-BEING, STUDY FINDS

New research featuring more than 24,000 people has found that having diverse groups of friends improves well-being and social cohesion, despite people’s tendency to gravitate towards people more similar to them. Led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and published in Psychological Science, the study used data from 24,726 adults from over 10,000 English neighborhoods to examine the composition of people’s social networks according to age, ethnicity, income, and education to understand the implications of homophily (preference for similar people) on social cohesion subjective well-being. Dr. Miguel Ramos, lead
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS JUSTICE FACILITY DOGS BENEFIT WELL-BEING FOR CHILDREN FACING COURT

A new Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has revealed that having a four-legged friend at Children’s Court significantly reduces stress and anxiety for young victims, witnesses, and their caregivers. ECU criminology researchers Dr. Suz Rock and Associate Professor Natalie Gately have published the first Australian study to evaluate the impact of introducing a justice facility dog to a Children’s Court. The study “Kids, Courts and Canines: Evaluating the Justice Facility Dog Program through a Therapeutic Lens
6-8-2024

SEXUAL MINORITIES EXPERIENCE MORE EXCLUSION IN EVERYDAY SITUATIONS, FINDS STUDY

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience exclusion more frequently than heterosexual people. This is the finding of a recent study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by researchers from the University of Basel and the RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. According to the study, people who are perceived as less gender-conforming are more frequently socially excluded. This could also affect heterosexual people if they deviate from traditional
6-8-2024

STILL RIDING LA’S METRO AFTER THE PANDEMIC? YOU PROBABLY THINK IT’S SAFER THAN THOSE WHO DON’T ANYMORE

As Jon Regardie wrote last year in Los Angeles Magazine, “Metro’s raison d’etre is to get hundreds of thousands of people each day across Southern California.” But the COVID-19 pandemic sent the numbers of riders plummeting to a low of 13%, and ridership still hasn’t fully rebounded. The reason may now be clear, thanks to the latest USC Dornsife LABarometer survey, conducted by the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The survey found that although public transportation ridership in
6-8-2024

CAN VAGUE GO VIRAL FOR GEN Y?

Generation Y, Gen Y, is commonly referred to as the millennial generation. It usually includes individuals born between the early 1980s and the mid-to-late 1990s or early 2000s. This generation follows Generation X and precedes Generation Z. The millennials, it is said, grew up during the transition to digital technology and the rise of the internet, and this has shaped their perspectives, behavior, and the way they use technology and media. They are often characterized as tech-savvy, adaptable, and socially conscious, with a strong affinity for social media and digital
6-8-2024

ITALIAN MOMS WITH 3+ KIDS WORK FAR FEWER YEARS THAN DADS, WHILE FINLAND SHOWS EQUALITY

Over the past century, the number of working women in Western countries has steadily increased. However, numerous studies show that it is still primarily women who have to manage the balancing act between parenthood and working life. Compared to fathers and childless women, mothers often have a less straightforward career path and face greater hurdles to career advancement. Little research has been done on what happens to women’s employment trajectories from midlife when childrearing efforts are
6-8-2024

TOP IT INDUSTRY MANAGERS ARE DIVIDED ON THE NEED FOR FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Many managers are currently seeking a balance between digital and face-to-face communication. A recent study from the University of Eastern Finland published in Information Technology & People shows that top IT industry managers have different views on when and for what purposes face-to-face communication in the workplace is needed. “Some top managers felt that all work tasks can be performed remotely with the help of digital communication. According to them, face-to-face communication is only necessary for maintaining interpersonal relationships and a sense of community,” says Doctoral Researcher Lotta Salin of
6-8-2024

STUDY FINDS SIMPLE HEADLINES ATTRACT MORE ONLINE NEWS READERS

The competition for online attention in today’s news environment is fierce. High-quality news from credible sources must compete for attention with misinformation and a rapidly increasing amount of partisan content. How can a news organization stand out as a reputable and trustworthy outlet while driving readers to its site? The answer is simple: literally. According to research from Michigan State University, news readers engage more with simple writing, suggesting journalists should write simply—clearly and without ambiguity—to attract attention online. The study was published in the journal Science Advances. “Newsrooms want
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS BANNING FALSE INFORMATION TRAFFICKERS ONLINE CAN IMPROVE PUBLIC DISCOURSE

When Twitter banned more than 70,000 traffickers of false information from its platform in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the impact went beyond the silencing of those users. A study co-authored by UC Riverside public policy and political science scholars published in the journal Nature on June 5, found that the crackdown by Twitter (now called X after it was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in late 2022) also significantly reduced the number of misinformation posts by users who stayed on the
6-8-2024

YOUNG ADULTS SAY STEADY SUPPORT FROM CARING ADULTS MADE DIFFERENCE IN TRANSITIONING FROM CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

Young people who have exited foster care generally fare better—in work, school and relationships—if they get consistent support from adults who care about them during their teen years. My research team reached these findings by interviewing 21 people, now in their late 20s, who had aged out of foster care when they turned 18, had spent time in foster care as children or grew up in families that had active child welfare cases. These young adults relayed the degree to which they received support from
6-8-2024

HOW THE 1901 DISCOVERY EXPEDITION’S POLAR EXPLORERS STAYED HEALTHY DURING THEIR ANTARCTIC JOURNEY

Antarctica is the most inhospitable continent on earth. It’s dry, cold, and completely dark for months of the year. Edwardian explorers were some of the first to brave the Antarctic winter, developing new knowledge still drawn upon by scientists today. The Discovery expedition (1901–4) played a key role in the history of polar exploration. It was led by the Royal Navy commander Robert Falcon Scott, a pioneering polar explorer who died in 1912 after attempting to reach the south pole. The expedition’s third lieutenant was Ernest Shackleton, who led three
6-8-2024

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS INFUSED WITH AGRI-INNOVATION SYSTEMS CAN REDUCE POST-HARVEST FOOD LOSS AND WASTE

developing sustainable business models that are multi-actor networked for integrating them with agricultural innovation systems initiatives can enable a systemic approach for reducing food loss and value loss at the post-harvest
6-8-2024

WILL THE 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES BECOME THE PLAYING FIELD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE PROTESTS?

Yannick Kluch, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies sport as a platform for promoting social justice. Kluch has worked with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, U.S. Diving and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He spoke with research editor Sharita Forrest about the history of Olympic athletes’ social justice protests and governing organizations’ efforts to avert them with Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter.
6-8-2024

STUDY FINDS WE SPEND MORE WITH CASHLESS PAYMENTS

A study found support for the existence of a positive “cashless effect,” which is when consumers spend more when using cashless payment methods in comparison to cash. The study suggests the cashless effect leads people to spend more when purchasing products that are typically used to signal status, such as jewelry. However, the
6-8-2024

LAWS MEANT TO KEEP DIFFERENT RACES APART STILL INFLUENCE DATING PATTERNS, DECADES AFTER BEING INVALIDATED

If you are single and looking for a romantic partner, chances are that you have used a dating app. But the likelihood that others will like, or even see, your profile may depend on your race. Studies have found that all people on dating apps, regardless of their own race, are more likely to contact white people using the app. And all people using dating apps are least likely to contact African American women and Asian American men. Until recently, some popular apps, including OkCupid, Match, Hinge and Grindr, provided
6-8-2024

VIRTUAL LABS IN PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH BOOST DIVERSITY

University of Oregon psychologists are breaking down barriers to include underrepresented populations in research by bringing laboratories online. The researchers are trying to address a longstanding issue in psychology studies, which often rely on undergraduate students to volunteer as research subjects.
6-8-2024

ATTENDING LOCAL EVENTS STRENGTHENS NEIGHBORHOOD BONDS, SURVEY REVEALS

how often people visit and actively participate in local events and how this affects their sense of place or their connection to their community. A survey of almost 400 households in the state’s coastal council area of the City of Holdfast Bay found that people who frequently attend local events or participate as volunteers, organizers or exhibitors, have a stronger
6-8-2024

STUDY SHOWS ONLINE PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION WORKS FOR COMPLEX TOPICS

“COVID-19 forced educators to adjust their educational best practices to an unfamiliar virtual classroom, and professional development was no different,” said Karen Jo Matsler, assistant professor in practice for UTeach at UTA
6-8-2024

EYE-TRACKING STUDY REVEALS THAT SIMPLY LOOKING AT THE NATURAL WORLD IN URBAN AREAS CAN REAP WELL-BEING BENEFITS

Integrating more natural features into city landscapes can play a crucial role in enhancing the mental well-being of residents. A study by Bangor University and Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, published in the scientific journal People and Nature, involved city dwellers and showed how paying visual attention to greenery, rather than human-made structures, can alleviate anxiety and enhance restorative feelings. The 117 urban residents who took part in the study, were guided on a
6-8-2024

ADVERTISERS MAY BE INADVERTENTLY FUNDING MISINFORMATION

Companies in industries such as health care, technology and insurance have been found to advertise on misinformation websites, according to an analysis published in Nature. In a related experiment, consumers who were made aware that a company advertised on a misinformation website were likely to reject an offer of a gift voucher to spend with that company. The majority of digital advertisement placement on the internet is done via an algorithm-based distribution
6-8-2024

STUDY SUGGESTS EVOLUTIONARY BASIS FOR MALE RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS

why we associate risk-taking with males rather than females, from an evolutionary standpoint. Study author Hannah Goodman, from UWA’s School of Human Sciences, said researchers found men engaged in riskier behaviors when crossing a busy traffic intersection, supporting growing evidence that risk-taking is predominantly an androcentric behavior. “Males

For phase one, see this. https://www.reddit.com/hasbro/comments/1d98069/how_i_would_execute_a_hasbro_cinematic_universe/
For phase two, see this. https://www.reddit.com/hasbro/comments/1d9gpqb/how_i_would_execute_a_hasbro_cinematic_universe/
For phase three, see this. https://www.reddit.com/hasbro/comments/1dalfmw/how_i_would_execute_a_hasbro_cinematic_universe/
Where we last left off: Unicron was finally defeated, the Enforcers grew in numbers, Cadence and Shining Armor have started a family, and The Fallen and Galvatron are scheming to revive Unicron, and this is where Phase 4 begins. Additionally, a multiverse is introduced. There are no new franchises this Phase, just sequels, but there will be hints to the next Phase. anyway, let's begin.
Enforcers: Age of the Fallen
Phase 4 starts with an Enforcers story, in fact, I prefer this to be a sort of Rise Of Unicron Part III, seeing this takes place a couple weeks after the events of Rise of Unicron Part II. In this story, The Enforcers are cleaning up the mass of debris from when Unicron exploded, while Cadence and Shining busy raising their children. However, the plans of Megatronus Prime (aka The Fallen) and the newly-elected leader of the Decepticons, Galvatron, are falling into place as they plan to use Equistria's' sun as a means to create Dark Energon to revitalize Unicron, use Equistria as his new body, and help him continue his devouring of the galaxy and finally destroy Primus. When a battle between the Enforcers and the Decepticons leads to the death of one of the Enforcers, they must now find an ancient Cybertronian to help them revive there friend and stop The Fallen once and for all.
Notable events include

• The Fallen is revealed to be the original herald of Unicron.
• Optimus Prime is killed by Galvatron, to which Megatron assumes command of the Autobots. But he's resurrected later.
• The Matrix of Leadership was placed back onto Cybertron after the events of Enforcers: Rise of Unicron Part II.
• We learn that an Decepticon-turned-Autobot named Jetfire has the knowledge to bring Optimus back to life.
• Shining Armor is killed by Galvatron, but was somehow sent into the All-Spark and meets the twelve of the original Thirteen Primes. He is also resurrected later
• Optimus finds out it is his destiny to find the Cyber-Planet Keys and the Omega Lock and to reawaken Primus.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We find ourselves in the laboratory of Johnathan Armstrong, where we see him working on a device that can be used to traverse the multiverse, unbeknownst to him, a robotic insect is sending data to an unknown source.
Magic: The Dragon's Curse
We find our wizard friends returning to the land of Amundus following the events of Enforcers: Age of The Fallen to find there home now under the rule of a resurrected Arcan and a long forgotten warlord named Karnous, who has plagued the land with a curse that turns anyone into human/dragon hybrids. So it's now up to our four young wizards to cure the land and stop Arcan and Karnous, while also learning of all of their parents' pasts and discover a secret that may connect them together.
Notable events include

• The wizards of Amundus are actually all related to each other by royalty and that they are destined to rule Amundus.
• Karnous is revealed to be the evil personality of the first king of Amundus, Gorgran.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We find ourselves in the laboratory of Johnathan Armstrong, where we see him working on a device that can be used to traverse the multiverse, unbeknownst to him, a robotic insect is sending data to an unknown source.
Stretch Armstrong 3
After the events of Enforcers: Age of The Fallen, John is now working on finding out if there exist any alternate realities much like his own. Unbeknownst to him, a being calling itself "Techcore" has copied John's designs for a fully functional muti-dimentional portal and bring forth an alternate version of himself named Richard Armstrong who uses his stretching powers for committing crimes. Now John must stop Richard for besmirching his "Stretch Armstrong" persona's name and stop Techcore from continue use of the portal and save the world once more.
Notable events include

• Techcore is actually a former Decepticon who became one of Unicron's slaves and is forced to build the dimensional portal.
• John is almost arrested, until John reveals that Richard is from an alternate universe.
• Techcore is brought to the Autobots after his machine is destroyed.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We cut to the headquarters of Action Man, where we find Duke and Matt Trakker experimenting with the M.A.S.K. vehicles that have been add a 'hyper-accelerator' to see if the device can get the vehicles to reach longer distances at a quicker pace, unknown to them the true capabilities the device could do.
Action Man 3
When we last saw Duke and his Action Man team, not only did they just finish up helping stop Megatronus Prime and Galvatron, but earlier they were introduced to Matt Trakker and his M.A.S.K. team by Agent Jameson. This is where the story begins, with Duke and Matt building a device that can let the M.A.S.K. vehicles be able to go even faster so as to get to the danger quicker before it's too late. However, while developing it, Duke and Matt find out that the device can let them travel to alternate dimensions. This leads them to a world where C.O.B.R.A. has won and rules with an iron fist. Now, Duke, Matt, and the Action Man and M.A.S.K. teams must find a way to get home to their own universe, but must also free the other universe from Cobra Comander's reign.
The only notable event is

• After defeating the alternate universe version of Cobra Commander, Duke asks Matt if he wants to be an Enforcer, to which Matt declines, citing wanting to form his own team.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We cut to Cybertron where we find Red Alert and Perceptor working on a modified space bridge as they experiment with the idea of parallel worlds. They then activate the space bridge, they notice someone coming through. We find that this is Optimus Prime, however he looks very different, what with a different paint job, his optics being red, and his Autobot symbol being purple. Perecptor asks Optimus what's going on with the color change. The sequence ends with Optimus pointing his blaster at Perceptor saying, "This world will be perfect to conquer."
Transformers: Shattered Glass
Yes, you read the title correctly, this is an adaptation (sort of) of the Transformers G1 comics alternate universe, "Shattered Glass." In the Shattered Glass universe, it's sort of the same G1 universe, except the fact that anyone who was good in G1 is evil and vise versa for any of the G1 villains. Mostly, it tells the story of the heroic Decepticons, led by the mathmation Megatron, and the evil Autobots, led by the ruthless Optimus Prime. Anyway, the HCU version of this story is that the SG Autobots find a way in to the HCU and plan to take it over and steal all the galaxies resources. However, the SG Decepticons make contact with the HCU Autobots and they decide to team up to stop the SG Autobots, who have now ailed themselves with the HCU Decepticons, and send them back to the SG universe.
Notable events are

• SG Megatron reveals that the SG Decepticons developed a weapon capable of removing a Prime's power.
• In a sneak peek of the 5th and final phase, SG Optimus finds out about the Inhumanoids after SG Perceptor hacks into the Autobots' database.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: Following their defeat, SG Optimus Prime is yelling at SG Rodimus Prime about their failure to stop their heroic alternate universe selves. However, SG Perceptor tells SG Optimus that he has found another planet in their own universe, one streaming with energy, both positive and negative. SG Optimus tells SG Perceptor to show him. SG Perceptor and SG Optimus look at a monitor, and we find out the planet SG Perceptor found was their realities version of the Reflections version of Equistria.
My Little Pony/Transformers: Shattered Reflections
Partially based on a IDW comic event, this story for the HCU is about Twilight and Optimus find out about that the Shattered Glass universe has a version of Equistria, but is similar to the Equistria from the Reflections arc in the IDW comics before the Mane Six arrived to it. Once there, they are greeted by Reflections Sombra, who remembers Celestia as if she had visited, leading to a tearful renuion. At the same time, SG Optimus Prime has ailed with Reflections Celestia and Luna, and they plan to find their universes Earth and plan to take it over, and reopen the space bridge to the HCU Earth. So now Twilight and Optimus must team up with Reflections Sombra and SG Megatron to stop SG Optimus and Reflections Celestia and Luna.
Notable events include

• SG Optimus reveals the existence of multiple universes to Reflections Celestia and Luna.
• Reflections Sombra is corrupted by a mix of Dark Magic and Dark Energon to the point Optimus is forced to encase him in solidified Energon.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We cut to Earth where we find Agent Jameson, who is in a disguise. talking to Captain, now Commander Patrick about the new adjustments to the U.S.S. Destiny. Patrick then tells Jameson he knows he is in disguise, which makes Jameson shocked, but remembers that Patrick was a master at telling deception. Jameson then asks Patrick what the Destiny is being converted for, to which Patrick says it will be apart of a revival of the Manhattan Project from the Cold War.
Battleship: Manhatten Project
When we last left Joshua Patrick and the crew of the U.S.S. Destiny, they had finished helping their fellow Enforcers stop The Fallen. Now, after a few missions, Joshua has rose to the rank of Commander and now leads a whole fleet of flying battleships called "The Arsenal." Josh then finds out that the United States Department of Defence and the CIA are planing to restart the Manhattan Project, to which Josh signs his fleet up for. However, during the tests, the fleet are whisked away to an alternate universe where the Axis Powers of World War II have won the war, but are in the mist of a super-Cold War. Now, with the help from an alternate version of Agent Jameson, must find a way back home and also to stop an immortal Adolf Hitler from getting the plans to create a flying battleship.
Notable events include

• The alternate version of Agent Jameson reveals that his universe's version of The Enforcers was easily defeated by the Nazis.
• Hitler's immortality is revealed to come from this universe's Celestia after she was captured by an exploratory group in space.
• About 25% of The Arsenal is destroyed during the final battle with the Nazis.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: After losing his most of his fleet, save for the Destiny and about 10 other ships, Commander Patrick is standing on the deck of the Destiny thinking things can't get any worse. However, once the return to their Earth, they find what looks to be about 20 different Earths in the sky. Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle appears on the deck of the Destiny, where a confused Patrick asks what's going on. Twilight only replies, "Unicron's plan is working. His revenge is beginning."
Enforcers: Crisis War Part 1
Yes, you read Twilight's line correctly, Unicron is back and is still alive after the events of the Rise of Unicron two-parter and Enforcers: Age of The Fallen. It's revealed that before Unicron's head was ejected into deep space, he hatched a plan to rebuild his body and get revenge on the ones who destroyed him, The Enforcers and their loved ones. His plan was to eject bits of Dark Energon across the galaxy and implant them into the smartest people in the HCU to construct devices and machines that can open to alternate universes, so that Unicron can send multiple Earths to the HCU, devour them for power, use some of the natural metals and other resources to rebuild his body to be even bigger and more powerful then before, and destroy the Enforcers and finally destroy Primus. So not only do the Enforcers and all of their allies need to stop Unicron once more, but also must face a brand new and mysterious Decepticon by the name of Dreadnaught. Also, some of the Enforcers do get killed off for good in this THREE PART EVENT.
For part 1, When The Enforcers and their allies learn of Unicron being still alive, they must not only stop the multiverse from tearing itself apart, but they must also stop Unicron from gaining a new body while also being stopped by a new and mysterious Decepticon named Dreadnaught.
Notable events include

• Optimus relays a message that Unicron is still alive and is planing to destroy all of reality once he devours enough Earths and uses the energy to build himself a new body, and finally have the power to destroy Primus.
• Duke's Action Man team is killed during the first onslaught by Dreadnaught in the Crystal Empire.
• Cadence appears to have been killed as well when Dreadnaught's arm cannon appears to disintegrate her.
• Duke is reunited with the rest of the members of G.I. Joe and reforms the team.
• Starscream is killed after he tries to usurp leadership of the Decepicons.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: We find Reflections Twilight Sparkle in a room where we see SG Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander from the universe that Duke and Matt went to, and Richard Armstrong greeting her and calling her over to them. After Reflections Twilight asks who brought her here, none of them don't know either, until it's revealed that it was Dreadnaught who invited them all to gather and form an "Anti-Enforcers team" which he dubs them "The Destroyers."
Enforcers: Crisis War Part 2
Now to part II where we find out that Dreadnaught has formed his own team called The Destroyers, who are kind of an Anti-Enforcers. Meanwhile, Optimus meets up with Jandar and is now in the process of aquireing the Omega Lock (mostly because after the events of Enforcers: Rise of The Fallen, Optimus decides now is the time for Primus to finally be reawaken and up until now, in the background has been hunting down the four Cyber-Planet Keys.) Now, the Enforcers must find away to stop The Destroyers, Unicron (who right now, his head has devowered about 5 of the Earths and his new body is about 47-68% completed.), and still find away to defeat Dreadnaught.
Notable events include

• Dreadnaught forms an "Anti" Enforcers-type team called "The Destroyers."
• Optimus meets with Jandar to go to the edge of the Milky Way galaxy to acquire the Omega Lock and the last Cyber-Planet Key in order to reawaken Primus.
• Jandar sacrifices his life force in order to give his energy to the Omega Lock so it can fully power the Cyber-Planet Keys.
• The Enforcers all go to Cybertron as they witness Optimus reawaken Primus and see that Cybertron was escentualy Primus' alt mode.
• Dreadnaught is revealed to be an upgraded Galvatron under the control of Unicron's anti-spark until his new body was completed.
• It's revealed that Cadence was actually kidnapped and brainwashed to become Unicron's new herald.

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: Dreadnaught finds out that Primus has been fully awakened, but we soon find out that Dreadnaught is actually Galvatron, but reformatted and under Unicron's possession until his new body is complete, as Unicron tells Galvatron that his new herald will be of much more use to him, revealing that Princess Cadence is Unicron's new herald.
Enforcers: Crisis Part 3
Well, the end of Phase 4, and ZOMG, Cadence is Unicron's new herald! How did that happen? Well, back in Part I, when Dreadnaught (aka Galvatron/Unicron) first appears, he attacks the Crystal Empire and Cadence and Shining Armor begin to protect their kingdom. However, it appeared that Cadence was annihilated when she was hit by Dreadnaught's (Galvatron's/Unicron's) Arm Cannon. However, the cannon actually teleported her the Nemesis, where Unicron injected her with Dark Energon, until she was under Unicron's control. However, what's going on with our friends. Well, now that Primus has been reawaken, The Enforcers now have a chance to stop Unicron once and for all and save the multiverse. However, they soon find out that Unicron's new body is 99% complete and Cadence has been brainwashed to become Unicron's new herald. Now, The Enforcers, with the help of Primus, must free Cadence and stop Unicron once and for all before his spark enters the new body.
Notable events include

• Cadence is restored to her normal self by Optimus by utalising an overcharged Matrix of Leadership given to him by Primus.
• Unicron's new body is finally completed and is about the size of Jupiter.
• While trying to distract Unicron from destroying Earth and giving Primus time to charge up his power, Joshua, the U.S.S. Destiny, Robert Banks and Joshua's fleet sacrifice themselves as Unicron crushes them all with his fists.
• With additional power from Optimus, the Mane Six, Sgt. Alexander, and Princesses Celestia and Luna, Primus is able to mortally injure Unicron and put him into a ten thousand year long sleep..

END CREDITS SEQUENCE: The Enforcers are celebrating on Cybertron, but then Perceptor calls Optimus and Sgt. Alexander to his lab. When they enter it, Perceptor tells them that 'his' prison has been destroyed, to which Optimus feels that the dark times are not to come to an end just yet, as we find out that on a far off planet, in the planets core, a rocky prison crumbles revealing a group of giants apart of a race of alien monsters called "The Inhumanoids", who will be the villains of the 5th and final phase
To be concluded...

Hey guys!
A few weeks ago I started working on my fist SaaS idea (at least first that I intend to turn into an actual business) and I'm looking to gather some feedback and market validation. Its a diagramming tool aimed at engineering managers and architects that lets you diagram your system and freeze versions of it at any point, so you can hand it off to engineers to work on. It will also let you drill into each component to get more info, see connections and eventually map out flows, etc.
I just built a waitlist page as I'm working on the initial prototype, so I was hoping to get some eyes on it. Here's a link to the site. What do you guys think? Any tips I should keep in mind? being my first SaaS idea I'm pretty much making it up as I go.

Hello! In a 2007 Yaris hatchback with no frills, I am installing an aftermarket radio to replace stock unit.
I cannot find a diagram or chart of the wires! Where can I find this?
There are 3 connectors, say 1, 2, 3 from diver side to passenger side. I have figured out that the 3rd is for the "aux" connection that has the jack between seats, by the parking brake. So I can ignore that bundle (if I am right).
Where is a list of the wires from the first 2 groups / connector sets of wires?

Hi all. I have a 2010 A3 which is a great car but Thursday it conked out. I hooked up the diag tool and was looking at the ECM relays when I noticed that what's in my car is totally different from what the manual says it should be. I did more digging around and I found a picture of a 2012 through 2016 engine fuse layout diagram that matches what I have exactly so naturally I'm very confused.
Does anybody have any experience with something this odd because it's weird that my 2010 would have an engine fuse layout from a later model.
Any input is welcome and thanks in advance

Now that I’m winding down my activities and prepping to start med school, I wanted to take the time to relay some wisdom from my application cycle that I don’t commonly see shared. We all know how important GPA/MCAT/ECs/writing are. Here are some other tips to consider, from someone who had a successful application cycle.
I have always been a very reflective and spiritual person, and this advice reflects that. It may not resonate with everyone, YMMV. Here goes:

1. Learn more about what you’re interested in outside of class! Read, listen to lectures and podcasts, watch documentaries, etc. I had several interviews in which I was asked about a book I was reading/had read recently, and several others where I brought up things I had read/listened to recently. Not only does this emphasize your curiosity, if you can relate it to the themes in your app, it reflects your authenticity—this is who you are, not just who you’re pretending to be on papewhat you’re doing to check boxes. As an example: I was reading the book “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love” by Valerie Kaur at the time I was asked in an interview about a book I recently read as a sort of icebreaker. I was able to dive into the book, the core message of approaching the world as “you are a part of me that I do not yet know,” and relate this to my own intense curiosity and how I want to approach patients in the future. I ended up connecting super well with this interviewer and we talked about this theme for the majority of my interview.
   
2. Reflect reflect reflect. Don’t shy away from big questions. Why are you doing what you’re doing? How are you evolving? What are your fears, your vulnerabilities, your growth areas? What is the meaning of all of this? How do we sit with people in their pain, without letting it overwhelm us? How do we maintain hope despite a healthcare system that is so unjust and broken? You don’t need to have the answers. There are no right answers in this. But thinking about the questions builds depth, I think, and maturity. So many premeds, med students, and even physicians are uncomfortable with uncertainty, and have difficulty sitting with people in their pain and uncertainty. (For a great podcast that touches on this: Everything Happens with Kate Bowler: Sunita Puri—The Uncertainty Specialist) Reflection is the start of being able to sit with nuance and uncertainty.
   
3. Be authentic and truthful about the questions you’re still working through. You’re applying to med school, you’re not expected to have everything figured out. I think this shows strength, authenticity, and maturity. I love this advice for showing authenticity in your writing.
   

I hope this helps someone/gives you something to think about :)

Written By: Jaden Azariah Trent
In the year 2030, the world was a seamless web of interconnected devices. Every home had a television that never turned off, equipped with microphones and cameras, which stood as silent sentinels, observing our every move for the iron-fisted government. Each TV was a gateway for ceaseless advertisements and propaganda, broadcast directly into the minds of viewers. Elon Musk’s neural transmitter chip, Neuralink, once a marvel of technology, had become a compulsory implant at birth. It linked human consciousness to an endless stream of data, intruding even into dreams. Corporations, having merged into a single monolithic conglomerate, controlled every thought and desire with surgical precision.
Chapter 1: A World Enslaved
Dr. Emily Carter sat in her dimly lit office, her fingers tapping nervously on the desk. Once a brilliant neuroscientist, she now felt like a cog in the very machine she had helped build. The neural transmitters were meant to revolutionize communication, but they had become tools of oppression.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft chime from her implant. "Incoming message," the robotic voice intoned. It was another ad, this time for a new, must-have consumer product. She grimaced, swiping away the intrusion.
"Emily," a familiar voice called from the doorway. It was Dr. Raj Patel, her colleague and the only person she trusted. "We need to talk."
Emily motioned for him to sit. "What's wrong, Raj?"
He leaned in, lowering his voice. "I've been tracking a series of neural anomalies. People acting erratically, experiencing severe migraines and seizures. It’s all connected to their transmitters."
Emily's eyes widened. "You think it's a malfunction?"
Raj shook his head. "No, it’s too precise. Someone is controlling them."
Chapter 2: The Hacker’s Game
Alexei watched the city from his hideout, his fingers dancing over a keyboard. The world had grown complacent, and he was determined to shake it from its slumber. His latest target was a high-ranking corporate executive. With a few keystrokes, he planted the seeds of chaos.
The executive, Mr. Thompson, was in the middle of a board meeting when he suddenly convulsed, his eyes rolling back. His colleagues watched in horror as he muttered incoherently, a puppet to Alexei’s whims.
Alexei smirked, his voice a whisper in the dark. "Soon they will understand."
Chapter 3: The Resistance Forms
Emily and Raj gathered a small group of trusted allies, each one a victim of Alexei’s hacking. Among them was Sarah, a former programmer, and Marcus, an ex-military strategist. They met in an abandoned warehouse, away from prying eyes and ears.
"We need to find the source of these attacks," Marcus said, his voice steady. "And we need to shut it down."
Emily nodded. "But we also need to expose the corporation’s control. Alexei might be a hacker, but he’s also a symptom of a larger problem."
Raj pulled up a map of the city. "I’ve traced the anomalies to a series of relay points. If we can infiltrate one, we might be able to trace it back to Alexei."
Chapter 4: Into the Lion’s Den
The plan was set. The resistance moved under the cover of darkness, their neural transmitters shielded by makeshift jammers. They infiltrated a relay point, a nondescript building in the heart of the city.
Inside, they found rows of servers, each one humming with data. Sarah connected her laptop, fingers flying over the keys. "I’m in," she whispered. "Tracing the signal now."
Minutes felt like hours as the team waited. Suddenly, the screen flashed. "Got it. The signal is coming from an old industrial district."
Chapter 5: Confrontation
The team stormed the industrial district, finding Alexei’s hideout. Inside, Alexei stood waiting, a smug smile on his face. "I knew you’d come," he said.
Emily stepped forward. "This ends now, Alexei."
Alexei laughed. "You think you can stop me? I’ve already shown the world the truth."
"At what cost?" Emily shot back. "You’re hurting people."
Alexei’s eyes narrowed. "Sometimes, to wake up, you need a nightmare."
Before he could react, Marcus lunged, pinning Alexei to the ground. Raj quickly deactivated the neural control system.
Chapter 6: Revelation and Escalation
With Alexei’s system down, the team broadcast a message to the world, exposing the corporation’s control and Alexei’s hacks. The public, already on edge, erupted in outrage. Protests broke out, demanding the removal of the neural transmitters and the dissolution of the corporate conglomerate.
But the corporation was prepared. They deployed an elite force, the Enforcers, equipped with advanced technology and ruthless efficiency. The streets ran with conflict, as the Enforcers quelled protests with brutal force. The conglomerate’s spokesperson, a figurehead with a calm demeanor, addressed the nation.
"These disturbances are the work of anarchists," he proclaimed. "We will restore order and ensure your safety. Trust in the system."
Chapter 7: The Depths of Despair
Emily and her team were forced underground, their resistance movement now branded as terrorists. They moved from safe house to safe house, always one step ahead of the Enforcers. The public, bombarded with propaganda, began to turn against them.
In a hidden bunker, Raj pored over data, trying to find a weakness in the corporate network. "We need a new plan," he said, his voice tinged with despair. "They’re too powerful."
Emily clenched her fists. "We can’t give up. There has to be a way."
Marcus, ever the pragmatist, suggested a daring strategy. "We need to hit them where it hurts. Their central command hub. If we can disable it, even temporarily, we can disrupt their control."
Chapter 8: The Final Assault
The resistance prepared for their most dangerous mission yet. Under the cover of night, they infiltrated the heavily guarded central command hub. Sarah worked her magic, bypassing security systems and opening a path for the team.
Inside, they faced the Enforcers in a brutal battle. The resistance fought with everything they had, driven by desperation and hope. They reached the control room, where Emily and Raj began the upload of a virus designed to cripple the network.
As the countdown ticked away, the Enforcers breached the room. Marcus held them off, buying precious seconds. "Finish it!" he shouted.
With a final keystroke, the virus activated. The screens flickered, and for a moment, the neural network faltered. But it wasn’t enough. The system’s redundancy protocols kicked in, and the network began to recover.
Chapter 9: The Unyielding Grip
The Enforcers overpowered the resistance. Emily, Raj, and the remaining members were captured, their mission a partial failure. The conglomerate wasted no time in making an example of them.
In a televised trial, Emily stood defiant. "You can silence us, but you can’t silence the truth. People will rise against this tyranny."
The corporate spokesperson smirked. "Your actions have caused unnecessary suffering. The system exists to maintain order, and order will be restored."
Emily and her comrades were sentenced to life in a high-security facility, their implants modified to prevent further rebellion.
Epilogue: A Flicker of Hope
Years passed. The world remained under the corporation’s iron fist, but the seeds of rebellion had been sown. In the shadows, a new generation of resistance fighters emerged, inspired by Emily and her team’s sacrifice. They whispered stories of the Silent Rebellion, of the fleeting moment when the system had wavered.
In her cell, Emily remained unbroken. She knew that true freedom would not come easily or quickly, but the fight was far from over. As long as there were those who remembered, there was hope.
The struggle for liberation continued, a relentless battle against a seemingly invincible foe. In a world where silence was enforced, the murmurs of dissent grew louder, carrying the promise of a future where humanity might once again reclaim its destiny.

I have an illuminated street number on my house that is connected to a doorbell transformer (18VAC). It's always on and over the years the LED lights burn out. I want to automate turning on the LED light at sunset and off at sunrise to maximize the life of the replacement LED. Would a Shelly relay allow me to do that? I've been looking at their website, wiring diagrams and online videos but i can't find out whether i can take the 18VAC output from the doorbell transformer, run it through the relay to the LED, and then control it with HomeAssistant. From the wiring diagrams it appears it needs 110-240AC input. Is there any way to use the 18V AC coming off the transformer to power it AND to feed the input line of the relay? Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I don’t know how to explain it but I feel loke he legit relays on every single person in his life to do things so he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t food shop despite me asking him to pick food up on his way home from his job AT THE GROCERY STORE. He doesn’t keep tabs on medications for us or our family - I do all the refill calls. I found an empty pill bottle of our cats pain pill and asked him about it and he said yeah it’s been empty. What??? He doesn’t ever ever clean the house. He washes the dishes (that’s it) only because he got mad at the way I did it so I said I’m done doing them 🤷🏼‍♀️ I have to tell him when the lawn needs to be mowed. I have to tell him to pay the certain bills that we once agreed to split. Jesus Christ I might as well tell him to wipe his own ass. Let’s not talk about home improvements. I say I want to plant a blueberry bush and need his help but I’m so on my own with that one. He says “I have no idea how to do that” so I said me either we can figure it out together for something for us to connect over. Nope wanted no part of it. But will sit and play video games every night and research game hacks with his friends.
What do I do??

7x All-NBA (3/3/1)
‘01 MVP (3x Top-5 voting, 7x Top-10)
11x All-Star (2x ASG MVP)
‘97 Rookie of the Year
1) Memories of Iverson have gotten so simplified so quickly, I’m afraid he’s little more than “an inefficient gunner who was fast and once stepped over Tyronn Lue” to many fans today. Iverson is difficult to summarize or explain with any amount of words, so I’ll start by listing some things he makes me think of: a) playing Ninja Gaiden as Sonic the Hedgehog, b) the intensity of a cornered wolverine on all-fight-no-flight mode, c) the unflinching persistence of Melville’s Bartleby, but at the opposite end of the kinetic energy spectrum, d) Iggy Pop’s early on-stage performances, e) the quick-twitch ballance of a squirrel, f) the numerous Tupac interviews that showed skeptical non-fans that his “thuggishness” belied a deep thoughtfulness, g) a kamikaze pilot, h) the unsettling gaze of a death row inmate on his final walk.
2) Iverson’s cultural significance was bigger and arguably more important than his on-court career. He didn’t “introduce” hip-hop culture and its aesthetic to the NBA, but he became the face of that part of the Venn diagram. AI stood out because of his cornrows, numerous tattoos, extra baggy wardrobe, flashy jewelry, and the “questionable shadiness” of some members of his entourage, plus the raw directness with which he spoke was not what the league higher-ups wanted from its most popular player. It didn’t help that his background was marked by four months in jail while in high school because of a high-profile bowling alley brawl, but any objective person can see in retrospect how racist and pointed the “investigation” into that event was.
Commissioner David Stern put a player dress code into place because of Iverson, and AI was an interesting litmus test of sorts for most of the top voices in the media or authority figures in the NBA (the vast majority of both groups being middle aged or older white guys) to exhibit how rigidly “old school” they really were. As a perpetual target–including by many referees–Iverson’s popularity rose even higher, and he became maybe the most fully embraced sports figure by black America since Muhammad Ali.
3) His desire to win cannot be questioned, as he seemed to be having an existential, life-or-death crisis every game. Iverson played through numerous awful injuries (he popularized the wearing of compression sleeves), and the grit and determination he demonstrated made his teammates try harder, a bigger accomplishment than he usually gets credit for. AI was listed at 6-ft-0 and 165 pounds–he was neither–yet he flew into the lane with reckless abandon, and his body paid the price. He was beloved by teammates and fans for this because his slight stature made him the ultimate underdog (plus for how league higher-ups seemed to despise him). The media got on Iverson for his lax practice habits, but he needed the rest because of his injuries and how hard he played in games; Bill Russell did the same thing, by the way.
The problem was that his desire to win appeared to manifest itself as him wanting to do it all. Iverson rarely trusted his teammates (Philly’s front office certainly didn’t do him any favors), so he saw the path to victory as going directly through himself. It’s like he was thinking, “I’m a great scorer, so I should score as much as possible. I’m a great ball thief, so I should go for every steal.” It was hard for Iverson to see past this mentality, similar to a football defensive end who goes all out to rush the QB every play no matter what the situation or team scheme, so AI’s style of play often didn’t align itself with the best path to team glory, even if he thought it did.
4) Iverson was drafted in 1996 by a horrid Sixers team that hadn't topped 26 wins since the Barkley trade in '92, and hadn't been to the playoffs since '91. The roster was BAAAAAD. They made it into the playoffs in 1999, and Philly was respectable for five straight seasons (‘99-03), finishing over .500 and reaching the playoffs each year, and then usually making noise in the postseason (twice beating a higher seed in Round 1, never losing to a lower seed, and they squeaked into the Finals as the East’s #1 seed in ‘01).
You can think what you want about his awful shooting efficiencies and his often surly connections with his team, but the fact that he made the Sixers as good as they were for those five years was a herculean accomplishment that no other wing of that era could have topped in the same setting (not Carter, not McGrady, not Kobe).
Philly’s front office overreached and overpaid for almost everyone who took the court with Iverson, and it was not a good set of teammates for him. Had he switched places with Kobe in the late-90s and got to spend his prime with a great center like Shaq, Iverson would have had at least those three rings LA won and possibly more because I find it more likely that he would have meshed well with Shaq.
5) As you likely already know, his primary strengths were absurd speed and athleticism (best in NBA history) and his prolific scoring ability (four scoring titles, career 27 ppg, 30 ppg from ‘00-06). Iverson’s incredible shiftiness mixed with his “I’m going to embarrass you” mindset and elite hesitation crossover made him a nightmare to defend 1-on-1, and he attracted so much attention flying into the lane that he was able to create opportunities for his teammates. Iverson hit more tough buckets in traffic than almost any player ever, especially at the ends of games when his confidence and aggression earned a bunch of clutch wins.
His inconsistent shooting was well known (career 42% FG, 31% 3FG), so he was more than capable of shooting his team out of contests as he’d angrily go into “I’ll outscore everyone” mode. AI was regularly top-5 in spg, but he was also regularly top-10 in topg, and it’s been said more than a few times that he often played out of control.
6) Iverson might be more associated with a single season (‘01) than any other star ever. He led the league in scoring (31.1 ppg), steals (2.5 spg), won MVP in a landslide over peak Shaq and Duncan, carried a not-Finals-worthy team to the best record in the East (56-26) and into the Finals, and once there he had his most iconic game (Game 1: unexpected Sixers win in OT in LA over the HEAVILY favored Lakers by racking up 48 pts and 5 steals, plus AI had multiple clutch plays including the Ty Lue step-over bucket in the final minute of OT). It's the season we think of when we think of Iverson.
7) There were persistent discussions by the fans, media, and front office about him being traded away from the Sixers due to some combination of bad fit, bad attitude, crazy lifestyle, and bad shooting efficiencies, especially after the team fell off a cliff following the '03 season (Iverson missed 34 games in '04 as the team went 33-49). He was finally traded to Denver during the ‘07 season, and he was thisclose to being traded to the Pistons in 2000 (a clause in Matt Geiger’s contract stopped the deal), right before his amazing ‘01 season.
8) The pairing of high scorers Iverson and Carmelo Anthony in Denver was a really big deal at the time, seen as a duo who each demanded double teams and would cripple opposing defenses. In an expected-by-many twist, their two best scoring seasons together (‘07 and ‘08) were not the team’s best seasons, and they never won a playoff series together.
9) As fun as it was for fans to watch Vince Carter's post-prime career as he graciously accepted supporting roles on multiple teams, Iverson's post-prime career was really hard to watch as he kept demanding a central role on multiple teams well after his athleticism was no longer next-level. Whether it was his last partial season in Denver, his time in Detroit, his three games in Memphis, his curtain call in Philly, or even his two months on a second-tier Turkish team, Iverson’s days after ‘08 were cringey and unfortunate.

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“Admiral?” The word was soft, quiet, barely spoken at all. Compared to the haunting silence of the fleet bridge aboard the Republic’s Claw, it was like a shotgun had gone off. “What are your orders, sir?”
Admiral Jedik turned, slowly, to face the liaison who had spoken. He waited for a moment before he finally had to face the facts. “Flee. Escape. Scatter the fleet.” He had never before issued such an order, but against neutron beam weapons, there could be no victory. The engines of the Republic’s Claw flared to life and her stern pointed at the Neldian star.
“Admiral, what of our prize?” An officer zoomed the holomap in, pointing out the derelict hulk of a United Human Alliance battleship. “We’ve secured the bridge, reactor, and engines,” he proudly reported. He was the commander of the marines stationed aboard the Republic’s Claw. “It will take only one standard hour to get the ship flight worthy again.”
Admiral Jedik had forgotten about the battleship. “What is the status of its data bank?” he asked, trying to conceal his emotions. Fear, and not valor, drove him now, and fear was the one emotion a leader could never show. He had to remain strong, or at least appear it, for only strength could determine right in this galaxy. “Tell me what I can use against this enemy.” He sounded fierce, proud, as if he were a reincarnation of the conquering warlords of days long past. Inwardly, he felt anything but.
“The data banks are mostly purged, sir,” the marine commander sighed. “Our cyber officers are working, but it’s unlikely we’ll recover anything related to the Supreme Leader’s Armada. At least, nothing usable.”
“Then have the fleet escape to the outer system,” said Jedik somberly. “I and the Claw will remain until our charge is ready to flee with us.” Just mere hours ago, victory had seemed so sure. He had been so eager to seize it. Now, he would be lucky to escape this star system alive.
Admiral Jedik had just lost his first real battle. Part of him had yet to accept it. The rest of him felt a paralyzing fear at the knowledge of it.
One thousand Imperial Space Navy warships had just been annihilated. How many lives had been lost? How many families were just shattered? Though Jedik tried not to dwell on these questions, there was nothing else to do, and he thought of them nonetheless.
He was not infallible. He knew that. But was he destined to have failed?
He could have saved those lives. He could have seen the trap earlier. He knew that. But how could he win the day now?
He looked upward, at the screens covering the domed roof of the fleet bridge, and he watched the stars glow distantly in the black sky above. Space had never before seemed so lonely.
“Admiral,” a fleet liaison spoke up. “Admirals Lin and Venin wish to speak with you.” Jedik accepted the request, even if it was doomed to be fruitless. There was nothing better to do.
“So, is that it, then?” Admiral Lin asked. He looked surprisingly good, under the circumstances. Then again, Jedik knew casualties did not worry him as much. “Do you have a plan?”
Admiral Wedol Venin, last flag officer of the Stralqi Confederacy and first of the Stralqi Enclave, looked at Jedik and blinked with his one eye. “I report two hundred and ninety-one vessels remaining. With your fleet’s four hundred and forty-eight, we have just over seven hundred ships of the fleet between us.” Even without the fleet’s battle damage and expended ammunition, they would have been unable to contest the Alliance armada. Admiral Jedik needed another shift in the paradigm. This time, none would be given to him.
“So we have saved a third of the fleet from utter destruction,” Jedik sighed. “It’s better than a quarter, I suppose.” Nobody laughed. Nobody was in the mood.
“What if we used kinetic strikes?” Admiral Lin asked. The other officers all turned to him. “We take asteroids, rig them with charges, and use our ships to tow them into intercept courses with Alliance Space Navy assets. If we used corvettes as forward scouts, this could be effective as artillery.”
“What’s to stop them from dodging the strikes?” Jedik asked. “Even a space station could adjust its position given enough time.”
“We detonate the charges early, to create a cloud of shrapnel at thirty percent lightspeed. The Neldian fleet would be unable to dodge it.” This was an impressive idea, even for a human. Admiral Jedik had to appreciate Lin’s out-of-the-box thinking.
“A commendable plan, but it would be useless. A series of explosive blasts, for example, would be enough to eliminate most of the threat posed by the micrometeoroid clouds. Even if they did get through, the enemy has projectorless shields. No shrapnel attack could penetrate the hull.” That would have been enough to dissuade most flag officers from ever attempting this plan. Admiral Lin, however, was not your average flag officer.
“We could use it as a distraction.” Jedik could almost see the gears turning in the Terran admiral’s head. “Or intersperse antimatter bombs in with the meteor clouds. They could use the cover provided by the micrometeoroids to approach on a ballistic course before firing thrusters to hit the ships.”
“A-bombs have an easily detectable signature,” said Admiral Venin, “Especially so when they engage their drives. They would be shot down easily.” Admiral Lin grew silent. His idea had failed. “Even still, I commend your unorthodox genius. My government was wrong to move against you.” The Stralqi Enclave, the remnant of the Confederacy that had neither the prestige nor the luck to escape on its ark ships, was widely considered to be the Confederacy’s true successor. This meant that its mistakes, such as the demand that Earth be cauterized from orbit, fell on them as well.
“We have but one available course,” Jedik said, speaking aloud what the others feared to admit in their heads, “And that is to flee. Evacuate the system. We will regroup at the Interion fleet base.” His subordinates agreed. “I thank you for your time.”
The holograms blinked out. Admiral Jedik looked at the holomap one more time. The Coalition fleet was in the process of regrouping in the outer system, though none were far enough away to escape in wormholes. There was no sign of the Alliance space fleet just yet.
“Are our gravity weapons active?” Jedik asked.
“No, sir. We’re focusing on repairing EMP projectors at the moment.” A diagram of the Claw’s status appeared in front of him. It did not look good.
“Have engineering modify a bank of missiles to be used as space probes,” Jedik ordered a fleet liaison. “And get me a gravity cannon repaired and online to fire them. I want to know what I’m facing.”
It was done as he instructed. Thirty fusion-drive missiles, their warheads stripped and replaced with sensor banks, coasted toward the inner system in a wide arc. Even if they couldn’t gather data about the Alliance Space Navy’s new weapons, they could at least provide advance warning of an incoming fleet.
Under the circumstances, that was the best Admiral Jedik could do.
“Bring up the files of the Imperial fleet’s destruction,” said Jedik. “Give me hard data, as much of it as you can.” Charts, graphs, and holographic maps appeared in front of him. He manipulated them like a touchscreen, reaching out and tapping thin air with his claws. Sensors in the holotable translated this movement into practical input, and the hologram changed as he desired.
“The enemy’s weapons are extremely close-range, but extremely deadly,” he thought aloud. “They are able to destroy or penetrate armor, shields, and hull in seconds.” His data, though extremely limited, was enough for him to develop a basic strategy for facing this weapon. “At range, we are at a disadvantage.” Battle analysis from Admiral Yon’s fleet, before its swift and merciless end, had shown enemy missile signatures similar to the munitions used by Terran-made artificial gravity weapons. Most of the Coalition fleet did not have these weapons. “In close combat, we’ll get murdered.” None of them had neutron beams.
There was only one question that remained for Jedik to answer. “How close can my fleet safely approach?” If he could bring his ships’ particle weapons in range, the outcome of the fight might swing in his favor. Even the most battered of his warships still had their heavy guns intact.
But the enemy was crafty. They had waited before firing on the Krell Empire’s fleet. If Admiral Jedik brought his ships in too close, and he was lured into a similar trap, it would be the end of him.
“I don’t know, sir,” an officer sighed. “We need more data.”
“We have prisoners aboard,” suggested another. “Perhaps we could interrogate them?”
“What good would that do?” exclaimed Jedik. The room fell silent. “What would they know? Even the Neldian Armada’s sector admiral, the commander of the Neldian fleet, the very man we would have faced had things been different, had nothing on these weapons!”
“They’re probably either new or rare,” Colonel Talta suggested. “Otherwise, we would have seen them before.”
“Thank you,” Jedik sighed sarcastically. “Very, very helpful.” He looked around the room. His officers, for the most part, looked just as defeated as he did. “Wing Admiral Salentis, you have the bridge. The rest of you, get some rest. Dismissed.”
Admiral Jedik left the room in a fury and went to the shooting range. He emptied six magazines with frightening accuracy before he realized it wasn’t helping him. Then, he went to the physical fitness center. He was strong for his age, and healthy as well, but none of that mattered to him beyond providing a distraction. He couldn’t exactly bench-press an enemy warship, after all.
Then, with nothing better to do, he retired to his quarters and got some rest. It would take time to escape the Neldia system, and he had been using combat stimulants too often to be healthy. Good sleep was a rare commodity in the Republic fleet.
A short rest later, he was awoken by the sound of an RDF:Space duty alarm. He was needed on the bridge. He changed into his black uniform, clipped a sidearm to his hip holster, and walked into the bridge newly invigorated. “Situation report!”
“We’ve received a tight-beam transmission from the warship A.S.N. Brightest Thunder, sir,” said one of his fleet liaisons. “Or, more specifically, our captured battleship has.” An image of the derelict battleship A.S.N. Inexorable had been magnified on the command table, replacing the tactical map that was usually displayed. “It contains a data packet coded in an Alliance cipher, as well as a message in Republic encryption.”
The message appeared before Admiral Jedik, who read it eagerly. “The chancellor’s spy. I always knew she had plans I was not privy to.” He looked at his most senior advisor. “That cipher, if our agent does not lie, protects every scrap of data sent through the Neldian hypercom relay.” The advisors all agreed. Spies did not typically lie to their handlers. “She’s taken a terrible risk by transmitting it to us,” Jedik said. “Make use of it!”
“We cannot crack the code, sir,” an officer protested. “The cipher is incredibly complex. Even attempting to breach it could delete the entire packet.” The Republic’s Claw had the best cyberwarfare division in the Ierad Republic. If they could not do it, chances were that no one could.
“Well?” Jedik waved his wings. “Any suggestions?”
“The captain of the Inexorable might know the cipher,” an officer spoke up. Jedik noted that he was the same one who had suggested the interrogations earlier. “It is my understanding, based on reports, that Admiral Dama’s transmission caused dissent among the Alliance ranks. Inexorable, for one, was heavily affected by this.”
For the fourth time that day, things that had seemed set in stone were instead being molded like clay. Five minutes ago, all had seemed lost. There was no way to counter the Alliance’s mystery weapons. But now, there was a change in the paradigm. Now, there was intelligence to be gathered.
If Admiral Jedik could convince the Inexorable’s captain to cooperate, he could crack the Alliance data packet. If he could crack the data packet, he could have a treasure trove of intelligence at his disposal. And if he had that much intelligence to work off of, that meant he had a fighting chance against his opponent.
“You’ve all done wonderfully,” Jedik said, his anger and fear from before being replaced by a sense of knowledge and calm. “I am truly honored to work with such competent advisors.” With that, he left. He had a job to do.
The dining room of the Inexorable was massive, and far from spartan. Its floor was carpeted with fine synthetic silk, its doors were real Neldian wood, and trophies of war adorned its walls. Admiral Jedik was, at the moment, eating a hearty meal underneath the severed head of one of his unlucky compatriots. “Friend of yours?” his prisoner asked.
Admiral Jedik looked up from his meal. A man in white prison attire sat across from him, the clothing he wore being the only reminder of his status on the ship. Once, he had issued orders from its bridge. Now, he was kept in its brig. “I have no enemies,” Jedik told him. “Is the food not to your liking?” He hadn’t eaten a bite since he was allowed in. He seemed utterly convinced that this was all part of some ruse, which it was, and he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“It’s laced with truth drugs,” he scoffed. “I’m not a fool.”
“Let us switch places, then,” said Jedik. “If the food is drugged, I’ll eat from it as well.” The man agreed. The dining table was long, meant to seat the captain and his advisors, but it was small enough that the two could talk comfortably. They stood up and switched seats.
“What’s your game here, xeno?” the prisoner asked, chewing on a leg of some Neldian beast of burden. “What’s your play?”
“Oh, I’ve no play,” Jedik lied. “I simply wanted to lend credence to the broadcast your ship received earlier.”
“That’s a play,” scoffed the prisoner. “And it changes nothing. Neither my skills nor my ship will not be used against humanity’s best interests.” It wasn’t his ship anymore, but Jedik felt it wiser not to tell him that.
“Then let’s just talk for a bit,” said Jedik, with no response. “Oh, come now,” Jedik told him, “Let us engage in a contest of wills. Pit your superior human mind against mine.”
“I will not be mocked,” his prisoner replied coldly. “Be silent.”
“That’s a poor way to address your host,” said Admiral Jedik. “Would you prefer I leave you in the brig?”
“Yes. Better that than to swap words with a filthy animal. Mankind is master of the stars, mongrel, and do not forget that.”
“The stars are the birthright of those who claim them,” Jedik replied. “And we’ve done well for ourselves at that.” Silence. “Humor me for a moment, if you will.”
“I will not.”
Admiral Jedik sighed. It seemed to him that some people had no manners at all. “What would you have done, if I was your prisoner?”
“You know it as well as I.” Torture. Ineffective as an interrogation method, but it was kept in place nonetheless. Evil had to be maintained, and the law of the Alliance ensured it was maintained well enough. The use of torture was just one of the many ways it desensitized its subjects to their lives as cogs in a fascist machine.
“What if I were human?”
“Then you’d be a traitor, and you’d deserve the same fate as your xeno allies. Be silent, wretch.” Jedik would not.
“I have bested you,” he said. “Our fleets were relatively equal, and mine bested yours. Does this not make me your superior?” The man Jedik spoke to was a mere captain. The admiral of the fleet had perished with his command. But the point stood nonetheless.
“I am human, wretch,” the prisoner spat. “One true master of the galaxy, rightful heir to the stars in the sky, and a thousand other titles the greatest of your race could never hope to hold. Crush as many fleets as you wish, but never shall you rise to my height.”
“What makes you superior?” asked Jedik.
“I am human.”
“What makes humans superior?”
“We’ve ten worlds. Ten cradles. No other species can boast such a thing.”
“It does seem a bit small of a thing to start a war over, don’t you think?" asked Jedik. "Seems a bit petty in the grand scheme of things.”
“My kind was made master of the stars, not yours,” the prisoner spat. “The Humanity Codex decreed it.”
“If I wrote an Ierad Codex that said the opposite, would it be true?” asked Jedik. His prisoner was silent. “Exactly.”
“Mankind is more intelligent,” countered the prisoner. “More creative. This, among other facts, proves the Codex as true.”
In response, Jedik flicked out his talons. He cut a shred from the tablecloth, which was probably very expensive, and held it up. “You can’t do this.” The prisoner cringed. His tablecloth was definitely expensive. “And, might I add, I have no mental deficit. My mind is the equal of any human’s.” There was no response to that. “Would it still be just to treat me as lesser?”
“Your species are lesser,” the prisoner snapped, “even if you are not. On Neldia, we have a hive insect that builds mounds larger than some houses, but they are still insects. Still inferior.”
“And yet, if you had captured me, I would have been treated like any other of my species. Is that right?” Decades of rallying troops and arguing with politicians had made Admiral Jedik into a very eloquent speaker when he wanted to be. “Is that right?” Now, he was proving it.
“It’s the doctrine.”
“Is it right?” The prisoner shook his head no. “Then why do you follow it?” Jedik knew he was very close to winning over his enemy’s trust. So very close.
“I follow orders because it is my duty,” said the captain. Even in prison garb, at the mercy of his enemy, he sat up straight and ate with dignity. It was not hard to imagine this man in command of a warship. “You of all people should understand that.”
“Your duty is to the human race,” Jedik countered. “To advance its interests, and secure its future.” His prisoner nodded. He was beginning to see Jedik’s side of things. “The Alliance cannot do this any longer.” The man at the other end of the table was silent, deep in thought. Admiral Jedik helped him along. “Why do you think Admiral Dama joined our cause?”
“Is it true that your ships defended Earth?” asked the man.
“It is true,” said Jedik. “Even if Earth were not vital to the war effort, it is against my personal tenets to allow the slaughter of innocents. It would be better if only soldiers died, no?”
The other man was silent for a very long time. That was all right. Jedik could wait. “Agreed,” he finally said. “Am I to assume you’ve set this up to recruit me to your cause?”
Once a soldier of the Alliance was taken out of their natural environment, exposed to something other than a constant stream of dogmatic propaganda, it was very much possible to convince them to turn traitor. Though their former home would never accept them back, as their seditious ideas could not be allowed to spread, the intelligence and knowledge they provided was invaluable.
This was neither the first or the last time a man of such stature had been captured. It would, however, become the most important.
“Actually, yes,” said Jedik. “You see, many among us believe that you and yours cannot be redeemed. They feel it best to scour Neldia, Sevran, Gendia, and every Alliance world clean from the galactic map.” He spoke sympathetically, to win his enemy’s trust. “You have the power to prove them wrong. To serve humankind in the most crucial way imaginable.”
“Why in hell would I do that?” the prisoner asked. “We’re winning the war.”
“Are you?” Jedik bluffed. “In two years, we’ve gone from a squabbling flock of worlds to a coherent, organized fighting force. In two years, we’ve marshaled a navy that made Janus Ora himself tremble on his crimson throne. His armada may have armed itself well, but what of the Anesian one? Or the Gendian Armada? I tell you, given six months’ time, every ship in the Coalition fleet will have an arsenal that is the equal of mine.”
Jedik’s prisoner nodded. He knew that would be a formidable arsenal. “And you think ours will not?” he bluffed. This time, it was seen through.
“No.” Admiral Jedik tapped his talons on the table. He had barely touched his food. “If every ship of the fleet could mount such weapons, they would have. We’d have lost already.” This was a battle of wills, not warships, but his opponent now realized he was outclassed in both. “And five hundred ships cannot be everywhere at once. Admiral Dama saw the truth, captain.” Addressing the man by his rank was meant to build a rapport between them. Admiral Jedik knew many such tricks. “He knew humankind was not meant to rule alone.”
“Give me your word that civilians will not be harmed.”
“I swear it,” said Jedik. “Only legitimate military targets will be struck.”
“Put me on a channel with Admiral Dama,” his prisoner commanded. Jedik, seeing no other choice, obeyed. He made a few calls to Interion, where the newly repaired Peacemaker lay in drydock, and it was done. A projection of the traitorous former admiral Sheparda Dama, visible from the torso up and still clad in his crimson uniform, appeared from a projector in the ceiling and hovered in front of the captain.
“Sir.” He rose and raised his fist to his forehead in salute, moving purely out of custom. “Is it really you?”
“As always.” Dama returned the salute. “Do you doubt my resolve, Captain Ralg, or my allies?”
“Both, sir,” Captain Ralg confessed. He had served alongside Admiral Dama for many years, and that was the first time his trust had ever wavered. “How may I know it is you?” he asked again. Even through tinted lenses, he saw the Ierads as crafty foes.
The hologram of Admiral Dama thought for a moment. “You were overjoyed when you graduated from the Neldian School of Space Warfare,” he finally said. “You wanted to name your first command Tyrant, but I suggested Inexorable.” Captain Ralg’s face lit up, like a prisoner whose cell had just unlocked. “I felt it was a fitting name for a man of your stature. I now hope it is not.”
Captain Ralg rose and saluted again, this time much more enthusiastically. “Sir! You are real! By the nine worlds, you’re the noblest traitor I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he chuckled.
“Sometimes, treason is a noble crime.” Admiral Dama turned and stepped aside, his hologram moving similarly, and waved a hand at Admiral Jedik. “Yegel Jedik, admiral of the Republic fleet and undisputed king of the airless abyss,” he introduced the Ierad. “The only alien, nay, the only being I will admit I have been humbled by.”
“I half thought you were dead, sir. I hoped so. Better to die than betray humankind.” A pause. Captain Ralg reconsidered his stance. “Now, I hope the same goes for your armada.”
“Better death than treason, but better life than both,” said Admiral Dama. “This war is undecided, Calixus. One major move today can tip the scales irreversibly in one side’s favor.” He paused. “The only question remaining is which move you will choose to make.”
Calixus Ralg sat down. The room was silent for a very long time.
“I’ll do it,” he finally said. “Admiral Dama, if you wish me to act, I’ll jump into hell itself should that be my task.”
Admiral Jedik produced a data cache. He looked warmly upon the face of his newest ally. “Welcome to the right side.”
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