Bullying graphs 2010

Investing in the Philippines

2014.07.02 17:17 treeperfume Investing in the Philippines

For Filipinos interested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, forex, crypto, banking, business, insurance, and any other topic related to investing money, making money, or growing money in the Philippines.
[link]


2012.11.07 02:54 behindblueyes724 Flatbush Zombies

The Flatbush ZOMBiES are an American hip-hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, ZOMBiE Juice and Erick Arc Elliott.
[link]


2013.10.29 16:29 LEGO Video Game Hub!

This subreddit is a place to talk about all things LEGO games! From TT Games' big IP collect-a-thons like LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga to new unique LEGO games takes like LEGO 2K Drive. There are no limits to how you build, play, and discuss here!
[link]


2024.05.15 14:48 PunnyHeals Misrepresentation of house price data by Realtor.ca

Misrepresentation of house price data by Realtor.ca
TL;DR:
  1. Realtor.ca claims the average sale price of a house in Fredericton, NB is $288,300. My own calculations point to the average being approximately $543,878.
  2. Realtor.ca most likely calculates it average house price using the average for houses and vacant land. My average for houses and land was $288,540, only a $240 difference, making this the most likely explanation.
  3. Realtor misrepresents graphs and averages through market capture, pay gating, and could be violating the Competition Act.
**Background**
I have been looking to buy a house for the past several years in the Fredericton area and have been checking the online listings regularly through Realtor.ca since it is the most common real estate listing website used in New Brunswick. What I liked about Realtor.ca was its ability to provide the average sell price for a house every month with graphs that showed the average sell price for a house in Fredericton for the past 12 months and 10 years. Looking for a house for an several years, I felt that I had a good idea of the market conditions and price ranges. My anecdotal evidence was that the average house price was much higher than Realtor.ca’s estimate of 288,300. I wondered if my anecdotal evidence could be supported by data.
The objective of this report is to collect list price data from all available listings within the Fredericton area. Once collected, I can take the average price and see if it matches the average price shown by Realtor.ca.
**Average/Median Methodology**
When you use Realtor.ca, you can filter results by the property type. There are six property type categories: Residential (single family home), condo/strata, vacant land, recreational, multi-family, and agriculture. For each of these property types, the asking price and address were copied into an Excel file. The data was collected on May 10, 2024, and included all listings within Fredericton; duplicate listings were removed.
Once all data was collected, the average and median for each property type was calculated (Table 1). I compared my calculated average to the Realtor.ca average to determine if my anecdotal evidence of thinking the average house price was higher than what Realtor.ca said was justified.
**Results**
There were 107 listings for residential houses (referred simply as “house” in this report), 245 listings for vacant land, 5 listings for recreational, 7 listings for multi-family, 2 listings for agriculture, and 10 listings for condos (Figure 1).
The average listing price was $543,878 for houses, $177,026 for land, $227,080 for recreation, $826,100 for multi-family, $829,450 for agriculture, and $317,410 for condos. The median listing price was $474,900 for houses, $64,900 for land, $229,900 for recreation, $799,000 for multi-family, $829,450 for agriculture, and $289,900 for condos (Table 1).
**Realtor.ca MLS System Average House Price Claim**
When you search for “houses for sale in Fredericton, NB”, you will see the top search results show Realtor.ca. This is not uncommon since Realtor.ca and its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) have the highest number of listings of any other online real estate listing service for the Fredericton, NB, area. Having most real estate listings concentrated on one system can provide users with a general idea of greater market conditions beyond individual listings, such as averages and trends for cities. Realtor.ca provides this data in the form of “Market Price (CAD)” price trends for the past 12 months, and price trends for the past 10 years (Figure 2). These figures are prominently displayed at the end of the first page of the Fredericton real estate listings (URL: https://www.realtor.ca/nb/fredericton/real-estate).
This leads us to the first claim by the Realtor.ca MLS system claim and our initial objective of this report.
Claim: The average market price in Fredericton sits at $288,300 as of May, 2024.
Analysis: When a user views these figures, it is a safe assumption that when a price is displayed, the user is inclined to believe that “Market Price (CAD)” is the average house price in Fredericton. This is further reinforced if the user reads the description above the figures which states:
“Use our home price trends to better gauge local market conditions and plan your next move. The graphs below show benchmark or average prices of homes sold in the area. Data generated by MLS® Systems and the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) — Canada’s most advanced tool to gauge local home price levels and trends.”
This small paragraph specifically states, “The graphs below show benchmark or average prices of homes sold in the area.” Based off the graphs and their statement, we can safely interpret that Realtor.ca is explicitly saying that the average home price in Fredericton, NB, currently sits at $288,300; leaving no room for interpretation on how the data can be viewed. The reason I wanted to be explicitly clear on this thought process is that if you look back at the results section of this paper (Table 1) and see that the calculated average of all house listings was $543,878, it represents an 88.65% difference. A couple assumptions that could explain this difference are:
  1. The listings used in the analysis are only a snapshot in time and could not represent an accurate or precise representation of the monthly price average.
  2. Houses that were listed below the average could be selling more quickly, giving us a skewed data set that is not representative of all listings that have been posted.
  3. Realtor.ca gives the average sell price for houses in Fredericton and not the average listing price. There could be a large discrepancy between sell price and list price, resulting in my calculated average being inflated.
The three assumptions made above introduce bias into my conclusions, but given the magnitude of those differences, it could be reasonable to assume there might be an alternative reason causing these discrepancies.
Since there is such a large discrepancy in my calculated average and the average from Realtor.ca, I expanded my analysis to other categories. I combined my residential house data set with the other five property types to see if it would alter our initial average and how close it would come to the calculated Realtor.ca average (Table 2). Realtor.ca claims the average house price in Fredericton was $288,300, which seems to be closest to my calculated average for the combination of house and land listings. With the addition of these combinations, it suggests that Realtor.ca calculates average housing price using houses and land listings.
Realtor.ca MLS’s claim of the average house price in Fredericton, NB being $288,300 is a misrepresentation of the true market value and conditions. If a company were to calculate averages of an entire real estate market within an area, why would they only include house and land and not the other 4 categories?
**Misleading Representations by Realtor.ca**
The conclusions made from my analysis were made with plenty of explanations and assumptions. Given that the MLS system is a pay gated system, and their patented house price index algorithms are private, I feel it is reasonable to assume that my data is closer to true market prices. This leads us to the next question, if my data isn’t correct, why are the figures, calculations, and methodology misleading users on market conditions? The average user is not going to spend a significant amount of time manually collecting data and putting it into Excel to double check Realtor.ca. The company is the largest multiple listing system used in New Brunswick and holding that status comes with some form of implicit trust that the public holds for information it publishes. In this section, I will lay out sections and guidelines from the Competition Act and why I believe that Realtor.ca is violating the Act.
**Competition Act**
For the below, I will be using the most updated version of the Competition Act R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34, last amended on December 15, 2023 (https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-34/page-1.html) and the “Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet” published by Competition Bureau Canada (https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection\_2010/ic/Iu54-1-2009-eng.pdf)
*Section 2.2, Paragraph 4 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“Businesses should not assume that consumers read an entire Web site, just as they do not read every word on a printed page. Accordingly, information required to be communicated to consumers to ensure that a representation does not create a false or misleading impression should be presented in such a fashion as to make it noticeable and likely to be read.”
Explanation: Section 2.2 applies to the average house price and accompanying figures (Figure 2). Realtor.ca shows the average house price in text and graph form but does not disclose that these are house and land price average if my calculations are accurate.
*Section 4.1, Paragraph 1 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“If qualifying information is necessary to prevent a representation from being false or misleading when read on its own, businesses should present that information clearly and conspicuously. Businesses frequently use disclaimers, often signalled by an asterisk, to qualify the general impression of their principal representation when promoting their products or services. As mentioned earlier, the general impression conveyed by the representation, as well as its literal meaning, are taken into account in determining whether a representation is false or misleading.”
Explanation: Section 4.1 applies to Realtor.ca house price indices and other methodologies. A disclaimer in this case would be located within the same small paragraph above the figures. Instead, they use their own house price index to obfuscate their methodologies (Figure 2). Another option they give is below the graphs as “Ask a realtor for more detailed information” which creates an additional barrier to the users right under the Competition Act. Specifically, the “to qualify the general impression of their principal representation when promoting their products or services.” The “ask a realtor” hyperlink brings you to an additional page where you can find their realtors in your area. This is incentivizing the user to use their services over others to access more information. Realtor.ca has a majority market share in New Brunswick which further reinforces their monopolistic practices over real estate that hurts consumers.
*Section 4.1.3, Paragraph 1 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“Businesses may effectively draw attention to a disclaimer so that it is more likely to be read by using attention-grabbing tools to display the disclaimer. In doing so, businesses must be careful not to design attention-grabbing tools in other parts of the advertisement in such a way that they distract the consumer’s attention away from the disclaimer, making it unlikely that the consumer will notice the disclaimer or recognize its importance.”
Explanation: Section 4.1.3 is further evidence of obfuscation and misrepresentation of their graphical aids and calculations. Similar to section 2.2 in the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet, Realtor.ca placed those figures at the bottom of the first page of listings to draw the user’s attention to their interpretation of data.
*Section 52 (1) of the Competition Act: False or misleading representations*
“No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever, knowingly or recklessly make a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect.”
Explanation: Section 52 (1) is the main argument for this report. I believe that Realtor.ca knowingly or recklessly misrepresented the average house price in Fredericton using deceptive graphical aids and created a home price index to further obfuscate the methodology.
I am not a lawyer, so I could be misinterpreting the sections of the Competition Act. I believe Realtor.ca has reached the threshold of violating the Competition Act since Section 52.1.1 states:
“For greater certainty, in establishing that subsection (1) was contravened, it is not necessary to prove that (a) any person was deceived or misled; (b) any member of the public to whom the representation was made was within Canada; or (c) the representation was made in a place to which the public had access.”
This amendment to the Competition Act removed the threshold of proving that an individual or the public were deceived or misled. I believe that Realtor.ca has violated all three elements of section 52.1.1 ensuring that they have met the threshold of violating section 52.1 of the Competition Act.
**Conclusion**
I have given numerous caveats to my analysis, so it is possible I have come to the wrong conclusions given the lack of transparency in methodology and limited time frame. One thing I can conclude with certainty, is that Realtor.ca is misrepresenting market conditions through their figures displaying average house prices, pay gates to information, and methodology disclosures guised as a patented as a housing price index. I believe that Realtor.ca should make it clear to the user how their housing price index is calculated. Realtor.ca and the MLS system has succeeded in market capture and fights to keep this information pay gated to only people that benefit from these misleading claims. Regardless of their reasons, these monopolistic practices only benefit anyone under their system through the restriction of information to shape the way the public perceives the market conditions, a clear violation of the Competition Act and a disservice to the public.
There was a lot more I wanted to cover like if Statistics Canada (u/StatCanada) sourced their data from the MLS system and the broader implications of sourcing data that could be misrepresentation. Again, I could be wrong and would welcome any additional relevant information.
https://preview.redd.it/awfmkl0x6l0d1.png?width=1681&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9c4be8b6139c4f079ff343637b159b85e79cd3b
https://preview.redd.it/za540m0x6l0d1.png?width=3816&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c16fdcbc34795f46b38bdf502e1576fb43887dd
https://preview.redd.it/h5lz8p0x6l0d1.png?width=4166&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a76bdd71e64435fbaa38a768469d287b508946a
https://preview.redd.it/5qz74m0x6l0d1.png?width=3262&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab9363605bd6b31f324b5bb58f1fcc847f17a67b
submitted by PunnyHeals to newbrunswickcanada [link] [comments]


2024.05.15 14:47 PunnyHeals Misrepresentation of house price data by Realtor.ca

Misrepresentation of house price data by Realtor.ca
TL;DR:
  1. Realtor.ca claims the average sale price of a house in Fredericton, NB is $288,300. My own calculations point to the average being approximately $543,878.
  2. Realtor.ca most likely calculates it average house price using the average for houses and vacant land. My average for houses and land was $288,540, only a $240 difference, making this the most likely explanation.
  3. Realtor misrepresents graphs and averages through market capture, pay gating, and could be violating the Competition Act.
**Background**
I have been looking to buy a house for the past several years in the Fredericton area and have been checking the online listings regularly through Realtor.ca since it is the most common real estate listing website used in New Brunswick. What I liked about Realtor.ca was its ability to provide the average sell price for a house every month with graphs that showed the average sell price for a house in Fredericton for the past 12 months and 10 years. Looking for a house for an several years, I felt that I had a good idea of the market conditions and price ranges. My anecdotal evidence was that the average house price was much higher than Realtor.ca’s estimate of 288,300. I wondered if my anecdotal evidence could be supported by data.
The objective of this report is to collect list price data from all available listings within the Fredericton area. Once collected, I can take the average price and see if it matches the average price shown by Realtor.ca.
**Average/Median Methodology**
When you use Realtor.ca, you can filter results by the property type. There are six property type categories: Residential (single family home), condo/strata, vacant land, recreational, multi-family, and agriculture. For each of these property types, the asking price and address were copied into an Excel file. The data was collected on May 10, 2024, and included all listings within Fredericton; duplicate listings were removed.
Once all data was collected, the average and median for each property type was calculated (Table 1). I compared my calculated average to the Realtor.ca average to determine if my anecdotal evidence of thinking the average house price was higher than what Realtor.ca said was justified.
**Results**
There were 107 listings for residential houses (referred simply as “house” in this report), 245 listings for vacant land, 5 listings for recreational, 7 listings for multi-family, 2 listings for agriculture, and 10 listings for condos (Figure 1).
The average listing price was $543,878 for houses, $177,026 for land, $227,080 for recreation, $826,100 for multi-family, $829,450 for agriculture, and $317,410 for condos. The median listing price was $474,900 for houses, $64,900 for land, $229,900 for recreation, $799,000 for multi-family, $829,450 for agriculture, and $289,900 for condos (Table 1).
**Realtor.ca MLS System Average House Price Claim**
When you search for “houses for sale in Fredericton, NB”, you will see the top search results show Realtor.ca. This is not uncommon since Realtor.ca and its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) have the highest number of listings of any other online real estate listing service for the Fredericton, NB, area. Having most real estate listings concentrated on one system can provide users with a general idea of greater market conditions beyond individual listings, such as averages and trends for cities. Realtor.ca provides this data in the form of “Market Price (CAD)” price trends for the past 12 months, and price trends for the past 10 years (Figure 2). These figures are prominently displayed at the end of the first page of the Fredericton real estate listings (URL: https://www.realtor.ca/nb/fredericton/real-estate).
This leads us to the first claim by the Realtor.ca MLS system claim and our initial objective of this report.
Claim: The average market price in Fredericton sits at $288,300 as of May, 2024.
Analysis: When a user views these figures, it is a safe assumption that when a price is displayed, the user is inclined to believe that “Market Price (CAD)” is the average house price in Fredericton. This is further reinforced if the user reads the description above the figures which states:
“Use our home price trends to better gauge local market conditions and plan your next move. The graphs below show benchmark or average prices of homes sold in the area. Data generated by MLS® Systems and the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) — Canada’s most advanced tool to gauge local home price levels and trends.”
This small paragraph specifically states, “The graphs below show benchmark or average prices of homes sold in the area.” Based off the graphs and their statement, we can safely interpret that Realtor.ca is explicitly saying that the average home price in Fredericton, NB, currently sits at $288,300; leaving no room for interpretation on how the data can be viewed. The reason I wanted to be explicitly clear on this thought process is that if you look back at the results section of this paper (Table 1) and see that the calculated average of all house listings was $543,878, it represents an 88.65% difference. A couple assumptions that could explain this difference are:
  1. The listings used in the analysis are only a snapshot in time and could not represent an accurate or precise representation of the monthly price average.
  2. Houses that were listed below the average could be selling more quickly, giving us a skewed data set that is not representative of all listings that have been posted.
  3. Realtor.ca gives the average sell price for houses in Fredericton and not the average listing price. There could be a large discrepancy between sell price and list price, resulting in my calculated average being inflated.
The three assumptions made above introduce bias into my conclusions, but given the magnitude of those differences, it could be reasonable to assume there might be an alternative reason causing these discrepancies.
Since there is such a large discrepancy in my calculated average and the average from Realtor.ca, I expanded my analysis to other categories. I combined my residential house data set with the other five property types to see if it would alter our initial average and how close it would come to the calculated Realtor.ca average (Table 2). Realtor.ca claims the average house price in Fredericton was $288,300, which seems to be closest to my calculated average for the combination of house and land listings. With the addition of these combinations, it suggests that Realtor.ca calculates average housing price using houses and land listings.
Realtor.ca MLS’s claim of the average house price in Fredericton, NB being $288,300 is a misrepresentation of the true market value and conditions. If a company were to calculate averages of an entire real estate market within an area, why would they only include house and land and not the other 4 categories?
**Misleading Representations by Realtor.ca**
The conclusions made from my analysis were made with plenty of explanations and assumptions. Given that the MLS system is a pay gated system, and their patented house price index algorithms are private, I feel it is reasonable to assume that my data is closer to true market prices. This leads us to the next question, if my data isn’t correct, why are the figures, calculations, and methodology misleading users on market conditions? The average user is not going to spend a significant amount of time manually collecting data and putting it into Excel to double check Realtor.ca. The company is the largest multiple listing system used in New Brunswick and holding that status comes with some form of implicit trust that the public holds for information it publishes. In this section, I will lay out sections and guidelines from the Competition Act and why I believe that Realtor.ca is violating the Act.
**Competition Act**
For the below, I will be using the most updated version of the Competition Act R.S.C., 1985, c. C-34, last amended on December 15, 2023 (https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-34/page-1.html) and the “Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet” published by Competition Bureau Canada (https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection\_2010/ic/Iu54-1-2009-eng.pdf)
*Section 2.2, Paragraph 4 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“Businesses should not assume that consumers read an entire Web site, just as they do not read every word on a printed page. Accordingly, information required to be communicated to consumers to ensure that a representation does not create a false or misleading impression should be presented in such a fashion as to make it noticeable and likely to be read.”
Explanation: Section 2.2 applies to the average house price and accompanying figures (Figure 2). Realtor.ca shows the average house price in text and graph form but does not disclose that these are house and land price average if my calculations are accurate.
*Section 4.1, Paragraph 1 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“If qualifying information is necessary to prevent a representation from being false or misleading when read on its own, businesses should present that information clearly and conspicuously. Businesses frequently use disclaimers, often signalled by an asterisk, to qualify the general impression of their principal representation when promoting their products or services. As mentioned earlier, the general impression conveyed by the representation, as well as its literal meaning, are taken into account in determining whether a representation is false or misleading.”
Explanation: Section 4.1 applies to Realtor.ca house price indices and other methodologies. A disclaimer in this case would be located within the same small paragraph above the figures. Instead, they use their own house price index to obfuscate their methodologies (Figure 2). Another option they give is below the graphs as “Ask a realtor for more detailed information” which creates an additional barrier to the users right under the Competition Act. Specifically, the “to qualify the general impression of their principal representation when promoting their products or services.” The “ask a realtor” hyperlink brings you to an additional page where you can find their realtors in your area. This is incentivizing the user to use their services over others to access more information. Realtor.ca has a majority market share in New Brunswick which further reinforces their monopolistic practices over real estate that hurts consumers.
*Section 4.1.3, Paragraph 1 of the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet*
“Businesses may effectively draw attention to a disclaimer so that it is more likely to be read by using attention-grabbing tools to display the disclaimer. In doing so, businesses must be careful not to design attention-grabbing tools in other parts of the advertisement in such a way that they distract the consumer’s attention away from the disclaimer, making it unlikely that the consumer will notice the disclaimer or recognize its importance.”
Explanation: Section 4.1.3 is further evidence of obfuscation and misrepresentation of their graphical aids and calculations. Similar to section 2.2 in the Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet, Realtor.ca placed those figures at the bottom of the first page of listings to draw the user’s attention to their interpretation of data.
*Section 52 (1) of the Competition Act: False or misleading representations*
“No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever, knowingly or recklessly make a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect.”
Explanation: Section 52 (1) is the main argument for this report. I believe that Realtor.ca knowingly or recklessly misrepresented the average house price in Fredericton using deceptive graphical aids and created a home price index to further obfuscate the methodology.
I am not a lawyer, so I could be misinterpreting the sections of the Competition Act. I believe Realtor.ca has reached the threshold of violating the Competition Act since Section 52.1.1 states:
“For greater certainty, in establishing that subsection (1) was contravened, it is not necessary to prove that (a) any person was deceived or misled; (b) any member of the public to whom the representation was made was within Canada; or (c) the representation was made in a place to which the public had access.”
This amendment to the Competition Act removed the threshold of proving that an individual or the public were deceived or misled. I believe that Realtor.ca has violated all three elements of section 52.1.1 ensuring that they have met the threshold of violating section 52.1 of the Competition Act.
**Conclusion**
I have given numerous caveats to my analysis, so it is possible I have come to the wrong conclusions given the lack of transparency in methodology and limited time frame. One thing I can conclude with certainty, is that Realtor.ca is misrepresenting market conditions through their figures displaying average house prices, pay gates to information, and methodology disclosures guised as a patented as a housing price index. I believe that Realtor.ca should make it clear to the user how their housing price index is calculated. Realtor.ca and the MLS system has succeeded in market capture and fights to keep this information pay gated to only people that benefit from these misleading claims. Regardless of their reasons, these monopolistic practices only benefit anyone under their system through the restriction of information to shape the way the public perceives the market conditions, a clear violation of the Competition Act and a disservice to the public.
There was a lot more I wanted to cover like if Statistics Canada (u/StatCanada) sourced their data from the MLS system and the broader implications of sourcing data that could be misrepresentation. Again, I could be wrong and would welcome any additional relevant information.
https://preview.redd.it/rnsd41ym6l0d1.png?width=1681&format=png&auto=webp&s=51589de251bac87748c5ee7e9f0c24a2408fc4a0
https://preview.redd.it/apw3q2ym6l0d1.png?width=3816&format=png&auto=webp&s=3d0ce2c2c103032e343793ae147411338d107375
https://preview.redd.it/bi9hg2ym6l0d1.png?width=4166&format=png&auto=webp&s=911c5cfd60b58f658e0048552760efc2ec785561
https://preview.redd.it/ki25gaym6l0d1.png?width=3262&format=png&auto=webp&s=3dd741f4fead9c6782e24c8193062135238209d5
submitted by PunnyHeals to fredericton [link] [comments]


2024.05.15 11:22 deathreapersasuke69 My family has never been the nicest and I’m feeling it all now at 23

I grew up pretty standard 2 parents and all 4 grandparents and only 1 brother (I’ll get back to that) in the very early 2000s. I used to think my life wasn’t all bad until I grew up without my mom for a good portion of my life due to drug addiction, and only being told awful things which were kinda true by my emotionally (and with my dad literally not dead just worked a fuck ton) unavailable dad and his side of the family (at 3 years old), they never knew how to deal with or show emotions really at all only threaten me (mostly as my brother was the “perfect” child) with soap in the mouth, a wooden spoon, to “stop crying or else” or their favourite lI’ll give you something to cry about” or one I heard way to much “stop crying it’ll make you sick” all of these were a given in my grandparents house. Until I finally moved in with my parents at the age of 7 (4 years with my grandparents) but I would occasionally see my mom around as she would be at my nan’s (mom’s mom), and my parents would always fight a lot to which my dad around that time gained full custody of me and my brother, we had no idea as we were separated from our mom a bit more unless he was home (probably should’ve started with that oops) but whenever we would be a “proper” (heavy emphasis and big quotes around proper) family it always devolved into them yelling about money and some shit, and it all came to a head with our parents splitting up once before in 2007 my mom had brought 3 guys to my nan’s house with me there within this time period of 2007-09 1. Was a chill fun guy who’s been dead for about if my memory is right 16? Years now give it take 2. Guy was a fine enough guy never talked to or seen him much but the third guy was a real piece of work, on the surface he was a smooth talking Italian guy with a pretty thick accent once alone he’d peel back that layer, and show his true self a very mean evil fuck who abused i have no idea how many women but he choked my mom a lot when we were sleeping and one time I stayed up a bit later because it was a weekend and I could hear my mom it sounded like struggling, so I go out there as an 8 year old to find him on top of my mom basically strangling her so I rushed in pushed him away from her and said “stay the fuck away from my mom” (I heard swearing a lot and my dad let me at the time) but also he was like 30 something being pushed and shoved around by a tiny 8 year old. But after that we went to live with my dad and my mom after that she kept going back farther into her drug addiction around 2010-12 the big problem with juggling being moved from 4 different places and school was taxing on my childhood brain (4 places being my parents, grandparents, aunts and nan’s) and getting no therapy because not many in my family really cares about mental illness. (Told you I’d get back to it) so the big 2012 incident was me and my brother playing halo in his room after school only to hear our mom bust through the front door and me and him have been playing for a few hours at this point, then we hear our mom screaming and throwing stuff at our dad something about him sending money to a secret 3rd child he might have had during our moms rehab. Nobody acknowledges him as as apart of our family and dad won’t get the tests done to see if he is his and this for most of our grandparents involved to try save us and de-escalate the situation and according to my mom she would “sneak around the houses at night to see us and dad” because we would “freak out” if we saw her, which just sounds like a child missing a mother if you ask me the fully grown adult so yeah, and my high school life was pretty uneventful as it was pretty standard. TL:DR I got a pretty bad hand dealt in the life category and just now processing and trying to deal with it all now as an adult. (I just finally asked my mom for therapy or counselling a month ago to which she told me “I’m not broken”when I tried to open up to her about my thought process and why I think I need therapy) oh I never talked about my brother he was a pretty typical bullying me a lot and shooting me with BB and pellet guns but the worst is him shoving me in a dog crate at the age of 5 and pushing me down my grandparents flight of stairs. Oh and my grandpa on my moms side he was more absent then she was only popping up if he was required to work up there or birthdays and Christmas I still don’t know much about him to this day.
submitted by deathreapersasuke69 to Vent [link] [comments]


2024.05.15 04:47 OneOnOne6211 An Inequality Graph for the United States

An Inequality Graph for the United States
Preface for the purposes of intellectual honesty: I am not an economist. I did not make this to be some bulletproof scientific study and I only have access to the data that I can find on Google. I did not spend years creating this, I spent about an hour doing it. As a result I'm sure there are fair criticisms that could be levelled at the graph I'll present. But I was just hoping this would give people some vague idea of how much average workers in the U.S. are being screwed.
Anyway, that out of the way... I spent the last hour or so researching and making a little graph to get across inequality in America.
This graph contains various measures: Worker productivity, CEO pay, median housing price, average big mac price (as a shorthand for the price of food), median yearly income and the minimum wage in the United States from 1970 to 2020.
This graph measures growth so all of these are compared each time to what they were in 1970. So for each of them 1970 is 1 and the other numbers are how much that value has risen compared to 1970.
For example, median housing prices in the U.S. were 63.700 dollars in Q1 of 1980 and 23.900 in Q1 of 1970. This means 63.700/23.900 which is about 2.67, meaning the median house price in 1980 was about 2.67 times as much as in 1970. This is the information conveyed on the graph. And I do the same kind of calculation for everything included. This is so they can all be displayed easily on the same graph.
In effect, I am showing you the growth of each of them compared to each other.
None of these numbers (except CEO pay, I'll get back to that) are adjusted for inflation. This is intentional because inflation doesn't matter here since we're compared non-inflation adjusted numbers to other non-inflation adjusted numbers. And the important thing about this graph isn't the absolute numbers, it is the distance between those numbers.
If inflation was the only factor, for example, then all of the lines on the graph would perfectly overlap. In other words, if the minimum wage grew at the exact same rate that CEO pay did (due to inflation), then these two lines would overlap each other. On the other hand, if the minimum wage grew faster than CEO pay did, then the line for the minimum wage would move up more quickly than the CEO pay line and the gap would get larger. And if CEO pay grew faster than the minimum wage did, then it would climb higher faster and the gap between the two would grow in its favour.
In other words, the important thing about this graph is always the gap between two lines.
To simplify it: The bigger the gap between two lines grows, the more the lower line is getting screwed compared to the higher line. That's not taking into account any "screwage" that was already going on in 1970. Just how much harder you're being screwed now than people in the 1970s were.
So what are the results?
https://preview.redd.it/xg244skyzh0d1.jpg?width=573&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d0116c15f977b7a059e4509bfd28dd0e3f4dc7c
As you can see the gap between CEO pay and both median yearly income and minimum wage grows quite a lot from 1970 to 2020, especially between 1990 and 2020. The gap is temporarily reduced in 2010 (I assume due to the stock market crash) but is well on its way to reaching a new high by 2020.
It's also worth mentioning here that because CEO pay is the one thing that IS inflation-adjusted, so far as I'm aware, because I couldn't find a non-inflation adjusted version, this is actually an underestimate of the degree of "screwage" going on.
We can also look at the median housing price which, compared to both median yearly income and minimum wage, has completely skyrocketed. Hence the growing gap between them.
The cost of a big mac doesn't fare as badly as housing, yet it is still more expensive compared to the median yearly wage than it was in 1970. This means your yearly income will buy few big macs today than it did back in 1970. This is extra true if you make the federal minimum wage, because the gap there is even larger.
All of this, including workers being able to buy fewer houses and big macs with your wage, is happening as worker productivity continues to rise.
And, as you can see, the gap between worker productivity and your yearly income continues to grow. Meaning that while you are producing more value per hour, you are actually taking home a smaller percentage of that value than before. And, in fact, it's worse than that because (as shown by housing prices and the big mac's price) you are even taking home less value in absolute terms as well, at least when it comes to housing and food.
So you are producing, inflation adjusted, more than 2.5 times as much value as in 1970 these days, but you find it harder to afford food and housing than back then.
By contrast, CEO pay compared to the productivity of U.S. workers has climbed a lot more. Outpaced it by quite a bit, in fact, as the gap there (though reaching a zenith in 2000 before the crash) is much, much bigger in 2020 than in the 70s, 80s and 90s. So the CEOs are actually taking home more of the value you generate.
As you can see the gap between their pay and housing prices and big mac prices has also climbed quite a lot. Meaning that in absolute terms too they can buy a lot more of those these days than they could in the 1970s. And, again, this is an underestimate.
But just in case you weren't convinced you're getting screwed, let's put a cherry on top of this inequality cake. Because I've created a second graph. This one includes the net worth (non-inflation adjusted this time) of the richest person in the U.S. for every year.
https://preview.redd.it/dmlxr83y3i0d1.jpg?width=572&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b5cb4fd9374fb57c346be03a60e4471d38c7324
As you can see, this graph is almost comical.
When it starts off, due to how I calculated the numbers, there is no gap between the wealthiest person's net worth and the median yearly income (cuz we're measuring growth here). Yet by 2020 that gap has grown so large that it becomes hard to make out some of the other gaps. Even the CEO pay vs. median yearly income gap pales in comparison.
By 2020 the federal minimum wage is about 4.5 times what it was in 1970, the median yearly income is about 6.1 times what it was in 1970 and the wealthiest person's net worth is about 75 times what it was in 1970. Yes, 75 times compared to 4.5 and 6.1.
This is inexcusable. This is not a working system. This is a dark comedy.
It must be fixed.
submitted by OneOnOne6211 to antiwork [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:44 WestbourneX862AA Best movies with a minimalist cast from the past 10 or so years?

I've often seen The Breakfast Club, which is still great now, it's sometimes aired on TV here in the UK sometimes over the festive season. OK, so some things are quite dated about it and some of the values of it wouldn't fly today like Vernon's bullying of the students or the swimsuit calendar in the background and Brian's attempt at suicide not taken seriously. But still, it's a classic.
Also, My Dinner With Andre which isn't on as often, but have only seen sporadically since I was a teenager. Not a bad movie but will rewatch it.
Anyway, I've set myself a self-imposed challenge to try something different; find a movie from the past 10 or so years, so 2010-present, that has a minimalist cast, a great plotline and compelling to watch.
Something that me and my family can enjoy on our movie weekend.
I'm not a movie snob and any genre's OK except slasher movies really; it's just not something I really watch that much. Psychological horror, OK. But any genre's fair game. As it is, I'm fairly open-minded on movie choices.
The only most recent one I can think of was that Margaret Quailey movie set in a hotel, Sanctuary, from 2 years ago, but it's very YMMV on IMDB reviews and I'm not sure; is it that good?
Is Coda from 2019 with Katie Holmes good? I've seen its namesake film about deaf adults from 2021 which was entirely different and great.
Looking for any recommendations for this; it'll be happening one weekend in the next few months.
submitted by WestbourneX862AA to movies [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 22:18 Ok_sansan ovelha negra

me sinto a ovelha negra da juventude pq eu estou indo ao contrário do que todos pensam tenho 19 anos e já fui da roda do sexo drogas e viva lá vida
só que eu não quero mais isso para mim é tudo bem vc querer isso pra você o problema é que eu conheço inúmeras pessoas que tem consciência de que está fazendo algo ruim para si ( como drogas ) e não param
agora que vem a parte q eu gostaria muito de falar
eu mudei meu ponto de vista por virar crente sim entreguei minha vida a jesus
sabem o quão difícil é falar q ama a jesus na geração atual?
lembram como o mundo erra pessimo em 2010 todo mundo fazia bullying gay n podia falar direito q era gay e o mundo era preconceituoso se passaram 14 anos e o mundo evoluiu A IGREJA TAMBÉM EVOLUIU
ngm te julga mais pela sua aparência, ou coisas q vc fez
e eu vejo um monte de gente que até gosta de jesus mas n gosta da igreja pq acha q a igreja é como a igreja era a 10 anos
enfim, tudo isso é só pra falar que jesus ama vcs independente das suas atitudes ou pensamentos sobre ele
e se vc quiser conversar sobre estou aqui
submitted by Ok_sansan to desabafos [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 18:32 Snoo_13953 Graphs Really Put Things in Perspective!

Graphs Really Put Things in Perspective!
https://preview.redd.it/xy2jgqbl1f0d1.png?width=2357&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c40303f94cab3eba6f08ba561014545380f9f7e
This is a graph of my lifetime earnings. I started working at age 14 and by the start of my senior year in high school I dropped out and joined the Navy (1997). I exited the Navy 4 years later (September 15, 2001) and would spend the next 14 years trying different things and mostly just bar hopping in Los Angeles. In 2010 I became an EMT, which would be the start of me focusing on my career path in healthcare. In 2014 I decided to go back to school to finish my bachelor's degree. I graduated in December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration and immediately started working on a dual master's in business and health administration (MBA/MHA). I got my first job in January 2022 working in Quality and Risk Management for a Northern California health system. This is where my salary jumps. Two and a half years later I was promoted to Clinical Program Manager and would see a 63% increase in my salary. The dip you see in 2023 was due to the birth of my son and me taking 6 weeks of parental leave and FMLA isn't counted towards income. So really, I earned more that year, but it doesn't show on IRS records. I'm still in shock at how fast my income has grown in such a short amount of time and I kick myself in the ass for not going back to school sooner. So, for those of you who are wondering if school is worth it, well, if you get the right degree, it can be!
submitted by Snoo_13953 to Salary [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 12:00 AutoModerator 0L Tuesday Thread

Welcome to the 0L Tuesday thread. Please ask pre-law questions here (such as admissions, which school to pick, what law school/practice is like etc.)
Read the FAQ. Use the search function. Make sure to list as much pertinent information as possible (financial situation, where your family is, what you want to do with a law degree, etc.). If you have questions about jargon, check out the abbreviations glossary.
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2024.05.13 12:59 0-_Noah_-0 Weird animation

All I remember is a kid gets bullied and they sit him in a urinal to make it look like he pissed himself. And I think there’s a competition somewhere in there. It was on Netflix in the early 2010’s
submitted by 0-_Noah_-0 to NameThatMovie [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 06:12 Worried-Map1462 Perseverance.... I wrote this story to inspire specifically for students like me who struggled or struggling right now.

Isa akong batang laking mahirap. All the kinds of bullying naranasan kona and kahit I am on my adult stage na bakat na bakat padin sa ala ala ko kung ano ang mga napagdaanan ko during my years of schooling.
During my elementary days way back mga 2004-2010, baon ko 2 pesos a day pero hindi pa araw araw may baon. Minsan nag aabot sila mama at papa ng 5 pesos ng monday and that's it for the whole week. I am too innocent in those time kasi Im proud to say na never ako nag cocomplain to my parents regarding that,siguro dahil alam kong wala din naman magbabago if I ask them kasi I know na walang wala din naman talaga sila. Minsan yung mga kaklasmayt ko pa noon tinatawanan ako pag tinutulog ko lang ng recess time namin kahit yung tiyan ko tumutunog sa gutom, while them enjoying their meals and have money on their hands to show off. They don't wanna be friend with me either kasi di ako nakakasabay sa kung anong meron sila kaya ako yung typical na batang PAPASOK sa skul ,UUPO,TAHIMIK at magsasalita lang pag kinakausap. Ang tanging alam ko lang non is disiplinado ako ng mga magulang ko kaya naman never ako nanlimos ng kahit ano or nainvolve sa gulo or na guidance sa skul, if my conflict man non sakin at sa klasmayt ko, umiiwas nalang ako at mananahimik kasi takot akong magkamali eventhough sinasabihan na nila ako "DUWAG" "LAMPA" etc.... One time may pinapa project si teacher sakin that requires money to buy it. Sinabi ko din naman kila mama pero they can't provide so pagpasok ko ng umaga sa skul, sobrang kabado ako kasi lahat sila may maipapasang project and ako lang wala. Then when my name called by our teacher sinabi ko yung totoo but the teacher just say "Baka gusto ako pa magprovide para sayo" sabay tawa. Until then naging hobby na nya akong pagtawanan infront of his co teachers at sa mga students at ako lagi inuutusan taga bunot ng puting buhok nya.🤣 well nakakatawa nalang sya sakin now pag naaalala ko
Fast forward... 2011 Highschool days... I enter highschool like elem na walang wala din. All my things are old, from bag to notebooks, yung lapis ko parang nasa 3 inches nalang ang haba kasi di ko napapalitan. Even my slippers have butas na which is naging reason ng bullying din. Yung ibang klasmayts ko laging kinukwestyon bakit daw ganun di ako mabilhan ng mga magulang ko pero di ko sila sinasagot. Just like elem days, ako yung tipo ng stujanteng tahimik lang sa upuan, kaya ang tingin ng guro namin sakin "MABAIT" pero may mga guro padin na hindi talaga ako nagugustuhan dahil sa bagay na wala ako na meron madalas mga klasmayts ko. Malayo ang skul namin sa mga bahay namin kaya nagbabaon kami ng pang lunch namin. Madalas baon ko araw araw is itlog,pancit canton na isang piraso tapos ginagawa kong pang recess at lunch na yun. Even that thing I was questioned lagi by my klasmayts but I don't answer them. I was so lonely nun kasi wala naman gustong makipagkaibigan sakin, even if may groupings, I was left alone and doing my activity alone. If you guys are wondering how's my marks in school? I was a regular student and never ako na fail sa subject ko kasi yun din habilin ng magulang ko sakin. I was so obedient to my parents even those times na pinag aabsent nila ako para magtrabaho sa bukid at para may baon ako sa school.Then the next day, I will be punished in school for being absent without telling them my reasons. I know how hard my life is kaya nangangako ako sa sarili ko na I have to finish my studies kahit anong mangyari. There are some teachers who love humiliating me in front of many students for the things I have, such meron daw ako shoes na old pero walang socks, butas ang pantalon, and ngilaw na ngilaw ang puting uniporme signs of it being old enough. One thing I am struggling about is yung yellow pad paper, yun kasi gamit namin ng highschool and most of them have it tapos ako pag humihingi ako ayaw din naman ako bigyan, kaya ang ending I'm using notebooks as alternative for it. My teacher would question it again pero same thing, my silence is my response. In those years, teachers are allowed to beat students as sign of disiplina and I was beaten as a punishments for not providing projects and unattended classes dahil sa need ko kumita ng pera para may pambaon. Pag binabalikan ko siya, awang awa ako sa sarili ko. And those people who treated me that bad, I still remember them but I forgave them. Masakit lang pag naaalala ko😭 I just can't imagine na nalagpasan ko siya na ako lang magisa at walang nasandalan even my parents. All those bullying I have received from my society, inako ko lang magisa yun at none from my siblings and parents knows about it.
Fast forward...2015- 2019 College... This one is the most legit na sobrang hirap. Pero bago pa mag umpisa ang semester nun I confront my self na kahit anong mangyari " I have to be a regular students,walang bibitiw at wag na wag babagsak sa kahit anong subjects
1st -2nd year college ko, I tried everything I can, to provide for my own tuition fees and allowances. Yes nagbibigay sila mama at papa pero hindi kasya, minsan 150- 200 lang kaya nila iabot for a week allowance, ang bording house ko laging delayed ang bayad, and my tuition is always on hold kaya laging suki ako ng special exam. Pinasok ko mag work as taga dilig ng halaman and care taker ng isang bar and grill for the night and study in the morning. I have no choice but to do it cause ayokong mag stop sa pagaaral. Kaya naman pag sumasahod ako sa part time ko, binibili ko ng mga sapatos sa shoppee and then I resell it on facebook market online around the city. After my class ng afternoon dun ko sila minimeet up sa city and there I earned money. Tho, of all the efforts and hardships na ginagawa ko still my studies is my top priority. I was so payat sa sobrang pagod, puyat at stress.lagi pa akong nag nose bleeding and I was so worried for my health pero tuloy ang laban. Again, none from my siblings and parents knows about it. I kept it all alone and di din naman sila nag tatanong kasi they thought I am doing fine dahil wala din naman silang narerecieved na reklamo sakin. BULLYING? ofcourse di padin ako nakaligtas jan, I was called "EWW ANG ITIM, MUKHANG MATANDA kasi di nakakapag ahit ng balbas at nakapagpagupit" minsan sasabihin pa nila "Huy kumain ka naman para ka nang kalansay" without knowing my whole story. One time I cried inside the confort room kasi I couldn't help myself na mainggit sa mga classmates ko nun na after class they will be having a talk about san sila mag lulunch if sa Jollibee ba, mcdo or sangyup. Samantalang ako, after class I was so busy meeting people with their orders. Minsan nadadaanan ko pa sila sa fast food having a good time while ako may bitbit na malaking basket puno ng sapatos na idedeliver.🙂 If my mandatory na event sa skul na need attendan, I used to ask people I don't know if may pwede ba akong mahihiraman ng susuotin tapos sasabihin nila try nila hanapan ako pero they then laugh at me afterwards. I feel so ashamed of doing it but I have to. So ayun na nga iniignore ko lang yung mga moment na tinatawanan ako sa looks ko, sa mga bagay na wala ako na meron sila. Basta focused ako sa acads ko nun at sa pagkita ng pera.
During my 3rd yr college. Yung part time kong work nagsara so I was forced to stop working with them na. And so yung pagbebenta ko ng sapatos nalang ginagawa ko. I was so lost that time kasi diko alam ako gagawin ko. Malaking tulong yun sakin lalo na 2yrs nalang kailangan kong tapusin sa pagaaral at mas malaki ang expenses ko na.Isang araw papasok ako ng gate sa skul and there are posters around our campus about scholarships and yung minimum qualified average. I have know idea if abot ba ng average ko dun sa offer ng scholars. so I run towards our registrar to request for a certificate of my grades. My world just stop for a while and I'm in tears kasi naabot nga. 86.04 yung average ko and the asking is 85.0.lang. moving forward, I got the scholarship and it helps me with my tuition fees. Kaya ang pinoproblema ko nalang non is bording house ko. Until meron na namang ibang offered na scholarships sa city so kahit sobrang haba ng pila,tiniis ko kasi I know it will save me. Luckily God is so good to me kaya I got them. That's why sa huling taon na pagaaral bago grumaduate, everything goes well and smooth because of those 3 scholarships. I Gave up selling shoes and focus sa exams nalang until I manage to graduate.....
July 2019.... FINALLY GRADUATED AND A CERTIFIED DEGREE HOLDER OF PSYCHOLOGY....
2024 update about me? I am now in a good path, I took a career that is relevant to my degree and still want exploring more things...
submitted by Worried-Map1462 to perseverance [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 04:10 moonesmoon Fantasy Booking WWE Women's Division in 2010! PART 1

WWE Women's Division in 2010 starts with Michelle McCool being the WWE Women's Champion while the Divas Championship has been vacated due to Melina's injury!
ROAD TO ROYAL RUMBLE:
\ (SMACKDOWN) Michelle McCool continues feuding with Mickie James even after defeating her at the TLC PPV last month where she retained the title! James who isn't satisfied with Michelle's cheating tactics just to keep her title, urges to get another title shot. Mickie wins a #1 contender's match against Beth Phoenix, Natalya & Maria and successfully receives another title shot at the Royal Rumble! We see weeks of Lay Cool trying to take down Mickie James and humiliate her Infront of millions of people, they interfere in Mickie's matches against Beth & Natalya and even mock her on the go home show by making fun of her supposed big physic.*
\ (RAW) RAW for the women starts by WWE announcing a tournament where the last two divas will compete at the Royal Rumble to crown the NEW WWE DIVAS CHAMPION! Alicia Fox & Brie Bella compete one-on-one in the first round as Alicia gets the victory at the end after a six-minute battle with one half of the Bella Twins! Gail Kim however qualifies over Katie Lea Burchill, we see Maryse taking one over Eve Torres, while Kelly Kelly takes down Jillian Hall! Gail Kim defeats Alicia Fox and heads over to the finals while Maryse moves over to the finals as well!*
ROYAL RUMBLE 2010:
Mickie Jamesvs Michelle McCool (c) - WWE Women's Championship 0:30
Marysevs Gail Kim - WWE Divas Championship Tournament Finals 7:00
ROAD TO ELIMINATION CHAMBER:
\ (RAW) Maryse starts the night for the women as the NEW Divas Champion! She cuts a promo on her victory and says that she is the greatest woman on RAW! Tiffany from ECW out of nowhere interrupts Maryse's promo and challenges her to a title match as a way for Maryse to prove her dominance over the division! Maryse accepts and we get a brief feud for a couple weeks where Maryse does everything in her power for Tiffany to not be 100% come Elimination Chamber, while Tiffany shows resilience during the road to her biggest match of her career.*
\ (SMACKDOWN) Mickie James kicks-off SmackDown as the new WWE Women's Champion, holding that title up in the air with pride & joy! Mickie begins talking about all her struggles and everything she had to go through just to get to this moment, Lay-Cool interrupt Mickie's moment and they demand for Mickie to hand them back the title since she didn't win it fair and square, but James isn't having none of that, she challenges one member of Lay-Cool to a championship match at Elimination Chamber, Lay-Cool finally decides that it should be Layla who gets the opportunity since Michelle lost the last time. Layla is able to pin Mickie during a tag match leading up to E.C building momentum towards it.*
ELIMINATION CHAMBER:
Mickie James (c)vs Layla - WWE Women's Championship 9:00
Maryse (c)vs Tiffany - WWE Divas Championship 8:00
ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA:
\ (RAW) Maryse remains champion and continues bragging backstage about her win over Tiffany last night, she gets confronted by Kelly Kelly who tells Maryse that she isn't who she thinks she is, and that someone can take all of that away from her. Maryse laughs at Kelly and points out the facts that Kelly has never won a title before, and she can never take it from Maryse, Kelly wants to prove Maryse wrong, so she challenges her to a diva's championship match next week! Later on the night, Kelly & Eve Torres defeat Alicia & Jillian Hall in a tag team match while Maryse is on commentary shamming her future opponent! Maryse retains her title over Kelly Kelly on RAW, but she is informed that a battle royal will take place where the winner faces her at WrestleMania 26 for the Divas Championship! A returning Melina returns from injury and wins the battle royal!*
\ (SMACKDOWN) Mickie James is still WWE Women's Champion after a hard-fought battle with Layla! She embraces her victory on SmackDown alongside Maria, but quickly Lay Cool step in and interrupt James' moment. Michelle demands a rematch for the title at WrestleMania, she defeats Mickie in a tag team match and gets herself a title match at the biggest stage of them all, however after the match Beth Phoenix defeats attacks all four women on the ring and makes a statement. She defeats Maria the following week and talks to Teddy Long about being in the title picture at WrestleMania! Teddy grants Beth a match against Michelle, and if she defeats Michelle she will be added to the match! Michelle talks to Mickie backstage and tells her as much as she despises her, she doesn't want Beth in the mix, so she asks Mickie to help her. Beth still is able to defeat Michelle and inserts herself in the title match at Mania.*
WRESTLEAMANIA 26:
Maryse (c) vs Melina- WWE Divas Championship 10:00
Mickie James (c)vs Michelle McCool vs Beth Phoenix - WWE Women's Championship 13:00
ROAD TO EXTREME RULES:
\ (RAW) Melina is the new Divas Champion and she gets crowned at WrestleMania 26! Maryse confronts Melina and demands a rematch right away, Melina grants her one and a title rematch is set for the following week! Melina retains the gold over Maryse in their rematch and continues battling the women's division on RAW until Jillian Hall wants revenge for her championship loss last year, so she wins a #1 contenders match and earns herself an opportunity at Extreme Rules! Jillian continues stacking up wins in the weeks leading up to Extreme Rules.*
\ (SMACKDOWN) Beth Phoenix is not done with Mickie James yet! After Mickie pinned Michelle to retain her title, Beth continues chasing the belt. She defeats Layla on the SmackDown after WrestleMania 26 and challenges Mickie to a rematch backstage. Mickie defeats Rosa Mendes in singles action, but Beth attacks her from behind and raises the title up in the air. Teddy informs Mickie that she will be defending the title against Beth Phoenix at Extreme Rules in a NO DQ match.*
EXTREME RULES:
Melina (c)vs Jillian Hall - WWE Divas Championship 8:00
Mickie James (c) vs Beth Phoenix- WWE Women's Championship 12:00
ROAD TO OVER THE LIMIT:
\ (RAW) Melina takes down her old rival Jillian Hall for good and gets to keep her title! Gail Kim pins Jillian Hall in singles action on the RAW after Extreme Rules, Melina comes out and she congrats Gail on her win and potentially challenging her for the title, the two hug it out, but Gail snaps at Melina and slaps her. Following week Gail explains her actions in an interview and says that she is tired of waiting for an opportunity and constantly being overlooked! Gail challenges Melina to a title match at Over the Limit, which Melina accepts later on the night after defeating Alicia Fox!*
\ (SMACKDOWN) Beth Phoenix is crowned the new WWE Divas Champion at Extreme Rules after winning the title in a grueling match against then champion Mickie James! Beth is interrupted by the SmackDown Women after winning the title, Tiffany, Kelly Kelly, Rosa Mendes, Layla and Michelle McCool. We get a six-women tag team match where Tiffany, Kelly & Rosa defeat Beth & Lay Cool after Tiffany pins Michelle. Following week, Tiffany & Kelly defeat Lay Cool in a tag team match, while Beth comes out and confronts the winners! Beth targets Tiffany and says to her that she'll see her soon. Tiffany defeats Serena Deeb in singles action, but Beth attacks her from behind and attacks her & Kelly Kelly. A title match is announced for Over the Limit.*
OVER THE LIMIT:
Melina (c)vs Gail Kim - WWE Divas Championship 9:00
Beth Phoenix (c)vs Tiffany - WWE Women's Championship 11:00
ROAD TO FATAL-4-WAY:
\ (RAW) WWE announces the fatal-4-way PPV coming next where every title will be defended in a fatal-4-way match! We get qualifying matches where the winner will be added to the Divas Championship Match! Gail Kim who previously had a title shot steals one yet again by defeating Eve Torres, Alicia Fox qualifies over The Bella Twins while Maryse takes down Natalya! Tensions are high between Gail & Melina already, but Fox looks to win her first title and make a statement, while Maryse wants her third reign.*
\ (SMACKDOWN) The same goes for the WWE Women's Championship where Beth Phoenix defends her title in a fatal-4-way match! Michelle qualifies over Kelly Kelly, Tiffany qualifies over Layla, and then in a last chance qualifying match, Layla pins Kelly to get inserted into the match.*
FATAL 4-WAY:
Melina (c) vs Gail Kimvs Maryse vs Alicia Fox - WWE Divas Championship 7:00
Beth Phoenix (c) vs Michelle McCool vs Tiffany vs Layla- WWE Women's Championship 8:00
ROAD TO MITB:
* (RAW) We have a new Divas Champion in the mix, Gail Kim has finally dethroned Melina and she did it in style! We see Melina walking backstage feeling disappointed about her loss, but she cuts a promo afterwards claiming that she isn't done with Gail yet, one last match and if Melina wins Gail will never challenge for the Divas Championship ever again as long as she's champion, but if she losses, she will not challenge for the Divas Championship either. Gail defeats Brie Bella in singles action on her first night as champion and grabs the mic by also accepting Melina's challenge! A title match is set for MITB!
\ (SMACKDOWN) Layla surprised the whole world and won her first championship in WWE! She kicks off SmackDown alongside Michelle and talks about how the title is finally flawless. Beth interrupts Layla and demands a fair rematch, Layla hesitates but Teddy Long comes out and announces a title rematch in the main event. Layla is able to retain the title after finally pinning Beth with Michelle's help. Following week, Kelly Kelly & Tiffany battle Lay Cool in a tag team match, Kelly finally pins the champion and is granted a championship match for MITB.*
MITB:
Layla (c)vs Kelly Kelly - WWE Women's Championship 5:00
Gail Kim (c)vs Melina - WWE Divas Championship 10:00
ROAD TO SUMMERSLAM:
\ (RAW) Gail finishes Melina once and for all and keeps her title with her. Eve Torres tries to talk to Gail about her actions, but Gail tells Eve that being nice got her nowhere and now look at her, the WWE Divas Champion. Eve tells Gail that there's other ways to this, but since she doesn't want to see the brighter side, she will make her see it. Eve challenges Gail to a match for the title on RAW, Gail accepts, and the title match is set for next week. Gail retains over Eve in fashion and cements her legacy, Natalya however wants to show Gail what a good beatdown is, she wins a #1 contenders match on RAW and earns herself an opportunity at Summer Slam competing for the Divas Championship.*
\ (SMACKDOWN) Layla brags during the show about her being the most flawless champion, her & Michelle get matching belts as well to complement one another and start bullying Tiffany & Kelly even more, until Tiffany snaps at both of them and attacks them backstage until Kelly also joins in and a full-on brawl occurs. Tiffany & Kelly talk to Teddy about this situation, and they want Lay Cool at Summer Slam! A tag match is made official for Summer Slam, but not just a regular tag match a NO DQ tag team match.*
SUMMERSLAM:
Gail Kim (c)vs Natalya - WWE Divas Championship 14:00
Lay Cool vs Kelly Kelly & Tiffany- NO DQ Match 9:00
submitted by moonesmoon to fantasybooking [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 02:26 TyphonGotClout Created a Prediction on what will be on Calc AB Exam 2024 (FRQ). Please let me know if you see it on the test !!

I took a look at the topics that were given from 2010 to 2023 and there were slight patterns (watched the JJ Sandoval vid) and came up with this.
Question 1: Rate Accumulation
Question 2: Area/Volume
Question 3: Graph Analysis
Question 4: Table Question
Question 5: Differential/Slope Field
Question 6: Related Rates or Particle Motion
submitted by TyphonGotClout to apcalculus [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 00:37 Independent_Pen7176 I am a 29F who is at the end of her rope—A LIFE STORY. PART ONE

This is long and confusing, so I will try my best to keep things chronological and concise. I think I need to tell someone my story, because I hope it will help someone somehow. Maybe it will help me. Maybe it will help a stranger. Maybe it will die in the history of the internet and live on after I am gone. If anything, I have this saved on my computer so maybe if I am struck down with dementia someone can read this to me a la The Notebook (I think that was the plot…I don’t remember). This is assuming I make it to old age and want to remember my personal journey. I don’t know. If you get through this post and want to comment, okay. But if your comment is ‘go tell this to a therapist’, know that your concern is truly appreciated and think of this as me practicing what to say and how to say it.
This is not a “woe is me” story. I am realistic enough to look back and think I had somethings good, but I am also honest enough with myself to know I have seen some crazy shit.
NOTE: My memory of the following has a lot of holes, but I think I have most of the ages/years down, well enough. Hopefully you, the reader, can follow along well enough.
FOR REFERENCE:
BACKSTORY: FIRST MEMORIES TO JUNIOR HIGH
I grew up poor, in a sense. We grew up in a rural “city” notorious for violence (drugs, prostitution, murders, etc.). My mom was a young, single parent and was a stripper up until I was 4yo (obviously I did not know that is what she was doing for work; I just knew she wasn’t home some nights and we would stay with my grandmother). I remember living with a constant fear that she would die. I had three siblings (an older sister, an older brother, and a younger brother—the older brother lived with his father most of the time).
Just before I turned four, my mom was arrested and I lived with my grandmother (maternal, obviously) for about four years, along with my older sister and younger brother. To this day it is still unclear why my mom was arrested, but I have 90% of the story. My mom’s older brother killed a man. (There is no disputing this; he called his mom [my grandma] and my mom and they met him after the murder.) Some people in the family said that my mom drove the victim’s car, hid it, and burned it; some people say my mom burned the getaway car my uncle drove. My mom said she refused to testify in court. (About what? I don’t know. No one in my family likes to talk about it.) Regardless, my mom was sentenced to eight years in prison (she would only serve 3 or 4 years), so I, along with my older sister and younger brother, would live with my grandma and step-grandfather (who was ~15 years younger than my grandma). My grandma would not take us to visit our mother until two years into her sentence. (My mom said that my grandma wanted her to confess to the murder because ‘a woman with children would get a lighter sentence’ and that my grandma ‘did not want to lose her only son’. I don’t know if this is true, but my grandmother wasted every last dime trying to get her son out, which would never happen.) My grandma’s house was a dilapidated trailer: there was no AC/heating, there were holes in the floor covered with plywood, and the walls in the shower were covered in duct tape. I was too little to be embarrassed by the squalor we lived in, but when I think back on it now, I understand why I never had friends over. (Our town was small, and my friends’ parents probably wouldn’t feel comfortable sending their children over, understandably.)
Despite everything, I had a happy few years there. I LOVED my grandma and grandpa, and being so young, I eventually forgot about my mom. My grandma read cheap paperbacks all the time, so I got into reading. We didn’t have money for books and at the time my county didn’t even have a bookstore, but I would save the fifty cents I got for snack money everyday and order books from the paper Scholastic magazines I got from school. (I didn’t even know to be embarrassed handing the teacher my order form and paying for $13 of books with a plastic bag of nickels and dimes.) To this day, I think reading saved my life. It gave me a world to escape into.
My grandma had a dark past. She was from a different state and one of five kids. (Two brothers died in a house fire when they were kids, one sister was hit and killed by a car as a teenager, and the other sister was sent to live in a mental institution as a teenager.) My grandma refused to talk about her family, and I had never met them. (All this information would come to light years after her death, and I would eventually meet her “crazy” sister once—I was nine and she came to my grandma’s house and showed me a dead baby bird she had in a coin wallet she kept in her purse, and I believe she is dead now.) My grandma was an alcoholic and homewrecker, by all accounts, and would disappear for months, sometimes years at a time, while her own children were growing up.. She had three children and the father of those children is debatable. My uncle (the one who killed a guy) would rape his sisters (this is confirmed), and when my grandma found out she sent him to a boy’s facility (think juvie). It has been hinted that after this my grandma would pimp out her preteen daughter at bars to older men (this is my aunt—-the middle child—who was pretty distant, understandably, in my younger years).
~~~~~~~~~~~Writing interrupted. My mom just called me to see what I was doing. I lied and said I was working on my book (isn’t this Reddit post a book, though? Where’s the lie?) in a ‘not now’ manner, and she quickly got off the phone. I refuse to tell her happy Mother’s Day. Now let’s get back to the story.
This backstory of my grandma’s was obviously unknown to me as a child. I had seen her drink twice in my years with her. I thought she was fucking Mother Theresa. She took us (her grandkids) to a Pentecostal church faithfully and had a seemingly good relationship with the ‘brothers and sisters’ of the church. I hated church as a kid and am the only one to have never been baptized. My grandma, however, was not Pentecostal. She wore pants, cussed, all that jazz, and she never enforced the religion on us. But we had to go to church, and if I spent the entire sermon reading a Junie B. Jones book, she would not correct me. She asked us if we wanted to be baptized and when I said ‘no’ it was no big deal. (To this day, I am not sure why we went to church. I think she wants a spiritual relationship with God and some type of exposure to the atmosphere for us. But sometimes we would go five times a week and I hated it.)
When I was about 7yo I started to feel ‘embarrassed’ about my home life. I wouldn’t say I was bullied, but no one wanted to play with me. I wasn’t the ‘stinky kid’ and I wasn’t the ‘weird kid’, but I was definitely the ‘smart kid’ and I still think that it alienated me. I had one friend, who I had made in Pre-K, but she even seemed to be gravitating towards the ‘popular crowd’. (Cliques start young, huh?) Luckily, when I was 8yo a new girl came to my school. She had been home-schooled and came from a Pentecostal family but had moved to town and was living with her mom and two brothers while her parents went through a nasty divorce (that would drag out for eight years.) Let’s call her ‘Ruth’. At the time, my only friend started hanging out with Ruth at recess. I was jealous that I was left alone and hate Ruth whole-heartedly. Ruth, as it turned out, was jealous of me and hated me too. Needless to say, after two months of mean-mugging each other we became the best of friends. If reading saved my life, Ruth was this reason I was alive in the first place.
INTERMISSION: ABOUT RUTH
Thinking back on it now, Ruth was the first love of my life. Her father was an extremely wealthy businessman who lived in a big city two hours away from our town (I would only meet him three times). Her mother was a teacher who was renting a house in our town and although there were financial struggles throughout the divorce, Ruth’s mom was solidly middle-class. (I remember going to her house for the first time, complete with a ‘breakfast room’, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a pool, a ‘dining room’ lined with encyclopedias, they had a COMPUTER with INTERNET, she even had a horse!—It was all so fancy for my hick brain.) Ruth could also say words like ‘slut’ and ‘ho’ and ‘freak (in place of FUCK)’, which were cuss words at my house. Her mom would just always say “Ruth MIDDLE-NAME, I rebuke that in the name of Jesus” and Ruth would laugh it off.
Needless to say, Ruth’s house was the tits and I would ride the school bus home with her every Friday afternoon and stay until her mom dropped me off after Sunday morning service. But Ruth definitely lacked a lot of things.
Ruth’s mom was weird. She was an ‘older mom’ and had a nice house that was never clean and she never cooked. Her kids lived off take-out, frozen pizzas, and TV dinners—-which was cool as hell to 8yo me. She was not there much, spending most of her time at Women’s Church Conferences or working. Her mother was a religious-nut. I say that with caution because she is a lovely and important figure in my life, but I would wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and her mother would always be convulsing on the living room floor, speaking in tongues, praying. This was typical behavior. I think her mom let me hang out with her because I, too, ‘grew up Pentecostal’....but we know that’s not really the case, huh? Obviously two 8yo girls don’t sit around and talk about God all day. Ruth believed in her faith, but she NEVER asked if I believed in it or tried to convert me. We were happy and accepting of one another.
Ruth had two older brothers, one who was ~6 years older and another that was ~3 years older. The oldest was mean, and Ruth and him fought like cats and dogs. And I am talking they would draw blood. Ruth’s oldest brother definitely gave off I-am-going-to-be-atheist-to-piss-off-my-mom and brooding-dark-may-grow-up-to-be-a-criminal-vibes. His mom constantly said he was possessed by a demon and needed to turn to God. I remember that, although I was not scared of him, he seemed uncomfortable around me from the beginning. He did not speak with me much and spent most of his time in his room playing video games. He was obsessed with guns and knives and the back of his bedroom door was obliterated from him getting angry and taking it out on the door with his knives. It was strange because his mom kept trophies from his younger years for all the statewide Bible Competitions he won. (He knew the bible better than anyone I have ever met.) It was all a big red flag, looking back. But, for the most part, when I was around he disappeared. He was in high school when I first started coming around and would move out in a couple of years. The other brother, the middle child who I will call ‘David’, was awesome. He spent most of his time building computers in his room, but would smile and say hi to me in the hall when I was over. He had a Mitch Hedberg sense of humor. He wasn’t super attractive, but he was cute and all the girls at church thought so too. (My grandma did not go to their church, but I attended Sunday morning service with Ruth thousands of times and knew their youth group pretty well.) In high school, he would have a lucrative side-hustle fixing people’s computers, iPods, and smartphones and would buy Ruth and I candy and snacks all the time. Remember, we are talking 2002-2010 era, and he had the ‘emo’ hair, skateboarded, and was a nerdy-comedian type who could build computers—he had it going on. He was my first childhood crush, but he definitely saw Ruth and I as adoring and annoying little sisters.
Ruth herself was not very interested when it came to schoolwork. She definitely was not the homeschool-child-prodigy stereotype. But she knew how to play multiple musical instruments and was an insanely talented artist. Over the course of our friendship I developed a love for art and music—she made me into a creative person when I had always been a very analytical person. (Today, I am a fairly skilled artist and I play guitar.) But I had an effect on her too. I was a very clean person and cleaning had always been a coping mechanism for me. (My grandma always said ‘Being poor is no excuse for being dirty’.) In the early days I would go to Ruth’s messy house and I would convince her we should clean her room ‘for fun’. I didn’t like messy places, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I would explain to her that cleaning was something I liked. I got her hooked on cleaning, because we would end up detailing the disgusting kitchen ‘for fun’ every weekend and she started keeping her room in meticulous order, although the rest of her family lived like slobs. (And yes, dear reader, cleaning and joking around with her are some of my favorite memories. I remember detailing the inside of the kitchen fridge with her in vivid memory.) I also got her hooked on reading and interested in schoolwork. Needless to say, she gave me the confidence to be more creative and I taught her how to put a little bit more structure in her artsy-chaotic world. I was feeling true happiness.
~~~~~Writing NOTE: There are some events/details in here which bleed into the next section but seemed best placed here. The next section will pick up when I am 8/9yo and my mom is released from prison.
submitted by Independent_Pen7176 to lifestory [link] [comments]


2024.05.12 22:36 Maleficent-Sea-5122 Movie with a scene in the woods of teens bullying another with mask and axes

I really wish I knew more details as I'm not even sure this one scene is 100% accurate. But from what I remember its a young teen with a clown or Halloween type mask, an axe or hammer, and I think he killed a group of teens that used to bully him or something. It's in the woods during the day. Can't find the movie but I'm 100% sure it was not just a dream 😅
Edit: I remember seeing it between 2010-2015 on TV and I think it was new back then. Definitely more of a thriller than a horror movie. Also, I'm stupid! I meant clown mask, not ghost!
submitted by Maleficent-Sea-5122 to whatsthemoviecalled [link] [comments]


2024.05.12 21:09 nidarus "Ethnostates", Ethnic Nationalism, and Israel/Palestine

One of the biggest debates in the I/P conflict, especially when it comes to the English-speaking world, is the argument Israel is illegitimate since it's an "ethnostate", and Zionism is illegitimate since it's "ethno-nationalism". I feel that a lot of it comes from misunderstanding of the basic terms, that are being utilized, dishonestly, to confuse people from countries such as the US or Canada. The result is that both Zionists and Palestinians aren't really talking on the same wavelength as the Americans, Canadians and Australians they're trying to engage with. I'd like to add my modest contribution to understanding these terms, or at least starting a more accurate conversation about them.

The basic terms

Nationalism, in the sense I'm using here, isn't an extreme or exclusionary form of patriotism. It's merely the idea that a certain nation-state should exist. People who want Ukraine to exist are Ukrainian nationalists. People who want a Palestinian state to exist are Palestinian nationalists. People who want a Jewish state to exist, are Zionists.
Hebrew, incidentally, has two separate words for "nationalism": the "bad", chauvinistic kind, Leumanut, and the "good", or at least neutral nation-building kind, Leumiyut. It's not some right-wing double-speak either. Even anti-Zionist Israeli communists say things like "I oppose Leumanut, not Leumiyut". English, and as far as I know, other languages, don't have that distinction, which I feel leads to a lot of confusion. But to be clear, I'm talking about Leumiyut, the idea that a nation-state should exist, not Leumanut, the idea a specific nation-state is superior, worth dying for, or even generally nice.
Ethnic nationalism is the idea to create and maintain a state that's defined by a specific ethnic group, that existed before the state, and will continue to exist if the state is dissolved. Germans, Armenians and Greeks existed for thousands of years. The states of Germany, Armenia and Greece did not.
Most of the states in Europe, and most notably in Central and Eastern Europe, are ethnic nationalist states, defined by a specific, ancient ethnic group. Which occasionally immigration policies that favor members of that ethnicity, even if they never had anything to do with the modern state.
Civic nationalism is the opposite of that idea, a state whose nation is defined by the state, and not the other way around. The actual discourse on civic nationalism vs. ethnic nationalism is more complex and nuanced, but as a rule of thumb, I'd say that ethnic nationalism is when the people exists before the state, and civic nationalism is when the state exists before the people. An American or French person is purely a citizen of America or France. A German could be German without having a single ancestor who ever set foot in the modern state of Germany, let alone had a citizenship from that state. Civic nationalism is the form of nationalism that's ubiquitous in the New World colonies, like the US, Canada, Australia, and so on.
Ethnostate is, as far as I can tell, a Neo-Nazi term, generally associated with the term "white ethnostate". That doesn't really exist until the 1980's, and only explodes in popularity around the mid 2010's, with the rise of the alt-right, and the straight-up White Nationalist book "The Ethnostate". The basic gist of the "ethnostate", is a state where only a specific ethnicity has any rights at all. And better yet, only a single ethnicity, full stop. Israel, with its large, 20% non-Jewish minority, doesn't qualify.
Ethnocracy is a separate term, invented by the Israeli leftist Oren Yiftachel to describe how Israel isn't really a normal democracy. Further research into the term, lead to the conclusion that other states, including NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Turkey (officially a civic nation-state), are "ethnocracies as well".

The debate

There's a legitimate discussion to be had, between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism. And people from civic nationalist states tend to think their form of nationalism is superior. But it's important to note that both kinds of states exist today, in the democratic, Western world. The breakdown of the civic nationalist USSR, and the creation of ethnic nationalist states of Estonia, Latvia, Armenia, Georgia and so on, is generally considered a good thing, even within ideologically civic nationalist states like the US. And even states that the US don't particularily like, like Syria, aren't considered ethno-nationalist abominations for being an official "Arab Republic". Germany, even after the Holocaust, was allowed to remain an ethnic nationalist state, and have an immigration policy that would make easier for ethnic Germans, that never had a German citizenship, to flee to it. While there's a debate between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism, both types of nationalism are generally considered legitimate, even desirable.
Most importantly, within the context of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, is that Palestinian nationalism is a clear ethnic nationalism. And a far more exclusionary, xenophobic form of ethnic nationalism than Zionism. The Palestinian National Charter uses Palestinian Arab and Palestinian interchangeably, while the proposed Palestinian constitution defines Palestinians as being part of the Arab nation. While Zionism, from the very beginning, assumed it would have a meaningful non-Jewish minority, Palestinian nationalism doesn't even seem to consider the idea of non-Arabs being Palestinians. In fact, the only reason why a small portion of Jews would be allowed to be Palestinians, is because according to the Palestinian National Charter, Jews are not a legitimate nation at all, and therefore could be Arabs as well.
Even after the Nakba, Israel has a 20% non-Jewish minority, and openly calling to expel all of them is considered beyond the pale (and possibly illegal) for even the far-right MKs. While even moderate two-stater Palestinians demand every Jew to be expelled from the State of Palestine, for it to be "free". Needless to say, the Palestinians have no intention of making Hebrew an official minority language, forcing their government to issue official communications in Hebrew, having special Hebrew-language schools and state TV channel, to cater to their hopefully non-existent Jewish minority. There's a reason why the most common Arabic version of "from the river to the sea" is "from the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab". There's a reason why Palestinians support the idea of a civic nationalist Palestine even less than the Israeli Jews do, with around 5%-8% thinking it's the best solution for the conflict.
If you're opposing Zionism because it's ethnic nationalist, and support Palestinian nationalism, you're either being ignorant, hypocritical, or actively trying to deceive. If you proudly fly the Palestinian Arab flag, support or make excuses for hardcore ethno-nationalist Palestinian Arab organizations and individuals, and argue that the Jews don't deserve a state in the Levant, because unlike the Arabs they're "European colonialists", you can't claim you're against ethnic nationalism. If you exclusively talk about the one Jewish state, and never against the existence of any other ethnic nation-states, you can't claim you're against all ethnic nationalism. The entire argument against Zionism as ethnic nationalism, in my opinion, is mostly an argument meant to deceive people in civic nationalist states in the US, to support one ethnic nationalist movement over another, not a serious pro-Palestinian argument.
As for "ethnostate", even if we ignore the fact Israel isn't an actual "ethnostate" by definition, it's interesting to note how not a single ethnic nationalist state except for Israel is ever denounced as an "ethnostate". Even those that are actively discriminatory against their ethnic minorities, committed a genocide against them (like Iraq did with the Kurds), or simply expelled them (as the Arabs state did with their Jews). "Ethnostate" either refers to the Neo-Nazi dream scenario, or Israel. I'd also like to caution pro-Israelis from arguing that Israel is an "ethnostate" and that "ethnostates" are good. "Ethnostate" is a Neo-Nazi term, and the point of calling Israel an "ethnostate" is to equate Zionism with White Nationalism, not as a legitimate discussion of ethnic vs. civic nationalism.
"Ethnocracy" is a little more complicated. As I pointed out, it's a term invented specifically to describe Israel, so obviously it fits Israel - at least in the eyes of the leftists who invented it. But if you're opposed to Israel's existence because of its "ethnocratic" nature, you certainly need to debate the Estonian, Latvian, Turkish or Malaysia ethnocracy as well. Like with the opposition to all ethnic nationalism, you can't keep obsessing exclusively about the Jewish state, and claim this is some principled opposition to all ethnocracies.
Ultimately, I feel it's best if we stop pretending that the I/P conflict is anything but the conflict between two ethnic nationalist movements. With civic nationalism as a third solution, that's goes against both nationalist movements (or at least their overwhelming non-Communist mainstream), and is deeply unpopular among both nations. And if we insist on having the ethnic nationalist vs. civic nationalist debate, we can't pretend Israel is the only ethnic nationalist state, and that ethnic nationalism has been otherwise repudiated and eradicated. And there's no reason to use inflammatory terms like "ethnocracy" or "ethnostate", over "ethnic nationalism" vs. "civic nationalism".
submitted by nidarus to IsraelPalestine [link] [comments]


2024.05.12 18:56 4arc One playoff win in 10 appearances and a .627 regular season record

One playoff win in 10 appearances and a .627 regular season record submitted by 4arc to Front_Office_Football [link] [comments]


2024.05.11 21:13 SanderSo47 Directors at the Box Office: Wes Craven

Directors at the Box Office: Wes Craven
https://preview.redd.it/5jhcjegtjuzc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=71a26f361e87730152e07e12f1bc76322db0b023
Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Wes Craven's turn.
Craven earned a master's degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University. He subsequently bought a 16mm film camera and began making short movies. His friend Steve Chapin informed him of a messenger position at a New York City film production co, where his brother, future folk-rock star Harry Chapin worked. He started in the industry as a sound editor, before transitioning as a porn director. He said he made "many hardcore X-rated films" under pseudonyms. And then he transitioned into directing for the big screen.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

It should be noted that as he started his career in the 1970s, some of the domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

"Mari, seventeen, is dying. Even for her, the worst is yet to come."
His directorial debut. The film stars Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, and Marc Sheffler. The plot follows Mari Collingwood, a teenager who is abducted, raped, and tortured by a family of violent fugitives led by Krug Stillo on her seventeenth birthday. When her parents discover what happened to her, they seek vengeance against the family, who have taken shelter at their home.
Craven, who had no money at the time, was put on the job of synchronizing dailies for Sean S. Cunningham's Together. They became friends, and Hallmark Releasing gave them $90,000 to make another film. Craven considered a hardcore film, but decided to tone it down a bit. The idea for this film came from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, and Craven wanted to make a film in which the violence would be shown in detail onscreen, as he felt that many popular films of the era, such as Westerns, glamorized violence and the "vigilante hero", and gave the public a misleading representation of death in the wake of the Vietnam War.
The film attracted negative media attention for its heavy graphic content, and there were calls for some theaters to drop the film. But you know, bad buzz is still buzz and that translated to a pretty good run in theaters, earning up to $3 million in its initial run. Even to this day, the film is polarizing due to its violence and themes. But Craven just made his name well known.
  • Budget: $90,000.
  • Domestic gross: $3,100,000. ($23.1 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $3,100,000.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

"A nice American family. They didn't want to kill. But they didn't want to die."
His second film. The film stars Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman and Dee Wallace. The film follows the Carters, a suburban family targeted by a family of cannibal savages after becoming stranded in the Nevada desert.
Craven wanted to make a non-horror, but he found that his investors only wanted films with graphic content. At the New York Public Library, Craven checked the library's forensics department, and learned of the legend of Sawney Bean - the alleged head of a 48-person Scottish clan responsible for the murder and cannibalization of more than one thousand people. He drew influences from this, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Grapes of Wrath. Craven also had to cut a lot of scenes to avoid getting an X rating.
The film once again drew negative attention for its violence. But it made over $25 million at the box office, which was an even bigger success than House. It subsequently earned a cult following.
  • Budget: $700,000.
  • Domestic gross: $25,000,000. ($128.8 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $25,000,000.

Deadly Blessing (1981)

"Pray you're not blessed."
His third film. It stars Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen, Susan Buckner, and Sharon Stone, and tells the story of a strange figure committing murder in a contemporary community that is not far from another community that believes in ancient evil and curses.
It received negative reviews, but it was another box office success for Craven.
  • Budget: $3,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $8,279,042. ($28.4 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $8,279,042.

Swamp Thing (1982)

"Science transformed him into a monster. Love changed him even more!"
His fourth film. Based on the DC Comics character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, it stars Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau. It tells the story of scientist Alec Holland who is transformed into the monster known as Swamp Thing through laboratory sabotage orchestrated by the evil Anton Arcane. Later, he helps a woman named Alice Cable and battles the man responsible for it all, the ruthless Arcane.
The film made $2.5 million domestically, despite mixed reviews.
  • Budget: N/A.
  • Domestic gross: $2,500,000. ($8 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $2,500,000.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

"If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won't wake up at all."
His fifth film. It stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Johnny Depp, and Robert Englund. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Freddy Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.
The film was inspired by several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Hmong refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after. This, along with the song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright, motivated Craven to craft a horror film focused on people dying through their sleep.
The film's villain, Freddy Krueger, is drawn from Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. This served as the inspiration for Krueger. Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of the film's production. He settled on the name Freddy Krueger, which was based on a childhood bully of his.
The process of writing the film went smoothly, the real problem was finding a studio. Craven sent it to most studios, and all rejected it. The first studio to show interest was Disney, but Craven declined their offer as they wanted a more toned-down kid-friendly PG-13 flick. When Paramount and Universal also turned it down, Craven decided to go to the independent studio New Line Cinema. The studio only distributed films, but they agreed in financing the film. As they lacked the financial resources for the production, New Line had to turn to external financiers.
Despite opening in just 165 theaters, the film earned $1.2 million in its opening weekend, making it clear that it would be an immediate box office success. It eventually closed with $25 million domestically, and $57 million worldwide. It received critical acclaim, and has been referred as one of the best and most influential slashers ever made. Freddy Krueger would soon be hailed as one of the most emblematic figures of horror, and Craven quickly earned a reputation as a horror legend. But most importantly, it was the beginning of New Line Cinema as a studio, which is why it's referred as "the house that Freddy built."
The film would later spawn a franchise, although Craven wouldn't direct any of the "sequels." Why the quotation marks? We'll get to that later on.
  • Budget: $1,100,000.
  • Domestic gross: $25,624,448. ($77 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $57,185,134.

The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)

"So you think you're lucky to be alive."
His sixth film. The sequel to The Hills Have Eyes, it stars Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, John Bloom, Michael Berryman, Penny Johnson, Janus Blythe, John Laughlin, Willard E. Pugh, Peter Frechette and Robert Houston. It follows a group of bikers who become stranded in the desert and find themselves fighting off a family of inbred cannibals who live off the land.
The film was shot on a very low budget, and it simply ended prematurely because they ran out of funds. There are no box office numbers available, but it received awful reviews.

Deadly Friend (1986)

"There's no one alive who'll play with the girl next door."
His seventh film. Based on the novel Friend by Diana Henstell, it stars Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, and Anne Ramsey. Its plot follows a teenage computer prodigy who implants a robot's processor into the brain of his teenage neighbor after she is pronounced brain dead; the experiment proves successful, but she swiftly begins a killing spree in their neighborhood.
Craven wanted to make a PG-rated science fiction film, with a similar tone to Starman, hoping to prove that he could make something that wasn't horror-themed. An unfinished version of the film was screened to a test audience of Craven's fanbase, and it was poorly received for its lack of violence and gore like his previous films. So WB decided to rewrite the film, adding more scenes with tons of gore. This made the final film appear tonally jumbled, and it went from easy PG to struggling to not get an X rating.
The film was poorly received for its story and inconsistent tone. It also marked a huge flop at the box office, not even hitting $10 million. Craven lost interest in the film after WB inserted their own version, and he has since disowned the film.
  • Budget: $11,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $8,988,731. ($25.6 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $8,988,731.

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

"Don't bury me, I'm not dead!"
His eighth film. It stars Bill Pullman, and is loosely based on the life of ethnobotanist Wade Davis, recounting his experiences in Haiti investigating the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with a herbal brew which produced what was called a zombie.
The film received mixed reactions, but it was a much needed box office success for Craven.
  • Budget: $7,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $19,595,031. ($51.7 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $19,595,031.

Shocker (1989)

"No more Mr. Nice Guy."
His ninth film. It stars Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper, and Mitch Pileggi, and follows a serial killer who uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
Another mixed bag for Craven, but it was still profitable.
  • Budget: N/A.
  • Domestic gross: $16,554,699. ($41.6 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $16,554,699.

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

"In every neighborhood, there's one house that adults whisper about and children cross the street to avoid."
His tenth film. It stars Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, and A. J. Langer. The plot follows a young boy and two adult robbers who become trapped in a house belonging to a neighborhood's crooked landlords after breaking in to steal their collection of gold coins as the boy learns a dark secret about them and what also lurks in their house.
After a slate of mixed performers, the film received Craven's best reviews since Elm Street. To the surprise of Universal, it was also a box office success.
  • Budget: $6,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $24,204,154. ($55.5 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $31,347,154.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

"This time, the terror doesn't stop at the screen."
His 11th film. The installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it stars Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes and John Saxon. The film is not part of the same continuity as previous films, and it portrays Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him.
While Craven co-wrote the franchise's third installment, Dream Warriors, he wasn't that involved with the rest of the franchise. He wanted to make a deliberately more cerebral film than recent entries to the franchise, as he considered them as being cartoonish, and not faithful to his original themes. Specifically, he wanted Freddy to resemble his original vision: far darker and less comical. To reinforce this, the character's make-up and outfit were enhanced, with one of the most prominent differences being that he now wears a long blue/black trenchcoat. In addition, the signature glove was redesigned for a more organic look, with the fingers resembling bones and having muscle textures in between.
The film received high praise, and was considered as the best film in the franchise since the original (it was Englund's favorite). But the franchise has been bleeding interest at the box office, and New Nightmare unfortunately had to suffer. It was profitable, but it became the lowest grossing film in the franchise.
  • Budget: $8,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $18,090,181. ($38.1 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $19,721,741.

Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

"A comic tale of horror and seduction."
His 12th film. It stars Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy. It follows a Caribbean vampire who seduces a Brooklyn police officer who has no idea that she is half-vampire.
The film had awful reviews, and despite the presence of a huge star like Eddie Murphy, it disappointed at the box office. Craven really needed a hit.
  • Budget: $8,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $19,751,736. ($40.4 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $34,951,736.

Scream (1996)

"Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far."
His 13th film. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich and Drew Barrymore. Set in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, Scream's plot follows high school student Sidney Prescott and her friends, who, on the anniversary of her mother's murder, become the targets of a costumed serial killer known as Ghostface.
As he was trying to make it in the industry, Kevin Williamson watched a Turning Point documentary about serial killer Danny Rolling which he said left him unsettled. Williamson later noticed an open window, armed himself with a knife, and called his friend for support. The pair began discussing horror characters that had resonated with them such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. This experience prompted Williamson to start developing a concept wherein a girl is haunted by a caller.
He started writing a film titled Scary Movie, and even left an outline for possible sequels. The concept was part of an era where there was debate over the influence of cinematic violence on audience, with Williamson coming up with a brilliant line "movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative." It was inspired by many 1980s slashers, even though the genre was on decline by that point. His characters were intentionally designed to be knowledgeable about these horror films and their typical elements, with the intention of creating a unique killer who was not only aware of horror film clichés but also exploited them for his own advantage.
While Williamson struggled with his previous films, this script was part of a bidding war with the studios, to the point that Oliver Stone himself wanted to direct it. Miramax (through Dimension Films) bought the script, and Williamson made some rewrites to scale back the violence. Bob Weinstein also wanted to change the name, as he believed the audiences would think the film is a comedy.
The studio considered Danny Boyle, Tom McLoughlin, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez, George A. Romero, Quentin Tarantino, and Anthony Waller as prime candidates to direct the film, but they all preferred to view the film as a comedy. Wes Craven was considered, but the studio believed he couldn't direct a satire. Craven also wasn't planning on directing it, as he wanted to focus on more mainstream films to salvage his career. Craven's assistant Julie Plec (who would collaborate with Williamson on The Vampire Diaries) convinced him in helming the project. By signing, Craven decided to get back some of the gore that was missing in the previous drafts.
A huge contrast to the horror films of the era was that the film had established actors as the leads, as Craven and Williamson wanted to prove that no character was safe. Drew Barrymore had already starred in a few recognizable names, Neve Campbell was on the hit show Party of Five, Rose McGowan was known for Encino Man and The Doom Generation, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich were recognizable supporting characters, and Courteney Cox obviously was known for Friends. Vince Vaughn and Natasha Lyonne were the preferred choices for Billy and Tatum, but external problems caused them to drop out.
After viewing the dailies raw footage, the Weinsteins criticized the quality of Craven's work as "workmanlike at best", believing it lacked tension and had an inconsistent tone. The Weinsteins also disliked the mask design, and said Barrymore lacked sex appeal because of the pageboy hairstyle she had chosen. While filming the final fight, Campbell's stuntwoman accidentally stabbed Ulrich with an umbrella tip, missing the protective vest he was wearing and hitting the site of an open heart surgery Ulrich had as a child. During post-production, Harvey Weinstein decided to name the film as Scream based on the Michael and Janet Jackson song.
In a surprising move, the Weinsteins decided to release the film during the holiday season as counter-programming, offering teenagers an alternative to more traditional holiday fare. The decision was unpopular with the cast and crew, with Williamson expecting the film to fail. The film opened with $6.4 million and finishing in fourth place, leading analysts to consider the film as a bomb.
But the film just kept growing.
Buoyed by positive word of mouth, the Weinsteins increased marketing and the film managed to increase in its second and third weekends. It closed with $103 million domestically and $173 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing slasher film ever and Craven's highest grossing film ever. The film received critical acclaim for its characters and writing, and has since been deemed as one of the most influential horror films of all time. It rekindled interest in horror, resurrected Craven's career and launched the careers of Williamson and the cast.
  • Budget: $15,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $103,046,663. ($245.4 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $173,046,663.

Scream 2 (1997)

"Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far."
His 14th film. The sequel to Scream, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, and Liev Schreiber. The film takes place two years after the first film and again follows the character of Sidney Prescott, along with other survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, at the fictional Windsor College in Ohio where they are targeted by a copycat killer using the guise of Ghostface.
As Williamson already had plans for sequels, the idea was for Sidney to attend college while being stalked by a copycat Ghostface killer. As filming began, Williamson's script had four killers: Derek, Hallie, Cotton Weary, and Nancy Loomis. But after Williamson transferred his script to the production, it was leaked onto the Internet in full, revealing the identity of the killers and a large amount of the involved plot. This resulted in the production continuing to film with only a partial script while Williamson conducted extensive rewrites, changing much of the film's finale, the identities of the film's killers and drastically altering the roles of other characters such as Randy Meeks and Joel. With a short deadline, Williamson couldn't fully compromise on the final script, forcing Craven to fill in the gaps himself. So the film was one of the very first cases where the Internet leaked major aspects of a film.
As the Weinsteins wanted the film ready for December, it was able to capitalize on the audience's word of mouth to the original. It opened with $32 million in its first weekend, almost five times as big as the original, and the biggest December debut. It didn't hold as great as the original due to the competition, such as Titanic, but it still made $172.3 million worldwide, almost matching the original's gross. It also received very positive reviews, and so a profitable franchise was already underway.
  • Budget: $24,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $101,363,301. ($237.2 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $172,363,301.

Music of the Heart (1999)

"She gave them a gift they could never imagine. They gave the system a fight it would never forget."
His 15th film. The film stars Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Jane Leeves, Kieran Culkin and Jay O. Sanders. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Roberta Guaspari, who co-founded the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and fought for music education funding in New York City public schools.
After seeing the documentary Small Wonders, Craven was inspired to make a full-length film about Guaspari. Madonna was originally signed to play the role of Guaspari, but left the project before filming began, citing "creative differences" with Craven. When she left, Madonna had already studied for many months to play the violin. Streep learned to play Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins for the film. The project marked a huge departure for Craven; it was his first and only film to be rated PG, and his only one to not be horror or thriller.
It received generally positive reviews, but it bombed at the box office. It received 2 Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Best Original Song, the only Craven film to get any noms.
  • Budget: $27,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $14,859,394. ($27.8 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $14,936,407.

Scream 3 (2000)

"The most terrifying scream is always the last."
His 16th film. The third installment in the Scream franchise, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy, Emily Mortimer, Deon Richmond, and Patrick Warburton. The film's story takes place one year after the previous film's events and follows Sidney Prescott, who has gone into self-imposed isolation following the events of the previous two films but is drawn to Hollywood after a new Ghostface begins killing the cast of the film within a film Stab 3.
The plans for a sequel were already underway since Williamson sold the script, although Williamson still didn't write a script yet. When the Weinsteins approached him to write the film, Williamson was already busy with many projects (including his directorial debut), and was unavailable to perform his duties. He only made a 20-page outline wherein Ghostface would return just as production on a fictional film Stab 3 would be filmed. His plan was to show the killers were part of a Stab fan club (this idea would later be adapted into his show, The Following). With Williamson not available, Ehren Kruger was tasked in writing.
Shortly before production began on the film, the Columbine High School massacre took place, and many parties began looking for reasoning behind the shooters' actions and there came an increased scrutiny on the role of the media in society, including video games and film, and the influence it could have on an audience. With production of Scream 3 not yet underway, there were considerations about whether the film should be made at that time, aware of the potential for negative attention but the studio decided to press forward, albeit with changes.
The Weinsteins demanded to scale back on the gore and emphasize its satiric humor, as well as moving the setting to Hollywood. At one point in the production, the studio went as far as demanding that the film feature no blood or on-screen violence at all, a drastic departure for the series, but Craven directly intervened. One of the aspects changed was that the killer would be revealed to be Stu Macher, having survived the original film. The Weinsteins changed it after Columbine, as they didn't want to associate violence and murder with a high school setting.
The film opened with $34.7 million, a franchise record and the biggest February debut ever. But it had weak legs, although it still made a very profitable $161.8 million worldwide. While the previous films were well-received, this film received negative reviews, who lambasted the film for becoming the very own thing it satirizes.
  • Budget: $40,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $89,143,175. ($178.2 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $161,834,276.

Cursed (2005)

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
His 17th film. It stars Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Eisenberg, Judy Greer, Scott Baio, Milo Ventimiglia, Shannon Elizabeth and Mýa, and follows two orphaned siblings attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles.
Kevin Williamson started working on a script that followed the exploits of a New York City serial killer who discovers that his lethal tendencies are due to his lycanthrope nature. When one of his projects was scrapped, Craven decided to direct, teaming them up again for another Scream reunion. But it wasn't planned like that. Craven was making a film, Pulse, when Bob Weinstein abruptly pulled the movie from the schedule ten days before shooting and cut through all the slow lanes, wanting Craven to get to Cursed as soon as possible. Craven was reportedly not pleased so Weinstein doubled his pay in order for him to direct the film. The director deemed the script too tonally similar to his film Vampire in Brooklyn, but felt pressured by the studio, leading him to ultimately sign on.
The film started filming in January 2003, hoping to get the film released in August. In June, they only had six days left for filming. Suddenly, Dimension Films decided to put the movie on hold because top executives at the company weren't happy with the film's ending or how the special effects were progressing, specifically the look of the film's lead lupine. Rick Baker was preparing the final transformation effects when production stopped and asked Weinstein to let his team finish the work in order for it to be ready for the reshoot, but he refused. Patrick Lussier was brought in for massive rewrites, and the film didn't return to production until November. Baker was fired, and the prosthetic make-up was replaced with CGI. Skeet Ulrich filmed his scene as one of the leads, but chose to drop out following the reshoots as he disliked the new direction. It was also heavily edited to get the R rating down to PG-13. The budget was originally $35 million, yet some reports suggest it ballooned all the way to $100 million, making it one of the most expensive horror films ever.
With that budget, it was clear it was not going to be a box office success. It flopped with just $29 million worldwide, and was panned by critics. Craven himself dislikes the final product, and a director's cut was never an option because his original ending was never filmed.
  • Budget: $100,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $19,297,522. ($30.8 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $29,621,722.

Red Eye (2005)

"Fear takes flight."
His 18th film. It stars Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, and Brian Cox. The story follows a hotel manager ensnared in an assassination plot by a terrorist while aboard a red-eye flight to Miami.
The film received Craven's best reviews in years, and was a box office success, earning almost $100 million. While he is fine with people loving it, Cillian Murphy is not really fond of the film, "I love Rachel McAdams and we had fun making it but I don’t think it's a good movie. It’s a good B movie."
  • Budget: $26,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $57,891,803. ($92.5 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $96,258,201.

My Soul to Take (2010)

"Only one has the power to save their souls."
His 19th film. It stars Max Thieriot, Denzel Whitaker, Raul Esparza, and Shareeka Epps. It follows Adam "Bug" Hellerman, who is one of seven teenagers chosen to die following the anniversary of a serial killer's death.
This was Craven's first film in almost two decades where he would be directing, producing and writing. But that didn't pan out to a success: it was a critical and commercial dud.
  • Budget: $25,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $14,744,435. ($21.1 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $21,500,813.

Scream 4 (2011)

"New decade. New rules."
His 20th and final film. The fourth installment in the Scream franchise, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton, Nico Tortorella, and Roger L. Jackson. The film takes place on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders from Scream and involves Sidney Prescott returning to the town after ten years, where Ghostface once again begins killing students from Woodsboro High.
In 2010, Williamson and Craven confirmed their plans for a new film. Craven said that endless sequels, the modern spew of remakes, film studios, and directors are the butts of parodies in the film. The main characters have to figure out where the horror genre is in current days to figure out the modern events happening to and around them. This was the first film in the franchise to use CGI, with the knife's blade added in post-production.
Even though the franchise was profitable, it seemed like its glory days were long behind it by the time it hit theaters. The film disappointed in its opening weekend with just $18 million, and closed with a weak $97 million worlwide, far less than the previous films. It also received mixed reviews, particularly for its writing and new characters. It was the last film directed by Craven before his death in 2015.
  • Budget: $40,000,000.
  • Domestic gross: $38,180,928. ($53 million adjusted)
  • Worldwide gross: $97,231,420.

MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

No. Movie Year Studio Domestic Total Overseas Total Worldwide Total Budget
1 Scream 1996 Dimension Films $103,046,663 $70,000,000 $173,046,663 $15M
2 Scream 2 1997 Dimension Films $101,363,301 $71,000,000 $172,363,301 $24M
3 Scream 3 2000 Dimension Films $89,143,175 $72,691,101 $161,834,276 $40M
4 Scream 4 2011 Dimension Films $38,180,928 $59,050,492 $97,231,420 $40M
5 Red Eye 2005 DreamWorks $57,891,803 $38,366,398 $96,258,201 $26M
6 A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 New Line Cinema $25,624,448 $31,560,686 $57,185,134 $1.1M
7 Vampires in Brooklyn 1995 Paramount $19,751,736 $15,200,000 $34,951,736 $14M
8 The People Under the Stairs 1991 Universal $24,204,154 $7,143,000 $31,347,154 $6M
9 Cursed 2005 Miramax $19,297,522 $10,324,200 $29,621,722 $100M
10 The Hills Have Eyes 1977 Vanguard $25,000,000 $0 $25,000,000 $700K
11 My Soul to Take 2010 Universal $14,744,435 $6,756,378 $21,500,813 $25M
12 Wes Craven's New Nightmare 1994 New Line Cinema $18,090,181 $1,631,560 $19,721,741 $8M
13 The Serpent and the Shadow 1988 Universal $19,595,031 $0 $19,595,031 $7M
14 Shocker 1989 Universal $16,554,699 $0 $16,554,699 N/A
15 Music of the Heart 1999 Miramax $14,859,394 $77,013 $14,936,407 $27M
16 Deadly Friend 1986 Warner Bros. $8,988,731 $0 $8,988,731 $11M
17 Deadly Blessing 1981 United Artists $8,279,042 $0 $8,279,042 $3M
18 The Last House on the Left 1972 Hallmark Releasing $3,100,000 $0 $3,100,000 $90K
19 Swamp Thing 1982 Embassy $2,500,000 $0 $2,500,000 N/A
He made 20 films, but only 19 have reported box office numbers. Across those 19 films, he made $994,016,071 worldwide. That's $52,316,635 per film.

The Verdict

Quite inconsistent, but a very iconic figure in the horror genre. You know you made it big when your creations include Elm Street and Scream. Craven often struggled with difficult productions (you can blame the Weinsteins for that), but he still managed to make competent and scary films, even if some are better than others. Some even see critical re-appraisal as time passes; even Scream 3 and Scream 4 have their fans. We don't know what he would've done with the franchise after the fourth film, but he made it clear he was exhausted by having to film without finished scripts. Rest in Peace to a horror legend.
Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.
The next director will be Clint Eastwood. I think I'll have to make two posts, given that he directed 42 films.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Ang Lee. A legendary Asian director.
This is the schedule for the following four:
Week Director Reasoning
May 13-19 Clint Eastwood Great actor. Great director.
May 20-26 Robert Zemeckis Can we get old Zemeckis back?
May 27-June 2 Richard Donner An influential figure of the 70s and 80s.
June 3-9 Ang Lee What happened to Lee?
Who should be next after Lee? That's up to you. And there's a theme.
And that theme is: controversial directors. I'm talking directors who have attained a polarizing response to their films (like Zack Snyder), or the directors themselves are also controversial figures in real life (like Oliver Stone). Basically, a director that has as many fans as haters.
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2024.05.10 20:28 pillowcase-of-eels [Music] Emilie Autumn's Asylum, pt. 5 – Musician spends years building vibrant and loyal audience; single-sentence comment from concerned fan triggers civil war and ruins everything forever

🪞 “It's much easier to get in that it is to get out,” Emilie Autumn used to say. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4.1 - Part 4.2
She was not wrong. Welcome back to the Asylum write-up!
In this installment, we're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of the enmity between EA and her fans.
It's time for war. It's time for blood. It's time... for tea. 🎵

THE PRESENT DAY: “ASK ME ANYTHING (WELL, NOT QUITE)”


"Ask me anything" titles are catchy, and that’s why I’m using one. But, obviously, don’t ask me anything, by which I mean that, if you think I wouldn’t answer it, you’re probably right. Ask me something really good. I’d love to answer you. I’d love to have comments on these posts, in fact, so that I could answer questions there regularly and ask you things as well, but insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, or so Einstein is supposed to have said, and attempting to create yet another interactive online venue after every previous attempt has ended in heartbreak—forums, facebook groups, social media accounts—it would indeed be insanity to think that this time would be any different. So there are no comments. This too is heartbreaking in the sense that, and you may not realize this, but I desperately want to connect more completely with you—to be able to intelligently converse and share and exchange. We can do that in person, of course, because the wrong people never show up in person. Isn’t that funny… So, perhaps we’ll have to arrange that;). I’ll start you off with an example question I’d want to know if I were you (I can almost guarantee that you do not want to know this). Q. Hey EA, how do you keep your wireless bodypack transmitter secure when you are leaping about in skimpy costumes and doing frequent costume changes? Also, dye your roots. A. Fantastic question, EA, and I just dyed my roots thank you very much. ... (Deleted blog post followed by a year of radio silence, 2022 📝)
Sooo. For the past five-ish years, the vibe in the Asylum has been that of a protracted Christmas dinner where everyone is tensely moving their food around in their plate, bracing themselves for whatever will trigger the screaming match. Wondering what it's going to be this time. Weary old-timers make small talk about the food because no other topic feels safe. Every glance, every forced smile, is fraught with eons-old grudges and unspoken regrets; every nervous pleasantry sounds like a thinly-veiled accusation. Aunt Emilie always insists on hosting, but not-so-secretly hates having people over. Sooner or later, she finds a way to get all of these assholes out of her house. Most of the adult children are daydreaming about going no-contact.
Everyone ready for some dysfunctional family history?
CW for discussion of bullying, online harassment, mental illness stigma.

YE OLDEN DAYS: CUCKOOS OF A FEATHER NEST TOGETHER

In the beginning, it was beautiful.
EA had the excellent instinct to start banking on her online presence📝 long before MySpace was even a thing. She had a website, several online stores, an active LiveJournal and a ProBoards forum right from the turn of the millennium.
In 2004, she attached an official forum to her website; the earliest archive shows 74 registered users. By the time Opheliac came out in 2006, that number had grown tenfold. And it was, by most accounts, a pretty dope place to be! (I should specify that this write-up focuses on the anglophone side of the fandom: there were also thriving fan-run communities in at least German, French, and Spanish. Because EA doesn't speak any of those languages, the lucky bastards were mostly left alone.)
Forum users enjoyed interacting with some of EA's closest IRL friends and associates – and with the mistress of the house herself (user flair: PsychoFiddler), when she occasionally responded to comments under her own posts. But that wasn't even the main appeal for many. For a long time, on top of all EA-related topics, the official forum had very active “Off-Topic” subforums, with lively and friendly conversation on a variety of subjects. (There was even a “Filthy Libertines (18+)” sub for a while, which was closed due to preemptive concerns about minors.) Swear words (not slurs) were allowed and encouraged, and moderation was overall pretty loose beyond basic enforcement of civility. There was a lot of mutual support, creativity, and solid banter going around.
It wasn't just about Emilie on the forums. People could chat about almost anything with near free reign, making connections and lifelong friends. ... This community mattered SO MUCH to people. They felt included, accepted, and understood within the walls of the Asylum. People invested their time and creative energy into keeping the forums a vibrant, active community, and made sure that carried over into the real world. ... I've never seen anything like it in a fan space. I doubt I ever will again. (@Asylum_Oracle - “Fandom History” Instagram highlight 🔍📝, which contains most of the sources for this segment.)
And it did, indeed, carry over into the real world. There were numerous meet-ups – a few organized by EA, many more spontaneous. People who didn't know any other EA fans in real life, or were just excited to add new Plague Rats to their friend group, would regularly connect with other forum users from their area to meet up and hang out before EA shows. “Who else is dressing up??”
In 2008, for instance, EA held an afternoon meet-up at Lincoln Park in Chicago. 📺 The event was free to attend; it featured live acoustic music and a reading from EA's upcoming book, the intriguingly-titled Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.
On the appointed day, EA rolled up in a fabulously tousled red wig, bedazzled white corset and steampunk-altered wedding dress. She had brought friends alongs. Sporting blue hair and a pink bustle and corset was her Chicago bestie, the main forum admin. Rocking a guitar and a top hat was EA's sound engineer, the soft-spoken wizard behind the Victoriandustrial sound, who was also a forum mod. The photographer from the original Opheliac cover art was there as well; he was formally introduced by EA and got his own round of applause.
People who would never normally be involved in an artist's fanbase were in EA's world. And not only were they known – they were respected and incredibly active with the fanbase. These people who managed an online message board were willing to engage in real-world meet-ups (with no security??) because of how tight-knit the community they had built was. People turned out to this event. People traveled to go to this event. It was a short reading of a book that hadn't been released yet, and wouldn't be for some time. Why? Because not only was it a chance to meet Emilie and listen to parts of the new book, but it was also a chance to hang out with their friends from the Asylum. ... The fandom really was a family for a lot of people. (@Asylum_Oracle)

“SERIOUSLY, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE.”

It all started with The End.
The End Records, that is! Quick refresher: in 2009, after three years or so with Trisol, EA split from the label over allegations that the owner was embezzling money from ticket sales. A few months later, she signed with The End Records. Understandably, EA still wanted to sell the album that had made her famous, and to which she had smartly retained the rights – which meant a brand new, “Deluxe” release of Opheliac. (Remember, from part 3? The one you could pre-order as a bundle with the book? Some projects are just cursed, I guess.)
At that point, Opheliac had been released three times already, as recently as the year before, with only slight variations in format and tracklist. (Yes, that is a theme in this story.) The End Records version would feature new cover art and a handful of new tracks, but overall, it was... you know... the same album.
(The following paragraphs are largely sourced from this excellent recap 🔍📝, which also provides potato screenshots for all quotes.)
One fateful day of August 2009, a user started a thread entitled “Opheliac US edition deluxe re-release??” in the “EA News” subforum. In the thread, some people were kind of balking at the re-do, pondering whether to buy the “new” Opheliac or sit this one out. Some expressed that after three years, they were jonesing for a new album. Others shared what B-sides or dream covers they would have liked to see included on the bonus disc. Just... fans being fans, in a fan discussion space.
And then EA jumped out from behind the curtains.
Fan: Okay. Before I start, I just want you to know that I think it's very good that EA is getting more popularity, and that she can release lots of albums, but - are 5 editions of the same album really needed? You may say now “ah, it's not the same, it has 2 bonus tracks” or whatever, but I mean: it's not new material. Now don't get me wrong. I'm happy for it, maybe I'll even buy it, but I'm just wondering if she shouldn't keep herself busy with other (maybe more important) stuff? * hides * EA: Nobody's forcing you to buy it. Thanks.
Record scratch.
Fan 1: is this Opheliac release version number 4? lol If she's recording NEW tracks, then surely they deserve to be sold by themselves, otherwise people are going to have to buy an album that they may have already bought twice (like me!). But... alas, I am a fool and adore everything this woman does... im buying it lol Fan 2: exactly – if it was just reissuing the last version of Opheliac to tap into new markets that would be fine (...) but if they start adding extra bits of material to albums people already have then the true muffins are going to feel obliged to buy new copies (...) EA: How exactly are you obliged to buy anything? Nobody is forcing you to spend a fucking penny, my dears. I suppose it would make more sense to you to simply not have my records available any more as the old label I just escaped from will no longer be distributing them? Forgive me for adding extra tracks. No obligation necessary.
...Okay, so I'm pretty sure that we can see both sides of the argument here. Fans are annoyed at the idea of spending money on barely-anything-new, because they love EA and buy every single CD she releases. EA is exasperated by fans acting like she's twisting their arm and somehow resenting the inclusion of new material, when she was just ensuring that her album would remain available for purchase and trying to keep things interesting.
But maybe we can also agree that those replies should have been screamed into a pillow rather than typed out on a keyboard.
EA was getting increasingly (and, I'll just say it: disproportionately) sarcastic and defensive in her replies. Enter poor FantineDormouse.
FantineDormouse meant well, I think. Maybe she thought, she's spiraling. Maybe she thought, friends don't let friends go down that road. Granted, FantineDormouse probably should have known better than to phrase it the way she did. Or to assume that EA perceived her as a friend.
Either way, at some point, FantineDormouse jumped in and posted the comment that finally made EA lose it. THE comment which, overnight, ended the honeymoon period of the Asylum, triggering a doomsday domino effect from which the fandom would never truly recover. Are you comfortably seated?
FantineDormouse: Uhm, Emilie, love, I don't mean to sound rude or anything... but maybe you should have a cup of tea and relax a little.
...
* sound of archduke getting shot *
EA: Excuse me? You can throw this onslaught of absolute cruel bullshit at me and those I work with in my own space that I own, and I can't say anything back? How fucking patronizing. Relax? Are you fucking kidding me? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? FD: I'm not trying to piss you off even more, Emilie. And trust me, I have to deal with it myself, and as much as I would really love to punch the cunts I have to deal with in the face, I don't. You're pissed off, I get it. You're bipolar, which makes it 10x worse, I get that. I'm just not the person to stand around and do nothing when a fight where I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of regret is going on.
Famous last words. Literally! Immediately after EA delivered her irate closing statement – which includes one of my all-time favorite EA zingers, bolded...
EA: I cannot believe this... You just don't stop, do you? So just because I've shared the personal information with you all that I happen to be bipolar, I can't get pissed off at all of you being perfectly awful in the very space that I pay fuckloads a month to have up (has it ever occurred to you all that I pay dearly for this space you play around in?) Why not just tell me that I must be upset because it's my time of the month? Seriously, get the fuck out of my house. You are unbelievable, and your level of patronization is almost criminal. Don't make me write another book. With muffins like you, who needs enemies? Nothing I say or feel is legitimate, not ever ever ever because I'm bipolar... discredited before I begin... unbelievable...
...FantineDormouse got permabanned.
Jaws dropped. After days of infighting between white knights, detractors, and crossfire negotiators, several mod resignations, and general mayhem surrounding the ban, EA made a post entitled “In Which: I Invite You to Make a Fucking Choice.” 📝 For brevity's sake (cue laugh track), I can't reproduce it in all of its righteous splendor, but it's quite a read. It runs the gamut from fair and articulate points about how mental illness shouldn't be used to discredit someone's legitimate anger... to histrionic commands that “deserters to the cause” should “turn in their weapons” if they can't handle her way of doing things.
To those of you who appear not to understand why said posts, most especially those of the banned party, were offensive to me, I give you the option to either educate yourselves on your own time and in your own space (because please never forget that this is my space that I share with all of you at my own expense, and in which I generally give you all the freedom I would wish for myself), or to resign your posts in the Asylum Army – this is not the place for you, and I humbly suggest that you turn your attention and support towards other artists of a more placid, non-controversial, and less opinionated nature; there are more than enough of them out there, and I’m sure they all have forums of their own.
Some fans did leave. Most stuck around, whiplashed. Soon, the storm quieted down, and business as usual resumed on the forum. But something had been damaged beyond repair. The FantineDormouse fiasco had erected walls and drawn lines in the sand, both around EA and among her fans; its sad specter would haunt every Asylum crisis that spiked up forever after. “Fucking Patronizing Fucking” or “FPF” 🔍 became memetic shorthand in the fandom for overreaction and self-righteousness. 🐀
...And now you understand why, in the following years, some fans were so delicate and diplomatic in voicing their very legitimate complaints about messed-up orders, unsigned books, and puzzling lies... while unofficial platforms like Tumblr flourished with pent-up resentment and snark. 🦠

A NOTE ON HARASSMENT: “MAD GIRL, CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU?”

Wouldn't they stop When you asked them to leave you alone? (“Mad Girl”, 2008 🎵)
Now, let's be clear, because it should not be minimized: EA has also been the target of genuine online harassment. Based on the simple fact that she is a woman with a public presence on the internet, I have zero doubt that EA has received (and perhaps continues to receive) more than her share of truly vile, bigoted, creepy and threatening messages – and, knowing what I know about the darker recesses of the Asylum, a terrifying amount of emotional blackmail and obsessive projection from people who hold her to punitively high standards. I'm also inclined to believe that it started way before she ever did anything that warranted any backlash. And that fucking sucks. It's repulsive and inexcusable, and the people who harass her should crawl into a hole and live among the worms.
Notwithstanding. In my decade-plus of following EA drama, the public comments on EA's own platforms (where people knew she was likely to be reading) have been, for the most part... civil and nuanced, and relatively mindful of the human? Even very confrontational comments (some clearly written from a place of anger and desire to shame) rarely resorted to outright name-calling or cruelty. When abusive or bigoted language did crop up, it was often promptly shut down by other fans as gross and uncalled for. In short: I have, with mine own two eyes, in real time, read some of the comment sections that EA described as cesspools of blind rage and odious attacks, and... I just couldn't see it.
If anything, for a long time, a lot of the angry comments directed at EA during any given controversy read more like break-up letters to an ex-best friend: harsh, curt and targeted in a way that cuts deep.... but also kind of screams how much love you still have for this person, against your better judgement.
Not that it wouldn't mess a person up to get hundred of those in a matter of hours, even if they don't individually qualify as “abusive”.
It's worth noting that prior to becoming semi-famous and regretting it, EA was also (by her own account and among other forms of abuse) a victim of intense childhood bullying. It feels like the two situations are closely connected in her mind when her focus seamlessly transitions from one to the other. 📺 I don't think that tremor in her voice is put on.
Based on her writings, I get the feeling that over the years, EA has developed a very black-and-white view of two monolithic groups of people. There's (an idealized vision of) her “real audience”, well-dressed, well-read, kind-hearted, and Asylum-savvy, who she fully trusts to “get it” – and buy it, and love it, unquestioningly, whatever “it” may be at any given time – because that is the true measure of love and loyalty. These are the people she makes art and merch for, the people she writes heart-emoji-filled newsletters to, and desperately longs to see in person again.
And then there's the lynch mob, those who really don't “get it”: the trolls, the faceless creeps, the basement-dwelling mouthbreathers, the ones who stalk her every move obsessively, waiting for any chance to spam her with vicious abuse and slander and obscenities. The latter only exist online (they are manifested into arbitrary existence by the internet itself, not by anything EA said or did), and there is zero overlap between the two sets of people. That seems to be the official narrative.
The "public eye" isn't an [enviable] place to be, and the closer I've come to it, the more horrified I've been. Because, for starters, who is "the public?" Is "the public" my audience? Hell no. My audience is special. They are not the general public. If they were the general public I would be a lot wealthier. The "public eye" means getting stalked, harassed, viscously judged, and put in danger. If I do things in the future that gain notoriety, I will do them in spite of fame, not because of it. I am out for world domination, but not fame. (Interview for The Moaning Times, 2014 📝)
In real life (well, mostly online, but I mean: on this shared plane of existence), things play out slightly differently. The Venn diagram of “true blue fans” and “people who criticize EA" and "people who know way too much about EA” is a circle. The call is 100% coming from inside the Asylum, and I think EA rationally knows that. But here's the thing: no matter how many shows and meet-and-greets you've dressed up for, how many loving and supportive comments you've left, or how many family heirlooms you once pawned to purchase a copy of the not-for-sale 2003 DJ pressing of Enchant... the instant EA feels attacked, everyone is a saboteur and a bully until proven otherwise, and suspected treason is dealt with on the spot. One strike, you're out. Unfortunately for everyone involved, her threshold for bullying seems to be “any remotely thoughtless opinion from any stranger on the internet”.
It makes for outstanding human-interest entertainment... but it also sounds an awful lot like the unhealthy patterns of a person suffering from all sorts of PTSD. 🔍 So, please bear that in mind as you read through this write-up. It's easy to make EA out to be the sole villain, a paranoid and delusional drama queen, based on her extreme reactions to things that often “weren't that bad”. Anything can, in fact, be “that bad” when you're thrown back into the very worst moments of your existence every time your brain decides that the situation is even remotely similar.
PTSD takes over your rational mind and actively distorts your perception of reality. That can be how a person ends up impulse-reacting to “a few people expressing an unfavorable opinion” as if the entire internet had just ganged up on them with knives. Which makes their audience feel unjustly accused, which makes them hostile, which gives the person actual good reason to feel attacked... and so the cycle of hurt continues.
You know the games I play And the words I say When I want my own way You know the lies I tell When you've gone through hell And I say I can't stay You know how hard it can be To keep believing in me When everything and everyone Becomes my enemy, and when There's nothing more you can do I'm gonna blame it on you – It's not the way I wanna be I only hope that in the end You will see: It's the Opheliac in me... (“Opheliac”, 2006 🎵)
And YES, it is extremely regrettable to have this as a trigger, when you're a public figure and you're bound to receive more negative feedback than the average citizen. “It's what she signed up for”, “it comes with the territory” and all that jazz. I really don't think EA was unaware of that fact when she decided to become a musician, share her personal life, and form an intense parasocial bond with her audience. But maybe she underestimated how hard it would be to process and recover from.
Just because you expect something unpleasant to happen, doesn't mean your psyche will be ready to handle it when it does – or that you'll pick the best and most effective strategy to deal with it.

A MADHOUSE UNDER MARTIAL LAW: MARCHING INTO THE FORUM WARS

There are two sides to every story... except for this one! (“If I Burn”, 2012 🎵)
You may have noted the military imagery in EA's “Make a Fucking Choice” response post – “resign your post in the Asylum Army”! What do psychiatry and the military have in common? They're both institutions of top-down social control. 🔍 EA's mixed metaphor may be a bit clunky, but it did foreshadow the evolution of the Asylum – in terms of aesthetics and power dynamics – in the years that followed the FantineDormouse incident and the release of The Book.
EA's next big release after the Asylum book came in 2012. It was a new album, an outline of the soon-to-be Asylum musical, called Fight Like a Girl (FLAG for short). As the name suggests, the main mood was bellicose. Incidentally, in the interim years, EA's communication style generally became noticeably more combative, incendiary, and (within her own spaces) controlling.📝 You remember those quirky word filters on the forum, that would change “fan” to “muffin” and “bra” to “teacup holder”? They kind of took on a Nineteen-Eighty-Four-burlesque flavor when you realized that one filter automatically changed “Fischkopf” to “Liddell” - and that circumventing the rule to address her totally real last name would get you banned, as would any discussion of her family. (“Wikipedia, random internet sites and heresay are not credible sources.” - Mod reminder of forum rules, 2010.)
Also, you try sustaining a serious, grown-up conversation among concerned fans about how Emilie Autumn should “take ratsponsibility for her mistakes out of ratspect for her muffins”. Thus, the official Asylum forum kept a tight grip on overt criticism of EA's claims and actions.
The Emilie Autumn forum is a dystopian hell. Truth be told, when I decided to leave you could not do anything but gush about Emilie. Otherwise all of her extremist arse kissing fans will be down your throat, ripping you apart in seconds, if you so much as questioned her behaviour. So much for freedom of opinion, let alone the idea of creating a harmonious community for ‘outcasts’. Hahaha. (2014 🐀)
The word filter thing really wasn't a big deal – I'm just pointing it out as one goofy expression of EA's need to control the narrative and rhetoric, which became especially noticeable in those post-book, pre-FLAG years. By that point, EA's fuse had been shortened by near on half a decade of non-stop touring / recording / writing / promoting / adjusting to the pressure and demands of an ever-growing fanbase, while also dealing with a horrorshow of personal turmoil and health issues behind the scenes. In other words: she was done taking any shit, in any form, or humoring anyone's ridiculous feedback regarding anything.
To be fair, it was never her forte to begin with. Will it come as a shock if I tell you that EA doesn't have the greatest track record for successful collaborative work? Let's do a quick-cut montage!
EA's very first corporate sponsor was her mother's “Enchant Clothing & Costume” online store 🔍; she went on to claim that her mother was dead. She sessioned for Billy Corgan, that went super well. 🎵 She liked Courtney Love for a minute, but that didn't work out because she felt that Courtney only valued her for her pee. 📝 (It probably didn't help that in early 2006, while EA was recording her post-break-up-tell-all album about Corgan, C-Love was recording her post-rehab-redemption album with Corgan. 🔍 Either way, EA didn't seem to like Courtney anymore after that. Courtney likes her, though! 📝) The one artist EA has ever approached for a duet (and by approached, I mean she recorded a demo and threw the CD on stage when he played Chicago in 2004) was, of all people, Morrissey. That never came to pass, thank mercy 🔍 – this fandom has suffered enough. In 2005, EA recorded some haunting vocals and violins for a potential collab with the frontman of Attrition. When, three years later, they were used on one track 🎵 of Attrition's All Mine Enemies Whisper, she alleged 📝 that the recordings had been obtained from her under the false pretense of a different project, then hideously altered to sound “out of tune”, and used without her permission. She enlisted her fans to boycott the album and the band, and threatened legal action. Meanwhile, on LiveJournal and Attrition's message boards, band associates were appalled: according to them, EA had been aware of the project's nature from the start... and had been completely unreachable, even through her label, during the months of its development. (Besides, Attrition is a semi-obscure English darkwave band from the 80s, whose micro-distributed albums don't even have their own Wikipedia pages... so I wonder what EA was hoping to get out of that theoretical lawsuit. These people own nothing but vintage gain pedals!) The song “Cold Hard Cash” 🎤 by Angelspit (who contributed a remix to one of her EPs in 2008) may or may not be an EA diss track. 🐀 Back when indie jewelry brand RockLove (which now has licensing deals with Disney, Marvel, and DC) was still someone's bedroom project, their first drop was an EA-inspired collection 🔍, which appears in many early Opheliac photoshoots. The partnership was terminated on bad terms, for unclear reasons; the RockLove owner shared in a statement that EA had “drunk the cool-aid” of Trisol Guy's shady business practices, and that the two of them had been spamming her with “crazed angry message[s]” for days.
Why am I talking about this? Because it was precisely one such ill-fated business partnership that triggered the Great Asylum Secession.
One fine day of spring 2010, the owner of vegan make-up brand Aromaleigh popped onto the Asylum forum to announce that they were cutting ties with EA, with damning receipts of copy-pasted emails (lost to time). Basically, the brand had been sponsoring her for half a decade, and while Aromaleigh had been actively promoting her music and tours, EA hadn't exactly been returning the favor. (Indeed, the extent of EA's sponcon seemed to have been a banner link to their website on her front page, and a single “random drunken endorsement” LiveJournal post that kind of reads like satire📝, from 2005.)
EA responded by banning the owner's account, deleting the thread, and posting this flippant statement a few days later:
Dearest Plague Rats, To be honest, I have no idea of what the hell happened with Aromaleigh, and I don't care to find out – the whole drama is a complete mystery to me, as I've been away for months touring and have not been in contact with anyone. All I know is that I've been promoting the company for ages and have not asked them for anything in years. (...) Please focus on more interesting things. I am. (“Save the Drama...” forum post, March 2010)
Posts questioning her good faith in the conflict were deleted from the forum. Shortly thereafter, citing how prolific and labor-intensive the Asylum forum had grown, EA shut down all non-EA related subforums – which, among many other topics, included a pretty active thread about Aromaleigh products.
So one Plague Rat decided to create a separate, members-only forum 📝, where users could recreate some of the now-defunct off-topic threads... and also freely voice their critical opinions of EA's behavior without fear of backlash from mods or rabid stans. Thus, “The Reform” was born. (Reform [n]: amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved.)
For a few weeks, the two-state solution seemed to work fine. And then word spread among forum mods and other diehard fans that there was this horrid other forum, where obsessive haters gathered to spew disgusting lies and vitriol about EA... and soon enough, it was bedlam in the Asylum.
Any explicit mention of the Reform was forbidden on the Asylum forum. Suspicion of participation in the Reform would get you banned. The party line was that The Reform was the enemy 🐀 – even though a number of people were active on both forums, because they liked freedom of expression almost as much as they liked EA. Double agents would lurk on the forum and report back with snark material; sycophants would infiltrate the Reform to identify traitors – much to the amusement of the “haters”, who mocked them and their ilk for “licking EA's pink sparkly boots”. There was no containing the seething, or the sass, among Asylum ranks.
Pretty soon, the insubordination spread to Tumblr. There was the “Ask the Reform” Q&A blog, where questioning fans could interact with “Rebel Rats”, get more details on past drama, and make up their own minds about the people EA called bullies.
And then, there were the “confession blogs”, which published anonymous submissions about EA, positive, negative or neutral, with little censorship. Finally, you didn't even have to pick a throw-away username on a private forum to voice your hottest / strangest / most controversial EA takes. Fans could vent, rant, lament, wonder, shitpost to their heart's content, anonymously. Obviously, given the context of frustration and censorship in the fandom, a lot of the first waves of confessions were EXTREMELY negative.
EA's acolyte Veronica managed to get the first one shut down. If memory serves, she misunderstood the confession blog format, and may have believed that all the posts on “Emilie Autumn Confessions” came from one or a small group of individuals. She was genuinely devastated, and wrote the blog admin to let them know that they were a terrible person who said terrible things. The admin was mortified, apologized profusely and deleted the blog of their own initiative. (Which goes to show that the concept did not come from cruel and malicious anti-fans, as detractors often claimed.)
But a new blog sprung up almost immediately, with a different mod team, and did not surrender. And much like in EA's own book, once the Plague Rats found out that they possessed the gift of speech... well, they really took to it.
Established in 2011 and passed on through generation after generation of mod teams to the present day, Wayward Victorian Confessions would turn out to be the longest-lived institution in the EA fandom. For over a decade now, through all the bleakest nights and dankest debacles of the Asylum, and despite its initial reputation as a troll den, WVC has acted as a kind of neutral ground and vox populi for the active fanbase and anti-fanbase. (The last nominally-active EA fansite to date, She Fights Like a Girl, is actually an offshoot of WVC: one of the old admins created it as a database to answer “frequently asked questions” about EA.)
Wayward Victorian Confessions has now outlived every other EA platform, official and unofficial. Were it not for the continued existence of the “troll den”, what little fan community survives in 2024 would be non-existent, plain and simple. To quote from late 20th century Canadian philosophy: isn't it ironic?
I feel like [WVC] is the only place I feel any of that old Asylum community kind of feeling I felt before EA got so focused on the book. It sucks that it’s so full of unhappiness, and I wish she hadn’t poisoned the sanctuary she claimed to have built. It’s just kind of fallen apart, like a crumbling building. (🐀 2016)

CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

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2024.05.10 16:49 RocketManMaker Nine years ago in March 2015, Loblaw alerted the Competition Bureau to its part in an allegedly industry-wide price-fixing agreement to artificially inflate the price of some packaged bread from 2001 to 2015. Loblaw received immunity from prosecution for its co-operation

Nine years ago in March 2015, Loblaw alerted the Competition Bureau to its part in an allegedly industry-wide price-fixing agreement to artificially inflate the price of some packaged bread from 2001 to 2015. Loblaw received immunity from prosecution for its co-operation submitted by RocketManMaker to loblawsisoutofcontrol [link] [comments]


2024.05.10 00:36 RVAIsTheGreatest Thoughts on Quinten Post

Former Boston College C, 5th year Senior Quinten Post, saw his collegiate career end in the second round of the NIT for the Eagles, who finished with 20 wins for the first time since 2010/11. He finished second team All-ACC and on the ACC All Defensive team and averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.7 blocks a game.
Post is originally from the Netherlands, is a member of their national team, and began his collegiate career at Mississippi State before transferring to Boston College for his junior year. He was a bit of a disappointment at Mississippi State, he was viewed as someone who could contribute in the front court for the Bulldogs but ended up being a bit player and never really cracking the rotation.
He blossomed for the Eagles over the last two seasons. He had a foot injury that cost him the first half of his 4th season but was still named Most Improved Player in 2023 in the ACC. He's a 7 footer that's very mobile for his size. His mobility and coordination as an athlete defines his game in a lot of ways. He's got a lot of feel to go along with it. Good length, too, which he uses to his advantage on both ends of the floor. Post has a decent frame, and can stand to add some more muscle going forward.
Post shot 43% from 3 the last two seasons, on ~3 attempts a game each season. His jumper is very mechanically sound and smooth. Quick release, fantastic balance, good extension. He can make C&S jumpers from 3 and midrange, takes a lot of PnP 3's, and can even take and make 3's off screens. He'll relocate and drift to the perimeter, catch and nail 3's. He'll leak to the perimeter out of off ball screens. He has a good sense of knowing where to be on the floor and a lot of diversity as a 3 point shooter. He's a high leverage PnP shooter. He's a very good screener...he creates space with his screens which aids him as a PnP shooter, and he knows how to quickly peel off those screens and make himself available for 3's in the PnP. He's a very fluid PnP shooter and he has pretty deep range.
He will also slip and dive to the rim off ball screens. Ghost screens where he'll either drift to the 3 line, roll to the FT line and hit the midrange jumper, or cut to the rim. Lots of different flare screen, back screen and other actions involving Post. Both as a handler and as a shooter. His feel, his mobility, and his shooting talent allow him to be someone you can utilize in a multitude of ways as an offensive player and we saw that with the Eagles.
Post will make some bad passes and will loose the ball in traffic at times or when looking to execute advanced moves but he is certainly a good playmaker for a big overall. Boston College often used him at the top of the key as a facilitator and leveraged his quick processing abilities and skills as a 7 footer to their advantage. He was used in the DHO a ton. He can grab and go and bring the ball up the floor. His screening ability, his shooting ability, and his ability to put the ball on the deck make him a great option as a DHO big. He very rarely doesn't execute a clean handoff. Lots of flaring out for 3's out of DHO's. Re-screens occurred a fair bit. Boston College's offense in general had a decent amount of motion and so much of was centered around Post from the top of the key. Fake handoffs, where he'd drive to the basket, or make the pass to the cutting teammate to the rim.
Post is a talented skip passer. Makes some turnovers this way, but also sees a lot of benefit to the tune of open shots from the perimeter with defenders caught napping. Baseball passes, bounce passes, he can do it all. High-low passes from the top of the key, can really sling the ball around from the post. He has very good vision as a passer and very good timing. His accuracy isn't always the best nor the decision making but the passing instinct/talent is clear. Hits cutters from the key out of ball screen actions, hits cutters when driving to the rim, hits dump off men, will spray the ball to the outside. Will dribble out of double teams and find the open man for 3's. He makes quick decisions at the right time as a passer more often than not and that creates open looks for teammates, but his lack of great athleticism means he can sometimes get overwhelmed as a passer and turn it over. He'll swing the ball, screen, and pop out for the 3. He'll find open spots on the floor from midrange and he'll fill the lane and make himself available for ballhandlers. He's got a tremendous amount of feel as an offensive talent.
Post is a good scorer on the block. He can at times struggle with strength when looking to score on the block, but the skill level is high. He doesn't waste dribbles. Very quick with his spin move, he has excellent footwork in the post. Can make hook shots with both hands and has very nice touch and good range. He can use power and bully ball too. He will turn drives into post ups and score. He's decisive with what he wants to do in the post. He'll be more deliberate or quick depending on the circumstance and matchup, but is usually very decisive in any circumstance. He's not a black hole---he has counters with different pivots in his disposal if his initial move is taken away and he is a solid passer out of the post. He gets the ball up quickly at the rim, which makes it hard to contest his shot.
He's good at sealing guys and making himself an easy target. He's also good at sealing his man for drivers slashing to the rim. He didn't always get the pass from a teammate even though he was open or had the mismatch. Don't think his guards did him any favors at Boston College. As said above, he can be pushed out of the paint by stronger big men and forced out of the post-up. He does a good job not forcing the issue if it's not working but there were some matchups he had to rely more on the face-up game and his shooting, and his post game neutralized. He doesn't have pop from a standstill so combined with his average strength, there were times he could get stonewalled, and there were times he went up soft and missed at the rim on post-ups or dump offs.
Post's mobility makes him someone who can fluidly catch and go out of the PnR and finish. His passing talent off the roll makes him a very good PnR player. He will look to self-create and drive to the rim off rips from the perimeter, off face up drives in the mid post. He prefers going left but can also go right effectively. He's got a nice crossover in his disposal. He'll head fake and attack. He also will use the spin move when facing up and looking to finish. He isn't incredibly quick as a driver. He has nice timing and is usually pretty aggressive when going downhill. He will create contact with that aggression and shoots over 80% from the line. Since he lacks a degree of explosiveness he doesn't always have the ability to create clean separation when facing up and driving and thus he isn't quite as efficient here as he is in other parts of his offensive game, he has some bad misses and possessions as a face up guy. His ball skills at his size, fluidity, and decisiveness allow him to play quicker than he is, so he is definitely not incapable.
He runs the floor really well, making him a good transition finisher. His ability to both push the ball in transition off rebounds and be a play finisher in transition is an added feather in his cap as an all-around offensive talent. He'll seal defenders when in transition and find easy baskets around the rim. He can hit trail 3's. Post contributes in pretty much every way as an offensive talent.
Post is a good rebounder as well. Not quite an elite one as he can miss out on some rebounds in his area and not be the best in grabbing boards outside of it, but he does box out, pursue balls in the air, and his length really helps. He isn't incapable of grabbing boards outside of his area, due to his length and large catch radius. He's got a good motor, which also helps him on the boards.
Post was All Defense in the ACC this year but watching the games tells a bit more of a mixed story. He's a disciplined drop defender and understands positioning. He gets quite a few blocks as a drop defender. He's good at forcing his opponents to take the shots he wants them to take. He plays quite stiff as a drop defender, but he keeps his hands up. He's good with verticality, and the combination of his length+verticality means he's a decent rim protector as a drop defender.
He's a guy who's gonna be a magnet for pull up shooters and someone who struggles a bit with PnP guys. He can defend the rim but he isn't great at contesting jumpers and isn't great at rotating to shooters. He is OK at playing ball and man as a PnR defender, but he isn't elite at it. He can be a little too slow at times to recover to his man. He will show high and hedge hard at times and can be effective doing so. He hustles back to man when he does, which can prevent open looks but he doesn't have the quickness to recover in every possession when he isn't in a deep drop. Guys who quickly slip to the rim can cause him issues, and his awareness and rotation ability is good, but not elite either. He will ball watch a little and he doesn't have elite instincts as a weakside rotater. Rotates too late at times and will pick up fouls or give up baskets. He will often not challenge the shot in these situations and put his hands up instead, but overall he's more often than not going to make the right rotation and can force misses. He can pick up a few weakside blocks here and there but most of the blocks he picks up are at the rim in the drop, or when picking up a driver slashing to the rim on the switch in the drop. He's not a weakside rim protector.
He isn't a switch guy at all, even though he did end up switching a little bit this year at BC. He doesn't have the feet to be a switch guy and really struggles with double moves. He's an adequate post defender....some guys are simply too strong for him and he can struggle with quick moves in the post, but he's scrappy, he's good at staying down and staying with his opponent's moves for the most part, and his length allows him to get a few on ball blocks on occasion.
Quinten Post is 24 years old, but his fantastic season at Boston College and talent he displays at his size saw him nab a Combine Invite last week. Teams are intrigued with his skill set and fluidity at 7'0. Offensively, he really checks the boxes for what teams like out of modern bigs. Defensively, things are a bit less rosy, but he is a competitive guy and someone who seems coachable and willing to put the work in to maximize his abilities. I can see why teams like him and think an NBA future is definitely possible for him. What do you all think about Quinten Post?
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2024.05.09 02:51 MarshallBrain The system works! For the rich who can bribe the most.

The system works! For the rich who can bribe the most. submitted by MarshallBrain to ConcentrationOfWealth [link] [comments]


2024.05.08 21:08 InGordWeTrust The system works! For the rich who can bribe the most.

The system works! For the rich who can bribe the most. submitted by InGordWeTrust to WhitePeopleTwitter [link] [comments]


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