Quiick facts on joseph stalin
indieheadscirclejerk
2014.05.30 23:37 indieheadscirclejerk
Reddit? What are you some kind of loser? https://youtu.be/9FLRHejWAo8
2015.12.23 08:44 InOranAsElsewhere The Revolution Will Not Be Redditized
We have gone private to [protest the API changes](https://www.reddit.com/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/147cksa/why_the_blackouts_happening_from_the_beginning/) that are clearly intended as an anti-competitive measure to kill off 3rd party mobile apps and further [enshittify](https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys) the site. In the mean time, we've moved here: https://beehaw.org/c/socialism They do vetting because they got spammed so say you're from this subreddit when you join!
2017.02.28 21:42 bwv549 Scholarly discussion about mormon topics
A community dedicated to evenhanded, thoughtful, empirical-based discussion of Mormonism.
2024.05.21 18:19 johntwit Why are tshirts glorifying Mao and Stalin available for sale on Amazon?
Top result for "Mao Tshirt"
Top result for "Stalin Tshirt"
Mao and Stalin each are responsible for more deaths than Hitler, and of course, tshirts glorifying Nazi propoganda are not available for sale on Amazon (Good!) But why is it okay to sell tshirts that display blatant propoganda from brutal authoritarian regimes?
Why is it acceptable for Amazon to sell these tshirts?
submitted by johntwit to NoStupidQuestions [link] [comments]
Top result for "Stalin Tshirt"
Mao and Stalin each are responsible for more deaths than Hitler, and of course, tshirts glorifying Nazi propoganda are not available for sale on Amazon (Good!) But why is it okay to sell tshirts that display blatant propoganda from brutal authoritarian regimes?
Why is it acceptable for Amazon to sell these tshirts?
2024.05.21 18:19 NascentLeft Historical Progression of Economies
(TL;DR - Humanity historically recognized that there were essential needs facing humans "in the moment". And they organized themselves collectively to address the pressing need. Obviously the pressing need for primitive hunter-gatherer societies was the provision of food. Consequently the first attempt to organize society to provide for that need was a system that concentrated focus on the problem and the solution. The most advanced system to address that specific need later came to be called "feudalism".
When that was adequately addressed, focus began to shift to commodity production as the next need. A new kind of organizing principle that would answer that need was required. New relations of production to address the need later became known as "capitalism".
Now we know how to organize production, how to provide for innovation, and how to develop technology. And we must create new relations of production to take advantage of what we now know without the new system creating constant major problems that comes with late-stage capitalism. What shall we call that new system? )
Karl Marx never suggested what some people seem to believe, which is that we are free to pick and choose what kind of economic system we have. On the contrary, he laid out a logical progression of systems from slave society (think Rome) to the future communist society 1000 years in the future. Each system addressed the needs at the time, and each one properly addressed and provided for solutions to problems of the time. The only real trouble with that is that in no case did any leaders of any failing system realize that their system was holding back development of society and that a new system was needed. In fact, in every case the leaders chose to cling to the existing system and keep the ruling class in power. So for the most part, change is resisted. And we must remember always that a big part of that resistance takes the form of lies and propaganda to cling to the old system by “leadership” who personally benefits from it. At that point they cannot afford to tell the truth. In every case only the new, emerging and revolutionary forces depended on the truth to empower them.
Historically, the “value” of capitalism depends on the current stage of your society. In the early stage of capitalism and as societies transitioned from feudalism, food production technology had been developed during feudalism and so hungry people knew how a food need could be addressed. The leading and pressing need at that point, then, was the development of productive capacity for commodities. People wanted better and less expensive tools, housewares, clothes, and other things of daily use. So capitalism (which wasn’t referred to as “capitalism” then) was the new arrangement of relations of production that answered the need best. Think about it. It makes sense that if you’re adequately fed but you can’t just make all your own household items that you need, you would welcome a popular effort to organize production of those things in order to make them available. So that’s what they did and they found ways to organize it efficiently. BINGO! Capitalism was born and was only later named.
So yes, capitalism did good things. It was a powerhouse. And in addition to inspiring innovation, it also has created the means and ability for us to provide goods in abundance. For the first time in the history of the world, we live in an age of abundance, . . . . -except for the contrived “shortages” that capitalism, itself, creates in order to maximize profits (think gasoline). That is a problem. In fact, all of our national, most solution-resistant problems can be traced back to one cause - capitalism. And capitalism not only created those problems but it also prevents them from being solved.
So yes, capitalism was the right thing at the right time. But now, the problem with capitalism isn’t that it keeps growing like a tumor, but that the drive for more and more and more profit is creating a succession of insolvable problems, like climate change, excessive incarceration, Medicare and Social Security problems, etc. And the only real solution is the elimination of the profit motive because that is what is in our way. We now need a system that can just make use of the productivity, innovation, and technology capitalism has produced and make it all available to the population as a whole. What shall we call it? "Socialism" is what the world has chosen for a name.
Socialism: Socialism is the one economic system that was named before it was ever established. And unfortunately, the first countries that tried to establish it were those that were still mostly agrarian and still needed to develop their means of food and commodity production, contrary to what Marx had “prescribed”. And since they lacked a well-developed industrial worker population, they weren’t able to put their working class in charge as Marx had described. So they put government “experts” in charge, along with government “managers” and it all led to disaster including Stalin and the failure of most attempts to create socialism. Cuba remains the one exception that may remain on the socialist path. We shall see.
submitted by NascentLeft to SocialismVCapitalism [link] [comments]
When that was adequately addressed, focus began to shift to commodity production as the next need. A new kind of organizing principle that would answer that need was required. New relations of production to address the need later became known as "capitalism".
Now we know how to organize production, how to provide for innovation, and how to develop technology. And we must create new relations of production to take advantage of what we now know without the new system creating constant major problems that comes with late-stage capitalism. What shall we call that new system? )
Karl Marx never suggested what some people seem to believe, which is that we are free to pick and choose what kind of economic system we have. On the contrary, he laid out a logical progression of systems from slave society (think Rome) to the future communist society 1000 years in the future. Each system addressed the needs at the time, and each one properly addressed and provided for solutions to problems of the time. The only real trouble with that is that in no case did any leaders of any failing system realize that their system was holding back development of society and that a new system was needed. In fact, in every case the leaders chose to cling to the existing system and keep the ruling class in power. So for the most part, change is resisted. And we must remember always that a big part of that resistance takes the form of lies and propaganda to cling to the old system by “leadership” who personally benefits from it. At that point they cannot afford to tell the truth. In every case only the new, emerging and revolutionary forces depended on the truth to empower them.
Historically, the “value” of capitalism depends on the current stage of your society. In the early stage of capitalism and as societies transitioned from feudalism, food production technology had been developed during feudalism and so hungry people knew how a food need could be addressed. The leading and pressing need at that point, then, was the development of productive capacity for commodities. People wanted better and less expensive tools, housewares, clothes, and other things of daily use. So capitalism (which wasn’t referred to as “capitalism” then) was the new arrangement of relations of production that answered the need best. Think about it. It makes sense that if you’re adequately fed but you can’t just make all your own household items that you need, you would welcome a popular effort to organize production of those things in order to make them available. So that’s what they did and they found ways to organize it efficiently. BINGO! Capitalism was born and was only later named.
So yes, capitalism did good things. It was a powerhouse. And in addition to inspiring innovation, it also has created the means and ability for us to provide goods in abundance. For the first time in the history of the world, we live in an age of abundance, . . . . -except for the contrived “shortages” that capitalism, itself, creates in order to maximize profits (think gasoline). That is a problem. In fact, all of our national, most solution-resistant problems can be traced back to one cause - capitalism. And capitalism not only created those problems but it also prevents them from being solved.
So yes, capitalism was the right thing at the right time. But now, the problem with capitalism isn’t that it keeps growing like a tumor, but that the drive for more and more and more profit is creating a succession of insolvable problems, like climate change, excessive incarceration, Medicare and Social Security problems, etc. And the only real solution is the elimination of the profit motive because that is what is in our way. We now need a system that can just make use of the productivity, innovation, and technology capitalism has produced and make it all available to the population as a whole. What shall we call it? "Socialism" is what the world has chosen for a name.
Socialism: Socialism is the one economic system that was named before it was ever established. And unfortunately, the first countries that tried to establish it were those that were still mostly agrarian and still needed to develop their means of food and commodity production, contrary to what Marx had “prescribed”. And since they lacked a well-developed industrial worker population, they weren’t able to put their working class in charge as Marx had described. So they put government “experts” in charge, along with government “managers” and it all led to disaster including Stalin and the failure of most attempts to create socialism. Cuba remains the one exception that may remain on the socialist path. We shall see.
2024.05.21 16:40 Dependent_Level7062 Who is Joseph Joey Zeleny
 | This page is dedicated to Joseph Zeleny. He is a pretty amazing person and I wanted to create a page dedicated to what he has done for people like me and others. I know he won't do it himself, and as much as he builds up others. He doesn't build up himself. Joey Zeleny has to be one of the most stubborn, hard headed, and brilliant marketers that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, ever. submitted by Dependent_Level7062 to josephzeleny [link] [comments] The first business I remember him helping with was Pete's Landscaping. It was a small business but Zeleny saw something in it. Joseph Zeleny stepped into *Pete’s Landscaping*. His crisp suit contrasted with the earthy tones of the room. Mr. Fields eyed him skeptically. “What can a marketer do for a landscaping business?” he grumbled. Joseph smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “More than you think,” he replied. He studied the faded brochures, the outdated website, and the neglected social media profiles. Then he rolled up his sleeves. Joseph’s first move was audacious: he organized a “Pinole Garden Gala.” The town square transformed into a floral wonderland. Roses, daffodils, and tulips burst forth, their colors rivaling the sunset. Families strolled, sipping lemonade, while Joseph whispered marketing secrets to Mr. Fields. “Tell your story,” Joseph advised. “People don’t just want a lawn; they want a canvas for their dreams.” *Pete’s Landscaping* shed its old skin. Joseph designed a new logo—a leaf unfurling into a vibrant bloom. The website bloomed too, showcasing before-and-after photos, testimonials, and a blog on seasonal care. Social media buzzed with gardening tips, quirky facts, and contests. Zeleny didn’t stop there. He rallied the community. School gardens sprouted, sponsored by *Pete’s Landscaping*. Seniors received free lawn care. Joseph even convinced the mayor to declare a “Pinole Green Day,” where citizens planted trees along the streets. As spring turned to summer, *Pete’s Landscaping* flourished. New clients poured in. The once-empty appointment book overflowed. I remember Mr. Fields, now sporting a green tie (a gift from Joseph), beamed like a sunflower. *Pete’s Landscaping* survived the recession, but its transformation was more profound. It became a hub of community, a place where dreams took root. Joseph Zeleny faded into the background, but his legacy remained—an evergreen reminder that sometimes, the best marketing isn’t about selling services; it’s about nurturing souls. And so, in the golden light of Pinole, *Pete’s Landscaping* thrived, its lawnmowers humming once more, echoing the rhythm of hope. I know they sold the company before Covid and changed the name like twice, but they were so happy to have had Joey Zeleny. And this is just one company who benefitted from him. Joey Zeleny |
2024.05.21 16:32 Pure_Concentrate8770 Ram mandir - as a discourse.
Ram mandir has been a crucial topic in bjp's history. Apart from article 370 (more on that later), Ram mandir has been used to set narrative, form ideology and gain relevance by bjp.
Ram janambhoomi kickstarted the political might of (then) fledging bjp that went from having 2 seats in 1984 to 86 in 1989, and single largest party in late 90's.
All this while, a promise to create Ram mandir was central to bjp's manifesto. This brings me to the question-
Is the value of Ram mandir - in the constructed building ? Or the value is in the Idea of Ram mandir as a controversy ?
bjp promised Ram mandir in 2019, and delivered it - on basis of a Supreme Court judgement, but let not modi ji tell you that. The idea being, 'Vote for us, and we will build the Ram mandir and empower your Hindu faith".
But ab toh mandir bann gaya. Now what ? And the mandir celebrations peaked early too, by mid Feb; while voting started 2 months later.
I feel that is why Modi ji has been making statements like-
vote bjp so congress does not put lock on mandir
vote bjp because puri not being safe under Odisha govt
When Ram mandir has been constructed, now the next step is to assure people that only he, his party can save the existing Mandirs. Is it working ? yet to be seen.
Similarly article 370, now that it has been removed, next obvious escalation is getting back pok, but promises thereof are not as strongly (made by bjp), nor are they as sentimental for people; vis a vis removal of 370. In fact the hindus of Jammu have realised that 370 gave special status to not just K but also J, Udhampur seat was fought on this narrative.
At this point art 370 is great for getting Yami Gautam a paid Filmfare, but probably not votes.
I am ready to face a lot of eggs on my face on 4th. Jai Sri Ram !
submitted by Pure_Concentrate8770 to unitedstatesofindia [link] [comments]
Ram janambhoomi kickstarted the political might of (then) fledging bjp that went from having 2 seats in 1984 to 86 in 1989, and single largest party in late 90's.
All this while, a promise to create Ram mandir was central to bjp's manifesto. This brings me to the question-
Is the value of Ram mandir - in the constructed building ? Or the value is in the Idea of Ram mandir as a controversy ?
bjp promised Ram mandir in 2019, and delivered it - on basis of a Supreme Court judgement, but let not modi ji tell you that. The idea being, 'Vote for us, and we will build the Ram mandir and empower your Hindu faith".
But ab toh mandir bann gaya. Now what ? And the mandir celebrations peaked early too, by mid Feb; while voting started 2 months later.
I feel that is why Modi ji has been making statements like-
vote bjp so congress does not put lock on mandir
vote bjp because puri not being safe under Odisha govt
When Ram mandir has been constructed, now the next step is to assure people that only he, his party can save the existing Mandirs. Is it working ? yet to be seen.
Similarly article 370, now that it has been removed, next obvious escalation is getting back pok, but promises thereof are not as strongly (made by bjp), nor are they as sentimental for people; vis a vis removal of 370. In fact the hindus of Jammu have realised that 370 gave special status to not just K but also J, Udhampur seat was fought on this narrative.
At this point art 370 is great for getting Yami Gautam a paid Filmfare, but probably not votes.
I am ready to face a lot of eggs on my face on 4th. Jai Sri Ram !
2024.05.21 14:52 Far-War-3804 B017 GARLAND GETS UPPER HAND in DAY 2 MILITARY TRIBUNAL. March 28, 2024
 | https://preview.redd.it/0ax5ezbx0s1d1.jpg?width=696&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=102c823740f4945b23ce0cff49bc6a163122ad9b submitted by Far-War-3804 to CourtofAges [link] [comments] B017 GARLAND GETS UPPER HAND in DAY 2 MILITARY TRIBUNAL. March 28, 2024 JAG graciously gave detainee Merrick Garland an extended weekend, resuming the military tribunal against him on Tuesday instead of Monday, primarily because Vice Admiral Darse E. Crandall had to manage personal affairs. Garland received the books he had requested, tomes dealing with military justice and federal case law, searching for a litigious loophole that might exonerate him or spare him a trip to the gallows. Finding none, he asked for a second postponement, saying he needed only four more days of study to mount a practical defense. Admiral Crandall denied Garland’s request on the grounds that he had spent 60 days in custody, during which he could have memorized voluminous legal volumes and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Upon resuming proceedings Tuesday morning, Admiral Crandall showed the panel a sheet of paper criminal investigators had found in Garland’s home desk drawer following his arrest. “It’s good for us, detainee Garland, that you never heard of an invention called the shredder,” Admiral Crandall remarked. “Or even a match. I thought you guys were pros at destroying incriminating evidence. Amateur hour.” The three-year-old document was seemingly a draft and did not name the intended recipient. The context was abundantly transparent: Garland called Trump his “special project” and wrote that he and his Justice Department would move mountains to topple Trump and the Trump Empire. “Dealing with Donald Trump is the mission, and let’s be clear–if we don’t take care of him, he’ll take care of us. I’ll embroil him so deep in litigation that he’ll wish he retired to golf. I’ll defame him and seize his assets, including his precious Mar-a-Lago. He’ll be left in ruin. I’ll bury him so deep in criminal court he’ll go bankrupt defending himself. At the same time, we’ll hit his allies and adherents, particularly MAGA and evangelicals, and make them regret the day they pledged to support him. I have the authority to make it a reality. After he suffers long enough and wishes he was dead, maybe I’ll grant him that. But not before he understands the word’s true meaning,” the Admiral read aloud. Garland objected with an implausible argument: He said he had not authored the page. “It’s fake! You made it up,” he barked. But Admiral Crandall insisted that handwriting analysts had authenticated the cursive script as Garland’s. “You don’t like President Trump, do you, detainee Garland?” the Admiral asked. “He’s not President Trump; he’s Mister Trump, and that’s being generous. What kind of fucked up world are you people living in?” Garland said, his face suddenly red with anger. “Joseph Biden is president. Oh, I’m tired, Crandall,” Garland said. “If justice is fair, you’ll get a permanent nap very soon,” the Admiral said. With handcuffed hands Garland removed his eyeglasses and laid them gently on the table. He glared at the Admiral. His eyes were full of evil. “Eric, Admiral Crandall,” Garland said. “Wouldn’t you like to know who shot Eric?” “Excuse me?” the Admiral said. “Eric. General Eric Smith. Wouldn’t you like to know who zapped him?” Admiral Crandall stepped toward Garland. “I doubt you know anything about that. It’s not in your wheelhouse.” “It was in Lloyd’s, Admiral Crandall, and he told me everything before you had him killed,” Garland said with a smirk. “It was a warning shot, fire across the bow. If we wanted, he would’ve died hitting the ground.” “We didn’t kill Austin. Deep State intelligence is lacking,” Adm. Crandall said. “And if your intelligence were reliable, you’d know we caught the Gen. Smith’s shooter. In fact, he’s here at GITMO.” “Did you? And is he?” Garland teased. “Maybe you caught who we put out there for you to catch,” Garland said. “I’m not negotiating with you,” the admiral said sternly. Garland laughed through parted teeth without moving his lips. “Not even for the lives of the soldiers and Marines we hid where you can’t find them. You know the ones, Admiral. If anything unfortunate happens to me, Admiral, they’ll know, and the service men and women we have will die painfully. And when we’re done with them, well, then there’s the civilian J6 insurrectionists. We might not be able to take them all, but if I hang, so will some of them, Jeffrey Epstein style.” “You’re bluffing. If you could pull that card, you would’ve done it by now,” the Admiral said. “Consider your position carefully, Admiral. You’ll release me and 32 others from jail here and in Guam. I don’t care what happens to others. You might want to check with your friends before making a rash decision,” Garland said. Admiral Crandall stepped away from the defense table but maintained eye contact with Garland. He peered intently at the Deep Stater, as though judging the veracity of his threat. After a while, he said, “This tribunal stands in recess until tomorrow. Guards, escort the detainee to his cell.” “See, I got my postponement,” Garland taunted. A GITMO source told Real Raw News the Admiral used the time to speak with General Smith and the White Hat council, though we haven’t yet learned the outcome of those conversations. We will post a follow-up upon receiving it. |
2024.05.21 13:22 HRJafael Athol Fire Chief lobbies for increased federal support
https://archive.is/WEEKJ
Fire Chief Joseph Guarnera was among the western Massachusetts officials who recently visited the nation’s capital to lobby for restoring funding to federal programs that support fire departments.
Those who accompanied Guarnera to Washington, D.C. included fire chiefs Michael Spanknebel of Hadley, Christopher Bartone of West Springfield, Ryan Pease of Ludlow, William Bernat of Palmer, Patrick Egloff of Westfield, John Ingram of Belchertown, Alan Sirois of Agawam, Christopher Norris of Easthampton, and Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi.
The omnibus spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the president cut $36 million from both the Assistance for Firefighters and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs. The original amount requested for each for FY24 had been $370 million.
“Those cuts really affect us. I had the pleasure of meeting with Congressman McGovern, who is the congressman for this area. I brought up Athol many, many times and how we’ve been able to get grants that have enabled us to buy apparatuses,” Guarnera said. “And, I’m trying to get more people through the SAFER grant. I told him how imperative it is to keep the SAFER and AFG for towns like Athol. It’s the only other way, other than increasing taxes, to keep with our equipment and staffing.”
In addition to the AFG and SAFER funding, Guarnera said other proposed cuts include funding for the U.S. Fire Administration Fire Academy, which provides free, high-quality training for firefighters across the nation.
“When I became chief, I started sending members to the national fire academy,” said Guarnera. “It doesn’t cost the town a cent. Their mileage is reimbursed, if they fly, they fly them at the government’s cost. The training is free, the housing is free.”
Programs that establish standards for lithium-ion batteries, that provide funding for emergency care and housing benefits for volunteer fire departments, and which address issues related to public safety officers who contract cancer in the line of duty are also the targets of cuts, according to Guarnera.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said that for a lot of communities – especially rural towns – budgets are tight and hiring new firefighters or buying a new fire engine can sometimes be delayed due to other needs.
“These federal programs help bridge that gap,” McGovern said. “They not only help our fire departments; they help keep our keep our firefighters and our communities safer.” McGovern said that because of the risk of being a firefighter, having access to equipment is important, as is being able to make new hires.
“One of the challenges in this current Congress is that Republicans have been insisting on across-the-board budget cuts,” he said. “The omnibus bill that we passed in March, they forced 10% cuts across the board in some of these programs. Ten percent may not sound like a lot, but it is when in fact we should be increasing them due to inflation. Firefighters shouldn’t have to choose between necessities.”
McGovern said that last week the programs were again authorized for inclusion in the next budget proposal to be considered by Congress, although this doesn’t mean they will be funded.
“We’re going to keep trying to echo what Athol’s chief and others have told me and that is we can’t cut these programs,” he said. “In fact, there’s a real need to expand them because the need is so great all across the country.”
The representative said he was unsure when a vote to fund each of the programs at the requested $370 million was likely to come before the House. He added that it may not happen until next year.
“We might just pass a short-term resolution to keep funding at current levels which again, in my opinion, is not sufficient,” McGovern said. “But we won’t know what Republicans are proposing until they release their appropriations bill. We’re fearful there may be even more cuts.”
submitted by HRJafael to NorthCentralMA [link] [comments]
Fire Chief Joseph Guarnera was among the western Massachusetts officials who recently visited the nation’s capital to lobby for restoring funding to federal programs that support fire departments.
Those who accompanied Guarnera to Washington, D.C. included fire chiefs Michael Spanknebel of Hadley, Christopher Bartone of West Springfield, Ryan Pease of Ludlow, William Bernat of Palmer, Patrick Egloff of Westfield, John Ingram of Belchertown, Alan Sirois of Agawam, Christopher Norris of Easthampton, and Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi.
The omnibus spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the president cut $36 million from both the Assistance for Firefighters and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs. The original amount requested for each for FY24 had been $370 million.
“Those cuts really affect us. I had the pleasure of meeting with Congressman McGovern, who is the congressman for this area. I brought up Athol many, many times and how we’ve been able to get grants that have enabled us to buy apparatuses,” Guarnera said. “And, I’m trying to get more people through the SAFER grant. I told him how imperative it is to keep the SAFER and AFG for towns like Athol. It’s the only other way, other than increasing taxes, to keep with our equipment and staffing.”
In addition to the AFG and SAFER funding, Guarnera said other proposed cuts include funding for the U.S. Fire Administration Fire Academy, which provides free, high-quality training for firefighters across the nation.
“When I became chief, I started sending members to the national fire academy,” said Guarnera. “It doesn’t cost the town a cent. Their mileage is reimbursed, if they fly, they fly them at the government’s cost. The training is free, the housing is free.”
Programs that establish standards for lithium-ion batteries, that provide funding for emergency care and housing benefits for volunteer fire departments, and which address issues related to public safety officers who contract cancer in the line of duty are also the targets of cuts, according to Guarnera.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said that for a lot of communities – especially rural towns – budgets are tight and hiring new firefighters or buying a new fire engine can sometimes be delayed due to other needs.
“These federal programs help bridge that gap,” McGovern said. “They not only help our fire departments; they help keep our keep our firefighters and our communities safer.” McGovern said that because of the risk of being a firefighter, having access to equipment is important, as is being able to make new hires.
“One of the challenges in this current Congress is that Republicans have been insisting on across-the-board budget cuts,” he said. “The omnibus bill that we passed in March, they forced 10% cuts across the board in some of these programs. Ten percent may not sound like a lot, but it is when in fact we should be increasing them due to inflation. Firefighters shouldn’t have to choose between necessities.”
McGovern said that last week the programs were again authorized for inclusion in the next budget proposal to be considered by Congress, although this doesn’t mean they will be funded.
“We’re going to keep trying to echo what Athol’s chief and others have told me and that is we can’t cut these programs,” he said. “In fact, there’s a real need to expand them because the need is so great all across the country.”
The representative said he was unsure when a vote to fund each of the programs at the requested $370 million was likely to come before the House. He added that it may not happen until next year.
“We might just pass a short-term resolution to keep funding at current levels which again, in my opinion, is not sufficient,” McGovern said. “But we won’t know what Republicans are proposing until they release their appropriations bill. We’re fearful there may be even more cuts.”
2024.05.21 10:50 Yurii_S_Kh “May we be that kind of crazy”. Conversation with Protopresbyter Joseph Dzagoev about Orthodoxy on the Kolyma peninsula
 | Protopresbyter Joseph Dzagoev, a priest in the Protection monastery in Magadan, tells about the spiritual life in his city. He talks about well-worn stereotypes, “ordinary” Christian miracles, and how we should never get tired of trusting the Lord. submitted by Yurii_S_Kh to SophiaWisdomOfGod [link] [comments] Trinity Cathedral in Magadan The Russian antimension Before 1989, our city was lacking not only a monastery; we didn’t have a single church. Before the Bolshevik persecutions against religion, there were churches, chapels and veneration crosses at various neighboring villages, on the coast, and in Cossack settlements. It wasn’t till the very end of the twentieth century when the persecution of the Christian faith finally officially stopped, and with the blessing of the Bishop of Khabarovsk, the very first Orthodox community was formed here. The first services were held in a private residence. This is where the Protection Monastery was later founded. Although it’s true that our city never even had a chance to have a church, because it started its life, so to speak, as a local GULAG camp in the early 1930s. That’s why any church was out of the question. We aren’t talking about the times of the Russian Empire, when churches were everywhere, and everyone, including exiles, convicts and other prisoners, always had the opportunity to attend a church service. But on the other hand, even if we didn’t have a physical church, it doesn’t mean that we had no Christians here. We have every reason to call both Solovki and Magadan and their surrounding territories an enormous Russian antimension spread under the open sky. How many new martyrs and confessors suffered here in very recent times! One of the most revered local saints is the Venerable Confessor Andronik (Lukash), one of the elders of Glinsk Hermitage, whose relics rest in our Holy Trinity Cathedral. But there are many more saints like him—both those we know, and those known only to God. So, the place you stand is holy ground. I think we should know more about the holiness of this land. Well-worn stereotypes —Fr. Joseph, how can we understand the salvific value of sufferings? How do we benefit from them if viewed from the Christian perspective? After all, not everyone who suffered here at Kolyma suffered for Christ’s sake. If we read the works of Varlam Shalamov1—it gives you jitters and you even can grow despondent. —I have to say right away that neither I, nor many of the inhabitants of our region, are fans of Varlam Tikhonovich's literary work. You can’t find a glimpse of light in his writing. Besides, the locals say that not everything that he wrote is truthful. But let's leave Shalamov in peace, God rest his soul. As for the meaning and nature of suffering, in my opinion, there were prisoners (and there are still some—I have been conducting prison pastoral care since 1998 in our region, so I can talk to the prisoners) who truly suffered for the truth, for Christ’s sake, and for their loyalty to Him. But there were also some (moreover, many) who endured the hardship of imprisonment because, as many of them admit, they have been beneficial to them. They redeem from “other” sins for which they probably haven’t been “officially” convicted. These people tell me: “It’s better that I suffer here and now instead of later, in the afterlife.” I think this speaks of the humility cultivated in them. I used to meet real Christians behind bars, so we shouldn’t suppose that Kolyma is only for hardened thugs. But cultivating suffering—no, I will not do that. Let’s remember the words of the Apostle Peter: But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters (1 Peter 4:15). But overall I, and the overwhelming majority of residents of Kolyma region, have already gotten quite tired of this reference, the stereotype regarding our land—that Magadan is all about the prisons, camps, tough guys in padded jackets with an inmate number, barbed wire, and so forth. It still works somehow as a gimmick for tourists, but our land has so much more and it can surprise in a good way by bring joy to someone “from the mainland.” Actually, have you noticed that we even say, “from the mainland”, despite the fact that Magadan is actually also a mainland city, while Yakutsk is only 2000 kilometers away from us? —Aha, right, “just” a mere couple of thousand kilometers—no big deal! —But it is so beautiful, isn’t it? The embankment —That's true. The sea knolls, the sea, your сhurches, the embankment, the central streets and museums—it's a pleasure to walk around! —So, we don't live in the dreary past, nor do we relish the allure of prison life—we have other things to do and something and someone to pray about. We have much to do, and that’s good. Because you can’t, after all, rush around the country “seeking greener pastures”. It is better to get comfortable in your own clean, spacious, well stocked and hospitable home. But you’ll obtain this home only when you, and not some “fairy-tale do-gooder,” take care of it yourself. Besides, that “fairy-tale do-gooder” actually does offer support; we receive sizable support from the federal budget. And no, it’s not our thing to sit here whining and waiting for better times, unwilling to lift a finger to make those better times come. The fruits of a recent sermon and “birth pangs” of the Apostle Paul But let us return to the idea of the Russian antimension spread under the open sky. It seems to me that the whole of Russia can serve as such antimension, since persecutions happened all over Russia. So many churches and monasteries were destroyed! I think, we, the Christians of today, can’t come even close to Holy Russia of that time. In the Protection monastery —And in qualitative terms? —On the one hand, I can dwell on the problems like an old man—where our young generation (including priests) is heading, that they are the victims of the “upbringing” of the 1990s, that the former generations were “warriors, far better than you,”2 “unlike the current crop of youth,” and to some extent I would probably be right. On the other hand, as a modern-day priest, I see something joyful happening before my own eyes—I wouldn’t’ say holy, I should be careful here—but examples that speak of a worthy and often miraculous Christian life. Let’s take our Protection Monastery, for example. As I already said, it was founded around a house of worship with the blessing of Bishop Gabriel of Khabarovsk as far back as 1992. There was a community there already, but they were able to obtain their own building, albeit a small and remote one, only in the 1990s. Vladyka used to visit us here several times a year, and this community grew larger over time. Later the Magadan diocese was formed, so when Vladyka Arkady came here together with the monks, they began to travel all over Kolyma as missionaries, visiting every village and hamlet, baptizing, serving, and having conversations. That’s how the life of the Church has gradually settled here. Much later, our monastery was built, and it currently has four elderly nuns headed by Matushka Nadezhda, the abbess. —It turns out that everyone has different gifts. One person is man of prayer, another is a master craftsman, and yet another one is an excellent organizer. —I think the most difficult thing is to have only just begun the spiritual life—considering those “birth pangs” of the Apostle Paul. But later on, there comes a moment of great joy when you see that your community is growing in Christ. Thanks to Bishop Arkady’s labors, we were able to accomplish very much Above all, he succeeded in changing the attitude of the regional and city authorities towards the Church. And not just of the authorities, but also of our local people. Formerly, believers were called “relics of the past” and “pariahs,” despicable and worthless people with “issues,” who were crazy in the head. Now, largely thanks to missionary work, people have realized that first of all, Christ is risen, and secondly, His Resurrection directly affects each and every one of us. Do you choose to languish in the darkness of eternal complaints and death? Wouldn’t it be better to be joyful and work alongside Christ and His disciples? That’s where our choice is. It is, of course, a serious question—to what extent we sinners are worthy disciples of the Lord. But our failures don’t give us the right to forsake God, right? Judging from my own experience, I know how perplexed people were when we witnessed the faith. I remember how in the 1990s, when I was still working at a mining plant (I am a mine foreman by education), there was a lot of theft. And when someone made me an offer to “steal” at work, I replied that I was a Christian and I would not steal. They stared at me and kept looking at me for a long time as if I were insane. However, at any time, to follow Christ was always seen by the fallen world as a disease—we are not right in the head if we are Christians. God willing, may we be that kind of crazy. Kolyma paradoxes and the miracles of Magadan Protopresbyter Joseph Dzagoev with the patients of residential care facility —The irony is that the site of the present-day Holy Trinity Cathedral in Magadan formerly housed the 1st administrative office of Dalstroy, the very consortium that brought workers, or rather slaves, to the GULAG. Later on, they decided to build the House of Soviets there, a huge one by local standards, around fourteen stories tall. But they never finished it; the structure cracked and it was impossible to commission it. That unfinished construction site has seen it all: drunken brawls, the stench of beer, teenagers committing suicide… It was horrible. But now it is the site of our magnificent Trinity Cathedral. —Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our hearts were also transformed? —That is harder to achieve, of course. Especially now, when the war is going on, and when our boys return after witnessing all that death. What are we to do with them? God willing, some of them will find their way to the church, But what about the rest? After the Great Patriotic War, career military people were sent to work here—straight from active duty in the army, they became the camp guards. They say there was an unheard level of drunkenness here... I don't know what will happen now. We pray that we can overcome the ordeal that befell our military men and their families. Yes, and more about the sick. Our monastery is on good and friendly terms with the staff at the psychoneurological residential care facility. Many patients and their staff come to us, and we also visit them. We hold services, we meet and talk to people, comforting them to the best of our abilities. Here is what I want to say: According to information from the residential facility’s staff, the vast majority of their patients (and it’s something like ninety percent!) are the children of drug addicts and alcoholics. And there are about four hundred people residing there! This is the sad part. Now about the miracles so common for Christians. Have you noticed one young man at the service—a kind and caring one, who is smiling and willing to help everyone? This is our Sasha, and he also resides there. He came a long time ago, when the Protection Monastery had just been founded. Well, he sort of came, but he couldn’t say a word—he could only mumble something unintelligibly. Well, he kept mumbling something while we prayed together with him. All churches and communities have such people, so it’s not surprising. But one day we came to the morning service and saw our Sasha standing in front of the icon of the Mother of God, clearly reciting, “Rejoice O Virgin Mother of God.” Not only was he reciting it, but so eloquently that any pious church reader would be jealous! We stood there in amazement. Once he finished praying, we came closer. “Sasha, dearest, how did you learn to read, how do you know the words?” He answered so calmly but matter-of-factly: “This Auntie taught me!” and pointed to the icon of the Mother of God. We could only stand there in silence and continue praying. And that’s what we do! As for Sasha, he continues to come, almost never missing a service. He also helps around the monastery and assists at our meetings in his residential care facility. https://preview.redd.it/9thrbzfntq1d1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=5aad11cd96407fb242d5bfdcc656d009d4e493c9 So, we do have miracles, we can’t do without them. On the one hand, those miracles are truly our great support on our path to God. On the other hand, they give us a wonderful opportunity to pause and think that Christ does not work miracles without reason or purpose—any real miracle has its own meaning, and we always see God's love in it. We also have to work hard, even if we are spiritual invalids. We can still progress towards Heaven. If we ourselves don’t make an effort, of course there won’t be miracles! So I wish for us all to keeping working. And one more thing: If you ever happen to be in Kolyma, you are cordially invited to visit us! Peter Davydov spoke with Protopresbyter Joseph Dzagoev 1 Varlam Shalamov (June 18, 1907–January 17, 1982, was a poet and writer who spent much of the period from 1937 to 1951 imprisoned in forced-labor camps in the Arctic region of Kolyma, due in part to his support of Leon Trotsky and praise of writer Ivan Bunin. He is the author of Kolyma Tales, about life in the northern GULAG.—OC. 2 From the poem about the Battle of Borodino, Borodino, by Mikail Lermontov.—OC. |
2024.05.21 03:17 kksingh11 Stalin on Soviet Patriotism
“The strength of Soviet patriotism lies in the fact that it is based not on racial or nationalist prejudices, but on the deep devotion and loyalty of the people to their Soviet Motherland, the fraternal community of the working people of all nations of our country. Soviet patriotism harmoniously combines the national traditions of peoples and the common vital interests of all working people of the Soviet Union. Soviet patriotism does not separate, but, on the contrary, unites all the nations and nationalities of our country into a single fraternal family. In this we must see the foundations of the indestructible and ever-growing friendship of the peoples of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the peoples of the USSR respect the rights and independence of the peoples of foreign countries and have always shown their readiness to live in peace and friendship with neighboring states. This must be seen as the basis for the growing and strengthening ties of our state with freedom-loving peoples.”
Stalin - 1944
(Note: Compare the patriotism, which Stalin is talking about, with rabid nationalism being imposed on the people by their respective bourgeois states today.)
submitted by kksingh11 to SocialisGlobe [link] [comments]
Stalin - 1944
(Note: Compare the patriotism, which Stalin is talking about, with rabid nationalism being imposed on the people by their respective bourgeois states today.)
2024.05.21 02:58 Chileisnewprussia more made by A.I!
Certainly! Let’s explore an alternate version of World War II where the Axis powers emerge victorious, Adolf Hitler meets an early demise, and the Germans successfully develop a nuclear weapon.
The Axis Triumphs
In this alternate timeline, the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—achieve their military objectives more effectively. Here are the key differences:
The world after the Axis victory is vastly different:
submitted by Chileisnewprussia to Commuityforfun [link] [comments]
The Axis Triumphs
In this alternate timeline, the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—achieve their military objectives more effectively. Here are the key differences:
- Battle of Britain: The Luftwaffe overwhelms the Royal Air Force, leading to the fall of Britain. Winston Churchill is captured, and the British Empire crumbles.
- Eastern Front: The German invasion of the Soviet Union proceeds with greater success. Moscow falls, and Joseph Stalin is executed. The Soviet resistance is crushed.
- Pacific Theater: Japan conquers China, Australia, and much of Southeast Asia. The United States, focused on domestic issues, remains neutral.
- Hitler’s Demise: In 1942, a failed assassination attempt claims Hitler’s life. A power struggle ensues within the Nazi leadership, but the war machine continues.
- The Manhattan Project: The Germans, realizing the potential of nuclear energy, invest heavily in research. Their scientists, led by Werner Heisenberg, make breakthroughs. By 1945, they have a functional nuclear reactor.
- The German Bomb: In a secret facility near Berlin, the Germans successfully build a nuclear bomb. They test it in the remote Sahara Desert, demonstrating its devastating power.
- The Surrender of the Allies: Facing the combined might of the Axis powers, the remaining Allied nations—led by Charles de Gaulle—sue for peace. The Treaty of Berlin is signed in 1946.
The world after the Axis victory is vastly different:
- German Hegemony: Germany dominates Europe, imposing its ideology and culture. The Third Reich stretches from the Atlantic to the Urals.
- Japanese Empire: Japan controls Asia and the Pacific. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere becomes a reality.
- Cold War: The uneasy peace between the Axis powers and the United States leads to a Cold War. Both sides possess nuclear weapons, but direct conflict is avoided.
- Resistance Movements: Underground movements persist, fighting against totalitarian rule. Brave individuals risk their lives to undermine the oppressive regimes.
- Space Race: The Axis powers compete for dominance in space exploration. German scientists launch the first satellite, while Japan establishes lunar colonies.
- Cultural Shifts: Art, literature, and science evolve under Axis influence. The world grapples with the consequences of victory at such a high cost.
2024.05.21 02:40 Force-4747 Looking for feedback, negative and positive
"hello, new visitor, if you're seeing this you're in the land of the vanished, if you're here it means that no one has thought about you for several months, fear not I wrote a book about my journey, in hopes that it'll help newcomers like you".
It was a tuesday, 6am, my brother Joe, jumped on a plane to Canada.
He was successful, or so I thought.
At the time I expected him to return home in 2-3 months, however this wasn't the case, after 4 months I finally called the cops to report a missing person.
Eventually five months passed and I decided to go searching for him.
After another month I got on a plane to Canada.
"What if he was kidnapped and then brutally mutilated," I thought as my heart raced.
Joe gave me the hotel he was at before he left, this gave me a few clues but it wasn't much, when I arrived I asked the manager if he saw Joe leave the hotel or if he knew about Joe's whereabouts.
"I never saw Joe leave, his room is still empty so you can check it out," the manager said. "What room" I responded. "Room 303, I'll escort you there" the manager said.
The bright lights reflected the hall floors. "Why would this man be following me into Joe's room, what if he killed Joe, what if I'm next" I thought as I began imagining my corpse in a dumpster next to a Denny's somewhere.
After a few minutes of going upstairs I remembered my 15th birthday, that day I learned that all my friends were fake, not a single one came to my birthday, neither did my parents, In fact they didn't even set up the party, Joe set up the entire party, helped me set up invitations for my friends, and was the only person who even bothered to be there.
"Can't believe I forgot about Joe for those five months," I thought as we finally arrived at room 303.
"Ladies first," the manager said.
I became paranoid as I entered the room with the manager behind me.
*Slam.
The door was slammed closed as I investigated the room, not thinking much about it I continued investigating, first I checked the bedroom, I found Joe's phone randomly on the floor.
Then I heard the sound of someone locking. The manager lunged at me with a knife. Adrenaline rushed through my blood stream as I dodged the knife, dashed into the kitchen, and grabbed a knife. The manager suddenly became scared, or at least he looked scared since I also had a knife.
I was able to unlock the door while simultaneously watching him for any sudden movements, my back leaned on the door as I unlocked the door without looking, I'm very lucky the lock didn't require a key from the inside.
I swiftly opened the door and ran downstairs, the manager followed, my legs began shaking uncontrollably. The adrenaline had officially ran out, the manager continued the chase.
"There's cameras up here!!," this one sentence alone made the manager stop what he was doing, go on the floor and start crying knowing he would be exposed for his attempt at killing.
I became very confused, "why was he crying" I wondered. I then realized this was my chance to escape, I escaped that horrid hotel.
"Turn on you stupid thing!!" I yelled at the phone as it refused to turn on due to its lack of battery. I decided to find a hotel where I could charge my phone and rest for a bit.
I couldn't go to this one since the manager almost killed me, luckily for me a hotel wasn't too far away from the other one, a common trend done by many hotel companies.
I rented a room for $70 a day, I had $100 left.
"Did the manager kill Joe, he might've been trying to kill me in order to ensure no one finds his remains," this thought alone had me up the entire night.
I continued my investigation believing there's still a chance that he's alive, I checked Joe's phone in hopes of finding his whereabouts.
I found a few messages on his phone, except a cut off message on bumble. He was messaging a woman named Katelyn. "Maybe he was living with that woman's home" I thought.
After reading enough of the messages I was able to find the woman's address.
On my way there I felt a bit light headed, I clasped onto the ground, all thoughts vanished as I began to fade away.
I woke up with my shirt soaked in water, same with my pants. My feet felt the wet carpet touch my feet as the coldness sunk in.
My nose burned as the smell of several moldy walls intoxicated my lungs.
I was surrounded by darkness, I ventured this darkness in fear, what if I wasn't alone, what if I just feared the dark. The sound of flies every once and awhile echoed in my ear.
I would soon realize that both of these were true.
My eyes saw a light illuminating in the distance, I dashed towards the light, feeling warmth for the first time being in this place, it felt amazing until I encountered another human being.
"Judging from your number, you must be a newcomer," the man said.
"Follow me" the man added. He refused to elaborate further, I didn't know anything about this place so I reluctantly followed him.
The man gave off a very creepy vibe, he wore a black coat with a yellow stripe on his left sleeve, his sleeve had a hole revealing his or a number, 64 was his number.
"What's your name," I said attempting to strike some conversation, instead of keeping the strange atmosphere. He continued walking without a sound to be heard from him.
A flashback struck me reminding me of the very possible chance that this nameless man could try and kill me.
"It's not like you have a choice" my brain told me as I continued to follow him.
A sudden bright light from the sky hit me. I noticed a village in the direction we were headed.
A man in a fox mask approached us, his mask was gray and black both having different sides of the mask, the man held a baseball bat with barbwire wrapped around the wood, the wood was a grayish color.
"Mike, who have you brought to our village," the man said. "A newcomer" Mike responded.
"I assumed the person who brought me here was Mike, the other guy's name has yet to be revealed," I thought.
"My name is Michael, what is your name, newcomer," Michael said. "My name is Jamey," I responded. "Follow me, Jamey," Michael said. Michael took me to the village, where I was given three job choices.
"Alright before we set you up with a house, you'll need a job, your current number gives you three job choices," Michael said.
"Michael, what's the firing squad," I said.
"The firing squad moves through several other rooms exterminating monsters and other hostile creatures" Michael responded.
"Training is optional since we don't expect most to come out alive regardless" Michael added.
"Although firing squads dangerous I don't wanna live here forever, in fact I still need to find Joe," I thought.
"You may be reluctant to join the firing squad, however joining the firing squad is one of the best ways to explore the land of the forgotten, thus increasing your number," Michael said.
"What is the number?" I asked Michael
"The number is your lifespan, the amount of rooms you explore the bigger your lifespan becomes, your current number says you have 11 years, this is one greater than the number every newcomer gets" Micheal said.
"The number is typically used to determine what jobs you can get as well," Micheal added.
Michael escorted me to the barracks where I'd be assigned my first mission.
I refused to do any training, mainly because I wanted to begin searching for Joe as quickly as possible, he may have gotten stuck here, although the possibility was slim it was still a possibility.
Although I refused training Micheal gave me a guide that contained 10 pages, the pages look old, it's cover was incredibly dusty, despite all that its leather still felt smooth.
As I approached the barracks my feet were no longer greeted with gravel but mud, my feet sunk into the mud, the process of pulling my feet out the mud for every step became tiresome. I was sent to collect rice at room 23.
An 8'9 man approached me, "name's sergeant Sergio, I'm your commander from now on!!!!" Sergeant Sergio yelled as spit was launched onto my face. His foot shaked the floors, you could hear his footsteps from a mile away.
Sergio escorted me to the firing squad. On my way there I heard the sweet crunch sound my feet made when it collided with the gravel. Sergio's veins seemed to always be popping out, his muscles always tense, he seemed to always be excited or angry.
Sergio violently munched on so candy bar, it's wrapper was red and white, spelling out Snickers.
Sergeant Sergio and I met my comrades, Joseph Johnson, Kevin Kent, Niko Nagi, and Kenny Sparks.
"Everyone listen one, your mission is to acquire at least 10 pounds of rice preferably from room 23, if you are unsuccessful, you are not to return without a casket, do you understand!!" Said Sergeant Sergio.
"Yes sir" we all replied in unity. Looking at my comrades I attempted to predict which roles each would follow.
Joseph, he wore a black hoodie, long sleeves concealing his number, and sweat pants, he stood tall with a very confident impression, he'll lead us through many struggles and keep us in one piece.
Kevin, he strafed back and forth nervously, his face seemed a little pale, easy to intimidate however this does mean he probably won't do anything stupid, he's the weakest link.
Niko, with his cold expression he would deal with the most extreme situations, his impression marked him as a savage who showed no mercy, his only goal being survival, he'll keep us alive but we may lose our sanity in the process.
Kenny, her inability to stop eyeballing Sergio's candy bar gives the impression of one who seeks food, this may affect us in the long run if we make it that far, her craving for food may look small but may result in someone who reacts based on impulse and impulse alone.
We began are journey as we left the warmth of the village we ventured to the next room. My feet were no longer greeted with gravel, mud, or anything of the sweet outdoors but the cold wet carpet once more, this time no lights were in sight. I fearfully walked through the darkness, I could still see a few of my comrades except Kevin, he ran off into the darkness, his screams echoing through the soulless tunnels.
*Crunch. The sound of a half full bottle of water made as it collided with my feet. Niko pulled out a lantern bringing me joy once more, no longer would we be in complete darkness. Until it shut off, fear struck me once again. A heard a very loud roar followed by the loud footsteps of a spider, I then noticed Kenny eating a potato, Kenny also had a ton of water bottles.
Niko threw a torch revealing a terrifying spider, the spider was enormous, it's size equivalent to a truck. Kevin's corpse was now in sight as it hang there waiting to eaten by the spider.
I was suddenly frozen, my body stood still not responding to a single command I gave it. *Bang, the sound of a gun, followed by the flash from its muzzle, Niko welded a desert eagle, A few moments later another bang, and another until only the sound of desperate clicks could be heard, we all dashed through the room without thought of where we were or where we were headed.
The spider roared one last time before collapsing onto the ground. We approached the next room, freeing us from the darkness and freeing are nose from the terrible mold smell that was burning our noses. Kenny, noticing a bag of potatoes dashed without hesitation sealing her fate, what appeared to be a humanoid like figure completely composed of black mold snatched her up refusing to let go as she turned to dust. She was nothing but dirt in only ten seconds.
submitted by Force-4747 to writers [link] [comments]
It was a tuesday, 6am, my brother Joe, jumped on a plane to Canada.
He was successful, or so I thought.
At the time I expected him to return home in 2-3 months, however this wasn't the case, after 4 months I finally called the cops to report a missing person.
Eventually five months passed and I decided to go searching for him.
After another month I got on a plane to Canada.
"What if he was kidnapped and then brutally mutilated," I thought as my heart raced.
Joe gave me the hotel he was at before he left, this gave me a few clues but it wasn't much, when I arrived I asked the manager if he saw Joe leave the hotel or if he knew about Joe's whereabouts.
"I never saw Joe leave, his room is still empty so you can check it out," the manager said. "What room" I responded. "Room 303, I'll escort you there" the manager said.
The bright lights reflected the hall floors. "Why would this man be following me into Joe's room, what if he killed Joe, what if I'm next" I thought as I began imagining my corpse in a dumpster next to a Denny's somewhere.
After a few minutes of going upstairs I remembered my 15th birthday, that day I learned that all my friends were fake, not a single one came to my birthday, neither did my parents, In fact they didn't even set up the party, Joe set up the entire party, helped me set up invitations for my friends, and was the only person who even bothered to be there.
"Can't believe I forgot about Joe for those five months," I thought as we finally arrived at room 303.
"Ladies first," the manager said.
I became paranoid as I entered the room with the manager behind me.
*Slam.
The door was slammed closed as I investigated the room, not thinking much about it I continued investigating, first I checked the bedroom, I found Joe's phone randomly on the floor.
Then I heard the sound of someone locking. The manager lunged at me with a knife. Adrenaline rushed through my blood stream as I dodged the knife, dashed into the kitchen, and grabbed a knife. The manager suddenly became scared, or at least he looked scared since I also had a knife.
I was able to unlock the door while simultaneously watching him for any sudden movements, my back leaned on the door as I unlocked the door without looking, I'm very lucky the lock didn't require a key from the inside.
I swiftly opened the door and ran downstairs, the manager followed, my legs began shaking uncontrollably. The adrenaline had officially ran out, the manager continued the chase.
"There's cameras up here!!," this one sentence alone made the manager stop what he was doing, go on the floor and start crying knowing he would be exposed for his attempt at killing.
I became very confused, "why was he crying" I wondered. I then realized this was my chance to escape, I escaped that horrid hotel.
"Turn on you stupid thing!!" I yelled at the phone as it refused to turn on due to its lack of battery. I decided to find a hotel where I could charge my phone and rest for a bit.
I couldn't go to this one since the manager almost killed me, luckily for me a hotel wasn't too far away from the other one, a common trend done by many hotel companies.
I rented a room for $70 a day, I had $100 left.
"Did the manager kill Joe, he might've been trying to kill me in order to ensure no one finds his remains," this thought alone had me up the entire night.
I continued my investigation believing there's still a chance that he's alive, I checked Joe's phone in hopes of finding his whereabouts.
I found a few messages on his phone, except a cut off message on bumble. He was messaging a woman named Katelyn. "Maybe he was living with that woman's home" I thought.
After reading enough of the messages I was able to find the woman's address.
On my way there I felt a bit light headed, I clasped onto the ground, all thoughts vanished as I began to fade away.
I woke up with my shirt soaked in water, same with my pants. My feet felt the wet carpet touch my feet as the coldness sunk in.
My nose burned as the smell of several moldy walls intoxicated my lungs.
I was surrounded by darkness, I ventured this darkness in fear, what if I wasn't alone, what if I just feared the dark. The sound of flies every once and awhile echoed in my ear.
I would soon realize that both of these were true.
My eyes saw a light illuminating in the distance, I dashed towards the light, feeling warmth for the first time being in this place, it felt amazing until I encountered another human being.
"Judging from your number, you must be a newcomer," the man said.
"Follow me" the man added. He refused to elaborate further, I didn't know anything about this place so I reluctantly followed him.
The man gave off a very creepy vibe, he wore a black coat with a yellow stripe on his left sleeve, his sleeve had a hole revealing his or a number, 64 was his number.
"What's your name," I said attempting to strike some conversation, instead of keeping the strange atmosphere. He continued walking without a sound to be heard from him.
A flashback struck me reminding me of the very possible chance that this nameless man could try and kill me.
"It's not like you have a choice" my brain told me as I continued to follow him.
A sudden bright light from the sky hit me. I noticed a village in the direction we were headed.
A man in a fox mask approached us, his mask was gray and black both having different sides of the mask, the man held a baseball bat with barbwire wrapped around the wood, the wood was a grayish color.
"Mike, who have you brought to our village," the man said. "A newcomer" Mike responded.
"I assumed the person who brought me here was Mike, the other guy's name has yet to be revealed," I thought.
"My name is Michael, what is your name, newcomer," Michael said. "My name is Jamey," I responded. "Follow me, Jamey," Michael said. Michael took me to the village, where I was given three job choices.
"Alright before we set you up with a house, you'll need a job, your current number gives you three job choices," Michael said.
"Michael, what's the firing squad," I said.
"The firing squad moves through several other rooms exterminating monsters and other hostile creatures" Michael responded.
"Training is optional since we don't expect most to come out alive regardless" Michael added.
"Although firing squads dangerous I don't wanna live here forever, in fact I still need to find Joe," I thought.
"You may be reluctant to join the firing squad, however joining the firing squad is one of the best ways to explore the land of the forgotten, thus increasing your number," Michael said.
"What is the number?" I asked Michael
"The number is your lifespan, the amount of rooms you explore the bigger your lifespan becomes, your current number says you have 11 years, this is one greater than the number every newcomer gets" Micheal said.
"The number is typically used to determine what jobs you can get as well," Micheal added.
Michael escorted me to the barracks where I'd be assigned my first mission.
I refused to do any training, mainly because I wanted to begin searching for Joe as quickly as possible, he may have gotten stuck here, although the possibility was slim it was still a possibility.
Although I refused training Micheal gave me a guide that contained 10 pages, the pages look old, it's cover was incredibly dusty, despite all that its leather still felt smooth.
As I approached the barracks my feet were no longer greeted with gravel but mud, my feet sunk into the mud, the process of pulling my feet out the mud for every step became tiresome. I was sent to collect rice at room 23.
An 8'9 man approached me, "name's sergeant Sergio, I'm your commander from now on!!!!" Sergeant Sergio yelled as spit was launched onto my face. His foot shaked the floors, you could hear his footsteps from a mile away.
Sergio escorted me to the firing squad. On my way there I heard the sweet crunch sound my feet made when it collided with the gravel. Sergio's veins seemed to always be popping out, his muscles always tense, he seemed to always be excited or angry.
Sergio violently munched on so candy bar, it's wrapper was red and white, spelling out Snickers.
Sergeant Sergio and I met my comrades, Joseph Johnson, Kevin Kent, Niko Nagi, and Kenny Sparks.
"Everyone listen one, your mission is to acquire at least 10 pounds of rice preferably from room 23, if you are unsuccessful, you are not to return without a casket, do you understand!!" Said Sergeant Sergio.
"Yes sir" we all replied in unity. Looking at my comrades I attempted to predict which roles each would follow.
Joseph, he wore a black hoodie, long sleeves concealing his number, and sweat pants, he stood tall with a very confident impression, he'll lead us through many struggles and keep us in one piece.
Kevin, he strafed back and forth nervously, his face seemed a little pale, easy to intimidate however this does mean he probably won't do anything stupid, he's the weakest link.
Niko, with his cold expression he would deal with the most extreme situations, his impression marked him as a savage who showed no mercy, his only goal being survival, he'll keep us alive but we may lose our sanity in the process.
Kenny, her inability to stop eyeballing Sergio's candy bar gives the impression of one who seeks food, this may affect us in the long run if we make it that far, her craving for food may look small but may result in someone who reacts based on impulse and impulse alone.
We began are journey as we left the warmth of the village we ventured to the next room. My feet were no longer greeted with gravel, mud, or anything of the sweet outdoors but the cold wet carpet once more, this time no lights were in sight. I fearfully walked through the darkness, I could still see a few of my comrades except Kevin, he ran off into the darkness, his screams echoing through the soulless tunnels.
*Crunch. The sound of a half full bottle of water made as it collided with my feet. Niko pulled out a lantern bringing me joy once more, no longer would we be in complete darkness. Until it shut off, fear struck me once again. A heard a very loud roar followed by the loud footsteps of a spider, I then noticed Kenny eating a potato, Kenny also had a ton of water bottles.
Niko threw a torch revealing a terrifying spider, the spider was enormous, it's size equivalent to a truck. Kevin's corpse was now in sight as it hang there waiting to eaten by the spider.
I was suddenly frozen, my body stood still not responding to a single command I gave it. *Bang, the sound of a gun, followed by the flash from its muzzle, Niko welded a desert eagle, A few moments later another bang, and another until only the sound of desperate clicks could be heard, we all dashed through the room without thought of where we were or where we were headed.
The spider roared one last time before collapsing onto the ground. We approached the next room, freeing us from the darkness and freeing are nose from the terrible mold smell that was burning our noses. Kenny, noticing a bag of potatoes dashed without hesitation sealing her fate, what appeared to be a humanoid like figure completely composed of black mold snatched her up refusing to let go as she turned to dust. She was nothing but dirt in only ten seconds.
2024.05.21 02:38 Erwinblackthorn Brandon Sanderson is Woke
New Flash everyone: the guy who hangs out with Daniel Greene(a pro-fairy rights socialist), is loved by redditors, and got a Hugo award is… woke. Who would have ever seen that coming? But, thanks to Jon Del Arroz making a video about it on May 18th, I am here to repeat the news back to you so there is an easily accessible source as to HOW he’s woke. Everything was revealed back in January 2023, but I want people to understand the implications and narrative that he’s presenting when he says his concerns about fairy rights. By the end of this, you will realize that people calling themselves Christian does not cause them to be immune to wokeness.
In fact, with how Christianity has influenced wokeness into existence, it’s likely a lot of "Christians" are what we can call “first wave wokeness”.
For context, Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon, part of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormonism is almost exclusively a US issue, and I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of youtubers who tend to be Mormon women(probably because they have other women in the house to do the chores). These people are great with money, big in business, and their church is anti-fairy. A lot of problems the fairy-rights activists have are with Mormon churches, which is strange for Europeans to witness with how open a lot of their churches are, outside of the US. Protestant, evangelical, unitarian, the national church of Denmark, it’s a big list.
But in 2008, Brandon wrote an essay about his Mormon beliefs on how Dumbledore from Harry Potter liked to have wands stirred around in his brown cauldron. His quote:
Fast forward to 2023, after he hangs out with a bunch of woke youtubers, and we get a new quote from Brandon:
But that’s been the point for a while, right?
Wokeness is here to restructure both historical evidence and even religions, in order to shift cultures and social institutions to obey this progressive change. Words are changed in the dictionary, social “norms” are changed to be updated for a “modern audience”, and postmodernists like Foucault were able to trick college kids into thinking the Greeks were all pixie fairies. Once a critical theorist gets their hands on something with power, their goal is not to keep it as it is. It is to keep it for themselves. This is why you will hear these people say everything is subjective, which is secret code for “Look at me: I’m the captain of reality now.”
But wait, it gets better! Brandon Sanderson continued with:
Brandon cares deeply about the pain he caused to his wallet… I mean the fairies who saw his essay. He was an award winning author back then, he didn’t know it would be a global thing. It was supposed to be only seen by people in Utah, that’s it. This is what we call: bullshit. The woke rely heavily on gaslighting and pretending they’re ignorant of everything, while telling others that they need to learn and understand EVERYTHING about a subject before they are even able to mention it.
He was already big on reddit, he knew all about his fandom, and he knew about his publisher, Tor. The only thing that really changed is that now he is unable to stick to being liberal and he has to present himself as progressive. Why? Well, the new Amazon deal happened recently, and he’s the writer of the series The Wheel of Time. As if Rings of Power wasn’t evidence enough of how Amazon mistreats their properties, Brandon was forced to erase his own past, like Agent J in Men in Black, burning his own hands in the process.
I’m not surprised that he’s woke or even that Christians are falling to this woke inquisition. When I said first wave wokeness, I would like to clarify why it’s the catalyst for all of this stupidity. Wokeness is not of Christian values, but instead a parasite upon Christianity, in the same way Gnosticism and Satanism would be. When Christianity started to allow new sects, and a lot of these were considered valid, the crazy sex cults of the 60s opened the floodgates for a bunch of crazy reinterpretations. It’s the same way as how there are still circles of Christianity that go for flat earth theory or say that dinosaurs don’t exist, with these people usually at the forefront of the home-schooling movement.
It’s not that home-schooling is bad by itself, it’s that bad people use it to then have the good people using it be wrongfully grouped into the same area, in the same way gun-ownership does. This type of bastardization has always been a problem in the US, due to the lack of authority over what makes something categorized as such a thing, thanks to liberalism allowing the freedom to constantly change things. As time went on, this liberalism changed into progressivism, with the key difference being that liberalism is an allowance of change while progressivism is an enforced change. The liberalism of the 1800s allowed the Confederates to claim Christianity approved of their enslavement of black people, by blaming the story of Ham and using scripture to claim it was okay to enslave certain people for generations. We always see this strange cherry-picking of scripture from fake Christians, and this problem has expanded into the Vatican itself with the current and following generations of Popes.
A lot of times, we’ll hear news about how Christians are under attack, a bakery is targeted to expose discrimination, or even where people claim they were banned from twitch for being Christian. But what they get wrong is that they are in the same circle as liberal and progressive Christianity, their openness created this weakness to tourism, and most Christian circles have been taken over in the US since before the 60s. The south has a culture of being liberal, Mormons have a culture of being liberal, protestants are very liberal, all because the US began as a liberal culture in the form of classical liberalism. The libertarian argument is always used by these liberal groups, that changes into the progressive enforcement, and over the years these liberal people get infected by the virus.
Add money to the mix, and we have ourselves an endless chain of liberal minded people falling to wokeness. The “redemption” narrative, along with original sin, from Christianity is currently its main weakness. The appeal to ignorance is another weakness, with people playing skeptic as a snake slithers through the grass. Christianity isn’t the problem by itself, it’s the naivety that comes from blind faith, which then expands into a contradictory blind faith that people are good inside, only to later wonder why everything is changing for the worse when evil people are put in charge. Fantasy stories have been under attack by the woke for quite a while, long before they tried to appropriate Tolkien with Rings of Power.
The fantasy that is controlled by the woke is an extension to their attack on religion, because to them a fantasy story is no different than a bible. Mythological presentation, symbolic themes, a dream-like world to present morals to follow; the entire thing has been used by Brandon to then have him later claim that he’s always had fairy characters since the beginning. Sure, his religion says fairies are bad, but then he virtue signals by claiming he’s always made fiction about how they’re good. He would never say this if the publishing world made sense and if publishers were the way they were in the 1950s. That is because he would never have to choose between religion and money back then, with money always mattering more to the typical materialist.
I’m sure people will say that I’m being hard on Christians, or that I’m evil for saying this, or even that I am a satanist for noticing. These people would only be angry at the truth being said, which is the opposite of what Christianity teaches. Fantasy writers, like Brandon, have a lot of supporters, with this support merging between the woke and Mormons. So many feel that they need to make sense of their fandom, so they claim their religion is wokeness, converting it into blind Satanism. This is far from the truth and we need to condemn those who focus solely on radical subjectivity.
Especially if they blame God for their stupid takes, like how Brandon does now.
submitted by Erwinblackthorn to TDLH [link] [comments]
In fact, with how Christianity has influenced wokeness into existence, it’s likely a lot of "Christians" are what we can call “first wave wokeness”.
For context, Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon, part of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormonism is almost exclusively a US issue, and I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of youtubers who tend to be Mormon women(probably because they have other women in the house to do the chores). These people are great with money, big in business, and their church is anti-fairy. A lot of problems the fairy-rights activists have are with Mormon churches, which is strange for Europeans to witness with how open a lot of their churches are, outside of the US. Protestant, evangelical, unitarian, the national church of Denmark, it’s a big list.
But in 2008, Brandon wrote an essay about his Mormon beliefs on how Dumbledore from Harry Potter liked to have wands stirred around in his brown cauldron. His quote:
How does this relate to Dumbledore? I'm not trying to present him as an antagonist or a villain. All I'm saying is that if you believe in the truth of your message, then you shouldn't care if someone decent, respected, and intelligent is depicted as believing differently from yourself. Decent, respected, and intelligent people can be wrong--and you can still respect them. It's okay. That doesn't threaten our points, since we (theoretically) believe that they are eternal and stronger than any argument we could make.Back in this time, Brandon had only been an author for 3 years, but he won an award for his first published book, Elantris. He was being careful with his words, and his take is considered liberal. He was trying to defend the backlash JK Rowling received for her (poor) choice of virtue signaling and tried to mend this defense with his own religion. Mentioning his religious views is what got him canceled back then, which he later apologized for in 2011:
I cannot be deaf to the pleas of [fairy] couples who want important things, such as hospital visitation rights, shared insurance, and custody rights. At the same time, I accept and sustain the leaders of the LDS church. I believe that a prophet of God has said that widespread legislation to approve [fairy] marriage will bring pain and suffering to all involved.He was not backing down from his religion yet. His goal post moved to the legal ramifications of the US, which are separate from his church(remember, church and state, supposed to be separate in the US), but he was still saying his religion wanted him to oppose people calling it a marriage and having it in churches. This was a second “cancellation” that didn’t go very far, mostly because he was able to use religion as an excuse for his take, with the Christian Cake Packed With Fudge Scandal not happening yet(2018).
Fast forward to 2023, after he hangs out with a bunch of woke youtubers, and we get a new quote from Brandon:
The church’s first prophet, Joseph Smith, famously taught, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” My current beliefs are where I’ve arrived on my journey, as I attempt to show the love that Jesus Christ taught. I look forward to seeing further changes in the church, and I work to make sure I am helping from within it to create a place that is welcoming of [fairy] people and ideas. I would love, for example, to see the church recognize [fairy] marriage among its members. Both temporally and eternally. I would support ordaining [tinkerbell] men to the priesthood. (And would support the ordination of women, though that is another issue.)That’s interesting. It seems like he made a complete 180 on his stance, claims that he’s always believed this new stance, blames Jesus for this new stance, and then doubles down on this new stance by adding female ordination(becoming a priest and higher) and even Tinkerbells. As time went on, he decided that his religion was totally wrong about fairies, and this 13 year difference means way more than the nearly 200 years Mormonism has been around. I believe a fellow Mormon, Shadversity, would love to have a discussion about how any of this makes sense, but I’m starting to feel that he’s the same way. Who knows if Ethan Van Sciver understands Mormonism as well as Brandon Sanderson does, with how easy it is to manipulate prophecies and reinterpret scripture.
But that’s been the point for a while, right?
Wokeness is here to restructure both historical evidence and even religions, in order to shift cultures and social institutions to obey this progressive change. Words are changed in the dictionary, social “norms” are changed to be updated for a “modern audience”, and postmodernists like Foucault were able to trick college kids into thinking the Greeks were all pixie fairies. Once a critical theorist gets their hands on something with power, their goal is not to keep it as it is. It is to keep it for themselves. This is why you will hear these people say everything is subjective, which is secret code for “Look at me: I’m the captain of reality now.”
But wait, it gets better! Brandon Sanderson continued with:
Back in 2007, I was mostly known only in my community, not to the world at large. The essay, then, was directed at my local community, and was more controversial among them (for being too liberal) than it was controversial to the world at large for being [fairy]phobic. That might surprise you, if you’ve read the excerpts that often float around the internet. This was mostly me trying to encourage other members of the church to be more open and welcoming of [fairy] characters and ideas.You see, he's honored to hear about the life of a bug chaser.
That said, the essay does display the casual bigotry common to people who (like myself) have lived lives where we haven’t had to deal with some of the issues common to the lives of people suffering discrimination. Many of the assertions (such as my view on [fairy] marriage) do not reflect my current stance. After writing it, and interacting with those who found it objectionable–even painful–I came to understand them and their experiences better. Though they did not owe me that honor, they gave it freely.
Brandon cares deeply about the pain he caused to his wallet… I mean the fairies who saw his essay. He was an award winning author back then, he didn’t know it would be a global thing. It was supposed to be only seen by people in Utah, that’s it. This is what we call: bullshit. The woke rely heavily on gaslighting and pretending they’re ignorant of everything, while telling others that they need to learn and understand EVERYTHING about a subject before they are even able to mention it.
He was already big on reddit, he knew all about his fandom, and he knew about his publisher, Tor. The only thing that really changed is that now he is unable to stick to being liberal and he has to present himself as progressive. Why? Well, the new Amazon deal happened recently, and he’s the writer of the series The Wheel of Time. As if Rings of Power wasn’t evidence enough of how Amazon mistreats their properties, Brandon was forced to erase his own past, like Agent J in Men in Black, burning his own hands in the process.
I’m not surprised that he’s woke or even that Christians are falling to this woke inquisition. When I said first wave wokeness, I would like to clarify why it’s the catalyst for all of this stupidity. Wokeness is not of Christian values, but instead a parasite upon Christianity, in the same way Gnosticism and Satanism would be. When Christianity started to allow new sects, and a lot of these were considered valid, the crazy sex cults of the 60s opened the floodgates for a bunch of crazy reinterpretations. It’s the same way as how there are still circles of Christianity that go for flat earth theory or say that dinosaurs don’t exist, with these people usually at the forefront of the home-schooling movement.
It’s not that home-schooling is bad by itself, it’s that bad people use it to then have the good people using it be wrongfully grouped into the same area, in the same way gun-ownership does. This type of bastardization has always been a problem in the US, due to the lack of authority over what makes something categorized as such a thing, thanks to liberalism allowing the freedom to constantly change things. As time went on, this liberalism changed into progressivism, with the key difference being that liberalism is an allowance of change while progressivism is an enforced change. The liberalism of the 1800s allowed the Confederates to claim Christianity approved of their enslavement of black people, by blaming the story of Ham and using scripture to claim it was okay to enslave certain people for generations. We always see this strange cherry-picking of scripture from fake Christians, and this problem has expanded into the Vatican itself with the current and following generations of Popes.
A lot of times, we’ll hear news about how Christians are under attack, a bakery is targeted to expose discrimination, or even where people claim they were banned from twitch for being Christian. But what they get wrong is that they are in the same circle as liberal and progressive Christianity, their openness created this weakness to tourism, and most Christian circles have been taken over in the US since before the 60s. The south has a culture of being liberal, Mormons have a culture of being liberal, protestants are very liberal, all because the US began as a liberal culture in the form of classical liberalism. The libertarian argument is always used by these liberal groups, that changes into the progressive enforcement, and over the years these liberal people get infected by the virus.
Add money to the mix, and we have ourselves an endless chain of liberal minded people falling to wokeness. The “redemption” narrative, along with original sin, from Christianity is currently its main weakness. The appeal to ignorance is another weakness, with people playing skeptic as a snake slithers through the grass. Christianity isn’t the problem by itself, it’s the naivety that comes from blind faith, which then expands into a contradictory blind faith that people are good inside, only to later wonder why everything is changing for the worse when evil people are put in charge. Fantasy stories have been under attack by the woke for quite a while, long before they tried to appropriate Tolkien with Rings of Power.
The fantasy that is controlled by the woke is an extension to their attack on religion, because to them a fantasy story is no different than a bible. Mythological presentation, symbolic themes, a dream-like world to present morals to follow; the entire thing has been used by Brandon to then have him later claim that he’s always had fairy characters since the beginning. Sure, his religion says fairies are bad, but then he virtue signals by claiming he’s always made fiction about how they’re good. He would never say this if the publishing world made sense and if publishers were the way they were in the 1950s. That is because he would never have to choose between religion and money back then, with money always mattering more to the typical materialist.
I’m sure people will say that I’m being hard on Christians, or that I’m evil for saying this, or even that I am a satanist for noticing. These people would only be angry at the truth being said, which is the opposite of what Christianity teaches. Fantasy writers, like Brandon, have a lot of supporters, with this support merging between the woke and Mormons. So many feel that they need to make sense of their fandom, so they claim their religion is wokeness, converting it into blind Satanism. This is far from the truth and we need to condemn those who focus solely on radical subjectivity.
Especially if they blame God for their stupid takes, like how Brandon does now.
2024.05.21 01:01 el_innombrable4444 Josuke wasn't an accident
Josuke actually wasn't an accident since Joseph knew that he and the others were going to have to face DIO, so he had it in case the plan against the vampire failed and someone else had to face him. Joseph could not have deceived Suzy Q because in the series it is shown that the upbringing that Erina gave him was very strict and because of that upbringing he had a lot of respect for women. The DIO and Josuke stands look quite similar, only their colors change a little, in fact on the color wheel pink is the opposite of yellow and on the color scale yellow is the opposite of blue. Additionally, both stands have tubes in the back, it's just that DIO's are oxygen tanks and Josuke's are cables. This theory would also explain Josuke's illness because I think it is not explained in the series, when Josuke was a child he contracted a serious illness and when we saw him older he had a stand, so we can say that Josuke had the same illness as Holly. And since the Crusaders managed to defeat DIO, Josuke would survive and get a stand
submitted by el_innombrable4444 to StardustCrusaders [link] [comments]
2024.05.21 00:18 Far-War-3804 B008 ENTER THE "RED HATS": A DECENTRALIZED COALITION of ACTIVE DUTY and RESERVISTS calling themselves the “RED HATS” have CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY for the ANOMALOUS 4.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE that ROCKED the TRISTATE AREA, a source in General Eric M. Smith’s office Said. April 6, 2024.
 | https://preview.redd.it/thngsvr5pn1d1.jpg?width=696&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a98c53a27e120916ad6577396b56aa9313bf873 submitted by Far-War-3804 to CourtofAges [link] [comments] B008 ENTER THE "RED HATS": A DECENTRALIZED COALITION of ACTIVE DUTY and RESERVISTS calling themselves the “RED HATS” have CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY for the ANOMALOUS 4.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE that ROCKED the TRISTATE AREA, a source in General Eric M. Smith’s office Said. April 6, 2024. A decentralized coalition of active duty and reservists calling themselves the “Red Hats” have claimed responsibility for the anomalous 4.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Tristate area early Friday morning, a source in General Eric M. Smith’s office told Real Raw News. Saturday afternoon Gen. Smith received at his home address a letter supposedly authored by a former protégé of General David H. Berger, Gen. Smith’s predecessor. White Hats are withholding the author’s name until they verify the writer’s identity and claims. The context was straightforward: “Obama and Biden’s people, the Deep State, are not responsible for Friday’s earthquake. We are. Who are we? You’ve embraced a nickname coined by civilians. White Hats, a color that symbolizes nobility and purity. You can think of us as Red Hats, a color symbolizing strength and…blood…and war. Blood for blood. We have no quarrel with you and, in fact, we fight for the same outcome, the annihilation of corrupt, perverted elected and appointed officials that started fucking up this country the day Clinton was sworn into office. You and I, General Smith, are gladiatorial warriors, but we have diametrically opposite ideologies. Your forerunner sat idly by as an election got stollen under his nose. And you, you who picked up the mantle, and your friend at Guantanamo Bay, lack the wherewithal to do what must be done swiftly, efficiently. If you can’t do the job, we will. You’re my brother-in-arms, and we won’t impede your progress if you don’t interfere with ours. If we resolve business before you do, let it be. In either case, justice, constitutional justice, will be served. Know this, my friend: We are fewer in number, but what we lack in numbers, we have in determination. And we are all around you. I’d ask you to unite with us, but I know enough of you to know you’re gritting your teeth while reading this. Now, let me explain why we acted, and maybe you’ll understand,” part of the letter said. The author, without providing evidence, claimed that the Deep State had recently constructed a Hadron Collider, like CERN’s 27-kilometer ring particle accelerator, in New Jersey, and planned to use it to open a “portal” to a dimension bursting with malevolent apparitions whose power the Deep State sought. “It doesn’t matter if the collider does what they think it could—it was dangerous and had to be destroyed. That they secretly finished it mere miles from where President Trump and his family spend so much time was not a coincidence. It was a message. On my orders, my people infiltrated the underground complex, located the device, deployed the necessary ordnance, and destroyed it before the Deep State could bring it online,” the letter ended. The author signed the letter, symbolically, “Colonel Walter Kurtz,” the main antagonist of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now, which is based on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness. Below his name, the author put a bloody thumbprint and postscript saying, “No war is won without collateral damage.” In addition to the letter, the envelope held photographs of the U.S. Army Rangers who had been sent to investigate the earthquake as they were surveilling the FEMA and ATF agents. “While we were watching them, someone was watching us,” our source said. Obviously, the person who sent the letter isn’t named Kurtz, but if the letter passes the smell test, the guy we’re talking about is just as dangerous…and dedicated. General Smith does not condone the methods.” General Smith, he added, has canceled all leave, and recalled assets. We asked our source whether the letter’s author was ever a member of the White Hat council. “I can’t really say anymore right now,” he said. |
2024.05.20 22:47 Ecstatic-Mall8535 The Mandela (Catalogue) Effect Theory
So I've had this theory on my mind for quite a while but I have become more rigid in my belief of it since not only Mandela Catalyst but the new channel ''GENESIS APOCRYPHON'' as well. I know you guys have probably read endless litanies of theories written on this subreddit, so perhaps this will fall through the cracks like the rest and understandably so. Perhaps my theory is just flagrantly wrong also but I think even if that happens to be the case perhaps I can get some aspect of the Mandela Catalogue correct within this. I will begin with an introduction to the theory, then I will bring forth my evidence which will be followed with speculation upon the piece of evidence in relation to the theory. Finally, I will end with a conclusion based on the introduction and evidence combined.
Introduction:
There has been two aspects of the Mandela Catalogue which have distracted me ever since the series began, these two aspects are things which I see seldom discussed within the various theory channels, forums and other mediums which have taken on the yolk of unpacking this anomaly of a horror series. They are as follows:
In regards to question two, we need to properly define ''temporal'' which I have seen many wrongly define. Temporal does not simply refer to time but rather the perception of the linear progression of time from past to present to future. This perception is not universal in humanity and many cultures don't view time in this fashion. So we may be able to define ''Temporal Phenomena'' as psychological/sociological occurrences relating to the perception of linear time. Under this definition the Mandela Effect would be seen as a ''Temporal Phenomena''.
The theory I'm going to lay out before you requires these definitions to be cleared up and properly defined, for my theory directly relates to the theory and praxis of the alternates. I believe that the alternates are attempting to make humanity remember a different history, an alternate (badumtss) history which is not our own. However, what is history if you don't perceive time in a linear sense? If the alternates don't perceive time linearly or experience it temporally, then maybe history to them includes the present and future. If humanity begins to believe the alternate history which Gabriel and his flock are attempting to make us believe, then alternates will have total power over our world, I will explain why this is the case in the evidence section.
Evidence:
1A - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0EpOiu8YkI 1B - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1bYOi7lHJU 1C - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCl-M_l-Kv0
1A Evidence: Overthrone is essential to understanding what is going on within the Mandela Catalogue universe. We see here that a False Gabriel is taking the place of the biblical angel Gabriel in order to preaching a sort of prophecy or foretelling of what he will do, he will ''Fool the Shepherds'' he will ''Know their greatest fear'' before saying later to the shepherds ''I am your true saviour, I know everything about what makes you human. I know what you love. I know what you dread.'' and ultimately turning into the spooky Gabriel for lack of a better term. At the very end (Which I will not analyse fully for I don't believe the rest has much relevance to my theory) Gabriel says ''I deceived them, such weak minds''. So we know that there are shepherds (which seems to be distinct from THE Shepard) which may be followers or rather now former followers of the Shepard. We also see that he foretold his act of deceiving them to Joseph, perhaps to break Joseph down mentally before telling him to ''Wake Up'' which I will get into later.
1A Speculation: I think it would be a grave error to see Overthrone and all the subsequent alternate bible stories shown in the Mandela Catalogue as actual historical account in universe. What I mean by this is that the alternates are simply editing the cartoon to reflect what they want people to believe ergo Gabriel did not actually interact with these Biblical figures, the events shown in the cartoon did not actually happen (at least literally). I say this partially using an argument from silence admittedly, seeing as though we have no evidence that the events within the cartoons actually happened in universe but seeing as how alternates constantly corrupt videos to suit their needs I don't think this is a far out conclusion. However, I think there is ample evidence for this in 1B.
1B Evidence: The first upload of Alex's new and disturbing channel. I'm going to be a little cheeky here and include the whole channel in my analysis of 1B. Now we found out about this channel from the link shown on the tv when the news report was intercepted by the alternates. This may mean that the channel is in universe. The channels name is ''GENESIS APOCRYPHON'' which is incredibly groundbreaking in how we view the series and supports my speculation above. The Genesis Apocryphon is a real thing, it is one of the original seven dead sea scrolls and (According to Wikipedia :P) the Genesis Apocryphon lies within the "rewritten bible" category and is a retelling of the stories of the patriarchs. An Alternate Genesis. I believe this more than supports my speculation of 1A.From the banner of the channel we see Dave Lee's store with one of the signs saying ''Trade in your VHS'' and taking into account volume 4 we know that Dave Lee is in possession of a lot of the tapes we have seen previously on the main channel, if not all. Another thing to note is the @ for the Genesis Apocryphon channel, @ allocateundamage as if this channel may be perhaps allocating the undamaged tapes or tapes that are being repaired. Conveniently this segways us into the 1B video, it is the same video seen in overthrone but without the crazy alternate stuff going on. The most odd part of it is all the dialogue of Gabriel being cut out around half way through and the ending slowly going black and white. This is a damaged tape or a tape that was damaged being repaired, for example it may be an attempt at repairing the overthrone tape.
1B Speculation: I think that what we are seeing are David Lee's attempts at repairing the biblical cartoon tapes corrupted by the alternates and his collection of other damaged tapes. As we know from the end of Volume 4, these tapes are incredibly important to Gabriel for he said ''We have their prayers and their records''. I believe these records are the tapes of the corrupted bible cartoon tapes, this must have been why David Lee was an important target, if they lose those tapes then they lose their false account of history which they are trying to convince humanity of. However, David is already dead and this channel can be assumed to be in universe, so who's uploading these leftover tapes? Perhaps it's Thatcher, maybe he's copped on to what the alternates are trying to do.
1C Evidence: This video is most interesting, as it is a part of the biblical narrative that we've never seen before on the main channel; The Resurrection of Christ. The video starts off in the same relative normality established in the video prior but slowly goes on to reveal the usual dark elements that we see in the other corrupted Bible Cartoon tapes. It appears as though the longer the video goes on the worse it gets, as if there's parts which haven't been repaired yet. Ending with Gabriel in the tomb of Christ speaking to perhaps Mary Magdalene. Beyond that, there's not much hard evidence to be divulged in the case of my theory but there's a lot to speculate on.
1C Speculation: It appears as though all of these bible tapes may be representative or symbolic of what's presently going on in Mandela and the surrounding counties. With Mary Magdalene being a stand in for Evelin just how Adam and Eve seemed to be a stand in for Adam and Evelin in volume 4. Which could indicate that the alternates are trying to tell the story of what's going on currently in the Mandela Catalogue in order to have tangible events attached to the false history which they will preach to the world. Thus the present becomes the past and becomes the gospel.
2A - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUrCO_x3VHk&t=48s 2B - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8d12w6pMos&t=104s
2A/B Evidence: I should first note that I will not be analysing the M.A.D section of the video, I will instead analyse the standalone M.A.D video in another post about this theory maybe, nor will I be analysing the Toddler Stress Assessment section for I feel it holds no relevance to my theory. This video is the remake or restored edition of Volume 1, you will find out why I put this version of Volume 1 and the original Volume 1 as separate evidence entries in the speculation following. However, what I wish for you to notice now is the differences between the original and the restored version. Notice how many of the glitches, odd messages such as ''Kill yourself, there's not enough room for the two of us'' and the lack of the faceless alternate.
2A/B Speculation: This is not mere remastering of old videos on the part of Alex, the restored version is the version which has had all editing and falsities from the alternates removed. As much the same with Genesis Apocryphon, we are seeing the fruits of David and Thatcher's labour to restore the tapes and show the real history of what has been going on in Mandela county. We can assume that the alternates are not only using this as a form of rewriting history but also to implant themselves into the mind of the viewer as with Stanley.
In summary: The alternate history we see with the bible cartoons is not accurate history in universe, it is in fact a fake history being made up by the alternates perhaps to cement themselves in our collective psyche. It seems that David caught on to this which is why Gabriel had to get rid of him. Thatcher may soon discover this if he somehow gets a hold of David's tapes. The retold bible stories are representative of events that have been going on in Mandela county since the arrival of the alternates and these events may be an attempt to create a new gospel of sorts. They are targeting children specifically with this fake history since they will be more likely to forget the true history of the world, true history then becomes subject to the Mandela effect.
That's all I can muster to think of right now but I will consider making a part two to this theory as I think there is still a bunch more evidence to sift through. This post was more a proof of concept than anything.
submitted by Ecstatic-Mall8535 to MandelaCatalogue [link] [comments]
Introduction:
There has been two aspects of the Mandela Catalogue which have distracted me ever since the series began, these two aspects are things which I see seldom discussed within the various theory channels, forums and other mediums which have taken on the yolk of unpacking this anomaly of a horror series. They are as follows:
- Why was the name Mandela Catalogue chosen? Is it really just a random name that Alex came up with in reference to the fictional Mandela County?
- What is the true meaning of the US Department of Temporal Phenomena? Meaning, in what sense do their focus or actions relate to temporal operations?
In regards to question two, we need to properly define ''temporal'' which I have seen many wrongly define. Temporal does not simply refer to time but rather the perception of the linear progression of time from past to present to future. This perception is not universal in humanity and many cultures don't view time in this fashion. So we may be able to define ''Temporal Phenomena'' as psychological/sociological occurrences relating to the perception of linear time. Under this definition the Mandela Effect would be seen as a ''Temporal Phenomena''.
The theory I'm going to lay out before you requires these definitions to be cleared up and properly defined, for my theory directly relates to the theory and praxis of the alternates. I believe that the alternates are attempting to make humanity remember a different history, an alternate (badumtss) history which is not our own. However, what is history if you don't perceive time in a linear sense? If the alternates don't perceive time linearly or experience it temporally, then maybe history to them includes the present and future. If humanity begins to believe the alternate history which Gabriel and his flock are attempting to make us believe, then alternates will have total power over our world, I will explain why this is the case in the evidence section.
Evidence:
1A - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0EpOiu8YkI 1B - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1bYOi7lHJU 1C - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCl-M_l-Kv0
1A Evidence: Overthrone is essential to understanding what is going on within the Mandela Catalogue universe. We see here that a False Gabriel is taking the place of the biblical angel Gabriel in order to preaching a sort of prophecy or foretelling of what he will do, he will ''Fool the Shepherds'' he will ''Know their greatest fear'' before saying later to the shepherds ''I am your true saviour, I know everything about what makes you human. I know what you love. I know what you dread.'' and ultimately turning into the spooky Gabriel for lack of a better term. At the very end (Which I will not analyse fully for I don't believe the rest has much relevance to my theory) Gabriel says ''I deceived them, such weak minds''. So we know that there are shepherds (which seems to be distinct from THE Shepard) which may be followers or rather now former followers of the Shepard. We also see that he foretold his act of deceiving them to Joseph, perhaps to break Joseph down mentally before telling him to ''Wake Up'' which I will get into later.
1A Speculation: I think it would be a grave error to see Overthrone and all the subsequent alternate bible stories shown in the Mandela Catalogue as actual historical account in universe. What I mean by this is that the alternates are simply editing the cartoon to reflect what they want people to believe ergo Gabriel did not actually interact with these Biblical figures, the events shown in the cartoon did not actually happen (at least literally). I say this partially using an argument from silence admittedly, seeing as though we have no evidence that the events within the cartoons actually happened in universe but seeing as how alternates constantly corrupt videos to suit their needs I don't think this is a far out conclusion. However, I think there is ample evidence for this in 1B.
1B Evidence: The first upload of Alex's new and disturbing channel. I'm going to be a little cheeky here and include the whole channel in my analysis of 1B. Now we found out about this channel from the link shown on the tv when the news report was intercepted by the alternates. This may mean that the channel is in universe. The channels name is ''GENESIS APOCRYPHON'' which is incredibly groundbreaking in how we view the series and supports my speculation above. The Genesis Apocryphon is a real thing, it is one of the original seven dead sea scrolls and (According to Wikipedia :P) the Genesis Apocryphon lies within the "rewritten bible" category and is a retelling of the stories of the patriarchs. An Alternate Genesis. I believe this more than supports my speculation of 1A.From the banner of the channel we see Dave Lee's store with one of the signs saying ''Trade in your VHS'' and taking into account volume 4 we know that Dave Lee is in possession of a lot of the tapes we have seen previously on the main channel, if not all. Another thing to note is the @ for the Genesis Apocryphon channel, @ allocateundamage as if this channel may be perhaps allocating the undamaged tapes or tapes that are being repaired. Conveniently this segways us into the 1B video, it is the same video seen in overthrone but without the crazy alternate stuff going on. The most odd part of it is all the dialogue of Gabriel being cut out around half way through and the ending slowly going black and white. This is a damaged tape or a tape that was damaged being repaired, for example it may be an attempt at repairing the overthrone tape.
1B Speculation: I think that what we are seeing are David Lee's attempts at repairing the biblical cartoon tapes corrupted by the alternates and his collection of other damaged tapes. As we know from the end of Volume 4, these tapes are incredibly important to Gabriel for he said ''We have their prayers and their records''. I believe these records are the tapes of the corrupted bible cartoon tapes, this must have been why David Lee was an important target, if they lose those tapes then they lose their false account of history which they are trying to convince humanity of. However, David is already dead and this channel can be assumed to be in universe, so who's uploading these leftover tapes? Perhaps it's Thatcher, maybe he's copped on to what the alternates are trying to do.
1C Evidence: This video is most interesting, as it is a part of the biblical narrative that we've never seen before on the main channel; The Resurrection of Christ. The video starts off in the same relative normality established in the video prior but slowly goes on to reveal the usual dark elements that we see in the other corrupted Bible Cartoon tapes. It appears as though the longer the video goes on the worse it gets, as if there's parts which haven't been repaired yet. Ending with Gabriel in the tomb of Christ speaking to perhaps Mary Magdalene. Beyond that, there's not much hard evidence to be divulged in the case of my theory but there's a lot to speculate on.
1C Speculation: It appears as though all of these bible tapes may be representative or symbolic of what's presently going on in Mandela and the surrounding counties. With Mary Magdalene being a stand in for Evelin just how Adam and Eve seemed to be a stand in for Adam and Evelin in volume 4. Which could indicate that the alternates are trying to tell the story of what's going on currently in the Mandela Catalogue in order to have tangible events attached to the false history which they will preach to the world. Thus the present becomes the past and becomes the gospel.
2A - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUrCO_x3VHk&t=48s 2B - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8d12w6pMos&t=104s
2A/B Evidence: I should first note that I will not be analysing the M.A.D section of the video, I will instead analyse the standalone M.A.D video in another post about this theory maybe, nor will I be analysing the Toddler Stress Assessment section for I feel it holds no relevance to my theory. This video is the remake or restored edition of Volume 1, you will find out why I put this version of Volume 1 and the original Volume 1 as separate evidence entries in the speculation following. However, what I wish for you to notice now is the differences between the original and the restored version. Notice how many of the glitches, odd messages such as ''Kill yourself, there's not enough room for the two of us'' and the lack of the faceless alternate.
2A/B Speculation: This is not mere remastering of old videos on the part of Alex, the restored version is the version which has had all editing and falsities from the alternates removed. As much the same with Genesis Apocryphon, we are seeing the fruits of David and Thatcher's labour to restore the tapes and show the real history of what has been going on in Mandela county. We can assume that the alternates are not only using this as a form of rewriting history but also to implant themselves into the mind of the viewer as with Stanley.
In summary: The alternate history we see with the bible cartoons is not accurate history in universe, it is in fact a fake history being made up by the alternates perhaps to cement themselves in our collective psyche. It seems that David caught on to this which is why Gabriel had to get rid of him. Thatcher may soon discover this if he somehow gets a hold of David's tapes. The retold bible stories are representative of events that have been going on in Mandela county since the arrival of the alternates and these events may be an attempt to create a new gospel of sorts. They are targeting children specifically with this fake history since they will be more likely to forget the true history of the world, true history then becomes subject to the Mandela effect.
That's all I can muster to think of right now but I will consider making a part two to this theory as I think there is still a bunch more evidence to sift through. This post was more a proof of concept than anything.
2024.05.20 21:26 JFKwasInnocent La Grande Illusion (1937)
Elsa (Dita Parlo) while pointing to the pictures on the mantlepiece: My husband. Killed at Verdun. My brothers... Liège, Charleroi, Tannenberg... Our greatest victories! Now my table is too large.
Fun fact: The movie, one of the very first anti-war movies, is incredibly influential with, among others, Welles, Scorcese and Kurosawa citing it as one of their favourite movies. Not such a fan was Joseph Goebbels who ordered all copies to be confiscated and destroyed.
submitted by JFKwasInnocent to BelgiumInMedia [link] [comments]
Fun fact: The movie, one of the very first anti-war movies, is incredibly influential with, among others, Welles, Scorcese and Kurosawa citing it as one of their favourite movies. Not such a fan was Joseph Goebbels who ordered all copies to be confiscated and destroyed.
2024.05.20 21:05 user94260 St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape & the recall petition (detailed report)
 | I know that this topic has been brought up here before, but I am here to bring it up again. No matter where you stand on political issues, this man has no place in my local government, or in my community at all, and I’ll tell you why. (Chronological order of how everything came to light, not order of importance) Reason #1: OCTOBER 2023 submitted by user94260 to Louisiana [link] [comments] “St. Tammany Parish Coroner Charles Preston said Thursday he has fired Christopher Tape, a forensic pathologist who was elected to replace Preston after running unopposed for the job, claiming Tape violated the office's confidentiality policies. Preston's office did not provide details on what transpired, except to say that "information was disclosed externally that should not have been," according to Greg Beuerman, a spokesperson for the coroner's office. The information allegedly involved the results of medical tests, and the disclosure could interfere with an ongoing law enforcement investigation, the coroner's office said.” This is from a nola.com news article written by Alex Lubben, a staff writer with NOLA. It was later revealed the accusation and firing came up because of “sharing medical records”. Reason #2: 2001 charges revealed In 2001, Dr. Tape was arrested and booked in the state of New Mexico on the count(s) of child sexual assault, but was later released due to the fact that he was not given his right of a speedy trial and it took more than a year to formally charge him(the state of New Mexico argues he used different tactics to purposely slow down his trial, but Tape and his lawyers deny this). I will attach his statement from the arrest and anything else I can find later on if possible. He was formally accused of hitting/ slapping and rubbing his girlfriend’s daughters behind with his bare hand and/or a belt while putting her in suggestive positions. She was 7 at the time. I have attached the court transcript in a link below.Reason #3: Removal of the SANE program(was forcefully redacted) The sexual assault nurse examination program in St. Tammany is a program that helps sexual assault survivors with different resources and is offered by the St. Tammany Parish Coroners Office. On the first day that Dr. Christopher Tape took office, he suspended the SANE program and handed it off to the hospitals of St. Tammany with no time for a tranistion plan, and the hospitals could not handle it so the JSCO(Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office, offered to pick up the program and added the on-call nurses to his SANE team to offer these resources to St. Tammany residents again. Dr. Tape claimed to remove the program because “(the program) operated at a significant financial loss.” and also later stated, “ ‘Tangipahoa can take up the same program. If they think it’s a money maker, they can take it. Livingston can take it. Any of the hospitals can take it. If it’s a money-maker, take it. I’m a businessman, it’s not a money maker. Take it if you want it,’ “ What a sick joke. This makes so much sense, because a taxpayer funded program like that is definitely (NOT) there to make money. As of Monday, 5/20/24, the program has been reinstated under Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office. Christopher Tape did not reinstate the program with the help of the JPCO out of the kindness of his heart or his morality, but because he was sued by multiple coroners around us and received a court order to reinstate the program. Reason #4: NOVEMBER 2023 Out of court settlement for unwanted advances from Tape Information on this is very vague, what I have is from Louisiana Illuminator that reads, “Tape also settled a recent lawsuit in which an assistant accused him of making unwanted advances at the workplace. Most of the records of that settlement are under court seal and not available to the public, but according to a record of a separate court hearing that is available, Tape said he asked the woman out multiple times and was rejected. He told the court he didn’t know he was making her uncomfortable at the time, explaining he has been socially awkward his entire life and struggles to read social cues.” While I’m sure there is more, there is the basic facts, and I will continue to update as new information arises. There is a recall petition in effect since April and is currently collecting signatures. Putting a person not just accused, but charged with sexual assault at the head of a sexual assault resource program is comparable to allowing a criminal to investigate his own crime. 10 elected officials, 3 of those being Senators, and 7 of them being council members from St. Tammany and surrounding parishes/cities have signed a letter calling for the Parish President Mike Cooper and the St. Tammany Parish Council to resign, which he refused and refuses to do. St. Tammany is notorious for corruption, from our former Sheriff Jack Strain who has state and federal charges for financial crimes and sex crimes was sheriff for 20 YEARS before being succeeded by Randy Smith and receiving 4 life sentences, or the former Covington Deputy Chief Joseph Mahon who is currently on trial for 5 felony possession of child pornography, on top of the previous controversy and corruption from previous coroners, this is the last person I want heading the coroner’s office in my parish. Thank you for reading, feel free to leave any comments or questions in the thread. This is about 3 months worth of research throughout the internet and local new sources. If you think it is unprofessional/ improper, this is just a reddit post(an compilation of exposure of my local government too).Court transcript from the 2001 child sexual assault case https://recalltape.com/stp-coronewp-content/uploads/docs/Tape-Grand-Jury-Transcript.pdf Recall petition website: recalltape.com |
2024.05.20 14:19 TearRepresentative56 I'm a full time trader and this is everything I'm watching and analysing in premarket 20/05 including positioning analysis on EURUSD, Silver, Gold, Oil and BTC.
ANALYSIS:
Li : V poor earnings
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to Daytrading [link] [comments]
- If we look at US equities, breadth and positioning supportive. Traders remain very bearish on VIX which means market makers will add liquidity to support equities.
- 5300 still key level. 5330 is a big intraday barrier to break looking at positioning
- 5275 is key support on downside looking at positioning.
- EURUSD: looks like bullish positioning on EURUSD short term. Skew positive, pointing higher in short term option contracts. Improving in long term too. Positioning supportive on all time frames then. Here we see technicals too, on verge of breakout.
- https://imgur.com/a/9Q4hwtp
- Silver Update: Hit new yearly high again, positioning remains bullish. Still not seeing signs for big pullback here, as IV in options isn't lowering. This is keeping skew v high and pointing to more upside. Skew actually hit a yearly high, which suggests traders still look higher.
- Gold update: Skew is still moving higher. Again skew is near a yearly high. Traders continue to seek upside exposure and momentum looks strong. We are seeing calls building on even as high as 2700 lol. Trend v strong with more data coming this week.
- Oil positioning still points to potential bounce as oil moves higher slightly in premarket. Positioning has pointed to a bounce for some time even as price has traded flat, so let's see if we get it soon.
- BTC positioning is supportive: If we look at options, we see Call interest increasing on 75k. Traders are looking for a breakout. Even bitcoin ETFs showing increasing gamma on high strikes.
- China maintains loan prime rate for 1 and 5 year as expected. Has kept it same for more than 6 months in a row now.
- Fed speakers today:
- Bostic, Barr, Waller, Jefferson
- SPX - relatively flat at 5311. On Friday, it closed at 5304, breaking the 5300 level. Today is flat maintaining above 5300
- Nasdaq: Trading at 18,600 level. Flat vs friday.
- Dow Jones trades above 40k. Totally flat this morning.
- Ger40: On Thursday came v close to 19k. Then fell by Friday to 18,630. Now is trading at 18,800. Moving higher back towards 19k
- UK100 moving higher again, for last week or so has been flat around the highs.
- HKG50: Reached 19,800 on Friday. Today is trading down v slightly to 19,600 today.
- CHINA50: pushed higher, close to 13k after loan prime rate was kept constant in China. But came down after that, fell 0.7%
- OIL: Moved higher, but got rejected off WTI 80.
- GOLD: Moving higher by 0.5% to 2434. Hit 2450 before getting rejected lower. Is at new ATH.
- VIX at new lows of 12.2.
- NVDA - Baird Raises price target for NVDA to 1200 from 1050
- NVDA - Barclays raises NVDA PT to 1100 from 850
- Analysts are clearly betting on strong NVDA results. NVDA IS HIGHER IN PREMARKET ON THESE ANALYST UPGRADES.
- AAPL - slashes iPhone prices in China amid Huawei competition. Offering discounts up to $318 on select iPhone models in China. These discounts are even more aggressive than their February discount campaign
- AAPl - news from weekend, plans a thinner iPhone in 2025.
- TSLA - is offering discounts to European leasing companies to address concerns over falling fleet values, due to repeated retail price cuts. These include unofficial discounts on in stock vehicles
- MSFT - to launch next call of duty game on Game Pass. This move aims at boosting long term subscriptions rather than traditional single game sales. MSFT build event tomorrow. Will unveil several pieces of hardware and software related to consumer devices ahead of the event.
- GOOGL - invests $1B in Finnish data center to drive AI growth.
Li : V poor earnings
- Revenue of 25.63B missed estimates by 4.5%
- Was down 39% QOQ.
- Deliveries were 80,400, up 52% YOY
- EPS came in at 0.6, vs 2.5 estimate So big miss there
- Vehicle sales were up YOY but down 39% QOQ
- Vehicle margin was 19.3% which was down from 22% last quarter.
- OPERATING MARIGN WAS -2.3% VS 2.2% last year and 7.3% last quarter.
- Launched new delivery models.
- GUIDANCE:
- Revenue guidance for next quarter was 29.9-31.4B, miss in midpoint by 21% vs estimate
- Vehicle deliveries expected to be 105-110K, up 21-27% YOY
- WEAK CURRENT QUARTER AND WEAK GUDIANCE
- V weak operating margin.
- Gold stocks are higher as Gold moves higher in premarket.
- Crypto stocks slightly higher at BTC consolidates above 67k
- MU - Morgan Stnaley upgrades to equal weight from underweight, raised price target to 130 from 98. Said that MU remains overvalued via long term DCF metrics, but there are several factors supporting near term performance, including ongoing ramp up of HBM supply, which can lead to above consensus earnings.
- JCI - Activist Elliott Management has built a $1B+ stake in JCI
- PARA - Sony and Apollo have reportedly signed non disclosure agreements with paramount global
- XPEV - Audi partners with SAIC for new EV platform in China. This deepens VW relationship with and commitment to China.
- TER - up as raised to buy form neutral by Goldman Sachs. Price target 161, from 131 current price
- GMED - Price target raised to 80 from 60 by Piper Sandler. Raise dot overweight form neutral
- TGT - will lower their prices on 5000 everyday items. Including essentials like milk, meat, bread, soda etc.
- RDDT - files for 1.93M share offering by selling stockholders
- BHP Is considering an improved bid for Anglo - must decide by 5pm onW Wednesday whether to announce a firm intention to offer or to walk away.
- Red Lobster files for bankruptcy - largest seafood restaurant in US.
- JPM - raises their 2024 interest income forecast to $91B
- GLBE - up on earnings, raises FY 2024 outlook, be a stop and bottom line estimates.
- PTCT - European commission decides against adoption of negative opinion. Translarna authorisation remains active in Europe
- SMCI moving higher with NVDA
- ULTA - price target cut to 505 from 595 by Piper Sandler. Maintained at overweight
- BIDU given buy rating by CCB International
- Yesterday, Powell spoke but with no reference to monetary policy.
- Bostic says Fed are open to all possibilities, risks are balanced right now.
- Deutsche Bank raises their end of year SPX target to 5500 which is the highest on Wall Street.
- One of Wall streets most prominent bears, Mike Wilson has turned bullish on US stock outlook, saying he sees SPX rising 2% by June 2025, which is a big change vs his previous prediction of -15%.
- Raised price target to 5300 from 4500.
- The US Fed will slash the proposed big bank capital hike requirement, reports WSJ
- Budget airline Ryanair posts record annual profit as passenger numbers soar. Another company reporting strong travel demand amongst consumers right now. Launched strong share buyback.
- US government monthly debt interest payments continue to rise, are on verge of exceeding define spending now.
- Chinese vessels got hit by Houthi rebels yesterday.
- Oil tanker hit by missile off the coast of Yemen, AFP reports
- CHina Foreign ministry says that Taiwan is a part of China, says US has been distorting facts to play up the problem of Taiwan
- Chinese property stocks fall as chinese property support measures dissapoint.
- Iran’s President Raisi and Iran foreign minister die in helicopter crash. The helicopter completely burned.
- US say there is no evidence of foul play in Raisi’s crash. Blamed it on bad, foggy weather in Northwest Iran. Visibility was only 5m in the area of incident.
- UK BOE Deputy Governor: Its a matter of individual opinion on MPC as to how much evidence we need to cut rates.
- Signs of inflation pressures easing is good
- Even with a rate cut policy would still be restrictive
- Said its possible that bank rate can be cut in the summer.
- ECB’s Kazaks says that June meeting will quite likely be start of rate cuts for ECB. So June is still being touted as the time for rate cuts.
- Britain expands AI institute to San Francisco amid scrutiny over shortcomings.
- Musk launches spaceX’s Stalin’s internet services in Indonesia
- Saudi crown prince in poor health. - lung inflammation. Getting treatment at palace.
2024.05.20 14:16 TearRepresentative56 I'm a full time trader and this is everything I'm watching and analysing in premarket 20/05, including positioning analysis on SPX, EURUSD, OIL, GOLD, SILVER, BTC and more.
To support more of my daily analysis and updates on all areas of the market, please join Tradingedge and swingtrading and share with friends.
ANALYSIS:
Li : V poor earnings
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to swingtrading [link] [comments]
ANALYSIS:
- If we look at US equities, breadth and positioning supportive. Traders remain very bearish on VIX which means market makers will add liquidity to support equities.
- 5300 still key level. 5330 is a big intraday barrier to break looking at positioning
- 5275 is key support on downside looking at positioning.
- EURUSD: looks like bullish positioning on EURUSD short term. Skew positive, pointing higher in short term option contracts. Improving in long term too. Positioning supportive on all time frames then. Here we see technicals too, on verge of breakout.
- https://imgur.com/a/9Q4hwtp
- Silver Update: Hit new yearly high again, positioning remains bullish. Still not seeing signs for big pullback here, as IV in options isn't lowering. This is keeping skew v high and pointing to more upside. Skew actually hit a yearly high, which suggests traders still look higher.
- Gold update: Skew is still moving higher. Again skew is near a yearly high. Traders continue to seek upside exposure and momentum looks strong. We are seeing calls building on even as high as 2700 lol. Trend v strong with more data coming this week.
- Oil positioning still points to potential bounce as oil moves higher slightly in premarket. Positioning has pointed to a bounce for some time even as price has traded flat, so let's see if we get it soon.
- BTC positioning is supportive: If we look at options, we see Call interest increasing on 75k. Traders are looking for a breakout. Even bitcoin ETFs showing increasing gamma on high strikes.
- China maintains loan prime rate for 1 and 5 year as expected. Has kept it same for more than 6 months in a row now.
- Fed speakers today:
- Bostic, Barr, Waller, Jefferson
- SPX - relatively flat at 5311. On Friday, it closed at 5304, breaking the 5300 level. Today is flat maintaining above 5300
- Nasdaq: Trading at 18,600 level. Flat vs friday.
- Dow Jones trades above 40k. Totally flat this morning.
- Ger40: On Thursday came v close to 19k. Then fell by Friday to 18,630. Now is trading at 18,800. Moving higher back towards 19k
- UK100 moving higher again, for last week or so has been flat around the highs.
- HKG50: Reached 19,800 on Friday. Today is trading down v slightly to 19,600 today.
- CHINA50: pushed higher, close to 13k after loan prime rate was kept constant in China. But came down after that, fell 0.7%
- OIL: Moved higher, but got rejected off WTI 80.
- GOLD: Moving higher by 0.5% to 2434. Hit 2450 before getting rejected lower. Is at new ATH.
- VIX at new lows of 12.2.
- NVDA - Baird Raises price target for NVDA to 1200 from 1050
- NVDA - Barclays raises NVDA PT to 1100 from 850
- Analysts are clearly betting on strong NVDA results. NVDA IS HIGHER IN PREMARKET ON THESE ANALYST UPGRADES.
- AAPL - slashes iPhone prices in China amid Huawei competition. Offering discounts up to $318 on select iPhone models in China. These discounts are even more aggressive than their February discount campaign
- AAPl - news from weekend, plans a thinner iPhone in 2025.
- TSLA - is offering discounts to European leasing companies to address concerns over falling fleet values, due to repeated retail price cuts. These include unofficial discounts on in stock vehicles
- MSFT - to launch next call of duty game on Game Pass. This move aims at boosting long term subscriptions rather than traditional single game sales. MSFT build event tomorrow. Will unveil several pieces of hardware and software related to consumer devices ahead of the event.
- GOOGL - invests $1B in Finnish data center to drive AI growth.
Li : V poor earnings
- Revenue of 25.63B missed estimates by 4.5%
- Was down 39% QOQ.
- Deliveries were 80,400, up 52% YOY
- EPS came in at 0.6, vs 2.5 estimate So big miss there
- Vehicle sales were up YOY but down 39% QOQ
- Vehicle margin was 19.3% which was down from 22% last quarter.
- OPERATING MARIGN WAS -2.3% VS 2.2% last year and 7.3% last quarter.
- Launched new delivery models.
- GUIDANCE:
- Revenue guidance for next quarter was 29.9-31.4B, miss in midpoint by 21% vs estimate
- Vehicle deliveries expected to be 105-110K, up 21-27% YOY
- WEAK CURRENT QUARTER AND WEAK GUDIANCE
- V weak operating margin.
- Gold stocks are higher as Gold moves higher in premarket.
- Crypto stocks slightly higher at BTC consolidates above 67k
- MU - Morgan Stnaley upgrades to equal weight from underweight, raised price target to 130 from 98. Said that MU remains overvalued via long term DCF metrics, but there are several factors supporting near term performance, including ongoing ramp up of HBM supply, which can lead to above consensus earnings.
- JCI - Activist Elliott Management has built a $1B+ stake in JCI
- PARA - Sony and Apollo have reportedly signed non disclosure agreements with paramount global
- XPEV - Audi partners with SAIC for new EV platform in China. This deepens VW relationship with and commitment to China.
- TER - up as raised to buy form neutral by Goldman Sachs. Price target 161, from 131 current price
- GMED - Price target raised to 80 from 60 by Piper Sandler. Raise dot overweight form neutral
- TGT - will lower their prices on 5000 everyday items. Including essentials like milk, meat, bread, soda etc.
- RDDT - files for 1.93M share offering by selling stockholders
- BHP Is considering an improved bid for Anglo - must decide by 5pm onW Wednesday whether to announce a firm intention to offer or to walk away.
- Red Lobster files for bankruptcy - largest seafood restaurant in US.
- JPM - raises their 2024 interest income forecast to $91B
- GLBE - up on earnings, raises FY 2024 outlook, be a stop and bottom line estimates.
- PTCT - European commission decides against adoption of negative opinion. Translarna authorisation remains active in Europe
- SMCI moving higher with NVDA
- ULTA - price target cut to 505 from 595 by Piper Sandler. Maintained at overweight
- BIDU given buy rating by CCB International
- Yesterday, Powell spoke but with no reference to monetary policy.
- Bostic says Fed are open to all possibilities, risks are balanced right now.
- Deutsche Bank raises their end of year SPX target to 5500 which is the highest on Wall Street.
- One of Wall streets most prominent bears, Mike Wilson has turned bullish on US stock outlook, saying he sees SPX rising 2% by June 2025, which is a big change vs his previous prediction of -15%.
- Raised price target to 5300 from 4500.
- The US Fed will slash the proposed big bank capital hike requirement, reports WSJ
- Budget airline Ryanair posts record annual profit as passenger numbers soar. Another company reporting strong travel demand amongst consumers right now. Launched strong share buyback.
- US government monthly debt interest payments continue to rise, are on verge of exceeding define spending now.
- Chinese vessels got hit by Houthi rebels yesterday.
- Oil tanker hit by missile off the coast of Yemen, AFP reports
- CHina Foreign ministry says that Taiwan is a part of China, says US has been distorting facts to play up the problem of Taiwan
- Chinese property stocks fall as chinese property support measures dissapoint.
- Iran’s President Raisi and Iran foreign minister die in helicopter crash. The helicopter completely burned.
- US say there is no evidence of foul play in Raisi’s crash. Blamed it on bad, foggy weather in Northwest Iran. Visibility was only 5m in the area of incident.
- UK BOE Deputy Governor: Its a matter of individual opinion on MPC as to how much evidence we need to cut rates.
- Signs of inflation pressures easing is good
- Even with a rate cut policy would still be restrictive
- Said its possible that bank rate can be cut in the summer.
- ECB’s Kazaks says that June meeting will quite likely be start of rate cuts for ECB. So June is still being touted as the time for rate cuts.
- Britain expands AI institute to San Francisco amid scrutiny over shortcomings.
- Musk launches spaceX’s Stalin’s internet services in Indonesia
- Saudi crown prince in poor health. - lung inflammation. Getting treatment at palace.
2024.05.20 14:14 TearRepresentative56 I'm a full time trader and this is everything I"m watching and analysing in premarket, including full positioning analysis on GOLD, Silver, EURUSD, BTC and more.
To support more of my daily analysis and updates on all areas of the market, please join Tradingedge and share with friends.
ANALYSIS:
Li : V poor earnings
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to u/TearRepresentative56 [link] [comments]
ANALYSIS:
- If we look at US equities, breadth and positioning supportive. Traders remain very bearish on VIX which means market makers will add liquidity to support equities.
- 5300 still key level. 5330 is a big intraday barrier to break looking at positioning
- 5275 is key support on downside looking at positioning.
- EURUSD: looks like bullish positioning on EURUSD short term. Skew positive, pointing higher in short term option contracts. Improving in long term too. Positioning supportive on all time frames then. Here we see technicals too, on verge of breakout.
- https://imgur.com/a/9Q4hwtp
- Silver Update: Hit new yearly high again, positioning remains bullish. Still not seeing signs for big pullback here, as IV in options isn't lowering. This is keeping skew v high and pointing to more upside. Skew actually hit a yearly high, which suggests traders still look higher.
- Gold update: Skew is still moving higher. Again skew is near a yearly high. Traders continue to seek upside exposure and momentum looks strong. We are seeing calls building on even as high as 2700 lol. Trend v strong with more data coming this week.
- Oil positioning still points to potential bounce as oil moves higher slightly in premarket. Positioning has pointed to a bounce for some time even as price has traded flat, so let's see if we get it soon.
- BTC positioning is supportive: If we look at options, we see Call interest increasing on 75k. Traders are looking for a breakout. Even bitcoin ETFs showing increasing gamma on high strikes.
- China maintains loan prime rate for 1 and 5 year as expected. Has kept it same for more than 6 months in a row now.
- Fed speakers today:
- Bostic, Barr, Waller, Jefferson
- SPX - relatively flat at 5311. On Friday, it closed at 5304, breaking the 5300 level. Today is flat maintaining above 5300
- Nasdaq: Trading at 18,600 level. Flat vs friday.
- Dow Jones trades above 40k. Totally flat this morning.
- Ger40: On Thursday came v close to 19k. Then fell by Friday to 18,630. Now is trading at 18,800. Moving higher back towards 19k
- UK100 moving higher again, for last week or so has been flat around the highs.
- HKG50: Reached 19,800 on Friday. Today is trading down v slightly to 19,600 today.
- CHINA50: pushed higher, close to 13k after loan prime rate was kept constant in China. But came down after that, fell 0.7%
- OIL: Moved higher, but got rejected off WTI 80.
- GOLD: Moving higher by 0.5% to 2434. Hit 2450 before getting rejected lower. Is at new ATH.
- VIX at new lows of 12.2.
- NVDA - Baird Raises price target for NVDA to 1200 from 1050
- NVDA - Barclays raises NVDA PT to 1100 from 850
- Analysts are clearly betting on strong NVDA results. NVDA IS HIGHER IN PREMARKET ON THESE ANALYST UPGRADES.
- AAPL - slashes iPhone prices in China amid Huawei competition. Offering discounts up to $318 on select iPhone models in China. These discounts are even more aggressive than their February discount campaign
- AAPl - news from weekend, plans a thinner iPhone in 2025.
- TSLA - is offering discounts to European leasing companies to address concerns over falling fleet values, due to repeated retail price cuts. These include unofficial discounts on in stock vehicles
- MSFT - to launch next call of duty game on Game Pass. This move aims at boosting long term subscriptions rather than traditional single game sales. MSFT build event tomorrow. Will unveil several pieces of hardware and software related to consumer devices ahead of the event.
- GOOGL - invests $1B in Finnish data center to drive AI growth.
Li : V poor earnings
- Revenue of 25.63B missed estimates by 4.5%
- Was down 39% QOQ.
- Deliveries were 80,400, up 52% YOY
- EPS came in at 0.6, vs 2.5 estimate So big miss there
- Vehicle sales were up YOY but down 39% QOQ
- Vehicle margin was 19.3% which was down from 22% last quarter.
- OPERATING MARIGN WAS -2.3% VS 2.2% last year and 7.3% last quarter.
- Launched new delivery models.
- GUIDANCE:
- Revenue guidance for next quarter was 29.9-31.4B, miss in midpoint by 21% vs estimate
- Vehicle deliveries expected to be 105-110K, up 21-27% YOY
- WEAK CURRENT QUARTER AND WEAK GUDIANCE
- V weak operating margin.
- Gold stocks are higher as Gold moves higher in premarket.
- Crypto stocks slightly higher at BTC consolidates above 67k
- MU - Morgan Stnaley upgrades to equal weight from underweight, raised price target to 130 from 98. Said that MU remains overvalued via long term DCF metrics, but there are several factors supporting near term performance, including ongoing ramp up of HBM supply, which can lead to above consensus earnings.
- JCI - Activist Elliott Management has built a $1B+ stake in JCI
- PARA - Sony and Apollo have reportedly signed non disclosure agreements with paramount global
- XPEV - Audi partners with SAIC for new EV platform in China. This deepens VW relationship with and commitment to China.
- TER - up as raised to buy form neutral by Goldman Sachs. Price target 161, from 131 current price
- GMED - Price target raised to 80 from 60 by Piper Sandler. Raise dot overweight form neutral
- TGT - will lower their prices on 5000 everyday items. Including essentials like milk, meat, bread, soda etc.
- RDDT - files for 1.93M share offering by selling stockholders
- BHP Is considering an improved bid for Anglo - must decide by 5pm onW Wednesday whether to announce a firm intention to offer or to walk away.
- Red Lobster files for bankruptcy - largest seafood restaurant in US.
- JPM - raises their 2024 interest income forecast to $91B
- GLBE - up on earnings, raises FY 2024 outlook, be a stop and bottom line estimates.
- PTCT - European commission decides against adoption of negative opinion. Translarna authorisation remains active in Europe
- SMCI moving higher with NVDA
- ULTA - price target cut to 505 from 595 by Piper Sandler. Maintained at overweight
- BIDU given buy rating by CCB International
- Yesterday, Powell spoke but with no reference to monetary policy.
- Bostic says Fed are open to all possibilities, risks are balanced right now.
- Deutsche Bank raises their end of year SPX target to 5500 which is the highest on Wall Street.
- One of Wall streets most prominent bears, Mike Wilson has turned bullish on US stock outlook, saying he sees SPX rising 2% by June 2025, which is a big change vs his previous prediction of -15%.
- Raised price target to 5300 from 4500.
- The US Fed will slash the proposed big bank capital hike requirement, reports WSJ
- Budget airline Ryanair posts record annual profit as passenger numbers soar. Another company reporting strong travel demand amongst consumers right now. Launched strong share buyback.
- US government monthly debt interest payments continue to rise, are on verge of exceeding define spending now.
- Chinese vessels got hit by Houthi rebels yesterday.
- Oil tanker hit by missile off the coast of Yemen, AFP reports
- CHina Foreign ministry says that Taiwan is a part of China, says US has been distorting facts to play up the problem of Taiwan
- Chinese property stocks fall as chinese property support measures dissapoint.
- Iran’s President Raisi and Iran foreign minister die in helicopter crash. The helicopter completely burned.
- US say there is no evidence of foul play in Raisi’s crash. Blamed it on bad, foggy weather in Northwest Iran. Visibility was only 5m in the area of incident.
- UK BOE Deputy Governor: Its a matter of individual opinion on MPC as to how much evidence we need to cut rates.
- Signs of inflation pressures easing is good
- Even with a rate cut policy would still be restrictive
- Said its possible that bank rate can be cut in the summer.
- ECB’s Kazaks says that June meeting will quite likely be start of rate cuts for ECB. So June is still being touted as the time for rate cuts.
- Britain expands AI institute to San Francisco amid scrutiny over shortcomings.
- Musk launches spaceX’s Stalin’s internet services in Indonesia
- Saudi crown prince in poor health. - lung inflammation. Getting treatment at palace.
2024.05.20 14:13 TearRepresentative56 Full premarket update: Everything I'm watching and analysing in premarket 20/05, including full positioning analysis on Gold, EURUSD, SPX, BTC, Oil, Silver etc
To support more of my daily analysis and updates on all areas of the market, please join Tradingedge and share with friends.
ANALYSIS:
Li : V poor earnings
submitted by TearRepresentative56 to TradingEdge [link] [comments]
ANALYSIS:
- If we look at US equities, breadth and positioning supportive. Traders remain very bearish on VIX which means market makers will add liquidity to support equities.
- 5300 still key level. 5330 is a big intraday barrier to break looking at positioning
- 5275 is key support on downside looking at positioning.
- EURUSD: looks like bullish positioning on EURUSD short term. Skew positive, pointing higher in short term option contracts. Improving in long term too. Positioning supportive on all time frames then. Here we see technicals too, on verge of breakout.
- https://imgur.com/a/9Q4hwtp
- Silver Update: Hit new yearly high again, positioning remains bullish. Still not seeing signs for big pullback here, as IV in options isn't lowering. This is keeping skew v high and pointing to more upside. Skew actually hit a yearly high, which suggests traders still look higher.
- Gold update: Skew is still moving higher. Again skew is near a yearly high. Traders continue to seek upside exposure and momentum looks strong. We are seeing calls building on even as high as 2700 lol. Trend v strong with more data coming this week.
- Oil positioning still points to potential bounce as oil moves higher slightly in premarket. Positioning has pointed to a bounce for some time even as price has traded flat, so let's see if we get it soon.
- BTC positioning is supportive: If we look at options, we see Call interest increasing on 75k. Traders are looking for a breakout. Even bitcoin ETFs showing increasing gamma on high strikes.
- China maintains loan prime rate for 1 and 5 year as expected. Has kept it same for more than 6 months in a row now.
- Fed speakers today:
- Bostic, Barr, Waller, Jefferson
- SPX - relatively flat at 5311. On Friday, it closed at 5304, breaking the 5300 level. Today is flat maintaining above 5300
- Nasdaq: Trading at 18,600 level. Flat vs friday.
- Dow Jones trades above 40k. Totally flat this morning.
- Ger40: On Thursday came v close to 19k. Then fell by Friday to 18,630. Now is trading at 18,800. Moving higher back towards 19k
- UK100 moving higher again, for last week or so has been flat around the highs.
- HKG50: Reached 19,800 on Friday. Today is trading down v slightly to 19,600 today.
- CHINA50: pushed higher, close to 13k after loan prime rate was kept constant in China. But came down after that, fell 0.7%
- OIL: Moved higher, but got rejected off WTI 80.
- GOLD: Moving higher by 0.5% to 2434. Hit 2450 before getting rejected lower. Is at new ATH.
- VIX at new lows of 12.2.
- NVDA - Baird Raises price target for NVDA to 1200 from 1050
- NVDA - Barclays raises NVDA PT to 1100 from 850
- Analysts are clearly betting on strong NVDA results. NVDA IS HIGHER IN PREMARKET ON THESE ANALYST UPGRADES.
- AAPL - slashes iPhone prices in China amid Huawei competition. Offering discounts up to $318 on select iPhone models in China. These discounts are even more aggressive than their February discount campaign
- AAPl - news from weekend, plans a thinner iPhone in 2025.
- TSLA - is offering discounts to European leasing companies to address concerns over falling fleet values, due to repeated retail price cuts. These include unofficial discounts on in stock vehicles
- MSFT - to launch next call of duty game on Game Pass. This move aims at boosting long term subscriptions rather than traditional single game sales. MSFT build event tomorrow. Will unveil several pieces of hardware and software related to consumer devices ahead of the event.
- GOOGL - invests $1B in Finnish data center to drive AI growth.
Li : V poor earnings
- Revenue of 25.63B missed estimates by 4.5%
- Was down 39% QOQ.
- Deliveries were 80,400, up 52% YOY
- EPS came in at 0.6, vs 2.5 estimate So big miss there
- Vehicle sales were up YOY but down 39% QOQ
- Vehicle margin was 19.3% which was down from 22% last quarter.
- OPERATING MARIGN WAS -2.3% VS 2.2% last year and 7.3% last quarter.
- Launched new delivery models.
- GUIDANCE:
- Revenue guidance for next quarter was 29.9-31.4B, miss in midpoint by 21% vs estimate
- Vehicle deliveries expected to be 105-110K, up 21-27% YOY
- WEAK CURRENT QUARTER AND WEAK GUDIANCE
- V weak operating margin.
- Gold stocks are higher as Gold moves higher in premarket.
- Crypto stocks slightly higher at BTC consolidates above 67k
- MU - Morgan Stnaley upgrades to equal weight from underweight, raised price target to 130 from 98. Said that MU remains overvalued via long term DCF metrics, but there are several factors supporting near term performance, including ongoing ramp up of HBM supply, which can lead to above consensus earnings.
- JCI - Activist Elliott Management has built a $1B+ stake in JCI
- PARA - Sony and Apollo have reportedly signed non disclosure agreements with paramount global
- XPEV - Audi partners with SAIC for new EV platform in China. This deepens VW relationship with and commitment to China.
- TER - up as raised to buy form neutral by Goldman Sachs. Price target 161, from 131 current price
- GMED - Price target raised to 80 from 60 by Piper Sandler. Raise dot overweight form neutral
- TGT - will lower their prices on 5000 everyday items. Including essentials like milk, meat, bread, soda etc.
- RDDT - files for 1.93M share offering by selling stockholders
- BHP Is considering an improved bid for Anglo - must decide by 5pm onW Wednesday whether to announce a firm intention to offer or to walk away.
- Red Lobster files for bankruptcy - largest seafood restaurant in US.
- JPM - raises their 2024 interest income forecast to $91B
- GLBE - up on earnings, raises FY 2024 outlook, be a stop and bottom line estimates.
- PTCT - European commission decides against adoption of negative opinion. Translarna authorisation remains active in Europe
- SMCI moving higher with NVDA
- ULTA - price target cut to 505 from 595 by Piper Sandler. Maintained at overweight
- BIDU given buy rating by CCB International
- Yesterday, Powell spoke but with no reference to monetary policy.
- Bostic says Fed are open to all possibilities, risks are balanced right now.
- Deutsche Bank raises their end of year SPX target to 5500 which is the highest on Wall Street.
- One of Wall streets most prominent bears, Mike Wilson has turned bullish on US stock outlook, saying he sees SPX rising 2% by June 2025, which is a big change vs his previous prediction of -15%.
- Raised price target to 5300 from 4500.
- The US Fed will slash the proposed big bank capital hike requirement, reports WSJ
- Budget airline Ryanair posts record annual profit as passenger numbers soar. Another company reporting strong travel demand amongst consumers right now. Launched strong share buyback.
- US government monthly debt interest payments continue to rise, are on verge of exceeding define spending now.
- Chinese vessels got hit by Houthi rebels yesterday.
- Oil tanker hit by missile off the coast of Yemen, AFP reports
- CHina Foreign ministry says that Taiwan is a part of China, says US has been distorting facts to play up the problem of Taiwan
- Chinese property stocks fall as chinese property support measures dissapoint.
- Iran’s President Raisi and Iran foreign minister die in helicopter crash. The helicopter completely burned.
- US say there is no evidence of foul play in Raisi’s crash. Blamed it on bad, foggy weather in Northwest Iran. Visibility was only 5m in the area of incident.
- UK BOE Deputy Governor: Its a matter of individual opinion on MPC as to how much evidence we need to cut rates.
- Signs of inflation pressures easing is good
- Even with a rate cut policy would still be restrictive
- Said its possible that bank rate can be cut in the summer.
- ECB’s Kazaks says that June meeting will quite likely be start of rate cuts for ECB. So June is still being touted as the time for rate cuts.
- Britain expands AI institute to San Francisco amid scrutiny over shortcomings.
- Musk launches spaceX’s Stalin’s internet services in Indonesia
- Saudi crown prince in poor health. - lung inflammation. Getting treatment at palace.
2024.05.20 10:48 New-Age3409 I went through a faith crisis and came out the other side stronger than before
Hi everybody,
I've been seeing a lot of posts lately about people going through faith crises. I thought I'd just share some hope for those going through it.
Last summer, I went through a faith crisis of my own. It felt like my entire world was shattering. Nothing bad was actually happening externally in my life – it was entirely just an internal battle.
At the beginning of the summer, a relative and I were out to lunch and they that told me they were done with the Church. The Spirit told me very clearly, "Don't argue with them. That's not what they need. Just listen and love them." So, for several hours, I listened and just empathized as much as I could. I validated concerns where I could, and just nodded my head when I couldn't.
However, in that conversation and in others, that person continued to firehose with me anti-LDS arguments, and I didn't do enough to address each one of them directly. I let them sit and linger. In addition, over the previous year, I had been in a serious repentance process for infidelity. (All is better now, but it was a rough year.)
So, over the summer, my faith waned and waned as I read more and more anti-LDS arguments, subreddits, and blogs online. With each thing I read, I felt more and more bewildered. I would run to my wife: "Have you read this? Have you seen this?!" God bless her for having so much patience with me, and being gentle, and continually bearing her testimony that she has always just known it is true, and regardless of what issues may arise, she won't abandon that knowledge God has given her.
Finally, it came to a point where I no longer believed in God, and I was exposed to a dark and lonely and godless world. It was so heavy, I could barely breathe.
But, I wasn't ready to give up so easily. I had experienced a lifetime of spiritual experiences: transformative changes through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ and reading the Book of Mormon; Incredible spiritual experiences on my mission; and many strong indicators that a god existed.
In probably the most desperate prayer I have ever said in my life, I begged God to reveal Himself to me. I told Him that, if He really was there and if He really did exist, then I was going to wrestle Him like Jacob in the scriptures and not acquiesce until He had relinquished the answers I so desperately sought.
And, brothers and sisters, He answered me. In the coming days and weeks after that prayer, I saw miracle after miracle happen. I can't share them all here, but it was incredible. I promised Him I would write them all down, so I did in my journal. There were too many coincidences, right after each other, that showed me God was listening to my prayers: random people I met that would have the exact answers to my questions, a book that literally just fell into my lap and touched my heart when I didn't even want to read the scriptures (Planted by Patrick Mason), and a literal healing of my anxiety when I asked for it one morning (as well as many other answered prayers and questions, one after another).
As my faith grew, I started to see more and more miracles (some even by my own hand). I re-engaged in a study of the gospel by both faith and intellectual learning. I dove DEEP into Church History, and didn't stop short of anything. Through that process, I found a faithful answer for every question I had encountered and that had once so bogged me down before.
During those first few months, I would say, "I believe," when bearing my testimony. However, I wanted to know and Alma 32 promises that we can know. So, I followed Alma 32 exactly - I was diligent and faithful, and I can now say that many of my testimonies have transformed from beliefs into knowledge.
Now, I know again that God is real. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Now, my testimony of the Book of Mormon is stronger than it's ever been. I love that book and I firmly and strongly believe it to be the word of God. (I'm just shy of "know" on this one - we are getting there!) It's beautiful and teaches us so plainly of Jesus Christ.
My testimony of the prophets is stronger than it's ever been. I love President Nelson, his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles. I love studying their words to see how I can come closer to Jesus Christ. The Spirit whispered to me the reality of their callings.
With all that said, I want to offer some advice for anyone who may be going through a difficult faith crisis. I know everyone may not like this advice – that's fine. However, I promise you it works. I know it works because I just followed the pattern described exactly in the scriptures and by our prophets, and it worked for me. (If you don't want advice, then just skip past this section.)
I have my own list of books/resources I can send you too. My most recommended resource is the Church History Matters podcast. It's run by two BYU professors. They have great series on major issues for people in Church History, and don't shy away from the hard questions. It's all done from a faithful and historically accurate perspective. They also have guests on the show with expertise in various areas.
I'll end with a short testimony: it's completely possible to overcome a faith crisis and have your testimony be even stronger than it was before. It's only possible through Jesus Christ and humbly following Him in everything. If you have felt to sing the song of Christ's redeeming love in the past, I am telling you: you can feel so again.
submitted by New-Age3409 to latterdaysaints [link] [comments]
I've been seeing a lot of posts lately about people going through faith crises. I thought I'd just share some hope for those going through it.
Last summer, I went through a faith crisis of my own. It felt like my entire world was shattering. Nothing bad was actually happening externally in my life – it was entirely just an internal battle.
At the beginning of the summer, a relative and I were out to lunch and they that told me they were done with the Church. The Spirit told me very clearly, "Don't argue with them. That's not what they need. Just listen and love them." So, for several hours, I listened and just empathized as much as I could. I validated concerns where I could, and just nodded my head when I couldn't.
However, in that conversation and in others, that person continued to firehose with me anti-LDS arguments, and I didn't do enough to address each one of them directly. I let them sit and linger. In addition, over the previous year, I had been in a serious repentance process for infidelity. (All is better now, but it was a rough year.)
So, over the summer, my faith waned and waned as I read more and more anti-LDS arguments, subreddits, and blogs online. With each thing I read, I felt more and more bewildered. I would run to my wife: "Have you read this? Have you seen this?!" God bless her for having so much patience with me, and being gentle, and continually bearing her testimony that she has always just known it is true, and regardless of what issues may arise, she won't abandon that knowledge God has given her.
Finally, it came to a point where I no longer believed in God, and I was exposed to a dark and lonely and godless world. It was so heavy, I could barely breathe.
But, I wasn't ready to give up so easily. I had experienced a lifetime of spiritual experiences: transformative changes through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ and reading the Book of Mormon; Incredible spiritual experiences on my mission; and many strong indicators that a god existed.
In probably the most desperate prayer I have ever said in my life, I begged God to reveal Himself to me. I told Him that, if He really was there and if He really did exist, then I was going to wrestle Him like Jacob in the scriptures and not acquiesce until He had relinquished the answers I so desperately sought.
And, brothers and sisters, He answered me. In the coming days and weeks after that prayer, I saw miracle after miracle happen. I can't share them all here, but it was incredible. I promised Him I would write them all down, so I did in my journal. There were too many coincidences, right after each other, that showed me God was listening to my prayers: random people I met that would have the exact answers to my questions, a book that literally just fell into my lap and touched my heart when I didn't even want to read the scriptures (Planted by Patrick Mason), and a literal healing of my anxiety when I asked for it one morning (as well as many other answered prayers and questions, one after another).
As my faith grew, I started to see more and more miracles (some even by my own hand). I re-engaged in a study of the gospel by both faith and intellectual learning. I dove DEEP into Church History, and didn't stop short of anything. Through that process, I found a faithful answer for every question I had encountered and that had once so bogged me down before.
During those first few months, I would say, "I believe," when bearing my testimony. However, I wanted to know and Alma 32 promises that we can know. So, I followed Alma 32 exactly - I was diligent and faithful, and I can now say that many of my testimonies have transformed from beliefs into knowledge.
Now, I know again that God is real. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Now, my testimony of the Book of Mormon is stronger than it's ever been. I love that book and I firmly and strongly believe it to be the word of God. (I'm just shy of "know" on this one - we are getting there!) It's beautiful and teaches us so plainly of Jesus Christ.
My testimony of the prophets is stronger than it's ever been. I love President Nelson, his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles. I love studying their words to see how I can come closer to Jesus Christ. The Spirit whispered to me the reality of their callings.
With all that said, I want to offer some advice for anyone who may be going through a difficult faith crisis. I know everyone may not like this advice – that's fine. However, I promise you it works. I know it works because I just followed the pattern described exactly in the scriptures and by our prophets, and it worked for me. (If you don't want advice, then just skip past this section.)
- Follow Alma 32 to the letter. Take it completely to heart.
- To grow faith, you can't start from a neutral position: you have to start with a desire to have faith, a pre-inclination towards the conclusion of faith. The world has taught you that for the results of an experiment to be valid, you must be neutral in the outcome. Faith doesn't work like that - it's an act of faith in itself to desire to have faith, and that act will be rewarded by God.
- If you are neglecting your tree by not reading and studying the scriptures daily, connecting daily with God through prayer, and obeying the commandments, then you are leaving your testimony in danger: "But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof." (Alma 32:38-39).
- From personal experience, I echo President Nelson's warning, "For those who have made covenants with God, immorality is one of the quickest ways to lose your testimony." ("Think Celestial!", October 2023 General Conference). I know that the primary reason I lost my testimony wasn't because my relative firehose me with anti-LDS material: it was because I had committed serious sins, and I had not done the basic things to maintain my testimony.
- Tell God that you will humble yourself as a child, and then follow through. To be humble as a child means you have to be willing to forget everything you think you know. Put everything about you on the altar for sacrifice, and God will show you the way.
- To be humble as a little child means you have to let go of your pride and what you perceive to be correct principles. You've got to let God completely guide you. You've got to turn to His word, which, if you aren't comfortable with modern prophets yet, starts with the scriptures.
- I've seen too many people say, "I believe in the Book of Mormon and this and this and all of it, but I just can't agree with this one thing." And I've seen some really interesting things that people don't agree with. I know someone who left the Church because President Nelson encouraged us to get vaccinated during COVID. It's really, really helpful to realize that you could be wrong - that you are influenced daily by an outside secular culture, and it's way more than likely that our world is teaching us things that aren't true and God wants us to know what is.
- To be humble as a little child means you have to let go of your pride and what you perceive to be correct principles. You've got to let God completely guide you. You've got to turn to His word, which, if you aren't comfortable with modern prophets yet, starts with the scriptures.
- Do not leave the Church until you have read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and engaged in it. This may be frustrating to you if you currently don't believe it's scripture. That's fine - it's meant to be. As you humble yourself as a child, you will find truth inside the pages of the Book of Mormon.
- You gain a testimony of the Restoration by living according to Restoration principles. Here are a few:
- Go to the temple regularly
- Serve in your calling
- Listen to the invitations of President Nelson and the apostles and then follow through on them.
- Some testimonies may take a lifetime to gain. My grandfather used to talk about he didn't have a testimony of tithing until after he had lived it for years and years. Sometimes, the Lord is going to test you for a long time on a principle before he gives you a witness: "Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6).
- Think slowly. This doesn't mean don't think. Anti-LDS material often works by firehosing you, or just overloading you with "facts". Often, those facts are presented with a bias of unbelief, and sometimes, they are just totally taken out of context. So, when presented with something that makes you pause, don't freak out. Think slowly through it. Dive DEEP into faithful resources.
- One thing that helped me here: it's a sign of humility to recognize that there are people smarter than you who have thought through an issue and come out the other side. For example, Kerry Muhlestein is way smarter than me (and likely most of us in this subreddit) when it comes to Egyptology, and he fully believes the Book of Abraham is real. It helped me to turn to some of these experts to see how they have confronted perceived "issues", and found faithful answers. Kerry is a great example of this.
- Another very valuable resource to help you think slowly through issues: The Church History Matters podcast. Absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend.
- As I have thought slowly and deeply and prayerfully, my testimony has been strengthened, and, I actually realized that some of the "facts" presented to me by anti-LDS material were just outright lies or based on incorrect information.
- Realize that anti-LDS or secular arguments are biased too. They come from a bias of unbelief, which is just as much of a bias as coming from a viewpoint of belief. Modern scholars/academics are not going to come to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon is God's word, or that Joseph Smith was a prophet, because they start with the academic assumption that there is no God (or that at least, God should have no part of historical analysis).
- At some point, I had to tell myself, "Enough is enough. I've read enough. There's no point in rehashing these arguments," and I instead chose to just read from faithful sources going forward. I don't feel intellectually dishonest by doing this – faith is a choice, and I'm choosing to try to listen to people who also have faith and want to bolster my faith rather than tear it down.
- If you believe the scriptures, and are having trouble with the modern prophets, then it's good to realize that both the Bible and the Book of Mormon always talk about the unfortunate consequences that follow those who do not support and follow the prophets. Sure, they aren't perfect - that's fine. Only Jesus was perfect. But, if you believe the scriptures, then, for whatever reason, prophets have always been the vessel by which God has communicated His will and commandments to the people - and they never speak favorably of those many who go against them, and always speak favorably about the blessed and happy state of those few that do follow God's prophets.
- A very useful talk: Stand Forever by Elder Corbridge. I will echo two specific things that he said:
- That feeling when you read anti-LDS material, the same feeling I described earlier about increased confusion, darkness, heaviness, etc. – that is the Spirit leaving you as you read things that lead away from Christ and His Gospel. The Spirit cannot testify of those truths, and will walk away from you so that you can feel His disapproval of the material.
- God doesn't want you to remain in a state of doubt. The scriptures are replete with the commandment "Doubt not" (James 1:6-8; Proverbs 3:5-8; Matthew 14:28-31; D&C 6:36)–it's okay to have questions, but you should never be okay with sitting in a state of doubt. I'm not saying you're being a terrible person by having doubts right now – I am saying God wants you to get out of that state, and not stay there and never return. Do everything in your power to move out of a state of doubt and into one of faith. Pray that the Lord will help you in your unbelief (Mark 9:23-25).
- This is a big one: when I started regaining the presence of the Spirit back into my life, and my life was filled with more light, I started remembering more and more spiritual experiences from throughout my life that had shown me God was real. The thing was – I couldn't remember those experiences at all during the summer when I was neglecting my testimony or damaging it by focusing on my doubts and listening to the wrong spirits. I think this pattern is pretty well-documented in the scriptures:
- "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost... [shall] bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
- "And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts" (D&C 1:33).
- "From them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have" (2 Nephi 28:30).
I have my own list of books/resources I can send you too. My most recommended resource is the Church History Matters podcast. It's run by two BYU professors. They have great series on major issues for people in Church History, and don't shy away from the hard questions. It's all done from a faithful and historically accurate perspective. They also have guests on the show with expertise in various areas.
I'll end with a short testimony: it's completely possible to overcome a faith crisis and have your testimony be even stronger than it was before. It's only possible through Jesus Christ and humbly following Him in everything. If you have felt to sing the song of Christ's redeeming love in the past, I am telling you: you can feel so again.
2024.05.20 03:58 InquisitorHindsight What if the Bolshevik's Won the Russian Civil War?
1936, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
It is the year 1936. Joseph Stalin acts as Chairman of the Communist Party and Premier of the Soviet Union carefully bides his time. Ever since his failed bid to remove the Central and Left Oppositions in 1927-28 seized him the Premiership, he had carefully spent nearly a decade rebuilding his influence and network to the point that he can try a second attempt to dispel his political rivals and not a moment too soon. Within a years time, the Man of Steel predicts the Congress of the Soviets would gather to reexamine and most likely replace the old 1924 consitution with something that would give the lethargic titan purpose. If the premier gets his way, this new document will be a Stalin Constitution.
Meanwhile, Leon Trotsky stews in exile from his current residence in London, the famous Bolshevik a guest of the likeminded Oswald Mosely. In fact, he has spent a great deal of time writing theory for a new socialist system to, in his words, 'Provide a Total answer to the schism between the Bolshevik east and the Syndicalist West.' However, the Revolutionary is not content to rot away in western Europe. He too has been patient, he too has rebuilt his influence and recruited supporters within the Soviet Union knowing that the window is closing for him to return triumphantly within the halls of power and direct the Permanent Revolution towards crushing the forces of reaction.
Perhaps he is confident in his return as his supporters back home have informed him about the shaky foundations of the Central Opposition. Officially, this political bloc was led by the 'Troika' or the alliance between Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamanev, and Grigory Zinoviev. In reality, this triumvirate was primarily under Stalin's control, who only retained the other two when it became clear the Right Opposition would not be easily uprooted. Neither men, however, forgot Stalin's betrayal and how close they came to being removed from power. Gigory Zinoviev, General-Secretary of the Comintern, has drifted (in secret) closer to elements of the underground Left Opposition. On the other hand, Lev Kamanev has quietly reached out to elements of the Right Opposition, more out of necessity and a shared hatred for Stalin.
Speaking of which, the Right Opposition. Partially born out of Nikolai Bukharin's admiration for the New Economic Policy and admiration of the successful French and British Revolutions. With the rise of Syndicalism in the west, the concept of a partially decentralized economy has seemingly been vindicated. With Bukharin's popularity and Alexei Rykov's experience both in politics and economics, the Right Opposition was transformed into the 'Bolshevik Syndicalist' wing of the Party. Crucial in defeating Stalin's first seizure in the late 1920's, Bukharin and Rykov have represented the opposition to Stalin's Center Tendency. Perhaps by the end of the year, they will finally overcome Stalin's decade long reign as Premier and mend the rift between Paris, London, and Moscow.
Lastly, there is the odd man out: Ivan Smirnov. A strong supporter of Trotsky, rabid enemy of Stalin, and General-Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After his expulsion from the party in 1927, Smirnov was eventually reinstated not just as a member of the party, but put in one of its most powerful positions for one simple reason; he could be trusted not to play favorites. He disliked the Right Oppositions sway towards Syndicalism, despised Stalin and most of the Center, and the man he actually did support was a continent away, his supporters scattered. What's more, Stalin believed he controlled Ivan, the man being one mistep away from being exposed as a Trotskyite and expelled from the party again or worse. However, Ivan is not broken. Though he has sworn off Trotsky he still speaks quietly with likeminded men of the Left Opposition, his friendship with Grigory Zinoviev still holds strong, and Bukharin and Rykov are far less infuriating then Stalin ever could be. Smirnov will play a vital role in the politics of the coming months. Whether Trotsky returns, the Center bucks Stalin, the Right ascends, or the Man of Steel reigns triumphant, Smirnov will play a pivotal role in that outcome.
The Issues They Face
The NEP vs Five Year Plans - One of the most divisive issues plaguing the party is whether or not to commit to either a fully reorganized NEP, or to double down on the system of Five Year Plans to increase the Soviet Unions heavy industries. Ever since Joseph Stalin rose to Premiership, the Soviet economy has been pulled in two separate directions. One is championed by both the Left Opposition and Stalin himself, that being the collectivization of farmland and an economic focus on heavy industries. The opposite is Bukharin's 'Reorganized New Economic Plan', a full rework of the NEP along more Syndicalist lines. In years past the Soviet Union has partially adopted both economies with surprisingly positive effects, but now the economy and bureaucracy is stumbling under the weight of the two systems and a choice has to be made; Full-send on collectivization, or stay the course with the NEP?
Socialism in One Country vs Permanent Revolution - Perhaps one of the prime failures of Stalin was his commitment to the concept of Socialism in one Country, in which the Soviet Union must look inwards to build its strength before reaching out to the wider world. This was made under the assumption that no other nation would collapse to revolution, with or without the Soviet Unions help, so Stalin and others like him looked quite foolish when the Italian Federation and British Empire collapsed and Syndicalism rose in its place. Under Stalin, the capital of the world revolution was not in Moscow, but in Paris. Under Stalin, rather than uniting against the common threat of reaction, the socialist world divided between the anarchist Internationale and the Bolshevik Comintern... and the Comintern is losing. Either Stalin must overcome the red portion of western Europe or swallow his pride before his failings become someone else success...
The Ost Wall - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a great shame Lenin had to accept to ensure peace between Russia and Germany. With the Civil War still raging and Germany only getting stronger, the writing was on the wall. While in the end very little ethnically Russian land was lost, the Soviet Union was not built on an ethnic model. The shame of Brest-Litovsk still burns, and while peace was achieved, more and more voices find the call of revolution and war burn brighter in their hearts. The Soviet Union's industry is growing at an exponential rate, and the Red Army expands and modernizes with every year. What's more, the cracks in Germany's eastern armor have finally begun to show as it's eastern 'allies' struggle to appease their disgruntled peoples. For the men who lead the Union, their experience all tells them the same thing: War is coming, whether they want it or not.
Soviet Union Paths
The Man of Steel (Totalism) - Despite all efforts to stop him, Stalin is finally ascendant within the Soviet Union. Trotsky, Bukharin, Smirnov... all of these men are now gone, politically (and soon, literally). The Foundation of the Cult of Stalin has already been laid, and lists are being written. Lists of names, hundreds of names, thousands, hundreds of thousands of names. Soon, Stalin will clean house. Soon, no one shall be safe from Stalin and his megalomanic paranoia. Soon, Russia will have a new religion, the creed of Stalinism.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Return of the Triumvirate (Radical Socialist) - Though Trotsky and Bukharin's lot were finally subdued, Stalin cannot deny that he could've done it alone. Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev (Or one of them and Smirnov) have entrenched their position as Stalin's right and left hands. Stalin has won, but he must contend with his old rivals and allies as equals once more. Perhaps in another ten years, Stalin could revisit their necessity as allies but for now, the Troika reigns supreme.
"Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey once more rule the Third Rome."
Heir of Lenin (Totalism) - After a decade in exile, Trotsky has returned has crossed the Rubicon and ousted his enemies. The triumphant revolutionary can now reshape the Soviet Union along the path it was truly meant to take, and serve as a shining example of Marxism-Leninism-Totalism. Already the Red Army begins to mobilize and the factories churn out guns as Trotsky plans in tandem with his socialist allies in France and Britain and the German Empire shudders as the Russian Bear awakens.
"The Ghost of Lenin stirs in his grave."
The Siberian Dark Horse (Totalism) - Much like the man who occupied the office before him, Smirnov has managed to play everyone off one another until he alone remains standing. The Right Opposition is in chaos, Stalin and his lackey's are gone or turning their coats to the winning side, and without Trotsky the Left Opposition has rallied around his natural successor. Ivan Smirnov was never in the cards to come out the true winner, and yet now he sits at the top of the pile under the mantle of Marxism-Trotskyism. Smirnov will honor his predecessor by continuing the Permanent Revolution, and bring revolution to the west as he did to the east.
"First, Kolchak. Next, the Kaiser."
Defender of the Peasantry (Syndicalism) - With Stalin finally removed from power, Bukharin can begin the process of De-Stalinization and directing the Revolution onto the right track. Under Bukharin, the well-being of the working class and peasantry shall come first, as will their liberation and empowerment and the only way to achieve that, as shown in the west, is through the Syndicate. Lenin once called Bukharin the 'Golden Boy of the Party', and though Lenin did have his criticisms of the man none could ever deny his well-earned popularity. He will ensure the people of the Soviet Union do not run the risk of other autocratic Stalin's or ambitious Trotsky's taking the reigns. He will mend the gap with the Internationale not because he is a sycophant of some would-be dictator with a funny moustache, but because all of socialism must come together to challenge the warriors of reaction. He will build a new Soviet Union, not one born out of his blood, sweat and tears alone, but by the blood of soldiers on the field of battle, the sweat of factory workers on the production line, and the tears of mother and fathers. Not because Bukharin ordered them to do so for the 'Greater Good'... but because they united as one to stare the dragon of reaction in the face and tell it that its time was past.
"Democracy of the People, by the People, for the People, Shall Not Perish from the Earth."
The Fading Star (Radical Socialism) - Once, Rykov was not too dissimilar to the likes of Stalin or Trotsky, who championed 'the end justified the means'. They were not one of the architects of War Communism, and the blood that policy, however necessary and effective, stained Rykov's hands to this day. He is not Bukharin, he does not have his drive nor his charisma. But what he does have is experience and focus. Perhaps the Soviet Union will not become as revolutionary or radical under Rykov. Perhaps Rykov cannot be Bukharin. But what Rykov can do is ensure the Soviet Union he leaves behind is strong, united, and ready for a younger man to take into a new age. This will be the second time Rykov has acted as Premier of the Soviet Union, and he will not let it slip out of his fingers like the last time.
"The Reaper now Sows the Seeds of Tomorrow."
Other Snippets
submitted by InquisitorHindsight to Kaiserreich [link] [comments]
It is the year 1936. Joseph Stalin acts as Chairman of the Communist Party and Premier of the Soviet Union carefully bides his time. Ever since his failed bid to remove the Central and Left Oppositions in 1927-28 seized him the Premiership, he had carefully spent nearly a decade rebuilding his influence and network to the point that he can try a second attempt to dispel his political rivals and not a moment too soon. Within a years time, the Man of Steel predicts the Congress of the Soviets would gather to reexamine and most likely replace the old 1924 consitution with something that would give the lethargic titan purpose. If the premier gets his way, this new document will be a Stalin Constitution.
Meanwhile, Leon Trotsky stews in exile from his current residence in London, the famous Bolshevik a guest of the likeminded Oswald Mosely. In fact, he has spent a great deal of time writing theory for a new socialist system to, in his words, 'Provide a Total answer to the schism between the Bolshevik east and the Syndicalist West.' However, the Revolutionary is not content to rot away in western Europe. He too has been patient, he too has rebuilt his influence and recruited supporters within the Soviet Union knowing that the window is closing for him to return triumphantly within the halls of power and direct the Permanent Revolution towards crushing the forces of reaction.
Perhaps he is confident in his return as his supporters back home have informed him about the shaky foundations of the Central Opposition. Officially, this political bloc was led by the 'Troika' or the alliance between Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamanev, and Grigory Zinoviev. In reality, this triumvirate was primarily under Stalin's control, who only retained the other two when it became clear the Right Opposition would not be easily uprooted. Neither men, however, forgot Stalin's betrayal and how close they came to being removed from power. Gigory Zinoviev, General-Secretary of the Comintern, has drifted (in secret) closer to elements of the underground Left Opposition. On the other hand, Lev Kamanev has quietly reached out to elements of the Right Opposition, more out of necessity and a shared hatred for Stalin.
Speaking of which, the Right Opposition. Partially born out of Nikolai Bukharin's admiration for the New Economic Policy and admiration of the successful French and British Revolutions. With the rise of Syndicalism in the west, the concept of a partially decentralized economy has seemingly been vindicated. With Bukharin's popularity and Alexei Rykov's experience both in politics and economics, the Right Opposition was transformed into the 'Bolshevik Syndicalist' wing of the Party. Crucial in defeating Stalin's first seizure in the late 1920's, Bukharin and Rykov have represented the opposition to Stalin's Center Tendency. Perhaps by the end of the year, they will finally overcome Stalin's decade long reign as Premier and mend the rift between Paris, London, and Moscow.
Lastly, there is the odd man out: Ivan Smirnov. A strong supporter of Trotsky, rabid enemy of Stalin, and General-Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After his expulsion from the party in 1927, Smirnov was eventually reinstated not just as a member of the party, but put in one of its most powerful positions for one simple reason; he could be trusted not to play favorites. He disliked the Right Oppositions sway towards Syndicalism, despised Stalin and most of the Center, and the man he actually did support was a continent away, his supporters scattered. What's more, Stalin believed he controlled Ivan, the man being one mistep away from being exposed as a Trotskyite and expelled from the party again or worse. However, Ivan is not broken. Though he has sworn off Trotsky he still speaks quietly with likeminded men of the Left Opposition, his friendship with Grigory Zinoviev still holds strong, and Bukharin and Rykov are far less infuriating then Stalin ever could be. Smirnov will play a vital role in the politics of the coming months. Whether Trotsky returns, the Center bucks Stalin, the Right ascends, or the Man of Steel reigns triumphant, Smirnov will play a pivotal role in that outcome.
The Issues They Face
The NEP vs Five Year Plans - One of the most divisive issues plaguing the party is whether or not to commit to either a fully reorganized NEP, or to double down on the system of Five Year Plans to increase the Soviet Unions heavy industries. Ever since Joseph Stalin rose to Premiership, the Soviet economy has been pulled in two separate directions. One is championed by both the Left Opposition and Stalin himself, that being the collectivization of farmland and an economic focus on heavy industries. The opposite is Bukharin's 'Reorganized New Economic Plan', a full rework of the NEP along more Syndicalist lines. In years past the Soviet Union has partially adopted both economies with surprisingly positive effects, but now the economy and bureaucracy is stumbling under the weight of the two systems and a choice has to be made; Full-send on collectivization, or stay the course with the NEP?
Socialism in One Country vs Permanent Revolution - Perhaps one of the prime failures of Stalin was his commitment to the concept of Socialism in one Country, in which the Soviet Union must look inwards to build its strength before reaching out to the wider world. This was made under the assumption that no other nation would collapse to revolution, with or without the Soviet Unions help, so Stalin and others like him looked quite foolish when the Italian Federation and British Empire collapsed and Syndicalism rose in its place. Under Stalin, the capital of the world revolution was not in Moscow, but in Paris. Under Stalin, rather than uniting against the common threat of reaction, the socialist world divided between the anarchist Internationale and the Bolshevik Comintern... and the Comintern is losing. Either Stalin must overcome the red portion of western Europe or swallow his pride before his failings become someone else success...
The Ost Wall - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a great shame Lenin had to accept to ensure peace between Russia and Germany. With the Civil War still raging and Germany only getting stronger, the writing was on the wall. While in the end very little ethnically Russian land was lost, the Soviet Union was not built on an ethnic model. The shame of Brest-Litovsk still burns, and while peace was achieved, more and more voices find the call of revolution and war burn brighter in their hearts. The Soviet Union's industry is growing at an exponential rate, and the Red Army expands and modernizes with every year. What's more, the cracks in Germany's eastern armor have finally begun to show as it's eastern 'allies' struggle to appease their disgruntled peoples. For the men who lead the Union, their experience all tells them the same thing: War is coming, whether they want it or not.
Soviet Union Paths
The Man of Steel (Totalism) - Despite all efforts to stop him, Stalin is finally ascendant within the Soviet Union. Trotsky, Bukharin, Smirnov... all of these men are now gone, politically (and soon, literally). The Foundation of the Cult of Stalin has already been laid, and lists are being written. Lists of names, hundreds of names, thousands, hundreds of thousands of names. Soon, Stalin will clean house. Soon, no one shall be safe from Stalin and his megalomanic paranoia. Soon, Russia will have a new religion, the creed of Stalinism.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Return of the Triumvirate (Radical Socialist) - Though Trotsky and Bukharin's lot were finally subdued, Stalin cannot deny that he could've done it alone. Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev (Or one of them and Smirnov) have entrenched their position as Stalin's right and left hands. Stalin has won, but he must contend with his old rivals and allies as equals once more. Perhaps in another ten years, Stalin could revisit their necessity as allies but for now, the Troika reigns supreme.
"Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey once more rule the Third Rome."
Heir of Lenin (Totalism) - After a decade in exile, Trotsky has returned has crossed the Rubicon and ousted his enemies. The triumphant revolutionary can now reshape the Soviet Union along the path it was truly meant to take, and serve as a shining example of Marxism-Leninism-Totalism. Already the Red Army begins to mobilize and the factories churn out guns as Trotsky plans in tandem with his socialist allies in France and Britain and the German Empire shudders as the Russian Bear awakens.
"The Ghost of Lenin stirs in his grave."
The Siberian Dark Horse (Totalism) - Much like the man who occupied the office before him, Smirnov has managed to play everyone off one another until he alone remains standing. The Right Opposition is in chaos, Stalin and his lackey's are gone or turning their coats to the winning side, and without Trotsky the Left Opposition has rallied around his natural successor. Ivan Smirnov was never in the cards to come out the true winner, and yet now he sits at the top of the pile under the mantle of Marxism-Trotskyism. Smirnov will honor his predecessor by continuing the Permanent Revolution, and bring revolution to the west as he did to the east.
"First, Kolchak. Next, the Kaiser."
Defender of the Peasantry (Syndicalism) - With Stalin finally removed from power, Bukharin can begin the process of De-Stalinization and directing the Revolution onto the right track. Under Bukharin, the well-being of the working class and peasantry shall come first, as will their liberation and empowerment and the only way to achieve that, as shown in the west, is through the Syndicate. Lenin once called Bukharin the 'Golden Boy of the Party', and though Lenin did have his criticisms of the man none could ever deny his well-earned popularity. He will ensure the people of the Soviet Union do not run the risk of other autocratic Stalin's or ambitious Trotsky's taking the reigns. He will mend the gap with the Internationale not because he is a sycophant of some would-be dictator with a funny moustache, but because all of socialism must come together to challenge the warriors of reaction. He will build a new Soviet Union, not one born out of his blood, sweat and tears alone, but by the blood of soldiers on the field of battle, the sweat of factory workers on the production line, and the tears of mother and fathers. Not because Bukharin ordered them to do so for the 'Greater Good'... but because they united as one to stare the dragon of reaction in the face and tell it that its time was past.
"Democracy of the People, by the People, for the People, Shall Not Perish from the Earth."
The Fading Star (Radical Socialism) - Once, Rykov was not too dissimilar to the likes of Stalin or Trotsky, who championed 'the end justified the means'. They were not one of the architects of War Communism, and the blood that policy, however necessary and effective, stained Rykov's hands to this day. He is not Bukharin, he does not have his drive nor his charisma. But what he does have is experience and focus. Perhaps the Soviet Union will not become as revolutionary or radical under Rykov. Perhaps Rykov cannot be Bukharin. But what Rykov can do is ensure the Soviet Union he leaves behind is strong, united, and ready for a younger man to take into a new age. This will be the second time Rykov has acted as Premier of the Soviet Union, and he will not let it slip out of his fingers like the last time.
"The Reaper now Sows the Seeds of Tomorrow."
Other Snippets
- If Trotsky fails to return to the Soviet Union or survives assassination attempts, members of the Third Internationale will have events involving Trotsky. In particular, he will visit the Combined Syndicates of America and, depending on choices made by the CSA and how close the CSA is to being defeated, stay to support the revolution. This can range from either acting as a National Spirit and possible Advisor to actually acting as a Field Marshal/General for the CSA. His presence also increases the popularity of Totalism. He can provide similar buffs to either the SRI, The Commune, or the Union of Britain.
- If Stalin is exiled from the Soviet Union, he will eventually end up in Mexico. Trotsky or Smirnov can choose to send assassins after Stalin where upon he will be found murdered in his study, killed by an ice pick and becomes a Martyr for anti-trotskyite/Smirnovite socialists. If he is not assassinated, Stalin eventually suffers a stroke in the late 50's, but is saved by the quick actions of local doctors but was rendered mentally impaired, and fades into relative obscurity.
- If Stalin is not exiled, he will merely be removed from the party and retires to his villa on the black sea. Again, Trotsky or Smirnov can have him killed much to the same effect, but if not Stalin spends his days living a relaxing and peaceful life, writing books and essay's in both Russian and Georgian and on all manners of subjects including Stalin's views on Christianity, and acting as the Patriarch of a growing family. His daughter, Svetlana, eventually joins the Communist Party.
- While Stalin, Trotsky, and Smirnov can all turn the Soviet Union Totalist, their flavors vary somewhat wildly. Stalin turns the Soviet Union down its OTL path of Stalinism of course. Marxism-Leninism-Totalism is rather similar to Stalinism but much more zealous and aggressive in doctrine. Marxism-Trotskyism is essentially bog-standard Marxism-Leninism but more heavily militarized, and Smirnov takes on Stalinist and Trotskyist attributes eventually culminating in a Cult of Personality forming around the Siberian Lenin.
- Bukharin's paths will either end with Bukharin ceding power to the Supreme Soviet/Congress of Soviets of which he will remain a prominent voice, or one where Bukharin accidently forms a Cult of Personality around himself, though one that's more benign in nature. Both endings are seen as positive but radical. Rykov is still a positive ending, though more pragmatic and moderate compared to Bukharin's radicalism.