call me names.
I lock myself in a room, small dusty room - the dust is mostly dirt blows in through the open windows. pollen. it makes you sneeze, me sneeze, even after I close the windows, when it's getting too cold. call me 'sniffles', that's a name you could call me.
someone is afraid, long time they've been afraid and their fear makes them called 'fraidy cat'. they're shuddering. i look over at them in the corner and they shudder harder - i step closer, they shudder harder - like excited atoms, the friction, they start to glow. fire is burning in the corner of the room with them, in them, around them, and now the wallpaper (pale blue with little pink roses here and there) is charred black. hold out a hand (to offer them comfort), but the time is past (for comfort) and the soot blackens your fingertip. i wrote something in the soot like a dirty or a foggy car window (outside or inside, warm or cold). the wall was warm from their little inferno fire burning fire fire but it was years ago (the two steps across the room were years) and your finger doesn't burn, cold like a wall is cold. close the windows. the ashes make sniffles sneeze.
call yourself something big: you can be 'ace' or 'joe cool' or 'the fonz' or 'bullit' or 'brainy smurf' or 'indiana jones' or 'mr. creosote', point is that you've got a lot to give. I'm you. I know i'm you because in mirrors you look me right in the eye. I look over your shoulder. I push a boulder. The moon is like a boulder in space, weightless, and the earth and the sun are pushing it together. One does more work than the other. Rumor has it the moon's just an affectation the earth came up with to impress the sun. instead of reading this you should read that calvino story about the moon.
anyway, the moon's something big. all the dogs howl at it - of course they would. they're just a piece of the earth same as all of us, so it's a kind of arrogance then, the moonhowl, it's look-at-me look-how-great-I-am. I have some barbed wire too, the two dogs on opposite sides, one that's free and the other that isn't, the free one gets stuck below in the middle of the night and bleeds to death, the unfree one runs in circles pointlessly, digs a rut in the ground that matches the fence - the clever observation would be that the one with the name, 'fido' or 'rex' or 'killer', that despite being trapped in the boundary of the fence he's the one who's really free, and the one who has no name (he never had any use for one) is imprisoned in his own way, not by the fence but by his exclusion from the things that matter, the naming of things, etc. that's what you might write if you were trying to be clever.
instead of being clever, you could write the most obvious thing in the world. you could recite it, out loud, in public. you could read and write and recite to delight, the light that burns twice as bright, scribble with some graphite, at night. the persistent rumor (as advanced by the koyannisqatsi guy (that word, so mysterious and alien, of course actually just swiped like everything else from the people it once belonged to, belongs to him now)) that television rots children's brains has little basis in reality. i spent half my life watching television. if i remember correctly the gimmick in this film of his was that the kids were all zombies staring at the television, and the television was showing the disney adaptation of pinnochio or something. maybe it was dumbo. these are both films about being a prisoner. (sniffles might have been that disney dwarf, call him 'sneezy')
the thing i was getting at is that the cathode ray tube is where electrons go. your brain, your personality, it's all the same thing, electrons. they're stuck in your brain. some people believed that x-rays or gamma radiation or something were leeching out of the CRTs and this was why everyone was 'getting dumber', and they believed also that the programming itself was to blame, that if only we made the television more Moral and Upright and Proper things would finally fall into place. it never occurred to them that television was downstream of society itself, that is, them and their actions, the ones they do on purpose as well as the ones they do without thinking. in the cartoon, the wolf goes bananas because of how much of a hard-on he has for red riding hood, everyone is laughing when a train whistle comes out of his head or his eyes bulge out of their sockets, or his tongue is suddenly 50 feet long and unrolls like a red carpet, they laugh and the thought process which produces this hilarious moment is "sometimes desire is like your tongue unrolling like a carpet", "sometimes sex is like steam coming out of your ears", "sometimes your heart beats and every pump it's jutting ten feet out of your chest"
more and more quietly you walk up some stairs. they're creaky and you don't want to wake anyone. i say more and more because the first time you climb them, many years ago, it's too loud and you make the neighbors angry, and even though they don't tell you about it with words, you get the message. (one day you'll build a house with stairs that never creak or stairs that always creak, and this will solve the problem once and for all) the same goes for the heart-beats. heart beats too loud or too quietly. softly the heart beats. beats me.

I'm well aware this argument is often misused by bigots as a dog whistle. I tried to be as clear as possible that I am an ally and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community myself.
Under a recent hot comic on comics, I said:

I'm bi and 100% an ally to trans people.
Separately, I'm against any unfair advantage in sports. Whether that's steroids, an inability to create lactic acid, that gene that makes your muscles denser and easier to form, or having gone through male puberty and later participating in women's sports.
But to clarify, I would say this only applies to sports that are primarily about physical strength rather than skill. Any kind of race, weightlifting, and the like. Sports where you are not interacting with the opponent.
I ran cross country. The boys and girls who were at a similar level did the exact same training. But the boys always had faster times. Yeah, the top girls will beat most boys, but we're talking about the winners. And in that regard the fastest men's mile in the world beats the fastest women's by 24 seconds. It's simply not fair to cis women.
The argument you posed here is a nonsense one. That people with an unfair advantage may not be number one right away doesn't mean their advantage was meaningless. Barry Bonds didn't automatically have the home run record once he started steroids.

Which still has 428 upvotes, on a sub where it absolutely would have been downvoted if the majority opinion was that I were being bigoted.
And yet, the mods banned me for it. I tried to explain in the mod mail that I didn't break their rules, and they responded with, "except for the one about bigotry," and a mute. Nevermind that it clearly didn't, otherwise they would have gotten my account totally banned since it's a site-wide rule, but when I could respond, I did:

To be clear, my comment was not hateful. I even clarified as much to start. I am entirely in support of trans people's identities and rights. What I was basing my stance on was information I gathered from google scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0 %2C5&q=trans+muscle strength&btnG=&oq= trans+muscle+
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/15/865/
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e805 /5651219
Which, albeit limited, does show that MtF retain a level of muscle strength higher than cis woman, though lower than before they started HRT. I was having productive discussions in the replies, and was entirely open to changing my stance if presented with conflicting data.

To which the mod only responded:

Oh great, you're doubling down on your fascist hatespeech in my modmail.
Here is the only reason people are attacking trans sports players: Fascism.
There is no other reason. This is not up for debate

So I'm just wondering, AITAH here?

Basically, I’m a sucker for books where MC2 has been suffering in silence for a long time and has abandoned all expectations of a better life, but then suddenly MC1 realises what’s happening and devotes themselves fiercely to protecting MC2. I’d like the book to depict all three stages of the situation – starting with MC2 suffering and MC1 being oblivious, then showing the moment where MC1 realises what's happening, then showing the protection/comfort that comes after – but it doesn’t really matter to me what percentage of the book is devoted to which stage. I also don’t mind whether the reader knows about the suffering before MC1 or if they realise it at the same time, and I don’t mind what exactly the suffering consists of (most of the books l’ve read that fit the trope depict some kind of abuse, but it definitely doesn’t have to be that).
Some examples of books l've enjoyed that fit the trope: - Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell – Kiem is a prince arranged to marry Jainan, who’s the widower of Kiem’s cousin Taam and who comes across as very cold and uptight. Eventually, Kiem realises that Taam was abusive, and that Jainan has assumed all marriages are like that and is now just waiting for Kiem to start hurting him. - A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, Foz Meadows – another arranged marriage one, but this time Vel was sexually assaulted by his ex before the marriage and expects it to happen again with his husband, Cae. Cae actually figures it out what’s happening ~30% of the way throunh the book, leaving a lot of time for the comfort side of things. - Orientation, Gregory Ashe – North & Shaw are best friends (and endgame lovers), North is in a physically abusive marriage but explains away the injuries as coming from boxing, eventually Shaw accidentally eavesdrops on him being beaten and is horrified. Interestingly, it takes a long time for Shaw to tell North that he’s figured out what’s happening. Shaw starts off by laying into North’s husband instead. - Prince of Agony, Tavia Lark – Kaz is a prince who releases magic when in pain, and this magic can then be harnessed by the person who inflicted the pain. His parents have whipped him in secret all his life and have taught him that everyone else will hurt him too if they know the truth, so he puts up a very cold front. Lucien is a prisoner at the palace whom Kaz has claimed as a personal slave, ostensibly to humiliate him but actually to protect him from a worse punishment, because he’s a total softie at heart. Lucien finally works out what’s going on and ends up basically defending Kaz from the other side of the power dynamic. - Empty Net, Avon Gale – Laurent is a minor-league hockey player who’s universally hated for acting like a jerk. He gets traded to a rival team as a back-up for their starter goalie, Isaac. Turns out that’s Laurent’s only like that because his father and ex-coach was horrifically abusive, and he’s gotten used to hurting people before they can hurt him. Isaac figures this out when he finds Laurent crying in the team shower with scars all over his back, and by the end of the book, the whole team has rallied together around him. - Two Man Station, Lisa Henry – Gio is a city policeman who used to date another officer on his team, but got him fired before the book starts – he blew the whistle about his ex’s drug use and how it was making him dangerously aggressive during arrests. The version of the story that spread through the police service was that Gio had made up a rumour about his ex to ruin his career, so he’s universally hated. His higher-ups transfer him to a small outback station as a kind of unofficial punishment, and his new partner, Jason, also gives him a very frosty reception. Eventually, Jason becomes the first person to learn not just the true circumstances of the firing, but also that Gio’s ex also used to beat him and that his old colleagues have been harassing him ever since the incident, including refusing to provide him with backup in the field, making anonymous phone calls threatening his niece, and sending unmarked packages containing dog food to his new station. Jason flips into being fiercely defensive of Gio, and it’s a delight to witness. - Watch Me, Sloane Kennedy – Jude is a high-flying businessman who comes across as very uptight and abrasive, but he’s actually just trying to hold down a high-stress job while dealing with severe ADHD and intense fear of failure from his time in foster care. Nikolai is his bodyguard who slowly sees through him and starts looking after him.
My ‘no’s in a book are: poly, incest including stepfamily stuff, BDSM (I can handle someone being tied up during sex or a tiny bit of a dom/sub vibe during sex, but nothing more intense than that), daddy kink, age play, and omegaverse.
Thanks so much everyone, really appreciate you even taking the time to read this far ❤️

Hi all! With less than 3 weeks until my Kickstarter "Let The Games Begin" launches, I thought I'd share with you how I run a Tavern Drinking Contest.
If you enjoy this and want to see more, sign up to get notified when the project launches at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avasadventures/let-the-games-begin-50-mini-games-for-dandd-5e
Overview
Nothing riles up and excites a packed tavern quite like a drinking contest, especially when there are free drinks on the line. A row of eager competitors take their seats along the bar table, encouraged by their friends and companions.
Introducing the wide variety of beverages on offer, the barkeeper measures out the drinks and acts as arbitrator of the game to ensure fairness and civility. A rowdy crowd of drunken fools can quickly devolve into a bar brawl if not handled carefully.
Mug after mug is handed to each of the contestants, as they guzzle down the foamy liquid, continuing until only one person remains at the table. The game is a great event for merriment and a bit of gambling on the side. Hopefully, a cure for hangovers is available nearby.
Mechanics
Gathering at the table, each Player begins with one extra life to save them from elimination. The round of drinks is passed across, and each player rolls a Constitution Saving Throw. The game begins with a DC of 8 and increases for each round. If a Player fails the save, they lose their extra life and will be eliminated if they fail another round, through either vomiting, passing out, or calling it quits.
Throughout the game, the rounds increase in difficulty in increments of +1 and +2 to the DC. For example, the first round is DC 8, the second is DC 9, third is DC 10, but fourth jumps to DC 12. The last person remaining wins the game.
Variant Game
An alternative drinking game revolves around the different brands and intensity of alcoholic beverages. Here the objective is to be the first to reach 21 points. The points are acquired by successfully consuming different drinks without falling unconscious or throwing up. The value of the points correspond with the ferocity of the drink.
On a Player’s turn, they will decide which drink they will try to consume that round. With the drink in hand, the Player will roll a Constitution Saving Throw to determine if they successfully guzzle the booze or not. The DC is determined by the strength of the alcohol. If the Player succeeds, they are rewarded with the corresponding points, if they fail, they receive only half the points rounded down that turn.

Drink Name	DC	Point Value
Ale	10	2
White Whistle	12	3
Red Dog	13	4
Barrage No. 4	15	5
Snake Brew	17	6
Nighty Night	20	8

With each failed Constitution Saving Throw, a contestant falls dangerously closer to unconsciousness. A Player has 3 strikes before they succumb to sleep and are eliminated from the game. Victory is achieved by being the first contestant to accumulate a total of 21 points.
The strategy of this drinking game lies in the balance of risking stronger drinks to reach the goal quicker, with avoiding falling unconscious too soon. If a Player only chooses the lighter beverages, they may accumulate points too slowly to win, or might be the only person left standing. There is also the factor of still receiving at least half points on a fail, to add into the strategy.

ACT Supreme Court judge David Mossop has sentenced Afghan War whistle blower David McBride to nearly 6 years in prison. He is the first Australian to be imprisoned for crimes relating to war in Afghanistan. Out of the 366 days of this year, Mossop chose to deliver a very harsh sentence on McBride on the exact date of the national budget.
The cases deemed most comparable by the judge resulted in an average sentence 22.90% of McBride's, with time served being an average of 13.58% of the time before McBride is eligible for parole.
Evidence of the judge's bias:
Mossop decided that McBride did not have a duty to the public interest that outweighed a duty to blindly follow orders that were technically legal in his country. This would mean everyone tried at Nuremberg was innocent. It's also worth noting that if officers never disobeyed lawful orders the world would have been destroyed by nuclear war (look up Stanislav Petrov).
Furthermore, McBride's objections to illegal procedures in investigating soldiers he believed were being used as scapegoats to cover up the war crimes of more senior soldiers were used by the judge as evidence that McBride didn't want war crimes to be exposed. The judge had to admit exposing war crimes was important for the public to know, but used this fallacious argument to misrepresent McBride's motives.
The following video explains how certain orders were illegal and a lawyer's paramount duty is officially to the proper administration of justice. This 'prevails to the extent of inconsistency with any other duty'. The Legal Profession Uniform Law also states that lawyers are mandated to uphold 'the protection of the public generally'. The judge ignored this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj540q8YDQ&t=182s
David had much more damning evidence on those much higher in the chain of command, but the AFP raided the ABC to prevent the documents from seeing the light of day. McBride was also upset that Dan Oakes was only going after people like Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith instead of officers. He had evidence of the culpability of higher ups in war crimes, but was not allowed to use this in his defense. By the process of elimination, even if military leaders were oblivious to what was happening, they must have been criminally negligent and as officers they were responsible for the actions of their troops, meaning McBride was correct in thinking Dan Oakes should have castigated and exposed those in command.
Since McBride was denied the use of the bulk of his evidence, he can't be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, the judge refused to examine this evidence in private.
Mossop was forced to admit McBride served his country well and was of good character, but weaseled his way out the latter point by saying this changed when McBride became too convinced of the correctness of his opinion. He admitted McBride believed he was doing the right thing, but claimed he was too good of a lawyer to believe he should act in the public interest if it conflicted with his orders. This would mean Cicero was a bad lawyer. He was also forced to admit that what McBride did was in the public interest, but erroneously claimed his intention in revealing the files was the opposite of their ultimate effect. McBride was initially concerned with the sudden investigation of people he thought were being unfairly investigated as scapegoats to hide genuine war crimes. The judge has conflated this with not wanting to expose war crimes.
The judge said McBride's children (16 and 18) were beyond the age where they would feel the majority of the impact of their father going to prison.
The judge also diminished the significance of McBride's PTSD and addictions to alcohol and drugs. This is important as a mitigating factor in his guilt and a strong reason why prison would be especially harmful to him. According to the judge this 'made a material, if only minor, contribution ... to offending".
Mossop cited a number of somewhat similar cases (although these were difficult to find) where the defendants were mostly given much lighter sentences than McBride. Only one of the 9 cases adressed involved a harsher sentence: a man who misappropriated 10 rocket launchers was sentenced to 6 years with a non parole period of 4. Another case 'involved a solicitor responsible for managing a trust for a disabled person. The solicitor misappropriated $220,000. There was limited evidence of remorse or contrition and the offender had a gambling addiction. He was given a sentence of three years’ imprisonment, to be released after 18 months upon entry into a recognizance to be of good behaviour.'By the judges own admission 'Generally speaking, because of the different circumstances of these cases [Mossop was referring exclusively to these two cases and a third he found was not 'usefully comparable'], they do not have much value as comparable cases. Although the circumstances in Jafari are very different to the present case, they did involve a gross breach of trust by a lawyer and, in that respect, Jafari is comparable to some extent.'
For the 7 cases deemed most comparable by the judge, the average sentence was 15.57 months in prison with 3.67 months served. These are 22.90% of McBride's sentence and 13.58% of the time before he is eligible for parole, respectively. The time served by a man sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in prison was redacted. I have divided the sum of the other amounts by 6 to get an averagae.
Mossop also had to consider that McBride had no prior convictions, would suffer from being separated from his support dog, caused no known harm, suffered in limbo for years with this case hanging over his head, sought no personal gain and poses no risk to the public or risk of reoffending. Yet he not only decided to refuse an intensive corrections order (a sentence served in the community), but sentenced McBride to 5 years and 8 months in prison with a non parole period of 2 years and 3 months (this was supposedly discounted 10% for pleading guilty).

ACT Supreme Court judge David Mossop has sentenced Afghan War whistle blower David McBride to nearly 6 years in prison. He is the first Australian to be imprisoned for crimes relating to war in Afghanistan. Out of the 366 days of this year, Mossop chose to deliver a very harsh sentence on McBride on the exact date of the national budget, when the media are most distracted.
The cases deemed most comparable by the judge resulted in an average sentence 22.90% of McBride's, with time served being an average of 13.58% of the time before McBride is eligible for parole.
Evidence of the judge's potential bias:
Mossop decided that McBride did not have a duty to the public interest that outweighed a duty to blindly follow orders that were technically legal in his country. This would mean everyone tried at Nuremberg was innocent. It's also worth noting that if officers never disobeyed lawful orders the world would have been destroyed by nuclear war (look up Stanislav Petrov).
Furthermore, McBride's objections to illegal procedures in investigating soldiers he believed were being used as scapegoats to cover up the war crimes of more senior soldiers were used by the judge as evidence that McBride didn't want war crimes to be exposed. The judge had to admit exposing war crimes was important for the public to know, but used this fallacious argument to misrepresent McBride's motives.
The following video explains how certain orders were illegal and a lawyer's paramount duty is officially to the proper administration of justice. This 'prevails to the extent of inconsistency with any other duty'. The Legal Profession Uniform Law also states that lawyers are mandated to uphold 'the protection of the public generally'. The judge ignored this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj540q8YDQ&t=182s
David had much more damning evidence on those much higher in the chain of command, but the AFP raided the ABC to prevent the documents from seeing the light of day. McBride was also upset that Dan Oakes was only going after people like Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith instead of officers. He had evidence of the culpability of higher ups in war crimes, but was not allowed to use this in his defense. By the process of elimination, even if military leaders were oblivious to what was happening, they must have been criminally negligent and as officers they were responsible for the actions of their troops, meaning McBride was correct in thinking Dan Oakes should have castigated and exposed those in command.
Since McBride was denied the use of the bulk of his evidence, he can't be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, the judge refused to examine this evidence in private.
Mossop was forced to admit McBride served his country well and was of good character, but weaseled his way out the latter point by saying this changed when McBride became too convinced of the correctness of his opinion. He admitted McBride believed he was doing the right thing, but claimed he was too good of a lawyer to believe he should act in the public interest if it conflicted with his orders. This would mean Cicero was a bad lawyer. He was also forced to admit that what McBride did was in the public interest, but erroneously claimed his intention in revealing the files was the opposite of their ultimate effect. McBride was initially concerned with the sudden investigation of people he thought were being unfairly investigated as scapegoats to hide genuine war crimes. The judge has conflated this with not wanting to expose war crimes.
The judge said McBride's children (16 and 18) were beyond the age where they would feel the majority of the impact of their father going to prison.
The judge also diminished the significance of McBride's PTSD and addictions to alcohol and drugs. This is important as a mitigating factor in his guilt and a strong reason why prison would be especially harmful to him. According to the judge this 'made a material, if only minor, contribution ... to offending".
Mossop cited a number of somewhat similar cases (although these were difficult to find) where the defendants were mostly given much lighter sentences than McBride. Only one of the 9 cases adressed involved a harsher sentence: a man who misappropriated 10 rocket launchers was sentenced to 6 years with a non parole period of 4. Another case 'involved a solicitor responsible for managing a trust for a disabled person. The solicitor misappropriated $220,000. There was limited evidence of remorse or contrition and the offender had a gambling addiction. He was given a sentence of three years’ imprisonment, to be released after 18 months upon entry into a recognizance to be of good behaviour.'By the judges own admission 'Generally speaking, because of the different circumstances of these cases [Mossop was referring exclusively to these two cases and a third he found was not 'usefully comparable], they do not have much value as comparable cases. Although the circumstances in Jafari are very different to the present case, they did involve a gross breach of trust by a lawyer and, in that respect, Jafari is comparable to some extent.'
For the 7 cases deemed most comparable by the judge, the average sentence was 15.57 months in prison with 3.67 months served. These are 22.90% of McBride's sentence and 13.58% of the time before he is eligible for parole, respectively. The time served by a man sentenced to 2 years and 7 months in prison was redacted. I have divided the sum of the other amounts by 6 to get an averagae.
Mossop also had to consider that McBride had no prior convictions, would suffer from being separated from his support dog, caused no known harm, suffered in limbo for years with this case hanging over his head, sought no personal gain and poses no risk to the public or risk of reoffending. Yet he not only decided to refuse an intensive corrections order (a sentence served in the community), but sentenced McBride to 5 years and 8 months in prison with a non parole period of 2 years and 3 months (this was supposedly discounted 10% for pleading guilty).

I was just randomly thinking about this since I think frenworld was a rather peculiar era in my internet life and I have a theory about the subreddit and I was curious if I could catch anyone who also remembers this subreddit. I will provide the RationalWiki description of the word Fren.

Fren is a corruption of the word "friend". It is a dog whistle used by a subsection of the alt-right, commonly found on the FrenWorld subreddit on Reddit. The idea is to talk like a small child or intellectually disabled person while still talking about general alt-right bigotry, the pattern of which emerged with the aforementioned Apu Apustaja meme.
Closely connected to the honkleClown World memes, the Honkler and other Pepes can be seen in many of their memes. After the CringeAnarchy subreddit was shut down when the moderators refused to delete posts calling for genocide, many users migrated to the FrenWorld subreddit, which was shut down in June 2019. This word is also used by fans of the band Twenty One Pilots, plus it is the name of Swedish streamer Vargskelethor's mascot character, so check the context.

I personally have always felt that this doesn't quite capture the purpose of frenworld. The point of frenworld was to get neurodivergent reddit users to migrate to 4Chan for further radicalisation. It had at the time been described as "a 4Chan colony" but this doesn't convey the full truth, it was a 4Chan radicalisation operation.
I have frequently returned to this in my mind because it's always been a curiosity of my angsty teen years and was wondering if anyone here actually remembers this subreddit and agrees with my conclusions.
Probably half of the subreddit's users were not from 4Chan but instead were people expressing their identity in a non-gender conforming way in a way they hadn't before and this was to its unaware memebers, was a comforting social community to be part of. I say this because this was a type of community which had a vibe which I would only see again later when I became more aware of my neurodivergence. Yes the subreddit was established and ran by the far right, but I was part of the target demographic and the far right has had a long time sicceeding in recruitment of neurodicergent folks because progressives of the era spent far too much time accidentally alienating neurodivergent people. The Neurodiversity movement exploded in the aftermath of the decline if the 'Intellectual Dark Web' even if the roots were planted at the same time as the modern far right. Before Neurodiversity was more popularised many of us literally had no representation in the discourse and our issues were ignored by far too many progressives.
Especially for young white men like myself, we spent our lives facing oppression and bullying from a source we didn't understand, and it made it easier to spoonfeed us the far right narritive since there wasn't an alternative explanation which we heard and made sense of. That's why the gamergate era was something I easily jumped onto, because why was I suffering? Well clearly progressives must had seemed hypocritical or narrow sighted, where theu cared about other minorities but didn't often even acknowledge the issues our minority faces from ableism.
Of course there has been a Neurodiversity movement since the 1990's and there have been passionate disability activists since the industrial revolution. The difference is the online culture of gamergate was greatly shaped by neirodivergent hands and I will not concede this hill since the reactionary tendency of the online right started in terminally online apaces which self-professed things like autism very openly. The term autist isn't a result of people wanting to appropriate autism, it was led by reactionary autistic people and eventually the word autist became synonymous with the right. There would had been a lot more open resistance to this from autistic people if it wasn't for the fact that the gamergate era alienated young autistic white men, who at the time and still are the majority of diagnosed people. Obviously this is because of the autism criteria being flawed and implicit racial bias around neuro-cognitive behaviour, additionally culture plays a role in diagnosis rates, especially people of atypical cultrual backgrounds.
The point I am making is, Neurodiversity if popularised sooner could had saved so many lives. Neurodiversity saved my life, and I am hoping it has saved the loves of other people in a position like my own identity wise. Hence why I believe that if I ask people here if theh remember frenworld perhaps I can gain more insight into my theory.
I think these questions are quite important to investigate as theu can help us make sense of our lives and pasts. I am so proud of where I am today, and reflecting on this makes me appreciate how far I have come personally.

Here are a list of NFP dog whistles I came up with this to make ourselves appear more moderate (like kibiener)
1: have a totally beautiful day (total blud death)
2: we must ssr (save the Sordish race)
3: I love to use bear traps! (Reference to operation bear trap)
4: bluds are just mountain sords
5: I’m not racist but bludish terrorism must be solved!
6: what are bluds? (Ask this so we don’t have to regonize their existence)
7: it will be on the 4th (reference to save the sordish race being 4 words)
I’ll come up with more later and add them in another post

I know it's old but I've been seeing it a lot lately. Seems it's just the equivalent of racist right wing ones.

Hi! I have two shelter mutts, 8-9yo; one is a beagle/golden/lab and is the picture of subservience, and another who is a GSP/Pitt who is a chaotic jackass with the permanent attitude of a defiant teenage girl.
The attitudinal one has a habit, only on the weekends, before I’ve brushed my teeth, of making (rare) lovey eyes at me, ears back, and sort of bobbing her head towards my mouth and sniffing. I respond by sort of blowing in and out of my mouth, something close to whistling. She sniffs for a while and after 10+ seconds does a ‘harumpf’ and turns her head away. My other dog, who lives to please me, never does this.
What is this behavior? I’ve heard that it means the dog smells illness, but this has been going on for 9 years and I’m not ill. I’ve heard it’s a sign of respect but this is, by far, the least respectful dog in the house. Am not sure why this particular dog loves my unbrushed breath?

Motion to Support Rejoining the European Union

To move– that the House of Commons recognises
(1) That the United Kingdom while in the European Union received over £10,000,000,000 in funding from 2014 until we left;
(2) That investment in the United Kingdom supported a variety of programmes including a large back-to-work programme that supported poorer areas of Britain.
(3) This funding is no longer possible because of campaigns built on deceit;
(4) That continued funding from the Government cannot make up for the shortfall in additional funds which came from the European Union.
Therefore–the House of Commons calls upon the Government to
(1) Advocate for a return of the United Kingdom to either–

(a) the European Union;
(b) the European Economic Area;
(c) or the Single Market.

(2) Call upon the Government to enter into negotiations to rejoin the European Union;
(3) Further dialogue with European Union partners to facilitate the continued development of the United Kingdom.
This motion was written by the Rt. Hon. Marquess of Melbourne Sir model-kyosanto KD OM KCT, on behalf of Volt Europa.
Speaker,
This Government is one that is so offensively anti-Europe, despite containing a pro-EU Deputy Prime Minister. Yet, it has done little to act upon the previous term’s motion, and therefore it has become necessary for it to be submitted once more, so that we may continue to bring this issue to the forefront of debate. Perhaps, the Government, which has done nothing so far this term, may in fact perhaps do something on the European question that still remains. This House last term voted overwhelmingly in favour of rejoining the European Union, or some other more agreeable arrangement, yet it has gone un-responded to.
So, it is beyond time we recognise that it was an absolute mistake and travesty that we left the European Union, we are still reeling financially from what has been a disaster that has left millions of British residents worse off, it stifled investment into our country, and has led to a severe reduction in our ability to better the nation.
When you travel around the nation you see signs plastered with “Project Financed by the European Union”. From motorways to universities, from villages to cities, these monuments to the enormous financial benefit that being in the European Union gave to us remain, but the money does not.
This also does not even begin to mention the immense negative impacts our exit with the European Union has had on our local businesses, on our farms, we are now faced with mounting costs exacerbated by the rising cost of living which is driving hard working people and their families out of business, and will continue to send people into poverty.
The campaign to leave the European Union was devoid of logical debate and sought to harness right wing populism to scare people into voting leave. The referendum to leave the Single Market strongly revolved around the coming of a socialist revolution on the left, and the same racist dog whistles on the right. Facts and figures were ignored, and pushed to the sidelines so we could have a debate predicated on rhetoric and insults.
We now know how things have turnt out, we are worse off for being out of the European Union, we face high tariffs, border controls, low levels of investment, and our economy is suffering at a greater rate than the rest of the world. It is clear that our experiment has failed and it is time to finally recognise that.
This motion seeks to demonstrate that the democratically elected representatives of the United Kingdom want us to be back in the Union, want investment in our nation, want investment in our research, and want the cooperation and trade we had with the continent back. We cannot be insular, we are a globalised economy that is ever increasingly reliant on trade and freedom of movement with more and more nations. We shunned this half a decade ago, and we are suffering for it.
Speaker,
I understand the apprehension many may have with supporting this Motion, but we can all see that we are better than empty rhetoric, we know the facts and we know the figures. We were better off in the European Union, and we would not be facing the same economic pressures we are now if we were still in the Union. We are better than dog whistles and blind nationalism, we are a world player, increasingly connected and we deserve to be in a Union that embodies liberal ideals. I urge all to support Volt’s mission to return us back to the EU.
This debate ends on Tuesday 21st May 2024 at 10PM BST.

Matt Gaetz and MAGA leaders just blew another racist dog whistle down at the Trump trial as they compete to see who can degrade themselves the most to gain Trump’s affection and a possible vice president slot. Michael Popok discusses Gaetz using “Proud Boy” white supremacist vocabulary in order to get Trump’s attention and show his support.

. . . that don’t double as OOC crab buckets? Do they exist? What are their names?
Been joining discords to get a feel for the atmosphere of a community before committing to a download. No one’s been awful to me personally but the atmosphere’s still been rancid. Don’t want to log in after a long day just to watch grown adults whine about other players roleplaying wrong or post political dog whistles that apparently don’t go against the “no politics” guidelines. Not looking for a hug box, just looking for a low sodium community with a team capable of enforcing its rules and a culture that doesn’t feel like a pipeline.

If you love this type of style where your like "wtf was that drop is's so f**king good and different", check out some of these songs as they have similar "wtf/awesome/mad drops".
Just copy the line of the song and youtube will just find the song (sorry I have not tailored this to spotify) :
Pendulum - The Island - Pt. I (Dawn) [Skrillex Remix]
RÜFÜS - Innerbloom (What So Not Remix)
Illusionize & Shapeless - TIME (I have a feeling you will love this, melty nights and completely gooey!)
Chase & Status - Don't Be Scared (Official Music Video) ft. Takura AC Slater - Bass Inside Wolfgang Gartner & Kill The Noise - Battlestations (F**KING AWESOME AND FUN TRACK! MY SECRET WEAPON TO SHOW PEOPLE!) Don Diablo - People Say ft. Paije Don Diablo - Head Up ft. James Newman GTA - Red Lips feat. Sam Bruno (Skrillex Remix) Loopers - I'm Heavy Mumbai Power (feat. Beam)-Skrillex SCARY MONSTERS & NICE SPRITES (KASKADE REMIX) - SKRILLEX (Just wait for the drop man, it's great and you probably won't have heard it before!) Skrillex, Noisia, josh pan & Dylan Brady - Supersonic (My Existence) Crystal Castles - Not In Love ft. Robert Smith of The Cure Lane 8 - Is This Our Earth? RL Grime - Core Getter - Head Splitter Dog Blood - BREAK LAW Danny L Harle & DJ Danny - On A Mountain (Flume Remix) Flume - Slugger 1.4 [2014 Export.WAV] Knock2 - dashstar* Shotgun Radio - A Bad Place (feat. Mimi Page) (Minnesota Remix) (My favorite track for years!) Chris Lake - I Want You (Just wait for the drop.) Knock2 - dashstar* (VIP) [NIGHTMODE] LOOPERS - I'm Odd Knock2 - REWiND [NIGHTMODE] Skrillex, Missy Elliott, & Mr. Oizo - RATATA Sibewest - Deprived Flume - Go Skrillex & Mr. Oizo - RATATA (KREAM Remix) ft. Missy Elliot (KREAM is killa, check them out. A lot of their stuff is signature sound). ANYMA X GRIMES – WELCOME TO THE OPERA (I know the Anyma synth plucks are going around at the moment but if you haven't heard this sound design it would still be mind tingly.) Tobiahs - Lifetime Martin Garrix - Animals (Of course! ;) )
For songs that have different alternative sounding drops which aren't as insanely different from what you usually hear but are still different sounding drops which are great check out:
Seven Lions - Isis Vicetone - Nevada (feat. Cozi Zuehlsdorff) Birdy Nam Nam - "Goin' In (Skrillex "Goin' Hard" Mix)"
Tchami - "Adieu" OFFICIAL VERSION
Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan - There For You (Official Instrumental) (The original is still "f**king dope! too! Marty has often unique sounding songs and pretty much made his own style of sound!)
Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa - Scared To Be Lonely (Official Instrumental) (Dua was kinda gaining popularity but i feel this was the song that really skyrocketed her into the limelight, the original with her lyrics is still so good!)
Tchami - Shot Caller (Badass madness!)
Lights & Music · Cut Copy (Awesome track, classic for me growing up and just decent for the time it came out!) Martin Garrix & Mesto - Limitless
Nero - Reaching Out
Martin Garrix & Brooks - Quantum
Martin Garrix & Zedd - Follow (F**king great track! Take risks my friend! ;) )
Flume - Say It (feat. Tove Lo) (Illenium Remix) David Guetta, Martin Garrix & Brooks - Like I Do
Bondax - Gold (Snakehips Bootleg) (More chill and not so party party but awesome drop!) Brooks & GRX - Boomerang (GRX is Martin Garrix's alternate stage name.) Martin Garrix & Florian Picasso - Make Up Your MindWarriors Dance - The ProdigyFuji Opener (feat. Alvin Risk)TroyBoi - Do You?Dog Blood - Next OrderOops · Martin Garrix Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs. W&W – Arcade (Extended Mix) Savant - Living iPod (Definitely going to love or hate it but it's fun, especially if your a major gamer like me!) Mr FijiWiji - Let The Sky Fall Down Martin Garrix & Jay Hardway Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now (PØNTES Remix) (Awesome, awesome remix and you won't have heard it!) Knock2 - dashstar* (Yellow Claw Trap Edit) [NIGHTMODE] Knock2 - Are U Feelin Me (Ft. DEV) [NIGHTMODE] Shadow Lady · Portwave GRADES - King
For songs which i've come across which are so different from what you'd usually hear but are a complete vibe because they arent "typical sounding" (not saying anything's right or wrong) these are great:
nekoi- exist (Don't be a peeping teemo!) Deadmau5 - Pomogrenate (Original Instrumental)
BICEP ATLAS BICEP OPAL (FOUR TET REMIX)
BICEP APRICOTS (This is really, really different but a phenomenal track. Just be in a good mindset because it's a fricking intense track but really dope!) DJ DIFFERENT - Angels
RITCHRD - PARIS (make sure to check it out on "yotsu"' youtube channel as it's got a cool anime clip!) San Holo - bb u ok? (Drop's great and it's different! Good vibes.)
Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE. (Skrillex Remix) (I don't listen to rap and i f**king frothed this for ages!)
RL Grime, What So Not, and Skrillex - Waiting
RL Grime x Utada Hikaru - Simple To Know [Flipboitamidles Mashup] (Just a feel good song. Your gonna like it or not!)
Deadmau5 & Kaskade - I Remember (Mr FijiWiji Remix/Cover ft. Laura Brehm)
Guy Gerber - What To Do (&ME Remix)
BICEP JUST
BICEP GLUE
BICEP MELI (II) (Live at Love Saves The Day)
Gemini - Fire Inside (Mr. FijiWiji Remix)
The Presets - My People
BICEP SAKU (FEAT. CLARA LA SAN) RL Grime - Pressure Mitch Murder - The Touch Knock2 - SPEAK up! Mt. Wolf - Life Size Ghosts (Catching Flies Remix)Jonas Mantey - Frei Tom Day - Going Home Fracx - In Your Memory Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Soundtrack - Run
Parallel Universe · Franky Wah
&ME - The Rapture Pt.II
Keinemusik (Rampa, Adam Port, &ME) - Muyè
Danger - 0:59 Danger - 6:24 (from Furi original soundtrack)
Danger - 7:53 (from Furi original soundtrack)
Marie Davidson - 'Work It (Soulwax Remix)' (Hilarious track, defs different.) Lacchesi & Mac Declos - Give It To Me (Nelly X-Rated Edit) Ytram & Citadelle - Alive &ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III (Also check out Pt.1 & Pt 2. for &ME) Amanati x Roniit - Slow (Oh lover lover!) Phelian - Liturgy (F**king love this track! So good for introspection at night!) Artist's I really, really love as personal preference that are so good:
SIBEWEST // Because of you (F**king love this guy, he's so damn good and so my jam!)
Kazukii // Pull
Kazukii - Need
Grimes - So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (I love this track and grimes has really grown on me slowly and slowly. If you don't know who the artist is it was Elon Musk's most recent wife (you know the richest guy/might still be the richest guy in the world! The comment that i just saw checking it now about the track is: "just learned that this song is about Grimes being pregnant “It’s about getting pregnant,” she said. “The sort of tragedy of agreeing to it, even though it’s this great thing. For a girl, it’s sacrificing your body and your freedom. It’s a pretty crazy sacrifice and only half of the population has to do it.”"
Please, Stay-Matthieu Faubourg KAZUKII // Return Nero - The Thrill Monrroe Ft. Emily Makis - Never Too Old Arle - Close To You (Icarus Edit) Carpenter Brut - Paradise Warfare (Pretty awesome track, Carpenter Brut is great but dark and intense. Really suggest you play this for yourself instead of randomly showing it to someone. Could put them in a bad headspace if they are tripping bells. You will know what I mean by the end of the track!) Le Matos - Montrose (Le Matos are one of my all time favorites, incredibly underrated going by what you see on youtube!)
Kashuks - Universe
Mononoid - Protoplasm (Original Mix)Moby -- After (Drumsound & Bassline Smith Remix)
Banks - Warm Water (Snakehips Remix) Third ≡ Party - Without You (I love this track, makes me feel so good and the statues are so deep! Look up the burning man wire adult and children statues with the adults with the kids inside!) Kazukii - Tension Franky Wah - Love Me (Official Audio) (Extended Mix) Kaneki サウンド - Evening With U Neon Indian - Polish Girl (Indie electronic more so but still great, loved this back in the day!) Amelie Lens - Hypnotized (My favorite techno artist! So good!) Franky Wah - Cry No More (Audio) Grimes - New Gods Skrillex - The Reason Skrillex - Leaving Skrillex & Wiwek - Killa ft Elliphant
Mr FijiWiji - Sentry (Great song with unique sound design though a bit sad sounding. Love to Wiji my Fiji!) Awesome - The Bloody Beetroots
ARTBAT, Shall Ocin feat. braev - Origin Golden Features - 'Touch (feat. Rromarin) (F**CKING SO GOOD AND STILL UNSEEN! OMG FAVORITE TRACK PROBABLY OF ALL TIME!) Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Blueshift's Synthwave Cover) (This is a GREAT COVER if you love the original and synthwave.) Skrillex - Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites (Radar Detector Remix) Katana ZERO OST - Hit The Floor (Extended) UPGRADE-OFFL1NX FISHER - You Little Beauty (SCNDL VIP Club Edit) (Get your filth on son! If you love fishy, guarantee you will love this pure debauchery and raunchery!) Sewerslvt - Mr. Kill Myself Sewerslvt - Pretty Cvnt Sewerslvt - Newlove ZHU - Palm of My Hand Deadmau5 - Aural Psynapse (Mr FijiWiji Remix) Deadmau5 - Strobe (Mr FijiWiji Remix) THE OTHERS' (Radio Edit) TV ROCK Vs Dukes Of Windsor [HQ] (Just wait for the drop mang!) Amelie Lens - Drift Crystal Castles - Baptism M.O.O.N. - 'Hydrogen' (Try not to fry someone with this track.) SebastiAn - Kindercut Sebastian - Tetra NYC Beat (Radio Edit) · Armand Van Helden FKA twigs x Skrillex - Ego Death (Yoseppi's Club Edit)(Pretty much just my favorite parts of the original.) Pizza · Martin Garrix Skrillex - Kyoto (Extended) SKRILLEX - RIGHT ON TIME (12TH PLANET & KILL THE NOISE) Flume ft. Vera Blue - Rushing Back (Ekko & Sidetrack Bootleg) No Time-LastlingsI've Got You · Lastlings Lastlings - I've Got You (Rinzen Remix / Audio) Take My Hand (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Sky Remix) · Lastlings Lastlings - Out Of Touch (CRi Remix / Visualizer) Lastlings - False Reactions (X CLUB. Remix / Official Audio) Lastlings - Last Breath (Adult Art Club Remix / Audio) Lastlings - Out Of Touch (Paraleven Remix) Lastlings - Deja VuLions in the Wild - Martin Garrix · Third Party Grimes & i_o - Violence deadmau5 - Monophobia (feat. Rob Swire) [Official Video] Chase & Status - Mixed Emotions SHDOW - Spirit. Heatwave · SBTRKT (This guys amazing!) Pharoahs - SBTRKTWildfire - SBTRKTSo Far Away · Lazerhawk Martin Garrix - Poison Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs. W&W – Arcade (Extended Mix) If I Know You (Tom Middleton Remix) · The Presets Sneaky Sound System - It's Not My Problem (Thin White Duke Mix) Netsky - Memory Lane Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff (Nero Remix) Golden Features - Worship Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman X Steve Angello - Payback (Original Mix) Martin Garrix & David Guetta - So Far Away Madeon - Finale (Netsky Remix) RL Grime & What So Not - Tell Me RL Grime - I Wanna Know feat. Daya Lane 8 - Survive feat. Channy Leaneagh (Bit of an Anthem when your going through a rough time!) MALO - March of Progress The Presets - Talk Like That I Will Be Here [Wolfgang Gartner Remix Edit] - Tiësto, Sneaky Sound System Electric Youth - The Best Thing Knock2 - PARANOiD Le Matos - Light Again feat. Electric Youth Le Matos - Sarah Knock2 - gettin' hott MIAMI NIGHTS 1984 - Saved By The Bell Matrix Reloaded Rave (Zion Dance Party) - Aphrodite Mix (Awesome mix, great when your Hiding the bishop"Fluke - ZionPorter Robinson - Language STRLGHT - Where Do We Go Helax - Tell Me, Tell Me Lights & Music · Cut Copy Cristian Collodoro – Temperature Remix Follow The Storm · Gauthier Bloc Party - One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix) Kasbo - I Get You ft. Lizzy Land (Fakear Remix) Stranger - House Party (AC Slater Remix) Ravager · VIME Grum feat. Electric Youth - Turn It Up Mr FijiWiji - You Worry Enough Hidden Face - Cold Night Pendulum - Witchcraft (Rob Swire's Drumstep Mix) Sublab - In My Blood (feat. Mads) Skrillex, PinkPantheress & Trippie Redd - Way Back Alan Braxe, Fred Falke - You'll Stay In My Heart (Instrumental) [2023 Remaster] Something In The Water X Skepta W O L F C L U B - Tears 3DS Internet Settings · マドロスMERCURY Rules - A Little More Love (Bootleg Edit) Womack & Womack - Teardrops (Rules Remix) Rico 56 x Korzana x twofaced. - Strangers [NIGHTMODE] Kavinsky - Cameo feat. Kareen Lomax KAVINSKY - NightcallKavinsky - Zenith (Someone on youtube was saying this is supposed to be the spiritual successor to Night Call)Playtime Is Over by Le Matos - Studio Session for Mondopalooza Danger - 22:41 Portal · Rebuke Doja Cat - Streets (MCG Remix) The Chase (Rebūke Remix) THAT KIND - Here Comes The Rain Again (Nalestar Remix) RÜFÜS DU SOL - On My Knees (Adriatique Remix)

Hi, I know some of you have been interested in Joost’s written stuff, so this is one of them. It’s a short story that Joost wrote for Boekenweek voor Jongeren (Book Week for Young People) in 2019. There’s more info about it here (in Dutch) https://www.vice.com/nl/article/qvgzpv/joost-klein-schreef-een-kort-verhaal-over-een-wilde-nacht-in-berlijn and there was also this promo video for it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx7wxnpxps0. It's been translated from Dutch - maybe not the most perfect translation but it's readable. Original in Dutch here. Enjoy

"How come he suddenly has cash?" I looked at Gurb, but he avoided my gaze. Louis never had money and yet he was buying another round. Meanwhile, a Moby song was playing and nothing made sense. "If he has money for drinks, he can surely pay me back, right?"
Just a few hours ago, I was alone in Berlin. Now, ten hours later, I'm standing in some obscure techno club with my best friends. Loud rock music with drunken shouting. "Hey, Miss Murder, can I make beauty stay if I take my life?" I woke up that day with a mild hangover from the lonely yet people-filled night before. Perfect conditions for a 20-year-old dropout.
The Hard Rock Café was the most beautifully ugly place in Berlin. Gurb had driven for seven hours straight in his mother's car, but we didn't notice. An iconic black Mini Cooper. Your body leads your mind, the beat never stops, and you can conquer the world. Louis threw in another crazy dance move. We were happy.
"Do you want another drink, brother?" Gurb asked me, half shouting. An evening filled with rhetorical questions. He saw me dancing and already knew the answer.
Gurb always had money. Louis, on the other hand, never did. Louis was also the youngest of us three. He had just turned 18. I wouldn't call him a cunning fox. More like a jack-of-all-trades. Like the time he made a lot of money on a Wadden Island with a group of boys. They sold large blocks of hash.
"Crazy dude!" I shouted at him. He yelled something back.
"Do you remember back then?" Louis said.
"Back then? Back then? Yeah man, of course!" I had no idea what he meant. "Do you mean the party?"
"Do you mean the party, he says! This guy. When I look at you like this, it makes me happy. The exact same kid is here letting loose just like back in high school!"
We knew each other from secondary school. He joined when I was in the second grade. He was very intelligent. Too young, too much knowledge of the world. His mother is from Brazil. We often went to his mother's place to play on the Playstation Louis and I had bought together.
I lived everywhere at that time. In the crisis shelter where I stayed for a while, for example, I wasn't allowed to have a Playstation. So we set it up in an accessible place, near school. It was always fun with Louis. Going together to the Apple Store. Taking all kinds of photos with all the webcams, posting them on Hyves, and then leaving. Louis always knew how to cheer me up.
"Aaaaaaaaaa!" There was Gurb with five drinks in his hands. Gurb was wearing a blue checkered shirt. Two buttons undone. Hair slicked back. "You look good, brother!"
"You look fresh too! We all look fresh!" Gurb said enthusiastically. Louis was wearing a completely white outfit. We quickly bought this before going out. He also bleached his hair.
"You look like the Brazilian cousin of James Dean in these clothes," I said. Louis laughed. "Let me take a picture."
Suddenly, the DJ switched to some kind of techno. "Ah, here Berlin briefly takes off its mask." I was fine with it all. Louis was talking to a lady.
Voluptuous breasts, I thought to myself. He gave her one of his two drinks.
"He's with a girl and he's thinking with his dick," I said to Gurb. "Let him be, tonight Berlin is ours!"
The bass kept pounding. "I simply don't have the patience for the club," I said to Gurb. He looked surprised. Like a sweet dog, tilting his head. "I'm just waiting for tomorrow. Can't do my thing here. Don't have patience for the already known. I want adventure and I want it now!"
Gurb started laughing. "Patience is a virtue." Yes. Patience is all well and good, but I think it's a waste of my time. Gurb grabbed my shoulder.
"I think it's time for another beer."
Louis and I were walking through Leeuwarden a year ago when suddenly a red Ford Ka stopped in front of us. It was Gurb, casually driving around the city. He invited us into his car. We hopped in. Since that afternoon, the three of us were together. A few months later, Louis got a tattoo on his ribs in honor of our friendship. It was the name of our group chat. Braddar Force Indigo.
There were also days when Gurb would take me for a drive around Friesland. He reminded me how beautiful Friesland is. The world doesn't spin there. The newspapers I threw away in the Stiens forest in 2011 could still be lying in the same spot, so to speak.
Just before midnight, I found myself in line for the restroom. My eyes fell on a pair of striking shoes. Cigarette smoke invaded my nose for the fourth time. "Müssen Sie eine Zigarette haben?" a female voice spoke to me. I felt like Tom Hanks in the final scene of Angels & Demons, where the new pope first steps onto the balcony. The curtains opened. There I was, witnessing an important moment in history. I was just told how I was sent by God, but my ears didn't want to hear any of it. At least that's how I felt. My mouth was empty. I had no words left. That's when I knew for sure. Berlin might really be as crazy as literally everyone says.
Dark blond, silky hair. Was this real beauty then? She wouldn't look 40, but I think she was. A true woman. Beautiful in all her elegance. I always joked about being interested in older women, but tonight one stood in front of me. "I don't smoke," I said to her.
Someone tapped me. "Please, just go to the toilet!" He was right. I hadn't peed in a while either. My urine was cloudy. "Glomerulonephritis," I said to myself on the toilet. This is an unusual condition. It's an inflammation in the kidneys, I thought I remembered. They should never have given me access to Google.
The evening progressed, and Louis kept buying rounds. "But seriously now. How does Louis suddenly have all that money for drinks?" I asked Gurb. He was outside smoking with a group of Swiss girls. I had strategically positioned myself so that I could always leave the crime scene if necessary.
"You shouldn't ask me," said Gurb. He was laughing with the temporary girlfriend group of Louis. Gurb has a beard. A lot of chicks like that. I get it too.
As much as I enjoyed Louis and Gurb being here for me, something didn't sit right with me. It couldn't just be about the money. "What's up with him?" I heard one of the Swiss girls say to Gurb.
Those kinds of questions really tire me out. "Not much, with you?" I replied.
They all started laughing. "That's not what she meant, brother," said Gurb.
"I couldn't care less whether she meant it or not. Send that brace-face back to Switzerland. Don't drive me crazy, alright!"
Actually, I hadn't drunk that much that evening. "Two vodka Sprites, please!" It's rare for me to get just one drink. "I always get two drinks, then you have to wait shorter for the third one!" Maybe the alcohol was affecting me more than I wanted to admit. Oh well, it was still the three of us against the world.
"Nice shoes, are those Prada?" I asked a random girl at the bar.
"No, these are fake. Why would I buy real ones for 600 dollars if I could just buy these for 20?"
"..."
I'm not very good at that. Talking. To women.
Louis and Gurb were in the smoking area now. It was less blue than the dance floor itself. My clothes already stank, so a visit to the smoking area couldn't hurt. "These people are so underground!" Gurb shouted. Louis was filming him with his phone. "These people..." There was a brief pause. As if Gurb forgot the only line he had. "...so underground!" All three of us burst into laughter. The alcohol flowed through our veins as if it came from the purest mountains. People seemed doubled and the room was full. We had been in the same club in Berlin for several hours.
"Leonardo! What are you hiding from the big boss?" I sometimes called Louis ‘DiCaprio.’ "You a rich guy, now?" I said, with an accent as if I were from the Bronx.
Louis started laughing. "Eh, you know nothing. Bullshit talk."
I had to laugh too. What was I even worried about? Friends are friends, with or without money. That shouldn't matter. Louis probably just worked for that money. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe he just had enough to buy rounds. But what if my gut feeling was right? That feeling was never wrong. Except for that one time at the Holland Casino in Groningen. Even the best of us have slip-ups. I was just getting worked up again. When it comes down to it, Louis is one of the sweetest guys I know. I had to let it go. After all, it's still Louis.
"I think I'm going to have sex soon, man," Louis said.
"With who?" I asked immediately.
"That one girl."
"Which one?"
"The one with the boobs."
"Oh, her. Just be careful."
"What kind of reaction is that?" Louis asked indignantly.
I'd only had four drinks, but I was acting like a mess. Louis was right. I didn't understand myself. Where was my head at? I'm here in Berlin, supposed to be having the time of my life, but here I am feeling lonely and sad again. Joost once again couldn't control his emotions.
"Sorry," I suddenly said to Louis. "Sorry for my behavior. Been acting dumb towards you all night. It's unnecessary." Sometimes I have that. Mood swings. "Know that crime is never the solution. We've talked about this so many times. Yes, it's tempting and sometimes easy money. I sometimes find it amusing too, but it's always hypothetical. Ask me for help. I can help you, even with illegal things. I'll always have your back." The dancing was kind of over.
The words I had just placed on Louis's plate came from my heart. My Frisian, irregular boys' heart.
Crying in the club. I had never seen myself like that. Crying, yes. In the club, no. I never understood the taboo around crying. Or emotions in general. I saw myself in the mirror. They weren't tears of joy. They weren't tears of sadness either. It was me letting everything go. All the emotions I had ever felt. The emotions I felt between my brother and sister and myself because they wanted to take on a parental role over me, but I was in puberty, so I pushed them away. The emotions I felt when my old neighbors were supposed to take care of my dog, but didn't tell me that he was bitten by one of their dogs. They didn't have money for the surgery, they later told me. They were ashamed of their lack of money. My dog died from this injury. Even the emotions that were all jumping at once during the retake for my swimming diploma A, I let go of.
No emotions. Just for a moment, not feeling anything. Is that too much to ask for?
"You still don’t smoke?"
It had to be the voice of the woman with the cigarettes. I looked over my shoulder through the mirror. It was her. The one with dark blond, silky hair.
"Not to be rude, but this is the men’s room," I said. She took a step closer and kissed me on my lips. It tasted like more. We started kissing. It had been a while since I had had female contact at this level. It probably didn't look good and it didn't feel good either. She started kissing my neck. Slowly, I noticed the pressure in the erectile tissues of my penis starting to increase. "I really don't have time for this!" I thought to myself. The woman with the cigarettes started to slowly sink down until she was on her knees. I didn't want this. Not now, not like this. She unraveled my penis from my Polo Ralph Lauren underwear. Her tongue was blue. It was probably from cheap shots of alcohol.
Was this real beauty then? Was this the beginning or the end of her story? And had I become the boy my parents hoped I would be? I thought about the fact that this was once someone's little daughter. Somewhere in the world, an old man might be wondering what his daughter is doing. Am I really putting pleasure above my own morals and values?
With my semi-erect circumcised penis still exposed, I lifted her up. After giving her a kiss on her forehead, I pulled up my pants and left the toilets.
It was the usual last hour in any club ever. I met Louis and Gurb at the bar. "Should we have another drink?" I asked Gurb. "I feel like having a cocktail. Something sweet. Lots of sugar. What about you?"
Gurb looked at the menu. "A cognac would go down well right now."
"A cognac? You're only nineteen!" Gurb and Louis laughed. "Two Tequila Sunrises please!" I called to the bartender. "Also, two beers! Thanks!" I also got a beer for Louis. At first, I didn't want to, but I didn't want to spoil the mood either. Besides, I didn't want to show too much that it bothered me so much.
We danced away the last minutes. The club closed, and we decided to walk with the group of Swiss girls. Apparently, they were staying nearby.
As I lagged behind the group, one of them tried to start a conversation with me. "Are you okay?" she asked kindly.
"I'm fine. Just had too much beer. Makes me sleepy." Not true at all, but I've heard people say that.
"You’re tired? The fun has only just began!" And as she said this, she pulled something out of her inner pocket. Her clenched fist, shielded by a half jacket. Who is this girl, anyway? I thought to myself. She opened her hand flat, and right in the center of her palm lay two small pills with a smiley face on them. At least, they looked like it.
"Oh, I don’t do drugs. Sorry."
"Me neither!" And she swallowed a pill. "Now it’s your turn... Or are you scared?"
Scared? Who did this crazy Swiss witch (with really beautiful eyes) think she was. With her "are you scared". I'll show her who's scared.
"Scared? I’m not scared." I picked up the remaining pill and swallowed it.
Everything went in slow motion. Was this who I had become? Was this the same boy from high school? And just before I could swallow, I spat out the pill. She was shocked. I picked up the pill again, dried it with my jacket, and put it back in her fist. "Maybe later!" I shouted, running back to the group, over my shoulder.
I have nothing to say to 9 out of 10 peers I come across. Of course, I can be social. I can also have fun with random people in random situations, but that night, it just tired me out. I also didn't understand what we were doing there. Those girls found me strange anyway. Suddenly, I was the fifth wheel.
"We know this place where they go until 7 in the morning!" The girl leader of the group spoke. I wanted to go home. "If you guys want, you can go. Don't worry about me," I said to Gurb and Louis. The boys had a brief discussion. We agreed to stay for just a little while longer for some drinks. I consented. I was thirsty. "I'll have a Fanta, Louis."
Gurb had reached the last cigarette in his pack. Louis and a girl from the group were nowhere to be found. It didn't even bother me. This guy just walks around with some cash in his pocket and all hell breaks loose. After a night full of stimuli, I understood Louis. Of course, I understood Louis. He's a young god. Handsome, smart guy. But that didn't make me any less angry. It was purely about trust for me. Something inside me said I should stop subconsciously expecting things from people too. It prevents disappointment.
"Hotel please!" I jokingly suggested to Gurb. "Should you call Louis or should I?" I added. Gurb immediately grabbed his Android smartphone and called Louis. He put the call on speaker.
"Are you ready?" Gurb asked.
"Yeah. Sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"We didn't have sex."
"That's fine, right? Tomorrow's a new day!"
"I think I'm in love, man," Louis said.
"...," Gurb said, chuckling as he let out a sigh.
Once we arrived at the girls' hostel, it was already getting light. Louis was thankfully back. There were stains on his pants, around his knees. My focus was solely on arranging a taxi. Although the boys were still flirting, I was really done now. "How are we going to pay for this taxi?" I said a bit too loudly.
There was a silence. "Don't worry. I still have cash," Gurb said.
"Yeah, I knew you would," I replied.
My words clearly hit Louis. "What do you mean by that?" he said.
It was as if time stood still for a few seconds. "Exactly what I said. Better listen." Louis pulled out a small wad of green bills from his pocket. At least 400 euros. "I don't even want to see that money," I reacted. I walked away.
I'll just order a taxi myself.
"Why are you walking away now?" Gurb said.
"Twelve hours ago, I was alone too, and I had a lot more fun then."
"Do you really want to know how I got this money?" Louis said.
Yes, I did want to know. My whole evening revolved around that damn money.
He took a second of pause before he began speaking. "The answer lies in the Mini."
What on earth could be in Gurb's mother's car? Louis was trying to get into my head. "Taxi!"
Once in the taxi, the division was clear. Gurb was upfront, chatting animatedly with the driver. All adventures ever were recounted. Louis and I in the back. One of my best friends since I was thirteen. Funny how things turn out. It was quiet between us. I was in my head, rehearsing how I would bring up the money again. It didn't add up, and he knew it himself. "I don't care, you know," I said, hoping he'd break.
"What don't you care about?"
"About that money."
"What money? You're really a crazy woozy man." Louis burst out laughing again.
On the other hand, it was silent. Gurb had started talking about the driver's family. The driver didn't appreciate it. Gurb meant well. The driver smelled of alcohol. Or was it me? His nails were polished. Maybe his wife was a specialist. I bite my nails myself. Like now.
"In the Mini, oh yeah."
"Shut up. Illegal man."
"You'll never know."
"Stop playing. Just say it!"
Louis grabbed my head, pulled himself towards me, and brought his mouth to my right ear. "Why so serious?" he whispered. He didn't want to tell me.
"But always with this damn money, huh?" I almost shouted at Louis. I broke every silence within a radius of 10 kilometers.
"I'm trying my best, bro. It is what it is. I can't make it any different," he replied. It was clearly bothering him deeply. He ran his hands through his hair. "Sometimes people have to do things. And you know that better than anyone. Sometimes they have to do things they don't really want to or aren't supposed to do."
I knew this spiel all too well. Through all the drunken haziness, I suddenly saw a small glimmer of light. A tiny spark of sincerity. Louis was serious this time.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to involve you in this. I'm sorry," sweat dripped from his forehead.
"You're serious, huh? Damn, man. What mess have you gotten yourself into now? Worse than Terschelling?" Worse than Terschelling would mean stolen goods. Maybe even violence.
"It's not what you think."
"The Adlon Hotel, right?" the driver chimed in. Always saved by the bell, that Louis.
Suddenly I hit my head against the seat in front of me. Of course, I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. The last thing I saw was Gurb waking up in panic from his drunken stupor. One by one, I started losing my senses. It started with the feeling in my fingers. For a brief moment, everything wasn't quite black, and I could only see a vague pattern of colors repeating inside my eyelids. You could compare it to the brief moment after the commercial break before the movie starts in the cinema. The movie was about to begin.
I knew I wasn't dying. At least not yet. Not like this. Not after an overall mediocre night out in Berlin. I found comfort in the image I forced myself to see. It was all in my head. There I was, unconscious.
I saw myself in a third-person point of view. It wasn't like I was actually leaving my body. More like there was a webcam hanging in one of the upper corners of the taxi.
As a child, I used to dream a lot about death. Nights spent awake.
At some point, I developed a kind of compulsive behavior. I kept swaying my torso from left to right with my hands under my head. It became almost like a workout before bedtime. Every night.
I called it dream shuffling. Just like I had learned to shuffle puzzle pieces or playing cards. Making things a little exciting for yourself. But what I almost never told anyone was that I was scared. I was afraid of burglars, who were very agile and muscular.
Especially afraid that they would murder me. I really wanted to know what death was like. It scared me.
These fear visions originated during an all-inclusive vacation in Turkey. I was 6 years old and already in bed. There was a big old TV in our hotel room, so I could secretly watch TV from bed. Every evening, my parents sat on the balcony. Here they discussed their day while enjoying a glass of alcohol. There was a Japanese animated series on TV. In the few seconds that I watched, I saw a scary creature climbing a sort of apartment complex via the balconies. The creature had hundreds of teeth and blond hair. It quickly entered to decapitate the people, then drained them and, as a final insult, robbed them. Dozens of carcasses of dead people were scattered around the apartment complex. The complex on TV resembled the resort where we were in reality, and the TV world merged with my surroundings. I became part of it. I saw people watching. No matter how loudly I screamed for help, they didn't react. The sun became very bright, and the people turned into nothing more than shadows. As the intensity of the sun increased, something became clear to me. These were not people. They had a sort of orange skin. Where I had previously thought it was their nose and mouth, it turned out that these shadowy figures did not have such physical features. They simply had three holes in their heads. The police tried to do something, but in vain. Since then, we always kept the light on in the hallway outside my bedroom. By rocking back and forth, from left to right, I could glance fleetingly at the beam of light under the door. That bit of light, escaping from the hallway into my room, gave me an advantage. It allowed me to stay one step ahead of the burglars. Pretty smart, right?
"From Jamaica to the world!
It’s just love. Why must the children play in the street?"
It was Bob Sinclar with "Love Generation" speaking to us through the taxi's speakers. We were stationary. I was conscious again, but I didn't feel alive at all. "How long was I out?" I asked Louis.
I could tell by his expression that he was relieved. Relieved that I was back. "One minute," he almost apologized. Louis gave me a pat on the shoulder. Gurb, on the other hand, was sleeping. He slept like a baby cub.
I put my right index finger on my forehead. It felt wet, but it wasn't blood. Blood feels different. Meanwhile, I kept hearing whistling.
"Be the love generation! Oh yeah!" It was still that same song by Bob Sinclar.
The earlier scent of alcohol had now been replaced by the smell of incense. It smelled like the same incense I had in my room. Sold to me as Tibetan 39 incense. I had bought it at a coffee shop in Rotterdam. I pulled up my notes on my phone. "Who lights incense in a CAR????" I let Louis read from my screen. He took the phone from my hands and started typing as well.
"Look at Gurb >>>" Gurb was so deeply asleep that his head drooped. His seatbelt held his torso in place, but his head ended up on the driver's shoulder. The man didn't mind. He didn't move. I made eye contact with the driver through the rearview mirror, and soon I found him. He winked at me.
We arrived at the hotel. Gurb awakened from his alcoholic hibernation. "Who's going to pay for the taxi?" I asked. Clearly rhetorical. I already knew I would take this one for the team, as usual. I refused to use Louis's money. It was uncomfortably quiet. "By card please," I said.
"I'll always protect you, Louis. You really need to know that. I care about you like my own little brother. I'll always try to help you. But you have to be honest with me. Can you do that?" Louis didn't hesitate.
"Yes. Yes, I can. I'll show you. It's really in the Mini." Meanwhile, the taxi driver's card machine indicated that I had insufficient funds. That couldn't be right. Maybe I had withdrawn too much that evening.
"I have cash in the hotel room," Gurb said to me. Gurb informed the driver in broken English that he would go get his cash. The driver agreed. Money is money, whether it comes now or later. As long as it feels good in your hands.
Louis and I got out of the taxi. "You're not going to light a cigarette now, are you?" Louis wanted to smoke. "Especially for stress. That's really for people who can't handle pain. You need to feel pain. Pain needs to brand you for the rest of your life so you finally learn not to do such stupid things." It fell silent again. My blood boiled. All pots were on the stove. I felt like Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen. "Show me then. Do it."
Louis remained silent and walked around the corner of the hotel. Towards the parking lot. I followed him. "You're not going to find much," said Louis.
"Why not? Are you a magician?"
"No. Just. Not much."
"So there's suddenly magically nothing in Gurb's car?"
"Stop. Get out. Get out of my head!" Louis shouted. Louis had had enough. He was done with the parade. Normally we dealt with hypothetical stories. Only this time it wasn't a joke. I was sure now. Louis had dropped his mask. The revolution had begun. The government had fallen and the dikes had broken. The people were in charge. "You shouldn't freak out like this. Always wanting more. Sweet boy, think about yourself."
After Gurb gave the money to the driver, he came to us. He had a smile on his face, lit a cigarette, and exclaimed, "Brothers!" Once with us, he hugged me. He started laughing. "Maybe I haven't been entirely honest either." Sometimes Gurb seemed like a 38-year-old man. In a positive way. He exuded confidence in a way I didn't often see. Affectionate, with a hint of authority.
We stood in the middle of a large parking lot. "Look. We've reached a point where I might not even care anymore. You guys are teasing me." It did matter to me. Maybe more than ever. I was supposed to be two steps ahead of them, but I couldn't figure it out. "I give up."
The delightful silence returned. Louis and Gurb looked at each other. "You guys win. Apparently, I'm not to be trusted as a friend."
From Louis's expression, I could tell he disagreed with this. "Not true. Come to the car."
We arrived at the car. Louis unlocked it and searched for the trunk button. Gurb had started his third cigarette. "It's a corpse, isn't it? Say it now. I can still help you. I can still help us. I can book a ticket for you. We can get you out of here," I said to Louis.
"Just wait. Nutcase."
"Why won't you accept my help?"
Louis started laughing nervously. Or at least it seemed that way. Perhaps a sly laugh too. Had Louis killed someone? "It's not a corpse. That can't be. You wouldn't be stupid enough to use their ID. You're smarter than that. So it must be something stolen. Haven't you found that button yet?"
Suddenly, we heard a click. Louis had found the button. Somewhere, I didn't want to know. Shouldn't I just trust Louis? Wasn't that the whole point of friendship?
Finally, the moment had arrived. I placed my right hand in the slot of the rear hatch. Something in me doubted. Still. I still doubted. Louis looked dead serious. "You wanted to know, didn't you? Then you also have to be man enough to accept it." Louis was clearly not joking. Or was he acting again? "Pussy," Louis said. I looked away. "You're afraid of what's inside, huh? You're afraid of the real Louis." He began to laugh manically. "Open that thing, man. Nutcase!"
I started laughing too. Why did I make such a big deal out of it? Sweat broke out from every pore in my body. It was even a bit damp in the no man's land between my scrotum and my anus. A tropical climate. It had been quite an adventure the whole evening. I took my hand off the rear hatch and first gave Louis a hug. Not some half-hearted birthday wish. No, a real hug.
"It's okay, buddy," Louis said to me. I had no idea what he meant by that. It fit the moment though.
It was really time now. I opened the rear hatch.
"Where is it?"
"In front of you," said Louis.
"In some secret compartment?"
There was nothing in the trunk. Absolutely nothing. An empty trunk. For an empty evening, in an empty Berlin, with an empty group of guys. I didn't get it.
"You won, man," I whispered. "You finally fucking done did it."
I couldn't believe my eyes. Empty? There was still nothing in the car. Louis just stood there. Emotionally, I was a wreck. I had felt every emotion this evening. Seen every color and smelled every scent. I was done. My body was ready. No longer needed. My mission was complete.
"But why did you do this?" I asked Louis, laughing.
He scratched his chin. It felt like the end of a bad movie.
"I sold our Playstation. Wanted to tell you only after I had sorted everything out again. I terminated my lease. Had some debts, and I also wanted to have some money for once. Once not empty-handed in the club. Once not dependent on my best friends. This is not who I am... I know how much that Playstation meant to you. It was ours together. I should have just told you."
"… and how does Gurb actually make his money?"

Hi there, just a bit confused and would really appreciate some advice please.
For years, I've had brief periods of what I've assumed to be tinnitus - the classic, high pitched "eeeeee" noise, sometimes in one ear, sometimes in both. It can get quite loud, or it can be like hearing a dog whistle in the distance, but most of the time, it goes away after a short while. This time however, this is day four of having it constantly, and I can't think of anything that could have logically exacerbated it.
The only things are that I've recently had my period induced by Provera (progesterone only pill- I have PCOS,) and had a hell of a time on it. I've taken it before, but it's never given me quite so many side effects. Since the period ended, I've experienced episodes of headaches/head pressure and feeling like someone is pushing their fist into the back of my skull. (CT at hospital and bloods were normal.)
I guess I've been more stressed than usual... for sure, but not to a massively new extent of explosive levels of stress.
Headphone wise, I use can-headphones, but not used in-ear ones for a long while, so can't blame that.
I had my hearing tested a couple months ago as part of a different issue with ENT, and it all came back normal.
It's just weird. I can't put it down to anything, but boy.... already I want to ram an icepick into my ears to make it stop.

Hello Fellow Apes,
I just want to take a quick moment to revisit the Nasdaq's rules and how it would pertain to Clover Healthcare's delisting procedure. I want to do this for two reasons: 1) I want to get ahead of the short sellers' FUD thesis, and 2) I want to revisit the post I made a month ago called "Nasdaq's rules and procedures pertaining to Clover Health." https://www.reddit.com/Healthcare_Anon/comments/1bx2eeg/nasdaqs_rules_and_procedures_pertaining_to_clove
Currently, retail short sellers do not have a basis to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about Clover Health (CLOV). Additionally, my recent post has highlighted the coordinated efforts to short the stock and brought attention to the fact that a group of us has been reporting activities on the Clover Health subreddit to the SEC and Clover's Investor Relations.
https://www.reddit.com/Healthcare_Anon/comments/1ctvrx7/clov_as_a_meme_clovs_reddit_and_andrews_recent/
In short, our filings with these entities revealed a high correlation (R = 0.97 with a P-value of 0.001) between the "dog whistle" share price and the actual share price of the stock after running statistical tests. Our dataset covered several months. An R value of 0.97 in a correlation test indicates a very strong positive linear relationship between the two variables.
Additionally, contrasting this with the recent meme stock frenzy fueled by figures like Roaring Kitty and Ryan Cohen, hundreds of thousands of people have lost substantial amounts of money due to the activities of retail short sellers. Unlike institutional traders, there are currently no sufficient laws or enforcement mechanisms to regulate these retail short sellers. This lack of oversight prompted us to start documenting and collecting data on Clover Health (CLOV). Our goal is to contribute to the end to such predatory market manipulation behaviors. Companies such as AMC and GME are doomed to fail. However, the case with Clov is different because the company is profitable, sustainable, and gearing up to expand and address the changes to healthcare.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/17/gamestop-shares-fall-after-it-files-to-sell-securities-says-first-quarter-sales-declined.html
I know what you guys are thinking, "Why are you bringing this up again?" Do you guys remember one of the procedures for Nasdaq's delisting that I wrote a month ago?
"When a company listed on the Nasdaq stock market receives a notice of noncompliance, it means that the company has failed to meet one or more of the Nasdaq's listing requirements. The timeline for potential delisting following a noncompliance notice varies depending on the specific rule that has been violated. Generally, companies are given a compliance period during which they can regain compliance with the Nasdaq's listing standards. This period can range from 30 days to 180 days, or sometimes even longer, especially if the company decides to appeal against the delisting decision or if the noncompliance is related to financial or reporting issues which have specific cure periods.
After the compliance period ends, if the company has not regained compliance or has not made satisfactory progress towards compliance, as determined by the Nasdaq, the exchange may issue a delisting notice. The company can appeal this decision, which may further extend the process. Currently, Clov has several good reasons and evidence to further extend the process. However, I cannot speak on this because of two reasons:

1. It's uncertain whether Clover Health's Investor Relations (IR) team will instruct their legal team to formally present their reasons for noncompliance to Nasdaq. They have legitimate reasons, including being targeted by retail short sellers, but I'll not delve into those details in this post.
2. Considering Clover Health's financial situation, as evidenced by their 10-K reports and their operational runway, it's possible they may not need to utilize the full 180-day grace period before appealing Nasdaq's notice. Moocao plans to conduct a detailed analysis (DD) of their financial statements, which suggest the company is in a strong position. The launch of their Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and the anticipation of approximately $100 million in revenue could potentially disrupt the strategies of retail short sellers, possibly leading to their financial downturn. However, the outcome of the first quarter's earnings report (Q1 ER) remains to be seen, presenting Clover Health with two potential paths forward. I'm only speculating SaaS contracts because why would you hire SaaS staff, request to generate more shares to pay those staff, and not have work or activities for them to do right now? This is a lot of money to spend on something that have no contracts. Therefore, I speculate they will announce their SaaS the same way that they announced their home care last year."

Looking at the current situation, Clover Health has ample time to comply with Nasdaq's regulations for several key reasons--almost unlimited:

1. Strong Financial Health: The company is performing exceptionally well and is far from facing bankruptcy. Despite this, short sellers have excessively shorted the stock, pushing it to levels suggesting financial distress, and they have coordinated efforts to sway public sentiment negatively. https://www.reddit.com/Healthcare_Anon/comments/1cp786f/clover_q1_2024_earnings_analysis_earnings_call10q/
2. Proactive Measures: Clover Health is actively working to enhance shareholder value, including implementing a share buyback program.
3. Prepared for Appeals: We have already prepared the necessary reports for Clover Health to file an appeal with Nasdaq, should it fail to meet compliance standards within 180 days. However, given the company's current trajectory, it's unlikely that an appeal will be necessary as we anticipate Clover Health will regain compliance soon.

It's important to note that the likelihood of Clover Health facing delisting or needing to perform a reverse stock split is minimal. In a somewhat ironic twist, we owe a debt of gratitude to the retail short sellers. Their consistent manipulation of the stock has inadvertently provided crucial evidence. If they hadn't driven the stock price below bankruptcy levels and engaged in aggressive trading strategies against market-making algorithms, we might not have identified key areas to focus on. As the saying goes, sometimes not getting what you want can indeed be a blessing.
I'll provide a more detailed write-up later, but for now, I wanted to reassure you that the potential for Clover Health's delisting or reverse stock split is very low. The delisting and reverse stock split are the only kind of theses I anticipate the brigades can make. Otherwise, the only thing that they have are memes.

First, I am only choosing to reinterpet one particular word. Because fashion reinforces fashion. Its obvious what I mean. I have personal principles regarding how words are connotated.
I've got a couple examples of how Christian Nationalism is a reinforcement of fashion, but I know there are more so feel free to add what connections you may have noticed. I think it's important to contextualize this potiental threat as much as possible. It's important to get an understanding for what to look out for, and ideally, what we can do to prevent it.
There is some implications particular regarding the Christian aspect that I've noticed. Don't take my words as direct truth. Read the message I'm presenting here and come to your own conclusions. I say that because I've drawn my own conclusions to contribute to this discussion, but I have a limited understanding of this stuff.
-Fashion attaches to what has the most percieved power in a culture. Particularly relating to God. This is one of the reasons organized religion is flawed on a funded tale scale. It's the easiest way to reinforce fashion. Fashion is the most extreme example of authoritarianism. That's because it gets percieved power In the psychologically manipulative ways, and it attaches to religious symbolism because religion and spiritualism is complex and the vague messaging it enables them to interpret these messages in just about anyway that it wants, In whatever way that will reinforce fashion.
Fashion imitates communism, or 'community' in the sense that it can be viewed through the lenses of cultural Marxism. It finds percieved power and tries to claim it as a post modern icon for absolution. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Real absolution, in theory, cant be announced. Post modern ideas arent discussed, theyre implied. Thats the whole point of therotetical absolution, anything that is truly absolute won't need to present itself in a way that can pose skepticism. Cuz as soon as it does it opens itself up to subjectivity and therefore is not absolute. Definitely sounds like the reason they are trying to appropriate Christianity with the Nationalism. Nationalism implies absolution. Since they are inorganically imitating cultural Marxism these ideologies no longer become what they mean, but instead what they symbolize. The thing with trying to force a cultural shift of an ideology from a modern state to a post modern state would have revolutionary implications. That's why Christian is the form fashion is taking this time. There is percieved power in a place with no evidential value to justify that power. Fashion literally creates a false prophecy.
False prophets of percieved power with no evidential value will plug their own value in its place. The best way to try and understand what this value is. We need to look at the name of the movement and how those ideologies and reinforce each other.
Christianity reinforces Nationalism, Nationalism reinforces Christianity. The implication of absolution gets set this way. It's no longer about what these ideologies directly mean, but what can they imply these things to mean. Nationalism typically reinforces exploitation through the message of 'pride'. Nationalists use that term as a way to symbolize their pride in being an American. So, when you put Christianity in the mix, it sounds like they are going to reinforce fashion by means of propagandic buzz words. Faith and Pride. If I could interpret what 'Christianity' and 'Nationalism' could imply in a post modern state. That's likely the angle, right?.generally speaking. These words, in the way they'll connotate them, will mean absolutely nothing. That's how fashions reinforces fashion. These words are words to plug in to fit any and every narrative it can to reinforce fashion. That's cuz claiming absolution to these ideologies can justify extreme behaviors to their followers. So many times we've seen religions who have 'killed in the name of' time and time again. God implies a incomprehensible amount of power. And the messaging of Christianity is super problematic. Thoughts like 'omnipotence', 'he's everywhere and nowhere all at once", these are so vaguely defined and understood that it lends itself as an exploit to justify just about anything. And the idea of being a 'god fearing nation' is the type of messaging they reinforces both ideologies. I personally always thought the term "God Fearing" is some of the most manipulative propaganda, But it exposes their true intent in some ways.
Fashion will appropriate polar opposite terms and try to make them synonymous to generate cognitive dissonant propaganda. God will symbolize love when it's convenient and then symbolize fear when it's convenient.
Neo liberalism was a mistake. It was made replace one authoritarian power with another. And I've made connections that I'll try to simplify here. I feel like neo liberalism from a cultural Marxist stand point was a sign of the cultural shift that's led us to this theoretical Christian Nationalism. Fashion studies everything they can exploit to reinforce it. And the more scapegoats it has the more dangerous. For long time, the general conception on the left and rights places in the cultural landscape was this.
The 'Moral Majority' (and many other things) of conservatism around the Reagan administration is an indicator that
That Conservatives were the culture. The oppressors.
And Liberals were the counter culture. The oppressed.
Neo liberalism, if more carefully handled, could have been a good response for the authoritarian right wing. If conservatives have the power, neo liberalism was trying to give power to liberals through 'the marketplace of ideas', but 'cancel culture' sparks the start of the shift towards the authoritarian left. Neo-liberalism being the culture. And now conservatives are starting to feel a sense of oppression that led to them using super dirty propaganda tactics to try and maintain their culture. This lends to history revisionism, caricaturing, dog whistling, just as much forms of fashion based propaganda as possible. The right wings percieved oppression, has radicalized the right into fashion territories. And they've used psychological operations, psy ops, thought experiments... in the form of the alt right. Q anon. Kanye West. Elon Musk is using Twitter as his own personal psy op playground. It's all to normalize Christian Nationalism.

In 1992, Ross Perot used the phrase multiple times in a speech to the NAACP, and by that time, the news implies, the phrase already has a notorious reputation.
Obviously on its face it's alienating and othering, but "you all", "y'all" could also be seen that way, which makes me think that there's something uniquely reputational about the "you people" construction.