I was just scrolling tiktok and got a video from End Overdose, and found out they provide both free Narcan (well, the generic), and test strips if you complete a course on how to respond to someone else OD-ing. I know last year Lolla had free narcan if you went to the "This Must Be The Place" booth, but in case that booth isn't there this year or if people want to have it ahead of time, this seems like a great option! I finished the course and I only had to pay for shipping (like $8). I was planning on getting some at my local pharmacy, but being able to save money definitely is preferred. Plus, at least this helps you know what to look out for. You can also get test strips for free to, well, minimize an overdose yourself if you intend to use anything at any festivals. Lolla allows a sealed Narcan to be brought in bags, so I definitely think it's better to have it and never need to use it versus need it and not have it! The safety course only took like 20 minutes, and I definitely have a much better understanding of what to look out for and what to do so if worst case scenario does happen, there's less of a chance of panicking and wasting what little time a person may have!
https://endoverdose.net/

Hi, I (newbie male stripper) am interested to do a male stripping session? What's the most appropriate haircut? And also this is my first time so I am willing to do it for free. Interested one let me know.

https://archive.is/KvEEP
Women from across the North Central region gathered to testify on issues affecting them at a public hearing hosted by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW) on March 28.
The regional public hearings are one way MCSW engages with the general public and collects information on issues Massachusetts women face daily. The hearing was held at the Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner campus.
Sarah Glen-Smith, MCSW Chair, said the commission includes all testimonies collected during public hearings in the yearly reports submitted to the state. The North Central Mass. public hearing in Gardner was the first one of the year.
Several North Central Mass. women spoke up about experiences with systemic sexism, from inaccessible healthcare treatment to predatory loans and mortgages that are targeting single mothers.

What are healthcare issues faced by North Central Mass. women?

It's been over six months since the Birthing Center at the HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster closed, and many pregnant people across the North Central Mass region are struggling to find medical services.
Miko Nakagawa, an Athol resident and nurse for 26 years at UMass Memorial Health in Leominster, said the region already feels the effects of the closure from last September and will worsen. She cited the Gardner parents who delivered their baby in the AC Hotel in Worcester as an example of the effects of the closure and how overwhelmed the staff at the regional hospitals are.
Nakagawa said that with the Leominster birthing center closed, regional maternity centers and hospitals are overwhelmed, and more field deliveries will occur if nothing is done to solve this problem.
"I'm really concerned that the devastating impacts that we are beginning to see will result in deaths of mothers, babies, and eventually other people's deaths," she said. "We live in a lower-social economic area, and if you look at Athol, we have nothing; it's a really scary world out here in North Central for women's healthcare."
Nakagawa said this region of Mass does not just lack birthing, maternity, or Obstetrics and Gynecology centers, but many medical services like cardiology, which impacts the well-being of women and everyone.

Single mothers are targets for predatory loans and mortgages

Grace Ross, from Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), said predatory lenders target women of all races who are in search of buying a home. She said immigrant women and single mothers, who are unfamiliar with the process of buying a home, are exploited and tricked into these unreasonable mortgages.
At the hearing, Ross said she wants the MCSW to support and take action on legislation to crack down on predatory lenders. She said many women don't know their rights as homeowners and can't afford a lawyer, so they rely on the government and organizations like MAAPL to help them.
The MAAPL is a statewide non-profit coalition of over 70 organizations that advocates for the rights of homeowners and tenants. Ross said predatory lenders are stripping the wealth of women in Massachusetts by trapping them in impossible mortgages. She said the MAAPL also provides legal help to anyone who falls for predatory lenders and can't afford a lawyer. Here are some strategies used by predatory lenders to be aware of:
• Loan flipping occurs when the lender convinces the borrower to refinance their mortgage by trapping them in a new long-term, high-rate-interest loan.
• Balloon payments: A large one-time payment after the end period of the loan.
• The contract declares extra fees or penalty-free if the loan is paid early.
• The payment structure is inconsistent.

What's next for the commission?

After gathering the testimonies of several women at last week's public hearing, the commission plans to find ways to advocate for the topics that the North Central Mass women addressed.
Smith, the MCSW chair, said the commission considers all testimonies at public hearings and will find a way to push for reform at the State House to address the several topics addressed.
The mission of MCSW is to advance women toward full equality in all areas of life by promoting rights and opportunities for all women in Massachusetts, regardless of race, economic status, immigration status, ethnic background, sexual orientation, etc.

Hi all,
Here is some context for my situation:
20,000 gallon in-ground pool. Sand filter
Levels according to my strips (only thing I’ve got on hand)
Ph: low (6.8) Total chlorine: ideal (3) Free chlorine: ideal (2) Total alkalinity: OK (40) Stabilizer: OK (50) Hardness: high (1000)
Background. Was green, shocked the pool and turned cloudy blue and hasn’t changed in two weeks with filter running 24/7.
I know there are leaves and other debris at the bottom but can’t get all because it’s so cloudy and can’t see down there.
I’ve used floc 2x in the last week and little change after vacuuming to waste.
Any help or advice would be helpful! I assume the hardness could be a factor but am open to more expertise here.
Thank you in advance

Timestamp
Gallery
Sorry for the mess-up folks, hopefully it works this time.
PayPal G&S only. YOLO takes priority. All prices include priority shipping within CONUS. Comment then PM.
Grimsmo Norseman - $500
https://grimsmoknives.com/collections/norseman/products/norseman-4800-6541890414
Lived in it's case during my ownership
Mirror polished edge (not cheap lol)
Perfect centering, action, lockup
Includes hard case and accessories
Grimsmo Saga - $200 Sold to POCKETNGOLD
https://grimsmoknives.com/collections/saga/products/saga-838-6784121030
Refills are both old and almost out
Includes wood case and packaging
Dan Carraher 904 - $225
Never carried, only cut paper
Skiff bearings; still some side to side play
Includes soft case, and OG bearings, Auth card
Jaco De Kock NS framelock Proto - $800
NS Framelock Proto Table was $850 through IG auction
Vinland Damasteel blade, collars
Gr5 Ti scales
Perfect centering, lockup
A bit of lockstick, which his knives are known for
Includes hard case and Cert of Auth
CKF FIF20 Framelock - $350
Zircblasted scales; Cerakote hardware and blade
Slightly offcenter; perfect dropshot action and lockup
Includes Soft case and auth card
Chaves 229 - $200
Kick-stop collab
Never carried, "factory condition"
Includes Retail box and spare clip
Laulima Hoku - $150
Ti w/ Alu engine 519A 4500k
engine has some odd patina
2 batteries, soft pouch
Paradrop Paratus - $50 Sold to wornleatherboot
Brown Camo; has some wear from clips
Herman Sting #267 - $160 Sold to POCKETNGOLD
Modder left the blade in acid too long; scales have some lovemarks
Action, centering, lockup still good
https://polishcustomknives.com/folding-knife-folder-sting-267-m390-herman.html
Includes soft case, Cert, Pivot tool, patch
SHF 3.25" Plague doctor - $150 Sold to wornleatherboot
Received in trade, they forgot to mention 1 body screw is stripped
blade is off-center
Includes retail box
KC Grey Custom - Free with purchase of $200 or more
Fatcarbon scales, Damascus blade, Teal hardwear, Mokuti studs
blade offcenter, lackluster action, unstead lockup
includes soft case and auth card
ZT0393GLCF - $150
Custom fatcarbon scales
centering, action, and lockup are good
Includes retail packaging and OG scales
TMRWTOols ButterBar Pro Ti Prybar - $75
Table was $165
Good match with the Norseman
Too large for me

So, I have the dubious honor of having owned both the Luba 2 5000 and the Husqvarna 450X EPOS at the same time for the same yard. I also have the Husqvarna 315X wired version as well. But in this post I want to provide a comprehensive comparison between the Husq 450X EPOS and the Luba 2 5000. There are already tons of vendor marketing materials, YouTubers with their reviews, etc. My goal is to provide a real comprehensive review, with no fanboyism, no hidden agenda, just as a homeowner who wants something that works reliably and that lasts.
In this post my goal is also to provide new information that I was not able to find anywhere when I was comparing these two prior to purchase, if you have any questions that you want answered that I did not cover here just let me know.
MY YARD
My yard is a pretty simple Florida rectangular acre with about 5 big oak trees and plenty more overhanging my yard from my neighbors' yards. I have about 1/2 acre in the back and about 0.30 acres in the front. I use the Husq 315X to mow the front and decided to buy a wireless version to mow the back. I also have a thin strip outside of the front fence that I mow on occasion after opening the gates and fences.
LUBA2 5000 vs HUSQ 450X EPOS
Below I have arranged my findings by categories, with the most surprising being first.

• RTK / Wireless Performance (Winner - Luba) - This was without a doubt the biggest surprise for me. I thought I had a simple yard after setting up the Luba. I put the RTK antenna in the attic, set up the base station, mapped out the yard and was done. The Husq EPOS on the other hand performed 10x worse than the Luba. Same house, same attic, but the EPOS system would not lock onto the satellites. After an hour of fiddling, I moved the RTK antenna out of the attic and mounted it on a pole in my yard. The performance is still terrible, while mapping out my back yard even within 50' of the RTK station, the signal only shows 73%, and I spent hours having to drive the Husq 450X to the middle of the yard to get a signal then rushing back to the last waypoint to try to finish mapping. It took about 4hrs to map 0.5 acres. That was just the beginning of my problems though. It now likes to sit for up to an hour in one spot for some reason even though the app says it has a good EPOS signal. No idea if this is a hardware problem or a software problem but hopefully it can be fixed via software update. If this keeps up, I may have to set more no go areas and mow those areas with my lawn mower.....not a good thing.
• RTK App Feeback (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 is great about showing you all of the satellite information; co-viewing, RTK satellites, and Luba 2 satellites. The 450X is the opposite, all you get to see is if EPOS is working or not with no way to troubleshoot it except to keep driving the mower around until it is fixed.
• Hardware Build Quality (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 feels much sturdier and better built than the 450X. Also, the Luba 2 includes an RTK mounting pole whereas the 450X does not. The 450X EPOS is an older design and it does not appear that Husqvarna updated anything other than add an RTK module to their existing product line while doubling the price.
• App Useability (Winner - 450X) - The Husq mower app while not perfect is much better than the Lubas. Mapping is more intuitive; I like the way they used waypoints which is more accurate and more familiar than driving the mower from place to place without clearly defining points. The mowing pattern selection is much more intuitive as well and adding a mowing angle to a work area is perfectly done by simply dragging two dots until the line overlay matches the look you want. I do like Luba's way of showing the amount of work remaining/completed via shaded areas vs the eyesore redlines that Husqvarna uses. As previously mentioned though, the biggest shortcoming is that you can't do any satellite troubleshooting in the Husq app. With the Husq app you can also pause mapping and pick back up where you left off, you can save multiple mowing profiles (i.e. winter vs summer), and you can pause any mowing task, go do something else, then restart the mowing task instead of fiddling with percentages like in the Luba 2's app.
• Lawn Damage - (Winner - 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS hands down causes less lawn damage than the Luba. No more crop circles, no damage in front of the charging station, it is a real joy to watch it turn on a dime with no endless grinding itself into the dirt. The Luba 2 got stuck all the time at the ends of rows, bases of trees, etc. as it tried to turn around in the soft dirt. It also killed untold numbers of seedlings which I will probably need to overseed.
• Mowing Speed - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 has multiple mowing speeds that you can pick but if you are like me, you have no idea what is too fast or what is slower than necessary. The Husq has no mowing speed options but if you watch it, it automatically slows down on thicker patches of grass and speeds up on recently mowed patches. This not only gets the yard done faster while extending the battery life, it also makes the setup simpler.
• Mowing Height - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 lets you set the height and so does the 450X, the nice thing about the Luba is that it gives you the exact height in inches (or cm) vs the 450X where you have to do you own math to figure out what 1 or 2 or 3 mean in inches or cm. The reason why the 450X still wins for me though is because it is much faster at adjusting the height when it needs to. The Luba 2 bogged down a lot and ground itself into the ground when the blade was too low for the terrain. The 450X seems to adjust its blades in real time and never seems to stop and get stuck on bumps even with the blade set at 1".
• Connectivity - (Winner 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS includes 10yrs of LTE data and also includes Bluetooth connectivity. The Luba 2 relies on wireless and Bluetooth and if you want LTE you have to buy your own SIM and data plan. Many times the Luba 2 would grind itself into the ground then just turn off. I would then need to go hunt for it in the yard, turn it on, connect via Bluetooth, move it out of the hole it had dug, then wait for it to get a satellite fix before I could get it to do anything. The 450X with LTE is always accessible until the battery dies. With the improvements in connectivity, the anti-theft features are also much better.
• Audible Beeps (Winner 450X) - This was a big problem for me with the Luba 2. It beeps all the time (when its adjusting the cutting height, returning to the charging station, searching for a satellite signal, starting a mowing job, on the charging station, leaving the charging station, etc, etc.). The charging station is right outside of my bedroom window so I had to start running it in the daytime just to keep from being woken up. The 450X EPOS does not do any of that, it shows everything via the app and the status LED on the top, no endless beeps.
• Perimeter Mowing Logic (Winner 450X) - I never understood why the Luba 2 put so much emphasis on perimeter laps, to me it's just the first row to be mowed, apparently the 450X EOPS thinks so too and treats it as such. The perimeter was being badly chewed up by the Luba 2 since it is the least level areas of my yard, the 450X EPOS just mows it without fuss and no digging in and getting stuck at the base of my fences.
• Battery Replacement (Winner 450X) - the 450X EPOS battery can be replaced in about 10min and they are readily available from a dealer, eBay, and others. The Luba 2's battery replacement story is still very murky to me.
• Blade Performance (Winner 450X EPOS) - The Husq automowers spin both clockwise and counterclockwise after every recharge, this means that you do not have to flip the razors over every xx number of hours. The Luba 2 does not have this feature.

OVERALL WINNER (TIE)
Right now both the Luba 2 and the Husq 450X EPOS have a fatal flaw; the Luba 2 badly chews up my yard, and the 450X EPOS can't seem to find its RTK/Satellite Signals. At this point in time I do not know if the Luba's or 450X EPOS's problems are just software or a fundamental hardware problem. Mammotion is addressing their hardware design with the release of the Yuka, I can only hope the RTK problem with the 450X EPOS can be fixed via a firmware update.
I know the 450X EPOS won a lot of categories for me, but if it sits around in my yard all day searching for a signal then none of the rest of its features matter. RTK is so important to the fundamental operation of a wireless RTK robot that it supersedes all else in my book.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Luba 2 - I would recommend the Luba 2 if any of the below are true:

• Hilly yard - obviously the Luba 2 is the better of the two with its AWD
• Mature grass/hard ground - if you have a mature yard with hard clay or dirt that can handle the Luba 2's grinding donut turns then I would recommend the Luba 2
• Cost - If cost is your only concern then obviously the Luba 2 is a no brainer
• Trees / Obstructions - If your yard has even a few big trees or big obstructions, at least for now, the Luba 2 will far outperform the 450X EPOS when it comes to RTK performance

450X EPOS - I would recommend the Husq 450X EPOS if ALL of the below are true:

• You have a perfectly wide open yard with no trees or other obstructions
• You have a yard with new turf or soft dirt/sand
• Your yard is relatively flat

Wired Solutions - My front yard Husq 315X wire guided mower is great, problem free, and still uses a wire. I used a trenching machine, bought heavy duty 14 gauge wire, and buried it around 8" deep. In my opinion, if you can deal with installing the wire, not being able to change things later, and risk the wire breaks, wired is still the most reliable way to go. I think wireless mowers are very close to being mature, but something needs to come along to reduce the problems with satellite reception, RTK placement, and blockage from buildings and trees. We don't all have that perfect wide open yard with no trees or buildings.

So, I have the dubious honor of having owned both the Luba 2 5000 and the Husqvarna 450X EPOS at the same time for the same yard. I also have the Husqvarna 315X wired version as well. But in this post I want to provide a comprehensive comparison between the Husq 450X EPOS and the Luba 2 5000. There are already tons of vendor marketing materials, YouTubers with their reviews, etc. My goal is to provide a real comprehensive review, with no fanboyism, no hidden agenda, just as a homeowner who wants something that works reliably and that lasts.
In this post my goal is also to provide new information that I was not able to find anywhere when I was comparing these two prior to purchase, if you have any questions that you want answered that I did not cover here just let me know.
MY YARD
My yard is a pretty simple Florida rectangular acre with about 5 big oak trees and plenty more overhanging my yard from my neighbors' yards. I have about 1/2 acre in the back and about 0.30 acres in the front. I use the Husq 315X to mow the front and decided to buy a wireless version to mow the back. I also have a thin strip outside of the front fence that I mow on occasion after opening the gates and fences.
LUBA2 5000 vs HUSQ 450X EPOS
Below I have arranged my findings by categories, with the most surprising being first.

• RTK / Wireless Performance (Winner - Luba) - This was without a doubt the biggest surprise for me. I thought I had a simple yard after setting up the Luba. I put the RTK antenna in the attic, set up the base station, mapped out the yard and was done. The Husq EPOS on the other hand performed 10x worse than the Luba. Same house, same attic, but the EPOS system would not lock onto the satellites. After an hour of fiddling, I moved the RTK antenna out of the attic and mounted it on a pole in my yard. The performance is still terrible, while mapping out my back yard even within 50' of the RTK station, the signal only shows 73%, and I spent hours having to drive the Husq 450X to the middle of the yard to get a signal then rushing back to the last waypoint to try to finish mapping. It took about 4hrs to map 0.5 acres. That was just the beginning of my problems though. It now likes to sit for up to an hour in one spot for some reason even though the app says it has a good EPOS signal. No idea if this is a hardware problem or a software problem but hopefully it can be fixed via software update. If this keeps up, I may have to set more no go areas and mow those areas with my lawn mower.....not a good thing.
• RTK App Feeback (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 is great about showing you all of the satellite information; co-viewing, RTK satellites, and Luba 2 satellites. The 450X is the opposite, all you get to see is if EPOS is working or not with no way to troubleshoot it except to keep driving the mower around until it is fixed.
• Hardware Build Quality (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 feels much sturdier and better built than the 450X. Also, the Luba 2 includes an RTK mounting pole whereas the 450X does not. The 450X EPOS is an older design and it does not appear that Husqvarna updated anything other than add an RTK module to their existing product line while doubling the price.
• App Useability (Winner - 450X) - The Husq mower app while not perfect is much better than the Lubas. Mapping is more intuitive; I like the way they used waypoints which is more accurate and more familiar than driving the mower from place to place without clearly defining points. The mowing pattern selection is much more intuitive as well and adding a mowing angle to a work area is perfectly done by simply dragging two dots until the line overlay matches the look you want. I do like Luba's way of showing the amount of work remaining/completed via shaded areas vs the eyesore redlines that Husqvarna uses. As previously mentioned though, the biggest shortcoming is that you can't do any satellite troubleshooting in the Husq app. With the Husq app you can also pause mapping and pick back up where you left off, you can save multiple mowing profiles (i.e. winter vs summer), and you can pause any mowing task, go do something else, then restart the mowing task instead of fiddling with percentages like in the Luba 2's app.
• Lawn Damage - (Winner - 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS hands down causes less lawn damage than the Luba. No more crop circles, no damage in front of the charging station, it is a real joy to watch it turn on a dime with no endless grinding itself into the dirt. The Luba 2 got stuck all the time at the ends of rows, bases of trees, etc. as it tried to turn around in the soft dirt. It also killed untold numbers of seedlings which I will probably need to overseed.
• Mowing Speed - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 has multiple mowing speeds that you can pick but if you are like me, you have no idea what is too fast or what is slower than necessary. The Husq has no mowing speed options but if you watch it, it automatically slows down on thicker patches of grass and speeds up on recently mowed patches. This not only gets the yard done faster while extending the battery life, it also makes the setup simpler.
• Mowing Height - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 lets you set the height and so does the 450X, the nice thing about the Luba is that it gives you the exact height in inches (or cm) vs the 450X where you have to do you own math to figure out what 1 or 2 or 3 mean in inches or cm. The reason why the 450X still wins for me though is because it is much faster at adjusting the height when it needs to. The Luba 2 bogged down a lot and ground itself into the ground when the blade was too low for the terrain. The 450X seems to adjust its blades in real time and never seems to stop and get stuck on bumps even with the blade set at 1".
• Connectivity - (Winner 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS includes 10yrs of LTE data and also includes Bluetooth connectivity. The Luba 2 relies on wireless and Bluetooth and if you want LTE you have to buy your own SIM and data plan. Many times the Luba 2 would grind itself into the ground then just turn off. I would then need to go hunt for it in the yard, turn it on, connect via Bluetooth, move it out of the hole it had dug, then wait for it to get a satellite fix before I could get it to do anything. The 450X with LTE is always accessible until the battery dies. With the improvements in connectivity, the anti-theft features are also much better.
• Audible Beeps (Winner 450X) - This was a big problem for me with the Luba 2. It beeps all the time (when its adjusting the cutting height, returning to the charging station, searching for a satellite signal, starting a mowing job, on the charging station, leaving the charging station, etc, etc.). The charging station is right outside of my bedroom window so I had to start running it in the daytime just to keep from being woken up. The 450X EPOS does not do any of that, it shows everything via the app and the status LED on the top, no endless beeps.
• Perimeter Mowing Logic (Winner 450X) - I never understood why the Luba 2 put so much emphasis on perimeter laps, to me it's just the first row to be mowed, apparently the 450X EOPS thinks so too and treats it as such. The perimeter was being badly chewed up by the Luba 2 since it is the least level areas of my yard, the 450X EPOS just mows it without fuss and no digging in and getting stuck at the base of my fences.
• Battery Replacement (Winner 450X) - the 450X EPOS battery can be replaced in about 10min and they are readily available from a dealer, eBay, and others. The Luba 2's battery replacement story is still very murky to me.
• Blade Performance (Winner 450X EPOS) - The Husq automowers spin both clockwise and counterclockwise after every recharge, this means that you do not have to flip the razors over every xx number of hours. The Luba 2 does not have this feature.

OVERALL WINNER (TIE)
Right now both the Luba 2 and the Husq 450X EPOS have a fatal flaw; the Luba 2 badly chews up my yard, and the 450X EPOS can't seem to find its RTK/Satellite Signals. At this point in time I do not know if the Luba's or 450X EPOS's problems are just software or a fundamental hardware problem. Mammotion is addressing their hardware design with the release of the Yuka, I can only hope the RTK problem with the 450X EPOS can be fixed via a firmware update.
I know the 450X EPOS won a lot of categories for me, but if it sits around in my yard all day searching for a signal then none of the rest of its features matter. RTK is so important to the fundamental operation of a wireless RTK robot that it supersedes all else in my book.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Luba 2 - I would recommend the Luba 2 if any of the below are true:

• Hilly yard - obviously the Luba 2 is the better of the two with its AWD
• Mature grass/hard ground - if you have a mature yard with hard clay or dirt that can handle the Luba 2's grinding donut turns then I would recommend the Luba 2
• Cost - If cost is your only concern then obviously the Luba 2 is a no brainer
• Trees / Obstructions - If your yard has even a few big trees or big obstructions, at least for now, the Luba 2 will far outperform the 450X EPOS when it comes to RTK performance

450X EPOS - I would recommend the Husq 450X EPOS if ALL of the below are true:

• You have a perfectly wide open yard with no trees or other obstructions
• You have a yard with new turf or soft dirt/sand
• Your yard is relatively flat

Wired Solutions - My front yard Husq 315X wire guided mower is great, problem free, and still uses a wire. I used a trenching machine, bought heavy duty 14 gauge wire, and buried it around 8" deep. In my opinion, if you can deal with installing the wire, not being able to change things later, and risk the wire breaks, wired is still the most reliable way to go. I think wireless mowers are very close to being mature, but something needs to come along to reduce the problems with satellite reception, RTK placement, and blockage from buildings and trees. We don't all have that perfect wide open yard with no trees or buildings.

I noticed a lot of people are starting to look for things to do with their kids for the summer. I just finished this list and thought I’d share. Took me 3 hours. I’m sure it’s not comprehensive, feel free to add anything you see missing. Keep in mind, this list was made for a 6-year-old autistic child, and I was trying to avoid outdoor stuff and touristy strip stuff, although some made it on the list. Also, sorry for the bad handwriting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OphjEzHF5dY

Jan Leike, Illya etc have all been fleeing - not leaving, fleeing, from OpenAI.
The links and refeneces below were posted earlier - but this week is an inflection point where the actions, public statements, tweets, documents and videos/reviews of the OpenAI situation should be FN terrifying.
This video is talking about what is openly talked about in public - so what is being discussed behind closed doors.
The links below are incredibly relevant and important to take within the context of whats been going on this week. It would seem that we already passed a pivitol inflection - which appears to be related to the use of AI in military applications unfettered by entanglements with ethical alignments .
Israel has likely been the first full testbed of AI in warfare. Is this what the employees are fleeing from?

THIS IS NOT ABOUT ISRAEL/GAZA *politically* This is about AI in warfare as a technology. { / { \ * { } /~~~\ { / } o.0 { /,`( . )`,\ <---- Whooo needs to Chill Owlt? { \ _________^_^___ { / 

This is about Alignments, Guardrails, Applications, Entanglements etc for this iteration of AI.
Israel is the only country at war that has a bunch of AI usage claims riddled in media, so:
OpenAI GPT4o - realtime video, audio understanding. Realtime video/audio interpretation availble on a phone - Read my SS for more context on where we are headed with AI as it pertains to wasurveillance - Nvidias announcement: 100% of the worlds inference today is done by Nvidia.
SS:

1. Nvidia CEO talking about how all AI inference happens on their platform
   
2. Zuckerberg talks about how many chips they are deploying
   
3. Sam Altman (OpenAI FoundeCeo):
   
4. OpenAI allows for Military Use
   
5. @Sama says Israel will have huge role in AI revolution
   
6. Israel is using "gospel AI" to identify military targets
   
7. Klaus Schab: WEF on Global Powers, War, and AI
   
8. State of AI Index in 2024 PDF <-- This is really important because it shows whats being done from a regulatory and other perspective by US,EU and others on AI -- HERE is a link to the GDrive for all the charts and raw data to compose that Stanford Study
   

HN Link to that study in case is gets some commentarty there
So what amount of war aid is coming back to AI companies such as OpenAI, Nvidia....

The pace is astonishing: In the wake of the brutal attacks by Hamas-led militants on October 7, Israeli forces have struck more than 22,000 targets inside Gaza, a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast. Just since the temporary truce broke down on December 1, Israel's Air Force has hit more than 3,500 sites.
The Israeli military says it's using artificial intelligence to select many of these targets in real-time. The military claims that the AI system, named "the Gospel," has helped it to rapidly identify enemy combatants and equipment, while reducing civilian casualties.

• "Understanding how Gospel AI is used"
  
• GOSPEL is being advocated on Linkedin by the WEF
  
• Israel's military has been open about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) for driving data driven insights for real-time decision making on the battlefield. The system is known as The Gospel and according to the Israel Military website the system was developed by Israel's signals intelligence branch, Unit 8200.
  

Nvidia has several projects in Israel, including

1. Nvidia Israel-1 AI supercomputer: the sixth fastest computer in the world, built at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars
2. Nvidia Spectrum-X: a networking platform for AI applications
3. Nvidia Mellanox: chips, switches and software and hardware platforms for accelerated communications
4. Nvidia Inception Program for Startups: an accelerator for early-stage companies
5. Nvidia Developer Program: free access to Nvidia’s offerings for developers
6. Nvidia Research Israel AI Lab: research in algorithms, theory and applications of deep learning, with a focus on computer vision and reinforcement learning

EDIT: Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin on JRE should be valuable context regarding ethics, alignment, entanglements, guard-rails

When I was in junior high a transfer student arrived in the middle of the semester; a kid that was different from everyone else. Right away he had caught my eye, in fact he caught everyone's attention because he had a very unique disability; he couldn’t speak. I guess you could say he was deaf, though it was clear to me after getting to know him that he could in fact hear; every word spoken to him was understood with simple nods or gestures; facial expressions contorting into understood language; so I guess he was mute; yeah, that would describe him best. He was an oddity to most but to me he was a unicorn, something that sparkled in our dim monotonous lives and it wasn’t until he revealed who he was did I become terrified of him and his shine.
I was in 7th grade maneuvering my way through the jungle of middle school, avoiding trouble and premature violence. I was an undersized boy for my age, no more than 5ft tall; puberty had yet to visit me leaving me left out of the herd; the other students or the ‘sheep’ as I called them that infested my school. They were all the same, kids that were driven by hormones constantly talking about boys or girls, their deep voices riding on the coattails of the wind that breezed in and out of our hallways. I was a mere shadow, always walking a few paces behind the others not wanting to be seen or acknowledged; I saw what others that looked like me went through, they were tortured and abused for simply existing.
Once Bryce Ellis and his friends stuck Timmy Easton’s face in the shitter for over 10 flushes, I was in a stall over, hiding and waiting for the torment to be over. I slithered my feet up on to the stall caressing them to my chest as I sat in a fetal position horrified of how one human could treat another. Eventually the bullies had gotten bored, their short attention span driven minds directed them to another endeavor leaving Timmy to fester in his tears and possible filth.
He sobbed for minutes that felt like hours as I remained silent in the stall over, I placed my hand cautiously on the barrier wall trying to absorb a bit of his pain, my heart ached for him in that moment and I wanted to lend him a compassionate hand if only I had the courage to do so. So yeah, I did my best to stay hidden, unseen to all the dwellers that mindlessly walked in and out of our school on a daily basis, the boys that believed themselves to be men or the girls that pontificated to anyone that listened. I was lost into an enteral sea of vindictive young adults that searched for any reason to lash out at anyone that stood in their way.
So when ‘Tape boy’ — as they would eventually call him — came to my little middle school that stood still in the secluded hills of our small town I was enthralled almost immediately with his existence. He was introduced to my home room class, I sat in the back burying my head into my arms, occasionally lifting my head to listen on the days lecture. My day dreams entertaining me as the clock slowly ticked away at our lives and it wasn’t until my teacher promptly stopped talking did it trigger a primal emotion in me to sit up and pay attention. I postured myself up straight, pausing the internal movie that played in my mind to see what the interruption was about.
There he was, a new boy that no one had ever seen before, by middle school everyone knew each other; we had went to the same elementary school, the same holiday events and grocery stores. So getting a new student was like getting a new flavor at Baskin Robbins; a mystery taste simmering on the tip of your tongue as you digested every drop, his presence was intriguing. He wasn’t small like me, I would say average height for a 12 year old; about 5'4, slender body with unkempt dark black hair. He looked timid, his head tilted towards the ground not wanting to accidentally lock eyes with any of us as the teacher introduced him, my mind wandering with such intrigue because to all of our astonishment he was wearing a surgical face mask — mind you this was in the 90’s; eons before the Covid pandemic breached the windows of our thoughts.
Right away I could hear the murmurs, the questions erupting throughout the classroom as everyone pondered of why this boy sheltered his face. I stared on for what must of been minutes as the shy boy kept his gaze down, I could see him slightly squeezing the arm straps to his backpack nervously the longer he stood there on full display for all.
I had my fill and I relaxed my postured sinking back into my chair directing my stare out the window but then Billy Sherman asked the question we all had on our minds,
“Uhm, why is he wearing that mask?”.
Our teacher explained to us that it was because of some weaken immune system, something about how his ticker didn’t click like the rest of ours, she then also told us about him being mute. This drew my eyes right back to him, I think it did for all of us and for a moment the quiet kid raised his head and locked eyes with me. His dark black eyes glistened with despair, the deep purple bags that sagged under his eyes were more indicative of someone that hadn’t slept in days. I felt something for him in that moment, our third eye conversing in some cosmic dialogue and as quickly as he rose his head did it drop once again towards the ground. I could still hear all the the other kids snickering, questioning and some even giggling; it made me sick, if I was a braver boy I would of stood on top of my desk and verbally lashed out to all the sheep, instead I rose my hand asking something Mrs. Willis never said, what was the timid boys name?
“Oh I’m sorry, how rude of me, this is Gabriel”.
She sat Gabriel upfront next to her desk, wanting him close in case he needed to write or sign something to her and just like that everyone went back to their simple lives; including myself.
The next few weeks I saw little of Gabriel other than the back of his head during class, once the bell rang everyone that my eyes glimpsed at for the day disappeared or just maybe it was me who dissolved into the ambience of our school. Either way I saw little of the boy who wore a mask, the one that sheltered his true identity and my curiosity with the new flavor of the week gradually faded into the abyss of non-existence; well, that was until the day I saw the mask slip.
It was end of the day, I spent most of the time turning corners anytime Bryce Ellis approached; evading the wrath of him and his band of merry men who were the pinnacle of human torture; finding any opportunity to demean those who crossed their path. I remember leaving Chemistry class, my mind all to occupied with leaving the hell hole of every kids dread and that’s when I saw Gabriel walking down the hall towards the cafeteria; his head still tilted down; his gaze tracking every step he took; face mask still tightly fitted around his face.
This time I saw someone was following him, it was Tom Ingram one of Bryce’s guys, a kid that tried to be the “alpha male” of the group numerous times, doing his best to dethrone the reign of Bryce. He was a big boy for his age, probably about 5'9 and easily weighed 200 pounds, he was a wild card alright; he got caught pouring sugar down Mr. Whitakers old Pontiac gas tank for giving him a poor grade. So when I saw him berating poor Gabriel; taunting him as grotesque laughter followed every insult, I felt like I had to do something and my consistent stealth veneer of camouflage morphed into into a full on sprint towards the two. I saw Tom was closing in on him, other kids looking on with bewilderment on their faces — not knowing if they should laugh out of fear or grimace from disgust. For the first time in a long while did a burning sensation of courage ignite in my soul, I was tired of seeing monsters preying on the sheep and I was going to stop it somehow.
Finally Gabriel had stopped walking and stood still, his head hanging even lower than before, the strands of his long hair covered the remainder of his face. Tom began slapping the top side of the poor kids head, yelling out obscenities, angered that he didn’t stop sooner. I was close, I was gonna stop this since all anyone else could do is cower in fear while looking on and then it happened causing me to stop dead in my tracks, my eyes widening with befuddlement. Tom had torn away the mask from Gabriel's face, awes with groans came from everyone then silence blanketed the entire school and for those few seconds our existence had been swallowed up by the earth itself.
“What the hell” Tom yelped out breaking the still but heavy disquietude.
I wanted to say something, but no words could be manifested only gurgles as I choked on my own disbelief. The timid boy under the mask of intrigue had a strip of black duct tape covering his mouth, it stretching from the side of his face to the other almost resembling what would be some hideous smile. The timid boy then collapsed his hands over his face as faint muffles of sobbing protruded from him, he ran into the nearest restroom only for Tom to pursue. Finally my thoughts had been gathered while my body came back to life, I brushed off the bizarre occurrence of that grizzly smile and I reminded myself of what was about to happen. Tom was going to punish Gabriel for simply existing as he and his gang have been doing for years and like some old factory machine the cogs of my body set into motion as I ran towards the restroom.
Before I could open the door the most horrid scream exploded outwards into the hallway, the sound sending a cold shiver down my spine and Tom came running out of the restroom gripping at his face crying. He was hysterical running and bumping into the walls until finally crumbling onto the floor only to continue sobbing. My mind was clouded with a whirl wind of confusion, I no longer knew what to do, I mean I was going to run in there and stop the assault but now the assaulter was on the floor destroyed. Then Gabriel calmly came out of the restroom, his mask firmly back on and he turned to look at me, his dark eyes burning an image of anguish into my mind. I asked if he was okay of course he said nothing though, he didn’t need to I could just sense his response and it was one of gratitude. I almost could see him smiling at me from underneath the mask and I reminded myself of what was under it; that abysmal duct tape that looked like a sinister grin.
From that day on most of the kids were afraid of Gabriel, I could see the look of terror in their eyes anytime he passed by them even though his headed was still shifted downwards but that’s the day whenever someone mentioned him they referred to him as “Tape boy”. I had heard through the whispers of our school that Tom had suffered some mental breakdown, that the doctors couldn’t find anything psychically wrong with him, it was as if his mind had shattered. He remained in some mental hospital, memories of him gradually fading and the sheep went on with living their mundane lives. Bryce even slowed his bullying, I think he knew that their were now more eyes watching everyone after the altercation and he didn’t want to get caught in some bad situation, though I could see he was itching to get at Gabriel. I went back to being a shadow, avoiding all the others still not too confident that the days of torture were over.
Even though Gabriel was regarded as some magical or perhaps malevolent being by most; not sure which one; he still appeared to be sad; lonely, his head always dragging with despondency. I made an effort in getting to know him, I wasn’t afraid like the rest of them something about the day we locked eyes gave me the resolve to understand he wouldn’t hurt me. I approached him during lunch break, he was outside sitting underneath a tree, the shade showering him a gloom of haze. I think I surprised him or maybe it was just my stealth nature but I saw him jump when I sat next to him. I began talking about the origins of Darth Vader, of how he was originally a hero using his force power for good only to eventually turn to the dark side.
Gabriel just looked at me confounded of why I was even talking to him, his stare looking on with indifference. I told him that he was like a super hero, doing whatever he did to Tom was just like a super power, that I was thankful. His gazed then returned back to the floor almost out of shame, I guess whatever he did that day he didn’t see it as something special, or something to praise. I then told him that I still envied his ability to defend himself, that having such an ability was better than winning the school lottery — which was a week supply of free cafeteria food. I kept blabbering on for the remainder of the break while he still postured his stare towards the floor until the bell had finally rung. Before getting up I told him that if I could have a super power mine would be invisibility that’s when he turned to me pulling out a small spiral from his back pack writing something down, he then showed me.
“Why?” it read.
I told him that I didn’t like being seen, that if I could I would melt away into the noise, then life would be better he just stared at me with what I could assume was disbelief. He didn’t write anything back, he just remain seated while I stood to my feet. I asked if he was coming back to class but he ignored me and just stared out into space presumably lost in his own thoughts.
For the next several months I would catch Gabriel in the hallways, talk to him about the latest edition of whatever comic I was reading, Superman being my favorite and I would go on and on about how his true super power wasn’t strength but hope. I think he became more comfortable with me, pulling out his spiral notebook to write down his thoughts; his questions and answers — a new gateway of communication had formed between us. Most times I could tell what he was going to write by looking at his eyes, those dark haunting eyes, he was a mysterious book slowly being revealed to me and I was completely beguiled by his friendship. Bryce and his little posse slowly went back to bullying the sheep, though they kept their distance from Gabriel and me.
I guess I had a new protector one that wouldn’t be crossed and something about that protection left me feeling proud. I knew in my heart that the timid kid that now went by “Tape boy” wouldn’t hurt a fly that maybe the day of Tom going crazy was all by chance, perhaps his rage snapped his mind. I tried asking him about that day numerous times but he never explained what happened he would redirect the conversation back to super hero’s. I would walk home with him on certain days, well, more like he would walk me home I never got to see where he lived, he was too reserved to give up that kind of information but the days we would walk together was always fun. I finally felt like I belonged, the longing emotion of needing acceptance was found by his friendship.
One day when I was walking home by myself I decided to stop in at the gas station to pick up a drink and scour the latest edition of comic books in the small rack of magazines. Before entering the store I could hear arguing voices engaging in combative dialogue and it became vividly clear that it was more of a yelling match than conversation. It was coming from the side of the building, most times I would just ignore it but one of the voices sounded all too familiar and I crept slowly to the edge of the building poking my head out to get a glimpse of the disturbance. It was Bryce, his back was up against the wall while someone who I presumed was his father berated him with such a vicious snarl on his face. The angry man kept slapping Bryce across the face anytime he tried to say something and soon tears began drizzling off the face of the mighty bully only for the man to laugh.
I didn’t know why the older man was treating Bryce the way he was, information cut out of my understanding, for all I know it could of been because of something the bully did at school. I found it to be poetic justice that the boy that caused so much heart ache suffered the same amount only at home. It felt like a cliche, the angry kid was angry because of the angry father; a cruel loop of never ending proportions. Eventually the man or father walked away getting back into his car leaving the bully to brush away the tears from his face. I cautiously retreated my head away deciding to ditch the store completely when that same broken voice only minutes ago shouted out to me with a hefty dominance.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bryce howled out.
I didn’t bother turning around, I just ran home, dodging into alley ways trying my best to not been seen. It didn’t appear as if he was following, but seeing him in such a vulnerable state was bemusing. We were a small town how could I not know who the man was, we all knew each other since we were small and then it hit me; Bryce’s dad had left when he was little. This man must of been his step dad or perhaps mom’s boyfriend, it didn’t matter I was going to mind my own business, I was going to slither back into the shadows; but my attempts would only fall on defeated shoulders.
I didn’t want to tell anyone of what I saw, I hoped that keeping my mouth shut would of been enough for the bully to leave me be. Unfortunately there is no reasoning when it comes to human beings, we base our actions on emotions, our anger and Bryce confronted me the next morning in front of Gabriel.
“Hey fairy, did you enjoy the show?” the angry kid spouted out at me.
I tried explaining to him that I wasn’t trying to intrude, that the arguing concerned me, that I didn’t like seeing him being mistreated and then he punched me right in the gut. I fell to the floor gripping at my stomach, the pain slicing through every fiber of my body. I tried catching my breath but inhaling was too painful and I sheltered my face expecting another punch but the bully walked off leaving me to sweat. Gabriel kneel down to me taking out his spiral notebook writing the obvious question, I gestured to him to give me a moment and I honestly felt like crying. I had spent years doing my best to blend into the background, the invisibility power I was so desperate to have amongst the sheep was now gone; I was on Bryce’s radar.
For the remainder of the school year I tried avoiding the bullies, the monsters that preyed on the sheep but their leader would actively search for me, he was no longer intimidated by Gabriel; his once menacing allure had dwindled and now we both were sitting ducks. Luckily there was only a few weeks left until summer break and I only had hoped that the time off would be enough for the monster of monsters to cool off.
Entering summer was a relief much needed for my sanity, I took a few thrashings but it was over, me and Gabriel had big plans on spending time together. He wasn’t an out door kind of kid, he usually would just come over my place and we would read my comic books. He quickly grew enchanted with the idea of super hero's, their powers restoring balance to the nature of our world. I enjoyed every minute of it, my parents on the other hand looked less jovial to our friendship, they didn’t like the mask; it worried them. They thought that whatever illness he had could be passed on to me, but they didn’t do anything to stop us from seeing each other, they only silently protested.
So after awhile we decided to meet somewhere outdoors, away from my parents judgmental stares, there was a creek close to my house, the trees giving us enough shade to stay cool on those long summer days. The small stream that flowed through the trenches of the creek enriched our view as we would find the perfect rock to perch on while reading our comics. We didn’t see much of any of the other classmates that summer, the sheep kept their distance or maybe it was just us, but the days seem to pass quickly and before we knew it summer was coming to an end. I couldn’t remember how many volumes we must of read but Gabriel was now a fan of almost every super hero. He tend to raise out his arms while walking, mimicking the premise of flying like Superman; his ponderous eyes cutting through the brush as we escaped our secluded summer spot.
It was on the final day of our summer break did I pressure the shy timid boy to explain to me what had happen that day, the day Tom lost his marbles, I needed to know. Gabriel as always tried redirecting the conversation, holding up a comic of Batman, pointing at some dialogue. I got upset, I raised my voice telling him that if we were friends then he should tell me, that there wasn’t secrets between us. His heavy eyes collapsing to the ground, shifting his posture on the rock that we both sat on.
“Look, I just need to know, you’re my best friend” I told him with genuine longing.
The school year was about to start up again and I could already envision a future of slithering through the hallways how I have always done, but with Gabriel maybe that could change. I needed to know and I was done guessing, fantasizing that he was some super hero or at least my hero; my protector. I stood up off the rock walking over to the stream, the sound of water colliding unto the small stones that infested the trench triggered something awful in my gut. I took a deep breath and made my final stand with my best friend.
“If you don’t want to tell me then I’m going home, see ya” I said with impatience dripping off of my words.
Gabriel ignored my warning and continued pointing at the comic book, that’s when I noticed what he was pointing at, it wasn’t dialogue it was one of Batman's villains — he was pointing at Clayface. This made me stop, my minding halting after speeding at 100 miles per hour; it crashing my thoughts.
“Yeah, what about Clayface?” I curiously asked with a withered and tired voice.
That’s when his pointer finger was no longer on the page but rather it was pointed towards his mouth; the mouth that was hidden behind his mask. He could see my face drop with sadness, whatever disfigurement he had underneath that horrid black duct tape must of been something like the villain from the comic and my heart broke for him. Gabriel’s eyes gleaming with absolute sorrow, the boy that only wanted to be left alone, the person all the others feared just wanted solitude and here I was badgering him to no end about something so insignificant. We stared at each other for several seconds, our eyes meeting in some altered state and I reached my hand up to his face tenderly taking off his mask. There it was, the black duct tape that resembled a grin, a nightmarish one that could only been seen in some horror movie. I then placed my fingers on the edge of the tape, my cold grip causing him to shiver and I slowly began to remove it.
“What the hell are you fairy’s doing?” a voice called out from the brush, one that sank my heart into my stomach.
I turned trying to locate the voice and sure enough there he was, the bully that had tortured so many for so many years — it was Bryce. His body slowly revealing itself from the brush like some despicable ooze frothing from the depths of hell. Though, something about him was different, his cold stare no longer fictitious but more intimidating and as his body fully emerged did I see the blood trickling down his soaked stain shirt. He was covered in the crimson fluid, there was even some on his cheeks almost as he had some open wound and smeared the remnants of it on his face. The devilish grin that bestowed his bruised and beaten face quickly led me to a conclusion; one that I wish I didn’t conclude. A purplish black infested the out layer of his left eye, it practically closed shut and his nose had been bent to a unsightly angle. I started to whimper as my lips trembled from fright because this Bryce was not the same one that had given us wedgies or swirlies this one was a true monster, a beast that devoured souls. His gaze was enough to display a vacancy of any humanity and my eyes crawled down his arm into his hand to see the black pistol that he firmly gripped.
“Uh, Bryce what happened? Are you okay?” I groaned out while sniffling.
He didn’t answer, he just kept grinning at me, the ghastly smile that stretched ear from ear plagued my vision and I knew that he had done it, that he had hurt someone badly. I was terrified and in the moment I had completely forgotten about Gabriel, my tunnel vision only focused on that firearm.
“Where the hell did the other one go?” the monster asked, I turned and realized Gabriel in fact had run away leaving me behind.
I wanted to run, I wanted to flee while screaming but horror kept me in place and I felt like some dear trapped in headlights contemplating my entire life in mere seconds.
“Everyone always messes with me!” Bryce yelled out with such ferociousness.
There was no talking my way out of this one, no pleading, I knew in that moment he was going to kill me; his rage over flowing to the point of lunacy. He quickly pounced dropping me to the floor, screaming with madness and he repeatedly hit me over the head with the but of the gun causing me to see stars. His words became incoherent sounding like muffled tones that slushed it’s way into my hearing, I shook my head trying to collect myself, just maybe I could figure a way out of this but as soon as my vision corrected itself Bryce would strike me another time causing it to blur once again. I fell into a darkness, my world collapsing into an eternal void of loneliness as my body began to float effortlessly but as soon as I thought this was my final moments flashes of Gabriel flooded into my mind awakening me out of whatever slumber I found myself in. That’s when I realized Bryce was no longer hitting me, instead he was talking to someone and as I grabbed at my head trying to steady my balance I saw it was Gabriel standing still head as always tilted downwards.
Bryce confronted him pointing his 9mm directly at his head yelling, screaming at the top of his lungs but my best friend remained unmoved, just quiet and then he slowly removed his mask. This caused Bryce to pause, his tone weaken and I think for the first time he digested if he should proceed doing what he was doing.
“What are you doing freak?” the bully yelped out.
Gabriel remained quiet, eyes still directed towards the floor, his breathing escalating; I could see his chest pump more vigorously with each passing second. With the mask off me and Bryce could see the bewildering black duct tape strapped to his face, Gabriel’s face began to tremble violently as if he was trying to yell through the bondage. He then finally began to peel of the thick layer of black duct tape and it came off with a wicked screech as I could see my friends eyes squint with pain.
Bryce was no longer pointing the gun at Gabriel, no longer was he even saying a word his arm lowered to his side and both him and I stared on with amazement. What was under the tape was layers of skin, twisting and binding to each other like some thriving organism living it’s own life on Gabriel's face. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t say anything I was in shock and my head still throb from pain. Then Gabriel's mouth — if you want to call it that — began to stretch open, he tilted his head backwards while the mountain of dead flesh started to drip down his face allowing some endless void to open up inside of him. I could hear the cracking of bones breaking, his jaw shifting to accommodate the massive hole that was now his mouth and then horrid dwindling fingers began to protrude from the darkness.
My mouth gaped open with trepidation and if I had the ability to adjust my head I would think Bryce had the same facial expression. Then a grotesque head forced it’s way out of my friends mouth revealing a face that could only exist in the realms of the dead, this new creature having two large almond shape eyes; eyes that looked very similar to the ones that were attached to my friend. This ‘thing’ then stared at Bryce, that’s all it did, no words were spoken no violence was created it just stared at him and soon the bully grasped at his face and began to yell. He ran frantically in different directions, his gun firing out into the tree line, I jumped for cover; falling to the floor sheltering my head with my arms. Bryce’s terrified screams caused my stomach to turn and soon those dire cries stopped along with the gunshots.
I must of stayed on the floor for what felt like hours, too scared to rise to my feet and through my peripheral did I see the sun begin to set plunging the small creak into darkness. I eventually mustered up enough courage to get up and I looked around, Bryce was mere feet away from me, he lay still on the floor blood spewing out of his head; it appeared as if had shot himself. I walked over to his body befuddled of what to do I then remembered Gabriel, I turned to look for him but he was gone it was only me and Bryce's dead corpse. I ran home telling my parents about everything, of the encounter I experienced, at first it seemed as if they didn’t believe me but they still phoned for the police.
I led them to the creek to the bullies dead body, I initially thought perhaps they would blame me, connect me to his death but the police believed me; well the believed me about Bryce but not about Gabriel. They told me that Bryce had killed his step father, apparently they had gotten into some altercation and afterwards he went into his mothers bedroom and shot her to death. They told me that the once bully was a disturbed individual, suffering abuse for many years; that I was lucky to escape from his wrath. I told them that they needed to find my friend I wanted to know if he was okay, but all the officers could do was pat my back with sympathy trying to relax me.
It has almost been 30 years since the event, I still have nightmares of what had happened, I see the dead stare Bryce had while pointing his pistol at me, I see him repeatedly hitting me over the head again and again. Though, what still haunts me more is Gabriel's mouth contorting into that horrid shape revealing the creature that lived inside of him. He was never found, I’m pretty sure he moved on to another city, another place where bullies like Bryce tormented their schools and I could only imagine Gabriel was there to balance the wrongs of the world. I am scared of my best friend, but I know at the same time he is my protector; my super hero, he is out there doing good, I can feel it and I hope he can sense my love for him. Maybe we will never meet again, perhaps it’s not written in the stars for us to reunite but one thing is for sure, I get comic books mailed to me randomly every month; most are of Superman and I know exactly who they are from.

Hi ladies. I am 26f and briefly unemployed at the moment. I do not have a “career” set in stone. I’ve worked at restaurants, clubs, worked as a dancer at a strip club, casinos, all over the service industry. I ended up quitting my last serving job due to burn out.
It’s been a month since I’ve quit and I’m desperate to get my momentum back and get applying to new places, but I will say my depression seemed to get quite out of hand with all the free time I’ve felt during unemployment. Like going back to work sounds hard and terrible (could also be the experience of my last toxic job) but sitting around doing nothing isn’t good for me either.
Any advice for those in moments of unemployment, or those struggle with their career? I have a about a year and a half of strict saving and hustling to do before I’m fully comfortable transitioning out of the service industry.
I don’t know how to say it lightly but I feel like I’m spiraling a bit.

"Explain your past, Musa" the gov'ness walks at my right, shielding my from the piercing sun as we walks with the caravan. After the trench was dismantled, we are walking by foot to reach the capital, as the trench-line have been pushed far into our homeland.
"I was a cook when the war started, gov'ness" and now I am left wondering why did she chose me from anyone else in the caravan, there's the sergeant, the whom she asked to see earlier today.
"You have been trusted to cook rations for your company, as early as the war?" her baroque companion, similarly donned in her armor, walks close by ours, but never overtook us.
"No, gov'ness, I was a 10 years old when the war started, the war went for seven years and I fought for the last two" before she came, with weapons of the stars that could've decimate my trench instead of theirs
"Such a young man you are, seven years ago, the Emperor grants me audience, revealing that I was his progenitor"
This talk about an "imperium" across the stars and the deified emperor has gotten me worried. Is that her reason for talking to me, to ease my pain before sending me to the stars far from here? Or simply an act of pity?
The meager town came into view, and was it not for the ancient structure, we would've thought this was anywhere but the capital. Gray skies and beaten earth have become the synonym for the heart of Nagorow.
"I must say, this was not our expectation when your leader came into contact with my ship, begging for salvation" the gov'ness depart from me, and my instinct was to follow her, but who am I to her? And so I stay put and follow the rest of the caravan back to the main camp.
"You're lucky to have an audience with the Lady, runt" one of gov'ness' companion knocked me to the dirt, assuming that he's doing it out of spite and jealousy. I can see him walking to gov'ness
"I apologize for my companion's doing" another of gov'ness', as he extends his fingers that allowed me to stand to my feet "Lucius was indeed jealous, he was our best melee combatant and our Primarch haven't even bat an eye for him"
"Is that a rare thing?" Lucius and the gov'ness seems to enter the structure, doing their business there. I quickly glance at my watch, the gray sky seems to be forever, and it shows 1641. And I quickly look back at the gov'ness companion
"It is, perhaps Mother saw something within you, perhaps yours was interesting at the moment" the giant release his helmet, letting his bronze hair free from the confine "I am Rylanor, pleasure to meet you, Musa"
"As is mine, gov'nor"
The Sejm was delightful in seeing Fulgrim and her companions, as well as the news of the apparent victory on the frontlines. Such delight warrants them to spent their moneys on a grand feast right at the capital, inviting everyone within range to attend, with the guest of honor being the gov'ness herself.
"I would have thought you are with Mother, Musa" Rylanor brought two plates in his palm, the plate whom was enough for me was made miniscule by his hands, each contained meager food they could thrown
"Thanks, gov'nor" the feast gives us chair to sit, yet here I stand with him, outside of the building. Somehow the gov'nor chose to make a companion out of me, whilst gov'ness over there busy herself with her empire in the suns.
"I almost forgot what a food taste, Musa, back in the campaign, we would be served liquid ration with occasional starch" I took a look at him, and his plate was already cleaned
"You should try my cooking then, I cook better"
We let a simple laugh from the situation, from a soldier to another, from a human to another too. The door barges open and whom I thought to be Lucius emerge, escaping the feast.
"It's obnoxious inside, Rylanor, if you wish to see me, then don't, I'm heading to the nearest landing coordinate" and went he goes, somewhere place only he, gov'nor and gov'ness know. Something that I would not understand no matter how much gov'nor taught me.
"I have to agree with dear Lucius there" and speak of the gov'ness, and she shall came, looking at the horizon "they barely separate the nobility and the peasant"
I didn't mean to stare, but gov'ness wore something fine, something you'd see from paintings high in temple's ceiling, an ascendant of man. Looking carefully, it seems she wore old Nagorovian dress and modify it to suit her stature, or rather, her figure. She need not a corset, it seems.
"The food is delectable, Mother" Rylanor already took my plate without my knowing, something that I relent
"Every food is delectable when you are starved of them, dear Rylanor"
We all watched as a star suddenly rose at the horizon, perhaps something to do with Lucius and his departure. I suppose this is our future, being shackled by another uncaring emperor to fight the dangers of mankind.
"Say, Rylanor, but does that star seems approaching us?" and behind Lucius' ascend, a second star indeed looks as if its getting nearer. Just before I respond, nor gov'nor did for that matter, the air raid sirens blare and screech
"It is too late to dodge the missile, Mother, and I am the only one still wearing my armor, I would suggest taking a shield behind me" Rylanor easily stood and tower over us. I didn't even wait as I quickly take cover.
"Don't be ridiculous, Rylanor, these brutes couldn't even muster the technology to weaponize simple nuclear reaction" Rylanor didn't wait and cover me with his entire figure, and I just prayed that whatever nuclear is nor what reaction it cause would not be as devastating as I'd fear.
The moment of impact was blurry, but there was an apparent pain riddled to it, as the temperature rose akin to a sun blasting us with the heat. Like what was drilled into my head, I quickly wrap my entire face with anything, covering up the assuredly loud aftermath and the shrapnel flying around. I couldn't hear
And I wish I wouldn't hear
By the time the air around began to cool, my throat was hoarse, as if I have been shouting the entire time. It wasn't until I noticed the spasmic movement on my mouth that I realized, I have been barking around.
"At ease, gov'nor, at ease lads" I chanted
"It seems it was a nuclear explosion, Mother, albeit a primitive version of it" Rylanor seems to ignore my rant, addressing the gov'ness instead. He then release me, before coughing up liquids right at my face "apologies" he mumbles
"Be damned your humor, Rylanor" I hear the gov'ness, rasping in breath as I slowly gather my senses "Musa, you lived it seems" my eyes were blinking rapidly, due to the heat and the dust it caused "oh Rylanor, I apologized for your condition".
When my eyes fully recovered, I saw only desolation. No Man's Land was gentler than this, water and mud found refuge within them after all. But what I saw was beyond it, ruins and dry earth, trees and building charred, and people would likely evaporate. Peoples, on whom I was fighting with and fighting for, for two damned years. I couldn't take it anymore, first Maria and now this? Fate was far too cruel
Liquid barge through my mouth, followed close by every air in my lungs and waters in my eyes. There was no rythym, only that I was doing it in instinct, lying on all fours at the stairs near the gov'nor and gov'ness.
Only then did I brave to stand up, looking at them and the impact it caused. Gov'nor seems to be stuck in his place, unable to move as his hair rotted away and flesh melts to his armor. Now I understand why did he puke. The gov'ness was way less impacted, as her clothing burnt with the flesh on her skins, with her lying on her back.
"Cease your staring, Musa" she quickly commanded
"Yes ma'am" I quickly slap my cheek, a soldier need to finish his duties until the bitter end, and the enemy was no better after all "orders, gov'ness?"
"You're waiting for my orders?" she slowly sat herself, throwing out blood from her mouth while her arms sizzle and creates smoke "so it seems, help me get to one of landing coordinates" when she did sat, she saw her own legs, crushed from the debris of the railings and burnt to crisp "it seems I would have to relegate the matter of combat to you"
"Private Musa at the ready, gov'ness" so soon to serve this faraway empire, and my first duty is to escape the chaos that will ensue. And first, I need to find a cart or I will be carrying the giant on my back
"Musa, before you go" Rylanor rasp and wheeze as he reach for something, before he carved it with letters and numbers "you are familiar with latitudes and longitudes of your planet, I assume, and if not then you can ask Mother for direction" he gave me the knife, on which he have engraved numbers.
"And what will happen to you, gov'nor?" I took the knife and pocket it, then looking back at the gov'ness
"I will be fine, Musa, all I ask is that you deliver Mother there to the place, and rest assured that you will be awarded"
I ignore the last part, something about the futility in wealth and glory that I realized, living as a cook my entire life before becoming a soldier taught me that. I quickly strip my clothing, and though I have to face the cold soon, finding the gov'ness means of transportation is more valuable. I quickly wrapped the gov'ness legs with a shirt, then I cut another of my shirt into pieces before I wrapped it at her so I can carry her off, my suspender helped in holding her together too
"Something tells me I won't enjoy the journey" Fulgrim murmurs as she rest on my shoulder
"Be safe Mother, I pray that Musa will be sufficient to you"

I was raised to respect everyone with an emphasis on family and elders around me. This positive trait put me into a terrible situation. Fifteen years ago the industry I chose to a career in came crashing down and I was without employment. I had worked for my uncle as a teenager with my cousins and really enjoyed the work but was aware of the problems when working with them. They are not like me. I had not worked for them for over ten years and was approached to come join the team. We were all adults now and the choice seemed simple. I loved the work, it’s a secret passion of mine. We had all grown and had young families and it seemed we all had similar goals. Their business is successful. The signs were there soon after I made the decision. I ignored the negative and focused on the positive. I also did something I would never do in any other situation and I let my employer have more control over my life than they should. I put my trust in family! Over then next dozen years I was slowly transformed into someone who could completely taken advantage of and manipulated. My confidence was slowly and methodically stripped away and I was complete controlled. I left for a short time but it was not long enough to break free. I was not confident and felt going back was my only and best option. I returned after some negotiation which I thought was genuine but it was not. Like always I was lied to completely and the manipulation began again almost immediately. The last four years I worked more than I had the first nine for less compensation. I was loyal and available at all times. I was often the last person to be done work for the day for weeks at a time. During our busy time from Mid April until the end of October I would take one ten day holiday and there would be ten or twelve other days I would not work. I have worked stretches of sixty or more days averaging more than 12 hours a day. Everything I did was criticized and questioned. My input was ignored completely and no one listened to what I had to say unless I exploded in anger. I was slowly and methodically broken down until I was an obedient, numb and didn’t question anything. I realize now that this was not how I wanted to live. The last year I was there a supplier offered a holiday for one person from the business and no one else wanted to go so it was offered to me. I looked into it and it was ten days long. This would have meant I would be gone for 20 days in July and August that year so it was decided I shouldn’t accept. The boss, my cousin, would be gone on a three week holiday and it was decided by should be available while he was gone. At the time I was only thinking about protecting my annual week holiday I spent with my own family but it slowly brought other thoughts to my mind. I am grateful that trip offer made it to me. It was the trigger that started my journey out of that situation. I am back in the industry where I initially started my career and will be regaining my professional designation. I have been free of their control for a year and a half and I am about 85% back to normal. I have not worked on any forgiveness or made any effort to repair any relationships with my uncle and cousins. I will never expose myself to any of there control even as simple as a condescending comment in a conversation. I have not spoken to any of them since the day I left other than dealing with necessary business. We are completely separated at this point. I know there are negatives to holding on to the hard feelings I have toward them. I have spent many hours considering those negatives and have decided there will be NO relationship or communication ever again.

Welcome to week five of the Reddit Strength program. I hope you've all been enjoying it so far. If you missed any previous weeks, this is something you can jump into any given week you don't need to have been there week one for it to work. This strength schedule is designed to help you progress from one weight to the next (if that is what you want, you are of course free to maintain the weights you use as well). There is a #RedditStrength for those interested in joining it.
This is an eight week cycle that repeats. Each time we come around again I'll be looking for a couple newer classes to replace some of the older classes previously used.
Each class will list "light" or "heavy", this is not to be confused with the Light/Medium/Heavy weights instructors ask you to use for each move. What it means is, lets say you normally use 5/10/20 but you are hoping to level up to 10/15/25. When my class says "light" you would use your 10s when the instructor calls for medium weights and when my class says "heavy" you would use your 15s for the same move. This will help us to progress to where the 15s are your new normal.
Monday:

• 10m Core w/Emma 8/13/23
• 20m A&S w/Callie 7/1/23 light
• 10m C&B w/Callie 7/12/23 heavy
• 20m G&L w/Callie 12/7/23 heavy

Wednesday:

• 10m Core w/Robin 9/4/23
• 10m C&B w/JJ 11/1/23 heavy
• 30m G&L w/Selena 7/17/23 heavy

Friday

• 15m Core w/Callie 9/13/23
• 20m UB w/JJ 3/6/23 benchmark (PUtV v5 w3 d2)

Extra Credit:

• 5m Core w/Emma 5/12/23
• 5m Core w/Emma 11/19/23
• 30m A&S w/Adrian 5/19/22 light
• 10m C&B w/JJ 6/28/22 heavy (go heavier than he says to)
• 10m G&L w/Olivia 10/1/21 heavy
• 30m FB w/Rebecca 8/22/22 light

Benchmark: Every 2 weeks each body area has a Benchmark class. These are from the Pump Up the Volume collections and allow us to go through a progression of 4 classes with mostly the same class plan but different actual classes meaning different music, different stories and sometimes different instructors. These classes are all Rep based, which makes them great for benchmarking. You are encouraged to adjust the weights and reps to meet your personal goals. If Adrian tells you to do 10-12 reps with your medium weight but you want to do 6-8 reps with your heavy weight, go for it! This can be especially useful in the first classes where they keep the weights lighter, as these are intended to help you progress during the four classes.
Extra Credit: These are extra classes for those who want more work than the standard schedule. They are also good substitutions if for any reason you don't like a class or instructor on the schedule.
You can stop reading here unless you want to know why I am scheduling what I am scheduling.
The basis is a 4 week progression. In each body area we will use light weights for 2 weeks then heavy weights for two weeks per the definition of light and heavy above.
It follows this pattern, aiming for 30-60 minutes a day 3 days a week:

• Round 1 - 2 days light
• Round 2 - 3 days light
• Round 3 - 2 days heavy
• Round 4 - 3 days heavy

Each body area has the schedule staggered, so you're not trying to go all heavy in every area in the same week. This week we have A&S in round 1, C&B in round 4 and G&L in round 3.
FAQ

1. Can I start any week or do I have to begin with week 1?
   1. You can begin any week. This is a repeating cycle with no real beginning or end, a mobius strip of a program.
2. There are too many classes for me, how should I trim it down for my schedule?
   1. I recommend trimming evenly (but keep all the core if you can). So take off 1 A&S, 1 C&B and 1 G&L each week if that suits you better. Or at minimum just do the benchmark classes.
3. Do I have to do these on the prescribed days? I would rather take a couple classes a day for 6 days.
   1. Absolutely mix and match the classes across the week however fits best into your schedule. They are only listed this way because this is my personal schedule. As long as you are doing them all in the week you should get similar results.

Feedback
I would love to hear what everyone things. Specifically; Are there any classes you would like me to rotate out (why)? Is this the right amount of strength work for you? Do you have a favorite class you are hoping I work into the mix?

Mandatory Disclaimer: while referring to Palestine, I will mostly be talking about the Gaza strip. Please forgive me for any misinformation for I'm not very informed and genuinely looking to learn more.
From what I've read, Gaza is mostly controlled by Hamas with the PA holding minimal power. Now, at least in my perspective, Hamas is undeniably a terrorist organization that holds little regard for human life (as shown by OCT. 7 and the refusal to wear identifiable uniforms). So if Gaza were to be freed, is it unbelievable that Hamas will seize power and make Palestine into a terrorist state? I've also seen peoples call for "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" which implies the complete abolishment of the Israeli state. The issue is, if Israel is completely abolished, what happens to the Jewish peoples living there? Is it too hard to believe that they'll become oppressed and retaliated against even more than Palestinians are and on a larger scale? I feel that, while the oppression of Palestinians is undeniable, the situation for everyone would become exponentially worse if Hamas took power, or god forbid the territory become unclaimed with warring factions trying to take control. I also feel that it would be much easier to regulate and control ethnic wars if a proper and established government such as Israel ruled the region than a group that was rooted in warfare and acts of terror. I'd love to hear from both sides on this question, because I genuinely see no proper solution besides an Israeli-held Palestine with an enforced ceasefire.

I have an exam for soft tissue treatment, the teacher said the focus is on tapotement. Can anyone introduce a good online free accessible i source for that. Also, I need to know some muscles and joints by heart, any source that I could find everything there? No time to search them here and there. And any experience on this exam is also very valuable. I put exam sample questions below, if you cab help me or advise me on how to study for that. It is long weekend here. My exam is on Tuesday. I have kids, and a part time job, and a lot behind my schedule for study, so every minute that can Help me save time is very valuable. Previously, I asked the teacher to change the date for me and he did not accept. I really dont want to fail😭
Q1) Muscle weakness of the.....................(30 marks). Draping Warm up tapotement Side effects of tapotement. Benefits of tapote ment. OTHER Scenario of Q1) Limitation of movement or fascial restriction...............(30 marks). Draping Warm up Variety fascial techniques Multiple directions Passive stretch Side effects Benefits Q2) Taut band in the …........................(30 marks) Draping. Warm up Muscle stripping to feel the MTrP. Ischemic compression. Referral pain pattern. Flush. Passive stretch. Q3) Limitation of joint ROM. Perform G3 glide Maitland’s oscillation technique Or Kaltenborn’s sustained translatory technique (30 marks) Draping. Stabilizing hand Moving hand Definition Performance Benefit.

Hi all, I don't often post here. My name is 5p1tf1r3 and I'm an Anarch Toreador from Chicago. I run a number of businesses within walking distance of the corner or Clark and Belmont. Among them are a bar, a strip club, and a maid cafe. If you're ever in the city, come say hi.
Aside from owning Kine entertainment venues, I also offer services to us. Hacking is my forte but I'm also quite decent at Tattoos and piercings, I can dye your hair. If you pay me enough I might even give you something fancier but I don't upcharge you guys for normal stuff just cause you're undead. You pay the same price as the mortals for a service infinitly easier for than than for us.
Feel free to reach out!

I have just a few questions that I think should be addressed.
1) why take the legacy season away if the replacement feature isn’t and probably will never be released? Wouldn’t it have been better for the community to leave it in and not strip features away from a lacking game.
2) what are the 10 of you gonna do to combat the cheating on pc? And don’t say we have anti cheat bc it doesn’t work.
3) why charge for a beta testing of port of a 2018 game when you could give free keys to a 100 people who are on console and also have a pc so you can get feedback from actual vets of the game and not first time player that will say “yeah it’s ok but could be a lot better” bc they don’t know how bad you made your game.
4) you claim that the port to pc wasn’t going to take away from console development bc it was being outsourced. How can it be that you have to shift priorities to fix what you said was being outsourced. So what is it did you lie about the outsourcing or did you lie about the pc port not taking away from console content development. Or what it both that you lied about and it was not outsourced and you did infact have all employees work on just the pc port.
5) why are the bugs reported since release not fixed yet. We still have houses in broodallen that the walls disappear when you go inside( was a bug when the map first dropped and still a bug now)
6) PC PLAYERS NOW IS YOUR TIME TO REQUEST A REFUND.
7) I will reveal my face if the devs actually give real answers to the questions that the community has asked and not the standard “it’s not ready” “we are working on it” or “we had to shift priorities”.