#source: i was 15-16 in 2015

[dresshistorynerd]

The Real Cost of the Fashion Industry

Atacama Desert, in Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile. (source)

The textile industry is destroying the world. The industry is wasting massive amounts of energy and materials, and polluting the air, the ground and the water supplies. It overwhelmingly exploits it's labour and extracts wealth from colonized countries, especially in Asia. I assume we all broadly understand this, but I think it's useful to have it all laid out in front of you to see the big picture, the core issues causing this destruction and find ways how to effectively move forward.

The concerning trend behind this ever-increasing devastation are shortening of trend cycles, lowering clothing prices and massive amount of wasted products. Still in year 2000 it was common for fashion brands to have two collections per year, while now e.g. Zara produces 24 collections and H&M produces 12-16 collections per year. Clothing prices have fallen (at leas in EU) 30% from 1996 to 2018 when adjusted to inflation, which has contributed to the 40% increase in clothing consumption per person between 1996 and 2012 (in EU). (source) As the revenue made by the clothing industry keep rising - from 2017 to 2021 they doubled (source) - falling prices can only be achieved with increasing worker exploitation and decreasing quality. I think the 36% degrees times clothing are used in average during the last 15 years (source) is a clear indication on the continuing drop in quality of clothing. Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015, while 30% of the clothes produced per year are never sold and are often burned instead (source), presumably to prevent the returns from falling due to oversupply.

These all factors are driving people to overconsume. While people in EU keep buying more clothes, they haven't used up to 50% of the clothes in their wardrobe for over a year (source). This overconsumption is only made much worse by the new type of hyper fast fashion companies like SHEIN and Temu, which are using addictive psychological tactics developed by social media companies (source 1, source 2). They are cranking up all those concerning trends I mentioned above.

Under the cut I will go through the statistics of the most significant effects of the industry on environment and people. I will warn you it will be bleak. This is not just a fast fashion problem, basically the whole industry is engaging in destructive practices leading to this damage. Clothing is one of those things that would be actually relatively easy to make without massive environmental and human cost, so while that makes the current state of the industry even more heinous, it also means there's hope and it's possible to fix things. In the end, I will be giving some suggestions for actions we could be doing right now to unfuck this mess.

Carbon emissions

The textile industry is responsible for roughly 10% of the global CO2 emissions, more than aviation and shipping industry combined. This is due to the massive supply chains and energy intensive production methods of fabrics. Most of it can be contributed to the fashion sector since around 60% of all the textile production is clothing. Polyester, a synthetic fiber made from oil which accounts for more than half of the fibers used in the textile industry, produces double the amount of carbon emissions than cotton, accounting for very large proportions of all the emissions by the industry. (source 1, source 2)

Worker exploitation

Majority of the textiles are produced in Asia. Some of the worst working conditions are in Bangladesh, one of the most important garment producers, and Pakistan. Here's an excerpt from EU Parliament's briefing document from 2014 after the catastrophic Rana Plaza disaster:

The customers of garment producers are most often global brands looking for low prices and tight production timeframes. They also make changes to product design, product volume, and production timeframes, and place last-minute orders without accepting increased costs or adjustments to delivery dates. The stresses of such policies usually fall on factory workers.

The wage exploitation is bleak. According to the 2015 documentary The True Cost less than 2% of all garment factory workers earned a living wage (source). Hourly wages are so low and the daily quotas so high, garment workers are often forced through conditions or threats and demand to work extra hours, which regularly leads to 10-12 hour work days (source) and at worst 16 hour workdays (source), often without days off. Sometimes factories won't compensate for extra hours, breaching regulations (source).

Long working hours, repetitive work, lack of breaks and high pressure leads to increased risks of injuries and accidents. Small and even major injuries are extremely common in the industry. A study in three factories in India found that 70% of the workers suffered from musculosceletal symptoms (source). Another qualitative study of female garment workers and factory doctors in Dhaka found that long hours led to eye strain, headaches, fatigue and weight loss in addition to muscular and back pains. According to the doctors interviewed, weight loss was common because the workers work such long hours without breaks, they didn't have enough time to eat properly. (source) Another study in 8 factories in India found that minor injuries were extremely common and caused by unergonomic work stations, poor organization in the work place and lack of safety gear, guidelines and training (source). Safety precautions too are often overlooked to cut corners, which periodically leads to factory accidents, like in 2023 lack of fire exists and fire extinguishers, and goods stacked beyond capacity led to a factory fire in Pakistan which injured dozens of workers (source) or like in 2022 dangerous factory site led to one dead worker and 9 injured workers (source).

Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 is the worst industrial accident in recent history. The factory building did not have proper permits and the factory owner blatantly ignored signs of danger (other businesses abandoned the building a day before the collapse), which led to deaths of 1 134 workers and injuries to 2 500 workers. The factory had or were at the time working for orders of at least Prada, Versace, Primark, Walmart, Zara, H&M, C&A, Mango, Benetton, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Carrefour, Auchan, KiK, Loblaw, Bonmarche and Matalan. None of the brands were held legally accountable for the unsafe working conditions which they profited off of. Only 9 of the brands attended a meeting to agree on compensation for the victim's families. Walmart, Carrefour, Auchan, Mango and KiK refused to sight the agreement, it was only signed by Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche and El Corte Ingles. The compension these companies provided was laughable though. Primemark demanded DNA evidence that they are relatives of one of the victims from these struggling families who had lost their often sole breadwinner for a meager sum of 200 USD (which doesn't even count for two months of living wage in Bangladesh (source)). This obviously proved to be extremely difficult for most families even though US government agreed to donate DNA kits. This is often said to be a turning point in working conditions in the industry, at least in Bangladesh, but while there's more oversight now, as we have seen, there's clearly still massive issues. (source 1, source 2)

One last major concern of working conditions in the industry I will mention is the Xinjiang raw cotton production, which is likely produced mainly with forced labour from Uighur concentration camps, aka slave labour of a suspected genocide. 90% of China's raw cotton production comes from Xinjiang (source). China is the second largest cotton producer in the world, after India, accounting 20% of the yearly global cotton production (source).

Pollution

Synthetic dyes, which synthetic fibers require, are the main cause of water pollution caused by the textile industry, which is estimated to account for 20% of global clean water pollution (source). This water pollution by the textile industry is suspected of causing a lot of health issues like digestive issues in the short term, and allergies, dermatitis, skin inflammation, tumors and human mutations in the long term. Toxins also effect fish and aquatic bacteria. Azo dyes, one of the major pollutants, can cause detrimental effects to aquatic ecosystems by decreasing photosynthetic activity of algae. Synthetic dyes and heavy metals also cause large amounts of soil pollution. Large amounts of heavy metals in soil, which occurs around factories that don't take proper environmental procautions, can cause anaemia, kidney failure, and cortical edoem in humans. That also causes changes in soil texture, decrease in soil microbial diversity and plant health, and changes in genetic structure of organisms growing in the soil. Textile factory waste water has been used for irrigation in Turkey, where other sources of water have been lacking, causing significant damage to the soil. (source)

Rayon produced through viscose process causes significant carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide pollution to the environment. CS2 causes cardiovascular, psychiatric, neuropsychological, endocrinal and reproductive disorders. Abortion rates among workers and their partners exposed to CS2 are reported to be significantly higher than in control groups. Many times higher amounts of sick days are reported for workers in spinning rooms of viscose fiber factories. China and India are largest producers of CS2 pollution, accounting respectively 65.74% and 11,11% of the global pollution, since they are also the major viscose producers. Emission of CS2 has increased significantly in India from 26.8 Gg in 2001 to 78.32 Gg in 2020. (source)

Waste

The textile industry is estimated to produce around 92 million tons of textile waste per year. As said before around 30% of the production is never sold and with shortening lifespans used the amount of used clothing that goes to waster is only increasing. This waste is large burned or thrown into landfills in poor countries. (source) H&M was accused in 2017 by investigative journalists of burning up to 12 tonnes of clothes per year themselves, including usable clothing, which they denied claiming they donated clothing they couldn't sell to charity instead (source). Most of the clothing donated to charity though is burned or dumbed to landfills (source).

Most of the waste clothing from rich countries like European countries, US, Australia and Canada are shipped to Chile (source) or African countries, mostly Ghana, but also Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire (source). There's major second-hand fashion industries in these places, but most of the charity clothing is dumbed to landfills, because they are in such bad condition or the quality is too poor. Burning and filling landfills with synthetic fabrics with synthetic dyes causes major air, water and soil pollution. The second-hand clothing industry also suppresses any local clothing production as donated clothing is inherently more competitive than anything else, making these places economically reliant on dumbed clothing, which is destroying their environment and health, and prevents them from creating a more sustainable economy that would befit them more locally. This is not an accident, but required part of the clothing industry. Overproduction let's these companies tap on every new trend quickly, while not letting clothing the prices in rich countries drop so low it would hurt their profits. Production is cheaper than missing a trend.

Micro- and nanoplastics

There is massive amounts of micro- and nanoplastics in all of our environment. It's in our food, drinking water, even sea salt (source). Washing synthetic textiles accounts for roughly 35% of all microplastics released to the environment. It's estimated that it has caused 14 million tonnes of microplastics to accumulate into the bottom of the ocean. (source)

Microplastics build up into the intestines of animals (including humans), and have shown to probably cause cause DNA damage and altered organism behavior in aquatic fauna. Microplastics also contain a lot of the usual pollutants from textile industry like synthetic dyes and heavy metals, which absorb in higher quantities to tissues of animals through microplastics in the intestines. Studies have shown that the adverse effect are higher the longer the microplastics stay in the organism. The effects cause major risks to aquatic biodiversity. (source) The health effects of microplastics to humans are not well known, but studies have shown that they could have adverse effects on digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive and immune systems. (source)

Microplastics degrade in the environment even further to nanoplastics. Nanoplastic being even smaller are found to enter blood circulation, get inside cells and cross the blood-brain barrier. In fishes they have been found to cause neurological damage. Nanoplastics are also in the air, and humans frequently breath them in. Study in office buildings found higher concentration of nanoplastics in indoor air than outdoor air. Inside the nanoplastics are likely caused mostly by synthetic household textiles, and outdoors mostly by car tires. (source) An association between nanoplastics and mitochondrial damage in human respiratory cells was found in a recent study. (source)

Micro and nano plastics are also extremely hard to remove from the environment, making it even more important that we reduce the amount of microplastics we produce as fast as possible.

What can we do?

This is a question that deserves it's own essays and articles written about it, but I will leave you with some action points. Reading about these very bleak realities can easily lead to overwhelming apathy, but we need to channel these horrors into actions. Whatever you do, do not fall into apathy. We don't have the luxury for that, we need to act. These are industry wide problems, that simply cannot be fixed by consumerism. Do not trust any clothing companies, even those who market themselves as ethical and responsible, always assume they are lying. Most of them are, even the so called "good ones". We need legislation. We cannot allow the industry to regulate itself, they will always take the easy way out and lie to their graves. I will for sure write more in dept about what we can do, but for now here's some actions to take, both political and individual ones.

Political actions

Let's start with political actions, since they will be the much more important ones. While we are trying to dismantle capitalism and neocolonialism (the roots of these issues), here's some things that we could do right now. These will be policies that we should be doing everywhere in the world, but especially rich countries, where most of the clothing consumption is taking place. Vote, speak to others, write to your representative, write opinion pieces to your local papers, engage with democracy.

Higher requirements of transparency. Right now product transparency in clothing is laughably low. In EU only the material make up and the origin country of the final product are required to be disclosed. Everything else is up to the company. Mandatory transparency is the only way we can force any positive changes in the production. The minimum of transparency should be: origin countries of the fibers and textiles in the product itself; mandatory reports of the lifecycle emissions; mandatory reports of whole chain of production. Right now the clothing companies make their chain of production intentionally complex, so they have plausible deniability when inevitably they are caught violating environmental or worker protection laws (source). They intentionally don't want to be able to track down their production chain. Forcing them to do so anyway would make it very expensive for them to keep up this unnecessarily complex production chain. These laws are most effective when put in place in large economies like EU or US.

Restrictions on the use of synthetic fibers. Honestly I think they should be banned entirely, since the amount of microplastics in our environment is already extremely distressing and the other environmental effects of synthetic fibers are also massive, but I know there are functions for which they are not easily replaced (though I think they can be replaces in those too, but that's a subject of another post), so we should start with restrictions. I'm not sure how they should be specifically made, I'm not a law expert, but they shouldn't be used in everyday textiles, where there are very easy and obvious other options.

Banning viscose. There are much better options for viscose method that don't cause massive health issues and environmental destruction where ever it's made, like Lyocell. There is absolutely no reason why viscose should be allowed to be sold anywhere.

Governmental support for local production by local businesses. Most of the issues could be much more easily solved and monitored if most clothing were not produced by massive global conglomerations, but rather by local businesses that produce locally. All clothing are made by hand, so centralizing production doesn't even give it advantage in effectiveness (only more profits for the few). Producing locally would make it much more easier to enforce regulations and it would reduce production chains, making production more effective, leaving more profits into the hands of the workers and reducing emissions from transportation. When the production is done by local businesses, the profits would stay in the producing country and they could be taxed and utilized to help the local communities. This would be helpful to do in both exploited and exploiter countries. When done in rich countries who exploit poorer ones, it would reduce the demand for exploitation. In poor countries this is not as easily done, since poor means they don't have money to give around, but maybe this could be a good cause to put some reparations from colonizers and global corporations, which they should pay.

Preventing strategic accounting between subsidiaries and parent companies. Corporate law is obviously not my area of expertise, but I know that allowing corporations to move around the accounting of profits and losses between subsidiaries and parent companies in roughly 1980s, was a major factor in creating this modern global capitalist system, where corporations can very easily manipulate their accounting to utilize tax heavens and avoid taxes where they actually operate, which is how they are upholding this terrible system and extracting the profits from the production countries. How specifically this would be done I can't tell because again I know shit about corporate law, so experts of that field should plan the specifics. Overall this would help deal with a lot of other problems than just the fashion industry. Again for it to be effective a large economic area like EU or US should do this.

Holding companies accountable for their whole chain of production. These companies should be dragged to court and made to answer for the crimes they are profiting of off. We should put fear back into them. This is possible. Victims of child slavery are already doing this for chocolate companies. If it's already not how law works everywhere, the laws should be changed so that the companies are responsible even if they didn't know, because it's their responsibility to find out and make sure they know. They should have been held accountable for the Rana Plaza disaster. Maybe they still could be. Sue the mother fuckers. They should be afraid of us.

Individual actions

I will stress that the previous section is much more important and that there's no need to feel guilty for individual actions. This is not the fault of the average consumer. Still we do need to change our relationship to fashion and consumption. While it's not our fault, one of the ways this system is perpetuated, is by the consumerist propaganda by fashion industry. And it is easier to change our own habits than to change the industry, even if our own habits have little impact. So these are quite easy things we all could do as we are trying to do bigger change to gain some sense of control and keep us from falling to apathy.

Consume less. Better consumption will not save us, since consumption itself is the problem. We consume too much clothing. Don't make impulse purchases. Consider carefully weather you actually need something or if you really really want it. Even only buying second-hand still fuels the industry, so while it's better than buying new, it's still better to not buy.

Take proper care of your clothing. Learn how to properly wash your clothing. There's a lot of internet resources for that. Never wash your wool textiles in washing machine, even if the textile's official instructions allow it. Instead air them regularly, rinse them in cool water if they still smell after airing and wash stains with water or small amount of (wool) detergent. Never use fabric softener! It damages the fabrics, prevents them from properly getting clean and is environmentally damaging. Instead use laundry vinegar for making textiles softer or removing bad smells. (You can easily make laundry vinegar yourself too from white vinegar and water (and essential oils, if you want to add a scent to it) which is much cheaper.) Learn how to take care of your leather products. Most leather can be kept in very good condition for a very long time by occasional waxing with beeswax.

Use the services of dressmakers and shoemakers. Take your broken clothing or clothing which doesn't fit anymore to your local dressmaker and ask them if they can do something about it. Take your broken and worn leather products to your local shoemaker too. Usually it doesn't cost much to get something fixed or refitted and these expert usually have ways to fix things you couldn't even think of. So even if the situation with your clothing or accessory seems desperate, still show it to the dressmaker or shoemaker.

If it's extremely cheap, don't buy it. Remember that every clothing is handmade. Only a small fraction of the cost of the clothing will be paying the wages of the person who made it with their hands. If a shirt costs 5 euros (c. 5,39 USD), it's sewer was only payed mere cents for sewing it. I'm not a quick sewer and it takes me roughly 1-2 hours to cut, prepare and sew a simple shirt, so I'm guessing it would take around half an hour to do all that for a factory worker on a crunch, at the very least 15 minutes. So the hourly pay would still be ridiculously low. However, as I said before, the fact that the workers in clothing factories get criminally low pay is not the fault of the consumer, so if you need a clothing item, and you don't have money to buy anything else than something very cheep, don't feel guilty. And anyway expensive clothing in no way necessarily means reasonable pay or ethical working conditions, cheep clothing just guarantee them.

Learn to recognize higher quality. In addition to exploitation, low price also means low quality, but again high price doesn't guarantee high quality. High quality allows you to buy less, so even if it's not as cheep as low quality, if you can afford it, when you need it, it will be cheaper in long run, and allows you to consume less. Check the materials. Natural fibers are your friends. Do not buy plastic, if it's possible to avoid. Avoid household textiles from synthetic fibers. Avoid textiles with small amounts of spandex to give it stretch, it will shorten the lifespan of the clothing significantly as the spandex quickly wears down and the clothing looses it's shape. Also avoid clothing with rubber bands. They also loose their elasticity very quickly. In some types of clothing (sport wear, underwear) these are basically impossible to avoid, but in many other cases it's entirely possible.

Buy from artisans and local producers, if you can. As said better consumption won't fix this, but supporting artisans and your local producers could help keep them afloat, which in small ways helps create an alternative to the exploitative global corporations. With artisans especially you know the money goes to the one who did the labour and buying locally means less middlemen to take their cut. More generally buy rather from businesses that are located to the same country where the production is, even if it's not local to you. A local business doesn't necessarily produce locally.

Develop your own taste. If you care about fashion and style, it's easy to fall victim to the fashion industry's marketing and trend cycles. That's why I think it's important to develop your personal sense of style and preferences. Pay attention at what type of clothes are comfortable to you. Go through your wardrobe and track for a while which clothing you use most and which least. Understanding your own preferences helps you avoid impulse buying.

Consider learning basics of sewing. Not everyone has the time or interest for this, but if you in anyway might have a bit of both, I suggest learning some very simple and basic mending and reattaching a button.

Further reading on this blog: How to see through the greenwashing propaganda of the fashion industry - Case study 1: Shein

Bibliography

Academic sources

An overview of the contribution of the textiles sector to climate change, 2022, L. F. Walter et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science

How common are aches and pains among garment factory workers? A work-related musculoskeletal disorder assessment study in three factories of south 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, 2021, Arkaprovo Pal et al., J Family Med Prim Care

Sewing shirts with injured fingers and tears: exploring the experience of female garment workers health problems in Bangladesh, 2019, Akhter, S., Rutherford, S. & Chu, C., BMC Int Health Hum Rights

Occupation Related Accidents in Selected Garment Industries in Bangalore City, 2006, Calvin, Sam & Joseph, Bobby, Indian Journal of Community Medicine

A Review on Textile and Clothing Industry Impacts on The Environment, 2022, Nur Farzanah Binti Norarmi et al., International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide emissions from viscose fibre manufacturing industry: A case study in India, 2022, Deepanjan Majumdar et al., Atmospheric Environment: X

Microplastics Pollution: A Brief Review of Its Source and Abundance in Different Aquatic Ecosystems, 2023, Asifa Ashrafy et al., Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

Health Effects of Microplastic Exposures: Current Issues and Perspectives in South Korea, 2023, Yongjin Lee et al., Yonsei Medical Journal

Nanoplastics and Human Health: Hazard Identification and Biointerface, 2022, Hanpeng Lai, Xing Liu, and Man Qu, Nanomaterials

Other sources

The impact of textile production and waste on the environment (infographics), 2020, EU

Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers, 2021, AlJazeera

Fashion - Worldwide, 2022 (updated 2024), Statista

Fashion Industry Waste Statistics & Facts 2023, James Evans, Sustainable Ninja (magazine)

Everything You Need to Know About Waste in the Fashion Industry, 2024, Solene Rauturier, Good on You (magazine)

Textiles and the environment, 2022, Nikolina Šajn, European Parliamentary Research Service

Help! I'm addicted to secondhand shopping apps, 2023, Alice Crossley, Cosmopolitan

Addictive, absurdly cheap and controversial: the rise of China’s Temu app, 2023, Helen Davidson, Guardian

Workers' conditions in the textile and clothing sector: just an Asian affair? - Issues at stake after the Rana Plaza tragedy, 2014, Enrico D'Ambrogio, European Parliamentary Research Service

State of The Industry: Lowest Wages to Living Wages, The Lowest Wage Challenge (Industry affiliated campaign)

Fast Fashion Getting Faster: A Look at the Unethical Labor Practices Sustaining a Growing Industry, 2021, Emma Ross, International Law and Policy Brief (George Washington University Law School)

Dozens injured in Pakistan garment factory collapse and fire, 2023, Hannah Abdulla, Just Style (news media)

India: Multiple factory accidents raise concerns over health & safety in the garment industry, campaigners call for freedom of association in factories to ‘stave off’ accidents, 2022, Jasmin Malik Chua, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

Minimum Wage Level for Garment Workers in the World, 2020, Sheng Lu, FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing (University of Delaware)

Rana Plaza collapse, Wikipedia

Buyers’ compensation for Rana Plaza victims far from reality, 2013, Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, Dhaka Tribune (news media)

World cotton production statistics, updated 2024, The World Counts

Dead white man’s clothes, 2021, Linton Besser, ABC News

#fashion #fashion industry #sustainability #sustainable fashion #sustainable clothing #environment #climate change #i will be continuing the series of how to see through fashion industry propaganda at some point #i just felt compelled to write this because i feel like people so often miss the forest for the trees in this conversation

[walks-the-ages]

Attention Arsene Lupin fans!!

2023 Public Domain book found!

Published in 1927, this is literally the only copy I have found anywhere for this book in english that is in the public domain, or otherwise--

--Actually, on a quick check mid-sentence on Amazon , I have found 1 copy, newly translated into english and published June 2023................................ but the person used fucking ChatGPT to translate it . aka an AI Chatbot.

....Anyways. You can use the Archive.org link above to download the original 1927 english translation, which is in the public domain to read, just make sure you get the PDF version, not the epub or pdf text because it's pure, pure gibberish.

Once I'm done working on Le Docteur Omega I might take a crack at transcribing this book next so it can be properly posted to Project Gutenberg and other Public Domain sites.

Oh, and because someone asked, The Girl With The Green Eyes is book #15 according to the Wiki page

#public domain #Arsène Lupin #Arsene lupin #Maurice Leblanc #archive.org #the internet archive #internet archive

[its-rat-time-babey]

Because I’m insane I decided to watch Fanboy and Chum Chum for the lore. Just watch the entire series and see what I can find.

Especially since Fanboy and Chum Chum are connected to Glitch Techs, with both shows being a part of the same multiverse. Just in Glitch Techs, smaller elements like the Freezy Mart exist in the show AND Fanboy and Chum Chum themselves are confirmed to exist as their names appear on the scoreboard in the Hinobi Smash competition, which means that Fanboy and Chum Chum do exist, but they probably go by their real names in the Glitch Techs universe and “Fanboy and Chum Chum” are just gamertags.

Things I have learned so far (just finished season 1):

This is a completely very different timeline and universe compared to Glitch Techs or our universe as comparison. Many things are different.

For example, the USA in this universe only has 8 states. For reference, the US was originally settled with 9 states, so at some point in time they lost one.

Fanboy and Chum Chum takes place in 2004. Glitch techs takes place in 1998.

Fanboy and Chum Chum’s real names are Tobias and Edmund.

Fanboy is anywhere from 17-18 years old. Chum Chum is (seemingly) two years younger at 15-16 years old. This is because they’re in 5th Grade (5th Graders are usually 10-11 years old) and Fanboy mentions that they’re been held back for 5 years, including the current year. Fanboy specifically also mentions being held back twice in kindergarten, but that’s exclusive to him.

All of the weird stuff Fanboy and Chum Chum can do comes from Chum Chum. Chum Chum has the power and Fanboy can also use it because he’s Chum Chum’s best friend. Oz is also friends with Chum Chum and can do similar things, but to a lesser degree because he’s not as close to Chum Chum as Fanboy. Yo gains Chum Chum-like abilities basically as soon as Fanboy temporarily gives Chum Chum to her, and on top of that Fanboy seemingly loses his abilities until he’s reunited with Chum Chum. Chum Chum is the source of like 90% of the show’s weirdness.

Fanboy is a Lance Corporal, aka the highest non-enlisted rank of the us military.

The Norse gods are real in this universe. I’m not kidding.

With the previous information, Chum Chum is very likely a Norse giant. I’m also not kidding.

Fanboy and Chum Chum both have glass eyes. Fanboy’s left and Chum Chum’s right eyes are fake. My personal conspiracy theory is that Chum Chum pulled an Odin some time in the past (as Odin is a real person who actually exists in this universe) and sacrificed one of his eyes for forbidden knowledge and that’s why he’s so powerful. Fanboy may have done the same as a sort of blood oath to his and Chum Chum’s friendship, hence why he has access to so much of Chum Chum’s power.

The creators of Fanboy and Chum Chum must have already had the idea for Glitch Techs even when this show was first being made. You can find all sorts of stuff in here that connects to the 2015 Pitch Bible for Glitch Techs. Yo’s Tamagotchi has a character identical to Chomp Kitty on it, characters that look extremely similar to Five and Miko’s Pitch Bible designs show up in an in-universe commercial, hell a character that looks extremely similar to Agent 68, a character who is only found in the Glitch Techs Pitch Bible (Either getting remade into Inspector 7 or even the Tech Inspector in “I’m Mitch Williams” later during development or being someone who would have appeared in season 3) shows up physically. They had the ideas all there to begin with.

Hinobi as we know it in Glitch Techs doesn’t exist in the way that we know it, but it does exist under a different name and purpose. Instead of Hinobi the video game company, it’s a (so far unnamed) Toy Company (that also owns the Frosty Mart in some way). My logic here is that:

Chomp Kitty on a tamagotchi. Obviously.

That character that looks like Agent 68 is an “Agent” of the unnamed toy company, in this case an inspector sent to reclaim some recalled toys. He’s also the head of security for the Frosty Mart’s company, so the Frosty Mart is probably owned by this alternate reality Hinobi in some way.

The few arcade machines and video games seen so far work perfectly fine, but many toys, especially any toy with mechanical parts have a tendency to break and act somewhat similarly to glitches.

There’s an episode where that Chomp Kitty Tamagotchi breaks and Fanboy and Chum Chum attempt to repair it by throwing it into a grave that’s been said to fix stuff that’s been left there. This results in the toy basically Glitch Techs style glitching and repeatedly trying to kill Fanboy and Chum Chum. Hell once they destroy the Tamagotchi completely a ghostly version of it almost identical to a Glitch from Glitch Techs forces itself through their TV. It’s even easily distracted by stuff from its original tamagotchi game like a glitch would be.

So my theory is that Hinobi in this universe is a toy company. Their toys can be extremely dangerous under the right conditions, especially if something goes wrong and they glitch in some way, Fanboy breaks the arm off of a robot toy by accident and every other robot in the area tries to kill him for example, and that Tamagotchi specifically is so much closer to a glitch techs glitch because it’s the closest this alternative universe Hinobi has to a video game.

Again, I am completely insane.

#fanboy and chum chum #glitch techs #I will add pictures later #I’ll also I’ll add any other things I’ve discovered or theorized. #as I remember or discover them

[xalygatorx]

My Fanfiction Masterlist | AO3 profile

Link tree to anything fanfiction-related that I write and post. Also a teaser source for upcoming chapter titles and future fics.

I will link as I post new chapters and will also try to remember to link new chapters at the end of the ones that precede them. x

If you don't see a chapter linked below but the title says its associated fic is 'complete', it's because I'm in the process of reposting my completed fics and I may not have that chapter up on here yet. Powerless is queued to post a chapter every Thursday through late May (but is posted in full on AO3 if you'd rather not wait).

NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s exclusive rights to their works under copyright, any use of the associated publications to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited.

Death in Pink (Alastor x Fem!OC, WIP), only on AO3

Unbound (Astarion x Fem!OC, WIP), also on AO3

Powerless (Jareth x Fem!OC, completed in 2017), also on AO3

Worthy (Loki x Fem!OC, completed in 2015), also on AO3

Hazbin Hotel

Death in Pink (AO3 only) (Alastor x Fem!OC, WIP ✍️)

Concepts for Adelie's character design (regular and demon forms)

Baldur's Gate 3

Unbound (Astarion x Fem!OC, WIP ✍️)

Labyrinth (1986)

Powerless (2017, Jareth x Fem!OC, complete) | AO3

Chapter 1, The Crystal Peach

Chapter 2, Into the Labyrinth

Chapter 3, The Girl Who Forgot Everything

Chapter 4, One of Us

Chapter 5, Everything I've Done

Chapter 6, Falling Down

Chapter 7, Through Dangers Untold

Chapter 8, Dance Magic

Chapter 9, And Hardships Unnumbered

Chapter 10, Reorderment of Time

Chapter 11, No Ordinary Girl

Chapter 12, It's Only Forever

Chapter 13, Not Long At All

Chapter 14, Eyes So Cruel

Chapter 15, I Wish

Chapter 16, The Babe with the Power

Chapter 17, Within You

Chapter 18, New Dreams & Foolish Hearts

Chapter 19, The Right Words

Chapter 20, Between the Stars (END)

Marvelverse (films-specific)

Worthy (2015, Loki x Fem!OC, complete ✅)

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion ancunin #writers on tumblr #loki fluff #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x oc #slow burn #labyrinth fanfic #labyrinth fanfiction #jareth x fem!oc #jareth x oc #astarion x fem!oc #astarion x oc #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fanfic #angst with a happy ending #loki laufeyson #astarion x female oc #astarion fanfic #astarion fluff #bg3 astarion #astarion bg3 #astarion #baldurs gate #soft astarion #spawn astarion #Hazbin Hotel #Alastor x OC

[shefaniquotes]

Used to Love You

I've been thinking about this picture:

and I went back and reread old interviews on Nicole's website and in one of those interviews Gwen said she filmed the 'Used to Love You' video the day before her October 17 MasterCard show in NY:

"It was like Friday night and the show was going to be on Saturday. We had to film this thing, and we had no time and they were like - we were in the dressing room - 'Okay, you’ve got to be done in thirty minutes.' Cos otherwise it goes into like ten grand every five minutes you’re in this room, like you know what it’s like in New York and you’ve got to get out of the dressing room."

So Gwen filmed the video on Friday October 16, 2015.

In this picture with Blake she wears the exact same outfit, has the same hairstyle and her nails are the same as well. But that would mean Blake was with her in NY on October 16. Is that possible?

We know he had a private show in Charleston on October 15. Did he fly from Charleston to NY the next day? Was he there when she filmed the video and did he watch her show the next day?

In the same interview, Gwen said they went to a bar to celebrate after the show:

"Afterward we went to a bar and, like, having champagne and eating pizza." (source: Nicole's transcript)

I wonder if anyone has more info on this. Please let me know your thoughts!

#beginning #2015 #shefani

[foxes-that-run]

2011 Haylor Timeline

Timeline Tag, or years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

We don’t know the whole story

Although Harry and Taylor have never said when they met or started dating, often assumed to have met At the March 2012 Kids Choice Awards, because it was the first time we saw them together. 2 weeks after the awards Justin Bieber said a superstar liked Harry, but didn't name Taylor or say they met at the awards. I have a post about the Kids Choice awards/IKYWT Secret message and Harry's Jacket here.

A source close to Taylor later said to Vanity Fair he had chased her for a year, before the started dating, which was also before he kissed Emily Ostily on the 21 April 2012 and Taylor posted about infidelities to Instagram on 23 April 2012 (which doesn't make sense if they met 24 days earlier).

That would indicate they had met by March 2011. Which is likely as they were in the same city and locations throughout 2011. In 2014 Taylor told Rolling Stone:

"People think they know the whole narrative of my life, I think maybe that line is there to remind people that there are really big things they don’t know about."

As Taylor said to Time Magazine in 2023 and Harry said to Howard Stern in 2019 it's not in their interests for a new relationship to be public before they are solid.  In Harry's words 'it's never benefited me' for a relationship to be public. In 2011 people were sent death threats for having dinner with him. It's no wonder they were hidden for most of that time.  Special thanks to @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for help with this. You are the best.

2010

27 March - Harry styles auditions for xfactor

23 July - One direction formed on X factor.

25 October - Speak Now released

12 December - X factor semi final, 1D third, Syco signed One Direction for £2 million, each boy was only paid an initial £8,000. Maybe signed on the 13th.

2011

4 January - Taylor broke up with JG, All to Well - March. Taylor seen in LA on the 5th January then not again for a month.

25-30 January 1D fly to Los Angeles. The Sun reported they were in US meeting writers and producers to start recording. It's likely they first met here.

5 February - Taylor seen for first time in a month, in LA, wearing the Key necklace in LA. It later appeared in the I knew you were trouble music video (4:45) and was sold as merchandise, there was a key for Fearless too, but it stopped after this.

19 February - 9 April; X-Factor live tour. TS tour break 20 & 21, 20th was X Factor O2 show.

17 - 30 March - Speak Now in Europe.

15 March - one direction Birmingham show, fans see boys leaving on the 16th then have 4 day weekend where he is not seen.

16 March - Taylor's Lover Journal talks about Paris, seeing castles, 4th grade and career anxiety over the Mean video. She talks about visiting having visited Neuschwanstein Castle that later appears in Bejewelled MV.

16 - 19 march Taylor seen in Paris

17 March - Taylor plays speak now in Paris at Zénith de Paris, in park bordered by Canal Saint-Denis, (technically) outside Saint-Denis.  Holy ground's secret message is “when you came to the show in SD” later the film clips for Begin Again, EHC, Falling and LOT tour images all reference canals in Paris. Taylor plays Soul Sister / Fearless mash-up for the first time that show. Soul Sister was Harry's first X-Factor Audition song. She plays the mash-up on/off for the rest of the tour and on the DVD.

21 March - Taylor in London Recording Studio wearing a rose dress key from IKYWT video. Taylor wore a Rose ring and Rose Dress the day before too.

22 March - Taylor shopping at Portobello Market and photographed at Alice in Wonderland themed store (Wonderland)

23 March - a Wednesday, Taylor wore white dress (Begin again cover) in London, Harry also in London before Nottingham show. Vanity Fair article later says they'd known each other for a year by March 2012.

30 and 31 March - One Direction Tour Break, Speak Now at O2

27 May - November 22 - Speak now in US, arm lyrics start.

6-12 June - 1D in Sweden, likely record What makes you Beautiful.

13-20 June - 1D has a break, Harry unseen, not active on social and reappears in LA on the 20th. Taylor also free 13 - 16 other than the 15th:

15 June - Taylor arm lyrics "“A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs.” – The Temper Trap, Sweet Disposition. Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Exactly one year later Harry got the lyrics from this song tattoo'ed.

17 June - Lover Journal Taylor wrote in her journal on way to Nashville “Something so unexpected and amazing happened recently... I’ve become blissfully happy with my life. Like, actually grateful for every second of the day. I've notice this onset for a while, but it's really hit me in the last week and especially since I wrote those 2 new songs. I'm happy I get to meet so many people on the road who make me feel like my music really matters to them.” One song may be State of Grace.

20-27 June - 1D in LA. Speak now break 23 & 24 June.

20 June Harry reappeared in LA at Britney concert

27 June - Taylor in Teen Vogue with photos like Babe video

2 - 10 July - Speak Now dates rescheduled due to Bronchitis. Taylor in LA and does magazine shoots.

8-15 July - 1D in LA. What makes you beautiful shot at Sycamore Cove Beach in  Malibu 14-15.

24 August - Arm Lyrics “But my heart cried out for you, California.” – Joni Mitchell, California. Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

31 August - Harry wearing paper plane necklace in heat photo shoot (1:55)

6 September - One Direction at GQ Men of the Year Awards 2011 - London. It gets mentioned in a few interviews after.

7 September - Taylor plays Tacoma -arm lyrics: “You are the ever-living ghost of what once was.” – Band of Horses, No One’s Gonna Love You. In her Lover Journal she went to Nashville rather than LA and writes Red on the plane.

10 September - WMYB on Red or Black, Harry is anxious in his solo and his hand shake. Arm lyrics “There was always something that meant more to you than me” - Jessica Andrews, “There’s More To Me Than You”

11 September - What makes you beautiful debut #1. 21st - Up all night

14 September - asked who was most confident with girls LT says "Definitely without a question say Harry, like Harry, no matter how long is known her, or who she is he will go up to her, like if it's a celebrity, like at the GQ Awards, [Niall adds "Like Pixie Lott] he will go up and sing their song and dance. It's like 100% Harold Styles." Harry then changes the conversation to silly names, Louis brings up GQ again and Harry mouths "Stop going' on about it" (9:50).

18 - 30 September - 1D in New York, filmed Gotta be You in Lake Placid NY 29 and SUNY 29 September. Speak now break 18, 21 - 23 September, shows other days. The film clip included scenes on a train, the SBT message is "when you were on the train", she wrote it sometime on a bus. Speak Now dates in Colorado, Utah and Georgia. However, 28 September is possibly an anniversary and in the Four hang out (31-33) Harry said gotta be you was his favourite 1D song of all, which Niall clapped and said “well done Taylor your boyfriends back”. Harry met Emily Ostilly.

4 October - At Bring 1D to me Munich, when asked about ‘Celebrity Dreamgirls’ Louis says "Celebrity dreamgirls um,  yeah like there's a lot of people I suppose that we think is HOT, like... Harry?" the look Zayn, Niall and Liam's expressions, and Louis this is not flirting, he is 'ribbing' Harry for making out with a famous person and sharing his secrets. Harry says his crush is Emma Watson, who the interviewer says has a crush on him,  H blushes and, not willing to let it go, Louis points out a love bite. Arm Lyrics “It’s easy saying nothing when there’s nothing to say” - KT Tunstall, “Fade Like A Shadow”

5 October - Taylor tweets “Leaving Little Rock, headed to New Orleans. Writing a song on a moving bus” in the album video (8:20) Taylor said she wrote sad beautiful tragic on a bus.

17 October - Harry goes to Ed Sheeran concert with Louis at Eleanor's university then not seen till rehearsals 2 weeks later.

19 October - Harry did a 10 min phone interview alone with Grimmy and said he was passing through Birmingham. There are voices in the background at the end.

20 October - Taylor played San Diego. Harry was not seen. He posted "Finally set the correct time on my Microwave..I feel like a new man." on Twitter.

24 October- Harry is coughing in an interview and looks and sounds unwell. At 16:20 the interviewer asks about their break, Harry purses his lips for age thinking then says he is tried when he comes back to work because he spends his break rushing around to see everyone. Zayn looks to Louis who gives a loud “Hmmm” which is a tell of his for knowing more than is said.

30 October - Taylor writes in lover journal she (also) has a chest infection!

2 November - One Direction Tour rehearsals Harry back in London for month

17 November - Louis quoted in media  "Harry's found 'The One' now." and doesn't name Caroline. Harry and Caroline never say more than friends, Eleanor seen with Louis often.

18 November - Up all night released. In listening party says “more than this” is his favorite, it’s a deep one. Harry in London,  has dinner with Caroline Flack. On 27 November on chatty man Harry clarifies there were other people there and again says just friends. Articles and Caroline tweets about death threats for having dinner with Harry. (Like WTF would anyone date him publicly?).

22 November - Taylor posts photo of London shop for preppie rugby menswear (!) and posts a photo to instagram with "Superior Style and Quality Fit" 👀 written on the window. This is a latergram, she had a show in Madison Square Garden. On October 3 Harry had said Rugby shirts look better on girls.

24 November Sugarscope asks if they have an eye on anyone in the US and mention Taylor Swift, all 5 are actually quiet for the first time, Liam’s face changes to serious (0:34), Harry and Zayn look at Louis, maybe because of Oct 4. Niall offers Demi Lovato and all the boys start saying Hollywood in a silly voice. The same interviewer asks about romantic Christmas plans, Louis looks at Harry again, Harry answers truthfully “Christmas at home with family” seems the interviewer and band know what’s not being said, they ask Harry twice

8 December - Caroline and Harry photo, see Caroline post from another blog

13 December - Taylor's birthday party inside her Nashville apartment. posted a photo in a recording studio, so assumed that Begin again was recorded on on her birthday. Taylor not seen again that year other than Snow on the Beach Photos. Harry seen in London on the 13th. One direction in tour rehearsals till tour begins 18 December in England.

15 December - Harry posted that he went skinny dipping, as in no shorts to avoid doubt. Taylor still MIA. Paper Rings vibes.

16 December - it snowed in Liverpool, including the "Snow on the beach" 50 minutes from Harry's house in Holmes Chapel.

I8 December - 1 July - Up all night tour, Europe till us in February

22 December - in 1D you tube the band chose a fan question “from Taylor, if you were a girl who would you date” and Zayn laughs and says Harry.

24 December - One Direction Holiday till 3 January. Taylor MIA.

28 December - Taylor posts three photos from a beach one with her face on the beach "Childhood beach memories revisited" and one with snow on the beach behind her "Nothing quite like a freezing cold, wintery beach." some have assumed this was in New Jersey, but the shadows look like an afternoon on an western coast and there was no snow in NJ, nor Taylor seen near there. It had snowed at the beach in Liverpool which is west.

29 December - Taylor posted a seashell with Safe and Sound Lyrics written (it had just been released) with the caption "Saying goodbye to the shore, writing on a seashell."

30 December - Harry got his drivers licence, on 28 June 2012 on Bert show (11 mins) said “the first thing I did was my …….. someone brought the car to me and I dropped them off at the pub” Harry was in Manchester. Louis posted he was in Paris Disneyland with Eleanor. Apart from the winter/snow on the beach photos Taylor hadn't been seen for a week, she then posted a goodbye and Harry's first drive was to drop someone secret somewhere. 👀 

31 December - Harry goes back to London flat for new years party, in same interview Harry said they spent Christmas at home

3 January - Caroline Break up announcement. Harry later tweets, he 'didn't dump' her, he never said they were more than friends. Caroline also said "95% of what was reported was false". 

Continue to 2012

#haylor #Youtube #haylor timeline #2011

[mariacallous]

PATTAYA, Thailand—The neon-lit red light district screams of sex.

In an apartment near Pattaya’s infamous Walking Street, Auchanaporn Pilasata studies her reflection in the mirror, applies another layer of plum-shade lipstick, and touches up her black eyeliner. In the corner of her mirror are two photographs: one from when she looked like a scrawny 15-year-old boy, and another, post-transition, as the stunning woman she is today.

The 37-year-old, who goes by Anna, has been a transgender sex worker for 17 years. While transitioning, she left a low-paying job in a cosmetics packaging factory on the outskirts of Bangkok to become a cabaret dancer in nearby Pattaya, a beach town with a reputation for wild nightlife. She took a temporary job at a “special” massage parlor to earn some cash. Her very first client propositioned her for sex.

“He said, ‘I give you 3,000 baht [$85]. One hour,’” Anna recalled. “[When] I worked in factory, [I made] 6,000 baht in one month. This is the beginning [of] my story [as a] sex worker.”

Thailand has long been one of the world’s major sex tourism destinations. Estimates of sex work’s contribution to GDP vary widely because the industry operates almost entirely underground. But in 2015, the black market research company Havocscope valued it at $6.4 billion per year—about 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP that year.

Despite earning billions annually, the industry is effectively illegal, controversial among Thais, and highly stigmatized. Now, the debate over sex work is spilling into public forums, with a progressive lawmaker introducing a bill in parliament to legalize it. Its proponents argue that criminalization has deprived sex workers of basic labor rights and protections enjoyed by other workers, making them more vulnerable to health risks, harassment, exploitation, and violence—while making sex work itself no less visible.

Visiting Thailand and not noticing any sex workers? It’s like going to “KFC and you never see fried chicken,” Anna said.

The majority of sex workers in the world are women, and a 2017 projection by the Thai Department of Disease Control conservatively estimated that 129,000 of 144,000 sex workers in the country were female. But it’s men who make the decisions about what they can do with their bodies.

Women held 16 percent of Thailand’s parliamentary seats in 2021, the same figure as 10 years ago. By comparison, women made up 20 percent of Saudi Arabia’s governing assembly and 28 percent of the U.S. Congress that year.

The fight for legalization is an uphill battle. Conservative factions within the country and global anti-trafficking organizations remain strongly opposed to sex work. The U.S. Agency for International Development calls Thailand a “source, transit, and destination country” for trafficking, and opponents of the bill say the sex industry enables widespread abuse of women and children across the country and in neighboring Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Historical reports of sex work existing in Thailand date back to the 1300s. The modern sex industry in Thailand boomed while serving a wave of Chinese immigrants in the early 1900s, Japanese soldiers during World War II, and U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. But many Thais grew resentful of its visibility and notoriety. The country adopted the Suppression of Prostitution Act in 1960, followed by the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, which outlawed almost all of the activities associated with sex work and income earned from it.

The push against prostitution was further bolstered in the 2000s, when the U.S. government, the religious right, and abolitionist feminists came together in an unlikely alliance. Their goal was to eliminate prostitution. The U.S. movement gained traction globally as those forces traveled to campaign against sex work in countries abroad, including Thailand.

Within Thailand, officials often downplay the prevalence of prostitution in order to present a more positive view of the country to the outside world and appease constituents opposed to sex work. After a Jan. 14 inspection, police said they were “satisfied” after finding no “illegal prostitutes” working in Pattaya, much to the amusement of social media commentators.

“Why don’t they ask all the girl [sic] standing all around if they have seen some sexworkers,” one Facebook user posted.

In practice, the revenues from sex work sustain a robust illicit economy and can be an important lifeline for women whose backgrounds range from educated college graduates to poor rural farmers. Many believe that some form of legal recognition, either decriminalization or legalization, would help to reduce violence against sex workers and give them rights and benefits that would help them, particularly during difficult financial times.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and global tourism dried up, around 91 percent of Thai sex workers lost their jobs due to lockdowns, border closures, and social-distancing measures, according to the World Health Organization. As illegal workers, they did not qualify for government relief benefits during the pandemic.

“A lot of [sex workers] could not pay the rent and they had to sleep on the street,” said Supachai Sukthongsa, the Pattaya manager of Service Workers in Group (SWING), a services and support group. “They worked and cleaned up at the bar in exchange for small money and food, just enough to survive day by day.”

The pandemic also reduced access to health care services. Whether they get their business through dating apps, pimps, or on the street, sex workers face numerous risks to their health and safety. The Sex Workers Project, an advocacy organization based in New York, found that sex workers globally face a 45 percent to 75 percent chance of experiencing violence on the job. Transgender women such as Anna face an added layer of danger from clients who turn violent after discovering their identities.

“When I go to the police station,” Anna said, they don’t “help me because [of] my job, because I work illegal work here in Thailand.”

Sex workers frequently accuse Thai police of extorting or ignoring them. Researchers such as Ronald Weitzer, a sociologist and professor with expertise in sex work in Thailand, also accuse police of being heavily involved in sex tourism and profiting off of the industry.

“The authorities, especially the police, have a vested interest in keeping prostitution illegal,” Weitzer said. “They get payoffs.”

Gen. Surachate Hakparn, deputy commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, said he believes legalizing sex work could cut down on such activities.

“I admit that there is corruption going on, but it’s only a fraction of police officers doing that,” he said. “From a law enforcement perspective, if it is legalized, it’s good for the police. We don’t need to keep disciplining our subordinates about corruption. And we can put the resources and time into something else.”

Globally, the legal status of sex work is divided into three broad categories: criminalization, legalization, and decriminalization.

The legalization model regulates the registration, health care, and welfare of sex workers. In contrast, the decriminalization model simply removes penalties for pursuing the activity.

There are also hybrid models, such as the Nordic model in countries such as Sweden and Norway, which blend elements of legalization and decriminalization.

It’s the criminalization model that’s employed by about half the world, including most of the United States. It involves the criminalization of every party: the seller, the buyer, and third parties such as pimps or traffickers.

According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, published by an Australian human rights organization, Thailand is home to about 610,000 human trafficking victims. Although the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says most of these victims are trafficked for manual labor, some women and girls are forced into sex work.

While the U.S. government says the Thai government is doing an increasingly good job fighting against trafficking, hard-line anti-traffickers remain vehemently against legalization.

“It’s consumption with nothing in return,” said Sanphasit Koompraphant, the chairperson of Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking Alliance. “It’s sexual exploitation.”

But the criminalization model most anti-traffickers support has come increasingly under attack from sex work activists.

A growing body of research shows that criminalization forces sex workers to operate under more dangerous conditions, increasing risks of sexually transmitted infections, physical abuse, and exploitation—including by police. Aside from stigmatizing the work, bans also mean that many sex workers will end up with a criminal record if caught soliciting, making it harder for them to get other jobs and pushing them deeper into the sex industry.

Weitzer argues that criminalizing sex work has not succeeded in stopping its proliferation and has strong parallels to the U.S. war on drugs.

“The evidence is clear that it’s a complete failure,” he said.

In June 2022, Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, a progressive parliamentarian with the upstart Move Forward Party, drafted a bill that would establish designated zones for legal sex work. To ensure compliance with its proposed regulations, he said the bill calls for random checks to be carried out to verify licenses, the age of the sex workers, and whether illegal drugs are present.

He said the bill also outlines how the industry will be taxed and specifies locations where it can’t be practiced or advertised, such as near temples and schools.

“It has to [be] away from the children,” Tunyawaj said.

But some sex workers also oppose legalization. Juno Mac, a prominent sex worker and activist, said legalization can create a “two-tiered system” in which wealthier establishments can afford to comply with regulations, while marginalized sex workers operating independently cannot.

Rather than the special regulation and taxation that comes with legalization, Mac prefers decriminalization, which treats sex work like any other work.

Weitzer noted that decriminalization also has limitations, with the lack of regulations allowing existing bad actors—rampant throughout the industry—to continue exploiting workers.

But its supporters say the decriminalization model is more likely to help sex workers better integrate into mainstream society.

“If [we have] legalization, that means that we have the specific law to say this kind of job [is] legal. But we don’t want to have a specific law,” said Surang Janyam, the founder and director of SWING. “If we have specific laws for sex workers, we should have specific laws with every occupation. Decriminalize will [make us] equal as other people.”

Whether through legalization or decriminalization, Weitzer said the odds are stacked against changing the legal status of sex work.

“The majority of legislators are opposed to it, and every time it’s been proposed in the past, I don’t think it’s even gotten out of committee,” Weitzer said.

The last major push was in 2003, when proposed legislation was debated but failed to pass.

Tunyawaj’s June 2022 bill was not reviewed by the board of the parliamentary committee for youth, women, and other vulnerable groups until November 2022. At that point, the committee recommended transferring it to Thailand’s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. The draft bill will be reviewed again in the next term of the government, and Tunyawaj hopes that having the backing of the Ministry will improve its chances. The fate of the bill now rests in the hands the new government, which will be elected in May.

If reelected, Tunyawaj promises to “keep pushing this bill.”

His coalition is growing. Surachate said the main thing missing is political will.

“The government can solve this matter, if they take it seriously,” he said.

Navaon Siradapuvadol contributed reporting to this article.

This story was supported by the United Nations Foundation. 

[i-have-one-braincell]

As someone who hasn't read the Iron Fist comics, at what age is Danny supposed to return? In the show, they're teenagers around 15/16 so if he got another year then 17/18, right? But we've already established that the show's writing can be iffy so I'm curious to know from the official source.

I think there was a Netflix show about him but I'm not a huge fan of real person productions made on comics/books.

Do you have suggestions on where to start reading about Iron fist and the other heroes? I've heard Batman had gone through different writers with different takes - some that are even contradictive of each other - and I don't like it when that happens. And Spider-man? I've been told that the newest aren't as good as the older issues; something about not staying true to his character.

Oooff don’t watch the live action Iron Fist show. I’m begging you.

In the comics, Danny entered K’un L’un when he was 9 years old and won the Iron Fist when he was 19. He was given the offer to eat a plant that would make him immortal and to continue residing in K’un L’un as their weapon but Danny declined and left the city when the next opening have opened to return to New York for revenge. So he returned to New York at age 19.

From the show, I believe he entered K’un L’un when he was about 5 or 6 and left when he was 16 or so.

I recommend reading the Ultimate Spider-Man comics when starting on reading about Peter. He was very well-written in the comics and was an asshole (my fav gender) and we also got Iron Fist in it too but he’s an adult and a daddy and appeared for about 5 issues or so.

For Danny, I say reading the 2014 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon since it’s a more edgy and angsty take on the character and is pretty badass. 2016 Power Man and Iron Fist is a really wholesome comic series of Danny and Luke getting back together again after stopping Heroes For Hire now that Luke is a family man. Both of them are pretty goofy and quite the opposite of how they’re protrayed in the usm.

For Ava, she appears in the Avengers Academy comics but we don’t much of her and doesn’t appear until in the middle of the comic. She is put more on focus in the Mighty Avengers about her control of the amulet and seeking revenge (and also works with Luke Cage and Danny).

Sam would be in his 2013 Nova comics. He’s given more depth and character in his comics than in the show and is not much of an asshole in the comics😭😭.

I’m not entirely big on comics but those are the comics that I read to understand the characters more when writing my Call You Mine fic. I’m not a big fan of the current Spider-Man comics in the main 616 universe since Peter would be written so badly and kept torturing my man😭😭 (I mean I do too but there’s a limit💀). As you said, there’s many writers who writes a single character and would have very different views on the character of how they’re supposed to behave, they can’t stay consistent which is the biggest flaw in current Spider-Man.

Ps. Surprisingly the usm show have their own comic issues as well that I discovered like 2 years ago💀😭. It gives a bit more personality in the characters and Danny is a bit of a doofus in those comics (a good doofus🤭). Its called the 2015 Ultimate Spider-Man (Infinite Comics) if yall want to check it out.

#hope I helped in starting your journey with reading of the gang #im not a big comic book reader myself but these helps me in writing #asks #comics are confusing #so many things to read just to understand a comic issue #its annoying but I dont really care about that and just read it anyway #mcu be going the comic book route in doing that💀

[todaysdocument]

“No man who has studied the history of [the poll tax] by Virginia can honestly deny that its basic purpose was to curtail the vote of our Negro citizens . . . “ - Augustus C. Johnson to the House Judiciary Committee, 5/16/1962. 

File Unit: Papers Accompanying Specific Bills and Resolutions of the Committee on the Judiciary from the 87th Congress, 1961 - 1962

Series: Papers Accompanying Specific Bills and Resolutions, 1903 - 1972

Record Group 233: Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2015

Transcription:

WESTERN UNION

                                       TELEGRAM

LLB042 WA 050

(LL) NL PD WASHINGTON DC 15                         1962 MAY 16 AM 3 50

HON EMANUEL CELLER

CHAIRMAN JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHDC

THE PEOPLE OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WANT THE POLL TAX ABOLISHED

AS A QUALIFICATION FOR VOTING. WE WOULD PREFER THAT THIS BE

DONE BY OUR OWN STATE GOVERNMENT BUT IF THE LEADERS OF THE

ORGANIZATION THAT DOMINATES THE COMMONWEALTH REFUSE TO REDRESS

OUR GRIEVANCES THEY CANNOT COMPLAIN IF WE APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE

OF THE NATION TO DO IT BY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

THE ARGUMENT HAS BEEN ADVANCED THAT THE POLL TAX IS AN

IMPORTANT SOURCE OF INCOME TO THE COMMONWEALTH. IF THIS IS

TRUE, WHY THEN IS IT NOT MADE COMPULSORY AS ARE OUR OTHER TAXES?

THEN TWICE AS MUCH WOULD BE COLLECTED FROM THIS SOURCE AS IS

COLLECTED NOW I BELIVE THIS TO BE A SPECIOUS ARGUMENT

NO MAN WHO HAS STUDIED THE HISTORY OF THE ADOPTION OF

[page 2]

WESTERN UNION

                       TELEGRAM

A050 SHEET 2

THIS TAX BY VIRGINIA CAN HONESTLY DENY THAT ITS BASIC PURPOSE

WAS TO CURTAIL THE VOTE OF OUR NEGRO CITIZENS I URGE THAT THE

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE REPORT OUT THE ANTI-POLL TAX RESOLUTION

AGUSTUS C JOHNSON CANDIDATE FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION 10TH

DISTRICT VIRGINIA.

#archivesgov #May 16 #1962 #1960s #Augustus C. Johnson #House of Representatives #right to petition the government for a redress of grievances #poll tax #voting #voting rights #African American history #Black history #Virginia

[hugintheraven]

So, Rolling Stone released a list of the "50 Most Inspirational LGBTQ Songs of All Time". And even accounting for the source, it's really bad. Like, "if someone posted this as their Pride playlist they're coming out as straight" levels of bad. I'm not a music person and I'm in awe of it.

The example songs from their tweet linking to it:

#48 Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger" #40 Ariana Grande f/ Zedd, "Break Free" #22 Beyoncé, "Break My Soul" #14 Mariah Carey, "Hero" #3 Katy Perry, "Firework"

Full list below the cut in case you want to avoid giving them clicks but still want to melt your brain.

50 Calum Scott 'Rise (Sam Feldt Remix)' 2022

49 Ethel Cain 'American Teenager' 2022

48 Kelly Clarkson 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' 2011

47 Martha Wash 'Carry On' 1993

46 Christine and the Queens 'Tilted' 2015

45 Years and Years 'Shine' 2015

44 Brothers Osborne 'Younger Me' 2022

43 Guy Sebastian 'Standing With You' 2021

42 Goldford 'Walk With Me' 2020

41 Mika 'Happy Ending' 2007

40 Ariana Grande feat. Zedd 'Break Free' 2014

39 Ellie Goulding 'Anything Could Happen' 2013

38 Bronski Beat 'Smalltown Boy' 1984

37 Britney Spears 'Stronger' 2000

36 Vincint 'Be Me' 2021

35 Kacey Musgraves 'Rainbow' 2019

34 Janet Jackson 'Together Again' 1997

33 Kylie Minogue 'All the Lovers' 2010

32 Sam Smith feat. Demi Lovato 'I'm Ready' 2020

31 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert 'Same Love' 2012

30 Betty Who 'Somebody Loves You' 2013

29 Hayley Kiyoko 'Girls Like Girls' 2015

28 Sia 'Bird Set Free' 2015

27 Jessie J 'Who You Are' 2011

26 Lizzo 'Special' 2022

25 Miley Cyrus 'The Climb' 2009

24 Kesha 'We R Who We R' 2010

23 Taylor Swift 'You Need to Calm Down' 2019

22 Beyoncé 'Break My Soul' 2022

21 Alaska y Dinarama 'A Quien le Importa' 1986

20 Queen 'I Want to Break Free' 1984

19 Stephanie Mills 'Never Knew a Love Like This Before' 1980

18 Elton John 'I'm Still Standing' 1983

17 Keala Settle 'This Is Me' 2018

16 Donna Summer 'I Feel Love' 1976

15 Brandi Carlile 'The Joke' 2018

14 Mariah Carey 'Hero' 1993

13 David Bowie 'Heroes' 1977

12 Diana Ross 'I'm Coming Out' 1980

11 Madonna 'Express Yourself' 1989

10 Gloria Gaynor 'I Will Survive' 1978

9 George Michael 'Freedom' 1990

8 Sara Bareilles 'Brave' 2013

7 Cyndi Lauper 'True Colors' 1986

6 Muna 'I Know a Place' 2017

5 Rina Sawayama 'Chosen Family' 2021

4 Kacey Musgraves 'Follow Your Arrow' 2012

3 Katy Perry 'Firework' 2010

2 Christina Aguilera 'Beautiful' 2002

1 Lady Gaga 'Born This Way' 2012

#music #Rolling Stone #lgbtq

[limowlee7389]

Currently Watching: July.

KOREAN.

+ Revenant (2023)(23 Jun-) ~ Airing. ★★★★★

I LOVE this show! This is easily the best thing I'm watching right now. Kim Tae Ri never disappoints. I am loving the dark tones that this drama has offered for its opening week.

+ King of the Land (2023)(17 Jun-) ~ Airing. ★★★☆☆

This is the fun watch of the season. It feels more like a 2000s drama. This feels like a nostalgia trip for me. It can come off as super cliche, but the banter between the two leads is fun. Lee JunHo is always a joy to watch. I am relieved to see that Im Yoo Ah seems to be keeping up with him.

+ See You in My 19th Life (2023)(17 Jun) ~ Airing. ★★★☆☆

This may not be great drama writing, but I'm finding it very watchable. My primary gripe is that the leads are a bit mismatched. Shin Hye Sun can run circles around Ahn Bo Hyun when it comes to acting chops. She just brings so much energy to her characters. Ahn Bo Hyun is more just to stand there and look depressed and a bit damaged. I do enjoy the setup and watching what aspects of Ban Ji Eum's 19 lives have made it into the present day.

JAPANESE.

+ Rikon Shiyou Yo (2023)(22 Jun-) ~ Airing. ★★★★☆

This show is shaping up to be everything I wanted in a new KudoKan project. I love our leads as dislikeable as they are. It was so funny to me how they could go from arguing one moment to hosting Shoji Family Relaxing Kitchen the next. The timing is so precise. My hope for this show is that our leads are actually successful in getting their divorce.

ANIME.

+ Hell’s Paradise:  Jigokuraku (2023)(3 Apr-1 Jul) ~ Airing. ★★☆☆☆

I wanted to love this, but I much prefer the source material. I still feel that the opening is GOLD, but overall this adaption feels like a product of Mappa's underinvestment.

+ Insomniacs after School (2023)(15 Apr-3 Jul) ~ Airing. ★★★☆☆

This show has so much charm, but it's sometimes too sleepy for me.

Plan to Watch.

D.P. 2 (2023)(28 Jul-)

Completed.

The Good Bad Mother (2023)(26 Apr-8 Jun)(2/10) ~

Mare (2015)(8 Jan-12 Jun)(7/10)

One Day Off (2023)(12 Jun-13 Jun)(6/10) 

Suga:  Road to D-Day (2023)(19 Jun)(6/10)

Other Things I Watched.

Heartbreak High (2022)(3 Jun)(8/10) ♥ 

The Lost City (2022)(9 Jun)(5/10)

Never Have I Ever (2023)(s4)(8 Jun-10 Jun)(5/10)

Human Resources (2023)(s2)(10 Jun-11 Jun)(5/10)

BTS:  PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE - LA (2022)(14 Jun)(6/10)

Taylor Swift:  Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)(17 Jun)(7/10)

Olivia Rodrigo:  Sour Prom (2021)(17 Jun)(8/10)

Homecoming:  A Film by Beyoncé (2019)(18 Jun)(8/10) ♥ 

ariana grande:  excuse me, i love you (2020)(19 Jun)(7/10)

Happier than Ever:  A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021)(19 Jun)(5/10)

Folklore:  The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)(19 Jun)(8/10)

Skip and Loafer (2023)(15 Apr-20 Jun)(10/10) ♥ ~

Komi Can't Communicate (2022)(c1)(31 Oct 22-21 Jun 23)(8/10) ♥ 

Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru (2023)(1 Apr-24 Jun)(6/10) ~

Tengoku Daimakyou (2023)(15 Apr-24 Jun)(7/10) ~ 

Helluva Boss (2020)(s1)(16 Jun 22-24 Jun 23)(7/10) ~

Cunk on Earth (2022)(26 Jun-27 Jun)(7/10)

Cunk on Britain (2018)(27 Jun)(7/10)

Oshi no Ko (2023)(18 Apr-28 Jun)(5/10) ~ 

Normal People (2020)(20 Jun-30 Jun)(10/10) ♥

#drama status #currently watching #revenant #see you in my 19th life #king the land #rikon shiyou yo

[orphancookie69]

DC Universe: In Order!

Have you ever watched an animated Constatine? He is way cooler in animation and comic books...Anyways. I stumbled upon that movie first with my partner, and he told me that there is an order to the DC Universe and this movie was like way on the bottom of the list. We decided to watch it in order, but the order is not self explanatory. 

This is for your reference (and source): https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/dc-animated-movies-in-order/

Order Up: 

1) Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

We know these characters all have their own stories, but this is the point that they come together into their own grouping in this universe. This movie resets all the rules you think you know. 

2) Justice League: War (2014)

This is an important point they get back to later in the storyline. It helps to bring and keep these guys together. 

3) Son of Batman (2014)

This gets more into Batman’s story, but remember everything connects and leads to other things. 

4) Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)

This is a call to action from the team that shows the underwater world but also adds to the team. 

5) Batman vs Robin (2015)

This explores the conflict that creates the super hero icons true selves, but we all have daddy issues. 

6) Batman: Bad Blood (2016)

This is pretty neat for seeing how big the Bat Family actually gets. 

7) Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)

This introduces the Teen Titans into universe and helps to (eventually) establish a younger and older set of heroes. 

8) Justice League: Dark (2017)

This is where you get more in the mix, Constatine’s group is pretty cool and works well with a group of supers. 

9) Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)

A fun little installment from our youthful heroes. 

10) Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)

This universe is a little interesting as even vilians get to switch sides and join the party. It’s not a party until they show up...right?

11) The Death of Superman (2018)

This is a pretty iconic point in comics and animation both, it has even been said that Superman is being compared to Jesus.

12) Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

Really any of these that have Constatine are awesome. 

13) Reign of the Supermen (2019)

With the death of one superman, you get many revivals. Not unlike Jesus right? Sorry not sorry. 

14) Batman: Hush (2019)

Between Batman’s day job, child, night time hobby, and his new friends...its not like he needs more to do does he? 

15) Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019)

Some people get no back story movies, some get a lot. This is Wonder Woman’s back story. 

16) Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

The year starts to catch up with us now. This name, if you watched the movies in order, is mentioned more in the beginning. Its the big bads name and his effect on earth. 

17) DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery (2022)

While I do think this is in two collections, one in this set of films and two in the DC showcase collection, this picks up where no16 left off. 

I loved the animation, the old school lore, the comic book origins. A proper mix of characters. No 16 was supposed to be the last but they are adding to it. Which is awesome. I personally prefer this to MCU but I wonder if this wasn’t inspired by DCU? Have you seen any of these? Did you watch them in order because of this post? 

#rant #hbo max #now watching #dc #nerd #geek #dc universe #dc showcase constantine house of mystery #justice league dark: apokolips war #Wonder Woman: Bloodlines #Batman: Hush #Reign of the Supermen #Constantine: City of Demons #The Death of Superman #suicide squad: hell to pay #Teen Titans: The Judas Contract #Justice League: Dark #Justice League vs. Teen Titans #Batman: Bad Blood #Batman vs Robin #Justice League: Throne of Atlantis #Son of Batman #Justice League: War #Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox #order up

[nothingunrealistic]

Todd Krakow

Founder of TKC, Todd Krakow Capital

Todd Krakow is an American Hedge Fund Manager. He is the founder of TKC, Todd Krakow Capital, a Manhattan hedge fund.

Born: July 14, 1976, Hermosa Beach, Ca Net Worth: 3.2 Billions (2016) Education: MBA from the Wharton School

Hedge Fund Rising Stars: Todd Krakow https://123.223.54.23/en/Todd_Krakow/article/…/profile.htm Todd Krakow is an American Hedge Fund Manager. He is the founder of TKC, Todd Krakow Capital, a Manhattan hedge fund. Krakow earned an MBA from the Wharton School. He went on to head the Asia Office Manufacturers…

Todd Krakow’s TKC Capital Discloses Biotech Position https://Todd_Krakow/biotech/article/…/E439894727929442.htm Todd Krakow Capital’s strong positions in the biotech sector has many of his competitors betting against him, but TKC remains bullish…

Krakow Warns: Hedge Funds Falling to Earth https://Krakow_number/fortune/index/…/Todd_Krakow.htm Head of the wildly successful Todd Krakow Capital, it isn’t surprising that billionaire Todd Krakow has a reason to smile. What is surprising is how frequently he does so while discussing constant criticism from his competitors…

Krakow Sees Opportunities in China https://FinancialJournalNewspaper/China/TFJ/…/article/…/Todd_Krakow.htm Todd Krakow bolstered his long position in the Chinese tech market despite constant onslaught from his competitors…

Todd Krakow’s TKC pursues Bio-Tech https://FinancialJournalNewspaper/…/Krakow/…/bio_tech.htm Insider reports point to billionaire hedge fund manager, Todd Krakow, taking increasingly long positions in the “boom-or-bust” high tech market.

Krakow Talks Tech Plays https://FinancialJournalNewspaper/…/Krakow/…/tech_play.htm Todd Krakow sat down with multiple Wall Street publications to discuss his future investments in technology…

Krakow’s Keys to Success https://23.43.343.22./article…/Todd_Krakow/…/keys_to_success.htm “A cup of Earl Gray first thing in the morning,” Todd Krakow said, beginning what would prove to be a fruitful discussion. “I know that’s not typical financial advice, but finding a routine that centers you at the beginning of each day is absolutely key.”

mediaPresence_krakow_170312_02

Krakow Media Presence

MONTH ENDING | CHINA | CHINA UNDERVALUED | WEARABLE TECH | MANUFACTURING | HEDGE FUND MALFEASANCE | TECHNOLOGY | EUROPE | SEC

10/1/2015 |  0 |  0 |  0 |  0 |  0 |  5 |  3 |  5 11/1/2015 |  1 |  2 |  3 |  2 |  3 |  6 |  4 |  6 12/1/2015 |  2 |  2 |  4 |  3 |  4 |  8 |  3 |  5  1/1/2016 |  4 |  3 |  5 |  5 |  4 |  9 |  5 |  4  2/1/2016 |  8 | 10 | 15 |  6 |  5 | 10 |  4 |  7  3/1/2016 | 12 | 14 | 18 |  8 |  6 | 11 |  4 |  5  4/1/2016 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 10 |  7 | 11 |  4 |  7  5/1/2016 | 18 | 24 | 28 | 11 |  7 | 13 |  4 |  8  6/1/2016 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 13 |  8 | 14 |  4 |  9  7/1/2016 | 27 | 29 | 35 | 13 | 10 | 15 |  5 | 10  8/1/2016 | 31 |    |    | 15 |    |    |    |     9/1/2016 |    |    |    | 16 |    |    |  8 |    10/1/2016 |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    11/1/2016 |    |    |    |    | 67 | 78 |    |    12/1/2016 |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     1/1/2017 |    | 67 |    | 90 |    |    |    |     2/1/2016 |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     3/1/2017 |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     4/1/2017 |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |   

THE FINANCIAL JOURNAL

SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST DISCREPANCIES IN CHINESE MANUFACTURING OUTPUT

BY JOYCE CRANDALL

Officials out of Guangdong Province, China’s key manufacturing region, pledge to investigate data reports from multiple sectors after the release of satellite images that allege discrepancies in factory site outputs.

The satellite images, culled from AR Metrics by an anonymous source, supposedly show drastic differences between the reported production numbers of multiple tech company’s Guangdong facilities and the actual yield. If this is true, the economic data gathered from China’s sites in the area would, in fact, mean these numbers would be much lower than previously stated.

These images caused several officials to call for a top to bottom investigation of fraudulent reporting in other sections as well, including household income, GDP, and revenue. Growth figures, which plummeted this year, could have been propped up by this misreporting, culminating in the mysterious and precipitous drop in figures.

Similar reports of data discrepancy has been especially highlighted in the Guangdong region, where multiple tech production sites captured by these satellites report revenues to the county of 865 million yuan (around $130 million) in 2015, around 130% more than the actual numbers. Guangdong’s GDP rise two years ago, reported at

#tumblr really did not want me to add those fake links lol #billions #2x02 #todd krakow #and whoever wrote these really was dead set on this episode taking place in 2017. sorry but it's just not realistic #especially that file name suggesting it's march 2017 trying to convince us taylor couldn't have been around during season 1 #it will not work! not after the chronology established in dialogue! #also shoutout to the Chat text option for letting me do monospaced font with little effort. great for reproducing that table

[magz]

Some of BadEmpanada's videos on genocide are rather good jumping off points to deal with these very charged discussions on genocide, racial discrimination, assimilation, etc. in leftist spaces, especially when the topic of propaganda comes up as well.

(I edited the cited source links in the videos' descriptions so they work now / are more accessible / books & research papers can be read beyond the title name.) (If a sci-hub link doesn't work anymore in the future, search a new sci-hub mirror site that still works, and paste the provided DOI number into the site's search bar.)

Video Link: "The Problem With Genocide" - https://youtu.be/m316DcYhb8w "What happens when you let the criminals define the crime?" Cited Sources: [1] Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, Raphael Lemkin. [Archive: https://archive.org/stream/AxisRuleInOccupiedEuropeRaphaelLemkin/Axis_rule_in_occupied_Europe_Raphael_Lemkin_djvu.txt] [2] The Return of Cultural Genocide?, Leora Bilsky and Rachel Klagsbrun. [Sci-Hub: (Abstract Paper) https://sci-hub.wf/10.1093/ejil/chy025 | doi:10.1093/ejil/chy025 ] [3] Australia: A Continuing Genocide?, Damien Short. [ Sci-Hub: https://sci-hub.wf/10.1080/14623528.2010.508647 | doi:10.1080/14623528.2010.508647 ] [4] Totally Unofficial Man: The Autobiography of Raphael Lemkin [Z-Lib EPUB: https://usa1lib.org/book/5702167/962a19 | Z-Lib PDF: https://usa1lib.org/book/3587384/eac076 | Archive: https://archive.org/details/totallyunofficia0000lemk] [5] Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes, William Schabas [Legal.UN: (Outline Summary) https://legal.un.org/avl///pdf/ls/Schabas_outline.pdf | Z-Lib PDF: https://usa1lib.org/book/861314/98af8f | Z-Lib EPUB: https://usa1lib.org/book/854833/e4046e] [6] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46217896 [7] https://bolivia.infoleyes.com/articulo/73871 (in Spanish) [8] http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/arg/ley/etche.html (in Spanish) [9] https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LH_Dossier_2018.pdf (in Spanish)

Video Link: "Cutting Through The BS on Xinjiang: Uyghur Genocide or Vocational Training" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVlOSDWAkSM "A look at what the Chinese government doing in Xinjiang, and why." Cited Sources (including the ones criticized, clips + images used or mentioned): [1] Migration and Inequality in Xinjiang, Anthony Howell & C. Cindy Fan. [Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/es/5426334/Migration_and_Inequality_in_Xinjiang_A_Survey_of_Han_and_Uyghur_Migrants_in_Urumqi | Sci-Hub: https://sci-hub.wf/10.2747/1539-7216.52.1.119 | doi:10.2747/1539-7216.52.1.119] [2] https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/counter-terrorism-law-2015/ [3] https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/xinjiang-uyghur-autonomous-region-regulation-on-de-extremification/ [4] https://web.archive.org/web/20210407183711/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/16/c_137535821.htm?from=groupmessage [5] https://web.archive.org/web/20191216040455/http:/www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/moe_357/jyzt_2016nztzl/ztzl_xyncs/ztzl_xy_dxjy/201801/W020180109353888301306.pdf (in Chinese) [6] https://archive.is/QZ2eM#selection-139.47-139.95 (in Chinese) [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVlOSDWAkSM [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb-MNi8E-TA [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmId2ZP3h0c [10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH4gdxWEFI4 [11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVlOSDWAkSM [12] https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/08/512399/uyghurs-freely-join-re-education-camps [13] Malaysia’s 13th General Election: Political Partisanship in the Mainstream Print Media, Mohd Azizuddin & Mohd Sani. [Sci-Hub: https://sci-hub.wf/10.1177/1326365x14539186 | doi:10.1177/1326365x14539186 ] [14] https://www.businessinsider.com/uighur-china-father-mamutjan-abdurehim-wife-detained-ordeal-2020-7 [15] https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/03/24/china-xinjiang-children-culver-pkg-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn [16] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-23/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDUzMDQy/index.html [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM6nqRgSOaw [18] https://twitter.com/SMusapir/status/1232116450875170816 / https://web.archive.org/web/20201213222041/https://twitter.com/smusapir/status/1232116450875170816 [19] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55269384 [20] https://www.shahit.biz/eng/#home [21] https://shahit.biz/eng/#1240 [22] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBQSFr5HNo9cZQLLoL8v9tA [23] https://web.archive.org/web/20210513183432/https://uyghuraid.org/pages/who-we-are [24] https://www.nchrd.org/2018/08/china-massive-numbers-of-uyghurs-other-ethnic-minorities-forced-into-re-education-programs/ [25] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3101986/china-claims-vocational-training-given-nearly-13-million-people [26] https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/detention/guantanamo-numbers [27] https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1172759.shtml [28] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/09/chinas-treatment-of-uighurs-breaches-un-genocide-convention-finds-landmark-report [29] https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/KAZ/Year/2017/TradeFlow/EXPIMP/Partner/all#:~:text=In%202017,%20Kazakhstan%20major%20trading,Germany,%20United%20States%20and%20Italy [30] https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-german-data-diver-who-exposed-chinas-muslim-crackdown-11558431005 [31] https://archive.is/kY4a7#selection-767.0-767.129 (in Chinese) [32] https://web.archive.org/web/20200507161938/https://ciwe.nankai.edu.cn/2019/1223/c18571a259225/page.htm / as-of-yet uncontested translation featured here: https://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Coercive-Labor-and-Forced-Displacement-in-Xinjiangs-Cross-Regional-Labor-Transfers-A-Process-Oriented-Evaluation.pdf?x98189 [33] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56250915

#tldr; cultural genocide and racial/ethnic profiling are not good things. using ppl as just a bullet point for your ideology is weird. #genocide #bad empanada #you can reblog it if you want to archive it so you can read / watch through it #but I'm not really going to argue / respond to anyone #long post #sij #xenophobia #racism #holocaust mention #video post #o post #Youtube #in like... argumentative way

[usafphantom2]

Argentine Air Force postpones the definition of its fighter to next year

Diego Alves By Diego Alves 11/19/2022 - 10:49 am in Military

According to the Military Zone portal, an Argentine Air Force (FAA) commission is in Denmark to carry out an inspection of the F-16 A/B MLU fighters offered by the Nordic country.

With this visit, the Argentine Air Force would culminate in the process of technical evaluations in the respective countries of origin of the planes that continue in the process of selecting the future supersonic fighter. So far the Chinese proposals with the JF-17 Thunder, from India, with HAL Tejas, and the already mentioned F-16 from Denmark.

Although it has received proposals from several manufacturers, the Argentine government had already signaled its preference for the JF-17.

Regarding HAL Tejas, last week, the Chief of the Joint Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Juan Martin Paleo, met with Ambassador of India Dinesh Bhatia as part of a follow-up conference after his recent trip to India, during which a visit was made to the premises of the company Hindustian Aeronautic Limited (HAL), where interest in Indian hunting was

As part of the coverage of the first joint multi-domain exercise of Cyberdefense and Electronic Warfare for the protection of critical infrastructures "Beato Carlo Acutis", the Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana, was interviewed about news about the future Argentine fighter.

HAL Tejas is a supersonic fighter developed by India to replace the "old" Indian MiG-21 fighters.

Asked if by the end of the year any definition is foreseen regarding the choice of the model, Taiana said that "I do not know if by the end of the year, I think that by the end of the year we will have received all the offers that were made, and we will analyze all of them".

He also stated that "This is a decision that must take into account not only the technical aspects and the quality of the aircraft's armament systems, but also has to take into account issues that have to do with financing, with delivery times. These are political decisions that will be taken at the highest level by the President of the Republic”.

An F-16 of the Danish Royal Air Force approaches a U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender to refuel in southwest Asia in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, August 30, 2015. (Photo USAF, Sergeant Sandra Welch)

These statements imply a postponement in the definition of the aircraft chosen by the Ministry of Defense, which, according to a statement by the Chief of Staff of the Argentine Air Force, Brigadier General Xavier Isaac, was the intention of the force to complete the selection process before the end of the year. At the time, it was also announced that the MiG-35 was discarded “due to the international context and the conditions of a variant that was not accepted in the international market”.

SOURCE: Military Zone

Tags: Military AviationFAA - Fuerza Aerea Argentina/Força Aérea ArgentinaHAL TejasJF-17 ThunderLockheed Martin F-16

Diego Alves

Diego Alves

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France, Germany and Spain agree to continue with the development of the FCAS warplane

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/18/2022 - 21:07 in Military

France, Germany and Spain have reached an agreement on the beginning of the next phase of development of a new jet fighter called FCAS, the largest defense project in Europe with an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros.

The three countries and their respective industries closed an agreement, said a defense source who spoke on condition of anonymity and gave no details.

A French authority also confirmed that industries, seen as the main obstacles on the way to an agreement recently, have reached an agreement to move on to the next phase of the warplane project.

The German government said that negotiations on the next phase are progressing.

“We have nothing new to report, but we are on the right track,” a Ministry of Defense spokesman told reporters in Berlin.

“... As soon as there is an agreement, we will communicate it,” he added.

Asked if there will be an announcement at a meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne next Friday, Scholz's spokesman said: “We are very confident that we will be able to answer your question on Friday.”

Previously, sources had said that the next phase of development of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) should cost about 3.5 billion euros (US$ 3.63 billion), to be divided equally by the three countries.

The French Dassault, Airbus and Indra - the last two representing Germany and Spain, respectively - are involved in the scheme to start replacing the French Rafale and the German and Spanish Eurofighters from 2040.

French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel first announced the plans in July 2017 for the FCAS, which will include a jet fighter and a variety of associated weapons, including drones.

Lately, the project - originally aimed at unifying Europeans after the migration crisis and the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union - has been a source of tension between the two countries.

Last month, Macron canceled a joint Franco-German ministerial meeting due to disagreements with Berlin on a wide range of issues, including defense and energy projects.

Both sides fought for more than a year to reach an agreement on the next stage of development of the FCAS, although the French and German governments broadly agreed with the project.

Some sources saw the blame on Dassault, since the company refused to give in in a long dispute over intellectual property rights.

Other sources blamed Airbus for pushing for greater participation in the project led by Dassault, insisting that it should have "every equal" with the French company.

Source: Reuters

Tags: airbusMilitary AviationDassault AviationFCAS - Future Combat Air System/Future Air Combat SystemSCAF

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[sufjanlive]

2015-10-27 Paramount Theater, Denver, CO [Audio]

Sufjan Stevens 27 October, 2015 Paramount Theater, Denver, CO USA

Source: Nevaton MCE400 > Naiant Tinybox > Sony M10 (@24/48) Conversion: Wavelab 6 (Adjust levels between clapping and music > Waves Q10 Paragraphic EQ > Waves L3 Multimaximizer) > CD Wave (tracking) > r8brain (convert to 16/44.1) > Traders Little Helper (FLAC level 8) > foobar2000 (tagging) Taper: Unknown Quality: B+

Taper's notes:

Some clipping during Blue Bucket of Gold as the end was roughly 15db louder than the rest of the show. I was located under the balcony so when it gets louder it sounds slightly muddy.

I normally wouldn't thank a crowd in the info file, but THANK YOU! This was probably the most well behaved crowd I have ever encountered an the recording reflects that. Dead silence during the songs...but honestly though...if you could even utter a word during this performance something is wrong with you. It's sort of hard to talk when your jaw is on the ground. :D

1. Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou) 2. Death With Dignity 3. Should Have Known Better 4. Drawn to the Blood 5. Eugene 6. John My Beloved 7. The Only Thing 8. Fourth of July 9. No Shade In The Shadow of the Cross 10. Carrie & Lowell 11. All of Me Wants All Of You 12. The Owl And The Tanager 13. Vesuvius 14. I Want to Be Well 15. Blue Bucket of Gold 16. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL 17. Futile Devices 18. To Be Alone With You 19. Chicago Download: FLAC / v0 MP3

#Sufjan Stevens #C&L Tour #Bootleg #Lossless #Audio #AUD #B Plus Quality #2015