House for sale des plaines il
Noblesse Oblige
2022.01.16 23:45 HBNTrader Noblesse Oblige
A subreddit for the discussion of the world aristocracy and its values, which includes the Nobility and the Patricians of the Old World and the "Old Money" families of the New World.
2023.03.21 21:24 Petrosinella94 What work/renovation/DIY have you done to your house that you regret?
Partner and I brought a house three years ago and have been slowly renovating it. I don’t think we’ve done anything stupid yet but when browsing sale homes for inspiration I’m always amazed at the weird decor choices people choose*.
Recent one is Tudor style beams, doors and fire place in a 1980’s small detached house. Or pink everything - a house we saw when viewing was called Pink Palace and everything was a shade of pink. They apparently struggled to sell it as people didn’t want to buy a house which needed immediate decorating.
*not here to criticise.
submitted by Petrosinella94 to AskUK [link] [comments]
Recent one is Tudor style beams, doors and fire place in a 1980’s small detached house. Or pink everything - a house we saw when viewing was called Pink Palace and everything was a shade of pink. They apparently struggled to sell it as people didn’t want to buy a house which needed immediate decorating.
*not here to criticise.
2023.03.21 21:23 throwawaylurker012 Everything Everywhere All At Once: The Citadel Big 3 and how Citadel’s sphere of influence has its fingers stuck not just in the stock market, but the municipal/bond market and sovereign debt/sovereign debt credit default swaps to dangerous degree
 | TL;DR: Citadel doesn't just have a major outsized influence in the US stock market via its market making firm/hedge fund, but also a major indirect influence via Headlands (biggest municipal bond trading firm made of 3 ex-Citadel employees), and direct influence on sovereign debt (can decide when sovereign credit default swaps pay out) with its seat on the CDDC (Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee). submitted by throwawaylurker012 to Superstonk [link] [comments] Hi y’all. Been some while since have been able to post regularly here, so I’m returning alongside my recent post on FHLB with a bit of a “DD". Partial rush job, so all errors are mine and mine alone (obviously) 0. Sphere of InfluenceOver the past 84 years (/s), you lovely apes at Superstonk have been able to fish out many of the finer points of corruption crystallized into pure, unadulterated financial terrorism and financial terrorist-level crime undertaken by Steve Cohen (Point 72), Jeff Yass (Susquehanna), Doug Cifu & Vincent Viola (Virtu), as well as Wolverine Trading, Jane Street, TwoSigma, and more. But, of course, much of it has centered on our Mayo-artist-in-residence and his firm, that of none other but Ken Griffin and Citadel. One of the biggest finds that has come to light has been the complete and utter bullshit of having (1) a hedge fund and (2) owning a market making firm that most DEFINITELY does not use that non-public information to its benefit? I mean, it would be easy for us to check except that we need 5 swipes to even access that level of inner sanctum at Citadel, which–per DLauer’s words–is more than the fucking Pentagon. But despite Ken Griffin’s reach into every aspect of the most influential stock market in the world, that is not his ONLY level of influence. For we, dear apes, can step back and revisit this idea that Citadel’s power duo (its market making firm and hedge fund) is more like a single part of a Big 3. 1. Meet the Big 3Citadel’s sphere of influence includes not JUST (1) the stock market business, but directly or indirectly, the (2) U.S. municipal and bond markets, plus (3) the sovereign debt/sovereign debt credit default swap markets. Yes, you heard that right. Citadel not only has some sufficient level of influence to tank your favorite stock–and, in turn–retirement fund, but can also effectively drive your city into the fucking ground, or even your country. I’ve written about each of these at length, and wanted to revisit some pieces in the wake of our recent dick twitchings of the coming financial crash. 2. Meet the Municipal Bond MarketCitadel has an indirect grip tickling the taint of the municipal bond market, believe it or not. I first wrote about the municipal bond market here (“Headlands: How ex-Mayo mercenaries copy pasted Citadel’s model in the muni bond market”): https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/sy6ubj/headlands_how_exmayo_mercenaries_copy_pasted/. For those unfamiliar with municipal bonds, I’ll reiterate what they are and why many push them as a safe investment in most times (with some caution being thrown intermittently due to the collapse of regional banks like FRC and Silicon Valley Bank): https://preview.redd.it/e8bqxn3wk5pa1.png?width=1326&format=png&auto=webp&s=cc1e3c44bced207ca23105ae48110eb7298441f1 “Municipal bonds (or "munis" for short) help towns/cities raise money for projects like building schools, parks, and fixing highways. Many retail investors--admittedly, on the wealthier side--invest in munis for tax incentives like not paying federal tax on bond returns. In certain cases, certain muni buys also mean no state taxes are paid…Just like what had happened to stocks, the old-school market for buying and selling muni bonds is going electronic. This is mainly done through an ATS, or "alternative trading system" known also as a dark pool. This speeds up the process of buying and selling munis, making it closer to a "house auction".In the wake of the SVB (Silicon Valley Bank), there have already been rumblings of its effect on the municipal bond market (Bloomberg “Bank Woes Create Bond Bargain in Obscure Corner of Muni Market”): “Investor concerns over the crises within the financial industry are bleeding into a corner of the $4 trillion municipal-bond market where major investment banks guarantee energy for public utilities…. 3. San Jose, Revisited That part about “large institutional banks” acting as facilitators of the transactions is what we saw in part in this post by [redacted]. https://preview.redd.it/5pp1500xi5pa1.png?width=1128&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4f48ce1f6d11fff15d44cc47b2174882e34eb03 A commenter spoke about this, and how it wasn’t Wells Fargo in doo doo but the city of San Jose. “I believe in theses cases it’s not Wells Fargo that has a problem but the city of San José. „Because presentments are currently processed automatically at DTC, IPAs have the option to refuse to pay (“RTP”) for maturing MMI Obligations to protect against the possibility that an IPA may not be able to fund settlement because it has not received funds from the relevant issuer. „ -> Wells Fargo didn’t receive the money from San José city. https://preview.redd.it/nc8lbgwsk5pa1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=35e2c386534eb904608db679a9954affe0338c9a Wells Fargo has no liability or influence on the money that comes from the city and is distributed to the investors. If the money doesn’t come or isn’t sufficient, the assets are sold or liquidated and used to pay investors. In this case, we might be seeing one of the first of MANY issues of cities up shit’s creek over this. 4. The Municipal Bond Market Time BombThe size of the municipal market is A SHIT TON BIGGER than the corporate bond market, which will already show even more signs of being turbo fucked due to borrowing at low interest rates for years. Here’s the size of the municipal bond market for scale, sans banana: https://preview.redd.it/9pcmm2c9j5pa1.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=869c0863c6ecc788c29d6dbe37da76521a700d1e Unfortunately, just like retirement funds, many muni investors are “buy and hold”: they buy a muni expecting a safe, long-term return with no federal income tax and then, welp, shit hits the fan. The market is heavily illiquid too, meaning if shit needs to move, then you might be fucked. Only about 1% of municipal securities trade any given day, in auctions that often take HOURS: “Now, the primary method of trading on this doesn't look like the New York Stock Exchange or like Nasdaq. It looks like an auction. It takes about 4 hours. An auction is initiated. Participants who come in can bid on this, and it is a competitive auction that yields a very good price.” Now to my understanding you can’t short these bonds, but the long time frame means its hard to sell these illiquid assets. Not only that, THERE IS NO NATIONAL NBBO (National Best Bid Offer)...you’re flying blind while this shit happens. Now if you’re wondering what magnanimous souls are helping municipal bonds be sold or fixed in a timely manner for cities like San Jose, well have I got news for you. 5. Meet Headlands, U.S. Municipal/Bond Market Making Firm…Run by 3 Ex-Citadel EmployeesTwo months after the sneeze (March 2021), TD Ameritrade bought municipal bond market maker Headlands. Yes, that’s right…an electronic market maker just like Citadel, this time for bonds for cities and towns vs. stocks. Now let’s check the fine fellows that run this: https://preview.redd.it/i1jnj88bj5pa1.png?width=1886&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6ea375e929a247f0b9618fed703ef519561a6a2
Of note, Matthew Andresen founded Island, one of the 1st dark pools EVER and 2nd only to “Instinet” (who also got an even bigger wave of funds during the sneeze, info courtesy of Ringing Bells) and was featured heavily in the Scott Patterson book “Dark Pools”. https://preview.redd.it/ibr2d9xcj5pa1.png?width=200&format=png&auto=webp&s=ea86240da04d87d28dd9561b4afdb13d600de764 Ol Matty told us that Headlands is completely automated, and where some muni traders make 75-100 muni bond sales a day (sometimes over the phone), Headlands currently bids on 10,000+ bond auctions a day with its algo. Matty Boi even said if that number ever 10x’d “we wouldn’t notice.” Even more sus, Headlands has been growing its own “holdings” of muni bonds on its books. 6. In Bros We Trust So remember, this branch of 3 ex-Citadel bros is front and center to the issues already rearing their head. In my previous post, these were just SOME of the already teetering municipal bond issues:
https://preview.redd.it/s8wqbdtej5pa1.png?width=1217&format=png&auto=webp&s=d2ee309462354293b1a4907d0966889bd841089f
7. HurricaneWhat began this rabbit hole was the one and only welp 0 0 7, who caught wind of some fuckery in the municipal bond market: https://preview.redd.it/rsul8xsmj5pa1.png?width=1324&format=png&auto=webp&s=f593d8b9d18e962df50609ba114d0b7093c0cdaf In the post, he mentioned how "American Thinker" 's Joseph Lawler mentioned the SEC has been giving fucking STIFF Heismans nonstop (or per [redacted] the ol' Dustin Martin "don't argues" for you Aussie apes!) on FOIA requests (Freedom of Information Act) related to the municipal bond default in Puerto Rico, the BIGGEST bond default in America's history EVER. https://preview.redd.it/te7m9b5pj5pa1.png?width=782&format=png&auto=webp&s=72fccaee202099011c280636e1501bd570544a2c You see, because this level of municipal bond includes fuckery includes not just cities and towns, but U.S. TERRITORIES. In my post about Hurricane Maria’s effect on Puerto Rico, I talked about how UBS and others loaded up Puerto Rico with debt because of what’s called a “Treasury Put” guarantee that was even called “an exit strategy” for banks (“They describe the "treasury put" as "...the implicit guarantee -- as perceived by investors -- from a government agency to provide support in the event of financial distress by the issuer of Puerto Rican bonds."”). Puerto Rico’s default was the largest in US history, EVER. And all this the same while guess who was holding the bag? Let’s see what W S O P tells us: “The reality is that a large percentage of Puerto Rico’s debt is held in tax-free municipal bonds and municipal bond mutual funds, owned not by Wall Street banks or tycoons, but by mom and pop investors seeking tax-free income.” https://preview.redd.it/1a2vz6brj5pa1.png?width=730&format=png&auto=webp&s=529db6c15522fd84560746523f76bc180207a496 So once again, whether its retirement funds or municipal bonds, its retail caught holding the bag. And this hasn't changed for years. We’ve seen similar fuckery with bonds for NYC in the 70s, and more recently in the 00s for Detroit. One astute wrinkle by the name of [redacted] posted this on that original post trying to dig into how it could all be related: …how the MMLF fund that expanded money/credit to towns/cities started including commercial paper…but also leveraged near the 15 to 1 ratio perhaps under the Net Capital Requirement limit: 8. Don't Bet Against America...Says the Banks and Hedge Funds That Already DidCommercial Paper? Municipals related? Now where does that sound familiar? Ah, yes…the city of San Jose got its call-out by Wells Fargo over COMMERCIAL PAPER. This comes as the push for ppl into municipal bond markets continues, trying to sell it as a “safe haven” to retail investors. Vanguard just recently launched its first ETF–surprise, its first US-listed ETF in 2 years– for municipal bonds (selling point: “hey everyone it’s tax-exempt! Give us money plz!”) for example: https://preview.redd.it/1v8qrfctj5pa1.png?width=1780&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e15ea68094ecdc212a18677fa1966158e362134 Many of us can see all of it for what it is. Bullshit. In the wake of the SVB collapse, there is still a strong push that these regional banks–many of which lend to municipalities–will be fine. This “safe haven” theory continues, even as articles try to have them appeal abroad (such as a few days ago, “ ESG Factors of Munis May Attract Non-US Investors” “https://www.marketsmedia.com/esg-factors-of-munis-may-attract-non-us-investors/”) Even further, one last find is that . I mean it’s not like credit default swaps can be taken on cities and towns in theory right? FWIW also I found an interesting research paper talking about hedge funds buying up credit default swaps, and how they could potentially bankrupt towns/municipalities through some of these moves if they wanted: https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/8264/MingJieWangCreditDefaultS.pdf?sequence=2 **** This is all while we have 3 ex-Citadel heads in charge of just how the municipal bond market moves, like that of San Jose. So is this where Citadel’s reach stops? Clearly, no. It doesn’t stop at the US border, just like how Mayo Force One doesn’t. 10. ELI5: What’s a Soverign Credit Default Swap? https://preview.redd.it/x5z73ef9k5pa1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=e3f0155a2015cecae29d739aca7729e44565566f That’s right, mofos. You read that sub-header right. In case you’re wondering, not only can you take out credit default swaps on a failing Swiss bank like CS, but you can do so ON ENTIRE FUCKING COUNTRIES. In one of my old posts “Sovereign Debts & Ransom Notes: Pt. 1 The Importance of Being Non-Linearly Destabilized through Sovereign Credit Default Swaps” (“https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/comments/t35rdi/sovereign_debts_ransom_notes_pt_1_the_importance/”), I talked a little more about the insanity of these things even existing. Sovereign credit default swaps exist. Long story short: sovereign credit default swaps are insurance policies that if a country defaults (usually on its debt)then you get paid! Like many other shit that we’ve seen in the GME saga, they are a form of financial derivative (a bet that something goes up, a bet that something goes down) on an underlying (the thing you’re betting on)....They can be used to insure government debt for a country in case that country is unable to pay its debt, for example. However, just like other instruments, naked sovereign credit default swaps also exist. Naked sovereign credit default swaps are used to bet that a country or a country's debt will fail without you owning that country's debt. In part, they were destabilising during the Euro-crisis immediately after the 2008 financial crash. Greece was one of the countries that got naked shorted in 2008. In fact, the country got shorted so bad they were worried about fucking SHORT SQUEEZES on Greek debt and the sovereign CDSs! There were a tons of perhaps “we will see soon” if relevant additional points in that old research, including:
https://preview.redd.it/6fp1njsck5pa1.png?width=1295&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ea74b772735a79d5aca4b0d41a658231435dd8f
Crazy shit. So you might say, now this post is meant to be about Citadel’s sphere of influence you might say? “Where does Citadel fit into all this? ” 11. Meet the CDDC (Credit Derivatives Determination Committee)...Where Citadel Sit and Helps Decide Which Countries Default on their DebtOne of the biggest GFC 2008 scenarios of sovereign credit default swaps being misused was against Greece. Afterwards, one of its biggest cases of misuse was by Elliot Management (ran by Paul Singer) who was using their position on the Credit Derivatives Determination Committee, or CDDC, to help decide when their sovereign credit default swaps against Argentina would pay out. Wait, Eliot Management doesn’t sound big enough. Who else is on this committee? https://preview.redd.it/gcvfc4shk5pa1.png?width=928&format=png&auto=webp&s=f968f2765e15103295c91bc4dc7ec74836f916a4 Oh wait, so Citadel is ALSO on this committee? Alongside our favorite fucksticks like Chase, Goldman, Deutsche, and BNP? It’s not lost on me with seeing now that Credit Suisse has been sucked up into UBS, maybe its position on the CDDC has been absorbed further by UBS. Back then, I wrote about the fact is we know next to nothing about the sovereign credit default swaps that might be opened up against countries (be it Russia, Sri Lanka, or otherwise): https://preview.redd.it/t3kx1tk2l5pa1.png?width=850&format=png&auto=webp&s=f829d1a1c14d4df74fe7a2ad7d832d1409662e76 Here's one such example of a swap dealer: Swiss financial terrorist aficionados UBS AG, who registered to be a swaps dealer with the US at the end of 2012. (UBS had also been a member of the CDDC through the Greek crisis in early 2012, alongside Citadel. In Mar. 2012, they were also one of the members pressing to ask whether Greece had defaulted already.) Not only that, but the CDDC even can say when CORPORATE BONDS even shit the bed: late last year, they were the ones who were deciding to let everyone know whether Sunac (an Evergrande-relate company) went tits up. 12. We Say WhenFor months, there has been talk of a looming debt crisis (alongside all the other ones) in the sovereign debt world. And shit continues to hit the proverbial fan. Apart from Russia, Sri Lanka and others, emerging markets like Ghana and Zambia are beginning to feel the hits from their sovereign debt (oftentimes, trying to restructure it with creditors like China). https://preview.redd.it/gd0ocjuyi5pa1.png?width=2458&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb1fe0ade2f3401b2e081f8d0b55ef55cfb95ae2 Even further, now that Credit Suisse has gone under. We may have another thing to worry about: what banks and prime brokers are housing these opaque sovereign debt structures, loans, and swaps? Even worse, what happens when they go under? Roll that less than beautiful bean footage: https://preview.redd.it/wt5v7uu0j5pa1.png?width=1134&format=png&auto=webp&s=df9cf3379be7ce881d7704013f4e6d92e287f08c https://www.livemint.com/news/world/before-collapse-credit-suisse-quietly-conquered-an-obscure-debt-market-11679395660932.html “Before collapse, Credit Suisse quietly conquered an obscure debt market Credit Suisse was the sole structurer and arranger of the world’s largest debt-for-nature swap, a $364 million deal that it orchestrated in 2021 along with The Nature Conservancy, a charity, for Belize. Last year, it sealed another $150 million deal for Barbados. Credit Suisse has in recent years helped revive interest in the instruments and for the first time opened them up to institutional capital. The bank raised money for Belize and Barbados from pension funds including Sweden’s Alecta and Nuveen LLC, a unit of the US’s TIAA, by issuing so-called blue bonds tied to the deals. https://preview.redd.it/ysibqfz5l5pa1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a1b42cd1d630041b337a008e539facc8781c4d5 he convoluted setup has drawn criticism from sovereign debt experts for its high cost and lack of transparency. And the opaque terms of the Belize and Barbados deals — the first of their kind — mean outside analysts will struggle to assess precisely what comes next. A lot of poorer, especially emerging market countries were already in dire straits. Now as opaque deals meant to help these countries might not come to light (are these some of the Level 3 assets that UBS was talking about?), we can ask ourselves wtf will happen when the same banks looking to save their own ass while holding these sovereign, are the same fuckers that sit on the same board that can decide when they are worthless (while I’m sure being positioned net short). All in all, these banks and holders of sovereign debt credit default swaps, who decide when a country goes boom, are sitting arm in arm alongside Citadel, who themselves potentially hover their greasy mayo-covered finger over the button that decides just when and how the US stock market will eventually implode. 13. Everything Everywhere All at Once To recap, we then have Citadel with (1) the biggest market maker and arguably one of the most influential hedge fund able to decide which stocks rise and which fall as the US stock market teeters on the brink of collapse… …with having (2) three of its ex-employees in charge of (not even counting other Citadel employees working there) operating at Headlands ready to help position themselves when the municipal bond market gets nuked, whether as a continued result of regional bank failure or in spite of it… …while (3) sitting on the board that determines when ENTIRE COUNTRIES FAIL, in such a way that their hedge fund and associated pals can be ready to short and profit off failing nations that they and their fuckstick friends help cause. Did I miss anything? Because remember, Citadel is not just Citadel, the market-maker that we all love to hate; Citadel’s sphere of influence via the Big 3 means the grip that it holds over the US and world economy is even greater than we think…and as such, far far more dangerous. |
2023.03.21 21:11 yeroc_sema 1nDone Snowflake IM - The progress till now (ep1-5 spoilers)
Let's try this again without everyone thinking I'm Idyl because of my poorly made post... I meant to post this when I had some notable progress on the account, which I now have, but I also have a terrible problem with procrastinating so I can play runescape. You probably wouldn’t understand…
This post and future posts are meant for those more interested in immediate updates about progress rather than watching a progress series. But if you would rather watch the episodes the playlist here.
THE RULES
Here is the concept. Treat gilenor as you would real life. Any action not repeatable in the real world is not repeatable in game. Killing a specific creature, picking an item up off the ground, mining a rock, chopping down a tree, hunting a creature, collecting some quest items, etc. etc.
For simplicity's sake, and my own sanity, actions like shearing a sheep or cutting down jungle brush, actions that would be repeatable after a relatively short time irl will also be treated as one time resources. I have also applied this logic to the inventory of shops, deciding that I may only buy up to the base inventory of any given item in any particular shop. (Ie 3 buckets in a shop I can only ever buy 3 buckets from that shop)
THE GOALS
EPISODE 1 SPOILERS
Tldr: go watch the 1nDone series or drop a toxic comment about another snowflake ironman.
submitted by yeroc_sema to 2007scape [link] [comments]
This post and future posts are meant for those more interested in immediate updates about progress rather than watching a progress series. But if you would rather watch the episodes the playlist here.
THE RULES
Here is the concept. Treat gilenor as you would real life. Any action not repeatable in the real world is not repeatable in game. Killing a specific creature, picking an item up off the ground, mining a rock, chopping down a tree, hunting a creature, collecting some quest items, etc. etc.
For simplicity's sake, and my own sanity, actions like shearing a sheep or cutting down jungle brush, actions that would be repeatable after a relatively short time irl will also be treated as one time resources. I have also applied this logic to the inventory of shops, deciding that I may only buy up to the base inventory of any given item in any particular shop. (Ie 3 buckets in a shop I can only ever buy 3 buckets from that shop)
THE GOALS
- Complete every possible quest that does not remove a more difficult quest from the available options. (If completing ratcatchers would for some reason stop me from completing shilo village or something obviously harder and more important it will be skipped)
- Complete a grandmaster quest. No, I do not know if this is possible with my restrictions.
- Utilize every resource Gilenor has to offer, no tree unchopped, no rock unmined, no creature unkilled, no item not picked up. Basically, piss off the world, my character is a real stand-up guy.
- The tracking of everything previously mentioned will be through the use of tile tags. Depleted resources or picked up items will be marked with a plain tile tag. Shop inventories will be logged with labeled tile tags showing x/max inventory item bought.
- - Creature kills/hunts will be marked in the same manner, using a labeled tile tag to mark how many creatures killed in a particular spawn grouping. All of these will be doubly logged through screenshots, google docs, and spreadsheets so if my tile tags are lost my account isn’t over.
- Chunk maps will also be used to visualize the overall progress of the account, using different chunk maps to show chunks that have completely depleted resources, no creatures left to kill, areas with no more item spawns, and chunks that have had all available content utilized.
- I am an ironman, not a uim, I have access to banks
- I am not area locked, I have free range of gilenor. I am simply using chunks to log progress.
- If an npc explicitly states that they have multiple/infinite of an item/service (ardougne cloak for example) I am able to reclaim that item if lost or continually utilize that resource.
EPISODE 1 SPOILERS
- I began by killing (12xp wasted in atk, the rest in str) an imp, some rats, some spiders, and a woman in lumbridge before pickpocketing to get to level ten theiving or so. No particular reason for this, I was kind of just feeling out my system and getting used to the unusual gameplay.
- I then began clearing the first chunk as much as possible. I’m not planning on clearing runescape chunk by chunk, but I do want to do this here to get a better understanding of the process in its entirety.
- I did restless ghost, forgot the skeleton in mage tower attacks you and I had to run away, wasting the xp it provides since I cannot ever pick that skull up again from the alter.
- Next I ran up to varrock to max out the available attack xp training on combat dummies and got up to level 8 attack with only 12 of that xp wasted since I forgot to switch to strength when I first started killing things. EPISODE 2 SPOILERS
- On my way back I stopped to film an intro bit for my series, then running back to lumbridge dc’d next to the prison and died to a guard, losing my hardcore status 📷
- I then began chopping down every regular tree in the Lumbridge chunk.
- First beginner clue scroll out of a nest and Im able to complete it right away for leather vambraces and an earth staff.
- I then chopped down the rest of the trees in the chunk and just before completion got lvl 10 woodcutting, which surprised me. It really doesn’t seem like there are that many trees in this chunk at first glance.
- I decided to chop into the chunk west of lumbridge as well so I could get my wc high enough to chop oaks so I could clear those out of the lumbridge chunk as well and get a feel for how to handle multiple log trees since I will be banking all logs I chop for almost the entirety of the account. When I finally got to a tree that gave me more than a full inventory i dropped logs and chopped until it was cut down, refreshed the dropped log pile, banked the inventory, and ran back and collected the dropped logs.
- I then picked up every loose item spawn and searched every crate and sack (theyre all empty in Lumbridge by the way).
- I then did cook’s assitant, marking the wheat and eggs required to complete the quest, but not marking the cow because as in irl you can milk a cow multiple times.
- While collecting those items I also started the sheep shearer quest. I sheared all of the sheep on fred’s pen which only turned out to be 16 sheep, 4 short of what fred asks for.
- I then went around to the different pockets of sheep in asgarnia to collect up their wool. Did you know that there are only 80 sheep in all of runescape, and a handful of those can’t even be sheared? In Asgarnia, besides Fred’s 16 sheep, there are 10 south of varrock, 3 west of Edgeville, and 7 at the Makeover Mage (but i forgot about them) and 2 unshearable sheep just west of Lumbridge castle. I sheared all available sheep, at least 6 out of those were not able to be sheared since they are models of the sheep that do not have excess wool.
- I then began my journey of woodcutting into further chunks. I wasn’t quite sure what to do so I thought maybe just focusing on cutting down all the trees from the salve to the member’s gate would be a good idea.
- Quickly in to this i got a clue scroll that required me to get level 10 fishing to catch a herring for charlie the tramp.
- I decided to cut down the regular trees around the mage training arena after training up to level 10 fishing at the spots south of the al kharid bank.
- I got level 30 woodcutting chopping the trees around varrock and then went back to lumbridge to chop a willow there first, helping to clear out the first chunk.
- I pickpocketed my way up to 1k gp then went back to varrock to buy a house. I kept on choppin and got a clue scroll that required us to get level 14 crafting to make a leather body for charlie.
- I went to the HAM hideout to pickpocket ham members for the buttons to see how far along that and opals from them could get me through crafting.
- That didnt’ seem to be doing so well so I decided to do some easy quests that reward crafting xp. We got our first easy clue.
- On the way to complete it I went through ardougne and stole items from the first stall. For stealing from stalls, we only ever steal from it one time for each item on it that resembles what we can steal. I stole from the baker’s stall, which has 7 items on it, so when I had stolen from it 7 time I stopped and tagged the tiles it was placed on to denote that it was depleted.
- I got several clue scrolls from ham members I could not do due to crafting level requirements which I dropped. After about 4 or 5 of these I decided I would not be dropping anymore clue scrolls that were not completely impossible for me for one reason or another.
- I started both the great kourend quest and the corsair’s curse quest for clue scroll access but did not complete either quest.
- I then got a clue scroll that required me to get level 31 crafting to make an emerald necklace.
- I then did goblin diplomacy, using red and yellow dye from an infinite source located on some shelves in a house to the south of the farming guid in kourend as to not use up any permanent resources in the world.
- While I was in Kourend I sheared all of the sheep there as well, 12 at watsons house and 2 in hosidius, all shearable. On the way back to the mainland I stopped by the makeover mage and sheared the 7 that were there.
- I began killing the rams here as well just to clear them out of the world since they are not used for slayer. I took a trip over to ardougne to shear the 10 sheep that were there as well to collect all the currently available wool to use.
- After spinning al of the collected wool I was at level 6 with about half of the way to level 7 completed as well.
- I then started rag and bone man and then killed every ram in gilenor besides one I could not reach in lletya. I got the ram skull.
- I then did misthalin mystery quest. This got me up to level 10 crafting. I also cut down all the trees in the quest area.
- I killed a giant rat for the rat tail bone for rag and bone man.
- I then did dwarf cannon quest which needs no resources I did not already have. This got me up to level 13 crafting.
- I made a gold necklace and a few pieces of leather armor (made from leather from ham pickpocketing) to get to level 14 crafting, then made a leather body to finish off the beginner clue that started this crafting grind.
- I then went up to seers village and picked all of the flax. I picked the flax until it disappeared and then marked the tile where it was marking it as depleted. I got a total of 250 bowstrings from this and got up to level 22 crafting.
- I then did murder mystery quest which got me to level 24 crafting. I also discovered an infinite source of flour for my account. The barrel in the murder mystery house can be filled with a pot and the flavor text says that there is plenty more.
- I collected up every resource in the chunk and killed everything except for the level 64 wolves for obvious reasons.
- I then went and did druidic ritual, killing the bear north of falador before starting. The rest of the required meats were already banked from previous kills or buying from shops.
- I ran into issues killing the bear with magic so quickly went and did witch’s potion, killing all of the rats in rimmington and marking that with a tile.
- I finished druidic ritual and again picked up some various items, marking them as I did. I also gathered up the flax from the 3 plants in taverly, I got a total of 16 flax.
- Being close to port sarim I took the boat to lands end and collected 10 flax, depleting the plants there, I also picked the redberry bushes. As always, the depleted resources were marked with a ground tile.
- I ran up to the field in hosidius to collect up the flax there as well. I lost track of the number I got from that field but followed the usual process marking them.
- I then went to uzer in the desert to do the golem quest. I mined 4 clay at the mine where the phoenix is, marking the clay and marking a tile saying I had collected the feather.
- I picked a black mushroom in the uzer basement, marked it.
- While stealing the golem quest item from the museum I did the natural history quiz to get level 9 slayer and hunter.
- I finished the golem quest for level 25 crafting and level 28 thieving. I collected the gems from the demon throne.
- I chopped down the singular teak tree in the uzer ruin chunk (the newer teak trees weren’t in the game at the time of this recording) for 2 teak logs.
- I did observatory quest, using the nearby super antiposion spawn (I should not have used it here, I realize now) and not killing any creatures along the way. I picked up every bone in the observatory basement and buried it. This got me no prayer levels, and my quest reward was 3 tuna and a sapphire, as well as getting me up to level 27 crafting.
- I went back down and killed the 4 rats in the observatory basement.
- I spun up my 240 flax collected which got me up to level 30 crafting.
- I then collected up all of the flax in and around the gnome stronghold which yielded me 360 flax. I spun this flax up which got me to level 33 crafting.
- I made an emerald necklace for the clue, bought some iron platelegs in al kharid, and an oak longbow in varrock, all for the clue.
- Upon realizing I couldnt wield the bow I decided to try for my first slayer task, and I got 19 scorpions which didn’t go well with my single digit range level, especially since my dumbass tried ranging with IM armor thinking it had a range boost 😅. So i decided to get level 5 range by killing every spider spawn on the surface of the world. This is an example of a creature i can kill with impunity, its not used for quests or slayer, and although killing all 105 spiders left (after the 7 i killed in lumbridge) will put me well over the xp for 5 ranged I still want to go ahead and kill them all now since there’s no point in saving them for anything and it will help my tracking process if I can mark off a larger subset like all surface spiders rather than 3/x spawn groupings. I did unfortunately kill the 22 spiders in the wilderness which could have been used for wildy slayer but that is only 44 slayer xp wasted. I will still probably come to regret this.
- In killing the spiders in the lovakite mine i died to the gas clouds and almost lost my clue, but I got back in time to reclaim it. I then immedia did the clue before going back to finish off the rest of the spiders.
- I then went back to finish my slayer task. I decided to kill the 9 scorpions at al kharid mine, the one south of al kharid, the 6 at ruins of uzer, and the final 3 at the zoo in ardougne for a perfect 19 with no overlaps into other spawn groupings.
- This episode was quite concentrated, we really just finished chopping the trees in the free to play area. I posted here about it when I finished and reddit kindly let me know I had missed the trees around the karamja volcano and in the sewers of varrock, and I also missed the single tree in the varrock castle bear cage.
- My original goal was to cut the trees from the salve to the members gate, although i had planned to get the karamja f2p trees I just forgot. I did cut down all the trees in the digsite area and silvarea. I did not cut down any trees in lands end but tuat was intentional, i plan to get those with the rest of kourend later.
- I got a back to back birds nest which is a 0.0015% chance.
- I got level 20 fishing for a clue scroll.
- At 14.5ish combat I couldn’t get the last willows at draynor because the dark mages kept attacking me. I decided to kill all the cows in the east lumbridge cow pen and the faldor farm cow pens. I thought they couldnt be assigned for a slayer task. I’m still not entirely sure if they can be, actually.
- We got the last part of the beekeeper outfit and will now begin recieving flax from that random even, which is great because i really need banked crafting xp
- I finished off the final trees with 157k woodcutting xp, at level 54 woodcutting, with 2245 regular logs, 1792 oak logs, and 509 willow logs.
- I finished off the episode by chopping my first maple tree, the one just south of seers village bank, and recieved a single log.
Tldr: go watch the 1nDone series or drop a toxic comment about another snowflake ironman.
2023.03.21 21:05 AutoModerator [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree Full Course Download
![[Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree Full Course Download](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/KT_hJDhH0hUxGqazk4Q3GxMYOGb_8pq4h8nzezeFq2I.jpg "[Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree Full Course Download") | Get the course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/dan-koe-digital-economics-masters-degree/ submitted by AutoModerator to GenkiCourses_2023 [link] [comments] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree https://preview.redd.it/4w9tt8nthyoa1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaacbd9fdb837f07a27a37c49cd406115367f9e4 What You GetPhase 0) Digital Economics 101The Digital Economics 101 module will open 1 week prior to the cohort start date.This is an onboarding module that will get you up to speed so we can get straight into the material.This will be required to finish before the start date.
Phase 1) Creating A Meaningful NicheEvery day I hear people going on and on about trying to find their niche.I also hear people talking about how they don’t know how to combine what they love talking about with what will sell.You already have the answer. You just don’t have the clarity.
Phase 2) Content StrategyThere is one thing that separates those who make it in the digital economy and those who don’t.It’s the quality, articulation, and perceived originality of their content.The content you post has to make sense to the people you attract.Everyone has a different voice and tone that they resonate with. That they are congruent with and trust.It has to change their thought patterns or behavior — that’s what makes you memorable.That’s what separates you from the sea of people posting surface-level copy-cat style posts.Example and putting my money where my mouth is:
Phase 3) Crafting Your OfferMost people are sitting on a goldmine of skills, experience, and knowledge (that they can use to help people 1-2 steps behind them).That is what people pay for.Considering 95% of the market are beginners… if you are good at something, you can help them get to your level (no matter how “basic” you think the information is).Do you not watch basic content all day anyway? People don’t want new information, they want to be reminded of what works.
Phase 4) Marketing StrategyYou aren’t making money because you aren’t promoting yourself or your offer.That is literally the only way to make money. Have something desirable and consistently put it in front of peoples’ faces.In Phase 4, I will show you how to systemize, automate, and be consistent with simple promotions.You will be able to make money without having the chance of forgetting to do it (or letting fear of failure get in the way).
Bonus) The Creator Command CenterThe Creator Command Center is a Notion template that houses all of the systems.This is how you will manage your brand, content, offer creation, marketing strategy, and systemized promotions for consistent sales.Bonus) Live Product Build & LaunchIn the first Digital Economics Cohort, I built out my course The 2 Hour Writer.I have videos showing how I build it with the strategies in phase 3 and 4.There is a bonus module that shows how I had an $85,000 launch that resulted in my first $100K month.I did this to prove the strategies inside Digital Economics work if you stick to the plan.And, this past Black Friday, I blew my that monthly high out of the water in 4 days.That’s the power of these strategies if you stay consistent with your life’s work. |
2023.03.21 21:03 JameGumb724 I Played a Secret Playstation Game From Japan When I Was A Kid and It Still Haunts Me Today - Part 1
The game was an unmarked disc. Not even a color. Just a plain piece of plastic. Yet, I was horrified when I saw it in my dream.
I popped up in the middle of the night and there was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep. I laid in my bed and thought about why that Playstation game was so terrifying to me.
The game appeared at Corey’s house when I was 13. He had moved down the street from me shortly before and I made fast friends with him because he always had all of the best games. Corey’s dad worked for an electronics distributor so he got the games early.
Corey was waiting for me when I got home from the school bus one day. His dad had gotten a crazy new game “from Japan” no one else would ever have. He had spent the day playing it over and over again.
He showed me the unmarked disc before he put it in the Playstation. The game had no opening credits or menu. It just went straight into the gameplay - spitting you into a P.O.V. game in a murky building which seemed like an army base.
I’m hesitant to describe the game too much. One - because I don’t remember it perfectly because of the way it shredded my brain. Two - because I don’t want to pass on any of the trauma the game gave me to anyone else.
From what I remember, the game was relatively unfinished, and that made it more eerie - the monsters were just blank outlines without faces which would kill you, the music was low and humming and barely audible, everything was dark, the controls were jerky.
Yet, the game was incredibly addicting. I played it over and over and over again until my parents made me come home.
I stayed up almost all night thinking about the game. When I did sleep, I felt like I was just in the game in my head.
Corey wasn’t at school the next day again. I didn’t think anything of it until I walked out of class at the end of the day and saw local news T.V. trucks parked out front.
I heard what they were talking about, interviewing students and parents. An unnamed student had killed himself and his family that day at their home. I found out it was Corey on the bus ride home.
Very few details came out. All I ever found out was Corey took the dad’s shotgun and shot both parents, and his older sister, all in bed, all still sleeping. I didn’t want to know much more.
I stopped playing video games for a while. Yet, the game wouldn’t get out of my head. I just kept wanting to play it.
I eventually went to the video game store at the mall. It was lorded over by a man named Morton. Obese. 20s. Shoulder-length hair, and an air of odd arrogance, he made video game shopping at a suburban town in Ohio feel like you were trying to buy records in Brooklyn.
I approached Morton with fear. He was a hulking figure to my 13-year-old self and he had his own little empire at the only game store in town.
“I’m looking for a game, I, uh, um, my friend had it, but I can’t find it,” I started in.
“Ta-ta-ta-today…junior,” Morton mocked me with a line from Billy Madison.
The other guys in the store chuckled, turning my face to beat red.
“Have you ever heard about an unmarked Playstation game ‘from Japan?”’ I asked.
Everyone about Morton changed. He looked around the space to see if anyone was still listening then he motioned me closer, and spoke quieter.
“Where did you see that game?” He asked.
Now it was my turn to get closer and talk quietly. I explained it was Corey, and who he was, and what he did.
Morton looked even more interested, and stressed out.
He took me to a back room. Dark, the only light coming from an arcade machine in the back and a lit cigarette dangling from the teenage lips of another kid.
I knew the kid. His name was Nat. He was 15 and was known in the area as a video game prodigy. He had won just about any tournament for any game ever held in several counties and he had an interesting style - he had long hair at a time when everyone had short, he wore tight clothes at a time when everyone wore baggy, and there were rumors he did professional video game testing in California during school breaks. Nat hanging out in the secret back room of the video game store was very on-brand.
Morton had me sit down at a table as he started demolishing fun size candy bars while he told me the backstory of the video game “from Japan.”
The game wasn’t from Japan. He wasn’t sure where that mythology came from. The game was very much from the U.S. It was created by the U.S. government. When school shootings started becoming a thing there was a panic about video games, specifically first-person shooter games being the cause.
The C.I.A.’s solution was to work with a video company to create a first-person shooter game to release and hype up but to subliminally program as to control the player’s mind and steer them to non-violent thoughts.
“How do you know all this?” I asked Morton.
“The game is a real thing,” Nat said while never stopping banging away at the latest version of Mortal Kombat on the machine in the corner.
I let Morton go on. Nat was the ultimate authority to me. His girlfriend, Calyn, was my first love, even though she didn’t know who I was. She was a year ahead of me in school and I didn’t even know how she existed.
But back to the game. The game didn’t keep kids from being violent. Video games couldn’t fucking do that, but something they programmed in the game destroyed the kids who tested it - they couldn’t focus on anything else and it terrorized their minds - making them think monsters were coming to kill them, basically making them severely schizophrenic.
The worst part was something in the game seemed to make kids really want to share it. All of the test kids snuck the game out and made copies of it.
Unless someone was skilled enough to make it through the game and beat it, the game seemed to ruin their brains, and their lives, Morton explained before saying he was out of information.
“Have you played the game?” Morton asked me.
I affirmed.
“Where is the game now?” Morton asked.
I explained I had no idea. I assumed it was with Corey’s family and their stuff. No way I could get access to it.
At that point Morton explained that he wished me luck, but he could offer me no help.
“Do you know who has ever beaten the game?” I asked Morton as I could feel his body energy beg me to leave.
“I have,” Nat’s voice rose up from the corner of the room.
Nat left the room before I could ask anymore questions.
-
The game permeated my brain. All I wanted to do was play it even though I had no way to. I would see the monsters hiding in the shadows of my parents’ house and I’d stop - wait for them to jump out and attack me. I heard that terribly ominous musical score of the game in the back of my mind all the time.
If I slept, all I dreamed about was the game, and getting killed in the game, and it all felt real.
This went on for a couple of days and kept getting stronger and stronger. I had to keep playing the game.
I lost control. I got out of bed in the middle of the night and snuck out my bedroom window.
I made it to Corey’s house in a flash. There was no police tape or anything you’d expect in a movie. It was just there. The way it always was.
I went to the back of the house, where I knew there was a door that went directly into the basement, where Corey’s gaming setup was. I took the longshot that it was left unlocked.
Now this all might sound crazy, but as a severe drug addict for a good chunk of my life, trust me that my desire to play that game that night was stronger than any desire to ever do drugs, that’s how intoxicating and addicting it was. Nothing was going to stop me.
The door was unlocked and if you want to doubt that small town cops 25 years ago were that lazy…try me.
I got into the basement. The house was cold, dark, and empty, but Corey’s Playstation was still set up right there in the basement. I checked the disc inside. It was the game.
I turned on the Playstation and the game came to life. I started playing.
My feet felt like they were welded to the floor. My fingers superglued to the controller. My eyes couldn’t leave the screen.
There was no getting away from the game. I played for I have no idea how long.
I can’t remember anything until I was standing in that dark basement, playing the game, and I felt strong hands wrap around the back of my neck. Then a powerful force pushed me to the ground.
I was on the ground and I looked up and saw endless shadows filling the room around me. Dark and faceless. They looked just like the monsters in the game.
The monsters were moving in on me. They were no longer in the game. They were no longer in my head. They were now living breathing with me and dangerous.
And they were going to be on me very soon and the power they radiated at me communicated to me that I wasn’t going to last long against them.
I also got a powerful sense of something they wanted me to do. They were telling me to go to school the next day. They were telling me where my dad kept his gun. I was losing myself in their messages.
Then all of these feelings started to fade. Then the TV cut out - the game no longer broadcasting.
Someone else was in the room. Not just me and the monsters. They were dressed in all black. I couldn’t make out anything identifiable about them, other than they were human like me, and they were pushing away the monsters and they took my hand.
They got me out of the house.
Then they disappeared.
I looked back into the basement of Corey’s house - there was nothing but darkness inside.
But then, I saw a blue light come to life inside the basement room.
The game had come back on again, and it was calling me back inside with its siren song…
I was ready to go back in, taking my first steps that way when…
Someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. They drug me all the way back to the sidewalk where they stopped and whispered into my ear:
“Go the fuck home. I won’t help you from here.”
They let me go and were gone in the night.
I walked home.
submitted by JameGumb724 to nosleep [link] [comments]
I popped up in the middle of the night and there was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep. I laid in my bed and thought about why that Playstation game was so terrifying to me.
The game appeared at Corey’s house when I was 13. He had moved down the street from me shortly before and I made fast friends with him because he always had all of the best games. Corey’s dad worked for an electronics distributor so he got the games early.
Corey was waiting for me when I got home from the school bus one day. His dad had gotten a crazy new game “from Japan” no one else would ever have. He had spent the day playing it over and over again.
He showed me the unmarked disc before he put it in the Playstation. The game had no opening credits or menu. It just went straight into the gameplay - spitting you into a P.O.V. game in a murky building which seemed like an army base.
I’m hesitant to describe the game too much. One - because I don’t remember it perfectly because of the way it shredded my brain. Two - because I don’t want to pass on any of the trauma the game gave me to anyone else.
From what I remember, the game was relatively unfinished, and that made it more eerie - the monsters were just blank outlines without faces which would kill you, the music was low and humming and barely audible, everything was dark, the controls were jerky.
Yet, the game was incredibly addicting. I played it over and over and over again until my parents made me come home.
I stayed up almost all night thinking about the game. When I did sleep, I felt like I was just in the game in my head.
Corey wasn’t at school the next day again. I didn’t think anything of it until I walked out of class at the end of the day and saw local news T.V. trucks parked out front.
I heard what they were talking about, interviewing students and parents. An unnamed student had killed himself and his family that day at their home. I found out it was Corey on the bus ride home.
Very few details came out. All I ever found out was Corey took the dad’s shotgun and shot both parents, and his older sister, all in bed, all still sleeping. I didn’t want to know much more.
I stopped playing video games for a while. Yet, the game wouldn’t get out of my head. I just kept wanting to play it.
I eventually went to the video game store at the mall. It was lorded over by a man named Morton. Obese. 20s. Shoulder-length hair, and an air of odd arrogance, he made video game shopping at a suburban town in Ohio feel like you were trying to buy records in Brooklyn.
I approached Morton with fear. He was a hulking figure to my 13-year-old self and he had his own little empire at the only game store in town.
“I’m looking for a game, I, uh, um, my friend had it, but I can’t find it,” I started in.
“Ta-ta-ta-today…junior,” Morton mocked me with a line from Billy Madison.
The other guys in the store chuckled, turning my face to beat red.
“Have you ever heard about an unmarked Playstation game ‘from Japan?”’ I asked.
Everyone about Morton changed. He looked around the space to see if anyone was still listening then he motioned me closer, and spoke quieter.
“Where did you see that game?” He asked.
Now it was my turn to get closer and talk quietly. I explained it was Corey, and who he was, and what he did.
Morton looked even more interested, and stressed out.
He took me to a back room. Dark, the only light coming from an arcade machine in the back and a lit cigarette dangling from the teenage lips of another kid.
I knew the kid. His name was Nat. He was 15 and was known in the area as a video game prodigy. He had won just about any tournament for any game ever held in several counties and he had an interesting style - he had long hair at a time when everyone had short, he wore tight clothes at a time when everyone wore baggy, and there were rumors he did professional video game testing in California during school breaks. Nat hanging out in the secret back room of the video game store was very on-brand.
Morton had me sit down at a table as he started demolishing fun size candy bars while he told me the backstory of the video game “from Japan.”
The game wasn’t from Japan. He wasn’t sure where that mythology came from. The game was very much from the U.S. It was created by the U.S. government. When school shootings started becoming a thing there was a panic about video games, specifically first-person shooter games being the cause.
The C.I.A.’s solution was to work with a video company to create a first-person shooter game to release and hype up but to subliminally program as to control the player’s mind and steer them to non-violent thoughts.
“How do you know all this?” I asked Morton.
“The game is a real thing,” Nat said while never stopping banging away at the latest version of Mortal Kombat on the machine in the corner.
I let Morton go on. Nat was the ultimate authority to me. His girlfriend, Calyn, was my first love, even though she didn’t know who I was. She was a year ahead of me in school and I didn’t even know how she existed.
But back to the game. The game didn’t keep kids from being violent. Video games couldn’t fucking do that, but something they programmed in the game destroyed the kids who tested it - they couldn’t focus on anything else and it terrorized their minds - making them think monsters were coming to kill them, basically making them severely schizophrenic.
The worst part was something in the game seemed to make kids really want to share it. All of the test kids snuck the game out and made copies of it.
Unless someone was skilled enough to make it through the game and beat it, the game seemed to ruin their brains, and their lives, Morton explained before saying he was out of information.
“Have you played the game?” Morton asked me.
I affirmed.
“Where is the game now?” Morton asked.
I explained I had no idea. I assumed it was with Corey’s family and their stuff. No way I could get access to it.
At that point Morton explained that he wished me luck, but he could offer me no help.
“Do you know who has ever beaten the game?” I asked Morton as I could feel his body energy beg me to leave.
“I have,” Nat’s voice rose up from the corner of the room.
Nat left the room before I could ask anymore questions.
-
The game permeated my brain. All I wanted to do was play it even though I had no way to. I would see the monsters hiding in the shadows of my parents’ house and I’d stop - wait for them to jump out and attack me. I heard that terribly ominous musical score of the game in the back of my mind all the time.
If I slept, all I dreamed about was the game, and getting killed in the game, and it all felt real.
This went on for a couple of days and kept getting stronger and stronger. I had to keep playing the game.
I lost control. I got out of bed in the middle of the night and snuck out my bedroom window.
I made it to Corey’s house in a flash. There was no police tape or anything you’d expect in a movie. It was just there. The way it always was.
I went to the back of the house, where I knew there was a door that went directly into the basement, where Corey’s gaming setup was. I took the longshot that it was left unlocked.
Now this all might sound crazy, but as a severe drug addict for a good chunk of my life, trust me that my desire to play that game that night was stronger than any desire to ever do drugs, that’s how intoxicating and addicting it was. Nothing was going to stop me.
The door was unlocked and if you want to doubt that small town cops 25 years ago were that lazy…try me.
I got into the basement. The house was cold, dark, and empty, but Corey’s Playstation was still set up right there in the basement. I checked the disc inside. It was the game.
I turned on the Playstation and the game came to life. I started playing.
My feet felt like they were welded to the floor. My fingers superglued to the controller. My eyes couldn’t leave the screen.
There was no getting away from the game. I played for I have no idea how long.
I can’t remember anything until I was standing in that dark basement, playing the game, and I felt strong hands wrap around the back of my neck. Then a powerful force pushed me to the ground.
I was on the ground and I looked up and saw endless shadows filling the room around me. Dark and faceless. They looked just like the monsters in the game.
The monsters were moving in on me. They were no longer in the game. They were no longer in my head. They were now living breathing with me and dangerous.
And they were going to be on me very soon and the power they radiated at me communicated to me that I wasn’t going to last long against them.
I also got a powerful sense of something they wanted me to do. They were telling me to go to school the next day. They were telling me where my dad kept his gun. I was losing myself in their messages.
Then all of these feelings started to fade. Then the TV cut out - the game no longer broadcasting.
Someone else was in the room. Not just me and the monsters. They were dressed in all black. I couldn’t make out anything identifiable about them, other than they were human like me, and they were pushing away the monsters and they took my hand.
They got me out of the house.
Then they disappeared.
I looked back into the basement of Corey’s house - there was nothing but darkness inside.
But then, I saw a blue light come to life inside the basement room.
The game had come back on again, and it was calling me back inside with its siren song…
I was ready to go back in, taking my first steps that way when…
Someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away. They drug me all the way back to the sidewalk where they stopped and whispered into my ear:
“Go the fuck home. I won’t help you from here.”
They let me go and were gone in the night.
I walked home.
2023.03.21 21:00 AutoModerator [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
![[Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/I5ZDhTjC99Q9Qc-ip6rc5hU4qgcG1tO7XZqSTep6sVA.jpg "[Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree") | Get the course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/dan-koe-digital-economics-masters-degree/ submitted by AutoModerator to DanKoeDigitalEconomic [link] [comments] [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree https://preview.redd.it/0t1jhbafw3pa1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f7d0d6f3a63b416745ecb5c6218a032a5f922b1 What You GetPhase 0) Digital Economics 101The Digital Economics 101 module will open 1 week prior to the cohort start date.This is an onboarding module that will get you up to speed so we can get straight into the material.This will be required to finish before the start date.
Phase 1) Creating A Meaningful NicheEvery day I hear people going on and on about trying to find their niche.I also hear people talking about how they don’t know how to combine what they love talking about with what will sell.You already have the answer. You just don’t have the clarity.
Phase 2) Content StrategyThere is one thing that separates those who make it in the digital economy and those who don’t.It’s the quality, articulation, and perceived originality of their content.The content you post has to make sense to the people you attract.Everyone has a different voice and tone that they resonate with. That they are congruent with and trust.It has to change their thought patterns or behavior — that’s what makes you memorable.That’s what separates you from the sea of people posting surface-level copy-cat style posts.Example and putting my money where my mouth is:
Phase 3) Crafting Your OfferMost people are sitting on a goldmine of skills, experience, and knowledge (that they can use to help people 1-2 steps behind them).That is what people pay for.Considering 95% of the market are beginners… if you are good at something, you can help them get to your level (no matter how “basic” you think the information is).Do you not watch basic content all day anyway? People don’t want new information, they want to be reminded of what works.
Phase 4) Marketing StrategyYou aren’t making money because you aren’t promoting yourself or your offer.That is literally the only way to make money. Have something desirable and consistently put it in front of peoples’ faces.In Phase 4, I will show you how to systemize, automate, and be consistent with simple promotions.You will be able to make money without having the chance of forgetting to do it (or letting fear of failure get in the way).
Bonus) The Creator Command CenterThe Creator Command Center is a Notion template that houses all of the systems.This is how you will manage your brand, content, offer creation, marketing strategy, and systemized promotions for consistent sales.Bonus) Live Product Build & LaunchIn the first Digital Economics Cohort, I built out my course The 2 Hour Writer.I have videos showing how I build it with the strategies in phase 3 and 4.There is a bonus module that shows how I had an $85,000 launch that resulted in my first $100K month.I did this to prove the strategies inside Digital Economics work if you stick to the plan.And, this past Black Friday, I blew my that monthly high out of the water in 4 days.That’s the power of these strategies if you stay consistent with your life’s work. |
2023.03.21 21:00 AutoModerator [Share Course] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
![[Share Course] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree](https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/um7xgA0fvEWNdA7MhSe_2uCFEJQWIZnSzVmKbJwmRD0.jpg "[Share Course] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree") | Download Course link: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/dan-koe-digital-economics-masters-degree/ submitted by AutoModerator to Agency_Navigator_Gadz [link] [comments] [Share Course] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree Size: 26.38 GB Delivery: MEGA Delivery Time : Instantly https://preview.redd.it/qksi5dusxroa1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d4538317fe1268bcab3b4d3781f2911d5ece14fc What You GetPhase 0) Digital Economics 101The Digital Economics 101 module will open 1 week prior to the cohort start date.This is an onboarding module that will get you up to speed so we can get straight into the material.This will be required to finish before the start date.
Phase 1) Creating A Meaningful NicheEvery day I hear people going on and on about trying to find their niche.I also hear people talking about how they don’t know how to combine what they love talking about with what will sell.You already have the answer. You just don’t have the clarity.
Phase 2) Content StrategyThere is one thing that separates those who make it in the digital economy and those who don’t.It’s the quality, articulation, and perceived originality of their content.The content you post has to make sense to the people you attract.Everyone has a different voice and tone that they resonate with. That they are congruent with and trust.It has to change their thought patterns or behavior — that’s what makes you memorable.That’s what separates you from the sea of people posting surface-level copy-cat style posts.Example and putting my money where my mouth is:
Phase 3) Crafting Your OfferMost people are sitting on a goldmine of skills, experience, and knowledge (that they can use to help people 1-2 steps behind them).That is what people pay for.Considering 95% of the market are beginners… if you are good at something, you can help them get to your level (no matter how “basic” you think the information is).Do you not watch basic content all day anyway? People don’t want new information, they want to be reminded of what works.
Phase 4) Marketing StrategyYou aren’t making money because you aren’t promoting yourself or your offer.That is literally the only way to make money. Have something desirable and consistently put it in front of peoples’ faces.In Phase 4, I will show you how to systemize, automate, and be consistent with simple promotions.You will be able to make money without having the chance of forgetting to do it (or letting fear of failure get in the way).
Bonus) The Creator Command CenterThe Creator Command Center is a Notion template that houses all of the systems.This is how you will manage your brand, content, offer creation, marketing strategy, and systemized promotions for consistent sales.Bonus) Live Product Build & LaunchIn the first Digital Economics Cohort, I built out my course The 2 Hour Writer.I have videos showing how I build it with the strategies in phase 3 and 4.There is a bonus module that shows how I had an $85,000 launch that resulted in my first $100K month.I did this to prove the strategies inside Digital Economics work if you stick to the plan.And, this past Black Friday, I blew my that monthly high out of the water in 4 days.That’s the power of these strategies if you stay consistent with your life’s work. |
2023.03.21 20:46 TopEmployeurs Discover 2 Million Hidden Job Opportunities in USA - Get Hired Now with Our Daily Update March 21st
JobSearch #CareerOpportunities #USAJobs #HiringNow #Employment
Stay ahead in the job market with our daily update on 2 million job opportunities in the USA. From entry-level to executive positions, find your perfect fit and get hired now Tuesday March 21st new jobs available list- Outside Sales Representative
- Clean Room Operator
- Restaurant Team Member - Crew (2193 - Hanover)
- DishwasheKitchen Utility Worker
- Sitter need while mom is out of town and dad is working from home
- Service Technician
- Beckett Springs House Supervisor (RN)
- Bartenders
- Health Educator - South Central Region
- Bussers
2023.03.21 20:39 FredAndrew_US "10 Essential Tips for Buying or Selling a Home: Unlock Your Home-Buying & Selling Success!"
Are you ready to buy or sell a home in California? Whether you're a first-time home buyer or a seasoned investor, the process of buying or selling a home can be intimidating. But with the right knowledge and strategies, you can unlock your home-buying and selling success. Here are 10 essential tips for buying or selling a home in California.
submitted by FredAndrew_US to u/FredAndrew_US [link] [comments]
- Get pre-approved for a mortgage. Before you start looking for a home, it's important to get pre-approved for a mortgage. This will give you an idea of the price range that you can afford. It will also make you look more attractive to sellers, as they will know that you are serious about buying a home.
- Research the local real estate market. Conduct a thorough research of the local housing market. Look at the recent home sales in your area, and make note of the average sale price and the days on market.
- Choose the right real estate agent. Choosing the right real estate agent is key when you're looking to buy or sell a home. Make sure to select an experienced agent who specializes in your area, as they will be able to provide you with valuable insight into the local market.
- Set the right asking price. As a seller, it's important to set the right asking price before you list your home. If you set your asking price too high, you may end up with a longer time on the market. On the other hand, setting the price too low may mean you leave money on the table.
- Market your property. As a seller, you need to make sure your property is marketed to the right buyers. You can do this by taking great photos and videos of the home and listing it on the MLS. You may also want to consider hiring a professional photographer and videographer to make your home stand out.
- Prepare your home for sale. Whether you're planning to sell your home yourself or hire an agent, it's important to take the time to prepare your home for sale. Make sure to fix any repairs and add upgrades that will increase the value of your home.
- Negotiate the best price. Negotiating is an important part of buying or selling a home. When you're selling a home, make sure to get the best price for your property. If you're buying a home, make sure to get the best deal.
- Consider the hidden costs. When you're buying or selling a home, it's important to consider the various hidden costs that come with the process. For example, you may need to pay for closing costs, title insurance, inspection fees, and more.
- Understand the paperwork. When you're buying or selling a home, it's important to understand the paperwork that comes with the process. Make sure to read the paperwork carefully and ask questions if you don't understand something.
- Hire the right professionals. When you're buying or selling a home, there are certain professionals that you may need to hire. Make sure to hire the right professionals, such as a lawyer and a real estate agent, who will be able to guide you through the process.
2023.03.21 20:30 omarketing2021 Details About Owning Villas In Turkey
Villas rank second directly after apartments in high sales in Turkey, because they are a good choice for real estate investment, a suitable opportunity for housing and stability, suitable for obtaining Turkish citizenship, and you can find the rest of the details in the following link.
https://binaainvestment.com/en/articles/details-about-owning-villas-in-turkey
submitted by omarketing2021 to u/omarketing2021 [link] [comments]
https://binaainvestment.com/en/articles/details-about-owning-villas-in-turkey
2023.03.21 20:26 TopEmployeurs Discover 2 Million Hidden Job Opportunities in USA - Get Hired Now with Our Daily Update March 21st
JobSearch #CareerOpportunities #USAJobs #HiringNow #Employment
Stay ahead in the job market with our daily update on 2 million job opportunities in the USA. From entry-level to executive positions, find your perfect fit and get hired now Tuesday March 21st new jobs available list- Outside Sales Representative
- Clean Room Operator
- Restaurant Team Member - Crew (2193 - Hanover)
- DishwasheKitchen Utility Worker
- Sitter need while mom is out of town and dad is working from home
- Service Technician
- Beckett Springs House Supervisor (RN)
- Bartenders
- Health Educator - South Central Region
- Bussers
2023.03.21 20:21 DifficultLife6969 It fucking sucks how some people are just better suited to today's environment than others
If you're an introvert and you don't have a strong nack for STEM degrees/jobs, you're pretty much fucked.
But if you're an extrovert, you can be the worst STEM student in the world but make really good money in some sort of sales or management job just because you like interacting with people.
I know someone who has no degree, bounced around as a waiter in the restaurant industry for a lot of his working career, then got his real estate license a few years ago and is now making close to 6 figures. He owns his own house, has lots of toys, and is living the easy life.
His day to day job is literally just making friends with people and guiding them on home tours. It's literally paying him to just be himself and interact with people which he already loves to do.
I'd be a nervous wreck in that kind of job. Yet, he thrives and loves it. It's just not fair.
submitted by DifficultLife6969 to TrueOffMyChest [link] [comments]
But if you're an extrovert, you can be the worst STEM student in the world but make really good money in some sort of sales or management job just because you like interacting with people.
I know someone who has no degree, bounced around as a waiter in the restaurant industry for a lot of his working career, then got his real estate license a few years ago and is now making close to 6 figures. He owns his own house, has lots of toys, and is living the easy life.
His day to day job is literally just making friends with people and guiding them on home tours. It's literally paying him to just be himself and interact with people which he already loves to do.
I'd be a nervous wreck in that kind of job. Yet, he thrives and loves it. It's just not fair.
2023.03.21 20:20 Strength-InThe-Loins 20 Years Later: Green Zone
Twenty years ago this week, the United States began its blatantly criminal invasion of an unthreatening sovereign state that inevitably turned into a hideous quagmire.
I had joined the United States Marine Corps in the summer of 2001. I was still in boot camp on 9/11, which made for an interesting couple of days. In early 2002 I obtained a two-year leave of absence to ‘serve’ a Mormon mission, and by March of 2003 I was more than a year into being a full-time religious propagandist in Mexico.
The war was big news in Mexico, with public opinion generally running pretty strong against it. Given my history of relentless indoctrination, and my current assignment of telling everyone I saw that they were immorally wrong about everything that mattered, and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to consume any kind of non-religious media material of any kind, I of course took the opposite position.
But I improved with time. I came home in early 2004, and quickly discovered that the war was, at best, very badly managed. But I was back into military service (as a reservist), so I fully expected to end up being deployed to Iraq at some point.
The miserable shitshow that played out across Iraq throughout 2005 and especially 2006 convinced me that the war wasn’t just badly executed but a hopelessly terrible idea from its very beginning, supported by blatant lies and unconscionable manipulation.
When my turn to deploy finally came, in 2009, I was rather conflicted. On the one hand, I clearly understood that the war was immoral and dangerous and I should avoid it at all cost. On the other hand, I was four years into attending college and making no discernible progress towards any of the goals I had set for myself: graduating, choosing a career, getting married, existing as a functional adult. So the choice (and it was a choice: contrary to the contract I thought I’d signed, I was set to be released from service in mid-2008, and so this deployment was entirely optional for me) was fraught. I didn’t want to kill or die for a mistake; but I also didn’t want to dodge what I was sure would be the challenge of a lifetime for a second time; and I also could not say with a straight face that I had anything better to do.
So I went. It didn’t go well , but it went at least as well as I had any right to expect. I never saw anything like combat (shooting flares at a few civilian vehicles was as close as I ever got), was never in danger, and so on. But it was no picnic, either: severe and extended boredom can be just as damaging as actual trauma, and the psychological abuse inherent in military life was constant. And things weren’t entirely safe: my unit had two suicides during the work-up, and given the state of my mental health, I was never all that unlikely to have joined them.
The whole experience did me no immediate good, but as an experience with disillusionment with and escaping from an all-consuming self-admiring institution, it was a pretty decent dry run for my exit from Mormonism a few years later. And, as I had expected, it got me a year’s salary (which was probably the majority of the money I’d made in my life up to that point), and a lifetime of monthly disability payments and free health insurance. So I really can’t say I completely regret it.
The movie I’ve chosen to commemorate this anniversary is Green Zone, because it came out shortly after I came back, and I’d always wanted to see it, and I’d heard that it took an interesting angle on the whole mess, and I’d heard that it was pretty good (which is a rare quality among Iraq War movies, which have, shall we say, a mixed record ). And it’s pretty good, though of course it has some issues.
The best thing about it is how it nails the look and feel of the military occupation. The movie abounds with details large and small that just look exactly right, from US troops driving green Humvees with no doors and unprotected gun turrets* to piles of Pizza-Hut-labeled shipping containers at the airport to one of them carrying around a bottle of chewing-tobacco spit to the use of the then-new Blue Force Tracker technology. Greg Kinnear as the villain of the piece looks exactly like he should, a completely nondescript bureaucrat that would never get a second look at any white-collar office in America, incongruously transplanted into a blood-soaked conflict in an environment where only fools and the extraordinarily pampered (he is both, of course) dress like that. And I didn’t know I needed to see exactly what the Google homepage looked like in 2003, but I did, and the movie delivered.
It’s also a very good look at the culture of the US military; the briefing with Colonel Bethel is pretty spot-on (except for the one guy interrupting to speak the truth; that pretty much never happens). It’s a bit optimistic to assume that a random US military unit would have even one Arabic speaker in it, but the movie makes up for it by having him only know a dialect that’s completely useless in Iraq. The soldier who argues with Damon and tells him that the reasons for going to war don’t matter to him struck me as a perfect distillation of the me-first attitude that the US military explicitly teaches its members: the “My only job is to get home safe” dogma was basically a part of the official training materials, very much to the detriment of accomplishing any particular mission beyond that (and of course no one ever wants to talk about how obviously cowardly and selfish such an attitude is).
The movie also does well with points of view from outside of the US military, namely the absolute terror of being an Iraqi unfortunate enough to fall into US hands during the occupation, and the possibly greater terror of being on the ground when the Americans started bombing or disbanded the Iraqi army and purged the civil service, which this movie treats as an irrefutable sign of the apocalypse. Not that any of that took any great insight to determine in 2010, years after it became clear what US detention was like and how foolish it was to send thousands of unhappy armed men out into the streets with nothing to do, but it’s still good to see it stated so plainly.
One aspect that does not look so good is the trademark Paul Greengrass shaky-cam technique; it’s tolerable in the actual action scenes, which are supposed to be stressful and chaotic, but in the opening scene, in which the ‘action’ mostly involves men walking quickly down crowded hallways,** it really doesn’t work. I do wonder how Greengrass does it; does he plan and rehearse the camera movements, or just have the actors do their thing while someone waves the camera around randomly? One analysis of one of Greengrass’s Bourne movies pointed out that it seems that the camera can’t predict the characters’ movements, which adds to the sense of uncertainty and danger; I wonder how closely Greengrass controls the camera’s ‘random’ movements, and what he thinks he’s saying with them.
There are other moments that fall short of the movie’s best moments of authenticity: Damon’s first scene, in which he explains (over the radio, no less!) where his team is going and what they’ll be doing there is pure Hollywood bullshit; any such explanation would be given (likely multiple times) well before the mission actually started, and the team will try to minimize radio use while out in the field. And that’s not the only moment of clumsy exposition; once that mission fails to find anything of use, Damon laments “That’s the third one in a row,” to a roomful of guys who’ve been on all the same missions and all presumably know exactly how many of them there have been. On that same mission, someone, for some reason, uses a Geiger counter to analyze a suspected chemical weapons site, which…what?
The movie’s second-strongest sympathetic character is a CIA ‘Middle-East expert’ that knows everything he needs to know and that no one listens to. While I don’t doubt that no one important listened to anyone who knew what was going on, the thing-knower being a CIA agent that the CIA chose to send to Baghdad seems unlikely; were there any such thing-knowers left in the CIA in 2003? If so, why would leadership (which was fully behind the WMD hoax) send such an ‘unreliable’ person to such a sensitive post? Surely they knew there was a risk of him doing exactly what he ended up doing, and would have kept him as far from the action as possible.***
And how and why does he have such detailed information at his fingertips about the movements of people that don’t officially concern him? That information would be a closely guarded secret that he has no plausible official need to know. And why the hell does he dare take a very important phone call, which concerns a blatantly illegal operation he’s running off the books, on speaker in a room that’s crowded with god knows who that he very obviously can’t necessarily trust?
Once he makes contact with Damon, he sets up a meeting in the most secure part of the infamous Green Zone, which Damon is somehow able to access with minimal trouble. That strikes me as outrageously implausible; the highest security I ever experienced in Iraq was about 37 levels lower than the Green Zone (where American civilians could expect to live and work in pretty much complete safety), and even there I had to show my dog tags and scan my ID to enter the gym or the chow hall. Green Zone security would emphatically not just wave through any random US military vehicle or personnel that showed up at the gate. Damon would have to show some kind of proof that he belongs there, and since he’s going to an unauthorized meeting with a civilian far outside his chain of command, he just wouldn’t have that, and the gate guards would turn him away.
At that meeting, the CIA guy instructs Damon to get out of uniform, which is wise, but we never find out where Damon gets the civilian clothes and the civilian body armor we see him wearing right after. (I doubt he would have brought civvies with him for his invasion deployment, and even military body armor was pretty hard to come by in Iraq in 2003.) But also I understand why the movie felt it didn’t have time for a deep dive into this question. What it leads to is egregious, though; in the movie’s climactic scene, Damon, dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a clearly non-American weapon he stole from a local, runs through a combat situation involving US troops who spot him from a helicopter…and they somehow assume that he’s an American who’s on their side. What makes them think that? Did all US troops in Iraq in 2003 have implanted RFID chips that all US night-vision scopes could pick out from a distance? (No. No they did not.) Nothing at all that they can see indicates that Damon is American, but even if they knew he was American, he’s actually working against those particular US troops (who are very explicitly there to kill the man that Damon is trying to contact and rescue), and so there’s still no reason to identify him as a ‘friendly.’ This is a most unfortunate misstep, because doing it more realistically (having the US troops not know who Damon is, assume he’s their enemy, and act accordingly) would actually better serve the movie’s general theme of disunity and confusion.
Those same US troops are first seen arriving in a helicopter that suddenly arrives from below the not-very-high high ground that Damon is standing on, which means they must have been flying very low indeed (like, below rooftop level) over a very urban area, which is ridiculous; and without anyone hearing them approach from miles away, which is even more ridiculous.**** But those same US troops also drive around in Humvees at night with their headlights blazing, which is just dumb enough to be real. But what’s way too smart to be real is the timing of that helicopter arrival; Damon apprehends an important individual, and those troops (who are also looking for that person for unrelated reasons) somehow know about that and are able to arrive instantly, which…rather stretches the bounds of plausibility.
There are also some timeline issues, which are bad to have in a movie that is so closely tied to historical events on very specific dates. The invasion began on March 19, as seen in the first scene. Then we skip forward to ‘four weeks later,’ around April 16. The rest of the movie seems to take place over only a few days, and yet prominent plot points include George W. Bush’s (spit) Mission Accomplished speech (which happened on May 1), and the CPA’s dissolution of the Iraqi state apparatus (which happened on May 23). In the movie, those 22 days seem to pass in a matter of hours.
Also, and this is unbelievably petty of me, somewhere in the Green Zone, sometime at least as late as April 16, we catch a glimpse of someone watching a college basketball game (UCLA vs. Oregon, if I’m not mistaken) on TV. The final game of the 2003 NCAA tournament was played on April 7, and didn’t involve either team: Oregon lost to Utah in the first round, and UCLA didn’t even make the tournament, so that game is misplaced in time by at least a month.
Around the time it came out, I heard that this movie was a kind of Inglourious Basterds treatment of the Iraq War. While it’s certainly not NOT that (in that it’s an optimistic fantasy that revises well-known historical events about which there is little cause for optimism), it’s also different in that it doesn’t depart from the historical events nearly as much. There really was a ‘Magellan’ figure in real life, but he was called ‘Curveball,’ and, despite being pretty different from the version in the movie, he had precisely the same effect of being cited in favor of the invasion. In the movie, Magellan is an Iraqi Army officer who secretly meets with Americans to tell them that Iraq has no WMD programs. The Americans then falsely report that he’s told them Iraq has WMDs, and the war machine’s gears start to turn and the Americans plot to kill Magellan so he won’t reveal what he actually told them. In reality, Curveball was an Iraqi exile who actually told the Germans (not the Americans) what the Americans wanted to hear, because he figured it would make his asylum application (he’d fled Iraq after embezzling money from his government employer) easier. I’m not sure why the movie felt the need to change these details; an Iraqi who lies for his own gain is at least as interesting a character as an Iraqi who tells a truth that certain people are determined to disbelieve, and what US intelligence did with Curveball’s obviously flawed reports was hardly any more honest than blatantly telling the world he’d said something he never said.
The movie isn’t really clear what it thinks Damon’s heroism amounts to. He leaks his final report to every news outlet he can think of. Perhaps one of them will publish, but perhaps not. News outlets strive to scoop each other, but sometimes, as the real-life Iraq War amply shows, they collude to cover things up, especially when it’s something as explosive and ‘unpatriotic’ as “The whole reason for this very popular war was a complete lie.” Furthermore, how credible is Damon’s information? It’s based entirely on conversations he says he had with an enemy general who is now dead. No one has any reason to believe these conversations took place, or if they did that the general said what Damon says he said, or if he did that he wasn’t mistaken or lying.
But even if someone does publish, it will make no difference. US troops are already in Baghdad, and the CPA has already taken the plunge that made civil war inevitable. A report (even one whose credibility is bulletproof, which this one very much is not) that the whole war was based on a lie will not change anything, any more than it did in real life when the lack of WMDs and the falsity of the pre-war intelligence became similarly clear on a similar timeline.
In any case, Damon’s Army career is over. He leaked a very sensitive internal document, using an email account under his own name. He might not be guaranteed to go to prison, but he has to be in a shitload of trouble. The Army quietly booting him out and never speaking of this again is the absolute best-case scenario for him.
The movie’s two main sympathetic characters take turns reminding each other to not be naïve, but the movie itself is pretty naïve if it thinks that what we see is a happy ending. Or maybe it’s not meant to be a happy ending, and I’m the one being naïve.
In any case, I was expecting the SF team led by Jason Isaacs to kill Damon and then, upon realizing who he was, hype him up as a hero who gave his life for his country, thus completely obscuring the very unpatriotic truth about what he died doing and why. You know, a slightly worse version of exactly what the real-life Army actually did with the actual case of Pat Tillman.
The movie also runs into trouble upon consideration of its moral perspective; movies love the idea of someone going rogue, breaking whatever rules get in the way of ‘doing the right thing,’ as Damon does throughout the movie. But that’s the whole problem with the Iraq War, isn’t it? Government officials decided that brutalizing Iraq was ‘the right thing,’ and they broke any number of rules of humanity and decency (not to mention actual laws) to make it happen. They went rogue exactly as Damon does, so who can really say that he’s right and they’re wrong?
His confrontation with Amy Ryan’s reporter character also struck me as backwards; the movie wants us to see it as Damon, the heroic teller of inconvenient truths, heroically confronting the corrupt and decadent and much more powerful peddler of lies. But it’s really not that at all; she got lied to just as hard as he did, and he’s a heavily armed agent of the state security apparatus upon which her life and safety directly depend. It’s pretty ridiculous to see him as any kind of underdog in that situation.
Some stray observations:
It’s pretty funny that the early scene at the airport shows the blown-up remains of a large cargo plane, given the famous fate of the An-225 in that other, more recent, blatantly criminal invasion of an unthreatening sovereign state that inevitably turns into a hideous quagmire.
I was surprised by how much of the spoken Arabic I understood; I ‘studied’ Arabic for two years in college, and didn’t really get anywhere with it, but there were multiple instances where seeing the English word in the subtitles brought to mind a particular Arabic word that the characters promptly said. (These include ‘ichwan’ for ‘brothers,’ ‘kul il balad’ for ‘the entire country,’ ‘bernamaj’ for ‘program,’ and some others.)
Ben Sliney is in the cast as a random bureaucrat in the background of one of the Green Zone scenes. This is the air-traffic-control official who gave the ground-all-flights order on 9/11, and then legendarily played himself in the movie United 93. This is his only other non-documentary film credit, so I hope he kept his day job.
*By the time I got to Iraq, the Humvees had all been painted desert-tan and heavily armored, but my understanding is that this change did not take hold until like 2007.
**In a manner unfortunately reminiscent of George Bluth Senior ‘running with great intensity.’ Yes, this is foreshadowing. It is inevitable, because despite its ambitions, this movie proves that the definitive Hollywood treatment of the Iraq War is still selected episodes of Arrested Development. (And Generation Kill, which I considered revisiting for this anniversary post.)
***I do enjoy how Kinnear frames the idea of people who know things: they’re ‘dinosaurs’ with heads full of ‘old ideas,’ which sounds like he’s being boldly innovative and courageously resisting hidebound bureaucracies that have outlived their usefulness. But of course the ‘old ideas’ are things like ‘Know what the hell is going on’ and ‘Don’t assume you can simply kill anyone you don’t like,’ and Kinnear’s ‘bold innovations’ are just clueless wishful thinking.
****Movies very often miss this detail, but helicopters are really loud. Almost as loud as gunfire, though of course movies also very often fail to convey how loud gunfire is. It is impossible for a low-flying helicopter to sneak up like that on anyone with functional ears. They’d be drowning out any attempt at conversation before they got within hundreds of yards.
submitted by Strength-InThe-Loins to LookBackInAnger [link] [comments]
I had joined the United States Marine Corps in the summer of 2001. I was still in boot camp on 9/11, which made for an interesting couple of days. In early 2002 I obtained a two-year leave of absence to ‘serve’ a Mormon mission, and by March of 2003 I was more than a year into being a full-time religious propagandist in Mexico.
The war was big news in Mexico, with public opinion generally running pretty strong against it. Given my history of relentless indoctrination, and my current assignment of telling everyone I saw that they were immorally wrong about everything that mattered, and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to consume any kind of non-religious media material of any kind, I of course took the opposite position.
But I improved with time. I came home in early 2004, and quickly discovered that the war was, at best, very badly managed. But I was back into military service (as a reservist), so I fully expected to end up being deployed to Iraq at some point.
The miserable shitshow that played out across Iraq throughout 2005 and especially 2006 convinced me that the war wasn’t just badly executed but a hopelessly terrible idea from its very beginning, supported by blatant lies and unconscionable manipulation.
When my turn to deploy finally came, in 2009, I was rather conflicted. On the one hand, I clearly understood that the war was immoral and dangerous and I should avoid it at all cost. On the other hand, I was four years into attending college and making no discernible progress towards any of the goals I had set for myself: graduating, choosing a career, getting married, existing as a functional adult. So the choice (and it was a choice: contrary to the contract I thought I’d signed, I was set to be released from service in mid-2008, and so this deployment was entirely optional for me) was fraught. I didn’t want to kill or die for a mistake; but I also didn’t want to dodge what I was sure would be the challenge of a lifetime for a second time; and I also could not say with a straight face that I had anything better to do.
So I went. It didn’t go well , but it went at least as well as I had any right to expect. I never saw anything like combat (shooting flares at a few civilian vehicles was as close as I ever got), was never in danger, and so on. But it was no picnic, either: severe and extended boredom can be just as damaging as actual trauma, and the psychological abuse inherent in military life was constant. And things weren’t entirely safe: my unit had two suicides during the work-up, and given the state of my mental health, I was never all that unlikely to have joined them.
The whole experience did me no immediate good, but as an experience with disillusionment with and escaping from an all-consuming self-admiring institution, it was a pretty decent dry run for my exit from Mormonism a few years later. And, as I had expected, it got me a year’s salary (which was probably the majority of the money I’d made in my life up to that point), and a lifetime of monthly disability payments and free health insurance. So I really can’t say I completely regret it.
The movie I’ve chosen to commemorate this anniversary is Green Zone, because it came out shortly after I came back, and I’d always wanted to see it, and I’d heard that it took an interesting angle on the whole mess, and I’d heard that it was pretty good (which is a rare quality among Iraq War movies, which have, shall we say, a mixed record ). And it’s pretty good, though of course it has some issues.
The best thing about it is how it nails the look and feel of the military occupation. The movie abounds with details large and small that just look exactly right, from US troops driving green Humvees with no doors and unprotected gun turrets* to piles of Pizza-Hut-labeled shipping containers at the airport to one of them carrying around a bottle of chewing-tobacco spit to the use of the then-new Blue Force Tracker technology. Greg Kinnear as the villain of the piece looks exactly like he should, a completely nondescript bureaucrat that would never get a second look at any white-collar office in America, incongruously transplanted into a blood-soaked conflict in an environment where only fools and the extraordinarily pampered (he is both, of course) dress like that. And I didn’t know I needed to see exactly what the Google homepage looked like in 2003, but I did, and the movie delivered.
It’s also a very good look at the culture of the US military; the briefing with Colonel Bethel is pretty spot-on (except for the one guy interrupting to speak the truth; that pretty much never happens). It’s a bit optimistic to assume that a random US military unit would have even one Arabic speaker in it, but the movie makes up for it by having him only know a dialect that’s completely useless in Iraq. The soldier who argues with Damon and tells him that the reasons for going to war don’t matter to him struck me as a perfect distillation of the me-first attitude that the US military explicitly teaches its members: the “My only job is to get home safe” dogma was basically a part of the official training materials, very much to the detriment of accomplishing any particular mission beyond that (and of course no one ever wants to talk about how obviously cowardly and selfish such an attitude is).
The movie also does well with points of view from outside of the US military, namely the absolute terror of being an Iraqi unfortunate enough to fall into US hands during the occupation, and the possibly greater terror of being on the ground when the Americans started bombing or disbanded the Iraqi army and purged the civil service, which this movie treats as an irrefutable sign of the apocalypse. Not that any of that took any great insight to determine in 2010, years after it became clear what US detention was like and how foolish it was to send thousands of unhappy armed men out into the streets with nothing to do, but it’s still good to see it stated so plainly.
One aspect that does not look so good is the trademark Paul Greengrass shaky-cam technique; it’s tolerable in the actual action scenes, which are supposed to be stressful and chaotic, but in the opening scene, in which the ‘action’ mostly involves men walking quickly down crowded hallways,** it really doesn’t work. I do wonder how Greengrass does it; does he plan and rehearse the camera movements, or just have the actors do their thing while someone waves the camera around randomly? One analysis of one of Greengrass’s Bourne movies pointed out that it seems that the camera can’t predict the characters’ movements, which adds to the sense of uncertainty and danger; I wonder how closely Greengrass controls the camera’s ‘random’ movements, and what he thinks he’s saying with them.
There are other moments that fall short of the movie’s best moments of authenticity: Damon’s first scene, in which he explains (over the radio, no less!) where his team is going and what they’ll be doing there is pure Hollywood bullshit; any such explanation would be given (likely multiple times) well before the mission actually started, and the team will try to minimize radio use while out in the field. And that’s not the only moment of clumsy exposition; once that mission fails to find anything of use, Damon laments “That’s the third one in a row,” to a roomful of guys who’ve been on all the same missions and all presumably know exactly how many of them there have been. On that same mission, someone, for some reason, uses a Geiger counter to analyze a suspected chemical weapons site, which…what?
The movie’s second-strongest sympathetic character is a CIA ‘Middle-East expert’ that knows everything he needs to know and that no one listens to. While I don’t doubt that no one important listened to anyone who knew what was going on, the thing-knower being a CIA agent that the CIA chose to send to Baghdad seems unlikely; were there any such thing-knowers left in the CIA in 2003? If so, why would leadership (which was fully behind the WMD hoax) send such an ‘unreliable’ person to such a sensitive post? Surely they knew there was a risk of him doing exactly what he ended up doing, and would have kept him as far from the action as possible.***
And how and why does he have such detailed information at his fingertips about the movements of people that don’t officially concern him? That information would be a closely guarded secret that he has no plausible official need to know. And why the hell does he dare take a very important phone call, which concerns a blatantly illegal operation he’s running off the books, on speaker in a room that’s crowded with god knows who that he very obviously can’t necessarily trust?
Once he makes contact with Damon, he sets up a meeting in the most secure part of the infamous Green Zone, which Damon is somehow able to access with minimal trouble. That strikes me as outrageously implausible; the highest security I ever experienced in Iraq was about 37 levels lower than the Green Zone (where American civilians could expect to live and work in pretty much complete safety), and even there I had to show my dog tags and scan my ID to enter the gym or the chow hall. Green Zone security would emphatically not just wave through any random US military vehicle or personnel that showed up at the gate. Damon would have to show some kind of proof that he belongs there, and since he’s going to an unauthorized meeting with a civilian far outside his chain of command, he just wouldn’t have that, and the gate guards would turn him away.
At that meeting, the CIA guy instructs Damon to get out of uniform, which is wise, but we never find out where Damon gets the civilian clothes and the civilian body armor we see him wearing right after. (I doubt he would have brought civvies with him for his invasion deployment, and even military body armor was pretty hard to come by in Iraq in 2003.) But also I understand why the movie felt it didn’t have time for a deep dive into this question. What it leads to is egregious, though; in the movie’s climactic scene, Damon, dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a clearly non-American weapon he stole from a local, runs through a combat situation involving US troops who spot him from a helicopter…and they somehow assume that he’s an American who’s on their side. What makes them think that? Did all US troops in Iraq in 2003 have implanted RFID chips that all US night-vision scopes could pick out from a distance? (No. No they did not.) Nothing at all that they can see indicates that Damon is American, but even if they knew he was American, he’s actually working against those particular US troops (who are very explicitly there to kill the man that Damon is trying to contact and rescue), and so there’s still no reason to identify him as a ‘friendly.’ This is a most unfortunate misstep, because doing it more realistically (having the US troops not know who Damon is, assume he’s their enemy, and act accordingly) would actually better serve the movie’s general theme of disunity and confusion.
Those same US troops are first seen arriving in a helicopter that suddenly arrives from below the not-very-high high ground that Damon is standing on, which means they must have been flying very low indeed (like, below rooftop level) over a very urban area, which is ridiculous; and without anyone hearing them approach from miles away, which is even more ridiculous.**** But those same US troops also drive around in Humvees at night with their headlights blazing, which is just dumb enough to be real. But what’s way too smart to be real is the timing of that helicopter arrival; Damon apprehends an important individual, and those troops (who are also looking for that person for unrelated reasons) somehow know about that and are able to arrive instantly, which…rather stretches the bounds of plausibility.
There are also some timeline issues, which are bad to have in a movie that is so closely tied to historical events on very specific dates. The invasion began on March 19, as seen in the first scene. Then we skip forward to ‘four weeks later,’ around April 16. The rest of the movie seems to take place over only a few days, and yet prominent plot points include George W. Bush’s (spit) Mission Accomplished speech (which happened on May 1), and the CPA’s dissolution of the Iraqi state apparatus (which happened on May 23). In the movie, those 22 days seem to pass in a matter of hours.
Also, and this is unbelievably petty of me, somewhere in the Green Zone, sometime at least as late as April 16, we catch a glimpse of someone watching a college basketball game (UCLA vs. Oregon, if I’m not mistaken) on TV. The final game of the 2003 NCAA tournament was played on April 7, and didn’t involve either team: Oregon lost to Utah in the first round, and UCLA didn’t even make the tournament, so that game is misplaced in time by at least a month.
Around the time it came out, I heard that this movie was a kind of Inglourious Basterds treatment of the Iraq War. While it’s certainly not NOT that (in that it’s an optimistic fantasy that revises well-known historical events about which there is little cause for optimism), it’s also different in that it doesn’t depart from the historical events nearly as much. There really was a ‘Magellan’ figure in real life, but he was called ‘Curveball,’ and, despite being pretty different from the version in the movie, he had precisely the same effect of being cited in favor of the invasion. In the movie, Magellan is an Iraqi Army officer who secretly meets with Americans to tell them that Iraq has no WMD programs. The Americans then falsely report that he’s told them Iraq has WMDs, and the war machine’s gears start to turn and the Americans plot to kill Magellan so he won’t reveal what he actually told them. In reality, Curveball was an Iraqi exile who actually told the Germans (not the Americans) what the Americans wanted to hear, because he figured it would make his asylum application (he’d fled Iraq after embezzling money from his government employer) easier. I’m not sure why the movie felt the need to change these details; an Iraqi who lies for his own gain is at least as interesting a character as an Iraqi who tells a truth that certain people are determined to disbelieve, and what US intelligence did with Curveball’s obviously flawed reports was hardly any more honest than blatantly telling the world he’d said something he never said.
The movie isn’t really clear what it thinks Damon’s heroism amounts to. He leaks his final report to every news outlet he can think of. Perhaps one of them will publish, but perhaps not. News outlets strive to scoop each other, but sometimes, as the real-life Iraq War amply shows, they collude to cover things up, especially when it’s something as explosive and ‘unpatriotic’ as “The whole reason for this very popular war was a complete lie.” Furthermore, how credible is Damon’s information? It’s based entirely on conversations he says he had with an enemy general who is now dead. No one has any reason to believe these conversations took place, or if they did that the general said what Damon says he said, or if he did that he wasn’t mistaken or lying.
But even if someone does publish, it will make no difference. US troops are already in Baghdad, and the CPA has already taken the plunge that made civil war inevitable. A report (even one whose credibility is bulletproof, which this one very much is not) that the whole war was based on a lie will not change anything, any more than it did in real life when the lack of WMDs and the falsity of the pre-war intelligence became similarly clear on a similar timeline.
In any case, Damon’s Army career is over. He leaked a very sensitive internal document, using an email account under his own name. He might not be guaranteed to go to prison, but he has to be in a shitload of trouble. The Army quietly booting him out and never speaking of this again is the absolute best-case scenario for him.
The movie’s two main sympathetic characters take turns reminding each other to not be naïve, but the movie itself is pretty naïve if it thinks that what we see is a happy ending. Or maybe it’s not meant to be a happy ending, and I’m the one being naïve.
In any case, I was expecting the SF team led by Jason Isaacs to kill Damon and then, upon realizing who he was, hype him up as a hero who gave his life for his country, thus completely obscuring the very unpatriotic truth about what he died doing and why. You know, a slightly worse version of exactly what the real-life Army actually did with the actual case of Pat Tillman.
The movie also runs into trouble upon consideration of its moral perspective; movies love the idea of someone going rogue, breaking whatever rules get in the way of ‘doing the right thing,’ as Damon does throughout the movie. But that’s the whole problem with the Iraq War, isn’t it? Government officials decided that brutalizing Iraq was ‘the right thing,’ and they broke any number of rules of humanity and decency (not to mention actual laws) to make it happen. They went rogue exactly as Damon does, so who can really say that he’s right and they’re wrong?
His confrontation with Amy Ryan’s reporter character also struck me as backwards; the movie wants us to see it as Damon, the heroic teller of inconvenient truths, heroically confronting the corrupt and decadent and much more powerful peddler of lies. But it’s really not that at all; she got lied to just as hard as he did, and he’s a heavily armed agent of the state security apparatus upon which her life and safety directly depend. It’s pretty ridiculous to see him as any kind of underdog in that situation.
Some stray observations:
It’s pretty funny that the early scene at the airport shows the blown-up remains of a large cargo plane, given the famous fate of the An-225 in that other, more recent, blatantly criminal invasion of an unthreatening sovereign state that inevitably turns into a hideous quagmire.
I was surprised by how much of the spoken Arabic I understood; I ‘studied’ Arabic for two years in college, and didn’t really get anywhere with it, but there were multiple instances where seeing the English word in the subtitles brought to mind a particular Arabic word that the characters promptly said. (These include ‘ichwan’ for ‘brothers,’ ‘kul il balad’ for ‘the entire country,’ ‘bernamaj’ for ‘program,’ and some others.)
Ben Sliney is in the cast as a random bureaucrat in the background of one of the Green Zone scenes. This is the air-traffic-control official who gave the ground-all-flights order on 9/11, and then legendarily played himself in the movie United 93. This is his only other non-documentary film credit, so I hope he kept his day job.
*By the time I got to Iraq, the Humvees had all been painted desert-tan and heavily armored, but my understanding is that this change did not take hold until like 2007.
**In a manner unfortunately reminiscent of George Bluth Senior ‘running with great intensity.’ Yes, this is foreshadowing. It is inevitable, because despite its ambitions, this movie proves that the definitive Hollywood treatment of the Iraq War is still selected episodes of Arrested Development. (And Generation Kill, which I considered revisiting for this anniversary post.)
***I do enjoy how Kinnear frames the idea of people who know things: they’re ‘dinosaurs’ with heads full of ‘old ideas,’ which sounds like he’s being boldly innovative and courageously resisting hidebound bureaucracies that have outlived their usefulness. But of course the ‘old ideas’ are things like ‘Know what the hell is going on’ and ‘Don’t assume you can simply kill anyone you don’t like,’ and Kinnear’s ‘bold innovations’ are just clueless wishful thinking.
****Movies very often miss this detail, but helicopters are really loud. Almost as loud as gunfire, though of course movies also very often fail to convey how loud gunfire is. It is impossible for a low-flying helicopter to sneak up like that on anyone with functional ears. They’d be drowning out any attempt at conversation before they got within hundreds of yards.
2023.03.21 20:19 I_see_snacks Heading into a failure to disclose mediation
We purchased a home in California. The sellers agent said there was a tiny little laptop fire, no big deal. It was repaired through insurance. The inspections didn’t identify any issues related to water damage or fire damage. We have since uncovered hidden water and fire damage behind drywall, charred and water damaged framing left in place, water damaged and moldy subfloors under new vinyl planks installed prior to the sale. Come to find out, the fire was massive, house sat for over a year with holes in the roof open to the elements, and repairs started, they were obviously done inadequately.
We brought this to the attention of the agents and sellers. Gave them the benefit of the doubt and asked them to either reopen the insurance claim or assist us in going after the contractor, since they were the only ones with a contract. They refused and asked us not to contact them again.
The damages are extensive. Over $200k. We are heading into mediation next week. I’m desperately looking for specific cases where sellers were held accountable for repairs done by contractors. They are claiming ignorance.
Any cases, sources, and advice would be so appreciated. This is my first time involved in anything legal and it’s daunting. I’m probably not using the right keywords during my search because I can’t seem to find specific cases. Just general knowledge that they are on the hook for the work done by the contractor if they disclose that it was “repaired or fixed.”
A million thanks!
submitted by I_see_snacks to legaladvice [link] [comments]
We brought this to the attention of the agents and sellers. Gave them the benefit of the doubt and asked them to either reopen the insurance claim or assist us in going after the contractor, since they were the only ones with a contract. They refused and asked us not to contact them again.
The damages are extensive. Over $200k. We are heading into mediation next week. I’m desperately looking for specific cases where sellers were held accountable for repairs done by contractors. They are claiming ignorance.
Any cases, sources, and advice would be so appreciated. This is my first time involved in anything legal and it’s daunting. I’m probably not using the right keywords during my search because I can’t seem to find specific cases. Just general knowledge that they are on the hook for the work done by the contractor if they disclose that it was “repaired or fixed.”
A million thanks!
2023.03.21 20:19 point6liter Trip report - first DMTA Trip
Spoiler : long ass detailed post, first paragraph is pre flight itinerary, second is report.
Apologies as this is the first report I’ve taken the time to actually write.
I spent some time over the weekend turning some ACRB into NNDMT after a friend handed me a 50g bag of wood chips and asked if I’d be interested in using my knowledge to turn them into something useful. I obliged, and had some pretty decent success. Weighed out somewhere around ~30mg (I desperately need something lower range, .00 doesn’t cut it for accuracy if anyones curious) and dropped it into my concentrate pen. Made a cup of tea. Had a small snack. Went in my spare “quiet room”, got my mats out, stretched,then began meditating for a bit to ground myself and get ready for the adventure to come. I do not normally do this for for other trips but I wanted to make sure I was putting myself in the best position possible for this experience. I have been struggling with alot of Heath stuff (which has a huge effect on my mental health most days), which is why I decided to use my normal “grounding ritual” beforehand. Moved to my favorite spot on the couch and snuggled up with my blanket and continued on with my meditative breathing for a minute or two. Took a couple sips of my turmeric tea, sat back, and decided now is the time.
First hit. 1256a. Three second long pull, hold for ~20s, exhale. Cartoonish geometric patterns with constant insanely vibrant bright colors shifting from one end of the spectrum to the other begin dancing into my vision, begins building in intensity and I feel it kind of plateau out, doing my best to keep steady and not get anxious about #2…. Take second hit (lil smaller) geometric patterns begin flashing, faster, and changing with growing intensity, as does my sense of an unseen presence taunting me (in an innocent/loving/friendly manner to “come dance in the lights with me” I think “even though i despise dancing, this entity is someone I feel I really need to meet and dance with” but I can’t see it and I don’t know where to go. I can feel this presence and it feels so familiar, like we both know each other and miss each other dearly. At this point I begin to get a little anxious about not being able to figure out how to find said entity before I lose my chance, but before the anxiety has a chance to take any kind of hold, from behind me comes what I perceived to be a little girl figure dressed in yellow (or maybe she was just yellow) who grabs my hand and looks at me and smiles this gleeful yet love filled smile. The little girl is my older sister at a young age (she was my best friend until she passed from cystic fibrosis @21 in 2009, life shattering event of me). That instant, I felt my consciousness de materialize, and be reconstructed instantly, just somewhere different. I went from what was the geometric patterns turned random ass figures geometrically dancing in circles and patterns, to some kinda plain landscape with a white rectangular floor with like three sides of the house present but built like 10’ away from the little white foundation I suddenly found myself on. Peppered about are some random “trees”. All of it at this point is happening in plain black/white lines or solid black grass/trees (kinda 2D but a different kinda 2D). Almost like Harold and the purple crayon style. This “little yellow girl” entity has my hand still and is tugging on me begging me to come but I am trying to tell her that I’m not sure if I even can for whatever reason I was telling hemyself. She continues tugging and telling me “there’s no reason for you not come visit. You belong here. This is your home as much as mine” I realize as she continues tugging my arm that my legs are molded/I am part of the foundation of the three walled house I’m standing on, and my legs are spaghettifying and I just think “there really is no reason why I can’t” and my legs snap and detach from the foundation. My legs and the rest of my “self” (which was essentially a shadow/silhouette of myself) continue spaghettifying as the little yellow girl still has me by the hand and we fucking BLAST through some starfield (it felt like I was the tiniest spec of dust traveling at multi light speed hand in hand with this loving/caring little girl that is excited to show me THIS.) We breach the starfield and it becomes the BLACK. Specs of stars peppered about, but we are pointed at some non earth white and blue planet. I don’t remember if anything happened after that. End @ 0114a. Felt like seconds then it was over. There are no words to describe my amazement at this experience. 10/10.
Safe travels, friends.
submitted by point6liter to Psychonaut [link] [comments]
Apologies as this is the first report I’ve taken the time to actually write.
I spent some time over the weekend turning some ACRB into NNDMT after a friend handed me a 50g bag of wood chips and asked if I’d be interested in using my knowledge to turn them into something useful. I obliged, and had some pretty decent success. Weighed out somewhere around ~30mg (I desperately need something lower range, .00 doesn’t cut it for accuracy if anyones curious) and dropped it into my concentrate pen. Made a cup of tea. Had a small snack. Went in my spare “quiet room”, got my mats out, stretched,then began meditating for a bit to ground myself and get ready for the adventure to come. I do not normally do this for for other trips but I wanted to make sure I was putting myself in the best position possible for this experience. I have been struggling with alot of Heath stuff (which has a huge effect on my mental health most days), which is why I decided to use my normal “grounding ritual” beforehand. Moved to my favorite spot on the couch and snuggled up with my blanket and continued on with my meditative breathing for a minute or two. Took a couple sips of my turmeric tea, sat back, and decided now is the time.
First hit. 1256a. Three second long pull, hold for ~20s, exhale. Cartoonish geometric patterns with constant insanely vibrant bright colors shifting from one end of the spectrum to the other begin dancing into my vision, begins building in intensity and I feel it kind of plateau out, doing my best to keep steady and not get anxious about #2…. Take second hit (lil smaller) geometric patterns begin flashing, faster, and changing with growing intensity, as does my sense of an unseen presence taunting me (in an innocent/loving/friendly manner to “come dance in the lights with me” I think “even though i despise dancing, this entity is someone I feel I really need to meet and dance with” but I can’t see it and I don’t know where to go. I can feel this presence and it feels so familiar, like we both know each other and miss each other dearly. At this point I begin to get a little anxious about not being able to figure out how to find said entity before I lose my chance, but before the anxiety has a chance to take any kind of hold, from behind me comes what I perceived to be a little girl figure dressed in yellow (or maybe she was just yellow) who grabs my hand and looks at me and smiles this gleeful yet love filled smile. The little girl is my older sister at a young age (she was my best friend until she passed from cystic fibrosis @21 in 2009, life shattering event of me). That instant, I felt my consciousness de materialize, and be reconstructed instantly, just somewhere different. I went from what was the geometric patterns turned random ass figures geometrically dancing in circles and patterns, to some kinda plain landscape with a white rectangular floor with like three sides of the house present but built like 10’ away from the little white foundation I suddenly found myself on. Peppered about are some random “trees”. All of it at this point is happening in plain black/white lines or solid black grass/trees (kinda 2D but a different kinda 2D). Almost like Harold and the purple crayon style. This “little yellow girl” entity has my hand still and is tugging on me begging me to come but I am trying to tell her that I’m not sure if I even can for whatever reason I was telling hemyself. She continues tugging and telling me “there’s no reason for you not come visit. You belong here. This is your home as much as mine” I realize as she continues tugging my arm that my legs are molded/I am part of the foundation of the three walled house I’m standing on, and my legs are spaghettifying and I just think “there really is no reason why I can’t” and my legs snap and detach from the foundation. My legs and the rest of my “self” (which was essentially a shadow/silhouette of myself) continue spaghettifying as the little yellow girl still has me by the hand and we fucking BLAST through some starfield (it felt like I was the tiniest spec of dust traveling at multi light speed hand in hand with this loving/caring little girl that is excited to show me THIS.) We breach the starfield and it becomes the BLACK. Specs of stars peppered about, but we are pointed at some non earth white and blue planet. I don’t remember if anything happened after that. End @ 0114a. Felt like seconds then it was over. There are no words to describe my amazement at this experience. 10/10.
Safe travels, friends.
2023.03.21 20:19 Microchips8654 I think I have made a mistake taking my current job.
I recently started a new job a week ago, now I'm really starting to think I made the wrong move. Maybe some of you may have heard of the company, maybe not. The company is called Vector Marketing, and it's the sales division of Cutco knives. After some research it sounded like people say this job is a scam because it's what's called MLM (multi level marketing) others have said it's just a plain pyramid scheme. I mean the job is ok I guess there was definitely a lot of dishonesty on the company's part during the interview
"We aren't a "pushy salesman" type company" ❌ not true in this job it really seems like they expect you to be pushy
They aren't upfront about the product they sell (cutlery) until later on in the job interview.
They expect you to get as MANY people you can to listen to your "demo"
Base pay is good but it's only per appointment, so if your base pay is 20 with only 3 appointments that week that only 60 bucks
Commission pay isn't really that great it's like 10% when you start off so say you have three appointments that week with a base pay of 20 and you sell 300 dollars worth of products that's only 30 dollars commission so your making 90 bucks in a paycheck. So the pay is absolute crap
I mean yeah my managers are super friendly but they really seem like they want you to book up as many appointments as possible. And most people don't want to shill out the amount for some of our products (they aren't cheap), so most appointments is a no sale,
It seems like a good job to learn how to sell things but it seems terrible for the amount of work to pay ratio isn't very good. Any advice?
submitted by Microchips8654 to Advice [link] [comments]
"We aren't a "pushy salesman" type company" ❌ not true in this job it really seems like they expect you to be pushy
They aren't upfront about the product they sell (cutlery) until later on in the job interview.
They expect you to get as MANY people you can to listen to your "demo"
Base pay is good but it's only per appointment, so if your base pay is 20 with only 3 appointments that week that only 60 bucks
Commission pay isn't really that great it's like 10% when you start off so say you have three appointments that week with a base pay of 20 and you sell 300 dollars worth of products that's only 30 dollars commission so your making 90 bucks in a paycheck. So the pay is absolute crap
I mean yeah my managers are super friendly but they really seem like they want you to book up as many appointments as possible. And most people don't want to shill out the amount for some of our products (they aren't cheap), so most appointments is a no sale,
It seems like a good job to learn how to sell things but it seems terrible for the amount of work to pay ratio isn't very good. Any advice?
2023.03.21 20:14 fabulistt 8 Days Solo Trip in Paris - Lovely Trip Despite Protests, Bugs and Garbage
This was a solo trip but I did have some friends working locally in Paris, so my evenings/dinners were spent with them. I had a great time with a relaxed itinerary, just getting to know the city and spending way more time in the museums than I could have if I wasn't alone. I loved it!
Day 1 (Sunday): Reached around 2pm, struggled to find my Uber driver from the airport. There was tons of traffic and he did not speak English, so it took a while. Managed eventually. Met up with a friend to visit Eiffel and have a little wine and cheese picnic. This is where I got bitten seven or eight times by some buggies and had a pretty bad reaction with swelling and blisters I had to deal with for the rest of the trip. Noted: picnics in Paris are just like picnics anywhere else. Definitely should have brought bug spray. We then walked along the Seine and to Place du Trocadero to get some nice photos. On the crowded bus from here to the restaurant, we both felt like someone had tried to snatch items from inside our pockets. Luckily it was the only time this happened. If you read online you will see this is the most risky pickpocketing area. Had dessert at La Crème de Paris which kind of felt like a tourist trap. They told us to order more food than what we wanted in order to be served. I quickly realized I preferred the vibe of all those lovely cafes we passed by instead of a place like this so I never went to these types of touristy restaurants again. Was a perfectly fine restaurant, just not my favorite experience.
Day 2 (Monday): Enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. I was grateful to have booked an international hotel with breakfast included just because I felt a little overwhelmed by French-only waiters and menus at the cafes. They are really nice cafes everywhere which I loved but at the same time for me it was nice to be able to speak English and feel a little at home in the hotel. Went for Bateaux Mouches tour, walked around nearby looking at then had tea at La Duree nearby where the service was amazing and super friendly. Walked around Champs-Elysees until I reached the Arc de Triomphe, took some photos and then headed back to the hotel to chill a bit before meeting some friends for dinner.
Day 3 (Tuesday): Visited the Cluny Museum, absolutely awesome museum with a section of the museum build inside an ancient Roman bath house. With the audio tour, I spent 4-5 hours inside. Afterwards, I headed to the Pantheon to see the panoramic view, but it turned out that it was closed until April. I didn't think it was worth the ticket so I just poked my head inside to look from the ticket booth and then walked to Luxembourg gardens and then back towards the Seine. Grabbed a crepe and coffee on the way. The streets, shops, and cafes in this area were also charming.
Day 4 (Wednesday): As I was planning for this day on the previous night, many museums had warnings that they may be closed or delay opening due to the protests. Online reservation for the Louvre was also closed. So, I showed up at Louvre without a reservation. It was a mistake! I found the Carousel entrance which had an absolutely insane line. While standing there, I made a reservation for Friday and then found the izi Paris walking tour on Spotify to do instead, which I happened to enjoy immensely. The tour didn't include the Palais Garnier, which is nearby, so when I realized it was nearby I headed over there next. Had a drink on the rooftop of Printemps Haussmann which was excellent. I later learned that Galeries Lafayette has an even better rooftop, will definitely check it out next time. Tour link is here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5lE6xsGAesT3vr3YnAap4p?si=47cd87c8f36c4879
Day 5 (Thursday): After walking 30k steps the previous day, I needed a break so I headed to L'atelier des Lumières to see the art museum where you don't have to walk! It was a nice and relaxing show. Since the show goes on repeat, I stayed there for a while and researched for the rest of my trip. From there, I headed to Montmartre, climbed to the top of Sacre Coeur, and loved the view. There were a few buggies here too but I had my bug spray. In my opinion this is the best view in Paris. While shopping around in the cute streets of Montmartre, I checked out the Van Gogh apartment (no signage there), visited Moulin Rouge, and enjoyed some drinks under the windmill at Le Bar a Bulles.
Day 6 (Friday): Louvre day. This time, there was no line at the Carousel entrance. With the audioguide, I spent around 6-7 hours inside. Made sure to check off Mona Lisa and Michelangelo first, then headed over to the The Napoleon III apartments and then spent the rest of the time exploring Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Eastern antiquities. Clocked in 20k steps.
Day 7 (Saturday): Versaillles Day. Slept in a little and then headed over to Versailles for 1pm entry. There was a huge queue but it moved pretty fast. I was actually extremely tired after Louvre and didn't care to look at so much more art and sculptures. In fact, I felt there was a lot of repetition between the inside of Versailles and the Napoleon III apartments at the Louvre. If I had to do this again, I definitely wouldn't do these two back to back. I also reached too late to get a golf cart, but would have loved to have one to explore the garden. Also, no fountain show and fireworks in this season. Overall, it was pretty cool but I didn't stay too long because I was tired and musem-ed out. Lots of instagram photo opportunities if you're into that.
Day 8 (Sunday): Shopping and relaxing. I slept in, then went to Chatelier and had a relaxed day of shopping, coffee, crepes and snacks. Also bought a large amount of chocolate and desserts to bring home.
Day 9 (Monday): Return flight. Had an amazing time and can't wait to return with friends and family!
submitted by fabulistt to ParisTravelGuide [link] [comments]
Day 1 (Sunday): Reached around 2pm, struggled to find my Uber driver from the airport. There was tons of traffic and he did not speak English, so it took a while. Managed eventually. Met up with a friend to visit Eiffel and have a little wine and cheese picnic. This is where I got bitten seven or eight times by some buggies and had a pretty bad reaction with swelling and blisters I had to deal with for the rest of the trip. Noted: picnics in Paris are just like picnics anywhere else. Definitely should have brought bug spray. We then walked along the Seine and to Place du Trocadero to get some nice photos. On the crowded bus from here to the restaurant, we both felt like someone had tried to snatch items from inside our pockets. Luckily it was the only time this happened. If you read online you will see this is the most risky pickpocketing area. Had dessert at La Crème de Paris which kind of felt like a tourist trap. They told us to order more food than what we wanted in order to be served. I quickly realized I preferred the vibe of all those lovely cafes we passed by instead of a place like this so I never went to these types of touristy restaurants again. Was a perfectly fine restaurant, just not my favorite experience.
Day 2 (Monday): Enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. I was grateful to have booked an international hotel with breakfast included just because I felt a little overwhelmed by French-only waiters and menus at the cafes. They are really nice cafes everywhere which I loved but at the same time for me it was nice to be able to speak English and feel a little at home in the hotel. Went for Bateaux Mouches tour, walked around nearby looking at then had tea at La Duree nearby where the service was amazing and super friendly. Walked around Champs-Elysees until I reached the Arc de Triomphe, took some photos and then headed back to the hotel to chill a bit before meeting some friends for dinner.
Day 3 (Tuesday): Visited the Cluny Museum, absolutely awesome museum with a section of the museum build inside an ancient Roman bath house. With the audio tour, I spent 4-5 hours inside. Afterwards, I headed to the Pantheon to see the panoramic view, but it turned out that it was closed until April. I didn't think it was worth the ticket so I just poked my head inside to look from the ticket booth and then walked to Luxembourg gardens and then back towards the Seine. Grabbed a crepe and coffee on the way. The streets, shops, and cafes in this area were also charming.
Day 4 (Wednesday): As I was planning for this day on the previous night, many museums had warnings that they may be closed or delay opening due to the protests. Online reservation for the Louvre was also closed. So, I showed up at Louvre without a reservation. It was a mistake! I found the Carousel entrance which had an absolutely insane line. While standing there, I made a reservation for Friday and then found the izi Paris walking tour on Spotify to do instead, which I happened to enjoy immensely. The tour didn't include the Palais Garnier, which is nearby, so when I realized it was nearby I headed over there next. Had a drink on the rooftop of Printemps Haussmann which was excellent. I later learned that Galeries Lafayette has an even better rooftop, will definitely check it out next time. Tour link is here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5lE6xsGAesT3vr3YnAap4p?si=47cd87c8f36c4879
Day 5 (Thursday): After walking 30k steps the previous day, I needed a break so I headed to L'atelier des Lumières to see the art museum where you don't have to walk! It was a nice and relaxing show. Since the show goes on repeat, I stayed there for a while and researched for the rest of my trip. From there, I headed to Montmartre, climbed to the top of Sacre Coeur, and loved the view. There were a few buggies here too but I had my bug spray. In my opinion this is the best view in Paris. While shopping around in the cute streets of Montmartre, I checked out the Van Gogh apartment (no signage there), visited Moulin Rouge, and enjoyed some drinks under the windmill at Le Bar a Bulles.
Day 6 (Friday): Louvre day. This time, there was no line at the Carousel entrance. With the audioguide, I spent around 6-7 hours inside. Made sure to check off Mona Lisa and Michelangelo first, then headed over to the The Napoleon III apartments and then spent the rest of the time exploring Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Eastern antiquities. Clocked in 20k steps.
Day 7 (Saturday): Versaillles Day. Slept in a little and then headed over to Versailles for 1pm entry. There was a huge queue but it moved pretty fast. I was actually extremely tired after Louvre and didn't care to look at so much more art and sculptures. In fact, I felt there was a lot of repetition between the inside of Versailles and the Napoleon III apartments at the Louvre. If I had to do this again, I definitely wouldn't do these two back to back. I also reached too late to get a golf cart, but would have loved to have one to explore the garden. Also, no fountain show and fireworks in this season. Overall, it was pretty cool but I didn't stay too long because I was tired and musem-ed out. Lots of instagram photo opportunities if you're into that.
Day 8 (Sunday): Shopping and relaxing. I slept in, then went to Chatelier and had a relaxed day of shopping, coffee, crepes and snacks. Also bought a large amount of chocolate and desserts to bring home.
Day 9 (Monday): Return flight. Had an amazing time and can't wait to return with friends and family!
2023.03.21 20:13 Suspicious-Point-204 HELP ! Coinbase won't let me sell my crypto assets and remove cash proceeds from account
Coinbase is telling me that my account is "under manual review" and that I am required to tell them the source of my wealth documentation such as a pay slip, inheritance document, sale of house, etc. This is insane ! I'm 55 years old and built up my wealth over decades and they want a piece of paper to justify my account holdings as legitimate ?? I can't get anyone at Coinbase to respond to my request for a more realistic documentation request.
HELP !!!
submitted by Suspicious-Point-204 to CoinBase [link] [comments]
HELP !!!
2023.03.21 20:12 DISTROJAR-69 How do you guys use your steam deck?
Like I'm looking at the sale and I'm interested in it but at the same time, I don't know if it's worth buying. Like I understood why people bought the Nintendo switch since it's the only legal way to actually play those new Nintendo games but this is different since you still just play steam games. Like I understand why people want one but at the same time, I'm wondering won't a laptop basically does the same thing. Like yes, the laptop will be more expensive than the steam deck but at the same time the steam deck isint that portable since if your backpack has space for a steam deck it will have enough space for a laptop. And that's not counting that you basically need a bunch of extra stuff if you want to carry it around like those thumbstick holders so they don't brake, a caring case, a screen protector, maybe an external battery, and of course the charging cable.
Like I'm not saying that the steam deck is bad or anything it definitely beats any laptop in its price range. I'm just saying that the steam deck seems like a Hassell like yes if you just want to play games around your house then yea that's a good use for it but at the same time I rather just sit down and play on my pc setup and it just seems like an extra thing to worry about when your traveling.
submitted by DISTROJAR-69 to SteamDeck [link] [comments]
Like I'm not saying that the steam deck is bad or anything it definitely beats any laptop in its price range. I'm just saying that the steam deck seems like a Hassell like yes if you just want to play games around your house then yea that's a good use for it but at the same time I rather just sit down and play on my pc setup and it just seems like an extra thing to worry about when your traveling.
2023.03.21 20:05 AutoModerator [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree Full Course Download
| | Get the course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/dan-koe-digital-economics-masters-degree/ submitted by AutoModerator to GenkiCourses_2023 [link] [comments] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree https://preview.redd.it/4w9tt8nthyoa1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=aaacbd9fdb837f07a27a37c49cd406115367f9e4 What You GetPhase 0) Digital Economics 101The Digital Economics 101 module will open 1 week prior to the cohort start date.This is an onboarding module that will get you up to speed so we can get straight into the material.This will be required to finish before the start date.
Phase 1) Creating A Meaningful NicheEvery day I hear people going on and on about trying to find their niche.I also hear people talking about how they don’t know how to combine what they love talking about with what will sell.You already have the answer. You just don’t have the clarity.
Phase 2) Content StrategyThere is one thing that separates those who make it in the digital economy and those who don’t.It’s the quality, articulation, and perceived originality of their content.The content you post has to make sense to the people you attract.Everyone has a different voice and tone that they resonate with. That they are congruent with and trust.It has to change their thought patterns or behavior — that’s what makes you memorable.That’s what separates you from the sea of people posting surface-level copy-cat style posts.Example and putting my money where my mouth is:
Phase 3) Crafting Your OfferMost people are sitting on a goldmine of skills, experience, and knowledge (that they can use to help people 1-2 steps behind them).That is what people pay for.Considering 95% of the market are beginners… if you are good at something, you can help them get to your level (no matter how “basic” you think the information is).Do you not watch basic content all day anyway? People don’t want new information, they want to be reminded of what works.
Phase 4) Marketing StrategyYou aren’t making money because you aren’t promoting yourself or your offer.That is literally the only way to make money. Have something desirable and consistently put it in front of peoples’ faces.In Phase 4, I will show you how to systemize, automate, and be consistent with simple promotions.You will be able to make money without having the chance of forgetting to do it (or letting fear of failure get in the way).
Bonus) The Creator Command CenterThe Creator Command Center is a Notion template that houses all of the systems.This is how you will manage your brand, content, offer creation, marketing strategy, and systemized promotions for consistent sales.Bonus) Live Product Build & LaunchIn the first Digital Economics Cohort, I built out my course The 2 Hour Writer.I have videos showing how I build it with the strategies in phase 3 and 4.There is a bonus module that shows how I had an $85,000 launch that resulted in my first $100K month.I did this to prove the strategies inside Digital Economics work if you stick to the plan.And, this past Black Friday, I blew my that monthly high out of the water in 4 days.That’s the power of these strategies if you stay consistent with your life’s work. |
2023.03.21 20:04 PoliticoBailey B1524 - Plain Packaging Amendment (Cannabis and Other Nicotine Products) Bill - 2nd Reading
Plain Packaging Amendment (Cannabis and Other Nicotine Products) Bill
ABILL
TO
amend the Plain Packaging Act 2016 to extend requirements of plain packaging to cannabis and other nicotine products, and for connected purposes.
BE IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Amendments to the Plain Packaging Act 2016
(1) The Plain Packaging Act 2016 is amended as follows.
(2) For the preamble, substitute “tobacco products” with “tobacco, cannabis and nicotine products”.
(3) For section 1 (definitions)—
(a) for subsection (a) substitute—(4) For section 2, substitute—
”(a) a “point of sale” is a business establishment where—(b) for subsection (b) substitute—
(i) tobacco products;are sold.”
(ii) nicotine products; or
(iii) cannabis products;
”(b) “advertisements” is any document or form of media at the point of sale, containing the name of or the company selling—(c) after subsection (d) insert—
(i) tobacco products;
(ii) nicotine products; or
(iii) cannabis products.
”(e) “nicotine product” is any type of product which contains nicotine.
(f) “cannabis product” is any type of product which contains cannabis.
”2 Storage and display of tobacco, nicotine or cannabis products at the point of sale(5) In section 3, for the title, substitute “tobacco products” with “tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products”.
”(1) Tobacco products, nicotine products and cannabis products must be concealed at the point of sale from the view of the public until a customer requests to purchase it.
(2) No advertisements for tobacco products, nicotine products and cannabis products may be displayed within the premises of the point of sale.”
(6) For subsection 3, substitute—
“3 General packaging and branding regulations for tobacco products(7) After section 4 (packaging branding regulations for rolls of tobacco), insert—
a) Only the following colours may be permitted as part of the packaging for other purposes than those outside sections 4 and 5, unless otherwise specified within this legislation;
(i) Pantone 448c, hex code #4A412A, shall be the only permitted colour for the outside of the packaging;b) A unit packet may not have any identifying features or marks other than those outlined in Section 4.
(ii) ‘Honeydew’, hex code #F0FFF0 shall be the only permitted colour for the inside of the packaging;
c) Any product subject to this legislation may not have any images, text or shapes, which could be used in the promotion of a brand other than the following;
.i) The Department of Health
ii) The National Health Service
iii) An independent or government quitline alongside a contact phone number or website address, as designated by the Department of Health, or Secretary of State for Health under regulation
”4A Packaging branding regulations for nicotine addiction quitting products(8) In section 5, for the title, substitute “tobacco products” with “tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products”.
(1) Nicotine addiction quitting products are exempt from package branding restrictions in section 3.
(2) “nicotine addiction quitting products” are any nicotine product that assists in quitting addictions to nicotine, as determined by the Secretary of State by statutory instrument.
(9) In section 6 (failure to comply)—
(a) for subsection (a), substitute “tobacco product” with “tobacco product, nicotine product or cannabis product”;2 Extent, commencement, and short title
(b) for subsection (b), substitute “shall be a fine not greater than £100 per unit packet” with “shall be punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale per unit packet”;
(c) for subsection (c), substitute “tobacco products” with “tobacco products, nicotine products or cannabis products”;
(d) for subsection (e), substitute “tobacco products” with “tobacco products, nicotine products or cannabis products”.
(1) This Act extends to the whole of the United Kingdom.
(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force 6 months after the day this Act is passed.
(3) This Act may be cited as the Plain Packaging Amendment (Cannabis and Other Nicotine Products) Act.
2nd Reading Speech
Deputy Speaker,It is a great privilege to be submitted the Plain Packaging Amendment (Cannabis and Other Nicotine Products) Bill 2023 to the Commons, and I feel that all parties across the political spectrum can get behind the general principles of this common sense legislation.
This Bill seeks to apply plain packaging laws that were created for tobacco products to other nicotine products, including vapes, as well as cannabis products due to their legal and frequent purchase in the United Kingdom. Plain packaging laws have proven to be effective in Australia and the United Kingdom by reducing smoking by nudging consumers away from smoking, with striking imagery, a lack of branding, and a less visible presence of the product overall. With this in mind, and the side effects of cannabis and vaping products considered, it is sensible for the government to implement plain packaging legislation on cannabis and other nicotine products as well, as to promote a healthier society by deterring addiction by nudging consumers as much as possible.
This Bill makes other amendments to the Plain Packaging Act 2016 to specify further the colours that are to be used outside the packaging (a dark brown) and inside the packaging (honeydew), and only allowing the advertisement of NHS and addiction recovery services on the packaging in a minimal way, to perhaps encourage smokers and addicted users of tobacco, nicotine and cannabis to seek treatment. This Bill also has a mechanism for the Secretary of State for Health to specify nicotine products that are used solely for the purpose of assisting nicotine addicted people quit smoking, such as nicotine patches and nicotine gum, that do not need any plain packaging restrictions due to its nicotine addiction treatment purposes.
I commend this bill to the House and invite members to bring forth amendments to make this legislation a sensible regulation of common sense agreement.
2023.03.21 20:01 AutoModerator [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
| | Get the course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/dan-koe-digital-economics-masters-degree/ submitted by AutoModerator to DanKoeDigitalEconomic [link] [comments] [Get] Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree https://preview.redd.it/0t1jhbafw3pa1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f7d0d6f3a63b416745ecb5c6218a032a5f922b1 What You GetPhase 0) Digital Economics 101The Digital Economics 101 module will open 1 week prior to the cohort start date.This is an onboarding module that will get you up to speed so we can get straight into the material.This will be required to finish before the start date.
Phase 1) Creating A Meaningful NicheEvery day I hear people going on and on about trying to find their niche.I also hear people talking about how they don’t know how to combine what they love talking about with what will sell.You already have the answer. You just don’t have the clarity.
Phase 2) Content StrategyThere is one thing that separates those who make it in the digital economy and those who don’t.It’s the quality, articulation, and perceived originality of their content.The content you post has to make sense to the people you attract.Everyone has a different voice and tone that they resonate with. That they are congruent with and trust.It has to change their thought patterns or behavior — that’s what makes you memorable.That’s what separates you from the sea of people posting surface-level copy-cat style posts.Example and putting my money where my mouth is:
Phase 3) Crafting Your OfferMost people are sitting on a goldmine of skills, experience, and knowledge (that they can use to help people 1-2 steps behind them).That is what people pay for.Considering 95% of the market are beginners… if you are good at something, you can help them get to your level (no matter how “basic” you think the information is).Do you not watch basic content all day anyway? People don’t want new information, they want to be reminded of what works.
Phase 4) Marketing StrategyYou aren’t making money because you aren’t promoting yourself or your offer.That is literally the only way to make money. Have something desirable and consistently put it in front of peoples’ faces.In Phase 4, I will show you how to systemize, automate, and be consistent with simple promotions.You will be able to make money without having the chance of forgetting to do it (or letting fear of failure get in the way).
Bonus) The Creator Command CenterThe Creator Command Center is a Notion template that houses all of the systems.This is how you will manage your brand, content, offer creation, marketing strategy, and systemized promotions for consistent sales.Bonus) Live Product Build & LaunchIn the first Digital Economics Cohort, I built out my course The 2 Hour Writer.I have videos showing how I build it with the strategies in phase 3 and 4.There is a bonus module that shows how I had an $85,000 launch that resulted in my first $100K month.I did this to prove the strategies inside Digital Economics work if you stick to the plan.And, this past Black Friday, I blew my that monthly high out of the water in 4 days.That’s the power of these strategies if you stay consistent with your life’s work. |