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noramoya · 5 years

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* Above is the photo of the e-mail from wade robson to somebody named Francois, on May 21st, 2011 .

PART TWO OF:

LINDA-RAVEN WOODS’

02/28/2019 ARTICLE

•”Why did he lie, claiming under oath he had no knowledge of the Jackson estate in 2013 when, in fact, it is on record that he met with John Branca to discuss the Cirque gig in 2011?”

•”Why do they claim that Robson’s and Safechuck’s stories are completely independent of each other, when the reality is that both have been represented by the same attorneys since 2014?”

•”Why is Safechuck allowed to blatantly lie in the film about Jackson contacting him to defend him in 2005, when attorneys involved in the case have specifically stated that the decision was made that Safechuck’s testimony would not be needed, and that Jackson would not have been allowed to personally contact potential witnesses?”

“Why did early press releases attempt to hide the identities of the two men in question, even though Jackson’s family, the Estate, and fans who had followed this developing story for seven years had absolutely no doubt who the two men in question were?

The obvious answer was a well-planned strategy to “blind side” by preventing these entities (particularly Jackson’s family and Estate) from having time to prepare an adequate response or counter strategy.”

“When the first letter from the Estate to HBO went unheeded, the Estate followed through on its threat and filed a one hundred million-dollar lawsuit against HBO. In that letter, there was mention of a man named Victor Gutierrez who has long been associated with Jackson’s name and has long been suspected as a “source” for the allegations made against Michael Jackson.

The story goes that Gutierrez, a Chilean reporter who came to Hollywood in the mid 1980’s envisioning himself as an investigative reporter, infiltrated a number of NAMBLA meetings (and even gained membership). It was reportedly at these clandestine meetings that Gutierrez heard whispers about certain celebrities suspected of being “in the closet” pedophiles. The alleged goal of NAMBLA was to “out” these celebrities in a desperate attempt to “normalize” their cause.

But there was an issue, since often these names were circulated about with no concrete proof. Rumors and innuendoes were enough. Michael Jackson was one such name that popped up, largely because at the time Jackson was cultivating his “Kid Power” image. Those within NAMBLA’s ranks who were responsible for starting and spreading those rumors failed to take into account that “Kid Power” was part of a two-fold PR plan for Jackson:

1- Because he truly and genuinely believed in the ability of children to heal the world, and

2- As someone who himself had been scarred by childhood stardom, he sought to “give back” by empowering and serving as a positive role model for children in the industry, as noted by his long-time friend and supporter Corey Feldman”. (see videos bellow):

https://youtu.be/u-rtftB-7qs

https://youtu.be/MbwWvyAq5TM

“Those who speak glibly of Michael Jackson’s “obsession” with children fail to note the very fundamental, root causes of that seeming obsession, which seemed to spring deeply from his own pain and an innate desire to protect children from being exploited in the entertainment industry, by the same evil forces that had exploited him. This, and nothing more, appeared to be the source of those rumors. But of all the names mentioned, Gutierrez apparently only took one under his belt to investigate further — Michael Jackson.

It is known fact that Gutierrez actually knew and consulted with Evan Chandler, at just about the same time that Chandler was growing disgruntled with Jackson’s lack of “cooperation” in funding his projects and had grown increasingly jealous of Jackson’s relationship with his ex-wife June, son Jordan, and daughter Lily.”

https://youtu.be/gyStgEsv7Lg

“There has also been a long suspected link between Victor Gutierrez and Rodney Allen, a Canadian man who was eventually busted for running an underage male prostitution ring in Toronto, and who was caught actually coaching his boys how to make up convincing lies about being molested by Michael Jackson. His scheme was revealed when he wrote a series of letters to Diane Dimond at Hard Copy, signed from the boy, and the follow-up investigation led to the boy confessing everything.”

https://youtu.be/fiJBQcfTcSo

“This story is important, as it reveals the lengths that individuals would go to, in order to make up stories about Jackson, where no story existed. This is, in essence, exactly how the cottage industry of making up stories about being abused by Michael Jackson has continued to thrive. Backed with this kind of knowledge, one can hardly blame his fans for speaking out against what is perceived as an obvious vendetta, or for being skeptical when such new “claims” arise.”

“In 1995, the same year that Hard Copy unveiled the scam in Toronto, Victor Gutierrez struck again, this time appearing on Hard Copy himself to claim he knew of the existence of a video tape that allegedly showed Jackson abusing one of his own nephews. However, when pressed, he was forced to reveal that he had no such tape in his possession. This did not stop Diane Dimond, however, from going on KABC-AM radio talk show to promote the tape, even though she had never actually seen any such tape and only had Gutierrez’s word that it existed.

Jermaine Jackson’s ex-wife Margaret Maldonado recalled getting a phone call about the alleged tape in her book Jackson Family Values:

”I received a telephone call from a writer named Ruth Robinson. I had known Ruth for quite a while and respected her integrity. It made what she had to tell me all the more difficult to hear. “I wanted to warn you, Margaret,” she said. “There’s a story going around that there is a videotape of Michael molesting one of your sons, and that you have the tape.” If anyone else had said those words, I would have hung up the phone. Given the long relationship I had with Ruth, however, I gave her the courtesy of a response. I told her that it wasn’t true, of course, and that I wanted the story stopped in its tracks. She had been in contact with someone who worked at the National Enquirer who had alerted her that a story was being written for that paper. Ruth cross-connected me with the woman, and I vehemently denied the story. Moreover, I told her that if the story ran, I would own the National Enquirer before the lawsuits I brought were finished. To its credit, the National Enquirer never ran the piece. ”Hard Copy,” however, decided it would. “Hard Copy” correspondent Diane Dimond had reported that authorities were reopening the child molestation case against Michael. She had also made the allegations on L.A. radio station KABC-AM on a morning talk show hosted by Roger Barkley and Ken Minyard. Dimond’s claims were based on the word of a freelance writer named Victor Gutierrez. The story was an outrageous lie. Not one part of it was true. I’d never met the man. There was no tape. Michael never paid me for my silence. He had never molested Jeremy. Period.” — Margaret Maldonado, “Jackson Family Values”.

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bentonpena · 3 years

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COVID-19 has had a surprising impact on our sex lives

https://bit.ly/39CcHL4 COVID-19 has had a surprising impact on our sex lives https://bit.ly/2LCB7fz

The spike in sex toy sales, rise of OnlyFans, and normalization of masturbation as part of everyday health and wellness were some of the only good things to come from the pandemic (pun intended). But, if you've felt a weird sense of FOMO for missing out on these alleged COVID-inspired boons in sexual exploration and acceptance, you're not alone.

At CES 2021 this week, sextech company Lioness released a new exploratory study analyzing an in-depth dataset capturing how people's sex lives and drives were impacted by the pandemic. The data, which compares participants' habits from 2019 versus 2020, includes everything from how often participants masturbated to how long it took to orgasm. The main takeaway? 2020 might not have been the free-for-all cum fest all those trends implied.

2020 might not have been the free-for-all cum fest these trends implied.

Since stay-at-home orders began in late March, retailers and toy companies — particularly those selling internet-connected sextech like We-Vibe, Ohmibod, and Satisfyer — reported skyrocketing numbers, with toys flying off virtual shelves. Faced with indefinite alone time and the risks of pandemic dating, folks rushed to do the responsible thing by turning to self-pleasure, with a particular focus on toys boasting high-tech features like virtual sex with long-distance partners. The explosion of sextech during the pandemic is undeniable, with tech market forecaster Juniper Research predicting that the already multi-billion-dollar industry would see an accelerated 87 percent spike in global adoption of these digital-savvy pleasure devices in 2020.

But assuming that this spike, coupled with more time at home, automatically translated into a wave of reinvigorated, pandemic-fueled masturbation remains to be substantiated. Actually, the new study, which is based on user data gathered by Lioness' biofeedback-tracking smart vibrator, found potential evidence of the exact opposite conclusion too.

Lioness CEO Liz Klinger, who created the high-tech vibrator designed to help people explore their sexuality through data, said she, "got the sense that things were clearly changing a lot for people [sexually during the pandemic]. And we wanted to dig in and understand what was going on." The Lioness team's hypothesis was that folks' sex lives in 2020 were probably a lot more complicated than that increase in toy sales suggested.

Conducted through Lionness' Sex Research Platform (which launched last year), the study was done in partnership with the Center for Genital Health & Education, and credits Dr. Natasha Aduloju-Ajijola (a research fellow with a Ph.D. in health education and promotion) with the data analysis. Pooling from the aggregated, anonymized data of 1,879 Lioness users who opted into participation, it analyzed their arousal responses during approximately 40,000 sessions with the smart vibrator between 2019 and 2020.

The study found, "convincing evidence of a significant drop-off in masturbation frequency as the year wore on when compared to [those same users'] masturbation frequency back in 2019," according to the toy company's blog post on the study. Overall, there was a roughly 9 percent month-to-month drop in sessions from last year. While the holiday season in 2019 saw an increase in masturbation frequency, the most significant decline in 2020 happened in those same final months of the year, with November's use dropping more than 37 percent.

November, if you'll remember, not only brought a devastating (ongoing) spike in COVID cases, but also kicked off the gloomiest social-distanced holiday season ever — on top of also coinciding with one of the most stressful elections in recent American history. To be clear, the data in this study can't prove causality, since it's entirely possible participants simply used the Lioness less frequently while masturbating the same amount by other means.

That being said, on an anecdotal level, it's not hard to imagine why lots of folks weren't feeling especially horned up in the final months of 2020.

Image: Emily Eder / lioness / CGHE

In a separate survey of Lioness users (who were not necessarily the same ones who offered their physiological data), 235 participants answered questions on their sex lives in 2020. Almost 80 percent reported changes in masturbation frequency from 2019, and 76 percent said the same for partnered sex.

A few commonalities emerged in participants' self-reported reasons for why they'd experienced decreases or increases in libido during the pandemic.

Those who reported less sexual interest and activity (whether partnered or solo) pointed to struggles with self-care, with one quoted participant saying:

“I did purchase several new toys this year however I think overall I masturbated less. I don’t know what maybe it was cause my sleep schedule was off some months then my depression kicked up a little and I just wasn’t interested.”

Others spoke to the impacts of anxiety and stress, less time for privacy due to family members or roommates being home all the time, decreases in self-esteem and feeling less attractive (one surveyor said pandemic-related weight gain inhibited their sex drive), or loss of a loved one.

What both the survey and physiological data really reveal, though, is just how normal it was for folks to have polar opposite sexual responses to the collective traumas of the pandemic.

On the other side of the coin, the survey respondents who reported increased interest in masturbation frequency cited reasons such as: more time at home, being unable to visit long-distance partners, having partners who experienced lower sex drives, being single and the difficulties of pandemic dating, and needing the mood-boost and stress-relief of sexual gratification.

The more granular physiological user data paints an even more complex picture of the unexpected ways COVID-19 changed their sex lives and pleasure experiences, though.

Image: EMILY EDER / LIONESS / CGHE

For example, the average duration of sessions with the Lioness decreased by 20 seconds between February 2020 and April 2020 (so, in other words, the period when many of us were adjusting from the before-times and into pandemic life). Meanwhile, sessions increased by 30 seconds between July 2020 and November 2020 (which correspond to U. S. COVID spikes).

It's impossible to make any sound assumptions about what those time discrepancies actually mean about a users' sexual experience during said session, though. Longer time spent using the vibrator could mean anything from increased difficulty in reaching orgasm or a deliberately slower build (aka edging) in order to achieve a more powerful orgasm.

The best judge for whether users enjoyed themselves less or more during these sessions comes down to the person's own subjective experience. Since Lioness allows users to rate each of their sessions on a scale of 1 to 5, the study reports that the common session score went up from 4/5 in 2019, to a perfect 5/5 in 2020.

So, it's safe to say that, while users may have masturbated less overall, when they did get off the results appear to have delivered above-average satisfaction.

Image: EMILY EDER / LIONESS / CGHE

The Lioness COVID study is first-of-its-kind sex research, with Lioness describing it as the "type of data and techniques mid-20th century researchers like Masters and Johnson dreamed of having." Unlike all other sex research gathered in a lab setting, the kind of data the Lioness platform can gather meets subjects in the natural habitat of their own bedrooms, Klinger said. But the study also makes clear that, "This is an exploratory study with retrospective data — which can't prove causality."

There's a lot of variables and unknowns that call the scientific rigor of this type of study into question. For example, because the data is anonymized to protect user privacy, researchers cannot know key information about participants like gender, age, race, or socioeconomic background. Without that, one cannot claim the study is at all representative of the larger population. It's reflective only of this subset of people who own a Lioness.

This exploratory study should be seen as a flawed but intriguing real-time snapshot of an extraordinary moment in human sexuality.

At the same time, Klinger also questioned whether the same can't be said for a lot of sex research done in labs, which often disproportionately rely on college students as subjects — specifically, college students who are comfortable performing sex acts in a clinical setting while researchers observe.

The potential benefits of sex research that isn't confined to a laboratory environment are obvious. But they come at the cost of a whole host of variables you can't control, account for, or recreate — all things which are essential to legitimate scientific research. There's an infinite number of explanations for why Lioness users had fewer sessions with their smart vibrator in 2020 — perhaps they contributed to the aforementioned spike in sales for other sex toys and used those instead.

What this exploratory study should be seen as is a flawed but intriguing real-time snapshot of an extraordinary moment in human sexuality — nothing more and nothing less.

As with everything related to COVID, it will be years before we can claim anything definitive about the pandemic's effects on us. At the same time, what this Lioness data does validate is that, no matter how the pandemic impacted your libido — whether it turned you into a sex hermit or a sex monster or anything in between — all of it is totally normal.

That's what Klinger believes is one of the benefits for users who opt into the research platform. "It's beneficial to the researchers for data, but it's also a way for users to learn more about themselves by participating and seeing some of the results from the findings."

WATCH: How to clean your sex toys

For those who own Lionesses, you can sign up to participate in current and future research studies through the platform. Klinger said her team is also working on ways to make the $200 devices more accessible, through potential grants — though getting a sex toy qualified as a medical device presents its own set of problems. If you're interested, you may want to wait to get the second generation of the Lioness, which is supposed to come out soon.

We've been in isolation for so long that it's a comfort to just to be reminded that none of us are alone in our reactions to these unprecedented circumstances. You're not a sex freak or sexually broken after all, and Lioness has got the data to prove it.

What's inarguable is that COVID-19 changed a lot of people's sex lives. And it's OK to take your time in understanding how or why.

Tech via Mashable! https://bit.ly/2KzLn52 January 14, 2021 at 05:27PM

#IFTTT #Feedly #@b3n70n

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thekaijudude · 4 years

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Discussing the New Ultraman Z Trademark

Yes, I found a new one that actually just got released today as we can see from the date which corresponds correctly

(Also thanks to all those who gave me a heads up anyways)

So I still kind of have doubts about the authenticity of this trademark still, cause even tho it's in the usual format, its trademark application date corresponds to the one we saw on the Weibo list if y'all rmb:

Both correspond correctly on 27 Dec 2019

And the issue I have with this is again, this same list included the Taiga, Titus and Fuma trademarks but yet we never even seen any of those last year

Its like all of them were created spontaneously out of thin air

Also again, we're just kick-starting the Taiga narrative too and there's that whole lot of expansion potential right over there

But, let's view this in another perspective, by assuming that this trademark is actually legit first cause I realized it actually makes things possibly really interesting if we consider ALL of the other factors

So let's actually recap by listing out all the relevant ongoings here:

1. Taiga as the first Reiwa Ultra

2. Toregia

3. NGC

4. Ultraman Reiga's identity

5. Zero and Geed Chronicle

6. 2020 Anniversaries

So from implication 1, pretty obvious that the Taiga narrative won’t be ending with NGC, not to mention that even TsuPro says he’s basically Zero 2.0

Implication 2 is essentially just so many unresolved plotpoints with Toregia, basically ties in with the whole Taiga vs Toregia narrative. But, I could see the Toregia narrative actually outliving the Taiga narrative as I’ll explain later with 4

Implication 3 is basically the whole idea of NGC commemorating the end of the New Gen Era

And implication 4 is the crux here, if Reiga turns out to be a totally new and independent Ultra (Likely Taiga’s sibling if this is the case), we might actually see Reiga as the next protagonist Ultra instead of Taiga. But as said earlier with the Toregia narrative, Toregia might still be the antagonist for the Reiga series cause I really don't see how with his power level as well as so many unresolved plotpoints that his narrative would end by NGC

So for implication 5, we still aren’t exactly sure what the current chronicle is foreshadowing exactly. But one of the possibilities is the arrangement of a past Ultra protagonist being a main role in the current Ultra protagonist’s series

So if we consider implications 1-5 as a whole, there’s two possibilities:

a) Z might be a secondary (Or quaternary if Titus and Fuma is involved) Ultra in Taiga Season 2

b) If Reiga is a new and independent Ultra, Z might also be the secondary Ultra

And for possibility b) it’s a way more intriguing path cause Toregia is likely to still be the main villain but considering that overall it’s still part of the Taiga narrative, after the ‘Reiga series’ we might see Taiga again and all 5 of them would take down Toregia as the endgame plan to link all these installments together under the umbrella of actually the Taro vs Toregia narrative really (Unsealed Toregia will likely be the final showdown)

Not to mention that we haven’t even gotten to Grimude which may even extend beyond Toregia’s relavance

Implication 6 is to give us a better guess of Z’s identity

So the year 2020 is:

X’s 5th Anniversary, yeah I’m sure everyone may have heard the joke possibility of the existence of an Ultraman Y in the future. But on a more serious note, given that there was much ambiguity of X’s identity and his home universe position in the Multiverse, it’s pretty possible that Z may be related to X in some way which would create opportunities to actually address the aforesaid ambiguities

Zero vs Darklops Zero’s 10th Anniversary, might seem pretty random at first but I found a rather uncanny revelation. Need I remind everyone that Z is actually also a name of another Ultra villain, the artificial Zetton created by Alien Bat that only ever appeared in stage shows. So could Ultraman Z also be an artificial being based off of a known Ultra as well? And of course the possibility that the Zetton-based being Z might also make an appearance

And although I know that there are more anniversary events of 2020 like Max’s, Neos’, Powered’s and 80′s, but considering that they’re all pretty obscure Ultras relatively speaking, I don't see how they would have an impact on Z’s identity

But of course to also address the other possibilities of Z’s identity, such as the infamous Son of Zoffy, to be frank, although I did predict that Zoffy would be the most likeliest member of the Ultra Brothers to get a son, I think he should have a series on his own rather than being just a secondary Ultra. But technically it could still work but that may be asking too much from TsuPro currently cause it’ll require a really radical change in the development of the narratives itself cause it’ll have to encompass two different narratives concurrently, three narratives if u want to count Toregia as on his own which is very reasonable

Other than that, all we know of Z officially is that he was essentially a scrapped idea of Gruebe, but does that necessarily mean that he’s gonna still be an O50 Ultra and possibly a sequel to RB? I mean although this would raise the possibility of the reprisal of Orb Dark, but I really have no idea at all cause it just seems like a really awkward time to not just continue with the Taiga narrative, and Toregia especially

But of course there’s the possibility that Z isn’t gonna be a series at all but just a name for another project altogether lol

With that being said, I think we should wait for the Feb scans (which is dropping in a few days anyways) to find out who and what Reiga actually is which would give us a clearer idea on what’s gonna happen going forward post NGC

#ultraman #ultraman z #ultraman taiga

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pokemaniacal · 7 years

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Litten, Torracat and Incineroar

I have a little personal conjecture about how Incineroar was designed.

Game Freak deeply, sincerely, earnestly didn’t mean to make a fourth Fire/Fighting starter Pokémon. They were just going to sit down and come up with some unique, entertaining and vaguely Hawaiian-inspired Fire-type. But then Incineroar just rose up, unbidden, out of the primal mists of Game Freak’s collective id, embedded himself in their tortured psyches, and refused to leave. Aware that they were making another Fire/Fighting starter Pokémon, but horrified by their inability to stop, they desperately called on Yveltal for help, and the vicious and cunning death god answered their prayers by corrupting Incineroar into a brutal Dark-type.

I mean, obviously some of that is speculative, but I think the general outline is close.

Litten, Torracat and Incineroar are our Alolan Fire-type starter Pokémon line. As Fire-type cat Pokémon they are a little in danger of being a sequel to generation VI’s Litleo and Pyroar, but fortunately their final stage, Incineroar, takes a very different direction. Litten is a kitten whose oily fur is highly flammable, causing him to hawk up flaming hairballs. That’s… a bit of a weird fighting style, but at least an elegant way of bringing the Fire element to a cat Pokémon, so we’ll call it a win. Likewise, instead of shedding hair all over the place, Litten just sets all his fur on fire and burns it up in seconds (something I occasionally wish my cat could do). Litten’s notoriously withdrawn and standoffish nature is appropriately cattish as well, and possibly meant to anticipate his eventual evolution into a Dark-type. That progresses to a highly aggressive, but simultaneously petulant, attitude in Torracat (again, not unlike a bad-tempered housecat…). Torracat’s most distinctive physical feature is the little fiery bell at his throat, actually his fire-producing organ, which makes a ringing sound when Torracat uses his powers. Presumably this mimics the bells that cat owners sometimes give their pets to warn off prey, which I suppose constitutes another interesting way of manifesting Torracat’s Fire type. It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t go anywhere, though; Incineroar loses the bell for a flaming navel and fiery belt. I would have liked it if Torracat’s bell somehow manifested in Incineroar’s wrestler design as the bell that rings between rounds of a wrestling match; it seems like a really good opportunity to unify the design that was missed. There are a lot of cat Pokémon now (Meowth in two regional forms, Skitty, Shinx, Glameow, Purrloin, Litleo, Espurr…) and to be honest Litten and Torracat don’t do enough on their own to convince me that we needed another, but it’s Incineroar who was tasked with taking this design in a new direction. So let’s talk about that.

Incineroar has the species designation “the Heel Pokémon,” which makes pretty clear that we’re dealing with the evil counterpart to Hawlucha – a Pokémon based on a villainous persona from the world of professional wrestling. Incineroar comes from a similar masked wrestler tradition to Hawlucha, where a mask is supposed to give you a whole new identity to fight under, and you fight for the honour of that identity (often a totemic animal). Incineroar, as a villainous version of this idea, is not only a jerk, but ostentatiously a jerk, specifically going out of his way to be destructive and chaotic, just as a heel is supposed to. I’ve seen people specifically locate Incineroar’s inspiration with one Japanese wrestler in particular – or rather, one masked persona, used by five wrestlers over the years: Tiger Mask. And at first I was sceptical, but the deeper I go down this particular rabbit hole the more I think he probably is iconic enough in Japanese pop culture to actually be referenced by a Pokémon design (besides, according to the WWE website “it would be difficult to overstate [his] influence,” and I try not to question heavily-muscled men in capes and speedos). The only problem is that Tiger Mask is emphatically not a heel. The wrestling persona was originally inspired by a 1968 manga, where the character was a Japanese wrestler who had played heel in the United States and turned “face” when he returned home, but the real-world Tiger Mask has always been a heroic character, as have his anime adaptations (because of course there is a Tiger Mask anime; there was even a reboot last year). There is a corresponding heel character called the Black Tiger, who has a red-and-black colour scheme in the anime, but he doesn’t seem to be as well known, and also the wrestler was arrested for drug smuggling back in 2012 (this is the kind of trivia I just know now; SEND HELP). Anyway, if you were going to create a Pokémon that paid homage to the Tiger Mask mythos, why go for the derivative villain rather than the iconic hero? Something about it doesn’t quite ring true – and kinda brings me back to my (only partly tongue-in-cheek) introduction.

I had a whole debate with Jim the Editor over what Incineroar’s type should be, because his feeling is that it doesn’t make sense for this Pokémon not to be a Fighting-type, that Incineroar’s Dark-type traits are secondary to – dependent on – his Fighting-type traits; as a heel wrestler, he can’t be a villain without first being a martial artist. He’s typed wrong, and this is a blemish on the design. My counterargument was that the concept of a heel involves an element of theatricality that you could say makes them primarily villains and only secondarily fighters (i.e. pro wrestling is fake; fite me irl). I’m also inherently disposed to liking this line of reasoning because I have a pre-existing idea that one of the characteristic traits of Fighting Pokémon is that they are supposed to be honourable, so it actually makes a great deal of sense for an ostentatiously villainous Pokémon like Incineroar to be specifically excluded from the type. Having said that, “Fighting = Honour” isn’t exactly an obvious inference from any official source, and doesn’t fit all Fighting Pokémon (i.e. f#&%ing Primeape), so if you don’t particularly buy into my personal brand of nonsense, Fire/Fighting is arguably a better fit than Fire/Dark for Incineroar – probably because they started from “wrestler” and then looked for ways to justify a type other than Fire/Fighting, rather than actually starting from an idea that was demonstrably Fire/Dark. Jim the Editor’s suggestion for such an idea, to be submitted here to the court of public opinion, was to have Incineroar be a sort of arsonist/con artist, starting fires outside to draw attention and lure people out of their homes while gangs of Litten and Torracat plunder all their stuff (Incineroar could easily pull off a sort of circus strongman or ringmaster look that would be appropriate to this concept with only minor physical changes). Litten in this scheme could then be street performers and pickpockets, which gives them a more interesting identity too. Feel free to heap scorn on this idea in the comments, lest Jim get a swelled head. That’s enough on the design and flavour side, though; I should get on with how Incineroar works.

Incineroar is a physical tank in the tradition of Ursaring or Machamp: you’re slow and can’t avoid hits, but in theory you can survive them long enough to hit back. This is an odd thing for a Fire Pokémon to be, and arguably the only pre-generation VII Pokémon who can even do it are Emboar and Arcanine (no, Magcargo and Torkoal, you do not count), so we’re in a field with little competition. His hidden ability is Intimidate, which would be a wonderful thing for a Pokémon like this to have (or, well, almost any Pokémon to have; a free attack debuff every time you switch in is just really good), but alas, for the moment this is not to be, so we’ll have to make do with the generic Fire-type starter ability, Blaze. Incineroar has a really solid selection of attacks; in addition to his Dark-type signature moves, he gets Flare Blitz, Earthquake and Cross Chop, all powerful attacks that threaten an excellent variety of types. Outrage is interesting, but probably not recommended; Dragon attacks have great neutral type coverage, but that’s not one of Incineroar’s flaws anyway, and they hit almost nothing super-effectively (not to mention that being locked into Outrage can stop being fun abruptly). For some reason, Incineroar can learn Leech Life, which Sun and Moon buffed into a surprisingly solid attack, and honestly, health drain is probably quite a good thing for a Pokémon with Incineroar’s stat profile to have. Alternatively, U-Turn is also on offer as a source of Bug-type damage and tactical flexibility; it does less damage, but Incineroar isn’t short of power moves anyway, and being able to tank an attack for the Pokémon you’re switching in is a decent use of Incineroar’s bulk. Swords Dance is there too, to send his attack stat into the stratosphere, but bear in mind that Incineroar is just not fast enough to sweep anything. It really hurts in general that he’s so slow, and that Fire/Dark is not a great defensive combination: Fire attacks are great; being weak to Rock, Water and Ground is decidedly not, and Dark adds a nasty Fighting weakness to boot.

If you are inclined to buck Fire Pokémon stereotypes and push the defensive, tanky side of Incineroar, there are some support options that he can take for that, although it is maybe a bit of a waste of his excellent physical attack stat. Will’o’Wisp is nice because burns cripple physical attackers, and doubly nice if we can eventually get Intimidate on him. Taunt can stop support Pokémon from messing with you, but again, his poor speed hurts; you ideally want Taunt on a fast Pokémon that can actually anticipate and counter a support move, not just shut them down after the fact. Bulk Up might be interesting, especially in combination with Will’o’Wisp or Leech Life; Incineroar is already far from a pushover defensively, so if your opponent seems to be missing special attackers that can easily take him out, there might be some merit to going all in on buffs. Body Slam is nicely thematic, and being able to paralyse opponents is good for Incineroar and probably for the rest of your team too; it’s just unfortunate that Normal attacks are terrible. In an entirely different vein, you could try to turn him into a sort of bastardised surprise physical sweeper by speeding him up with Flame Charge. It’s no Agility, and the move itself is so weak that you do pretty much have to pack a second Fire attack (there’s no room for, say, Swords Dance), but if you play your hand close to your chest you might be able to confuse someone to death in the late game. Finally, Incineroar does get Nasty Plot, with a passable selection of special attacks (Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat with Dark Pulse and Focus Blast), but unlike Decidueye his base special attack score is average at best, so the very most I would suggest is putting Overheat on a physical attacker set to maybe surprise a physical wall (bonus points if you make a Z-move out of it).

Because Incineroar is a pro wrestler, and pro wrestlers have a love for signature moves that goes beyond all logic and common sense, he has not one, but two: Darkest Lariat and Throat Chop. Of these, Darkest Lariat is the one you generally want. It’s actually one of the strongest Dark-type attacks in the game, though I should stress that this isn’t saying much, since Dark has no really high-powered attacks. Darkest Lariat helpfully ignores defence and evasion bonuses, and until recently I might have written that off as mostly useful for screwing with the AI, since defence and evasion buffs aren’t common in competitive games. Specifically in doubles, though, Darkest Lariat does have the peculiar advantage of beating the living $#!t out of the infamous Infinite Defence Palossand (of course, Palossand also has Ground attacks to blow up Incineroar, but it’s something). The other signature move is Throat Chop, and this is much more niche. It’s slightly less powerful than Darkest Lariat, and has the unusual effect of disabling the target’s sonic attacks by striking them in the windpipe. There aren’t a lot of powerful or common sound moves, so Throat Chop is mostly useful against a few Normal-type special attackers, like Exploud and Pyroar, who use Hyper Voice as a major source of damage. However, I do find it really amusing that Throat Chop can quite badly screw over Incineroar’s Water-type counterpart, Primarina, by disabling her Sparkling Aria. In practice you still wouldn’t choose to take that fight as Incineroar, because Primarina might just have a different Water attack, but it’s interesting that the designers built in this little reversal of the standard Grass-Fire-Water starter dynamic. As far as I can tell, Decidueye doesn’t have any similar thematic advantage over Incineroar, nor Primarina over Decidueye.

I’m not as convinced by Litten, Torracat and Incineroar overall as I am by Rowlet, Dartrix and Decidueye. They have the same sudden, fairly radical shift to a different sort of design at the third stage that I noticed in Dartrix, but it doesn’t quite fit as well – there isn’t really anything tiger-like about Incineroar (tigers being famously ambush hunters), probably because he’s tiger-via-masked-wrestler, but then again, Hawlucha’s the same thing, and her human and animal inspirations do slot together a bit better because of the focus of lucha libre on “aerial” moves. And… well, to be honest, the whole “slow physical bruiser” thing just hasn’t been a great game plan for most Pokémon who’ve tried it in the past; Emboar has never been especially prominent, and Incineroar is trying to do something fairly similar. I mean, there’s nothing I think is especially poorly done here, but not a lot that excites me. I’m calling this one a solid meh-out-of-ten.

#pokemon #alola pokedex #litten #torracat #incineroar #firetypes #darktypes #starters #alola

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backstorywithdanalewis · 4 years

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November U.S. Election- Storm Clouds. - podcast link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/5365258

dr. jason johnson: (00:00) So we will have no idea who the president is, and there will be armed conflict in the streets with white nationalists, going to main voting areas in order to attempt to intimidate people or prevent people from counting ballots that is what's going to happen. I'll let you know how long it lasts. I have no idea. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (00:22) Hi everyone. And welcome to another edition of backstory. I'm the creator and host of this podcast. Dana Lewis, November storm clouds is a discussion about American democracy effected by race relations. COVID-19 the treatment of war, veterans and war dead by president Donald Trump, who said he wouldn't visit an American cemetery in France because the Marines buried, there were losers. No doubt. He said and meant many things. His character is atrocious as a foreign correspondent. I've covered political leaders in dozens of different countries. Trump breaks the American mold and the polls show us voters are turning their backs on him. Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 12 percentage points nationally among likely us voters, according to a Reuters, September poll. And Trump knows he's in trouble. I gotta tell you I was sailing to an easy election. dr. jason johnson: (01:18) It was going to be so easy. I probably would have not been here tonight. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (01:22) Oh, we don't have to bother. This is the most bitter, ferocious, nasty American election campaign ever. The attack ads. Well, wow, dr. jason johnson: (01:33) Dangerous. And as long as Donald Trump is president he'll keep encouraging the cooks, the craziest, the extremists, angry fringe. It doesn't have to be this way. Reject the hate, reject the violence America or Donald Trump stand up for America. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (01:48) Okay. Here's where it gets chilling. In this upcoming interview, we ask will Trump, if he loses leave and you know what a lot of people think he won't and the November election could be a disaster for America. November storm clouds on this backstory are dr. Jason Johnson is a professor of political science. He's a well known commentator in America, and he has been racing around all day and he's fit us in just for a few minutes. dr. jason johnson: (02:17) Appreciate it. Jason, you just came dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (02:20) From a COVID-19 test. dr. jason johnson: (02:23) Yeah, yeah. Uh, it was a very interesting experience, um, and sort of public health and, and government administration. Uh, it was at a local pharmacy that we have here in the States called Walgreens. And yeah, just set up an appointment. You go in, you kind of administer on your own, but it's sort of, I want it dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (02:43) Well, cause it's personal, but what a runaway train in America and we all look at it from Europe. Like, I mean Britain where I am has had one of the worst outbreaks next to next to Brazil next to America, we had 57,000 dr. jason johnson: (02:57) Deaths around that. I mean, you guys are approaching 200,000. Well, yeah, I mean, and the reason why is because balsa Anoro and, and, um, and, and Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are cut from the same cloth. Boris Johnson almost died from COVID-19 and still hasn't recognized the importance of sort of general public health. There's a tax on NHS for, since he got into office have contributed to one of the difficulties that you all are having a managing it. But the United States is an absolute mess. It is, is it's an avatar of death. We're going to have over 200,000 people dead from, COVID not to mention the people who are living with the longterm health consequences by the time Donald Trump has his first debate with Joe Biden. So it has been an absolute mess. We are the world's dirty cousin at this point dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (03:42) Becomes the main election issue. If there, I mean, he's, he's hammering of law and order law and order law and order surely COVID-19 and the number of deaths and the health dr. jason johnson: (03:53) Care crisis you have there must rank up against that in probably is above that. Then I think what's important for, for everybody abroad to understand is that there is a disconnect and extreme disconnect between what you may see in 24 hour news coverage and what is actually affecting regular people and voters. Now, everyone can always say that it's always pretentious to say, they're missing the man on the street. They're missing the guy in the pub, but I'm telling you this because it is true. The most important story is not the polls. The polls are consistent. Donald Trump is losing Donald Trump has been losing. It doesn't really matter. He's acting like someone who's already lost. The biggest issue has been that he's cheating that the president of United States and the Republican party has already said that, uh, you know, national security agencies can no longer brief Congress on election interference. dr. jason johnson: (04:48) Uh, he has put one of his cronies and appointees in charge of the post office. It's it's hundreds of thousands of millions of Americans are gonna vote by the post office this year, shutting down post offices and destroying sorting machines is basically a way of gumming up the works. That is the problem. Donald Trump has already lost. He knows he's going to lose to Joe by all he's doing now is trying to consolidate, powering any discussion in America. I screamed this on TV and in writing any discussion in America that pretends that this is actually still an election between two competing sides is ignoring the obvious dangerous of Donald Trump poses to basic democracy. So what are the, dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (05:23) The graphics then in terms of black America? I mean, surely if they can vote, they will not, they will not vote for Donald Trump. If they can get to the polls, if they can navigate a pandemic, if they can deal with this mail in dr. jason johnson: (05:37) Ballot problem. Well, yeah, look demographically. If you look at the United States of America, the Republican party for 15, 20 years now, it's only a white people's party. They only function because they have almost a lock on white voters. And if you look at it, um, there hasn't a Republican who actually won the majority of votes in America since gosh, in 2000, I think the last time he Republican actually won the majority of the vote. He was 2004. When Bush ran for reelection, every other election, since they've lost, they have not gotten the majority of the vote. So they're not reflective of what people want. So demographically, while they may have the majority of the white vote Democrats usually get anywhere between 38 to 42% of the white vote, 90 something percent of the African American vote. Uh, Trump has been oddly competitive with the Hispanic vote in America, but you have to remember the Hispanics are, it's a hodgepodge term. I mean, there are white Hispanics in America who identify with white supremacy and racism and abuse that the president sort of engages in. So, you know, it is, it is a last desperate attempt for a certain kind of entrenched bigotry in America to maintain power because demographically, they lost this country 20 years ago. We were dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (06:54) By this Atlantic article at least. I mean, I was rock cause I spent a lot of time with the U S military embedded with them. I understand how they would react to it, dr. jason johnson: (07:02) Where, you know, w where he, he talked about, uh, worrying about dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (07:06) His hair and not going to a cemetery in France and calling for vets losers. dr. jason johnson: (07:12) It's just not the Atlantic, but it's been, uh, you know, five other news organizations have come out now and quoted the same source. And I think we can all guess probably who the sources are, who the sources, but does that stick to him or in this frenetic ferocious news cycle? Is that just forgotten about the next day? No, no, it doesn't say. And here's why it doesn't Cleveland in America. It's not between Republicans and Democrats. It's not even between conservatives and liberals. It's between people who pay attention to politics and people who don't, the people who pay attention to politics. I already know how they feel. And they look for you. They look for confirming information and they don't want to deal with cognitive dissonance. So there's a lot of people in America who haven't even heard of the Atlantic story. They don't care. Now, the military has heard about it. dr. jason johnson: (08:00) And Trump is doing very poorly with the military for an incumbent president who happens to be a Republican, but you know what he had already been doing poorly with the military. He was already a little approval rate with the military. Most of the information that we're hearing about now is simply allowing people to be more comfortable in the decisions that they're already making. There, not one person in America who heard that Donald Trump called soldiers losers, and didn't want to go visit a grave site. And France ain't changed their mind from buying to Trump. Nobody did because everybody knew that this was Donald Trump's personality beforehand. He attacked John McCain. He called John McCain, a loser for being a pow for five years in Vietnam. Who's going to be surprised by this dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (08:39) About the, the race relations in America. Will they play a very big role in that? dr. jason johnson: (08:46) Oh, they always do. Cause this is a pretty racist country and anyone who pays any attention to us, it's a racist country. Just like the UK, just like Brazil, just like any country. That's dominated by people who colonized and kill the indigenous population. The only difference this time is that Donald Trump has done the one thing that you can't do in America and still get legitimately elected. Because again, he may stay in power, but it's only going to be because he cheats like a third world country dictator. Um, Donald Trump has angered white people in America. Uh, there's a lot of white voters in America. They don't care about racism. They don't care about corruption. They don't care about, you know, massaging or anything else like that in the white house, but COVID-19 has wrecked our economy and COVID-19 has disrupted the way of life that most people are used to. dr. jason johnson: (09:27) We can't go to the movies. Kids are trapped at home trying to learn online. Uh, the grocery store lines can sometimes be all the way around the corner, depending on what covert precautions your schools have. So from a racial standpoint, Trump has alienated white voters in a way that most people have African Americans. Or if you're talking about these sort of protests in general, let's be clear state sponsored violence against black people in America is not new. We have merely been able to pay more attention to it over the last 15 years because of technology and because everybody is sheltered in place. Now everybody sees the violence. If you notice the support for black lives matter with white voters went from a peak of 63%. Now it's down to about 49 or 47, some less than sophisticated American analysts would say, Oh my gosh, the black lives matter thing. dr. jason johnson: (10:15) It's working against people now by no 63% of Americans don't care that much about how black people live. But let's be honest about the history of this country. It's about 50%. Think the black lives matter is fine. The rest are fairly ambivalent about, um, and, and there's not anybody in this country who sees protests in Portland and sees protests in Kenosha and suddenly changes their mind. How people are gonna vote was already baked into the cake. And I'll, I'll close with this. Cause I think this is really key is there's a, there's a great is an activist. The United States is very active on Twitter. Her name is Bree Newsome. Uh, and Bree Newsome is the woman who climbed to the top of the, uh, flag pole in South Carolina and tore down the Confederate flag after a white nationalist Dylan roof massacre nine people in a church after praying with them killed nine white people in the church five years ago. dr. jason johnson: (11:02) Horrible. And she has this great tweet where she says, you know, as a white person, these responses to black lives matter kind of like some white person saying, you know what I was against slavery. And then I heard some slaves burned down a cotton field. Well, either you were against slavery. If you weren't okay in burning down a cotton field or a slave verbal changes your mind, then you were never really against slavery. If protests in two American cities, one of the vast majority of American cities have seen nothing like this. And that's enough to change your mind. You were never in favor of black lives matter. You were always going to vote for Trump. So, so race relations in America are pretty much what they've always been. It's just now they're public and people are much more concentrated in what their preexisting opinions already dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (11:49) I'm nodding my head, but I I'm trying to process because I would think after George Floyd and in some of these terrible killings in video, now that that light, you know, sets the street on fire and can be seen from one from the East coast to the West coast so quickly that surely people now understand the level of brutality and they understand the police abuse and they understand how some 80,000 police departments, 85,000 police departments in America, you know, don't hire probably don't train. And in the end, most of these guys walk on criminal charges. dr. jason johnson: (12:25) Surely the, the level of awareness, dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (12:27) The amount of people who are disturbed, not just in the black community, obviously, but in the white dr. jason johnson: (12:33) Surely that's changed. I mean, look, here's here's thing, Dana people are awake. They always knew. It's like, it's like when you have a, it's like when you have a steroid scandal, right? In a popular sport, whether it was Lance Armstrong or tennis or football or basketball, and it's still ruined scandal. And people are like, Oh my gosh, you know, they didn't. And then there's a big discussion for weeks. We need to talk about storage and high school and college sports. Everybody already knew it was there. It's just occasionally I gets thrown in your face in a way that you can't avoid everyone in America. White people have always known that the police are more brutal and more violent with nonwhite people than with white people, regardless of the color of the police officer, everybody's already known that there's not one person American who didn't know that they may have not known how extreme it was. dr. jason johnson: (13:20) They may have not known data behind it, but they knew it all it happened with George Floyd is that a bunch of people who are trapped at home who were already frustrated, saw a murder. I mean, they saw a murder and people don't like steam murder because it forces them to confront the thing that they always knew was going on. But do I think it's transformed anyone? No. I think what it's done is made people who weren't ambivalent about the issue. More clear that it's a problem. And it may have raised it from being here on the list of important things to here for some white people. But there's not, there's nobody who saw George Florida's like my God, I had no idea. Police brutality was an issue until I saw them killed this black man in eight minutes. Anyone who says that, that was the case with them marijuana. I mean, you, you, it was a Steven Lawrence and typically Steven was Steve Lawrence was 2007. Right. And the UK. Yeah. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (14:13) And the riots that ensued after that. dr. jason johnson: (14:15) Yeah. Like, is there anybody who didn't know how the cops treated people? I lived in Brixton, I've lived in Manor house. I know how the cops three people and I was an American. So like, it's not like people don't know, uh, it's a matter of how important they take the knowledge that they already have and how it applies to how they behave politically. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (14:34) I think it elected and is the promise of a Biden victory going to change anything when it comes to race relations and policing. dr. jason johnson: (14:41) I have no idea if Joe Biden is going to end up being president of United States, that is the honest to goodness answer. He will very likely win the popular vote. He may actually win the election, but whether or not he ever becomes president of the United States, I don't know. Um, because we are dealing with an unprecedented administration that has made it abundantly clear that they will break every law, every norm, and every rule in the book in order to stay in office. What you're looking at right now is extremely important. And, and it's, it's no different than it's, it's, it's, it's not even just Brexit it's it's when, um, you know, the, the, the Scottish sort of independence happened, which basically broke the labor party. Right. Which is now going to allow the Tories and the conservatives pretty much stay in power forever until something changes up there with the SNP. dr. jason johnson: (15:29) I think it is what we are right now. But yeah, I mean, what we're looking at right now is 60 days from the end of what's left over American democracy. If Donald Trump is not removed from office, we will not have another free and open election for 30 years. Cause he's cheated and everybody knows he's cheated. And if he gets away with cheating and if he's able to stay in the white house, um, then we're not going to have any more elections here. They won't stop doing what they're doing. They'll get more bolt. So we'll Joe Biden win. I think he'll win by any empirical measure, but whether or not he ever steps into the white house, I have no idea. There are too many factors at play. And I think anyone that says that they know is, is being naive and foolish. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (16:14) And you're really making me feel foolish because here I went overseas as a foreign correspondent to places like Russia and to cover things like elections in Russia and Belarus thinking that that would never come to America. And, and, and we were watching the, the, the spread of democracy after the fall of the Soviet union. Now you're telling me, I should have just crossed the Canadian border down to the U S and done my foreign correspondent service there. And I'll watch it there. When Trump refuses to accept the, the results of it. dr. jason johnson: (16:40) That's fine. Yeah. I mean, I'll tell you what I saw more or less predicted. I pretty much where my, my closing, but I'll tell you what, I pretty much predict on this. I don't, we're not going to know on election night, we're not going to know who won the presidency on election night. What's going to happen is the president of United States is going to declare himself the Victor, no matter what the numbers are, he's going to say he's one. And then it's going to be up to the three main television networks as to whether or not they will broadcast the president claiming that he want. Then you're going to have States like Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, um, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, maybe even Pennsylvania are going to be saying, hold on, hold on, hold on. We have so many male imbalance. We have to take more time to count. And as those counts come in, most of those States, if they were purple are either going to get more blue or they may vacillate back and forth. Trump is going to tell people to stop voting. Uh, these neo-Nazi proud, boy groups are going to start attacking electors. You're going to have to have the national guard brought in. And all of that is going to be taking place in a situation where we know hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of ballots may michael shure: (17:50) Never have even been delivered to the people who needed them to vote. And our Supreme court said during the primary earlier this year, then if your ballot doesn't arrive on election day, even if it's postmark in time, they say that under some circumstances, you can throw it out. So we will have no idea who the president is. And there will be armed conflict in the streets with white nationalists, going to main voting areas in order to attempt to intimidate people or prevent people from counting ballots. That is what's going to happen on election night, how long it lasts. I have no idea. My head is spinning dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (18:23) Jason Johnson. Thank you so much for your insight. And as disturbing as it may be, uh, you know, it's enlightening. michael shure: (18:31) I appreciate your time. Thanks so much anytime. michael shure: (18:39) And even though our next guest thinks in order for Biden to win, he needs a commanding victory, but Trump is on track to lose. Alright. Michael shure joins us from Los Angeles. He's a well known political commentator and he's, he's hosted election coverage. Very insightful. Always, always try. We'll try. Now. I want you to cut through the smoke and mirrors for me because this article from the Atlantic, and I sense that this is not going to fade too quickly. I might be wrong. And I think you've talked about how fast the news cycle is right now, but I don't think it's going to fade very quickly, at least from some people's memories. So he wouldn't Trump wouldn't visit a cemetery in France. He was worried about his hair. He referred to 1800 Marines at Belo, Valeo wood as suckers for getting killed. He's denied it. michael shure: (19:36) Will it stick? Well? Here's the thing I don't, you know, and you're right. I often Dana, I think that things don't stick to this president and to this general news cycle. And in point of fact, they haven't. I mean, he's gotten away with more, uh, with one or two of the things from the access Hollywood tape, which would have sucked every presidential campaign in U S history, uh, till the two, an impeachment that didn't really show anything, um, that, uh, that was able to get him removed from office or to influence enough Republicans to vote for that. So I do think that we have to go in with that context. What this does do in, in an electoral way is having an enduring quality to it. Whether or not people are going to keep talking about it forever, it doesn't matter, but it's, it is further facilitating of those Republicans who voted for Trump holding their nose, uh, or those Democrats who went to Trump, thinking that they just didn't like Hillary Clinton. It is further evidence as to why they should be comfortable not voting for the president November. And that's the most important part of this. So you look at a lot of those Republicans who have a really hard time pushing D on their ballot. And they think of these that Donald Trump has done about the military specifically makes it a little easier for that vote to happen. And those are votes that Joe Biden and his campaign are according very, very seriously. So when you start dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (20:57) Being of the demographics and we're looking at these polls, okay, so he's lost seniors over COVID-19, michael shure: (21:04) He's lost seniors over COVID-19. He's also lost seniors by not really doing this almost demonizing social security. If I was Joe Biden right now, I would have, uh, I would be doing what Hillary Clinton didn't do, which was to talk to seniors directly about protecting social security. It's an issue that the Democrats have always done in campaigns, scared the other side into thinking he was going to be taken away. Hillary Clinton didn't do that. When she ran, I thought it was a mistake. I expect that the Biden people will begin to do that and they should do it pretty soon. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (21:33) Right? He's lost the military over this article, which has been confirmed by a half dozen different major news outlets. How important is the military book? michael shure: (21:41) Military goes very important in that a lot of people, it's not just the active military that you're thinking of, cause they don't, uh, they don't vote in the biggest numbers. They're difficult to pull cause they can't be open about what they are, um, what their, their landings are. But the veteran vote is so important in the United States and we have more and more veterans as we, as we've gone into Wars, uh, over the past 20 years that have created a bigger veteran pool. So when you do lose veterans, you're losing a big chunk. You're not just losing older veterans, you're using losing younger veterans who are going to begin to count on the veterans administration, the hospitals, the medical care. It's a very important voting block. Anybody who casts any, if there's any time, there's a doubt cast about the way a candidate feels about the military. It certainly is not good in terms of garnering that vote. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (22:27) That's a good point. And he's lost working women. michael shure: (22:31) Yeah. I mean, I, you know, listen, I, I w when you say he's lost, I think that there is still a, there, there, you know, people talk about the silent Trump voter. I don't think that there are that many of them, but some of them are, and some of them are white middle class working, uh, you know, uh, middle Midwestern working Americans. And when I say working Americans, working blue collar jobs, and by and large, uh, so you are, he has lost some of those, but working women, uh, within suburbs and within cities who may have not liked Hillary Clinton. Again, I think that, you know, I keep harping on this data because it's a very important one dynamic in this presidential race is that people by and large like Joe Biden, they don't necessarily love him, but they certainly don't hate him. And, and I think that that was something that Hillary Clinton brought to the race was this sort of vitriolic dislike, uh, that many people in America, from Democrats to progressive Democrats to Republican, certainly who really did not like her for whatever reason that dynamic doesn't exist now. So getting those voters, it's a lot easier for a Joe Biden to woo those voters to his side than it was for Hillary Clinton. And those are voters went to Donald Trump. So coming back home to the democratic party, which some of them are going to do, it's going be an easier task. And that he's proven so far in the polling that he's been able to do that. I often ask questions that I know the answers to. And one of those things in television news, right? Yeah, of course. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (23:56) But tell me here's one. I actually do not quite understand the answer to, and maybe you can enlighten me and Europeans and Canadians and everybody else, michael shure: (24:05) As long as it's not a math question. I'm, I'm, I'm good. Well, it's a pulling math question, but how does he, how, who are these people who no matter how offended they are, no matter how much they, you know, don't agree with his morality, uh, with his business dealings, his ethics, but they'll go and vote for the guy, no matter what, I mean, I did a mass murderer and they'd go and vote for him. I mean, what, what is well, many of them and I, you know, the mass murderer thing aside, but you're right. I mean, he's even said a thing that might've been a stretch. Yeah. Let's not stretch it because it might not be either. And I don't want to know if it isn't. I think, I think what you're looking at is you're looking at a voter here who has other, other interests in mind, for example, an evangelical Christian voter, that the only thing that lives on in perpetuity, Donald Trump will be dead and buried, but Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh may likely still be on the Supreme court. michael shure: (25:06) And there are people that, that are social conservatives that care deeply about that. And, and they, they, they're the types of people that will sit and they will fight all the way to the interesting dynamic in American politics that the Democrats and the left don't get, as well as the right. You can excoriate the candidate during the primaries. You can say, I will never vote for that candidate, but when it's that candidate up against the other candidate in the democratic party, these conservative Christians are always going to vote for the person they know are going to put on judges that will defend the, you know, that will fight for the rights of the unborn, uh, that we'll talk about, uh, you know, prayer in school that will protect the flag, all these sort of conservative, moral issues. Those are people that aren't going to come out for Donald Trump. michael shure: (25:53) The other thing is you have the types of voters who don't vote a lot. People who are, are wooed by both his celebrity. And the fact that he, you know, is really kind of giving the middle finger to a lot of the establishment politics. Now, of course, he then slid right into it when he got to Washington, but that was his way of getting there. And there are a lot of people that just like to see that, that play out. And that's really what Donald Trump has tapped into. But I don't think that it's a permanent thing. I'm one of the people that think that the Trump era is an aberration, but it will have a hang over your art. You are going to have Trump Republicans, whether he wins or not existing for a little while, until they're cycled out and then something new may happen, or I may be wrong. But I do think this is an aberration dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (26:36) Poisoning of Alexei Navalny. If taking you far away from America. Now, Trump astonishingly astonishingly refuses to condemn michael shure: (26:44) Putin. He has shaken NATO allies. I mean, Germany, Britain, what gives, I mean, I have a few theories, but what gets well, I mean, first of all, he doesn't want to anger Vladimir Putin right now, Michael Cohen is sort of conciliary though, who served time, who was as assistant, who has now basically turned state's evidence against Donald Trump has a book coming out today as we speak. I don't know when this is airing, but it's a Tuesday. And in the United States, the 8th of September, and this book is being released as we speak. And in this book, he said that Michael Cohen said the president has an adherence to Vladimir Putin. He likes the way he runs Russia, like a business. And these are quotes. And these sorts of things, these sort of like a business, otherwise he wouldn't have sanctioned so on and he wouldn't be jailing and poisoning people, but, okay. michael shure: (27:33) No, I agree with you. I'm this I'm just, I'm paraphrasing what Michael Cohen is saying, but there is an authoritarian, um, way of running a business that Donald Trump seemed to like to do and, and Cohen for his part. And again, we're talking about somebody who was, who served time in prison, but served time in prison, covering for Donald Trump. I think that Cohen is saying that he runs it like a mob boss and a mob boss doesn't care if the other guy gets whacked in the case, in this case. So if you see that the head of another family as Putin might be in Donald Trump's parlance, then you protect that person. There are also business interests that we don't know about this all ties into when we get his tax returns. What we know about his loans and Deutsche bank and those sorts of things, maybe if you don't know about as well, Hey, there could be that too. michael shure: (28:17) I know you gotta go Biden or Trump. I mean, really to call for you because the polls are like seven and a half, 8% for Biden. Yeah. It's not too early to call for me. I think that Biden's gonna win. I don't see a path that the Trump has electorally here or with the popular vote. I see him fighting in places that the Republican should not be fighting in this time. Dana, and even though Nate silver, and a lot of the good pollsters here in the United States are saying that he has better than a one in four chance of winning reelection. I think that you also have been Joe Biden with just the three and four chances. Pretty good. I do think that there are going to be places that you think the president is not going to do as well, where it's going to start doing well already. You're seeing him riding off Michigan. He's got to make up for that. And he's got to make up for a couple of other States. It looks like he's going to lose. I just don't know where he goes for those electrodes. dana lewis - host back story with Dana Lewis : (29:03) I think most of Europe will be relieved if you're, if you're right. And I have no doubt that Michael shore probably is right, Michael. Thanks. Thank you. And that's backstory on the American election. Please subscribe to backstory. And if you can share it, we really appreciate you listening. I'm Dana Lewis and I'll talk to you again soon.

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An Annotated Bibliography: What Toxic Masculinity Does To Health and How Do We Teach It?

Jordan Harms

Digital Annotated Bibliography

Dr. Mohrman

March 9, 2019

An Annotated Bibliography: What Toxic Masculinity Does To Health and How Do We Teach It?

Toxic masculinity has adopted many definitions. In today’s culture, toxic masculinity involves topics such as sex, violence, harassment, status and aggression. These things mask the ability for men to show weakness and emotions, and give men a label as acting “feminine.” Since it is not understood at a young age, children will never be able to understand how it could become apparent in their daily lives. Other things need to be taken into account like health issues that come along with the controversial concept of toxic masculinity.

Popular Sources:

1).Source Cited: Caroline, Gilpin, and Natalie, Proulx, “Boys to Men: Teaching and Learning About Masculinity in an Age of Change,” The New York Times,(April 12, 2018), Accessed March 04, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/learning/lesson-plans/boys-to-men-teaching-and-learning-about-masculinity-in-an-age-of-change.htmlIts

Caroline Gilpin and Natalie Prolux explain how important it is that male roles in younger boys’ lives are being called to prevent toxic masculinity. In this reading, the main focus looked into changing how boys act in the pursuit of their growing lives. Gilpin and Prolux continued to ask questions about expectations from boys at such a young age. What has been modeled to young boys to show them what it means to be a “true man?” How can boys avoid toxic masculinity further on into their lives? This source provides knowledge and guidance when asking young boys questions about their future. It challenges parents or other adults to change the way toxic masculinity is taught to young boys.

2).Source Cited: Diane, Barth, “Toxic masculinity is a terrible shorthand for a real problem plaguing men,” NBC News Think: Opinion, Analysis, Essays,(January 04, 2019), Accessed March 4, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/toxic-masculinity-terrible-shorthand-real-problem-plaguing-men-ncna957941

Everyday men struggle with the concept of toxic masculinity that causes psychological issues. This reading points out that all ideas about masculinity have all become bad. Barth really emphasizes on the health issues, mainly psychological issues, that men are facing due to toxic masculinity. The norms for masculinity are changing and have started to lay foundations to a larger audience. Men are attempting to “undo” the concept of toxic masculinity and working alongside with women. In the ready Barth gives an example of a client she was working with in the past who was three years old and was told by a teacher he was a little “fragile.” What does being fragile mean as a man? Barth incorporates a multitude of psychological issues that comes along with the concept of toxic masculinity. The behaviors that toxic masculinity presents needs to be addressed, not defined.

3). Source Cited:Kristian Berhost “The History and Health Consequences of Toxic Masculinity in the U.S.” The Medium,(January 29, 2018), Accessed March 04, 2019, https://medium.com/@kristianberhost/the-history-and-health-consequences-of-toxic-masculinity-in-the-u-s-82dfbc53f1ca

Health is something that is very overlooked when toxic masculinity has become a popular topic for discussion. In this article, Berhost provides many statistical numbers that correspond to health issues listed in the reading. The author provides the leading causes of death in men that all surround the concept of toxic masculinity. After reading this article, the controversy of the concept of toxic masculinity isn’t only just a bad rap, it masks other underlying issues.

4). Source Cited:Alia, E. Dastagir, “Men pay a steep prove when it comes to masculinity,” USA Today,(March 31, 2017), Accessed March 4, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/31/masculinity-traditional-toxic-trump-mens-rights/99830694/

Boys have been taught throughout their entire lives what it means to be a man. Gender equality has changed positively for women, but has it for boys and men? Men are aggressively working hard to teach young boys about what toxic masculinity means and how it can be changed. This article provides statistical evidence to support the idea that toxic masculinity is something that isn’t easy for men to face.

Source Cited:Alia, E. Dastagir, “Men pay a steep prove when it comes to masculinity,” USA Today,(March 31, 2017), Accessed March 4, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/31/masculinity-traditional-toxic-trump-mens-rights/99830694/

5). Source Cited: Samantha, Smithstein, “Toxic Masculinity: What Is It and How Do We Change It?,” Psychology Today,(October 02, 2018), Accessed March 4, 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-the-wild-things-are/201810/toxic-masculinity-what-is-it-and-how-do-we-change-it

Psychology and teaching are two major things that need to be taken account for while discussing toxic masculinity. This reading incorporates real mean facing the challenge of toxic masculinity. Smithstein offers the telling of an individual male and his experienced living in toxic masculinity. Not all men strive to live that way and would rather be masculine, without being toxic. One major point in this reading states the act of bullying. Many children in school faces bullying everyday; majority of them being boys. This is a perfect example of how toxic masculinity is very vibrant in schools. Men are striving to educate themselves and their boys.

Academic Sources:

6). Source Cited:Kathleen, Elliott, “Challenging Toxic Masculinity in Schools and Society,” On the Horizon, Vol. 26 Issue: 1, pg,17-22 (2018), Accessed March 4, 2019

Today, there are very obvious signs moving toward gender equality. In schools, teachers focus on addressing the advancement and empowering of women. Rarely do school focus on addressing masculinity, especially toxic masculinity. It is rare to dive into how boy are being raised in taught in their lives early on. This results in allowing toxic masculinity. The blame is being on put on how parents or guardians do not spend the time teaching their boys how to be masculine in the correct and positive way. It is very important for all educators to focus on masculinity as well as other gender inequalities.

7). Source Cited: Bryant, W. Sculos, “Who’s Afraid of ‘Toxic Masculinity,’ Class, Race, and Corporate Power,(2017), Accessed March 4, 2019

It is important to understand the meaning of toxic masculinity. People can do this by looking in deeper to popular culture topics and relating them back to other specific topics. The author of this article mainly talks about how he tries to teach people about toxic masculinity. Reading this makes it easier for the reader to understand what toxic masculinity is. It is important that people have the knowledge to understand and teach about this topic because there is so much want for change in society today. This article asks the main question “who is afraid of toxic masculinity?’ It could be that the fear is being a man and presenting toxic masculinity or not teaching younger generations about toxic masculinity.

8).Source Cited: Tim, Lomas, “New Ways of Being a Man: “Positive” Hegemonic Masculinity in Meditation-based Communities of Practice,”

Sage Journals

, (23, Marcj 2015), Accessed March 11, 2019

Lomas immediately describes how toxic masculinity can be very detrimental to ones health and well-being. Men take on the brutality of toxic masculinity which results in masking their true emotions. Even if men are working hard towards changing toxic masculinity, it is still present in their everyday lives. Lomas does a good job at explaining the term “hegemonic” and how toxic masculinity and the term hegemonic work together in unison. One of the main ideas relating to toxic masculinity is dominance, also meaning hegemonic. Men can change, but Lomas states that social processes can block this from happening.

9). Source Cited:Raewyn, Connell, “Masculinity Construction and Sports In Boys Education: A Framework For Thinking About The Issue,” Sports, Education, and Society,Vol. 13, No. 2 page 131-145

Sports plays a huge role in masculinity. Boys are expected to play sports during school. If they don’t. In the reading, the author talks about how girls success is a threat to boys. If boys are successful in sports, then the boys feel as if they win. This is a perfect example of toxic masculinity is sports. Education allows for boys to show their masculinity, but doesn’t offer a clear understanding of what toxic masculinity is. It is common for boys to panic about being failures in sports. In the article, Connell states that sports is the most segregated area in schools because of dominance. Schools could apply more information to the students, specifically the ones in sports, about toxic masculinity. Not all boys want to go to school and play sports at the same time. Boys should be able to go to school and know that it is okay not to be involved in sports. Connell explicitly explains the trauma boys receive, even if they are involved in sports, during their school year. Toxic masculinity is very apparent in not only a school setting, but a sports setting as well.

10). Source Cited:Jim, Burns, “Biopolitics, Toxic Masculinities, Disavowed Histories, and Youth Radicalization,” A Journal of Social Justice,(2017) Vol. 29, page 176-183

Burns disactivates from the term masculinity and uses the term “radicalization.” He puts into terms how children act more radical. This relates to the idea of toxic masculinity. As young boys, the idea of being masculine is greater than being yourself. Boys begin to fear feminism at a young age, so toxic masculinity becomes masked. Burns uses real world examples to explain how the youth are leaning more towards radicalization. Radicalization means people going against norms and adopting extreme political, social or religious ideas that are commonly rejected. This reading supports the idea that toxic masculinity is very present in young boys and something needs to change in education.

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