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cyarskj1899 · 1 year

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Brazil Celebrates Lula’s Inauguration and End of Right-Wing Bolsonaro Reign

Lula vowed to rebuild Brazil as a nation for all people, while former President Jair Bolsonaro fled to Florida.By Jon Queally , COMMONDREAMS

January 2, 2023

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Exposé Reveals Lobbyists Bought Access to Supreme Court Justices With Donations

The Supreme Court Historical Society has raked in millions from corporations and lobbyists with cases before the court.By Jon Queally , COMMONDREAMS

January 1, 2023

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When It Comes to Greed and Tax Dodging, Sanders Points Out “Trump is Not Alone”

Sen. Sanders called out seven major companies that also payed no federal income taxes in 2020.By Jon Queally , COMMONDREAMS

January 1, 2023

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European Far Right Saw Electoral Wins in 2022. Reversing Them Will Not Be Easy.

The far right continues to grow in Europe, with extremist parties gaining ground in Italy, France and Sweden.By David Renton , TRUTHOUT

December 31, 2022

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Biden WH Reminds GOP Leaders: You Don’t Have Oversight Powers Until Next Week

The GOP plans to aggressively investigate the Biden administration once the party takes the House.By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT

December 29, 2022

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January 6 Committee Withdraws Trump Subpoena

The former president falsely claimed the subpoena withdrawal was proof he "did nothing wrong."By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT

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New York Prosecutors Open Investigation Into Representative-Elect George Santos

The investigation comes as top Republicans have remained silent about his numerous lies.By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT

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Jan. 6 Transcripts Show Trump Wanted “Blanket Pardon” for Capitol Attackers

Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone rejected the idea, according to testimony from Trump's former aides.By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT

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Groups Connected With Leonard Leo Have Funneled $31 Million to State Court Races

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Jamie Raskin Says It’s Time to End the Electoral College

"We should elect the president the way we elect governors, senators, mayors, [and] representatives," Raskin said.By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT

December 28, 2022EXCLUSIVE NEWS ANALYSISIn a Violent Year for LGBTQ People, These Are the Ways We Coped and Fought BackA year-end round-up of LGBTQIA+ news and cultural shifts.By Toshio Meronek, Eric A. Stanley, TRUTHOUTPublished December 29, 2022

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smashpages · 2 years

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Out this week: ‘Tis the Season to be Freezin’ #1 (DC, $9.99)

DC’s latest anthology has a frozen winter theme, as it features characters like Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Polar Boy and more by creators like Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, Rich Bernatovech, Tee Franklin, Tara Roberts, Amedeo Turturro, Bobby Moynihan, Jeff Trammell, Andrew Wheeler, Jordan Gibson, Travis Mercer, Yancy Labat, Eric Battle, Jason Howard, Pop Mhan, Justin Mason, Meghan Hetrick and more. It also features the debut of JLQ, the LGBTQ+ themed superhero team that proved quite popular in DC’s Round Robin contest earlier this year.

See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week.

#tis the season to be freezin #comics #comic books #ncbd #new comics tuesday #new comic book day #new comics day #harley quinn #batman #can't wait for comics #new comics #superman #wonder woman #dc comics

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gaypersonalscouple03 · 4 years

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ptw30 · 5 years

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as someone who's only been watching this sh-t show from a distance (and don't actively follow the twitter/social media besides what I see cross-posted here, so who knows maybe they actually /did/ already) can I say how at this point it's completely plausible to me for a fan to say how harmful it is to constantly yell how you hate and want to (and HAVE) kill the single canonically queer character in the entire canon, and have the lovely duo of VLD snap back (1/2)

how not only are they exempt from the Bury Your Gays trope and completely immune to any effects or consequences of it, but that “we’re actually TOTALLY EVEN MORE SUPER PROGRESSIVE becuz gay kuron being totally 120% evil shows that gays can be villains too uwu u just dont understand it duh get on our level sweetie!” (2/2)

I had the privilege to attend the “The Future is LGBTQ” panel at NYCC.* Marguerite Bennett, a queer comic book writer, spoke about issues she had when writing DC Bombshells. She was accused of having written harmful queer tropes by a few fans, to which she replied, “The majority of the cast was queer. Angst is going to happen to queer characters with a queer cast.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Contrarily, the majority of Voltron: Legendary Defender’s characters is not queer. And many of the terrible events in the script were reserved for the queer characters.

Below the cut, an exploration into the BYG trope and how Kuron being evil feeds into it.

Canonically - there are four queer characters. Shiro is the only main cast queer character, but Zethrid, Ezor, and Adam are also queer. If you listen to the EP interviews, then you also know Blatyz is queer.

Every canonical queer character has been killed.

Out of all the deaths in VLD, Adam’s was truly horrific. He screamed out in pain as he was killed, compared to Thace, who closed his eyes and surrendered to the blast; compared to Antok who accepted a blast, groaned, and fell to the side; compared to the Druid, who received a sword in the chest, muttered, and disappeared; compared to Zarkon, the Evil Emperor of the Universe, whose labored breathing ended and his bayard stopped glowing; compared to Trugg and Ladnok, whom we actually didn’t see die; compared to Keith’s dad, whose tombstone symbolized his death. ��

Adam’s death deserved a trigger warning. While I do not agree with Hypable’s most recent season review, I am grateful to Donya for spoiling his death. On August 10th, I was anxious about Adam’s impeding demise, but even knowing - I was horrified when it came.

The EPs are not exempt from the BYG trope or the consequences of its use.

The issue with VLD is its treatment of its gay characters. All Lotor’s disabled and queer generals were killed. The only general to survive and turn “good”? The straight, non-disabled one. The only paladin to return home to absolutely no family? The queer paladin. Keith found his family in space. Hunk, Lance and Pidge had family. Even Allura is shown with Romelle and Coran.

Shiro? Absolutely no family.

I don’t even believe Adam and Shiro should be together -

(Tangent - as a former caretaker of someone with degenerative disease, I can tell you that most people who say they will stick around to the end, don’t, and if Adam wasn’t willing to wait for Shiro to return, then he wouldn’t have stuck around to take care of Shiro. Furthermore, Adam and Shiro made the decisions that was best for them, which is mature and thoughtful. Even if we disagree with Adam, he broke up with Shiro, and Shiro, by choosing to go to Kerberos, broke up with Adam. But that doesn’t mean Adam deserved to die.)

- but I’m not going to argue whether Shiro and Adam fulfilled the BYG trope. Each person can decide for himself/herself how they feel about Adam’s demise - but Zethrid and Ezor are unequivocally the BYG trope. A touching moment, a promise for them to be together, and then they die.

There’s no way for the EPs to escape that, technicality or not. (Another point - I don’t care for technicalities. The spirit of Adam and Shiro’s relationship wasn’t written in good faith, especially since the EPs wanted to kill Shiro - so they don’t win any points here.)

Now, I will give the EPs credit that Kuron is not your traditional “queer-coded” villain, but Kuron being evil doesn’t make them or the story progressive. In fact, it makes them either woefully ignorant or actively offensive.

In “The Strange, Difficult History of Queer-Coding,” Tricia Ennis writes how during the 1950s and ‘60s, conservative groups in America discouraged queer characters in films. These characters were still written but in subtext, and actors were told to play these characters as gay.

Even dangerous LGBTQ tropes rose out of this time period as the depictions of pulp noir femme fatales and other deadly women rose in popularity. These women were usually written as promiscuous and sexually devious, both with men and sometimes with women. They were also evil and usually met their end as a result of their sins. While depictions of LGBTQ characters were frowned upon, depictions of them in this specifically negative light were not. You were not endorsing an “alternative lifestyle” if your gay characters always met an untimely demise. Instead, they were merely paying for their poor choices. This trope would eventually give way to what we now refer to as “Bury Your Gays.”

Thus, Shiro/Kuron being the only queer paladin, the only paladin to have his bond with his lion broken, the only paladin to turn “evil” and to be killed twice - Shiro’s body and Kuron’s soul - the EPs are not progressive. In fact, they fed the trope they so adamantly denied using.

Coupled with Shiro being announced as no longer being a paladin in the same season that he was revealed to be queer, in the same season it’s revealed he has/had a degenerative disease, in the same season his one-time partner was killed - one can even make the assumption all this happened to Shiro because the EPs and DreamWorks do not support LGBTQIA+ rights.

Rounding back - the EPs aren’t exempt from repercussions.

Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery came from DC Comics as directors, became showrunners at DreamWorks, and went onto Marvel, back to the director chair. That is a demotion. DreamWorks cleaned house - even before Season 8 premiered - and though I think the messages were offensively underwhelming, JDS apologized on Twitter the Monday after Season 7 was released, and LM expanded upon that apology at NYCC.

The damage is done, though, as many people found Season 7 so harmful that they will not watch more DreamWorks’ show and definitely not projects with JDS and LM. The best thing DreamWorks can do is to apologize (an exec this time), admit there were issues with Season 7 - including the BYG trope, plus the racist, sexist, and ableist themes, as well - and promise to do better in a Voltron sequel and in all their shows by creating diverse teams and an inclusive environment in which to create inclusive shows.

DreamWorks hasn’t completed that final step yet, but the fact that the EPs are no longer a part of DreamWorks and are not working on a VLD sequel, despite the show being “popular” and what I would say, an overall “success,” says DreamWorks did take notice. Now it’s up to us, as fans, to continue the conversation and not to stop discussing. We need to keep telling DreamWorks and others content creators to create inclusive stories until we get shows with true and empowering representation.

* I highly recommend any fan of any fandom to attend a few educational panels at each con. They’re included in the price, and they are welcoming and informative for writing true representation in your stories.

#voltron #voltron critical #represenation #tropes #answered #answrs #shiro #queer characters #operation kuron

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comicsbeat · 5 years

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Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what’s coming. A lot of people who responded e this year talked about the development of a new distribution system or channel for comics as being a big story for 2019. It seem there is a lot of dissatisfaction with how comics are sold these days, no duh. What do you think? Is there a savior on the horizon? You can check out the other parts of the survey here.

Kwanza Osajyefo, writer

2019 Projects: H1 Comics from Humanoids and WHITE, the sequel to BLACK

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The growth of the graphic novels among titles that don’t perform as well in the direct market.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Comic distribution becoming more multi-channel along with the direct market

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Figuring out what is going on in Paper Girls

Who inspired you in 2018? Everyone, I think so many of our peers have been operating on ten this year. I think the flood of comics content into the mainstream has really gotten us fired up, not to get our work into other mediums but to imagine on a larger scale.

Tony Shenton. Sales rep and consultant

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The death of Stan Lee

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The ongoing legal battle Cody Pikrodt has started vs. small presses and creators

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Not a guilty pleasure at all: RUN from Abrams.

Gary Tyrrell, Blogger

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Spike Trotman. She’s tearing up the industry with Iron Circus, and she’ll be launching a YA imprint — she’s making it so a lot of future superstars have a place to start their careers.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Raina Telgemeier’s next book will have an initial print run of one million. That’s mindbending.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Perp walks of high federal officials and Trump family members. So many perp walks.

Who inspired you in 2018? Pat Race — he and his team have put together something extraordinarily special in the Alaska Robotics Comics Camp, and it’s creating new relationships and creative networks among comics creators at all stages of their careers. The future will remember it as equivalent to the Algonquin Round Table.

Mariah McCourt, Creator

2019 Projects: STITCHED #3 and a new series for AHOY! comics

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That comics are for everyone, stories matter, and so does representation.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Hopefully more focus on amazing creators, the diversity of content, and the continuing impact and relevancy of the medium.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? No guilty pleasures here, I’m looking forward to seeing all the new books in the works!

Joe Field, Retailer

2019 Projects: A new space to expand Flying Colors for events and sales

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? There was no one biggest story in comics. It was a thousand shards of glass rather than just one big picture window.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Cruise to the Edge, a prog rock themed cruise in February. No cell phones, no worries, just some great people having a peace party at sea.

Who inspired you in 2018? My wife Libby continues to be my inspiration. We celebrate our 40th anniversary in late February (so good then, even better now). The non-profit work she does in helping women with crisis pregnancies while also managing Flying Colors’ back office and reveling in her role as a grandmother is so inspiring to me.

Amy Chu, writer

2019 Projects: Summit (Lion Forge), Sea Sirens with Janet Lee (Viking Press), Pros & Cons (Dark Horse)

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Kid’s graphic novels are $$$ – Dave Pilkey 3 million print run for his fifth Dog Man book; Raina Telgemeier 1 million for Guts

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Kid’s graphic novels

Glenn Hauman, publisher at ComicMix, designated victim of “They Keep Killing Glenn”

2019 Projects: What 2019 projects am I working on that I can talk about? More omnibus editions for GrimJack, Soulsearchers & Company, and Deadbeats, and new… oh, dammit, I can’t talk about that yet. Arrgh.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The passing of Stan Lee. We all knew it was going to happen someday, and yet… we all thought we might get a pass on this one, you know?

And speaking of Marvel greats leaving: Bendis at DC.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The All-New, All-Different Stan Lee 2.0!

And the bankruptcy of projects intended to get money from C*****gate people.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? The resolution of certain legal proceedings.

Thomas Ragon, Publisher

2019 Projects:

Roman Muradov’s next book “The Adventures of Munich in Marcel Duchamp”.

Thierry Smolderen & Alexandre Clérisse’s (whose “Atom Empire” & “Diabolik Summer” are translated or about to be by IDW) next graphic Novel : “Une année sans Cthulhu” (A year without Cthulhu).

After Glenn Gould, Sandrine Revel’s book about Canadian painter Tom Thomson Two major sets of exhibitions, in chronological order : Blutch has several exhibitions throughout 2019 in Strasbourg, and we’re working on a monograph to be released early March. Joann Sfar will be exhibited at the Basel Cartoon Museum and Lucerne festival “Fumetto”.

Ron Wimberly’s “Prince of Cats” French edition.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Ron Wimberly’s LAAB #0 ; The French authors collective movement to obtain better social and economic conditions from both publishers and government.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Borja Gonzalez having a worldwide success with his THE BLACK HOLES.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Discovering new excellent restaurants thanks to my job. Discovering new great bookstores thanks to my job.

Who inspired you in 2018? Blutch and Joann Sfar are always inspiring me, in many ways.

Nat Gertler, writer/publisher

2019 Projects: While my 2019 writing projects are for other people to announce, my first publishing project of the new year reflects on the 90th anniversary of the Great Depression by reprinting a book of cartoons by the great Otto Soglow, done during the depression.

Preview pages below.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The triumph of diversity against anti-diversity forces.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Good comics. It’s always good comics, and there are always good comics for the story to be about. All the industry games mean nothing without that.

Christian Beranek, Writer

2019 projects: Kelci Crawford and I will be wrapping up Validation and then moving forward with Tiny Unicorn. (See below) Also writing loads of prose stories.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Black Panther. I wish its box office success translated into more sales, however. We have to find a way to turn film audiences onto the source material.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? A massive wave of quality comics bringing in new readers.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Any time taken away from writing. I want to work as much as possible but know you need breaks. I plan on reading more books in the Foundation series. Looking forward to that show.

Who inspired you in 2018? Tony DiGerolamo. The guy is a writing machine and really understands the mechanics of storytelling. More companies should consider hiring him.

Sanika Phawde, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: My biggest project scheduled to be completed in 2019 is my newest graphic novel. The project is still untitled but it presents an autofiction story about the journey of learning to love myself, and learning to accept my body and sexuality, as a freshly adult immigrant in New York city .

The story communicates through mix-media drawings on location, memoir comics, sketchbook pages, illustrated poetry, and even a few instances of fold-out paper architecture.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I am really looking forward to going back home to Mumbai after a year, and eating a Nescafe flavoured ice cream sandwich in the winter heat with my best friend, while sitting on the wall that keeps the Arabian sea out of the city.

Who inspired you in 2018? Julian Glander, Jaron Braxton, Veronica Lawlor, Nora Krug, Robert Sikoryak, Brian Rea, Alex Norris, Lizzo, Melissa Guerrero (practices activism through food), Janelle Monae

Christopher Butcher, TCAF Artistic Director & VIZ Media Editorial Consultant

2019 Projects: TCAF 2019 is gearing up and it’s going to have one of the strongest and most diverse guest lists in our history. It’s going to be a pretty amazing year to be there, whether you love kids comics, YA comics, Adult comics, North American or International Comics. We’re pretty hyped!

On the VIZ side of things, though there’s a ton still to be announced, several of the series I’ve had a hand in are starting or continuing into 2019. Look out for the YA LGBTQ series “That Blue Sky Feeling” to get its 2nd and 3rd and final volume next year, the amazing/disturbing BEASTARS will start next year (like if Zootopia were a little more food-chain accurate?), and the recently-debuted gorgeous SF title Ran and The Grey World will start to turn some heads.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s tough. The industry is so fragmented at this point, that stories that were huge in one area barely made a ripple in others. Straddling graphic novel publishing, manga publishing, and with a toe still in superhero publishing, it’s amazing the times people would pull me aside and ask “So what was that about, exactly? All I saw was the hashtag…”

So… yeah I dunno. I think the biggest ‘story’ probably wasn’t written, but it was about the continued evolution of this industry as it happened. The house-cleaning and secret-revealing that needed to happen, some of the editorial attitudes around projects looking pretty terrible when exposed to the light of day, the continued vertical integration in licensed properties, all of it points to a maturing industry, which is both good and bad. More professionalism, but less room for the sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff that made comics very, very exciting about 10 years ago.

I think most folks involved will take ‘professionalism’ any day of the week though!

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Pogs, baby! POGS!

No but seriously, I have no idea. There’s so much up in the air right now, 2019 is going to be bumpy for sure.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? If it’s not hurting anyone, then there’s no point in feeling guilty about pleasure. Enjoy yourselves, it’s tough out there. 🙂

Who inspired you in 2018? My husband, Andrew Woodrow-Butcher, who was enormously patient and supportive while I took risks and traveled around the world, all while working 60 hours a week making sure Canadian schools and libraries have the best comic collections in the world, re-opening the world’s first kids comic book store (Little Island Comics!), sending Canadians to comic festivals around the world, and of course, programming a big part of TCAF. He’s a constant inspiration to me, I’m lucky to have him.

Ben Towle, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: The main project I’ve been working on in 2018 is a non-fiction graphic novel for the new imprint Dead Reckoning, which specializes in comics about things historical and/or military-related.

The book’s called Four Fisted Tales and it’s a collection of real-life stories about animals used in combat.

Here’s a sample page:

And here’s an in-progress rough:

I’m also continuing to work on–albeit a lot more slowly–my book In the Weeds about cooking and playing rock music in the 1990’s. It’s my first foray into the great comics tradition of “funny animals” characters. Here’s an in-progress rough from that:

It probably seems like I’ve disappeared since Oyster War came out a few years back, but I’ve been hard at work on TWO books, I promise!

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s gotta be the announcement of not one, but TWO, forthcoming books from Raina Telgemeier. When the most highly-read and most popular cartoonist in North America announces a book, it’s a big flippin’ deal. TWO books in the same year is bonkers news.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? OK…Well, it’s only a big story for ME, but I’m really excited about the upcoming D&Q Little Lulu reprint series. These are some of the best comics ever made and it’s going to be great to see them get the D&Q treatment starting in 2019.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I’m a huge Star Trek nerd and so I’m super-excited about whatever’s brewing with this new Picard show. Supposedly starting in 2019!

The Beat's Annual Creator Survey Part 4: with art from new projects by Amy Chu, Janet Lee, Roman Muradov, Otto Soglow, Ben Towle and more Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what's coming.

#2019 creator survey #Amy Chu #Andrea Purcell #ben towle #Christian Beranek #Christopher Butcher #Gary Tyrrell #glenn hauman #joe field #Kwanza Osajyefo #mariah mccourt #nat gertler #Sanika Phawde #thomas ragon #tony shenton #upcoming comics

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un-enfant-immature · 4 years

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DCM has already made nearly $1 billion off its $26 million bet on Bill.com

David Chao, the cofounder of the cross-border venture firm DCM, speaks English, Japanese, and Mandarin. But he also knows how to talk to founders.

It’s worth a lot. Consider that DCM should see more than $1 billion from the $26.4 million it invested across 14 years in the cloud-based business-to-business payments company Bill.com, starting with its A round. Indeed, by the time Bill.com went public last December, when its shares priced at $22 apiece, DCM’s stake — which was 16% sailing into the IPO — was worth a not-so-small fortune.

Since then, Wall Street’s lust for both digital payments and subscription-based revenue models has driven Bill.com’s shares to roughly $90 each. Little wonder that in recent weeks, DCM has sold roughly 70 percent of its stake for nearly $900 million. (It still owns 30 percent of its position.)

We talked with Chao earlier today about Bill.com, on whose board he sits and whose founder, René Lacerte, is someone Chao backed previously. We also talked about another very lucrative stake DCM holds right now, about DCM’s newest fund, and about how Chao navigates between the U.S. and China as relations between the two countries worsen. Our conversation has been edited lightly for length and clarity.

TC: I’m seeing you owned about 33% of Bill.com after the first round. How did that initial check come to pass? Had you invested before in Lacerte?

DC: That’s right. Renee started [an online payroll] company called PayCycle and we’d backed him and it sold to Intuit [in 2009] and Renee made good money and we made money. And when he wanted to start this next thing, he said, ‘Look, I want to do something that’s a bigger outcome. I don’t want to sell the company along the way. I just want this time to do a big public company.’

TC: Why did he sell PayCycle if that was his ambition?

DC: It was largely because when you’re a first-time CEO and entrepreneur and a large company offers you the chance to make millions and millions of dollars, you’re a bit more tempted to sell the company. And it was a good price. For where the company was, it was a decent price.

Bill.com was a little bit different. We had good offers before going public. We even had an offer right before we went public. But Renee said, ‘No, this time, I want to go all the way.’ And he fulfilled that promise he’d made to himself. It’s a 14-year success story.

TC: You’ve sold most of your stake in recent weeks for $900 million; how does that outcome compare with other recent exits for DCM?

DC: We actually have another recent one that’s phenomenal. We invested in a company called Kuaishou in China. It’s the largest competitor to Bytedance’s TikTok in China. We’ve invested $49.3 million altogether and now that stake is worth $3.8 billion. The company is still private held, but we actually cashed out around 15% of our holdings. and with just that sale alone we’ve already [seen 10 times] that $30 million.

TC: How do you think about selling off your holdings, particularly once a company has gone public?

DC: It’s really case by case. In general, once a company goes public, we probably spend somewhere between 18 months to three years [unwinding our position]. We had two big IPOs in Japan last year. One company [had] a $1 billion market cap; the other was a $2 billion company. There are some [cases] that are 12 months and there are some [where we own some shares] for four or five years.

TC: What types of businesses are these newly public companies in Japan?

DC: They’re both B2B. One is pretty much the Bill.com of Japan. The other makes contact management software

TC: Isn’t DCM also an investor in Blued, the LGBTQ dating app that went public in the U.S. in July?

DC: Yes, our stake wasn’t very big, but we were probably the first major VC to jump in because it was controversial.

TC: I also saw that you closed a new $880 million early stage fund this summer.

DC: Yes, that’s right. It was largely driven by the fact that many of our funds have done well. We’re now on fund nine, but our fund seven is on paper today 9x, and even the fund that Bill.com is in, fund four, is now more than 3x. So is fund five. So we’re in a good spot.

TC: As a cross-border fund, what does the growing tension between the U.S and China mean for your team and how it operates?

DC: It’s not a huge impact. If we were currently investing in semiconductor companies, for example, I think it would be a pretty rough period, because [the U.S.] restricts all the money coming from any foreign sources. At least, you’d be under strong scrutiny. And if we invested in a semiconductor company in China, you might not be able to go public in the U.S.

But the kinds of deals that we do, which are largely B2B and B2C — more on the software and services side — they aren’t as impacted. I’d say 90% of our deals in China focus on the domestic market. And so it doesn’t really impact us as much.

I think some of the Western institutions putting money into the Chinese market — that might be decreasing, or at least they’re a little bit more on the sidelines, trying to figure out whether they should be continuing to invest in China. And maybe for Chinese companies, less companies will go public in the U.S., etcetera. But some of these companies can go public in Hong Kong.

TC: How you feel about U.S. administration’s policies? Do you understand them? Are you frustrated by them?

DC: I think it requires patience, because what [is announced and] goes on the news, versus what is really implemented and how it truly affects the industry, there’s a huge gap.

#TechCrunch

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blackkudos · 4 years

Text

Frenchie Davis

Franchell "Frenchie" Davis (born May 7, 1979) is an American Broadway performer and a soul, dance/electronica, and pop singer. She first came to public attention in 2003 as a contestant on the singing competition show American Idol. Davis began performing in Rent on Broadway soon afterward, and was a member of the cast for four years. In 2011 Davis reached the top 8 on the first season of singing competition The Voice.

Early life and career

Davis was born in Washington, DC and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from Howard University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

In the year 2000, she began her performing career in productions of Little Shop of Horrors and Jesus Christ Superstar with the Freilichtspiele Theatre Company in Schwabisch Hall, Germany.

American Idol

Davis was a contestant on the second season of American Idol in 2003, but was disqualified early in the season due to topless photos taken earlier in her career.

According to Davis, she was up-front about her pictures:

"When I first discovered that I had made it to Hollywood and found out I would be competing to get into the top 30 and then later in the top 12, they had given us all this paperwork to fill out, background checks and that whole thing. So when we were doing that I had a discussion with some members of the production staff and I exposed to them a piece of my past; that when I was 19 years old, I took some pictures and that’s not the person I am [anymore]. I wanted to be up-front about it. We talked about it and then nothing happened".

The Idol staff took no action then, but two months later, they decided that Davis's participation would be inappropriate. "They had decided that because American Idol was a family show, that they could not have me on the show because of the pictures I had taken –though they had never seen the pictures," she told EuroWeb. She also added that no one was able to find the pictures in question as the website that featured them had been taken down.

Double-standards controversy

In 2007, revealing pictures of season six American Idol contender Antonella Barba surfaced on the internet, but Barba was kept on the show (though she was voted off shortly afterward). Many drew parallels to Davis's earlier situation. In an interview conducted for The New York Post on Monday, March 5, 2007, Davis said,

"I couldn't help but notice the difference between the manner in which she was dealt with and how I was dealt with.... I think it's fantastic if

Idol

has evolved, and I think it's fantastic she won't have to go through what I went through four years ago … but if the rules have changed, I believe there should be something to make up for the fact that I was humiliated needlessly."

The discrepancy was discussed on talk show The View on March 6, 2007. Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck argued that the difference was that Davis was paid for her pictures whereas Barba was not. Co-host Rosie O'Donnell disagreed, saying, "I think it's racist. I do... I think it's because she's black". American Idol was also accused of racism by Project Islamic H.O.P.E. activist Najee Ali: "obvious that it's a racial bias... when you have a situation where a black contestant is punished and a similar situation happens to a white contestant and there is no punishment and they're allowed to continue on the show."

Post-Idol career

After American Idol, Davis appeared in the Broadway musical Rent in 2003. She sang the solo in the opening song of Act Two, Seasons of Love, and in ensemble roles such as Mrs. Jefferson (Joanne's mom), a woman with bags, a coat vendor, Mrs. Marquez (Mimi's mom) and others. She also occasionally played the part of Joanne. On June 1, 2005, Davis returned to her previous role in the Broadway production of Rent. Davis had previously announced that she would leave Rent in May 2007, but announced her final performance following a mid-April 2007 show. During the weeks leading up to the April 29 performance of Rent's 10-year reunion, Davis appeared in an iTunes Podcast (Rent: The PodCast). She also joined the original cast for a special encore performance.

In 2004, Davis was cast in the role of Effie in a West Coast-touring production of Dreamgirls, which appeared in Sacramento, San Jose, and Seattle, and later went to the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

From August 3–19, 2007, Davis starred alongside Miche Braden and JMichael in the role of Mahalia Jackson in the Hartford Stage production of Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, written by Tom Stolz and directed by Jeremy B. Cohen.

In 2008, Davis, along with fellow second-season American Idol participants Ruben Studdard and Trenyce Cobbins, starred in the 30th-anniversary national tour of the musical revue Ain't Misbehavin'. The tour ran until May 2009, and was nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Musical Show Album category.

In the fall of 2010, Frenchie was cast in the role of the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (Enchanted Edition) at the Berkeley Playhouse, the resident theatre company at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts in Berkeley, California.

The Voice

In 2011, Davis competed in the first season of reality competition series The Voice. In the first episode, she performed "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, advancing to the next round as a member of mentor/judge Christina Aguilera's team of 8.

On the May 10 episode, Frenchie competed in a sing off against Tarralyn Ramsey, both singing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyoncé. Frenchie won and made it to the next round.

On the June 7 episode, Frenchie performed "When Love Takes Over" by David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. She was told, "You may very well have the strongest voice in this whole competition."

In the next week, it was announced that Frenchie did not win the fan vote from the previous week's performance, which would have allowed her to move on in the competition. However, Aguilera used her own vote to move Frenchie onto The Voice's Elite 8.

On the June 21 episode, featuring the Showdown of the Elite 8, Davis performed "Like a Prayer" by Madonna.

Frenchie Davis was eliminated during the semi-finals, finishing fifth overall. She did, however, join the other members of the final eight contestants of the show: Javier Colon, Dia Frampton, Vicci Martinez, Beverly McClellan, Casey Weston, Xenia and Nakia on a U.S. tour summer 2011.

Post-Voice career

In December 2012, Frenchie starred in the musical God Doesn't Mean You Get To Live Forever at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York with legendary pastor Dr. James A. Forbes Jr. and Gregory Charles Royal. In 2014 she made her film debut in the comedy film Dumbbells.

In 2017, Davis starred as Henri in The View UpStairs - an off-Broadway musical about the UpStairs Lounge arson attack that killed 50 patrons of a gay bar in New Orleans. She was also a winner of the Jose Esteban Munoz Award from CLAGS: the Center for LGBTQ Studies (formerly known as Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies) at The Graduate Center, CUNY. The award is given to an LGBTQ Activist who promotes Queer Studies outside of academia.

Recording career

Frenchie is a featured artist in the Tony Moran single "You Are" that was released December 1, 2009, and peaked at number 5 on the Billboard hot clubplay chart. "You Are" was the debut single from Moran's album Mix Magic Music.

On September 4, 2012, Davis released her debut solo single, "Love's Got A Hold On Me". The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard Dance Chart. The song was billed as the first single from an upcoming solo album, Just Frenchie, but the album was not released.

Personal life

Davis possesses a vocal range of Lyric Mezzo-Soprano.

In 2012, Davis came out as bisexual. She continues to be a strong and outspoken advocate for the Bisexual community, LGBTQ Youth and for LGBTQ People of Colour.

In 2013 she was the featured performer at the National LGBTQ Task Force's 25th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Atlanta GA where she explained that she had come out for all of the young LGBT people. "It's so wonderful to see all the young people here. You all are the reason that I chose to be out. Because it is important that you see people in the public eye who are not ashamed of who they are. It is ok to be true to you."

In 2014 Davis created a stir when she spoke out bluntly in response to the verdict in the Shooting of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn where the jury deadlocked on the charge of first-degree murder, saying "As an LGBT woman of color, I am having an extremely difficult time grasping WHY Matthew Shephard’s life is so much more valuable than Trayvon’s or Jordan’s????!?!?! Help me understand, y’all! Help me understand".

In popular culture

Davis was impersonated by guest host Queen Latifah on the March 8, 2003, episode of sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live; Davis was lampooned for her nude photo scandal, brash attitude and melismatic singing style.

Awards and Recognitions

In June 2017, Davis received the José Esteban Muñoz award from CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies - an award that is given to individuals who promote Queer Studies in their work or activism. She shared the award alongside Nathan Lee Graham and Wilson Cruz.

#05/07

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gay-disabled-characters-showdown · 18 days

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LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 2, Poll 14

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Ambrosius Goldenloin-Nimona (Book)

Qualifications:

He’s gay and has facial scarring

Addition by @yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt First I'd like to clear up that he does NOT just have facial scarring!! He has a visible walking disability, requiring assistance to stand and using a crutch. He appears mostly unable to bear weight on the left leg, and additionally the facial scarring visibly obstructs his eye adding possible partial vision loss to the list so. Just gonna leave this here not to let my boy be sabotaged with misinfo lol

Propaganda:

He’s such an asshole it's great. Still very gay though, he gets injured at the end, and also has facial scarring. He’s very different from the movie, much more of an ass, but still interesting.

Lenore Vandernacht-Nevermore

Qualifications:

in a sapphic relationship, extremely genderfucked, wheelchair and cane user

Broken hip = cane and wheelchair user + severe mental health issues, in a sapphic relationship & is so gender of all time

Propaganda:

This girl is THE sapphic of all time. Literally met a girl while she was being drugged out of her mind and still managed to be gay enough for her to DIY physical therapy for her broken hip (which had long since healed) to be able to walk with a cane to go marry her. she's also just absolutely gender and her gf fainted the first time she saw her in a suit. She got absolutely fucked over by Victorian/Edwardian treatment of women with disabilities and mental issues and went into disguise as a man to escape that

She’s a lesbian who looks like a twink and is brute forcing her way through life with the power of gay love and a slay ass crow headed cane

#polls #poll #disabled characters #lgbtq characters #disability #lgbtq #lgbtq dcs round 1 #lgbtq dcs wave 2 #ambrosius goldenloin #nimona #nimona book #lenore vandernacht #nevermore webtoon

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amorremanet · 7 years

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wait so why do you have a problem with "A/B shippers feeling like you're judging them" if the ship you're talking about is keith and shiro aka an underage teenager with an adult???

First off, full disclosure: I could see Keith having a crush on Shiro, but ultimately, I see the whole thing as loving and very intensely devoted on both sides, but still ultimately familial or platonic. I can also see Lance and Keith having crushes on each other, I agree that they have a fun dynamic, and I could see them maybe working out as a romantic couple, but… eh, they’re just not my favorite VLD ship.

I’m also in favor of things like tagging, trigger/content warnings, trying to be more responsible and aware of ourselves as content-creators, and so on — but part of this means that you also have to be okay with the fact that people are going to make things that you don’t like, personally, and may even be triggered by or find abhorrent because people are not always going to be at the same place on the learning curve, people won’t always have the same opinions about what does or doesn’t constitute something, “hurtful” or offensive, and different people get different things out of the same fanworks

(e.g., most people apparently feel heartwarmed and happy when reading domestic fic about their OTPS, and that’s fine…… but for the most part, those fics do nothing for me, at best, and at worst, make me feel like there is just something wrong with me because I understand why other people want that life, but I don’t see myself ever having anything like that, and then I end up feeling like maybe I should just not even bother trying to go be part of LGBTQ spaces — not just in fandom but any and all LGBTQ spaces — because I’m probably ruining everything for everyone else).

There’s value in being open to critically discussing these things, and it’s true that tags/warnings are not always functional (e.g., a lot of people in the past have written non-con fic and tagged it as dub-con, or just not tagged it at all, because of how rape culture has made it so they don’t understand that some situations are not as consensual as they might think) — but this goes all ways. Everyone needs to be self-reflective and open to critical discussion, not just people who ship certain things or like certain tropes. Everyone needs to recognize that they are capable of doing things that hurt other people, and everyone needs to acknowledge that we are all deeply flawed beings and not always right, no matter how much we feel like we might be.

And part of that self-reflection/self-awareness needs to be accepting a degree of personal responsibility, recognizing that not everyone who likes a ship that you don’t is being irresponsible about it, being aware of things that might trigger you and staying away from them (which is never going to be a perfect system, because things like the, “Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings” option are vague, tags are imperfect, blacklisting shit doesn’t always work, etc. — but that doesn’t mean that anyone on any side is right while anyone else is wrong; it means that the situation is more complicated than most of us on all sides want to make it, and that nobody is helping anyone by throwing out ad hominem attacks, reductionistic arguments, and worse)

and (this is going to be a BIG point for me in here, and if it seems like I’m harping on it kind of a lot, that’s because I am) not harassing or suicide-baiting people because they ship a thing that you personally dislike or (gasp, shock, horrors) wrote a fanfic about it.

With the preamble out of the way, now it’s time for the really fun part (which will ideally be all that I have to say on the subject because, as you’ll see in here, this touches on a lot of personal shit for me that I’m much happier NOT shoving my face in all over again)

If you don’t agree with my take on things when I’m done, that’s fine. We don’t have to agree as long as we can respect each other while disagreeing — but you know what would be the best for my mental health, in terms of talking about anything, Voltron-wise? Dealing with these arguments as little as possible because I would rather not relapse into active suicidal ideation again.

Want to talk Voltron with me? Cool. All I ask is that you ask me about, for instance, my dumb college AU headcanons — which have, among other things, Hunk/Keith/Lance, Matt/Shiro, Allura/Shay, a lot of Keith & Shiro brother feels, Pidge being 15 and usually some degree of Done with everybody, and Lotor the preening douchebag fratbro — or my “#someone please help takashi shirogane” tag, or how Keith is autistic as Hell and Lance and Hunk have ADHD, not about the latest round of fans being complete assholes to each other.

Anyway, anon is speaking in reference to this post that I made while I was barely awake last night.

cw for discussion of abuse, harassment, suicide-baiting, and suicidal ideation underneath the read more.

1. Those ages are not actually canon.

Yes, they are a fair interpretation of canon, but until they are actually said in the show itself, they’re not fully fledged canon and you can’t expect everyone in the fandom to agree on them OR to know what you’re talking about when you treat them as if they’re canon

Also, not everyone keeps up with every single panel, every single interview, every single thing that TPTB say or post on social media, etc., and no one should ever *NEED* to keep up with absolutely every single piece of anything that is even remotely related to the thing they like in order to be part of the fandom — especially not when statements made by TPTB are often vague and/or self-contradictory, as statements made by TPTB often are (not specifically VLD’s TPTB, but TPTB for every fandom I have ever been in, even when there was just one creator, like JKR)

Like, if you understand that someone isn’t, “less of a fan” of Marvel or DC just because they haven’t read absolutely every story even remotely involving their faves, can’t tell you everything about the weird period where Wolverine’s backstory involved him being not a mutant in the usual sense but an actual facts wolverine who had been turned into a humanoid shape by “genetic engineering” magic, like [the movies, the Teen Titans cartoon or Young Justice or X-Men: Evolution, or whatever] more than the comics, and so on

—then you should damn well understand that someone is not, “less of a fan” for not keeping up on absolutely every single thing that TPTB say in any context ever, and that someone isn’t “wrong” or a “lesser fan” coming to an interpretation of the characters’ respective ages based solely on the show because that is the only thing they watch related to the fandom

Speaking of JKR, though: frankly, I see this age thing as being a very similar situation to how JKR “confirmed” that Dumbledore is gay…… in a special thing at Carnegie Hall, a few months after DH first came out (she made those statements in October 2007. I was a freshman in college, and everyone in the grindeldore comm on LJ absolutely lost our shit over it).

Sure, it spread like wildfire, but a ton of people at the time decided that it didn’t count as canon because it wasn’t in the books (so they were allowed to keep acting like Dumbledore/McGonagall had been canon when it hadn’t been), and someone who is just reading the books without knowing about that interview would not necessarily know that Dumbledore is gay (which is entirely why JKR does not get Good Ally Cookies™ for just going, “lol he’s gay” only after all the books had been published and she’d inked all the future movie deals)

Likewise: someone who only watches the show would have no way of knowing all of the things that have been said or not about the characters’ ages (I am literally only vaguely aware of it because of having friends on all sides of the debate and hearing about different parts of everything from them)

Until the ages that some people assign to Shiro and Keith (and everyone else, besides) are actual facts, in the show canon, treating them as if they are isn’t fair or accurate, and you can’t hold people accountable for it when it’s not in the show and the extra-canonical statements don’t actually agree with each other

and 2. (way more importantly) Because I have seen the receipts on people harassing, suicide-baiting, abusing, etc. people over shipping Keith/Shiro romantically, and aside from the fact that the ages people are using to justify said behavior are not hard-facts, full truth canon, I don’t believe that it is ever right or acceptable to tell other human beings to kill themselves, that they deserve to die, or similar just because they have a different read on canon and/or like a different ship than you do.

Don’t tell me that nobody does that, because I’ve seen the receipts about how they very much have.

To be fair, I have also seen receipts about bad behavior from the Keith/Shiro shippers and I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen.

I’m saying that I’ve seen a lot more of it from the people bashing the Keith/Shiro shippers and I understand why Keith/Shiro shippers might feel uncomfortable or judged or like I’m going to attack them just because I love the Keith and Shiro relationship as much as they do, I just don’t ship it romantically.

I’m also not saying that there aren’t good points on all sides… but all sides ALSO have a lot of points that are, frankly, full of shit.

Don’t tell me that it’s only a vocal minority who does this, because that might be true (in my experience, it almost certainly is), but until the silent majority stands up and tells said “vocal minority” that suicide-baiting people is not okay, then the relative sizes of their contingents does not fucking matter — because the people doing the suicide-baiting are still allowed to continue doing it.

Look. On one hand, I am sensitive to this, because I have personally been harassed, cyberstalked, suicide-baited, and worse in other fandoms — all because I didn’t ship one thing, I did ship others, and I tried to go, “Hey, the way that you guys are treating other fans isn’t cool and you really shouldn’t do that” when some fans treated others like shit for not liking their OTP and wanting to have some kind of space in the fandom where they could like their faves and ship their ships without every single thing being turned into S//terek some other ship

Maybe it’s just me? But as someone who has found themself needing to get put on new anxiety meds and a higher dose of their antidepressants because of people on the Internet refusing to give me peace and telling me to kill myself (or similar) over not shipping their ship and saying that they shouldn’t harass other fans — and then still found myself, at one point, counting out my anxiety meds to figure out if I could overdose on what I had, and only realized how bad this was because my head was too muddled to do the fucking math?

Yeah, you could say that I have a bias in favor of, “Don’t fucking suicide-bait people” and can understand why the behavior of some people who bash Keith/Shiro might make the people who ship it romantically feel like they’d be in danger of bashing or personal attacks from me just because I don’t personally read their relationship as one that is or could be romantic

On the other hand: I’m sensitive to this because I have also done a lot of shit that I’m not proud of while trying to go, “Hey, guys, this pattern or this behavior in the fandom is pretty racist, ableist, misogynistic, abusive, or whatever, otherwise gross; it’s not cool and we should stop enabling it.”

I understand where a lot of the intensity comes from, on the parts of the people who believe that they’re trying to make their fandoms of choice into better and/or safer spaces, more accessible to more people and more fun for more people — and in theory, I support the move to make fandoms safer…… but I can’t support a practice of doing this that repeats so many of the same mistakes that have hurt people before, have hurt me personally before, and/or that I personally did that hurt other people before.

Also? Because I have been there, done that, and gotten approximately twenty-seven t-shirts, I know how easy it is to lose sight of what you think you are doing, how easy it is to lose perspective on what you’re doing, and how easy it is to start doing shit that actively hurts people (and not to any constructive end), while you are nominally trying not to hurt people

So, I’m not unsympathetic to the people who’ve been bashing Keith/Shiro shippers and I don’t think that most of them are bad people — but I still know, from having been on both sides of this, that what I have seen of a lot of their behavior is doing more harm than good (and fun fact, it was the biggest reason why I didn’t watch VLD at all until my goddaughters [who are 12 and 14] watched it, fell in love, and I wanted to know what they were talking about)

TL;DR: I’m concerned about the feelings and comfort of Keith/Shiro shippers, and not making them feel uncomfortable or like they are going to be attacked if I want to venture out into their fan-spaces, because I understand that they have been targeted and hurt before, in ways that I consider to be completely unacceptable because I’ve hurt people in the same ways before and been hurt by similar behaviors

—and if you can understand that someone might not feel comfortable being friends with someone because they romantically ship a couple that you interpret as being an adult and a teenager, despite the fact that this IS NOT hard-facts canon? then you should damn well understand why someone might not feel entirely safe or comfortable being friends with someone who doesn’t romo-ship their OTP, when not romo-shipping their OTP tends to be directly correlated to shit like stalking, harassment, abusive anon comments, and fucking suicide-baiting

—and I really cannot stress enough how much the suicide-baiting point shits me, okay.

Like, I have dealt with suicidal ideation and attempts since I was eight years old. I hate and am deeply ashamed of the fact that I have ever made other people feel as low as I have when I’ve wanted to die. I still struggle a LOT with blaming myself for, “letting other people [online and offline] make me feel like that,” despite knowing that I shouldn’t blame myself and despite the fact that I have told other people NOT to blame themselves for this kind of thing before.

If I’m an irredeemably terrible person for feeling like nobody ever deserves to be suicide-baited over what they ship or don’t ship, and that, even if they don’t tag as responsibly as they could, they deserve to be treated with the bare minimum of interpersonal decency and not attacked until such point as they start actively attacking someone else in the same ways that everyone who sends harassment, suicide-baiting, etc. has done and continues to do?

—then fine, I guess I’ll be an irredeemably terrible person.

I’d rather need to have difficult discussions, try to have them in the most constructive way possible for as many people as possible, accept a flawed system in the hopes of making it better, accept that (unfortunately) there is no such thing as a perfectly safe space for everyone and that trying to make any given space safer is always going to be an incredibly difficult task that involves some degree of compromise and some kind of Choices by all involved, and try my best to treat people with empathy, compassion, and understanding

It’s not an easy solution, it’s not always a particularly comforting way to approach things, and in my experience, it will demand a LOT from anyone who wants to go this route

But I’ve made people feel terrible over things that were not nearly as “pure” or ideologically righteous or important as I thought they were, and I have been suicide-baited more than enough for one lifetime (I’ve been suicide-baited by my own mother more than enough for one lifetime, never mind having it happen in fandom spaces too), and I hope that you’ll understand if I have no desire to go back to either of those places — especially not the one where I make people feel like shit, and especially when I’m trying to be a better person and not do things like that to people

This is rambling and repetitive and has really stopped being a TL;DR summary

I’m sorry, I stand by what I’ve said but I haven’t gotten more than 5 hours of sleep a night in the past three days and it’s doing a number on my attention span

I’m done talking now

Here’s a picture of my family’s dog as a reward for making it this far (unless you’ve decided to flame me while reading, in which case this is still a picture of our dog but it’s not a reward for you, I just can’t stop you from looking at it)

(okay, I couldn’t pick just one picture of our dog, so here she is being lazy and dressed as a lobster for Halloween, respectively)

#tangentially since i brought it up: happy 10th birthday to harry potter & the deathly hallows #but in all seriousness: i would appreciate it if this is all that i need to say on this subject #there's a reason why i generally don't talk about this shit in public anymore #and the reason is that i don't like being in a suicidal headspace #so i'm taking personal responsibility and trying to stop doing things that put me there #like for instance engaging with debates where people have been suicide baited #when man i just want to have sad headcanons & know how i'm supposed to tag them #so that i don't end up unwittingly hurting someone else (and preferably do not get suicide-baited again but in a new fandom)#ask box tag #opinions for ts #wank for ts #fandom shenanigans #mine: fandom blah blah blah #kassie hush #kassie watches netflix voltron #suicide baiting cw #suicidal ideation cw #Anonymous

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janekira2 · 4 years

Text

The Scoop: July 22, 2020 Edition

In this edition

COVID-19 special enrollment period in Massachusetts ends Thursday, July 23

Montana exchange insurers propose average rate increases of about 3% for 2021

Tennessee rate proposals range from 6% decrease to increase of nearly 13%; UnitedHealthcare rejoins for 2021

Nevada exchange board approves extension of open enrollment through January 15, 2021

Georgia enacts laws to protect consumers from surprise balance billing, extend postpartum Medicaid coverage

Illinois Department of Insurance fines four major insurers more than $2 million for mental health parity violations

South Dakota Medicaid expansion advocates will begin gathering signatures to get expansion measure on 2022 ballot

22 states, DC sue to block Trump administration’s elimination of LGBTQ healthcare nondiscrimination protections

Appeals court upholds Trump administration rules for short-term health plans

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate Arkansas Medicaid work requirement

COVID-19 special enrollment period in Massachusetts ends Thursday, July 23

To address the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all of the fully state-run health insurance exchanges established special enrollment periods to allow uninsured residents to enroll in health coverage even if they didn’t have qualifying events. Those enrollment windows have mostly ended, although a few are still ongoing. The COVID-19 special enrollment period in Massachusetts is scheduled to end this week, on July 23. After that, residents in Massachusetts will need a qualifying event in order to enroll in a private individual-market plan. ConnectorCare plans will continue to be available year-round to people who are newly eligible for that coverage, and Medicaid/CHIP (MassHealth) enrollment is also available year-round.

Montana exchange insurers propose average rate increases of about 3% for 2021

Last week, Montana’s insurance commissioner publicized a summary of the rate changes that insurers have proposed for 2021. In the individual market, insurers are proposing rate increases that vary from about 2 to 5 percent, with an average proposed increase of about 3.1 percent. In the small group market, insurers are proposing rate changes that range from a 4.5 percent decrease to a 3.7 percent increase, although very few members would be affected by the proposed rate decrease; most would instead experience a small rate increase.

The specific details of the rate filings are not yet available, but Montana’s insurance commissioner, Matt Rosendale, has said that he believes it’s inappropriate for insurers to increase rates at all in the current climate, due to strong profits and the reduction in elective medical procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Public comments on the proposed rate changes are being accepted by the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance through August 1.

Tennessee rate proposals range from 6% decrease to increase of nearly 13%; UnitedHealthcare rejoins for 2021

Individual market insurers in Tennessee have filed proposed premiums for 2021 that range from a decrease of 6 percent for Cigna, to an increase of nearly 13 percent for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. The filings all include an additional data set that specifically details the anticipated impact of COVID-19 on insurer costs in 2021, although insurers’ projections vary from a slight reduction in costs as a result of COVID-19, to an increase of 4.4 percentage points.

UnitedHealthcare plans to rejoin Tennessee’s individual market for 2021 (just as they will in Maryland), with plans available in western and central Tennessee.

Nevada exchange board approves extension of open enrollment through January 15, 2021

In states that use HealthCare.gov, open enrollment for 2021 coverage will run from November 1 to December 15, 2020. But states that run their own exchange platforms have the flexibility to add additional time to their enrollment windows. Nevada Health Link’s board of directors voted this week to approve an extension to the upcoming open enrollment period: It will begin November 1, 2020 and continue until January 15, 2021.

California, Colorado, and DC have all permanently extended open enrollment. Pennsylvania’s new state-run exchange, which will debut this fall, will also extend open enrollment for 2021 coverage until January 15, 2021.

Georgia enacts laws to protect consumers from surprise balance billing, extend postpartum Medicaid coverage

Earlier this month, we told you about bills that had been passed by Georgia lawmakers to protect consumers from surprise balance billing and to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers. Last week, Governor Kemp signed both pieces of legislation into law.

The surprise balance billing protection law will take effect in January 2021. The extension of postpartum Medicaid coverage was dependent on funding being included in the state’s budget, and that funding was left intact in the FY2021 budget that lawmakers approved in late June. But Georgia may also need a waiver or state plan amendment approved by the federal government before the extended postpartum Medicaid coverage could take effect.

Illinois Department of Insurance fines four major insurers more than $2 million for mental health parity violations

The Illinois Department of Insurance has announced fines of over $2 million levied against five major insurers for violations of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. The fines were levied against Celtic, two Cigna entities, HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois), and UnitedHealthcare for violations that were discovered from 2015-2017, including step therapy and prior authorization violations, failure to use medical necessity guidelines, and failure to establish internal protocols to ensure that plans were in compliance with mental health parity rules.

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a federal law that was enacted in 2008 (and expanded by the ACA to include individual market plans), requires health insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment — assuming they cover such treatment at all — with the same coverage rules and limitations that they use for medical/surgical care. Large group plans are not required to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment (but if they do, they must do so in the same manner that they cover medical/surgical care), but the ACA does require individual and small group plans to cover mental health and substance abuse care as an essential health benefit.

South Dakota Medicaid expansion advocates will begin gathering signatures to get expansion measure on 2022 ballot

South Dakota is the latest state where voters may eventually get the opportunity to determine whether the ACA’s Medicaid expansion is enacted in the state. Last week, South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg published explanations for the two petitions that will be circulated in an effort to gain enough signatures to get on the 2022 ballot. Both call for Medicaid expansion in South Dakota under the terms of the ACA — one via a constitutional amendment and the other via an initiated measure that would require lawmakers to implement Medicaid expansion in the state. The proposals are sponsored by Rick Weiland, a former U.S. Senate candidate and former regional director of FEMA. Medicaid expansion advocates will have until November 2021 to gather the signatures necessary to get the measures on the 2022 ballots: Nearly 17,000 for the initiated measure, and nearly 34,000 for the constitutional amendment.

Voters in Oklahoma approved Medicaid expansion earlier this summer, and voters in Missouri will have a chance to do so on their August 4, 2020 primary ballot. Medicaid expansion had previously been approved by voters in Maine, Utah, Idaho, and Nebraska.

Thus far, South Dakota is one of 13 states that refuse to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid. Coverage is not available to non-disabled adults without minor children, regardless of how low their income is. And parents of minor children can only qualify for Medicaid in South Dakota with a household income that doesn’t exceed 53 percent of the poverty level (for a household of three, that amounts to less than $1,000/month in total household income). There are currently an estimated 14,000 low-income adults in South Dakota who are in the coverage gap, with no access to any financial assistance with their health coverage. If Medicaid is expanded as called for in the ACA, a single person would qualify for Medicaid in South Dakota with an income of up to about $17,600 (that number increases a little each year as the poverty level rises).

22 states, DC sue to block Trump administration’s elimination of LGBTQ healthcare nondiscrimination protections

Last month, the Trump administration finalized regulations that roll back Obama era health care nondiscrimination protections. The rule, which changes how ACA Section 1557 is interpreted and enforced, removes nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity, sexual orientation, and termination of pregnancy. LGBTQ groups soon filed suit against the rule change. This week, attorneys general from 22 states and DC filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s new rules for Section 1557. The states challenging the rule include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Appeals court upholds Trump administration rules for short-term health plans

Two years ago, the Trump administration finalized new rules for short-term health insurance plans, allowing them to have initial terms of up to 364 days and total duration, including renewals, of up to three years. The rule was challenged in court, but it was upheld by a federal district judge last summer, and has now been upheld again by a panel of judges for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The 2-1 ruling from the appeals court panel allows short-term plans to continue to have much longer durations than they were allowed to have in 2017 and 2018. But short-term plans have stricter state-based limits in more than half the states, and are not available at all in some states.

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce issued a lengthy report detailing the myriad ways that short-term plans leave consumers without adequate coverage, and the misleading marketing and sales tactics that are sometimes used to sell these plans.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate Arkansas Medicaid work requirement

Medicaid work requirements have been endorsed by the Trump administration and approved for several states. But due to legal challenges and the widespread unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no Medicaid work requirements currently in effect anywhere in the country. Arkansas implemented the nation’s first Medicaid work requirement in 2018, which quickly led to thousands of people losing their health coverage. A federal judge overturned the state’s Medicaid work requirement in March 2019, and a federal appeals court panel upheld that decision earlier this year. Now the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the case and allow the Medicaid work requirement to be reinstated in Arkansas once the COVID-19 situation resolves enough to make that practicable.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The post The Scoop: July 22, 2020 Edition appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

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carissacampo-blog · 4 years

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Highlighting Diversity in The District in Lieu of International Women’s Day at 305 Fitness

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 305 Fitness was founded by Sadie Kurzban, who has become a huge influencer in the fitness industry. She created a high intensity workout that includes dance moves, sports drills, conditioning exercises, and high intensity interval training sessions. The studios are decorated with multi-colored lights, a live DJ, and most importantly high energy and interactive instructors. Kurzban got the idea for her fitness center from her personal experience clubbing because people leave sweating from a long night of dancing, burning a lot of calories while having fun. She presented her business idea in Brown University’s business plan competition and taught pop-up classes in random venues for two years after winning the competition.

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Their website says it best quoting another instructor Tom F., “It’s about looking inside yourself and not only accepting the things that make you different but celebrating the shit out of them.” Where ever you look there are inspiration and inclusive quotes, art, and glitter. It’s not just about the glitter though, it’s about pride. #lgbtq🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 27, 2020 at 11:02am PST

After receiving financial help, she was able to open her business in a studio space on West Eighth Street, New York, in October 2014. Currently, there are two 305 Fitness studios in New York and one studio in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Boston. Their Washington, D.C. studio is located on 1328 Florida Ave. NW and opened one year ago. 305 Fitness has been a successful business because of their social media presence. However, their website layout is not easy to navigate, with an abundance of options that may make it overwhelming for consumers. Standard classes are paid for individually at $29 or there are monthly memberships ranging from $139-$519. Students are offered discounts up to 50% and there are numerous package deals if you buy classes in bulk.

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We were lucky to catch the “bring a friend” class today! For those of you who don’t know what that means — we were able to get the 50% off student walk in discount AND one of us were free!!! They have 50% off for students, but it costing $15 for two of us to join a community class where we got two amazing instructors for the price of 1... unreal! @305fitness is doing a lot to empower the community and people, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to experience one of the most committed workouts in D.C.👓💦💵👀

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 27, 2020 at 11:00am PST

We were fortunate to catch a “bring a friend” class, where it’s buy one get one. Since we are students the cost of a single class ticket was $15, making it a total of $7.50 each. Many of these bring a friend classes are community classes where new instructors shadow and take charge for a small portion of the session. Toni is a new instructor who brought a lot of energy and passion this past Thursday. 305 fitness gives back to the D.C. community in many ways, with one being that with each round of new instructors, a certain amount of profits goes towards a certain organization. Currently, the profits are going to the Back on Your Feet foundation, with past profits going to help people wrongfully accused in prison. This is a great way that 305 support for new instructors and also our DC community.

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Today is the wonderful Toni’s birthday 👑 He is a brand new instructor @305fitness which is exciting for multiple reasons! Mariella who is a receptionist, instructor, and mentor, explained how each community class round of new instructors, a certain amount of profits go towards a certain organization. “ The organization from today’s class go towards back on your feet. In the past we have helped people wrongfully accused in prison. It is a great way to show support for the new instructor and our DC community.” The organizations receiving profits can be found on the mind and body or 305 fitness app. Additionally, updates about new instructors can be found via email if you subscribe! 🥳🎂💖👯‍♂️

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 27, 2020 at 10:56am PST

Social media plays a large role in ‘democratizing’ fitness because it empowers people to improve their lives and become more health conscious to emulate the ideal body image that people put forward. While they are very inclusive towards everyone regardless of gender or sexuality, 305 aims to predominantly empower women and people who identify as LGBTQ. They do this by covering the studio in progressive stickers, glitter walls, and very bright neon lights. This studio revolves around confidence and has a target market made up of young females, aging from 18 to 28. Though they target the female audience, it does not exclude men and they have several male clients. 305 Fitness has full classes at any time of the day and people often upload post-workout selfies to their social media that 305 shares to their own Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter account.

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“The first thing I do everytime I get to 305 fitness is look at the quote board out front. This gets me in the mindset and serves as a reminder that for the next hour of my day I am going to let loose and leave all my problems outside. It is the diversity and freedom of expression that @305fitness encourages that keeps me coming back multiple times a week. I am a student and it is not the cheapest hobby, but for me it is worth every penny” - Rosaura Escobar, Senior at AU 💃🏻💡 🏋🏼‍♀️💪🏼✨

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 26, 2020 at 1:57pm PST

Featured are die hard 305 Fitness goers who take pictures in front of the infamous sign before each day’s class. Featured in the following posts are two instructors and live DJ Cierra, all very enthusiastic to work at a company that hires the most diverse and female filled staff. Entering the month of March, we found it fitting to cover a studio that continues to empower all communities, especially women. #InternationalWomen’sDay

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Owoade began as a receptionist and instructor, now adding studio manager to her plate. She basically lives there and could not me more happy about it because of the inspiring and delightful staff that surrounds her each day! She has three rules for class “Don’t judge your body, don’t judge anyone else’s, and treat this as a safe space.” She commented on @305fitness being the best dance studio in DC because it “highlights a lot of people of color and women, having immense flexibility for professionals in the arts and your nine-to-fivers.” This motivates people even more because of the family atmosphere such understanding creates. I have never worked at a place where I love everyone I work with. It is an inclusive and judgement free space to build confidence.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀She displayed her commitment towards 305 Fitness, but also the dedicated members who come to class often or in this case for the first time and want to master the routines. Two ladies were practicing on water breaks and after class, and Owoade did not care that class was over, she stayed happily to help! 🧍🏾‍♀️👏🏽💃🏻⚡️✨💪🏼

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 27, 2020 at 10:59am PST

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Sierra is one of many DJ’s that preform live @305fitness ! She found this job on Indeed and completed the application process that required sending a playlist she felt would be on theme with the class and a personality video. “Being here I have learned that it’s ok to be outside of your comfort zone. I have only been here since September and have seen the difference in my personality from being behind the mic and having a huge personality to emote to clients.” 🕺🏻🪐⚡️🎶

A post shared by Transformative Fitness (@transformativefitnessdc) on Feb 27, 2020 at 10:29am PST

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valoansarlingtontx · 5 years

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Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Burn pits, the Agent Orange of our generation

Contents

Federal government evaluate veterans

Post 9/11 veterans reps

Service organizations (vsos

Executive order monday

Demanding Answers and Recognition of Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Over 140,000 servicemembers and veterans have reported exposure to burn pits and toxic airborne chemicals over the past three decades.However, based on deployment numbers, the actual exposure rate is likely over a million.

b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is. As this partial government shutdown.. Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep-.. burn pits are the Agent Orange of post-. ing all generations here to march for.. L. Fudge, Russ Fulcher, Tulsi Gabbard, Matt.

Lena Epstein is the third-generation owner and general manager of Vesco Oil Corporation based in Southfield, Mich. She is the Michigan co-chair of the Trump campaign. Thinking of submitting an op-ed.

Towards the end of last week, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., paired up with U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hi., to bring back a proposal having the federal government evaluate veterans and active duty personnel who might have been exposed to open burn pits and airborne chemicals.Over the past three decades, more than 140,000 servicemembers and veterans have reported exposure to burn pits and toxic.

Vet behind ‘build the wall’ GoFundMe hits back at fund claims Brian Kolfage (born September 21, 1982) is a veteran of the United States Air Force.He is a triple amputee with some articles claiming that he is the most severely wounded US airman in history. His injuries resulted in the fastest medevac to the United States from a war zone.. In December 2018, Kolfage initiated a $1 billion fundraising campaign for U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed.Highlighting Your Health: Stroke survivors support group offers comfort through shared experiences Proudly we hail PROUDLY WE HAIL . Proudly We Hail was a public service show for the Army and Air Force that first aired for a period of four months in 1941 on CBS. The show returned to the airways from 1946 through 1957 and aired on as many as 1300 radio stations. The 1941 shows were billed as a program designed "to strengthen the mainstream of the defense machine – the workers in the arsenal of democracy.

I often wonder how my own health will continue to be affected in the years to come. As the daughter of Vietnam veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange, I’ve observed how toxic exposures can plague you for decades long after the wars we fight in-and we know burn pits could be our generation’s Agent Orange.

Washington, DC-The Burn Pits Accountability Act (H.R. 5671), introduced by post 9/11 veterans reps. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) and Brian Mast (FL-18), is gaining momentum, adding 63 bipartisan congressional cosponsors and 25 endorsements from military service organizations (MSOs) and veterans service organizations (vsos) since introduction.

Podimetrics Completes $13.4 Mln Funding for Disease-Detecting Foot Mat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Burn pits, the Agent Orange of our generation For all the hoopla surrounding iowa sen. joni ernst’s military service, one must remember that her Democratic predecessor, Tom Harkin, lied about his own military career. decades ago, in 1979,Ivy Tech Community College grads told to celebrate, support others Mayor who was refugee from Liberia plans run for US Senate Governor’s executive order helps military spouses, veterans find work, training Courtesy WA Governor’s Office. OLYMPIA, Washington – Governor Jay Inslee signed an executive order monday that builds upon the state’s efforts to support military spouses and veterans with employment and training opportunities as families transition to civilian life in Washington state.Poll: VA the least-liked federal agency — FCW 3 days ago · For the fourth time running, the Department of veterans affairs ranks as the least-liked federal agency in a Gallup poll. The U.S. Postal Service was picked as the most-liked for the third.ST. LOUIS (AP) – A Missouri man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting that he beat his brother to death with a hammer. Keandre Washington, of Northwoods, was sentenced Monday for. · The Update lists not only which colleges have openings for freshmen and transfer students but also has an update on housing availability and financial aid opportunities. The list is updated frequently and will be available until june 30. vist www.nacacnet.org and type in College Openings Update in the search box.Legislation seeks to restore state benefits to LGBTQ veterans dishonorably discharged (Reuters) – Podimetrics, the maker of a smart foot mat that detects warning signs of diabetic foot ulcers, said on Thursday it raised $13.4 million in a funding round led by a group of investors, including venture capital firm Scientific Health Development. The company said the proceeds will be used to reach out to more.

Equestrians, gamblers, and spectators went wild when the first horse to cross the finish line at the Kentucky Derby was stripped of its victory. After stewards demoted odds-on favorite Maximum.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Burn pits, the Agent Orange of our generation. By Rep. Tulsi Gabbard | May 10, 2019 12:05 AM. Because of our record production levels, America is less dependent on imports.

Trump administration breaks campaign promise, purges 200,000 VA healthcare applications Atomic veterans deserve better · At nearly the same moment, a jury in Alexandria, Va., convicted former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort on eight of the 18 tax- and bank-fraud charges against him and said it.

The post Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Burn pits, the Agent Orange of our generation appeared first on VA Loans Arlington TX.

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