#safety autonomy regulation
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Tesla has made Autopilot a standard feature in its cars, and more recently, rolled out a more ambitious “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) systems to hundreds of thousands of its vehicles.
Now we learn from an analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data conducted by The Washington Post that those systems, particularly FSD, are associated with dramatically more crashes than previously thought. Thanks to a 2021 regulation, automakers must disclose data about crashes involving self-driving or driver assistance technology. Since that time, Tesla has racked up at least 736 such crashes, causing 17 fatalities.
This technology never should have been allowed on the road, and regulators should be taking a much harder look at driver assistance features in general, requiring manufacturers to prove that they actually improve safety, rather than trusting the word of a duplicitous oligarch.
The primary defense of FSD is the tech utopian assumption that whatever its problems, it cannot possibly be worse than human drivers. Tesla has claimed that the FSD crash rate is one-fifth that of human drivers, and Musk has argued that it’s therefore morally obligatory to use it: “At the point of which you believe that adding autonomy reduces injury and death, I think you have a moral obligation to deploy it even though you’re going to get sued and blamed by a lot of people.”
Yet if Musk’s own data about the usage of FSD are at all accurate, this cannot possibly be true. Back in April, he claimed that there have been 150 million miles driven with FSD on an investor call, a reasonable figure given that would be just 375 miles for each of the 400,000 cars with the technology. Assuming that all these crashes involved FSD—a plausible guess given that FSD has been dramatically expanded over the last year, and two-thirds of the crashes in the data have happened during that time—that implies a fatal accident rate of 11.3 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. The overall fatal accident rate for auto travel, according to NHTSA, was 1.35 deaths per 100 million miles traveled in 2022.
In other words, Tesla’s FSD system is likely on the order of ten times more dangerous at driving than humans.
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The creation of sexually explicit "deepfake" images is to be made a criminal offence in England and Wales under a new law, the government says.
Under the legislation, anyone making explicit images of an adult without their consent will face a criminal record and unlimited fine.
It will apply regardless of whether the creator of an image intended to share it, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.
And if the image is then shared more widely, they could face jail.
A deepfake is an image or video that has been digitally altered with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace the face of one person with the face of another.
Recent years have seen the growing use of the technology to add the faces of celebrities or public figures - most often women - into pornographic films.
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman, who discovered her own image used as part of a deepfake video, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was "incredibly invasive".
Ms Newman found she was a victim as part of a Channel 4 investigation into deepfakes.
"It was violating... it was kind of me and not me," she said, explaining the video displayed her face but not her hair.
Ms Newman said finding perpetrators is hard, adding: "This is a worldwide problem, so we can legislate in this jurisdiction, it might have no impact on whoever created my video or the millions of other videos that are out there."
She said the person who created the video is yet to be found.
Under the Online Safety Act, which was passed last year, the sharing of deepfakes was made illegal.
The new law will make it an offence for someone to create a sexually explicit deepfake - even if they have no intention to share it but "purely want to cause alarm, humiliation, or distress to the victim", the MoJ said.
Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University who specialises in legal regulation of pornography and online abuse, told the Today programme the legislation has some limitations.
She said it "will only criminalise where you can prove a person created the image with the intention to cause distress", and this could create loopholes in the law.
It will apply to images of adults, because the law already covers this behaviour where the image is of a child, the MoJ said.
It will be introduced as an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
Minister for Victims and Safeguarding Laura Farris said the new law would send a "crystal clear message that making this material is immoral, often misogynistic, and a crime".
"The creation of deepfake sexual images is despicable and completely unacceptable irrespective of whether the image is shared," she said.
"It is another example of ways in which certain people seek to degrade and dehumanise others - especially women.
"And it has the capacity to cause catastrophic consequences if the material is shared more widely. This Government will not tolerate it."
Cally Jane Beech, a former Love Island contestant who earlier this year was the victim of deepfake images, said the law was a "huge step in further strengthening of the laws around deepfakes to better protect women".
"What I endured went beyond embarrassment or inconvenience," she said.
"Too many women continue to have their privacy, dignity, and identity compromised by malicious individuals in this way and it has to stop. People who do this need to be held accountable."
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the creation of the images as a "gross violation" of a person's autonomy and privacy and said it "must not be tolerated".
"Technology is increasingly being manipulated to manufacture misogynistic content and is emboldening perpetrators of Violence Against Women and Girls," she said.
"That's why it is vital for the government to get ahead of these fast-changing threats and not to be outpaced by them.
"It's essential that the police and prosecutors are equipped with the training and tools required to rigorously enforce these laws in order to stop perpetrators from acting with impunity."
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i finished the KOSA
On the Subject of Safety
Blaine/Alex Smith
A paper on the harmful effects of the Kid’s Online Safety Act (informally known as KOSA) on the internet as a whole, as written by a minor.
Censorship. Control. Tyranny. All of these will come to pass if we allow the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to become law and cause the internet as we know it to cease to exist, completely and utterly. KOSA is a new bill that has been introduced by senators Blumenthal and Blackburn, which has the stated goal “to protect the safety of children on the internet” (found on the official website of the United States Congress, here.) This is either a lie, or an incredibly misguided attempt to do what it says it sets out to do. Though it is more likely a lie, or at the very least not the entire truth. First, I must note, if for no other reason than posterity and comprehensiveness, that the bill was introduced by both a Republican senator (Blackburn) and a Democratic senator (Blumenthal). It was also backed by twenty-one Democrats (Lujan, Baldwin, Klobuchar, Peters, Hickenlooper, Warner, Coons, Schatz, Murphy, Welch, Hassan, Durbin, Casey, Whitehouse, Kelly, Carper, Cardin, Menendez, Warren, Kaine, and Shaheen) and nineteen Republicans (Capito, Cassidy, Ernst, Daines, Rubio, Sullivan, Young, Grassley, Graham, Marshall, Hyde-Smith, Mullin, Risch, Britt, Lummis, Murkowski, Lankford, Crapo, and Hawley). That totals forty-two supporters of this heinous piece of legislature. Considering that there are one-hundred Senators, if you do some simple math, you will realize that fifty-eight Senators did not support KOSA. In the context of this monumental decision, that is a frighteningly close vote. If this bill were to pass, nearly all online fandom presence would be completely eradicated, and online privacy, as well as personal autonomy, would become nonexistent. And so, I say it again, KOSA supporters are just barely not the majority in the Senate, by a margin of sixteen individuals. Even though the rewrite of the bill is a slight improvement, at it’s core, KOSA is still a harmful internet censorship bill that will damage the very communities it claims to try protect.
In this bill, a “child” is defined as any person under the age of thirteen, and a “minor” is defined as any person under the age of seventeen. A "parent” is defined as any legal adult who is the biological or adopted parent of a minor, or holds legal custody over a minor. “Compulsive usage” is defined as “any response stimulated by external factors that causes an individual to engage in repetitive behavior reasonably likely to cause psychological distress, loss of control, anxiety or depression”, “Covered platforms” are defined as “an online platform (i.e. Snapchat, Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), online video game (i.e. Helldivers 2, Halo, Mario Kart, Civilization 6, etc.), messaging platform (i.e. Snapchat, 4chan, etc.), or video streaming service (i.e. Twitch, YouTube, etc.) that connects to the internet that is used, or is reasonably likely to be used, by a minor” with the exception of “an entity acting in its capacity of: a common carrier service subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and all Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, a broadband internet access service (as such term is defined for purposes of section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation), an email service, a teleconferencing or video conferencing service that allows reception and transmission of audio and video signals for real-time communication, provided that it is not an online platform, including a social media service or social network; and the real-time communication is initiated using a unique link or identifier to facilitate access, or a wireless messaging service, including such a service provided through short messaging service or multimedia messaging service protocols, that is not a component of or linked to an online platform and where the predominant or exclusive function is direct messaging consisting of the transmission of text, photos or videos that are sent by electronic means, where messages are transmitted from the sender to a recipient, and are not posted within an online platform or publicly, an organization not organized to carry on business for its own profit or that of its members, any public or private institution of education, a library, a news platform where the inclusion of video content on the platform is related to the platform’s own gathering, reporting or publishing of news content or the website or app is not otherwise an online platform, a product or service the primarily functions as a business to business software or a VPN or similar service that exists solely to route internet traffic between locations.
Geolocation is defined as “information sufficient to identify a street name and name of a city or town.” Individual-specific advertising to minors is defined as any form of targeted advertising towards a person who is or reasonably could be a minor, with the exception of advertising in the context of the website or app the advertising is present on, (i.e. an ad for Grammarly on a dictionary website), or for research on the effectiveness of the advertising. The rule of construction is stated to be that "no part of KOSA should be misconstrued to prohibit a lawfully operating entity from delivering content to any person that they know to be or reasonably believe is over the age of seventeen, provided that content is appropriate for the age of the person involved". To "know" something in the context of this bill is to have actual information, or to have information that is fairly implied or assumed under the basis of objective circumstances. A “mental health disorder” is defined as “a condition which causes a clinically significant disturbance or impairment on one’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior. “Online platform” is defined as any public platform that mainly provides a means of communication through the form of a public forum or private chatroom (i.e., Discord, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, TikTok, etc.). An “online video game” is defined as any video game or game-adjacent service, including those that provide an educational element, that allows users to create or upload content, engage in microtransactions, communicate with other users, or includes minor specific advertising (i.e., Happy Wheels, Adventure Academy, Meet Your Maker, etc.). “Personal data” is defined as any data or information that is linked or could reasonably be linked to a minor. A “personalized recommendation system (PRS)” is defined as any system that presents content to a user based on date and/or analytics from the user or similar users (i.e., a like-based system, a view-based system, a “for you” system, or a “people that watched also liked” system). Finally, “sexual exploitation or abuse” is defined as: coercion and enticement, as described in section 2422 of title 18, United States Code, child sexual abuse material, as described in sections 2251, 2252, 2252A, and 2260 of title 18, United States Code, trafficking for the production of images (child pornography), as described in section 2251A of title 18, United States Code, or sex trafficking of children, as described in section 1591 of title 18, United States Code.
Before I continue with this paper, I would like to draw attention to the fact that nowhere in the defined terms does it define any form of physical, mental, or emotional violence towards minors, only sexual abuse or assault. This will become important later.
Continuing with the bill, we arrive at the actual regulations, policies and laws proposed by the bill. Here begins Section 3 of the bill, or “Duty of care”. This section includes regulations on the online platform used by a minor, and the duties of it and its owner(s), creator(s), moderator(s), or manager(s). In this section, it is stated that a covered platform must, to the best of its reasonable ability, limit the following harms or dangers to any person who is known to be or reasonably believed to be a minor:
Anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, suicidal disorders, and other similar conditions.
Patterns of use that promote or encourage addiction-like behavior.
Physical violence, online bullying, and harassment of the minor.
Sexual exploitation or abuse.
Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol.
Predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing, or other financial harms.
With the exception of:
Any content that is deliberately, independently, and willingly requested or sought out by the minor.
Any platform that provides resources or information to help mitigate the aforementioned harms to the minor.
Again, I call attention to the fact that although physical violence is now mentioned and prohibited, it is done so by burying it in the middle of a wall of text. With as touchy of a subject as this is, one would think that more attention would be drawn to it.
And now we get into the meat and potatoes of this rotten bill, with Section 4, or “Safeguards for minors”. In this section, it is stated that any covered platform shall provide any user who is known to be a minor or is reasonably believed to be a minor, with easy-to-use and readily accessible “safeguards” such as:
Limiting the ability of other individuals to communicate with the minor.
Restricting public access to the personal data of the minor.
Limiting features that increase, sustain, or extend use of the covered platform by the minor, such as automatic playing of media, rewards for time spent on the platform, notifications, and other features that result in compulsive usage of the covered platform by the minor.
Controlling personalized recommendation systems for the minor, and giving them the option to either opt out of the system entirely or to limit the types of content shown through the PRS.
Restricting the sharing of GPS data of the minor sufficient for geolocation.
As well as the options for the minor:
Delete the account of the minor, as well as any data or content associated with the account, effectively removing any trace of the account’s existence from the platform, and the internet at large.
Limit the amount of time spent on the platform.
A covered platform shall also provide parents with the following tools:
Requirements:
The ability to manage a minor’s privacy and account settings, including the safeguards and options established under subsection (a), in a manner that allows parents to:
View the privacy and account settings of the minor.
In the case of a user that the platform knows is a child, change and control the privacy and account settings of the account of the minor.
Restrict purchases and financial transactions by the minor, where applicable.
View metrics of total time spent on the platform and restrict time spent on the covered platform by the minor.
The bill also states that any minor(s) affected by the aforementioned systems should be given clear, prompt, and easily understood and accessible notice of if the systems have been applied, in what capacity they are applied in, and how they are applied.
Default Tools:
A covered platform shall provide the following tools and systems to both minor and parent(s) of that minor, and have them be enabled by default:
A reporting mechanism, which is readily available and easily accessible and useable, to report any incidents or crimes involving the minor(s), as well as confirmation that such a report is received, and the means to track it.
To respond to the report in a timely and appropriate manner, within a reasonable timeframe.
An understanding and appreciation of the fact that a reasonable timeframe is:
(A) 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks) after the receipt of a report, if, for the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged more than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States.
(B) 21 days (about 3 weeks) after the receipt of a report, if, for the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged less than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States.
(C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), if the report involves an imminent threat to the safety of a minor, as promptly as needed to address the reported threat to safety.
Accessibility :
With respect to the aforementioned safeguards, a covered platform shall provide:
Information and control options in a clear and conspicuous manner that takes into consideration the differing ages, capacities, and developmental needs of the minors most likely to access the covered platform and does not encourage minors or parents to weaken or disable safeguards or parental controls.
Readily accessible and easy-to-use controls to enable or disable safeguards or parental controls, as appropriate.
Information and control options in the same language, form, and manner as the covered platform provides the product or service used by minors and their parents.
The bill also states that no part of the previous statements should be construed to prohibit or prevent a covered platform from blocking, banning, filtering, flagging, or deleting content inappropriate for minors from their platform, or to prevent general management of spam, as well as security risks. It also states that regarding PRSs, it shall be illegal for a covered platform to alter or distort any analytics or data gathered from their platform with the purpose of limiting user autonomy. Also included in this section is that no part of KOSA shall be construed to require the disclosure of a minor’s personal data, including search history, contacts, messages, and location. Also stated is that a PRS for a minor is allowed under the condition that it only uses data publicly available, such as the language the minor speaks, or the minor’s age, and that covered platforms are allowed to integrate third-party systems into their platform, if they meet the requirements laid out in the bill.
And now our train arrives at Section 5, “Disclosure”. This section includes rules regarding the disclosure of policies, rules, and terms to a user that is a minor or is reasonably believed to be a minor prior to their registration with a covered platform.
Registration or Purchase:
Prior to registration or purchase of a covered platform, the platform must provide clear and easily understood information on the policies of the platform, its rules, regulations, etc. As well as any PRS used by the platform, and information on how to turn it and the parental controls on and off.
Notification:
Notice and Acknowledgement, Reasonable Effort, and Consolidated Notices:
In the case of an individual that a covered platform knows is a child, the platform shall additionally provide information about the parental tools and safeguards required under section 4 to a parent of the child and obtain verifiable parental consent (as defined in section 1302(9) of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501(9))) from the parent prior to the initial use of the covered platform by the child.
A covered platform shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirement described in subparagraph (A) if the covered platform is in compliance with the requirements of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) to use reasonable efforts (taking into consideration available technology) to provide a parent with the information and to obtain verifiable parental consent as required.
A covered platform may consolidate the process for providing information under this subsection and obtaining verifiable parental consent or the consent of the minor involved (as applicable) as required under this subsection with its obligations to provide relevant notice and obtain verifiable parental consent under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.).
Guidance: the FTC may assist covered platforms with compliance with the rules and regulations in this section.
A covered platform that operates a personalized recommendation system shall set out in its terms and conditions, in a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner:
An overview of how such personalized recommendation system is used by the covered platform to provide information to users of the platform who are minors, including how such systems use the personal data of minors; and
Information about options for minors or their parents to opt out of or control the personalized recommendation system (as applicable).
Advertising and Marketing Information and Labels:
A covered platform that facilitates advertising aimed at users that the platform knows are minors shall provide clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand information and labels to minors on advertisements regarding:
The name of the product, service, or brand and the subject matter of an advertisement;
If the covered platform engages in individual-specific advertising to minors, why a particular advertisement is directed to a specific minor, including material information about how the minor's personal data is used to direct the advertisement to the minor; and
Whether media displayed to the minor is an advertisement or marketing material, including disclosure of endorsements of products, services, or brands made for commercial consideration by other users of the platform.
Resources for Parents and Minors:
A covered platform shall provide to minors and parents clear, conspicuous, easy-to-understand, and comprehensive information in a prominent location regarding:
Its policies and practices with respect to personal data and safeguards for minors.
How to access the safeguards and tools required under section four.
Resources in Additional Languages:
A covered platform shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that the disclosures required by this section are made available in the same language, form, and manner as the covered platform provides any product or service used by minors and their parents.
That concludes Section 5, and now our next stop is Section 6: “Transparency”. This section includes protocols for public transparency for covered platforms, including public reports on the status of potential harm to minors on their platforms.
Scope of Application: the requirements of this section shall apply to a covered platform if:
For the most recent calendar year, the platform averaged more than 10,000,000 active users monthly in the United States.
The platform predominantly provides a community forum for user-generated content and discussion, including sharing videos, images, games, audio files, discussion in a virtual setting, or other content, such as acting as a social media platform, virtual reality environment, or a social network service.
Transparency: The public reports required of a covered platform under this section shall include:
An assessment of the extent to which the platform is likely to be accessed by minors;
A description of the commercial interests of the covered platform in use by minors;
An accounting, based on the data held by the covered platform, of:
The number of individuals using the covered platform reasonably believed to be minors in the United States;
The median and mean amounts of time spent on the platform by minors in the United States who have accessed the platform during the reporting year on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis; and
The amount of content being accessed by individuals that the platform knows to be minors that is in English, and the top 5 non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform in the United States;
An accounting of total reports received regarding, and the prevalence (which can be based on scientifically valid sampling methods using the content available to the covered platform in the normal course of business) of content related to, the harms described in section 3, disaggregated by category of harm and language, including English and the top five non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform from the United States.
A description of any material breaches of parental tools or assurances regarding minors, representations regarding the use of the personal data of minors, and other matters regarding non-compliance.
Reasonably Foreseeable Risk of Harm to Minors: the public reports required of covered platforms under this section shall include:
An assessment of the reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to minors posed by the covered platform, including identifying any other physical, mental, developmental, or financial harms.
An assessment of how personalized recommendation systems and individual-specific advertising to minors can contribute to harm to minors.
A description of whether and how the covered platform uses system design features that increase, sustain, or extend use of a product or service by a minor, such as automatic playing of media, rewards for time spent, and notifications.
A description of whether, how, and for what purpose the platform collects or processes categories of personal data that may cause reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to minors.
An evaluation of the efficacy of safeguards for minors under section 4, and any issues in delivering such safeguards and the associated parental tools.
An evaluation of any other relevant matters of public concern over risk of harm to minors.
An assessment of differences in risk of harm to minors across different English and non-English languages and efficacy of safeguards in those languages.
Mitigation: The public reports required of a covered platform under this section shall include, for English and the top 5 non-English languages used by individuals accessing the platform from the United States:
A description of the safeguards and parental tools available to minors and parents on the covered platform.
A description of interventions by the covered platform when it had or has reason to believe that harms to minors could occur.
A description of the prevention and mitigation measures intended to be taken in response to the known and emerging risks identified in its assessment of system risks, including steps taken to:
Prevent harm to minors, including adapting or removing system design features or addressing through parental controls.
Provide the most protective level of control over privacy and safety by default.
Adapt recommendation systems to mitigate reasonably foreseeable risk of harms to minors.
A description of internal processes for handling reports and automated detection mechanisms for harms to minors, including the rate, timeliness, and effectiveness of responses.
The status of implementing prevention and mitigation measures identified in prior assessments.
A description of the additional measures to be taken by the covered platform to address the circumvention of safeguards for minors and parental tools.
Reasonable Inspection: when conducting an inspection on the systemic risk of harm to minors on their platforms under this section, a covered platform shall:
Consider the function any PRS on their platform.
Consult relevant parties with authority on topics relevant to the inspection.
Conduct their research based on experiences of minors using the platform that the study is being conducted on, including reports and information provided by law enforcement.
Take account of outside research, but not outside data for the study itself.
Consider any implied, indicated, inferred, or known information on the age of users.
Consider the presence of both English and non-English speaking users on their platform.
Cooperation With Independent, Third Pary Audit: To facilitate the report required by this section, a covered platform shall:
Provide directly or otherwise make accessible to the third party conducting the audit all:
Information and data that the platform has the access and authority to disclose that are relevant to the audit.
Platforms, systems and assets that the platform has the access and authority to disclose that are relevant to the audio.
Facts relevant to the audit, unaltered and correctly and fully represented.
Privacy Safeguards: In this subsection, the term “de-identified” means data that does not identify and is not linked or reasonably linkable to a device that is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual, regardless of whether the information is aggregated. In issuing the public reports required under this section, a covered platform shall take steps to safeguard the privacy of its users, including ensuring that data is presented in a de-identified, aggregated format such that it is reasonably impossible for the data to be linked back to any individual user. A covered platform must also present or publish the information on a publicly available and accessible webpage.
And now the next stop on our tour is Section 7: Independent Research on Social Media and Minors. This section details the interactions between the FTC and the National Academy of Sciences in the months following the passing of this bill, if and when it passes. It states that the FTC is to seek to enter a contract with the Academy, in which the Academy is to conduct no less that 5 separate independent scientific studies on the risk of harms to minors on social media, addressing:
Anxiety, depression, eating and suicidal disorders.
Substance use (drugs, narcotics, alcohol, etc.) and gambling.
Sexual exploitation and abuse.
Addiction like behaviors leading to compulsive usage.
Additional Study: after at least 4 years since the passing of the bill, the FTC and the Academy shall enter another contract, in which the Academy shall conduct another study on the above topics, to provide more up to data information.
Content of Reports: The comprehensive studies and reports conducted pursuant to this section shall seek to evaluate impacts and advance understanding, knowledge, and remedies regarding the harms to minors posed by social media and other online platforms and may include recommendations related to public policy.
Active Studies: If the Academy is already engaged in any extant studies regarding the topics described above, it may base the studies required of this section off said study, if it is otherwise compliant.
Collaboration: In conducting the studies required under this section, the FTC, National Academy of Sciences, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consult with the Surgeon General and the Kids Online Safety Council (KOSC).
Access to Data: The FTC may issue orders to covered platforms to gather and compile data and information needed for the studies required under this section, as well as issue orders under section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46(b)) to no more than 5 covered platforms per study under this section. Pursuant to subsections (b) and (f) of section 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 46), the FTC shall also enter in agreements with the National Academy to share appropriate information received from a covered platform pursuant to an order under such subsection (b) for a comprehensive study under this section in a confidential and secure manner, and to prohibit the disclosure or sharing of such information by the National Academy.
Next is a short Section 8: Market Research.
Market Research by Covered Platforms: The FTC, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance for covered platforms seeking to conduct market- and product-focused research on minors. Such guidance shall include:
A standard consent form that provides minors and their parents a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand explanation of the scope and purpose of the research to be conducted, and provides an opportunity for informed consent in the language in which the parent uses the covered platform; and
Recommendations for research practices for studies that may include minors, disaggregated by the age ranges of 0-5, 6-9, 10-12, and 13-16.
The FTC shall issue such guidance no later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this Act. In doing so, they shall seek input from members of the public and the representatives of the KOSC established under section 12.
As we pull off interstate 8 we come into Section 9: Age Verification Study and Report. This is where the writers evidently started pounding shots of tequila at their desks, as some of the regulations in this section are completely asinine. Here we are told about a mandatory age verification system. Gone will be the days of being born in 1427 as a kid, now our age will be known to any covered platform. Is that what you want?
Study: The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the FCC, FTC, and the SoC, shall conduct a study evaluating the most technologically feasible methods and options for developing systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.
Such study shall consider:
The benefits of creating a device or operating system level age verification system.
What information may need to be collected to create this type of age verification system.
The accuracy of such systems and their impact or steps to improve accessibility, including for individuals with disabilities.
How such a system or systems could verify age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data security and safeguarding minors' personal data, emphasizing minimizing the amount of data collected and processed by covered platforms and age verification providers for such a system.
The technical feasibility, including the need for potential hardware and software changes, including for devices currently in commerce and owned by consumers.
The impact of different age verification systems on competition, particularly the risk of different age verification systems creating barriers to entry for small companies.
Report: No later than 1 year after the passing of KOSA, the agencies described in subsection (a) shall submit a report containing the results of the study conducted under such subsection to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
Section 10: Guidance.
No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this Act, the FTC, in consultation with the KOSC established under section 12, shall issue guidance to:
Provide information and examples for covered platforms and auditors regarding the following, with consideration given to differences across English and non-English languages:
Identifying features used to increase, sustain, or extend use of the covered platform by a minor (compulsive usage).
Safeguarding minors against the possible misuse of parental tools.
Best practices in providing minors and parents the most protective level of control over privacy and safety.
Using indicia or inferences of age of users for assessing use of the covered platform by minors.
Methods for evaluating the efficacy of safeguards; and
Providing additional control options that allow parents to address the harms described in section 3.
Outline conduct that does not have the purpose or substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice, or of causing, increasing, or encouraging compulsive usage for a minor, such as:
Minute user interface changes derived from testing consumer preferences, including different styles, layouts, or text, where such changes are not done with the purpose of weakening or disabling safeguards or parental controls, such as the following, are exceptions to this:
Algorithms or data outputs outside the control of a covered platform.
The establishing of default settings that provide enhanced privacy protection to users or otherwise enhance their autonomy and decision-making ability.
Guidance to Schools: No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this act, the SoE, in consultation with the FTC and the KOSC established under section 12, shall issue guidance to assist to assist elementary and secondary schools in using the notice, safeguards and tools provided under this Act and providing information on online safety for students and teachers.
Guidance on Knowledge Standards: No later than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the date of enactment of this act, the FTC shall issue guidance to provide information, including best practices and examples, for covered platforms to understand the Commission’s determination of whether a covered platform “had knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances” for purposes of this act.
Limitation on FTC Guidance: No guidance issued by the FTC with respect to this act shall:
Confer any rights on any person, State, or locality; or
Operate to bind the FTC or any person to the approach recommended in such guidance.
Enforcement Actions: In any enforcement action made to a covered platform in violation of this act, the FTC:
Shall allege a violation of this act.
May not base such enforcement action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices that are alleged to be inconsistent with guidance issued by the FTC with respect to this aact, unless the practices are alleged to violate a provision of this act.
And now we’re almost on the home stretch, with Section 11, otherwise known as Enforcement. This section outlines, you guessed it, the enforcement of this act.
Enforcement by the FTC:
Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices: A violation of this act shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Powers of the Commission: The FTC shall enforce this act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this act.
Privileges and Immunities: Any person that violates this act shall be subject to the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and immunities, provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
Authority Preserved: Nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the authority of the FTC under any other provision of law.
Enforcement by State Attorney General:
Civil Actions: In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in a practice that violates this act, the State, as parens patrie (de facto parent of any citizens unable to defend themselves) , may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district court of the United States or a State court of appropriate jurisdiction to:
Enjoin that practice.
Enforce compliance with this act.
On behalf of residents of the State, obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation, each of which shall be distributed in accordance with State law.
Obtain such other relief as the court may consider to be appropriate.
Notice: Before filing an action, the attorney general of the State involved shall provide to the Commission:
Written notice of that action.
A copy of the complaint for that action.
Exemption: Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to the filing of an action by an attorney general of a State under this paragraph if the attorney general of the State determines that it is not feasible to provide the notice described in that clause before the filing of the action.
Notification: In an action described in subclause (I), the attorney general of a State shall provide notice and a copy of the complaint to the Commission at the same time as the attorney general files the action.
Intervention: On receiving notice, the Commission shall have the right to intervene in the action that is the notice's subject.
Effect of Intervention: If the Commission intervenes in an action under paragraph (1), it shall have the right:
To be heard with respect to any matter that arises in that action.
To file a petition for appeal.
Construction: For purposes of bringing any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of that State to:
Conduct investigations;
Administer oaths or affirmations.
Compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence.
Actions by the Commission: In any case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for violation of this act, no State may, during the pendency of that action, institute a separate action under paragraph (1) against any defendant named in the complaint in the action instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for that violation.
Venue; Service of Progress:
Venue: Any action brought under paragraph (1) may be brought in either:
The district court of the United States that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States Code.
A State court of competent authority.
Service of Progress: In an action brought under paragraph (1) in a district court of the United States, process may be served wherever the defendant:
Is an inhabitant.
May be found.
And now we are going to hear about the Kids Online Safety Council we’ve been hearing so much about in the last few sections in Section 12: Kids Online Safety Council.
Establishment: No later than 180 days (about 6 months) after the enactment date of this act, the Secretary of Commerce shall establish and convene the Kids Online Safety Council to provide advice on matters related to this act.
The Kids Online Safety Council shall include diverse participation from:
Academic experts, health professionals, and members of civil society with expertise in mental health, substance use disorders, and the prevention of harm to minors.
Representatives in academia and civil society with specific expertise in privacy and civil liberties.
Parents and youth representation.
Representatives of covered platforms.
Representatives of the NTIA, the NIST, the FTC, the DoJ, and the DHHS.
(6) State attorneys general or their designees acting in State or local government.
Educators.
Representatives of communities of socially disadvantaged individuals (as defined in section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637)).
Activities: The matters to be addressed by the Kids Online Safety Council shall include:
Identifying emerging or current risks of harm to minors associated with online platforms.
Recommending measures and methods for assessing, preventing, and mitigating harms to minors online.
Recommending methods and themes for conducting research regarding online harms to minors, including in English and non-English languages.
Recommending best practices and clear, consensus-based technical standards for transparency reports and audits, as required under this a ct, including methods, criteria, and scope to promote overall accountability.
And now for Section 13, Filter Bubble Transparency Requirements. Almost to the end!
Definitions: In this section:
The term “algorithmic ranking system” means a computational process, including one derived from algorithmic decision-making, machine learning, statistical analysis, or other data processing or artificial intelligence techniques, used to determine the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of content from a set of information that is provided to a user on a covered internet platform, including the ranking of search results, the provision of content recommendations, the display of social media posts, or any other method of automated content selection.
The term “approximate geolocation information” means information that identifies the location of an individual, but with a precision of less than 5 miles.
The term “Commission” means the Federal Trade Commission.
The term “connected device” means an electronic device that:
Can connect to the internet, either directly or indirectly through a network, to communicate information in the direction of an individual.
Has computer processing capabilities for collecting, sending, receiving, or analyzing data.
Is primarily designed for or marketed to consumers.
Covered Internet Platform: The term “covered internet platform” means any public-facing website, internet application, or mobile application, including a social network site, video sharing service, search engine, or content aggregation service. Such term shall not include a platform that:
Is wholly owned, controlled, and operated by a person that:
For the most recent 6-month period, did not employ more than 500 employees.
For the most recent 3-year period, averaged less than $50,000,000 in annual gross revenue.
Collects or processes on an annual basis the user-specific data of less than 1,000,000 users (about the population of Delaware) or is operated for the sole purpose of conducting research that is not made for profit either directly or indirectly.
Input Transparent Algorithm: The term “input-transparent algorithm” means an algorithmic ranking system that does not use the user-specific data of a user to determine the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform, unless the user-specific data is expressly provided to the platform by the user for such purpose.
Data Provided for Express Purpose of Interaction with Platform For purposes of subparagraph (A), user-specific data that is provided by a user for the express purpose of determining the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform:
Shall include user-supplied search terms, filters, speech patterns (if provided for the purpose of enabling the platform to accept spoken input or selecting the language in which the user interacts with the platform), saved preferences, and the current precise geolocation information that is supplied by the user.
Shall include the user's current approximate geolocation information.
Shall include data affirmatively supplied to the platform by the user that expresses the user's desire to receive particular information, such as the social media profiles the user follows, the video channels the user subscribes to, or other content or sources of content on the platform the user has selected.
Shall NOT include the history of the user's connected device, including the user's history of web searches and browsing, previous geographical locations, physical activity, device interaction, and financial transactions.
Shall NOT include inferences about the user or the user's connected device, without regard to whether such inferences are based on data described in clause (i) or (iii).
Opaque Algorithm: The term “opaque algorithm” means an algorithmic ranking system that determines the selection, order, relative prioritization, or relative prominence of information that is furnished to such user on a covered internet platform based, in whole or part, on user-specific data that was not expressly provided by the user to the platform for such purpose.
Exception for Age-Appropriate Content Filtering: Such term shall not include an algorithmic ranking system used by a covered internet platform if:
The only user-specific data (including inferences about the user) that the system uses is information relating to the age of the user.
Such information is only used to restrict a user's access to content on the basis that the individual is not old enough to access such content (i.e., not allowing a 13-year-old to access pornography).
Precise Geolocation Information: The term “precise geolocation information” means geolocation information that identifies an individual’s location to within a range of 5 miles or less.
Search Syndication Contract, Upstream Provider, Downstream Provider:
The term “search syndication contract” means a contract or subcontract for the sale of, license of, or other right to access an index of web pages or search results on the internet for the purpose of operating an internet search engine.
The term “upstream provider” means, with respect to a search syndication contract, the person that grants access to an index of web pages or search results on the internet to a downstream provider pursuant to the contract.
The term “downstream provider” means, with respect to a search syndication contract, the person that receives access to an index of web pages on the internet from an upstream provider under such contract.
User Specific Data: The term “user-specific data” means information relating to an individual or a specific connected device that would not necessarily be true of every individual or device.
Requirement to Allow Users to View Unaltered Content on Internet Platforms: Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be illegal:
For any person to operate a covered internet platform that uses an opaque algorithm unless the person complies with the opaque algorithm requirements.
For any upstream provider to grant access to an index of web pages on the internet under a search syndication contract that does not comply with the requirements of paragraph (3).
Opaque Algorithm Requirements: The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a person that operates a covered internet platform that uses an opaque algorithm are the following:
The person provides notice to users of the platform:
That the platform uses an opaque algorithm that uses user-specific data to select the content the user sees. Such notice shall be presented in a clear, conspicuous manner on the platform whenever the user interacts with an opaque algorithm for the first time and may be a one-time notice that can be dismissed by the user.
In the terms and conditions of the covered internet platform, in a clear, accessible, and easily comprehensible manner to be updated no less frequently than once every 6 months:
The most salient features, inputs, and parameters used by the algorithm.
How any user-specific data used by the algorithm is collected or inferred about a user of the platform, and the categories of such data.
Any options that the covered internet platform makes available for a user of the platform to opt out or exercise options under clause (ii), modify the profile of the user or to influence the features, inputs, or parameters used by the algorithm.
Any quantities, such as time spent using a product or specific measures of engagement or social interaction, that the algorithm is designed to optimize, as well as a general description of the relative importance of each quantity for such ranking.
The person makes available a version of the platform that uses an input-transparent algorithm and enables users to easily switch between the version of the platform that uses an opaque algorithm and the version of the platform that uses the input-transparent algorithm.
Exceptions for Certain Downstream Providers: Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to an internet search engine if:
The search engine is operated by a downstream provider with fewer than 1,000 employees.
The search engine uses an index of web pages on the internet to which such provider received access under a search syndication contract.
Search Syndication Contract Requirements: The requirements of this paragraph with respect to a search syndication contract are that:
As part of the contract, the upstream provider makes available to the downstream provider the same input-transparent algorithm used by the upstream provider for purposes of complying with paragraph (2)(A)(ii).
The upstream provider does not impose any additional costs, degraded quality, reduced speed, or other constraint on the functioning of such algorithm when used by the downstream provider to operate an internet search engine relative to the performance of such algorithm when used by the upstream provider to operate an internet search engine.
Prohibition on Differential Pricing: A covered internet platform shall not deny, charge different prices or rates for, or condition the provision of a service or product to an individual based on the individual’s election to use a version of the platform that uses an input-transparent algorithm as provided under paragraph (2)(A)(ii).
Enforcement by FTC:
Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices: A violation of this section by an operator of a covered internet platform shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
Powers of Commision: Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the FTC shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this section.
Privileges and Immunities: Except as provided in subparagraph (C), any person who violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
Common Carriers and Nonprofit Institutions: Notwithstanding section 4, 5(a)(2), or 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46) or any jurisdictional limitation of the Commission, the Commission shall also enforce this act, in the same manner provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph, with respect to:
Common carriers subject to the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto
Organizations are not organized to carry on business for their own profit or that of their members.
Authority Preserved: Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.
Rule of Application: Section 11 shall not apply to this section.
Rule of Construction to Preserve Personal Blocks: Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or prohibit a covered internet platform’s ability to, at the direction of an individual user or group of users, restrict another user from searching for, finding, accessing, or interacting with such user’s or group’s account, content, data, or online community.
Skipping over Section 14, as it is incredibly short (don’t worry, it’s one line, and I’ll say it at the end), we arrive at Section 15, or “Rules of Construction and Other Matters”.
Relationships to Other Laws: Nothing in this Act shall be construed to:
Preempt section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g (about 2.72 lb), commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”) or other Federal or State laws governing student privacy.
Preempt the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or any rule or regulation promulgated under such Act.
Authorize any action that would conflict with section 18(h) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(h)).
Fairly Implied on the Basis of Objective Circumstances: For purposes of enforcing this act, in making a determination as to whether covered platform has knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances that a user is a minor, the FTC shall rely on competent and reliable empirical evidence, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including consideration of whether the operator, using available technology, exercised reasonable care.
Protections for Privacy: Nothing in this act shall be construed to require:
The affirmative collection of any personal data with respect to the age of users that a covered platform is not already collecting in the normal course of business.
A covered platform to implement an age gating or age verification functionality.
Compliance: Nothing in this act shall be construed to restrict a covered platform's ability to:
Cooperate with law enforcement agencies regarding activity that the covered platform reasonably and in good faith believes may violate Federal, State, or local laws, rules, or regulations.
Comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory inquiry or any investigation, subpoena, or summons by Federal, State, local, or other government authorities.
Investigate, establish, exercise, respond to, or defend against legal claims.
Application to Video Streaming Services: A video streaming service shall be deemed to be in compliance with this act if it predominantly consists of news, sports, entertainment, or other video programming content that is preselected by the provider and not user-generated, and:
Any chat, comment, or interactive functionality is provided incidental to, directly related to, or dependent on provision of such content.
If such video streaming service requires account owner registration and is not predominantly news or sports, the service includes the capability:
To limit a minor’s access to the service, which may utilize a system of age-rating.
To limit the automatic playing of on-demand content selected by a personalized recommendation system for an individual that the service knows is a minor.
To provide an individual that the service knows is a minor with readily-accessible and easy-to-use options to delete an account held by the minor and delete any personal data collected from the minor on the service, or, in the case of a service that allows a parent to create a profile for a minor, to allow a parent to delete the minor’s profile, and to delete any personal data collected from the minor on the service.
For a parent to manage a minor’s privacy and account settings, and restrict purchases and financial transactions by a minor, where applicable.
To provide an electronic point of contact specific to matters described in this paragraph.
To offer clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand notice of its policies and practices with respect to personal data and the capabilities described in this paragraph.
When providing on-demand content, to employ measures that safeguard against serving advertising for narcotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), tobacco products, gambling, or alcohol directly to the account or profile of an individual that the service knows is a minor.
And finally, we arrive at Section 16, the last Section, combined with Section 14, which I glossed over earlier. If any part of this act is deemed obsolete, ineffective, or unnecessary at any point in time, it may be removed from the act without any effect to the rest of it. Unless otherwise specified, all regulations in this act shall come into effect 18 months (about 1 and a half years) after the passing of this bill.
As you can see, this bill makes an impressive amount of sense, and if it were simply used as intended, it would be wonderful. However, because we can never have nice things, legislators, politicians, and the common public have twisted this bill, warping it to serve their selfish desires. Firstly, Senator Blackburn, one of the people behind this whole thing, blatantly said to a camera that she was going to “use KOSA to protect kids from the transgender in this culture.” With the queer community already under fire from all sides, this is the last thing they need, as all it does is further demonize them, and paint them as evil, pedophilic freaks to be feared and hated. A lot of regulations outlined in this bill also provide a concerning amount of control over the children it claims to protect, and it isn’t giving it to the child. It’s giving it to their parents. The adults who, as much as we hate to admit it, don’t always have the best interests of their children at heart. And what’s more, now the conservative Republicans care about people with disabilities, but it’s only when they’re trying to push a different marginalized group off the net. However, as soon as we try to do something as simple as mandating wheelchair ramps for all government buildings, they say “we don’t have the money for that!”. Okay, since obviously you don’t understand basic common sense Mr. Conservative, let me explain this for you: let’s say that KOSA will be fully enforced on every single website out of the over 1 BILLION that currently exist. Let’s say that about half of those comply fully willingly with KOSA, just for the benefit of the doubt. That still lives 500 million noncompliant websites. Let’s say that with legal proceedings and other costs, it would cost 500 dollars in USD per website to bring those websites into compliance. It would cost 250 BILLION dollars in USD to bring 500 million websites into compliance. Now let’s do some math on the wheelchair ramp problem, I’ll use small businesses as an example, since that’s the main subject of complaints on this topic. There are 33,185,550 small businesses registered in the United States. With the average cost per linear foot of concrete ramp being 225 dollars in USD, and saying that every small business has 2 doors that need ramps that are 1 linear foot, that means that every small business would have to pay 450 dollars in USD to make their businesses accessible. Every 3-5 years, you’ll want to reseal that concrete, costing about 3-5 dollars in USD per square foot. That means that a one time expense of 450 dollars to build the original ramps (on average, grossly oversimplified, but you get it), with an recurring cost every 3-5 years of a mere 6-10 dollars in USD. It would cost 4e-9% of what it would cost to enforce KOSA to make every registered small business in the US accessible. That is less than 1% of the money it would cost to enforce KOSA.
This bill would also enforce a strict “no horny” policy on damn near every website that you can think of. And as much as we like to demonize and vilify them, sex workers, porn actors, and hentai artists are people too, and some of them make a living off what they do. By enacting KOSA, you are driving the lives of more than 2 million people (about the population of Nebraska) into the dirt. KOSA places the value of a child’s innocence over those lives. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely against child pornography and exposing small children to porn, but we shouldn’t lock down everyone's access to explicit content to preserve 22.1% of the US population’s childlike innocence. KOSA also can lock those children into abusive and dangerous conditions and make the lives of orphans a living hell. By giving the parents of minors total control over their child’s account, you are allowing them to lock down their lives, and expose these children to, at best, harmful misinformation, extremism, and general naivety, and at worst, physical abuse and/or death. That’s another 600,000 lives ground into the dirt under the boot of “safety”. And that little bit about “parens patrie”? That basically means that if you can’t defend yourself (i.e. are homeless, an orphan, etc.), the government is your parent now. Growing up with a faceless, nameless entity in place of any parental figure is NOT a healthy way for a child to live. Again, that’s another 2,823,104 human beings crushed by KOSA. In total, out of just the three categories of people I listed here, over 4,883,104 human beings, with lives, emotions, thoughts, joys and pains, are being royally screwed over by this absolutely horrid bill.
We as a society are better than this. Come on people. What memo did I miss that decided that we only need equality for some people? Instead of bickering amongst ourselves like children, we should work together and solve our problems! Isn’t that what we all want!? But no, instead we fight over our inviolable rights as human beings like toddlers over a shovel in the sandbox, instead of behaving like civilized people. And what’s worse, it paints anyone who doesn’t fit the perfect ideal of an American citizen in shades of evil, demonizing and alienating them even more than they already are. What the hell are we doing here? Instead of waving our bureaucracy around, we should get off the chair and do something about it. How many times have we done something without taking a risk? That’s right, NEVER.
If we claim to be champions of equality, yet only desire it for ourselves, we are just as bad as those whose actions we decry. So please, dear reader, I beg of you. Stop KOSA, stop censorship, stop tyranny if you value this world at all.
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An unnecessary and in-depth analysis of magic colors used in TOH (Part 2):
Part 1 here
Purple:
Darius
Purple is associated with luxury, ambition, independence, mystery, arrogance, and inferiority
Darius is pretty much the embodiment of the color purple based on symbolism. He’s independent, he’s mysterious, he’s arrogant, he likes to live in luxury. He doesn’t act super ambitious but he is a Coven Head so we can assume he is somewhat. And the fact that he’s so competitive with Alador suggests that he may experience feelings of inferiority.
Magenta:
Amity, Alador, Tibbles, Gavin (possibly Kikimora and Malphas)
Magenta is associated with kindness, character, change, harmony, cooperation, and self respect but also impatience, arrogance and volatility.
Note: Kikimora and Malphas are listed as having purple magic on the wiki page, but it looks more magenta to me and I think that magenta makes more sense for them as well.
Impatience, arrogance and volatility are traits that are shared among these characters for the most part, though with Amity they’re mostly presented early in the show. The positive traits, consequently, have a lot of significance for Amity, who has gone through tremendous development and change over the course of the show. She’s become kinder and has learned to respect herself in a way that her parents couldn’t. She’s invited harmony into her life. If the show wasn’t cut short, I think we would have had a similar (smaller-scale) development for Alador and maybe even the other antagonists; at the very least Alador has taken initiative to change and better himself.
White:
Emperors Coven Scouts, Adegast, Detention Monitor, Oracle Teacher
White is associated with purity, innocence, perfection, safety, simplicity, illumination, emptiness, and unfriendliness
This one is interesting. For the Emperor’s Coven, since they are working for Belos, I can see their magic being sort of “sanitized”, void of their own creativity or free will. Similarly, for the teachers, maybe their magic is somewhat restricted when they’re on school grounds. They have to stick to the rules and regulations. For Adegast, maybe the white represents how his true nature/form was “illuminated” in WBW. Note: Jerbo is also listed using white on the wiki page but it actually looks like more of a white green to me, which makes more sense for him.
Yellow:
Eda, Mattholomule, Luz, Raine, Hunter (flapjack)
Yellow is associated with sunlight, positivity, intellect, creativity, and confidence. Some shades of yellow are also linked to magic and diversity. On the other hand, yellow can be a symbol of deceit, depression, or cowardice.
This one is fascinating to me. Yellow being associated with Luz makes perfect sense, her name literally means light and there’s so much symbolism in the show associating her with light. It also fits well for Eda, who is sort of the personification of magic and diversity, as well as sharing other traits with Luz. Eda and Raine are the only couple to share the same magic color and I think that was very much intentional, they are each other’s light. Hunter switching from red magic to yellow with flapjack must have significance as well. He goes from having every aspect of his life controlled by Belos, to finding a sense of autonomy and confidence in himself. Deceit, depression and cowardice are also all themes that recur for these characters throughout the show.
Now for the odd one out: Mattholomule. This is one of the things that got me interested in the colors in the first place. Matt having the same magic color as Luz, Eda and Hunter? Maybe he will have plot relevance in the next episode? Okay, most likely not. But a girl can dream. He’s definitely shown cowardice and deceit before. And he has a loud (overly-confident) personality. Maybe we will get some other hints of how the color fits him in WAD. Also curiously, Matt is one of the characters shown to use a different magic color at some point (more on that below)
Cyan:
Gus, Lilith, Edric, Emira, Adrian Graye, Titan Trappers, Keeper, Reviewnicorn
Cyan is associated with compassion, clarity, calmness, concentration, and communication. It can also signify narcissism, stress, secrecy, boastfulness. It’s also the opposite of red.
Many of the characters using this color are illusionists. At face value, concentration, clarity and communication are all important traits for illusionists to have. But I think for the twins, the color might also represent their connection and ability to see and understand each other. Likewise, Lilith’s color may be a symbol of her bond with Eda; her character development and how she grew to accept and understand her sister.
Adrian is a talented illusionist but his narcissism blinds him when it comes to really seeing and understanding others. The Reviewnicorn I could also see being somewhat boastful or narcissistic. And the Keeper, in addition to being compassionate and a skilled illusionist is definitely keeping some secrets. What about the Titan Trappers though? Is the blue a symbol of their secrecy? What do you guys think?
Finally, Gus. He really is the embodiment of this color as much as Darius is purple. He’s compassionate and understanding. He’s intuitive and able to see a lot of things that others might miss, even without magic. He’s able to get through to people and to see the good in them when others can’t. At the same time he can also be somewhat boastful and narcissistic himself at times. And we see how much he struggles with pressure and secrecy in particular.
Back to Matt for a minute, he’s seen in this image from the FTF credits using what looks to be cyan magic. Maybe it’s an accident or supposed to represent the use of illusion magic, but I like to think that perhaps it represents a connection to Gus. If you guys know of any other examples of characters switching colors, let me know!
#the owl house#toh#analysis#magic#symbolism#mattholomule#darius deamonne#amity blight#luz noceda#toh hunter#raine whispers#Gus porter#lilith clawthorne#edric blight#emira blight
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Traintober Day 12: Something Borrowed - Toad
This was originally supposed to be, like, three different essays ("Brakevan Decorum", "Top 3 Smartest Guys on the NWR - #2 Will Surprise You!", and "The Great Western Mafia") but @littlewestern and I decided Day 12: Something Borrowed was a great day to talk about Toad.
Why "Something Borrowed"? Because on the NWR, Toad so often is.
While we most often see Toad working with Oliver, upon his arrival in Sodor, he declared that he'd like to be Douglas' brakevan. Sir Topham Hatt does seem to approve of this and I think that suggests something about how he'd like his railway to run. However, in practice, the NWR seems not to have enough brakevans that Douglas could have one all to himself.
I think that Toad assuming he could just be one engine's brakevan is because that was a more common arrangement on the GWR and perhaps to an extent on British Rail. We do see an example of a mainland engine having a dedicated brakevan in Samson and Bradford. If they have the stock, it's probably a very good idea to pair engines with brakevans for the same reasons one might assign an dedicated crew to an engine. Having established rapport between an engine and his brakevan can only make them work together better. Particularly when it comes to engines who need more guidance and insight into their work like Samson, pairing them with a brakevan who has a compatible personality can really make things run more smoothly.
Unfortunately - no matter how much Hatt may admire the Great Western Way of doing things - the NWR does not have enough stock to allocate Toad to Douglas only. Still, Toad can be Douglas' brakevan in spirit... and given that Douglas has been known to smash less mannerly brakevans to bits, I doubt Toad has much trouble finding himself available when Douglas needs him.
Toad's manners are also, I think, a relic of Great Western sensibility. It's really quite fascinating though because if Toad's decorum is typical of GW brakevans, it would seem to indicate a delicate balance in priorities that other railways seemed unable to hit.
That is to say, Toad always refers to his engines with an honorific (always Mr. Oliver or Mr. James or the rare Miss Marion) and is mostly soft-spoken and deferential to their leadership when back-ending their trains. He treats them in a way akin to a butler, as though his presence is a service he's providing them. That Duck and Oliver are both seen to be somewhat dismissive of him would point to their being an observed hierarchy of command on the GWR that places brakevans beneath engines.
However, Toad has also quite often put his brakes down when his engines are trying to do some foolhardy shit. He resisted both Gator and James' attempts to flout regulation citing safety, which is the precise point of a brakevan. I think this too is part of brakevan decorum on the GWR, although I also think it rarely had to be employed there. GW engines are generally quite safety conscious on their own, but part of good safety procedure is redundancy. Having your brakevans prepared to intercede in the unlikely event your engines want to trade safety for expediency is good preventative measures.
This is a hard line to toe though and the NWR up to that point hadn't done a very good job if the Spiteful Brakevan is any indication. A brakevan who uses the limited autonomy he's granted and the necessity of his presence to leverage in his interpersonal problems can become such a detriment to his engine.
And while Bradford is a perfect brakevan to pair with an engine like Samson who can't be fully trusted to work independently, his strict adherence to regulation at the expense of common sense makes him a nuisance for engines who are more capable.
So it stands to reason that when Douglas rolled in with a GW engine, a GW autocoach, and a GW brakevan, Hatt might have wishfully thought some of that GW decorum was going to rub off and was all too happy to entertain even purely ceremonial gestures towards the Great Western Way of assigning brakevans.
You know what that also tells us though?
If Toad asked to be Douglas' brakevan, it almost certainly means that he was not Oliver's, particularly since it is stated that Isabel is Oliver's coach. That little notion paints a much more interesting picture of the escape from the scrapyard. Rather than it always being the plan to bring him, Toad may instead have been a late addition to the consist. And if that's true, another suspenseful possibility emerges: that Oliver and Isabel might have had enough coal to make it all the way to Sodor had they not brought him along.
But they wouldn't really have had a choice about it: they are all Great Western and must stand together.
Luckily, thanks to Douglas, they do all make it to Sodor and Toad is able to return the favor quite a bit over.
Toad's shown on several occasions to be a clever little sumbitch. He understands resource allocation (giving Gator one of his lights in "Toad's Bright Idea"), he can solve problems by looking at the bigger picture (using the crane on the other side of the island to get the whale back in the water in "Toad and the Whale", he's even got a touch of the silver tongue (lying by omission about James' speeding and directing the conversation to the branch on the line instead in "Toad's Adventure"). He might very well be the smartest guy on the railway and he's not even an engine. It would be a waste if he weren't as assertive as he is.
And so we reach my favorite thing about Toad: Toad is the one who comes up with the plan to rip Scruffey apart. And what's more, I don't think he actually told Duck and Oliver the whole plan. Three can keep a secret if two don't know they're doing so. 'Cause see, Toad never says they're going to rip Scruffey apart; he tells Oliver the plan is to bump him if he makes trouble.
When they're arranging the trucks, Toad also suggests in a way worded to sound like he thinks Oliver had already thought of and decided that he ought to be placed at the end of this train:
"I expect, Mr Oliver, you'll want me on the middle road as a stop-block, like."
"Er- Yes, please."
Oliver marshalled the worst trucks two by two in front of Toad.
"This way, Mr Oliver, takes longer, but they can't give trouble, and if you leave that Scruffey till last, you'll have him right behind you. Then you can bump him if he starts his nonsense."
Toad just settin' some fuckin' dominoes up right here.
And this is the beauty of it too. If Scruffey don't start no shit, won't be no shit. It's all so plausibly deniable, so brought upon himself!
Duck's presence is also important to the plan, even though he seems incidental. He and his also GW coaches are there as a matter of the schedule, but Duck came to the station with the ulterior intent to cheer Oliver on. As to just what he was going to be cheering specifically he may not have known (he looks quite unsettled by it), but this is Duck's branch line so it's important that he personally be seen condoning the execution about to happen on it, where all the other trucks can see it.
So now the trap is laid and of course Scruffey walks into it. He tells the trucks to hold back and they do. And when Oliver puts every bit of his boiler into pulling them anyway, Scruffey tells them to loosen up. Whether the rest of the trucks did or not, it doesn't matter. It's too late. Toad has his brakes on.
And then Sir Topham Hatt - who loves engine (and probably brakevan) bullshit - comes upon this scene. He can probably guess what really happened here because this ain't his first rodeo, but it solves the larger problem of truck behavior on Duck's branchline and you have to admire the craftsmanship of this scenario. Even Oliver doesn't know this was the intended result. When Hatt asks him about it, he's nervous.
"Well, Oliver, so you don't know your own strength. Is that it?"
"N-n-no, Sir," said Oliver.
The Fat Controller inspected the remains.
"As I thought," he remarked. "Rotten wood, rusty frames - unserviceable before it came." He winked at Oliver, and whispered, "Don't tell the trucks that - bad for discipline!"
He strode away, chuckling.
It might have even been so good a plan, so engineered to absolve all invested parties of blame, that Hatt might not have considered that Toad was involved at all. He knows damn well this wasn't Oliver's plan (he's not that clever), but no one really suspects a brakevan either. At the end of the train, a brakevan is so removed from the action, so far down the line and out of sight as to escape notice entirely.
Fkn consigliere shit right there.
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"It’s interesting how often people cite “CDC guidance” as their reason for unmasking. Although the CDC has absolutely participated in and cosigned the mainstream minimizing of the illness, even the CDC still acknowledges that vulnerable people are at risk from COVID infection. They simply encourage the public to let those people die.
During an interview with the BBC in the fall, Dr. Fauci famously said aloud “You’ll find the vulnerable will fall by the wayside. They’ll get infected, they’ll get hospitalized, and some will die.” Should he have characterized any other vulnerable group this way (“You’ll find Native people will fall by the wayside,” “You’ll find trans people will fall by the wayside,” “You’ll find Black people will fall by the wayside,” “You’ll find women will fall by the wayside”) there would surely have been an almighty backlash. But to say medically vulnerable people must die so the rest of us may have brunch indoors does not beget such a reaction- never mind that all the above-named groups- Native people, trans people, Black people and women- are at a higher risk for Long COVID, and other poor outcomes from COVID."
...
"The move to frame the requirement of a public safety measure- no different from requiring seatbelts, helmets, pants and shoes in public- as a violation of bodily autonomy came directly from groups like the Atlas Network, which, as you might gather from its Ayn-Rand-worshipping name, opposes all public regulation. Meanwhile, we continue to violate the bodily autonomy of disabled people by making participation in public life contingent on accepting forcible, continual reinfections.
Since Biden’s COVID normalization campaign, MAGA-style rhetoric about how disabled people should “stay home forever” and how they are “useless” and “weak” has absolutely infiltrated left spaces. Many disabled people, in fact, are effectively “staying home forever.” They are shielding themselves from a disease that may kill them, and certainly would likely lower their baseline health, and have been for years. Meanwhile, the pleas of these incredibly isolated people for the bare minimum of solidarity- please at least mask up indoors when not eating or drinking- are ignored because that is apparently too difficult for the mental health of abled people."
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"A last point I will address, I did see questions about how we are supposed to “force” people to mask. Disabled people, vulnerable people, and left groups generally do not have the power of the state. We are not going to be engaging in “policing,” because nobody is going to end up in jail, physically hurt, on probation, or with limited job prospects because of our community care. Simply write “masks required” on your event invites, distribute masks wherever possible (contact your local Mask Bloc!), and do your best to spread information while modeling good praxis by masking yourself. For the most part, people are following the crowd. They will do what the majority is doing, and many will be happy to mask if it is normalized instead of stigmatized.
A left that purges its spaces of everyone who values community care, everyone who is willing to experience a minor inconvenience for the well-being of another, everyone who thinks it’s all of us or none of us, is a drastically weakened left. A left that does not incorporate disability praxis is drastically limiting its own scope and ability to be effectual. A left that mocks vulnerable groups and seeks to justify harm to them is not grounded in real justice and has only a superficial understanding of its own aims. Join us in masking, keep your comrades safe, and relish the beauty of avoiding illness while knowing you did your part to protect others. It’s a good feeling at the end of the day, I promise you that."
#covid#eugenics#ableism#genocide#genocide joe#blue maga#anticapitalism#antifascism#antizionism#wear a mask#anarchism#every single unmasked adult in public deserves to be treated as the fascist eugenicist they are#if you think you're radical but you're not masking then your radicalism includes eugenics and that just makes you a goddamn nazi#you will never halt one genocide by carrying out another genocide
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Understanding Relationship Oscillation in Schizoid Dynamics
It's a pattern that can be as perplexing as it can be painful: someone enters into a relationship, draws close, then abruptly pulls away, leaving a trail of confusion and often heartache. This 'push-pull' or 'in and out' pattern of behavior, often observed in individuals with schizoid personality dynamics, is a means of managing intimacy and distance. What triggers this oscillation in and out of relationships, and how does it function as a defense mechanism?
The schizoid personality is characterized by a longstanding pattern of detachment from social relationships and a limited range of expressed emotions during interpersonal interactions. Those with schizoid tendencies often describe an inner experience of feeling like observers rather than participants in the world around them. Yet, even for individuals who navigate life with these challenges, the human need for some kind of connection can beckon them into relationships despite their guarded self.
Triggers for Oscillation
For individuals with schizoid dynamics, several triggers can prompt the retreat from closeness:
1. Emotional Intensity: Intimacy demands vulnerability. When a relationship deepens to the point of emotional intensity, it can go outside of their realms of emotional capacity and comfort zone.
2. Fear of Enmeshment: Closeness can be misconstrued as being consumed by the other’s needs or emotions. For a schizoid individual, protecting their autonomy is paramount, and the blurred lines of intense relationships can signal a loss of self.
3. Perceived Expectations: The sense that a partner expects more emotionally than what feels safe to give can trigger withdrawal. The pressure to express feelings that are not readily accessible can be overwhelming.
4. Negative Emotional Expressions: Encountering a partner's negative emotions, especially if directed towards changing the schizoid individual’s behavior, can be a catalyst for pulling away. It can feel like an invasion, prompting a return to the safety of solitude.
5. Relationship Milestones: Moments that signify increased commitment, such as moving in together, can act as triggers. These milestones represent a deepening of emotional bonds that can feel suffocating.
The Defense Mechanism of Relationship Oscillation
The back-and-forth of relationship engagement serves multiple defensive functions for a person with schizoid tendencies:
1. Safety in Solitude: Retreating to a place of solitude can be a sanctuary from the perceived dangers of emotional vulnerability. It's a return to a controlled environment where the unpredictability of emotional intimacy is absent.
2. Autonomy Preservation: By withdrawing, the schizoid individual reasserts their independence. It's a reminder to themselves and others that they are not beholden to the emotional tides of relationships.
3. Regulation of Emotional Intensity: Oscillating allows for a modulation of emotional intensity. It's a way to ensure that emotions remain at a manageable level, never tipping into the realms of overwhelming.
4. Avoidance of Painful Rejection: If there's an underlying expectation of eventual rejection or disappointment, withdrawal can be preemptive. It's a control measure—better to leave than to be left in a state of vulnerability.
5. Compartmentalization: By keeping relationships at arm's length, schizoid individuals can compartmentalize their emotional life. This separation allows them to engage in relationships on their own terms, with the option to disconnect as needed.
In Summary...
Understanding the triggers and defensive functions of oscillation in relationships for schizoid individuals does not necessarily mitigate the difficulty for either party involved. However, it does provide a framework for understanding. For those with schizoid dynamics, recognizing these patterns is the first step toward growth. With increased awareness and therapeutic support, it may be possible to discover ways to navigate these triggers more effectively and find a balance that allows for healthier, more stable relationships.
This complex interplay between the need for solitude and the human desire for connection is a delicate balance, often fraught with challenges. But within it lies the potential for understanding, growth, and ultimately, a form of connection that honors both the need for individuality and the inherent value of relationships.
Video From My YouTube Channel: 5 Ways Schizoids Avoid Intimate Relationships
#schizoid#schizoid adaptaions#schizoid dynamics#schizoid pd#schizoid personality disorder#schizoid vision#cluster a#schizoid dilemma#schizoid compromise#schizoid relationships
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Imagine bitching and moaning for two years about having to wear a mask for the health and safety of others in the middle of a deadly pandemic. Crying about vaccine mandates, how they're against your religious freedom and how the government is trying to control you and your body autonomy.
While simultaneously agreeing that the government and state should be able to regulate a persons reproductive rights and force them to give birth or go to jail for having an abortion. That because your fucking imaginary "god" is against abortion it should be illegal for everyone else... Like what the fuck.
#Like what the fuck is wrong with Republicans & the right#Why do you think this is okay?#But seriously this country sucks#And FUCK the Supreme Court#roe v wade#PRO CHOICE#Inb4 all the not all Republicans comments#Health care#Abortion#Reproductive rights
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Let's talk about ❤️🩹 emotions ❤️🩹
Emotions are not weak
Emotions are not to be played with, toyed with, dusted or brushed aside
Emotions are what makes us human. Every human experiences emotions.
Every emotion is tied to your mind, body, soul, and spirit. Your individuality. You. Emotions dictate how you move and think and feel things throughout this world we live in
Emotions communicate needs and wants from our heart and mind to our physical body
This can also be a direct result of why we feel physical symptoms when distressed, upset, etc. Our bodies run on a system of nerves that communicate this stuff. It matters.
Emotions are what makes us unique and individual from each other. Just because you feel something, doesn't mean someone else feels the same.
This is why communication is so important. You have the right to ask for what you're wanting and needing out of the people in your life.
It is never a bad thing to experience an emotion
Even and especially negative emotions.
Anger, resentments, jealousy, shame, and humiliation-- these are indicators that you're not being valued, listened to, seen, heard, appreciated, and possibly abused.
Sadness, regret, sorrow, grief, depression-- these are indicators that you are mourning a great loss in life and feel disconnected that no one can empathize and understand what you're going through.
Emotions can be triggered by all sorts of things. Smells, perfumes, colors, clothes, dates, words, phrases, names, looks, you name it.
You never deserve to be shamed for your emotions, thoughts, and feelings. You can have a problematic thought or two, and still recognize that thought has existed because of the way you were raised and still make a conscious effort to change or replace the thought with something you find more agreeable with.
Emotional reactions are tied to our physical reactions. Because of this we tend to react in volatile or overly expressive ways- or we regress, repress, deny, avoid, and escape our emotions- in situations where a trauma history is present, because our emotional responses have been stunted and underdeveloped from our abusive childhoods
Even with that being said, you are responsible for how you express your emotions. Yes, you can actually control that.
Your emotional responses are never to be blamed, shamed, or neglected. This doesn't mean they're always gonna be acceptable for others, but yes even the more volatile responses exist for a reason. They are your most primitive survival instincts. You can- and you must- always work on releasing your emotional stress in much safer, healthier ways.
The work of emotional regulation helps us understand that our emotions are a very vital part to who we are as individuals, and that we deserve the space to express our own wants and needs freely and independently of how others perceive us.
This is why for abuse & trauma victims, this is some of the most hardest work out there. Abuse literally robs us of our emotional rights. Our rights to formulate our own thoughts, opinions, and have our own autonomy and agency. Growing up in abuse self sacrifices our own emotions in place of our abusers, out of fear and a direct threat against our lives.
This is why the work of validating your emotions is so vital to your survival.
Your emotions are always valid. Regardless of who the situation is about and what the outcome will be.
You are always worth the effort to listen to your own tone of voice. What does that mean? The urgency of how your feelings present themselves tells you how important this feeling is for your survival.
You deserve to honor that urgency. If you're being abused, you deserve to listen to that deep gut instinct.
But you also deserve to heal that urgency when you leave the abuse and find yourself in situations where that urgency is getting triggered maybe by a false perception. You deserve the clarity to ask for direct communication and reaffirm your safety in these situations.
Emotions should never be dismissed, hidden, bottled up, or told you're being too sensitive or that your feelings don't matter. That is a direct threat against your life and you deserve the agency to call it out and protect yourself from this harm.
You are worth the effort to cultivate yourself a safer headspace for your feelings to exist.
You are worth the effort from your family and peers to listen, validate, honor and respect your feelings.
If they don't do that for you then you deserve to leave and find others who will give you that. They do exist in this world. You deserve to find them.
You deserve the emotional freedom to unburden yourself from the shame and ignorance that comes from healing and learning about this type of stuff. This isn't your fault. Abuse recovery is littered with regret and insecurity. How could you have possibly known any of this before hand?
You are worth the effort to heal. You are worth the effort to be valued and respected. Period.
Hope this helps ❤️🩹🌸🧸
#recovery#ptsd#trauma#mental health#boundaries#healing#healing thoughts#emotions#emotional regulation#dbt#bpd#actually borderline#actually abused#abuse recovery#emotional health#pd safe#npd#aspd#autism#adhd#abuse#actually traumatized#trauma informed#cptsd
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Salisbury Autistic Care - The Sensory Haven Future Homes for Autistic People
Salisbury Autistic Care: Creating Inclusive Communities for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum is putting its best foot forward by designing homes best suited for autistic individuals. Efforts are made to provide an environment where those on the autism spectrum can thrive and feel at ease.
In this discussion, we'll explore how Salisbury's real estate sector is designing homes with the latest innovations that prioritize the safety concerns of these individuals.
Let's discover together how the latest innovative homes are reshaping the landscape of inclusive living.
Smart Home Technology: Real estate is focusing on installing homes with smart home devices that can be controlled remotely or automated to perform tasks autonomously. It includes devices like voice-activated assistants (like Amazon Alexa or Google Home), smart thermostats, lighting systems, and security cameras that can greatly improve the autonomy and comfort of individuals with autism. These technologies can be programmed to adjust environmental factors according to the individual's preferences, providing a sense of control and reducing sensory overload.
Communication Apps and Devices: Many autistic people face trouble in communication. However, integrating communication apps and devices within the property can facilitate effective communication. It will help them by assisting in conveying their message to their caregivers. These may include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps, picture exchange communication systems (PECS), or specialized devices that support speech output.
Safety and Monitoring Solutions: Autistic individuals are not much aware of their safety in the surrounding environment. As a result, they may unintentionally engage in behaviors that could put their well-being at risk. Technology can play a crucial role in ensuring their safety. GPS tracking devices, door alarms, and wearable sensors can alert caregivers if a resident leaves the property or enters restricted areas, allowing for timely intervention. Additionally, smart locks and security systems can enhance overall safety within the property.
Sensory Regulation Tools: Many individuals with autism are sensitive to sensory stimuli. The real estate must focus on designing calming sensory rooms with soft lighting, comfortable seating, tactile objects, soothing music or sounds, and visual projections. Interactive projections or immersive virtual reality experiences can provide engaging and customizable sensory experiences, allowing individuals with autism to explore different sensory inputs in a controlled and therapeutic environment.
Data Collection and Analysis: Homes installed with smart sensors can help in tracking daily behavior patterns like sleep patterns, activity levels, or emotional states, providing valuable insights about the individual. This information can be used to create personalized care plans and interventions.
Educational and Therapeutic Resources: Integrating educational and therapeutic resources within autism care properties empowers residents to engage in meaningful activities and skill-building exercises that support their development and enhance their quality of life. Smart home technology helps them to have access to educational and therapeutic sessions that promote learning, growth, and self-confidence for individuals with autism.
Conclusion
Through these advancements, Salisbury Autistic Care — Most Desirable Areas to Live in is not only addressing the unique needs and challenges faced by autistic individuals but also trying to create surroundings where they can feel safe and comfortable. By prioritizing safety, communication, sensory comfort, and personalized support, these homes are reshaping the landscape of inclusive living and setting a new standard for the integration of technology and compassion in real estate development.
#Educational and Therapeutic Resources#Data Collection and Analysis#Sensory Regulation Tools#Safety and Monitoring Solutions#Smart Home Technology#Future Homes#Sensory Haven:#Salisbury Autistic Care
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"The Internet can be a risky place. There are endless feeds filled with posts that contain graphic sexual and violent content, glamorize eating disorders, encourage self-harm or promote discriminatory and offensive diatribes. People often share too much personal information with a too-public audience that includes cyberbullies and strangers with ill intent. And they also risk losing time: by spending hours online, they might miss out on experiences and growth opportunities that can be found elsewhere. These problems are particularly acute for children and teenagers, and new laws that attempt to protect youth from the Internet’s negative effects have their own serious downsides. Scientific American spoke with experts about the best evidence-backed ways to actually keep kids safe online.
...
But these controversial policies aren’t the only way to promote online safety. Other legislative actions that are less focused on censorship, along with clear content guidelines and better social media design, could help. Plus, digital safety researchers and psychologists agree that getting families, schools and young people themselves involved would make a big difference in keeping kids safe.
Digital privacy legislation is one alternate policy path that might shift the online landscape for the better. “If people’s data is treated with respect in ways that are transparent and accountable, actually, it turns out a whole set of safety risks get mitigated,” says social psychologist Sonia Livingstone, who researches children and online media at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
A comprehensive data privacy bill could require social media companies to disclose when user data are being collected and sold—and to obtain consent first. This would help users make better choices for themselves, Livingstone says. Limiting the data that tech platforms amass and profit from could also help block the proliferation of algorithms that emphasize increasingly extreme content in order to hold social media users’ attention. Additionally, privacy legislation could ideally enable users to request the removal of content or data they no longer want online—potentially protecting kids (and everyone else) from their own short-term choices, Alvord says.
Beyond privacy, national guidelines for social media sites could help. Livingstone and Alvord suggest that a content rating system like those used for movies, TV shows and video games might help young people avoid inappropriate content—and allow families to set firmer boundaries. Design features that let users block others and limit the audience for specific posts allow kids and teens to take the reins of their own safety—which is critical, says Pamela Wisniewski, a Vanderbilt University computer scientist, who studies human-computer interaction and adolescent online safety.
Parental controls can be appropriate for younger kids, but teens need the chance to exercise autonomy online, Wisniewski says. Such freedom lets them engage in some of the Internet’s positive aspects: civic engagement opportunities, community and educational resources, identity exploration and connections beyond one’s own social bubble. To ensure these benefits are accessible to all, youth should be directly involved formulating regulations and safety strategies, Wisniewski adds. As part of her research, she holds workshops with teens to involve them in co-designing online safety interventions. Though this program, called Teenovate, is in the early stages, some ideas have already emerged from it. Among them: social platforms could provide “nudges” that would ask users to think twice before sharing personal data and prompt would-be bad actors to reconsider personal requests or bullying behavior."
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okay! finally got around to putting together some of my thoughts regarding the new kai & gashu screenshot...!
regarding kai & his physical health:
i’m unsure if - at this point - kai’s already begun his own training... it’s perfectly possible he has, but hasn’t yet been ordered to kill anyone (in which, fully realizing what that entails would then be the inciting incident for the light in his eyes to leave - which. the fact it was there at all really hammers home what asunaro did... augh). so, examining what we can see of his physical form in all three sprites, this could go one of two ways:
1) present-day kai is out of practice since working as an assassin (this is true either way, but it would be interesting to see it physically drawn) when you compare the shading on his neck to how it used to be. more muscular people like q-taro, keiji, etc don’t have much to hide their neck, which indicates it’s not shading (as is the case with tsukimi and his scarf (+ indicating the angle)) & they have a specific style of hatching which kai shares. so perhaps he’s weakened over time.
2) alternatively (and this was admittedly my first thought) this would be the implication that he was... not eating well. it’d make sense considering the poison trials he references in ytts (to build up resistance, there were surely moments near the beginning where he threw it up) and perhaps asunaro generally giving him only essential meals (or restricting it to test his endurance).
in the sprites, there could be reference to it as well... his neck line isn’t as. pronounced...? & with this, his shown youngest sprite has a thinner face than “hinako” as well (though i’m unsure how to offer that example here), and his uniform noticeably tightens between the middle sprite and his current sprite.
the implication of that last point being that kai has gotten accustomed to his life outside of asunaro. however, this is the actual threat behind [meister’s?] “puny arms” comment - not only to shame this domestic life he now imitates, but to tell kai that he hasn’t stayed atop his training. and naturally, from that, his idea he could ever protect the chidouins is 'laughable’. asunaro was what once kept him strong, kept his discipline, without it... he’s seemingly become complacent (in asunaro’s eyes and under its own definition of strength).
kai’s personal autonomy:
either way, it lasts that kai has found a passion for cooking and possibly other recreational activities... i’ve mentioned before the importance of this to him, but i’ll repeat it here: after poison trials where his throat is most likely scarred, it’s... a very sweet idea, to me, to think of him indulging this not only for himself (taking care of himself, rather than constantly straining his body; remaining as the weapon he was raised to be), but for other people he gains a fondness toward. something to share, to keep their health... they should never go hungry. ‘it is a homemaker’s duty to oversee the food’ and all...
regarding his physical state, the sprites given now continue to heavily imply that kai’s hair length was probably regulated, resting no further than his shoulders. (depending on when the youngest kai sprite is, it may indicate it wasn’t only a case of personal safety during training, but instead an expectation asunaro holds - also shown through the changes in emiri + michiru’s appearances to be more ‘gender conforming’) although there is a cg which shows kai with his current longer hair, i believe this is more of an assumption drawn from what sara (and the rest) are accustomed to seeing kai as when he mentions he was once an assassin. unable to visualize the photo of younger kai, so not quite an accurate reflection...
(michiru v safalin’s sprites... it wasn’t only emiri who let her hair grow out - that would seem an individual choice - but it is michiru as well... her wavy hair isn’t as tightly woven (as is typical w this type of hair once its grown out a bit more) and the part by her shoulder where it starts to wane is now filled in.)
but once kai leaves asunaro, he allows himself to put care into his appearance. it’s something he chose for himself... now that asunaro cannot demand otherwise of him, he wears his hair long. he can do what he enjoys, not only with his hobbies, but in how he presents himself.
and then his outfit... ohhh how this hurts me... he still associates himself with asunaro’s darkness when it comes down to it (not only with subtle notions such as this, but also in ytts’ fondness events), caught between this truth and the light he cares for. in a way, this could be read as kai feeling as if he’s put up a front, what with the apron drawing attention away from the uniform which has stuck with him for years now. the design eventually retailored to fit him present-day as well, the guilt which has lasted due to his association ever-present... however, i do think what matters here is that the apron is a piece he consistently chooses atop the muted colors he’s accustomed to. it’s a bond to the family, it’s something he shows with a trace of pride, it shows another side to life which he never previously knew..
final miscellaneous thoughts:
➝ kai has kept the same pose throughout these years. i would assume that this was probably as a way to subtly self-soothe while still giving off that impression he's polite and paying attention (just as his father...). seeing as it's something that's lasted him all these years, it probably isn’t something he directly associated with his training (even if it would be an easy method of concealing weaponry) and keeping in mind that this isn’t as openly defensive/withdrawn as “hinako” chose (his position leaves his front open, while she holds hers close to the most vulnerable parts of her body)...
➝ this may simply be a design choice, but where meister + the memorandum man’s suits match the sonobeno (fem) uniform, gashu’s current suit matches kugie’s high school uniform..?
the only real difference is in saturation with these. it’s odd. though this would’ve taken place far before sara was really considered. so. hmm... probably just a coincidence, but it’d be interesting if there was some significance these schools had or if it was areas/territory claimed in which they either:
1) sent younger asu-agents for standard education (which would make hiyori’s situation so much more fucked if it was casual students instead of other agents... however - and this may just be my interpretation - i don’t believe many asu-agents (at least not in kai’s field) would’ve been sent to any public school. surely, they could cover up any incident, but it seems... counterproductive)
2) used this as a place to find recruits (or... subjects, in the worst of cases). perhaps offering students looking for medical fields (or other useful lines of work, such as pursuing joining the police force (or prison guard work)) who revealed potential to be employed under asunaro - or at least it gives them the chance to keep track of their progress.
➝ the idea that gashu once had light in his eyes as well is a very interesting choice here... especially with kai’s age, assuming they’re already within asunaro (as it’s all he’s ever known from a young age). i’m excited to see where this mini story goes and what it’ll reveal about kai and gashu’s relationship (& perhaps the incident which “drove [kai’s] father mad”... however this ended up affecting kai; though if we don’t mention the latter, i’m sure it’ll hurt just as much having the knowledge that it was simply exposure to asunaro which wore kai down enough for that...)
➝ i haven’t got too much speculation for what the event will actually be, i don’t want misplaced expectation, but i do hope this gives us more of a glimpse into how asunaro functions :] gashu seems to be a somewhat high-ranking agent within asunaro: being allowed a primary role in the death game’s creation, one with enough trust to refer two strangers to research with him & aid in preparing the candidate’s (+ possible participants...?) AIs for these simulations and the dolls themselves... i just wonder how he reached this point! i think that about exhausts all my thoughts now though... i’m really looking forward to this :D
#almost 1400 words...#sorry i. i see a crumb of new content for hir and i have to study it under a microscope#jestersvaguely#yttdposting#yttd meta#long post
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Imagine a girl in the male majority au who is just so tired of the way women are treated! Being a skilled fighter, she tries to rally up all the women to strike a rebellion! If only she knew how horribly wrong it would go…
Can I just say I love that I have so many asks about this AU? To be honest in the beginning I thought it might be a bit too… intense for most people lol but y’all really seem to like that one which makes me very happy >:3
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On one hand, the idea of a full-scale rebellion is sort of a fantasy, really. You can’t really lobby very effectively, most girls are confined to their homes and are monitored well enough that it would be impossible to round them up or anything. You could get some brothel workers, perhaps, but not in a very large number. You’d have to be one yourself to have the option of roaming around in the first place, because there is no way any guy is going to allow that, at least not knowingly, and if one were to be informed of his property doing something so embarrassing in public, it would probably be the last you’d ever see of her outside again.
You’d have to go for a lesser option, but still trying to rebel in some way, make a social change. You can kinda sorta do some very ineffective things. Get some petition signed or get a small group to protest.
At first though, it’s really cute. You’ll have to forgive the amused smirks and chuckles you get, how is anyone supposed to take this seriously?
Not that you demand too much. You try to make it reasonable enough that it might be heard out. Primarily legal changes – let them have some say in where and with whom they end up, allow for contact with family members, let them own money and property, better conditions for brothel workers, outlawing corporeal punishment and public punishment. People might listen if you make reasonable demands… or requests, as you tell the one girl you all could find who knows how to write to put down on paper. “Demands” would sound too, uh… demanding, and they might not respond very well. You’re more likely to be heard out if you don’t come across as too abrasive.
Imagine, though, that after enough pestering officials, enough getting people come with you to increase the degree of an annoyance you cause, you are given the opportunity to earn your way to autonomy.
See, the primary argument against girls having freedom and all that is their own safety. Who would protect you from all the other guys that would harm you, if not for the one that owns you? It’s presented as an act of benevolence, sacrifice and selflessness even (and a lot of girls buy into that, since it’s the way it’s always been presented to them).
Consequently, this is also the first thing brought up at the notion of even an individual girl being granted autonomous status. Being denied that, then, is a form of protecting you from your own foolish naivete. You’re irrational (predictably), thinking with your feelings, and would get yourself hurt if left to your own decisions, which is just further evidence to why you shouldn’t be allowed such a thing.
But after you keep pushing, you are given the opportunity, under a specific set of conditions to be met. If you can do it, you’re told, it’ll be made a policy to allow others to take this option as well.
You just have to beat a guy in a fight.
Prove that you are capable of fending for yourself, without a protector. A random member of your particular nation’s law enforcement will be selected at random and spar against you, and if you can injure him to the point of being unable to carry on, knock him out, or get him to yield… then you win.
You’ve trained yourself quite a bit, specifically for that purpose, knowing you would have to prove yourself one day. Especially with a vision – they can’t afford to confiscate them all and cause you to become hollowed husks or anything, so public property like you are allowed to hang onto them under extreme regulation and threat of immediate confiscation if used for anything other than mild conveniences in daily life or purposes that don’t really affect anyone or anything. You practicing hitting trash and trees as targets isn’t bothering anyone, so people don’t care enough to stop you.
And since you’ve trained so much, you’d be ecstatic and hopeful for the opportunity. All that training gives you an advantage, you think, so you agree to it. Enthusiastically. You just feel a slight pinch of dread at the amused expression on people’s faces, like there’s something you don’t know.
But you quickly find out, when your equipment is stripped from you.
You reach out for it, protest, but it’s taken anyway. No, no. That’s not realistic, is it? You might be attacked in the real world without any of that.
No elemental use allowed. No weapons allowed. It’s an unarmed fight, bare hands and raw strength only. But hey, it’s that way on both sides, so it’s fair, right? That’s what you wanted after all, to be seen as a legitimate opponent, to be treated like you’re the same.
…Hey, what’s with that expression? Why are you backing out now? What happened to being so sure of yourself a few seconds ago, what’s the problem?
Of course, the questions aren’t being asked sincerely. You can see the mediator’s smiling expression, the mocking tone of his voice, along with virtually everyone else. It’s just cute. You know, like a little kitten or puppy trying to act all big and tough – you can’t take it seriously, but you can’t be too mad either when it’s so dumb and adorable.
It’s a bitter feeling to swallow, but you know better than to think you would stand a chance under these terms even against an average dude, much less against a man that’s undergoing physical training on a daily basis. You can see the guy has some muscle mass. You don’t like the look on his face either, like a dog that’s cornered some poor little animal.
You shake your head and back away, but you’re grabbed by the arm and pulled back.
You already agreed to it, so you have to, you’re told. Although the reason is rather obvious to you – there’s people watching, including some of those you managed to get to come with you, even a few other passersby who stop at the commotion. You get to have the privilege of an example being made out of you. To discourage anyone else from doing so in the future, out of fear of ending up the same way.
Not that you’re going to get beat up or something, no, that would be too cruel, and kind of pathetic to beat down something so much weaker. It’s more like you get wrestled to the ground, which is kind of like fighting? And he keeps your face pressed against the ground while fucking you in front of all the onlookers.
Although, it’s determined you and your ideologies are a bit too dangerous and problematic to allow you to continue having contact with other girls. You’re a bad influence. Besides, the guy does deserve to keep you as a sort of reward for volunteering for it, so. At least you won’t have to work in brothels anymore.
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It might look like a solar system or a galaxy, but this actually a view of the Burning Man shot from a drone in 2019.
More details/photos: https://bit.ly/3z2gSgm
* * * *
250 Drones Play Space Invaders at Burning Man 2022
by Hasan
After two years of absence due to the health crisis, the Burning Man festival made a grand return. For this 9-day edition in 2022, nearly 80,000 festival-goers trod the sands of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. And it was truly a sight to behold! For the first time since its creation, a show featuring 250 drones criss-crossed the Nevada sky, delivering a full-scale space invader spectacle.
Although ephemeral, Burning Man is one of the most anticipated artistic events in the United States. After two years of interruption due to the Covid-19 crisis, the grand festival makes a return for a Burning Man 2022 edition that promises to be wild! In addition to the usual caravans, magical decorations, and provocative artistic sculptures, the Black Rock City pulled out all the stops: nearly 250 drones played space invaders in the sky above the sands of the Black Rock Desert.
But what is Burning Man? It’s the world’s largest temporary artistic ecosystem. For 9 days, community creators and organizers come together to celebrate art and local initiatives from around the world. These individuals, called “Burners,” gather in the Nevada desert to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis.
Characterized for its unconventional culture, Burning Man is dedicated to producing a positive spiritual change on a global scale. “Our intention is to generate a society that connects each individual to their creative powers, to community participation, to the wider domain of civic life, and to the even larger world of nature that exists beyond society,” is written on the event’s official website.
However, Burning Man does not want to be defined as a festival but rather as a gathering of a community, at the heart of a temporary city in the Nevada desert. This event is known for the festive cremation of a giant puppet, in reference to its name Burning Man, meaning “the burning man” in French.
Space invader drones
For this 2022 edition, more than 80,000 festival-goers, called “Burners,” gathered at Black Rock City. And as every year, the show was on point, but even more so this year! Each artistic creation is dedicated to art, self-expression, and autonomy for all.
To make a mark, the BRC 2022 wished to create a unique show in which over 250 drones played space invaders in the sky under the theme “Waking Dreams.” These were piloted by the festival-goers themselves. A regulation was carefully established to ensure compliance with the general flying conditions, in accordance with Black Rock City’s safety guidelines. These drones then delivered a spectacle at more than 400 feet, away from the crowds and emergency teams, and, of course, outside of the period of the Temple’s burning.
* * * * *
You want to get a good look at yourself. You stand before a mirror, you take off your jacket, unbutton your shirt, open your belt, unzip your fly. The outer clothing falls from you. You take off your shoes and socks, baring your feet. You remove your underwear. At a loss, you examine the mirror. There you are. You are not there.
—Mark Strand
#burning man#from above#fire#quotes#Mark Strand#Alive On All Channels#temporary artistic ecosystem#Big Party In the Desert#community#art + technology
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A "Quick" Guide to Independent US President Candidates of 2024
Regardless of the party you usually vote for, I encourage you to go over this list
Jill Stein, Green Party
Ballotpedia
Wikipedia
A Jewish Doctor, she's been running in different campaigns for 21 years. This will be her third time running for presidency; her announcement was in direct response to President Biden's lack of action in regards to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Her main concerns are to reinvigorate our lacking Green New Deal, for the right of a living wage in a revised Economic Bills of Rights, an end to discrimination of women, BIPOC, and LGBT+ members; the removal of US influence in wars across the globe, as well as an end to our politicians being bought out by lobbyists.
Dr. Stein learned of the impacts of environmental pollution first hand while she was a practicing physician; her patients' were suffering from the nicknamed "Filthy Five" coal plants in her area. This spurred her into activism, which did eventually lead to the removal of these coal plants.
While involved in this activism, she heard how many people had been demanding the removal of the plants for years. Local politicians refused to heed the people's words. Stein eventually learned it was due to lobbying, and helped to pass the Clean Elections Law. This law would only last for 5 years before Democrats removed it.
A/N: Dr. Stein has only declared her running just this month on Nov. 9th. This may explain her lacking platform.
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Chase Oliver, Libertarian Party
Ballotpedia
Wikipedia
You could describe him as sort of an "average Joe". Before entering politics, he worked restaurant jobs for 13 years. He's previously ran for Georgia's 5th district for House in 2020, as well as running for Senator in 2022 of the same state. He got enough support during his run for Senate that it caused a runoff election.
His campaign is addressing many different problems, from positive immigration reform to being prochoice. Here's the list and a brief summary of what his plans are:
○ Healthcare system overhaul, swap to Direct Primary Care
○ Addressing Student Loans, making current loans interest free, ending FAFSA entirely, using Department of Defense money to pay for interest fees lost by this move. Also addressing high tuition costs.
○ Education, removal of the Department of Education to allocate money directly back to the states.
○ Allowing free market on Marijuana, signing full pardons for anyone with a non-violent drug-only criminal charge.
○ Changes to the Justice System, from courts to prisons to cops, removal of immunity from those in power, removal of mandatory minimum sentences, removal of prosecution of victimless crimes.
○ Work Changes, adjustments to taxes to make it easier on lower-income families, as well as law adjustments for people looking to open their own businesses.
○ Immigration reform, simplification for immigrants to become citizens to allow them to work and better integrate into our society.
○ Government invasion of Privacy, the potential repeal of the Patriot Act as well as any other invasive laws the government has passed in the guise of "safety".
○ The rights of bodily autonomy and Abortion, which should be codified. The exception here is that tax money cannot be used for it.
○ Ending the Death Penalty
○ Reducing Inflation by reducing government spending [a/n: this is not what causes inflation]
○ Removal of any Gun Restrictions and will strike down any new one that come up in the future
What spurred him into activism roughly 2 decades ago, was President Bush's war campaign in Iraq. In 2008, he initially supported President Obama but later left the Democratic Party as he found that their policies were not anti-war and had no intention of becoming anti-war. He's spoken against regulations that prevent that feeding of the homeless and hungry in the City of Columbia [agenda], and has also made a public comment to the Atlanta City Council against Cop city (time stamp is 2:17:00).
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Independent Party
Ballotpedia
Wikipedia
An avid environmentalist lawyer who has won exceptional lawsuits for Indigenous People. This will be the first time RFK Jr. has officially ran for an election. In prior years, he's considered running for a Senator seat, NY's Attorney General seat, and has previously declined NY's Senate seat.
RFK Jr.'s campaign also has quite an extensive list of problems to address:
○ Housing Crisis and Cost: raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, changing zoning laws, changing taxes, opening ownership to local abandoned housing/buildings
○ Environment: restoring USDA and EPA control, incentivize companies to go green on a global scale, change agricultural practices
○ Ending of Lobbying: prosecution of officials and politicians who have been bought out by corporations, restoration of individual privacy, full government transparency.
○ Ending Party Division: RFK Jr. acknowledges that the Left vs Right is not helpful to the average person and seeks to remedy this divide by listening and compromising.
○ War: the removal of our troops and bases from countries in which we do not belong. The stop of unnecessary and profligate spending in our military machine.
○ Southern Border: Tighten control on checkpoints, restore lighting and motion detectors, but also allocate money into our courts to move asylum cases thru faster. This ties back with his stance on war, however; he wants the removal of our forces and weapons from the hands of the cartel. The US needs to stop funding the displacement of civilians in their own nations.
○ Restoration of Rights: Write into law that tech companies cannot ban, shadowban, or suppress someone if the government asks them to. Removal of government surveillance.
○ Civil Rights: to do this, a complete overhaul of these systems will happen - community repair, prison/police reform, focus on the working class and disenfranchised schooling, find addiction care that is long term, expanded youth programs, and free IDs for US citizens.
○ Native Americans: the restoration of land, the complete adherence to previous treaties that have been written and ignored by the US.
○ Veterans: optimization of the VA, creating a federal Veteran's council, to provide ways veterans can still "serve" in their communities.
○ Student Loans: the repeal of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which will allow people to file bankruptcy on student loans, allow people to refinance their student loans, remove interest on student loans, to hold universities accountable and not banks for loan defaults to prevent the rising prices of tuition.
Some things to note; Robert is a member of Children's Health Defense, which is an anti-vax organization that claims vaccines cause autism. Robert doesn't believe that HIV causes AIDS which he writes about in his book The Real Anthony Fauci (pg numbers: 298, 332, 347, 348, 351).
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Cornel West, Independent Party
Ballotpedia
Wikipedia
Another Doctor on the list, Cornel is a philosophy professor at Union Theological Seminary. In his practice, he focuses on how American society treats differences between gender, race, and class. This is his first time running for office, and had previously been with the People's Party which he dropped for the Green Party. In October '23, he left the Green Party to be Independent.
Here is a list of what Dr. West is looking to address during his presidency:
○ Environmentalism: Canceling any and all national oil projects, codifying informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous people and their land, end water privatization by making a clean water committee
○ Racial Justice: Reparations for black residents, following thru on the Civil Liberties Act of '88, public review commissions for all police stations, creating a committee dedicated to finding missing and murdered Indigenous women
○ Prison/Police Reform: End the death penalty, abolish current privatized prison practices, shutting down Cop City, end and ban police training thru military forces
○ Voters' Rights: Election day is to be a national holiday to ensure everyone can vote, term limits for all elected officials, ban on past elected officials from becoming lobbyists, term limits for SCOTUS members
○ Gun Control: Create national gun registry, reduce gun sales at shows, similar requirements for driver licenses to gun ownership
○ Economics: Tax billionaires, remove tax loopholes for the super rich, end Wall Street housing market holdings, ban stock trading for elected gov. officials, national minimum wage of $27/hr, create UBI commission
○ Workers' Rights: Four day work week, review US trade agreements and ban any that exploit domestic and international workers, free pre-K childcare, all for-profit companies must allow the creation of unions
○ Healthcare: Free healthcare, codify abortions, address addiction and help those affected by it, create federal panel to oversee the creation/safety/effectiveness of vaccines, focus on giving more power back to disabled people
○ Education: Redistribute tax money equally across all public schools based on student count (this way rural students still receive the same schooling as urban students), minimum wage of 80k for K-12 teachers, abolish state laws that obfuscate our US history, cancel student debt
○ LGBTQIA+: establish standards for trans healthcare, end assaults on trans people, ban on state anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, codify equal rights for LGBTQIA+ people
○ Global Influence: Removal of military support in all current wars, establish Truth Commission for the global south, disband NATO, cut the military budget, end global patriarchy and help women in Iran and Afghanistan, cancel IMF debts
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A note to end on:
Firstly, I will not be discussing who I will be voting for on this post. Secondly, I want to add that just because a candidate has a large list of issues they're addressing doesn't mean they will actually get it done while in office. We regularly see candidates come in with large promises only to "forget" about them once they reach office.
Remember: the presidential election is important, but getting out and voting during midterms is infinitely much more impactful because those are our lawmakers!! A president cannot change anything if there is no house or senate backing her/him!
#yes. green and lib are established parties.#but they fit the bill bc of the massive discrepancy in funding between them and red/blue parties#just in case y'all can't tell - their campaign pages are embedded on their names#and for the love of god PLEASE read this list thoroughly and do your own research#a rb that would be nice :') idc about numbers but i KNOW a bunch of people are going to be asking “who do i vote for” in 2024#doing research ahead of time is extremely important#i'd make a list for every midterm but there's literally hundreds if not thousands of total candidates for some of those uhm :') i'm sorry#2024 elections#presidential election#2024 presidential election#us politics#for later
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Amerikkka, the beautiful, the land of the free & the home of the...
👁Highest obesity rates
👁Highest gun mortality
👁Highest opioid use, addiction & fatalities
👁Most overprescribed nation on earth
👁One of the highest prescription rates for antidepressants & benzodiazepines
👁One of the highest rates of domestic violence
👁One of the richest countries yet highest incidence of poverty among "advanced democracies" - millions are houseless, food insecure, without medical insurance & lack of a living wage
👁Work hundreds of more hours vs employees in other "developed" countries
👁Excessive environmental abuse (biggest carbon emitter - 3 times worse than China, 2nd in air pollution only to China, water pollution, landfills, food waste, deforestation, natural resource depletion, industrial destruction, destruction of ecosystems, species conservation, deforestation, nuclear accidents, overpopulation, etc.)
👁National obsession with status, consumerism, materialism, overconsumption, fast fashion & addiction to shopping
👁One of the top economies but has a record high of $17.1 trillion in individual debt (student loans, mortgage, auto & credit card)
👁One of the highest costs of living in the world (housing, healthcare, and education)
👁60% of food consumed in US contains additives, preservatives & artificial sweeteners, considerably higher than the rest of the world
👁Tens of thousands of toxic chemicals & synthetics in household, cleaning, body care, makeup products with very little testing, regulations or studies on health and environmental effects
👁Hypersexualized, "pornified" culture that glamorizes sexual objectification, sexual violence & dehumanization while also being sexually repressed, uneducated, unable to establish, determine or decide on boundaries or verbalize when they have been violated, toxic masculinity, rape culture, inability to verbalize desires, inability to discuss sexuality openly and honestly, unhealthy, forced & contrived repression that leads to fetishization, dehumanization, objectification, sex addiction, etc
👁70% of teens & young adults are addicted to social media
👁Over 90% of time in America is spent indoors -- complete & total disconnect with nature
👁Only 7% of Americans practice mindful meditation -- total mind/body disconnect
👁Americans are obessed with "exercise", "the gym", "being fit", "bikini bodies" & "fad diets" yet only 20% work out regularly and the US has the highest obesity rates in the world
👁Dystopian obsession with beauty with the worlds highest plastic surgery rates
👁One of the 10 worst countries for racial equity
👁One of the most paternalistic & patriarchal countries on earth
👁Religious fundamentalism & paternalism is embedded in all aspects of society & culture & wielded as a tool of control
👁Concepts and societal ideals of femininity, motherhood, paternalism, fundamentalism, conservatism, religious dogma, chastity, modesty, purity, the cult of woman as a sacrificial lamb and the mother as a dehumanized symbol of selflessness and sublimation are all used to control and deny women's bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom while poverty is feminized and more women than men in the US live in poverty, work minimum and low wage jobs, are overrepresented in service jobs, make less per dollar than men for the same work and have no access to paid maternity leave or universal childcare yet they are the ones in many states forced to have children they dont want, many as single mothers, with little or no social safety net with no exception depending on the state for rape, abusive partner, coercive partner, mental & physical health of the woman, the woman's childfree or antinatalist beliefs, the woman's employment status, whether she has health care, whether she has a phobia of pregnancy and/or childbirth, whether she would be traumatized being forced to give birth if she doesn't want to be a mother, when it is her livelihood, career, finances, living situation, body, mental and physical health, physical appearance, sexual health affected moving forward if she does give birth yet the choice in many states is taken away from her yet only the woman has to live with the consequences, never the lawmakers taking her choice away
👁Prison industrial, military industrial, psychiatric industrial, pharamaceutical industrial, medical industrial & educational industrial complexes
👁Obsession with graphically violent media (movies, TV shows, videogames) & combat sports (NFL, UFC, etc.) yet boobs, penises & vulvas cant be shown on TV and dropping the F word can get you fined by the FTC
#poverty#gender abolition#abolish the police#prison abolition#police abolition#houselessness#living wage#gun law#gun violence#obesity#opiods#opiod crisis#opiod epidemic#legalize#black lives matter#big pharma#antidepressants#benzodiazepine#benzo addiction#intimate partner violence#food insecurity#corporate greed#climate crisis#climate change#anti capitalism#consumerism#universal healthcare#free college#toxic masculinity#american dystopia
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