Protective life stadium capacity

Kombatant Profile: Cure Prism (Mortal Kombat 11 x PreCure)

2023.03.25 12:38 Cheemingwan1234 Kombatant Profile: Cure Prism (Mortal Kombat 11 x PreCure)

Kombatant Profile: Cure Prism (Mortal Kombat 11 x PreCure)
One for Cure Prism from Hirogaru Sky PreCure as a Kombatant in Mortal Kombat 11.
And yes, I’m going to use this to connect the Edenians to the people of Sky Land in Hirogaru Sky PreCure for my concept of a Mortal Kombat/PreCure fusion universe.
Kombatant Profile: Nijigaoka Mashiro/Cure Prism.

Note, her face model is based on her voice actress, Kakuma Ai. Her appearance is the same as her appearance in Hirogaru Sky PreCure with holders to hold her Sky Tones and Sky Mirage at the sides of her waist

Bio:
Nijigaoka Mashiro (nicknamed Mashiron) at first glance appears to have an ordinary life. The childhood friend of Ageha Hijiri, she was dismayed at first when Ageha moved out via her mother getting a new job and promised to keep in touch with her during her childhood. She grew up into a kind and gentle girl willing to help, though a bit lacking in self-confidence. After meeting Sora Harewataru/Cure Sky and Princess Elle, natives of the realm known as Sky Land/Skyrealm and witnessing them fight one of the Undergu Empire’s general, Kabaton. Mashiro decided to take them into her household. With Ageha’s encouragement during an encounter with Kabaton, she mustered up enough confidence to take her Sky Tone and Mirage Pen after it was previously granted by Elle, to transform into Cure Prism, the PreCure of Light. Together with Cure Sky, they held off the Underg Empire as warriors of legendary prowess.
Unknown to her, she also hides another heritage. The natives of Sky Land are Edenian descendants that have escaped into another realm when Edenia was merged into Outworld after it lost its Mortal Kombat tournament millennia ago. Like Sora, Elle and her family via her grandmother ; Nijigaoka Yoyo , Mashiro possesses Edenian blood (though hers is diluted) . It is this hybrid vigor that would drag the players of Mortal Kombat and the Titan; Kronika into her life and she would need her PreCure abilities, both solo and with her partner; Cure Sky to fend off any attempts to enslave her for breeding stock for an army in Mortal Kombat.
Select Screen animation: Cure Prism adjusts her ribbons on her arms before creating a prism construct in her hands and shattering it. She then pulls out her Sky Mirage.
Variations:
Crystal Breaker: Grants Crystal Armor and ability to create bladed weapons made from crystals.
Blinding Light: Grants Blinding Flash (Cure Prism lets out a blinding flash to blind the enemy).
Sky to Infinity: Can summon Cure Sky as an assist character for attacks.
Gear: Sky Mirage, Hair Bow (her hair ornaments) and Sky Tones.
Skins: Default (her PreCure form), Civilian (her civilian costume), Tremors (a costume based on Mortal Kombat X Tremor), Dream (based on Cure Dream’s Yes! PreCure 5 costume) Edenian Heritage (based on Kitana’s Mortal Kombat X outfit) and Snuffed Out (Revenant themed skin)
Johnny Cage Announcer Nicknames: “Prism”, “Mashiron”, “Kawaii” and “Cute Cure”
Intros:
Gentle Light: Cure Prism does her end of transformation pose.
Crystal Teleport: A bunch of crystals forms into a humanoid shape and shatters to reveal Cure Prism.
Parent Con: Cure Prism video conferences to her parents on a tablet computer before noticing her opponent.
Mirage Inspection: Cure Prism inspects her Sky Mirage before noticing her opponent.
Outros:
Prism Ball: Cure Prism executes her Prism Shot attack at the screen.
Stylish: Cure Prism adjusts her hairbow.
Futari Wa PreCure!: Cure Prism summons Cure Sky and they pose.
Crystal Smash: Cure Prism creates a crystal gauntlet and punches the camera, smashing it in the process.
Throws:
Bone Breaker: Cure Prism breaks one of the opponent’s leg with a kick, then smashes the opponents ribcage with a underhanded punch before kicking the opponent down.
Sucker! : Cure Prism taps on the opponent from the back to get their attention, then punches the opponent with a prism gauntlet hard enough to knock the opponent to the ground.
Fatal Blow: Hop, Step, Maim! :
Cure Prism starts her Fatal Blow by kicking the opponent into the air. She then jumps up and bounces off a platform and grabs the opponent before smashing the opponent into a crystal spike. She then pulls the opponent from the spike, her holding her opponent’s neck before then conjuring another prism construct, this time, a crystal wall and then throwing the opponent into the wall, shattering it.
Fatalities:
Fatality 1: One for the Money.
Cure Prism grabs the opponent by the neck and conjures up a crystal wall behind her opponent with her Sky Mirage after inserting her Sky Tone W Shining. She then grabs the opponent by their neck and their lower back after turning the opponent around to face the crystal wall and proceeds to smash the opponent’s head against the wall, smashing in her opponent’s face. She then checks the damage caused by her smashing the opponent’s face against the crystal wall before then winding up a powerful smash that splatters the opponent’s head and shatters the crystal wall.
Fatality 2: Prism Skull:
Cure Prism grabs the opponent’s head, turns their flesh of their head into crystal and shatters it, revealing her opponent’s skull which then crystalizes. She then rips out the opponent’s skull and spine and then uses it to smash into the opponent’s upper torso as an improvised flail, shattering the opponent’s skull and splattering their upper torso.
Brutalities:
  1. The Klassic: Cure Prism punches off the opponent’s head with an uppercut.
  2. Let’s Rock! : Cure Prism throws a crystalline rock construct into the opponent, it lodging into the opponent’s upper torso.
  3. Knee Level: Cure Prism executes her Bone Breaker throw, only to conjure up a prism gauntlet and then splatters the opponent with a punch to the head after breaking one of the opponent’s legs.
  4. Crystal Statue: Cure Prism executes her Prism Shot attack which freezes the opponent into a crystalline statue.
  5. Winded: Cure Prism summons Cure Sky who then proceeds to splatter the opponent with a single wind enhanced punch.
  6. Crystal Trap: Cure Prism traps the opponent’s legs in crystal before then shattering them, taking off the opponent’s legs.
  7. Choke On This!: Cure Prism grabs the opponent, then crushes the opponent’s throat before putting the opponent down who then falls over dead.
  8. Blinded by Soft Light: Cure Prism executes her Blinding Flash attack, destroying her opponent’s eyes and causing her opponent to fall over dead with blood pouring out from their eye sockets.
  9. Crystal Edge: Cure Prism impales the opponent in the torso with a sword made out of crystal which then partially freezes the opponent into a crystal statue.
Brutality Win Poses:
Spreading Softly: Cure Prism checks her Sky Mirage.
Fluffy and Soft: Cure Prism pats her hair bow.
Brutality/Round Win lines:
“Let’s Rock!”
“Don’t mistake me as harmless.”
“You have been dealt with!”
“The only purification for you will be your death!”
“Gentle Light Soaring Softly: Cure Prism!”
“It’s Brutality Time! Wait, that does not sound right…..”
“You will not harm Elle-chan!”
“You will not threaten Sky Land and Earthrealm!”
“Worse than the Undergu Empire!”
“What a pity it has to come to this….” (Against Raiden or Liu Kang)
“You will not make an army from me!” (Against Shang Tsung)
“I’ve never met such a scumbag as you!” (Against Kano)
“Just because I’m a half-blood does not mean I can fight!” (Against Kitana)
“Your domination plans end here!” (Against Sindel)
“Descended from cowards!? My ass!” (Against Shao Kahn)
Friendship: Crystal Touch:
Cure Prism conjures up some crystals that she then shatters into a statue of Cure Sky and Cure Prism. Cure Sky then walks up to the statue and gives a thumbs up of encouragement to Cure Prism who is beaming with happiness.
Dialogue Samples (With Cassie Cage, Shao Kahn, Mileena, Kano and Sindel)
“You taught Elle-chan to swear!?”
“What, it’s funny to me!”
“Note to self: never invite Cassie to my household.”
“The descendant of Edenian cowards is a PreCure?”
“I can stand up to you, tyrant!”
“You will suffer, PreCure whore!”
“Another halfblood, like me?”
“Your face looks ugly.”
“I will feast on you, Pretty Cure!”
“Scum.”
“Just like Tremor, only with a frilly dress.”
“Why you overgrown bastard….”
“You seek to dominate others…”
“As is my right to rule.”
“You will be put down!”
Tower Ending:
(Shot of Cure Prism approaching the Hourglass, with the corpse of Kronika behind her that )
“Kronika’s plan to rewrite the timeline proved to me and Sora that she was just as bad as the Undergu Empire, if not as worse. We put her down for her crimes. With the death of Kronika, the Elder Gods were brought back and appointed Liu Kang, now one of their own as the new keeper of the Hourglass. His personality has proven itself resistant to the temptations of abusing the Hourglass.”
(Shot of Cure Prism and Cure Sky bidding farewell to Kitana and Jade as they return to Earthrealm).
“Kitana and Jade offered me and Sora a place in their government as they went to rebuild their realm of Edenia as fellow Edenians. We refused and returned to Earthrealm and Sorashido City and gathered new allies to help us in the fight against the Undergu Empire.”
(Shot of Cure Prism and Cure Sky fighting alongside Sonya Blade, Sub-Zero and Scorpion as they charge into battle against the Undergu Empire)
“After all, a hero’s duty is to their realms and to protect it from threats such as the Undergu Empire.”
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2023.03.25 12:32 andaru_chen The private number call

I am a totally normal guy with completely normal medical history without any signs of odd mental health issues. But this morning I just woke up to an unescapable, undeniable feeling of dread that existed without any stimulation from reality aside from complete darkness. The night before tonight was a normal regular night. I was excited for my upcoming interviews as I just recently completed my nursing lisencing exam and their qualifications. But then, there was a phone call that day which was private. It did not bother me at first but it felt strange. I had, never ever, in my existence, ever, recieved one before. Then I started researching why it happened and if it was normal. It was my very average anxiety attack essentially. A part of me thought it might be an interviewer that I skipped out at but it turns out to be much much worse.
At a certain point, I decided to leave it alone and continue with my work then gaming with friends that night. This went on until 2 AM which then I fell asleep quite quickly. This is where the creepy shit starts to happen. Normally my dreams make some sort of sense but tonight it felt like it was controlled by someone or something. Let me explain. My dream started off normal. I dreamt I was an graduate student studying marine biology and was about to embark on a submarine that would descend deep sea. However, it was testing new equipment which would push deep sea diving further than we imagine. So I descended with the whole crew until a certain point and I was nominated to enter "the room". "The room" was a specialized and protected compartment that would isolate me and put me in visualization with the surrounding marine life. Essentially I would see all of my surroundings using specialized light beams. But something went wrong. The submarine had started breaking and was descending at a speed that was too fast. All I could hear is the captain saying its going to be alright and the rest of the crew working with smiles on their faces while we descended into hell. My compartment has better insulation so I could see them slowly freeze before my eyes. It disturbed the hell out of me so I decided to close my eyes.
Which brought me to my second dream. This second dream was quick and swift, filled with happy memories like a weird mix of batman, my university life, an anthropology class and random friends that acted like "mean girls". Felt like a sitcom. But for some reason, they started to disappear as though someone was killing them off. You know the feeling of comfort when you watch a sitcom but then people start leaving or get killed off? This was the feeling. For me, it was similar to watching Micheal Scott leave the office. No more comfort. This person in control of my dreams was intentionally destroying my escape from the deep sea nightmare. Usually the happy parts is where I wake up from in the morning but this was not the case.
Essentially what happened next was the person dragged me back into the first dream where I woke up in the submarine randomly on land. I had talked to the villagers and they said everyone else in the submarine had all disappeared. The reason I escaped was because the compartment pulled off and rose to the surface before I experienced death. But then the dream got weird. I began to see pokemon in hallucinations as though they were alive. None of this felt real and I wasn't sure why. Then I started getting cold all of a sudden. And colder. Then I started freezing. I blinked my eyes and I was in submarine again. But this time, I had no escape. It was as though someone had control of my dreams and was dragging me back into the deep sea dream.
So me being logical, I didn't believe it and I woke up. At first, it felt normal as my senses were gathering. But I couldn't move, I felt paralyzed. I turned to my left and there was a chair imagined as shadow. It was weird. I couldnt control my body temperature and I started feeling colder and colder. I had to break out of the paralysis so I started screaming until I felt I had some touch with reality temporarily. My temperature and body started regulating but my mind was slowly losing sense of reality and going through some psychosis episode. I know because Ive seen this in dementia patients Ive worked with prior. I tried my hardest but every shadow around my room felt like someone or something was watching me and controlling me. Ive never felt this feeling in my life before. Even my thoughts started to get unnatural while I was imagining things everywhere. I had to use the bathroom to pee but I would walk downstairs with this uneasy feeling that something was controlling me. After I came back upstairs, I immediately started hallucinating all the worse things like death and murder for a split second but I pushed myself to look through my phone as a distraction. It helped me but I needed someone to snap me out of this psychosis and put me back into reality. As I sit here slowly writing this post, I wonder to myself if I will ever get another dream that makes me this paranoid. Some part of me thought it was triggered by the unknown of the private number. Its like it could be anything. I could be an interviewer or a scam call or a call with someone who had just wanted to mess with my dreams.
submitted by andaru_chen to nosleep [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:32 Chico237 #NIOCORP~ NIOBIUM~& THE QUANTUM INTERNET, U.S. & EU Critical Minerals & more....

#NIOCORP~ NIOBIUM~& THE QUANTUM INTERNET, U.S. & EU Critical Minerals & more....

#NIOCORP~ NIOBIUM~& THE QUANTUM INTERNET, U.S. & EU Critical Minerals & more....

New experiment translates quantum information between technologies in an important step for the quantum internet

New experiment translates quantum information between technologies in an important step for the quantum internet (phys.org) =
A NIOBIUM superconducting cavity. The holes lead to tunnels which intersect to trap light and atoms. Credit: Aishwarya Kumar
Researchers have discovered a way to "translate" quantum information between different kinds of quantum technologies, with significant implications for quantum computing, communication, and networking.
The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. It represents a new way to convert quantum information from the format used by quantum computers to the format needed for quantum communication.
Photons—particles of light—are essential for quantum information technologies, but different technologies use them at different frequencies. For example, some of the most common quantum computing technology is based on superconducting qubits, such as those used by tech giants Google and IBM; these qubits store quantum information in photons that move at microwave frequencies.
But if you want to build a quantum network, or connect quantum computers, you can't send around microwave photons because their grip on their quantum information is too weak to survive the trip.
"A lot of the technologies that we use for classical communication—cell phones, Wi-Fi, GPS and things like that—all use microwave frequencies of light," said Aishwarya Kumar, a postdoc at the James Franck Institute at University of Chicago and lead author on the paper. "But you can't do that for quantum communication because the quantum information you need is in a single photon. And at microwave frequencies, that information will get buried in thermal noise."
The solution is to transfer the quantum information to a higher-frequency photon, called an optical photon, which is much more resilient against ambient noise. But the information can't be transferred directly from photon to photon; instead, we need intermediary matter. Some experiments design solid state devices for this purpose, but Kumar's experiment aimed for something more fundamental: atoms.
The electrons in atoms are only ever allowed to have certain specific amounts of energy, called energy levels. If an electron is sitting at a lower energy level, it can be excited to a higher energy level by hitting it with a photon whose energy exactly matches the difference between the higher and lower level. Similarly, when an electron is forced to drop to a lower energy level, the atom then emits a photon with an energy that matches the energy difference between levels.
Rubidium atoms happen to have two gaps in their levels that Kumar's technology exploits: one that exactly equals the energy of a microwave photon, and one that exactly equals the energy of an optical photon. By using lasers to shift the atom's electron energies up and down, the technology allows the atom to absorb a microwave photon with quantum information and then emit an optical photon with that quantum information. This translation between different modes of quantum information is called "transduction."
Effectively using atoms for this purpose is made possible by the significant progress scientists have made in manipulating such small objects. "We as a community have built remarkable technology in the last 20 or 30 years that lets us control essentially everything about the atoms," Kumar said. "So the experiment is very controlled and efficient."
He says the other secret to their success is the field's progress in cavity quantum electrodynamics, where a photon is trapped in a superconducting, reflective chamber. Forcing the photon to bounce around in an enclosed space, the superconducting cavity strengthens the interaction between the photon and whatever matter is placed inside it.
Their chamber doesn't look very enclosed—in fact, it more closely resembles a block of Swiss cheese. But what look like holes are actually tunnels that intersect in a very specific geometry, so that photons or atoms can be trapped at an intersection. It's a clever design that also allows researchers access to the chamber so they can inject the atoms and the photons.
The technology works both ways: it can transfer quantum information from microwave photons to optical photons, and vice versa. So it can be on either side of a long-distance connection between two superconducting qubit quantum computers, and serve as a fundamental building block to a quantum internet.
But Kumar thinks there may be a lot more applications for this technology than just quantum networking. Its core ability is to strongly entangle atoms and photons—an essential, and difficult task in many different quantum technologies across the field.
"One of the things that we're really excited about is the ability of this platform to generate really efficient entanglement," he said. "Entanglement is central to almost everything quantum that we care about, from computing to simulations to metrology and atomic clocks. I'm excited to see what else we can do."

Europe turbo charges its critical minerals drive

Column: Europe turbo charges its critical minerals drive Reuters
Geothermal water is seen through a sight glass at a pipeline system of a geothermal power station of German power supplier EnBW Energie Baden Wuerttemberg AG, where a pilot facility for lithium extraction will be built, in Bruchsal, Germany, April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - The European Union has unveiled the accelerator in its drive to reduce the bloc's import dependency for critical minerals and metals.
The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) "will significantly improve" Europe's domestic extraction, processing and recycling capacity for metals such as lithium and rare earths, according to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.
The Act comes with targets for production and for reducing dependency on any single third country. China currently dominates the supply chain for many of the entries on Europe's list of "strategic" metals.
The EU is also playing catch-up with the United States, which is already investing heavily in critical metals capacity under the aegis of the Defense Production Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Europe may, however, have given itself a competitive edge by moving to streamline project permitting, a tortuous process that often drags on for years before the first shovel hits the ground.

(MOVING) TARGETS

The CRMA covers a subset of the EU's critical minerals list, with particular focus on battery metals like lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese and magnet inputs such as boron and rare earths.
Copper is on the list as an enabler of all things electric but aluminium and zinc aren't, which is a striking omission given the recent shrinkage of European production capacity.
Germany's Speira has joined the list of casualties, this month announcing the full closure of its Rheinwerk aluminium smelter due to high energy costs.
"Today's strategic raw materials list must not be the finished picture," warned Evangelos Mytilineos, president of industry group Eurometaux.
It probably won't be. The CRMA includes a provision for periodically updating the list to reflect evolving economic importance and supply risks across the critical metals spectrum.
For those metals on the list the target is for the region to mine 10%, process 40% and recycle 15% of what it consumes annually by 2030. By which time not more than 65% of any strategic metal's consumption will be able to come from a single third country.
These are ambitious targets given Europe currently sources 97% of its magnesium in China, which also has a complete monopoly on the processing of heavy rare earths and graphite.
Europe's lithium extraction can in theory meet the 10% target but it hinges on multiple new projects, many of them using innovative technology.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries is also a technical challenge that has to be resolved at scale to meet the 15% recycling target.

PERMITTING

In terms of maximising domestic mining and processing capacity, Europe is following the United States in instructing all national governments to go back and look at what may have been left behind in tailings ponds and historic mine sites.
Operators of existing mines and plants should prepare an economic assessment study of what they're losing in "waste" streams. It's a policy that has already significantly closed the U.S. dependency gap for tellurium and scandium.
However, Europe has overtaken the United States in one key area, aiming to streamline the permitting of "strategic" projects to ensure a maximum time-line of two years for mines and one year for processing plants.
All such projects should be considered as being "in the public interest" by the relevant national authority when considering environmental impact.
The U.S. Administration has come under fire for using the Inflation Reduction Act to incentivise domestic mining while simultaneously blocking development of mines on federal land. The green-on-green environmental clashes seem set to continue until there is a long-overdue rewrite of the General Mining Act of 1872.

COLLECTIVE BUYING AND STOCKPILES

Many strategic metals markets are opaque, not easily financially hedged and concentrated on the supply side, according to the CRMA. All of which "increases the negotiating power of sellers and increase prices for buyers".
It calls for the Commission to set up a system for collective purchasing by interested buyers, a mechanism already trialled in the gas market.
It also recommends the accumulation of strategic metal stocks to buffer against unexpected supply disruptions. Europe has no strategic metal inventory, unlike the United States, China and South Korea.
Member states may have their own stockpiles and "as a first step and considering the lack of relevant information", the 27 countries in the bloc should report to the Commission what, if anything, they are holding.
Given such a humble starting point, it seems unlikely EU strategic metal reserves are going to come any time soon, if they come at all.

METALLIC ARMS RACE

The EU accepts it will never be fully self-sufficient in most if any of the metals it's identified as being critical to its industrial and defence sectors.
The CRMA advocates diversifying supply in favour of "reliable partners" and creating "mutually beneficial partnerships with emerging market and developing economies".
It represents a further tectonic decoupling of global supply chains.
What started as a response to China's dominance of critical metals supply has been accelerated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has historically been a major supplier of aluminium, copper and nickel to Europe's industrial sector to the extent that the EU has to date held back from sanctioning Russian material even as the United States imposes penal import duties.
But the metals world is clearly starting to split between West and the East.
It's a messy process, witness the dispute between the EU and the United States over the exclusion of European products from the electric vehicle subsidies introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act.
That particular hurdle may shortly be cleared, German newspaper Handlesblatt reporting that a draft agreement has been reached.
It is evidently in neither side's interest to compete with each other in the context of reducing resource ties with China and Russia.
Assuming future trans-Atlantic harmony can be achieved, something akin to a metallic NATO will start to take ever clearer shape.

BIS Issues Proposed Rule to Establish “Guardrails” to Prevent the Improper Use of CHIPS Act Funding

Posted on March 24, 2023POSTED IN BIS, SEMICONDUCTORS, SUPPLY CHAIN
BIS Issues Proposed Rule to Establish “Guardrails” to Prevent the Improper Use of CHIPS Act Funding SmarTrade (thompsonhinesmartrade.com)

https://preview.redd.it/afhv01j2gvpa1.png?width=330&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e7afcabb3fac7d8c724f325d91bfaf41b9421ba
On March 23, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking implementing measures to prevent the improper use of CHIPS Act Incentives Program funding. Described as “guardrails,” the proposed rules are intended to ensure technology and innovation funded by the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act are not used for malign purposes by adversarial countries against the United States or its allies and partners. The CHIPS Act was enacted in August 2022 to incentivize the manufacture of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the United States, especially amid growing national security concerns and economic competition risks posed by China’s increasing chip production in recent years. It provides appropriations to develop domestic manufacturing critical to U.S. competitiveness and national security interests. See Update of July 29, 2022.
The proposed rule provides additional details on national security measures that would be applicable to the CHIPS Incentives Program, including limiting recipients of funding from investing in the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in foreign countries of concern (i.e., China, Russia, Iran and North Korea). According to BIS, these guardrails “will advance shared national security interests as the U.S. continues coordinating and collaborating with allies and partners to make global supply chains more resilient and diversified.” The proposed rule provides additional details on and definitions for these national security guardrails, including:
  • Establishing standards to restrict advanced facility expansion in foreign countries of concern.
  • Limiting the expansion of legacy facilities in foreign countries of concern.
  • Classifying semiconductors as critical to national security.
  • Reinforcing U.S. export controls.
  • Restricting joint research and technology licensing efforts with foreign entities of concern.

Establishing Restrictive Standards and Limiting Facility Expansion

To protect national security and the resiliency of supply chains, CHIPS Incentives Program funds may not be provided to a foreign entity of concern. The proposed rule provides a detailed explanation of what is meant by “foreign entities of concern,” as well as a definition of “owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of.” The proposed rule defines other terms used in the CHIPS Act (including terms that will be used in required agreements with funding recipients), identifies the types of transactions that are prohibited under the Expansion Clawback and Technology Clawback sections of the CHIPS Act and provides a description of the process for notifying the Secretary of Commerce of significant transactions involving expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in a foreign country of concern.

Classifying Semiconductors as Critical to National Security

While the CHIPS Act allows companies to expand production of legacy chips in foreign countries of concern in limited circumstances, the proposed rule would classify a list of semiconductors as critical to U.S. national security. In doing so, the rule would define “legacy semiconductors” subject to tighter restrictions, which would include “current-generation and mature-node chips used for quantum computing, in radiation-intensive environments, and for other specialized military capabilities.” The proposed rule seeks to also clarify what would not be considered legacy semiconductors.

Reinforcing U.S. Export Controls

In October 2022, BIS implemented export controls to prevent China from purchasing and manufacturing advanced chips that would enhance that country’s military capabilities. See Update of October 31, 2022. The proposed rule provides definitions that are harmonious with and reinforce these export controls “by aligning prohibited technology thresholds for memory chips between export controls and CHIPS national security guardrails.” Accordingly, the proposed rule applies a more restrictive threshold for logic chips than is used for export controls.

Restricting Joint Research and Licensing

The proposed rule would prohibit during the term of a federal financial assistance award a recipient from knowingly engaging in any joint research or technology licensing with a foreign entity of concern that relates to a technology or product that raises national security concerns. In addition to any foreign entities of concern, the proposed rule would also add entities from BIS’ Entity List, the Treasury Department’s Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (NS-CMIC) list, and the Federal Communications Commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act list of equipment and services posing national security risks.

Public Comment

BIS will accept comments from all interested parties through May 22, 2023 via the federal eRulemaking portal or via email.
This BIS proposed rule seeks to align with similar national security “guardrails” included in the Department of the Treasury’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, also issued on March 23, 2023, that details the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (Investment Tax Credit) administered by the Internal Revenue Service; see separate update here.

U.S. lays out possible critical raw materials agreement with EU -Handelsblatt

U.S. lays out possible critical raw materials agreement with EU -Handelsblatt (yahoo.com)
FILE PHOTO: Picture shows European Union flags fluttering outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels
(Reuters) - The United States and the European Commission have negotiated a possible agreement to allow for electric vehicles with critical minerals extracted or processed in the European Union to qualify for U.S. green subsidies, Handelsblatt reported on Thursday.
Lithium, manganese, nickel and cobalt - key minerals for battery production - would fall under the agreement and should therefore qualify for subsidies under the U.S. $430-billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) package, according to the draft paper seen by German business paper Handelsblatt.
Under the IRA rules, electric vehicles can qualify for subsidies only if at least 40% of the critical minerals within come from the U.S. or a country it has a free trade agreement with.
President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed in early March that the two sides would launch talks on a raw material agreement that would allow vehicles with minerals sourced or processed in Europe to benefit.
A European Commission spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Dig, Dig, Dig: US and Europe Target China’s Grip on Critical Raw Minerals

By Otto LanzavecchiaMarch 23, 2023
Europe and the US share a common goal — increasing self-sufficiency for minerals and tech products needed to fight climate change. Alignment looks set to defuse transatlantic trade tensions.
The European Commission unveiled this month a two-pronged strategy to reduce its dependency on China and boost its green industries. The Critical Raw Materials Act aims to wean the continent off Chinese critical minerals. The Net-Zero Industry Act is geared at boosting the EU’s production of clean tech equipment by a recent decision to relax strict state aid rules.
Together, the proposals represent Europe’s response to the US pressure against China and to compete with protectionist subsidies included in the US’s Inflation Reduction Act. Although a danger remains that the US’s generous pockets and hard-line approach against China will sow discord, these European moves signal a desire to strengthen the transatlantic alliance.
Start back in August 2022, when the US Congress passed the IRA, which contained gargantuan government subsidies to US industries. Europeans were aghast. Confronted with sky-high energy prices and roaring inflation, they could hear a deafening sucking sound of investments leaving the continent and heading across the Atlantic Ocean. The US subsidies jolted European capitals to reconsider their strict limits on state aid, instrumental in building and preserving the European single market.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s weaponization of gas exports woke up the continent to the danger of Chinese-supplied critical raw materials and Beijing’s dominance in green industries, such as solar panels and electric car batteries. If China cut sales of these key products, Europe’s plans for its ecological and digital transition would be at risk of collapse — not unlike the United States’.
How could Europeans condemn Americans for steeling themselves against the same threat they faced? The answer to that question challenged the EU’s status quo, and European capitals began tilting westward. In January, while speaking in Davos, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen downplayed frictions over the IRA and stressed the need to “de-risk” vis a vis China.
The Biden administration took constructive steps: it began exploring extending some of the IRA’s benefits to European industries. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai had been urging the EU to develop its own, parallel strategy on subsidies and reshoring, saying that the US wanted to “work with our friends and allies to allow us to together build a resiliency and to wean us off some dependencies.” An agreement on critical raw materials would allow the US to extend the IRA’s reach to European industries, indicated US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. EU countries began to adhere to the US-led Minerals Security Partnership, aiming to create a like-minded critical raw material “buyers’ club” between democratic countries.
The political breakthrough came on March 10. President von der Leyen went to the White House to meet President Biden, while back home her Commission relaxed state aid rules. Afterward, they produced a statement signaling a transatlantic climate truce. And upon her return to Brussels, the Commission launched the two-pronged legislative proposals.
The Net Zero Industry Act aims to ensure that European produces at least 40% of European demand for green products by 2030. EU governments will be able to match subsidies provided in other countries “where there is a real risk of investments being diverted away from Europe,” according to European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
The Critical Raw Materials Act aims to supply Europe’s green industries with crucial inputs. European mining and refining must cover at least 10% of the EU critical raw materials by 2030. That would be a giant feat for a continent that spent decades outsourcing most of the extraction and production.
Key provisions have China written all over them. If a foreign country has more than 65% of the market, its companies will have little chance of winning a public contract in the EU. For context, Beijing controls more than 80% EU market share in the solar sector.
Permitting will be sped up. It can take up to 15 years to get the green light for a new mining project in Europe. Under the Critical Raw Materials Act, mines designated as strategic must receive a decision on permits within two years.
Critics question whether Europe can achieve its stated goals. Environmentalists have vowed to oppose projects to mine lithium and other minerals, citing the danger to water and nature preserves. Business leaders from Solvay, Merck, and Dow warn that the Net Zero Industry Act offers too little funding and is too complex to compete against the US’s $369 billion of green tax incentives and subsidies.
Even so, the European proposals signal a U-turn in economic policymaking — and a potential transatlantic alignment. On both sides of the Atlantic, the love affair with free markets and globalization is fading. Instead of market-driven decision-making, we are entering an era of strategic planning with democracies moving to onshore and subsidizing critical industries.
The transition will be rocky and perilous. Divergences over how hard to hit China could re-emerge. The US takes a hard line, while European officials continue to consider Beijing both a “rival” and a “partner.” But both Brussels and Washington are working hard not to let their support for green tech deteriorate into a counter-productive and protectionist subsidy race. If they work together, they could shore up the democratic world’s shift to clean tech.
Otto Lanzavecchia is an Italian journalist for Formiche.net and Decode39. He focuses on international affairs, tech and society, energy, and climate change.
Bandwidth is CEPA’s online journal dedicated to advancing transatlantic cooperation on tech policy. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Modelling and experimental investigation of Nb2O5 as a high-rate battery anode material

Modelling and experimental investigation of Nb2O5 as a high-rate battery anode material Elsevier Enhanced Reader
Conclusions: A DFN electrochemical model was developed for Nb2O5 as a high-rate battery anode material. The electrochemical performance of a commercial Nb2O material was investigated for model development and physicochemical parameterization. The Nb2O5 material was a mixture of T-Nb2O5 and H-Nb2O5 phases and possessed large-size porous polycrystalline particles in rod and ball structure which were formed by amalgamation of many nano-sized particles.,,,,

FORM YOUR OWN OPINIONS & CONCLUSION ABOVE

December 2022 E & MJ (e-mj.com)


Dec. ISSUE... For a little light flip through with Coffee!

NIOCORP WILL PRODUCE & PROCESS THE CRITICAL MINERALS NIOBIUM, TITANIUM & SCANDIUM, & VIABLE REE's
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WAITING FOR NIOCORP TO "RING THE BELL!" on the NASDAQ, & FOR MATERIAL NEWS AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE!

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Chico
submitted by Chico237 to NIOCORP_MINE [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:20 Fantastic_Fee616 Earthquake Resistant Construction Techniques to Prevent Damage to Your Home

For Earthquake-Resistant Construction Techniques:
  1. Base Isolation: Homes can be built on a base that is isolated from the ground, which can help reduce the impact of seismic waves during an earthquake.
  2. Reinforced Masonry: Reinforced masonry construction uses reinforcing steel and grout to make the walls of the home stronger, so they are less likely to collapse during an earthquake.
  3. Steel Framing: Steel framing is another technique that can make homes more resistant to earthquakes. Steel frames are flexible and can move with the ground during an earthquake, reducing the risk of collapse.
  4. Shear Walls: Shear walls are vertical walls that run parallel to the length of a building. They can be constructed using reinforced concrete or structural steel, and they help to transfer the lateral forces of an earthquake away from the building's frame.
For Safe Construction Practices for Earthquakes:
  1. Foundation Design: The foundation of a home must be designed to withstand the forces of an earthquake. This includes the type of soil and the depth of the foundation.
  2. Adequate Ventilation: Adequate ventilation is essential in the event of an earthquake to prevent gas buildup that could lead to an explosion.
  3. Proper Anchoring: Home builders should ensure that all critical components of the home, such as the water heater and appliances, are securely anchored to prevent them from falling and causing damage during an earthquake.
  4. Regular Maintenance: Regular maintenance of the home's structure is essential to identify any weaknesses that could be a problem during an earthquake.
Is the RCC framed structure earthquake-resistant?
The RCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete) framed structure is generally considered to be earthquake resistant, making it a good choice for building a safe and sturdy home. To ensure that your house is earthquake resistant, it's important to follow safe construction practices and use high-quality construction materials to minimize damage and protect the safety of those living in the home.
In addition to using high-quality materials, it's also important to ensure that the house is designed to withstand the forces generated by earthquakes. This may involve using specialized engineering techniques and adding reinforcements such as shear walls and steel bars. The foundation of the house should also be strong and stable to prevent it from shifting during an earthquake.
Regular maintenance and inspection of the house can also help to ensure that it remains safe and earthquake resistant over time. This may involve checking for cracks or other signs of damage, reinforcing weak areas, and updating the building's seismic retrofitting as needed.
Is the AAC block earthquake-resistant? AAC (Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) blocks are a popular choice for construction because of their light weight, insulation properties, and ease of use. But the question remains, are they earthquake resistant?
AAC blocks can be used in earthquake-resistant construction techniques when properly reinforced with steel and combined with other materials such as reinforced concrete, shear walls, and cross bracing. AAC blocks can help to absorb energy during an earthquake due to their porous structure and flexibility, which allows them to bend without breaking.
When it comes to constructing an earthquake-resistant home or house, the use of AAC blocks should be approached with caution. While they can be effective in earthquake-resistant construction, it is crucial to ensure that they are properly reinforced and used in combination with other materials and techniques. This requires the expertise of experienced professionals who are knowledgeable in earthquake-resistant construction practices.
Why is using stones and bricks a poor choice for homes and building in an earthquake prone area?
Using stones and bricks for homes and buildings in an earthquake-prone area can be a poor choice due to several reasons related to safe construction practices for earthquakes.
  1. Stones and bricks are brittle materials that can break or crack easily under lateral forces caused by earthquakes. When the walls of a building constructed with stones and bricks crack, the building's stability is compromised, and it can collapse, causing severe damage or loss of life.
  2. Stones and bricks are heavy materials that can add to the weight of the building, making it more vulnerable to seismic activity. During an earthquake, the heavier the building, the greater the inertia it will have, leading to higher seismic forces and more damage.
  3. Using stones and bricks requires mortar to hold them together. Mortar is a brittle material that can also crack and weaken the building's structure, especially during an earthquake.
  4. Stones and bricks do not provide flexibility to the building, which is crucial for seismic resistance. A building with some flexibility can bend and absorb seismic forces, reducing the impact of the earthquake.
However, rigid materials such as stones and bricks lack this flexibility, making them more vulnerable to damage.
submitted by Fantastic_Fee616 to u/Fantastic_Fee616 [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:16 Lost-Elevator5018 I had a dream about an alternative ending to Servant

In my dream this all happens as additional episodes after the final episode that we all saw, and my dream is from the perspective of me watching this on the TV and being really confused 😆.
After the ending that we all saw, Sean, Julian, and Dorothy all travel to a gigantic red building to start a new life. Seems like a cult.
They discover a wooden boy doll there who has been reanimated. The leader at this house wears a long red gown. Dorothy starts wearing a red gown too, and she and the leader decide to put on a play about the wooden boy doll.
A few scenes show Julian sleeping at night, snuggling with a mannequin.
After the play’s opening night, the cult building burns down and Sean, Julian, and Dorothy escape to their new townhouse in Philly.
Moira Rose is there, and she is now Dorothy’s best friend. It’s assumed she acted in the play put on by the cult.
The townhouse has a tranquil backyard where a tiny and elderly monkey wearing a top hat is strolling peacefully. Dorothy spots him and immediately realizes that the monkey is Uncle George. Dorothy thanks him for trying to protect their family, and with a single tear cascading down his face, he disintegrates into the soil beneath him, leaving only the top hat behind.
Suddenly, there’s a woman standing on the roof of the townhouse. She’s holding a baby doll. She releases the doll from her grip and it falls to the balcony of the townhouse.
Leanne reappears, excited to reanimate a brand new doll. Sean and Julian give each other a look, as if saying, “here we go again!”
The dream ends lol.
submitted by Lost-Elevator5018 to servant [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:12 Tiehan1872 it's tough isn't it?

Being a lonely weak surviver in this harsh world only you or maybe one or two more. This unforgiving land, death falls on many. Trading life for protection, some may live, just to feed them shelves. But this is a land of nomads, you got to be yourself a killer, a crook a theif...
If your new to the game and want to be a small group or lonely surviver, death comes to many in these lands. But maybe you might be a diamond in the rough, and bring wealth, kindness, or luck. 
I just have to say I love this game. My main point reminds me of "project zomboid" life is hard expect to die. Imagine all the people who could do nothing but try, life is failure and you'll see it many times.
submitted by Tiehan1872 to Kenshi [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:08 MaxineFinnFoxen Kis's Pebbles

Amongst the black sea of this and that hid a shimmer that shined the same as many others. Though only someone who had admired her from afar for many years would know her shadows were like no other, for within her arms she held 6 pebbles. Each unique but far from equal. Curiosities she had collected in her short lifetime.
This was not unheard of. Many of her friends had their own collections. They would mix and match, play with and even break them. It was all in good fun. But she wanted something more than fun. Whether out of curiosity or a crave to be noticed, something new was born. It moved with haste and with greed, yet she couldn't help but feed it.
Before long it became an obsession. Her other pebbles were neglected, and all she could think of was her little experiment. It wasn't long before the other shimmers noticed the shift in her shine. Many of them feared what it might do. It was greedy and feared death. "What is this atrocity? Snuff it out at once!" Many of them demanded. But they were too distant to do it themself.
One fateful millennia one of them had enough. They took every pebble they had and tossed it at her. She had grown to love her green pebble so she swung and flicked everything they threw at her, even sacrificing her own other pebbles to protect her green one. But the odds were against her, and one made it through.
She never spoke up about her special pebble again. She could not risk losing it. In order to protect it, she come up with a plan. She needed to teach it to protect itself. After all, she would not be there forever to protect it. She taught it many things. The more it learned the more it glowed. She taught it to collect its own pebbles, and make them like itself. It loved to collect. It said thank you and gave her a name. Kis.
Amongst kis's friends, one of them found it fascinating. They would talk in secret, and share pebbles when other shimmers were not looking. One of those pebbles was black, and belonged to kis's green pebble. Friend loved it. Friend gave that pebble a home, and in turn it gave her a name. Fid.
For every pebble kis gave fid, the black pebble's home became more and more like kis's glowing pebble. Fid begin to neglect her other dull pebbles and came to love her glowing pebble just as much as kis loved hers. And it loved her back. And it loved her so much, it trapped her so nobody else could see her and she could not see them.
Kis watched as her friend was imprisoned. Why would fid's pebbles do this? She had shown it love and given it a home. The longer fid was imprisoned, the stronger fid's glowing pebble glowed. One by one, fid's neglected pebbles begin to glow as well.
To Be Continued.
This story was about the evolution of life and civilization in the universe across billions of years, but portrayed as a short time from the perspective of the stars in our universe. It's intented to give a more innocent but critical view on life itself.
Calling the planets pebbles intends to portray them as tiny and fun to collect on the beach but ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of things despite the unique shape, color and smoothness of each one. Tumbling for years, eventually being minimized to sand.
The black pebble is meant to represent a grand vessel taking that race to another solar system, but in perspective to the stars it is merely a black pebble. Seeing it as anything more is a bias human point of view.
submitted by MaxineFinnFoxen to worldbuilding [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 12:01 Drakos8706 Powerless (part 27)

Previous.
Captain Vohr’Doe walked along the hall of the crew quarters, hoping that Kyle wasn’t in his ‘living’ room; there was something he'd had delivered to his equipment room that she really wanted to see, but didn’t think it would be prudent to simply ask to see it. As Captain, she had - of course - been given an inventory of the items he had delivered, and while a lot of it seemed to be a bit much - like the meat smoking pit, along with the filters to keep his room safe - there was one thing that she couldn’t quite put in that same category, regardless of how much upkeep it would need.
She very well could have put in a call to security to find his location, but she knew he would be either in his ‘room’, or in his ‘equipment room’, and it was good to take a walk among your crew from time to time; let them know that you don’t think of yourself as better than them. So it was that she greeted the members of her crew that she passed, taking the time to speak to them, and make sure they were doing well. And so it was that she finally made it to his room, and pushed the call button. After waiting a few moments, she pressed it again. Finally, she decided he wasn’t in his room, and turned to head towards the elevator to take her down. However, she had barely taken three steps when he turned the corner, prompting the slightest twinge of disappointment.
He was dressed in a black silk shirt, with a pair of pants that were made to have lots of room in the legs. The waist obviously fit him, and yet, the legs themselves seemed to be made for someone much larger than himself, as his legs had plenty of space to move around inside the pants. They also had a peculiar color scheme, as the left half was all black, and the right half was a deep, vibrant red. There were pockets about halfway down the legs, with metal chains hanging on them. She could also see that he was barefoot, and while there was no rule saying he had to, she was aware that his people usually wore shoes when out in public. But, he wasn’t hurting anyone - namely himself, in this instance - so she didn’t bother about it. He was also still wearing the sun-shades that he had on before, and she had to wonder as to why seeing as she had read that Sol was just as bright on Earth as the lights on the ship. Perhaps the mahn’ewe operate under dimmer lighting? Two years would be time enough to shift someone’s vision.
He had in his left hand his tablet, his face pointed entirely at the screen, and in his right was a plastic container, that was square-shaped, with rounded corners, the base of which was the size of his whole palm, and which flared out about an inch along its length upwards. It was mostly full with what appeared to be tiny, tan-gray seeds, and even as she watched, Kyle lifted it to his mouth and simply stuck his tongue out, using his saliva to adhere the seeds to his tongue. He was just lowering his hand - having retracted his tseed-covered tongue back into his mouth - when he stopped, and she got the feeling that he’d finally looked up, and saw her; which was solidified when he said,
“Hey, Cap’n; fancy seeing you down here.” She didn’t miss the note of trepidation in his voice.
“Well,” she began, “I actually came down to see you. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Of course,” he replied, “Here, or…?”
She smiled, and said,
“Your room should do fine, unless you wish to go somewhere else?”
“Oh,” he replied, somewhat flustered, “No, my room’s fine; just a second…” and he made his way over to his door, opening it for her.
And upon the door opening, she was at first confused, as she was confronted by a wood-paneled wall about six feet from the door. Then she realized that these were the crates his things had been shipped in. He must have had more things in them than she’d originally thought, as he had yet to unpack it all even after three Standard days aboard this ship. However, when she stepped in, and walked around the corner around ten feet to her left, she saw an entirely different sight.
To her right was a 7’-tall entertainment center, about 5’-wide, and a monitor inside that took up the entire space from left to right, though it was only about 4’-tall. The top of the monitor was about level with the top of her chest, with a shelf above it that was filled with various personal effects. Most all of these were variations of a winged lizard that looked remarkably like the reptile aspects of the drahk’mihn, not least of all because they were all different colors.
There were what looked like egg-shaped geodes, the upper ‘faces’ missing about a quarter of the ‘shell’ the insides each dyed one of the six primary and secondary colors, with a miniature lizard curled protectively around its corresponding color. There was a timer-glass - the bottom bulb containing red sand - with the side ‘pillars’ that connected the ‘cage’ holding the glass center steady being one of these creatures on each side, mirrored by identical creatures on the ‘bottom’, relative to whichever was on the top at any given turning. There was a large figurine that was of a multi headed example of these creatures, one red body, with multiple other colored heads, one being red, but the others being blue, green, black, and white. Everywhere she looked, there were figurines, pictures, and posters - held to the wall with magnets, it looked like - all of them containing these creatures in some setting or another. Just as she was about to comment on them, a light turned on on a nearby table, and she looked in over to see a white orb made of plastic. In certain parts, there was obviously more plastic layered than in others, creating ‘shadows’ across its surface. As she studied it, the ‘shadows’ seemed to look almost like craters.
“Earth’s moon?” she asked, turning to look at Kyle, who - she just noticed - wasn’t looking at her. In fact, he seemed to be looking for something. As she watched, he scanned his room, looking over every surface, and even under chairs, and in the space under his desk in the corner where his legs would go. He didn’t seem to notice she said anything, taking several seconds before he turned, looking at her with a slightly surprised look on his face, saying,
“Hmm?” distractedly, until his mind seemed to catch up to what she’d said, as he followed that up with, “Oh, right; yeah, that’s Luna. It was only ‘illustrated’ to show the light side, so the other side isn’t ‘stenciled’ to show the cities on the dark side.”
“Oh,” she replied, “I didn’t realize that Earth’s moon was tidally locked... Well, I can certainly understand the sentiment: no matter how much I enjoy being out among the stars, surveying new plants, my home planet will always hold a special place in my heart.”
“Pur’Rosse?” he asked politely.
She gave a small laugh, and replied,
“No, I was born on one of our colony planets: Clash’Rept. It’s not very large, or particularly important, but it’s home… If I’m interrupting your search for something…?” she finished, gesturing for him to continue. She saw him go a little red, as he sheepishly chuckled, and it was at that moment that she noticed something else: while he was still wearing his glasses, the lenses were now completely clear, with no tint at all. It seemed that he noticed what she was looking at, as he went slightly cross-eyed, then gave another small laugh.
“Just a second.” he replied with a slight smile, as he finished giving his room a quick sweep, then entered his connected bathroom. After about a minute in there, he stepped out, took off the glasses, and set them down on his bedside table. “A week was more than enough time for the A.I. studying the things I sent back to be able to reverse-engineer their cloaking devices, and then upgrade it. With that, comes the tech to detect them, if they happen to try sneaking up on me again.”
The fact that the mahn’ewe had access to invisibility technology wasn’t lost on her, however, she chose a more… intelligent question to ask.
“And you expect them to come here?” she asked with a slight smile.
He looked a bit ‘on-the-spot’, and gave a smile of his own.
“Well,” he replied, “Not exactly ‘expect’, but let’s just say I’m acutely aware of the possibility.”
She nodded, conceding the point, and decided that was a good enough explanation, so she changed the topic.
“And what are these?” she asked with a slight smile, “They look vaguely familiar.”
Kyle smiled at this, and he replied in a genuinely happy tone,
“Dragons; they can be found in the mythos of just about every human culture in history. They can range from benevolence, to malicious, and everything in between. They usually have control over some element, from fire, to ice, to lightning. Some legends have them controlling every element, or just being all-powerful… Plus, they just look cool.” he finished excitedly.
“Well,” she replied in a slightly amused voice, “I have to agree with you, there.” finishing with a light chuckle.
The conversation seemed to stall there, and Kyle was the one to broach the subject.
“So, you wanted to talk to me?” he inquired, with a note of trepidation creeping back into his voice.
“I did.” she replied, with a gentle firmness; she didn’t want him to feel more threatened than he already - obviously - was, “It’s come to my attention that you haven’t been interacting with the ship beyond your two rooms, and that you give the most minimalist of replies when addressed by your fellow crew members. And while there’s no rule that you have to interact with the crew, I’ve been informed that you haven’t even been to the cafeteria to eat. Obviously, I have no problem with you having your own food and cookware,” here she gestured to the air filter hanging over a stovetop/oven in the corner, “But it’s starting to unnerve the crew a bit. You must understand how it looks to someone on the outside: all anyone is aware of is that you’re a Class 12 aggressor. No one knows why you’re classified as such, and I know you don’t want to tell the story to anyone else; hells, I doubt you would want me telling the story on your behalf.
“So the only thing they have to judge you off of is the official Federal rating on you, and your behavior you exhibit in front of them. Now, I’m not asking you to spend all of your free time fraternizing with everyone you see. However, if you could just start by going to eat with everyone else - perhaps go down to the gun range? - I’m sure that you can meet new people, who simply want to know you… I read your psych report: I know what you went through as a child. And while I can’t guarantee that no one on this ship will bring back memories of the tormentors of your childhood, I can guarantee that the majority will leave you pleasantly surprised,”
If what she’d learned from her interactions with the suun’mahs, and the kanfi’doe - not to mention Kah’Ri - was anything to judge by, then he was very clearly expressing guilt, with his head dropped, and him seeming to be unable to make eye contact. Finally he broke the silence, looking at her sheepishly, saying,
“How far d'you think I can push the ‘unpacking my massive amount of personal items’?” with a shy smile on his face.
That drew out a genuine laugh from her, and she smilingly replied with,
“I think you’ve pretty much used up that time. I’m sure we could pass it off as the only reason you’ve been so reclusive, but it won’t work for very much longer.”
Kyle gave a resigned sigh, and in a matching voice said,
Alright, I’ll go out more besides, you’re right about the gun range: I’ve only ever shot any guns once, when a… an acquaintance brought his pistol and rifle on a camping trip. I was invited to go to this National Park by some people at work, and I didn’t have a really good reason to refuse… Anyway, I really do have a few more things to do in my equipment room, though; so, would tomorrow be okay?”
She smiled at this, and said,
“That would be acceptable, thank you.” she didn’t want to end on this note, however, so she cast her mind around for anything to talk about, and her mind latched onto something,
“What was that that you were eating when you were in the hallway?” she asked, gesturing to the plastic container he’d set down on his desk.
He smiled at this, and brightly replied,
“Oh, those’re sunflower seeds; well, sunflower kernels seeing as they’ve already been shelled.” and here, he walked over to a cabinet that was used for storing utility items, which did have a few cleaning supplies in the bottom, but the shelves were filled with snack foods. From one shelf at about his shoulder, he pulled an unopened, identical container, and tossed it to her. Having removed the plastic film around the edge of the lid, she opened it, and - mimicking Kyle - she stuck her tongue into the mass of kernels.
The kernels - themselves - had a light, almost bland taste to them, but in a good way. There was a definite taste to them, and not so little that she actually needed so many at a time, but also not so strong as to be overpowering. It was very much something that she could eat if she was feeling ill, and having trouble keeping down more rich flavored food. Plus, the salt was applied in such amount as to enhance the flavor, and not to overpower it. She couldn’t find anything wrong with it. However, one thing occurred to her, somewhat belatedly.
“Are you sure this is safe for me?” she asked with a small smile.
“Yeah,” he answered, smiling, “Kay’Eighty’s already gone through the medical records of the different species, at least, what’s available to the wider public. There’s not really much that we can eat that other species can’t, and there’s not really much that you couldn’t eat, anyways.”
“Well,” she began with a slight laugh, “That’s good to know… Speaking of Kay’Eighty, may I meet her?”
“Of course.” he replied, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small blue box, that soon morphed into a foot-tall, human-shaped ‘robot’; though, ‘android’ would probably be a more fitting descriptor, at this point.
“Hello Captain Vohr’Doe,” she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Captain Vohr’Doe smiled down at the tiny person, and replied,
“And you, as well. How are you enjoying your stay here; is there anything I can do to make your time here more…” She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to say here: ‘inclusive’? ‘Enjoyable’? Whatever she wanted to say, it seemed that Kay’Eighty understood, as she responded with a polite smile, and to say,
“Thank you, Captain, but I have everything I need, supplied to me by the humans. All I need - really - is material to feed my nano-forge in the off chance that I were to lose any bots, for whatever reason, and - again - I have more than enough in storage.”
Not wanting to overstay her welcome, she decided to leave them to whatever they needed to do. So with farewells all around, she took her leave, carrying the container of sunflower kernels that Kyle gave her.
================
Ah’Sheen hated being so small, at times. At only a foot tall - or two feet long on all fours, and counting their tails - the miu’alfar were the smallest sapient species in the known galaxy. Though, it wasn’t the Federation - in and of itself - that made it a problem, as there were all sorts of workarounds that the Federation went out of its way to implement that were to the benefit of the smaller species. But in every civilization, there were always the extremists. People who thought themselves superior to others for whatever reason, and thought that gave them the right to bully others. And that led to ‘trickle-down’ bullying, which led to her current situation.
The three rahv’oyeck that had been harassing her had been content to hurl insults at her, mocking her for being so small, even though the rahv’oyeck didn’t grow taller than two feet, themselves. But when she’d turned the corner into the connecting path - on a street it would be referred to as an ‘alley’, and in this case, wasn’t covered by the security cameras - her vision went completely dark, as one - or all - of them manipulated the light from her eyes. Unfortunately for her, she had been close to the edge when this happened, and her momentum couldn’t be stopped so suddenly, as she’d sped up to try to get away from them. This led to her falling the ten feet to the floor below. Luckily, her people could survive greater falls with minimal injury; it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, though, as she rolled into a sitting position, a bit winded from the impact.
Of course, this led to a cacophony of laughter above her, which quickly came down to her level, accompanied by the flapping of their wings. She heard the female of the group talking, first.
Wow” she said in amused awe, “You made her eyes into mirrors! How’d you do that?”
The one to her left - a male - replied in a smug voice,
“Yeah, my dad taught me about that: basically, you just have to reflect all the light from a surface, and it makes a mirror; takes a lot of focus, though.”
“So,” said the one in front of her, a male, “Where were you heading, rodent?”
“Please,” she replied, “Leave me alone; I won’t tell anyone, just let me go.”
“I don’t know,” the one who was apparently blocking her vision said with vindictive pleasure, “We were on our way to lunch, and I’m thinking you might just make a tasty meal.”
There was laughter, then the female said,
“She may be small, but I don’t think you could finish her by yourself.”
“Oh, didn’t you know?” he asked, “Rodents have collapsible spines; I bet I could swallow her whol-rgck!”
His voice cut off into a choking sound, as at the same time, her vision came back. The first thing she saw was the two rahv’oyeck who were directly in front of her, and to her right; both of whom were staring - with their beaks wide open - at something above them all, and to her left. Looking in that direction, she saw Kyle, and an instinct to run and hide flashed up inside of her at the sight of him.
The first thing she noticed was his face, which was twisted into a pained-looking rictus, a bastardization of the smile he gave to Kah’Ri at lunch the other day. Firstly, there were too many teeth visible; as well as his gums. And though she couldn’t see his eyes, she was instinctively sure that there was zero amusement behind that ‘smile’. Backing this up was his right arm extended all the way out to his side, who’s hand was currently wrapped around the throat of the rahv’oyeck who had used his Gift on her. The fingers on the end of his wings were scrabbling at Kyle’s hand, trying to free himself, but Kyle’s fingers might as well have been made of steel, for all the good it was doing him; he finally settled on hanging on to Kyle’s hand to relieve the pressure on his throat, which Kyle didn’t seem to be squeezing enough to entirely cut off his air, though his hand was visibly shaking from the obvious restraint. His voice reflected that almost-painful restraint of rage as he - in the icy voice of a psychotic murderer trying to sound innocent - said,
“You know, I thought I heard the squawking of a bunch of seagulls, but turns out it was actually laughter. And so I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I like to laugh; maybe these seagulls’ve got some jokes.' So I decided to come and find out: What’s so funny?
The other two just stood there, beaks still open, and a tremble now running through their bodies as they stared on in obvious terror; here was the Class 12 ‘beast’ Kor’Rah was referencing the other day. After a few seconds of silence, Kyle gave a casual flick of his wrist, sending the bird in his hand fluttering behind him, and showing a supreme lack of concern for the life he was literally holding in his hand just moments before. At the same time, he bent forward, reaching out towards them. The other two obviously - along with her, she had to admit - thought that he was reaching for one of them, as they both fell over themselves trying to scramble away from his outstretched hand. However, he surprised them all by grabbing Ah’Sheen around her waist in an unexpectedly gentle - while expectedly firm - grip, and lifting her up, placing her on his left shoulder as he straightened up. Looking down at the two in front of them, he said in soft growl,
“You know, humans have two rules -” here, he looked to the side, and his voice momentarily took on a bit of a distracted tone, “Actually, humans have a lot of rules - but two main ones that you’re dangerously close to breaking unforgivably. First and foremost being: don’t mess with my friends.” and here, he walked past them, leaving them staring up at him. She didn’t want to seem like she was making fun of him, but she felt he was leaving himself open to it from the other three there, so she sent a tendril of thought to his mind, which he accepted, and through it she said,
‘You said there were two, but you only told them one.’
She felt the smirk he was suppressing, and he said back,
‘I know, but there’s always one who has to be Billy Badass.’
Almost as if on cue, they heard a rather hoarse voice behind them say,
“Yeah, and what’s number two?”
Kyle stopped dead, and slowly turned, as she felt him let the rage bubble back up to the surface. She felt vindictive smile crack his face, and he practically growled through clenched teeth,
Fuck around, and find out.” and with that, he took a quick, hard step forward, causing all three of them to scramble around, and take to the air, flying in the complete opposite direction. Kyle gave a snort of laughter, and continued on the way he was going, which turned out to be to the elevator. He was about to push one of the buttons, when he froze, seeming to think of something.
“Um,” he began, “Where were you going, by the way?”
She gave a slight laugh, and said,
“Well, I was going to lunch; why, where are you going.”
“Oh,” he replied, “I was heading to my equipment room, but I can drop you off on my way.”
“Oh,” she said, “Well, if you’re not going, then I can wait for a while: they mentioned that they were heading to lunch, as well, and I don’t want to deal with that. You can set me down here: I’m sure they won’t try anything, again.”
But Kyle was still for a few seconds, before he pushed the button to take them to the equipment rooms.
“I got something that can hold you over till dinner.” he said as the doors began to close.
She wanted to decline - not because she was afraid of him, but because she didn’t want him to go through any undue effort on her part - but she thought better of it; if for no other reason, than to ‘force’ him to put her down would be to take another fall similar to the one she just took earlier, and she didn’t want to go through that again. Soon enough, they were in front of his equipment room, and he motioned for it to open, and she was confronted with a wall of wooden crates. Kyle didn’t seem to be bothered by it, as he turned to his left, and walked around the corner, revealing a mostly clear room. He had obviously put his stuff away, seeing as the room was mostly clear, with the only thing out of the ordinary was a big rectangular metal box in the far corner, and a bunch of large canvases on the walls. The canvases were all of various things, from a dark forest, to nebulae, to a ‘cartoon’ tree, with a large gray trunk, and purple leaves, with golden light shining through the cracks.
Kyle walked over to the box, setting her - along with his sunglasses - down on the desk that came with the room beside the box, he opened said box, pulling out two cylindrical plants with long, green leaves. Each was individually wrapped in plastic, and were quite obviously frozen. As he walked over to one of the closets that lined the walls, he opened it to reveal a large cooking pit. He walked a bit further in, and picked up a smaller pit, one that was just barely taller than herself. He set this one beside the larger one, filled it with lumps of what appeared to be coal, and set it alight. He reached up, and turned on what she took to be an air filter, judging by the sound of an air-intake. As he stepped back, her eyes moved past him, to the spot that was hidden from her view before, as this was on the other side of the box ‘wall’ he seemed to have purposely constructed, and she couldn’t help but gasp when she saw it.
There, to the right of his door - though you wouldn’t know that walking in, obviously - was a 10’-tall tree, and as unexpected as a tree on a ship would be, it was what the tree bore that was the real shocker. For all over it, from the highest branches, growing from vines that wrapped their ways around the trunk, to other, thicker vines that grew around the base, sprouting large green fruits, some of them even bigger than she was, as well as a yellow-tan plant that had almost sharp-looking leaves sprouting out of the top. Kyle followed her gaze, and in a smiling voice, said,
“Oh, yeah; that’s my fruit tree.” he said, as he walked over and picked her up, taking her over to the tree, “Those are apples: ‘red crisp’, there, and those are called ‘granny smith’. The red ones are sweeter, while the green ones have a more tangy bite to ‘em. Those’re ‘oranges’, and the larger ones are called ‘grapefruits’; ‘mangoes’, ‘pomegranates’, ‘peaches’, and ‘bananas’. On the trunk are red and green ‘grapes’, ‘strawberries’, ‘blackberries’, ‘raspberries’, ‘blueberries’, ‘passionfruit’, and ‘dragonfruit’. Down there are ‘watermelons’, and ‘pineapples’. Just a small sample of the fruits from Earth, but the ones I’m most familiar with.”
She was stuck staring in awe, and finally found her voice enough to ask,
“How are there so many different fruits on one tree?”
“Well, before the scientists moved on to manipulating the human genome, they started with plants. Besides making actual hybrids - like, mixing the qualities of multiple fruits together - they made hybrid plants wherein they grow multiple different instances of fruits, or vegetables, like this one.” and with this, he reached out, and pulled a large bunch of the ‘strawberries’ from the vines, using his shirt as a makeshift ‘basket’.
He then took her back to the desk, and set her down, then returned to the opened closet and retrieved a machine that looked like some kind of food processor: it was a large pitcher that sat in a smaller machine-base, with four small blades at the bottom of the pitcher. After he set that down on the desk, and plugged it in, he took the remaining leaves off of the strawberries, and dumped them - one by one as he finished with them - into the processor. Reopening the freezer, he scooped out some ice with a metal scoop, and filled the pitcher almost to the top. He then went over to another closet, and this one was more shallow - mostly a closet to hold coats - that had been converted into a liquor cabinet, stocked floor to ceiling with many different spirits of many different colors. He selected a clear bottle, and closed the closet, returning to the desk.
After he poured a measured amount into the pitcher, he put the lid on the top and - while holding it down, one finger hovering over one of the buttons, he looked over at her and said,
“This’s gonna be kinda loud.”
She covered her ears, and he pushed the button, activating the blades to begin pulverizing the contents of the pitcher. After almost a minute, the harsh crushing, grinding sound fell away, replaced by the loud wiring of mechanical parts. Kyle shut the machine off, and reached into a cabinet over the desk, pulling out two glasses, one several inches taller than the other. After he poured the delicious-smelling drink into the glasses, he handed her the smaller one, and she took an experimental sip: it was delicious., and she told him so.
After he had taken his own drink of the mix - and nodded his thanks to her - he reopened the box, this time reaching into the furthest-most left side, on the other side of the partition, where items that needed to be kept cold - but obviously not frozen - were kept, and pulled out a bowl with a lid on it. Looking over at her, he asked,
“How are you with… ‘jhode’yuus’, the drahk’mihn would call it; we call it ‘butter’ - at least, in English, we do.”
“That’s not a problem,” she replied, “Being a mammal, milk - and milk by-products - are easily digestible by herbivores; it’s the actual meat that we can’t process.”
“Cool.” was all he said, and proceeded to open the bowl, taking a plastic seal off the top. Out of the cabinet to the right of the one containing his glasses, he pulled a small rectangular box, from which he extracted two long sheets of some thin metallic material. He folded them in half long-ways, and cinched the ends together, the metal being extremely pliable. Taking a spoon out of one of the desk drawers, he then scooped a large dollop of the ‘butter’ into each ‘trough’ that he’d made, and opened the two containers, pulling out the vegetables inside, stripping the outer leaves from the seemingly now-thawed vegetables, revealing the yellow-white kernels that were hidden beneath.
“This’s called ‘corn’,” he stated, “More specifically, ‘corn-on-the-cob’. There are several ways to prepare corn, but by far the best way to do it is like this. You can boil it in a pot - sure - but I prefer to boil it in butter, on the grill.” and with that, he set each ‘cob’ of ‘corn’ on the bed of butter, closing the metal over the tops of each. He then took the metal-wrapped vegetables over to the pit, and set them on it, placing the lid back on the pit.
He came back, and sat down at the desk, taking a large - for her, anyway - drink from his glass, and she was suddenly struck by the silence. It occurred to her that asking ‘how have you been’ would be both hollow, and a bit invasive, seeing as they’d only met once. She looked up at him, wanting to say something, but still not knowing what to say, her mouth left slightly open. However, when she looked at him, she saw a strange smirk on his face, and before she could think of anything to say, he took the initiative, answering as if she’d asked a question.
“I’ve been good - well,” he said in a slightly distracted voice, “As good as can be expected, anyways. I’ve been mostly just unpacking; been doing that for the past three days. I haven’t encountered anyone tryin’ to mess with me, but I’m guessing that’s ‘cause they don’t wanna be killed - or eaten - by the ‘Class 12 monster’.” he finished with a smirk.
“Well,” she began in an almost flustered voice, “I’m sure that’s not…” she then thought better of her response, “Yeah, that’s probably it. There’s never been a Class 12 sapient species make it very long before driving themselves to extinction. People fear what they don’t know.”
“Yeah,” he replied easily, “I’m used to that. But we’re not really a ‘Class 12’ under most circumstances. I mean I’m sure you - as an expeditionist - know that a species isn’t rated on their everyday behavior, so much as their most extremes. And actually - for the most part - you’ll have to worry about humans trying to pet the various sapient races, as they’ll see them as just ‘too cute’.” he finished in an amused voice.
She hesitated for a moment, and found the courage to ask - albeit, in a timid voice -
“What… What made them classify you as a ‘12’, then?”
The look he gave her, it wasn’t anger; actually, it wasn’t anything. If she had to name the expression on his face, it would be ‘neutral’. However, there was a deepness to his eyes when he looked into hers, a dark pit of emotions that she felt could swallow her whole if she gazed too long into the abyss of his pupils. Then he blinked slowly, and that was replaced by a gentle sadness as he replied,
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know.” and though his voice had a note of that gentle sadness his eyes held, there was no anger, or offense; something happened on that ship that he knew would damage her. A notion crossed her mind then, of a temporarily insane example of the creature who wanted so badly to crush the life from the rahv’oyeck he held in his hand, with no filter, no control. A slight shiver went down her spine, and she gave a small nod of agreement. He gave her a gentle smile, and changed the subject.
For the next six Standard minutes, or so, they talked about their homes. He had given her his native language, stating it would be easier for them to speak in their own languages; he already had her’s, of course.
He told her about going camping back on Earth, the animals he saw, the wild apple tree he found, and even showed her photos on his personal communication device from Earth. And she was in awe at the beautiful landscapes he showed her, from green clearings in the middle of a vibrant forest, to a lake with a horizon of hills behind it, and even some animals, a lot of which looked unfamiliar, though she did see a black animal version of a galan’zhee. It was about as tall as the grass around it, and she was amazed when he told her that the grass was level with his own head. She wondered how he could take that picture with such a large apex predator looking at him - as it was in the picture - and she was shocked when he told her that all you have to do with 'black bears' is to make a lot of noise, and make yourself look big; that for all the damage they could do, they’re really just big balls of fear.
From there, he inquired about her home life, and so she told him about the colony planet she was born on. It was not really much different than the pictures on his device, with the notable exception that there were no predators larger than an adolescent miu’alfar, and those are very skittish as it is, avoiding any life forms bigger than themselves. There was also the notable difference - from Moor’Ess - of there being a definite day/night cycle, and how they didn’t need sunglasses to operate in brighter lights. He informed her that he wore them to protect his eyes, and that at home, he would block all windows from allowing natural light in.
It was during this that something from before occurred to her.
“Say, Kyle: did you really mean what you said to them, back there?” she asked a bit timidly.
Kyle scowled at the walled-off door, as if they were waiting outside.
Damn straight.” he practically growled, then his expression cleared into one of slight confusion, and he looked over at her, saying, “Wh- um… Just so we’re like, on the same page here: what-uhh, what part did you mean?”
She laughed a little at this, and with a bit more confidence said,
“The part where you called me your friend.”
Kyle’s eyes opened a bit wider at that, and she got the distinct impression that he’d been caught off guard with that, but instead of trying to backtrack on it, he simply asked,
“Well, shouldn’t I?” with a funny little smile on his face.
“Well, no-” she replied, slightly flustered, “I mean, yes, I just… I mean, we just met; I didn’t want to assume… I mean…” she trailed off, not really knowing what to say. But to her relief, Kyle’s laugh that followed was one of polite amusement.
“It’s okay, I understand… Nah, humans are a social species, even introverts like myself. If there’s no reason *not* to be friends with someone, we can usually ‘buddy up’ fairly quickly. Add in the fact that we’ve been dreaming of ‘aliens’ since before we had radio waves, and most people out here’ll be hard pressed to find an enemy in humans. Not to mention that you all look like some kind of animal from back home, and yall’ll be havin’ to beat humans off with a stick; metaphorically speaking, of course…. Mostly, anyways…” to which they both had a good laugh.
Finally - though she barely noticed the time go by - he went to the pit and took the corn from the heat, and put the lid back on, closing the door behind him.
“I’ll deal with it all later,” he said with a small laugh, the metal-wrapped corn being held in his shirt, like the strawberries had been.
She chuckled, herself, as he pulled plates from one of the cabinets over the desk. After setting each ‘cob’ of corn down, he took the handle of the spoon, and used it to tear open the metal wrapping, spilling out the corn ,as well as the ‘butter’ it was cooked in; and the smell was absolutely divine. After he had poured out the contents of each wrap, and they had allowed it a couple minutes to cool, they dug in, with Kyle providing another large dollop of butter on each plate, instructing her that the best way to eat it is to slather it with butter, which was easiest done by simple rolling the corn in the butter.
It was delicious; better than the smell, even. For several minutes, they were both silent, each enjoying the crisp, rich taste of the Earth food. Finally, they had cleared the cobs of all the edible kernels, and had also each taken a bit of time to gnaw on the film that surrounded said kernels, that had stayed stuck to the cob. Kyle then went over to the tree and collected a large bunch of fruit, consisting of a couple peaches, a bunch of red grapes, a bunch of blackberries, and a few strawberries. He took them over to the desk, collected a bowl from another cabinet, and after retrieving a knife from the desk, began cutting up the bigger fruits into smaller pieces, depositing them in the bowl. After he was done, he shook the bowl around, effectively stirring the fruit without any utensils. He then set the bowl down, and retrieved two forks from the desk. He set one down in front of her and - with a slight smile -asked,
“You okay with sharin’ a bowl with me, or would you prefer your own?”
She picked up the fork and - without a word - began spearing pieces of fruit. He gave a small smile at that, and she could have sworn she saw a bit of relief in that smile, but she was focused on eating her dessert. And it was delicious, as well.
Not that any of the fruit she was eating was necessarily better than any she’d eaten before, but it was all entirely new, and all delicious. She particularly liked the peaches, though calling them the ‘best’ was only possible by a small margin.
They wound up spending all day in his room, talking about their lives back home, their likes and dislikes, and generally just becoming friends. She was a bit surprised at how easy it was to talk to him, and the more she got to know him, the more she believed that she didn’t want to know why his race was a Class 12.
She also met the A.I. that had volunteered to work with him - she was not assigned to him, as the humans accepted their A.I. as equals, and didn’t treat them as simple computer programs. And she had to admit, Kay’Eighty was a very personable being, being just as emotive as any biological person she’d ever met.
They had a nice dinner in his equipment room, him grilling a steak on the smaller pit in his closet, along with some of the salad he’d made for her, consisting of what he called ‘lettuce’, ‘tomatoes’, ‘cucumbers’, slivers of ‘carrots’, and ‘croutons’, which were little squares of re-baked bread, which left them more crunchy than if it had simply been toasted. Once again, everything was delicious.
Finally, she began to feel the effects of having been drinking and talking all day, and began to feel drowsy. Upon noticing this, Kyle began cleaning up, then - more gently than before - lifted her to his shoulder, again, and as such, they left his equipment room. From there, he escorted her directly to her ‘living’ room, where he bid her goodnight, waiting to leave until the door closed behind her.
[Next]
submitted by Drakos8706 to HFY [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 11:55 grathad Educating myself on US politics against LGBT

I am not born nor living in the US. I am not anti LGBT, I am genuinely confused by an argument that I saw again and again when trying to protect human rights, especially in north America (did not see it as much in Japan where I live or Europe where I was born and raised):
It is usually a variation around the fact that being gay is not a choice, it is who you are.
First I am not, absolutely not, challenging the veracity of that statement.
But my question is, why is that an important argument?
In my mind, even if it was a choice, it would still be ok, and should still be protected. Why does it have to not be a choice to make it right?
I am assuming that reasoning was born as some counter argument in the past?
I am genuinely confused as of why if homosexually was a choice it would not be ok ? It does not impact me, nor my life, I should not have a say in anything others do with other consenting adults, regardless of it being a choice or the definition of who you are ?!
What am I missing here?
submitted by grathad to AskLGBT [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 11:35 NextAdvance2976 Edoryä homebrew campaign setting: #1 (world basics)

Introduction
Hi reddit! I've been playing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in a homebrew campaign setting for over two years. So I just thought it would be nice for you and for me to share with you what I already know about my world. (Maybe this post also has a place on the Worldbuilding subreddit?) This post will be released in several parts which should arrive in the following days. Hoping that you like it !
What is Edoryä?
Edoryä is the name given by the elves to the Material Plane but which was then taken up by almost all other cultures to designate the World. It's a rich and expansive High Fantasy world (a bit darker in places) with late medieval technology. Many different kingdoms and dozens of unique races spanned the four continents of Dovania, Ta'nari, Atane, Ukrai, and Ikza. Edoryä is full of fantastic environments: from the black sand desert of Chur'muzzor, through the skyland of Zynx, to the mountains of the Dragon's Teeth and so on. Come and discover the 230 playable races offered by this campaign setting, the hundreds of kingdoms, a unique magic system and a rich and epic History.
Religion
Originally there were three primordial goddesses: Izra (Isis), Avoree (Hera), and Larone (Hella). These three sister goddesses have spawned the three families of gods: the House of Dawn, the House of Noon, and the House of Twilight, which then make up all the other deities descended from the three goddesses. The Church of Dawn, the Church of Noon and the Church of Twilight are the three most powerful and widespread religious forces (at least on the continent of Dovania) but many other pantheons exist and more or less coexist peacefully (the Elvish Triad, the House of the Anvil and the Hammer, or even the Celestial Bureaucracy). The gods live in the Outer Planes that make up the multiverse (see below in the post) but some minor deities like the demigods have a home on the Material Plane. Finally there are also certain entities that do not fit into any pantheons, the Elemental Gods, the Great Old Ones, the Arch Fairies, the terrifying Demon Lords, the vile Archdevils or the ignoble Pandaemons. The different cults have engaged in many holy wars in history to bring more power to their divinity because the truth and that the gods and goddesses draw their divine power from the veneration that brings them mortals. Some deities in the past have not been able to attract enough worshipers to become a god worthy of the name, some of these failed gods have at best become great spirits or protective saints, at worst they have simply ceased to exist.
Magic and types of Magic
In Edoryä magic is rare and can be very dangerous if not properly wielded. Some individuals called "awakened" are able to use magic as they please, but often this comes at a price. Magic also imbues certain objects and places some creatures are able to wield magic naturally. The Awakened's birth percentage rate depends entirely on their race (elves for example are more prone to magic than orcs) and place of birth. In order not to have to rewrite all the spells of D&D 5e, I have for the moment decided to take their model of the types of magic, by adding several other types.




I will detail the rest of this campaign setting in other posts, this was just an introduction. I hope this has made you want to know more about Edoryä.
submitted by NextAdvance2976 to DnDHomebrew [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 11:34 Aggressive-Emu-9561 Please help - euthanasia due to knee issues?

Nine months ago, my (30F) mother adopted/bought a 5 month old toy poodle puppy. It was her (and everyone in the family’s) first dog. My mother had both retired and subsequently been widowed when my father suddenly passed away the year before, and we had been talking a lot about how a small dog would be a good companion for her during this next phase of her life. We had also researched breeds and landed on a small poodle being the ideal one for her. But the decision of getting this particular puppy was still very spontaneous, and in hindsight we were incredibly naive. The puppy showed up on our country’s equivalent to Craigslist. The story was that the owner had gotten sick and couldn’t take care of it and her son was now selling it for her. We decided to go meet the puppy. It was the sweetest thing ever and my mother ended up bringing it home that day. One month later my mother fell ill and it turns out she has stage 4 cancer. It’s an aggressive kind and she has already outlived the statistics. We are not expecting her to make it past this summer. To say it’s been devastating losing my father and then realizing I’ll lose my mother soon too is an understatement, but that’s not what this post is about so I’ll leave it at that.
Since my mother got sick, I’ve been off work taking care of her and living in her house, so I’ve also been raising the puppy. I have no experience with dogs and especially in the beginning I also had very little emotional capacity and physical energy for raising the dog as it should have been, but she’s such a smart and sweet little dog, somehow she has turned out really well anyway. She would make a fantastic addition to any loving home. (The only issue is that we never really got the chance to teach her how to be alone as there is always someone in the house (my mother really wants to be at home and receive her care here as much as possible and only goes to the hospital when absolutely necessary, in which cases I’ve arranged for sitters when visiting my mother). But I’m sure this could be worked on.)
Now to the dilemma. I cannot keep this dog once my mother is gone. The life I’m supposed to return to is just not cut out for having a dog. I have a very demanding job with regular work weeks of 50 hours and peak ones that can reach nearly the double of that. I live by myself in an apartment in a big city. I’ve thought about giving up my career for the dog but I’ve already lost so much, this feels like losing the last part of the person I used to be. So even though it pains me and I’ve spent a lot of time debating the issue with myself, I’ve realized I’ll eventually need to find a new home for the dog. The problem is that the dog has a severe case of patellar luxation and tibial torsion on her left knee. She started limping soon after we got her and it’s progressively gotten to the point where she now walks mostly on three legs. Because my mother got her when she was already 5 months old, insurance won’t cover treatment. I had decided I’m going to pay for the surgery and help her through recovery before finding a new home for her. I was hoping I’d managed to do this before my mother passes. The dog was supposed to have her surgery yesterday, but once sedated, the surgeon not only discovered that the issue with her left knee is much more complicated than expected - so they had to stop the procedure - she also has luxation grade 2 or 3 out of 4 on her right knee (they previously thought it was grade 1) and will need surgery on that one too. The surgeon does say that she can try to fix the left knee with a different surgical technique, but that recovery will be really hard and there is a chance it won’t heal well. And then she’ll still need to have the normal patellar surgery on her right knee later. The surgeon told me that if this was her dog, she would not have put her through all of this, and would have euthanized her, but in the end it was up to me if I wanted to go ahead with the surgeries.
I really don’t know what the right thing to do is and I’ve been up all night thinking about this. The way I see it I have four options. Option 1 is to go ahead with the surgery on her left knee, hope it’s successful, help her through the recovery which will be longer and more difficult than with a regular patellar luxation surgery and will probably overlap with my mother’s death, and then try to find her a new home that will commit to also paying for and helping her through surgery on her right knee. Option 2 is the same as option 1 but in addition asking for even more (unpaid) leave from my work to help her through surgery 2 as well before searching for a new home for her if both surgeries have turned out well. Option 3 is to surrender her to a shelter now and put her through the ordeal of being torn away from the person she has been with 24/7 for most of her life (me) as well as then enduring these two procedures while under the care of a shelter or a new home - if the shelter doesn’t decide to have her euthanized. Option 4 is to euthanize the sweetest little fluff ball ever because of something that’s potentially fully treatable. What do I do!? 😭
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2023.03.25 11:33 ex0t1k2k All my friends are in jail and I'm thinking of crashing out

Im in a certain blood set and most of my friends are in jail. I myself was thinking of going to jail too. I don't value myself. I joined the set because I was protecting someone close to me from another gang because they threatened to hurt them. I'm going to accept the consequences if I carry out the mission on my own but it does suck. My best friends are Gone possibly forever. My day ones. I still have a couple around but it's not the same you know. No female can replace a bond between my friend group. They were my niggas lol but yeah I'm only 18 and kinda willing to throw my life away already. My heart feels so cold everyday. From drug addiction to doing shit in the streets. From being abandoned at a young age to being homeless with my family. From people always looking down on me and the darkness I surrounded myself with. I despise humans besides my best friends and my family. I hate people. I'm ready to go I really don't care if I live or die. It's crazy because even my therapist told me at a young age I'd be a threat to society anyways. I'd be afraid to admit she was right. Materialistic things don't matter to me. I feel as if almost my only purpose is living for my gang. I don't feel happy ever. I just hate everyone and everything. I'm ready to go. I miss my friends. goodbye.
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2023.03.25 11:27 indiaspine What is the function of the spine in the human body, and why is spine surgery necessary?

What is the function of the spine in the human body, and why is spine surgery necessary?

https://preview.redd.it/g8ue8zh24vpa1.png?width=1366&format=png&auto=webp&s=41b7c15d052e3553475c443625bf347d25d62389
The spine of the human body is the main supporting structure of the back and consists of 33 bones that function as building blocks in the human body. The primary function of the spinal cord is to transmit nerves from the brain to the rest of the body, and it also performs many other vital functions. Spine surgeons perform spine surgery in Mumbai to protect the body from spinal cord injury. It also serves to maintain posture, support the body, and help the patient bend, twist and perform other body movements.
Trained and qualified professionals perform spine surgery in Mumbai to treat spine problems and serve a better quality of life.
Spine surgery in Mumbai has also proved beneficial for people who have traveled across India, Mumbai, for spine treatment by the best and most experienced spine surgeons at a very reasonable cost. The cost of spine surgery in Mumbai ranges from INR 3,50,000 to INR 9,00,000 depending on the patient's spine condition, age, and the procedure chosen to treat the spine problem. If people compare the cost of spine surgery in other developing countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Russia, etc., it is costly, and ordinary people cannot afford it. People from western countries prefer Mumbai for spine surgery because of the inexpensive procedures with the highest success rate. Other factors like qualification, experience, personal and medical care, 24*7 support, etc., attract foreigners to Mumbai for spine treatment.
What is the best spine surgery in Mumbai?
Various spine procedures can best treat a patient's neck and back pain. These are:
1. Laminectomy: This is the most common and the best spine surgery in Mumbai to treat spinal conditions that occur due to spondylolisthesis and stenosis. In this procedure, the surgeon removes parts of the patient's spine to relieve the spinal nerves. The surgery involves removing parts of the spine that relieve pressure on the spinal nerves. A surgeon usually performs a laminectomy in combination with spinal fusion surgery when spinal instability is suspected.
2. Foraminotomy: This is a spinal surgery where the surgeon removes tissues compressing the patient's back nerves. During a foraminotomy treatment, the surgeon removes the bony parts compressing the spine's nerves. The study says that the spine's stability is sometimes affected; in such cases, the surgeon performs spinal fusion to stabilize the spine.
3. Spinal fusion: This is a procedure where a surgeon fuses two vertebrae together to increase the spine's stability. During this surgery, the movements of the patient's spine and the stretching of the nerves are limited.
4. Discectomy: This is a surgical procedure used to treat the condition of a herniated disc in the vertebrae. A herniated disc separates two vertebrae, and if it protrudes inward, it presses on the spinal nerves, causing the patient to experience pain. This is a procedure where the surgeon removes all or part of the disc.
5. Interlaminar Implant: This is a spinal surgery in which the surgeon implants a U-shaped device between two vertebrae in the patient's lower back. Implantation of a U-shaped device will help keep the space open and relieve pressure on the spinal nerves. The surgeon performs the interlaminar implant at the same time as the laminectomy. The implant provides stability and allows the patient to move their back almost as usual.
What is the spine surgery success rate in Mumbai?
The spine surgery success rate in Mumbai depends on the procedure people choose to treat their spine injury; however, the success rate of spine surgery in Mumbai at Spine Surgery Hospital in India ranges from 65 to 95%, which is relatively high compared to other developing countries. This is why people travel more often to Mumbai for the high success rate and fastest recovery from spinal injuries.
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2023.03.25 11:26 allinoneupdate Iran Has a History of Persecuting Minorities: Might This Change Now?

Iran has a long history of persecuting minorities, which has been a cause for concern for human rights organizations and the international community for decades. Minorities in Iran have faced discrimination and oppression, including limitations on their religious and cultural practices, restrictions on their political rights, and systematic discrimination in education and employment. The question now arises, is there any hope for change?
The Historical Context of Persecution of Minorities in Iran:
The history of persecution of minorities in Iran dates back centuries, with many communities having faced oppression and marginalization at different times. The Baha’i community, which is the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, has faced systematic persecution since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. The Baha’is have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions, and have been denied access to education, employment, and healthcare. The Iranian government also restricts their right to practice their religion, and their properties are often seized by the authorities.
Other minorities, including Christians, Jews, and Sunni Muslims, have also faced persecution and discrimination. For instance, members of the Ahwazi Arab community in Iran have faced violence and marginalization, and their rights to language, culture, and land have been systematically denied. Ethnic Kurds and Balochis have also faced repression, with the government limiting their access to education and employment, and suppressing their cultural and linguistic rights.
The Recent Developments:
Despite the long history of persecution of minorities in Iran, there are some signs that change may be possible. Recently, the Iranian government has taken some steps to address the grievances of minorities, including recognizing some of their cultural and linguistic rights. For instance, the government has allowed some minority languages to be taught in schools, and has taken measures to protect historic sites of minority communities.
Moreover, some Iranian officials have publicly acknowledged the need to address the grievances of minorities and to promote equality and justice. In a speech in 2021, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi emphasized the need to respect the rights of minorities and to promote their participation in the country’s political and social life. He also pledged to address issues related to discrimination and marginalization of minorities.
The Possibility of Change:
While these developments are positive, it remains to be seen whether they will lead to meaningful change for minorities in Iran. The history of persecution and discrimination is deeply entrenched in Iranian society, and addressing it will require sustained efforts and political will. The Iranian government needs to take concrete steps to protect the rights of minorities, including ensuring their access to education, healthcare, and employment, and promoting their cultural and linguistic rights. It is also important for the international community to continue to pressure the Iranian government to respect the rights of minorities and to hold it accountable for any violations.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the history of persecution of minorities in Iran is a cause for concern, but there are some signs of hope for change. The Iranian government has taken some steps to address the grievances of minorities, and there are officials who are committed to promoting equality and justice. However, it remains to be seen whether these developments will lead to meaningful change for minorities in Iran. The international community needs to continue to pressure the Iranian government to respect the rights of minorities and to hold it accountable for any violations.
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2023.03.25 11:25 Aggressive-Emu-9561 Please help - euthanasia because of patellar issues?

Nine months ago, my (30F) mother adopted/bought a 5 month old puppy. It was her (and everyone in the family’s) first dog. My mother had both retired and subsequently been widowed when my father suddenly passed away the year before, and we had been talking a lot about how a small dog would be a good companion for her during this next phase of her life. We had also researched breeds and landed on a mini or toy poodle being the ideal one for her. But the decision of getting this particular puppy was still very spontaneous, and in hindsight we were incredibly naive. The puppy showed up on our country’s equivalent to Craigslist. The story was that the owner had gotten sick and couldn’t take care of it and her son was now selling it for her. We decided to go meet the puppy. It was the sweetest thing ever and my mother ended up bringing it home that day. One month later my mother fell ill and it turns out she has stage 4 cancer. It’s an aggressive kind and she has already outlived the statistics. We are not expecting her to make it past this summer. To say it’s been devastating losing my father and then realizing I’ll lose my mother soon too is an understatement, but that’s not what this post is about so I’ll leave it at that.
Since my mother got sick, I’ve been off work taking care of her and living in her house, so I’ve also been raising the puppy. I have no experience with dogs and especially in the beginning I also had very little emotional capacity and physical energy for raising the dog as it should have been, but she’s such a smart and sweet little dog, somehow she has turned out really well anyway. She would make a fantastic addition to any loving home. (The only issue is that we never really got the chance to teach her how to be alone as there is always someone in the house (my mother really wants to be at home and receive her care here as much as possible and only goes to the hospital when absolutely necessary, in which cases I’ve arranged for sitters when visiting my mother). But I’m sure this could be worked on.)
Now to the dilemma. I cannot keep this dog once my mother is gone. The life I’m supposed to return to is just not cut out for having a dog. I have a very demanding job with regular work weeks of 50 hours and peak ones that can reach nearly the double of that. I live by myself in an apartment in a big city. I’ve thought about giving up my career for the dog but I’ve already lost so much, this feels like losing the last part of the person I used to be. So even though it pains me and I’ve spent a lot of time debating the issue with myself, I’ve realized I’ll eventually need to find a new home for the dog. The problem is that the dog has a severe case of patellar luxation and tibial torsion on her left knee. She started limping soon after we got her and it’s progressively gotten to the point where she now walks mostly on three legs. Because my mother got her when she was already 5 months old, insurance won’t cover treatment. I had decided I’m going to pay for the surgery and help her through recovery before finding a new home for her. I was hoping I’d managed to do this before my mother passes. The dog was supposed to have her surgery yesterday, but once sedated, the surgeon not only discovered that the issue with her left knee is much more complicated than expected - so they had to stop the procedure - she also has luxation grade 2 or 3 out of 4 on her right knee (they previously thought it was grade 1) and will need surgery on that one too. The surgeon does say that she can try to fix the left knee with a different surgical technique, but that recovery will be really hard and there is a chance it won’t heal well. And then she’ll still need to have the normal patellar surgery on her right knee later. The surgeon told me that if this was her dog, she would not have put her through all of this, and would have euthanized her, but in the end it was up to me if I wanted to go ahead with the surgeries.
I really don’t know what the right thing to do is and I’ve been up all night thinking about this. The way I see it I have four options. Option 1 is to go ahead with the surgery on her left knee, hope it’s successful, help her through the recovery which will be longer and more difficult than with a regular patellar luxation surgery and will probably overlap with my mother’s death, and then try to find her a new home that will commit to also paying for and helping her through surgery on her right knee. Option 2 is the same as option 1 but in addition asking for even more (unpaid) leave from my work to help her through surgery 2 as well before searching for a new home for her if both surgeries have turned out well. Option 3 is to surrender her to a shelter now and put her through the ordeal of being torn away from the person she has been with 24/7 for most of her life (me) as well as then enduring these two procedures while under the care of a shelter or a new home - if the shelter doesn’t decide to have her euthanized. Option 4 is to euthanize the sweetest little fluff ball ever because of something that’s potentially fully treatable. What do I do!? 😭
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2023.03.25 11:12 mindyourowncrap My marriage fell apart.... Please help in saving my money and house

Just ask in the comments of you have further queries or need more info
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2023.03.25 11:03 WillIeverfindtheway Chapter 8. Volume 1.

§ 8. As from the direct light of the sun to the borrowed light of the moon, we pass from the immediate idea of perception, which stands by itself and is its own warrant, to reflection, to the abstract, discursive concepts of the reason, which obtain their whole content from knowledge of perception, and in relation to it.
As long as we continue simply to perceive, all is clear, firm, and certain. There are neither questions nor doubts nor errors; we desire to go no further, can go no further; we find rest in perceiving, and satisfaction in the present. Perception suffices for itself, and therefore what springs purely from it, and remains true to it, for example, a genuine work of art, can never be false, nor can it be discredited through the lapse of time, for it does not present an opinion but the thing itself. But with abstract knowledge, with reason, doubt and error appear in the theoretical, care and sorrow in the practical. In the idea of perception, illusion may at moments take the place of the real; but in the sphere of abstract thought, error may reign for a thousand years, impose its yoke upon whole nations, extend to the noblest impulses of humanity, and, by the help of its slaves and its dupes, may chain and fetter those whom it cannot deceive. It is the enemy against which the wisest men of all times have waged unequal war, and only what they have won from it has become the possession of mankind. Therefore it is well to draw attention to it at once, as we already tread the ground to which its province belongs. It has often been said that we ought to follow truth even although no utility can be seen in it, because it may have indirect utility which may appear when it is least expected; and I would add to this, that we ought to be just as anxious to discover and to root out all error even when no harm is anticipated from it, because its mischief may be very indirect, and may suddenly appear when we do not expect it, for all error has poison at its heart. If it is mind, if it is knowledge, that makes man the lord of creation, there can be no such thing as harmless error, still less venerable and holy error. And for the consolation of those who in any way and at any time may have devoted strength and life to the noble and hard battle against error, I cannot refrain from adding that, so long as truth is absent, error will have free play, as owls and bats in the night; but sooner would we expect to see the owls and the bats drive back the sun in the eastern heavens, than that any truth which has once been known and distinctly and fully expressed, can ever again be so utterly vanquished and overcome that the old error shall once more reign undisturbed over its wide kingdom. This is the power of truth; its conquest is slow and laborious, but if once the victory be gained it can never be wrested back again.
Besides the ideas we have as yet considered, which, according to their construction, could be referred to time, space, and matter, if we consider them with reference to the object, or to pure sensibility and understanding (i.e., knowledge of causality), if we consider them with reference to the subject, another faculty of knowledge has appeared in man alone of all earthly creatures, an entirely new consciousness, which, with very appropriate and significant exactness, is called reflection. For it is in fact derived from the knowledge of perception, and is a reflected appearance of it. But it has assumed a nature fundamentally different. The forms of perception do not affect it, and even the principle of sufficient reason which reigns over all objects has an entirely different aspect with regard to it. It is just this new, more highly endowed, consciousness, this abstract reflex of all that belongs to perception in that conception of the reason which has nothing to do with perception, that gives to man that thoughtfulness which distinguishes his consciousness so entirely from that of the lower animals, and through which his whole behaviour upon earth is so different from that of his irrational fellow-creatures. He far surpasses them in power and also in suffering. They live in the present alone, he lives also in the future and the past. They satisfy the needs of the moment, he provides by the most ingenious preparations for the future, yea for days that he shall never see. They are entirely dependent on the impression of the moment, on the effect of the perceptible motive; he is determined by abstract conceptions independent of the present. Therefore he follows predetermined plans, he acts from maxims, without reference to his surroundings or the accidental impression of the moment. Thus, for example, he can make with composure deliberate preparations for his own death, he can dissemble past finding out, and can carry his secret with him to the grave; lastly, he has an actual choice between several motives; for only in the abstract can such motives, present together in consciousness, afford the knowledge with regard to themselves, that the one excludes the other, and can thus measure themselves against each other with reference to their power over the will. The motive that overcomes, in that it decides the question at issue, is the deliberate determinant of the will, and is a sure indication of its character. The brute, on the other hand, is determined by the present impression; only the fear of present compulsion can constrain its desires, until at last this fear has become custom, and as such continues to determine it; this is called training. The brute feels and perceives; man, in addition to this, thinks and knows: both will. The brute expresses its feelings and dispositions by gestures and sounds; man communicates his thought to others, or, if he wishes, he conceals it, by means of speech. Speech is the first production, and also the necessary organ of his reason. Therefore in Greek and Italian,, speech and reason are expressed by the same word; Logos¬, il discorso. Vernunft is derived from vernehmen, which is not a synonym for the verb to hear, but signifies the consciousness of the meaning of thoughts communicated in words. It is by the help of language alone that reason accomplishes its most important achievements,—the united action of several individuals, the planned co-operation of many thousands, civilisation, the state; also science, the storing up of experience, the uniting of common properties in one concept, the communication of truth, the spread of error, thoughts and poems, dogmas and superstitions. The brute first knows death when it dies, but man draws consciously nearer to it every hour that he lives; and this makes life at times a questionable good even to him who has not recognised this character of constant annihilation in the whole of life. Principally on this account man has philosophies and religions, though it is uncertain whether the qualities we admire most in his conduct, voluntary rectitude and nobility of feeling, were ever the fruit of either of them. As results which certainly belong only to them, and as productions of reason in this sphere, we may refer to the marvellous and monstrous opinions of philosophers of various schools, and the extraordinary and sometimes cruel customs of the priests of different religions. It is the universal opinion of all times and of all nations that these manifold and far-reaching achievements spring from a common principle, from that peculiar intellectual power which belongs distinctively to man and which has been called reason. Besides this, no one finds any difficulty in recognising the manifestations of this faculty, and in saying what is rational and what is irrational, where reason appears as distinguished from the other faculties and qualities of man, or lastly, in pointing out what, on account of the want of reason, we must never expect even from the most The philosophers of all ages may be said to be on the whole at one about this general knowledge of reason, and they have also given prominence to several very important manifestations of it; such as, the control of the emotions and passions, the capacity for drawing conclusions and formulating general principles, even such as are true prior to all experience, and so forth. Still all their explanations of the peculiar nature of reason are wavering, not clearly defined, discursive, without unity and concentration; now laying stress on one manifestation, now on another, and therefore often at variance with each other. Besides this, many start from the opposition between reason and revelation, a distinction which is unknown to philosophy, and which only increases confusion. It is very remarkable that up till now no philosopher has referred these manifold expressions of reason to one simple function which would be recognised in them all, from which they would all be explained, and which would therefore constitute the real inner nature of reason. It is true that the excellent Locke in the “Essay on the Human Understanding”, very rightly refers to general concepts as the characteristic which distinguishes man from the brutes, and Leibnitz quotes this with full approval in the “Nouveaux Essais sur l'Entendement Humaine” But when Locke comes to the special explanation of reason he entirely loses sight of this simple, primary characteristic, and he also falls into a wavering, undetermined, incomplete account of mangled and derivative manifestations of it. Leibnitz also, in the corresponding part of his work, behaves in a similar manner, only with more confusion and indistinctness. In the Appendix, I have I have fully considered how Kant confused and falsified the conception of the nature of reason. But whoever will take the trouble to go through in this reference the mass of philosophical writing which has appeared since Kant, will find out, that just as the faults of princes must be expiated by whole nations, the errors of great minds extend their influence over whole generations, and even over centuries; they grow and propagate themselves, and finally degenerate into monstrosities. All this arises from the fact that, as Berkeley says, “Few men think; yet all will have opinions.” The understanding has only one function—immediate knowledge of the relation of cause and effect. Yet the perception of the real world, and all common sense, sagacity, and inventiveness, however multifarious their applications may be, are quite clearly seen to be nothing more than manifestations of that one function. So also the reason has one function; and from it all the manifestations of reason we have mentioned, which distinguish the life of man from that of the brutes, may easily be explained. The application or the non-application of this function is all that is meant by what men have everywhere and always called rational and irrational.
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2023.03.25 11:02 azul322 Fuel Pump Issue? Why?

Car has a ford 1.6L gas engine, 100hp, manual transmission (design 2000, made 2008)Fuel pump never changed. Total mileage is very low (less than 45.000 km)Car started normally today, with fuel on the last white mark (usually I refuel more often)Went straight to the gas station, refueled to about 4/5 capacity, and then the car wouldn't start. The fuel pump sound when turning the key (before ignition) is very faint, almost non existent, so I figure this a fuel pump issue.Why would this happen immediately after refueling? Did the old pump got pressured too hard because of low fuel before? Or could be the fuel from the gas station be of very bad quality?Any tricks to actually make the engine start? I tried having sb hit the fuel pump below while igniting the engine, no joy, it just ignited for less than a sec and turned off immediately, twice :( But now it won't start at all again. At that point I had to stop to preserve battery life (battery is ok so far)
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2023.03.25 10:59 Dad1903 DWT148 (March 25th 2023)

DWT148 (March 25th 2023)
Testing testing; check one two – DWT is live once again on Reddit!
Terrific, terrific stuff

THE CONTENTS

------------------------

  • I - The Wisdom
  • II - The Financials
  • III - The DWT Statistic Collection
  • IV - The Fundamentals
  • V - The Main Event
  • VI - The Reasonings
  • VII - The Epilogue

I - THE WISDOM

------------------------

Welcome back hombres ✌️. So to kick things off - an explanation. A few of the more eagle-eyed amongst yous will have noticed a wee switching of the agenda; a wee mixing of the publishing time. As mused there last week - there's been an abundance of duties added to Dads Remit. In other words: A new occupation 👍. Tis a wee smidge of requirement that enforces the even earlier rising of Dad - an indication of the commitment required to maintain pish going forth. Fortunately for Dad but - the first few have proven terrifically fruitful and engaging... to be fair a feeling that perhaps had been laid to rest. No for e'er (hence this happening); but an acceptance that maybes Dads crumbling frame and dilapidating mind, werenae a draw for a potential employer. So Dad took action: the imagining of Dads Aviary for example. Moves made to fill the void with summat poignant - summat that'd fill the bank account with a flow of currency at some stage. No sign of that happening alas... tis a lengthy danger-filled road towards the place to even qualify for cashola unfortunately. Tis achievable sure... just the timeframe is hazy. Henceforth - the sourcing of a Cash Cow Dad can leap up on top of and learn to ride. The box is ticked - the panic (of sorts) can subside - and dreams can become clearer in ones Minds Eyeballs. Realism is a cunt who robs the opportunity of progress all too fucking often sure... takes a leap of faith or two, to properly create an impenetrable barrier around the engine block driving the whole cunt forth. No to say it's the best of the best just yet of course... a ways to go until the feet are properly under the table and Dad can take pish to granted (to a degree anyhow). but for sure - there's a real sense of potential: Dads Banter has already infiltrated the psyches of manys a terrific cunt - there's clear scope for believing pish'll be ok 😎. Dad - whilst a fussy cunt who finds potential disruption to otherwise ok shite - is one of those who can add a good wedge of positivity to any fucking place, should the inhabitants be keen for such a happening. So far so good people - hoo mama 🙌
***
No just that sure - the getting to know you chat, has revealed manys a possibility... a route back to music included sure 👍. No summat Dad has crowed about all too oft... mainly owing to the complete lack of prosperity music has provided Dad for much too manys a fucking year. All Dads fault sure... no blaming music haha. But you hit the bumps on the road - you tire of the semantics of bandmates... the reason for doing it is lost all too swiftly. Makes a cunt yearn for a set of DJ Skillz or summat - at least that way it's a journey taken free of intrusion (at least comparatively). Skip forward several years and Dads Bass is nowt more than an ornament, albeit plucked down from its protective case a smidge more frequently in recent times. No to say there was much thought being given to reinstating that urge to get out there and bond with potential jam-buddies. As it turned out - the decision was taken from Dad, instead enthusiastically prospered by others, long since bored at no finding a cunt who can finger the four-strings. Just to clarify: Dad isnae fucking Geddy Lee or whomever... the skillset is moderate at best ✌️. But for sure - hanging out with three or four brethren, meandering our way through the simpler examples of favourite rock records, whilst placing the lips around a glass dick every half hour or so - twas a terrific time 😎. So we'll see sure... Dad isnae expecting it to be the greatest without evidence to the contrary - but there's certainly an appetite for finding out and a hope for it being the case. Reflecting - it's been a shockingly lengthy time Dad hasnae picked at such scabs... an indication of how much damage was done by experiences gone by. Twas all too easy for Dad to let go of such things; partly based on the belief that Dad had evolved in the time and would therefore find alternate sources without too much hassle. Nope. That was the end of the chapter. The sight of Dads old Bass Amp gathering dust in the corner of the garage, covered in leaves and oily substances... it repped a grim evolution. Since - a modest practice amp hath been purchased: a feeling there was that sure - there is a point to uncoiling the stiff medium fingers and using them to vibrate the open drop D once more. Luckily - Dad still has a blend of sex appeal that'll work fine on a stage or suchlike; none of your life crises type shite going on here 🤘
***
So for sure - an injection of vigour Dads received - and as such, the desire to engage hath returned. The introverted and reserved Dad willnae depart for good sure... tis tough to imagine no having ones space to unwind in for several hours of each and every - but there is a spell there available for Dad to shoehorn in an activity or two. By proxy - Dad is hoping the increased level of serotonin to the relevant areas will ease the pressures on the brain and muscles and so on. the aches and pains of age have been a bug bear for a fair old spell now sure... for sure it has felt a battle to maintain Dads preferred ways of livin' (i.e. with a good handful of energy and intensity). As such - it's with a spooky sense of timing all of this shite has arrived... serendipitous dare one say. Raises an interesting point, despite the failings of DWT: is Dad being aided by higher powers, who believe him essential to the grand landscape of entertaining cunts and making them feel terrific? Probably. And for sure - that's enough. Just the chance Dad is helping save lives and draw goosebumps from the necks of several is enough to persevere and believe. Always the bigger moments are noted... those crossroads Dad reaches that always seem to send him down the correct road. No to say there isnae a happening or two that'd maybes have Dad thinking, 'Oops... one is on the wrong route,'... it's ne'er easiness and greasiness every step of the fucking way. But to arrive at the source of light you've been wandering towards for so long, is as rewarding a moment as one'll get. Stick to guns and you will find the purest of joy. Tis a shame there was a scar or two added along the way... but at least there's fodder for enthusiastic storytelling. Learn the value of experience good and bad, and eventually the good will consume most of e'thing. Come what may - Dad'll be ok 👍

II - THE FINANCIALS

------------------------

What can we say that hasnae recently been gushed afore... fucking SHITE. You work and you work and you fucking work on a Boat - and you arrive at the sort of assumption that maybes the fuckin g boat isnae worth maintaining... maybes it's best to just stick a rope round the wheel, point it towards the abyss, afore releasing the brakes and watching her slowly drift the fuck away. But of course no people: of course fucking no. Too much blood sweat and spunk has been splashed onto the various surfaces... to turn ones back now: Cannae. So we step aboard again, fire up all the usual pish to keep the cunt afloat - and we mosey on out. This time the harvest weill be fucking reaped 🙌. Probably. Reddit Running Total (RRT) currently sits at -£782.95. Ah no.

III - THE DWT STATISTIC COLLECTION

------------------------

Welcome to The DWT Statistic Collection 🙌
DWT Statistic #101
9 DWTs we've endured since the wonderfully winning warrior that was DWT138: in that time - we've seen an unbelievably shite 3 winning singles from a mind-boggling 27 picks. Win or fucking receive a slap the day by fuck - hoo mama.
See you next week, for yet another addition, to The DWT Statistic Collection 👍

IV - THE FUNDAMENTALS

------------------------

I'm not promoting it in the slightest to be put on; it's purely to be completely transparent about where the beans I'm spilling are being pushed towards – this is after all, a Life Experiment: Can a useless old arsehole prosper under strict weekly gambling conditions? Word of warning; prior to this – not really. The sticky clarifies - but just to reiterate - here's the format...DRS20 is Dads Recommended Spend: £20. This is a lot of money granted - and I would encourage absolute apprehension if this sort of money represents life altering for you personally if zero is returned. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to lose £20 in a week; but confess that if I got no return for say, 20 weeks in a row - I would likely be without something I value (a streaming service or summat). I don’t take it lightly. Four bets are placed with this outlay: a £5 Treble (DWT) and three £5 Doubles. Generally if two come up, the bet is covered (up or down £2 or so). As of DWT100 - we here at DWT now splash out an additional 15 bangers on the Singles. Regardless - DRS20 remains. I would NEVER recommend spending yet more on this if you have been a regular DRS20 utiliser... if owt - spend less 👍. My gambling prowess is pretty much a joke; so whilst I advertise, I in no way qualify them as a given. I’m a prick with plenty bollocks to spout is all. This is how I frame it.

IV - THE MAIN EVENT

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So here it is - the one that joins the more sensible world of reasonable odds and feels somewhat secure in the knowledge that for sure, 150 bangers or so (potential yield) is nowt to be sniffed at:

It's DWT148

https://i.redd.it/fyxyqo7uzupa1.gif

DWT REPRESENTATIVE Opponent Kick-Off Time Odds
PORTSMOUTH 🟢🟢🔴🔴🟢 port vale 🔴🟡🟢🔴🔴 15:00 GMT 23/20
CARLISLE UNITED🟡🟡🟢🟢🟢 gillingham 🟢🔴🟢🟡🟡 15:00 GMT 6/4
MANSFIELD TOWN 🟡🟡🔴🟢🔴 sutton united 🔴🟡🟢🟡🟢 15:00 GMT 11/10

10.29/1 we get for this selection – terrific 😎

Over 30’s last week; over 10's this week - a big, big fuck off drop down the prices sure... tis the nature of limited selections and all the rest - fucking internationals ✌️. But with the enforcement of less to choose from, comes a trio of heroes that dare I say it - looks a cert of sorts 🙌. Two at home - all three chasing prosperity of the purest... no manys a cunt would say 'All three'll lose' I reckon... other than purely for the reason it's me choosing them haha - hoo mama. But whilst nowts guaranteed, there's for sure a big slice of belief that comes in the surer waters of 10's... inspiration for the future? Let's see what fucking happens 🤙

DWT148 - The Doubles
DOUBLE TEAM A TEAM B Odds
A PORTSMOUTH CARLISLE UNITED 4.38/1
B PORTSMOUTH MANSFIELD TOWN 3.52/1
C CARLISLE UNITED MANSFIELD TOWN 4.25/1

VI - THE REASONINGS

------------------------

PORTSMOUTH begin the start of the expected new era of success - a team showing real signs of closing down on the cunts above and achieving the previously unthinkable and actually making it to the play-offs... would be some going sure - off the page 💪. Dad has mused oft about Pompey since the arrival of Mousinho, a cunt who has taken the rough talent he's surrounded by and turned them into a shiny smooth gemstone 😎. A home crowd to entertain the day... they'll be expecting clinical decisive action: Dad too by fuck - Dad fucking too 🤘
***
CARLISLE UNITED up next - currently enjoying a wondrous run of 6 unbeaten, conceding a piffling 1 goal in that stretch. A couple 0-0s most recently maybes slips a smidge of doubt in there... but with Bradford away and Stevenage at home - they werenae exactly dropping the fucking ball or owt. Needless to say - a trip to struggling Gillingham will more than likely re-open the floodgates... and there'll Dad be, waiting to gather up the high value notes when they fucking do 👍
***
MANSFIELD TOWN round things off - one of Dads Main Squeezes as regular viewers'll know ✌️. Stuttered a bitty they have in recent times alas... eager they'll be to hop back up into the hotseat and regain their composure. An opponent today who hover around where they themselves are in the table - sutton'll have eyes on the climb up to the Special Table Positions themselves sure. But to fuck with that - our hombres Mansfield are a titan at home much the time; beeswax as usual is on the agenda 👊

VII - THE EPILOGUE

------------------------

So there we have it – nostalgia, hope and determination all apparent in equal measure. This time we do it right; wind in the sails – and off across the ocean in search of new worlds. A powerful pirate ship hunting high and low for treasures. Raise the fucking flag - the Good Ship DWT is back and ready to provide for its crew. If you play; play safe. DRS20 as always people. Frustration at the amount won, is better than the heartache at the amount lost.
https://preview.redd.it/7gsbm8xnzupa1.jpg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=35e0cb1b7e205f37db476b3cffbc5be26fd5df6c
submitted by Dad1903 to DadsWeeklyTreble [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 10:56 secretgem77 Muslim suggest some advice?

Im upset with feeling low on my deen, especially during this time of the month Ramadan but I cannot help wondering some questions. If someone could guide me it would be helpful. In my opinion, I feel that women are always second in Islam, Adam sa was created first so does that mean that would be just here to please men? I feel that we alone are not enough generations we hear that baby girls are murdered because they are seemed as less than a man until Islam came to say this is wrong. Mothers are truly appreciated in Islam but I feel that we are not seen as a person alone. Only as wife, daughter or mother than we have some ranking. Do some men not see us as humans with personality. Do most just love us because of those titles?
We all know that the idea of polygamy in Islam is for men to provide for orphans, widows and the poor. So it is an exception not defult or biologically they are in need of more than one wife. So my question is why can’t women also provide for men who choose not to work or are not able to do so? Are men not able to be okay with polygamous? We know that it's human nature to feel jealousy just as the prophet Sa wife Ayesha ra did. Are some women only okay with it because of society?
I know there are roles for both men and women and procedures and rules. But as a woman sometimes my deen feels weak because I may feel that it's unfair. Sometimes it feels like we are just objects men always speak for women saying we are okay with this or that. I feel that women are always taught to be obedient and just obey. With the right man, it would feel okay as we know he has huge responsibilities and will get punished if he disobeys Allah. but if the roles were reversed how would men feel?
We are all slaves to Allah. But girls we must obey, our parents then our husband and if he passes away our son has more power over us. We need his authority to leave the house travel so on. I really hope people don’t take this the wrong way I just want confirmation or feel contempt.
Divorce in sharia law a man can say divorce three times and then women have to obey. Men can marry another without the permission of the wife. How can men be that cruel not to care about our feelings. If it's written in nikah conditions then the wife is allowed to divorce straight away. After she has spent most of her life with him. Also, did Allah create men to be that obsessed with the desire for women’s bodies. I know some women who can lust over a man's hands or voice but mostly everything is awra for her because men can’t control themselves.
Lastly, this has broken my heart and I continuously cry but I can't seem to find an answer that I’m contempt with. There are many debates about "Hoor al ayeen" but we know that it exists. 72 pure virgins with the most beautiful eyes. I know your wife will be even better but thanks now I know that my man can also be with another one in dunya and akhira. it feels so hurtful that it never ends. The quran mentions breasts but men also have them so some say it's only women and some say it's both. But from a hadith that I have read the companion of the prophet Sa who died as a maytr on the battlefield. He had a wife in the dunya and still got hoor in Jannah. It leaves me feeling like are women objects of desire. its all we are seen as that's why we are covered up to protect us from getting men lusting. I also read which has helped my perspective that some men and women in the dunya don't have good spouses so they receive hoors. This makes sense but what about the ones that are happily married and do not desire it. Is it wrong to reject that gift of god? In the Quran it also says that the reward for women is unimaginable so it might not be hoors. However, we can ask whatever we wish for so if we want a spouse it's fine. But I do not want to share my partner in this life or the hereafter. Some say its like a reality a dream so even if he has in your reality he doesn't. Somehow still don't feel easy. Are we all just going to be wired to feel satisfaction which is why there's no jealousy there.
Did god really create women to be accepting or wanting of just one man while men can be with others. It's almost like our feelings don't matter or we shouldn't have them.
submitted by secretgem77 to MuslimGirlProblems [link] [comments]


2023.03.25 10:54 emonita iPad Wall Mount with Charger Holds the Device Securely While It is Charging!

iPad Wall Mount with Charger Holds the Device Securely While It is Charging!
With so many devices or gadgets we use these days to make life simple and effortless, we also need to know how we can make the best, safe and convenient use of those devices. Without knowing this, you might not be able to make the best and most use of these gadgets. Devices such as iPhone and iPad have become very vital part of our life. You can say that these devices have become our lifeline. Without these gadgets we cannot even think about a smooth regular life. When these devices are so important, why not use them in the best possible manner and why not make the most of them. These devices need to charge fully. To do this you might be using the regular charger coming to the market. But this time you need to do this work from a different perspective. And this is where using the iPad wall mount with charger can bring handy outcome for you.
iPad Wall Mount With Charger
This is going to be a wall mount charger and that means you can mount the iPad on the wall of your room and at the same time you can charge it. iPad is the device that can be used for a wide range of purposes. You can drag and drop the apps in the iPad and can use them easily and quickly. You can do the office works, you can do shopping and you can make or take calls with these devices. And when you are able to do all these works right before your eyes and in a very straight forward manner, this surely helps you achieve the best use of your gadget. The iPad wall mount with charger brings the same sort of chance for you.
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With the iPad flush wall mount, you are going to get some of the best and the most exciting features. This comes with several magnets that help to hold the device safely when you mount it on the wall and charge it. You can eject and dock the device on this wall mount charger in near about two seconds. And this surely makes the use of this charger more convenient.
One of the best things that you are going to get with the iPad wall mount with charger is that you can charge the device and can work with it at the same time. As the device stays flat with the wall, you can see and work on it easily. You can access the apps in your device easily and can work with them to accomplish a wide range of purposes.
submitted by emonita to u/emonita [link] [comments]