What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
   
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /ModCoord.
   
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
   
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
   

Further reading
https://www.reddit.com/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh0jf/dont_let_reddit_kill_3rd_party_apps/
https://www.reddit.com/apolloapp/comments/13ws4w3/had_a_call_with_reddit_to_discuss_pricing_bad/
https://old.reddit.com/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/
https://www.reddit.com/SubredditDrama/comments/1404hwj/mods_of_rblind_reveal_that_removing_3rd_party/
https://www.reddit.com/redditdev/comments/13wsiks/api_update_enterprise_level_tier_for_large_scale/jmolrhn/?context=3
edit: Open Letter regarding API pricing

Hello fellow redditors.
I run a small business (side hustle) where we sell car racing simulators for customers, price range $5-20k, now we're finally at the financial point where we can build our own demo simulator to show to potential customers before potentially purchasing one. What hit me with the idea is that this is a fantastic starting point to start renting out these for events, be it exhibitions, private parties, business demo days etc. Questions are the following 1, How do I reach my audience? Email, flyers and word of mouth is obvious, but what else is there? 2, If you (reader) were to rent one, what would you expect from me as a provider of this service? Be on time, be polite and nice to guests and generally just have it working is obvious, but is there expectations from you that I can't think of at the top of my head? 3, What's reasonable pricing? - Simulator will be valued at around $7-8000. 4, Should I do per hour, or per day? Maybe options say 3h or full day. 5, What unexpected expenses should I take into calculation? I have general wear and tear, transportation costs and possible damages in my head. We're carefully selecting what brands/gear we are using that we know can take a proper beating without having issues from experience. 6, I don't really have a target audience as of yet as I think there's quite a wide appeal for this, and I don't think putting up a target audience is the right thing to do before I've figured out what's good and what's bad. Opinions on this?
That's that, would love to hear some feedback from people in similar situations, rent gigs etc, as well as obviously general advice.

Hi, we the FFXVI moderation team has agreed to participate on the Reddit Blackout in protest against killing third party applications.

What is this about?

Reddit has recently announced an update regarding their API access those changes include incredibly high prices for Third Party Mobile Applications, and example of Apollo app reavealing for them to keep existing, they would have to pay $20 million USD/year to operate. And restricting NSFW and mature content only trough their official site.
These changes will be applied on July 1st, and will make all 3rd Party Applications completely unusable.
You can read more about the situation here:
Don't Let Reddit Kill 3rd Party Apps!
An open letter on the state of affairs regarding the API pricing and third party apps and how that will impact moderators and communities.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed.
What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join at ModCoord.
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.

We will still be available on discord for the hype and for the eventual demo release.
If you have any thoughts or worries, please do share trough the comments below. As we take your feedback greatly.
Thank you.
The FFXVI Mod Team.

This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /ModCoord.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
  

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at /ModCoord
  
• Make a sticky post showing your support, A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /ModCoord.
  

Thank you for your patience in the matter,
-Mod Team

Overview

As you may have heard, Reddit is making a change that will require payment to use the Reddit API. This is a big problem, and there is a protest in the works to fight against it.
If you don't know what an API is, a very broad explanation is that it is shortcuts used to talk between third-party software (apps) and a website or other computer system. So if my app wanted to know how many users were on this subreddit, the API might have my app use "QueryUserNumbers" on RedditDayOf. (This is over-simplified.)
Charging for API usage isn't uncommon; many sites do it. The problem is that Reddit's charges are outrageously high, high enough that the majority of third party software, especially third party apps (like Apollo, Boost, Reddit is Fun, Narwhal, and more) will have to shut down. The person who maintains Apollo says that Reddit's pricing would cost him $20 million US dollars a year. (By comparison, they say that for the same amount of traffic, Imgur charges about $166/year.)
Third party mobile apps meet needs that the Reddit native app does not. The native app's moderation tools are getting better but are still not effective. Many users find the third party apps make their Reddit experience better. For people with visual impairments, the Reddit native app on iOS is unusable. And so far, Reddit's official response has been, "We don't care."
But, you say, I don't use mobile apps to talk to Reddit! That's fine. But this is opening the doors for them to make further changes that will cut off important Reddit tools like Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) and Toolbox (a browser add-on for moderators that adds functionality) and possibly the end of old.reddit.
First they came for PushShift, which broke the ability to see removed & modified posts & comments and broke a mess of bots. Now they want to charge for the API at a rate that will put all third party apps out of business. Next? Let's not find out.

What to do about this?

There are a bunch of things we can do as a sub, and as an individual.

• You can sign an open letter to Reddit on /Save3rdPartyApps or /ModCoord.
  
• You can write a letter of protest to Reddit by sending Reddit mail to reddit or leaving a comment on relevant threads on /reddit. PLEASE STAY POLITE AND RESPECTFUL. Threats and rudeness is never as effective as polite and reasonable arguments.
  
• You can spread the word.
  
• /RedditDayOf can join a protest by making the sub private - unavailable - for 48 hours starting on June 12th. (June 11th topic will 'end' on June 14.)
  
• You can stay off Reddit for those same 48 hours, which will impact Reddit's traffic, which will in turn impact their ad revenue. Go visit some Reddit competitors.
  

Should this subreddit join the protest?

The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.
Let me know what you think. Please take the poll, and if you'd like to leave a comment or ask for further clarifications, feel free.
View Poll

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Gotta love Adams mom being an ace!
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Krill was mildly uncomfortable, and so was Sunny.
They had all been invited to what the humans described as a "black tie" event on mars, mostly for political delegations, rich sponsors, a couple of famous people, and the occasional member of the UNSC or the GA. Most of the GA reps were Rundi, since they tended to like this political sort of thing.
There was at least one Tesraki, who had made the executive decision to come, since he saw financial opportunity in getting to know some rich humans.
Sunny had been invited to stand in for the Drev counselor, who could not attend due to some issues back on Anum. Dr Krill and Dr. Katie had been invited to attend the event in case medical personnel were required for any reason.
Adam was the only one who had been invited for himself.
The black tie event had been sent by way of a physical letter which Adam had called, "Excessively pretentious." in a day and age where everything was sent electronically.
The fact they had managed to get a letter to him out in the middle of space in the first place was pretty impressive.
Sunny hadn't really known or cared what all of this meant, but Adam had been nervous and very serious about the dress code. Despite thinking the entire thing was pretentious, that didn't stop him from immediately sending away for his mother's help.
Sunny was, of course, encouraged to wear ceremonial formal armor to the event.
Krill was keeping very close track of this odd human behavior, constantly asking questions as Adam was preparing himself.
"Why don't you just wear a regular suit?"
"Because that would be a social faux pas."
"A what?"
He sighed,
"I don't know, it's french or something. I think it's a ballet term. It just means it would be a social screw up and people would totally judge me for it."
"They would judge you for wearing the wrong thing?"
Krill wondered curiously, Adam nodded,
"That is the point of these parties, and has been for the last two and a half thousand years. These parties are honestly just the biggest pissing contests where people try to out dress each other in subtle ways, and the old people who know what they are doing make fun of the new people for having no idea how to do it properly."
Krill looked interested,
"How fascinating. So, it is a way to show your status subtly?”
"Oh yes. Status is a big deal. It started to go out of style for a while, but this whole adherence to dress code has come back with a vengeance in the last few years. The fashion world has seen an upheaval in pretentiousness, and celebrities have been laughed out of parties for trying to be avant-garde."
"To be what?"
"Sorry, pretty sure that's also french too? It means new, interesting, or out of the ordinary usually to make a statement."
Sunny leaned in a little,
"And they expect an air force commander to know how to properly dress for black tie?"
"They don't, which is why they invited me. I am supposed to make others look good by looking bad myself. Of course, I also make them look good by being invited in the first place. Of course, joke's on them because I have a secret weapon on my side..."
He patted the front of his shirt,
"Thank you mother."
"I am now confused."
Adam waved a hand,
"Yeah, I know, It's pretty stupid…”
"I thought you recently decided that you like dressing up?"
The human turned in place a couple of times in front of the mirror, trying to get a better view of himself,
"Correction, I have always enjoyed dressing up – got that from my mom – what I don't enjoy is the pissing contest that comes along with it.”
"What is that?"
"Bow tie."
"You look like someone's Christmas present."
He adjusted the bow tie,
"Well than someone is getting a sexy as fuck Christmas present now aren't they?"
He said and winked at Sunny, while buttoning up the front of the 'waistcoat' and pulling on the jacket.
When he was done, the two aliens had to admit that he really did stand out, all in black, black pants, black tuxedo jacket, cuff links, black tie, black waistcoat, and a purple/blue carnation threaded through the buttonhole on the lapel.
His shoes were almost as reflective as the mirror behind him.
"How do I look?"
"Like a goofy idiot, but the suit wasn't going to change that."
He lifted a finger to flip Sunny off.
"Not very dapper of you."
Katie said from the doorway.
They looked up to see Katie, who had also commissioned a dress from Martha, and honestly made Adam look a little plain.
"Ready to go?”
"As ready as I will ever be."
[…]
Krill kept a shrewd eye on all the strange human protocols.
As far as dressing up went, Krill could immediately see who the “In-crowd” included. Most of those people understood the rules Adam had laid out for him, wearing the proper evening attire, where those not in the “in” wore clothing that approximated the rules, but missed them on several occasions.
The way the evening was set up was a little bit more like a “ball” as Adam described, being announced as they were walked in, and then ordered them to mingle with the crowd. Adam and Katie got a few glances from the “in-group” who seemed surprised that a simple ship captain would know anything about formal evening attire.
Sunny just found the entire thing hilarious.
All of this subtle dressing up to impress each other?
If Drev held balls, instead of dancing they would probably just beat each other to death.
But here, there were a lot of subtle clues and hints that went right over her and the Doctor's heads, while Adam seemed to know what he was doing.
As they walked in waiters offered Adam an alcoholic drink, while Krill received sugared water, and Sunny a rather strange tincture that was generally just water with plant flavoring... It was pretty good though, so she didn't complain.
They were met on arriving by the event coordinator, whose eyes opened wide when she saw Adam, pausing and holding out a hand.
Due to the conflated and rather twisted nature of black tie events in the future, Adam took the hand, and bowed a bit, lowering his head, a strange area between the less formal handshake and the more formal kiss on the hand, which was also not a thing in societies post WWIII
"Commander, I... you look..."
She trailed off, even to Sunny it was clear the woman hadn't expected him to know anything.
He smiled icily at her.
Krill leaned in in fascination.
This was one of the most intriguing parts of humanity. The polite way in which they were totally rude to each other.
"Well thank you. My mother has a Ph.D in the information age and a masters in historical fashion."
That shut the woman up and she politely dismissed herself, walking away with a straight back.
Adam smirked,
"Her dress isn't the right length for an evening event."
"I thought she coordinated the event?"
Sunny muttered,
"She couldn't coordinate herself out of a paper bag."
He winked at Sunny and Krill,
"You can't out-dress the son of a historical fashion expert. Simply not possible, my mother even used the correct materials."
He tugged lightly at his jacket.
Dr. Katie had disappeared on entry, leaving the three of them to wander about the room as Adam pointed out the other important people.
There were a few military commanders, Rundi, and the aforementioned Tesraki.
There were at least five major political leaders, and even larger handful of actors who had their hands in charities or political causes related to the event.
Adam was only halfway through his first drink, when he was waylaid by one of the younger actors.
Even Sunny could tell straight off that he was not dressed appropriately.
He had clearly tried very hard, but his efforts were in vain.
While everything looked alright from a distance, up close something was wrong about everything. The material of his jacket, the style of his shirt, the type of pants, the lapels on the coat, and even the patterned pocket square, which should have been a solid color but wasn't.
He was joined by another group of men, who then began some pretentious conversation about noticing how Adam was new to these sort of events. The way they spoke made it pretty clear they had no idea who he was or what the proper dress code was either.
Adam smiled and didn't say anything.
"And what do you do for a living?"
One of them asked,
"Simply an UNSC representative."
"Ah that explains a lot."
They glanced down at him with pointed looks.
The conversation continued. Sunny wondered why Adam didn't just shut them all up by telling them exactly who he was, but Krill had a theory that Adam was just playing with them as a human way to build up the moment so that he could socially crush them.
As humans do, their conversation wandered until it eventually moved around to the UNSC and other related topics.
One of the men nodded knowingly,
"I am somewhat knowledgeable on the subject myself."
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Are you?"
"Well yes, I have a brother in law who flies shuttles and planes for the UNSC. Tell me, what is your opinion on the D-4 class engine on a F-90 darkfire. I honestly think they are rather overpowered for what is being asked of them."
Adam frowned,
"The darkfire doesn't have a D-4 engine. That is a warp classification which-"
The man raised a hand,
"No no. I heard my brother in law talking about it. Personally, I think they should have just kept the jet engines they would have been plenty enough power to make it into orbit.”
The commander's face scrunched in confusion as he shook his head,
"No, it's a fusion engine, and the jet engine can't fly in the upper atmosphere because there is no lift-"
"Look, Adam, was that your name? I generally tend to know what I am talking about. The darkfire jet engines would have plenty of power to make it into atmosphere…"
"But it’s a jet engine which implies it is for a plane and not for a rocket-"
The guy cut him off again and continued to ramble onward about how he took some engineering classes in college and would know what he was talking about. Since Adam Joined the UNSC and didn't go to college, that he probably didn't know anything at all, or at least that is what they said in not so many words.
Sunny was getting a bit annoyed and would like to have squished the guy, but Adam just shook his head at her.
She stayed silent and grumpy as the other men continued to correct Adam on knowledge of his own favorite aircraft.
*"My brother owns a spaceship with a class E warp core.”
One of them boasted. Adam rolled his eyes,
"There is no such thing-"
"My brother owns the craft, I am pretty sure I know what I am talking about. It's one of the most powerful cores in the galaxy."
"Um, I don't think…"
"Yes, the E is more powerful than the A. A ship like the Harbinger or the Enterprise would only make it part of the way across the galaxy but the-"
He kept going.
Adam looked like he was dying, but why didn't he say anything?
It was just then that someone appeared from the crowd.
Sunny recognized a political figure they had met at GA summits on occasion.
He raised his glass and stepped into the group,
"Ah commander! I am glad to see you could make it."
The group of men glanced at each other in confusion.
Adam nodded,
"It's good to see you too counselor."
He motioned to the group,
”We were just having a fascinating discussion on warp engines."
"Oh yes?"
He turned to look at the men,
"Than I am sure the commander has also told you about his escapades as a darkfire pilot."
The satisfaction Sunny got from watching their faces was priceless, almost orgasmic.
She could tell from the look on Adam's face that he was feeling similarly,
"Well, no we had not made it to the subject…”
"I was just going to explain to them how the duel E 20 engine has both a jet engine and a fusion engine. The jet engine for flying in atmosphere and the Fusion engine for moving out of atmosphere considering that the jet engine is not powerful enough to lift the craft without air buoyancy."
Sunny was laughing on the inside.
"Ah yes. I seem to recall a discussion along those lines. Tell me commander, what about the Harbinger's engine is it a class A-1."
Adam nodded,
"Could potentially get you to the other side of the universe if you asked her. The classification system is A-D 1-4 on each, so my ship has one of the most powerful engines mankind has ever bothered to build."
He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the other men, who were beginning to slink away.
Sunny chirped in pleasure.
The rep nodded as they left,
"I heard the futility of your conversation from the other side of the room."
"Thanks for the help. I was dying inside."
The two men laughed and took their drinks.
Krill was very pleased with his examination on how humans subtly tried to one up each other with their dress and understanding of certain topics, though it seemed odd to him that someone would claim to be an expert when it was, in fact, their brother or brother in law who knew about the subject and not them.
But he supposed that was the social nature of humanity.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

The writer has made use of many techniques and devices to describe Ugwu's impressions of the city.
Firstly, the author has utilised hyperbolic verbs to describe Ugwu's impressions ofㅓㄷ the city. The author writes, 'too choked with expectation' , 'itched to lay his ch eek.' The use of verbs like 'choked' and 'itched' are used by the author to greatly exaggerate Ugwu’s emotions of ecstasy and excitement, they serve as a method of telling the reader that Ugwu has positive impressions of the city.
Secondly, the author has excluded conjunctions in the first part of the extract. 'Ugwu did not believe…the back of his neck.' The author excluding conjunction[s] creates the impression that Ugwu is so amazed by the city as asyndeton heightens pace and excitement.
Thirdly, the author has made use of parataxis to show Ugwu's positive impressions of the city. 'But he did not mind. He was prepared to walk more in even hotter sun.' The use of short sentences places emphasis on Ugwu’s shock of the conditions of the city.
Finally, the author has made use of similes to convey Ugwu's amazement. The author writes 'like polite well-dressed men' ; ' like tables wrapped with leaves.' The use of similes with positive connotations, 'well-dressed', conveys the idea that Ugwu only has positive thoughts about the city, [this is supported by an absence of information stating otherwise].
_____
0 4
Focus this part of your answer on the second part of the source, from line 20 to the end. A student said, ‘From the moment he arrives at Master’s compound, the writer portrays Ugwu’s feelings of pure excitement, but by the end it seems that he may be very disappointed.’
To what extent do you agree?
In your response, you could:
• consider your own impressions of Ugwu’s feelings
• evaluate how the writer describes Ugwu’s feelings by the end
• support your response with references to the text.
[20 marks]
One way the author has conveyed this impression is through the way they ended the story. At the end of this extract they wrote 'Ugwu stood by the door, waiting,' this contrasts to the previous 'choked with expectations.' In the end it seems Ugwu’s expectations were grossly inflated which may in the end lead to him becoming very disappointed.
On the other hand, there are moments where it is possible that Ugwu may have been emotionally neutral. The author has written quite vaguely, not allowing the reader to truly know whether Ugwu was disappointed or not, however, judging as Ugwu’s expectations are based off of his imagination and greeness, it is likely that he isn't disappointed but instead shocked and as a result putting on a more realistic mindset. Ugwu is constantly amazed, although, his master doesn't seem very welcoming 'faintly distracted expression,' 'oblivious that he had just asked people in.' It has little to no relation to his expectations, ' something sweet,' 'good fortune,' 'like a necklace,''never seen a room so wide.' Ugwu still only being amazed shows that he as a matter of fact isn't disappointed.
Another reason he may not be disappointed is because of the reason for his excitement. Ugwu is excited to to be in a place so different from where he is from ,'thatch roof,', the author has portrayed Ugwu as not excited for for the job or for the master, but, for the new experience, this is evident throughout the extract, 'the lawn glistened,' 'shaped like slender hills,' the use of similes being used to compare the setting places emphasis on the idea that it is not the master or the job that excites Ugwu, meaning that he can't be disappointed with for having a lackluster master[, or for something he doesn't seem very keen on in the first place].
It could also be said however, that Ugwu is disappointed. Whilst this isn't said or *noticed* in the extract it can be inferred from the extract. This inference could be made from Ugwu’s master's response to him which almost demeaned Ugwu, 'the child?,' 'remember something more important.' The use of the comparative 'more important' means that the Master doesn't view Ugwu as anything important, and so the reader infers that in response to that Ugwu feels depressed and slightly disappointed as things might not be as 'sweet' as he had previously thought.
In conclusion, I do agree with the student's statement as the sudden juxtaposition/change in mood has led me to believe that before he was cheery and after he was disappointed or melancholic.
​
---
Q2
If there are few moments in life that come as clear and as pure as ice, when the mountain breathed back at her, Zoe knew that she had trapped one such moment and that it could never be taken away. Everywhere was snow and silence. Snow and silence; the complete arrest of life; a rehearsal and a pre-echo of death. She pointed her skis down the hill. They looked like weird talons of brilliant red and gold in the powder snow as she waited, ready to swoop. I am alive. I am an eagle.
How does the writer use language here to describe Zoe’s feelings?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
The writer to describe Zoe’s feelings has made use of a variety of language devices and techniques. How the author has done so will be explored in this 8 mark question.
Firstly, the author has made use of a perspective switch to describe her feelings. The author writes 'she waited, ready to swoop. I am alive. I am an eagle.' The noun 'eagle' has connotations of of freedom and exhilaration. The author has switched the perspective to place emphasis on these connotations, saying that Zoe feels free and exhilarated,[additionally,] another way emphasis is placed on this is the switch to the first person perspective which personalises Zoe’s situation for the reader making it easy to understand that perhaps Zoe does feel free.
Secondly, the author has described Zoe’s feelings through the use of repetition. The author writes 'every where was snow and silence.' The repetition of 'snow' and 'silence' places emphasis on the idea that snow was all there was for her creating an impression of total serenity, making the reader think that Zoe is at total peace.
Lastly, the author has made use of parataxis and asyndeton. The author writes 'snow and silence; the complete arrest of life; a rehearsal.' The use of asyndeton and parataxis both create excitement and increase the pace of the story which may have been included by the author to replicate Zoe’s feelings, namely that of excitement.

Hello, and welcome to Music’s Biggest Night!
That’s right, it’s the GRAMMYs. The year is 1994 and our category is Best Alternative Music Album. We’ll be rating each of the five nominees on Indieheads, but before we get to the nominees, a quick word about rates.
Hey, quick question, what are rates?
Obviously, if you're familiar with the process, skip this. But if you're new, I'll explain so this doesn't seem like a wild block of text!
Rates are a subreddit game in which a user scores a group of songs on a scale from 1-10, with each individual also given a single 11 and a single 0 to be used exactly once per rate. They will then message their ballot to the rate host, who will tally up all the points and then reveal the final results over a weekend, eliminating songs one by one until the last track remaining wins the rate and bragging rights forever. While there's just a bit more to know, I feel this is the basics of what you'll need to understand what's going on. I do recommend this video made by our popheads brethren to get a fuller picture; while some of the info applies specifically to the way popheads do their rates, the overall format is similar.

Introduction

The GRAMMYs are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. The name derives from the trophy, which is shaped like an old-fashioned gramophone. The awards celebrate a variety of categories, but we’re going to be looking at Best Alternative Music Album or, as it was called at the time, Best Alternative Music Performance. The question of what “alternative” really means can be debated forever, but the original intent of this award was to celebrate non-mainstream rock albums which were heavily played on college radio. The category first appeared in 1991, so in 1994 the award is still pretty new.
And now, let’s meet our nominees!

Belly - Star

Belly are the act here that seem discussed least frequently on Indieheads, so I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of them. By the time of starting Belly, Tanya Donelly (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) had already been in two other classic indie rock bands. She was a co-founder of Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersch, contributing vocals and guitar for the band’s first decade, though she’d only get a handful of songs per album. Donelly would later start The Breeders with Pixies bassist and vocalist Kim Deal. The Breeders’ debut, Pod, featured Deal as the primary songwriter because existing record contracts prohibited the two from sharing primary writing credits. While they originally intended to alternate albums, Tanya had begun to form Belly by the time it was her turn to do a Breeders album. She recruited Fred Abong (bass) and brothers Tom (guitar) and Chris (drums) Gorman as they’d all known each other while going to high school in Rhode Island.
Belly co-produced most of their 1993 debut Star with Tracy Chisholm. Gil Norton, who’d previously produced Throwing Muses’ self-titled debut, produced four tracks, including singles "Gepetto," "Slow Dog," and "Feed the Tree." "Feed the Tree," one of the album’s highlights, would be the band’s highest charting hit, reaching 95th on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Modern Rock Chart. Star is an effective fusion of alternative rock with jangle pop, dream pop, "haunting" folk, and even some light country influences. At the 1994 GRAMMYs, Belly were also up for Best New Artist with Blind Melon, Digable Planets, and SWV, ultimately losing to R&B singer Toni Braxton. Belly released a sophomore album King in 1995 and Donelly released several solo albums before reuniting with the King lineup to release a third album in 2018. While Star may not have achieved the canonical stature of some of 1994’s other nominees, it is nevertheless a very enjoyable release from a strong songwriter who’d finally gotten the chance to make an album-length statement of her own.
Are Indieheads gonna feed the tree? Will this be an album to die for?
Tracklist:

1. Someone to Die For
2. Angel
3. Dusted
4. Every Word
5. Gepetto
6. Witch
7. Slow Dog
8. Low Red Moon
9. Feed The Tree
10. Full Moon, Empty Heart
11. White Belly
12. Untogether
13. Star
14. Sad Dress
15. Stay

Nirvana - In Utero If you were wondering where “Heart Shaped Box” was in the Guitar Hero Rate, well I’ve got a treat for you!
Kurt Cobain (vocals and guitar) and Krist Novoselic (bass) met while attending Aberdeen High School in the late 1980s. They shuffled through various names, ultimately deciding on Nirvana because Cobain wanted a name that sounded beautiful and nice instead of mean and raunchy. In their early years, they worked with several different drummers, recording 1989’s Sub Pop debut Bleach with Chad Channing on drums. Channing left the band as they worked on their follow-up to Bleach. Kurt and Krist met drummer Dave Grohl days after he’d moved to Seattle following the break up of his Washington DC band Scream. The addition of Dave solidified Nirvana’s classic lineup. The trio began seeking a major label to buy them out of their Sub Pop contract as they were dissatisfied with the label’s lack of promotion and distribution of their debut. They eventually signed with DGC Records per the recommendation of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Upon signing, they began work on their major label debut, Nevermind, with producer Butch Vig. 1991’s Nevermind was an unexpected success, bringing grunge and alternative rock to the mainstream and even surpassing Michael Jackson on the Billboard albums chart.
In the aftermath of Nevermind’s success, Cobain felt he needed to reclaim his punk ethic. Wanting to depart from Butch Vig’s slick production on Nevermind (don’t worry, we’ll still be hearing from Vig a little later), he sought to work with Steve Albini. Albini was pretty famous in the underground for his work as frontman for Big Black and various production work, including PJ Harvey’s Dry, which he sent a copy of to give Cobain an idea of the acoustics in his studio. Albini dismissed Nirvana as "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox" (more on R.E.M. soon!) but decided to work with them because he felt bad for them, recognizing them as "the same sort of people as all the small-fry bands I deal with." The band pushed for minimal label oversight and recorded In Utero fairly quickly, wrapping recording sessions in as little as 13 days. The album was noisier and more abrasive than Nevermind, resulting in much dispute between the band, Albini, and the label. Cobain sought to make the kind of record he’d enjoy owning as a fan and began having second thoughts about the sound when listening to it at home. The press picked up on conflict about the album’s sound. The band denied this and even DGC president David Geffen called Newsweek to explain they would release whatever Nirvana recorded. Behind the scenes, the band tried to fix the album’s sound in the mastering process, which Albini was strongly against, though he’d later supply an alternate mix for the album’s 20th anniversary re-release. R.E.M producer Scott Litt was brought on to remix “Heart Shaped Box” and “All Apologies” which were intended to be the album’s singles.
In Utero was released in September of 1993 following a low-key release strategy which released “Heart Shaped Box” as a promo-only single to various rock station formats but not Top 40. Walmart and K-Mart initially refused to stock the album due to its back cover and the title of the song “Rape Me.” (A content note on that song, while it is interpreted as commentary on the invasive music press, it was intended to be a lyrically literal anti-rape song from the perspective of a victim. As this is a rate, you can score this song however you see fit, but I hope it goes without saying that everyone should please be respectful of this subject matter in their comments.) Despite In Utero’s abrasive sound and reduced mainstream promotion, the album still debuted at number one on the Billboard album charts and was well-received by critics. The music often hits harder and faster than Nevermind, containing more of the “punk” feel that Cobain was aiming for compared to the grunge of Nevermind and the band’s Seattle contemporaries. Check out this MTV clip if you’d like to see how college students in 1993 received this one. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwhwy7S4qA) The band toured America shortly after In Utero came out and embarked on a European tour that was cut short as Cobain suffered from a drug overdose. A couple weeks later, Cobain died by suicide. As with the subject matter of “Rape Me,” I want to request that everyone is respectful of this in their comments, I will ask for edits (or omit comments myself) if they are inappropriate. Despite the tragic ending, Nirvana is still seen as one of American and alternative rock’s most important bands and In Utero remains highly regarded to this day.
Will our comments be all apologies? Are the results of this rate gonna be, uhhh, dumb?
Tracklist Serve the Servants Scentless Apprentice Heart-Shaped Box Rape Me Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle Dumb Very Ape Milk It Pennyroyal Tea Radio Friendly Unit Shifter Tourette’s All Apologies
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People If there’s a band who can rival Nirvana’s stature in the American rock canon, it’s gotta be R.E.M. They are often cited as one of the first “alternative” rock bands and were important for the college radio format. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980, Michael Stipe (vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass), and Bill Berry (drums) released 5 albums with independent label I.R.S. Records, evolving from a jangle rock sound on their early albums to a louder, more anthemic sound on their final record for the label, Document. After “The One I Love” became their first mainstream hit, the band signed to Warner Brothers, kicking off a second act that resulted in yet another 5 album run of great music.
At the start of the 90s, R.E.M. opted out of touring and became a studio band. The band recorded demos for the songs “Drive,” “Try Not to Breathe,” and “Nightswimming” at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios while mixing their 1991 album, Out of Time. Out of Time was a huge success, arriving as alternative rock was becoming mainstream. It spawned the massive single “Losing My Religion” and even ended up winning the GRAMMY award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1992. After concluding some promotional duties in early 1991, the band returned to the studio to continue work on what would eventually become Automatic for the People. This would be the fourth of six records the band would produce with Litt. The band traded off instruments in the studio, with Buck playing the mandolin famously featured on “Losing My Religion,” Mills playing piano or organ, and Berry playing bass. Their initial attempts to make a harder rocking follow-up did not pan out, as the band found they were writing better without drums. The material began to take on a more melancholic tone. The lush orchestration of Out of Time is rendered in a somber greyscale, with arrangements contributed by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Lyrically, the album muses on loss and mourning, prompting rumors that recently balding Michael Stipe was dying of cancer or AIDs. Luckily, he was not but that is the lens through which some critics and listeners received this work. The album also finds room for political commentary, most noticeably in “Ignoreland” which pushes against Republican politics of the time, but also in opener “Drive” which calls back to the group’s work with the Rock to Vote movement, for which they added a petition on the longbox packaging of Out of Time.
Automatic for the People released on October 5, 1992 (gotta love the GRAMMYs odd eligibility window) debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200. Unlike its predecessor, it never quite reached the top spot, thanks to Garth Brooks. Six of the album’s 12 tracks were released as singles including “Drive,” “Everybody Hurts” which has unfortunately been watered down through years of ironic use in comedies, the cryptic, Andy Kaufman referencing “Man on the Moon,” and “Nightswimming,” an emotional piano ballad that has become a fan favorite. The album was critically acclaimed upon release and, while perhaps not as fun as something like Murmur, this nocturnal bummer is regarded by many as one of the band’s masterpieces.
Will everybody hurt? Are R.E.M. going to get a raw deal?
Tracklist: Drive Try Not to Breathe The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite Everybody Hurts New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 Sweetness Follows Monty Got a Raw Deal Ignoreland Star Me Kitten Man on the Moon Nightswimming Find the River
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins formed in 1988 when Billy Corgan (vocals and guitar, he prefers William Patrick Corgan now though) met James Iha (guitar) while working at a record store in Chicago, Illinois. They performed as a duo with a drum machine, eventually adding bassist D’arcy Wretzky after meeting her at a show by the Dan Reed Network. Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was recommended by a friend of Corgan’s after the trio were booked to perform at Cabaret Metro under the condition that they’d play with a live drummer instead of their drum machine. With Chamberlain on board, the band’s classic lineup had been formed and their sound began to shift in a harder rock direction.
Siamese Dream, the group’s 1993 sophomore album, expands on their 1991 debut Gish in every possible way. The band switched from Virgin subsidiary Caroline Records to Virgin itself. Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s massive Nevermind right after finishing work on Gish, returned to produce the follow-up. Where Gish’s $20,000 budget and month of recording time was “unprecedented” for Vig, Corgan and Vig spent four months on Siamese Dream and went $250,000 over budget. This is what happens when you let Billy overdub everyone else’s guitar and bass parts (something the rest of the band wasn’t particularly happy about) to get as many as 100 guitar parts compressed into one song.
The meticulous studio process paid off, as Siamese Dream was a bigger hit than Gish (peaking at 10 on the Billboard 200.) The band’s influences from metal, dreampop, and shoegaze give the album a layered and unique sound compared to the grungier alternative music of the time. Singles “Cherub Rock” and “Today” have been featured in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band videogame series. While never released as a single, “Mayonaise” has become a fan favorite and won a Rolling Stone poll for best Pumpkins song, beating out singles from Siamese Dream and the band’s follow-up double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Judging from some early discussion since this rate was announced, some of you seem pretty excited to rate “Mayonnaise.” While Mellon Collie took the band to the height of their popularity, Siamese Dream is often regarded as their masterpiece and one of the best rock albums of the 90s.
Will we be sweet sweet to the Pumpkins? The rater in me is the rater in you, I’ll send this ballot over to you
Tracklist: Cherub Rock Quiet Today Hummer Rocket Disarm Soma Geek U.S.A. Mayonaise Spaceboy Silverfuck Sweet Sweet Luna
U2 - Zooropa Formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1976, U2 (Bono on vocals, The Edge on guitar, Adam Clayton on bass, and Larry Mullen Jr. on drums) have become the top-selling Irish musical act of all-time, with an estimated 170+ million records sold. Across the 80s, U2 evolved their early post-punk sound to the anthemic rock of The Joshua Tree. While touring America for that album, the band recorded Rattle and Hum, a hybrid live/studio record (and accompanying concert film) which documented the tour and the group’s fascination with American roots music. Despite the album’s commercial success, most consider it a misguided failure. Even Bono admitted at their final show for the album’s Lovetown Tour that “we have to go away and dream it all up again.”
1993’s Zooropa catches U2 at their most adventurous. 1991’s Acthung Baby and its subsequent Zoo TV tour rebranded the band for the new decade. While they continued working with Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, they updated their sound with influences from electronic, dance, and industrial music. On stage, they dabbled in irony to counter the sincerity of their 80s output with Bono playing characters such as The Fly and Macphisto. Emboldened by the critical and commercial success of this album and tour, they began working on a promotional EP during a break between Zoo TV tour legs. Despite working quickly in the studio, this EP expanded into a full-length album, requiring the band to travel between concerts and the studio in Dublin to finish working on the album during the first month of the “Zooropa” leg.
Zooropa finally arrived in July of 1993 and it shows the band doubling down on their early 90s ideas. The sound of the album, built from loops of soundcheck jamming and leftover sketches from Achtung Baby, ventures even further from traditional rock instrumentation and songwriting, bolstered by production from Brian Eno, Flood (moving from an engineering to production role), and The Edge, credited as a producer for his first time. The fragmented nature of the album’s production is reflected in the eclectic tracklist which bounces between the multi-movement art-rock of the title track, dancefloor fillers like “Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car,” and ballads like “For the First Time” and “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” Unique vocal choices like The Edge’s spoken-word rapping on lead-single “Numb,” Bono’s falsetto on “Lemon,” and a Johnny Cash feature on closer “The Wanderer” help the album feel more varied than U2’s previous material. The album’s lyrics often examine Zoo TV’s concepts of “sensory overload” and technology more explicitly than Achtung Baby.
While U2 are reluctant to acknowledge Zooropa now (likely influenced by the failure of 1997’s Pop, a rushed, mixed bag of an album that stretched audience’s tolerance for 90s U2’s tendency toward electronic music and irony to a Rattle and Hum-like breaking point) the album was successful when it came out. Zooropa debuted at number one in several countries and finished ninth on 1993’s Pazz and Jop poll. It would also go on to win this GRAMMY award for Best Alternative Music album, with Bono shrugging on stage, shouting out Smashing Pumpkins, and promising to “the young people of America” that they will “continue to abuse our position and fuck up the mainstream” in his acceptance speech. (https://youtu.be/-DNXfFy8Ido?t=69)
Will U2 stay the champions in our rate or will they be faraway so close to the top?
Tracklist: Zooropa Babyface Numb Lemon Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car Some Days Are Better Than Others The First Time Dirty Day The Wanderer
Bonus Rate Since this rate is 5 albums instead of the usual 4, a bonus rate has been omitted.

Hi,
I just wanted to make it clear this may or may be a friend asking, not looking for legal advice, and already have a lawyer but wanted to get some outside perspective.
What are prosecutors and judges looking for when a serious crime has been charged?
If this someone was a first time offender at all, with a good academic background in high school, college, proactive in clubs and volunteering and is about to enter a graduate program, but made a stupid mistake that they regret, not only for themselves but for putting this burden on their family, how might a prosecutor and judge view this? (No one was hurt or killed).
Mitigation is not a get out of jail card but curious on how much of a role does it play, or how close can it get to getting a "second chance".
It'll depend on who the Prosecutor and Judge is right?, but a lot of lawyers that looked at this have been saying the Judge is a really fair judge who isn't slanted one way or another politically but not sure what that means ultimately?

This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /ModCoord.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
  

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at /ModCoord
  
• Make a sticky post showing your support, A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /ModCoord.
  

Thank you for your patience in the matter,
-Mod Team

Don’t let Reddit kill 3rd Party Apps!

What’s going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you’re not a mobile user and don’t use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn’t only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What’s the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn’t the goal, and it isn’t the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they’ve broken, we’ll use the community and buzz we’ve built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /ModCoord.
3. Boycott and spread the word…to Reddit’s competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
4. Don’t be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.

Head's up: June 12th protest of Reddit's API changes.

This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /ModCoord.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
  

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at /ModCoord
  
• Make a sticky post showing your support, A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /ModCoord.
  

Thank you for your patience in the matter,
-Mod Team

Order, Order.
We turn now to a Stage 1 Debate on SB229 in the name of the Scottish National Party. The question is that this Parliament approves the general principles of the Digital Library Service (Scotland) Bill

Digital Library Service (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to establish a Scottish Digital Library Service; and for connected purposes.
Section 1: Scottish Digital Library Service
(1) There shall exist a body called the Scottish Digital Library Service, in this Act called "the Service".
(2) The purpose of the Service is to—

(a) promote the digitisation of applicable works by Scottish libraries;
(b) assist libraries with this digitisation; and
(c) make digitised copies of applicable works available to the Scottish public.

(3) The Service shall consist of the Chairperson and a number of other members not exceeding 8.
(4) The Chairperson shall be appointed by the Cabinet Secretary and the other members of the Service shall be appointed by the Chairperson.
Section 2: Digitisation of library contents
(1) In this Act "applicable work" means any work to which the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 applies.

(a) However, "applicable work" does not include any work which cannot be digitised or which would be damaged by the process of digitisation, even if the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 would apply to that work.

(2) By 1st January 2025 libraries must ensure that at least 50% of applicable works are available in a digital format.
(3) By 1st January 2030 libraries must ensure that all applicable works are available in a digital format.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to the National Library of Scotland.
(5) By 1st January 2030 the National Library of Scotland must ensure that at least 50% of applicable works are available in a digital format.
(6) By 1st January 2040 the National Library of Scotland must ensure that at least all applicable works are available in a digital format.
(7) The Service must assist libraries in digitisation by providing—

(a) equipment,
(b) expertise, and
(c) funding

to libraries where necessary.
Section 3: Unification of digital collections
(1) The Service must maintain a website on which Scottish people can access works held by libraries that have been digitised.
(2) The Service must create an app to allow access to digitised works from mobile devices.
(3) Libraries must provide copies of their digitised works to the Service to be added to its website and app.
Section 4: Consequential
(1) Section 5(1) of the Heritage Expansion (Scotland) Bill is amended to read—

(1) This Act may be cited as the National Museums Scotland & National Library of Scotland Expansion (Scotland) Act 2022.

(2) Section 3(2) of the National Museums Scotland & National Library of Scotland Expansion (Scotland) Act 2022 is repealed.
Section 5: Commencement
This Act enters into force on the day six months after it passes.
** Section 6: Short title**
This Act may be cited as the Digital Library Service (Scotland) Act 2023.
This bill was written by the Rt. Hon. Dame Faelif CB GBE PC MP MLA MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Culture, on behalf of the Scottish National Party. It is inspired by the National Digital Library Service Bill.
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003
National Museums Scotland & National Library of Scotland Expansion (Scotland) Act 2022
Opening Speech by Faelif:
[Leas-]Oifigear-Riaghlaidh,
Over the last few years it has become increasingly obvious that more and more Scottish people are relying on digital access to public services. Be it remote working, food delivery apps or video calls, more and more is being done over the Internet rather than in person. But libraries haven’t kept up - to take out a book one must still physically go to a library and literally speaking take out the book. The technology is there to enable online access - all it really requires is a website and a photocopier, in most cases - but this simply hasn’t yet happened.
Inspired by similar efforts in England, this Bill would require public libraries to put digitisation procedures in place, and sets out a timescale for this to occur. There’s a different timescale for the National Library of Scotland due to the size of the task, though it is my belief that this remains eminently possible - it just gives more leeway to the Library due to its holding significantly more stock than the average public library. It also creates the Scottish Digital Library Service to coordinate these efforts and provide a single unified website and app for Scots to access library books.
Oifigear-Riaghlaidh, I hope this is a measure that Members of all political persuasions can get behind - the free and unfettered access to information is an incredibly important part of building a fairer society.
Debate on this bill will end at the close of business on 7th June at 10pm BST.

Five keen and talented people are needed for a variety of roles in the federal party, ranging from membership and supporter work to finance and judging appeals.
Even if you're not looking for a new or additional role in the party, please do take a read as you may well know someone else who would be worth you sharing this information with and encouraging to apply.
Details are up on the party website for:
Federal People Development Committee (FPDC) - this is the committee which oversees our membership work and other related activities - https://www.libdems.org.uk/work-for-us/vacancy/volunteer-role-federal-audit-and-scrutiny-committee-members
Federal Finance and Resources Committee (FFRC) - this is the committee which oversees our finances - https://www.libdems.org.uk/work-for-us/vacancy/volunteer-role-federal-finance-and-resources-committee-members Federal Audit and Scrutiny Committee (FASC) - two posts are being filled on this committee, which deals with tasks such as internal audit work and our risk register - https://www.libdems.org.uk/work-for-us/vacancy/volunteer-role-federal-audit-and-scrutiny-committee-members
Federal Appeals Panel (FAP) - this is the body that rules on issues such as how to interpret the federal constitution - https://www.libdems.org.uk/work-for-us/vacancy/volunteer-role-federal-appeals-panel-member
Although all the posts require a strong commitment to the party's values and success, that doesn't mean you have to have had lots of party experience. They are all roles where there is plenty of experience outside the party that could be very relevant.
The closing dates are later this month and the Board hopes to make decisions on them in July. The Federal Appeals Panel post (only) will then also be subject to a confirmation vote at our September federal party conference.
(Please note: there are some important differences in the rules over who can stand for each post and how you apply, so it's best to take care to check the relevant advert specifically.)

[This is a translated excerpt from Clemens Traub’s “Future for Fridays?”. It’s a reflection about his time as an activist in “Fridays for Future” – the German branch of “School Strike for Climate”. The specific problems of western environmentalism adressed therein is germane to the issue of dysfunctional leftism often discussed on stupidpol and as far as I can tell nothing of this unique to Germany. The book is from 2020 and by now the movement “Fridays for Future” basically defunct. Meanwhile, the preferred tactic of current activists is it to glue themselves on main roads during rush hour. This protest method obviously affects working class people most, who usually have to physically show up at work (and often have to use cars to do so), and is less disruptive for the WFH email caste. The result of this is, surprisingly, a staggering 80+% disapproval rating for the climate organization “Last Generation” which is doing this.]
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I know the typical milieu of most “Fridays for Future” protesters well. In a way, it's my own and that of my current circle of friends: metropolitan, left-liberal, hip. A space for the daughters of doctors to meet the sons of lawyers. Gin tasting and discussions about plastic-free shopping and zero waste are equally high on the agenda. Veganism is as much part of the unspoken code of being trendy as frequenting second-hand shops. And the organic grocery store around the corner naturally enhances the location of your own home.
The offspring of the professional class keep to themselves. Does the climate movement represent a cross-section of society? Not even close! Fridays for Future is the rebellion of the privileged, and the movement offers them the perfect opportunity to flaunt their own cosmopolitan lifestyle and talent.
Many of my climate-concerned friends are questioning whether the social background of the demonstrators matters at all. Isn't that absolutely unimportant? The main thing, they are convinced, is that the earth is saved. It doesn't matter by whom. The population has been silent for long enough, and now it is finally time to stand up.
I admit that the consistency of this chain of thought was extremely appealing to me and that using social origin as an argument against a group is of course nonsensical. The outlined combative spirit also enthralled me at first. At the beginning of my participation in "Fridays for Future", saving the world was the only thing that counted for me. It didn’t matter who stood by my side. And it still wouldn’t matter for me today.
But what matters to me is the behavior and reasoning of the people protesting with me. And here the circle closes, because the social background reveals more about the movement than the demonstrators would like to admit.
In fact, I take the view that the exclusive social background of the young protesters is the actual birth defect of "Fridays for Future". But because the movement was far too homogeneous, far too elitist and correspondingly far too aloof right from the start, its members remained oblivious to it. Ultimately, only those who are doing well in material terms have the time and leisure to consider climate protection as the most important and also the only political issue of our time and to subordinate everything else to it.
Located in its ivory tower, the movement doesn't even notice that its criticism is leveled at the lifestyle of many economically disadvantaged people, who for financial reasons do not always have a choice. They are denounced as climate sinners because they don't shop in health food stores but at discounters. It never occurs to the demonstrators that there are people whose worries about ever-increasing electricity bills and rental charges make a discussion about forgoing air travel irrelevant from the outset.
And how could they? In their sheltered world, all of that is very far away. But that is exactly what makes the movement a risk, because it jeopardizes the already fragile cohesion of our society. For a large part of the population, however, other, more pressing everyday concerns prevail. For those who are afraid of being affected by job cuts in view of the announcements by the industry, the slashing and burning of tropical rain forest is currently of secondary importance.
Likewise, the extinction of exotic animal species is very far away for someone who worries every day about their tenuous retirement arrangements. That doesn't mean that everyday worries should completely obscure the problems of climate change, but it does explain why climate change is not the first priority for people with existential concerns.
It also explains why measures to save the climate must take economic concerns into account. And it explains why more and more people are wondering whether protesters will finally also take to the streets to deal with their everyday distress: lack affordable housing, declining pensions... plenty of issues exist.
The entire political discourse, both between the parties and outside of parliament, on the street, completely ignores the reality of life for many people in Germany! And I can well imagine that that's not a good feeling for many. The public discussions, which are often far removed from everyday life, exclude less privileged people. The result: we are all sitting on a social powder keg.
I don't originally hail from this metropolitan milieu, but grew up in a region that is often dismissed as "rural backwater". Publications such as "Landlust" and "Landleben" [trendy magazines promoting life in the country side] fulfill the longing of city dwellers for pure nature, but this dream only seems to apply to those people who consciously decide to have a weekend house in the forest. However, anyone who grew up in a rural environment will hardly benefit from this.
My parents live in the Palatinate. I grew up there too. My heart clings to the region, it is scenically beautiful with rows of wine-growing villages. But for an urbanite in pursuit of self-actualization it has to be the worst nightmare. In case your are unfamiliar with Palatinate’s culture: Schlachtfest instead of whiskey tasting. Very few apartments are actually furnished in this “country style” featured in the magazines. My home village isn’t shooting location for documentaries about gentrification. Maybe a camera team will get lost in one of our many hamlets at a Saumagen-centered village festival. But that would be pretty rare.
Drowsy villages provide the perfect backdrop while growing up. An ideal, idyllic world. But the older I got, the more I was drawn to the big city. I longed for a place that was more vibrant than the Palatinate and which could offer me more adventures and opportunities on the way to adulthood. Precisely this big, wide world I longed for. And I today I indeed enjoy its advantages. Whenever I drive home today, I have a feeling that two worlds that don't really have much to do with each other are colliding.
Shortly after attending my first Fridays for Future rallies, I paid another visit to my old homeland – these are becoming less and less frequent. When I enthusiastically told my acquaintances there about my experiences at the recent "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, I quickly realized how little they were interested. Out of pure friendship and politeness, they listened to me with half an ear.
I was quite surprised by that. What was the most hotly debated topic of recent weeks in my university town was met with absolute indifference among my old school friends here. They were more interested in the last day of the Bundesliga match or their last Tinder date than in the great climate revolution.
To be honest, I was initially disappointed and then increasingly angry at this lack of interest. While we young people in the big cities are trying to save our planet, the people in my home village are letting us down, I thought. Don't they understand that they too only have one planet at their disposal, just like us from "Fridays for Future"? Luckily, out of politeness, I kept those thoughts to myself.
In the days that followed, I started hearing disparaging comments about Fridays for Future with increasing frequency. In the eyes of my old friends, the movement was an "eco-sect", the self-promotion of big-city, left-wing weirdos. Someone called Greta Thunberg a "deranged menace". In addition to insults, they appeared to become increasingly bothered by the patronizing demeanor of many Fridays for Future protesters, who seem to perceive ICE-car drivers and meat eaters as second-class citizens.
The more often this happened, the deeper the wedge was driven between my current city life and my origins in my home village in the Palatinate. Between my old and my new world. For the first time in my life, I was just happy when I was able to drive back to the big city: finally the ideal world again, even if it was on the verge of collapse.
Ever since that visit, I've been quite hypersensitive whenever my enthusiasm for "Fridays for Future" wasn't shared 100 percent. In my eyes, there were simply only climate heroes on the one hand and climate sinners on the other. The absolute good or absolute bad – and nothing in between! It was only later that I realized how much I was already influenced by the “Fridays for Future” movement.
At first I could only offer my my old acquaintances reproaches. I accused them of being apolitical and uninformed about the world anyway. A mechanism of exclusion that is very common in "Fridays for Future", as I later realized. After all, at university I even mocked my old acquaintances as provincials, something I had always hated myself when my new metropolitan friends teased me about it.
But it was so much easier to just dismiss them as uninformed "provincials" than to argue with them and take them seriously. I didn't ask why my friends from my old home country saw "Fridays for Future" as arrogant or aloof, I didn't care at the time. Possible self-doubts could not arise in the first place.
I didn't anticipate, that this would actually fiercely play up in me over the coming weeks! I thought more and more about the experiences in my home country. It just wouldn't let me go. Where does the rejection of “Fridays for Future” come from, I asked myself. Where does the indifference in the face of urgent global climate problems come from? How could it be that my friends didn't see those and that they didn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation? I looked for answers but couldn't find any.
For several weeks, every Friday, there was no longer any plastic dishware in the university cafeteria. This gesture, following the "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, was intended to set an example for environmental protection. What should have caused storms of enthusiasm in theory, however, meant a very special kind of chaos in practice: balancing a piece of raspberry cake on your bare hand without a plate is more difficult than it might sound. Once the first piece of cake hit the floor, a discussion about the plastic boycott quickly broke out in the canteen.
It immediately turned out that the cashiers could only laugh at what they considered to be an idiotic ban on plastic. Their statements shocked many of my fellow students, who are big "FfF" fans. Instead of relaxed humorous small talk, my fellow students reacted with deadly seriousness. In the heat of the moment, the cashiers were even treated with extremely condescending insults. I will never forget how my fellow students lost all human decency that day in the supposed fight for climate protection. For the first time I noticed how fanatical and arrogant many of my "FfF" acquaintances had long since become.
After that event, something actually changed in me. But I didn't want to admit it to myself at first. But the more often I demonstrated at "Fridays for Future", the more alien the movement became to me. Today I know: It took an event like the one in the university canteen or a stay in my old home country to open my eyes and to realize how important sincerely attempting to understand other realms of experience before applying crude labels to people. Due to its exclusionary megalomania, “Fridays for Future” is incapable of this realization. But only a person who approaches other people, takes them seriously and wants to understand their everyday lives will be listened to. Only those people can actually affect something. They might even, in the best case scenario, save our planet!
While "Fridays for Future" was unable to make inroads my home village’s community, the media was showed more interest. Interviews with activists became more and more frequent on television. The talk shows couldn't get enough of them. "Markus Lanz", "Anne Will" or "Hart aber Fair": All of them had at least one "FfF" activist to visit. The more I saw them there, the more their arrogant demeanor bothered me. I suddenly switched off people who I still saw as inspiring personalities a few months ago. They kept raising their index fingers admonishingly. Looking down from the ivory tower at anyone who disagreed.
Finger wagging was slowly but surely becoming the hallmark of the movement. Their image of the enemy was crystal clear. Their worldview is dangerously one-dimensional. My big city friends suddenly fought everyone they saw as being complicit in the misery of the world: the meat eaters, the plastic bag carriers, the ICE-car drivers, the short-haul fliers, the long-haul fliers, the cruise tourists, the farmers, and of course the evil SUV owners. But honestly, don't we all belong to one of these groups from time to time?
Once they suddenly started cursing anyone who accidentally commits a tiny climate sin, even if it's just incorrect sorting of trash, I felt like they were in the ultimate battle against the rest of humanity. Elitist hubris everywhere I looked. In their moral arrogance they were (and still are) completely unaware of how many "normal" people they alienated by doing so. My assessment that "Fridays for Future" is primarily a movement of socially privileged young people has now been backed up by corresponding figures. The Berlin “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” got to the bottom of the social composition of the climate movement. On March 15, 2019, it surveyed “Fridays for Future” protesters at rallies in Berlin and Bremen. The study was financed by the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen-affiliated "Heinrich Böll Foundation".
The study’s results were illuminating: More than 90 percent of those surveyed stated that they had at least completed their Abitur (or advanced technical college entrance qualification) or were currently striving to do so. An overwhelming majority of 90 percent! Not even 1 percent of the demonstrators attended secondary schools [which prepare pupils for non-academic vocational training]. Almost two-thirds of the students considered themselves to be in the upper-middle class. Even before that, I had no doubt that "Fridays for Future" is a movement of the affluent. But what I read in this study surpassed my estimated. "Fridays for Future" does not in any way represent a cross-section of society, as has often been claimed.
I was surprised how little the sobering result of the study was then discussed. Society had to be informed about the privileged background and the resulting aloofness of the young protesters. Doesn't this change the entire perspective on the defining social debate of the last few months?
The figureheads of the movement in particular all come from the “most bourgeois” background. For example, we have Luisa Neubauer, the best-known German "Fridays for Future" activist. She grew up in the relatively expensive Elbe suburb of Iserbrook in Hamburg. Everyone in Hamburg knows: Not exactly a residential area that is known for its social housing. She did her Abitur in Hamburg-Blankenese. It is Hamburg's villa district par excellence. Sightseeing buses now offer tours through the district to present the magnificent villas to curious tourists. She is a scholarship holder of the party-affiliated foundation Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and is also a member of the party. So nothing stands in the way of a career in politics, she says so herself. "I don't want to rule out a career in politics," she told Zeit Campus, for example. [Neubauer is, in fact, a scion of the oligarchical Reemtsma clan; so is her cousin, another figurehead of the movement]
It’s less a rebellion from below and more a case of perfect self-marketing. But now cracks do appear in this underdog stage production. Today Luisa Neubauer can only be reached via her management. Demonstrators as pop stars! And of course you can't just talk to them on the street when you're demonstrating together. At least not with “Fridays for Future”. Please, what a naive notion! Although there are also critics of the excessive portrayal of people within the "Fridays for Future" movement, there is no real change in sight.
In the meantime, the climate movement has become one thing in particular: a career springboard for ambitious young elites. "Fridays for Future" is the perfect stage to make a name for yourself. Many of the educated offspring of academics are of course aware of this. The more media attention, the more attractive it is to be in the front row. Supposedly idealistic activism can now be marketed very well.
But not only the figureheads like Luisa Neubauer want to get some of the public spotlight. More and more "Neubauer disciples" are trying their luck in the "Fridays for Future" profiling machine. There we have, to name just a few examples, Linus Steinmetz, Carla Reemtsma or Sebastian Grieme.
Getting an appearance on a talk show or at least being able to read your name in the newspaper - all of this can become an opportunity of a lifetime. Being in the front row not only feels incredibly good, it is also a kind of free ticket for later professional life. And as if that wasn't enough: A flood of new Instagram followers is of course also a fantastic side effect. With this in mind: full speed ahead!
Who could object? Everyone is looking for recognition. Doesn't everyone want to take advantage of the opportunities in their life? And finally, every society needs ambitious young people who will later enrich politics, business and culture.
At best, people who want to be the center of attention also bear responsibility for themselves and others. So far no problem, you might think at first.
But how will many people with limited financial resources feel when those rebels who constantly lash out at the lifestyles of others take advantage of it for themselves? While many citizens have to accept new climate costs in their everyday lives, they also experience how Luisa Neubauer is offered a position on the supervisory board at Siemens. In view of this, the suspicion of many people that climate activists are making careers at the expense of other citizens is all too understandable.
I have other concerns as well. In our time, the frustration with the elites is growing. The "enraged citizen phenomenon" has become one of the most discussed topics of this decade. Intellectuals around the world are concerned about the cause of this worrying development. Our society is currently experiencing a "rift" between two major population groups. In an anthology they edited, the political and social scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Ruud Koopmans and Michael Zürn differentiate between “cosmopolitans” and “communitarians”.
There are those who benefit from the future and are therefore relaxed about it. Above all, they see opportunities in it and view the globalization of our world with optimism. This group is referred to as cosmopolitans. But many people are also afraid of change. They believe that the future will not hold anything good and, potentially, only the ever-possible economic decline. Given the "opening" of the world, communitarians see the dangers in particular. They often have the feeling that they are not really noticed by society's elite.
The well-known distinction between “anywheres” and “somewheres” by the British journalist and author David Goodhart supports this finding. Goodhart distinguishes "anywheres" who are educated, wealthy and will feel at home in their circles around the world, and "somewheres". They belong to completely different social milieus and are relegated to a specific place where they work, live, have their friends and struggle to assert their status.
Most "Fridays for Future" activists know: the future belongs to them. Many have the classic biography of a cosmopolitan. Because of their social background, they were born with everything they needed to benefit from our system. Everything is just right: the appearance, the social environment and of course the education.
Although they face the end of the world as a constant threat, their future does not scare them. Why? The doors are wide open for them. They master the complicated rules of our individualized knowledge society very well. You will do your internship in Brussels and not in Bottrop. Better the EU Commission than retail, a sector without future anyway. And also: cultivate connections! Your English vocabulary is usually larger than German. Perfectly prepared for the future, come what may - because they are the elite of tomorrow. The dangerous thing about it: most of the demonstrators are not even aware of this.
The well-trained "Fridays for Future" activists prefer to see themselves as misunderstood outsiders in society. Being an outsider is what makes rebellion sexy. At the same time I say to myself: What must a socially disadvantaged person think when suddenly wealthy cosmopolitans like to play the role of the outsider! And they don't just like it the role. No, they are really putting effort into staging it.
The classic distribution of roles between "perpetrator" and "victim" in the social context is thus turned upside down in a negligent manner: no longer the single mother and multi-jobber is seen as a victim of the existing social conditions, but the climate-conscious scholarship holder who has to experience how the consumption of affordable meat endangers our environment.
But that's not all: instead of listening to the concerns of hard-working people, they blame them for their environmentally unfriendly diesel car, which they need for their daily commute to work.
Instead of considering questions of justice with "Fridays for Future", the movement reduced itself from the start to questions of lifestyle. In my circle of friends, too, the extinction of species is simply cooler than poverty in old age and the issue of gender is hipper than low basic pension.
Above all, the privileged know the social code of the new “morally good” life. The new green-bourgeois bearing regulates the friend-foe scheme of the climate debate. A mechanism of exclusion that often pushes fellow citizens who are already worse off even further aside. A good person has long been only someone who can show an ecologically sound certificate of good conduct. The existential feeling of many that they just have to somehow make ends meet does not exist in the living environment of the (upper) bourgeois offspring. In the climate debate of the last few months, worlds have collided that couldn't be more different. Worlds that are moving further and further apart.
----------------------------------
[The author doesn’t mention it, but the social milieu that makes up the bulk of the climate movement is also very fond of importing Anglo-inspired race discourse. Towards the end of its decline, they were increasingly caught in purity spirals. For example: should white musicians with dreadlocks be allowed to play during happenings?
The study from “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” also examined ethnicity of the protesters: they are predominantly of ethnic German stock, much more so than the average German citizen. Who could have known?]

I'm 18, and I knew I was queer since I was like 10, and through all these years I've had many phases of trying to convince myself I'm comfortable with being femme, but I'm really not, at least not in the conventinal femenine way.
I think I'm just very scared of being visibily queer, I'm scared of people looking at me once and being able to know I'm not cishet, I'm so fucking scared.
I now I should say fuck it and just be me and dress how I want, but I'm scared of standing out. I mean I already do, I've managed to be comfortable presenting more butch in my day to day life, and its undeniable that my classmates have categorized me as "the lesbian". And that's ok, i mean I know its ok and theres nothing wrong with being a lesbian (that's what I am), but I'm still scared of rejection and how other's percieve me (guess being bullied in the past for being masc contributes to that).
I'm graduating in a couple of weeks and there will be this big party, and this discomfort is making itself even more present, because this party will be very heteronormative. I know I could wear a dress and heels, but I know I woud feel very uncomfortable most of the time, because I only feel ok wearing more femenine clothing when I'm in queer spaces where Im seen as me and not a cis straight girl. So, I'll probably wear trousers and a dress shirt, and I'll either be seen as a lesbian or as a gay dude (I'm androgynous), but in both cases I'll stand out as the queer person in the straight party and I'm very scared.
I dont even know why im writing this, at this point I'm just rambling and its getting pretty incoherent. I guess I just need to know other people feel the same or have felt this way. My fear also comes from the fact that I feel exposed, like my visible queernes is on display for all judging eyes to see. I love being me but I'm scared of others knowing I'm me. I dont know if that makes sense, I know I'll have to grow and be stronger and less scared of people, because I'm only 18 and I have a whole life ahead of me, but right now im very scared. I love being queer but It just so scary sometimes.

I (F33) split from my husband 2 years ago (no kids). I also left the town we lived in and got a job in a big city, where I didn’t know anyone. It was frightening at first but is now going quite well. Until this.
At university I was good friends with ‘Joe’ who was on my course. He was into casual flings then and I was with my ex so we were just platonic friends. He came to my wedding but then we drifted apart soon after.
However he lives in this city and we work in a similar field and we reconnected ca 4 months ago. He has a partner ‘Cat’ who is now pregnant. She is great and they seem well suited. As someone new to the area, they took me under their wing and also introduced me to his brother and SIL, who have a wide social circle and lots of parties etc. It’s helped me meet people and settle in. I owe them a lot.
My main friend from uni is ‘Lauren’. She’s recently split from her long term partner, which she is finding hard. She also knew Joe from back then and they’d hooked up a few times but nothing came of it and they both moved on. I didn’t really think anything of it.
She’s just been down to stay with me for the weekend. Joe’s SIL arranged a barbecue and invited me. I said my friend was here and she was invited as well. SIL is very welcoming.
But Lauren didn’t behave well at all. She drank too much and started flirting quite openly with Joe, even in front of Cat. I tried to stop her and he initially tried to brush her off politely but she got worse, made a nasty comment about Cat’s figure and even made some references to when she had sex with him ca 10 years ago. Other things as well. It was awful.
I tried to get us to leave. She was refusing. Eventually Joe’s brother asked us to leave his house and we did. I was mortified.
She was belligerent on the way home and then pretty much passed out. This morning she was hungover but not really that apologetic. She felt that flirting is ok as nothing was actually going to happen and it probably made him feel good. I am sure it didn’t. She thinks I’m not supportive enough of her break up, which I thought I was. She accused me of being a judgmental AH. We had an argument, which we’ve never done before and she’s now left.
I’ve texted Joe, Cat and SIL to apologise but no response so far. They may just be busy but I’m paranoid that they’re ghosting me and that I just shouldn’t have taken her, knowing their history. I honestly didn’t think it was that big a deal though.
So they’re ignoring me (maybe?) and Lauren isn’t speaking to me. AITBF?

I (24M) usually celebrate my birthday at my dad's house because he has a separate room that I can use as a party space. He is friends with my friends and likes to have them around.
My parents are divorced but have a friendly relationship and see each other maybe once a week. However, my dad recently got a new girlfriend who visits him every other weekend or so. I neither like nor dislike her, and of course it's not my place to judge my dad's relationships, so I get along with her whenever I see her.
I'm planning on celebrating my birthday this Friday, and usually my mom prepares a cake, brings it to the party, sits down for a drink, and also chats with some of my friends. My dad mentioned today that his girlfriend wants to come over again this Friday, and I said I didn't want that and would rather change the venue then.
My mom doesn't know about my dad's new girlfriend and it's not his job to inform her of his relationship status every time. Still, it would be an unpleasant surprise for my mother and she would probably be diplomatic and leave as soon as possible. I pointed this out to my father, to which he replied, "I really don't care." I replied, "If you want to do me a favor, tell your girlfriend that she can come on Saturday, but not on Friday", to which he replied, "I won't be blackmailed by you and I'll have to think about it".
I wouldn't mind the girlfriend being there when I celebrate something with my friends because I respect his relationships and of course he is not obligated to let me have the separate room in his house for my birthday. However, I don't want to force my mother into such an unpleasant situation just because my father ignores her feelings and lacks tact. I don't think it's outrageous to ask my father to have her over a day later, although I can see that the way I worded my response might feel like I'm putting a gun to his head.
So what do you think, AITA, because I don't want my father's new girlfriend at my birthday party?

I (F33) split from my husband 2 years ago (no kids). I also left the town we lived in and got a job in a big city, where I didn’t know anyone. It was frightening at first but is now going quite well. Until this.
At university I was good friends with ‘Joe’ who was on my course. He was into casual flings then and I was with my ex so we were just platonic friends. He came to my wedding but then we drifted apart soon after.
However he lives in this city and we work in a similar field and we reconnected ca 4 months ago. He has a partner ‘Cat’ who is now pregnant. She is great and they seem well suited. As someone new to the area, they took me under their wing and also introduced me to his brother and SIL, who have a wide social circle and lots of parties etc. It’s helped me meet people and settle in. I owe them a lot.
My main friend from uni is ‘Lauren’. She’s recently split from her long term partner, which she is finding hard. She also knew Joe from back then and they’d hooked up a few times but nothing came of it and they both moved on. I didn’t really think anything of it.
She’s just been down to stay with me for the weekend. Joe’s SIL arranged a barbecue and invited me. I said my friend was here and she was invited as well. SIL is very welcoming.
But Lauren didn’t behave well at all. She drank too much and started flirting quite openly with Joe, even in front of Cat. I tried to stop her and he initially tried to brush her off politely but she got worse, made a nasty comment about Cat’s figure and even made some references to when she had sex with him ca 10 years ago. Other things as well. It was awful.
I tried to get us to leave. She was refusing. Eventually Joe’s brother asked us to leave his house and we did. I was mortified.
She was belligerent on the way home and then pretty much passed out. This morning she was hungover but not really that apologetic. She felt that flirting is ok as nothing was actually going to happen and it probably made him feel good. I am sure it didn’t. She thinks I’m not supportive enough of her break up, which I thought I was. She accused me of being a judgmental AH. We had an argument, which we’ve never done before and she’s now left.
I’ve texted Joe, Cat and SIL to apologise but no response so far. They may just be busy but I’m paranoid that they’re ghosting me and that I just shouldn’t have taken her, knowing their history. I honestly didn’t think it was that big a deal though.
So they’re ignoring me (maybe?) and Lauren isn’t speaking to me. AITA?

This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to Bacon Reader to Boost.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface .
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /ModCoord.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
  

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at /ModCoord
  
• Make a sticky post showing your support, A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /ModCoord.
  

Thank you for your patience in the matter,
kindle Mod Team