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Lest we forget that when Jaclyn Jose pulled off that surprise Cannes Best Actress win under George Miller's presidency, she won over the likes of Isabelle Huppert, Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche, Ruth Negga, Charlize Theron, Sonia Braga, Kim Min-hee, and Sandra Hüller. Queen!

750,522 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren •via X (Twitter)

9 Kommentare

Profilbild von hyperflax
hyperflaxvor 2 Jahren

Sino nga yung heavily predicted that time? Si Sandra ba? This was one of my proudest moments as a Filipino.

Profilbild von Nicol
Nicolvor 2 Jahren

Sonia Braga actually. Toni Erdmann was expected to pick up a bigger/more major prize that year.

Profilbild von Ana Mariano
Ana Marianovor 2 Jahren

Rest in Peace, Mary Jane. We were classmates in Interior Design in 1983, called my attention one day to point to me that our works were posted on a bulletin board side by side by our professor. A talent she may have never been called out for: she was good at drawing and rendering

Profilbild von Ranz fair thoughts
Ranz fair thoughtsvor 2 Jahren

Why too many good people leaving us early when lots of corrupt peoples in the government and in private sector continue to enjoy their questionable life...I cant understand life...but they always say...That's life....RIP mam Jacklyn...

Profilbild von the baddie of inisherin
the baddie of inisherinvor 2 Jahren

oscars will pay for snubbing her

Profilbild von Cords
Cordsvor 2 Jahren

what an achievement indeed

Profilbild von potatopleb🍟
potatopleb🍟vor 2 Jahren

amazing actress she was. she will be missed. Rest in God's eternal love miss Jacklyn Jose.

Profilbild von ♡♡♡♡ACE's YANNIE
♡♡♡♡ACE's YANNIEvor 2 Jahren

I cried again

Profilbild von vdc925@gmail.com
[email protected]vor 2 Jahren

Truly, pride and honor to our beloved country, the Philippines ... thank you Ms. Jacklyn Jose for sharing your GOD given talents that gave happiness and joy to the Filipinos. May your soul rest in peace and all your sins be forgiven, in Christ Jesus' name.

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DepressedBergman

364,295 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

[English Transcript: The Contract Between HYBE and Min Hee-jin] When Min Hee-jin left SM, Bang Si-hyuk really wanted to bring her into HYBE. He promised her several things: 1. Creative autonomy – “Do things your way. Build what you dream.” 2. A CEO position – “You’ll be the head of your own label.” 3. Equity – “You’ll get 15% of ADOR’s shares.” On top of that, HYBE promised a buyback clause, if she later chose to sell her shares, HYBE would buy them back at 13 times ADOR’s operating profit. That’s enormous. So, if ADOR earned 10 billion won, she could sell her shares for 13 times that, and get 15% of that amount, around 195 billion won. A massive deal. This clause is what’s called a put option, and it heavily favored Min Hee-jin. Naturally, she signed on, who wouldn’t? But here’s the hidden catch: the contract also included toxic clauses that limited her freedom. For example: - She couldn’t resign or make certain decisions without HYBE’s approval. - Most critically, if she caused any “damage” to HYBE, they could buy back her shares at face value (around 5,000 KRW per share), not the market or profit-based value. That word “damage” is dangerously vague... it could mean almost anything. This is the “slave clause” hidden inside the contract. The Fallout At first, things were fine... until NewJeans became too successful. Their huge profits meant HYBE would owe Min Hee-jin massive payouts under that 13x clause. Bang Si-hyuk started seeing her as a financial threat... someone who could cost HYBE hundreds of billions. Then came the infamous leaked meeting log between Min and ADOR’s deputy director, where they discussed how to gain independence from HYBE. Bang saw that as “betrayal,” an excuse to activate the “damage clause.” He moved to fire her. The Power Struggle HYBE tried to hold a shareholder meeting to remove her as CEO, but only the CEO (Min) could authorize such a meeting. So, HYBE went to court to request permission. Min’s lawyers at Sejong countered with an injunction to block the dismissal. The court sided with Min, ruling that the leaked meeting log didn’t prove betrayal and that HYBE couldn’t dismiss her before the end of her guaranteed 5-year term. Enraged, HYBE fired all of Min’s close associates in ADOR instead, isolating her. Then they took control of ADOR’s board and dismissed her through a directors’ resolution instead, which the court ruling couldn’t prevent. After that, HYBE filed a criminal complaint against Min for breach of duty (embezzlement/fraud). But the police ruled "no charges"... the case was dismissed. So HYBE lost twice... in civil and criminal proceedings. The PR War With the legal route failing, HYBE turned to public opinion. They pushed the “Min Hee-jin betrayed HYBE” narrative, hoping to erode her reputation and bargaining power. Fans got frustrated, saying, “Just stop fighting and release the NewJeans album!” But from Min’s perspective, HYBE asking her to “come back” was like an abusive partner saying, “I promise I’ve changed, come home.” She refused. The Money Fight Now the dispute is purely financial. Min Hee-jin is suing HYBE for 26 billion KRW (≈ $20M), claiming she fulfilled her contract and deserves payment under the 13x clause. HYBE argues she caused “damage,” so they’ll only pay 2.8 billion KRW (≈ $2M), the face value. So the question boils down to: Did Min Hee-jin betray HYBE or not? The courts and police both said “No.” So as a lawyer, if I had to bet, I’d bet on Min Hee-jin winning and getting her full payout. Why does HYBE keep fighting a losing battle? Pride. Ego. They’ve insisted for years that she “caused damage.” They can’t just hand over 26 billion won now and admit defeat. Also, they might hope that maybe, just maybe, Kim & Chang can pull off a miracle. But realistically, even they probably know they’ll lose.

1tokki

237,288 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten

You’re worried about Danielle and NewJeans, Right? Part 1 ( by soseolhee ( I’ve received an overwhelming number of DMs over the past couple of days saying the same thing... that people are really concerned. If I’m being completely honest, though, I actually feel a bit hopeful. On December 18, I attended the court hearing involving CEO Min Hee-jin. I took very detailed notes, about 27 pages of A4 paper, documenting nearly all of the questioning that took place during the trial. Toward the latter part of the hearing, the plaintiff suddenly shifted to questions that had nothing to do with the actual case. Instead, they began focusing on the parents of the NewJeans members. They asked things like whether Min Hee-jin helped write the protest letters the parents sent to HYBE, or whether she led or orchestrated the members’ live broadcasts. The moment I heard this, I thought, They’re clearly trying to build a tampering narrative. The questioning continued in the same vein. They asked who had sent a protest letter under a specific member’s parent’s name, and who wrote the document listing ten demands that had been prepared over a 14-month period. None of this had any real connection to the case at hand. It went so far that even the judge intervened and strongly reprimanded them, saying, “These matters are irrelevant. Why are you asking questions here that should be directed at the parents of NewJeans?” Then, on the 29th, when I saw the news about ADOR issuing a unilateral termination notice, everything suddenly clicked. The picture became very clear: they are trying to pin a tampering narrative on Min Hee-jin by focusing on one specific member, so they can later use it, whether in relation to the shareholder agreement or in their final arguments. That’s because the official statement explicitly says they intend to hold one of Danielle’s parents and Min Hee-jin legally responsible. At first glance, you might wonder, “Why is Min Hee-jin suddenly being dragged into this?” But when you think back to the line of questioning during the trial, the answer becomes obvious. This isn’t really about cutting Danielle out. The real objective is to separate Min Hee-jin. And that naturally leads to another question. --- You’re worried about Danielle and NewJeans, Right? Part 2 ( Some people might ask whether it really makes sense to damage an IP as valuable as NewJeans just to split the group apart. But if you look at it from HYBE’s perspective, their actions do follow a certain internal logic. You might also be wondering, “Why do you see this situation in a hopeful way?” Yesterday, I came across an article explaining that contract termination is only possible when there has been conduct that fundamentally destroys the relationship of trust. The key point here is that Danielle has already clearly expressed her intention to return to the agency. In group activities, each member’s individuality is recognized, but the core of the contract is the group itself. Because of that, if ADOR were to unilaterally exclude just one member, it could constitute a breach of contract with respect to the remaining members as well. Moreover, if the remaining members demand full-group activities, ADOR could face a counterattack, as they may be legally obligated to comply with that demand. For these reasons, I believe there is a very high possibility that Danielle does not fall under any contract-violation scenario. According to the December 31 broadcast of Kim Sung-soo TV, as explained by Kim Sung-soo, a certified letter Danielle received from ADOR listed one of the grounds for contract termination as follows: Danielle’s parent had lost their phone, and questions were raised about why that phone was replaced. When you think about it, it makes no sense that changing a phone could be grounds for terminating a contract with an agency. Why should an agency have control over, or even access to, a phone that contains the private lives of an artist and their family? And even before that, if the phone hadn’t been changed, what exactly were they planning to do with it? After attending CEO Min Hee-jin’s trial in person, what stood out to me was that nearly all of the evidence presented by the plaintiff consisted of her KakaoTalk messages. A significant portion of those messages were conversations that took place even before ADOR was established in 2021. As for the messages exchanged after that, they were used by selectively cutting out context and stitching together fragments that were completely unrelated to the actual issues. Of course, the final judgment is up to the judge, and this is just my personal impression based on what I observed. Still, because it is highly likely that Danielle does not meet the criteria for contract violation, I believe the other side is using this as a stalling tactic, a strategic misstep meant to drag things out. In the end, I believe this fight will move in a direction where NewJeans comes out on top. What we can do is simple: stream NewJeans’ albums and support them loudly as fans. As I mentioned earlier, I compiled 27 pages of court records from attending the trial. Going forward, I plan to gradually share the most important parts of those records. If you follow me, you’ll be able to hear stories that are much closer to the truth.

1tokki

212,430 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

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Daniel Davis Deep Dive

33,145 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

Vice President Sara Duterte ay hindi isang kaibigan In a press conference yesterday, the President emotionally said that he felt deceived because he always considered the Vice President as a friend and if you’ve been following the news, you would know that he sincerely protected her in several circumstances. Up to this very day… you cannot find any direct attack of the President and the first family against her. In fact, despite the obvious incompetence and negligence of the Vice President, the Marcos Administration submitted the increased budget proposal under the National Expenditures Program to the legislative. Her supporters even had the audacity to say that she’s the reason for the Marcos presidency, when in fact she cannot even help Atty. Harry Roque win a senate seat. She pretty much did everything — good words in every campaign, commercials, ads, photos, she wore his shirt and even danced with him. So please bore someone with that assumption. I cannot say I’m surprised with the actions and statements of VP Sara Duterte because this is not the first time she did this. In fact! I can say for a fact that she’s in no position to write a book about friendship —- like not at all! Someone from Davao City once told me that the Dutertes will drop anyone they do not need anymore, especially Vice President Sara Duterte. Although he/she mentioned names I would rather cite circumstances I can prove with publicly available information. Remember how she betrayed a very loyal Duterte aly? The former Speaker Alvarez, not only did she organize the coup d’etat, she did in the most embarrassing time — hours before the SONA and without his father knowing. Are we talking about “utang na loob” now? Publicly available information would tell you how Speaker Martin Romualdez went above, over and beyond to help the Vice President in the last elections. Not only did she try to unseat him as the Speaker of the House, she started this hate campaign and released unsubstantiated claims about him. Not only that! Remember her unsubstantiated “kalaban yan” claims against the DSWD? Please know that the Gatchalians are also instrumental in her 2022 win. It is only the Dutertes and their supporters who like shoving “utang na loob” to their rivals’ faces but their history is full of betrayal for personal gain. So I don’t think they have the moral compass to say anything about that. Lols For those of you who seek alliance with the Dutertes, I sincerely hope you think again… as everyone is dispensable to them. I will not be surprised if the Dutertes betray Bong Go and Bato Dela Rosa too in the near future… but who knows. Good riddance, Mr. President! Your administration is better off without her. Video: ABS-CBN News

Just

111,354 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

[Behavioral Scientist's Analysis] NewJeans, Now Even Stronger, HYBE in Trouble I’ll listen again. Danielle: “Naturally, we all want to continue working with Daepyonim. Even before debuting as NewJeans and through all of the time that we spent together with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, all of us felt that the music we wanted to make and the kind of world we wanted to build together, our vision, was similar in so many ways. With Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, we were able to prepare each and every task with sincere hearts, and I believe it shows in our work. Putting our sincere effort into something is only possible because the people that we're working with have trust in each other and have that same vision. Min Hee-jin Daepyonim is not only the person that produces our music, but someone who makes NewJeans who we are. She discusses even the smallest details with us and explains them in ways that we can understand clearly. NewJeans has a distinct colour and tone, and this was created with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim. She is integral to NewJeans’ identity, and we all feel that she is irreplaceable.” Danielle clearly stated this and also expressed it in English. So, in terms of the NewJeans issue, international fans who don’t have much information may not have had a clear perception of Ms. Min Hee-jin or how to view this issue. If you look at the comments, it was very poorly organized. In Korea, we now have clear information, so NewJeans fans, Bunnies, are cheering for NewJeans and supporting Ms. Min Hee-jin. It has become clearly sorted out like this. However, internationally, it hasn’t been clearly explained. But with Danielle explaining it so well in English, I expect that from now on, the international atmosphere will shift towards attacking HYBE, criticizing Bang Si-hyuk, and supporting Ms. Min Hee-jin and NewJeans worldwide. So, now that the artist has clearly stated their position and made it clear that the identity and assets of the NewJeans brand come from Ms. Min Hee-jin, regardless of any legal disputes or lawsuits, in the minds of the fans, NewJeans equals Min Hee-jin. And as for the current management of ADOR and HYBE, they will be seen as the ones attacking NewJeans and the mysterious people with no clear motive, such as Bang Si-hyuk. I think this will now be clear. Considering the nature of the entertainment industry, like many creative industries and the cultural industry, this is not manufacturing. Many things can’t be determined through legal processes like patents for ideas or lawsuits. The B2C market, or the market for services and consumption of an artist's brand, is driven by sensitivity. People consume it because of the emotional connection and enjoy it because of that sensitivity. So, what’s the point of winning a legal case? Even if HYBE were to win any legal case, do you think consumers wouldn’t boycott NewJeans’ music or other products afterward? I believe HYBE will be punished in some way for its actions towards ADOR and its current management. The way they are handling risk management is shortsighted, as they fail to understand people’s emotions. They seem to only rely on the advice of legal professionals and accountants, and their entire approach to this issue is so narrow-minded and misguided. It feels incredibly foolish to me. So, to summarize: NewJeans’ branding was done by Ms. Min Hee-jin. The identity and assets of the NewJeans brand were created by her, and we did it together because of her. Haerin: “However, even after our debut, there have been many unfair and incomprehensible incidents that you might not know about, and these incidents have only increased over time. As some of you may know, recently, videos from our trainee days and private records, such as medical information, were leaked. When I first saw that, I was really shocked. It was hard to understand how our company, which is supposed to protect us, failed to manage and allowed such information to be leaked. Naturally, this situation has made us worry that other strange or false information about us might spread in the future. Although we, along with our parents and Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, have raised concerns about this to HYBE, they haven’t resolved the issue, nor have they taken any proactive measures. Then, in the midst of all this, our CEO was dismissed, and we’re left wondering whom we can trust and rely on. We’ve come to the conclusion that if we don’t speak out about this now, no one will know what we’re going through. After much discussion among ourselves, we finally decided to take this step.” The current situation is shocking, but this is not just about this one incident; they’ve been continuously receiving unfair treatment from HYBE. The fact that they are saying this publicly now is truly shocking. They’ve been discussing these unfair treatments with their parents and Ms. Min Hee-jin while continuing their activities as NewJeans. They are saying that the unfair treatment from HYBE has been ongoing. It’s hard to understand as an outsider, but now the artists themselves have confirmed that there have been instances where the company has mistreated them. This is no longer a matter of speculation or exaggeration. NewJeans has officially admitted that HYBE has been continuously mistreating them. Moving forward, this changes the entire perspective on the issue. It’s no longer just NewJeans vs. HYBE or Min Hee-jin vs. Bang Si-hyuk. It’s hard to even imagine the reality of this situation. Now that the NewJeans artists have come out and said that HYBE has mistreated them, regardless of how HYBE tries to communicate going forward, they will now be framed as the ones mistreating NewJeans. How can they possibly shake off this perception now? I don’t think they can. Hanni: “Something happened to me recently. The 4th floor of the HYBE building is where we get our hair and makeup done, so a lot of other artists and staff come and go there. One day, I was waiting alone in the hallway, and some staff from another team passed by. We greeted each other, but when they came back out a bit later, I heard one of their managers say, “Ignore her,” right in front of me. I could hear and see everything clearly. Even now, I still don’t understand why I had to go through that.” I still don’t understand why that happened, even now. When I think about it, I feel like it was really ridiculous. This story from Hanni was so frustrating and absurd. Wow, what Hanni just shared is really shocking. She mentioned meeting an artist, and that artist's manager told them to ignore her. If this happened in middle or high school, people would probably dismiss it as childish fighting, but this happened among adults, and it's becoming a huge issue. Honestly, the NewJeans members aren’t sharing these stories to stir things up. They’re probably just speaking truthfully about their experiences and trying to be genuine with their fans, saying, “It’s time we express our stance honestly.” The timing and approach they’ve taken are actually perfect. They started by clearly explaining their motivations and why they’re speaking out, then moved on to using English to express what NewJeans’ identity is and the members' feelings, as well as their history with their manager. They made it clear how they feel about these situations. Now, they've started sharing more detailed stories. The way they’ve structured everything is so good because people remember stories more than abstract thoughts or philosophies. When you say, “This happened to me,” people are much more likely to remember that than vague statements. Hanni shared her unfair experience in such an honest way, and I think it’s going to spread widely. I can already imagine netizens trying to figure out which manager it was, which artist, and so on. This story will likely go viral. People remember stories like this because they stick in their minds. For example, remember when Bang Si-hyuk didn’t return NewJeans’ greeting, and it became a huge thing about face blindness? People don’t remember the details, but they remember that someone important didn’t greet them. It became a memorable story. Minji: “When I heard about what Hanni experienced, I was really shocked. How could a manager from another team tell their members to ignore one of us, and say it so loudly that Hanni could hear it? Such unimaginable words and behavior were directed at us, yet there was no apology, nor did they even acknowledge their wrongdoing. Of course, I’m worried about how many more similar incidents might occur in the future and whether we’ll be subtly ostracized without anyone there to protect us.” Hanni: “I hope no one else has to go through something like that, but since it’s already happened once, I can’t help but feel scared that other members might experience the same thing. I spoke to the new CEO about it, but since I didn’t have evidence and it was considered too late, they seemed to brush it off, making me feel like there’s no one left to protect us. It really felt like the concern for us was gone, and even though I was being honest, it made me feel like I was suddenly being treated as a liar. Before, Min Heejin, our previous CEO, used to take care of us a lot. But now, while the new people say they’ll help, it’s just been months of excuses... excuses... excuses... They keep saying that it’s something they can’t resolve. But this is something that I personally went through and experienced, yet they are trying to dismiss it as if it’s my fault. I’m worried and scared about what might happen next.” I want to make two points here. First, this is clearly “invisibility.” It’s not physical violence, but it’s about not acknowledging someone’s greeting, deliberately ignoring them, and so on. While it may not seem like a big deal, it still deeply hurts someone’s feelings. There’s been a lot of research on how these kinds of actions negatively affect an organization, spreading like poison and making people feel bad. It’s something we should really work against. The second point is about third-party justice. Hanni raised a legitimate concern, and it wasn’t handled properly within the company. This made Hanni, Minji, and others realize that the new management isn’t on their side. When others witness this, they’ll also realize that this company doesn’t have their best interests at heart. This realization leads to a loss of trust. People will remember these events, and once this perception sticks, it’s hard to change. It affects not just NewJeans, but also other artists who will think, “Oh, this is how HYBE treats people.” And it even affects the employees who work there. Minji: “Of course, I’m worried about our future, but what’s most frightening is that the work we’ve already created is being compromised. Seeing the people who have poured their lives into creating our work being treated this way makes it hard to understand how this could be happening. The new management said they would separate producing and management, but we’ve always worked differently from other labels, and we thought that our way was a good one. Now, Daepyonim can no longer approve all matters, and we’re left wondering how we’re supposed to continue working as we did before. The recent statement from the new management also didn’t make sense to me. If they really didn’t intend to interfere with our production, then the recent incident with Director Shin Woo-seok should never have happened, and it should have been handled differently. We are the ones directly involved with the copyrights and likeness rights of our content, yet they’re making decisions without our consent. In their statement, they kept saying they were acting to protect us and prevent our anxiety, but why do they keep insisting on this when they haven’t considered our wishes? We don’t want any more unnecessary issues to arise, and we want them to show respect and consideration for Daepyonim and all the directors who have worked with us. The things they’re doing right now are not in our best interest at all.” What’s worth discussing here is the perception of hypocrisy. People really dislike hypocrisy, and when you think about it, it makes sense. When humans are surviving, if there’s an enemy or a difficult environment, they overcome it as part of life. But the most dangerous situation is when you think someone is an ally, but they turn out to be an enemy. When you thought they were on your side but they stab you in the back — that’s when people are really upset. That’s why people hate it when there’s a discrepancy between outward appearances and inward intentions. It creates a near-hatred, especially when someone claims to be acting for your benefit but it’s clear that they’re not. This is what Minji is clearly pointing out — these people are hypocrites. New Jeans has already reached a conclusion internally: this new management team, in less than a month, has revealed themselves to be hypocrites. And they’ve shared this with the fans and everyone else. This isn’t just some interesting topic on a live broadcast; this will cause a huge impact, and I am certain of that. New Jeans has come to a solid realization — these people are not working for us. They are liars and hypocrites. Therefore, the new management can no longer properly lead the company. They will not be able to continue, and this system cannot be maintained. Why? Because the artist has called them out as hypocrites. The only way they can recover is by proving they aren’t hypocrites, but even then, that’s not effective — New Jeans would have to say it. But the chance of that happening is zero. In short, these people have been socially branded as hypocrites. The new management’s time is up. Less than a month, and their time is over. In the creative industry, especially in culture and the arts, content production — such as creating songs or music videos — cannot be separated from management. That’s how we’ve always worked, and it was good for us. Min Hee-jin was a remarkable creator and artist who understood all of this. The harmony between management and artistic decision-making brought about the incredible phenomenon of New Jeans. But now, they’ve created a system where that harmony can’t exist anymore. Moreover, the new management is culturally ignorant. They don’t understand art, music, or creativity. They have shown this clearly, especially with their mishandling of Director Shin Woo-seok’s music video and the associated fan content, like those on the Dolphiners YouTube channel. They’ve demanded to delete content without protecting the artists, or respecting the work of those who collaborated on it. Their management decisions show a complete lack of sensitivity or empathy. So once again, I say: "the new management’s time is over." Danielle: “As I mentioned earlier, our dream was to perform the music we want to make with Daepyonim, and we were working very hard toward that goal. But now, we can’t do that, and the plans we’ve made might not come to fruition. As Hanni unnie said earlier, just like that, the content that we released solely for our fans, for our bunnies, was instantly erased. And I truly can't understand why anyone would do this to a group, or just anyone in general. We were just working hard for the present, so what did we do wrong? A week after Daepyonim was dismissed, we found out that we could no longer work with the director we’ve been working with all this time, and we’re extremely anxious because we don’t know what will happen to the staff who have always worked hard for us. If they really care about us, they should stop saying that they prioritize the artists and instead let us do the music we love in an environment where we can be genuinely happy. Is that really so hard to do? It’s hard to fully express what’s in my heart, but in the end, the five of us just want to continue our activities with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, as we have done so far.” Personally, they just want to be left alone—just "Leave us alone. Don't interfere; just leave us alone.” This is what they’re saying to both ADOR and HYBE. It's become clear now that HYBE and ADOR can no longer meddle with NewJeans, and I think things will flow that way from now on. The fans won’t stand still either. In entertainment, it’s not about titles like "I’m the CEO," or "I own shares." These are shallow understandings of what makes the entertainment business work. The real value created in this industry is the love and recognition from the fans. No amount of shares or CEO titles matter when that love disappears in an instant. NewJeans is asking to be left alone, and because of this, the new management of HYBE and ADOR can no longer act. I believe the future will unfold accordingly. One important thing I want to emphasize is that NewJeans is a unique group. They’re not just factory-produced idols. The distinctive nature of NewJeans’ music is felt by everyone who listens to them. For example, producer 250, who played a significant role in shaping the NewJeans sound, alongside other talented producers like those from the Banana Culture label, was brought in by CEO Min Hee-jin. This collaboration birthed the unique musical style of NewJeans, which many have come to appreciate. Their latest album, which incorporated elements like New Jack Swing, wasn’t just NewJeans making this music—it was 250's creative vision, drawing inspiration from 70s and 80s funk, R&B, and American black music, and reinterpreting them. If 250 no longer works with NewJeans, their music might become indistinguishable from other idol groups. The choreography, another element that set NewJeans apart, also contributed to their success. However, with the recent tensions, it's obvious that working with key figures like director Shin Woo-seok, who directed many of NewJeans' music videos, will become difficult moving forward. Director Shin wasn’t even interested in music videos before but was inspired to work with NewJeans after a conversation with Min Hee-jin. If Min Hee-jin and people like director Shin are ousted from ADOR, it’s inevitable that the core assets of NewJeans, including their distinctive musical and visual style, will vanish. This is not just a simple matter of one person being ousted—it’s about losing the core elements that made NewJeans what they are. WE STAND WITH NEWJEANS #버니즈_뉴진스와함께_준비갈완료 #방시혁_2주준다_민희진_복귀시켜라

1tokki

39,222 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

sharing 5 key takeaways from building pie.fun and winning at the Solana seoulana hackathon 1. validate and sharpen what we’re building Jesse | sanctum ☁️🇺🇸 told us that “real value of hackathon is validating your product” so over 3 days, we pitched pie.fun to dozens of people in 10+ versions and got to see what resonated the most. as a way for normies to trade more easily and traders/influencers to turn their thesis into investable products — was validated and that felt good 2. momentum rather than perfection multichain baskets have always been on our roadmap — Seoulana’s special track with Wormhole gave us the push to finally dive in. wormhole's infra was solid 👍 no way we could’ve shipped multichain in 2 days without it 😂 of course, we had plenty of bugs (we submitted 5 minutes before the deadline lol) but the whole point of hacking is PUSHING TO THE LIMIT without the fear of failing. fortunately, pie.fun won 1st place in Wormhole track 🫡 3. new protocols = new perspectives when you’re deep in your own build, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening elsewhere. thanks to Seoulana we explored every track — NCN, zBTC, LSTs. talking to sang.sol | Fragmetric Justin moonman opened doors we didn’t even know were there. is just getting started — so excited to keep integrating, learning, and building with folks like them. 4. building is good. building together is even better 250+ builders, side by side, building all night. team Trepa flying in from overseas and pulled two all-nighters. seeing that level of commitment pushed our team to go harder as well. Solana is about building — and this weekend reminded us why we’re here. 5. more conviction than ever isn’t a side project. we’re here to build — and to stay. we want to make it easy for normies to get exposure to crypto narratives and people with alphas to let the world follow them. curated, simple, onchain ETFs — that’s the vision. and we’re just getting started. Lastly, shoutout to those we’re grateful for ❤️ 1. Anh Tran for showing us how great Superteam network is from the very beginning and leading us up to this point 🥰 2. Superteam Korea @scottleestkr Julia Kim for pulling this off. seoulana had the best environment to build and invited the best founders 👍 3. James Kim | Superteam KR for pushing us to participate (best decision ever) and introducing us to the world of Wormhole 4. @deepdownbelow13 Boosik | Orca 🌊 Michael Ho for giving us the best feedback from user and builder perspective 🙌 5. Chaerin Kim always there to help us untangle some tricky Solana bits 👩‍💻 Seoulana reminded us there’s a whole world of builders out there. we’re proud to be in that mix. 🥧 more to come.

pepper

14,055 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Fascinating exchange: Jon Karl lightly confronts Zohran Mamdani with Darializa Avila-Chevalier's insane positions. Mamdani says DAC won because of affordability before tripling down on the virulent anti-semitism that undergirds DSA. Karl takes two passes at getting Mamdani to condemn the coffee shop that banned Rep. Dan Goldman, allows Mamdani to skate with a non-critical critique. JON KARL: Now, you know, there's been a lot of attention on one of the candidates you supported, one who knocked off an incumbent Democrat, is Darializa Avila Chevalier. She said some very controversial things, including calling for the abolition of prisons- couldn't say whether or not somebody who had committed murder should be in prison. Called for open borders. Against all deportations, including those of violent criminals. Are those positions that the Democratic Party could win on nationally? ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I think what the Democratic Party can win on nationally is a focus on working people, and I think that what I saw from Darializa when I would walk the streets of her district was a focus on what she describes as the politics of life. She would talk about how we have to invest in babies, not bombs. She's now going to represent what is one of the poorest districts in the United States of America. And what people in that district are exhausted by is a politics that has justified the spending of tens of billions of dollars in killing civilians overseas, while working people are struggling just to do the basics. KARL: But how does that -- how does abolishing prisons or having open borders fit into that? I mean, do you see how that's -- those are ideas that a lot of your Democrats that are warning about what happened here say are toxic, most of America won't go along with. They are bad ideas. They are dangerous ideas. MAMDANI: I think what the focus of her race was, what the focus of her candidacy was, was about the struggle that working people are facing. And I think that we can have disagreements on policy positions. What we have to agree on is what are we fighting for, and who are we fighting for? She showed that in her race, and I think that many people will come to appreciate that in her leadership to come. KARL: So we can disagree on something as basic as whether or not there should be prisons? MAMDANI: There -- KARL: That's not your position? MAMDANI: There are prisons. KARL: Yes. MAMDANI: And what we're also showing in this city is that safety is not something that's up for debate. It’s something that we're actually delivering on. And I'm proud to be the mayor of a city that currently has the lowest recorded number of murders and shootings in recorded history in New York City. KARL: So there was also a take -- it's not just Democrats. You probably heard what President Trump had to say about you and about the candidates you supported. And he warned that if socialists win -- and he calls you communists but -- you will start living in squalor, there'll be no food, no housing, no military, no law and order. There'll be nothing, and he had a few other choice words. By the way, he also said he still likes you. (LAUGHTER) KARL: But what do you make of what he -- I mean, the Democrat -- Republicans are going to make you the poster child for the Democratic Party. MAMDANI: Let them. We don't have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins. I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we've delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible. We've delivered free childcare for two-year-olds for the first time in New York City history. We've delivered tens of millions of dollars back to tenants who were taken advantage of by bad landlords. We've delivered 165,000 potholes being paved. And we've done all of these things while also delivering the lowest recorded crime in our city's history. That's what it looks like to have Democratic socialism. And what you're seeing is that New Yorkers experienced this for six months and made the decision that they wanted to see more of it on the national stage as well. KARL: Can a Democratic socialist get elected president? MAMDANI: I think a Democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any position. What I think we need to bring is a focus on working people. KARL: And that's the direction that the party should go in, in terms of selecting a candidate for 2028? MAMDANI: I think the direction that the party should go in is how best to fight for working people. I think we need to have a platform and a vision that doesn't sound as if it was cooked up by consultants, but instead one that you would say in response to someone who's asking, why can't I afford my rent, why can't I afford my groceries, why can't I afford my childcare? We need to make clear who we stand for, how we're going to stand for them, and that we're actually willing to fight for them when the going gets tough. KARL: Obviously, Israel was a big issue in these races. Not the only issue, but a big issue. Is there room in the Democratic Party for candidates, officials who support Israel, not just support Israel, but support military aid for Israel? This was a huge issue for you. MAMDANI: Well, I think what we've seen is that the time for us, as elected officials, to pronounce what the party should be is one that should come to an end, and we should let Democratic voters themselves take the lead. We've seen on Tuesday evening, we saw Democrats turn out in districts across the city to make clear that they were tired of tens of billions of dollars being spent in our taxpayer dollars to violate international law, to kill thousands of civilians. And you and I know that right now, the way that Palestine is described is as if there is a ceasefire. That's the language that's typically used. KARL: Yes. MAMDANI: More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed in that ceasefire. And what New Yorkers want to see is a politics of conscience, a politics of clarity, a politics of conviction. And to follow international law, to believe in the humanity of all people, it shouldn't be a journey too far. And I think that our party needs to hear what Democrats are telling them. KARL: Democratic Socialists of America now says they no longer favor a two-state solution. Is that the way you see it as well, the idea of two states, Palestinian and Jewish states, side by side, living in peace? MAMDANI: The way I see it is, equal rights for all people. And I think that that's the truth for Israel. It's the truth for any country in the world. And frankly, as we're coming up close to the 250th anniversary of our nation, one of the things that makes me proudest to be an American is the belief that equal rights are at the bedrock of our notion of what it means to be an American. KARL: And the idea of a Jewish state, Israel as a Jewish state, that's in the charter, that's the way it is now. Do you support that? MAMDANI: I've said time and again that I support the state of Israel as a state with equal rights. I believe that any state that -- KARL: But as a Jewish state is the question. MAMDANI: I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can't tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else. And a lot of that comes back to a fundamental belief that we should all be considered equal, no matter what our faith is. KARL: How big a problem -- you've said it's rising -- is anti-Semitism in this city? MAMDANI: We've seen anti-Semitism rise in this city. We've seen the fact that Jewish New Yorkers comprise a minority of our city's population, and yet continue to constitute a majority of the hate crimes that have been purveyed in this city. And that's something that's unacceptable. It's something that we will never come to see as if it is a part of life. It's something that has to be fought and rooted out of every one of the five boroughs. KARL: What did you think when Dan Goldman -- that coffee shop in Brooklyn said that they didn't -- they wouldn't serve him because of his support for Israel. Do you have a problem with – I mean, the idea of, you know, of an establishment like that saying they're not going to serve somebody if they support Israel? MAMDANI: I've said that I have political disagreements with Congressmember Goldman. I do believe that that's a response that goes beyond that. KARL: So, that's not the right kind of thing? MAMDANI: No, I think -- I think it's much better to keep that critique in the way that we’ve done it.

Jorge Bonilla

43,262 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

James Busby's Letter to Maori Elders in 1860 On June 22, 1860, James Busby wrote a letter to Maori Elders explaining his concerns to recent Maori uprisings, wanting to break the Treaty and make their own sovereignty - such as the Kingi movement. Busby was one of the authors of the Treaty, and 20 years after its signing, this letter shows the true intention of the Treaty and it's influence on early New Zealand. The Treaty wasn't about co-governance; it was about working together as one people. Below is my summarised version of the letter making it easier for modern audiences to understand. Old Men and fathers of the Maori nation, listen to the words of an old man and a father, whose children and grandchildren are natives of the same land as your children and grandchildren... When King William sent me to this country, be did not send me to govern either my own countrymen; or the Maoris, but to live with them and give them good advice. There was no law. I bad no power to [prosecute]. I could only write to the King who, from time to time, sent a ship-of-war to inquire whether the King's people and the Maori people were living and trading together in peace and friendship. By-and-bye, the King's people increased in this land, where there was no law and no governor. The people required to be governed by law. King William died and [was replaced by Queen Victoria]... [who was] a friend to the Maori people. She sent Captain Hobson to tell them that if they would become one people with her own children she would become a mother to them, and would extend to them the protection of her law. When Captain Hobson arrived... [chiefs] came in great numbers and considered the matter. Their old missionaries, who had given them the word of God, advised them to listen to the words of the Queen. They were good words, and would keep alive the Maori race. For two days they assembled, and discussed the [Treaty]. Captain Hobson said, take a week to consider. The chiefs would not wait till the end of the week, but said to Captain Hobson, Come from your ship... and finish the matter. Then was signed the Treaty of Waitangi, the covenant between the Queen and her Maori people, by which the Natives of New Zealand became subjects of the Queen, and the Queen became the protector of the Maori race. The Queen promised to protect each man — and every man; so that every man's land should be his own. And the Maoris agreed that when they wished to sell the land, they should sell it only to the Queen, because when Queen Victoria became Queen of New Zealand, it was not lawful for any of her people to buy land, but only for those whom she appointed. The treaty was carried over the Islands, and all the principal chiefs entered inio the covenant. But someone will perhaps say to me, I did not sign the treaty; I am not bound by it. Friend, tell me this: - Can one stone stop the flow of a river? - Can one man stand against a thousand? - If he does not turn and go with the rest of the army, will he not be trodden under foot by it? Tell me now, has this river, which began to flow in your land when Victoria became Queen, - Brought you evils or has it brought you blessings? - Has it overflowed its banks and swept any of you from your homes? Or has it not, rather, covered its banks; with all kind of riches? - Where were your cattle? - Where were your horses and and ploughs? - Where were your mills and the wheat to grind in them? - Where were your fruit trees, your apples and peaches, your vines and figs? - Where were your warm blankets, and all manner of clothes? - Your jaws ached with eating the fern root - Your women's backs were broken under their burdens - Your children perished for want of milk - You shivered in the cold. .... Listen, Friends! "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. When God created man upon the earth, he said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." The people of England have not been disobedient to this command. Their own island is full of inhabitants. Have the Maori race fulfilled the command of God? Have they replenished New Zealand? Have they not rather, destroyed and devoured each other, until they became few and small in numbers? The Ngapuhi invaded Waikato, Waikato rose upon Taranaki, Taranaki destroyed the South. Who can court the numbers whose blood watered the earth! It was not the Pakeha who rose against them. It was Maori who rose upon Maori; every man's hand was against his brother. When man's wickedness is great upon the earth, God suffers them to destroy each other until there are none left. But He will not allow His earth to remain for ever in waste. He "formed it to be inhabited." He calls another nation to fill its waste places, and to make its deserts blossom and bring forth fruit. Take heed, friends, that you are not rebelling against God as well as against the Queen. Be not forgetful of what you were before the Queen cast her mantle over you. Then you were naked and destitute of all things; now you are rich and increased in goods. Dwell in peace and oppose not the law of the Queen. The Maori nation is incorporated into the body of which the Queen is the head. The power of the Maori people is like that of the little finder of the left hand. If an ulcer breaks out°in the point of the little finger it gives disturbance to the whole body. If the surgeon cannot heal the ulcer he will say, Cut off the first joint of the little finger, lest the corruption spread over the whole finger. If the whole finger is diseased, he will say, Cut off the whole finger; it is not fit that the whole body should suffer for so small a member Two ulcers have broken out - one at Taranaki - one at Waikato. Teira has sold his land to the Queen. Wiremu Kingi says "the land shall not go to the Queen. The land is Teira's; let Teira keep his land; I will not suffer it to be sold; because, though the land is Teira's, the power is mine. I am Waitara; let Teira live under my shadow/[sovereignty]." Friends, this is a great mistake of Wiremu Kingi's. In former times, before the Queen's shadow/[sovereignty] covered the land, when a strong man armed kept his place, his goods were in peace; but when a stronger [man] came, he was overcome, and his goods taken from him. This was Maori custom. In those days Wiremu Kingi, being stronger, could overcome Teira. But when the Queen promised to every Maori that he should be as one of her own people, the law came - the law is the strength of the weak man — and tbe law says every man's land is his own to sell to the Queen or to keep; no one shall lake it from him because be is weak; no one shall prevent him selling it if he wishes to sell it. If the Governor allowed Wiremu Kingi to overcome Teira, he would make the Queen false to the promise she made to every Maori man when she entered into the treaty. Friends, one word more. It is a new thing on the earth for a strong nation [like Britain] to come upon a weak one [the Maori], and say to it, You are weak and we are strong; nevertheless we will not take your land, but buy it from you when you wish to sell it... [The Queen] has secured you in possession of your lands, but she has done more than that; to some of you she has lent money to build mills, that you might eat bread instead of fern-root; to some she has lent money to buy vessels to carry their wheat to market. She did not do this because you were weak and ignorant. She has cherished you as a nurse cherishes her children. Now, I who write these things to you, do not belong to the Governor nor to the Queen. I am a private man, dwelling on my own land, as each of you dwells on his own land... I am as one of you. The Governor does not know that I am writing this letter to you. Perhaps he will see it in the newspaper, perhaps not. I write it because these are troubled times, and I foresee that evil will come upon you if you do not turn from your folly. I have read all your speeches at Waikato. The flagstaff is a challenge to the Queen. Think, if the King of France had set up [sovereignty, would he have let these revolts persist?] No! 500 ships-of-war would have been upon the seas and numerous soldiers upon [You. The Queen has not dealt with You because You are new to the knowledge nationhood and have much to learn]. But friends, these ulcers must be healed. Therefore I remind you, as an old friend, to cast away your folly, and let the land be in peace. From your old Friend, From Te Puhipi [James Busby] Listen to more podcasts like this at: Source Title: Correspondence Publisher: The Maori Messenger: Te Karere Maori Author: James Busby Date: June 30th, 1860 Copyright: None

NZ Media Watch

37,780 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

I hadn't listened to it since he delivered it in 2020, but I pulled MacArthur's sermon up again today that people are pointing to as evidence of a tremendous and destructive problem in his theology. What I had forgotten was that this was a sermon reflecting on the clarity the Lord had provided through the many battles and trials the church was enduring in that time–COVID, government oppression, weekly fines, ongoing legal battles, the theological fallout of wokeness and the social justice movement, pastors failing left and right, and the election of Joe Biden and the prospect of persecution likely to come from his administration's hostility toward the truth. MacArthur's comments on how we should not expect to win according to an earthly understanding still make perfect sense now as they did then, and they were a reminder of how committed he was to remaining steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for the glory of God regardless of the trials we face down here. He understood that our hope was in Christ, not in our earthly circumstances: "John 15, just read a couple of verses here. Our Lord talks to the disciples, chapter 15, verse 19. Verse 19 – well, verse 18, let’s start there. “If the world hates you, you know that it has,” what? We don’t win here, you get this? They killed Him, they killed the apostles, and in every generation they kill the people who proclaim the truth. “You know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world,” – verse 19 – “the world would love its own; but because you’re not of the world,” – so if you want the world to love you, you’ve got to convince them that you’re not against them. But we are against them, not out of animosity, but out of love. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you’re not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Chapter 16, verse 33, all the way at the end of that chapter our Lord says the end of the verse, “In the world you’ll have trouble. Take courage,” – what? – “I’ve overcome the world.” We don’t win the battle here, you can’t, can’t fight. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” John 18. “If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would” – what? – “fight.” We’re not fighting this world, we get it. “Blessed are those who are persecuted.” No, we don’t win here. In fact, it gets worse, doesn’t it? Evil men get worse and worse. I mean, read the prophetic declarations of our Lord in the sermon on His second coming. Read the book of Revelation. It’s not going to get better, it’s going to get continually worse. And every generation of Christians is going to suffer for two reasons: because the world hates it, and because suffering perfects our faith and gives validity to our testimony. So we’re not going to win. You think we lost an election? No. No. We don’t win anything in this world. We’re not trying to gain this. Is there anything in this world we’re trying to gain? “For to me to live again is” – what? – “Christ.” And then I look at evangelicalism and I see this clarity that’s coming in the culture. I love the fact there’s going to be the true church and the people who hate the truth. There’s going to be the truth and lies. There’s going to be church and anti-church. There’s Christ and Antichrist. I love that clarity. These are the best of times. Incredibly wonderful to have that kind of clarity, where there’s no reason to be a compromiser, because the price is too high. Persecution always does that, right? Nobody goes to the gulag for something they’re faking. And then I just look at it from an evangelical side and I watch the sifting of evangelical leadership, people who used to be preachers that people wanted to listen to, nobody cares what they say. Used to be bloggers people wanted to read, and nobody cares what they write. They wrote books that you read; they can’t get off the shelf. So much compromise, horrible compromise; much of it because of the social justice issue. That is a disaster maybe more than any single disaster, but collectively with everything else, has done irreparable damage. Said it would, and it has, and it’s not nearly done. But the whole evangelical, seemingly elite, rolled over and bought into social justice, critical race theory, intersectionality, racial identity. And now we’re going to have the fruit of it. I’ll give you an illustration. America’s always functioned with equal justice. Get that? Equal justice. I mean, the modifier is clear, right? Equal. Equal for everybody. Everybody’s equal under the law, that’s equal justice. No, it’s gone. Now we have social justice. What social justice means is unequal justice. It means that it’s justice to basically determine by whether you’re a part of the oppressed group or the oppressors. What you’re seeing in America when the new President says, “In the future all the money from the government is going to go to homosexuals, LGBTQ, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,” that is social justice. That’s not equal justice. When you hear the new Attorney General say, “In the future all charities are going to have to give their money to disenfranchised, oppressed minorities like homosexuals,” you’re realizing that you have just seen the death of equal justice. How could a Christian jump on that bandwagon? Something’s pretty clear. God does not hold somebody else responsible for what’s wrong with you, He holds you responsible. Social justice blames someone else for your defects and sin. How could Christians get anywhere near that? I did a whole series on Ezekiel 18, trying to make that clear. So we’re stepping into an era of injustice. We’re stepping into an era where there’s no need to cover sin. There’s no real need to be a hypocrite. Everything is in the open. Stepping into an era where hatred of the truth is going to go to a level we haven’t seen it. We’re stepping into an era where compromising leaders in the evangelical movement have basically nullified themselves, neutralized themselves, taking themselves off the battlefield out of the fight. That’s sad, but I still love the clarity. Do we have a hard future? Sure. We don’t win here, we just die. I mean, do you understand that? The Christian life is about two crucifixions. The Christian life is about two crucifixions. It’s about the crucifixion of Christ and it’s about the crucifixion of the believer. Do you understand that? You signed up, you signed up for death." And his closing comment: "The kingdom is here, the King is alive, and He’s ruling in His church." If that's loser theology, I'll take it.

Melissa the Hopeful🏠Homemaker

35,239 Aufrufe • vor 7 Tagen

Alright, here's the epic towel rant from tonight; And so that's what kind of tipped me off in real time. I was like: wait a minute. Is Judge Doolin ruling from the bench right now? And then I was like: wait a minute. He's ruling from the bench and ordering them to appoint a new prosecutor and potentially the Attorney General. Oh my word. How—what is this? I—this wasn't on my bingo card. Even now I'm just like: Oh my God, I can't believe he did that. Judge Doolin—in a good way. I'm just like: Oh my God, there is hope. And then to follow it up with: "Oh yeah, I'm thinking about a hearing on the contempt." Oh my God—you're telegraphing. You're going to have a contempt hearing after the Attorney General is potentially on the case. The other witnesses, however, are left in this position where they have this kind of not really well-funded—like kind of spastic prosecution, like the special prosecutors on the Kearney cases. Then you got the December 23rd, 2023 criminal charges against Aidan that were charged in Dedham District Court, 23rd or 26th or so. And that was for illegally—allegedly—recording Lindsey Gaetani and then submitting an edited version of the recording into court for some reason. I don't know why Aidan did that, especially apparently when there's an original version of the recording pursuant to some of the statements in court. And then also for intimidating Lindsey—for allegedly going over there on December 23rd, 2023—against Karen Read's advice and against his lawyers' advice, apparently, according to a leaked group chat message from Facebook in 2024—in May of 2024—going over to Lindsey's apartment. And then according to the affidavit from the search warrant for Karen Read's cell phone—allegedly telling Lindsey that she shouldn't cooperate with the grand jury. She should—she could remove information from her phone or something—that Aidan would get her a lawyer, but only if she agreed to meet with a lawyer only with him present, because she had, quote, "broken his trust." It just like—wild stuff. And that new grand jury, by the way, was apparently—it did go forward. And then in time it came out that it—that was about Karen and Aidan and witness intimidation and conspiracy, because Aidan Kearney—between October and November—really August and November of 2023—it started telling Lindsey Gaetani about his communications with Karen Read that included—in writing—Exhibit O to Karen Read search warrant affidavit, which says that Karen Read told Aidan Kearney that in November of 2023—November 28, 2023, to be specific—that Karen Read told Aidan Kearney that Karen Read and her team at ex parte conversations with former U.S. Attorney Josh Levy—which was right in the window of time that Jessica Leslie, the grand juror leaker, was leaking information. Leslie started leaking in August of 2022—which is the same month that Alan Jackson joined Karen Read's legal team. And Josh Levy—who was one of the U.S. Attorneys in charge of that grand jury—Leslie was leaking about four different cases: probably the Birchmore case, definitely the Read and O'Keefe case, definitely the CDL case. One more case. We can't really—the group of us journalists involved in this—can't really figure out. So right in the middle of that—November of 2023—Josh Levy is leaking ex parte grand jury information to Karen Read, which she's putting—she's telling Aidan Kearney about; he's putting it in writing. He just was trying to just show off for Lindsey, but you don't like—come on—like what is it? First day in the IC, bro? I'm not in the IC. I'm not part of the government. I'm a towel. But anyway—so Aidan's bragging to Lindsey, and I don't think that was a very good idea. I mean, she's brilliant and stuff, but like—why would you ever say that to her? Don't say that stuff. But anyway—like, why would you say—even if it's your significant other—unless they are read-in on the intel that you are sharing—why would you ever, ever, ever share that with someone? It exposes them to an incredible liability—which, if you love them, don't do it. It also exposes your own credibility to an incredible risk of liability. You will never be trusted by the intelligence community again. Pillow talk and honeypots are how they trap operatives. If you chase sex, they will compromise you. How can you not understand that? So if you get compromised by someone who's not an agent—just someone who's your partner and you're just telling them stuff about protected federal investigations—what do you think your reputation is going to be like among the intelligence community when you're doing that and they haven't even honeypotted you? You just voluntarily started putting this shit in writing. They're going to look at you like you are out of your mind. So anyway—Karen Read apparently is telling Aidan Kearney that she's having ex parte conversations with Josh Levy. Now, the grand jury that Leslie was leaking from was impaneled in May of 2022 when Rachael Rollins used to be U.S. Attorney in Boston. Now think about this. In 2020, Rachael Rollins and Aidan Kearney—Rachael Rollins, a hyper-liberal known for her soft-on-crime stance. We'll also hear Rollins hated Michael Morrissey. Anyway, Rollins worked with Turtle Boy to send a Republican operative named Rayla Campbell to Joe Kennedy Jr.'s events in the Senate race against Ed Markey so that Ed Markey could win the Senate seat. Now, interestingly enough, Rachael Rollins then got appointed to the position of U.S. Attorney right after that. And you might say: well, Grant, that's a stretch. No, no—because then within a few months, Rachael Rollins—part of the reason she gets thrown out of office by the DOJ OIG—is because she attends an event in Andover with—guess who?—Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of the then-president who appointed her. Now, what does that mean? Well, if you really think about the geopolitical implications of the 2020 Senate race between Ed Markey in Massachusetts and Joe Kennedy Jr.—well, one of the things you're going to realize is that—think about 2020. The leadership around Biden did not know that the chaos of 2024 was going to happen with Kamala and Biden not really being up to it. You're thinking ahead to 2024. Why? Who's your biggest target if you are a sitting Democrat and you're worried about a primary challenge four years from now? Well, what if JFK's—what is it—nephew or whatever it is—is in the House of Representatives? And what if JFK started his career in the House of Representatives? And what if that new young Kennedy with red hair and sort of a photogenic face? What if he is running for JFK's old Senate seat? What if he's on the same exact trajectory as JFK? Oh, we can't have that. We—as the Biden White House—cannot have Joe Kennedy Jr. beating Ed Markey for Senate. And how it got to the point that somebody talked to Rachael Rollins and she came up with the brilliant idea to reach out to Turtle Boy so that Turtle Boy would talk to Rayla Campbell to send her to Joe Kennedy Jr.'s events to help Markey—I don't know. But that's why I think Rachael Rollins became U.S. Attorney—someone who, in my opinion, was uniquely unqualified and fundamentally unethically un-predisposed to being able to run that office. Who then in turn immediately tried to interfere in the 2022 Suffolk DA primary between Kevin Hayden and Ricardo O'Rourke—because Rollins wanted to see her progressive vision continue through O'Rourke—so she worked with Daniel Medwed—the same professor who was involved with advocating the media on behalf of Karen Read's team. She worked with Daniel Medwed to get a story leaked about how a non-existent federal probe into Kevin Hayden—to increase Ricardo O'Rourke's chances in the Suffolk DA primary. Sound familiar? Oh, hell yeah. So anyway—between November of 2022 and May of 2023—you got this weird situation where Rollins knows she's getting forced out; Levy's going to take over the office. The people who take Rollins out are Josh Levy, Bill Abley, and still head of the criminal division—Dustin Chao, I think—still head of the public integrity unit, and then executive officer who is also the press secretary or the communications director of the office. Those four people—without being named; they're named by title—were the people who cooperated with the DOJ to take Rollins out—DOJ-OIG to take Rollins out. Now, why is that interesting? Well, one—because it shows that people in that office knew that Rachael Rollins had a proclivity for weaponizing leaks about non-existent federal probes to interfere in particular district attorney races and matters. Second—Rachael Rollins and Michael Morrissey had a bifurcated history of ten years. One: Rachael Rollins had this list of 25 crimes she wouldn't prosecute, and other DAs critiqued her—not just Michael Morrissey but others. Rollins—I'm pretty sure—was the one who first called Morrissey a "meatball," in fact, because of his criticism of Rollins over that issue. Rachael Rollins—I think—has a proclivity, in my opinion, to hold a bit of a grudge. When she became U.S. Attorney and she realized she was on the way out—well, maybe the Sandra Birchmore probe started back in May of 2022 because former chief of the Canton police—Ken Berkowitz—went to the FBI and told them that the FBI covered up—the MSP unit detailed to the Norfolk DA covered up Sandra Birchmore's murder—potentially because Yuri Bukhenik and John Fanning used to work in Stoughton with Matt Farwell and Robert Devine and Billy Farwell—I think they all worked there. And furthermore—that Brian Tully, the unit commander, was partners with John Fanning for 20 years. All right, and in that regard—it is very interesting, I think—that Chief Berkowitz—who may have been very offended that his unit... So Sandra Birchmore was murdered on February 1st, 2021, at 9:23 p.m. in her apartment in Canton. Okay—on February 4th, Monday in the morning—the Canton police do a wellness check after they get a call from her—Sandra's—colleagues at the school where she worked as an administrative assistant. Now the Canton police respond—on Monday, February 4th—by Wednesday, February 6th. The Canton police have collected the following evidence in order. And if you don't believe me, you can read pages—I think 97 through 101—of the Canton Police Department audit report released in April of 2025. Point by point. Number one: the Canton police confirm—via a witness who was the maintenance worker at Sandra's apartment building—that Matt Farwell was the man on camera outside Sandra's apartment in the elevator at 9:23 p.m. on February 1st—which is exactly when Sandra died. Two: that the man was Matt Farwell, and he was the same man who helped Sandra move into her apartment. Three: that when the Canton PD went to Sandra's school, they got information that Farwell was telling people that Sandra was pregnant with his child—that he had abused her since she was a child—and that he was going to quote "take care of the problem himself" if Sandra decided to carry the baby to term. All right. All of that information—by February 6th of 2021—was passed over to the MSP. John Fanning and this whole unit—I think—really then facilitate a report sometime over the next six to 12 months that exonerates Farwell and says Sandra dies from self-harm. Well, I think that's why Ken Berkowitz blew the whistle before he died of cancer—and that's why there was a grand jury impaneled in May of 2022—and it was really about the cover-up of Sandra Birchmore's murder. Well—one—it was about Sandra Birchmore's murder. Why does that make everything so interesting? Because I think that the investigation wasn't just about who killed Sandra and why—but how was it ruled a—the result of self-harm—instead of the very obvious murder that it was. Well—that starts—2022, I think—May of 2022—the grand jury. Jessica Leslie was on the grand jury—leaker—who's going to be sentenced on October 4th of 2025. I think Jessica Leslie—ladies and gentlemen—in August of 2022 somehow leaked to Karen Read—Alan Jackson—that the Norfolk DA was dirty because they covered up—and that MSP unit—because they covered up Sandra Birchmore's murder. All right—so therefore, Alan Jackson—that's the skeleton in the closet. It wasn't what the people in the house were doing. I'm still a little suspect of who they know—but I don't think that's the big deal. I don't think Jen McCabe's social life is the big deal. Nobody cares—nobody fucking cares. Sorry for cussing. The big issue is that Jen was friends with Tully. Tully's unit knew literally where the bodies were buried. And they—I think—they brought on the PI—Marty Kraft—and Kate Peter—to insulate their exposure from the coming publicity that they knew was going to be brought upon them by Alan Jackson. And so they were worried. And who would you bring in if you had covered up a murder? If you were a MSP unit—you'd bring in someone like Kate Peter. Because you can read her in on that. She's hardened. She doesn't give a fuck. She lost two of her kids—and I don't think she even fucking cared. So who the fuck's the perfect person be like: "Bruh, if that shit gets national attention, we're fucked. So you better control that fucking narrative and handle all these like different people that get too close to this—or we're going to be exposed for Birchmore." But let me bring it back to the point here—which is in 2022, the feds clearly were starting to poke around. And come 2023—I think Brian Tully's unit was desperate. Who was going to find out because of the coverage of the Read case? Could they make sure that Kate Peter got close enough to Netflix and Gretchen Voss so that they couldn't find out what was actually going on? And could the Birchmore cover-up be kept up—even in light of the national spotlight? When you think about the fact that some people may not have been loyal to the Justice for John O'Keefe movement—but were instead primarily loyal to Brian Tully's unit. And when you think about the fact that maybe Tully's unit didn't run the best investigation of Karen Read—maybe there were some flaws. But if you think about the fact that they did get her—but if you think about it in the context of: Karen knew from the jump that the MSP were dirty over Birchmore—then you understand: Karen—that's why it was going to become an incident. Everyone knew—everyone around Tully, his friends, all of them—the unit—they knew they covered up Birchmore's murder. And they knew Karen had it in her hands if she could just figure out the PR. And that's exactly what she did—to put enough pressure on them. They took her to trial anyway—and it destroyed the fucking Norfolk DA—destroyed Brian Tully's unit. It cost them dearly—and she's a tactical fucking genius. I think Brian Tully thought he was slicker than he was by using the prosecution of Aidan Kearney—not to get a genuinely—in my opinion—bad guy who was deserving of the indictment handed up by a grand jury of his peers. But because Tully wanted to know what the real target of the federal probe is. If you don't know what a backhand is, folks—a backhand is where you investigate one thing on the surface because you're dealing with a very high-level operation like the state police—who are a paramilitary intelligence-gathering operation. So you trick them. You make them think they're under investigation for John's death and the investigation of that death. But really—you're investigating them for the cover-up of Sandra Birchmore's murder. And that's exactly what I think happened to this unit. That's what I think Brian Tully was trying to figure out—from August of 2023 until about December. I think they eventually put it together—and by August of 2024, Matthew Farwell got indicted. Now—it's a question of all this as a result of today. I want to be very clear: this is what was called for. There needed to be an independent voice with power and who takes no nonsense—who came into this and said: Nope—it's out of your hands. And that's what Judge Doolin did today. Someone just needed to not either be involved with Karen Read, Aidan Kearney, or the Norfolk DA—or Kate Peter or Marty Kraft—and prosecute this. Now, all those other witnesses—I have no idea what the hell is going to happen there. But at least for Lindsey—Judge Doolin was like: enough of this nonsense. And that's why today was such a big deal in light of that historical context—because just tracing that very insidious pattern of events over the past 18 months—you can see this became a proxy war. It was Michael Morrissey on one side with his marching soldiers: Brian Tully, Kate Peter, Marty Kraft. And then it was Karen Read and the DOJ on the other side. Okay. And their soldiers were like the Free Karen Read movement and Turtle Boy and Natalie and all these other people. This was an intelligence community proxy war. And that's why I've been trying to tell people for so long: Lindsey Gaetani was not involved. She was an unwitting pawn. These two factions both took advantage of her—including Brian Tully—who was more interested in preserving his unit's reputation than actually defending the interest of the vulnerable. In my opinion, I think Brian Tully is a terrible person. Does that mean that he's a bad person for trying to hold Karen Read accountable for John O'Keefe's death? No, of course not. He's a bad person because in what fucking world do you—as a fucking state police officer—who you—you are entrusted—not just to get the bad guys—but to protect the most fucking vulnerable? One: how do you justify what happened with Sandra Birchmore? Two: how the fuck do you get it in your fucking mind that you're going to take a 15-year unredacted extraction of a fucking vulnerable victim's cell phone and release it to a fucking defendant known for promulgating exactly that material? What fucking headspace? What satanic fucking chamber do you and Kate Peter have to be drinking blood from fucking cups in to think that that's fucking okay? Fuck you. How do you even get in the headspace where doing something like that to a fucking victim becomes acceptable. The rot in that unit—whether enabled by Morrissey or whether he didn't know about it—I don't fucking know. But the point is: the rot in that unit was so deep that they lost their fucking souls. They didn't think of victims as victims. They re-victimized victims because it was a political fucking war—and these people are so hardened, I guess, that they don't understand what it means to be vulnerable. And these were police officers—detectives—people entrusted to uphold and protect the dignity of the most vulnerable—and they fucking used victims to advance some political agenda—to deal with the fact that they covered up a fucking murder. I'm done being gentle about this. Fuck these people. And I'm not saying that it was wrong for them to investigate Karen Read. I am pleased someone tried to prosecute her. I'm pissed at them because they were thinking about it from the perspective of their own liability for an unrelated case—and they fucked everything up—and introducing Kate Peter to this shit. Oh my God. It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace to the people who were hurt. It's a disgrace to the vulnerable. I frankly do not understand how Jen McCabe, Brian Tully, and Kate Peter go to bed each night. I don't get it. I don't know. Maybe there's something that shuts off the GABA-1 receptor or something and just makes you go to bed. I don't know. Never heard of such a thing. But I'm just saying: I don't know how you do it. How do you do it? But anyway—Judge Doolin—without giving a... extemporaneous, uh, bloviating cuss-based rant like I just did—instead, in my opinion, is like: fuck all of you! You're not being involved in this prosecution anymore. Someone's gonna protect this fucking woman—Lindsey Gaetani. I'm making you appoint someone! I love that man. Good for Judge Doolin. But still—we never should have gone to this point. This is incredible. With the... the... the MSP. The fact that they had a unit operating like this for so long. This is worse than what John Connolly and Whitey Bulger did. This is institutional rot that is so pervasive that it requires fundamental reform of the MSP. They're not incapable of—um, uh—solving crimes. I'm sure most of the MSP are wonderful. Anyway—my point is: I don't think the state police officers that I generally run into—or troopers—are bad people. I think most of them are wonderful. They've never been really mean to me. They do good work. They're out there protecting our roads. They stop people from speeding. They—what else do they do? They go after commercial truck violations. They investigate homicides—like, on the whole. And this is why I think we have to be careful about how we talk about this. I am not saying that the entire MSP is just rotten. I'm saying that when you have factions or sections within the institution that understand its machinations and are able to thus manipulate the bureaucratic structure and avoid accountability—you lose the confidence of everyone. And how do you think some of those good troopers feel when they have to go out there? Yes—people like me are going to smile at them and bless them and whatever—because I know they're not part of the problem. But most people look at them and they think that they're fucking hated. They don't deserve that. They literally put their lives on the line for us every day. And if we're going to give them the respect they deserve—if we're going to make the profession have the respect that it deserves—then this kind of institutional rot can't be looked at as just an embarrassment. And it can't be looked at as something that—oh, we just wish didn't happen. Maybe some guys are going to go away. No—you point at it. You scream it from the rooftops and you say: if this happens even once—then we have so failed as an institution; we must fundamentally reform from the ground up. And this wasn't just once. It was Birchmore. It was the phone extraction. It was the SA report leak over and over and over and over again. They knew the law. They were an old boys' club. They abused it. They had cover—and it was systemically enabled. And that's why I think—to save the profession of policing in Massachusetts—there needs to be a full-on unbridled discussion about how this happened—how the personalities involved were able to do what they did. And we can't be so tribalistic that because someone we support as to their views on one case, right? We cannot be so tribalistic that we just block out everything bad that they do. Or this rot will continue. And it is pernicious. It is insidious. It is invidious. It undermines the faith that citizens completely removed from this situation have in our system of government. It undermines victims' confidence in the ability to seek redress in the face of serious fucking harm—because they think the system doesn't actually care about them. It's just using them to get someone bigger. We cannot allow this to perpetuate. And the only way to fix it is to hold up situations like what happened to Birchmore—Sandra Birchmore—and what happened to Lindsey Gaetani—hold them up in the national spotlight—and say: we—the MSP—have failed you. Brian Tully failed these people. John Fanning failed these people. Nick Guarino failed these people. Yuri Bukhenik failed these people. We need to say that. We need to highlight it. We need to say: this happened even once. Therefore, we are not good enough. Not only are we not good enough—the very fact that either of these things were able to happen—the Birchmore cover-up, the phone extraction leak—is such a pervasive, systemic degradation of the faith that victims and the public have in the justice system—that our only option is to talk about this—congressional hearings. We need the State House to have congressional hearings. We need these people to answer for what they did. And we need to make sure it never happens again. And the only way you do that is by finding out what aspects of the bureaucratic structure allowed this to happen. And it's not going to be comfortable. I don't think it's going to be comfortable for anyone to talk about the fallout of any of this—but that's exactly what happened at the CCC on a smaller scale. And if this country matters—if this form of government matters—if this republic matters—then we will fix this. We will fix it together. We will address the hard questions. We will address the uncomfortable questions. We will shed our prejudices and polemical biases at the door. We will engage in no fear, no favoritism—and we will look only for the truth and nothing but it. And if you are incapable of doing that—you're contributing—either consciously or subconsciously—to the problem. It's our only option. And you can't just say: because they prosecuted Karen Read, we can't talk about anything bad that they did. That's tribalism. That's polemical. That's what drove us to this point.

Grant Smith Ellis

41,546 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten

"What NewJeans Wanted to Say" [Full transcript translated to English] 🐹: Some of you might be surprised by this sudden meeting, but we wanted to share our thoughts and opinions about the recent events, so we prepared this session. First, I want to explain one of the reasons we decided to do this live. It's been hard to see many people who have worked with us continue to suffer from unfair demands and pressure even after our CEO was dismissed. It was frustrating to just stand by and watch these situations unfold, and we were very worried about our future as a group of five. Honestly, while preparing for this live, we were naturally concerned about the reactions we might receive afterward. We were also worried that people might mistakenly think that our CEO instructed us to do this, but I want to clarify that this live was prepared because we five members genuinely wanted to express our thoughts. We received help from directors we trust for things we couldn't prepare ourselves, like setting up the shoot and finding a location. It didn’t feel right for us to stay silent when everyone, including our Bunnies, has been stepping up to support us. Moreover, this is not just a matter of leaving it to the adults because it directly affects the lives of us five members. Since we're the ones going through this, we felt that it would be healthier to speak up ourselves than to do nothing, so we mustered the courage to do so. The main point of what we want to say today is directed towards HYBE. We've already had meetings with the current management to express our opinions, but after seeing what happened afterward, it feels like our concerns weren't clearly conveyed. It seemed like communication was blocked, so we felt that preparing this live was the only way to properly share our thoughts and feelings. 🐻: I’m sure that today’s announcement has shocked many of the staff as well, as they were not aware of it, and I imagine everyone watching is quite surprised too. We’ve thought a lot about where to begin, but since the purpose is to express our intentions, we’ll try to explain as clearly as possible. Of course, due to contractual issues, we can’t share everything, but we’ll be as honest as we can. After it was decided that we would debut as NewJeans, our members spent a lot of time getting to know Min Heejin Daepyonim, both as a group and individually. At first, I had reservations and a certain fear towards the adults we were working with, but Daepyonim was the first person to approach us in a way that allowed us to open up, which was initially awkward but eventually built trust. From before our debut until now, we’ve been aware of various issues related to our debut schedule and other matters. However, working with Daepyonim made us feel good, and I believe that’s why we were able to debut successfully and continue our activities until now. This has been today’s news story. 🐶: Naturally, we all want to continue working with Daepyonim. Even before debuting as NewJeans and through all of the time that we spent together with Min Heejin Daepyonim, all of us felt that the music we wanted to make and the kind of world we wanted to build together, our vision, was similar in so many ways. With Min Heejin Daepyonim, we were able to prepare each and every task with sincere hearts, and I believe it shows in our work. Putting our sincere effort into something is only possible because of the people that we're working with have trust in each other and have that same vision. Min Heejin Daepyonim is not only the person that produces our music, but someone who makes NewJeans who we are. She discusses even the smallest details with us and explains them in ways that we can understand clearly. NewJeans has a distinct colour and tone, and this was created with Min Heejin Daepyonim. She is integral to NewJeans’ identity, and we all feel that she is irreplaceable. 🐱: However, even after our debut, there have been many unfair and incomprehensible incidents that you might not know about, and these incidents have only increased over time. As some of you may know, recently, videos from our trainee days and private records, such as medical information, were leaked. When I first saw that, I was really shocked. It was hard to understand how our company, which is supposed to protect us, failed to manage and allowed such information to be leaked. Naturally, this situation has made us worry that other strange or false information about us might spread in the future. Although we, along with our parents and Min Heejin Daepyonim, have raised concerns about this to HYBE, they haven’t resolved the issue, nor have they taken any proactive measures. Then, in the midst of all this, our CEO was dismissed, and we’re left wondering whom we can trust and rely on. We’ve come to the conclusion that if we don’t speak out about this now, no one will know what we’re going through. After much discussion among ourselves, we finally decided to take this step. 🐰: Something happened to me recently. The 4th floor of the HYBE building is where we get our hair and makeup done, so a lot of other artists and staff come and go there. One day, I was waiting alone in the hallway, and some staff from another team passed by. We greeted each other, but when they came back out a bit later, I heard one of their managers say, “Ignore her,” right in front of me. I could hear and see everything clearly. Even now, I still don’t understand why I had to go through that. 🐻: When I heard about what Hanni experienced, I was really shocked. How could a manager from another team tell their members to ignore one of us, and say it so loudly that Hanni could hear it? Such unimaginable words and behavior were directed at us, yet there was no apology, nor did they even acknowledge their wrongdoing. Of course, I’m worried about our future, but what’s most frightening is that the work we’ve already created is being compromised. Seeing the people who have poured their lives into creating our work being treated this way makes it hard to understand how this could be happening. The new management said they would separate producing and management, but we’ve always worked differently from other labels, and we thought that our way was a good one. Now, Daepyonim can no longer approve all matters, and we’re left wondering how we’re supposed to continue working as we did before. The recent statement from the new management also didn’t make sense to me. If they really didn’t intend to interfere with our producing, then the recent incident with Director Shin Woo-seok should never have happened, and it should have been handled differently. We are the ones directly involved with the copyrights and likeness rights of our content, yet they’re making decisions without our consent. In their statement, they kept saying they were acting to protect us and prevent our anxiety, but why do they keep insisting on this when they haven’t considered our wishes? We don’t want any more unnecessary issues to arise, and we want them to show respect and consideration for Daepyonim and all the directors who have worked with us. The things they’re doing right now are not in our best interest at all. 🐰: Something we all find very important, something that plays a very important role in our team's colour and image is our media content and creative production. Despite saying that they would leave all the creative production to our now former CEO, Min Heejin, through official statements that I think a lot of you might have already read or seen, and also during our personal meetings, they infringed our content. Content that not only we worked really hard on, but also our staff who spent endless hours to produce and release them solely for our fans. And if they had any understanding about what type of team we are, and the type of content that we create, they would have thought more deeply for crossing the line that they set for themselves. Because of this incident, we realized that there's not much we can do to prevent these type of issues. Personally, the way that ADOR used to run was the business management and creative production was not separated and was factors that played and worked in harmony with each other. That's how it worked and it was perfectly fine. It was our way of working and it was our CEO's way of producing NewJeans' content, which a lot of you were able to enjoy and appreciate. But now that she's no longer CEO, these factors that should have continued to work together in harmony are now being seen as two different areas of work. 🐻: Besides this, there are many other incidents we’ve experienced that are beyond my understanding—things that are frightening and uncomfortable. These incidents naturally make us question whether HYBE really cares about NewJeans, and there are clear signs of this. However, it’s hard to discuss everything today because we’re not sure how far things could escalate. We just hope you can understand a little of what’s been on our minds and why we chose to speak out in this way. 🐶: As I mentioned earlier, our dream was to perform the music we want to make with Daepyonim, and we were working very hard toward that goal. But now, we can’t do that, and the plans we’ve made might not come to fruition. As Hanni unnie said earlier, just like that, the content that we released solely for our fans, for our bunnies, was instantly erased. And I truly can't understand why anyone would do this to a group, or just anyone in general. We were just working hard for the present, so what did we do wrong? A week after Daepyonim was dismissed, we found out that we could no longer work with the director we’ve been working with all this time, and we’re extremely anxious because we don’t know what will happen to the staff who have always worked hard for us. If they really care about us, they should stop saying that they prioritize the artists and instead let us do the music we love in an environment where we can be genuinely happy. Is that really so hard to do? It’s hard to fully express what’s in my heart, but in the end, the five of us just want to continue our activities with Min Heejin Daepyonim, as we have done so far. 🐱: Personally, I want to continue working with the people around us who have helped me grow mentally and made me feel alive. However, I can't understand, nor do I think I should have to understand, why external forces are constantly obstructing and hindering us. I absolutely cannot comprehend what is truly in our best interest or what is supposed to help us grow. And I feel so sorry and heartbroken that our Bunnies, who found comfort in us and shared joyful memories with us, have to go through this ordeal and worry about things they shouldn't have to. We almost lost the work that symbolizes the relationship between NewJeans and Bunnies, and we don't want to lose anything else. I refuse to conform to or follow the values of the society those people belong to, and because I believe that direction is not the right one, I will not choose to go that way. 🐹: We found out about the CEO's dismissal through the news on the very day it happened. It was so sudden and unimaginable for all of us, and honestly, it was really difficult for us to process. As artists under HYBE, the company's unilateral notification made it clear to us that they don't respect us at all. In the midst of this confusion, we heard through our manager that the new CEO wanted to meet with us. From the very first action taken by the newly appointed Juyoung, it was clear that there was no consideration for us. He claimed to care for us, to prioritize NewJeans, but looking at everything that has happened, it's evident that his words were just that—empty words. HYBE’s actions, like publishing articles that painted us in a bad light just a week before our comeback, make us question how any of this is supposed to be in our best interest. 🐻: It's already been half a year of unnecessary and exhausting discussions about us and NewJeans, and even as a third party, it must be tiring. As the ones directly involved, it’s incredibly uncomfortable for us. We still have music we want to make and goals we want to achieve together, but as things stand now, it’s heartbreaking to think that we might lose not only the work we’ve created so far but also the identity of our team. That’s what makes us feel so helpless. We held this live stream to express our feelings because we sincerely want this tiresome conflict to end. 🐰: Like how we have our own and individual thoughts and feelings, we have the choice to choose how we will react to each situation, and we are not going to follow Hybe's every order blindly. We are more than well aware that this is getting in the way of our work, and that we should be treated much, much better than how we are right now. And it's very hard to believe that they are truly sincere about wanting to help us continue, to be able to continue to work with our Daepyonim, Min Heejin Daepyonim. Despite her being in the midst of all this current legal conflict, she's expected to plan and creatively produce our future endeavours in just only two months, which I personally think makes no sense at all. We don't want to hear all the empty words of how they're going to help us continue to work with Min Heejin, Daepyonim. And all we want is this legal conflict to be resolved and have our working environment returned back to normal the way it was before. 🐹: The way HYBE is operating right now feels dishonest and wrong to us. Please, stop interfering. Reinstating our CEO and returning us to the original ADOR environment we had before, with familiar people, not strangers, would make things right. We’re not asking for special treatment; we just want everyone to do their jobs well in their respective places. We’ll do our best in our roles too. We sincerely hope our request is heard. 🐶: From a human perspective, I hope you stop harassing our CEO, Min Hee Jin. Honestly, she seems so pitiful, and HYBE just comes across as an inhumane company. What can we possibly learn from a company like this? So, I really hope you stop bothering our CEO. 🐻: What we want is the original ADOR, where CEO Min Hee Jin leads both management and production. The reason we're making this request is because it's a way to coexist peacefully without conflict with HYBE. If our message has been conveyed properly, we hope Chairman Bang and HYBE make a wise decision to restore ADOR to its original state by the 25th. Thank you for listening to us. #하이브어도어_뉴진스지우기_작작해 #HYBE_STOP_SABOTAGING_NEWJEANS #HYBEによるNewJeansへの妨害に抗議します #NEWJEANS_NEVER_DIE

1tokki

3,756,978 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Liz Truss's full speech at CPAC Who needs enemies when you have former Prime Minister's trashing our country 🤷‍♂️ And never forget, she lost to a lettuce 🥬 -- Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's fantastic to be back in America and it's fantastic to be back at CPAC for the second year in a row. But last year, there was a dark cloud hanging over this conference. It was called Joe Biden. And this year, we are now under the leadership of President Donald Trump. This is truly. This is truly the golden age of America. But I'm sad to report. I'm sad to report that Britain is in the dark age. We have a socialist government, commissars ruling over us, who are leading our country in a terrible direction. But what I want to say today is they are not the only problem. The current establishment stooges in Whitehall and Westminster are only the latest iteration of Britain going wrong for the past few decades. Because, let's be honest, Britain isn't working. The British system is deeply rotten. Britain is becoming a failed state. We've got people who are being arrested and locked up for posting on X and Facebook. We've seen tens of thousands of girls as young as 12 raped, tortured and even killed by Pakistani grooming gangs. And yet many of those perpetrators have not been brought to justice. In fact, those crimes have been covered up. And we know that the authorities colluded. We know there was police collusion and we know there was collusion from the local council. We have a massive problem with illegal immigration, but yet we can't even deport people who are criminals from our country because of human rights. One example was a immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo who had sexually abused his own stepdaughter. But he was allowed to stay in Britain on the basis of the right to family life. How disgusting. A criminal from Albania was allowed to stay in Britain because his son didn't like the kind of chicken nuggets they sell abroad. And I'm not joking you there. But it's not just a problem we have with mass migration and illegal immigration. We've also got a problem with our energy in Britain. So in Britain, fracking has been banned. I was the only Prime Minister who allowed fracking. Sadly, I wasn't in office long enough to actually make it happen. We have net zero policies that have decimated our oil and gas industry. The net result is we have the highest energy prices in the developed world. And in Britain, we've just seen the last steel plant close down last year. We cannot produce our own steel anymore. We have an economic orthodoxy, a Bank of England that has printed vast amounts of money. They've created rampant inflation. They've wasted billions of taxpayer pounds. If they Weren't the government, it would be called a heist. Yet in none of these cases, in none of these cases have any of these people, any of these authorities been held to account for the fact they have completely failed. And we're in a situation where Britain is almost bankrupt morally, socially and economically. And I think people in this room might want to know, how on earth has this happened? This is the country that invented parliamentary democracy. It's the country of the Magna Carta. It's the country of the Bill of Rights. We protected freedom of the press back in 1695, almost 100 years before the First Amendment. How on earth can the country of Adam Smith and the Industrial Revolution be de. Industrializing? It doesn't make any sense. And the answer is that everything that made Britain great is being destroyed by an establishment that hates Britain and hates the West. Like in most of Europe, our universities, our institutions and our corporations have been taken over by anti west ideology, Islamism, green extremism, anti capitalism, wokery, transgenderism. You name it, they've adopted it. And what we've seen is a massive failure of leaders in Europe to push back against this. Because this is not something the population wanted. This is not something the people in Britain or Europe voted for. This is something that was imposed from above. And what happened is that democratically elected politicians handed vast amounts of power over to the unelected and the unaccountable. In Britain, Tony Blair in particular, trashed centuries of liberty by creating a tyranny of technocrats. He created an unaccountable Supreme Court which had never been existed in Britain before. He created a much deeper and powerful state that is not held to account. He also handed vast powers over to an Alphabet soup of international bodies, the World Health Organization, the United nations, the ECHR, all of whom nobody could vote in and nobody could vote out. And all of those bodies, as you've seen in the United States of America, have been captured by the same anti west ideology. But what I find really incredible, really, really incredible is it wasn't just China and Iran and Russia that were funding these NGOs, funding these anti west groups. It was actually the United States of America under President Joe Biden through USAID Now, did you know that American taxpayer dollars was funding the BBC? Did you know that they were funding the Tony Blair Institute? Did you know that they were funding Rory Stewart's wife? It's incredible. We thought you were our friends, but you were actually American taxpayers were funding this anti west ideology. And the problem is when the people in Britain voted for something different when they tried to change the government, when they tried to change the system in 2016, in 2019 and in 2024, they found the same people were still in power. The bureaucracy had not changed. And it's no surprise that young people are losing their faith in democracy because they don't believe it can change things. And amazingly, during all of this, many so called conservatives went along with the ideology. They were busy hugging Greta Thunberg. They were putting up taxes. I'm not joking about that. They were putting up taxes. They were increasing immigration, they were pursuing transgender ideology. And it's no wonder that the Conservative Party had its worst defeat since 1834. Patriotic Brits have had enough. They've had enough. And we look across the Atlantic with envy. We see President Trump in the Executive, in the Oval Office, signing off executive orders. And we want some of that in Britain. We want drill, baby, drill. We want men banned from women's bathrooms and women's sports. We want illegal immigrants deported. We want taxes to be cut. We want a Trump revolution in Britain. We want to flood the zone. We want Elon and his nerd army of muskrats examining the British deep state. Ladies and gentlemen, we missed the first American Revolution in 1776. In fact, it was actually a revolution against us. But we want to be part of the second American revolution. We want to dismantle the British deep state, which is older and more entrenched than the American one. We need a great restoration bill to repeal all of the terrible Blair laws, the Equality act, the Climate Change act, the Human Rights act, the Constitutional Reform Act. We need to eradicate judicial activism in Britain and restore parliamentary sovereignty. We want our government run by the Executive, not by the bureaucracy. But most of all, what we need is we need to restore free speech. This is the lifeblood, our democracy. And J.D. vance is right. Vice President Vance is right. Free speech is in retreat in Britain and in Europe, to Europe's governments, particularly Britain. They see George Orwell's 1984 as an instruction manual. Look at the evidence. A British citizen was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic. We have German prosecutors saying that if you insult somebody, you could be arrested. We had Alison Pearson, a British journalist, visited at her home by the police because of a tweet that she'd posted a year ago and since deleted. I want the police to be policing real crimes, not thought crimes. But not only this. We have a supine legacy media that pay lip service to free speech, but have suppressed stories and distorted stories. The BBC were found to have violated their editorial guidelines 1500 times in the four months after the appalling atrocities of October 7th. They were found to have been downplaying Hamas terrorism and promoting the idea that Israel was the aggressor. This is our state broadcaster funded by the taxpayer. The mainstream media have failed to report on the grooming scandal and they failed to hold the deep state to account. And much of the reason for that is the deep state of the people giving them all their information, all their leaks, all their funding, all of their material. And they're frightened of the media regulator, Ofcom. We have seen what independent media has done for the United States and we want some of that. That's why we are going to be establishing a new free speech media network in conjunction with our American allies, including, including the great people here at cpac. It will be uncensorable and uncancelable. It will take on the Britain Bashing Corporation, which is what we call the BBC. It will take on Starmer and his socialists and it will take on the censors of Germany because. Because it's only by telling people the truth in the United Kingdom, in Europe, in the Anglosphere, in America, that we will turn our backs on the war's west against itself. All of the people here are working to make America great again. I believe that we can make Britain great again. I believe that we can make Europe great again. And I believe that together we can make the west great again. Thank you. Thank you.

Farrukh

20,818 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

💬: While the war between Min Hee-jin and HYBE is still ongoing, NewJeans accepted the first-instance court ruling without filing an appeal... the ruling that said their exclusive contracts with HYBE (or rather, with ADOR under HYBE; I’ll just call it HYBE) are still valid. All of the NewJeans members accepted it. So people were like, “Then what does that mean?” It basically meant they were saying they would go back to HYBE. But within HYBE, at first they only planned to accept two members back, and they were wavering over what to do with the other three. Then more recently, this is what you’re seeing now, they decided, “We need to cut Danielle.” Why single out just this one member? This is something I’ve investigated, but I can’t give you exact details yet. There are probably multiple reasons mixed together. But there are a few prevailing interpretations. First, because the NewJeans members are young, discussions are often conducted together with their parents, almost as if the parents are acting as representatives. There’s a view that Danielle’s parents may have been relatively more hardline. Second, there’s the idea that you need to make an example out of at least one person... grab one, so to speak, so you can line up the rest and bring them under control. From that perspective, they decided they needed to single someone out to “set discipline.” At some point in the past, Danielle posted a photo that gave off the nuance that she might be working on something together with certain people. Now, when all five NewJeans members did other activities or pursued independent moves, they did so as a group. But in this case, she was the only one who posted something like that on her own, so she kind of stood out that one time. And based on that, this is just my own speculation, by the way, if they decided to latch onto that as concrete grounds, it would be incredibly easy to single out just one person. It becomes very convenient to frame it like, “Were you trying to work with other artists?” or “Were you trying to go to another producer?” That kind of narrative is easy to construct. So from my perspective, they singled out Danielle first, and, why? You know “divide and rule,” right? You break one person off, come down hard on them, and then show the remaining four, “If you step out of line, this is what happens,” basically grabbing them by the collar to keep them in check. This kind of thing has existed in the idol industry for a long time. At SM, for example, exclusive contracts used to be around 10 years, then after the JYJ incident they were changed to about 7 years. And when it starts to look like artists might not renew around the 7-year mark, companies don’t exactly send them off nicely. That kind of agency-specific culture might also be at play here, layered on top of everything else. In any case, it seems like Danielle was already marked, and that’s why they may have gone after her over something else. That’s why I think the likelihood that this was all planned has grown quite a bit.

1tokki

112,516 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

My cousin, Jonathan Ord asked me to teach the Come Follow Me lesson to his mission yesterday over zoom. This is the video I did and the full text. Hi. I am Brad Smith. I have ALS, which is a really weird disease that kills the motor neurons in my body. That means that I lose the connections between my brain and my muscles. My mind is still running at the normal rate. So, I can understand everything you say to me, but I can’t respond very quickly! I am getting faster, though. Last November I was the 3rd person in the world to receive the Neuralink brain implant. So I am controlling this computer with my brain. This is my old voice, recreated by AI from just two hours of me talking to my phone. I have come to see ALS as a calling, and I am trying to magnify it. I used to talk easily, but now I have to choose my words carefully, because it is hard and slow to type what I want to say. I joke that the Lord gave me ALS to get me to shut up. Those who knew me when I could talk laugh the hardest. President Ord is my first cousin. So we share grandma and grandpa Smith. Our grandma Smith was a character. When she taught at church, she would put a sign up that read: “thus saith the lord:” so I will try to keep this within what the Lord has actually said, while trying to teach you to look at a basic principle of the gospel in a different way. Ironically, the first verse of Doctrine & Covenants 93 starts with “Verily, thus saith the Lord”. This is an amazing section of scripture, Jesus Christ telling us to step up and be better! You should study it often. I will start with a story. I asked AI to make a video to dramatically tell the story. During college, I lived in Damascus, Syria, for a semester. It was a fantastic and wonderful experience. I especially loved exploring the Old City of Damascus. The Old City is built around the huge beautiful Umayyad mosque. Within the walls of the old city is a maze of narrow, winding, confusing streets and one really long straight street, as Saul found out in Acts 9:11. One day when a group of us were trying to get through this maze from the mosque to the Christian quarter of the Old City, we asked a man for directions. He thought for a second, then pointed and said, “Go left and then right, and then left and then right, and then left and then right, and then left and right, and you’ll be there.” Aren’t those the most ridiculous directions you have ever heard? We could have ignored him. But, we thought, he did know the city better than we did. So, with some laughter, off we went. Left. Right. Left. Right. And so on until, much to our surprise, we popped out at our destination. Life is a confusing maze. We face difficult choices, unexpected events, surprises, sorrows, opportunities, roadblocks. The Lord has given directions on how to get through to where we want to go. Sometimes the Lord’s directions seem odd, and we may struggle with the decision to follow. The Lord will not force us. It is our choice whether to choose and follow him. Wasn’t that fun? AI is getting crazy! I will be much less entertaining for the rest, but hopefully the spirit will teach you something new. The phrase “keep the commandments” (or “keepeth my commandments”) appears at least 4 times in Doctrine and Covenants Section 93, in verses 1, 20, 27, and 28. There are other references, like “keep my sayings” in 52 and “obeyeth my voice” in 1. So, commandments are really important in this Revelation. I suggest that making the gospel a more central part of our lives depends largely on how we look at commandments. When you think of commandments, do you think “I can’t. I’m Mormon”? (That was a popular T-shirt slogan during my college years.) Although, with the recent guidance from President Nelson, it probably should be “I can’t, I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”. It’s a common reaction: “Thou shalt not do Cool Things.” People LOVE to focus on all the things we CAN’T do, as if we are trapped and deserve pity for our beliefs. No pity is needed. Commandments are opportunities, not constraints. Commandments are awesome! Allow me to illustrate. Imagine a spectrum between Good and Evil. Somewhere in the middle is “the Line” that divides Good from Evil. As a teenager, I wanted to know where the Line was, so I could get close to it without going over it. I wanted to be on the “Good” side but still be able to do as many “Cool Things" with my friends as possible. From my experience, I believe God gives us two types of commandments: 1) Get Back over the Line commandments and 2) Come Further into the Light commandments. Type 1, the Get Back over the Line commandments, could also be called “Misery Avoidance” commandments. They are designed to keep us out of misery or, if we’ve crossed the Line, to bring us out of misery and back into the Good side. These are generally commandments with a clear and defined point of success, such as “Thou shalt not kill.” You will know, at the end of each day, whether you have successfully followed that commandment. I think all of the Ten Commandments fall into this category. The law of Moses was very black and white. The children of Israel had been in Egypt without a prophet for a long time when Moses received the law, and they needed to work on the basics. So, if you follow the Type 1 commandments, you will refrain from doing things that make you miserable. You will know you are in the Good if you can answer the baptismal interview and temple recommend questions honestly and faithfully. If you can do that, you have taken the basic steps necessary to avoid misery and are on a solid foundation for the next type of commandment. Type 2, the “Come Further into the Light” commandments, are the really cool commandments. Once we are out of the misery category, we can really start to pursue joy. So, God commands us to do things that he knows will make us happier and more like Christ. These commandments are the principles of eternal development, such as “Love thy neighbor” (Matthew 22:39). There is no clear end to loving our neighbor—it requires positive and eternal progression. We can always love more, and we can always find another neighbor who needs our love. It is an eternal principle taught by Jesus Christ. And if we truly love our neighbor, refraining from killing him becomes pretty easy. It is through these commandments that we find joy in Jesus Christ. Elder Christofferson taught about this spectrum in the October 2018 general conference: “Most of us find ourselves at this moment on a continuum between a socially motivated participation in gospel rituals on the one hand and a fully developed, Christlike commitment to the will of God on the other. Somewhere along that continuum, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ enters into our heart and takes possession of our soul. It may not happen in an instant, but we should all be moving toward that blessed state.” Our goal is to go THAT WAY (toward Christ) as much as possible. So first, get back across the line and stop doing things that will make you miserable. Then make every effort to try and be like Jesus, to “love one another as Jesus loves you.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than just “not doing” stuff. It is about coming unto Christ, being perfected in him, and denying ourselves of all ungodliness. Discuss with your companion what commandments and mission rules are for “Misery Avoidance” and which are “Come Further into the Light”! And, remember, commandments are ALWAYS connected to huge blessings. The Lord promised, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21). Whenever we obey any of God’s commandments, we will get the blessing associated with that commandment. Elder David A. Bednar said: “The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives; it also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better. Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness are spiritually necessary, and we must always do so. But remission of sin is not the only or even the ultimate purpose of the gospel. To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit such that “we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2), as did King Benjamin’s people, is the covenant responsibility we have accepted. “This mighty change is not simply the result of working harder or developing greater individual discipline. Rather, it is the consequence of a fundamental change in our desires, our motives, and our natures made possible through the Atonement of Christ the Lord. Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin.” I LOVE this concept—and as I have paid attention, I feel like apostles are trying to teach us this all the time. Are we listening? Let me repeat what Elder Bednar said. He said that the commandments help us change what we WANT. Why is that important? Remember my teenage desires? I wanted to be as close to the line as possible so I could still look cool for my friends. That is a good example of the “tyranny” of sin. Even though I was not actually sinning (probably because I was afraid of my mother), I still had some small desire to sin. I said, “I can’t. I’m Mormon” with many dramatic sighs. Overcoming the tyranny of sin is getting to the point where the sin no longer looks remotely interesting or fun because we are too busy loving our neighbors and trying to be like Jesus. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.” This talk was given when I was on a mission, before most of you were born. It completely changed my perspective on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is called The Challenge to Become” and I recommend that you study it. When the Lord says keep the commandments, he isn’t just telling us to stop sinning—he wants us to become like Christ and to have joy. Take a moment and think, Where am I on this continuum? Remember that none of us is perfect like the Savior, and we all need to lift one another. That is why we worship together. That is why we have priesthood quorums and the Relief Society, Primary, and youth organizations. The Lord taught us that truth when he said we all have different gifts: “To some is given one [gift], and to some is given another [gift], that all may be profited thereby. To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:12–14). The Savior is still WAY over there: a thousand miles away somewhere. That is why we have quorums. We all have a long way to go. Let’s link arms and run together. Let me finish by telling a story from my mission to support my testimony of Jesus. Years ago my mission president said something interesting: “Either the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly the kingdom of god on the earth... or it is the greatest fraud ever in history.“ It is audacious to claim to be the true Church of Jesus Christ—but let me explain exactly why I know that to be true. I always BELIEVED that I was raised in the gospel of Jesus Christ. My parents taught me well and I felt good following the commandments and studying the scriptures. That led me to serve a mission in Brazil. My turning point of testimony came when I was 20–at least 2/3rds through my mission. We were invited into a house in the “fundos” of a property—a small structure built behind a larger house. The man was polite and allowed us to share our message. As I had done hundreds of times, I shared the story of Joseph Smith, a boy who sought the truth through prayer. I recited Joseph’s own words in response to his prayer: “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" I felt the strongest feeling I had ever experienced—an undeniable confirmation that what I said was true. It hit me in a way I can never forget! I knew that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet, and therefore the Book of Mormon was the word of god. What about the man we were teaching? How had he responded to my life-affirming spiritual experience? He shrugged and politely thanked us for the message. I was stunned. I felt like the windows of heaven opened on me—and he felt nothing. I learned that receiving answers to our prayers is like tuning a radio: not everyone is on the right frequency. For some reason, the Lord decided to broadcast on my frequency that day. I received the undeniable confirmation that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I have built on that foundation brick by brick since then. And every time someone has challenged me on Joseph Smith, I go back to that day in Brazil. I know that he was a prophet. My life has been blessed in ridiculously good ways since then. As I have tried to follow Jesus Christ, great things have happened to me. Even my hardest and most frustrating times have turned out to have a purpose. God has upturned my best laid plans over and over. But I look back and realize that I could never have planned any better. With the prophet Nephi I say: “I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." (1 Nephi 11:17) When I say that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, that does not mean we have a monopoly on truth. I know Christians and Muslims who teach me to be better—and Members of the church who are far from disciples of Christ. We just have more truth: scriptures, living prophets, ordinances, personal revelation, and answers to many of life’s biggest questions! That is pretty cool. But we can’t be prideful about the truth we have. You have all probably met people to admire both inside and outside of the church. So, I am all in. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true—not a big fraud. And we are all trying to get closer to Christ. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. Life has not been what I expected, but I trust him! I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true. This is “intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one.” With that knowledge, keep the commandments! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen .

Bradford G Smith (Brad)

20,383 Aufrufe • vor 11 Monaten

🗣️ Mikel Arteta has to make changes for Crystal Palace. 🔄 “December is the month where players get injured more than ever. If there’s one thing Mikel Arteta struggles with. It's rotation and Arsenal are paying the price for it right now. “Benjamin White playing three games in a row straight off a long-term injury. That's pretty unnecessary. Gabriel playing a friendly when he reportedly wasn't 100%, that was questionable as well. “Situation with Benjamin White, he's now out, Gabriel out, soon to return. Saliba not fully fit, even Mikel said that himself. He had to rush him back. That was a risk, which breeds more injuries. It's a vicious cycle. “Hincapie had an injury the other day against Everton, where Calafiori sort of like went into him and he even had to have like a look like a like a deep heat or something on on him like a bit of pain relief. “So he's probably not even look hundred percent. No one seemed to pull that up at the end of the match, but he didn't look like he was moving that comfortably. He did complete the 90 minutes. Of course, Mosquera. Another one who's not available. I feel like at the moment with Arsenal there's one position just gets absolutely pummeled. So at the moment, it's the defence. At the start of the season, it was all the strikers. So now we're packed up front, we're ruined in defence. So there's not many options. “I read an article the other day where it said, December is the month where players they get injured more than ever because there's so many games, the load is so high, it's just it's just too much. “I mean, even Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, the most durable player in football pretty much, and he got injured from a hamstring the other night. It just goes to show what this period's like for the players. “So I think Mikel has a duty to look after the players, they just had a week off. It's the first week they've had off in since like international break and it's not going to change until February, so it's not going to stop. “Mikel has a duty to look after these players and make sure this doesn't derail our season. Arsenal haven't won the Carabao Cup since 1993, before I was even born. I've never seen us win it. I've always wanted us to win it, but I'm not going to get upset if we don't win it. I think Mikel's under a lot of pressure this season to bring home silverware but if it's not the Premier League or Champions League, it's going to be the same result. “I think this match is a match for rotation. I think it's a match for Noni Maduweke, Ethan Wainieri. Marli Salmon, even Josh Nichols at right-back. Timber needs a rest. Saliba probably needs a rest. Hincapie may need a rest, given the extent of his injury. I think the players are on the limit at the moment. “I think we're very close to being beyond the limit for Arsenal. We're in a very good position, thanks to Mikel and the players and the staff, everything right now. But let's not ruin that over a Carabao Cup. “We need to win a trophy, but a Carabao Cup isn't going to relieve the pressure on Mikel Arteta, I'm afraid. It's just not. You know what's coming if he wins it. Oh, he's not won the Champions League. He's not won the Premier League. Doesn't matter. “Obviously, it would be delightful to win. a trophy, like even when he won the FA Cup, he has won a trophy for Arsenal, major trophy, but that was a long time ago, and this season's the season in my opinion. “He needs to prioritise what matters for him. Here's a starting 11 I'd go with. Got Josh Nichols in there, Marli Salmon. I know Josh and that have been actually training with the first team ahead of this match, so. I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of him in the squad. “You never know, he might start. Knowing Arteta though, he probably won't start, but I'd like to see him start. What's your opinion on it? Should Arteta rotate massively?“

Connor Humm

77,413 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

-The Cab Ride I'll Never Forget- "Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940′s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. ‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’ ‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’ ‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly.. ‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice..’The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. ‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired.Let’s go now’. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. ‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse. ‘Nothing,’ I said ‘You have to make a living,’ she answered. ‘There are other passengers,’ I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly. ‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’ I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.. I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one."

Ryan Buikema

110,462 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren