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Madison Test Constance's Limits Constance wanted a challenge to see how much weight she could handle #bbwwiththinchicks #bbwdomination #bbwfacesitting #squash #smother #petite #CCC #DDP #follow Clips4Sale.com Mistress Madison 📍 Chicago, IL

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FKA twigs is exactly where she’s meant to be. On Saturday night, FKA twigs sold out her first arena show at Madison Square Garden, a venue she was told wasn’t “for her.” She proved every single one of those people wrong. twigs has been grinding for years, and it showed in every second of her performance. She commanded the stage with total control, her dancing singular and untouchable. She brought with her an extraordinary crew of backup dancers, singers, emcees, voguers, and intrumentalists. The show even carved out an electric tribute to New York’s ballroom scene that was met with pure bliss. What sets FKA twigs apart is how much she means it. There’s no faking a twigs-level of devotion. She’s spent years obsessively sharpening her vision and honing her craft in order to prepare for a moment exactly like this one. And the crowd could absolutely feel the weight of that. The energy in the Garden was overwhelming as twigs took her fans through the full spectrum of emotion: from euphoric, sweat-soaked dance floor release to sickening heartbreak that settled over the room like a thick fog. For the finale, twigs performed her 2019 classic “Cellophane,” her voice breaking open on the repeated question, “Didn’t I do it for you?”—before channeling the song’s emotional spiral into a breathtaking pole descent. Naturally, the audience erupted. FKA twigs has undeniably arrived.
1:05

FKA twigs is exactly where she’s meant to be. On Saturday night, FKA twigs sold out her first arena show at Madison Square Garden, a venue she was told wasn’t “for her.” She proved every single one of those people wrong. twigs has been grinding for years, and it showed in every second of her performance. She commanded the stage with total control, her dancing singular and untouchable. She brought with her an extraordinary crew of backup dancers, singers, emcees, voguers, and intrumentalists. The show even carved out an electric tribute to New York’s ballroom scene that was met with pure bliss. What sets FKA twigs apart is how much she means it. There’s no faking a twigs-level of devotion. She’s spent years obsessively sharpening her vision and honing her craft in order to prepare for a moment exactly like this one. And the crowd could absolutely feel the weight of that. The energy in the Garden was overwhelming as twigs took her fans through the full spectrum of emotion: from euphoric, sweat-soaked dance floor release to sickening heartbreak that settled over the room like a thick fog. For the finale, twigs performed her 2019 classic “Cellophane,” her voice breaking open on the repeated question, “Didn’t I do it for you?”—before channeling the song’s emotional spiral into a breathtaking pole descent. Naturally, the audience erupted. FKA twigs has undeniably arrived.

Pigeons & Planes

36,574 views • 5 months ago

Teacher (Actresss) Lek: My daughter called and told me, 'Mom, you’re acting with Lisa!' I didn’t even know before that — I found out from my daughter too. So I was like, 'Oh really?' Then I went to check the news and was like, 'Oh, it’s true.' But Lisa joined later — we had already started filming when they announced that she’d be part of the cast. MC: How was it working with Lisa, ma’am? Lek: She’s such a lovely girl. I honestly didn’t expect that, because usually kids who grow up abroad have a certain kind of energy, which, to be fair, is just like how we were when we were young. That’s probably why older people found us cheeky back then. And now I’ve become one of those adults who sees kids that way too (laughs). But Lisa… no, when she first met me, she greeted me so politely. And when she talked to me, she’d kneel down and say, 'Teacher (touches my knee), is it okay if I dance like this?' I was so surprised, I told her, 'Oh, you can sit on the chair' She has such good manners, speaks so nicely, and is very respectful. Sometimes when I was sitting in the room eating snacks, she’d say, 'Teacher, I’m hungry.' So I told her, 'Try this one, it’s delicious.' She’d take just one bite, and when I told her to have more, she said, 'I can’t, teacher.' I think she’s probably careful about her weight. I even told her, 'When I was young, I was just as skinny as you.' We’d just chat casually, laugh, and joke around. I’d tell her old stories from when I was young. Sometimes she’d start to talk about something that was bothering her, she’d begin to open up, then stop herself. She knows she can’t say too much. Even though we got close and trusted each other, she still knew there were limits. And that’s absolutely right, in this industry or outside of it, you can’t tell everything to anyone. At her level, she has to be very careful about what she says. I could really see how disciplined she is. 🔗 #LISA LLOUD #TheWhiteLotus #LISAxTheWhiteLotus
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Teacher (Actresss) Lek: My daughter called and told me, 'Mom, you’re acting with Lisa!' I didn’t even know before that — I found out from my daughter too. So I was like, 'Oh really?' Then I went to check the news and was like, 'Oh, it’s true.' But Lisa joined later — we had already started filming when they announced that she’d be part of the cast. MC: How was it working with Lisa, ma’am? Lek: She’s such a lovely girl. I honestly didn’t expect that, because usually kids who grow up abroad have a certain kind of energy, which, to be fair, is just like how we were when we were young. That’s probably why older people found us cheeky back then. And now I’ve become one of those adults who sees kids that way too (laughs). But Lisa… no, when she first met me, she greeted me so politely. And when she talked to me, she’d kneel down and say, 'Teacher (touches my knee), is it okay if I dance like this?' I was so surprised, I told her, 'Oh, you can sit on the chair' She has such good manners, speaks so nicely, and is very respectful. Sometimes when I was sitting in the room eating snacks, she’d say, 'Teacher, I’m hungry.' So I told her, 'Try this one, it’s delicious.' She’d take just one bite, and when I told her to have more, she said, 'I can’t, teacher.' I think she’s probably careful about her weight. I even told her, 'When I was young, I was just as skinny as you.' We’d just chat casually, laugh, and joke around. I’d tell her old stories from when I was young. Sometimes she’d start to talk about something that was bothering her, she’d begin to open up, then stop herself. She knows she can’t say too much. Even though we got close and trusted each other, she still knew there were limits. And that’s absolutely right, in this industry or outside of it, you can’t tell everything to anyone. At her level, she has to be very careful about what she says. I could really see how disciplined she is. 🔗 #LISA LLOUD #TheWhiteLotus #LISAxTheWhiteLotus

LALICE UPDATES

118,648 views • 10 months ago

Serika's "Are You Having Fun, Sensei?" from Blue Archive Fes 2026 I love Serika. I've always wanted to work a part-time job at a restaurant or similar, just for the valuable experience, to see things from the other side, but it just seems too intimidating to do alone. With Serika, I'm sure any part-time job would be fun, be it handing out flyers, acting as nighttime security guards, pulling out weeds, cleaning the streets, being an assistant in a convenience store, patrolling the streets at night, delivering milk in the morning, cosplaying as a miko at a Shinto shrine (all part-time jobs she's done before), or simply working at a familiar ramen restaurant. I'd love Serika to show me how she makes ramen! And, obviously, I'd donate all the money that's left after occasionally hanging out with her to the Foreclosure Task Force, to help settle their, or rather our debt. I'd love to be a part of it. You know, in the idol event, Serika asks the girls what they think of her idol outfit. Why not me? Because "I only ever praise her". To which I reply that I'm just speaking my mind. Because it's true. Serika deserves all the praise and compliments she can get. She's a hard-working, kind-hearted and adorable girl. If only she could do something about that naïvety of hers... I can fix her, I swear. We just need to get married first. Okay, I think I'm getting ahead of myself. But it is important to note that she was the First Princess, the Original Cat. After I rescued her from her kidnappers, she got SO flustered when I called her my princess and myself her prince in shining armour! Maybe because it's because she'd already seen me as her prince charming, so me saying it out loud was too much to handle? In any case, calling me "brain dead" was a bit harsh. But it was cute so it's okay. She's cute when she's angry. But that doesn't mean I want her to get angry. I want her to be happy, first and foremost. Maybe as we spend time together, she could gradually accept that my compliments are genuine? I might have to tone them down a notch for that, which is sad, but it's for a greater cause—Serika permitting me to praise her, and by extension accepting all her good qualities. If she hears me call her cute every day, and she knows I mean it, what choice would she have but to realise that she is in fact cute? So yes, I wouldn't want to make her angry, at least not too much. A smile suits her adorable face best, after all.
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Serika's "Are You Having Fun, Sensei?" from Blue Archive Fes 2026 I love Serika. I've always wanted to work a part-time job at a restaurant or similar, just for the valuable experience, to see things from the other side, but it just seems too intimidating to do alone. With Serika, I'm sure any part-time job would be fun, be it handing out flyers, acting as nighttime security guards, pulling out weeds, cleaning the streets, being an assistant in a convenience store, patrolling the streets at night, delivering milk in the morning, cosplaying as a miko at a Shinto shrine (all part-time jobs she's done before), or simply working at a familiar ramen restaurant. I'd love Serika to show me how she makes ramen! And, obviously, I'd donate all the money that's left after occasionally hanging out with her to the Foreclosure Task Force, to help settle their, or rather our debt. I'd love to be a part of it. You know, in the idol event, Serika asks the girls what they think of her idol outfit. Why not me? Because "I only ever praise her". To which I reply that I'm just speaking my mind. Because it's true. Serika deserves all the praise and compliments she can get. She's a hard-working, kind-hearted and adorable girl. If only she could do something about that naïvety of hers... I can fix her, I swear. We just need to get married first. Okay, I think I'm getting ahead of myself. But it is important to note that she was the First Princess, the Original Cat. After I rescued her from her kidnappers, she got SO flustered when I called her my princess and myself her prince in shining armour! Maybe because it's because she'd already seen me as her prince charming, so me saying it out loud was too much to handle? In any case, calling me "brain dead" was a bit harsh. But it was cute so it's okay. She's cute when she's angry. But that doesn't mean I want her to get angry. I want her to be happy, first and foremost. Maybe as we spend time together, she could gradually accept that my compliments are genuine? I might have to tone them down a notch for that, which is sad, but it's for a greater cause—Serika permitting me to praise her, and by extension accepting all her good qualities. If she hears me call her cute every day, and she knows I mean it, what choice would she have but to realise that she is in fact cute? So yes, I wouldn't want to make her angry, at least not too much. A smile suits her adorable face best, after all.

Minend

18,989 views • 6 months ago

In my previous post, I shared my first impressions after trying BingX Ultra TradingView. But for me, a trading feature only proves its value when it actually improves my workflow in real market conditions not just on paper. So over the past few days, I decided to trade exclusively with Ultra TradingView and record the entire process to see whether it could genuinely make mobile trading more efficient. 1⃣ Workflow #1: Managing an Open BTC Position After identifying a support zone, I opened a BTC long at 59.397. 🎯 Take Profit: 59.491 🛡 Stop Loss: 59.342 What I really wanted to test wasn't the order execution speed, but how convenient it is to manage an open position afterward. Instead of switching to a separate Position panel like I usually do on other platforms, I simply dragged both my Take Profit and Stop Loss levels directly on the chart. Every adjustment was reflected instantly, making the entire position management process much more intuitive. 2⃣ Workflow #2: Planning Two ETH Scenarios For ETH, I didn't rush into a market order. Instead, I prepared two trading scenarios in advance. 📍 Long Entry: 1,564 📍 Short Entry: 1,573 Both pending orders were placed directly within the TradingView chart, allowing me to monitor my trading plan, adjust entry levels when needed, and manage multiple scenarios without leaving the chart. After several days of using Ultra TradingView, what impressed me most wasn't the 108 technical indicators or 86 drawing tools. It was the trading workflow itself. From market analysis to order placement and position management, everything happens on a single chart. For someone who trades frequently on mobile, eliminating unnecessary screen switching makes a noticeable difference especially during fast-moving markets. I've included the full trading session in the video below so you can see exactly how I used Ultra TradingView across these two different trading scenarios. If you've already tried it, I'd love to hear how it fits into your own trading workflow. #BingXUltraTV BingX
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In my previous post, I shared my first impressions after trying BingX Ultra TradingView. But for me, a trading feature only proves its value when it actually improves my workflow in real market conditions not just on paper. So over the past few days, I decided to trade exclusively with Ultra TradingView and record the entire process to see whether it could genuinely make mobile trading more efficient. 1⃣ Workflow #1: Managing an Open BTC Position After identifying a support zone, I opened a BTC long at 59.397. 🎯 Take Profit: 59.491 🛡 Stop Loss: 59.342 What I really wanted to test wasn't the order execution speed, but how convenient it is to manage an open position afterward. Instead of switching to a separate Position panel like I usually do on other platforms, I simply dragged both my Take Profit and Stop Loss levels directly on the chart. Every adjustment was reflected instantly, making the entire position management process much more intuitive. 2⃣ Workflow #2: Planning Two ETH Scenarios For ETH, I didn't rush into a market order. Instead, I prepared two trading scenarios in advance. 📍 Long Entry: 1,564 📍 Short Entry: 1,573 Both pending orders were placed directly within the TradingView chart, allowing me to monitor my trading plan, adjust entry levels when needed, and manage multiple scenarios without leaving the chart. After several days of using Ultra TradingView, what impressed me most wasn't the 108 technical indicators or 86 drawing tools. It was the trading workflow itself. From market analysis to order placement and position management, everything happens on a single chart. For someone who trades frequently on mobile, eliminating unnecessary screen switching makes a noticeable difference especially during fast-moving markets. I've included the full trading session in the video below so you can see exactly how I used Ultra TradingView across these two different trading scenarios. If you've already tried it, I'd love to hear how it fits into your own trading workflow. #BingXUltraTV BingX

DGroup Capital 🇻🇳

19,651 views • 1 month ago

Seedance 2.5: Some Tips / Thoughts & Prompt Share I knew from the start that the story in this video was a little too ambitious for 30 seconds. Normally, it could easily have been a 2+ minute sequence but I wanted to squeeze it into 30 seconds because there were a few specific things I wanted to test. I used six different character references for this video and wrote the final prompt in Chinese. The council members were actually supposed to speak in an alien language but I think because I asked for English subtitles and wrote the dialogue itself in English, Seedance decided to make them speak English too. Seedance 2.5 follows prompts extremely well. Actually, "extremely strictly" might be a better way to describe it. You need to be very careful with timing. If you ask for too many actions within a very short time window, you may get what feels like a sped-up version of the scene. On the other hand, if you assign too much time to an action that should happen quickly, the result can feel unnaturally slow or almost like slow motion. At least, these are both things I've run into during my tests. The same applies when you use a shot list without timestamps. Depending on how much you ask the model to fit into each shot, the pacing can still end up too fast or too slow. Finding the right balance between the amount of action and the time available is very important. Another thing I noticed is that Seedance 2.5 can be very literal about motion and state transitions. For example, if a character is facing the camera and you want to see their back in the next moment, simply describing the next shot from behind may not be enough. If you don't explicitly say that the character turns around, the model can sometimes morph or transition directly into the rear view without performing the actual turn. Seedance 2.0 would usually handle these things on its own. So it helps to think not only about what you want to see but also how the scene gets there. Once you identify these kinds of issues and explicitly correct them in the prompt, you can usually get a much cleaner result. For scenes with multiple characters, dialogue and a lot of specific details, the 5,000-character prompt limit can also become restrictive in English. Sometimes there simply isn't enough room to describe everything properly. That's where Chinese prompts become useful. My original English prompt clearly needed much more detail, so I rewrote it in Chinese and used the extra space to describe the scene more precisely. You can see the result in the video. Prompt in the replies.
0:30

Seedance 2.5: Some Tips / Thoughts & Prompt Share I knew from the start that the story in this video was a little too ambitious for 30 seconds. Normally, it could easily have been a 2+ minute sequence but I wanted to squeeze it into 30 seconds because there were a few specific things I wanted to test. I used six different character references for this video and wrote the final prompt in Chinese. The council members were actually supposed to speak in an alien language but I think because I asked for English subtitles and wrote the dialogue itself in English, Seedance decided to make them speak English too. Seedance 2.5 follows prompts extremely well. Actually, "extremely strictly" might be a better way to describe it. You need to be very careful with timing. If you ask for too many actions within a very short time window, you may get what feels like a sped-up version of the scene. On the other hand, if you assign too much time to an action that should happen quickly, the result can feel unnaturally slow or almost like slow motion. At least, these are both things I've run into during my tests. The same applies when you use a shot list without timestamps. Depending on how much you ask the model to fit into each shot, the pacing can still end up too fast or too slow. Finding the right balance between the amount of action and the time available is very important. Another thing I noticed is that Seedance 2.5 can be very literal about motion and state transitions. For example, if a character is facing the camera and you want to see their back in the next moment, simply describing the next shot from behind may not be enough. If you don't explicitly say that the character turns around, the model can sometimes morph or transition directly into the rear view without performing the actual turn. Seedance 2.0 would usually handle these things on its own. So it helps to think not only about what you want to see but also how the scene gets there. Once you identify these kinds of issues and explicitly correct them in the prompt, you can usually get a much cleaner result. For scenes with multiple characters, dialogue and a lot of specific details, the 5,000-character prompt limit can also become restrictive in English. Sometimes there simply isn't enough room to describe everything properly. That's where Chinese prompts become useful. My original English prompt clearly needed much more detail, so I rewrote it in Chinese and used the extra space to describe the scene more precisely. You can see the result in the video. Prompt in the replies.

Kōda

14,687 views • 12 days ago

UgandaVsMollyKatanga Yesterday, Court turned into a legal brawl over a state witness’ perceived evasion. Come with me, I promise to explain. If you don’t have much time to read, just watch the video on this and subsequent posts. Background The state led evidence of their 23rd witness in this trial before Lady Justice Rosette Comfort Kania. Her name is DSP Bibiana Akongo and she told Court that she was the Lead Investigator in this case. Her evidence-in-chief, led by Assistant DPP Samali Wakooli was presented the week before last and starting last week, the defense has had its turn to challenge it. Their cross examination is led by a feisty, incisive Jet John Tumwebaze. Yesterday, the two sides came to ahead. The defense has sought to portray this witness as inexperienced, lacking training and untruthful. They pointed to her lack of specific homicide training. She said police had stopped giving specialized training. Yesterday, they pointed to the evidence given by an earlier witness, the Director of Forensics in Uganda Police Force to show that indeed, police still provides such training and has done so for years. They then turned to her claim of having investigated more than 10 murders by shooting to the head. The Judge had sent her to her former practice stations to bring proof because these cases, according to the defense weren’t on any public record. She returned with a few papers with what looked like a summary of cases. She said she didn’t have authorization to share detailed cases. But what really seemed to blow things over were two things. 1-The defense wanted to cross examine her on a blood pattern analysis report. You might recall that during the cross exam of the Director Forensics in police, Mr Andrew Mubiru, he had told court that the blood in the entire room belonged to Mrs Katanga, save for the one on the bed. This report goes into detail on how said blood could have got there. Mr Mubiru when asked how it could have got to the ceiling had casually said: she could have urinated there. This ticked off the defense. Anyway, fast forward to yesterday, the prosecution objected to this witness being cross examined on such a technical report. A huge argument ensued with the defense accusing the prosecution of trying to hide behind technicalities to protect the witness and “hide evidence that doesn’t favor them” yet they disclosed it. They said the court was the ultimate truth finder and that it should be allowed to go there. They said this witness had claimed expertise on a lot of areas (including “intelligence”) during her evidence-in-chief but now she’s protected from their questions. There was an impasse. Ultimately, Justice Kania ruled that the expert who wrote the report be presented to court as a court witness. Either side can then ask him whatever they please. The defense said: “much obliged, my Lord, we’ve got even better than we’d hoped for”. Then onto the mother of all fights! It stemmed from an expert medical report done in Jan 2024 at the behest of the ODPPUGANDA which found that Mrs Katanga was then fit enough to make a statement. The defense had taken umbrage at PW23’s claims that back in November, she’d gone to the ICU at IHK where Mrs Katanga was and found her seated and “not on life support like the rest of the ICU patients”. The defense wanted to use this report to, in their words, “test the veracity of this witness”. Prosecution wanted none of that. A legal fight ensued. What seemed to perturb the defense even more was the fact that the witness had earlier denied knowledge of this report, despite it being addressed to her and despite confirming that the prosecution had got it from her before disclosing it to the defense. It was on her file that she said she fully controlled as the lead investigator. Mr Tumwebaze asked her to read the first sentence of the report. Mr Muwaganya objected. Mr Elison Karuhanga said: my Lord, this witness should not be protected from her file! Chaos. (Video👇🏾)
16:15

UgandaVsMollyKatanga Yesterday, Court turned into a legal brawl over a state witness’ perceived evasion. Come with me, I promise to explain. If you don’t have much time to read, just watch the video on this and subsequent posts. Background The state led evidence of their 23rd witness in this trial before Lady Justice Rosette Comfort Kania. Her name is DSP Bibiana Akongo and she told Court that she was the Lead Investigator in this case. Her evidence-in-chief, led by Assistant DPP Samali Wakooli was presented the week before last and starting last week, the defense has had its turn to challenge it. Their cross examination is led by a feisty, incisive Jet John Tumwebaze. Yesterday, the two sides came to ahead. The defense has sought to portray this witness as inexperienced, lacking training and untruthful. They pointed to her lack of specific homicide training. She said police had stopped giving specialized training. Yesterday, they pointed to the evidence given by an earlier witness, the Director of Forensics in Uganda Police Force to show that indeed, police still provides such training and has done so for years. They then turned to her claim of having investigated more than 10 murders by shooting to the head. The Judge had sent her to her former practice stations to bring proof because these cases, according to the defense weren’t on any public record. She returned with a few papers with what looked like a summary of cases. She said she didn’t have authorization to share detailed cases. But what really seemed to blow things over were two things. 1-The defense wanted to cross examine her on a blood pattern analysis report. You might recall that during the cross exam of the Director Forensics in police, Mr Andrew Mubiru, he had told court that the blood in the entire room belonged to Mrs Katanga, save for the one on the bed. This report goes into detail on how said blood could have got there. Mr Mubiru when asked how it could have got to the ceiling had casually said: she could have urinated there. This ticked off the defense. Anyway, fast forward to yesterday, the prosecution objected to this witness being cross examined on such a technical report. A huge argument ensued with the defense accusing the prosecution of trying to hide behind technicalities to protect the witness and “hide evidence that doesn’t favor them” yet they disclosed it. They said the court was the ultimate truth finder and that it should be allowed to go there. They said this witness had claimed expertise on a lot of areas (including “intelligence”) during her evidence-in-chief but now she’s protected from their questions. There was an impasse. Ultimately, Justice Kania ruled that the expert who wrote the report be presented to court as a court witness. Either side can then ask him whatever they please. The defense said: “much obliged, my Lord, we’ve got even better than we’d hoped for”. Then onto the mother of all fights! It stemmed from an expert medical report done in Jan 2024 at the behest of the ODPPUGANDA which found that Mrs Katanga was then fit enough to make a statement. The defense had taken umbrage at PW23’s claims that back in November, she’d gone to the ICU at IHK where Mrs Katanga was and found her seated and “not on life support like the rest of the ICU patients”. The defense wanted to use this report to, in their words, “test the veracity of this witness”. Prosecution wanted none of that. A legal fight ensued. What seemed to perturb the defense even more was the fact that the witness had earlier denied knowledge of this report, despite it being addressed to her and despite confirming that the prosecution had got it from her before disclosing it to the defense. It was on her file that she said she fully controlled as the lead investigator. Mr Tumwebaze asked her to read the first sentence of the report. Mr Muwaganya objected. Mr Elison Karuhanga said: my Lord, this witness should not be protected from her file! Chaos. (Video👇🏾)

Anthony Natif

79,069 views • 10 months ago

In 1998, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. Everyone advised Tim Cook not to join. "They thought it was headed straight down." He saw something different. A sparkle in Steve's eye. He spent 6 minutes explaining what Jobs actually taught him: Steve Jobs was a teacher. "He taught me the value of focus, the importance of simplicity, the fact that making things simple is so much harder than making things complex." "For those of us that were fortunate enough to work with him, he was the teacher of a lifetime." When Jobs recruited him, Cook trusted his gut. "There was a feeling I had in talking to Steve that he was a very different kind of CEO. He was focused on products, products, and products." "He had a belief that small teams could do amazing work. I love that vision." Everyone else was chasing enterprise. Jobs wanted consumers. "In an environment where everyone was going to an enterprise kind of company, he wanted to refocus Apple on consumers." "It was brilliant because at the time nobody was doing that. Everybody thought you could not make any money selling to consumers." "I've never thought it was a good idea to follow the herd." Cook saw what others missed. "I thought I had a chance of a lifetime to work with the creative genius that started the entire industry. I didn't want to pass that up." People had forgotten how close Apple was to death. "Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was a really awful time. People advised me not to come because they thought it was headed straight down." "But I saw something different. I saw the sparkle in Steve's eye. It meant we could pull off this turnaround for this American treasure." "I'm so glad to have been a part of that team." The teams that built Apple's greatest products were tiny. "He taught me the value of innovation, the fact that small teams could do amazing things." "I look at the size of the iPod team initially. I look at the size of the iPhone team. These were very small teams in the scheme of things." Jobs hired people who challenged him. "Hiring the best people to surround you that challenge you. That have skills that you don't. And being confident with that." The skill that made Jobs different wasn't conviction. It was flexibility. "He taught me not to be married to my past views. Not to be so proud you can't change your mind when you're presented with new evidence." "He could change like this." Cook was initially taken aback. "And then I became so enamored with it. Very few people have that skill because they get married to their past views." "I thought it was a brilliant skill." Did Jobs change Cook's mind? "Oh, he changed my mind about a lot of things. And he changed his mind about a lot of things." Did Cook ever change Jobs's mind? "Yes, of course. He loved to debate. He loved someone to debate him. You could always change his mind if you had the best idea." "We changed each other's minds. That's the reason it works so well." Cook sees supply chain as art. "Manufacturing has always interested me because I'm very curious about how things are made. I like to go to factories and see how things are put together, how they're created." "My undergraduate degree is in industrial engineering. It's essentially the study of people and machines and how the two working together can create things they couldn't create on their own." "I've always viewed the supply chain to be a bit of a piece of art when it's done correctly. It's a symphony of thousands of different components and parts coming together to create something." What did he sacrifice to get here? "Sleep. And fortunately, I love coffee." How much coffee? "Many cups. Please do not benchmark that." He starts every morning the same way. "I get up very early. I quickly go to the Mac and begin to go through the emails that have come in." "A lot of what I'm reading are from customers telling me how they're using our products and what it's doing for them." "I get notes that are positive and some that are not so positive. People feel free to reach out and voice their opinion. I think this is great because it keeps my hand on the pulse of the company." How does he handle criticism? "I have relatively thick skin. I try to internalize it and ask myself: is that accurate or not? Not just quickly put up a defensive shield and say why what we've done is right." What do people not realize about his job? "How much fun it is." "At times I hear other CEOs talk about how terrible their jobs are. Mine is fantastic. I love it." He made a 25-year plan in graduate school. "The first year or two was reasonably accurate. After that, it wasn't worth the paper it was written on." "Life has a way of happening and throwing you off from some well-crafted plan." "The most important thing is to roll with it. Make sure you recognize when doors are opening. And choose the one to walk through."
6:38

In 1998, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. Everyone advised Tim Cook not to join. "They thought it was headed straight down." He saw something different. A sparkle in Steve's eye. He spent 6 minutes explaining what Jobs actually taught him: Steve Jobs was a teacher. "He taught me the value of focus, the importance of simplicity, the fact that making things simple is so much harder than making things complex." "For those of us that were fortunate enough to work with him, he was the teacher of a lifetime." When Jobs recruited him, Cook trusted his gut. "There was a feeling I had in talking to Steve that he was a very different kind of CEO. He was focused on products, products, and products." "He had a belief that small teams could do amazing work. I love that vision." Everyone else was chasing enterprise. Jobs wanted consumers. "In an environment where everyone was going to an enterprise kind of company, he wanted to refocus Apple on consumers." "It was brilliant because at the time nobody was doing that. Everybody thought you could not make any money selling to consumers." "I've never thought it was a good idea to follow the herd." Cook saw what others missed. "I thought I had a chance of a lifetime to work with the creative genius that started the entire industry. I didn't want to pass that up." People had forgotten how close Apple was to death. "Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was a really awful time. People advised me not to come because they thought it was headed straight down." "But I saw something different. I saw the sparkle in Steve's eye. It meant we could pull off this turnaround for this American treasure." "I'm so glad to have been a part of that team." The teams that built Apple's greatest products were tiny. "He taught me the value of innovation, the fact that small teams could do amazing things." "I look at the size of the iPod team initially. I look at the size of the iPhone team. These were very small teams in the scheme of things." Jobs hired people who challenged him. "Hiring the best people to surround you that challenge you. That have skills that you don't. And being confident with that." The skill that made Jobs different wasn't conviction. It was flexibility. "He taught me not to be married to my past views. Not to be so proud you can't change your mind when you're presented with new evidence." "He could change like this." Cook was initially taken aback. "And then I became so enamored with it. Very few people have that skill because they get married to their past views." "I thought it was a brilliant skill." Did Jobs change Cook's mind? "Oh, he changed my mind about a lot of things. And he changed his mind about a lot of things." Did Cook ever change Jobs's mind? "Yes, of course. He loved to debate. He loved someone to debate him. You could always change his mind if you had the best idea." "We changed each other's minds. That's the reason it works so well." Cook sees supply chain as art. "Manufacturing has always interested me because I'm very curious about how things are made. I like to go to factories and see how things are put together, how they're created." "My undergraduate degree is in industrial engineering. It's essentially the study of people and machines and how the two working together can create things they couldn't create on their own." "I've always viewed the supply chain to be a bit of a piece of art when it's done correctly. It's a symphony of thousands of different components and parts coming together to create something." What did he sacrifice to get here? "Sleep. And fortunately, I love coffee." How much coffee? "Many cups. Please do not benchmark that." He starts every morning the same way. "I get up very early. I quickly go to the Mac and begin to go through the emails that have come in." "A lot of what I'm reading are from customers telling me how they're using our products and what it's doing for them." "I get notes that are positive and some that are not so positive. People feel free to reach out and voice their opinion. I think this is great because it keeps my hand on the pulse of the company." How does he handle criticism? "I have relatively thick skin. I try to internalize it and ask myself: is that accurate or not? Not just quickly put up a defensive shield and say why what we've done is right." What do people not realize about his job? "How much fun it is." "At times I hear other CEOs talk about how terrible their jobs are. Mine is fantastic. I love it." He made a 25-year plan in graduate school. "The first year or two was reasonably accurate. After that, it wasn't worth the paper it was written on." "Life has a way of happening and throwing you off from some well-crafted plan." "The most important thing is to roll with it. Make sure you recognize when doors are opening. And choose the one to walk through."

Jaynit

17,580 views • 3 months ago

Alex Fitzpatrick’s start to life on the PGA Tour has been exceptional. After earning membership via winning the Zurich Classic with his brother, Matt, he’s finished T9, 4 and T6 in 3 Signature Events, including a final round 65 yesterday at The Memorial for another top 10. After the round, he was asked if it was good prep for the US Open: “Absolutely, yeah. That played like a major championship out there. It certainly wasn't easy. I think only having two milkshakes this week was probably the key to playing well in the last round. But, no, it's a great test out there. I played really nicely today. I finally holed some putts, so it was nice shoot a low one and see where that leaves me.” He was also asked how nice it’s been to start so well on the PGA Tour: “Yeah, it's really rewarding. I guess that was always the thing after we won, it was, like, how is he going to do, is he going to carry on playing okay. I think that the biggest thing I took really was the win in India. I felt like that was a big weight off my shoulders. That was kind of something that I had wanted since I was young, to win on that TOUR, and I felt like that made it a little easier going into the Zurich not having as much pressure and just trying to enjoy it. “But it's definitely been really rewarding playing some good golf following that and, yeah, hopefully, that stays like that.” Alex says he’s going to play the next 3 weeks at the RBC Canadian Open, the US Open and then the Travelers. He also went to Shinnecock 10 days ago with Matt to check out the course ahead of his US Open debut. Alex’s journey this year has been a lot of fun to follow and hopefully he can keep trending for the rest of the season 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alex PGA TOUR the Memorial
1:09

Alex Fitzpatrick’s start to life on the PGA Tour has been exceptional. After earning membership via winning the Zurich Classic with his brother, Matt, he’s finished T9, 4 and T6 in 3 Signature Events, including a final round 65 yesterday at The Memorial for another top 10. After the round, he was asked if it was good prep for the US Open: “Absolutely, yeah. That played like a major championship out there. It certainly wasn't easy. I think only having two milkshakes this week was probably the key to playing well in the last round. But, no, it's a great test out there. I played really nicely today. I finally holed some putts, so it was nice shoot a low one and see where that leaves me.” He was also asked how nice it’s been to start so well on the PGA Tour: “Yeah, it's really rewarding. I guess that was always the thing after we won, it was, like, how is he going to do, is he going to carry on playing okay. I think that the biggest thing I took really was the win in India. I felt like that was a big weight off my shoulders. That was kind of something that I had wanted since I was young, to win on that TOUR, and I felt like that made it a little easier going into the Zurich not having as much pressure and just trying to enjoy it. “But it's definitely been really rewarding playing some good golf following that and, yeah, hopefully, that stays like that.” Alex says he’s going to play the next 3 weeks at the RBC Canadian Open, the US Open and then the Travelers. He also went to Shinnecock 10 days ago with Matt to check out the course ahead of his US Open debut. Alex’s journey this year has been a lot of fun to follow and hopefully he can keep trending for the rest of the season 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Alex PGA TOUR the Memorial

Flushing It

313,696 views • 2 months ago

🌟And finally LIVE on I've seen many confused ARMY about the website, so here I'll try to explain in baby words. Basically, I've started to work on this project for over 3 months trying to bring new ideas that could be helpful for us to prepare for #ARIRANG comeback. The website is divided in 10 parts: 1⃣ - Meet our mascot Bombie 2⃣ - Streaming Guides 3⃣ - Quiz to test your knowledge 4⃣ - Find your best free premium trial on streaming platforms 5⃣ - Find ARMY to share family plan subscriptions. You need to select the service(Spotify,AM,YT) and the country. You have the option to create a group, or join a group. Once you are in a group, every person receives a small profile, click on the profile to see the handle. Once the group is filled, you can try to search each other on sns to initiate discussions. This was created as a place for ARMY from the same country and with the same goal in mind to be able to find each other. 6⃣ - Voting guides for Korean Award Shows 7⃣- Global Music Platforms & Charts Guide. Basically all the available charts around the world. This chart will help you to understand where to put your focus on and HOW TO PUT BTS AT #1 on EACH CHART. The idea is simple, search for your country and see how you can help: Green - important, Orange - not popular but good to have, Red - don't focus on. 8⃣ - Send me questions, suggestions or flag mistakes. I did my best to gather everything, however the amount of information on here is HUGE, there are very knowledgeable army that know much more tips&tricks, especially on their own their local charts - so your submission will help to correct and add more to this website 9⃣ - After exploring all the website, you have the chance to win an Army bomb. Add here all the stickers you found and follow Nicolle⁷ & Charlotte⁷ ✨ on X for further information related to the GA 🔟- FAQ Website (A summary about the website to help with the navigation) 🔸Following ARMYs advice (thank you for submissions) , I improved the website in the past few days and I'll thrive to improve it further 🔸What I had in mind when I started this was simple: gather all the information in one place, guide baby army, check your knowledge, know the strategy - be prepared for the comeback. 🔸Please see these tutorials if you still don't know how to proceed
0:28

🌟And finally LIVE on I've seen many confused ARMY about the website, so here I'll try to explain in baby words. Basically, I've started to work on this project for over 3 months trying to bring new ideas that could be helpful for us to prepare for #ARIRANG comeback. The website is divided in 10 parts: 1⃣ - Meet our mascot Bombie 2⃣ - Streaming Guides 3⃣ - Quiz to test your knowledge 4⃣ - Find your best free premium trial on streaming platforms 5⃣ - Find ARMY to share family plan subscriptions. You need to select the service(Spotify,AM,YT) and the country. You have the option to create a group, or join a group. Once you are in a group, every person receives a small profile, click on the profile to see the handle. Once the group is filled, you can try to search each other on sns to initiate discussions. This was created as a place for ARMY from the same country and with the same goal in mind to be able to find each other. 6⃣ - Voting guides for Korean Award Shows 7⃣- Global Music Platforms & Charts Guide. Basically all the available charts around the world. This chart will help you to understand where to put your focus on and HOW TO PUT BTS AT #1 on EACH CHART. The idea is simple, search for your country and see how you can help: Green - important, Orange - not popular but good to have, Red - don't focus on. 8⃣ - Send me questions, suggestions or flag mistakes. I did my best to gather everything, however the amount of information on here is HUGE, there are very knowledgeable army that know much more tips&tricks, especially on their own their local charts - so your submission will help to correct and add more to this website 9⃣ - After exploring all the website, you have the chance to win an Army bomb. Add here all the stickers you found and follow Nicolle⁷ & Charlotte⁷ ✨ on X for further information related to the GA 🔟- FAQ Website (A summary about the website to help with the navigation) 🔸Following ARMYs advice (thank you for submissions) , I improved the website in the past few days and I'll thrive to improve it further 🔸What I had in mind when I started this was simple: gather all the information in one place, guide baby army, check your knowledge, know the strategy - be prepared for the comeback. 🔸Please see these tutorials if you still don't know how to proceed

Nicolle⁷

154,704 views • 5 months ago

Make Shit Work Again People almost never come to our door after dark. Because we live in a (what used to be) a quiet place, and random visitors after dark are almost unheard of. So when the doorbell rang at 3:30am this morning I grabbed my shotgun. I racked the pump and shouted for the person at the door to identify themselves. Turns out it was a lady cop. Luckily the cops are used to armed homeowners around here. She shined a to flashlight identify herself, and I secured the gun and the dogs to see what she wanted. Turns out two people were shot across the street in the park. She wanted to know if your security cameras captured any footage of the incident. So I checked the app, and no—there was no footage (because our cameras point the other direction). And that was that. But I couldn’t get back to sleep—mostly because of the adrenaline. But also because I couldn’t help but notice that things are getting worse around here. This used to be a place where nothing happened. And now things definitely do happen. We used to live in LA. My wife and I did industry stuff. We had a good life as an urban childless couple, but then she got pregnant. We thought about the daunting challenge of raising kids in LA, and opted to get out. So we found a place in the Mountain West where nothing ever happens. It was a good place to raise kids. A place with good schools. A place where our children could wander the town by themselves. But it’s not that place anymore. Since Covid the schools have gone to shit. And a few weeks ago my son was at the neighborhood park (by himself) when a gang member pulled a gun on a parent at the playground. So early this morning I’m lying in bed, and I’m thinking about this. And I thought to myself, “We need to leave.” But then I had another thought—a disturbing thought. I thought, “But there’s no place else to go.” Because it’s almost everywhere now. Red State, Blue State, it doesn’t matter. And if it’s not there yet it will be soon. And if you think you’re safe, you’re not. Because this thing is coming for all of us. *** My politics in five words: I Want Shit To Work That’s it. I just want shit to work. And I don’t really care how that happens. I’m old enough to remember when shit did work. It never worked perfectly. But I don’t think shit has worked perfectly in the entire history of human endeavors. I mean, read the Bible—it’s all about shit not working perfectly. But I grew up in a time when things ran fairly well—far better than they do now. I’m not that old, but back in the day schools actually taught stuff. And there wasn’t choking bureaucracy in government and business and every other institution. And we could TRUST those institutions—because they weren’t rife with corruption. And if minor corruption happened to be discovered it was A BIG FUCKING DEAL—because the media wasn’t bent, and they’d actually report on the corruption. And things weren’t so expensive. A young person (me) could work a menial job afford a car and an apartment and still have money left over to take girls on dates. Because there was OPPORTUNITY for young people. Now I could go on and on, but I’m starting to sound like an old man shouting at a cloud, so let me just say, trust me kids: SHIT USED TO WORK. Spencer Pratt is about my age. He remembers when shit used to work. He remembers when you could count on the fire department to not let a giant part of your city burn down with residents inside. He remembers when you didn’t have to step over fentanyl zombies to take your kids to preschool. He remembers when there wasn’t human shit on the streets. He remembers when corrupt government officials were held accountable. He remembers when we could go about our lives and not worry—because shit worked. I can sum up Spencer Pratt’s campaign platform in four words: Make shit work again. So can he win the LA mayoral race? It depends on one question: Is it bad enough yet? I think it is bad enough. It’s so bad that it can no longer be ignored. And I think most Angelenos feel the same way. There’s a critical mass of people who remember when shit worked. They had no way to fix it. They couldn’t imagine a solution. And then one guy stood up and said he could fix it. Because none of these “intractable problems” are actually intractable. We know how to do this. We know how to fix things. We know how to Make. Shit. Work. Again. What was lacking was The Will to do it. And Spencer Pratt has The Will. No, I don’t live in LA anymore. But I’m pulling for Spencer. Because this election is so much larger than Los Angeles. Because there’s no where else to run to. Because we’ve got to make a stand. Somewhere. Anywhere. So vote for Spencer. And if you can’t vote then make a small donation. Because we have to make shit work again. Because we don’t have a choice.
3:28

Make Shit Work Again People almost never come to our door after dark. Because we live in a (what used to be) a quiet place, and random visitors after dark are almost unheard of. So when the doorbell rang at 3:30am this morning I grabbed my shotgun. I racked the pump and shouted for the person at the door to identify themselves. Turns out it was a lady cop. Luckily the cops are used to armed homeowners around here. She shined a to flashlight identify herself, and I secured the gun and the dogs to see what she wanted. Turns out two people were shot across the street in the park. She wanted to know if your security cameras captured any footage of the incident. So I checked the app, and no—there was no footage (because our cameras point the other direction). And that was that. But I couldn’t get back to sleep—mostly because of the adrenaline. But also because I couldn’t help but notice that things are getting worse around here. This used to be a place where nothing happened. And now things definitely do happen. We used to live in LA. My wife and I did industry stuff. We had a good life as an urban childless couple, but then she got pregnant. We thought about the daunting challenge of raising kids in LA, and opted to get out. So we found a place in the Mountain West where nothing ever happens. It was a good place to raise kids. A place with good schools. A place where our children could wander the town by themselves. But it’s not that place anymore. Since Covid the schools have gone to shit. And a few weeks ago my son was at the neighborhood park (by himself) when a gang member pulled a gun on a parent at the playground. So early this morning I’m lying in bed, and I’m thinking about this. And I thought to myself, “We need to leave.” But then I had another thought—a disturbing thought. I thought, “But there’s no place else to go.” Because it’s almost everywhere now. Red State, Blue State, it doesn’t matter. And if it’s not there yet it will be soon. And if you think you’re safe, you’re not. Because this thing is coming for all of us. *** My politics in five words: I Want Shit To Work That’s it. I just want shit to work. And I don’t really care how that happens. I’m old enough to remember when shit did work. It never worked perfectly. But I don’t think shit has worked perfectly in the entire history of human endeavors. I mean, read the Bible—it’s all about shit not working perfectly. But I grew up in a time when things ran fairly well—far better than they do now. I’m not that old, but back in the day schools actually taught stuff. And there wasn’t choking bureaucracy in government and business and every other institution. And we could TRUST those institutions—because they weren’t rife with corruption. And if minor corruption happened to be discovered it was A BIG FUCKING DEAL—because the media wasn’t bent, and they’d actually report on the corruption. And things weren’t so expensive. A young person (me) could work a menial job afford a car and an apartment and still have money left over to take girls on dates. Because there was OPPORTUNITY for young people. Now I could go on and on, but I’m starting to sound like an old man shouting at a cloud, so let me just say, trust me kids: SHIT USED TO WORK. Spencer Pratt is about my age. He remembers when shit used to work. He remembers when you could count on the fire department to not let a giant part of your city burn down with residents inside. He remembers when you didn’t have to step over fentanyl zombies to take your kids to preschool. He remembers when there wasn’t human shit on the streets. He remembers when corrupt government officials were held accountable. He remembers when we could go about our lives and not worry—because shit worked. I can sum up Spencer Pratt’s campaign platform in four words: Make shit work again. So can he win the LA mayoral race? It depends on one question: Is it bad enough yet? I think it is bad enough. It’s so bad that it can no longer be ignored. And I think most Angelenos feel the same way. There’s a critical mass of people who remember when shit worked. They had no way to fix it. They couldn’t imagine a solution. And then one guy stood up and said he could fix it. Because none of these “intractable problems” are actually intractable. We know how to do this. We know how to fix things. We know how to Make. Shit. Work. Again. What was lacking was The Will to do it. And Spencer Pratt has The Will. No, I don’t live in LA anymore. But I’m pulling for Spencer. Because this election is so much larger than Los Angeles. Because there’s no where else to run to. Because we’ve got to make a stand. Somewhere. Anywhere. So vote for Spencer. And if you can’t vote then make a small donation. Because we have to make shit work again. Because we don’t have a choice.

Rambo Van Halen

232,212 views • 3 months ago

SHE'S DONE!!! Mario Kart 64 for the Sega Dreamcast is officially ready for public consumption, so here's a full 6+ minute video of gameplay, captured straight from my actual DC! Jnmartin has done it again! The footage you are watching shows every GP course in the game, including multiplayer footage as well. Yes, you can also save and load ghost files from the VMU! As this is our first release, I'm sure you will run into a minor bug here or there, especially given neither one of us could stress test 4 player very effectively using our hands and feet to drive... So be sure to open tickets for any minor issues you find... assuming you're playing on REAL HARDWARE. I can already tell you right now, emulators are having issues with this one! This was my first time getting to directly contribute to a jnmartin N64 port, and it was an absolute honor for me to be involved with his incredible work. There is nobody else who I have ever met with the cross-architecture knowledge of BOTH the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64, combined with the raw grit, tenacity, and attention to detail required to pull this off and do the source material justice. Not only did I get to take my SH4ZAM library for DC math gainz out for a ride with MK64, but I also brought some new routines back from MK64 so everyone can use them! Finally, I got to be involved in laying the foundation for future jnmartin N64 ports, now that we have an optimized, accelerated audio and video back-end for various libultra functionality, including Fast3D. You can already see how much this has benefited future work based on how quickly jnmartin was able to get StarFox 64 up and running on DC... The man doesn't sleep, no. lol. I just wanted to thank everyone so much for the continued enthusiasm and support behind these ports. The support for our work and the Sega Dreamcast means the world to us! Thanks for helping to keep the dream alive! For instructions on how to build yourself a burnable CDI image or a DreamShell ISO for either your DC's SD card or IDE drive, please follow the README on the repository: NOTE: Windows users will need DreamSDK to build. My last-minute build fixes for DreamSDK are in this WIP branch here, which will probably be merged into the main branch tomorrow when jnmartin wakes up:
6:11

SHE'S DONE!!! Mario Kart 64 for the Sega Dreamcast is officially ready for public consumption, so here's a full 6+ minute video of gameplay, captured straight from my actual DC! Jnmartin has done it again! The footage you are watching shows every GP course in the game, including multiplayer footage as well. Yes, you can also save and load ghost files from the VMU! As this is our first release, I'm sure you will run into a minor bug here or there, especially given neither one of us could stress test 4 player very effectively using our hands and feet to drive... So be sure to open tickets for any minor issues you find... assuming you're playing on REAL HARDWARE. I can already tell you right now, emulators are having issues with this one! This was my first time getting to directly contribute to a jnmartin N64 port, and it was an absolute honor for me to be involved with his incredible work. There is nobody else who I have ever met with the cross-architecture knowledge of BOTH the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64, combined with the raw grit, tenacity, and attention to detail required to pull this off and do the source material justice. Not only did I get to take my SH4ZAM library for DC math gainz out for a ride with MK64, but I also brought some new routines back from MK64 so everyone can use them! Finally, I got to be involved in laying the foundation for future jnmartin N64 ports, now that we have an optimized, accelerated audio and video back-end for various libultra functionality, including Fast3D. You can already see how much this has benefited future work based on how quickly jnmartin was able to get StarFox 64 up and running on DC... The man doesn't sleep, no. lol. I just wanted to thank everyone so much for the continued enthusiasm and support behind these ports. The support for our work and the Sega Dreamcast means the world to us! Thanks for helping to keep the dream alive! For instructions on how to build yourself a burnable CDI image or a DreamShell ISO for either your DC's SD card or IDE drive, please follow the README on the repository: NOTE: Windows users will need DreamSDK to build. My last-minute build fixes for DreamSDK are in this WIP branch here, which will probably be merged into the main branch tomorrow when jnmartin wakes up:

Falco Girgis

63,518 views • 1 year ago

"Come on, folks. Do we see what's playing out here? Marbury v. Mad might have just brought down the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department." - Towel, November 6, 2025 Rule #1 in Massachusetts politics right now; Do not mess with Attorney Corey Hopkins. She's going to get barred here just to reform the government (then I'll become her paralegal and we'll submit public records requests all day). Good plan. TRANSCRIPT (from Towel's coverage of the letter in question, uncovered by Attorney Hopkins); Hello and good evening. It is just past 6 p.m. on Monday, November 3rd, 2025. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis, and I'm back with you again for another developing news update, this time related to Boston Police Commissioner Cox responding to a developing series of scandals, in particular related to former Boston Police Officer—well, first former Canton Police Officer, then former Boston Police Officer—Kelly Dever. Now, Kelly Dever was an integral witness during the John O'Keefe and Karen Read trial about one specific series of events in the early morning of January 29, 2022—not really related to John's death per se, but related to the then-chief of the Canton Police Department, Ken Berkowitz, who was also potentially the person that went to the FBI about Brian Tully's MSP unit, Massachusetts State Police unit, detailed to the Norfolk DA, who were the same people that investigated Karen Read for John's death. Berkowitz was the same person who apparently went to the FBI in 2022 about Tully's unit through John Fanning covering up Sandra Birchmore's death at the hands of former Stoughton PD officer Matthew Farwell. Okay, Ken Berkowitz and Brian Higgins—then undercover ATF agent who himself had been in a relationship of some kind, we'll call it that, with Karen in the months before John's death. That's a whole story we will not get into. The point is, Higgins and Berkowitz go into the sally port. Now, Kelly Dever had been working since, I think it was 12 a.m. on January 28th. She worked—let me make sure I get this right now—she worked at 12 p.m., noon on January 28th to 8 p.m. Then she worked the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. Okay, she was doing 16 hours over those two days. At like 1:30 a.m., she saw Berkowitz and Higgins—or around there, maybe a little later—go into the area, an area of the Canton PD. Then—and we're going to find out—she had a meeting with Boston Police Commissioner Cox. Now, why did Commissioner Cox get himself in trouble? Well, not because of the interview we're going to watch, but instead because of an interview about a year ago where he said he knew nothing about the Kelly Dever situation or the Karen Read case. All right, now we're going to quickly come to find out that what we're about to hear from the commissioner is not the best answer in light of this little document found by the incredible Marbury v. Madison on X, Corey A. Hopkins, a business litigator based in North Carolina. Towel really likes Marbury v. Madison because, first of all, Marbury v. Madison is an awesome case, and it entrenched the supremacy of the judiciary as to saying what the law is by virtue of the Constitution. Solved a very complex problem related to the Judiciary Act of 1789 and, in particular, the emergence of political parties in 1796 and, in particular, 1800, and a slew of last-minute appointments by President Adams and a refusal by President Jefferson to commission—or one of the refusal by Jefferson's Secretary of State Madison to commission a justice of the peace. But it really was about the supremacy of the judiciary branch. Marbury v. Madison uses a lot of FOIAs, and what you're going to see right here is a FOIA request that resulted in this wonderful little document. And what does this show? All right, this document shows, folks, a letter from Stephen J. Kelleher, who's with the White Collar Public Corruption and Civil Rights Division of the FBI in Boston. It is a letter that Marbury v. Madison obtained via a FOIA, and it shows the DOJ reaching out to Commissioner Cox and saying, "Sir, hope all is well. Just a reminder—this was on February 22nd, 2024. The documents were released to the DA's office late last night." This has to do with federal documents about the investigation of John's death by the MSP unit run by Brian Tully working for the Norfolk DA. "The officer we spoke about is Kelly Dever. If you have any questions at all, feel free to call me. Vr. Steve." Okay, folks, this proves that Commissioner Cox was told about Kelly Dever and documents related to her testimony and what she saw Higgins and Berkowitz doing—which I don't think was related to John's death, but it's just embarrassing for Higgins. He was an undercover ATF agent, and embarrassing for Berkowitz. And although Berkowitz is now dead, he was either dying or not dead in 2024. And clearly, this was embarrassing, okay, to the Canton Police Chief, to the Boston Police, to Higgins, to all these people. All right. And so we see here, Cox knows about it. Cox then goes on a few months later—I think it was either after, I think it was right after Karen's second trial, but it was some months after this initial email was sent to Cox. And Cox, in his infinite wisdom, tells Boston 25 or Channel 5 or whatever it was at a news conference that he's basically never heard of Kelly Dever or the Karen Read and John O'Keefe case. Okay, that was a stupid thing to say because then this FOIA comes out in recent weeks. That leads to Alan Jackson to send a Brady letter to Mayor Michelle Wu, the Democratic mayor of Boston running unopposed in the coming election, saying that Cox should be on the Brady list. I think it was—yes, because Cox was not forthcoming about what he was told by the feds about Dever. Okay, now this is Cox's response. I just want to show you how bad of a response this is. Okay, this is a clip via Boston 25, just Cox's comment on these new developments, which—although Alan Jackson's Brady letter is what Cox was asked for comment on—even Alan Jackson himself has rightfully so given credit to Marbury v. Madison for their excellent find on this FOIA document that was unearthed. And this could cost Cox his position. All right, the Democrats in Boston already have the eye of President Trump. The DOJ is all over this unit, in my opinion, and the cover-up of Birchmore's death. Look at the DOJ's pattern of indictments, okay? Recently, not just the Jessica LeClair leaks, but also Sheriff Tompkins and other major Democrats. Look at what's going on here, folks. Think about the larger picture—the most recent indictment, the superseding indictment of Matt Farwell for the murder of Sandra Birchmore's unborn child. It's all coming together. And Commissioner Cox's answer is bad. And that's why I want to analyze it. It's not just like inappropriate. It is a bad, bad, bad answer. When I heard it, I had to immediately make a video to analyze it because that's how bad this answer is. It's short, but I'm going to tell you how bad it is after we listen to it. "But what I need, you know, it's not to be asked this question ever again because it's not—it has to pertain to anything to do with the police department. My condolences to the O'Keefe family for, you know, what they've gone through. And because we did lose a department member. But outside of that, this has nothing to do with us. And I'm not going to speak with this again." Okay, let me just make something clear. I'm not saying he was wrong. It's not wrong to invoke John's name. But doing it that way—that's grotesque. Okay, he didn't answer the question. He basically refused to do so. And again, if you didn't hear the statement—although I'm sure you did—he said, "What I need is to not be asked this question ever again pertaining to anything to do with the police department." What? "My condolences to the O'Keefe family for what they've gone through because we did lose a department member." John O'Keefe was an honorable member of the Boston PD and the SA offenders unit. "But outside of that, this has nothing to do with us, the Boston PD, and I'm not going to speak on this again." No, no, no, no—that you just cost yourself your job right there. I'm sorry. That was a terrible, terrible answer. I'm sorry for the volume. I'm just running it back. Terrible answer. The worst possible answer. You may well have just cost yourself your job because you ducked the question. Everyone knows that the question is about this document. Anyone following this knows. The implications are what Dever knew about Berkowitz and Higgins, and maybe that's not the most serious thing. But as President Nixon said, it is not the crime, it's the cover-up. Dever, whatever she did—not wanting to talk about certain things about Higgins and Berkowitz, unrelated to John's death, just because it's kind of embarrassing—that is not a problem really. It's a minor thing. You know what's a big deal? Dever definitely got Brady-listed or whatever because her testimony was a little weird. I think Alan Jackson also pressured her a little bit. But whatever, that's not the point here. Cox's response—that was bad. That was bad PR. That's like the kind of thing when Prince Andrew was forced to go out and do an interview with BBC One about Epstein, and it just cost him all his titles because he got no PR help; he got sandbagged. That kind of thing—somebody didn't prep him, or the people he was talking to didn't even think this would come up. That's a horrible answer. Twenty seconds can cost you your career if you have done something bad and you answer a tough question like that. It's defensive; it shows you have something to hide; it undermines people's faith in your ability to answer those kind of questions. That's the biggest problem for Commissioner Cox here. Instead of inspiring confidence and making it look like it was nothing or it was just a routine, he couldn't even address the fact that he was made aware in February, in particular, about Kelly Dever and he had knowledge—he had a meeting with her. Let's be clear: He put her on his schedule the very next day. Not only did he have recipient knowledge of what was going on with the federal investigation and the John O'Keefe and Karen Read case—Dever got called into his office the next day, which of course Cox initially tried to play off as just some routine meeting, as if he meets with all 2,600 or whatever of the Boston police force. No. Come on, folks. Come on, folks. Do we see what's playing out here? Marbury v. Madison might have just brought down the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis. Enjoy the rest of your Monday. We'll see what other news comes in today. Sean Good on suspension. Michael Proctor's cell phone gate engulfing the world in a conflagration. Little towel basically running down the street from the masses, trying to insulate himself from the fallout of this God-forsaken situation. Institutional reform is coming—to the Norfolk DA, hopefully throughout the state police—so that the good people in law enforcement can keep helping the vulnerable and that the exploited, no matter how much pressure they come under, continue to speak their truth. And let me just say this: Whenever we stand against the flow of opinion on hotly contested issues, a man, a woman, and a Towel—do what they must in spite of the personal consequences, in spite of the dangers and obstacles and pressures. For that is the basis of all human morality. We will be there for each other in times of struggle. We will be side by side in times of joy. And when everything is on the line and when our principles matter the most, there will be no price too high to pay to center the voices of the unheard, to bring justice to the vulnerable, and to reform this God-forsaken justice system in Massachusetts so that we can all hand down a structural system to our future generations that is worthy of our Constitution, that is worthy of our collective intelligence, and that is worthy of the due reverence we all should be providing to the pursuit of justice. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis. Until next time, you're a towel, I am as well. Be well. God bless.
12:38

"Come on, folks. Do we see what's playing out here? Marbury v. Mad might have just brought down the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department." - Towel, November 6, 2025 Rule #1 in Massachusetts politics right now; Do not mess with Attorney Corey Hopkins. She's going to get barred here just to reform the government (then I'll become her paralegal and we'll submit public records requests all day). Good plan. TRANSCRIPT (from Towel's coverage of the letter in question, uncovered by Attorney Hopkins); Hello and good evening. It is just past 6 p.m. on Monday, November 3rd, 2025. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis, and I'm back with you again for another developing news update, this time related to Boston Police Commissioner Cox responding to a developing series of scandals, in particular related to former Boston Police Officer—well, first former Canton Police Officer, then former Boston Police Officer—Kelly Dever. Now, Kelly Dever was an integral witness during the John O'Keefe and Karen Read trial about one specific series of events in the early morning of January 29, 2022—not really related to John's death per se, but related to the then-chief of the Canton Police Department, Ken Berkowitz, who was also potentially the person that went to the FBI about Brian Tully's MSP unit, Massachusetts State Police unit, detailed to the Norfolk DA, who were the same people that investigated Karen Read for John's death. Berkowitz was the same person who apparently went to the FBI in 2022 about Tully's unit through John Fanning covering up Sandra Birchmore's death at the hands of former Stoughton PD officer Matthew Farwell. Okay, Ken Berkowitz and Brian Higgins—then undercover ATF agent who himself had been in a relationship of some kind, we'll call it that, with Karen in the months before John's death. That's a whole story we will not get into. The point is, Higgins and Berkowitz go into the sally port. Now, Kelly Dever had been working since, I think it was 12 a.m. on January 28th. She worked—let me make sure I get this right now—she worked at 12 p.m., noon on January 28th to 8 p.m. Then she worked the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. Okay, she was doing 16 hours over those two days. At like 1:30 a.m., she saw Berkowitz and Higgins—or around there, maybe a little later—go into the area, an area of the Canton PD. Then—and we're going to find out—she had a meeting with Boston Police Commissioner Cox. Now, why did Commissioner Cox get himself in trouble? Well, not because of the interview we're going to watch, but instead because of an interview about a year ago where he said he knew nothing about the Kelly Dever situation or the Karen Read case. All right, now we're going to quickly come to find out that what we're about to hear from the commissioner is not the best answer in light of this little document found by the incredible Marbury v. Madison on X, Corey A. Hopkins, a business litigator based in North Carolina. Towel really likes Marbury v. Madison because, first of all, Marbury v. Madison is an awesome case, and it entrenched the supremacy of the judiciary as to saying what the law is by virtue of the Constitution. Solved a very complex problem related to the Judiciary Act of 1789 and, in particular, the emergence of political parties in 1796 and, in particular, 1800, and a slew of last-minute appointments by President Adams and a refusal by President Jefferson to commission—or one of the refusal by Jefferson's Secretary of State Madison to commission a justice of the peace. But it really was about the supremacy of the judiciary branch. Marbury v. Madison uses a lot of FOIAs, and what you're going to see right here is a FOIA request that resulted in this wonderful little document. And what does this show? All right, this document shows, folks, a letter from Stephen J. Kelleher, who's with the White Collar Public Corruption and Civil Rights Division of the FBI in Boston. It is a letter that Marbury v. Madison obtained via a FOIA, and it shows the DOJ reaching out to Commissioner Cox and saying, "Sir, hope all is well. Just a reminder—this was on February 22nd, 2024. The documents were released to the DA's office late last night." This has to do with federal documents about the investigation of John's death by the MSP unit run by Brian Tully working for the Norfolk DA. "The officer we spoke about is Kelly Dever. If you have any questions at all, feel free to call me. Vr. Steve." Okay, folks, this proves that Commissioner Cox was told about Kelly Dever and documents related to her testimony and what she saw Higgins and Berkowitz doing—which I don't think was related to John's death, but it's just embarrassing for Higgins. He was an undercover ATF agent, and embarrassing for Berkowitz. And although Berkowitz is now dead, he was either dying or not dead in 2024. And clearly, this was embarrassing, okay, to the Canton Police Chief, to the Boston Police, to Higgins, to all these people. All right. And so we see here, Cox knows about it. Cox then goes on a few months later—I think it was either after, I think it was right after Karen's second trial, but it was some months after this initial email was sent to Cox. And Cox, in his infinite wisdom, tells Boston 25 or Channel 5 or whatever it was at a news conference that he's basically never heard of Kelly Dever or the Karen Read and John O'Keefe case. Okay, that was a stupid thing to say because then this FOIA comes out in recent weeks. That leads to Alan Jackson to send a Brady letter to Mayor Michelle Wu, the Democratic mayor of Boston running unopposed in the coming election, saying that Cox should be on the Brady list. I think it was—yes, because Cox was not forthcoming about what he was told by the feds about Dever. Okay, now this is Cox's response. I just want to show you how bad of a response this is. Okay, this is a clip via Boston 25, just Cox's comment on these new developments, which—although Alan Jackson's Brady letter is what Cox was asked for comment on—even Alan Jackson himself has rightfully so given credit to Marbury v. Madison for their excellent find on this FOIA document that was unearthed. And this could cost Cox his position. All right, the Democrats in Boston already have the eye of President Trump. The DOJ is all over this unit, in my opinion, and the cover-up of Birchmore's death. Look at the DOJ's pattern of indictments, okay? Recently, not just the Jessica LeClair leaks, but also Sheriff Tompkins and other major Democrats. Look at what's going on here, folks. Think about the larger picture—the most recent indictment, the superseding indictment of Matt Farwell for the murder of Sandra Birchmore's unborn child. It's all coming together. And Commissioner Cox's answer is bad. And that's why I want to analyze it. It's not just like inappropriate. It is a bad, bad, bad answer. When I heard it, I had to immediately make a video to analyze it because that's how bad this answer is. It's short, but I'm going to tell you how bad it is after we listen to it. "But what I need, you know, it's not to be asked this question ever again because it's not—it has to pertain to anything to do with the police department. My condolences to the O'Keefe family for, you know, what they've gone through. And because we did lose a department member. But outside of that, this has nothing to do with us. And I'm not going to speak with this again." Okay, let me just make something clear. I'm not saying he was wrong. It's not wrong to invoke John's name. But doing it that way—that's grotesque. Okay, he didn't answer the question. He basically refused to do so. And again, if you didn't hear the statement—although I'm sure you did—he said, "What I need is to not be asked this question ever again pertaining to anything to do with the police department." What? "My condolences to the O'Keefe family for what they've gone through because we did lose a department member." John O'Keefe was an honorable member of the Boston PD and the SA offenders unit. "But outside of that, this has nothing to do with us, the Boston PD, and I'm not going to speak on this again." No, no, no, no—that you just cost yourself your job right there. I'm sorry. That was a terrible, terrible answer. I'm sorry for the volume. I'm just running it back. Terrible answer. The worst possible answer. You may well have just cost yourself your job because you ducked the question. Everyone knows that the question is about this document. Anyone following this knows. The implications are what Dever knew about Berkowitz and Higgins, and maybe that's not the most serious thing. But as President Nixon said, it is not the crime, it's the cover-up. Dever, whatever she did—not wanting to talk about certain things about Higgins and Berkowitz, unrelated to John's death, just because it's kind of embarrassing—that is not a problem really. It's a minor thing. You know what's a big deal? Dever definitely got Brady-listed or whatever because her testimony was a little weird. I think Alan Jackson also pressured her a little bit. But whatever, that's not the point here. Cox's response—that was bad. That was bad PR. That's like the kind of thing when Prince Andrew was forced to go out and do an interview with BBC One about Epstein, and it just cost him all his titles because he got no PR help; he got sandbagged. That kind of thing—somebody didn't prep him, or the people he was talking to didn't even think this would come up. That's a horrible answer. Twenty seconds can cost you your career if you have done something bad and you answer a tough question like that. It's defensive; it shows you have something to hide; it undermines people's faith in your ability to answer those kind of questions. That's the biggest problem for Commissioner Cox here. Instead of inspiring confidence and making it look like it was nothing or it was just a routine, he couldn't even address the fact that he was made aware in February, in particular, about Kelly Dever and he had knowledge—he had a meeting with her. Let's be clear: He put her on his schedule the very next day. Not only did he have recipient knowledge of what was going on with the federal investigation and the John O'Keefe and Karen Read case—Dever got called into his office the next day, which of course Cox initially tried to play off as just some routine meeting, as if he meets with all 2,600 or whatever of the Boston police force. No. Come on, folks. Come on, folks. Do we see what's playing out here? Marbury v. Madison might have just brought down the Commissioner of the Boston Police Department. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis. Enjoy the rest of your Monday. We'll see what other news comes in today. Sean Good on suspension. Michael Proctor's cell phone gate engulfing the world in a conflagration. Little towel basically running down the street from the masses, trying to insulate himself from the fallout of this God-forsaken situation. Institutional reform is coming—to the Norfolk DA, hopefully throughout the state police—so that the good people in law enforcement can keep helping the vulnerable and that the exploited, no matter how much pressure they come under, continue to speak their truth. And let me just say this: Whenever we stand against the flow of opinion on hotly contested issues, a man, a woman, and a Towel—do what they must in spite of the personal consequences, in spite of the dangers and obstacles and pressures. For that is the basis of all human morality. We will be there for each other in times of struggle. We will be side by side in times of joy. And when everything is on the line and when our principles matter the most, there will be no price too high to pay to center the voices of the unheard, to bring justice to the vulnerable, and to reform this God-forsaken justice system in Massachusetts so that we can all hand down a structural system to our future generations that is worthy of our Constitution, that is worthy of our collective intelligence, and that is worthy of the due reverence we all should be providing to the pursuit of justice. My name is Grant Smith-Ellis. Until next time, you're a towel, I am as well. Be well. God bless.

Grant Smith Ellis

13,006 views • 7 months ago

If you follow Star Citizen, please RT. You can help me shout out a few people on this. So Will Price leads our ISC Gameplay Capture Team and dropped the first version of this scene in chat as a gag this week. It was a, "Haha, this is funny, too bad we can't do it" moment... But anyone who's ever worked alongside me will tell you that's usually the first and best reason I'll ever need to make something happen, and things started to move. Meanwhile our brilliant Kat Huckaby (✿•_•✿) was already working on a brand update for the show. I have a tendency to be very "xtra" and she was working to finally realize what I'd tried to do when I invented this branding way back in 2016, and everyone on the team was thrilled with the results. So, I finally had the logo I'd always wanted, and a kickass sequence that referenced the earliest days of the persistent universe (look up "Big Benny's Challenge" and Matt | BadNewsBaron 🚀 if you don't know or remember) and my current life in the UK, what I needed now was a track to lay under it that could not only hold it all up, but elevate it beyond its combined parts. I spent hours searching the libraries we had. Nothing fit. Nothing vibed. In desperation, I pinged Pedro Macedo Camacho at 12:39am in the morning. Of course, he was working, too. I was only looking for guidance, but he knew exactly what was needed, and he didn't hesitate to offer to create something special for our milestone. We only had an evening to work. We'd need to extend the sequence to fit the idea. We had to create moments for the new title to reveal. This was the 1,171 video I've made for CIG, and 500th in a legacy begun by others and entrusted to me by Ben “LOAF” Lesnick (important) that I take as seriously today as I did when he asked if I could do it in 2015 and I summoned up a lifetime of bullshit to tell him I could. 😜 But not one of those 1,171 was made by me alone. It's people like Will and Kat and Pedro and so, so many more that enable me to still love what I do, it's people like Ben and Sandi and Chris that take chances on weirdos like me, and folks who's names and faces you don't see nearly as often as mine who keep taking those chances with me week after week. It's 2:04am on another evening I can't sleep, and I just gave Twitter $4 so I could make this post. But my life doesn't get to be what it is without these people and others like David and Tom and David and Alex and Julian and Joe and Rena and Toby and Gemma and Vicki and Tyler and Elliott and more and more and I hope you'll forgive me taking this space on your timeline to say how much I love working with them. Ups and down and ups and downs, but always with love and appreciation for those who came before, those who are here now, and those that'll help make the next 500. 💖
0:25

If you follow Star Citizen, please RT. You can help me shout out a few people on this. So Will Price leads our ISC Gameplay Capture Team and dropped the first version of this scene in chat as a gag this week. It was a, "Haha, this is funny, too bad we can't do it" moment... But anyone who's ever worked alongside me will tell you that's usually the first and best reason I'll ever need to make something happen, and things started to move. Meanwhile our brilliant Kat Huckaby (✿•_•✿) was already working on a brand update for the show. I have a tendency to be very "xtra" and she was working to finally realize what I'd tried to do when I invented this branding way back in 2016, and everyone on the team was thrilled with the results. So, I finally had the logo I'd always wanted, and a kickass sequence that referenced the earliest days of the persistent universe (look up "Big Benny's Challenge" and Matt | BadNewsBaron 🚀 if you don't know or remember) and my current life in the UK, what I needed now was a track to lay under it that could not only hold it all up, but elevate it beyond its combined parts. I spent hours searching the libraries we had. Nothing fit. Nothing vibed. In desperation, I pinged Pedro Macedo Camacho at 12:39am in the morning. Of course, he was working, too. I was only looking for guidance, but he knew exactly what was needed, and he didn't hesitate to offer to create something special for our milestone. We only had an evening to work. We'd need to extend the sequence to fit the idea. We had to create moments for the new title to reveal. This was the 1,171 video I've made for CIG, and 500th in a legacy begun by others and entrusted to me by Ben “LOAF” Lesnick (important) that I take as seriously today as I did when he asked if I could do it in 2015 and I summoned up a lifetime of bullshit to tell him I could. 😜 But not one of those 1,171 was made by me alone. It's people like Will and Kat and Pedro and so, so many more that enable me to still love what I do, it's people like Ben and Sandi and Chris that take chances on weirdos like me, and folks who's names and faces you don't see nearly as often as mine who keep taking those chances with me week after week. It's 2:04am on another evening I can't sleep, and I just gave Twitter $4 so I could make this post. But my life doesn't get to be what it is without these people and others like David and Tom and David and Alex and Julian and Joe and Rena and Toby and Gemma and Vicki and Tyler and Elliott and more and more and I hope you'll forgive me taking this space on your timeline to say how much I love working with them. Ups and down and ups and downs, but always with love and appreciation for those who came before, those who are here now, and those that'll help make the next 500. 💖

Jared Huckaby, Prefers to Like Things

34,601 views • 2 years ago

Analyzing Episode 60. Season 2 aka Motherhood Deconstructed I want to start this analysis with a disclaimer that I'll be writing about that kiss separately, because really, it deserves a post of its own. I'll talk about it here briefly, but this analysis will stick to the overall events of ep 60. To me, the main theme of this episode was motherhood. Be it Alya, Nare, Zerrin, Sadakat, and yes, even the dishrag. We see how these different women strive, suffer, and never stop trying to keep their children with them, all except one. So, let's begin. We start episode 60 with Alya and Cihan awaiting to conduct a DNA test on baby Simal, whom Kaya insists is his child. Long story short, Kaya is feeling a little pissed about Zerrin keeping the truth of Simal from him, and he has a point. But then, it's not like Zerrin has had a jolly good time pretending to play house with a creep like Demir. The only reason she relents is to keep her baby safe. So, it's a catch-22 situation, where both sides are right and wrong. But, it's not like we don't know these two will make up soon. What stood out to me in that sequence was Alya taking charge of ensuring Zerrin has access to her baby. She knows exactly what it is to be separated from one's child, and she's kind and brave enough to refuse to let anyone suffer through the same. So, in a way, Alya's motherhood doesn't just extend to Deniz. It encompasses her to the point where she shields all those she feels need protection. I also like the fact that she's taken Zerrin under her wing, because when the latter moves into the konak with Sadakat, she'll need all the help she can get. The next sequence begins at the hospital, where Nare is still hell-bent on continuing with the pregnancy, though at great risk to her life. This is another glimpse of motherhood the show gives us - in the shape of a woman who is so in love with her unborn child already, she's willing to risk death to bring it into the world. Contrasted to that is Sadakat, who's willing to lie or cheat to keep her daughter alive. Here is a ruthless kind of motherhood. Sadakat's love (if you can call it that) has always been wrapped in control, manipulation, and fear. But, still at the center of all her ugliness is a woman who doesn't want to lose her children. Nare is willing to die for her child, Sadakat is willing to kill Nare's child to ensure she lives - quite the compelling contrast. Different forms of motherhood, but both rooted in desperation. In the middle of all that, Meryem pops up like a bad penny. But even as she arrives in that room and Sadakat wants to keep her there, the awkward silence that envelops the space as she lingers is telling. She doesn't belong, it seems to say. But, there's another person who's starting to question their 'belonging' in this new version of the past that's come back - and of course, that's Alya. The more she sees Meryem infiltrate parts of her life beyond the konak, the more her exposed nerves are rubbed raw. This woman is so close to complete and utter exhaustion, it's heartbreaking. What's even more heartbreaking is that while she tries to be there for everyone, she herself cuts everyone off when she feels troubled. And that, to me, is where the episode quietly portrays the emotional labor aspect of being a mom. Alya mothers everyone around her. Nare, Zerrin, Kaya, and Deniz. Even Cihan at times. She absorbs pain, tries to stem chaos, protects others from falling apart, yet when it comes to her own fears and insecurities, she retreats inward completely. It's almost as if she believes she only deserves to be the shelter, never the one allowed to seek sanctuary. Because children who grow up thinking they've been abandoned grow up thinking love is a thing to be earned through caring or usefulness. So, instead of asking for comfort, they always end up providing it. But humans, even the strongest of the strong, have their limits. And, it's so clear that Alya is close to reaching hers. So, when Cihan is forced to relent and allow Mujgan and her son to the konak because Deniz wants it, Alya does what she does best - she withdraws and leaves the source of discomfort. That's why she tells Cihan she hates going to the konak now because every time she goes there, the spectre of Meryem and what she can snatch away becomes unavoidable. And, as blind as Cihan can be at times, he picks up on that. He knows exactly what she's trying to do, which is why he tries to redirect her attention to the fact that he hates going to the konak without Alya around, too. He wants to be wherever Alya is. In his own way, he's trying to tell her it doesn't matter who stays at that house; it's only home to Cihan when Alya is around. His words reach Alya, which is why she relents and visits the konak for a few hours, but then shit hits the fan again. We'll get to that, but first, let's talk about Meryem. Meryem's scene in the hospital with Mujgan reveals Meryem saying she can't tell Cihan about Serhat because she's not sure who the father is, and that she'd rather live in the hope that Serhat is the son of the man she loves, bla blah. Now, go back and think of all the versions of motherhood we've seen in this series, and indeed this episode. They all have one thing in common - that all the mothers did whatever they had to, and bore whatever came their way to ensure their babies stayed with them. No matter how much Alya, Zerrin, or Nare love their better halves, when push came to shove, they put their children first. Even Sadakat married Azem for Boran. All except one. Meryem. Meryem sent her son away and made it look like he was Mujgan's child, thereby erasing all his links to her. One could argue it was because she feared Feyyaz. But what's stopping her now? Let's assume what Meryem says is right and there's a 50 percent chance Serhat is Cihan's son. For a mother desperate to save her child from danger, those are pretty good odds, so why avoid the DNA test? Suppose Serhat turns out to be Feyyaz's son; even so, if she comes clean with Cihan, she knows he's the kind to help her, even if just to keep an innocent child safe. So, her version of motherhood sticks out like a sore thumb in the episode. In contrast, I found Alya's line, 'When it comes to my son, I put him before everything and everyone else,' much more fitting with the theme. Mothers on the defensive, who feel there's a threat to their child's wellbeing, will relent to even the most extreme measure - even if it tears their own being apart. Alya hates being away from Cihan. She hates that distance she imposes between them as much as Cihan, but she can't help it. Because the mother in her won't let her choose anything else. Which is why I say Serhat is almost like an afterthought to Meryem because his needs are never the focus. And I get the feeling that whatever Meryem is trying to hide threatens not her son, but likely the version of herself she's presented to the world. Even when I rewatched the kite flying scene, the way the camera pans into Serhat only once, but mostly focuses on Cihan and Alya after showing us Meryem is telling. Like this is a woman not going through hell because of her child, but because she's looking at a structure of acceptance she's no longer able to enter. Life at the konak, Cihan's family unit, his love for Alya and Deniz - it's everything that could have been hers once, but no longer. No matter how she tries, she no longer fits. And honestly, that’s why that sense of not belonging is even more overt in an episode about motherhood. Every other mother in this episode becomes messy because of love for their child. Nare breaks down. Zerrin panics. Sadakat manipulates openly. Alya practically emotionally disintegrates trying to hold everything together. Their feelings spill all over the place because motherhood, especially threatened motherhood, breaks people down. But Meryem remains oddly stoic throughout it all, except for a few tears. She's mostly careful and controlled, and always aware of who's watching her. Going back to the point of shit hitting the fan, when Alya discovers Meryem and Mujgan in Cihan's room, she doesn't buy Meryem's story for a bit. When Cihan tries to calm the situation, she dismantles the sorry excuse Meryem gives with two questions. In other words, her spidey senses pick up trouble, but she keeps it locked in because she doesn't want to appear as the jealous, unreasonable wife. But things come to a head anyway when Feyyaz cuts Cihan and Alya off on the road. Cihan seems to finally realize exactly the kind of trouble Meryem has unleashed in their lives when Feyyaz keeps eyeing Alya. Because to Feyyaz's psychotic mind, Cihan is keeping Meryem away from him, which makes Alya fair game. But when Cihan insists Alya return to the konak, Alya flat out refuses, and all the pressure that's been building inside her gets directed at Cihan. She knows deep down he's not at fault, but the fact that he's jumped into another situation without thinking of the danger, grates on her nerves. Which is why her default setting kicks in; she demands that Cihan bring Deniz to her and leave the apartment. Cihan, who is already reeling from Alya pulling back from him and the reality of Feyyaz targeting the only thing he truly holds dear, is desperate to stop Alya's isolation before she decides he's not worth all the misery she's suffering, and does what's worked for him once before in a desperate situation (the airport, anyone?). He forgets everything, pulls Alya in, and kisses the breath out of her. And, it works too, because for that moment, Alya stops spiraling long enough to simply feel. To stop calculating danger or bracing for abandonment. She feels loved and safe in Cihan's arms again. That's what makes that kiss so powerful. It isn't just the passion. It's the desperation behind it, on both sides. Cihan isn't kissing Alya because he wants to win an argument. He's kissing her because he's terrified, and he misses her. He's worried that if she keeps retreating inward, one day she'll retreat so far he won't be able to reach her anymore. Worried that all the fear, exhaustion, and pressure she's carrying will eventually make her decide loving him isn't worth the cost. And Alya responds because beneath all her anger, fear, and exhaustion, she loves him just as desperately. That's the irony of CihAl this season. They're not going to pieces because the love is weakening. They're going to pieces because the love has become so enormous that losing it feels catastrophic to both of them. To conclude, everything within ep 60, including the kiss, works so beautifully because technically everyone is unraveling. Every woman in this episode is fighting to protect something she loves, but the ways they do so reveal who they are at their core. Alya protects by sacrificing parts of herself. Nare protects by risking herself. Sadakat protects by controlling others. Zerrin protects by enduring humiliation. And Meryem... Meryem protects the narratives she builds. Her emotions, while visible, don't land with impact, almost as if they're missing a core ingredient. On the opposite end of the spectrum lie CihAl, whose love strips them bare, only for them to realize that retreat is no option. The only way forward for them is through - through fear, through exhaustion, through jealousy, through danger, and through every ugly and painful thing that loving someone this deeply awakens inside them. Because CihAl are incapable of loving each other halfway. Their love keeps dragging every hidden wound, every insecurity, every instinct to the surface until there is nowhere left to hide. And maybe that’s the real contrast episode 60 quietly builds toward: one side clinging to carefully maintained facades, the other being emotionally dismantled by a love too raw and overwhelming to remain controlled. Till later, happy reading, y'all. #CihAl #UzakŞehir
5:10

Analyzing Episode 60. Season 2 aka Motherhood Deconstructed I want to start this analysis with a disclaimer that I'll be writing about that kiss separately, because really, it deserves a post of its own. I'll talk about it here briefly, but this analysis will stick to the overall events of ep 60. To me, the main theme of this episode was motherhood. Be it Alya, Nare, Zerrin, Sadakat, and yes, even the dishrag. We see how these different women strive, suffer, and never stop trying to keep their children with them, all except one. So, let's begin. We start episode 60 with Alya and Cihan awaiting to conduct a DNA test on baby Simal, whom Kaya insists is his child. Long story short, Kaya is feeling a little pissed about Zerrin keeping the truth of Simal from him, and he has a point. But then, it's not like Zerrin has had a jolly good time pretending to play house with a creep like Demir. The only reason she relents is to keep her baby safe. So, it's a catch-22 situation, where both sides are right and wrong. But, it's not like we don't know these two will make up soon. What stood out to me in that sequence was Alya taking charge of ensuring Zerrin has access to her baby. She knows exactly what it is to be separated from one's child, and she's kind and brave enough to refuse to let anyone suffer through the same. So, in a way, Alya's motherhood doesn't just extend to Deniz. It encompasses her to the point where she shields all those she feels need protection. I also like the fact that she's taken Zerrin under her wing, because when the latter moves into the konak with Sadakat, she'll need all the help she can get. The next sequence begins at the hospital, where Nare is still hell-bent on continuing with the pregnancy, though at great risk to her life. This is another glimpse of motherhood the show gives us - in the shape of a woman who is so in love with her unborn child already, she's willing to risk death to bring it into the world. Contrasted to that is Sadakat, who's willing to lie or cheat to keep her daughter alive. Here is a ruthless kind of motherhood. Sadakat's love (if you can call it that) has always been wrapped in control, manipulation, and fear. But, still at the center of all her ugliness is a woman who doesn't want to lose her children. Nare is willing to die for her child, Sadakat is willing to kill Nare's child to ensure she lives - quite the compelling contrast. Different forms of motherhood, but both rooted in desperation. In the middle of all that, Meryem pops up like a bad penny. But even as she arrives in that room and Sadakat wants to keep her there, the awkward silence that envelops the space as she lingers is telling. She doesn't belong, it seems to say. But, there's another person who's starting to question their 'belonging' in this new version of the past that's come back - and of course, that's Alya. The more she sees Meryem infiltrate parts of her life beyond the konak, the more her exposed nerves are rubbed raw. This woman is so close to complete and utter exhaustion, it's heartbreaking. What's even more heartbreaking is that while she tries to be there for everyone, she herself cuts everyone off when she feels troubled. And that, to me, is where the episode quietly portrays the emotional labor aspect of being a mom. Alya mothers everyone around her. Nare, Zerrin, Kaya, and Deniz. Even Cihan at times. She absorbs pain, tries to stem chaos, protects others from falling apart, yet when it comes to her own fears and insecurities, she retreats inward completely. It's almost as if she believes she only deserves to be the shelter, never the one allowed to seek sanctuary. Because children who grow up thinking they've been abandoned grow up thinking love is a thing to be earned through caring or usefulness. So, instead of asking for comfort, they always end up providing it. But humans, even the strongest of the strong, have their limits. And, it's so clear that Alya is close to reaching hers. So, when Cihan is forced to relent and allow Mujgan and her son to the konak because Deniz wants it, Alya does what she does best - she withdraws and leaves the source of discomfort. That's why she tells Cihan she hates going to the konak now because every time she goes there, the spectre of Meryem and what she can snatch away becomes unavoidable. And, as blind as Cihan can be at times, he picks up on that. He knows exactly what she's trying to do, which is why he tries to redirect her attention to the fact that he hates going to the konak without Alya around, too. He wants to be wherever Alya is. In his own way, he's trying to tell her it doesn't matter who stays at that house; it's only home to Cihan when Alya is around. His words reach Alya, which is why she relents and visits the konak for a few hours, but then shit hits the fan again. We'll get to that, but first, let's talk about Meryem. Meryem's scene in the hospital with Mujgan reveals Meryem saying she can't tell Cihan about Serhat because she's not sure who the father is, and that she'd rather live in the hope that Serhat is the son of the man she loves, bla blah. Now, go back and think of all the versions of motherhood we've seen in this series, and indeed this episode. They all have one thing in common - that all the mothers did whatever they had to, and bore whatever came their way to ensure their babies stayed with them. No matter how much Alya, Zerrin, or Nare love their better halves, when push came to shove, they put their children first. Even Sadakat married Azem for Boran. All except one. Meryem. Meryem sent her son away and made it look like he was Mujgan's child, thereby erasing all his links to her. One could argue it was because she feared Feyyaz. But what's stopping her now? Let's assume what Meryem says is right and there's a 50 percent chance Serhat is Cihan's son. For a mother desperate to save her child from danger, those are pretty good odds, so why avoid the DNA test? Suppose Serhat turns out to be Feyyaz's son; even so, if she comes clean with Cihan, she knows he's the kind to help her, even if just to keep an innocent child safe. So, her version of motherhood sticks out like a sore thumb in the episode. In contrast, I found Alya's line, 'When it comes to my son, I put him before everything and everyone else,' much more fitting with the theme. Mothers on the defensive, who feel there's a threat to their child's wellbeing, will relent to even the most extreme measure - even if it tears their own being apart. Alya hates being away from Cihan. She hates that distance she imposes between them as much as Cihan, but she can't help it. Because the mother in her won't let her choose anything else. Which is why I say Serhat is almost like an afterthought to Meryem because his needs are never the focus. And I get the feeling that whatever Meryem is trying to hide threatens not her son, but likely the version of herself she's presented to the world. Even when I rewatched the kite flying scene, the way the camera pans into Serhat only once, but mostly focuses on Cihan and Alya after showing us Meryem is telling. Like this is a woman not going through hell because of her child, but because she's looking at a structure of acceptance she's no longer able to enter. Life at the konak, Cihan's family unit, his love for Alya and Deniz - it's everything that could have been hers once, but no longer. No matter how she tries, she no longer fits. And honestly, that’s why that sense of not belonging is even more overt in an episode about motherhood. Every other mother in this episode becomes messy because of love for their child. Nare breaks down. Zerrin panics. Sadakat manipulates openly. Alya practically emotionally disintegrates trying to hold everything together. Their feelings spill all over the place because motherhood, especially threatened motherhood, breaks people down. But Meryem remains oddly stoic throughout it all, except for a few tears. She's mostly careful and controlled, and always aware of who's watching her. Going back to the point of shit hitting the fan, when Alya discovers Meryem and Mujgan in Cihan's room, she doesn't buy Meryem's story for a bit. When Cihan tries to calm the situation, she dismantles the sorry excuse Meryem gives with two questions. In other words, her spidey senses pick up trouble, but she keeps it locked in because she doesn't want to appear as the jealous, unreasonable wife. But things come to a head anyway when Feyyaz cuts Cihan and Alya off on the road. Cihan seems to finally realize exactly the kind of trouble Meryem has unleashed in their lives when Feyyaz keeps eyeing Alya. Because to Feyyaz's psychotic mind, Cihan is keeping Meryem away from him, which makes Alya fair game. But when Cihan insists Alya return to the konak, Alya flat out refuses, and all the pressure that's been building inside her gets directed at Cihan. She knows deep down he's not at fault, but the fact that he's jumped into another situation without thinking of the danger, grates on her nerves. Which is why her default setting kicks in; she demands that Cihan bring Deniz to her and leave the apartment. Cihan, who is already reeling from Alya pulling back from him and the reality of Feyyaz targeting the only thing he truly holds dear, is desperate to stop Alya's isolation before she decides he's not worth all the misery she's suffering, and does what's worked for him once before in a desperate situation (the airport, anyone?). He forgets everything, pulls Alya in, and kisses the breath out of her. And, it works too, because for that moment, Alya stops spiraling long enough to simply feel. To stop calculating danger or bracing for abandonment. She feels loved and safe in Cihan's arms again. That's what makes that kiss so powerful. It isn't just the passion. It's the desperation behind it, on both sides. Cihan isn't kissing Alya because he wants to win an argument. He's kissing her because he's terrified, and he misses her. He's worried that if she keeps retreating inward, one day she'll retreat so far he won't be able to reach her anymore. Worried that all the fear, exhaustion, and pressure she's carrying will eventually make her decide loving him isn't worth the cost. And Alya responds because beneath all her anger, fear, and exhaustion, she loves him just as desperately. That's the irony of CihAl this season. They're not going to pieces because the love is weakening. They're going to pieces because the love has become so enormous that losing it feels catastrophic to both of them. To conclude, everything within ep 60, including the kiss, works so beautifully because technically everyone is unraveling. Every woman in this episode is fighting to protect something she loves, but the ways they do so reveal who they are at their core. Alya protects by sacrificing parts of herself. Nare protects by risking herself. Sadakat protects by controlling others. Zerrin protects by enduring humiliation. And Meryem... Meryem protects the narratives she builds. Her emotions, while visible, don't land with impact, almost as if they're missing a core ingredient. On the opposite end of the spectrum lie CihAl, whose love strips them bare, only for them to realize that retreat is no option. The only way forward for them is through - through fear, through exhaustion, through jealousy, through danger, and through every ugly and painful thing that loving someone this deeply awakens inside them. Because CihAl are incapable of loving each other halfway. Their love keeps dragging every hidden wound, every insecurity, every instinct to the surface until there is nowhere left to hide. And maybe that’s the real contrast episode 60 quietly builds toward: one side clinging to carefully maintained facades, the other being emotionally dismantled by a love too raw and overwhelming to remain controlled. Till later, happy reading, y'all. #CihAl #UzakŞehir

CocoLoco

12,775 views • 3 months ago

[🥀🪷] Wrote this as an archive because I finally had free time to put my thoughts about them into words, even if it’s a little late. You don’t have to agree with what I wrote here, just as I don’t expect everyone to read them the way I do. This is simply how Murong Qingyi and Ren Susu have always been to me. I’ve always loved stories where two people understand each other better than anyone else in the world, because they’re also the only two people capable of hurting each other that deeply. We all know that Qingyi and Susu do not love in the same direction. We also know that, despite how similar they are, they learned completely different ways to survive. They’re mirrors of each other. Both carry wounds that began long before they met. Both learned sacrifice. Both spent years believing their own happiness mattered less than everyone else’s. And yet, somewhere along the way, their hearts arrived at opposite conclusions about what love is supposed to look like. This is where they begin hurting each other without ever intending to. When Qingyi senses distance between them, his instinct is always to move closer. Not because he wants to control her, but because closeness has always been his way of loving. If someone he loves is suffering, he wants to stand beside them. If they’re carrying something heavy, he wants to carry it with them. If they’re walking into danger, his first instinct is to follow. Susu is the exact opposite. The moment she realizes the person she loves might get hurt because of her, her instinct is to step away. Not because she loves them less, but because distance has become her way of protecting the people she loves. She would rather carry everything alone than watch someone else bleed in her place. And so, without either of them intending to, they begin moving in opposite directions while chasing the very same thing, a love that feels safe enough to stay. What makes this so sad is that neither of them is choosing fear over love. It is that both of them loved with everything they had, but each had learned a different way of protecting that love. Qingyi isn’t trying to pressure her. Susu isn’t trying to reject him. Both are speaking the language of love. They simply aren’t speaking the same dialect. To Qingyi, love means staying. To Susu, love means leaving before staying becomes another tragedy. To Qingyi, sharing someone’s burden is the purest form of devotion. To Susu, becoming someone’s burden is the greatest fear she can imagine. So every time Qingyi helps her, Susu mistakes it for yet another sacrifice she is asking him to make. And every time Susu disappears, Qingyi experiences another loss he cannot understand. Yet the comfort one seeks becomes the discomfort the other experiences, leaving them to mistake protection for pain. Qingyi finds safety in knowing that someone chooses to stay, even when life becomes difficult. Having grown up questioning whether he would ever be chosen, he comes to equate permanence with love itself. To stay, despite everything, is not merely what he longs for. It is how he loves. Susu finds safety in making sure the people she loves have the chance to survive, even if that survival no longer includes her. After carrying guilt for so many losses, love becomes inseparable from sacrifice. In her heart, devotion is measured by what she is willing to give up, until leaving becomes the greatest kindness she believes she can offer. So love becomes something they keep missing, not because it isn’t there, but because they keep meeting it from opposite directions. Qingyi sees distance and feels another unanswered question. Susu sees closeness and feels another life she might destroy. Neither of them is responding to the present. They’re responding to the stories trauma has been whispering to them since they were children Qingyi asks, “Will you choose me this time?” Susu asks, “Will you still alive if I do?” Those two questions are sad because neither of them is wrong. Both fears are profoundly human. Both were born long before they ever found each other. Yet to call it incompatibility would be too simple. What stood between them was not the absence of love, but the presence of fears neither of them knew how to name. It’s sad because their deepest fears are perfectly designed to trigger each other’s. His greatest fear has always been losing the person he loves without understanding why. Her greatest fear has always been becoming the reason the person she loves loses everything. So, he moves closer. She moves away. This is the point where they begin to wound one another. Both believe they’re loving correctly. The same moment calls for closeness in one heart and distance in the other, leaving them to mistake each other’s protection for rejection. But love was never about asking him to stop staying or asking her to stop protecting. It was about helping them understand the fear hidden beneath each other’s choices. They have to see each other not as the enemy of their needs. They were simply same person, but both are shaped by different wounds and protecting themselves in the only language they have ever known. Because in the end, it was never that Qingyi and Susu didn’t love each other enough. It was that they were both trying to protect the person they loved and simply searching for safety in love, each in the only way their heart had ever learned. One stayed. One left. Neither choice came from the absence of love. Both came from quiet hope. They were never standing on opposite sides of love. They were simply standing on opposite sides of fear. They are not simply one person who chases and another who runs. They are two damaged people whose deepest fears are perfectly designed to trigger each other’s. Perhaps it was never about changing the way they love. It was about trusting the very thing they had feared their entire lives, that someone could stay without abandoning them, and someone could stay without being destroyed by loving them. Qingyi believes that if he can endure enough, love will survive. If he can bear enough pain, make enough sacrifices, stay through every storm, then perhaps no one will leave him again. But love was never asking him to prove how much he could survive. It was asking him to trust that he did not have to carry everything alone. Susu has mistaken fear for love for so long that it has become the language through which she loves. She calls it cowardice, because leaving feels easier than watching the people she loves suffer because of her. If she had loved Qingyi a little less, perhaps she could have spoken the words she kept swallowing. She might have trusted him with the truth instead of trying to protect him from it. But she loved him so completely that silence felt kinder than asking him to bear the unbearable weight of loving her. In Jane Austen words, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” Susu believes love means protecting Qingyi from herself. Qingyi believes love means protecting Susu from everything else. Neither realizes that love cannot thrive when one person is always the protector and the other is always the one being protected. At some point, they must trust each other enough to become partners instead of martyrs. Because the truth is, there was never a version of their story where no one paid a price. Love had already asked something of them both. The only question was whether they would face those consequences separately, each trying to protect the other in silence, or together, with open hearts, clear eyes, and the quiet peace that comes from choosing one another even when the future cannot be promised. Also, I don’t agree with everything Qingyi and Susu did. Sometimes I wanted to scream at both of them, moments I wished they had chosen differently. But perhaps that’s what makes them feel human. They aren’t defined by perfect decisions, but by deeply human ones, choices made in fear, in love, and in the desperate hope of protecting each other. Once you understand the fear beneath their choices, it’s much harder to reduce either of them to hero or villain. So, please… go easy on them. They’ve gone through so much. ❤️‍🩹 “Who loves who more?” At this point, I think it’s safe to say the person suffering the most in this relationship is me.
4:09

[🥀🪷] Wrote this as an archive because I finally had free time to put my thoughts about them into words, even if it’s a little late. You don’t have to agree with what I wrote here, just as I don’t expect everyone to read them the way I do. This is simply how Murong Qingyi and Ren Susu have always been to me. I’ve always loved stories where two people understand each other better than anyone else in the world, because they’re also the only two people capable of hurting each other that deeply. We all know that Qingyi and Susu do not love in the same direction. We also know that, despite how similar they are, they learned completely different ways to survive. They’re mirrors of each other. Both carry wounds that began long before they met. Both learned sacrifice. Both spent years believing their own happiness mattered less than everyone else’s. And yet, somewhere along the way, their hearts arrived at opposite conclusions about what love is supposed to look like. This is where they begin hurting each other without ever intending to. When Qingyi senses distance between them, his instinct is always to move closer. Not because he wants to control her, but because closeness has always been his way of loving. If someone he loves is suffering, he wants to stand beside them. If they’re carrying something heavy, he wants to carry it with them. If they’re walking into danger, his first instinct is to follow. Susu is the exact opposite. The moment she realizes the person she loves might get hurt because of her, her instinct is to step away. Not because she loves them less, but because distance has become her way of protecting the people she loves. She would rather carry everything alone than watch someone else bleed in her place. And so, without either of them intending to, they begin moving in opposite directions while chasing the very same thing, a love that feels safe enough to stay. What makes this so sad is that neither of them is choosing fear over love. It is that both of them loved with everything they had, but each had learned a different way of protecting that love. Qingyi isn’t trying to pressure her. Susu isn’t trying to reject him. Both are speaking the language of love. They simply aren’t speaking the same dialect. To Qingyi, love means staying. To Susu, love means leaving before staying becomes another tragedy. To Qingyi, sharing someone’s burden is the purest form of devotion. To Susu, becoming someone’s burden is the greatest fear she can imagine. So every time Qingyi helps her, Susu mistakes it for yet another sacrifice she is asking him to make. And every time Susu disappears, Qingyi experiences another loss he cannot understand. Yet the comfort one seeks becomes the discomfort the other experiences, leaving them to mistake protection for pain. Qingyi finds safety in knowing that someone chooses to stay, even when life becomes difficult. Having grown up questioning whether he would ever be chosen, he comes to equate permanence with love itself. To stay, despite everything, is not merely what he longs for. It is how he loves. Susu finds safety in making sure the people she loves have the chance to survive, even if that survival no longer includes her. After carrying guilt for so many losses, love becomes inseparable from sacrifice. In her heart, devotion is measured by what she is willing to give up, until leaving becomes the greatest kindness she believes she can offer. So love becomes something they keep missing, not because it isn’t there, but because they keep meeting it from opposite directions. Qingyi sees distance and feels another unanswered question. Susu sees closeness and feels another life she might destroy. Neither of them is responding to the present. They’re responding to the stories trauma has been whispering to them since they were children Qingyi asks, “Will you choose me this time?” Susu asks, “Will you still alive if I do?” Those two questions are sad because neither of them is wrong. Both fears are profoundly human. Both were born long before they ever found each other. Yet to call it incompatibility would be too simple. What stood between them was not the absence of love, but the presence of fears neither of them knew how to name. It’s sad because their deepest fears are perfectly designed to trigger each other’s. His greatest fear has always been losing the person he loves without understanding why. Her greatest fear has always been becoming the reason the person she loves loses everything. So, he moves closer. She moves away. This is the point where they begin to wound one another. Both believe they’re loving correctly. The same moment calls for closeness in one heart and distance in the other, leaving them to mistake each other’s protection for rejection. But love was never about asking him to stop staying or asking her to stop protecting. It was about helping them understand the fear hidden beneath each other’s choices. They have to see each other not as the enemy of their needs. They were simply same person, but both are shaped by different wounds and protecting themselves in the only language they have ever known. Because in the end, it was never that Qingyi and Susu didn’t love each other enough. It was that they were both trying to protect the person they loved and simply searching for safety in love, each in the only way their heart had ever learned. One stayed. One left. Neither choice came from the absence of love. Both came from quiet hope. They were never standing on opposite sides of love. They were simply standing on opposite sides of fear. They are not simply one person who chases and another who runs. They are two damaged people whose deepest fears are perfectly designed to trigger each other’s. Perhaps it was never about changing the way they love. It was about trusting the very thing they had feared their entire lives, that someone could stay without abandoning them, and someone could stay without being destroyed by loving them. Qingyi believes that if he can endure enough, love will survive. If he can bear enough pain, make enough sacrifices, stay through every storm, then perhaps no one will leave him again. But love was never asking him to prove how much he could survive. It was asking him to trust that he did not have to carry everything alone. Susu has mistaken fear for love for so long that it has become the language through which she loves. She calls it cowardice, because leaving feels easier than watching the people she loves suffer because of her. If she had loved Qingyi a little less, perhaps she could have spoken the words she kept swallowing. She might have trusted him with the truth instead of trying to protect him from it. But she loved him so completely that silence felt kinder than asking him to bear the unbearable weight of loving her. In Jane Austen words, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” Susu believes love means protecting Qingyi from herself. Qingyi believes love means protecting Susu from everything else. Neither realizes that love cannot thrive when one person is always the protector and the other is always the one being protected. At some point, they must trust each other enough to become partners instead of martyrs. Because the truth is, there was never a version of their story where no one paid a price. Love had already asked something of them both. The only question was whether they would face those consequences separately, each trying to protect the other in silence, or together, with open hearts, clear eyes, and the quiet peace that comes from choosing one another even when the future cannot be promised. Also, I don’t agree with everything Qingyi and Susu did. Sometimes I wanted to scream at both of them, moments I wished they had chosen differently. But perhaps that’s what makes them feel human. They aren’t defined by perfect decisions, but by deeply human ones, choices made in fear, in love, and in the desperate hope of protecting each other. Once you understand the fear beneath their choices, it’s much harder to reduce either of them to hero or villain. So, please… go easy on them. They’ve gone through so much. ❤️‍🩹 “Who loves who more?” At this point, I think it’s safe to say the person suffering the most in this relationship is me.

Overdo 这一秒过火

48,628 views • 23 days ago

"If we have evidence or if we have bodies, we should release that to the world." ~EB Did Burlison See a Craft at the Location He Visited? Umm, No. (Long one here with a transcript and my comments in ( ). Work today so I was a little limited with this stuff. Looking forward to the Davis interview tomorrow!) In 2025, Rep. Eric Burlison spent "almost the entire day" with the White House staff as they negotiated various aspects of the Big Beautiful Bill. While he was there, he requested help with the UFO topic because the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets kept getting blocked and struggled to get access to certain information and locations. So, he asked for a White House-level briefing, "the same briefing the President... If you're taking the request, that's my highest request." (He didn't say if he ever received that briefing.) Burlison: "Furthermore, I would like to be able to have a green light to go visit some of these locations. And the gentleman that I was asking kind of smirked. And I said, 'Is this comical to you? I mean, do you think that I'm not a serious person?'" (I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? 😀 ) Burlison: "He said, 'No.' he goes. 'I just want to go with you.' And so, it turns out he did. He was able to go with me. He had to follow the proper channels as well. And we visited the first of many sites, hopefully. I'm gonna be cautious in talking about that because I don't want to jeopardize the ability to go to the remaining locations, if you will. I truly think that, for them, this was a test of whether or not this would become a circus for them. And so, I think that I'm just treading cautiously before I release too much information about what I've learned and where I went." (I understand not giving out the location to avoid a "circus" of UFO people trying to visit, but I don't see why he can't tell us what he learned right now. Hopefully, when all the visits are done, he can share the details with us.) James Fox: "Congressman, when you say you went to visit the site, are you implying that the alleged site that could, potentially, be housing non-human technology? Is that kind of what one is alleging here?" Burlison: "Yeah. Or, once did house non-human technology, right? Now, from my insights from Grusch and others, they had...it was pretty obvious that that first site that we were going to did not have active material, but, potentially, could have in the past. So what was important was to see the facilities and the structures, and to try to ascertain for A), first and foremost, did those facilities exist? And then were they designed in such a way that would have been, you know, one could easily see that that could have been utilized for reverse engineering." (Saying that a location/facility could have been utilized for reverse engineering craft not made by humans is not enough to make the waves we need to force the tidal wave of Disclosure. We need for Burlison (or someone else) to be able to visit a facility that has a craft there now, and folks working on it who are willing to speak about their experiences there. I don't see that happening any time soon.) Leslie Kean: "May I ask If the people at the site were cooperative and helpful for you?" Burlison: "Yes." Leslie Kean: "Or were they resistant to having you visit?" Burlison: "No, they were very cooperative. What I kind of interpreted from this is that a lot of what's happening today is that you have things that have happened in the past, and the people today, you know, you're talking about personnel that have changed over many times. And so, a lot of times they're not aware of the history of some of the things that you're talking about because that's not something that they're working on, currently. But they certainly were extremely helpful." (They were either not aware of the history or, they were, and lied about it. Can't rule that out. And the fact that they were helpful/cooperative doesn't really mean much. If you want to avoid unwanted attention, you put your best face on. Or, maybe they really were ignorant and wanted to do their best to help Burlison and the other folks? No way to know.) Burlison: "I had specifically wanted to meet with a particular individual that works at that location, and I actually expected them to turn me down, but was surprised that they actually arranged a meeting in a SCIF with the person that I requested. So, I do think that they're being cooperative." (Hopefully, when all of these locations have been visited, we get to learn this person's name. Full transparency, right?) Burlison: "And now that the President has [posted on Truth Social about UFOs], I think it gives everyone all the way down the line an understanding that this is to be taken seriously and to follow through." (We shall see.) Burlison: "On the way back after the visit, the White House staffer and the other person that had made it happen both said to me that they loved doing this. This was one of the funnest things they've ever done in their job, and that these other future site locations are not at all gonna be a burden to them. If anything, they're excited and looking forward to it." (Are we going to learn who those people are? Transparency? If not, why not? We pay their salaries.) James Fox: "I had a really quick follow-up question, Congressman. If you did find what you're looking for, is there a particular protocol, or what's the directive if you find what you're looking for?" Burlison: "If I find what I'm looking for, I'm gonna be very careful to protect any kind of national-security interest. But at the same time, I've been very clear that it is not the right of this country to withhold basic, fundamental evidence that we may or may not be alone. And so, if we have any kind of evidence of that, we should be telling the world and not holding back. And give as many details as possible, and release...be as transparent as possible without jeopardizing our secrets and national security. Or secrets that pertain...that our national security is dependent upon." (For now, keep the method of propulsion (energy source) secret and away from our adversaries and tell us everything else!) Burlison: "Well, I'm just gonna speculate, okay? If we have a type of technology that we have reverse engineered, that gives us a strategic advantage that our adversaries have not? I think that, for example, letting the world know that we have this craft, here it is, here's a photo of it, but you don't have to tell the world how exactly the...what you've reverse engineered, or how that operates." (Photos aren't going to cut it. If they exist, we need to see these craft (and bodies?) in person, with our own eyes. Put them in the Smithsonian and let us see all of it. And allow independent scientists to do their own analysis so we can verify that it's non-human or anomalous.) Burlison: "In the same way that when the nuclear bomb first was invented and utilized, the world knew, we revealed to the world that we have this capability, but we certainly are not gonna tell people how to make one and the specifics behind that. So, I think that for me, that's how I would answer that question. If you were asking me, 'What would you be willing to protect as far as national security?' That would be the nature of it. "Now, I think if the technology that's derived has nothing to do with changing our threat dynamic with an adversary, and it might benefit society and the world, by all means, let's release it. Let's let the world scientific minds utilize anything that we might have discovered. And so, that's where I personally stand." (But we all that it's not going to be that simple. Most likely (if this is all legit), we'll have craft and bodies, and the tech from the craft can give us an advantage over our adversaries, while at the same time, potentially, be used to change and improve the world and human condition. So what do we do? Keep it secret? Tell the world and take our chances?) Burlison: "I don't know, I couldn't tell you what Hillary meant by that." (EB was referring to the recent interview/deposition about Epstein where Hillary Clinton said that she would release UFO files but they would be "subject to any national security implications" and it should be done so that "no national security information is disclosed." She didn't get specific.) Burlison: "If we have evidence or if we have bodies, we should release that to the world. If we, you know, if what Eric Davis said to me - and now that was not in a hearing in which he had been sworn in, and I'm not saying that he was telling me a falsehood - when he said that there are four alien species - and that kind of went viral - I mean, if we, if we do have evidence of that, I want the world to know. I don't see why that would be of national security interest to withhold that from the world." (Unless, the people who have seen the bodies say something like, "Their skin is something that can be used as armor and we can't allow our adversaries to learn about that. Just trying to think of reasons why the gatekeepers will tell us that information needs to be kept secret.)
7:02

"If we have evidence or if we have bodies, we should release that to the world." ~EB Did Burlison See a Craft at the Location He Visited? Umm, No. (Long one here with a transcript and my comments in ( ). Work today so I was a little limited with this stuff. Looking forward to the Davis interview tomorrow!) In 2025, Rep. Eric Burlison spent "almost the entire day" with the White House staff as they negotiated various aspects of the Big Beautiful Bill. While he was there, he requested help with the UFO topic because the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets kept getting blocked and struggled to get access to certain information and locations. So, he asked for a White House-level briefing, "the same briefing the President... If you're taking the request, that's my highest request." (He didn't say if he ever received that briefing.) Burlison: "Furthermore, I would like to be able to have a green light to go visit some of these locations. And the gentleman that I was asking kind of smirked. And I said, 'Is this comical to you? I mean, do you think that I'm not a serious person?'" (I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? 😀 ) Burlison: "He said, 'No.' he goes. 'I just want to go with you.' And so, it turns out he did. He was able to go with me. He had to follow the proper channels as well. And we visited the first of many sites, hopefully. I'm gonna be cautious in talking about that because I don't want to jeopardize the ability to go to the remaining locations, if you will. I truly think that, for them, this was a test of whether or not this would become a circus for them. And so, I think that I'm just treading cautiously before I release too much information about what I've learned and where I went." (I understand not giving out the location to avoid a "circus" of UFO people trying to visit, but I don't see why he can't tell us what he learned right now. Hopefully, when all the visits are done, he can share the details with us.) James Fox: "Congressman, when you say you went to visit the site, are you implying that the alleged site that could, potentially, be housing non-human technology? Is that kind of what one is alleging here?" Burlison: "Yeah. Or, once did house non-human technology, right? Now, from my insights from Grusch and others, they had...it was pretty obvious that that first site that we were going to did not have active material, but, potentially, could have in the past. So what was important was to see the facilities and the structures, and to try to ascertain for A), first and foremost, did those facilities exist? And then were they designed in such a way that would have been, you know, one could easily see that that could have been utilized for reverse engineering." (Saying that a location/facility could have been utilized for reverse engineering craft not made by humans is not enough to make the waves we need to force the tidal wave of Disclosure. We need for Burlison (or someone else) to be able to visit a facility that has a craft there now, and folks working on it who are willing to speak about their experiences there. I don't see that happening any time soon.) Leslie Kean: "May I ask If the people at the site were cooperative and helpful for you?" Burlison: "Yes." Leslie Kean: "Or were they resistant to having you visit?" Burlison: "No, they were very cooperative. What I kind of interpreted from this is that a lot of what's happening today is that you have things that have happened in the past, and the people today, you know, you're talking about personnel that have changed over many times. And so, a lot of times they're not aware of the history of some of the things that you're talking about because that's not something that they're working on, currently. But they certainly were extremely helpful." (They were either not aware of the history or, they were, and lied about it. Can't rule that out. And the fact that they were helpful/cooperative doesn't really mean much. If you want to avoid unwanted attention, you put your best face on. Or, maybe they really were ignorant and wanted to do their best to help Burlison and the other folks? No way to know.) Burlison: "I had specifically wanted to meet with a particular individual that works at that location, and I actually expected them to turn me down, but was surprised that they actually arranged a meeting in a SCIF with the person that I requested. So, I do think that they're being cooperative." (Hopefully, when all of these locations have been visited, we get to learn this person's name. Full transparency, right?) Burlison: "And now that the President has [posted on Truth Social about UFOs], I think it gives everyone all the way down the line an understanding that this is to be taken seriously and to follow through." (We shall see.) Burlison: "On the way back after the visit, the White House staffer and the other person that had made it happen both said to me that they loved doing this. This was one of the funnest things they've ever done in their job, and that these other future site locations are not at all gonna be a burden to them. If anything, they're excited and looking forward to it." (Are we going to learn who those people are? Transparency? If not, why not? We pay their salaries.) James Fox: "I had a really quick follow-up question, Congressman. If you did find what you're looking for, is there a particular protocol, or what's the directive if you find what you're looking for?" Burlison: "If I find what I'm looking for, I'm gonna be very careful to protect any kind of national-security interest. But at the same time, I've been very clear that it is not the right of this country to withhold basic, fundamental evidence that we may or may not be alone. And so, if we have any kind of evidence of that, we should be telling the world and not holding back. And give as many details as possible, and release...be as transparent as possible without jeopardizing our secrets and national security. Or secrets that pertain...that our national security is dependent upon." (For now, keep the method of propulsion (energy source) secret and away from our adversaries and tell us everything else!) Burlison: "Well, I'm just gonna speculate, okay? If we have a type of technology that we have reverse engineered, that gives us a strategic advantage that our adversaries have not? I think that, for example, letting the world know that we have this craft, here it is, here's a photo of it, but you don't have to tell the world how exactly the...what you've reverse engineered, or how that operates." (Photos aren't going to cut it. If they exist, we need to see these craft (and bodies?) in person, with our own eyes. Put them in the Smithsonian and let us see all of it. And allow independent scientists to do their own analysis so we can verify that it's non-human or anomalous.) Burlison: "In the same way that when the nuclear bomb first was invented and utilized, the world knew, we revealed to the world that we have this capability, but we certainly are not gonna tell people how to make one and the specifics behind that. So, I think that for me, that's how I would answer that question. If you were asking me, 'What would you be willing to protect as far as national security?' That would be the nature of it. "Now, I think if the technology that's derived has nothing to do with changing our threat dynamic with an adversary, and it might benefit society and the world, by all means, let's release it. Let's let the world scientific minds utilize anything that we might have discovered. And so, that's where I personally stand." (But we all that it's not going to be that simple. Most likely (if this is all legit), we'll have craft and bodies, and the tech from the craft can give us an advantage over our adversaries, while at the same time, potentially, be used to change and improve the world and human condition. So what do we do? Keep it secret? Tell the world and take our chances?) Burlison: "I don't know, I couldn't tell you what Hillary meant by that." (EB was referring to the recent interview/deposition about Epstein where Hillary Clinton said that she would release UFO files but they would be "subject to any national security implications" and it should be done so that "no national security information is disclosed." She didn't get specific.) Burlison: "If we have evidence or if we have bodies, we should release that to the world. If we, you know, if what Eric Davis said to me - and now that was not in a hearing in which he had been sworn in, and I'm not saying that he was telling me a falsehood - when he said that there are four alien species - and that kind of went viral - I mean, if we, if we do have evidence of that, I want the world to know. I don't see why that would be of national security interest to withhold that from the world." (Unless, the people who have seen the bodies say something like, "Their skin is something that can be used as armor and we can't allow our adversaries to learn about that. Just trying to think of reasons why the gatekeepers will tell us that information needs to be kept secret.)

Joe Murgia

18,951 views • 5 months ago

This episode is about a once-in-a-generation mind working on what may be the most important problem in history. It's based on the new book The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence by Sebastian Mallaby. (0:00) This is the most crazy, ferocious corporate battle that we've ever seen. (2:21) Intelligence is fundamental; it is the root of all else. (3:27) When Demis founded DeepMind almost every investor turned him away. (4:50) Demis is a missionary entrepreneur and out-of-the-box scientist who, through brilliance and extraordinary drive, emerges as the right person for a particular moment. (6:20) I sit at my desk at 2 a.m., and I feel like reality is staring at me, screaming at me, literally screaming at me, trying to tell me something if I could just listen hard enough. That's how I feel every day, so you can see why I'm trying to build AI. I've felt that since I was very young that there's a deep, deep mystery about what's going on here. (7:10) Demis, who blazed the trail followed by rivals, is decent and public-spirited and wants the best for humanity. He has ego; he is fearsomely competitive, but his goal is scientific enlightenment, not money or power. (9:49) Demis has an extraordinary level of determination, unlike pretty much anybody. Astonishing, incredible determination. That's his most defining characteristic: just unbelievable determination. He works, sleeps, eats, breathes the mission 24 hours a day to a degree that I haven't seen with other people. (10:48) There is no 50% mode in Demis. There is not even a 99% mode in Demis. There is only 100%. (14:39) The slightly warped way I took that was: how do you know you've done your best? The only way I could know is basically if I push myself to the point just before death, because that is literally when you have done your best. (19:07) When he signed up for a game he liked to feel that he could win. (20:44) He saw no reason not to start a company and so he did. (22:40) Demis on what losing feels like to him: It's like my soul is on fire. (25:34) Demis was an extreme case of an authentic entrepreneur, not a mercenary who starts with a desire to get rich from a startup then casts around for a plausible idea, but rather a missionary who feels compelled to work on a particular challenge then starts a company as a way of tackling it. (25:57) The good thing about missionaries is that they never quit. Even if they have to work around the clock and pay themselves nothing. They will keep obsessing about the problem. (26:08) Peter Thiel on Demis: “I always say that people aren't really entrepreneurs in the abstract, but there's maybe one great company that somebody has in them. It was Demis's destiny to build this one.” (26:30) "If you invent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence so machines can learn, that would be worth 10 Microsofts." — Bill Gates (32:09) We only wanted hardcore believers. We would go to conferences and tell people we are starting an AGI company. 80% of the people would roll their eyes at us, literally roll their eyes at us and turn around and walk away. We figured that this was a very efficient way to discover who we should be talking to. (32:50) Blessed are those who believed before there was any evidence. (34:17) The way Demis saw things, true general intelligence would make almost anything possible, surpassing the internet, the printing press, or even the industrial revolution in importance. (35:22) Elon had declared that humans needed to colonize Mars in case disaster struck Earth. Demis had countered that killer AI robots might be one such disaster, but that the AI could obviously follow humans to Mars if it wanted to. (36:25) Peter Thiel felt instinctively suspicious of a fellow chess player. A man who had spent his formative years mentally crushing opponents should be treated with caution, Thiel reckoned. (37:07) I'm talking about the biggest invention ever, and investors keep coming back to "Where's the widget?" and I'm like, "I'm going to revolutionize all widgets, so I can pick you a random widget if you want me to, but you obviously haven't got the point if you're asking me this." (37:42) He [Larry Page] was basically telling me, maybe you could build a company like Google, but it would take the best part of your career. If my real mission was to build AGI, then why don't I use all the resources that he's accumulated? I thought that was a pretty good argument. (38:50) Elon tries to buy DeepMind (42:33) Sam Altman emails Elon: "I've been thinking a lot about whether it's possible to stop humanity from developing AI. I think the answer is almost definitely not. If it's going to happen anyway, it seems like it would be good for someone other than Google to do it first." (43:18) If you have powerful people who are able to understand the impact of the technology, they're not just gonna sit on the sidelines. (44:08) Humans had not understood how little they had understood. (44:31) As Peter Thiel said of Demis, "Geniuses are seldom brilliant in a general way. They tend to be brilliantly suited to a particular mission." (46:50) Demis was far more original and far more of a contrarian than most of the self-identified contrarians of Silicon Valley. (48:11) When Demis solves something big, he doesn't pause to spend much time savoring the achievement. (48:49) You definitely can't crack a hard problem if the person leading the team thinks it's not possible. (54:05) This is my whole life's work. I have to do what's necessary. The mission is in me; it's infused in me. You can't separate it from me. (54:28) Demis's core theme is that money and power were not ends in themselves. They were a means to scientific knowledge.
54:39

This episode is about a once-in-a-generation mind working on what may be the most important problem in history. It's based on the new book The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence by Sebastian Mallaby. (0:00) This is the most crazy, ferocious corporate battle that we've ever seen. (2:21) Intelligence is fundamental; it is the root of all else. (3:27) When Demis founded DeepMind almost every investor turned him away. (4:50) Demis is a missionary entrepreneur and out-of-the-box scientist who, through brilliance and extraordinary drive, emerges as the right person for a particular moment. (6:20) I sit at my desk at 2 a.m., and I feel like reality is staring at me, screaming at me, literally screaming at me, trying to tell me something if I could just listen hard enough. That's how I feel every day, so you can see why I'm trying to build AI. I've felt that since I was very young that there's a deep, deep mystery about what's going on here. (7:10) Demis, who blazed the trail followed by rivals, is decent and public-spirited and wants the best for humanity. He has ego; he is fearsomely competitive, but his goal is scientific enlightenment, not money or power. (9:49) Demis has an extraordinary level of determination, unlike pretty much anybody. Astonishing, incredible determination. That's his most defining characteristic: just unbelievable determination. He works, sleeps, eats, breathes the mission 24 hours a day to a degree that I haven't seen with other people. (10:48) There is no 50% mode in Demis. There is not even a 99% mode in Demis. There is only 100%. (14:39) The slightly warped way I took that was: how do you know you've done your best? The only way I could know is basically if I push myself to the point just before death, because that is literally when you have done your best. (19:07) When he signed up for a game he liked to feel that he could win. (20:44) He saw no reason not to start a company and so he did. (22:40) Demis on what losing feels like to him: It's like my soul is on fire. (25:34) Demis was an extreme case of an authentic entrepreneur, not a mercenary who starts with a desire to get rich from a startup then casts around for a plausible idea, but rather a missionary who feels compelled to work on a particular challenge then starts a company as a way of tackling it. (25:57) The good thing about missionaries is that they never quit. Even if they have to work around the clock and pay themselves nothing. They will keep obsessing about the problem. (26:08) Peter Thiel on Demis: “I always say that people aren't really entrepreneurs in the abstract, but there's maybe one great company that somebody has in them. It was Demis's destiny to build this one.” (26:30) "If you invent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence so machines can learn, that would be worth 10 Microsofts." — Bill Gates (32:09) We only wanted hardcore believers. We would go to conferences and tell people we are starting an AGI company. 80% of the people would roll their eyes at us, literally roll their eyes at us and turn around and walk away. We figured that this was a very efficient way to discover who we should be talking to. (32:50) Blessed are those who believed before there was any evidence. (34:17) The way Demis saw things, true general intelligence would make almost anything possible, surpassing the internet, the printing press, or even the industrial revolution in importance. (35:22) Elon had declared that humans needed to colonize Mars in case disaster struck Earth. Demis had countered that killer AI robots might be one such disaster, but that the AI could obviously follow humans to Mars if it wanted to. (36:25) Peter Thiel felt instinctively suspicious of a fellow chess player. A man who had spent his formative years mentally crushing opponents should be treated with caution, Thiel reckoned. (37:07) I'm talking about the biggest invention ever, and investors keep coming back to "Where's the widget?" and I'm like, "I'm going to revolutionize all widgets, so I can pick you a random widget if you want me to, but you obviously haven't got the point if you're asking me this." (37:42) He [Larry Page] was basically telling me, maybe you could build a company like Google, but it would take the best part of your career. If my real mission was to build AGI, then why don't I use all the resources that he's accumulated? I thought that was a pretty good argument. (38:50) Elon tries to buy DeepMind (42:33) Sam Altman emails Elon: "I've been thinking a lot about whether it's possible to stop humanity from developing AI. I think the answer is almost definitely not. If it's going to happen anyway, it seems like it would be good for someone other than Google to do it first." (43:18) If you have powerful people who are able to understand the impact of the technology, they're not just gonna sit on the sidelines. (44:08) Humans had not understood how little they had understood. (44:31) As Peter Thiel said of Demis, "Geniuses are seldom brilliant in a general way. They tend to be brilliantly suited to a particular mission." (46:50) Demis was far more original and far more of a contrarian than most of the self-identified contrarians of Silicon Valley. (48:11) When Demis solves something big, he doesn't pause to spend much time savoring the achievement. (48:49) You definitely can't crack a hard problem if the person leading the team thinks it's not possible. (54:05) This is my whole life's work. I have to do what's necessary. The mission is in me; it's infused in me. You can't separate it from me. (54:28) Demis's core theme is that money and power were not ends in themselves. They were a means to scientific knowledge.

David Senra

255,708 views • 4 months ago