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Exploring Trade License Options for Dubai Mainland: Which One is Right for Your Business?
Introduction:
When starting a business in Dubai Mainland, obtaining the right trade license is crucial. The type of trade license you choose will depend on the nature of your business activities. Dubai Mainland offers several options, including commercial, professional, and industrial licenses. In this article, we will provide an overview of these trade license categories and help you determine which one is the most suitable for your business.

1. Commercial License: A commercial license is the most common type of trade license in Dubai Mainland. It allows businesses to engage in trading activities such as buying, selling, and distributing goods. Whether you are involved in retail, wholesale, or general trading, a commercial license is likely the right choice for your business. It is essential to specify the goods you intend to trade when applying for this license.
2. Professional License: If your business is centered around providing professional services, such as consultancy, accounting, legal services, or healthcare, a professional license is the appropriate option. This license is designed for individuals or companies offering expertise in a specific field. It is important to note that certain professional activities may require additional approvals or qualifications from relevant authorities.
3. Industrial License: For businesses involved in manufacturing or industrial activities, an industrial license is required. This license allows for the production, processing, or assembling of goods. If your business operates in sectors like manufacturing, textiles, food processing, or construction, an industrial license is necessary. It is crucial to comply with specific regulations related to health, safety, and environmental standards for obtaining this license.

Factors to Consider:
a. Nature of Business Activities: Assess the core activities of your business and determine which license category aligns with them. Consider whether you are engaged in trading, offering professional services, or involved in industrial production.
b. Scope of Operations: Consider the scale of your operations and whether you plan to conduct business locally or internationally. Some licenses may have restrictions on conducting business outside of Dubai Mainland.
c. Legal Requirements: Research the specific legal requirements and qualifications associated with the license category you are considering. Certain professions or industrial activities may require additional certifications or approvals.
d. Future Growth: Evaluate your business's growth potential and ensure that the chosen license allows for future expansion and diversification of activities.
Working with YABS Government Authorized PRO Services: Navigating the trade license application process can be complex, especially for newcomers to the Dubai Mainland business landscape. This is where YABS Government Authorized PRO Services can assist you. With their expertise and knowledge of the local regulations, they can guide you through the license application process, ensuring compliance and saving you valuable time and effort.
Conclusion: Choosing the right trade license for your business is a crucial step in the setup process. Understanding the differences between commercial, professional, and industrial licenses is essential to ensure compliance with Dubai Mainland regulations. By carefully evaluating your business activities and seeking professional guidance from YABS Government Authorized PRO Services, you can make an informed decision and set your business on the path to success in Dubai Mainland.

I haven't talked to my family in years, for reasons I'm not going to get too much into now. But recently my mom has been trying to get me to visit my grandmother, because she is very, very sick, possibly on her deathbed. But I refuse to go, because her family is all kinds of effed up. Last time I was there I was verbally and physically assaulted, and I refuse to put myself in that situation again. I mean this happened years ago, because I haven't had any contact with them since. Everytime my mom called she'd tell me how my grandmother was so sick, and how her health was constantly declining. How my grandmother would sometimes even forget who and where she is, because of her old age, but she remembers me fondly. Really she was trying to guilt me to visit her, but I refuse to go. Like I said, the last time I was there, she said ir did nothing on my behalf. Throughout the years she just let things happen, and I will never forgive her for it, easy as that. But mom's really relentless, and she was kinda wearing me down. She insisted that my grandmother was very sick, and therefore all her priorities have changed. Mom told me how my grandmother wanted to make up for lost time, and spend time with my daughter, who she hasn't seen in a while. All this made me almost reconsider my distance from her during the tough time my grandmother's been sick. I still refuse to go over there, but my mom concocted a plan along with my uncle to bring my grandmother to my house, so we could talk. The plan was that my uncle was to get my frail grandmother to my house late in the afternoon, so we could have closure. Mom expressed many times the great risk my grandmother was being put through to get to me. Also she was so excited that finally we were going to get along again. She asked me to get a picture of all of us together to send to her to ease her nerves about the visit. I was so nervous about the entire thing, I constantly considered telling my mom to just cancel the whole thing, because recently mom told me that my grandmother could sometimes barely walk unassisted. Not only that, I was worried because I didn't know who else from the family would tag along for the ride. Obviously my grandmother needed lots of assistance and care, someone else was bound to come with her other than my uncle. I felt that it was going to very awkward having people over whom I hadn't talked to in a while. And I was willing to go through that for my mom, because she was so excited for the whole ordeal. The day of the visit I spent the whole day cleaning the entire house until it was sparkling, and even made a very delicious and very health concious snacks and dinner for my grandmother, to share while we talked. I was so nervous I kept counting the seconds until she arrived, until finally there was a knock on the door. I straightened myself up to open the door, and sure enough it was my uncle. Immediately, I invited him in, speaking sweetly and being so very warm and open. He cut me off, "No. Actually could you follow me?" I thought, maybe he did come alone and wanted me to help him get my grandmother out of the car. Sure enough I followed him across the street where he was parked and in the passenger seat was my grandmother. She looked older, and smaller than the last time I saw her. I greeted her and welcomed her to come inside my house because I had prepared tea, snacks and dinner. She just looked at me, and with the same stern voice I've heard for years said: "I'm fine here." I should have left. My uncle procedes to tell me how my grandmother didn't want to come here in the first place, like it was some kind of joke, and my grandmother reiterated that a lot. I really should have left then. She proceeds to ask me about my life, how I've been, what I've been doing, etc. I was doing this for my mom, so I answered politely all her questions, and asked her about her. She didn't answer any of my questions but diverted them to more questions about me. Eventually at some point the conversation shifted. She went back to doing and saying the same things she said that led to my distancing myself from her. Judging how my house, my husband, my daughter, my life in general will never be good enough for her and her family. I tell her in the nicest way possible that my life is good. I explain that I have my own house, my own business, manage my own hours, my husband is loving and supportive, my daughter is the smartest person in her class, I don't drink or smoke, and I take care of my family so we're all in good health. That doesn't matter at all to her, and she tells me how I'm the black sheep of the family for going to therapy, and working on myself. Her words: "Therapy is for crazy people like rapists, psychopaths, and murderers." In her mind, why would I need therapy when nothing truly bad ever happened to me. That there are people with worse problems in the world, who have survived way more tragic things without therapy. Why didn't I walk away and went back inside my house!? Even then I stayed there like an idiot, while she judged me over and over. I just politely stood my ground about me still going to therapy and about every choice I've made in my life, but I wanted to do much more than that. I wanted to scream! I wanted to tell her off! I wanted to yell at her the fact that I only needed therapy because of her and our entire family!!! But, for the sake of my mother, I didn't say anything. And I really regretted that. I think she got her fill, and eventually they both left. I took a bit of time to myself to reflect on all these things that happened, so that I could talk clearly to her about it. When I called my mom to tell her how the whole thing went, but she dismissed it as she usually does when it comes to her family. I got upset and told her she was never to pressure me again into seeing my grandmother anywhere, and was going to never bring it up again ever. It's been months and until now she hasn't brought it up, which is good. I don't know how my grandmother is doing, and honestly I don't care. So am I the a-whole?

I'm from EU,so GAMES SHOULD work pretty much anywhere
NOT BUYING GAMES,ONLY TRADES - games for games or selling for paypal
No interest in TF2 keys,CSGO cases or ANY other virtual currency
BUYER covers the FEES (if outside EU,EU F&F only)
My Steam account so you don't offer me something I own
My Wishlist
My SGSRep
My IGSRep
Only looking for Steam games - so don't offer origin,uplay,rockstar,bnet or ANY other launcher
100% of my games keys are bought by me from official stores & I expect the same in return,so don't offer me keyshop games or game keys you got in a trade as I will decline
I retain the right to ask for proof of ownership for ANY game I want - just like YOU have the right to ask me the same
List of games I have:
Also have the Earthquake Relief bundle but reddit wont let me write all the games cause my topic would be too big - just ask
7 Billion Humans
8Doors Arum's Afterlife Adventure
10 Second Ninja X
60 Seconds!
112 Operator
140
198X
911 Operator
A Case Of Distrust
A Year Of Rain
Absolver
Aeolis Tournament
Age Of Wonders III
Ageless
Airport CEO
AI War 2
Alien Spidy
Aliens Vs Predator Collection
All You Can Eat
Almost There The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia A Machine For Pigs + The Dark Descent (1 key for both games)
Amnesia Fortnight 2012
Amnesia Fortnight 2014
Amnesia Fortnight 2017
Amnesia Rebirth (X2)
Among Us (X2)
Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey (EU & Africa lock)
Aragami (X2)
Archamon
Army Men RTS
Attack Of The Earthlings
Automobilista
Aven Colony
Avernum 3 Ruined World
Azkend 2 The World Beneath
Back 4 Blood (EU region lock)
Backbone
Band Of Defenders
Banished
Baseball Riot
Batora Lost Haven
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Behind The Frame Finest Scenery NEW
Beholder 2
Bendy And The Dark Revival (X2)
Bendy And The Ink Machine
Betrayer (delisted)
Between The Stars (X2)
Beyond Eyes
Beyond The Wire
Bionic Commando
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bird Of Light
Black Paradox
Blasphemous
Bloodstained Ritual Of The Night
Bohemian Killing
Book Of Demons
Bomber Crew Deluxe
Borderlands 3 + Director's Cut (ask about region locks)
Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition NEW (ask about region locks)
Boreal Blade
Broken Age (X2)
Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons (X2)
Builder Simulator NEW
Butcher
Call Of Juarez
Call Of The Sea (X2)
Call To Arms Basic Edition
Call To Arms Gates Of Hell Ostfront
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Chenso Club
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
Cities In Motion 2
CivCity Rome
Clone Drone In The Danger Zone
Clouds & Sheep 2
Coffin Dodgers
Cook Serve Delicious 3
Company Of Heroes Complete Edition
Control Ultimate Edition
Corridor Z
Cosmic Osmo And The World Beyond The Mackerel
Crash Drive 3
Creatures Inc
Crookz The Big Heist
Crossbow Bloodnight
Crusader Kings Complete
Crying Suns
Dagon The Eldritch Box
Danger Scavenger
Day Of Infamy
Dead Age
Dead In Vinland
Deadly Premonition Director's Cut
Deadbeat Heroes (X2)
Dear Ester Landmark Edition
Death Stranding Director's Cut
Death Squared
Deep Dungeons Of Doom
Deep Sky Derelicts
Demon Turf
Deployment
Desert Child
Destiny 2 Beyond Light NEW
Diaries Of A Spaceport Janitor
Dicey Dungeons (X2)
Dimension Drifter
Distraint 2 + Soundtrack
Divekick
Dog Sled Saga
Double Fine Adventures Complete Series Deluxe
Downwell
Drawful 2
Draw Slasher
Dreadlands
Dread X Collection
Driftland The Magic Revival
Dry Downing
Duke Nukem Forever Collection
Dungeon Marathon
Dungeon Of The Endless
Dungeons 2
Dungeons 2 Complete
Dungeons 3
Dusk
Dwarfs!?
Eador Imperium
EarthX
Eastside Hockey Manager
ECHO
Edge Of Eternity
Effie
Elderborn
Eldest Souls
Elden Path Of The Forgotten
Embr
Emily Is Away
Empyrion Galactic Survival
Epic Manager
E.T. Armies Deluxe Edition
Etherborn (X2)
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Europa Universalis IV
Evergarden
Expeditions Viking
F1 2018 (delisted)
Family Man
Fantasy Blacksmith
Fantasy Versus
Farmer's Dynasty
Farming Simulator 17
FIA European Truck Racing
Figment (X2)
Finding Paradise
Fire Ungh's Quest
First Class Trouble
Five Dates
Fling To The Finish
Fluffy Horde
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel
Forgive Me Father
Framed Collection (X2)
Friday the 13th: The Game
Fun With Ragdolls The Game
Fury Unleashed (X2)
Gang Beasts
Garage Bad Trip (X2)
Gas Guzzlers Extreme
Gas Station Simulator
Gauge
Generation Zero NEW
Ghostrunner
Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams + Rise Of The Owlverlord
Gloria Victis NEW
GNOG
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Goat Of Duty
Goetia (X2)
Going Under (X2)
Golden Light
Golf Gang
GoNNER
Grand Ages Medieval
Grand Pigeon's Duty
Greak Memories Of Azur
Gremlins Inc.
Grip Combat Racing + Cygon + Nyvoss + Terra + Vintek DLC (X2)
Guts And Glory (X2)
Hack'n'Slash
Haiku The Robot (X2)
Hamilton's Great Adventure
Hammerfight
Headlander
Heal
Hell Let Loose
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Hello Neighbor
Hellbound
Hero Defense
Hero's Hour (EU region lock)
Hexologic
Hidden & Dangerous Action Pack
Hidden & Dangerous 2 Courage Under Fire
Hive Jump (X2)
Hiveswap Act 2
Hiveswap Friend Sim (X2)
Hollow Knight
Homeworld Deserts Of Kharak
Hotshot Racing
Hot Tin Roof The Cat That Wore A Fedora
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Hover (X2)
Human Resource Machine
Hurtworld
I Am Bread
I Am Not A Monster First Contact
Ice Lakes
If Found...
Ikenfell
Impact Winter (delisted)
In Between
Industria
Inexistence Rebirth
Infinite Air With Mark McMorris (delisted)
Influent
Inmost
Interplanetary Enhanced Edition
Intruder
Iron Danger
Iron Harvest
Jack Axe
Jalopy
Jet Set Knights
Juanito Arcade Mayhem
Jump Stars
Jurassic World Evolution
Just Die Already
KartKraft
Kathy Rain Directors Cut
Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes (X2)
Killing Floor 2 Digital Deluxe NEW
Kill To Collect
Kingdom Classic (X2)
Kingdom New Lands
Kingdoms Of Amalur Re-Reckoning Fate Edition
King Oddball
Labyrinthine
Last Oasis
Last Tide
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Lead And Gold Gangs Of Wild West (X2)
Legacy Of Dorn Herald Of Oblivion (delisted)
Legend Of Keepers Career Of A Dungeon Master
Leisure Suit Larry Retro Bundle (1 to 7)
Lethal League Blaze
Liberated (GOG key)
Lifeless Planet Premium Edition
Light Fall
Little Big Workshop
Lone Fungus
Lost Planet Complete Pack
Lost Ruins
Lust For Darkness
Lust From Beyond M Edition
Magicka
Magrunner Dark Pulse
Maid Of Sker
Main Assembly (X2)
Mars Horizon
Masquerade The Baubles Of Doom
Max Payne 3 (Rockstar Launcher)
Mega Man Legacy Collection
Midnight Ghost Hunt NEW
Midnight Protocol
Mind Scanners
Mini Metro
Miscreated (X2)
Monster Crown
Moon Hunters
Morbid The Seven Acolytes
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
Motorsport Manager
Mount And Blade Warband
My Lovely Daughter
Naruto To Boruto Shinobi Striker
Nascar Heat 5 Ultimate
Nebuchadnezzar
NecroVisioN Lost Company
NecroWorn
Neighbours Back From Hell
Neo Cab
Neon Abyss
NeuroVoider
Neverout
Nickelodeon All Star Brawl (X2)
Ninjin Clash Of Carrots
No Time To Relax
Northgard NEW
Not Tonight
Obduction
Observation
Octahedron
Odyssey The Story Of Science
Of Orcs And Men
Old School Musical
OlliOlli World Rad Edition
On Rusty Trails
One Finger Death Punch 2
Onikira Demon Killer
Operation Tango NEW
Orbital Racer
Orcs Must Die 2 Complete
Original War
Orwell Ignorance Is Strength
Out Of Reach Treasure Royal
Overlord II
Overpass
Override Mech City Brawl
Oxenfree
Pacer
Paint The Town Red
Paper Fire Rookie
Paradise Lost
Path Of Giants
Paw Paw Paw
Payday 2 + Big Mike mask
Peaky Blinders Mastermind (delisted)
Penarium
People Playground (X2)
Perfect Heist 2
PGA Tour 2K21 (X2)
Phoenix Point Year One Edition
Pikuniku
Pine
Pinstripe
Pixplode
Plane Mechanic Simulator
Poöf
Popup Dungeon
Post Void
Pound Of Ground (X2)
PowerSlave Exhumed
Prehistoric Kingdom
Primal Carnage Extinction (X2)
Project Cars GOTY (delisted)
Project Hospital
Project Warlock
Propnight
Pulsar The Lost Colony NEW
Pumped BMX+
Punch Club
Purrfect Date
Quest Of Dungeons
RAD (X2)
Radio Commander
Rad Rodgers Radical Edition
Railroad Tycoon 2
Railroad Tycoon 3
Railway Empire
Raji An Ancient Epic
Rebel Cops
Rec Center Tycoon
Red Faction Armageddon
Red Solstice 2 Survivors
Redout Enhanced Edition
Re-Legion
Remothered Broken Porcelain
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Revelations (X2)
Resident Evil Revelations 2 Deluxe Edition
Retimed
Retrowave
Reventure
Revita
Ring Of Pain
Rings Of Saturn
Riot Civil Unrest
Rise Of Industry
Rise Of Insanity
Riven The Sequel To MYST
Roarr! The Adventures Of Rampage Rex
Roboquest
Rogue Heroes Ruins Of Tasos
Rogue Lords
Rogue Stormers
Rover Mechanic Simulator
RPG Maker VX
Rustler
Sable
Salt And Sanctuary
Satellite Reign
Satisfactory
Saturday Morning RPG
Say No! More
SCP 5K
SCUM (X2)
ScourgeBringer
Serious Sam 2
Serious Sam BFE (X2)
Serious Sam Classics Revolution
Serious Sam Double D XXL
Serious Sam HD The First & Second Encounter (1 key for both)
Serious Sam HD The Second Encounter Legend Of The Beast
Serious Sam HD The Second Encounter Serious 8
Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack
Serious Sam The Random Encounter
Serious Sam Bogus Detour
Shadow Tactics Aiko's Choice
Shady Part Of Me
She Remembered Caterpillars
She Will Punish Them
Shing!
Shock Troopers
Shogun's Empire Hex Commander
Shuyan Saga
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
Sid Meier's Railroads
Simulacra Collection
Skeletal Avenger
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Skully
Slime Rancher
Slinger VR
Smoke And Sacrifice (X2)
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered
Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe + Season Pass
SOMA
Song Of Iron
Soulblight
Spacebase DF-9
Space Hulk Ascension (delisted)
Sparkle 2
Sparkle Unleashed
Spellcaster University
Spelunx And The Caves Of Mr. Seudo
Spiritfarer Farewell Edition NEW
Stacking
Starsand (X2)
Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic
Stasis
State Of Decay 2 Juggernaut Edition
State Of Mind
Steel Rats
Stick Fight The Game (X3)
Stories Untold
Streets Of Fury EX
Strider (X2)
Struggling
Stubbs The Zombie
Styx Shards Of Darkness
Submerged Hidden Depths
Suchart Genius Artist Simulator
Super Indie Carts
Super Magbot
Supraland
SurrounDead (X2)
Surviving The Aftermath
Suzerain
Swag And Sorcery
Sword Legacy Omen
Swords And Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Swords And Souls Neverseen (X2)
Syberia II
Syberia 3 Deluxe Edition
Syberia The World Before
Syndrome
System Shock Enhanced Edition
Table Manners The Physics-Based Dating Game
Tabletop Playground
Tacoma
Take On Helicopters
Tales From Candlekeep Tomb Of Annihilation (delisted)
Tales Of Monkey Island Complete
Talisman Digital Edition + City,Frostmarch,Sacred Pool (trading only as a bundle)
Talisman Origins
Tank Mechanic Simulator
Telefrag VR
Teleglitch Die More Edition
Tennis In The Face
Tennis World Tour (X2)
Tesla Force
Tesla Vs Lovecraft
Tharsis (X2)
The Amazing American Circus
The Ambassador Fractured Timelines
The Adventure Pals
The Battle Of Polytopia Moonrise Deluxe
The Blackout Club
The Citadel
The Count Lucador
The Free Ones (delisted)
The Golf Club 2019 featuring PGA Tour
theHunter Call Of The Wild (X3)
The Invisible Hand NEW
The Journey Down Chapter Three
The King Of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
The Last Blade
The Life And Suffering Of Sir Brante
The Long Dark Survival Edition (X2)
The Manhole Masterpiece Edition
The Mims Beginning
The Mortuary Assistant
The Night Of The Rabbit
The Serpent Rogue
The Signifier Director's Cut
The Textorcist The Story of Ray Bibbia (X2)
The Uncertain Last Quiet Day (X2)
The USB Stick Found In The Grass
The Walking Dead Season 1 + 400 Days
The Wild Eight (X2)
They Bleed Pixels
Think Of The Children
This War Of Mine
Thronebreaker The Witcher Tales
THOTH
Through The Darkest Of Times
Timeshift
Time Recoil
Titan Quest Anniversary
Toejam & Earl Back In The Groove
TOEM
Tohu
Tools Up
Tooth And Tail (X2)
Torchlight (X2)
Total Tank Simulator
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
Toto Temple Deluxe
Tower Of Time (X2)
Tower Unite
Townscaper (X2)
Townsmen A Kingdom Rebuilt
Toybox Turbos
Tracks The Train Set Game
Train Station Renovation
Treasure Hunter Simulator (X2)
Tropico 4
True Fear Forsaken Souls Part 1
Tyranny Deluxe Edition
Unexplored
Unloved
Unmetal
Unshaded
Vambrace Cold Soul
Vane
Velocibox
Verdun
Vikings Wolves Of Midgard
Visage
Volcanoids (X2)
V Rally 4
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters NEW
Warhammer End Times Vermintide
Warhammer Vermintide 2 NEW
Warlock Master Of The Arcane
Warpips
Warsaw
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
We Are The Dwarves
We Should Talk
Western Press
We Were Here Together
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
While True: Learn() Chief Technology Officer Edition
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Windjammers 2 NEW
Wooden Sen'SeY
Worms Rumble + Legends DLC
Wrath Aeon Of Ruin (X2)
XCOM Complete Pack
Xenoraid The First Space War
X Morph Defense + European Assault + Last Bastion + Survival Of The Fittest (1 key for all)
XIII Classic
Xuan-Yuan Sword The Gate Of Firmament
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD
Ylands Exploration Pack
Yoku's Island Express
Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair
Zack 2 Celestine's Map
ZIC Zombies In City
Zombie Army Trilogy

I backed the kickstarter but after all this time haven’t gotten a shirt or pin from my pledge. Just wondering if that stuff was sent to anyone or i missed some email or something so i didn’t get mine.

I'm so, jealous whenever I go online and see people making such amazing art. It feels unfair, like that should be me. Like I should be able to make art of that quality, or that quickly, or have that big an audience, but I just can't.
I know, why. I don't practice as much as others. I get easily distracted, both contributing to my lack of practice as well as making art take way longer to get from start to finish. By all metrics, those people that I'm envious of deserve to be where they are, and I deserve to be where I am
And it's not like I'm, a shit artist. I'm proud of where I am artwise, and I'm proud of, most of the things I've made, even if I'm outta practice. Still I can't help but feel so bitter towards other artists. They can be some of the nicest people I've met, but I just, wish I was them. Wish I had what they had
And it makes every mistake, every wonky looking drawing, every assymetrical eye. Makes me so mad and frustrated
I also just, don't have the time. Have loads of other stuff I need to stop putting off and get done unrelated to art. I'm such a mess. No clue what I'm doing with my life
It would be so nice to not have to worry about college or university or getting a job or other people, and just completely dedicate myself to drawing. To get done every wip I've wanted to make. Get better at anatomy and perspective and color and all the shit I'm still struggling with. I hope someday I'll be able to do that
Fuck

As it said in the title, I’m currently taking Trintellix. I’ve been on Trintellix for about 2 weeks now and I ramped up from 5 to 10 mg about 7 days ago but I’m considering ramping back down because the side effects are interfering with my quality of life. There are a couple of issues I’m noticing that are making me want to give up antidepressants all together.
Number 1 is my sleep has suffered - I’ve had trouble getting quality sleep since the 3rd day of taking 5 mg (averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night). I thought my brain would adjust to the drug but it’s stayed the same. Tried switching the time I was taking the meds from night to morning, it still didn’t help. I’m also fairly active and try to exercise 4 days a week but I’ve had trouble doing cardio since I started taking Trintellix. For example, I’ve noticed that I sweat more profusely and feel winded when I run about half the distance I normally do (which is about a mile). At one point, I thought I was going to pass out from dehydration and I’ve never had that problem. I don’t know why I was burning up after I was already conditioned for weeks. From the other posts I’ve read, my symptoms are common but I don’t know if I want to continue putting up with these side effects. I’ve been on Mirtazapine (Remeron), Escitalopram (Lexapro), and now Trintellix because the other two gave me sexual issues. Are there any other options because I’m ready to cut them from my regime altogether.
I’m also taking these daily: Strattera - 80 mg Propranolol ER - 60 mg
33/m

I am incredibly frustrated by life lately. I am incredibly lonely.
I am a 36 year old male. I'm 6'2". I'm in decent shape. I have been losing a lot of weight lately with life style changes. I've lost 30 pounds in 2 months. I have a wonderful job. I make $115,000 a year and I have my own apartment. I have good habits. I keep my apartment very tidy. I'm not very materialistic, and I am a minimalist, so I don't have much clutter and I keep things very neat. I max out my 401k every year. I am going to retire in my late 50's.
I live in the south east, in Georgia. I am an atheist, and a socialist / liberal. I find myself rather intelligent and good looking. I am funny, or at least my friends and family think I am. Who knows.
However, dating sucks. I broke up with my fiancé in 2021, and it has been rough out there. I feel like all of the women I meet are unreasonable, shallow, and impatient. I come from a very down to earth, laid back family. I also have very sensible ideals about things, and I am very reasonable person. As long as people don't lie, or cheat, it takes a LOT to ruffle my feathers. I don't hold grudges ever. I will always be willing to talk things out.
I have narcolepsy, and it severely impacts my life, though. I feel like NO ONE has any empathy anymore, and this sense of "my feelings are valid" is being taken WAY TOO FAR in society nowadays.
I recently went on a few dates that left me feeling incredibly frustrated. I finally felt like I had met someone who was funny, articulate, and VERY intelligent. She was liberal and an atheist. We went on a few dates and had a wonderful time every time, staying out late and talking about everything there was to talk about. However, I work 13 hour rotating shifts at my job, and it leaves me INCREDIBLY exhausted. I was sleep deprived all week between work and hanging out with her.
I explained to her that I have narcolepsy. I was very clear about it. She laughed it off, but I warned her that it wasn't a joke, and it makes me late to work all the time. I constantly oversleep, and I had to file a hardship at my job with HR to be allowed to be late to work without being fired. It is not fun to suffer from this.
I got off night shift this morning, and we talked before she went to work. She told me she was going to try to leave work early, and would text me. I was preparing to go to bed and offered to set an alarm for 2 PM. She specifically told me NOT to set an alarm, and to get my beauty rest because she had an "adventure" planned for us later in the evening and it was a surprise. I was excited. So I went to bed.
Well, I went and did some laundry and went to bed at 10:30. Next thing I know, I'm waking up at 9:30 PM!!! I slept for 11 hours STRAIGHT. Without waking up ONE TIME. Not even to pee! I had like 30 unread texts from her and 5 missed calls from my brother. She was very upset, and accused me of not caring, accused me of lying, and insinuated that I wasn't dependable, that she was tired of man-children, etc. I tried to explain calmly about my sleep deprivation and how it affects me, and she told me I was not validating her feelings, that she couldn't do this, and that I wasn't loyal or committed and that I didn't value the day with her.
I tried explaining a million times that I have narcolepsy and that I didn't expect to sleep for 11 hours! I even explained that I have set MULTIPLE alarms my entire life. I even used an alarm that forced me to do advanced algebra to turn it off, and I learned how to do math in my SLEEP. But no matter what I said, she called me an excuse maker, that I had a date with her and that I should have done SOMETHING to wake up, that if it mattered to me I would have done SOMETHING about it.
This is what frustrates me. I just want to meet someone who understands that shit happens in life!!! That if you oversleep, it's OKAY. It doesn't mean you are a liar! It doesn't mean you DON'T CARE. I even told her that I sleep through my alarms CONSTANTLY. But it all fell on deaf ears, and she blocked me. This feels SO unfair. I am an incredibly caring, committed, loyal person, and I got treated like I was a piece of shit that was lying. I was looking forward to this weekend SO MUCH, I even blew off my brother so I could have a full weekend to spend with her. I'm just as pissed at my disability as she is.
Why does everyone do this? My dad was incredibly emotionally abusive growing up and constantly told us that there is "no such things as accidents". This is a fallacy and a bullshit mentality. The secret of life is that there is very little we can actually control, and if you think you can prevent ALL bad things from happening, you ARE DELUSIONAL!!! Shit HAPPENS IN LIFE. Sometimes you miss important dates.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry! I'm just sick of being punished for something I literally have NO CONTROL OVER. All I could think about was treating my mom like this. She has kidney failure, and on dialysis, and is tired ALL the time. She sometimes can't do certain things, and it's understandable. Why are people so difficult to deal with? Outside of this ONE occurrence, I was never late to a date. As a matter of fact, SHE was 2 hours late to our first date, and I didn't say a WORD about it.
Okay. I'm done with my rant.

My husband games every night Monday - Thursday until 11pm. He often games at all sorts of odd hours outside of these times as well. It’s a PC competitive shooting game. All I want to do when I get home from work at 8pm most days is have some quality time together but instead I come home to him shouting at the computer with headphones on for hours: It’s been like this for 2 years essentially since we got married and I can’t take it anymore. He won’t talk to me about it, when I get upset he blames me for making a scene. I don’t know how to continue. Any advice welcome.

7 years of relationship, which could go to all the relationship and deadbedroom subreddits to be categorized as. Since the early days it was 90% giving and 10 % receiving, towards the end: 48% giving, 2% receiving and 50% porn. In addition to sex, this went ways to the everyday life as well, from simple hugs and compliments, to taking care of the house chores. Even asking her out to join me for a evening walk with our dog, she would let an annoyed moan out of herself most of the time.
Worst thing about this is that we clicked so well together, and should she have improved her lazy ways of showing affection, I would have married her. Yes, for fucks sake, I did talk about my needs of mutual affection countless of times. In fact, 90% of our arguments started from that. Things got really worse when I went on a several week celibacy periods to see should she initiate anything, to no avail constantly. In time I got more cynical and lazier myself, feeling like I should just sit on my ass the whole day like she does. Worst mistake. That ended up her telling me that our everyday life is dead and she questions whether she loves me anymore.
Whether I would raise our puppy 80% by myself, or take us out to a different city for dinner, concert and drinks, she would just start to sleep with 0 contact with me and she saw nothing wrong with that. Seeing friends with their SO's where, after years, they would still show that genuine affection towards each other (calling each other sweetheart, hugs etc), I felt genuine jealousy.
Broke up with her 'cause I couldnt keep this bullshit up. Was miserable for a while, but the best way to get over someone is to get under.
And man, even one night stands have shown more affection during one night that she did over the last 2 years. Feels relieving and I feel like a different person from the cynical era of our relationship, but yet I still get these little bitter feelings for the whole situation.
Needed to get this off myself. Love you all. Do not let anyone take you for granted

Hey everyone, I don’t use reddit often and English isn’t my primary language, but what happened yesterday is something I am completely unable to process and I am here to get it off my chest.
First of all, let me talk about myself a little bit. My family and I (19M) have moved a lot ever since I was born, so making friends and social interactions are very hard for me, and the same goes for relationships. This means that for me to decide to get together with someone takes a lot of time and up until now because of moving I didn’t even have that amount of time. Nowadays almost half of the marriages end in a divorce, but my parents marriage and relationship is one of a kind and I will do anything for the same type of relationship. This means that when I like someone and want to get in a relationship with them, I always think it through until I am 100% certain that it will last forever. This is something many people don’t do in my age group because they just love for the temporary good feeling, I love through good and bad, forever. All these points make finding a girlfriend very hard for me and this was the first time we haven’t moved in 6 years so this was actually my first time where I found someone who I knew and felt I could love forever and who I was 100% confident could and would do the same for me.
So, let’s talk about us and how we ended up here. My ex-girlfriend (18F) and I have a long story reaching back many years. We meet four years ago in school and came out very well from the beginning with each other, three years ago we even sort of even got together but one year wasn’t enough time for me to be really sure about it so it ended in an awkward situation but that is not a story for today, she knew it was because of the things I mentioned above. After this everything got blurry for a year because a college student got together with her, this was a stage for me where I should’ve been sad but i wasn’t as a knew this was my fault because I didn’t have the time to be sure about her as I never did with anyone before either. Her then boyfriend and she were together for around 1.5 years. The boyfriend lived around an hour away from her and because he was in college there were a lot of girls around him, because of this my ex-GF was nervous all the time when they weren’t together as she was thinking she could get cheated on anytime and she wouldn’t know about it. Despite this their relationship lasted really long and you wouldn’t guess who broke up with who. Yes, the college student boyfriend broke up with her because he couldn’t hold himself back being around those college girls all the time. So everything that my ex-GF was worried about was true but she still held through, this proved me her loyalty. Altogether the loyalty thing and the now more than three years was now for the first time in my life enough, I was 100% sure about how I felt and what I wanted to do, so I asked her three weeks after to be my girlfriend. She was very happy I finally figured it all out and said yes. After that we laid down all things we should do so that this could last forever because we both wanted it to last forever so much. She told me the number one most important thing is communication, and so we did, anytime anything happened we talked about it and problems were basically nonexistent. However, then the ex-BF came into play, he started chatting with my ex-GF just casually, and the first thing my ex-GF asked me is if it was alright if she were to talk with him. Knowing the past, I had no don’t she wouldn’t go back to him so I let her and she told me if he would start flirting she wouldn’t reply. Everything was fine and our relationship went on, being as perfect as it could’ve ever been. Up until yesterday, she invited me over to her and I thought this would be an average meetup just as it was the day before. Then she told me the news. Just a week before, her ex-BF invited her to his bday party and when this happened she questioned everything about who she loves. This was the first thing (and the only) that she didn’t tell me about. She debated a lot with herself but what she realised is that even if she doesn’t still love her ex-BF, the sole fact that she became unsure about me for even a second meant that this couldn’t work forever. So she told me all this yesterday. I asked her why she didn’t tell me about this before and she told me she doesn’t know and that she’s sorry. I told her that this is just one of the downs of a relationship and this is not a thing that should result in an instant breakup, she told me she probably made the wrong decision but her mind simply can’t bare with this fact. She also told me if she didn’t begin talking with her ex this would’ve never happened. I told her that she isn’t even sure about her ex, why couldn’t we have worked this out? I saw that she was trying to overcome her feelings about me with her thoughts and I told her that she shouldn’t have come to this decision herself and that she can take it back and nothing bad will happen. She told me she is very sorry and that this is her mistake but it has to happen this way.
Today is the day she’s going to the bday party and we’ll see what happens there, I’ll update you when I can.
Was this all karma for the thing I did years ago, was I just not good enough, did I do something wrong, why didn’t she try to solve the problem with me instead of throwing me away, how did this happen in a matter of days, why did it have to happen this way? We were a true couple, with better connection and communication than anyone in our age group, why us?
I will be going to college beginning in September so after that I will have to wait three years for the next opportunity, this was my first time being completely sure in something and it just disappeared without a proper explanation.
Thank you anyone for any advice or kind words, thank you that I could get this off my chest.
P.S I know it is not a bell❤️

I was cleaning the kitchen the first night in my new apartment in my new city with my partner of 13 years when it hit me; the apartment I just moved into is very similar to the one I left all those years ago when I walked away from a 23 year emotionally abusive relationship with a woman with just some clothes and a few belongings. I left during the day while she was at work because I was too emotionally weak to confront her.
Since that day, with practically nothing, I have struggled financially, and emotionally for years to both get over my marriage and to develop my own identity again. Some time in therapy is what did it for me (two separate times, thanks to the pandemic) plus a partner who is loving and patient.
I met my current partner 6 months after I left, and we've been together ever since. This man has been 1000% better as a relationship partner, has worked with me, and supported me through a TON of emotional upheaval and healing, as I've really gotten over my prior relationship and learned how to be a good partner in this one since I had no idea!
We just moved to a new city in a cheaper area which we LOVE, I get to work at home with my best friend who also works at home. And we found the absolute perfect place for us where we know we will be very happy for a long time. His family, (who recently confirmed he is gay with a 'I love you' text meant for me, sent to his MOM) have provided both financial and physical support by helping us move. They consider me family. I consider them the same. I'm part of a new, LOVING FAMILY!
Since I've been here, for about a week, I've been breaking into tears periodically. I cannot believe this is real. I gave up so many years ago thinking I would never be this happy. I really just figured it wasn't in the cards for me. We lived in a really expensive area, close to his family, and he was willing to move away from them (they are all very close) to start a new adventure together. I never knew love could feel this deep.
So, take it from this 58-year-old guy. It's worth the effort, the risk. It's worth the ridicule. It's sometimes worth losing family members. The motto I've developed over these past couple of years of healing is to 'treat myself as I treat others'. You are worth it. Your happiness is worth it, and possible.

Park your car in Harderwijk and take the bus 247 to Walibi. From there you can walk to the bus entrance at Defqon and go to the other campings. Bus goes 2 times a hour.
Worked perfectly fine for me last year, only disadvantage is carrying all your stuff with you

Test Bank For Farm Management 9th Edition by Ronald Kay

Test Bank For Farm Management 9th Edition by Ronald Kay
Farm Management 9th Edition by Ronald Kay – Test Bank
Farm Management 9th Edition by Ronald Kay
CHAPTER 1
SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS – MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. One force that has helped cause farms in the United States to become larger and fewer is:

a. competition from foreign producers
b. lower production costs per unit by spreading fixed investment in technology over more units
c. more labor used in agricultural production
d. declining nonfarm wage rates

1. Improved data collection technology such as satellite or drone-based photography will be most helpful to farm managers for:

a. preparing up-to-date financial statements
b. balancing livestock rations
c. prescribing fertility and pest control practices for smaller land units
d. producing more uniform products

1. Standardization of farm financial ratios and accounting practices will help farm managers:

a. compete with nonfarm businesses for capital
b. summarize their account books in less time
c. pay less income tax
d. manage hired employees more effectively

1. Agricultural processors will probably want more uniform products in the future in order to:

a. pay lower prices to producers
b. diversify their product lines
c. reduce environmental contamination
d. make more efficient use of processing and packaging equipment

1. By forming strategic alliances, small and medium-sized farmers and ranchers can:

a. increase their managerial freedom
b. achieve advantages of diversification
c. achieve marketing advantages that larger operations enjoy
d. increase their own volume of production

1. An increase in the number of non-farmers living in rural areas will cause:

a. farmland values to decrease
b. farmers to pay more attention to off-farm effects of their production practices
c. less regulation of agricultural production practices
d. profit maximization to be the only criterion for adopting new technologies

Residents of the village of Levye Solontsi on the left coast of the Dnieper occupied by Russia have not been evacuated from the flooded area for the fourth day after the breakthrough of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, volunteers and relatives of local residents told Layout.
“According to the information of volunteers and relatives, there are more than 100 people in the village of Levye Solontsy who are in a very distressed situation. People are escaping on rooftops, on a hillock, waiting for help,” volunteer Natalia told Layout.
According to her, information about this group of people was transmitted to the Ministry of Emergency Situations several times on June 8, but neither relatives nor volunteers received a positive response from the rescuers. The fact that rescuers do not take people out of the village was also confirmed by Valeria, who has two relatives in Levy Solonetsy.
Evacuation from the settlement is complicated by the fact that volunteers cannot get there due to strong currents, in addition, military operations are taking place in this territory. “Everything is terribly flooded there. It turns out to take out little and slowly: you have to walk on the water between the trees for two hours, ”said Yekaterina, a volunteer, to Layout.
On June 9, “a couple of groups” of volunteers nevertheless reached the Levy Solontsi, coordinator Yaroslav Vasiliev told “Layout”. They distributed food and took "a few people" out. However, he also did not hear about the fact that employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations visited there.
Source - Telegram: svobodnieslova (Вёрстка)

In honor of this week’s RightsCon and 360/OS Summit, we dug into the #TwitterFiles to revisit the integration of the Atlantic Council’s anti-disinformation arm, the Digital Forensic Research Labs (DFRLabs), while also highlighting its relationship with weapons manufacturers, Big Oil, Big Tech, and others who fund the NATO-aligned think tank.

The Atlantic Council is unique among “non-governmental” organizations thanks to its lavish support from governments and the energy, finance, and weapons sectors. It’s been a key player in the development of the “anti-disinformation” sector from the beginning.
It wasn’t an accident when its DFRLabs was chosen in 2018 to help Facebook “monitor for misinformation and foreign interference,” after the platform came under intense congressional scrutiny as a supposed unwitting participant in a Russian influence campaign.
Press uniformly described DFRLabs as an independent actor that would merely “improve security,” and it was left to media watchdog FAIR to point out that the Council was and is “dead center in what former President Obama’s deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes called ‘the blob.’”

What’s “the blob”? FAIR described it as “Washington’s bipartisan foreign-policy consensus,” but thanks to the Twitter Files, we can give a more comprehensive portrait.
In the runup to the 360/OS event in that same year, 2018, Graham Brookie of the Atlantic Council boasted to Twitter executives that the attendees would include the crème de la crème of international influence, people he explained resided at the “no-kidding decision-maker level”

Similar correspondence to and from DFRLabs and Twitter outlined early efforts to bring together as partners groups that traditionally served as watchdogs of one another.
Perhaps more even than the World Economic Forum meetings at Davos or gatherings of the Aspen Institute in the US, the Atlantic Council 360/OS confabs are as expansive a portrait of the Censorship-Industrial Complex as we’ve found collected in one place.

In October 2018, DFRLab was instrumental in helping Facebook identify accounts for what became known as “the purge,” a first set of deletions of sites accused of “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
Facebook in its announcement of these removals said it was taking steps against accounts created to “stir up political debate,” and the October 2018 “purge” indeed included the likes of Punk Rock Libertarians, Cop Block, and Right Wing News, among others. Even the progressive Reverb Press, founded by a relatively mainstream progressive named James Reader, found his site zapped after years of pouring thousands of dollars a month into Facebook marketing tools.

In the years since, DFRLab has become the central coordination node in the Censorship Industrial Complex as well as a key protagonist in the Election Integrity Partnership and the Virality Project.
Its high-profile role at RightsCon, the biggest civil society digital rights event on the calendar, should concern human rights and free expression activists.

According to their London 2019 event “360/OS brings together journalists, activists, innovators, and leaders from around the world as part of our grassroots digital solidarity movement fighting for objective truth as a foundation of democracy.”
Their Digital Sherlocks program aims to “identify, expose, and explain disinformation.”

The Twitter Files reveal DFRLabs labeled as “disinformation” content that often turned out to be correct, that they participated in disinformation campaigns and the suppression of “true” information, and that they lead the coordination of a host of actors who do the same.

Twitter Files #17 showed how DFRLabs sent Twitter more than 40,000 names of alleged BJP (India’s ruling nationalist party) accounts that they suggested be taken down.
DFRLab said it suspected these were “paid employees or possibly volunteers.” However as Racket’s Matt Taibbi noted, “the list was full of ordinary Americans, many with no connection to India and no clue about Indian politics.”
Twitter recognized there was little illegitimate about them, resulting in DFRLabs pulling the project and cutting ties with the researcher.

Twitter Files #19 further revealed DFRLab was a core partner in the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), which “came together in June of 2020 at the encouragement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA” in order to “fill the gaps legally” that government couldn’t.
As a result, there are serious questions as to whether the EIP violated the US First Amendment.

DFRLabs was also a core partner on the Virality Project, which pushed its seven Big Tech partners to censor “stories of true vaccine side-effects.”

The Stanford Internet Observatory, which led the project, is now being sued by the New Civil Liberties Alliance for its censorship of “online support groups catering to those injured by Covid vaccines.”
Debate as to the frequency of serious adverse events is ongoing, however. The German health minister put it at 1 in 10,000, while others claim it is higher.

The Virality Project sought to suppress any public safety signals at all. The Stanford Internet Observatory is also at the moment reportedly resisting a House Judiciary Committee subpoena into its activities.

TwitterFiles #20 revealed some of the Digital Forensic Lab’s 2018 360/0S events, which brought together military leaders, human rights organizations, the Huffington Post, Facebook and Twitter, Edelman (the world’s biggest PR firm), the head of the Munich Security Conference, the head of the World Economic Forum (Borge Brende) a former President, Prime Minister and CIA head, intel front BellingCat and future Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, all to combat “disinformation.” We can now reveal more.

The Atlantic Council is a NATO-aligned think tank established in 1961. Its board of directors and advisory board are a Who’s Who of corporate, intelligence and military power, including:

• James Clapper – former Director of National Intelligence whose tenure included overseeing the NSA during the time of the Snowden leaks. Asked whether intelligence officials collect data on Americans Clapper responded “No, sir,” and, “Not wittingly.” Clapper also coordinated intelligence community activity through the early stages of Russiagate, and his office authored a key January 2017 report concluding that Russians interfered in 2016 to help Donald Trump. Clapper has been a 360/OS attendee.
  
• Stephen Hadley, United States National Security Advisor from 2005 to 2009 (also a 360/OS attendee)
  
• Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State who oversaw the carpet bombing of Vietnam, among other crimes against humanity
  
• Pfizer CEO Anthony Bourla
  
• Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder, The Blackstone Group
  
• Meta’s President for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg
  
• Richard Edelman, CEO of the world’s largest PR firm (and 360/OS attendee)
  
• The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Former Secretary General of NATO
  
• Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick, Former President of the World Bank
  
• Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defense & CIA Director. Panetta oversaw the US’s massive growth in drone strikes.
  
• John F. W. Rogers. Goldman Sachs Secretary of the Board
  

Chuck Hagel, chairman of the Council, sits on the board of Chevron and is also a former US Secretary of Defence.

The Atlantic Council raised $70 million in 2022, $25 million of which came from corporate interests.
Among the biggest donors were: the US Departments of Defense State, Goldman Sachs, the Rockefeller Foundation, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Google, Crescent Petroleum, Chevron, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, Meta, Blackstone, Apple, BP, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Raytheon, ExxonMobil, Shell, Twitter, and many more.
Ukraine’s scandal-ridden energy company, Burisma, whose links to Hunter Biden were suppressed by the August 2020 table-top exercise coordinated by the Aspen Institute, also made a contribution.

You can view the full 2022 “honor roll” by clicking here.

The Atlantic Council and DFRLabs don’t hide their militarist affiliations.
This week’s OS/360 event at RightsCon Costa Rica runs together with a 360/OS at NATO’s Riga StratCom Dialogue, which DFRLab note they have “worked closely with” “since 2016.”

DFRLabs was founded in 2016, and has been a major catalyst in expanding the “anti-disinformation” industry.
Among non-governmental entities, perhaps only the Aspen Institute comes close to matching the scope, scale and funding power of DFRLabs.
DFRLabs claims to chart “the evolution of disinformation and other online and technological harms, especially as they relate to the DFRLab’s leadership role in establishing shared definitions, frameworks, and mitigation practices.”

Almost $7 million of the Atlantic Council’s $61 million spent last year went to the DRFLabs, according to their 2022 annual financial report.

Through its fellowship program, it has incubated leading figures in the “disinformation” field.

Richard Stengel, the first director of the Global Engagement Center (GEC), was a fellow.
GEC is an interagency group “within” the State Department (also a funder of the Atlantic Council), whose initial partners included the FBI, DHS, NSA, CIA, DARPA, Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and others.
GEC is now a major funder of DFRLabs and a frequent partner

In this video, Stengel says, “I’m not against propaganda. Every country does it, they have to do it to their own population, and I don’t think it’s that awful.”
Stengel was true to his word, and apart from DFRLab, the GEC funded the Global Disinformation Index, which set out to demonetize conservative media outlets it claimed were “disinformation.” (See 37. in the censorship list)

He thought the now-disgraced Hamilton68 was “fantastic.” In total, GEC funded 39 organizations in 2017.
Despite Freedom of Information requests, only 3 have been made public to date.

Roughly $78 million of GEC’s initial $100 million budget outlay for fiscal year 2017 came from the Pentagon, though the budgetary burden has shifted more toward the State Department in the years since.

The Global Engagement Center was established in the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency, via a combination of an executive order and a bipartisan congressional appropriation, led by Ohio Republican Rob Portman and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy.
The GEC was and remains virtually unknown, but reporting in the Twitter Files and by outlets like the Washington Examiner have revealed it to be a significant financial and logistical supporter of “anti-disinformation” causes.

Though tasked by Obama with countering “foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests,” its money has repeatedly worked its way back in the direction of policing domestic content, with Gabe Kaminsky’s Examiner reports on the GDI providing the most graphic example.

GEC frequently sent lists of “disinformation agents to Twitter.” Yoel Roth, former head of Trust and Safety referred to one list as a “total crock.” Roth is now a member of DFRLab’s Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web. Let’s hope he brings more trust than Stengel. You can read more on GEC’s funding here.

Other DFRLab luminaries include Simon Clark, Chairman of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (a UK “anti-disinformation” outfit that aggressively deplatforms dissidents), Ben Nimmo (previously a NATO press officer, then of Graphika (EIP and the Virality Project partners) and now Facebook’s Global Threat Intelligence Lead), and Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat.

Bellingcat has an ominous reputation, which it’s earned in numerous ways, including its funding by the National Endowment for Democracy...

Most recently, Bellingcat assisted in the arrest of the 21-year-old Pentagon leaker, further speeding up the abandonment of the Pentagon Papers Principal where the media protected, rather than persecuted, leakers.
Bellingcat was part of 360/OS backroom meetings with former intel chiefs, the head of Davos and the Munich security conference among many others, as we will see soon.

The Virality Project built on the EIP and had partnerships with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Google, TikTok and more to combat vaccine “misinformation.”
Stanford and DFRLab partnered with the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, Graphika, NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Center for Social Media and Politics, and the National Congress on Citizenship.

Through a shared Jira ticketing system they connected these Big Tech platforms together, with Graphika using sophisticated AI to surveil the online conversation at scale in order to catch “misinformation” troublemakers.

VP went far beyond any kind of misinformation remit, most infamously recommending to their Big Tech partners that they consider “true stories of vaccine side effects” as “standard misinformation on your platform.”

A Virality Project partner called the Algorithmic Transparency Initiative (a project of the National Congress on Citizenship) went further.
Their Junkipedia initiative sought to address “problematic content” via the “automated collection of data” from “closed messaging apps,” and by building a Stasi-like “civic listening corps,” which in recent years has taken on a truly sinister-sounding mission.
The current incarnation might as well be called “SnitchCorps,” as “volunteers have an opportunity to join a guided monitoring shift to actively participate in monitoring topics that disrupt communities”

Garret Graff, who oversaw the Aspen Hunter Biden table-top exercise, was chairman of that same National Congress on Citizenship when they collaborated on the Virality Project.
Both EIP and VP were led by Renee DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory, a former CIA fellow who engineered the now disgraced New Knowledge initiative, which developed fake Russian bots to discredit a 2017 Alabama senate race candidate, as acknowledged by the Washington Post.

DFRLab are the elite of the “anti-disinformation” elite.
They work closely with a wide range of actors who have participated in actual disinformation initiatives.
Here they’re invited to an elite Twitter group set up by Nick Pickles of “anti-disinformation” luminaries First Draft, also participants in the Hunter Biden laptop tabletop, and the Alliance for Security Democracy, part of the RussiaGate Hamilton68 disinformation operation.

The 360/OS event marries this tarnished record with the financial, political, military, NGO, academic and intelligence elite. Some of this is visible through publicly available materials.
Twitter Files however reveal the behind the scenes, including closed door, off-the-record meetings.

“I’ve just arrived in Kyiv” Brookie notes in 2017, as he seeks to line up a meeting with Public Policy Director Nick Pickles as they discuss Twitter providing a USD $150K contribution to OS/360 (seemingly secured), and to garner high level Twitter participation.
Pickles is visiting DC and Brookie suggests he also meet with the GEC and former FBI agent Clint Watts of Hamilton 68 renown. “Happy to make those connections,” he chimes.

360/OS events are elite and expensive — $1 million according to Brookie — so closer collaboration with Twitter, especially in the form of funding, is a high priority.
Twitter offers $150,000

When Brookie mentions the attendees at the “no-kidding decision maker level” he isn’t kidding.
Parallel to the 360/OS public program is the much more important off-the-record meeting of “decision makers ranging from the C-Suite to the Situation Room.”

Here, he is explicit about a convening of military and financial power.
Vanguard 25 is presented as a way to “create a discreet and honest way to close the information gap on challenges like disinformation between key decision makers from government, tech, and media.”

The document boasts of its high-level participants

More are revealed in email exchanges, including Madeleine Albright and the head of the WEF

They go on to list a bizarre mishmash of media leaders, intelligence officials, and current or former heads of state

...Germany’s Angela Merkel was out of reach in the end, but many of the others attended this behind the scenes meeting on “disinformation.” Who are they?

• Matthias Dopfner – CEO and 22% owner of German media empire Axel Springer SE, the biggest media publishing firm in Europe
  
• Borge Brende – head of the World Economic Forum and former Norwegian foreign minister
  
• Toomas Hendrick Ilves – former President of Estonia who co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Blockchain Technology. Hendrick is also a fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (where the Stanford Internet Observatory is housed) and is on the advisory council of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, of Hamilton 68 renown.
  
• Chris Sacca – billionaire venture capitalist
  
• Mounir Mahjoubi – previously Digital Manager for President Macron’s presidential campaign, and former Chairman of the French Digital Council
  
• Reid Hoffman – billionaire and Linkedin co-founder
  
• Ev Williams – Former CEO of Twitter and on the Twitter board at the time
  
• Kara Swisher – New York Times opinion writer, who founded Vox Media Recode
  
• Wolfgang Ischinger - Head of the Munich Security Conference
  
• Aleksander Kwasniewski – Former President of Poland. Led Poland into NATO and the EU.
  
• Richard Edelman – CEO of the largest PR company in the world
  
• Elliot Shrage – previously Vice-President of Public Policy at Facebook (DFRLab had election integrity projects with Facebook)
  
• Lydia Polgreen – Huffington Post Editor in Chief
  
• Jim Clapper –former US Director of National Intelligence
  
• Maria Ressa – co-founder of Rappler and soon to be winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
  

Why would such a group all gather specifically around the question of “disinformation”?
Is disinformation truly at such a level that it requires bringing together the world’s most popular author with military and intelligence leaders, the world’s biggest PR company, journalists, billionaires, Big Tech and more?

Or is this work to build the case that there is a disinformation crisis, to then justify the creation of a massive infrastructure for censorship? A glimpse of the agenda offers clues

Here the head of the most important military and intelligence conference in the world (Munich) sits down in a closed door meeting with a former Secretary of State and the Executive Vice-Chair of the Atlantic Council.

Which is followed by a closed door session with the Editor-in Chief of the ...Huffington Post and peace-maker Maria Ressa who presented to the same group of military, intelligence, corporate and other elites.
Is the role of a journalist and Nobel laureate to work behind closed doors with militarists and billionaires, or to hold them to account?

At 2022’s OS/360 at RightsCon Ressa conducted a softball interview on disinformation with current US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

In testimony last April 2023, former CIA deputy director Michael Morrell stated that Blinken “set in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement” by more than 50 former intelligence officials that the Hunter Biden laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russia information operation.”

The Twitter Files also revealed that in August 2020 the Aspen Institute organized a table-top exercise to practice how best to respond to a “hack and leak” of a Hunter Biden laptop.
The laptop only came to light however two months later.
In attendance was First Draft (now the Information Futures Lab), the New York Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, CNN, Yahoo! News, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Here, DFRLab head Graham Brookie speaks with the Aspen Institute’s Garret Graff, who coordinated the Hunter Biden tabletop exercise.

After it turned out the Hunter Biden laptop was real, and the disinformation operation was more appropriately described as having been led by the likes of Blinken and the Aspen Institute.
The appropriate response is apparently for RightsCon, DFRLab, Blinken and Ressa to put on a nice forum to promote these figures as “anti-disinformation” leaders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8YTPuTC9xs

Former DFRLab fellow and intel front Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins is also invited to the closed door sessions with a former head of the CIA, a former Prime Minister and a President.

How do you keep power accountable when you are in the same cozy club? This theme runs throughout.
Bellingcat is featured heavily at the public sessions also

On the public side, we see Amnesty International participating to further collapse the distinction between those who are meant to hold power to account, and the powerful themselves.
The Iraq war gave us embedded journalists, and the “anti-disinformation” field gives us embedded digital rights activists.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Chris Krebs also joined the closed door session.
Krebs was Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder.
Other members included Prince Harry, the Virality Project’s Alex Stamos (Stanford Internet Observatory) and Kate Starbird (University of Washington and previous 360/OS participant), Katie Couric, and more. Craig Newmark attended as an observer.

Meanwhile Renee DiResta, former CIA fellow and Stanford Internet Observatory Research Director, presented with the former Prime Minister of Sweden.
This was years before she would launch the Virality Project, and take on the bugbear of “true stories of vaccine side effects.”

The President of the Atlantic Council participated in an “off-the-record, “ behind closed doors conversation on “trust” with the CEO of the world’s biggest PR firm, Edelman.

“Public relations” and “trust” may well be opposites, and trust is being destroyed not by the disinformation street crime that these groups claim to target, but by the disinformation corporate crime protected by, or in some cases created by these same people.
Disinformation is real, but its biggest purveyors are governments and powerful corporate interests.

DFRLab and RightsCon show just how far the capture of civil society by elite interests has come. Again, I made a mistake helping to co-organize RightsCon in 2015.

The jumping in bed with the government and Big Tech was arguably there in 2015, though to a much lesser degree.
It now partners with militarists in the form of the Atlantic Council and is an enabler of the “disinformation” grift that is so deeply impacting freedom of speech and expression.

The air-gaps that should separate civil society, media, military, billionaires, intelligence and government have collapsed, and many of these actors have formed a new alliance to advance their shared interests.
If weapons manufacturers funding human rights is considered legitimate then where is the red line? Effectively, there is none.

This collapse however has also been pushed by funders, who have been proactive in asking NGOs to collaborate more with Big Tech and government - something I successfully resisted for my almost 18 years at EngageMedia, critically RightsCon was the only time I let my guard down.

The RightsCon sponsor matrix wouldn’t be out of place at NASCAR
This is the equivalent of hosting a Climate Change conference sponsored by Shell, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil.

How do you keep power accountable when Big Tech pays your wage? The “let’s all work together” approach has failed.
The weakest partner, civil society, got captured and we lost.
Many more lost their way and have acquiesced to and often enabled much of the new censorship regime.

https://www.racket.news/p/twitter-files-extra-how-the-worlds

This story all started 9 months ago I was chilling with some friends at a sleepover and we were having a pretty good time. But after a while it got kinda boring so we thought how about we get some edibles so my friend ordered some from his plus and we were set. Before hand we had already been smoking from my friends let’s call him jimmys pen for about and hour but it was almost empty so we didn’t really feel it to hard. So at about 11:30ish from what I remember we took the edibles and this was my first time taking them so I was pretty nervous after about an hour of waiting it hit and holy they hit hard we took too way to much for all of us and we regretted that later that night. At first it was a pretty good experience I was enjoying it I was just seeing in slow motion and all the sort of things associated with being high. But we were being to loud cuz we couldn’t stop laughing and I think we got yelled at i don’t even remember 100% because of how messed up we got so at about 12:20ish is when it fully settled in and the affects were at full capacity and my friend jimmy started to feel kinda bad I though no big deal but I was wrong we threw up about 18 times and I didn’t know what to do I was terrified by it because I was to high to function and he was crying hysterically and I was panicking very hard and when I finally fell asleep I felt like I was getting my soul pulled down out of my body and when we woke up the next morning it was bad because we still had it in our system so we were still feeling it but luckly my parents didn’t notice

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