I do what I want

Endurance runners

He returns one night to his humble apartment, which is known to have vermin, and comes across a rat, which he could easily kill or set loose on the street.

But the rat- it is special. It seems to speak to him. Promises him every little thing he desires- talent, fame, and fortune. Recognition and esteem like he has only ever seen from afar; fine company like the wealthy men and women whose scraps he picks at over the sink.

Put me on your head, the rat says. Put me on your head and think of nothing.

It is strange at first, yes. Strange to feel another take control of his life and live it better than he ever could. To see miraculous things created with his own two hands, to feel his feet move in graceful and fantastic ways with a confidence he has never had.

But the rat delivers as he had promised: he receives promotions, notoriety, admiration. He is noticed. Envied. Every day is a waking dream, rubbing elbows with beautiful women and handsome men and influential personalities who lavish him with praise. It is addictive, this lifestyle- never mind that he is only ever truly conscious of it as a passenger of in own brain.

It is when he has reached heights few can ever conceive, with all that the rat had ever promised- a beautiful wife in a beautiful house with all the world in his palm, in possession of all the wealth and success a man could ever want, that the rat says that it is leaving.

Leaving? The rat cannot leave. Everything he is, the rat has provided.

"I have delivered on our bargain", the rat says. "I have brought to you all that you have ever dreamed. What more could you desire? I must live my own life, now."

The man is furious. He is terrified. He destroys the rat, in all of the ways that a rat can be destroyed, until nothing is left of it but a fine smear of marinara sauce.

He returns to the restaurant the next day moving like the shell of something hollowed-out and brittle. He cooks well- his fingers remember the movements, his eyes recognize the patterns, his mouth knows without his asking what orders to speak and what platitudes make patrons smile pleasantly with their straight white teeth.

He retains the talents of the rat. The charm of the rat. All the worldly pleasures the rat had provided him.

Still, it seems, he is little more than a vessel for the talents of the rat.

But the rat is gone.

Steven J. Demetriou, guest 92 of 93 as photographed by Backgrid

He is the executive chair of Amentum, a company that provides engineering and technology to the USA’s army and nuclear programs. They operate the most test and training ranges of any contractor if their site is to be believed.

It appears they run the East Montana concentration camp, the largest in the USA. While much of the abuse, including sexual and physical abuse, occurred under the camp’s previous contractor, Acquisition Logistics, the ACLU has confirmed Amentum was WORKING AS SUBCONTRACTORS at the East Montana camp during this time. Amentum's current role as sole contractor from March onwards proves no less deadly, with 2 overdoses with the intent to commit suicide from inhumane conditions. Representative Escobar confirmed nothing has changed since Amentum’s takeover. Lawyers representing prisoners report being unable to reach their clients.

The following conditions are BY DESIGN, as "Guards tell people detained at Camp East Montana who complain about conditions that if they do not like the conditions, they should self-deport." Civil Detention Centers are not supposed to be punitive. This is only a civil detention center on paper. It is a concentration camp.

The ACLU lists: I already linked this but I'm doing it again bc if you read one source, it should be this one.

Medical neglect, including for people with pregnancies, diabetes, cancer, and HIV.

Severe beatings. One man was beaten to death for requesting his asthma medication.

solitary confinement

unclean water

Tuberculosis and Measles outbreaks

Limited to no sunlight

no or limited hygiene products

rotten food, not enough food, no special diets for medical conditions

SEXUAL ASSAULT

No ventilation in a DESERT leading to lung damage

Not enough toilets, overflow often, whole tent smells of urine and feces

No privacy to use said toilet

Threats and beatings for those that refuse to sign deportation papers, sometimes to places they are NOT FROM

No activities, punished for attempting to make art from recycled items like cracker boxes, can only practice own religion at guards' discretion

no dental care. This is likely universal across US concentration camps. Note Emmanuel Damas, the Haitian immigrant that died from a dental infection due to lack of care

Unable to receive legal representation if not already represented

LOCATED ON FORMER JAPANESE DETENTION CAMP BECAUSE TIME IS A FUCKING CIRCLE

Taylor Swift's guest is directly responsible for these. This is the LARGEST CONCENTRATION CAMP IN THE US, made to hold 5000 people. He's not just any ICE contractor he is the biggest and baddest. At least this will get people talking about just HOW bad this camp is.

do you want to talk to verizon's help desk because there's an error on your bill? to access a real agent, you have to pay for Verizon Access+, only 5.99 a month.

want to filter out all the fake job postings from the real ones? subscribe to Indeed: Advanced Tactics and only verified postings will appear on your dash.

sick of the infinite ai slop? buy Google Premium; it'll automatically detect ai within a site and gives it a credibility score. with premium plus, you can shuffle high-credibility results to the top.

do you want a "luxury" experience? well, you'd have to pay for that luxury, and since the company sure doesn't want to pay its employees; the cost would fall to the consumer.

So some fanartist drew a “sexy” (read: booby) version of a (cartoon) character who is traditionally very non-sexualised. Fans of the character got mad about it because it’s kind of groundbreaking how that character is written and portrayed and this art totally ignores the entire point of the character. They demanded the art be deleted. In response to that other people said, well what the fanartist did may be distateful but they have every right to draw what they’re into. The two sides fight for days and each starts a harassment campaign and even report their “opponents’” accounts.

So far so typical. But things eventually come to a head and they decide that this will be settled by votes - not through a poll. Through donations to a children’s education charity via each side’s portal. Whoever can get the highest amount of donation wins.

No subscription. Just program.

On your computer. You got to use it forever and ever and never had to worry about it going away.

Because it was physically on your computer. As a program. That you actually owned. Not because you got it separately, but because it was a standard inclusion with your computer.

I'm sorry but I'll just never get over it. I remember when companies cared about their products being usable out of the box. I remember when our things belonged to us.