“The companies have wrested control of land, deforested it, and helped build a controversial highway to their new terminal in the one-time jungle, all to facilitate the cultivation and export of grain and soybeans.”
“Schwarzman, a founder of Blackstone, owns roughly a fifth of the company, making him one of the world’s richest men. In 2018, he was paid at least $568 million, which was, in fact, a drop from the $786 million he made the year before. He has been generous toward McConnell and [t]rump with that wealth. In 2016, he gave $2.5 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, McConnell’s Super PAC and put Jim Breyer, McConnell’s billionaire brother-in-law, on the board of Blackstone. Two years later, Schwarzman kicked in $8 million to McConnell’s Super PAC.
“Blackstone employees have given well over $10 million to McConnell and his Super PAC over the years, making them the biggest source of direct financing over McConnell’s career. McConnell’s Senate campaign declined to comment.
“Schwarzman is a close friend and adviser to [t]rump, and served as the chair of his Strategic and Policy Forum until it fell apart in the wake of the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally, in which [t]rump famously praised 'very fine people, on both sides.’ In December 2017, as the final details of the GOP tax cut were being ironed out, Schwarzman hosted a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for [t]rump. Some of [trump’s] dinner companions complained about the tax bill, and days later, [t]rump slashed the top percentage rate in the final package from 39.6 to 37.
…"Bolsonaro has plans to pave significantly more roads in the Amazon that have otherwise been impassable much of the year, a project made feasible by international financing.
…"Of course, Hidrovias is also involved in paving B.R.-163 and other development projects in the region. Those projects, such as the paving of the highway, have additional indirect — though entirely predictable — consequences, as they spur side roads that make previously difficult-to-reach areas of the Amazon accessible for mining, logging, or further deforestation.
…"A Blackstone spokesperson noted that the fund only owns 9.3 percent* of Hidrovias. But that ignores the 55.8 percent of Hidrovias that is owned by Pátria Investimentos. On Hidrovias’s website, Pátria is described as a company ‘in partnership with Blackstone,’ and it is known in the financial industry to be a Blackstone company.”
*Pay no attention to claimed percentages of ownership. What goes on behind ownership curtains is fluidly incestuous. For example, from April 2019:
“Blackstone transferred its 35% stake in Brazilian real estate developer Alphaville Urbanismo to its partner Pátria Investimentos. Blackstone and Pátria originally invested R$1.4b in June 2013 for a 70% stake in the company. The two firms formed a partnership in 2010 and Blackstone retains a 40% stake in Pátria.”
—–
Keep in mind,
It’s not like this graft flows directly, or just one way.
Every American farmer who has lost their Chinese market for soybeans – all of them – should be wondering how it was that trump “woke up” one morning with his idea of a trade war with China. Had his close friend Schwartzman told trump the Brazilian road and terminal were ready?
There is no question that the Amazon rainforest is burning right now to open new farm land in order to meet China’s soybean market.
I wanted Blackstone to get fucked prior to this, now…now I want them to
HE THREW THE NOTHING AWAY JUST TO MAKE A FUCKING POINT
Drama Emperor Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred is the real hero. Fucking fite me!!!
Excuse me, everyone is always about Batman being so cool ans Spider-Man so funny but there is only one true emperor of snark in the comics realm and it’s Alfred Pennyworth.
And it’s true for every incarnation
Every. Fucking. One.
Why does he have a halo around him in the second panel?????
Ferrai has this bullshit agreement that if you buy one of their cars new off the lot, you have to sign a contract saying you basically don’t own the car and have to uphold their brand standards with it.
It’s sets a startling example of not owning something despite buying it and the court needs to use this as a chance to strike it down as unethical.
This shit again? And I thought it was bad enough with ford and john deer telling farmers they didn’t own the tractors they bought from them….
Yeah, they have this really unethical clause in the purchase contract you can’t modify the car or do anything with it that they’d consider “unbecoming of the brand”, which is why they were able file this suit.
It seems kind of bizarre at first until you realize how horrifying that is in the age of “do you own what you buy?” being a huge a debate (especially in tech).
This is pretty much Ferrari’s philosophy from the start, they are extremely prideful of their cars like if they were made from God’s hands or something.
They are very snobby, infact the owner of Ferrari doesn’t like the people who buy their cars since because they are bought for “status”.
They also never test their cars on public tracks in comparison with other racing cars like when they wanted to test out the Porche 918 Spyder vs The McLaren P1 vs LaFerrari. Take a guess who bailed out on the performance test.
Just an update
Lambo are the perfect people to jump in on this because they make insane cars and they are never above clowning them up because Lambo are all about THE DRAMA ™
It’s worth noting that Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the company originally only made tractors. His company became successful and at some point he bought a Ferrari, but had a complaint with the car. He ended up taking this complaint to Enzo Ferrari, himself, who told the man he did not take advice from a mere tractor maker. Four months later the first Lamborghini sports was birthed out of pure spite. I’d like to this somewhere he’s enjoying this immensely.
Lamborghini is now my favorite car brand simply for this reason. I love it XD
Excerpts from the SyFy Wire & Film School Rejects interviews with Claire Anderson, the Emmy-nominated costume designer for Good Omens:
[ Film School Rejects - by Ciara Wardlow] “I worked through it with gut reaction images. So, two guys. Two guys,
kind of close, nearly in love, if you like,” she said. “I just went in
and we had a really big, very open conversation about how you related to
these people in the script and how we would make them real and
plausible, but give them a fantasy element. Give them something
otherworldly.”
While Anderson says that she ultimately took this approach with more or
less all of the characters, mixing period and modern elements to give
characters somewhat timeless, yet also somewhat fantastical “out of
time” looks, in the early discussion stages it was all about Aziraphale
and Crowley. For one thing, Sheen and Tennant were already cast, which
was a major help in determining their looks. It took some time to settle
on the duo’s main, contemporary looks, but once these were locked in
they played a significant role in determining everything else they wore.
[…] Aziraphale maintains a look with significant nods to the late
Victorian era. Crowley too, although he manages to put an edgier twist
on things than his angelic contemporary. “We re-appropriate bits of
period stuff so that it echoes. [Aziraphale and Crowley] echo one
another in their visual identity with pieces from their past—where
they’ve touched each other in the past perhaps, or bumped into each
other.” Regarding how Crowley manages to keep more of a modern, cool
vibe, Anderson gives David Tennant’s performance the lion’s share of the
credit. “He’s a very nice man, but he’s very sexy. He brought all of
that swagger, that rock star, snake-hipped sexiness, and we built on
that.”
[ SyFy Wire - by Jennifer Vineyard] GARDEN OF EDEN, 4004 B.C. - Anderson looked at everything from Pre-Raphaelite paintings to Al Pacino’s hippie clothes in Serpico
to determine just the right flow for Aziraphale’s rough-hewn robe,
which has gold embroidery on the shoulders and side. Aziraphale is also
wearing a golden ring, which later becomes a signet ring stamped with
wings in the Victorian era.
NOAH’S ARK, MESOPOTAMIA, 3004 B.C. - “As aged as I am, I wasn’t there,” Anderson says, laughing. “And
there wasn’t any painting or documentation from this era. But what we do
know is that tunics remained pretty simple, and the earlier shape would
have served them well for many years.” Aziraphale’s robe becomes more
streamlined, and he wears gold beads at the neck.
THE CRUCIFIXION, GOLGOTHA, 33 - By this time, both Aziraphale and Crawley — now Crowley — are wearing
turbans and head wraps, which Anderson attributes to “a bit of vanity.”
Plus the wrap helps Crowley conceal his snake-like eyes (it’s too soon
for glasses). Aziraphale dons a soft leather coat over his tunic, while
Crowley wears female attire of the region — an abaya.
ROME, 41 - Switching from tunics to togas was difficult, since togas contain 6
to 12 meters of fabric, which is a lot to carry around on camera.
Anderson reduced the size by cutting the togas to fit for the
character’s movements, and she gave each actor a thematic decorative pin to hold their togas together — Crowley a serpent and staff, Aziraphale a pair of wings (both courtesy of George Easton at Danegeld Historic Jewellery). Although history might argue that it’s too soon for sunglasses,
Crowley starts to shield his eyes with a very small, eye-shaped lens.
“It’s suggestive, rather than historically accurate,” Anderson says. And
as a sign that Crowley is adapting to the humans around him, he also
wears a silver laurel wreath.
ARTHURIAN ENGLAND, THE KINGDOM OF WESSEX, 537 - Anderson sent character descriptions and visuals for Aziraphale and Crowley to armor specialist FBFX,
which sent a van to London full of pieces that could work for angelic
and demonic armor. Instead of focusing on historical accuracy, Anderson
looked for shapes and fit that suggested an ethereal — or snakelike
— quality, once the pieces had been painted black or silver. For
Crowley, she found a helmet that had a smaller face that could suggest a
snakehead, and for Aziraphale, shoulder pieces that were slightly
wing-like. To add to the wing effect, Anderson added a white fur caplet
to Aziraphale’s armor. “It was terribly grand, but not very practical,”
she says. “And the poor guys, it was murderously uncomfortable to stand
around in that armor.”
GLOBE THEATRE, LONDON, 1601 - Crowley and Aziraphale catch an early version of Hamlet,
looking more period-appropriate than ever thanks to the Globe’s vast
archive of costumes. Aziraphale’s wardrobe, which includes a neck ruff
edged with gold thread, has a metallic look with a hint of iridescent
blue, which opens up his color palette. Crowley, meanwhile, wears a
cleaner neckline and leather on his doublet, as well as fabrics that
provide sheen and luster to suggest his snaky origins.
REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE, PARIS, 1793 - This is not a period to be dressed like an aristocrat, but Aziraphale
couldn’t resist a lace collar, gold brocade and fitted jacket — which
explains why he’s stuck in a prison cell (at least until Crowley
intervenes). Crowley, more mindful of what revolutionaries would wear,
dons a dark red jacket that’s almost as dark as his usual black. When
Aziraphale miracle-changes his clothes, he wears the red cap of liberty.
“It’s a soft beret that falls somewhere between a modern French beret
and a pirate headdress,” Anderson notes.
ST. JAMES’ PARK, LONDON, 1862 - This is the time period with which Aziraphale gets most comfortable,
fashion-wise, and settles into a Victorian look with tartan flair.
Anderson also bestowed some heavenly nods to his angelic nature — a
feathery velvet top hat, a stopwatch with angel’s wings on the chain,
and the signet ring. Crowley, meanwhile, wears a pair of long, elegantly
cut trousers that we will see again in the 1960s. “The trousers repeat,
which is basically what fashion does anyway,” Anderson says. “And it’s
what the story does. There are notes backward and forwards.”
THE BLITZ, LONDON, 1941 - Aziraphale’s tartan necktie becomes a bow tie, and his penchant for
wide lapels, a nod to his wings, continues, this time with a spear-point
collar. Crowley, who comes to save Aziraphale once again, is dressed
more formally, in a full double-breasted wool suit that must have been
hard for David Tennant to wear in the South African heat. “The rest of
the crew were in flip-flops and T-shirts, and David was in the suit,
hat, and those big boots,” Anderson says, recalling the shoot. “He had
to be very physically active in that scene, and yet David didn’t
complain about the heat or anything. He’s amazing.”
SOHO, LONDON, 1967 - Crowley, as noted, continues to wear his Victorian trousers, which
are right up to date, and which he pairs with a black paisley velvet
jacket with contrasting lapels. His sunglasses now have more of a John
Lennon vibe. Aziraphale, perhaps inadvertently, is also looking stylish
with his Victorian topcoat, spear-point collar, and cravat (modified
from his scarf in Victorian England). “You can’t avoid being affected by
changing trends,” Anderson says. “However bookish you are, you still
notice other people. And you would have had Rolling Stones and Beatles
fans wearing that kind of thing. That was our argument for Aziraphale
wearing his Victorian topcoat all the way through, and Michael Sheen
loved it. He said it inspired him. And the cravat rang in the changes
and helped us with the passage of time, rather than always having him
wear a bow tie.
This was the scene that inspired me to draw the comic. The idea has been
in my head since June, after the release of the Good Omens episodes. It
went lying in my folders for a while, but I’m glad to finally have it
finished! Thank you for reading :)
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
