What would most likely happen if the West, in this case The US, Canada and Western Europe, falls?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-13T03:03:51+00:00

But what do you think about the topic on hand, where adding a non-race swapped original minority character to a fighting game franchise?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-12T02:41:51+00:00

You know what would work? White monkey stories. White people who are hired cause they're white. That they embody Whiteness and all that.

Seems like a great tale to tell. Plenty of interviews from various sources already.

And I was referring to gamingcirclejerk as the sub. Although the KiA one is neat too.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-09T00:18:46+00:00

I love the deer analogy. Yes, I agree. If things are left unchecked they become over the top.

Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it. This was a wonderful answer. You have a nice day now.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T13:21:09+00:00

It just shifted from being a physical consequence, largely doled out by boys, to a social one, where the girls had the upper hand.

I see. So this is where those mean girls came from.

Okay, just to reiterate, to see if I understood it.

Imagine it's those people who ask you to sign some things and expecting just signatures and people holding up signs is going to change the state of the world, in other words, people who are in way over their heads.

I have never experienced said people but I had a run-in with some religious people asking for donations. They're not too bad but a tad bit annoying.

Then they got kept in check by the jock bullies. Which, forgive me, you seem to view favorably. I do take offence at the idea that jock bullies are a "force for good". I will concede to the possibility that they kept those goody two shoes in check. There is a saying by someone that says that they'd rather be ruled by some jock bully than a goody two-shoes. A jock bully would just be mean for a while but a goody-two shoes would be unintentionally mean, forever.

But I wholly disagree with the reasoning that jock bullies are an entire force for good.

Maybe, just maybe one of them was an Arthur Fleck and that doing their goody two-shoes thing gave them purpose.

Okay, I believe I may be straying off topic.

I can't address anything about this post anymore. I get the parts where those goody two-shoes got the power and the power to bully and those goody two-shoes aided by the system have become the system that's the cause of the decline of America.

I will admit though that the last part sounded very conspiratorial.

And this is why you cant find items at the supermarket anymore. The gears of commerce are gummed up by people who are far more concerned that you're addressing everyone by their proper pronouns, rather than filling out the paperwork that they were employed to do, that's going to allow that container ship to dock at your city's port to unload those supermarket goods.

This part.

And all this could have been avoided if they'd just been on the receiving end of a good wedgie in grade eleven.

Although I do get what this means, I'd still like a much more thorough explanation on how this would be so. If it's not a bother too much.

Overall, fantastic answer.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T04:54:45+00:00

Fight back, whiteys. Fight back. I need more Saami representation in my movies. More Hungarian horse riders. More Russian empires. More French people.

God forbid the white race dies. Asians will just make a very large world where karoshi is just the best course of action.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T04:52:58+00:00

Ah yeah. Ryan Chapman said the same thing. He discussed in a vein similar to how Anita Sarkeesian presents her ideas, calm and with examples.

Except that he lets you see what he means while Sarkeesian just repeats a phrase while showing an example. I recommend Chapman.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T04:51:33+00:00

I guess that's been true since the 70s?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T04:51:08+00:00

Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals), or otherwise inferior. The leftists themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit it to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with their problems.

Jesus fucking Christ. That's, that's fucking racist. NOW, THAT, THAT SHIT IS MOTHERFUCKING RACIST. HOLY SHIT!!!!

Jesus fuck me. God help us all if this shit stays any longer.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-08T04:48:51+00:00

Well said. The nibbas on the streets, the asian running a laundromat or a girl who tries her darndest to work despite her disability.

I guess it's patronizing them. That they can't do it themselves, that they can't make it unless they have help. Of course everyone needs help but not the help that hurts others.

It's easy to identify in real life but I find difficulty in identifying woke messaging in movies unless it's very obvious.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-06T12:13:02+00:00

I do not take offence to this statement, considering the context. Even without context, I shan't be too offended as the medium as to which this message was relayed, the internet, is usually a place where these kinds of things happen.

Thus, I am more pleased that I am in observance of a traditional internet action.

In public? That is an entirely different story.

And thusly I bid you good sir a good day.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-03T05:29:12+00:00

To get accosted? To respond to being accosted? I'm sorry but I'm not getting it, may you please clarify?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-08-03T05:27:56+00:00

And Celine Dion was somewhere there singing My Heart Will Go On

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-31T08:02:54+00:00

I do believe name calling is not productive. I try to be polite and well-mannered as much as I can. I have not yet been in a situation where I was accosted. I hope I will not be accosted.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-31T07:58:54+00:00

Good luck, OP. Positive thoughts lead to positive outcomes. God knows I needed that mindset. Good luck.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-31T07:57:12+00:00

Discomforting to read but I wholeheartedly agree. I didn't really think much of it until I started with Vinland Saga. Slave girls from other tribes, other clans. A common feature for vikings.

What I am most interested in is a semi-historically accurate depiction of the Islamic Golden Age. Where one can indeed have slaves of white women. That'd be a blast to see, also the reactions from both the woke and the anti-woke would just be worth it. Hehehe.

Back to topic, the fact that the West found something wrong with slavery and decided to abolish it is a lesson and a fact that is not present in most of the media. It needs to have at least a discussion about it. Time will tell of course.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-31T07:52:38+00:00

We have rice that needs to be tested how much water it is per cup. It's delicious though. Don't know if they have it where you're from OP. It's local rice.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-31T07:49:48+00:00

The Philippines here. The mandates for masks has not been lifted but since Filipinos are generally not able to follow rules to the letter, there's been an uptick of those who just have a mask but not wear them. In my workplace, everyone wears a mask and they don't think much of it. Although my department has those that take of their masks and those that just keeps it on.

And recently, I noticed some people just double mask, those that just have the entire thing over their mouth and those that are really just have it on but it's all the way down.

No one really gives a damn anymore here. Although enclosed public areas still require you to wear a mask. Although, with some of the restrictions being lifted, I expect even the masks wouldn't be a necessity anymore.

It won't be necessitated by the government but the culture would b a completely separate thing. I don't expect to see a shit ton of masks disappear form the faces of the masses overnight.

That's my two cents. Th government required little force in mandating masks. Asian culture did it for them.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-26T06:34:10+00:00

Fuck off, Pfizer. Once is enough. I'd gladly take it if it would work and it isn't a downer when we take it. I've had the shots and one booster. That's it. That's all. Anymore is just a waste of everyone's time and effort.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-25T05:55:29+00:00

All African descended and not Africans. So the Americanized nigga-fied version of Africa is the true Africa and not what Africa is now. A shitshow. Hell, the only decent one there was Botswana, not the worst place to live there.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-24T05:07:05+00:00

Indeed. Well, time will tell. Maybe not in our lifetimes but time will tell.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-23T15:37:21+00:00

Okay, I checked this Anatomy of Slavespeak. Frankly, I am a bit nauseated. I am uncomfortable with such topics and much more so with no one to guide me through it.

I get the gist. Words have power and all that. All I got was that, you go against the government no matter what.

It was a hell of an essay or rather report, as the author called it. It had interesting ideas and the first few sentences? Paragraphs? Were interesting enough to warrant my further consideration but it's quite lengthy. I have not the time nor the patience to slog through it all.

I do repeat myself in stating that I do indeed understand the gist of what the "report" is saying, I personally just have not the mental fortitude nor the necessary experience and mindset to fully adopt such an idea.

In relation to the topic I've presented, then I'll have to agree that the word "circumcision" being widespread is not very ideal in the prevention of the horrible genitalia mutilation of both sexes from occuring.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-23T15:22:16+00:00

No. I'll see if I can dig it up and get an epub of it.

identifying things as they truly are should lead to a shift. i suppose the lack or absence of agreement on how something should be identified could be an obstacle.

Truly a society we live in.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-22T16:39:00+00:00

I will keep that in mind. Thanks, anon.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-22T09:24:31+00:00

I have yet to develop proper principles. I'm still young so I guess I got time.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T11:21:10+00:00

I see, well that is most helpful. I'll try to set it as the browser of my private mode on Brave. Thanks for this, dev.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T11:20:28+00:00

But if alternatives exist, is it really a problem or if one is left alone, then more shall arise, something like that? And do forgive my impudence, but if the idea is to change the language but there is a pushback against it, does that not tell that the attempt to change the definition has failed? If it was indeed a success, then Matt Walsh would not have made his documentary "What is a Woman?"

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T06:22:46+00:00

Currently One Piece and this one called Back When You Called Us Devils. Good stuff.

Although I've taken a break from reading them as I discovered one can read comics in a massive backlog so yeah.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T04:00:36+00:00

Musk fans man. Speaking of autism, it seems to be a talking point on Tumblr screenshot posts that litter the internet.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:57:29+00:00

Man these kinds if things are hard to understand if I'm not living in that kind of society. It feels like Sabaton's A Lifetime of War and En Livstid I Krig.

A lifetime of war is for the outsider looking in and en livstid i krig is for the person in the war.

Well, I pray that this gets resolved soon. I saw an updated Pride flag on the US embassy here. Damn.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:51:07+00:00

Overlord? Nah, man. I read manga. I have it on my read list but that's after I read my list of to-read comics first.

Might I suggest /a/ on 4chan?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:48:55+00:00

Predditor should be used.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:42:09+00:00

I've checked that out and, if someone isn't aware of the culture war that America is having, then they would assume it is a much more specific definition. I've asked around my country, where people are generally unaware of the cultural happenings of the other side of the world and they didn't find anything wrong with it.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:38:48+00:00

If I may chime in, is it really 1984 if just a group of individuals just had a dictionary change the definition? I mean alternatives exists, one is free to dissent it albeit would be faced with extreme resistance by current society.

I've seen 1984 and read it and I'll be honest this ain't it chief, Brave New World mayhaps?

A screenshot of Merriam-Webster's as of 11:46 Philippine Standard Time (+8)

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:35:07+00:00

So it's like Google? I'll keep that in mind. I still prefer Duck Duck Go as a search engine for the sole purpose that it shows the results first. And it really helps if you want to be as specific as possible.

Anyway, I'll check this out. Thanks, OP.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:32:33+00:00

This sounds like something you'll see in /pol/, but no. I have not. Maybe /pol/ or /lit/ may have but I have not, personally.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-21T03:30:26+00:00

Nah, it's happening as everyone is becoming retarded. It was the 60s and past that is the 70s where the liberals have now had power over some in society.

I still can't believe that they once supported Playboy then decided to go against it. That's wack, yo!!!

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-20T10:57:04+00:00

Well, I can respect that he is a man of his word.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-19T05:19:19+00:00

Yeah, Van Sciver's looks like a refined Rob Liefeld or something but holy shit can he draw, if you don't mind my saying. Isom looks dcent, like the post 2011 gritty comics.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-19T05:17:38+00:00

Oh, is that the reddit care resources? I got those when I was still on reddit. My first post on a new account was on KotakuInAction.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-17T02:37:04+00:00

Thank you.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-16T06:57:01+00:00

Not my first but I am quite adept at it, just not expressions save for American movies and whatnot. I didn't really encounter the expression till I got interested in gamergate and the antiwoke media crowd.

So to clarify it's to just repeat something until one accepts it as true? Like that in church or something? Although I suspect it has something to do with being obnoxious while doing it.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-15T07:58:17+00:00

Hard to undo it when you've been passive for too long and the incentives are not very nice. As a side note, the incentives I meant were just being seen as cool or being an ass to everyone. The idea of a liberal society in which everyone can voice their opinions is not very looked up upon in the society I live in. No government action needed, just good old Asian societies doing Asian society things.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-14T23:08:31+00:00

That's fine. Take care and have a nice day.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-14T22:03:22+00:00

A writing wiki which was a collaboration of a lot of people over the years. It was horror sci-fi and it was fantastic until 2018 when the SJWs took over. Not much woke stuff to be honest but most are now a far cry from what SCP was. Short, scary and to the point. Now it's just a novel or some shit.

I recommend the games if you want the greatest experience of it. Some old videos as well.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-13T01:45:50+00:00

Aged like milk, ngl.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-13T01:18:18+00:00

Shiawasu no Okina's Nudist Beach ni Syuugaku Ryokoude!!

187068

I like it because it juggles between hentai and manga, of course there are better story based hentai mangas out there but it is like a better version of the manga that has hentai elements in it. The fucking is nice, the gitls are loveable, the MC isn't a daft idiot and the story is intriguing. Not too deep but not too boring unlike some other hentai mangas, looking at you Akatsuki Myuuto.

So yeah, that's what I like.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-13T00:46:47+00:00

The fact that the number one thing on that list is Sword Art Online is very sus. Arcane and Sword Art Online? What?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-13T00:45:22+00:00

Enjoy Arcane!!!

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-11T23:46:25+00:00

Yeah, even for SCP standards that thing is meh. Still fun to watch. I just like it very much because it's just feels like old SCP. SCP was a writing collab that focuses on strange phnomena, it was great. Emphasis on was cause the libs got to it and now it's either novels or disrespect or sometimes both.

I'll stop now. I must be boring you. Well, I appreciate the opinion. You have a nice day now.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-11T20:13:40+00:00

Annihilation is good but it becomes better if you are very familiar with SCP. It's like Arcane and League of Legends. Arcane is good but it gets accentuated when you are familiar with League of Legends.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-09T14:36:17+00:00

It's usually the art from Tumblr where there's this infographic comparing women from different cultures and making those two women lesbians and talk about social issues or crap. It comes off as "Hah. Got you. In your face."

Before I got to my anti-woke phase a few years back, I've already seen and I've already disliked those kinds of posts. My friend proceeds to call my self during that time as homophobic, in hindsight.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-09T14:34:29+00:00

It is most useful when you really want to look at other artworks of the same calibre. Sometimes though you click on one artwork that just interests you in passing and that thing can oversaturate your feed. It's not as bad as Imgur though. Actually Imgur is a horrible place and it just is so whacked up. Pinterest however is less Twitter-y so I like it.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-09T14:32:58+00:00

There's some gay ones. Usually the yaoi fanart of the Avengers and some heroes and then there's Arcane where the fandom ships Jayce and Viktor but they get as obnoxious as the lesbian fanarts.

I will admit I haven't seen any OCs about gay romance. Line Webtoon has some but they usually become Tumblr level of woke or just have it as a subplot that's not really fully fleshed out so I'm not really getting the full idea or maybe that's just me.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-09T14:30:41+00:00

Indeed I do not. Most of the libertarian things I've seen online came from the Foundation for Economic Education and they aren't very clear about it. Most of the videos come off as, "You already know this so this is what it is" and the like.

I would like to discuss and ask libertarianism through the lens of an Asian trying to understand it. I understand that the rights that the West insists we have is just a commonly agreed upon tenets. It requires active enforcement for those subscribe to the ideology but what about those who do not subscribe to said ideology? What about their rights? Or do they recognize that they have rights?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-09T14:28:04+00:00

I'm Asian myself and I am not like the typical Asian that's seen in the West, you know East Asians but there is a common theme between us all in that we must respect our elders and by extension authority. I'm certain there are other ones that my culture and other Asian cultures have a similarity in.

When one says Asian, I think of the common denominator that all the Easterners have that the West would find, imo, abhorrent. A complete disregard for objective truth or the fact that many don't think there are rights that the government can take away. I do find it folly that the government can't take away rights that individuals do not believe exist.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-08T09:42:47+00:00

Both inspiring and terrifying.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-08T09:40:00+00:00

Not to be a contrarian, but just because someone perceives offense to a statement and attempts to just shut you up doesn't mean they're censor happy, right?

Like this person spoke their mind freely and someone said shut up. I don't think that constitutes a censorship issue.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-07T15:00:17+00:00

I see. Well, then that's settled. I'll see what this Frog robot thing he is making.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-07T13:05:14+00:00

I understand that many leaders of both sides intentionally leave it undefined to develop animosity towards each other.

I wish I never got into anti-SJW ideas in the first place.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-05T07:55:04+00:00

Heh, Hollywood ruining a generation is true for the US, I mean look at how Ramona Flowers was misunderstood as someone to be idolized. Shame. College being government indoctrination centers is more of a meh, I'd call it company training centers. Big pharma is true. We and everyone in my family is so scared of getting ill or whatnot. We can't afford shit already and the hospitals would probably bleed us dry. At least Jollibee isn't modified, much. Our political parties have no difference. They all have the same campaign promises. 24/7 surveillance for selling stuff. My friend has an impulsive disorder to purchase things. Ads and trackers are following her everywhere.

To be truthful, I can only see the West and a select few of Asian nations to be taking cyberscurity and internet privacy seriously. Many don't know or don't care about it, especially where I live. The older generation is more susceptible to using mobile devices and being more subject to tracking as much as the youths. A sad state of affairs really.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-05T07:49:14+00:00

Facts, I'd like that.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-04T13:58:37+00:00

This is hard to see if you're not into politics to begin with. No truer words have been spoken. I try my best to get into it but I seldom fail and it gets hard to get into anything without seeing if it is woke or not. I appreciate subtlety like those in Arcane or in the case of games, Metal Gear Solid. So yeah. This is quite the insightful answer, thank you.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-03T14:25:03+00:00

So she was just the perfect scapegoat? Doing her own thing then those "things" that were in the gaming development community decided to say that it was time to ruin all games by making them political. Did I understand it right?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-07-01T07:16:21+00:00

I'll see what I can do. As it stands now, I have two options. Either go with just the drifters or my current set of friends, who's likely very liberal but I'm not particularly close with. To be honest, I don't even know why I became friends with them because if I was the average of them I'd be a gamer and I am not.

To address your advice about me to find people with good qualities, I won't be able to find a chad in my area. My current circle though aren't bad but they're not the chads or people who'd be just like my father. Thinking about it, the only chad I know is my father but he isn't with me 24/7 and I get to see him regularly. I don't want to open up to him yet though.

Am I getting your advice right? I'm interpreting it as pick more folks like how I described my father. Do please correct me. I am in need of a shit ton of correction.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-30T12:01:45+00:00

If I can find one. I'd like to have one actually. And if I can afford it. Until then I'll take my chances with the online one. I apologize if I am quite a frustrating person to deal with.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-30T08:54:38+00:00

A pussy online, yes. I try my best to stand up for myself IRL but not really getting the opportunities to do so. And not having the high testosterone friends and acquaintances really do have a thing with you.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-30T08:52:57+00:00

I don't see how the rest of the world should see this change as political if the only ones who may have a problem with it are the ones in the more libertarian parts of the world, mainly the United States. I understand that since this term has been changed to somewhat fit the times, no, okay I will admit that this change is political but I would like to point out that this term is one of the more common ones. I'm actually surprised words like vaccine or woman gets changed but not the more fanciful words.

I have a question, should I abandon this dictionary for your principles? I mean no offense by this but I genuinely ask this question.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-29T14:22:35+00:00

Well, one was broad and the other was specific and unless you are privy to what that certain specific one then you can see this is as them shoving down one's throat. Personally, I find the old definition, the broad one much better as it isn't specific. Vaccines are just dead things to better the immune system.

Anyway, vaccine is a word I am very familiar with but I understand that having the new definition may raise some eyebrows amongst those who are in a certain region. I would like to point out that English is a lingua franca and that not many are privy to the vaccine controversy that is omnipresent in the West.

As proved by an experiment, I had with my English speaking friend. I asked them which definition they find better and they found the newer one more appealing.

I get the idea of the reply, if I may permit myself of saying so and that since the second definition that Webster changed is prolly only eyebrow raising in some areas of the world then I can say that this is not convincing enough for me to abandon it entirely. I now know that terms that are used in US daily life are being shifted, but as I am not living in the US, I use Webster's to just define terms that I have never seen before and I don't use it much this doesn't really make me wanna abandon it. Out of principle, principle of American values that I do not hold, yeah I don't think so.

Hope this argument satisfies saidit's triangle, if not please do tell me my mistakes. I will greatly appreciate. And I wish you good sir, a nice day.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-29T11:55:28+00:00

Well, he says that jokingly but with a bit of introspection, I am not really doing what the internet was meant for. Learn new things that would better my own beliefs and strengthen or change my mind. I feel that I need someone to guide my hand and spoonfeed me information that is obvious for many folks but not to me. I am usually complaining that I am offended with certain things, and I want to understand why it offended me but it keeps offending till I breakdown.

I try my best to try to understand topics of importance in the internet world. Censorship, free speech, the usual and all topics that I feel that if I don't understand it in the way that anti-SJWs understand it then I am an SJW and I don't deserve to speak my mind.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-29T08:37:23+00:00

Alright.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-29T08:36:27+00:00

Very. My brother said I don't belong there but I try.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T19:01:58+00:00

I see. Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T14:06:49+00:00

Very much so. I just started reddit 4 years ago and I already hate it. I got introduced to 4chan at the same time but went to reddit more. Had my most significant breakdown so far cause of reddit.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T14:03:19+00:00

I hope to get unretarded one day

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T14:02:18+00:00

If you do look up AoA, start with the Legion Quest storyline, it sets up the entire AoA timeline. Will do. Thanks for the recommendation.

Scraped out the dankest pits of Tumblr, I suspect, based on some of the shit they put out. Yeah, can't argue with that. I used to browse Pinterest and I thought Tumblr was the shit. I was mistaken but there are some genuinely creative things there and I am saddened that these execs and editors just didn't get them.

Anyway, past is past. Thanks for the recommendations again. Good day!!!

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T13:58:56+00:00

Who?

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T13:58:37+00:00

Much lore to see. Thanks.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T13:57:15+00:00

Thanks. It's a double edged sword for me.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T13:55:41+00:00

amogus

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-28T13:53:47+00:00

Same. I am also seeing the benefit of 4chan these days. Glad to be aboard.

RichardsonDavis · 2022-06-27T16:11:15+00:00

Linkin Park is awesome, they were until the 2014 album onwards. If it implies that listening to Linkin Park in current era is indicative of a person being an emo frick then yeah, I can understand your reaction.

RichardsonDavis