I Can do the Research For You

ok, I don't need anything researched right now but can I just say @"Aloe Vera" THANK YOU

YOU'RE WELCOME its actually super fun uwu

Can you do some research on the Italian Mafia?

This particular post gets mildly graphic [crime]. Discretion is suggested
I think you mean vampir-yeah I'd love to

The Mafia began as an extralegal force in the 19th century, coinciding with Sicily's transition from feudalism to capitalism. Under feudalism, the nobility owned most of the land and enforced the law through their private armies. After 1812, the feudal barons steadily sold off or rented their lands to private citizens. In countryside towns that lacked formal constabulary, local elites responded to banditry by recruiting young men into "companies-at-arms" to hunt down thieves and negotiate the return of stolen property, in exchange for a pardon for the thieves and a fee from the victims.
The early Mafia was heavily involved with citrus growers and cattle ranchers, as these industries were particularly vulnerable to thieves and vandals and thus badly needed protection. The Mafia was often more effective than the police at recovering stolen cattle; in the 1920s, it was noted that the Mafia's success rate at recovering stolen cattle was 95%, whereas the police managed only 10%. In 1925, Benito Mussolini initiated a campaign to destroy the Mafia and assert Fascist control over Sicilian life. The Mafia threatened and undermined his power in Sicily, and a successful campaign would strengthen him as the new leader, legitimizing and empowering his rule. The changing economic landscape of Sicily shifted the Mafia's power base from rural to the urban areas.
The 1950s saw the Mafia heavily penetrate the construction and cement industries. The cement business was appealing to the Mafia because it allows high levels of local economic involvement and is a good front for illegitimate operations.
The First Mafia War was the first high-profile conflict between Mafia clans in post-war Italy (the Sicilian Mafia has a long history of violent rivalries). In 1962, mafia boss Cesare Manzella organized a drug shipment to America with the help of two Sicilian clans, the Grecos and the La Barberas. Manzella entrusted another boss Calcedonio Di Pisa to handle the heroin. The 1950s and 1960s were difficult times for the mafia, but in the 1970s their rackets grew considerably more lucrative, particularly smuggling. The most lucrative racket of the 1970s was cigarette smuggling. Sicilian and Neapolitan crime bosses negotiated a joint monopoly over the smuggling of cigarettes to Naples. In the early 1970s, Luciano Leggio was boss of the Corleonesi clan and a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission, and he forged a coalition of mafia clans known as the Corleonesi with himself as its leader. He initiated a campaign to dominate Cosa Nostra and its narcotics trade.
In the early 1980s, magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino began a campaign against Cosa Nostra. Their big break came with the arrest of Tommaso Buscetta, a mafioso who chose to turn informant in exchange for protection from the Corleonesi, who had already murdered many of his friends and relatives. Other mafiosi followed his example.
Falcone and Borsellino compiled their testimonies and organized the Maxi Trial which lasted from February 1986 to December 1987. It was held in a fortified courthouse specially built for the occasion. 474 mafiosi were put on trial, of whom 342 were convicted. In January 1992, the Italian Supreme Court confirmed these convictions. The Mafia retaliated violently. In 1988, they murdered a Palermo judge and his son; three years later, a prosecutor and an anti-mafia businessman were also murdered. The Catholic Church openly condemned the Mafia, and two churches were bombed and an anti-Mafia priest shot dead in Rome.
Under Bernardo Provenzano's leadership, murders of state officials were halted. He also halted the policy of murdering informants and their families, with a view instead to getting them to retract their testimonies and return to the fold. By the late 1990s, the weakened Cosa Nostra had to yield most of the illegal drug trade to the 'Ndrangheta crime organization from Calabria. In 2006, the 'Ndrangheta was estimated to control 80 percent of the cocaine imported to Europe. In 2012, it was reported that the Mafia had joined forces with the Mexican drug cartels.
In 2015, the Mafia Capitale investigation revealed that the Mafia profits from the European migrant crisis and exploits refugees. In November 2007, Sicilian police reported discovery of a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, thought to be guidelines on good, respectful, and honourable conduct for a mafioso.

1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected. (probably refers to formal rank and authority.)[150]
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

I hope this helps it,,, is a lso a lot,,,

Thanks!
I technically have family in the mafia…

heyo, would you mind researching the whole 'pressure points fighting' myth for me? i'm trying to write a character who's good at that stuff, but i don't want it to be all that unrealistic… mainly, is it possible to knock someone out through hitting a pressure point right, and/or temporarily immobilize someone through continuous pressure to a pressure point? it'd be appreciated!

This particular post gets mildly graphic [martial arts]. Discretion is suggested.

To knock someone out with pressure points:
To begin, pressure points are very specific. It's a rule of thumb in fighting that aiming for such small pressure points is almost a risk because of the focus, force, and speed required to hit them, and if you miss, you risk hurting your own finger. Additionally, straight up paralyzing someone (at least for a long period of time) using pressure points did not have very much support from the same people that explained how to knock someone out through pressure points. That being said, here are the pressure points.

Front of body

1. Under the crown of the forehead, directly above between the eyes. The origin of the nose bone. Hard to strike safely, as the crown is the hardest part of the body and people instinctively defend there. But a hardened knuckle straight punch or thrusting elbow can stun or render someone unconscious and blind (if you cause the shockwave to the optic nerve).
2. Directly between the eyes, some people’s noses bridge there. Disorientation and possible unconsciousness can result. Also not easy to strike.
3. The peak of the nose, breaking it is stunning and painful and distracting in the extreme.
4. The canthip. There’s seam in the upper jaw there tied to a nerve and your teeth. Pain deterrence extreme. Be careful - you can cut your fist to the bone if you do it wrong or something goes sideways.
5. The mirror point to that, on the lower jaw. Same effect.
6. The part of the jaw where some people have a cleft. Uppercut or palm strike. Unconsciousness. A cross or hook to the side of the jaw is a classic knockout as well.
7. Center of the throat - good night.
8. Xiphoid process, with the thumb or a straight hard punch. Once broken, breathing becomes difficult and painful until it’s repaired. Break it too hard and organ damage occurs.
9. Solar Plexus, knocks the wind out and possibly turns the lights out too.
10. Diaphragm, again, breathing. Good for 10 seconds to 10 minutes depending on the fitness of the target, your strength and focus.
11. Intestines. Kick. Pain, nausea and inability to walk. Plus they will very likely shit themselves.
12. Groin
13. Inside of the knee
14. Shins
15. Bridge of the foot, toes.

Back of body

1. Base of the skull, instant knockout.
2. Center of the neck, knockout and possibly death.
3. Between the shoulderblades, horrible pain.
4. Small of the back, horrible pain, paralysis.
5. Base of the spine, horrible pain, possible death by poisoning.
6. Back of the knee, folds them down into a kneeling or laying down position.

I also found someone who went into specifics on pressure points in the neck, so here is that!

1. Vagal inhibition
   The vagus nerve travels in the carotid sinus on both sides of the neck, and its function is to slow the heart rate by acting as an emergency brake on speed increase caused by other factors be they chemical or electrical. The nerve is the conduit for the aortal baroreceptor. Vagal inhibition is the term used for traumatic interference with the two nerve pathways, leading to a drastic slowdown (or brief, or permanent, stoppage) of the heart. It is one of the primary causes of unconsciousness and finally death in hanging or chokeholds. It can be achieved by any forceful direct trauma by a hard blow or by chokeholds
2. C-spine impact trauma
   The spine in the neck area is vulnerable to impact trauma, and even a relatively minor impact can cause loss of consciousness. There are two particularly vulnerable points to breakage, C2 and C7, though the whole area is vulnerable to disruption.
   C2 fractures are called 'the hangman's fracture' and a C7 is the 'swordsman's fracture'. C2 breaks in hanging and C7 is where Japanese schools of swordsmanship teach the application of the coup de grace. Even a light blow to the back of the neck will show you how vulnerable this area is. C1 or atlas disruption by point impact trauma is an easy KO or worse. Another example of pinpoint accuracy required.
3. Arterial flow interruption
   The carotid arteries provide the blood supply for the brain. If they are blocked by pressure or receive an impact that causes a flow pulse, unconsciousness is likely to result. There are multiple methods taught to achieve this result.
4. Venous flow interruption
   The blood, having enriched the brain, must drain away. If the blood flow back down is blocked, the pressure buildup results in unconsciousness. The jugular veins - external and internal (within the carotid sinus) - are therefore a target for various types of pressure trauma.
5. Impact to the carotid baroreceptor
   A sensitive area at the lower neck. An impact at the right place can cause unconsciousness.
6. Tracheal impact
   The windpipe, at the front of the throat, is a tube of connective tissue reinforced by rings of cartilage. It is sensitive to pain, and a hard blow of a point impact nature can cause such intense pain that it is for all practical purposes equivalent to unconsciousness, since the recipient is paralysed. In this way it is equivalent to impacts to the testicles and liver, which are all about the same on the pain scale. Note that an effective blow to any of these points on the body is far more painful than a blow to the head. To cause the most excruciating pain, an experienced person would not hit an opponent in the head as there are better targets.
7. Blows to the base of the cerebellum
   The skull projects downward at the side of the neck and can be struck, we know this was a favourite KO shot for ancient Greek boxers 2,000 years ago.

Another thing to note, this is an incomplete list.

thank you so much! this definitely helps me out!

Glad I could help!

Could you tell me more about the inner-workings of the Irish Mafia in the 90s? I know they were less organized then the Italians and considered more of a prison gang in comparison but that's about it.

Thanks in advance.

sO SORRY FOR THE DELAY i have no excuses i've been playing minecraft

This particular post gets mildly graphic. [Crime] Discretion is suggested

To start, they were actually more present in the US, and didn't make much of an appearance in Ireland until the 1960's
Anyway in the 90's
Veronica Guerin was a reporter who wrote a series of articles in the early 1990s, reporting on multiple members of the Irish mob such as John Traynor, Gerry Hutch and John Gilligan. This led to Guerin surviving multiple murder attempts. On the outskirts of Dublin on the N7, she was killed by Bryan Meehan, Peter Mitchell, Seamus Ward, and Charles Bowden, all members of Gilligan's crime syndicate. As a result of her murder, the Criminal Assets Bureau was formed in Ireland.

With 400 subsequent arrests, this led to the end of Gilligan's mob. But once again this led to factions hoping to replace the leader. This included George Mitchell, Christy Kinahan and John Cunningham, often dealing with their finance overseas, in order to avoid the Criminal Assets Bureau. These events would later be depicted in the 2003 Irish film Veronica Guerin.
During the 1990s Keane's were considered the most powerful crime family in Limerick. The Keane's turf was mainly Saint Mary's Park. They had a neighborhood allies being the Collopys (including Brian Collopy and Phillip Collopy). They'd also hire a violent hitman named Eddie Ryan, to be an enforcer. In the late nineties the drug-trade would have two major mobs. These being The Keane-Collopy (led by Christy Keane and younger violent brother Kieran Keane) and The Ryans (led by Eddie Ryan). There was a dispute between these two factions, and at one stage Eddie Ryan tried to kill Christy Keane, but his gun jammed. With motivations of revenge the Keanes executed Ryan. This would be considered a catalyst in the Limerick Feud. This led to war between the Ryans and Keanes, and eventually McCarthy-Dundon.

Another crime family would appear on the sideline, after Wayne Dundon came back from Hackney, England (as he was deported back to his home country). Wayne would form the McCarthy-Dundon gang which involved his brothers; John Dundon, Ger Dundon and Dessie Dundon. Along with their cousins the McCarthy family. At first they would pose as allies to both The Ryans and Keane-Collopy. But in the background, schemed their own plans to defeat the two gangs. Eventually they would make their move and kill Kearan Keane (one of the bosses of the Keane-Collopy) in 2003. This would result in the demise of the Keane-Collopy's reign. And to be replaced by McCarthy-Dundon. However many murders between the factions would occur, roughly 20 killed and 100 arrested (in relation to the feud).

I need some help with deforestation.
Could you tell me: How much of the rainforest should be allowed to be cut down? What role do rainforests have in the cycling of matter and energy through photosynthesis? What is resource availability for plants and animals in the rainforest?

How much of the rainforest should be allowed to be cut down?
Everything I'm looking up seems to just say "none of it" or the general idea of that, but I finally found someone that said, "No more trees should be cut down than trees being planted; basically, for every tree that is cut down, at LEAST one other tree should be planted." This will help maintain the balance and avoid the problem of destroying biomes and pollution in forests, or what's left of them.

What role do rainforests have in the cycling of matter and energy through photosynthesis?
By absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing the oxygen that we depend on for our survival. The absorption of this CO2 also helps to stabilize the Earth's climate.
Rainforests also help to maintain the world's water cycle by adding water to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration which creates clouds. Water generated in rainforests travel around the world; scientists think that moisture generated in the forests of Africa ends up falling as rain in the Americas.

What is resource availability for plants and animals in the rainforest?
All of the rain forest plants work to provide food and shelter for rain forest animals as well as convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.

This might have been less than what you asked for but it was weirdly difficult to find an answer to what you're asking but it was fun I saw pictures of cute monkeys !!

just a quick one: if, theoretically, a person grabbed a machete by the blade when the machete was totally still, then shoved it away from himself, could the machete slice through his hand while he kept a grip on it? i'm thinking no because of the bone, and that you would need more momentum to slice a hand off, but i'm not entirely certain and since it's so specific it's hard to find anything…

This particular post gets fairly graphic [involves blades and it's sharpness to a human]. Discretion is advised.

Going from what I've seen, no.
Not only would you need more momentum, you'd need plenty of strength and force.
Even pineapple harvesters use a "hopped up version" of Machete to harvest fruits. The machete was first made from Jeep springs, about 4 inches wide and about 3/8 inches thick. the steel used in jeep springs at first was the heavy duty heat treated tough stuff and about 28 inches long with 4 inches used for the handle leaving 24 inches as the blade and only about 3/8 inches on both sides as the bevel leaving a 45 degree angle. That angle is easy enough to achieve and still be able to hack through wood and brush but it isn't that good as a weapon against something like a "water buffalo" or another man,..truth be told, if you are strong enough to swing it at another person and hit someone with it, you'll most likely knock them down and mangle them or break a bone simply due to the weight of the blade. you would need an angle closer to about 9 degrees to really slice through flesh.

Grabbing a machete, even gripping it tightly, would not slice through the hand. Granted, it might cause a cut or two, especially enough to make it bleed, but I don't think gripping a still machete and shoving it away from you would even help the blade make it through the muscle.

Could you tell me:
What are some of the most common concerns associated with genetically modified crops?
What are governmental policies associated with farming practices?
I'm super sorry about all the science questions, I have a character who's a scientist and I want the info to be right.

Common Concerns
First, if GM crops cross-breed with wild relatives, the foreign transgenes could “contaminate” the natural ecosystem. For example, pollen from Bt-corn has been known to fertilize non-Bt crops. Such genetic contamination can pose problems for certified producers of organic produce, as well as certain U.S. trading partners.
Second, some ecologists have warned about the harmful effects of Bt corn on non-target insects, such as Monarch butterflies that feed on wild milkweed growing near cornfields. To date, these fears have not materialized. However, research over a longer time period is needed.
Critics of biopharming have noted because plants process proteins differently than animals or humans, the body might recognize a “human” protein produced in plants as foreign, triggering an allergic reaction. Opponents have also warned that GM crops containing transgenes for bioactive or toxic substances could contaminate the human food supply through the dispersal of seeds or pollen. Pollen spreads on the wind, and seeds can be carried long distances by birds or animals, farm equipment, and trucks transporting grain. “Volunteers,” or unharvested seeds that sprout in a field the next year, are also difficult to control.6 For these reasons, a 2004 report by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that containing transgenes coding for pharmaceuticals and other foreign proteins is virtually impossible.
Pharma crops also pose potential risks to useful insects (such as honeybees) that consume their pollen, and to wildlife that eat corn and other engineered crops, particularly as scientists modify such plants to produce drugs and chemicals in higher concentrations.

Government Policies
Regulation of GM crops in the United States is divided among three regulatory agencies: the Environmental Projection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Each of these agencies regulates transgenic crops from a different perspective.

EPA regulates biopesticides, including Bt toxins, under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). If a crop is genetically engineered to carry a gene for a Bt toxin, EPA requires the developer to verify that the toxin is safe for the environment and conduct a food-safety analysis to ensure that the foreign protein is not allergenic.
FDA is responsible for regulating the safety of GM crops that are eaten by humans or animals. According to a policy established in 1992, FDA considers most GM crops as “substantially equivalent” to non-GM crops. In such cases, GM crops are designated as “Generally Recognized as Safe” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and do not require pre-market approval. If, however, the insertion of a transgene into a food crop results in the expression of foreign proteins that differ significantly in structure, function, or quality from natural plant proteins and are potentially harmful to human health, FDA reserves the authority to apply more stringent provisions of FFDCA requiring the mandatory pre-market approval of food additives, whether or not they are the products of biotechnology.

In 1997, FDA established a voluntary consultation process with GM crop developers to review the determination of “substantial equivalence” before the crop is marketed, such as assessing the toxicity and allergenicity of the gene product and the plant itself. If the data in the food-safety assessment are satisfactory, FDA notifies the developer that marketing of the crop may proceed.
Critics have raised questions about whether this voluntary consultation process provides adequate assurance that GM crops are safe. In particular, the use of food crops like corn for the production of non-food products, such as pharmaceuticals, does not fall under FDA’s authority unless the gene product ends up contaminating a food crop, at which time the crop is considered adulterated and must be recalled. Because of this gap in regulatory authority, FDA may not perform appropriate oversight until it is too late.
In 2004, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation that would have required any product grown in a food crop to receive pre-market approval, whether or not it was intended to be eaten. Thus, before any pharmaceutical was produced in a food crop, FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition would conduct a food-safety analysis to ensure that accidental human exposure to the drug through the food supply will not cause health risks.

Hope this helped! Also no need to apologize, I'm learning new things by looking this up so that's always a benefit for me lol

(Is it ok if I add on to this?)

Hell yeah ! The more info they get, the better, thanks!

Thank you so much!

Of course!

I have a project in Health where I have to make a slideshow on autism and I have very limited knowledge on it, could you help me out? I just don't want to make a mistake since I know it's a super sensitive topic for some people.

This is actually going to be super helpful for me because I've been wanting to write an autistic character but I want it to be more accurate than how media might portray them. This oughta push me to do more research lol so thank you!

However, you're right it's a large and sensitive topic, so I might need to ask for specifics. What exactly would you like to know? General facts, maybe the thought process of people with autism, maybe the media's portrayals debunked, or something to that effect…?