#presidential candidate missing wife

[just-something-4-me]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTREquFuS/

Help her? She needs to hear from her wife!

[oneofthefewfightingformyself]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTREquFuS/

Help her out? She needs to get in touch with her wife!

[transgenderer]

Peanut was an eastern gray squirrel found and rescued in 2017 by Mark Longo after the squirrel's mother was killed by a car in New York City. Longo sought a shelter for Peanut but was unsuccessful, and he bottle-fed the squirrel for the next eight months before deciding that Peanut should be returned to the wild. Longo released the animal into his backyard, but about a day later, he found Peanut on his porch with half of its tail missing. Longo said he "opened the door, [Peanut] ran inside, and that was the last of Peanut's wildlife career." It is illegal to keep squirrels as pets in the state of New York, and in the seven years spent in Longo's care in his hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut, no license was obtained to legally keep Peanut. Longo has stated that he was in the process of filing paperwork to have Peanut certified as an educational animal at the time of the seizure, however, he has not explained why he did not pursue a license in the preceding seven years.

While in his care, Longo created an Instagram account sharing videos of Peanut, and by October 2024 the account had amassed 534,000 followers. Peanut's social media following also helped steer viewers to Longo's OnlyFans account, where he called himself "Peanut's dad" and produced pornography, drawing in $800,000 over one month. In April 2023, Longo and his wife moved from Norwalk to upstate New York to found the P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary. They contributed to half of the sanctuary's expenses, most of which was raised through Peanut's social media presence. According to them, the sanctuary had rescued over 300 animals by November 2024, however, Longo was not licensed as a wildlife rehabilitator.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) began investigating Mark Longo in January 2024 after complaints were received alleging that Longo was keeping wildlife illegally. In an interview with the New York Post, Longo speculated that the anonymous complaints were motivated by jealousy due to the success of his OnlyFans account.

On October 30, 2024, the NYSDEC took Peanut, along with a pet raccoon named Fred, from Longo's home in Pine City, New York. Two days later, government officials alleged that after his seizure, Peanut had bitten one of the personnel involved, and the pets were euthanized to test for rabies, as there are no ante-mortem rabies testing methods for animals approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Longo stated that the decision to euthanize the squirrel "won't go unheard". The incident has been widely criticized as an example of excessive government intrusion into personal lives and pet ownership rights. Longo claimed that the NYSDEC used excessive force during the raid, which, according to Longo, lasted five hours.

Peanut's death triggered widespread public backlash, social media outcry, condemnation from several lawmakers, and a proposed bill aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future.

The death of Peanut was used as a cause célèbre by the MAGA movement, who blamed it on Democrats. Several prominent Republican figures complained about the killing of the squirrel, with some Trump campaign supporters claiming that the Biden-Harris administration was too firm regarding licenses for owning wild animals like squirrels as pets. Both New York governor Kathy Hochul and Vice President Kamala Harris turned down a request to comment on the incident. The Republican vice presidential candidate of the 2024 U.S. election, JD Vance, posted on X that "Don is fired up about P'Nut the squirrel"; the official Trump campaign TikTok account also condemned Peanut's death. Nick Langworthy stated his irritation with the NYS DEC, saying that "instead of focusing on critical needs like flood mitigation in places like Steuben County, where local officials have to struggle just to get permits from the DEC to clear debris-filled waterways, they're out seizing pet squirrels." Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo of the Democratic Party also criticized the DEC, as did actor William Shatner. On X (Twitter), Elon Musk commented that "Government overreach kidnapped an orphan squirrel and executed him."

Jake Blumencranz, a NYS Assemblyman from Long Island's 15th Assembly District, has proposed a bill called "Peanut's Law: Humane Animal Protection Act", an amendment to the New York State Environmental Conservation Law limiting government animal seizures

Really an incredible tale

[https-hunter]

How I think characters from ghosts would vote in the US 2024 presidential election

- Sam & Jay vote for Kamala. They, along with June and Ally, are the only ones in the neighborhood to do so

- Alberta is 100% for Kamala. She loves the Jamaican rep and uses her TV time on interviews with her

- Hetty is still appalled by the fact that Sam *can* vote, but she has long-standing beef with the Trump family and she’s in her feminist era so she approves of Kamala (though it takes her a second and a *very* long conversation with Alberta to get there)

- Pete loves Tim Walz. Enough said

- Thorfinn doesn’t believe in democracy, so he really doesn’t care. Whoever’s not Danish has his vote

- Flower is for Kamala for obvious reasons, but she also remembers meeting a very snobby young adult Trump in New York in the 60s. She would somehow accidentally vote for Patience, the worm, though

- Isaac is thrilled every time an election rolls around. Watches every debate and televised rally. Hosts his own stump speeches to weigh the options out. He thinks anyone who votes red is for the redcoats and tries to get everyone to vote blue for the patriots. Though, when it comes down to it, he would write his name on the ballot if he could

- Sasappis doesn’t really care (since he can’t vote, because, dead) and often points out how flawed each candidate is. He would quietly vote for Kamala and watch the election drama unfold in the house

- Trevor initially remembers Trump as being cool in the 90s, but the second Sam catches him up to speed, he switches. He ends up voting somehow on the ipad & sells political merch for stocks

- Nigel is just annoyed by the "yankee" antics. And that the British elections don’t reach America. So Sam makes him some tea & promises to tell him when the UK elections are and he feels better

- Jenkins & Baxter literally have no clue what’s going on until Carol tells them. Carol strikes me as a Trumper

- Stephanie wouldn’t be old enough to vote. She would turn everyone against each other by telling them that someone in the house is against their vote, when, in fact, they’re not and go back to sleep before the results are even out

- Crash is missing for the entirety of the election

- Elias would vote for Trump and sends campaign emails out of Hell

- Patience thinks the election process is sinful and just prays the entire time

- Nancy & Stuart get into a fight & divide the cholera ghosts. They don’t even know who’s running

- Mark & his wife vote for Kamala. They're the only ones that are pretty normal about all this

- The Farnsbys own MAGA merch and donate to Trump’s campaign. They don’t understand the voting technology and just don’t vote. They play pickleball instead

- Randy (yes, the pickle guy) is surprisingly voting for Kamala. His pickle business wasn’t doing well under Trump and he blames the government for it. He also hears Jay is voting for her and he *has* to support his best friend

[tomorrowusa]

Republican Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota is on the short list of Trump's running mates for 2024. She is a Trump sycophant who once commissioned a replica of Mt. Rushmore featuring an image of Trump on it next to Lincoln.

Noem thinks nothing about shooting dogs. Maybe she feels that writing about it would impress the Orange One.

One of the candidates in the running to be Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President has admitted that she once shot a pet puppy that she “hated”. [ ... ]

Ms Noem, the Governor of South Dakota is seen as a leading contender to be Mr Trump’s running mate for the November presidential election. Her revelations about killing animals sparked outrage on Friday, with some describing her as “sick and twisted” and “trash”. Her anecdotes appear in her new book No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward – which will be published in the US next month. A copy has been obtained ahead of time by The Guardian. [ ... ] The governor describes how she took the puppy on a pheasant hunt with other dogs to teach her how to behave. However, she said the animal went “out of her mind with excitement” and scared off the birds.

Her abuse of domestic animals is not limited to dogs. She also shot a goat – just because she could.

Ms Noem then recalls deciding to kill a “nasty and mean” male goat also owned by the family. She describes the uncastrated animal as smelling “disgusting, musky, rancid” and frequently chasing her children and “knocking them down”. She says she missed the first time she fired and had to return to her truck to retrieve another round of ammunition in order to finish the job. A construction crew reportedly witnessed her shoot both animals.

Donald Trump hates dogs and animals in general. He has an irrational fear of sharks. A joint sequel of Cujo and Sharknado set at Mar-a-Lago would be perfect.

This is from early 2020 – when he was busy botching the response to COVID-19.

Donald Trump hates dogs. Here's what that tells us about him

In Trump’s tiny mind, dogs are venal, treacherous creatures. Vanity Fair suggested, “To the president, dogs are capable of many things, none of which are particularly dog-like. Begging for money, for example. Getting dumped. Feeling ungrateful... Trump never compared anything to a dog that draws on how the animal famously is. It’s never ‘He’s loyal like a dog’... The creatures have never done much good in the Trumpian universe.” “Donald was not a dog fan,” ex-wife Ivana confirmed in her memoir Raising Trump, recalling his hostility to her poodle, Chappy, who would “bark at him territorially”. Ivana never understood Trump’s hostility to dogs. “How can you not love a dog that acts like he’s won the lottery for life just because he sees you walk through the door?” she wondered.

Dogs can easily smell a phony, and Trump gives them a lot to smell at.

Trump frequently uses "dog" as an insult and comedian Matt Friend has picked up on that.

So a Trump-Noem 2024 GOP ticket is something that dogs and their friends should snarl at.

[jessiebites]

THE MOODBOARD MEME : @historiavn sent — 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 your muse's family. jessie's the daughter of the governor of tennessee & future presidential candidate aaron tucker and his wife jeanie. she has an older brother named woodrow "woody" and spent most of her childhood faking smiles in front of a camera and getting mistreated behind it. jessie ran away at about twenty, and is deemed a missing persons despite her parents knowing that she left on purpose.

[hapful1]

The ACTUAL Epstein list:

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking in connection to Epstein’s activities

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Brother of King Charles III

Bill Clinton, former US president

Donald Trump, businessman and former US president

Hillary Clinton, former first lady to Bill Clinton, US secretary of state under Barack Obama, and US presidential candidate

David Copperfield, American stage magician

John Connelly, New York police detective turned investigative journalist who investigated Epstein

Alan Dershowitz, prolific lawyer and media pundit who represented Epstein in 2006

Leonardo DiCaprio, actor and film producer famous for his roles in Titanic and Inception

Al Gore, former US vice president under Bill Clinton

Richard Branson, British billionaire and business magnate, founder of the Virgin Group

Stephen Hawking, British physicist and science author

Ehud Barak, former Israeli prime minister

Michael Jackson, famed musician known as the “King of Pop”

Marvin Minksy, artificial intelligence pioneer

Kevin Spacey, actor known for his roles in Se7en and House of Cards, found not guilty of sexual assault in 2023

George Lucas, American film director and creator of the Star Wars saga

Jean Luc Brunel, French model agency boss and alleged Epstein co-conspirator who died in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial

Cate Blanchett, Australian actor who starred in The Lord of the Rings and Tár

Naomi Campbell, British model

Heidi Klum, German-US model

Sharon Churcher, British journalist

Bruce Willis, actor famous for his roles in Die Hard and The Sixth Sense

Bianca Jagger, activist and wife of The Rolling Stones frontman, Sir Mick Jagger

Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico

Cameron Diaz, actor who starred in Shrek and There’s Something About Mary

Glenn Dubin, an American hedge fund manager who was allegedly friends with Epstein

Eva Andersson-Dubin, former Miss Sweden and wife of Glenn Dubin, who once dated Epstein

Noam Chomsky, linguist and political philosopher

Tom Pritzker, American tycoon and philanthropist

Chris Tucker, American comedian and actor known for his role in the Rush Hour films

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew

Robert F Kennedy Jr, American politician and conspiracy theorist

James Michael Austrich

Juan and Maria Alessi, husband and wife working at Epstein’s home in Florida

Janusz Banasiak, served as Epstein’s Palm Beach house manager

Bella Klein or Klen (documents differ), a former accountant in Epstein’s New York office

Leslie or Lesley Groff (documents differ), Epstein’s former secretary, who was named as a co-conspirator in his 2008 plea deal but reportedly will not be charged

Victoria Bean

Rebecca Boylan

Dana Burns

Ron Eppinger, sex trafficker

Daniel Estes

Annie Farmer, accused Epstein of sexual assault

Maria Farmer, Annie Farmer’s sister, who also accused Epstein of sexual assault

Anouska De Georgiou, a model who accused Epstein of rape

Louis Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Frédéric Fekkai, celebrity hairstylist

Alexandra Fekkai, son of celebrity hairstylist

Jo Jo Fontanella, Epstein’s butler

Doug Band, longtime Bill Clinton aide who says he urged Mr Clinton to cut ties with Epstein

Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault

Lynn Miller, mother of Virginia Giuffre

Crystal Figueroa, sister of Anthony Figueroa, who dated Virginia Giuffre in the early 2000s

Anthony Figueroa, Virginia Robert’s former boyfriend

Eric Gany

Meg Garvin, represented Virginia Giuffre

Sheridan Gibson-Butte,

Ross Gow, Maxwell’s press agent

Fred Graff

Robert Giuffre

Philip Guderyon

Alexandra Hall

Joanna Harrison

Shannon Harrison

Victoria Hazel

Brittany Henderson

Brett Jaffe

Forest Jones

Sarah Kellen, Epstein’s former assistant, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in his 2008 plea deal

Adriana Ross, Epstein’s former assistant, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in his 2008 plea deal

Carol Kess

Dr Steven Olson

Stephen Kaufmann

Wendy Leigh, author

Peter Listerman

Tom Lyons

Nadia Marcinkova, alleged friend of Epstein’s, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in his 2008 plea deal

Bob Meister

Jamie Melanson

Donald Morrell

David Mullen

David Norr

Joe Pagano

May Paluga

Stanley Pottinger

Detective Joe Recarey, former Palm Beach police officer who investigated reports of sexual abuse against children by Epstein

Chief Michael Reiter, responsible for investigation of sexual abuse against children by Epstein

Rinaldo and Debra Rizzo, husband and wife who worked for Epstein’s alleged friend Glenn Dubin

Sky Roberts

Kimblerley Roberts

Lynn Roberts

Haley Robson, named as a “teen recruiter” for Epstein in police documents

Dave Rodgers, private jet pilot for Epstein

Alfredo Rodriquez, butler at Epstein’s Florida home

Scott Rothinson

Forest Sawyer

Dough Schoetlle,investigator

Johanna Sjoberg, claims she was sexually abused while underage by Epstein. Also claimed Prince Andrew touched her breast

Cecilia Stein

Marianne Strong

Mark Tafoya

Emmy Taylor, Maxwell’s ex-personal assistant

Brent Tindall

Kevin Thompson

Ed Tuttle

Les Wexner, founder of L Brands and a former business partner of Epstein

Abigail Wexner, wife of Les Wexner

Cresenda Valdes

Emma Vaghan

Anthony Valladares

Christina Venero, licensed massage therapist

Maritza Vazquez

Vicky Ward, investigative journalist and author who claims she was blocked from covering Epstein’s misdeeds while working at Vanity Fair

Jarred Weisfield

Sharon White

Courtney Wild

Daniel Wilson

Mark Zeff, New York decorator

Kelly Spamm, unknown person listed as flying on Epstein’s private jet

Alexandra Dixon, unknown person listed in Epstein’s ‘little black book’

Alfredo Rodriguez, Epstein’s former household manager, jailed in 2012 for hiding and trying to sell Epstein’s ‘black book’

Ricardo Legorreta, Mexican designer listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet

Dr Chris Donahue, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre, included on a list of all her previous medical providers requested by Maxwell’s defence team

Dr Wah Wah, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Judith Lightfoot, psychologist who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Karen Kutikoff, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Carol Hayek, psychiatrist who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr John Harris, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Darshanee Majaliyana, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr John Harris, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Mona Devansean, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Scott Robert Geiger, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Dr Michele Streeter, physician who treated Virginia Giuffre

Donna Oliver, physician assistant who treated Virginia Giuffre

Being named in these documents does not indicate any wrongdoing related to Epstein or anyone else. The list includes many of Epstein’s accusers and alleged victims, as well as people with only tangential connections to Epstein who were pulled into the lawsuit against Maxwell.

Source

Feel free to correct me if the list is wrong or needs updating.

Here is your pedophile lineup for 2024 is one of your favorites on here ?

[igettalk]

Video: Trump Slams "White Dudes for Harris", Says Their Wives & Wives Boyfriends Are Voting For Him As He Made Jokes On Al Smith Dinner

Trump mocked a pro-Kamala group called "White Dudes for Harris" when he said he was not bothered about them in the forth-coming election because their wives and their wife's lovers will vote for him. He made the comment during his speech at the Al Smith dinner in New York on Thursday night. The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is a charity fundraising event organized by the Catholic Church every four years shortly before the poll date, where presidential candidates are invited to ease the election fever by throwing light jokes at each other. Video below: https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1847097389850742948?t=DdUN2nEvXxBgpNV6cU-pCA&s=19 While VP Kamala Harris said she would miss the event, Trump came prepared with an arsenal of jabs at the Democratic candidate. This year's event was anchored by comedian Jim Gaffigan and had many top office headers in attendance. Trump caught some cruise with Harris's absence, saying he had looked forward to the event to hear some of her beautiful and crazy laughs. He then added that the VP would have made it if the foundation had said the money raised would be used to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis. It was not only Harris who got swiped by Trump, the former president made a joke about Chuck Schumer becoming a transgender and becoming America's first female president stemming from the Democrats promoting LGBT and trans movement. "If Kamala loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president,” Trump said, as he urged the Senate Majority Leader to look at the brighter side. Read the full article

[mightyflamethrower]

About half of America sympathizes with Ukraine’s plight and wishes to arm it.

After all, Kyiv was attacked preemptively by Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, in an effort to decapitate its government and turn the country into a Russian satellite, perhaps similar to the status of a Belarus or Chechnya.

The heroic ability of the Ukrainians to save Kyiv and to stop the Russian assault beyond the occupied Donbas and Crimea has hinged on Western weapons deliveries, specifically from European NATO countries and, to a far greater extent, the United States.

But now, after a reported 1 million combined dead, wounded, or missing Ukrainians and Russians (the actual figure is probably far higher), the war remains deadlocked with no end in sight.

Putin serially threatens to break the static front with tactical nuclear weapons. The Europeans are tiring. And no one in the United States has come up with a strategy to push back the Russians from either their February 2022 demarcation points or their post-2014 occupation of Ukrainian borderlands.

The result is a lot of disconnects, paradoxes, and mysteries about the war, the Biden administration’s role in it, and the general geostrategic landscape surrounding the conflict.

Ukrainian Election Interference?

Americans are demonized by the Uniparty elites for having doubts about their blank-check support for Ukraine. And while the American people are mostly anti-Putin, they are not always pro-Ukraine.

But why is that so?

For one, we know that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.

Even leftwing Politico reported that Ukrainians in the U.S. gathered opposition research on Trump campaign officials and passed it to the Clinton campaign and thus likely her appendages in government.

In August 2016, at the height of that Trump-Clinton presidential race, Ukrainian ambassador Valeriy Chaly himself wrote an op-ed in the Hill attacking then-candidate Donald Trump for his comments about Crimea.

Ukrainian expatriate and U.S. citizen Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was the catalyst and likely source behind the “whistleblower’s” allegations that led to the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Yet in retrospect, given subsequent disclosures about the Biden family‘s quid pro quo enrichment, Trump likely had reason to worry about feeding the ongoing Biden family Burisma corruption and collusion with Ukrainian oligarchs.

Via Hunter and Joe Biden, the Bidens really were receiving money from Ukraine in exchange for selling their influence. Joe Biden really did leverage $1 billion in congressionally approved U.S. military assistance to Ukraine. He thereby sought to have fired prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was looking into the extravagant sums Hunter Biden was receiving from Ukrainian interests. And we know this because Biden later publicly bragged about how he threatened to cut off U.S. assistance unless Shokin was fired.

Vindman himself really was an anti-Trump partisan—and later cut a campaign commercial for the Lincoln Project. He likely had leaked a classified presidential phone call to the so-called whistleblower in order to prompt a third-party induced impeachment of a perceived anti-Ukraine Donald Trump.

He refused to disclose all the parties to whom he leaked the call. (Note that Joe Biden himself in May 2004 put a hold on congressionally approved 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, likely due to concerns of losing the Arab-American vote in key swing state Michigan—a better example of a president subordinating the national interest for his own political reelection agenda.)

Vindman was reportedly involved in a family company (as CEO of Trident Support) trying to facilitate repairs of U.S.-supplied military equipment to Ukraine. His wife recently and callously tweeted of the second assassination attempt on Trump, “No ears were harmed. Carry on with your Sunday afternoon.”

Ukraine’s efforts to compromise prominent Americans, interfere in U.S. elections, and use their American contacts to facilitate arms transfers still continue in outrageous fashion.

On September 23, just 43 days before Election Day, the Biden-Harris administration flew in, at taxpayer expense, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accorded him secret service protection as he visited the critical swing state of Pennsylvania—where the deadlocked election will likely be decided.

Zelensky and Democrat politicos (no Republican counterparts were invited) toured a Pennsylvania munitions plant making artillery shells likely destined for his Ukraine. One subtext of the visit was that Biden-Harris aid for Ukraine—to be continued or increased by a President Harris—results in jobs for Pennsylvania voters.

In an interview with the left-wing, pro-Biden-Harris New Yorker magazine, Zelensky—who himself has canceled both 11 Ukrainian opposition political parties and scheduled elections, suspended habeas corpus, and censored the media—regrettably went further in his \efforts at U.S. election interference. Zelensky trashed Harris’s rival candidate Donald Trump as someone who “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”

The Ukrainian president attacked even harder Trump’s running mate and vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, as “dangerous” and “too radical.”

Too radical for what or whom? The people of the United States or the Ukrainian hierarchy? Amid a firestorm, Zelensky later hurriedly met with Trump, which unfortunately only further highlighted his poor election timing.

One reason why many Americans are skeptical of helping Ukraine is, well, Ukraine itself—specifically its graft and corruption, its oligarchs’ disturbing history of bribing U.S. influential figures, its interference in U.S. elections, and its dictatorial suspension of human rights, political parties, and elections.

On to Moscow?

Strategically, it is understandable why Ukraine wishes to use European and American planes and missiles to strike depots and supply centers deep inside Russia, given Russia does the same to Ukraine—and focuses far more on civilian targets.

But to equip a proxy to attack far inside a nuclear rival’s homeland was always taboo in the Cold War—and for good reason, given the resulting lowered bar of nuclear escalation.

So, the Korean War, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the wars in the Middle East all respected our ancestors’ Cold War rule: neither the U.S. nor the U.S.S.R. in their numerous proxy wars ever used their clients to attack the homeland of their nuclear opponents with either nuclear or conventional weapons.

When Nikita Khrushchev came close to doing just that by equipping Castro’s Cuba with missiles capable of becoming nuclear-tipped, along with nuclear-carrying strategic bombers that could hit the U.S. homeland, the Kennedy Administration went to Def Con 2.

It quickly blockaded the island. Kennedy further warned the Soviet Union that in case of any Cuban-based attack by missile or plane (conventional or nuclear) against the American homeland, the U.S. would retaliate against Russia itself.

So, we are caught in a very dangerous cycle.

Almost weekly, Putin himself, his generals, Russian politicians, or the Russian state media threaten to respond to attacks inside Russia by resorting either to tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine or strategic nuclear strikes against its suppliers.

In response, our retired generals and intelligence authorities, along with pundits and diplomats—and our de facto commander-in-chief at the press room dais, Kamala Harris—discount these threats as empty bombast. They offer no consideration that what has been mere Russian braggadocio in 2022-2023 (when casualties were in the few hundred thousand and no Ukrainians were fighting inside Russia) might not be so vacuous in late 2024 or 2025. Now casualties have soared by over a million. And Ukrainian forces, equipped with a new arsenal of jets and missiles, currently occupy 500 square miles of conquered Russian territory.

In truth, the West and the U.S. have no strategy for a Ukrainian victory over Russia. Much less do they worry much that a quarter of the Ukrainian population has fled the country, and the military is running out of recruits. The default assumption is to keep fueling the 1 million-man meat grinder to the last Ukrainian and hope that Russia tires first—the sort of non-strategy that the left used to lecture was amoral and senseless in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Why the Ukraine-Israeli asymmetry?

Israel, in many ways, is America’s closest ally. It is a constitutional state and the only nation in the Middle East that respects human rights. Its enemies are our enemies. And it is the target over the last half century of nonstop Arab and Iranian attacks.

Not so Ukraine that separated from Russia in August 1991, and yet still has a checkered history of corruption and authoritarianism.

In the present war, Ukraine has likely become the target of some 8,000-10,000 missiles launched from Russia. Yet that number is still smaller than the some 20,000 projectiles sent into Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran. Israel, like Ukraine, was surprise attacked by its neighbor. And like Russia, Hamas started the war without concern for civilians. Or rather, in efforts well beyond Russian brutality, Hamas deliberately targeted civilians for Dark Age-style murder, torture, mass rape, incineration, beheading, and hostage-taking.

It is hard to outdo Russian wartime savagery, but Hezbollah has accomplished that easily. And unlike post-Soviet Russia, it has blatantly murdered lots of American diplomats and soldiers. Hamas still holds American hostages.

So why does the Biden-Harris administration, and many elites in Washington, treat the two wars so differently? Or more specifically, why do they deify Zelensky and Ukraine but demonize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel?

Note that Biden-Harris demand Israeli “proportionality” in responding to Hamas terror. But they encourage “disproportionality” for Ukraine to win the war. (Does America believe Russia is eviler than Hamas?)

They call for ceasefires nonstop in Gaza and the Hezbollah war. Yet do they ever commensurately instruct Ukraine to stop the war and negotiate with Putin?

Biden-Harris insist that Israel text or otherwise notify Gazans or Beirut civilians of any impending Israel attack. Do they demand the same of Ukraine when it shoots off missiles, shells, and drones into Russian-occupied civilian areas?

Netanyahu has formed a bipartisan war cabinet and will adhere to regularly scheduled elections. And yet he is still demonized as an authoritarian by Biden-Harris. Neither showed up for his recent congressional speech. In fact, in 1950s-Latin-American-coup-style, the U.S. government has been trying under the radar to remove the elected Israeli government.

Most certainly, Netanyahu would not be flown, Zelensky-style, by U.S. military transport to tour a Patriot battery facility in Pennsylvania or in any other election-year battleground state.

And if he was used by Republicans in such overtly partisan fashion, Netanyahu would be asked by the left to leave immediately—especially if he gave an interview from a swing state and, say, on Fox News, in which he trashed the Harris-Walz ticket.

We are warned by Biden-Harris that the Gaza/Hezbollah war should stop now, lest it ignite a theater war in which a possible nuclear Iran and a nuclear Israel would exchange missiles and blow up the region.

Yet, Russia is no putative nuclear power. It possesses somewhere between 6,000-7,000 deliverable nuclear weapons. And it has threatened to use them far more often than Iran has.

Ukraine is on the doorstep of NATO and any regional war would endanger America’s NATO allies far more than an Israel-Iranian conflict.

Is the Iran-Hezbollah/Hamas/Houthis Axis that has emerged from the war more dangerous than the new nuclear Russia/China/North Korea/Iran symbiosis that is fallout from our massive support for Ukraine?

So why are we lectured nonstop about the dangers of Israeli brinksmanship but almost encourage it on the part of Ukraine?

Do we believe that Putin is more rational and restrained and less likely to go medieval than Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei?

Again, what explains the vast difference in the way we oversee our ally Israel’s war and Ukraine’s conflict with Russia?

Is the explanation anti-Semitism?

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim-American voters in Michigan?

The airbrushing of Middle East terrorists unthinkable of Russian thugs?

The sheer hatred of Russia and Russians, but the pass given to Middle Eastern autocrats?

The absence of a large expatriate community of Russians in the U.S.?

Hating Russians?

The left’s hatred of Putin’s Russia is understandable given Putin’s 2022 aggression, but it’s generic nature is now also becoming obsessive. The loathing of all things Russian helps to explain the above paradoxes and obsessions—even in the trivial sense of Joe Biden in his recent The View appearance wearing a U.S./Ukraine flag lapel in a way he would likely not a U.S./Israel flag counterpart.

There is also the shame and embarrassment of left-wing past naiveté about Putin.

After all, it was Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who in 2009 gave us the performance art, red jacuzzi button, mistranslated Russian “reset.” All that hoopla was a direct partisan rebuke for the supposedly too-tough prior Bush administration response to Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia.

Recall that in 2013, Obama and John Kerry stupidly invited Putin back into the Middle East, supposedly to help corral Syria’s WMDs, after a near-35-year absence from the region.

It was also Obama, who, in a hot mic exchange in Seoul in 2012, promised that he would give up critical missile defense in Eastern Europe if Putin would just give him space during his last election. (Again, was that gambit impeachable under our new rules, given Obama clearly sacrificed America’s strategic interests to win temporary calm from an aggressive Russia to help his reelection?)

Both fulfilled their bargains: Putin waited until Obama was safely reelected and then invaded Ukraine in 2014, while Obama happily surrendered the nascent air defense project to protect eastern Europe from enemy missiles.

In contrast to Clinton-Obama appeasement of Russia, Trump killed Russian Wagner mercenaries in Syria. He gave previously Obama-banned offensive weapons to Ukraine. He opposed the Nord Stream 2 German-Putin pipeline. He got the U.S. out of an asymmetrical Russian-American missile deal. He jawboned NATO nations to up their collective defense expenditures by some $100 billion.

Trump also nearly bankrupted Russia by releasing oceans of cheap American oil and increased sanctions on Russian oligarchs. He made it clear to Putin that unfortunate things would follow from an invasion of Ukraine. Trump’s was the only administration of the last four when Putin stayed put within his borders.

As far as the 2016 Russian-Trump collusion, even Mr. Mueller’s “dream team” and “all-star” partisan “hunter-killer” cadre of lawyers found no such thing—as compared to the Russian-fed Steele dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton to smear Trump.

There was no “Russian disinformation” either in 2020 when team Biden rounded up corrupt ex-intelligence authorities to lie that Hunter’s genuine laptop was likely Russian fabricated.

So why the left’s hatred of Russians—other than the classic projection of blaming others for its own very disastrous appeasement of Putin that the left itself had inaugurated?

One other reason was that Trump endlessly rubbed left-wing noses in their Russian paranoias, joking that Putin might find Hillary’s missing emails, destroyed while in her custody and under subpoena.

When he was accused by Clinton partisans and hacks of being a “Russian asset” or “Russian poodle,” he deliberately bragged about his “deals” with Putin to inflame his critics even more.

In a larger context, Russians have replaced South African or Iranian villains in Hollywood action movies and popular entertainment. The new big-screen bogeyman is now nearly always a large brute with a shaved head, his torso dotted by orthodox Christian cross tattoos, gap-toothed, an exaggerated Russian accent, surrounded by creepy black-suited mafiosi—and full of racist and sexist hatred for liberal America.

In sum, there is an argument to help Ukraine survive Russian attacks.

But that consensus is daily being eroded by the present beltway messianic crusade for Ukraine, in a manner quite unlike our lukewarm and vacillating support for our far closer ally Israel.

The near-hysterical official Ukrainian narrative requires denying or ignoring the escalating dangers of our sophisticated weapons hitting deep inside Mother Russia, the Somme/Verdun-like endless wastage of over a million youths and counting, and the increasingly anti-democratic and election-interfering nature of President Zelensky and his Ukrainian entourage.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Smith and Hugo Lowell at The Guardian:

With political winds at his back, Donald Trump on Thursday is expected to use his first speech since surviving an assassination attempt to plead for national unity. Strategists view the Republican national convention address, likely to be watched by tens of millions of Americans on prime time television, as a unique opportunity to redefine the former US president as more palatable to moderate voters. But critics remain sceptical that a Trump reset can last, citing past supposed “pivots” that were hyped by the media only for the septuagenarian to soon revert to dark, divisive and incendiary outbursts. “That was a profound existential moment and I’m sure it’s impacted him in the short run, but you are who you are,” David Axelrod, a former chief strategist for President Barack Obama, said. “He isn’t by habit or orientation a unifier.

“Maybe so long as the race is going well others can persuade him that it’s better to be quiet than noisy. But you never know what happens in two in the morning when he’s got his phone in his hand and an impulse in his head.” In opinion polls, Trump is running 11 percentage points ahead of where he was nationally in the 2020 race of the White House. He is surfing a wave of sympathy and adulation after his right ear was injured by a would-be assassin’s bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Two days later, his ear bandaged, Trump received a hero’s welcome from cheering, sign-waving supporters at the convention in Milwaukee. Some echoed Trump’s initial response to “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Speaker after speaker suggested that Trump’s life was spared by God’s providence so that he can continue a sacred mission for the nation. But they backed away from early accusations that Democrats were to blame for the shooting.

[...] Trump’s near-death experience, and the ensuing national attention, present an opportunity when he formally accepts the party’s nomination to face Biden in a rematch of 2020. His wife Melania and daughter Ivanka, both of whom have been mostly missing from the campaign trail, are expected to attend. Some Republicans hope that Trump can recreate Ronald Reagan’s defiant optimism after he survived an assassination attempt in 1981, casting himself as unifier-in-chief. On Sunday Trump told the New York Post newspaper that he had intended to deliver biting remarks against Biden until the shooting prompted him to throw them out. Trump is understood to have been reworking his remarks with his speechwriter Ross Worthington since the shooting, according to a person close to Trump, and has discussed making himself sound like he is still the president, as opposed to just a candidate.

But at an event hosted by the Axios website, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, suggested that even if Trump shifted to a gentler tone, his core political attacks were likely to continue. “You can be nicer on the margins but you still have to call out insanity when you see insanity,” Trump Jr said when asked about more caustic language turning off potential voters, for instance on transgender issues. “That’s different, that’s not about tone.” Trump Jr also said that, even though he believed that Trump’s unity tone would last until the vice-presidential debate, he expected Trump to counter-punch if attacked by Biden, who recently urged the country to tone down the political rhetoric in a televised address from the Oval Office.

[...] Indeed, for all the talk of a softer, more inclusive Trump, he has sat in a box in the convention hall alongside extremists such as Tucker Carlson, a broadcaster who has promoted white nationalism and praised Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the representative who once floated a conspiracy theory involving “Jewish space lasers”.

Donald Trump will close out the 2024 RNC tonight with a speech that is supposedly a call for unity in the wake of facing an assassination attempt Saturday.

The question is, will that hold true? Or will he revert to his usual demagoguery in his speech? Stay tuned later this evening. #RNC2024

[newstfionline]

Friday, July 12, 2024

More Democrats Urge Joe to Go (Washington Post) Most Democrats nationwide say that President Biden should end his reelection campaign based on his performance in the presidential debate two weeks ago, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. The poll results contradict Biden’s claim that only party elites want him to step aside. He has said that positive interactions with supporters on the campaign trail have helped persuade him to stay in the race after a debate in which he trailed off and occasionally appeared confused. But the poll finds that 56 percent of Democrats say that he should end his candidacy, while 42 percent say he should continue to seek reelection. Overall, 2 in 3 adults say the president should step aside, including more than 7 in 10 independents. The poll finds Biden and former president Donald Trump in a dead heat in the contest for the popular vote, with both candidates receiving 46 percent support among registered voters.

White House health cover-ups (NYT) The scandal is almost as old as the United States itself: The president has a health problem that he and his aides try to shroud from the public. Only later—years later, in some cases—does the severity become clear. The list of cover-ups is remarkably long. After a mysterious illness caused James Madison to miss meetings with senators in 1813, he blamed a watch malfunction. During Chester Arthur’s only term as president, he hid a kidney ailment that likely contributed to his death a year after he left office. Grover Cleveland’s aides lied about a surgery in 1893—performed on a friend’s yacht—to excise a tumor in his mouth. Woodrow Wilson spent his last year and a half as president debilitated by strokes while his wife and doctor secretly carried out some presidential duties. Franklin D. Roosevelt concealed the ailments that led to his death months after he won the 1944 election. Dwight Eisenhower’s doctor initially described his heart attack in 1955 as “a digestive upset.” John F. Kennedy’s aides lied about his Addison’s disease. Ronald Reagan’s administration hid the extent of his injuries after he was shot in 1981 and the signs of his dementia in later years. Donald Trump misled the public about the severity of his Covid illness. President Biden and his aides have become part of this presidential tradition. They have minimized and managed his public appearances to hide his age-related decline, according to reporting by The Times and other news organizations. Even as he has become confused or lost the thread of conversations more often in recent months, he and his aides have insisted he remained sharp and vigorous.

Rising Frustration in Houston as Millions Remain Without Power (NYT) The sun felt hotter than usual in Houston this week, as millions of sweltering residents emerged from the rapid thrashing of Hurricane Beryl to face a prolonged power outage—the largest ever seen by the city’s utility, according to the state’s lieutenant governor. The outages from the storm affected as many as 2.7 million customers across the state, mostly in and around Houston. Despite a promise by the utility, CenterPoint Energy, to restore power to one million customers by the end of the day on Wednesday, large swaths of the nation’s fourth-biggest city remained without power. The scale of the outages raised questions about whether enough had been done to prepare the city, just 50 miles from the Gulf Coast, for the kinds of storms that climate scientists predict will arrive with greater frequency. Beryl was not a particularly strong storm when it made landfall early Monday. But the hurricane struck at the heart of Houston with a ferocity that toppled trees into power lines and that knocked over 10 transmission towers, officials said.

Chileans confront a homelessness crisis, a first for one of South America’s richest countries (AP) The presidential residence of Gabriel Boric, the leftist millennial leader of Chile elected three years ago in the wake of public unrest over income inequality, shares a street in downtown Santiago with an overwhelmed homeless shelter. The sight of cardboard boxes and blankets strewn across sidewalks in Boric’s bohemian neighborhood serves as a sharp reminder of his struggle to fulfill his promise to give Chileans “a better life.” A pandemic-induced recession combined with a housing crunch and a major immigration influx have expanded Chile’s homeless population like never before. Over the last four years, the rate of homelessness in one of South America’s richest economies has jumped more than 30%, transforming the streets of a country that prides itself on its prosperity.

First F-16 jets heading to Ukraine after months of training and negotiations (Guardian) After years of waiting, Ukraine is finally ready to receive shipments of F-16 fighter jets, the supersonic fighter planes made in America that have been a key demand of Kyiv since the Russia-Ukraine war began. They will make their way to Ukraine from the Netherlands and Denmark with permission from the U.S. It’s unclear exactly how long Ukraine’s leash with the jets will be. The U.S. has repeatedly publicized its concern about how F-16s will be used by Ukraine, as using them to attack targets within Russia might escalate the conflict. However, recent changes allowing Kyiv to use American artillery to strike targets in Russian territory might reflect a change in policy by the White House.

High-Tech American Weapons Work Against Russia—Until They Don’t (WSJ) The Excalibur artillery round performed wonders when it was introduced into the Ukrainian battlefield in the summer of 2022. Guided by GPS, the shells hit Russian tanks and artillery with surgical precision, as drones overhead filmed the resulting fireballs. That didn’t last. Within weeks, the Russian army started to adapt, using its formidable electronic warfare capabilities. It managed to interfere with the GPS guidance and fuses, so that the shells would either go astray, fail to detonate, or both. By the middle of last year, the M982 Excalibur munitions, developed by RTX and BAE Systems, became essentially useless and are no longer employed, Ukrainian commanders say. Several other weapons that showcased the West’s technological superiority have encountered a similar fate. Russia’s success in electronic countermeasures—closely watched by China, with whom Moscow is believed to share some of its battlefield lessons in dealing with Western weaponry—poses a strategic problem for the U.S. and allies. Western military doctrine has long relied on a belief that precision can defeat mass—meaning that well-targeted strikes can cripple a more numerous enemy, reducing the need for massive expenditure on troops, tanks and artillery. That proposition, however, had not been tested in a major war until Ukraine. The introduction of Western weapons there showed that what may have worked against Saddam Hussein’s army, the Taliban or Islamic State guerrillas won’t necessarily perform against a modern military like Russia’s or China’s.

China: Cooking Oil and Food Safety (Nikkei Asia) An undercover report from Beijing News has sent shock waves through China, with an allegation that the trucks that ship cooking oil and syrup are also used for fuel and chemicals and are not adequately cleaned in between uses. Officials from the State Council’s food safety commission are investigating, and already the leading cooking oil supplier in the country, Yihai Kerry, saw its shares drop 8 percent at one point during trading, hitting a record low. It’s not the first time this kind of scandal has happened: Fuel tankers have been caught transporting cooking oil in 2005, 2011 and 2015, and a 2008 baby formula scandal roiled public trust in the food system.

Carnage at Gaza School Compound Adds to Mounting Death Toll at U.N. Buildings (NYT) The soccer ball went out of bounds and the goalkeeper was lofting it toward his teammates as dozens of people looked on from the sidelines of the courtyard. It was a moment of respite in the Gaza Strip—but it did not last. Before the ball reached the ground, a large boom shook the yard, sending players and spectators fleeing in frenzied panic. The Gazan authorities say that at least 27 people were killed on Tuesday in that explosion, which was caused by an Israeli airstrike near the entrance to a school turned shelter on the outskirts of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency that helps Palestinians, UNRWA, said on Wednesday that it was the fourth strike in four days to hit or damage a school building in Gaza. Two-thirds of U.N. school buildings in the enclave have been hit since the start of the war, with more than 500 people killed, UNRWA said.

Where A German Truck Company Goes To Recruit Drivers: The Heart Of Africa (Die Welt) Ichaka Badayara was attending a lecture at a university in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, when a friend called. A German trucking company was coming to recruit drivers, he said: “That could be something for you.” The 21-year-old did not hesitate to submit his application. After a two-day selection process, Badayara was successful: He and 18 other candidates were chosen by the Cologne-based trucking company Emons to travel to Germany and begin a three-year truck driver apprenticeship. His visa has been approved, and all necessary permits from the German authorities are in place. “For me, this is a dream I’ve had since I was a child,” Badayara said exuberantly over the phone, in good German. But this dream job for Badayara is not even considered by many young people in Germany. Few industries face as a severe a personnel shortage as the trucking sector, which lacks 100,000 truck drivers. Companies have tried, unsuccessfully, to attract young people in schools, and in Eastern Europe, where interest is low due to high competition from other industrialized countries. The shortage of skilled workers could soon become the biggest threat to Germany’s economy, employer associations have warned. German ministers are increasingly addressing the issue during their trips to Africa.

America’s New Catholic Priests (NYT) On a sunny afternoon in May, Zachary Galante was sitting in a conference room in St. Francis de Sales Seminary with several other young men, talking about what it meant for them to choose the Catholic priesthood in the year 2024. The next morning, they would make lifelong promises of celibacy and obedience, and they were palpably elated by the prospect. “It’s a beautiful life,” Deacon Galante, soon to become Father Galante, said. There was a time where the church “maybe apologized for being Catholic,” he said later in the conversation. He and the other new priests agreed they were called to something different: advancing the faith, even the parts that could seem out of place in an increasingly hostile world.

Whale pod joins solo rower in the Atlantic, rocking boat and blowing bubbles (Washington Post) A British rower making a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean suddenly found himself with plenty of company when a huge pod of whales surrounded his boat, in a stunning scene captured on video. Tom Waddington, a U.K.-based ski coach documenting his 2,000-nautical-mile journey to raise money for the mental health charity Mind, posted the encounter to his Instagram account. “What a special treat,” he said, watching the whales blowing bubbles and rocking the boat as they played around him, some 100 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland on Sunday. Waddington said he believed the pod comprised more than 1,000 long-finned pilot whales.

[queen-mihai]

Seriously. This is why they got so pissed when a certain US presidential candidate called *them* degenerates.

The thing that bugs me about US culture, and world culture at large, is just how easily we buy into the two faced bullshit white supremacists spew.

They can call people subhuman and get away with it. But then you call them degenerates, it's suddenly "Now hang on there, miss. There's no need for name-calling". And people EAT THAT SHIT UP

They can scream into a microphone, On Video, WITH CHILDREN LITERALLY IN THE ROOM LISTENING that gay people should be killed and dismembered, but somehow a teacher saying she has a wife is "indoctrination" and people eat that shit up too.

They can swear with no proof that the LGBTQ+ community is grooming children and then try like fucking hell to put a literal pedophile into their state's highest seat of power because he waved a gun and a Bible around.

There needs to be a stronger word than "hypocrite". They wear that word like a badge of honor. They love being hypocrites because that literally fucking gets them into power.

But forget insulting them.

Ignore them. Don't buy their shit. Give your money to a queer artist (not me). Stop trying to convince *that* person to see sense. White supremacists WANT to argue. They think arguing gives them legitimacy. If you're arguing, you must be able to at least understand some of their side, and they'll just keep screaming until you give up and then they'll swear they won.

No.

Ignore them. Don't even dignify them with your hate. They are not bastards. They are not villains.

They

Are

Nothing

we're literally in the midst of a mass conservative project to outlaw public queer existence and y'all think joking about beating up people in collars is the thing to do right now?

[mariacallous]

ANTAKYA, Turkey—The only road heading into the center of Turkey’s southern Hatay province is already packed with traffic jams as people pour back in to vote in Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections. 

Out of the roughly 1.1 million registered voters in the province, around 400,000 left when several earthquakes devastated the province in February. Now they are coming back, even if just for a day—and many say it’s explicitly to vote out Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They might get good news on Sunday, when the election results could be clear, or a little later if there is a runoff vote, but for now, in the provincial capital of Antakya, there’s little on offer but heartbreak. 

Up to 85 percent of the downtown either collapsed or will have to be demolished, according to the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers, and much of the infrastructure is out of commission: Many roads are closed, most shops remain shut, and bathroom facilities are scarce. More than 23,000 people were killed in Hatay—the highest provincial death count out of the almost 60,000 overall fatalities—and some registered voters are still missing to this day.

“We are angry, we are devastated, and we want political change,” said Ibrahim Kaja, a 26-year-old voter who traveled two hours from Adana back to Antakya, where his house lies in rubble. Kaja lost nine family members to the Feb. 6 quake, including his younger sister and older brother, who was living just below him in the same house; his brother had a wife and three children. Kaja’s niece died immediately, but he managed to dig out his 12-year-old nephew, Hisamettin, from under the rubble three days after the earthquake, only to watch him die in the car on the way to the hospital. The brother’s third child—another boy—lived but lost a leg. Kaja is adamant that if rescue teams had arrived earlier, four of his family members, including Hisamettin, could have been saved, and he largely blames their deaths on the government. 

“Erdogan can never make up for this. If he’s back in power, I’ll leave the country,” Kaja said. All his remaining family members were headed in from Adana to cast their votes for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is running neck and neck with Erdogan in the polls. Kilicdaroglu may have gotten a boost with the last-minute withdrawal by another presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, who could have leached votes from the opposition.

Sunday’s vote is the toughest fight Erdogan will face in his 20-odd years in power. His mismanagement of the economy had already soured plenty of voters this time around. But years of corruption in the construction industry, which many believe contributed to the massive death toll in February’s earthquakes, won him newfound enmity in hard-hit areas such as Hatay. The question isn’t as much whom those people will vote for as how they will be able to vote at all.

“We’re awaiting chaos on election day,” said Akin Parlak, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) head for Hatay’s Defne district. “There’s no accommodation, no food, not enough toilets. Voters won’t be able to avoid traffic jams—many will be retraumatized.” 

Still, Antakya, one of Turkey’s more liberal and somewhat secular bubbles, is determined to vote, even though it might just be in the toughest province to make this happen. 

Inal Buyukasik, the head of the Chamber of Civil Engineers in Antakya, isn’t optimistic. “After the earthquake, it took almost three weeks to evacuate the city because there’s only one way out. We didn’t receive immediate help after the quake for similar reasons. I worry that many people won’t be able to reach the city and will instead be stuck in traffic jams until polling stations close. You’ve seen the road—it’s narrow. There are no evacuation routes. People take voting very seriously here, but circumstances might just prevent them from doing so,” he said. 

Kaja’s family could have registered to vote elsewhere in Turkey, but the deadline to do so passed just weeks after the Feb. 6 earthquake. Between burying family members, trying to save a few belongings from their collapsed homes, and finding temporary shelter, registration wasn’t on their radar. The opposition tried to push for remote polling stations to be set up, but their calls were largely ignored.

So, just days from the May 14 election date, millions of people might be making their way back home. Around 9 million people throughout 11 provinces have been displaced by the earthquakes, and their votes could decisively sway the election.

“Currently, about 4,000-5,000 people are returning to Hatay daily, and we estimate that around 200,000 voters have already made it back. We’re coordinating buses to bring back another 25,000, and on election day, we expect that around 100,000 people will be traveling to Hatay just for the day, just to vote,” said the CHP’s Parlak. 

Antakya is CHP territory, he said. Any lost votes would be a potential boon to Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party, which is why so many are taking desperate measures to get to the polls.

Meanwhile, rebuilding has already started in Antakya, potentially good news for those who have been living in tents but still worrisome to architects. “This year’s earthquake hasn’t been researched enough, and even though new homes are constructed to earthquake-proof standards, they might not be safe for Hatay and the types of earthquakes we experience here,” said Mustafa Ozcelik, the head of the local Chamber of Architects. “We’ve seen the collapse of houses built to standard, and this exactly shows that more ground studies need to be conducted first.” He also wants to see Antakya rebuilt, not as a money-grubbing exercise for politicians in power but to preserve what locals boast is a diverse mosaic of cultures and peoples, including Alawis, Armenians, Jews, Christians, and Turks.

Ayfer Temiz wants just that, and she’s one of the few who has remained in Antakya throughout the disaster’s aftermath. 

“We lost everything in the earthquake and received little help in return. I’m hoping for a new leader to get Turkey back on its feet. Kilicdaroglu will give us hope,” the 43-year-old said from the green spring garden where she’s currently staying with her three siblings, her husband, and her 6-year old daughter. Temiz lost her house and her parents to the quake. 

“When the shaking stopped, we shouted their names into the dark, but there was no response. When the sun came up, we dug them out dead,” Temiz said. “We didn’t bury them immediately but waited for a day for rescue teams to arrive to guide us in the process and make sure we have all legal documents sorted. But no one came. We ended up digging the graves.” 

Temiz has been living in a government-donated tent since February, and she says she’s expecting to see a lot of her friends this weekend, traveling in to vote from all across Turkey, even from as far away as Istanbul. 

She admits that the trauma and pressure over the past months have been almost unbearable, but she never considered temporary relocation. “I figured it would be more difficult to leave and set up elsewhere. This is home—here, we share pain and hope. This weekend, we’re hoping for a new president.”

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Hi , can i request a yandere namjoon where he is a famous politician or president . He’s a guest lecturer in oc’s university, he mets her and become obsessed with her . He starts rumours abt them dating and blackmail her to marry him

Fairytale

Yandere Namjoon x Original Character

This could not be. It did not make sense, not to Ayeong. The news headline-

'Vice President Kim Namjoon Declares His Engagement'

No, it was not the news headline, it was her name and picture printed on the newspaper, uploaded on the internet, her being named as his fiance that had bothered her. It was ridiculous!

The three firm knocks at her apartment door along with the ringing of the bell made her flinch.

Please, not the reporters!

She prayed as she tiptoed towards the front entrance and leaned towards the keyhole to see, it was a mix of relief and concern because there were no people with cameras but they were in uniform.

“Miss Park, please open the door, we are here for your security.” one of them called for her. And without thinking, she opened the door.

“Um, yes?”

“Park Ayeong?” the female officer enquired.

“Yes, I am Park Ayeong.” she pulled out a paper from her pocket and read through it briefly, glancing at her once.

“I am Officer Jung Yeri, they are officer Chul Jungho and officer Choi Sejun, we have been sent by Mr Kim for your security.”

“My security?”

“You are Kim Namjoon’s fiance, Miss, the deputy head of the State. Your safety is our priority. Do not worry, Mr Kim would be joining us soon, he informed us that he is already on his way.”

She said nothing, just let them in while her mind raced back to a few days back, the last time she had seen Mr Kim- Kim Namjoon, thirty-two the youngest vice president the country ever had, a man of superior wit, of extraordinary capabilities and yet so grounded, he had left no stone unturned to make himself the most admirable popular figure.

---+++---

She was well-aware that she was squeamish, fidgeting on the comfortable sat of the restaurant. How could she be comfortably sitting across the Kim Namjoon, under the roof of the most elite restaurant of Seoul? He had even cut the steak for her, he had ordered for her, chosen her wine, sensing her confused state of mind. And she was thankful for that, yet her nerves could never be calmed.

Their casual small-talk died down soon enough, and when it did, tension engulfed the air

“I am a simple man, Ayeong. So I will come straight to the point.”

She had tensed up at his words, she had been so confused about him proposing dinner in the most elite restaurant of the city. And she wanted to know the reason after all. But could not decimate the tension rising.

Mr Kim looked up from his plate and smiled kindly at her “I have been observing you, and with the outcomes of our interactions, I have arrived at the conclusion that you would make a perfect wife for me.”

“Huh? Eh-Sir?” she spluttered out, unable to comprehend his words. It had to be some kind of joke.

“I shall be the Presidential Candidate in the next election Ayeong, the image of a loving, perfect Family-Man is important for me. Besides, your presence pleases me.”

“I don’t...I don’t understand?”

Mr Kim’s body heaved in a silent sigh “Sweetheart, I have an image to maintain, and an even better image to construct. That of a perfect family man. And I choose you. Do not worry, this would be an authentic affair, I would be a good, devoted husband, you be the perfect wife. You would not have to worry about a thing.”

“I...I just turned twenty-three last month…I’m sorry...And, and we do not know each other.” as she had begun to grasp the situation, she was more than ready to sprint away.

“Mhm.”

he nodded to himself as his gaze dropped to his plate once more, the rim of his glasses shining under the chandelier light. His hair was perfectly styled back. He was an attractive man, no questioning that, but his proposal was ridiculous.

“That is not an issue, you are twenty-three, you are free to study further and pursue the career of your choice, I would have no objection to that. I am not some regressive old hag after all. And about us not knowing each other, we can be engaged now, and then tie the knot after six months.”

He looked up again and her throat dried up. “It’s an honour, really, Mr Kim.” she began, barely composing herself.

“But I am afraid that I would have to decline your offer.” she licked her lips and continued, trying not to flinch away from his unreadable stare.

He smiled again, so calm, it was unreal, not a line of distress on his forehead “Well, I hope you think through it Sweetheart.” it was unreal and oddly chilling, the tension in the table smothered her.

“I...I am pretty sure, Sir.”

---+++---

She had not heard from him or even seen him since it was roughly two weeks ago. And the tense silence had been broken in the worst way possible. The doorbell rang once more while she was serving some water to them, one of the officers answered the door for her. And Kim Namjoon emerged, in all his glory.

“Hope you have not been bothered, Sweetheart?” there was the same, composed smile, but there she was, standing stiff.

“Can we talk?” she suggested breathlessly.

There it was, the same, composed, kind smile that he had flashed her when they had sat together in the restaurant.

“Sure.”

-------

“What is all this?” Ayeong was bewildered “I...I refused, Sir, you remember, don’t you?”

“Sweetheart, you are missing the details. I asked you to think through it, you would be the second-most powerful woman in the country, and soon, the most powerful woman, the First Lady.”

“I...I can’t.” she almost flinched back when he stepped forward, looming over her, the smile faltered and his hands came to cup her cheeks, startling her.

“I am the Vice President, Sweet girl, I do not propose or ask. I am offering you two options here, a fairytale, where the prince wins. And a dark tale, where the villain wins...Don’t compel me to turn into a villain for you.” his lips were only a breath away from her trembling ones.

“You are a smart girl, Ayeong, I’m sure you will make the right choice.” he planted a chaste kiss at the corner of her lips before pulling away and stepping back.

Ayeong stared at him wide-eyed, frozen and breathless at the same time. “Why me?” she managed to breathe out. Feeling the sting of tears at the back of her eyes.

She knew where this was going, she knew that she had no door to just walk out. She was trapped. And Kim Namjoon’s smile only affirmed it further. And she wished that she had never attended the lecture that day.

---+++---

The students had not been very enthusiastic as one would expect if they relied on the upbeat college or university posters and prospectus. It was lazy noon, with haggard students waiting for their guest lecturer to arrive. It was the Vice President- Kim Namjoon and yet, all Ayeong could think of were the extra credits she needed.

Her seatmate nudged her and instinctively, her eyes focused ahead of her, Kim Namjoon was already in the lecture hall and she was the only one sitting, Ayeong wasted no time in standing up abruptly, causing a thump as her thigh bumped against the desk, instinctively, Mr Kim’s eyes landed on her, it was just for a few, fleeting moments before his eyes began to glide around the room again.

---+++---

He had chosen her for showing him around the university, he had even offered an internship to work in his office. Who was she to deny, it was just for a month after all. And Ayeong wished that she had not accepted any of that.

“I would be taking you to my residence anyway, Sweet girl. But how I do it, depends solely on you.” the implication was clear and her legs were already boneless.

Ayeong nodded in a daze, feeling increasingly cold.

“Words, Love.”

“Yes.”

And that was the answer he needed before he tipped her chin with his fingers and rewarded her with a breath-robbing kiss. Sealing her fate.

****

Abrupt and Unedited.

Apologies if it came out as horrible

@articpup @sunshyngal

[i-cant-sing]

Y/N: Expanding the family? I mean I guess we could adopt?

Secret Service Dudes: *stops pouring wine and setting the mood looking over to the president*

Kai: Wait that’s not…

Y/N: I think adoption is a decent idea.

Kai: But don’t you think…

Y/N: A D O P T I O N.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH but like what's funnier to me is the staff and secret service looking at the President now simping for his wife, who is completely oblivious to Kai's crush on her.

And the whole staff is rushing to follow the Presidents orders, he tells them to get you a beautiful bouquet of roses and you're like "Oh, who sent this? The President? Are you sure? Oh, right, he must want me to take a picture with them for Instagram. Here, Jenny. Take a picture of me, and come up with a cute caption." Or when you're both having dinner and he asks if you'd like to dance, and you're like looking around for the cameras but when you find none, you think the photographer is just hiding somewhere because he wants to get some real candid pictures, so you just dance along, and pretend to laugh and blush at nothing, while Kai thinks "oh wow, did my charm really work that much?"

I mean everyone knows about how much Kai is in love with you, they all notice how he looks at you with goo goo eyes, while you're busy sipping tea wondering what the fuck is up with Kai. The Secret Service guys are always awing and adoring the two of you, but they also face palm when you miss all of Kai's subtle hints.

Kai: I'm like dropping hints I'm into Y/n

Also Kai: *lays on your bed that has a heart made of rose petals, candles lit around the room and sexy music playing in the background* hey

Y/n: woah, I didn't know they were allowed to film Punk'd in the Presidential house *waving her hand around to imaginary cameras* hey, guys!

Secret Service guys, in the back, holding their laughter: Ma'am no-